#actually these could work for a corruption arc as well | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yestrday · 7 days

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the first thing I think of when Reader is portrayed as naive and innocent in an AU is how in the future they’re worse then all their hybrids combined, and I’m getting some major brainrot over the hybrid AU so just hear me out here ‼️‼️

Reader was of course innocent and naive, sheltered in every way, but that was before their father suddenly decided that playing the role of a doting father in public would boost his dying image more then keeping reader locked up

So Readers thrust into the life of an heir, forced to come to grips with the cold harsh reality that is the business world, and realize that they’re never going to have any true power or freedom as long as their father is still around

So they plan and scheme, analyzing their fathers greatest achievements and his worst failures, learning all about how to play the business world, and people in general, like a fine tuned instrument. Just patiently waiting till their fathers gradual cover ups over the years suddenly make their way into the public eye.

And when it’s revealed that Readers parent abandoned them and then picked them up again for his entertainment, forcing them to turn to mere hybrids for genuine human interaction?

Well, both those concerned for Reader, and those not, take note. Suddenly investigations are happening and their fathers tax fraud and million dollar bribes are revealed, and oh what’s that, he’s also involved in multiple different crime organizations? How horrible

Reader miraculously finds themself to be the CEO how every company that their father had, an owner of all of his properties, and immeasurably rich beyond belief when their father dies in jail under simply tragic circumstances.

Only this time, Reader won’t let the opportunity to take the world by storm pass by. After all, they have a rather beautiful collection of hybrids waiting at home for them, and you know how clingy beloved pets are when you make them wait.

You cant blame the poor darlings though, the public whispers behind lustful gazes and adoring stares, they just can’t get enough of their powerful owner

actually anon this ask (which has been fermenting in my ask for a year now) has been the inspiration in why there's been a whole heir sub plotline in my hybird works.

i like the idea of the hybrids subtly corrupting the innocent bird that's been in their cage for far too long, now able to spread their wings but just doesn't know how. they feed darling whispers about how their parent abandoned them, how they're the only family they have. and all of them are oh so eager to follow reader's convoluted schemes to bring down their father and the company's enemies.

i find that corrupting darling would have many benefits to the hybrids. one, well, corruption arc? it would be just so lovely to see your naivety crushed and broken, making you rely on them not as your protectors but also as your fellow sinners in this plan. two, since you're so influential, you'll be able to at least influence society's views on hybrids. you'll be in a high enough position to influence lawmakers to loosen their binds on hybrids, to make hybrids equal... idk, just a thought.

this only applies to zhongli, since he's bound by a contract to your father, but this could be the perfect opportunity to revenge. what better way to take revenge on the man who coerced you into a humiliating contract than watch his own flesh and blood (who he does love despite all his callousness) impeach him from his throne and throw him into jail. it's perfect. plus, he'll be able to spend freedom with you forever and ever <3

#yandere genshin impact #genshin impact #yandere x reader #genshin impact x reader #yester.shorts #yester.au — hybrids 🐾

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bonefall · 2 months

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Looking for advice since you're great with stuff like this: I'm struggling with how to have a character fundamentally change. A character in my cat story loses his memory and ends up working with the main characters to stop his own plan he made to destroy the world (and after the plan is stopped, he regains his memories). I want his time in the Starless to change him, make him less obsessed with power, but I'm really starting to struggle with whether or not that makes sense and how to work that.

Hmm.. well, first bit of advice I always give is that characters are not people. They are writing tools. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be "realistic" or that connecting to the human traits in the audience isn't important.

It means that a character exists to tell a story.

By "tool" I mean "machine." Every trait is a piston, and ideally they work together to drive your story along. What are you saying with each trait? What is your beginning point for the story, and their end? What do you want to explore? What do you want the audience to take away?

So if you feel stuck on a character, find the larger message you want to impart with them. The job they're doing in your narrative.

What do you want to say about power?

What do you want to say about why Character X wanted to destroy the world? Why was he wrong? What feelings and information lead him to that conclusion?

What is his redemption arc doing for your themes?

Every writer answers those questions differently. For example, I feel strongly that power doesn't corrupt, it reveals. When you finally have the influence to make others do what you want, you make them do it. I don't see "power" as being like... a magic, abstract thing, it's influence over other people, and those people are ALSO individuals with their own reasons for following the leader.

Digressing; what I'm getting at is that, as a writer, I have a lot of thoughts on power itself. I got this way with a lot of reading and interest on the topic. You might find it insightful to experience more art, essays, and commentary on the subject, if you ever get stuck, and develop an opinion you feel strongly about.

Not just about power, as broad writing advice.

Anyway.

If I was writing the character, these are the things I'd be thinking about specifically and changes I'd be making on personal taste. I don't know your full story enough so, hopefully it's insightful;

First of all I'm always SUPER wary of the "correct but demonized radical" trope. Does my villain have a point?

Am i just giving them a Kick-a-Baby scene to make them wrong when they should be completely right otherwise

What are my themes and tone? This is VERY important. Steven Universe is about family and emotions with low stakes violence; the Diamonds are essentially abusive grandparents that Steven is coaching through intergenerational trauma. They fit the universe they're in. Jack Horner does not belong in SU.

So I'd look at Character X's purpose.

Knowing me, I'd actually take out full amnesia entirely. I have memory problems related to trauma so I'm a lot more familiar with major, important details blotting out RIGHT when I need them. Enough that I can put myself in the shoes of someone like BB!Fallenleaf who remembers a lot but the details are fuzzy.

So personally I think I could write this villan to be VERY funny lmao

"Hello. I am Gnagnathor the Destroyer."

"No you're not. He has three horns. You have two."

(DID I USED TO HAVE THREE HORNS?????)

I also just find it more resonant when a character still remembers what they did, why they did it, and is able to refute themselves with their own growth.

To me like... when a character remembers NOTHING to the point where they're not informed by their actions or history at all, how are they really still the same person?

in general though I find total amnesia uninteresting. I wish it was less popular.

What did Gnagnathor DO with his power? What did he WANT from it?

The simplest version of this I know is "Gnag was hurting and wanted everyone else to hurt too. Now that he has a happy place, he doesn't want that."

TO BE CLEAR THATS FINE. That's a REALLY common power fantasy and it's not automatically a bad story. It's popular for a reason.

Personally I feel strongly about the idea, though, that people with power don't change unless they lose it. There's no reason to.

People don't change until you break the environment that contributes to the behavior.

Especially with victims unfortunately-- the ugly truth is that a lot of problematic behaviors exist because they protected the victim from their abuser's actions. You need safety to really start to unpack that.

You can personally identify it and address it as much as you want, when your abuser starts to use That Tone you will still seize up. Just try to yank yourself back into your head when you're disassociating during a screaming session; your reward is raw distress.

That said, not all villains HAVE to have tragic motivators like that, or be ex-victims at all. Leveraging power to get what you want can be as ugly as just being taught the people you're hurting are subhuman.

Or making up justifications for why This Is a Good Thing Actually.

Some people will lash out violently when these justifications fall apart, because accepting it would mean they're Being Bad

Most people have an innate desire to Be Good. Like... the vast, vast majority of people. Some sense of morality is observable in all intelligent social animals; dolphins, chimps, elephants.

Tangentially, if you understand that people don't WANT to be bad and that the natural response to a scolding is defensiveness, you understand that convincing people of something is a LOT easier when you approach with kindness.

AND IN TURN: be wary of those who are flattering while trying to convince you of something. This is Manipulation 101.

So back to Gnagnathor

Do I want to talk about environment and how it changes him to be away from power? How traits that previously earned him wealth or influence are suddenly incredibly taboo, so he can't use them here?

On that-- HOW did he get his power in the first place? Re: I'm very wary of the "correct but demonized radical" trope.

Were his minions following him because they have serious issues and he exploited their desperation? .....are you centering the experience of the poor, sad abuser over his victims

Or are they ALL united over something important and legitimate? With the redemption of their villainous leader, how are you planning for that to frame all of their former followers?

(This is why redeeming minions is usually a lot more productive than doing it to the leader, imo. Redeeming Zuko means you can explore the familial legacy, the indoctrination of the Fire Nation's children, their justifications, the way systems make monsters out of people. Redeeming The Firelord would probably have caused Azula, one of his victims, to pick up his slack and now, suddenly, you have a VERY uncomfortable situation where Ozai is thrashing one of his abused children but Good This Time.)

(Not to mention that, again... why would he do this. He has power. He's doing what he wants and is used to this situation. It would be a numbskulled narrative choice.)

Aaaand that's about all I can say without essentially being a cowriter or editor. It's on you to figure out what you're trying to do and say here. I'm a good writer on this subject because I think about it a lot, which has lead to my strong opinions and point of view. Your art is a reflection of you.

#This is mega off topic but the question kinda reminds me of hazbin which I watched a couple days ago #I'm starting to identify why I was dissatisfied with it I think #I didn't dislike it though and I'm waiting for the next season #If only as something I enjoyed but wish could be better.#Bones gives advice

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candycandy00 · 1 year

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Corruption kink with shiggy, innocent fem reader pls?

