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yamujiburo · 4 months

Note

Some of this might sound intentionally hostile in text and I apologize.

I'm saying this as an abuse survivor mind you - don't throw "abusive ships" under the bus so easily - at least, so long as they're not actually glamorizing the abuse. I lived that irl and I personally find someone overcoming it, slowly having enough of that bullshit and getting out over time, and the other person having to wipe their own butt for once after they've made the damn mess, very refreshing. Maybe that's not a ship in the traditional sense. It's no happily ever after bc it shouldn't be, but I find stories like mine shyed away from so often because even the portrayal gets considered a "canon ship". ... that's just how media works now, I guess? I very rarely See a fictional relationship not called a ship in literally any context now so that's the definition I'm running on.

I wish more people were willing to portray the hardships of finding acceptance outside of "whoever you can find will accept you" very much, and finding the better things after. I wish people weren't terrified out of portrayimg situations like mine.

Jessie.. is not a good person in canon. You expect me to believe she moved into to hanamusa seamlessly, without falling on her ass? I never see you talk about Jessie's abusive tendencies in canon. You never talk about the inherent meanness she needed to get over to get there. She's quite aml lot like my ex in canon, actually.

What do you mean you're going to just remove from the character that she is abusive to those around her. Jessie hits people. She takes her own junk out on others all the time. Do you even like the character then, are you actually invested in her growing, or are you just making an OC at this point?

Idk. Do you, boo. But you are posting about a character who, whether you like it or not, is canonically abusive. I just don't buy that dating Ash's mom alone fixed her. That isn't... How that works. It would be excellent if it did. Part of my love of hanamusa is that it signals Jessie's change - but she could have changed for anyone before now.

What makes Delia different? How is she specifically a turning point for Jessie? Because Jessie's flaws go well beyond just bossing people around.

I would love if my abuser had the same outcome as your Jessie. I adore your portayals of hanamusa, where she's still flawed but still strives to do better. That's all I ever wanted from my ex.

What the fuck got her there tho.

Anyways I've been watching a lot of Bojack Horseman lately -

I agree with you! I don't think abusive relationships (or any tough subject matter in general) should be shied away from in media. It can be powerful when executed well and written by folks who are equipped to tell those kinds of stories. I do think it's sad when people treat it as off limits. But the ask I got was definitely more about which ships I have where I actually like the relationship between the characters. I think the semantics of the word "ship" are kind of vague or rather, over time, got so specific to only mean "absolutely love together and want them as endgame" (for most people anyways). So that's usually what I take the word to mean when people ask me about it.

I can 100% appreciate how an abusive relationship is written and handled, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna ship an abuser with their victim (that falls into the glorifying you're talking about). Love Bojack Horseman! Big fan! I think the way they handled Bojack and Sarah Lynn was beautifully and tragically well written. But does that mean I ship Bojack and Sarah Lynn? Absolutely fucking not.

I've talked about Jessie's character plenty on this blog and the way she's handled in earlier seasons specifically. This is kind of a summary: If we look at it on surface level, yes we can say she was abusive. But I think it's important to acknowledge and take into account the medium, time period and culture. Slapstick and cartoon violence was HUGE in anime and animation in the 90s (and prior to that too). Characters were always cartoonishly slapping each other around with giant mallets, folding fans, etc. Looney Tunes style. These slapstick bits were always distinct from real abuse and hurt (for Pokémon, Jessiebelle comes to mind). Mean slapstick wasn't a character trait exclusive to Jessie either. We saw it in Misty, James, Meowth, characters of the day and pretty much any character who got mad. It was a visual shortcut to show anger.

This type of slapstick has since (thankfully) died out and it hasn't really been a part of the Pokémon franchise since the early 2000s. However, Jessie was a notably special case. One of my favorite fun facts about the Pokémon anime is that there was a point in the series where Megumi Hayashibara (Jessie/Musashi's seiyuu) told the writers that moving forward, she no longer wanted Jessie to be violent or to be shown hitting James or Meowth (source: her memoir "The Characters Taught Me Everything"). She thought it directly went against the vision Takeshi Shudo had for Jessie, James and Meowth, when he created them, which was that they are good natured villains. If you watch from DP and on, Jessie never lays a hand on either of them. I think it was a such a good move on Pokémon's part to change her character like that and I'm forever grateful that Hayashibara said something! Whenever I write Jessie now, I always keep that in mind. She's mean, shouty and stupid but would never genuinely hurt those she cares about.

From then, her character becomes much more bearable. She's still bossy, mean and vain (typical cartoon villainess attributes) but I'd hesitate to say abusive. She'll still yell at James and Meowth, they all yell at each other, but in more of a sibling way (imo) rather than a "i'm actively trying to hurt your feelings way". The show makes a point especially in later seasons to show that Jessie, James and Meowth are not beyond being redeemed. From conception the whole POINT of the Team Rocket trio was that they are redeemable but their persistence and obsession keeps getting in the way of them seeing that there's a better life for them out there.

I won't deny that Jessie was unsavory in earlier seasons, but when I write her, I choose to write the version that Takeshi Shudo and Megumi Hayashibara had envisioned from the get go. She's still incredibly flawed and makes plenty missteps but wants to be better as you stated! My favorite part about Jessie is that she's a piece of shit LOL and I enjoy writing the changes she goes through to be better (but then still showing her default so some of her evil tendencies). In this AU, Delia doesn't fix Jessie. Jessie fixes Jessie because she is with someone makes her want to be a better person. She's already in the middle of turning over a new leaf before even meeting Delia, after leaving Team Rocket. Writing Jessie as legitimately abusive I think could work, but that's not my story to tell and if someone who were more equipped to tell that story did, I'd be very interested to take a listen!

I hope this doesn't come off as trying to deny or invalidate your experience. If you see that in Jessie, I hear you! This is just how I've interpreted her character over the years, having watched every episode of Pokémon and reading Japanese interviews from the cast and crew. She's such a compelling character and I love how messy she is

#ask yam #long post #tw abuse

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angel-maybe-alive · 1 year

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More things I hate about modern literature because today is a bad day and I need to be a dick online to feel better:

How much sex there is in everything

And again I am not a prude, erotica has existed for decades and it's okay but every popular YA or adventure book nowadays is a bad erotica with some low stakes adventure in the background

And somehow they are able to be both bad porn and bad adventure

And also people will promote those books as " yes the plot kinda sucks but there's good sex scenes"

The word Mary sue

The misuse of the word Mary sue

Any attempt to make a "LOTR inspired" book made by a man

Because usually the things that made LOTR good go just over the authors head and we end with basically a vin diesel movie set in the middle ages

This is not just about modern literature but books about or set in horrible moments for a oppressed minority(like holocaust or slavery) written by people who aren't part of said minority

Coleen hoover

She did for feminist literature what Seth MacFarlane did for adult animation

The harry Potter/Percy Jacksonification of children's literature

The magical choose one trope being taken to a magical world did irremediable damage to children's literature

The mean girl trope

Books set in fictional middle ages but the protagonist go to balls in fashion show modern runaway style dresses

You know the tacky Pinterest glittery showing shoulders back and leg

Those official arts of the same exactly white women and the same white guy in slightly different clothes with the same 2016 style eyebrows and the sharp jawline and the nothing expression

Characters being described as "golden skin" so depending if the author needs some representation points they can be interpreted as people of color but if no one says nothing they stay as just tan white

Comparing dark skin color to any food

How many authors try to make at the same time "this is brainless wish fulfilment fantasy about being desired by a hot dominating guy" and " this is a profound take about the horrors of abuse"

Usually by having the second love interest to abuse the protag

In the end the message that stays is any abuse is forgivable if the abuser is hot enough

The "I'm skinny but not hot super model skinny I am ugly skinny my bones show because of malnourishment"

"yet I don't feel any other effect of starvation like being weak and I can carry five times my body weight in whatever animal the author needs me to hunt in the beginning of the book because making me a farmer wouldn't be cool"

"I am ugly" cried the skinny girl with locks of auburn hair porcelain white skin and eyes of emerald green.

The jk Rowling stupid name school (she named the werewolf Wolfy mcwolf in Latin and people though it was smart now we have a girl who fights on a island named island and the archer who marries a fae named fae archer )

And again faes because fuck faes

#anti sjm #anti sarah j maas #anti booktok #books #writing #unpopular opinion #i guess #yes i am sour and mean #anti jk rowling #anti lore olympus #i know it doesn't counts as a book #but i bloody hate it #fuck booktok #anti coho #anti coleen hoover #i think this is how you write her name

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olderthannetfic · 4 months

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Until I read the comments on that one post I had no idea the Bechdel Test was a joke and wasn't supposed to be a serious measuring stick by which you gauged if something was feminist or not. Everywhere I'd ever heard it brought up, it was brought up as a very serious thing, and it was a failure of media if it didn't pass it. I remember the debate about Mako Mori from Pacific Rim and if she was a character you were "allowed" to like as a progressive person despite the fact that Pacific Rim doesn't pass the Bechdel Test, the discourse, the discussion of if the director was sexist for not writing in another woman for her to chat with about non-men related stuff, the camp of people trying to insist that having a fully realized character arc and being as developed as any of the male leads = good writing even if she doesn't talk to another girl...

And I've also had the remark about my writing not passing the test, just not to my face. I searched my fanfic's name once, curious to see if anyone was discussing it outside of tumblr and AO3, and found a Tiktok complaining about it not passing the Bechdel Test. The top comment was "motherfucker YOU don't pass the test but we still watch your ass". I cackled and moved on, but neither the commenter, poster, nor I had any awareness this wasn't Feminist Media Critique 101 theory and was, in fact, a goof.

Right now there's a segment of fandom debating if Blue Eye Samurai is feminist since when Mizu and Akemi talk, they do bring up men, since, y'know. Women aren't considered people with rights in their era in Japan and thus it's something they mention instead of only talking about being cool girlboss badasses who never bring up gender. If something doesn't pass the Bechdel Test, a smug segment of the internet high-fives itself and congratulates one another on being More Feminist Than Thou.

