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#i just personally feel like his real appearance is something he can default to without conscious effort
pearlsinmyhair · 3 months
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⚔︎⊹ ࣪ MODERN!MIZU HEADCANONS
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i had to write something for her- i was itching. headcanons are always kinda scary for me so i hope you like them
anyways: very light on x reader, with general mentions of mizu having a partner. that being said, no nsfw (for this one).
real quick! : i use she/her pronouns for mizu in this. if this is triggering for you, which i completely understand if it is, then please don’t proceed.
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≈ she most definitely owns a cat. mizu is one of those pet owners whose animals reflect their personalities. her cat will tolerate some and scamper away from the rest of those who dare try to pet them. the feline avoids taigen, is chill with akemi, and pretends to hate ringo (she purrs as soon as he walks into her apartment, but she does so with a grumpy face).
≈ surprisingly, the fur baby let you scratch her under her chin when you first came over- which, believe me, mizu noted.
≈ has a butterfly knife.
≈ can do extremely elaborate tricks with it -are we surprised-
≈ one time taigen tried to copy her and it ended with him slicing a finger open and almost flinging the knife into his face.
≈ there’s a blood stain on the rug in mizu’s living room, and whenever taigen brags she’ll just silently point at it to humble his ass.
≈ also has a fish. specifically a beta fish. they’re solitary and will fight others if kept together, and i think mizu would find some kind of kinship with a little angry beta fish.
≈ no, her cat doesn’t try to eat her fish. everyone is convinced that the three beings in the mizu household can read each others minds.
≈ this idea isn’t squashed when you eventually move in, because three simply becomes four, and you all move around each other and communicate perfectly without so much as a look. it’s freaky, and taigen, akemi, and ringo will watch them in silence trying to figure it out.
≈ she wears those giant bermuda-cut jean shorts. akemi hates them, which just makes mizu love them more. she loves seeing her face scrunch up with disgust when they meet up.
≈ gym girlie gym girlie gym girly-
≈ girl’s got a snatched waist, it’s not faaaaiiiirrrr-
≈ definitely has tattoos, and everyone of them is meaningful. there’s a teeny tiny pheonix at the nape of her neck, a dagger on her ankle for swordfather, and a Hokusai wave trailing down her bicep that she gets extended every now and again.
≈ speaking of the wave tattoo, mizu has a deep seated love for the ocean. as in, she’ll never tell anyone outright, but if the group is anywhere near the beach for the day, mizu disappears. they find her via taigen (he has her location under the guise of knowing where to find her body if she gets killed), and she’s waist deep in the waves, just kinda meditating.
≈ she doesn’t get visually cold. like, cmon, sis was wandering around in the snow and sporting a little red nose. she doesn’t complain, doesn’t shiver, and her teeth don’t chatter.
≈ that is, unless you’re close to her.
≈ she’ll allow herself to be babied after putting up a fight (ahem ringo) but a bitch will melt if you fret over her.
≈ factory reset when you try to warm her hands up by cupping them in yours and breathing on them.
≈ taigen will gag if you both show pda, and mizu will threaten death.
≈ this woman has enviable fashion sense. off duty model vibes, even though she’s not trying.
≈ favors baggy clothes, and likes a more androgynous appearance.
≈ that being said, the eyeliner on her slays. just as sharp as her sword, and she’s got ariana grande skills when it comes to applying it.
≈ rbf all the way. most people think she hates them (she does, but she’ll never confirm it) because her default expression is stern.
≈ i think she’d wear rings. all kinds- she likes to twist them when she’s thinking.
≈ if she were to go to college, i feel like she’d pursue some kind of history degree or art history and specify in either japanese military history or traditional art (im projecting-)
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i’m actually fighting fear to post these-
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arogustus · 11 days
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Splatband Analysis - ω-3
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To finalize this little series (till the Side Order artbook comes out and gives us info on the new bands (please)), we end it with my favorite band, ω-3! These fishy foes are the ones providing the tunes in Salmon Run, and I’ll be real with you and say they’re one of the Splatbands that I think has a big chance of showing up in the games. The games gotta focus on the Salmonids at some point, and they’re the most well known individuals as of now, so the chances are pretty good for them to be used to expand salmonid lore. 
But enough about that. Time to see just how tasty these guys are.
The Band
In Salmonid lore, musicians hold an important role in Salmon Run as morale boosters. Individuals that show off talent in performance will unite to form bands, with ω-3 here being the best among them. In fact the Omega symbol is actually a title itself that is only bestowed to said “fattiest” bands, meaning their skill is without question. I assume this title also comes with ownership of the big venue in Jammin’ Salmon Junction, since it’s decorated with their logo, what appears to be a stylized version of the ω symbol. (Since it’s stated to be a title given to the best bands, I’m assuming the same thing applies to the building.)
There isn’t anything said about their relationship with each other, at least not directly. Considering their personality quirks, it’s safe to say they butt heads a lot (one forgets to take in others feelings, one is disrespectful to everyone, and one never listens to anyone). But I think we can infer a bit out of the way they play music. Specifically, there’s a lot of Call and Response in the songs, where one member plays a tune, and then another plays it back. It happens a lot between the cellist and the timpanist, but the DJ occasionally plays a part in it too. Each member also gets a solo in a song, where their instrument gains more prominence over others. Deluge Dirge, Fishing Frenzy, Frothy Waters. I’m no music scientist, but considering their personalities, it feels like they’re constantly competing for attention, despite being able to work together otherwise. Like, one of them just randomly breaks into a solo before dialing back and rejoining the group. 
The Valiant Green Flame Born in Jigokudani
The timpanist here is, uh, the timpanist.Odd fellow in his late 20’s with an eyepatch made out of a colander, no reason given, though the eye underneath does look dilated. He’s got a lot of passion for drumming, playing with all of his heart and soul, as well as being determined and always striving towards his goals. Doesn’t do well with picking up other people's feelings, but very good at inspiring other salmonids with his rhythms. Compared to the others, who are said to be intentionally rude, this one feels more well intentioned, as it just says they fail to pick up on other people's emotions. Like they aren’t deliberately rude to people, they just don’t notice.
Salmonid fact, the titles they’re referred to with are mainly earned by having done something in regards to their tribe. We can infer some things from these titles as a result. The Valiant Green Flame here is pretty clear, he did something of great bravery at some point, which tracks with him being determined and goal oriented. What that thing was, we don’t know. He’s called a Green Flame, so maybe that has something to do with it? Salmonids have green on them by default, so, that’s something? Eh, we’ll move on now.
The Faithful Servant of the True Salmon Emperor Hizunamasu
The DJ here is the youngest member of the band, young adult or teenager, with plenty of tongue piercings and a personality that reflects that. A contrarian who opposes anyone and everything, and shows no respect to their fellow members. A damn good DJ though, which is probably why they’re still on the band. Basically a rebel with zero respect for authority, and who just seems to dislike everything. Well, all but one thing, it seems.
Their title is “The Faithful Servant of the True Salmon Emperor Hizunamasu”. Now, someone stated to be disrespectful to everyone being a “faithful servant” is definitely contradictory. Who is this “True” Salmon Emperor? Why would they be loyal to them? The questions are mounting here. Maybe a future Salmonid themed story mode will explain? Who knows.
The Firstborn Child of Alkyne, the Hidden Blade of Yakiharas
The leader of the band, cellist, composer, and number one old man. 50 years old and counting, a surprising age for a species that doesn’t fear death. He’s very stubborn, with no respect for anyone or anything that isn’t the most radical of works. Incredibly high standards that, as it turns out, C-Side was able to meet. They made two covers of Clickbait, after all. I guess he’s a fan? Or at least C-Side has earned his respects. 
Emotionally clumsy, he’s got a delicate site with a strong appreciation for atmosphere, but struggles to express himself outside of his music. Surprisingly awkward sounding for a salmonid, but he’s got finer tastes, for sure. 
Onto his title, he’s “The Firstborn Child of Alkyne.” Alkyne is likely a tribe or settlement of sorts, probably the latter, and he was the first born there. And “Hidden Blade”. Now that’s something. I assume he’s got some fighting skill, since the blade part implies he basically acted as a secret weapon of sorts. 
And that’s every band in Splatoon and Splatoon 2. ω-3 doesn’t have much content on them, but I love them all the same. God I hope they show up soon. 
As I said, this is the end for the bands, but I am gonna do a “What I Missed” type thing later to compile any details I missed out on. Things like the Hotlantis wall of signatures, in which I’ve noticed some fun details. There’s one more thing too, but I’ll explain that in a separate post. 
Also, if you guys have your own observations, share ‘em with me in the tags or a reblog, or send me an ask. I’d appreciate it.
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I think you are one of the first people I've seen on here that doesn't try to hate on one of the characters while writing them. I'm curious, how would the M6 handle an MC with very low self esteem? I suffer from it and would love to see what you come up with ❤️
The Arcana HCs: M6 with an insecure MC
~ this is one of four requests I've received for an MC who's insecure/has low self esteem - as someone who can completely relate, here are your headcanons my loves, I hope you can receive these affirmations from fictional characters knowing that they come from a very real person who adores you all - brainrot ~
Julian
Oh, he gets it
Sure, he never hesitates to ask for what he wants, but that doesn't mean he thinks he deserves any of it
He can recognize those moments of doubt in your eyes as soon as they appear, because he knows exactly what they feel like on his own face
Which makes his heart ache for you, he knows how crappy that feels and of all the people he knows you deserve it the least
Normally when this happens his instinct is to fawn over you to the point of becoming a public embarrassment
This usually works, but sometimes when you hit a rut like this you just need something to get you out of your own head and enjoy the life you've built for yourself
He's taking you dancing
It helps everything! Focusing on the motions gets you out of your head, it's a fantastic way to initiate some physical contact, and by the time you're worn out you've had too much fun to keep worrying
Once you've reached that point you're fair game for affirmations: what a lovely dancer you are, the way you move is breathtaking, how is he supposed to enjoy dancing without you again?
Asra
On one hand, their love for you is so unconditional that they have a difficult time understanding the source of your doubts
He would love you in any shape, with any name, with any identity. If it's you that's all that matters to him
Why are you worrying about certain details about yourself when none of them change who you fundamentally are?
On the other hand, they know perfectly well what it's like to doubt themself or feel lacking
Once you two are together it's less common for you to spiral because he doesn't let you go five minutes without giving you a boost of some kind
Every morning comes with a tidal wave of subtle compliments. They will flirt with you mercilessly and go out of their way to admire any specific thing about yourself that tends to be a sticking point for you
On the days when it does get bad, he'll pick a place or activity that brings out something he knows you like about yourself
You're a good singer? You're proud of your magic? They'll take you back to the cave to practice combining the two
So many kisses, everywhere, all the time
Nadia
She doesn't struggle with it in the same way, but you've met her family
Being the youngest in a large family of exceptional people, parents with public and demanding roles, and lots of big personalities leaves very little room for self-discovery and confidence
I mean it was bad enough for her to marry Lucio and leave Prakra
She's come a really long way, and been able to address the source of her insecurities, but she remembers what it was like
Her default is already to take every opportunity to fluster you, so even if it's not on purpose you never have to doubt her affections
But she makes being a Countess look easy, she has years of education and good upbringing on top of her natural talents, and you're a humble court magician who was relearning how to exist less than three years ago
She is committed to seeing you succeed in the Palace. She'll happily spend hours teaching you the ins and outs of diplomacy and etiquette in the most delightful ways
But she'll also make sure the two of you regularly visit your old haunts, simply to highlight the things you excel at that she doesn't and to prove to you that you two are truly equals
Muriel
You've seen him go wide eyed before, but one of the times that really sticks in your memory is the moment you casually told him that he could do a lot better than you
Until he met you, he went through life with a total of one (1) friend who had a crippling combination of wanderlust and attachment issues
The fact that he's able to have a relationship with you at all is a miraculous win in his mind
He knows he's not the best at expressing his feelings, but if it's your self-esteem on the line he will learn and he will do his best
The first time he hears you voice your insecurities he's dropping whatever he's doing and sitting next to you
He'll take your hand and wait, as patiently as you need him to, until you've told him everything that's bothering you
He's not the most eloquent person, but he knows the importance of responding to your doubts and he'll painstakingly address each one, out loud, telling you that it's not true and why
On a day to day basis, he makes a point of acknowledging all the ways you make his life better with little words or smiles or touches
Portia
She's a generally easy going person, she knows all her own faults and how to acknowledge and live with them
However, she has her own brand of low self-esteem and it fuels her workaholic tendencies
So much of her life has revolved around the people next to her being the main characters that she has a hard time seeing herself as having any relevance unless she's playing a support role
And then one day she hears you, the exciting, mysterious magician who turns every day into an adventure, casually question your own worth and relevance out loud
She has to process it for a moment before she can respond. Important people experience this too? This isn't in her novels
She'll ask you about it right away. What do you mean when you say that? Why do you think that?
