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purgemarchlockdown · 4 months

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Let's Keep It Simple: Power Dynamics in Milgram

(CWs: Ableism, Abuse, Bullying, Unhealthy Power Dynamics)

(This is partially me putting this post and this post together and partially a more cleanly written version of the ideas discussed in this reblog chain and partially additional thoughts after both.)

(Big thanks to: Tsuwmya, Tired-and-unslimed, Archivalofsins and Clownsalot for contributing to the original chain and making this thing much bigger than it would of been otherwise)

(Also big thanks to: Roseofcards90, 1moremilgramenjoyer, Tsuwmya, Tokyogruel and milgram-side-blog for reading this!)

When talking about heroism and the ideas associated with them, it's easy to focus on the altruistic and selfless aspects of it. The ideal of a brave hero selflessly protecting the innocent is an appealing one.

And there's nothing Inherently wrong with wanting to help people! It's good to help people instead of giving up on them. However, being a hero is an ideal, one that no one could live up to without destroying themselves in the process. And the ideal of heroism practiced by the characters in Milgram isn't fully altruistic.

When you are defining your entire sense of self through heroism, you are incentivized to find (or Create) people who are Weaker than you to Validate that sense of self. It's self-serving in a way, this isn't coming from a genuine want to help but a want to feel in power.

Let's consider Yuno's reaction to her voting in T2.

(Yuno T2 VD)

Yuno: Ah, yes yes. Well, this is going to be purely—purely—personal opinion but…I find those kinds of assumptions preachy and unpleasant! They’re worthless! Arbitrarily deciding that I’m pitiable. Arbitrarily making up a backstory for me. Creating a personally idealized version of me. Creating an acceptable version of me. They really exist, you know, those kinds of people. And in particular, those kinds of people…won’t do anything for me.

When you pity someone you implicitly assume they are weaker than You, and are unable to help themselves in any meaningful way. Not only that but Yuno is upset at the creation of a version of her that is "idealized." A version of her that is the easiest to sympathize and pity.

It's dehumanizing in a way. Yuno is being projected onto like an Object, instead of being treated as a person. Her agency is being removed for the sake of an easier narrative. Something more convenient to the people around her.

This is an idea Yuno is intimately familiar with, as she's been repeatedly selling different versions of herself to different people. She gives a version of herself those people Want from her. Yuno dislikes being pitied and infantilized like this. She chose to do this, whether if it was a bad decision or not is Different from if Yuno has agency. Which she does.

Milgram's saviors tend to fall into this trap. They don't believe the person on the other side has any agency, they don't trust in that person's ability to interact with the world, and they don't trust in that person's judgement. There is a Fundamental Lack of Respect here for the person being saved.

Which leads us to Shidou Kirasaki.

A Cozy Coffin

I have a lot of strong feelings about Shidou. There's a lot about him that remains mysterious and a lot of him I simply do not trust. However something I am sure about is Shidou's lack of care for the people he tries to save and his Unwillingness to change in the face of that.

Shidou Kirasaki's care is self-serving, it reflects in his medical career and it reflects in how he treats the people around him. He even says it himself, he's selfish.

(Aesculapius)

Shidou: Es-kun. I’ve killed a lot of people. Like I previously told you in the interrogation, I’ve killed for selfish reasons as well. So…

And while Shidou is admittedly unreliable as he Wants to be voted unforgiven. T2 Shidou wants to stay innocent, because he's important, more important than anyone else.

That’s right, there’s justice that needs saving See, indispensable, I’m indispensable

Shidou believes in his own importance, he believes he contributes something useful to the prison.

T1Q1: Why did you choose your current workplace? Because I thought it'd let me contribute to society.

And while he Is a doctor and Is Important, he tends to dismiss people who he thinks are weaker than him or who contribute Less in his eyes.

If it’s not needed, I’m not interested

“Throw down”, someone’s value Cannot be the same as another “Throw down” should choose between superiority or inferiority

There are people who are Inferior and people who are Superior, and he has the ability to choose who is who. But when people who are Inferior do contribute something to him in some way, he diminishes and erases their agency they have because he believes himself to Know Better.

20/06/13

Shidou: I…… I just don’t understand. If everything about MILGRAM is true…… why did a child like you have to become a murderer? Just imagining what sort of circumstances must have led to that, it makes me so sad…… Amane: ……*sigh*. Is that right. I don’t think I’m going to get along with you, Shidou-san. I don’t agree with the fact you refuse to acknowledge that I have my own free will, and that I should be held accountable for my actions, just because I’m a child. I may have only been alive for 12 years, but all the choices I’ve made, even if they weren’t the best ones, were entirely my own. What point is there in you getting sad when I have no regrets myself? ……please give me back my test. It seems you don’t have the concentration levels required to be my teacher. I’m going to get Kotoko-san to teach me instead. Shidou: Amane…… I don’t think that’s true. However smart you may be…… you’re still just a child.

While we know for a fact that Amane's actions were influenced by her familial situation, that isn't what Amane is criticizing here. What she Is criticizing is what we did to Yuno in T1. He invented an idealized backstory for Amane without knowing Anything about her except that she's in Milgram with everyone else. And while that is a concern, the choices she made were her Own, independent of whether or not she had a tragic backstory.

But Shidou doesn't Acknowledge that, because acknowledging that there is a level of agency in her actions would complicate the narrative. It be much easier for him to help if it wasn't complicated.

Shidou was a father. He's projecting onto Amane here, and also does the same to Es. He misses his children, but he doesn't treat Amane and Es in a respectful manner. Something that damages his relationship with the both of them.

(Molech)

Shidou: I don’t know what circumstances you face while guarding this prison nor the reason as to why you’re doing it, but I’m sure that it must take a toll on you emotionally as well. So, please do your best. [pats head] Es: [is shook] I see. Oh, I see now. So, that’s how it is. So, that’s how it’s gonna be. [deep breaths] Shidou: Hm? Es? Es: Don’t you dare… pat my head like that! [kicks] Shidou: [grunts] Please hold on for a second.

Shidou knows Es very little, he's intruding on their personal space here all because their a child that he pities. He's projecting his parental feelings onto them when they Clearly don't want it because he gets something out of it.

However that isn't all, Shidou Kirasaki is a man trapped in the past, unable to move on in any way. He's trapped in this eternal cycle of grief and regret.

He's constantly searching for a past he can't return to, a future that will remain static and unchangeable.

T1Q16: What is the definition of happiness? A: To be promised an unchanging tomorrow.

You might wonder how this relates to Saviors and for that I need to talk about:

The Girl Prince

It's hard not to talk about saviors in Milgram without mentioning Kotoko. Her story centers around the concept of heroism and what that really means and involves.

Her story covers a lot of what we discussed with Shidou. Kotoko believes herself to be more powerful than the people she considers weaklings, someone who knows better than them and can make the "right" decisions.

Kotoko: From the beginning I’ve never asked for your understanding! My actions, one by one, are bringing earth closer to peace. Useless Weaklings should just shut up and let me protect them!

Kotoko also puts a lot of importance on power and usefulness. As seen above with "useless weaklings," and she also especially values physical power. How else are you supposed to protect people after all?

T1Q4: When did you start learning martial arts? A: In elementary school, perhaps. Without enough power, you can't enforce justice and do the right thing, can you?

Kotoko believes in a worldview with a hierarchical power structure, there are people who are Strong Useful People who protect the Weaker Useless People. Which reflects back into the ableism she exhibits with both Haruka and Mikoto.

Kotoko Birthday (12/15/2023)

Kotoko: Fufufu, fufufufufu. You’re thinking some outrageous things. To be frank, it’s abnormal.

Kotoko Birthday (12/15/2022)

Kotoko: Hm. The border between the two is getting a lot vaguer. Your entire existence is a crime. And I will see you’re punished for it.

While this attitude towards disability and mental disorders and illnesses come from how she views the world around her using the lens of strength and power. But that isn't the only thing.

Kotoko isn't as revolutionary as she portrays herself to be. While she believes that the world Needs to change, she still believes in the structures and hierarchies of it. Notably when she interacts with Es she doesn't criticize Milgram's practices, but instead joins up with them and uses Violent Force to keep people in line.

(I would mention something from her T2 VD here if it wasn't spoilers but there's a scene there that I find interesting, again I won't mention it but I do have it in my mind.)

Kotoko is someone who wants to put the Good People in charge and keep the Bad People away. She wants to anoint a "chosen hero," someone who's "good" in her eyes, someone who she can trust and believe in fully to make the "right" decisions. It's a worldview In Favor of keeping things the same, it's just that someone else should be running it.

Kotoko's worldview is notably immature, it's black and white and lacks a lot of nuance. But she's unwilling to change.

Once again, it's Easier to be a savior if the world is simple. There's no nasty complication getting in the way of the fantasy of being a hero. If you keep the world stuck in a static position then it's easier for it to aid in the Fantasy of being a savior.

And again, this behavior doesn't stem from a genuine want to help people, but a need to validate one's own identity, and to feel like they have power over something.

(Task)

Kotoko: Yes. I hate evil. Hurting innocent people with violence, taking away from others, killing people… I hate all this evil behaviour! The law being unable to judge some sins, there's too many of these cases in this world. Having clearly bullied and torturing the weak, but exploiting loopholes in laws, there's so many sinners who still live in such a carefree manner! Even though I want to change this world, I alone only have this much power.

It's important that things don't change, if they do then you'd have to acknowledge that the world is more complicated than they Want it to be. It's important that you will Always be the hero and that there are Always going to people who need saving.

Or, on the flipside, no matter what you do. You will stay the pitied and loved victim forever.

Good Boy Girl

Haruka Sakurai is a character who is Undeniably trapped in the past.

If with one click, and I can reset everything

He wants to become a good boy again, he wants to be given the same attention he was given in the past, and he projects his mother onto Es and Later Muu.

He's idealized the past so much that he's become submerged in it.

However while Haruka Wants to stay the victim, he wants to stay powerless and pitiful, he really isn't. A tension that often gets played with within his trial. Haruka is able to harm people and threatens Es in Trial 2. First with the idea that he can kill them and then with his life to Guilt Es into forgiving Muu.

I will keep on killing to be a good boy

Haruka Sakurai isn't Weak, but wants to be so he can be loved and adored by the people around him. Because if he isn't perceived as a threat but as someone that can be projected onto without any worry, then he could be loved.

I wanted to be a pitied and loved weakling

However, we do actually have an example of a character who Is Weak, and who is pitied and loved because of that. Who uses her failures and faults to gain power only for it to stumble out of her grasp time and time again because of it.

Muu Kusunoki Fails. A lot. I see a common interpretation of her after It's Not My Fault is Muu as the master manipulator, but if she was she wouldn't be here. She would still be the queen, eating honey like nothing was wrong.

But she isn't anymore, she fell from grace even before she attacked Rei.

Muu isn't Special, she isn't Powerful. But she is Pitiful, and she uses that pity to gain sympathy and affection from others. Muu Needs to stay the Victim if she wants to be cared for, so she always tries to position herself even when she hurts people.

(Crying B)

Muu: Hey… Prison guard, when you say “I”… Who are you talking about? Es: [breaking down] Muu: Prison guard? Es: [stumbles] Muu: Prison guard. What’s wrong? Prison guard! [shakes Es] Hey! Prison guard! Es: Shut up! Don’t touch me! Muu: [cries] You’re so cruel… I… Even though I was just worried about you… [cries again] I can’t take it anymore. I hate you, prison guard!

If she stays the victim and keeps people's sympathy on her, then she doesn't have to worry at all about people turning on her or hurting her. It's a Service, she acts pitiful, and the people who help her can feel good about doing a Good Thing.

Even if they do eventually turn on her, she can just play victim and hope they stop. Maybe attack their self-esteem as well to really make sure they don't think harder about it.

(Queen B)

M: But if you were like, “I won’t forgive you, Muu! Revenge is bad!,” then wouldn’t that imply that it’s also bad for me to bully someone back after they bullied me? Since we’ve all done something bad anyway, doesn’t that mean that I’ve not done anything wrong in the end? E: …I think I’m kinda… starting to get your point… maybe… M: … Warden-san, are you maybe not that intelligent, after all…?

She's using Es' feelings of uncertainty and lack of knowledge to manipulate them into doing what she wants, but she isn't that Good at it. Muu could keep more ground if she continued to play more passive and timid. But instead she acts more aggressive and carefree.

