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#and then of course im limited by what ive actually seen
bl00dw1tch · 1 year
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Am i. Emotionally unavailable?
#horse.txt#todays rambl brought to you guy the guy on grindr who said that i seem to have problems with intimacy and it shook me so bad i had to ghost#having a case of the Realizations. sigh#i just#fuck#ive always been told that im an old soul and that im super mature and open and that my issues with intimacy are Just abt romance#but then this mfr had to go and pry and make me realize it definitely is Not just limited to that#i talk so fucking much i was so willing to believe that im actually ok with meing emotional with people but thats not true is it#i just like to overshare. specifically because it feels like being intimate without actually saying anything of importance#so its like. its helps me lie to myself#my mom. i dont hate her for it but i knows shes a big part of all of tgis. because of course she is shes the only constant ive ever had#and i can count on one hand the amount of times ive seen her cry in my life#and even then. only one or two fingers. if#memory issues aren't helping#dad was emotionally unavailable too of course. my feelings about him are a whole nother thing though#point is im kind of crying my eyes out right now because its becoming increasingly obvious that im fucked up in too many tiny ways#to live a normal life. but theyre so small that nobody would every listen to me try to explain that thats why i am this way#i want intimacy i want to feel seen i want to feel understood but thats so hard to find even for normal people so what hope do i have#no motivation no dreams no fucking nothing#vent //#sorry. this was supposed to be lighthearted but#yknow
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81folklore · 7 months
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heaven - OP81 - part 3
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pairings: oscar piastri x private!reader (fc: gracie abrams)
summary: oscars girlfriend attends her first grand prix and the public get to see just how proud she is of oscar
authors note: ive honestly missed writing for oscar and priv!reader so we are back in honor of oscars FIRST EVER WIN AND INCREDIBLE SPRINT RACE!! im genuinely so proud of oscar and im honestly in shock. i also follow ZERO wag pages so i have no clue what they are like, if people actually follow them etc.
authors note 2: short-ish and sweet for OSCARS FIRST WIN?? i started writing this about 30 minutes before the sprint race so i had no clue where this was going to go but HE WON!!
part 1 part 2 masterlist
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f1wagupdates
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liked by user5, user81, user9 and 7,289 others
yn entering the paddock for the first time today! she followed shortly after oscar, spoke to some oscar/mclaren fans and handed a few who were unable to meet oscar, on his way in, some signed things she had. we absolutely love her already!!
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user81: omg she’s literally the sweetest thing😭
user17: I LOVE HER ALREADY
user61: the fact that oscar fans already love her🫶🫶
user9: oh she looks so cute!!
user72: i was one of the girls she gave something too! she said she had been following behind oscar and kept an eye on anyone who he missed to give them something after he left. she was very very shy, but she made sure to speak to everyone who oscar missed and was asking us questions about us, overall she was very sweet!!
user22: this makes me love her even more😭and congrats on the signed stuff!! do you mind me asking what it was?
user72: thank you! and of course, we all got something different! i got a signed polaroid of oscar (im still in disbelief?! and it must have been one she took herself bcs i couldnt find the photo online anywhere), someone a bit down from me got what looked like a drivers card and i saw someone else get a picture of his car!
user22: A POLAROID?? oh you won😭😭
user1: i wonder if we will see her again
yourusername
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liked by oscarpiastri, logansargeant and 9,619 others
first qualifying in the paddock was a rollercoaster of emotions, not the result we were hoping for, expected or wanted but its ok because oscars gonna smash it tomorrow and we’ll pretend today didnt happen!!
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oscarpiastri: glad you had fun🤍
oscarpiastri: my goodluck charm wasnt goodlucking today
yourusername: dont say thattt☹️ill try and be extra lucky tomorrow promise!!
oscarpiastri: i love you
yourusername: i love you more🤭
user3: the photo difference😭
user14: loved seeing you in the garage today
yourfriend3: i love you but those photos😭😭
yourusername: stoooop i was so nervous all day😭
yourfriend7: wish oscar luck from all of us back home!
oscarpiastri: 👍👍
user81: u are so cute☹️
user2: so unfair how they told oscar during the interview!!
yourusername
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liked by oscarpiastri, landonorris and 9,182 others
changed outfits but we are ready for the sprint!!
tagged oscarpiastri
comments on this post have been limited
oscarpiastri: love you lots and lots, thank you for coming🧡
yourusername: I LOVE YOU!! and you dont have to thank me, ill always stay with you🤍🤍
f1
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liked by yourusername, mitchevans_ and 817,175 others
PIASTRI STORMS TO SPRINT POLE IN QATAR!🤩🔥
He just keeps getting better and better!
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mclaren: YESSSSSS!!!👏👏👏
user6: P1ASTRI
yourusername: INCREDIBLE🤩🤩
user18: more than deserved!
user73: absolute legend
yourusername added to their story
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seen by oscarpiastri and 6,289 others
user6: AHHHHHH
user81: LOOK AT HIM GO
oscarpiastri: ☺️☺️
yourusername
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liked by oscarpiastri, landonorris and 10,278 others
oh how i obsessively adore you.. today you took your first f1 pole position, hours later you became a formula one race winner (idc if it was a sprint you still won!!)
i have been on this incredible journey with you long before your first f2 race. i was by your side at your first f2 win and im still by your side now youve won in f1
i know how much this win means to you, i know how much you wanted to prove yourself to everyone and you have. you never fail to amaze me, especially coming back after the shit show that was yesterday
you are truly incredible and you are so so special🐨
i love you so much, congratulations🧡
tagged oscarpiastri
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user61: WHAT IF I STARTED SOBBING
user11: THE KOALA😭😭
user72: so deserved🧡incredible drive!!
user68: the f2 race winner picture😭😭the f1 race winner picture😭😭THE SMILEY INTERVIEW PICTURE😭😭
oscarpiastri: my favorite goodluck charm🧡
oscarpiastri: thank you so much for sticking with me through it all
oscarpiastri: i appreciate you so much my love
yourusername: you are so special, lovely🩵
landonorris: usually i hate your sappy posts but ill make an exception this time..congrats mate!!
oscarpiastri: you too mate!
yourusername: knew id get you to love these posts eventually🤭
formula2: we’re so proud of our aussie🥹🐨
oscarpiastri and yourusername added to their stories
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seen by yourusername, aussiegrit and 722,519 others
*text on first photo reads: my favourite thing is when i open my phone after a race and i see the photos yn sent me during the race🧡* *text on second photo reads: i love seeing my boy do what he loves*
oscar’s replies:
user52: shes so cute☹️
user12: tell me that was when you won the race and not before
user61: where can i find someone like her😭
yourusername: babyyy i didnt know youd share these😭😭
oscarpiastri: just had to show everyone how grateful i am for you🤍
user49: get yourself someone who supports you the way yn supports oscar!!
yn’s replies:
user17: oh i love you guys so much
yourfriend2: we are all so proud of oscar!!
oscarpiastri: i love you so much more than i can ever express
yourusername: osc☹️☹️ i hold so much love and adoration for you
oscarpiastri: wait when did you take this photo??
yourusername: i watched the final lap in the bathroom so i could sob in peace😭
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barcaluvv · 2 months
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THE SECOND PART! GAVI X READER summary : Y/n being Pedris sister who actually falls for his friend, ends up teasing him🫶🏻 requested by a cutiueee
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Why did you stop? Are you foreal getting shy from me?" You ask with an anxious pout on your face. He blushes even deeper, looking away shyly "I-I'm not... I'm just warm." his heart races as he anticipates what might happen between them after the game. "Accept the fact that you love me, don't you? That I'm making you blush and foolish all over and over again" you teased, oh how u loved it. He looked away, praying to God that pedri came back. "Don't wait for him, it's just me and you now so why don't we skip this." You say, slowly running your palms throughout his wet light hair. You went straight for a kiss pouring your lips on his, making it a apocalypse. He gasps out of sensitivity and melts into the kiss, his body trembling with need "Stop Yn" he presses against you, the hardness on his face straining against your shirt as he deepens the kiss, seeking more of your touch. He kisses you back passionately, his tongue dueling with yours as he clings to you. You pull back shortly letting out "Youre not so withdrawn now? So i found your opening gate, you giggle. He groans, his voice cute with desire "I need you to take care of me, but not here." he reaches for your hand, guiding it to his chest.
"Am i the prettiest girl u have ever seen? Answer me" you ask him trying to reach his limits of patience.
He nods frantically, his eyes locked on yours "You're the most beautiful in the world... I love how you look at me, so now please Y/n stop pedri will see us i dont want you in problem!" He lets it all out on your ear feeling every emotion tremble in one pocket. He takes your hand hesitantly, his voice shaky "Please stop... " he squirms uncomfortably, trying to ignore the intense pleasure coursing through his body. You pull him by his skim shirt, whispering slowly into his ear "Okay, ive had my fun now but im not done with you boy, now you learned your lesson not to look at me with those forming eyes again". He pants heavily, looking up at you with a mixture of disappointment and relief . You just pat his stomach.
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old-school-butch · 6 months
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hey im really glad you're speaking out on this israel/palestine issue. the public opinion is way, way too skewed in gazas favor.
ive been trying to talk to people irl about it, and my circle at least is mostly pro israel, and we all agree that what's going on on social media is insane.
absolutely no one is saying that all the information from gaza is coming from hamas, not to mention the defense of them. and i've never seen so much antisemitism just out in the open. the literal left is out here like "maybe hitler was right" and then call you "pro-genocide" when you call them out.
also, people are falling for propaganda and manipulation at degrees that, honestly, concern me.
Al Jazeera is the propaganda arm of the Qatari regime which, of course, is where the Hamas leadership lives. It's spent years developing a good reputation among lefties because it does - in truth - contain some analysis and information the Western media doesn't focus on. But it's part of a much larger information campaign that's happening that includes Russia and Iran and their social media outfits that aim to destabilize 'the West'. I've read AJ, just like I've read RT news - the Russian counterpart. They are designed to take a leftist argument and then put a spin on it - test the waters for more radical interpretations, push the limits and subtly distort perception. They have different outlets to massage the opinions on the right wing too. The goal is to make a middle ground impossible, and they are succeeding beyond anyone's wildest dreams.
