Floating Through~

Obsessing over a new thing every other day Pfp drawn by @asterefflores

[cindythecyclops]

Re-reading MILAOWM and...

...I was swiftly reminded of both how peak this manhwa is but also how sexist the webtoon comments as well as most online (especially fandom) spaces in general are.

It has been about a year, maybe two, since I last read MILAOWM for the first time and a very interesting thing I noted was that I was noticeably less angry and spiteful towards the villain characters, especially the female villains (which is most of them).

Yes, including Dodolea. I was surprised because I was much more emotional the first time I read it and I thought maybe I liked the story less but that couldn't be it because I was appreciating it all so much more than I remember doing the first time. The art, the writing, the dialogue, even the pacing (though it did drag at times), I was having a wonderful time.

So, I eventually realized that since I read the story, I have grown as a person and now have a more detached attitude, since I see characters for what they, narrative tools to tell a story, and what matters most is if that story is good and engaging.

I'm not saying I'm incapable of emotional attachment to characters, no, I very much am. This blog only exists because I formed an emotional attachment to Og Cale/HeniRoksoo and I will admit, I haven't formed that kind of emotional attachment to any character in MILAOWM, which is why I'm able to appreciate its narrative a lot more, I think.

Perhaps someone could say that's a sign of bad writing but I don't think so because people can become emotionally attached to anything, even terrible things. To this day, one of my favorite characters is Ayano Aishi from Yandere Simulator, there is very little about that game to be praised, including Ayano, and I still love her to bits, so I don't think of it as bad writing that I didn't form that attachment to one of MILAOWM's characters, especially since the story can still get an emotional response out of me for pretty much every character.

Here is a crude drawing, made by me, to more clearly express myself.

There's levels to things, you can dislike an objectively well-written story and character for completely subjective reasoning, and you can acknowledge that something is objectively bad and still like it for subjective reasons.

I don't really know where I'm going with this post, it's kind of jut dumping my thoughts. The point I was gonna make is that I think there can be different measures for good writing and good stories, because story is also the word I use to describe my friends telling me about their day. A story can be good for the emotional response it gets from you and be objectively badly written, and a story can be bad for making you feel nothing while being objectively well-written.

MILAOWM is well-written and it's also a good story because it still makes me feel things. Solo Levelling is mid because yeah I felt the hype when reading it but I stopped caring for it soon after, only caring about the fics I read of it afterwards. My favorite character from Solo Levelling, just the one, is Go Gunhee because he's the only character that's made me cry. I read Solo Levelling and cried twice, both times due to Go Gunhee and felt overall ambivalent to the experience of consuming it.

Anyway, that's it. Don't expect me to post again.

[cale-thames]

OgCale: implying he was an ordinary soldier

Me:

Ohh~! Definitely!!! The person who fooled the ENTIRE KINGDOM as a kid and made them think he was "useless" can NEVER lie again! That's unimaginable!!!

• You're ordinary despite having survived Choi Han's beating who can easily break walls.

• You're ordinary despite surviving the Henituse war which "probably" killed everyone else.

• You're ordinary despite being one of the last survivors of the two-decade-long war.

• You're ordinary despite joining the last battle which had the strongest individuals.

• You're ordinary despite being near where Choi Han and White Star were fighting— which has to be the front line.

• You're ordinary despite GoD choosing you for the transmigration.

• You're ordinary despite managing to do KRS's work properly which no one else can do.

• You're ordinary despite being a THAMES!!!

Oh, and like someone once mentioned: why didn't ARM bother to kill you later?!

They had all that free time hunting down Ron and Beacrox after destroying the Molan household, right? So what possibly could have stopped them from offing you while you were actively fighting in the war? Hmm?

Oh wait— your flaming red hair, sooooo eye-catching, sooo similar to their dear lord's— surely impossible to miss! Surely.

So how in the world did you survive so long, hmm, dear Roksoo?

Could it be… they tried?

And couldn't do a single thing to you?

And why would that be?

Hmm.

Please, kindly inform us, my dear ordinary soldier who survived on pure luck for TWENTY YEARS! We're dying to know.

[sadlynotthevoid]

AU where OgCale gets into one of those swordmanship/spear wielding/martial arts tournament that almost always appear in fanatsy settings, except he does so in a full knight armor with helmet and all and a very obvious anonymous nickname.

His intention is to beat up this guy an this one guy only, because he was pissing him off and OgCale overheard him boasting about how he was obviously going to be in the top ten. So, obviously, OgCale had to ruin that. No one ever said he wasn't petty.

