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#i feel like fandom interactions always end up as fights for some reason
mulletmitsuya · 2 months
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random tokrev rant ahead !!
when i first started this blog it was going to be for random shitposts, groupchats once in a while, and mostly tokrev analysis but i was so scared of discourse that i just chose to do the funnier stuff 😭. when tokrev was at it's peak i'd be reading 20k+ words of analysis and it was so fun!! but i felt like i couldn't word what i wanted to say properly so that discouraged me but i wish i'd ignored that because there would have been at least one person who understood what i was saying yk?
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picturejasper20 · 6 months
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Steven Universe as a character is someone who has been mischaracterized and flanderized over the years, to the point people who aren't into the fandom or haven't watched the show believe that mischaracterization to be a fact rather that a product that comes from memes and jokes
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The truth is that Steven often fights in the series when it is needed, usually by fusing with someone else like Connie or Amethyst since he is still developing his powers in the original series. He doesn't cry when he has to fight back or defend himself, with exception if the person attacking is someone he considers a friend. Because, yes, for a 14-15 old teenager it isn't fun having to do something like that and it can be traumatic.
He also doesn't start to cry the moment someone refuses to change their mind or is being mean. He often isn't afraid to be sarcastic or call that person out. He didn't cry when Aquamarine mocked him in ¨Stuck Together¨ nor when Jasper didn't apologize for poofing Amethyst in ¨Crack the Whip¨
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However, what we see is sometimes him blaming himself for not being able to help people that, more often than not, have been hurt by Rose Quartz, his mother, in some way. After Season 3, Steven fears a lot that he is going to become like Rose and he is going to hurt people the way like she did.
In general Steven deals with an Atlas complex in the show. He feels like he has to fix his mother mistakes and deal with ¨what she left behind¨ even when Rose wanted for him to be his own person as seen in the tape she left for him as it was revealed in the episode ¨Lion 4: The Alternate Ending¨.
Steven also defines his identity a lot for being to help other people and fix their problems. He believes that he has to be ¨useful¨ for others. So when he believes that he failed to help someone, that may lead him to think that he isn't living up to his ¨purpose¨ or that he is a failure as a person.
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In reality, he isn't that much different from other hero protagonists from other animated shows. Those who are kind and emphatic and willing to listen to other people and give them a second chance if the person changes their ways. You probably like an animated show that has a protagonist like this. (Who was probably taken inspiration from Steven if the series came out after SU).
The main difference, i think, is that Steven goes a bit more than those protagonists do when it comes to listening to other people, understand their motivations and give them another chance if they regret their actions. A lot has to do with how he is aware that his enemies (usually gems) act the way the do because of the system they were born into rather ¨they are evil just because¨. He gets that their motivations come from the system that hurt them or lead them to believe that their actions are justified.
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Another common mischaracterization is that Steven becomes super buddies with every person he helps...when this isn't always the case. There are some occasions that Steven shows discomfort around people who he has given a second chance. Just because he gives them a second chance doesn't mean that he immediately considers them close friends, maybe allies at best.
A good example of this is the gif above of Steven's interactions with White Diamond in ¨Homeworld Bound¨. White Diamond touches Steven very close to where his gem is- which makes Steven distressed since in his battle again White, she ripped his gem out to prove that Pink was still ¨alive¨. In most of the episode Steven shows to be very uncomfortable around the Diamonds and Spinel, to some extent. They bring him bad memories, which is the main reason he has been doing everything to avoid going to them to ask for their help until this point in Steven Universe Future. He even almost accidentally hurts White's gem by smashing her head against a pillar when she lets him control her to talk to himself. This being result of a intrusive ¨vengeful¨ thought.
I wouldn't say that Steven hates the Diamonds,but- he doesn't want to be their friend neither and wants to avoid in general because he feels nervous and bad around them. It's something like ¨I'm glad that you are changing but i don't want to be associated with you. Please, i would appreciate if you kept your distance from me.¨ dynamic.
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On last point, Steven is someone who usually pushes his feelings down in certain situations and buries them down, which has led him to have strong emotional outbursts in bad moments. He usually prefers to ignore his own problems and take priority on others. Again, this comes a lot from his desire to be useful and be needed, making him trying to ignore how he feels about certain people and pretend that he is doing fine.
This explains why we don't see him lash out that much to others in the original series, and, why he feels so frustrated and angry in Future, since all that anger and negative feelings can't no longer be ignored as they used to and they are having a negative impact in Steven's mental health. This, of course, isn't meant to be seen is a healthy coping mechanism. It is in fact potrayed as something pretty self-destructive for Steven, as a huge flaw of his, that over time he comes to learn that it isn't the best way for him to deal with his problems.
These are some of the most common misconceptions i have seen about Steven's character online. I could go in more depth with some of them but i think the points should be clear enough. This could be considered a general analysis of how Steven is as a character and how he operates, leaving aside more specific things that can be covered in other posts.
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bonefall · 3 months
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Talk and/or rant about why you like Bumble from DotC please?
Bumble makes me want to cry. Her story is just... heartbreaking. She's one of the sweetest, most honest characters in the entire series, and the way she is abused by Tom the Wifebeater and denied asylum by the Moor Cats, then murdered for Clear Sky's arc, genuinely makes me feel sick.
But I've talked about that before. Many, many times. Let me celebrate her brief life for this one post, just covering her during The Sun Trail. Her first appearance in Book 2 where Clear Sky murders her, Thunder Rising, is the start of the scene that begins her slow, agonizing death.
I don't only love her out of spite for how she died; I love her because she was a wonderful, warm, confident character, and an excellent friend. She provided relief from the agonizing Settler group, who are insufferably angsty and controlling of each other, and most importantly, space away from Turtle Tail's awful friend, Gray Wing.
The closer that Bumble gets to Turtle Tail, the more confrontational Gray Wing becomes. He starts to hate Bumble, as if she's stealing his Plan B while he spends all the rest of his time with Storm. I'm convinced that the writers (and the fandom sometimes <_<) believe that this is "compelling romantic drama" which makes Turtle x Gray sweeter when it finally happens, but it just makes me feel like TurtleGray is the Bad Ending for every woman character involved.
After a brief appearance as she witnesses the Settlers arrive on the moor, the very first time we get to meet Bumble is when Gray Wing and Turtle Tail are hanging out on some sunny rocks. She's cheerful, outgoing, and curious, wanting to get to know her new neighbors.
Gray Wing, the POV character, immediately makes an incorrect assumption about her weight, thinking she won't be able to climb. She can, just fine, and she plays an Uno Reverse card on how skinny they are lmao
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First thing out of her mouth is, "Oh you are SKIN AND BONES!!" Same energy as grandma who is about to make you feel more full than you have ever been in your entire life, considering she's going to open her home to Turts in a couple chapters.
They get into a conversation where Bumble asks where they came from, and why they left the mountains. She remains friendly and open, just enjoying small talk with these total strangers. She's enjoyable and lighthearted, in welcome contrast to the Settler's group which is full of moping, miserable cats.
(and in my live-read I was even frustrated at the time by how it seemed like the Settlers would have 1 or 2 nice moments, and then go back to fighting or brooding. It's unpleasant.)
In this first interaction it's just a glimmer, but it seems that what Turtle Tail LIKES about Bumble is that she makes her feel special. She LISTENS, unlike how Gray Wing is going to be in a couple of chapters.
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She likes telling the shocking tale of giant birds to Bumble, and Bumble is happy that they're away from such hardships now. When Turtle Tail turns the questions back on her, Bumble is happy to gush about her life as a house cat.
She loves her people, playing with their children and always having plenty of food, explaining that when she gets bored she comes to the woods for a nice walk. Then, she mentions something very important.
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Historically, there WAS no aggression towards outsiders. Cats like Bumble didn't take what they didn't need, and were left alone for it. This first interaction paints the full picture. Bumble wasn't afraid of the Settlers because there never was a reason to be scared.
CLEAR SKY is inventing the borders to aggrieve random cats. Him. His idea. Before him, you could walk through the forest freely like Bumble did.
This is before the arc irrevocably goes up in flames at the end of Book 3 by committing to a Clear Sky "Redemption," and is forced to create One Eye and Slash out of nowhere for Books 4/5/6. Before that absolutely baffling mistake of a choice, it is clear that The Settlers are the problem.
There WAS no Slash or One Eye. They were retconned in midway through the arc to make Clear Sky and The Settlers look less bad.
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After this exchange, Turtle Tail dismisses Bumble's way of life and chuckles at a joke Gray Wing makes about how they'll probably never see Bumble again because she'll be afraid of them... but she's thinking about her. It strikes me as being the same kind of feeling as the swirling, murky feeling of a new crush.
Can't get the chunky kitty girl out of her head, can you, Turtle Tail?
We don't see Bumble for a few more chapters, but in her next appearance, it's implied she's been visiting Turtle Tail for a while. Gray Wing sees them sharing a meal. Please note how Turts is immediately defensive. As if she feels like she's being caught in the middle of doing something wrong.
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(Tangent: note the constant suspicion and aggression towards Wind and Gorse. who live here.)
Gray Wing is as oblivious as ever. For a character described as "wise" he's incredibly dense towards the feelings of others. Yet, always, ALWAYS, Bumble is cheerful. This brewing animosity is NOT returned, she's happy to see him again.
He tries to recruit her to the moor group and she enthusiastically declines with a "No way! I love my life, actually!"
As soon as she's out of earshot, Here Comes The Confrontation. The exact one that Turtle Tail correctly anticipated when she got defensive earlier;
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"You shouldn't have friends I don't approve of, Turtle Tail. It bothers me."
How can I NOT love Bumble? When her primary purpose is to be a friend for Turtle Tail, while Gray Wing is either ignoring her or sending her on guilt trips through this entire book? She's RELIEF for a woman who's being treated like trash, and every time she shows up she's doing something cute or helpful!
(Tangent: This book's pacing is garbage. The next scene is a sudden fox raid where a billion foxes attack the camp, and then the Settlers reveal that they don't know what a fox is. BUMBLE taught Turtle Tail about the danger of foxes. This is contradicted by the later books where there's cats back at the tribe named after foxes and Quiet Rain calls her shittiest son a foxheart. But there's waaay worse continuity errors in this arc.)
Gray Wing, the POV, hates her for no goddamn reason. It's right there on the page that he can't give Turtle Tail an answer as to why she should stop hanging out with her. The two continue to fight as Turts desperately tries to salvage their relationship while Gray Wing finds ways to snap at her or offend her.
