#that probably are intentional hyperbole anyway

[marzipanandminutiae]

the listening/reading comprehension- where is it?

dress history researchers: corsets and stays are not universal torture devices that render basic physical functionality impossible. most women did not tightlace to extremes in their everyday lives. fiction and pop history distort the realities of those women's lives and how they wore their corsets to play into popular misconceptions partially originated by men both fetishizing and demonizing corsets when they were more common.

some person on the internet: OMG STOP SAYING ALL WOMEN LOVED CORSETS!!! CLEARLY YOU ARE SAYING THAT CORSETS ARE THE BEST THING EVER FOR EVERY WOMAN, AND THAT THEY NEVER HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH HARMFUL BEAUTY STANDARDS THROUGHOUT ALL OF HISTORY FOREVER AMEN!!!!

#dress history #fashion history #please don't judge current thought in the field by overzealous YouTube comments #that probably are intentional hyperbole anyway #corsets #corset discourse #I'm so sick of it #People Be Normal About Corsets Challenge #(a friend of mine once read a book that had 'banal corsetry' as a selling point on Goodreads) #(ie the corsets are just There and not made much of in either direction) #(thank the gods. more of this please)

[lemongrablothbrok]

Was watching my favorite movie, Almost Famous, like a week or two ago. First of all, I'd just like to say, I could blog about this movie all fucking day, every fucking day, and intend to eventually (because I'm a masochist and like a challenge, damnit) do a post on every single Led Zeppelin reference that I could find in the movie (and there. Are. A lot. Probably literally more than there is of any other band or artist. For realsies), as well as an entire post of its own doing a character analysis of Vic, the Led Zeppelin fan (because I feel like he matters a lot more than his maybe two minutes of total screentime might suggest). But anyway...

So, I'm watching the director's cut, like I usually do (the theatrical cut just doesn't do it for me anymore), and there's one scene that (I'm pretty sure?) didn't make it into the regular cut of the film, but...like...

So, it's near the end of the movie, and Russell, the lead guitarist of the fictional band Stillwater, is having a conversation with the band's lead singer, Jeff, after butting heads with him for the entire movie and both of them coming to terms with the fact that...well...they don't like each other very much. And they're discussing whether it really matters if they like each other or not, and I think it's Jeff who says something like he thinks them liking each other might have been a detriment to the band, if anything, and how he's heard that all of the great duos hate each other or don't like each other or don't get along or whatever. Which, you know, cool, is true for maybe some of the most highly regarded rock groups (the Davies brothers in The Kinks, Joey Ramone and Johnny Ramone, and even Lennon and McCartney by the time The Beatles ended), clearly not all of them, though, but you know, hyperbole and all that. The real kicker, though? The fucking irony in that assertion, that none of the great duos in music get along? You know what song is playing in the background while they're talking about this?

"The [motherfucking] Rain Song", that's what. Like...uh...Jeff...you hear that song that's playing right now? Actually, probably not, since it might not be playing in-universe at that moment, though in Almost Famous it's sometimes hard to tell the diagetic (sp?) from non-diagetic music. But...like..."The Rain Song" is playing. Your argument is invalid, Jeff. Do you have any idea. Any fucking idea, Jeff, how much the duo responsible for that song (both in the writing and, quite possibly, the subject matter itself) don't hate each other? Like, pretty much the polar opposite of hate each other? Like, whether or not you believe that Page and Plant ever touched each other's no-no bits, what's not really up for debate is that those two men love each other like woah, whatever the nature of that love may be, doesn't matter, they are, for all intents and purposes, fucking married, they've both said so themselves. Yes, even James Patrick "No-Homo" Page.

I think Cameron Crowe definitely did that on purpose, and I appreciate the irony in the juxtaposition between the dialogue and the background music, is I guess what I'm saying. Listen, he was given special permission from the guys themselves to use a handful of Led Zeppelin's songs in his movie, he wasn't just going to slap them on any old scene all willy-nilly.

#I love you jeff but you're WRONG #led zeppelin #jimbert #irony #almost famous #fucking love that movie #awesome film #awesome music #the rain song #i dunno just something i felt like talking about while it was on my mind #stay tuned for eventually hopefully more almost famous related content. specifically regarding led zeppelin.

[ventiswampwater]

Jack and David for the Headcanons PLEASSEEEE

oh u have UNLOCKED the evil demented pandora's box of my brain. I'm about to be FULLY annoying. TYSM

below are 3 pros and cons of dating my Favorite Boys Ever™

sidenote: if we're talking canon CANON, the fact that both of them are VERY dead is the MAIN and only VALID con. IMO. but I digress!!! for the sake of this list, they are very alive and very smoochable

(under the cut bc DAMN can a bitch talk. and I do not want u all to have to scroll thru a WALL of text of me bein humina humina awooooooga abt my current hyperfixation 💀 ur welcome)

anyways!! this was incredibly fun and I have tmrrw off!! so feel free to send me a character of ur choice for headcanons and I'll give u 3 pros and 3 cons of dating them. if ur so inclined!!!!

jack

3 PROS

man is goofy. GOOFY. he is so intensely unserious. the banter (both flirty or otherise) will be IMMACULATE.

SOLID movie buddy energy. since he's the first one to bring up lon chaney jr./the pentangle on the wall, I like to think he's a hammer horror movie enthusiast. and since we know that the two of them have been friends at least since the 8th grade, I find the idea of these two little dorks staying up late and catching reruns of the movies...........SO cute. so v v cute. jack's little 12-year-old ass insisting that they CAN'T MISS frankenstein meets the wolfman. no, david!! u can't go tf to sleep!! we need the LORE!!!! so anyway. he'd show u a bunch of old horror movies and point out all the weird lil details to u. get ready 2 be mst3k-ing every film. man has cable tv and chill written ALL over him.

knows his way around nyc and WILL take u to a funky lil hole-in-the-wall restaurant that serves the best sandwich u have ever had. he might forget his wallet @ his apartment and end up paying for it w/loose change he has stuffed in his jacket pockets, but goddamn was that hot pastrami incredible.

3 CONS

he's 5'7'' (this is also a pro)

a little bit of a whiny bitch. will make a mountain out of a molehill. thrives on melodrama and hyperbole. but he's right 90% of the time, so as annoying as it might be. u can't fault him too much for that

used to being the comic relief friend. chronically friendzoned. probably going 2 be a bit annoying about that. it's kinda difficult to get him to snap out of sarcastic showboat-mode. sometimes that can make him seem a bit ingenuine and detached. mild to severe performance anxiety vibes. once u crest over that. he'll trade any nervousness for comical overconfidence and it'll be off to the races. but in the interim................................lmao

david

3 PROS

SWEET himbo boy. v affectionate and complimentary dude. clear w/his intentions and fairly emotionally open. v much so gives the vibes of a guy who claims to want to have 74873848 flings before settling down........but will immediately fall head-over-heels and want to introduce u to his family. golden retriever boy

canonically!! gives good head. need I say more

has a sense of adventure. likes challenging himself and breaking up the routine. outdoorsy. he probably likes hiking. did track or soccer or smthn in high school. his sheer enthusiasm for GOING OUTSIDE will force u to get ur ass off the damn couch. u love to see it.

3 CONS

v much BIG "first person to die in a traditional horror movie"-vibes. not the best at reading situations. will bamboozle himself into a bad scenario purely bc his street-smarts are sometimes lacking. kinda clueless. it's v hot but also v dumb of him. u would think that growing up in nyc would've tempered some of that. occasionally it does. occasionally. not enough tho.

possible mama's boy/golden child. even if this is NOT true, he still lives at home. which means there WILL be tomfoolery afoot if u stay over @ that house. and VERY little privacy!! get ready for his younger siblings to find the most inconvenient ways to interrupt ur time together. ur patience and mental fortitude will be tested. u will be living in a crash course parent trap/home alone-simulator. have fun!!

u know when u were a kid and ur mom would see someone she knew @ the grocery store and talk w/them for an eternity. and u would just be standing there and waiting for her to END her conversation so that u could LEAVE. yeah. david gives me big "endless conversations in grocery store"-energy. u run into a bodega @ 9 PM to grab some chips and soda w/him. but this is his stomping ground and he somehow manages to run into 3797432989 different ppl who know AND adore him. and they've all got to ask him about how school is going. what's he majoring in again? how's the family? do u still know blah blah blah from blah blah blah? and ur just standin there sipping ur coke. which is rapidly becoming more and more room temperature w/every sip. when will it end. he's been talking about his sixth grade biology class for the last ten minutes

BONUS AND MOST OBVIOUS PROS FOR BOTH OF 'EM:

fluffy hair (x2)

there's two of them. u can and SHOULD date both of them simultaneously. IDEAL throuple situation.

#truly my guys of ALL TIME. #my bf's (real) (actual) (not clickbait) #thank u for giving me the chance to RAMBLE INCOHERENTLY abt them. I am CONSTANTLY rotating them in my fuckin mind these days #CONSTANTLY #sam speaks #ask game #an american werewolf in london

[septembersghost]

As a WOC I get some of the critiques for Taylor but based on the timing of all this, it does feel sometimes like I’m being used as an excuse to say every filthy thing possible about Taylor. It’s okay to give her a little grace. And the other thing I’ve noticed is even pre that guy people were already being terrible about Taylor the minute Joe was gone. So it kind of makes me feel terrible for her that she really needs a relationship for people to treat her a bit better.

i hear you, you do not deserve to be used as a shield or a prop for people whose central intent is to bash her just because they hate her in general. that's not uplifting or amplifying you, nor anyone.

it's related to why i've been so upset that people are calling m*tty a n*zi - criticize him, criticize his gross and bigoted actions, but the moment they start to misuse very heavy terms like that, terms that have significant meaning, then any rational argument and criticism loses all its weight, and they're making the situation worse. (i wrote a long post about this a couple of weeks ago and then made it private because i was afraid of being attacked on here, which in and of itself speaks to how toxic the conversation had gotten, where we couldn't even speak up and explain why certain parts of it had become harmful).

anyway, the people doing this, talking over woc or other marginalized fans, using inflammatory rhetoric, they don't actually care that any of us were hurt or concerned, they only want the excuse to hate her. it's not fair that anybody should be used to further that toxicity rather than being centered as a person, and it's wrong to see our identities fractured and wielded to tear her apart when that's so far away from what we were trying to talk about when this started. it's very clear to me now how much of this was driven by people who were anxiously awaiting the day they could attack again, to swarm at blood in the water. the vile things being brought back up and said with no hesitation about her, the people openly hoping for her to come to harm, i wouldn't trust a single one of them to truly care if we needed them, you know? because they have done nothing but exhibit a complete dearth of empathy, and vicious enjoyment at ripping a woman to shreds. the impact that all the old accusations have had, all the cruel and sexist press we thought we'd moved past, was just lingering beneath the surface waiting to be pulled up again. i find it very disturbing and unpleasant.

it also makes legitimate criticism difficult because everything always reaches this tipping point, where it goes from rational and thoughtful discussion to unfiltered vitriol. how do we find a balance where we can fairly say, this is why this is upsetting and needs to be taken into account, when everyone ends up turning it into hyperbolic rage like, this person is a disgusting evil narcissist untalented slut and i hope she dies. those are nowhere near the same universe of a conversation!

