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serial-serializednovelreader · 2 days

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Nova’s Notes - Dracula Daily - May 28

Finally, a letter from our good friend Jonathan Harker! I’m sure nothing bad has happened to him since his last entry. /s

So right off the bat, he tells us his plan for escape using the Szgany people as a means of sending two secret letters home, one to Mina and one to Mr. Hawkins.

“To her I have explained my situation, but without the horrors which I may only surmise. It would shock and frighten her to death were I to expose my heart to her.”

I’ve seen some flack on him from this and that’s valid, but I want to approach this from a different perspective (also, I’m a total Jonathan apologist).

So from what we can see here, he’s “explained the situation” to Mina. I’m going to assume that means “I’m trapped in this castle with no means of escape for the next 32 days, after which I’m not sure what’s going to happen to me. You will receive letters from me saying I’m on my way home, don’t believe them. I am being held here against my will, you and Mr. Hawkins need to find a way to get me out of this.”

Obviously, I’m sure that’s not actually how he said it — he likely said it much more covertly than that — but that’s the gist. While he does say he hasn’t explained the horrors to her, one of the reasons he doesn’t is because, again, he can only speculate about what’s going on here. He doesn’t have hardcore evidence that anyone wants to suck his blood or that the Count wants to murder him. His livelihood is built off of facts and sending a letter that has a ton of speculation without proof in it is pretty much against his moral code at this point.

Also, think about the position it would put Mina in if she received a letter filled with the horrors he has endured. Jonathan is placing her in a position of trust and power by telling his boss to “communicate with her” (to figure out a plan of escape for him). If Mina knows exactly what has gone down in that castle, she likely will be much more frantic in trying to get him out of there (and who can blame her?). But Mr. Hawkins wouldn’t be. He doesn’t know anything about what is going on, and that would then put Mina in the position of likely having to explain everything to Mr. Hawkins and him deciding whether he believes her or not. Sure, she can show him the letter, but I don’t know if he reads shorthand, and if he’s skeptical enough, he might dismiss the entire letter as “not from Jonathan” (this could be an exaggeration, but we also don’t know Mr. Hawkins well enough to know his character).

However, Jonathan being held against his will by an unreasonable client is something a bit more down-to-earth. While Mina might leave off the “after-32-days-who-knows-what-will-happen-to-me” part, she can say that Jonathan has tried to ask the Count to leave and has been refused for various reasons. Mr. Hawkins has likely dealt with this before and knows ways to counteract this. Perhaps he can send a letter to the count requesting his solicitor back for urgent matters, or something of the kind. While this likely wouldn’t have worked (due to, you know, it being *Dracula* we’re dealing with), Jonathan is eager to try anything at this point and this would be playing into Dracula’s illusion of Jonathan simply being a guest who can leave at any time. Plus, Jonathan knows if this tactic doesn’t work, he has more serious grounds to say the Count is holding him against his will.

Another point, he probably doesn’t have an unlimited supply of paper to work with, so he also wants to keep this letter relatively short. He could just read the pages from his diary and include those but that would make for a bulky envelope and it might not even fit.

On the emotional side, if you were in a horrifying situation and had one letter to send home, what would you put in that letter? Would you play up the horror of what you’re going through or simply emphasize the importance of getting out of there and how your loved one can help? While, yes, he should include some of what he’s going through (and, to be fair, he does explain some of the situation to only her which is a step above most protagonists, who likely would either a) not send letters explaining it to anyone or b) just explain it to his male boss). I think most people in his shoes probably wouldn’t want to include the trauma of what they’re going through in order to not stress out their partner, no matter the gender. It’s what a lot of humans do and whether that’s the right call or not depends on the situation.

Finally, another big reason I believe he keeps it a secret is because of the next sentence:

“Should the letters not carry, then the Count shall not yet know my secret or the extent of my knowledge....”

Here’s the thing we have to remember: Jonathan doesn’t know for sure that Dracula doesn’t know shorthand. He’s already proven himself to be smart and knowledgeable, knowing the laws (almost as much as a lawyer in his own right) for a country he’s not even from. Sure, there may have been things the Count has said to suggest that he doesn’t know shorthand (which has given Jonathan that level of security), but we also know he’s a lying liar who lies. So, who knows? Jonathan sure isn’t going to take his chances describing every single weird encounter he’s had since he arrived at this castle, because that would be playing his hand about how much he knows.

Yes, writing these letters is taking a huge chance and is showing a bit of what he knows. But if the Count is able to read the letter in its current form, Jonathan will, at worst, sound like an ungrateful and rude guest with weird ideas (presuming he didn’t say “the count’s murdering me in 32 days” which he probably didn’t). They can still come back from that. Will it be awkward? Yes, very. Dracula might even say “Jonathan, haha! You can leave at anytime, why do you say this?” (LIES).

But if Jonathan detailed every single thing that has happened to him? That would likely get him murdered on the spot. He has broken the rules of this game the Count so enjoys playing by inviting someone else into their confidence (at least to that full extent). It might even put Mina in danger as well.

“‘The Szgany has given me these, of which, though I know not whence they come, I shall, of course, take care.’”

And here we see Count Dracula trying not to lie for one second (impossible). I doubt they gave him the letter of their own free will; I’m almost sure he either used his authority as a nobleman or he used his vampire powers to make them hand over the letters. No matter what, it’s evil and I hate him for it. Of course, he’s going to put the blame on *the Szgany* to make them sound as if they just gave him the letters because there’s nothing Dracula loves more than discrediting those he deems “below him” (which, really, is anyone who ISN’T him when you think about it) and making them seem ignorant. Plus, it’s another abuser tactic to remind Jonathan that no one here is really on his side: he’s already done this with the villagers and the coachmen, so it stands to reason he would do this here. We know that’s not true (look at how the villagers protected Jonathan), but for Jonathan, it’s likely starting to feel true after almost a month of isolation.

“…here he caught sight of the strange symbols as he opened the envelope, and the dark look came into his face, and his eyes blazed wickedly—‘the other is a vile thing, an outrage upon friendship and hospitality! It is not signed. Well! so it cannot matter to us.’ And he calmly held letter and envelope in the flame of the lamp till they were consumed.”

Back to my earlier point: what if Dracula *could* read shorthand? I’m sorry if that’s a theory everyone already has and I just haven’t seen it yet, but it is something to consider. No matter if he does, he obviously knows it’s from Jonathan and it’s written in some kind of code to a loved one, so he was going to burn this no matter what. But still, the possibility of him being able to actually *read* that letter is scary…

Notice how he says “us” here, trying to rope Jonathan back into a little group with him (presumably away from the Szgany, or even, perhaps, from the outside world). It’s sickening to me that even while he’s burning Jonathan’s only hope (at this point), he’s still trying to build a sense of rapport between them. While Jonathan called him a creature — rather than a man — for the first time after the lizard fashion thing, this is where I’d call him a creature because that’s just horrible. He even has the audacity afterward to say “Your letters are sacred to me” while also admitting he broke the seal and read Mr. Hawkins’ letter as well. It’s an invasion of privacy on so many levels and, of course, there’s nothing Jonathan can do about it. If he even had the heart to complain, Dracula could just lean on the excuse of “I don’t understand English customs” (uhhhh you understand their laws to an alarming degree though???).

As a disclaimer, I don’t think it’s a thing in Transylvania to peek into other people’s mail — I’m sure it’s just as much of a taboo there as it is everywhere else — I’m just saying that’s the excuse Dracula would use to justify his evil behavior. Because he likes lying.

After he locks Jonathan in the study (which, wow!!! He’s really punishing him by just straight up locking him in the study now), what can Jonathan do but sleep? I suppose he was so numb to everything after that he just went to sleep. Or, if we really want to take it there, perhaps Dracula compelled him to sleep, as we theorized he did in the carriage ride on the way to the castle. For what purpose is unclear, but perhaps he wanted to tamper in his room and search for more secret letters or something of the kind and didn’t want Jonathan to be suspicious while he did so.

When, an hour or two after, the Count came quietly into the room, his coming awakened me, for I had gone to sleep on the sofa. He was very courteous and very cheery in his manner, and seeing that I had been sleeping, he said:— [para. break] ‘So, my friend, you are tired? Get to bed.’

I hate the way Dracula acts here. “Awwww are you sleepy 🥺 go to bed 🥺🥺🥺” like how???? You locked him in the study????? Ugh, hate him. It makes you wonder what he’s so cheery about and what he was up to while Jonathan was asleep….again, my best guess was tampering in his room.

I passed to my room and went to bed, and, strange to say, slept without dreaming. Despair has its own calms.

This is so sad. That last sentence really hammers home how much Jonathan is suffering and how *even then* he’s trying to make some positivity out of it. But for the first part, we know weird dreams usually indicate that Dracula is up to something, right? Perhaps he knows he messed with Jonathan so much that he doesn’t need to send him dreams — the mind games he played in real life are enough to satisfy him, at least for today. And that’s truly where the horror comes in.

#sorry if I sound heated today y’all #I just really hate Dracula in this entry #I’m not having it with him #like I just really wanna bap him #and not in the cute April fools way we did #also yeah first part might be a hot take hope you enjoy!#dracula daily #dracula #jonathan harker #count dracula #novas notes

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pocketweiss · 1 year

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Poor Weiss, she still hasn’t recovered from the concussion she got from hitting herself in the head with that rock. She’s not thinking straight! Well, actually, she’s thinking a little *too* straight if you know what I mean

#might get some flack for this one but it had to be said #and regardless of whether or not it had to be said I can’t pass up an opportunity to make a bad joke #rwby #rwby v9 #rwby v9 spoilers #weiss schnee #ronny don't look #pocketweiss originals

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theabigailthorn · 4 months

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Hi Abby! I have a question I’ve been wondering for a while, and I really hope it’s okay to ask. I’ve been a little worried about it because, idk…it’s a tough topic, and I know a lot of trans people get a bunch of bullshit flack, and I don’t want to accidentally contribute to that. That being said— do you miss anything from before you transitioned?

