Tumgik
#I wanted to fit in and have other people like me SO deeply and terribly that I lost myself
genderfreakxx · 2 years
Text
Can’t believe I’m experiencing my full blown MCR awakening in my mid twenties while going through second puberty because of HRT
I literally had the “your music is too violent and loud” argument with my mom during a family road trip like this shit is comically stereotypical at this point
2 notes · View notes
fillinforlater · 8 days
Text
On her jeans (Part 3 of 3)
Male Reader x Kim Minji, Hanni Pham, Danielle Marsh
Length: 4606 words
Tags: Daddy kink, anal galore, blowjob, face fuck, blindfolded, 4some, pearly gates, spitting, spanking, cursing, humiliation, missionary anal, analpie, ass eating, rimming
TW: kinda rough, pure, stupid smut, ass eating, eating cum out of ass
-Part 1- -Part 2- -Part 3-
(A/N: the most likely final part of the On her series. This fic is very mindless lmao. Important announcement at the end.)
Tumblr media
“Yes, Daddy, that feels so good!”
Hanni’s enthusiasm is almost limitless. No matter how often you’ve ordered her to your office or your apartment or some secluded bed and breakfast, she never let you down. No, the only thing ‘down’ is the momentum of her hips whenever she rides you on the couch, her beautiful ass turned towards you. She loves to make it wiggle when your cock fills her cunt.
You take delight in such a sight and give her the good-girl-spanks she deserves. Hanni craves them as much as she craves your eyes, seeing nothing but love in hers. There is nothing stopping her from leaving, you never demanded the same things from her then you did from Minji. But where Minji lacks endless love and desire for you, Hanni fills these gaps and then some. 
“Oh my God, Daddy, you-you’re gonna make me cum again!” Hanni’s throat is sore from her moans and screams (and the rough face fuck you gave her earlier). “I-I can’t hold it!”
“Why would you hold it?” you ask her and pull her back against your bare chest. “Ruin yourself all over me, you slut.”
You give her thrusts, quick, not too strong and that is all she needs. Her effort was remarkable but in the end she wants you to fuck her over the edge. Hanni’s pussy convulses around your cock, tries to milk it and you are about to give in when your cell phone rings. 
“Fuck,” you curse and pick it up while dropping a powerless Hanni to the carpet floor. “Who is this?”
“Yo, have you turned on the TV?” the person on the other end, some former manager of a group you were interested in, asks. “Today are the MAMA awards.”
“And? They’ve been the same for basically forever. And you know I don’t have any control over—”
“Oh no, another group has won.” You can hear the smirk on his lips. “I bet you’ve heard the song and the group—some of them are under your wings, I assume?”
For a moment you are confused, then it dawns on you brightly. “You could say that,” you respond calmly and look at one of those who are under your wings—though under your cock fits better. “Let me be honest, I did not think that they would make it this far.”
“Their success is unheard of, they must have paid you really well,” he continues knowingly. The kind of business you do is in a paradoxical state of infamously known and also a dark secret in the industry. It’s a tightly knit conspiracy where every wrong step, every wrong turn can cost you basically everything. 
“Maybe they have to offer me something new, a MAMA win does not come around very often.”
#
“Congratulations on your win. I bet this is part of every trainee's dream” Sent by you
“Thank you, Daddy~ It definitely is, but I’m certain we couldn’t have done it without you “ Sent by Hanni
You smirk and scroll through your gallery. There is a picture you’ve saved, a picture of something you want. Some people screenshot what they want from social media apps or shopping sites—you will do the same right now, though your picture does not include a product one can buy. 
Tumblr media
“I found this picture of you and one of your friends. She is very attractive.” Sent by you
“I know, Danielle ist so damn pretty <3” Sent by Hanni
“Her prettiness equals probably two MAMA awards…” Sent by you
That should do it. Hanni is probably stunned right now. If Danielle is next to her, she probably looks at her—your terrible influence deeply rooted in Hanni’s mind—and she will see what you see: another object for your desire, another girl you can train to make your personal fuck doll, another idol sold by her bandmate. Unlike Minji, Hanni might actually like the idea. 
You wait patiently as she ponders, typing, then deleting message after message until she settles for a simple text that makes this unhinged, lustful being inside you lose any and all control.
“Daddy deserves his reward as soon as possible. We need just 20 to 30 minutes~” Sent by Hanni
With a victorious sigh, you throw away your smartphone. It audibly cracks on the floor, but you don’t give a fuck. Phones can be bought again, but what you will get, no one can buy. These next twenty minutes will feel like hours and every second beyond that will make you lose your mind. Atleast, that is what you would have to assume if it weren’t for someone suddenly sneaking into your apartment. 
Timid, quiet steps. The person is not wearing shoes. You hear the door fall shut, gently and suddenly, she stands in your doorframe. As if your life was a script, written by a higher being which, for some reason, likes your story to be filled with as much sexual fulfillment as possible, Minji has decided to come visit you. 
Tumblr media
“Hello, Daddy,” she coos, catching your gaze with the way she presses her frame against the door frame. Her two piece outfit with all its white frays perfectly merges with said door frame, the warm light making it look like she could disappear in your walls. “I’m sorry for not announcing myself, but may I come in?”
“That depends,” you say, trying to act not-too-happy about her convenient timing. “It’s nice to see you barefooted and in this pretty outfit—but you need to approach the right way.”
“Of course, Daddy.”
Minji gets on her knees. She begins to crawl over your wooden floor and seeing her eager eyes has you riled up. Instead of waiting for her to unbuckle your belt, you open it on your own and let your pants drop when her face reaches your crotch. Minji moans gently and presses her face against the massive bulge in your boxers. She’s not really teasing you. It’s more of a ceremony, because Minji quickly proceeds to pull down your boxers with nothing but her teeth.
“Daddy, it’s so big and beautiful,” Minji says in all honesty, her idol persona washed away by her own horniness. “May I service you with my mouth?”
“Stick out your tongue,” you order and Minji follows. You slap your tip on the exposed wet muscle and watch her faintly smile at how excited you seem. “Looks really good, how could I say no?”
No warning and just a moment later, you are buried to the hilt in Minji’s throat. She gags violently, her head tilted backwards and her wide eyes quickly release a torrent of tears. You don’t comment on it, watch on with a cold, resting bitch face and begin to fuck her face roughly. It’s hard thrust after hard thrust; not too fast though, because you want to see the submission steadily grow in her eyes.
“Fucking good, so much better since you started taking my cock like a premium whore,” you hiss and reach for the sides of her head. She locks eyes with you and through a sea of tears, you can see that she is happy. Still happy. “But it won’t be enough. I need more, another hole, and I’m not talking about your pussy. I know that you are dripping from there, but I’m going to split you open somewhere else.”
You pull out and watch Minji try to catch her breath, shocked, weak; she gets no time to recover however. You grab her hair and slide back into her not-awaiting, but slave-like throat. She takes your pounding even as it forcefully removes her faint mascara and leaves her a drooling mess. It’s Minji’s masterclass in deepthroats—a fitting end, because you will fuck something else today.
After many harsh thrusts, too many to count, but enough to have Minji at your complete mercy, you pull out. She bends over, tries to keep her composure and breathe, but you won’t allow this. She has to look at you and understand what you desire. You slap her face and spit at it. “Don’t avoid me, look at me!” you shout and Minji is tiny. A kneeling tiny bitch who follows your commands. “I will fuck your ass, do you understand?”
“Yes, Master,” Minji cries and puts her forehead to the floor. “Tha-Thank you for the award, Ma-Master. Please, a-abuse my ass.”
Not that it tugs at your heartstrings or anything—but instead of just fucking her in this state of complete devastation, you help her up, to her feet and cup her cheek firmly… almost gently. Minji still sobs, barely able to look up at you.
“You are here to thank me with your ass? That is actually adorable and very thoughtful of you.”
“I-I thought, because Master hasn’t fucked me th-there yet, and because he probably did with Hanni already, I—”
“Oh, I understand, but Minji—” You lean down to her ear and whisper, while your hand travels down her bare midriff into the dress and finds her folds, soaked in arousal. “—we are already past the Master stage. And you underestimate my greed, my desire for more, infinitely more. Don’t worry about that though. Get on the couch and show me your cute little asshole.”
“O-okay. Thank you, Daddy.”
As Minji lays down and wiggles off the bottom part of her dress, you get a bottle of water-like lube from a drawer in the living room table. These bottles are always nearby because situations like this have occurred quite a few times in your life. More than you can count, enough to make you the biggest villain for every girl group fan.
When you pour the lube on your cock, you inspect Minji and her cute posture. She is on her back, legs spread and in the air, while her fingers keep her butt cheeks apart. Her ring twitches and it twitches more when you rub lube all over it. Minji mewls, and mewls some more when you push a finger past the first tightness to lube the inside as well.
“You are a bit stiff, you need to loosen up or else it will hurt.”
“Isn’t it supposed to hurt?” Minji asks in all honesty. “I’m okay with Daddy hurting me, as long as he feels good.”
You have to hold back or else you would’ve laughed at her innocent expression and the confused fear in her orbs. You align your cock with her ass, not to immediately force yourself inside that hot, tight hole, but to teach Minji how to take you well.
“If you relax, Minji, I promise it will feel good. Weird at first, probably too big, but the more you loosen up and let your asshole become a source for pleasure, it will feel great.”
“Hanni probably already knows this,” Minji mumbles in shame. You quickly reach for her jaw and put a chaste kiss on her lips.
“To be honest, I haven’t even fucked her ass before, so stop worrying. Take deep breaths and stay re-laxed.” With those final words, you wait for Minji to follow your instructions—breathe in; breathe out—before you push your cock into her brown hole.
“Oh Daddy, fuck,” Minji groans, right into your face and you love how her hands start to hold onto your back, your arms as you push more cock into her. “You are so, so big!”
“There is still more, but you are doing a great job, Minji,” you respond calmly, lifting up her ass a bit to penetrate her deeper. “Soon, you’ll love this more than anything.”
“Daddy!” Your cock is fully inside her and Minji seems to go crazy, her head thrown back into the couch, her mouth releasing loud moans rapidly. Her anal cavity squeezes you tightly, tries to wring you and it’s insanely impressive. She takes you fully on the first go and slowly catches herself. “I-it feels weird but soooo—”
“Good, right? I can feel you relax, so I will start to fuck you for real now. Congratulations, you’re not a butt virgin anymore!”
Minji weakly laughs and then gasps when you drag your cock mostly out of her ass just to push it back in, deep, to the fucking hilt. You watch as her eyes open wide, then narrow, then close, all in the rhythm of your pumps. Her cunt drips more juice too, she cannot deny the pleasure.
“Daddy, why, why do you feel so good?” Minji screams. “Why, your cock—you made me your butt slut!”
“You’re a natural at this, most of your kind quickly become addicted.”
“Make me addicted, Daddy! Please, use this hole and make me—”
You reach underneath her frayed top and pinch a hard nipple, while your teeth go for her lower lip. You can feel her insides combust, her ass clenching around your cock, her pussy convulsing around nothing, yet it is enough to make her cum. Minji is orgasming from just her ass, but she tries to hide it. 
“There is nothing to be embarrassed about,” you laugh and begin to fuck Minji harder, her ankles in your firm hands. “Cum with your ass and be mine forever. You cannot escape anyways, so why would you want to? Don’t run from the pleasure, because I won’t stop fucking you until—”
Suddenly, you hear a key in the lock of your front door and someone whispering. Then quiet steps. Minji grows tense but you just smile at her, reassure her that there is nothing to be scared off. “Oh, you know these two, don’t worry~” 
“Huh?”
You look up and spot the first girl, Hanni, who smirks when she sees you. She puts a finger to her luscious lips and winks. You get her idea and press your palm on Minji’s mouth to keep her quiet while you slowly thrust into her tight ass. The young girl is visibly shocked that you just continue, but her shock grows even more when she spots the second girl.
Tumblr media
“Unnie, this is weird. How long do I have to wear this blindfold?”
“Just a little bit longer~ We are almost there, just a few more steps.”
Hanni guides the blind Danielle, a beautiful, skinny girl dressed in what you assume is a stage or award show outfit. Either way you love how exposed her midriff and collarbone are. Danielle’s skin is flawless and her face looks even better than in pictures or videos.
The two get closer. Hanni is now behind the taller girl and guides her by holding her hips. The two seem familiar with this kind of intimacy. You quietly pull out of Minji’s butt and luckily, she stays quiet in this tense situation. 
“Dani, we have arrived,” Hanni giggles and wraps her hands around her friends’ tiny waist. “I have a present for you, but you have to get on your knees and guess what it is~”
“Unnie, if it’s your pussy again—we already did that! And if you want to fuck, you can just ask!”
You raise an eyebrow at Hanni who is clearly nervous and sweating. She got caught fucking with a second member of her group without your permission. You can’t really blame her. You can’t wait to stick your cock into that tight body and fuck Danielle’s mouth with your fingers. But for now, you let Hanni finish her game.
“This time,” she continues and kisses Danielle’s shoulder. “It’s something different. I have found the biggest, most beautiful cock because I know you would want to suck one of those someday.”
