#but on the other hand A LOT of his analysis was shitty and there was so much focus on kind of just cringing at things

[repurposedmeatlocker]

The irreparable damage of having your first exposure to film criticism be The Nostalgia Critic/Doug Walker.

#pointing a finger at myself btw #not even exaggerating there are so many things I had to unlearn because of this #on one hand he was my introduction to the general idea of analyzing films which would become a huge factor of how I enjoy films now #but on the other hand A LOT of his analysis was shitty and there was so much focus on kind of just cringing at things #that was obviously not directed towards him and was not intending to be analytical #but because there wasn't really any form of good film crit on youtube at the time young people would end up soaking up his interpretations #people blame a lot of bad film crit on cinemasins which is true but I think walker fed into it a lot too #aside from his other shitty stuff #squack

[smellrain]

in which: Jack has liked you for years, but so far you have been oblivious to his feelings. Will the guide he made with the help of his teammate make you fall for him? Or will it end up destroying your friendship?

tags: written, mention of use of alcohol, slight angst. (masterlist for this au) (my masterlist) <prev. part: prologue I next part: ch. 2>

notes: [4.3k] First of all: thank you for your kind words after the prologue yesterday! Very happy that so many of you liked it. There is an analysis post about this chapter here that you might want to check out after! I hope you enjoy :) & come tell me how you liked it!!!

It had been a long day at work for you. The data your boss had assigned you had taken you a lot longer to work on than you’d expected, which meant that you actually, genuinely missed your last lecture of the day. You had texted a barely-even-friend that attended the same elective about her notes but you hadn't gotten a text back so far. 

Standing in front of your door now, you leaned the crown of your head against the outside of it and took a deep breath in. You had missed the key hole not once but twice now and the anger that welled up inside of you was completely unwarranted, so you knew you needed to mentally take at least one step back. 

Four seconds in, seven hold, eight out. In and out. You blinked once and the dark of the wood was an unwelcome reminder of reality. Still, unlocked the door, this time succeeding on the first try. 

The hallway was quiet, but you had expected as much. One of your flatmates had a nightshift at the clinic she was working at while the other was sleeping over at her boyfriends. The blissful silence you had looked forward to this morning seemed suffocating now. 

It didn’t matter. It was fine like this, you were fine.

After turning on the kitchen light, you walked to your room, put down your bag and fell down onto your bed, face first. The scratchy fabric of your bedcover was not nearly as nice as the sheets you had dreamed of all day long. 

For a while you let your eyes fall closed, not asleep, but resting nonetheless. You just wanted to rinse the day off of you, but you were too hungry to even think about showering. 

With a groan you peeled yourself off your bed, sat at the edge of your mattress while an inexplicable urge to cry welled up inside of you. Your day had been really shitty and your were really, really hungry.

But you got up anyway and walked towards the light in the kitchen that shone through through the space of the door to your room.

The music you’d put on in the background helped but it didn’t quite scratch that itch for conversation, for company. When you saw your phone light up from where you had left it on the counter, you hoped it might be the classmate you had texted. 

You rinsed off your hands to see who had messaged you. 

Jack (worst Hughes brother): hey what r you doing tn? You: currently making dinner why what did you do what do you need Jack (worst Hughes brother): nothing  wait why did you assume i did/need sth anyways: can i come over soon?

The shower. You still had to shower, but soon for Jack usually meant at least half an hour. It  should be enough time and besides it was just Jack, no reason to put in more effort than necessary. 

You: because you always text me when you need my help sure, I might be eating by then, have you eaten? Jack (worst Hughes brother): I did like 5min ago wait no ignore that, you’re telling me I could have had some of yours??? jkjk see you soon

You liked the last message and turned the heat off your stove. Shower first, you reminded yourself, even as you mourned the loss of the start of your dinner that you had been frying on the stove. 

When he knocked at your door you were still sitting at the small kitchen table that could barely seat two people. “It’s open,” you said, loudly. 

From the sounds you could hear him open and close the door, take off his shoes and leave his bag in the hallway. When he finally came into your view, you couldn’t help but smile. Strange how that worked, considering you had almost cried half an hour ago. Food really worked miracles sometimes. But then again he had always had that kind of effect on you, making you smile despite yourself. 

“That’s not very safe of you,” he had said but he was already smiling, “having your door unlocked.”

“Hey you, fancy seeing you here.”

There was a warm feeling curling itself around your ribcage at the look at him, “hey yourself. I left it open because I knew you were coming over, don’t worry about it.”

“Alright,” he conceded, “did you watch the game yesterday?”

“‘Course I did,” you said, eyes following him as he took a glass from the cabinets and filled it up. There was something intimate about that, the ease he carried himself with, him knowing where to find your glassware and feeling comfortable enough to do so while carrying on with the conversation. 

There was something in you that ached at the feeling, at having someone that comes home to you. At having someone that just feels that comfortable with you, that you live your life alongside with. 

It’s not like you were lonely, you had wonderful flatmates and good friends, but there was just something different about this feeling, about this longing. Or maybe that was just the effect he had on you, inexplicable as always.

“Good, otherwise I would have felt stupid after my goal.”

You had seen the new ritual he did sometimes that he had been asked about by the media sometimes. He had done it a few times now, more often over this past year. He was approached by his teammates first, but then he was still for a bit, putting his hand on his chest and raising it up after, usually waving once. The warmth that had seeped into your bones crept up to your face, “you did that for me?”

The one time he talked to an interviewer about it, he had said it was a new good luck charm he was trying out.

Because of the small table the two of you sat close and his knee kept bumping into yours, but you hardly paid it any mind. It was comforting, having him here, this close in the low light of the kitchen, cradling one of your glasses in his hands. 

Admitting something he hadn’t told anyone else.

“Yeah, of course, had to show my appreciation for my number one fan somehow.”

You laughed a little, “you are such an idiot.”

The smile he gave you in return crinkled up the skin at the corner of his eyes and you wanted to trace that fold with your thumb. What were you even thinking? “I know.”

So you just swatted his shoulder and got up to wash your dish. “Did you guys go out and celebrate?”

Jack turned in his seat, his body facing your back from where he was still sitting at the table, “yeah. It was a really small bar in the middle of nowhere, Nico said he didn’t want to be recognised, despite the win.”

You hummed in response. The constant scrutiny must have been affecting them all after these past few games. “Cool. Did it actually work or,” you trailed off, not really sure how to finish your question. 

“Sort of, I mean we took a few pictures when we came in but it was a lot better than usual.”

“I’m glad then,” you said and turned back around to face him, “I’m glad nothing too exciting happened.”

At the word exciting his expression morphed into something odd. “What?” you asked.

“Nothing,” he answered but he wasn’t meeting your eyes anymore. 

“You can tell me, you know you can,” you reminded him, now getting closer to him again. You were usually able to get out every last secret of his if you just asked the right questions. 

“I know,” he assured you, now pulling you a little closer by your hip and resting his hand there. He had always been touchy like that, arms slung over your shoulders or around your waist, hands holding your wrist to pull you through crowds, thumbs circling your ankle when you rested your legs in his lap. 

“But it’s really nothing, I just got a little drunk,” he assured you, but you didn’t really buy it. 

Still, you had no real reason to press, knowing that it just made him close up further. He would end up telling you, just not now. “Okay.”

The two of you went back to your room soon after, deciding to watch a movie. You didn’t tell him that you were really, genuinely tired, because you knew he could tell. He always could, somehow, even if you yourself weren’t all that aware of it. Funny how that worked.

You sat down first and then patted the spot next to you on the bed, but for a split second you saw him hesitate. That hurt, just a bit because you had thought that the two of you were close enough for it to not matter anymore. 

Still, he leaned against the headboard next to you, his shoulder softly knocking against yours and your worries disappeared at that. You must have imagined it.

“Any preferences?”

“Ratatouille,” you said immediately, not even knowing where that request came from. 

He smiled, “I do like a girl that knows what she wants.”

For some reason you blushed at that, at the barely even there implication of being his. You really were going insane today. “Is that okay for you?”

“Sure,” he said, “let's watch the rat be a better cook than the two of us combined.”

You typed the website and clicked play on your screen and settled your laptop down between the two of you, one knee on each side of the bottom of it. 

You were suddenly keenly aware of the fact that you didn’t even own a tv, that you were watching a movie from your laptop when he could be at home, watching it on a screen that was at least double the size of this.

It was a stupid thought, so you brushed it off. He was a professional athlete, you were a college student. There was something fundamentally different about your current lives, as intertwined as they were. 

The movie started soon after, so you pushed all of that to the back of your mind. At first the two of you ran a semi-steady commentary about what was going on but soon after you were both too engrossed in the story to think about anything fun to say. 

When a sharp sound came from the screen you realised that you had your eyes closed. Sleepily you blinked your eyes open again. It must have been for a few minutes, at least because you weren't sure what was going on anymore. 

“Tired?” he asked, a knowing glint in his eyes. 

You let your forehead fall against his shoulder, this time on purpose. It was a welcome contrast to a few hours ago when you did the same thing against your front door. His shoulder was softer because of his sweatshirt and he smelled nice. Like the shampoo he used, like his laundry detergent. You wondered when that smell had become intrinsically his and not someone else's' like a friend of yours that used the same deodorant. 

You kind of wanted to drown in it, but you held yourself afloat anyway. He wasn’t yours, you weren’t his. The two of you weren’t like that.

“Had a hard day at work,” you mumbled, a little more tired now than you’d been just moments ago. His presence did that to you, calmed you down when you didn’t even know you were high to begin with. 

He lowered your shoulder a bit which made it more comfortable for you to rest your head on it. “You could have said no, you know that, right?”

But you had wanted to see him once you had seen his message. “I know.”

“Good,” he answered, as if it was as simple as that and remained quiet after that. 

You tried to turn your focus back to the movie, you really did, but before you knew it your eyelids were drooping again. 

Then you were woken up again, this time by Jack. 

The movie must have finished in the meantime because he had moved his arm, closing your laptop. You rubbed your eyes tiredly, trying to form a coherent thought but the only thing on your mind was the warmth of him next to you, the dream that just barely slipped out of your grasp. 

“Sorry,” you said.

He turned to you, surprised. “What for? If anything I should apologise, I kept watching even when you were tired.”

“You know I don't mind that,” you said. “I just wasn’t very good company today. Sorry.”

Jack knocked his shoulder against you with a little more purpose so you  turned to him. “Nope, none of that. I don’t mind, I got to see you, which is all I wanted anyway.”