The thing about Muu's strategy is that if She Stops Being Pitiful, it Stops Working. Muu can't let herself be Happy or Confident or otherwise because then she won't be pitiful enough to people. If she does, she gets knocked off her throne and sent back to square one.

Muu is a deeply cyclical character. She cycles from pitiful to queenly and back over and over again. Not only that but when everything is structured through the lens of who's stronger and who's weaker, then you are encouraged to push other people down for your own gain.

Her environment exists as a place where healthy relationships are Discouraged. Because if a relationship doesn't give you anything then you have no use for it.

Muu: Isn’t it exactly because he’s my friend? Isn’t friendship about letting your friends do the things they want? … Are you about to tell me “that’s not what friendship is”? Then what is friendship? You’re together because it’s beneficial for everyone involved, aren’t you?

Conclusion

There's a lot of ways to read these dynamics I think. Tsumi brings up the Karpman's Triangle over here and archivalofsins is working on a post based around TIV. And I can't really put every single facet of a character into this dynamic neatly.

But that's also kinda the point. As stated above, the lack of change and simplicity is important to this dynamic. Its resistant to change and resistant to growth. And any sort of attempt to function outside of it is a threat to it. These mindsets and hierarchies are dangerous because there strict and unchanging, and the deeper your in, the harder it is to get out.

The roles being played here turn people into one dimensional archetypes rather than People. Their motivations, circumstances and personality disappear to fit a convenient narrative of saviors and victims.

It's also much easier to become powerless than to gain power. Muu tried and failed to gain power, while Fuuta was punished and left powerless. It's not a balanced dynamic at all, it lifts up a few people and leaves the rest to rot. But the people who are “stronger” now have to somehow fulfill a role with standards too high to reach. No one wins here, because it's so highly destructive and damaging, and I find the way Milgram interrogates it to be really intriguing.

#milgram #yuno kashiki #shidou kirisaki #muu kusunoki #fuuta kajiyama #kotoko yuzuriha #milgram analysis #milgram meta

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soudakuwunmoment · 4 months

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i feel like theres smth to say about the relationship between dirk and hal compared to the relationship between dave and davesprite. like i dont know what, but theres parallels and differences that i think are interesting, and you could use them to come to some kind of interesting conclusion about the differences between dirk and dave

hal was created to be a tool for dirk to use for convenience and to utilize as an upperhand in sburb (multitasking mostly) hal did not want to exist as a tool. hal wanted to exist as the person using the tool but got the short end of the stick by pure chance and has to live with his actions after not having thought them through.

davesprite decided to become a tool for dave to use to have better chances at winning sburb. dont take this as me saying that davesprite enjoys being what he is. simply that he was prototyped by his own will.

hal is considered to be a false version of dirk. he is technically dirk, but he is different enough that dirks friends do not perceive him the same way, and in some cases, do not consider him their friend.

davesprite is considered to be a fake dave. not that anyone doubts the validity of his existence as Dave Strider; more-so that people consider dave to be "the real dave" and davesprite to be an iteration of him, despite them both being real daves who lived different lives.

dirk and hal have an antagonistic relationship. they accuse the other of being exactly the same, while sometimes switching to claiming they are the superior version - dirk for his existence in the physical plane and being The Original, and hal for his intelligence and capabilities as a digital being with access to any information he desires in an instant.

dave and davesprite have a very subtle relationship. we assume davesprite struggles with feeling inferior to the alpha timeline dave, but dave doesnt reflect those feelings. dave sees davesprite as simply another him, maybe since hes used to meeting other versions of himself. they are generally friendly to each other, davesprite offers dave any information he might need about the game without being cryptic, but dave doesnt really take the offer. other than this, they dont interact all that much.

dirk and hals relationship is somewhat of a fight for dominance, constant low-blows, social gymnastics and psychological warfare, which reflects the self-loathing nature of dirk and his splinters.

dave and davesprites relationship has similar themes of inferiority, jealousy, and being seen as the "real dave" but its much more constructive and dave seems eager to assure davesprite of his validity.

maybe its representation of how dirk and dave deal with.. emotions? trauma? something like that. dirk is defensive and lashes out at others who he sees himself in, while dave is empathetic and reaches out to other iterations of himself because he understands how they feel. im not saying either is better than the other, just interested in how their personalities have an impact on how they react to having themselves reflected back at them.

you could also add jade onto this!! i was really interested in how she was so cruel to a reflection of herself despite how nice she normally is, and how she was able to recognize that about herself. shes somewhat like dirk in that sense, but i think shes more... self aware than him? something like that.

this post was more meant to be about dirk and dave tho :3

#homestuck #dirk strider #lilhal #hal strider #lil hal #dirks autoresponder #dave strider #davesprite #jade harley #jadesprite

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ziorre · 8 months

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✨Commission info✨

I'm ready, I'm rested, I'm refreshed! And I'm completely charged to take care of your new ideas and characters!! Especially for this, I'm trying to expand the ways to bring your characters to life so that you can see them and be convinsed that they exist! I truly believe that every character is awesome and original and deserves to be shown with their own story! And I'll try to help you with this in a way that is more convenient for you! You just pick one below ;)

✨ PRICES:

- SEMI-REALISTIC STYLE (for the cases, when you want it looks more real without much stylizing)

- USUAL STYLE (for the cases, when you don’t mind it looks more stylized and a lil sketchy)

- STORYBOARD (for the cases, when you want to tell a story and don't mind to do this in very sketchy stile)

(this is a new way to tell your story in several frames. It'll look like still frames from a video, where you can show the dynamics of the scene and insert replicas in the form of subtitles. The form and type of storyboards can be redesigned. Keep in mind that frames will look very sketchy and with visible inaccuracy! DM me for more details ;))

Aaand...

👀COMING SOON!!!👀 - 3D MODEL OF YOUR CHARACTER

* you can find more examples on my page by commission tag and more examples of storyboards by rita diaz tag ** a helpful post describing a right order for your refs

✨ DEADLINES: After you DM me with a brief description of your idea, I’ll tell you the approximate date when I’ll be able to proceed with your commission !!!!Always warn me in advance if I need to draw art by a certain deadline!!!

✨ PAYMENT: What: USD or RUB When: full pre-payment (when you sent me the email and we approved the art idea) Where: Boosty (russian platform, supports payment via PayPal)

✨ THE PROCESS: You write to me in private messages on Tumblr, briefly tell me your idea of our future art, what style and what slot you want (full body / half body / bust). Then I give you my email address and you send me an email (with your Tumblr name as the topic please) with all necessary references (your character's face claim, their pose, clothes, background etc.). You describe the idea of the art in details, where it takes place, and other things that I need to know so that I can base the sketch on all that info, because after you approve the sketch, I don’t change art much in the further stages of the work, just some details. I send you the payment link on my Boosty page. Send you the sketch. After you confirm that you like the sketch, I finish the work and send it on your email😊

✨ OTHER: - I don’t correct the art after you approved the finished version. - I don’t copy other artist’s work or poses from their work. - I publish every commission on my social media, if you don’t want it to be published, just let me know. - If you’re not sure about art idea, I can suggest you 4 sketches with different poses/concepts/angles for extra $20 and you pick the one you like the most. - For significant corrections or a lot of small ones at any stage of work, an additional fee may be charged (this doesn’t apply to some small adjustments or details witch I missed). There are 3 free changes at the each stages of the work (sketch, finished version), further - $2-$5.

___________________________________

And of course I can't skip to say a huge thank you to those who commissioned and continue commissioning art from me! It means a lot! For real! This is not only material support, but also moral one, saying that I’m not wasting my time and energy in vain, that I’m moving in the right direction, that people like what I do! I can't tell how inspiring it is!! 300 commissions! I’ve never imagined that one day I would draw so many art for others! Just.. wow!! Thank you again so much for trusting me bringing to life your ideas! I truly appreciate it!😌

____________________________________

I think this is it, right? If you have any questions, feel free to DM me ;)

I’ll be VERY grateful for your reblogs!! ❤❤❤❤❤❤ (and thank you very much for this in advance, it helps me A LOOOOOOOOOT, I see each and every one of them! You’re the best!!!) Thanks for your attention! Have a good day =)

#commission #far cry 5 #cyberpunk 2077 #baldur's gate 3 #my art

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princess-ibri · 4 months

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I think it is both funny and slightly alarming that there are those who possess an intense dislike for anyone who ship Asha with Star (one person even derisively called this ship “Starsha” but jokes on them i like it xD);

1) “BASIC WHITE TWINK IS MORE POPULAR WITH THIS SHIPPERS THAN THE BLACK HEROINE” I think they conveniently forget that everyone knows what Asha looks like and is more or less fine with her appearance; The Star’s human appearance, on the other hand, has not left the figurative drawing board beyond the art book, therefore it is fun to delve into character design and see how he looks more fleshed out. Also, what do they mean “basic white twink?” I’ve seen plenty of Human/noid!Star concepts with various skin tones/ethnic features/builds. Then again, I explore more social media platforms than just Tumblr.

2) “THESE SHIPPERS KEEP WHITE/LIGHT-WASHING THE HEROINE” They are exploring the concept designs that were shown in the art book. Also, Afro-Latinos/Hispanics have a range of skin and eye colors. Another also: NOT ALL OF THE SHIPPERS CHANGE ASHA’S OFFICIAL APPEARANCE.

3) “WHO’S GOING TO TELL THESE SHIPPERS THAT THE HUMAN STAR IS/WAS GOING TO LOOK LIKE HER GRANDPA?” We already know. We also know that was one of the POTENTIAL options that wounded up being scrapped. Therefore, Starsha headcanons don’t have to be tied to one single idea that could have happened.

4) “WHY ARE YOU SHIPPING ASHA WITH A HUMAN BOY VERSION OF THE LITTLE STAR WHEN _insert canon film character_ IS RIGHT THERE/ASHA DOESN’T NEED A ROMANCE?” First and most important of all, because we can and we want to. Second of all, not all of Starsha shippers headcanon the Star to be male. Third of all, no one has any issues with shipping Asha with any of her canon friends (or even a self-insert) or headcanoning her to be happy single; the only ones I see having any problems with any shipping are the ones who don’t like we are shipping the original concept of the Star and Asha.

Sorry for my rant. I just find it weird that those who don’t ship Star x Asha or who aren’t a fan of the Humanoid Star seem just so offended by the fact that this portion of the fandom exists and is having fun with their headcanons so far. It’s not like our headcanons have any effect on the official WISH Film.

P.S., I love your art and concepts! Not just for WISH, but those are some of my favorites!

Hey all absolutely excellent points! Yeah my rule is just, let people have fun with stuff? Cuz like--yeah guys none of this actually affects anything IRL of any actual importance so, chill out and go do what you want instead of getting upset other people don't want to do the same? Spending your time trying to police everyone else's fun just leaves less time for you to have any.

And thanks!! I've been enjoying working out how I want Wish to fit into the DisneyVerse and working some of the concept stuff in with the Canon the movie gave to do so! Hope you'll stick around for more!

#asks #wish 2023 #wish disney #wish movie #star x asha #wish star #asha wish #starsha #yeah you know what I like it too x)#imma go back and tag all the stuff with it xD #disney #DisneyVerse #human star

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remy2fang · 3 months

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A.K.I. as Yor Forger SF6 Mod.

I just realized my mod was featured on EventHubs a long while ago. They said some nice things about it. How many times have I been featured on that site now?

When I saw the trailer for the Spy x Family collab, I thought it would be neat to have A.K.I. dressed as Yor Forger. Tbh I wasn’t disappointed that it was only avatar gear. I am a modder after all and I can make what I want. The in-game assets made it convenient to do too. I thank Capcom for that haha. Plus, there are people who are happy dressing their own characters as Loid and Yor.

Of course, I have to include a version with AKI’s original hair style. She looks great in other hairdos, but her original umbrella hair is the best one—it’s the style that defines A.K.I. 💜💜

I know there are people out there that thought characters like Chun-Li (a mod already exists for her by FishBoy), Juri, or Cammy would fit better…but I like A.K.I. more lol. I’m contemplating on making another Yor Forger mod, but it’s not going to be a character that most people wished. I am a modder after all, and I can do what I want 😜😜. But I’m sure there are other modders out there that might be working on a Cammy or Juri version.

That being said, currently there are three SF6 characters that have Yor Forger mods.