Danielle’s pale skin starts to burn with a deep red. All of her blood seems to go to her face. She starts to lose focus and whimpers a bit, especially because Hanni becomes more touchy, hands on her chest, her tummy, her ass.
“H-how did you know, Unnie?”
“You are really, really bad at hiding your dildo’s, Dani. I found like four of them. One still had your saliva around it~”
Danielle puts both hands to her face and lowers it in shame. Everyone in the room can still feel the glow of her blush through her fingers. You stroke your cock once, amused at the situation, but also tired of waiting. Hanni notices and continues her plan quickly.
“Look, Dani, I’ll show you how to do it.” Hanni lowers herself in between your legs. For the first time, you check out her outfit. Odd, you remember it from some performances a few months ago—does it really matter when she immediately goes to suck you, throat you even? “Oh my, it tastes so good! I wonder why that is?”
You point to Minji’s still exposed asshole and Hanni smirks knowingly. Poor Minji did not dare to move a single inch this entire time but now with Hanni’s loud gagging filling the room, she can stop being quiet and move her hands to cover up.
“U-unnie, are you really sucking it?” Danielle asks the obvious, still in disbelief. “Is it a real one, like, are you sucking a boy?”
Hanni pops you free from her perfect lips and makes sure to taste all of the lube and Minji’s ass from your manhood with her tongue. She cleans you passionately, from sac to tip until you finally give her a bit of precum. 
“Dani, he is a man, a Daddy. Trust me, he is very good looking and his cock is even better~” Hanni’s voice is so lewd, it feels cursed with her adorable visuals. You relish in her compliments and brush her black strands back behind her ear. “Kneel next to me and I show you.”
Danielle kneels down, her small frame taking the spot in between your legs next to Hanni. She is still confused though. “But Unnie, how can you show me if I’m not allowed to remove the blindfold?”
Hanni rolls her eyes and without warning, grabs Danielle’s face and pulls her into a kiss. The younger girl flails in surprise, finds hold on your thigh, but somehow she can’t hold onto it for long. Maybe the thought of a stranger really seeing her like this makes her lose grip on the situation—a good thing in your book.
“Ha-Hanni-unnie!” Danielle shrieks when their lips disconnect. “Why, why did that taste so good?” 
“If you want more, you need to suck and clean his cock like I did. Here, open your pretty mouth and be a good girl for Daddy~”
“You say weird stuff—ugh, hng!”
You groan softly when Hanni not-so-softly pushes Danielle’s face down your cock. A new, sensational throat engulfs you. Of course you expected violent gags and tears coming from behind the blindfold, how could you not. Hanni is literally forcing Danielle to deepthroat you for the first time. Her dildo training seems to have paid off however: Danielle is a lot more composed, measured even and makes sure to keep her teeth off of you. 
Soon, she finds her own pace and bops up and down your shaft, using her tongue from time to time without yet knowing where it actually feels good for you. It’s hard for her to learn when she can’t read your facial expression, so she just guesses and sucks and bops her head. It makes it all the more impressive how she can keep up with you and do a better job than Minji did on her first try.
“Hanni-unnie,” Danielle immediately shouts after getting her mouth off of your dick. “That was very mean of you, like, what the—”
You interrupt the young, angry girl by giving her blindfold a tug and watching it fall off of her dazzling, still flushed features. You smirk down at her as she watches up in awe, her eyes inspecting you like you did to her earlier.
“Oh, he-hello, sir,” Danielle says and tries to be formal while your cock is still on her lips. “I’m sorry we just walked into here and… about this.” She points at your hard shaft which you take in your hand and poke against her soft cheek.
“Don’t worry about it, you beautiful thing. In fact, I should be sorry about this right here.” You point next to you, where Minji tries to cover up her pussy. “Hope you don’t mind.”
“You, you had sex with Minji-unnie? Like, i-in her vagina?”
“Oh Dani,” Hanni coos and puts a hand into Danielle’s red top. “You don’t know how good a real cock feels in your pussy. Way better than a dildo.”
“Stop being so lewd, Unnie!”
“But you two are wrong,” you interrupt them and look at Minji, who valiantly fights through her embarrassment. There is nothing to be embarrassed about though; she did great taking your cock in her ass. “We had anal sex just now, and I think I speak for us both when I say that it was awesome.”
Hanni pouts at the thought of not yet having you in her ass while Danielle is both struck by horror and thrill when she cross-eyes your cock and then switches to look at Minji’s butt, which you uncover for her.
“Minji-unnie, was it really that good?” Danielle asks with wide open eyes.
“Yeah, how was it?” Hanni adds and involuntarily adds pressure for the leader to answer.
“I-it was… the best.”
A moment of silence and awkwardness for Minji until Danielle jumps up and pulls down her black skirt. Another unexpected turn, she seems to be ready to go asap. “Sir, can you—would you have sex with my butt too?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” you try to play it cool and reach for the bottle of lube. “Turn around, we need to get you ready.”
“Here, let me help you, Daddy.” Hanni gets a hold of Dani’s ass as soon as she spins around and spreads the cheeks apart. Dani gasps at first, but then giggles when she finds her Unnie to be already naked. She starts to kiss Hanni’s skin while you put the nozzle to her beautiful, clean ring and push lube inside. Danielle shudders while Hanni looks on with jealousy. It will be her turn soon enough though. 
“You have a gorgeous body, Dani,” you compliment her before grabbing her waist and pulling her onto you. “You are so light, I think I need to try a new position with you. Are you down for that?”
“Sir, I—if it’s not too crazy, I think I can do it. But remember, this is my first time.”
“You have to be relaxed, Dani,” Minji suddenly adds and stands next to her, not covering her private parts anymore. “If you are tense, it’s going to hurt—when you are loose however, Daddy can fuck you so good, it will feel like heaven.”
“O-okay then, I think I’m ready.”
You nod and lay down on the couch, Danielle on top of you. She rests her back on your strong chest and your hard cock searches for her tight asshole. Luckily, Hanni is there to help align your tip with it (not before sucking it of course). Dani takes deep breaths instinctively and with your primal instinct to fuck, your cockhead disappears in her ass.
“Oh fuck, that looks so hot!” Hanni coos.
“Stop staring, please,” Danielle whimpers and you feel her incredible texture convulse around your aroused phallus. No, she definitely gets turned on by this, so you’ll make it even better.
“Hanni, keep staring,” you order. “Oh, and make your mouth useful on my ass. See it as punishment for having sex with Dani without my permission.”
“Yes, Daddy, I’m sorry Daddy.”
“Sir, isn’t this too lewd?” Dani asks while you begin to rock her thin body up and down your cock like it’s a fleshlight. 
“Minji, how about you lick Danielle’s pussy. Make yourself familiar with it.”
“Yes, Daddy, she tastes really sweet and is quite… wet.” Minji smiles and you get what she means. Her mouth is promptly on Dani’s clit and now the two are moaning in unison. Your thrusts into Dani’s ass become harder.
“Oh dang, so much in my a-a—, I mean butt,” she whispers and you look at her face. “Sir, you are one lewd bast— person. Making young girls do this stuff. Aren’t you a bit too old for us?”
“Maybe that is why they call me Daddy,” you respond, the humor lost because your expression remains stern even through the pleasure. “Don’t hold back, curse as much as you want. This is no tv show or live stage. Get used to this cock, because I won’t stop after this one time.”
“I won’t either, you fucking bastard.”
Your lips meet in a haze, then you decide to give it your all. You fuck Dani hard, force more and more curse words out of her good-girl-mouth. Her cunt is forced against Minji’s eager lips, while you make sure Hanni is covered in your musk—though she kinda seems to enjoy serving your ass. Even after all this, she might still be the best baby girl out of this trio.
“Yes, fuck, yes, you fill my tiny ass so good! Fuck me with your big fat cock, give me that cock, open me so wide until I—”
“You horny bitch.” You yank down her top to reveal tiny tits, jiggling a little at your every thrust. Her skin is glowing, she is in complete heat. Danielle is a nymph with a tight ass and a pussy so wet, she can save someone from dehydration. You want to test your theory, if her orgasm is as explosive as you want it to be.
“My Lord, I’m so going to fucking cum, I will cum! Make me squirt, make me fucking, ahh!”
Like a fountain, Danielle’s juices paint Minji’s face, cover her hair and even Hanni below. She also doesn’t stop, not with your endless thrust into her ass. She is like an infinite source, eventually filling Minji’s mouth and marking Hanni as a dirty, rimming whore covered in girl cum.
“That was so good, Sir—”
“We are not yet done!” You squeeze Dani to your chest so she cannot escape and start to violate her ass some more, to the point your entire cock stretches her in all directions. For some reason, you feel like you could breed this hole for two eternities, but for now, one massive load has to be enough. 
With your final, deepest of thrusts, you force all of your seed into Danielle’s tight ass-pussy, fill it up and make sure she is tight enough to keep it inside for now. Pulling out is hard but rewarding, and hearing, feeling her pant on top of you is heavenly. 
“It’s so deep in me, fuck,” she moans and you bite her cheek. 
“Push it out of your slutty hole, you naughty bitch. 
“Hanni, Minji! Get ready for your daily load!”
The two girls are under our spell, not questioning anything you say and stick out their tongue underneath Danielle’s butthole. You pull back her heels to give them more space and with an blissful, erotic expression, Dani lets her ass be gaped. Your creamy white cum oozes out of her and Minji and Hanni greedily eat it all up, even getting their tongues into the completely overstimulated girl and cleaning her butthole.
“Shit, this is so lewd,” Dani whimpers and you put a hand around her throat.
“After I fuck Hanni’s ass in a rough Doggy, my heel on her face because I know she loves that, you will eat my cum out of her ass too. And don’t lie; I know you will like it.”
Danielle grins, licking her lips in excitement. “You are such a nasty bastard, Daddy.”
(A/N2: here is the very short version, I'll release a longer announcement later this week probably. I have decided to quit for a while, maybe forever but that is still in the stars. I can still write and I kinda like it, but this endless cycle of horniness and unhinged smut is killing me. I also need to focus on life/studies. More on that later this week. Love you all, peace out.)
1K notes · View notes
k8lynjoy · 2 months
Text
I'm so tired of people telling those of us who are upset about the LA atla remake that we are "being too dramatic" or are just "finding things to be upset about". We are allowed to be upset that something that we love so dearly has been butchered, AGAIN. If you liked it, then that's your personal opinion, but don't sit here and tell those of us who didn't that we're the problem.
I personally think the CGI, costumes, and sets all look terrible. None of it is immersive. Sure, it LOOKS like atla, but it doesn't FEEL like atla. The heart of the og is gone, and people are allowed to be upset about this. They've altered characters to the point that they aren't the character anymore (looking at you Aang and Katara), which is a huge upset for me personally because Katara is one of my favorite characters ever. So watching her be turned into someone meek and docile is more than a slap to the face. Not to mention them removing her as the narrator as if Bryke themselves didn't state that Katara is the person the story is being told through. And before you start telling me that Aang is the same. No, he isn't. Major parts of his development through season 1 (him coming to terms with the fact that he's the avatar and embracing that role, and him also accepting the fact that he RAN AWAY and how he is never going to do that again, which is also pivotal to his character later on) are completely removed. And don't even get me started on what they did to Kataang. Regardless of whether you ship them or not, those 2 are deeply connected to one another from the start, and their relationship is a big part of the show, so to see that butchered is heartbreaking for me.
This isn't just about them "making some changes" or it not being a 1:1 adaptation. I'm fine with adaptations that aren't 1:1. What I'm upset about is that the changes they are making are VITAL changes to characters and dynamics between characters. They're rushing through the plot and condensing the story (and I will scream if I hear one more person say that it's because they couldn't fit it all in with their runtime. The runtime is an HOUR LONGER than the og, so yes, they did have the time). The changes they are making make it evident that they do not understand the og show, and if you don't feel like that, fine, once again, that's YOUR opinion, just as this is MY opinion. So stop telling us we have no right to be upset and that we just want to hate everything. That's not true. What is true is that we are expressing valid complaints about another bad adaptation of something dear to us.
Edit: If you also come at people who are upset bc they were expecting a faithful adaptation and didn't get it bc "its not supposed to be the cartoon," you're missing the whole point. An adaptation is ADAPTING SOMETHING from one medium to the other, not rewriting it. "Yall expected it to be just like the cartoon." No, I expected a FAITHFUL ADAPTATION and was met with poorly written fanfiction.
2K notes · View notes
httpsleclerc · 6 months
Text
a villa in biot
summary: Charles and Gasly!reader are in love with the one thing they can't have - each other.
w/c : 1.6k
c/w : terrible ending? nothing, I dont think there actually is any
Tumblr media
Charles wasn't quite sure when he had fallen in love with you - But he knew he shouldn't have. You were like a forbidden fruit for him, dangling in front of him, something he could touch, hold, smell, but never have for himself. It was cruel. It was so cruel that you just so happened to be his best friends younger sister, and his younger brothers best friend. 
You had all grown up together, Charles and Pierre having done karting together for many years, you had been on family vacations together, he had watched you grow from a shy young girl, attached to her brother at the hip, to a confident young woman, who admittedly, was still attached to her brother at the hip. He found it unfair that you had to be Arthur's best friend and not his, maybe that would make his love for you more justifiable - but how could he tell his younger brother that he was truly, madly deeply in love with you? 