How could he just say something like that? As if words like these didn’t bore themselves under your skin, living there forever, etching themselves into the white of your bones.

This casually, as if it didn’t just make your heart flutter the same way it did when you were eighteen, back when you had loved him. Still, in your barely illuminated room, late at night you let yourself linger. Let yourself pretend that his words held meaning. 

Let yourself pretend that the two of you were different.

You thought about the thousands of times you must have seen him just like this, in the dark, looking back at you. 

It was a weird memory that came to you, just then.

Back when the two of you had first met you had been crushing hard. It wasn’t really surprising, now looking back. You had never really gotten a lot of attention by boys growing up, so when he went out of his way to talk to you, you really had no choice but to fall for him. 

Liking him had become addicting. 

You could still remember the moment you thought he might like you back and the very same moment you knew it wasn’t, probably ever, going to work out between the two of you.

It was at a party, after you had just graduated. You had just come out of the bathroom, alone because your friend was finally, finally talking to the guy she liked. 

Then you picked up a friend’s voice somewhere down the corner, most likely from the kitchen. “C’mon your turn now. Who are you crushing on,” Aaron had said. They must still be playing a weird mixture of truth or dare and some other game you had already forgotten the name of.

Your mind immediately went to Jack, the way his hand had brushed yours when he had gotten you a drink earlier that night. 

“I don't?” Jack answered, slightly laughing, but there was an air of unease in his voice that you couldn’t help but notice. 

“C’mon, Jack don’t be like that,” someone else interjected, and suddenly you were a lot more invested in the conversation than just a moment ago. It was always like that when it was about him. 

“There are always so many girls throwing themselves at you, surely you want one of them,” you could hear the other guy’s jealousy from miles away but you weren’t sure if the others picked up on it too. 

“I’m serious, I barely have time for my friends already, let alone a girlfriend.” Jack said and there was this tiny spark of hope rising in your chest. Maybe you could change that. Maybe you could be the exception. 

“True,” Aaron agreed calmer than usual. You thought he might be noticing the tension waving off of the other guy. 

“There is no shame in admitting it,” the other guy doubled down, “what about that one girl? Short, brunette, on the track and field club.”

Oh god, he was describing your friend, the one you had just left with her crush. “Nah, wait I think she has a boyfriend, but what about her friend, the one that Kevin hangs out with.”

You. Shit, he was talking about you. Did you really want to hear Jack’s response? What if he said he didn’t like you? But what if he did?

“She is my friend too, you know,” Jack said, “but she is pretty, I guess.”

He guesses? That kind of really stung. You knew that there was nothing all that memorable about you, but it’s not like you were ugly. A thousand different insecurities that you thought you had worked through rose to the surface and you didn’t have the strength to push them back down. 

You had to escape, now, without being noticed and without listening to anything more. Still, your ear couldn’t help but pick up on the rest even as you pushed past that guy that sat behind you in math.

“Jack, don’t be like that,” the other guy insisted, “don’t you want to go up to her and just fuck her? I mean her ass-”

Humiliation. For some reason you felt humiliated and violated. You knew about locker room talk, but you had never wanted to be part of it. Tears were beginning to well up in your eyes and suddenly you could feel every single person that had touched any part of you today, suddenly questioning if it really was accidental. 

You had to get out, now. The static in your ear was loud and the bass vibrating through the soles of your feet seemed to turn it up even more. You had run away, texting the friend you came with some kind of bullshit excuse for leaving. 

The asphalt outside on the sidewalk was cold, but you sat down on it anyway. You just wanted to cry. Everything seemed so overwhelming and important all at once and you had no idea how to deal with all of it. 

Soon you were leaving high school for good, your friends were moving all across the country, you were so fucking lonely and the guy you had been crushing on for a better part of a year didn’t even think that you were worthy to look at. 

You drew your legs closer to your body and folded yourself up as much as possible. Growing up seemed scary all of a sudden. There was that one Lorde lyric that said that too, that you couldn’t quite pinpoint.

Suddenly people were streaming out of the house, all at once. You wiped your tears, looking up at what was happening. In the stream of people you couldn’t make out any of your friends.

Then you heard your name being called. It was Kevin, still standing at his door. He held Jack at the others shirt collar, as if he was holding up a particularly unruly cat that had gotten in trouble again. 

Your eyes must not have been red because when you came closer neither boy commented on it. “Get him home,” Kevin said and dumped a heap of Jack right in front of you. 

Jack glared back at where Kevin disappeared back into the house, eyes murderous. You had never really seen him act like that, especially to a friend. But then again how well did you really know him?

A beat of silence. You really wondered what on earth had happened for the party to just end. You shifted your weight on your feet. “Do you have a car?” you asked eventually. 

Jack brushed past you, “yeah. I’ll drive you home, didn’t drink anything.”

You followed him, but on the short walk back to his car neither of you said anything. 

The stereo remained off all the way back to your place. After you had stopped looking at him to try and figure out what had him in this bad of a mood, you looked outside. The neighbourhood was so familiar, and the horribly sad feeling from earlier came up again. 

You really needed some kind of distraction. “Thank you for driving me home.”

For a second he remained quiet and you really thought you were going to be ignored. He had always had a bit of a dramatic streak at times. “Of course.”

His expression remained scarily blank. “Can I ask what happened with Kevin?”

“Nothing,” he said, his gaze staring firmly ahead. Then, “I don’t like his friends.”

What kind of response was that? “Okay,” you tried, carefully, “then why did you come?”

“I didn’t know I didn’t like them before tonight,” he said. 

Then you looked at the way his hands were gripping the wheel, specifically at his knuckles. Wait- “did you punch one of them?”

He laughed, and the sound bounced off the small enclosure and some kind of happy feeling made your heart swell, even though you had been apprehensive about him just moments ago.

It was a lot longer than your comment had warranted. You really were a bit concerned about him. Should he be driving if he acted like this? “I might have.”

Before you could ask why, because you had never seen him actually punch anyone, he continued, “in my defense, he started it.”

“That’s a shitty defense,” you said, “that just means you have to be the one to take a step back first.”

He only shook his head in response but you were happy he was back to acting like that Jack you knew. “You would have punched him too, I just know it.”

“Sure,” you replied. You had never punched a person because you didn’t like them and you didn’t think you’d start anytime soon. 

“Trust me, you would have,” he said and left it at that. 

The two of you arrived at your place soon after, so you thanked him and left. 

The rest of the summer between highschool and college was spent getting over him, which you eventually succeeded at when he introduced his now ex-girlfriend to you and your friends. 

In college you went out on a few dates, but none of them ended up going anywhere. That was fine to you, because it just meant that you were prioritising other things now, like your studies and your friends. 

There wasn’t even anything all that similar between that memory and your current situation, but you drew the comparison anyway. His jaw was more refined now, his hair longer and his eyes seemed different now, a bit more mature maybe. Or maybe just a bit more tired. 

“What are you thinking about?” he asked. 

It must have been a bit strange, you just looking at him. “You,” you replied honestly. “Do you remember that one party, way back, after high school where you punched someone?”

He groaned and leaned his head back against the wall, his throat exposed. Your gaze lingered there for a bit before returning to his face. Some kind of feeling almost bubbled to the surface at the sound and the matching sight.

“I do.”

“I never actually figured why you did that.” When his gaze remained firmly on your ceiling, you continued, “I feel like now enough time has passed for you to admit why.”

He smiled a bit. “There was this other guy, right? The one I punched, I mean.”

You nodded. 

“He was being a real dick about one of my friends, and when he didn’t stop talking about her I just kinda wanted him to shut up. Moved before thinking about it.”

“Asshole,” you commented, not about Jack. 

“Right?” he turned his head so that he looked back down to you, “after that one punch I came back to myself but before I knew it Kevin had dragged me out by my collar, shouting that everyone had to go.”

“He must have wanted to avoid a full on fight,” you said. 

“For sure, can’t even blame him.” With a mischievous gleam in his eyes he said, “but it felt really good to finally shut him up.”

You laughed, thinking that the entire situation was a lot more dramatic than it really had any reason to be. The laugh turned to a yawn by the end. 

“I should leave,” he said but you had the weird urge to ask him to stay. 

“Sorry, I’m a lot more tired than I thought,” you said instead.

“Don’t apologise for that,” he said, getting up. He ended up offering you a hand to help you get up as well even though you really didn't need it. You took it anyway. 

He picked up the bag that he had left at the door, opened it and turned to you. “I had fun.”

You smiled, “me too.”

“Good,” he offered you a smile in return. You saw his hand reach out and stop for just a second, but before you could ask him about it, he held it against your temple and leaned down to give you a kiss on your forehead. He lingered in your orbit for a bit longer than the duration of the kiss, just hovering above you. 

“See you soon,” he said, waving, and you replied the same. Then you closed your door and locked it. 

You didn’t need to hold your hand against your cheek to feel it burn. What was that? He had never done that before. He had never done anything like that before, ever.

You stumbled to your bathroom, and went through the motions of brushing your teeth and going on the toilet. When you finally crawled under your sheets, you let yourself sink down into them. 

Still, you were too tired to properly dissect the entire interaction so instead you closed your eyes. You drifted to sleep, your mind focusing on the tips of his ears that had seemed a bit flushed when he closed the door behind himself. 

taglist: @alwaysclassyeagle @hughescomplex @lupinslibraries @megaluke @cixrosie (send me an ask to be added!)

#jack hughes #jack hughes imagine #jack hughes x reader #jack hughes x y/n #jack hughes x you #nhl #nj devils #nhl imagine #nhl x y/n #nhl x you #nhl x reader #ame writes #jhgtfil

[lamnwar]

Hey me again, lmao

Could you do Kiyoshi + Gom as husbands, If so thank youuu xxxx

Hi there, love! 💕 love love love this request!! I spend all my time daydreaming abt being married to these boys LMAO it's embarassing 😭 alsooo ik I took long before getting to your request but I wanted to finish all the big os requests first before working on hcs bc it's more heafty so sorry for my shitty habit of taking too long for simple stuff :((

HAPPILY EVER AFTER // KNB Headcanons

Context: what I imagine married life to be with these characters. 🥰

Pairing: GOM + Kiyoshi x gn! Reader (gender not specified)

Warnings: mainly fluff and crack, can get a bit suggestive in Aomine's (of course it's always him 😭) so mdni!

