#who thinks they're a horrible person but still want to experience love anyway despite thinking that they don't deserve it?

[backgroundagent3]

for the character ask, daisy johnson!

Thank you so much for the ask! 💜 I love any excuse to talk about Daisy Johnson.

First impression: I'm trying to squeeze my brain here, but all I remember was trying not to like her at first because I knew se was a double agent for the Rising Tide. It goes without saying I failed miserably about three episodes in.

Impression now: She is my favourite character of all time.

Favorite moment: I really can't choose, but one that comes to mind was the final fight of season 5. I think it's a very underrated fight scene, because it's the end of the world, her dad is dying, she has been recently betrayed and tortured by her friend, and she still goes into battle BY HERSELF against Talbot, and if that wasn't bad enough, when she's about to die a horrible death she realises that the only way she can save the world is if she takes the serum and basically condemns the person she loves most to his death. It's so heartbreaking and poetic, but very cool to watch, and I just love so much it, idk.

Idea for a story: This is angsty but I would love to read something where the events of 5.14 are properly dealt with. May watches the security cameras and goes ballistic on Fitz, and Daisy gets time to grieve and heal. They get Coulson back and he's horrified, and Jemma is so conflicted but she's there for her best friend.

Unpopular opinion: Since apparently I can't stop thinking about season 5, here's some more. I think she actually did a good job of leading the team in season 5b. Especially if you consider that she's been recently tortured, her family doesn't seem to care, she has no experience, and hasn't gotten a good nights sleep in about 5 years. She might be tough, but hello? IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD?? You have to be at least a little bossy if you wanna make it through that. Also if you're gonna be a baby and call her a hard ass maybe you should have thought twice before joining SHIELD.

Favorite relationship: If it's romantic, then Sousa. I love them so so much, they're literally perfect and despite my obvious outrage at season 5, I will forever love the AoS writers for somehow pulling that off. As for platonic relationships, I'd say May. She's the perfect mother figure for her, and I love the parallels between them. I think Daisy has the best relationships in general, but this one is my favourite. Honourable mentions go to Coulson for being the most unhinged dad ever, and to Jemma for being the sweetest friend in the earlier seasons.

Favorite headcanon: before she goes off to space at the end of season 7, she rebuilds Afterlife with the help of Sousa and Kora. I've said this before, but I think they are actually the perfect team to do this. Kora has lived in Afterlife her whole life, she's seen Jiaying help people go through Terrigenesis, and she's been though it herself in a much healthier and safer environment than Daisy. Sousa is reasonable and calm, which are good qualities to have when you're helping someone who's terrified and potentially dangerous. He has experience leading people, which I think would make him a good mentor for the Inhumans. So Kora has the experience, Sousa has the qualities, and in my opinion, Daisy has a nice combination of the two. She has a different and much more horrifying experience of Terrigenesis that people who accidentally go though it can relate to, and she has spent years exploring and controlling her powers, so she knows what the deal is. And she's also a good leader, so where Sousa can help the Inhumans pre-Terrigenesis, she can train them after if that's what they want. Because that's another thing, SHIELD may be funding Afterlife, but they've learnt their lesson and they're not sticking their noses where they shouldn't. They accept new recruits and help train them, but if that's not what the Inhumans want, then SHIELD helps them get settled back into their normal lives. Anyways this got long but it's one of my favourite headcanons, so there you go.

Thank you so much for the ask! Sorry for rambling, but I have a lot to say about Daisy. 🌼💛

Character Asks.

#ask away #character asks #agents of shield #aos #daisy johnson #skye #quake #glenn talbot #melinda may #the cavalry #leopold fitz #phillip coulson #jemma simmons #deke shaw #daniel sousa #dousy #kora #jiaying #brekker-by-brekkerr #background agent 3

[brightgnosis]

I've been thinking over my "Homework Assignment" from my Rabbi, concerning Rosh Hashanah today ... I've been putting it off because of stress, but now a lot of that stress has been alleviated; a post from Challah.Mom on Instagram today reminded me that it's not too far away now and I really need to get into gear.

I celebrated last year as a Noahide, so my involvement was limited: A dip in the Sailboat Launch for my Mikveh. A prayer of dedication of myself to my Ancestors, and an embracing of my pathing. And an attempt at a Moon Meditation that was interrupted by a truck of people who gave us bad vibes.

This year, however, I will be celebrating it as a Jew-to-Be ... What does that look like to me? What traditions do I find meaningful and want to bring into my Jewish life moving forward? Who do I want to be as a Jew?

Despite the fact I know that none of these decisions are binding; that they don't have to be permanent, and I'll have my whole life to try things out and develop a rich and meaningful practice ... It all still feels so big right now. Especially since our "Homework" is thinking of (and performing) a Segula that represents this- which we'll actively discuss in class afterwards.

I know I definitely want to do the immersion at the Loch again. That was such a powerful experience last year that I can't imagine not doing it again. I think this year, though, I'll do a Milk Bath before I go out there? Especially since it's traditional to fully bathe before dipping in a proper Mikveh- which I didn't know last year.

I love the idea of Taslich (alt). But I think if I did that, I'd probably want to use flower petals instead of the traditional bread that's used. Mostly because bread is horrible for the Ducks and Geese, and other wild fowl we have in abundance here; throwing Peas- which would be more appropriate for them- just doesn't give the vibe for me. I'm not sure flower petals really do, either, but they're at least not destructive and that feels important to me.

Performing Hatarat Nedarim in some way (likely "in the presence of" HaShem, Chava, and Adam, like so much of my Folk Magic has been modified to be done when it requires a tri-fold presence) also feels important to me.

I feel like performing Hatarat Nedarim and then Taslich at sunset, and then following that up with the ritual immersion in the Loch after sundown, would really elevate something that was already an incredibly powerful spiritual experience for me last year ... At least in theory, anyways. But I'll likely have to do it the second night of Rosh Hashanah celebrations this year because I'll be at Synagogue for the first night, and it'll be way late in the evening before we get out.

I haven't seen it anywhere else except for Chabad, but apparently there's also a tradition in some communities of lighting Candles both evenings. I love this idea, too, and can already think of so much symbolism inherent in it as a New Year's custom even though there really wasn't any actually listed for it.

Since it's also "the day the Earth was created", I really want to fold that into my own observance somehow ... But I'm not really sure how to do that at all; I don't feel like it'd be appropriate to fold in plants, or Adam and Chava, since both Plants (and the soil), and Humanity were all technically created later ... But Adam and Chava might make an appearance in my Yom Kippur celebrations afterwards?

On a related note: Since Rosh Hashanah's also the time when HaShem opens The Book of Life and begins inscribing names- with the sealing of names occurring on Yom Kippur ... I kind of like the idea of continuing to recite Unetaneh Tokef up until Yom Kippur, rather than only reciting it for Rosh Hashanah. I also like the idea of actually praying Amidah the full thrice daily during Rosh Hashanah and up until Yom Kippur, too. Especially since prayer is such an integral and powerful part of my personal practice ... But I don't actually know if I'd be able to sustain that? I may try and see how it goes, and if not then that's ok!

As for the Segula I'm tasked with figuring out and performing ... I genuinely have no idea still. I may not know until I actually get to that point. Or maybe my Segula will be celebrating at all. Who knows.

This account is run by a Dual Faith «(Converting) Masorti Jew + Traditional NeoWiccan» & «Ancestral Folk Magic Practitioner» with 20+ years of experience as a practicing Pagan and Witch. If that bothers you, don't interact.

#Personal #2023 #Just Potential Jewish Convert Things #Jewish Studies #Calendar Nonsense #A Direct Look At My Practice #Oklahoma #Water Priestess

[redrosesshadowwolf]

I used to love writing. I mean I still do, and I get sparks of creativity all the time.

I never seem to get past a few chapters for a fic so I rarely post my writing.

But that's not what this is about.

You see, there is this thing people used to do. I have no idea where I remember this happening. But when I was younger I read several works people had done together. Whether it be POV shifted with alternating chapters, or they worked together for the whole thing.

I've always loved that type of work. I've always wanted to do such things.

But finding someone to write with you? Someone who has the same brain worms?

It can be hard.

Despite having been perusing tumblr for a long time, I didn't make an account till a few years ago. And I've enjoyed how people jump back and forth adding to prompts in the notes, it's a smaller version of what I enjoy so much.

I've done that, I've verbally jumped back and forth making short stories with friends as well. But finding time and motivation between people to bring about one central idea hadn't worked our for me too well.

So I guess why I'm saying this all is so I can see if anyone else has this issue, if anyone knows a platform that works best for such things.

I'd try and find people to write with. But that takes a little more than just spotting a person and agreeing to write with them.

I have also seen group things like this done for short prompts from large discord servers I'm Fandoms and such. But I think one of the most unique times I've seen this done was for some old zombie apocalypse story I had read on Wattpad when I was like 11.

Because yeah, I'm part of the time before making sure there were proper childlocks on every site and device.

Honestly kinda feel bad for the kids who are stuck with such things. I would have hated it.

But I understand they're important for kids who don't know any better.

Also, some people really need to just teach kids to click away or turn off things if it makes them uncomfortable. Because some people grow up instead just going through with watching or reading stuff that fucks them up in the head. Or they complain to adults and the adults turn it off or get rid of it for them and the kid gets like no problem solving ability for such thing.

I don't know many kids, but somehow I've still seem both issues prominently displayed in real life and on media platforms.

Anyways ignoring my beef with people, and other such things. I really do love back and forth about writing and with writing.

I think when I was in like elementary or middle school one of my teachers had a few assignments where I had to do such things. And that really opened this can of worms of me loving the idea.

Because I've never done sports or been a part of a large team, but I have had to team up in academic environments and doing creative writing with people who also enjoyed writing was just an incredible experience. Even if it was more likely you'd get stuck with someone who didn't like writing and they'd make the experience so very annoying and horrible, those few good times outweighs the bad for me through this type of writing.

It's once again, probably why I love tumblr so much. Because we do this in small doses throughout fandoms and general writing prompts. Some people ask that people don't add on or elaborate on their writing. But so many more seem rather happy if someone takes their beginning and adds a middle, even if they plan on writing their own middle and end.

It's honestly a fantastic thing.

#why i love tumblr #writing #my favorite type of writing

[kisspar]

Cute Angel & Husk Instagram interactions:

Husk's first post on Instagram, Angel lovingly asks for a picture with him as well. Husk's response? "😾" but... not a no?

Angel, looking completely exhausted after a long day, complains about his hunger-

Valentino is quick to point out in the comments that he forgot about Angel completely, so Angel asks to be picked up again as well as bring some food because he's starving.

Rat man reluctantly agrees to after he's done filming, but he wouldn't bring food because he already ate. Angel begs again, but to no response. So I'll take that as a no.

Cut to Angel's next post—

> Husk got Angel food <

Husk was the one who went out of his way to get Angel something to eat.

Look at Husk's face and tell me that isn't the typical tsundere 'It's not like I like you or anything, b-baka!!' look.

The situation probably went down like this:

Husk: "Here."🙄😾

*Shoves food in Angel's arms*

Angel: "Huh? For me?? Husky you shouldn't have~💖"

Husk: "Hmph. I-It's not that I care or anything, don't read too much into it! I just happened to buy extra. Don't think you're special, w-whatever just fuck off already🖕."

okayyy maybe not exactly like that but I can imagine 😌

Angel of course is grateful for this considerate gesture, especially coming from someone like Husk—So much in fact he continuously teased Husk about having a good time together.

But this goes to show how much Husk cares about Angel's well-being and isn't in is own little world despite pretending he couldn't give a fuck.

I meeean Husk didn't have to make a whole ass post gushing about the fact his crush gave him a ticket to his private show but.. 🤭

Unfortunately though due to Husk's heavy drinking he ended up passing out before he was able to go to Angel's show. However it actually seemed like he wanted to go? Husk didn't shrug it off like, "it's whatever" instead "Shit", he genuinely seems regretful he missed it.

But because he feels guilty about missing the show, he allows himself to make it up to Angel by watching their son Fat Nuggets.

Now despite Husk not being "a fuckin babysitter!" he still chose to watch Nuggets while Angel went out in order to make it up to him. He didn't have to, but he did anyway. Took care of him pretty well though, despite Nuggets being "a pain the ass" letting the pig eat literally all the cherries and limes.

I mean I dunno about you but this is some domestic co-parenting bliss right here. mhm.

Honestly if anything Angel is testing out to see how good of a dad Husk would be to Fat Nuggets change my mind. Angel could have asked a more responsible person but he chose the love of his life the drunk cat out everyone else to watch his beloved baby.

Husk wants some sort of reimbursement for his troubles and Angel points out that watching the pig was the favor he owed him but Husk complains though, asking Angel if he knows how hard it is to get the drink materials in hell. Angel gushes about the fact Husk uses his first emoji, and that he's willing to pay him back for his troubles with a private show just for him❤️

Husk declines the offer of course but in a "...I'm not doing that." sort of way, see now imagine him trying to hide his embarrassing blushing face while typing that out. 

(Also he allows the nickname daddy but not Husky...k)

Angel acts a bit offended claiming he's worth it and Husk's response is just "Jesus fuckin Christ..." but not denying it??

He's not shutting him down completely, or telling him to fuck off—he's just saying no to the sexual stuff in the most unconvincing manner. Which leads us to the most jaw dropping conclusion.

Angel Dust asks Husk go grab some shakes with him instead, and Husk actually agrees.

It's literally a date.

Now I wanna take this moment to talk about why this is so important and special.

Every time Angel has made any sort of sexual comments/advances towards Husk either on the show or Instagram, Husk shuts it down. Because he doesn't want Angel for his body, he doesn't just want sex from him or to become some fuck buddy like Angel assumes everyone wants from him.

In fact it seems like they’re both building up a genuine relationship between them from what we've seen from the posts, I feel like Husk doesn't to ruin it by sleeping with him. They seem to be getting closer and much friendlier than from what we've seen from pilot as of right now, but I believe Husk is still hesitant because he’s terrified of the idea of love, being loved, again. So he keeps shrugging Angel off like a thorn in his thigh when in reality Angel is the closest chance he has at love again. But due to a horrible past, he drowns his sorrows in alcohol which leaves him closed up.

