#all the heroes are girls because it started as girls vs boys

[yanderes-galore]

How would yandere platonic link x maid reader x Yandere romantic Ganon hcs go especially with a reader who tends to attract danger ~  please love to see what you come up with, I Thank you in advance 💗

I assumed you meant Ocarina of Time era? Because that's what came to mind for me. I'm rusty on the details of the game's plot but I hope that does not change much. Link is tame in this as he's just overprotective.

This talks of time skips between young and adult link. You are 18 during the young Link era and 25 during the adult Link era.

If you are wondering ahout the dynamic. You and Link see each other as siblings/friends while Ganon sees you in a romantic light. Hopefully that makes sense.

Yandere! Platonic! Link with Maid! Reader vs Yandere! Romantic! Ganondorf

Pairing: Platonic (Link)/Romantic (Ganondorf)

Possible Trigger Warnings: Female Darling, Obsession, Manipulation (Ganon primarily), Overprotective behavior (Link), Possessive behavior (Ganon), Forced relationship/marriage (Ganon), Consensual companionship (Link).

Let's start with you.

You are a young royal maid working for the king.

You tend to the princess and all of her needs while keeping the castle clean.

For the most part you stay out of the way of guards and others.

You tend to gardens and on your time off you roam the castle.

You and Princess Zelda are close as you have a warm aura to you.

You do her hair and watch over the young princess like a sibling.

You don't meet Link or Ganon until later.

In fact you meet them relatively close to one another.

You meet Link, the young Hylian boy, when he's sneaking about the castle.

You catch him speaking with Zelda alone and quickly rush over to chase the troublesome boy off.

Yet Zelda stops you, explaining how he is a friend and ally.

You inquire further and Zelda tells you about her prophetic dreams.

She says she feels the boy, Link, will be a hero in the future.

While Ganondorf is a source of evil that will try to corrupt Hyrule.

You take the girl's words with a grain of salt and promise her you won't tell the king about her new friend.

Meanwhile you turn to Link and ask him about himself.

He isn't really one for words but you manage to learn that he's from the Kokiri Forest and was somehow instructed here by his fairy.

On closer inspection you can tell he's Hylian, which only makes you more confused about the boy.

Link is a strange enigma to you but you don't see him as much of a threat.

Before you leave, Zelda asks you to be careful around Ganondorf.

You recall that he is the visitor who gave allegiance to the king recently.

You haven't actually spoken to him yet but promise to keep an eye out.

In fact... you thought he made you feel off when bowing to the king.

That's how you meet Link the first time.

After that you occasionally see him visit outside the castle where you greet him and relay messages.

Overtime he becomes like a little brother to you.

You look after him when you see him just like you do with the princess.

That's the bond you two/three share.

Now here's your meeting with Ganondorf....

Eventually you're going to meet him while working at the castle.

The first time is a brief glance while he meets with the king.

You bring food and drink, only to catch gleaming eyes flash to you.

A grin appears on his face for a moment before you turn and quickly leave.

He makes you feel... wrong.

You wonder if Zelda has a point.

Yet that must just be your anxiety at work!

Afterwards Ganondorf may try to meet you more often.

When he's at he castle he often asks for you to bring him food, water, or some sort of item.

It's then he tries to initiate conversation.

You're extremely nervous yet put up with it.

Ganondorf seems like he'd be very smooth with words if he can win over the king.

He notices you don't trust him.

While he enjoys your fearful gaze, he tries to make you more comfortable.

He changes his tone and tries to be welcoming.

He's an ally of the king! Does he scare you that bad?

You poor maid... shaking in your shoes as you speak to a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Ganondorf would purposefully try to make you trust him.

He offers you to sit with him and talk over some drink.

In the halls he greets you and initiates small conversation.

In reality he's trying to remove suspicions to his plan.

However... he also finds it fun to mess with your fear.

At some point he even feels attraction brew in his beastly heart.

When he gains power he'll keep you as his own personal maid.

While Link prepares himself by gathering what's needed to open the Temple of Time, this is what's going on.

Ganondorf tries his best to charm you, perhaps even giving compliments while trying sweeten you up around him.

You fear his intentions yet still push through it to keep an eye on him.

When you manage to get away from him, you find yourself speaking with Link.

Like a big sister you ask how he's doing and if he's okay.

He can tell your demeanor has changed due to Ganon although you never tell him a word.

Zelda most likely tells him when they meet.

Link doesn't like that you're constantly pestered by Ganondorf, the supposedly evil man.

He's protective of you yet he can't do anything... yet.

Let's skip to the point of when he unlocks the Temple of Time.

This is when Link encounters two versions of you.

As young Link he sees you as the kind young maid who cares for him and the princess.

As an adult, when seven years past, he sees you as an older woman under the control of Ganondorf.

Just as he suspected, Ganon was not pestering you for no reason.

In the future Ganondorf has taken you as his (forced) bride.

This fact hurts Link.

To see the woman he befriended, the one who cared for him and the princess, forced to be with the evil lord makes him sick.

As a result, Link accepts his role as the Hero of Time.

He not only has to save Zelda and Hyrule...

But he feels he needs to save you too.

I'm going to skip around as Ganondorf's obsession over you spans over seven years.

Meanwhile Link's more protective obsession is split between young and adult Link.

Obviously the two obsessions are different.

Ganondorf intends to force you to be his wife, his queen.

While Link sees you just as family, he doesn't want you condemned to such a fate.

It can be assumed as much that Ganondorf has been trying to court you until Link opened the Temple of Time.

Once Ganondorf was able to get inside and have the Triforce, he didn't have to be patient anymore.

While Link was sealed away, Ganondorf swoops in to you with newfound power.

There's no doubt you tried to flee to Kakariko like most.

Despite this the Gerudo King still ordered you be hunted down an brought to him.

After all, he's claimed you since he saw you.

This whole rivalry would span the entire Ocarina of Time story.

Link would be going from temple to temple to awaken sages.

When he can he tries to find you as young Link to check on how you're holding up.

Link is driven to help you, it becomes a goal that keeps him going.

While Ganondorf prepares and makes you his perfect maid/queen, Link prepares to fight the final battle.

Link matures and becomes ready to fight Ganondorf and save you.

When the big fight happens, you're forced to watch.

You can only sit and hope the young boy you knew years ago can defeat this monster.

There's only two outcomes.

Ganondorf wins and you're forced to continue being his queen, watching your world suffer in silence.

Or Link saves you, Zelda, and Hyrule....

Link seems like the most tame yandere in this.

The reason being he really just wants you safe.

The moment he gets you out of Ganon's clutches, he refuses to have you leave his arms.

To you, you haven't seen this kid in years.

To him? He's seen the suffering you've had to go through.

He saw it start, he saw it end.

He refuses to have you go through that again.

Even when Zelda gives him back his childhood, Link still vows to visit you.

To Link, it feels like he's on a trip to save family.

Even as he grows up, he promises to be your little defender.

It's a childish promise but he'll do anything to see you happy.

After Ganondorf is banished, your life goes back to caring for a young Zelda and Link.

Link plans to keep it that way as he grows up naturally, in his eyes you are the closest he's had to a sibling outside of the Kokiri.

He'd do anything to keep you happy...

Even if it meant slaying what he deems evil all over again just to achieve that.

#yandere legend of zelda #yandere loz #yandere ocarina of time #yandere loz oot #yandere link #yandere ganondorf #platonic yandere #romantic yandere #platonic vs romantic yandere

[pikahlua]

Look, I don’t wanna get everyone’s hopes up, but I might have to get everyone’s hopes up

My initial thoughts on chapter 395 were to be enveloped in the tragedy of this ending. I could already tell some of the criticisms that would come at it, but I was also interested in thoroughly considering the chapter as fairly as possible. Whether or not it involves stale tropes, such tropes still have the potential to bring meaning and emotion--and to be honest, MHA has been pretty good at that since the get-go. The manga is pretty much defined by refreshing and playing with stale shounen tropes. I am willing to give this chapter as-is a chance. I comforted friends who were hit hard by the chapter. I allowed myself to feel the sorrow ushered in by Himiko Toga’s chosen end.

But then I started translating the chapter, and my melancholy didn’t last fucking long.

Because...I’m gonna be real with you, there are a LOT of questions this chapter raises, but only if you’re paying attention.

So like.

Look.

I don’t wanna get your hopes up.

Himiko Toga may really be dead.

I don’t actually know how this will all play out.

But...

LET ME TELL YOU WHY THIS IS SUS AS HELL

1. Hello???

Why is the All Might doll coming into play here, now?

And uh, where did it go????

I don’t see it anywhere! Is it...still in the same hand Himiko was holding it with?

Is THAT why we’re zooming in here on the final panel?

“Why does it matter?” you may ask. “Isn’t it just a symbol of the connection between these two girls once Himiko found where Ochako was hiding it and teased her about it? Isn’t this perhaps just Himiko’s way of comforting Ochako?”

“Hm, yes, interesting,” I would reply. “But DON’T YOU WHO THE FUCK I AM?”

This is the second time All Might merchandise is appearing in a supposed death scene! Is it mere coincidence? I THINK NOT.