I’m definitely some flavor of trans, but idk what exactly 😅 and you’ve been a major hopeful figure to me. I just can’t help but wonder…is it…worth it? So many people say it is. But I’m so scared. I don’t want to lose my family or their love, even if it’s conditional. And sometimes I’m scared that I’ll miss aspects of myself as who I am now. So I wanted to ask you, because I look up to you and respect you a lot!

Sorry that this ask is a mess, I’m kind of all over the place. And obviously you don’t have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable or if these are shitty questions to ask. However! If you’re comfortable, I’d love to know your thoughts. Thank you so much for all you do — it’s more than you know.

In my experience yes it's absolutely worth it because the alternative for me was dying, so it'd have to be pretty rotten not to be worth it! But in addition to that quite grim baseline, yes I think it's the best thing I've ever done. It's allowed me to experience so much more of the variety and wonder of being a person in a way that I couldn't have imagined when I was in the closet - it's made me more intelligent, more moral, more compassionate, and closer to the people I love than ever before. There are challenges that come with it, sometimes huge challenges - especially in this time of transphobic backlash - but if you gave me a magic wish I really don't think I'd choose to have been born cis. In terms of worrying you'll miss aspects of yourself, I had that worry too - I discussed it with Mia Mulder when my egg was cracking and she said, "You will change, but you keep the good bits."

At the same time, it's important to be realistic: transition won't solve your problems and there are no consequence-free transitions. I was lucky in that there was only one person in my old life who couldn't accept me post-transition, but it was someone I loved very much and it still hurts a little - I still hope that one day we might find a way to be friends again. Transition also comes with tradeoffs and compromises, much like life!

#transition

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certifiablyinsanez · 4 months

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Buckle in guys this is gonna be a doozy. Keep in mind that some people have sworn this isn’t their experience with the fandom and frankly I would like to know what spaces you are in because this is mine:

As someone who loves HH and HB, I’m going to say it; the Hazbin and Helluva fandoms are probably the worst I’ve ever encountered. Here are my top 5 gripes. Mentions of SA within the show ahead.

1. The problem fans have with the actors, studios and of course, most of all Viziepop. I’m not going into that drama, the point I’m trying to make is that white cishet men have been getting away with absolute murder for ages in this industry and have not received even a crumb of this much flack. The fact that an independent, queer, woman of color is being put through the SHREDDER online and her work is devalued despite having extensive queer, BIPOC creators, cast and characters frankly leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t think she’s perfect and free from criticism but I’ve seen people foam at the mouth in defense of people like Taylor Swift (despite her being a billionaire because yes being a billionaire is never ethical and an eco terrorist). I don’t think I have to spell out the double standards further.

2. The HORRIFIC sexualization of characters. This is so bad I have to split it in categories.

•In Helluva Boss it’s Loona. Seriously, the way people are absolute CREEPS about Loona is one of the worst cases of perversion I’ve seen of a character within a fandom. And I watch anime. I’m very familiar with the incel-y, body-pillow having, foaming-at-the-mouth weird perverts that come with animation. The fact that it’s possible Loona started out the show underage makes it worse but here’s the kicker…if Loona was not and is not underage, the obsession with her is still gross to me. About 90% of content with her is basically rule 34. They joke about it in the show with the fourth wall break, but honestly guys? Get a hold of yourselves. Especially under certain context that she might be an SA victim is worse. (See the syphilis comment in the pilot. That disease manifests symptoms over years this isn’t necessarily canon but if it ever does become canon in the future it will make the sexualization downright unforgivable).

• ALASTOR. Alastor would be a clean #2 below Loona on the sexualization scale. As an asexual aromantic person, I’m frankly insulted (but not surprised) by the fandom’s approach to Alastor. Alastor is a canonically asexual character. People will (and have) argue with me that he’s canonically ace but it’s technically not confirmed that he’s aromantic and therefore use that as a justification to use him as bait for shipping wars and fic material. Viziepop said that she doesn’t mind certain things and has the one condition that we be “respectful”. I honestly think the fandom has entirely and spectacularly failed at that. People see Alastor in 2D. He’s witty, funny, sassy, self-assured, dare I say fabulous. Therefore, people seem to forget he’s ace. I’ve literally seen people say “I’m supposed to believe this guy is ace?” YES! Because he is! This hurts me as bad as it does because I have been out as aro ace for 10 years now and I’ve been exposed to so much vitriol at our community. If you haven’t been exposed to that, I’ll just say that the general picture people have of our community is that we are robotic, loveless, and empty from something people consider as fundamentally “human”. Still to this day people debate whether we’re even real. Alastor doesn’t fit that picture with his candor and charisma, and therefore people drop his ace identity at the drop of a hat. I can see it happening here because I’ve seen it happen with real people countless times. Even if that’s not how you see it, look at it from this perspective:

It’s confirmed that Alastor had no relationships in life or in death. Some people swear that he’s canonically sex-repulsed which I agree with but can’t confirm so I don’t claim it to be true canon just yet. But look at it like this. What have we seen from Alastor so far? Angel’s advances disgust him. He rebukes all advances. It’s canon that Alastor very likely cannot see others in a romantic way (and here is why I’m sure why): because he thinks pretty much everyone is beneath him. Yes it seems he is friendly with fellow cannibal overlord Rosie and lets Nifty touch him whereas others cannot, but what does it tell you when the “closest” people to him don’t catch his eye in the slightest? Because pairings in these shows are EXTREMELY intentional. I should also say the reason I’m adverse to shipping Alastor with anyone is the same reason I don’t ship Sir Pentious with anyone. It’s absolutely not important to their character. I understand having a fascination with him, believe me I love him too, but it really seems as though these shows have been reduced to shipping fodder. Also, Angel is canonically gay and no one ships him with women because that is something folks can understand and have respect for. I personally don’t see the difference between the two (in terms of sexuality).

3. The hyper-criticalness of it all. I honestly feel bad for the cast and crew because I swear y’all are never satisfied. I see endless complaining that Hazbin sucks because the “developments are bad” or some shit. What??? Including the pilot there have been 5 EPISODES. For fucks sake WAIT. Many great stories didn’t start off awesome. Why did we all forget that stories take time to come off the ground? I feel like everyone’s been poisoned by the writing advice that if you don’t “immediately hook the viewer on the first page/episode then it’s bad” or something. With Helluva Boss that has more episodes, its usually the fact that people hate the female characters. “Loona is a bitch to everyone”, “Octavia exists solely for Stolas’ development”, “Millie doesn’t exist outside Moxxie”. I’ve even seen people SYMPATHIZING with STELLA. Okay, first of all:

• Loona is canonically the lowest class in hell and very well could’ve been born and raised in a pound for 17 YEARS. Imagine if you grew up in prison and your only chance out was for someone to come along and buy you. If the comment from the pilot holds any weight (it may not but it might), then she was SA’d too. That’s complex trauma folks and ITS NOT PRETTY.

• Octavia literally had her own episode that showcased development for both her and Loona as well as the rest of the cast. But at the end of the day, her being sidelined for Stolas isn’t a shock because who is going to carry more weight in this story? Her, or her father who is the love interest of the MC? Stolas has a bigger role, that doesn’t mean Octavia is good for nothing else. I think it’s an interesting showcase to have her as a teenager going through the trauma of a divorce initiated by an affair. It’s a very real thing that happens but I never hear talked about. I just think that it’s a pointless battle trying to have her and her fathers importance be equal. From a storytelling perspective they just aren’t and it’s okay.

• Millie is a WONDERFUL character! For anyone who has seen Demonslayer, I say that Millie got the “Mitsuri Kanroji treatment”. She’s one of few female characters that isn’t necessarily defined by a traumatic past. So far it seems like her story is a country girl born and raised on a farm with lots of siblings and somewhat iffy parents. Not exactly as dramatic and horrifying as Moxxie’s mob past, or Blitz’s life ruined by fire. I know the biggest critique is that she’s nothing outside Moxxie. Like, I’m sorry, what? Since when is it a crime to be madly in love with someone you married? I would say Moxxie is more dependent on Millie than the other way around and yet the burden of that is placed on Millie and I KNOW it’s because she’s the woman. I ADORE Millie because she’s just…normal. She’s funny, bright, sweet and bad af. If I’m being perfectly honest, I’m not entirely sure as to why she is hated so much. I genuinely don’t see what’s not to love about her.

• STELLA??? Guys it’s gone too far. Do you sympathize with her because Stolas cheated and the marriage was just as arranged for her as it was for him? Because after everything she’s done I don’t care in the SLIGHTEST. Because Stella had ALWAYS been cruel. Did you not see her kid picture??? She TORTURED LITTLE ANIMALS. If someone does that in real life, we don’t defend those people for a second. It’s clear that she’s hit him before. That shot where Stolas catches her hand implies that there were many times that Stella did that and he did not intercept. Stella always talks bad about Stolas no matter what. Whether it’s to her friends at parties or to Stolas’ actual face. I know she brings him down around her daughter too. She humiliates him any chance she gets while Stolas has been shown to usually refrain from doing so (does Via even know it was her mom who tried to kill her dad?). So far we have not seen her have any real love for Octavia (Stolas put her to bed always and she never got up for her). But also, the tiny detail of SENDING AN ASSASSIN AFTER HIM. And she had not a cent of concern for how that would affect Via. I genuinely see nothing in her that’s worthy of defending. Sometimes women are abusive guys I don’t know how to tell you this.

4. The hate on Hazbin ladies. People hate Charlie, Vaggie, and Nifty. They always say it’s because Vizi cant write women, I just think it’s the fact that their media literacy is in the toilet. If Charlie was anything other than the eternal, naive optimist the story of Hazbin wouldn’t even exist. It would be impossible. No one else would’ve ever started such a project as a soul rehab in hell. I’m excited to see more developments with Vaggie (cuz I know that five episodes isn’t enough to have the perfect picture of a character) but so far I’m fine with her. I like how easy and low key their relationship is. Which is funny because everyone else hates it for the same reason. Nifty is comedic relief and everyone LOOOOOVES those characters…when they’re men, which Nifty isn’t so they hate her.