Odds are good that we all follow at least one state actor - there was one here on tumblr that I had followed called, I believe, 'votingwhileblack' - which posted interesting critiques of the U.S. elections. But it was unmasked as a Russian agent, and I looked at the account contents more objectively. Much of it was very worthwhile analysis of U.S. attempts to disenfranchise people from their elections, but it was interspersed with subtle and not-so-subtle nudges - lots of 'don't bother voting, it's all rigged' material, Dems are just as bad as GOP, you can't trust the government at all, unless we do 'something radical' then nothing will ever change, all white people are racist and hatred is a natural response and so on. There are enough people who agree with these sentiments to spread that view, but by leading the conversation, it changes the tone. It makes anyone who disagrees with you the enemy, who is beyond negotiation, and so moderate solutions are discarded. The same is happening on the right and is why online discussion can be especially toxic and uninformative.
These campaigns have been running for years and these state agents have collected a huge amount of data points, floated a lot of arguments and learning which ones will stick. I can see this being applied to the current conflict.
The most striking to me is the word 'genocide' is used in a conflict with - even by Hamas' own claims - has 10,000 casualties. No one seems to question how many of those casualties are civilian and what portion are Hamas soldiers. Hamas claims to have 40,000 Hamas fighters in their 3-500km of tunnels. Hamas has fired thousands of rockets into Israel (and more of them land in Gaza than Israel to be honest, they're not good rockets) and Israel has dropped about 10,000 tonnes of bombs, including bunker busters that penetrate deep into the ground to destroy the tunnels. These are powerful explosions, so just compare that activity with the self-reported casualty count. It's actually quite low. Civilian deaths are always horrible to see, but there's absolutely no evidence that Israel is targeting civilians, much less killing them in large numbers.
But that's no problem if you follow the script - the genocide argument seamlessly shifts to the future, like Israel wants to occupy Gaza and/or expel all Gazans and that's really the genocide in play. I think the most likely long-term outcome is that Israel will occupy Gaza while they try to find a government that is willing to keep working to a 2 state solution, and they will stop employing Gazans - just as Egypt and Lebanon currently does - because it's quite likely that the setup for this operation was done by Gazan workers employed in Israel (the intelligence gathering on security weaknesses, the stolen IDF uniforms etc).
None of these outcomes are good for Palestinians, but they're also not genocide. Or all they all genocide? It's an easy pivot set up to be applied no matter what Israel does, the blame is always placed on Israel. And so by taking a real word with specific meaning, it's now going to be used as a vague accusation that can mean anything to advance whatever argument you want to make against whatever reality is taking place.
Honestly, even the word 'Palestinian' is somewhat complicated. Part of the difficulty of this conflict is this identity that refers to a nation without a state. The Arab desire for statehood in the region grew in the 20s and 30s but they didn't accept the UN proposal in 1948 and instead started (and lost) a war to control the entire territory. But they didn't also accept that loss, or claim Gaza and the West Bank as their own state. Instead, this idea is now the abstract 'Palestinian cause' that exists in almost a parallel world where Israel isn't real, the 1948 war is still happening and justice won't be done until Israel is gone and Palestine is created in its place.
Even 75 years later, there are millions of 'Palestinian refugees' who are the descendants of this movement living in Gaza and the West Bank. Yes, they are 'refugees' even while living in the land allocated for their self-governed state. They live in 'refugee camps' even though they are towns like anything else you'd build after living there for 75 years. But they don't want that land, they want Israel. Half of Jordanians are Palestinian but they don't want that, they want Israel. Southern Lebanon is controlled by Hezbollah but they don't want that, they want Israel. Nowhere else in the world are the grandchildren of refugees still legally considered refugees except here, where they officially ask for the 'right of return' which is to 'return' to the land of Israel (and put an end to the Israeli state) and regain the property or land their ancestors held in 1948. Which should make it really clear why they will always be refugees until they take over the land of Israel - there's always the threat that they will give up on Israel and find some land elsewhere to set up a state. Having sustained this movement for so long, the surrounding Arab states now realize its a potential threat to their own stability, so it's important that threat needs to keep focused on Israel.
If I were Palestinian I would be so angry at the world, because while everyone wants to use you and says they support 'the cause', Palestinian nationalists don't have any real friends. Hamas is an Islamist group that wants to start a global jihad to establish an Islamic caliphate, ideally on a global basis. They started in Egypt as the Muslim Brotherhood and got kicked out to try again in Palestine. The blockades on Gaza make them rich, because they run smuggling operations through their tunnels and extort money from the Gazan population, and the poverty that creates also gives them footsoldiers for their war, because desperate people in a broken country will sign up for their militia just to get a paycheque. It's in their interests to keep Gazans impoverished and at war.
The Western leftists are drawn out to support 'the cause' to atone for the sins of Western colonialism, but that's really just to avoid addressing issues in their own countries. You can chant 'from the river to the sea' all you want, but you'd have to overthrow and occupy Israel to do that, which means killing or expelling every Jew living there and that's not going to happen without an army of about 10 million soldiers and/or a nuke. No one in the West is really signing up for that. they're just following the urge to feel morally superior without actually doing anything and that's just fine for Al Jazeera and all the social media bots working the information campaign of this war.
The liberals of the West are being rallied for 2 goals - to continue the goal of splintering the political climate in the U.S. and affecting U.S. elections. (I don't think young people are even aware of how often the Palestinian cause has been used to influence U.S. elections, going back to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in the 60s.)
The other goal is to pressure Israel to stop their campaign before Hamas is fully destroyed and return to the status quo - another ceasefire in a war that began in 1948 and still continues, punctuated by one failed ceasefire after another. It's simplified and autotuned so it sounds like a call for peace, but it's actually a call for the horrible state of limbo to continue, where the cycle can be endlessly repeated and 'the cause' is kept alive to be mobilized again when it's needed.
Palestinian radicals have acted as a state-within-a-state in Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt attempting numerous coups, civil war and assassinations, this is why they no longer accept any refugees from the area. But in the end, where do Palestinian people go? The world eggs them on, but isn't actually going to help resolve 'the cause'. After Israel was created, about 700,000 Jews were expelled from most Arab countries and Israel took them in, ergo they are no longer refugees. Why are Palestinians still stateless after 75 years? The fact that Palestinians don't have a homeland or statehood says a lot about how committed its neighbors are to actually helping them achieve that goal.
In order to resolve 'the cause', you either need to have a 2 state solution so Palestinians can stop being other people's pawns and just get on with their lives, or Hamas achieves its goals and run the world under Sharia law. Both Israel and Palestinian nationalists need to come to terms with the shitty hands they've been given and accept a solution that might not be their ideals, but is better than war that continues for another 3 generations and it's better than living in a global caliphate
Anyway, I've now made 3-4 posts about this conflict and received an insane number of messages about this, ranging from death threats and hostile responses to overly earnest counter-arguments to things I've never said, mostly from people I've never heard from before and aren't in my orbit. And I'm a middle-aged gender critical woman on backwater tumblr getting this level of interference - can you imagine what popular social media accounts are getting? 'All those' people you hear aren't people, they are state interests working in a coordinated campaign to influence the West. And this is how a pro-Palestinian march keeps getting steered to the occasional 'gas the Jews' chant, how Taliban and Al-Quaeda flags keep showing up at the marches, or calls for Biden to be removed from office for his support for Israel (bc Trump is the most useful idiot ever and these accounts want him for president). Hamas et. al. are my enemy, not Palestinians and not Israel. Focus on their actions and you can really cut through the deception to see the strategy. They have really clear goals about what they want, they're making excellent gains by confusing everyone else about what's in our best interests.
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hii larkk im sending you so many asks today hehehehe
so i wrote. janette from adele pov poem. and. its not my best work but its my best usage of a metaphor so far so !! improvement !!!!!! ehehehhe
disclaimer: this is my perception of adele based on what ive heard so uhh yeah sry if this isnt actually how she acts forgive me OTL
also warning for the reader being adele here. ahfkjlfd that feels like a warning i should make LMAO
---
Your first thought when you first saw her was that she looked fragile. Beautiful, oh certainly, but so brittle. Like stained glass. She could break if you smiled too hard at her, you thought. It was an idea you relished in. This pretty fragile thing.
You soon learned, though. She may be fragile, but like any piece of decorative glass, she’s been tempered, through fires of trials and difficulties. You learn, but you don’t change your mind. Perhaps you’ll just have to smile a little harder. Make her learn the truth.
You’ve never gone too far in your life. Limits are something you know, of course you do. You’ve never reached yours. You can make her reach hers. Tempered glass may have a high melting point, but you’ve always liked a nice little experiment, haven’t you? She’s just so much more than anything else you’ve ever seen.
You would never admit it if she’d won. You wouldn’t let her. She can burn in a fire hotter than any other that she and her damned church have been through. It will be such a pleasure to watch her finally melt.
You’re not even surprised anymore when she returns. You’re glad, even. At this point you don’t really know what you’d do without her. And though a part of you hates her at this point, you still smile when you see her again. She’s more fragile now. Even the most tempered glass can’t withstand heat too strong, even once reformed. No matter how pretty it is.
You wonder how easy it will be to break her this time.
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(I HAD VIOLIN CLASS. SO I FINALLY GOT TO READ IT) LIMEEE. LIME. LIME WHEN. WHEN I GET YOU. HOLY SHIT.
AOUFHSGDHDSUSHU WHAT. OWAH. WOAHHHH.
THIS IS AMAZING??? YOU GOT HER IN ONE OH MAN. ADELEEEEE. LIME THIS IS SO GOOD. OH. I AM GOING TO BITE MY PHONE BRB/HJ WAGH I HAVE SCHOOLWORK TO DO BUT WOAH. WOAGH. HRJHDHDJ EATING THIS PUTTING THIS IN MY BRAIN CARVING IT IN THERE WOA/POS AUGHHH
may i. may i draw a small thing with some of this cuz wgagdhdjdhjdjdodjchxkdhksjs/POS!!!!!