AKASHI

Rich, handsome and a gentleman!!! Literally the Holy Grail of husbands

The kind to spoil his pretty spouse out of love

Takes you out on a date at some fancy restaurant at least once a week

He's also very independent!! Now, I think he's the kind to hire people to help around the house but that doesn't stop him from doing chores

He'll always help you doing stuff for the house if you need

He has amazing taste!! Take him furniture shopping and you'll end up with on of those houses you see in AD

Brings up the subject of you dropping your work so you can stay home while he's the breadwinner

He's a bit traditional in that sense because he really doesn't want you to work if it's unecessary, you know?

I mean he's crazy rich so does that even make sense to make you work?? (Unless you absolutely want to)

Wakes you up every morning with a kiss!

He always had the proudest smile when he introduces you to people as his spouse <3

MIDORIMA

TREATS YOU LIKE A ROYAL OMG

This man takes marriage very seriously, listen

He most likely did a deep analysis of your birthchart before deciding that you are the right one for him

Naturally, as your husband, he gotta get you your lucky item of the day everyday

You don't even believe in that stuff but it's his love language, I guess

Not much one to go on dates unless you want to, then he'll be up for it

He's more one to enjoy time with you at home

Something like having a nice diner and cuddling while you read

The kind to love going grocery shopping with you

Every once in a while, he'll buy a fancy bottle of wine just to share it with you

A very supportive husband!! Every project you have in mind, he's already done the research to find the most efficient way for you to accomplish your plans

Not a PDA guy but he'll happily hold your hand when you're at gatherings together

May not be very vocal about his love for you but you better believe that he talks proudly of his spouse to every one he knows

KISE

He is OBSESSED with you

Man never left the honeymoon phase, he's so crazy about you

Takes you to his fancy modelling events and shows you off to every one he meets

He also buys you lots of clothes and acessories

Dare you say something is cute, he's already inside the shop buying it for you

Tries his best as chores but it's not really his thing

Will help as much as he can, though!

Breakfast in bed kind of guy hihi

And it happens a lot because let's be real, that man isn't the kind to let you sleep at night

Like I said earlier, he's never left the honeymoon phase so... yeah

Wants to be the kind of husband that gives you his credit card and tell you to do what you want with it but you have to decline

It's ok though, he'll fine plenty of other ways to spoil you

You have that cute habit every week of taking baths together

The kind to miss a day of work to take care of you when you're sick!

AOMINE

Daiki never thought he'd ever get married, but then he met you

Not the best at being a husband but he really tries!

Like he makes an effort of not being too lazy and messy

Leaves the chores to you mainly, but will give a hand

Like if you're cleaning around and need to put stuff on the top shelf, he'll do it for you

Not the best cook so he lets you make food while he does the dishes

I'm trying to delay the obvious but that man never stops being horny for you

Literally sits and daydream of fucking you on every surface of your home

Gets so riled up at the sight of that ring on your finger, he can't believe your all his

The kind to follow you everywhere you go, even if it's for some stupid errand

Takes you out to the beach or for a picnic as soon as the sun is shining outside

Buys you clothes he thinks you'd look good in and surprisingly, he's got amazing taste

Loves when you refer to him as "husband" in conversation!!

MURASAKIBARA

So casual about being married, most likely because to him that doesn't change a thing about the way he feels about you

Likes that now he gets to have you with him all the time

Cooks for you! Buys you snacks! Takes you out on restaurant dates!

Sharing is caring so he only ever shares his snack with you

I can see him being into matching outfits (if you can find any that fits both him and you)

A bit lazy so he doesn't help around that much unless you tell him to

And even that, he'd do some chores before getting distracted

But listen, it's ok though because he makes up for it in over ways

He's very caring, only because you're his spouse

Cuddles in bed, at all time! He just feels clingy sometimes

He smiles softly when he plays with your hand and sees the ring on your finger

He likes to sit you on his lap often

Basically being a husband doesn't differ much from how he was as a boyfriend

Very casual about calling you his spouse all the time, even in front of others

KIYOSHI

Kiyoshi Teppei was born to be a husband!!

Because he grew up with his grandparents, he's got the habit of taking care of a household and the people living in it

So he naturally took in most of the chores and he's good at it!

Doesn't want you to get tired either so he'll do most things

Pays attention to all the little things so you're always comfortable

He also likes going for a run/the gym with you and he's so encouraging!

Has the stupidiest smile on his face everytime he looks at you

He holds his grandparents as a reference so he really hopes you'll both grow old together, still madly in love

Don't get that man started on building a family, he just gets too excited at the idea of being a parent!

He'd be a great one too, but the final decision is up to you. Either way, he's just happy being with you.

I don't know what else to say because he's just made to be a husband, yk?

Yeah, probably the best person to marry <3 (I'm very biased)

#this made me feel so giddy lol #loved that request so thank you for asking !! #knb #knb x reader #knb headcanons #knb hcs #kuroko no basuke #knb fluff #akashi x reader #midorima x reader #kise x reader #aomine x reader #murasakibara x reader #kiyoshi x reader #akashi fluff #midorima fluff #kise fluff #aomine fluff #murasakibara fluff #kiyoshi fluff #gom x reader

[billyjoecobra]

JOSEPH JOESTAR CHARACTER ANALYSIS (1)

I never see anyone talk or analyze Joseph very often in the fandom, which is tragic because i believe he's very complex!! So here's some thoughts to chew on, rattle around in your head a bit. It's all under the cut, and it is LONG AS HELL because i have a LOT to say on him!!! Warning though, it's not super properly punctuated as these are discord rambles of mine, but -- enjoy nonetheless!!

i think it's super interesting to note how every time someone puts joseph down, or does something shitty to him, he just doesn't care. not a single bit. he even says it's fine, maybe even deserved sometimes. he assumes people always thinks the worst of him, and yet doesn't really care aside from the one time he dressed in drag and got insulted about it. even then he was just kind of, "man. i looked hot though.." however every time someone even remotely upsets his friends or hurts those who don't deserve it or his family he goes. ABSOLUTELY APESHIT. he will get SO fighty.

he will immediately throw hands and hurt you physically without thinking about it he likes to put assholes in their place sometimes (i.e. the taxi driver, the nazis who insulted him. and any nazi really ) but that is different than really caring about what they say to him. i think he has a very strong moral code, though people tend to see him as quite dubious because of his loud and obnoxious behavior every consequence to his actions, he only worries what others close to him will think and he can easily be driven to a blind rage revenge if you dare to hurt his family in any way. because you DONT fuck with his family. family is the no. 1 thing he cares about

beating up racist cops? he only feels bad because he doesn't want to stress out erina with the thought of bailing him out. told speedwagon is dead? he's upset, but he keeps his cool and throws a punch at the guy for upsetting erina, and worries more about her comfort than his own. guys hijacking a plane and holding him hostage? he couldnt care less if he was the hostage, he only cared enough to stop it because it might risk getting speedwagon hurt. and it goes on

and for the sake of his family he keeps purposefully trying to risk himself to death repeatedly. when fighting kars lets not forget when he shot kars into space and his thoughts were about how he was ok with dying if it meant his family was safe i think . and i said this before this is just me getting my thoughts out way more eloquently with points i've already touched on before. but.

in a non emo way, it's really hit me how he isn't like. beat up about it. about assuming ppl always think the worst of him. he cares way more about others than himself type of guy thats like similar to "they're friendly but after awhile of their support and talking to them you realize to your horror you dont actually know anything about them at all" other than he's like. bold and brash and likes to start fights sometimes oh and lest we forget he also tends to take the death of loved ones so hard to the point that no matter the circumstances true causes he always blames himself.

he always blames himself and gets a bit. ummmmm i wouldn't say suicidal but like way too risky with his life and stops really caring if he'll die. he's just so used to nobody ever understanding him and his "off kilter" tbh neurodivergent way of thinking and living that he. like. he doesn't exactly have great self image beyond thinking he has sexy lips which sounds so silly but it's true and again it's not something he dwells on it's just kind of, A Fact to him. and this isn't even touching on the slew of issues i'm sure speedwagon's constant comparing of him to his dead grandfather must have caused.

It's very evident to me that he has ALWAYS felt like a burden to some degree i think. even when erina and speed havent really treated him as such. This is why I think his dynamic with speedwagon would be pretty strained / already seems as such -- bc. As I said before, he's ALWAYS comparing him to jonathan, even when he was just a kid.

NOW BY ALL MEANS!! I DO NOT THINK speedwagon means any ill will. it's just something that he just keeps.. doing because. well he respected jonathan so much, and it kind of clouds how he sees joseph because -- well, joseph is the SPITTING IMAGE of him. But not intending harm does not mean he hasn't caused any by doing that -- comparison can WRECK you pretty bad. joseph has made it clear that he knows he's nothing like jonathan in any regards except looks and i think it kind of contributes to his overall. tanked self image. and also the fact that he's a reminder of the tragedy of losing his parents ( or so they thought for a while. yk )

he deeply cares for him still, this much is true. he always will. but, it doesn't negate the serious comparison issue, constantly being told "WOW you have an attitude not at ALL like your grandpa, he would have never done x!! how do you look like him while being such an angry kid!!"

..... said without real malice or really bad intention, more out of exasperation. but. those kinds of things stick with kids. yknow? Joseph's always bottled up his emotions and tried to be on his best behavior for erina's sake. hes always a little more open with speedwagon. but .............. BWGHGURUGURGGH!!!!!!! i could go on for hours about it ok. but i shall move on to my next point now.

what sucks about it though is that the fandom tends to gloss over these bit of characterization at every turn. there is a lot of sadness and concerning things surrounding joseph that he just simply SHRUGS OFF about that it's kinda concerning! not that he'd ever really see a problem with it.

the fact that he was prepared to die / did the bet if only to distract them long enough to let caesar and speedwagon get away... you COULD maybe read it as a little bit of self preservation but given how he handles literally all other instances of him possibly dying., and the circumstances of him leading whammuu away being to SAVE those two. I think it yet again falls in line with "who gaf if i die i care if THEY die". then he gets stressed about the time he has left. which i imagine would stress ANYONE honestly. but . part of me thinks that it's also because this means that he has a short time to make sure he can be strong enough to protect everyone he loves and cares for..

that isn't ALL there is, of course. but i feel like with his behavior that is probably a big reason of it. You can summarize it all with one sentence; essentially,

joseph isn't afraid of death, nor dying himself; he's afraid of his loved ones dying.

