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literallyjusttoa · 10 months

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My top 7 Apollo exes from Ancient Greece

DISCLAIMER: Though I have done a lot of research of mythology for this, it is based off of the riordanverse version of Apollo. I won't be acknowledging any awful implications in versions of these myths, not because I don't think they're important, but because it simply isn't a part of riordanverse Apollo's characterization in the books. Also I'm not going to mention Copollo. I love Copollo like the rest of you, but sadly that is a Rick Riordan exclusive, and also technically Commodus is an ex from Ancient Rome, not Ancient Greece :3

Ok with that out of the way lets talk obscure and non-obscure Apollo relationships

7. Apollo & Thyia

This one clocks in at number 7 because I love the idea behind it, but it is the most bare bones relationship myth wise. All we really know is Thyia is a priestess of Dionysus and she and Apollo maybe had a kid once. But like, the idea of Apollo dating his brother's priest? Hilarious, A+ stuff. Also, Thyia isn't just one of Dionysus' priests, she is THE priest of Dionysus. She runs his temple in central greece, is thought to have offered the first sacrifice to him, and might have been the first Maenad? Either way this relationship must have been insane. Also she's a nymph so she's definitely still kicking out there, would love for these two to meet again.

6. Apollo & Hyacinthus

Ok ok I know what y'all are thinking. Number 6?? This is like Apollo's number 1 most tragic relationship of all time!!! And yes as an angst lover I do enjoy the pain this relationship brings our boy, but I just feel like there's not many places to go with this relationship besides what we already have. Like Apollo and Hyacinthus were kind of the perfect couple. Which, like, great for them, but it doesn't give me much space to add anything? I guess, great ship, no notes.

5. Apollo & Hypermnestra (& Oikles)

Ok, half the reason this is here is because her name is Hypermnestra. Slay. But also this is a great place to bring up my favorite little headcanon. In a lot of Apollo's relationships, there will be a child, and myths will have different versions with different fathers. Some say it's Apollo, while other's say it's whoever he dated's husband. In this case, myths disagree on whether Amphiaraus was Apollo's son or the son of Hypermnestra's husband, king Oikles (Oikles??? I love these names). The implication here is infidelity, but I disagree. No, I think every time there's confusion over who parentage it's because Apollo was dating both the woman he's said to be with and her husband, and therefore no one knows who ended up, y'know, fathering the child. Anyways Apollo dated both Hypermnestra and Oikles and you can't convince me otherwise.

4. Apollo & Branchus

I like this relationship because in my mind, I always thought it was Apollo's first. In one version of their myth, it is said that Apollo met Branchus after leaving Delos as a dolphin, which I always thought implied this was soon after he established Delphi, which was really early on. Idk something about a young Apollo accidentally revealing his godliness to this boy he really likes is just so sweet to me. And he makes Branchus into a prophet, which is so cool! These two are cutie-patooties is what I'm saying.

3. Apollo & Kyparissos

C'mon, the man died of grief because his deer died. Throughout ToA we learn that deep down Apollo is a mushy ball of emotions and compassion, and that convinced me that these two spent 75% of their relationship crying over baby animals and pretty people. I love the idea of Apollo dating someone who's honestly just as much of a loser as he is. And while it is sad that Kyparissos is another lover Apollo had to turn into a plant, I have to emphasize again that he died of heartbreak, because his pet deer died.

2. Apollo & Cyrene

Listen, these two are boss bitches and you cannot convince me otherwise. In the same way I like Kyparissos bc I feel like he and Apollo are so similar, I like Cyrene bc I feel like, in a lot of ways, these two are very different. Like, don't get me wrong, Apollo can be strong and wild when he wants to be, but Cyrene wrestles lions. I like to think the time these two spent together really helped each of them grow in their own way, which makes for a really fun and interesting relationship. Also, just like Thyia, Cyrene is sometimes referred to as a nymph, so she could still be out there!

1. Apollo & Admetus

The more I think about these two, the more I love them. Admetus meeting Apollo at his lowest and helping him through it. Apollo falling head over heels as a result and doing everything in his power to repay the man. The two of them still holding such strong affection for each other even decades after the time they had together, to the point that Apollo would mess with fate to extend Admetus' life. Apollo's life is full of turmoil, and this period of it was probably the worst, but despite that, his relationship with Admetus seems so steady. The other gods are said to be embarrassed of Apollo's love of Admetus, and I think it's because Apollo loved him in a way that went directly against the values of the gods. Apollo and Admetus' relationship was defined by service and care, filled with selfless intent and genuine love. While many gods give their lovers gifts and special favors, the idea of actually going into servitude for someone you love is as ungodly as you can get. Apollo spent time with Admetus, and he wasn't possessive of him, helping him to find a wife after their time together was through. I think this relationship is a great example of how Apollo, even in his lowest moments, is a genuine and caring person, and how that often separates him from the rest of his family. Also these two are just cute and they both love cows and they're cows in love.

#trials of apollo #toa apollo #lester papadopoulos #sunny speaks #long post #this idea hit me out of nowhere and I had to do it #shut up sunny #lmk if I convinced yall to ship anything because some of these pairing have given me brainrot

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the-furthest-city-light · 3 months

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Dunno if you meant it that way in your fic, but I found hilarious the idea of Mihawk kind of being a zolu shipper 😂

When he went on and on about what an amazing surprise Lucy was on the battle field I could imaging him finally seeing why Shanks chose to give the hat to her

....look I'm not saying Mihawk doesn't ship them, is the thing.

I do actually think it's interesting that Mihawk's apparent regard for Luffy is at first influenced by the regard of two people he does respect (i.e., Shanks, and then Zoro). Luffy attacks the guy who just trounced the strongest guy on his crew without a sweat and doesn't stop until he's assured Zoro is fine. Then Mihawk even witnesses the second best Zolu moment imo when Zoro swears he'll never lose again for Luffy. Luffy acknowledged him, and Mihawk's response is just "you make a good team."

Mihawk next sees Luffy in Marineford where he basically gives the same speech in canon as I gave him in the fic (though much abbreviated because oda is far less indulgent than I am).

And while he first noticed Luffy because of his relationship to others, I think this is the moment where he actually starts to respect Luffy for his own strengths. It's also an interesting character moment for Mihawk because he's almost always been portrayed up until this moment as the kind of person who does things alone and has no need for others but here he's acknowledging Luffy's greatest strength is his ability to connect with other people. It's something Mihawk himself lacks. Does it remind him of Shanks? Does it mean he's self aware enough to acknowledge his own failing by comparison here? Is this acknowledgement of the strength of human connection the reason he let two feral teenagers stay in his castle for two years? I dunno. You decide.

So Mihawk gains personal respect for Luffy in Marineford, then goes home and finds the aforementioned feral teenagers, and then Zoro asks Mihawk to train him. And like. Mihawk knows exactly why he does this. He even says as much.

Like, canonically, of course Mihawk isn't shipping them, but he has ALL THE PIECES and he knows they love each other. So I'm not saying Mihawk ships it but I'm not not saying that y'know?

Like. He knows Zoro is doing this for Luffy. He knows how important Luffy is to Zoro. He knows that Luffy is a person worth respecting.

Thank you for letting me use your ask as a zolu rant lmao but yes these were the thoughts influencing my "daddy mihawk ships it" chapters 😂

Thanks for reading!

#zolu #ask #anon ask #mihawk #one piece #zoro #luffy #marineford spoilers #one piece spoilers #same song different verse

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tobiasdrake · 8 days

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FUN FACT: Did you know Frieza had a finite amount of soldiers on Namek? (And he doesn't kill his troops.)

Also Appule is kind of important and there's a clearly marked place where Goku's six-day space journey happens in the timeline?

I have a laundry list of grievances with the Dragon Ball and DBZ animes. We're here to talk about one of those right now! The Z anime gives Frieza infinitely respawning soldiers that just seem to pour out of his ship whenever he needs them.

This interferes with a key plot point of Frieza's portion of the Namekian Dragon Ball hunt: That Frieza, for all his power, is rendered helpless when his attack on Moori's village goes south.

See these guys?

These guys ruin Frieza's entire goddamn week.

Get his ass, my Namekian thembruhs.

A consistent weakness of Frieza's forces is that they fight blind. By this point in the series, characters on Earth have been taught advanced fantasy martial arts involving manipulation of ki or chi. They can concentrate ki into attacks more powerful than the wielder, sense ki in other beings and feel incoming attacks without having to see them, suppress ki to become invisible to ki detection, etc. etc.

The Earthlings are goddamn amazing at ki manipulation, and the Namekians are just as good.

But Frieza's Planet Trade Organization represents the uncaring hand of capitalism. There is no artistry in their methods. There is no true discipline or understanding. They're a bunch of paid thugs with guns, looking to gentrify planets for their boss: a real estate mogul. So they rely on fallible technology that fails time and time again when put up against experienced martial artists.

The battle at Muri's village is no exception, as Frieza's forces get slaughtered by the "harmless" interlopers.

With only the elites vaguely understanding, from second-hand accounts, what they're seeing here.

Which, in turn, gives Muri the opening he needs to cripple Frieza's campaign by destroying the Scouters they're using to track down Namekian villages.

This is Muri's checkmate. Muri destroys the Scouters, the technology Frieza relies on to find Namekian villages on this planet and take their Dragon Balls. Meanwhile, his reinforcements wipe out Frieza's army.

That guy right is the only survivor of the massacre.

This is Appule. If you've ever wondered why Appule was so important that he got to be his own distinct character in Tenkaichi 3, this is why. Appule is the last grunt left standing.

Though Dodoria makes short work of the Namekian warriors, the damage is done. Frieza's lost his Scouters and he's out of manpower. He's going to have to fan his men out to search the planet, a planet larger than Earth, by looking around with their eyes. And the only men he has left to do that are Zarbon, Appule, and Dodo--

...are Zarbon and Appule.

So. Y'know. Frieza is two deaths short at this point of being completely and utterly fucked sideways.

As his two remaining men set out to search, Zarbon takes great care to tell Appule not to do anything that might get him killed.

It is absolutely pivotal for Frieza's campaign that these two live. There is no one else on this planet who can do the job. It's Appule who ultimately succeeds in finding the last Namekian village.

For some reason, in their eagerness to rewrite the story so that there are far more soldiers on Namek for some reason, the anime makes this Appule's vampire cousin?