1) A.K.I.

2) Chun-Li

3) F.A.N.G (!)

Yes, I did put FANG in Yor’s clothes (and also Loid’s) 💜🥰💜🥰. Wow, F.A.N.G before Juri and Cammy lol 😅😅. I am a modder after all, and…you know where I’m getting at haha. Though unsurprisingly EventHubs excluded that bit. As much as I enjoy some of the articles on that site, I have the feeling that they’re afraid to showcase such content. Like even if it’s not F.A.N.G and it’s on a more conventionally attractive male character instead, they would shy away from it. I can’t blame them. Even though the FGC is quite diverse, it’s still very hetero-cis-male dominated. It’s understandable that they’re afraid of offending their target audience, but I’m sure a number of EventHub readers are more open minded than what the site writers have expected. Or at least that’s what I believe.

Anyway, here’s the download link:

And a YouTube showcase:

youtube

Thanks for reading 💜💜

#street fighter #a.k.i.#a.k.i #spy x family #yor forger #yor briar #chun li #Chun-li #f.a.n.g #sf6 #sf6 aki #street fighter 6 #sf6 mods #Youtube

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encrucijada · 7 days

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PÍA RAMBLES #8

you might have seen this post or this wip intro. i'm here to talk about this book because i think it's really cool @teddywriting and i wrote almost 40k words by simply playing dolls with our ocs.

(yes i will be using screencaps of before sunrise, 1995 for any and all subsequent updates regarding this project thank you very much)

what's weird about this book in particular is that, despite maripaz and theo taking up way too much space in my brain, it's also incredibly hard to talk about them?? i know every single detail about them down to what they might order to eat at a mcdonald's, and yet i feel no one outside from teddy and i really knows these characters. their lore is weird and a bit convoluted and explaining it feels like i'm trying to explain the plot of a television show with like 18 seasons of character development you just had to be there to witness to understand even a fraction of it.

but first some basics about the actual book

title: babylon boy (book 1 of the home habitat duology)

genre: literary fiction

category: i say adult because there will be no censoring of topics but in this first installment our protagonists are around eighteen years old. you might consider that ya but i wouldn't

a small summary: having independently run away from home for their own reasons, theo and maripaz meet while homeless on the streets and form an alliance of convenience to survive. while theo vehemently denies the drug addiction he’s nursing, maripaz tries to deal with the way both want and revulsion seem to exist in her at the same time. falling in love is probably the easiest thing they do.

teddy and i are co-authoring, as in we both write the words. they will be primarily working on theo's chapters and i will be primarily working on maripaz's chapters but we'll both be involved in fully crafting this story.

talking about your book is hard when all that happens in it is character work so even whether someone gets sick at one point feels like a spoiler you want people to be surprised by.

we created mari and theo in 2020 on a whim. i can't even remember what prompted it exactly. we wanted a new pair of characters to play with and we decided to make two assholes to bicker and be mean to each other. this iteration saw three reincarnations before we put the characters on the shelf and almost resigned ourselves to them being a miss... if not for one important detail... i really, really believed they should have kissed. this first version of them would eventually be known as the homeless au.

looking back it's Wild thinking about how different mari and theo used to be. we moved onto new aus to play around with, landing on a superhero-type beat that became their new canon for a while. we had fantasy and sci-fi and musicians and hadestown and the raven cycle (that last one did so much for us it's insane). every new thing we tried shaped them more and more until they were unrecognisable from their original versions. one day i really want to go through their threads from start to finish and look at that change in real time.

there was a new thesis to their characters and it was no longer "what if two awful guys with issues were forced together and tried to bite each other's heads off". instead we were looking at two characters that through every new incarnation became more sincere and gentle. they had meta-narrative character development.

(every new au also gave us more characters to populate the world including but not limited to theo's twin sister, maripaz's seven siblings, alex, philip, a whole lot of parental figures, a quirky cast of friends... but i'll talk about them some other time)

then i did it again. in the 2.0 version of the homeless au there was one scene i loved beyond words where an argument between our two protagonists resulted in maripaz punching theo right on the mouth. when she tried to swing a second time he stopped her hand and warned her that if she wanted to hit him he would hit back. they fought and the scene ended. i said to teddy: they should have kissed. we laughed and imagined how homeless au would go now that their characters had changed so much. we started thinking about it more and more until we were moving the pieces of their cinematic universe around to fit this new idea... and suddenly we had plot for a book that would revamp that original homeless au... and a sequel too! (but more on that second one another time)

teddy started a rp thread of what came right after the opening scene of babylon boy, where theo and maripaz would shoplift and he would steal the angel necklace she wore (<- this is important)... and we just kept going... and going. we'd already had a few keys scenes to work towards, one those being that punching scene that started it all, as well as the ending. teddy added two new scenes we began calling the halo scene and the church scene, and we moved something we called the pool scene into this book from another au. we just had to fill in the blanks... fill in the blanks we did.

these right here are the names i gave each individual thread of the roleplay-ification of babylon boy. their purpose is not so much to be chapter titles but to make specific scenes easy to find for future reference. though obviously i had to be a bit artistic about it.

i don't know if babylon boy will have chapter titles, and if they will have some sort of theme going on (usually i like just putting two words together to create some imagery). "angel face" is probably what i would title chapter 1, but i also hesitate on that decision because i think i would like to save angel for later.

these threads are less of a draft and more the skeleton of a draft, that's why i called it a draft 0. its purpose is to give teddy and i direction and reading through them i already know how i want to shift the timeline and how i'd rewrite some of the scenes to make them a lot better, but it did give us a great cause and effect look of things. the way teddy and i approach our roleplay threads is more loose than what i do with @on-the-river-lethe (with whom i'm currently roleplaying draft 1 of our book lupine trail and also a giant hunger games au). fluffy and i write responses between 1k-4k words, they are basically chapters. teddy and i instead do a quick call and response, mostly focused on dialogue, we build on top of each other and neither of us really knows where a thread will go when we start.

there are no actual non-roleplay words written for babylon boy thus far. teddy is in charge of chapter 1 as we open with theo's pov but we are both busy or focused on other things. right now we're enjoying the playing around stage of the process (which i don't see going away even once we start seriously writing, i know for a fact we'll probably do various roleplay-type passes to babylon boy).

you've probably noticed the christian imagery is rampant here. it happened kind of by accident and the already mentioned halo scene is entirely to blame for it. like i said, teddy and i have this very "yes, and," approach to storytelling together where we kinda build on top of what the other puts down. teddy gave me the description of one (1) scene where theo sees a halo of light around maripaz's head and i decided "well, this is now i thing that is here to stay". church scene really brought it all together and there is a scene in book 2 adeptly nicknamed the angel scene that is kind of the culmination of this.

the imagery is almost exclusive to theo's pov as mari is more the subject of the imagery than the one pushing it forward. teddy and i will be doing our most to fill this book with visuals: characters lined with stained glass windows, lights shaped like hearts, signs and graffiti that say meaningful stuff.

babylon boy, as the title suggests, is more theo's book. both he and maripaz have meaningful arcs but theo's is really at the core of it, mari takes centre stage in book 2 (titled gossamer girl). i think i talked about this somewhere before but the titles just kind of... happened. gossamer was relevant for that superhero au and it's just a word i really adore so i wanted to use it on the title. you can't go wrong with alliteration so gossamer girl it is. and because i love when books in a series match i had to do something with boy. like gossamer i adore babylon for some reason, and so we got babylon boy. i wasn't sure about that one because while gossamer girl made sense with the theme, what did "babylon boy" even mean, exactly? teddy came in clutch and analysed the title for me. they connected it to theo's drug addiction and now i can't think of any two titles that are more perfect for this series.

like i said, there are no actual words written for this book so sadly i cannot share any excerpts. but i will share

Festival was very much the result of teddy and i having just watched before sunrise, 1995

we watched before sunrise, 1995 because the mannerisms of the two leads reek of maripaz and theo

"until a miracle happens" became a recurring thing said in the draft and it wrecked me

Our Fears is probably my favourite thread both thematically and visually. followed closely by Church Angels, though that one is mostly visually

The Pool is the longest thread with about 90 responses and all of it is beautiful. i would probably consider it the companion to Our Fears

"mutual pining they're both just idiots"

the closing image is probably my favourite one of the book

the core themes are very much trust, love, and communal help. we've got such an array of npcs who simply... help. i love the human race.

i'll probably do another update before we start properly writing talking about maripaz and theo as characters specifically. a bit of a crash course on who they are, really.

anyway. i'm giving you a golden star if you read all of that ⭐ do ask me or teddy about this story!! we'd be happy to talk about it. or even just about the characters.

cheers, pía

#pia rambles #( wip ) bb&gg

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lazaruspiss · 10 months

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nightwing annual 2 (2007) by mark andreyko. and the many things cut from the confession from 1977 that they were most likely referencing.

it's interesting to see what they cut out from a scene that was otherwise taken word for word. the entire panel describing how dick feels this is like the one sided love one would feel for a childhood teacher. the cut out "...even as a big sister--" while dick explains how much he means to her.

in their attempt to 'elevate' their past relationship to romantic, they've destroyed much of the original meaning. making it romantic is ultimately reductive to both dicks complex feelings for her and babs character as a whole. the existence of modern dickbabs really embodies the mindset of romance first (all other relationships second) that cishetero men are so often stuck in.

the annual already aged her down, but the more you look at it the more they change it order to demote babs from independent character to a love interest kneeling at dicks feet. the cheating in annual 2 was just the misogynistic icing on this metaphorical wedding cake they've made into the modern day version of batgirl.

and the handling of the cheating in annual 2 just reeks of male author who doesn't think cheating is /that/ serious imo

this parts less important, as it's little details changed for plot convenience. babs was originally facing towards dick so there was no doubt that dick was right when he saw she was asleep, and the last part of what he said was only in thought. and this is more subjective, but the annual has her positioned on the couch in a way that seems more suggestive?

while people talk about how this annual is ooc for dick, dickbabs is done terribly, and the writing is garbage (all true to a certain extent) i dont see much about how degrading it is towards babs' character. things don't have to be loudly misogynistic in order to still be misogynistic, and writing like this annual really feels like the beginning of the end for babs. DC is leaning into her status as a love interest more than ever now. i don't see how her character can be salvaged short of retconning 2 decades worth of characterization.

ive seen a few people say devin grayson wrote this. sometimes it's an innocent mistake, others just want any and every excuse to hate her. but i think understanding that both the writer and artist are men is a bit significant, specifically because of how bad this story was for babs as an independent character.

#this started as me wanting to point out the sister line but it ended up being a lot of ranting about the annual #caring about misogyny in comics is a losing game but by god i do it anyway #nightwing (1996) annual 2

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shiroselia · 3 months

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Welcome! To Manda Tries To Talk About One of Her SSO OCs Without Spoiling Her Longfic!

So, now that Dorian's little poll thing trend is going around I really felt an itch to talk about my horse game OCs. One problem, however, I'm the author of a lore heavy, rewrite fic of which one of my OCs is the main character of. Nevertheless, my other OC works off of the exact same lore foundation, meaning that talking about her Too will get slightly dodgy and weavy. Doesn't mean I'm not gonna try though! (This gets long, I love talking about writing and characters. You all know that my longfic is insanely long already. You have been warned.)

Introducing; Freyja Winterbird!

Freyja is my NA Alt, and is just like Deia, not actually named her proper name in-game. Her "actual" name is Amanda Winterbird, but just like Deia, the Amanda is only there because Amanda is me, and that's not their canonical names regardless. (Not to mention, their names don't exist in game-) I instead like to think that Amanda is my OCs' first name, while their middle names are their actual given names, meaning that Freyja's "official" name would be Amanda Freyja Winterbird.

I generally worked very closely to canon when I created my horse game OCs. That is to say, as one might notice, Deia is inspired by the old intro text, and Freyja is somewhat inspired by a rework of Deia's circumstances. I also have their actual story arcs work very closely to canon, but naturally, I cannot go into details about that given that that's what a certain fanfic of mine is about. (Read A Quintessential Jorvegian Summer Vacation To Find Out More-) This is usually the exception though, given that all of my original stories originally come from me reworking a work I already enjoy, and dodging copyright laws by making it completely unrecognizeable. My SSO OCs are actually SSO OCs though, and not simply original characters of mine in an original universe, so they don't have as heavy reworks as my other OCs, naturally. That is to say, I change a lot, but not too much for once, while cherry picking what I want to keep and throwing the rest out head first.