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mitziholder · 6 months
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apologies for being weird and hogging your inbox like this but i LOVE your thoughts on fandom and i think very few people talk about it in a critical way without completely condemning the entire occupation. in my experience people (not just on this website but in general) tend to take a very black and white view of fandom/fic, probably because it can feel like a very personal thing for many; either they're 'normies' who think all fanworks are 'cringe' or they're the anything goes kind of person. radfems seem to me to be the only ppl who aren't overly defensive of the enterprise but can still enjoy fanworks critically. its nice to see women who aren't like. Fandom Moms talking about these things at length. i think you're one of the few people i've agreed with regarding this subject so far :/ your analyses are very much appreciated and i'd love to read more of what you think (especially regarding the point about navigating trauma). have a good day!
oh and also regarding the whole 'i want women to read better thing' ive always felt this idea that fandom culture is above criticism (or criticising it is inherently misogynistic) is in some ways an extension or at least related to the societal notion that women should be confined to the fluffy feeling aspects of writing and art and aren't as capable of intellectually engaging with things (and of course some 'criticisms' of fan culture ARE misogynistic but i'm not referring to those atm). and obviously there isn't anything inherently WRONG with silly fluff novels or romance (especially romance of course as one can certainly explore that subject in depth and i actually think there's a lack of well written romance out there) but it still feels like a limitation on female growth to normalise women ONLY reading fanfiction or even only certain brands of genre fiction i guess? and i find it sad that so many women seem to almost buy into that idea nowadays or shoot down any sort of criticism with the 'stop shaming female desire' catchphrase. and considering that there is still a dearth of well made original female work for women in pop culture (that act as cultural touchstones in the same way a lot of male works do) it's even more depressing that a lot of fanwork centers men. sorry if this comes off as insufferably pretentious lmao! i'm not even against fanwork i mean this is tumblr i still enjoy things but hopefully you know what i mean lol
like i mean. there's a reason why fanfiction is seen as primarily a female affair (even though a lot of the highly regarded published fanfics are by men. u know the neil gaiman stuff or whatever). its sort of a reassurance that women are 'limited' to writing fanworks. idk. i guess i want women to do better idk if im making any sense
ok, mandatory disclaimer that what I’m describing here is a series of trends, trends I’ve observed within fandom at large including both fanfiction readers/writers and fujos more broadly. obviously, not everyone who reads fanfic or yaoi is a woman (though the vast majority are). obviously, not every woman who reads fanfic or yaoi is a stunted teenager who refuses to engage with any other media. I will also admit that not every fanfic is jimin ABO. I don’t think that fanfic is inherently cringe or low-quality, and there are certainly a lot of respectable published works that have been created with other people’s characters or settings. but, as I’ve said, the vast majority of fanworks in the modern day are essentially pornographic mad libs. I find that disappointing. and there’s no reason it has to be this way… except for all the reasons I’ve outlined in my other posts.
things that are lazy and thoughtless and easy, that provide instant gratification, are generally more popular than things that are difficult or uncomfortable. clearly. but people who denounce all fanfic/fanfic writers and pigeonhole it as low-effort slop are not actually interested in helping the women who write it achieve their fullest potential, because they do not believe those women have any potential. it’s true that some criticisms of fan culture and fanworks are purely misogynistic… but I care about women’s voices, and I do want women to be able to express themselves. I’m not on a quest to stop women from writing or reading fanfic. I’ve been slightly flip about the subject, but truthfully, not everything that is “derivative” is bad, and there’s no reason that fanworks couldn’t be good. it’s just that the culture around them is so intensely sensitive - anti-“shaming” - that women are terrified of saying anything about the level of quality or the potentially harmful nature of most fanfiction because they don’t want to devalue media created by and for other women.
I think that’s a disservice to women as a whole. not everything we write is valuable. I’ve written plenty of crap in the pursuit of getting better - plenty of crap I currently disagree with. and if our work can’t withstand criticism - if we shut down immediately at any hint of a deeper, more unflattering analysis of what’s really going on… then what’s the point? what are we communicating? that female fantasies exist in a compartmentalized bubble far and away from our politics and intellectual pursuits? that we should be able to j/o to rape fantasies without question because it’s not that serious? that the personal is political, except for when it isn’t… and we should all be quiet and let women write whatever they want free of criticism lest we shame them so hard they go into hiding? my standards might be a tad high, but that is setting the bar… dangerously low. it’s also patronizing. since when has “just let women enjoy things!!” ever gotten us anywhere? since when has that been a cornerstone of feminist thought? is that really the best we can do? are we really so fragile?
I’ve seen a glut of posts about how useless and harmful constructive criticism supposedly is. the reasoning is always basically the same:
criticism is mean/toxic/discouraging
maybe I’m too hardened by countless death wishes I got on my old blog, but, in my experience, whenever I have something I want to say or a point I want to make, very little can keep me from doing so. I can’t imagine being so bothered by what random Internet people think. it’s important to remember that being able to determine what criticism is valuable is a skill in itself. disavowing criticism as a whole because some of it is “toxic”/discouraging is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
criticism is pointless; perfection is unattainable
of course nothing is ever going to be perfect. but if that’s your attitude, why bother editing? (rhetorical question. some fanfic authors do post unedited works… just because they can.) hell, why write? why get up in the morning? why make your bed? why try anything new at all? it’s a completely absurd, defeatist attitude. like the first point, it also reeks of intellectual laziness and self-satisfaction.
you could just be nice and say what you liked instead because that’s helpful too
please don’t blow smoke up my ass. in editing, I want to fix things that don’t work and to trim the fat. is it “kind” or “helpful” to let me do something completely stupid because you’re too afraid of embarrassing or offending me to say as much? also, knowing what people like is useful in producing more of what people like - it doesn’t help me do anything new or different. there is nothing less helpful to me than saying “good job!” when I ask you to read my work. it’s certainly nice (as long as you actually read it), but it’s not helpful.
it’s published, the author is through with it, and they don’t want to touch it anymore
I plan to do everything I can to edit and improve my writing before the thing is drawn and published, but I’m sure some flaws will inevitably slip through the cracks. currently, I’m rewriting entire chapters from the beginning because they became incompatible with what I wanted out of the series as it progressed. considering that a lot of people write fanfic on a chapter-by-chapter basis with only a very vague trope-strung outline, I have to wonder why they’re so averse to major overhauls. sure, it’s not pleasant, but don’t you want your writing to be the best that it can be? what is the purpose of uploading it if you don’t want the thing to be responded to as it is, warts and all?
also, not all criticism is limited to the specific work it’s derived from; many things can be extrapolated to future works as well. how are we supposed to correct trends that could lead to a decrease in the quality of future works if we can’t even point them out?
fanfiction is a hobby, and hobbies should be fun
I’m not under the impression that I’ll ever be able to make a living from my writing. I do it as a “hobby” in my spare time simply for the fact that I need an outlet for my thoughts - I need to organize them in some way. writing is an art form that we use to communicate meaning and to make sense of the world around us. your goal as a writer may be to have fun, but it isn’t mine. overgeneralizing and building an entire subculture around the pursuit of mindless fun limits what fanfiction and amateur writing have the potential to be.
you could just go read something else that you like more
actually, no. I don’t like any of it. I’m sorry if saying that is offensive to the 38-year-old she/they whose blog post I grabbed this from. most fanfic is bad. I yearn for the exploration of topics that are categorically not explored in fanfic - because the scope of what fanfic is interested in is constantly narrowing, feeding on itself, like an ouroboros. this problem is only going to get worse over time. why wouldn’t I be bothered? why can’t I say it’s a shame?
mass media and tiktok are worse!
maybe, but so what? at least the majority of people who spend their time watching tiktok videos and bad TV don’t act like it’s a suitable replacement for real literature. and at least there aren’t tiktok compilations being listed on goodreads(?)
anyway, more to the point, fandom is full of technically competent writers. but if they continue to insulate themselves within fandom or fandom-adjacent offshoots, they will never be great writers, because great writing requires tight editing (the elimination of things that are pointless and redundant), syntactic fluency, organizational skills, and, most importantly, an individual voice - an artistic vision - interpreting individual ideas… things that are born of criticism and a diversity of influences that are not present or valued within fandom in its current state. great writing cannot be made in a vacuum. great writers don’t allow themselves to be broken or stifled by criticism they disagree with.
sure, no one has a responsibility to be a great writer, and mediocre writing isn’t a moral failure… but I’m certainly not going to be happy about it, especially when the prevailing attitude is “fanfic is art… but I make what I want for myself and sharing it with you is a privilege and therefore you can’t criticize it!” how boring! how utterly conceited! my god. throwing a temper tantrum because you’re not 100% in control of how others perceive or respond to your creation. put it in a diary and not on a public forum if that bothers you so much… (but then, of course, you couldn’t count kudos.)
I do have a plan to touch on some of my other gripes since you asked so nicely. but this response is, once again, getting too long, and those things have little to do with what I was complaining about here. I’ve got an outline for a post I’ll develop and publish later as a final note on this convo, since at that point I really will have said all that I have to say… thanks again for writing in :-)
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rontra · 10 months
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your art is making me go absolutely feral about wondermagic. I never looked at Zatanna comics before (or much comics in general), do you have any recommendations on where to start? I need more of this funky gay stage magician and her huge dork girlfriend in my life.
oh god. I MEAN first of all YES!!!!! WONDERMAGIC W!!!!!!! im so happy to hear it. they make me actually crazy im glad youre enjoying The Art
however SECOND OF ALL i must confess (as i have confessed before!) that i am a fake ass comic book fan. i've barely read Anything for Any character (LOL) i am not at ALL versed in her various appearances/history. so tbh i hope my more knowledgeable followers can drop recs for both me and you if there's anything particularly noteworthy
but i can talk about what i HAVE read bc my journey with her has been very . memorable to me. THIS IS NOT A HELPFUL POST this is just me infodumping--AT LENGTH--about my and zatanna's relationship. but i do talk a little about what ive read. like casual rontra followers can stop reading here its just rambling
anyway my first exposure to ms zatanna was in the first proper dc comic i ever read. which doesnt count because its extremely not about her (this is a tangent) but its notable for making me out loud go "who is this MAGICIAN" which prompted my partner to immediately reply "you mean zatanna zatara". oh you know her. you know the magician. bitch who the hell is--
you gotta appreciate the experience here. its babys first ever comic. i know superman i know batman ive seen them around (from being alive as a human). i have never in my life heard of the stage magician who hangs out with them (in full costume??) and is their friend(?????)