Uh. Okay, man. Sure. In any case, it's Appule who finds the village and Appule who reports its destruction to Frieza. He's not a significant character by any stretch, but you can see why he warrants a bit more name recognition than Frieza Soldier #72. He has more impact on the plot that Cui does, that's for damn sure.

Too bad about Vegeta though.

It's a lot easier for Vegeta to get away with this gambit in the manga than it is in the anime. In the anime, somehow the infinitely respawning Frieza soldiers (who he regularly kills for funsies) flooding the halls don't give away the fact that Vegeta's still here.

But with Appule dead, Zarbon and Frieza are the only people left alive in the ship. It's a lot easier to distract two people for a minute than a limitless garrison.

In the manga, this is the closest Frieza ever gets to team-killing one of his own soldiers. Once he realizes Vegeta has stolen all five of his Dragon Balls, has a sixth Dragon Ball stashed away, and is now just one Dragon Ball away from immortality while Frieza's blind and understaffed? All because Zarbon fucked up?

He says some shit.

So. Yeah. He's not above killing his men when they fuck up so bad that they cost him immortality and give his most dangerous archnemesis the means to topple his empire and end him.

But that's a much higher bar to clear than shooting down his infinitely respawning dudes because, uh....

*checks notes* With the Ginyu Force on their way, Frieza can afford to kill his own guys because the Ginyus are better than them anyway. So he keeps them all in the ship and murders them for no reason despite the fact that Vegeta is actively making off with his Dragon Balls right this second and he has no idea to where.

Yeah. That's. Uh. That's a pretty significant story difference. In any case, Frieza's campaign grinds to a screeching halt when....

That's it. That is the very last one. Frieza's campaign is sunk. Until the Ginyu Force arrives, Frieza has no forces and no resources left. He is an unbelievably powerful man, the most powerful in the universe, and the only way he could ever hope to catch up to Vegeta is by flying aimlessly around a colossal planet and looking for Vegeta with his eyes.

I've often heard people express confusion about where Goku's six-day transit is supposed to fit into the Namekian timeline. This, right here? This is it. At this moment, it's over for Frieza. For the next five days, he is soundly defeated. He's out of the race for the Dragon Balls entirely.

And the only reason Vegeta hasn't won the race is because of that one Ball Gohan smuggled away from him.

So Frieza, defeated, is forced to sit in his broken ship with his thumb up his ass and wait for reinforcement.

Vegeta, with six Dragon Balls, is forced to sit on his balls with his thumb up his ass hoping the talented martial artist Earthlings currently suppressing their ki signatures get stupid and give him something to detect - knowing that if he leaves for a second, those little shits with the Dragon Radar might scoop 'em up from under him.

While Gohan and Krillin, with ki signatures suppressed, make the five-day trek at minimum power to Saichoro/Guru.

It's here. Right here. Where everything stops for five days to pass, and for Goku to approach the planet. All because Frieza ran dry on resources and manpower to keep up the hunt.

#dragon ball #dragon ball z #frieza

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mangoguy · 3 months

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Displacement (1/2)

John "Soap" McTavish(2009) x Reader x John "Soap" McTavish(2022)

Warnings: Mention of Modern Warfare 3 (2011), Some fluff, they/them used once other than that no pronouns are used.

You recall your relationship with your John while in the hospital.

Another entry For @glitterypirateduck Soap It Up challenge!

This was heavily inspired by the Multiverse AU by shotmrmiller. It's been on my mind for a while lol

"Right, what the hell kind of name is 'Soap', eh? How'd a muppet like you pass selection?"

You heard Price state, looking up from cleaning your gun you saw the new guy who was set to join. Fresh faced and ready for battle, you wondered how long that would last. You watched as he passed the C.Q.B with a pretty average time, but he passed nonetheless. After that Price quickly briefed the team on the mission, infiltrating and assaulting a cargo ship in the Bering Strait. He dismissed us to get ready, deciding you wanted to try and get to know the new guy. You walked over to him and fell into step with him.

You remember it wasn’t hard to get him to open up, which was surprising, most of the guys here were not up for much conversion. After a while, you decided to ask the biggest question on your mind, you asked him about his hair.

“Why did you decide on a mohawk?” You heard him huff.

“Because it was cool…” He mumbled.

"I love ye, y'know that right?"

You could faintly hear Captain McTavish mumble those words under his breath but the sound of the helicopter made you wonder if you heard it at all. What affirmed that it was indeed said out loud was when he took his hand in yours, rubbing his thumb over the back of your hand in a soothing gesture. Who he was comforting, you weren't sure, but you had an inkling it was to ground himself.

You recall It was his first mission as captain and if he was nervous he sure as hell didn’t show it. But you knew him, he often sought some small physical contact as comfort when he was nervous.

It's funny how you remember these things.

You also remember his first mission as captain went off without a hitch, of course, there were hiccups but like he promised nothing happened to you. It was oddly sweet in its own way, he knew you could take care of yourself but he often fretted sometimes (even if he didn't entirely show it).

Another moment you recall with John McTavish was when you two were outside. He was smoking and you were just keeping him company. It was a nice evening, a bit cold but nothing you couldn't handle. You two were talking about anything and everything as you two normally do. Then the topic of living together came up.

"Y'know... I've been thinking after all this is over we need to... do couples things" he chuckled.

"Oh yeah? Like what? I thought fighting in battlefields was good date material," you joked.

"Ah, that's gettin' old... we could get our own place," he suggested.

"Get our own place? What are you suggesting?" You turned to look at him, he was already looking at you with a grin.

"Aye, I'm sayin' we should live together once this is all over and done with, I'm thinkin' out in the fields near a small town, just the two of us," he stubbed out his smoke before leaning against you. He wrapped an arm around your waist and brought you closer.

"Hm, that sounds wonderful... We could get a cat... maybe two so the other one wouldn't be lonely," you suggested, planting a kiss on his lips as you both thought about this fantasy. You'll never forget the way his cheeks turned a bit rosy after that.

Though before house buying the one important thing on John's 'Couples things' list was getting married. Of course, you both talked extensively about it, making sure it was something you both were on the same page on. The ceremony wasn't anything special, just you, John, and a few friends and family to celebrate at John's Parents' house. It was a sweet time, filled with talking and laughing (Ghost and Roach were both raiding the snacks John's mom made).

"Look at you, my little brother gettin' married! Never thought I see the day, thought you were married to the military life for a sec," John's sister teasingly bumped his shoulder. Though she was teasing, she seemed pretty proud and happy for him.

"Aye, never thought I get so lucky, knew I wanted to marry them 6 months in but didn't want to scare them," John chuckled while wrapping an arm around your waist. You just rolled your eyes and nudged his rib, and he responded by pinching your hip before kissing your cheek.

But things didn't turn out like you both planned. Luck had to run out someday.

'I won't let anything happen to you,' rings in your head, he never failed to mention it before missions you both went on.

Is that why you were here?

You weren't sure how to explain it. One moment you were with John and Yuri, in that building, something went off and you woke up with someone looming over you.. before it all went black again.

You felt like you were in a different body, and you say that loosely since it still felt like you but a bit younger, less tense. You weakly opened your eyes, the blaring lights of the hospital flooding your vision. You groaned, wincing away for a moment before it felt safe to look again. The bed you were lying on was much softer than the ones back on base.

"Ah, you're awake," you saw a nurse to your left side checking your vitals, she gave you a reassuring smile.

"You were out for a while, almost two months! Had some bloke worried sick about you... Johnny, I think his name was," she started explaining. You never really heard people refer to John as Johnny but whatever at least you knew he was alive.

“Is he okay?” You rushed to ask.

“Yes he’s fine, was discharged a while ago, you were the one to take the most of the damage,” She paused to resume her work.

“Actually he should be coming back soon, doesn’t leave your side unless he needs the restroom, you definitely have a good one,” She chuckled.

Oh, thank god he was okay.

The nurse left you to rest after and you started mulling over what happened.

An explosion happened, you were falling alongside Yuri when it happened. But you couldn't remember much else.

You began to feel uneasy, like you lost a big part of yourself and yet you couldn't explain why. Which was weird considering the nurse just confirmed he was, in fact, relatively okay. While you were mulling it over some more you didn't hear the door opening and the sound of hurried footsteps rushing over to your bed.

"Yer awake!"

You whipped your head up to see your husband, so grateful he was okay. You were almost ready to jump on him but you froze when your eyes finally landed on him. What looked like John, though he was a mildly younger version of him. He was a bit shorter than your John as well, along with sounding vastly different.

That was definitely not your John.

He looked worried and relieved at you. Placing a hand on yours but also trying not to hover around you, you noticed a tattoo on his right arm, John didn’t have an arm tattoo. He decided to just sit down on the chair that was pushed near your hospital bed. Not knowing what to do you took your hand out of his and placed it on your stomach.

That’s when you noticed your simple wedding band was gone.

Replaced with one that had a pearl and a few diamonds.

Whose ring was this?

You were confused and dare you say scared. Scared more than you ever have been in your life and that's saying a lot considering your line of work. But where exactly were you?

"Yer looking at me like ye don't know me, Bonnie," the man broke the silence.

But you didn't know him, you assumed this was the bloke the nurse mentioned.

Johnny.

Wearing the face of your John.

Just what exactly happened?

Words: 1,347

Reblogs and comments are appreciated!