5. Finally, the fact that I can’t tell who are the haters and who actually likes the show. Because the tie in with the hyper critical responses but also the fact that people cannot simply not interact with this media. Some people genuinely watch it to shit on it. I don’t understand why. Please leave us in peace to have fun and enjoy. I’ve never seen so many haters in a fandom space before.

If yall have a response like “bro where the fuck have you been interacting with the fandom” PLS tell me where y’all have been avoiding this because this shit has haunted me EVERYWHERE.

#hazbinhotel #hazbin hotel #helluva boss

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nerdieforpedro · 5 months

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Triple Frontier with Mom

The movie frustrated her at first. She was talking to me and the screen A LOT. We had to pause and re-wind quite a bit. Mom was surprised that it came out in 2019, for some reason she didn't think it was recent. She hopes that they make a second one and get all the money they lost. Mom...was not a big fan a Benny 🥸 found him to be too loud and called him a douche. He grew on her a bit by the end. "He's less douche, just more airhead." She wants to watch more of Oscar's movies and work and may be convinced to watch more Pedro later. Mom is always up for more Charlie Hunnam.

Her unfiltered thoughts are below:

Mom's unfiltered thoughts during the movie:

Those look like the same steps from 'Man on Fire' (When Pope is first in Columbia.)

Oh! I've seen him in different things (pointed out who Oscar Issac is). He's cute, we should watch him more too.

(During the shootout with the cartel) Damn, did the only bring three bullets? Why aren't they shooting back?

Look at all that money! (This will be said several times.)

(When Santiago was chasing his informant) Damn, he's got an ass. I thought he just had a strong chin and curls. He's out of breath though - that's rough.

There's my man! (Charlie/Will has appeared on the screen) Look at those eyes. He might be able to sell them some snake oil.

(When Pope offered Tom the job initially) $17,000?! I'll take the job, I'll tell them what to do, for a week?!

Why do you need him? He can't even sell a condo (refers to Tom).

(When Benny comes into the locker room) Who's this douche?! (I explain he's Will's brother.) No, he can't be, Will is so cool. He is? Still a douche.

There's Pedro girl! Oh good, he isn't shaved. But coke? Well it's in review. Should be fine.

(Laughed way too hard when Benny got punched and reminded her that she's seen him before. From the movie 'Four Brothers') Oh! He died in that one - that doesn't repeat does it? He seems the mostly likely because he's the loudest.

This goes kinda south right? (When asking when they get to Columbia. I told her yes, but nothing else.)

Why didn't they use a wire to slit their throats? All the choking is too much effort and wasting time.

(When Tom doesn't want to leave and everyone keeps getting more money) They greedy! They need to go!

(Will is shot) He doesn't die does he? Not behind this foolishness? He can't! (Explains that he doesn't so she calms down) Whew, I was gonna fight you and ask you why you'd been bugging me about this movie if he died.

Why don't they have any flack jackets (bullet proof cummerbunds pretty much)? Why didn't Pope get them some of those? I thought he planned well.

(When they guys are arguing with Tom about leaving due to the hard out) Damn greedy ass man.

(When Lorea's men come back and they exchange fire) Should have built in a 30 minute cushion messing with that drunkard. Can't even sell a condo. He should have been shot.

(When they finally get out of the house and meet up with Pope's informant and her brother.) That man, asking her those questions. Toss him under the chopper. That kinda money you can change your face and everything. No one's gonna know. Tom is a sow.

Why are they not listening to the pilot about the weight? How greedy can you be? Is he trying to die?

(When the chopper is smoking over the Andes) I thought you said they didn't die?!

(After the crash and shooting the villagers) Should have given that old man the whole bag. Greedy ass. And why is he wearing bright orange?

(After Tom gets shot) Ya'll too sentimental. Leave his ass to be crow food - ya'll gotta move. Why are you crying? (At Benny) I was kinda liking him but now he's crying and fighting. Leave him too.

(When they pack up Tom's body) These guys are supposed to be the best of the best, why are they so soft? Drop his body. He could be worth two or three bags. That body has to be stinking.

(When Benny gets to the boat and comes back) Eh, I was wrong about him. He does need to calm down though.

(They're driving and fighting through the remnants of Lorea's crew) I don't care if they are teens, you point a gun at me and I'm shooting. Again, why are you not listening to the pilot? He's made several points.

How are you gonna be a solider with such a big heart? His ass is already big, his heart can't be too. And they still carrying that damn stinky body!

(When signing the money over to Tom's family) They are all so stupid. Do they even have money to get home? Ain't no way, that they did all that and didn't get anything thing.

You can count on Will (when Will gave Pope the coordinates). Between him and Fish, they're the two smartest people here.

Tags: @maggiemayhemnj @rhoorl @magpiepillsjunior @laurfilijames @musings-of-a-rose @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @legendary-pink-dot @for-a-longlongtime

#watching stuff with mom #watching triple frontier with mom #pedro pascal characters #pedro pascal #movies #she liked it!#triple frontier

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lonelyroommp3 · 19 days

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You've talked before about a Taylor Swift jukebox musical you made, and now I'm wondering: if ttpd had been released at the time, which, if any, of the tracks might have made it in and why?

this is suuuuch an interesting ask i have been thinking about it non stop since i got it thank you so much

anyway i kind of have two different answers/approaches to this. the first is if i read this question as "which tracks would have made the specific jukebox musical i put together for my MA project", which was an adaptation of the teenage love triangle plotline from folklore, and the answer to that is honestly... probably none of them? there are certainly songs on ttpd that could fit plot beats in the show, but i don't think there's any that i would choose over the songs i chose at the time, whether in terms of suitability, how easy they'd be to sing & act in a musical theatre context, or from the commercial producer's perspective in terms of maintaining a strong "setlist" (as it were) balancing deeper cuts & fan favourite tracks with greatest hits that are likelier to put audience members' bums on seats if this were to be a full fledged production. with that said songs that would make the shortlist but probably not be included might be:

so high school - i could see this as an alternative to "our song", which i used as a setup for betty & james's relationship before everything famously goes to shit, or possibly in addition to "our song" in the context of an expanded show as a means for setting a broader scene with not just them but like, our theoretical B couple, supporting cast, etc. i think the repetitiveness of the lyrics (in terms of the same sections coming back over and over) could be a challenge to work around but it wouldn't be impossible

i can do it with a broken heart - in the actual show i had a mashup of "22" and "the moment i knew" setting the scene for the party james famously gatecrashes in "betty"; it was a whole thing of juxtaposing betty's friends trying to hype her up and mend her broken heart while she is quite clearly not feeling it whatsoever. so obviously this would fill a similar niche but quite frankly if i may stroke my own ego the 22/tmik mashup is one of my favourite pieces of arranging work i've ever done and you could not pay me to replace it or add another song in there

peter - natural choice with the "peter losing wendy" parallel from "cardigan" (which was not in my show due to time constraints but i've always imagined it as an opening number framing device type deal in a full expanded 2 act version). also an evil little part of me really would love to watch my actors fighting for their life trying to think of enough different ways to act the line "you said you were gonna grow up then you were gonna come find me" over and over and over 😭 with that said, however, i already gave betty more than enough heartbroken ballads in this show lmfao, there is just simply not room for another one

my second way of approaching this question would be "what songs from ttpd would work in just, any hypothetical taylor swift jukebox musical?" - honestly when i first got this ask i thought nah, this album is a bust for musical theatre-able (?) songs because it is so much more lyrically specific than a lot of her prior work, and a lot of the reason i chose taylor as the case study for my jukebox musical thesis is because in her earlier output she usually hits the perfect sweet spot between "too generic to act effectively" and "too specific to shape into another plot", which can be a difficult balance to find in a lot of chart pop & is a big reason jukebox musicals sometimes get a lot of flack both critically and in the discerning public eye.

but then i thought about it more and i think some of the songs go so far into specificity that they become theatrical (i've already made a semi-jokey post about how there's something almost company-esque about the line "chloe or sam or sophia or marcus" hahaha) in their own right. like i literally started going through this album and thought wait no. this is a really actable album for the most part. in fact, i think some of them go so far into depicting self contained narratives that i don't think they could work As A Song To Advance The Plot In A Traditional Book Musical but i do think they are insanely actable in the context of like, a song cycle. or as a standalone song to bring to an acting through song class lmfao

anyway a selection (a selection! that's how many options i have) that i think could work in the context of a traditional book musical:

who's afraid of little old me - come ONNN this would be so fucking fun to stage. it's giving no good deed

the smallest man who ever lived - i thought about orchestrating that bridge and nearly blacked out

the black dog, guilty as sin, and maybe even down bad (not going to get you any points for range in an audition but might be fun to act) are also options i could see working

finally i think "clara bow" is like, made to be the finale if you were specifically doing a taylor swift biomusical

a selection that i would love to see in a revue/song cycle/audition/i have been asked to bring a pop song to my acting through song masterclass type of situation

but daddy i love him - this is one of those songs that is too self contained to actually advance a plot but would be very fun to present as a standalone piece imo

the bolter - such a fun little storytelling option

thank you aimee - mate i won't lie to you i have actioned this song while singing along to it in my bedroom. i need this to become a sleeper hit from the album so i can start recommending it to actors when i do repertoire coaching that's how much i love it as a potential audition piece. hits musically AND lyrically

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adelaidedrubman · 1 year

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wip weekend!

tagged today by @inafieldofdaisies to share a wip, thank you!! no pressure (seriously i know some of y’all just posted) tags to @henbased @unholymilf @florbelles @direwombat @socially-awkward-skeleton @shallow-gravy @derelictheretic @poetikat @roofgeese @schoute @deputyash @wrathfulrook @v0idbuggy @trench-rot @confidentandgood @corvosattano @afarcryfrommymain @sukoshimikan @voidika @strangefable @jackiesarch @harmonyowl @josephslittledeputy @g0dspeeed @purplehairsecretlair @blissfulalchemist @nightbloodbix @jacobsneed and anyone with things to share!

truly had one foot in the darkness and one in the hello kitty roller skate with writing lately, so here’s a taste of both. first, one of the (many) clunky expository bits of hl&s:

“The Admiral?” John repeated with a curious smile. “Might I ask who that is?”

