#But... Dammit I just feel bad for him... He's a fascinating character! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nekropsii · 11 days

Note

hello!I have a question about your alpha troll iceberg.

When did kurloz sexually assault meulin?I cannot find the source for it on my own.

I’m also a little skeptical since:

1.kurloz feels some form of guilt for deafening meulin.Not as much guilt as he shows,considering how he technically breaks his oath of silence by using his purpleblood magic

2.he isn’t openly sexual other than getting the codpiece,which I view as him following any orders from gamzee and/or lord English.And also his game sprite may have a bulge to it?im not sure about my second point

3.i don’t know why he would do that because he doesn’t abuse meulin that way.In openbound 2,he treats meulin more as an easy pawn to assist him in his malicious plans to help lord english & gamzee rather than sexually assaulting her to ruin her and then manipulating her.

I’m really curious to know when this happened,since it would reframe his already atrocious actions as even worse

Also I have a bias since I have a weird attachment to kurloz for no canon compliant reason.

Hopefully this isn’t too long…it probably is but I hope 8]

I applaud the thoroughness, actually, and thank you for reaching out. I love when people ask me to Cite My Sources, so to speak.

It's in one of the Signing portions of their interactions, so I do not necessarily blame you for missing it.

This is clearly non-consensual touching that is being framed as Upsetting on Meulin's end and Deliberately Creepy on Kurloz's.

I'm not really sure how I feel about it. Well, I feel bad about it, obviously, assault is literally always bad, but I really cannot decipher Kurloz as a character. Not fully, really, 'cuz he doesn't have much of one. To me, this reads as a pure, unadulterated Makara Moment, and I'm frankly just kind of tired of it. Kurloz's character is just a nebulous haze of Plot Instigation and Racism. Gamzee's character is also just a nebulous haze of Plot Instigation and Racism. These are both characters who are coded as Black, who are portrayed as being very dominating, abusive, and physically + sexually violent - especially Gamzee. Kurloz doing this is weird, but it's not... Shocking, I guess.

His relationship with Meulin is absolutely, uh... Troubled... To put it nicely... What, with him manipulating her into a cult and mind controlling her into doing his bidding all the time, on top of this assault, the Bullshit Clown Magic having the side effects of Confusion, Brain Fog, and Memory Loss, and her still seeming to have some kind of suppressed attraction to him... It's complicated. I think it could be genuinely very fascinating to explore, if one has the stomach for it. And a deft enough hand... And is capable of handling it all with maximum sensitivity. It's verging on something really good... But it falls kind of flat, and it's fucking exhausting that we're having this same damn conversation with another fucking Makara.

This could be done extremely well. There's some genuinely solid grounds here for exploring a very complex, very visceral abusive relationship, kind of like what was going on with Gamzee and Terezi, but... There was both just not enough time to set that up fully, and also I am so tired of Makaras being Like That.

I wish I could say this was surprising. I really do. It's not, though. It's like... On par with Gamzee being kind of a Necrophile. I just have to sigh and throw my hands up and accept it. Like, god dammit, okay, I guess we're doing this today! Sure! Whatever! Fuck my life.

#homestuck #homestuck meta #homestuck analysis #alpha trolls #beforan trolls #dancestors #kurloz makara #meulin leijon #cw assault #cw abuse #cw racism #kurloz.pdf #meulin.pdf #nekro.pdf #nekro.sms #icebergposting

38 notes · View notes

crossdressingdeath · 1 year

Text

The thing that bothers me most about the fandom acting like Percy and Nico have this really close, sweet, mutually supportive relationship that's usually actually Jason and Nico's relationship with Percy slapped on top but never mind that is... honestly for me the most compelling part of their relationship is just how incredibly fucked it is? It's this one-sided unhealthy mess that's leading Nico further and further down a path of self-destruction and the whole time he knows he is never going to get out of it anywhere near what he's putting in but he can't stop himself (even though some of his thoughts in BoO suggest he wants to) and Percy seems at best only vaguely aware of how badly he's hurting this person who's only ever wanted to help him, but neither of them are bad people. It's an unhealthy relationship where both the people involved are fundamentally good people who do not want to hurt anyone. Their relationship is not mutually supportive or even all that close, and is frankly hanging on by a thread made entirely of messy history that occasionally feels like the aftermath of a bad breakup without them ever actually dating (you can't tell me that Percy talking shit about Nico while the Argo II was en route to rescue him and despite the members of the Seven who didn't know Nico already distrusting him doesn't have just a few "ex-boyfriend who's still kind of bitter about it" vibes)! And neither of them are happy with this situation, but neither of them know how to take the first step towards fixing it! That's something you don't see very often in kids' media!

Now, I don't know how much of that was intentional on Rick's part (the bit where the writing lowkey suggests that the only thing messing up their relationship is Nico not having told Percy that he used to have a crush on him makes me just a little uncomfortable and I hope TSatS goes more into all the other stuff between them, for example Percy making zero attempts to defend Nico when Leo and Jason question his loyalties and in fact almost certainly making things worse with the disturbing stories he canonically told them about Nico, which I am literally never going to be over). But I find Nico and Percy's canon dynamic fascinating, because it shows sides of them that we don't usually get to see. Percy's treatment of Nico shows a dark side to his devotion to His Group Specifically (what happens if you're not considered part of Percy's group specifically? Percy's got some really strong "fuck you, got mine" energy at times that does not get acknowledged enough) that can only be showcased with a character like Nico who's vitally important but not technically part of the group! Meanwhile Nico's unfaltering loyalty and devotion to Percy even though he knows it's bad for him and even though he hates himself for it says a lot about him as a person (and I'd argue gives more of a hint about his actual fatal flaw than Bianca's little talk about grudges does; this boy's fatal flaw is self-sacrifice, not holding grudges, and I will die on this hill)! And it just feels like a shame to drop that for your standard protective older brother dynamic that doesn't fit the established relationship at all, especially when half the time it feels like the people doing this just don't want to acknowledge that Percy isn't perfect all the time outside of minor Protagonist Flaws like being mildly insecure at times and being a little dense. Basically I want more fucked up relationships where both parties are good people who haven't got a single solitary idea how to fix it but don't want to take the massive step of cutting the relationship off entirely and trying to rebuild it from the ground up! Stop taking away one of the really good examples of that I've got, dammit!

#riordanverse #...does this count as anti percy? i don't know #i love him in everything except his treatment of nico in which he is Simply The Worst

10 notes · View notes

foileadeux · 1 year

Note

Can you share your thoughts on the Knight and the Hollow Knights as well as on Pale King, Radiance and a favourite character of your choice? Please.

oughh where to begin omg... i find all of them interesting haha! IF i had to choose a favourite most likely thk/pv, im a real sucker for tragedies and my god is their entire life an encapsulation of one LMAO their cut dream dialogue showing them struggling with their purpose as an empty vessel vs their thoughts, feelings, voice etc... pain. unimaginable pain. yes i HAVE cried to their ost(s) before. the knight/little ghost is a little friend of whom i adore and im shaking team cherry to answer as to how they (and a few other kin) escaped the abyss, and also wtf the shade lord is up to... i also just wanna know how all the siblings are doing now!! dammit!!! are they ok!!!! points. pale king. dude was challenged by the radiance after tearing her people from her thrall to his, went "bet" and immediately resorted to sacrificing like a million children and then yoinked 1 kid (chosen for reasons unexplained) to contain said god inside. but then also i feel incredibly bad for him if it's true that he knew his plan would fail anyways after sacrificing so much for the kingdom. just a sad wet cringefail man all around id also throw him into the dead baby pit for a little while radiance, radiance my beloved. shes so funny to me, her clout got stolen and shes been mad abt it since. a real "if i cant have it no one can" kinda lady. honestly? amazing. i find her beef with PK incredibly fascinating, like theyre just 2 bug gods playing tug of war whilst hallownest suffers for it. i spin her around in my mind w escalator music playing.... superb eternally mad moth woman. ppl keep trying to paint pk or radiance as one being more justified than the other but honestly theyre both morally dubious and its great. points at the bug god drama and laughs

#ask #hollow knight

14 notes · View notes

scalproie · 2 years

Note

for the love of god. kuai liang for the ask meme

GIRL. KUAI LIANG .

favorite thing about them:

First off, purely from the concept of his character, I love how he legit started as "ok I know we technically killed Sub-Zero in the lore of our first game but we are NOT cutting him out of the second game, so. The Sub-Zero from mk2 is... idk his brother or smth" and then that little brother made his way, became THE Sub-Zero, and just developed as a character and its just. special to me in some way. Also he is the Epitome of "Nice is not Soft". I think he is one of the most, if not the most noble of the morally grey mk characters. His signature move is literally ripping out your spine (which is TOTALLY unrelated to his cryomancy) and just like every other mk character, he is capable of incredible violence, but he just has this... gentleness about him, when you just look at him, and how he acts. He has such a calm and collected demeanor but he is also very very much driven by emotion, and mk canon comes and go, but despite the MANY, MANY personal hardships he endured from the tender age of super young to over fifty, he still maintained a strong sense of self, and equally as strong morals. ... Call me whatever but I think he perfectly embodies ice, in a way. It can be solid, sharp, and its known to be deadly, but its not indestructible, it can break or melt, and sometimes its so intense in what it is, its so cold that it feels like it does the opposite of what ice does: it burns you. I am not making sense with this he just fucking fried my brain. Also hes blue, hes pretty, hes a little meow meow, his ice powers are cool, his hands movements are captivating, his entire deal and aesthetic speak to me on a spiritual level, and his tits are downright stunning.

least favorite thing about them:

As usual with this section its not his fault IN the narrative but

1) why is the ONLY interaction between Kuai and Bi-han (AS Bi-han, not Noob) is a single panel from a comic from the 90s, of which im unsure about its actual canon state.