I think the next appearance of Bumble is actually the most cringeworthy, though. I get secondhand embarrassment reading this one.
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Turts just stayed with her friend overnight, and Gray Wing throws a fit about it, hissing at her that she's using the wrong terms and that she's forgotten where she belongs. Bumble watches this all happen like 😬, and then when Turtle Tail apologizes for this asshole having a conniption, he hisses AGAIN and whines about how he doesn't need to be apologized for.
But Bumble, up to her very last appearance in this book, is helpful and open.
After Gray Wing is nearly slaughtered by Fox at the border on Clear Sky's orders, so he kills him in self defense, causing Clear Sky to disown Gray Wing as his brother, which is the final straw for the pregnant Storm to run off, and then The Pacing Brothers have a casual chat over the still-warm corpse of the dead lackey, the input lag finally sends the signal to Gray Wing's brain that he needs to go find Storm.
It's BUMBLE that tells him where she can be found, as always, cutting through tension. Turtle Tail stays behind because she's understandably fed up with Gray Wing, so Bumble brings him where he needs to go. She guides him through the town, over roads, to the abandoned building where Storm is staying.
Gray Wing whines the whole time because he is a loser.
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It's also interesting to me that when Bumble's annoyed with him, she doesn't huff or even get rude. She just glances back, and points out that there's disadvantages to his lifestyle too. You get used to it.
In better books, Gray Wing's POV would be considered unreliable in the end. He's an oblivious jackass whose thickness causes him to treat other people poorly, EXCEPT for his monstrous brother, whose violence and abuse he enables through the entire series. Though he's hailed as a "perfect boy so very full of love," he causes a LOT of the problems in his own relationships and familial dynamics.
Smarter books would encourage you to step back and think critically about the events as he perceived them;
Why did his judgement of Bumble begin to harden as Turtle Tail spent more time with her? Did Bumble do anything to deserve this?
Did Gray Wing's behavior lead to Turtle Tail's eventual decision to leave the moor? Were there other factors?
What are the flaws he can identify about himself? How will he grow from this?
Are there broader problems with The Settlers, which may have influenced the mindsets of both Turtle Tail and Gray Wing?
Unfortunately with Gray Wing, the only thing they identify as a "problem" in how he treated Turts in The Sun Trail is that he spent less time with her, as he pursued Storm. The controlling behavior and frequent arguing, the condescension, and the public embarrassment are NOT treated as negative traits to address as the series goes on.
(they never are. These are not directly addressed in any of the other terrible men in the series; Clear Sky, Bramblestar, Raggedstar, etc. only paternal neglect is condemned. Men are even allowed to beat their kids and it will not be called out.)
And breaking through that lens, you see Bumble. Who is just here to be a person that Turtle Tail needs, a good friend, someone who's confident, self-assured, and LOVES the life that she lives. I can't help but feel joy every time she walks onto the screen in The Sun Trail, because Gray Wing is SO frustrating that I'm rooting for Turtle Tail to go somewhere that she'll be appreciated.
It's as if they NEEDED to invent Tom the Wifebeater, who spawns in like some kind of random event just before Thunder Rising (the humans just... went to the shelter and adopted The Worst Cat. No checks on if he's aggressive towards other cats or anything), so that Turtle would HAVE some kind of reason to leave. Because, as you can see here, she wouldn't have gone back otherwise.
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folklauerate · 4 months
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I’ll say something else while I’m here-one of my biggest issues with Bridgerton s2 was the lack of cohesiveness. Jesus Christ no one is upset with characters making unlikable decisions and if you want a wedding for the sake of drama, Shondaland, have a fucking wedding, but make it earned! And on top of that, the wedding episode had the fucking audacity to be boring as shit! Just all trodding on and operating off of the assumption the viewer would be aghast and would sit through nearly an hour of boring yawn snooze because there were “stakes” and it seemed like the main pair might not get together. Like for fuck’s sake have as much drama as you like but at least make it well written! Instead the wedding episode is a dirge and not because it’s a reflection of some character’s mental state or any seemingly deep reason, no; it’s like they decided there would be a wedding and shrugged when it came to getting the character’s there. It doesn’t count as good writing if you’ve spent the past months/years trying to wrap your head around or write fic around the reasons why x decision by y characters make sense to fill in gaps that shouldn’t be there in the first place and that’s all this fandom has done.
People’s issue with side plots taking up too much time isn’t really that they take up too much time-it’s that none of them follow a set of overarching themes of the season and feed into them or a main storyline in a significant way, giving the illusion to the viewer that they’re completely separate from the romance at the core and therefore taking away from it, as opposed to everything being harmonious.
On top of that, the characterizations are so fucking varied and there’s a large tonal shift between s1 and s2 in terms of the way the Bridgersibs interact with one another. Siblings can fight and be rude and whatever to one another but for them to turn into completely different people out of nowhere is so ??
And on the topic of characterizations-WHERE WAS KATE’S??? Anthony gets 28363938 motivations for why he is the way he is and then is honestly left floundering with all of them, until you’re honestly a bit ?? as to why he can’t marry for love, and then you get Kate who is just… There. Why can’t she marry for love? Why is she hellbent against marrying? Why is she prioritizing her family’s finances and Mary/Edwina above herself? What conversations did she have with her father before he died to make her this way or was she always like this? What were their lives like in India? I could keep going! At least in the book you get some half hearted “I’m too ugly and old to get a match” reason but in the show no one is going to fucking believe Simone Ashley is too ugly or old to get whatever lord she wants 😭✋ and THEN???? To top it all off-Kate and Anthony don’t have a single meaningful discussion around an entire eight episodes!!!!! Not one!!!!!!!!! What fucking growth happens between them fucking and the coma and then their fucking dance to have them propose? If the actors themselves had to invent all these so called secret conversations their characters had in between everything to make things make sense, I really don’t think that’s a hallmark of good writing. They rush that happy ending in there at the end and it feels like they forgot they had to end the fucking show with these two characters together and they just said “fuck it let them kiss” and that’s what we got. WHAT CONVERSATION OF SUBSTANCE DID THEY HAVE. And what fucking argument can you make that it’s okay that it didn’t happen on screen??) NONE!!! It’s TV! It’s a VISUAL FORMAT??? Oh my god.
I told myself I wouldn’t rant about this, just redirect people to walle’s thoughts on this, which is (in her own words) how she sat shiva for the fucking wreck of what Bridgerton s2 is. Walle if you don’t know wrote a thousand cuts and s2 was the nail in the coffin for her. It was so so so bad. It went against such basic principles of storytelling. The writing was so abhorrent. It was insane. And to defend it feels more insane it feels like you’ve been taken hostage by this damn show and you’re writing thinkpieces on tumblr and twitter to make it make sense!
What grates me is that it really could’ve been good. The juice was there. The actors are amazing. The production team is clearly so so dedicated and hard working. IT WAS ALL THERE. Honestly the way the show was marketed in the trailer feels completely different from how it came out and I have to think there was some fuckshit going on behind the scenes given the large tonal shift during/after ep 4 and CVD’s hasty and odd departure.
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celaenaeiln · 6 months
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The bimbofication of Dick Grayson is sad but I also feel like a lot of it has to do with his place in the batfamily and fitting a certain role which is different from his role as part of the Titans fam. Like there is a reason he gets killed off in a lot of Batfam stories and or he takes up the role as Batman despite wanting to make a name for himself as Nightwing. I’m not a huge Dick Grayson fan but that’s because my introduction to him was through the Batfamily and he was always portrayed rather silly or kind of the butt of the joke to Barbara Gordon’s know-it-all-ness (I love her but that’s how it feels) , but then I would read his interactions with the Titans and I actually became more invested in his character even if the writing is a bit outdated.
This goes for his relationships too, he used to be portrayed as a one woman man but then Dixon got a hold of him and suddenly the tiring trope of guy is a bit of a playboy except for that one girl who is the love of his life took hold and it hasn’t left since. I miss the Dick who meet this out of this world (literally) woman and who grew to love each other and watching him grow into a man who learned to love in a passionate way and who learned that people were different from him.
Even a lot of his newer relationships have a lot of depth (like with Bea Bennet or Shawn) but then they get axed. Taylor isn’t really writing anything that hasn’t been written before, like Rebirth Dick wasn’t that great and Rebirth DickBabs was childish and Dixon had some takes on Dick but Taylor has really has highlighted a lot of that bad writing and It’s crazy that it’s becoming the most popular iteration of Dick Grayson and even Barbara Gordon.
og post in reference
Absolutely!
There was the comic thing DC released during an event with all the heroes talking to the reader like they were in the Office, and Dick's was, "I'm the nice, funny one."
Now that's funny because Roy literally refers to him as uptight. The statement is true but it's a lie by omission. It doesn't take into account his craziness, his leadership, his dedication, his intelligence, his prowess, his good-standing - nothing! "Nice, funny one." I think Ra's would've run a sword through the writer's heart at that, given that he was easily defeated by the "nice, funny one."
Aside from that I can't really speak to the dumbification of Dick in Batfamily comics because I think most of them have done a good job but I used to see it a lot in fandom. It's much less now but five years ago, there was so much fandom content about incompetent himbo Grayson and some writers genuinely meant it too. Which I don't understand because nowhere in the Nightwing comics is Dick ever written as being dumb. The Batman comics (1940) and (2016) also do a fantastic job of writing him. His fighting ability, his emotional intelligence, his IQ, all of it is there and off the charts!
I guess the main thing with Dick's role in the batfamily is he's seen as an authority figure. He's Batman's second in command and seen that way by both Bruce and the rest of the family. So if some major disaster were to occur, he would need to be killed off because he's both of exceedingly high emotional value to Bruce or because he's going to be the next person in charge and god forbid that happens because the apocalypse would end then.
I mean, the villains made the mistake of leaving him alive in Convergence and he literally reset the universe back to how it's supposed to be.
So there's no way they can leave him alive because of that. Also his death fuels Batman to end whatever crisis the world is facing so that's an important plot event.
But the Barbara Gordon arm candy.
I am certain. That the idea of Dick being stupid comes from him being with Barbara Gordon. No where in the Nightwing comics, Batman comics (both!), Red Robin comics, Robin comics, Titans comics, Justice League comics, and other DC comics is Dick ever written to be stupid EXCEPT when he's written with Barbara.