Smut. 18+. Voyeurism. Masturbation. Probably some other stuff. I hope you like this, anon!

Note: Just assume this happens post-War Arc, but that AFO fucked off and was never heard from again.

Oh no. This could NOT be happening. It’s your first day on the job as a sidekick, your very first day, and you stumble upon the world’s most dangerous villain: Shigaraki Tomura. Five minutes ago you were just doing boring patrols around the city. Now you’re looking down an alleyway at a monster in red sneakers. It’s too late to run away, he’s already spotted you peeking your head around the corner of the nearby building, and you’re not dumb enough to think you could take him on alone. Even several pro heroes teaming up couldn’t handle him!

He’s looking at you, red eyes shining in the dim light of dusk. You look back at him, wondering how fast he’ll murder you.

“Come on out, hero,” he says.

You sigh and step around the corner. “Um, actually, I’m a sidekick, not a hero.”

He doesn’t reply to that, just stares at you as if sizing up what sort of threat you could be. Little does he know you pose less of a threat to him than a baby deer would.

You slowly approach him, not wanting to upset him in any way. You’ve heard he could be volatile. You watch him as you walk, looking for any signs that he’s going to attack. Unfortunately, this means you’re not looking at the ground, so you don’t see the discarded beer bottle right in your path. The high heel of your ridiculously impractical boots gets caught on the bottle, and you faceplant spectacularly in the alley, almost landing at Shigaraki’s feet.

For a moment, you’re so embarrassed that you can’t move. Then you gradually get up, being extra careful with the heels. When you look up at Shigaraki, he has a strange expression on his face, as if he wants to laugh but is keeping his composure.

“Sorry, this is my first time wearing this costume. I’ve never worn heels this high,” you say, reaching down to rub your sore ankle.

Shigaraki folds his arms over his chest. “This is your first day as a hero?” he asks skeptically.

Now that you’re up close, you can see his face clearly. You’re surprised by how good looking he is. In fact, he’s totally your type! You find yourself staring at his lips, instinctively wetting your own. “Uh, sidekick, not hero,” you say again, distracted by how toned his arms look in his black shirt.

“So? What are you going to do?”

What does he mean? Does he really think you’re going to try to fight him? When you can barely walk on pavement? “Well, if you’re not actively committing any crimes, I don’t think I have to try to stop you.”

He’s still looking at your suspiciously. “Let’s say I’m not committing any crimes.”

“You’re not? That’s great! I’ll just be going then…” You start to turn around, thankful that you’re still alive, when his voice stops you.

“You’re just going to believe me?”

You look back at him. “Shouldn’t I?”

He shakes his head. “Are you for real? No hero can be this naive.”

“Sidekick,” you say, but he doesn’t seem to be paying attention. He seems to be in deep thought.

“I think I have a quirk that’s perfect for this,” he says.

“Huh?”

Before you can do anything else, Shigaraki raises one hand and a pink mist spreads out from it.

“It’s called ‘Truth Serum’,” he tells you as the mist drifts over you and you have no choice but to breathe it in. You cough and try to expel it from your lungs, but it’s too late. Whatever effect this quirk has, it’s going to work on you.

For a few seconds, you just stand there, waiting to feel something. When nothing seems to happen, you look at him questioningly.

“How did you find me?” he asks.

“I just glanced down this alley as I walked by and spotted you.” You blink, surprised by how fast and automatically you answered.

“Were you looking for me?”

“No. It was a total coincidence.” There it was again, that answer that seemed to come straight from your mind, with no filter.

He seems to be thinking for a moment, and then asks, “How long have you been a hero?”

“I’m not a hero. I’m a sidekick. And this is my first day.”

“So you were telling the truth,” he says, looking slightly more relaxed.

“Yes,” you reply absently, your voice working but your mind distracted as you enjoy watching his face make subtly different expressions. Those eyes…. that hair… You just want to run your hands through it.

Shigaraki narrows his eyes. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because I think you’re incredibly sexy.” Wait. What did you just say? Out loud? To Shigaraki Tomura? You clasp your hands over your mouth with a gasp. This “truth serum” quirk is dangerous! Not to mention embarrassing.

Shigaraki’s eyes are wide as he looks at you. Evidently he got a little more than he bargained for when he asked that question. “Really?” he asks, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

You have your hands clamped over your mouth, but the second he finished the question, you move them and say, “Yes. You’re the hottest guy I’ve ever seen.”

You blush crimson and cover your mouth again. How dare it betray you this way!

Shigaraki is grinning. “So that’s what you think of me?”

“Yes. Also, I’m terrified of you.”

He holds up his hands in front of him, one of them missing several fingers. “Because I could kill you so easily?”

“Yeah, that’s one reason.”

“What’s the other?”

You try not to answer. You fight it really hard, but the words spill out anyway. “You make me think impure thoughts.”

Shigaraki blinks, then suddenly laughs. “Seriously? What kind of impure thoughts?”

Oh no. Please don’t say it. Please just keep your mouth shut. Please just shut- “That I want you to kiss me. That I want to touch your hair. That I want to know what your hands would feel like all over me.”

The laugher dies in his throat. He seems genuinely surprised by your answer. Actually, it looks like his face is slightly pink. An awkward silence falls over the alley, then Shigaraki steps closer to you, within touching distance, and looks down at your face. “Do you want me to touch you?”

“Yes,” you answer, your voice cracking slightly on the word. You do want him to touch you, but admitting it to him? It’s mortifying. It’s also scary. You know what those hands can do. He’s your enemy. And it’s also scary for another reason…

Shigaraki turns you around to face away from him, then places his hands on your shoulders from behind. He’s so close that you can feel his chest brushing against your back. He slowly moves his hands down your arms, then moves them to your waist, then slides them up. You suck in a nervous breath as his hands reach your breasts then grope gently at them through your clothes.

His hands then move down to your hips, one of them sliding over to your inner thigh and moving up toward your groin. It stops just before it reaches your most private spot. Shigaraki leans his face forward, right beside your ear, and asks, “Want me to keep going?”

You slam a hand over your mouth, desperately trying to hide the truth. Shigaraki reaches up with the hand that’s missing fingers and pulls your hand away from your face.

“Yes!” you blurt out.As soon as the word leaves your mouth, Shigaraki’s hand glides up between your legs and squeezes. The thin spandex of your ridiculous costume is the only thing separating his skin from yours. You can feel his fingers pressing against the soft mound, and you let out a small moan.

“You like that?” he asks, his voice low.

“Y-yes,” you say, abandoning your attempts to stop yourself from answering. You realize you’re trembling.

“Are you still afraid of me?”

“Yes, but I’m afraid of other things too…”

His lips grazed your ear as he asked, “What other things?”

“No one has ever touched me there before, so feeling like this scares me.”

Shigaraki looks you in the face, his hand still groping at you. “No one? Really?”

“Yes, no one,” you confirm, blushing again. So you’ve just admitted you’re a virgin.

He grins. “I bet you touch yourself there a lot, huh?”

“Not a lot,” you say, shuddering as he gives a slightly harder squeeze, “Just a couple of times, just a little bit. It felt too intense so I stopped right after I started.”

Shigaraki withdrew his hand and stepped away from you. You almost collapsed right there. Your knees were wobbly, and it felt like your costume was damp between your legs.

“You mean you never finished? So you’ve never…” he trailed off, looking surprised.

You’re completely red at this point. You’ve just explained your entire sexual history to him, what little there was of it. You had a sheltered childhood, and as a teenager you spent most of your time at home reading or playing games. So you ended up being somewhat clueless about sex.

“No, I never finished,” you answer, assuming he’s referring to having an orgasm. You’ve never had one before, but they sound amazing. You’re just too nervous to go that far, even alone. You’re incredibly sensitive, and the couple of times you tried masturbating, you chickened out and stopped when the sensations became too much.

“Maybe I can help you out sometime,” he says with a grin.

A noise behind you at the entrance to the alley draws your attention and you turn around, afraid some poor civilian might get mixed up in this. There’s a drunken man in a suit stumbling around, nearly falling before catching himself on a wall. When you look back to Shigaraki, he’s gone without a trace.

Thankful to have escaped the encounter with your life, but also completely humiliated, you limp out of the alley on your sore ankle and finish your patrols.

Over the next few weeks, you find yourself running into Shigaraki “by coincidence” many times. You’ve heard he has a quirk that lets him search out specific people, and you wonder if he’s using it on you. He always appears when you’re alone, always hits you with that damned “Truth Serum” quirk, and always asks you embarrassing questions. Have you been thinking about him? (Yes) Did you ever try touching yourself again? (No) Have you told any of the heroes about meeting him? (No)

He even made you admit that you’ve been having dreams about him, though thankfully you were interrupted before he could ask you what the dreams were about. If you had to describe such filthy things, you’d absolutely die of shame. Once he asked you what you’ve been thinking about and you said you’ve been wondering what he looks like naked. He paused for a minute then asked if you wanted to see his dick. You said yes, of course, and he pulled it out right there in front of you.