Freyja's actual lore is that she is a mirror version of Deia. Think alternate universe, same person, different individual type of thing. Freyja and Deia are ultimately different people, they just exist in each others roles in different timelines, if you will. Which is to say they don't exist in the same universe, except when I want them to for funky and fun content shenanigans. But the general idea is that everything that Deia is, Freyja is too, and everything Deia experiences, kind of, Freyja experiences too, sort of, they simply do them in different ways, take different things from them, and are ultimately different people.

For example! The biggest difference is that while Deia is not from Jorvik, Freyja is born on Jorvik. She's from above the map, if you will, which is to say somewhere from northern Jorvik (details omitted for my own personal convenience), but ends up working at Moorland Stables for a summer, because the stable she usually works at lowkey kicks her out because the stable owner/Freyja's boss thinks it "would be good for her to get away for a bit". Freyja is similarly to Deia rather snarky and relatively pessimistic. Freyja, however, is a lot better at social interaction, and has actual manners. Freyja is also a lot more outgoing and generally friendly, and keeps most of her hostility to herself.

Why Freyja has these pessimisms at all I cannot really talk about, given that since Freyja and Deia share lore, Freyja's backstory works off of details that are also present in Deia's story. Their backstory's are incredibly different, but Freyja's is actually more intertwined with my personal lore, which means that it's actually a bigger spoiler than Deia's backstory, which is only a spoiler because I am setting it up as a future reveal. Let's just say that Freyja has taken the wrong lessons from past upsetting experiences, and is now an expert at bad faith interpreting everything and everyone. (And unlike Deia, Freyja is not semi-verbal.)

While Deia is around 18/19, I imagine Freyja to be slightly older, think 21/22, and while Deia is 157cm, Freyja is 176 instead. And of course, Deia has white hair, and Freyja has black. Which was intentional on my part, yes. I am The achromatic and I refuse to stop. Freyja works with horses full time, and Moorland's riding camp is simply the next stop on her list, while Deia simply takes the job offer at Moorland to [redacted], and will only work there until the school term starts. They also have different birthdays, which is the 3rd of December for Deia, and Freyja's is 27th of November, because those are the dates their respective accounts were created. With a solid year difference of [checks notes] 12 years!

The biggest similarity, of course, is that Deia and Freyja both ride the same horse. Both of them ride a mare named Moonlight, who is the same individual regardless. The main difference between Deia's Moonlight and Freyja's Moonlight is in dynamic with her respective rider, and her personality. While Deia and Moon get along really well and are two old bitches in crime, Freyja is initially dismissive of Moonlight, and it takes some time for the two of them to get along. Moonlight also has different circumstances in her whys, hows, and whens, of course, but that is spoilers so heavy going into Any detail will spoiler Most of the endgame of QuintSum as such. Why Freyja and Moon don't get along initially is, once again, because of Freyja's backstory which spoils details about Deia's Moonlight in QuintSum, so I cannot go into detail, but they have different dynamics with their respective Moonlights. (The biggest difference being Freyja knowing Jorvik's mythology, while Deia doesn't, hint hint.) Moonlight herself is a rather tall mare, standing at 163 at the withers, because I Love bigger horses, and I can do whatever I want. (I imagine her build to be leaning Irish Draught because whoboi do I Love Irish Draughts.) She has long, curly mane and tail, but otherwise looks pretty much exactly the way she does in-game. The tack she wears is also her "canonical" tack in QuintSum, because it is my favourite tack on the JWB.

(I will say, though, I vastly prefer Deia and Moonlight's dynamic, and I'm very glad it's Deia I'm writing the fic about. If we ignore that Deia is my baby who I've had for most of my life, and that Freyja has existed for a whopping three months. I simply believe Deia has the more interesting perspective story wise. Not to mention how Freyja has too much knowledge to reasonably pull QuintSum's set-up off, and the story itself would be Vastly less interesting had the Literal Protagonist known almost everything from the start-)

And before you ask, no, making Deia and Freyja's names rhyme was not intentional, I simply really enjoy the name Freyja (specifically with that spelling in particular), and Deia has had that name for years by now. I think it's pretty funny though!

Sorry for clogging your dash, thank you for reading me ramble about character writing, and come back once QuintSum is finished (or read it if you don't have the patience of a saint) for Deia's character bio, because the lord knows I'm going to Never shut up about Deia once I can fully talk about her on main.

#sso #ssoblr #sso oc #Winterbird Alt

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avalynnemarie · 2 years

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Saudade

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Pairing: Midoriya x f!reader, Bakugou x f!reader (mentioned)

AU: Family/Future AU, Soulmate AU (Deku and Y/N)

Genre: Angst

Warnings: unrequited love, unable to move on (Y/N), original characters (Bakugou and Y/N's children), mentions of business marriages (Natsuki), swearing, comparing the past and present, the sneak peak at the end made me embarrassed but I didn't know how to make Y/N remember Bakugou because of Natsuki, toxic relationships, at this point I'm not hurting Y/N I'm hurting Deku, asshole Bakugou, selfish Y/N, obsession, neglect, daddy issues.

Keys:

Y/N = Your Name

L/N = Last Name

Accismus, the series.

Welcome to my blog!

Hello everyone~ From this day on, I will let the book 'words I wish I said' decide what I will write. The book is written by Caitlin Kelly and I highly recommend it for writers! I flipped to a random page 3 times and the first sentences I see will be my plot (I assure you, I still have the original plots in mind– just take this as dessert!). these are the sentences:

I'm not here because I like you, I'm just kissing you because your lips are convenient as his are not here. (Page 46)

Unrequited love is the one that fucks us all up. (Page 108)

They say if you love something then set it free, but why has that made us both unhappy? (Page 90)

Saudade is a feeling of longing, melancholy, desire, and nostalgia. It describes a deep emotional state; a yearning for a happiness that has passed, or perhaps never even existed.

Kasumi is currently 16 while Natsuki is 17, I changed some details in the old parts.

I also removed some of the songs lyrics so that it will fit in with the plot and so that it doesn't repeat over and over again. I also removed the "he's close with my mother and talks business with my father" so that some very special and strong people won't get sad :(

It is highly recommend to listen to the song before or during reading the fanfiction, enjoy!

He is sensible and so incredible and all my single friends are jealous

“HE PROPOSED?!” Mina screamed in ecstasy, pointing at the expensive ring Y/N was currently wearing. Y/N chuckled at her reaction and tried to brushed it off, unfortunately the girls weren't having it today. Their once-in-a-millenia hangout turned into an interview, the poor girl who only wanted to take a break was bombarded with questions left and right. “It hasn't even been a year yet!” “Are you sure about this, Y/N?” “Oh! When are you guys having childre–” “URARAKA!” “R-Right, sorry!”

She smiled warmly, her cheeks slightly red. Some of the girls squealed and began to endlessly tease Y/N.

“He will be an amazing husband and father, I love him more than my life.” Her smile faded, realizing how her children are very wary of Deku ever since he had a relationship with her. The voices of her friends and surroundings faded as she zoned out, realizing the words she said. Those were the exact words she said years ago about someone else.

He says everything I need to hear and it's like I couldn't ask for anything better

She locked the door and dropped her bag on the floor, forgetting about it. All she needed was sleep and maybe some quality time with her fiancé but sighed knowing that she'll sleep alone tonight, both of them agreed to live together so that they could see each other more frequently and prepare for their wedding. Y/N went to their shared bedroom not even having an intention to change her clothes only to see her fiancé patiently waiting for her, he perked up when saw her like an excited puppy. Y/N was surprised seeing him, wasn't Deku supposed to be busy? He probably changed his schedule to spend time with Y/N. This made her smile and give Deku a goodnight kiss before falling head-first on their bedsheets. “Had a tiring day, love?” He scooted closer to her half-asleep figure. She placed her head on his lap slowly falling asleep as he strokes her hair in a gentle manner. She held his spare hand while smiling softly, blushing slightly.

He says, "You look beautiful tonight"

Deku cupped Y/N's cheek and stared at her admiringly, she was finally his, and he was hers. It was worth holding back for years because he finally got what he wanted– a family, with her. Y/N giggled under his loving gaze, finally looking back at her lover. “Why are you staring?” She said, in a teasing tone while smirking. She wasn't bothered by the slightest, Y/N trusts him with her life. “I'm sorry, y-you just.. You look so beautiful.” Deku shyly admitted, he wasn't wrong, even if Y/N was drenched in mud or even if she was a worm– Deku will still think she looks beautiful, he is more than willing to drop everything just to build a happy life with his soulmate. “Thank you, love. Let's go to bed now, I'm so sleepy~” She smiled at him and changed her sleeping position to a more comfortable one, Deku snuggled closer to her, hugging her as he fell asleep. Y/N pecked his cheek as she leaned her head against his toned chest, comfortable and safe in his arms.

And I feel perfectly fine

“I love you, Y/N.” It was a windy day, clear skies, it was perfect. The perfect time to confess his feelings he had kept from her for months, his heart wouldn't stop pounding in his chest when Y/N was close to him. They were both under a Sakura tree as Deku was waiting for Y/N's reply, still bowing and reaching his love letter out to Y/N, unbeknownst to them– they were being watched. Y/N was stunned and she frowned, still not speaking. Not even a single sound, it would've been quiet if it weren't for the leaves rustling. “Deku, I trust you.” His eyes lit up and his heart began to pound harder against his chest. “I'm in a secret relationship with Bakugou, I'm sorry.” She saw how his eyes slowly went from excited to shocked, but despite all this– he promised to keep it as a secret. When Deku left, Y/N stared at the man who was watching them and walked over to him. “There, are you satisfied?” She frowned, clearly upset that she hurt her best friend's feelings. Bakugou smirked and gave her a pat on the shoulder. “You did amazing”.

Y/N regretted rejecting Deku, if she didn't then she wouldn't have been married to Bakugou and suffered the consequences of her own mistakes. How blind of her, how selfish. But now she never regretted spending time with her present husband, even if the relationship between her children became awkward– It doesn't mean that she'll give up her soulmate for anybody else ever again, she feels perfectly fine in his arms, he is her home. The only person she looks forward seeing after a tiring day, the only person who can hold her without any ill intentions, the person who will do anything for her. She feels safe with him, she loves him more than anything in the world. Atleast that's what Y/N tells herself.

But I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain

But she can't help it, why does she feel this way? Why does she long for him when she is engaged to another? No matter how hard Y/N tries to convince herself, it will never work. She still misses him, she still loves him and still thinks about him. Y/N laughed blankly at her thoughts, why is she so selfish? Why does she want to run to him? Y/N is happy with Deku, she treats her and their family like royalty and spoils them but she would drop everything just to have one last conversation with him, just like how Deku dropped everything for Y/N. Too many questions left unanswered but that's life, you can't always get what you want. But sometimes she just wishes that she never left, she doesn't care for her and her children's wellbeing, fighting and yelling was better than spending time with someone else attempting to make her ex regret everything. She understands now, why she wants Bakugou despite being treated luxuriously and lovingly by his rival. Y/N felt truly happy with him, she felt real love for him. Their relationship was exciting and fun, she just wants to experience that again but with someone else. And that someone would burn the world for her, but she would burn the whole world including Deku for him. Its ironic, isn't it? Do you feel a sense of deja vu?

And it's 2:00 a.m. and I'm cursing your name so in love that you act insane

Why can't these memories leave her alone? She just wants to be happy without him, she already found his soulmate and Bakugou already has Himari so why does she have an urge to run to him like a little girl? Her present husband will do anything to keep her safe and happy but she doesn't feel happy at all. So foolish, forcing herself to love someone else while her heart is beating for another. Y/N couldn't sleep at all because of these annoying, irrelevant intrusive thoughts of hers, she's happy. She is, okay that's not going to work. Forcing yourself to like something for others won't do good for the both of you, the other one has to find out sooner or later. She feels safe and comfortable around Deku, but Y/N admired and loved Bakugou. What's the difference? At this point she's in love with the past and not the actual man himself, she frowned and snuggled closer to her sleeping husband and tried her hardest to sleep. And she did, but the memories did not leave her thoughts for a single moment.