Take this nightwing panel for instance
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Nightwing (2011) Issue #27
or this
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Nightwing (1996) Issue #42
and then take this
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Convergence: Nightwing/Oracle Issue #1
AKA: I'm smart. You're dumb. Now shut up and leave because you're too stupid to understand.
The arrogance. This is the same shit Bruce would pull except when Dick asks, Bruce actually tells him.
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Justice Leagues: Justice League of Atlantis
Barbara in the Nightwing comics isn't the best but at least it tracks with her own personality in her own comics and the Batman and Bird of Prey ones. The best Barbara Gordon depictions I've seen are through Cass and Stephanie's Batgirl comics funnily, but the Barbara Gordon Batgirl comics have the worst treatment I've seen of Dick in all of DC.
This is where I think the idea Dick is dumb orginates because it's definitely not coming from Tim or the Titans or Batman. It also makes sense if that's the case since Dickbabs is such a huge thing in this fandom.
I miss when Dick would just be with Kori through everything. They were so in love! I genuinely believe they could have worked out their problems or at least gotten back together but DC will never let that happen for logical reasons. If Dick marries Kori, he's going to end up spending all his time with the Titans which would be bad for the rest of the family because they need him when they have problems or just to hang out. It's a lot more convenient for them to have Tim hang out with Dick and Barbara if they were dating than him hanging out with Dick and Kori. Which is the biggest reason why Batfamily writers want to keep the romance within the family.
I will never accept the cheating thing because it was so out of character but I've kinda gotten used to him finding new relationships because I grown to fall in love with those characters. As long as he has meaningful relationships like with Bea and Shawn where it develops and grows, I end up loving it. My only requirements for his relationship is letting Dick be himself and letting him be happy. I was furious that whoever writer ended Bea's relationship and for what? "I'm sorry, I can't love you anymore, I got memories back." What kinda a reason is that?! It's not even remotely believable! I have so much to say but it's going to turn into a rant about how dumb the reasoning is.
Tom Taylor took all of Dick's fake worst traits and amplified them by a billion. Actually you know what? I get what's he's trying to do. He picked one trait of Dick's - caring - and trashed his entire life story at the expense of his intelligence, athleticism, humor (c'mon Dick was genuinely funny before this run, his humor did not suck), and wit to support this one little thing.
He wouldn't understand subtlety if it hit him in the face.
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4channerguy · 2 months
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HI HI HI HI! I just wanted to ask if you could do a Nagumo fic where he falls in love with reader after they took down someone twice their size with their ridiculous strength. And literally just punched the guy out of fear, they were in a mission with Sakamoto and Rion too but reader got ambushed if that makes sense😪 BASICALLY THAT MITSURI SCENE WHERE SHE'S FIGHTING THAT UPPER MOON AND SMACK THE SHIT OUT OF THE DRAGON TREE THING if you can't do it it's ok thank you for your time :33
scaredy-cat / nagumo
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ngl i never expected anyone to actually put smthing in my inbox but thank you!! dear anon!! not the proudest of this fic but i think its a little goofy. sakadays is a fandom where i dont think about a lot but i love nagumo my baby girl!!! also there's not a lot of romantic things in here? i kind of rushed this fic TT also the reader's personality is more like kobeni than mitsuris because i never had really watched demon slayer that much lel i hope you enjoy it :3 xoxo (。・∀・)ノ
wc: 1036
warnings: gender neutral reader, fluff-ish, not much romantic intent but use ur imagination ^_^ xanax mentioned.
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you were about to piss your pants. 
your palms were sweaty as you cradled the sheathed sword between your hands. your head was down as you looked at the ground. 
you were in a car with rion, nagumo, and taro. rion was bickering with nagumo in the front seat while taro was sitting quietly in the back with you. taro, being more observant than everyone else, sensed that you were nervous. well, you were always nervous…but he could tell it was more than being nervous. extreme anxiety perhaps. 
“...is everything okay on your end?” he asks. you nod, not being able to form a sentence properly. you were scared out of your wits. 
you were dragged by rion to join her and her crew (nagumo and taro) to a mission that you really, really, REALLY, didn’t want to go on. she bribed you with a pizza bun. out of everything. this trip was not worth a convenience store pizza bun. but you went because rion liked you and was very much your only friend. the other two however, you didn’t know that much except for rumors and whatnot floating around them. taro, was a man of few words. he wasn’t as emotionally interactive but he was kind to you so you didn’t mind. nagumo was an undoubtedly attractive tall man with dark hair and eyes. you only recognize him because he’s a classmate in one of your classes that he only shows up once a month in. you always let him borrow a pen or any weapon on you, and he was very talkative towards you. you had a feeling that he was observing you in class but you didn’t really pay mind to it. he was an assassin–a great assassin, so maybe that feeling was normal. if he weren’t an assassin, he’d make a great model or even an idol. you’d definitely be one of his fans. you were a sucker for pretty men. 
the car swerves to a stop while everyone goes silent (well, taro was always silent anyway). 
“we’re being followed,” rion quietly announces. 
you look cautiously behind you. you could sense a presence even though you didn’t visibly see anyone. you grip your sword even harder, you could feel a pool of sweat forming. rion sighs and pulls out a hidden pistol under her shirt. nagumo pulls out an swiss knife while taro face hardens as he looks behind him. 
“exit slowly,” taro says to no one in particular.
the four of you exit slowly, before any of you could react in time a gust of wind was felt. everyone turned around too late and everyone was thrown in different directions. except for you. for some reason. you were about to seriously throw up. 
“you fell into my trap,” the perpetrator sneers.
you turn around to see…the convenience store man?! you recall the time seeing this huge burly man as you were clumsily knocking everything over before ruining his display of various snacks on the counter. to be fair you were high on caffeine from an all-nighter. you also remember his face when you knocked them down, he looked astonished and angry that you almost wanted to become his employee to pay him back. but you fled out of fear that you would piss him off even more.
yeah, you were going to piss your pants.
luckily, rion swoops you out of the way before the convenience store man striked you.
“i’m really sorry about this, i never knew that this guy had a grudge on you,” she grimaces while pulling you up as she thrown both of you into the tunnel wall. “um…i’ll treat you, again, sorry.” you felt bad but before you could even accept her apology, she grins mischievously. “at least i got you out of your dorm for billions of years!” you retract your acceptance to her apology.
the man charges toward both of you before nagumo and taro block his way pulling out their respective weapons while rion pulls out her gun and shoots. as the three of them were distracted, another perpetrator behind you grabs you by the throat. 
“watch out!” nagumo yells, noticing you while the others swivel back in time with his voice. 
“sorry about this,” the monotone voice says. you turn just in time to see who was doing this to you, a woman with yellow eyes stares at you back. the janitor??? from the convenience store??? you were so, so, so, SO confused at this point. you didn’t inconvenience her (no pun intended) at all. possibly. who knows. it didn’t matter anymore anyway because you pulled out your sword and slashed her face because you were terrified. an automatic reflex that you had ever since you became an assassin.
the woman falls back in surprise and in shock as she looks up at you. a large gash on her face appears.
you were surprised too because you totally forgot you did that.
rion, nagumo, and taro were surprised (well only taro was because nagumo had a weird smile on his face while rion’s face was a mix between taro’s and nagumo’s expression).
the convince store man charges at you as the others were gawking at you, you even more terrified punch the shit out of the man with closed eyes. 
he crashes upon the tunnel wall as the others look at him in amazement and amusement. nagumo was really staring at you now, intensely trying to make eye contact with you as you looked away from this whole thing while walking briskly to the car. you needed xanax.
the car ride back to the school was quiet, but you could tell that they were somehow telepathically talking about you. you shrink into the car seat. when the car is pulled to a stop and everyone gets out, you’re stopped by nagumo as the other two walk ahead of you. he smiles with closed eyes practically copying the “^_^” emote. 
“that was amazing, i knew there was something more to you!” he pats your arm as you slightly flush. “see you around, [reader].”
you could feel your heart beat even faster than the time where you punched the shit out of that guy. 
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⋆。𖦹 °✩ 02.24.24 , do not repost or translate my content :^)
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emilybahu · 14 days
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I love 9-1-1 so much!
I have fallen in love with tv shows before, watching episodes religiously as they aired weekly. 9-1-1 has been different for me though, it’s become more like an obsession. In some ways that’s bad, it’s consuming my mind a lot of times and it’s distracting me from other things I need to get done. However, really getting into the fandom of this show has also been wonderful for me, it’s made me so happy, actually getting involved with other fans and talking to people the last couple months has been so fun! You all are amazing, funny, talented people and I’m truly grateful that I’ve been able to interact with you!
Now, I’ve heard about some toxicity within the fandom, Buddie and BuckTommy shippers turning against each other and fighting about what’s best for the characters. (Which btw, isn’t really up to us anyway)
I personally haven’t seen a lot of that, who knows, maybe I’m just ignoring it because I don’t want to see it. Either way I always try to keep a very open and and neutral stance when it comes to shipping. I let myself enjoy the stories, the edits, the fan art, and the speculation. However, I also try to stay grounded in the reality of what’s happening in the movie/book/tv show.
When it comes to 9-1-1 right now, between Buddie and BuckTommy I’m not picking sides. I like both ships the same, and I don’t think that’s gonna change any time soon. I really, really enjoy both ships! (Plus the fan fiction for both are amazing, so I’m LIVING)
Buddie is part of the reason that I started watching in the first place, Buck and Eddie are my favorite characters. I love them both to death, and regardless of their relationship status they have something special, no one can deny that! Their friendship is beautiful and deep, they do truly love each other, they’re family, they will always be there for each other whether or not they end up in a romantic relationship. I’m honestly just happy to see them together in any capacity. And yes, I will happy, overjoyed even, if they decide to make Buddie cannon, but I’ll also be happy if their relationship remains as it is.
As far as Buck and Tommy go I was surprised when the kiss happened, but OH MY GOD… I was totally there for it! I’m actually really happy with this storyline so far, (even if the second hand embarrassment nearly killed me during the first date)I think that they’ll be great together, I really can’t wait to see them getting to know each other more! Wherever this goes, I’m here for it! I’m excited to see Buck explore his bisexuality with Tommy, and learn about himself through this relationship. I’m also excited to learn more about Tommy! And if they don’t end up being very long term, I really hope that they stay friends.
I’m really enjoying being into a ship that’s canon for once, it makes me really happy. I don’t think there’s ever been a ship (apart from these ones) that I’ve been into that have even had a remote chance of becoming cannon (Stucky… my first love!)