Jessie’s eyes grew more dangerously alight yet. “You’re so funny, John!” She forced out laughter, eyes bulging wider than he thought possible with each sharp bark. “See how he managed to charm me so quick? He’s so fuckin’ funny.” She gave him a look that bore no hint of amusement. “Of course he fuckin’ knows who The Admiral is.”

“Of course.” Was he really catching flack from the woman who didn’t even know who the Ryes were — seemingly didn’t even know who his own family was, for that matter — for not being familiar with someone in the County?

What the hell kind of person could that level of recluse even get offended at him for not —

Oh.

Of course.

He did know.

“The Admiral is a fish,” he said, trying not to sound exasperated by the revelation.

“A fish,” Jessie laughed, slapping him on the back a little too hard. “I told you, he’s funny.”

“Well, not like anyone’s actually gonna catch him, anyways,” Adelaide sighed with a dismissive wave of her hand. “They never do. But everyone who pays the entry fee gets admission to the big ol’ Fish Fry we do after to cook up whatever they did manage to catch and get blackout drunk on party liquor.”

“I can do that at home without an entry fee,” Jessie scoffed.

“And this year, we’re co-hosting! Cook out’s gonna be over at the Ryes’ place, since they got everything set up nice from all the barbecues they hold any —”

“How much is the entry fee?” John asked.

Adelaide tilted her head to the side, pausing before she answered. She raked her eyes over him from head to toe and back up again, then allowed them to drift over his shoulder towards the boat parked in the slip behind him.

She crossed her arms over her chest, raising her chin before rattling off with ease, “Ninety bucks a person, one seventy-five for couples, three-fifty for a group of four.”

Oh, good. He was worried she would attempt to charge him something unreasonable.

He flashed her a smile; reached into his back pocket to slide two hundred dollar bills out pressed between his fingers. “Keep the change,” he hummed, holding the bills out in offering. “But do enter us as a couple.”

aaaand it wouldn’t be wip day without jessie being normcore and reasonable in wildfire:

“Hey, Jessie!” Another face materializing from the crowd — and what made them think they had the right to address her by first name? Just because they’d heard Tracey do it? Or else seen — “We were all wondering how you were gonna manage to top blowing up that statue, but you did it! I can’t wait to see how you’re gonna stick it to Faith next!”

“Gonna blow that shit up for real, this time,” Jestiny grunted with a nod as she turned on her heels to cross the length of the room, search the next set of drawers. “Can you stop gawking and help me fucking look?” she demanded, struggling to breath. She could feel the rot settle inside the wound of her arm, feel something diseased and corrupting and deadly crawling inside her that it was quickly approaching too late to flush out. “I need those fucking pills, fuck him if he took them back. How’d he even get in here? I —”

“Who’s he?”

“Deputy!” a bright and smiling face appeared beside her as she stood, fists clenched and scanning the medical supplies lining the shelves. “Is it true what folks have been saying about what you have planned next?”

“What —”

“Hey, maybe give her some space right —”

“Are you really heading back to the Valley to blow up that eyesore sign John Seed put up in the mountains there?”

What?

“We’ll all be sorry to lose you around here for a bit, but man does just picturing the look on John’s face make it —”

Whatever sick, wretched thing had burrowed and coiled itself into the flesh of her wounded arm suddenly sprang to life, so that she found her hand gripping tight around the throat of the man speaking to throw him against the wall.

“Jesus Christ, what the fuck are you —”

“Where the fuck did you hear that?!” she demanded, hand tightening around his windpipe as her other shoved its heel against his forehead to knock his skull against the brick. “Who the fuck told you that?”

#ig for a brief bit of additional context on the opening on the second bit for anyone not caught up:#jessie has recurring delusions/hallucinations that the joseph statue was not actually blown up.#so her slipping that into casual conversation was meant as an additional red flag #wip

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yonderlyporcupine · 4 months

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haha something I find hilarious that no one else seems to mentioning but I’m pretty sure the implication is that Alastor sabotaged that chandelier that fell right before Lucifer’s big musical number in Dad beat Dad. Hence why he wasn’t surprised when everyone else was and his really pissy expression right after it hits the ground without succeeding in taking Luci with it. 😂 he was trying to kill him 😂😂

on the subject of Al’s untoward beef with the king of hell: while I entirely understand and even agree with the sentiment that it is most likely related to his ties with Lilith, I can’t help but suggest in jest a simpler explanation. Has no one considered that he just might hold some contempt for the ruler and supposed protector of hell for folding his hand and agreeing to a mass genocide of sinners - of which, of course Alastor is a part of? Maybe he’s just a little miffed that he has to spend any amount of time contemplating his own survival once a year during an Angel blitz attack 🤷‍♀️

In all seriousness y’all know that’s why Lilith and Lucifer divorced right? Like Lil loved hell in that cute little story from the beginning. She adored her kingdom and it’s citizens and the fact that her husband just said (in simple terms bc it does seem like he fought a hard fight against heaven about it) “just go ahead and kill everyone” - that would break Lilith’s heart. And I imagine her trust in him too. I wouldn’t want to stay married to that. And if Lilith owns Alastor - and we know from experience that contractor’s beefs are transferable to the souls they contracted (the vees should have just as much of a problem with Husker and Nifty as they do with Al) then Alastor hating Lucifer makes perfect sense. And we know Al’s clever and manipulative, so the whole “your kid calls me dad” shit is 100% just him trolling Lucifer.

anyway, the flack I’m seeing that episode get is funny to me because it seems to be from the same people who like to cherry pick what Hazbinwiki facts they think are canonical and ignoring any of the rest 🤷‍♀️. I liked it, I thought it was very tongue in cheek. And I get a kick out of having the wiki trivia payoff but I didn’t feel it was necessary. For those of you wondering it is stated in his trivia that Alastor dislikes Lucifer because he finds him cloying - he thinks respectable men should act respectably and feels Lucifer does not. And he’s a word class troll so he had some fun. There is probably more to come if that as the story/show unfolds but that’s the context y’all are missing.

one more thing: Alastor was already furious when he got out to the parlor. He’s grumpy before he even sees the decorations. I would go as far as to say he even seems tired and stressed the whole episode (that sigh at “what is it” to Husk, my man was fighting for what little sanity he came to hell with). Who else do we know who’s a contracted soul who gets grumpy and trigger happy at certain times? Angel comes home from shoots usually ready to fly off the handle. Alastor is already pissed to high heaven to be involved in the hotel (or at least he seems to be at times), add a long night of working for his contractor… that temper is a trait he canonically keeps well under wraps usually. He definitely didn’t mean to let loose on Husk like that, only because he gave away far more than he meant to, not because he genuinely feels bad for Husk.

#alastor #hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #hazbin angel dust #hazbin charlie #alastor hazbin hotel #hellaverse #hazbin husk

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thevalleyisjolly · 2 years

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Hey, remember the awful audio quality back in C1, especially with the liveshows and the Skype-in episodes, and how nobody blamed the cast for having loud reactions or said that they should stop yelling and shouting despite the literal blowouts? Hey, remember when Percy used to take over every other group conversation and push for his ideas over the rest of the party’s suggestions, and people just went “Yeah, he’s being a dick, but that’s the type of person Percy is and Taliesin is doing a great job of role-playing as this character”? Hey, remember when Joe Manganiello came in with a clearly evil PC with his own agenda who ultimately ended up betraying the party, but no one complained that Joe was making the cast uncomfortable and should leave the show? Hey, remember when Kashaw was interested in Keyleth back in the early days of C1, and no one mocked him for pursuing a PC who wasn’t yet in any canon relationship but had hints of romance with other characters?

Gotta take another peek at those standards because they sure are looking doubled right now. But hey, I’m sure those are the only reasons why people are criticizing Erika so much for things that other cast members and guests get away with and are even praised for.

Now, this might be a wee bit of a controversial take, but the Critical Role cast are in fact adults who have been playing D&D on and off the Internet for a long time and who have invited many guests to play with them. They’ve spoken extensively about safe play environments as well as open communication both at and away from the table. If anyone was uncomfortable even for a minute with someone’s character choices or play style, they’d bring it up off-camera. If Matt thought a character concept wasn’t a good fit for the table or the story, he’d work with the player to develop something that was. Hell, Erika is a long-time personal friend whom most of them have played with before. If they didn't like how Erika played D&D, or weren't comfortable with something they did in-game, they're perfectly capable of having that discussion with each other as friends and professionals.

Y’know, you don’t have to like either Dusk or Erika, but you do have to examine how you’re talking about them because right now, a lot of the flack they get boils down to “I don’t like them for doing the exact same thing that white cast members are doing/have done, and I assume that because I dislike how they're playing D&D, they must also be making the cast uncomfortable.” And it does not matter whether you had any conscious racist intent or reasoning, because the impact of your words is singling out the sole nonbinary person of colour at the table and treating them as some kind of aggressive "threat" towards the white cast members, whom I will reiterate, are their long-time personal friends who invited them to play in this campaign in the first place.