This fact is extremely present in everything he does and says, but especially so when Caesar's death hits. THAT, however, i will make it's own post on. I have a lot to say on that and how it fucked him up for life. For now, though, I will move on and touch on another topic.

for all the loud opinions joseph seems to also speak none of it is ever really looked into much deeper as anything more than " he's just being joseph again" and he never really elaborates on it either, hence why a lot of people don't know much about him. While he is schrodinger's himbo -- too stupid to be smart, too smart to be stupid -- it's clearly all an act to get people to lower their expectations of him. He doesn't like being taken as a joke though. that he is a hater of for sure so. Joseph hides his true self behind a mask of idiocy and lackadaisical attitude to the point where it's blended into his actual truest self and he can hardly tell what's real and what's the mask. But at the same time, Joseph gets very angry when nobody takes him seriously because of his facade and trying to make everyone lower their expectations of him so he can pull the rug out from under them.

He's so mad when people don't take him serious but then continues to act pretty unserious and it's like. Well if you want them to take you more seriously bro you should stop doing that. Stop lowering others expectations so you can kick their asses or have a general upper hand just in case ( but he won't 💖)

he is a bit of a polarizing character but i hate when fandom reduces him to just "funny goofster" or ""cheater"", or writes him off as annoying with no depth to him. To judge Joseph through a lense of solely good or solely bad is a terrible idea; that man is gray moraled as HELL, he has a strong sense of self justice while also being incredibly underhanded and sneaky. If you dislike him, that's fine -- but don't discount his complexity just cause of that!!! He's not puddle deep, there's a lot of facets to how truly fucked up he is.

yeah. he is goofy, and he's a cheater at many things. but there's a lot to him. HE'S COMPLEX!!!!

#joseph joestar #🐍 txt #i have. a lot of feelings about him ok? #also part of this is old ass posts from my discord but i think tumblr should see it too

[echo-stimmingrose]

I truly love ToA and believe that it's a very good series that doesn't get appreciated enough. On the other hand I think that's a blessing bc it's not easy to truly understand Apollo as a character on first reading or without spending a lot of time reading well made analysis of him. Like, he is so complex and most people would reduce him just to "he was a prock but now he's good after the trials" which is just so oversimplified that I can barely call it a correct assesment of what happend.

Like, there are some things in ToA that you can't really realize without finishing the series first (I'm not gonna spoil it bc only shitty people spoil stuff)

Anyways, I hope you enjoy ToA it's a genuinely good series with great characters, story and development, and while Apollo may seem annoying at first he grows into (in my personal opinion) one of the best characters in the Riordanverse

So far I am really enjoying it, and I agree that it doesn't get much attention in the fandom. At least, I've seen very few people actually talk about it and I've been in the pjo fandom for a long while.

And yes, Apollo's character is so interesting and I'd hate to see him dwindled down so something so simple (like what was done to Percy and Nico but that's a topic for another time). He's incredibly complex and I'm loving seeing his character unfold.

One of my favorite things about him and the series so far is that we don't really think about the gods themselves really having trauma until we get to read from Apollos point of view.

Thank you so much for not spoiling anything I hate it when people do that. (although I am aware of what happens in the next book and I might just sob)

I am excited to see Apollos character growth, especially since he is annoying right now but also very wet cat coded and I just wanna hug him lol.

#answered asks #bestie don't read #trials of apollo #apollo pjo #pjo apollo #lester papadopoulos

[icyrambles]

i typically have two forms of analysis when i talk about certain characters. i call them meta analysis and canon analysis.

meta analysis is when i take into account author, fan, and personal interpretation and intention when writing a character. this can be things like biases on the author's part (intentional or not), fandom headcanons and general opinions that are widespread, and finally my own personal opinions and beliefs on the character or media

canon analysis is when i ignore everything above. it's when i take things that are said exclusively through the text and conveyed to me as a reader. these are analysis formed exclusively (or at least as much as i try) through what is told to me via the text

like take pharma as an example. i personally hate how his character is treated both in canon and in fandom. within canon he's reduced to the crazy doctor who harvested his patients organs and in fandom i've noticed he either gets babied to all hell (typically by shifting the blame of his actions onto tarn) or just demonising him. i dislike this from all angles because pharma for me is a multifaceted character who, while causing a lot of harm, was forced into a situation where he really did not have a choice if he wanted to keep his staff and himself alive.

like yeah, i think pharma should punished in some way for the deaths he caused, but i also think that he should be viewed through the lens of someone who was essentially being blackmailed into killing his patients less himself and his staff (one of whom was a defected decepticon) be serious harmed or just outright killed. and that these actions caused massive damage to his mental wellbeing which caused him to spiral into madness.

or like take ratchet. he's got this thing in fandom where he'll throw wrenches at people and he's a fucking rebel who hates the government. but he doesn't do either of those things ever, in any of the continuities i've read/watched. like he's not even remotely violent unless he's actively being threatened? and even then he's more liable to go for verbal assaults rather than physical ones. where are you people getting these interpretations from?

he's a snarky ass who enjoys arguing with people sure, but ratchet would not fucking destroy the government. he fucking threatens to dismantle megatron on several occasions throughout the comics. there was a tweet from alex milne a while back that basically called ratchet an abusive partner and like, listen, fandom interpretations are always going to be a little off, but i'm sorry mr. milne, but ratchet is not an abuser in any sense of the word. there is nowhere, and i mean nowhere in the comics that proves that he would do that.

idw starscream is also a character who i have complex feelings about when i try to write about him.

because on the one hand i despise the way that idw starscream is treated by the fanbase. he's not a good person, that is the whole point of him. he's a terrible person, who has done terrible things, and i think he should be treated as just as bad as megatron. and i think the fandom constantly babying him because of what megatron did to him is stupid.

he's a genuinely cunning, manipulative, and overall shitty asshole who is more than willing to doublecross and backstab to get what he wants.

but he's also a victim. megatron's treatment of him throughout the war is inexcusable. under no circumstances do i think that starscream deserved to be kept around as a punching bag to keep the other decepticons in line and i also am of the belief that megatron should've gotten more flack for what he did to starscream.

like pharma, starscream is a character who has a lot of different layers. he fucks up and relapses into more toxic behaviour because it's quite literally the only thing he can rely on. he's expected by the people around him to be a backstabber and a liar, so why on earth would he act any differently?

it's not until bumblebee appears that he actually starts to change. and i think it's very important when discussing bee and starscream's relationship that people remember that starscream does not think of bumblebee as a ghost. he views bee as a literal manifestation of his guilt and consciousness. he did genuinely seem to view bumblebee as a good leader and a good person before his death in dark cybertron, so when bee shows up as a ghost and starts encouraging starscream to do better for his people and his planet, starscream listens because he did trust bee.

the point of starscream's character, is that people can only change if they truly want to. bumblebee wants starscream to change for the better but starscream only starts to change when he actually believes he can. and even then he often relapses into more negative behaviours because he's not perfect. the fact that he does this honestly makes him even more believable to me.

if you were treated as nothing more than a liar, coward, and manipulative asshole for 4 million years you'd probably fuck up on the road to recovery too.

it's why megatron's redemption at least works for me within a canon lens. he only starts to change his behaviour when he actually begins to understand that his actions and ideology were wrong. that's why it works. the lost light as a ship is about new beginnings and fresh starts for everyone, so having megatron, literally the most hated guy every join the crew works to further that theme of rebirth.

out of canon analysis though, starscream and megatron in my opinion were done very poorly in terms of writing. they were very clearly meant to be cartoonishly evil characters with no redeemable qualities during phase 1 of the comics. so when phases 2 + 3 roll around and try to develop these characters as more than just evil assholes, it falls flat because you have to sweep all of the terrible shit they've done under the rug.

and it doesn't work well from a narrative perspective to have murder mcgee megatron and his former second in command be the leaders of not only the planet they fucking destroyed and the ship that legally doesn't belong to them. and this is coming from someone who loves idw's portrayals of megatron and starscream. i think they're some of the best versions out there beyond maybe the originals.

i also think that fandom falls into a weird zone when it comes to these characters. i call it fandom flanderization; where fandom will take a certain character trait (like starscream being a liar) and conflate that trait to be their whole character. like is starscream a liar? yeah he absolutely is. but he's also a genuinely caring individual when he actually trusts someone.

it's a shame because i think that idw, despite having relatively weak writing in terms of overall storytelling, actually has some really interesting interpretations of the characters.

[ if you liked my work, please feel free to give it a reblog and leave your thoughts in the tags, reblog box itself, or replies. i adore seeing what other people have to say about my thoughts ]

#icy's writing #transformers #meta analysis #megatron #starscream #ratchet #pharma #transformers idw #i have so many thoughts about how characters get treated by the fandom #mostly can be boiled down to #HE WOULD NOT FUCKING SAY THAT???? #where did you get this interpretation from good lord #something something every 3 months or so people should be required to reread the source material #because if you wanna break canon #you gotta understand it so it doesn't fucking feel like left field when someone makes a random ass headcanon #that's not even remotely based in canon in any way

[kdbleu]

Ok so question (because I enjoy your analysis on these characters in the bear).

People who share the opinion that Carmy and Sydney should remain platonic soulmates and agree they have chemistry but they don’t read it as romantic.

From my vantage point I see the editing as obviously suggestive with the parallels in his relationship to Claire vs Syd.

Carmy obviously outwardly shows his interest on a seemingly subconscious level and with changed behavior.

Sydney on the other hand reads as very guarded (relatable) but still seeking connection as someone else pointed out. She hasn’t done any work to change that in terms of actively going to therapy. So I’m confused as to why people would think that a person as guarded as she is would outwardly like Carmy reciprocate her deep down romantic feels that I would assume she suppressing. She’s obviously good at it because she’s ambitious and a working professional. Case in point her reaction to Marcus’s date request.

What I do feel people should maybe reflect on more is her reaction to ‘Who’s Claire?’ Where I do agree that it was mostly frustration due to Camry dropping the ball and significant part was subconscious romantic jealousy. Also her insistence on him defining their (Claire and Carmy’s) relationship. Lastly, there’s no way in hell I would accept someone telling my boyfriend “I don’t want to share your focus” and him responding with “you deserve my focus” while she’s fully aware he’s in a relationship that SHE put him in 😂…because WHAT!?!

Sorry this was long and yeah I’d love to hear your thoughts?

Sydney desire for Carmy to define his relationship with Claire comes from Sydney wanting to know where she stands. She's ambitious an smart. She's let Carmy get away with a lot in her short time knowing each other, but she's reached a point where she's investing a lot in his restaurant. She needs to know if it's time to cut bait. Sydney deserves to know is she's working against a relationship that's going to continue to get in the way of The Bear?