In this AU, OgCale did the logical thing to do when you want to make sure your loved ones stay safe and kept training. In his free time and away from prying eyes, because, you know, "trash". So, he knows how to wield a weapon and fight to an acceptable level. He only needs to tone it down a little. He doesn't intend to reach the semi finals, only humillate this guy for being an asshole.

Just, OgCale kind of didn't take into account that:

Living near the dark forest + having various experts lying low in the territory + having an assassin around him as one of his caretakers since he was a baby = He doesn't know what the standard for martial arts is in the rest of the kingdom.

So, he does a little too well. And he's having fun, unexpectedly. Some of these people have interesting fighting styles, even if no one compares to Ron. The rounds go on and on and he fights and wins and...

He ends up abandoning and getting the fuck out of there before he somehow can win anything beyond his current fifth place. He does not want to stand on the podium and have to take off his helmet, thank you very much.

And so he saves his very distinctive armor in a hideaway and tells himself he's never wearing it again.

And then he puts it on again like a month later to go help his very prone to harm friend, Rok Soo, before the idiot can get hurt again.

And he puts it again when said friend mentions the oncoming terrorist attack just where his little brother is.

And then a few times more.

And the next he knows is that his silly tournament nickname is spoken about like it was some legendary warrior that awakened from his grave to protect Roan.

He finally knows what Rok Soo feels like when people call him Silver Shield this and that. Being hated as Cale has never felt more relieving.

[meowmeowsabortionclinic]

It's kind of a shame LN5 gets so much focus on its later chapters, because Maomao's state of mind in the first part is chilling and intriguing.

All alone, no palace friends to balance her out, Luomen's compassionate influence gone, Maomao ends up back in her office at the Verdigris House and comfortably finds herself just-above-bottom class. For the first time since coming "home," she actually has a little power and security. But poverty hovers around her.

And she is soberingly pragmatic about it. Even to the point of cruelty against kids who really aren't doing anything more than being "annoying" to her, like Chou-u and Zulin's Sister.

I think a lot of people feel suffering should make you a better person, even if they say they don't believe that. What they DO say is; "If you've been in poverty, you should know how bad it is!" or "As a survivor of abuse, they ought to know how terrible it feels!"

But that's not really how trauma works. It's healing and finding support networks that teach you how to be better than what was done to you-- things that Maomao really does not have at this moment.

And to make it worse, I think it's clear she's struggling with bereavement. She believes Shisui/Tamamo is dead. She is not introspective enough to identify her feelings and grieve, though.

So... she takes out her turmoil on the people she CAN, justifying her cruelty to herself as "a hard dose of reality."

It's more than just how she responds to Chou-u when he's angry the Madame is putting a tax on his art business; it's how she's quietly triumphant when Chou-u is shocked to tears by the syphilitic sex worker outside the window.

It's more than the way she's angry at Sazen for petty thievery and selling a priceless book; it's how she doesn't care at all about the way a man who helped her twice is filthy and emaciated, launching into leveraging blackmail about his identity to find the book before Ukyou suggests giving him a meal.

It's more than the way she removes Zulin from her abusive home when her drunkard father can't pay; it's putting her sister into medical debt by letting her believe she would have forced that kid into the Verdigris House.

(And that's me being charitable. I don't think Maomao would have followed through on that-- but Zulin's Sister didn't know that. Assuming that this isn't one of Kevin's translation errors, ofc.)

LN5's early chapters feel like a glimpse of a world where Maomao could become like the Madame; bitter and miserly. It even seems like the Web Novels are pointing at the idea that this period in Maomao's life might have created consequences she'll be regretting soon.

[augustinamiaumiau]

I always thought the beginning of volume 5 was meant to contrast with the first four volumes, where Maomao was not exactly at the bottom of the food chain in the Rear Palace, but definitely not close to the top either. In the Pleasure District, however, she is at the top. She is an independent, educated woman who runs her own shop under the protection of the Verdigris House. When she goes out, Ukyou, the Vedigris bodyguard, is always by her side.

She never had to prostitute herself or be forced to find a husband, and she can go anywhere she pleases, while the majority of women in the neighborhood are trapped there unless a man buys them, including her sisters.

Volume 13 spoilers

This is why Joka reflects that, while she could never truly be jealous of Maomao, she often thinks about what her life might have been like if she had her own Luomen to protect and educate her.