And that's the way I loved you

“FUCK OFF! YOU'RE SO ANNOYING! JUST BECAUSE I DON'T GIVE KASUMI ENOUGH ATTENTION!” Bakugou screamed, very irritated because of his wife bugging him again. “ENOUGH?" She had the audacity to shout back, “You think that you even GIVE her attention?” He was stunned, guilt slowly creeping up his chest but his pride made it disappear, replacing it with rage. It wasn't his fault that his daughter was so shitty, the only thing she has is beauty and nothing else, Kasumi is useless. Natsuki is better, she may not have grace in her movements but she's strong, intelligent and has a lot of potential. Y/N had enough, years of this madness, she was surprised that she dealt with him that long, she walked to their room, Bakugou followed. “What are you doing?” Y/N ignored him, packing her and Kasumi's bags. If he's so obsessed with Natsuki then he should take care of her, she's his responsibility now. Bakugou just watched her silently, Y/N flinched when he hugged her from behind. “Dont go,” Y/N rolled her eyes and tried to shove him off, but he had an iron grip around her waist. Why can't he just accept that they aren't a good match?, but Y/N knew, she knew that no matter what bullshit Bakugou would pull, she'd still love him and long for his touch. Y/N leaned into his touch and dropped her bags, her mind was screaming to leave but her heart was telling her to stay. Bakugou smirked in victory.

Breakin' down and coming undone, it's a roller coaster kinda rush

Natsuki would do anything to keep her sister's innocence while Kasumi will do anything to keep her older sister happy, so when Natsuki tells her to put her headphones and listen to music while their parents are fighting, she obeys. She doesn't understand at all, it can't hurt to remove her headphones right? She looked around and smiled in relief when her older sister is dozing off. She removed her headphones and was greeted with screams and sobs, now she understands. They were fighting about her. The family's disappointment but her mother's gem. “YOU'RE SO SELFISH!” Her mother yelled in a shaky voice, “ITS NOT MY FAULT YOU GAVE BIRTH TO A MISTAKE!” Her father shot back, that hit something in Kasumi, that was the reason why she kept overthinking about other people's thoughts about her. “If only I knew, we should have stuck to one child” her father sighed in disappointment, is this why Natsuki wanted her to listen to music everytime her parents would raise their voices? She felt so useless, she kept relying on others for her safety and well-being. She was only 6, and she already started to worry. “Sometimes I wish I never–” Kasumi put her headphones back on, tears falling down her chubby cheeks. Kasumi deserved this. That's what she felt and thought anyway.

I never knew I could feel that much and that's the way I loved you

Kasumi tugged on her mother's clothes when she was cooking dinner, looking up to her mother. Her mother looked at her with so much love, Kasumi wished that it was the same as her father. She wished that he loved her. She wished that she wasn't useless. “Mommy, am I pretty?” Kasumi asked, maybe it was because she's ugly. “Of course, Kas. You're the prettiest girl I've ever seen!” Kasumi doubted this, but it was true. She had sandy blonde hair and her mother's eyes, she was truly a beauty, so why didn't her father appreciate her? Her mother noticed her sad gaze and stroked her hair comfortingly, smiling. “Kas, is it about daddy?” she asked, Kasumi looked at her mother, tearing up. “Mommy, why does daddy hate me?” Her mother widened her eyes and pulled Kasumi closer to her, “Darling, don't listen to him. You are beautiful.” her mother reassured. “...Does daddy love you? Please teach me.” Kasumi asked, “teach you what, dear?” her mother replied, focusing on cooking instead of the little girl. “Please teach me how to be loved” Her mother went silent.

So in love that you act insane and that's the way I loved you

It was late at night and the male pro-hero finally came home, he didn't hear little snores, it was basically apart of Bakugou's routine now– he comes home and sees Kasumi who fell asleep waiting for her father. Not that he cares anyway, he turned the light on and was surprised to see his wife waiting for him, sitting on the couch with her legs crossed. Is she mad or something? Is it because of the dangerous mission he was assigned to? “Katsuki.” she said, clearly upset with the man. “Not now Y/N, I'm tired.” he started to walk away but Y/N quickly stood up and stopped him. She wasn't going to let him mistreat Kasumi anymore. “What do you want Y/N?” he snarled, getting annoyed by her strange behavior. “I want to talk.” Y/N said, “then make it quick.” Bakugou turned around and faced the woman, irritated. “Kasumi, you need to treat her like a daughter.” she started, “What the fuck? this again? I won't treat her like one until she's like her sister.” he sighed, pinching his nose. “Can you atleast try to talk to her?” “No.” “Why not?” Y/N asked, annoyed. “Kasumi is a waste of time and effort, I know you know that.” Y/N stood there stunned, Bakugou smirked in victory and started to walk away before Y/N stopped him, blocking the bedroom door. Y/N slapped him hard, Bakugou widened his eyes in shock before glaring at the woman. “You're sleeping on the couch tonight.” She slammed the door in his face before he could say anything.

He respects my space and never makes me wait and he calls exactly when he says he will

Y/N faced the mirror and twirled around, she looks beautiful, her husband will definitely love this. She smiles proudly and brushed her hair for one last time, Deku knocked on the door to check up on her. “I'm coming!” She got out of the room and faced her husband who was blushing at the sight of Y/N. She twirled around and did a curtsy, “What do you think?” She smiled and held his arm, “You look amazing, so lovely.” Y/N smiled wider at his compliment, she knows that Deku's favorite color is red, so she wore a dark red dress that perfectly matched her makeup and accessories. Y/N thought that they were on a date but was surprised when she heard from Deku that someone else was dining with them, it was a shame but business is business. The restaurant looked luxurious, elegant and beautiful. Y/N assumed that this person they were meeting was probably a big shot in society, since the food here was expensive. “This way, Mr and Mrs Midoriya.” A butler lead the way and left immediately when they got to their destination, a private room? She thought, staring at the door in front of them. Deku opened the door for her, “Ladies first,” He smirked. Y/N smiled and went in the room, her smile faded after she saw who was sitting in front of her– Bakugou. The tension in the room grew higher as Y/N was purposely avoiding Bakugou's piercing gaze, Deku was shocked too seeing his childhood best friend, perhaps he didn't know that Bakugou was the one who they'll be meeting up with, Deku sighed and grasped Y/N's hands, walking out of the room before Bakugou finally spoke up. “And where do you think you're going? We're not done here yet, are we?” He spoke in a serious tone, how dare they leave when they just got here? “Can I atleast leave?” Y/N was clearly uncomfortable, she wasn't ready to face him yet but her heart was beating so fast, Bakugou still looks so handsome even after years. She just wishes that everything would turn back to normal and this was just a dream.

“Who even told you to come here anyway?”

“Why, can't she tag along with her fiancé?” Deku shot back, he smiled reassuringly at Y/N and walked her out of the room, shutting the door and facing Bakugou. “Come on, sit.” Bakugou patted the chair next to him but Deku sat on the chair far away from him. Bakugou rolled his eyes, “Back to business.”

He can't see the smile I'm faking

“I'm sorry, Y/N. I shouldn't have brought you along with me,” Deku murmured to the woman in his arms, Y/N didn't reply, deep in thought. “your effort in your outfit is wasted, but you still looked amazing in that dress even if it was for a short time.” Deku promised her a night to themselves, Y/N immediately went home after seeing her ex-husband, she may long for him but she definitely wasn't ready to speak to him. “It's okay.” Y/N finally spoke, giving him a reassuring smile. Deku held her closer and kissed her forehead before looking at her with uncertainty, Y/N cupped his cheeks and kissed him. “I love you, Izuku.” She pulled away, staring at him with such loving eyes– Deku could swear that he could see hearts in them. “..More than him?” Y/N chuckled, making the greenette concerned. “H-Hey! Do you?” She grinned, “I do.” Deku sighed in relief, Y/N really gave him a fright. But Y/N knew that she was unable to love again, because he was her first love. The person she can't help but compare her lovers to and the person she longs for even when someone else is holding her.

My heart's not breaking 'cause I'm not feeling anything at all

Y/N scrolled through his phone is disbelief, she felt pure anger. Wasn't this supposed to be purely business? Maybe it's because if they worked together, the both of them would become stronger and earn more respect but what the hell? Fuck respect, fuck power– Y/N couldn't believe that her fiancé would agree to this, her daughter didn't even graduate yet. “I can explain.” She heard a familiar voice behind her, Deku. Yes, they need to talk about this, about how he willingly gave up Natsuki. “You can't, the explanation is right in front of my eyes.” Deku opened his mouth to say something but not a single syllable came out, he can't make an excuse can he? Is Y/N going to leave him? He stood there, unmoving as he watched Y/N grab her coat and walk towards the front door, ready to leave. “Y/N.” Deku called out, he wanted to explain everything to avoid misunderstandings but the woman wouldn't let him. Y/N gave him a side-glare and said, “Natsuki isn't your daughter, she's MY daughter. You should've told me about this because I am her mother.” But even if they had a genuine conversation about this, Y/N would still refuse. She will not give up her daughter's future so that they can gain more respect, power and fame. It's just fucked up. Both of them are fucked up. “Y/N, you should trust me, I am the number 1 hero and I know more about politics than you do.” Deku finally uttered, he was trying to convince his fiancé that this is a good idea, even if their daughter wouldn't like it. “She's human, Izuku. Natsuki has feelings too.” Y/N said in disbelief, does he hear the complete utter bullshit he is spitting out? Because he probably isn't. “You should stop being inconsiderate Y/N, Natsuki is our daughter– she'll understand.” Y/N was about to explode, inconsiderate? She's the one being inconsiderate? Oh hell no. Y/N scowled at him, maybe it wasn't too late to call off this engagement. Deku stood his ground, the two of them exchanged stares as Y/N finally left the house. She did not forget to slam the door as hard as she could. Y/N has to be the first one to tell her daughter about this, maybe she can put the situation in a kinder way so that her daughter could understand but as she arrived, the only thing she didn't want to happen, occured. She hid behind the gate and observed the two figures.

You were wild and crazy just so frustrating, intoxicating, complicated

“Natsuki, me and your step-father have discussed this for months now.” The 17 year old stopped sulking and saw her mother not far away, spying on both of them, it seemed important since her father was reaching out to her personally. They were in front of UA because Bakugou dragged her out of her classroom in the middle of a lesson, “What do you need, father?” She asked politely, fixing her position as she faced her father. “You will be engaged when you turn 18.” She went silent, her head hung low in disbelief. Engaged? Isn't she too young for this? This doesn't make any sense at all. Natsuki could hear and feel her heart pound inside her chest, Bakugou walked towards Natsuki and cupped her cheek, both of them made eye contact, it was clear that her father was trying to assert dominance. “I worked hard for this, don't be selfish.” said Bakugou, tightening his grip around her cheek, it was painful but it helped Natsuki get to her senses. “You did father, I'm so glad to have you as my parent.” Natsuki smiled emptily, Y/N widened her eyes, how did he manage to convince Natsuki? And why would she accept? Y/N felt so heartbroken, her daughter's future will be thrown away because of selfish desires and she just stood there, everything in Y/N's body screamed at her to go and protect her daughter's future, but she knew that it was too late.

I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain

Why can't we all live happily ever after like the Disney princesses we once adored when we were children? Why do we have to earn happiness, if we deserve it? Y/N misses the times where she and Bakugou were newly married, it was so.. exciting. Moving in, having their first daughter, Natsuki's first steps and Bakugou's promotion. But now all she feels is deja vu with her present lover, occasionally thinking ‘Hey, this happened before’. All princesses are happily married to their lover without any problems because they already eliminated the villain but didn't Y/N already cast Bakugou out of her and her children's life? Why does she feel a sense of longing for him even if he wronged her? Maybe the villain in her story was her mind all along, making these negative and pessimistic thoughts and dreams to haunt her at night. Long ago, Y/N had a dream on the night of her and Bakugou's honeymoon. She was staring at him walking away from her, everything in her screamed ‘GO!’ but all she did was stare despite the irresistible urge to run to him, Y/N watched Bakugou's figure slowly disappearing from her sight before she woke up, drenched in sweat and panting as Bakugou tried to reassure her that everything was alright and it wasn't real, but she only thought about her strange dream. Maybe this was foreshadowing something? It did, and she regretted not looking into it further.