#call of duty #cod mw2 #modern warfare 2 #john soap mactavish #john soap mctavish x reader #soap mactavish #captain mactavish #soapitup #og soap #09 soap #cod x reader

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commanderquinn · 8 months

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a list of canon ways in which lillian hart is The Fucking Worst that cora coe deserves financial and emotional compensation for:

-the basis for the big divorce counseling mission is that cora's worried for her mother's safety. that means, before going on a deep cover operation with smugglers known to kill rangers, marines, or anyone else caught trying to interfere with their business, lillian didnt leave her daughter a heads up much less a lead. once the fuck again, this woman decided that her career was more important than her daughter's mental and emotional health. once the fuck again, this woman decided she could just disappear from cora's life and then come back out of the blue without consequence

-when you go to lillian's office to look for her at cora's request, the guy working the desk knows SAM well enough to know his name and give him shit like they've got a personal history, but he??? isnt sure about????? cora's name???? word for word, he looks at her and says "it's cora, right?" you're telling me that this woman doesn't talk about her kid enough for her fellow INVESTIAGATIVE rangers to be sure about her name??? are you SHITTING ME??????? get the fuck out of here. you cant push "ranger family values" and the close ties they have in one breath then claim she likes to keep a professional distance at work in the other. you wanna have the conversation about what fresh hell it is being a working mother in a position of power, lets go, ill have that conversation all day long. but lillian hart is not a fucking example of a working mother and im gonna be pretty fucking insulted for working mothers everywhere if i catch wind of ppl trying to pull that kind of defense card. the woman's an awful parent and should be held the fuck accountable for it. you wanna know how i know????

she doesn't say cora's name enough for the ranger watching the door to be confident in it, but he remembers alllll the stories of the captain her ex is cozying up to. and lillian is the one to confirm during the quest that she has been getting the stories from cora, so there's some clear "oh she already likes the stranger more than me." i know im reading into it because its fiction and none of these people are real, but ive also, y'know been in cora's shoes, so i can tell you from real life experience that shit does exist. idk if that was the writers INTENT, but it sure does a great job at reflecting a very sad reality

-sam points out its dumb that lillian wants to speed the ship, with her daughter on it, directly at the sydicate. idk abt y'all, but my ship was pretty dinky at that point bc i was focused on outposts, and we got ambushed by like 6 ship waves once we landed for that fight. again, i get it. game mechanics get a higher priority than realism. but this whole "we have to finish this because theres a chance you were spotted trying to rescue me" shit is so. nauseating. theres no demand to drop off cora somewhere safe, theres no "lets call in the cavalry." its this fucking egomaniac looking you dead in the eye and being like "i know i just traumatized the shit out of my kid but i need you to drive us into an ambush while she's still on board. hope you're a good shot because sam and i cant kill them ourselves." and so what that we did that????? YOURE TELLING ME IT WAS JUST THOSE SHIPS???? the rest of the organization is just going to LET IT GO???? like no fucking wonder sam sees himself as the better option even through all his fucking doubt. at least he knows when to turn the fuck around because shit is above his paygrade

-she has custody rights. she is a decorated and respected ranger. sam being a smuggler wasnt public knowledge, but point out one person in akila who wouldnt believe her in a heartbeat over it. everyone in town gives him nothing but shit, and they all side with his dad who was definitely no picnic to live with. im guessing big emotional detachment there, lotta interrogation and persecution rather than teaching and understanding. HELL, sam would probably own up to his past if lillian outed him for it, he's that type of idiot. at literally any point she could put in the effort to get legal council involved. if she's SOOOO by the law, whats the hold up there???? i agree the kid shouldnt be on my ship while im in the middle of a space fight. ive talked with sam about it, and im not even the kids parent (as of the personal quest). what the fuck are you doing about it lillian????????? oh thats right. we cant get lillian on the phone. whomp whomp.

-she made cora cry. hyper independent, "big girls dont cry" cora coe. multiple times. worse, she made cora cry because she made cora feel like she wasn't as important as lillian's career. i dont give a fuck what criminals are doing. i do not give a fuck. i give a fuck that that little pixel child got her heart broken and there isnt a dialogue for me to call out her mother for being a huge fucking cunt to her own daughter but theres a thousand and one options for me to tell sam he's parenting wrong. he is, and i have no problem using them when they're appropriate, but where the fuck are they for lillian??? why am i not allowed to tear this woman a new asshole at any point, but there's like 20+ extra dialogue options added to every single npc you have a persuade option with???? todd my head hurts and its your fault

-"im sure sam's told you all about me. go on. ask whatever you want." yet there is no option to ask what the fuck her problem is. so, clearly, i cannot, in fact, ask whatever i want.

-"but the looks i got from my fellow rangers reading alexander dumas... we do strange things for kids." yeah hart??? thats your standard????? THATS your idea of going out of your way for your kid??? literally how did sam fall for this woman oh my god i cant even listen to her speak without wanting to use the power of bitchhood i inherited from a long line of angry irish women to ridicule her to tears. maybe then she'll fucking understand how small she makes her fucking kid feel every time she turns a moment of bonding into a little "woe is me and my comfort zone oh how unfortunate i am to have a brilliant daughter that wants to connect with me through her greatest passion"

-she openly admits that she dumped the cargo sam was smuggling not because she felt any connection or sympathy or just didnt want to destroy someones chance at life in a capitalist society, but because he was a good pilot and she didnt want that talent to "go to waste" so she could recruit him. thats not really a thing against cora i just really fucking hate that and the picture it paints of her priorities as a human being

-"if we're going to be really honest here... back when we were a team... cora would follow you everywhere, like a little adoring dog. i... just fell out of it. long before we separated."

i literally. do not have words for how fucking disgusted i am by that line of dialogue. oh my fucking god. oh my fucking god. i. i TRULY would not even know where to start. the dog comparison makes me violently angry and if you'd given me a punch interrupt at that moment, i would have broken my keyboard punching the accept option

-go replay or watch a recording of that divorce counseling mission one more time. while you're doing it, imagine the roles reversed. imagine youre romancing a character thats a mother bringing cora into space, and the ranger standing in your cockpit asking to finish the mission is her father who took off to live at work once it was clear his little girl liked mommy better. imagine THAT while you listen to the (imo) out of fucking pocket dialogue where sam constantly praises lillian for being "a good ranger/woman." then you come back and tell me how comfortable you are with the concept of lillian hart as a character.

#sam coe #lillian hart negative #cora coe #starfield #meta #look man i know i know i have mommy issues and im biased but jesus fucking christ i cant stand her as a character #she's not a mother by any stretch of the imagination #she designated HERSELF as extended family and im forever disgusted #anyways im writing up a meta post abt my feelings on sam so far #lillian just gets on my fucking nerves so a hate post for her was easy to whip up lmao

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laylawatermelon · 12 days

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70.6 - 7.07 Speculation/ Buddie Meta

I am a writer y'know hehe

So, Buddie is happening.

Now let me explain.

Bi buck always existed, but the problem is that most of his consistent emotional relationship one could argue realistically romantically has been with a man he's known for years.

But has always been bi yes, but he's also been in love with his best friend for a really long time.

Friends to lovers where Y'all at? I see y'all madney truthers

Anyways I understand but what has kind of been bothering me is the fact that Buddie the ship has been abandoned/negated as not an important past of the puzzle for bi buck realization despite the fact that Eddie is physically present throughout his entire relationship/storyline.

I could argue that because they're mirrors to each other (corny soulmate type shit is perfect for network tv) this is the best way to ease people into it.

Buck and Eddie are the two beloved firefighters (and respective sex symbols). They have an appeal for the straight audience for that reason.

Lou already spoiled it but he's only here for a while.

There's been almost blatant explanations and dialogue that leads to the fact that this relationship is going to directly lead into buddie one way or another.

Tommy has from the beginning suspected that Buck (I'm calling him Evan in my head in regards to him and it's so weird 😖) and Eddie have an unusual relationship or that Buck is in love with Eddie at least.

(MY attention? is the biggest example.)

My prediction is that their mirrors of each other, the parallels, and red flags pop up too often now.

I know they're still writing the show and are likely watching audience engagement and ao3 (I'm watching you Tim ik you're here I'm new but ik you got shooters out here) for where to go with the story.

In Eddie's (frankly oddly portrayed) plotline is related to his Catholic guilt and his nonexistent relationship with Marisol (no last name?). As the episode maybe suggests they don't know their partners well enough.

Shame to Eddie because it's been months in universe like come on man. In Buck's it's literally been a few weeks, and most of the time Tommy spent with Eddie and not with him.

I like them as a couple and find them affordable. I can't quite bring myself to ship them or be as enthusiastic as others and that's okay.

I still admire the relationship they have and won't bash others for enjoying it.

Hell they still have Taylor and Buck enjoyers and maybe even Abby (i assume I haven't met any honestly).

The reason why I'm a bit confused on why Buddie isn't being all that embraced as a vital part of the storyline is because in a way it is.

I think it spurred the writers on to lean into it heavily due to the actors chemistry and portrayal of the relationship.

Now I'm not saying he wouldn't be bi regardless, because he's always been written that way.

His interactions with worm guy, a gay married couple, Carlos (who I've been waiting to say this but I can't hold myself any longer is Latino, shorter than him, brown eyes, dark hair - Eddie lite/he had a bit of a type aka cute guys.)

I clocked him flirting with him with his cute fact spilling as a way of affection because I do it to to people I love. (🤗i love my ADHD rep!) When he saw him look at the girl he became more platonic in his interactions. Then there was Eddie.

And Eddie honestly is the biggest part of the puzzle.

Yes he likes Tommy, and I don't deny he likes strong confident (suspiciously Eddie shaped 😂) guys.

He has always been attracted to strong personalities regardless of gender.

I do think he did pursue him and I think because Tommy is gay he recognized the flirting Buck does with both men and women as that, flirting.

Eddie doesn't count cause he has a whole can of worms he gotta figure out himself.

If Buck had consistent scenes with an out queer man on the show he'd have been at least clocked. (Eddie was kind of in the way with Josh and the Dispatch crew/his gaydar pinged a lil around him)

I've been saying that now that he's canonically bisexual and it's a known fact, you can't deny he's quite literally been flirting with his best friend the entire show (as a coparent??? Idk man they both said they skip steps/impatient 🤷🏾‍♀️).

When new fans watch it it's obvious, when older fans recall it it's either enlightening or redefining that relationship regardless.

The red flags that are coming up is Eddie's statement of moving too fast and Buck literally moving to fast with his second date (i assume idk how in world time works it's a tv show 🤷🏾‍♀️) being his sister's wedding.

Realistically I know you only invite people to events like that if you're fully committed to each other for a long term thing.

I'm not saying that he's on his wheel but in a way I'm tilting my head at some similarities of Tommy and his past relationships and Buck's tendencies.

Buck will be Buck.

Tommy knows him as Evan, and calls him such.

Which didn't get me wrong cute or whatever but rubs me there wrong away, because we know he prefers Buck as it's his chosen name for a reason. It's defined him and been contextualized and even accepted by his parents.

I believe in calling people the name they choose to be called and I just don't like when that's ignored.

It also doesn't help that he continues to call him that in an episode called You don't know me (you can Even tie it in to Marisol No last name) that deals with identities and lack of knowledge.

Buck has spent most of his remaining twenties with that identity and has defended it so the casualness of him calling him that unnerves me.

It's meant to close the distance and be portrayed as romantic but it can also be interpreted as him seeing Evan, not Buck when with him.

But I did see a post that changed my perspective on calling a name with love instead can recontextualize the meaning of it and I found that sweet and fitting. In that case I can swing either way about it.