They then get really angry if you disagree, even though by this metric, Sleeping Beauty (the original animated one, where Aurora has only 16 lines of dialogue) is more feminist than Blue Eye Samurai.

*DYING*

Okay, so, nonnie....

Dykes to Watch Out For (1983-2008) was a long-running comic and major piece of lesbian media. I grew up buying compiled volumes at the bookstore. To be honest, that kind of 90s-ish lesbian culture isn't really my scene despite me being bi, but it was very nice to have this slice of life-y somewhat realistic, occasionally somewhat parody, look at the queer communities around me. It's up there with Tales of the City for me in terms of being a window into a particular culture and time and place.

If anybody is interested in queer history, in addition to looking up factual info, I think a read of the complete Dykes would give a really good overview of how people were thinking about things and what issues came up a lot. You'll see things like Barnes & Noble increasingly putting feminist bookstores out of business in the 90s, attitudes towards porn in lesbian circles—all kinds of cultural issues of the day.

I drifted away as I got later in my teens and found more genre fiction I cared about, but at one point, this comic was a very welcome antidote to the glurgey coming out stories that made up a lot of the more realistic media.

Anyway, here's the comic itself, reproduced in its entirety because I think it's important to actually understand the context.

This is from 1985, so the era of Rambo, Conan, and Death Wish, each of which you can see being made fun of here. It's based on Bechdel's friend Liz Wallace's actual rule for seeing movies.

That's it. That's the origin of this whole stupid test.

"LOL, fuck 80s action movies". That's it. That's the joke.

The fact that blockbusters still routinely fail to pass in the 2020s is shameful, but that was never the point of the strip.

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hihello-pinky · 1 month

Text

Sight (4)

Suna Rintarou x F! Reader

Sometimes, it takes losing someone to finally see them. He wished he knew this before, but Rintarou had to learn this the hard way.

WARNINGS: descriptive smut, foul language, implied multiple rounds of sex

WC: 2.7k

Genre: Angst, Romance, Hurt/Comfort

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and in no way represents my views of the original anime/manga characters.

Here's part 4! As usual, thank you for waiting for the update. This is quite a short chapter and you can treat it as an extended calm before the storm.

Spoiler alert for the next part: that's where all hell breaks loose HAHA (okay, maybe an exaggeration).

Kindly reblog and/or leave a comment if you liked this short update!

part one part two part three

kofi ~

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT ‼️

˚✧₊⁎⁎⁺˳✧༚

If someone told you a few months ago that one morning you’d wake up to the sight of your husband watching you intently while you slept, you would have laughed at their face and dismissed them.

But alas, here you are, slowly blinking the sleep away from your eyes as you make out Rintarou’s face. You half expect him to turn away and pretend he wasn’t watching you but to your surprise, he only raises an eyebrow at you. “Morning”.

You try to sit up but immediately groan as your body protests in pain. Rintarou chuckles a little as he offers help. “Too sore?”

“And whose fault is that?” You retort as you let him help you while at the same time trying to hide your blushing face, knowing that you’re miserably failing.

Rin hums before replying with a smirk. “I definitely wasn’t the one who sugggested for more…”

Your eyes widen before you playfully swat his hands away. He laughs again, the sound foreign to your ears not but unwelcome. You silently hope you’ll be able to hear it a lot more often soon. “Rintarou!”

The two of you are interrupted by the sound of incessant knocking on your bedroom door. It prompts you to look at the clock. “Oh my god, it’s late!”

Rintarou tilts his head to the side. “It’s Saturday though?”

Before you can answer, the sound of your kids’ concerned voices rings through the door. “Mom? Dad? Where are you… We’re scared.”

You hear a muffled groan from your husband as he pulls away from you and you hastily get yourself prepared.

~~~

Suna watches as you cook pancakes for breakfast. He can hear the kids playing in the living room, the sound of the cartoons they had insisted to “watch” playing in the background.

“Is it not tiring?”

You send him a curious glance before returning your attention to the pan. “Cooking?”

“All the house work,” he clarifies as he moves from the kitchen island to join you near the stove. “You never tried to ask if we could hire a new helper when Jiri left.”

He feels you tense a bit once he’s standing close to you. “I like doing all the work.”

“Still, a little help would have been nice, right?”

He’s surprised when you turn to him, an outstretched hand holding a spatula. With a smile, you tell him, “Not from a stranger.

Suna reluctantly takes the tool from you and you laugh a liittle. “You don’t know how to cook?” He feels sheepish as he nods. You purse your lips. “Okay. Maybe you can help with other chores.”

As you try to take the spatula back from him, Suna softly grasps your hand. The action surprises even him.

“What?” He tries to conceal a smirk as he notices the faint blush beginning to color your face.

“I’d like it if we spend a few hours every week where you teach me the ways around the kitchen.”

“I’m not really good at cooking. Why don’t you ask Osamu instead?”

Suna gives you a rather mischievous smile as he maneuvers your hands so that the spatula is placed on the counter. Your fingers are intertwined, his wedding ring digging into yours “I’m not married to Osamu, why would I want to spend time in the kitchen with him?”

~~~

“Grandpa, Grandma, Mommy and Dad almost burned the kitchen!” You watch as Risa. runs towards her grandmother’s open arms while Ryuu runs to his grandfather.

Rintarou’s mother sends you a curious look and before you can respond, he goes to her and kisses her on the cheek. “We just got pre-occupied.”

The statement makes Rintarou’s mother let out an excited squeal as she beams at you. “Are we going to expect some good news soon?”

You instantly blush, realizing what she was implying. “T-That’s not…"

“Honey,” Your father-in-law says as your husband hands him the kids’ bags. “Don’t embarrass them like that.”

The statement reminds you that over the past years, the two of you have somehow managed to convince Suna’s parents that after the forced marriage, you were able to actually work out together as a couple. Though you wonder how stories of Rin’s numerous affairs manage to evade them.

You go and give goodbye hugs to your children. “You two behave, okay?”

Ryuu nods and smiles at you, his smile very similar to his father’s. “Yes, Mommy. Risa is the one who doesn’t behave.”

Your daughter’s protests die down as you plant a kiss on the top of her head. “Shh, Risa. Don’t listen to your brother��s teasing.”

Rintarou laughs a little as he ruffles the kids’ hairs one after the other. “Don’t give your grandma and grandpa headaches, okay?”

“Okay, Dad!"

As soon as Rin’s parents and the kids drive off, you’re left alone with him. “I should probably go do laundry…”

“Do you need help?” He asks as he shuts the front door.

“Not really…”

“But…?"

A small smile finds its way to your lips. “But if you want to help, I’m not gonna stop you.”

~~~

When you let Rintarou help you in doing the laundry, you weren’t expecting that it wouldn’t be the only thing he’d be… doing. You can barely recall the things leading to your current predicament: you seated on top of the washing machine as Rin slowly thrusts into you.

“Shit,” he curses against your ear hotly. “This feels so good.”

Your grip on his bicep tightens at the pleasure coursing through your body. “Rin, I’m almost there.”

At your words, his movements speed up. His heavy pants not helping you hold back your release. You tighten around him and just as you reach your orgasm, Rin thrusts harder. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! I’m gonna cum.”

Groans and heavy breathing reverberate in the laundry room as you’re both trying to recover from your orgasms.

He’s the one who catches his breath first. “I’m gonna pull out, okay?”

Too exhausted to come up with a reply, you only nod your head. However, the drag of his cock as he pulls out makes you whine in sensitivity and you reach out to his arm to try to slow him down.

“Fuck, sorry.” You close your eyes as you feel your mixed liquids beginning to slip out. Neither of you try to wipe them.

Rin breaks the silence before it can fully take place. “I have a question.”

“Hmm?”

“How come you never got pregnant despite the times I fucked you in the last four years?”

Despite your current position, his question still makes you blush. You only mutter one word. “Contraceptives.”

He’s quiet for a while. “I see.”

~~~

For the rest of the day, Rintarou helped you in doing the house chores. But for every time you finish one task, you somehow find yourself doing some sort of… intimate act with him.

“Listen, I’m happy to hear that you’re both spending more time together,” Sacha says over the phone. “But it’s concerning me that all you do is have sex. Do you two even talk?”

You’re currently propped against your bed while Rin is in the shower. You look at the door to the bathroom before turning back to your phone screen, where Sacha is currently doing her night skincare routine. “We do talk… just about regular stuff.”

Even through Facetime, you can hear the deep sigh from your friend. “That’s not good. At all.”

You know it as well but truth be told, you’re scared to initiate deep or serious talks with your husband, the last time being when you asked him for divorce. “I’m aware but I don’t know how to bring it up. What if he decides to block me out again?”

Sacha gently taps the moisturizing cream on her cheek for better absorption. “Then this resolve of him trying to make your marriage work is a big fucking joke. Make sure to call him out.”

It’s your turn to let out a deep sigh. “Okay. I’ll try to find the perfect time to bring it up.”

In the background, you hear the shower turning off. “I’ll be hanging up now, ‘Cha. Talk to you again soon.”

“Sure, dear. And see you soon?”

“Yeah, see you soon.”

Sacha waves through the screen and makes a kissy face. “Bye! Love you!” You smile at your friend as you faintly hear the sound of the bathroom door opening.

“Love you too, bye!”

As the call ends, you feel Rintarou looking at you. You meet his gaze. “What is it?”

He blinks, as if only now realizing that he was staring. “Nothing,” he replies as he makes his way across the room to retrieve clothes.

Just like the night before, you try your hardest not to watch him, ignoring the way droplets of water slide from the tips of his hair down to his nape.

You try to break the silence that was starting to take over the room. “How was today? Doing chores with me?”

You can tell your question surprises him and you can’t even blame him. In your attempt to make small talk, that was the first thing that popped into your mind.

Suna pulls a gray tank top over his head as he wears sweats. He walks over to you after he drapes his towel against the chair by the vanity. “Fun, I guess.”