He’s in denial of his buried feelings he’s hid away because drinking is much easier than facing your harsh reality and emotions. Which is why it’s up to Angel to break down these walls he’s built up. To prove to Husk he’s actually serious about him--So far Angel has taken serious initiative to show Husk he’s interested in him, not backing down even when Husk tells him to fuck off.

As it’s much easier to tell someone to fuck off than it is to admit you have feelings for them.

However instead of rejecting Angel's milkshake date invitation, Husk accepts.

He's opening up to the idea of having someone close again, he's letting someone be close to him.

It's important for both of them to experience love before sex with each other. Angel probably has never had sex with someone "out of love" and Husk had "Lost the ability to love years ago" which is why they both need to learn what it truly means to love someone before stepping into the bounds of physical intimacy. It’s why its makes it all the more special for them. 

THE DATE

They end up going on the milkshake date, things turn a bit messy than romantic—but hey look at fat nuggets cute lil tongue (´・(oo)・｀)

Angel straight up said "💖🕷️🐷😺💖"

It's official they're a family

#hazbin hotel #angel dust #husk #angelhusk #huskerdust

[terubakudan]

This may be an old article from 3 years ago, but these cultural aspects/observations still apply even today. And though this is strictly a Chinese perspective, a lot of these everyday life bits are observed in Overseas Chinese communities in countries such as The Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. as well as countries heavily influenced by Chinese culture like Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.

I've always liked learning about other cultures and making comparisons between how things are done East vs West. Which probably stems from growing up with two cultures and Mom raising me on American movies xD

So the irony is if you asked me how many Chinese, Taiwanese, or Hong Kong actors I know, chances are I know as much as you do xD Like Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, and that's about it. But if you asked me about Western (specifically American and British) actors, then I have a useless brain dump of movie trivia and who was with who in what movie xD

Hmmm, both Taiwan and the Philippines are two distinct cultures but both look up to a certain country and are fascinated by that. In Taiwan's case, Japan and the US for the Philippines. In both cases, this is due to being under the rule of those countries in their history. Taiwan being under Japan for 50 years, and the Philippines being under Spain for 300+ years, followed by periods of American and Japanese rule. To put it simply though:

Taiwan is "mini-Japan with a very Chinese culture".

The Philippines is "former colony of Spain with lots of American influences".

But unlike the author, I've never set foot in any Western country, so my understandings are strictly what I've observed in media, which while it can be accurate, doesn't compare to actually experiencing the culture.

Some further elaboration on most points:

#1 We quite literally use chopsticks for everything. We use it to pick rice, viands, vegetables, fruit, smaller desserts, almost all the food you can think of.

But where do you put your chopsticks when you're not using them? Just put them on top of your bowl or flat on your plate. But do not ever stick them vertically. It's taboo, since it looks like incense sticks, which we use to pray for those who have passed, like our ancestors or during funerary services.

#3 The majority of Asia is obsessed with fair/white skin. In my time at the Philippines, I grew up watching all these Dove Whitening commercials and my classmates often commented on how fair my skin was, how they envied it etc. In Taiwan, girls often say they don't want to 變黑 (biàn hēi) 'become dark'. Japan and Korea too are not innocent of this either (if their beauty/skin products weren't a dead giveaway).

People here at Taiwan often mistake me for being from Hong Kong or Japan (as long as I don't speak Mandarin with my heavy accent xD). A Taiwanese classmate of mine joked that she often gets mistaken for being from Southeast Asia due to having a darker complexion. And while I laughed it off with her at that time, looking back, I now realize she was lowkey being racist. xD

And believe me Filipinas have mentioned literally being told 'your skin is so dark' here in Taiwan, or being given backhanded compliments like 'you're pretty despite having dark skin' and...*facepalms*

My point is, beauty is not exclusive to skin color. People who still think that are assholes.

#5 Not to say we don't have salt and pepper, but yes soy sauce and vinegar are the classic condiments you see on the table, be it at home or at a restaurant.

And if I may add, Taiwanese love their pepper. xD If you ever get to eat at a night market or a smaller "Mom n' Pop-style" restaurant here, some dishes/soups tend to add quite an excessive amount of pepper. Not like anthills, but quite liberally and way more than average. Enough that you see traces of pepper at the bottom of the food paper bag or swirling in your soup. xD

#6 I know this all too well from personal experience. In my years of studying at Taiwan, I always had roommates. 3 in my first school (I graduated high school in the Philippines pre K-12 so I had to make up 2 years of Senior High), followed by 2 in college, with the exception of 1 in freshman year.

My college did offer single person dorms but at around 9000 NTD ($324) per month compared to around 6000 NTD ($216) per semester. Because I wanted to save, the choice was obvious for me xD. But ah, this doesn't mean I don't value personal space, in fact I love having the room to myself, and since both my roomies would go home to their families every weekend, weekends were bliss for me xD

And you don't have to be friends with your roommates (that's an added bonus however), you just have to get along with them. I was quite lucky to have really great roommates all throughout my schooling years.

#9 In the Philippines, we do. Owing mostly to American influences and maybe being predominantly Catholic? xD

#10 *sigh* Chinese parents and parents from similar Asian cultures tend to put too much emphasis on grades, so much that kids could get sent to cram school as early as elementary. This is because what school you get into could literally affect your future job opportunities, and while that's not exclusive to any particular country/culture, I feel it's especially pronounced here in Asia. I'm really lucky my own parents weren't that strict about it. However, if your parents don't point the mistakes out to you, chances are you'll do it yourself, if you're an Asian kid like me anyway. xD It just becomes a habit.

#11 My family is an exception to this. xD We do say 'I love you' directly, but complete with the 'ah eat well ok?', 'don't scrimp on food', 'sleep well' and similar indirect words/actions of affection. We were doing 'Conceal, Don't Feel' before it became popular. xD

#13 I'm kind of confused about this but this has sort have changed over the years in which eye-contact is now more encouraged. But don't stare, especially at elders and authority figures. Sometimes it's just shyness though. xD And I've observed this with my own Taiwanese friend, especially when I'm complaining or ranting to her about something. xD I'm a person who likes to express my opinions strongly, which tends to scare/alienate some of the locals here, as doing so is kind of frowned upon. Thankfully, she does listen and offers her take on things.

#14 Ah this. xD In the Philippines, this is a common greeting known as beso-beso, and I freaked out too when an auntie did that to me. xD Needless to say, Mom lectured me later on what that was. ^^"

#16 Along with #3 another crazy beauty standard. In my view, people always look better with a little meat on them and when they're not horribly thin. Asia still has a loonng way to go with accepting different types of bodies if you ask me. This combined with modern beauty standards has made the pressure for women especially to 'look beautiful' higher than ever.

I know many people love them but please, starving yourself or glorifying eating disorders is never OK just to get this kind of 'ideal' body. I'm not part of the Kpop fandom, but even I think when idols get bullied just for gaining the least bit of weight among other insensitive comments, that's really going too far.

#17 'If you want to make friends, go eat.' <- I couldn't agree more. In the Philippines we have a greeting: 'Kumain ka na ba?' (Have you eaten?) . Similarly in Taiwan, we have 吃飯了沒? (chī fàn le méi), both of these can mean that in the literal sense but are often used as greetings instead. By then which invitation to having lunch/dinner together may or may not follow. Food really is a way for us to socialize and to catch up with what's going on in each other's lives. Not to say we don't have regular outings like going out to the mall, going shopping, etc. but eating together is a huge part of our culture, be it with family or friends.

And while I'm at it, some memes that are way too accurate good to pass up xD

Parents, uncles, aunties alike will fight over the bill xD

Alternatively:

You just space out until your name is called xD

My parents are guilty of the last one. Logic how? xD

#18 True. xD I like giving compliments out to people but I have a hard time accepting them myself, though I've learnt how to accept them much more now than before. We're kind of raised to constantly downplay ourselves so we often say things like 'ah no no' or 'I'm really not that good'. The downside of this of course is that it can come off as somewhat fake. xD

Again from personal experience, that same classmate who made the lowkey racist remark, she was good, she was on the debate team, was a honor student, knew how to mingle with people, but she downplayed herself way too much, while praising me but I honestly thought that she never really meant it from how she treated me. She wanted to keep me around her yet make backhanded compliments at me and she didn't want me socializing with my other classmate who is now my friend. *sigh* It was only after discussing this with one of my roomies did I realize how this 'excessive downplaying' might come off to people like me who more or less grew up with a more 'Westernized' mindset. I'm not saying brag about your achievements but don't be overly humble about them either, which can also be a turn off.

#20 We do tend to be a lot more realistic on how we view things, neither entirely optimistic nor pessimistic. We try to think of things practically and often analyze things on pure logic. A downside of this however, is that Chinese people can be overly practical. Taiwanese for instance don't like to 'find inconveniences' and generally keep to themselves, meaning, they won't help you in your hour of need even when they do have the capabilities. Sounds really harsh I know, but in my 6 years of living in Taiwan, while this doesn't apply to all the people, a lot of them really do only find/talk to you when they need something.

So for some people saying Taiwanese are 'friendly', that's BS xD If you ask me, Filipinos are infinitely more friendly, and again while not all, generally make more of an effort to help you when you need it. I really felt more of a real sense of community during my years growing up in the Philippines compared to Taiwan.

#21 Children do tend to stay with their parents well into college and adulthood, since Chinese families are indeed very family-oriented, in a lot of cases, grandparents often live under the same roof as us as well! And it really does save a lot of money. I see there's a real stigma in the US when it comes to "living with your parents", but that's starting to change especially because of Covid and having more and more people move back in with their parents.

Housing unfortunately is pretty much hella expensive no matter where you go, and Taiwan is no exception. Steep housing prices and the very high cost of raising a child (schooling + buxiban fees, etc.) contribute to a very low birth rate and thus an aging population like Japan. It's not uncommon to see both parents working in Taiwan.

#23 I'm an overthinker myself, but I totally agree with the author that the best is to strike a good balance between these two. Which I guess is why I love drawing or any other related creative attempts, it helps me be more spontaneous or well, creative! I like to remain intellectually or artistically inspired.

#24 Is French high school really like that? xD My friend did watch SKAM France and more or less got a culture shock from what was depicted on the show. I can confirm however that most high schools both in the Philippines and Taiwan require students to wear a uniform, only in college is everybody free to wear casual/civilian clothes.

#26 Ah this is part of our Asian gift-giving etiquette xD We always open gifts later after the event/meeting and in private. Never open them in front of the person who gave it to you or in front of others. This is to prevent any 'shame/embarrassment' that may result both to yourself and to the gift giver. I know this may come off as something weird since some people may want a more honest response or immediate feedback when it comes to gift-giving, but that's just how it is in our culture. You're always free to ask us though (in private) if we liked the gift or not ^^"

#28 I want to say the same goes to drinking, partying, and drugs however xD Those are things which are still frowned upon in our culture. And to be honest, whenever I see those in movies, it does kind of turn me off xD It doesn't mean that we're "uncool" or "boring", we just think that there are much better or healthier ways of "having fun".

#31 Is this true in France?! Man I would kind of prefer that instead of people being on their phones all the time xD This kind of goes with #20 in that Chinese are overly practical or logical, and don't read fiction as much as nonfiction. My Taiwanese friend is an exception though, she's a bibliophile who loves the feel of paper books compared to e-books, and it's a trait of her that I like a lot. Both the Philippines and Taiwan however have a huge fanbase when it comes to manga and anime though.

I'm all for reading outside of "designated reading" at schools especially. Reading fiction improves your vocabulary too, and can be quite fun! It helps you imagine and really invest in a world/story, and if you ask me something that I feel Westerners are better at, they're more in touch with their emotions and creativity, and are thus much more able to write compelling or original stories. Believe me, I've seen a fair amount of Chinese movies that rip off Western movie plotlines xD

#33 Nothing much to add on here..except that since I'm a "weird" person, Mom often jokes that she got the wrong baby from the hospital. xD

#35 True. While I agree with the care and concern that your fellow community can give you, the downside of this is we tend to only hang out with our own people, e.g Chinese with Chinese, Taiwanese with Taiwanese, etc. I've seen too that it's especially hard to make friends in Japan and Korea as a foreigner. Not only is there the language barrier, but the differences in culture too. In a way, Asians can be pretty close-minded on getting to know other cultures or actually making friends with people from other countries. I know this all too well being half-Taiwanese/half-Filipino, being neither "Filipino" enough nor "Taiwanese" enough. xD It's more of people here being too used to what they're comfortable with.

#36 Oh this is something I feel that Chinese students and other students from similar cultures should really improve on. xD How will people respect you if you don't speak your mind?

I felt bad especially for my Spanish teacher in college, granted it was an introductory course (Spanish I and II) but the amount of times that our teacher had to prompt a student to recite/speak even with clear hints already made her (and me too) extremely frustrated. The thing is, these are college students, I personally feel they don't have any reason to be so shy of speaking and technically by not doing so they're slowing the pace of the class too much and a lot of time is wasted.

Unfortunately you can't always be very vocal with your thoughts and opinions in most Asian cultures. I would say strive for that, but at the same time, play your cards well, especially if you're in a workplace setting.

If you made it to the end, thank you for reading and here's a cookie! 🍪 I'm not perfect and there's bound to be something I missed so please let me know if you spotted anything wrong. Feedback/questions are very much welcome and please feel free to share about your country/culture's differences or similarities!

#asia #asian #culture #asian culture #chinese #chinese culture #east asia #china #taiwan #japan #korea #southeast asia #philippines #malaysia #indonesia #thailand #vietnam #travel #I didn't tag every country due to a lack of understanding or not meeting or being around people of that country #I know I shit on Taiwan a lot but believe me Taiwan has a lot of good parts too - it's just that it focuses too much on those now xD #and there are too many YouTube videos that only talk about the good parts of Taiwan - and while those are true #I felt that by not being honest with some very serious faults - it doesn't give a fair/clear perspective to others #especially people who in the future may want to work/travel here

[kitkatopinions]

I feel the need to hear your opinion on this since this is something I've been thinking about recently, and it's how crwby handles complex relationships/abuse in their show... It's infuriating.

