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penguwastaken · 1 month

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About Brainwashing in Danganronpa

Hello to all 3 of the people who see this account. A few months ago, I made a thread on hit website Twitter dot com about brainwashing in the Danganronpa Series. I discussed where it came from, how it works, and how the brainwashing of class 77-B was never a retcon. The thread got a lot of attention there, even getting a "debunk" on other hit website Reddit dot com (lmao). Due to that, there's been a lot of responses and questions. Since I can't really update a Twitter thread, I decided that I'd make the Ultimate™ Brainwashing thread and hopefully dispel any information on the subject while making my original points more clear and covering things I failed to cover. So here it is: Brainwashing in Danganronpa, how it works, where it came from, and how it was intended from the start. (a 🧵 except not really) *Massive spoilers for Danganronpa Zero, Danganronpa 2, Danganronpa Another Episode, Danganronpa Togami, and Danganronpa 3, as well as the series as a whole*

Danganronpa Zero: First Sighting

Brainwashing has its roots all the way back in the second official entry produced in the series, Danganronpa Zero. During the story's events, Ryoko comes across a secret cult made up of students from the reserve course. They're seen staring at a strange video, seemingly turning them and turn them into mindless zombies.

The video depicts members of the student council killing each other. Ryoko is stunned while watching it. She can barely look away, but eventually through force of will she does. This same video is later used to convince the reserve course to rebel.

The way it's described to work is that it uses their “pent-up emotions,” implying that their emotions played a role in its effectiveness. It's also worth noting that the novel itself refers to what is happening as brainwashing, making this objectively the first depiction of brainwashing in the series right from the second entry.

Danganronpa 2: Now it Gets Dubious

Our next instance of brainwashing comes from Danganronpa 2. The concept is brought up multiple times, such as when Makoto states that the Ultimate Despairs were brainwashed or how the Neo World Program is good at treating brainwashing, though the details of what brainwashing actually means in this context are kept vague.

It's also worth noting that Danganronpa 2 was being written around the same time as Danganronpa Zero and Kodaka wanted concepts from the novel to appear in Danganronpa 2, likely so readers would feel validated. This is why things like Izuru Kamukura and the reserve course play huge roles in Danganronpa 2, it's not too much of a stretch to say that the same applies with brainwashing. One detail we’re given about the brainwashing is from Monokuma, who states the Ultimate Despairs were brainwashed by Junko taking advantage of their feelings. Specifically love, hate, grudges, and "anything really". If that sounds familiar, it’s because that’s exactly how the brainwashing video from Danganronpa Zero was described to function, using their pent-up emotions.

I should mention that Monokuma and Junko are known for being unreliable narrators who often stretch the truth, exaggerate things, and use hyperbole to manipulate people into believing their narrative. Monokuma describes the Ultimate Despairs as “nothing more than Junko’s limbs”, which contradicts the existence of characters like Nagito. Who, while in his despair state, did not work with Junko nor did he look up to her (at least in the normal sense like the other Ultimate Despairs). In fact, it would have been impossible for them to really obey any of Junko's orders as Ultimate Despairs because Junko was trapped inside of Hope's Peak with minimal connection to the outside world. This isn't a definitive "Monokuma is lying" statement, but just note that his word isn't 100% reliable. Meanwhile, someone like Makoto who outright mentions brainwashing, is a much more reliable source.

Danganronpa Another Episode: More Brainwashing! (kinda irrelevant tho...)

The next time brainwashing is used is in the next entry, Danganronpa Another Episode. Though its purpose in this discussion isn’t the most useful, as the brainwashing is caused by Monokuma helmets, which don’t have their functionality explained. I figured it was worth mentioning and describing at least, as its another example of brainwashing at least.

I did figure it was worth adding how the brainwashed children act. They obey the Warriors of Hope’s every command, as if they have zero control over their actions. This is different from how the Ultimate Despairs act, who still some free had free will after presumably being brainwashed judging by the actions of Nagito, who is also in this game.

Danganronpa Togami: I Hate My Life

Okay. As mixed as my opinions are on this novel trilogy, it does feature brainwashing. In fact, it might feature one of the most detailed and important descriptions of brainwashing in the series, and even outright CONFIRMS that class 77-B were brainwashed (sorta).

"Hey um... Tumblr/Twitter user Pengu... what do you mean by 'sorta'?" Well my uninformed reader who I guarantee has probably never read this book, there's a twist. I regret to inform you that the canonicity of Danganronpa Togami is rather questionable, as it depicts an extremely unreliable narrator’s warped viewing of events due to this thing called the K2K system, which means not everything in the novel is meant to be taken literally or at face value.

This doesn't mean that everything should be discarded or immediately dismissed however. This just means that we have to use our brains a little and decipher what the hell Yuya Sato was cooking when he wrote this novel trilogy. In the novel, we discover the existence of the elusive despair novel. When read, the novel will turn the reader to despair and inflict them with the despair disease. This novel is what's used to plummet the world into despair, as well as being what caused the class 77-B to become the Ultimate Despairs. There's no known ways to avoid it, once you read it, it's joever. 😔

As I said earlier, the events of Danganronpa Togami can’t be taken literally. Due to this and prior context, we can safely assume that the despair novel is most likely the K2K's warped idea of the despair video from Danganronpa Zero. Instead of being a book being read that brainwashed people, it was a video being watched. What makes me so sure? Well let's look over the similarities. The way the despair novel works is that it uses cruel words to overload the reader with negative emotions, causing them to snap and turn to despair. That sounds almost exactly like the despair video, overloading the viewer by manipulating their emotions until they turn to despair. This connection's a little bit of a stretch but I'll bring it up anyways. The technology used in the despair novels was originally to bring hope. (Take notes, it will probably be important assuming you buy this connection.)

Essentially, the despair novel works the exact same way as the despair video, but instead it’s a book and you read it instead of watching it. This means that class 77-B and the rest of the world were most likely brainwashed via the despair video, and that is what caused the class to become Ultimate Despairs.

Danganronpa 3: The One People Really Don't Like

And all of this brings us to the most detailed yet controversial usage of brainwashing: Danganronpa 3. Many assume that the anime’s usage of brainwashing is a retcon, contradicting the words of our holy savior Super Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair High School. However, I’d like to debate that. In fact, I'd like to finally put a nail in the coffin of this really stupid debate and finally show you that Danganronpa 3's depiction of brainwashing is exactly how it has always been described.

In Danganronpa 3, we are introduced to Ryota Mitarai and his anime. Using the power of subliminal messaging, it heightens the viewer's emotions and makes them more powerful. What was once a slightly emotional scene is now a complete tearjerker fully capable of tearing at the viewers heart strings! While he acknowledges that there are unethical things that can be done with this technology and it's technically brainwashing, his goal is to use this technology to make the world a better place, even if it can be dangerous. If that sounds familiar, that's because it's what Hope's Peak tried doing with the despair novel in Danganronpa Togami. Though I'll admit, this single point is a little bit of a stretch as there are differences. I just figured it was worth at least a mention.

Using her analytical prowess, Junko gets a rough understanding of how the technology works, so she develops the despair video, featuring the student council killing each other overlayed with subliminal messaging technology to make the despair felt while viewing the video stronger.

The video works on Mikan, however Junko fears that the video may not be powerful enough to fully go through with her plans due to not understanding the technology nearly as well as Ryota does. Because of this, she forces Ryota to create a better, more powerful despair video. A despair video v2 if you will. Junko’s fears weren’t unfounded, as we discover that Chisa had the mental fortitude to resist the despair video, similarly to how Ryoko was able to resist the same video in Danganronpa Zero. This is exactly why Junko needs a more powerful video, one that she knows can’t be resisted.

"Ermmmm, Tumblr/Twitter user Pengu, how come Ryoko and Chisa are able to resist the despair video but Mikan and nobody in the reserve course could?" Good question, the answer is pretty simple. As mentioned before, the video takes advantage of the emotions of the viewer. Mikan is already pretty weak minded, so there wasn't much issue in controlling her. The reserve course already hated Hope's Peak and would take any reason to hate them more, so a video that shows them the sins of Hope's Peak would affect them as well. Ryoko and Chisa have no connection to the reserve course however, and neither are particularly very weak emotionally. Ryoko has the analytical prowess of Junko and Chisa is just a very strong willed person in general, and paired with Junko's lack of knowledge about subliminal messaging when creating the video, it's pretty obvious it wouldn't be that effective on them. All the more reason for Junko to force Ryota to make a better despair video.

The despair video v2 that Ryota is forced to make comes in the form of Chiaki’s execution video, where the stronger subliminal messages paired with witnessing the representation of the happiest moments in their miserable lives and their closest friend suffer makes class 77-B unable to resist. Ultimately this causes them to finally snap, being overloaded with despair, and now they turn into the Ultimate Despairs. (side note this is so freaking cool idc what anyone else says)

This resembles Monokuma’s explanation from Danganronpa 2. Junko used class 77-B’s emotions and years of getting closer against them to turn them to them to despair. Now featuring the added context of her using the video designed to manipulate people’s emotions. This depiction of brainwashing fits perfectly with the information provided throughout the series, even down to the little details. It’s so close in fact that I can say without a doubt that Danganronpa 3 did not retcon anything. “But Tumblr/Twitter user Pengu, that isn’t how the video is shown to work during Hope Arc. Therefore it actually contradicts previous entries and is inconsistent!" To that I say, you’re correct! ...at least about the hope video functioning differently, but that doesn’t make it inconsistent. The hope video behaves pretty differently. Instead of overloading the viewer with negative feelings, it simply just shows them a repeating video loop that turns them into a mindless zombie, likely caused by even stronger subliminal messaging. The people affected can also snap out of this state with some time, as seen with Aoi.