#critical role #critical role spoilers #cr discourse #i mean...i expected this the moment erika showed up because i've been in fandom too long #and fortunately i'm blocking enough people that i don't have to see the more rancid takes that are apparently out there #it's just. sigh.#look; i also do not like loud voices but you know what?#one of the more common forms of hate that get levied against people of colour who are AFAB is that they're 'too loud"#it's perfectly alright for white men to yell their heads off; then they're just being passionate about the thing at hand #and you'll get some psuedo-science bullshit about how people who are AFAB have higher decibel voices that are painful to listen to #as if opera singers or pop stars don't also hit those high notes loudly and get applauded for it #they'll also get accused of being 'too emotional' and 'too aggressive' and even 'talking over [white fave's name]'#do you even hear yourself at that point #if the yelling bothers you; there's literally a cr blog that warns for loud noises in the episode #for myself; i just like to take off my headphones when the audio gets loud and follow the captions until the sound is normal again #absolutely wild that everything people critique erika for is something that a white cast member or guest has done before #and i assure you; the cr cast is more than capable of dealing with players who make other players uncomfortable #just look at the or*on debacle and chr*s h*rdwick

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joekeeryswife · 2 years

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coming in with another love island request!!

so the girls in the villa get sent footage from the boys at casa amor, Joe is one of the new boys and is in the villa with the girls right 😏

the footage shows readers partner snogging another girl and sleeping in bed with her after he had promised her his head wouldn’t turn and he was serious about her (all men r trash joe Keery is the only exception)

Joe doesn’t think she’s interested until it comes the time to pick whether you stay loyal to your partner and trust they come back single from casa amor or decouple with another boy and she picks him!!

Casa Amor - j.k

honestly Joe is the only exception! okay this was honestly so fun to write! all these love island fics are defo some of my faves to write so keep them coming in! i also used Caroline Flack as the main presenter because she is the OG and i miss her so much. i hope this was okay, thank you for the request <3

outfit ^

you and Molly were sat on the day beds, lounging around doing nothing. “i shouldn’t be saying this because i’m couples up with Tobi but Joe is more my type and i really like him. i feel bad though.” you ‘whispered’ to Molly as she plaited her hair. she nodded her head as she listened to you. “you know what, we have no idea what the boys are doing in Casa Amor and if you feel more attracted to Joe then i say go for it” she said. she wasn’t one of those girls who would judge you for your decisions and you were happy about that. you and Molly carried on with the conversation about Joe until you heard Anna shout that she got a text. her hand covered her mouth as she was the first one to watch the footage. “girls get here now” she shouted, you got up and walked briskly to her. she showed her phone to the girls and you all watched the footage.

your eyes widened at the sight of Tobi snogging another girl outside of a challenge and sharing a bed with her. you were shocked. you found Joe attractive but you hadn’t acted on it because Tobi had said that he would stay loyal to you and seeing that he hadn’t made your heart sink. just because you had an attraction to Joe didn’t mean you still didn’t like Tobi. Molly rubbed your back as she watched the footage in shock. most of the boys’ heads had turned and she felt bad for every single girl who’s boy turned. the footage finished and a few of the girls like Millie and Katie were crying because of the footage. you didn’t want to bring to light that your boy had basically cheated because you felt worse for the girls who were fully committed to that person.

you walked to the fire pit with Anna and Molly. “how you feeling y/n? i saw Tobi snogging that girl, i just can’t believe after four weeks his head turned” Anna said, shaking her head in disbelief. Anna honestly thought you and Tobi would get to the final but now, she was certain you wouldn’t stick with him. “obviously it hurts my feelings that it’s been four days and he’s already cracking on with someone else but i was saying to Molly earlier that Joe, the one on the bean bags with Ovie is a lot more my type so i’m probably going to get to know him. he caught my eye as soon as they came in so i might as well give it a go now.” you said, pushing your sunglasses up your nose. Anna nodded her head and spoke up again. “do you think you’ll tell him you’ll probably couple up with him or not?” she questioned, looking at you as you shifted in your seat.

“i don’t think i’ll make my decision till the recoupling. it may sound stupid but if Tobi came back in alone and i was with Joe, i’d feel awful” you said, looking down at your hands which were in your lap. “y/n. he basically cheated on you, what if you didn’t see that footage till you left the villa hmm? what would you do on the outside?” Molly said, butting in, Anna nodded in agreement. “you need to stop thinking about others and put yourself first now, go talk to Joe before Katie does, she said she has her eye on him and Jacob.” Anna said, building up your confidence. you sighed and nodded your head before you picked up your water bottle, walking to Joe who was still talking to Ovie, however you saw Katie walking up to him, luckily you got there first, making her turn around, walking back to Millie.

“hey guys” you said, sitting on a bean bag next to both Joe and Ovie. they said their hellos as you sat down. “Ovie can you come here please?” you heard Anna shout as she walked to the day beds, leaving you and Joe alone. “so, how you feeling after that video?” Joe said as Ovie got up and walked away. “well, he promised his head wouldn’t be turned and it did so i look like a mug. but oh well” you said, you didn’t come here to talk about Tobi, your wanted to get to know Joe more before the recoupling. “i’m sorry that happened, he shouldn’t of led you on like that” he said, running a hand through his hair as he spoke. you sook your head and spoke up, “please don’t apologise for him. i should have known he would do that” you said, not really interested in the situation anymore.

“anyway enough about that, tell me about you then. i feel like i haven’t really spoken to you since you got here.” you carried on, looking at Joe as he put on his sunglasses. “okay well, i’m 28 years old, i’m an actor. i’m also in a band and i sing.” he said. you didn’t expect anything less, he looked like a great singer and you’d always wondered what he did for work and now you knew. “i honestly can’t think of anything else to say, you’re making me nervous.” he whispered, just loud enough for you to hear. you laughed softly before speaking up. “why do i make you nervous?” you questioned. with Joe, you wanted to see if he was the right guy for you, and you making home nervous, definitely put some thoughts in your mind. “you’re a stunning girl and you’re speaking to me out of all the guys here so of course i’m going to get nervous” he said, shifting on the bean bag to look right at you.

you laughed loudly and you guys kept talking until Millie’s phone buzzed. “i got a text!” she shouted. you all looked at her and listened to her speak. “islanders, tonight there will be a recoupling in which the boys will come back from Casa Amor and you will decide if you want to stick with the boy you were previously coupled up with or if you want to recouple with another boy.” she shouted. you put your head in your hands stressed out. “hey, it’ll be alright. just have no regrets with the decision you make” Joe said, getting up off the bean bag to get ready, he put a hand out for you to grab and you did. he helped you out of the bean bag and you both walked to the kitchen where most people were standing, talking about the recoupling.

you had no idea who you were going to pick. of course Joe interested you and you really wanted to get to know him but you had been with Tobi since day one and sometimes it’s hard to let go. you left the conversation to go get into the shower. you needed to clear your head and sometimes a shower was the best thing for it. you did your normal shower routine and then started getting ready for the recoupling , comparing both situations in your mind. as you were doing your makeup, that’s when everyone else started to come up and get ready. after you were all ready, you, Molly, Anna and Amber all went to the terrace where you were asking their opinions on the situation.

they all said that you needed to recouple with Joe and that Tobi didn’t deserve someone as amazing as you. your head was in all different directions. you finished the conversation and walked down the stairs where everyone was off in their own conversations. as you were speaking to Ovie in the kitchen, he got a message that we all needed to gather around the fire pit and that the boys needed to stand in a line. you walked down and met Joe who was standing next to Ovie. “how you feeling?” Joe said just before everyone went to sit down. “i have no clue what i’m going to do” you said, he put a hand on your shoulder and squeezed it before you went and sat down next to Amber.

Caroline walked into the Villa, this was it. this was the moment where you had to choose what you wanted to do. Millie went first, she stuck with her couple and he came back single, then Molly went and he also stayed single, then Caroline called on Katie to go. she thankfully recoupled with another boy who wasn’t Joe, then it was you. “y/n, how are you feeling?” Caroline said as she looked at you. “these past four days have made me rethink everything i knew and it’s just crazy how one video can change a whole situation” you replied, running a hand through your hair. “now before Casa Amor you were coupled up with Tobi, you have four lovely boys in front of you here which you can recouple with or you can stick with Tobi. what are you thinking of doing?” she said, looking pointing to the boys then looking back at you.

you sighed and looked down. “seeing that video has definitely put things into a new perspective and i think if i go back to Tobi i would regret not recoupling with this boy so i’ve decided to recouple.” you said, waiting for Caroline to speak up. Joe looked up from the wooden floor and looked at you. he was the only boy you had really spoken to and he was hoping you would

pick him. the boys who had come back from Casa Amor looked at you shocked. they thought you would 1000% stick with Tobi and hearing that there was a video surprised them. “who would you like to recouple with?” Caroline said. “Joe.” you said smiling. Joe smiled and walked to you. you pulled him in for a hug and kept standing. “you guys already look perfect together, let’s see what Tobi has chosen to do” you put your hand around Joe’s waist and he put a hand around your waist and you heard heels clicking across the cemented floor.

you knew he had recoupled with someone from Casa Amor, most likely the girl in the video. he walked down the stairs, shocked to see you standing with another boy. “Tobi welcome back to the villa, how are you feeling?” Caroline said, looking at Tobi and the mysterious girl. “yeah good, glad to be back here” Tobi said, looking at you. “as you can see, y/n also decided to recouple, how does it make you feel and do you regret your decision choosing Camilla?” she said, still looking at Tobi and the girl, Camilla “it’s a bit strange seeing her with another man but i don’t regret my decision, Camilla is amazing and she’s beautiful” he replied, you scoffed and shook your head. “okay well we have two new couples- Y/n and Joe and Tobi and Camilla.” she said, there was an awkward chap which filled the garden.

you sat down next to Joe. “are you happy i picked you?” you said, looking at him. he nodded his head and said “i had no clue you were into me like that. i wanted you to pick me from day one”. you laughed silently and kissed his cheek. he blushed brightly and looked kissed your forehead. you had definitely made the right decision. Tobi was watching the interaction unfold in front of him. he got jealous immediately when he watched Joe kissed your forehead, regretting his decision. the recoupling finished and you went to say goodbye to the two boys. you and Joe then walked to the sofa which was opposite the fire pit. “i’m glad you picked me.” Joe said, grabbing hold of your hands. “am i still making you nervous?” you laughed, looking at him. he nodded his head and laughed as well. “i’m still getting butterflies when i’m around you” he said, looking into your eyes. “i get butterflies when i’m around you as well” you said. you decided to take one of the biggest risks you’d ever taken in the villa and kissed Joe on the lips. he instantly kissed back and put his hand on your cheek. “i can’t wait to get to know you more” he said, you nodded your head and kissed him again.