I can't tell if they genuinely think they are writing this in a good way or if they know they're half asss-ing it and don't care since the fandom will eat it up anyways. Two big examples that come to mind for me in the last volume are emerald & cinder and whitley & jacques. In both instances the the victim never gets a moment of closure or a moment of breaking away from their abuser, nor are either victims allowed to show any sort of 'hesitance' (for a lack of a better term) related to their abuse.

Emerald (despite being all over cinder before Midnight), just conveniently forgets about her for the finale. Same for whitley. He just completely forgets about jacques (the man who manipulated him from birth) the moment weiss hugs him. On a shallow level, watching a victim pay no mind to their abuser is satisfying, but it being so immediate is just unrealistic and takes away from the pain that we are supposed to think these characters have suffered.

One of the worst things about suffering from abuse is how is affects the victims even when they have left the abusive relationship, but crwby seems to want to erase that completely from characters who should experience that for plot convenience.

It seems like the lesson learned from this is "if you were abused, just get over it and be convenient to our heroes or else!" And it's pretty gross imo.

Thoughts?

I thought that I would put these two asks together and take this opportunity to talk about the abuse victims in RWBY and how they're handled. I've tried to think long and hard about what to say about this, because this is an important topic to me and something that's personal for me. I'm an abuse survivor, but I have a complicated relationship with that part of myself and I'm never really comfortable talking about it much. But despite the fact that I've experienced abuse, I recognize that I'm not a professional sensitivity editor, not a therapist, and not someone who's studied the effects of abuse.

I'm simply writing this based on my own feelings and what I've picked up witnessing other abuse victims discuss their own feelings about abused character. There will be RWBY criticism below the keep reading. Please keep in mind that I'm not speaking for all abuse survivors and am only trying to articulate my own feelings in regards to this issue.

The first thing to note is that there isn't one, correct, right way to write an abuse victim in my opinion. Lots of people have different reactions and responses to abuse, the way they were abused is often also different, causing different reactions.

In the first anon, it's noted that Emerald and Whitley both seem to move on from their abuse quickly and with very little effect on them or their stories. Many abuse victims put their experiences on the back burner or 'in a box' to deal with later, or mask and pretend that they're alright or that their abuse just didn't happen. Some of them let their feelings or their anger simmer over time. There are also abuse victims who do just... Move on with relative ease. I'd imagine that's very rare though. (again, I'm not not an expert or any sort of psychologist.)

In the same way, an abuse victim becoming an abuser in their own interactions is something that one hundred percent happens. Cinder, Salem, Adam, and even Blake and Winter have all acted in abusive ways towards the people around them (though obviously Blake and Winter acted much less abusive than any of the villains mentioned.) It might be very hard for abuse victims to not fall back into those patterns of abuse that they've suffered, especially if they go through it at an early age. I'm not very comfortable talking about my own experiences, but myself and my siblings have all had to fight down toxic, hurtful traits that we picked up either through emulating or through survival. And it's hard to do that. Portraying characters who have been abused that lost that fight and might have abusive tendencies or slip themselves is - to me at least - sometimes even helpful in working through my own feelings.

And there are definitely one hundred percent abuse victims who feel like the way they were treated is deserved, that they 'earned' it, that they must 'make up for it.' Oz is in this category. There's nothing wrong with the concept of a character who feels responsible for their abuser or the hurt their abuser has caused to others, there’s nothing wrong with a character who tends to act as though everything is their fault and who thinks very poorly of themselves.

In theory. But the problem is that in application, there are a lot of pitfalls and struggles that come with writing for abuse victims. Understanding, thoughtfulness, and care are not the RWBY writers’ strength, and any time you portray real life issues that strongly impact the real life people involved in them, you have to be aware and careful with the messages you’re sending. This is obviously very important when someone writes for any minority or oppressed group or the issues that they face, but it’s also important to remember when you write for abuse victims, because they do have stigmas around them and deal with stereotypes and harmful portrayals as well. Let’s look at what I consider some harmful or hurtful pitfalls when it comes to abused characters.

Are the abused characters treated as the victims they are? If the abuse a character faces is treated as comical, treated as unimportant, or treated as deserved, that’s an obvious major flaw. Sad to say, but RWBY does not pass this. On two separate occasions, a character is hit by someone close to them in a way that clearly causes them some pain, with Blake hitting Sun across the face for following her, and Winter hitting Weiss for answering a question incorrectly and again for failing in her training (I tend to be more sympathetic towards Blake’s situation, as it is more gray with her clearly thinking Sun had stalked her which is a clear trigger from her own abuse, but this is an explanation, not an excuse and the fact that it was framed as funny rather than something Blake shouldn’t have done and should apologize for is the problem.) They also do not treat Ozpin like the victim when Qrow punches him in the face, having no one call Qrow out for it and having him never express guilt or try to apologize for it. Yes, I know Ozpin had retreated, but they never showed Qrow even make an effort to get Ozpin to come back so he could apologize. . They also ‘redeem’ Hazel and give him a ‘partially right’ storyline despite his openly beating Ozpin, unfairly blaming him for the death of his sister, and insisting that Ozpin deserved to be tortured. On top of this, despite having been horribly abused by the SDC, Adam isn’t treated with even an ounce of sympathy or understanding and Jacques Schnee and the SDC is treated like a more comical-ish nuisance in season seven and eight. This is greatly flawed. Hitting someone because they lied to you or kept secrets from you is not okay, hitting someone because they said something you don’t like is not okay. This should not be treated as funny and it shouldn’t be treated as the fault of the person who was hit for not being a good enough friend.

Are the abused characters mostly villains, when the heroes have never faced it? The reason for this is obvious, although it’s valid to have a villain be an abuse victim, it’s never alright to villainize abuse victims. Making the majority of your bad guys abuse victims and your good guys have positive relationships is in my opinion, harmful. Point for RWBY, this is not the case for their show. Mercury, Salem, and Cinder on the bad side are all abuse victims with Raven being a possible, but unconfirmed abuse victim as well. While Weiss, Blake, Ozpin, and Whitley are also abuse victims, with Qrow and May both being possible, but unconfirmed abuse victims, and Winter and Emerald are both abuse victims who were on the side of a villain and then turned good.

Is the abuse more severe in the ‘bad’ characters and lighter in the ‘good’ characters? If the abuse that the good guys faced is mostly lighter things and the abuse that the villains suffered is worse and more severe, that might send some bad messages that people who suffer more are automatically worse people, or ‘unsalvageable’ or ‘too broken,’ as opposed to the people that ‘there’s still hope for.’ Unfortunately, I think RWBY is almost a tie? We’ve never seen Weiss or Emerald suffer more than a hit, we don’t know for sure that Whitley or Winter were ever victims of physical abuse. Ozpin and Blake’s abuse is worse, however, as they are hunted down by their abusers who attempt to murder them, make them suffer, and hurt their loved ones. They also were heavily emotionally manipulated and victim blamed by their abusers. And on the villain side, Mercury was beat by his father who hated him and stole his semblance (an extension of your soul, I believe, in canon,) and the abuse led to the loss of his limbs. Cinder was forced to work hard labor by her abusive employer and the ‘stepsisters’ treated her badly, and she was physically electrocuted. We see her abuse extend to Salem using her Grimm arm to hurt her, copying the effects of the necklace. Adam was also a child laborer who worked in terrible conditions who got his face branded by his employer, in the SDC, which had to have been anti-faunus charged due to his bull horns. We don’t see Salem ever physically abused, but know that she was mistreated, isolated, and neglected by her ‘cruel’ father. So it’s not quite a tie, there are more severely abused characters amongst the villains than the heroes, but this is close enough that I don’t consider this much of a strike against them.

In the villains, is the abuse they faced given as ‘reason’ for their villainy? As I said before, villainizing abuse victims isn’t the way to go. A good way to avoid this - I think - is not have abuse be the sole reason for someone’s fall into a life of crime or cruelty. This is something that RWBY... Fails at imo. When showing us Mercury’s backstory, we’re introduced to him through seeing that he had just killed his abuser who cost him his legs, and then gets recruited by Cinder who at the very least likely emotionally and physically abused him the same way she did with Emerald, leading to the conclusion that the only reason he’s there at all is due to abuse. However, he’s just a teen and it’s possible that (like Emerald) he’ll be redeemed. A much more condemning story to talk about is Cinder’s. After people had been clambering for a Cinder backstory since volume three, RWBY finally showed us one. But it doesn’t include Cinder meeting Salem, why she joined her, her proving herself, none of that. Instead, Cinder’s backstory was entirely focused on her abusive situation as a child, entirely focused on her suffering. Cinder killing her abusers and then killing the teacher who decided to arrest her for getting herself out of her abusive situation was portrayed as the only needed backstory, the explanation to why she’s a power hungry, abusive, cruel, selfish, and just plain evil person. ‘She was abused’ is the explanation for why Cinder is where she is and why she is who she is in RWBY. That’s highly problematic to me.

In the heroes, are they “the Perfect, Sanitized Abuse Victims?” As I said before, there is no one type of abuse victim, but if someone has several abuse victims and they’re all either submissive, sad, and self-doubting, but gentle and caring and soft or dropped their abuser like a hotcake and never looked back, never seem affected, never really talk about it after they left... That’s bothersome to me personally. Measuring how RWBY is in this particular subject is... A little harder than I thought it would be. Let’s start by looking at the most prevalent abuse victim, Blake. She’s one of the reasons why this is hard to gauge, because for the first five seasons, Blake was deeply flawed and clearly affected by her abuse in ways that made her ‘unappealing.’ Blake was cynical, stubborn, cold, hard to get to know, she didn’t trust easily, she lashed out at her friends regularly, ran from her problems, made choices for her friends, and had a very negative self image. This didn’t stop her from being a good character and friend with a lot of good sides, too, and she had real, important friendships. This was - to me - a really great portrayal of someone clearly affected by their trauma, with lots to work on, who was still a good person. Some of her faults and problems started to get resolved in a natural way through her journey with Sun in volumes four and five, but when season six came around, many of Blake’s other traits suddenly vanished. No longer stubborn, independent, or cynical, and no longer standing up for herself, or really displaying her temper or hardheadedness or her struggles with getting to know people... Blake became more submissive, sad, self-doubting, but gentle, caring, and soft. Sigh. As the first ask mentioned, Whitley and Emerald both seemed to drop their abusers quickly the second they were removed from their lives again. it’s also worth noting that Whitley was treated with nothing but coldness and contempt by Weiss until he ‘proved himself’ by doing something selfless. Weiss did more or less drop Jacques the moment she left her house in V4, only mentioning him or her experiences when she’s using it to talk about Blake, and when she confronted him again in V7, she did so as someone who is proving she no longer cares. Ozpin seems to be the only one still unable to move on from his abuse and the ‘unappealing’ abuse victim. The first anon is right, there’s something satisfying with seeing an abuse victim move on like their abuser didn’t matter. But when almost all your abuse victims do, and one of the only other ones is turned into a submissive and soft support based / romance based character, and the only really ‘unappealing’ abuse victim is someone we’re supposed to see as ‘gray’... There’s something off there, in my opinion.

Were the abuse victims treated respectfully and thoughtfully by their friends, and if not, were they portrayed as wrong? This probably isn’t something that really even needs an explanation. Abuse victims should be able to set their own boundaries and tell their stories only when they want, when they feel comfortable, Their friends should be understanding of this and not force anything from them. In the case of Blake and Weiss, this is handled really well! Their friends let them talk about their experiences in their own time, and they’re understanding and validate their feelings when it comes up (much more common with Blake than with Weiss, who like I said, seemed to move on from her dad quickly after she left.) However, when it comes to Oz... This is all wrecked. Although unintentional (no one knew how deeply tied up with Salem Ozpin was or how intimate the memories they were going to watch were,) our main characters still forced Ozpin’s deepest and most personal secrets out of him in a fit of upset while he was tearfully begging them not to. He was forced to relive his most traumatic experiences in hi-def with other people watching with him, all his secrets and all his abuse wrenched away from him in what was clearly a very painful way. And then no one showed Ozpin even the slightest bit of sympathy or understanding for what he’d gone through, and no one ever apologized for what they had forced him to relive. In fact, Team RWBY were clearly displayed as in the right, and Oz was displayed as completely wrong for not trusting them implicitly. He had to apologize to them, which they acted begrudgingly accepting of as if they hadn’t shouted at an abuse victim after forcing him to relive all his worst experiences.

Are some abuse victims portrayed as bad for things that other abuse victims aren’t portrayed as bad for? Like the second ask says, in RWBY, Cinder and Mercury are treated as villains for having killed their abusers and Cinder is almost arrested for it, it’s considered a step in the direction of their villainy. But Blake is (rightfully) treated as the victim who was forced, who had no choice, who just wanted the abuse to stop. This is hypocritical and fundamentally flawed. I think this is a reflection of the fact that Cinder and Mercury are meant to be ‘bad’ abuse victim, who had violent tendencies and anger issues, and were already featured as bad guys before their backstory’s dropped, whereas Blake was meant to be a better abuse victim who (by season six) was starting to get written as a soft girl who just wanted to help her friends.

All in all, although there’s some things that I think that RWBY did well enough, I definitely think that I would consider their portrayal of abuse victims to be lacking. This is just my opinion and the way I feel about the writing, but there are a lot of ways to look at it. I think overall, I just really wish that the RWBY writers had been a little more sensitive and spent a little longer focusing on the character arcs involved in abuse recovery. (There’s still a chance for Whitley, Weiss, and Emerald to get more focus in volume ten, though, so long as the writers don’t timeskip!)