SHES VERY MEMORABLE. WHO THE HELL IS THIS MAGICIAN
anyway that's all a tangent. flash forwards to last month. i was already working on CTDE from the kara^2 angle (bc i majored in n52 power girl w a minor degree in supergirl: woman of tomorrow, of course) but i was like "i should expand this roster". my friends suggest their blorbos ofc and i have a fun time reading wiki pages from multiple storylines/continuities just getting a wide array of impressions from different places. just snooping around the Vibes. and im like. man i should look at that Magician. read some of HER pages
you gotta appreciate knowing nothing at like 3am, to figuring out ctde zatanna's palette at 5:43 am
i can't resist her.
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anyway i already knew here that i was going to do something weird with her in the CTDE that wasn't necessarily connected to any of her published material. i was cooking independently. the stove was on before i had ingredients on hand bc i had the IDEA first. but i was like "i should look at some of her stuff first-hand and try and refine the Vibes" yknow. like theres limits to how much of a fake zatanna fan i can be
so we put out a call in the Mutuals Network and someone was like "you Could watch the justice league dark movie from 2017 she's in that". i was like ok 1hr15 animated movie i can handle that EASY
i didn't love the movie. so i'm not going to say anything else about it. however something VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE:
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thats right. wondermagic took hold before i read a single zatanna comic. just as it has for you anon.... we're not so different you and i...
couple days pass. im just relaxing. hanging out. looking at random tumblr blogs that post comic stuff bc im curious. so i stumble on this one post and it has a clean edit of This Fateful Image 👇
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this. GODDAMN image
i was like Wonder Woman is HOW TALL? excuse ME? (>he has also never engaged with a single piece of wonder woman content)
SHES SO TALL........??? and Next To Zatanna? (diesel voice) back in my day we called this spitting distance. and we would post it on /u/
im like okay what comic is this from im going there and im going NOW. to view her. like it's that easy folks. just show me wonder woman, Tall, next to another woman. and i'll go read it
nyway this is Justice League Dark from 2018-2020 it's like 30 issues or so and theres a stretch of chapters where diana is a real hunk its unbelievable. then the art changes but it was amazing while it lasted
(and then i immediately stumbled and wondermagic ctde real)
i really enjoyed this comic actually. i have NO idea how its generally regarded by zatanna nation, but i had a fun enough time. absorbed a lot of DC Comics Magic Lore for my AU which is important
at some point it starts doing Weirdly Umineko Coded dialogue totally unprompted so if you've read that it might tickle your funnybone to see comic book characters asking each other "was this a trick or was it magic 😏". made me feel right at home
my main complaint is that SHE'S NOT DRESSED LIKE A FUCKING MAGICIAN IN IT!!!! COME ON!!!!! they chickened out on the full magician garb in this whole era. which is just so sad. the fishnet fingerless gloves are funny though i might steal that. but i think she is so funny when she's wearing the full magician costume. like call me shallow but her commitment to the bit is so important to me
on the upside she interacts with wonder woman A Lot. the rest of the team is fun too. the justice league dark team is just wonder woman severely failing to put together a squad with any star power at all and i think that's adorable. her failgirl era. now she's out here with her also-rans. i like them all im fond of them
diana scruffs zee like a cat??? she's just hanging there like she's ok with it LOL
it technically jumps off of another comic but tbh if you're willing to hit the ground running and just Accept some stuff in medias res and go with it it's pretty easy to pick up if you wanted
("Just Going With It" is a vital survival skill for getting into comics in general because even if a comic isn't part of a longer continuity its always like "omg glup shitto is here!!! for the fans!!!" and you just have to be like Okay someone else will know who that is. ill just go w it. yknow 😭)
anyway i got a lot of DC Magic Lore (Strangely Familiar Edition) and Zee Content AND!!! Wondermagic Content. in this one. so even if i had an inkling about them before, this comic is really what detonated the charge so to speak. they interact so much
and the dynamic created w their relationship to magic and stuff is really interesting. brainwormy for sure. it took me from "who the hell is this magician" to "DO PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT WONDERMAGIC????? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HELLO???" in one comic. i have a LOT of thoughts about them like genuinely i think there's meat on the bone conceptually for wondermagic
but i think pretty much any time they appear together in general they're just Like That. whenever theyre both in a comic they have to be gay about it (what the fuck did she mean by this). i was losing my mind when i was catching up on DC/RWBY (ABHORRED. avoid if possible) and zatanna is immediately on her bullshit again. IS THAT HOW YOU GREET HER
anyway to sum up my rambling here's a peek into my league of comic geeks library of Shit Ive Read Since Then (that had zee in it). basically i have no further wisdom for you but for the knowers this is where i'm at (click to enlarge)
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it's a totally random selection LOL my strategy is that i look at comics that list her as a cast member and spin an actual roulette wheel in my brain to decide whether i should read it or not. there's very little else going on here. just monkey sees funny magician -> neuron activates
that pretty much catches us up on my zatanna journey. youll notice if you paid attention to the date/time stamps that it took a mere matter of Days to go from "yeah i can watch a movie" to "i think about her kissing women every night before i sleep". it is DIRE in here. im not sure ive ever had such a Severe escalation of worms
i love her. she's my funny girl. anyway. zatanna nation. if you're still reading this. if you're still with me. what is your wisdom. what should me and anon read. please.
this is a matter of international consequences.
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i-sveikata · 4 months
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hellooo! it’s 4 a.m in my country and i just have finished reading the last chapter of graveyards! i have a few questions if you feel okay to answer them (and my english is not perfect, hope i don’t make many mistakes)
i can see that vegas is very obsessed with pete. the way he sees pete as his equal and feels fascinated when pete fight backs is interesting. but where does vegas’s obsession come from? as far as i understand, they stayed in the safe house for a few days. how did he get SO obsessed with him to the point of going against his father for the first time in his life? can we say that he was in love with him when he did that?
i can see vegas’s obsession but i feel like pete is also obsessed with vegas, maybe not as much as vegas but he certainly can’t give up on him. why is that? where does his obsession and fixation on vegas come from?
did vegas and pete ever have an interaction before he kidnapped pete? or did you follow kp series’ plot for that? is it possible for vegas to actually have an interest for pete before all of these happened?
do you think there’s a limit for the things vegas would do for pete? i can see that he would do anything for him or to have him, but is there anything that he would not do no matter what?
what would vegas do if pete left him? after they got back together?
maybe it’s just me but vegas’ obsession towards pete is so magically fascinating and it made me obsessed too! i love these kind of plots a lot and yours is definitely the most interesting one! are you planning on writing vegas pete fictions in the near future? or do you have any recommendations to read (obsessed vegas plot)?
i actually had more questions but i don’t want to annoy you, plus my english is not good 😭 i hope you are having a wonderful day:)
for the word guessing game: “obsessed, ring, lead, sob or weep (are they different or the same words?😭) tears” please if you have it 🙏
hey there!! wow 4AM goodbye sleep hahahaha. of course happy to and your english is great!!
oh very good question! from memory they were in the safe house for a little over a week but yeah for a normal person that's nowhere near enough time to fall in love.
the way ive thought of it is that pete is the very first person to see all of vegas as he is, at his worst, at his ugliest, without flinching away or trying to kill him out of disgust or fear like so many other people have tried to do and that's where vegas' obsession stems from.
id say hes never once in his life felt seen before like this and so he's latched onto pete like a lifeline because pete makes him feel like more of himself without thinking that hes wrong or horrible or a failure. im not sure i would say that he was completely in love because obviously he was in a delusion about the situation but i do think it was a very obvious stepping stone to realising how vital pete was to him and how being around him makes him feel as opposed to say his father who constantly wants to squash him into the ground and make him smaller. by trying to kill pete his father set vegas even more against him than he meant to, because of course there was no way vegas was going to give up on the idea that someone could just accept him how he is and choose not to kill him. after pete did something like that, there was no way vegas would risk losing him.
pete is definitely to some extent hyperaware of vegas now but that stems from everything that happened between them and everything about himself that vegas has forced him to confront. pete knows vegas is inevitable but hes choosing how to accept that in a way that works for him. plus i think the second pete started to let himself care for him to actually be concerned for vegas' wellbeing was the moment he was gone. because thats such a innate part of him being a carer and once he pulled vegas into that small compartment of his where his grandmother, tankhun, chan and porsche already are there was no coming back.
nope they didnt really have any kind of meaningful interaction until vegas caught him. pete was trying too hard to stay under the radar and vegas didnt think he was all that interesting until he looked a bit closer
i honestly dont think vegas has a limit on what hed do for pete. not really. hes not very good with boundaries and he cares too much about pete to deny him anything. the real thing is whether or not pete would ask for something that would cross the line- but i dont really see him pushing beyond vegas' limits.
if pete left him and truly meant it i think vegas would be absolutely destroyed. it would take him a very long time to get over it or even to actually believe it. but if pete was serious i think he could back off. he would do it for pete, even if it was at his own expense and completely shattered him, he would put pete's needs above his own. even if that meant pete leaving him. but thats not likely to happen!
yeahhhhh i find it really fascinating too!! which is probably why i wrote a story this long delving into it hahahaha no i dont have anything else planned for the moment but that doesnt mean i wont. sorry im not good for recs i actually havent read all that much in the fandom tbh.
no worries feel free to ask more if you have them i dont mind!