I mean, we haven’t had a SINGLE update on Katsuki for a year now. (UNLESS WE JUST GOT ONE?) Could it be Horikoshi was holding off on any Katsuki updates to avoid spoiling something else that needed to happen first? Specifically Ochako vs Toga?

Because if there’s ANYTHING fishy going on with that card and that doll (and boy do I smell fish), Katsuki’s storyline would not be able to progress until AFTER the doll also came into play. AND NOW IT HAS.

2. Of course my first thought was Katsuki Bakugou, don’t tell me you’re actually surprised...

There are a LOT of weird parallels between Ochako and Himiko’s fight and...whatever the hell is going on with Izuku and Katsuki just in general. But I mean, just look at Katsuki. Compare that wound to Ochako’s. Compare Ochako’s imminent death to Katsuki.

And...compare Himiko Toga to Katsuki Bakugou however many ways you like.

But most importantly...compare Himiko Toga to Izuku Midoriya.

Because Ochako was on the verge of death, and Himiko Toga sacrifices herself to save Ochako. Yeah, you can compare that to Katsuki in chapter 362. But like, Katsuki is the one on the verge of death now, right? That would make him parallel to Ochako (especially since they’re the ones with the All Might merch). That would mean Izuku could do something similar to save Katsuki.

And please, please note how Himiko performed this rescue. She became Ochako. She became compatible with Ochako, started pumping Ochako’s same blood through her own veins, hooked them up so not only was Himiko supporting Ochako’s life, THEY WERE CONNECTED AS ONE PERSON.

Are YOU getting Heroes Rising vibes? Because I’m definitely getting Heroes Rising vibes.

3. Remember, Horikoshi said this ending would be better than Heroes Rising.

Izuku and Katsuki shared OFA in the ending of Heroes Rising.

Let us not forget the ever-present nomenclature of One For All and All For One.

What could be better than a team-up of two people?

Maybe...a merging of everyone?

4. Everyone is down

Himiko and Ochako and Katsuki aren’t the only ones down. Basically EVERYONE is.

Shouto, Endeavor, Touya, Hawks, Tokoyami, Spinner, most everyone at the UA battlefield, most everyone at the Gunga battlefield, basically most everyone who isn’t AFO, All Might, Izuku, and Tomura (and maybe a few UA kids).

Actually, speaking of UA kids, why haven’t we seen Aoyama and Sero and the others yet? Could it be that Horikoshi just wanted to showcase the most important part of their fights, aka the ending?

The ending where they all fall over and pass out or die too?

Why is everyone fucking dead?

Because something big is going to happen to them all after they pass out???

I mean, maybe???

Even if that’s the case, I have no idea how many people will actually be part of this union or revival or whatever the fuck happens. I just...I do notice that heroes and villains both are dropping like flies.

WHAT IS THIS LEADING TO?

5. The story of how we all became the greatest heroes

So once upon a time I wrote a tiny meta about the infamous line from the first chapter, “This is the story of how I became the greatest hero.”

Basically, it occurred to me that it’s very strange for the narrator to “spoil the ending” of the story in the first chapter. Where’s the dramatic tension? Why even do that?

Well, the obvious answer is: it wasn’t a spoiler. Perhaps it meant something else than what it seemed at first glance.

I realized “hero” in Japanese could be both singular and plural. Thus, I conceived that the true message was: “This is the story of how I became ONE OF the greatest heroes.“

Chapter 324 basically confirmed that theory.

But...what if it’s still wrong?

What if there’s ANOTHER hidden message in the line?

What if it’s something like: “This is the story of how I became a part of the greatest hero.” Singular. Purposefully.

What if EVERYONE becomes the greatest HERO literally. What if...everyone merges to create...All Might?

And then I saw all the vestiges rebelling inside AFO and thought:

Oh god this actually seems plausible now.

So here’s the good news for Himiko...

There was, in fact, a chapter titled “The Story of How We All Became Heroes, Part Minus 1.”

Maybe everyone becomes heroes together. Maybe they all literally become one hero together. Either way, Himiko was highlighted in a chapter with a title that specifically implied she would be part of whatever the fuck happens.

Sure, this chapter COULD BE Himiko’s heroic moment. But...I don’t know man. We got SO MANY CHAPTERS with this title. It’s SCREAMING some sort of plot twist is on the way...!

6. Ochako is ALSO supposed to be part of this “greatest hero” business too!

Finally, can we just...remember how Ochako was inspired to save people? She held Sir Nighteye in her arms as he died, and that’s when she knew she wanted to save people.

Himiko dying here on Ochako’s watch...idk mannnnn, has Ochako really proven that she’s achieved her goal yet? Can she really be part of the greatest heroes like this?

#my hero academia manga spoilers #final showdown spoilers #himiko toga #katsuki bakugou #ochako uraraka #literally everyone tag everyone here #theory #meta #look DON'T GET YOUR HOPES UP #because then if this does happen you can be pleasantly surprised #and if this doesn't happen you won't all stick my head on a pike #see? everyone wins that way #but also maybe we don't come to any conclusions about himiko's end just yet

[misrepresentedmorallygrey]

PROPAGANDA

Dimitri Alexendre Blaiddyd

PLEASE NOTE: THE MOD OF THIS TOURNAMENT HATES THIS PROPAGANDA! THEY BELIEVE THAT IT'S ACTIVELY LYING ABOUT THE CHARACTER AND COMING FROM A PLACE OF HATE FOR SAID CHARACTER INSTEAD OF THE FANDOM CULTURE SURROUNDING HIM. You have been warned

Why is this man so woobified. The literal whole point of him is that he's meant to be a bait and switch for the typical perfect fire emblem lord hero. He's a sadistic killer without a hint of mercy for a huge part of the story, he works with the dictator church without considering whether or not there's something wrong with it, and his route ends in him being just as much of an imperialist as the others (taking over the whole continent and being crowned its ruler), just by a different name. He's SO interesting and SO conflicted and yet it feels like 99% of the fandom can't look past "uwu emo sad boy :((( so damaged :((((" and completely disregards that he's just as brutal as the other main characters from any other route's perspective, that's the whole point of the game!

Yuno Kashiki

Yuno Kashiki is an 18 year old rental girlfriend and sexworker in Japan. She was incarcerated in Milgram for murder at the start of the series in 2020. Since then she has been repeatedly dehumanized by the fandom. Having her agency and statements on her own life overwhelmingly ignored in order to give her a sob story she has consistently rebuked at every turn. Stating from the beginning even if she had to beg for forgiveness like her life depended on it she would. However, it's simply been handed to her as the audience continually goes she was too young and stupid to actually be held accountable for her actions. The same audience that later tries to vote a 12 year old child abuse victim guilty because she has to learn her lesson and she knew what she was doing. Yes the fandom interprets the eighteen year old who chose to work in the profession they did simply because they wanted to something they have no qualms admitting as having less agency than the twelve year old. They treat her like a stupid baby who's only error was not knowing how a condom worked as a sexworker. They say her only crime is an abortion despite her overtly getting upset at other individuals alluded to be clients throughout her songs. Having the literal lyrics of her second song go, ""Poor naive little girl"? So off the mark, what's it to you? It's absurd. Like really who do you think you are? Don't weigh me meassure me against your morality. Just shut it, will you? You know it all." And "Carrssing me with your "good girl". Who needs your self-righteous pardon?" They're so committed to the abortion equating to the murder she's in here for idea that fans got mad at the writer for even writing it that way when at least several other very not fetuses are alluded to throughout her songs and at points literally shown. Her first song even highlighting her clients belongings throughout it with inverted coloring. But instead of thinking she may have just killed a client who was bothering her they've convinced themselves that she's just a silly little outlier who's not meant to be here because abortion isn't murder her body her choice which fair if it wasn't for the fact the only people putting it on the table to compare to murder is the audience themselves. Despite everyone else in here very literally killing actual people with lives, professions, etc as they frame her case as a feminism issue and say if you vote her guilty you just hate women or are anti-abortion. In response to the framing of her situation as she can hear the audiences thoughts on her she's only gotten more depressed and closed off as tge series has progressed blatantly stating to hurry all this up so she can go home. Because it doesn't matter what she says about her situation the audience and the guard by proxy will just end up creating whatever story they want about her so it doesn't matter she's over it. Which in all honesty fucking fair- Wouldn't anyone be after getting treated like that for going on four years.

She's far more morally grey than folks want to admit. She's not evil, not by a long shot, but she's not exactly innocent either. She's innocent of her (perceived) crime in her media, but in terms of her attitude and outlook on life, I feel people downplay her incredibly grey actions. She uses / used compensated dating as a way to feel "warm" without forming emotional attachments. She hasn't killed anyone, nor has she manipulated anyone into killing for her, but that's why she's a good representative of a more everyday morally grey person. Her actions aren't outlandish or extreme, and if anything she can fade into the background with relative ease, yet I still firmly believe she's morally grey. tldr; Yuno has far more depth than the (general) fandom sees her as having. She gets misrepresented and her voice as a character is often unheard.