It's 2:00 a.m. and I'm cursing your name

“So, this was all fake? You never loved me?” Y/N says, on the verge of tears. Perhaps she was too blinded by his touch and sweet words to notice, she has to thank Deku later for beating some sense into her head. The blonde was silent, too silent, he could tell that he shattered her heart at that moment. “Katsuki.. please–” Y/N walked towards him, whispering, “please.. tell me you love me..” Each word she uttered grew more and more silent as she realizes what his true intentions were from the beginning, she looked at her hands and then covers her face in shame. How can she be so dumb? “Please..” she uttered, looking at her husband through her middle and ring finger. Bakugou had an blank expression but he felt guilt, haha, he never changed did he? “TELL ME!” Y/N shrieked, there was no doubt that their children are probably awake by now. Bakugou frantically shook his head, he didn't know what to say. Y/N sobbed harder, all of this just for a successor. She genuinely loved him but sometimes she wonders if he loves her back, her speculations were true and she expected this but.. why does her heart feel so heavy? Bakugou hugged her tight, burying his head on the crook of her neck muttering apologies. She cried harder and succumbed into his touch, despite the sweet nothings he whispered in her ear– Y/N never heard him say 'I love you'.

So in love that I acted insane and that's the way I loved you

“–suki.. Natsuki!” Y/N chased her daughter, who seemed to finally hear her calls but refused to meet her mother's gaze. “Natsuki..” Y/N hugged her daughter tightly, starting to tear up. Natsuki remained silent. “You don't have to agree to everything to make your father satisfied, you're throwing your life away.” Natsuki still remained silent. “Sometimes, I wish you were born in a different family, I'm so sorry Natsuki, I-I should've been better.” Y/N tried her best, but it wasn't enough. Natsuki just watched Y/N say the things she should've done a few years back. “Then why aren't you?” Natsuki muttered with a brittle voice, she was asking her mother a genuine question and Y/N didn't know what to reply, “I'm sor–” “No.” Natsuki immediately blocked her apology. “Mom, you only cared about Kasumi.” Y/N widened her eyes at this, offended. “Because your father doesn't see her as his own.” Y/N said, wasn't this obvious by now? She had to take care of Kasumi because she had nobody else. “And you think he saw me as his daughter?” They both fell silent, this was a sign for Natsuki to continue speaking. “He only saw me as a successor, not his child.” She pointed out, glaring at her mother. Natsuki wasn't surprised, her mother only paid attention to her sister anyway. “I shouldn't have taught you how to be a good successor, I should've taught you to how to live a happy and peaceful life.” Natsuki froze hearing her mother's sincere words, then why didn't she? Natsuki is intelligent, strong and reliable but that doesn't mean she doesn't need affection. She remembers the times where she would just stare at her little sister showered with affection from her mother because she was 'fragile'. Natsuki is only 17. She hung her head low, trying to bite back her tears. She couldn't achieve her dreams and goals. Natsuki didn't want this at all but she didn't have a choice, she never had a choice. Natsuki couldn't even graduate and become a pro-hero. Oh, the things she does for a father's love and validation.

Part 6, Solandis coming soon! Check Accismus, the series for more details.

Want some details of part 6?

Deku stared at his sobbing wife on the floor of their bedroom, covering her mouth trying not to let sobs and whimpers out of overhwhelming sadness as tears were falling down her face at a rapid pace. He never saw her this.. fragile before, news recently came out that 'Dynamite' or Bakugou Katsuki died during a mission. Y/N needed some comfort considering how much she's shaking, Deku walked towards the weeping woman and wrapped his arms around her. She didn't return the hug but buried her face on the crook of his neck, his shoulders suddenly wet because of her overflowing tears. Deku still loves her despite her flaws and focused on her perfections, he loves her unconditionally. He knew that Y/N wasn't exactly over her ex-husband even after 10 years, this, was what he didn't expect. Bakugou was a terrible father and husband, he didn't know Y/N would make a big deal of his death considering the fact that he treated Kasumi like an outcast of her own family and forced Natsuki to be just like him. He tried his hardest to comfort his wife with his sweet words, but nothing would work as she continued to weep. Deku decided to give her some time alone out of pity, her eyes were puffy and sore because of how long she wept. Y/N spent her free time with Natsuki a few days later– attempting to talk her out of her hatred for her step-father. “But mooom!!” Natsuki whined dramatically. “He's different, Natsuki. He's sweet, honest and–” Natsuki started to giggle, unintentionally interrupting her mother. “You really love him, mom. But I still don't trust him, how about you focus on getting me a brother instead?” Y/N blushed at her words and turned away out of embarrassment, this caused Natsuki to laugh and smirk devilishly.

“Why, are you scared?”

. . .

“Mom?”

Y/N turned away and ran despite Natsuki's protests. Damnit, tears were brimming in her eyes again, she's so much like her father– it hurt so much. To be constantly reminded of the fact that he's forever gone and within her grasp. She ran and ran until she was inside her house, ignoring Deku and slamming the door in his face. The feeling was back again, the feeling that everything was crashing down. Her chest is so heavy, her eyes are so blurry. Deku opened the door to their shared bedroom and discovered a side of Y/N he thought that he would never see until today.

Y/N was at her weakest.

Her tears were trailing openly down her face and unto the bedsheets but she wasn't sobbing as hard like she did a few weeks ago. Each tear that fell from her eyes were tears of regret and frustration, she was frustrated at herself for being so selfish in the past and present.

His death was unexpected, he was a strong and determined hero who was admired by many. So how could the number 2 hero fall against a mere villainess?

Their marriage was expected to end sooner or later, but both of them still loved each other even if they weren't fated. She had to adapt to a new environment without one of the most important people in her life, for her children and for herself.

Deku knew that Y/N only used him to put her mind at peace, to move on from him. He knew but he still believed the sweet nothings whispered in his ear every night. He knew but yet he still held her, he knew and yet he still loves her.

It's not your fault that he didn't love you the way I did, it's not your fault that you can't change him, it's not your fault that you can't make him love you back. Why won't you focus on the present? On us? He doesn't fucking love you, Y/N. Deal with it instead of making me hope that you love me more than him. You made it seem like you actually loved me, and I despise you for that.

But in reality he couldn't feel anything against Y/N, she did nothing after all but love someone else who wasn't him. It wasn't her fault. It shouldn't be her fault.

He wanted to scream, to make her realize that she's not the only one suffering, that he loves her more than Bakugou ever will but Deku just stared at Y/N's quivering figure, trying her hardest not to make any sound. He couldn't help but cry as well, but every tear he shed had her name on it. He just wants to be loved, is that so hard to ask for?

He didn't realize how much he loves Y/N until he found himself sobbing at the thought of losing her, but what he didn't know also was that he already lost her a long time ago.

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roobylavender · 1 year

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Your post earlier made me think about how Bruce is really dedicated to learning and acquiring knowledge and how over the course of his life he has acquired a wide array of skills across multiple fields and it just really makes we want to see a version of Bruce who loses his wealth somehow and has to do a normal job in any field because I honestly think it'd pull him out of the doom and gloom mentality and make him genuinely happy. I'm not that far into my Batman reading but I really think it would be an interesting move to make Bruce a normal dude given all the discourse around billionaire superheroes right now and it's probably the best thing for his mental health/general issues to actually be around people.

I also would like to see how it would affect his relationships with his family, friends and allies because he would be out in a position to genuinely experience their reality. Also would love to see him get a job utilising one of his obscure skills that he genuinely likes. How do you think an arc of Bruce having to live like a normal person would go? I love your comic book insights and would love to hear your take

To clarify the previous ask I know he loses his money in current canon but he still seems to be a billionaire? I think? I don't know I cannot get through most modern comics. Anyways good luck with law school and I hope you have a nice day! 🌻🌻🌻

i'm not reading the current dc or batman run and haven't been for the past few years so i am as clueless as to that situation as you are! (and thank you for the well wishes hehe i am sat in criminal law right now utterly bored out of my mind)

i couldn't agree more though! a slight tangent to this idea but one criticism of the dark knight rises that i have noticed bleeds over into opinions of bruce's future in the comics is this idea that he can only ever be batman and if he does not intend to die as batman then the writer behind that decision has failed to understand his character. it's one i'm very confused by and heavily disagree with. before bruce is batman he's bruce. batman exists bc of bruce. it took at least a decade before the specific idea of batman was even implanted into bruce's head if we're going by classic takes on the batman origin story. he had interests before that! he had a life! we are able to see on several occasions that he still wants to have a life even though it grows increasingly difficult to do so while he takes responsibility for being the city's savior. which is what i think makes the concluding thesis of the dark knight rises (for all of its well-criticized flaws) so, so good bc it allows bruce to acknowledge that he doesn't have to carry the world on his shoulders alone, and that acknowledgment isn't reproachful in and of itself, esp where he has people to carry on the cause

i've talked here before about critics' attention to the nihilism of the nolan movies and their focus on the batman as a singular, crucial savior without whom the city falls to pieces, and i totally agree that criticism of building vigilantism on nihilism's foundations is viable. but i also think it's a criticism conveniently made for that movie bc the scope of bruce's immediate posse is incredibly limited. at most he is only ever closely accompanied by two people in any given movie so it's easier to be skeptical of the idea that gotham is presented to only ever need one savior bc there aren't many others to choose from. i do think the dark knight gets close at challenging that notion with the boats set-up towards the end but nolan fails to really see it through when he carries it forward via john blake, who is not only one person, but also a cop. there's a great idea there in bruce indirectly inspiring someone else to do good and act of his own volition but whether its impact is completely effective is debatable and i think most people would agree using the actual robin would have been a far better alternative. the novelty of batman comics in comparison to the nolan trilogy is that superheroes are everywhere. people who do good are everywhere. we are all heroes inherently if we so choose to be. bruce has an entire support system he can trust to carry forward the same faith and duty that he has been for years if he happens to lose it all or need a break or whatever

and i know you're only specifically talking about him losing his wealth so my sincere apologies for going off on such a wild tangent lol! but i do imagine the loss of wealth or even voluntary removal from it would be attached to a departure from batman as well, whether temporary or permanent. i think there's an interesting thread to follow there with how bruce's wealth not only isolates him from certain realities but also enables his dedication to being batman bc he simply always has material and resources at his disposal by way of that wealth (he kind of has to bc otherwise he's more exposedly human). what does he do when he doesn't have immediate access to those things? how does his awareness of ordinary people's circumstances increase and how does that in turn influence the way he chooses to live going forward? it's a really great way to connect him more deeply to people like selina and leslie whose entire survival is premised on their brutal understanding of normalcy and its tension with survival in a place that is anything but normal. bruce has a good head on his shoulders and an even more sympathetic heart but i want to see him really come face to face with the things that only ever exist in his periphery bc his attachment to resources always demands that he fights the foes to match those resources. get him involved with the community on the ground and lead his inclination towards good will to its natural conclusion of people interaction. bc bruce loves people! he craves companionship. if he could spend the rest of his life working with people and for people i think he would. so on the note of what i think he would do i genuinely feel like bruce would love anything to do with community service. involvement in things like student mentorship programs are great bc they're a huge well of creativity for teachers trying to inspire kids to be passionate about their interests and skills. and bruce definitely has the experience from how he trains his robins (esp how he used to in the olden days when it was all chummy gymnastics and boxing friendlies!)

#sorry this is so all over the place this is what happens when i get excited about answering a question and i don't read #it carefully enough and end up going on tangents everywhere. but i hope even a lick of this makes sense bc it's truly such #an interesting point along which to explore bruce as a character esp if it's executed genuinely!#i feel like no man's land was potentially a way to explore this with bruce but unfortunately bc there was such a strong focus #on pro govt and pro cop morale the potential to explore bruce's integrity was obscured #outbox

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retrieve-the-kraken · 2 years

Text

I just had a long debate about representation and inclusivity and the new trailer for The Little Mermaid, and I think I understand why so many people, who claim to not be racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/etc, are still against the re-telling of a story with a character being played by a person of color, being played by a woman, being presented as gay, being played by a trans actor, etc…

It might be because they feel that the new version negates the previous version. Like if Superman, who has always been white and male since the comics and in every media representation, were suddenly played by a black female actor, they feel that all previous representations as white male Superman suddenly cease to exist.

Yes, Superman was used as an example in the debate, and that’s when I realized what the issue was.