Talking to you proves two things to her: that her own feelings do not make her unimportant, and that you are not as indestructible as she assumed you were
She'll write her favorite qualities down about you and have you do the same, and now you say your affirmations to each other every morning
Lucio
This guy had questioned himself maybe three times in his life before he met you
He thinks he's an above-average dude on his humbler days. He hates acknowledging his oopsies because the consequences scare him, not because he thinks they make him a bad person
He adores you, you keep the world in perspective for him, and he knows how important that and the way you've helped him grow is
But he subconsciously contributes to your struggles at first. Any unique trait is teasing material to him, it never occurred to him that the stuff he comments on might be sensitive for you
Until the day he notices you change your appearance and have a hard time responding to him
Why did you change your clothes to hide that part of your body? Why don't you take credit for your work any more? Why don't you believe him when he compliments you?
When you manage to tell him, he feels awful about it. He doesn't know what it's like to be insecure, but he does know what it's like to want somebody's approval and acceptance
It'll take a while, but he'll prove all the doubts he caused wrong and then tackle the rest. How is he supposed to shine without you as a light source anyway?
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ignitesthestxrs · 4 months
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embarassment is cringe who's your bias
oh LOL dw dw i am not literally embarrassed! more just, mindful of audience u know? but also ur my audience now
i am not really a person who tends towards Biases, but here are some guys that i really love atm!
SHINee's Key - look i love all members of shinee, they probably are my ult group these days, but if you forced me at gun point to pick one it would be This Guy. key is kind of the embodiment of the tension of how faggy can you be in public without ever coming out and - well, coming out. i also have a deep respect for how much effort he puts into his solo career, and how interesting and innovative his album concepts have been esp since he got back from the military
Exo's Kai - ah my precious Nini who is here with us largely to vibe. i think he's such a great example of like, how you can be totally hands off in terms of the creative direction of your albums LOL and still be a great performer? this man lip synced his way through his own concert and looked great doing it, 10/10. but i also love just how much he clearly loves his job and meeting other idols and getting to go on tv shows and learn new things about people and the world LOL a giant puppy of a man
TXT's Soobin - speaking of giant puppy men, this is one of my Large Son's Whom I Adore. my fave thing about soobin is that he's like. never held more than a single thought in his head at one time, and everyone he has ever met adores him? like every 4th gen group has a member who is just completely enamoured with soobin, and soobin does not appear to have done anything in particular to have earned this other than being a big guy who likes anime and hedgehogs. i also enjoy how everyone in his group agreed that he needed to be the leader, especially the guys (yeonjun and taehyun) who might have preferred to be the leader themselves, specifically because they knew giving it to the guy who didn't want it the way that they did would probably be a better outcome for the group. amazing head empty man. he's so tall.
Zerobaseone's Hanbin - something is wrong with this man (positive) (fond). no uh, this is a man who has gone to great lengths to change both his physical appearance and personal affect in order to take one last shot at achieving his kpop dreams and something is wrong with ME for how feral this makes me. another guy in the 'legibly queer' column (as in, he was a competitive waacker and faggy as hell doing it lmfao like, sure i'm sure there are straight guys who waack but at a certain point you're allowed to start assuming Gay instead of defaulting Straight ok). he is a control freak. he said his favourite type of person is someone who is competent but pretends not to be so that he can do things instead. one time he was so horrified by his member wearing socks on the bed that he REMOVED THAT BOY'S SOCKS FOR HIM? ON CAMERA? HANBIN WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU
WayV's Kun - the dad to end all dads. i have endless leader feelings about this man, who is the leader of SM's final push to conquer the China market that was actually going really well until [redacted], and suddenly Kun is the leader of a group that has members in different countries, that cannot promote in China while the pandemic is going on and cannot promote in Chinese while in Korea. technically WayV is under the umbrella of the broader NCT group, but xenophobia will have stans staying 'they just don't vibe for some reason'. this man's group was shelved for over a year due to international geopolitics and he held it and them together admirably, and it's been SO good to see WayV employed in 2023 and gaining momentum again. also he can fly a plane ( a real one), somehow made PUBG hot by being very good at it, and one time he was live and you just heard from the background one of his members yelling from the shower KUN GE THERE'S NO HOT WATER, like, every man in this group just has it hard wired into their brain that if there is a problem, kun ge will fix it. and he does.
honestly i could probably go for longer, there are a lot of boys i have a lot of feelings about s o b.
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Okay here's my thoughts on the bnha monster au so far:
Let's start with Izuku because his shit is Complicated™.
So. Izuku is a Changeling. The Fae kind not the mlp kind. A Fae child swapped with a Human for... whatever the fuck reason why do Fae do that?
Now. I debated on what to do with the Human he was swapped with. I thought about doing what Cap did with OM!Sabrina and just. Making an OC to be the Human that Izuku replaced. And honestly Faezuku was tempting.
But........
Y'all know I'm here with the 'Dad for One' stuff. And AfO did canonically kinda kidnap/adopt a child. Plus I already decided that the whole AfO/OfA situation in this AU involved a Fae Contract.
So really it writes itself that Shigaraki is the Human that AfO swapped Izuku for.
I need to fuck around with this a little because Izuku and Shigaraki are different ages in Canon but I can either adjust ages or explain some Fae Nonsense.
That said, while they were swapped, even more fuckery happens because like hell am I leaving Izuku in that family. Something or other happens and they die(miiiight be AfO's fault), with Izuku ending up adopted by Inko. I can explain away Izuku looking like Inko as some more Fae Magic, the whole Changeling thing has him inclined to make his appearance resemble the family he's in. (by the time we get to the main story his appearance is solidified and can't be changed to a different default.)
Anyway!
Izuku has no idea what he is. He has no idea Magic is a thing. He knows he's a little 'off' in some ways but thinks it's probably just the adhd/autism cocktail. He does have some funky Fae memory where he remembers more about his younger years than a Human should, so he does vaguely remember different adults in his life before Inko and is aware he's adopted. But other than that.......
Well. The only real strange thing is that he likes being in the woods. He feels 'right' there. Not that he's uncomfortable at home, but it's just the Fae nature. He'll spend a lot of time out there. Sometimes he loses track of time and will spend the night in a tree or something. It scares Inko every time but she eventually decided to just get the kid a cellphone so that he can check in.
Let's hop over to All Might for a minute!
I mentioned before that OfA is a Fae Contract. The basis is that it will give you a lot of Magic Power, connecting through each user like in Canon, but at the cost of being tied to whatever Contract was made between the users when it's passed down. Mostly it is some variation of 'use this power to protect others'.
Which. Yeah is what All Might is doing at this point. I don't know if 'superhero' is the right word but he is the person who deals with keeping people safe. Whether it's from the Human vs. Monster thing, or the Monsters that do cause problems.
Now let's finally get to my favorite Katsuki.
SO.
I need to hammer out the relationship between Izuku and Katsuki. Since this is a 'no Quirks' AU, there.... isn't really anything that could cause their fallout as kids. Like, yeah I do think that Katsuki's need for positive attention, no matter how shallow it is, could lean toward the adults at school manipulating him into aiming his anger issues into bullying other students rather than helping him deal with it. But without the difference of Katsuki having a Quirk and Izuku not, there isn't anything to really turn him against his friend entirely.
I think he might just be generally mean and they fell out of friendship for the most part but less targeted bullying.
Anyway. Things are normal up into this AU's version of the sludge villain incident. Which I'm moving up to 'just before high school' rather than a whole year before for timeline reasons.
Also instead of sludge it's a Werewolf.
Yeah you can see where I'm going with this. I made that joke to Cap and I'm sticking to it.
So for whatever reason, both Izuku and Katsuki end up in the woods one night. Whether they're there together or just both ran into each other is up in the air. But they're attacked by a very big and very angry 'wolf'.
They try running for it, but the wolf catches up to them. They try to fight back, but teeth and claws and monstrous animalistic hunger really get the better of them.
Eventually All Might shows up and is able to subdue the beast. He does check over the boys, ask about if they were bit or if they need help. but.... you know how Katsuki is. Just a 'fuck off I'm fine!'. They're a bit roughed up, but nothing they really need to go to a hospital for, right?
All Might takes them at their word and leaves. The kids walk home and Izuku insists that they at least patch up the minor stuff. Gives his mom a heart attack and they lie about the wolf thing. As they're doing that, Izuku sees that Katsuki did get bit. He's worried about it. He wants to go back and find the guy who saved them, but Katsuki brushes it off that it's probably fine.
It's not fine. But we only find this out the next Full Moon. Where Izuku, unafraid of the forest even after last month's trauma, fell asleep in a tree and wakes up to a different wolf on the forest floor. A smaller blonde one. And, as the sun rises, the wolf passes out and turns back to Katsuki.
Izuku feels like he's going fucking insane. But does climb down to check on his friend. Katsuki is very out of it. Being exhausted and in a lot of pain and confused and waking up naked in a forest with no memory of the night before.
Izuku: "So. Uh. I.... I think you might be a Werewolf."
Katsuki: "There's no way in hell."
Izuku: "Look I just saw a wolf turn into you and it was a Full Moon and you got bit a month ago and is there any other fucking explanation?!"
Katsuki: "...... Not one I can think of, no."
They don't know what else to do so they end up looking for All Might. And they do eventually find him thankfully. And explain. And ask if he can help because come on aren't there cures or something?
He tells them 'yeah Magic and Monsters are real'. And he apologizes for not insisting on checking the boys over better because now it's too late. They ask what he means, and he is honest. The only cure for Lycanthropy has to be given within the first Moon Cycle. Once the infected goes through their first Full Moon, it sets in and the cure won't work.
Well shit. Katsuki is not having a good time with that information. And Izuku feels like he should've done more too.
All Might offers to help handle the situation so that Katsuki isn't a danger. Which like. Of course for a hot second they're like 'oh shit he's gonna kill him', and Izuku is 110% down to fight.
He clarifies very quickly though that there's a school where other Magic and Monster kids go. Not only could Katsuki learn more about his own abilities and other Magic stuff, but they do know how to keep Werewolves safe during the Full Moon.
Izuku wants to go to, but... it's not really for Humans and he still thinks he's a Human. Now we the parallel to Canon of how All Might was looking for a successor and all. And seeing Izuku both the first time against the wolf that bit Katsuki and just now ready to fight him when he thought there was a threat, he decides the kid's a good candidate.
Of course there's more discussion on that. But this is... interesting. Because it is originally Fae Magic that has been passed through a few different hands and is now, unknowingly, back in the hands of a Fae. A Fae who already should have a large power due to lineage but hasn't ever used it, and is now supercharged.
Basically he's ridiculously OP lmao but that shit's just Canon.
The kids end up at UA which is. Basically Monster High vibes tbh. With the rest of the UA staff and students as various monsters. Which I have not thought of what all they are yet but rip
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erabundus · 1 year
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anonymous &&. said... How does his healing work? Do bits that have come off merge back together, or are new bits grown? Is it a mix of both?
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it's  a  bit  of  both!  i  like  to  use  the  analogy  of  ren's  body  having  "save  states"  that  it  defaults  back  to  every  time  he's  been  injured.  his  body  has  one  recorded  way  of  being  that  it  wants  to  maintain  at  all  times  —  this  is  why  he  doesn't  scar,  because  that  would  constitute  as  changing  the  default.  his  wounds  don't  close  naturally,  either.  if  he  gets  a  cut,  his  skin  isn't  going  to  go  through  a  fast  forwarded  version  of  a  human  healing  process  —  it's  quite  literally  going  to  stitch  itself  back  together  in  the  reverse  of  how  he  obtained  it.  (  like  his  body  is  reverting  back  to  his  previous,  uninjured  state.  )  how  quickly  ren  heals  also  varies  depending  on  the  extent  of  the  damage.  if  he  has  a  bruise  or  a  little  scratch,  it  will  probably  disappear  before  he  even  notices  it.  meanwhile,  if  his  entire  body  has  been  fed  through  a  puppet-sized  blender,  it's  going  to  take  time  —  because  it  wants  to  heal  everything  simultaneously  and  it  only  has  the  energy  to  go  so  fast  without  putting  a  strain  on  his  power source.
ren's  default  state  can  also  be  changed!  (  that's  why  it's  a  save  state  and  not  a  save  file.  )  it's  not  something  you  can  just  do  —  you  need  to  actually  know  how  his  body  works,  but  the  enhancements  from  dottore  edited  what  he  reverts  back  to.  otherwise  he  would  simply  return  to  the  sealed  form  ei  left  him  as.
it  also  leads  to  the  horrific  fun  fact  that  ren  is  basically  running  around  with  a  near  blank  slate  of  a  body.  any  muscle  memory,  any  pain  tolerance  is  entirely  mental  —  if  he  gets  stabbed,  it  feels  like  he's  being  stabbed  for  the  first  time,  every  time.  (  he  has  brand  new  pain  receptors.  )  his  tolerance  really  is  just  a  lot.