#misrepresented morally grey #bracket a #did nothing wrong bracket #fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #milgram #milgram project #yuno kashiki #kashiki yuno #edit: i hate the dimitri propaganda and am so glad everyone else does too

[sailorblossoms]

Yet another long post, this time with clickbait-y titles for readability purposes,

Simon has "a type"

Thinking about the ways in which Agatha and Baz share similarities, and how that might lead to the conclusion of "Simon has a type" (which MRB so succinctly summarizes as "better than me") and... I think that's right, but notably: it's not just about dating choices. It extends to other areas of his life. It's also platonic.

I mean, Penny is his type. She's arguably the first person Simon has ever truly loved, the first relationship he forms in which he experiences real love... and she's a very competent person. She excels in areas Simon is interested in. When we meet him, he would tell you he's useless without her. "Better than me" can translate to "I'm a mess and I like to surround myself with people who help me keep it together."

Being traditionally beautiful can be seen as a form of "excelling," especially when you're a girl who is into traditionally girly things (like wearing make-up). Agatha is "prettier than all the other girls" and has nicer clothes and a nicer house, and Simon, who has no fucking self-esteem, tells you "pretty sure she likes being better than others" and likely likes her not despite her being a stuck up; it's "part of the charm." However, liking her doesn't mean he's into her. Simon likes her how he likes Penny: when Simon talks about hating that Agatha is no longer talking to him and essentially "not wanting to lose" her (while, tellingly, not doing shit to prevent this) he proceeds to tell you all about Agatha The Friend. Simon dedicates the entire page to telling you the kind of friend she is where he (very tellingly) should be talking to you about Agatha "The Girlfriend." He never tells you how the fuck they started dating; he tells you how they became friends. What Simon doesn't want to lose is her friendship.

I think "having a type" that applies not just to dating (on top of the heteronormativity of it all and Simon liking to not think at all) would actually make things more complicated for Simon ("do I like them as a person vs do I like like them, platonic attraction vs romantic and/or sexual attraction). Penny, who fits "Simon's type" is obviously like a sister to him. A bestie, a ride-or-die. If you think about it, Agatha is also like a sister – like an older sister figure, in some ways (likely contributing to how wrong it feels, them dating; the more info we get, the worst it feels). She's the "eww don't chew with your mouth open" person, the "please stop getting into trouble, Simon" person. It fits with "helping to keep it together" even if Simon doesn't listen. It must be nice too, because she's not just being judgemental for the sake of it either, she simply cares about him; something Simon doesn't experience often. (More grimly, dating her kinda fits within that too, because Simon doesn't know what to do with himself when he experiences romantic love and sexual attraction, famously not mild or easy to manage feelings – just look at him regularly losing his shit around Baz – and Simon not having those feelings for Agatha helped him exist not processing shit, even though that created other problems).

I would say that both Penny and Agatha are close friends and like sisters to Simon, the main difference being: Agatha doesn't look like the kind of girl you just want to be platonic with, not for boys. It goes against expectations for him to be a boy, to be a hero and not want her romantically and sexually, and Simon cares very much about fulfilling expectations. (Also, these people are British so I'm just gonna say it: Agatha being the lily-white blonde embodying European beauty standards to a degree that's romanticized like there's no tomorrow vs Penny being a brown chubby girl with frizzy hair also plays into it, plus Agatha being weak with magic vs Penny being powerful. Not consciously, but it's part of the design of the stories and roles and expectations that were shaping their lives.)

Agatha "vs" Baz

Sure, they do have similarities, but things that would make Simon simply drawn to Agatha (platonically, although he was confused, heteronormativity, etc) are a turn-on with Baz. It's a turn-on when Baz is a little mean (without being actually hurtful) to him. It drives Simon crazy that Baz is good at everything he does. The things Agatha is good at are not actually interesting to Simon... He's all about magic and one of the first things he tells you about her is that she's a weak magician (while telling you Penny and Baz are powerful) (he even gets distracted with how good Baz is; his life is in danger and he's talking about Baz being good at magic). Going to her activities (like her games) are things he would be "obligated" to do because he's her boyfriend and he's supposed to support her. (In a similar way, he would be "obligated" to be there too with Penny, even if he's not interested in the activity, because he's her best friend, and it goes both ways... which is how Penny found herself stalking Baz alongside Simon at first haha). With Baz, there is no such obligation. He has no reason to go to all his games; he invents silly excuses (that he later admits where "obviously just excuses," he already knew Baz is a vampire etc) because he simply likes watching Baz being ruthless in the field. He simply likes listening to him play his violin. Simon shows interest even when he doesn't have to.

This is something that I picked on during my first read, and the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced I'm right. In some ways, Agatha embodies "female desirability" in Simon's and Baz's POV (she does something similar to them with the whole hero vs bad boy deal). She is "Simon's type," she's very similar to him (they share a braincell, if you will). In short: she seems like someone that Simon would be into... if he was into women. But he's not into her. Paraphrasing the author here: he "has no romantic instincts" and "he never expresses anything sexual" toward her. He likes her and she likes him, sure, but not like that. (Simon equating the way he can see Agatha is attractive to the way his gay boyfriend should be able to see it, Agatha equating the way she liked Simon to the way the girl she wants to jump would like him if she gave Simon a chance) (they share a braincell, I tell you.)

In CO, Simon tells us that he was always just "doing what he thought Agatha wanted." In awtwb, he thinks that he will give Baz "whatever he wants." On the surface, this might look like the same thing, but there are actually pretty notable differences.

With Agatha, in his own words, "he always got it wrong." He "never put her first" (he actually put her dead last, look at his list and the excuses he gives). Doing whatever he thought she wanted operates on assumptions, and doesn't contemplate his own wants. It can also be about guilt over knowing that Agatha, in the role of girlfriend, didn't have any priority in his life (hence she "always feeling like the third wheel" while they dated). Putting it all together, it's pretty clearly a sign of Simon's disinterest. Of Simon being unhappy and not actually wanting to be her boyfriend, because he doesn't love her. Doing what he assumed she wanted then it's a form of just complying, of following expectations and giving in to his role, of perhaps even trying to "make it up" for things not working without ever having to process shit.

With Baz, Simon wants. He tells you that he wants to be the person who takes care of Baz. He tells you that he likes it. Taking care of Baz is a love language (which explains how fucking murder is his love language: protection and proving for him) Simon tells us he can't think about anything else when Baz is unhappy. That it's thrilling to "make it better." "Giving him everything he wants" then it's a sign of Simon's interest. He wants to be with him, and he wants to make him happy, because he loves him. This is also not based on assumptions; it comes in the context of Baz telling him what he wants. Doing what Baz wants then it's a form of Simon giving himself to him, to their relationship, to putting in the work to make it work.

Types of comfort vs discomfort

Part of the differences jumped to me before the goat scene, when we see Baz arguing with Simon over hiding his wings in Agatha's POV, and as soon as she joins in to support Baz Simon gives up. I think a couple of things: it's more of a 2 vs 1, rather than Agatha having more weight than Baz. But also: Simon arguing over (and dismissing) concerns over safety is familiar ground for Agatha, and this comes after he apologized to her over their past together, so I wonder if part of it is Simon listening to her because he feels guilty over dismissing her concerns for safety in the past. Also, and more relevant to this post: Simon feels comfortable with Baz in ways he didn't with Agatha, which is notable given how Baz notes that Simon is comfortable with her in a way he is with few people...

What I mean by this is that Simon did date Agatha in survival mode. "Doing what he thought she wanted" is also survival. Just doing whatever needs to be done to keep the relationship, because is the one thing enabling the HEA fantasy that it's all about "maybe he won't die young and alone" in battle (and because of, again, the heteronormativity of it all). See how breaking up instantly leaves him with nowhere to go at Christmas and without access to adults who took care of him during that period ever since he started Watford. How wanting to break up with her would require him to pursue thoughts and feelings that would result in getting to know things about himself he wasn't ready for, things he didn't feel equipped to handle and that would make his existence in his role complicated, when his role was the one thing giving him purpose (hard enough being "enemies" without being aware he was in love with Baz).

I there's discomfort with both, but with Baz it's the "right" kind of discomfort. The "pushing myself to work through things that should be worked through and process my feelings" type of discomfort, the "getting to know myself" type of discomfort, as opposed to "I don't actually want to do the things I'm doing here" type of discomfort." (Just like how he was the "wrong kind" of comfortable with Agatha while they dated, the: "it's better to not think about anything ever and stick with what's familiar even when it makes you miserable" type of comfort, while it was likely an easy comfort when they were friends).

With Baz, Simon first feels comfortable enough to push and test boundaries before they start communicating. To say stop where with Agatha he likely just turned off his brain and pushed through. And then, he feels comfortable in ways he has never felt before. He feels comfortable enough to begin to think about his desires, his relationship with touch, his thoughts and feelings, which he never has before. To fully be himself in all his fucked up glory. To the point he reveals part of himself you wouldn't think where there when you first read him in CO, that completely re-contextualizes things we saw there even.

#carry on #simon snow #baz pitch #snowbaz #simon snow trilogy #agatha wellbelove #awtwb #i have more thoughts but this is so long #probably for another post #baz grimm pitch #simon x baz #baz x simon

[breath-of-void]

The Sea Beast vs Nimona

I'll preface by saying that these two movies do not need to be in competition with each other nor is the purpose of movies really to BE in competition with each other, but I noticed certain similarities in their messages that I think are worth pointing out. Particularly, I noticed that The Sea Beast does some incredible work where Nimona fails. Mainly, this will be praise for The Sea Beast with some comparisons tossed in for flavour.