"it kind of makes me feel terrible for her that she really needs a relationship for people to treat her a bit better." and have you noticed how people define her completely by the man she's with? i said this to a friend, but anyone who believes that sleeping with a dirtbag has ruined her forever is outright perpetuating the most old-fashioned kind of puritanical shaming, where women are judged and seen as tainted because of men. it's awful, it's a really awful mentality to see still happening!

and yeah, it started brewing the moment she and joe broke up. that is not to say she has handled all of this well, there have been a lot of missteps, bad choices, and bad optics, and some of that is probably directly because of the fact that she's struggling with a destabilizing change in her life. we can understand that while not excusing all of it. people are rarely black and white, and this situation has been complicated. disappointment doesn't mean not showing someone any compassion at all. "It’s okay to give her a little grace." i completely agree, and thank you for saying that, you are obviously a kind and thoughtful person. <3 i hope you've been doing okay.

#anonymous #letterbox #i have so many thoughts about the terrible way this has turned and how upsetting it is to see it #thrown out speeches

[thebreakfastgenie]

Unfortunately with the format of these asks I cannot link any sources, although I feel like you want me to find a Mike Farrell quote saying "queer people thought my outfits looked gay" which ofc doesnt exist. You said yourself though, he received a lot of letters from gay fans who recognised something in BJ and has spoken a lot about that. Also like I said, a lot of the 'evidence' is anecdotal which I doubt you will accept - which is fair enough. I'm not sure what you mean by the point about the 1950s mostly because generally MASH stuck with 70s/80s styling, and we are discussing how his image was received at the time it aired. For clarification though, my main issue was the implication I saw in your tags that his clothes were only from the red party and that he just kept them around for ease, which you explained as not how you think of it so that's good. I think the way BJ dresses was extremely purposeful, all about small acts of rebellion, and I think it is absolutely key to understanding his character and the development of his character over the course of the series, so the idea that he didnt actively make a choice to do that (either within or outside of the conceit of the show) felt very wrong. I too dislike the 'gay little fits' thing, even though I understand that most people ARE hyperbolically joking and I personally believe he could be (and was) read as queer to people at the time regardless. Anyway, thanks for answering. Have a nice day!

I wasn’t asking for a source as a gotcha, I was genuinely interested in anything you might have had. I’m interested in interviews in general and with this topic in particular, I’ve seen secondhand and thirdhand references to people back in the 70s and 80s picking up queer vibes from Hawkeye, but I’ve never actually found a direct source for that, either, and one of my hobbies is tracking down the sources on this stuff. I would take a member of the cast saying “I’ve had these interactions” or an older fan saying “this is how I reacted back then,” but not someone who wasn’t watching back then saying “well I’ve heard…” if that makes sense.

The only time I’ve actually seen Mike talk about gay people specifically in relation to MASH was in the mashcast interview, when he said he’d heard from gay men after GFA about how much it meant to them to see straight men be openly affectionate with each other. If you have anything else on this topic, I’m genuinely interested in it! Tumblr does allow anonymous submissions last I checked so if you do have something you can probably share it.

I’m on mobile, so I’ll edit this later to link the posts, but I’ve made posts both about BJ’s outfits being intentional and how significant that is to his character development. I think Hawkeye’s outfits are genuinely apathetic for the most part (although wearing a robe over an entire set of fatigues is something you have to do for a reason imo) while BJ’s are much more intentionally crafted as an anti-authority statement. I was just kinda joking around because BJ’s red party clothes literally do remind me of my dad still wearing the clothes he painted the house in twenty years ago. I was also kinda going with the headcanon that BJ dyed the pink Henley at the same time and just didn’t use it. The suspenders he obviously picked up later. BJ dressing like a suburban dad is in my kind very compatible with his wardrobe choices being an anti-authoritarian statement. BJ sees himself as a temporarily misassigned civilian. He makes it very clear that he thinks he should be at home raising his daughter, not in the army. “I’m a father, not a soldier,” is an anti-authority statement. It’s not the only statement he makes but I think it’s one of them.

Have a nice day!

#mashposting

[roleplayerconfessions]

Replying to /post/688261995051499520.

Alright, I've been watching this argument for a while and I'm jumping in now. I'm going to assume you genuinely have good intentions here, so let's try to diffuse the situation a bit.

The person you replied to never said their trauma is worse than anyone else's. They said they were a trauma survivor to strengthen their statement of knowing the definition of the word "gaslight". Their point was that you used the term gaslight inappropriately. I assumed they mentioned their trauma because it's usually people who aren't trauma survivors who use loaded words like "gaslight" incorrectly, whereas trauma survivors typically don't do that, because they fully understand the weight of the word. They probably assumed you were not a trauma survivor because you used the term hyperbolically. That's a mistake on their part, yep. But even if you are a trauma survivor, it doesn't make using that term inappropriately any more acceptable. It just confirms how trauma survivors, too, can use words inappropriately, yeah? Pointing out the misuse of a word is not toxic, and claiming otherwise kind of further encourages people to realize you did, indeed, misuse the word "gaslight" too. Please just be more cognizant of what you write, and make sure you're not putting words in peoples' mouths, whether you're doing it intentionally or not. We all do this from time to time, but we can't read between the lines if there is literally nothing between the lines to read. The person did not make any comparisons between their traumas and yours - for that to have happened, they would've needed to assume you WERE a trauma survivor, and they did the opposite; you had to point it out yourself. So yeah, no comparison was being made, because they didn't think there was anything to compare with.

If your point is that there is veiled sexism and misogyny in the RPC, I agree with you. We're on the same page. And I think everyone else is, too. I don't think anyone has actually denied that sexism exists in the RPC, in the asks or the comments here. Maybe the "you are not being oppressed" ask, but there's also a chance they were talking about the scenario in the OP's post, rather than denying any and all sexism/oppression exists in the RPC. Never attribute to malice what you can attribute to ignorance or clumsy wording - it would be nice if the OP of the ask clarified, but yeah. Also, I just want to point out because I think it's important: if you're upset that nobody here has acknowledged sexism is alive and well in the RPC, consider this: someone not saying something does not immediately mean they are saying the opposite of whatever that is. Sometimes, omission is just omission. There is no deeper meaning. Nobody has to make a bunch of declarations just to ensure people don't think them omitting hat statement means they believe the opposite. This is such a huge problem online right now, it's why many people have mile-long DNI lists. They're scared of being called bigots if they do not openly, clearly, advertise their distaste for said bigots. It's like needing to walk around with a big poster board on your chest all the time, and for a lot of people, that's not doable, because it stresses them out, and it's just way too much to consider every time they write or say something. I beseech you to take that to heart, and apply it to the conversation here.

Anyways, if sitewide sexism was the only point you're trying to make, yes, I can see that, and I agree. Unfortunately, I'm looking back at the OP's original post, and they made a decent effort not to blanket-judge people, and it was fairly apparent they were speaking subjectively even in spite of any written slip-ups. There was no real reason to suspect them of being hateful towards women, or being misogynistic, or being malicious at all. Sometimes, people just get frustrated with a certain type of muse. It's the frustration from repeated bad experiences that causes the wariness towards a type of muse, and even then, it's not sexism. It's just wariness. Someone being wary of certain muses is not always motivated by gender discrimination.

We really, really need to talk about some other stuff, too. Like... Bear with me here. You said, "what a thing to spew about women". But the person you responded to didn't make any comments about women in their ask. They were talking about you, and directly to you. Also, you said people are "bent out of shape". But honestly, I think most people here are being snarky and dismissive, not just that person. There's a lot of brick walls being put up. The tone of your ask here, for example, is very aggressive, and it doesn't indicate any willingness to listen and learn, even though I'm certain we're actually on the same page here. Next, you mentioned blocking, but you sent this ask instead of blocking, blacklisting, or unfollowing yourself, too. Now, I'm not the person you were replying to, but personally, I'm not troubled enough by this discussion to need to block anyone, because it's not evoking a ton of stress for me. I tend to stay very levelheaded during heated conversations. It's possible the other person also didn't feel the need to block, and their snarkiness was just that - snarkiness - not an indication that they were completely overwhelmed and needed to exit. But if this conversation bothers you personally, and that's valid, you really can block and leave it yourself, too. You do not need to get the last word in edge-wise. Seriously. Take care of yourself. You also told the person to stop soapboxing and "get back to the point", but in the same breath, you brought the loss of bodily autonomy (presumably abortion) into this, a discussion originally focused on female original characters. Do you kinda see where this is going? I'm not going to comment on the autonomy thing, because I don't want to go there. I'm trying to point out that telling people to stay on topic and to keep the discussion on RP problems, only to bring up something like that (which is tied to a very stressful current event), is hypocritical and bad faith. This doesn't make you a hypocrite, but it does mean your statement was hypocritical.

Now, on the topic of stress. I can imagine you're upset about current events, that's valid. Anyone with basic decency and morals is behind you on that one, I know I am. I'm furious. Please just consider finding another outlet to vent about it? Right now, it feels like the original discussion about RP and muses is turning into a discussion about current events. Is it possible your (and everyone else's) frustration about those current events is leaking into the RP discussion here, and making what people are saying about muses and muns seem more loaded than it actually is? That's not a flaw or a horrible thing, it happens to everyone, but it's something everyone needs to be aware of. And if that is the case, if you're overwhelmed, there are lots of vent blogs and resources online. There are lots of subreddits, and most of them will show up with a simple google search. Maybe check those out? Not just you, anyone who needs support. /r/truechildfree is a really great one, and I promise I don't mean this sarcastically.