You immediate reaction was to cover your eyes. You’d never seen a naked man in person before this, so it was a bit of a shock. But then you actually looked. For some reason, you always thought you’d be mildly grossed out the first time you were faced with a penis, but you didn’t feel that way at all. In fact, you liked the way it looked. You didn’t touch him, and he left soon after.

Some of the encounters resulted in him groping you again. He always asked if you wanted him to, and you always did, even if you wished you could hide it. Those meetings left you feeling dirty, like a pervert. You’ve never felt like this before, about anyone. And now you can’t stop thinking about Shigaraki, can’t stop imagining him doing all sorts of filthy things to you.

Finally, one day, he appears at the door to your apartment. You’re shocked when you open the door, but you invite him in. He follows you into your tiny living room, but he doesn’t sit down, even after you take a seat on the couch. He’s standing there in black pants and a black hoodie, soft white hair framing his face. He raises one hand, and the pink mist comes out. You don’t even struggle against it anymore.

“Are you happy to see me?” he asks.

“Yes.”

He grins. “I came to help you finish for once.”

For a moment, you don’t understand what he means. Then it dawns on you, and two feelings simultaneously erupt within you: panic at the thought that things are about to get more embarrassing, and arousal at the very idea of him ‘helping you’, whatever that means.

“Wait,” you say, “I’m not sure I-”

“Do you want to have an orgasm?” he asks you, interrupting.

“Yes,” you say without hesitation. Damn this truth serum quirk!

“Do you want me to help you?”

“Yes,” you say again, your voice breathless. You’ve never been this scared, or this excited, in your life.

He reaches down and places his hand on your thigh. Within seconds, your shorts and panties crumble away, leaving you exposed. You shriek and try to cover yourself with the end of your tshirt, but Shigaraki stops you. “I want to watch you,” he says, eyes staring into yours.

You let go of your shirt, and Shigaraki gently lifts one of your legs up, so that one foot is on the seat of the couch beside you. This pose leaves you spread open, all of you on display for him. He backs up a few steps and takes in the view. Your face feels hot, and you know you must be absolutely scarlet.

“Touch yourself,” he says, his voice low.

You hesitate. You were embarrassed and scared to do this by yourself. How could you possibly do it in front of him? But you can already feel it. You’re wet. This is turning you on! You reach down a shaky hand and lightly rub the outer flesh of your pussy. It already feels sticky. You glance up and see his red eyes fixed on you, on your hand making its first timid movements.

“Spread it open,” he says, still standing a couple of feet away. His face looks transfixed as he watches you do as he commanded, using your fingers to open the folds. Cool air hits the sensitive skin, and you shudder in response. You use one finger to circle your clit, almost afraid to touch it directly. But you can see it in his eyes. He’s hungry to see you go for it. So you do. You rub your clit, slowly and gently at first, and then apply a little more pressure.

It feels so good, you think you might cum in seconds. “Slow down,” Shigaraki says, drawing your eyes up to him, making sure you don’t forget he’s there. You follow his instruction, slowing your pace. You moan as a wave of pleasure hits you.

“What are you thinking about?” he asks.

Your voice sounds like it doesn’t belong to you when you groan out, “You!”

You look at his face, and his eyes flash with desire and excitement. “What about me?”

“How much I want you… how much I want…”

He’s watching you so intently, it’s like the two of you are the only things that exist in the whole world. “How much you want what?” he asks.

You’re still under the effects of the truth serum. You can’t avoid answering, even if you wanted to. “How much I want your cock!” you scream, your fingers now stroking your clit furiously.

He comes closer and kneels down in front of you, so close he could kiss your thighs if he wanted to. “Tell me every dirty thought you’re having about me.”

“I want you to kiss me! I want you inside me! I want you to cum in my mouth! I want you to take my virginity! I want you to fuck me so hard I can’t walk! I want you to wreck me! I want to be your personal slut!” The words spill out, dirty, shameful thoughts you never had until you met him. You’ve always been the innocent, naive one who blushes over a slightly naughty joke. Now you’re masturbating and screaming out your every desire in front of the king of villains. What’s happening to you?

Shigaraki gives you a teeth-baring grin. “Good girl,” he says, and that pushes you over the edge. You feel a rush of unbridled pleasure wash over your entire body. You arch your back, toss your head back, and scream out in ecstasy. You just experienced your first orgasm, and it felt incredible. You pant and tremble as your body relaxes and your head clears. That’s when you realize: Shigaraki just watched you have your first orgasm. The rush of euphoria you felt is replaced by a rush of embarrassment.

You close your legs and pull your shirt down in an effort to cover yourself, lowering your eyes to avoid looking at him. You can’t believe you said all those things, did all those things, in front of him. He must think you’re a total slut.

To your surprise, he sits down on the couch beside you and pulls you closer to him. “Don’t get too comfortable. I’m gonna make all your wishes come true tonight. Starting with…” He tilts your chin up and presses his lips to yours, then slips his tongue into your mouth. It’s a soft, passionate kiss. “What do you think of me now?” he asks,

“I think I’m in love with you.” The answer comes freely, of course. Stupid truth serum.

It’s as if he can read your mind. He grins. “Truth Serum wore off just after you finished,” he says.

Your eyes widen. “You tricked me!”

He laughs, then kisses you again. “Ready for me to wreck you?”

You blush at your words being thrown back at you, but you nod and answer, “Yes.”

#Shigaraki x Reader #Shigaraki x You #Shigaraki Tomura #Shigaraki Fanfiction #Shigaraki Smut

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sapphic-agent · 4 months

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Sorry in advance for how long and wordy this gets.

My Hero Academia is squandered by the less than mediocre writing of Horikoshi. I will give him credit only on his ideas and concepts as the premise of the series and the setting are likely the only reason any of us are still tuning in, that and spite.

The show is too quickly paced and surprisingly for a complaint about a shonen, it's too action packed it doesn't offer much up in the way of quiet moments allowing characters to breath properly outside of conflicts and so I don't really care much about the conflicts they are involved in, especially when the thematic relevance of said conflict got spoon fed to me moments before it started in a shoehorned scene or a flashback.

Hori introduces themes of Heroic corruption regularly but never actually shows any corrupt hero's, and those that are said to be corrupt show very quickly that they aren't, usually at the detriment of others.

A complete reboot is necessary, slowing down the pacing immensely to the point where this war arc we are on will take place once they have all left UA. Have major events of the story take place staggered across the three years of UA, include "filler" with dedicated episodes to every student of 1A with mini arcs exploring the more important side characters such as Todoroki, Tenya, Uraraka, Tsuyu and maybe even Momo.

Completely redo Aizawa to actually perform to his own standards, he should teach the students to work on their fundamental "quirkless" capabilities as he more than anyone should know how easy it is to beat someone who has had their quirk countered to make sure they won't die in a situation where their quirk is useless, instead of threatening to expell them for having a weak quirk or non versatile quirk.

This can be done easily by just inverting his test. Have elementary/middle schools let kids use their quirks in gym and PE to help them understand their quirks and use them safely and give genuine context for why teenagers are expected to be skilled with their quirks when public quirk use is illegal. And have his starting test be about who is the most capable without them, showing him to be an unorthodox instructor and less of a hypocrite as that genuinely ties into his fighting style.

Have Izuku be quirkless for either half or all of his first year at UA. Have All Might take notice of him but still teach at UA to scout out a proper successor. Have Izuku manage to get into UA and do well in it's entrance exam as someone quirkless.

Make quirkless people exist and actually matter. 20% of the human race are quirkless, that is a much larger number than people realise coming in at a wopping 1.6 billion would be quirkless out of 8.1 billion. That cannot just be the elderly like fannon suggests.

Have Izuku go from the quirkless wonder to user of OFA actually matter, have him being conflicted about it, have other quirkless people actually have opinions on it, have people discredit him for being Quirked all along, only pretending to be quirkless. If you have him inherit the quirk at all.

Have stain be quirkless and have that revelation chill the world, have him being rejected from heroics for being quirkless have Stain parallel Izuku in many ways.

I could go on and on and on and on about a million and one ideas that would make the show/manga better but I feel like I've made my point well enough that there is so much here untapped that Horikoshi has, but rushed his way past for the next action scene and ultimately squandered.

Agree that MHA does need a major rewrite. It had such great potential and introduced a lot of intricate concepts for an average shonen, only to squander it at every turn. Like someone super smart in one of my reblogs said, "the story has a lot of interesting ideas, the author just has nothing interesting to say about them." A series that was built upon discrimination, inequality, and prejudice has done nothing more in the end than prop up the privileged, bigoted kid over the MC he abused.

Talk a about disappointing

#mha critical #bnha critical #anti bakugou katsuki #ask

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lazaruspiss · 8 months

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sladedicktalia??????? i am LISTENING

there's like. 5 fics. im so starved. i think theyre so hot and funny together!! im obsessed. also this got long so im adding a readmore. whoops.

SlaDick: classic enemies to lovers. they may try to kill each other half the time but they respect each other more than anyone else. OBSESSED with each other, Slade knows he's weird about Dick and couldn't care less but Dick is so in denial about it. they could both give explicit consent but be so antagonistic about it that it becomes unclear if "yes i want to have sex with you" is actually code for "die right now" and i think that's beautiful.