He stops at the edge of the bed, still standing, and cocks his head to the side as if daring you to ask him more questions. You decide to take the challenge. “Which parts were fun?”

Rintarou’s answer is immediate. “Spending time with you.”

In response, you can already feel the blood rushing to your cheeks, especially since the next question is already leaving your mouth. “You mean the part where we have sex?”

You half expect him to laugh, his lips curving into his signature smirk. Instead, he looks into your eyes seriously. “No. I meant the part where you were telling me what you usually do and showing me how I can help. I liked watching the way your brows furrow in concentration and the way your lips pout when you’re trying to think of how to explain stuff to me.”

He retains the eye contact as he finishes talking. When you don’t respond, he finally moves again and joins you on the bed. “Y/N.”

Your breath hitches as Suna comes closer. “Y-Yes?”

“We need to talk.”

You nod slowly, still processing what’s currently happening.

Rin shakes his head. “That’s not talking.”

You clear your throat. “Okay.” A long inhale. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Us.” His hand moves to hold yours but at the last second, he pulls back, putting it at his side instead. “I meant it when I told you weeks ago that I want to make our marriage work. But it’s not just about us not fighting anymore and being on good terms. It’s not just about me stopping with my cruel treatment of you from before.

“Do you know what the hardest part was for me for the past years? Fighting my attraction to you. What I’m trying to say is, I actually want a relationship with you, not just have marriage as merely a label.”

You open your mouth to speak but he puts a finger against it. “Let me finish, please?” The pleading look in his eyes, partnered with the gentleness with which he put his finger against your lips, urges you to nod in agreement.

“I know I was a horrible person to you. I took advantage of you when you were drunk because I was young and stupid and rebellious. Actually, I think I’m still stupid because when we were forced to get married, I threw away the chance of making it up to you and still treated you harshly. Instead of apologizing, I resented you because I thought you were taking away from me my freedom.

“And that’s fucked up because I was the one who took everything away from you. So, really. I don’t think I can ever apologize enough for everything I put you through. In fact, I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness. But if you ever decide to forgive me and give me a chance to make it up to you, I would cherish it.

“You’re beautiful, Y/N, and I’m not just pertaining to your physical appearance. You have a beautiful heart and soul, you’re a beautiful person who does not deserve everything that happened to you because of me. I’m sorry, I don’t think I will ever stop apologizing to you. But still, I want to have another real chance with you.

“I’ve been denying my attraction to you for years and I’m now tired of running away. I want to know you more, Y/N. And in return, I want you to know me as well. Will you give us a chance?”

Surely, he must be able to hear the loud thumping of your heart. You’re at a loss of words. This is the most he has ever spoken to you.

Suna looks at you gently. “You don’t have to answer right away.”

You know that, but still, you reach for his hand on the bed. “When I was younger and read stories of people giving second chances, I always got frustrated. Why would they risk getting hurt by the same person again? I told myself I would never make the same decisions as them.”

He adjusts your hands so that he can rub his thumb against your palm. His eyes do the talking for him. “Go on.”

“Yet, look at me. Weeks ago, I agreed to give our marriage a chance. And just now… I want to tell you that I feel the same about wanting to start over again. I want us to get to know each other more.

“I don’t know what’s next to come, if we’ll even have a happy ending. But I want to take the risk with you, Rin.”

Your eyes meet his and the sincerity in them almost makes you tear up. You remain with locked eyes until finally, he says, “I’m glad. Thank you, Y/N.”

What he does next makes your heart pound against your chest. He leans forward, his breath warm against your face as he squeezes your still intertwined hands. You feel your cheeks heat up as his lips touch your forehead.

Rintarou leans back and gives you a soft smile. “Let’s go to sleep?”