But really, can everyone, not just the person I'm replying to, just take it down a notch? Between all the pot shots, tangential things, and all that, it's hard to even tell what's going on anymore.

In response to this ask about this submission.

#Submission #Muns #Hate #Abuse #Communication #Discrimination #Sexism #Anxiety #DNI Lists #Self Care #Misogyny CW #Current Events CW #Abortion CW

[infinite-infinite-stars]

Ship questions :3

Pre-relationship 6

General 3

Love 2

PRE-RELATIONSHIP: 6 - "If you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think?"

(Assuming this is pre-ISWM xP)

Depending on who you are and how you went about telling him this, Mark would either think you were making fun of him, or he'd be like "...Really~? Me and the Captain, you think~?" Ultimately, if he thought the Captain liking him back was a realistic outcome, he would've asked her out already. And he's not sure he believes in the concept of "soulmates" in any case. But hey, a fella's entitled to his fantasies, right~?

Yona would assume you were being hyperbolic, and that you just thought the two of them would make a good couple. So she'd probably raise a curious eyebrow at you and be like "Oh? What makes you say that?"

(After the events of ISWM, both of them are kinda revisiting their thoughts on whether soulmates exist...)

GENERAL: 3 - "What was their first kiss like?"

Oh boy. Okay so I've got, like, a dozen ideas in my head for how a "first kiss" between these two could potentially go? All varying in tone and circumstance and canon-compliance. (And that's not even taking into account any of the times Yona may or may not kiss Mark on the cheek or the forehead as a thank-you or to tease him or comfort him or something, like would those count?? Or does it have to be mutual and on the lips to be a "first kiss"?)

Anyway, regardless, there IS one scenario that I consider to be, for all intents and purposes, "canon". It goes hand in hand with the questions of "Who initiated the relationship and how did it go?" and "Who said 'I love you' first?", so I'll go into more detail if anyone asks those questions. For now I'll just say this:

The events of ISWM are over, the colony is being set up, and Yona and Mark have fallen into the tried-and-true Captaineer habit of talking through their experience with the wormhole together on a semi-nightly basis. It is after several sessions of this that the words "I love you" are actually said between them for the first time.

Yona is already kindof clutching the front of Mark's coveralls, there are tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. He blinks at her for a moment, processing the situation, before making up his mind to pull her close and kiss her with everything he's got~. They're done waiting; they're done holding back.

LOVE: 2 - "What are their primary love languages?"

Yona (giving): Physical Touch; Words of Affirmation.

Yona (receiving): Physical Touch; Acts of Service.

Mark (giving): Acts of Service; Words of Affirmation.

Mark (receiving): Words of Affirmation; Physical Touch.

#captaineer #captainsona #captain yona masters #engineer mark #Headcanons #thanks for the ask katya!

[greatwyrmgold]

I don't hate My Hero Academia or anything, there's a lot to like, but my god are its politics centrist in the shittiest way.

Okay, maybe that's a little hyperbolic, I've definitely seen shittier centrist politics. But the series keeps having moments that make me want to either throw the manga at a wall or complain. And since I'm reading it on my phone, I'm gonna complain.

(The rest of this post will be discussing an exchange from chapter 360 of the manga. Nothing that seems spoilery to me is in it, but I know most people are more sensitive to spoilers than I am.)

Lemillion: So, why do you destroy? Shigaraki: Because the current framework has failed. Lemillion: Oh, I get it...you've never had any friends. Shigaraki: Huh? Lemillion: Otherwise, you'd realize there's plenty worth keeping around!

First up, to get the obvious out of the way: No, I don't think this is Shigaraki's honest reason for breaking things, and no that doesn't make things better. It's a common claim that people IRL who criticize our society's current framework for failing don't actually believe what they say, and just say what they say for some ulterior motive (like empowering their political allies or paychecks from George Soros or something). Saying that Shigaraki can't reflect any real-world political positions because he isn't honest about his beliefs is like saying that one JKR book can't be transphobic because the villain is just a guy in a dress.

Second, the whole "I destroy because the current framework has failed" thing pisses me off. On one hand, this is not absent from many left-leaning worldviews; the current framework for our society has failed, and does need to be destroyed. But combining that with Shigaraki's indiscriminate destruction makes for a caricature of revolution, someone who wants to change things too much and needs to be stopped for the sake of the status quo. Which reminds me of that arc with the civilians who didn't trust heroes, for reasons that were obviously ridiculous, which was released while protests against police brutality were big in the news...

(I don't think that was intentional, by the by. Japanese news doesn't cover the same stuff American news does, and even if it did I usually give authors the benefit of the doubt. None of this feels like deliberate apologia. It feels like Horikoshi wrote a story and defaulted to the values of the society around him. But that doesn't make it less frustrating to read, though, any more than knowing Horikoshi probably wasn't thinking about BLM when he wrote those anti-hero protestors.)

Anyways, real-world anarchists and such don't just want to burn everything to the ground because everything's bad. They want to destroy specific institutions, but mostly not to destroy things and certainly not to kill people. (Less so if they're trying to protect other people, but I'm getting off topic.) Real-world anarchists engage in more mutual aid than wanton destruction, and the same is true of other "destroy the current framework" ideologies.

Third, the current framework has failed! Shigaraki is right! I don't just mean IRL, I mean that the narrative of My Hero Academia has focused on the ways that its institutions have failed the world around it. It shits on people with unfortunate Quirks, like Toga or Shinzo or Spinner, and on people who don't fit in for other reasons, like Twice or Gentle Criminal or Magne. It gives power and prestige to people like Endeavor and Mount Lady, glory hounds who care more about their own careers than the world around them. Anyone who doesn't think it's failed is willfully ignorant, and probably in a population that benefits from the failure.

(I know Endeavor has gone through character development recently that makes him less of an ass. But A, I have criticisms about Endeavor not actually doing as much to atone for his sins as the narrative thinks he has, and B, he gained his heroic prestige BEFORE his character development.)

The narrative knows the current framework has failed, and yet Lemillion just casually dismisses Shigaraki. That pisses me off more than if Shigaraki was just wrong. This isn't just "People trying to fix the world can do harm if they're not careful"—this is "Even when they have a point, people trying to fix the world can do harm". Even if the people criticizing the world's institutions have a point, even if they're criticizing institutions that are demonstrably making the world a worse place, we still need to be suspicious of them. Especially if they're criticizing institutions in the wrong way.

EDIT: Dammit, accidentally said the exact opposite of what I meant in one sentence and didn't notice for months.

(I know I said Shigaraki isn't actually trying to fix the world. I just didn't want to add enough extra clauses to precisely articulate what most people would understand.)

I dunno how much more I can add without repeating myself, so I'll try to wrap this up.

TL;DR:

I don't think Horikoshi is trying to condemn activists who don't protest politely enough. He's trying to tell a fun superhero story with a bit of politique to make it more than empty spectacle. And that's a good thing to try and do!

But I feel like either he hasn't thought through his politique thoroughly, or he's had to strangle the nuance for some reason. (Editorial mandate, plot progression, concern over Angry Parents...?) Whatever the reason, My Hero Academia comes off as trashily centrist.

It acknowledges the problems in its hero society, yes, but it also criticizes anyone who steps outside the rues of that society to fix it. I'm not saying that Stain or Shigaraki had good plans for fixing it, that the problems would be fixed if they had their way. But when the only people who propose radical solutions are criminal overlords and serial killers, that is telling in and of itself.

Maybe the series's conclusion will surprise me. Maybe Izuku and the other next-generation heroes will reject the institutions around them, reject the legacy of All-Might, reject all the failed framework around them. Maybe the series's happy ending will be radical, not incrementalist. But if I felt there was any indication the story was going in that direction, I probably wouldn't have written this.

#my hero academia #my hero academia meta #meta #politics #I can't bring politics into this kids' manga—they're already here #if you don't recognize them its politics probably line up with what you consider to be 'just common sense'

[shatar-aethelwynn]

I don't know what's wrong with me. When I look at others posts from people i like about how they hate things i kinda like. It mostly sends me in a quick depression. I'm into comics and man it kinda not fun interacting with some people. There was this meme about how mcu fans like it to be a safe space while comics fandom just want authors to kill themselves. And how one wanted to draw a author I think with gore. It's not really a fun place sometimes.

Doesn't sound like there's anything wrong with you. Sounds like there's something wrong with them. People online are good at being dicks because there's little real-world consequences for it. The ones that aren't intentionally being dicks are often using hyperbole (saying "hate" because it has more oomph to it than "dislike" even if they don't mean they have hostile feelings towards it), which is easy to miss if you don't know a person very well but we all use it all the time. And some people later realize they were being a dick and try to become better people. Sometimes the only way to tell the difference is through time and patience. I generally try to be gracious and assume people don't actually mean the worst until they clarify that yes, actually, they do.

So here's an example: I hate SpongeBob. I'm sorry, but it's true. Can't stand the show. That doesn't mean I think no one should ever watch it, or that someone can't enjoy it. It just means that no matter how often people insist that "this episode is funny though" I will not enjoy it (although I will freely admit to occassionally finding posts which make use of the characters funny). There's no moral judgement there, it's purely a matter of personal preference. Do I really mean "hate" in the way a pastor says "hate sin?" (And oh how much there is to unpack there.) Am I making a moral judgement about SpongeBob? No. I mean "strong dislike." Thing is, the internet loves to be reactionary. So lets say I make a post that says "Dear lord, I hate SpongeBob. It's just so stupid and I don't understand why anyone enjoys it and wish people would stop telling me I should watch it." No real moral judgement there, just "it's stupid and I don't like it, stop telling me I should" which is a valid opinion on any piece of media. Well, someone could show up in my inbox saying "How dare you say SpongeBob is evil! How dare you say no one should watch it!" Which, at no point has that actually been said, and it isn't true anyway. Can you see where I'm trying to go with this? Some fandoms (and comic book bros are famous for this) simply have a tendency to take that a step further and get into Gatekeeping territory and to react violently against anyone who violates their personal headcanon. Every fandom is capable of this. Those people are toxic and should be avoided.

