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#even typing it out i can't quite accept the concept
brucewaynehater101 · 10 hours
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I hc Damian sees dick as more of a father then Bruce, my reasoning is that when Bruce was dead, dick was there for him and Damian already mourned that father and accepted dick as his dad.
and since in my brain Bruce causes most of the issues between the brothers, in a au where Bruce wasn’t rescued all the bats are happy and friendly to each other, dick is the older brother who’s basically their dad, Jason who’s very caring yet also insists he’s not (he has anger issues as well), Tim who can’t seem to fully grasp how much everyone cares for him but it’s getting better, and Damian who actually acts his age and not like a 20 year old man with murder problems (he still has murder issues but dicks made him realize that’s wrong)
There was probably quite a bit of an adjustment period in the beginning. When siblings are faced with a change in dynamics so that they need to rely upon each other instead of being pitted against one another, there tend to be big blowups and fights until they get the hang of things.
In this AU, it would be a bit hard to wrangle all the batkids into getting along. Does Tim never find that portrait that starts his search? Did Bruce actually die? Does Alfred find the portrait first and burn it so his family can finally be free (very ooc, but a cool concept)?
Tim finding out Bruce is alive is like a match near gasoline for him. He destroys all of his current relationships (justified or not) to save his dad.
There's also the grief aspect. The Battle of the Cowl could be seen as just the kids trying to find footing with the changes and the grief of loosing their dad.
It doesn't matter how much of a bastard Bruce is in this AU, the kids will still grieve his loss. If he was just unredeemable, they wouldn't have hung on so much. It doesn't matter how much Bruce hits them, verbally abuses them, manipulates, or abandons them when he turns around and acts like a good dad. He has good moments. That's the confusing and complicated aspect of it.
Bruce is the type of man to remember a fact his kids mentioned once off-handedly and distracted. He'd remember when they mentioned a childhood toy they loved but could never find again. He would spend months tracking down that company and hiring them to make they toy again if they didn't have any on hand. There's so much time, effort, and money he would put into such a notion, and he wouldn't make a big deal about it. The kid would probably just find it in their room one day and know it was Bruce.
Then he would turn around and try to convince the kid that all of their friends are out to get them and they can't trust anyone.
This AU would be hard to manage because only Dick is at the stage where he would be willing to give up on his dad. With the fallout of Robin, Dick moved on from unconditional love and belief in Bruce. He went to anger and hurt. He slowly healed those pains, but they were changed. Dick couldn't go back to how they were, but ultimately still loved his dad. Jason's death shattered their relationship. Even after Tim interfered, Dick would never be able to forgive Bruce for that. In the comics, he confronted Bruce about not being told about Jason's death. Bruce's response? He screamed at Dick, hit him, told him he shoulf have never had a partner, told Dick that he would've fired Jason in a few years like he did Dick, and then told Dick to hand his keys to the Manor to Alfred on his way out.
Bruce and Dick can go to therapy for years to work on their relationship, but Dick will never trust Bruce with his siblings again. He can trust the man on a battlefield, but he can't trust him at home.
Dick's love to Bruce, I hc, would turn to apathy, longing, and bitterness intermingled with spurts of reluctant fondness.
Jason, on the other hand, is pissed at Bruce, but he has too much passion to just let him go. It's a transition stage from love to anger to indifference. Through his reactions and actions during the Battle of the Cowl, it's obvious he still cares about Bruce somewhat. The opposite of love isn't hate. It's indifference. If he didn't somewhat care about Bruce, his death wouldn't impact him so much. I personally feel that the incident with Penguin and Gotham Wars is where Jason starts to become indifferent instead. To hate Bruce is to want to change him. It's to want him to be better because you know he can be. To be indifferent to him (outside of horrible actions the man commits) is to know he won't change. It's to give up on him.
Jason still remembers getting ice cream on patrol, sharing popcorn on the couch, reassuring promises of protection, and the laughter he could startle out of his dad. His anger and aggression against Bruce is because he believes that his dad could kill the Joker. He had believed that Bruce would have. Regardless on whether it was the right thing to do or whether a younger version would have wanted that, Jason had faith in Bruce. He ultimately considers his father to be a good guy. Perhaps someone that hurts Jason, but still a good guy.
Dick doesn't regard his father as such. He knows better.
The other kids are still at the love stage, where they rely on Batman and Bruce to be decent and a hero.
Tim may have complicated feelings about Bruce being his dad (how credible that is especially given their history), but he trusts Bruce to make the right decisions. That gospel has been shaken a few times, but it still holds.
Damian is still a child. Capable, kind, fierce, and strong, but still a child.
Cass was given the mission of the Bat by Bruce. He has shown her love and kindness others have not. She can see what he feels and intends to do even as he hurts others. He does not kill.
Barbara has Dick's back before she has Bruce's. Barbara is independent. She does not have the confidence in Bruce that the others do.
I hope Duke is enjoying his time with his parents free from bat drama.
Anyways, I do think the Bats would be better off if Tim hadn't found proof of Bruce's continued existence (it is not his fault that Bruce returned to do horrible shit. He is not to blame). Without it, there might not have been as big of a fallout between Tim and everyone else. There would have been lots of drama and fights between the remaining Bats, but they would eventually settle into a healthier unit.
If anyone wants more about any of this, feel free to send me another ask with what parts you'd like elaborated.
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ringaroundaroses · 5 months
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BIG BIG DISNEY'S 'WISH' SPOILERS!
So. About King Magnifico...
Does anyone else feel like the filmmakers went in two contradictory directions with him? On one hand, he certainly has some issues *prior* to becoming a power-hungry megalomaniac, but on the other hand, him becoming a power-hungry megalomaniac genuinely doesn't seem like his fault? Now, that's not to say Magnifico didn't have issues. He's full of himself. He's a narcissist. Based on what Amaya said at the beginning ('don't you dare ever ask about the wishes, what a sorcerer does isn't your concern'), he may or may not be passive-aggressive to his wife-- and he's definitely passive-aggressive to his would-be apprentices. He's become complacent, he's egocentric, he's everything that would be bad in a leader-- --except Rosas genuinely doesn't seem bad under his rule? Asha only knows differently because she saw what wishes *could've* been granted, and granted, he shouldn't be the sole controller of who can fulfill the wishes, but I do feel like he would've been a lower-stakes political villain if Star didn't rush in and cause him to have a mental breakdown. Consider: Magnifico only got to the point of wanting to use the forbidden magic because Dahlia incited the crowd to annoy him. Significantly. He ignored what his wife said, and was in a bad mental state when he turned to the book. Prior to that, when he was more clear-headed, he *did* listen to Amaya and left the forbidden magic behind. This man is clearly hyped up on forbidden magic drugs and no one seems to be concerned by this? They're all saying he was always bad and all the good in him disappeared? Well yeah, technically true, except all the good melted away a day or two after he touched the no-no book that specifically was a danger to everyone. This reads like a possession/corruption plot point? Not a villain that's purely evil and can't be redeemed at all? He hadn't even *considered* breaking a wish up until touching the book, he was definitely not a good person but he only went comedically, scene-chewing evil after his magic corruption. I don't get the need to make him 'fall' *and* to have him get corrupted by a book, because one of the two makes him significantly less at fault than the other, and blending the two of them while treating him as a total lost cause feels... wrong? In some way? I've seen it done before, but those are usually played as a tragedy, and the tone used with Magnifico feels more like 'revel in how bad he is!' instead of 'he could've recovered from this if he didn't choose the obviously evil route.' Not to mention, he has a tragic backstory that's implied and... never brought up again? What was the point of that? If Disney wanted to do a homage to classical villains, giving them a random tragic backstory and then backtracking to add 'actually he's evil all along and super evil and super bad and not at all hyped on magic green bad juice' is a ... bizarre way to make a throwback villain. I like the performance. I honestly like Magnifico's scenes. I just... don't understand why he was written that way.