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pulchrasilva · 2 months

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What's an anti-anti? Or an anti for that matter

Oh my friend I am so sorry to introduce you to the shitpile that is antishipping discourse

Anti is short for "antishipper", which is someone who believes certain types of ships are immoral and nobody should ship them or engage with media about them. Exactly what types of ships that includes varies (because morality will always be vague at best and you can't meaningfully categorise anything into "always good" and "always bad"), but people usually take issue with incest, ships involving one or more minors, age gaps, etc.

I consider myself a proshipper/"anti-anti" purely because I think this kind of discourse is extremely inane and potentially harmful.

Antis tend to say "problematic" ships "normalise" harmful dynamics in real life, ignoring that exploring these ideas in fiction is a safe way of engaging with darker topics and sometimes people do so to process personal trauma. Personally I've found that reading fanfiction about dark topics made me wayy more emotionally prepared to handle discussion of them in real life.

And, as I said, it's nearly impossible to draw a solid line between what should be allowed and what shouldn't be allowed. Age of consent is an arbitrary number that's chosen because legally you need a strict number if you're going to enforce the law, but a person 1 year older and 1 year younger than the age of consent aren't actually that much different. Plus the law varies from country to country, but antis tend to choose the US age of 18 because the US dominates the internet. Age-gaps between two non-minor characters get even more blurry!! And let's not forget that a ship between two men is way more likely to be flagged as pedophilia than a ship between a man and a woman. Imo if you can't make a concrete rule about it there's no point in making a rule at all.

Plus it's fiction, and not even mainstream fiction, so it's hardly gonna cause any significant shift in real life culture. These ships get criticised to hell and back in fan spaces and people get properly harassed over it, but there are plenty of professional writers portraying these things in well known media and don't get much flack for it at all - because it's way easier to tear down a fan, your equal, than a creator. It seems to me that the problem isn't really "normalising" these behaviours, because if that was the case mainstream media would be a much bigger contributor than fandom

For some reason, toxic/abusive ships are less commonly criticised despite being objectively harmful to the characters involved, and incest is the one people hate the most despite it being (imo) the one least likely to cause actual harm to the characters. Also depictions of rape and sexual abuse are usually considered off limits but you rarely get the same criticism of, say, depictions of murder. The sexual aspect of the topic seems more important than the actual harm.

AND THEN there's the fact that antis generally only argue against the ships that make them personally feel uncomfortable. Different people have different boundaries for what they consider too far, and I lose my shit every time I see antis shipping something I know other antis claim is the devil. And often the whole thing gets coopted by someone who doesn't like people shipping characters A and B because they ship B and C. ("You can't ship these unrelated characters because they're sibling-coded which makes the ship basically incest" is something I've seen a truly bonkers amount of times)

So yeah. That's the whole mess. Like I said I dont really care about whether or not antis follow me? I'm proship purely because I don't think this is a conversation that needs to be had at all. Like who cares But, go wild, romanticise the hell out of the most repulsive things!! It's nobody else's business but yours. But if I see a mutual who followed me first reblogging "any proshippers who follow me should explode and die teehee ^-^" ONE MORE TIME I might actually explode

#take what i say with a pinch of salt because im obviously biased and youre free to come to your own conclusions but. yknow #also i feel wayyyy safer around people who openly ship filth (affectionate) than people who insist everything they ship is Pure and Correct #because 1) ideas of 'purity' are largely based in unexamined bigotry and you never know when that's gonna jump out at you #and 2) i think it's important to consider the dark aspects of ships bc to some extent youre considering dark things that exist in real life #antis dont want to do that they want to hide it all under the carpet and pretend it's not there #I'd much rather discuss fictional teenagers being groomed and isnt that fucked up? and call things 'groomercore'#because how are you supposed to spot groomer tactics if you dont do that?#ask #shipping discourse

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neechees · 1 year

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Your gifset about road to Eldorado makes me think of apocalypto (2006) and it has most of the same issues. I had to watch it for my class on depictions of indigenous people in film when I was minoring in Native American Studies and oof. It was a hard one to watch for so many reasons, no least of which were the racism and general bullshit but just how violent the movie was as well. But it's a Mel Gibson movie so I mean, is any surprised?

But the class itself was interesting and exhausting because it was mostly.white students and like 3 ndn students, myself included debating the depictions of natives in media.

(I think this was also the same class in which a white student told me that if someone doesnt have native DNA on a genetic test like ancestry then they arent native. The professor who was native shut that down but yikes)

Anyway bless you for doing the Creator's work and putting down the bullshit you get for telling the truth

So many Indigenous studies classes too can be so tedious for the above reasons like ugh. The White students never seem to take racism discussions seriously half the time & say shit like "Well, I didn't think it was racist". One time a White student stood up for a racist white character in a short story we read & said they didn't think the racist character was racist, even though that was the entire plot & point of the short story? Yikes. Im sorry you had to deal with that!

Mel Gibson is like the antichrist of historical films, because of how badly he fucks up the history. Its to the point that it might as well be alternative history films or historical fantasy because of how much he changes. But with Apolcalypto specifically, a lot of people think it must be really authentic because 1. The use of Yucatec Maya throughout the film 2. People not really knowing about Native history, & 3. People not being able to tell the difference between the Maya & the Mexica.

One of the things I hate most about Apocalypto is even shown at the beginning of the movie where the quote sets the tone for the rest of the movie that basically implies that it was Indigenous people's own fault for being colonized. Aside from this being already stupid & racist, it's wrong because he seems to be suggesting the end of the classic Maya collapse, which happened like 600 years before the arrival of the Spanish, so those two things are NOT related at all & can't be used to justify colonization??

The film is really wishy washy about what time period it's supposed to be given the influences (like there's Post-Classic hairstyles mixed in with Classic period hairstyles, some of the art looks PRECLASSIC Maya, & a bunch of other plotpoints that point to various time periods). Apocalypto does NOT get enough flack for its dumb depiction of the Maya, and Mel Gibson is an idiot.

And thank you :) I hope Road to El Dorado gets some needed hate & criticism for how it handled Native people because it is WAY too beloved considering its racism.

#gitli

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thrumbolt · 1 year

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So, in November my girlfriend gifted my all the Dragon Age games because our DnD sessions were cancelled. 'Go date some elves there!' - and so I did. I went in completely blind, knew basically nothing about the series (except that you could date elves). So now, a month after finishing the last one, I feel my thoughts have rested enough to voice an opinion™. I'll drop my personal ratings here and elaborate under the cut.

Dragon Age: Origins 8/10

Dragon Age Awakening 6/10

Dragon Age 2 9/10

Dragon Age: Inquisition 4/10

Dragon Age: Trespasser 7/10

In short, I thought DA:O was pretty dope. Very solid adventure rpg fantasy dating sim. The characters are very fun and mostly lovable and the lore is interesting enough even if the art direction was pretty generic fantasy.

I was really surprised just how much they crammed into this game. The several different origins was a huge surprise and very nice incentive to replay the game, though so far I only played as a melf (mage elf). The storyline was engaging enough for me to follow and it makes you travel to all the different origin places, so everyone gets to connect with something in the main plot - smart!

I have to add however that I played as a male character - as I usually do - and I am very glad I did because despite the promise that men and women are equal (and the dominant religion being female centric) the writers did not really manage to capture that as it seems haha. I would've probably given the game a lower rating if I wouldn't have played as a dude as I'm a sensitive snowflake that way. And not even because of the rape as plot device or the brood mothers, but more the casual 'wow a woman with sword wow' stuff. I'll excuse it as 'it was a different time' kinda, but still would ruin my immersion.

Awakening I mention separately as it's kind of a sequel rather than just a DLC. I liked it. It's a nice extra adventure for your Warden character and the companions are very good (though I could've done without Oghren, sorry Oghren fans). I especially liked the Legion of the dead dwarf, she was adorable - and Anders, of course. You can give him a kitty!

So why am I rating it so low? They changed how shit works, don't tell you about it and it makes you miss half the game lol. Idk, it just pissed me off you had to click on background shit to talk to your companions and I didn't notice it until I was already halfway done. It's such a stupid idea, too. Click on this tree to talk to Nathaniel?? Weird tbh. It's especially bad for me, as I am not playing a lot of games (I am a filthy casual) and am not a completionist - also I already know who Andraste is, so why would I click her statue?

So yeah, that's my personal gripe with Awakening. At least it's short enough to replay, so hopefully I will catch all the stuff next time haha.

Dragon Age 2....ahh, I was very surprised to hear that it was so unpopular, several of my friends said they had not played it at all because they heard it was so bad. And I am very confused, because it is my favorite. I can see how it got flack for being on a smaller scale, the dungeons and areas repeat - but honestly, I didn't care much. I enjoyed the smaller scale and the more personal story greatly. I feel it makes more sense for a 'choice' based game anyway, as it lets you tell more stories without problems. And in this instance, a story about a refugee family and a bigger focus on social justice issues just vibed well with me. I can see how it's not everyone's cake I guess, but it's definitely worth playing! I think it has the best companions in all the games. They're all great fun and the dating options are amazing. I personally prefer when everyone is date-able by either gender - it makes me not having to worry and research ahead of time on what character to make (looking at you inquisition) and I can just headcanon for myself who is queer, straight, whatever. Yes, I might still be upset I wasn't able to date Alistair haha in DA:O.