Now here's the thing though, if the people you're talk about are saying "I hate this thing so everyone who likes it deserves to suffer and die" that's at best purity culture and it is corrosive and dangerous, and you should probably pull back from interacting with that person. It is a deeply unhealthy mindset to have, and it is even more unhealthy to continually subject yourself to people who say things like that. (Of course, on this site there are also people who will affectionately respond to trolls and comments deliberately intended to annoy with threats like "I will come to your house and make you eat toilet paper," and no one who follows them believes they mean it.) I promise there are others who like the things you like without being so toxic. I know there are things you like that I don't, and I've said before that my opinions do not need to change your enjoyment of those things. Differences in what we enjoy is normal. That's living in a society while being an individual. That doesn't mean you need to stop enjoying something just because someone else doesn't like it. If they give you a reason why they dislike it (or are neutral with no intention of continuing to interact with a source/show/etc) that convinces you that they are right and you decide to stop watching/reading something because it's toxic or misleading or it changes how you interact with it that's one thing. Feeling like you have to only like things that your friends like and dislike everything they dislike is something else and it's getting into cultish territory. A friend who tries to force you to do so is not your friend, they want to control you or are themselves being controlled by another who is telling them they have to have those opinions or else, and that's not a healthy relationship to be in.

#I'm answering this publically because I think this is something a lot of people struggle with #and not everyone is brave enough to say so

[maigo-san]

filling out the rest of the rentan ask game 🔥🎴!

⚔️ - More importantly, did you cry when Rengoku… yknow… died lol

at first no, I was too stunned. I really thought it was a jinx. But then the next watch I cried buckets.

❄️ - what are your feelings about Akaza? Was he an effective villain in the story? Do you like him in AUs?

at first I didn't like his introduction. It's so sudden, there's barely any foreshadow or hints. He's obviously not just some demon, he's UM 3. But then I realized that it made sense from Kyoujurou's pov. Upper Moon or not, a demon is a demon to Kyou and unlike Tan, whatever sob story behind these villains, it didn't matter to Kyou. All he needed was to protect everyone. He's definitely effective considering Kyou's death made a lot of people sad and even though I wish that his story didn't overshadow Tan's avenge fight scene in the final arc, it's not that bad.

Do you like him in AUs? I feel neutral about it. I don't usually include him in AUs cuz he's just really different from Kyou and Tan. He does martial art, and they do swords. Maybe they were in the same school like in kimegaku but they have very different social circles.

Though I feel Hakuji and Tanjirou can get along pretty okay or that Hakuji might find Tanjirou's profoundness aggravating (like in the canon) but unlike in canon, they're not conditioned to fight with each other, so Tan is unfazed and Hakuji will just feel stupid with himself. They both have similar struggles too, so maybe they were part-time co-workers. Or just seniors and juniors that know each other and maybe Hakuji won't feel embarrassed about borrowing Tan's money since Tan knows how it feels to be broke.

Also, they're both just simple dudes who simp their s/os and I always find it funny thinking abt an awkward hakukoyu-rentan double date. Koyuki and Tanjirou will definitely get along, but I can just imagine Hakuji making snarky remarks about Kyoujurou or how he keeps bringing up that time Kyoujurou declines his offer to try martial art and making jabs about kendo being a stupid sport. And Tan gets to see a rare Kyou smiling wide like he's about to murder someone.

🍠 - what are your opinions on the Rengoku family, and how Kyojuro was raised?

HOOO BOY. The Rengokus fucked an already good family and I feel so bad for them. They could not gatekeep flame breathing but they did. Whether it's intentional or not, it's been planted throughout generations and even Senjurou knows. That's why he's been weighed by that.

I know both Kyoujurou and Senjurou are victims in this but we can't forget Shinjurou too. The Rengokus are known to be loyal and kind-hearted but it's also a wonder how just now, just when Shinjurou got driven into alcoholic madness we decided to address it (plot reasons I know, I'm being hyperbolic). But it's always interesting to explore. I'm sure it's not just him that had wished they could break this cycle of curse. That wished they don't have to be a demon slayer for once.

Though, I feel like they're only wishes and nobody really made a move. It's probably why the records made it seem like Yoriichi was some legend or that no breathing style can ever be at the same level as sun breathing and that they're all just going to fight demons until the end of their lives since The Chosen One is dead. I don't know

Maybe that was Shinjurou's intrusive rage talking or maybe it is something the other Rengokus had always believed in. After all, Kyou also had never wanted anything other than having a tsuguko or dreamed about anything else other than demon slaying.

But anyway

yes, Kyou

Honestly, I feel satisfied whenever I read about a cutting generational trauma and though it's tragic, Kyoujurou's nuclear family saved the rest of the Rengokus.

A part of me thinks that Kyou drives himself to the limit also as a response to his father but it's really just something he knows what to do. So even if Shinjurou retired honorably, Kyou will still do what he does. That's all he had known to be and Ruka had only implemented that but I have a feeling that they had always married someone who has that personality and similar mindset.

He technically grew up as "planned", as in he carries the values the previous Rengokus still hold along with his mother, but I also like how Kyou grew up seeing the crack in their perfect model portrait. He saw how broken his father had become and I believe that's how he became such a down-to-earth Hashira and how he didn't pester Senjurou to be the next Flame Hashira.

That's all though. I think these four are really lovely.

I have a headcanon that Senjurou inherited Shinjurou's critical side and Kyoujurou inherited Ruka's crafty and creative side instead. That's why Senjurou did so well in housekeeping and Kyoujurou has an out-of-the-box almost theatrical way of teaching history.

🪨 - what are your opinions on the Kamado family, and how Tanjiro was raised?

I feel gtg almost always sees them as one entity when in reality it's not. It makes me feel that Tanjirou is a dad of six with Kie occasionally chiming in.

Though Tanjuurou's death was quite recent from Muzan's visit, I know Tanjirou sold charcoal even before Tanjuurou died since he had been ill for quite a while so yes, Tanjirou probably replace his role sooner than anyone expected.

I know Tanjirou mostly seeks guidance from Tanjuurou and Kie is the one who's often in Nezuko's dream instead but it only emphasizes more about how TanNezu has been parenting the younger siblings lol

I wish they were more explored like the Rengokus (and promoted) because they're literally TanNezu's support. Despite everything, I love the parents' connection with TanNezu. I wish we know more about Tanjuurou and Kie like Shinjurou and Ruka, so I headcanon because Tanjuurou makes Kie concerned because of his very peaceful nature, and that worry turns to love and Tanjurou saw how good of a person Kie was and decided to marry her. It made sense, she's the one with the armor forehead.

I want to know how Tanjuurou was when he's young (Tan really looks like him post-canon tf), maybe he got that easygoingness from Suyako (Sumiyoshi's wife)'s side instead lol

I also love love love the younger siblings my goooddd... they have so much potential and I love their various personalities. Tsun-tsun Takeo, Hanako and Shigeru are the perfect example of middle child lol, and then little Rokuta who probably sees Tan more like a dad than a brother and maybe in another universe grow up the most similar to Tanjurou or Tanjirou. idk

Just a fun thing to think about.

🗑️ - just tell us everything you love about Shinjuro

💀 oh old man

I love every single strand of leg hair you own, your perfect skrunkly frown, I don't love the way you hit Senjurou but the way you beat Tan is so satisfying, (especially in the stage play lmfao, that actor really went for it), and the way you ruin Kyoujurou's mood every single time. I also love the way they made him wear an undershirt after he's sober 🙏 literally saint-ified lmfao

I think that's all! It's been really fun. The questions are really interesting.

#rentan #tanren #rntnvillage

[demoisverysexy]

I’m sorry queerstake suckered you in and made you so deep in denial. The church is actively hurting you please leave it so you can be yourself and not constantly put down by leaders you look up to.

I know losing your faith is hard, but staying will be so much harder I promise. Life is good and worth living, and the church doesn’t care about you. I love you. I hope you realize this.

I have some Thoughts on this ask, but I imagine most people reading this will see the problems inherent to the ask itself. Anyways:

Hi. I'm Demo. I'm a queer left-leaning Mormon. I'm okay with that. I've mostly made my peace woth the particulars of what that entails. It's not easy, but I'm an adult and I have a group of supportive people around me who love and care about me and are there to help me through it, Mormon or not. I have a partner. I have a therapist. I have friends. And Mormon related angst is not actually the majority of what I deal with, believe it or not. But that is what we are talking about today.

I have a feeling from this ask that you are most likely an exmormon, and I think thats the case for a few reasons. First of all, you are familiar with queerstake, which you wouldnt be unless you are familiar with Mormon tumblr. Secondly, things you said about losing faith imply to me that you have yourself gone through the process of losing your religion and leaving the church. And third, I recently made a post criticizing exmormons, which you can find if you look at my mormonism tag, or here. Its not the first time I have criticized exmos. It wont be the last either, probably.

I can understand some of where you might be coming from in your concern for my wellbeing. You are probably yourself queer, and likely left-leaning. You have been hurt by the church in some way, as pretty much every queer mormon has. Maybe you dealt with some experiences far worse than anything I have gone through. That is probably the case. My experience with Mormonism is quite tame in many aspects, though looking back there are some experiences that no doubt gave me religious trauma. Even so. Many have had it far worse than me. You, looking back on your history of pain and hurt associated with the church, and reflecting on how leaving was beneficial to your health and growth, probably want what is best for me too. Perhaps that is what you are thinking. I cant know for sure, and I cant ask for your thoughts directly, as you are on anon. But we can speculate.

The problem, though, is that you are assuming that your experience is universal to all queer Mormons, and that you know what is best for me. That is obvious from your language. More, you are insinuating that I have been duped somehow, as though I am a hapless, foolish victim of evil queer mormons. A poor repressed queer, blinded by mormonism into foolishness and stupidity. I am exaggerating, of course, but not much. I feel that even if I hyperbolize here, this is your intent.

A few points in response to this, then:

1: I am an adult. I am not an idiot. I have not been duped. I was the one who went out of my way to reach out to queerstake, not the other way around. More, I mostly interact with them tangentially, not directly. Look at my blog: a majority of it is furry art, then a lot of shitposting, and the rest is equal parts me talking about left-wing stuff and mormonism. Its probably fair to say that I am somewhat well known for my mormon takes within mormon tumblr (maybe? I dont know what people's read on how well known I am is but I think tumblr mormons and exmos are familiar with who I am at least) but mormon stuff doesnt dominate my time on tumblr. That's besides the point though, because at the end of the day, in acting like I'm being used by the rest of queerstake, you are diminishing my autonomy: you are insinuating that I dont have agency here, that I am just being dragged around by the scawy queer mormon cultists. Even if I am a queer mormon cultist, at least give me credit. queerstake forced nothing upon me. I chose it for myself.