The reasoning for this is actually pretty simple, it’s just different technology entirely. It’s stated that the hope video was developed later on after the despair video. If anything, it behaves very similar to the Monokuma masks from Danganronpa Another Episode, which we also already established uses different technology. The hope video doesn’t contradict the despair video at all because they both use completely different tech. This can also be seen with how the despair video uses subliminal messaging, meanwhile the messaging in the hope video couldn’t be further from subliminal. There is no inconsistency, just two different things.

The reason the hope video needed to be broadcasted everywhere was so that since it would be airing everywhere, nobody would have time for the effects to wear off or resist it. This would turn the world into mindless zombies who obey every command, similarly to the Monokuma kids. It's just that now they don't have to force bulky helmets onto everyone.

Debunking Common Arguments

With the hope video out of the way, I think it’s very safe to assume that not only is the despair video’s functionality very accurate to previous descriptions, it’s also always been the reason for the brainwashing of Class 77-B, long before Danganronpa 3. Even if you disagree and think the cause of brainwashing was never explicitly mentioned in Danganronpa 2, there's still the fact that Danganronpa 2 outright says it was brainwashing. So even if a video wasn't the direct cause of it, them being brainwashed was still always intended (though given the context, I'm certain that the video was always the culprit). Many point to this line where Kazuichi asks why they became the Ultimate Despairs and Makoto says he never got an answer to debunk this. But... this doesn't change anything. He asks why they became Ultimate Despairs, not how. And this is completely ignoring the fact that Makoto clearly has done his own digging into the situation, he discovered the Remnants of Despair were hiding among Future Foundation after all. The Future Foundation had access to brainwashing videos, they found them, so of course Makoto is going to know about the brainwashing. But that's not what he's asking about, he's asking about the why. That's what he doesn't know.

Many also point to Mikan stating that it was her many human relationships that led her to being the way she is. Once again, this changes literally nothing. Mikan was the only one of the remnants who actually knew Junko, she was the only one who spent time with her because she was the first subject. This is why she gets more attached to her, and even why she'd believe what Junko would tell her when they spent time together. Monokuma also says that Junko used "hopeless methods overflowing with charisma and humor" to control the masses. I don't even know why I have to address this, but this statement is so vague you can interpret it as a million things. Like for example, this is how she got Ryota to work for her. While pretending to be Makoto to manipulate the people in the trial, Junko tells them that they all became Ultimate Despairs while coming into contact with her at Hope's Peak and they were subjected by her terrifying influence. Again, ignoring how vague "terrifying influence" is, this is literally Junko trying to LIE AND MANIPULATE them. This is quite possibly the worst example you could have used because we know for a fact that she is lying to them while pretending to be Makoto. There's other examples of Junko trying to manipulate them, like mentioning how everyone hated them and their all Ultimate Despairs at the end of the day. But that's just what this is, manipulation. You would think that the "Junko manipulated class 77-B" crowd would understand that saying "everyone hates you but I saw your potential" is literally manipulation 101. Some say that the brainwashing turned them into mindless zombies and eliminates all blame from their actions. While I would agree that it does make them less at fault, they still have the ability to make choices and still have free will. Their original personalities haven't been overwritten, their brains were just rewired to crave despair. They're still each their individual person with their own ways of feeling despair, and characters like Chisa and Nagito show that they regain their free will to an extent.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

This whole debate stems from people misunderstanding Monokuma’s words and going along with the popular interpretation, which turned out to be wrong. Whether you like the use of brainwashing or not, it objectively isn’t a retcon as it's been developed ever since Danganronpa Zero. Personally, I love the use of brainwashing. I think the way it's developed throughout the series and its usage in Danganronpa 3 is super interesting. If you disagree, that's fine! Heck, if you choose to headcanon that Junko manipulated 15 individual teenagers into all becoming despair hungry terrorists capable but ending the world and fighting off every military in the world in less than a year, that's cool too! But the truth is, Danganronpa 3's brainwashing is canon and it's also not a retcon nor does it contradict anything. Contrary to popular belief, Kodaka was involved with the writing of the anime. He provided a large draft and outline of the plot and oversaw its development. He produced the anime, he did his homework, he knew what he was doing. I'm sure if Kodaka intended for them to all be manipulated one by one, that's what he would have went with. All information implying that it was manipulation is very few and far between and questionable at best, not to mention outweighed by everything implying it was brainwashing. Mind manipulation stuff is not new in this series, its been around since the first game and brainwashing was established in literally the second entry ever produced. Whether you love it or hate it, think it's the best thing since sliced bread or the death of the series, brainwashing was the answer the whole time. Some people just never noticed it, and instead of acknowledging that they were wrong, they stuck with a headcanon that they believed so much and jumped to the conclusion of "retcon". I hope this mega post managed to inform some people, maybe change some minds too. If you still don't buy it, then I guess there's nothing I can do. Thanks for reading all of this though, I tend to yap a lot about this franchise lmao.

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transrevolutions · 7 months

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@rex-and-regina

1) marat did not encourage "murder of innocent civilians" in l'ami du peuple. while he did sometimes use violent rhetoric (like in the "five hundred heads" quote that people love to throw around with no context), that was pretty much the norm for political journals at the time. they were sensational and emotional and dramatic and hyperbolic. that was pretty much the stylistic standard. if you compare marat's paper with, say, hebert's or even desmoulins's, you'll find he's actually pretty academic and straightforward for the era.

2) if you try to counter my first point with "but the september massacres", you need to know that marat was not directly responsible for those either. the narrative that he caused it stems from the fact that he put out an issue of his paper a little while before the massacres that said some stuff about taking up arms to defend the homeland from conspirators and traitors, etc. etc. except, y'know, a bunch of people were saying stuff like that in their papers (see above). it's true that he didn't explicitly condemn the massacres, but nobody in the government really wanted to talk about it because of how messy of a situation it was. someone else even said something like "we will draw the curtain over this event and leave its judgement to posterity".

3) robespierre.... did not cause the "reign of terror". in fact they did not even call it the reign of terror at the time (historians came up with that later). actually, if we want to get pedantic, the term terreur had a very different connotation in the 18th century than it does now, but I digress. robespierre was the subject of a massive smear campaign when his coworkers realized they couldn't make him shut up about various crimes that they were involved in and killed him to keep him from airing out their dirty laundry. they also killed a bunch of his political allies because they couldn't have them exonerating him, could they? look it up it's actually wild. so they blamed him for all the issues that the government had, even the ones he was trying to fix (he opposed the shitshow in lyons and nantes, cautioned against needless bloodshed, abhorred the practice of treating executions as a spectacle). also he didn't actually have nearly as much power as people seem to think now. he was a member of the national convention (the french republic's elected legislative body), and a member of the committee of public safety (a council elected from members of the convention to deal with the escalating war situation and some other stuff). he was not the leader of the CSP (which did not have a leader) or the convention (which had a presidency that was mostly ceremonial and worked on a rotating basis). he also never sentenced anyone to death because it was the tribunals that did that, not the convention or CSP.

4) the time period that is generally considered the "reign of terror" (as flawed a concept as that is) is usually placed after the assassination of marat. because a big reason for the paranoia that led to the escalation of security measures was the fact that marat was killed. marat was seen as kind of unkillable by the people of paris (won his own political show trial, etc.) so if you could kill marat, you could kill anyone. so it's kind of hard to say what marat would've supported or not supported after he died, especially since his death itself heavily influenced the next stage of the revolution.

5) charlotte corday wasn't even a monarchist. she was aligned with the girondins, who were moderate republicans in favor of the free market. she didn't like marat because marat was calling the girondins corrupt in his newspaper after a prominent girondin official turned traitor and deserted to the austrians (whom france was at war with). not entirely sure what she thought she would accomplish with this, because a great way to make your political faction seem really corrupt is to brutally murder a guy for criticizing it.

6) a bunch of people actually tried to stop marat through various means, legal and illegal. namely lafayette and brissot and capet and barbaroux and necker and... you get the picture. charlotte corday was just the one that succeeded.

a final point: why do you criticize marat for "encouraging" (but never committing) murder while you simultaneously praise corday for committing a literal actual murder? only one of the three people (marat, robespierre, corday) you mentioned actually killed anybody, and it wasn't marat or robespierre.

#discourse #marat #french revolution #frev #robespierre #I do not have the energy for this

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web-kindle · 6 days

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!MASSIVE FOOLIVERSE RAMBLE! Read at your own peril!

Congratulations Erik! 🎊🥳🎊

You have successfully made me care more about the Fooliverse than ANY canon storyline you've currently got going on rn (Except for Hush and Vega, I'm still very invested in that). Forget the Balance, forget Sovereign State, forget the currently kinda stagnant DAMN storyline, I need more Fooliverse Lore! (Note: mildly hyperbolic, I do want Erik to push major storylines, but with the new schedule they're gonna take ages)

Like each character we've gotten so far have been so fun, but with them comes so many questions about the universe around them. For example (this is your final chance to escape, its a long one):

What's the rest of the DAMN crew like? Are they all complete opposites of their canon counterparts, and if not what stays the same. Gavin although quiet and submissive, still very much enjoys sex and partaking in it when he wants like in canon. So what about the others? Is Huxley less friendly in this AU, is he rude or just an actual loner that gave up on making real friends? Is he smarter or still a bit goofy? What about Lasko and Damien, what are their differences? Is Damien a member of staff or is Lasko a really extroverted student? Where's Kody in all this? Is he still a mild extremist or is he actually a cool dude? Maybe he's a jock unlike Huxley??? Like I'M SO INVESTED!