Anyway, I digress, the writers and the actors KNOW these characters, we know that if something felt off it the story, they’d want to do right by the characters. We know for a fact how much Oliver and Ryan love Buck and Eddie, and if it feels right and true to them Buddie will happen. If it doesn’t feel right to put them in a romantic relationship, to me, it’s fine because regardless we have these two men with an absolutely beautiful and meaningful friendship, and I’m always here for that!
All of this to say, all this fighting about “who’s right for who” isn’t doing anyone any good. I mean we’re all in this fandom because we love this show RIGHT!? Being on platforms like this is meant to bring us TOGETHER!
SO WHY THE HELL ARE SOME OF US TRYING TO RIP EACH OTHER APART BECAUSE WE HAVE DIFFERENT OPINIONS ON A DAMN SHIP!?
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions after all… so yeah, share your opinion, just don’t be rude about it. Putting someone down because they disagree with you doesn’t make you right… it just makes you mean. It scares people away, maybe makes them feel like they’re not safe in this community. I’ve seen it a couple times too, with myself and others, being afraid to make a post because of the possibility of hate.
In my experience you’re meant to feel safe in a fandom, in a community because you’re sharing your love for something with others who love it just as much as you do! We should love each other like we love these characters!
To conclude, all I need is for our boys to be happy, that’s really all we should care about here anyway. It shouldn’t necessarily matter who’s dating who, as long as they’re HAPPY! I’m really just along for the ride, I’m here for whatever they decide to do with Buddie and/or BuckTommy in the future. Buck and Eddie are my loves, and we barely know Tommy, but I’m starting to like him already, as long as they’re happy, I am too!
Thank you for reading my TedTalk…
Sorry if it doesn’t sound completely coherent, stringing words together isn’t always my strong suit…🫠
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awesomesaurous · 10 months
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-rant, please excuse the salt-
I really wish Don’t Starve Together was a different genre of game. I know that’s stupid because the objective “Don’t Starve” is the whole foundation of it, but I kind of just wish I could take the look and the loose story and make it more of an adventure and less of a never-ending survival game. I think in the Hamlet DLC for the base game, the “town” aspects of it scratched that itch a little bit, but I want more. The interface could even look exactly the same. I played the demo of Cult of the Lamb, and that game has a similar top-down 2D look to Don’t Starve, except there are in-game “cutscenes” and you have dialogue options which advance the creepy little narrative. Hollow Knight was good with this too. It’s a metroidvania, so there’s no crafting at all (I don’t consider status upgrades to be crafting), but like most RPGs with a silent protagonist, the story is furthered through exploration and interaction with NPCs. Some people love survival games, and I enjoy them quite a bit, but I like them to have an endpoint. The Flame in the Flood has a brutal difficulty curve, but it does reward you for your persistence, and it’s by no means impossible to beat. The journey takes you further and further along a river which at first seems endless - but it does have an end, and that’s what I want, I guess. Closure.
Hades is one of the most enjoyable games I’ve ever played, and the main reason was how much you are rewarded, even for failed attempts. You might totally choke on a run, but even so, every time you venture out you’re gaining more darkness/gems/etc that you can invest back into your stats and weapons. As in - there is no wrong way to play the game, you will move forward and improve no matter what. I love that. DST has finally dipped into this territory with Wilson’s skill tree, but I think they ought to give every character a similar mechanic. The skills would be specific to each character, and I think would give players more of an incentive to do repeat runs. At a certain point the whole game gets boring, and depending on my mood I sometimes boot it up, think about all the trees I’m going to have to cut down, and then immediately close the game, because I’m sick of doing virtual chores.
Stardew Valley was so addictive for me that I had to delete the game to get control of my life back. That game is nothing but farming and chores, yet I didn’t get tired of it. I think that’s because if you want to, you can ignore any aspect of the game you don’t care for, and time will pass anyway. You can spend all your time farming, or just mining, or focus on relationships with NPCs. Obviously with Don’t Starve, you can’t ignore food because starvation is an ever-present threat.
I also don’t give a damn about boss fights. I never have, in any game. I’m always eager for them to be over so I can get back to actually enjoying the game again, but nope I have to hit this thing 1000 times without getting permanently killed. Don’t Starve’s fighting system is shit, and it always has been. The hit boxes suck, and the fact that I need to download mods just to see health levels for the enemy is ridiculous.
I’ve had a lot of fun with DST, but I think I enjoy the fandom stuff more than the actual game. Same with TF2. It’s pretty fun to play, but I enjoy watching SFM videos and stuff like that more than playing the actual game. Don’t Starve has such fun characters and such an appealing style that it draws people in, and the animated shorts promise this wider world and a more intriguing story that isn’t in the actual game. Most players won’t even get to the cryptic hints at the story that are in the actual game (the Ruins, etc) due to the difficulty curve.
There’s a lot of creative energy and highly imaginative world-building, but when are we going to see it put to use? If anybody has any thoughts on all this, feel free to leave a reply.
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b0njourbeach · 1 month
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My Jade Leech Rant!
"Haha, funny Mushroom man!"
No.
The joke was funny the first 53 times but it's getting boring.
I get it, he spends a lot of time studying and growing mushrooms, he's fascinated in it, so it's easy to make it his personality. I get it, I really do.
But Jade is more than just some twisted merman version of Mario.
Possible spoilers for Book 3 and following. Proceed with caution.
For one, I feel like people often miss the part where Jade expresses interest in *all* kinds of plants - He loves the nature because he grew up in the deepest parts of the ocean where they probably barely had plants and even if they did, they definitely hadn't the kinds we have on land. And this one might be more my own guess but the - possible - reason why Jade is so fixated on mushrooms is the simple fact that they're relatively easy to grow (compared to other land-based plants) and let's be fair here: I don't think a merperson has automatically the needed skills for land-based plant-sitting. So, give a Mushroom a bit of light (optional), some moisture and something to feast on and everything's thriving (I'm guessing. Haven't grown a Mushroom myself before but I do know that they feast on pretty much anything, so).
Also, why is no one mentioning Jades passion for tea? It would actually work with the fandoms insane passion of comparing him to Sebastian (which - again - was amusing the first few times but it's getting annoying). He meets Kalim while studying tea and mentions he's quite interested in it (it was his School Uniform Vignette, if my memory serves me right) and in Ruggies School Uniform Vignette we learn that Jade is also always trying to improve his usage of Herbs of all kinds. His literal special item in the Guest Room is a TEA GUIDE.
And there's another thing I don't get in this fandom: Why does he have to be compared so often to Sebastian? Sure, they both have the "polite gentleman" personality but both of them have very different reasons to do so and last time I checked, Jade ain't a who knows how old demon who made a contract with a severely traumatized orphan just to have a quick snack on his soul later on. I watched Black Butler and as far as I'm concerned, Jade has more depth in his personality than "perfectionist cat loving demon butler for little British brat". But then again, thats just my hot take (and I never really liked Sebastian anyways. On another note: Stop comparing Riddle to Ciel as well).
As I said: Jade is trying to be a polite little guy but fails with elegance on hiding his rather sadistic nature behind a wide smile, leaving him with that everlasting aura of pure mischief which is rather charming in my personal opinion but many people find this more intimidating than charming. So a natural layer of Fear surrounds those who have to deal with Jade - Unless they share a similiar sight like him (as we can see in his interaction with Rook: Instead of being intimidating by the Hunters heartfelt Invasion of privacy, they end up giggling together, causing Riddle - the third wheel of this conversation - to feel mildly but certainly uncomfortable to the point where he left the two of them alone.
Jade is shady, no questions asked but I would like to remind you that Jade also grew up in a very different environment: Not only has he been growing up under the sea, he also had - most likely - fight to survive at some point. Not to mention that his family is heavily implied to be shady business and with shady business, there comes a shady mindset. While Floyd doesn't bother hiding this "setting" of mind, Jade pretty much does so. For what reason? There could be many but as far as I'm aware, we haven't been given a confirmed reason.
It could be a tactical strategy: If he can convince people to trust in the "polite" side of him, giving him the opportunity to surprise them with the true depth of his mind - Luring his enemies like a siren with charming manners, only to slaughter them in a dark alleyway. He openly admitted that he enjoys having control over someone's/somethings life and death (although this was more about the living organisms in his terrariums - Book 4 and his Halloween Card make me believe that this also applies outside of the glass.)
There's also something about Jades specific reaction whenever he shows his more.. Passionate side: He often stops himself and pauses for a moment, before saying that he's joking. In my eyes, he notices how uncomfortable the person in front of him is getting, quickly thinking of an excuse and choosing to pretend that he's joking - It would cause trouble in the future for him if he were to intimidate people to the point of them avoiding him at all cost. People who say things that could be very well from the depths of the darknet happen to freak people out - A lot. More often than not, the person with this knowledge only realizes *after* starting to speak that their words are not necessarily "normal" for the average person. And especially Jade, who - assumingly - grew up surrounded by all kinds of dark stuff, it's certainly rather difficult to adjust your personal average to societies average.
I can also see him as a very extroverted child who wanted to make a lot of friends but never had the chance because of several reasons (for one, kids were often scared of him and his brother and possibly due to family affairs he wasn't allowed or it was significantly more difficult/dangerous to make friends with your average neighbourhood joe. Additionally, many kids misunderstood his gentle teasing as insulting the others even though being mean was a part of his "love language"). I'm also almost certain that he always had to make up for Floyd's mistake growing up, leading him to have this habit even now where he cleans up Floyd's messes or tries to keep up with Floyd's moods the best way possible. Which leads me to one specific personality trait of Jade: He never had the chance to be himself. He always had to be something: Father needed him to be careful, brother needed stability, classmates needed to feel save enough to be comfortable around him, Azul needed a capable right hand. The only times where he was truly himself were the times he was alone - In the nature. In peace, in harmony, studying the land he had not seen before, for he was bound to the Sea.
He's just a guy who's trying to please everyone while also trying to hold onto his personality as good as he possibly can.
And now some headcanons for my favorite shady eel!
He definitely has at least one scar in the shape of a bite mark from fighting with Floyd as kids (including possibly several other scars because these two just can't not fight - Surprisingly, Jade would win most of the fights).
Everytime he gets overwhelmed by something or if he's too stressed, he just leaves for a few hours to go hiking and to just touch some grass to calm down again. He then proceed to cause some petty mischief to call it even (only ¼ of the time people actually knew it was him causing said chaos).