as  far  as  missing  pieces  go,  he  can  actually  just  pop  them  on  if  he  feels  so  inclined.  if  ren  loses  an  arm,  a  leg,  even  his  head,  you  could  stick  them  where  they're  supposed  to  go  and  his  body  will  do  the  rest  —  because  it  recognizes  those  pieces  as  part  of  himself  and  wants  to  assimilate  them  back  to  where  the  default  state  indicates  they need to be.  there's  no  real  time  limit  on  this,  either.  he's  built  to  last  forever;  you  could  pop  an  arm  back  on  two  minutes  after  it's  been  severed  or  two  weeks  and  the  end  result  will  still  be  the  same.  (  nothing  decays  or  degrades  over  time.  )  that  being  said,  he  can't  regenerate  entire  limbs  —  a  few  inches  of  flesh  here  and  there  are  fine,  but  he  isn't  an  axolotl.  on  the  bright  side,  because  ren  is  effectively  indestructible,  he  doesn't  really  have  to  worry  about  situations  where  the  parts  he  can't  regrow  might  be  destroyed  entirely.  you  could  throw  his  arm  into  an  active  volcano  and  he'll  just  have  to  go  digging  for  it  —  but  it  will  stay  mostly  intact,  and  he  will  be  able  to  pop  it  back  on  after.
i've  noticed  there's  kind  of  a  sliding  scale  of  people  who  headcanon  wanderer  as  more  of  a  conventional puppet  and  those  who  headcanon  him  more  squishy  —  and  i  personally  envision  ren  as  being  on  the  more  fleshy  side  because  i  like  the  symbolism  of  him  appearing  so  outwardly  indistinguishable  from  a  human.  his  ley  lines  /  tattoos  /  built  in  mood  lighting  are  the  only  real  indicator  something  is  off  —  and  those  are  only  visible  due  to  the  fatui's  enhancements.  (  they  are  where  his  joints  used  to  be,  though.  )
broken  bones  are  also  effectively  worthless;  ren's  bones  are  made  to  be  incredibly  dense  —  they  don't  shatter.  they  snap  cleanly  if  they  ever  snap  at  all,  and  in  that  case  he  only  really  needs  to  slot  them  back  into  place  like  he's  solving  a  little  jigsaw  puzzle.
basically,  this  man  is  built  like  a  nokia.  the  only  injury  that  could  ever  realistically  threaten  him  would  be  a  blow  directly  to  his  core / chest / self replenishing electro power source  —  but  even  that  technically  isn't  enough  to  kill  him,  just  his  consciousness.  (  like  removing  the  battery  from  a  toy.  )
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musecaravan-info · 8 months
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Gabriel
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"Now I'm not looking for absolution / Forgiveness for the things I do / But before you come to any conclusions / Try walking in my shoes" ~ Depeche Mode ~
Basic Information
FACE/BODY CLAIM: Richard Speight, Jr.
AGE: Older than dirt. Literally.
EYES: Hazel
HAIR: Sandy brown; usually worn long and a bit shaggy
HEIGHT: 5'8
PRIMARY OUTFIT: Depends on the verse, but usually snarky t-shirts, jeans, and comfy sneakers for his main.
Personality
Gabriel is always quick with a joke and a laugh. He likes to see people happy and smiling, and likes it even more when he's the one who made it happen. In his main verse he usually comes off as carefree - at least on the surface. But let's be real, just because he doesn't remember his old life or the time spent in Purgatory doesn't mean the sensations of it don't bog him down sometimes. He just doesn't understand why. Regardless, he always does his best to hide it. No reason to push his personal burdens on to others, especially if it might hurt them.
Powers & Weaknesses
This will depend a lot on the verse we use. In Gabe's main verse his powers are a mere flicker of what they used to be. And he doesn't know he has them, so they're not really controllable most of the time.
In a regular Supernatural verse, Gabe's got all of the expected powers an archangel might.
Romance
Also verse-dependent. In his main verse Gabe has societal inhibitions because he thinks he's human. Mostly. So he goes about things the way most humans might. He teases and jokes, but there's not a lot of outright flirting unless interest is expressed.
In any verse where he knows who he is, the flirting will happen more readily and without as much of a filter. He'll generally stop if he perceives he's making someone truly uncomfortable, but if it's just annoying them (and he wants to annoy them) he'll probably just keep at it for kicks.
In just about any verse, Gabe won't turn down a proposition for sex or anything along those lines. He likes to have fun and if your muse is showing interest and he's interested, too, stuff will probably happen.
Where to Find Him
Verse dependent, but in his main verse here are a few ideas:
The bakery where he works
Improv/comedy clubs
Random church
Trivia night at a local bar
Verses
Just because a verse isn't listed here doesn't mean I'm not interested in writing it. I adore all kinds of AUs, and welcome the chance to get creative with my muses. If you've seen a verse that another of my muses has, and you'd like to see this muse in something similar, let me know. You can also check out my 'Plot Ideas' tag, too. ^_^
(Please see my notes down below in the 'Stuff That's Good to Know' section regarding Gabe's appearances in the show after S10.)
Main Verse:
This is the verse described in THIS POST. It's the default verse for all interactions. By ‘default’ I mean that this is where I’m going to assume things are happening UNLESS you request another verse in advance.
'Thanks for the Memories' Verse
This is exactly like the main verse BUT Gabe has all of his memories. He just pretends not to. He’s not very good at pretending - especially when people he knows show up… but he tries.
'You Look... Familiar' Verse
This is a branch off AU of the default verse and takes place after the episode ‘Meta Fiction’ in S09. In that ep, Metatron ‘borrows’ James to pull off his little story for Cas, afterwards leaving the man with the memories of a super realistic ‘dream’…and vague stirrings of ‘everything feels more wrong than it ever has before’. In this verse James leaves his job and goes looking for answers.
Canon Verse
This is for RPs that take place between S01 and S05. Gabe is Gabe. Not much more to it than that.
Purgatory Verse
For anyone who’s interested, I’m game for RPs revolving around the time Gabe actually spent in Purgatory. Themes here would be darker…probably involving gore and torture. This was not a great time for Gabe. At all.
'Before the Winchesters' Verse
Designed for historical blogs, but open to anyone. If you’ve ever had the urge for your muse to have a run-in with an all-powerful, snarky, sugar-loving, (sometimes) asshole, here’s your chance.
Human Verse
Gabe is human and always has been. He's just a normal guy, living a normal life. He works weird hours in his best friend's bakery and while life isn't bad, there are bound to be ways to make it better.
Velvet Avenue Verse
Currently a Private Verse
Gabe is an incredibly wealthy producer/director of pornographic movies. He bills the movies from Velvet Avenue Studios as being 'just like a Hallmark movie... but with porn.' He takes good care of his actors and his crew, while living a life of creativity and leisure. Sounds like heaven... but something's still missing from his life...
Janitor Verse
Currently a Private Verse
This is basically 'Thanks for the Memories,' but Gabe is working as a janitor at an indie radio studio... all in the hopes of getting close to the station's late-night DJ.
Current/Ongoing Threads
If your thread with Gabriel isn't listed here it's probably because it's been long enough since your last reply that I thought you'd dropped it. Message me to let me know you're still interested, and I'll happily add you to the list (with no pressure for a reply.) ♡
Kelly:
Just Like the Sun (American Revolution)
Just Like a Hallmark Movie (Velvet Avenue Verse)
Paul:
I Want Candy (Janitor Verse)
Reinhardt (& The Morrigan):
Ever At Your Back (Memories Verse)
Tobias:
What Will Be (Memories!Verse)
Will:
This Snow Globe World (Human Verse)
Stuff That's Good to Know Before Starting a Thread
Gabriel is a canon character from the Supernatural universe originally created by Eric Kripke. Some of what you’ll find here is canon to the TV show, however as I develop him I will have personal headcanons that are 100% mine. They may not mesh with your idea of Gabe, and that’s fine; everyone's allowed to have their own interpretation. :) However, if you send me hate about anything you will be ignored and blocked.
This blog has a timeline that (usually) picks up shortly after Cas releases all of the Leviathans onto the world. How far after can be plotted or chosen at random, I’m not too picky. If you want to roleplay with Gabe in a particular timeline or season it’s okay to ask. Chances are I won’t say no, I’m also game for all sorts of plotting and AUs.
I am NOT fully caught up on the series - I’ve only seen through the end of Season 10, and I don’t know when I’ll get around to watching any more. TBH, I was more than a little disappointed with the first couple of episodes of Season 11, so… yeah.
I also do not have a photographic memory for the seasons I have seen, so if I make a mistake with something don’t be afraid to tell me. As long as you’re not rude about it, I promise to hear you out. ^_^
Links
Please keep in mind, this blog is an ongoing work in progress. Not all of these links may lead somewhere, but they're here because they link to potential tags for this muse.
All Things Gabriel
Headcanons
Drabbles
All Threads
Ask Replies
Meme Replies
Aesthetics
Face
Special Links
Original Blog
Gabriel's Home
Return To Full Muse List
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scythe-lover-a · 2 months
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BROTHER SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! AND LET ME EXPLAIN.
So, first of all. Terrible punctuation. I'm not respecting your opinion nor person just for this reason. Sorry not sorry, it's just a default standard by me I have towards anyone who can't write and never read a book probably in his life. I do it from my childhood, so you don't have to take this one personally.
• autistic - canon where??? It's not. You STFU and learn to use real reasons. This ain't valid.
• I find him attractive. THE WHOLE FANBASE FUCKING DOES, BITCH HE'S A TUMBLR SEXYMAN, YADADADADADA, HE'S ACTUALLY THE MOST SIMPED CHARACTER FROM TOH, SO BITCH WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, WHY ARE YOU IMPLYING PEOPLE HATE ON HIM CUZ HE'S NOT ATTRACTIVE. HE LITERALLY IS. 80% OF THE FANDOM WOULD CHOOSE HIM OVER ANYONE ELSE IN NO TIME.
• ohhh, so getting abused alone makes person deserve good things now??? Ah, alright, give Hitler some clout and bitches too, then, because I heard HE has a tragic backstory. Also Bosha has definitely, too. So this does nothing to prove that huntlow is better than boshalow or whatever its called. I've NEVER seen a person abuse anyone else without a motif of themselves being abused before, and trust me, I've read and experienced a lot of this before. Also bosha's literally the archytype where you can see that she has strict, popular, wealthy and basically amity's parents. So that's not an abuse now??? I don't remember the show correctly, maybe they made an appearance, but this alone definitely proves something.
• adopted is a pitiful thing now??? Bitch don't infatilise him. I believe he deserves better reasoning than just "he deserves this out of pity and bcs i feel bad about his life. :'(((" lol also that's literally the reason i ship him with luz, she literally never acted anyhow worse than willow, who repeatedly disregarded his opinion and completely changed his character so OOC that Hazbin instagram profiles are sweating in a contest of it againist him. Like the blushing anime girl he turns into around ger is tbh like the second worst thing about the ship. >:( also willow has physically assaulted him woth her plants and magic like thrice or so. As a kind of a social underdog who totally related to H. In the moments she completely ignored his opinions and just (literally) dragged him along, it made me very angry and sick. And - also very mad at the writers for not understanding basic concepts as a healthy relationship (i trusted them after the episodes lumity that they have the ability, goddamit) and romantising abuse and bullying.
Also I love Bosha so much, literally the only good character in the whole show with the amalgamations, or however they're called, and some palismen, end of my opinion. Just... I'm not even gonna waste my time defending her. ☠️☠️ MaYbe next time lol
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sneakydraws · 2 years
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full disclaimer i don't really share that "camilo carries a picture of himself to remember what he looks like" headcanon HOWEVER. if he did. do you think he'd eventually end up looking young for his age
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arledrone · 3 years
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Not Becoming King isn’t the Real Reason Leona’s a Bastard
Everyone loves to misinterpret the real reason Leona is such a bastard and it drives me batty so here's a non-exhaustive checklist of why Leona becomes such a bastard.
this isn’t a ‘Leona did nothing wrong’ because oh my god is he an unapologetic bastard this is a ‘you are misunderstanding WHY Leona’s a bastard and watering down his character’ post.  also petition for more bullet-point style analysis because goddammit i cannot pay attention to some of the text walls y’all do
Born the second prince of the royal Kingscholar family, where Farena, the first prince, received priority and more attention due to be the successor.
The two brothers are starkly different, with Farena being more extroverted and Leona more introverted. Over the years, the apparent favourism towards Farena gets to Leona.  Despite being compared, it feels like Leona’s always considered lesser than Farena.
With the emphasis on the importance of becoming king in the family, Leona tries to prove himself as just as important as Farena.
Leona’s born with “King’s Roar”, a Unique Magic that turns anything and anyone into sand, a terrifying power in general, and further worsened due to the Savannah Afterglow’s general climate, where droughts are devastating.  Combined with his personality, his magic makes others fear Leona.