What's going on with the rest of the Rebaine Clan? Where was Marie when Milo's dad drunk himself to death and Milo got lost in the system? Was she an absent mother or was she just not related to Milo at all? Is she in the Rebaine Clan or is she the Queen of a Clan of her own? Where. Are. The Solaires?!?! I have to know if Vincent is still a human who survived The Surge and is just living life, or never got on in the first place. Did he ever meet Lovely, did he die on The Surge and not get saved? Was he born a Vamp, turned by William still, or someone else? Is William a minor Duke or something or still a King but not as important? What about being one of those High Council Vamps Milo mentioned? Is he even around? We know Porter is, like did Demetri save him, get Porter indebted to him, or was Porter born a Vamp and just joined the Clan??? And how close is the Clans relationship with the Talbot Pack. Like yeah their friends of the Clan, but to the same level as in canon, or more? Or less? We know Asher is more serious in this AU being the Alpha, so what's his relationship with Milo??? Are they close friends, or reluctant allies on a personal level? IS MILO STILL SHORT?!?! These are the questions we need answered

James we know is a stoner and that he doesn't see himself as a good person. Is he still part of ETS, doing stuff that doesn't sit well with him to the point he smokes to get away? Does he even have a job currently? Why does he feel like he's not a good/kind person? What did he do? Maybe it's just his personality this AU... But if James isn't part of ETS and Anton is in the Pack, who's running Project Meridian? Is the project even needed, cause if the Miridian is OK in this AU, maybe the company that would do it is just sticking to normal science projects (whatever that means). Where's Marcus in all this, is he still a weirdo, but in a different font? Maybe he's just a dude too, living life, or maybe Asset is just a person and they actual love Marcus and they live together with no issues... GOD this is so unfair that I don't know 😫

And more on Anton, we know he is a member of the Talbot Pack. It's cute he's so fun and carefree, not wondering when he'll see his Love again. He's flourishing in the Talbot Pack! I'm guessing he's just an ordinary member, but is he part of security (if the Pack still does that) or does he do his own thing. Maybe he's a stay-at-home partner, I wonder if he's still responsible somewhat to maintain the house easily or if he's completely a menace on that front.

What. Happened. To. Guy??? Cause why's my Guy so depressed? Is he still sharing an apartment with Mikayla, but Honey isn't there, so its sapping him of all his happiness? Did he confess but Honey was like "nah" and he's completely defeated in life. Maybe Guy tried to do more with his writing degree but it's not working out and him delivering pizza on the size is really knocking his motivation? What if he's just like that and things are a-ok overall. Maybe he barely reacted to Anton' wolf for cause he knows about magic (accidently or not) and is completely disillusioned about life cause "why are things still shit if magic exists" so he just doesn't care??? You can't leave me hanging like this Erik!!!

More on the Pack, DAVID IS OPENLY CALLED DAVEY! First, that's so fucking cute as hell, but I gotta know is it an inside joke, did Angel push for this, or maybe is naturally evolved and David doesn't mind anyone calling him that. Curious to see which one it is. We at least know based on his personality he's not highly likely to hate on it. Secondly, HIS DAD'S ALIVE (and seems to call his son for tech help lol). That's so sweet! ☺️ Shows how different he would be with his dad still around. And finally, damn he's such a sweetheart, and Angel is still a menace but a grumpy one instead. Its hot how he wants them to take the lead, begs for it even.

Overall love how cute he is in this, makes me question what his dynamic would be interacting with Milo in this universe. In fact, I wanna see more of his and Asher's best friend relationship in this AU. With their personalities, I feel like it would be really chill. Anyway, who is the Beta? It's not Davey and it doesn't seem to be Anton, so who is it? Maybe, it actually is Darlin like some people have been theorising. (Oh god Where's Sam in all this???) Or maybe Christian, which also makes me guess what the dynamic between him and Asher is like. Maybe it's not so different to his canon interactions with Alpha David.

And a side note, Alpha Asher just can't catch a break, it's like being the Alpha of this Pack curses you to be gruff and broody no matter what universe it happens in. At least no one close to him has actually died or something like in The Imperium. Unless if one or both of his parents died for him to become a grumpy Alpha!!! Who knows, its up for headcannon to decide. Mildly bummed out that we don't get a full vid or even an Asher cameo in this AU. A few references on his seemingly responsible lifestyle and kinda gruff character by other people is not enough. GIVE ME MORE OF THE FOOLIVERSE PUPPY!!! (Respectfully)

If you got to the end I sincerely apologise, you shouldn't have done that, but know you know the thoughts that have plagued my brain about this AU. Whilst there were some lighthearted demands in there just know they were all made in good faith and is just an indicator of how much I've enjoyed this AU. Its honestly been so fun and I hope it gets a comeback in some way.

Now it's time to bet on who the BAs gonna be about next month!

#kindling thoughts #like severely #its a lot #redacted audio #redacted asmr #massive ramble #redactedverse #redacted fooliverse #redacted fandom

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super-who-locked-me-in-here · 4 months

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I think the most fun part to me with writing Hannibal fanfics is seeing how far I can run with the dialogue I make Will and Hannibal use. Because I feel like there's a scale of how to write them that also very much falls in line with how they are in the show.

There's Hannibal-esque writers. They know seem to know a lot about music, art, food, and/or mythology from lots of different places and communities. They're cultured and well-informed or at the very least, they've done a lot of research into these things.

And then there's Will-esque writers. Those that aren't necessarily well-educated on all those subjects, but they're smart enough and cognizant enough of the various subjects to be able to snap back with some metaphor of their own.

And these are both good types of Hannibal fic writers don't get me wrong, but I do very much enjoy being a Will Writer. I don't know a lot about music or dancing or art, and by God I try to avoid describing whatever meals Hannibal might be making at risk of sounding like an idiot, but I'm a history major and published poet. I can work with that.

I can be pretentious and flowery and philosophical with my words, and hey, maybe throw in some metaphor about:

Well, Hannibal is so headstrong because he's following his namesake. Hannibals are supposed to be leaders, like Hannibal, the Carthaginian general of the Second Punic War, or Hannibal Hamlin, the fifteenth vice president of the United States (and a revolutionary one at that as the first Republican vice president).

But then have a clap back of, well, General Hannibal of Carthage may have been one of the greatest military tacticians in known history, but he did lose the Second Punic War (like Hannibal Lecter lost Will to justice in the Second season), was exiled many times over (except Hannibal Lecter ran to Italy rather than being pushed from it and its surrounding territories), and then ended up killing himself after being betrayed (much like Hannibal Lecter gave up his life (hyperbolically) to the BSHCI after Will betrayed him and his feelings).

And of course Hannibal Hamlin wasn't all that bad either, until Abraham Lincoln decided he needed to appeal more to those that opposed him, and he dropped Hamlin and picked up Andrew Johnson because that seemed like the best thing to do (kind of like how Will dropped Hannibal Lecter in Digestivo only to pick up a shiny little family for himself, because it was what he was supposed to want and do).

And in the end I'll spin it all with "Is that all your namesake is, Hannibal? A crutch of greatness keeping you from falling directly into abandonment's gaping maw? One could wonder why you try to avoid your sorrows when the legacy of your name scrambles the letters until all they spell is rejection."

But uh yeah that explanation really got out of hand and I just meant to say that I love writing Hannibal dialogue even if I don't have all the culture knowledge that Hannibal characters seem to have. It's fun.

#jesus christ that got away from me #but whatever #hannibal #hannibal fic #my writing #dot says

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miaoqing · 3 months

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what (western) astrological sign do we thing SY is/was .... it looks as if september 21st is widely considered to be his birthday but according to the wiki it's actually the day he died? i guess it is technically his re-birth-day but transmigration didn't reset his personality soo does it really count? 🫣

to be fair, him being a virgo would make sense; virgos are known for being smart, responsible, hard-working, and self-sacrificing (according to co-star). all of this sounds pretty accurate imo.

HOWEVER. that man HAS to have a fire sign somewhere in there.

i'm thinking something like leo moon? "their emotional self is dramatic, proud, expressive, idealistic, and somewhat self-centered."

i feel like these traits make sense when you consider his actions and his character in general; he is definitely very dramatic, everything he says is basically just one big hyperbole. he is proud in a very stubborn way, he refuses to accept that he might have been wrong. this also ties in with him being self-centered, that is, he firmly believes that eveything is how he thinks it should be; like the way he was absolutely certain that LBH wanted to kill him to the point where he didn't even consider any other option.

his rising is a bit harder to pinpoint, but i'm thinking maybe aquarius; "they come across as broadminded, intellectual, and prone to abstraction, though somewhat detached or abrupt in their dealings with the real world. Their unconventional interests may seem eccentric or pretentious to others."

he is obviously very intellectual (he basically memorized AND made sense of the entirety of PIDW, + took over the SCHOLARLY peak without anyone noticing) and broadminded (like in his opinions about demons), except when it is something he has already made up his mind about. he is definitely detached from reality in the real world; he calls himself a "dispirited pretty boy sitting around waiting to die". in the svsss world, too, especially at first when he still sees everyone around him as just fictional characters. this is the one i'm most unsure about though.

pls tell me what you think <3

(also, SJ is definitely a scorpio)

#i'm no expert so PLEASE take this with like. a spoonful of salt #svsss #tgcf #sqq #sy #shen qingqiu #shen yuan #scum villian self saving system #scum villain

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thebreakfastgenie · 3 months

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beejhawk 👀

LMAO I was just sitting here like "no one even bothers to send me beejhawk anymore" but bless you to the bottom of your pot-stirring heart, anon.