2: Your experiences are not universal. Everyone has a different threshold for what they can tolerate. And not everyone has had as bad of an experience with the church as you. And some people can reconcile more easily the clash between their beliefs and experiences with the doctrines of the church. That is fine. This is not to shame you for leaving the church. In all likelihood, it was the correct decision for you. I will not take that away from you. Just because I criticize exmos does not mean that I am against people leaving the church if that is what is right for them (in fact, I think there is a distinction between being exmo and post-mormon, but again, not relevant here). But what I am saying is that your experience with the church is not the only experience. You are not the only authority on what it means to be queer and mormon. This is part of what bothers me about when exmos say "as an exmo," to imply that they are authorities on what it means to be mormon. Its not true. And if anything, the insistence that you are the Only Valid Perspective, in this instance, makes you less of an authority on What it Means to be Mormon.

3: Related to the above: you don't know me. You don't know what I have been theough, or what is best for me. And it seems like from your ask, you are projecting a lot of your own needs and desires and insecurities onto me. Worse, you didnt bother to ask me what I want. You didn't even try to get to know who I am as a person, what I have been through. Empathy and compassion begin with understanding, and in refusing to understand me, you are incapable of helping me in a way that matters. It turns instead into a sort of self congratulatory pity, where you can feel good about How Bad You Feel For the Poor Deluded Mormons. It is highly insulting. This leads neatly into my next point:

4: I do not want your pity. In fact I hate it. There is a common thing that ex and antimormons do, where when they want to be "sympathetic" to the poor deluded cult members they pity them. It doesnt help though, because it is highly infantilizing, and, as I have already said, more indicative of the urge to congratulate yourself for having the Correct Feelings of Sympathy, as opposed to actually reaching out to give the help I want and need. I do not want people pitying me, looking at me and feeling badly for how mistreated I am. I want allies! I want people willing to hear about my struggles and understand them, and who are willing to help me if I need it! Pity doesn't help me. It helps you, and not in a good way. And when you pity me, you are not pitying me, the person, but me, the idea. Help me. Listen to me. Understand who I am, and why I am here, and what I want. Grieve with me. But do not give me your pity. I don't want it.

5: The church doesnt care about you is not the comfort you think it is. I know the church hates queer people. I am under no illusions about that fact. I am fairly well versed in addressing the church's bigotry towards me. But me being a Mormon does not begin and end with the church. My mormonism is, first and foremost, my own. It doesn't belong to the church, it belongs to me. I love Mormon doctrines and theology, and the Book of Mormon. I treasure them, and the spiritual insights they have brought. I love my fellow Mormons, and I love being in a community of like-minded weirdos. The church as an institution I have a rocky relationship with, with a lot of both good and bad. But they are not the reason I am a Mormon. If there was no institutional church, I would still be a Mormon. No doubt about it. So to say the church doesnt care about me does not address me as either a Mormon who is proud to be one, or a queer person seeing what they can do to maybe change things in the church. Its just rubbing salt in the wound.

6: I know life is worth living. I just want mormonism to be a part of my life, in some way. I am a Mormon. Up down left and right. It is an important piece of who I am. I am many things. I am nonbinary. I am a nerd. I am an artist. I am a devoted partner. A friend. A Marxist. A furry, why not. And I am a Mormon. I dont feel that of you were to cut out any of that, I would be me any more. Being mormon is a part of who and what I am. It is similar to many other religions that are integral parts of someone's identity. Do not try to excise it from me.

7: You do not love me. If you did, you would help me on my terms, not your own. This is key. In order to actually help me, you have to treat me like a rational actor who understands what they are doing. Start where I am, and then we can figure out how to move forwards. I am not a republican, or a conservative, or a bigot, lost in delusion. I think I have my feet firmly planted on the ground. I know what I want, and while I don't know everything that I might need that would help me, you don't either unless you are willing to listen to my experience, and actually reflect on what I am saying. You dont have to agree with me. You may even be correct that leaving the church is what will be best for me down the line. But we don't find that out like this. This ask does not begin to address how to help me. You help me first, by listening to me. And I don't think you want to. And so, I don't think you love me. Love accepts things as they are, imperfect flawed and messy, and tries to work with those things. You wish that the person I am didn't exist, and would rather wish me into something more like you. I don't accept that. I cannot.

A final note:

One thing that bothers me about exmormonism as a movement is its obsession with Mormonism. From my limited experience, it often tries to center itself as the Definitive Interpretation of What it Means to Be Mormon. One former exmo here on tumblr once said that exmormonism is just another branch of Mormonism, that inherits a lot of its toxic traits. I think that is probably true. If there is one thing Mormons love doing, it is insisting that they are the Only Mormons. It seems a bit toxic though. Exmormonism is an inherently negative movement, defined wholly by being opposed to something. It doesn't have any positive aims of its own, only goals in reactions to Mormonism: the goal is to be opposed to mormonism, whatever that means. Defining yourself as a Not That is inherently toxic, as it defines your worth not by your own inherent value, but by how you compare to something else. That doesnt seem healthy to me frankly.

I am sorry about the rant. I hope you all have a great day.

#mormonism #religion #queerstake #exmo

[makeste]

i saw a post that explained well why i hate this: deku's outlook is now like kacchan's at the beginning. whereas before he saw people like kacchan, aizawa & shoto as heroes, strong & admirable, now he looks down on them (regardless of intent), invalidates their decision to participate and only sees them as useless and bloody. now kacchan's the kid throwing a notebook at a villain and deku's the one dismissing him (see: kacchan's sacrifice). i guess the speech from post-ground beta 2 is forgotten

also like seriously fuck the narrative, fuck all might and tbh fuck deku too lol kacchan kept their stupid fucking useless secret, helped deku train for months on end while knowing deku getting stronger and dominating 7 entire effing quirks inevitably meant kacchan never would even have the slightest chance to accomplish any of his dreams, worried his mind off about deku (all might knows, not like he gives a fuck), mounted strategies to prevent deku from battling alone, sacrificed himself (cont)

(contd) got out of his literal coma bed marching to see deku while still bleeding from the mouth, was dismissed by everyone, and still nothing at all. his hero name reveal was treated like a fucking joke, his sacrifice amounted to nothing by the stellar narrative, he was off paneled for literally anything that wasn't a stupid gag, and now he's thrown aside like garbage. hero name after all might: all might doesn't care. all might in the room hearing the ruckus: doesn't care, but ida & co (cont)

(contd) can see him. spent months helping deku & all might figure out the ofa stuff, with the most productive contributions: no one cares. so to have not only deku dismiss him like this (he's now a useless victim, not a hero who decides to collaborate, help, and save), but also all might, who kacchan also did all of this for, and who told them THEY, TOGETHER, would be the best winning to save and whatever, so sucks. all might no longer has any use for bakugo, so he's ignored and thrown aside.

(last ask abt this i swear) & ALL OF THIS comes after kacchan's plot has been reduced to absolutetely nothing but deku to the point he has spent literal years of this manga without even interacting with kiri or kami. at least have kiri in his room when he woke up but nope, not even that, kiri's with shoto for some reason bc we have to make a gag out of kacchan's worry and he can't have meaningful interactions. no battles, no wins, no friends. just a side char in the ofa plot, now not even that

anon, no offense (because you seem polite enough in spite of this ask getting rather heated), but I disagree with literally every single point in this ask. literally every last one. this is basically all of my least favorite discourse bundled into a single post. I don't particularly enjoy reading "fuck All Might and Deku" in my inbox first thing in the morning, and I don't like reading paragraphs of hyperbolic negativity about Kacchan being shortchanged because the story doesn't revolve around him every single moment, and we haven't yet -- yet, because the story is still very much ongoing -- gotten to the narrative payoff for things like his hero name and his reunion with Deku. these are opinions you're more than welcome to post about on your own blog, anon. but to be frank, I'm not keen on spending a ton of mental energy trying to change your mind on my own blog when I'd much rather be discussing other things about the chapter and about the series. so yeah, my apologies, but I'm just going to leave it at that.

---

ETA: as promised anon, here are links to my other posts about the various topics you brought up:

re: Deku’s current mindset (tl;dr he’s traumatized by what happened at Jakku and him pushing everyone else away because he’s afraid of them getting hurt is totally expected)

more on said mindset and what drives it, and the parallels between him and Kacchan (and why Kacchan is inevitably going to be the one to knock some sense back into him)

meta on Deku’s role as a MC and how that affects his characterization (by design, for better or for worse)

and a couple of add-ons to that meta

meta re: All Might keeping OFA a secret

and another post about that

and another!! this is why I don’t want to talk about it any more lol

meta re: the meaning of Kacchan’s new hero name (which btw All Might hasn’t even heard yet, and which I suspect has more to do with Deku anyway)

and lastly, re: fandom needing to chill and be patient when it comes to Kacchan and Deku’s storyline

a big part of my reluctance to wade into these discourse waters again is because I would probably just be reiterating stuff I’ve already said in previous posts. but anyway so here you go if you or anyone else is interested.

#bnha 309 #not gonna tag this with the character names because I don't want to spam the tags #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #asks #anon asks #fwiw anon I've made long essay posts in the past about basically all of the topics you brought up here #they're in my post index somewhere #if I have some time I'll try to dig them up later and link to them #but I definitely don't have the spoons to open that pandora's box anew right now lol #that's why I keep saying in the recap posts that I want to keep them discourse free right now #and the same goes for my blog in general

[shinygoku]

Oh I see! How about Thomas?💙

Apologies for the delay, I had both lots occuring in the week and many, many thoughts, so that actually stringing them into a readable form was a thing of it's own! I've got another Thomas ask from Jobey and thus another essay planned to appear after this, but here we can go in the nice orderly template ;3

First impression

Ah yes, it’s that Train Character popular with Children. I’ve heard of him :)

Impression now

Darling Baby Boy! Big Son Energy Little Engine! My charming, beloved rude sweetie~ 💙💙💙

He’s such a wonderful and enigmatic blend of personality traits wrapped up in a shiny blue metal box! He’s so faceted and nuanced that even characters within the universe misread him or don’t see his depths.