„But Joka and Maomao could not have been on more different paths in life. Each had a courtesan for a mother, but Joka had chosen the path of the courtesan herself, whereas Maomao had taken the way of the apothecary. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Joka had had no other choice but the courtesan’s path, whereas for Maomao another possibility had been available. If Joka had had someone who could have been to her what Luomen was to Maomao, would her life have been different?”

In other words, in the Pleasure District, Maomao is quite privileged, which can sometimes make her seem tone-deaf to the suffering of others.

[meowmeowsabortionclinic]

YES to all of this, and

You could consider the opening of LN5 as a contrast to her position in LN1 - 4, but I'm using a lens to consider it as more of a continuation of it. It's an emotional regression brought on by loss.

The Rear Palace and the Pleasure District are very much alike. They're bubbles of safety (or, cages) in two dangerous environments, at either end of class extremes.

While Maomao's time in the Rear Palace is practically defined by her solidarity with others (going out of her way to warn about the powder, allowing Fengming to bring her secret to the grave, the ice cream, even the fact she was NOT going to expose Shenlu so the clinic wouldn't close down), she's almost malicious in how hard she brings the hammer down on the people she has power over in the Pleasure District.

It's less like tone-deafness, and more... purposeful. Her intention isn't specifically to hurt Sazen, Zulin's Sister, or Chou-u, but it is to knock them down.

Bullies don't see themselves as bullies, y'know? Parents, teachers, peers, anyone can do it.

For Chou-u, she's annoyed and resentful. She doesn't like kids at this point of her life, doesn't like having one foisted on her, and she doesn't like this loud little shit who doesn't "know his place." She probably sees her behavior as humbling him, or teaching him "hard lessons."

For Zulin's Sister, she's disdainful of being pushed into the same impoverished position as Luomen. She's decided to be rigid about this; a contract is a contract and she wants her damn money, no matter who you are. She even decides she respects the sister's choice to become a courtesan and "survive" the abusive house she comes from-- not seeing herself as part of the equation that is forcing a kid into sex work.

And Sazen, it's like righteousness in her eyes. Their shared history is just leverage she can use to get what she wants; right now, this is a petty thief who sold off a priceless book, and she treats him like scum until Ukyou intervenes. He is the one to suggest that selling off the encyclopedia was probably a matter of life or death, encouraging Maomao to remember that compassion can be helpful for achieving your goals.

(This might actually be where Maomao's character arc about "what is good vs what is legal" begins, thinking about it.)

For all its restrictions, the Rear Palace was actually the first time Maomao had a proper social group. Not just her family, but friends, supervisors, acquaintances. She had to be some amount of friendly towards others, so she made genuine connections that helped her grow.

So it kind of makes sense just HOW hard she snapped back into ruthless apathy after losing her friends, social environment, and palace job all at the same time. AND also thinking Shisui is dead.

[shittymoviedetails]

Kevin is the real villian in Home Alone

[orgyporgy]

The movie establishes that the phone lines to the house are down, that’s also why nobody is able to call Kevin at home. The movie also establishes that all of his neighbors are out of town which is why he couldn’t borrow their phones. The movie ALSO BEGINS by introducing the main antagonist as a “police officer” which is why Kevin doesn’t trust the cops. I’m so tired of the ignorance. The slander.

[foxyclock]

FINALLY we’ve reached the time of year for home alone discourse

[hypokeimena]

#he did what he needed to do to survive. then he did a bunch of other stuff he felt like doing (via @hotcrossedfangs) 

[christopher-bryant]

home alone is just die hard for kids

[godsperm]

He also stole that toothbrush so was even more scared to call the police in case they arrest him for theft too

[syntactition]

Kevin knew that ACAB ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[violetwolfraven]

Keep in mind that the robbers could have turned around and left at any time. Kevin set up the traps, but they didn’t have to walk into them. They could’ve left and robbed an easier house, but didn’t because they wanted to get the 8-year-old who was beating their asses. At some point, it stopped being about stealing the McCallisters’ stuff and started being about killing Kevin, at which point Kevin was justified in doing whatever the hell he wanted to them.

[magic-owl]

Skdhsjdhsk okay Home Alone discourse? xD I recognize this is a joke but I’m jumping into the shark pit regardless because I just love this movie and wanna talk about it so HERE GOES

Lol so yeah actually the phone line argument is a bit confusing because yeah the phones are down at first, but they obviously were fixed at some point since his family tried to call him from the airport in Paris or later on he wouldn’t be able to order pizzas or call the cops from his house at the end of the whole attempted robbery night, so there IS the question of why Kevin’s family doesn’t keep trying to call him daily.