#rwde #rwby criticism #rwby critical #rwby hate #rwby bashing #tw; abuse #trigger warning; abuse

[handonhaven]

So um there is certain group that in this fandom(I'm not gonna name which one but I think it'll be pretty easy to figure out) that have taken to editing articles online to make it seem like their ship is happening and pretty much everything else they wish would happen on the show. Granted the edit to the articles don't last very long before they get changed back. But still I feel like that just a whole new level of sad. To go through all that trouble and they're just feeding into their own "I feel like I been lied to" thing. That's why if it's not one of those websites where Brett and other cast members do their interviews(the website that can't be edit) then I don't pay no mind or believe anything it says

Okay I know I'm really late with this one(and sorry if you answered something like this already) but Lizzie and Josie just made me mad to no end in 3x16. First let me start by saying I get them being upset that Hope ditched them and stole their car. That's understandable. But the fact that they didn't care where Hope was or where she went or if she was okay etc. That made me so mad, and then the only thing Lizzie cared about was making sure Hope would be in a relationship with someone other than Landon(don't even get me started on the comment she made about them and sex 😡😡). Because why shouldn't Hope be with the one person who loves her truly just the way she is. And does whatever he can to make sure she's okay and does whatever he can to help her unlike everyone else at that school, as well as a million other things I could add. And then at the end of the episode when Hope was back at the school both Lizzie and Josie go talk to her and try to act all high and mighty in a way. Asking Hope of it meant nothing to her what happened between them in 3x15. Clearly it meant nothing to Lizzie and Josie because they spent all of 3x16 not giving a crap about Hope. I mean they say they want to be there for Hope and help her and so on but then turn around and do the exact opposite. I honestly can't.

I think I can honestly say after this season. I would sacrifice anyone if it meant that Hope and Landon could be happy. I would throw anyone and everyone under the bus if I had to. Heck I would throw someone to malivore if I had. Just so they could be happy. Because all the trauma they went through these past 3 seasons plus all the trauma they went through before hand. They're done, like let them be done going through trauma. Just let them be happy of once, I don't care who has to pay what price let someone else go through something. I know it would suck for another character to go through pain I do. But Hope and Landon has had 3 seasons of nonstop trauma. That's way more than enough. Just give them a break and let someone else go through something. I don't care who they would throw under the bus to make that happen. Just make it happen, so that way Handon can deal with and possess all the trauma they've been through and move past it and just be happy. I know it's wrong to say let another character through pain so they can be happy, I do. But after three seasons of only them going through some much this is how I feel now. Yes I know other characters went through stuff too, but it was never to the extent to what Hope and Landon have been going through. And they even got a break from it and got to deal with. Hope and Landon have never gotten that.

So my friend came up with this theory that 4x04 is going to be a parallel to 3x04. Because at the end of 3x04 we had to watch as Hope watched Landon melt right in front of her. Which was heart breaking enough by the way. Then the end of 4x04 will be Landon watching Hope die right in front of his eyes. Just thinking about something like that happening just breaks my heart 💔💔💔💔. It was bad enough having to see that once. But they have see that twice.... I think my heart will jump out of my chest and fall into the ocean somewhere never to be seen again. There's no way I could take seeing something like that twice.

Okay so I know everyone has there own thoughts on this one, but I would love to hear yours. So if Klaus was alive and met Landon what do you think he would think of him? I honestly think he would love Landon(even though he wouldn't come out right and say that). For the person he is despite everything he's been through in his life, and how he's always trying to better himself. For how good he is to Hope and how happy he makes her. And for how he's trys to help Hope with everything, and does what he can to help keep her safe. And so on.

Seriously?? Wow. So that’s how they’re spending the hiatus? That’s definitely sad and absurd, the kind of stuff they do continues to reach new levels. I just don’t get what the point is of trying to temporarily deceive people by doing that... so that they can feel like they’ve won for a little while? They must be pretty desperate. And they really are just lying to themselves at this point, and are going to great lengths to lie to other people too. Idk what sites even allow them to do that, at least the articles get changed back though. But yeah, I’m gonna stick to only looking at legit articles and websites, and official info from people who actually work on the show. That’s just incredibly stupid, honestly.

I actually did talk about that a bit in a response to an ask here x. But yeah, same. I understand them being upset about Hope ditching them too, but Hope clearly did it to keep them out of what she was doing because there could’ve been danger. That’s nothing new for Hope, and since they’re supposed to be her best friends, shouldn’t they know that? And even though they were upset, they still should’ve been more concerned about Hope’s safety, which they weren’t. And yes, exactly. Yes to all you said. It was all so frustrating to watch and made me mad too. And so true about Hope and Landon, Hope should be able to be with him, he’s all those things you said and more. So there was no good reason for Lizzie to try to find Hope someone else when she still loves Landon and wasn’t interested in moving on. And I agree about the end of the episode as well. Once again, their concern was the fact that Hope had ditched them, not if she was okay. Exactly, it doesn’t seem like 3x15 meant anything to them since they were so quick to give up on Hope. Just one thing went wrong, which was really more of an inconvenience for them, and they didn’t even try to be there for Hope. They got offended and did nothing. So it makes me worried for when Hope has to deal with Malivore and whether or not they’ll really be there for her.

Yeah, I mean, hopefully no one would have to be sacrificed for them to be happy. But it’s really sad that it’s gotten to the point where it feels like it would take something that extreme to make it happen. It’s truly insane the kind of trauma they’ve gone through and how they can never get a real break and be happy. I agree, if anyone deserves to be happy at this point, it’s them. And I wouldn’t want someone else to have to suffer either, but if the writers are so insistent on having someone suffer, they need to have it not be Hope and Landon for once! They need a better balance of what goes on with all the characters instead of just putting Hope and Landon through everything all the time. Exactly, they seriously have gone through nonstop trauma, they can’t go through anymore at this point, it’s too much. I agree, they need to be able to recover and heal after all they’ve been through so that they can be okay and be happy. I honestly don’t know how either of them have even been able to keep going after all they’ve experienced, it’s so horrible. And yeah, it’s not that the other characters haven’t gone through stuff too, it’s just not at all like what Hope and Landon have dealt with. And like you say, with no breaks, no time to heal. I just think it’s ironic how they wanted this show to be lighter, yet they still put these characters through terrible things, Hope and Landon most of all. They have them constantly dealing with trauma and pain and death, they just lighten up the tone and throw in some comedy amidst all of the tragedy to make it seem lighter when it’s really not. Not for Hope and Landon anyway. I wish they’d make their actual lives and experiences lighter overall, and let them live and be happy for a bit, it’s what they deserve.

Oh my gosh! So I’ve also wondered if Hope is gonna die in 4x04, but I didn’t even think about how that would be a parallel to 3x04! 😭 It will be so painful if it happens, I’m not sure I can take it either! Although, if Landon is there if it happens that could also make for an amazing scene. Like seeing Landon crying over her, or his reaction to it triggering his Phoenix powers again, or maybe even getting healing tears? I’d lose it. It would definitely be heartbreaking, but as long as they wouldn’t get separated again like in 3x04 and they could still be together after, hopefully we would survive seeing something like that again!

When it comes to Klaus and Landon, I have so many thoughts about that, I could make a whole other post about it. But I completely agree with what you said. Every time I see people say Klaus would hate Landon, that he would’ve killed him, etc. like... it makes me mad but I also wanna laugh. Because there’s just no way that Klaus would feel that way about Landon, and whoever thinks he would either didn’t actually watch The Originals, or at least didn’t pay attention to it or understand it. I don’t know how anyone can watch that show and come away from it thinking Landon isn’t the kind of person Klaus, Hayley, and the rest of Hope’s family would want for Hope. And we already saw Klaus’s reaction to Landon dancing with Hope. He was smiling and happy to see Hope with him. He’s already basically approved of Landon. But I really do think he would love Landon too. He wanted Hope to be happy, and Landon is the one who makes Hope happy. So I think that alone would be reason enough for Klaus to like Landon and want him in Hope’s life. But also the other things you said as well, I think he would really admire Landon and the kind of person he is after all that he’s been through. I’ve always thought it was interesting how, in some ways, Landon went through similar things in his childhood like Klaus and Hayley did. He was abused, and Klaus was also abused, and was in foster care with no real family, like Hayley was. And I think for Klaus to see the way Landon has handled that and didn’t let those things change who he is as a person, and still chose to be a good and kind person even after being treated so horribly, I’m sure that would mean a lot to Klaus. To see the way that Landon has been able to overcome darkness in his life, and that’s what Hope needs as well. Klaus and the rest of the Mikaelsons always wanted Hope to be better than how they had been, and Landon helps Hope to be better and helps brings out the best parts of her. And of course with the way that Landon treats Hope, and how much he loves her, how loyal he is, and the way he fights for her and is willing to do whatever it takes to keep her safe, I’m sure Klaus would be so grateful to Landon. Like, just imagine Klaus’s reaction to what Landon did for Hope in 2x11, along with everything else he’s done. How could Klaus not love someone who loves his daughter that much and is that devoted to her? I could go on about this, but this has gotten ridiculously long so I’ll stop. But yeah, I definitely think Klaus would love Landon and be so glad that Hope has him.

#answered #s3 #handon

[skyhopedango]

I was thinking about what sets HanaDoll* apart from other idol anime. Generally, idol anime is full of bizarre but fun shenanigans, and when there's drama, it's usually the cheesy kind where the audience definitely knows things will turn out fine and how. This is because idol anime is escapism, just like real idols. But HanaDoll* isn't escapism, not when everyone is suffering constantly to the point that it hurts to watch. (1/2)

That's when it hit me, that HanaDoll* was sensationalism. After all, we're being "entertained" by the characters' horrible experiences and true, dark feelings. Isn't it no different from rifling through tabloids that expose celebrities and the entertainment industry? If there was a scale for idols, one end would be escapism and the other sensationalism. (2/2)

Sorry, I didn't know how to format this... :D;; Also, sorry for reacting so late! For some reason it seems Tumblr notifications go right to my junk folder...

Anyway, great observation! Definitely, spectacle is very much part of the concept - in fact, the official tagline for HanaDoll* is "are they humans or dolls?" (彼らは「人間」か「人形」か。) and the tagline for the upcoming Loulou*di album Pensée in particular is:

"Do you respect them as people with their own will?

Or do you use them as dolls for you to play with as you wish?"

(By the way, I just love the whole word play with "idol", "doll" "human" and "flower"... it's such a well thought out concept!)

So it definitely points at the whole concept of an "idol" and says "hey look - you do realize they're people too, right?" It leans into the whole thing about fans (both us IRL and the fans in-universe) having fun with what they perceive of a person, and what that person actually goes through IRL to be able to be the fantasy for the fans, and what drives them to do so despite, well, everything. Trying to be the fantasy people want to see, while also being aware that they're a product, a "doll" indeed. (And all along production exploits you to the last drop of your blood and discards you once you're not profitable anymore.)

The spectacle is also part of Mahiro's story in a way, albeit to a much smaller extent (but then Anthos* is generally lighter, more conventional and less... well, visceral in than Loulou*di), and then there's of course Chihiro who is still a mystery as of now, aside of the hints we've been getting via Loulou*di's story.

On that note, though, I feel the need to just say that HanaDoll* is not all darkness and pain. :D;; It's mostly Loulou*di that has it in such a concentrated dose, I guess because they're further along the line as idols so they're deeper in, and have much more shit they must fight their way through one way or another. Anthos* story is, on the surface, sometimes deceptively close to "regular" idol stories, at least in Season 1, except more down to earth and realistic in their characterization, and set in a fundamentally difficult and hostile world that stops at nothing to use and exploit them... and then the stories get more and more messed up as you realize what's working in the background, that gets more pronounced in Season 2. But overall I think it's working toward a positive outcome. (HanaDoll* is really more of an "idol dystopia mystery" than a regular "idol story" so there's an overall storyline tying episodes together and whatnot.)

#hanadoll* #hanadoll #loulou*di #louloudi #anthos* #anthos

[lovelystarlings]

Chapter Two - Hermione Granger

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When Camille was a little girl, her mother and father used to tell her the tale of Lily Potter; the woman who saved her son with love, the same son who defeated the Dark Lord and survived the killing curse. Camille never realised that Harry Potter was the same age as her, nor did she realise how young he was when he defeated the Dark Lord. So as she sat opposite him, she gained an insane amount of respect for him.

"I thought Fred and George were just joking around but, god you're him?" Ron spoke, his eyes wide in anticipation as he leant forward at the same time as Camille slammed her book shut and got up, squashing next to the two boys; much to the embarrassment of Ron who was heavily blushing once again.

"Have you got the, um, you know?" He pointed to Harry's forehead.

Harry nodded and pulled his bangs back to show the lightning scar that sat right in the middle of his forehead.

"Is that where the Dark Lord, you know?" Camile uttered out quietly, not wanting to offend the boy in anyway but curious, as any person would be, as to how he survived the ultimate curse.

"Yes," Harry replied, "But I don't remember it very much. Some green light but nothing else."

"Wow," said Ron. He sat and stared at harry for a few minutes than snapped his head back to the window, realising what he was doing.

"So you two must know loads about magic already." Harry spoke, looking at Camille, who hadn't really spoken to much.

"Oh yes," Camille spoke, her hands falling into her lap to fiddle with her cardigan ends, she hated small talk. "In France I was lucky to be tutored by the headmistress of my older sister's school, Beauxbaton's. My mother insisted I wasn't behind with my education, so she had me start reading and learning a year early." She explained, both boys leaning forward, her French accent making it impossible not to listen.

"Though I heard you had to live with muggles, how was it?" She spoke, instantly regretting her question when a look of despair flashed across the boy's face before he covered it with a mask of tranquillity. "Yeah that must have been terrible. My mums got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him." Ron began, Camille suspected that the Weasley's were one of the Sacred Twenty Eight, the twenty eight pure-blooded wizarding families, unfortunately the Delacour's were not a part of that twenty eight due to her grandmother being veela and her grandfather being a pureblood therefore leading to her mother being a half blood, breaking the Sacred Twenty Eight rules.

"Muggles are horrible -well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers or a wizard sister."

"Witch sister actually Harry, if you're gonna be a wizard you have to get the pronouns right."

"Five, actually" said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy, but Camille supposed so would she if she had five versions of Fleur, one was quite enough. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left -- Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good mark's and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

He gently took the rat that had previously been asleep off of his lap to display to the group. "His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff - I mean, I got stupid old Scabbers instead." Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.

Harry began to speak about his experience with muggles, how he had hand me down everything, and how he lived in a cupboard under the stairs, and how his aunt and uncle practically treated him like slave, or rather a house elf, Camille thought. Ron seemed to cheer up at the news that he wasn't the only unfortunate one in the carriage, and when both boys looked at Camille, as it were her turn to share the pity party, she froze. Despite having the perfect life to others, she had suffered from anxiety since she was a child due to an event that she wasn't quite ready to share just yet.