And then she does what Sydney does. She tells Carmy how she wants to be treated. She tells him “I don’t want to share your focus.” I think by the time Carmy replies with, "You deserve my focus" he already knows he's going to break things off with Claire so in his mind he isn't really committing himself to another person while he has a girlfriend. He just hasn't seen Claire yet to do it. I think that's part of his distraction and lack of interest in Claire being at the restaurant at all. I doubt her meant to break up with her the way he did, but I also think Claire could have talked him out of doing it if they'd been face to face which is something to think about too.

As for Marcus... I almost feel bad because as early as Copenhagen I could see that he had probably been nursing a crush that Sydney inadvertently egged along throughout S1 and early S2. But once it's a real question instead of hints and international phone calls, she politely but firmly says no. Which also makes me think, part of Sydney wanting Carmy to define things between him and Claire is so she can sus out whether or not he's one of those guy who just strings a girl along. I think that's as much what she's getting at in the beginning of their conversation about him being shitty and that he's the one who makes it more about her.

And like the "Who's Claire?" moment of jealousy, it works because it's personal hurt hiding behind very neatly behind earned professionally annoyance.

#the bear fx #the bear hulu #carmy berzatto #sydney adamu #carmy x sydney #sydney x carmy #the bear

[anti-katsuki-lounge]

So I've been thinking. Iida punched izuku because in his mind izuku who he cares about was reckless to form a team and try to save Bakugou while still injured. Yet it didn't occur to his mind to kick bakuhoe's ass to a bloody pulp? I mean Bakuhoe went after the villains during the training camp even though he was instructed not to run off on his own, leading to his kidnapping, & further leading to a series of events like All Might's retirement, izuku (still injured/tecovering), him and others risking their life to rescue his ass, dragged izuku to a fight leading to a house arrest. All this reckless and toxic behaviour and being abusive to izuku & yet Iida is not destroying bakuhoe's ass but getting on izuku's case.

During 1A vs izuku arc, Iida didn't act when the person he cared about was being disrespected by a toxic POS even though izuku went out of his way to help and care for Bakuhoe and everyone. even during Bakuhoe's infamous shitty apology & his shitty heroic speech about Izuku's ideals disregarding izuku's reason to do it on his own, Iida didn't speak and consider izuku's opinion, feelings & reasons. He didn't put himself in his friend's shoes to understand his side. In his mind, Bakuhoe is right, izuku is just reckless and he disrespected him & his class by going solo and not including them. that is all he along with Uraraka and Todoroki thinks.

sure Iida in the end reached out his hand to 'save' izuku which was all wholesome but that doesn't make up for all the times he neglected izuku and never considered izuku's feelings or reasoning.

I can say the same applies to Shoto and Ochako but more on Iida because of how harsh & Strict he always gets with izuku

Not hating on Iida but I'm disappointed in him.

So Tenya’s a very interesting character in terms of my thoughts about him. Admittedly he’s kinda in the middle for me. He has some cool moments, but he sorta just exists. I do really wanna do an analysis of him though because I think a lot of the issues people have with his character are more-so caused by him being a victim of Hori’s Bakuboner than him being a poorly written character like Shota and Hitoshi.

#mha critical #bnha critical

[alkalische]

Quick Design analysis of Hoederer's changes

Darknights Memoir Appearance (DESIGN 1)

-he's soooo ferrety here. silhouette is a lot rounder and softer (esp around the shouldersand boots) and his hair gives a nice prickly texture at the top, adding some visual interest

-colour pallete is also limited, with red being used to visually draw your eyes to important areas (his face and the little dangly thing which i assume to be the kazdel signifier)

-combined with the goatee and the ripped up cape he ends up looking a lil scraggly. which is fitting for a merc who who's constantly on the move

-I feel like his hair being so shittily cut might imply practicality. Maybe he cuts off the fringe so it doesn't get in his eyes.

-he's also pretty heavily armored and dressed for the cold kazdel climate. I feel that it kinda looks like his posture is stooping a little with the weight of the armour which is interesting. He looks bulky and weighty.

-Position of sword implies that he's right handed

-interestingly he's got a crossbow on his back, which doesn't make in into any of the other designs. suggests he can use one.

----

Chapter 10 Appearance (DESIGN 2)

-It's been a couple of years. His face looks less sallow, his cheekbones less pronounced. maybe he's been eating better. His hair is also longer. He did keep the parting, though.

-Notice he's facing you with his right side (can also be seen in his 3rd design). It's cause he's only got one eye and he's looking at you with it

-His shape language changed to be a little more sharp, a little more triangular, suggesting tension and danger. You can see triangles and sharp edges being emphasized throughout the design (shoulderpads, chestplate taper, kneepads)

-He's still as armoured as his previous iteration, it's just that the armor design is also a lot less bulky, it's got the prominent 'sarkaz occupation in victoria' look that a lot of the NPCs tend to have

-The armour doenst use as much geometric shapes, instead having patterns of intricate smooth curves. You can also see this on manfred's arm

-Anyway the less bulky armour suggests that he doenst have to be carrying supplies around with him as he does whatever job manfred sends him out to do. He's kind of got a place to return to at this point.

-He's holding his knife in his left hand here. Is he just holding it temporarily or can he use both hands? My theory is that he probably favors his right hand.

----

Playable Appearance (DESIGN 3)

-This design is kinda a combination of his first and his second design. He's gone back to having rounded design language, but still retains aspects of the sharpness and danger of his second design.

-He's actually shed most of his armour here. He's not wearing any kind of chestplate. Literally just wearing a T shirt (you can see a strip of exposed skin on his bicep and also in his e2) Bro is wearing a cape and light armour over T shirt and pants no WONDER he takes so much damage

-The flowing cape lets him keep some of that nice spikiness and balances out his roundness.

-Red thread all across the design, binding him to W and Ines.

-Generally a notable increased amount of red being used across the design.

-He's got more scars on his face, and has returned to charmingly shitty short haircut. Oh but the back part of his hair is actually as long as the second design's one, it's just tied up. Poor hedley doenst have thick hair genes.

-His shoulder pads are reminiscent to his merc armour, but the arm guards are the same as the kazdel's armour.

-I really like the way they make him turn his good eye to the camera to get a better look at us it makes a lot of sense

#hoederer #arknights #design analysis

[prismatoxic]

i finally remembered to finish filling this out

idk if i'm gonna render it... i have a bunch of other things i also wanna work on, so. here you go. (template here)

chilchuck & laios - self explanatory, i'm The Chilaios Guy. laios is my muse when it comes to rp and i relate to him a lot but i really can't say i love him more than chilchuck, so. they're tied.

kabru - fuck man i love this dude. like he is easily one of my fave characters in the series alongside laios, chilchuck, and mithrun. his character is so fucking compelling and when people in the fandom dismiss him for being two-faced or whatever i'm like do you hate good stories? do you hate good characters? can you really not appreciate anyone but the main cast? begone. he's laios's foil and no amount of not understanding his character will change that. and he's a damn GOOD foil, the ways they interact and contrast each other are amazing.

shuro - SPEAKING OF THE FANDOM BEING SHITTY. like, the scene with him and laios that is coming up very soon in the anime is one that hit me HARD. i relate to laios in that whole debacle so hard that i cried describing the scene to my friend. but it doesn't make shuro a bad person. he and laios are so fundamentally different that they clashed because they didn't understand each other's needs or boundaries. and like, fuck, man. he still shows up for laios and the gang. also if you think he's a creep towards falin or whatever i think you need to get your eyes checked, he's so fucking respectful. and she clearly cares about him even if she doesn't return his feelings. shuro haters stay away from me

namari - godddd i love her. like idk that i have any extended analysis to give, she's just fucking awesome. i really loved all her interactions with senshi and the fact that she's chilchuck's drinking buddy delights me. she's really strong and obviously deeply caring... the moment when she bowled laios out of the way to help with the undine. god. she was so fucked over by her father's actions and she's been trying to build herself up ever since and she's just REALLY NEAT and i was always glad to see her in the manga. (can't wait to see her more in the anime too!!!)

mithrun - SON BOY. i'm obsessed with him. that post about him having a traumatic brain injury lives rent free in my head. i really, genuinely fucking love how well he and his disability are portrayed. it does exhaust me a little when the fandom is happy to make him "better" post-canon... or when they claim kabumisu is problematic bc kabru takes care of him, lmao. he's so fucking cool and the fact that he's a real threat and a driving part of the plot while also needing a caretaker and being notably handicapped by his trauma is just... awesome. neither side diminishes the other. he's disabled, but he's a badass. i love him so much.

dandan - he's a neat little guy and i love how many times he actually shows up in canon, even though he's usually a bg character when he does. i like to think he's important to the guild, like he's someone chilchuck trusts with a lot of things. obviously that wasn't the case when he first joined up, but i like the idea of him proving himself to be really good with managing things, and chilchuck leaves things in his hands when he's down in the dungeon. all headcanons but it's fun for me.

#toxart #dunmeshifav

[ratgirlcopia]

this is just all the ghost chapters plus how painful* they are to watch and why. and also kind of just a synopsis of all the parts i consider important. and also some analysis. i don't really know what this is but it's very long.