Don’t Ship It

Why don’t you ship it? I have several reasons, which I will get into it, but I'm going to start with this one: I like a happy ending. Beejhawk cannot be a happy ending to me. I'm not entirely convinced any Hawkeye/4077th ship being endgame can be a happy ending, even the ones I like. I want to see Hawkeye move on from the war, which is what GFA is setting him up to do. Beejhawk keeps him stuck with the war defining his life. That's depressing to me. In the larger narrative of Hawkeye's life, it's important to me that the war is unimportant. The war being how Hawkeye met the love of his life gives me the ick. It implicitly suggests the war was somehow worth it. I can't think of a single reason why I would ship it. I think the biggest reason is it's simply too OOC for me. I cannot believe that Hawkeye would be in love with BJ. That is not Hawkeye to me. I actually can believe that BJ would be in love with Hawkeye, even though BJ is extremely straight to me, but I can't see Hawkeye reciprocating, ever. I've read some beejhawk fic and a lot of posts, and the way Hawkeye behaves and is characterized doesn't just feel wrong to me, it feels wrong in the way I hate the most. BJ is usually wildly OOC too. The other big reason is the complete lack of chemistry. They have negative romantic chemistry to me. This is a much smaller reason, but the things people get from beejhawk I get from other ships that make more sense to me. For a best friends ship, I have piercentyre. If I want to ship Hawkeye with someone repressed, I have hawnk or houlihawk. Sometimes I joke about this but it's kind of true that I don't need beejhawk because I have hawnk. The Joke Is Wild? Hawnk did it first. I genuinely do not understand why beejhawk is a ship at all, except that they're the two main guys. If I didn't know how slash culture worked, I would have been shocked that it even existed. In the last few seasons, I'm not even convinced they like each other. I found myself asking "do these guys even like each other?" about the alleged best friends more than once, and I had to actively rev up my suspension of disbelief to enjoy their goodbye properly the first time I watched GFA. I very strongly dislike any framing of MASH as a love story, and I have yet to find beejhawk content that doesn't turn it into the Ballad of Hawkeye and BJ. Piercentyre is fun for me, because it really changes the show very little. Beejhawk requires me to rewire the entire show, and I don't want to. A lot of moments that I adore become less meaningful to me if they're shippy. For example, Where There's a Will, There's a War. "When I wake up remind me to give you a kiss" is an expression of BJ's profound relief and a wonderful resolution to the anxiety and guilt he's been feeling for the whole episode. It's hyperbole that only works because they don't normally kiss or want to kiss. It always brings to mind a lyric from a song about WWII: "and I never kissed so many men as on that afternoon." It's not about romance, it's about being glad to be alive. I just like the show better without beejhawk. I started out a little more neutral and my visceral revulsion built through overexposure. There was also an assumption that you shipped beejhawk that I really resented. Especially because of the implications around it being slash. I am gay, I ship gay ships, I ship other gay ships in MASH. I don't ship beejhawk. I'm not required to ship every single gay ship. So all those beejhawk posts about "gay people love this" or "gay people think that" bother me and turn me off even more.

What would have made you like it? Completely different acting/chemistry. Something completely different from what I ever see the fandom do with it. I could probably be sold on unrequited (BJ's side only) or unhappy ending beejhawk in fic if it was really well done. This is your chance to plug! I think a realistic handling of it would help too. The show gives me a BJ who is as far from leaving his family as a man can be. I need to be convinced that something would change that. Meta claiming he's actually close to leaving in the show does not work for me, it directly contradicts what I see. I need writers to dig into it. Actually show me the dissolution of BJ's marriage, the pain and consequences. Show me how he manages to stay in his daughter's life, if he does. Brokeback Mountain does not shy away from how badly Ennis treats his wife and how absent he is to his children. My experience with beejhawk is that much angst is made of the obstacles to their being together, but they're quickly dispatched with. Tell me what Hawkeye sees in BJ, because I don't see it in the show.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it? It inspired me to make these. I've been thinking lately that this lyric fits beejhawk "perhaps we don't fulfill each other's fantasies." If you know me, you know this is something positive from me, because it's from what I think is one of the best songs ever written. There is some interesting potential. Just get out of the true love box! Try something dark, something one-sided (BJ's side), something that ends badly! I do really like their friendship in the first few BJ seasons.

#i'm gonna stop there this could go on all night #mashposting #i welcome discussion on any of these points btw #you won't change my mind but it's fun to talk

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avissapiens · 3 months

Text

JBS retrospective.

Jockbull summer was definitely something where I shot for the stars. 15 tasks where everyone else had only 5. Fairly stringent time limited goals that got more intense and all consuming with each set that was developed. I knew I wasn't going to be perfect at it or even approach 50% completion. And yet i still feel fucking amazing to have done it! In an 8 week span i jockified certain segments of my life in ways that really did feel like they resonated through my whole being. It sounds a bit hyperbolic, I know. But I do think that undergoing such a structured battery of tasks, having it constantly in my mind every single day, even to the point that for 8 weeks straight my phone background was some of the images I generated for each set of post diaries did something to me. Thinking about these Jockbull tasks definitely left a mark on my mindset. And the tasks themselves left a mark on my life because I think some of them are simply going to stick with me.

But they were starting to drag and i noticed myself getting more and more exhausted with..well..everything as the cut came to its end. So it had to come to a close as all good things must

Set A

Of the tasks that are gonna stick with me here I definitely think elements of the competition task are gonna have a big impact. It was perhaps overenthusiastic to demand weekly competition from other people. But I have noticed my approach to things the longer I've held this task in my mind is a lot more geared towards winning and just enjoying competition in general. It’s still not fully realized yet though. There is more I can do to embody that jock mentality of victory at any cost. Maybe i should delve into some specific self programming so that i take it beyond just video games

The other task I think is going to stick is Baki. I just didn’t anticipate how fucking fun it would be and how much it aligns so well with my particular kink ecosystem. But moreover, I think deliberately pursuing baki rather than just mindlessly consuming it has opened me up for more media exploration, and exploration of the sort that will help me see the archetypes in more forms of art. That definitely had an impact on my vibes sets too. And in the time since then I've opened up to exploring shows like Letterkenny which has a whiff of jockbroness to it.

Set B

I feel like Set B was mostly more geared towards accomplishing a specific goal for the cut. And now that it’s accomplished and thensome I can thank it and file most of it away. Maybe bring some of it back around when I do a cut in future. One thing that will definitely be sticking is the Personal Training element. Keeping this task in my mind has really opened up the possibilities. Especially as I’ve talked it through with Abg and others more thoroughly. I want to keep synthesizing my loves and my passions. I moved here to NZ specifically because I wanted to combine my interests into something niche and eclectic but that could still serve me. And the same goes for Personal training. At first I thought I'd be stuck just working in a gym and I was fine with that. But I want more. I want to be able to take this knowledge, this business, and combine it with the different brilliant works I've already put so much work into. The abyss, the archetypes. I wanna do online training and help you all actually physically attain these goals and help you make a transformation Even more astonishing than my own. Combining Personal training and the hypnotic structures I've created. And I'd love to be able to make something steady and sustainable out of it so I can get my own space and grow even more while finishing my degree here. I know it’s lofty. But I've always put in the work and this is no exception. We’ll see how things go once I've got the quals.

Set C

I truly wish that the meditation task was the one I was gonna keep around. Set C however really illustrated how precarious setting too many things in stone can be. Daily routines, a biweekly creative work schedule, weekly fast days. It was a lot. Things eventually had to give and meditation was one of them. Now that I'm trying to gain some muscle mass, fasting days are actively counter productive. And being on commission mode means that a lot of my creative bandwidth is taken up by those. I will however be maintaining the daily routine. It’s not perfect. It never will be. And it sure as hell isn’t for everyone. But I am very much an abyssal creature of habit and structured chaos. And the creation of a daily routine for skincare, supplements, Breakfast. It all makes me feel a lot better and has 100% elevated my aesthetics. Not to mention really entwining himbo as something I relate with and aspire to more and more. For most of JBS i was also using a pretty strict time table for a bunch of summer related things.

But I've decided to retire it because the longer it went on, the more tired and numb I grew and the lower my success rate with any given day’s tasks were. But it was incredibly successful at the start of summer and allowed me to get a lot done and set a great momentum for the rest of it. My libido never really “went away” during the cut like sometimes happens to bodybuilders, but it defo got attenuated or at least shifted. But holy fuck now that i’m back on carbs you can bet that i’ll be doing task 3 almost unthinkingly

All in all, I really enjoyed this experiment and I’d love to try it again in a different form. Maybe with a wider sample of bros who might also benefit from the structure and accountability. In a way the dudes I generated these with stopped being the main form of accountability for me, and you all reading the blogposts and listening to the Voice logs kept me going instead. So thanks so much. Back to regularly scheduled programming

#jockbull summer #jbs #bull #jock

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things-about-cars-in-posts · 5 months

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thoughts on the honda fit?

Love love love it! For one, I strongly believe it is the shape that cars should be. The mini MPV is as spacious as you'll ever realistically need and as compact as you'll ever realistically need. It is a perfect proportion that works everywhere and that there are as few such models as there are is downright criminal - and with the increased emissions, price and danger to our roads of the larger SUVy vehicles that are bought instead that word choice is only barely hyperbolic. Also, as has been mentioned, I tend to like Hondas: their interiors hold up great even four decades on, their reliability has very few exceptions, and they know how to make a car drive well when they want to. And the Jazz (as it's called in my neck of the woods) also has some great little features! The rear seats fold down flat! And fold up! They have little cubbies under them! And the front seats fold too! Look at them seats go!

I also like the styling of the first generation a lot, I find it has aged wonderfully! (Shoutout to that man in the background btw)

And the Sport bodykit really does wonders to its look.

In fact, it's the generation I think looks best. While overall they all look nice, I find the second one's front looks a bit like a caricature, the third one looks like it's trying to pretend it's not an MPV with unconvincing results, and the current one looks a bit like a deep sea fish taken to the surface.

The second generation is apparently just plain better than the first, the third better still in some areas but I've heard reports of it feeling a bit cheaper, but assuming you just want a verdict and not buyer advice (and folx who do, please ask, I will be happy to oblige) that verdict is: Yes, Good, Thumbs Up, Smile.

Links in blue are posts of mine about the topic in question: if you liked this post, you might like those - or the blog's Discord server, linked in the pinned post!

#honda jazz

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kiragecko · 1 year

Text

Hey Tumblr disability and neurodivergence communities?

I wanted to thank y'all for helping my husband get comfortable with getting a support my eldest needs.

NQ goes to a middle school that is just SLIGHTLY under the minimum distance away to qualify for bus transport. (His elementary school, across a field, WAS far enough away.) We didn't have any trouble getting an exception for him this year, since in elementary school I needed to make eye contact with a teacher and have them acknowledge they were accepting responsibility for him. He had no agency at all, so obviously he couldn't be trusted to walk all the way to school!