Still flustered from his sudden forehead kiss, you can only respond with a nod.

~~~

Suna has always been an early riser. As a student, the habit paid off a lot as it allowed him to have ample time for academics and volleyball. As a young adult, it was useful when it came to escaping from awkward morning-after conversations with his one night stands.

Now, he’s beginning to discover another appreciation for his body clock. Similar to the day before, waking up before you gives him time to observe your features.

You look peaceful when asleep.

Now that the denial of his attraction to you is thrown out the window, it seems to Suna that he can’t get enough of you. Your soft, steady breathing and the serene look on your face tugs at his heart.

The feeling of wanting to protect you from anything that can potentially hurt you almost makes him scoff at himself. After all, he was the one that hurt you in the past few years.

If he wants to protect you from pain, he really should just distance himself from you. But Suna knows that he’s a selfish person. So, he’ll take another route instead: change and improve himself. Be someone who won’t hurt you; someone worthy to stay at your side.

It’s the determination that came to him last night, when he had closed his eyes trying to go to sleep, basking in the warmth of your body beside him.

For all the years of taking you for granted, Suna vowed to himself that from now on, he’s going to cherish every moment he spends with you.

TO BE CONTINUED.

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#haikyuu angst #haikyuu x reader #suna rintarou #haikyuu fic #haikyuu fluff #suna x reader #suna angst #haikyuu!!#suna fluff #suna rintarou angst #sunarin #sunarin angst #sunarin fluff #haikyuu hurt/comfort #sunarin x reader #suna rintarou x reader

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cooketimm · 7 months

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Hardboiled #10-25 (1990-98) cover artwork by Bruce Timm

Interview from Cool Stuff Magazine #1 (1995):

Gary Lovisi: Much of your work is characterized by raw, intense energy and action, or beautiful women in stylish, dangerous settings. Some is obviously influenced by the pulps.

Bruce Timm: I’m big pulp fan, have been since the early 70s, when I started reading Doc Savage and Avenger reprints. I can’t really say how they’ve influenced my artwork much, except when doing pulp-homage stuff like the Bob Price books. But I do sometimes wish I was born decades earlier so I could have worked for some of the old pulps, which was why it was so much fun doing the Price stuff, and the «mock 50s» paperback covers for your Gryphon Books.

The hero pulps — Doc Savage, The Spider, The Shadow, etc — did have a big impact on my approach to the Batman cartoons. It’s something I tried to inject into the show from early on, the atmosphere, danger and illicit excitement, and especially that Norvell Page-type feeling of impending doom — the «doomed city» mood. It’s also why I set the sense in a timeless, 40s-styled world of big cars, padded shoulders, gangsters, shadowy streets, etc. I only wish we’d gone farther with it.

For instance, my original version of Batman himself was actually close to the Shadow: rarely seen close-up, speaking in short, clipped phrases, more mysterious, literally. I wanted to play him cold and remote, almost unhuman. But the network and our various story editors would have none of that! «We need to humanize him», «He needs to have a sense of humor», «We need to more about Bruce Wayne, the person», etc! Whereas I could care less about Bruce Wayne! He’s much more fascinating if you don’t know what he’s thinking, or what drives him.

A few «Shadowy» touches did survive. Batman is rarely seen be the public, almost never on TV. Even when dealing with the police, he’s usually off in shadows conferring with Commissioner Gordon only. And when he’s in the Batcave, he’s almost always in costume. My way of saying he’s Batman, not the other guy, not Bruce Wayne. Like Lamon Cranston, his true, «legal» identity is a facade.

I’ d love to do straight-ahead pulp hero adaptation someday. Doc or The Shadow or The Spider, either in comics or animation, without the senseless updating and over-explaining «character development» like in the Alec Baldwin-Shadow-fiasco-film.

Gary Lovisi: Your stunning covers for my Hardboiled mag are very popular with everyone who sees them. What are your feelings on hardboiled crime-related art?

Bruce Timm: It’s hard, actually, to define «crime-fiction» art. There’s pulp crime-fiction art, and digest crime-fiction art, both of which cross over with paperback crime-fiction art. Basically, I’m a fan of good illustration. Period. Regardless of subject matter. Composition, emotionally intensity, color and lighting effects are what I look for. And pretty girls, of course!

My favorite pulp crime artist is H. J. Ward, hands down. Gorgeous gals in twisty curvy poses, painted in luscious, creamy, wet-on-wet oil technique. My favorite paperback artists include Robert McGinnis, Robert Maguire, and Mitchell Hooks, the usual suspects.

My approach to the Hardboiled covers is different from my earlier «homage» work. When the covers were black and white, I used to experiment with different b&w textures, coquille board, zip-a-tone, xeroxed newsprint, whatever worked. Now that I’m doing them in color, I’m trying to make them as exciting and eye-catching as possible, with loud color, sexy gals, exaggerated action, and simple, graphic, almost cartoony styling.

#bruce timm #pulp #cover #cover art #interview

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fairykazu · 6 months

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whaling ft. bf! scaramouche

masterlist | series mlist | next

scaramouche can't believe that you're all over this "dan heng" character and like be for real, he's so much better than this guy who's all speary. even more so, after dan heng had a 5-star version of himself. he has never seen you step out of your room only for taking a piss and eating some food.

whatever! can this dan heng chop apples for you? he cannot! he’s 2D and here you have your lovely boyfriend, scaramouche, who is REAL. 3D and not at all fictional. does dan heng know what you love to eat? no. he better not see dan heng in your search history.

he walked into your shared office with him, bowl of fruit in hand and water in the other, whereas almost half of the room was covered in stuffed animals or game merchandise (he won't lie that some of those are his). he saw you near your desk, next to your pc, sprawled out on the floor, on the brink of tears. he sighed and knew this was apart of your theatrics. "name."

you turned around with dark circles under your eyes, sunk down and that's when he knew you were going to rant about something. he placed the bowl of apples on the desk and the water, sat down and pulled you into his lap. "what now?"

you start to fake bawl into his shirt, balling up his sweatshirt, "i lost the 50/50..."

he pinched his nose bridge before asking, "to who?"

"CLARA. like i have SIXTY THOUSAND COPIES OF HER TOO. all i wanted was imbibitor lunae and i prefarmed too!" you cried as scaramouche rolled his eyes. he grabbed a slice of apple and fed you it as he replied,

"so do you want anything?" scaramouche felt weight being lifted from his chest as you finished the apple slice and tilted your head.

"hm?" you both know how this gacha addiction ends and it's not like scaramouche really cares about this lunae imbibnator guy. it's worth it to see you smile and happy... not like he'll tell you anyway.

"do you want me to buy you those gems? onesis crystals?" scaramouche asked, seeing you let out a breathy laugh as you batted your eyes innocently.

"oneiric?" of course, classic name to reply with a question back.

"yes, whatever that is."

"um."

behind you, you heard your screen flashed a pop up screen. 6480 shards staring at you as you shifted away from scaramouche's face. just before you looked back at him. "i didn't need that much..."

"didn't you reset your pity? you probably need more. how much do you have right now? click to the warp page." scaramouche instructed not giving you a chance to interject. even though you were about to switch the tab to the warp page, your boyfriend decided that you were too slow and switched it for you. "hm, you have 5 stellar jades left, adding 6480 plus bonus... that would be around 40 wishes, which isn't enough. did you have the monthly tickets yet?"

you snorted quietly, he's so pretty when he's so smart. but maybe you have to stop him from spending his money on you so much. you might need an intervention. "i think so."

scaramouche clicked to the shop and saw the pop up for the free 5 wishes for the price of the insane amount of dust you had. "of course not, you're an idiot." for the harsh words, he is saying it lovingly.

you watched him calculate the amount of wishes just before making you look at opposite direction. you hear the shard sound effect again next to you as you slowly turned to scaramouche again. he shrugged it off.

"why did you get me 51840 shards?"

"for good luck."

you spluttered, "i don't need this many???"

"i'll buy you more if you need them."

#genshin impact x you #bf! scara (vi's vers)#genshin impact scaramouche #scaramouche imagines #scaramouche x reader #scara #scaramouche #scara x reader #genshin scara #wanderer #the balladeer #kunikuzushi #wanderer x reader #scaramouche x you #kunikuzushi x reader #genshin smau #scaramouche fluff

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sterakraffulz78 · 5 months

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Stolas...

I already saw that musical... that damn musical that I now consider to be one of the worst videos I have ever seen on the entire YouTube platform.

To summarize all this, it's just Stolas being the victim and the usual sad boy, it's just a video to feel sorry for this dirty and ugly bird.

Throughout the video we are shown how Stolas is a pathetic misunderstood who only wants the attention of his """blitzy""", and how? If all this time this little shit bird has been treated as a toy, threatened by his family and fetishized to a sick point that only cares about his cock and nothing else, this is so horrifying and disgusting...

"I don't care that you're of lower status"...really?...how dare you say that while treating your so-called toy's friends like shit including your own butler, you're just a dirty rat

There is barely one, ONLY ONE, mention of Octavia, and 99% of the video is only based on how she cries to Blitz like a pathetic, sad and failed simp, while your own daughter who has been more present in your life and She has needed you like never before, she suffers from loneliness, depression and since she only wants someone who understands her, this """Character""" is only interested in someone she barely met for just once in her life.

This is the purest definition of what you should not do with a character, how to make a character that at first would be interesting become the most irritating, ridiculous, stupid, and poorly pathetic thing just for the convenience of our dear friend and animal abuser Vivianne Medrano aka "Vivziepop"

I never thought I would say this, but this is not only one of the worst characters in animation (and possibly fiction), but this Show... this show that has such good animation, all that potential is wasted by a wet fujoshi who just wants to see how her two boys just want to fuck, fuck, fuck and FUCK, why is that what she wants while she mistreats, abuses and overexploits such talented people to make her crappy

id I'm fed up, I'm totally fed up, all this just makes me stressed, wishing the worst of evil on this woman... how many people have I harmed just to seek their own satisfaction?...

Please stop watching this series... stop giving money to this sick woman, the only thing you are doing is giving benefits to a stupid woman who is only interested in herself, the fetishization and stereotyping of LGBT people...

#vivziepop critical #helluva boss critical #helluva critical #anti stolitz #helluva boss fandom critical #vivziepop criticism #anti vivziepop #anti stolas #blitzo #helluva boss

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claudemblems · 1 year

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Bookish Romance | Malleus + Leona Headcanons

Summary: How Malleus and Leona act with an s/o that loves to read and go shopping for books

Notes: I only just finished the Savanaclaw chapter but that's not going to stop me from writing for Malleus

Malleus Draconia

Finds you unbelievably adorable.

Though he doesn't quite understand how fictional stories can make you so excited, he's just glad to see you have something that makes you so happy.

"Child of Man, could you tell me what you find so fascinating about these stories? I wish to know what exactly intrigues you. Perhaps, if it is within my power, I can recreate the scenes with you."

100% turns into his dragon form just so you can soar through the sky on him like the characters in your fantasy novel. What, you didn't expect him to do this for you? Don't you know how much Malleus Draconia, crown prince of Briar Valley, is willing to make all of your dreams come true?

He'll even rope the rest of the dorm into these reenactments. You need princes fighting for your hand in marriage? Good thing Diasomnia has 3 other willing members! (They didn't actually get a say in all of this).