Leona is further ostracised – the resentment and frustration he feels affects his attempts to gain others’ favour/have them acknowledge his own capabilities, especially his intelligence.
Feeling that his efforts are in vain, Leona develops a defeatist attitude.  When genuine tactics do not work, he attempts to use more underhanded and cunning tactics.
When even these do not work compared to Farena, Leona fails to see the point in trying when it appears to make no difference in his life.  Leona knows he’s intelligent, and that he could do something else for the people despite not being king, but Leona’s hang-up is an inferiority complex against Farena, where he feels others will never as value him nor see him on equal grounds as Farena.
He loses more face after Cheka’s birth.
Between defeatism and depression, Leona dislikes work that he considers tedious busywork, especially if it has no immediate benefit for himself.  He also despises the slightest bit of criticism, especially if he actually put in effort only to be nitpicked (Fairy Gala), and quickly recoils into himself in response after arguing.
  Instances where he can use others to his advantage without directly doing something (intervening when his dorm students disobey his orders to stop harassing Jack as a way to intimidate them into submitting to his leadership/indebting Jack to him for his assistance; using Yuu’s predicament in Merchant of the Sea to get rid of his contract with Azul), however, appeal to Leona and he’s quick to devise a plan.
Leona doesn’t put in the proper effort in his academics at NRC presumably because he’s using it mainly as a way to get away from his family, and also because once he’s gone, his leadership over Savanaclaw (the only place where he’s given ‘priority’) is forfeit. 
 Given his intelligence, a standard academic background isn’t enough to keep his interest/motivate him.  The curriculum doesn’t challenge him, and even if material is challenging, to him they have no immediate meaning, dampening his interest.
His overly aggressive nature is a combination of hating being ridiculed/criticised (Malleus receiving a top spot by ‘default’ without Crowley at least letting Savanaclaw try and beat Diasomnia; Vil’s general relationship with Leona), and the way that resentment twisted his personality to use intimidation and fear in his favour (as opposed to it being a detriment to him at home) as a way to maintain control of the situation/his life.
Leona is not a nice nor good person.  He isn’t evil either, nor a completely bad person (at the very least, he dislikes actively harassing those he considers weak or helpless, even if he does verbally talk shit, he doesn’t typically condone physical violence when the other person can’t defend themselves properly (Jack being outnumbered and roughed up by older more experienced students).  
Unlike Scar, he also actively intended to award Savanaclaw for their fantastic job on their Halloween venue, but he dislikes showing any iota of vulnerability, so he disguised this motive with something that benefits himself instead.
His short temper and violent nature do make his dangerous nonetheless, and he’s come to use this to his advantage.   He’s still a bastard.
As Savanaclaw’s leader, his power, strength, and intelligence makes him an ideal leader for a dorm whose ideal is ‘survival of the fittest’.
The hyper-aggression of a mainly PoC dorm with animalistic, wild, ‘savage’ traits is a discussion for another time that I’ve gone over plenty of times so for once I won’t go into it y’all should know by now.
He’s a total bastard but it’s deeper than “wah I’m not king” sentiments thanks for coming to my TED talk.
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everseeking · 3 years
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hello!! It's your relief story anon!!! i friken love what you wrote!!! may i have another request 🥺 similar to the relief story, Levi's s/o gets into a near death experience right in front of him and he freezes for the first time. everyone's super shocked abt it after the mission and he gets reprimanded just for formalities (erwin n hanji rlly just wanna check up on him personally) but they all understand since he's been through a lot. Levi can't deal with his emotions and he wants to say i love you to his s/o (first time saying it) but he doesn't know how and yes HAHAHAHA
- OMG HI AGAIN ! IM SO HAPPY THAT YOU ENJOYED IT THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!!! thank you again not only for requesting that, but also for requesting again, it’s so awesome when u guys come back and request more :) plus your ideas are always so great. i had a lot of fun writing this, i hope u enjoy <3 (and i got your second message tysm for adding it ! i tried to include as much fluff as possible but my dumb brain always defaults to angst hahaha)
how to say i love you
- levi ackerman x reader
warnings: season 2 and ova spoilers (if you haven’t watched the ova’s yet they’re on youtube but this only references ‘a choice with no regrets’ aka levi’s ova)
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levi has never had...feelings for anyone before.
the romantic kind, of course. he's felt plenty of things towards people on a regular basis—anger. hate. disgust. confusion. annoyance. frustration.
to be fair he has had the occasional friend, or the occasional person who he respected, and others who he flat out wanted to protect. just never anything romantic.
this didn’t bother him, falling in love wasn’t his top priority or anything. his life has been one traumatic experience after the other. there was no time for him to be romantically involved with another, nor was he willing to take the risk of potential heartbreak that would add to his constantly growing list of traumatic events.
when he first met y/n l/n he acknowledged her as nothing more than another member of the survey corps. someone he would work with. someone he would train with. someone who he would give orders to if deemed necessary. someone who would join his team. someone he would slowly become more curious about. someone who would bring him feelings that he couldn't describe in words.
his plans had clearly gone astray.
y/n was supposed to be nothing more than a colleague, but somehow fate had much more in store. the young girl began to appear more and more in his life and before he could even process it, she was already apart of his team.
now that the they were spending almost everyday together, along with the rest of his team, levi had the opportunity to try to solve the mystery that was y/n.
there was something that he felt about her that he couldn't put into words. the way she was determined to save humanity and her friends, the way she poured everything she had into everything she did, the way she was strong in every aspect of the word, the way she got along with the rest of the team, the way she laughed, the way she smiled, the way she spoke, the way she moved, all of it. it all encapsulated him.
what is this emotion ? fascination ? curiosity ? these words weren’t completely right, but they safe enough for him to settle on for now.
yes, that's all. the brat just makes me curious because i don't understand her.
at least, that's what he told himself. but the tingles that remained on his skin from the place where she accidentally brushed up against him or the way his stomach felt after his eyes met hers or the way he noticed himself always wanting to be near her or the way he wanted to protect her more than anything in the world, said otherwise.
whatever message he wanted to send probably definitely was not passed on. when y/n accidentally brushed up against him he snapped back "watch it." when she made eye contact with him, it was more her meeting his eyes and him seemingly glaring back. when he took a few steps towards her to be closer, she felt paranoid, wondering if he was determining whether or not he should scold her for something. when she was on missions and he occasionally had to step in and save her tail, she felt like she was slacking.
truthfully in all these situations levi just resorted back to his true nature. he never meant any harm so clearly he wasn’t the best at expressing his feelings. henceforth, the three word phrase was foreign to him.
after all the many challenges that came with trying to understand each other, the couple finally got together. but despite being together, neither had said the 'L word’ yet. 
to be honest, y/n hadn’t dwelled on it too much. she had learned the best way to survive mentally was to live in the moment. when the time would come, the time would come, however, the thought that time wasn’t a guarantee gnawed at the back of her brain.  she always wondered how levi felt about the matter, but never got around to asking. little did he know he’d once again find out for himself that time wasn’t a guarantee.
just like every other day, y/n awoke to levi placing a kiss on her forehead. he wished nothing more than to let the love of his life sleep late into the morning in their shared bed, safe from the dangers of the world, but there was another mission today in which he needed her by his side.
the plan was to head to the outskirts of wall rose to a forest that was known to be surrounded by titans. hanji convinced erwin to let her try to capture titans in the forest again, as it all but worked on the female titan. erwin agreed, not only because he too believed the survey corps had all the materials necessary to capture titans again, but also because he knew the scouts needed more real time practice in the forest. levi wasn’t happy to hear the commander refer to this as “practice,” since so many lives were guaranteed to be lost in the process, but there was nothing he could do about it.
with everyone’s approval and the preparations complete, they were off. the ride there had been as close to smooth sailing as possible, with erwin successfully rerouting the troops to avoid as many unnecessary collisions with titans as possible and a surprisingly low amount of abnormals in their path. but everyone knew the real problems would be up ahead.
in this area, the titans were mainly surrounding the thick trees in the forest. it wasn’t too far from the forest where they encountered the female titan so the layout of the jungle was fairly similar. a large path ran straight through the trees, leaving the scouts lots of opportunities.
before the forest itself came into view, the hoard otherworldly creatures showed up. the crowd of titans didn’t seem to be too bad, with none surpassing ten meters. a bit of the outer edges of the formation took a hit, but everyone else made it into the woods unscathed.
unlike the last time levi’s squad was in the forest, their objective was not to be the bait. instead, they were to take to the trees and be on clean up duty. it was a little different from their normal clean up duty, as they weren’t doing chores around the castle or cabin—they were eliminating stray titans. the survey corps was only prepared to capture two titans, so any others that entered needed to be exterminated.
they weren’t the only ones with this job, but erwin placed them as the last hoop the titans had to get through before they were captured. any titans that escaped the first few groups were more likely than not going to be challenging, so they needed to be left with the most talented squad.
the eight scouts that made up levi’s squad traveled the path that cut through the forest until they found the four trees in which they were to set up camp. levi and jean were on the first tree, armin and sasha on the one across from them, connie and mikasa on the next, and y/n and eren on the fourth. the formation placed y/n and levi diagonal from each other so they could each defend half of the younger scouts in their squad if necessary, as well as had the team in pairs that weren’t often together for even more practice.
the ground rumbled beneath the group as they looked down to see the first wave of soldiers acting as bait pass through. after some time and a few more waves, including hanji and erwin who were in charge of the traps, everyone passed through and the titans came into sight.
the ground troops had all reported that no abnormals or titans above ten meters made it in so they all relaxed—or relaxed as one can be when they’re facing man-eating giants. levi recognized the last troop passing through and gave his second in command a nod which she returned, letting everyone else know it was show time.
the rumbling of the ground from the horses before was nothing compared to that of the titans. not counting the first two, there were nine titans in all. everyone gave a silent thanks to the squads who had narrowed down the hoard before it arrived to them.
finally, the first two titans ran past the trees levi’s squad was hidden in, chasing the ground troops. with a loud “now !” from levi, the rest of them deployed from their hiding places. thanks to the squad’s impeccable teamwork and countless hours of training in forests closer to home, the remaining seven titans were taken out without a hitch. y/n couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride as she watched her team improve with every mission and it was obvious they all felt the same way. the way they beamed and had to hold back their celebration was as a clear as day.
the team regrouped, with y/n checking the younger members for any life threatening wounds and levi double checking all the titans were taken care of. she had just finished examining sasha when levi came back and announced the next step of today’s plan. everyone was to head forward to meet the other troops and aid in getting the titans back to the walls. although the titans may be secured, there were still infinite possibilities for catastrophes that could happen so they needed all the backup they could get. the young cadets nodded in agreement then followed after levi as he took to the sky, with y/n tailing the rest of the group. if y/n and levi weren’t side by side during missions, this was always the formation everyone fell into. levi led the way, protecting the front of the party, and she acted as the caboose to make sure no one got left behind as well as to protect them from the back.
after a few failed tricks from eren as he tried to show off with his gear and a quick scolding from levi, the rest of the scouts came into view. the mission appeared to be a success. the final two titans were both apprehended, one nailed to the ground and the other bound in the air.
squad levi landed and began to greet everyone but didn’t get very far when hanji’s squeals flooded everyone’s ears.
the scientist was practically bouncing up and down as she came over. “squad levi ! all in one piece, i see. let me show you what we’ve done,” she gushed, ushering all of them towards the titans.
it was no surprise she was so excited. she had been waiting for this day to arrive for ages, but levi still gave a quick “tch,” under his breath out of annoyance which forced y/n to cover her mouth with her palm to stifle a laugh.
the eight, now nine, of them cranned their necks up to see the side of the beast that was hammered into the ground. the sight would’ve been cruel if it were anything other than a titan, but remembering all the pain they’ve brought to each one of them, no one did so much as bat an eye. returning the focus back to hanji, everyone watched as she took a sharp inhale to prepare for her long ramble about how everything worked. lucky for y/n, before hanji could exhale, levi grabbed his partner’s arm and pulled her away.
he pulled her close so he could whisper in her ear, “come on, let’s go find erwin.”
as much as she wanted to argue with him and tell him he was being mean, she really didn’t want to listen to hanji’s spiel that she had heard a million times over. a tiny pang of guilt struck y/n for leaving the other half of the squad behind forced to listen to her, but sometimes everyone has to take one for the team.
she threw a quick wave over her shoulder to the others, then followed levi, who was still holding her arm, as he dragged her through the crowd of other scouts who were just floating around, waiting for orders, until he finally spotted the commander.
the tall man’s eyes fell upon the pair and he drew himself away from whomever he was speaking with to come greet them.