"My parents have always favoured my older sister over me, and it hurts you know. It's always about her, and her feelings, and how she succeeds, and sometimes I feel like I shouldn't be here you know? Like if my parents don't truly love me than who will. I mean they do all these things for me so they look good and fair enough but sometimes I wish they treated me like Fleur, and not some random that lives with them. Even when Fleur's boyfriend rap-" She cut herself off, her eyes beginning to water as she remembered how her parents had treated her after that. Her sister was just a loving as always, but naïve to the hardships that some faced, as she had never faced them herself.

Looking up at the two she felt a hand on her knee, Harry's hand to be specific.

"You don't have to carry on, it's okay." He spoke, Ron nodding in agreement, trying to find something to distract the poor girl.

"Hey look! We're out of London!" The redheaded boy pointed out the window as the trio smiled at the endless evergreen that surrounded them. They were finally on their way to Hogwarts.

Timed past quickly, and at half past twelve a faint knock was heard on the door of the compartment, waking Camille suddenly from her sleep, the book that had been rested on her face banging loudly as it fell to the floor, Camille bending down to pick it up awkwardly.

A smiling elderly woman poked her head around the sliding door gently, Harry and Ron already starting to thorough through their pockets for change. Camille assumed this was the trolley lady. 

"Anything off the trolley, dears?"

Ron made the decision to stay sat down and pulled out a bag of sandwiches that Mrs Weasley had obviously made, the French girl melting inside at the sweetness of his mother. He stared at the girl strangely, as if he expected her to get up like Harry.

"I left my money in the trunk," she shrugged, before going back to her book. She didn't need to eat anyway, as her mother had told her countless times.

Hearing a gasp from Ron, she lifted her head to see Harry return, arms filled with everything you could think off; chocolate frogs, every flavoured beans, blowing gum, pumpkin pasties (Camille's personal favourite) and cauldron cakes. He had basically bought out the whole trolley, making Ron's sandwiches look inferior compared to his full course meal or rather dessert.

"Bloody hell Harry. Hungry, are you?" Camille spoke, but was silent soon after as her stomach chose the wrong to rumble loudly, most likely the result of skipping breakfast and lunch.

"Bloody hell Camille. Hungry, are you?" Harry spoke mockingly, after taking a huge bite of his pasty and causing crumbs to spray everywhere.

"Harry!" Camille scolded, whipping her napkin out of her pocket to wipe off the crumps that had landed in her lap. "You never talk with your mouthful, it's vulgar!" She muttered to herself, Harry and Ron began to laugh at her antics as she furiously wiped her dress down, and threw the napkin onto the seat beside her, stomach rumbling once again.

"Camille?"

"Yes." The girl said frustratingly, blowing a stray hair that had fallen on to her forehead away, looking at the boy who lived in annoyance. She despised bad etiquette. "Would you like a pastry, in return for forgiveness for my devastatingly terrible manners in front of a lovely lady like you?" An annoying tone of confidence dripped from his words as Harry held out his hand, in it a pumpkin pastry.

"Well," Camille spoke slowly, hand reaching over to Harry's, "They are my favourite."

"You too, Ron. I'm not just gonna leave you with a beef sandwich." The boy who lived spoke, pushing a pasty over to the ginger boy. It was nice feeling, Camille thought as the three sat there munching their way through the endless pile of sweets, Mrs Weasley's homemade sandwiches far forgotten.

The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills. Excitement built in Camille, making her rather giddy as she thought of their arrival at Hogwarts.

There was a knock on the door of their compartment and a round-faced boy with shaking hand entered. He looked tearful, and Camille felt the need to give him a hug.

"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"

When they shook their heads, he wailed, surprisingly loud considering they were on a train full of people, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

"Well I'm sure he'll come back soon," spoke Camille in a matter of fact way, "We're on a train it's not like he can get far!"

"Yes, I suppose he will." The boy spoke miserably, before leaving their cabin in a hushed manner, heading straight to the opposite compartment, asking them the exact same question he had asked them.

"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron, patting the rat on his lap aggressively. "If I'd brought a toad, I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought useless old Scabbers, so I can't really talk."

"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look..." He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.

"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway."

He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toad less boy had returned, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes, her puffy brown hair and front crooked teeth noticeable. But Camille thought that she was quite pretty.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. Ah, thought Camille, so Neville's his name.

"We already told him we haven't seen it but we'll let him know if we do." Camille spoke softly, pitying the poor boy, Neville, she corrected herself, who still had tears pouring down his cheeks.

The girl however seemed distracted at the sight of a wand, a smile appearing on her face as she began to step further into the compartment, sitting herself down next to Camille. "Are you doing magic? Show us then." Ron seemed taken aback at forwardness of the brunette girl, who had made herself comfortable nest to Camille, even going as far to rest gently on her shoulder; Camille had found her new best friend.

"Uh-ok?" He cleared his throat. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."

Nothing happened, and Camille just had to let out a tiny giggle, not noticing the looks she gained from Harry and the girl beside her.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard - I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough - I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you." She spoke extremely fast, Camille having issues simply catching her name.

Hermione. Camille thought. That's pretty.

"Oh, w-well thank you I guess." Camille was just about as red as Ron's hair. She hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"Um you're welcome. I'm Camille." She locked eyes with the bushy haired girl, immediately looking away when she saw Hermione was as red as she was.

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered, his mouth once again stuffed with food.

"Harry Potter," said Harry.

"Are you really?" said Hermione. "I know all about you, of course - I got a few extra books. for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

"Am I?" said Harry, feeling dazed.

"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad. Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You three had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."

#harry potter #harry potter x reader #hermione granger #hermione granger x reader #hogwarts #hermione #harry #veela #fleur delacour #fluff

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

Shadowhunters 3x11, Lost Souls -- Review

It's that time of the year again where I put myself through the torture of enduring this show. Watching this show is like going on an endurance run. You drag your feet when you first start, when you get acclimated to the level of exercise, you think "hey, this isn't too bad" and then by the end, it's just pain...but also a sense of pride that you made it through. That's been my experience with the show, anyway. And it's basically how I felt about Shadowhunters 3x11, Lost Souls.

I would like to preface this review with saying that I am NOT a huge supporter of this show. I do enjoy certain elements of it but I'm not what would be classified as a devoted fan. For me, Shadowhunters is not a good show and I do get very critical of the show in my reviews. Honestly, for me, I watch the show because 1) I'm too curious not to and 2) I find that this show can be so bad its funny and that's how I reap enjoyment out of it. I am not at all invested in this show or its characters anymore. I'm just watching to see what happens. If you're a die hard fan and you lash out at everyone who has a different opinion than you, you might want to skip these...I'm just saying. My reviews may not be for you. If you do decide to be a total troll, well then pay attention to the below disclaimer.

This is going to be an honest review of my thoughts and feelings regarding this episode. If you're the kind of Shadowhunters fan where you only want to hear positive things about the show, this is not the place for you. If you decide to stick around and get offended by what is said, then that's on you. I warned you. Just know that if you send me any rude comments or messages, I will 100% ignore you. I find that's the best way to deal with bullies. I work 14 hour days. Do you really think I want to waste my incredibly valuable free time dealing with derogatory comments? Hell no. This review will consist of my honest opinions. Opinions are never right or wrong. I'm not telling YOU how to think and feel. I'm telling you what I, quirky and socially awkward me, think and feel. So please, lets discuss with dignity and respect. If I'm critical about this show, it's only because I want it to get better. There is, in fact, a difference between hating a show and being critical of it. I do not hate Shadowhunters, I am being critical and analyzing the flaws as I would with any other show. There are positives but there are also negatives. It's great if you want to promote positivity with this show (and I encourage you to do so) but that doesn't mean I'm not going to point out the things that are legitimately wrong with it. Also, keep in mind that despite the fact that I do like the books, me being critical of this show has nothing to do with my fondness for the books. I don't really care if the show deviates from the source material as long as the changes are good, it makes sense, and it doesn't create plot holes within the confines of the world the show has created. My problems with this show are problems I would have with any show or book for that matter. I think it's perfectly reasonable to take issue with a show that has plot holes, shoddy world building, and inconsistent characters. There will be spoilers for the books and movie.

We are at last embarking upon the final episodes of this show and if this episode is what's going to set the tone for the remaining episodes, then I'm glad it's the final episodes because...well, this episode wasn't great and is a perfect example of what I won't miss about Shadowhunters. Bland and cringey dialogue, more characters than it knows what to do with, and too much jumping across plot points. There are individual moments in the episode I enjoyed but overall, this isn't an episode I loved.

The Loss of the Mary Sue

I'm not entirely certain of the timeline in this episode. The episode never specifies on exactly how many days have passed since the 3A finale but I'm going to estimate about a week or so. Everyone believes Clary died in the explosion caused by Lillith attacking Simon.

The episode opens with Jace, Izzy, and Alec chasing after a downworlder and Jace makes some very shoddy decisions in this fight that lets you see just how reckless he's become in the wake of Clary's "death". We then get a montage of everyone missing Clary and the more significant one is Jace, that's the one they spent the most amount of time on. He's basically walking through Clary's room remembering all the times he spent with Clary...so basically three memories. Another classic example of what I've always been talking about when it comes to the adaptation changes. Clary and Jace have barely spent any amount of time together, even less actually dating and I'm supposed to believe that they're each other's one true love...not going to happen because the show didn't develop it at all. There's a moment in the montage where Jace starts looking at Clary's drawings and getting really emotional about it and I felt nothing because Jace has never been shown to take any sort of interest in Clary's artwork before. In fact, if it weren't for that one scene in 3A, I wouldn't even have known that Clary was still drawing. By the show deviating from the books in the way they did, Clace had less development but yet the show still wants to continue the aspect of Clace being hopelessly in love from the books. You can't make a significant change from the source material and then pages down the line expect to pick up exactly where you left off. By making the change, you changed the entire context of the relationship so now the entire story has to change in order to fit that new narrative. Sadly, the Shadowhunters writers have not figured that out yet and continue to make that same mistake...or they're lazy, it could be that, too. Jace eventually gets so depressed that it's implied that he's contemplating suicide but Izzy is able to talk to him and get him to think. And then she just leaves him after making him promise he won’t go through with it. If anyone's wondering, if you catch someone who you believe may be contemplating suicide, do not UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, LEAVE THEM ALONE!!! Particularly in a dark room. Being in a dark enclosed space is not the kind of place that typically sends out positive energy. But I suppose I can cut Izzy a little bit of a break. It's entirely possible the Shadowhunter world doesn't really understand how to help someone who's experiencing suicidal thoughts. They certainly didn’t help out Jace’s mother. Alec also confronts Jace about this in probably the only believable scene in this entire episode. Seriously, I've never been a Jalec shipper but I totally understand why people ship them. Matt and Dom are probably the only actors who actually have any chemistry with each other. But Alec tells Jace he's doing the memory of Clary a disservice and that if Jace were to die, it would destroy him as well. In other words, Jace isn't the only one who's going to be affected by this decision. Jace eventually is called by Luke who for some reason appears to be living in a motel room. I don't know why but whatever. Luke doesn't believe Clary is actually dead and he tries to convince Jace through some really weird conspiracy theory that probably even flat-earthers would find difficult to believe. But hey, if it leads to them finding Clary, I'll go with it. And I understand why Luke is unable to accept even the possibility that Clary might be gone for good. He can't think that about someone who he basically views as his daughter and the last connection he has to Jocelyn. Luke gives the evidence to Jace and tells Jace to at least check it out.

Simon, understandably, is also having a difficult time with all this. And Maia returns to give him emotional support despite leaving for a very particular and totally understandable reason but Simon needs her so of course she comes back for him. It's not like Maia exists for anything else but for Simon's character arc. Both Simon and Izzy kind of passive-aggressively shame Maia about leaving. And I'm particualrly disappointed in Izzy telling Maia about what happened to Simon's family as that's a very deeply personal issue and Simon should've been the one to tell her. It wasn't Izzy's secret to tell. I get that they were trying to use that scene to exposit information to the audience but there were better ways of doing that. Hell, it could've just been Izzy making an off-handed comment about Simon. Maia could've been talking to Izzy about how badly Simon is doing with the Clary situation and Izzy could've been all, "especially with what happened with his family" and Maia could've been shocked and Izzy could've been flabbergasted because she didn't know Maia didn't know. That would've been a much better way for the situation to be handled. But I'm not too pleased with Izzy saying in response to Maia not knowing, "well how could you? you weren't around." Just the insinuation that Maia should stay around and support her man and not go off and get in the right head space to properly heal herself after dealing with the re-emergence of her abuser. But I suppose I shouldn’t expect any different from Izzy seeing as she, herself, also only exists to give support the other characters. I think these passive aggressive intonations of shaming Maia are really horrible and shame on the writer. Maia, Izzy, and Simon decide to work together to find a way to get rid of the Mark of Cain from Simon's forehead. They talk to Raphael who now works at a soup kitchen in Detroit and Raphael tells them the tale of some dude chilling in the sewers of NYC who could possibly be the oldest vampire alive and may have answers to the removal of the Mark of Cain. Maia decides not to help Simon on this as its a bad idea for a werewolf and a vampire to meet and I almost forgot that was a thing, the show so rarely does anything with the vampire vs werewolf dynamic. But of course Maia has to back off to give room for Sizzy. I’m really not a big fan of Sizzy being explored here as everything that made Sizzy fun and interesting in the books has been completely stripped from the show. I’d much prefer Saia on the show. But really, I just want Maia and Izzy to have their own character arc, though that doesn’t revolve around shipping. 

The Malec B-Plot

We have a Malec B-plot that I found just completely unnecessary wherein Iris returns and kidnaps Magnus because she wants to get Madzie back. She falls for the most obvious trap in the world and hopefully we never see Iris again. What it does for Magnus's story works I guess but I just found it to be a really obtrusive subplot that didn’t fit at all with the episode. I'm not sure if it's just the fact that I've been away from the show for a year so I can see the the show a little more clearly now but the Malec chemistry is no longer working for me. Maybe it's just that I've always paid more attention to how alarmingly unequal their relationship is but I'm looking at the body language they're giving off and its not the kind of body language you would expect from lovers. They're so stiff around each other and not relaxed at all.