*"pain" here being defined as the intended impact of this sort of cringe comedy but also genuine emotional pain.

chapter 1: new blood. extremely easy to watch. a 0/10 on the pain scale. it's a funny, charming introduction to nihil and imperator.

chapter 2: the cardinal. pretty easy to watch. a 0.5/10 on the pain scale. pain here attributed to nihil immediately turning away from copia in order to talk about him like he's not there. it's hilarious. (other points of note that nobody talks about: copia refers to nihil + imperator as "your dark excellencies" here and never again. imperator refers to copia as nihil's "right hand man" which makes nihil being so immediately dismissive of him even funnier.)

chapter 3: back on the road. extremely easy to watch. a 0/10 on the pain scale. this one is just regular old goofs. and they're great goofs. the abrupt cut of pro memoria into the van being shut with the bodies in it, imperator slapping the side of the van, the voiceover at the end. it's great. DISCLAIMER: pain rating here does not take into consideration the comical inaccuracies in how the embalming process is depicted and assumes this goof was semi-unintentional.

chapter 4: the accident. extremely easy to watch. another 0/10. i'm noticing a pattern here regarding the pain scale and copia's presence (or lack thereof). this one is just regular goofs. the classic "imperator listens to miasma so hard she drives off a cliff and footage of five different exploding cars plays." it's great. the nihil/imperator interactions always have the same general vibe to them, and that vibe always tends to be really funny.

chapter 5: the call. pretty easy to watch. it gets a 1/10 because of the extremely heavyhanded omen references that parallel the ghost narrative. nihil talking about how "one, two, and three are all very good" but christ appearing at the end of 3 is a "shitty ending" feels very much like a parallel to him being annoyed about copia taking over. "when you start episode 4, you have to do a lot of rebuilding." (point of note that nobody talks about: imperator gets a call from "the old one himself" and this is never acknowledged again).

chapter 6: the visit. NOT easy to watch. it gets a 5/10. copia opens the door. copia closes the door. the nurse looks like she wants him dead (judging from the 2023 halloween quiz, he may be experiencing gender envy here as the nurse does have that cornette-y hat, but...pure speculation). cardinal. sister. papa. cardinal. sister. cardinal. sister. this is the chapter with the first instance of prolonged copia dialogue, and it shows. it is agonizing, but it is funny.

chapter 7: new world redro. very easy to watch. it gets a 0/10 on the pain scale. copia crashing into the wall on the tricycle is a classic bit, but i feel like that bit overshadowed every other implication in this chapter. it needs a longer breakdown.

the "previously on" sequence at the beginning emphasizes nihil being "all out of progeny" and copia not being part of the bloodline

however, everything after that implies copia is nihil's kid

nihil refers to him as "that boy" while at the typewriter

in nihil's dream sequence, the typewriter paper says "all work and no play makes papa a bad dad." we know he was a bad dad to the other three, but they're dead. why would he dream that he's repeatedly typing this while he's in his office and copia's riding around on a tricycle unless he was still actively being a bad dad?

this dream sequence also has him sleepwalking and encountering young imperator and his younger self. bad dad + remembering the era when copia was conceived = narrative implication and nihil's internal suspicion that he is copia's dad.

chapter 8: kiss the go-goat. this almost doesn't count, since it's mostly just the go-goat music video, but let's give it a 1/10 on the pain scale just for young nihil's existence. it's a great music video, and it also retcons some earlier ghost lore (namely, that the ministry is in sweden. from this point onward, it's pretty clear that they've historically been in los angeles). and then imperator's obviously pregnant with nihil's kid here.

chapter 9: tomb it may concern. compared to 1-8, i imagine this chapter felt like 9/11 when it came out. and that's the rating it gets. a nine out of eleven on the pain scale (9/10. technically).

this is the first time we see copia in a casual context. imperator calls, is immediately annoyed that copia has already recovered from the two-for-one plastic surgery, and almost calls herself his mom.

"my nose is now very delicate." "my jaw is a little bit overdone, i guess."

imperator is checking herself out in the camera for a good chunk of this, even though she's the one who initiated the call.

copia suggesting he dye his hair, emphasizing that he has nihil's white eye, imperator dodging this with innuendo so she doesn't have to verbally acknowledge copia's parentage.

copia then faking a bad connection and trying to get her off the call. the "i love you. i like you?" that goes fully unacknowledged. imperator's "aren't you supposed to be working?" and then her skeptical/unimpressed face as the call ends.

it's a waking nightmare. it's unwatchable. it's the best chapter so far, and maybe the best chapter overall.

chapter 10: home coming & special guests. pretty watchable. probably a 3/10 for copia's general demeanor and interactions with saltarian. more lore focused and less goof focused.

the implication here is that copia has always lived at the ministry and this has always been his bedroom, so he was probably at a hotel while recovering from the plastic surgery.

in the "i can't call you papa" discussion, the heavy handed implication is that nihil is copia's father, and imperator has not explicitly told copia that nihil is his dad (saying "i think so" when asked if he understands why she can't call him papa), even though copia can tell and has tried to get her to acknowledge it via the eye comment in 9.

imperator calling him "c" and "cardi" more or less confirms at the very least that "copia" is a name and not a title, though i'm personally also a "'cardinal' is his actual given name and also not a title" truther. anyway.

he cracks his spine with the worst noise i've ever heard and rides a tricycle up to the door to greet saltarian. the implication of the tricycle here (especially since he was shown with a full-size one in the prequelle-era chapters) could be that he's kind of symbolically outgrown that era, which i always thought was a fun touch.

both copia and saltarian also ring that doorbell WAY too many times when they're coming in, unless it's the kind of doorbell that just keeps going after you press it once.

also, copia clearly knows saltarian and wants to be friendly with him. saltarian seems to think copia's a bit of a goof-off and knows him well enough to know it's definitely copia's tricycle.

the "i can smell it" comment probably refers to nihil's dead body.

chapter 11: family dinner. incredibly painful watch. probably an 8/10.

imperator kicks a football into copia's head and everyone but copia is amused by this, and imperator's "oh, stop" seems to be directed at copia's sarcastic comment to nihil rather than nihil laughing at him. then copia's "i'm very happy. i'm very very happy" after this hits as possibly the least true statement he's ever made, but at the same time, his tone says he believes it.

copia's joke about the beijing beef phasing through nihil's body because he's a ghost is met with a few laughs, so he doubles down on this joke and drags it out a bit longer than necessary.

"you can't act. i can act" "i can too act. look, that's just totally your opinion, dude." should win an award.

imperator's facial expressions here indicate that she agrees with nihil, and when copia says that he's lost his appetite, she rolls her eyes. imperator is at least 50% of the decisionmaking process behind copia doing tv (if not more, since she seems to be in charge of everything), she has just as little faith in his acting ability, just as little respect for him, but has nihil tell him this. and it works. copia gets up, addresses her and saltarian normally, and transfers his hurt and annoyance onto JUST nihil by calling him "dickhead."

and of course the scene ends with nihil trying and failing to eat beijing beef just like copia said, thereby giving copia some credibility as the only rational person there.

chapter 12: ghost goes hollywood. the most painful chapter to watch, both emotionally and from a cringe comedy perspective. it gets the only 10/10.

copia introduces himself as "c," which is notable because it again solidifies that at least one part of "cardinal copia" is his actual name, and also indicates that imperator not calling him "papa" was enough for him to stop introducing himself as such (then again, maybe he wants the audition tape to rely more on his skills than his title).

then he proceeds to misquote, in order: a few good men, terminator 2, the sixth sense, jaws, apocalypse now, john wick, wayne's world, the maltese falcon, zoolander, scent of a woman, terminator, terminator 2 again, silence of the lambs, the matrix, air force one, jerry maguire, the warriors, rocky, [no clue], who framed roger rabbit, snakes on a plane, star wars, ace ventura, the truman show.

and then he takes the tape outside and puts it in the mailbox like sophie in mamma mia, and somehow the only unfilmed movie reference there is the only one that actually hits with some level of sincerity. and then it's over.

chapter 13: the beach life. it gets a 3/10 because that's pretty much the baseline for copia interacting with saltarian, but it's actually a very nice, chill chapter.

notable lore additions include that copia can drive. it's also the first time we see him in direct natural sunlight in a chapter video.

he also looks happy to be outside. the hop-skip out of the car, the spin on the porch, etc.

the binocular interaction with saltarian is really funny, with saltarian throwing up the middle finger and devil horns as soon as he realizes copia's watching him, then winking. good goof. the slow fighting montage they have is funny, and they're clearly both having a good time. it almost feels like copia's having TOO good of a time in the grand scale of what he experiences throughout the chapters.

and then he pretends he can hear what saltarian is saying for WAY too long before eventually admitting he can't.

it's interesting that saltarian refers to nihil as "mr. nihil" instead of "papa nihil," which might indicate that saltarian sees nihil as having been demoted since his death + copia's ascension (or maybe he just doesn't use the papa title for anyone). it's a shame saltarian never directly addresses copia by name or title.

it's also interesting that right after this, copia then calls nihil "nihil" instead of "papa" when talking about him to saltarian, like this dismissal of nihil's title made him realize he doesn't have to do that (at least not when nihil isn't around).

chapter 14: road trip. it gets a 7/10. it's incredibly awkward.

copia farts horrifically in the car and tries to pretend he didn't. the first band he can think of that starts with an "s" is salt n pepa.

he says jimi hendrix for "h" (not a band, but imperator pretends this is a fine answer).

then nihil sharts in the car.

imperator's accent is insane in this chapter.

i just realized copia says "you're definitely sharting" instead of "you're definitely charting" when nihil starts talking about mary on a cross. saltarian gets progressively more annoyed with nihil and copia's banter.

nihil wants a tesla. copia thinks this is stupid.

saltarian's "i know when your time is up" line here is usually (mis)interpreted as a threat, but personally i think it's just more of a general reminder to copia that beefing with nihil is not his biggest problem and he needs to stop thinking that enough witty comebacks (or attempts at those) will make things better for him.

chapter 15. this isn't a chapter, they even scrawl over "chapter 15" on the title card. next!

chapter 16: tax season. this one is...painful to watch, but more due to the other implications. it gets a 4/10 for imperator interactions and copia being bad at video games.

saltarian pushes an empty glass coffin down the hall, looks happy about this.

copia is playing a driving miss daisy NES game (not a real thing).

then imperator calls, and copia pretends he's doing taxes. imperator's tone indicates that she knows he is not doing taxes, presumably because she can hear the video game sounds from over the phone/the room next to him.

imperator announces the forum show, and copia sees saltarian going by with the coffin and smiling. copia is concerned about this coffin.

imperator comes in and says it's a "brand new, additional coffin." imperator says he does not need to worry about that, and that "jesus is coming."

copia is visibly confused by this, then shouts "finally!" after imperator has left the room (implications i cannot even begin to process), then resumes his game and selects the "fuck off, miss daisy" dialogue option when asked if he will drive miss daisy to church (a place miss daisy, an elderly jewish woman, would not be going to anyway).

chapter 17: nap time. this one isn't that hard to watch. maybe a 2/10 for the inherent awkwardness of nihil-copia interactions, but it's just kinda goofy.

we see the glass coffin saltarian was pushing around, and that now has nihil in it. boom. mystery solved, especially if we assume in chapter 10, saltarian was talking about the smell of nihil's body. of course he'd be happy to finally get that thing in a coffin.

we also haven't seen nihil's body in a coffin prior to this point, so the coffin was obviously never for copia.

copia drops his juice box straw (the video gets crunchy here for some reason), then pats around in the fog and picks up a wrench and an american flag by mistake while looking for it.

nihil's ghost then comes out of the coffin and copia calls him "pops."

point of note: copia is in a pretty good mood here (at least better than usual in the impera-era chapters), presumably because he realized the coffin was for nihil.

copia says "i brought you something" when lifting up the gold record, but we see him walk into the room at the beginning of the scene and he's very obviously not carrying it then.

copia describes "mary on a cross" as "your old shitty song! well, it's actually quite good, but it's—not that—anyway!" which is a FASCINATING line delivery that makes my brain tick in wild ways, but that's another post.

there's a fly buzzing around. additional support for the "nihil stinks" theory.

copia says "i'll skiddle," presumably meaning "skedaddle."

conclusion

and there we have it! that's all the chapters! wow! overall, most of them are not that painful, but the ones that are...definitely are.

i guess i didn't think about it that much before, but the prequelle-era chapters barely have copia in them, so i can see how really significant aspects of his personality and mannerisms that only show up in the impera-era chapters kinda just...don't make it into a lot of fan interpretations of him, especially for people who were watching these as they came out and built their understanding of him based on that. the prequelle chapters make the ministry seem at least a little more formal than it actually is, but when you take everything into account, you end up with this:

copia has always lived at the ministry, presumably always in that bedroom

copia was nihil's "right-hand man" (probably more like personal assistant) for a long time prior to becoming the ghost frontman

copia is imperator and nihil's kid, but imperator has not explicitly told him this (either that she's his mom or that nihil is his dad) and she instead assumes he understands both of those things based on her weird facial expressions

saltarian works at the ministry but does not live there

at least one component of "cardinal copia" is copia's given name, and there's at least a chance it's "cardinal"

based on the progression of the information gleaned through these chapters, i can make zero educated guesses about the direction the ghovie will take. thank you and goodnight.