I can't explain this one but I feel like he would have a lactose intolerance.
Out of all three, Jade was the first one who nailed the walking - He struggles with other typical land-sport activities. (One of his worst enemies is couple dancing. It's the only social gathering he tries to avoid like the plague.)
Have I gotten all my thoughts on my dear eel? I hope so. If not, I shall add it later
Ps: I know it's manners but you don't have to thank me every time I answer your ask, dear. I'm enjoying the attention, so it's mutual benefit /lh
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floradinterlunium · 10 months
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The “In the Soop” Conversation...To Be or Not to Be True?!!? That is the Stupid Question
There are many lies that fly around the fandom. Lies that become so common people start to believe them or see them as true. I want to debunk some of these lies with facts! Feelings change...facts never do!
The first lie I want to tackle is that “The in the Soop Conversation between Tae and JK was staged.” Perpetrators of this lie claim it was staged for two reasons (A)Taekook said they never fought so that statement alone proves that conversation was staged and (B) There is no evidence that Tkk drifted apart so Hybe forced them to lie to cover their relationship.
Now there is a whole lot to process with those “justifications,” or “proofs” so let’s expose the lies in each point.
First, tkkers claim the “In the Soop” conversation between JK and Tae was a lie because Tae and JK said they don’t fight. As I write that claim I want to laugh but before we get to the utter nonsense of such a statement let’s look at the content of tkks actual discussion.
In this heart to heart Jungkook admitted that him and Tae were close as trainees but as they grew and started spending time alone things became awkward with Tae. Tae became became more quiet and reserved. JK also stated that they hadn’t had a heart to heart of late.
Tae reminded JK of a conversation they had as trainees where Tae asked JK to speak more casually with him because he wanted to be friends. But JK refused, his reasoning being it would have led to a lot of fights back then. Tae responded even though we would have fought more we would have also hung out more (if he had spoken casually).
The conversation basically ended with JK saying yeah but that was the decision he made then (implying you can’t change the past).
Now that we all have the gist of the conversation let’s review Tkkers first claim that “this conversation must be staged because Tae and JK don’t fight.” I ask you where in this conversation do either of them say that their relation changed because of a fight? JK said they drifted because Tae became more reserved and they became awkward. Tae said he thinks the reason they don’t jive as well is because JK didn’t speak casually with him when they were trainees which led to them not hanging out as much. Does any of that sound like they drifted apart because of a fight???!!!
Just a quick analysis of the actual conversation debunks the first claim. Tkk’s relationship didn’t drift because of a fight...it drifted because they grew apart due to personality and difference of preferences. Plain and simple. So the whole they don’t fight claim doesn’t prove that the conversation was staged! Because their relationship didn’t change due to a fight!
Secondly, Now that we’ve squared the first claim away and exposed it for it’s nonsense, let’s dissect the second claim, the “In the Soop” conversation was staged because there is no evidence that tkk drifted apart. Hybe forced them to say those things.
I remember back in 2016 commenting on the fact that Tae and JK didn’t seem that close. I had recently joined the fandom and as is tradition when you are knew you are fed the lie that Tae and Jk are the closest..I pushed back. I said in many private chats, anonymous post (I was a lurker) and youtube comments that Tae and JK actually didn’t seem close at all. But why take my word for it?
Take Tkkers own words.
For YEEEAAARS (starting in 2015 but amped up in 2016) Taekookers cried that Big Hit/Hybe were cutting out Tkk moments from BTS official content. They later rationalized that the reason for this was Big Hit was hiding tkks relationship by excluding their moments from official content.
Then when BTS Memories of [Insert year] started being released annually,  Tkkers cried more. These tears weren’t just about the fact that there was minimal Tkk moments or interactions it was that there was too much Jikook content. JK and JM were always shown together...with every memories starting with 2017 their interactions increase...if JK was being filmed JM was there...if JM was being filmed JK was there. Tkkers didn’t like this and started claiming that JM was Tkk beard. That the absence of TKK footage proved Big Hit was hiding Tkk and promoting Jikook
Taekookers THEMSELVES...For years acknowledge that Tae and JK weren’t seen together often. There was hardly a moment between Tae and JK between the years of 2016-2019. This lack of footage of the two of the together hanging out was very much so acknowledged but instead of jumping to the logical conclusion “they don’t hang out much” they made up a theory that Big Hit was hiding Taekook’s relationship with Jikook.
Years later the “In the Soop” conversation gives reason for the years of no footage showing Tkk. They simply weren’t that close. However, even though Tkkers THEMSELVES acknowledged back in 2015-2019/20 there was a hardly any tkk footage, they are now claiming they never saw a difference in Tkk’s interactions they’ve always been the closest.!?! 🤔 
I could cite for days the moments where Tae and JK prior to In the Soop alluded to the fact that they weren’t that close anymore. Tae in Run BTS episode 10 said JK always ignores him. In BV S2 JK says he doesn’t really have deep conversations with Tae...same season he said all love was loss a long time ago between him and Tae (he was clearly being dramatic but the sentiment was there). Muster (2016 I believe) Tae complains that JK hits him too harshly all the time. Let’s not mention their awkward lives where they barely spoke to each other. But I don’t have to really give anymore proof than that because TKKERS own past theories debunks their present one...In the Soop Conversation lines up perfectly with events...and they know it and saw it. 
Taekook said they drifted apart and relationship became awkward->for years we have Tae telling us JK ignores him, JK is too harsh with him, JK saying he didn’t speak to any members other than JM and Hobi during one of their loong breaks from work--meaning not Tae. Awkward lives where they even admit it’s boring.
Taekook say they will work on their friendship--> we see them hanging out more..their on camera interactions are still awkward but you can see them working on it. We even learn they are now hanging out together more.  
The In the Soop Conversation was a genuine discussion, which I’m 100% certain they fleshed out more of the raw details off camera. Their recount of events, facial expressions, JK’s awkwardness all scream honesty.
Hybe would have to be criminal masterminds and BTS the best actors ever to keep this charade going for so long while maintaining this much consistency.
Now I can’t end this post without addressing an elephant in the room...I am actually restraining myself from keeling over with laughter at this one: Tkkers really claimed that TKK never fight.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
What person on the planet can honestly think that two people who’ve known each other for 10 years have never fought!!!!! I cannot understand how people who can’t even understand basic human relationships gained so much power and popularity in this fandom!!
Yes, JK and TAe said they “never fight” after Jin accused them of arguing all the time. But to have taken that as anything other than playful banter is ridiculous! Also to find that statement more believable than them admitting to drifting apart is equally if not more ridiculous.
Friends and lovers....they all fight at one point or another. I don’t mean screaming match type fight I mean getting upset, disagreeing , arguing, needing distance etc. are all parts of 100% of human relationships. To believe that someone can know someone for longer than a year and never so much as get into an argument is beyond me! If you aren’t disagreeing or arguing with your friends or partner then I would question how close and comfortable the two of you are with each other! Like it makes zero sense that anyone would find validity in the claim that they don’t fight. Doesn’t seem like Jin believed them either...he called JK fire and Tae Ice...meaning polar opposites when in contact destroy each other. Like...I know Jin was playing but there is more truth in his words than an outrageous claim like “we never fight”
We are arguing constantly with people that possess the logic and reasoning skills of a third grader.
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nhasablogg · 9 months
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Stupid tickle fight
Fandom: Heartstopper (season 2 so might contain a couple of spoilers)
Characters: Youssef Farouk/Nathan Ajayi
Summary: They spend the night together and Youssef might be overthinking, well, everything.
A/N: @ongodihopenooneirlfindsthis wanted some Mr Farouk/Mr Ajayi, so I complied!
Words: 960
Youssef didn’t tell Nathan that he was his first, although Nathan could probably guess it. It hadn’t been what he’d imagined when he’d pictured his love life, but to be fair Youssef had never seen a man in the picture anyway, being so far in the closet he’d not put the pieces together until his 28th birthday when he’d left the club having made out with a stranger. He’d been thinking of his lips all night and came out to his best friend in the morning.
He felt silly for even putting Nathan in the vicinity of the concept of a love life, when all they’d done was share the night together on a stupid school trip to Paris, mostly because a student had decided to barf all over Nathan’s bed. It had been courtesy to offer to share his bed. It had been something entirely else to let Nathan kiss him.
“Mr Farouk,” Nathan said with a smile, cupping his face in a way that made him feel safe, as ridiculous as that sounded. “You can stop me anytime.”
And Youssef, having spent most of the school year pretending he hadn’t seen Nathan’s glances and that he himself wasn’t loving every second of it, didn’t stop him.
“Never call me Mr Farouk in bed again,” he said later, poking at Nathan’s side. “Unless you want me to call you Mr Ajayi.”
Nathan grinned. “Who says I wouldn’t like that?”
Youssef huffed out a laugh. “It’s weird, isn’t it?”
“It’s a little weird, yes,” he agreed and they both laughed, stupid teenagers at heart and Youssef wondered if this is what it was like for their students, who were running around the hotel giggling and thinking they were getting away with it.
“Should we stop them?” Youssef had asked before Darcy had shown up much too drunk and solidified that, yes, maybe they should’ve stopped them.
“Let them have their fun,” Nathan had said, smiling in that way that he always did while he thought of those kids. It was one of Youssef’s favorite smiles of his and he would often bring their students up just to see it.
On one hand, had they not let them have their fun they probably wouldn’t have ended up in the same bed, so maybe Youssef should’ve been grateful for it. He poked Nathan again just to have an excuse to touch him, this time aiming for his ribs with the intention of moving upward, to see him laugh, although Nathan seemed to be laughing for different reasons now. Youssef poked him again just to make sure he wasn’t imagining it.
“You’re ticklish.” It wasn’t a question and Youssef wasn’t smiling. Somehow, despite everything they’d done that night, it was this which made Youssef realize he might’ve bitten off more than he could chew with this one, that he couldn’t keep it casual for the life of him, and that he would transfer schools if Nathan decided to change anything about the way he interacted with him.
“A little,” Nathan admitted. “Just the ribs though, don’t get any ideas.”
Youssef swallowed, tried for playfulness although it didn’t come naturally to him. “Well, you’ve got plenty of ribs.”