In fact, there's a line in this episode where Malec has just put Madzie to bed as they're baby-sitting her and Alec kisses Magnus and Magnus tells him to stop because they have a child in the apartment currently. Alec kind of scoffs because it's just a kiss and Magnus is all, "You know how we get." And I'm like, "Do we really, though?" There's plenty of scenes of them talking and I can buy them as friends with that but lovers? I’m having a difficult time actually buying that now. Like I said before, the Jalec scene was way more believable than any Malec scene in this episode.

But Magnus decides he doesn't want to feel helpess ever again so he decides he needs to learn how to fight. Honestly, I was surprised to learn that this is implying he doesn't even seem to really have any basic self-defense capabilities. The way he was swinging the sword earlier in this episode lead to me to believe otherwise. Plus, Harry Shum Jr is a pretty buff dude but I guess maybe Magnus lifts weights and that’s it. Alec decides to help him out on this venture, though.

Siblings Reunited

We find out that Clary is indeed not dead and that Jonathon's back. I'll be real, here. It's kind of hard to feel sad for Jace or Simon or Luke or anyone really regarding the "death" of Clary, considering this entire episode is interspliced with moments of Clary being very much alive. Honestly, I think this episode would've functioned better if it was just about showing everyone going through all the different stages of grief regarding Clary and at the end of the episode when they've hit the acceptance stage, that's when we see Clary wake up in the apartment with Jonathon. But whatever. The show decided not to go that route so we have to make do with what we got. Clary wakes up and looking pretty damn fantastic for someone who's been asleep for days. Not a strand of hair out of place, make-up is flawless, and not a wrinkle to be found on her clothing. In fact, I think they're in even better condition than they were when Clary initially had to put them on. Clary also isn't even the slightest bit groggy, she knows exactly where she's at and everything. Clary does comas well. Jonathon tells Clary that it is indeed him, her big brother and that before Lillith was sent to hell she sent them away to Siberia, apparently. Clary plays nice for a little bit with Jonathon but decides to chance out in the cold of Siberia. It's nice to see that in her state of unconsciousness her muscles didn't atrophy from lack of movement or deteriorate from lack of food. But Clary fails in her escape, Jonathon finds her and brings her back. Clary tries to stab him with a knife but they both find out that what happens to one person will also happen to the other. So yeah, we're full in City of Lost Souls plot here which is ironically the title of this episode. Shadowhunters has never been all that subtle. This new actor for Jonathon is going to take some getting used to. Will Tudor did a phenomenal job with him so its difficult to see this new guy as Jonathon. But it also is difficult to take Clary's anger and hatred of Jonathon seriously when you think about all that Jonathon's really done on the show is kill a shadowhunter Clary had never met before and then injured Max and Max swiftly recovered. Clary is all about painting him as the worst possible being and indeed, in the books, he is but here, while he may be a bad guy who's done really bad things, I don't know if its deserving of that level of hatred. We haven't exactly seen a lot of his horrifying dastardly deeds. Another example of making a change and then thinking you can still keep the same storyline at a later point in the story. I'm certainly not saying I wanted Max to die but story-telling wise, it would make the emotions Clary's feeling here a little more believable. But I'm actually really interested to see where this whole Jonathon and Clary plot goes. In the books, it's Jace that's put in this situation so it'll be interestig to see how the show tackles Clary being in this situation. I'm also wondering, because they seem to be trying to stay away from the incest vibes here, is Jonathon going to gain an unhealthy obsession with Jace instead of Clary? In the books, Clary was who Jonathon was creepily obsessed with. He was equating possession with love and viewed that Clary belonged to him in every way imaginable. So since the roles of Clary and Jace have been reversed here, will Jonathon's obsession now change from Clary to Jace? Probably not but it would've been interesting to see for sure. I mean, if you're going to do a role reversal, you might as well go all the way, right?

The Clave Acting Shady AF

The Clave is being super shady right now. They appear to be doing experiments on the incarcerated downworlders and all I can say is, "do we really need this?" And also, "Why is it being implied that Jia knows about this and is okay with this?" The interesting thing about Jia in the books was the fact that she was the first step in the leadership to help get rid of the more corrupt aspects of the Clave and instigating change. But I suppose it's per the norm for the show to make everyone but the main group a bad guy instead of morally grey. As I've said before, this show has no concept of subtlety. I can only imagine that this is leading into the part in City of Glass the show hasn't done yet wherein the alliance rune is going to be introduced but instead of using it to fight Valentine, they're going to use it to fight Jonathon. That's what these downworlder experiments seem to be leading into as it reminds me a lot of Valentine experimenting in the books. I'm sure there was 0 social commentary intended when writing this into the show, though...but I think its safe to say it's totally social commentary. The show isn't very subtle, once again.

But good news is it looks like Ollie is gone for good so yay! I am side-eying the show, though about that. What was the point of introducing her if you weren't going to do anything with her? I'd say they probably wasted about half of 3A with Ollie unnecessarily. But maybe if this show hadn't been cancelled, Ollie would've played a more significant role? Well anyway, at least some of the fat has been trimmed.

My biggest issue, as always, is the dialogue. The dialogue felt extremely one-note. It was almost like the writer made a flow chart of what they wanted to happen in this episode and was like, "crap! I guess my characters do need to speak, here's some lines to explain what's going on." The dialogue basically existed solely for the purpose of giving exposition but the real kicker is that it was really unnecessary. I could've had this episode on silent (and that might've even have made it an improvement) and I would've understood what was happening perfectly. The dialogue really didn't add anything to the experience, it just made the episode feel more awkward than it already was. And then there continues the trend of Shadowhunters treating their awesome plans as if they’re the most clever plans in the world when in actuality, the plan is beyond obvious and it was super cringey and awkward seeing Izzy being treated as this amazing strategist for making the obvious move. And the episode was already plenty awkward with the constant cutting. It's really difficult to enjoy any particular subplot going on in this show when we only spend maybe 30 seconds to a minute on any particular moment. I kind of wish this show structured their episodes more around themes as opposed to plot. Plot is temporary, plot is always changing but exploring themes through plot gives you more of an appreciation not only for the characters but the story, itself. While I didn't mind sequences in this episode, at the end of the day, it just kind of left me feeling empty. I also think the acting felt a little stilted as well. I wasn't a big fan of any of the performances given in this episode and whereas I've never thought anyone on this show was oscar-worthy for their performances in the past on this show, their performances have always been maybe a C+ to a B. But in this episode, it just didn't feel like any of the actors' hearts were in it. Now granted, that could be a side effect of the script because, as I've mentioned before, the script wasn't great. Or it could've been the directing. There's a lot of reasons for why acting can feel stilted and it very rarely has to do with the actor or actress being bad at acting.

I've made notes about how the dialogue and acting was stilted but those weren't the only things that were. The fight choreography and the blocking felt a little off as well. For starters, the fight choreography did not feel organic. It was strangely reminiscent of season 1 fight choreography. The constant jump cuts so you don't see too much of what's actually happening and just feeling like fight scenes move very slowly. Like the reaction times between sword swing to parry were very slow and it kept on taking me out of the moment. Then you also had moments where Alec and Izzy catch up with Jace in the sewer and everyone's staring at the seelie they're trying to capture for a good 5 seconds before the actual fight continues. And then there's just strange blocking choices where a character walks to a point in the room and then delivers their line but the walk to the new mark wasn’t organic and actually made the line feel more awkward.

I'd probably give this episode a C+. It was passable, with enjoyable moments but ultimately not something I have any desire to return to. There were cute moments (primarily Jalec and Madzie), but overall as an episode, not something to be too terribly impressed with. And yes, there were moments I did like. It’s not my fault the show just had more bad parts I felt compelled to talk about.

#shadowhunters 3b #shadowhunters 3x11 #shadowhunters lost souls #rife with unpopular opinions #read at your own risk

[slashed-dreamzzz]

First, I'd like to say that I already love this blog! Second, how do you think the slashers would react to finding out that someone is forcibly trying to drag their s/o with them? Like, they think they're lost or in danger so they drag them with them. (Stay awesome!

The short answer is, they’re fucking pissed

Jason

-Jason couldn’t help but feel immensely worried for you every time a new batch of counselors came to the camp, the unknowing lambs lining up for slaughter. He always insisted that you take refuge in his own cabin while he was on a killing spree, and under no circumstances were you to venture outside and possibly be seen by a runaway victim. The last thing you wanted was for Jason to worry for no reason about you, so you agreed to obey the one and only request he ever made of you. There was only one time when you broke this sacred rule. One unbearably hot night, Jason had left to complete his grocery list of kills, and that left you all alone in a cabin with no AC. You guiltily gazed at the lake out in the distance, the prospect of any sort of relief from the heat too tempting to resist, and decided to go for a quick dip before Jason realized you had gone. Giddily running out to Crystal Lake, you stopped when the water reached your knees, basking in the coolness long desired after the sweltering day you had been through. Suddenly there was a splashing behind you, the person gasping for air. Before you could even turn around their hand had gripped your upper arms and was dragging you out of the lake. You were grunting at this intruder, trying to rip your arms out of their grasp but they only held on tighter. “Be quiet! There’s a fucking psycho on the loose, I’m getting us outta here!” You bristled at their words. That “fucking psycho” was your significant other, and you did not appreciate such slander against your precious Jason. Struggling even harder did naught, and you were forcibly dragged out of the lake as panic flooded your mind. Gathering your breath, you screamed for Jason as you were pulled further and further away, praying he would hear your plea. You dug your feet in the ground to prevent any more movement, but the intruder only yanked you along, shouting obscenities at your refusal to cooperate. Their grip on your arm was beginning to burn, and you let out a sob at the prospect of being whisked away by this stranger who refused to listen to you. All of a sudden you saw movement in the corner of your teary vision, and then before you could process anything the stranger was ripped away from your arm, and you looked up at the visage of your behemoth, looking absolutely furious by the way he held the intruder by their neck. Jason glanced back at you to make sure you were alright, but when he saw how you were crying because of this low-life scum, that did it. Jason tossed them to the ground and lifted his machete high in the air. You noticed how the moon glinted off the sharp blade before it was plunged into the intruder’s chest. Over and over again. You turned away from the gruesome sight, still shaking from the sobs that wracked your body. When the squelching noises finally ceased, you heard Jason’s slow footsteps coming closer, and felt his arms wrap around your frame from behind and pull you into his chest, the strong scent of iron nearly making you gag. You leaned back into him, and could only mutter a soft apology as a tear ran down your cheek.

Freddy

-You were well aware of what Freddy did in his spare time when he wasn’t with you, despite never seeing it in person. As much as the idea was supposed to be despicable, you pushed any guilty thoughts back into the dark recesses of your mind. Most nights were spent with just you and him, any and all indications of the horrible deeds he’s committed forgotten as you were taken in by his snarky words and dark humor that never failed to make you laugh. Unfortunately, this false sense of contentment was never meant to last. You were preparing for bed one night, wondering if tonight you would be able to enter the dream realm after some time of having just regular dreams. Settling under your covers, you closed your eyes and smiled slightly in anticipation of seeing your charming Freddy. After what seemed like seconds later, you were delighted to have woken up in the familiar boiler room, the red glow almost as welcoming as….Where was Freddy anyway? He was nowhere to be seen, and it was odd because he was always right there, waiting for you to wake up in the dream realm. You gave a slight frown, and began to realize that something felt…off. Normally all one could hear was that of the boilers, but this time you heard the distinct sound of rapid footsteps, coupled with a labored breathing. And it was getting closer. You braced yourself for whatever would come around the corner, and was confused to find another person come barreling towards you. You stood there, trying to make sense of this unexpected encounter when they skid to a stop a couple feet in front of you, their chest heaving with exertion. “What’s…going on here?” you started slowly, carefully approaching the exhausted runner. They gasped for breath before replying. “There’s…a fucking…killer…been chasing me ever since I fell asleep…” Your blood ran cold. This was one of Freddy’s soon-to-be victims. Merely knowing that he killed was one thing. But coming face to face with a real person being hunted, seeing the terrified look in their eyes and the tremble in their voice…It made you feel indescribable amounts of regret for your apathy. The runner’s voice broke you out of your trance, and they grabbed both your upper arms. “Listen…We can get outta here together if we somehow manage to wake ourselves up before…He gets us.” They held out their hand for you to take, a hopeful look replacing the hunted one they wore not moments before, a beacon of light beginning to shine in their eyes. Swallowing, you slowly reached out your own hand, but before you could take it a pair of claws exploded out from their chest, their mouth open in a silent scream. You pulled away and let out a shout of anguish as blood spurted onto you and the floor. Their body slumped forward to reveal your Freddy, cackling madly as he tossed their body to the side like a doll. “Thanks for distracting him, dollface. I might have even let him go, but that fucker was going to try and take you away, wasn’t he?” Freddy came and lifted his ungloved hand to cup your cheek, wiping away a stray spot of blood. “I can’t ever allow something like that to happen to you.”  He murmured lowly. You felt your throat constrict, but leaned into his touch as he continued to coo sweet nothings, unaware of the storm roiling inside your soul.