The Sea Beast is a movie decrying the evils of blind nationalism while acknowledging the sacrifices of those that came before both in service of and against the system. As with many good movies, a myriad of comparisons can be drawn to modern day problems. While The Sea Beast seems pretty comfortably anti-war, it could also be a more general critique of the treatment of Others. This is where the comparison with Nimona comes in as it is also about the Other (though more specifically, it appears to be about transgender identities. Again, it could be any Other identity that the majority rejects).

I've expressed before that Nimona's lack of monsters hinders it because we don't really get to see the majority have to contend with them. Nimona is the first real monster anyone ever encounters and she promptly dies and is lauded as a hero. In The Sea Beast, there are monsters abound and they look very different from humans and from each other. On one hand, this is just good world and creature building, but on the more meta level, Other does in fact look different. Nimona is not wrong for this, but it seems to say that the Other looks just like you despite acting and BEING different. Again, not a bad thing, that is true. The Sea Beast's approach says that the Other does in fact look different and that can be scary, but 1) they are not a monolith; they look and act different from each other as well, and 2) they are just as capable of great intelligence and compassion.

The Sea Beast also establishes the career and legacies made from violence against the Other. Nimona does this as well, but it feels lackluster. In one of the most amazing movie "tricks" I have ever seen, The Sea Beast starts by indoctrinating the viewer into their world. It shows a child stranded after a Beast attack, a little girl reading stories of heroism against the monsters to her foster siblings, a mentorship bordering on fatherhood as one man still capable of so much compassion (sacrificing his thirty year goal to uphold a code) passes on his livelihood to the boy he rescued. Aboard the Inevitable, there are women in power, fraternity abundant, all manner of diversity and none of it is ever ridiculed or played for laughs; it's a good place where everyone is happy and proud to be there. And these are the "villains." Jacob "who killed five of them beasts in the span of two days" is our loveable oafish deuteragonist. It even shows the hardships that Captain Crow faces when the king and queen try to replace him. Compare this to Nimona where the Academy is very obviously evil from the start. It is shiny and monolithic and only Bal, an outsider, seems remotely likeable. Nimona starts you with the view from outside, while The Sea Beast starts you from inside.

Obviously The Sea Beasts... everything works better as an anti-war film, but other institutions are mirrored here. The Church can feel like a warm and loving place that is sometimes at war with itself and the powers that be, but it only seems that way because you belong. Every member has their own lives and families and hardships both in and outside of their religion, but that all coalesces into unjustified hatred of the Other. Of that which does not fit in. The Sea Beasts starts us off by showing how amazing and wonderful it is to be a part of the In Group and even shows them triumphantly slaying a beast... then it shows us Red's kind eyes. It shows how quickly leadership will cannibalize itself to harm something that it has always been told is harmful (that's something else I love, Captain Crow didn't start it, he's a victim too). It even shows those that profit directly from it (royalty) and those that profit from the sidelines (Batterbie). Again, more effective as anti-war, but still poignant. Where Nimona falters on this point is that the Director was the monolithic bad guy. She feared the unknown, yes, but the moment she attempted to hurt innocents, everyone turned against her. In the Sea Beasts, the crew continued to follow orders albeit less sure of themselves. It took heavy proof and an impassioned speech to get people to stop and think.

On that note, Red didn't sacrifice herself for anyone. She was willing to listen to reason and to not kill the captain, but she didn't need to prove her moral superiority. That was it, reason. If she killed him, then people continue thinking monsters are only capable of violence. Especially since it was obvious he was just as brainwashed as everyone else. In Nimona, with no prompting, she decides that it is her duty to fly headfirst into a monster killing laser to protect people who, just a moment ago were stoning her as she tried to kill herself. It was a preachy mess. How much more impactful would it have been if she took the one person that was kind to her and flew out of the way and let the people look on in horror as they realize what their leaders were willing to do to harm someone who was no threat to them?

In the end, The Sea Beast does a ton of leg work in just about ten minutes more to show the humanity of the oppressor and why they do what they do before stating definitely that it is no excuse. My absolute favourite thing it does is that it never goes back on Maisie's backstory. Her parents aren't actually on some island somewhere living alongside the Beasts all kumbaya, they actually are dead and they were killed by Beasts. Compassion is not a genetic trait. Maisie has as much right to hate and fear the Beasts as anyone else given what she has lost to them, same as Jacob, same as Crow and Sarah Sharpe... but she chose compassion. She learned and accepted and forgave with the knowledge that the Beasts aren't evil, just upset.

#the sea beast #nimona #maisie brumble #nimona netflix #lgbtqia #other #colonialism #war #evil

[jasontoddssuper]

Okay so speaking as a long time fanfic author and aspiring books author,Percy works best as a trans girl from a writing standpoint and not just because she'd be extremely good rep.Percy being a cis guy who's stereotypically masculine is forced characterization because she has no reason to want to be one-She had no positive male role models growing up.There were definitely male teachers who were mean-spirited to her as much as female ones,Poseidon abandoned her and even after they met he prioritized her or at least treated her like a father who genuinely loves his daughter out of just her being his child instead obligation a grand total of zero times,Smelly Gabe is self-explanatory and Luke abused her too right from the start by gaslighting her.All she had was Sally so it's realistic that Percy would think women are better than men and not give a shit about being manly and preferring femininity

It's semi-canon that Percy has a trauma based dislike of men if we're looking at subtext-In the og series,she speaks much more positively of the girls around than she does the boys and she actually trash talks the latter while using being hypermasculinity as an insult,such as implying Ares is ugly multiple times.And one of the three male friends she has vs being friends with almost every girl in her age range?Nico,Pjo's first canon mlm.This just absolutely screams 'baby gays spotting eachother without either knowing they're not cishet yet' and it's only added on to by how devoted they are to eachother despite the problems in their relathionship.Plus,just sayin',but the explicit reason Nico got over his crush on Percy is that she wasn't a traditional male hero like he thought she was

On similar note,Rachel is a lot like many irl lesbians and her and Percy remain besties after their break up and the first point applies to Reyna too,who liked Percy and likewise after taking away the posibility of romance to their dynamic,they remained great friends and it's a common tgirl experience to still be close to all your ex girlfriends in a platonic way post-egg cracking.Percy reminds me so much of so many of my trans woman friends in tons of ways and i've seen others say the same and back to my first point,the logical conclusion to Percy hating having to be a man who's super masculine is to make her a woman who's super feminine so she can be happy so this all comes full circle

And onto specifics for the Pjo storylines and developments,Percy gains even more depth if she's a trans woman.A self admitted former 'troubled kid' who just wants to be normal but is always getting shoved into a role she dosen't want by people who think they know better than her despite barely knowing her,Luke's fixation on targeting younger girls can be told as a feminist tale by having her the hero of the prophecy instead of him and also be the one to kill him to avenge her female friends and you cannot tell me that the idea of the protagonist of one of the best children's books series out there being a trans girl who's got bad social skills,anger issues and merciless tendencies but never gets demonized for them,is the funniest person in the whole franchise,hyperfemme too and the fucking daughter of Poseidon isn't based as all fuck

She would also help Annabeth's character development by teaching her to not be a pick me anymore and Annabeth would thank her by teaching her to be more self-confident,Nico and her would've become found siblings and Nico and eventually Hazel could've even been adopted by Sally because of it,her transfemininity would've changed the angles of her dynamics with the gods to make them make more interesting,we could dive into how Pjoverse greco-roman mythos play into transgenderism and other types of queerness,Percy's already canon present Team Mom habits and hinted love for cute and 'kiddy' things would be used to their full potential like they deserve,it opens to door to an even more interesting potential romantic dynamic with Jason and there's definitely way more

I'm not sure how to end this so i will make a /hj:Percy Jackson is a female protagonist of all time

#percy jackson #persephone jackson #black percy #latino percy #bi percy jackson #aspec percy jackson #autistic percy jackson #mdd percy jackson #b///pd ptsd and depression too #poseidon(deragotry) #anti luke castellan #antilukercy #sally jackson #nico di angelo #nico and percy #rachel elizabeth dare #lesbian rachel elizabeth dare #reyna avila ramírez arellano #reyna is a lesbian #annabeth chase #jason grace #jercy #t4t jercy #group:yes when i'm with you i'm at home #ocean girl and wise guy #nico percy and hazel #the second argonauts #trans women #💌 #letters from summer

[deusvervewrites]

luminary: How does Izuku do in the sports festival

Um. Whoops.

After careful consideration of the abilities of the students in 1-A and 1-B, the canonical entrance exam, and the hypothetical abilities of the Aldera Squad following Midoriya's advice, I believe that Uraraka, Mineta, and Tsuburaba would not have made the cutoff into the Hero Course.

In 1-A, I am replacing them with the girl who can control water and the girl who can control wind, under the assumption that with training they'd be on par with basic waterbending and airbending. In 1-B I have replaced him with the girl who can turn into fire, under the assumption that she can turn part or all of herself into fire and not just her hands.