This year, though. He's flourished. The school trusts him to get into the building himself, to get on and off the bus himself, to decide for himself when he needs breaks, etc. And as a 'reward,' our government sent me a form titled 'Physician's Certification of Physical/Severe Cognitive Ability,' to be filled out before he is allowed school busing next year.

It's full of hyperbolic language like, 'it is imperative that only those truly in need are provided this service,' 'the disability must be deemed severe or chronic,' 'resources ... are extremely limited,' and 'it is physically impossible for the individual to walk/take [Public] Transit.'

My husband was obviously uncomfortable. NQ is a smart and capable kid in many areas. He's autistic, (and ADHD) not cognitively disabled. My husband sees the world as possibilities and strengths, and didn't want to say things like that about his son.

So I talked to him about posts you guys have made that walk people through getting diagnosed, and/or filling out forms about disabilities. About the importance of describing the person's worst days, the ones where they will need the support the most, rather than focusing on what they can do at their best.

He got it! He supports us talking to the doctor! And he told me how grateful he was that I'd learned this stuff.

We got to talk about the reasons NQ REALLY needs bus support:

no sense of direction

forgets what he's doing and wanders vaguely for 20 minutes on a regular basis

VERY easily distracted

'Getting Off The City Bus At The Right Stop' is an advanced skill, and, for those with ADHD, requires a prerequisite 'Can Problem Solve What To Do When You're 10 Stops Past Your Stop And Lost'

'Checking That This is The Correct City Bus' is also an advanced skill

minimal stranger danger

germ phobias mean that if he wiped his nose his fingers would 'become contaminated,' which would mean he could NOT put his gloves back on, even if it was -20℃ (0℉). Which is a major frostbite risk.

no impulse control if he misses his medication - can not be trusted to not do things that might harm himself/others

without meds there is a 2% chance of him getting to school unassisted (with meds, he might be able to get up to 90% on good days)

Like, taking the bus is actually a sign of maturity! Previously, I had to drive him most days, and I still do 3 mornings a week. The 2 mornings he walks himself to the bus stop (and the afternoons he walks himself home) are things I'm really proud of! If we don't qualify for the school bus, he's going to go back to relying entirely on me, rather than slowly increasing his independence.

So thank you. Getting my husband's support on this was really important to me. You guys gave me the words to do it.

#disability #neurodivergence #possibly #ableism #none of this is meant to be 'ugh why can't he do these things'#half of them are things I struggled with even as an adult #there's a reason I say 'getting off the bus at the right stop' has prerequisites

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quinnmorgendorffer · 11 months

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gob x tony

Oh boy okay okay first of all thank you for asking and sorry for taking so long to reply!!!

anyway.....

I am not exaggerating or speaking hyperbolically when I say that Gob/Tony is truly one of the best modern, CANON gay romances ever put to film.

First off, you have Gob's whole backstory. He's the disappointment, the one who should be the one to inherit his dad's company but is too incompetent compared to his younger brother. It's, again, canon that he's kept around to commit crimes for his family, use his charm, and - this one is his own thought process - fuck people to help the business.

He's the unwanted son, the bullet in his parents' shotgun wedding, canonically his mom's least favorite child and definitely not that high on his dad's list, either. The man is desperate for love throughout the whole show, leading to him freaking out when he thinks his girlfriend doesn't appreciate his magical abilities or using his bachelor party to try to frame someone for murder just because his dad's the one planning it. He cries when he thinks his brother didn't listen to his CD! He just wants people to love and appreciate him and it never seems to work.

Then he meets Tony. And even in "Sword of Destiny", Tony is impressed by him! And Tony takes enough interest to come to his wedding illusion and seem vaguely impressed as well - and note that no one from his family came to the wedding at all except Tobias, and that was just because he got an acting gig!

And, though they both were faking at first, Tony listens to him. Tony doesn't judge him. Tony is just as ridiculous as him, is just as "same" as him, and obviously feels a need to be around him for more than the Fakeblock scam, just like how Gob obviously wants to be around him for more than just to ruin his career. After all, they're both disappointed and hurt when they think the other is straight, not just angry and mad they did this for nothing like you would think if they didn't have feelings for each other.

And Gob, the man who consistently tries to run away from his problems - including even Tony at first in the beginning of s5 - becomes someone who actually proposes that they go on the road together, that Tony runs away with him. And then when he finds out that Tony is still really alive, he's the one who tracks him down and brings him back to Newport Beach.

And Tony, someone shown to not give a damn about anybody - he surely isn't romantic with Sally and he was doing something with his brother's widow ("it's fucked up") - cares so much about Gob. He tries at first to gently let him down when he's denying his own feelings. He apologizes for "missing" their sex date. He doesn't laugh at Gob for getting his words mixed up ("branding each other's taint"), which most everyone else does to him whether he realizes it or not ("the matriarch, if you will" "sure, I will"). He even agreed to do the 2nd of July float, and I cannot believe someone as show-boat-y as Tony fucking Wonder, someone who has to be the center of attention, would do a combined magician act for just anyone. And that's not even getting into the look of pure fucking LOVE Tony gives Gob in the series finale or how he's the one to suggest "Just hands!" to him.

And, outside of the canon of the show, I've seen some people say it started as a homophobic joke and I truly do not believe that. From my knowledge, Mitch basically made Gob a magician because it was funny. And you know what's funnier than one magician? Two magicians! And since magic is still weirdly a man's world, of course a magician couple happens to be two men. Will Arnett even said the story is sweet and is about Gob finding a connection he's never had before. And since they were planting hints of Gob's sexuality for YEARS, I find it hard to believe they were trying to be homophobic in any way. (Though, tbh, I have to agree with Maeby that "Gay Gob is funny.")

Anyway, I'll stop there. But tl;dr, Blunder is a true fucking masterpiece of romance and I will take no critiques on that.

Send me a ship and I’ll give you my (brutally) honest opinion on it

#thanks again for asking!!!#blunder #gob bluth #tony wonder #i'm in so many emotions now wow #ad #maverickcalf #bite me in the ask #ship meme

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smokeybrandreviews · 7 months

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Multiverse of Madness

I am an unapologetic Adventure Time apologist. i think it was one of the greatest shows ever created and deserves all the love it gets. AT saved Cartoon Network back in the day and spawned so many creators who would, in turn, leave their mark on the industry. Without AT, there is no Steven Universe or that other one with the fighting i guess? The influence of Adventure Time gave credence to the potential popularity of shows like nuShe-Ra and nuVoltron. Those characters are iconic and full of so much depth. Finn Mertens, Jake the Dog, Bonnibel Bubblegum; All of them have become stalwarts of cartoon history. Like, Marceline Abadeer is one of my all-time favorite characters in fiction. When Distant Lands aired, i was emotionally devastated. Obviously, Obsidian was mys sh*t but Together Again brought me to tears. That's how much this show meant to me, so when Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake was announced, i was all over it. I was mad curious how this would play out. Would it be just a romp through a gender-swapped Ooo? Would the target audience still be kids or would the show be a more mature take since the original kids were now wayward adults? So many questions. Well, Fionna and Cake is over and i have thoughts.

First thing first, This show is not about Fionna and Cake. It is on a superficial level but they're more a plot device who participates in the narrative. Fionna and Cake is about Simon Petrikov coming to terms with the loss of Betty Groff and how his relationship with her, was toxic as f*ck. Like, holy sh*t, was it bad! The co-dependency was insane! I mean, you got glimpses of that throughout Betty's arc in the original AT (Betty literally leaping through a Hambo powered time rift, her problematic Magic Woman phase, and the eventual wish that turned her into f*cking GolBetty, all for her "love" of Simon) but this chick was as obsessed with Simon as Simon was with her. When she transcended and become a deity of pure chaos, Simon was left in a depression spiral that, ultimately, shook the core of the goddamn multiverse. And i say that with no hyperbole. F*cking Ice King, put the entire multiverse of Adventure Time in jeopardy, because he missed his boo. What follows is, one of the most well thought out and executed romps through a multiverse narrative I've seen outside of f*cking comic books. I don't want to spoil anything but the first nine episodes of this show are brilliant, rivaling the very best Adventure Time has to offer. The tenth? Not so much.

Fionna and Cake definitely botches the landing, especially coming off such incredibly strong episodes as the three right before it. Again, no details, but, holy sh*t, were those three episodes great. Seriously, watch this show, it's f*cking fantastic. The Simon stuff is definitely the heart of this narrative but what about the show's namesake? The Fionna and Cake bits are good but i never really felt as invested in their story as i was in Simon's trials. It's not like their stuff was bad, per sey, it just didn't feel as... dire? I don't know, i felt more for the characters around them than i did the characters themselves? Don't misunderstand me, i enjoyed their arc. Fionna and Cake struggling with their own identities and coming to terms with who they are was cool and all but, ultimately, it felt more sub than main plot, which is weird because it's their show. Fionna and Cake are basically the inciting action which informs the entire plot but i never really feel like that's a thing. Plus, there is this very important aspect to their character which, kind of never really plays into the overarching conflict, with the exception of a particularly gruesome scene, and i feel like that was a missed opportunity. As an overall production and viewing experience, Fionna and Cake is f*cking exquisite.

The stuff i said about Fionna and Cake is true, to an extent. True for me, i guess. People may get more out of their arc than i did, which is fine, that's a point subjectivity. What isn't subjective is how well this show is produced. Seriously, the art style is familiar, yet, more detailed. The characters are well performed, each true to their own personality beats. But it was the worlds we visited that truly hammered home the butterfly effect, the effect Simon had, on all of those worlds. I loved every second of that experience and, while they didn't fully stick the landing, there were great aspects of that tenth episode. Fionna and Cake turned out to be ten episodes of solid, adult, Adventure Time narrative that felt organic. It didn't feel like a cashgrab or desperate attempt at Max to pull in viewers. It felt like, after the absolutely brilliant reception to Distant Lands, that HBO understood there was a market for a show like that and they just let the staff create. Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake isn't perfect, it's definitely got it's flaws, but of the content I've seen this year, it's easily some of the best. Whether you're a fan of the old world of Ooo, or just interested in what "adult" animation has to offer, this show is one of the best examples of the art form. It was a strong watch and i definitely recommend a viewing.