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robby-bobby-tommy · 9 months
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It's once again a nighttime and I'm once again here with scene/character analysis.
As it's prominent from the last few post I'm a quite Ultra Magnus enjoyer, and I'm very upset at how people see him as heartless nerd. I see him as a person very damaged by the war. So here's some of my thoughts.
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Ultra Magnus has a great problems with fitting in, because he forgot how to be in this kind of relationship and it's just depressing. For at least a century he has been in a war that took all his time for friends and especially family. And part of me thinks it is because Ultra Magnus is used to communication with orders. In "Evolution" we can see how he really tries to start a conversation, but all he knows now is orders and missions. And the next problem with him is he doesn't belong. He doesn't know what a family is, Wheeljack sends very clear messages that he is not welcomed to the Wreckers. Magnus felt completely isolated and this inability to make deeper connections than commander-soldier doesn't let him comprehend familial relationships. And I have some proofs.
The most important one is this line.
"The members of team prime are not cogs in a machine."
Why would Optimus use this particular line? It felt very meaningful and even as a non-english speaker, I felt it was very important for Ultra Magnus' character. So I went to Internet for the answer and I found this..
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This one line opened a lot abt my boy. UM considers himself and team Prime through this war prism. "You are important,but we know how war is. Everyone can't survive. Sometimes you have to sacrifice something for a better outcome. Magnus doesn't think he's better than the rest of Team Prime, quite contrary, he holds himself by the same standards. I think Ultra Magnus sees himself as this metaphorical cog in a machine. He is important now, but if he isn't important in great scheme of things. This sounds like a very army type of mentality. He's prepared to die for a mission and sees little value in himself apart from weaponry and missions. So when Predaking had him and Wheeljack cornered he accepted it fairly quickly, yet was saddened with a thought of joining the allspark, especially with Wheeljack, whom he is to protect as his subordinate.
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After Ultra Magnus wakes up, he's met with a lot of pleasant developments. Now he is fully accepted, Team Prime is by his side, and even Wheeljack drops this very meaningful line "Magnus fought like a wrecker"(=you're accepted in our group). And after finally asking OP about what was a Team Prime, he found out about a new concept, that basically breaks all his perceptions.
Family.
It isn't the army, or the elite guard where you are easily replaceable and aren't important. Now Ultra Magnus is family. And, forgive me for cliché, but you can't replace a family. They all are accepting each other and won't willingy leave someone behind for a brighter future.
I think if Ultra Magnus had more screen time his arc would be about relearning to care/connect in a deeper way and finding your own and others' importance, showcasing hardships of a soldier, trying to become more relaxed and closer to a people he knows and loves.
Or mb I just overanalyze one line¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(Also UM and OP have this so sweet bond. Former is, being as socially awkward as he is, still being honest about his feelings and asking smt he doesn't understand. And Optimus completely trusts his lieutenant with the team family and is able to see when the other's uncomfortable/sad. I dunno, they're so brothers/friends. They're very close without having much interactions on screen.)
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mysadcorner · 3 months
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Hiiii, i read and loved the spider reader x jason todd headcanons, could you maybe do one Kryptonian reader x jason todd pls? sending love!!!
Jason Todd x Kryptonian!Reader Headcanons
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- credit to the images owners - Please be specific about the characters wanted in headcanons and read the request rules -
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Jason is going to be a bit confused when he finds out that there is another Kryptonian on Earth, and he may even be a bit suspicious of you if you turn up out of nowhere and aren't associated to or mentioned by Clark at all. To him it seems like more than just a coincidence at first until he let's himself trust you properly.
Of course you're going to be incredibly stronger than him, and Jason is not going to be able to hide his attraction towards this. He can't decide between people who will finally let him relax and settle down, and those who could absolutely destroy him, so being stronger than him is definitely something he's going to give you a lot of attention for.
Jason is more than happy to accept your help when he's in some challenging situations, even though it may not happen often. Other times he just likes your company, it can get quite lonely if he out on patrol by himself, or sometimes he just wants company other than his family.
Jason feels a lot better knowing that you can take care of yourself better than the majority of other people could, and he doesn’t need to worry about you being injured any time soon. This puts him at ease when the two of you are in dangerous situations, you’re something he doesn’t have to as to his worry in the moment making you so much easier to work with.
If you didn’t have the opportunity to grow up on Earth and adjust to the company of other people properly, then he will be willing to help you as much as he can. Even if it’s only a little bit, he’ll go out of his way to help you get accustomed to certain things or even sit and talk to you for a while about things you might want to know about just as a peaceful way of spending time with you.
introducing you to other people - If you’re new to the whole vigilante and hero scene then Jason may introduce you to people, if any members of the justice league haven’t gotten their hands on you and kept you with them first. You won’t meet the conventional type of people you’d expect, bur he’d try to keep introductions to only those with good intentions.
Since you’re having a hard time, or at least keeping things in just like Jason is, he’ll feel much more comfortable telling you things than he does with other people, at least surrounding the concept of not fitting in or being understood well by others. You’re free to tell him anything and express any worries you may have and Jason will listen intensively - just don’t tell anyone that he does or he’ll be moody.
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caligvlasaqvarivm · 26 days
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love all your thoughts on eridan so much!! ive had erikar as a passive concept in my head since i started slowly rereading homestuck, bit i never invested as much thought into it...it makes a LOT of sense.
very curious on your thoughts on eridan and nepeta, if you have any? i dont really see much around of the two of them and how they may act around each other (most likely because, iirc, they have basically no substantial interaction in the comic....) but its a concept ive twisted around in my head a little.
Hahah, one of my friends is a Nepeta roleplayer, so we have hashed this OUT. Basically, I think if they talked a bit more, under the right circumstances, they might try pitch for a bit, but resolve to normal friendship. TL;DR, at the end of the day, they just don't really have anything to particularly hate about each other, or to particularly love, but I think they'd make for really good friends actually, if Eridan gets his shit together and Nepeta comes out of her shell a little more. She might wind up having to play auspice for him because... he has a lot of problems... and as a Heart player, with more proximity to him, she'd realize "oh, wait, he's not that bad, hes just mentally fucking ill," and there are people on the team who would not give him that kind of grace.
Flushed is pretty canonically off the table - despite having hit on her several times, Eridan seems to have accepted the rejection, and Nepeta herself comments that it always came off as "cr33py and insincere", which it probably was - he's clearly not over Feferi, and has a kind of "please god anyone would be fine I just don't want to be alone" vibe. Nepeta is definitely looking for more sincerity than that, and although Eridan's Type is very much cheerful, bubbly, nice girls (what he thinks Feferi is), I think they're pretty incompatible overall.
His antics and Emotional Issues would probably be super taxing on Nepeta long-term, he'd wind up in a million fights with protective Equius (Eridan is a crazed murderer even just objectively), and he's really not a particularly kind or pleasant person.
Meanwhile, although he's basically willing to go along with anything that'll get him attention, I think he'd be very puzzled by Nepeta's expectations that he do Romantic Things, or otherwise adhere to certain romantic tropes and social norms, which he can't do; when this inevitably leads to hurt feelings, his response to perceived danger is "fight," so he'd probably end up making it worse. So! Flushed is flushed. Down the load gaper, I mean.
Trying on pitch, I think if Nepeta was already a little bit out of her shell - say, Equius has died, or she's otherwise locked in a SGRUB dungeon with him, or something like that - she and he would come to blows over Eridan's performative casteism. Nepeta's the anti-casteism troll, after all, and if she's worked up enough, she's quite spirited and opinionated, and Eridan is down for anything, so it would be something I can absolutely see forming.
Actually, hilariously, when my friend and I RP'd this out, Nepeta wound up with a pitch crush, and Eridan wound up with a FLUSHED crush, because he was THAT BAD at differentiating between good and bad attention. Nepeta was totally floored, she was like, dude i was calling you stupid and terrible??? how the fuck did you interpret that as FLUSHED??? and eridan was like i dont know... maybe... i might have mental illness......