If it does make him more accepting of that side of his identity that's great that he's beginning to heal from a path when his name/personhood was used as a weapon or item.

But, I also still feel a bit iffy that it's not interchangeably used with Buck because his family and everyone he knows calls him that. Even his previous romantic partners did and I didn't mind him being called it but I would like it if both names would be used as that is the new part of him where Evan exists as well.

Also narratively they spent too much time on defining his name and what it means to him and everyone around him to not show the importance of his identity being acknowledged in a new unfamiliar relationship.

(whew i think I'm just mad at the writers or this may just be on purpose who knows 🤷🏾‍♀️)

I'm getting to the meta I promise I'm just finally processing what's been plaguing me about this relationship and i gotta let the monster out

That would also explain why he doesn't know the ADHD rants that Buck blabs on about.

But then again the episode is called you don't know me and they weren't even friends he just jumped into a relationship.

(ps you can just start dating someone and learn as you go I'm just saying 🤷🏾‍♀️)

The biggest problem with their relationship is that he's in love with his best friend.

He literally only began to open up and flirt when he realized that he wasn't a romantic threat to his family.

(Which trifling Buck! Your man can't get wined and dined?? He deserves love too!/j)

He literally relaxed/his shoulders open up when Tommy assures him that his son still loves and idolizes him and that Eddie still likes him and he's irreplaceable in his life.

After that's secured he begins to make his move and become more flirtatious (cough sexually open cough) to this confident man in his kitchen in the dim lights and glowy atmosphere.

Damn I'd kiss him too 🤷🏾‍♀️ (if I was a guy ofc)

I also didn't like the parallels of Buck being left (which has happened with his female love interests) and then Buck still having to reach out.

I don't think Tommy is bad for Buck, but I'm still not convinced that he's 100% good. But then again he's been here literally a two episodes and barely any screentime.

And the one he does makes it seem like he's interested but not too invested.

(which makes sense and I will elaborate a bit later in the meta speculation)

The Tommy that everyone is talking about exists solely in fan spaces and head canon and that's why I think I can't get into it. The facts of him are plain in the show but in the fan spaces he has a different image.

Which valid, once again he's almost a blank sheet of what we wish a Buck gets and deserves in a love interest but that's what he is as of now. A blank-ish sheet. Kind of like a projection sheet for movies.

Tommy seems like a caring partner and sure of himself. He's shown himself to be funny, considerate, and as unhinged as the rest of the 118 (ah the fruity fire badasses).

Also i wanna point your Buck likes em a lil older sometimes haha

But back on topic, I can see Tommy being like Natalia (which makes sense as that storyline could've been used) In the fact that he sees that the space in his life is occupied and respectfully backs out.

My meta for 7.06 is this.

Tommy helps out somehow. Buck is ecstatic rightfully so.

They kiss dance and are cute.

The family is very welcoming, the 118 is still loving, but then he sees something that affirms his suspicions.

It's a normal scene for us.

Either Buck is taking care of Chris and then talks to Eddie.

He sees the look in Buck's eyes and the fondness there. He looks at Eddie and sees the same on his face.

He notices how they work together and laugh, them at the family and life he's built all around him, and decides he can't be apart of this. There's no space for him.

It feels too real too fast and he'll only end to heartbroken because he's just interested, not invested yet.

So he gracefully bows out and let's him know that he has enough love in his life if he'd just look for it.

(i also found out he used the word interested in the cafe scene where i recognized it as the ana date. Also Buck was wearing a white patterned shirt and i had a heart attack because it wasn't great the last time he wore it 😬)

Then it leads into ghost of a second chance.

(now imma say this i will be posting more specs about the these episodes I'm just on my buddie storyline juice rn)

This is now Buck trying to salvage/figure out what went wrong and maybe try to contact him again.

In the case of Marisol it's safe to assume they break up, the reason why isn't clear.

It could be related to his sisters disapproval of their relationship (as they're supposed to be coming out did the show forget??) or apprehension towards her as they've been raised/watched him grow up.

They know what makes him happy.

For ghost a second chance I didn't have much buddie assumptions but I'm pretty sure that one is more in relation to other members of the cast most likely and maybe Buck trying to salvage his relationship.

7.08-10 isn't complete so who knows🤷🏾‍♀️ how they must switch it up for more drama?

But I will say, we gotta dive into the Eddie of it all.

Y'all thought I forgot about him?

The bi Buck storyline isn't complete without Eddie either romantically or platonically.

In real life their queer storylines were always interchangeable and they're both feeling out the GA and fans reaction.

Buddie not going canon doesn't make sense because realistically it's one of the biggest ships and the most talked about things for the online fans.

It's a good reason many fans started (me included🙋🏾‍♀️) and stay (if the beautiful found family didn't hit it for them).

The way that they were both discussed and Ryan is fine with Buddie still kind of matches his character honestly. Demi Eddie is a head canon and honestly Eddie would only be comfortable with dating a man at this stage of his life if it's someone he loves already aka Buck.

There could be other reasons but as a Buddie warrior truther (as they named it which is still so insane) as his old interviews alluded to the fact that he loves Buck so much he can't really see himself with another guy he just met like that.

He also maybe wanted a easier storyline as he had always been a bit of a heavy character.

For women it's easier as he's raised to do it and it's "natural" or right for him to do so.

His parents said it, the church says it, God says it so it must be right.

He loves commitment, has said he's a nester and constantly yearns for a family unit.

The only family unit he knows of it feels is acceptable due to his upbringing is man, woman, child.

Not that he's homophobic cause duh, HenRen is literally there, but his standards and pressure doesn't even let him fathom it for himself.

It's also likely if the demi part is true, he's highly unlikely to be like Buck and view others sexually and even realize he's able to have a family/relationship with a man.

I suspect no Buddie this season. I actually hope and pray for it.

Because from both a business and story point it's best to keep the will-they won't-they into season 8 to keep viewers engaged/tuning in and not to rush the story and get some really good emotional moments.

I won't lie I miss the angst we got in the other seasons and as a result the show's identity with Eddie has faltered a bit.

I didn't love episode 5 but I didn't hate it. I still enjoy the show and if they feel a bit unusual it's okay.

There were still some great moments in it.

Eddie's character is now happy but as a result he's also somewhat unfamiliar (that speaks to the whump heavy storylines he has) as he seems less mature. You can argue now that he has a stable support system he's able to let loose because he knows his needs will be covered.

That's also a great point and easy way of showing his development.

His Catholic guilt now that it's been introduced will have to be deconstructed as he will have to redefine his life, what he's looking for/allow himself to be and dare to dream of a life not given to him by someone else or pressure.

This season he's only just started to accept things that make him feel good (which for now is Marisol) and be open and honest about it.

I can argue it is a great sign of improvement of his character.

A bit ooc portrayal yes, but the message of looking deeper still applies.

This can apply to Buddie probably leading through the next half of season 7 by being ramped up and then going full speed ahead season 8.

At the time though since they're still writing they may take a hard right turn and keep it platonic (😭).

But what would be inevitable is Eddie's coming out/self discovery arc that isn't tied to the church or sense of duty.

Which yay! More self discovery I love the message of finding yourself lasts throughout your life and due to life's unexpected events you can change to be a better version of yourself all the time.

We got bi buck (which evidently was influenced by Eddie in some way) now let's free Eddie to even if they didn't do it for Buddie (once again😭😭😭).

Now that I've got it mostly off my chest I'm definitely gonna do an analysis of the parallels and the way it's played pt.2 (and more as seasons passed cause Ryan and Oliver 😘 muah 10/10 no notes).

Okay bye.

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mulberriesandtea · 9 months

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A VERY DISORGANIZED AND WEIRD MESS OF THOUGHTS THAT ARE ALL RELATED TO THE SODA EGO SOMEHOW

So wellcheer's story is like, this employee getting drugged and taken aboard a ship, and eventually coming to enjoy his work there, finding it better than working in the city. In general this reads to me as the escapist fantasy of the employees, wanting something that's more fulfilling, more satisfying, hoping for a change. While I think Hong Lu having it is somewhat self explanatory, I think we need to consider Ryoushuu as well, since both can provide context for one another. I will also bring up the fact that someone pointed out they could correlate to the types of work that give grape wellcheers, those being attachment(being kind and friendly) and repression(denying the abnormality in some way)- which I didn't quite agree with at first, but I think I understand better now that yes, it's likely. With that out of the way~! Let's talk about Hong Lu, since he's the one we understand the most about! These are not clean sections by the way. They're ramblings of a mad man.

"Tadaa~ Transformation complete! Hah, we've a boatload!"

- Hong Lu Awakening

I think Hong Lu's is specifically meant to represent denial as his form of escapism. He denies anything that happens to him, and instead focuses on other things. We can note that Hong Lu seems to enjoy film in some way, and often mentions boredom and 'entertainment.' Not to mention Land of Illusion(I stare at the 5 gloom cost good fucking lord). Yah. Anyways, his magical girl transformation is an obvious reference to well, magical girl shows. Y'know, the kind of shows you watch and go 'man I'd love to be just like her" at least according to people. Understanding that, as well as pointing out that in both his Dimension Shredder and his Roseate Desire he seems a lot more overtaken by the abnormality than Yi Sang and Ishmael respectively in their awakenings(Yi Sang at least has both arms and Ishmael seems really not to be having a fun time), I think I can safely say that I think Hong Lu being on the boat is quite literally him fully accepting the fantasy of it. Have any of you method acted before? I have done it before, but not correctly, and I'm easily swayed by the emotions and thoughts of the characters I overtake, it's incredibly hard to maintain a divide between 'yourself' and 'your character' if you don't properly understand yourself- I mention this because it's quite literally what the Sinners do. I know this seems random to bring up but I hear me out here. I think it's clear that method acting wise, Hong Lu gets much more lost in his roles than the other sinners- I'd argue Canto IV especially shows this. Some of the others seem to also have trouble with Canto IV's play scene, but I believe the difference between that and their EGOs is how prolonged it is. Hard to explain, but yeah, Hong Lu quietly gets much more lost in his roles and it really does show in his EGOs- which is likely part of the escapism of it all. TL;DR I think his thing is denial, and as such, he represents the Repression half of the Wellcheers Grape Soda, and the reason he's on the boat is that he's *fully* invested in the EGO.

...Someone more into method acting should explain it better and see how it works within the context of EGO.

"Go on, open wide. Relax and cram this drink down your throats, heheh."