#Adventure Time #Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake #Fionna and Cake #Fionna Campbell #Cake the Cat #Simon Petrikov

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kovajean · 8 months

Text

As someone whose favorite movie (second only to Whiplash) is Karate Kid III, I’ll never understand people that think it’s a bad movie.

Although my reasons aren’t entirely objective, it’s still worth writing about. It’s crazy how nearly tailor-made this movie is for me.

The over the top villains in Mike and Silver are perfect, because they have hardly any motive. I love simple shit like that.

Why is Silver doing this? Because his best friend was embarrassed. Why is he doing it in this way? Because he’s evil. Why is he evil? Because he is. Let’s also not forget the fact that he’s a corrupt oil barren. That shit’s hilarious. He’s also hot as fuck and I, as a gay man, am allowed that as a reason.

Why is Mike doing this? Money. Why is he doing it this way? Because he likes beating people up. Why does he like beating people up? Because he does. Who cares that there’s no deeper meaning behind it? I certainly don’t. I like when villains are bad because they like to be. I don’t want anything different. And I especially love that Cobra Kai didn’t retcon his insanity, like they’ve retconned other people’s wrongdoings...

The dialogue is both great and fucking awful at the same time. Here are some of my favorite lines from the movie:

“They made you suffer, so I’m gonna make them suffer—and suffer, and suffer, and when I think they’ve suffered enough, then I start with the pain.” (This line fucking SUCKS LOL)

“When I'm finished with that kid, he'll be begging me to be his teacher. And you know what he's gonna learn from me? Pain. In every part of his body. And fear—in every part of his mind. And here's the kicker: He's gonna thank me for it.” (This is probably my favorite line ever from any movie. It’s so good. The first time I showed this movie to my ex-boyfriend he would quote this shit at me every single day.)

“Johnny, by the time that little twerp steps into the ring to defend his title, I’m gonna have him thinking he’s invincible. Then he’s gonna find out what pain and fear really mean. Right in front of a thousand people.” (This line gives me chills. So good. Would be better if he used something less Disney bully than “twerp”, though.)

“It’s okay to lose to an opponent—Must not lose to fear!” (This along with the majority of Miyagi’s lines are great. I don’t need to go through them all. This is just my favorite one.)

The thing about these movies is that each one has varying levels of dialogue quality. KK1’s dialogue is fucking awful. But at least some of the lines are funny enough to laugh at. There are some good lines in there, but that’s just it. Good lines. Not memorable. Same thing with KK2. The dialogue in that movie is just good. That’s all. I can’t recite a single line from that movie. Because the lines aren’t memorable. Except for, of course, “honk”. Do not get me wrong though. I'm not saying this movie is the best Karate Kid movie. No way. It's just my favorite, and it's not as bad as people make it out to be.

The score had me looping it for 3 months straight. I'm not even hyperbolizing here. The whole of it is just wonderful. The reused and remixed songs like Kata Training are great. But when I get to Silver’s theme, that’s a whole different thing. Listen to this shit:

How is this real? I’m a huge classical music fan, and I could not stop playing this song over and over and over again. Listen to this one:

Did you know that this song wasn’t even used in the movie? This is an alternate version of Terry’s Next Move, which plays over the Kreese and Silver phone call as well as the Mike Barnes Magazine Car Ride. The one they went with certainly works better for the scene, but I love, love, love this one. So much more.

I never thought I’d be hooked on a series of songs from a Karate Kid movie composed by the same guy who did Rocky, but here I am. 6 months strong, too. I was in a high school theater production when I watched this movie for the first time, and every free moment I had backstage was spent looping each piece with any bit of Terry’s theme in it (such as Terry Silver, Terry’s Next Move, Terry Sneaks In, and Daniel Submits. I also had Terry Owns Daniel on loop occasionally, but that song doesn’t have any real instances of Terry’s theme in it–it just sounds similar. And yes, these are the official names of the songs in case you weren’t aware.) I also listened to these songs on loop while doing an art class project (which was of, you guessed it, Karate Kid characters).

I love Daniel in this movie. Love him. More so than any of the other movies. He’s exponentially sillier, he becomes best friends with a girl instead of dating her, he demonstrates color theory, and his irritability and sass are on full display. I also like that he's not super skinny anymore, and that he actually looks his age. (My love for him may also be aided by the fact that I relate most to his personality and appearance in accordance with this movie versus the first two).

I LOVE JESSICA! You will never meet a bigger Jessica fan than me. I love her so, so dearly.

She brings out the good in Daniel.

She shows us that Daniel is good with rejection. When she tells him she has a boyfriend, his opinion of her stays the exact same. He doesn’t push her. He lets it go, and they immediately become best friends. All because she told him that she hadn’t made any friends yet.

I like that Daniel is protective of her despite the fact that they’re not dating. He really cares about her, and he doesn’t expect anything in return. He’s not spoiled. But I also like that Jessica gets mad at him, because he went way too far. She doesn’t let him get away with it or treat him like a hero. She gets upset. Because Daniel just assaulted someone who hadn’t done anything deserving of violence (yet). And when she leaves, Daniel recognizes his mistake. He recognizes all of his mistakes. All because of Jessica. I can promise you, had she reacted positively, the movie would have ended differently. She was the step he needed to snap out of his power trip. And I love her for it.

She also trains with Daniel! None of his love interests did that!

I’m saving the color theory section for a separate post where I will go over every Daniel outfit and what they mean for the scene because I have the free time to do so and dammit I’m not hyper fixated on Karate Kid III enough already so I might as well let myself get worse. You feel me?

Despite the fact that Daniel's clearly nervous around Silver, he’s still a piece of shit during their training sessions. I respect that. He’s also incredibly snappy towards Mike and his gang even though he knows he shouldn’t be. His morals are also on full display if you think about it. He’s mean to mean people, even if being nice to them will work out better in the long run. Because he refuses to be nice to people who don’t deserve it. As well as vice versa. Except for when he snaps at Miyagi. Hmm, I wonder why he does this? Perhaps, is it maybe, the fact that he’s being manipulated to use anger as a coping mechanism?

People go on and on about how whiny Daniel is in this movie, but they don’t seem to consider why.

Daniel is assaulted over and over again by Mike and his gang, and his new best friend gets roped into it. He stores this anger because he has nowhere else to put it. Then he meets Silver, someone who gives him an outlet for it. He finally has something to do with this pent-up rage, until he’s given mixed signals by the people around him when he uses this newfound coping skill. Miyagi gets upset, Silver praises him, Jessica leaves him. How is he supposed to know what to do? Of course he has a mental break. He rants to Jessica about it, then to Miyagi, and he thinks he has his problems fixed. Then, to make matters worse, he finds out that Silver was tricking him the whole time. Now he has to relearn Miyagi-Do. That fucking sucks. I’d go crazy too. This, along with the fact that he wanted to compete in the All-Valley so badly that he brought it up to Miyagi on multiple occasions, was shot down every time, finally gave up, and then was forced to care again? AND Miyagi refuses to train him even though it’s hardly his decision anymore? How Daniel kept going in this movie is beyond me. He’s not whiny, he’s livid. He can’t catch a fucking break.

I’d say his anger is accumulated throughout the movies. This one year has been more eventful than the rest of his life was prior. Everyone he meets seems to want his head on a stake and there’s literally nothing he can do about it. He just wants to be a normal guy, and no one will let him.

He’s also certainly not weaker in this movie in comparison to the second. He’s been broken down by everyone trying to fight him and he’s at a point where he’s trying not to care. He’s trying so hard, but when Mike shows up it’s difficult for him to keep pretending. The fact that Daniel loses to him is meant to show you that Mike is strong, not that Daniel is weak. Anyone that can defeat Daniel after Daniel’s torment in KK2 deserves to be feared. And don’t forget that Mike had the ability to kill Daniel in the bonsai scene. The only reason he’s less threatening than Chozen is because his acting is bad.

If you want to argue that he’s weak throughout the entire movie, then you’d be half correct, I guess? He’s a different sort of strong for the last half of the movie. This is because Silver teaches him different moves. Daniel stops using what he used to know (the style of Karate that we’ve seen him use up until this point), and is now using exclusively this new style. And when you consider that this new style only has 3 different moves, of course he’s going to look weaker. The All-Valley scene Daniel also isn’t weaker if that’s your argument, because there is genuinely no other way he could have beaten Mike than with Kata. Mike is immune to Miyagi-Do. That’s why Daniel never beat him in any of the scenes leading up to the All-Valley. Daniel is also overcome with fear thanks to Silver. The ineffectiveness of Miyagi-Do on Mike and the lasting fear of the manipulation he dealt with is not a good combination. He beat Mike with Kata because he caught Mike completely off guard. That’s how you beat him. We know that’s how you beat him because it’s the first time we see him genuinely lose, other than when he lost to Miyagi multiple times, which is another instance of Mike being caught off guard and losing, because why would he expect an old man to be that good at Karate (and also, it’s Miyagi, of course he’s gonna lose to Miyagi. He’s not comparable to Daniel). Can you assume that Silver told Mike to be wary of Miyagi? He’d never seen the guy fight.