It's a bit embarrassing for them, but they don't mind it too much. The boys adore you, and they'll do anything to see you and Malleus smile. Sebek and Silver will still insist they're only doing it for their young master, though (they're just shy okay).

If there's a certain book you can't find or that has gone out of print, Malleus ensures that you WILL get it no matter what. If that means using his royal title and demanding a publishing house to make an extra copy just for you, he won't hesitate to do so.

You've tried to keep yourself from mentioning you want things now because they keep mysteriously showing up at your door. You appreciate Malleus' thoughtfulness, but you know he drives his staff crazy; they're the ones who have to fetch your gifts on his behalf.

Malleus truly has no impulse control when he wants to spoil you, which is all the time.

He LOVES when you cuddle up next to him by the fireplace and read your books aloud to him. The stories are always entertaining, but more than anything, he just enjoys listening to your voice.

Even better if you fall asleep on him in the middle of it. It makes his heart flutter in his chest every time.

He'll quietly carry you back to your room, careful to mark the place in your book where you stopped before giving you a kiss on the forehead, bidding you goodnight.

He wonders if you'd like to have him read stories to you, too. Perhaps you'd like to hear a classic fairytale. He knows a delightful one about fairies and sleeping princesses.

Leona Kingscholar

Oh no, he's got it bad for you.

He's not really into reading books that much himself, but there's something so heartwarming watching how your eyes light up when you spot your favorite series in a bookstore or how you make grabby hands trying to reach a volume from the top shelf.

You're ridiculously cute. He won't admit it to you, but it's blatantly obvious to everyone else.

He will, however, tease you relentlessly.

He has no problem grabbing the book you want and holding it above your head, just far enough out of reach, a smug smirk on his face.

"You've gotta work to get it, Herbivore." "Just give me my book, Leona!!! 😠"

The angry pout you give him makes his heart go all soft and mushy. Who gave you the right to be so adorable? It only spurs on his teasing side even more, if only just so he can look at your adorable expressions.

His favorite thing besides napping is watching you ramble on about the plot of a book or your favorite characters. You get so animated when you talk and he can visibly see the joy beaming on your face. He's so used to dry conversations with other people that he isn't used to someone talking so earnestly with him, or rather, excitedly rambling about nonsensical things. It's intoxicating.

You'll be several minutes into your tangent when you look over and see Leona, head resting in his hand, gazing at you with the fondest smile you swear you've ever seen him wear.

Your heart can't help but skip a beat at the sight. Is this how he looks at you when you're too lost in your own world to notice? The thought makes your cheeks flush.

"Herbivore, you didn't finish telling me about what happened next. You can't just leave me on a cliffhanger like that."

And once again, your eyes are shining with delight as you continue gushing over your favorite book. Leona can't hold back his growing smile, no matter how hard he tries.

Out of all the herbivores he's met in his lifetime, you are truly the most endearing of them all.

#[kat writes]#twst #twst x reader #malleus draconia #malleus x reader #leona kingscholar #leona x reader

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flappingdragon · 3 months

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What Type of Anime Would The Brothers Watch?

A/N: Been a while, hasn’t it? Sorry, I just got caught up in life and work. There was a personal matter that I had to attend to so it took longer than usual. I know this isn’t the promised “next HC’s”, but trust me. They aren’t a myth. Yet…

Characters: Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan, Satan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, Belphegor, Diavolo, Barbatos, and Solomon

Tags: SFW, anime, suggestive content, short HC’s

Lucifer

Definitely Slice of Life

He likes watching other people enjoy normal lives

He’s also quite sad that he doesn’t get to experience such things because of his certainly unique and odd family and boss

Secretly wishes he could be normal and live a normal life like the characters in the anime

Mammon

It’s hard to choose but he’d totally be into the action/fantasy category

Especially ones that deal with gambling or money

Actually learned a thing or two about gambling from an anime

Brought Lucifer a couple headaches and resulting in a few chandelier replacements, but hey

He’s living his best life

Leviathan

Alright. It’s pretty much canon at this point

Isekai

He loves how random some Isekai’s can get

I mean, how could you NOT watch someone being reincarnated into a fridge? That’s peek action right there!

But no seriously

He also loves how chaotic the titles can be

And how freakishly long they get the more he watches

As long as it’s Isekai, he doesn’t care what genre it is

Satan

Thrillers, true crime, or drama

Knowledge addict

He only picks the ones that are labeled as “based on a true story”

Gets super hyped when a new episode of one of his favorites comes out

Will genuinely keep him from destroying the place

Even if someone were to accidentally bump him

He’ll just brush it off and continue watching

Honestly is so cute when his eyes light up

Also fewer headaches in Lucifer’s department so it’s not all that bad

Asmodeus

Anything with fan service

Or comedy

He likes a good laugh every now and then

Or anything to do with fashion

Any three of those and he’s hooked

Doesn’t matter the genre, just set it in front of him and he’ll be entertained for hours

He doesn’t watch shows with fan service too often, but he usually does find the situations quite funny

I mean, someone’s cloths being shred to bits in the silliest way possible? Count him in! That shit is funny to him!

He also loves an anime that knows how to dress their characters right

Doesn’t matter what type of anime it is, as long as it keeps his eyes on the outfits, then he’s sold

But he’s usually caught watching comedy more so than hentai

He prefers to be horny with actual people, not fictional characters

Beelzebub

Dear lord, anything to do with food please keep it away from him

We don’t need a repeat of last time

He doesn’t watch anime too often, but when he does it’s usually rpg style shows

He likes how excitable they can be

He likes seeing the main character thrive and achieve what they wanted

Hates anime’s that have a good start but bad ending

I mean, come on

Who wants to be sad and depressed after watching a good show?

Certainly not Beelzebub

It makes him lose his appetite

Belphegor

Like Beelzebub, he doesn’t watch too much anime

He likes more relaxing and chill-going animes

So maybe slice of life with a bit of comedy and adventure

Nothing too extreme, just something to have in the background as he falls asleep

Sometimes, when he falls asleep with the TV on, he’ll dream of the anime and accidentally wake up late for R.A.D

He hates getting scolded by Lucifer so he makes sure to wake up before then

No one knows how he does it, but he manages

Diavolo

He watches whatever is recommended to him

Mainly Isekai because Levi can’t stop recommending everything to Diavolo (mainly bc the prince is the only one who will listen to him with interest)

He also likes to peek in on what Lucifer is watching, too

Because how could he not?

He’d love to understand more about his friend in any way possible and totally not because he wants to invite him out for drinks later and totally not because I’m a DiaLuci shipper

But he kind of just watches whatever whenever

Nothing really sticks to him

It’s either everything at once or nothing at all

He likes it chaotic

Barbatos

Doesn’t watch anime

Watches whatever is on the TV that the young master chooses

He’s more of a live cooking show type of demon

He prefers to learn something rather than entertain himself for the mere sake of it

He enjoys learning new things so he tends to stray away from the things that are fictional

But if there was one anime he’d watch, he’d watch Black Butler

Because how could he not?

He too, is One Hell of a Bulter

Solomon

Slice of Life or cooking

Mainly Slice of Life

He’s sort of been banned from watching anything related or suggested to cooking

Mainly out of fear from others

If he were to watch cooking anime shows, it’d be in private and when no one is watching

He likes how funny and chill some Slice of Life shows can get

It’s a break from his very disastrous life

Probably one of the few times a month he really gets to relax

After all, he still has to get that pact agreement from Lucifer

And he’s not going to stop any time soon

A/N: Totally did not make this to procrastinate— (whistles and slowly walks away…)

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lujingheswife · 7 months

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i’ll find you, you’ll find me.

summary: you found yourself in the world of haikyuu, and spent time with your favourite character.

featuring: your favourite character!

word count: 1536

cw: gn!reader, you teleported into the world of haikyuu, happy ending, angsty in between but i’m a fluff writer so dont worry, intentional lowercase, not proofread

author’s notes: wrote this in june 2020 !! found it in my drafts so might as well publish it hehe

_________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

it hadn't been long since you found yourself in another dimension — the haikyuu dimension. it felt like a dream to you, yet whatever you did you just wouldn't wake up.

was it really real? you thought to yourself, pacing around your fictional room not missing the sight of your uniform in front of you.

every haikyuu fan has a favourite character, just like you. you were indeed surprised at the sight of the uniform of your favourite school hanging neatly against the wall. sighing, you had no choice but to wear your uniform and head to school.

you realized your character was simply an average student in the school, so you need not to care about your popularity or loneliness. you were curious as it seemed to be your first day of school since it was the start of a new school year. since you're a first year, you didn't have to worry about friends.

yet your curiosity overwhelmed you and your legs automatically found their way towards the school's volleyball gym. before you could process your head, a familiar voice called out to you, “hello there.”

your head snapped up as your gaze met a pair of familiar eyes, one you had always admired his appearance on screen. it felt like a dream, realizing your favourite character actually talking to you — in front of you — in your favourite anime dimension. or was it really a dream...?

“hello?”

you flinched, shaking your head furiously before stuttering a reply, “h-hello! i'm sorry — u-uhm, is it okay if i apply as a team manager?”

again, you totally did not think twice before uttering that sentence.

he stared at you with curiosity, his gaze not breaking away from yours. after an unexpected staring competition, he smiled. “sure — i'll get the form immediately,” he replied. afterwards he lead you into the gym, showing you around on the way to fetch the application form introducing himself at the same time.

‘of course i know who you are,’ you thought to yourself. your eyes never left his figure, admiring his profile. for the nth time, you felt like it was a dream

he looked much more attractive up close.

☾ ⋆ * ･゚: ⋆ * ･゚: ✧ * ⋆. *: ･ﾟ ✧ .: ⋆ * ･゚: .⋆ ☾

what seemed like weeks passed by and you were still in the same dimension, not once waking up to reality. the topic of being in a dream that once worried you seemed to have been forgotten by you, as if you truly belonged in the dimension you found yourself into. slowly, your relationship with him developed further and you became a pair.

you once looked at him for being so good looking, a personality that you loved, born with talent and bonus point for being your favourite fictional character. now looking at the sleeping boyfriend in front of you with his head rested on his crossed arms, you brought out a hand as you reached out, gently grazing his cheek with the back of your index finger.

you loved everything about him.

“if i were from a different dimension, how would you react?” you asked in a whisper, careful not to stir him awake. you looked around your surroundings, the quiet library where your boyfriend would accompany you study once every week; the scenery through the tinted windows with the muffled sounds of pouring rain cutting the usual silence; and the man you wished had not been a fictional character sleeping with inaudible snores, including the visible bags under his eyes from practicing.

there were very few students today, as they quietly studied for the upcoming finals. months had passed since you found yourself in the dimension away from reality, you never once returned and you had nearly forgotten about it.

“i don't want to wake up from this — if only you weren't fictional, and if only we were meant to be together in the same world,” you whispered as a cracked sob escaped from your lips that couldn't help but quiver at the memories you had with him.

looking at how peaceful your boyfriend looked, you had to smile as a tear managed to escape. you softly called out to his name, the name you wished you could call forever, adding an “i love you” to finish the sentence.