2) This is gonna sound SO biased but idc. See mk is the kind of game where there is NO clear protagonist. Which mean each character has to fight for a bit of the spolight. And I KNOW hes an extremely popular character, I KNOW hes legit one of the mascot. BUT... they dont focus on Kuai Liang enough, his story is always cut short to give time for other characters or other stuff going on and I KNOOOW THATS HOW IT WORKS. ITS FIGHTING GAMES STORYTELLING. THIS IS LITERALLY ON ME BUT STILL!!! HE IS SUCH A FASCINATING CHARACTER I WANT TO SEE MORE OF HIM. I WANT TO SEE QUIET MOMENTS WITH HIM, I WANT A WINDOW INSIDE HIS MIND, I WANT TO SEE HIS RELATIONSHIPS DEVELOP IN A SATISFYING WAY, I WANT THE CATHARSIS OF SEEING SOMETHING HAPPEN AND HIM HAVING FEELINGS ABOUT IT. DAMMIT!!!

favorite line:

curse my predictability but its the "He was my equal." line

25 years of in-game years and of actual irl years of context to make this as effective to me as it is.

brOTP:

with canon bestie Tomas "Smoke" Vrbada! The support he shows Kuai is honestly heartwarming like. It wasnt all bad back then. Also Johnny because I love the contrast of the game where Johnny was like "Heyyy Blueberry wanna help me put together an ellaborate training exercice for my four children? You'll have to act." And Subz was like "Yes ofc I love training exercices I love teaching I'll be a better actor than you." is the same game where Johnny punched Subz in the dick. I know deep in my heart that The Blue Babes💙 aka Subz & Kitana would be "self recognition thru the other (derogatory)" to besties if they just allowed them to be.

OTP:

oh yknow... 💛🦂💛

nOTP:

everything else because nothing comes close to the quality of that particular dynamic imo. Plus im not a multishipper. Once ive seen the appeal of a dynamic I cannot seriously consider anything else even when I can kinda see where other people are coming from. Also, with women.

random headcanon:

Im gonna say it once again. Genuinely. Take shipping out of the equation. Just take him as he is as a character. That Is A Gay Man. Theres too much piling up for me to read him as anything else. Also when hes deeply upset he generates a small blizzard around himself, and he meditates bare-ass in the snow sometimes.

unpopular opinion:

BRATTY KUAI FROM BOTR YOU ARE EVERYTHING TO MEEE

song i associate with them:

"My Brother Taught Me How To Swim" by Passion Pit is my definitive Sub Zero song, "Fresh Static Snow" by Porter Robinson for Cyber Subz feels, "Cold Cold Man" by Saint Motel, "Borealis" by Madeon, "Unbound" by Ásgeir, "Hustler" by Josef Salvat (Wade rec.). Im not gonna put subscorp songs here otherwise we would have to double that list. But shout out to "Hot Tea" by half•alive and "Know You Better" by LEISURE

favorite picture of them:

🥺THE GORGEOUS EYES🥺

🥺OF A BAÏKAL SEAL🥺

#THOSE ARE NOT ALL EVEN MY ALL TIME FAV PICS OF HIM BUT I HAD A POINT TO MAKE YKNOW #ANYWAY. NHNGNHNGNHNH. HIM.#💙❄️💙#ask meme #tagging later #la-nay-ru

24 notes · View notes

lasnevadaslaborunion · 2 years

Note

hiii jo!!!!!! 🍺 for the ask game if youre up for it?

Oooh, I'm actually of two minds on this question.

Realistically: I'm pretty sure cc!Schlatt is never coming back to the SMP given how he's spoken about it, and if he did, he would probably just show up to troll us all and then vanish. (If I'm wrong about this and his character's return turns out to be the "revival" server members are so excited for, feel free to bully me mercilessly for the next year.)

Narratively: c!Schlatt was an extremely compelling villain while he was alive, and he sent shockwaves through the story that last to this day. For that reason, I understand why so many people want him back to stir shit up again. Oddly enough, though, I think that's why he works so well as a posthumous character, a "spectre" who remains mysterious despite his lingering influence on everyone. The unanswered questions about his past, his motives, what could have been different are a big part of his appeal for me. His tiny little arc was executed to perfection from its bombastic opening to its deliberately unsatisfying and pathetic ending, and I wouldn't be unhappy leaving it where it is.

(Also, c!Tubbo has been through enough, dammit. I don't want more bad things for him.)

That being said... CONSIDER THE ANGST.

If c!Wilbur is the "defeated villain" whose thoughts and feelings we are intimately familiar with, who everyone has conflicted reactions to, who received a second chance and struggles to make the most of it... then c!Schlatt could be a very fascinating foil upon his return. He died an extremely humiliating death, while c!Wilbur welcomed his own with open arms. He (or rather, his ghost) actively sought out a way to return, while c!Wilbur believed that it was best for everyone if he remained dead.

Then again, how much influence would c!Schlatt have? c!Wilbur was mistrusted, but he was still grieved for. The server members who were there for Manberg almost unilaterally despise c!Schlatt; those who came later have nothing but their word to go on. How does he respond, knowing that the people who surrounded him in that van would gladly do it all again? Or, alternately, how might he take advantage of others' ignorance about him? What would he actually want to use them for?

Unfortunately, I think it's a little bit too late in c!Wilbur's arc to really take advantage of the parallels c!Schlatt's rebival would provide for him. But luckily, there are other characters who might still...

Well, you know me.

I have to think about what this means for c!Quackity (who I love dearly but also enjoy watching bad things happen to).

Under what circumstances would c!Dream revive the person for whose sake he believes (probably correctly, although of course It's Complicated) he was tortured? What does he hope to gain from this: a new pawn, a form of revenge, a convenient distraction from his other endeavors? How would c!Q deal with the consequences of his unfulfilled promise? How is he affected by his abuser's return? Where are the fingers for this disaster pointed, at c!Dream or c!Quackity?

That bargain is one of the dangling plot threads in most excited to see answered. And whether it ends in a "monkey's paw" success or a bitter failure, I know these folks would do it justice.

Bring c!Schlatt back or don't, just don't let that new potential go to waste.

#asks #ask game #this is a long one lmao #i genuinely can't decide how i feel. all the possibilities are so interesting #c!schlatt #c!wilbur #c!quackity #c!dream

12 notes · View notes

twstarchives · 3 years

Text

Let Me Go!!

Card: Dorm Uniform - SSR Characters: Epel, Rook, Vil, Idia

Chapter 1

—INTERIOR HALLWAY—

Epel: Um... This is where the film studies club meets, right?

—CLASSROOM—

Epel: Excuse me...

Rook: Hello, Epel-kun! I see Vil asked you to lend a hand here.

Epel: I’d say it’s more like I was forced... Did he ask you too?

Rook: I’m helping on my own accord. The pleasure is all mine if I’m able to be with Vil.

(Clap, clap!)

Vil: Film studies club! Everyone gather around.

I’m going to discuss the details for when we begin our next student-produced film.

I’ll hand out the script first. Everyone, take one each.

Epel: Whoa, this script is so thick. They must really go all out with their activities here...

Vil: The next film we’re producing will be about time travel.

It’s set in the present day. The students of Night Raven College use a time machine...

And travel to the era of the Great Seven’s Fairest Queen of All.

Rook: The era of the Fairest Queen of All... How très bien!

What a fascinating idea, don’t you think, Epel-kun?

Epel: Hah... I guess.

Vil: The leading role is still undecided. I’ll let you know once I’ve chosen them.

Now, the time machine is the key item in this story... Epel!

Epel: ! Yes?!

Vil: I’m putting you in charge of designing it.

Epel: What?! I-I’m just the help. Why am I in charge of something so important...?

Vil: I’ve deemed you the most suitable for this.

Epel: (What gave him that idea?! I’ve never designed anything in my life. I want to say no...)

Vil: The time machine will use a magical wheel as a base. You’ll be customizing the exterior.

This way, we can shoot driving scenes.

Epel: You said magical wheel...?!

Vil: Yes. I’ve already arranged for one to use in our shooting.

I’ve asked Ignihyde’s dorm leader, Idia, to modify it, so you will work with him to complete it.

Epel: Got it!

Vil: ...You sounded very genuine there. Well, if you’re feeling motivated now, then that’s fine.

The theme of the time machine’s design should be “something beautiful and fitting for the setting.”

Your deadline is in three days at noon. Is that clear?

Epel: Yes, Vil-san!

(I was so reluctant about having to help out the film studies club... but I didn’t expect there to be a magical wheel involved!)

(That feeling of the passenger becoming one with the vehicle as they ride on... Just watchin’ it gets me all excited.)

(Maybe if I made a design that makes Vil-san’s jaw drop, he’d even let me take it for a test run.)

(Okay, I’m gonna do my best!!)

—IGNIHYDE DORM - LOUNGE—

Epel: I’m Epel, a first-year from Pomefiore. You’re Idia-san, right? Let’s work hard together.

Idia: Ugh... The glittery Pomefioran is here, hurray...

O-Oh, um... Vil-shi explained everything to me. We’ll use this lounge to work...

Epel: Okay, thank you.

Oh, that’s the magical wheel we’re going to modify there next to you, right? It’s so cool...!!

Idia: Hah... I only agreed to this ‘cause Vil-shi said he’d compensate me...

But working with other people... really makes me irritated by the second.

I need to finish this and go back to my room ASAP before my sanity gauge runs out.

Epel: (I know Vil-san’s taste pretty well since he’s been training me for months ever since I enrolled here.)

(I need to aim for a fancy design that goes with the setting and also satisfies Vil-san.)

Idia-san. Let’s do our best designing this magical wheel...!

Idia: Yeah. Let’s get this done as fast as we can...

Chapter 2

—IGNIHYDE DORM - LOUNGE—

Epel: It took all night... but it’s done! Idia-san, the coloring for the magical wheel is all finished.

Idia: Congrats on getting it done. You told Vil-shi you’d show it to him once it was finished, right? Shouldn’t you call him?

And end this so I can be alone.

Epel: Yes, I’ll go do that!

Epel: Here’s the magical wheel, painted to look like a time machine.