Anyways this movie has been on repeat in my brain since March and nothing I can do can stop it so why not indulge in it, huh? Just a look into my dark and twisted mind

#the karate kid #kk3 #daniel larusso #jessica andrews #terry silver #mike barnes #This essay is 6 months in the making and this isn't even everything I have to say #as i stumbled off at night towards the train tracks

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irithnova · 8 months

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i understand what you intended to say with your post. i also think that the reason people are zeroing in on other aspects is that you literally began the post by saying "people would rather racebend" which is, like it or not, aimed at creators, not viewers. you didn't start off by talking about what gets popular, you started by talking about what people would rather create. sure you went on to say what people would rather reblog, but that's not the only thing you said in the process. so it really shouldn't be surprising that said creators, who are primarily fellow POC, took issue with it.

i do think that some of your words are getting muddled with someone else's post on the subject because that person absolutely was silencing fellow POC creators and saying that being POC didn't make it okay (and then put in the tags that they weren't an expert on the specific subject they were talking about as a means to silence). so i do think it is unfortunate that your words are getting muddled with that. but i still think you said a lot of things in your original post, and even more in your rebuttals, that are understandably making people upset.

you also invoked so many unrelated things in the process and resorted to hyperbole. literally who is making "latino russia?" making up exaggerations like this only belittles the thought put into interpretations that are primarily being made by POC and it reduces it to nonsensical pandering driven by white people. your comments are whitewashing POC creators, and then you had the nerve to tell a POC they were favoring the white gaze. you can say "i'm also POC" all day but it won't change the fact that you aren't taking intersectionality into account. no one cares what your "exceptions" are because some decisions are simply not yours to make.

we don't make this content to be your "competition" as you put it. we make it for ourselves. if other people happen to like it, then that's great. maybe it's because we are putting ourselves into the interpretations. i can only speak for myself, but i know i'm not as likely to reblog from a creator that's using hetalia characters as a form of representation if their knowledge of a culture or ethnicity is purely academic and not lived. the risk of unwittingly amplifying missteps is very high. the thing about tumblr being mainly an anglosphere site is that the POC creators are not necessarily going to relate to the characters that represent our distant ancestors as we are to relate to the characters where we see an opportunity to tell our own story. you cannot control what resonates with people, and you don't have to throw people under the bus because you feel like we are making "competition" difficult for you.

and stop invoking nazi germany as a rhetorical device. your words are unbelievably erasive of the racial hierarchy and widespread segregation that already existed for a thousand years in europe. nazi germany was bound to have picked up some ideas from elsewhere along the way but it was first and foremost "inspired" by its own bullshit. end of.

I understand your perspective but you completely lost me on a lot of your future responses.

My initial statement was framed in a way that aimed to emphasise trends and preferences within the hetalia community. Starting with "people would rather racebend" was an attention-grabbing way to introduce my topic rather than being an attack on creators and specifically poc creators.

Yes, I wanted the post to get attention. That's why I made a public post. What I didn't anticipate was people accusing me of targeting poc hetalians and making the post in bad faith. Which is why I had to clarify myself in reblogs that the intention of my OG post was not to police poc creators

By starting my post of talking about "yall would rather racebend" that did unintentionally include poc creators, which is why some poc creators who racebend did feel attacked or erased. I agree that the opening line could have been worded in a more careful way.

2 other rebloggers brought up the topic of poc racebending nations. I then gave my opinion on racebending as a poc myself and then clarified that my original post was not about targeting poc specifically but was a criticism of how racebent white characters garner more attention than canonically non white characters.

While the statement was directed at creators, "people would rather racebend" the intention was to spark a conversation about creative choices and consumption of poc nations in hetalia and representation rather than to single out a specific group and tell them they are committing a sin for racebending (poc). If I wanted to do that I would have specified in my first post that I had an issue with specifically poc doing this and the reasons why.

Even in the first paragraph. I end it with "y'all see how fucking stupid and racist you look right ?" Why would I be calling poc racist? My OG post was NOT aimed at singling out poc creators but was a broader criticism of creation and consumption as a whole and again, as you read further into my post

I explain why there is a trend of racebent characters being more popular than actual non white countries in the first place among the wider fandom and consumers rather than specifically talking about poc racebending and their decisions to do so or even talking about creators.

"Literally, who making 'Latino Russia'?" this actually happened, which is why I brought it up, it was not hyperbole. The addition of "and China" to that point was also not supposed to be hyperbole and was not hyperbole because 1) I brought up an actual example 2) "and China" was to further my point of highlighting a trend of bending established characters, which can indeed spark discussion and engagement, even if it's not literally happening.

"making up exaggerations like this only belittles the thought put into interpretations that are primarily being made by POC and it reduces it to nonsensical pandering driven by white people. your comments are whitewashing POC creators, and then you had the nerve to tell a POC they were favoring the white gaze." This entire argument is absolute drivel because it entirely relies on my Latino Russia point being make-believe which it wasn't. White washing POC creators? How did I do that? Because I said a point was favouring the white gaze? That is not what white washing is.

"you can say "i'm also POC" all day but it won't change the fact that you aren't taking intersectionality into account." The reason why I'm even having to clarify my racial status is because I have people literally questioning my race in posts about me, denying my race, and hate anons questioning or denying the fact that I am indeed, Asian. So yes. I will say "i'm also POC" all day. Also, telling a POC that they're "acting like a white person" simply because of a difference of opinion seems pretty un-intersectional and racist to me. Whiteness is a position of structural power. Not when another poc has an opinion you don't like. Not accusing you of doing that but that is the reasoning why I'm even having to clarify what my race is - not because I think my racial status is a get out of jail card.

You are accusing me of using identity politics in a way the conservatives think it works, which is "I'm a POC therefore I'm right!" which is not how constructive identity politics works at all. Again. I am clarifying my race because people are accusing me of faking it. Not because of what you've just written here.

"no one cares what your "exceptions" are because some decisions are simply not yours to make." You're talking about this?

I literally said it was not my decision to dictate to first nation peoples what nations they'd like to express themselves through and acknowledged that the US and Canada etc are special cases and I think people understand why that is. I also never actually ever said I wanted to dictate or make decisions for ALL poc as a whole when it comes to bending hetalia characters.

But yeah at this point you're trying to take my words out of context by attempting to make it seem like I was making exceptions specifically to overstep people's identities when it was the exact opposite.

It's not my decision to make? I agree. I was expressing my opinions and preferences, not attempting to make decisions for the whole fandom.

I expressed in my reblog why I, even as a poc, do not like racebending as the topic of poc racebending was literally brought up by two different rebloggers and so I responded accordingly. I don't understand how that is me trying to make decisions for anyone? By your logic, anyone who expresses why they like racebending hetalia characters to me in my reblogs/asks and in their own posts and uses justifications for it is also trying to make decisions?

I'm sorry but if I actually wanted to police or dictate poc creators racebending content, I would have gone after their posts, fill it with comments telling them that they're wrong, fill the tags with my distaste of racebending, send asks/messages telling them that they're wrong etc. I do not like racebending content personally so I don't interact with it. End of.

I think me making (1) post (yes this was my first and only post that talked about racebending) on the subject of my distaste of racebending that didn't include any relevant oc/character tags nor did it include calling out anyone by name or even vaguing about them does not count as me trying to 1) Make decisions for poc creators 2) dictate poc creators. You have a very skewed view on what counts as trying to force the hand of poc creators by making decisions for them and someone making a one off post expressing their dislike of racebending, who's explanation for disliking it does not include wanting to silence poc creators.

I want to clarify that the reason why I am personally not a fan of race bending was not to dictate or undermine the creative freedom of POC creators. Instead, the focus was on maintaining the essence of nation anthropomorphism and staying true to the themes of personifying nations, which is what I personally believe.

Tell me where in this paragraph I was specifically targeting POC creators and trying to make decisions for them. "But a lot of race benders are poc so you criticising race bending is a criticism of poc creators" Okay. White people can and have racebent too so I was not aiming to target poc and their decisions specifically and this was obviously a broader criticism of racebending.

Me saying I do not like racebending because I believe it strays away from the theme of personifying nations is not conducive to me saying I want to make decisions for POC hetalians who want to racebend.

Also, where did I say "poc creators should not be allowed to racebend and it is my call to dictate this" Even in my further rebuttal, my issue with racebending is because I believe :

1) Race bent characters garner more attention than canonically non white characters

2) I believe it is straying away from the theme of personifying nations

Not

3) I want make sweeping decisions for all poc

"we don't make this content to be your "competition" as you put it"

I did not say that I had an issue with POC creators making race bent hetalia ocs because I believe that POC creators who do this are doing it specifically to compete with other OC makers.

I said racebent white characters are my competition and give an elaboration on why that is. Not "you guys make racebent white characters to be my competition."

Also, no, I can't control what resonates with people. I can't control people consuming racebent characters at a higher rate than actual non white characters and I never said I wanted to. I can be critical about it though and that's what I've done here. Me being critical of racebending does not equal me trying to dictate what poc hetalians do or to make decisions for them.

Being publicly critical IS trying to persuade people and that's what I did and was aiming to do, but there is a difference between persuasion and trying to dictate people which is what you and others have accused me of doing. I want to ask why you (and others like you) saw my post as a personal attack and an attempt at dictation rather than a generalised post criticising the consumption of racebent white characters vs non white characters.

This last comment of yours I found really egregious.

"and stop invoking nazi germany as a rhetorical device. your words are unbelievably erasive of the racial hierarchy and widespread segregation that already existed for a thousand years in europe. nazi germany was bound to have picked up some ideas from elsewhere along the way but it was first and foremost "inspired" by its own bullshit. end of."

I invoked Nazi Germany as a "rhetorical device"? NAZI GERMANY WAS QUITE LITERALLY INSPIRED BY THE U.S AND HOW THEY'D TREAT THEIR MINORITIES. THIS IS ACTUAL HISTORY. Further, me saying that Nazi Germany was inspired by America is NOT me saying "America was the main inspiration for Nazi Germany and nothing else".

I find it crazy how you accuse me of bringing up Nazi Germany as a cheap "gotcha!" when THIS is the point you're responding to:

Why I, as a Filipino, PERSONALLY, do not like POC Alfred depictions. Because of these reasons. I was not pulling Nazi Germany references out of my ass for the sake of it.