SladeTalia: they fucked! in canon! there was some bullshit plotline where Talia tried to give Slade Damian and pretend he was his son instead! ex fuck buddies who show up just to make each other's lives harder bc they wanna fuck so bad it makes them have stupid brain. also they're both hot as hell. i'm weak for big strong milf/dilf idk idk.

DickTalia: LISTEN TO ME. TALIA WOULD TREAT HIM RIGHT. THEY BOTH KNOW HOW EMOTIONALLY DEVASTATING IT IS TO LOVE BRUCE. LISTEN TO M- ok aside from that. Talia is someone who tried so hard to be good, to choose to be kind. She loved Bruce because she saw how hard he tried to do good in the world. Her character has gotten considerably colder over time, in huge part due to a certain writer writing about her despite knowing nothing about her, but in universe i try and rationalize it as a growing cynicism stemming from both her father's gradually increasing cruelty and Bruce's failure to support her or commit to her or to even just respect her. She hasn't been shown to have very many people in her life who she can really trust and be close to. She used to have a good relationship with Ra's, she used to have Bruce, she's even lost Damian at this point. She feels like such a lonely character to me. And I think Dick would be able to see that, be able to understand it better than most. He's always had people who loved him, people he could turn to, but he's also ended up perpetually isolated for one reason or another. Dick and Talia both feel to me like characters who are so lonely the further they get in their lives. I could see a silent understanding there. The kind of people who would be able to find solace in simply sharing a space with each other. Neither of them like to talk about what they've been through, I think they'd like to have someone who just gets it. Trauma for trauma, you know?

SlaDickTalia: several angles available here.

1) Dick deserves some sexy older lovers who would wine and dine him and also rail him within an inch of his life and also kill for him. i am not immune to the aesthetics!! to the allure of a hot older duo double teaming their young spitfire partner!!!

2) corruption arc. u know u wanna.

3) Dick's fear of abandonment x the 2 most devoted people on the planet. if they were dating nothing bad would happen to Dick again, Slade and Talia just wouldn't allow that. smth smth, couldn't get rid of them if he tried <3

4) Bruce would hate it and that's always fun :3 not that that's hard tho, Babs is like the only one of Dick's partners that Bruce liked and that's bc he wants to keep it in the family.

5) healing.... sobs...... esp when it comes to feelings around parenthood. Those three have shit to work out and i think having some company would help.

6) They all need more people time but 2/3 of them don't get along with anybody so they're kinda stuck with Dick. that kid will forgive anybody if u bat ur eyelashes and behave well enough. He's also more likely to still see them as people despite everything they've been through, and when you're a military experiment and a semi immortal daughter of an immortal terrorist... It can be hard to find someone who looks at you like you still have a chance at humanity.

7) Slade and Talia playing a Cat Vs Dog type game with Dick in the middle. I think it's funny.

#sladicktalia #sladick #sladetalia #dicktalia #i have feelings about them. can u tell #asks #hardlycats

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misrepresentedmorallygrey · 4 months

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PROPAGANDA

Rose Quartz Propaganda

"We saw her character arc in reverse!! We first saw all the good she did and then learned of her terrible actions in the past. If her story was told the other way around, it would have been a great redemption arc. Yes, she did some terrible things, but she had no choice. She did everything she could to stop the colonization of earth peacefully buy nothing worked. Blue and yellow diamond just didn't listen to her and when they did, THEY were the ones who made the zoo and shit. Rose wanted to free them but couldn't get to them after the war! And with the corruption, there's no way she could have known that'd happen. There's so many things she wanted to do but just couldn't. And with spinel, yes it was shitty to leave her alone for so long, but again, between running her court, running the rebellion, dealing with earth, she likely wasn't a very high priority and like with the zoo, there was no way to get to her after the war since the galaxy warp was destroyed. And don't forget, she was practically a child around this time. You're saying you didn't do any stupid, selfish, or harmful things as a kid? She learned from her experiences and grew, we just saw that growth in reverse, leaving us as viewers with a poor perception of her."

"Rose Quartz is Steven Universe’s dead mom. Initially, she’s set up as sort of an ethereal perfect figure who everyone misses and compares him to. Later we get to see more of her backstory and discover that she’s actually like, a person, with flaws, who has done some bad things, but she did those bad things largely in the course of trying to escape an abusive home life and save the people and planet that she fell in love with. It’s very clear that despite her flaws she was trying to do the right thing and that she deeply cared about others. Unfortunately, a woman who was not a Perfect Martyr was way too much for the Steven Universe fandom to handle. She pretty much set off the wave of SU crit blogs because these people were furious either that she had taken violent measures to solve her problems, that she hadn’t taken violent enough measures to solve her problems, or both somehow. Lots of “Why didn’t she just murder her abusive parental figures?” Lots of “She was evil for having a baby even though she knew she’d die in childbirth!” Lots of “She should’ve been able to protect everyone from a magic nuclear weapon with the power of love somehow.” Lots of “She shouldn’t have rebelled (even though not rebelling would’ve meant the destruction of Earth) because her abusers retaliated and that’s her fault.” LOTS of people drawing her as stick thin even though she was fat in the show. People treated her like she was on the same level or even worse than her abusive parental figures who were also the main villains of the show. It was unbearable to witness."

Katara Propaganda

"She's smart. She's powerful. She an eco-terrorist. She's got the ability to grow as a person. She's a victim of misogynistic fans who codify her as an annoying bitch (sadly not affectionate) cause she's the "mom character." And that's all she will ever be is "The mom character." She bested Azula and could blood bend your ass but won't cause she's chosen not to be a monster! But she's the annoying mom instead."

"if i have to hear ONE MORE *touches necklace* joke i’m gonna mcfreaking lose it"

"despite being one of the most well-written feminist characters of children’s TV, the fandom decides to define her based on her very realistic 14-year-old girl flaws. Ignoring her complex independent arcs and motivations, people love justifying their hatred towards her based on her one line directed at Sokka that he didn’t love his mother as much as she did. Which, if we’re being nitpicky, isn’t so harsh given that it was Katara who shouldered most of the burden of her death, as well as Sokka’s admittance that he doesn’t even remember his mother. Not to mention that ALL the characters make selfish mistakes given the fact that they’re all aged 12-15??? (Aang hiding Katara and Sokka’s father’s letter, anyone???) She really is an elegant breakthrough of the typical female character molds of “girl who is badass” and “girl with a crush on the mc who sits on the sidelines” and it’s so frustrating to see her get the most hate out of the Gaang"

Mabel Pines Propaganda

"[insert "i am 12 years old" comic]"

"You probably already know about this but back when the series was airing people were really pissed at Mabel because she was supposedly selfish. Yeah ok guys asking for a fucking megaphone to help a merman find his family was TOTALLY unreasonable. Dipper giving up one (1) "date" with a girl way older than him to save Mabel's pet was SO not worth it. (This is sarcasm btw. Side note a lot of these have to do with Dipper's crush on Wendy which is a whole other discussion.) And then there's the big one. Mabel causing Weirdmageddon. What people fail to realize with this is that 1) she was extremely stressed when she handed Bill the rift 2) she was tricked by Bill, a being that is A MASTER AT TRICKING PEOPLE, into thinking that she was being handed a magic solution to what felt like the end of the world to her, and 3) she was TWELVE. Not to pull out the "she is literally neurodivergent and a minor" card but do you really expect a 12 year old who's just been told that she's gonna have to face a big and difficult transition WITHOUT her brother who's been there for her all her life to make a rational decision? Y'all seriously fell for Bill's empty words in Sock Opera. Absolute bufoons. You would not survive Weirdmageddon."

"Oh wow, a preteen girl under extreme distress acts like a preteen girl under extreme distress. Whoda thunk?"

#finals #females fucked over tournament #steven universe #avatar the last airbender #gravity falls #rose quartz #katara #mabel pines #raise of hands whos actually surprised that this is the finals

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toskarin · 9 months

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A while back I feel like you mentioned an RPG that offered a villainous route that went full tilt and really delivered... to the point where most people felt bad about playing it.