The design was inspired by the peacock engraved into the Fairest Queen of All’s favorite chair.

Vil: ......

Epel: Um... Vil-san?

Vil: Epel. Are you satisfied with this design?

Epel: What do you mean, am I satisfied...?

Vil: I ordered you to design something “beautiful and fitting for the setting.”

However, this piece conveys nothing from the creator’s heart.

You wouldn’t consider this design “beautiful,” would you?

Epel: ...! Well, I...

Vil: To me, this looks like you only tried to match the setting.

Redo it, Epel. And don’t think about coming back to the dorm until it’s finished.

Epel: What?! Vil-san, wait a seco— ...He’s gone.

...Dammit! How can he be angry that I made it exactly as he said...?!

But I get to work with a magical wheel, which I love so much. No way am I giving up after failing once!

I need to make something that I think is beautiful, that matches the setting,

And something that would make Vil-san satisfied, right?

I’m gonna do it!!

...... But what would that be...?

—IGNIHYDE DORM - IDIA’S ROOM—

Idia: Hehee! I got that kitty accessory I wanted! It’s a rare strength item that boosts my speed by 100!

Hehehe, now, the boss from this ultra-hard quest... You should tremble in fear of my dodging power.

(Running footsteps!)

(Epel barges in)

Epel: Idia-san!

Idia: Eee! E-E-E-E-Epel-shi! It’s rude to come into someone’s room without knocking!

Epel: Oh... S-Sorry.

It’s just, we have to redo the time machine...

Idia: Hah? He rejected that flashy design?

Epel: Yeah... So please help me make it over again!

Idia: (I can’t believe Vil-shi. He should’ve done this himself if he was going for something specific. Why’d he leave it to someone else?)

(I can’t stand them taking away my gaming time anymore. I gotta get this done now and chase out Epel-shi...)

H-Hey, Epel-shi. Do you have anything you’re good at?

Epel: Huh? Why are you asking?

Idia: ‘Cause wouldn’t this get done faster if Vil-shi just made it himself instead of having you make it over again?

But he still put you up to it... So shouldn’t you consider that maybe you’ve got some kind of secret talent?

In online games, leveling up skills you’re good at makes getting through the game easier.

Epel: But I’m just good at things like carving apples. I can’t really use that in desig——

(...Hm? Apples...?)

I figured it out!!

Idia: Ee! I-I-It scares me when you yell out of nowhere! Wh-What did you figure out?

Epel: I figured out what I can make that’s as beautiful and fitting for the setting as I can!

Idia: I-I’m glad to see you came up with an idea. Well, let’s get on with it then.

Epel: Huh? But you stayed up all night last night. Are you sure you shouldn’t rest a little...?

Idia: Heh, staying up all night is nothing to me. I stan a group of idols who look elderly but with hearts eternally 17...

And even Moirai on the Edge can do live performances for 72 hours straight.

We’ll prevail over this ultra-hard quest!

Epel: M-Moi...rai? I-I don’t know what that means, but let’s work hard!

(This time, we’ll make a design that Vil-sanーno, that anyone would approve of!)

Chapter 3

ーーThe day the time machine is due.

???: ...el... Epel!

—IGNIHYDE DORM - LOUNGE—

Epel: *Yawns*...?

Huh? Ahh! When did I go to sleep?! And Vil-san, what’re you doin’ here?

Vil: Your deadline is today at noon, so I came to check up on how you were doing. Honestly, I cannot believe you were sprawled out asleep on the floor.

So? Have you finished the time machine?

Epel: Oh... I did. Take a look at this!

There’s a story where the Fairest Queen of All made a poisoned apple, right?

So this time, I used that as my inspiration.

The color of the whole body represents a ripe, red, shining apple.

Like one you reach out to take without even realizing it... Anyway, I made sure it looked delicious!

Vil: Hmm... Go on.

Epel: Right. The other thing I worked especially hard on was this design that’s hidden when the machine is stopped, and only gets revealed when it starts up.

I’ll turn it on to let you see.

Vil: ! You painted the tire kept inside... Is that a skull?

Epel: Yes! One of the stories mentioned that a skull rose up before the poisoned apple the Queen made turned red...

So I added a symbol that can’t be seen from the outside unless you start it up.

This time machine is as “beautiful and fitting for the setting” as I can make it right now!

Vil: ...Allow me to ask you one thing. Why did you change to a poisoned apple?

Epel: Um... When I tried to use a peacock in my design, I honestly couldn’t tell if it was good or bad...

But then I thought, no one would be able to resist a design that makes apples look appealin’...!!

Vil: ......

...Heh. You finally came up with a design that reflects you.

Epel: ...! Yeah!

Vil: Now, I will leave you with the keys to this magical wheel.

Epel: Huh? Why me?

Vil: I’m heading back to our set. You’ll deliver the machine to the film studies club yourself.

You have until noon to bring it, just as we discussed. Don’t be late. Understood?

(Vil leaves)

Epel: ...If he was in such a rush, he could’ve just taken it himself... Wait, hold on?!

Does this mean I can ride it back to the set... maybe?

AHH~! ALL RIGHT!!

Idia: Ugh... Epel-shi, you’re too loud... Your voice is ringing through my sleep-deprived head...

Epel: Oh! S-Sorry, Idia-san.

I’ve always wanted a magical wheel... And I get to ride one I designed myself. I just can’t believe it...

Alright, let’s get to the school building!

—MAIN STREET—

Film Studies Student A: Hm...? What’s that? There’s something coming towards us from the front gate.

Rook: That is a magical wheel. And the one driving it is... Monsieur Cherry Apple, Epel-kun.

Film Studies Student A: It’s so glossy, like a real apple... And his Pomefiore uniform looks so nice. It’s beautiful!

Film Studies Student B: Driving that machine, Epel-kun’s got a radiance that’s different from his usual frail beauty.

Film Studies Student C: Yeah. That piercing cold look and his unconsciously curled-up lips... I’m so drawn to it; I can’t look away.

Rook: Did you hear that, Vil? Everyone is praising Epel-kun!

Vil: Hehe, these potatoes’ reactions are perfect.

Epel: Oh... There he is! Vil-san! Just as promised, I’m here to deliver this.

Let me stop the machine... Okay. Well, I’ll get going now.

Vil: Hold it, Epel. Stay right there.

Film studies club, your attention! I have an announcement to make regarding our next film.

For our undecided leading role... I’ve decided to cast Epel right here.

Epel: Wh... What?!

Vil: You all saw how he looked riding that time machine, yes?

I believe there’s no better person out there more suited for this role. Are there any objections?

Rook: It’s true, the sight of him riding that time machine up here almost felt like a scene from a movie.

Film Studies Student B: Yeah! Hats off to you for how dashing you looked. I’ll let you have my seat today.

Epel: W-Wait a second. I thought I was just helping with the design——

Vil: I’ve already made up my mind. I’ll thoroughly train you to be an actor, so do prepare yourself.

Now, you must do a costume fitting. Costume committee, take Epel to our club room.

Costume Committee: Okay!

Epel: I-I still haven’t said anything about doing th—let me go!!

Vil: ...I see now how drastically the sparkle in his eyes changes depending on whether he’s interested or not. Honestly. He’s a difficult apple to deal with.

Rook: Epel-kun was shining like a completely different person than he was yesterday, yes...

But perhaps were you anticipating this finale from the start?

Vil: Well, now. Who’s to say?

#twisted wonderland #epel felmier #personal story #dorm uniform

607 notes · View notes

enigmatic-lizard · 2 years

Text

Man, Spiderman: No Way Home fucked me up y'all are in for shit

Spoilers ahead : k

I cried a lot, but I'm generally accepted to be a fucking mess, so that's nothing new

I loved the balance of comedy and sincerity. It was really well done, making the movie interesting and enjoyable to watch without cheapening the emotional scenes

Ned's third wheeling was beautiful

Ned in general

Doctor Strange being a moody bitch

Matt's cameo (from Daredevil) as Peter's lawyer

"I'm a really good lawyer" *wHEEZE-*

The gang Scooby-Dooing that shit

Peter being a dumb teenager and coming up with the idea to tape his phone to his chest so Ned and MJ could see what was going on; because no, we don't have earpieces and cameras in our high-tech-nanotechnology-Stark-designed suits, no we have duct tape

The scene where that one guy mentioned that there had to be a black Spiderman SOMEWHERE in the multiverse and we all lost our shit because you know every one of us was thinking of Miles Morales

I liked the progression of the relationships and characters throughout all the Spiderman movies in Tom Holland's era.

Jesus Aunt May hit me hard as fuck; this movie took my feels and delighted in putting them through a paper shredder and then dumping them in a woodchipper and now I want to be a better person dammit

But also, the destruction of my feelings, I felt like it was done well. Some of the other movies felt more like they were killing characters for shock value instead of for the ultimate development and effect they would leave behind, like how Steve's death felt like a plotpoint of convenience to make way for new stuff, and how Tony's felt like it was really just there to make the audience sad, or how 2019 Loki's was also probably convenience

THE KINDNESS

I've always loved that theme because of what it takes for real kindness to exist

Aunt May taught Peter what it was to be kind and he carried that, he did her justice. May's death pushed not only the plot, but Peter as a character, to the limits of who he was and what he would do. How far would he go? And the best part about that is that he would have gone that far! He would have gone all the way on Green Goblin and killed him, but he didn't because he had the love and support of the people who knew what it was and helped him do May justice in how he could help people as she would have helped them.

Spiderman really said sometimes you're not strong enough to do things alone and that's ok

Even though he went on and broke me again by going on alone because he genuinely thought they would be better off without him :')

Dumb bitch

The multiverse is a point of major fascination for me, always has been, and I actually love how this one was constructed

I loved all the Spidermen. I had high expectations and they came in and high fived those expectations dead on. The relationships, comedy, and sincerity and pain and support each of them needed from eachother when they didn't even know they did was brilliant and I loved it.