The problem is, I don't see their pitched dalliance lasting, for two main reasons - the first is that Eridan wouldn't hate Nepeta long-term, even if he can work up some caliginous energy because he's desperate; she's too genuinely nice and kind and he loves nice and kind people. Similarly, Nepeta wouldn't be able to hate Eridan the more she got to know him - since he's kind of the least casteist highblood, despite his initial impression, she would lose her fundamental reason for opposing him, and would instead start going "oh god, hes so traumatized, he's like that because he's really messed up inside."
The second is because I think they're dangerous for each other, physically. Eridan is a volatile highblood with severe emotional problems and a bodycount in the thousands, and Nepeta is very reckless in the face of danger; I can genuinely see them going a little too hard and Eridan getting a bit of a highblood buzz and winding up severely injuring Nepeta, which he would feel completely fucking terrible about, and then not allow himself to ACT like he feels terrible about it. Even if they stay in the relationship, it would kill his vibe, since when he isn't on an outright murder spree, he doesn't want to hurt his friends ("wwhat kind of friend wwould i be"). And that's not even factoring in how much EQUIUS would flip out over it.
I also don't think Nepeta is particularly equipped to deal with Eridan's problems, even if she does recognize and sympathize with them more than most on their team. Although she'd have more success than others, I think it'd leave her exhausted, because Eridan is exhausting. A Heart player obsessed with true feelings and sincerity and genuineness is just a bad match for the kid who's 90% façade.
So, ultimately, I think they'd resolve to really good friends, and Nepeta might wind up being a middle leaf for Eridan in an auspicetism situation, since Eridan... tends to draw aggro, and Nepeta at least would care about him enough that she doesn't want to see him get killed (even in the comic, as Nepetasprite, she expresses sadness that Eridan is dead, although she doesn't seem to know about his murders).
Eridan is also a roleplayer, lest we forget, and if Nepeta is able to draw out rare flashes of genuineness, they do have a bunch in common - she could commiscerate with him over the thrill of the hunt (although she'd have to be careful not to get too into the weeds about the, uh, Troll Murder aspect), RP with him (in a safe environment), or gossip about romance. They're both pretty painfully sincere people at their core, so while I ultimately don't see them being particularly romantically compatible, I do really love the idea of them being close friends. If only Eridan didn't always make things Fucking Weird.
And also since I really love pitch FefNep, Nepeta becoming friends with Eridan would help fuel her hate dates with Feferi - ":33 < do you even realize how messed up killing lusii fur YOU left him???" "W)(at would you )(ave preferred, t)(at my lusus went )(ungry and krilled everybody? 3X0"
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macravishedbymactavish · 10 months
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Dishes Vs. Laundry Headcanons (TF141 + Alex)
Based off the theory that every couple has someone who prefers doing laundry while the other prefers dishes. NOT an x reader HC list
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Amazing at fitting all the dishes into the dishwasher.
Soap // Dishes
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Not to mention it takes care of all the work for his dishwasher safe items (95% of his kitchen)
The other 5% (all his cutlery - somehow he ended up with all handwash only) is washed and drying in under 10 minutes.
Side note: he runs out of forks the quickest and can't quite figure out why.
Then it's waiting for the dishwasher to be done, the dishes to be dried and quickly putting them away.
Gets so, so sick of the guys making jokes about his codename in regards to this.
The first time was funny, the 10th time gets you a soaked shirt and Scottish swear words.
Doesn't hate laundry necessarily, but definitely not big on folding his clothes.
He just kind of accepts the fact that they're going to get wrinkles.
Accepts the fact that he'll be ironing his clothes for the rest of his life.
"Can't let those lessons from Ma go to waste"
Has, on more than one occasion, started doing his bedding in the morning and forgot about it until he was ready to sleep for the night.
Something about the meticulous process with sorting, folding, and putting away clothes just clicks with him.
Ghost // Laundry
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Always sorts whites from colours
Has a seperate hamper by the washer for towels
Folds everything (even the underwear) into small little bundles when he packs for a trip or work.
Soap's entire worldview on laundry stresses him out a bit. Adding steps to a chore you already don't like?
Why
WHY
Not a fan of doing dishes. Somehow finds it more repetitive, time-consuming, and soul crushing.
Has thrown out 2 plates in his life because he couldn't be bothered with washing them
Has also genuinely contemplated Soap as a housemate when doing dishes.
"Solving each other's problems"
Has an expansive plastic cutlery collection.
Not even the type you'd buy in a large bulk pack from the store; but like cutlery, you get from takeout.
Argues that it's amazing for on the go lunches (you toss it out) and uses the forks to stir his coffee in the morning.
I would be lying if I told you this man hasn't thought of buying bulk everything to last him a month just so he doesn't have to clean.
Price // Neither, but does them anyway
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Except Ghost pointed out that the bulk underwear would itchy, and Laswell refused to let him use her Costco card for this.
Not that he's messy or gross - no, no.
He is a rather clean guy but absolutely hates the process of getting there. It's mundane. It's exhausting.
Has walked by the washing machine, full of laundry he's waiting to swap over and muttered "fuckin' hell" when he realized it's not done yet.
Glares into the cupboard when he realizes his favorite mug is dirty, promptly glares at the mug for being dirty.
Then internally complains the entire time he's washing the thing. Despite having many other, perfectly suitable mugs in your cupboard. John.
He has the utmost pride in his appearance and is fairly meticulous about the care of his clothes.
Gaz // Laundry
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It helps that his dad was the same way in his youth and taught him all the tricks to keeping things bright, getting stains out, and having the nicest smelling laundry.
Happily gives this advice out to his teammates and friends (no, I'm not doing your laundry for you. Wankers)
While doing dishes is sort of the same concept (different care needs for different things), he finds it too much of a pain when cooking.
As Kyle is the "seven knives" meme.
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Yeah.
It also doesn't help that he always organizes the cupboards and drawers before all the dishes are done
Then, he has to start re-doing everything when he runs out of room for bowls.
Which typically ends up in the surplus of clean dishes stacked neatly on the counters or table.
Not by concious choice
Alex // Says he doesn't mind either, but it's actually neither
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He truly doesn't mind either. he's just too much of a free spirit about it.
I'm talking: "eh, I'm fine to do it on the weekend"
Then, realizes he has one set of clean boxers left on a random Wednesday night.
Or forgets the clean laundry in the washer until it gets a weird smell and needs to be rewashed
Kyle had no other advice other than:
Just don't forget it in there then???
The same goes for the dishes in the dishwasher (minus the weird smell)
80/20 split on dishes, though (clean, sitting in the dishwasher)
80% of the time, he'll grab whatever dishes he needs for meals or cooking from the dishwasher as he goes.
20% of the time, he'll take everything out and put it away.
100% of the time, he promises himself to get the entire process done in one day (then 80% of the time forgets)
Taglist (all content): @bloodonmyhands-1221 @v1naco @bowtruckleninja
Taglist (Alex content): @glitterypirateduck @deadbranch @gcing-back-to-505
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beanghostprincess · 2 months
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I talk quite a lot about Sanji going on a journey during the story and having to discover himself first to accept his feelings for Usopp, but I don't talk enough about the importance of Usopp becoming a brave warrior of the sea first and foremost before seeing himself capable of confessing his feelings to Sanji. He has already accepted he is in love with him. He just needs... To be braver. Stronger. For him to actually do something about it.
So I imagine this happening by the end of Elbaf. Do not ask me what happens during this arc in this concept, because I do not know. What I do know, though, is that Usopp becomes stronger. Not in the physical sense, but emotionally. He learns to see his qualities and begins to stop running away from every danger. Perhaps it happens right after a catastrophe, the whole crew getting hurt and him being the only one capable of saving them. Maybe he acquires Conqueror's Haki, but that's just self-indulgence because I really, really like the whole concept of Usopp saving everybody with it. It is not the point-
Everyone is safe now. He has his big brave warrior moment. Maybe he even breaks the Sogeking mask at some point when he was trying to hide himself. It's a whole deal. And he is supposed to feel like he has accomplished his dream or, at least, that he is close enough to do so. But Usopp realizes that this is only the beginning of a journey and his dream is something he can only achieve by accepting the title for himself (I love this bit of his character so much you don't even know). And there is one thing left.