HOWEVER, as people have already mentioned, Kevin thinks he’s a criminal due to stealing a toothbrush and has already been chased by a cop, he’s not gonna contact the police about the robbers.

Calling the police about his family leaving him? He’s not gonna do that because he doesn’t KNOW they’re in Paris, Kevin believes he magically wished his family out of existence the night before they left after they were all right dicks to him. He doesn’t know they have the power to come back, that’s why he asks Santa to return them later on, what use is telling the cops who (in his eyes) will probably blame him for it?

Also ppl be criticizing him for the booby traps like this isn’t the THIRD time Kevin’s had to chase these guys off his property? First he tried to fake a house party, they still came back, he tried to fake a MURDER, they spied on him and declared they were coming back again. Kevin’s given them two nonviolent chances to leave his house alone, they’re the grown men deciding they’re gonna come back and rob a house they KNOW has an eight year old in it. They announce their presence by knocking and taunting that they know he’s alone and “helpless” in there and that they’re coming in anyway, what their original plans for dealing with him were, we don’t know. After they spring his first traps, their plan switches from robbing the house to specifically harming Kevin in revenge.

These guys are trespassing on Kevin’s property AGAIN after multiple warnings, and they’ve announced themselves with a declaration of intent to harm him, he can’t call the police or they’ll discover he vanished his family and committed toothbrush crimes, Kevin needed to defend himself and he had FULL RIGHT to do so however he saw fit (which all proved entirely necessary seeing as literally nothing he threw at these men actually stopped them from trying to hurt him, they kept coming until his neighbor saved him)

Respect Kevin 2kforever 😤😤😤

[neurospicy-offical]

@hellsite-hall-of-fame where you at

[stormywinter42-deactivated20250]

She wouldve done numbers here…..

[were-ralph]

New REBLOG Game

Just fucking lie about the previous poster

[treecitysessions]

Why does everyone think fiction is just fantasy wish fulfillment now and not like an exploration of themes and ideas

[treecitysessions]

People will be like “this movie is evil and gross because it depicts a predatory relationship” and then you watch the movie in question and it’s about how preying on young women is bad and impacts their lives negatively

[treecitysessions]

“Why would they do this instead of just making everyone in the movie nice and normal and good” so we would have this conversation….

[delusional-daydreamer18]

So I just realized that the redheads of the Henituse/Thames are all self-sacrificial.

Firstly, we have Cale, who always runs into danger headfirst to protect his family and as a result periodically coughs blood and faints. He is also clueless to his needs and despite saying otherwise, he prioritizes his family first and foremost above his own well-being.

Next, we have Jour, who essentially committed suicide by breaking her plate and burying her ancient power in Harris Village to prevent a megalomaniac from getting his hands on it.

Lastly, we have Og!Cale, who acted as trash for his step-family and regressed the timeline so he lost his chances to meet his own family and reconcile with them. He is also the only one who remembers what truly happened during the 20 years of war and is not recognized for what he did to basically save the doomed timeline and giving Cale an opportunity to avoid that future from coming to pass and also allowing Cale to meet his loving family.

And they all do it for their family.

Is it a genetical trait...? Concerning.

[straw8errysyrup]

Moot checkup, how are you??

Heya! Sorry for the disappearance! Haven't gotten the time to sit down and doodle for the asks in the inbox! <3 I tend to work on like 5 things at a time, but this method only works if you don't get sick for nearly a week and forget how to draw. :D Can't show off like 3 wips for spoiler reasons, but I can give these!

[cindythecyclops]

Very fun! :D

[clarkbfdi]

Elliot's brand new baby sister

Elliot and Mia!

[byjove]

Nothing makes me angrier than the “Minimum wage jobs are intended for teenagers, of course adults can’t live off the wages, they should get real jobs.” bullshit. Not only are you pro child labor but you’re pro underpaying children for their labor? Also, there are so many teenagers out there working to survive and pay rent and support themselves and their families and these jobs are fucking brutal. Pay them what they deserve.

[lizzylolz]

also if that were true, they’d be closed until school let out?? like who do you think they’re gonna hire to stay open from 5 am to 11 pm

[byjove]

My high school had work release that allowed students to leave early or come in late so they could work shifts. 😔

[numberlover1729]

[stellaluna33]

We want Flawed Female Characters! No, not THOSE flaws. 😕 Those aren't sexy, COOL flaws. You know, the ones that I don't think actually SHOULD be considered flaws, that I might even feel personally judged for. The "unjustly martyred by the court of public opinion" kind of flaws. So like a "flawed" woman who's actually kind of a Saint in a way. I didn't want, like, FLAW flaws. What she did was WRONG and that makes her a BAD PERSON, and how can you justify that? If you still like her after what she did, that makes YOU a Bad Person too. Ugh, disgusting. 😕 But anyway, WHY isn't anyone writing flawed female characters?