Especially the support they gave to Tom's Peter because they really did know and they really could help even if that.meant just being there

I can't get over the Andrew Garfield's Spiderman moment where he caught MJ. You could see how much it meant to him just to know that he'd done it. He'd really done it, he caught her, he saved her, he was there for her when she needed him and in a way that helped him heal some of those old wounds because he'd finally gotten there in time. He couldn't save his girl but he could save her.

I was living for the cure, not only the scene itself (though the fights and the lab scenes were SO badass), but the fact that they didn't take these fucked up, tortured, hurt, insane bad guys and kill them. They decided to help because Peter could see it, that they needed help.

And no it wasn't his problem, but he sure as hell was going to make it his.

28 notes · View notes

justice4sasuke · 2 years

Note

I’m sure Speedwagon being gay and in love with Jonathan is canon. I mean, it has to be intentional. He’s a confirmed bachelor, like, come on. Also, agree wrt part 5’s ages. I know it’s bc of the shonen demo being teen boys, but it being obsessed with making almost every character a minor and putting them in works that deal with themes that would be better suited for adults characters is one of my biggest pet peeves. Also agree about DioPucci. I am a Pucci slut and he deserves to be happy dammit

Araki heavily hints at a LOT of queer themes and I think based on how explicit things were in the part 5 anime it's very intentional. I'm glad we are at the point where we can show them more explicitly, but I do feel Araki was out here doing queer shit since the late 80s what with "Confirmed Bachelor" Speedwagon. I did read that in Araki's book on writing manga he talked about writing m/m romance. Can't remember the wording exactly and I haven't read it myself, but I believe it. Actually I'm looking at the book right now on Amazon and am very tempted to buy it for Kindle to confirm lmao.

I feel like all the other Jojo parts do much better with the age thing. Most other main characters are like 19. Jotaro is a bit young too, but at least he's 17 so almost an adult. Josuke and friends being 16 tracks because it's kind of slice of life and you see them going to school and stuff. But part 5 is like...most of them are underage and none of them go to school and they're all gangsters anyway. We never see Giorno in school and he lives by himself in a dorm? They all should have been in their early twenties and Giorno gets by by scamming tourists. Bruno and Abbacchio should be like 30. You're telling me Abbacchio graduated the police academy, became disillusioned, got his partner killed, quit and became an alcoholic, and got saved by Bruno by the time he was 20? You're killing me Araki.

(now is a good time to gas up One Piece, the ages for that skew older which I like. Luffy is 17 in the first part, 19 currently. The youngest is Chopper who is 15/17 and he's a reindeer so.)

Dio and Pucci's relationship no matter what it is is so endlessly fascinating to me. Dio really treats Pucci different from anyone else we see him with, bitch goes full philosopher around Pucci. I scream just thinking about the scene where Dio tries to get Pucci to take his disc out of him. The paneling on that one scene is exquisite. Also I'm a sucker for the southern gothic/creepy Christian imagery vibes those two give me. And I'm like yooo let's talk about this and then you try to look for stuff about them and it's like "TIME FOR DISCOURSE" time to be obtuse, time for a false sense of self-righteousness, time to not actually be helpful to children or survivors, time to prove we don't actually understand why something is bad. And I'm just like...I just wanted to talk about two characters...

#j4s asks

7 notes · View notes

wromwood · 2 years

Text

Happy Thursday, everybody! Time for CBS Ghosts. Let’s see what “Flower’s Article” has in store for us.

- Ooh, a flashback to 1968. We’re finally getting some more info on Flower! She’s robbing a bank with her hippie commune. I gotta say, for a character I’ve been complaining is too much of a one-dimensional stereotype, I’m pretty excited to see how this plays out.

- Apparently, Flower’s not her “real” name. It’s Susan.

- OK, for the first time, Sam’s in the wrong here. She keeps pressing Flower for this bank robbery story, even though Flower is visibly upset by this. I thought she cared about the ghosts’ well being.

- Heyyy, more ghosts! Sam meets them at the offices of the new job she wants. There’s Winky, age 12, who was trampled by a horse (There’s blood on brow), and Shiki, a Lenape Native American from a few centuries ago. (I forgot to note which century, sorry) Both of them sound pretty modern, but the main cast of ghosts has ruined this standard of detail for me.

- ... Dammit, Sam. She just blurts it out the bank robbery story in a desperate attempt to be hired at this Hudson Valley paper. But you know what? My previous frustrations already cover how I feel about this. What puts it over the top is that Jay’s on SAM’S SIDE about writing the story?! What about his whole thing with “don’t mess with the worlds of the living and the dead” in the previous episode? This time, he KNOWS that Flower is conflicted about it. It’s just frustrating.

- Wow, Isaac and Alberta are totally willing to get this story out of Flower. Admittedly, they’re curious that she suddenly doesn’t want to tell it. Apparently, she tells this story all the time to the ghosts, so it’s odd she’s avoiding it now. But their fascination with it just shows off how little they respect Flower.

- Oh hey, Sasappis knows Shiki! He was in love with her back when they were both alive. He gave her an entire deer once and then she just... left. Sam says she "ghosted” him, which does not go over well with the ghosts. (”So, is the point that ghosts are untrustworthy?” asks Pete) That’s actually a fun joke.

- Jay cares that Sasappis and Shiki might eventually might meet up in the afterlife, which is nice.... but this leads to him trying to teach Sasappis about “the games.” That is, the way men should act like they don’t care when messaging girls. (Sam needs to physically bring messages between the two of them) God, I don’t like storylines about how men have to act aloof in order to get girls. This is just making me like Jay even less.

- Pete, I don’t appreciate you spreading the myth of the friendzone. (Although Pete’s version of the friendzone is kinda sorta my method of winning people over. I also befriend them, which 9 times out of 10 makes them see me like a puppy or younger brother. I want to make it clear that I DON’T believe in the non-Pete concept of the friendzone and find it harmful. But Pete’s version did just describe my romantic life. Perks of being demisexual. I also love his attitude that even when his befriending method fails, “at least you have a new friend!” He’s so sincere about it.)

- ISAAC AND ALBERTA DON’T KNOW FLOWER’S LAST NAME. (It’s Montero) This is actually pretty funny, and I can believe the ghosts don’t know stuff like this if it either never comes up or just doesn’t come up often. Also, I like this other side of Flower, who can see what her friends are playing at and is willing to point out that they aren’t as close to her as they think.

- FUCK PLAYING THE GAME. GODDAMN. (Sorry, I just had to get out my renewed frustrations about men “playing games” when messaging girls.)

- The commune never donated the money because Flower STOLE it! (TWIST)

Here’s what happened. The commune kept trying to put it to a vote where the money should go. It was down to either the feral cats of Costa Rica or narwhals. Flower and her boyfriend Ida, however, realize that they’re living in pretty bad conditions themselves, so Flower suggests spending the money for their own good. The others disagree, so she and Ida take the money, and apparently the bear thing happened not long after. This is a pretty cool story, and again, it’s such a relief to see this other side of Flower that I didn’t expect. It’s not what I thought she was like, but not in an OOC way. We’re just finally seeing more than her hippie stereotype, and it’s so refreshing.

- Isaac and Alberta, don’t shift the blame about making Flower upset. Sam may have been in the wrong from the start, but you guys are supposed to be her ghost friends. Being dead and wanting excitement is not a great excuse to not take responsibility.

- Now, this scene is nice, and it almost makes up for Alberta and Isaac’s earlier bad behavior. They both admit to never having done things that they bragged about doing. (But we, the audience, never heard about it) Alberta never shared the stage with Cab Calloway. She never even met the man. Isaac was never at the Boston Tea Party. He was in Boston, at a tea party, at his aunt’s house. But what really makes the scene great is that they tell Flower she’s the nicest out of all of the ghosts. Now that’s great character interaction, and it’s honestly the truth. Flower even forgives Sam (after she rightfully apologizes) because Sam had a moment of weakness, just like Flower had. Way to tie everything together!

- Ooh, this was a clever way to wrap everything up. Early on in the episode, Jay picked up coffee for him and Sam from a coffee shop called Daisy’s. Daisy was Ira’s nickname for Flower. It turns out that he used the money they stole to establish a fair trade coffee shop! It’s got almost a hundred locations now. One of the cups explain that Ira Klein made his business in memory of his late girlfriend. The profits go to underprivileged communities and bear safety education. (Aw, sweet)

Flower is delighted and wants Sam to write about it. The Hudson Valley paper loves the story and hire Sam. Daisy’s Coffee Shop even likes the story because the statute of limitations ran out for the robbery and it makes them look badass.

- THANK YOU SASAPPIS for wanting to give up the games. You’re not that kinda guy.

.... and he wants the games back. Goddamit, I hate that this episode implies that this method of flirting is right. (And it DOES imply that. Once Sam is upfront about how much Sasappis misses Shiki, she gets very embarrassed and leaves the room. Later, Jay shows Sam a loving text he tried to send after their first date that never went through. They laugh about how it makes him sound like a “psycho.”)

Listen, I’m all for teaching that you shouldn’t be too FORWARD with people. That’s important. But you should also be more obvious that these games aren’t the answer. Advertise a happy medium, goddamnit.

- Apparently, ghosts can have sex, but they can’t finish. It’s very frustrating. (I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but Sasappis yelling “Sam, come back, I want to tell Jay about ghost sex!” is very funny.)

And that’s “Flower’s Article”! Honestly, I’m conflicted. Some parts of this episode are actually pretty good. I loved seeing this other side of Flower and fleshing out her character. The final character moments between the ghosts when they’re apologizing is also sweet, and I love the “everyone wins” feeling of the article’s publication. Sam gets her job and Flower learns her boyfriend fulfilled their dream of helping people. It’s nice!

... but not only do the earlier moments of character trickery make me a little uneasy, but the B plot just annoys me. Gender-related dating bullshit is stupid. Again, the potential of CBS Ghosts is dragged down by American sitcom nonsense.

Well, that’s another review in the bag! Let me know your thoughts and if you agree/disagree with my points.