The whole crew is still recovering from whatever the hell happened, but at least now they can freely enjoy their time in Elbaf. So it is that type of moment at the end of an arc where everybody is chill and you know nothing can go wrong because the music is cute and everybody is eating and drinking like they've been starving for ages.
Sanji is probably learning about their cooking methods, and I really wanna see him fascinated by the giants' cuisine. Imagine the biggest of pots and this little guy literally skywalking to cook because he can't reach the thing on his own. Adorable. I adore him. Everybody is having the time of their lives.
And you know... Usopp knows Sanji knows. Sanji knows Usopp knows. It's that kind of "I love you and I know you love me and we love each other but we need some time first" relationship and they haven't had any time to talk about it. This has been going on for, like, forever. Since Skypiea type of forever. So Usopp is dying. He wants to reach out to him. He wants to go ahead and kiss him without hesitation and finally become the man he wants to be next to Sanji. He is shaking with fear.
The thing is, he is afraid. He is still scared. And Usopp doesn't think he will ever stop being scared when it comes to stuff like that. When it comes to love. But as long as he keeps pushing forward and being brave, then, it will be alright with him.
So he approaches the huge kitchen they have going on outside in the party (because of course they're having a party) and he sees Sanji skywalking to cook. Again, it looks silly, but Usopp is extremely fond of seeing Sanji cooking with the people he admires so much and learning stuff about the culture Usopp loves. He knows Sanji is not doing it for him, but it makes his heart do a funny twist anyway.
And I imagine that this could be funny-- Sanji looking down at Usopp from up there while he cooks and kind of losing balance (because who wouldn't lose their balance when looking at Usopp? He is definitely wearing Elbaf's attires too, and he looks... Good. Saying good is an understatement. Extremely fucking hot slounds better) and falling right into Usopp's arms.
Usopp catches him, of course. He always does. And Sanji is having this moment™ where he is feeling dizzy and out of balance and safe in Usopp's arms. I am going for a superhero type of comic looking pose here, btw. And Usopp is still scared. And anxious. And Sanji is looking extremely handsome in his clothes too. And Usopp just really, really, wants to kiss him.
For him to do so, Sanji only needs to bring his hands to Usopp's neck and joke, saying "Oh!! My hero!!" or something like that. He isn't expecting Usopp to do anything, really. They have been flirting that way for ages and he was just messing with him, bringing his face closer and calling him hero and brave warrior and my savior. But it makes Usopp's head spin with confidence, and he kisses Sanji.
Imagine fireworks behind them and dramatic music because that is exactly how Sanji sees all of this. Usopp just feels sweaty and nervous and extremely happy. Except that now Usopp has the confidence to, when he moves away from Sanji's lips (still close enough to kiss him again and again and again), say: "Sorry it took so long."
"Was it the outfit?" Sanji pinches one of Usopp's cheeks, raising an eyebrow at him. He can't help but smirk. "Do I look handsome enough for our brave warrior of the sea to want to kiss me finally?"
Usopp frowns at him, but Sanji's smile is contagious. "You always look good, idiot."
The cook hums teasingly. "Mm. It did take you long to kiss me, though."
"I was figuring some stuff out."
"Still scared?"
Usopp takes a deep breath. "Always. But now I feel..." He wants to drown in Sanji's blue eyes and grin. He feels safe. "Braver."
It makes Sanji laugh. Beautiful. "News flash, you have always been brave and you are the last one to notice."
Usopp chuckles. "I guess so."
"Well..." Sanji sighs dramatically, getting ready to light up one of his cigarettes. "Was this just a one time victory kiss thing or is the brave warrior of the sea going to kiss me again?"
Usopp doesn't need to think twice for this. He doesn't think he ever will.
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posletsvet · 9 months
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Hi! Jujutsu Kaisen worms are eating at my brain and I'm a little bit mad currently, so I felt like sharing my thoughts about Geto Suguru's character.
I'm still kind of new to the fandom (and totally new to the experience of posting anything on Tumblr – or posting at all, honestly), and therefore my take can be completely out of the left field / half-baked / inherently wrong. So, though I will accept all sticks and stones, please don't throw them too hard!
And perhaps one last disclaimer: English is not my mother tongue, so um... apologies for all grammar and punctuation and any other mistakes I might have made.
Under the cut!! :]
To me, Geto seems to be a type of person who needs something to guide him, some clear-cut ideal to make it possible for him to navigate through his life. He is pedantic in that sense: the sharp outlines of his views define his surroundings, the very way he looks at things and perceives them. He needs everything to fall precisely in line with his own set of ideals, which seems to be quite verified and well-adjusted within his mind, like a strict and refined concept he constructed for himself, like a routine he's used to following out of pure principal.
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His own belief system being so defined, it's that which makes him indulge in excessive discourse on the subject of morality and responsibility, like he's patiently laying out the basics in front of a disobedient child to help them wrap their mind around some fundamental truth that is so obvious and natural for him. (And yeah, I know it's probably just the story presenting to its audience the mindset of one of the characters – perhaps in a way not so subtle and gracious – and whatnot, but I just can't help but dwell upon what that might say about Geto's character.)
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Geto can also be called somewhat a perfectionist: a model student, by the book sort of guy with his politeness and insisting on sticking to the hierarchy of things, fulfilling orders and carrying out missions impeccably, claiming him a name of second strongest. He is shown to be constantly in control of himself, appearing calm and collected whereas Gojo is head-on bursting with emotion and energy, expressing himself on a whim and perhaps out of it. (Compare how Geto did not disturb a single speck of dust in Amanai's school to how Gojo gladly blew up a whole office building.) Geto's firm and confident hold on himself and his emotions is very well reflected through his cursed technique: he controls his curses with precision and caution, even making sure to keep fragile window glass intact while summoning an enormous curse. This action comes natural to him, like something he's already used to and mindful about: in the end, it's all to keep people's hearts at peace.
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(It's interesting in a way of how it is symbolic within the flow of the story and in hindsight of a villain Geto will go on to become. How it is indicative of his own emotions, his spite and his stress, being repressed in order for him to remain cool-headed and perhaps make his appearance more convenient, reassuring to those around him. Peace of heart, remember? He makes his every action, his every expression fit into the contour of How Things Should Be, represses himslef – until he eventually, and quite predictably, snaps. And no, I will not for the love of me shut up about how all the curses confined within his body, their number growing exponentially with every mission he completes, are symbolic of his state of mind and heart, of how bile and resentment gradually build up inside of him.)
Geto's whole worldview and outlook on the order of things rely on his empathetic nature and his strong sense of justice. Protect the weak, protect the suffering for you have the strength – hence you have a duty to fulfill and obligations to attend to. The system is just and fair for it is organized in favour of the innocent and helpless and pushes those who wield power to claim responsibility and dedicate their might to a righteous cause. It's democracy in its purest: the ruler, a single digit who holds the reigns of control and power, is humbled in the service of looking out for powerless, inept masses. In his eyes, the present system is a well-oiled machine which purpose is to involve all the resources at disposal and use their full potential in order to achieve Greater Good, with everyone being assigned a role that suits their capabilities and skills.
But with the Star Plasma Vessel Incident and everything that follows suit in the following year, that view is challenged relentlessly. A man who can't even manipulate cursed energy assasinates the strongest sorcerer of the generation (*coughs* temporarily). An innocent, inexcusably young girl who in her last moments just wanted to live her life falls victim to the system. A crowd of non-sorcerers applauding the death of the girl, of someone who was raised to sacrifice everything she held dear in order to ensure their safety. The loss of Yu Haibara.