at the end of the day, he couldn't get your words out of his head. he heard everything, and he wanted to talk to you about it.

he never wanted to lose you either.

☾ ⋆ * ･゚: ⋆ * ･゚: ✧ * ⋆. *: ･ﾟ ✧ .: ⋆ * ･゚: .⋆ ☾

tomorrow marked one year since you arrived in the fictional dimension. you were currently in his room, relaxing on his bed as he did his homework. was it the right time to talk about it? you pondered. it was rare for you to be quiet in times like this, and he probably figured out what you were thinking.

“when did you arrive here?” he asked, snapping you out of your endless thoughts leaving you in confusion.

“what do you mean?” you replied, “didn't you invite me here this morning?”

he brought his eyes to gaze into yours. “i mean, this dimension — the one you said fictional.”

his words caught you by surprise, making you wonder when did he found out. “how did you—”

“i'm sorry,” he replied, “i overheard you mentioning it that day in the library..”

it was when you finally realized — tomorrow would mark one year since you found yourself in the haikyuu dimension. now thinking about it, anxiety slowly rised into your head.

what if tonight would mark the last night for you to spend your time here?

your shaky pupils met his worrying ones. “are you okay?” he asked worriedly, rising from his seat to approach your trembling figure. you couldn't help but watch as his arms wrapped themselves around you, pulling you closer to him in an embrace. the tears wanting to escape began pouring out, dripping from your cheeks as they fell between him and you.

‘i don't want to leave.’

‘please don't leave.’

you didn't know how long had it been since you stayed in the same position, holding each other close. with a shaky breath, you began explaining everything; how you found yourself in the dimension and the world you originally belonged — the reality you had to face.

“maybe this would be the last day for me to be here,” you whispered.

he stayed quiet the whole time, not knowing what to say after hearing your explanations. he tried to process your words one by one, wanting to believe such a miracle exist for him and you.

he held you tighter in his arms as he called out to your name, repeating them before finding his tears overflowing as they streamed down his cheeks.

“i promise you,” he began, “i promise you, that i'll find you in our next life. i may be a fictional character in your world, and you will disappear from my world one day, but that won't change a thing. i love you, i love you and i love you —”

he pulled away from you, allowing some space in between as he cupped your face. slowly and gently, he tilted your face up to face him. he could only stare into your glassy eyes, still glistening from the tears. “i promise that in our next life, i'll find you and you'll find me.”

you smiled. “i promise that in our next life, i'll find you and you'll find me.” you repeated his words as your pinkies intertwined into a pinky promise.

you spent your night in his arms, talking about the possible future you might have in your next life, and recalling the memories you shared with him in his world.

the next morning, you were gone in his arms — as if you never existed in first place.

☾ ⋆ * ･゚: ⋆ * ･゚: ✧ * ⋆. *: ･ﾟ ✧ .: ⋆ * ･゚: .⋆ ☾

as you tried to chase after your pet, it stopped right in front of a stranger as it clung onto him lovingly. “i-i'm sorry! i hope it doesn't cause you any trouble,” you panted, stopping next to it as you bowed deeply in front of the stranger who didn't utter a word.

“s-sir?” you called out, confused at his silence. you stood straight as you met the gaze of the familiar looking stranger who stared at you with wide eyes.

as if everything crashed upon you, you stared at him in surprise, your heart aching at the lingering familiarity upon your first meeting.

‘i found you.’

you had never met him before, yet why were you crying?

you both began to walk together as you exchanged greetings and numbers, your pet leading the way towards where it wanna be. what was important, though, was that you both recalled a certain memory from a previous life.

“i promise that in our next life, i'll find you and you'll find me.”

_________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu oneshot #haikyuu x y/n #karasuno x reader #shiratorizawa x reader #nekoma x reader #haikyuu imagine #aoba johsai x reader #haikyuu #akaashi x reader #osamu x reader #daichi x reader #inarizaki x reader #fukurodani x reader #asahi x reader #oikawa x reader #iwaizumi x reader

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midnightfox450 · 5 months

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Is this a safe space. Can I just say that I think Fig's "I think that this is the creature Aguefort made for me" line immediately upon meeting Ayda isn't romantic at all, but actually super dehumanizing?

This is not meant to condemn Emily, Fig, or Figayda AT ALL. Ayda is genuinely my favorite fictional character of all time, and Figayda is my favorite ship of all time. But like. We have to admit that that initial meeting scene is rough. Kristen was by far the worst in that moment, but Fig wasn't exactly helping either.

When Fig says "I think that this is the creature Aguefort made for me", it's not in an 'we were made for each other you're my soulmate' kind of way. She's specifically referencing her request for an exotic animal (!!!) whose intended purpose is just to be used by people. It's not cute.

Literally the next line after Fig's "creature" comment is Adaine telling her flat out "No. This is a full person." And in the finale when Fig echoes this sentiment to Arthur, you can practically hear Emily's brain working to rephrase it in a way that doesn't sound as bad (I actually like it when she says it that time, it's clearly with respectful and romantic intent).

It's not entirely the players' fault and I certainly don't think they were intentionally being dehumanizing because she is black or autistic. They're improvisors who don't always say the wisest thing in the moment. They couldn't have predicted that this fetch quest NPC would gain deep significance and nuance over time. And part of it is just a reaction to the extreme and somewhat dehumanized way Brennan characterizes Ayda in that scene ("I require seed"), something he notably stops doing as she becomes more of a recurring character.

It's just not a good line y'all. I wish we would all stop referencing it.

#this is not meant to target anyone in particular #ive literally had this thought for three years i just chose to not make a big deal over it #but with a new season on its way i think its time for the fandom to move on from this take yknow #also sorry for the essay. its not that big of a deal im just really wordy #dimension 20 #fantasy high #ayda aguefort #figayda #ayda aguefort meta #d20 #fh #fhsy #fantasy high sophmore year

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orchres · 1 year

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The more time goes by the less I like Wakanda as a concept. I've said this before but how I see it the central idea of this fictional place is 1 part hotep "we was kangz!!" wishful thinking and 3 parts the awful, ahistorical and antiblack myth that any Africans who weren't kidnapped and sold into slavery in the west were just chilling and having a good fucking time and counting their coins from having sold their kin. like the latter in particular makes me sick to my stomach because how on earth could that EVER be true given that Africa has some of thee poorest countries in the world despite having 60% of all resources used on this planet to make things. like, please think critically. who benefits from this lie. antiblackness is a global project of extraction, slavery and disenfranchisement. Anyway my point is the wakanda narrative is at its core antiblack and it shows up in certain choices they make in the movie for instance, why would wakandans who famously have never experienced a single hardship in their blessed negro lives be wearing lip plates? when they emerged as a way of identifying kin and deterring slavers from kidnapping and selling you off to the Arabs? like it's not just some random inexplicable thing that primitives, sorry, East Africans do. but of course who gives a shit right? as long as it's a narrative that can make sense to those who would rather we resent each other and imagine the other had/has it better when at the end if the day it actually doesn't fucking matter at all because nobody cares to distinguish is unless it is to pit us against each other so we can stay distracted by racism. i despise the continued assertion that our culture can only be aesthetic and there's no thought whatsoever behind it because everyone knows that natives don't be thinking they just commune with the trees and soil because they're basically animals. fuck that movie.

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bestanimatedmovie · 1 year

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Choose your favorite!

Time to fly!

Vote in the other polls!

What fans say:

How To Train Your Dragon:

The message was just nice. I have a lot of nostalgia for it. I used to be a huge dragon nerd as a kid and dragons just weren't that prevalent in media here, especially not as friendly figures. I still love HTTYD and it's sequels nowadays.

It was one of my favorite movies as a kid and one of the few movies I watched that wasn't a barbie movie, it's just really cool.

Best movie featuring dragons period. The pure wish fulfillment fantasy of having a highly intelligent fantasy creature companion that can fly and doesn’t mind being ridden like a horse, therefore also the best execution of the dragon rider trope in all of fiction. Extremely funny, adding to the comedy is the fact that only adults have Scottish accents and all the teens have an American accent. So good that even its tv show follow up was decent by extension. The bit where Hiccup is trying to earn Toothless' trust and they start to work together changed me on a fundamental level.

I LOVE IT SO MUCHSHJKBSKHGDK I have a bone dysplasia which causes some bones to be a little bit more hollow and whenever I would feel a pain in my top back, 8 year old me was like ''woah I'm growing wings its my time to fly like toothless'' lol and it was always a dream of mine to fly. Weirdly enough I could relate to toothless because the "not being able to fly but you should be" felt like an allegory to a lot of my life! It gave me hope when he WAS able to after the help of others + the care he always needed + that mechanic wing thing made me feel like with the right ''recipe'' could help me get better too. My favourite scene is the first flight!! I love the animation for it, it makes me feel like im flying through the clouds too! The soundtrack is amazing too, I still cry to the songs.

I could write an entire essay about how much I love this movie, it truly is one of the best films ever made to me. Utterly flawless on both a technical level and a story-telling level. Not to mention the score oh my GOD the score of this movie changed my life. There are too many scenes that are so impactful, but the Forbidden Friendship scene has to be one of the best. Test Drive too.

This is literally my favorite movie of all time. This movie got me through the worst times in my life. It’s about love and friendship and all that lovely goopy stuff and it’s also fucking gorgeous.

THE cinematic masterpiece of our generation. On god.

This movie is an absolute masterpiece, the animation is pretty, the score is perfect, the relationship between Toothless and Hiccup is so sweet, Toothless is absolutely adorable. Definitely one of DreamWork's best films.

It's a beautifully animated movie about an unconventional viking boy named Hiccup finding his place in a world where dragons and vikings are constantly at odds, and how he changes the world around him. The dragon designs are unique and beautiful, and the vikings are larger than life and match the exaggerated setting.

Who on Tumblr DOESN'T want a dragon best friend I ask you. I would kill to have what Hiccup & Toothless have.

It does a brilliant job balancing tropes in a way that subverts and plays into them. There is so much in it for both adults and kids, it doesn't look like other animated films, it feels more grounded and in that realism it becomes so beautiful. The friendship in the film feels very real despite one of the characters being unable to talk! Forbidden Friendship scene is, in my opinion, the greatest scene in the history of cinema. The music, the lighting, the cinematography, the pacing, the emotions, it is practically perfect in every way. I could go on but I think ya get it.

God this movie defined my childhood and it's still so good when I rewatch it now. I'm guessing you'll have had this submitted a good few times bc it goddamn deserves it but. Hiccup is so relatable and !! dragons !! big cute dragons whose animation models are based on cats!! based fr

I have many fond childhood memories of this movie and in particular I loved how my cousin would "talk" for Toothless (cousin was babysitting us when we first watched the movie). Another thing is The SCORE. The music is iconic and awe inspiring to this day. That first time when Hiccup and Toothless fly together and it Works and the score absolutely goes HARD, I loose my breath every time. It's great. Also have you seen Toothless he's an adorable dragon and a badass, what's not to love?

