When I came across that "joke" from Tav to Quill and Z'rell's comment (plus Halsin), I had to take a minute to process what happened. Gale might be a bit silly and eccentric but he's the kindest, sweetest and most passionate character in that party. No wonder the poor man has deep insecurities to solve, so many people reduce him to an easy target! Ofc one of the side effects would be overconfidence and ambition as a defense mechanism. He's obv lonely; only Tara and Morena ever loved him for him.
his eccentric nature might be a part of it. he is loquacious, outgoing, and doesn’t see the point in hiding his enthusiasm. he is considered to be the weird one. naturally, wizards in general being seen as somewhat squishy and physically weak might also add to it.
personally, i really don’t like the implications of the (widely considered) autistic-coded character being the one who faces the most ridicule by far by other characters and fans (and larian) alike.
some might disagree with me on that, but i don’t find it funny by any means either. mostly it just makes me feel bad. “he deserves it. cocky, arrogant, hubris-ridden wizard needs to be taken down a peg” like he isn’t… y’know… already at his lowest. it also disregards the fact that much of his bravado is part of his carefully curated Great Wizard of Waterdeep™ persona that he has skillfully adopted to mask his general feeling of being defective. being fiercely proud of your skill and knowledge and being doubtful of having something truly worthwhile to offer are mindsets that can coexist. according to fandom, gale is either secret hubris incarnate that is only waiting to be unleashed upon the world or pure baby that can do no wrong. instead of a character that is just as flawed and traumatized as all the others, but no less deserving of genuine love.
to me, the constant ridicule just reads as further feeding into his deep-rooted insecurities and his belief that he (as gale, the person) isn’t someone who holds inherent worth. it really, really doesn’t sit well with me.
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for real WHERE does the idea that [utdr humans] are nongendered so that "you can project on them" come from. their literal character arcs are about NOT being a blank slate to be filled in by the audience
i think i understand the assumption on some level for undertale, because there is a very intentional effort to make you identify with the "player character" in order to make your choices feel like your own (the beating heart of undertale's metanarrative lies in giving you an alternative path to violence against its enemies after all, and whether you're still willing to persue it for your own selfish reasons. YOUR agency is crucial).
of course, the cardinal plot twist of the main ending sweeps the rug from under your feet on that in every way, and frisk's individuality becomes, in turn, a tool to further UT's OTHER main theme: completionism as a form of diegetic violence within the story. replaying the game would steal frisk's life and happy ending from them for our own perverse sentimentality, emotionally forcing our hand away from the reset button.
i think their neutrality absolutely aids in that immersion. but also, there's this weird attitude by (mostly) cis fans where it being functional within the story makes it... somehow "editable" and "up to the player" as well? which is gross and shows their ass on how they approach gender neutrality in general lol.
but also like. there's plenty of neutral, non PCharacters in undertale and deltarune. even when undertale was just an earthbound fangame and the player immersion metanarrative was completely absent, toby still described frisk as a "young, androgynous person". sometimes characters are just neutral by design. it's not that hard to understand lol.
anyone who makes this argument for kris deltarune is braindead. nothing else to say about it.
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Heyyyy!!! :333
how are things??!??!?? I haven’t checked tumblr in a while!!!!
is it ok if I request a Konig x f!reader where she gets flustered by him calling her his little wifey as you said in the one post? It’s ok if you choose not to obvs as I know you write Gender neutral, so don’t feel obligated!!
Hey! It's been alright, but I've been super tired as of late! I've got the second theoretical exam on Tuesday, though! And once I pass that I will finally be done with all the theory! :D Also, the referenced post is this one!
König Calling his GF Weibi
I feel as though he’d be very sudden with calling you that. In fact, he’d likely be saying something along the lines of “Mei Weibi schaut heite wieda zuckasüß aus.” He never expected you to understand him, much less be interested in what he had to say about you. While he may not hide the fact that he was talking about you in the slightest, looking at you with those big, adoring blue eyes of his, he would be surprised when you turn to look at him, done with his impossible to Google translate German. Even if you had been learning the language for a while now, whenever he reverted to his own German you barely, if at all, understood him. And thus, you confronted him about what he had to say about you this time. König would chuckle a bit at your fierce demeanor this time when you were usually quite calm about him complimenting you in German.