Sure thing! I'll go with tears because we already did sob earlier and im pretty sure i havent used weep yet:
Pete doesn’t know what to say for that. It does sound plausible that Mr Kan could have been violently obsessed with Namphueng, but it’s also possible that Mr Korn has cleverly crafted the story to explain away his true actions and motivations.
\
"They all know you’re at the main family house in the thick of things and there’s already rumours spreading around here from the main family guards of a certain ring already being on your finger.”
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Chan nods with the kind of acceptance that leads Pete to believe he was expecting this already. He knows Pete too well to be shocked by how he operates.
\
Macau seems to drink it like he’s not even aware of what’s happening and when he sets it back down, suddenly empty, he reaches up to dig his bent knuckles into the side of his eye, clearing away the tears that he doesn’t appear to want Pete to know about.
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i just wanna talk to someone abt this because i trust u and ppl on tumblr actually freak me out and scare me so…hear me out. im not at all opposed to byler and im not homophobic bc i dont particularly ship it as much as others. yes i do ship it some amount, but the only thing that worries me is homophobes. being a queer person in a homophobic family is reallt hard and u have to learn to grow with a fear of them hating u. im just afraid of how ppl will take it if byler is canon. again i am not against the ship. that being said i am a girl who simps over will byers and i adore the y/n x will dynamic they have. just wanted to tell someone bc a lot of ppl on this sight would call me homophobic and stuff over this
Aw honey... of course it's okay. And I'm sorry things have been like this. I totally get it. What's not okay is a fandom getting so protective over their ships they make people of afraid of not shipping something enough. (Long but necessary rant ahead. Sorry, but its worth it)
I'm gonna lose a lot of people here, and likely cause they don't want to read to the end to hear all I have to say, but here goes: I don't particularly ship Byler either. When most people hear this statement they immediately equate it with the statement "I don't think Will is gay and neither is Mike" (I feel like this is true for most queer ships, or just shipping culture in general?).... this could not be more wrong. For one, nobody ever immediately knows why someone ships something (and a lot of times, the person themselves don't understand/realize why they subconsciously pick to a specific pairing and cling to it so tightly) and while it's completely understandable to have become defensive, say, because you feel as though your own identity is under attack, it's so easy—natural even—for people to snap into survival mode and try to defend themselves. But as we've seen, this can, in the right circumstances, also feed the pre-existing cycle of offense and defense that is far too long and philosophical a discussion to dive into here and now.
No, for now I wanna just reiterate that just because someone admits to not being particularly hyper-enthused by a specific ship—yes, like Byler—doesn't mean they automatically hate it. I don't particularly campaign for Mileven either! I've been persuaded by both in the past, but I've never found myself at point where I'm making fan accounts surrounding the ship, pumping out content 24/7, and I certainly haven't felt compelled to bash anyone who ships the other. But ya know what? I will say, and I bet im not alone here, the more I encounter Mileven content/space OR Byler content/space, the more I'm driven away. Why? The fucking shipping wars.
Byler and Mileven shippers, hard-core super-shippers specifically speaking, are some of the most toxic fans I've ever encountered. Is it every one? No!! But most. Most. The most extreme ive heard/seen is horrific. I'm talking death threats, suicide baiting, doxing, constant harassment and just overall borderline cyberterrorism. It's fucking unacceptable. And the underlying theme here and why there's so much fear spreading throughout fandom spaces. Why someone felt the need to limit contact and come to someone they claimed to trust to anonymously admit they aren't frothing at the mouth for one of these aforementioned ships. (Thank u btw for feeling u could trust me) This is not okay!!! People have to see how wrong this is!!! Right?? Right?!
I have no idea how much people will respect all this considering the source: a 21 year old reader insert writer who dedicates most of her time to writing teenagers into the plot of stranger things with Will Byers as their love interest (yes, specifically fem presenting/ she/her pronoun users). So no, I wouldn't blame anyone for hearing me say the words "I'm not a big byler shipper" and assume it has anything to do with that. But I'd hope that anyone who knows me, or is at least willing to hear me out, will understand that I have stated many times (and likely will again cause im a ✨️repetitive bitch✨️) that when I was a teenager, I was going through the absolute worst years of my life. Like, it warmed me up the for 2020s, that's how bad it was for me. And the only thing that got me through (likely without falling into what I believe would have become some incredibly dangerous habits) was falling into a world I could completely disappear into and forget my own shitty world existed.
I found this series called The Maze Runner, fell absolutely in love with the books and the world and bought every copy I could get my hands on. And when that wasn't enough, I looked for every blogspace I could get my hands on. Enter tumblr. Not even five minutes into my new account and searching the maze runner tag do I find a short little story called an "x reader". I literally cried. I was so fucking alone cause, and I'll tell yall, in the span of 15 months, I put down my dog of 11 years, lost my great-grandmother, then my grandpa, then my great grandfather, and then my grandmother. I had reason to believe I would suddenly lose my best friend to depression, and then to top it off my parents got divorced. Granted things have definitely gotten brighter, but little 14 year old me was no where near a healthy state of mind, or body and stumbling across something that not only let me disappear from my collapsing world, but surrounded me in love and encouragement, no matter how corny or silly, by the characters I had fallen in love with was an indescribable experience. This. This is precisely why i write. If theres even a chance i can provide that for you, and God, in the 2020s of all time to be a teenager, than i want to. I want to pay it forward.
That being said, I'd also hope one would understand while things were on the mend, I wasn't fully recovered by the time stranger things came out and i decided to write for it. The grief and trauma was one thing but, another thing you guys might know about me if you've been following me for a while is in the past, I've struggled severely—and still do a great deal—with compulsory heterosexuality. And honestly, a little internalized homophobia I think. It's stuff I work on daily, and it's stuff, I'd be willing to bet, a lot more people deal with than you'd expect. It's for this reason, that I suspect hilariously enough, me a deeply closeted lesbian while planning an x (at the time fem!)reader rewrite for younger kids to escape into, was faced with the choice of a love interest and subconsciously chose one of the only semi-canonically gay male characters available. Yes, essentially, in my own comphet riddled brain, I subconsciously gave both the (fem)reader and Will Byers my own comphet.
But guess what? Characters evolve as the story evolves and that rings true for COSMIC. I wish I had stories back then that casually explored sexuality outside the confines of cisgender heterosexuality in a safe, fun, encouraging way. I also wish I had stories that led you down one story with one character only and suck you in only to change and evolve if needed to say, an opposite sex or nonbinary character as the new love interest and being able to do so cause the love interest was never THE PLOT in the first place. It certainly would have helped speed things along I think, and even if I wasn't its healthy to try things out/consider before saying, ya know I think this still feels right, I'm good! And that's okay!
I deeply deeply appreciate anyone who read this far. I completely understand how much i tend to blather and granted i didnt plan on going into the specifics of my childhood trauma but i felt it necessary info as to why on earth im preaching gay Will while i currently have a Will x fem!reader on my page (Again, dont worry. Im not about to disrespect/erase anything likely to come in s4, nor have is this is a sudden thing in COSMIC) and seemingly shitting on ships. Again, it's the over intense shippers, not the ships themselves and overall lack of byler content that failed to get my attention.
In conclusion, yes, I don't particularly ship Byler much like you dear nonnie, but anyone who automatically thinks that statement makes us homophobic really needs to take a step back and perhaps consider taking a break from public fandom space. If you as a byler OR mileven shipper feel confronted at every corner to a point you're jumping down others throats, you need to take a break from the internet. Draw your ship, write some fanfic if you still want to engage in fandom activities offline but take a break from the internet and prowling for any throat to jump down.
Blech. Rant over. I kinda accidentally combined it with the pre season 4 premiere disclaimer for Cosmic and how and why I have a will x reader with a fem reader copy and how that's going to be affected by s4 so that's prob why it's so long but I don't regret it. The point is, this is and always will be a safe space for fandom enjoyment and just hanging out and the last thing I want here is someone to be feel afraid or threatened in any way. I love you all so much and wish nothing but amazing things for you all. And thank you again, dear nonnie, for trusting me. It means a lot.
💕💕💕 - Yurtle
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the7thcrow · 2 years
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ok coming into ur ask box this time so we dont have to be confined to the comment limit LOL and dont apologise for rambling i Wanted to pick your brain abt this!! sdhfgjksdfk i see… misbelief about the world driving the plot forward rather than their own motivation, that actually Is a very common plot device in y/n fic now that i think abt it. whenever i try to make my mcs Intentionally vague, it's usually their appearance, or anything regarding their gender. like now that i think abt it i dont think ive ever even tried writing an mc that is vague as a character itself? bc to me, a vague character, a "blank slate", is still a character, just one that lacks any life to it. like, among the writers i like interacting with on here and typically enjoy reading most, the general consensus seems to be that most dont actually read y/n as themselves and see them as more of a vague oc anyway, even as a reader, as they don't actually have any interest in inserting Themselves into a story in the very self-inserty, projecting way y/n fic is known for, and thats why they prefer a really fleshed-out mc.
personally, as a reader i seem to be the niche in between where i Do like projecting myself into the story as a character, but i Don't like blank slate mcs - because theres nothing to project On. i project onto self-insert characters the same way i project onto fully-fleshed characters in regular media, or hell, the same way i sometimes project onto an idol's image themselves. a reader insert being in second person just kinda helps enable the projection, and of course im gonna feel More seen by projecting onto characters that are More similar to me whether that be in gender/pronouns/appearance/personality/etc, but like... i dont go into it expecting to see the Entirety of Myself, written by someone else. i go into expecting to see someone else, in their wholeness as a character, and have them written compellingly enough that i can slot myself over them because even if i wouldnt do things the same way they would, i can still understand them and get in their head enough to "be" them for a while, in a way? like, even if i dont Personally relate to them, if theyre written well enough i can relate to how theyre feeling. kind of. i dont know if this makes any sense. i guess i just like feeling like a part of the story as a reader rather than Watching a story happen, kind of like playing a story-based video game with a preset ending - i get to play out the story as if im a part of it, and im gonna enjoy it even more if the character im playing as is similar to me, but even if theyre not, it still feels like im them for the duration of that story. and playing as a character that has no lines or backstory just isnt Nearly as compelling as playing as a character with a motive. yk? like with video games a blank protag is more forgiving bc you can create your own, but thats what fic is for. thats intentional. but you dont write fic of fic to fill in the blanks like that, so those blanks needa be filled already, imo.