I'm curious, how would you design an evil/villainous story that feels good to play while being unquestionably evil?

this ended up being rambly so it's below a break to save your dash

I think a big part of villain routes that a lot of games slip up on is assuming that the average player can act in self interest without reverting to a metagame mindset, because what actually encourages people to be selfishly villainous tends to play out in the long term, and games with structured stories can just be walked away from

in other words, a lot of the issue comes down to something inherent to interactive narratives: when the easiest path forward is checking out, your player will almost always check out. a nihilistic villain arc rarely works if you want emotional investment from the player, because a nihilistic player is going to check out

this means that, in my opinion, a good villain route that makes you feel bad usually falls into one of two categories:

"I know I am no longer fighting for the greater good or the many, but I like this character enough to want to work in their interest specifically"

"everyone but me is wrong and I, personally, could fix everything if I just had their cooperation. even if I have to force it"

but there's an interesting exception to this that you mentioned in the ask: Tyranny, up until the end (lol), manages to be a game about committing lesser-and-greater evils. through making it clear how much worse noncompliance or indecision could make things, Tyranny nudges the player towards doing objectively awful things on purpose. and it makes them feel bad!

now, to make a villain route that feels good to play, we could just expect the player to check out and make a game that revolves around simply fighting the forces of good (see: Overlord) and making them annoying, but I'd argue that even that feels out of spirit. at that point, you're just looking for snarky ways to dress up the same old villain and hero roles in different colours

so what then? well, to get a villain route that feels good to play, I'd personally revisit those two aforementioned categories. the second one was actually handled pretty well in Wrath of the Righteous and there are shades of the first in Heaven's Feel. why did they work without making the player feel like complete shit?

corruption

there's almost nobody whose moral code aligns automatically with "villainous" acts, so you have to ease a player into accepting them from a baseline. you've gotta go from good intentions, ignorance, denial, justification, and then finally land on that nihilism that was so impossible to kindle safely until that point. give the player something logical and moral to pursue, then just something logical, then just something emotional, and then ride emotion to the end

it's a fine line to tread and you run the risk of coward's pitfalls along the way (making the "good" characters villainous to justify the player acting against them being a common one), but I'd definitely go about it that way. corrupting the player is very rewarding on an emotional payoff level!

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daemon-in-my-head · 2 months

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So, about the Tywin Lannister parallels, hear me out. Yeah, it's a long one buckle up. Also GoT/ASOIAF Spoilers tho I'm tryna keeping it on the low.

Tywin is deeply convinced he's doing the right things, and objectively speaking, he isn't even completely wrong. He did save and elevate his family's name, and he's constantly cleaning his children's messes. Was the red wedding a rather vile move? Yes. But did it also save countless lives from a war that could drag on for months, years, if not decades? Also yes. He's incredibly manipulative, and he's not above using the perceived weakness of someone else, like their children, against them. He already rose to one of the highest positions but he's still constantly trying to increase his influence and conquer more Houses, more kingdoms. He's pretty much fighting his battles with words and threats rather than swords, but he won't shy away from picking one up or getting blood (and gore) on hus hands if the need arises. And it works. He's a scary and yet oddly charming and a beloved villain.

And that's kinda like the BG3 Tyrant. Both Tywin and Gortash are beloved villains in part because they're so human. Because they're so convinced that they are doing the right things and once again, objectively speaking, they are. They come with a motivation that is oddly understandable because both of them do what they do out of a desire to be safe and protect rather than being evil for evils sake.

The patriars of Baldurs Gate were deeply corrupt with hardly any of them not falling on the lawful evil spectrum. Gortash's massacre was a win for the regular and poorer citizens of the Gate because their main oppressors had been removed. If you objectively look at what this man did or attempted to do, while still utterly vile don't get me wrong, his actions did have "positive" goals or effects.

The Steelwatch did strengthen security. Employing the Temple of Bhaal did reign in the murders and kept them to "useful" targets that were pieces of shit anyway, using the Absolute and threatening the gods had the effect that they took action for once, see Elminster, the Chosen or former Chosen in your camp, Jergal who's just chilling with you, etc. Did he threaten you at the Coronation despite being able just to stomp you? Yes, which was very nice of him actually because he so didn't have to. Nobody there would've batted an eye if he had outright killed you. Did he supplant and remove a different underworld organisation, namely the Knights of the Shield, from the Gate and its environs entirely? Also yes. Give him a few more weeks and he would've probably gotten rid of the Zhent and some parts of the Guild as well.

Is Gortash convinced that he's a Hero? Yes. Does the common folk think of him as one? Also yes, and once again they aren't entirely wrong, they heavily profited from what Gortash did.

It's this humanisation of villains that works and draws a fan base in. It's the reason why Durgetash works because it shows that this vile being has a very human side that is still very much capable of affection, similar to how the man that couldn't smile was known to do so for one specifc person. The patriars and common folk siding with him strengthen his image of a perceived hero because, well, he is. He thinks of himself as one and isn't wrong because people see him as one. It's kind off the Tywin and Arya ark, but make it BG3.

And the amount of people drawn to Gortash or Durgetash despite there just being crumbs is a testament to the great concept of the characters. They didn't go full out, and he doesn't need a proper arc like Ketheric for people to still flock to him. Cuz human villains who think themselves righteous are beloved. They're understandable. It allows you to emphasise with them, just like it does with Gortash or Tywin. A lot of people value their own safety and that of those they deem close or their family. Nobody wants to live being the laughing stock. They make sense in their motivations.

Bonus; if you know Tywins backstory it resembles that of Gortash quite a bit. 2 great power-hungry men who would go over corpses with the most significant parental issues you've seen in media. And both dying the most perfect but anticlimactic death possible.

#bg3 spoilers #bg3 #bg3 gortash #durgetash #enver gortash #lord gortash #bg3 durge

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cilil · 5 months

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𝓐𝓝 ~ For my 6666th post, I decided to compile an Angbang appreciation post to (hopefully) spread some joy and positivity for one of my favorite ships of all time. I tried my best to present the things that I love about Angbang in a broad and open manner, so that it encompasses all sorts of takes and welcomes as many fellow Angbangers as possible.

As I will also say at the end of this: You're cordially invited and welcome to share what you love about this ship and/or add aspects I haven't mentioned in this post. Just keep it positive!

Melkor. Ah Melkor, the man himself, the myth, the legend, a prime example for chaotic evil and our resident devil. Throughout the Silmarillion, as well as Tolkien's other writings, Melkor is busy hating pretty much everyone... except Mairon, it seems. He trusts him enough to let him run entire fortresses and taught him a lot of dark magic, which, as mundane as it may seem, is a lot more productive and friendly than Melkor has been to other people, including those who serve him. I - and I think many other Angbang shippers as well - love the idea that there is this one person in the world whom he actually likes and appreciates.

Mairon. The eponymous Lord of the Rings and general nuisance, enough to make Eru himself intervene twice, the Deceiver, professional pretty boy and peerless perfectionist. No other Maia has come close to causing as much drama, and something tells me Melkor will be proud once he hears about the Second and Third Age shenanigans. Mairon seems to hate everyone as well... except Melkor, with whom you could argue he might be a little obsessed. He's both frightening and hilarious and, for better or for worse, an icon both in-universe and outside.

Great ship name. Angbang is both a handy and memorable ship name and an amazing pun. It sure is a funny coincidence that my (to date) favorite ship all time also has my (maybe forever) favorite ship name of all time. And if that wasn't enough: If you take Morgoth x Sauron as the basis, their ship name is Moron which... yeah. No explanation needed. The stars aligned with this one.

Opposites attract. There are fundamental differences between Melkor and Mairon as characters, such as the chaos vs. order dynamic (as @maironite also pointed out), their goals - Melkor wanted to destroy while Mairon was more interested in getting things to run smoothly, though both were keen on enforcing their will - and their approach to handling situations they find themselves in - whereas Melkor is often impulsive, Mairon is more patient and calculating. You can also create an ice vs. fire dynamic, though they share the fire element (Melkor used to be the Vala of Fire and Ice and is still seen using these two elements a lot). It gives them some additional friction and spice to work with.

Similarities. Aside from their differences creating chemistry, Melkor and Mairon also share a few similarities and things they can bond over to balance whatever conflicts might arise. Both seem dissatisfied with the plans of Eru and the Valar, want to create whatever they wish to create without rules being imposed on them, have a questionable moral compass at best, like screwing people over and have obsessive tendencies (more on that later). I like to think that they can nerd out about about science and magic for hours, which likely became the foundation of their relationship in the first place, and that they also engaged in deep and challenging conversations that satisfied both of them in ways other conversation partners hadn't.

The Fall. We love fallen angels and a good corruption arc. Mairon's origins as a respected member of Aulë's household - who is still remembered for his skill despite his dark deeds - and moments where he could have potentially been redeemed are documented in the Silmarillion and the subject of many interesting discussions and fanworks. However, while less pronounced and presented as far less likely in the narrative, the same applies to Melkor. Even he started out as "good" and his motives, at least early on, are also understandable: He was dissatisfied with his inability to create freely and completely on his own. You could even say he's a bit of a failed artist which... is painfully relatable. As much pain and grief as both of them have caused, it's also tragic that they couldn't overcome their pride and choose a better path, for the sake of others as well as their own, and that Melkor ended up dragging Mairon down with him; both of them would have had the ability to do truly great things if this hadn't happened.

Philosophical aspects. To read Melkor and Mairon as a couple and their fates as a tragic love story creates interesting parallels with other star-crossed lovers in Tolkien's legendarium and raises fascinating philosophical questions. Can evil love? Can love be evil? Could love have been their road to redemption or was it - at least on Mairon's part - his doom? If I had to summarize my personal take on this, I would say that Melkor unwillingly corrupted love by genuinely being in love.

If you'd like to read a (more concise) take on this aspect which also touches on some other things mentioned in this post, I highly recommend this thread by @naruthandir.

There are just so many things you can read into this relationship and themes to explore, which I appreciate so much. It never gets boring and I always find new ideas to have fun with.