- Ryoushuu Awakening

And that brings us to Ryoushuu, who I think represents the Attatchment side. And that might sound really weird at first. Why is the friendly one who seems to be more open with everyone Repression and the one who quite literally would attack other people and seems much more distant from everyone else despite it being several months now be Attachment? I'll explain more in Hong Lu's corrosion section. Anyways Ryoushuu! I think, in a way, her EGO, and the fact it's Zayin, is rather important- I'm still not quite sure on that aspect outside of 'it is really notable Gregor and Ryoushuu have Zayin EGOs.' I think her form of escapism is much more external than Hong Lu's- of course there's her tendency to smoke, but there's also her tendency to get obsessed with her art- and I think the fact that art is often heavily affected by the emotions of the creator is important. Art's a form of venting in a sense, but the way Ryoushuu does art she forces other people to deal with her problems. It's hard to explain gosh. Basically, she's very much ignoring her problems by creating art- she's not solving the root problem, she's not actually understanding why she's feeling that way, she just doesn't deal with it. THIS IS SHORTER THAN HONG LU'S SECTION BUT IN MY DEFENSE-

"The seagulls... They keep crying and screaming away...!"

- Hong Lu Corrosion

So yeah these two. Ryoushuu's based on a man who committed suicide after the death of his daughter(who we know is dead in Limbus too, Fourth Match Flame and Red Eyes very heavily imply that, not to mention how Ryoushuu reacts to Outis during Hell's Chicken) and very much so has self-destructive behavior(said staring directly at Indiscriminate Art, which passive wise is exactly the same as Self-Neglect, and her smoking habits), while Hong Lu seems to very much have a persona of being cheerful and oblivious to the point of where it's very hard to tell if he's being genuine or not(The one potato joke in Hell's Chicken)- a persona that has not cracked yet in story, even when Faust attempted to break it with a sledgehammer(Once again, Hell's Chicken). I mention this because his persona has cracked in his EGOs- and this is one of them. I argue that both of their egos will be them no longer able to confide in their coping mechanisms of escapism, and their reactions to that. Hong Lu's EGO specifically shows him with the net stuck around him and in his mouth, and with him seeming almost panicked and lost. It's very particular he seems focused on the 'seagulls' which can seem a bit random, but I believe this is due to the 'seagulls' representing his last thread of escapism- his world, literally and in his denial, is falling apart. I'd argue that Ryoushuu's will be somewhat similar, also representing her thread of escapism falling apart- likely to do with either Yuzuki’s death or her completion of the ‘Hellscreen,’ and her being unable to deal with it.

I think they'll both be either Lust or Gluttony EGOs put a cute little thumbsup here

Of course I can be like, completely wrong. Anyways it's like 3 in the morning stream heart's claws by vane(flashing colors warning):

https://youtu.be/2M2BHjVQPH4

i wanted to post the sodas but that’d take too long

#I FORGOT TAGS LMAO #limbus company #lcb hong lu #lcb ryoshu #soda ego #yippee.#there is a girl in the narrative #smoke and mirrors more like. no.#tea with mul

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warsamongthestars · 2 months

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Okay, now its not just my grievances, but legit "what the fuck are you on about" and "What the fuck are you doing" with the TBB Writing.

( Sadly, I was Xpecting something like this. )

S3 - Howzer said something about Crosshair killing some of his squad. On screen, we all saw the episode, they were arrested. We saw no execution. I'll get to why this is an issue.

S3 - Where the fuck did you get AZI again? Did you kill Cid off screen? Wouldn't that call for a, umn, Fucking episode?

S3 - Crosshair is told of Tech's death... Off Screen. Y'know, the death of your batchmate, the closest you have to Brother-Squadmate-Best Friend Foreveries, is kinda of a big fucking deal. y'know? Big enough that, by showing the death of that Squadmate, you generally want to show the IMPACT of an IMPORTANT CHARACTER'S DEATH to the AUDIENCE. But no. There really wasn't, was there. Maybe a line here or two, but is that the kind of impact you want to the important character? 2 Lines?

Don't get me started on the "Blame the VIctim' shit. I'll get there.

S2 - Echo randomly Leaves... and then Randomly appears. So, an Important Character Leaves... Out of the blue. Y'know, if your important main character is going elsewhere, you generally want Set Up. If I can point out how Butterfree from the Old Pokemon Anime, had the saddest Epsiodes in existence--simply because he Left. But then I see Echo's and I'm going "Where the fuck did this come from", there's a Problem. And then he randomly appears again like... Why did you even leave if you were going to Come Back. Where the fuck are the conversations here, that actually walk the audience through the Character's thought processes?

S2 - Crosshair was apparently on the Platform or a Month. ... HOW? Seriously, How, that thing would sink without a ship, we saw it rise up for a ship. Kamino is infamously, in lore, for 2 decades now, Stormy as Shit. And who picked him up. Did he fucking teleport back to the Empire? Wouldn't that call for an Episode so that we can see what the fuck is going on?

S1 - Crosshair's Chip So a Tweet from Xitter, is apparently more important than placing what you want in your fucking story. And more, You show that this Chip was Enhanced, repeatedly, it GREW IN HIS BRAIN THIS WAS ON EPISODE 1, and suddenly, NOPE not there not effects no idea what you're talking about. THAT CHIP IS A BRAIN TUMOR, FOOL. So instead all those evil actions, caused yb the chip that was GROWN IN HIS BRAIN BY AT LEAST 3 SIZES, apparently were just CROSSHAIR ALL ALONG--WHAT BRAIN TUMOR. Do you see where I'm calling Victim Blaming.

S1 - Omega is Older! Cool. Where is this going to be relevant. why would we need to know? Its been over a season now, why is this fucking important. She met Emerie in late S2! Emerie is a clone now, how come she didn't know about that. Clearly this wasn't fucking important.

S1 - At no point did they talk about their missing batchmate. SO YOU'RE JUST SILENT ABOUT YOUR BATCHMATE, YOUR SUPER IMPORTANT CHARACTER YOU LITERALLY GREW UP WITH, WHO HAD YEARS WITH YOU, AND YOU'RE JUST NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT IT. If its not on Screen in front of the Audience, it Didn't Fucking Happen.

S1 - Episode 1 Now for the Meat. The start of all this shit. Overwhelming amount of "Guest star" characters, Guest start being "any other famous Star Wars character that isn't the Main Characters". An introduction to a kid character, one that is a Super Duper early 2000s Fanfic.net Totally Original Character Donut Steel. Who's... there to take importance away from the other characters. Repeatedly teasing the Chip, but no confrontation of Crosshair. Repeated shooting at Children, and no confrontation of Crosshair--arguably more important th an the above. That is definitely a What the Fuck Man, and it happened din the first Five minutes and nobody did jack shit. No trust or conversations between characters who are "Batch-mates"--implied in Star Wars to be the closest thing to family, and given the battlefield nature, would have to communicate behind closed doors or they might Die on Mission... No Communication has been had in 3 fucking years--expect to make Hunter or Omega right in every situation. A lot of talking, not a lot of doing or showing.

This episode only works, if you are not here for the Bad Batch. Because the writers have not done anything to the Bad Batch but cause problems that weren't needed, solutions that don't matter, because the problems are unneeded. They do not allow the BBs to Talk To Each Other (If its not on screen where the audience can see it, it didn't happen). Clear character derailment for a Fanfic.Net OC. And S3 shows evidence of AI writing. Conversations without context, shallow (if not insulting) character development in the face of Very Important Topics (Such as Family Member Death and Tumors / Drugging / Cult Manipulation), events that don't make sense in the telling.

( They have the animation budget to show things, and then they don't. They have the money to craft this, and they're not. )

S2 showed the same issue.

Unfortunately, we did see this coming since the Writing Strikes.

( Addendum, post-posting edit--sorry, I had to take these steps just in case, cos rage blinds me. )

So now, Clarification without all the swearing and general fan-rage.

They would see the victim blame himself and be blamed by the story, than take the steps to examine the problem They Clearly Showed, and instead decided to ignore the problem that Caused all this... And it is Victim blaming, because other characters have experienced the same problem, but are totally forgiven because its "not their fault".

THey would rather have characters walk in and out at random, diminishing if not removing the impact those characters have. Nothing Echo does now is of importance because they're barely showing it, and not dedicating time to Echo to build either his new posiion or his leaving--and they barely dedicated character time to Echo, by leaving him as the "bitch side character". The same goes with Tech, Tech's death has no impact anymore because they are ignoring it, maybe dedicating 1 or 2 lines and maybe a small moment of drama, but ultimately the impact is gone because they are not dedicating any real focus to it.

They would rather tell you what "actually happened"... when on review, what they just said didn't happen at all. If you do not show the audience what is in your story, then your story is literally hearsay. And in this day of AI writing, this context defiance has to be caught.

There are writing problems here that wouldn't have happened with a dedicating writing team. And there are more dedicated writers in the fandom, than there is in the Multbillion Dollar Publishing Corporation...

... and that is a Problem, because if you're being paid to do this and have a team, shouldn't this be seamless?

#star wars #star wars the bad batch #the bad batch #the bad batch season 2 #the bad batch season 1 #the bad batch season 3 #The bad batch season 3 spoilers #tbb s3 spoilers #critical analysis

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beanghostprincess · 3 months

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Zeff x Yasopp would mirror sanuso perfectly.

Zeff would be patient caring and attentive like Usopp and Yasopp is just adoring and protective but also very anxious and overwhelmed. Due to his ill experience with the same sex (and internalize homophobia and comphet) like sanji.

Yasopp with false confidence would start flirting with him but would immediately start to panic because he didn't expect for zeff to flirt back and would quietly retreat trying to hide his blush and embarrassment. It didn't help that his crew teased him about and would try to egg on the conversation even further. Zeff finds it endearing he doesn't push him to do anything and let him go at his own pace.

Eventually Yasopp starts showing up the baratie by himself almost always nervous. Zeff always gives him a discount and sometimes free dessert he lets him stay after the restaurant closes. The chefs are watching their boss rizz up this man just by smiling and listening to him talk about nothing important, Patiently waiting for him to confess already.

He eventually does and they start dating. It's nothing serious yasopp is still nervous about it. He gets shaky and his hands get sweaty when it's held.