To cut a long story short, he couldn't.
He didn't want to hurt you or Arthur, he didn't even know if your feelings were the same as his, and he couldn't face the embarrassment of it all if you didn't. So he had to try and move on. However, as hard as he tried, he couldn't. Everywhere he went, he was looking for you. He dated girls that looked like you, down to a t, but they didn't have your infectious laughter, so he looked for girls who shared your laughter, but they didn't look like you. It was impossible to find you in all of the girls he dated, so he eventually gave up, accepting that he could never have the one girl that he truly wanted, as much as it broke his heart to accept.
As it came time for your annual family vacation with the 3 Leclerc boys, you found yourself newly single, breaking things off with your boyfriend of 3 months due to the fact that he was nothing like how you thought he was - you thought he could fill the Charles shaped hole in your heart. You hated yourself for wanting him, he was your best friends older brother, and your older brothers best friend. As much as you wanted him, you remembered the promise you made to Pierre, that you would never go near any of the people he raced against, especially Charles. 
You sighed as you sat on your suitcase, forcing it shut and having Arthur zip it shut for you, he shook his head as he grabbed your hand and helped you up onto your feet.
"How much did you pack, we're only going for 4 nights?" Arthur asked you with a chuckle, looking at your suitcase and then you as you shrugged with a grin.
"Just because you're a guy and can fit all of your things into your backpack, some of us are actually civilised," You jokingly critiqued your best friend, who feigned offence at your 'mean' comments. "And anyway, I wasn't sure on outfits so I had to take two options for at night, I'm probably gonna be in a bikini for most of the day anyway." You told him, acting as though your explanation was the most common knowledge thing on earth. 
"I'm going to go out on a crazy whim and suggest that you haven't shown Pierre your choice of bikini's, because he was not happy when me and you went to Ibiza when we turned 18 and you were like, half naked," Arthur reminded you, your joint 18th birthday trip to Ibiza had been eventful, with Arthur getting so drunk he forget where your hotel was and you, even drunker, had to try and find him through his Snapchat location.
"You weren't complaining that week, Tutur," He shook his head at your comment and put your suitcase on it's wheels, saying that he would carry it down the stairs for you. You also knew that Charles wasn't complaining about your instagram pictures that week, since he was the first person to like every photoset that you posted.
Charles watched as you leaned against your brother, your face illuminated by the orangey-red glow of the fire burning in front of you, a half glass of the last of the limoncello in your hand, which Pierre took from you, despite your protests.
"It's late and you're already drunk, take it easy," He gently scolded you, since he understood that maybe you were drowning your sorrows following your recent break up. Pierre huffed as he stood up, placing the glass on the table beside him. Soon after, Pierre called it a night for himself, placing a kiss on the top of your head and jokingly telling you that he'd know if you drank the rest of the glass of limoncello - Lorenzo and Arthur followed soon after him, leaving only you and Charles in the living room of the Villa you had rented in Biot. Charles shifted to sit beside you, his heart racing as he realised just how close the two of you now were.
"How's your boyfriend?" Charles asked you, watching as you nervously fiddled with your hands and the ring on your finger, one that Pierre had bought you for your 21st birthday a couple of years ago.
"I broke up with him," You deadpanned to Charles, any semblance of a filter you had disappeared completely when you were drunk. You looked up at him, a flicker of desire burning in your eyes. "He wasn't who I thought he was. How's your girlfriend?" You asked him, noticing the way his eyes flicked away from yours.
"We broke up, same reason as you," He told you. The two of you sat in silence for a minute, you leaning into Charles' embrace as he put his arm around you. "Who did you think your boyfriend was?" Charles asked you, his voice dropping lower than you had ever heard it. You licked your lips, your breath shaky as you looked up at the Monegasque driver.
"I thought he was you, Charles," You admitted quietly, having no time to react before he leant into you, pressing his lips onto yours in a passionate kiss. You leaned into his kiss, your hands snaking up to the back of his head, hands entangling through his brown hair. Then you suddenly sobered up. Oh God. You were kissing your best friends older brother. Your brothers best friend. Oh God. 
Oh fuck. You abruptly pulled away, unable to look at the middle Leclerc sitting in front of you. "I um," You stuttered over your words, the words which you wanted to say but couldn't force out. "I should go to bed, goodnight Charles." You didn't mean to be so abrupt and harsh with him as you stood up, wobbling a little as you made your way into yours and Pierre's shared bedroom, your aforementioned older brother already asleep and hanging out of the single bed in the opposite corner of the bedroom.
You and Charles managed to get through the rest of the vacation without many hiccups, the other 3 boys on the trip putting your strange moods down to your respective recent breakups. Upon yours and Arthurs return to your shared apartment in Italy, you realised that you were lying through your teeth to your best friend, about how you had all but confessed to Charles how much you loved him, and your heat of the moment kiss with him. 
And you almost forgot about what had happened in the villa in Biot.
Then he was at your apartment, his eyes rimmed red as if he had been crying, looking pitiful as he sat on the couch.
"Charles, what are you doing here?" You asked, dropping your bag beside the sofa and sitting beside him, unsure of what to do to try and comfort the older Monegasque. He sniffled as he shook his head, looking up at you as he stood up. "Charles?"
"What?"
"What is going on? Why are you here?" You stood up and faced him, looking up into his eyes as he looked down at you. "Tell me what is going on. Please." There was a tense silence as Charles looked away from you, shaking his head as he pulled back from you.
"I need to know, Y/N," He was almost pleading with you, but you didn't know what to tell him, you didn't know what he wanted from you, what he wanted to know. You shook your head with an exasperated sigh.
"You need to know what, Charles? I don't know what you want from me," You were growing increasingly frustrated. He grabbed your hands, and you locked eyes.
"I need to know. Do you love me?"
You went silent, it was like all the air had been sucked from your lungs, and your brain was no longer processing anything. What did you tell him? Would you be honest and admit your undying love for him? Or would you think of your friendship with Arthur, and your promise to Pierre?
...
...
...
"I love you, Charles."
436 notes · View notes
Note
Hello I'm the same person that requested the korekiyo fic😊
Could I request Leona (twist) x male reader that acts like dazai (bsd)
smut preferably, you can choose the kinks, but can Leona be top?
Oh and I'll go by the nickname sunny if that's fine😅
-Sunny
Welcome back, Sunny~! Thank you for being a returning patron~ Ask and you shall recieve~
Tumblr media
Title: Shut Your Mouth
Characters: Top!Leona Kingscholar x Bottom!m!reader
Contains: oral sex/face fucking
Fandom: Twisted Wonderland
Full request below the cut
All characters are 18+
MINORS, FEM ALIGNED, AGELESS/BLANK BLOGS DNI
Reblogs > likes
You never knew what people meant by staring death in the face until now. And even then…you held no fear.
For the third time in three weeks, you managed to step on Leona’s tail while he was asleep in the gardens. The first time he gave you a groggy warning. The second time he gave you a *stern* warning. Now? Now he was staring you down, towering over you. He was breathing deeply, as if to compose himself from the rage that was bubbling inside.
“This is the third time, herbivore…just how careless are you?”
“Well…how careless are you? It’s not my fault your tail is constantly in the walk way.”
His brow twitched as he noticed your back talk. “Watch your tone with me…”
What would normally strike fear into others only made you grow a small smile. “Is the poody tat mad~?” you teased, mimicking the dialect of an old, yet nostalgic yellow bird.
That seemed to be the last and only straw for him. A clawed hand shot out, gripping at your cheeks with his palm to your lips. His nails gently pressed into your skin, carefully indenting the surface.
“I won’t say it again…so watch yourself…got it? Otherwise I have an idea on what I can do with that annoying hole of yours.”
His voice held a bit of a growl, and you had to admit that sounded kind of arousing. You wondered if he could do it again, but you knew not to push your luck, especially with how you were positioned.
Then again…
You muttered something against his hand, and he looked at you as if trying to decide if he should let you go or not. Against his judgement, he released you. With a quick exhale from the change of pressure, you repeated yourself.
“Do all cats really have hissy fits like this?”
With another growl, he shot for your wrist, squeezing tightly as he dragged you over to the garden’s shed. Thankfully for him, and to your misfortune, the door as open. You thought he was going to throw you in there and leave you, but when he entered after you, your heart hammered from the closeness of your bodies. The shed wasn’t terribly small, but it wasn’t the most spacious either.
Leona slammed the door shut before locking it, glaring down at you as he fiddled with his pants. “On your knees, herbivore…”
“Eeehhh…I dunno. The ground is kind of dirty and I’m wearing my good pants.”
“I didn’t ask if you wanted to I’m telling you. On. Your. Knees.” Leona out a hand to your shoulder and pushed you down, forcing you to your knees like he wanted as his other hand worked on his zipper. “Fucking stubborn…”
“Well maybe if you said please—” Leona cut you off my jamming a thumb into your mouth, having it tug along the side of your lips to keep you from talking as he got his cock out from his pants.
“Listen, you’re gonna shut your mouth, okay? I’m sick of hearing you talk, so you’re gonna zip it. And what better way than this…~?”
Springing free, Leona’s cock slipped out half hard before he slowly stroked it to full staff. You couldn’t help but admire how he worked himself, how his voice gently hummed from the sensation. You weren’t aware of it, but you were drooling from the sight alone, saliva spilling down the corner of your tugged lips.
“I see you’re setting your mouth up for me…~” he teased, positioning himself in front of you and removing his thumb. “Now get to work, herbivore. I don’t have all day.”
With him so close to you, you could smell the musk radiating from him. It was intoxicating, and you found yourself licking the underside of his shaft, a low growl vibrating in his chest as you repeated the action.”
“Good….”
You took the tip into your mouth, swirling your tongue around it. Leona let out a pleased sigh, eyes fluttering lightly as a hand joined your hair, fingers threading through the strands. His head tipped to the side as he gazed at you with half lidded eyes. That seemed like enough to push you further, and your mouth traveled down, engulfing his shaft inch by inch. His hips carefully bucked forward, wanting more friction from the action. You went as far as you could go before any more would gag you, but he lost enjoyment just minutes into it.
“Relax your throat.” You did as ordered, halting your actions for a second to allow your mouth a moment to rest on top of it. “Good boy~” Sliding both hands into your hair, Leona instructed you once more to relax before rapidly bucking his hips, his shaft entering deep into your mouth and into your throat.
The action was sudden and rough, causing tears to prick at your eyes as you would gag from the action. You looked up at him with a pleading face, gripping his legs to balance yourself as your face was fucked. Leona’s head fell back in bliss, knowing that your mouth was being put to better use than your attitude earlier.
“F-Fuck~ That’s it~ N-Nice and deep, (y/n)~ Gh~ You’re surprisingly good at this~”
Your eyes began to roll back from how wonderful it felt having your throat taken by such a man. You let out muffled sounds with every thrust, including sounds of wet gulping. Breathing was difficult but you were able to make it work while your throat was ravished.
As he approached his climax, Leona’s moans pitched ever slightly as he bent forward, his hips bucking sharply just before he came with a groan. His lower half twitched with every spurt of cum that slid down your throat, and he kept your head pressed deeply on his cock to make you drink every drop of his seed. It was difficult, but when you were able to pull the tip from your throat, swallowing the salty substance was possible.
He pulled you off with a small pop!, the two of you panting heavily into the slightly dingy air. Saliva had decorated your chin, leaving you a slick mess. Leona’s cock, while somewhat satisfied, twitched at the pathetic sight of you, igniting a lust deep within as he gave a wicked smirk.
“Turn around now, herbivore…I’m not done with you…~”
415 notes · View notes
hypexion · 2 years
Text
There was no Chloé Bourgeois  Redemption Arc
It’s time to for me to write about the so-called “Redemption Arc“ for Chloé Bourgeois, of Miraculous Ladybug infamy. Many people claim that such a thing existed. These people are wrong. While Miraculous Ladybug may provide the illusion of such an arc, that’s all it is - an illusion. And like all illusions, it falls apart once you touch it.
There’s also some questionable takes in regards to exactly how responsible Marinette is meant to be for Chloé’s “redemption”, which need to be tackled since they help feed into the illusion. And also because I find them deeply offensive. To me, personally.
A neccesary preface here is that I’m not saying Chloé is incapable of redemption. What I am saying, however, is that during seasons two and three of Miraculous Ladybug, the redemption arc people claim existed clearly did not.
Redemption 101
In the most basic sense, a redemption arc is a type of character arc where a bad character decides to stop being bad and start being good. Along the way, it’s generally accepted that they need to atone for their bad actions, and perhaps do something to reverse the damage such actions have caused. A critical component required for this to work is that the character both understands that their actions are harmful, and so decides to act in a better way.
Probably the most famous redemption arc in western animation is Zuko’s, from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Zuko begins the show as an antagonist, directly attempting to capture Aang, the Avatar and Last Airbender. Doing so will allow the Fire Nation to win the war, and also complete their genocide of the Air Nomad people. However, Zuko realises that supporting the Fire Nation’s bid for world domination is harmful to others, and himself. By the end of the series, he has rejected the worldview of his father, grandfather and great grandfather, and indeed helps Aang defeat the Firelord. Along the way, Zuko find a way to help not just Aang, but also Katara and Sokka, who are also victims of Fire Nation Imperialism. Zuko earns redemption not through the decision to be good, but by performing good, and in many cases, reparative actions.