Nathan started laughing before Youssef started poking him again, and maybe he should’ve expected it but the hand on his own ribs surprised him anyway as Nathan tried to launch a counter attack, turning it into a stupid tickle fight that had Youssef giggling like a child. His tickle spots were definitely not limited to just his ribs, which Nathan discovered quickly. He was almost grateful, because it introduced him to a new smile which would compete with that fond one he was so, well, fond of: one of pure delight.
“Do you give up?” Nathan asked, having pinned him to the bed with a hand hovering over Youssef’s armpit, fingers wiggling so tauntingly it was nearly too much.
But Youssef found he wasn’t ready for it to stop, wasn’t ready for the touching and playfulness and teasing words to end, even if it meant he embarrassed himself with how giggly it turned him, how much he blushed each time Nathan paused to let him breathe.
He jutted his chin out. “Never.”
Nathan tilted his head. “Oh really? Suit yourself then.”
Youssef almost screamed when the fingers dug into his armpit again, gentle yet firm in how they curled into the skin. Nathan had his arm pinned with his other hand, having straddled his hips in a way that Youssef would think of for weeks to come. His own free hand was of little use, although he did use it to tickle Nathan’s ribs when he felt he couldn’t take it anymore, which promptly made him stop.
“Hey!” He covered the spot which Youssef had poked. “That’s cheating.”
“How is that cheating?�� Youssef asked, his voice laced in a laugh. “You’re the one torturing me.”
“I didn’t hear you complaining.”
Maybe his words had carried too much truth, or maybe he’d seen the way Youssef had flushed, because Nathan was suddenly getting off of him and Youssef found he missed him already.
“I kind of fancy room service,” he said. “You reckon they’re still open?”
Youssef shifted on the bed, aware of how undressed he was. “You could check.”
Nathan grabbed the phone off the bedside table. “What do you want? My treat.”
Youssef shook his head. “I’m not hungry.”
“You sure?”
He nodded and said, trying to be funny, “Dinner usually tends to happen before nights like these, right?”
Nathan laughed. Youssef wished so badly that he would kiss him again.
Much later, after Youssef had been freaking out for several days straight, Nathan took him out to dinner and then kissed him all night.
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olderthannetfic · 3 months
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https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/740136068340482048/the-funniest-dni-i-ever-encountered-in-all-my-12?source=share
As a House Martell stan, it's been interesting to watch the evolution of that particular corner of the ASOIAF fandom over the years. For a while, because they were less present on the show (and their actual focus on the show was pretty bungled), they were mostly the favorites of superfans who'd read the books and therefore were deeply devoted to the whole ASOIAF universe, and given how much that means memorizing various types of Targaryen incest over the years, were almost never antis. A lot of people were also drawn to that they were the ~sexy, liberated house, as well as there being a fair number of POC who identified with some of the few non-white people in those books who were actually fully-realized characters (in the books, not so much in the show). IME it was usually people who were also shipping a lot of the other popular "problematic" ships in the fandom like Jaime/Cersei and Sansa/Petyr Baelish.
Then, at some point - particularly after the show ended and the fandom shrunk a lot - it got infected with a bunch of people writing long essays about how Daenerys and the entire Targaryen family were inherently "white supremacist" (previously, it had been more common for POC and other fans who focused on anti-racism to stan Daenerys, and point out that what the final season did with her was some white bullshit that tried to conflate killing oppressors like slavers with killing poor downtrodden people) and there ended up being a fandom fight between those people who saw the Targaryens as the more racist house or the Starks, but they all stanned Martells but in a very shallow sort of way just because they were the POC house. It's also worth nothing that Dorne has equal primogeniture - women can inherit, and in the books it's Doran's eldest daughter, Arianne, who is his heir, even though he has two younger sons - and it also is more accepting of LGBTQ+ people and bastards and general "sex outside of marriage" than most of the rest of Westeros, so it attracts a lot of people who are into them for that reason. I mean, I like them for that reason among others, but of course that's going to be a magnet to people who want to prove that they're extra special progressive for stanning them over like, the Lannisters.
Also, probably worth noting, the people in the second group were generally younger. Book-centric fans generally tend to be older IME in ASOIAF fandom. I feel like whenever a fandom is younger, there's more likely to be more anti behavior.
Anyway it was very weird to get back into ASOIAF when I read Fire and Blood and then when House of the Dragon started airing, and feeling like "my corner" of the fandom had become completely unrecognizable in my absence.
Also, I suspect it's probably drawing in some people who just really like Pedro Pascal. (It was better when it was drawing in the Alexander Siddig stans from DS9 fandom, snerk. Although even that fandom has had an obnoxious influx of younger purity-policing virtue-signalling types discovering it these days, writing stupid discourse about how Garak/Garashir is problematic and people should instead ship characters who don't like each other that much and don't interact much one-on-one because the combinations of them are more progressive or something.... sigh! Anyway, probably not helped by the fact that Game of Thrones completely wasted him, even though his character was one of the best ones in the books and a big one that drew me into loving House Martell. He would've been great as book!Doran, but alas....)
I'm also going to say that as others have pointed out, I'll always be mystified by the fact that ASOIAF even HAS antis. If you're that opposed to incest, age-disparate relationships, violence, etc. anything controversial, how can you stan the actual canon of that show? Or the books, which arguably have even more rape and incest and ephebephilia going on. It just seems like you'd have to have a very adversarial relationship with canon to a point that I just don't understand why you don't pick another fandom. Of course, it's probably really just that antis are hypocrites.
--
Hypocrites, yes. But also drawn to material that they're not comfortable being drawn to. The younger they are, the more the cognitive dissonance makes them act out.
I don't condone it, but I do understand it.
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rockybloo · 2 months
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Ur honestly brave asf for that recent post because people can get really nasty about that type of discourse, and you spoke nothing but facts. i wish you nothing but peace and hopefully people can learn how easy it is to simply block and move on instead of making a big stink about content they don’t vibe with.
For context for the people who might not know
Thank you!
And, like I said, the older I get and the more I witness the internet and the world itself change, the more I just...feel no desire to get into drama around fictional content.
HELL--I don't even get into fandoms anymore. I just like what I like and keep to myself because I get easily annoyed with surface level fandom drama like people disagreeing with ships for the smallest of reasons when the two pairs of characters people are fighting with AIN'T EVER EVEN CANON IN THE SOURCE MATERIAL!
THE WAY I SEE IT--The internet is a series of tubes (at the bottom of the ocean that occasionally is nibbled on by sharks and other marine life) and is contained in boxes on people's desks.
Working a job where I interact with actual people on a daily and not pfps with usernames has put into perspective how dumb a lot of internet discourse really is and I always feel some typa envy for the regular person who is just vibin' unaware of the digital fuckery.
The longer I've been around, the less free time I have as well. So these small little gaps when I don't gotta work or sleep, I try to take advantage of and treat myself, often with my own OCs.
I think the proper word to use for how I feel about the internet is "jaded". I now understand the power of touching grass. The world is a big and wonderful place where the average human will not care I made a 30 tweet long thread about someone. Or that I tweet at all!
And what sucks is that saying the simple phrase "I do not care about online discourse about fictional media" will cause a buncha people to immediately go "WELL WHAT IF SOMEONE IS DRAWING INCEST OR UNDERAGE OR NONCON DOES THAT MEAN YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT" because the internet LOVES some extremes.
And, as I've stated before, I don't fuck with fuck shit. And those things I just stated are fuck shit. Just because I am not constantly making posts upon posts about people creating that content DOESN'T MEAN I support or condone it. I block people who create that stuff. The law and higher forces will handle 'em where it's fit. I don't need the stress in my life of dogging on someone constantly to try and get them to stop doing weird fictional stuff because I know, FOR A FACT, they will not stop and I am wastin' my time. I have seen it so many times where people that get outted as weirdos do not change. Some actually celebrate their "cancellations"
I've seen so many people who spend their time online trying to be a "hero" and cancel the weirdos of fiction only for it to come out that they themselves are some other type of weird and, because their squeaky clean image they've tried so hard to maintain is ruined, they bail out. Or they will get overwhelmed with the stress or all the drama and stop posting. Or some other "bad end".
When you constantly try to portray yourself as having higher moral standing, you keep making that pedestal you accidentally are placing yourself on higher and higher so it eventually becomes unstable and topples over from even the smallest mistake you made because the internet ain't loyal. Supporters can become "I KNEW THEY WERE A WEIRDO" in less than 3 hours.
The only good I see in making a post about someone being a weirdo is that it alerts other people who might not know so they can unfollow. And even then, I have made it a task for myself where I read all of a post I can so I can craft my own opinions on someone since things have gotten to a point where if you don't gotta be making genuinely fucked up content to be seen as bad.
Humans are messy creatures and the internet is a messy place. And I wasn't placed on this planet to try to clean up either of those things. All I gotta do is stay black and die...and draw my OCs, of course.
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orionsangel86 · 1 year
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Aa someone who pretty much threw away all their hope as soon as SPN cons started up again after the finale, it is a really crazy position to be in now to have to once again adjust my views and reconsider everything thats been said over the last 2.5 years.
I quit spn fandom and stopped paying attention to cast interviews because frankly:
Jared literally does nothing but spew the absolute worst most rancid takes I have ever heard to the point that I genuinely believe the man is completely deranged and has no idea about the show he filmed for 15 years
Misha has basically given up hope and stopped caring. He started off fighting to ensure people took the confession seriously, and seemed genuinely proud and passionate about ensuring people understood the love confession was legit and Cas knew exactly what he was saying, but over the years it seemed like he was broken down behind the scenes and forced to toe a company line of ambiguity for some unknown suspicious reason. Now he's back to resorting to jokes most of the time.
Jackles though, Jackles has until this point always been a fucking head fuck of a mystery. The "sexy silence" post finale. The sole interactions being with Misha and about the confession. The way he gushed about the confession shortly after it aired before the finale. Then the production company, The Winchesters, the J2 messy public fallout and cringy PR fake reassurance of love for his "brother". The fact that in every con up until this point he has kept any answers about the confession abiguous and deliberately vague - always playing both sides, always trying to keep ALL fans happy whatever they believe about the show. The attempt to explain it as Cas not feeling love the way humans do at one point (much to fandoms horror).