That leaves five of them in Gen-Ed where I am certain they would befriend Uraraka. This AU wouldn't go full Gen Ed Sweep but Midoriya would be interested in helping out his friends who didn't quite make it, and that now includes Uraraka.

With that established, I can now discuss the actual event.

Midoriya is simply too fast for an Obstacle Race to matter. That entire event has to be changed. Hmm... what about a version of King of the Hill where players have to stay within a specific, shrinking area? That would handle the mass elimination event while still challenging someone as fast as Midoriya. Additionally, this event would work out great for four of the five Aldera Squad kids that are in Gen Ed (smoke boy, hair girl, rock boy, stronk boy).

Cavalry Battle teams would be different. Todoroki's team would probably be the same, but Midoriya would stick with his friends. There's enough that Uraraka would probably be on a different team, and Midoriya would be a horse to exploit his speed. Let's pair him with the Wind Girl; that'll be a busted combo. add Smoke Boy as another horse and the Hair Girl as the rider they're incredibly fast, flying team, that'll be nigh-impossible to catch.

Uraraka can use a similar strategy by pairing up with the fire girl, Grab their telekinetic friend as the rider and can take headbands at a distance. Assuming that someone from this friend group won first in the previous event, they would point Hatsume towards this team, since Midoriya's strategy has no room for her.

That gives us enough room for one more team. With Fire Girl in 1-B, there's less chance of them following Monoma's plan and honestly those teams were so suboptimal anyway.

Alas, of the three remaining Aldera Kids I find to be noteworthy, two have Quirks that are redundant with the established cast (that being the guy who can buff himself up and the guy who can cover himself in rocks), so I might send them to a different Hero School entirely for peace of mind. That leaves only the Water Girl unassigned

Regardless, the final team is probably still Bakugou's.

Lemme quickly randomize a tournament bracket

Tournament Preliminaries:

The Tournament Round gets things off to an interesting start. Bakugou faces Hair Girl, and assuming she can produce more hair as a restraint like similar anime characters, it'd be a close fight, but Bakugou's Quirk counters her decently well.

Second round is Midoriya against Fire Girl, who happens to be one of the few people who can counter him by simply being fire. Though I feel Midoriya would likely win because of his analytical mind.

Yaoyorozu faces off against Todoroki next and wins, but only thanks to her training against Fire Girl and Water Girl with Midoriya--and Todoroki dropped his guard after the big ice attack.

Hatsume forfeits after her presentation, so Sero moves on

Smoke Boy beats Kaminari when Kaminari TKOs himself.

Iida beats Telekinesis Girl.

Wind Girl beats Kirishima--he's too straightforward to counter her effectively at this point.

Ashido vs Uraraka would be much closer if Ashido knew what Uraraka could do. Yeet.

Tournament Quarterfinals:

Midoriya beats Bakugou; Bakugou puts up a good fight because he knows Midoriya, but, well, Light Powers.

Yaoyorozu beats Sero.

Smoke Boy is hard to hit, but he's still working on his offense while Iida has more training in that department, so Iida wins.

Wind Girl is a hard counter to Uraraka. At least they're friends

Tournament Semifinals:

Yaoyorozu can't beat Midoriya (she takes too long to think at this point) but her clever use of a mirror at the start nearly clinches the match for her.

Iida is used to running into the wind, but Wind Girl can fly, so... sorry Iida.

Finals:

Midoriya vs Wind Girl. Midoriya should win this one pretty handily, but her flying makes it tricky for him.

#asks #luminary au

[emilykaldwen]

Shop talk!! Where did the inspiration for Abby as a character come from? Are there any characters or people who have inspired what makes her ✨her✨? And how do she and Aegon compliment each other?

(apologies, this came in after I went to bed and then I spent the last five hours driving across three states)

Oooh! I haven't gotten an ask like this in so long and I forget there are new people who might be interested!!!

(@selfproclaimedunicorn did the first Abby fanart! and @murmel-malt did this one for xmas!)

So in Fire & Blood, it's stated that Lyonel Strong became Master of Laws when Viserys took the throne, brought his sons Harwin and Larys and two maiden daughters to serve as Rhaenyra's ladies. So Abby was originally a friend of Rhaenyra and Alicent, and stayed by Alicent's side when she became queen because show-wise, Alicent is so fucking isolated. Like it HURTS to see how isolated she is, and I wanted her to have a friend, and someone who would try to be peacemaker between the two.

Right from the start, Abby was always meant to be kind. She's what I call proto-Sansa Stark: just embodying a lot of the traditional ladylike qualities I would always see Sansa getting lambasted for. I really wanted to create a character who could be kind and strong and that be just as valid as someone scheming or good with a sword. I wanted to write a girly-girl to embrace that femininity that I rejected as a teenager cause yay internalized misogyny!

But man, lemme tell you, I was struggling with her. I had this framework, but I didn't have a story for her. Frankly, for awhile, I thought that Alicent might encourage her to marry Otto for protection or something. I just didn't know what was going to happen to her.

So I decided to try roleplay her in some roleplay groups and toss her against other characters and see what I could come up with. It's something I've always done with original characters and I wasn't committed to writing a fic yet. and then my friend Ramses goes 'what if we did an AU and you throw her at Aegon?' (so age down Abby so her and Aegon are the same age vs her being his mother's age) because the type of character she was, she might be good with Aegon.

And then... the rest is history. Putting Abby against Aegon basically unlocked that third eye and suddenly Abby's story and her place in the world of Westeros clicked: She's someone the Team Green kids needed.

With Abby, Helaena could have a friend her age who accepted her for who she was, Aemond had a nerdy friend who enjoyed books, and Aegon? Aegon had a friend who always supported him, who he got to play conquering hero to her damsel in the games they'd play as children. a young!Abby took one look at the wet eyed cat boy and immediately went I'll love you and I'll show you how wonderful I think you are.

Aegon and Abby are definitely foils for each other. Abby thinks of others first, Aegon doesn't. He goes in on himself in his melancholy, she goes outside of herself. They are both desperate to please in their own ways, they are incredibly hungry for love. They are both outsiders in their worlds, and alone except for each other. Abby has the patience that Aegon needs, and Aegon has the ego to push Abby to be more 'selfish' and look out for herself more. In Abby, Aegon can take care of someone, he can look outside of himself and be there for someone. In Aegon, Abby can let herself be cared for. There's patience and there's drive, there's possessiveness and feralness from both of them. Both of these kids are unwell, Abby just... masks it better? It's not as obvious? (she's named for an Asshai blood priestess and is heiress to the haunted castle of your nightmares my happy sunshine baby is not well)

As for characters that inspired her and make her HER, the number one is very much Tohru Honda from Fruits Basket. Fruba is one of my favorite stories of all time, and it's a story about the cycle of abuse and generational trauma, and Tohru is the sunshine bubbly light girl... who is hiding her own grief and guilt at the loss of her mother. The fear that finding happiness again meaning she'd forgotten/lost her mother. And she takes on everyone's pain but does not share her own. And that always really resonated with me. It's very real. And it's a story that resonated to me along with Sansa's that I could appreciate as I was older.

I'm so sorry there's SO MUCH RAMBLING and I have no idea if this makes any sense. I don't know if I talk about Abby enough - I'm not used to getting questions about her LOL so thank you for this!

#oc: abrogail strong #aegon x abby #my babiest girl #there's so much work into this character and years of unpacking my own internalized traumas and misogyny #Abby is NOT ME #but she does help me process and work out some things I struggle with myself #gee tag

[aparticularbandit]

I keep going back to the idea of Monaca finally coming back from outer space and ending up being invited to be a student at the new Hope's Peak Academy.

All of the Warriors of Hope would be invited and would be there, maybe, not just Monaca, but she's the most wary of it. (DR3 implies the other four were helping Komaru and Toko, so maybe they've still kept in touch. Monaca, meanwhile, is both Monaca and has been living her best life in outer space, far away from everyone and everything. Except television, which DR3 implies she somehow still has.)

But like. They're all radically different.

Jataro's still some sort of Ultimate Art because that's the best way he knows to express himself, but he's all willowy and thin and never wears his mask anymore and his hair's kind of long. He's kind of a pretty boy, the exact opposite of himself.

Masaru's maybe the Ultimate Pickpocket because it's all a game to him. Sometimes he gives stuff back, and sometimes he doesn't. But he likes the running, likes the chase. He's not a hero anymore, not a leader, but he's still a little bit Peter Pan, and he never wants to grow up.

Nagisa's maybe the Ultimate Manger - not like Nekomaru because he's not into sports, but corporate positions. He's good at arranging people, good at scheduling, good at making businesses better and more effective. He's best at knowing when people need to take time off, when to let them rest and take a break, and because he's so good at his job, the corporations tend to listen to him. His hair's grown long and bushy, like a fluffy cat's tail, and it's always kept back in a ponytail. At some point in the past several years, he's gotten glasses, and while he knows he's good at his job, he's grown more shrunk into it.

Kotoko, meanwhile, has gone full tilt into her fighter class and become the Ultimate Boxer. She hates gentle, hates it, and having something else to beat up, to rough up, to punch has been a healthy way for her to get all of that negative energy out. (I like to think she and Komaru took a self-defense class together, and she liked it so much she kept going with it.) All of her hair has been chopped short, and she has the band-aid on the side of her face that Masaru used to have across his nose. But it's still a cutesy band-aid; she still loves adorable things. (In fact, it's probably the same bunny-covered band-aid that Junko used on the Steering Committee member.)