I loved the 3 act structure and longer time period. I liked how people you meet/help in your side quests write you letters or get updates. I just loved how personal it was.

My only gripes with DA2 is the rushed Act 3 (can't even give everyone another gift ;_; ) and how the ending was handled. Chosing between templars and mages - sure, fun. But when you choose the mages, how come 80% of the people you are fighting are mages? Why is Orsino turning into an abomination and attacking *you*? It makes no sense. Poor Orsino. They did him dirty.

But otherwise I had great fun. Needless to say this game cemented my chantry hate lol. Doesn't help I live in a pretty gay oppressing catholic country now, but it felt fucking personal. I cheered when that fucking building blew up. It was cathartic. So I was hyped for the next game!

Which leads me to Inquisition. By the rating you can already see: I didn't like this game. For many reasons. The church dick riding was definitely one of them. But I mean, if you write it well I probably wouldn't have minded to get a different viewpoint (and there was still plenty of critical content in this game like with the former Inquisitor and all), sadly though, for me it didn't work in so many ways.

First of all I had to restart the game after 30 minutes because my girlfriend told me I can only date the elves if I'm a girl. Gee, good to know, or my tripple elf combo would've been ruined.

And I have to say: I liked how un-segregated the whole gender selection screen was. I got to make a pretty boyish looking twink even by choosing female, up to the point I was forgetting I was playing a girl until someone called me LADY Lavellan and ruined my immersion, so....props to that. I also liked the art design? Like all the little character cards, all the artworks just felt like they finally found their own style, kinda. (This was already started in DA2, which I really liked, I feel this series needs it's own, distinct look in some way, so it was nice to see they were trying to). Anyway, nice looks.

But the gameplay immediately felt weird and sluggish to me. It was way too hard even on the easiest setting. Enemies take FOREVER to die, even a stupid wolf or bear takes a gazillion hits. It wasn't fun. Not for me anyway, just tedious.

And the story....I just didn't feel it. It didn't help that you don't even have a proper origin (for a good while you have amnesia even). It made it difficult to even understand my own motivations imho. Playing it as an elf was definitely a bad choice as well, as this whole plot was clearly written with a human in mind. Pretty wild a DALISH elf is even an option. If they kept you as a prisoner, it would've made sense, maybe? But it just feels off to put this random Dalish immediately on top of your organization and calling them the herald of Andraste even though you keep insisting you don't even believe in that stuff haha. A wild ride indeed. Also I screamed at the whole 'Dalish only have 3 mages per clan and just YEET THE EXTRA CHILDREN INTO THE FOREST TO DIE' retcon. It absolutely makes zero sense with how the Dalish were described up to that point (as people who greatly care for their own and also really want to honor and learn about their roots. They know the elves were all originally magical. Why would they have a fucking mage limit. Why would they yeet a child out to die when they already suffer from diminishing numbers? What the FUCK Inquisition?).

The maps were too big, the game is sooo bloated and the main plot for the larger part completely disconnected from everything else (and also, pretty short in theory). Because of this, the pacing was kind of off. The war table....the WAR table. I did not like it. So many things that got shoved there should've been quests, while many of the actual quests should've just been deleted. And apparently my whole clan can just die in a small war table side thing and no one will care. lol

I also did not vibe with most of the companions that much. I liked Dorian a lot, but other than that most were just a lot of missed opportunities. Like, they were ok, but not as great as any of the other games.

Though I feel nothing quite shows the pacing issues of this game like Solas' romance haha. I still can't believe he breaks up with you immediately after kissing you and offering to take your vallaslin. It would've made so much more sense if he left during the ending party ceremony. What were they thinking?

Generally my issue was how a lot of characters just talk at you, not so much with you. You ask them questions, but they hardly ever ask you questions back, even though it would've been a great way to learn more about your characters backstory as well. I think Josephine was one of the only characters who ever asks how you're holding up. In the other games, it is way more interactive.

This resulted in me just never really connecting as much in Inquisition. Felt more like hanging with coworkers than friends. It was also weird how everyone acts like you're achieving great things, when really, none of it is something you do. The inquisition itself, the army, it already exists. Solas literally just points at Skyhold (you do not even have to fight anything to get it) and so on.

I hated that you have an animated main plot cut scene where your Dalish elf asks a human who Mythal is. And of course I really disliked how the mage rebellion was handled. Why do I have to choose between templars and mages AGAIN when, in this game at least, being able to recruit both would've kinda made more sense? Unite against a bigger enemy, bla. I wouldn't have super liked it as a resolution for the mage oppression issue, but at least it would've given that conflict SOME form of resolution.

So yeah. Did not enjoy it that much. Was very surprised to learn how many did and that it won game of the year. Maybe it would've been more enjoyable just on its own, without context, but coming in right after DA2 it was quite the clash in my opinion.

There was definitely potential for a good game. It had good elements. I think they fixed a bunch of issues in Trespasser, which I quite enjoyed. But I kind of am not looking AS much forward to the 4th installment. I'll play it for sure, but I feel the writers just want to do something different with this series than what I enjoy about it.

Overall though I still had great fun! I like Dragon Age. Seeing everyone's oc's is so cute and I will definitely keep on enjoying that no matter what.

#I want to remind everyone that all this is just my opinion #Of course some people will completely disagree with me #and that's ok!#so don't feel bad if I say something negative about something you liked #im glad u got something out of it #Dragon Age #dragon age: inquisition critical #? i guess #this is a very long post oh god #also yes I have a mage and elf bias I AM SORRY

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anythingamarantha · 12 days

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Now, I've kinda heard about Wish getting a lot of flack, about how the songs don't really seem to fit, that "This is the Thanks I Get" doesn't read as a villain song and "Knowing What I Know Now" is more of a villain song. But I think this take is missing a lot of the movie's purpose. The movie itself is honestly kinda funny and cute, especially with the Star granting its magic and power all over the place.

But I'll get right down to it. Magnifico, while meant to be a "surprise" villain, seems to have been a honestly good guy up until he gets questioned. We see this in the song "at all costs", where he's talking about protecting the wishes. He takes people's wishes (which they give to him willingly) because said people can't make their wish come true on their own and it's heartbreaking when one's wish is crushed, destroyed, realized to be impossible. There's a hint that Magnifico's wish was destroyed and that's why he's so bent on protecting them and preventing anyone from suffering like he did. It also seems that Magnifico likely has control issues, which is probably why he doesn't like being questioned. (Though Dalia's points have merit. And if magic is forbidden, how are people supposed to recognize it, even amateur magic? I mean, yeah, I guess they see Magnifico perform magic, but...)

Now obviously, things go a bit off the rails when Star comes down to Asha's wish and Magnifico feels threatened. I think this makes a very good point in that Magnifico feels very unappreciated. Like he's insecure. This becomes pretty apparent in "This is the Thanks I Get?!" Where a lot of the song is "compliment me, praise me". Though there are some red flags in the song, such as "I'd give you the clothes off Benito's back~ If you really needed that~" and like, the next line about Henry and the crumbling house. The song itself is super upbeat and catchy, so some might write it off initially, but basically Magnifico is saying he'll throw other people under the bus. He'll "help" them at the cost of someone else without actually giving up anything of his own. He talks about how much he gives and all he wants is a little respect... but the people of Rosas seem to adore him and worship him, so it's a little hard to understand his point of view here.

I think there's a lot of things unexplored in the movie and the hinted at lore is actually rather fascinating. Like how it sounds like Magnifico has had a few apprentices previously, whose wishes he granted along with their families. However, magic is forbidden in Rosas other than what Magnifico himself does. Which... I'm curious about.

Now, among other things, it's really curious how Asha almost becomes his apprentice or seems to; right up until the point she questions him. About how he could just return the wishes he never plans to grant and let them, the people, pursue them on their own. Obviously not the dangerous ones or putting protections against such, but... from the song, it seems like Magnifico's motive is to protect the people from themselves. From their failure. Of their wish being hopeless and crushed.

Now, Magnifico isn't precisely a great hidden villain and it is kinda revealed early on, relatively speaking. A lot of people are also disappointed that Amaya (is that how her name is spelled?) didn't also turn out to be a villain. Admittedly, that would be a great twist to the story; how she seems to be on their (Asha and co's) side up until she joins Magnifico. Seriously, MilkyMelodies has a great song with this premise (Our Message to the People), though the background of the story has changed greatly in that animatic.

However, I think the point here is, even people with good intentions can get lead astray especially when they become afraid. Even someone who appears good initially, can turn out to be a bad person. (See Magnifico). And sometimes people are exactly what they seem. Like Queen Amaya. She truly loves her people and when Magnifico starts to get tempted, she's scared for him. And a little of him, once he gets corrupted. But she also still loves him, as seen when looking through Magnifico's books to see if there's a way to uncorrupt him.

"Knowing What I Know Now" is a really powerful song, a rally cry, but honestly, I'm kind of disappointed in the execution/result. Like they hype shit up, talk all big about this "revolution" and how they (Magnifico) doesn't know what's coming; but what they actually do is really disappointing. Especially since it's basically "sneak into his study and open the skylight/ceiling". And how they actually pull it off is also disappointing and absolutely wouldn't work in real life because that's not how physics and gravity work. Like, seriously. It's implies that whatever they're trying to pull with those ropes and pulley system is heavy as fuck. They might not be strong enough to pull them, but I also really doubt their weight is enough to work in the way the movie showed. But suspension of disbelief too yall. 🤷🏽‍♀️ Whatchya gonna do about it? It's an animated movie taking place in a fantasy land.

Also, I don't think Magnifico knows how genetics work. "I can't help it, if mirrors love my face~ it's genetics! Yeah these genes come from outer space!" ... that's honestly kind of implying he might have wished on a star to be good looking. Because that is not how genetics work 😥.