Their kids find out eventually because shanks told Luffy by accident and Luffy being Luffy dropped it in random conversation. Sanji is mortified and confronts his dad and fights via snail. Usopp doesn't really care tho he does wish you found out by his own dad and not sanji ranting about it

Stop. You're making me think about this ship. We just upgraded Sanuso and made it Sanuso 2.0 older versions. No, but really. It's really sweet. They look cute together. Yasopp deserves to be with somebody after his wife passed, and Zeff seems like an awesome husband. Look at him. I love how the dynamic is basically the same as Sanuso's but, like, different, y'know? It's really cute. Also, I just know Zeff would fucking love telling Sanji because he knows the kid is going to have a heart attack and it's going to be really really funny. Yasopp on the other hand would be more nervous about it because he isn't sure if Usopp will be okay with all of that, so they keep it a secret. And that's when Shanks goes and tells Luffy because he can't keep secrets with Luffy around.

Sanji panics. Dies. Cries. Screams. Tells Luffy to turn the ship around and go to the Baratie because he needs to break his dad's other leg. Usopp is just,, Really happy for his dad. Even if it's nothing serious. He likes seeing him giving love another chance. Sanji hates it. Usopp is okay with it. It's a bit chaotic. Sanji really needs a moment to calm down. I think Usopp would tell him that it's nothing serious and it's fine that their dads are happy and doing whatever they want out there. Sanji kind of agrees but,,, "It's weird, though, isn't it?" / "Is it? I dunno. Didn't think about that. I think our parents fucking-" / "Don't call it that, oh God" / "I think our parents seeing each other isn't weird. Or bad. They're pirates living their own adventures, just like us. Let them enjoy themselves". And that kinda works for now to calm him down.

#sanji is having a moment leave him alone #honestly the whole thing with yasopp and zeff wouldn't even be A THING THING y'know they're just having a good time #but sanji would absolutely have a heart attack #usopp just sits there happily #one piece #black leg sanji #usopp #sanuso #yasopp #red leg zeff

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magniloquent-raven · 1 year

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Y'know, the more i think about hellcheer, like, as a ship, the more i veer away from anything that has Eddie putting Chrissy on any kind of pedestal (even in a joking, petname sort of way where he calls her princess or angel or anything like that)

Like. Eddie could very easily have pulled out the kid gloves when interacting with Chrissy, she's physically small and emotionally fragile, it's not hard to let that kind of shit cloud the way you see someone. Genuinely, everyone in Chrissy's life seems to hold her to this weird Good Girl standard. See: Jason's outright refusal to believe she would've stooped so low as to associate with Eddie and willingly do drugs. See: the way her mother talks about her during her eulogy, not like she was a person but like she was some light-bringing saint.

But Eddie just kind of. Treats her like a person. And that seems to be what she likes about him.

Plus, he's doing it on purpose, as far as i can tell.

He saw something was off, in the beginning, she was acting weird, and he tried to validate her feeling like the whole situation is strange by dropping his "queen of Hawkins High" line, but then when this was her reaction to that:

He immediately shifted gears. He got a lot more theatrical about the whole thing—something he seems to only do around his friends—and started trying to connect with her by bringing up the fact they knew each other in middle school. Like he was trying to reassure her that he didn't just see her as the person she became in high school, the Important Cheerleader Girl, because clearly whatever reputation she's cultivated isn't all that comfortable for her.

Like a good 40 seconds after he fails to get a response to the Queen Chrissy comment he calls her a freak instead and

My girl is here for it, okay. She's into it. They're making googly eyes at each other and suddenly he's inviting her to see his band and showing her the tattoo on his chest even though he has SEVERAL on his arms he could've just pointed to instead, like. Okay, slut.

My POINT is, this isn't some cliche Good Girl Is Taken In By Local Bad Boy love story where she's not really a person and he treats her like an object because she's so pristine. Chrissy's been living this life that has her holding herself to impossible standards, where the stress of it has her seeing a counsellor and throwing up in the bathroom and keeping horrifying hallucinations to herself because she can't tell anyone in her life that she's struggling. And then Eddie comes along and goes "Yeah, I mean, life is kinda fucked isn't it," like that's just normal, because it is, and she can't help but want to know what it's like to be that comfortable.

And while she's being drawn in by the idea that maybe it's okay to be a little fucked up, he's realizing that she really isn't that Good Girl Cheerleader archetype, she's a person with struggles and quirks and he'd really like to maybe get to know more about that because she isn't judging him by his reputation either and she remembers what his band is called and he's just a little bit extremely infatuated but it like, in the normal adorable "I made her laugh I can die happy now" sort of way not the weird "She's literally a perfect angel" kind of shit that seems to pop up a lot when girls are blonde and nice.

Idk I'd just like to see more Eddie giving Chrissy increasingly nonsensical petnames to make her laugh. Them getting high together and Chrissy finding out she kinda hates it but she just kind of giggles her way through a rambling explanation of how weird it is before passing out. Or her practising cheer routines while Eddie hangs out because she just likes having him around, despite the fact that him (obnoxiously, loudly) cheering on her cheering is super distracting. Etc. Just. Y'know. Them being weird and messy and silly with each other. Fuckin' around being dumb, because they feel safe with each other.

#hellcheer #edissy #eddie munson #chrissy cunningham #stranger things #st4 #this got long winded whoops #i just stumbled across a post i reblogged a while back and it got me thinking #about these two #and how much i've come to dislike princess as a petname in most contexts 😅#so this might just be me rambling to justify my preferences lgkdjfkljd #but idk i remembered chrissy's mom calling her ''my angel'' in her eulogy and #her mother was the main focus of all her vecna visions so it kinda implies their relationship is..#fraught?#i can't help but think chrissy would prefer not to be called things that remind her of the way her mother talks to her

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ruibaozha · 1 year

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so I've got a question for ya

more LMK specific but since you're well versed in knowledge about him, thought I'd ask

I'm curious on your opinion of the (LMK) Nezha "shipping"?

everyone's weird about it bc of most of his interpretations being eternally 12, and y'know, I've got a neutral opinion- I don't really care if people do because immortals have really fucking weird relationships/demonstrations of age due to being very much NOT mortal, and it's a completely different interpretation, and it also HEAVILY depends on the context, so I'm just kind of all "shrug. do what you wanna do"

but I'm simply curious about what you view from it. :D

So I’ve sat on this for a while because I didn’t know how to properly articulate what I wanted to say. I still don’t wholly know, but I will do my best.

I do not personally care if someone does or does not ship Nezha with others, it is common practice within Chinese social media circles to ship and make fanart of these deities together as it is mostly harmless fun.

Nezha is not an eternal child and has never once stated to be one within his original mythos, documentation of him in derivative works, or in the ways he is portrayed in statues. This is not to deny the existence of a child Nezha as he too has his purpose, but things like his associations with lotus motifs and a number of his weapons are specific to when Canonization of the Gods was widely circulated. This is a topic itself that I have been sitting on but want to properly debunk in the future.

I understand the misunderstandings though. A great deal of information about Nezha was never properly localized into English, and the English language media available of him largely presents him as a child. This is not an excuse for remaining ignorant and claiming to have done research you did not do, as I have seen many defensive and angry fans do.

Additionally, I don’t know where the 12 number comes from. I could not find an example predating 2015 that states this, the only example I could find being Overly Sarcastic Productions’ series covering Journey to the West which is littered with various errors and should not be heralded as 100% factual. If anyone is able to locate an example predating 2015 I will be happy to receive it. I have been trying to find the root of this specific misinformation for a while.

It would be disingenuous to pretend that Nezha/Nalakubara did not undergo some form of change in the centuries he has existed and been worshipped. However it must be acknowledged that both his child and adult self hold important functions in terms of deific worship.

At the time of this answer being written I am currently researching Nezha’s extensive military career as well as his birthday celebrations during the month of April.

To wrap this up I will attach various images of non-child Nezhas. I will not further elaborate on this until I am ready.

#li nezha #lmk nezha #nezha #nezha 2019 #nezha reborn #the legend of nezha #dislyte nezha #monkie kid nezha #lego monkie kid

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thewizardingtoad · 6 months

Text

Zod Exarion in the novel, my favorite scenes that were left out or not included that much, fun facts and more

Chess chess chess

(Novel chapter: 29)

So the manhwa isn't really telling with Zod's moods throughout the scene, but Desir put him through the gutter with that mach.

Desir thinks a lot about the differences between this Zod and the one from the labyrinth, between their play styles, and how the labyrinth affected him in the long run in small ways. It's also mentioned that the two of them carved out their chess pieces themselves.

Also Zod's pretty upset with Desir, like straight up how dare you suggest your idea worth as much as a sponsorship from the magic tower get out of my sight kind of upset. It's pretty funny actually, especially when Desir shows him just how much his idea is worth, and he straight up cancels all of his meeting that day.

Actually just go read that scene it's not long but it does so SO much to establish these two's relationship for the whole story it's really just amazing.

Fun fact: In universe, there's a book that details all of Zod's accomplishments; it's thicker than most encyclopedias.

Fun fact 2: While in the manhwa he's described as a man in his forties, the novel says that he's at worst 30 which is pretty funny.

Fun fact 3: In universe he has an 'archaic feeling to his word' which I think is pretty cool, like??? Yeah. I can see that.

Who are you really?

(Novel chapter: 84)

So the interrogation scene's also a bit different, Desir is very stressed out while Zod is fucking with him, admitting to not even wanting an answer in the first place, and during that convo Desir describes Zod this way:

Desir only saw Zod acting as the master of the Magic Tower, cold and calculative in all circumstances, and as the Seventh-Circle wizard with an insatiable curiosity in finding the truth of all things.

Which is not really a description that we get in the manhwa, but it definitely puts a lot of things into perspective.

Also, this chapter has a lot of important moments in it regarding some things that will be said later, a few notable mentions:

"My intuition tells me to trust you. And when I gave you all of my power, I decided to believe this groundless intuition."

His intuition as a wise man was telling him that Desir was very reliable.

He would never know the circumstances surrounding Desir but he could see his heart.

Where he admits that he trusts Desir taking the weight of his secret off his chest

"Haha... I'm sorry. But I give you my word. I won't ask about your identity anymore. Everyone has their own secrets that they can't share with anybody. I also have a bunch of secrets that I don't want anybody to know."

Where he reassures him when he sees that Desir isn't handling his little fuckery well

Zod's smile was amazingly warm. It was like the smile of a grandfather looking at his grandson.

And of course this motherfucking sentence which is a gut punch and a half ngl.

So clearly chapter 84 putting down the groundwork for *the scene that the mannwa haven't adopted yet and at this point I'm not sure if they will,* aka: the most painful thing ever

But before that:

Fun fact 3: apparently Zod's a good actor? Lol.