And Monaca, herself, is also something other, something different, but she's not necessarily better. She's spent all that time alone and away from everyone and everything. I don't know what her Ultimate might be, but they call her the Ultimate Space Case as a joke. And she still knows just what buttons to push to rile everyone up.

Hope's Peak isn't what it was either, so we get to see what Makoto's done with it. It still focuses primarily on the growth of its Ultimates, but it's more about giving them a safe space to continue to pursue their passions while also making sure they get a well-rounded education. There are other students, too, Talentless ones, but they're not treated any different from the Ultimates. In fact, sometimes the Ultimates are asked to teach on their passions, if they want, and Talentless students go and learn intricate stuff from them to get better at stuff they like. (Kotoko teaches a self-defense class primarily for girls; Masaru is not allowed to teach pick-pocketing, but sometimes he does anyway.)

....

And then, of course, because it's Danganronpa, they somehow find themselves locked in the school and Monokuma shows up to start a Killing Game.

The Warriors of Hope immediately pull a DR2 vs. Nagito bit and tie Monaca up and leave her in one of the rooms because obviously it's her. Everything was good and fine until she showed up, and no one wanted to emulate Junko as much as she did, and she's still kind of a bitch, and no one knows what she's been up to in space, maybe she's been planning this for years!

Except it's not Monaca and Monaca desperately wants to figure out who it is because she's pissed off. How dare whoever this is use Big Sis Junko's legacy this way? (Yes, she still loves Junko. The other Warriors still do, too, but they've got a bit of better perspective on her. She could be good to them and still be a horrible person. It can be complicated. There's no such it can be complicated with Monaca.)

And Monokuma comes to Monaca all tied up and talks with her a bit. Asks her what she would do if it actually was Junko. Which Monaca refuses to believe because Junko is dead, Junko has been dead for years at this point, there's no way she's coming back, no way she's alive. But Monokuma plants enough of a seed of doubt that she's left unsure.

Then the story proceeds from there.

I like to think Monokuma untied Monaca. That would give her a lot of extra suspicion from the Warriors, especially if she's honest and says Monokuma did it. She wants to be honest because that's the only way people will believe her, and maybe Komaru and Makoto do, when she says she's not involved, but Kyoko holds off because she's all investigation mode and the Warriors absolutely refuse, absolutely are certain this is her fault, because it's always her fault. And if she's telling the truth, then she's obviously in cahoots with Monokuma because he's helping her! Also who is the one who still has Monokuma servants? Just Monaca. She has to be doing it!

Excepting that this Monokuma is clearly not Towa City design. Toko has seen them both - the ones Monaca used and the one Junko used - up close and personal - and they're not the same. Monaca's are mass-produced copies of the original, and they're servants. Junko's was an exquisitely designed one-of-a-kind original (she had more than one, but there's no Monokumas like Junko's Monokumas). And these are Junko's Monokumas.

Which leads to concern for the Remnants. Whether they've reverted, whether they're involved somehow. And maybe they're able to contact them (or maybe one of them is there with them, too), and nothing points in that direction either.

And so on.

Despite being dead, I think Junko's still involved somehow. Because it's always Junko, at the end. And because the idea of Monaca specifically having a reunion with some form of Junko is just. a very strong pull here. Of a Junko who can look at Monaca and say she's proud of her and who she's become, who maybe can look at the other Warriors and say the same, although that's less important. (The other Warriors would not want her to be proud of them. Monaca still does.)

Anyway, these are the thoughts. Idk if I'll ever actually long form write the thing (between the Warriors of Hope, Makoto, Kyoko, Komaru, Toko, and maybe a Remnant, that's 10. I don't know who the other six would be, unless I rope in Hiro and/or Hina (who could be teachers at Hope's Peak) and/or more Remnants (which I like less). No Byakuya, although I feel like he's been taking Nagisa under his wing. And while it'd be interesting to rope in new characters, new Ultimates, I don't want to "clearly these don't have plot armor but everyone from canon does" you know? So. That's a thing.)

Just. Thoughts.

#musings #bandit brainstorms #danganronpa #monaca towa #kotoko utsugi #masaru daimon #nagisa shingetsu #jataro kemuri #junko enoshima #warriors of hope #udg #just. #thoughts. #monaca towa fic

[burst-of-iridescent]

I recently saw a post that paired a quote from The Hunger Games: “That what I need to survive is not Gale's fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again. And only Peeta can give me that.” With a Zutara vs. Kataang comparison, Zuko being the Gale in this quote and Aang being the Peeta. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on this take.

i think this is an extremely shallow interpretation of the hunger games, atla, or both.

the implication of comparing gale and peeta to zuko and aang suggests to me that there is a fundamental misunderstanding of the point suzanne collins is trying to make about gale and peeta. the difference between the two is not that gale is angry while peeta is all about #kumbaya, but that gale has allowed his anger to blind him, while peeta, though just as furious, keeps his anger where it rightfully should be.

the love triangle in the hunger games begins to be set up in book 2, the same book that repeatedly warns katniss to "remember who your real enemy is". what katniss comes to realize over the course of the series is what peeta has known from the start: that the real enemy is president snow and the capitol elite who support him, not the other tributes or the innocent civilians caught in the crossfire, something that gale is simply unable or unwilling to understand. 

that is why gale unhesitatingly reduces the other tributes in the games to mere prey to be hunted while peeta refuses to strip them of their humanity, why gale abides the mistreatment of katniss' makeup team in district 13 and is surprised by her horror, and why he ultimately ends up being complicit in the loss of innocent lives in his course for justice and revenge.

peeta is fundamentally kind and empathetic in a way that gale is no longer able or willing to be, and it is this kindness that he shares with zuko: the boy who risked his own life to save the man who tried to kill him, who put himself in danger to protect an enemy village, who reached out to a girl on the opposite side of the war simply because he saw a child like himself in need of comfort.

it's true that zuko in book 1 does have fire "kindled with rage and hatred" but his anger is a trauma response, and part of his healing from that trauma is realizing that he cannot use his anger as a crutch, or let it fuel him. that is why there is an entire episode centered around him losing his bending and actively choosing another path ("i don't want to rely on hate and anger anymore. there has to be another way"), one where his fire is fuelled by life and warmth. that is why zuko is foiled with jet (the actual closest gale figure in atla, a revolutionary who is blinded by rage and goes too far in his pursuit of righteousness), because jet symbolizes the person zuko could have become if he didn't learn to master his anger. zuko does what gale (and jet) are never able to do, and that is the reason he ends the show as a hero while they bring about their own downfalls.

as for aang being peeta, i can see the surface level comparison of "sweet sunshine guy" but what differentiates them is that peeta is always willing to do what needs to be done. he does not remain willfully ignorant of the horrors around him, and he does not risk the lives of others for the sake of his own selfish moral purity.

the actual comparison would probably be peeta and katara (someone who chooses kindness and hope, but does not blind themselves to the realities of the world), and zuko and katniss (someone who starts off closed off, distant and angry, but eventually chooses love and peace over rage and war), but if we're just comparing the two boys: zuko is far more peeta than gale, and anyone who says otherwise should really watch the show all the way to the end this time.

#zutara #zuko #aang critical #peeta #gale #the hunger games #atla #atla meta #asks

[ckret2]

Wait what's up with Dr. Horrible?? (I never watched it I just know of the song Brand New Day and that's it)

Okay so short plot summary: the main character is a mad scientist/aspiring supervillain who's presented as an earnest, nerdy, likable guy. We're intended to find him sympathetic; his villainous goals are comically cliché and he has some moral standards he sticks to, like we mainly see him commit property crimes but he refuses to kill people.

He has a crush on a very nice idealistic girl who wants to feed the homeless.

His nemesis is a smug handsome dudebro superhero whose collateral damage from his fights is arguably worse than what the villain himself would have done. The superhero ends up dating the idealistic girl after saving her from a near-death experience he himself caused by breaking the villain's machinery.

The superhero says some douchey misogynistic things about his new girlfriend to Dr. Horrible in private, so, naturally, he decides to compromise his values and murder the superhero. Through no fault of Dr. H's own (the narrative would like us to believe), the superhero makes the weapon malfunction in a way that, instead, kills the girl. Dr. H is broken-hearted and despondent but finally recognized by society as a true supervillain.

So, good nerd "villain" VS bad jock "hero" and the nice girl takes the douchebag with muscles.

This was several years before the "incel vs chad" meme took off—but it's hauntingly familiar in hindsight.

The thing is, even though the main character does have his "villain" moments, the way it's written makes it pretty clear the audience is supposed to be on his side. His evil is cartoonish and funny rather than things that actually tend to bother viewers, we're supposed to want to see him win over the girl and be mad that she went for the jock. Not only is HE your typical "nice guy (who isn't nice)" who doesn't understand why he skeeves out girls—but the STORY thinks he's genuinely a nice guy, too*.