I admit I have joked many times about the "jackles long con" (the conspiracy theory that ever since he found out how spn has ended he has personally been on a war path to fix things and give us a satisfactory ending for Dean and Cas) but I was always in 2 minds about whether it was legit a thing. I believed he wanted to fix Dean's ending somehow yes, but I always figured Cas's story was an afterthought the same way Sam's was. I had no delusions that Jackles would legit want to give closure to the confession and give us reciprocated Destiel - whatever that may look like. It just didn't seem like a thing Jackles would want to do. Save Dean? Yes definitely. But actually make it canon that Dean is bisexual and madly in love with his angelic best friend? Even on his most Destiel friendly days I have never been able to truly believe that.
But this latest response from him at jibcon is veerrrry interesting. To plainly state that he hopes the confession is addressed. That he wants to see that. Its the first time he's ever mentioned it in non vague terms.
Look I have no hope of a fanfiction style sappy romantic destiel reunion scene in the Winchesters or whatever. But for Jensen to genuinely give a clear and thoughtful response about what he thinks that would look like, that he thinks Dean would want to talk about that, and address it, that is certainly progress beyond anything we've had from him before.
One of my friends in our group chat raised the thought of Jackles addressing the confession only to have Dean tell Cas he's sorry, but he doesn't feel the same way. THAT is a terrifying thought, but I gotta ask, would Jackles really do such a thing? He knows exactly how much Destiel means to the fans. He knows how important it is, hell, he was online watching the Nov 5th fallout along with everyone else. If it wasnt important, it wouldn't have trended above the US election. He would alienate the majority of his fanbase. Remember, he has already technically picked a side - something I thought he would never do. The Jared stans and bronlies and Destiel haters all loathe him now. They curse his name as much as Misha's ever since he dared to exclude Sam/Jared from The Winchesters. Jensen isn't an idiot, he knows who his main fanbase is, and that is proved even more obvious by The Winchesters itself, which according to my friends who watch it, is very pro Destiel. My friend described it as what SPN could have been were it not for Jared and Bob Singer - a kinder, friendlier, queerer, and more equal, show. I haven't watched it so I can't comment, but I see so many people say that this among other recent behaviours proves that Jackles is on our side.
I am of course still a bit hesitant to give him so much credit. I'm not gonna stamp him with a big HELLER FRIEND stamp like the one we stamped on Misha years ago. But I am feeling more positive towards him than I have in ages.
Ever since the confession, the official stance on Destiel seems to be to keep it as vague and ambiguous as possible. To never confirm or deny anything especially when it comes to Dean. This has been frustrating, but has kept the door open at least.
By Jackles stating today that he wants the confession addressed and even hinting that it may be in the cards sooner rather than later, tells me that a decision has possibly been made.
The ambiguity has got to go. Dean either reciprocates or he doesn't. Those are the only options available.
If, as it has so often been teased and alluded to, Cas is going to make an appearance in The Winchesters, Jackles would surely need to get Misha on board with his plans. Misha who has been firmly on the side of Destiel since day 1. Would Misha really agree to step back into Cas's shoes only to have his heart broken by a rejection from the man he loves? I don't think he would.
So surely, the only way for the confession to be addressed is to go with the other option. Full reciprocation.
Who else is there to even object anymore? Jared? Fuck that guy? Bob Singer? That old asshole has no power anymore. The CW? Maybe. I dunno what Jackles situation is with the execs and how much power he has over the Winchesters stories. But perhaps he's been able to convince them? Given the state of queer media in 2022 and how rapidly the world has moved on from tolerating CW style queerbait.
Shows like OFMD, Good Omens, The Sandman, IWTV, WWDITS, etc etc... they have proven that queer is popular. It brings in cash. The CW has always been sitting on a goldmine with Destiel, which has never really stopped being popular, even now. They were fools to not go all the way the first time around, and after the queer media boom of 2022 they look like even bigger fools. I still have my own beliefs about the circumstances that prevented a proper destiel ending (mostly to do with the business of the one star the CW were holding onto at that time and his stupid cop propoganda show) but considering all that has happened since then, were the CW given another chance to explore Destiel now, I think they'd be absolute fools not to take it.
Anyway, the point of all my rambling is this: I think I'm back on board. Laying it all out logically, if Jackles is gonna address this, he's gonna do it in the way that will be the most popular, and generate the most publicity, engagement, and ultimately, cash.
In other words: we may see yet ANOTHER "Destiel is canon" day before the decade is over.
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greenhappyseed · 1 year
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Very spicy salty and lengthy rant incoming. This is part 1 of 2, focusing on All Might (with Izuku and Katsuki), while part 2 will focus more on Ochako and the 1A reunion. I’m trying to help myself feel better about how deeply I dislike the “Dark Deku” and Star & Stripe arcs because I need to excise the real-life anxiety I’m feeling over this coming up in the anime. IMO, these arcs did not age well at all, and are absolutely no better in light of the ~35 subsequent chapters. It’s just that the subsequent chapters feel more cohesive and well thought-out despite Horikoshi’s physical pain and burnout.
While I’m not emotional over fictional characters, it is true that these arcs have impacted the fandom; namely, many people who were fans of All Might, Aizawa, Midnight, Mic, and the overall UA vibe dropped out. I get that sense from some LOV fans too. Overall, it means far fewer fics and art pieces with my blorbos, and it’s also meant far less interaction with my blog. (I don’t give a damn about “engagement” or followers, but I like talking about my hyperfixation with others who share it!). Obviously the story has to change as the series end draws near, but spending SO much time with Endeavor, Hawks, and Jeanist has worn me out, even if I think Horikoshi is handling Endeavor’s character growth well. (FWIW, I’m utterly disinterested in “Hawks the Optimist” who inexplicably became the expert on how OFA works, and Jeanist is…well…you know…a male model.)
Aside from everyone’s basic rant about how Horikoshi introduced two hot middle-aged women only to more or less fridge them (after killing Midnight!), my real complaint in this post is that the Dark Deku & Star arcs made a complete mess of All Might’s character arc and in-universe relationships. Don’t get me wrong — Chapter 326 with Stain seemed like something Horikoshi had planned since the early days of the manga, and that one hit HARD. But the rest felt like an improvisation. It’s horribly inconsistent on (1) when All Might speaks up and when he can’t bring himself to talk, and (2) how his relationship with 1A is handled compared to Star.
When it comes to All Might’s failure to speak up, it feels like Horikoshi was nerfing All Might and reducing what we know the former No.1 is capable of doing. I mean, in Chapter TWO he stops Izuku from overdoing his training. After Kamino, All Might helps Izuku develop Shoot Style by telling Izuku point blank that he’s trying too hard to imitate his mentor. In the Overhaul/Nighteye arc, All Might refuses to support Izuku’s desire to take on a work study because he thinks it unnecessarily exposes Izuku to villain activity AND Izuku needs to strengthen his Shoot Style first. (The awkwardness with Nighteye is his third reason.) When Izuku persuades him about getting stronger under Nighteye’s guidance, All Might carefully asks himself if Izuku is being impatient just because Izuku is his successor before agreeing to let Mirio do the introduction. When Izuku confronts All Might over Nighteye’s prophecy, All Might makes SURE Izuku is ready to hear an uncomfortable truth and then proceeds to tell him everything. In the next arc, All Might encourages Izuku to use whatever support items he needs, even though All Might always chose to fight with just his body. All Might is protective of Katsuki and Shoto too — when they want to jump out of the taxi and fight the Cider House gang, he tries to get them to slow down and “assess the situation first.” In all these situations, All Might can’t physically stop his students (and is usually on the losing end of the argument, as happens with argumentative teenagers™️), but he uses his voice to speak up and make his opinion known.
At the beginning of Dark Deku, things are looking okay. All Might gives up on the secrecy that defined him early on and tells Hawks and Jeanist everything when he realizes secrets didn’t keep people safe. That’s good, I think, but he didn’t seem to consult Izuku about it. Based on context clues, and how All Might initially wanted Izuku to stay at UA (again, he spoke up!) I think his motivation was to recruit the pro heroes to protect Izuku at the hospital and at UA. It sort of makes sense he would move fast and wouldn’t ask Izuku’s permission to do that…but in front of Inko after Izuku wakes up, All Might DOES ask Izuku’s permission to tell her. A minor inconsistency, but all right. It’s made clear All Might is worried sick about Izuku, warning him not to go overboard (once more speaking up!). Hawks even picks up on All Might’s hesitation, telling him that Izuku has the right strategy and it’s on All Might to keep the kid propped up. All Might does not look pleased about this as he looks up in the sky towards Izuku.
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In helping Izuku, All Might fends off assassins and talks about how Izuku’s idolization of him weighs on him. It’s not just that he promised Inko he would live and look out for Izuku; he’s acutely aware his boy is just like him in ways good and bad.
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Yet when All Might sees Izuku struggle and he begins to see why Nighteye wanted him to retire, he can’t bring himself to talk to Izuku. Even though he understands Izuku’s feelings, he just can’t say a word. You would think seeing Izuku get shot, or barely escaping AFO’s mansion explosion, would prompt a conversation. But no, he says nothing. (Then again, nobody seems to remember Izuku was shot; no mention in the bath scene either.)
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At the same time, we see Nighteye pop up in All Might’s thoughts, but we don’t see All Might struggling with telling Izuku what Nighteye told him (that is, we have no idea if All Might still feels violated in some way by Nighteye’s actions). We also don’t see All Might worrying about Izuku realizing the Symbol of Peace was just a human being. All Might isn’t trying to keep up Izuku’s hope by hiding the real burden of being the symbol (besides, didn’t he pull back that curtain in, oh, CHAPTER ONE???) We aren’t given any solid motivation or thematic through line — he simply procrastinated on what he knew he had to do for an unsatisfying hodgepodge of invasive thoughts. That is inconsistent with the All Might we know.
Before anyone comes at me, All Might not telling Izuku about Nighteye’s prophecy is very different. In that situation, All Might honestly did not think Izuku needed to know because knowing would put MORE pressure on Izuku than necessary. In Dark Deku, it’s the opposite, and All Might knows talking to Izuku could help relieve pressure.
I understand this is supposed to be All Might’s low point to lead into the Stain conversation. All Might is supposed to feel like “doing his best” didn’t prevent society’s downfall and didn’t stop his boy from repeating his mistakes. But…it feels like Horikoshi tied his tongue because that’s what needed to happen for plot reasons, and Horikoshi just wanted it to happen quickly. We still don’t have a good character reason why. Would it have been so unbelievable that Izuku, in his panicked state, brushes off All Might’s advice to rest? Or would that “break” Izuku’s idolization of All Might in a way that Horikoshi is still saving for the finale, where Izuku finally becomes his own hero without imitating All Might at all? I don’t have an answer, but it feels like we still could have had the same basic story beats without the bizarre characterization.