The flying ship of death flag

(Novel chapter: 249)

So of course a lot of things happened between these chapters but this is the one that I want to point out because. Well.

So in the manhwa Desir says 'build a flying ship' Zod builds a flying ship and all's well that ends well right? Not really.

You see The Flying ship Valkyrie is not just any random insane idea that Desir came up with but in fact The Ultimate Dream Project of Zod Exarion - the one from the labyrinth, y'know - and isn't that just great?

There's something poetic about Desir making sure Zod can manage to reach his dream, his ultimate goal, even after death. (Something something the student carrying their master's will something something reaching your parent's goals after their passing to feel closer to them etc. etc.)

Oh, it's also a pretty big death flag, but don't worry about that.

Fun fact: this scene emphasizes the fact that Zod wasn't "just" a magician, a lot. "The ship was the ultimate goal he wanted to reach as an engineer", "he lamented that he couldn't spend his life satisfactorily as an engineer"

Fun fact 2: And he whined about it a lot! No, I'm sorry ranted.

I'm gonna just put his here because god dammit I love this man:

In Desir’s previous life, Zod often lamented over the fact that he couldn’t spend his life satisfactorily as an engineer. When the Shadow Labyrinth arose, he was forced to discard his position of Tower Master and bear his title as the lone Seventh-Circle magician.

Desir recalled these scenes of frustration as clearly as if they had happened yesterday. Most often, Zod would rant while they played chess.

The quiet before the storm

(Novel chapter: 275)

So the fact that there is a traitor is revealed and we get this very cute scene:

Realizing that Desir had immediately jumped to the worst situation, and his mind had consumed itself with the task of discovering who, Zod immediately rushed to calm Desir down.

Zod had always been like this, even in Desir’s previous life. He was Desir’s rock, the one who would support him in his times of need. That was why Desir trusted Zod more than anyone else.

Which again alludes to the *surprise* we will be slapped with in the face soon, but really this is just nice.

“I have some good news. Actually, I only dropped by to share this.”

Zod’s eyes changed. The wise eyes, which seemed to encompass everything, were nowhere to be found, and the eyes of an excitable child appeared within a moment.

‘Here we go again.’

As an engineer, he used to show such eyes when he was discussing things that interested him. No matter how much time passed, Zod Exarion was a reliable constant.

And I'm also just putting my favorite quotes here, don't mind me. There's also a point I'm making, and I will get to that when I reach the end.

Oh hi Priscilla what are you doing with that artifa-

(Novel chapter: 278)

So this is exciting because we get the first second appearance description for Zod which is

He looked as miserable as the smashed tower.

Glossy black hair moved in the breeze.

So that's funny.

Actually I could start describing this scene in great detail, go over every little thing I wish was in the manhwa, but really, you should go read it because it's a lot. This act kind of starts from 275 and is I think the saddest one in the story.

For instance, Zod admits that he's thinking of the battle in chess terms and that makes him think of Desir, how he apparently lost a mach the first time in decades.

He's thinking a lot about his and Desir's relationship, and we get golden lines like this one:

It was no exaggeration to say that Desir was the only one who could share ideas with Zod throughout all the fields of his expertise, and talk casually with him.

The act also really drives home how Zod is THE BEST OF THE BEST when it comes to magic. He holds his ground with only his own mana to help him against Priscilla and 4 swordsmen, whose defense equals the aurora system!

Fun fact: He lost both an arm and a leg during the fight, while the manhwa only showed the loss of an arm

Fun fact 2: Zod's cane, which was a constant in the novel (read: It wasn't changed every time it appeared) had a first tear magic stone in it that was like a national treasure.

Aaand we reached where the manhwa is right now... kinda

I was going to add another segment and a long, Long rant to the "2nd half" of this post, but I don't want to ruin the kind of positive vibe of it, so I'm going to put that one in another post.

First I will go through the things that made That Scene in the novel work, why I'm disappointed how he manhwa's handling it, predictions on how the whole "Helena thing" will play out and then some final thoughts, so that's coming soon.

#zod exarion #desir arman #returner's magic #a returner's magic should be special #I'm procrastinating studying for my exam right now #it's less than 10 hours away and I haven't really started yet T_T so pray for me lol

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cleromancy · 5 months

Note

What is your opinion on KonTim? I noticed you posting a lot of Kontim lately and I was wondering if you are beginning to like it? Also, since I know you stated you didn't like Kon in the past, are you beginning to change your mind about him?

to be honest my opinions from 12-13 years ago when i was a very angry very opinionated teenager often dont reflect my current opinions. i just want to establish that now.

but for the record my dislike of kon was more of a reflex to the way fandom at the time made him this very flat "aw shucks" kind of cardboard cutout. i only started disliking him when i tried reading more of his comics where he tended to be y'know. more nuanced, he'd be a jerk sometimes, inconsiderate and thoughtless, etc, and then turning around and going on tumblr where the way people talked about him didnt reflect that at all, that was really offputting for me. because i do--and did--love characters who are assholes, but not if thats not... like... acknowledged. and fandom was *aggressively* not acknowledging it, from my perspective. anyway i think when i get around to rereading yj98 ill like him more this time. particularly because i *am* so much older now and will be reading from more of a place of "yeah of course hes a shithead sometimes, hes 16 years old (for a given value of 16 years old)."

as for timkon i wouldn't say i "ship" it. and i would also like to contest the assertion that ive been posting "a lot" of it lately LMAO i think ive posted it like two times in as many weeks, and then maybe 2 more times i rbed smth where they were in the same nonshippy frame or textpost?

but back to the ship itself. to begin with they *are* very good friends whose relationship is important to them both, that changed them both, and that has an impact on characterization. and i dont... think you can read a lot of those old tim comics, if you read him as queer at all, without acknowledging that there was at at least one point something btwn them.

but as far as shipping it goes. first of all i still think most of fandom does it wrong. (if im being serious, theres no "wrong" way to do fandom, but that's also the most succinct way i can put it that i don't vibe with the majority of the stuff thats out there.) second of all i don't... like i dont *want* them to get together, exactly, unless a given writer is doing a really good job at the yarn theyre spinning convincing me otherwise, within the boundaries of that story.

but there *is* something btwn them, romantically speaking, and it has a lot of interesting character/relationship potential to explore for both of them. i am at the moment almost entirely uninterested in exploring it from kons side, which is another reason i dont really ship it, but that might change when i get around to rereading yj98. but i really don't think you can get a full picture of new earth tim drake as a character without admitting he at least had a thing for kon when kon was dead, any other point in time being much more up for interpretation.

so basically! 1. its interesting when its allowed to be interesting and not flattened into featureless fluff 2. i dont ship it AS SUCH but it absolutely was a thing that happened even if they never date or dated, and 3. as for kon himself i think ill be a lot more forgiving now both bc i Am older and bc no one in my fannish circle these days is annoying about him where i see it LMAO

#asks #dc

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tobiasdrake · 4 months

Text

I need to go see a person about a coin.

You know, I honestly thought the Archer and Priest were unbeatable but then I nailed them on my second try so maybe I'm just bad at understanding this game.

In any case, enough of that. We have official hero business to attend to.

HEY FUCKWEASEL, BRING OUT THE LOOT AND WE WON'T MESS UP YOUR FACE.

...

Much. We won't mess up your face much. I did not come all this way to not hit something with my beatstick.

Oh. Well. No going back now. We are across the B&E threshold. This is officially a burglary. All we can do now is see it to the end.

Zale, Garl, you guys holding up okay? Don't think of it as banditry, think of it as treasure hunting.

Dude, it's a smash and grab. I don't know what's so complicated about that. But sure. Whatever. Come along, Patches.

This might be a little more complicated than a smash and grab. I'm glad I made Patches stick around; We might need him to explain some things.

Alright, we'll make base camp here and then figure out what we're TEAKS TEAKS TEAKS TEAKS

Holy shit, when and how did you get here!? I guess she couldn't resist the allure of breaking into a mysterious wizard lab. We were gone five minutes and she was like, "Hold up, did I just tell them I don't want to investigate the most interesting and mysterious place on this whole island!? GUYS. GUYS WAIT FOR ME."

Oh, we're not the first people to break in here. Could have fooled me from the impenetrable door outside. I wonder if the wizard has to repair it after each would-be burglar steals inside?

Or maybe these guys are just more subtle than we are.

Either way, loot's mine. Back off.

Y'know, this place isn't so complicated. Not any worse than the Mist Trials, really. Once you get your head around the idea that physics can loop there's really nothing that unusual about this wizard's labyrinth.

So you climbed down a well out of self-pity? Seems a bit extreme but sure, I don't see why not.

Did you eat the watch!?

Okay sure, why not. The important thing is, I caught a ton of lunar trout. Objectively the best kind of trout.

Garl, we're doing crime here. You don't call out during crime.

Also something you don't shout at the top of your lungs during a burglary. Garl, if the wizard hears you then this burglary's going to have to turn into a robbery real fast.

Too later. Burglary's cancelled. This is a robbery now. Weapons out, everyone! Look fierce; Show of force. We're going for maximum intimidation.

HOLY SHIT I AM MAXIMUM INTIMIDATED RIGHT NOW

You know what, that's fair.

After what we just went through it better fucking be.

Imagine fistfighting a being of pure rainbow light and energy over a misunderstanding. "Whoops! Sorry, wrong loot. You wanted the cosmic horror of time and space. He's two portals to the left."

At this point, you should be so lucky for me to officially name you as members of our crew but whatever. I'll take what I can get.

So are we chasing down the Vespertine first or going straight to Wraith Island?

...

Okay. I. Guess. That's on me for assuming. Cap'n did say she was chasing after a ship. I should have taken that as a red flag that she didn't already have one.

._. Yo ho ho, pirates we be. To set sail on the ocean is the life for me.

#sea of stars #drake plays sea of stars

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the-music-maniac · 2 years

Text

I was thinking about Bingliushen today, y'know, as you do, because of this awesome (and true) post here and was abruptly reminded of the complaints I've heard about Bingliushen on this basis, mostly that they can't see it happening between Binghe and Qingge and that it's unrealistic.

First of all, valid! People absolutely don't need to ship it, or think it's plausible tbh, fandom is fun because there are differing opinions.

But I still did want to talk about why I find the ship so compelling, since part of the reason I love it so much is BECAUSE it's so unlikely.