“I’m not sure how I should translate ‘Weibi’, but I’ll try… Weibi is sort of like little wifey. My lovely little wifey looks sweet as sugar again today. That’s essentially what I said.” His accent was thick again, as it had always been, but it added to his charm. Although he was usually a rather sweet man, this took you by surprise. You were his girlfriend, not his wife, yet, so you weren’t sure why he would call you that. It was rather sweet, but you weren’t sure how to process this.
“A-ah, I see…” Looking away, you grabbed your wrist and gently rubbed the skin there with your thumb. A rather obvious gesture, König seemed to be delighted about this. As you looked him in the eye again, you saw a glimmer in his eyes. It wasn’t anything devious, in fact it was a rare sight to behold in the first place as he could sometimes be rather timid, despite being a behemoth. Unsure of what was about to happen, you turned to leave, a goofy grin on your face that you hoped he hadn’t spotted just yet.
“Well, Weibi, you can’t just leave me hanging here. Don’t go, where would I be without you?” He tenderly grabbed your wrist. Despite his usual gentle ways, there was some strength to him, even now. “You’re my lovely little wifey and I love you a lot, so don’t leave just yet.” Even as you struggled against his grasp on you, even as you continuously turned to face away from him, he always found a way to get to see your pretty face. Resorting to hiding your face behind your palm seemed fruitless as well, König, too, had two hands, after all. He was too strong, despite him barely using any of his strength. Curse him and the fact he was part of a PMC. One of these days, you were going to give him a piece of mind. Until then, he may run free. Holding both of your hands in his, he pushed you against the kitchen wall, trapping you against it and him.
“You like that nickname, don’t you?”
Using the opportunity that presented itself to hide further from him, you pushed your body against his, concealing yourself still. “It’s just… I don’t know if I’m understanding this the right way, but being your wife sounds kind of nice, actually… Like, it seems like a rather domestic nickname. If you were a bit more careful with your body, then I just know you’d make for an ideal husband too. The idea of someday being your real wife just gets to me, you know?”
He hadn’t even considered that up until that point. But you being his wife, him being your husband, it sounded like a dream. Letting go of your wrists, he wrapped his arms around you instead. “I know, Weibi. But don’t worry too much about it. I used to be far more reckless when I was younger. So I’m sure I will calm down in the future. Besides, why not make it a reality someday? Just the two of us in our own apartment, maybe with a kitten or two to take care of. I’d love to marry you someday, you’re the best girlfriend I’ve ever had. I love you more than anyone and anything else.”
König had the chance to be such an asshole in that moment, and despite that he chose to be a sappy idiot. Again, you were reminded as to why you loved him in the first place. Wrapping your arms around him as well, you breathed in his scent. That all-too familiar scent you’ve come to adore. The one that reminded you that no one could ever harm you, that you were safe, no matter what. He was so warm too, you couldn’t help but melt into him. “You’re such an idiot, you know that?”
He pressed a kiss to your temple before chuckling again. “Bear with an idiot for a moment? Just until we’re married and I’ve burned the certificate.”
“Because then I can’t return you? König, have you been looking at memes again?”
“Hush, Weibi. No one needs to know.”
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Based on the way the story has been written, especially following season 4, I do believe mike is likely gay atp. But “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls” still makes sense as projection if Mike is bi because lots of closeted bi teens are confused about their feelings, especially in the 80s where terms like “bisexual” wouldn’t have been as readily accessible to kids from Hawkins, Indiana.
Simply the fact that Mike likes boys/Will could make him worried that he’s gay and cause him to hyperfixate on the concept of not liking girls more often, especially if his feelings for El were waning, or if his feelings for Will were overwhelming, even if he did in fact have a crush on El at the start of the show. Nothing says being a closeted bi teen like bouncing back and forth between “I can’t be gay, I like girls” and “Oh no, I like boys, am I gay?”
I think there’s a common misconception that the bi Mike view necessitates oversimplifying the story as “Mike used to be into El, and now he’s into Will.” That isn’t necessarily the case. A bi Mike reading can still involve internalized homophobia, projection, the heteronormative pressure to conform and date girls, repression, and most of the things we talk about here.