His personality is so delicately balanced, it’s all too easy for inferior writing to tip the scales way off, and the shoddy reconstruction doesn’t have things in the right place and some notions have rolled under the sofa and get missed entirely, and That’s Not Thomas! But sadly, it’s the false doppelganger who is in the HiT and most (if not all) of the Mattel era.....

But Peak, Core Thombo? [chef finger kiss] 👌😸

He has 0% Filter and 100% Honesty. And maybe 5% Ego Cushioning because wow, that guy does not take slights in good grace! He feels things hard and fast and his mood changes faster than the signals. Thomas is temperamental!

Truly, he’s one of the very best Jerk With A Heart Of Gold type characters. Because yeah, he certainly has moments of being a Blue Meanie... But also that sincerity and urge to do the right thing, and as harsh as he can be I think he generally lacks malice, but his priorities are a bit askew from human / a lot of the other Engine’s standards. Like, his hilariously callous moments are said when he’s already irritated and he takes certain aspects of his life extremely seriously, like running his train on time. He seems inclined to Doubt(ing Thomas) any type of excuse even when it's totally valid.

But there is a fairly obvious Sweet side that’s on show sometimes. He always tries his hardest, even when he’s not enjoying it, and he tends to learn his lessons quickly. Whenever he sticks up for one of the others he does so in an aggressive way but there’s no doubt it’s from the right place. 💖

Favourite moment

This is a very difficult question lmao, there’s a lot!

I feel like re-asserting my fondness for Thomas and the Trucks and that it’s so very underrated! It does the laying down of loads of foundations that are later built on, and giving us an insight into Thomas’ experience (and lack of!) in general and regarding what he was used to. That he's tired from implied years on end of him doing the same tedious Coach Fetching, and that just moving goods to the nearby station is such a big step on the route to Thomas the Branch Line Manager lol

Idea for a story

Not to sound too much like the TV producers lol, but Thomas is pretty adaptable to a lot of potential plots! (I say this cause Awdry seemed more intent on keeping him moored to the Ffarquhar line once that was established, for better and for worse)

In any case, it could be interesting if, due to his fame in the books and TV series, some inept crooks tried to steal him [in their defence it does seem that the engines are a bit comically helpless if they don’t have crew and/or a fire burning....]. Thomas gets Very Cross and makes their lives hell. This is more a plotless short film than an actual fic idea, but it amuses me anyway :P

Unpopular opinion

When Thomas said he wanted to See The World™, he was speaking in hyperbole. For him, the next station down the track is new and thrilling!! He wanted to see further than the one Big Station he wasn’t allowed to leave! Not go on a half baked stereotype tour as the ultimate fulfilment of this comment made by a frustrated young lad.

Also that my favourite Voice for him, by a long shot, is Ringo. Whenever it’s not Ringo it should at least sound like a Liverpudlian Young Adult, not a widdle kid and not too posh and weird sounding. He may’ve been ‘born’ in Brighton but he’s lived on Sodor for decades on end, he wouldn’t keep any Southern Accent if he ever had time to develop one in the first place! The voice he was supposed to have in Magic Railroad was great and the Focus Groups ruined it!!

Favourite relationship

Still him and Edward, and probably never shifting from that! B3

Honourable mention goes to Gordon though, for reasons I went into on his ask. They’re Rivals and also Allies who both won’t admit they have sooo much in common~

Favourite headcanon

Jobey’s lore that he wasn’t actually Steamed for the first time until he was already on Sodor is so embraced by me that I keep having to stop to remind myself that it’s not technically canon lmao (It could be in RWS and the Model era...! CGI does shoot it down though, another reason I Do Not Vibe with it :T)

I also like to toy with the notion of him explicitly being an E2, but one who got modifications that worked very well in the long run but made him noticeably smaller than his siblings who did stay in The South...

#this is ttte #Thomas the Tank Engine #ttte talk #TTTE Thomas #this doesn't look like enough tags lmao #thank ya for the asking! I just had to go off about This Boy hehe ^^

[barbaracleboy]

So, because I’ve been seeing a few different takes and opinions on Vi’s relationship with The Hive, I thought that maybe I could give my take on it too, because why not? Please keep in mind that I’m a little stupid, and I tend to not dig deep when analyzing things: I like watching or reading in-depth analyses, but I tend to think about stories or gameplay mechanics largely on what I can see, and I don’t think that hard about the complexities or realities or whatever of most things. So forgive me if many of my points are obvious, or if some of what I say isn’t that well-thought out or anything like that. Also, as always, I have absolutely zero intention to insult anybody or tell them they’re viewing the game wrong: we all view things differently, and I thought it’d be nice if I talk a little about how I viewed Vi’s story, if for no other reason than to just explain why I say or draw or do what I do. With that in-mind, hopefully my analysis isn’t too simple or whatever…

Vi didn’t like The Hive, we know this. The reasons she gives, if I remember, are mainly that nobody believed in her dreams of being an explorer (and many made fun of her for it). With this “analysis” I wish to get into why I felt the Bees didn’t believe in Vi and why Vi said what she did.

To start off, the fact that The Hive discouraged Vi’s exploring, and the behavior of The Hive in a couple other ways, seems to be based on IRL beehives, and how Bees in general aren’t aggressive. As such, it could make sense that they didn't approve of the idea of one of their own going out to go exploring, potentially looking for trouble and getting themselves hurt. A more unique, in-universe reason also exists: Snakemouth Den. Now, while Snakemouth Den has also been known to be scary to the Ants, they had a reason not to discourage exploration: it held an artifact that the Ant Queen wanted. The Bees clearly didn’t care as much about the Sapling or anything that can help them obtain it (considering they used an artifact to make their factory and didn’t even know it), so when they heard of their kind going to Snakemouth Den and never coming back, their reaction was likely something like “Holy shit, stay away from that place and any place like it.” They didn’t want treasures or immortality (at least most of them didn’t), and if trying to get it meant death they’d rather stay away from it. Speaking of Queens, Bianca probably also plays a hand in why the Bees were so against Vi becoming an explorer. By Vi’s own admission Bianca is a pacifist, and that coupled with Bianca (trying to) treat her subjects more like her children than most Queens seem to points to the idea that she feels her little babees would be safer and happier at home than exploring. This care for safety can be seen as soon as and even before you enter The Hive: there’s a little room to scan for anything that could potentially be harmful to The Hive, and you can’t even enter without having a guard start the elevator for you. They clearly want danger as far away from them as possible. “Why does Bianca have a military if she’s a pacifist and cares for her kids’ safety, then?”  Honestly, that’s a good question, and the best answer I have is that it’d be stupid not to have a defense force, especially in the Lost Sands (which are home to all sorts of Bandits and monsters) and with the close proximity to with The Wasps (who are known to usually be aggressive, and have particularly been so since some time before the start of the game). That’s not even getting into Vi being a teenager, which would probably further discourage The Hive from supporting her wanting to be an explorer: you should support the dreams of young people, but there’s a difference between a kid, I don’t know, wanting to be an engineer and wanting to be a bounty hunter. One is notably more dangerous (and probably less common) than the other, and while stomping on a kid’s dream is mean it’s perhaps better, in some scenarios, than encouraging them to do something that can get them killed. Hell, a large part of why Vi became as successful an explorer as she did was that she had a team to help her out, and she initially didn’t seem to want that. A young girl, in a society that cares a ton about being safe, trying to go off and fight monsters and bad guys on her own (probably just in the hopes of getting rich)? It’s no wonder her peers wouldn’t support that.

All that said, do I think Bees were justified in denying Vi her dream? That she should have just shut up and sucked it up? No, of course not. They clearly cared too much about safety, to the point that they let one of their own leave anyway due to her feeling so out of place for thinking differently. There was clearly a lack of empathy for her, and I highly doubt that their responses to Vi were all variations of “Now, now, don’t hurt yourself!”, there probably was a lot of teasing and even some bullying. Now, I don’t think Vi is invalid or wrong for leaving or being upset...but I also feel like she may not be too reliable a “Narrator”. 

That’s not to say she was lying, that she never experienced anything bad in The Hive...but to be frank, she is a [bit of a stupid d:] teenager. She’s a little selfish, she’s a little reckless, and she probably said and did a lot of what she said and did due to big teen emotions. She talked about Bees like they were all bullies, and pompous, but does The Hive really give that impression? Do the Bees? When she returns almost none of them seem to bring up anything bad, they don’t seem to be making fun of her, there doesn’t seem to be any animosity towards her from them, despite how bad she tended to speak of them. “Well, Vi probably didn’t know a lot of them, and vice versa.” That could very well be true, but most of the ones we see in-game seem to have experience with Vi: even ignoring all the ones that have a notable amount of screen time or mandatory dialogue, Vi seems to know multiple of them by name, and many of them know Vi’s name too, and if she’s been gone so long you’d think one would have forgotten the other unless they had spent a non-insignificant time together. She seems to have formed relationships with multiple bees, and while few if any of them were as close as the one she formed with Jaune they probably existed, it’s not like she got along with nobody but Jaune. The point I’m trying to make by talking about relationships is that you’d think there would be multiple Jaune-type situations, of Vi being very mad at one of the bees and vice versa, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Vi’s anger is mostly general, she mostly talks crap about The Hive as a whole, while few if any of the bees seem to hold a grudge against her. This leads me to think that Vi makes a big deal about all the other bees bullying her out of hyperbole, and her emotions making her think the situation’s worse than it is: I mean, she claims that all bees are pompous, but really only Beette fits that description, right? And even Beette is noted to not be that bad, for selling you the key to the house of whatever (though personally I feel she still seemed pretty rude, but eh). Vi is very upset, to the point that she says things that aren’t entirely true and kind of throw multiple people under the bus (I know that type of anger, let me fuckin’ tell you). This anger, of course, comes because she was so close to Jaune, and enjoyed time with her more than any other Bee. I assume Vi was hoping Jaune would support that dream more than the other bees would, but when she didn’t Vi was really hurt, and in her anger she said bad things to everybody in The Hive and left. She probably wasn’t thinking about what she was saying or how leaving would affect her or whatever, she was just having angry teenage angst and she wanted out (having said that, you could totally make the argument that Jaune was a jerk for being so upset about a little insult, but again, eh). I feel like Vi might have even felt she was being irrational, at least deep down, but what she was feeling at the time of her leaving took priority. When Kabbu falls through the trapdoor in Snakemouth, Vi says something along the lines of “This is the perfect time to go home.” It’s probably a throwaway line, maybe I’m overthinking things for once, but what if that was her going “Okay, I know I said all that stuff but things are really bad now and I just wanna go home.” I can believe that, when I was young I said and tried to do some stupid things, but it didn’t take long before I decided to at least try to calm down, do something less intense maybe. I can believe that a kid like Vi would try something crazy in order to stick it to everyone who said she couldn’t, but would perhaps think twice upon seeing the dangers. Vi and Kabbu had barely spent any time in Snakemouth before he fell, so I imagine that when Vi saw there was some actual danger in exploring she at least briefly thought about how she behaved, thought that she might have been letting her emotions get the best of her, and considered going home where she probably was safe. Even if she didn’t intend go all the way back to The Hive, the point is that what she said and did when leaving could very well have been her just acting out in frustration. In the end it’s for the best that she continued with exploring (for a wide variety of reasons), but my point is that her initial push to do so came largely from that initial bout of frustration.