“ah levi, y/n,” erwin began. levi’s expression stayed the same but y/n offered the man a small smile and wave which he returned with a nod. erwin was actually the one who recommended to levi that he should consider y/n to be apart of his squad, so she heavily credited him entirely with starting your relationship with levi (even if levi disagreed every time she told him this). 
levi and erwin fell into formal conversation, discussing the remainder of the mission, which left y/n realizing levi hadn’t really saved her from a talk you’ve heard countless times before, but instead brought her into another one. 
hanji’s rambling would have been more interesting than this she thought to yourself as she began lazily scanned the small sea of scouts scrambling around, looking for a way to entertain yourself until the two men were done talking. one group in particular caught her eyes.
the soldiers seemed to be much more jittery than everyone else. they frantically looked amongst each other and towards the titan that hanji had just finished showing the rest of levi’s squad, and seemed to be contemplating a solution to an unknown issue.
it was clear something was up. 
just as she placed her hand on levi’s shoulder to bring his and erwin’s focus over to the scene, the ground began to shake, which caught their attention for her. 
no one had time to react when dust flew up everywhere, obstructing everyone’s views so they couldn’t see where the loud crashes that followed came from. a strong force slammed into them, throwing them who knows how far into the air. the fear of hitting the ground barely had enough time to settle into y/n before everything went dark.
everyone in the vicinity had been sent flying into the air along, but levi was the first one to be up on his feet again. bringing his arms up to shield his eyes, he decided to stay where he was as the dust cleared so he could assess the situation and move on from there. 
the scene finally came into view; he gathered that the titan had ripped its arm through the nails that secured it to the floor of the woods, then flailed it around in an attempt to grab people. it made a clean sweep in the area that he was previously standing—all that was left were debris and broken wood planks from the compartments that were attached to the other titan’s traps.
a wave of adrenaline passed through his body as he remembered who was with him. he needed to find not only erwin immediately, but also y/n. he reached down to grab the handles of his controller grip but froze instantly upon seeing what had just come into view as more of the dust cleared.
y/n was sprawled out on the ground, ODM gear tossed a few feet away from her body but more importantly, the titan’s hand was hovering mere meters above her.
his pulse almost quickened twicehold, but it felt as though it heart had stopped in his chest. situations like this presented themselves to levi almost everyday of his life, but this was much different. in those, he was almost two steps ahead. he knew that by now he should be wrapping his arms around y/n and pulling her to safety at breakneck speed, or even better, he should’ve shielded her from harm at the very beginning. but right now he couldn’t do so much as move his finger.
levi was completely inert—his arms felt like they being weighed down by a ball and chain, his legs felt like they had grown roots into the ground that planted in him place. his throat ran dry and his stomach felt like it had just done a flip. the rest of him went numb while shock consumed his body, physically and mentally, rendering him entirely helpless.
images of isabel, farlan, petra, oluo, eld, gunther, and countless others all flashed before him, the same running theme echoed in his mind—he wasn’t able to save them. all he had to do was pull back a single index finger. this would launch one of his anchors into the back of the titan’s neck, sending him flying to slice its nape. but he couldn’t do it. the only thing he knew he had the power to do was watch helplessly as his partner would be eaten alive.
the shouts of others flooded his ears as his senses slowly began to return to him, but it didn’t matter. he couldn’t make out a thing. frankly he wished he could so he could break away from the things that occupied his mind now. shame. guilt. humiliation. fear. regret. he took for granted every moment he had ever spent with y/n. every smile she gave him. every time he embraced her. every kiss. every conversation they shared under the stars while everyone else was fast asleep. every opportunity he had but failed to tell her that he—
before he finished his thought someone finally broke through his trance. erwin was the one who was able to crack the surface and bring him back to life. 
the commander was shouting levi’s name, hoping, praying, to wake him up from whatever was going on in his head. levi was still unable feel his body, but he realized he was moving as the ground began to grow smaller. one of erwin’s strong arms hooked around levi’s middle and they were flying away from the chaos below. the commander spared a glance to levi to see the man’s eyes were still trained on y/n.
the feeling returned to levi’s body as he felt the pain of being thrown onto one of the thick tree branches surge through his body. not knowing how else to bring him back from the trance that wasn’t full broken, erwin had tossed off of him levi instead of placing him down gently.
he watched as levi scrambled up and expected him to yell back for throwing him, but the response was much different.
“where is she ??” levi demanded. his eyes may have been on y/n the whole time, but his mind was elsewhere replaying scenes from the past. he had no idea if she had been eaten, or even survived the initial attack. the only think he saw was her body on the ground, unmoving.
“safe,” erwin confirmed. “hanji ran over just in time and got her. but what happened to you ?” no one had ever seen levi freeze up the way he did. others believed it was just fear which made him seem a little more human to them, but erwin knew it was more than that.
throughout the years, erwin watched levi witness the deaths of those closest to him, and even then he was still able to act. but after seeing him go rigid, erwin was more than worried. it was clear levi went into shock, however, shock runs more than skin deep. 
this became even more evident to him as levi remained silent the entire way back to the walls. y/n was still unconscious, so one of the open carts was her escort. guilt continued to wash over levi as he wasn’t able to ride in the cart with her to monitor her closely because he had to ride his horse back. regardless, he stayed as close to the cart as possible and stole as many glances her way as he could.
if he had it his way, he would’ve waited outside the infirmary for y/n when they arrived back home, but hanji and erwin practically dragged him to the mess hall to replenish his energy. this may or may not be skipping the part where levi was questioned about what happened, followed by him being chastised for his actions (or lack there of). levi could bare focus even though it was such a serious conversation. his mind was still a hazy mess. as much as hanji and erwin wanted to talk to levi more about the situtation, they knew it was best for the conversation to end there for the day. levi looked so shaken up that he could barely keep himself standing so the last thing he needed was to be yelled at more. the entire corps also made sure to steer clear of the man. he usually had all his emotions hidden but they were on full display now. it still scared the hell out of them.
but the fear alone wasn’t enough to stop them from whispering to themselves. word carried fast about how captain levi froze up and watched one of his squad mates almost die. the ones who only heard about the story instead of witnessing it couldn’t believe what they were hearing. the captain levi did nothing while one of his own almost became titan food ? 
hearing the whispers in passing, levi didn’t care that they were talking about him, but he was still affected. their words just made reality sink deeper into him. they weren’t the only ones who were unable to believe what happened. he really just watched helplessly as someone almost died. and it wasn’t just someone, it was his other half.
“hey levi ?” hanji voiced, pulling him out of his head. levi didn’t bother looking up from his food that he had been staring at for the past few minutes to face her. the best he could to was give her a side glance as he peered at her from the corner of his eyes and waited for her to finish.
the glare he was sending her way made her blood run cold, but she took the hint and continued. “are you alright ?” she asked in a small voice.
“does it look like i’m alright ?” he growled back, then went back to eating.
“just wanted to ask,” she added with an awkward laugh then turned to erwin who was on the other side of her. for once in her life she knew not to press any harder, but making levi upset wasn’t her intention. she was genuinely worried about him. hanji gave erwin a what do i do now ? look, hoping for some help, but erwin could only shake his head. he cared about levi just as much as she did, but he knew there was nothing either of them could do or say to make levi feel better. the only thing he needed was to see y/n.
at last, levi finished his dinner and excused himself to go find his partner. as his feet carried him at a quick pace across the stone floors of the many hallways in HQ, fear came back to his already grim mind. there was no word on y/n’s condition so he assumed no progress had been made and she was still unconscious. 
needless to say, when he rounded the corner and saw her sitting on the bench right outside the infirmary swiveling her heels and tapping her toes together as if she was bored, shock overcame him once again, this time on a much lower scale. similar to just a few hours ago, he was frozen instantly upon seeing her. it was a much prettier sight this time, but it was still painful to see. the bandage that wrapped around her head peaked out from being any strands of hair that fell in front of her face, other wraps and patches plastered themselves across her arms and legs, and some purple and blue splotches peaked out from behind them. this was only the skin that was exposed. for once in his life levi didn’t want to think about what she looked like when she weren’t wearing any clothes. he made a quick mental note to later place tender kisses on all her bumps and bruises, and took of running towards her.
y/n had been discharged from the infirmary during dinner hours, so the halls has been quite empty as she sat outside alone, falling into boredom. when the first sounds of shoes hitting the ground entered her ears, she got a bit excited, but calmed herself down reminding herself it probably wasn’t him. but when the steps got quicker and louder, she finally let yourself look up to see up to see her partner was the source. there was no point in holding back anyone; her face visibly lit up and a wide smile placed itself on her lips. just like levi, y/n wanted nothing more in the entire world than to see him. 
he run turned to a jog then a complete stop as he halted in front of her. despite being so anxious to see one another, neither were really prepared. they just kinda...stared at each other, neither sure of the right words to say. levi decided to take the initiative. he opened his mouth, hoping something, anything, would come out, but his attempt fell flat. words just weren’t enough. instead, he lifted his arms and placed both hands gently on y/n’s shoulders. she caught on quickly, standing up at the same time as he was pulling her into his arms for a tight embrace.
the pair remained silent in each other’s arms until y/n decided to take initiative this time and finally spoke. “is it true ?” she mumbled against his neck, barely loud enough for him to hear.
as much as he had hoped the gossip would stay in the mess hall, levi knew that inevitably word would spread to her. someone must have told her everything that happened, leaving in every little detail about how levi made no moves to save her life, ending up having to be saved by hanji in the end.
based off his silence, y/n knew levi had a lot on his mind so she continued “did you really freeze up?” 
he didn’t realize it, but he had tensed up at her words. it absolutely pained him to answer, but he couldn’t imagine the pain she were feeling. 
summing up his courage, he began to confirm the worst, but she pulled away before he could get more than a “yes,” out. levi braced himself for the hurt expression that he would be faced with, knowing his heart would break instantly as she realized he truly did failed to protect her, but instead he was met with kind eyes and soft face.
the look on his face had utter disbelief written all over it as her hands went up to cup his face that was now reddening. “are you okay?” y/n asked softly. “im so sorry.”
levi was beyond bewildered. he wanted her to be furious at him. yell at him. pull her soft hands back and strike him as much as she pleased. tell him he failed and that she couldn’t stand the sight of him. he knew he deserved it all and more, but he should’ve known she would never do that. that wasn’t y/n.
he melted into her touch and placing one of his hand over one of hers that remained on his cheek. “i was terrified, y/n.”
y/n finally gave him one of her beautiful smiles and giggled softly. “why were you scared ? i was the one who almost got eaten,” she teased.
y/n’s laughs had quickly subsided after seeing the serious look that had etched itself onto levi’s face. “because you were in danger,” he started.
“i don’t know what id do with myself if i lost you, i...”
“i love you, y/n.”
it was finally y/n’s turn to get a taste of the shock that levi had been experiencing all day. she could’ve sworn her heart skipped a beat at his words, followed by butterfly wings tickling the inside of her tummy, her eyes widening and jaw falling slack. her hands slowly slipped from his face to instead place one of her palms on her chest to make sure her heart was indeed pumping at a regular pace.
levi, on the other hand, was not having a magical experience. y/n’s reaction made him feel as though his feelings weren’t reciprocated despite having been together for so long. he started to get deeper into his head, negative thoughts starting to eat away at him once again, when she finally spoke.
“i love you too, levi,” she breathed out, still too stunned to breathe properly.
levi had had enough of being unable to move for one day. one of his hands grabbed y/n’s waist while the other found its way to the back of her head, as he kissed her roughly, which she eagerly returned. the way he felt her grin against his lips was enough to make all the pain and fear he had experienced that day worth it.
he couldn’t have asked for a better outcome to such a shitty day.
levi had finally learned how to say i love you and he thanked the stars every night following that day that y/n was the one who taught him how.
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bigskydreaming · 3 years
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You think when Jason first went to Bruce’s him and Dick had an interaction that went like this,
Jason: you don’t know what it like
Dick: Bitch I’m sorry which one of us went to juvie
LOL I get the joke and all but see, I do wanna be clear:
(And this is just in general rather than aimed specifically at you or this ask, anon).
I spend a lot of time talking about being anti-Trauma Olympics and that extends both ways. I don't want Dick perceived as more traumatized or having had it harder than anyone else in his family, just that his own traumas and hardships aren't erased or invalidated in favor of propping up someone else. At most, I'll talk about something like the Forever Evil situation and how he was 'more' the victim there than they were, but that's because that's a specific situational thing where both he and other characters' feelings and hurt in regards to the exact same set of circumstances are being compared, and I'm like, well if you're GONNA do that, you kinda gotta look at who was most directly impacted by events versus had feelings about what HAPPENED to the first person in the first place, just....conveniently leapfrogging over that dude's actual feelings about those exact same things.
But ultimately, although I'll spite-LOL about this sorta joke in response to other fans Doing the Most in the other direction, like.....tbh, I wouldn't be any more in favor of this kinda interaction in fics or canon.