#CBS Ghosts

9 notes · View notes

hopeymchope · 3 years

Note

Anon finally figured out The Definitive Answer for why so many people worship Bakugo, because there's a blog post by lovecrafts-iranon where, refreshingly, he actually comes right out and SAYS the reason why fandoms worship assholes: he thinks Dudley should have been Harry Potter's protagonist instead of Potter himself, because "good people doing good things are a boring snooze, while cruel and vicious people are entertaining." So he, and others like him, judge morality by "what entertains me".

Wow. I found that Dudley post, and it has SO MANY notes, and NOT EVEN ONE OF THEM IS SOMEONE DISAGREEING. How is that possible?

But I'd like to take a moment to look at this post in more (i.e. WAY TOO MUCH) depth. With pull quotes!

There is so much potential for growth, and at a nice slow pace because he would need to be dragged kicking and screaming every step of the way and have several reversions.

I guess it's true that he'd have to go through a lot more radical change than Harry did. And that would definitely be interesting to see unfurl, in a fashion. But Harry has to learn self-confidence, learn to cope with death (in the sense that he has to process it for the first time), learn to accept the things he can't change... all the things that people in the targeted demographic age of the readership are simultaneously dealing with. Dudley, on the other hand, doesn't have any reason to learn most of that stuff. He's only relatable to readers who are also massive assholes. Dudley's already overconfident - he's full of himself, and him being told that he's basically the Chosen One will only make it much worse. Will he have to cope with death? I mean, maybe someday. But we start with him only caring about himself, so it's unlikely he'd be too terribly affected if someone died in front of him. That would require him to care about someone else. And learning to accept that he can't change everything is something he'd probably struggle with in a semi-interesting fashion, but do you want to watch a spoiled brat who believes he can scream until he gets his way FINALLY start to learn that maybe he should stop screaming and start facing facts? Shit, that just sounds like modern politics. And coping with people who can't face reality is intolerable and infuriating.

Magic, aside from being not real, is a special kind of repulsive evil [to him]. Merely mentioning magic is the only thing that can temporarily revoke his Specialest Boy status.

I think the author is stating that this is a thing that's true of Dudley in the existing novels? Maybe I'm misunderstanding, and this is something that the author of the post wants to introduce into their AU fanfic. If it's the former, however, then I want to point out that there's no evidence that Dudley held any opinions at all on magic before Harry was declared a wizard. His parents sure did, but they never spoke of magic and refused to acknowledge it, so they naturally never said a word to Dudley about it.

So Dudley actually has no reason to be repulsed by the notion of being a wizard. In all likelihood, he'd be overjoyed to be told that he's a super-powered being of importance who everyone in the magical world has heard about. He'd probably want everybody to genuflect when he entered every room from then on. (I am assuming that Dudley must still be the one who has to eventually defeat Voldemort according to prophecy, but I guess he wouldn't be "The Boy Who Lived." His parents were obviously never killed; the fact that they raised him a certain way is what defines his character. He'd need some other kind of legend to cause his fame.)

Harry would never cause problems on purpose, while Dudley would never stop doing so at Hogwarts!

A character who is actively the source of all the trouble they're in isn't remotely sympathetic; I root AGAINST that kind of character. I want LESS of them. I want them to lose.

That's actually part of why I hated the new Snake Eyes movie — every bad thing that happens can logically be laid at Henry "Snake Eyes" Golding's own [probably gorgeous] feet. I'm not rooting for someone like that.

Harry gets to experience friendship and acceptance for the first time, snooze, while Dudley would have to face lack of friendship and rejection for the first time (there is nobody who wouldn't be put off by 'hates magic' even if they were fine with the rest of his personality)! Now that's fascinating!

I still think seeing a lonely boy with no sense of self-worth make his first friends is interesting. But I admit that Dudley facing rejection and lack of friendship for the first time DOES sound fascinating. The author has got me there.

And imagine him going home for Christmas break loudly announcing how happy he is to get away from all those awful wizards only to find out his parents treat him much differently now, their love having been completely conditional all along.

Would it be, though? I guess this is up to the perception of the author, but I kind of imagine Vernon and Petunia taking it as a personal victory if their own spawn is declared the special Chosen One. Their kid being a powerful wizard known around the world, and Lily's kid being no one in particular? They'd visit Lily's grave for the first time ever just so they could dance on it.

I could go on and on. I remember looking to see if there was any Dudley goes to Hogwarts fic as a kid and there was one popular one, but it let Harry go too (boo, the realization there might be something wrong with how his adopted brother is being treated back at home should be a shocking revelation to him), let Dudley become too nice too fast (it should be a long, drawn out process where he never gives an inch he doesn't absolutely have to!) and was too easy on him (characters suffering is good).

Author is assuming that Dudley - now christened a mighty wizard of destiny, the literal Chosen One - would actually perceive of there being something wrong with how his lowly muggle cousin was treated. I'd say: Highly doubtful. He'd just continue to be an asshole about it.

And the longer you drag out an asshole getting redeemed, the more I'm going to feel like "Well I don't fucking care if they get redeemed by this point; they've had every possible chance and every possible piece of evidence thrown at them, and they chose to remain an asshole, so fuck them. They deserve nothing."

At least the author wants Dudley to suffer. Not that I agree with the notion that characters suffering is automatically good, but asshole characters DO often deserve that shit.

BOTTOM LINE: I... just... I guess I shouldn't be surprised that people would actually WANT to focus on horrible assholes? That people want those fuckers to be the heroes instead of actually decent human beings? Because there are so many awful people in the world, so I guess it must be relatable enough for them. But dammit, I'm still surprised.

No, no, no. FUCK no. Being an asshole does not inherently make someone interesting; it just makes them an asshole. They deserve to be punished, not celebrated. They might still be interesting as an antagonist, but I'm sure as hell not going to root for them. And if you're going to insist on spending valuable focus time on these characters, you'd better at least be acknowledging that they are the VILLAIN of the story.

Which is honestly a more logical role for Dudley anyway. If Voldemort told Dudley that he's an exceptional being and that the inferior muggles else should be made to serve at his feet? Dudley would totally go for that. He'd become the whiniest, brattiest Death Eater.

Besides, Dudley is a particularly weird choice for their post, because he's NOT interesting! Not even as an antagonist! Dudley only exists as a one-note plot device. He deserves no attention.

#asks #anon #long post #anti-bullying #kind of?#anti-bakugo #harry potter

10 notes · View notes

ovidialee · 3 years

Text

After the War Author Interview: @bunny-bopper

What a fantastic finale to After the War, the premiere collection by the Four Horsemen Writer’s Collective! Fourth Horseman @bunny-bopper sat down with us to delve into themes of revenge, abuse, and redemption. Plus, why she won’t just take the money, dammit. And finally, the shocking walkout on our interview...see what question pushed her too far!

1. Both you and @maria-de-salinas wrote in the Death Eater Chronicles universe –- she by choice and you by challenge. What strikes me is that both of you independently came up with the idea of revenge, specifically upon my misbehaving male characters! Revenge is very much the centre of this piece -- not only Euphemia against Snape, but Snape against himself. We speak often of the redemption arc in the original canon and here we’re seeing it in fanon in a way in which it almost makes him seem irredeemable. How did revenge become the theme? Was it something that you hit upon after thinking about it, or did you immediately know that was how the story had to go?

Yes, I too was amused by us hitting on the same theme! Those boys must have stirred something up in us! I thought it was interesting how we approached it from such different angles as well. But to answer your question, I knew from the moment you challenged me to have Euphemia in the story that it was going to be about revenge somehow. I found your portrayal of her and her feelings about Snape – even after what he did to her - fascinating, particularly the part where she wanted to be like him in some way and was even emulating his behaviours. It felt like a very honest look at the after effects of abuse and how the cycle can sadly continue.

So, I asked myself – how would Euphemia feel if she found out he was still alive? And of course, there was no straightforward answer to that! I think she hates him for what happened and for the path it led her down. She wants him to suffer the same humiliation and degradation he and Bellatrix caused her. But she still desires him and – most of all – wants him to desire her. So, her path towards revenge was going to be a complicated one.

2. That chills me in a very personal way and, as you know, I had a very personal reaction to this story and its inevitable ending, which we had a rich conversation over. Would you say the ending of this piece has a message? In a way, you expertly flip his redemption arc on its head. Many may debate if this means he’s irredeemable, but I wonder if the ending itself is a valid method of redemption?

I’ll start by saying that I don’t believe anyone – real or fictional – is irredeemable. We all have the capacity for good and bad, yada yada. In my view, the Snape in this fic has atoned for his past and, most importantly, he regrets his mistakes and all the people he hurt along the way. And we see through the Daily Prophet articles that (although there are still a few doubters) the outside world very much agrees. The problem is that he’s isolated. He’s alone with nothing but his memories and regrets and, in my experience, we are all our own worst judge, jury and executioner combined.

Enter Euphemia – who for her own personal reasons will never offer him the forgiveness he craves. Her being his only contact was the confirmation he needed that it was never going to come from anyone. And more than that, he deserves to suffer.

What I did find as I wrote this piece was that I used it to explore the general HP fandom’s view on Snape as a whole, and the argument over whether he is a ‘redeemable character’. Whether he only turned against Voldemort for the selfish reason of ‘wanting to fuck Lily’. This is even something Euphemia outright accuses him of. This was a very sore spot for Snape, because I imagine he asked himself the same thing over and over. Of course, the very fact that he is questioning it means that it isn’t true.

So, I suppose if there is a message to the ending, it’s is that anyone can be taken advantage of and manipulated when they are at their most vulnerable.

3. See! Look at this depth of understanding. I have begged you on my hands and knees to co-write me and make a ton of money. But I know that’s not something you’re interested in. What is it about fanfiction that you feel frees you in a way writing for a market wouldn’t? Or is it something else entirely?