I want to preface this by saying first that I don't actually think LBH and LQG falling for each other is impossible, as some people do, since I think that's the biggest protest with this ship. People don't seem to have as much of an issue believing LiuShen. Anyways, I just think that LBH and LQG ending up as a thing is only merely difficult. That's kind of an important distinction.

And the reason is because I really don't think Luo Binghe is only capable of truly loving (in a general sense) one person as an adult (specified adult because we do see that he loved his mother as a kid. He's also fond of Ning Ying Ying as a child but we see that they're not as close when he comes back cause of the murdery demon thing). That does appear to be the case in the story because the man is VERY intense when it comes to Shen Qingqiu, but I think that's more of a result of all the trauma he experienced as a kid, and the abandonment issues. He fell for Shen Qingqiu as an impressionable child - through no fault of Shen Qingqiu obviously because he fully viewed Luo Binghe as a disciple and wasn't grooming him or anything (also they're cultivators so they're technically immortal? How does age differences work in that case?). Shen Qingqiu in that instance was the one person in his world as a teen, the first person outside immediate family to ever tell him he's not a monster for being a demon - and also someone who's considered more valuable than Binghe - a lauded, accomplished authority figure I suppose. Someone important who sees value in Binghe when he's been told he's worth nothing. The instances of being left behind by his mother (cause she died obvi) and then by one of the only other people who cared for him - pushing him off a cliff to die because he's a demon (or so he believes) has to fuck with your head. And if you love the person the amount Luo Binghe appears to, well I understand being intense once you finally get them back. To an unhealthy level tbh, but then again this man needs so much therapy in general 😅. Get you some healthy coping mechanisms and healing, good sir! Also it's just occuring me as I'm saying all of it that it sounds like I'm calling Luo Binghe out for having daddy issues (parental issues?) but like. I'm sorry but he kinda does.

So, I don't think anyone is only capable of loving a singular person, but, as I mentioned before, because this is their (LBH and SQQ's) love story, we only focus on them. LBH does have the capacity to rebuild a support system, to make friends, expand the amount of people who care about him and who he cares about. Basically my point is that I believe even though he doesn't have other close emotional relationships with people by the end of the book, that he potentially COULD. I also want to mention that the concept of polyamory for Binghe to me, in terms of only as sexual relationship in the beginning at least, is also not outside the realm of possibility, just cause of the existence of Bingge. We know he doesn't love anyone in that version of him, and it could be argued that matters change because he does love SQQ, but regardless, the fact is there that a version of Binghe does engage in polygamy. He is okay with multiple partners, that's not some huge hang-up or random morality issue for him. So the idea of LBH agreeing to a threesome with LQG and SQQ because he thinks SQQ would like it, isn't remotely impossible in my books.

It's hard to say if LQG is open to a relationship with multiple partners, we don't see much of his relationship preferences beyond the fact that he likes SQQ, but I can regardless see him being the type of person that grits his teeth and hangs around just to see SQQ and tries his best to get along with LBH cause it makes SQQ unhappy that they hate each other. I can see him noticing despite himself, LBH who, now that the situation is no longer so dire, challenges him and is on par, can defeat him over and over, merely because it's been so long since he's had a real challenge, has hit an immovable wall. Tbh LQG doesn't really give the time of day to people who haven't either helped him in some way (SQQ) or people who can match him in a fight. What is it like to find someone who actually gives him a run for his money? And what is it like seeing the downtime of LBH while he's there for SQQ's company, enough to realize that this man on top of being a demon that everyone in the sects laud as evil, partakes in those ordinary domestic things that every person does? What is it like to slowly be able to see that SQQ really isn't in any danger from LBH, and ending up on random errands with him in the name of peacekeeping, realizing they might actually work together well as a team? The hilarious thing is I'm pretty sure one of LQG's love languages is literally just. Violence. Fighting for SQQ's body back. Protecting those he cares about with force. Hunting for rare monsters to bring back. Shit like that. And y'know what? That's a language both LBH and LQG speak fluently. Very fluently. They can understand each other so easily. And I think that's something that LQG would be taken aback by in a good way.

Also if I'm going to be honest, as weird as it sounds, I'm pretty sure LBH is going to be the hold up in the getting along thing. Because at where canon ended: he had already won. He's with the person he loves. There isn't much incentive for him to be nice to LQG beyond not wanting SQQ to be disappointed. SQQ married him, chose him, regardless of what happens, SQQ is probably not going to leave LBH out of the two. Harsh, but solid logic. And his dislike of the other man is entirely connected to the fact that LQG likes SQQ and LBH has abandonment issues for days (for good reason tho I will say).

LQG on the other hand has acknowledged that LBH has won, and so he likely is also thinking along the same lines - I have more at stake here because if SQQ were forced to choose, no way would he choose me over the man he married. He really does have more incentive to get along with LBH. Not only that, a large part of his animosity also appeared to stem from worry about SQQ. Like he seemed to have fought LBH for SQQ's body back cause he thought LBH was doing some fucked up shit, being selfish etc. LQG doesn't seem the type to hold grudges. He dislikes LBH because it repeatedly and actively hurts to see him with SQQ - it's an anger and hatred that stems from softer emotions like the knowledge that he lost the man he loves, that he wasn't good enough (and here is where I cry btw). It's to protect himself from the emotional hurt. One that could potentially be alleviated by growing closer to both SQQ and LBH. Meanwhile at the beginning LBH is a kind of cold, smug dislike. So he really is the hold out. But again, the previous things I have said about how LBH doesn't only have the capacity to care about one person, coupled with his previous chill attitude towards sexual relations and polyamory and his rather obsessive need to please SQQ - I can very much see LBH agreeing to a threesome to make SQQ happy, and to taunt LQG, and then being slowly surprised at how much he doesn't actually?? Hate this??? SQQ doesn't love him any less or appear to have any thoughts of leaving him, and meanwhile he has this hot dude in his bed sounds like a win for everyone lmao

So anyways, that's kinda point one: I think it's very improbable, not impossible. It takes a very specific sequence of events. But it can happen.

Two:

I fully believe LQG and LBS are not soulmates or anything of the sort, since it does tend to be the general assumption within stories like this (xianxia and even wuxia), that there is the existence of soulmates, the red string of fate, a predetermination that these people will eventually care for each other, something more set in stone, or even of 缘分 (Yuán fen) where it's not fated in the sense that it's set in stone, but fated in that there is a high probability or an affinity for a relationship, or a meeting and event.

The point is that, certainty in a lot of stories, the concept of falling for each other no matter what, over and over, is a theme and viewed as romantic. And it absolutely is! I love stories where people end up together - in any capacity, doesn't have to be platonic - in every conceivable scenario. Hell, that's why I love reading AU's. And while it's not canonical that Binghe and Qingqiu are fated, while if anything their relationship is also a one in a million chance, people in the fandom still seem view BingQiu as soulmates. Or at least probable in the story. Valid. I mean it's hard to argue with the fact that they did indeed canonically fall in love against all odds - that is in character for them because this story is their love story.

But here's what drives me absolutely crazy in the best way about Liu Qingge and Luo Binghe's relationship: within the premises of canon (where LBH is damn possessive about SQQ and doesn't like LQG for that reason, and meanwhile LQG doesn't like LBH cause he thinks he's immoral and also cause he loves SQQ) they are the most unlikely, out of the left field, came out of absolutely nowhere to blindside you with the sheer depth of your emotions, type of love. They are the relationship that peak lords gossip about - "SQQ made sense, he was always fond of LBH, but LQG???? He was always the most vocal about his hatred. Well I never-" etc. Etc. They would be the relationship that shakes LQG and LBH's understanding of themselves and how the world around them functions to the core: because neither of them could've imagine in a million years that they had the capacity to view their greatest enemy with the tenderness of love. The sheer audacity of it, of suggesting these bitter romantic rivals could grow to love each other to match what they feel for SQQ - that's the good shit.

After all, while SQQ and LBH were also unlikely, they were only that because LBH was a fictional character up until Shen Yuan died. Even as a disciple LBH knew he liked SQQ, this man fully saw that one coming. And SQQ may be oblivious as fuck romantically, but even so he did acknowledge that he was already fond of LBH. They most certainly did go through hardships and obstacles to get where they are - but always with the acknowledgement that loving each other was never the hard part. It was always everything else.

So there's point two of why I like the unlikeliness of BingLiuShen - because loving each other is the difficult path for LBH and LQG. With the bitterness of everything that had passed, falling is not the part that is easy. And it shakes the laws of this universe. It makes LBH and LQG question everything. It makes them wonder what they know about the world, the rigid lines of black and white they've lived in, and their stubborn ideas that love can only ever be a finite source that will run out if you spread too widely. And not only that, it may help with LBH's abandonment issues - to have two people willingly choose him against all odds - one who actually started off hating him. And in the process, his level of attachment to SQQ might become a little healthier. Like I get that it is a story so no judgement here, but it can't be good for LBH to place his entire value of the world all in one singular person. That's hard on both SQQ and LBH. In making LBH question his worldview and viewpoints on love and relationships, it may be the thing that kickstarts him letting other people in in a platonic capacity as well. And as for LQG's worldview, it would be nice to show him that there can incandescent happiness in this life, not merely just contentment with his usual rigid routine. To give him a happy ending, truly. This is just a fancy way of saying he makes my heart hurt so I want to give him two boyfriends the end.

The enemies to friends to lovers trope also ties into this and is so compelling because it also requires so much character growth to occur for it to work. Like not only is their worldview shaken, but both LQG and LBH need to change as people (for the better) for them to even consider making a relationship with all three of them work out in the long run. People don't hate each other for no reason, there is almost always some Bad Thing™ that occurs to make them dislike each other, be it rivalry (love rivalry in this case) an outside force (their respective groups are enemies) or because they hate some aspect of the other person. It involves acting on their worst instincts - pushing someone away from jealousy, hurting each other because they let anger take over. For that to become love, requires WORK. It requires each character to actively notice their own biases, choose of their own volition to correct themselves, to change and possibly become better as they get to come to understand their "enemy". They have to choose to lay down their arms, every single step of the way. That is so difficult to do. So unlikely. So improbable. As I said before, it's the harder path. And yet they walk it, and if they succeed, I think that's something so precious because it was so quietly and fiercely fought for.

Anyways this is getting long as fuck so while I have some more to say about BingLiuShen as a whole, I think I'll end this here. Thank you so much for reading!

#bingliushen #liubingshen #liu qingge #luo binghe #shen qingqiu #meta #talking about ships #ot3 #svsss

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