What I WOULD love to see is rather than the kids being pitted against each other in a kinda pseudo competition, see them use traumas and parallel situations as a basis for common ground and building stronger bonds. Like, how much more powerful would it be if what we got instead was Jason finding out about Dick's past experiences with juvie in order to make Dick someone he feels DOES get certain things. I mean, Dick never DID experience various things that Jason did living on the street or earlier living with Catherine and Willis....but like I've always posited that in the early years Dick had a primal fear of fucking up and being sent back to juvie by Bruce, Dick absolutely would be able to understand the fears of a kid who was caught committing an actual crime by Bruce in their first encounter and feared what might happen if Bruce ever decided he wasn't worth giving the benefit of the doubt and ultimately would never be more than a criminal.
Part of what bums me so much about the direction most fics and headcanons take towards Dick and Jason's earlier interactions, is there's a huge chasm in experience, perspective and privilege between Bruce and BOTH his two eldest. That chasm is not nearly as vast between Dick and Jason themselves. Where they diverge in prior experiences tends to have a lot to do with specific situations and circumstances rather than axis of privilege. (Especially when you consider - and god I'm tired of this - how often people default to being like 'well Dick at least had loving parents' when ahem, HOW OFTEN has Jason made clear that he has very affectionate memories of Catherine because she was at times a very loving and attentive mother, and that's WHY her addiction and death hit him so hard, not unlike how the murder of Dick's parents hit him so hard BECAUSE they were loving and nurturing? Like, how often do people throw characters' own stories and canon away JUST to make the case that they have it harder than another one? Can we stop this? Forever preferably?)
But point is, there are tons of areas where Bruce just fundamentally didn't relate to Dick and never was going to be able to, because Bruce was never in a position of being at the mercy of various institutions. Bruce never had to worry about being thrown out by his guardian, Alfred, who technically worked for his family even as he raised Bruce. He never had to deal with peers looking down on him because of who he WAS rather than giving him shit for specific circumstances or events. He never had to worry about his parents or past being demeaned as worthless, he never had to balance trying to retain a sense of self without being subsumed into Bruce AND the Waynes' larger than life shadows, history, and perception in the eyes of the public.
However all of these and more are areas where Dick and Jason absolutely overlap and this could be greatly of benefit to each other, if it was ALLOWED to be. For Dick, Jason's arrival can be an opportunity for him to finally have someone who gets various aspects of growing up with Bruce that will just fly over other peoples' heads as being a problem or them having issues with at all. For Jason, Dick can be an opportunity for him to have an easier time understanding Bruce when these gaps in perception and experience appear, or making himself understood by Bruce, by drawing upon and learning from Dick's own experience trying to navigate those very same gaps between Bruce and himself in years prior.
And even where Dick and Jason's experiences diverge, there's still plenty they could learn from each other that they STILL couldn't have in common with Bruce. Like yeah, Jason - even with a loving relationship with Catherine factored in - didn't ever have the benefit of Dick's history being part of a huge communal family in the circus, and around people who were open and generous with their affection and all that.....and frankly, Bruce never had this either, even factoring in his own relationship with HIS parents. But its something that Dick could definitely impart wisdom in, that would be helpful to Jason in learning to be part of a larger community of superheroes overall, and how to interact with a bigger family that wasn't limited just to himself and his guardian or guardians....as well as helpful after their family grew to include more siblings.
And Jason did have a ton of experiences and perspective born of living on the streets and being entirely self-sufficient from a young age, with wisdom he could share with Dick there, who was MORE likely to get the benefits of that than Bruce even, because Dick did have experience with a closer mindset to what Jason had had at the time, and even if Dick's own experiences running from juvie or in Robin Year One were far more finite than Jason's ever were, there's enough of a foundation there for them to build a common awareness of major events in each other's past and like....thus be able to talk about them, unpack them with each other and not have to worry about being judged by someone who just fundamentally might not get it or understand where they were coming from when they made certain choices based on those mindsets.
And then back again, part of why it bugs to so often hear Dick's years growing up in the mansion talked about as wholly a good thing when there's no separating them from the years he spent as Robin, is because Dick has knowledge and awareness of the streets and crime that's predicated entirely on his years as Robin, that's still broader than Jason's in the sense that Jason's knowledge is limited just to his personal, more contained experiences, whereas Dick as Robin interacted with all sorts of crime and criminals and victims. And who better than Dick to learn from in regards to what its like to even BE a teen vigilante, because for all Bruce's experience as Batman, he debuted as an adult, he'll never be able to relate specifically to the fears and finer points of taking on people who are older, bigger, more experienced than you, when you're that young and small. But again, all of that requires like, ACKNOWLEDGING that Dick went through some SHIT when he was younger, and that doesn't have to TAKE AWAY anything from Jason's own hardships, but it has all the capacity in the world to ADD things to Jason's toolbox for dealing with his hardships.
But yeah, ultimately, like....it annoys me to see Dick's own experiences so often glossed over or romanticized in order to act like he's so oblivious to what someone like Jason's life was like, but more than that, it just bums me because its a waste of so much potential material and just.....erases the opportunity for so many stories that could explore actual new, uncharted territory rather than just retread the same old beats about how oh Dick is just oblivious to what REAL hardship is like but Jason gets it, see.
That's gonna get a yawn from me, lads.
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blackradandmad · 3 years
Text
why blippi is rotting yr children's brains
preface: i literally expect no one to read this. it is an essay length, strong opinion piece critiquing a niche youtube-based children's show that i don't expect most of y'all to even have knowledge of lol. but like, i promise that even if you know nothing about what i'm talking about, in my incredibly, super humble opinion, it's a good piece of writing and interesting nonetheless. anyway if you read this whole thing for some reason yr really hot and we should kiss.
i thoroughly vet everything my child watches before he watches it, episode by episode. and we rarely watch youtube for entertainment; we usually just look up educational videos when he has a question about something and wants more detail than i can provide him. and that's mainly because children's content on youtube is so fucking troubling and distressing. i don't judge parents who give their children a tablet at a restaurant at all bc i've been there and sometimes it's easier on everyone to just put on a video and avoid a giant scene, but i do judge parents who just leave their children alone with youtube kids on autoplay.
take stevin john, a literal millionaire who got famous from dressing up as a silly character called blippi and going on tours of places like aquariums, zoos, construction sites, etc and posting it on youtube. this has branched into a whole empire of blippi videos, hulu shows and specials, live shows and tours (that he outsources to another character actor), merchandise and so on. this 30-something year old man cites his main influence as being mr. rogers, but i question if he's ever even seen an episode of that program.
mr. rogers had no background in early childhood development or media production, but he revolutionized the world of children's media, because he respected his audience and didn't shy away from real world situations, all while creating a show with an enormous heart. mr. rogers begins his episodes by inviting the viewer in, literally changing his attire to be more comfortable, and talking about/doing things he genuinely cares about. whereas mr. rogers calmly and maturely addresses the viewer, blippi puts on a high pitched, contrived voice, interjecting every other sentence with a forced exclamation such as, "teehee! we're having so much fun!"
i don't find it a coincidence that john (blippi) is a veteran, either. his videos are completely devoid of the absurd, abstract, childlike thinking that makes children's media fun, creative, and entertaining. his thinking and process is methodical, devoid of emotion, and very superficial. this line of thinking clearly shows the kind of creative sterilization and emphasis on sameness and conformity instilled in the military. blippi simply observes things and interacts with them in a stale, matter-of-fact way. "this ball is purple! this ball is pink! anyway... what's over there? teehee! a car! vroom, vroom!" objects are colors, toy cars don't do anything but drive, curiosity is simply not encouraged.
he uses the "it's educational!" excuse to hide the fact that his show lacks everything that makes media a valuable resource for children to consume in the first place. further than identifying colors, numbers, and the occasional letter or shape, there is just this total lack of children's need for social and emotional development. when mr. rogers breaks the fourth wall to address the viewer and let them know they're special, it feels authentic and natural, because we've spent the last half hour building whole worlds with diverse characters and unique stories in a pretend neighborhood, learning about and enjoying different musical instruments, being exposed to and making friends with (even if parasocially, it is still a real bond to children when done properly) children who are similar to us in character regardless of physical or environmental differences, feeding the fish, making art together, and so on. when blippi tells the viewer, "you are very special, and i enjoy spending time with you!" it falls completely flat and feels unearned, because the last half hour was spent running around a soft play center pointing at bright, colorful objects, visiting interesting locations like farms or fruit production factories while failing to acknowledge the humanity of the humans actually working there (everything is machine or product focused; the human workers are simply an extension of the machine), learning "fun facts" about elephants that just list attributes of elephants, not taking the opportunity to inform the viewers of elephants' intelligence, or diet, or matriarchal society. it is a loud, sensory overwhelming display of a man so disconnected from the social and emotional needs and desires of children that he assumes they're stupid, easily entertained idiots who only need some silly dances and fast-moving cartoon graphics to give their attention (meaning time and desire to purchase products meaning $$$). john clearly views his audience as a means to gaming the algorithm and ultimately a paycheck by the hollow way he addresses them.
the show is so narcissistic, so focused on all the fun blippi is supposedly having, but he lacks any of the character traits that make individual children's show hosts memorable, so much so that he was able to have someone else who doesn't even vaguely resemble him dress as blippi and impersonate him and host the show or appear at live shows, and it went unnoticed by most of his toddler and child audience. the show is so formulaic and the character of blippi is so unmemorable that instead of taking the blue's clues route of developing a story of the host leaving for college and his brother now stepping in, or making some sort of believable excuse for the change in actors, they can simply swap him out with some random guy and not acknowledge it at all. although a comedy show for older children, the amanda show in no way could or would try to replicate the show with the same name but swapping out amanda bynes with a random teenage girl who is clearly not amanda bynes. it's weird and nonsensical and shows that his character is so much of a farce put on for a paycheck that not even his dedicated audience is affected or even cares when he is replaced by a random, unknown person.
this is completely garbage content made by an opportunist with no experience with children who saw his nephew watching children's youtube content, took it at complete surface level and still hasn't realized that while children's content only looks and feels so easy, entertaining, and enriching because it is so hard to do well. even with outsourcing his music, that aspect of the show still sucks. famous and successful children's musician, raffi, is known for his song describing the life of a little white whale, called "baby beluga." it opens with a calm strumming of his guitar, followed by the lyrics, "baby beluga in the deep blue sea/swim so wild and you swim so free/heaven above/sea below/and a little white whale on the go." is it silly and kind of pointless? yes, but the point is that he is captivating children and showing them the fun of listening to music, dancing, singing, and appreciating art. the "excavator song" featured in an episode of blippi about construction vehicles opens with what sounds like a default garageband loop and the flatly sung lyrics, "i'm an excavator/i'm an excavator/hey dirt, see you later/i'm an excavator." i don't feel i have to meticulously analyze the aforementioned lyrics; the stark contrast should speak for itself.
i have a million more criticisms about both blippi specifically and youtube children's content as a whole, but this is already so long and i doubt many people will get this far anyway. it's an issue i was completely apathetic towards until i had my own child and had to wean him off these kinds of junk food shows because i realized the fast-paced visuals and bright colors and repetitive songs/lyrics were putting him in this spaced-out, fugue state, and he thought he could demand this show or that show whenever he wanted. the moment he started regularly yelling things like, "watch! cars!" or "no! click it!" i knew i had to be a lot more invested in the things he watched even if just for entertainment or as a soothing message. i showed him an episode of mr. rogers yesterday and feared it would be too slow to hold his attention, but he was mesmerized, greeting and interacting with mr. rogers verbally, asking me, "what's that?" to different objects on the screen. since purging this low-brow children's entertainment, he has had a noticeable increase in attention span and concentration, can focus on a task for longer amounts of times, is more likely to "read"/look through books without me initiating it, and doesn't throw a fit when the tv/my laptop is off.
i just know that for me, growing up with so much unsupervised internet access definitely led me to real-world pain and consequences, and it seems like now children are born with an iphone as an extension of their arm. if my child is going to be consuming videos, i'm definitely supervising every second and am going to be highly critical of the videos and the credentials (or lack thereof) of the creators and team behind it. but i also know, from pure observation admittedly, that parents letting youtube kids autoplay parent their children for hours at a time is not an uncommon occurrence. and it worries me that a generation of children are being raised on videos that rely on being as loud and bright and superficially enjoyable as possible. what's the use of a child knowing their colors and alphabet if they don't know how to treat people with kindness and empathy and respect? there is something wrong for a children's show host to plug the spelling of his name at the end of his videos ("well, that's the end of this video. but if you wanna watch more of my videos, just type in my name! can you spell my name with me? b-l-i-p-p-i!") after essentially rotting his audiences' brains for a half hour. there's something so insidious about the prioritization of naming different parts of construction vehicles over honest depictions of and conversations about dealing with feelings, or why someone with autism may act differently than you, or what to do when you feel lonely, or ways to make art and express yrself creatively. also, not to mention the blatant police propaganda and outright worship is seriously jarring; as a black mother to a visibly non-white child, i cannot sit there and watch blippi show kids how to be a bootlicker for the shittiest profession on earth, but that could be a whole essay in and of itself.
anyway, thanks for reading, if yr looking for quality children's content, i recommend, in no specific order: mr. rogers, sesame street, the electric company, molly of denali, daniel tiger, bluey!, blue's clues, the odd squad, word party, trash truck, puffin rock, uhh... that's definitely not an extensive list but that's just off the dome!!! ok bye y'all <333
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obsessive-ego · 3 years
Text
Beetlejuice cant tie a tie
I got a little off topic, but we get to it eventually
Musical beetlejuice x reader
Nsft mentions and bonus
A day off like any other, your phone buzzes to life at 11am, you groan at the sound, but you cant sleep all day, even though you really want to. As you shift to turn off your phone, you feel the familiar dead weight, you huff.