(*This is the part that's controversial. Some people think "nah, Joss Whedon knew exactly what he was doing, we ARE supposed to recognize that he's really just a creep in defiance of how the narrative frames him, it's an unreliable narrator thing" and other people think "Joss really thinks Dr. Horrible is a tragic underdog who deserved to get the girl." Personally, I think the truth is somewhere in between, but it's closest to "tragic underdog.")

Except, Dr. Horrible is a supervillain! That's what makes the whole thing extra interesting. On a surface level, this is your basic role-reversal type story, "the supervillain is actually the hero and the superhero is actually the villain"—but once you recognize Dr. Horrible isn't quite as much a decent guy as the narrative paints him, the role reversal reverses: "the villain really is villainous, he's your typical vengeful entitled incel, but seeing the story through his eyes he can't see himself that way."

It's really a masterfully done unreliable narrator story breaking down the toxic incel "girls only don't like me because I'm nerdy" "they go for bad boys with muscles" "if I can't get a girl it's my right to lash out at the world" viewpoint, done convincingly enough that you can totally buy into the narrator's skewed perspective. (Like, it took years before I started seeing this "it's a breakdown of nerd culture toxic masculinity" interpretation of Dr. H in mainstream discussions. Some people might've been saying it at the time but it was nowhere near as widespread as it is now; when it first came out, just about every discussion I saw took it for granted that the narrative considers Dr. H the "good guy.")

But, on the other hand, it's only an okay trope role reversal story. Like it's pretty good? It's all right. It's fine.

The story is better if you look at it saying "Dr. H really is the bad guy here, but is so deep in his head neither he nor the narrative sees that" and worse if you look at it saying "Dr. H is a misguided good guy stuck in a tragedy."

And yet, I'm pretty confident "misguided good guy" was the authorial intent. For other folks who believe that was the intent, in order to let the narrative truly flourish, they have to interpret it in a way that directly defies what they assume the author wants; in order to say "the main character is blind to his true nature" they also have to say "the author is blind to the main character's true nature." And I think that's fascinating.

#dr. horrible #anonymous #ask

[the-commonplace-book]

Not to harp on something that's already been harped on a lot, but it really is telling about how we as a society treat girls vs boys in media in the way that Marinette and Adrien's crush behavior is treated by the Miraculous fandom

Marinette putting up pictures of Adrien, daydreaming about marrying him, making him gifts for every occasion, memorizing his schedule, average crush behavior for a girl her age, exaggerated because t's a cartoon? Stalker behavior. Creepy. Unacceptable. Bad protagonist.

Adrien putting up pictures of Ladybug, collecting merch for her, daydreaming about marrying her, acting like they're a couple to the press when she repeatedly asks him not to, continuing to flirt with her when she repeatedly turns him down, all also exaggerated because it's a cartoon? Silly. Goofy. Romantic. Endearing.

The fact is that neither of them are acting in ways that are reprehensible. They're just acting their age. And they grow and they learn. In Elation they both acknowledge that the way they were approaching the pursuit of romance was wrong, in their mutual "It made me act in the worst ways" about their respective crushes (of course, this conversation happening between Marinette and Chat Noir, not knowing that they are Ladybug and Adrien respectively). And it's that acknowledgement that helps them both grow, take a different approach to how they view relationships, themselves, and each other, and ultimately what makes room for them to actually start a real, healthy relationship instead of just daydreaming about it in these overtop performative ways.

They're like... 13~15-ish through the show so far? They don't know how to do relationships. They're just learning what romantic love really is and what it means to them. Their respective growth over the show in that regard is them starting out performing what they think love is and learning that it isn't all the gimmicks and grand gestures, it isn't self-deprecation and hero worship, it isn't obsession. It's caring and being cared for. It's knowing and being known. It's about trust and being delighted in your partner.

And they both had a lot to learn from Season 1 to where we are now in Season 5 (and obviously have a lot of learning still to go, I mean they are still teenagers).

I just think to accuse Marinette of creepy stalker behavior and to brush off Adrien's unhealthy persistence towards Ladybug in the early show does a massive disservice to both their arcs.

Also it's just sexist. C'mon guys. When are we going to stop hating teenage girls in this society?

#in this house we love and support marinette dupain cheng #ladynoir #adrienette #marichat #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #miraculous #f; miraculous ladybug

[clockworkdrop]

analyzing some costumes that were definitely only meant to be a fun recognizable character with little substance

note: it's been a while since I watched sailor moon so please correct me if I get something wrong

first, because I see this misunderstood a lot, damara is not a member of the lost weaboos. she's originally from the eastern provinces, and lives in the forest next to them. I've seen analysis on the peter pan themes that she's tinkerbell in the story, and similarly tinkerbell is not a lost boy, she just lives near them

because of that, I don't think damara has a particular interest in anime like rufioh. she doesn't dislike it or anything, but it's not a big deal to her. but early pre-game she'd go along with what he wants. which means rufioh would've been the one to pick these costumes, so analysis would be more about how he sees the relationship or what he wants it to be like

so... sailor moon was designed for an audience of young/adolescent girls. however, within pop culture especially in america the sailor scouts were seen as sex objects a lot of the time. they are not meant to be depicted that way in the show at all, but there was a section of teenage boys watching only because there were a bunch of pretty girls in short skirts

(lyrics from One Week by Barenaked Ladies)

there's a weird combination of infantilization and sexualization happening with damara within the text and I feel like some of that could apply. someone more knowledge than me should be the one to speak on it though

usagi and mamoru have struggles but at the end of the day they're destined to be together. they literally meet their daughter from the future at the start of season 2 they know they have to end up together. and that's probably comforting to rufioh, that even though there's all these struggles things will still magically work themselves out.

usagi is very childish, which makes sense since she's 14 but that's very much a major trait she has. she's lazy and impulsive and gets jealous easily.

mamoru is tuxedo mask, and the main thing about him is that his goal is to help sailor moon. rufioh was the leader of the lost boys but didn't see himself as some big hero. so he'd maybe like to see himself as some guy who wasn't the lead and took more of a backseat in the story, only showing up when needed to help the heroes.

there also something about the fact that usagi looks up to tuxedo mask because he seems like he knows everything compared to damara putting rufioh on a pedestal vs usagi thinking mamoru is a jerk and annoying compared to damara being tired with rufioh being childish and dishonest

there's also the fact that usagi and mamoru have an age gap. in the begining of the manga, usagi is 14 and mamoru is 16. in the anime, usagi is 14 and mamoru is 17, but he's also in a grade level that is usually for 18 year olds. I'm not mentioning this to bring in sailor moon discourse though. I'm mentioning it because of the fact that rufioh hit on aradiabot who is 13.

I don't really have a conclusion on this, but I do think there's something interesting going on with all this. maybe someone else can add more thoughts at some point lol

#homestuck #homestuck meta #dancestors #damara megido #rufioh nitram #homestuck analysis

[seriousbrat]

hi this may be long so sorry in advance but

i always loved hp and when i got into the marauders i started caring about sirius, remus, and james more (peter hater till i die unfortunately i can’t get behind him) and like every marauders stan i despised despised severus, i thought that since he was in a known death eaters friend group and called muggle borns mudblood he was unredeemable. but then i saw more and more pro snape content and it made me feel bad for him, james bullied him (which i’m still not even sure if it was classified as bullying because james didnt have any power over him and it wasn’t even 1 vs 4 it was 1 vs 2 so i’d like to know your opinion on that as well) and he had an abusive parent, but then i saw snily shippers (i am a major jily shipper fyi) saying how james basically manipulated lily into marrying him by not telling her he still bullied snape, how the prank was the best thing to happen to james because their “fights” wouldn’t be seen as bullying but as a teen rivalry, how james was the rich boy who got everything he wanted and he got the poor girl as well, how it was him constantly asking lily out and her always saying no etcc, so ik this may sound stupid but i love ur takes like ur always sooooo fucking real so if u want to share your opinions on these like if u think any of these things are wrong 🙈 id be glad bc i dont know how to feel about severus and idk how to feel about jily either which is just making my small world inside of my head crumble bc i used to love them so much

Of course and thank you! First of all as I've been saying I don't think it's necessary or even really a good idea for us to base our preferences or interests in fiction with our moral beliefs. so we can accept that snape or james did bad things and still like them. Fiction gives us that freedom to delve into aspects of humanity that in real life we might try to avoid. So I don't think you should feel bad for liking james or severus or jily or whatever. Ok, that being said let's get into it:

First it's normal to feel sympathy for Severus, he's a sympathetic character in many respects! That's what makes a good anti-hero (or even villain. we're even supposed to feel sympathy for voldemort and barty crouch jr at certain points)

what james and the marauders did was definitely bullying. there's no way around that. you say james didn't have any power over him but he did; social power. You touched on economic class, which is a big factor, but James was a popular student and Sev was deeply unpopular. whether it was 1v4 or 1v2 or 1v1 doesn't really matter in terms of whether it was bullying, though tbh it was really 1vthe whole school because the spectators also participated in Sev's humiliation.