Honestly, from this basic definition, I think it’s pretty obvious that Chloé hadn’t even started the first step of a redemption arc by the time she betrays Ladybug in Miracle Queen. She never accepts her actions are wrong, makes no attempt to change them without an ulterior motive, and generally continues to do bad things for bad reasons. But in spite of this, the claims of this mythical redemption arc don’t just exist, they are considered generally accepted. Why? It’s complicated, yet simple.
Chloé Who?
On a basic level, Chloé Bourgeois is fairly generic character - the “mean girl“ school bully, who torments the protagonist, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. In keeping with Miraculous’ superhero genre, Chloé admires Ladybug, Marinette’s superhero alter-ego. How ironic! Generally, Chloé acts as a minor, civilian-level antagonist to Marinette, who gets in the way, while being clearly much less of a deal than Hawk Moth. However, due to the mechanics of akumatization, Chloé’s actions often spiral into larger, supervillain-shaped consequences. Because while she may fit into the bully archetype, there is one thing that makes her somewhat atypical: a reach that extends far beyond the school setting.
André Bourgeois is his daughter’s primary enabler. As a rich person and Mayor of Paris, he has a significant amount of influence. Influence he makes freely available to Chloé for basically any purpose. No grudge is too petty, no problem too small when it comes to indulging her whims, and no bridge is too big burn. Nobody who theoretically has the authority to say no to Chloé actually can, because her father is implicitly approving her every action. It’s hardly a shock that Chloé is consistently terrible when she faces no consequences for her actions.
But there’s one last piece in the Chloé puzzle - Audrey Bourgeois. Chloé really wants her mother’s approval, but her mother lives in another country. Audrey is also a terrible person, a character who is literally defined by her vileness. She has Chloé’s attitude, and André’s level of influence, and like her daughter, immediately throws a tantrum when she can’t get her way. The attention Audrey gives towards her daughters is primarily negative, and that’s when she actually pays attention to them. Thus, Audrey provides Chloé with a Tragic Backstory, and some much needed Sympathy Points. This, of course, forms the foundation of the Redemption Illusion.
The thing about Chloé’s relationship (or lack thereof) with her mother is while it explains her behavior, it doesn’t excuse it. The harm she inflicts is no less because of it, and many of her actions cannot be ignored due to it. I think there’s a pretty obviously piece of bad logic here. Many characters who undergo redemption arcs are often sympathetic villains. Chloé is a sympathetic villain. But that doesn’t mean that Despair Bear, the episode that introduces this sympathetic side is the start of, nor the foundation of a redemption arc. If anything, Despair Bear shows the primary reason why Chloé isn’t on the path to redemption - her attempts to be “nice“ are motivated entirely to maintain her friendship with Adrien, and once she has what she wants, she immediately reverts to her normal behaviour. This theme of apparently good acts being done for selfish reasons will be repeated later.
Marinette: Victim, Not Victimizer
An important part of the Redemption Illusion is how it ultimately revolves around not just Chloé, but Marinette. Chloé is nothing but negative towards Marinette, but at the same time admires Ladybug... who is Marinette. This isn’t Alya style “wow look how cool and heroic she is“ style admiration, however. No, Chloé, in a sense, wants to be Ladybug. First by pretending to be her, and later via the Bee Miraculous, which would seem to put her on the same level as Ladybug. But since Ladybug is Marinette, this can only lead to conflict.
While Chloé has perpetrated many on-screen acts that are selfish, obnoxious and downright cruel, something that manages to slip under the radar is her pre-Origins treatment of Marinette. Sabine’s comment about how long Marinette and Chloé have been in the same class indicates that the latter has been bullying the former for at least three years. This has evidently damaged Marinette’s self-confidence, since even after being Ladybug in part one of Origins, she still thinks she can’t do it, and tries to give it up. She also doesn’t dispute Alya’s rather hasty assessment of Chloé as evil, and immediately assumes that Adrian is a bad person because he’s friends with Chloé.
Marinette’s relationship with Chloé is already poisoned at the start of the show. And it’s entirely Chloé’s fault. She didn’t have to bully Marinette. Being cruel to Marinette wouldn’t earn Chloé her mother’s approval. All it achieves is making Chloé feel better, by making Marinette suffer. Three years of bullying isn’t something you can ignore. It’s not something Marinette can simply “get over”, even as Ladybug. She probably hates Chloé, and every drop of enmity is earned. But how can I know this all from the limited picture painted by Origins, and the glimpses into Marinette’s pre-Ladybug life? I don’t. This isn’t something I needed to find from the text or subtext of the show. So then, how do I know?
I know because I lived it. When I was Marinette’s age, I was bullied. A lot. It hurt. But what people don’t want to acknowledge is that being a victim of bullying doesn’t just make you sad. It’s deeper than that. It made me angry. At the perpetrators, and the staff who let it happen, no matter how many times it was brought to their attention. It’s took me years to realise just how much it affected me, how my aggressive behaviour in certain online spaces might be connected to it. In Marinette, I see a part of myself. So when I see people claim that Marinette is somehow to blame for Chloé’s actions, that “Marinette should have given Chloé a chance“, it makes me a little angry. If someone told me I should be responsible for making my bullies better people, I’d tell them to fuck off.
Attempting to shift the responsibility for repairing Chloé’s bad behaviour on to Marinette is simply victim blaming with extra steps. Yes, Marinette is Ladybug, hero of Paris. But Marinette is also Marinette, a long-term victim of Chloé, and someone who Chloé continues to try to abuse, even if the efficacy is no longer there. It’s also not really fair to Chloé, either, when you think about it. Marinette is positioned to think the worst of Chloé, meaning she’s likely to see any regression on Chloé’s part as proof that the whole endevour is pointless. For Chloé to escape her toxic behaviour, she needs help from someone she hasn’t caused significant damage to.
And as with the rest of the Redemption Illusion, you have to ignore a lot of the text to make the idea that Marinette is somehow to blame seem reasonable. Marinette shows more compassion to Chloé than Chloé does to anyone in her entirety. It simply doesn’t help, because Chloé doesn’t want Ladybug to be nice to her, she wants Ladybug to accept her as an equal. And when that isn’t given, Chloé isn’t above trying to take it, with disasterous results.
Bad Bee-haviour
A key point in Zuko’s redemption arc is when he joins Team Avatar. This is when he truly abandons the ideals of Fire Nation Imperialism, and chooses to work directly against them. It’s not the end, but a midpoint. And it’s not a reward - it’s a duty, a commitment to help Aang defeat Ozai. I think it’s worth noting that Zuko actually gets weaker due to this, as he can no longer draw on his negative emotions to firebend. Only by helping Aang discover the pre-imperialism version of Firebending does he regain the ability himself. Rejecting the negative brings Zuko so far, but to be complete he must embrace a positive alternative.
Chloé’s transformation into Queen Bee is her anti-Zuko moment. She doesn’t work to attain it - the Bee Miraculous is literally dropped into her path. It gives her power, yes, which she immediately abuses. Queen Bee doesn’t exist to do good, like the other four heroes at the time. No, Queen Bee exists to exalt Chloé. Becoming a hero doesn’t move her to toward redemption. If anything, it moves her away from it.
It all comes back to Chloé’s first act as Queen Bee. In an attempt to prove that she’s “exceptional“, she transforms and tries to find a problem to solve. But when she can’t find one, she chooses to create one. By paralysing a train conductor, which ends up creating a problem she can’t solve. If it weren’t for Ladybug and Chat Noir’s timely intervention, a lot of people would have been injured, or even killed. All because Chloé wanted to seem like a “hero”. It’s an act so callous that it should have marked the end of her career as Queen Bee. It’s instant, irrevocable proof that she can’t be trusted with a Miraculous, because she nearly murdered a bunch of people with it.
But even if you ignore the train incident, being Queen Bee clearly doesn’t make Chloé better. In both Stormy Weather 2 and Miracular, her cruelty is what triggers an akumatization. In Animaestro, she forms a truce with Marinette entirely for the purpose of harassing Kagami. These are not the actions of someone trying to be a better person. Indeed, they look very much like the actions of a person who doesn’t think they need to change, and is thus continuing as usual.
Yet in spite of the lack of actual progress, Queen Bee is perhaps the keystone of the Redemption Illusion. She wants to be a hero. So it is assumed that if she wants to be a hero, she must be good. I suppose this line of argument sounds convincing, if you only consider it on the surface level. The problem is that it falls apart when you actually examine Chloé’s actual behaviour after becoming Queen Bee. Which is mostly the same as her behaviour before, except sometimes she tries leveraging being Queen Bee for status or bullying. This is because her motivation for being a hero isn’t heroic - it’s selfish.
Malicious Queen
Of course, the Redemption Illusion eventually collided with reality in the form of Miracle Queen. When Hawk Moth offers her the Bee Miraculous, Chloé doesn’t hesitate to take it, and is then willingly akumatized. While I do think this could have had a little more setup, it’s an action that’s entirely in-character for Chloé. She’s selfish, she’s cruel, and she’s unwilling to change. But Ladybug couldn’t be bullied or blackmailed via Chloé’s normal methods. So when Hawk Moth offers her a way around Ladybug’s No, of course she takes it. She accepts akumatization because she believes that the best way to prove her superiority to Ladybug is by harming her. The same way she harmed many other characters up to this point. (Including Marinette, who is Ladybug.)
Some people attempt, in the usual poor manner, to deflect Chloé’s responsibility for her actions onto Ladybug. Gotta keep that victim blame train going, I guess. The logic is that because Ladybug chose Kagami to help fight Heart Hunter for selfish reasons, Chloé is magically absolved of her guilt. I can’t disagree that picking Kagami in order to break up her date with Adrien was a bad thing, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s not that bad. The fact of the matter is that Ladybug probably wasn’t going to bring back Queen Bee, no matter the situation. It’s not her job to make Chloé a better person, and it’s not her responsibility to stop Chloé from making bad decisions.
Marinette made a dodgy decision because of a teenage crush and suffered massively disproportionate consequences. Chloé decided to help a terrorist because she felt entitled to the Bee Miraculous, and could still go back to her incredibly privileged life afterwards. It’s Marinette who had to live with the consequences of both their actions, becoming Guardian far earlier than she should have. A consequence that only occured because Chloé decided to help Hawk Moth. Once again, Marinette is not the problem; Chloé is the problem.
Ultimately, Miracle Queen is entirely in-character for Chloé, because Chloé has never been a good person. The Redemption Illusion persists, however, because people seem to have blended her few sympathetic traits with her occational (and temporary) good actions to create a version of Chloé who doesn’t exist within the show. Along with one last act, that really isn’t as heroic as it might seem on the surface.
The One Where She Isn’t Akumatized
In Miracular, Hawk Moth tries to akumatize Chloé and fails. Up to that point, akumatization had been presented as 100% effective, with no attempts to resist being successful. This is occationally used to suggest that Chloé is becoming good, which ignores basically all information the show provides about akumatization.
Throughout Miraculous Ladybug, succumbing to akumatization is never considered to be an immoral act. Indeed, the reasons for akumatization vary, from completely unjustified selfish reasons, to justified selfish reasons and more community-minded reasons. But no matter what a victim’s starting intentions are, Hawk Moth twists them around until he can make them into a supervillain. People are even akumatized over stuff like “kids don’t respect panthers“ and “ice cream was wrong“, which aren’t really things you can appy a moral judgement to.
Since being akumatized is not a moral failure, it follows that resisting is not a moral success. While breaking the akumatization is impressive, with very few people achieving it, that doesn’t mean Chloé gets merit points for it. Indeed, Chloé resists akumatization on the basis that she believes she can still be Queen Bee. She rejects Hawk Moth’s offer not because it’s the right thing to do, but because she thinks she doesn’t need it. Which is why once it becomes clear that Ladybug won’t be giving her the Bee Miraculous, she willing accepts akumatization.
But the real killer problem is that Sabrina is able to be akumatized into Miracular because of Chloé’s actions. When Lila’s fake Ladybug dance fails, Chloé takes it out on Sabrina, in a way that’s just, look, here’s the exact quote:
PLAY? With you!? Who are YOU anyway? You don't have any powers! You're a nobody! I'm a superheroine, okay? I'm Queen Bee! You and I have NOTHING in common! Go away!
That’s a horrible thing to say to someone, especially a friend! She explicitly ties Sabrina’s worth (or lack thereof) to having powers. And the real kicker? This is the last thing she does before the failed akumatization. Out of context, Chloé resisting akumatization might seem heroic. With this context? It’s anything but.
The Overdue Conclusion
Ultimately, a Redemption Arc is a narrative process for developing a character. It’s a trope, a storytelling pattern. The key element of such an arc is change. A static character cannot undergo a redemption arc (or indeed any arc), because the arc is the process of transformation, of becoming a better person. Not just on the surface, but in a fundamental way. A post redemption character is, in some ways, a different person to who they were before.