Michael

-Living in the Myers house wasn’t the most pleasant experience in the world. After years of abandonment, everything was cracked, chipped, pealing, and faded to a shell of its former cozy and home-like self. The dirty windows were incredibly drafty in the winter, what was left of the curtains were moth-bitten scraps, and the rotten floorboards were just a hair away from crumbling under one’s feet if they didn’t tread carefully enough.Yet despite all of this, Michael still insisted on keeping residence in his former home. Time and time again you tried in vain to convince him to leave, but in the end you realized that this was probably the best option for Michael to hide out from prying police. So because of this, you spent time more often than not in the decrepit house, slowly working to transform it into something more habitable for your Michael. Ah, the things you do for love. One day you had been scrubbing down the kitchen floor, trying your best to get rid of those long lasting stains. You weren’t sure where Michael had decided to run off to, but you figured he was close enough since he didn’t tend to wander very far anyway. Dumping a sponge back into the bucket full of soapy water, you wrung it out slightly and began your efforts to clean once again, your knuckles coated in suds. A piece of hair fell in front of your eyes, and you gave a huff, trying to blow it out of the way. After a couple more minutes of futile scrubbing (damn these stupid checkered tiles), you heard the front door open and close carefully. Oh, Michael was home. You could have him try and help clean for once. Knees creaking, you slowly got up and winced, having been kneeling on the hard ground for too long. You wiped your hands on your pants, not caring since you looked like crap anyway from cleaning for more than a few hours now. “Michael, wanna come in here and-” you started to say, but stopped when you saw a random person instead. You froze, the rest of your sentence lost on the tip of your tongue. The intruder seemed just as surprised as you were, stopping dead in their tracks. ‘Wow, I honestly didn’t think anyone would be in here of all places…” The stranger muttered, looking up and down your form. You clenched your fists, angry that some rando had the gall to intrude upon yours and Michael’s space without a second thought. Sure it looked abandoned on the outside, but weren’t people not supposed to enter anyway? At least you had Michael’s permission to come and go as you pleased. This person, however, did most certainly not. “You need to leave. Now.” That was all you could manage to spit out without completely losing your cool, your words clipped and rough. The stranger just looked at you funny, and then widened their eyes. “Don’t tell me….You’re being held hostage by Michael fucking Myers?! Look, don’t worry, I’m gonna get you outta here and then we’re calling the police.” Your blood froze. No, calling the police would be a very bad, bad idea. Before you could react, the person had grabbed your wrist and was pulling you towards the front door, completely oblivious to your growls of protest. “Leave me the fuck alone, I’m not a damn hostage-!” The guy just ignored you, looking at you with a pitying expression instead. Unable to wrench free, you did the only thing you could. You screamed for Michael at the top of your lungs. By this time you and the stranger were outside on the porch, headed towards the street. Stumbling down the porch steps, you were just about to give up all hope when, all of a sudden, Michael stepped out from a neighboring hedge and blocked the pathway to the road. The intruder stopped dead in his tracks while you gave an audible sigh of relief. Michael looked between you and the intruder, and paused when he saw the visible anguish twisting your features. How dare this filth touch you, and by the looks of it, steal his precious other half away from him? His grip on the knife tightened, and he took only a few long strides to grab onto the stranger and roughly yank him off you, tossing him against the house in a loud thud. You stumbled back, rubbing your wrist gently as you watched Michael approach the trembling stranger, raising his knife above his head before bringing it down into his head. Blood began to drip in copious amounts down his face, and he slumped back against the house, well and truly dead. You ran to Michael’s side and hugged him fiercely, never having remembered a time when you were more grateful for any other person. Michael was still, but raised a bloody hand and stroked your hair softly, glaring down at the dead body and vowing the same fate on any others foolish enough to invade his terf again.

Leatherface

-Despite what most people complained about, you were enraptured with the bare Texan landscape that had become your new home. No one for miles, acres of land as far as the eyes could see, and the big blue sky overseeing it all like a picturesque postcard. Not to mention the beautiful nighttime scenery with a multitude of stars visible, minuscule jewels lining the velvet of night. You always pleaded for Bubba to go on long walks with you to take in the scenery, and also because you loved spending as much as you could with your chubby butcher. Bubba was happy to make you happy, so he usually agreed to your request to take a walk around the Sawyer property. Your favorite time of day to do so was just as the sun was setting, the colors bleeding into one another to create a watercolor of warm hues surrounding the red sun. It was a sight you never wanted to miss. Unfortunately, when you asked Bubba to accompany you, he gave a sad grunt, shaking his head and motioning towards the basement. Ah, he probably had some last minute meat to cut and package. You gave him a sweet smile as he hung his head as an apology, putting a hand on his chest. “Aw, don’t worry about it honey. I won’t be too long, okay?” You pecked him where his lips would be, and giving a little wave headed out the door in the late summer haze. You took a deep breath, and exhaled. Fresh air was always welcome after spending almost all day in the Sawyer house that, no matter how much you cleaned, held a slight stench of rust. The fields stretched for miles, seemingly going on forever and only ending at the sunset. Walking down the porch steps, you began your atmospheric trek. Eventually, you found yourself quite near the road, having wandered a bit farther than usual. A car was passing by, its headlights nearly blinding you, and to your surprise it came to a slow stop, the man leaning out the window and asking if you were lost. You smiled and replied in the negative, saying that it was late and you should be getting home soon anyway. The man, however, insisted that he show you back and get you there safe before darkness completely enveloped the sky. Your stomach began to twist into knots, knowing the fate that awaited the man should be go back with you. Backing away quickly, you shouted an apology and began walking swiftly towards the way you came, back to the house. You managed to return before nighttime, panting and sweating just a bit from the heat. There didn’t seem to be anyone else home, so instead of looking for them you headed to the bathroom to wash up and scrub the dust and sweat from your face. Not too long later, you distinctly heard the scream of a man come from outside the house. You flinched. That must be Bubba doing his job. A shout of anger, the sounds of scuffling before a chainsaw revving caught your attention, and the front door burst open.You jumped, only to recognize the face of the man who had stopped for you not an hour ago. He must have remembered you as well, because he grabbed your hand, panting that he’d get the two of you out of here. “Did he kidnap you too? I was stopped by this hitchhiker, and the rest just went to shit...” You gently tried to pry him off you, tugging away from the door and warning him to let go. He didn’t act like he heard you, and kept going to and out the front door. Bubba was waiting with his chainsaw raised, but when he saw you in the grasp of this man, he went berserk. The guy slammed the door shut and raced towards the back of the house with you in tow. The sound of a door splintering was heard behind you, and Bubba’s howls of anger rang in your ears. Your heart broke, and with a final, harsh yank. you ripped away from the man and ran back towards Bubba. Getting behind Bubba, you fearfully watched as the guy came back to retrieve you, and before he could utter another words Bubba ran his chainsaw right through his abdomen, lifting it up and up to split him from the waist in half. Blood drenched the floor and rug, and the body parts fell with a disgusting splotch. Bubba’s chest was heaving, saw dripping crimson tears onto his shoes. You backed away and slid down a wall, body trembling uncontrollably as sobs came unbidden. Bubba dropped his saw and kneeled down to comfort your shaking form, muttering incoherent words meant to ease your shock and hugging you tightly against his large chest. You gripped onto his dirty shirt and let out a choked sob, wanting nothing more than to go back to the peaceful Texan landscape, and wander forever to forget the twisted reality you refused to acknowledge.

#jason vorhees #friday the 13th #freddy krueger #a nightmare on elm street #michael myers #halloween #leatherface #texas chainsaw massacre #slasher imagines #my writing

[theangry-ace]

Hello!! I discovered drama cds very recently and have since been unhealthily addicted to them .////. (Nakazawa Masatomo and Kumagai Kentarou are gonna kill me with their voices one day—) Doing some drama cd research has led me to your blog, and I wanted to ask about the topic of aromanticism. What exactly are the signs of being aromantic? I've never fallen in love before, but I really, really want to experience romance and be in a relationship. (Continued)

(Continued) When I listen to drama cds, I get really absorbed and involved emotionally, but despite being able to feel so strongly and experience romance in fictional settings, I haven't found a person whom I really love in real life. Have I just not met the right person or am I incapable of romance? I know that love and finding a life partner does not necessarily equal happiness and that I may be brainwashed by the all the romance depicted in media, but (continuned)

(Continued) To me, a romantic relationship is what I want most from life. However, I still haven't fallen in love yet, and that really distresses me. Am I maybe aromantic? I really don't want to be, and I don't think I'd ever accept this side of myself even if it were the case. I'm really sorry for such a long rant, but I've been wanting to talk about it for a really long time, and for some reason, I felt like I might make my thoughts come across clearer to another fellow drama cd listener ;w;

hello friend! now i feel kinda shy a number of people found this blog by google uwu to think all my bullshit shitposting and hirame+chasuke simping is this obvious... aaa. yea sawa and that kuma is very yabai to my sanity and wallet. they always killed me when they play younger boi because im weak to them saying "nee-san"

anyway, yea i identify myself as aro since born and though i can appreciate it in fictional media (probably because they're fake and too idealistic to be real), in real life I have never wanted them for myself. they required too much tolerance that I, the horrible being as I am, cannot reciprocate except when I force myself to. but my experience is not the ONLY norm between other aros.

that is to say it's not uncommon for someone who had never experience romantic attraction but always wanted them nevertheless in the future. aromanticism, as well as other labels, exists in a spectrum so they say. we all shared the same thing; we do not experience romantic attraction. the desire to be in one, however, is a separate thing altogether. there is a specific term for your experience but I'm not too knowledgeable about it to be sure (it's cupioromantic I think). I suggest you to spend some browsing at reddit sub r/aromantic if you want to know more, and ask the community there. aside from the memes, there's a lot of people willing to answer any questions. I believe there's also a blog of aromantic in tumblr as well if it's easier for you to use tumblr.

sorry I'm not a good person to talk about this as I actually rarely talked much about it with other people. but if you want to talk about otome r18 cd, well, you know who to find. ME! talk to me how much these damn cd sucking your soul and money along with it!

#aromantic

[addershade]

A Semi-Stuctured Rant on Antishipping, Fujoshi Culture and the monetization of Homosexuality in Japanese and American Media

Antishippers are homophobic and it's bothering me. But also so are fujoshis and that bothers me too

Part One: Antishippers

Where there sails a ship ship so to the antishippers let fly their flags. A common argument I see painted on the bows of their warships is 'This character hasnt been stated as gay yet don't ship them with them.'

This is such a problematic sentence I don't even know where to begin. The fact that people view the default state of sexuality as 'straight until declared gay' creates the stigma that being homosexual is in some way deviant or taboo.

As an example: nobody has a problem with Todoroki being shipped with Momo despite them having minimal character interaction and very little shared dialogue in the show. Yet because they have been seen together in one (1) episode it has even been assumed canon on the same level as Izuku and Ochako which it quite simply is not.

Compare this to Bakugo and Kirishima who have several scenes together, most in even more intimate settings than Todoroki and Momo (study date, walking home at sunset together, the money scene, the rescue, I could go on) yet since the creator has not OUTRIGHT stated that either of these two are gay they have been assumed straight. Antishippers never go after TodoMomo in the same way they do KiriBaku.

I've seen people go as far as to say it would never happen, the creator would never do something so radical as to include one (1) gay couple. Despite the already pretty strong LGBTQ+ presence in the show with characters like Tiger, Big Sis Magne and Toga. These three have their own problems (an issue for another time) but they are there and that's a big step forward that people like to forget about.

Also, is the concept of 'we don't get good gay representation in the media so we write our own' really such a hard thing to grasp? Because it shouldn't be. Gay representation in media is scarce and even if its there it might not be handled sensitively (cough cough banana fish cough) and people naturally would want to go out of their way to provide it for themselves. Because representation is important. Straight, cis, white men really wouldn't understand because they are represented in literally everything all the time so I geuss they can't really fathom not being able look at the main character and go 'it me.' Which is why they put up such a fuss about every single time a woman is cast as the lead role. In anything. But I digress.

My point is basically this: Characters with undefined sexualities are obviously going to draw people in and be used as a comfortable, familiar and interesting starting point to create someone you can resonate with on a deeper level. Especially if there's nothing contradicting your head canon. And even if there is, who cares? There's plenty of straight characters already, representation is not pie and also they aren't real people so thats an extra helping of 'it shouldn't bother you.'

Oh I forgot to mention this rant only extends to fictional character antishippers because I think shipping real people is icky and shouldn't happen regardless of sexuality.

Part Two: Fujoshi Culture

Yes there are straight gals and guys that fetishise it (the male version is a fudanshi at least get it right people) and that's gross and unforgivable please stop doing it.

I would argue however this epidemic is caused by the fact that media, eastern and western alike, refuses to normalise gay relationships. Which means they see it as this sick fetish thing and call it 'sinning.' The literal terms fudanshi and fujoshi are derogatory and paint enjoying 'yaoi' as a guilty pleasure, something to be ashamed of and ridiculed.

And I'd bet my bottom dollar that Japan would want to keep it that way because it does work to sell their mangas.

Nagisa really sums up the whole issue in 50 percent off here's the clip:

https://youtu.be/c_xwtbrXbZM

Part Three: Western Focus

I just want to point out how half hearted and overly subtle these relationships have to be, like you're sneaking it past the republicans like the producers dirty little secret.

Good examples from both sides are Bubbeline, KoraSami, All of Voltron and Literally Any Gay Man In Anime Except Yuri on Ice. Although Yuri on Ice is still pretty coy about admitting that their characters are in a gay relationship.

KoraSami, Bubbeline and Shiro x Shiro's flashback buddy are all western depictions. Being gay in western media is much less commercialised and much less marketable, which is why the main issue with all of these were the writers pushing for something that was then only really confirmed either in: a very heavily fought for kiss last episode or the love story told entirely in (two bros chilling in a hot tub style) flashbacks where said love interest dies in the same episode. None of these are good representation and I don't think I have to spell out why.

Anyway this is another video that sums it up better than I can

https://youtu.be/TOj4WfQPNlk

Part 4: The Bad, The Worse and the Ugly

tw: s*xual a*sault mentioned (part 5 is safe)

I'll be quick

Anime like Banana Fish and Black Butler really like to perpetuate the stereotype that gay men are only gay because they have been r*ped by sick, twisted older men.

As a gay man who has been s*xually a*ssulted in the way that they like to pretend defined my sexuality I can say that this is insulting, triggering and Never. Ever. Handled. Properly. Anime has some issues with sexuality as a whole but it really takes the cake when characters like Ash are abused in real time in the anime and then it's used to 'justify' their promiscuity with men moving forward.

Banana Fish in no way handles the sexual assault tactfully, no matter what people have said to me.