as a writer i like the focus to be on the relationship dynamic the reader has with any of the given love interests, and i don't know how to create a relationship dynamic between two characters when only one character has a defined personality. bc the first question i ask myself is "what are these two characters like together? how do they play off each other/whats their interactions like?" so at this point im like ok x is a snark and y is a sunshine so x teases a lot and y just eats that shit up and gives contrastingly wholesome responses. or something like that. just for a vague idea of what they look like interacting. n then when i start working on the actual Plot, the question is "what made them fall in love with each other?" and This is what i base the entirety of the plot around. i pinpoint the specific traits that theyd like in one another, then i craft the perfect situations for them to experience those traits and fall in love with them. to do that, i need traits for the love interest to fall in love with, and i need a criteria for what the mc will be looking for in the love interest, and such a criteria comes from personality. theyre such closely intertwined concepts to me that i cant separate one from the other, hence why my mc's are all closer to faceless, nameless oc's than a blank slate. the only thing making me hesitate from following melty's lead and straying directly into named oc 2nd person fiction is the fact that i as a reader do like inserting my own name as y/n lmfao on my pc i even have a browser extension that does it for me. but i can use that same extension to change an oc's name in someone elses story so its not a big deal to me as a reader, but i just wonder if there are readers similar to me but that would be thrown off by having a different name instead.
this is really long and rambly unprompted so i apologise SKDFJGSKDFK but ive been itching to get my thoughts out on the matter with all this talk abt how we approach writing mcs. i didn't realise how many longfic writers put so much effort into writing a character so intentionally vague for the purpose of making someone that "could be anybody." but then again, considering im personally alienated from 95% of the fic i read just as a non-woman polyamorous person (among so many other factors), i guess other readers are a lot more used to actually being able to see a perfect carbon copy of themselves in self inserts without having to squint too hard at the lines. huh. wonder what thats like. SKDFGJSDFKGKDF
adding the break as to not horribly flood the dash
i really like what you said about feeling like a part of the story rather than watching it. i’ve been extremely negative all night about this, but at the end of day, i obviously enjoy 2nd person pov. i would hope so, after the shit-ton i’ve read and written, and continue to read and write about it. there is something nice about stepping into the story and experiencing something in such a different way. i enjoy it as a reader, it’s a different kind of experience. it’s really neat.
to be clear, i don’t think i write a total blank-slate. like, to give myself a bit of credit i think all my mc’s have a personality for sure. relationship dynamics with people surrounding them, definitely. they’re usually headstrong and maybe a bit cocky, bc that’s what i like to read and frankly, am generally like LMAO. i by no means take out lines or subject matter bc it could be too much unlike someone reading it. but idk, i feel less inclined to spend as much time as i should creating a completely fleshed out character when i don’t even have an image for them in my head, and majority of readers are going to imagine that it’s themselves anyway (which frankly, as they should, it’s literally called reader-insert). it’s definitely not an everyone problem. like from what you said it definitely seems like reader-insert has helped you develop characters and dive into them, but i just don’t think it works the same way for me.
i’ve been thinking a lot about character building lately. fanfiction itself is one of the most helpful tools and greatest liabilities for character building. on the one-hand, you learn to bring an idea to life. you learn how to really embody a character or person, especially in rpf where you sorta can do whatever you want with no canon, but everyone has a sort of idea or interpretation anyway. but it also relies on the fact that your audience already loves the characters you are using, instead of you having to start from scratch to make them love them.
maybe that’s why my original oc’s feel flat in my personal writings. when people read “y/n” obviously they already care about them bc well, to a lot of people it is them. which is the literal point of reader insert, so i think it would be extremely stupid to discourage that. but for me it feels a bit limiting.
speaking of which, there’s this idea of “y/n” and god… GOD do i hate it.😭not reading wise, bc i understand the appeal and literally throw my name in there and have since i was a pre-teen, but writing wise. i stopped using y/n in my fics as a name holder bc i didn’t like it in there anymore and i couldn’t place why for a while, but i think it’s bc when people call my mc “y/n” it’s just like… in the end that’s all she is. i can put as much planning and shit into this character but she’s not really a character, she feels like a placeholder. at least when we refer to her as mc it’s like, she’s her own thing. she is the main character™️ but when people are like, i love your “y/n”! it’s like she’s compared on this scale of reader-inserts compared to an actual breathing complicated protagonist. it’s hard to explain and i think i’m doing a horrible job, but that’s how i feel about it.
you’re also someone who like, does not do this whatsoever, and comments and discusses the mc as an actual character which i really appreciate. bc you do also write, and i think you share perspective on that even if also inserting yourself into the story. i sorta do both too. you get it. i think this is in a lot of ways a me issue more than a collective issue, which is why it probably sounds a bit messy and maybe just incorrect lmao. but idk, the bottom line of what i’m feeling is if i really want to work on protagonist building and that’s my number one priority that i need to improve upon, why would i do it a genre where a lot of readers (and thus those giving the feedback that i try and use to improve upon) are going to often judge the mc solely on the level of relatability, imagine that it is them and thus view it as such rather than an actual character, i can’t (and shouldn’t) flesh out mannerisms / appearance, and overall just causes an extra level of struggle compared to a third person character that i can fully embody with none of these limits.
especially if i’m starting to realize how much i really like writing in third, it just seems like that is what’s probably the right path for me as a writer. i’m still going to write natgig because i love it and it allows me to do a mixture of all these things, i’m still going to write reader-insert. but if i’m working on individual character building and embodiment revolving around the protagonist, i think a necessary step for me is to redirect a lot of my energy into writing some third-person non reader-insert pov.
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heyjude19-writing · 2 years
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hey jude! did you take any creative writing classes before you started to write RN? Do you have any recommendation of possible things you did to improve your writing enough to give you the courage to start writing the story that was in your head for 10 years?
Hey anon! I’m gonna write you a big, long thing because i fucking love talking about writing. Ready? Okay!
Without getting too specific, i do edit/write for my day job, so i’ve taken many a writing course throughout my education/life which helped me with the basics, but it’s been quite some time since ive taken any formal classes. As far as creative writing, that was always my hobby. Sitting down and writing RN after a damn decade was less about feeling like i had improved enough to get it out and more of a mental health thing. My anxiety said “god, just write it already, it’ll help” and then the pandemic said “god, just share it, not many people will read it and you’ll feel better” and here we are.
What’s helped me improve since and kept me going:
Writing more. I’m no longer holding myself back from writing down any and every idea that comes to mind, whether it be for fanfic or original writing. None of these ideas even have to go anywhere, i’ve just allowed myself to enjoy the act of writing and it’s helped me immensely. Sometimes I revisit these little pieces and read them again for fun, or add a bit more, or go incorporate them into something larger I’m working on. Not all writing has to be productive! But I firmly believe it does help you grow the more you do it. 
Challenging myself. I’ll stress that when i say this, i mean i am challenging myself in a fun way, not in a “let’s make this as frustrating as possible” way. Experimenting with story length is one thing I love as a writer. Drabbles and ficlets are wonderful ways to work on specific skills, because you are so limited by the word count. This type of quick-bite writing forced me to remove dialogue tags i’d normally use, delete most adverbs, get rid of unnecessary qualifiers like “very” and “just” to save space for the actual story. 
Genre experimentation. I recently wrote my first horror fic and i’m quite proud of it. It made me realize how much i enjoyed writing in that arena and might be something i look to do for original work. It forced me to take familiar characters i was so used to writing one way and draw out different facets of their personalities to make sense for a darker plot. If you are ever at all tempted to try a different story genre, just go for it. I learned a lot about my own craft while doing this. 
Read more. I’m sure you’ve seen this a lot as far as writing advice goes, but i promise it’s true. To use my horror example again, I was reading a novel where wings burst out of a character’s back and it was a real mindfuck moment as a reader and then my mind just spiraled with inspiration for my own stuff from there. You might come across a phrase or a style of prose that grabs you by the throat and then holds your brain hostage. There are so many ways to tell the same story, and reading more will expose you to all these differences. It lets you find out what’s not for you (ex. writing from a ton of different povs in one story is not for me) and what you’d want to try out for yourself (ex. Im itching to eventually write a first-person pov).
Another recommendation if we’re talking about longer form stories (and i feel like i give this advice a lot): find out what kind of outliner you are. I LOVE the outline process. It’s my chance to word-vomit all over a fresh word doc any and every idea that comes to mind for the plot, the characters, scenes, dialogue snippets, etc. I love to bullet point scenes, sketch out some important character moments. None of this involves finesse, or craft, it’s all the ideas phase and it’s when I feel my most creative. Once i’ve got a story fully outlined, I go back and actually write out all these scenes (not necessarily in order, i’m not one who needs to write chronologically). Other writers I know just start from their first sentence and go from there, not allowing themselves to jump ahead. Find out which way works for you, because you’re the one who will need to read all of it over and spend so much time with it. Outlining makes me EXCITED about stories and helps pump me up to write and share them.
Talking with other writers. It was hard when I first posted RN and didnt know anyone in the community. But by putting myself out there it led to conversations and friendships with other writers. It’s a resource i’m incredibly grateful for, to have people just as nerdy as i am about writing, trading tips or asking for advice/encouragement or just to double-check im not insane and actually did use the word “belie” correctly. It can be intimidating, but if you havent already and are comfortable, check out some online writing groups/discords. 