Oh gosh, I appreciate your faith in me! Well, I didn’t start writing fanfiction until a couple of years ago, and before that I hadn’t done any creative writing since high school. (I won’t say when that was, but CD walkmans were the thing and skinny jeans weren’t invented yet.) Dipping my toes into writing has been just incredible – what started out as a way of me just getting more Snape in my life has become a way for me to express myself and explore ideas I didn’t even know I had! I also didn’t really expect anyone to read my fics so all the feedback I’ve gotten has been amazing.

That being said – I'm sort of a thin-skinned person and I don’t think I could handle all the criticism that comes from writing professionally. I can’t even leave a bad review on Goodreads because I imagine myself as the author and how sad I would feel! I also don’t really have any original character ideas at all. It’s just Snape taking up all the room in there!

4. Last question we’ve all wanted to know. What is your favourite thing about being a Hufflepuff?

Ok that’s it. This is needless slander. Interview over. You’ll be hearing from my lawyer soon!

*snort* In the meantime...

Read The Reckoning of Severus Snape

#bunnybopper #author interview #After the War: Death Eaters Never Die #four horsemen #The Reckoning of Severus Snape #discourse #revenge #redemption #writers on tumblr #hufflepuff #I mean Slytherin #dark fanfiction #harry potter fanfiction #I'm just here for the smut #severus snape #euphemia rowle #stop reading the tags and go to the fic already

9 notes · View notes

ms-gallows · 4 years

Text

Astrological signs for Anakin Skywalker!

I mostly just focused on the signs and planets, not on the houses that they fell into, so there may be some inconsistencies! I might change these later the more I learn, but this is just for fun! Here is my take on Anakin! (with some minor Obi-Wan analysis for comparison!) Read Obi-Wan’s interpretation here. Edit: I changed Anakin’s moon!

Before I get into this, I want to explain the elements and the modes: Air = thoughts/intellect Earth = materialism/pragmatism Water = emotion/spiritualism Fire = Action/Instinct

Cardinal = initiative Fixed = stability Mutable = adaptability

Anakin has mostly Fire and Water, making him active and emotional. He has just enough air to give him an unconventional intellect. He is also Cardinal and Fixed dominant, which gives him initiative and stability (not often a word you would describe Anakin with!). He has a beautifully intense chart, this boy belongs in a Gothic novel. Lord Byron would be proud.

Scorpio Ascendant: The ascendant is our mask or ‘filter’. It is the first layer of our personality, what we show to people before they truly know us. Anakin processes the world around him through the lens of a Scorpio; with high emotional intensity and an almost psychic perception. He is reserved with most people around him, he keeps his guard up like a Scorpio. Most of the time he keeps quiet, letting Obi-Wan do the talking with his more chatty Libra Ascendant. Scorpio Ascendants also look very intense, and may come across as cold to people. Unlike Obi-Wan’s airy Libra, Scorpio has a very heavy presence, because it’s a fixed sign. It has the intensity of a black hole.

He’s not going to budge an inch, until he knows that he’s safe around you.

This is probably why Anakin comes across as a loner most of the time, even though this boy is like ‘im so lonely please love me i’m so lonely’. When people get to know Anakin better, and he lets his guard down, they get a glimpse of his core Aries self (Obi-Wan is very familiar with this side).

Aries Sun: The Sun is the ‘core’ part of the personality. Anakin is an Aries Sun, a fiery cardinal sign, making him highly action-oriented. Anakin seems to have a lot of trouble staying still, always needing to do something with his body or work with his hands. He needs to see the fruits of his labors right now dammit.

Anakin often gets typed as a Scorpio Sun, however I think Scorpio, for all of its emotional volatility, can be frighteningly calculating. Scorpio Sun likes to hide in the shadows, waiting patiently for the perfect opportunity to strike. Anakin broods like a Scorpio, but he has the impatience of an Aries, and carries out most of his actions like an Aries.

His Aries Sun is very active, always on the move, acting on its feelings almost without thought. Anakin seems to be flying by the seat of his pants in most areas of life. He’s also naturally pretty fiery and competitive, having no issue with showing off. Anakin is restless, he has an urge to push boundaries and to experience everything. He’s very open, and his moon blends in easily with this. It’s this fire and action-oriented cardinal energy that has given him drive to become a Jedi, and probably his Aquarius/Scorpio that gives him the follow-through. Cardinal energy wants to lead, and Anakin is a natural-born leader. It comes more naturally to him than to Obi-Wan’s mutable Virgo!

Moon in Sagittarius Leo: The moon is our vulnerabilities, our emotions, and our maternal instinct. It is the side of ourselves that comes out when we are most comfortable. I thought that Anakin was a Sagittarius moon, since he seems given to sensory experiences. The more I saw how he interacted with Ahsoka, however, I’m starting to think he is in fact a Leo Moon. His emotions are wrapped in his pride. I remember the idea that Anakin wants more than what a Jedi’s life offers, even though he shouldn’t. He has strong desires. There is a nobility to Leo, fiercely protective of what it claims as its own. The way he tells Ahsoka he would never let anyone hurt her makes me think of a lion protecting its cub. Anakin is so fiercely protective of her, he sneers at the mere implication that Asajj sees a part of herself in her. With Padme, he wants to express his love in grand, dramatic gestures, probably in ways that he wishes he could show the whole world, but he can’t. He wants to save people who are suffering and right wrongs in a very grandiose manner. It feels like a divine calling, a narrative in which he is the main character, it is his purpose in life. This is how Anakin mothers the people he loves. Extreme, devout protection and gestures of adoration. Just think of a Lion’s majesty and ferocity, and you’ve got Anakin’s moon.

Mercury in Aquarius: Mercury is all about how we understand things, think, and communicate. Anakin’s Aquarius Mercury is having a hard time breathing with all these fire and water signs around it. This is where Anakin’s unconventional thought patterns come from. Anakin will come up with a solution to a problem that is very unexpected. Anakin’s action-driven Sun, his possibility-driven Moon, and his forward-thinking Aquarius Mercury combine to make him a very daring pilot. Honestly it makes him very daring in many areas. His Aquarius Mercury is fascinated by tech and creating new things with it. He also doesn’t care much for social etiquette, and may even be amused by saying something blunt. He has a taste for innovation. Him and Obi-Wan having Mercury signs in air makes me think that’s why their banter is so amusing. They are both quick witted in this regard.

Venus in Scorpio: Venus rules romance, aesthetics, and taste. Oh boy, this is a doozy. Where do I start?

Having a water-based Venus is compatible with Obi-Wan’s water-based Moon. Water signs are compatible with other water-signs. However, there is a problem: Obi-Wan’s moon only comes out when he feels completely comfortable to do so. That happens extremely rarely.

Anakin’s Venus is pulling at Obi-Wan’s Moon, demanding that Obi-Wan share a part of himself that Obi-Wan only shows when he feels absolutely safe to do so. Unfortunately, being a Jedi, it’s never safe to do so. Scorpio probes, which might even feel parasitic to Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan will block it out, because it’s sensitive, it hurts. Anakin interprets this as a rejection, and thinks that he did something wrong, when it’s really just not the way Obi-Wan expresses his love (most of the time). That said, the detail-orientation of Obi-Wan’s Venus and his emotionally-psychic moon are extremely precise in detecting Anakin’s mood-changes and feelings.

(Obi-Wan’s Moon/Venus: “I love you but I don’t know how to deal with this.”)

Anakin’s love is raw. It is an all-consuming type of love, it’s like an addiction, a drug. Anakin wants to know the depths of someone’s soul, he wants to know someone’s deepest traumas and demons, to accept them and love them for all that they are, because ultimately that is what he craves for himself.

This kind of love is extremely intimidating to Obi-Wan’s gentle Virgo Venus and sensitive Cancer Moon. I don’t think Padme really knows how to deal with it either. I don’t think he’s shown all of it to her.

Scorpio Venus, along with his Scorpio Ascendant, makes Anakin very possessive and stubborn. This doesn’t mean that Scorpio Venuses are bad, only that they have an urge to take things to an extremely intense depth that most others don’t feel comfortable going to. Not everyone sees that as love. A Scorpio Venus has to learn that not everything has to go that deep, and that boundaries need to be respected.

On the plus side, you can probably tell your deepest secrets and insecurities to Anakin, and he won’t tell a soul. He’ll probably feel closer to you.

Suspecting rejection, Anakin thinks he has to prove how much he loves someone, so that they don’t let him go. I think of the scene where Anakin gives his lightsaber to Padme, as a symbol of his life and love (I also suspect that Padme is probably a Cancer Ascendant, which would explain Anakin being drawn to her because she has a mothering, caring energy that he wants in love). Anakin doesn’t realize that he doesn’t have to go to these extreme lengths to prove that he loves someone, he doesn’t see that they already love him. He feels wrong and broken, and he wants someone who can heal his soul, when he really needs to look inwards and heal himself.

A Scorpio Venus can also take things very personally and become wrathful. Scorpio has a divine wrath, it is complete and utter destruction. Anakin is fire and ice, he burns everything to ash and freezes it over.

(Anakin’s Leo Moon/Scorpio Venus: “Why are you leaving me? What did I do wrong?”)

Losing someone he loves is death itself to him. When he speaks to Master Unduli about not giving up on Ahsoka, the thought of losing her looks like it physically pains him.

In short: Anakin not properly dealing with his Scorpio Venus/Leo Moon is probably the cause of his fall.

Also: Scorpios like darkness and intensity. To them, it is the most real, the most deep. Explains why Anakin likes black, huh?

Mars in Aries Scorpio: Mars rules passion, war, instinct, and sexuality. An Scorpio Mars is a planet in the sign of its old rulership! It is not as potent as Aries, but I changed it because I examined the way Anakin goes to war. He is more likely, at least later on, to use underhanded and sneaking tactics. This is where he becomes very cold, calculating, unyielding. Having a third inner planet (Ascendant sort of counts as a planet) in Scorpio makes his personality slightly unbalanced. There’s a LOT of Scorpio here, a lot of intense emotions that he has difficulty understanding. He can never completely express himself, there is something he’s always holding back, and he doesn’t even know what it is that he’s holding back.