Makes me cry every time because Hiccup and Toothless are such good friends and they love each other and end up as two halves of a boy dragon soulmate sandwich also the music is extremely good who doesn’t like dragons anyway.

It's the story of a beautiful friendship forming between a boy who doesn't fit in and a dragon who is the last of his kind. It's so cute. And it shows positive representation of disability, Hiccup and Toothless become disabled in ways that meaningfully parallel each other. Hiccup makes a prosthetic tail fin! And Toothless is just so cute!

The sound track is amazing

Honestly everything is phenomenal. It has a good use of comedy and an excellent story and character development. There are also countless beautiful and awe-inspiring scenes supported by an amazing score.

Up:

It is a very emotional movie about an old man learning to still enjoy life even though his wife died.

Such a beautiful film about loss

#How To Train Your Dragon #Up #best animated movie #round 2 #tournament poll #tumblr's favorite

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frankie-bell · 8 months

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An Essay Exploring Psycho-Pass's Most Controversial Character

I know I’m opening a huge, slimy can of worms and potentially incurring the wrath of half the Psycho-Pass fandom, but I feel compelled to share my feelings on Mika Shimotsuki and how I believe she serves as a lightning rod for fan culture misogyny. Now, before I start, let me just say that this essay isn’t targeted at any one individual, and it’s just my personal opinion, which you are more than welcome to disagree with. I’d also like to stress that, despite my love for Mika’s character, I’m going to try my very best to approach this topic from an academic standpoint rather than an emotional one. I recently picked Parasocial Relationships and their effect on female celebrities and fictional characters as a thesis for my Gender and Media course, and it really got me thinking about this anime in particular, so here we go…

Let’s tackle the female side of things first, because it’s the one that shocks and disappoints me the most. Don’t get me wrong -- I think fandoms with a strong female presence are awesome, complex, uplifting, and oftentimes incredibly positive and inclusive spaces. I love being a female genre fan and interacting with other female genre fans. That said, I’ve noticed female fandom can sometimes fall prey to online bullying and misogynistic groupthink when it comes to (a) female characters they find arrogant, bossy, mean, etc. and (b) female characters who are positioned as potential love interests for their collective male "blorbos," "husbandos," "faves," whatever the term may be. These two things very often overlap, which I’ll touch on later, but for now, let’s talk about the first point.

There was a big movement online several years ago urging creators to “let women be mean. Let them be angry. Let them be petty and complex and difficult. Let them be messy.” I fully support this idea in both theory and practice and wish it were that simple, but unfortunately, it’s not, because uncomfortably large swaths of fandom don’t like/appreciate unapologetically mean female characters the way they do male characters. Men in fiction are allowed to be cutthroat, selfish, cruel, narcissistic, arrogant, and even evil without garnering even a fraction of the judgement that female characters receive for simply being “difficult” or “unlikable.”

Take, for instance, Shougo Makishima. The Psycho-Pass fandom at large adores this character (myself included), despite the fact that he’s a remorseless sociopath who touts the importance of free will as a wholesale excuse for murder. He is a bad person, full-stop, and yet he garners love -- even sympathy -- in abundance. He’s the subject of fawning fan fiction, chibi art, thirst tweets, and endless Reddit analysis. Fans are capable of seeing him, murderous warts and all, as a product of the warped dystopian society Sibyl has created. But Mika? Nope. Just “a bitch, a whiner, an arrogant little girl who deserves to get slapped in the mouth.” (I am not making this up. These are the type of comments I see *female* fans making left and right about her character). She receives far more hate for giving up the location of Akane’s grandmother as a blackmailed, frightened teenager than Makishima does for slashing Yuki’s throat or blowing up Masaoka. Hell, she catches more heat for Akane’s grandmother than Sakuya Togane, the woman’s actual murderer and -- I can’t stress this enough -- a 41-year-old adult man.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking -- Makishima and Togane are villains, so their personality flaws (putting it lightly) and horrible actions are essential to the narrative and indicative of good storytelling. We’re meant to “love to hate them.” All correct, and yet this doesn’t change or excuse the fact that their standing in the fandom, when compared to the equally complex and emotionally fractured Mika, is textbook pernicious misogyny. But, for the sake of argument, let’s compare Mika to another character ostensibly on the side of good -- Nobuchika Ginoza. [Note: Ginoza is my favorite character in Psycho-Pass, and any commentary regarding his PP1 shittiness is made with pure love and appreciation for him and nuanced character growth in general.]

When we first meet Ginoza, he is rude, terse, unyielding, intellectually smug, and totally unforgiving of those closest to him. He’s a brilliant character, and his behavior, no matter how insufferable and seemingly cruel, is the result of compounded trauma -- the trauma of having his father ripped away when he was only nine, the trauma of being unfairly judged for the “sins” of said latent criminal father, the trauma of his mother numbing her pain with medication and eventually becoming something akin to a human corpse, the trauma of finding a new support system and best friend in Kougami only to once again be “abandoned” for the other side of the law. In many ways, he’s still a hurt child lashing out at the world, unwilling to see it for the complicated, morally gray place that it is, because being mad is easier. Telling himself that Enforcers are nothing more than dogs for him to guide and use as shields is easier. Blindly trusting the judgements handed down by Sibyl is easier.

In this way, he and Mika are remarkably similar. When she first joins the MWPSB, she’s a 17-year-old minor whose best friend (and probably first love) was dismembered by a latent criminal under the direction of a serial killer disguising himself as a teacher -- a trusted authority figure. She’s filled with guilt and self-loathing over her failure to act, and the easiest way for her to sort out her feelings and ensure the same thing doesn’t happen again is to harden herself to all latent criminals. Distrusting them, treating them as “other,” is her form of self-preservation. Yes, it makes her come across as mean, as closed-minded, as unlikable, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s good storytelling, and it presents her with plenty of potential for growth, which she is certainly given.

[Upon discovering that her best friend, fellow Oso Academy student Kagami Kawarazaki, has been murdered by Rikako Oryo, Mika breaks down in tears, blaming herself for the tragedy. This is the moment her distrust of latent criminals is solidified.]

But, unlike Ginoza (a 28-year-old adult man), over half the fandom decided that Mika was so awful, so totally unforgivable, such a “heinous cunt,” that they were unwilling to allow her the time and space to grow beyond her trauma and immaturity. But why? Is it because we’ve been taught to judge women, even fictional ones, based on a different set of criteria than men? I think the answer is obvious, and I urge fans who dislike Mika’s character with such intensity to seriously examine their reasoning. I don’t mean to say that she’s infallible (hardly) or that it’s wrong to dislike her. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and no one person’s take is more valid than another’s, but it’s definitely something to think about in the larger conversation that is media analysis.

Which brings me to Akane Tsunemori, someone who fits all the abovementioned criteria for a “likeable” female character. [Another note: I love Akane, and none of this is meant to disparage her. I am simply trying to point out that she’s a more easily digestible female when viewed through the patriarchal lens of pop culture.] She’s smart but not arrogant about it, strong-willed but never disagreeable, empathetic but not easily led by her emotions, and most importantly, she’s always kind to the fandom’s male faves. She is, in almost every way, trademark "Best Girl" material, and Mika is her foil (at least in PP2). She’s set up to be the anti-Akane, both in personality and narrative function. If Akane trusts someone, Mika doesn’t. If Akane wants to bend the rules, Mika is rigid in upholding them. If Akane isn’t afraid of clouding her Hue, Mika is downright terrified.

Though it’s never stated outright, she probably hoped her senior Inspector would serve as a mentor figure, yet we see none of that from Akane, who often abandons Mika to chase down seemingly wild leads and appears to be stuck in the past, yearning for the original Division 01. (Mika even says as much to Ginoza in a novelization of the first film.) On top of that, I think it’s important to remember that we’re predisposed to side with Akane, as she is both our POV protagonist *and* the hero of the narrative. We have unprecedented access to her private moments, motivations, and methodology. We know she means well and trust that her unconventional strategy will pay off in the end. Mika does not. All she knows is that her direct superior is habitually breaking the rules, overloading her team with what feels like excessive busywork, and ignoring the more bureaucratic side of the job in favor of unconventional/unsanctioned detective work. If I’m being perfectly honest, I would also be submitting concerned reports to my boss.

[When Akane blatantly disregards Sibyl's judgement of bomber Akira Kitazawa, talking him down from a Crime Coefficient of 302 to 299, Mika confronts her for putting both their colleagues and nearby civilians in danger. This later proves to be the right call, as Kitazawa attacks Inspector Risa Aoyanagi and escapes police custody.]

[While investigating Kirito Kamui, Akane keeps her suspicions/theories close to the chest, leaving Mika and the rest of Division 01 in the dark as to her game plan.]

[Although Akane's decision to entrust Hinakawa with all 185 Halos proves to be the right one, it's understandable why Mika is taken aback by her placing so much responsibility on a single subordinate -- especially one with Hinakawa's history.]

Now, that’s not to say Mika’s feelings about Akane are purely altruistic. She’s definitely jealous of her senior Inspector and resents her standing within the Bureau, which makes her behave in ways both petty and vindictive. But I’d argue that this, too, is understandable, if not wholly forgivable, when viewed through Mika’s eyes. Picture this: You’re the youngest-ever recruit to a highly coveted position. You follow protocol to a T, are deferential to your superiors, and show a genuine aptitude for the job. Even your callousness toward the Enforcers (again, your childhood best friend was butchered by a latent criminal) is in accordance with Sybil’s will. Shitty, yes, but standard for someone raised within the Orwellian hellscape of 2100s Japan. And yet, everyone around you prefers your senior Inspector. Your subordinates defer to her when you’re the officer in charge (Hinakawa) and even help her game the system (Ginoza). The Chief tells you you’re boring, but displays obvious favoritism toward her. This severely harms your self-esteem and colors the way you interact with everyone around you. After all, it’s hard to feel like a valued member of the team when you’re being undermined and lectured at every turn. This doesn’t excuse Mika’s behavior, and if she didn’t evolve, I might understand some of the hate, but she does evolve. Spectacularly. She’s just not Akane, and that’s okay.

[While dealing with the hostage situation in PP2, Mika notices Hinakawa working on something off to the side. When she confronts him about it, he admits that he's acting on Akane's orders, even though Mika is technically the officer in charge.]

[A similar incident occurs in Sinners of the System: Case. 1, when Ginoza shoots down Mika's (admittedly ridiculous) plan, which she interprets as him once again siding with Akane over her.]

Again, this is good storytelling at work, and you can acknowledge that these two women are diametrically opposed and still appreciate -- hell, even like -- both of them for the well-written characters they are. After all, most Psycho-Pass fans like both Kougami and Ginoza in PP1 despite their many differences, not to mention the fact that Ginoza is (and I say this with love) a giant asshole. Let’s not forget, he was *this close* to microwaving Kougami at Chief Kasei’s behest. You can tell yourself he wouldn’t have, but are you sure? Are you really sure? But we forgive him, because he’s a man. Anyway, back to Akane and Mika. For reasons I’ll never understand, many fans find it borderline impossible to love two women with beef, whether it’s one-sided or mutual. There can only be one Best Girl, and everyone better be on her team. It reminds me of the Sansa vs. Daenerys discourse that gripped the Game of Thrones fandom in its last few seasons. This is doubly ridiculous in Psycho-Pass’s case, because Akane and Mika come to trust, respect, and depend on each other. But people decided to hate this 19-year-old forever, so none of that matters.