#copiaposting #boss makes a dollar i make a dime so i analyze chapters on company time. #there's not a toooon of gender theory to extract from these (ch12 aside) so a general overview post made more sense. #i've said pretty much all of this stuff before across other posts but it's nice to have it all in one place. #chapter tag #<-let's try that. i still won't be able to find this when i need it again.

[hunter-sylvester]

I know you do character analysis, would you be alright elaborating about Hunter and his relationship with his parents? Everyone says he has mommy issues, but it looks like it could be a mixture of daddy issues as well.

I would fucking love to, Anon.

(Ao3 Character Analysis Series about Hunter)

I do think it’s very clear that he has mommy issues. From the small handful of references there are to her, it’s obvious. While he has clear on-screen issues with his father, he still keeps a picture of him and his dad on his bookshelf. His mother- however, is violently ripped from it. Something that can easily be read as a visual metaphor for how he feels about her absence from his life. Although I personally tend to write her as having been directly abusive which creates a slightly different whirlwind of issues, in either case she abandoned him. And we clearly see him display a fear of abandonment around Kevin. There’s a clear cause and effect there.

But I entirely agree that he also has daddy issues. It’s a noxious cocktail of neither parent being someone that understands him or knows how to make him feel at home. And it’s precisely that cocktail of issues that makes Hunter make so much sense to me as a character.

It’s not exactly my style to give fathers a lot of sympathy, but even without doing so, it's easy to see that everything Alan Sylvester does in canon shows he just has no idea what to do with Hunter. (Most notably when he literally gives up on parenting him in favor of dumping him in rehab).

He completely fumbles any weak attempts he does make at connecting with/parenting him and they all end in screaming matches.

“Sorry you’re just a little late with the whole ‘parenting’ thing” (when I tell you I feel that line)

Growing up with a parent (partially more, since his mother was around until 7th grade) present without anyone actually bothering to parent you, you end up growing crooked.

Can’t go any other way. Even if his parents were never mentioned, we’d know they were shitty parents based purely on Hunter’s issues.

In my mind, they’re both obviously neglectful. Evident both from the aforementioned quote as well as just the way that Hunter acts.

Each in their respective ways. His mother by literally removing herself from his life. His father by neglecting him emotionally, not hugging him, etc. (I'm assuming he never hugs Hunter based on the deeply awkward shoulder tap during the last scene of the film.) Also, this is a bit of a stretch based on vibes alone. But can you picture Alan cooking for Hunter? Can you picture them having dinner together? I can’t. It’s a bit of a headcanon but I personally believe Hunter has been making his own food for years. (note: this does not necessarily imply that he is a good cook)

Let’s also not forget that Hunter is just a seventeen year old boy. He is still a child (in canon). And a fucking troubled one at that.

One that likely grew up with nobody telling him it was ok to be him. No-one telling him he belonged. No-one showing him how to healthily handle his emotions. (This is one I blame heavily on the father.)

He had to figure everything out for himself. Reinvent the wheel at every step. Of course he’s gonna fuck up along the way. He’s just a kid.

Of course he freaks out when he thinks he’s losing Kevin, he’s already been shown that he can be discarded- and by one of the primary people that are supposed to be there for him.

Of course he’s a bit of a bitch about alcohol when he watches his father drink all the time and he would probably rather die than turn out like him.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Alan also contributed to Hunter’s inability to accept his sexuality. At the very lightest he’d be homophobic in that casual way dads are. The “I don’t care what they do behind closed doors” followed by the most homophobic ‘joke’ you can think of twenty minutes, if not seconds, later. But I wouldn't rule out more blatant queerphobia.

In any case, it’s a clear & constant signal that being queer is not something that’s acceptable for a Sylvester. And as much as Hunter fights his father, as much as I think he dreads being like him, he’s the only parent he has left at this point.

He still wants to be loved. He’s a kid. He needs a loving parent. Even if he, realistically, doesn’t really have one that’s worth appeasing.

Consciously, he’ll rebel. Subconsciously, he still looks up at his father and wants to be told he did well. He wants someone to be proud of him, he wants to be enough.

Call me a pessimist but I think at this point, even if Alan tried, the relationship is so laden with barbed wire that nothing is possibly getting through.

Anything would be too little & too fucking late.

Sorry that got a little fucking bleak...it's me, it's what happens lol Thank you for asking, Anon 🤘

#my post #metal lords #hunter sylvester #character analysis #metallords #answered ask #hunters asks #anon ask #does this contain projection? weeeelllll..... #hunterwriteswords #hunter metal lords #metal lords hunter

[orionsangel86]

Hi! I've been reading your latest analysis, and Dream being perceived as misogynistic has come up a few times. I've never really caught that(tho it's been a hot minute since I read the sandman comics and I might've forgotten)? He's really respectful towards Bast, Hettie, and Titania, He's mostly kind towards Rose and Nuala, and yeah, he was a dick towards Ishtar, but you explained why's that far better then I ever could. He also comes across as cold-hearted and cruel towards Lyta, but I think that has less to do with her gender and more with Dream not knowing that tact Exists. I also think that Dream being abusive husband is total bullshit. In the song of orpheus, Calliope and Morpheus seem to be close and Calliope doesn't show any signs that she's afraid of him, or is being abused by him, and at the wake she says that Morpheus was the best lover she had ever had. Why would she say something like that about her rapist?

Hey! Yep I agree completely. I think a lot of this interpretation comes from Ishtar and the Sandman Companion (which I haven't read but appears to include some absolutely insane hot takes that make zero sense and clearly just wanna be edgy and dark).

Other than Ishtar, who I have already now spoken about extensively, the only other female character he has actively hurt is Nada. Now the Nada story is horrifying, and I can't in good conscience defend Dream here. I'm with Death on this matter. It was a really shitty thing to do. Now, baring in mind Death hints that Desire had a lot more to do with that whole situation than they have ever let on, Dream's behaviour towards Nada was disgusting. She rejected him and he sent her to Hell for it. However, I don't think this is evidence of Dream's misogyny. What it is evidence of, is that Dream is an extremely prideful and hot tempered creature who does not take kindly to any response that he considers an insult.

Even with Alianora, all we know is that he became cold towards her, to the point that she wanted to leave him. We don't know anything more than that. Overture only shows that Alianora was upset and didn't want to be stuck with him anymore, and so Dream created an entire world for her to live in where she wouldn't have to see him. Remember that if Dream was truly cruel towards her he could have simply kicked her out of the Dreaming, left her to fend for herself in either the Waking World or sent her back to where she came from, even though she told him they would never accept her again. He respected her enough to give her a world of her own, even after she decided to leave him.

Now the comics as you have said give us absolutely ZERO indication that Dream was abusive towards Calliope. There is NOTHING. NADA. NIENTE. I have poured over every single page that includes Calliope as well as every reference. The only thing that comes close to indicating that he might have been cruel towards her was when she comments that "the old you would have left me here to rot" which is also more an indication of Morpheus' pride after being hurt/rejected than it is of abuse and misogyny. Had Calliope's capture and abuse at the hands of mortals happened much sooner, whilst their divorce was still a fresh wound it is probably far more likely that Morpheus would not have helped her, simply because he was still nursing his wounded pride after she left him (because the comic does make it clear that Calliope left Morpheus just like Nada rejected him and Alianora wished to leave him. Morpheus has never initiated any of his break ups. It was always the women who chose to leave him, therefore hurting him to the point that he lashed out like a wounded animal.)

Outside of ex lovers, he doesn't treat any other women badly. He clearly has a mutual respect for Lady Bast, who seems to adore him. He and Titania were lovers and are on very good terms. He is certainly on better terms with his sisters than he is his other siblings and he treats Mad Hettie far more respectfully than she usually gets treated. He was kind to Rose throughout the Dolls House, as you say. He was also extremely respectful of Barbie and even called her Princess Barbara to respect her dream kingdom. He treats Ruby respectfully and is shown to be genuinely upset and haunted by her death to the point that two other characters remark how odd it is that he even cares about the death of a mortal. He wasn't always tactful with Nuala - stripping her of her glamour in front of all the other Gods was a bit cruel, and an indication of how much he dislikes fairie magic even though he remains close to the fae in general, but Nuala also falls head over heels in love with him so he must have been treating her reasonably well for that to happen! He certainly doesn't take advantage of her the way she expects when her brother presents her as a gift. I think it's often forgotten about but Nuala was literally given to Morpheus as a gift to do with as he wished, the implication being that she was to be his whore. He never forces himself on her or treats her the way she is technically there for. If this comic was adapted by writers with a Game of Thrones mentality I shudder to think how Morpheus would treat Nuala. But Morpheus is far too respectful for that. There is nothing in the comics that even remotely indicates that he would take advantage of a woman or anyone. Hell, in the scenes with Ishtar he certainly isn't perving over the women or acting in any way less than utterly respectful and dignified. Even Matthew shows himself up in those scenes as being a bit of a pervert when he was a man. But not Morpheus. If he was a misogynist, wouldn't he be taking Cluracan up on his offer and fucking Nuala the moment he gets the chance even if she didn't want it? Since by fae law she is his property to do with as he sees fit. He is within his rights by the laws of the fae to force himself on Nuala whenever he wants. A horrible thought but a true one according to the comics. But just because he has that power over Nuala, he never uses it. And yet the Sandman Companion implies he's a rapist? Nah. I call bullshit. If he was a rapist he would have raped Nuala the moment he had the chance, and he has had plenty of chances.