[callmesel]

Are people on Tumblr aware that you can customize your kudo message??

got it from this twt post (has more stuff in the thread)

og reddit post here

[straw8errysyrup]

Initiation for becoming moots or smth idfk (art by ink616 on twitter/x)

Aw darn, I forgot the bucket of blood and chanting elders. Be right back. :D Jokes aside, thank you for sharing this Glorious piece of Paycheck! Truly ship of all times. <3

[cindythecyclops]

<333

[the-zk-directory]

Zutara Probably Would Have Been Canon in Season 4 – The Masterpost

| [Intro.] |

If you’ve been around or within the Avatar fandom for any period of time you have probably, one way or another, become aware of one of the most intense shipping wars not just of any children’s show, but possibly just in general, one that is well over a decade old by now, approaching two.

Katara and Aang (Kataang), though canon, are often criticized for being one-sided, bad for each of the characters, and rushed. The creators of Avatar though – Mike & Bryan (collectively known as the entity ‘Bryke’) – have stated in the past that Kataang “was in the DNA of the [show] from the start.” (x)

Statements like the above are one of the reasons Zuko and Katara (Zutara) fans have been labelled ‘conspiracy theorists’ when they claim things that contradict Bryke: namely, that Zutara as a pairing was not only a serious consideration during the show’s run, but the likely outcome if the show had continued on for another season, which it seems it almost did.

(This hypothetical ‘Book 4’ was, for a long time, considered a Zutarian conspiracy theory in itself.)

But let’s back up.

How did these so-called conspiracy theories start?

———–

Keep reading

[sadlynotthevoid]

AU where Lily and ogCale are like that Tinkerbell song strange sight. Except it has a happy ending, unlike canon.

Lily is a curious kid, seeing the older boy who she's heard is her brother but she barely knows anything about, and she wants to know him. At first sight he looks strange and distant (the 'You're reckless and distant' part) but as time passes and she still keeps trying to know him and understand him, she notices more and more that he actually cares a lot about them.

Still, through her attempts and observations, she can't help but wonder if he doesn't want to just be left alone because people are so mean to him. She wonders if the reason why he always seems in a bad mood and is rude to others (not them, though) is because everyone is rude to him first. That makes her think twice about her whole 'let's get to know orabeoni (and become like actual siblings)' goal, but ultimately decides to continue because the idea of her oldest brother staying alone and scorned forever is too sad.

Eventually, OgCale drops the act because Lily ended up in danger and he was not letting her get hurt.

In the aftermath, Lily finally gets to ask the important questions. He tries to explain things in a kid friendly, "don't make it sound that bad" kind of way. Of course he's not as successful as he thinks. Does it sound less awful than it is? Yes. Is it still very sad to hear to anyone else than him? Also yes.

She then drags him from the sleeve to see Violan or Deruth (or any responsible adult she finds first) because they have to hear this.

Bassen, who happened to be already there when Lily dragged their brother there, is not so lowkey freaking out all along.

They work things out, both their familial relationships and the external issues. For the first time in years, adults in OgCale's life are doing something else to solve problems besides throwing money at it.

That still weirds him out months later. He keeps saying things like "this wouldn't have happened if you just had left me keep doing things my way" whenever something slightly bad happens. At those times, depending on who is nearby, his siblings will distract him or his parents will try to figure a viable plan/solution to deal with whatever is happening.

At some point the servants just conclude that OgCale, their known trashy young master, must have some kind of anxiety or paranoia due to the trauma of suddenly losing his mom so young. Half of them think the reason he drank so often was to cope and now that his family is trying to help he's doing better.

The other half heard from someone who heard from someone who heard from someone who overheard the conversation between the family and told that person it was because "the young master loves his family so much he decided to sabotage himself to prevent any conflict towards them. I can't blame him. I mean, don't you know what happened with the Stans?" Which somehow ended up as "the young master was protecting his siblings all the time. Apparently there was a menace from the Stans, probably Venion Stan. Young Master Cale hates him, after all." Which transformed into "the son of the marquis, Venion Stan, threatened Young Master Bassen and Young Lady Lily and Young Master Cale was protecting them all along."

OgCale knows there's some kind of misunderstanding between the servants but he's honestly too tired to care. It's nothing bad for his family, at least.