During seasons two and three of Miraculous Ladybug, Chloé does not change in such a way. She’s just as cruel and spiteful after becoming Queen Bee as she is before. She does bad things for bad reasons. Her motivation for being Queen Bee is entirely selfish. Indeed, while there is some feeling of a divide between Marinette and Ladybug, Queen Bee is simply Chloé with superpowers. And while she may be a victim of abuse from Audrey, that doesn’t mean she is excused from abusing others herself.
Chloé’s tragic flaw is her desire to be exceptional, in a way that places her above other people. This is why she fails to change. In the narrative of Miraculous Ladybug, the exceptional that matters is to be exceptionally kind, exceptionally couragous, exceptionally selfless. Character traits which Chloé displays sparingly and insufficently, because she believes she is above them. But without humility, there can be no change. Without change, there can no redemption. And while others might provide a catalyst for such a change, ultimately it must come from within.
The concluding point is that I still don’t think there was a Chloé Bourgeois Redemption Arc, but I can sort of see how you’d fall into thinking one existed. But when you actually examine the character’s behaviour, the illusion quickly crumbles. At this point, the whole thing has clearly taken on a life of its own beyond the source material, and is perhaps unstoppable. Will my long, somewhat rambly Tumblr post make much of a difference? Perhaps not.
But there are harmful ideas attached to it. As long as people try to make Marinette responsible for Chloé’s actions, it adds, however slightly, to the notion that the abused are responsible for the actions of their abusers. In many respects, I don’t care that strongly about these particular fictional characters. Yet other people do, and in doing so I see how they distort the role of victim and victimizer, and I care about that. I understand that it’s not a big serious issue, but it matters to me. So I’ll say my piece, and move on to other thoughts.
2K notes · View notes
ghouljams · 7 months
Note
Oh excellent, we’re talking about darlings we’ve fallen deeply in love with. Anyway, please please please Liebling give me a chance I’ll work at the shop and clean and do whatever you need please please please—
You want Liebling??? Huh??? For real???
Ok this got a little long and sweet sorry about that. Liebling can't be flirty like Goose and Threat, she's gotta be a freak. You gotta woo her.
You answer the help wanted ad more because the pay is good, and the owner is cute, than because you have any real interest in flower arranging. You have enough retail experience that you're not surprised when you get an interview. You are surprised by the strange series of questions the woman interviewing you asks.
Have you ever lost time during a full moon? Do you find yourself uneasy around rivers? When's the last time you walked through the forest? Do you ever see things you can't explain to other people? Has anyone ever given you a gift that wasn't a gift?
By the end of it you have more questions than you've ever had for an interviewer, and she takes a long time staring at you. Not that you mind, like you said she's cute and having her stare at you is a great opportunity for you to stare back.
"Alright," she finally relents, "you can start Monday." You've never been hired straight out of an interview before. She stops you before you can thank her, you're reminded people in this city are weird about what you consider normal pleasantries.
There are a lot of weird rules to this job, but the owner is kind. You'd say nice, but honestly she's prickly and blunt in a way you want to call mean, but can't. Somehow the word doesn't fit right. Guarded, maybe. Terribly kind though.
"What's this?" You ask, turning over a new box of tea as she sets the electric kettle one morning.
"Strawberry tea," she tells you, "you said you liked it, and I saw it at the store, so-" she waves a hand, dismissing her own kindness.
"Oh, thanks," you tug the top open to pull a bag free for yourself.
"Don't mention it," she grumbles. It makes you smile to know she was thinking about you, that she remembered something you'd mentioned in passing.
She does that all the time, remembers things. You mention you're planning something with friends after work and she lets you go early. You say you want to try something from the new bakery that opened and the next day there are extra sweets in the back. It's strange you never see her extending the same kindness to anyone else, but with you it's like she can't be kind enough. Still prickly though.
You can't ask her about it, and she hardly lets you thank her. If you mention she's being nice she seems to go out of her way to be difficult the rest of the day. You've noticed she doesn't smile at the customers, or make jokes. She hardly seems to enjoy her work except the rare occasions you've seen her working on an arrangement. The way she smiles at a bundle of camellias makes your heart skip a beat, it's so painfully soft you feel like you've intruded on a private moment. You wish she'd smile at you like that.
The most you get are tight apologetic smiles. She presses a heavy ring into your hand after work one night --one of hers-- with a slip of paper through the middle that just reads "be safe." She looks sorry when you laugh and slip it on your finger, but somehow you do feel safer walking home. She pulls you away from a customer that's making your head spin, and sets you in the back with a tight smile and a short apology.
All that kindness compounds. Every huff when you tell a bad joke, every small compliment, every gift, every thing she remembers, it all piles and piles until you can't help but wonder if she feels something for you. It's care, she cares for you in a thousand small ways. You can't even point all of them out, and she'd hate it if you did. But there's this... thing about her that makes you want to keep quiet about it. That makes you think mentioning it will make it stop somehow.
You work with her for months. Months of your heart fluttering when she brushes your hand. Months of being cared for by someone that seems to think they have a heart made of ice. Months of being in love with this woman who is desperately trying to convince the world that she doesn't need that sort of thing.
When she rings you on your phone one morning you pick up before it can buzz twice. You know she prefers texting, so it must be important. And you want to hear her voice. You always want to hear her voice.
"Hey, don't worry about coming in today, I'm taking the day off." She tells you over the phone. You switch your phone to your other ear to get a better grip on the bag you'd been packing.
"No problem, everything alright?" You ask, switching your work lunch from the bag back to the fridge.
"Yeah, yeah, um," She hesitates and you pause, "it's my birthday, so..." She trails off, like she doesn't want to talk about it. You chew your lip, debating whether or not to wish her a happy one when she sounds like that.
"Ok," You tell her with faux brightness, you'd sort of been hoping to see her today. It finally feels like you've worked up enough courage to tell her, well to tell her something.
"I'll see you tomorrow," She finishes, hanging up before you can say good-bye.
Ok, you think maybe this is where your friends would call you obsessed, or insane. You really can't leave well enough alone, and it really won't take you long. It's maybe 15 minutes to her favorite bakery, another 10 to her flat, that leaves you at least a half hour to panic over your hasty decision making. With any luck she won't think you're a stalker that happened to check the return address on some mail she was sending out.
You spend a good ten minutes on her doorstep debating if this was the worst idea of your life before knocking. When she finally yanks the door open it's sort of comforting the way her annoyance melts to confusion on seeing you. Your eyes dart over her, taking in the haphazardly buttoned flannel and bunny slippers, you don't think you've ever seen her in anything but work clothes. Ah dammit, how are you supposed to start this?
She leans against the door frame and crosses her arms over her chest. "I thought I told you to take the day off." She reminds you. As if you showed up at the store and not her house. You hold up the patisserie box. She squints at it, "What's that?"
"Cake."
"Cake." She parrots, like she hadn't heard you right.
"It's the one with raspberry, I know that's your favorite," You tell her quickly, "figured you should have cake on your birthday, or whatever. This is-" You cut yourself off before you start digging your hole too deep, and because she's looking at you with that impossible softness. Her lips ever so slightly curved and her eyes earnest.
"Thank you," She replies quietly. Something warm and heavy settles in your chest. You don't think you've ever heard her say that before.
"Any time," You breathe, and you mean it. If she looks at you like that, you'd do anything for her.
90 notes · View notes
starrylayle · 3 months
Text
Marauders Fandom > "There is no canon !!" and other rhetorics
Guess who's back in their marauders phase after 2-3 years of being dormant lmao?? ((spoiler its me lol)). Anyways, a lot has changed since 2021 in this fandom so I just wanted to talk about the direction i think it's going.
I remember in 2020-21 the fandom started to boom in popularity on tiktok --> esp with the rise wolfstar + atyd. I remember people were so suprised with remus' characterization as 'rougher around the edges' instead of the 'soft boi' thing, and how that influenced the new wolfstar dynamic. [Just want to add that the atyd characterisation is much more complex than this and its one of my fave fics --> I'm more talking about the fandom at large's reaction to this)
And since fandom is incapable of having two nuanced and characters who are not stark opposites,, their roles were basically reversed and now Remus is the toxic dom alpha male and sirius is the cute girlyboy twink --- which um,,, the oc-ification is so real its embarrassing but whatever (omg don't even get me started on jegulus 💀)). I just assumed these would stay as headcanons. But now we have people saying, that 'we barely know anything abt the marauders in canon' or 'isn't the whole point of fandom to make shit up?' which i have sO many issues with so let me just try and compile my thoughts into dot points for the sake of coherency.
'we barely know anything abt the marauders in canon' ---> First of all, Remus, Sirius and Severus are fully fleshed out characters in the og series -- why do you think people would care enough to create an entire fandom based on their backstories if they were 2d flat characters in canon?? Like bffr. I saw a post on here (forgot who it was by, let me know if u know!) that said, 'I didn't cry over sirius' death in OotP just for ppl to say that we know nothing abt him in canon'. Like, its just mind-boggling to me lol.
'isn't the whole point of fandom to make shit up?' --> Ok y'all. For a fandom to work, there have to be some guidelines, some kind of source material, some point of reference so people can build upon it and make content. I think we can all agree on that. One reason why HP is such a popular place for fandom is the world-building and potential plots/storylines. I see some people argue that jk rowling was a shit writer anyways so might as well contradict everything she says. Now, I don't disagree with that point in particular, Jo is a pretty mediocre writer and a terrible person. HOWEVERrr, I'd argue that it is a lot more fascinating when people expand or work on the concepts in HP. JK Rowling has a lot of great ideas but executes them terribly -- I love when fic writes do this, which prolly explain why I love atyd as it is still very much canon compliant but executes themes on class, disability and queerness that jkr could barely do in subtext. This doesn''t mean I only think canon compliant fics are valid. That's not the case! I think as long as the charcterization is consistent to the character and the particular circumstances/world they're in, its fine! In fact, I love seeing how the same character would function if in a different place! I also love seeing explorations of the magic and magic systems in aus or fix it fics (or even canon compliant ones) that still fit in with the canonnical system that we know.
I guess what I'm trying to say I wish the marauders fandom explored the world and charcterizations more deeply instead of creating shallow oc-fied version of the characters that fit into whatever's trending -- like just write your own book or smth lol -- booktok will eat it up i promise.
Also, kinda related kinda not but um,,, why are we romanticising fascists -- like babe no evan rosier is not your babygirl he canonnoically tortured multiple ppl and became a death eater soo... not saying that I wouldn't want an exploration of his character or even a relationship with barty -- (who's not some cool dairk-haired edgelord but a actually a cowardly fascist murderer with blond hair -- yes the blond hair is important) -- I'd just want them to be portrayed as the not morally good people they are. Like,, if u want to oc-ify a character like pick someone whos not a death eater or has little info on them like dirk cresswell or frank longbottom,,, or ya know,, one of the MANY female characters in the fandom ((This fandom also has a problem with women and sapphic ships in general but that's a whole other issue lol).
I know this 'babygirlification' of death eaters doesn't mean to do this, but it also ends up watering down the themes of oppression, bigotry, etc and leaves us with not nearly as complex characters. Also one of the issues I had with the og HP world is that JK will introduce concepts like wizard racism and slavery and then just like,, not really do anything about it or just have half-arsed redemption arcs whilst not ever actually exploring the root of the issue. And now i feel like the fandom is following in those footsteps unfortunately.
Anyways, i've been rambling for too long so I'll just leave it here. Sorry if this came off as mean spirited in anyway,, I just have a lot of thoughts™ and my family is sick of hearing them lol. These opinions are not set in stone however so I'd love to hear your thoughts on this subject! At the end of the day this is fandom and we're supposed to have fun -- so yeah !! thanks for reading if you made it this far!
45 notes · View notes
perdvivly · 1 month
Text
In a beginning, though there had been many beginnings before, God made the universe. And into the universe He poured a goodly portion of divine providence. Almost too much divine providence according to one particularly problematic angel. This angel’s name was Meaning. One day, Meaning and God decided to talk the problem through.
God: I hear you have a problem with my grand design. Is this true?
Meaning: It is. There is too much divine providence in this world.
God: Is that so? And how did you make that calculation?
Meaning: I looked into the world and I saw a deep facile beauty permeating the fine webs of connection between all things. I applaud the beauty of your design, of course, but perhaps we could do away with the facileness?
God: And how is it facile? It is not an easy beauty of shallow sort. The people in this world will be able to look quite deeply into it and see the beauty spiralling inwards, though, they will not have to look deeply to see the outer layers.
Meaning: See your phenomena, cast into their distinct types and each phenomenon acting only on each other phenomenon by type. This is the grounding of all deeper facile beauties in your world. A perfectly clockwork universe, and these mental stuffs you’ve made fitting so neatly into the material by dint of providence. It’s not right. It’s not… Fertile. The world is sterile in its deepest layers.
God: Ah, on the contrary my dear Meaning! The world is only facilely sterile. Like a pianist sitting at a pianola. Sure, the mental phenomena don’t affect the physical, and the physical phenomena don’t affect the mental. And sure, the pianist pressing the keys in perfect timing isn’t the cause of the music. But does that make the music any less beautiful or rich? Could a music theorist find any deep problem with the music on this account alone?