When it comes to sexuality, this is another area where Anakin gets possessive. This is where not only his Mars, but his Scorpio Venus and Leo Moon all come out to play. The eroticism is ridiculous. It’s wild, uninhibited, dark, passionate, emotional, and probably loud. What a drama queen. He’s easily aroused and wants to give everything he can to his partner. Having Scorpio in the planets of love and sexuality makes his expressions of love tinged with darkness. He probably has a dominant edge and wants to explore dark taboos. He wants to utterly consume his partner and have them consume him in return. This is an intense sensory and emotional experience for him, and he wants the best. His ideal is a luxurious bed with candles, a beautiful moonlit view, and nobody else for miles. Leaving his partners exhausted and satisfied is what he strives for, and he’d wish they could do this forever. Aries/Leo/Scorpio make his head, back, and well...his genitals, his erogenous zones, respectively.

#Anakin #anakin skywalker #skywalker #star wars #sw #clone wars #cw #star wars clone wars #swcw #astrology #anakin skywalker headcanon #anakin headcanons #obi and ani #padme mention #anakin skywalker character analysis #star wars astrology #anakin reference

243 notes · View notes

passable-talent · 4 years

Note

Roe- avatar the last airbender, Sokka or Zuko:) (whichever you prefer/are more comfortable writing for) reader insert, one where the reader has feelings but the character doesn’t notice and is w somebody until they realize they actually like reader more (slow and angst please) also if possible can reader be a plant bender or love animals a lot? Thank you so much!! Love your guys work

oh well I prefer Zuko 👀 but I haven’t written for Sokka much and I want to feed the Sokka fans/test the waters so here we go

Suki was really cool, you had to admit. She was powerful, and had a great moral code, and she was so sweet and nice and kind, and honestly? You had nothing but kind words for her.

Except that you were kinda in love with her boyfriend.

It was fine, it was cool. You weren’t a fire starter. You were content to hang out with Appa or practice your waterbending up in the forest. It’s all fine. You could admire from afar, like a fine painting, and you would never get in the way.

You wouldn’t do that to her- you couldn’t. Maybe if she was really mean or something you’d have less of a problem, but she really was just great. So you couldn’t think of a single reason to work on stealing Sokka from her.

So you just bit your tongue, and waited. And it broke your heart every day.

You were good at keeping quiet, you always had been. You blended in and stared off into the distance, or at your feet, upset but never letting it appear on your face. You took your anger out on the plants you bended, but you always put them back when you were done training, your heart not yet broken enough to let you get away with killing plants without regret.

You fought fiercely in every battle and defended your friends with your life, and though you loved them all dearly, it just hurt. It hurt that he loved Suki so much, and every time you thought that maybe she wouldn’t reappear, she turned up again. Every damn time.

It seemed like there wasn’t going to be much oppurtunity for you to earn Sokka’s attention.

And that was where you were wrong.

Every time Suki returned, it felt to Sokka more like he was reconnecting with an old friend, rather than a girlfriend. It wasn’t that he didn’t like her, he did, more that he found himself thinking of other things when she wasn’t around. And by the time she did come back around, he was still just as distracted.

Suki was great, she really was. She was kind and fierce at once, beautiful and powerful. He was impressed by her- but the more time passed, the less he could say that he loved her.

Really, you had caught his eye.

It wasn’t shallow, like he sometimes could be. It was more the way you carried yourself. You had weight beyond your years on your shoulders, like all of Team Avatar did, but you never let it pull you down. You smiled and carried on, and yet when he caught you in your quiet moments of pain he found himself less disappointed by the weakness and more fascinated by your complexities.

It was hard to explain.

You were definitely not eavesdropping the day that he broke up with Suki. No, see, that would be an invasion of privacy and a real bad thing for you to do. You absolutely, definitely, were not eavesdropping.

Nevermind that you heard everything. Don’t worry about it.

“I’m sorry, Suki,” you heard Sokka say, and you weren’t sure you had ever heard such a humorless tone in his voice. “I just don’t want you to have to deal with me when I’m not, uh, all in this. You know? Plus, I, I think I might’ve developed feelings for someone else, and that’s not fair to you, so I figured I should just, you know, break it off before I hurt you too much.”

And dammit, because she had no faults at all, Suki was completely understanding.

That was all you heard of it for days. They didn’t act much different, it didn’t seem like there were hard feelings. And Sokka didn’t start bringing anyone else around, so you were curious as to who this ‘someone else’ could’ve been. Did you know them? Who could’ve taken Sokka’s attention from Suki after he spent so long madly in love with her?

Your answer came one night around the fire when everyone else had gone to bed.

“Hey Y/N,” Sokka said, and you lifted your head to him.

“Yeah?”

“Wanna hear a joke?” A smile cracked onto your face and you suppressed a roll of your eyes.

“Do I have a choice?”

“Course not. Why’s Aang gonna win against the Fire Lord?” You fixed him with a smirk and leaned forward, crossing your arms and leaning your elbows onto your knees.

“Because he’s the avatar?”

“No, because it’ll be a breeze!”

You wanted to say it was a horrible joke, because it was. It was a really, really bad pun. But you couldn’t stop it- the laughter bubbling up from just under your lungs up and into your throat until you had to throw your head back and laugh. One hand came up to cover your mouth so that you wouldn’t be too loud but you had to laugh. It was so oddly funny, it had caught you off guard in the perfect way.

Sokka was silent as you laughed, other than his own slight snickering, and waited for you to bring your face back down to look at him. Once you had, you noticed the smile on his face, one that he used a little too often, but only in certain circumstances.

Don’t get it wrong, Sokka’s very expressive. But when it comes to admiration, whether it be someone attractive or a nice plate of meat (equally attractive?), he’s only got one face.

It’s a goofy, endearing smile. You know the one.

“What?” You asked, wondering why he’d regard you with such an expression.

“Nothing, you just- you have a really nice laugh.” A light blush came to your cheekbones and you looked away from him.

“You’re teasing,” you said, and he scoffed quietly.

“Am not. You really do. It’s nice.” You let your eyes lift back to his, and he had that same smile on his face. But it had toned down, just slightly, as he’d gotten a slight bit more serious.

“Y/N, you know, I broke up with Suki.”

You practiced your acting by reacting as though you hadn’t known that.

“I, uh,” he swallowed nervously, “I did it because I have feelings for you.” Your jaw all but dropped and after a moment or two’s pause you scooted closer to him.

“Really?” You asked, and he nodded, quickly, jerkily.

“I’ve had feelings for you for a long time,” you admitted, the words spilling from your mouth as though you were afraid you’d lose the nerve to say them.

“Really?” It was his turn to ask, and you nodded right back.

“Then, uh, what do we do?” You let your surprised expression turn into a joyful one, because of course the idiot who’d been dating Suki for months didn’t know what to do. You scooted even closer, just beside him, and kissed his cheek.

His smile broadened and he wrapped an arm around your waist, pulling you against his side.

“Yeah,” he said, and you looked at him.

“What?”

“I’m not, like, glad I broke up with Suki. Okay that sounds bad-“ he said quickly, “it’s rude to say that I’m glad I broke up with her. But I am, because this...” he trailed off, and with his temple slowly connecting with yours, looked up past the smoke of the fire and into the stars. “This feels right.”

It did.

-🦌 Roe

362 notes · View notes

mysterylover123 · 3 years

Text

Mysterylover Watches Bleach Episodes 164-165: All My Faves Try to Straight up Kill Each Other

(adding a cover pick from now on I think)

1. So back to Uryu and Renji’s fight huh. Dammit why Shonen always gotta leave the MCs bleeding to death for like 20 episodes.

2. I guess I should be responding more to their fight, I mean I like these two as well. But we just ditched the fascinating “What does GJ want with Hime” plot for these shenanigans, so I’m just a tad bit impatient to get back to that.

3. FINALLY BACK TO ICHIGO. Nel is ok and she’s saying his name a lot while he doesn’t respond. So he’s apparently dead?

4. WHEN THE HELL DID GRIMMJOW GET HERE? WASN’T HE THREATENING ORIHIME A LITTLE WHILE AGO? (Also Nel and GJ appear to know each other. )

5. GJ why are you kicking Ichigo? AND WHAT THE FUCK HE HAS A TIED UP AND GAGGED ORIHIME UNDER HIS CLOAK IN CHAINS?!?! HOLY CRAP DUDE

6. Hime is now looking at what appears to be Ichigo’s corpse. OMG GRIMMJOW BROUGHT HER HERE TO HEAL ICHI? Are you heel turning GJ? Also Ulqui is returning to Hime’s cell to find the evil girls and castigate them.

7. Nel is begging Hime to heal Ichi. I don’t think she needs any encouragement honey. Ill admit Nel’s constant screaming is a little annoying so I do kinda feel GJ when he tells her to shut up (assuming she’s some kinda immortal instead of an Actual Kid)

8. Hime is, of course, healing him, but struggling with it. GJ explains Ulqui did it. OK so GJ is mad at Ulqui for Taking His Prey and Hime does in fact succeed in healing Ichi. I got you GJ. No one else is allowed to kill Ichi while you’re around.

9. Just as GJ name drops Ulqui Ulqui appears. He’s like Candyman.

10. Damn so now almost all my faves are in the same room. We’re gonna have a four way fight between Ulqui Ichi GJ and Hime? yes. Or whatever will happen here.

11. Ulqui: “WTF Are you doing Hime?” GJ: smirks. Hime: “Um...it’s complicated”. Ulqui: Hand her over. GJ: Attempted murder. OK so GJ is officially betraying the bad guys? I think? I mean he’s trying to kill Ulqui so clearly he’s not in a good position here.

12. We do get GJ vs Ulqui which is cool and blows lots of shit up. They’re legitimate threats to each other though. Hime is standing there shielding Ichi and like “WTF WAS THAT?” GJ reveals he sealed Ulqui in another dimension.