I think what you're doing right now is actually overstepping by accusing me of bringing up Nazi Germany rhetoric as a way to shut people up, rather than it being a genuine explanation as to why I am personally uncomfortable with poc America depictions.

I find it insane that you think I'm bringing up Nazi Germany merely as a shock tactic when the reality is that America has hurt people - including my people, and yes, America was one of Nazi Germany's inspirations.

"From boyhood on, Hitler devoured the Westerns of the popular German novelist Karl May. In 1928, Hitler remarked, approvingly, that white settlers in America had “gunned down the millions of redskins to a few hundred thousand.” When he spoke of Lebensraum, the German drive for “living space” in Eastern Europe, he often had America in mind."

"Whitman methodically explores how the Nazis took inspiration from American racism of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He notes that, in “Mein Kampf,” Hitler praises America as the one state that has made progress toward a primarily racial conception of citizenship, by “excluding certain races from naturalization.”

To everyone who thinks I just made that up Nazi Germany point up simply for the shock factor.

You clearly have no idea what America did to the Philippines so for you to cheapen down my reasoning for why I personally don't like poc America as a Filipino into just bringing up Nazi Germany rhetoric for the sake of it is. Vile.

Sure, my OG post definitely could have been worded better. But me getting floods of hateful anons who are still accusing me of policing minorities and trying to silence poc creators when I've already clarified that this was not what I wanted to do

AND getting people in my inbox accusing me of faking the fact I am Filipino AND the fact that there is now a post floating about implying that I'm white/ I don't have a right to be upset with poc Alfred depictions because I'm not brown (I'm literally Filipino) , therefore attempting to revoke my fucking identity I think is an extremely disproportionate reaction to my post. I've only gotten (2) constructive anons who did fundamentally disagree with me in the end but who were at least respectful. Literally all of the other anons I've received have been downright vitriolic, hateful and racist so forgive me for also being an asshole to the few I responded to.

#Ask #Asks #Final ask I'll be answering about this because I feel like this addresses a lot of points

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ddelline · 8 months

Text

wip wednesday

blurb | I have nothing 2 say except here is writing from a time before ch236 was released, featuring actual goyuu, so pls savor it (and if yr not someone who checks chapter leaks, I’m happy for u, and pls savor yr happiness)

premise | part 2 of time!loop fic, featuring culling game!goyuu. a bit short, but that’s where we are atm

“Yūji,” warns Satoru.

“Sensei,” replies Yūji. All things considered, he’s remarkably settled, caging Satoru’s lap between his thighs, with the solid mass of him pressing Satoru into the ground. He’s got one palm flat against the dusty floorboards, the other still knuckling Satoru’s shoulder.

“This isn’t going to go the way you think,” says Satoru. It’s not hyperbole, nor is it a lie: whatever it is Yūji thinks, or wants—what Satoru wants; this isn’t going anywhere either of them thinks. Satoru, all that he is and isn’t, is wedged stuck somewhere between a rock and a hard place, with the rock being the inability to live on in a single timeline, and the hard place being an inability to stay alive. Yūji might not remember that countless iterations of Satoru’s been KO’d every which way from Sunday; might not be aware that time as a concept is a fucking lie, a sham. But Satoru does.

This isn’t going to go the way anyone thinks.

Yūji tilts his head. He hums. He eases insistent fingers from the tight clench they’ve fisted Satoru’s jacket in, loosening until he drops his arm. He settles it across the flat span of Satoru’s thigh. Satoru swallows against the urge to abandon sense, caution and thought. “To be fair, sensei, nothing’s going the way I think lately. I’m still alive though. I think that counts for something.”

“You—” begins Satoru. He cuts himself off. The knee jerk instinct—something which he typically never allows himself to follow—to redistribute his own weight and lift the hand which he’d had steadied into the floor at his back, lay it as a mirror atop the straining fabric of Yūji’s thigh, is something he isn’t quite sure why he allows now. There is the faintest echo of a pulse thudding against his palm, and the most miniscule of rippling in Yūji’s muscles, the cords of his quadriceps wavering and shifting with each breath.

Yūji reaches up towards Satoru’s face. Satoru stays put, Six Eyes mapping and contouring his every move, though his eyes remain closed, as they’re wont to do. “Can I?” he asks.

Satoru inclines his head. Yūji digs the tip of his index finger beneath Satoru’s blindfold and tugs it down.

If Satoru were more inclined to go along with society’s conventions, rules and regulations; if he weren’t stuck in a seemingly endless temporospatial reset, apparently destined to eternally live and relive his own worst hits (and his enemies’ greatest); if he’d been born a little less interested in power, and some peoples’ inherent ability to surprise him—there are countless what-ifs and if-onlys, and all of them apply to Satoru.

He’s just never given much of a damn.

Which is why, upon a quiet, not quite-intentional “oh” escaping Yūji as he makes eye contact with Satoru—Satoru who reckons he does his best to not squint into the bright light of indoor dusk, and whose hair promptly spills a mess across his forehead and into his lashes—well, Satoru is less inclined to breathe and consider his actions. He holds Yūji’s gaze, allows for the moment to hang between them; to take shape.

This isn’t going to go the way either of them thinks.

Yūji surges forward, crashing into Satoru by way of a mess of chapped lips and sharp teeth. The precarious balancing Satoru’s done to maintain them both upright and steady is offset as Yūji pitches forward. There are one and two ways to keep them upright, but really, what’s the point? Satoru snaps up and fists a hand in Yūji’s jacket and pulls him down. As they sink down, he tilts his jaw and opens his mouth, welcomes Yūji in wholly, guides his inexperience right and licks into his mouth. It’s filthy, too wet for what it is, but Satoru can’t bring himself to mind any part of it.

Yūji huffs against Satoru’s lips. His hips twitch, the hard length of his dick lining up against Satoru’s own. Satoru hums.

#work: fic #fandom: jujutsu kaisen #goyuu #jjk #wip wednesday #fic: cv/sm

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fission-mailure · 10 months

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Increasingly anxious about a) Wanting the general election to be as soon as possible, and b) Desperately hoping the Tories don’t somehow turn this around and manage to eke out a win.

Because I’m not being hyperbolic when I say I just don’t think the country can survive another five years of the Tories.

47% of adults report having problems paying rent or mortgages. 48% of adults report having to cut down on food, and hospital admittance for malnutrition is at a historical high, while CEOs and shareholders rake in record profits. It’s become a depressingly common story for people to just not be able to pay for basic utilities like electricity or water, because prices are through the roof. Basically every public service is in the midst of rolling strikes because public workers aren’t being paid a living wage. Brexit-induced food shortages mean basically every supermarket has as many bare shelves as filled, and are having to do things like ration how many vegetables people can buy. Sewage is being pumped into rivers at an unprecedented rate. The city centre is littered with closed down shops, and the average lifespan of a business getting off the ground to going bankrupt seems to be about six months. NHS waiting lists are getting longer and longer. A new Tory politician is revealed to have committed a crime basically every week; there is almost never any kind of punishment for it.

Some of these things are already set to get worse in short order: There’s going to be a huge squeeze on mortgage owners hitting around September-October, for a start, and food shortages are getting consistently worse, not better, as are utilities prices.

That’s the product of thirteen years of Tory rule. Not even three full terms. So when I say “We will not survive another five years of them,” I’m not even remotely kidding or exaggerating.

And through it all, the Tories aren’t just unable to start ameliorating any of these problems, and aren’t just uninterested (although they are both of those things), they’re also seemingly incapable of even focusing on these problems. They’re in an endless loop of darting between the same three talking points: Refugees arriving on small boats (and god help them, to have braved the very high likelihood of death or injury to escape an imminent threat to their lives, only to find this shithole); being as transphobic as possible, all of the time; and abolishing Inheritance Tax so the rich can get even richer (and public services will have even less money).

And the really bizarre thing is, they actually seem to fully believe that if they just hammer these three things enough, that it’ll win them an election, despite the fact that the majority of people do not care. Like, one particularly ghoulish thing about the last Tory leadership contest was that a solid half of it was just wild-eyed, foaming-at-the-mouth Tory hopefuls reassuring their party that they’ll be the cruelest to trans people -- yet when Opinium polled the actual public on 28 issues, ranking them by which people placed as most important to them, trans people and trans participation in sport came 26th and 27th. Other polls show that 62% of people want conversion therapy aimed at trans people banned, and 41% of people thought schools should have specific policies for dealing with transphobia. Endlessly shitting on trans people is a vote winner among other Tory MPs, but it’s transparently not a vote winner among the general public. Same with Inheritance Tax: It really only affects the extremely wealthy, which means not only is it not going to be a priority for most people, it’s also going to become much less of a priority as we all get collectively poorer.

So we now have the completely weird, unhinged situation where the politicians in power are, as everything gets worse for everyone except them and their donors, playing politics exclusively for other MPs in their party, who were already insular and have only become moreso with time. Actually making any effort to fix the issues affecting the country is below ‘make sure other wealthy, old, deeply right-wing MPs like me so I can win a leadership contest.’

But the situation for regular people across the political spectrum right now is a terminal one, not just for them (although very much for them), but for everyone. If people can’t pay their power bills, can’t pay for food, can’t keep a roof over their heads (and remember, that’s half of the population right now, and that number is rising), can’t get medical care, can’t get their children educated, can’t consistently use public transport, and so on, and on, and on -- then the rapidly approaching end point of that is that society at large crumbles, because you do, in fact, need people to have shelter, food, power, medical care, education, and clean water to maintain a country. Despite what the Tories think, you can’t maintain a country purely on the ultra-rich hoarding ever more wealth, and it’s not going to take long to hit a point where even they find their corporations are failing, because people just can’t fucking pay for anything anymore. If nobody can pay for utilities, then utilities companies aren’t going to be making money anymore. If people can’t pay their mortgages, then the housing industry collapses. If people can’t pay rent, landlords can’t pay their mortgages.

Just ... what an utter fucking mess, tbh.

#politics

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