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The strangeness of All Might staying quiet also makes Katsuki’s argument to Endeavor in Chapter 319 feel funny to me. Katsuki is spot on that Izuku doesn’t take himself into account and All Might does the same thing. While Katsuki understands far better than Izuku that All Might is human, Katsuki doesn’t consider how protective All Might can be of Izuku. Katsuki doesn’t see (or understand, perhaps?) how All Might doesn’t want anyone else to be a Symbol of Peace the same way he was. Maybe that’s part of Katsuki’s idolization issues? Post-362, with Katsuki seeing All Might’s vestige and showing him the trading card, I think Katsuki never let himself appreciate that he had the former #1 in his corner, or that a person can, in fact, use their willpower to become a symbol that inspires a nation. Not to sound like Prince Harry in “Spare,” but maybe there’s also a tinge of lingering resentment over feeling left behind? There’s just something about Katsuki screaming to Endeavor, of all people, that you can’t leave Izuku and All Might alone together when Endeavor knows Izuku has already ditched All Might AND Endeavor and Hawks have already realized they’re “too slow” compared to Izuku. Of course it’s Hawks — who was saying Izuku made the right choice like Second and, uh, AFO — to announce that Izuku left All Might. There’s also Shoto yelling about how Endeavor “let them operate together,” but it’s not like Endeavor has enough credibility to control either Izuku or All Might.
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How does a #2 protect their #1 when they’re too slow? Can you ever “run alongside” someone whose power vastly outpaces yours, or is idolization all you can do? I think these are fascinating thematic questions, and Dark Deku makes a mess of them.
These problems compound in the reunion chapter, 327, which is really cute when it comes to the bath scene and the 1A kids, but is inexplicably confounding when it comes to All Might + the kids. Izuku clearly calls All Might multiple times to reconnect, but the man doesn’t pick up his phone. (I think we’re supposed to assume All Might is talking to Stain when Izuku calls, but…he couldn’t use the Hercules speech-to-text feature to tell the kid he’s driving over?) Then All Might just happens to show up at UA as Izuku talks about him, and gives Izuku a deep bow while saying sorry “for being of so little help.” He says nothing aloud about how he feels towards Izuku, and nothing aloud about being proud of 1A (though he basically thinks that in this chapter and again in 335). When Mina asks for an apology because he just disappeared post-war and left 1A with the Wild Wild Pussycats, he briefly says he’s sorry for any anxiety he caused, but quickly pivots to the need to prepare for “the battle that will decide it all.”
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Like the Stain conversation, I understand that this is supposed to be All Might stepping up and figuring out his place in the world post-retirement. He’s realized he passed the torch to Izuku and 1A, but that doesn’t mean he’s useless. He wants to join the fight with the kids; to catch up and run alongside them. And to do that, he….ditches them to join Tsukauchi and Endeavor. I do appreciate that All Might is open with Tsukauchi (and Sansa!!!) about his OFA experience. But he basically disappears from UA for two days to deal with Star and TomurAFO before coming back in 335 and then seemingly disappearing again before joining the UA faculty to discuss the Aoyamas. (As pictured above, Ochako and Tenya, then Katsuki, all rightfully call out All Might’s “I am not here” act in 335.) Are you really telling me that the man who cries over Aoyama’s reveal isn’t emotionally attached to the class and wouldn’t, you know, BE HERE for them?
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What makes All Might’s absence from 1A even more problematic is that now he’s…Star’s mentor??? See, All Might sends out the call for help from his international super friends and Star comes riding in acting like she’s his successor. Chapter 364 later reinforces this, with Agpar’s monologue about “children observing adults and adults supporting the children as they pass it forward” showing a Prime All Might reach out out his hand to Star. It’s stupid because All Might has a direct successor already, plus two students (Katsuki and Shoto) that are direct heirs to other parts of his legacy, and another group of students that he’s been hands-on teaching for the past year. But Horikoshi decides to ignore all that setup and focus on “All Might + Star” rather than have him spend more time with 1A. Once again, if the point is to introduce thematic questions of inspiration and imitation, and how there’s a difference between someone imitating their idol based on their own interpretation vs actually receiving mentorship from the human behind the idol, it’s utterly lost in the execution. I just can’t bring myself to see Star as anything other than an interloper. I’m glad her pilot bros stayed in Japan to help out, and her sacrifice was heroic I suppose, but it suffered the same flaw as All Might. She tried to take on TomurAFO alone, and the best she could do is slow him down temporarily.
That’s all I can manage for now! In part 2, I’ll take a closer look at Ochako and the chain that leads to Izuku’s retrieval and where we are now.
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garfeildfanpage · 4 months
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CONTROVERSIAL OPINION ALERT 🗣️‼️
Jk anyways hot takes have always been kind of a drama-trigger for tbhk fans generally (though most takes aren’t exactly “hot” they’re either lukewarm or just bad), but most prominently on tbhktwt, which I don’t actively participate in. But I’ve noticed that every time one of those “what’s your unpopular tbhk opinion?” Posts gets popular everyone starts fighting and it’s kindof annoying. Which for a few reasons: they just like to argue when no huge announcements are happening to make sure the fan base stays alive, or someone just has a really bad opinion (ex the toxic nene post).
Now that’s not the point and has nothing to do with what I’m about to say but I thought it’d be a fun intro.
(tldr at end and also more concise points w/o the tired rambling)
Quick side note. I’m being super serious, these are all just opinions I possess but they don’t necessarily exist in a vacuum. I mostly just want to complain about a trope I don’t like, but I’m not die-hard about any of this. So take everything I say with a grain of salt
Mitsuba, Sousuke, and what makes a character interesting
(Mitsukou cameo 2 because staying on topic is hard)
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After a while, I started to develop a bit of a dislike of Mitsuba, the fake one specifically
To elaborate: During Sousuke’s introductory arc (and the only one he’s in) despite the trope-y nature of his character, his opening up during the chapters and his pre-canon connection to Kou is what, to me, made me like him more. I personally cannot stand the “cute-boy but actually he’s really mean” archetype, and it really turned me off from him in general. But I continued through it anyway. I thought the subversion of it was nice, not having him on edge and actually have a somewhat heart-to-heart was nice. And then he died whoopsie
I liked the hell of mirrors, like a lot actually. At the beginning I really liked Mitsuba, but as the series went on the traits I disliked started to shine more than the ones I liked. His stoic act around Nene at the very beginning of the hell of mirrors was the peak I strived for, but it basically never appeared again. The gruesome horror of Mitsuba lost my interest as he began to behave more human, I think. Now really all of this just comes down to personal preference. I like subversion, so I liked how Mitsuba was at the very beginning, but I never loved him. And I know that the direction his character took was always going to be the same but some part of me prayed for some kind of miracle.
He’s not human, but he wants to be, and I liked the idea a lot. But I was never able to get invested because almost every time he was in a chapter I wanted to bang my head into a wall. The the sensitivity and tact of Mitsuba isn’t lost, but I feel like a lot of it is lost when he’s around certain characters. His interactions with Nene (with a few exceptions) demonstrates how he could be if he decided to tone it down on occasion, still irritating but y’know, not as much. This falters with Kou in specific though, as he is constantly flip-flopping between defensive and annoying. If he could learn to let his guard down a little, it could really go a long way
Speaking of Kou
They are peers, they knew each other, and now only Kou remembers. Great, love it. Mitsukou, now that’s where it gets a little complicated.
As true equals, I do love them. And I know “the fandom ruined it for me” is a ballshit excuse but it genuinely does this time ‘round, and I can give a few pinpoints.
1. The constant feminization of Mitsuba
Every fandom is guilty of this at some point, and tbhk is no different. Forcible feminization of one (typically smaller or younger) male characters because they act even somewhat effeminate. And I have a right to be upset! It’s my 2nd amendment right or whatever!
2. And in tandem, the over-masculinization of Kou
His ass is fourteen!!! He ain’t buff!!! he probably still squeaks when he gets scared!! Enter that scene where Dipper is singing ABBA in the bathroom and Stan walks in except it’s Kou!!
3. General disregard of canonical characterization
Mitsuba can absolutely handle himself I’m going to kill someone
IMO mitsukou only really works if there’s an underlying understanding that 1. They’re both stupid kids. 2. They’re peers, and wether supernatural or not they are in alot of ways equals. And 3. They’re both deeply flawed.
To add onto that, Kou is indecisive about values. He wants to be an exorcist but has gotten attached to every somewhat sympathetic spirit he’s come in contact with, showing that he’s far too empathetic for the profession. He claims to understand Teru’s view on the undead yet he holds his personal judgment over his brothers consistently, for better or worse (yeah IK hanako is the title character so obviously he has to be good so why would he die but I’m just trying to think about it more literally, y’dig?). Mitsuba (the fake one) is not, and never will be, he isn’t meant to last forever. Sousuke (the dead one) Left everything unresolved, even when trying after death, nothing ever came to any conclusion, not even with his mom.
They work alone, but not yet together. But they can, it’s not too late, if given care and some intense therapy, they could totally be awkward teen romance of the summer. But the cannibalism should probably be talked about b4 that
Overall I think the general populous of Mitsukou could really benefit by trying to understand their dynamics a lil better, but what would I know I’m no yaoiologist
TL;DR (and end notes don’t forget) Basically, I wish he kept the short-lived confidence he gained in the Hell of Mirrors. I wish his cutesy-mean attitude died after as well. I also wish he wasn’t nearly as feminized as he is. (He’s not 4,9 he’s taller than Nene and would most likely be (if he didn’t die, rest in rip) the same height if not taller than Kou). Also his dynamic with Tsukasa makes me uncomfortable, like deeply so, it’s kinda really weird. ALSO(also) I think the constant comparison to Hananene is weird because the same comparison can be made to literally 90% of the other ships, why is no one ever comparing them to Terukane? Or Aoiaoi? Or Sumi6 (actually I completely understand why not sumi6 but they’re literally all human x supernatural no one is special)
Anyway the point I’m attempting to get across (while sleep deprived) is that (to me) Mitsuba as a character just doesn’t tickle my fancy and I tried my best to explain some reasons why. if you don’t agree, that’s perfectly fine! No one is entitled to agree with me.
Sorry if bad grammar I,m moments away from death Uauuughhh ninja out
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