Power dynamics. Now, let me preface this by saying that I'm aware that some of you prefer it one way, some of you prefer it the other way, some see the Vala/Maia power imbalance as inherently unhealthy and like to take that as a central theme of their relationship and some prefer to interpret these two has having a fairly equal relationship. However, I'm not here to debate which take is "right" or "better", nor do I have any interest to. I think that, whichever way you choose, it's an interesting concept to play around with. Did you know that Estë used to be a Maia? I honestly think it would be cool if she still was, just to bridge the divide between Valar and Maiar a bit more. Nevertheless, I think we can all agree that especially Melkor isn't interested in what other Valar think is proper or appropriate and that Mairon, ambitious as he is, probably also likes having a Valarin partner/spouse. It's also interesting as a contrast to Melkor's usual arrogance and thinking that he's above everyone, and if you need something to prove that he wouldn't categorically say no to being with a Maia, look no further than his attempt at (forcibly) marrying Arien in other versions of the story.

Kink. Well, we've talked about power dynamics already, so let's not beat around the bush. We have some hot evil gay sex on our hands here. Super freaky too, if that's your thing. This ship is, in my opinion, excellent for BDSM and was what allowed me to discover and enjoy kink for the first time (though, again, none of this is a must if you prefer other takes). You can play with their existing power dynamic, subvert it, have them live out their sadistic urges, have them do elaborate roleplays, make use of all the creepiness and weirdness of the Ainur, particularly evil ones... they even have a convenient dungeon in their basement! There's so much good and sexy Angbang smut out there and I'd like to take a quick moment to thank everyone who wrote these fics that inspired and entertained me for years - and will do so for years to come.

Queerness. There are a lot of gay ships in the Tolkien fandom and fandom in general, but I still feel like it's important to mention this aspect. In fact, if you'd allow me to share something personal: Angbang was my first contact with queer content and, while this may seem strange considering that I am a woman, it also started my journey to discover my own queerness and I will forever appreciate that (I suppose it was "femboy" Mairon in particular alongside Melkor being a raging bisexual disaster - just my headcanon, not trying to push this on anyone - that finally allowed me to break out of compulsive heterosexuality and heteronormativity). I don't know if anyone had similar experiences with Angbang, but, well, I thought if I'm making an Angbang appreciation post, this might just be the time to include it.

Obsession. Melkor is obsessed with all things bright and beautiful, and this might very well include Mairon. As far as I'm aware, him being a fire spirit like Arien and the Balrogs are is fanon, but he's at the very least associated with fire in canon (on that note: kudos to whoever came up with the "little flame" nickname, it's so cute). Meanwhile, Mairon loves power and, as mentioned above, is obsessed with Melkor and his legacy enough to not only continue what they started, but also create a religion all about him. I like to think that both of them are also very jealous, which certainly ended up being the doom of a few innocent bystanders. They're just angry and evil and insane together and it's endlessly entertaining to me.

Tolkien's accidental "evidence". This could probably be its own post (which I might do in the future, though I'd do some additional research for it), and I want to make it clear that I'm not trying to "prove" to you that Angbang is canon or anything like that, I just find it funny when canon gives me tidbits that I can use for my "agenda". First of all, there's the infamous seduction line that has singlehandedly spawned countless fanfics and most likely raised a few eyebrows:

"In the beginning of Arda Melkor seduced [Mairon] to his allegiance (...)" The Silmarillion

One of my personal favorites is also the fact that, in the Lay of Leithian, Mairon starts ranting about how cool Melkor is - after only briefly mentioning Lúthien - and gets mad at Beren and the others for not stanning his boyfriend master hard enough. To make sure everyone knows exactly how awesome Melkor is, he later made sure people pray to him and perform human sacrifices which, since even any positive effects it might have couldn't reach Melkor in the Void, was apparently just for shits and giggles and to troll some mortals. Now that is what I call commitment! There's also Melkor's trust in Mairon and his fire spirit kink, but I've mentioned that already.

Aesthetics. Spiky black armor is incredibly sexy. Then we have peak hell and hellfire aesthetics. We have crowns and rings. We have fallen angels and fire and ice, as mentioned above. And we have two incredibly hot (literally) angels kissing. You could make them fuck in an erupting volcano. It's just... yes.

To conclude: We love villains, we love dark lords, evil is fun!

What I discussed in this post is pretty much just everything I could think of, with my friends and fellow shippers giving me a few additional keywords to mention, so there's definitely more. I hope this post made some of you appreciate this ship as well, maybe sparked or rekindled some love for it, and I invite you to add on and/or share what you love about Angbang. However: I'm going to have to politely and respectfully ask you to remember that this is an appreciation and positivity post, so I don't want to see any negativity, complaints about the way other people enjoy this ship differently or shade. Time and place. Alright? Alright.

Love you!

"Whom do ye serve, Light or Mirk? Who is the maker of mightiest work? Who is the king of earthly kings, the greatest giver of gold and rings? Who is the master of the wide earth? Who despoiled them of their mirth, the vain Valar? Repeat your vows, Orcs of Bauglir! Do not bend your brows. Death to light, to law, to love; cursed be moon and stars above; may darkness everlasting old that waits outside in surges cold drown Manwë, Varda and the sun; may all is hatred be begun and all in evil ended be in the moaning of the endless Sea!" Lay of Leithian, Canto VIII

#angbang #melkor #morgoth #sauron #mairon #melkor x mairon #angbang appreciation #ainur #silmarillion #tolkien #cílil speaks #i love them

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linkspooky · 10 months

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oh mannn that cycle meta got me thinking (I love your metas btw) since the story is slowly wrapping up do you think that the story is going to end on a “the cycle is broken” note or more like… “the cycle is destroyed” note? I mean the whole jujutsu system is not only made up of the higher ups, it also consists of the big three jujutsu families, the zen’ins, the Kamos and the Gojos as Megumi mentioned in the goodwill event arc and they all desperately try to uphold the current system and keep the toxic cycle going, but I’ve been wondering… cause I don’t think killing kenny and sukuna is going to solve the entire problem (like at least to me these two are just using and toying with the current system. they don’t really seem to care about it, since they have their own plans) and now… well since maki annihilated the entire Zen’in clan, and THEN gojo (at least it was implied it was gojo, but who knows) killed the higher ups maybe there’s a pattern forming lolol so that only leaves the Kamos and the Gojos, so assuming once they’re gone (along with the heian boomers)… would that break/end the cycle? I mean I don’t think playing safe politics would ever work or really change anything, because the system only cares about upholding itself, so the only way to end is to completely destroy it..?.. but I don’t know

I'm not actually sure about whether or not the system is going to be truly broken by the time the manga is over, because you yourself said that both the higher ups and the Zen'in Clan have been purged now by someone slaughtering them, but... that's the exact kind of slaughter that Gojo was speaking out against and said would not work in the first ten chapters. For Gojo to suddenly approve of slaughter and the story to take that route in the end game is just odd.

We have not seen the fallout of Maki killing the Zen'in Clan and if there is actually going to be any consequences from that in-story, or if Gojo's even heard the news of that happening so it's hard to comment on that event.

However, we have witnessed the immediate result of the slaughter of the higher ups. ALl that ends up happening is Gojo places Gakuganji in charge instead, someone corrupt enough to organize an assassination of Yuji, and who killed Yaga under orders with no consequences.

Which is what Gojo warned of earlier in the first ten chapters, that if someone did bother to slaughter the higher ups, then the people who replaced them would not be much better. I'm going to borrow from some tags @hxhhasmysoul put on a post of mine.

Gojo wanted to raise strong and intelligent allies who would replace him as the next generation and a better alternative to the previous generation that's still currently in charge and holding onto power by sacrificing the youth.

However, he didn't raise them to do political reform of think for themselves about how things could be better, he raised them to be Mini-Gojos. Gojo's students for the most part do not look at Jujutsu Society as a whole, and use might makes right as justification for their actions. Gojo's students have declared on multiple occasions that they don't care whether or not what they're doing is right or wrong.

Gojo's students all call themselves cogs in a machine. He hasn't raised a set of political reformists, he's raised a set of kids who are all individually very strong, and also loyal to him. Which is like the underyling motivation of Gojo's goals all along of going with education to raise up pupils, he was always going to do this, just replace whoever was in charge with people he handpicked. Gojo's students not really caring that much about reforming the system isn't really a flaw in Gojo's plan, it's a feature.

Which is why when Gojo is sealed in the box, his students don't even try to defeat Kenjaku or Sukuna, their only goal is to get him out and let him take care of everything. Gojo's students are all ultimately loyal to Gojo's agenda because he raised them to be that way.

If Gojo dies against Sukuna however, it will show that Gojo's methods have failed and the main characters will have to scramble to find some other way of dealing with the problem. They'll no longer have "Just get Gojo out of the box" as the magical key to their problems. If there is going to be a big change in the story, it's probably going to be pushing things away from Gojo's individualist mindset. When Hakari is convinced to come with Yuji, Kirara mentions that despite hating the higher ups Hakari's always felt a strong connection to the people at Jujutsu High.