However, in my mind there's almost no way that Snape wasn't instigating just as much, possibly more, in seventh year. Like you think he was just going to sit around and accept that his worst enemy was dating Lily? lol. I tend to believe Sirius when he says that Sev "never lost an opportunity to curse James" like good for him get his ass. But I think it was definitely a different dynamic in 7th year than in 5th. there's this tendency to portray Sev as being a meek little helpless victim his whole life but personally I feel that's a disservice to his character-- this is the guy who invented sectumsempra 'for enemies' like three guesses who 'enemies' was.

re: jily, I really doubt that James manipulated Lily into anything, I think that's such an overdramatic reading lol. We don't know much about the way they got together-- although many fic writers have taken it upon themselves to fill in the gaps-- but everything points to them having been happy and in love, that clearly was the intention by the author. If James didn't tell her about duelling Snape that isn't great, but there are a lot of things that can be imperfect in a relationship without jumping to manipulation and abuse which require a specific pattern of behaviour that we have no evidence for. We also only have the external perspective of Sirius and Remus, which is likely incomplete.

(also James 'always asking Lily out' is fanon, we see him ask her out ONCE albeit spectacularly badly. it seems more likely to me that lily 'you make me SICK' evans simply saw james grow into someone she rly liked rather than gave in and gave in so fully that she married him bcause he was pressuring her. idk she didn't read like a pushover to me.)

So no need for world crumblage! It doesn't sound stupid at all, but I think it's important to keep in mind that we can enjoy fictional characters/relationships that aren't perfect, in fact those are the ones that I find more enjoyable. It's totally possible to be a fan of snape and james and jily and snily all at the same time, fandom tends to create conflicts or 'shipping wars' or whatever lol but idk if that's necessary. I don't see it as a moral debate or an either/or, I just find all the characters and the dynamics between them interesting.

For instance, you mentioned the class differences between Lily and James, and I always thought that was probably a point of contention in the relationship; but to me it's one that makes it more compelling to explore. Relationships irl are rarely perfect and evenly-matched from the start, they take work. Similarly people are never perfect- they learn and change and grow. James did, Snape definitely did. otherwise they would be boring and unrealistic as characters.

#ANYWAY the point is that its fine. haha. like what u like u dont need to justify it. to urself or to anyone #very long answer haha but it was a long ask to be fair! #i have a few more asks that i'm going through rn. so if you've sent something sorry for the delay! #jily #meta #replies

[misrepresentedmorallygrey]

PROPAGANDA

Tony Stark

The whole fucking point of this character is that he is an arrogant billionaire arms dealer who realizes that he Kind Of Sucks and consequently spends the next fifteen years trying to Not Suck to mixed but ultimately decent results. On one hand you’ve got the people who act like hes terrible and like I get it I would hate him in real life too but this is a fictional character and you have to admit theres more going here. On the OTHER hand are his legions of fans who insist that he has never done anything wrong ever, he is the smartest nicest little boy who isn’t actually even a little arrogant, and actually everyone who ever went against him even for understandable reasons (incl. very morally upstanding Captain America) is Evil, actually. I say this as a fan of the character: PLEASE you can like this man and have him suck a little at the same time!!!!! I am begging you!!!! Help!!!!

Literally a millionaire who started out manufacturing weapons for the military. Was then chased by the consequences of his actions while not making any sort of reparations. Of course stayed a millionaire the whole time. Then did not communicate with the team about making a sentient "suit of armor" that turned into a massive slaughter bot. People claim that this should be excused as a result of PTSD but is his responsibility to seek out help and he most certainly had access to whatever treatment he could choose as a -in his words- "millionaire playboy philanthropist". Then supported an accords rife with human rights violations that he was of course exempt from - and refused to hear any of the others rebuttals to it - like they were not millionaires and did not have access to entire legal teams that would work to exonerate them. Then exposes Clint's family and farm which he had revealed to Tony in confidence and kept secret from any authority to protect them. Then Tony spends the rest of Civil War trying to straight up murder Bucky - ignoring that it had already been established that Bucky had no agency nor autonomy in his time as the Winter Soldier, in doing so ignored the Accords he had advocated for. He then kidnapped a 16 year old child - who he did not tell why he was taking him - in direct contradiction with the accords and then allowed for Steve's team to be held in a maximum security prison with no trial. He then proceeded to refuse any sort of communication with Steve, resulting in a delay of him defending Earth from Thanos' invasion. After this - despite his failure playing part in the deaths of half the universe, and the child in front of him he treated as a son - he refused to rectify his failure because he had a family now - ignoring the literal entire universe who had lost their families. Upon his death he was treated as a hero and the one who saved the universe, despite his actions being that of hubris.

The Darkling

Okay so this guy is the main bad guy of the series. He made “the fold” this barren wasteland of darkness and monsters dividing the land, causing like hundreds of thousands of people to die. He killed his mom. He psychologically manipulated his girlfriend (like, he caused her to hallucinate and a whole bunch of other crazy stuff). He made one of his followers (a young girl) use her body to slowly poison the king over time. He started a cult. He did a LOT of crazy stuff. However, we do see his backstory of him as a kid, and learn that he did all this in the name of equality, so people would stop torturing and killing the ‘grisha’ or the witches/magic users. Later, he fakes his own death and starts a cult worshipping him and acts as the leader of the cult, going by his old name Aleksander. He is a very complicated character. So tell my why everyone thirsts after him and is like “he did nothing wrong” HELLO?! He is NOT your poor little meow meow he is complies please please don’t sanitize him

#misrepresented morally grey #bracket a #did nothing wrong bracket #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #tony stark #grishaverse #shadow and bone #the darkling #general kirigan

[fictionalmedicshowdown]

Recovery Girl (My Hero Academia)

to use her healing powers she has to kiss her patients. shes a tiny old lady though so its like a grandma forehead kiss

vs

Kirisaki Shidou (MILGRAM)

He is a 29 year old man that wears black floral flannel t-shirts unironically and has the type of sadness in his eyes you only see in European BL comics. Also he's the equivalent of a fucked up pretty boy. I've dropped an actual explanation of who he is below (including a TLDR below) but if you don't wanna read any of that please know he has such autistic swagger. Also he has two songs and they go so hard. (Also linked below!!) He also canonically got kicked in the shin one time. He's also canonically trying to make friends with a child that hates his guts for being a doctor. Hes such a boyfail. I love him. [continued under the cut]

[continued] Oh dear, here we go! Shidou Kirisaki is a pathetic man. He had a wife and 2 or 3 kids (its been a while okay -._-.) that he loved dearly. While he was working at the hospital, he got news of his wife and kids getting into a car crash. (I believe, may have been another type of accident? I'm fairly confident it was a car crash, however.) He rushed there as soon as possible, only to find that his kids had died. His wife was the only one who survived, but she was in a braindead state and had some irreparable organ damage from her injuries.

Grief-stricken and desperate, Shidou devised a plan. Shidou tricked and manipulated dozens of families into giving up their braindead (or horribly injured) family member's organs (sometimes without their knowledge!) in order to use for organ transplants in an effort to revive his wife. Despite his best efforts, none of it worked. His schemes were eventually caught, but before he could face any legal consequences, he was kidnapped.

Shidou Kirisaki was brought to this prison called "MILGRAM". It was quickly explained why all the prisoners were there; they were all murders, and the guard had the job of deciding if they could be forgiven or not for their crime. The prison guard knew nothing about them, but would figure it out through interrogations and a special machine that exports the prisoners' thoughts and memories as music videos. Instead of being horrified like any normal person would, Shidou saw this as a great opportunity. When it came time for his interrogation, he begged to be voted guilty. He believed that MILGRAM would "give him the ending he's most suited for". The prison guard basically told him to fuck off, and after watching the music video, he was voted forgiven anyways. (Votes are casted by the fandom btw!! It was the fandom that voted him guilty, the prison guard is the in-series personification of us.)

The prisoners that were voted guilty ended up getting attacked after the votes were released, and 2 ended up horribly injured. Shidou's medical skills proved to be very important, as he managed to treat these 2 and even save one of them from certain death. Although Shidou begged to be voted guilty, the only reason he was able to save these prisoners is because he was voted innocent. Its cruel irony that made Shidou realize that maybe he really was important, that he did actually want to be innocent in order to help those in need. He's still conflicted at this point in the series, but it truly is refreshing to see him with a newfound self-worth.

Also, his songs go really fucking hard. I've linked them both below. They're on Youtube, along with the rest of the MILGRAM series. https://youtu.be/YR4sGpMqQJQ https://youtu.be/BKjpPePYn4Y

TLDR: Shidou used to be a surgeon. After his kids died in a car crash and his wife was horribly injured, Shidou was incredibly desperate to get them back. Knowing only his wife was able to be saved, he started deceiving families into donating their ill family member's organs and trying to use them in an attempt to save his wife. Eventually, he was found out and got brought to a prison where his fate was to be decided by us, the viewers (although this was represented by a guard in-series). He begged to be voted guilty, not being able to forgive himself for the lives he'd destroyed. However, the viewers voted him innocent. It was only because of his innocent verdict that he was able to treat some prisoners who got attacked after the release of their verdicts, and he ended up realizing that his life was important to the survival of the prisoners. His story makes me so happy. The series is still ongoing, but seeing his faith get somewhat restored was so pleasing. I love him so much. Hes such a loser.

#recovery girl #my hero academia #shidou kirisaki #milgram #character tournament #fictional medic showdown #poll #round 2