In this case, my argument would be that Superman’s story has always been more intrinsically connected to his skin color and gender identity than we think, and therefore if you changed the gender and skin color of the characters you would have to make A LOT of adjustments to the story, and then it wouldn’t be the same story, it would be different. Because if a black female alien landed on Earth in Middle America in the 1930s, I think Superman’s story would have turned out very different… Therefore Superman’s identity and story is a lot more related to how he is perceived as a white male in the time and place where he’s supposed to exist. This is a story that, although fictional, is heavily influenced by U.S. culture and political history, those two things give the fictional events of Superman a lot of context.

Meanwhile, The Little Mermaid does not have any of that. Even if Hans Christian Andersen wrote The Little Mermaid as a red-headed white woman, she’s still very much a fantasy character in a fantasy world where mermaids exist. The story of The Little Mermaid has very little do to with her skin or hair color, and everything to do with her being a little mermaid, again a fictional character in a fictional world, who wants to know what it’s like to live on land and be with this guy that she saw once. Basically she can be any color you want, the story is the same. In fact, I would actually hope that they, the makers of the new Little Mermaid, make the effort to include some kind of historical context for when the story is supposed to be set and how different it would be if the titular mermaid were black, make it a little more interesting, make it a slightly different story.

Which brings me back to the original point: people seem to fear the eradication of their beloved character that they grew up with. But the original Little Mermaid movie, with its animated red-headed white character is not going away, it doesn’t cease to exist. It’s still the first one, in fact it’s the SOURCE material more than the fairy tale (which is very different, it has a very different and very depressing ending and nobody sings beloved songs), and you can keep liking it as much as you want, while new generations get to pick from two versions (three if you count the original fairy tale). And they can like one of the them or the other or both. (For example, keeping with the Disney live-action remakes, I liked the remake of Beauty and the Beast, I still prefer the original animated Aladdin, and I haven’t even bothered to watch the new Lion King because I know I’m going to hate it, those lions look grumpy as heck).

And it makes me think that people don’t really understand how media works…? Because precisely the convenient thing about media is that you get to tell the same story multiple times, keeping it the same or making slight changes or making big changes… whatever you like. There have literally been four versions of Spider-Man in the span of 20 years…

And it makes me wonder if more people would benefit from reading fanfiction.

For example, you watch any of the MCU Spider-Man movies, they’re all great. But now you wonder: what if Spider-Man was gay and fell in love with a boy named MJ? What if Spider-Man was a trans woman this whole time? What if Spider-Man never had powers and met MJ whilst working in a coffee shop (hashtag coffee shop AU)? What if they didn’t meet in school but at uni (hashtag college AU)? What if they met because MJ texted the wrong number and got Peter instead (hashtag wrong number AU)? What if they went to Hogwarts (hashtag Hogwarts AU)? What if, what if, what if?????

None of those stories are the same, yet they contain the same core characters and exist simultaneously in the same universe in a way, and we get to explore different ideas, different possibilities for these characters, different scenarios no matter how fantastic, different romantic couplings, even crossovers with other media… And if you can’t find the story that you’re looking for, if your headcanon has not been written by someone already, then you get to write it yourself!

In fact, you don’t even have to read fanfiction to consider the alternate possibilities. They actually exist in popular media. Consider Spider-Man: No Way Home. Sure, all three Spider-Men are white male, but only one of them has been in love with a girl named Gwen, only one of them has been in the Avengers, only one of them has had the most iconic upside-kiss off all time, and all three of them have fought different villains throughout their stories. And then suddenly they team up and have the cutest, fan-servicing interactions! Like brothers! Look, they´re all pointing at each other, lol.

And don’t even get me started on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse! Arguably the best multiverse movie yet, give me a live-action adaptation of that, I doubt that it will do any justice to the outstanding animation, but I kinda want to see Miles Morales team up with SpiderGwen, Jake Johnson, Peter Porker, Nicholas Cage and Peni Parker against Kathryn Hahn.

Or better yet, consider the show Loki, where actual variants of the same character exist, like fanfiction: what if Loki was a woman? What if Loki had remained with the Frost Giants? What if Loki was a child? What if Loki was black? What if Loki was a crocodile? Their stories are all so different, and all so real, and they all exist at once, althought not necessarily in the same universe. But we could explore every single one of them. Throg is real. Croki is real.

Or even better, consider the show actually called WHAT IF…? Where alternate scenarios for so many of the MCU stories already told are present. What if Peggy Carter took the supersoldier serum instead of Stever Rogers, so we get Captain Britain instead of Captain America? What if all the original Avengers were murdered? What if Tony never became Ironman? What if they were all ZOMBIES???

I do feel like originality seems to have come to a stand-still. Everything seems to be a sequel, a live-action remake, an adaptation, etc etc etc. There are THREE Pinocchio films coming out this year. All three very different (one is by Guillermo del Toro, which I’m looking forward to the most, it’s sure to be the most interesting, but the Disney one, although it looks to be a frame-by-frame adaptation of the animation, has Tom Hanks and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, so I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to experience that), but ultimately I don’t think we need three… not in the same year, at least.

And now we’re going to have two little mermaids. If the adaptation doesn’t update it a little and make it a little more aspirational (I don’t know if I want to sit through a movie in which a young woman’s voice is stolen, and then she’s basically only valued because of her looks and then she gets the guy… wow, what a progressive story), if it’s only a frame-by-frame live-action adaptation, then it’s a lost opportunity to make the story into a little something more. But I get why simply the fact that the titular character being played by a woman of color is a step-forward, I would simply wish for something more. I’ll probably still watch it, thought. Whether I like it or not is yet to be determined (but it will be determined by the quality of the story, not by the skin color of the protagonist).

I do think that, if you want to do a remake of a story whilst changing the skin color or gender identity or sexuality of their original character(s), you do have, like with any other remake that does not make any of those changes, an obligation to try to do something else with the story, and a BIPOC character or a character with a different gender identity or expression or sexuality is the perfect opportunity. Make it more interesting, reinvent it, update something, etc. Don’t just keep it exactly the same and only change the packaging slightly. Then you’re just trying to trick people into giving you money for nothing.

What I can’t put up with is the double standards of people complaining that the little mermaid is supposed to be white and why are they now turning her black, when they don’t say a word when BIPOC characters continue to be whitewashed in media to this day.

#race in media #the little mermaid #representation #representation matters #inclusivity

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misterewrites · 2 years

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Wild Wild Lanes (Arcane, lol AU)

E here and I hope you are all doing good! Yes this is another Vi and Cait story with a special guest appearance from league's old married couple! This is a gift for my awesome friend @disney-n-stuff. she wanted old west cait and vi and who I am to deny a birthday gift? haha I might keep this story going. It's fun alternate universe I created based on Caitlyn's old west skin. Look she looks amazing I dunno what you want from me. Also there was some art i saw of Vi in this setting and my friend wanted it so here we are! She’s also an amazing artist and you can find her here https://www.instagram.com/edgyonpurpose16/

Short hand. Runeterra, league's world, but old west. There you go that's it. I mean there is the cool high noon skinline which is like angels and demons and people in this sweet old west setting I might throw in here whenever I decide to keep going. Cait's skin is not part of it for whatever reason. League has amazing skinlines with awesome stories attached them but boy do they have favorites and it shows.

Okay that's it. Take care of yourselves. Have a great week, be safe, take care of you and your loved ones, wear masks because it helps reduce the spread and there's some people who still need to be protected. Get vaccinated cuz it helps immensely, push for the world to get vaccines cuz we're all in this together whether we like it or not. It's rough in general and yeah it's hard. I get it I do. It's okay to unplug yourself. It's okay to just exist. It's okay to put the world at the door, lose yourself in a story and have fun. We all need it from time to time. Just stay informed, stay fair and care about other people.

That's it for me. likes, reblogs, comments, recommend to your friends. I love and appreciate it all. I love writing. I love sharing my stuff with you and I hope you enjoy. HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDGY! I hope you like it! E is out for now but I'll be back soon with another story. Have a great week and byeeeee!

If you want to read this in a more friendly format you can find it here!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/41554284

Hey look my other vi/cait fic dealing with my own version season 2 for Arcane!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/36807532/chapters/91825738

If you are interested in other works which include but are not limited to: Original works, Owl House, Legend of Zelda among many more you can find the whole list of my work below.

https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrE42/pseuds/MrE42

Have a good one and enjoy!

Summary: In another time, in another place a familiar world is less familiar as an age of lawlessness draws to end. It's the old west and Caitlyn must learn to deal with not only the dangers of the outside world but corruption within.

-----

“Miss Kiraman?”

Caitlyn closed her eyes for a moment and let the wave of annoyance wash through her. She took a calm breath, counted to three and let both the air and irritation flow out of her with a steady breeze.

“Deputy Kiraman” Caitlyn corrected the enforcer firmly “I understand my transfer is still an adjustment for not only myself but the town as well so I shall let it pass this time.”

The masked enforcer sheepishly scratched the back of their neck “Sorry ma’am. No disrespect meant.”

That she believed. It became increasingly obvious to her that The Lanes were much less structured than Piltover which in turn meant a far more lax attitude about protocols and procedure.

Caitlyn had to admit she was less than thrilled when Marcus informed her of her transfer to a border town out in the boonies. He said it was to expand her horizons but they both knew that was a convenient lie.

Perhaps it was her quizzical nature, a biting curiosity that drove her to examine all details with a skeptic eye. Maybe it was her uncanny ability to see the strings of an unseen mastermind, simple crimes that were really pieces of a grander, far more malicious design. Or, more than likely, it was the fact she kept threatening the false sense of security Piltover strove to project. Her time in the Enforcers made it abundantly clear the law cared more about pretending everything was okay than face reality.

So, because of her steadfast morals, she was forced to trade one city for another and the contrast between them was so clear it was comically ironic.

Piltover had cobbled streets with the latest technological marvels abound ranging from horseless drawn carriages to lights that lit themselves as night fell. The buildings were impeccably kept in stark white, gold and blue hues. Dozens enforcers on the streets at any given time and there was a stifling aura of ‘refinement’ and pose.

The Lanes, on the other hand, were different in every single way. Rather than a single city, the Lanes were a trio of cities built along the supply lines vital for Piltover, towns with desert on one side and a heavily guarded bridge on the other. Mostly rustic, faded and often times aged wood composed the places of business and homes. Dirt roads worn from constant goods traveling to and from far off places and the trouble that followed. Everything was old and weathered but lived with a history and life that the soulless Piltover lacked. The people dressed in clothes that had been ripped, torn and bleached by the sun and time but it made them unique, each person was a character and Caitlyn knew most by sight if not by name.

Each city held a fraction of the force Piltover had and Caitlyn’s particular location was the least kept, least funded and least populated of the trio. Aside from this young enforcer, who was more an assistant and clerk than a capable combatant, Caitlyn was basically on her own. Marcus had sent her here to fail and failure undoubtedly meant Caitlyn would be thrown off the force and that was simply something she could not allow. She hadn’t the slightest idea how she was to return to the gilded city of progress but that was a problem for later.

She had closer threats at hand.

“Do you have the information?” Caitlyn asked with an air of professionalism.

“Yes ma’am. Your hunch was correct.” there was a shuffling of papers “The Lanes sudden drop in crime within the cities limits and surrounding areas is an indication that something big is about to happen.”

Caitlyn laced her fingers together thoughtfully “I suspect a major player is about to make their move.”

“Two.” The enforcer corrected, fishing out two cracked pieces of papers and handing them over.

She studied the wanted posters carefully, taking in every single feature and detail of the two men sketched on their surface.

“Twisted Fate and Graves.” Caitlyn mumbled to herself “Two Bilgewater rats traveled far from home. Perhaps looking for an easy score.”

“Shall I request assistance from the other cities?”

She sighed out loud. A well meaning gesture but a pointless one. Without proper proof her request would simply be denied and while she was certain the pair would strike here she couldn’t jeopardize the safety of the Lanes by stretching the other forces thin.

“No. We shall keep a closer eye out here. It is impossible to tell which town they will attack.” she lied with a straight face.

“Okay ma’am. May I go? I’m due to catch the train to Piltover for our weekly supply run.”

Caitlyn gave a simple nod, too caught up in thought to pay any further attention.

The enforcer clicked their heels, gave a sloppy salute and hurried out of the office.

They’ll attack tonight, she thought to herself, when there’s only a single enforcer to deal with. It’s the best play they have. Two against one were odds only a fool would pass on.

It wasn’t looking good for the deputy.