THe only reason that Gojo came out of the box in the first place, is a weak person who Gojo would write off as a random extra, saved Kurusu when she was falling off a building when all of his super strong students absolutely failed in that situation.

The most toxic attitude of sorcerer society is that individual strength means everything. Gojo hates the collectivism and tradition that requires people to continually sacrifice themselves for the collective good that keeps the higher ups in power, but collectivism isn't always a bad philosophy the same way that individualism isn't always good, they can both be taken to toxic extremes. The higher ups maintain their power through toxic ideas of collectivism requiring the sacrifice of others. Whereas Gojo's faction is the toxic extreme of individualism, which is why Maki, and then either Gojo or Yuta went on a murder spree with the elders. The true advancement from the toxic ideas of sorcerer society would be finding a balance between those two.

Which is probably where the real challenge in the manga is going to come, where Gojo's individual philosophy fails him and he gets either defeated, or just eaten by Sukuna and the kids finally have to learn how to function as a group instead of a loose collection of individuals. If Jujutsu Society is destroyed effectively by the end, then it's likely Gojo their biggest and most useful cog in that machine will perish alongside of it to make room for all of his students.

#askspookies

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hakugreenfinch · 5 months

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Abbacchio's salvation because I can't stop thinking about him

Hi I don't usually write theory/character analysis posts but Abbacchio is the guy ever and I cannot get over how subtle and heavy his character arc is.

I feel like the most widely accepted conclusion is that Abbacchio was saved by Bruno when he took him in and offered him to join his gang and while I do agree that this was an important moment for Abba, I would argue he wasn't "saved" at that time. The thing is, Bruno couldn't save him, nobody could.

The reason Abbacchio became a cop was because he wanted to do what's right, we all know that, and he fell from grace when he decided the world was rotten and nothing he did really mattered, we also know that. I believe that this is the key to his entire arc - "doing what's right". Throughout the canon present timeline, the Abbacchio we see isn't trying very hard to do that. He's loyal to Passione, he's even more loyal to Bruno (because even if not salvation, he does find comfort in him) but he even says so in Pompeii: he doesn't want to think, he wants orders he can carry out without questioning anything. Abbacchio has given up on doing the right thing because he tried and failed and it was his own fault. All he does now is what he's told.

It's actually quite ironic how this indifference is what makes him work so well. He engages in chitchat with Mista sometimes, he clearly has a soft spot for Narancia but he's not necessarily talkative and it's not like he takes the initiative on his own a lot. But, again, how else would the man who once served the very system that ruined everyone around him behave? Society failed Bruno, Fugo, Mista, Narancia, even Giorno and Abbacchio himself is a symbol of everything that enabled these children to end up playing gangster on the streets. (This is why I greatly prefer Fugo's anime backstory but that's an essay for another time.)

Abbacchio doesn't think for himself. Abbacchio just follows orders, he doesn't do favours or anything he doesn't get something out of, he's been let down and doesn't care for "what's right" anymore. That is, until his very last moments in Sardinia.

Abbacchio sees some kids with their ball stuck on a tree and thinks they're loud and annoying but still decides to help them out. Nobody asks him to do it, and he doesn't get anything out of it. For the first time in the series he's doing something selfless just for the sake of being kind, and this costs him his life. And in the end, Abbacchio is saved not because Bruno saved him, not because he helped the gang on the way to defeating the boss. Abbacchio is saved by this tiny act of pure kindness, finding his way back to the righteous road, finally doing the very thing he swore to become a cop for. It wasn't about any greater good or anything grandiose, it was about making the world just a little better without personally getting anything out of it.

In the end, Bruno couldn't save Abbacchio because nobody could save him but himself. His salvation wasn't dependent on saving the world, it was dependent simply on whether he does something that helps him realize he was never too far gone from the right path he left when he accepted his first bribe. His partner wasn't proud of him for seeing Diavolo's face, he was proud because finally Abbacchio was doing what he always wanted to do, something for the people around him in a world that might not care how good his intentions are. Something that proved the world he lived in couldn't really corrupt him, no matter how deep he's fallen.

#leone abbacchio #jjba part 5 #vento aureo #im kissing this man #jojo no kimyou na bouken #jojo's bizarre adventure

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vin-lord-of-squid · 4 months

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oh.

oh my cod.

we’ve been thinking about it all wrong.

our perspective was off. we jumped to too many conclusions.

it all makes sense now.

side order wasn’t created by Marina. probably not purposefully, anyway. side order- now just HEAR ME OUT- side order takes place:

in alterna.

explanation under the cut.

in the YouTube video linked at the end at 5:09, there’s dash pads pointed out with the alterna logo on them. plus, the weird black glitches on the wall are the same as the loot anchors in alterna. we know what the core component of alterna is, it’s the liquid crystals all over the walls that reflect the last wishes of the humans. now think about Marina, and her odd absence. what’s her greatest wish? her number one desire?

she wants to find a world of order, beyond our comprehension, after this chaotic world… so she can choose her inner self.

look at side order. that describes it perfectly. it’s so familiar, but so alien, a world of order beyond our comprehension, so similar to our own…

but i doubt Marina wanted this.

my theory is that during Off the Hook’s world tour, they came to Splatsville with 8 and 4 (probably not). due to being close to the Squidbeak Splatoon, they’re shown Alterna. Marina is fascinated by the liquid crystal, and tries to incorporate it into a computer. but the crystal is old and corrupted. so Marina loses control of the computer and everyone is sucked in. the crystal primarily reacts to Marina, creating the world of order she so desperately craved, but also trapping her at the top of the spire and endangering her friends (kind of a “be careful what you wish for” scenario.) Acht was in Alterna due to collaborating with Octoplush and is sucked in as well. the overarching story focuses on Marina’s relationship with Pearl and how she felt hurt and scared after Pearl left (the rest of the interview is here and another person’s elaboration on why Marina feels this way that I agree with is here and here.)

basically i think that everyone looks the way they do because the crystals are reacting to Marina, like Pearl is a robot because a programmed robot would never think of leaving Marina (which Marina would never actually admit or accept she desires but mind reading crystals). and 8 has the white suit because Marina wants 8 to discover themselves and find individuality so she literally gave them a “blank canvas” as their clothes. and she. didn’t know acht was there so no change.

as for story, i think it will go the direction the earlier posts said. i will note that i think Pearl wasn’t purposefully ignoring how Marina feels or trying to hurt her, she just. literally did not notice. not because she’s cold towards Marina or anything she’s just. half blind and a dumbass. as we saw from how long it took her to realize Marina is an octoling.

anyway i think the world of side order is working against Marina and Marina is trying to fight against it to return to her friends, but she’s torn between “i didn’t want this, this is hurting my friends, this isn’t right” and “this is literally the physical manifestation of my every desire.”

and this could play with my predicted arc for Acht (as detailed in this post) because Marina could land on “I want to stay here and you all will too” and Acht is like “bitch put a fucking cork in it I’m seeing my brother again” but I’m so normal about Acht.

and Pearl will have to confront the fact that she hurt Marina, and she’ll have to resolve things with her and land in a healthier place. I’m thinking that throughout side order, Pearl will deny that she hurt Marina and try to focus on getting to Marina, only to get to her and find “oh this is partially my fault.” and because a Nintendo game won’t have years of therapy and recovery there’ll just be an emotional breakdown and reunion with Pearl profusely apologizing for ever hurting Marina, she’s such a dumbass (she is), she was so irresponsible (she was), she loves you so much (she does), she needs you too (she does).

and 8. poor baby 8. a flea on the back of a dragon, in for one hell of a ride. 8 had wanted to explore their past, overcome their trauma, and find their identity and individuality in a more hands-on way.

this is not what they had in mind.

8 is the glue holding everyone together. They relate to Acht in some ways and they love Marina and Pearl. If not for 8, all of the character relationships would collapse. Pearl would never take accountability, Acht would remain cold and hostile, Marina would stay obsessed with this world. But 8 brings out the best in everyone she interacts with (comedically, without ever saying a word.) 8 is compassionate and patient, and works to bring everyone together for the goal of escaping. and 8’s personal arc, their journey relating to themselves, is to grow beyond their past of hurt and trauma. it’s a little played out but they ask themselves “who am I? A soldier? A test subject? A friend? Glue? Do I exist independently, or only in relation to others?” the answer is simple.

they’re Agent 8. and their potential is infinite.

(that’s a big deal because the infinity symbol is prominent in the second trailer, and also 8 on it’s side.)

also 4 (if they’re there) has a journey of independence and learning to move past their abandonment as their own person.

and that’s what gives this so much potential and power. every character has an aspect with which they can relate to Marina. Acht with the anger, Pearl with the love, 4 with abandonment, 8 with trauma recovery. alone, none of them understand what Marina is going through exactly. but together, each of them understand one aspect of her suffering. and they can all help her through it.

anyway here’s the yt vid referenced earlier:

youtube

thanks for reading my rambles. please please please send asks if you have anything to say I really wanna talk about this.

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blueparadis · 1 year

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𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐅 ; 𝐑𝐀𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐈

+. [ PAIRING ] — ran haitani x female!reader.