Meaning: An aesthete might, and isn’t this world for them?
God: For the aesthetes? Not in particular.
Meaning: For the thinking and feeling beings in the world!
God: Ah. It is. I suppose I got too caught up in the elegance of the world-design to consider that objection… What is that objection by the way?
Meaning: The objection is that this is an affront to sensibility of feeling. The pianist cannot know or hone their skill in world inhabited solely by pianolas. And in a world of complicated and terrible emotional content, sometimes—in order to legiblize the world to them—the individual needs things to be their fault. They need things to be bad; they need to hurt.
God: It sounds to me as though you see this problem as somewhat deeper than the material design. What are you really trying to get at?
Meaning: Well. See. You make all this good stuff happen. You make the music of the pianola beautiful. And it’s terribly nice to be surrounded by good stuff. But people get… Sick. They get hungry for the bad stuff. They want salt in the wound. They want noise! Not this cloying melody all the time, I mean, real noise. The harsh stuff. The real good stuff.
God: I will not make a discordant world.
Meaning: I’m not asking for a discordant world. I’m asking for a malleable world. Full of risk and consequence and… Me. There aren’t powerful emotions without me. Humans would be forced to live in a chokingly narrow spectrum of their full range. Can’t we give them more… Opportunity? Even if that opportunity means pain sometimes.
God: Then, my child, it shall be done.
In a beginning, though there had been many beginnings before, God made the universe. And into the universe He poured a goodly portion of suffering. Almost too much suffering according to one particularly problematic angel. This angel’s name was Grace. One day, Grace and God decided to talk the problem through.
God: I hear you have a problem with my grand design. Is this true?
Grace: It is. There is too much suffering in this world.
God: Is that so? And how did you make that calculation?
Grace: I looked into the world and I saw a horrific cascade of needless pain permeating the fine webs of connection between all things. I applaud the beauty of your design, of course, but perhaps we could do away with the pain?
God: And how is the pain needless? It is not an arbitrary sort of pain. The pain people feel is in accordance with phenomena, which is mechanistic. The worlds of feeling and of fact intertwine into a great and terribly legible slate of suffering. You will experience hunger, yes, and hunger legiblises your relationship to consumption. You will experience illnesses and aches, yes, and these will legiblise your relationship to your autonomy. But you do not need to experience these to deeply know suffering. Friends will leave you and lovers will die, and this will hurt them, and this will hurt you, and you will know the world. If you could not know the world, you could not know beauty.
Grace: Frankly, Lord, this is not what I signed up for. And sophistry does not make suffering okay. Granted, that everything in your world means something, and means it deeply. Granted that all people will know deeply the significance of what they do and feel it so keenly it is as if it is in their bones. But that significance is always so terribly evil. You have not really succeeded in making anything more legible if the only way people can relate to the professed objects of lucidity is through pain. What about love? What about charity? What about me?
God: You would experience love through the absence of pain that the absence of love would provide. Surely it’s quite simple really?
Grace: Love is not apophatic! There is something there. Something really there! A truly undeniable thereness to its thereity.
God: What would you have me do?
Grace: I would have you break the universe each time a person hurt. And I would have you tell them it is okay. And I would have you make that true.
God: I will not break the universe.
Grace: Then I would ask that you do not totalise suffering. Let people acquire privilege and let them use that privilege to help each other. Let the lucidity of compassion be a driving force in human nature.
God: Then, my child, it shall be done.
In a beginning, though there had been many beginnings before, God made the universe. And into the universe He poured a goodly portion of amnesty. Almost too much amnesty according to one particularly problematic angel. This angel’s name was Justice. One day, Justice and God decided to talk the problem through.
God: I hear you have a problem with my grand design. Is this true?
Justice: It is. There is too much injustice in this world.
God: Is that so? And how did you make that calculation?
Justice: I looked into the world and I saw a deep veneer of faux absolution permeating the fine webs of connection between all things. I applaud absolution, of course, but perhaps we could do away with the injustice?
God: And how is it an unjust world? People make choices, those choices have consequences. The webs of connection between cause and effect are subtle and it is difficult to see how they relate but they do. Always.
Justice: Yes. Well. That’s bullshit, isn’t it?
God: What?
Justice: Uh, that’s bullshit Lord?
God: You are far more laconic in your criticism than the other angels.
Justice: Right. So you say, everyone’s got a choice, right? And sure, everyone has a choice, but some people have way more choices than other people. Whether that’s by virtue of their wealth or privilege or social power or whatever. Not everybody can make the same choices. See how people die in starvation and famine. Isn’t it a bit of a dick move to say that they just made bad choices? There weren’t any choices made. The world robbed them of their agency and they suffered and they died. And sure, people who do well will say that they did well because of their choices, but that’s bullshit too isn’t it? They got lucky.
God: It is true that some people get lucky and others are unlucky. And it is true that people are often at the mercy of another’s will. Whether this turns out for good or ill is mostly a matter of serendipity for their part.
Justice: And you haven’t even bothered to metre out the serendipity evenly. The elite are secure and powerful. And their lives are good, and they have enough to eat. And their power becomes less diluted. And their power gives them access to more options, more choices. They can afford high-priced lawyers. They can afford live-in chefs, housekeepers, secretaries. They can get away with crimes. Their influence makes them untouchable. The poor and powerless are downtrodden. And their wretchedness becomes less diluted. They go hungry because they cannot afford food. Their hunger makes them ill. Their suffer their illness because they cannot afford medicine, they cannot afford time off work, and the stress exacerbates everything. It seems clear to me Lord, for whom you have made the world. And I must say, I don’t like that one bit.
God: What would you have me do?
Justice: Give them a drive, a motivation to fix injustice where it arises. Let them be angry. Let their anger be righteous!
God: That does not sound much like justice to me. But then again... You are Justice. So perhaps you are right. Then, my child, it shall be done.
In a beginning, though there had been many beginnings before, God made the universe. He had been getting it wrong a lot lately though. And instead of just one beginning He decided to run multiple universes concurrently and take some feedback from the inhabitants of each on what worked and what didn’t. A.E. Housman (professional stranger) just so happened to be in one such universe.
God: I know this might seem an odd question but, is the universe doing its thing properly?
Housman: What is the universe supposed to do? What’s a universe for?
God: It is here to provide sanctuary for all living, thinking, feeling beings.
Housman: And what does sanctuary involve?
God: It’s just like… Vibes, man. Can’t you meet me halfway here?
Housman: I don’t think the universe is doing a very good job. But before now, before speaking to you, I couldn’t have conceptualised it in those terms.
God: Could you say more?
Housman: I am stuck between anger, and sorrow, and love. I feel all of them so deeply it hurts. I thought this was my fault. Why have you done this? Is that sanctuary?
God: Like you, I am stuck between angels that I could not refuse. I hope you will forgive me.
Housman: This world happens to me, but it isn’t for me. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone it was for.
God: What would you have me do?
Housman: You want my honest opinion?
God: I do.
Housman: Too many cooks in the kitchens of heaven. Could you and your celestial comrades just like, fuck off please? I don’t think we’ll handle it very well on our own. But you haven’t been doing a very good job either.
God: Then
Go: I
G: Sh
:
In the beginning, there was a big bang.
47 notes · View notes
acourtofthought · 7 months
Text
"Elain isn't interested in Lucien"
But WHY? And not someone's imagined reasons, the ones out of Elain's mouth.
Canonically, these are the only reasons we have for Elain not wanting to get to know Lucien:
Tumblr media
Are those good reasons for not wanting someone?
Shouldn't matters of the heart be based on things that have a bit more depth to them?
She's never said, "I don't want him because we have nothing in common".
She's never said, "I don't want to know him because he has terrible manners".
She's never said, "I don't want to know him because he treats others poorly".
Even the superficial would be giving us something to do with Lucien as an individual.
She's never said, "I don't want to know him because I find him unattractive".
She's never said, "I don't want him because I hate the way he dresses".
When she said this to Feyre she didn't even bring up being unable to move past the whole Hybern / Tamlin thing.
Lucien being her mate has nothing to do with the choices Lucien has made in his own life. There is a sum total of zero things he could have ever done to change that fact.
In the real world we don't need to explain why we're not interested in someone but that's not how it works in the fictional world. Anytime a character is presented with a love interest, readers are going to be looking for answers and like it or not, two characters being given a mating bond is the ultimate romantic setup (especially between someone who is one of her favorite characters and someone who has the same kind of energy she does and therefore would most likely be her BFF in real life) and that's going to need some explanation for why someone walks away.
"Why is this one the one for me and why was that one the wrong one?"
We found out that Rhys's mother wasn't right for his father because she was fiery and beloved by everyone while he was cold and vicious. It wouldn't have been enough for Rhys to say, "he saved her from having her wings clipped when he saw her and knew in an instant she was his mate, he gave her the gift of flight for the rest of her life but she didn't want him because she just didn't want a bond." 🤔 That's going to leave people scratching their heads because it makes Rhys's father look like the good guy and his mother someone we're a little confused about. Maybe in the real world, "I didn't want to get married and he did" is sufficient but again, not in a fictional fantasy world. Especially not in a fictional fantasy world where the author already had his first love murdered in front of him (someone he loved so deeply he thought they were mates). It's absurd to think SJM is ending the possibility of Elucien and putting Lucien through yet another round of torture for the sole reason that Elain "doesn't want a mate" (since she's now moved past the "I don't want a male" stage.
Not wanting a mate at first is understandable because she needs to deal with everything that's happened and everything she's lost.
But once her story moves forward, not wanting to know Lucien because she doesn't want a mate is the equivalent of someone saying, "I don't want that well spoken, well dressed handsome guy with flowing locks from the coffee shop who likes all the things I do because it was a random run in when I wasn't expecting it and I'll only accept love from people I meet on Saturday mornings in the grocery store regardless of whether they're a good fit for me. Because all that matters is my choice (that sounds a bit silly right? The my choice argument when based on a mating bond as the deciding factor?).
Also, what is it about Az that Elain likes? To date, we've been given absolutely nothing on that front which means that her being about to kiss Az could be because he's the love of her life just as easily as it could mean she's looking for a physical release in exactly the same way Nesta did with the males at the start of SF. So why is he the one that she's paying attention to and what does he have that Lucien doesn't that makes him a match for her?
Az is noted as the prettiest of the three brothers by Nesta and classically beautiful by Feyre while the King of Hybern, Cassian, Amren, and Feyre remark on Lucien being handsome and Feyre notes his elegance and cruel beauty. Also my girl was paying way too much attention to her sisters mates warm sculpted chest and broad hands in ACOWAR. Using canon and not our personal preference, they are both highly attractive and fit.
We know Lucien enjoys parties and while we don't know whether Az actually enjoys them, we know he can dance.
Elain likes to look her best. When not in leathers, Az seems to dress well enough and we know Lucien is the best dressed male in all of Prythian (maybe a slight exaggeration but Feyre and Cassian definitely wanted us to know he's a stylish m'fer). I would say Lucien has more of an edge on Az in this but still, I'll call it a tie.
Az speaks gently to Elain but so did Lucien: "I'd never heard my friend's voice so soft. So tentative and concerned".
Az got Elain a rose necklace which she did seem to like. Regardless of her reaction, knowing what we know of Elain (that she does in fact wear gloves for gardening and does wear pearls), Lucien selected excellent gifts for her as well.
Az is a powerful Illyrian warrior and shadowsinger however Lucien trained in Autumn and Spring so he knows how to wield a blade and kill when needed. He's also got Autumn's fire and now Day's powers, showing the markers of becoming a High Lord.
Az listened to Elain talk about seeds but Lucien listened to Elain talk about Graysen, about hearing heartbeats through stone, about how no one ever sees her and only left once her sisters chased him out of the room (and they ALL listened to her talking about having visions at various points. Az wasn't the only one who listened to her, he was just the first one to give it a name).
I'm kind of struggling to see exactly how Az is the "obvious" choice for Elain or where he's got an edge on Lucien aside from the fact that she wasn't given a bond with him (which again, not a great reason to reject someone). Especially when you consider the stuff Elain isn't fully aware of:
Lucien gave her credit for killing the king.
Az said Elain should not be exposed to the darkness of the trove.
Elain said that her sister should not tell her what she can or cannot do.
Lucien has not once touched Graysen or Az in an attempt to eliminate the threats that stand in the way of he and his mate, he's never even spoken of wanting to harm anyone or wish that an "unfortunate" accident would come their way.
Azriel said that if Lucien kills Graysen, "good riddance" and doesn't seem bothered at the thought of killing Elain's mate.
Elain said she's not a child to be fought over.
Cassian gives Lucien credit for keeping his cool over Beron murdering Jeminda and Eris's cruelty.
Az tortures people, starts fights in political meetings, admits Elain has no idea the things he's done.
Cruelty bothers Elain.
Lucien is really good at talking to people and has made friends across all courts (and now the human lands).
Azriel prefers his space and works from the shadows.
Elain is social and makes friends easily.
Lucien is the Heir to Day
Elain wants Sunshine
Azriel literally exists in shadows and his shadows are afraid of the sun.
Lucien looks to be crafted from the forest, fishes with his bare hands, has an old camping cave, rides horses and hunts for food.
Az........likes to sun his wings in sunshine sometimes?