Luckily she wasn’t going to be alone tonight.

-----

A hushed whisper fell over the bar, cautious eyes glancing over to Caitlyn who’d just entered.

Three weeks and the locals were still unaccustomed to her presence. They were used to less dutiful enforcers and handling problems on their own. In fact the first week she was here she almost went mad from boredom as it seemed the town had no problems. She later discovered that the residents were dealing with it on their own and had the scars and injuries to prove it.

They slowly warming up to the idea of a responsible enforcer they could come to for assistance but at the moment they kept their distance and she kept hers when she could.

Besides it would be irresponsible for her to involve any of them in her endeavors. The worst most of them had dealt with were two bit thugs and bandits, not seasoned criminals.

There was one, however, she knew wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty and had the fists to back it up.

“Hello there darlin.” The pink haired bartender greeted with a flirty wink.

Caitlyn fought down the blush creeping on her cheeks as she took a seat at the counter.

Vi and Caitlyn were opposite in so many ways: Where Caitlyn wore the standard enforcer uniform (A white blouse under a beige coat, beige skirt with dark brown boots and a brown fedora sitting on her head) Vi wore less traditional clothing. A wrinkled, washed-out white collared shirt that did little to hide her muscular frame. Black suspenders attached to long faded dress pants and thick hiking boots worn down by age and time.

Caitlyn gulped nervously “Good afternoon Violet.”

“Oh cupcake.” Vi chuckled “We’ve been over this a thousand times now. Name’s Vi. Now what are you havin? The usual or feeling adventurous today?”

Caitlyn could feel her heart skip a bit at Vi’s impish grin.

Caitlyn came to this bar every night for the last week and it wasn’t for the drinks. Vi was the most interesting person in town and, for some reason the deputy could not fathom, she felt drawn to the bartender in a way she hadn’t been expecting.

While the other residents spoke to her in hushed, muted tones Vi greeted her warmly. Perhaps too warmly but there were far worse ways to be acknowledged. Vi always looked her in the eye and refused to cower from the uniform and status her position entitled. In fact Vi seemed to love trying to get a rise out of Caitlyn but it always in good fun.

Caitlyn tried to get the others to tell her what they knew about the pink haired bartender but the most she could gather was Vi rolled into town a few years back and simply never left. If she had any family it never came up. Where she was from? A mystery. All anyone knew was Vi set up shop here in the Lanes and had a mean left hook and was not afraid to use it.

“Actually I’m here on business.” Caitlyn stated simply, trying to keep her voice steady.

Vi raised an eyebrow “That’s a new one. What kind of business cupcake?”

Caitlyn remained silent, her gaze slowly shifting to a pair of mining gauntlets that hung from a nearby hook.

Blue met blue as Vi’s eyes narrowed, her expression shifting from playful to guarded.

“I don’t really do that particular line of business anymore darlin.”

Caitlyn took a deep breath “I don’t really know your past Vi but I’m in a bit of trouble. I could really use your help.”

Vi remained silent, her face stony.

“Please.” Caitlyn pleaded softly “I know it is a lot to ask…”

“It is a lot to ask.” Vi cut in as she crossed her arms defensively “Look darlin you’re nice and all but that’s a tall order for me. I ain’t lookin for trouble. Not anymore. Even for a pretty girl like you.”

Caitlyn bit her lip thoughtfully “I’m not either but trouble has a way of finding us and it is coming.”

“Sorry darlin but I’m afraid I put those down. Not keen on picking them back up.”

“I understand.”

Vi pursed her lip as Caitlyn stood up. She could feel her heart stop at the sight of the blue haired girl so disheartened but in true Cait fashion it slipped behind a mask of stoic professionalism before anyone else could see.

“If you hear trouble.” Caitlyn spoke, her voice tight but firm “Keep everyone inside.”

Vi could only nod in response, guilt tugging at her resolve.

“And Violet.” Caitlyn’s voice dropped to a whisper “If you aren’t so keen on picking them back up you should put them away. No one would blame you. I don’t.”

Before the bartender could say anything further, Caitlyn pivoted on her heels and made her way outside.

-----

Caitlyn strategized, weighing her current options for the best probability of success. As she climbed up to the roof and her makeshift sniper’s perch overseeing the entrance to the bank she repeated her plan over and over in her head. She went over every detail, every possibility and the best, worst and most likely outcome. She repeated this over and over until the sun fell out of view and darkness rose in its place. She kept her mind focused on every part of her plan while the lanterns were lit and illuminated the streets. She meticulously thought of every single thing she could to ensure she would succeed until they came in the dead of night.

For wanted and presumably dangerous criminals they were an odd pair.

Twisted Fate looked like the younger of the two though it was impossible to say: he had a boyish face with a stylish beard that went from one side to the other but no mustache. He was lanky and thin, so thin he almost hid under his wide brim hat. His clothes were typical of a gambler: Nice vest embroidered with an elegant pattern and collared shirt. Dusty dress pants from the trip and fancy dress loafers that once upon a time were nice.

Graves, on the other hand, looked older with a weathered face. He was built like a house, wide with a muscular body. His hair was combed back rather nicely and his mustache, mutton chops and goatee were well kept. Caitlyn couldn’t get a good look at his clothing tucked under his large red cape though the dark blue tones of his uniform and pants seemed to be military in design. She did notice, however, the large shotgun shells hanging off his belt and a rather imposing dual barrel cannon he lugged around with no issue.

Caitlyn was expecting the duo to professional, silent and discipline as made their approach to the bank. What she got instead was the pair bickering like an old married couple.

“You sure ain’t nobody here?” the southern draw of Twisted Fate asked, a hint of wariness in his voice.

Graves gave a deep rumble of laughter “You bet! I spread the word we were comin. Probably took off runnin once they found out.”

“You did what?! Do I need to remind you that we are wanted in five counties?”

“Yeah? So?”

Caitlyn could hear Twisted Fate sigh in exasperation. This clearly wasn’t the first time his partner had done something like this.

Seizing her chance, Caitlyn inched closer to the edge of the roof, rifle clutched tightly in her grip.

Twisted Fate rubbed his eyes tiredly “Let’s make this quick and get lost before enforcers come. Did you bring the dynamite?”

“Why would I have the dynamite? I thought you were gonna do your little trick to get into the bank!” Graves replied, unable to keep the accusatory edge out of his voice.

“You have got to be kidding me! You had one job Graves.”

“And you.” Graves shot back “Are useless without me.”

“I swear to your mama I am about to beat you six ways to Sunday.”

Caitlyn raised her rifle, eyed the scope carefully and aimed towards the shoulder of Graves, a nonfatal but painful spot. She didn’t want to harm them but this was the fastest way to dissuade the pair.

She clicked the safety off but before she could squeeze the trigger, the pair acted.

Evidently they weren’t as bumbling as they first appeared.

The duo moved with a level of synchronicity that could only be achieved with years of intimacy.

Twisted Fate acted first while Graves whirled around to get a bead on Caitlyn. The gambler flicked out his wrist and sent something flying towards her.

Her training prevented her from flinching as the object embedded itself in front of her though she confused to see, not a knife, but rather an ordinary playing card inches from her face. She almost paid it no mind when it started humming with a mysterious energy. She looked at it carefully and noticed the card was glowing, faint at first but quickly growing brighter and brighter each passing second.

“Oh shi…” she managed to blurt in time as the hum grew to an uncomfortable pitch. She tumbled backwards just in time for the card to explode with a fierce force.

Caitlyn stumbled uneasily and while she tried to regain her footing, Graves struck. He aimed his massive dual cannons in her direction but rather than the thunderous roar of gunfire, it was a soft plunk.

Caitlyn planted her feet firmly on the floor. She raised her rifle but a canister plopped down in front of her. Realizing what it was, she kicked at it as hard as she could.

The canister made it a foot away when it went off. A thick cloud of smoke blanketed Caitlyn and while she was expecting some kind of explosion, she hadn’t expected this. Smoke entered her lungs and as she began to choke on the fumes, she stumbled blindly trying to wave it away with a free hand.

Something whizzed by her but she was too preoccupied to notice.

“Bloody hell” she managed croak out.

“Now you understand why the bounty on us is so high.” the southern drawl of Twisted Fate chuckled in her ear.

She turned around, gripping the rifle like a club but it was too late.

Something collided with her but it was impossible to tell what. All she did know was she was now tumbling through the smoke and off the roof. She bounced once on the roofing before dropping into a free fall onto the dirt road.

She let out a wince of pain but quickly scrambled to her feet.

“Wait right there missy.”

Caitlyn rose to full height only to find Graves aiming both barrels directly at her.

“I don’t want to hurt ya.” Graves said honestly and genuinely “Let my pal and I into the bank and we’ll be on our way.”

Caitlyn wanted to keep fighting. She wanted to launch herself at the large man and wrestle for his gun. She wanted to punch and claw and scratch until he gave it up and use it to regain the situation.

She wanted to but she knew that was the adrenaline talking. She was never good in a close up fight and given how casual he spoke she was willing to bet Graves was.

She rose her hands in surrender but made no motion towards the bank.

Graves frowned “Look no one likes their money getting taken from them but that’s how it goes sometimes. Hey even me and Fate have gotten robbed once or twice.”

“Hey!” Twisted Fate cried indignantly “She don’t need to know that dum dum.”

“I’m just trying to ease the situation ding dong. Getting robbed ain’t fun.”

It was more than that, Caitlyn thought. Losing that money would be all that Marcus needed to cut her from the force. She knew it was over and it would be pointless to resist but she couldn’t bring herself to put the final nail in the coffin.

“Missy…?” Graves asked carefully.

“Deputy.” Caitlyn mumbled.

Graves looked confused “a’ight. Missy Deputy.”

Caitlyn stared dumbfounded at him but he kept going “It ain’t nothing personal. We need money, you got it. That’s it. Hey you almost got the drop on us! Not many people can say that.”

“Care to repeat that?” A familiar called out.

“Okay. Not many people can…” Graves’s scrunched up in confusion “wait a minute.”

The outlaw turned around in time for a lid of a barrel to come sailing through the dimly lit streets. It collided with the barrels of his gun and threw off his aim.

Caitlyn didn’t hesitate: she dropped into a combat roll, tucking into a forward and rising to her feet with her rifle in hand. She aimed upwards and as the smoke thinned and dissipated she had a clear view of Twisted Fate, his arm pulled backwards with a playing cad tucked between his fingers.

She opened fire, raining volley after volley his way forcing the crook to focus on ducking and weaving rather than his tricks.

Caitlyn could hear the pained grunts of Graves and someone else duking it out and judging by the sounds of it the outlaw was finding himself outmatched.

A gunshot went off, a roar like thunder filled the air but the dull thud of buckshot hitting dirt confirmed to her that everything was well in hand.

“Graves!” Twisted Fate called to his partner with a slight hint of panic “We gotta go!”

The gambler turned away from Caitlyn and sent his card fluttering through the night. His eyes glowed pulsed with arcane power and without another sound, vanished into thin air. She knew where he was though because she heard the sound of soft thuds running deeper into the silhouetted desert night.

Graves broke away from his attacker and gave a good nature grin towards her “Nothin personal.” He pulled a canister from his belt and threw it at the ground. Smoke engulfed the outlaw and while Caitlyn could hear his hurried footsteps, she decided to not push her luck.

After all it wasn’t personal.

Caitlyn slumped to her knees, the adrenaline ebbing out of her while her heart began to slow down for the first time in so many minutes.

She turned to her savior, unable to keep the cheeky smirk off her face “I thought you weren’t going to pick them up for a pretty girl like me.”

Vi was doing her best not to smile though it was evident she wanted to “I didn’t.” She showed her empty hands “But I never said I wouldn’t come to your rescue.”

“My hero.” Caitlyn smiled warmly.

Vi could feel her cheeks redden, her heart skipping a beat at the sight of the normally stoic deputy grinning like an idiot.

“Well if you’re going to be nothing but trouble I better keep an eye on you.”

“I’m not trouble.” Caitlyn whispered flirtatiously “Trouble finds me.”

Vi scratched her neck nervously “That’s what all the pretty girls say.”

“So you do think I’m pretty?”

Vi didn’t answer the question.

Caitlyn knew the answer.

#League of Legends #Arcane #Alternate Universe #Caitlyn Kiraman #Vi #vi x caitlyn #Twisted Fate #Malcom Graves #my work

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