"Beetlejuice"
Ever since you let the ghoul into your home he has made it a habbit to sneak into your bed with you, at first he would leave before you woke, but now? He just makes himself at home, claiming that your bed is so comfy and warm, and way more lovely then the couch, honestly you didnt mind, his pajamas were clean, and he kept his hands relatively to himself, and lets be real even if you protested he'd still do it, just something you got used to over time, and enjoyed, as much as you wouldnt admit it, sleeping with another person did help you sleep at night, but you weren't exactly ready to open that can of worms.
You nudge the demon
"Beetlejuice let go"
The ghoul had you trapped in his arms, wrapped tightly around your waist, as his face was buried in your hair, his legs tangled with yours, the demon was spooning.
You squirm again, this time a tad more aggressive.
"Keep wiggling like that sugar and you'll give me a boner" he groans, more mockingly then anything else.
"Let go so I can turn off my alarm and start my day" you huff
Beetlejuice tightens his grip around your waist.
"No can do sweets"
"Beej please, I need to be an adult today"
"Oh babes, you can EASILY be an adult in bed~ but fine, if you must" be dramatically let's you go fawning hurt, you simply roll your eyes as you take your new freedom and leave the bed to reach your beeping phone on the table across the room.
Following your example, beetlejuice gets up too, and with a simple snap of his fingers his black and white pajamas were replaced with his trademark suit, the ghoul straightens him self out, adjusting the jacket and tie as if he had somewhere important to be.
You couldnt help but feel a tad jealous at that, to be able to get ready for the day in a second, something like that could shave a good amount of time off your mornings before work routine.
You usher the demon out of your room stating you needed to get dressed, though he did plead to stay and help, as always, you only replyed that youd take a rain check.
Reemerging from your room, dressed and ready to enjoy your day off, you head to the kitchen to make some coffee, your morning routine was simple, normally beetlejuice would chit chat with you as you made breakfast for the two of you, but it was strangely quiet, you havent seen the ghoul since you ushered him out of your bedroom, normally this ment he was hiding and getting ready to scare you, a regular occurrence.
Now something as simple as making toast and coffee now had you filled with anxiety, why did he always do this? You know why, he thinks it's funny. Your anxiety was short lived when a little note flutters down from the ceiling in front if your face, instinctively you grab it
'Babes, off scaring, saw you got new neighbors, be back soon~ xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo'
You sigh in relief knowing that bastard wasnt gonna mess with you today, yet you couldnt help but smile at all the xs and os, corny, but that was him wasnt it.
Like any other day off you try to catch up on house hold chores, and with beetlejuice out and about you can actually get stuff done, nothing against the ghoul, hell you loved having him around, it was just hard to be productive with someone so chaotic under foot.
...
Your day off went by pretty productive, you here you were, enjoying the peace and quiet, with a cup of hot tea and a book you've been meaning to read.
"HONEY I'M HOME"
Beetlejuice appears from literally nowhere in the center of the room you were currently residing.
you nearly jump out of your skin at the sudden outburst, no matter how many times the ghoul burst into your home that way, it always startled you.
You regain yourself, and with a small laugh you sigh "welcome home B"
The tips of the demon's hair turn a soft pink, something as soft as 'welcome home' from your lips sent him, how lame, a big bad demon from hell, getting all warm and soft from just a little breathers kindness, yet, he wouldnt want it any other way.
The ghoul is quick to slide next to you on the couch "ya miss me toots?~" he cooed leaning in and making an exaggerated kissing face, you snorted out a laugh and gave him a shove.
"Knock it off B, and yes I missed you, but I was more productive without you, so~" you laugh
"OH Y/N you are so mean, you would rather me be away so you can do boring breather stuff, then have fun with the sexiest dead guy you know? How cruel" the ghoul pretends to be hurt.
You laugh again "Beetlejuice, you're the ONLY dead guy I know-"
"Therefore the sexiest" he countered giving you a wide toothy grin
"You got me there I guess" you laugh and give beetlejuice a shrug.
As the laughter dies down you notice how roughed up your friend really was, more so then usual, more dirty, shirt slightly untucked, new holes in his jacket and pants, his tie undone, loosely hanging around his neck. Yes the ghoul was messy, but it looks like he lost a fight, and hell with his powers he could clean up in a second, maybe he hasnt noticed?
"Beej? What were you up to today?" You ask shyly, you didnt exactly like to butt into what the demon did in his spare time, mostly because if he wanted to share it with you he did it with gusto.
Beetlejuice freezes for a second, the shrugs
"The usual, messing with your neighbors, why?"
You gesture to his messed up clothes
"OH,  yeah, new guy down the hall fought back, you should have seen it babes-"
You sigh, not that you needed too, but you worried about beetlejuice, what if he got into a jam he couldnt get out of.
"What's up sugar?"
You flinch, beetlejuice must have caught in to your expression.
"Do you need a hand straightening up?" You mentally slap yourself at that suggestion, he can magic himself back together why would he need your help?
Glancing back up to the demon's face you swallow hard, plaster across his mug was a love sick dopey grin, his most and beard now sprouted pink patches.
"Please~" he purred, a word you rarely herd from the ghost.
You nod, slowly you start with the tie, grabbing on to the two pieces, you swear you saw the demon flinch, slowly but surely, you tie a simple tie, years of doing it for yourself for forced formal occasions, guess the info stuck.
You gently strengthen the knot, paying more attention to what you were doing, rather then who you were doing it for, if you were paying attention to beetlejuice you would have saw his wide eyes staring so intently on you, both hair and scruff completely pink, a soft smile plastered across his face.
"You know babycakes I would just LOVE to have you yank on my tie more often~" he purred
You flinch at the comment, being brought to reality by that delightful gravely voice of his, you stutter out a soft noise, unsure how to respond in your frazzled embarrassed state.
The demon continues "have ya drag me around, mmmhmmm, have my sweet little breather in charge"
You unable to think of a response, just sit in front of the demon, hands still gripping his tie, staring back at his face.
"I have to say I've thought of it often"
You DID yank the ghoul by the tie alot, to make a point and or get him to your level, him being taller then you.
"My little y/n riding me, using my tie as a leash, you being fully naked, while I'd be full clothed, sounds like fun maybe we should- urk"
That was a step too far for you, as hot as the idea way, it was till too much and too embarrassing, with a quick movement of your hand you tighten the ties knot around the ghoul's throat, as if to strangle him, not that he needed to breath, it did shut him up though.
"Harder baby" he croaked
At least you thought itd shut him up.
You let go of the tie and get off the couch, taking a step back.
Beetlejuice laughs, his soft pink hue shifting back to his default green.
"Oh sugar we done already? Not only are you kinky, you're also quick to finish" he snorts out a loud laugh.
"Cant we have one nice moment?"
"No"
You sigh, little frustrated with the ghoul's ability to ruin just about any moment, as if the ghoul sensed your mood, he was quick to jump to his feet and pull you into a side hug, you huff, still being a tad annoyed with him.
"Alright sugar, ya twisted my arm, not more dirty stuff tonight, I appreciate your help with the tie, how bout I return the favor?"
You quirk a brow, return the favour without saying something dirty? You didnt think the demon COULD do such a thing.
"Heres what I'm thinking doll, me, you, and the new neighbor down the hall, I'm gonna show you how I got messed up to start with, and play your cards right babes and I'll let ya tie me up again~" the ghoul winks at that last line, regardless of the innuendo you smile.
"Alright BJ I'm game"
The ghouls gives you a wide toothy grin
"Its showtime".
Nsft bonus
Later that night when you were dead asleep beetlejuice couldnt help but dream of you sitting on him wearing nothing but a coy smile as you rode him, he being fully dressed with his cock freed from it prison and being buried in your warmth.
You bounced up and down, yanking his tie, half for balance half cuz of the sound he made.
With a delightful dream like that, the ghoul did not last very long,
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scatterpatter · 3 years
Text
"Where's the essay OP" Said no one, and yet here I am
Lampy isn't stupid, he's neruodivergent: a rushed-together masterpost
Disclaimer: I'm not a liscened medical professional but I'm neurodivergent who's close to many neurodivergent people so I know when certain traits strike me as very familiar... Also tblt is my comfort movie I've seen it probably over 100 times, not exaggerating, so if anyone here's an expert on it, it's me.
I'm only going by the first movie because while To The Rescue and Goes To Mars probably have evidence to back me up, I don't feel like sitting down to watch them as I don't have them as memorized as the original
Point #1: Lampy is arguably the most intelligent appliance in the movie
Honestly it apalls me that so many are convinced that Lampy is an idiot when he displays some of the most intelligent traits in the movie. I'll just list off some of the most important scenes that show this
1: When discussing a way to get to the city, Lampy comes up with plans that end up failing, true. But we should also consider that not only did Radio and Toaster come up with bad plans before deciding on the swivel chair, but 2/3 of Lampy's ideas involved the same mechanic: on something with wheels(yes the mattress had wheels for some reason) being powered by Kirby
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2: "From here you can see the really big lamp!" This scene is simply due to the appliances being sheltered from the outside world. Lampy displays the same level of naive-ness as everyone else: Radio seems earnest in calling the sun a "really big lamp", and Kirby calls the grass "shag carpet". Lampy is not at a lower intelligence in this scene, he's exactly at the same level as everyone else
3: The scene with the storm really sells his intelligence. The appliances have a rudimentary understanding of electricity, most likely from being appliances, but Lampy displays an excelled level of understanding by sacrificing himself for the battery. He understands that batteries are powered by electricity, lightning is electricity, and by using himself as a lightning rod, he acts as the conductive metal to easily transfer this energy from the bolt to the battery. Technically this should have overcharged and fried the battery but we'll suspend disbelief for the sake of this movie.
4: He knew that stacking the appliances to roughly human height, creating a dark environment with ominous sounds, and putting Toaster at eye-level to scare the human with his own reflection... Again, this is an intelligent understanding of how to scare a human
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5: It's unclear on whose idea it was to look up Rob in a phone book, however this shows that not only can Lampy read(most likely picked up from being Rob's reading light), ESPECIALLY when Toaster struggles to read, but also has an understanding of phone books, addresses, and finding humans based on family names. I cannot stress how intelligent this is for a sentient desk lamp
There's a few more minor examples, but these are the biggest cases. Lampy is intelligent.
Point #2: Lampy struggles with social cues and doesn't empathize as easily as others
My biggest point here is when people think neruodivergents are "dumb" for having trouble picking up on things like sarcasm when that just... isn't the case. A few notable examples include:
1: When Air Conditioner says "You're a real bright little lamp", Lampy doesn't pick up the sarcasm and thinks he's being complimented. Though he definitely shows a level of emotional intelligence because he looks to Toaster to confirm "hey I was complimented", sees they're still looking angry, and gets the hint that he was insulted without someone needing to explicitly tell him that, to which he then responds with "Heyyy >:("
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2: Sometimes he's able to read the room and pick up on tones, but other times he shows a level of emotional density. Legitimately not knowing if Rob had returned even when seeing Blanky disappointed to the point of near tears... But then knowing "brains wouldnt hurt either" was a jab at their intelligence and reacting with appropriate annoyance... But also when Radio says "Things could be worse!", doesn't realize he's just saying that to make Toaster feel better and asks "How could they be worse?"
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3: He bullies Blanky alongside Radio and the others, unclear if he's actually being a jerk or just "oh this is what everyone else is doing so this is the normal way to act", but he's legitimately confused when Toaster tries to explain why they're suddenly being nice to him. He doesn't get the "now I feel better" argument because his argument was "Well you were never this nice to him before". Even when Toaster tries to explain why it feels nice, it just doesn't click... until Toaster finds a way to explain that connects personally to Lampy's own emotional state. He has trouble empathizing until realizing "oh this is like this thing that I feel sometimes"
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4: Something I've noticed when gathering evidence is that more than once, Lampy goes "Wow..." After someone gloats about themself(Twice with Radio, once with the Computer). It's clear by the third time, when Radio goes "What does that mean?" And Lampy responds "I don't know. [To Computer] What does that mean?" That he doesn't even know what's being gloated about, let alone why he should be impressed. He has the emotional intelligence to recognize when someone's gloating and the "appropriate" response of amazement, but it seems like it never comes from a place of earnest. (While Neurotypicals can and do engage in "performative" behavior, I tend to notice this way more commonly with neurodivergents)
Also the "wow..." Performative thing is VERY reminiscent of Peridot from Steven Universe(a characters who many autistic fans see themselves in and the creator herself saying she doesn't consider Peridot or any of the gems to be neurotypical) going "wow thanks" as her default "this is how I've been taught to show gratitude" response
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Point #3: Miscellaneous traits that could be neurodivergent
These traits COULD be interpreted as neurodivergent, but I will admit they could also be interpreted as something else so like take these with a grain of salt
1: Lampy appears to have sensory needs. When sleeping, he needs to tap a rock a few times(presumably to make sure it's "right") before clonking his head on it. It's interesting because rocks aren't a very "lamp" thing whatsoever, and none of the other appliances look for pillow-ish objects to rest on, so this could be a sensory thing.