Instead Morpheus requests that she be given quarters in the palace and made comfortable. He agrees to let her stay in the Dreaming because refusing her means refusing his gift which would cause Nuala harm if she returned to fairie. He never asks anything of her. She takes it upon herself to act as his maid simply to keep herself busy but Morpheus never orders her to do any of it. Honestly his treatment of Nuala given the situation is the biggest indication imo that he is NOT a misogynist, NOT a rapist, and certainly NOT abusive.

Then we have Lyta Hall. Poor confused Lyta Hall. The problem with Lyta, is that for Morpheus it was always simply bad timing. He never took the time to explain things to her properly because he was always either late for a meeting (with Hob) or about to go to Hell (to save Nada) or dealing with something that was distracting him at the time. Lyta reacts badly towards him because she blames him for Hectors death - which is stupid because she KNOWS Hector died before she ever met Morpheus (in both comic and show she knows this) and Morpheus is frustratingly lacking in tact when dealing with the overly emotional grieving pregnant widow. His treatment of Lyta is NEVER misogynistic though, even when she calls him names, yells at him, threatens him, etc etc. She is far more aggressively confrontational towards him than practically any other character and each time he sees her he is patient and calm with her and just sort of takes the abuse she throws at him - mostly because from his point of view she is just a grieving mortal with no power who is absolutely not a threat to him - which is why her being his ultimate doom is so ironic.

When I take all of this into consideration, I can't possibly come to any conclusion that supports this theory that Morpheus is a misogynist let alone a rapist. There are too many layers of interpretation to every moment in the comics and misogyny is only one of multiple interpretations in the few stories that can possibly be viewed that way. In fact, over the past day or so since these conversations have started again, I have actually moved further away from these interpretations and am more inclined to disagree with them and consider the other interpretations more compelling.

#the sandman #sandman meta #dream of the endless #sandman comic spoilers #sandman analysis #baring in mind this is all comic!morpheus we are talking about #show!morpheus is far more sympathetic and likeable #and the show is a universe where they changed the canonical rape of unity by desire #and instead made it a consensual loving relationship #so if they can make desire who is a canonical rapist in the comic #into a likeable romantic figure in the show #what does that tell you about the direction the show is taking morpheus? #because I suspect they are gonna change tales in the sand as well #anything that even hints towards morpheus possibly being a misogynist will be changed in the show #so these discussions will only ever be relevant for the comics #and even then the interpretations are relatively weak compared to other interpretations #so there you go

[cirque-dhomosexual]

An analysis on Xavier and Tyler

Wednesday spoilers ahead btw

You are warned

So I had a thought. What if Xavier and obviously Tyler weren't supposed to be seen as endgame. First of all, we know Tyler wasn't supposed to be given he never liked Wednesday. His whole deal was lulling her into a false sense of security. He was never supposed to fall for her and he didn't. Honestly Wednesday didn't like him either until the Crypt picnic which to be fair valid.

Xavier on the other hand was just some dude who felt entitled to her for some reason. Wednesday only used him for info and didn't exactly trust him. His relationship with her is paralleled with Tyler for obvious reasons plot wise but what if it was also to show the outcome. I mean, Xavier acts a lot like Tyler. They're both just there, obsessive, feels entitled to her emotions/feelings, over estimates their worth in her life, they're both artistic (as seen in the description of Hydes), have terrible relationships with their fathers, have that "mysterious boy" aloofness (granted, Xavier more than tyler but as the son of the sheriff who has hella baggage it's there), they're both supernatural and wednesday uses them for knowledge. The only real difference between the two as characters is their backstory. Since we know why Tyler has a reason to be so pushy and obsessive over Wednesday, what's Xavier's reason? Now you may argue it's a shitty not even fleshed out romance plot and I would agree but it feels deeper than that.

Anyways I'm holding out hope they don't stick wednesday with some bland ass cishet guy and completely switch up her character. The musical was enough I can't do it again

#wednesday netflix #wenclair slowburn trust #wednesday addams #tyler gillpin #xavier thorpe #wednesday spoilers

[exhuastedpigeon]

Modern Steddie musician AU

Steve is the front man for a pop-y indie rock band, Upside Down (think Bleachers-esque music). They came out of the Chicago music scene in the mid-2010s and have released 4 critically acclaimed albums that get moderate Top-40 radio play, but mostly they own play the indie stations.

Eddie is the front man for a rock band, Hellfire. They're is known for genre crossing - their music is a mix of metal, hip hop, electronic, and sometimes pop depending on the album and Eddie's mood when he's writing (think Linkin Park-esque). They also came out of the Chicago music scene in the mid-2010s and are critical darlings who get a ton of radio play on rock stations and occasionally they break onto the Top-40 stations.

Steve and Robin founded Upside Down out of their basement apartment when they were both going to DePaul. Nancy and Jonathan were the other two founding members. Sometimes they joked that they were a modern day Fleetwood Mac, just without the drama because they had all hooked up with or dated at least one other band member (or in Nancy's case, all of them and in Steve and Jonathan's cases, everyone except Robin).

Eddie founded Hellfire in his uncle's trailer in Indiana before moving to Chicago with three of the band members, Gareth, Jeff, and Chrissy. They'd picked up a dickhead named Billy when they got to Chicago who fucking murdered on the drums and wasn't that bad once they helped him deal with some of the trauma from his shitty ass, racist, homophobic, dad.

The bands shouldn't exactly run in the same circles on paper, except they do because the music scene in Chicago is extremely supportive and collaborative. Plus, they get lumped together all the time since they both released their debut albums in 2013. Both groups are close friends, they even shared studio when recording their demos and when Upside Down got picked up, they introduced Hellfire to their record label.

Since debuting both bands had played Lollapalooza a few times. One memorable year they played the same stage back-to-back and Eddie had almost fallen off stage when he saw Steve fucking Harrington moshing during their set. And maybe Eddie stuck around for Upside Down's set and almost died when Steve took his shirt off mid-show and tossed it into the crowd (if Eddie caught it and kept it, that's his business, not yours. If Steve threw it at Eddie on purpose, no he didn't shut your mouth). Both incidents have been caught by fans and put online, spurring a small but hardcore group of "Steddie" shippers.

Both bands headline Lollapalooza in 2022, Upside Down plays Friday night, Hellfire plays Saturday night.

Upside Down brings Hellfire out during their set to play a cover of Poison's Talk Dirty to Me. He and Eddie share a mic and the internet has a meltdown when Eddie dances up on Steve, only for Steve to come back with a a kiss on Eddie's cheek and grabbing a handful of his ass (the song and dancing were Steve's idea, he was never good at subtly).

The internet has a full on meltdown. Both bands trend on Twitter, along with #Steddie and #TalkDirtyToSteve with a gif of Eddie whispering something in Steve's ear. Tumblr is full of breakdowns of the set, including body language analysis and so many gifs. The Ao3 tag for Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson had been small but mightly (463 fics) before that performance, but by Saturday morning there were almost 1500.

The next night Hellfire brings Upside Down out they play a rock-y cover of (I've Had) The Time of My Life from Dirty Dancing. The song is full sexual tension, especially because they incorporate a lot of touching into their performance. But that set really breaks the internet when the song ends and Steve says "Keep playing it" into the mic, then adds "Wanna do the movie, Baby?"

Eddie just winks before running at Steve. Steve lifts him over his head like it's easy, like Eddie isn't almost the same height as Steve, like they've done it before.

Everyone online is trying to figure out if Steve was calling Eddie 'baby' like a pet name or 'Baby' like the name of the main character in Dirty Dancing (spoiler, it's both).

There are plenty of haters and people who think it's just for show and to sell albums. The selling albums is a perk, but it wasn't the point. There really wasn't a point of it, they were just having fun.

By Sunday there are 4000 fics under their tag on Ao3 and they've been trending on Twitter for almost 48 hours. They extend that trending streak by posting a joint picture on Instagram of Steve and Eddie practicing the lift. The next slide on the Instagram post is a video of the practice, ending in a pretty un-platonic kiss.

#Steddie #Stranger Things #Stranger Things AU #modern Steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson

[nick-close]

Since my Glenn close analysis is gonna take a lot longer I thought I’d just tell you guys the thematic justification for Glenn’s story that makes me feel content with it how it is story wise, even if I don’t like the actual path it went. Here’s what I think is the most important thing to recognize about the theme of his arc:

Glenn’s story is not about fatherhood.

I know, dad podcast? What? What else could it be about? What is the other overarching theme aside from fatherhood/parenting/generational trauma?

Try Chaos. The doodler is intrinsically in twined with the theme of Glenn’s character arc. His story simply makes no sense if you view it to be about parenting, but viewing it as chaos? More specifically, randomness? That makes things fall into place.

Glenn makes dumb decisions yes. But so much of what happens to him is purely the cruel randomness of an unempathetic world. He lost his wife by chance, came into the portal by chance, pulled the cards by chance, lost his kid to a dice roll- for the large majority of what happens, Glenn does NOT have control over the situation. Glenn can’t change anything that happens to him. That’s not to say the path was set in stone forever- maybe if he was born to a better family, his wife didn’t die- maybe if he found a better way to cope with his trauma, he’d be okay- but he didn’t. None of that happened. Maybe he could’ve played his hand better, but that doesn’t change the shitty hand he was dealt.

Glenn’s choices ultimately didn’t matter- shit was thrown at him either way. The important thing was for him to keep getting back up. But, in the theme of uncaring chaos, he wasn’t rewarded for those efforts at all. He got back up and got killed for it like a clown slipping on the tomatoes thrown at him. Lol.

It’s 4 am, I know I could’ve put this more eloquently- I have even. On a document. This one!:

But ultimately? This is me finding a way to come to peace with a story that I’ve struggled with for a long time. If you disagree that’s fine, it’s my blog not urs go make ur own post!!!

Anyways Anthony I fixed ur shit. /lh

#that said plz don’t debate me on this #I love diverse takes but if u try to fight me you’ll be sending me back into a pit #of being angry about the theme of his arc #it’s horrible #it’s 4 am I’m sorry for my ineloquency #<:3 #</3 #dndads #dungeons and daddies #dndads odyssey #dndads s1 #glenn close