+. [ SYNOPSIS ] — Haitani brothers wrecking havoc in the area came across a unfamiliar face. While Ran was amused how his intimidating aura didn't scare you Rindou was actually surprised how someone was interested in him rather than his brother.

+. [ ABOUT ] — bonten au + mafia au, satire, romance, drama, erotica, semi-canon divergent, semi-linear timeline, mention of bonten arc, tenjiku arc , violence, profanity. ( fem!reader, explicit and non-explicit eventual smut, hierarchy corruption, mention of alcohol, kidnapping, profanity, murder, blackmailing; enemies to friends to lovers, love triangle, slowburn, forbidden love, unrequited love, angst, fluff moments and sappy romance. )

+. [ PLAYLIST ] — via spotify.

+. [ NAVIGATION LINKS ] — you can browse my other works by clicking on this link.

+. [ NOTES ] — this is the first ever series that I started to write. It was hard for me to write since I get horribly distracted whenever I'm to write on Ran and that is why I've not written much on him. This is only posted in AO3 ; I've left the link at the end of excerpt.

+. [ EXCERPT ] — Ran Haitani’s pov.

I licked my lips trying not to laugh. It was so tough to hold myself back. All I wanted was to pin her hands above her head and kiss those lips that had the power to own me.

She sat on my bed leaning against the door. She's determined today, I pondered. My eyebrows jumped when I saw her snatching the beer can from my hand and chugging it down empty.

I mustered up the courage and sat beside her. My arm was grazing hers. She didn't bite so I thought it was cool. Silence prevailed for almost a minute.

“You do know that Izana is waiting for you and we're in my room, locked?”, to which she looked at me and let out a hiccup, immediately pressing her mouth with her calloused fingers, nails were painted on both hands. Such pretty hands. I wanted to touch them...

I figured something bad happened maybe with Izana or maybe with her parents since she looked away drowning in silence but I was too afraid to ask, too afraid to ruin this moment.

“He is drunk and way too high to fuck me properly if that's what you're thinking. He'll fall asleep soon. So, don't worry about all of this unless your guilt makes you spill it to him.”, she said in one breath.

GREAT. SHE'S ANGRY JUST AS I'M.

Silence prevailed upon us for more than a minute. I wanted to kiss her nape, neck, and every inch of her body.

“So, why are you here exactly? You could have declined it”, I whispered breaking the silence between us.

She beckoned me with her index finger which had a diamond ring. As I leaned she chimed, “You. for you”

I swallowed hard. I don’t know if it was weed or her but man every inch of my skin was burning. She was right next to me. Then, I recalled Izana mentioning that she shouldn't drink much on the phone.

“Hey, you have something in your neck”, y/n extended her hand. Did she always wear such an oversized sweatshirt? Only the head of her fingers was visible through the sleeves. I didn’t notice.

Well, there’s ample time to watch now that Izana is interested in her and soon might show her our world.

“Oh yeah! We both have... matching pairs”, I added and I saw her eyes full of excitement. She looked adorable.

I felt her hands on my neck and she whispered in amusement, “It’s a tattoo”

“Do you wanna see?”, I asked to which she nodded her smile never leaving her face. And, I started to strip without any hesitation. I wasn’t wearing much, so before she could react I was half-naked.

Y/n gasped. She gasped before sitting on my thighs. I wasn't doing anything because first, she was drunk; second, I really wanna see how this plays out, and third, I had imagined her in a lot of positions and one of them is about to happen. I'm not that much of a fool to stop this.

For some reason, she stopped before touching it, touching me. I couldn't understand why I was angry but she looked at me asking, “May I?”

“You may”, rolling my eyes heavenwards because I was screaming, ‘ Yes! Please do, in my head. I tried to stay calm as she traced the ink from my chest, along the side of my nipples, and over my belly, and then she stopped.

+. [ STATUS ] — READ THIS IN AO3.

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llumimoon · 3 months

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Pssst Cal in a dndads Voltron AU which teen do you think would control each lion? ,':) (yeah Hermie is included here lol there's 5 lions after all!)

BABA YOU DONT EVEN KNOW ... I ALREADY ASSIGNED ALL THE TEENS LIONS BEFORE. I'VE THOUGHT ABT IT TWICE NOW WITH LIKE A MONTHS LONG GAP BETWEEN..... You came to the right place is all I'm saying JWBEVAJHAHAHA

Okay lets get the most obvious one to me out of the way, which is Link in the Yellow Lion. Like. First of all the fact that Yellow is A LEG and also Yellow representing kindness .... I think he really does support the team and grounds them in many aspects. Also Yellow is bulky like a dnd paladin LMAO it just makes the MOST sense to me? Yellow also being the color I associate with Link so maybe that gives me a slight bias lmaooo

The rest are. LESS clear to me. I HAVE already settled on an arrangement I'm more or less okay with but I could make a lot of arguments for alternative placements !! I will also admit maybe the places I settled on are a little color biased?

The Lions DO kind of have traits associated with each one except its. much less clear in some cases than others and I had to be a little flexible bc in my opinion NONE of the teens r like . smart enough for the Green Lion JWBECWUAGAHAA like they're all smart in their own ways and I do bend some rules a little to make their smarts work as an argument but I feel like Green is more book smart than anything which makes it difficult.

Uhmmm everyone else from here on out has at least two lions I could argue for and then I'll say which one I settled on? But like if you disagree thats totally fair LMAO like I said many assignments can be considered

Scary I mainly thought about the Black or Red Lion... There's the whole. Scary's the leader! Thing and also the idea of power corrupting... but also she can be pretty impulsive which is why I considered Red, also her tendency to have fire based magic mishaps LMAO I think Scary shows a lot of growth and inner reflection and also she has good insight on how the others seem to be feeling even if she doesn't always act on it or use it in the right way, so I could see that as the markings for the beginning of a Black Lion learning to be the leader type arc? Also to be honest shes the Main and practically Only contender for Black so she ends up getting it by default.

Hermie I think could be the Blue or Green Lion. I don't actually remember if they say IN THE SHOW what the Blue Lion stands for, but like. I've read so much Lance fanfic LMAO that to me it stands for Flexibility and what is Hermie if not flexible. Maybe too flexible? In the sense of. She will fill any role that is needed or given to her, like water will. I also thought Green bc to me Hermie is a character who is VERY in his head. Like they overthink to the point of looping back around to stupid again but also shes always playing mind games with other people. Hermie seems to always be one step ahead or at least is good at pretending they are. Also you can say the nature stuff is Hermie in his poison ivy era. Green is also pretty small and easy to damage which lines up with how fragile he is in a fight and maybe you could make an argument for the camouflage being like shapeshifting? idk. Anyways I decided on Green I think.

Normal I think I'm biased bc he's my fav and Lance was my old fav and I already made a post before about how I think they're similar and would get along and ANYWAYS LMAO I think its clear I gave him Blue. Something something, the legs being the support of the team something something water meaning flexibility but also ice can be stubbornness something something how I associate Normal (and lowkey the Doodler) with water (a whole nother thing to get into u can ask me to elaborate later) etc. I also played around with the idea of him in Red as Scary's right hand bc . shakes them . I think it could possibly fit but not as well? Fire isn't really Normals thing. I also briefly considered him for Black bc Normal is usually the one pushing the group towards a certain goal, but also his plans kind of never end up going through so I was like hmm not sure about that one. Blue I think is the best fit for him in the end which is why everyone else ended up where they did.

TAYLOR. Ok process of elimination you probably already figured out that I chose Red for him BUT I also considered Blue and Green. Green is fun bc you can play with his roughish abilities, like hiding and sneak attacks. His knowledge is more obscure facts and survival skills but I think it's enough to be a contender! I cannot explain the Blue stuff its all vibes in my head but trust me . I think also leaning into, Blue and Yellow are the legs that support and stabilize the team thing, Taylor is actually pretty good at keeping a cool head all things considered. Red, yes maybe slightly process of elimination but COME ON ITS BIG SWORD AND ALSO FIRE POWERS!!! Taylor would love that shit. Also going zoom zoom fast. Also the Red Lion is the second in command/right hand of the Black Lion and it just fits Taylor's protagonist vibes LMAO I think he usually is off doing is own thing which is also very Red Lion.

So to summarize: Scary Black, Taylor Red, Hermie Green, Link Yellow and Normal Blue.

Again I could totally see the justification for shuffling them around a bit but this is the assignments I settled on? The colors lining up is also nice I will not lie. I also could see an alternate universe where Normal is Red, Hermie Blue and Taylor Green, I think thats my second most favorable arrangement.

LMAO SORRY I DIDNT MEAN TO MAKE THIS SO LONG I'VE JUST THOUGHT A LOT ABOUT IT BEFORE. AS YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE. I take sorting my characters into categories VERY seriously 😤 enrichment for me.

#ask #babacontainsmultitudes #voltron #dndads #cal rambles #SORRY THIS IS SOOOO FUCJING LONG OH MY GOD #i just have a lot to say all the time always #I've also thought abt the kiddads lion assigments bte #btw*#but I have not settled on those as clearly #there's for sure some fun things going on in the brain tho #u can dm me if u wanna know em

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