But honestly, the take away from this is- this movie isn't really meant to be a serious one. Magnifico is meant to be a bit of a "surprise villain", a person who is initially good but also goes off the rails real quick. Amaya is meant to contrast him, in being genuinely good the entire time. Magnifico starts off with the best of intentions (re: at all costs song), but quickly loses the tack the moment he's questioned/feels threatened. This is something I'd like to be explored more.

Asha, on the other hand, she's a real flat character, there's no real character development on her part. And her friends are even worse, they're barely introduced but from the song "Knowing What We Know Now" they all seem to have big personalities, so I'm disappointed we didn't get to see more of that. (And I know Disney can pull it off, hellooooo Big Hero Six!) (which incidentally, I've never watched, but I'm assuming).

There's probably more I could go into, but eh. Catch ya on the flip side!

#disney wish #wish 2023 #wish movie #analysis #thoughts #Amarantha

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phantomrose96 · 2 years

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I don't know you obv so idk if this was intentional or not & this might sound kinda weird but I wanted to thank you for not making Reigen's "sacrifice" in ch. 45 actually be the "solution" - be what immediately fixed everything or made it all better. Having struggled with suicidal ideation for years & repeatedly having to convince myself that ending my life will not make things better for other people or make the world a better place, I really appreciated that. Phenomenal chapter overall btw!

(ABoT ch45)

fdjkf, yeah, yes this is intentional. I was talking about this last night on the ABoT discord let me copy-paste some stuff I said from that discussion:

ABoT is, to the ABSOLUTE best of my ability, thematically consistent. To have Reigen's sacrifice be the end of Mogami and just get… a weepy "he sacrificed himself so noble" send off to Reigen… would've grated badly against the hard-fought-for-themes of living to fix your mistakes, not dying for them.

And on some level Reigen is aware of this. He hides the plan from Ritsu knowing that the hypocrisy of it would have deeply off-put Ritsu. How high-and-mighty Reigen has been telling Ritsu that getting himself killed is a terrible answer, and Ritsu would be wrong to choose it, only to have Reigen demonstrate that was lip service by taking the spot himself…

The CHARACTER moment is meant to be consistent. Like, Reigen would do this. Because for all the big-game he can talk to other people, he's still constantly living with the voice in his head of ("Oh but not you. You're an exception. You don't matter. You can tell other people they matter but deep down, that's not you.")

So from a character standpoint: Yes, Reigen would do this. From a narrative standpoint: No, this cannot be the means by which Mogami is defeated.

Particularly, particularly with this line, right before he's set to kill himself and Mogami:

“—There’s a great ramen shop around here, you know? I took Mob there. I hope Mob goes back there after this is all over. I hope he goes back 100 times, tells ‘em Reigen sent him.” The fire crackled. Reigen’s smile faded. “…I hope Mob never goes back. I hope after today he forgets everything he ever had to do with us. I hope he forgets everything about me. I hope he forgets you. I hope he goes home with Ritsu. I hope his life picks right back up where it left off. I hope it’s normal.” Reigen’s eyes were dry. Everything evaporated in the heat. “I hope I never matter again after this moment.”

This really is meant as a genuinely powerful moment for Reigen. All his self-sacrifices, from the start, have been done with that… twinge of "I'm doing this so maybe I can finally matter, somehow". Still GOOD. Still selfless! Still noble! But rooted in something just a bit pathetic and desperate in Reigen. This desperate need to matter to someone became his literal downfall when it came to Mob and keeping him for so long--this was the choice that allowed Ritsu to get worse, and allowed Mogami to come back.

And in Reigen's final moment he's... relinquishing exactly that. This isn't "for Mob to know Reigen mattered." This is for Mob. End statement. Reigen can vanish into absolutely nothing after this, and it's what he wants. This is big for Reigen.

…………………..but. but but but but BUT BUT!!! THIS IS ALSO. EXCEPTIONALLY NAIVE… To just say "I hope he forgets about me" and wish it into existence won't make it so. (Ritsu is literally trying to do the same to his parents and he's gotten a hell of a lot of flack for it.)

Truth is, Reigen's death will ABSOLUTELY hurt Mob. There is no forgetting Reigen that Mob can just do. This sacrifice Reigen is making will hurt Mob. Point blank. It'll hurt him DEEPLY. ABoT focuses so deeply on the hurt of missing loved ones. On how experiences and connections matter and there is no just brushing things off as meaningless. To wish Mob's life just goes back to normal is naive. To wish Mob would just forget Reigen and not care is naive. And Reigen is so… caught up in his own Reigen-ness, he doesn't have the capacity (more like he can't afford) to consider the damages of his sacrifice. He tells himself it's simply necessary… So he builds this little fantasy, where he doesn't have to think about what hurt he's causing. So he tells himself "I hope I won't matter after this", which is so much easier than the truth of how much dying can hurt others. Reigen would matter after this moment, whether he wanted to or not.

He just needs to believe he can make this simple enough to do. "It's him or Ritsu". "It's him or Mob". And Reigen will always be the more sacrificable person. "It's only right", since it's his fault Mob went back to Mogami. "It's only right", because it's his fault the horde found Ritsu in the first place.

But Reigen's wrong. And it really, really comes back to this quote from ch39:

“’The one of us who’s home safe.’ Bullshit. Make it the both of you who are home safe.” Reigen adjusted his legs, one knee up, lame hand resting over it. “Choose the option where you both go home alive and healthy, and then do the hard work to make up for whatever awful things you’ve done. Apologize to the people you hurt. Make it up to them. If it takes years then put in the years. If it means facing consequences, face them. Be better. Be brave like your brother and choose to make the hurt end with you. I’ve seen him do it. Don’t tell me you can’t do the same.” Reigen glanced to Ritsu. “If you get yourself killed, you’re just exploding all the hurt you caused outward. You’d be dying with a debt you’re forcing your family to pay. If you want to help your brother, accept responsibility for what you’ve done, pay that debt off yourself, and save your brother.” Reigen looked forward again. “Mob’s been through enough. Don’t take his little brother away from him on top of it all. He loves him more than anything else in the world.”

Thematically, Reigen choosing to kill himself to end Mogami could never succeed. It could never be the solution that fixes things. It's entirely too at-odds with the absolutely central themes in ABoT of living to fix your mistakes, and living to heal, and deserving the chance to live and heal.

#ask #abot #a breach of trust

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traumasurvivorshelpingsurvivors · 1 year

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looking for: advice, help figuring out how to reconcile my feelings

tws: queer infighting (sort of?) acephobia mentions, arophobia

So, i've been struggling with this for a while now. I'll start by saying I am extremely pro my ace family and ace rights, I understand the type of persecution they face and it's horrible. None of what I'm dealing with from the asexual community is convincing me that asexuality is bad or asexuals have bad intent inherently.

I am aromantic and bisexual (not asexual), and I've faced a lot of flack from alloromantic and allosexual people for being bisexual and aro. You know, the idea that I'm just using people for their bodies and stuff. So that's really tiresome and frustrating, even the little things like "oh you're aro, you're not physically attracted to people?". Ignorance stings even if it's not malicious.

So I obviously take great comfort in the aro community. And the aro community is very connected to the ace community. Which I have no problem with! I have had a lot of trouble finding aro people who aren't ace, which is isolating and difficult.

So here's the main problem. I've faced a lot of hate and microaggressions from aro ace people and alloromantic ace people. Ace people either refusing to count alloaro people as a demographic, or acting like anyone who's aro must be ace. The worst for me is when they talk about specifically ace things and add aro in like it's just a descriptor. I'm writing this and my heart is aching bc I'm being lumped in with a group of people who aren't me!!! They're a lovely group of people but it's the same feeling of being misgendered. I can't pick a fight with everyone who does this, and if I express my frustrating with how I've been treated it's very easy for people to just label me as acephobic (which would be a horrible thing to be!!! except I'm not, I'm very clearly stating that some ace people are being bigots towards alloaro people).

I don't know how to reconcile my love and support of the ace community with the intense amount of persecution I've faced by many people in that community.

I know in my head that I can be angry at arophobic aces, but if I try to talk about it, and even in my emotions, it's so hard.

Hi anon,

I’m so sorry this has been impacting you in such a painful way - I deeply sympathize because though I’m aspec myself, I am not aro, so I found myself nodding along to several points you made along the way in your post when trying to navigate the community where I’ve also mainly stumbled on people who identify with both.

At the end of the day it is a spectrum - well all sexuality is - but there is a wide coverage here, and unfortunately with not enough resources, representation and education about the asexuality spectrum many of us get lumped together in not only ignorant ways, but painful and even abusive ones, too. All that being said, at the end of the day, there is a huge difference between making bigoted commentary about a group of people, and responding to commentary about a group of people that includes you (and I’m very sorry to hear that some people mislabeled your advocacy of what is said to you and/or how you are spoken to/about as being automatically aphobic).

Of course we cannot argue with everyone we come across, but it’s equally valid to want to be surrounded by people who do not make negative commentary about your romantic orientation, even if it’s from a place of ignorance versus say active harassment - if it hurts, it hurts, and you deserve a community where you can just be without the commentary based on false assumptions and aphobia (which I can appreciate might feel hard, when over 80% of aroromantics in this study have “reported not being taken seriously, being ignored, or being dismissed by others.”)

In regards to how to respond where it doesn’t feel hard, it might simply come down to a practice of one step at a time (and potentially looking into boundary scripts and how to respond to aphobia & bigotry resources) - but I believe it’s equally important to find a community of people you can just be with. No one has the right to decide who belongs in public, shared spaces, so I don’t mean to suggest shrinking yourself into a box - but finding other people you can share with and who “get it” can be incredibly validating too as you navigate bigger spaces along your journey. The AUREA website has both online resources, as well as in person groups, and here’s a reddit forum that might at least be able to help you find some online communities across various social media platforms?

Regardless of what happens next, you deserve to be embraced for who you are, as you are, and I hope you find a community that roots for you.

Mod Kat

#trauma talks #mod kat #tw aphobia #aphobia #arophobia

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