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The majority is kept safe, ignorant to the expense of their blissful existence, while the minority is being readily sacrificed over and over again. It’s that which Geto grows unwilling to put up with, because he whole-heartedly believed in the legitimacy of the system, believed that it was his well-deserved responsbility to look out for others, those who are weaker than him and therefore require protection. And yet he's witnessing one death after the other and is cornered in the feeling of helplessness, unable to save anyone. The realisation slowly settles in: the system is treating its sorcerers as disposable tools, cogs in the arrangement of greater things where a loss of an individual is something tragic yet almost expectable.
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Nothing out of the ordinary. A hideous evil known to everyone.
(So, Getou is a staunch idealist and a perfectionist. Which is why he just cannot move on from something that otherwise could be deemed by others (and the audience in the first place, I guess) as something to draw additional motivation from, becoming stronger over experienced hardships. His whole worldview falls short, shatters to pieces after one single blow. But he keeps going on missions, gets caught up in an endless cycle of exorcism and consumption, ends up all alone with dark thoughts, and regret, and doubt, churning in his mind, while tragedies keep bombarding his little, no longer functional illusion. His downfall had been a slow yet steady process long before he snapped.)
His solution to kill all non-sorcerers, ultimately gaining for himself a reputation of the most evil of curse users, seems to me as an extension of his previous idealistic mindset. Everything he does has to fall in line with his goal – and he's already wiped out the population of a whole village. How can one possibly justify that without warping their vision with far-fetched delusion of what could have been? That's how his attitude becomes radical: push the system to evolve by becoming its villain.
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And still after everything, isn't it him escaping the system out of fear and desparation? Him shaking off the tremendous weight of being a cog running in a machine that is fundamentally not working and feeding on the fuel of countless sacrifices? He never looks back since his last confrontation with Gojo because he is driven by fear, and disgust, and despair, and oh, he consumed so, so many curses. Manifestation of the sins of humanity sit in the pit of his stomach, and don't they say you are what you eat?
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sukimas · 8 months
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there's a fun type of category error i see a lot where the premise is "because this person/institution did a good thing one time, they are definitionally good" no matter what they've done since then. you see the opposite- "because this person/institution did a bad thing one time, they are definitionally bad"- fairly often, and people have developed defenses against it, but i think that people have a difficult time with both still and that's why you get things like "JKR has always been exactly as much of a virulent transphobe and antisemite as she is currently and it's obvious to anyone who reads the books" for a negative example or "the only reason why anyone on earth is free is because of the U.S. military" (courtesy of prager u).
the common sense way to go about analyzing both of these things is "well JKR is funding hate groups right now, but at the time she wrote her books she was not and donating much of her money to actually positive institutions. we don't need to say that she always had the power and did the harm that she currently does in order to mitigate the harm she is causing right now." and "the U.S. military (or at minimum U.S. government bonds and military production donating to the soviets through lend-lease) won wwii, and things would have been quite bad for the residents of the majority of western countries for a while had they not done that, but before and after that event they did a lot of war crimes (and even during that event they did a lot of war crimes, though i'd argue on net the least crimes against humanity of any of the major powers of that war) and they generally aren't a force for peace right now, so their past helpful deeds are not something we need to address at the moment."
but there's a missing mood for both of these things! that's weird! it's like acknowledging that someone can do both good and bad things and that we need to address the things, not the person, is a common sense concept we all accept in psychology class, but once we go out into the world we all forget it. i also don't think that this is an internet culture thing- it's common among irl social groups too- so i have to wonder if it's just a quirk of human psychology that we can't grapple with
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insomnikat-mused · 4 months
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I wanna hear about "Noir!"
Okay. *rolls up sleeves* I hope you're comfortable, because this is a journey of epic ambition that goes through the deepest, darkest forms of denial and procrastination. For now it's contained and just passes for doable, but oh man. Like a parasite in my head it can transform into a monster at the drop of a hat.
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In its first, baby incarnation, this was going to be an FE3H fic. I had just finished playing Supergiant Games' Transistor and I was absolutely in love with the look and feel and art of it all. I had this image of Dorothea as Red, a singer who'd lost her voice and was looking for someone (Byleth). She joins a private detective (Yuri) initially following a lead on an unsolved murder (Jeralt's death) and the big sprawling city of Fodlan unfolds before them.
The Empire was an 'old money' business empire. The Alliance was an alliance of 'new money'-types with questionable and shady reasons for their success. The Kingdom was 'old money' former mafia that had renounced its former ways and was now, with the blessing of the region's church, struggling to do good but was constantly being dragged back down by its past. -- Anyway, at this point, it became a monster and I just. Cried and couldn't. Not by myself. I entertained the idea of recruiting other authors to help me world-build this, create a collection of stories that could co-habit this AU and eventually merge into a climactic showdown (Byleth is found and we decide which route the ending will take). But, again, the ambition was too great and my commitment plus activity in the fandom not strong enough. So it languished.
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But god the aesthetics! I couldn't just walk away from it. I wanted it. I needed to create something with it. And if I couldn't wrangle it into something feasible within FE3H, well, maybe I just needed to change the fandom?
So it entered it's second incarnation in a second fandom with a narrower scope. I call it: Kakashi x Sakura (Spy/Assassin Secret Society) Noir.
Prelude to the storm was my pilot run using the 2022 Wumptober prompt 'Lost Voice' and kksk event prompt 'Swapped'.
This. This was doable. This... could manifest into a real fic!
But as I tried to flesh out an outline, ambition once more got the better of me. Inclusion of any kind of Uchiha clan-related plot just explodes the story arc, you know? And anything that looks like it'll be more than +50K is daunting to even think about. I had recently lost the luxury of all-night binge writing (it isn't good for my health or sanity). So I had to shelf the idea for a year.
I'm now in a more stable and confident (accepting) frame of mind and... so what if it might end up over 50K? Or, worse, end up perpetually unfinished? It's a concept and theme I seem to keep coming back to. So one of my 2024 resolutions is to finally start writing this.
I still haven't quite pinned down the vibe of the story, but I'm leaning heavily into this cut scene from Transistor and Halsey's If I can't have love I want power album. Specifically, these lyrics:
But what's worse? / Tellin' you my feelings / Or to die without revealing / That you crawled inside my head / And set a fire there instead? / Letting all my insecurity / Devour me with certainty / That love is just a currency
youtube
So. Yeah. Noir.
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Seven times Joshuu acted like a normal human being, but no one is talking about! [ full of big SPOILERS ].
Since the end of Jojolion, we don't have much Joshu content! :(( But if you are here, you know that the man is full of good, bad and - especially - dirty moments. Most people, of course, love to point out his bad aspects and moments. And with valid reasons, maybe. But hey: what about the decent ones? We don't see much of it. So today I'm ready to proudly wear the questionable taste t-shirt and represent my few weirdo-enjoyers, going further into the positive spectrum of these iconic rat actions.
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1- Oh, Shakedown Road, my love! Here we can see Joshuu showing signs of shyness, social panic and remorse. He simply seems to blame himself for the girl's sadness and is very worried about it, apologizing more than once. Gappy, otherwise, is clearly a more analytical and chill-going type of person. Very interesting. 
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2- Still in Shakedown Road arc, we have this brief moment. The use of sweet adjectives (with no sarcasm!) demonstrated that Joshu is jealous of Josuke because he, first of all, recognizes his strongest pros, and not cuz he is a total asshole without self-critique and that can't acknowledge other people's good traits. One of the things i find most fascinating about Joshu is how he can be so self-conciouss in a minute and in the other delusional as fuck. Such a funny little guy.
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3- Every Day Is a Summer Vacation. When Jobin revealed that the beetle was going to die, Joshu seemed to be very anxious and worried about it. People compare him with Anasui; not saying one is better than other, but, romantic obsessions aside, they are indeed very different in character conception. Joshu is always threatening to make grotesque things, but is he willing to go further with his threats? Most of the time, i would say no - he's too of a coward (but Anasui would, lmao). Weird thing but like how much Joshu trembles… such an emotional fella, isn't he?