13. HOLY CRAP HIME REFUSES?! GJ CHOKES HER?! AND SHE STILL REFUSES. HOLY CRAP SHE’S REFUSING TO ENABLE THIS SELF-DESTRUCTIVE SHIT ANYMORE. Oh my god.

14. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a healer character in a Shonen do this before. Like even Recovery Girl in MHA - she said she wouldn’t but she always does anyway. Hime being the first ever to legitimately say “NOPE. ENOUGH’S ENOUGH. GO AHEAD AND CHOKE ME DUDE I DNGAF. WON’T DO IT.” Holy crap.

15. Ichi jumps in with what little strength he’s got to stop GJ choking Hime. Thanks Ichi. Though he immediately asks Hime to heal him and GJ. Even though she just said she wouldn’t.

16. Oh. Oh. I get it. This is the GOLD OL FASHIONED SHONEN RIVALRY THING. GJ has apparently decided to replace Uryu as The Rival. (Does this mean I have to switch to Ichigo/GJ? I have no idea how old GJ is supposed to be, but I’m down for Immortal Rukia x 16 year old Hime so clearly we’re working on vampire rules here)

17. Oh and it looks like Hime did heal them. Dammit Hime (or not dammit cause we’re gonna get this fight.) Ichi tells the ladies not to worry about him. Um dude you end up hospitalized every goddamn arc.

18. HIME PATS NEL ON THE HEAD. OMG HIME’S ADOPTED HER TOO. She and Nel debate about whether or not Ichi will really win. Hime explains that Ichi wouldn’t lie, and that she knows him well enough to know that.

19. See this kinda stuff is why I don’t mind that these two are gonna be the Official Couple the way most Shonen couples tend to annoy me. Hime genuinely knows Ichi as a person, she’s not watching him from a distance and never a part of his life. She genuinely knows his whole story, what makes him tick, and who he really is. It’s not perfect per se but it’s so much better than what I’ve seen in any other shonen couple’s development.

20. Ichi and GJ’s fight keeps going still with lots of big flashy moves. LOL GJ is annoyed that Ichi isn’t excited to kill him for hurting Rukia. Senpai isn’t paying him enough Rival Attention.

21. Please don’t kill Nel or hime to motivate Ichi to want to kill you GJ. I like you but you’re on thin ice with that Choking Hime thing from earlier. GJ is confronting him about why he didn’t just grab Hime and leave and end this arc right there. Hm.

22. GJ makes an interesting point here. He claims Ichi came here to fight and not to save Hime. You know I was thinking this back in the first arc, where it seemed like he was prioritizing fighting people over saving Ruki. Like this arc though he’s been way more focused on the saving part of things though so I’m not sure if that’s true here. Like has he grown since then? Or is GJ actually right?

23. Ichi notices that GJ seems to be aiming at Hime. Holy crap dude that’s cheating. And wow Ichi instantly goes Hollow Masky to save her! And all feral-y and shit. You know I feel like that sorta proves that he really is here for Hime, since he didn’t start fighting this way until GJ threatened her.

24. Well those were two really good episodes! Nice development for GJ and Ulqui, Ichi and Hime. So many of my faves got some good focus here. I feel like I need to legitimately process it for a sec.

-So Hime is starting to feel like she doesn’t want to enable Ichi’s Constantly Fighting to the Death thing anymore. Interesting development, I wonder how that will play out going forward?

-Ichi’s motives have been cast in an interesting shadow. Is he only in this for the thrill of a good fight (like Goku) or is he in it to save his friends (like Naruto)? Which flavor of Shonen hero are you Ichi?

-Grimmjow seems to have officially betrayed Aizen for the sake of a good fight and has identified himself clearly as Ichigo’s rival. Interesting - i guess this has been building for a while.

-The development of Ichigo and Hime’s relationship in this episode was really interesting. It raises great questions about Ichigo’s side of things - was he doing this for a fight, or because he cares for Hime? Little of A, little of B? This is gonna be good

53 notes · View notes

noordledoordle · 4 years

Photo

“There are fundamental things about ourselves that we know to be true. It's important to remember those things when you find yourself in a tough situation, or you need to make a decision from the heart, but it's equally important to know that you can surprise yourself, too...”

Novel-sized post under the cut:

I don’t say much on my art posts or on Tumblr in general, but as we’re in the home stretch before SU leaves forever, I thought I’d leave a bit of commentary for the five people who may happen across this.

I started watching the original series a couple weeks after Friend Ship aired in 2015, mostly because I love MST3K’s Joel Hodgson and heard he was playing Mayor Dewey. I know it’s a common refrain that you have to sort of “endure” SU up to Mirror Gem, but that was not the case for me. The kookiness, the gentle nature of the characters, the overarching mystery of the setting - SU had me hooked right off the bat.

I loved all the characters (and I still love all the characters! Even if Ronaldo is best left as a background role and Resident Plot Oracle), but I was especially fascinated by Steven. Outwardly, he was as laid-back as his dad, and seemingly took a lot of stuff in stride, even his odd living situation. And every time a Big Reveal happened that re-contextualized the episodes prior, he would react a little bit in the moment, but never too much. Like clockwork, this pattern kept repeating itself. He would continually focus outward on the immediate problem or person in front of him, and get deeply emotional for their issues instead of his own. He’d also get emotional for surface-issue things, like Cookie Cats and snakes.

I found that odd. And intriguing. At first I figured it was just a narrative device since he was the MC and my window into the world of SU, but it happened so often that I finally got suspicious. What was it going to take for this kid to really express himself? He was so good at getting others to open up, why couldn’t he do it, too? Yes, he had times and even a couple episodes where he’d tip his hand for a bit and show something deeper, but they were oh-so-fleeting.

As I started watching the remaining S2 and S3 episodes as they came out, this pattern kept up. The layers of the world and its characters slowly unwrapped, but Steven stubbornly kept to himself and was mostly content to point the audience away from him. (Not a bad thing, narratively, as the stuff with Peridot and the latter half of S3 were wild rides!) Back then, I felt pretty alone in giving a shit about him as a character when it seemed a lot of others didn’t, but, dammit, he was my favorite little mystery regardless and I just hoped his reticence was going somewhere, especially as the show’s stakes got higher and higher.

Sweet, sweet vindication came when Mindful Education aired. The second he started giving terrible advice to Connie, I knew we were finally due to for a good look into his brain. And then came the butterfly on the sword, and well, everything else. Yeah, he’d dropped enough breadcrumbs prior to Mindful Education implying he was proper fucked up about his identity, but this was a whole loaf of fresh French bread. It was now clear beyond any shadow of a doubt that Steven was bottling up the majority of his issues and probably had been from the start.

I mean, damn, the Pink Diamond reveal? Amethyst couldn’t drag more than a couple grumpy lines out of him over pizza, and like most things Rose related, was more about his feelings towards her than what that meant for him. When he flipped out at a hologram of his mom or cried for his dad, his family wasn’t present to hear his inner thoughts. Regardless, after CYM happened and he’d resolved his identity crisis, I was content enough that they’d acknowledged his constant deflection and almost tyrannical need to help others as character flaws and would have been fine with what we got as an ending. Still, there was a lot about Steven that had been left unsaid, and I was excited to see was S6 was gonna be about...

And then the movie and SUF came along, and I swear to God I don’t even know what to do with all this vindication. Rebecca Sugar may as well have beamed into my living room and screamed “LOOK HERE ARE 20 EPISODES OF CONTENT TAILOR-MADE JUST FOR YOU.” Finally, they’re really unwrapping the mystery of our main character. They’re tearing him apart right down to the core of tragic nougat at the center of his being.

So, anyway, here we are at the lowest point of Steven’s long story. He’s burned King’s Landing. He’s crossed the Rubicon. My son, my boy, has shut out everyone he loves and has an honest-to-goodness kill count, and it can’t be justified by saying he was backed into a corner or that he was fighting to protect someone. He didn’t mean to shatter Jasper, but it’s clear he meant to hurt her.

I was always adamant that he’d never shatter anyone, but now that he has, I get why.

Steven is all about that duality. He’s human and Gem, burdened with Special Magical Destiny yet supposedly free to choose his own human path. The closer he gets to discovering his future, the deeper he has to dig into the past. He’s a cute little critter who can quietly drool on himself while napping on a road trip and also an angry teenager frustrated over a life he never had. He’s trapped between reality and facade - all those healing Rose-style powers he worked so hard to get in the original series were a cover for something older, more ancient, more destructive. And, most pertinent to Fragments - he adores soft things like romance and weddings, yet also values tough things like strength and power.

And he’s having trouble walking the tightrope between all these contradictions. When it comes to power, for example, he loves gaining new powers in order to feel useful to his family, but, in fights where he isn’t pink, he’ll always stop just short of using them to their fullest and stay on the defensive as long as he can possibly get away with it. He’ll even apologize or warn his opponent if he tries to do something big. He’ll nearly always fall on the side of softness over power, but the power is still very much there, if unused. And even up to this last episode, he’d always stop just short of going full feral even when he was pink. Part of this is because Steven is a good kiddo at heart, but also afraid of what he can do to someone unchecked.

And now, here at a bad point in Steven’s life when he’s loaded up with PTSD and cut off from his usual support, Jasper (who is also...going through some things) gives him permission to indulge in the sort of thing he’s avoided since that day he summoned a shield with an ice cream bar. She tells him to not hide a part of himself, so for just this fucking once, he lets go. The ecstasy of battle overtakes him. He doesn’t tap into the soft, rounded Rose-style powerset for even a second. No bubbles, no shield, just that raw diamond geometry. And when he gets to the moment of the KO, there’s no stopping, no break to talk things out, no “yo watch out!” He even pins her down to make damn sure she can’t get away. It’s a surprising facet of Steven we have never seen, but it’s still absolutely him, just another one of those parts he squirrels away out of view. He didn’t need that “training” at all... it was always there.

When he told Jasper he’d been holding back, he meant it. He’s been holding back for years, in so many ways.

#steven universe #steven universe future #my art #steven universe spoilers #steven quartz universe

441 notes · View notes