So, to make a long story short, I feel that The Hive cared very heavily about safety, for many reasons, and as such wished for Vi to not be an explorer for her own good. Things were not that bad for Vi, but when much of her society, including her closest sister, didn’t approve of what she wanted she threw somewhat of a fit and ran off, perhaps feeling that she was overreacting a little but being too young and headstrong to not do exactly what she wanted to do. Once again, my point here is not that The Hive was right, Vi was wrong. It’s more that the situation was complicated and bad, and both Vi and her peers had a lot to learn (which, in my opinion, they mostly did learn by the end of the main story). 

I don’t know, I think a big part of why I go to bat for The Hive so much is that I very, very much value family. It’s kind of how I was raised, I feel that the people that share your blood, that likely live with you and likely care for you and likely know about you way more than most other people are special, and that the relationships with them are also special, so it’s best to try and keep things as good with them as possible. I’m not saying that you should be a slave to people, or you should take abuse from people, or that you should support bad behavior, all because those involved are related to you. I just feel that it’s important to try and understand the feelings of those you’re close to, and that (when fair and applicable) we should always try to have the best possible relationship with our family. Vi initially failed with both of these, and so did Jaune and many of the other bees.

To go on a little tangent, I think the family stuff is a big part of why I love The Hive as much as I do. With how many of the Bees seem to know each other (compared to the Ants, where there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of interactions implied or otherwise), how Bianca views The Bees as her children, and how Vi’s formed a close relationship with one of her many, many sisters, The Hive just seems to be a family much more than any other kingdom: this is in both good ways like Bees being closer, and less than good ways like having unfortunate situations (failures to communicate, misunderstandings, and feelings of being ignored or unsupported) like many families do. I think I like all that a lot due to my aforementioned value of family stuff, and one can even give lore-y reasons for it being neat. Like, real life bug colonies don’t really do family stuff, right? They just work to care for the colony, that’s it. That The Hive holds much more in the way close bonds could be a sign of the change from crystals continuing, and having more effects than immediately obvious: not only are bugs losing limbs but living longer, they’re gaining their own wants, and they’re former closer bonds to each other than “This is my fellow worker, we both will make the honey.” I just find that sweet, I think, and with what’s shown of Vi and how she interacts with The Hive in-game I think it tells a sweet story of a girl feeling separated from her home and family but learning that things weren’t that bad, repairing bridges that could have stayed burnt, and probably bringing about changes that will make the people there happier. Bianca mentions how “We have heard of [Vi’s] exploits”, and how “the outside world did [her] some good”: from the sounds of it multiple Bees were proud of Vi for her success as an explorer, and one can imagine that leading to more explorers coming from The Hive, as well as the Bees learning to support unique ideas more. For as sad as the situation with Vi and The Hive was, it seems to have with her learning to like her old home again and it will likely lead to it getting even better than it was before.

Hoo, that was a whole lot of talking and I can’t help but fear that a lot of it is either rambly, repetitive, or illogical...but, uh, if you read all the way through it then thank you so much! I appreciate it, and I hope it wasn’t too difficult to read. I bet there’s all sorts of stuff we don’t know that could be for or against my reading: for all we know Bianca kept Vi in a cupboard back when she lived in The Hive, for all we know Vi set multiple Bees on fire on purpose. But, based on what we do know, that’s how I feel about the situation. Once more, I do not intend to insult anybody that thinks differently from me or anything (tbh I get the impression a lot of people may think different from me, ha): I just prefer funnier and happier stuff (as I feel I’ve said many times before), and I just felt like showing why I viewed the deal with Vi and The Hive to be a sad one, but one rife with misunderstanding (amongst the bugs involved at least) and one that ended quite positively. If you disagree that’s perfectly fine, I just hope I explained myself in a way that makes sense and isn’t like, stupidly simple or ignorant or whatever. Even if it is, I apologize. I just think the Bees are all cute and I like to think that they’re happy, ha.

#bug fables #lots of text #maybe this is just me trying to sound smarter... #also sorry that I beat myself up a lot here #I just like bees and I don't think I'm great at showing it beyond drawing queen bianca doing silly things lel #also sorry I say lel ha and use emoticons so much :> #also sorry I aplogize so much #ok I'll hush now

[thecomfywriter]

Writing Manipulative Characters

Okay, so I’ve been AWOL for a bit. Sorry! But it’s your girl -- @thecomfywriter -- back with another post. So, today I want to try and describe my take on how to write manipulative characters, because they are some of my favourite characters to write. Here are my socials: 

Insta: @tovwriter 

Wattpad: GKM075

Pinterest: gurleenkmultani (i’ve been giving yall the wrong one this entire time LOL)

tumblr: @thecomfywriter

Also, this may be a sensitive topic for some so TW about manipulation. And without further ado, lets get into it!

So manipulative characters are some of my favourites for one very specific reason: the bastards are masterminds. They’re intelligent. Clever. Geniuses with how they find loopholes and play with language and make you feel like an idiot for ever doubting them. 

Seriously. I can hate a manipulative character as much as I want but I will always end up commending them or admiring the sheer brilliance of their tactics. If a character is written well, no matter how horrible a person they are, there will still be that sense of awe on wow how are they so good at being bad? 

But to begin, I want to state something very important. Manipulation has a negative connotation and is used commonly to state bad manipulation, but manipulation itself is not evil. Good manipulation is called persuasion, and it is very commonly used actually. Think of trying to persuade someone into doing something they’re maybe reluctant to do, or how a religion persuades people to believe in their faith. Manipulation isn’t inherently evil. Emotional manipulation is used in media all the time to make you feel for the characters you’re watching. It is the intention of manipulation that dictate its morality. So that’s actually the first thing I want to go on. 

1) What are your character’s intentions?

People aren’t manipulative for the sake of being manipulative. Not often at least. Most of the time, your oc will want something, and the means to getting that something is using manipulation. They have intention, and intention allows them to plan their manipulation accordingly. Not all manipulation is the same, nor is it equal. Figuring out your oc’s intentions will let you get inside their heads to understand question #2...

2) What type of manipulation will they use?

There are different types, often used in conjunction of each other. I’ll make a mini list, and there are probably more, but here’s what I can think of on the top of my head:

Gaslighting: a common type where the manipulator convinces the victim that what they are saying is outlandish/stupid and twists their words to make them feel insane the bad guys. It makes the victim doubt themselves and their own words, essentially vilifying themselves in their own eyes. Gaslighting will make victims question their own sanity. 

Emotional Manipulation: preying on the victims emotions to make themselves appear more vulnerable or to garner sympathy and excuse the abuse. Using emotions and twisting them to cause deep pain within the victims while also charging blame off themselves (huge guilt-trippers)

Psychological Manipulation: using lies to make the victim question reality and/or their sanity. It is essentially the umbrella term for the types of manipulation states above 

Persuasion: taking a logical/emotional argument and pitching it to convince another person of sharing the same mindset/do something

Depending on the context of the intention, the manipulator will use a certain type of manipulation to get what they want. If they are trying to cover up the fact that they’re cheating? Gaslighting. Trying to excuse their toxic/abusive behaviour? Emotional Manipulation. Trying to get someone to do the dirty work for them? A mix of emotional manipulation and persuasion.

Now here comes the hard part...

3) What makes them so persuasive?

If you’ve taken a debate class, or gotten into a heated argument with another person, you’ll know persuasion is a very difficult skill to master. This is a subtle marker of your oc’s intelligence when it comes to manipulation. Here are some characteristics + tips to persuasion:

Confidence: this is key because if your audience can suspect a shred of doubt in your belief in your own argument, there is no way you’ll convince them. Confidence gives the illusion of certainty, and when it comes to persuasion or changing someone’s perception of reality, establishing certainty in your own narrative (especially if its a false narrative) is imperative 

Logic: everyone admires and respects facts. Its another way to back the validity of an argument and create a (false sense?) of certainty. Using facts in persuasive. Twisting facts in your favour is manipulative. 

Here are some parts of arguments that I learned in english lol 

logos (logic) includes stats, factual evidence, reasoning, analogy and comparison

challenging assumptions is attacking a counterbelief 

hypotheticals are WEAK forms of argument about an imaginary situation 

ethnos (credibility/origin) is a way to establish credibility of the author or speaker to build an argument using experience, education, etc 

humour is related to storytelling and can be used to evoke emotions to gain attention and connect to the audience (makes them like you better + increases credibility); failed jokes an alienate you from the audience 

with manipulation, laughing while someone else presents their argument makes them feel like a fool and is powermove in gaslighting. 

pathos is emotion and involves diction (word choice), syntax (sentence structure), concession (agreeing to an opponents point; makes person seem unbiased) and recession (explaining why opponents points are invalid), anecdotes (descriptive stories), rhetorical questions (questions with obvious answers)

appeal to identity is using informal language to create a sense of belonging with readers 

logical fallacies which is flawed logic to look out for//might be used by manipulators on purpose: slippery slope (hyperboles or spiralling assumptions), strawman (misrep’d argument/biased evidence), bandwagon (acceptable due to mass action), circular reasoning (stating obvious and not explaining), either/or (presenting situation with only 2 POV’s)

Emotion: preying on people’s emotions is probably one of the easiest ways to gain allyship. Humans are naturally emotional people and empathy is encouraged in our society, making it an easy way to persuade and manipulate people. Appealing to a person’s emotions is a guaranteed way to make them listen to what you have to say. Whether this is mentioning an anecdote that creates a sense of intimacy between the speaker and the audience, or bringing up an issue that you know your audience is passionate about; by appealing to a person’s emotion, controlling the narrative is much easier because more often than not, people listen to their emotions more than their logic

Knowing your Audience: this is building on the emotion thing. Knowing your audience is an IMPERATIVE part to creating an argument. Your language changes with your audience. If you’re speaking to kids, you’re not going to use big fancy words. You’re going to use simpler language that is easier to understand. Shorter sentence structure. Asking questions more often to ensure comprehension and promote engagement. Speaking to someone older might require more formal, respectable language. Vise versa. But to add on this idea, knowing the background of your audience and their beliefs, their values is a really strong advantage to persuasion and manipulation. For example, if you’re speaking to someone religious, knowing their religious values and using it to support your own argument is a steady way to gaining both their trust and their support quicker. 