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4- Not only does Joshu worries about Josuke's state let aside not really liking him that much, but he does the social ritual of asking if he is okay! Josuke/Joshu parallels with Dio/Jonathan are clear at the begging of the part, but Joshu and Josuke actually have an overall neutral relationship after the middle of Jojolion.
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5- Now he is showing his sweet side, being protective with everyone who is considered family by him. At that moment of the manga, Joshu was the only one trying to fix things in a diplomatic way. He, still, verbally acknowledges the damaging aspects of isolation/ loneliness, besides constantly going through it himself, and this is very sad (god, I love him so much).
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6- That one is a classic. Not much to say: Joshu was unable to confront Jobin in a direct manner, but still managed to save Yasuho by discreetly kicking the cellphone. That imo shows another very prominent Joshu contradictory aspect: his strong urge to express/ rebel himself merging with him constantly accepting submission social roles.
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7- And the last ocasion, of course. This one I would say people are more willing to recognize as a genuine act of redemption. By letting Josuke choose the cake that better represents the fruit company, Joshu accepts his presence and importance as a member of the Higashikata family. Considering that all of the events in Jojolion occurred in less than three months, that's a more than reasonable lapse to start to get along with your new and strange adopted brother. Everything about this moment is just adorable and I am indeed happy about the end. It shows that a character's development may be not that astonishing, gradual, or linear and yet still happen. Very realistic of him, not gonna lie.
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I consider quite clear and even agreeable that these moments per si can make one re-interpreter a few Joshu misleads. I didn't include the polemic ones, like the equivalent exchange scene, because I am not sure myself if it could be considered a pro or a con and I am not yet prepared to interpret it properly until reread Jojolion. My point is that JJBA is so absurd that we naturally tend to forget trivial details even though these also construct one's personality. Honestly, I could do way more, but I'm too lazy. Honorable mentions to any Hato and Joshuu interaction ever. Fuck, and Milagro Man? This arc is the whole Bible to me! God bless Joshu. Or his "good side", at least. 💖
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Writing Rambles
The most frustrating thing I face as a writer working on original content is the feeling that "I'm not fast enough" in the sense that "someone is writing a similar idea...now I will look like a copy." Or "my version is terrible trash. It needs to be better and perfect...".
Before Avatar the Last Airbender came out, I had been working on a story with characters who had psychic elemental powers. The main character had ice powers, and while my characters had access to more than the traditional elements, the concept of their powers being extensions of them versus magic was there. And the villains? An ancient, dead empire of ghosts hell bent on conquering the world as they had intended before their defeat. Their minions were the witches who were working hard to revive their allied kingdom.
The main character was a piradin (a type of pirate who stole things from enemy ships but primarily for good reasons). She was also meant to be the chosen one of prophecy who would ultimately save the three worlds from the evil empire....and so on and so forth.
Despite its differences, the core felt the same as ATLA, so when that series came out, I looked at my work, saw cliche trash and desparately attempted to fix it only to quit and work on my fanfiction instead. My intent was to pick up my story again, but I decided that it wasn't worth saving and focused on various fanfic ideas instead until something "better" came to me.
That, of course, led to a kick in my confidence as a writer (after some criticism) and the beginning of a mini nervous breakdown that slowly got worse until it became a legit one that ran the course of 2011 and parts of 2012 thereafter.
I never quite gave up on Shy, though. I had had some version of her since the 4th grade afterall, so I couldn't quit. That led to me wanting to write a different kind of story, one where the characters couldn't die...because they were already dead!
I had always had a thing for "the Dead" and "ghosts" (like the kingdom of ghosts from my other story idea), so a collision of fanfic idea, the Afterlife, and a needs to justify spelling dragons with a "j" led to me conceiving "jragons" and their afterlife/afterdeath story. They, ultimately, became "people descended from the demons of hell who fought their way freeof hell and earned God's respect and, thus, dominion of the space inbetween Heaven and Hell"...
Heaven denizens were supposed to be jealous, especially since the end goal for some jragons was to get to Heaven. Meanwhile, demons saw "Isyntr" as both an afront to them and a means to get closer to Heaven and destroy it and....
Yeah. You can probabaly say, "Hey. That sounds kind of familiar" and get how I'm feeling a bit stressed and frustrated.
It doesn't matter that I scrapped this idea long before Hazbin Hotel even came out as a pilot because despite my scrapping the idea and focusing on a new story about "pholks who are people but also gods who must accept that sufferring is eternal," (Oh.Hey! That sounds like FFXIV! fml....) the whole jragons going to Heaven and causing a void-ending war still serves not as the main story but a prequel to my current stuff...and I do worry that if I ever present my stories to the world, someone will just point and say "hey, you're copying xyz" when it's really just a case of "no, it's just that nothing is as original as you think it is, and I just didn't finish first."
Or. You know. That's how it feels, and I hate it. I hate it so much.
Hats off to those who have executed such wonderous ideas as ATLA and Hazbin. Both shows are fun. But somehow, I just can't help but feel frustrated for myself and my own efforts to get something "original" written in this grand sea of awesome games, shows, and the people who had the guts to just execute them.
My problem is that I'm terrified of putting any part of myself out there. That's really just the bottom line, and I need to overcome that trauma demon.
But maybe I will if I write about it. Perhaps that can finally be my "Original Story."
/randomwritingramble
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honeyhotteoks · 2 years
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chai i present this soft hour ask for you of a concept i have not been able to get out of my brain (apologies for this being long </3)
mutual pining with yunho where he's trying to test the waters a bit with you but is still too nervous to put his arm around your shoulder or waist, so instead, he anxiously treats you as his personal armrest O<-<
you're very aware of yunho's close proximity next to you in the small circle you and your friends seemed to have subconsciously formed - and despite his presence making you nervous - you welcome such emotion if it means you could steal small glances of him from beside you.
the sound of your friend's conversations fill the atmosphere before you feel a pressing weight on your shoulder, turning your gaze to yunho's arm resting on your shoulder as if you were his armrest, his hand and fingers dangling in the air next to your face.
he doesn't meet your eyes, but from his peripheral vision he can see you giving him a playful glare, and - no matter how hard he fought it as to appear unaffected by your reaction - he can't help the smile that spreads across his face.
was he testing the waters? technically, yes. was it how he wanted to? not at all. he wanted to put his arm around your shoulders, but chickened out last minute - thinking you might be uncomfortable with a rather... forward advancement - and resorted to a more teasing approach.
matching yunho's expression, you turn to face your friends once again, a grin spreading across your lips - never shooing him away or pushing his forearm from your shoulder.
perhaps he was thinking too much of it; it's not like you two were enemies or strangers. you knew him well and he knew you the same, he shouldn't take you accepting such an approach as you reciprocating feelings, but nonetheless, his heart hoped that you had longed for the same thing he did.
maybe one day he'll gain the courage to put his arm around your shoulder and actually go through with it, but for now, he is more than content with the comfortable place you both found yourselves in, laughing along with your friends and not-so-subtly gazing at one another, even after you had been caught by the other party.
sigh <//3 i hope you're doing well!! :D
oh my god sunnii this is !!!!!!!!!!! i just love the idea of idiots in love if you couldn't tell from my fics and it's just like..... so sweet and best friend yunho just makes sense. he just seems like the type of person who would want to be friends first and grow together slowly 😭
more thoughts under the cut, but a brief sidebar.... i was listening to an old episode of ateez school road and when they start discussing if men and women can be friends, and woo and san are like "nope, not possible" but yunho saying "Yes, I think you can. Yes, yes." has lived in my mind rent fucking free all week. Timestamped here if you're interested....
Yunho's arm stays resting on your shoulder, his weight leaning on you playfully, his eyes on the group as he cracks a wry joke at Mingi's expense. It has you laughing, eyes crinkled up in that way Yunho loves, tears in the corners, but when your hand comes up to grasp his as you recover your breath, something knots in his gut.