[Notice how Ginoza's gaze narrows ominously in the last frame, suggesting he might actually have pulled the trigger, thereby killing his best friend, had Akane not intervened.]

Now, let’s return to my earlier point about certain fans irrationally hating any female character they deem unworthy of their blorbo, husbando, etc. This is where Parasocial Relationships become extremely interesting. As mentioned above, Ginoza is my favorite character in Psycho-Pass, which I think is pretty common. While I myself have never been one for self-insertion or creating OCs to pair with my favorite characters, I understand that it’s a popular trend, and if you enjoy it, more power to you. It becomes problematic, however, when those who engage in self-shipping/OC-shipping decide to collectively gang up on the female character creators have paired (or hinted at pairing) with the object of their affection. Enter GinoMika. Now, I know what you’re thinking -- “But Mika’s a lesbian!” I don’t necessarily agree. Do I think she was in love with her best friend at Oso Academy? Yes. Do I think she had a crush on Yayoi at the beginning of PP2? Yes. Do I also think it’s obvious she currently has feelings for Ginoza, which have been steadily growing since Sinners of the System? Absolutely. For this reason, I interpret her as being both bisexual and demisexual. But that’s beside the point --

The point is that many Ginoza fans who ship him with themselves, their OCs, or Akane (remember, she’s Best Girl) seem to enjoy trashing on Mika like it’s an Olympic sport. And when I say “trashing,” I don’t mean your normal yet still disappointing level of ship nonsense; I mean unhinged, violent rhetoric that makes me feel like the Internet is a place where women can never win. And why? Because she was mean to him when she first started working for the MWPSB? As if he was oh-so-kind to the Enforcers who worked under him. I seem to recall him screaming at his father and threatening to “make him pay” for visiting his sick wife without permission. Oh, and then there was the time he introduced Akane to her new colleagues by telling her, “Don’t think that the guys you’re about to meet are humans like us.” But yes, Mika once told him that she didn’t want his opinion as a latent criminal, which is so much worse. And before you can say that she’s still a bitch to him, let me point out that she is a textbook tsundere. That’s how she flirts, shows affection, etc. She can never come right out and say what she means, because that would make her vulnerable. But she can surreptitiously tell Ginoza he better come back alive by insisting he return her special Dominator. You know, because it would be a real hassle if she had to replace that thing.

[The language Ginoza uses when introducing Akane to the Enforcers, including his own best friend and father, is deeply dehumanizing.]

[When Aoyanagi takes Masaoka to visit his estranged wife, Ginoza reacts with explosive anger, reprimanding his father in front of their colleagues and threatening to retaliate should he do it again.]

Which brings us, at long last, to the male portion of the fandom. While many female fans like to call Mika out for her more negative character traits, completely ignoring any and all growth she’s experienced since PP2, male fans tend to direct their anger, dislike, etc. in a much more aggressive manner. I wish I was exaggerating when I say that I’ve seen multiple posts praying for Mika’s rape and subsequent murder. You can’t dive into a single “Season 4 Wish List” thread without finding at least one person wishing extreme ill on Mika Shimotsuki. It's pure misogyny, classic “I’ll fuck the bitch right out of her” rhetoric, and it has no place in this fandom or any other. You would never see a male character being talked about in these terms. Consider this: There’s more fan fiction featuring Mika being raped or coerced into sex by her tormentor, Sakuya Togane, than her having a positive, consensual experience with any other character. Love her or hate her, that is extremely fucked up. We as a fandom need to do better, because once this type of misogyny can be weaponized against fictional characters, it becomes much easier to use against real people. Fan culture, though it might seem trivial, says a lot about us and our values.

[This is just a sampling of the comments you'll find on Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, and other social media sites.]

That said, I’d like to end this essay on a more positive note, so let’s take a look at all the ways in which Mika has become a better, more compassionate human being over the course of the series...

By PP3, she shows obvious concern for her Enforcers, values their opinions, and treats them like integral members of her team. In an especially cute scene, she even fist-bumps Tenma Todoroki after they work seamlessly to defeat Koichi Azusawa’s henchmen. She also makes a point to attend the party thrown in the Enforcers’ quarters, as she now longs to be part of the gang -- a gang she would have actively shunned in PP2.

[During First Inspector, Mika shows time and again that she's willing to work with and for her Enforcers.]

[As Chief, Mika realizes that Enforcers deserve respect and gratitude from their superiors. They are no longer dogs to her.]

[In PP2, Mika tells Ginoza she doesn't care what the Enforcers think of her. By PP3, however, we see her display concern that her team might find her dull. She wants to be liked and accepted by them.]

She becomes far more flexible with her co-workers, allowing Inspectors Arata Shindo and Kei Mikhail Ignatov plenty of freedom to conduct investigations as they see fit. Yes, she consistently scolds them (textbook tsundere behavior), but this is done in a manner far more humorous than anything else. We know she actually trusts them and has their best interests at heart; she just can’t bring herself to say it aloud. She also repeatedly takes heat from Chief Hosorogi on their behalf and is genuinely worried for Arata when it seems like Sibyl might “eliminate” him. The palpable relief on her face when she finds out he’s allowed to remain an Inspector speaks volumes.

[Throughout PP3, Mika allows Kei and Arata to play to their individual strengths, even if it means bending the rules -- something she would never have done in PP2 or the first film.]

[Just look at that excited face. No caption necessary.]

She goes out of her way to make sure the immigrant prostitutes saved by religious leader Joseph Auma are protected following his death. This is an especially big deal, since many of these individuals are latent criminals, and Mika is forced to ask her newfound nemesis, Frederica Hanashiro, for a favor in order to secure their safety. When she tries to pretend it’s no big deal, Frederica calls her bluff by pointing out that no one would stoop to asking someone they hate for help in order to protect people whose fates they don’t care about.

[Even though Mika detests Frederica, she puts the well-being of the immigrants before her own pride.]

In Sinners of the System: Case. 1, her distrust of latent criminals is permanently altered after dealing with Izumi Yasaka, whom she works tirelessly to rescue and comes to view as brave, capable, and worthy of reintegration into society. She also displays genuine concern for and lack of discrimination toward Takeya Kukuri, the young son of a latent criminal, and is horrified to discover that the latent criminal inmates at Sanctuary are being used as disposable tools to move nuclear waste canisters.

[Sinners of the System: Case. 1 marks a decided shift in the way Mika views latent criminals. Instead of lumping them all together, she begins to see them as individuals who deserve basic human rights.]

[Even though Mika is unable to save all the latent criminals at Sanctuary, she does everything in her power to ensure Yasaka and Takeya walk away clean.]

When Enforcer Mao Kisaragi turns out to be the “fox within the CID,” Mika and the rest of Division 01 are united in supporting her claim of innocence. Mika trusts (without concrete proof, mind you) that she’s telling the truth about being an unwitting accomplice, something she never would have done in PP2 or even the first film.

[While the old Mika would have been the first person to distrust Kisaragi, here we see her standing up for the beleaguered Enforcer.]

She comes to respect Division 01 (Akane, Ginoza, Sugo, Hinakawa, Kunizuka, and Shion), views them as a surrogate family, and misses them once their unit is disbanded. In Sinners of the System: Case. 3, Frederica Hanashiro, who temporarily worked as part of their unit, says, “CID Division 01… They’re not just capable; they have a rare teamwork that overcomes the barrier between Inspectors and Enforcers.” Yes, this is mostly due to Akane’s guiding influence, but it’s clear Frederica is talking about the whole team. It’s taken Mika years to get there, but she is now definitely part of the group, not a jealous outsider looking in. In fact, even Mika’s obvious dislike of Frederica in PP3 is a clear result of this affection. After finally finding a place to belong, she feels as though Frederica swooped in and stole her found family, leaving her right back where she started -- on the outside.

[Though she'll never admit it, Mika views Ginoza as both a mentor and a friend. When he leaves the PSB to join SAD/MOFA, she misses having him around.]

[During her lowest moment in PP2, a jealous Mika actually hopes that Akane's Hue will darken. In Sinners of the System: Case. 2, she pleads with her to take her own safety more seriously. It's clear a big change has occurred in the intervening years.]

[Instead of feeling constant competition with Akane, by PP3, Mika is finally able to give her her due. It's clear they trust and respect each other despite their many differences.]

She’s grown from an immature young woman who couldn’t bring herself to take responsibility for her failures -- most notably her involvement in Akane’s grandmother’s murder -- to a responsible PSB Chief who holds herself accountable for anything that goes wrong with her Inspectors and Enforcers. This is most evident in her reaction to Koichi Azusawa taking control of Nona Tower and subsequently endangering the lives of MWPSB faculty and agents. We first see inklings of this change near the end of PP2, when Kunizuka tells Mika she’ll never forgive the person who gave up Aoi Tsunemori’s location, and Mika responds in kind. It’s clear that she’s not merely parroting a response to save her own skin but is deeply troubled and filled with regret over her own actions.

[In PP2, Mika is constantly blaming others for her mistakes. By First Inspector, she's owning mistakes she didn't even make.]

[Mika trusts her team so much, she's willing to put her job on the line.]

[Although Mika doesn't come clean to Kunizuka about her role in Aoi Tsunemori's death, it's clear she’s haunted by it. Later, when she confesses the truth to Ginoza, he admits to feeling a similar guilt over the way he treated his late father, telling Mika they'll have to bear their respective shame silently for the rest of their lives.]

And lastly, I believe the biggest example of Mika's growth can be found in what is arguably her most important relationship -- the one she shares with Ginoza. Whether you view them as mentor/mentee, begrudging friends, potential love interests, or all three, you can't deny that they have one of the most interesting and entertaining dynamics in the series. As mentioned above, when Mika first meets Ginoza, she views him as a cautionary tale. His demotion from Inspector to Enforcer is her worst nightmare, something that could conceivably happen to her, though she'll never admit it. Because of this, she treats him with hostility, disregarding his opinions and shunning his advice. But the longer they work together, the more we realize that Ginoza brings out the best in Mika -- and vice-versa. His calm, cool demeanor tempers her fiery spirit, and her enthusiasm makes him feel like he still has a purpose. By the time PP3 rolls around, he's become her #1 confidant, the person she calls whenever she has intel to share, grievances to air, etc. And you can't deny that Mika is the one person who makes Ginoza funny. Their flirtatious banter is genuinely charming and shows the softer, more human side of both their characters.

[Given her history with latent criminals, Mika refuses to listen to Ginoza, even when he's coming from a place of experience and genuinely trying to help her.]

[After working together for several years, Mika learns to value Ginoza's opinion and even feels proud when he compliments her.]

[During the Sanctuary case, Ginoza admits to both Akane and himself that being an Enforcer isn't so bad, as long as Mika is the one calling the shots. He knows she has a good heart, and working for her reminds him why he joined the MWPSB in the first place.]

[Notice how Mika's body language changes from PP2 to Sinners of the System. She now looks at Ginoza with appreciation and, in certain instances, affection. The fact that he views her the same way speaks volumes about how far their relationship has come.]

If you made it to the end of this mammoth post, thank you for sticking with me. Hopefully, we can all treat Mika with a little more patience, kindness, and respect when PP4 arrives.

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