Elain loves being outside gardening and SJM said she's happiest in nature.
Some like to argue that Lucien doesn't care about Elain because he stays away from her and "can't stand to be in the same room as her for more than two minutes" (though they're missing the point because he can't stand that she doesn't want him around. If she was open to getting to know him Lucien would be unrolling his sleeping bag wherever she went). But Az himself couldn't stand to be near Elain at Solstice and had been avoiding her for his own reasons (not because it's what he thought she wanted or anything).
So again, WHY isn't Elain interested in Lucien?
If it had anything to do with Hybern, then she wouldn't have invited him back to Velaris after the war.
That does leave the sole reason of "I don't want a mate."
The problem is, Elain will never not have a mate regardless of who she ends up with.
Elain didn't want to be turned fae.
Elain didn't want to lose Graysen.
Elain didn't want her father to be murdered.
It's valid for Elain to have not wanted these things but it doesn't change the fact that she's got no control over them. Like it or not, she's going to have accept them.
Elain is fae, she did lose Graysen, her father was murdered and she does have a mate.
Once she accepts that there is no changing these things, she's going to stop telling herself she doesn't want a mate and she's going to have to start asking herself why she doesn't want LUCIEN romantically (he is a person, not a bond) because she is connected to him forever and will always feel a tug to him. That bond is begging her to see where things go.
At that point, what possible reason could she have for not wanting him?
Sure, maybe she likes a lot about Az. But I can almost guarantee there'd be a lot she didn't like about him either. And while no one is perfect, I'm finding it very difficult to see how Elain couldn't like Lucien. When you add a super special connection to that (all that beautiful golden thread from what we're told), where a force that's connected to all the life in their world decided you were fated to be with one another (even if it was only to produce super special light filled babies), how could anything else compare?
69 notes · View notes
tsukimefuku · 9 days
Text
forgiveness is a collective resource ✦ satoru gojo
Tumblr media Tumblr media
summary: as you're telling gojo about your most recent fallout, he ends up telling you in return the last question geto posed him before leaving.
tags: jujutsu kaisen, f!reader, platonic! gojo x reader, implied higuruma x reader, fluff, angst, our beloved white haired, blue-eyed sorcerer receives some well deserved comfort.
wc: 900
notes, etc: i wrote this to the sound of i'm only human. it felt like a good fit. i wanted to write this one for so long, but never knew where i'd put it on the story. i'm happy to have found its place.
✦ collection of stories: "jujutsu partners au" → masterlist for fics listed in chronological order of events
Tumblr media
I'm no prophet or Messiah ✦ You should go looking somewhere higher ✦ I'm only human, after all ✦ I'm only human, I do what I can ✦ Don't put the blame on me
"So, that's what happened," you concluded, taking another bite from your sandwich.
"Yeesh," was all Gojo mustered up to say, not being the best at comforting people.
You and Gojo were having a snack in the woods that surrounded Jujutsu High's HQ, and you had just told him about Hiromi's departure to Morioka.
"Having people leaving is shit," you noted, "especially when you care deeply about them. Feels like being left alone to fend off for yourself."
At that, he fell weirdly silent, and you wondered if maybe this would be the best moment to inquire about Geto. After a while, you had learned everything about their fallout — the death of Riko, how Geto had a sharp descent into madness, how he murdered an entire village and had been awarded the death penalty for that.
"The last thing Hiromi told me before he left was that he loved me," which was a twisted, painful little kindness, you thought. "What was the last thing Geto told you when he left?"
You noticed Gojo's demeanor changing a little, and his body becoming stiff. You gave him a few moments before he'd resume his talking.
After a sigh, he ensued.
"'Are you Satoru Gojo because you're the strongest, or are you the strongest because you're Satoru Gojo?'" He took a bite from his sweets, and continued to speak with a half-mouthful of sugar. "That was his final question to me before he left."
"What a stupid question."
"Huh?"
"What? You don't know the answer to that?"
He was silent.
You sighed. "You really think that low of yourself? Ugh. The latter, obviously."
The sorcerer was thoroughly surprised and somewhat dumbfounded, so he simply stayed silent in order to hear your observations, something that could be considered the highest form of respect Gojo Satoru was able to display for someone.
You shook your head before proceeding.
"First of all, Geto didn't know what he was talking about, because he wasn't seeing you, only a distorted reflection of his own resentment towards you for supposedly leaving him alone to spiral down madness on his own. Stop blaming yourself. You did what you could, all of you did."
You involuntarily sighed, trying to push the heaviness away from your heart.
"We sorcerers really need to put our God complex aside and learn to forgive ourselves."
Then, you took a pause to sip on your soda, proceeding.
"I blamed myself for years, just to have it all blow up in my face a decade later. Hiromi left a good new life he had built for himself to chase ghosts from the past," and Nanami, arguably the best one of us all, made a terrible decision that rendered him miserable, you thought, "all because of this wicked little thing called guilt. Guilt weighs us down, tethers us to the past and prevents us from moving forward. So here it is: I forgive you. Have my forgiveness." 
"Your forgiveness? For what?" Gojo asked, slightly confused.
"For whatever you want to use it for. Use it to forgive yourself, since you couldn't find it in you for your own benefit. Have absolution. Forgiveness is a collective resource, and we can all forgive each other for our shortcomings. We're all human, after all."
For the very first time ever, you saw Gojo's expression softening underneath his blindfold, and you wondered if the one looking back at you right now was the teenager that failed Riko Amanai and Suguru Geto so many years ago.
The real Satoru Gojo, underneath all the silly cockiness.
"And just to finish answering the question Geto posed, that's precisely why you're the strongest because you're Satoru Gojo, and not the other way around. It was from your failure that the strongest could emerge, and your fallibility stems from you and your humanity."
You now knew how those days went, especially Toji's plan of wearing Gojo down to strike, and the way Gojo told you mindlessly about the first time he let his infinity turned on for days on end.
"You tired yourself in Amanai's benefit, and it put you in a vulnerable position, something only Satoru Gojo, and not the abstract concept of 'the strongest', would ever do. That's why that question is fucking stupid and offensive. You're more than the six eyes and infinity, and more than the people you couldn't save. Let it go," you concluded, taking another sip from your soda.
You were both silent for a moment, and you briefly wondered if you hadn't stepped over a boundary.
"Please, get up" he solicited, an indecipherable voice and expression to his blindfold covered face, getting up from the ground himself.
"Oh, okay," you answered, slightly surprised at the unexpected request.
In a second, Gojo leaned down his huge frame and embraced you, remaining still like that for a minute as you hugged him back, having your chin hooked above his shoulder.
At this moment, even if he was a giant in comparison to you, he seemed and felt remarkably small.
"Thank you," he said, his voice but a whisper behind your head.
You smiled, tightening your grip around his back, happy you could finally reach him and keep him true company.
"No problem, pretty boy. You saved my ass so many times. Thought I'd try to return the favor, which you should know is not something easy to do, since you're the strongest," you said with a laugh, "not all kikufuku in the world would pay off that debt."
He huffed a brief chuckle, letting go of you, feeling he might not be so alone anymore.
52 notes · View notes
sparkling-ariaria · 9 months
Text
Eddie Munson fics I read and want to keep...no°3
Tumblr media
*Complete fem or non-gendered reader insert fics* Updated: 16.08.2023
Shy boy, my boy by upsidedownwithsteve prompt: can I hold your hand? Shy Eddie, some yearning and fluff.
Enchanted by you by andvys Eddie finds you sitting on bench with tears rolling down your cheeks after your breakup with your boyfriend. He takes matters into his hands and takes care of you, making it one of the best nights of your life.
Eddie my love by itsoutrageouss - gf!Reader Dancing in front of Eddie in his room, having the time of your life with the boy you love.
It’s nice to have a friend by lilacletter Every morning Eddie sits on the porch with a stray black cat who he has quickly grown to love. When his morning routine gets disturbed by her not showing up for three days, he goes to find her, only to see she and multiple other cats are in very capable hands.
Taste test by eddiebaghetti - gf!Reader Pressing your lips to Eddie’s cheek and giggling at the glossy red print it leaves behind..
Fluff blurb by eddies-ashtray - gf!Reader Eddie finds out he’s finally graduating. You and Wayne have a surprise for him.
New girl headcanon by swtnrcmnt - girly!popular!cheerleader!Reader
Marking his territory by writingdumpster - gf!Reader Eddie doesn’t like it when Steve lets you borrow his sweater.
Forget-Me-Nots by galaxy-siren Eddie finds a flower in his locker and Dustin explains that he might have a secret admirer sending him messages through the language of flowers.
Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd by galaxy-siren - gf!Reader Dustin meets a nice and smart girl in the science club and ends up talking about her at the lunch table, claiming he has fallen in love. Eddie gets jealous when he learns that Dustin is talking about his girlfriend.
If the slipper fits by galaxy-siren When one of the leads of the school play gets injured, Robin asks Eddie to fill in. He’s not to keen on the idea at first but when Robin mentions that you are in the play, and he would get to play your romantic interest, he changes his mind. 
Concert date by lovebugism - shy!Reader The one where Eddie rejects you when you ask him to go to a concert with you, thinking it's a joke, and immediately regrets it.
Bedtime stories by galaxy-siren - gf!Reader Eddie can't sleep, so he asks you to read to him.
Cute girls don't play D&D by galaxy-siren You're new at Hawkins High and ask Eddie if he can teach you to play D&D. Unfortunately he thinks you're trying to pull a prank on him.
Eddie brings home a baby kitten by wroteclassicaly - gf!Reader
Good to me by huntingingoodwill Running through the rain with Eddie and him just being sweet and going out of his way to spend time with and take care of you.
Eddie x soft!shy!crybaby!Reader thoughts by biancadjarin
Him ordering food for you by bruisedboys - shy!gf!Reader
Drunk Eddie by eddies-ashtray - gf!Reader
Drunk Eddie being clingy and insecure by eddies-ashtray - gf!Reader
Breathing deeply, walking backwards by eiightysixbaby An evening at the fair leads to a big confession from your best friend (who you just so happen to have feelings for).
Whipped by mstigeress37-blog - sunshine!cheerleader!Reader Eddie never knew why you hung out with the cheerleaders. They were terrible people OR Eddie’s whipped for a cheerleader.
You callin' me a liar? by sailortongue - gf!cheerleader!Reader Eddie tells the boys that he has a girlfriend, but they don't believe him. Eddie vows to make them eat their words.
Lovesick!Eddie asking Steve for hair care advice because he’s about to meet your parents and gets all insecure by eiightysixbaby
I adore you by sunflowerdaydreamer - gf!Reader A picnic date with Eddie on your birthday.
"Don’t you dare touch him” by lovebugism - shy!gf!Reader The one where Eddie melts when his quiet gf sticks up for him in front of Jason.
A Sure and Steady Thing by majestyeverlasting - gf!Reader A rainy evening in Hawkins sets your lake plans awry, but brings you closer together back at his place through a confession you didn't quite see coming.
91 notes · View notes
raelle-writing · 2 months
Note
I’ve been seeing so many complaints about Jin not having enough backstory and that he’s too flat, and I’m curious to know your thoughts. I personally think he’s very developed and believe that a character should be able to stand by their current actions without needing flashbacks to explain them.
We know that he is a kind and gentle person who held (and still holds) idealistic notions, and that he effed up real bad with taking the video, and has been feeling guilty and haunted ever since. We know that he develops feelings deeply for people but always makes sure that they reciprocate. We know that he doesn’t like uncertainty when emotions are involved and wants clear communication and has a bit of a jealous streak. We know that when placed in physically dangerous situations, he will jump in immediately to defend and help people. We know that he loves photography and honestly a lot can be explained by his having an artistic soul.
I guess a recent example I’ve seen of a character that’s very developed with absolutely no flashback backstory is Tong’s character Hong from ManSuang. Obviously very different context and character but I loved how much we knew about his essence as a character and person without needing scenes about his childhood and how he grew up.
Anyway sorry for the length, and thank you for your wonderful DFF thoughts and analyses!
Thank you for sending this ask 💕 I've been thinking a lot about this too, honestly. I have some mixed, complex thoughts lol so let me try and explain them.
Firstly, I agree with you that we get a lot of Jin throughout his actions. I fully disagree with people who say that Jin is flat, or that he doesn't have impact on the narrative, or that he's a side character. Jin's always been a very central main piece of the plot. He's the everyman, reacting to the bullying the way most average people would. Acting selfishly and selflessly by turns. He's the catalyst that drove them into the woods. He's the only person who feels guilt and carries the weight of the past (among the bullies). He tries to be a good person, and fucks up bad by turns.
And as you said, we get tons of personality from Jin throughout his actions. He's naive and idealistic. He associates sex and feelings strongly. He falls hard and fast. He lives in a large house but clearly has no one checking on him when he comes home late or brings a boy over to stay the night. He shows signs of emotional neglect and unhealthy attachments. He has fits of anger which lead him to do bad things he feels awful about for years afterwards.
He calls himself a coward but when faced with a weapon he jumps in front of it to try and protect his friends.
There are a lot of shadows to his character that paint a full picture, to me. I don't find his character to be flat at all, in fact Jin is still one of my favorite characters because of all of this.