Don’t feel like you have to follow every “writing rule.” It’s so easy to get bogged down in “you’re supposed to write THIS way” and you find yourself looking at a paragraph of soulless words that while technically correct, don’t say very much at all. I personally find it intimidating to try and improve all the things at once and it makes me hate the process. I’ve found concentrating on one aspect for improvement makes me feel like im growing without overwhelming myself. For example, i made a conscious effort in a recent story to not rely on adverbs so much, and when a reader noticed this in a comment, I was fucking elated. 
Okay and now to get a little pollyanna for a second. It does take courage to share your work on a public platform and open it up for public consumption/opinion. Your writing won’t be for everyone, but it is yours. You will spend the most time with it (in your head and on paper/screen) so it helps if you like it. What really matters, i promise, is that you like your own writing. 
I hope you found this helpful and good luck with your writing! My ask box is always open 💕💕
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r0kuta · 1 year
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ey yo seth! do you recommend the new fire emblem game? bc i ADORE FE but ive seen absolutely nobody talking about it so i have like. no reference from people who actually LIKE FE playing it, its just dudebros bitching bc "eww a new fire emblem and the protag is toothpaste lmaoooo" which is NOT helpful. also about your fic: dont feel bad, you write from PASSION as it SHOULD BE, grammar be DAMNED
thank you for your comment about my writing, it means a lot!! im glad u think so!
anyways, here is my Honest Opinion(tm) about Engage (under a cut bc its long):
yes, there are many unhelpful biased comments about the designs, the life sim aspects, and the story. ive seen the fucking "lolol toothpaste haha COLGATE heehee PEPSI lmao" joke over and over again with no end in sight. its not that funny anymore, guys.
BUT
to me, as a fire emblem fan (mind you, my first game was path of radiance when i was in ???middle school??? but the first fe game i FINISHED was awakening, when i was about 16 or 17), i think that Engage is fine as it is. :) the gameplay is what REALLY matters in a game, and the gameplay is VERY fun and challenging, so if nothing else, i'd recommend it for its unique playstyle. the story is kind of a rehash of awakening, with some details swapped out, and to me, the writing is actually sliiiiightly better here than in awakening. if you like awakening: great!!! you'll like the story in this game too! its a bit more in-depth, and the villains are focused on much more than in awakening, which i personally appreciate.
alear, the protagonist, reminds me a lot of robin, in that: they make their OWN choices, NOT the player's choice. for instance, in the first few minutes of the game, they decide to RUN from enemies instead of fight! they want to protect their stewards, vander and framme+clanne. i thought that was interesting. so far (and im almost finished with the game), i havent had a prompt about what i, the player, want to do in regards to a story beat. alear does the decision-making for you. even robin had a few player-driven choices to make, but not alear. alear is their own character. which is nice!!!
as for the life sim stuff, its very limited. the somniel is almost entirely optional. you can s support, but only alear can s support, and even then, NOT all of them are romantic in nature (see: pandreo and ivy, who both have romantic endings with alear regardless of their gender). if you choose, you can build and grind supports. the support convos arent always interesting, similar to awakening or fates, but they are cute and serve a purpose. but all that i just mentioned in this paragraph is not integral to the story AT ALL.
the story. the story is good, with some twists and turns here and there! we are supposed to get more characters and a new story option in wave 4 of the dlc (i am unsure when that is coming out!), and so the story might deepen with that dlc option. right now im doing a vanilla run with no dlc and ive been enjoying it thus far.
in short, im not DONE with the game, but i am REALLY enjoying myself so far. the battles are engaging (lol) and challenging (ive died on some skirmishes before :P), and i LOVE the characters, even if theyre not super deep. i hope the game has a satisfying ending and i suspect the replay value will be amazing, with all the unlockable classes there are :)!
id recommend you play it if youre a fan of fe, even if youre not crazy about the designs or the story. of course i cant dictate how others feel, but i actually enjoyed myself very much and remember to HAVE FUN and NOT CARE what ANYONE else thinks !!
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scuopsie · 1 year
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Your description of the majority of men reactors 💀 Oh yes, catling benson is one of those I enjoy as well! I wasn't sure if you were referring to them because I still haven't watched their last video, but I had the feeling something was going on. I'm glad she's being transparent about how she feels.
I think reactors often happen to have particularly excited or dramatic reactions and get/feel pressured to have the same reaction to everything they watch, also to avoid toxic fans comments... I'm sorry (not sorry) but I blame young new kpop fans for this, especially those coming from twitter, where these reactors seem to find most (if not all) rude (or worse) comments. Of course not all of them are like this, I know and see so many that are not, they are respectful and behave in a more human and chill way, but there's a big portion that does, sadly.
Anyway. I'm all for reacting to a limited number of groups, if I were ever to do such thing, I would react to my favorites and occasionally others. However, I also realize that for many this is or becomes a job, and so the wider the public the better... About authenticity, for me it's quite fundamental otherwise I just feel like I'm wasting my time...
My fav reactors are (apart from the two i've already mentioned), the safe cave (they're also been pretty transparent with subscribers over time, took breaks when needed and made clear how and what they react to, definitely my number 1) and Lktv (he does bang his head lmao but I enjoy his reactions, he does comment a lot most of the time.)
Recently I saw a few reactions from millennial men and katriinka, a vocal coach. They seem good, at least from what I saw. I knew i forgot something 🤡 choreography! Idk why is so hard to find good dancers reactions... there's jeff avenue, there was a time he used to explain even more stuff and it was 👌👌👌 Musa is too much for me 💀 too much... I also find it exaggerated, also because it's like a standard for him to react that way. And when there's an important message behind he doesn't seem to catch it? I haven't watched all his videos, but some made me mad lol so I was like, "okay, enough, thank u next".
Exactly! Like it’s to be expected for someone who’s reacting to kpop for the first time to be blown away by pretty much everything bc kpop is just on a different level than western music videos, but after a while it becomes the norm and u have to start being real… otherwise whats the point?
Yeah i also think that toxic stans are a huge part of the problem but i think its time for ppl to stop tiptoeing around and trying to fit their content into a mold just to avoid toxic stans bc all that does is give them more power. (Obv its easy for me to sit here and say this but idk i feel like we need to just do our own thing until these toxic stans learn that the world doesn’t revolve around them and their faves)
Oooh ive seen kaia’s vids on search but i dont think ive ever checked any of them out! I’ll definitely give them a shot! And I actually watched lktv’s reaction to beautiful liar and as far as enthusiasm goes they were pretty decent but one thing that kind of gave me the ick was the random korean words they threw around (and the korean greeting) idk it just gave me koreaboo vibes kdkdkdk
I remember there was this one vocal coach reacts who had really long hair and he was pretty real. Like he clearly wasnt doing it to appease kpopies. Their main reaction content wasnt even kpop but i havent seen them around (tho i didnt look them up either) in ages. Yeah… im sorry jeff avenue’s reactions are boring too.
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dhrupad · 7 years
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Hey, did you get my ask about indian surrealist films? If you have, you don't have to answer it now itself; just wanted to know to see if i should send it in again.
hey! sorry about that, i feel like i answered an ask about that but then again im not sure lol. but hmm this is always a complex question b/c i feel like i dont know what the definition of surrealism is as a movement or genre in indian cinema. i think the closest that idea has come to being documented or even canonized has been with amrit gangar’s “cinema of prayoga” theory where he sought to differentiate and reconceptualize the idea of avant-garde and experimental filmmaking in india from its european connotations or definitions. if you have the time, do check out this particular interview with him on experimenta.in.
that said, i’m gonna try to do this anyway lol. 
usually the first films that come to mind with avant-garde/surrealist connotations are om dar-b-dar (kamal swaroop,1988) and hun hunshi hunshilal (sanjiv shah, 1992).  good thing is that NFDC finally restored the former and it’s pretty accessible now compared to a couple of years ago. if i could go by filmmakers, you have to definitely check out the work of vipin vijay and how he experiments with a mode of film like the documentary (poomaram, hawa mahal, the egotic world) as well as his feature film chitrasutram (2010).  ashish avikunthak, especially his early short films. and then there’s amitabh chakraborty’s kaal abhirati (1989) which i havent been able to see but there’s also his 2014 film cosmic sex....
with that thought, i think a lot of indian filmmakers have experimented in some great ways with literature they’ve adapted. there’s shalini usha nair’s akam (2011) based on Yakshi by malayatoor ramakrishnan. or ashish avikunthak’s adaptation of the malayalam novel pandavapuram in his film nirakar chhaya (2007) or amit dutta’s adaptation of the short stories of writers like vinod kumar shukla (whose work is itself surrealist in many ways)and sadat hassan manto in his film aadmi ki aurat aur anya kahaniyan (2009). with amit dutta, his short film kramasha (2007) is another suggestion. i love fareeda mehta’s kali salwar (2002) and the way she adapted manto’s stories and characters in a way that overlapped them or had them running parallel to each other within the bombay she created in this film. perhaps the best part was that manto himself was a character in the film! 
ok and here im throwing in filmmakers like g. aravindan, mani kaul, and kumar shahani for the way they experimented with time or with adaptation literature and filming narratives. again, it depends on what you mean by surreal? i think amrit gangar talks about at least shahani and kaul in the interview linked earlier. ALSO v. shantaram because there’s something so fantastical and awesome about the way he made his films, especially if you look at his transformation of the song-dance sequence (i.e. navrang, jhanak jhanak payal baje, etc.)
oh and special mentions: anurag kashyap’s no smoking (2007), jeeva’s 12B (2001), ketan mehta’s oh darling! yeh hai india (1995), & sunil dutt’s yaadein (1964). 