4) Research + Presentation

Getting background info on the victim is something your oc might do in order to find easier methods of manipulating them. Noticing and taking note of small behaviours they do or things they value is another thing. You want your oc to be observant, because that’s something a lot of manipulators use to their advantage. Also, how they present themselves and conduct themselves is huge. 

Apart from just their language, how do they speak? Take this example. Person #1: the person who keeps interrupting you and yelling in your face (this is a type of manipulation, but it is difficult to write and very very abusive. If repeated long enough, the victim might stop trying to speak in general because they feel their words are falling on deaf ears and have no value). Now Person #2: calm, collected, cool. they present everything in a earnest way. Their body language makes your feel warm and welcomed, even if their words are slightly cold, but its because they’re analytical. They’re problem solvers! They’re trying to help you! It makes sense what they’re saying. Maybe you’re just the idiot who can’t understand. Look how calmly they’re explaining it. Look how patient they are. They aren’t even arguing. They’re not even yelling or anything. They’re listening. They’re explaining. They can’t be wrong. They made so many points. No, I must be the idiot. Sure, their words hurt a little, but they don’t mean to be so harsh. They’re just blunt. They’re just trying to help me .

One is very in your face. The other is very subtle. There are many in the middle, but it depends on who the manipulator is talking to that their method of argument will change. They might use touch more, or seduction, or a softer or louder voice. They might use formal language or informal. Speak slowly (gaslighting does this a lot to make the victim feel like a child or stupid for not understanding. Also annunciating more), or speak so quickly you can’t even comprehend most of their words except for the key words. Or they interrupt and speak quickly so you don’t have time to respond or counterargue.

Anyways... I feel like this post makes me seem like a manipulator LOL. Imma stop it right there, but if you have things to add on or questions or anything, comment it down below. Reblog and like if you enjoyed it and PLEASE don’t use these tactics in real life. Most of these are incredibly abusive so please don’t. 

Happy Writing! :)

#writing community #writers #wip #books #fantasy #manipulative #manipulators #oc #creating ocs #writing tips #tips and tricks #tips #writers tips #writers blog #writers on tumblr #writerblr #writblr #writers on ig #advice #writers on instagram #genius #mastermind #genius oc #Novel #author #thecomfywriter #persuasive #persuasion #arguing #argument

[tiaragqueen]

Sequitur

✂ Pairing: Yandere! Madara Uchiha x Reader

✂ Word Count: 1,3k+

✂ Trigger Warnings: Death, possessiveness, murder, mention of stalking

[Edited]

***

If you like my writing, please support me on ko-fi!

“I've been biting my tongue. The line has been crossed, and now, there is hell to pay. Enough is enough, the truth's coming out if you like it or not.” - Manipulate [Heartist]

Arranged marriage was always awkward and tense, especially when your husband was a feared man in his village. You hadn’t fully comprehended the meaning of the word ‘feared’, thinking that it was only a hyperbole until you met him in person. Madara was austere in demeanor, and his dark kimono served to highlight the cogent aura that surrounded him like gloomy clouds. You had to shoot your mother several shocked and questioning glances before she sated you with a calm nod. She gently reminded you to recompose, but it was easier said than done when you could feel his laser eyes boring on to your head. This wasn’t the first time people had judged you, and yet, something about him provoked turbulence within you.

That was two months ago, though. Now that you’d spent more time with him – depending on his schedules, of course, which was almost rare – and married, you no longer felt too nervous around him.

Well, more like forcing yourself to adjust to the new environment, but you didn’t dare to tell anyone that. You were certain he’d already picked up on your anxiety and would probably be pissed off by your lack of… development.

Nevertheless, you learned that he liked to talk about politics and peace. Although they weren’t your favorite subjects to discuss, you did your best humoring him. You applied some of the lessons your mother had drilled into you on how to be a good wife by asking about his day and bringing him tea (she also told you to massage him, but you were a little too scared to ask). Despite your efforts, you could sense that you still hadn’t cracked his armor judging from his mannerisms alone. He remained stiff and formal, it almost felt as if your work had been futile all along.

And, honestly, you weren’t sure if you should be concerned with that. It wasn’t as though you willingly married him, anyway. There was a subtle resentment that came from the loss of autonomy, but at least he wasn’t abusive.

Though, you couldn’t deny the sensation of being watched whenever you went out alone.

But it must be your imagination, right? In an attempt to familiarize yourself and bridging the distance with other members, you often helped the women with their chores. The exhaustion might be the reason behind that weird occurrence. There was no need to suspect your husband when you clearly saw him doing his endless paperwork.

Yes, you were still adjusting, is all. You just needed to rest more.

Huffing, you plopped down on a bench and glanced around. When was the last time you observe your surroundings again? The clan could be hectic sometimes, but the members were generally pleasant to talk to.

“Excuse me.”

You peered to your left and saw a man wearing ordinary clothes. He smiled and dipped his head slightly as a form of greeting.

“I was wondering if you know the way to Hokage office?” he inquired politely.

“Oh, just go straight and turn right. It’s in the center of the village.”

The man appeared to mull over your answer. “If it’s not too much to ask, can you please take me there? I’m afraid I might get lost.”

You didn’t understand why he should be scared of such a thing when he could just ask another villager later. But you tried to look at the positive and assumed that he might have a poor sense of direction, or probably short term memory. Either way, it was clear that he wouldn’t leave unless you assist him, thus, cutting your downtime short.

Suppressing the disappointed sigh that filled your chest, you nodded rather reluctantly.

“… Okay.”

You stood up from the bench and slowly approached him. Before you could take the lead, a sudden wind blew your hair and the man abruptly collapsed. You whipped your head just in time to see his guise puffed, revealing a strange ninja underneath. Blood flowed down from the tiny slit the kunai created on his neck, hollow eyes conveying an unspeakable shock. Someone landed a few meters beside you but you couldn’t bring yourself to turn around, still stunned by the swift murder that occurred seconds ago.

You didn’t have to, though. You already recognized the familiar chakra that engulfed yours even when he did nothing in particular.

Madara.

“What… what did you just do?” You wouldn’t be surprised if he scoffed at your stupid question. You knew what you saw, regardless of how fast it seemed. You knew what you were staring at, regardless of how astounding it felt.

It wasn’t easy to swallow the fact that your husband had just killed a man right behind you, after all. Granted, it was an enemy, but still...

“Foolish woman.” he sneered, hands crossed over his broad chest. “Naively helping people without thinking about their motives. I thought your father has taught you to never trust a stranger.”

You gulped and slowly rotated your head towards him. “W-what are you doing here? I thought you were working.”

Madara squinted, displeased by your attempt to divert the attention from you. Although it wasn’t your intention, to begin with. “Somebody has to look after you,” he said. “because I know that you’d get trapped in this kind of predicament. You’re too nice for your own good, [Name].”

You blinked owlishly, trying to process his answer. Hands twitching on your sides, you finally concluded that you refused to believe.

“Does that mean… you’ve been stalking me, Madara?” you drawled hesitantly, willing yourself to look at him in the eye. “All this time, it was you…?”

He said nothing, but you knew the answer anyway.

Clasping a hand over your mouth, you scowled. “How dare you…! I already lost my freedom by marrying you, and now, you’re stalking me?! What kind of husband are you?”

“A husband that cares about his wife, obviously.” Madara didn’t bat an eye at your outburst and calmly retorted. “It’s not my fault that you were arranged to be with me. You should’ve known that by now.”

“It still doesn’t give you a right to watch me like a creep!”

“Your father asked me to protect you,” he stated. “and it’s my duty to do so, anyway. I don’t understand what’s the fuss about, and frankly, I don’t want to listen to it. Either you accept your situation or keep suffering in silence. There, I gave you the freedom to choose.”

You opened your mouth to insult him, but you knew he’d most likely brush it off. However, you’d gone too deep to back out now. “You’re a jerk, you know that?”

Madara cocked his head. “Oh, is that so?”

The alarm blared in your head when he slowly advanced towards you, face still impassive as always. Panic started to grip your chest as you seek an escape route. You could run now. It wasn’t too late. You could avoid him and ask for help. People would notice your plight, right?

You flinched when a hand unceremoniously grabbed your neck and lifted you. Madara loomed over you like the impending doom, onyx eyes glowering coldly on to your shrinking ones. Luckily, he hadn’t strangled you. Not yet.

“Don’t ever hope about getting away, unless you want to pay the hell later.” he warned. “You belong to me, and I hate sharing what’s mine. If you know what’s good for you, I suggest you behave from now on.” Squinting, Madara hissed. “Do I make myself clear?”

You gripped his hand, a sadistic voice inside you desiring to inflict pain on him. But you knew better than to provoke him further. As much as you hated to admit it, divorce would humiliate your family. So the most logical thing to do was to obey whatever he ordered, even if it meant going against your wishes.

“… Whatever.”

Madara scowled and tightened his hold slightly, enough to tense your body. “Speak appropriately to me,” he demanded.

You writhed a little, trying to find space to breathe. Realizing that he wouldn’t budge no matter how hard you struggled, you scowled in defeat.

“Yes, Madara.”

Satisfied with your reluctant response, Madara smirked. Raising a hand, he mockingly patted your head and cooed. “Good girl.”

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