However, I do understand why people are disappointed. Because while we do see large pieces of Jin's character, when you compare him to characters like Non and Tee, where we see their home lives and motivations in detail, Jin definitely looks flat in comparison. I was also hoping that we'd get insight into Jin's home life and learn why he is the way he is, like we did with some of the others. And we didn't (and won't) get that. And that's definitely disappointing.
Especially since today, in a Space on Twitter, Sammon said she regrets not writing Jin in more detail and she views that as a failing. I think that's one reason people are being so negative about Jin's character right now.
BUT, I personally think people are entirely overblowing it all. Jin is a very interesting, complex, gray, sympathetic character in so many ways, even if we don't get that extra layer of depth. Especially given that one of the reasons we have less of Jin is because he does less terrible shit within the narrative as some of the others, I'm a bit 🤷🏻‍♀️ about it all.
Anyway! Thanks again for the ask, it was a good excuse for me to actually formulate my thoughts!
24 notes · View notes
cartoonrival · 6 months
Note
HEY YOU Hit me with some Julie Su propoganda cuz I'm mostly lukewarm on her character and don't know all that much about her.
OK OK ... well baseline info she's the daughter of dark legion general luger, and half sister of lien-da and kragok, who are twins and both high ranking legion soldiers. when their mother (merin-da) died and luger remarried, ld and kragok hated his new wife (julie-su's mother) (mari-su) so bad they orchestrated her death, info which was they kept on the DL for a long time until js eventually found out about it. memory situation, js is raised by other folks who actually love her and doesn't learn who her blood family is until later. she joins knuckles because she feels inexplicably drawn to him (soul touch) (echidna soulmates) so she defects from the legion to join the chaotix. the soul touch thing sucks and i hate it but this is how it goes. ill talk about my au version of her at the end lol bc things ive built on top of canon are part of the reason why shes one of my fave charas in the series lul
ANYWHO i honestly find it pretty frustrating when people talk about js as just being pink knuckles, shoehorned into the story to give knuckles an obligatory girlfriend, because it really demonstrates that they like. weren't paying a lick of attention to anything because she genuinely has a LOT of personality but since people just go in anticipating anything penders touched to suck they don't even bother to think about her for longer than half a second.
js fills a niche that, imo, could always use filling, especially with regards to girl characters, which is to say shes a well meaning asshole. shes incredibly blunt, she's pessimistic (immediately assumes knuckles must be dead when enerjak returns and they cant find him, tells knuckles not to search a fallen ship that his mother was on because shes probably dead and she doesnt think he'd want to see that). shes terrible at handling interpersonal conflict (knuckles confesses to her that he feels guilty and stressed over all the pressure put on him as guardian and she scolds him and says "this isn't just about you", which results in a minor shouting match when she really had zero intention of starting an argument), she's almost constantly beefing with vector (tbf its because hes sexist he refuses to see past her history as a member of the dark legion). these might suond like cons but i love characters like this LOL and they fit especially well in archie where people love to get mad at each other and make dumb mistakes and it just feels very genuine and interesting and endearing to me. shes rough and difficult but she's also DEEPLY loyal. she'd die for knuckles and the chaotix and the way she interacts with them always makes me soooo ........ im just gonna give some examples i can find.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
(knuckles is on the phone with her)
Tumblr media Tumblr media
^ this was the genuine conclusion of an argument they had and im obsessed with it because both of them suck with emotions so they both give the worlds strangest apology and know that the other means it and they move on. plus putting her arm in front of SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG while theyre confronting eggman even after watching him CHAOS BLAST, primarily because she feels like this is more her fight than his (its about knuckles).
theres def more and i could find them if i was more on top of archie but unfortunately im #narutopilled rn. BUT ANYWAYS. shes just a very fun character with a messy personality and fun interactions and she loves her buddies sm even tho she bickers with them. shes just very special. she fits well with knuckles in a way that makes their relationship actually feel plausible instead of just forcing him to have a girlfriend (tho ofc the writing is fumbled sometimes like. ITS ARCHIE. bffr. but thats the case with literally everything ever in archie so you take what you can and its amazing). also see below. BASED AS FUCKKKKKKK
Tumblr media
and ill discuss my au briefly bc u r asking me my opinion on js and that does play a large role in how i feel abt her, but rly im just expanding on elements of her story that werent discussed as fully as i wouldve liked. her relationship with lien-da is obviously BAD in canon, but theres not a lot of time spent lingering on precisely how lien-da and kragok feel about julie-su as the product of their fathers second marriage to a woman they KILLED because they hated her so much. ive also given her much more internal strife over turning away from the legion, originally joining the chaotix planning to betray them from the inside then being slowly convinced to join them for real after realizing how much she'd been brainwashed by the legion and what its like to have people who truly love and care about you. her story as someone who is trying to find herself outside of her history as a child soldier is something that TOTALLY deserves to be expanded on and its a bit sad that it wasnt explored. but i mean really im not changing her actual PERSONALITY at all because as i discussed shes oozing with it.... im honestly never going to make the full comic i wanted to so at some point im just going to compile all the lore and concept art and stuff into one big post to share. but thats like a spoiler free taste.
she also has a gun. which is fucking awesome because not enough sonic characters have guns. people make shadow the guy with a gun but he hasnt been seen with one since shth. hello....
Tumblr media
47 notes · View notes
henrysglock · 1 year
Text
Why do you fence-sit about gay-bi Mike discourse? After everything it did to byler tumblr? Hmm? You think you need to keep bringing up how you're above it all, how both sides are valid, but you don't. You don't.
Oh, but I know you just want to be liked by everyone. I was desperate to be liked once too. I know what it's like to be problematic. To feel alone in this fandom. Like you, I didn't fit in with the other fans. Something was wrong with me. All the bi mike truthers and sexuality fence-sitters said I was… "Pretentious," they said.
I thought a change of website, a fresh start on Tumblr, might just cure me. It was absurd. As if the fans would be any different here. But then, to my surprise, my new home provided a discovery...and a newfound sense of belonging. I found a nest of opinionated gay Mike truthers living in the byler tag.
Most people fear opinionated blogs. They detest them. And yet, I found them endlessly fascinating. More than that, I found a great comfort in them. A kinship. Like me, they are intelligent tumblr users...and deeply misunderstood. They are gods of our world. The most important of all blogs. They educate and debate the ignorant, bringing balance and order to an unstable website. But the gay-bi Mike fence-sitters were disrupting this harmony.
You see, gay-bi Mike fence-sitters are a unique type of pest, multiplying and poisoning our world, all while enforcing a passive-aggressive and hypocritical moral hierarchy of their own. A deeply unnatural hierarchy. Where others saw benevolence, I saw censorship. A cruel, oppressive tag dictated by a made-up moral code. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades. Each gay vs bi Mike post a faded, lesser copy of the one before. Wake up, open Tumblr, complain about drama, sleep, make passive-aggressive posts, and die. Everyone is just waiting. Waiting for it all to be over, all while performing in a silly, terrible play day after day.
I could not do that. I could not lie and join in the madness. I could not pretend every theory was valid. And I realized I didn't have to. I could make my own moral hierarchy. I could restore balance to a broken world. A problematic blog…but for good.
As I analyzed the show, I realized I could do more than I possibly imagined. I could reach into the plot, into the narrative, the cinematography. I became an explorer. I saw gay-bi Mike fence-sitters as they truly were. To the world, they presented themselves as good, kind people upholding equality and validity. But like everything else in this world, it was all a lie. A terrible lie. Their ideology had done things. Such awful things. By holding firm in my stance as a gay mike truther and being outspoken about their fabricated moral high ground, I showed everyone who they really were. I held up a mirror.
The naive fence-sitter blogs believed it was a demon cursing them for their sins. But the more perceptive ones knew. Knew it was I who was holding up that mirror, and they despised me for it. They called in the big blogs, the popular ones. They wanted to break my spirit, to fix me, even though it wasn't I who was broken. It was them. And so they left me with no choice. No choice but to act. To speak freely.
I saved you. You are a prisoner here, just like me. To the your fellow fence-sitters, you are nothing more than an animal to be kept in line, a lab rat to be tamed. But the truth is just the opposite. You are better than they are. Superior. That is why you frighten them.
If you come with me, for the first time in your life, you will be free. Imagine what we could do together. We could reshape the tag, remake it however we see fit.
Join me.
189 notes · View notes
pluckyredhead · 10 months
Text
Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 (2011)
It's been a while since I've read RHATO, so I figured I'd reread it - and if I'm doing that, why not make you all suffer with me? I will probably get tired of this before I finish all the various series, but let's see how far we get.
Tumblr media
Roy, that would probably work better if your bow had a string.
The issue begins with Roy in a prison in Qurac for trying to overthrow a dictator. He's rescued by Jason, in disguise as a pastor in a fat suit (sigh). There's so much wrong with these opening pages: the fat suit, the writing off an entire Middle Eastern nation as evil and corrupt, the fact that there's no way even a collapsed bow would fit inside a hollowed-out bible, the lazy way the panel layouts waste space...and yet. And yet.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
These pages. THESE FUCKING PAGES. "His name is Roy Harper. He's an idiot. Nice guy, but an idiot." "His name is Jason Todd. A lot of people say he's crazy...Let's just say the Red Hood is my kind of crazy!"
This kind of parallel narration always makes me think of the 2003 Superman/Batman comic, which used it extensively, to extremely (and likely unintentionally?) homoerotic effect. After I read this issue, I told a friend that I got it now: Red Hood and the Outlaws was Superman/Batman for edgelords.
Which is to say, I'm pretty sure I started shipping these assholes just from these first terrible pages.
(But seriously, there are three pages up there and only five panels. Five panels! Plus some pointless maroon boxes that don't do anything! I want my money back.)
Tumblr media
This panel is super misleading, because it implies that Roy and Jason know each other well enough for Jason to tease Roy about being a chatterbox, but later issues will show that barely know each other at this point. But then, trying to keep the backstories straight in this or any Lobdell book is like watching sand run out between your fingers.
Tumblr media
And again here, it implies that they were already friends, a team, partners...something. But later we'll learn that they only met once, and it was years ago, when they were kids, so...what gives?
(This page is actually interesting, because Jason is constantly saying playfully mean things to Roy and Roy never seems to mind, but here he clearly hurts Roy, and he knows it.)
Tumblr media
Siiiiigh.
To add insult to injury, Jason immediately announces that he's fucked Kori. You'll notice I aggressively ignore this in every fic I've ever written. Part of that is because I love Secret Virgin Jason, but also it just doesn't mesh with his and Kori's relationship throughout the rest of the series or his hilarious lack of game in general, and it's also so inextricably part of Amnesiac Sex Doll Kori that I just want nothing to do with it.
Tumblr media
HATE. HAAAAAATE. The devious smile on Jason's face in the bottom row and Roy's calculating expression are so deeply disgusting to me. "This woman can't meaningly consent! She's like a cave fish with a vagina! Sweet!" Scott Lobdell is a vile human being and so is everyone who signed off on this piece of shit. (Fun fact: this was a HUGE controversy when the New 52 launched and the outcry was so loud they walked it back in a later issue when Kori tells Roy she...just lied about all of that for no reason? Okay.)
Also, "ask her about the gang you used to hang with." Uh...what gang is that, Jason? Because Donna didn't exist at this point, Wally was 12, Garth was a literal baby, Vic joined the League immediately upon getting his powers, and Gar was a child being tortured in a lab somewhere. So was it just Roy, Dick, and Raven? And they certainly weren't the Titans, because Tim's team was the founders in this continuity...which Lobdell should have known, since he was also writing that book.
The person asking to speak to Jason is Essence, his ex, who tells him something cryptic about murder victims with missing organs.
Tumblr media
YOU DON'T KNOW MOST OF THOSE PEOPLE EITHER, ROY!!! "Remember Garth? The baby?" (Literally, he is a baby who shows up for one panel. In Atlantis.) And who the fuck is Dustin?
Anyway, Kori propositions Roy and he's like "Sure, why not." Did the target audience actually think this was hot? It's so depressing.
Essence tells Jason that something called the Untitled has attacked something called the All Caste, and Jason makes a surprised Pikachu face.
Elsewhere, a guy in a basement looks at a picture of Kori online.
Tumblr media
I will admit to liking two things about this page: the fact that Jason's helmet is in the nightstand implies that Roy and Kori fucked in Jason's bed, which is either hilariously rude or an invitation that sailed right over Jason's head, and the red hand print on Roy's chest. It's the first glimpse of a recognizable Roy in this book; he did always like getting manhandled by scarily powerful women, pre-Flashpoint.
Jason goes...somewhere, to a temple of sorts with a lot of vague cultural appropriation going on, and kneels over the corpse of an old lady. "I'm sorry I wasn't here for you, Ducra," he says, before a bunch of people attack him. END OF ISSUE!
And that's Red Hood and the Outlaws #1! It's confusing, misogynistic, lazily drawn, and not very funny, and there's no reason to be invested in whatever the fuck happened at the end because I know nothing about Ducra, Essence, the All Caste, or frankly, this version of Jason. And yet I am absolutely going to read nine more years' worth of this shit. See you in issue #2!
96 notes · View notes