It sobers you quickly to realize you're holding hands, and he doesn't move, doesn't find some reason to go grab a drink and break the connection, he just lets you. You test the waters hesitantly, your hand shifting from just resting on top of his to sliding down, your fingers dipping into the negative spaces between his.
He adjusts, subtly interlocking his fingers with yours and you stay steady like this for a moment, no one in the group looking up or noticing quite yet. You feel his sharp intake of breath next to you and your heart is beating out of your chest. It's surprising even to you, but it isn't Yunho who breaks the contact, it's you. Nerves swimming up and getting the better of you, and you disconnect your hands and dart out from under his shoulder, not sparing him a glance back when you announce to the room you'll be right back.
he can't decide if he should follow you or let this go, he saw the blush on your cheeks and your downcast eyes and he just doesn't know if it's nerves or if you were uncomfortable. he watches the doorway to the kitchen where you disappeared, taking a long drink of his beer, his fingers tapping restlessly on the neck of the cool bottle.
It takes longer for you to return than he wants, and just when someone else tries to grab his attention, it was obvious he wasn't listening, just when he had just about decided to go chase you down, you reappear. You're smiling, wide and relaxed again, and when you tuck yourself back into his side and drop his arm back on your shoulder again, the deep panicked knot inside him dissipates.
tonight's not the night, he's not ready to tell you and you don't know that you're ready to listen, but you relax together. you let the party be a party, and you let him stay by your side like always. for now, he's just happy to be that.
a/n: bye this is going to make me write more best friends to lovers isn't it ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i love them!!!!!!! (thank you for sending in such a lovely soft hours request!!!!)
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icepixie · 11 months
Text
SNW 2x01
Spoilers ✨
Not bad. Definitely a more interesting episodic plot than almost anything in season one. Maybe they've finally found their legs.
Sad we got only two minutes of Una and Pike, but I liked what we got. "You cannot resign. The loss to Enterprise would be unimaginable. ...To me." (I'm reading it as "loss to me would be unimaginable," not "I can't imagine the loss to Enterprise." Because of course I am.) Hopefully more next week.
Everybody looked friggin' amazing in their undercover gear. A-plus costuming. Christine especially looked fantastic. Very D&D chic.
The special effects feel so different than what I mentally associate with Star Trek, even the later series that used CGI. I think it has something to do with the "camera" angles they're using to show said special effects, like spiraling down Starbase 1 at the beginning. I recall prior series doing more of things just moving around onscreen while the camera stayed in one place. (I could totally be misremembering, though.) I like it a lot; it feels very cinematic. It clashes a smidge with the set design, which is much more old school/almost 70s and 80s sci-fi movie (especially the predominantly white corridors, all the angles rather than softer curves), but that's fine.
M'Benga and his actor were outstanding here and he's secretly becoming my favorite character. "Nice guy must do violence" is old as the hills, but I liked that they acknowledged that he would take any other choice besides what they do, and he chooses it deliberately. So often that trope comes out of left field because the nice guy gets too emotional or whatever. I also really, really like his and Chapel's father-daughter-type relationship.
But Pelia. PELIA. BEST ADDITION TO THE SHOW. PERFECTION. I still miss Hemmer and wish we could have them both, but goddamn I love her character already. We needed something to lighten up this episode and she did that well. The concept of these Lanthians living undiscovered among humans until quite recently is interesting and I would like to see how that went down when they were discovered.
On the downside: Spock/Chapel is grating in just about every way possible. There is just no there there for me. Logically, I get it--Christine I'm sure has some kind of alien kink and half-breeds are even more entertaining, Spock released his emotions or whatever last season and I think it involved Chapel (don't care enough to check). But it's kind of like Archer and T'Pol, something in the interaction between them just screams "nope" despite how the PTB are writing it.
I honestly don't understand why I find Spock's journey towards feeling things so off-putting. This should be something I like. B'Elanna's human/Klingon stuff was cool. Troi's human/Betazoid stuff was cool. Why is this not? Is it because the thing he's struggling to accept is feeling emotions and I just don't really give a shit about that? Or is it that Spock is by far the character we already know the most about and any time spent on him is time we could be spending on any other character?
...Sorry, Spock-lovers. A little of him goes a long way for me.
On to the next episode. Next week. Like the heathens we were when watching network television, ugh. I don't absolutely hate spacing them out, especially when there are so few, but I definitely prefer being able to go at my own pace.
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birlwrites · 1 year
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Hey, I've been thinking about women in pure blood society for a little bit, specifically about the family magic and I wonder what you think.
The way I see it is that these women basically belong to their husbands family after marriage. Which would mean that they probably have a lot less knowledge or contact with the family specialty. Obviously they have one and they'll know at least the basics but I'd guess that these families would focus their teaching and research on the male heirs. And because they don't want the other families to figure out the details of their specialty the wifes use of their family specialty is limited. They can't teach their husband or their children and I doubt that they would learn their husbands specialty. Of course all this depends on the family, the type of specialty on so on and in ttdl we see Lady Rosier using the parkinson specialty freely, but I think it's sad and another way that women are disadvantaged.
TL;DR because it's a long post: such is the trouble with writing a story with a patriarchal culture that values pure bloodlines (which is canon), but given the long history of coeducation in wizarding britain, i think pureblood families are actually quite equitable, gender-wise, with regard to educating their children. dark specialties are designed such that they can be used in front of people who don't share that specialty without those people figuring out how to use it, so people who marry into other families do still have freedom to use the specialty they grew up learning. you're right that these families prioritize their heirs, but pretty much all of these families also have boys who aren't heirs and thus aren't getting that prioritizing
the TL;DR of the TL;DR is basically just 'the culture is patriarchal and blood purist and the story really wouldn't work otherwise, i'm trying to maneuver within that to ensure female characters are treated as people in the narrative and by the male characters around them'
ah fuck it these aren't even TL;DRs these are just concise points afhskghsdjfd (i tried to sum up what i'd already written and then came up with more stuff as i was writing the TL;DR(s)), there's more detail below the cut and some additional stuff about how things work in pureblood society and the dark network
this ties into one of the main troubles with actually engaging with pureblood/blood purist culture in canon - i wish i could remember where i saw this post but it was years ago and i don't think i can dig it up again, but the summary is that a culture focused on 'pure blood' (whether blood purity in hp or eugenics in real life, etc) *automatically* holds up being cisgendered and heterosexual as the only acceptable way of being (if you're an acceptable type of person), because of the high priority on reproduction of 'pure' or 'good' bloodlines/characteristics/etc etc etc
when you tie that in with a patriarchy, as is well-established in western culture, then what you get is women being essentially treated as an extension of their husbands (if they have one) or their fathers (if they don't). anything otherwise is a very very new concept in western culture
and when you combine that with the dark network placing a lot of importance on *family* specialties and not sharing that information with outsiders, then the expectation is that people who marry into other families still do not share information about their specialty (whether the one they were born into or the one they may have acquired), with *any* outsiders
so i'm performing a balancing act between 'the story doesn't exist if pureblood culture isn't heavily influenced by blood purity' and 'writing a story that is set within a pretty cisheteropatriarchal society is no reason to paint everyone in it with a broad brush'
but since there isn't an assumption that *everyone* is going to get married in pureblood society (i can't remember what ask i was responding to when i mentioned that afjskhgkjdf), not teaching your children how to use your specialty is essentially shooting yourself in the foot with regard to its furthering and longevity. and that includes daughters. you don't want to gamble on knowing exactly who's going to be hanging out at your ancestral home teaching the next generation how to do things. the head of the family is in charge of cultivating the family specialty, but they're not the only person working on it - they generally have a lot of other stuff to do lol