2: Lampy has an interesting vocal quirk: repetition of phrases at the beginning and end of a sentence. Instances include "How exactly do you propose we do that, exactly?" "All of a sudden you're being so darn nice to him all of a sudden" "The fact is there's just not enough facts" The third one is a bit of a stretch but the first two seem to indicate a possible pattern of speech. Part of me wants to say this could be a verbal tic or some type of verbal stimming, but I've never met anyone who has a tic or stim like this so I can't say it's a neurodivergent thing with confidence, but I wanted to mention this quirk regardless.
3: Physically saying how he feels. Two instances where multiple characters are laughing, Lampy speaks while laughing "That's funny - I'm dying!" "I'm aching with joy!". It's just interesting that no one else speaks while laughing and for whatever reason, Lampy needs to verbalize "Yes I find this very funny" as if simply laughing along isn't enough. I've seen somewhat similar stuff in neurodivergents who have issues expressing emotions implicitly so they state them explicitly instead.
4: I've noticed Lampy isn't touchy... except with Radio. Some neurodivergent people can have issues with physical contact, which could explain that. But I've also noticed that Radio also gives me huge neurodivergent vibes... But more importantly Radio is extremely touchy with everyone, Lampy included, hence them often getting into physical fights but also just- tapping them or wrapping a cord around the other and pulling him close(they're so in love but that's a post on its own). A possible explanation is Lampy having issues with touching others, but either feels comfortable being touchy with Radio(due to emotional bonds and trust) or simply recognizes "Radio likes being touchy so I should be touchy back". A stretch of an argument, I'll admit, but I think the interpretation is there and valid.
In conclusion
I mean idk if Lampy was written to be neurodivergent or if the writers just wanted him to be "quirky" and accidentally gave him a lot of neurodivergent traits, but he reads as very neurodivergent to me(probably autistic or adhd but I'm not a professional and can't diagnose him). But while I can chalk up neruodivergency being one of many possible interpretations of his character, I WILL argue that he's not "stupid" given the evidence we see throughout the movie
Tl;Dr: Lampy is evidently intelligent, but sometimes struggles with social cues, empathy, and overall shows numerous traits of neurodivergency
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shimmershae · 3 years
Text
So.  I have some more thoughts.  Shocking?  Yeah, I know, lol.
Let’s see if I can figure out how to purge what’s inside of my overactive brain and have it make some semblance of sense, shall we?  
Hmm.  
Where to start, where to start?  
Okay.  So I think it’s safe to say that the flashbacks pretty quickly establish that Daryl has essentially been set adrift.  He’s been cast back, in some ways by his own choosing, into a solitary searching life that speaks to his past.  He has no anchor anymore, no touching stone--whether that be Rick, who’s presumed dead, or Carol, who’s chosen by default to leave him behind and try to make a new family in Ezekiel and Henry.  
That’s important.  Because until this season?  Until he really matured and assumed, grudgingly or otherwise, the mantle of leadership of the communities?  
Daryl was a follower.  He took his cues from other stronger personalities.  Other people more quick to voice and own their opinions, right or wrong.  Like Rick.  And Merle before him.  
That’s not to say Daryl hasn’t had anything of value to say or add to the communities or to his relationships.  He has and he did.  Remember back at the Prison how Carol told him he was going to have to live with the love?  Daryl was just beginning to find his voice, so to speak.  He was emerging, even if they were only baby steps at first, from other seemingly more formidable shadows, and learning even then how to be more of a leader that people looked up to even if he was still content to be a follower.  
Being a follower was what he was comfortable with and I’m making some assumptions here, but I’d wager that in his abusive past with his old man, in that household first with Merle then on his own, being a follower and sticking to the safety of the periphery is probably what kept him alive.  Being a follower minimized conflict then, I’m sure.  Being a follower when he met up with and eventually connected with Rick and the rest of Team Family was probably the safest way for him to make emotional connections.  
I’m rambling.  I know it and I’m sorry.  It’s what I do.  Ramble, lol.  
Here.  I’m going to place the rest of this underneath a cut because I got more winding words than I have wind and most of ya’ll have patience.  
With Rick gone, with Carol off trying her damndest to live a fairy tale, Daryl floundered.  For all intents and purposes, he was left without any direction, nobody to take his cues from emotionally or otherwise.  
I mean, he literally made ever-widening circles searching for Rick, didn’t he?  Circles have no end point.  They have no real destination.  Not really.  Daryl essentially lived in a spin cycle of pain and regret and inability to really and truly connect with anybody during those years spent searching for Rick--especially since the person he arguably felt closest to and most comfortable with, Carol, basically decided those past connections Daryl was so desperate to find again were too painful for her and attempted to move on.  
He wasn’t emotionally equipped to or stable enough (perhaps still internally dealing with his anger and angst over his torture and imprisonment by Negan at that point in time) to put in the hard work to reestablish those fraying bonds on his own and the man basically lost the plot.  His world narrowed down to this latest search.  This search for a body.  For closure.  For a new purpose perhaps?  
And you know, the man had to be tired.  In some way or another?  He’s probably been searching his entire life.  It’s kind of what followers do.  They look for meaning outside themselves because they don’t feel like they’re enough.  
So then Dog, in the form of this happy, accepting, affectionate puppy appears out of nowhere.  He’s a welcome distraction and knowing Daryl’s propensity to try to reunite the lost with those they love, he started a new little search.  
That led him to Leah. 
Leah, who was alone.  Like him.  Leah, who knew how to survive.  Like him.  Leah, who was stuck in a place of grief.  Like him.  
Leah, who--and I don’t really feel like I’m going out on too far or precarious limb here considering how many parallels they literally slapped us in the face with during this episode--reminded him of someone he felt he couldn’t have, not even her friendship anymore because by her choosing to ‘be there’ for Ezekiel and Henry and the Kingdom she was always leaving Daryl behind and that’s a pattern we’ve all long suspected has really caused hurt for Daryl even if he’s long ‘accepted’ and dealt with it with stoicism.  
Boy, they really blew the lid off that issue didn’t they?  Oh, it was done rather quietly and in a surprisingly controlled manner, but the hurt it caused?  The tears and emotion it elicited was brought about with an almost surgical precision that stunned Carol, but I digress.  
My point is?  Daryl?  Innate follower that he is?  Daryl had grown accustomed to the human connection he found with Team Family.  He was never 100% comfortable with it but he missed it.  He craved it.  And Rick?  Well, deep down Daryl knew the likelihood of finding his ‘brother’ was minimal.  And with Carol pulling away and putting more and more distance between them--how deep and wide was that river, ya’ll, before the episode was done? when it started off looking like a small trickle of a stream?  how wide was that chasm these two idiots in painfully unspoken love allowed to be formed between them?--essentially the two closest people to him were lost to him, leaving him lost.  
So he stumbles upon this woman who is very reminiscent of people that he’s known.  He’s figured out, even though he keeps trying to buck the trend, that you really can’t make it alone in the world anymore.  And when she shows him some small measure of trust by letting him go?  That part of him that didn’t want to be alone kept drifting back into her sphere.  
Now I’m not going to go so far as saying Daryl fell in love with this Leah.  Because, shipping biases aside?  I really don’t feel like he did.  
Daryl found solace with Leah.  
Companionship.  
Remember another time when Daryl was lost?  When he felt he had failed another member of his family? Lost what he thought was the last of his family?  How alone he was at a crossroads when Joe’s group of Claimers came along?  
I’m not equating Leah with the Claimers in any other way except saying Daryl was in a similar headspace when he met her, okay?  Before anybody goes off on me.  I’m just saying that Leah?  She represented what Daryl felt was his one chance NOT TO BE ALONE.  
Daryl’s emotionally stunted, ya’ll. He’s made great strides, but trauma always seems to regress him.  Thankfully, it seems to regress him less and less as he really and truly matures, but it still has a habit of reverting him back to the Daryl we first met.  The Daryl we can easily see growing up in Merle’s shadow. 
When he threw that damn fish at her door, I literally laughed for ten straight minutes because that was funny as hell.  But honestly?  The more I thought about it, the more it dwelled in my mind?  The sadder it actually made me because here’s a grown man essentially trying to connect with another human being on an adolescent level.  
So much of what we were shown in this episode really just reinforced what I’d already suspected to be true--Daryl Dixon just doesn’t ‘get’ the basics of interpersonal relationships.  At least those that could be perceived as romantic.  For all that Carol mused it was like he had become a man back in Atlanta, during Consumed and their search for Beth?  That man is still very much trying to fumble his way out of the starting gate so far as pursuing a woman in any form or fashion.
This is just my opinion and we all know what they say about those, lol, but Daryl has longed for an even deeper connection with Carol since the Prison.  Maybe even before that. I think at the Farm his eyes were opened to her and he started trying to be a better person to match what he perceived as her goodness.  Before he even knew she wanted one, he was trying to be a man of honor.  Then stuff and thangs happened and shit, like Daryl once told Abe, just never settled.  Carol drifted out of Daryl’s reach because he wasn’t equipped with the emotional tools to really go after what he wanted--her in a deeper, different capacity than he’d ever wanted or asked for before--and shit, ya’ll.  If loneliness is a choice then Daryl Dixon was sick and damn tired of it.  
Do I think there’s even really a choice between Leah and Carol in Daryl’s mind though?  A true choice were he to absolutely, 100% realize and know that Carol’s heart was earmarked for him from the very beginning and that she’s suffering from the same delusions that she’s not good enough or deserving of him?  
Absolutely not.  
Leah knew that even if Daryl never divulged any specifics about Carol.  She knew the answer to her ultimatum before she even made it.  
And that ultimatum, ya’ll. 
Maybe it’s weird, but it put me in mind of when Merle pressed Daryl to make a choice between him and Team Family.  
Merle was blood family but like Carol and others said, he wasn’t good for Daryl.  
Leah might have offered Daryl some solace from his loneliness but ultimately staying isolated with her and not reconnecting with those he identifies as family is just as damaging as Daryl choosing to follow in Merle’s wake again.  Similarly to that situation, Daryl was clearly torn as soon as the words were out of her mouth.  
Between loyalty to family and unspoken love.  
In case there’s any confusion here, the unspoken love I’m talking about is his love for Carol.  He felt something for her back at that Prison.  Fight me.  He knew she’d be hurt by him going back with Merle, but obligation and family loyalty led him to make the decision all the same.  
Still. He knew she’d understand.  And she did, even if his choice hurt her.  
My thought is that this time?  At least initially?  Daryl didn’t completely separate his loyalty to family (searching for Rick) and his unspoken love (for Carol) when he made his decision.  They’re hopelessly entwined because Carol is a little bit of everything to Daryl--friend, family, the woman he loves and has been halfway in love with for so many years.  Initially, he chose the hope that both would come back to him if he just kept searching.  Because searching’s what he does.  From Sophia to Connie, he’s always searched in the hope of bringing the lost back to those that love them.  He’s always searched because nobody searched for him.  
Daryl is the ultimate lost boy who grew to be a man and still feels like he hasn’t been found.  
But how can he be found if the one person he wants to find him keeps running away?  
Daryl didn’t choose Leah.  
Not from his heart.  
Daryl turned back to Leah because he felt Carol slipping away to where he couldn’t follow her.  
If it can even be argued that Daryl chose Leah, it was by default.  Of course, he feels guilty.  Daryl wouldn’t be Daryl without guilt.  He wouldn’t be Carol’s man of honor.  
And he is Carol’s man.  
She may not be in the place to see it--YET--but she’s getting there.  She’s fighting hard against her natural inclination to run.  She’s trying.  She knows what she wants, even if she doesn’t believe she has the hope of getting it.  
Daryl knows what he wants, too.  He knows, once and for all, where he belongs.  He’s stopped searching.  He knows she’s right there.  There’s no more circles.  There’s just a final destination if he can convince the love of his fucking life to stop running from what they both want.  
He may have left that note for Leah, but you can’t convince this viewer that he didn’t write those words for Carol.  
And that’s all I got to say about that.  
For now anyway.  
Omigosh, lovelies.  
So sorry for the emotional word vomit but thank you so much for indulging me even if I did lose my original point somewhere up there, lol.    
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