(I didn’t really wanna get involved in this, but I feel like this is important to add).
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... Will you guys please let me talk about hgduo/gossipduo/mockingjays/ whatever they are called a little more pleaseeeeeeeeee, they make me unwell and I want to get my thoughts about them out of my head- or more specifically about them from Bad's point of view!
There's a familial air to it, but it's just not true to define it like that- and that doesn't make what they DO have any less powerful or significant- They have a unique bond and that continues to be true, even during painful times like this.
Cellbit WAS Bad's responsibility at one point, and that time came and went- he got him through the war and into adulthood ( aka 18 years old or close to it.) They meet again as old friends and generally respect each other as such... but even so Bad can't deny he still feels some duty to watch over the man once he starts crumbling- much like how Cellbit as well can't help but reach out to Bad during this time.
but there's limits.
like- Bad for years had and still wants to protect Cellbit, he's had an influence on him, he taught him how to survive, he himself acknowledges he has some responsibility over Cellbit, looking at Cellbit right now feels like looking in a mirror, he doesn't like having to give up on him, but if it's between him and the kids he's choosing the kids every time... and he knows there is no simple way to save someone who refuses to let themself be saved.
And it hurts! It hurts seeing Cellbit like this! It hurts having to let him burn! It hurts watching someone he cares for falling down the same path he is! It hurts knowing he's hurting others the way it did for him seeing Cellbit like this! It hurts having to choose his kids over his protege/ student/ former responsibility/ the kid he watched over years ago/ old friend/ his 'something'!
Like, cc!Bad brought up this internal mental tier list that q!Bad has- I still deeply believe that q!Cellbit is quite high up there even if he'll never be at the level his kids are at- like he loves Cellbit enough that he ACTUALLY CONSIDERED putting parts of his months long plan at risk to save him- even if it was just during the stress of that moment that still means a LOT from Bad- but he was always going to choose his kids in the end!
Based on what I know of q!Bad (which is admitably not a lot lol) there is next to nothing that'd convince him to give up on his kids- with Cellbit he's able to see that he can't help him because Cellbit sadly does not want to be saved- and for Bad that means he simply has to accept it even if he really doesn't like it- the emotions from that night have processed and he's looking at the situation from a more logical and resolute perspective. If it means him and Cellbit may one day clash, then with a heavy sigh so be it....
but if it was Dapper or Pomme... I just don't feel certain in saying he'd be able to come to that conclusion, especially not after one night. Even if it would be the 'smart' thing to do. It's one of the key differences between the dynamic he has with them vs Cellbit...
But, in a perfect situation, he would've done everything to save them both.
Anyway thanks for reading, posting this at hell hours so my beloved mutuals won't see my hgduo ramblings but tagging this anyway for other people to see LMAO-
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[Trigun OC]
Team "would rather die than admit something's bothering them"
So for the first good chunk of their relationship, Bad Luck and Vash were more "fucking" than "dating". Bad Luck was really apprehensive about romantic entanglements, and had been taken advantage of by a friend, in the past. (While not THE reason he was kicked out of his community, it was definitely related.)
However, Vash-- aware of Luck's hesitance but not of the reasons why-- already had a little bit of a crush on him. So when Luck stupidly offered a FWB situation, Vash accepted, thinking he could be chill about it. He quickly realized, no, he could NOT be chill about it, and spent the next few months relentlessly pining and feeling guilty and wanting to broach the subject, but never saying anything.
Eventually, Vash's crush gets revealed, and by that point Bad Luck has kinda fallen in love with him and they get together and Bad Luck insists that it's all fine, water under the bridge. Truthfully, though, he feels a little betrayed, and has this sense of "why the fuck would you think that's a good idea" towards Vash, hanging over his head. But he also thinks he has no place feeling this way because he never told Vash why he was so hesitant (and still hasn't), and also he does love Vash now anyway, so there's really no point bringing this up now and messing with the status quo, right?
And that's just the beginning of their relationship. There's a whole bunch of other plot-related problems they never talk about until after things boil over. Eventually, they'll get their acts together and talk through everything, I promise. Eventually. It just, might take until after the plot's fully resolved for them to get there.
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