This is an extract I agree with heavily from a pretty well written article (Banana Fish spoilers) :

I mentioned earlier the finale sent an awful message to new viewers. Ash’s story was about survival so for him to easily give up, in the end, sent a horrible message to survivors of sexual violence because it not only told them a moment of vulnerability would get them killed, but the only way survivors could find any peace was through death. The fact that Ash gave up, told survivors they could never escape from their traumas and despite all their efforts, they would never be able to heal from their abusive circumstances.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thatnerdyboliviane.com/2019/01/21/banana-fish-a-bittersweet-experience/amp/

'Kill your gays' is a bad trope in any case but really was an especially poor choice here.

Part 5: Sex Sells and Gay Sex Advertises

I've mentioned above how manga and anime likes to package gay relationships into problematic little bundles and sell it to straight women as a curiosity or oddity. But I really think that it needs to be talked about more. Things shouldn't be more interesting to you just because they're gay, and fetishising minorities is never okay in any context.

I think it's important to note that really the attitudes in both Western and Japanese media are actually the exact same. That being, Gay people are 'others' and should at all costs be hidden away into corners. The only real difference is that Japan is known for selling that kind of content, lumping it in the same category as tentacle hentai and... I don't know any other categories but the point stands. Whereas western media tends to just sequester it into a corner and hope it gets past censorship boards and Karen's. Money is at the forefront of both of these descisions.

It's a real problem that both sides of the anime culture are so problematic. One side is way too into it and the other can't begin to process it.

Here's a video by the same person that covers basically the same ground that's concerning me so much.

https://youtu.be/t3FKlqDocQ4

Part 6: In conclusion

I feel like this is something that is worth being angry about. I'm just sick of how being gay is treated at the moment in anime, tv and film, and how it's being received by straight audiences. The LGBTQ+ community barely seems to get a real say half of the time because people are too busy being head over heels that the author confirmed in an interview that a character is bi or gay but never follows through with it in universe. Or when you try and create content for yourself and get criticised like you were supposed to be happy about what little representation you get in mainstream media. Like shows do the bare minimum and then we're supposed to be happy about it. But I ain't. And I don't think many other people are either.

TLDR:

Gay people being treated like a taboo little secret on both sides of the issue is insulting and gross and never leads to anything good.

#Youtube #Gay #Anime #Shipping #Antishipping #bubbeline #voltron #my hero academia #legend of korra #fujoshi #Fudanshi #queerbaiting #rant post #lgbt pride #lgbtq #lgbt rights #banana fish #ash lynx #Yaoi #Yuri #lesbian #gay #bi #transgender #queer

[randomnessunicorn-imagine]

So you want some horror? How about UT/US Sans and UF Paps coming home and their s/o cooked dinner? When they're done eating and the skellies remark it tasted different and what's in it the s/o casually remarks "Your brother. I read the ashes of a monster should be with what they love the most." Before they turn and try to kill them? Hope it's spooky enough ;)

{ I have to admit, I like this kind of infamous and demoniac S/O.At least, it’s something different from usual and it’s quite funny :’D #HorrorTime #YandereReader }

💊 Sansy ;

It was not the first time you cooked for him and you were a great chef, Sans was so glad for it because he was a total disaster in the kitchen. He’s been lucky, it seemed.Sans would have loved inviting his brother to this dinner since he liked cooking too and you and Papyrus would prepare something together but maybe his brother was too busy with his job and Sans did not see him these last days. It was too weird and he was a little worried.Then, he saw your sweet smile and he found his good spirit again, ready to taste your wonderful meal. Nothing in this meal seemed strange and suspected, and he wondered what type of ingredients you used because this flavour was so strange… Familiar. It was something Sans already knew but he could not understand when he tasted it before and it was the first time you cooked this plate to him.Sans asked, without he suspected something in particular, what kind of ingredients you used and what the name of this food you prepared was.The mischievous smiled on your face was not so comforting and he saw a strange sparkle in your eyes, maybe he did not want to know the answer anymore.You said that this meal was so special, you made it for Sans and only he could appreciate it and you hoped he could love it so much because you put all your effort and love to prepare it.This meal was unique because its special ingredient was one in a million and you could not gain another one. Sans, while you were saying this weirdness, started sweating and he realized that strange bitter aftertaste, it was so lumpy like powdered sugar and also so… Dusty. With your candid and calm voice –and it was the creepiest thing of the world- you declared they were Papurys’ ashes and Sans was eating his own brother. You asked him how he felt now… How was the sensation of be feed with his own sibling? What a new experience!Should he have considered himself a cannibal? It was so perverse and this thing excited you so much! Sans’ glance became total black and his mind went wild because he could not believe what you have already said… Was he eating Papyrus? Oh, god-!He was not so amused and even if it was a joke, he was not going to laugh and he was losing his patience.Then, you explained to him, «You know, dearie… », you kept smiling so innocently, «Monsters have to be with the person they love the most when they die so…», you stayed quite for some seconds, «Now you and your brother are truly inseparable», your smile disappeared and it became a grin. You seemed so angry and disappointed, and you spoke with a harsh and severe voice Sans has never heard from you.«You shouldn’t have loved your brother more than me!», You looked at him with a devious expression.«At least, now you and him can stay together, forever», your smiled returned so sweet and lovely but just for one moment.«I hope you have enjoyed the meal because it’s the last one», your face became homicidal again and you could not accept Sans loved his brother more than you and you have always found Papyrus too innocent and love-dovey for your tastes. His sugary ways made you vomit!The both of you knew what was going to happen and Sans has already heard too much bullshit and what you have done was unacceptable.

💊 Blueberry ;

You have organized a special date with your beloved skeleton this night and you were so emotional and impatient to make Sans eat your special meal that you prepared with all your heart.Sans was so glad to have found you and you were the perfect partner for him because you shared most of his hobbies just like cooking. You and Sans cooked together so often, and it was so much funny!This date was going well and you served to Sans the main plate and you could not wait anymore to see his reaction to it. You were so proud of your dinner and even Sans was so proud of you… For now.Sans took a taste of your special soup and he could not recognize the ingredients… Maybe there were some vegetables, or legumes? You had to tell him because he wanted to prepare it by himself.Unluckily, it was the only meal of this kind because the ingredients you used were so rare and they were so difficult to be found especially one ingredient in particular was unique and Sans already knew what this thing was. He had to think about it very hard but it was easier than he thought.Then, he gave up and he asked you what this great ingredient was, you just said it was a thing he loved so much and he knew very well because it was a fundamental part of his life. Sans was more confused than before so he wanted to know, he was too curious.Your eyes were wide open and even your smile become sinister and malicious like you were hiding something to him and you said, «Ah, silly boy. You should know how your brother tastes».Your voice was still sweet and calm and it was the creepiest fact of the entire situation, Sans remained in silence, incapable to understand it and maybe you were joking. However, now that he was thinking about it, he has not seen Papyrus for a week and he was worried but Sans was too busy with his job and he could not control his brother because Papyrus was able to take care of himself but…The smile you showed to him was maniacal and bigger than before, it was so demoniac and your voice was low and acute, «That soup contained his ashes, and I thought you would have been happy having him inside you since you care a lot about your brother. You don’t have to thank me. I did it because I love you», it sounded more like a threat than a declaration of love.Sans was shocked and he could not accept something like this, that you were an evil person… Then, he felt weird, his gaze was becoming blank and he felt weak. He tried to run away but you stopped him, whispering to him softly, «Oh, darling. Another important ingredient I put inside my special soup is a special drug of my own invention that works so well to monsters. Good night, my star~», you laughed like a child and then Sans fainted. He woke up in a dark room tied up and he was incapable to move and he was so scared but he could not manifest his thoughts aloud because you put a ball gag in his mouth and he could not speak.You did not care about what he had to say, so you started your discourse, «Now we are all alone here, my dear. Nobody is going to disturb us and we’ll have so much fun~».Your voice was still quite but so mischievous because you had the eyes of the predator, «I got rid of your brother, that useless skeleton. He was just a lazybones, you don’t need him. He was trash, a society’s parasite! I made him a favour killing him. I ended his sufferance, he was not that happy. Now he’s in a better place…», you did a pause, smiling, «In your stomach!».Your smile became darker and Sans was crying and he could not imagine the horrible things you were going to do to him.

💊 The Edge Lord ;

You were the perfect partner for him because you were capable, strong and proud and he could not ask for better even if he always put on airs as if he was a sort of diva. You did not care, you always complimented Papyrus with beautiful words, saying him how great, and strong he was. Poor Papyrus, he did not know your true nature and you were not that innocent but you would have never hurt your precious love, since your target was another and you already completed your job. You were not so strong and you could not use magic but you knew other methods to end someone else’s life, it did not matter how powerful they were you were too smart and they would have crushed under the weight of your perfidy and deviousness. You were serving the dinner to your beloved skeleton, you prepared a new recipe that you were happy to make him taste. You conquered his heart these months and it’s been difficult because he was so stubborn but you were so patient like a spider who waited for a fly that fell in its web. You did your job very well. Then, Papyrus did not see his brother for days but he did not care since he was a busy skeleton and Sans was a loner by nature so his attitudes were weird and Papyrus could not look after him every time, Sans was an adult and he had to learn how to take care of himself.Papyrus tasted your special soup and he could not understand what kind of ingredients you used so he asked to you because it was strange he was unable to recognize some ingredients, since he payed attention to everything. You, with your quite and lovely voice, said, «Oh, nothing special, just your brother. I suggest to enjoy it because there would be no other meals like it. It’s quite unique!», you smiled kept eating like all was normal but Papyrus started to analysed the soup, noticing there were ashes in it and he spit it and he got furious, standing up. You seemed calm anyway, confused from his behaviour.He wanted an explication and he wanted to know also where Sans was. You already explained it and you hated repeating yourself.«He’s not here, maybe in a better place if you believe in Heaven… Do your race believe in Paradise and Hell?», he did not give a shit about your philosophical questions and he hit the table with his fist. He asked to you why you killed Sans and it was absurd… How it could be possible? Even if Sans had just 1HP so it was not difficult to harm him despite he was so paranoid and prepared to fight.You explained, maintaining your composure, «Ah, he was just a lazybones, you always repeated it and you have always complained about him. He was just a bother, a useless skeleton who slept all the time losing time and his own life. You know, I am very practical so I decided to resolve the problem by eradicating the problem.»Even if Papyrus always complained about Sans it did not mean he hated him for real, he was still his brother and they tolerated each other someway and you had no right to make the rules like this, ruining their family. What you already did.Papyrus prepared himself to fight against you because his only desire was killing you and you accepted his challenge taking it just like a game or a flirt, «Oh, just don’t be so angry about that trash, I could not believe a person like you could have a useless brother like that. It’s a shame, so now it’s only me and you. It’s fantastical!» you laughed full of joy and they the two of you started to fight.

#randomnessunicorn-imagine #anonymous #ask #undertale headcanons #undertale scenarios #undertale #underfell #underswap #undertale sans #underfell papyrus #underswap sans #sans #papyrus #x reader #imagines #horror #halloween #halloween asks #halloween requests #yandere reader #horror asks #angst

[ohifonlyx33]

im not sure simmons blames frame ward for what real ward did, but she just maybe doesn't care about who he is in here because it isn't real. she knows that they're not the same but it docent really matter to her because he's only a simulation, and a simulation of a man who horribly betrayed the team so she doesn't really care to learn about who he is there. If simmons is mad at Fitz for anything its prob for building the framework in the first place which is kiind of understandable.

Okay, you make a good point. Jemma definitely doesn’t care about the binary populace of the Framework... except that Mack thinks his kid is real and she is starting to see that everyone in the Framework thinks they are real. And if it feels real, what’s to say it isn’t on some level?

I know Jemma can certainly differentiate between Ward and FrameWard. Just as she can distinguish Ward from Hive in the real world. And Jemma is clearly able to distinguish between Fitz and Fritz because of her real world experience.  

she knows that Fritz =/= Fitz but she gives him the benefit of the doubt despite seeing him kill an innocent woman in cold blood because she knows the real Fitz would never do that.she knows that Frame!ward =/= Ward but she still she gives him the cold shoulder despite seeing him save Daisy and help the resistance because she knows the real Ward... except the real Ward isn’t inside there at all.

Since the real consciousness of Ward is not uploaded into the binary Ward, he is within the context of the Framework, innocent of Ward’s crimes... Just as the real (dead) Ward is not posthumously absolved of his crimes or redeemed. The two entities don’t really intersect. Whereas with Fitz you can make a different argument because he’s a real person trapped in a false narrative. 

Nevertheless, Jemma should not be weighing down Frame!Ward with guilt baggage for doing things he never did that happened in a world he doesn’t know about. He’s not responsible within the context, of the Framework. So far, Frame!Ward has been shown to be at least semi-decent.

Now listen closely, REAL FITZ in the REAL WORLD is NOT responsible for any of this. At most he helped start a project with good intentions whilst being lied to, then had the whole thing taken out of his hands and manipulated beyond his control. It’s NOT his fault. He didn’t choose this. He didn’t want this. This is a gross perversion of his personal freedom. He was coerced. The Framework is just fanfiction that he did not write. In fact, A.I.D.A. besides admitting to controlling the narrative, has also admitted it’s algorithms. Math doesn’t determine who we become. Math is probability, who we become is a choice.

But the the thing is: Fritz? He’s another persona of Fitz. He’s the rewritten character... but he doesn’t know that. As far as he knows, this has always been his life. Therefore, within the context of the Framework, Fritz is personally responsible for his actions (unless Fritz is literally being drugged or mind controlled by A.I.D.A similar to Bakshi or Daisy). Inside the Framework, Fritz is a product of his surroundings... Hydra and his father and history have shaped him. Much the same way Ward was manipulated and used all his life. He may have been twisted and conformed into this dark image. He may be on a short leash. It may have been almost impossible to break the mold. But ultimately every person has a deep internal choice to say yes or no to evil. For Fritz, he may not have even recognized it was evil. He may have an internal voice that sounds like his mother saying “What if you were better?” but he’s not listening to it yet, and it does not excuse his actions. 

But anyway...

Jemma’s just looking at things in a very black and white way because she loves Fitz and she hates Ward and she’s seeing what she wants to see.

#aos #fitzsimmons #jemma simmons #fitz #grant ward #aos meta #unpopular opinion? #anon replies #send me stuff