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epicdogymoment · 3 years
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so i guess i Will actually go ahead and watch all of gintama too. why not
#leologisms#gintama#on top of reading all of it im gonna go ahead and watch the entire anime#even though ive already seen all of the anime only stuff#anyway ive just finished episode 9 and oh boy you Know im thinking of that good meta#of course its nothing weve never heard before but i think it bears repeating because lots of people tend to forget#we seem to establish in these first few episodes that among other things gintoki is actually.. pretty killing-averse#especially in comparison to everyone else we see introduced (katsura still in his extremist phase. kondou challenging him to a duel.#hijikata challenging him to a duel) and it makes sense considering. yknow. *gestures vaguely* everything. and he even says it himself#in katsuras intro episode.. killing doesnt really accomplish anything. and it doesnt bring your fallen comrades back#but i think most of all gintoki is just tired of seeing people die.. and tired of the whole killing thing.#and this is a bit of a tangent but not really because it does have to do with his 'own bushido' and protecting what he wants to protect#gintoki probably acts all aloof and 'distant' because he knows that he has to protect the people he cares about#to what is honestly. a ridiculous extent. and imagine saying that out loud. 'i will protect you with my entire life' talk about commitment#to be fair he Does actually say that to otose except he manages to say it indirectly anyway by promising tasugorous grave#and adding a few jabs in there for good measure. just in case she started feeling too touched by it yknow#gintoki is. a man of action.. and he would never admit it but hes a sentimental prick too. and he keeps his promises#i could keep going on about this all day. should i? im i gonna hit the tag limit soon?#ok. this is the 19th tag i can keep going a little longer. anyway speaking of promises. lets talk about the joui war and that 'promise'#when takasugi asked him to protect shouyou.. and how gintoki 'broke' that promise. but i dont think thats really true#he.. deliberately doesnt acknowledge it when takasugi asks him.. because he knows that its a promise he cant keep#but takasugi doesnt realise that. so in the end gintoki has to bear the guilt of doing the deed alongside takasugis feelings of betrayal#but its because of his own bushido.. protecting what he wants to protect. and asking takasugi to just stay alive#and of course he ends up losing both anyway. both his mentor and his fellow disciples (except not really because. plot twist lol.)#gintoki was making that choice knowing that either way he would lose both..#*slaps gintokis back* this bad boy can fit so much trauma in him
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ootahime · 3 years
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what is utahime’s role in the future? — a prediction (manga spoilers)
part 2 (unedited)
part 1 is here!
let’s continue answering the question: is utahime weak?
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chapter 135
what preparations is utahime making? like i’ve mentioned before, i theorize that she needs to charge up in order to use her technique. since momo and the other kyoto students are fighting on the front line to buy time for utahime, i believe that they trust that their teacher’s ability can help turn the situation around.
what do the students think of her? do they think she’s weak?
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chapter 128
mechamaru manipulates the circumstances in a way that allow him to keep the kyoto people away from danger. this has more to do with how much he cares about his classmates and his teacher rather than seeing them as incompetent sorcerers who can’t hold their own. notice how he says “EVEN utahime”.
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chapter 128
kamo thinks mechamaru doesn’t have that much faith in the Kyoto students—but this isn’t true at all! he knows who the enemy is and has a grasp of how dangerous they are. he just wants to keep his friends safe. besides, kamo is a semi-grade 1 sorcerer which means he’s more than capable of defending himself against curses. but since he’s being kept safe too, it suggests that this is not a matter of keeping weak people away from fighting :)
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chapter 41
this seems a bit off topic but let’s talk about the misogyny in jujutsu society. momo points out to nobara that the women from the zenin clan are expected to be perfect. the misogyny runs so deep to the point where some women aren’t allowed to even fight. you may think that this is just about the zenin clan but it’s about society as a whole. that’s why nobara responds to momo in a more personal sense. she doesn’t care about the boys versus girls issue because she embraces all aspects of herself. she loves herself when she’s strong, and she loves herself when she’s dressed up and beautiful. if it only applied to the zenin family then nobara wouldn’t have responded the way she did.
in the chapter before, nishimiya explains, “even if a girl has skills, if she’s not cute, she’s looked down upon. of course, if she’s only cute with no skill, it’s the same. women sorcerers aren’t expected to be skilled, they’re expected to be perfect.”
some of the female characters in jujutsu kaisen apply to this. for example, maki and mai. they’re looked down upon because one can’t use a cursed technique or see curses, while the other’s cursed technique is weak. in chapter 148(?) naoya says the only thing maki had going for her was her face, but it’s ruined now so she’s nothing. the zenin twins fall under the “cute but not skilled” category in jujutsu society. before we can put utahime into a category, let’s examine mei.
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i promise this will all connect so please bear with me LOLLL let’s move on to mei. we find out that mei has the ability to control crows. she deems this ability as weak because it’s simple and doesn’t have much attack or defense power.
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she convinces herself that a sorcerer’s worth doesn’t revolve around their CT. by following this ideal, she soon found herself at her limit because you can only hone your physical abilities to an extent. she said she was crushed because she thought that her weak CT would forever stunt her ability to grow as a sorcerer. but because of all the training she did in order to not rely on her CT, she was able to combine her physical prowess with her technique to make what’s best of her ability to control crows.
mei is an example of a perfect woman based on the standards the jujutsu world has established for women. although she has a weak technique, she makes up for it with adept use of weapons and physical prowess. she found a way to incorporate this “weak” ability to make it something strong. she’s beautiful and powerful so therefore, she was promoted to be a grade 1 sorcerer. she is what a woman is expected to be in order to be acknowledged by others.
what about utahime? why couldn’t she follow the same footsteps as mei?
i can’t answer that because we don’t really know much about utahime so far. i can only speculate why. being a grade 2 sorcerer at 20 is not bad at all. but why is she stuck as a semi-grade 1 sorcerer at 31? that surely proves she’s just weak, right?
semi-grade 1 sorcerers are sorcerers who have performed well on missions with a person accompanying them. i feel like when utahime was on a mission to exorcise a grade 1 curse on her own (the final step of the grade 1 promotion process), something happened that gave her her scar and made her unable to fulfill the mission. it’s either that or she did complete the mission but her appearance is too unsatisfactory. can you recall what nishimiya said? if you’re cute and not skilled, you’re not good enough. if you’re not cute and skilled, you’re still not good enough.
in men, scars are a symbol of honor and strength. on the other hand, scars on a woman’s face are seen as an imperfection. as a result, those who are scarred are deemed imperfect and unsuitable for marriage.
gojo hates the way things are run because the higher ups are so close-minded. they make decisions on a whim and have no compassion for sorcerers who are breaking their backs on their orders. he wants to change jujutsu society for the better by raising the next generation of sorcerers to be as strong as him. the old-fashioned and narrow-minded attitude of the higher ups leads me to believe that utahime is stuck as a semi-grade 1 sorcerer because she is viewed as imperfect. utahime’s scar is most likely the reason contributing to her being held back. who would want to promote a woman who isn’t beautiful enough to be a grade 1 sorcerer?
she obviously has a lot to offer because she’s a teacher at Kyoto. todo, a grade 1 sorcerer, has never shown any sign of disrespect towards utahime despite the fact that he surpassed her in rankings. he trusts in her and believes she has some things she can teach him.
can we additionally address the fact that gojo respects mei? he refers to her as mei-san and says that there’s no way she’d cry because she’s strong. mei has a weak technique though? 🤔🤔🤔 controlling crows?!?!?! nah im jk, mei is strong with and without her technique, of course. since gojo respects someone like mei, a person who doesn’t have an out-of-this-world technique, i believe his view of someone strong isn’t solely based on their technique. when he calls utahime weak, he may not be insulting her CT. it’s just all jokes because in chapter 65, geto and mei join in on the fun too and pick on her. mr. hot shot knows that utahime is a valuable asset to his plans so he entrusts her with the task of unearthing the traitor(s). if she was so incapable of such a thing, why did he pay mei to do the same job? 🤔
*a lot of people think mei was actually paid by gojo to promote his students but that’s incorrect. it goes against everything gojo advocates for. he wants his kids to enjoy their youth because his was taken away. being a sorcerer is not a smooth job and no matter how many years you’re in the profession, it never gets easier. he doesn’t wish for his students to be thrust in a world full of hardship and loss, which is why he was so against yuuji and yuta’s execution. he works hard to preserve the innocence of his students. he doesn’t want yuji’s heart to break, not even once. why would he pay mei to promote his students to grade 1? that would automatically strip them of their innocence and youth and push them into a world full of burden and pain.
PHEW that was long. how does this all tie back to utahime’s future role in the story?
her CT will probably come in clutch in an important battle
she might be the one to help get gojo out the box (A REACH i know)
she will help gojo with his plan to overthrow and change jujutsu society as a whole
i don’t really have to dive into the first bullet point. as for the second one, look at what i found!
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in the second opening, utahime is seen searching for something in a dim forest.
*i read an analysis about opening 2 and apparently this just symbolizes her looking for the traitors. that makes sense too.
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in chapter 144, this scenery pops up right before they enter master tengen’s base(?) the branches are thicker than in the opening but it gives the same vibes to me. i think utahime will be the one to break gojo out.
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why utahime? well, gojo is their best shot at stabilizing whatever the fuck is going on right now. she knows it’s a crime to unseal him, but she wants her students to be safe so she’ll probably risk it. plus, gojo’s flashback starts with him breaking utahime and mei out of a building with a barrier.  i think utahime breaking gojo out of the prison realm will make a perfect parallel :3
that theory is a massive ass pull I KNOW. it’s just fun to think about. it’s likely that kurusu hana will be the one helping yuuji and megumi out with that.
if utahime isn’t the one freeing gojo, she will definitely come face to face with the other traitors.
ive read numerous Reddit threads and tons of users think she’ll play a small role in the story—nothing too significant. i’m perfectly content with that as well. i never expected her to be gojo level or anything like that LMAOO. as long as we get to see her technique in action, i will be satisfied 😮‍💨
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i feel like there may be a few things i missed but i tried to include everything i could think of. the organization of this post is quite off but im too lazy to rearrange it in a way that makes it more coherent LOL. thank you so much for reading. ill probably analyze gojo and utahime’s interactions in the manga and anime next :-)
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