and there's no reason that someone marrying into a dark family couldn't be taught the specialty of that family - that's considered the proper way to welcome someone into your family, actually. some specialties are harder to pick up than others - the blacks are an example, because the inherited affinity extends your lifespan if you're using the specialty so you may want to refrain from learning it without an affinity for the sake of your health, and there are some others that are just much more difficult to learn as an adult, but with most of them you can gain skill as an adult with the right knowledge and training by someone experienced
let's take the parkinsons as an example - lord parkinson (who i haven't named afjlsghksdf) grew up with the parkinson family magic, and lady lavinia parkinson grew up with the greengrass family magic. (lady rosier also grew up with the greengrass magic)
so lavinia grows up learning to use the greengrass specialty. when she marries lord parkinson, the expectation is:
a) she does not share information about the greengrass specialty with any members of house parkinson (or anyone else who isn't a greengrass)
b) she'll learn some stuff about how to use the parkinson specialty. exactly how much depends on both her interest level and what she can do without an affinity for it - the latter depends a LOT on which specialty you're trying to learn
c) she does not share whatever she learns about the parkinson specialty with any members of house greengrass (or anyone else who isn't a parkinson)
like, yes, it's a patriarchal setting, which inherently involves disadvantages for women, but there is a lot i haven't said about the cultural expectations in the dark network. heirs (as in, the people in line to be head of the family) do get priority when it comes to learning their family specialty, because the expectation is that they'll be custodians of it later, but women aren't deprived of that education any more so than men who aren't in line to inherit. depriving women of the opportunity to learn their family specialty on the basis that they might risk exposing it to outsiders inherently requires a lack of trust in those women and/or infantilization of them, so i'm avoiding that
consider the institution of hogwarts as well - based on the composition of the founders, and helga hufflepuff in particular, we can assume it was coeducational from the beginning, and there are *very* few dark families who predate the founding of hogwarts and none who predate it by much, which means almost all of the existing dark families were formed within a culture that already had an established practice of coeducation
i think you're looking at the situation as a worst-case scenario, and i'm not going to lie and say it's not patriarchal, b/c it is, but i'm trying to write a story where despite patriarchal *institutions* (which influence inheritances, wizengamot seats, surnames, and who gets access to which family secrets, and are almost entirely things drawn directly from IRL western culture), women are generally respected as individuals and trusted to make decisions for themselves (to the same extent that men are)
one of the reasons that certain family specialties like the greengrass specialty are wandless (and nonverbal) is *because* that allows people to use it in front of individuals who aren't in the know about that family magic, without accidentally giving anything away. lady rosier can do as much greengrass magic as she wants, which is not considered unusual, and in her particular situation, that's actually considered super useful because the rosiers do love their plants. the restriction is on the knowledge she shares with other people. does it still suck that she can't teach her specialty to her kids? yep.
(another common justification for not teaching children 2 specialties, even if they have affinities for them both, is focus - different specialties often require very different skills and becoming proficient in two can be really difficult if they're not aligned. given the patriarchy, the preference is for children to be proficient in 'their' family's specialty, by which i mean their father's specialty)
ALSO also, the lines get fuzzier when you're dealing with a woman with a dark specialty who has children with someone who *doesn't* have a specialty. like heather's mom! whether to teach her kids the macmillan specialty or not was a matter of both her judgment and that of the influential members of house macmillan (who aren't necessarily all men) - they concluded it would be fine, and heather's mom elected to keep it and the dark network a secret from each of her kids until they graduated from hogwarts (as a general benchmark of young adulthood), and then tell them and let them decide whether they wanted to learn
so as i'm sure you can tell from this response, there's a lot of information that just hasn't been covered in detail in ttdl afsghsghjsdf - perhaps someday i'll manage to jam it all in there. there will definitely be a point at which i get to talk more about the customs surrounding inheriting wizengamot seats, which i think i've also discussed a little on tumblr? god i need a better tagging system
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Sometimes I wonder why peggy Stan's get mad when people have a valid criticism. Especially with Jewish or poc fans of marvel when they point out the problems with peggy carter.
And when they point it out they call them misogynistic . Like that and " but she it's a nazi " is their only argument and it makes me sooo mad like who are you to speak up over a Jewish or poc when they have valid criticism.
The mcu and its fans have a history of issues that they refuse to accept and quit frankly I can't wait until the mcu is over with and done influencing comics.
*😩 I already typed this out and then stupid tumblr deleted it*
I’m afraid I don’t have to wonder why! You can’t criticise White Feminism to a White Feminist without them taking it (correctly) as you criticising their whole worldview. 
And since they don’t like to think of themselves as White Feminists, it’s a nasty wake up call; and nobody likes being woken up early!  
I had an Anon recently asking me to detail exactly how/how many times Pggy’s org has been ““infiltrated”” by Nazis. 
Altogether I found SEVEN separate occasions where she is either: knowingly and cheerfully colluding with Nazis, and/or aiding them in becoming immortal (in three universes, just that we’ve seen so far), and/or allowing Nazis to flourish by gross incompetence, and/or being shown recruiting bad guys and Nazis for SHIELD off her own bat, and/or admitting that she would “consider” making deals with them because Nazis science is “valuable” to her (in her own words).
Fool me once, shame on you, but fool me... seven times? 
Add in the fact that she was based on a Nazi, which in the process wiped out the characterisation based on a real life Antifa WWII heroine. 
And the worrying similarities between her onscreen behaviour and that of characters like Red Skull and John Walker. 
And that the only named Jewish woman in the MCU is sterilised by GSW on her show but WASPy Pggy is literally impaled and just walks it off? And that there are no speaking non-white women at all, in a show half set in New York? 
Then the character’s physical and sexual assaults on Steve in CATFA (when Pvt. Lorraine does it it’s a sexual assault, but not when she does it? yeah, that’s not how that works!) and on poor Cevans (repeated again IRL by HA, on stage, in front of an audience, as if it’s a joke!) 
These things should’ve been enough on their own, for any decent person!  
But on top of that you also have HA’s horrible behaviour; IRL to her fellow actress, the way she endlessly praises her character and how great her own performance is (seriously, who does that?! the ego on this woman!) and that her idea of addressing lack of rep for POC in her precious show was to... tell people to wait their turn? 
This character is just One Big Yikes from conception through to execution and even behind the scenes. 
(And, from a purely feminist POV; she fails everything she attempts to do, meaning she is so unimportant to every plot that she fails the ‘Sexy Lamp with a Post-It Note Stuck To It’ Test, her own ‘empowerment’ only comes from men, she is only treated as having said something important if she’s quoting a man and/or pretending she was in a powerful dead man’s confidence, and men in every single appearance are so determined to 100% ignore everything she says and do the opposite that Steve will even pause screaming in agony from inside the vitaray tube to tell them not to do what Pggy says. 
But the writers and actress think Steve listens to her! 
Only so he knows exactly what he’s NOT going to do...)
Honestly, I’m at the point now where if a woman tells me they’re a Pggy Stan, the only charitable excuse for them I can come up with is that they must just be a casual fan who hasn’t paid enough attention to notice how messed up the whole thing is. 
(Or, for the other kind of fan, the toxic dudebros who transparently only like Pggy for one reason but will pretend it’s for any other reason. Yeah right! 🙄 They’re the sort who think EG was a masterpiece and totally in-character.)
But with that creepy dead-eyed fuck Feige, who’s just like them, now in control of her and Cap’s trajectory in the comics? 
Heart-breaking. 
That man is so stupid he thinks the MCU is Earth-616. 
In terms of rep for POC and Jews, the Disney buy out of Marvel was the worst possible thing that could have happened. I can only imagine Kirby & Simon are spinning in their graves. 
And, I watched a vid essay the other day about the queer-coding (via effeminacy and/or predatoriness) of Disney villains, because Walt Disney was homophobic (real shocker). 
Holy shit, even though I knew, I didn’t really realise how many there were! The Evil Queen, Maleficent, Captain Hook, King John, Ratigan, Gaston, Scar, Jafar, Governor Ratcliffe, Ursula, Hades, Cruella de Ville, Loki...? Disney only stopped making villains gay (debatable) so they could make them black instead.  🤦‍♀️  And that’s where we are right now... 
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