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#idk it’s just different to see kids do something that genuinely will cause harm to others whether they realise it or not
cockworkangels · 2 years
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#genuinely sometimes i get worried about today’s kids. like not to sound old and boring and repeat what every generation probably has said#about that days kids. but. well.#i just saw a group of like 13 year olds drag a huge chunk of scrap metal to the middle of the road and leave it there.#like deliberately drag it there and place it in the middle of an intersection where there’s usually a decent amount of tradfic as well#idk why they did it like did they think it would be fun to cause an accident? like at the very least if someone hit it would damage their#car. and in the worst case the car would crash#idk it was just so baffiling to see#lol i would have told them off but they ran away bc that was something that caused genuine danger not just a stupid prank#so then i got to drag that chunk og scrap metal to the side of the road lol where no one will hit it#idk it’s just different to see kids do something that genuinely will cause harm to others whether they realise it or not#like when i worked at a mcdonald’s i got teenager calling me bitch and telling me to suck their dick and all that. like that’s different#it’s more like lol what do you think your mom would say if you heard what you just said. but ofc it’s worrying in on itself that they think#it’s funny to treat people like that. but most grow out of it#but seeing a bunch of kids do something that actually endangers people. idk doesn’t feel good#sorry i had to rant about this#like this is nothing new but i’m stil shocked
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boneinator · 4 months
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Hope this doesn’t bother you a lot, but can we get some headcanons of the teachers? I was curios about ur vision for them
Dw it doesn't bother me !! I love getting asks ^^
Anyway it's going under read more bc this feels like a long one
Sketch
• she/they enby, omnisexual (<- me when I'm projecting)
• mentor figure for the newer teachers
• gives drawings and crafts as gifts, might or might not have various voodoo dolls
• uses Colin as a monitor for digital art
Tony
• he/him, bisexual
• you CANNOT tell me he doesn't drink tea 24/7. Most British mf I have ever seen
• weird hearing, very sensitive to loud sounds but can barely hear normal talking tones. Applies to his own voice too so that's why he screams a lot
• kind of an inferiority complex for the decaying use of clocks over technology lol
Shrignold
• gay and homophobic idgaf
• aware of the harm he's doing but genuinely loves his cult- "family" a lot
• likes telenovelas, granny type of beat
Colin
• he/it Libramasc, pansexual (here I am, projecting once again)
• has haphephobia but is working on it (this one might as well be canon idk)
• everyone has a computer day, so even if you see him every day you only get screentime once a year
• autism 🫵
• his tail is retractable
• has SO MANY viruses, that's why he glitches and talks slow
Healthy band
• doing them all together bc how can you think of them alone :[ don't separate them
• common fanon of them being a family ykn the drill
• their "birthday" (or date of release lol) is actually fridge and steaks anniversary
• depending on the day they either make the most rancid bizarre food or a 5 stars, Gordon Ramsay approved meal
• running on the same luck, fridge can either be filled with normal groceries, nothing (you have to buy groceries) or gore. Like those are his guts leave him alone
• everyone hiding inside fridge is apparently a normal bonding experience
• bread boy is transfem !! (Should we start calling her something different?)
• spinach is also a she/they enby, nobody in here isn't lgbtq
Lamp
• he/him but doesn't really care, pansexual
• has been trying to be sober but he's already very fucked up, that's why he's like That™ in the TV show
• the other teachers we see in his episode are his party friends
• absolutely watches the others dreams, likes to bother them about what they mean
★ ok now the TV show ones
Briefcase
• has an absurd amount of skills, barbie kind of ridiculous
• lives with his brother and sustains them both
• workaholic
• was mr.petersons before red guy
• actually not that bad he's just really fast paced, genuinely just lost the trio on the fabric
Coffin
• he/him goth gf <3
• doesn't like music AT ALL. And is very mean about it
• besties with the tissue box !!
• originally only used his hush tone for work but it slowly morphed into his normal voice
• pretty bad PTSD
• very kind with kids and people in general tbh, it might be something useful for his job but it's just how he is really
Lily and Todney
• I don't think about them a lot sorry
• they know what they are doing and that their whole family dynamic is pretty fucked but they genuinely just really want a mom tho ,,,
Warren the wo-Eagle
• genuinely just hate him so I don't think about him a lot either lol
• had no power over the trio because he was fired and not technically a teacher anymore
• his whole Thing (ykn) comes from bullying and a feeling of inferiority. He still sucks tho
Mr.Transport
• well. I guess I just don't think a lot about the newer teachers
• was actually a really nice teacher before still going to work at 120 years old
• nobody really liked him but he was the other's only way of going outside the house so they endured him
• there was a fight over his will. People died
Electracey
• she/they enby n°3, lesbian
• really scared to touch her batteries now, has caused her to get cranky but still refuse to change them until forced
• puts up light shows for her friends
• huge sci-fi and videogames in general fan
• Colin's cousin. Actually all electronics are related
• wanted to be a music teacher but her biology said no
★ this is more of a general one but all of them are somewhere in the aroace spectrum !! I think it comes with the object nature. I have not defined where all of them fall tho
That's it I think. This is so long I am so sorry I just enjoy them a lot so I have a lot of thoughts
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levmada · 1 year
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oh since we’re on the topic of eren, i want to know. as a levi stan yourself, what are your opinions on eren? am i the only one who absolutely despises him? i think there was a point in the plot where he just lost my sympathy. he went from a traumatized little kid to a power hungry piece of shit in a heartbeat. the man is selfish by all means and i’m sure there’s some “deeper meaning” but even after finishing the manga, i just cannot find any sympathy for him. is it just me?
hmm you’re definitely not the only one who absolutely despises him but i’m not one of those people. (also i’m glad u read the manga bc i can talk about spoilers.)
eren is the most confusing character imo in just about every way. i wanna start with season 4 and rule out the interpretation that he was ‘acting’ being cold and cruel and overall murderous (like in liberio). he’s always been like that. ever since he was a kid he was ‘looking up at the sky’ and pretty much waiting for something to happen, hating the walls. and besides what sheltered (based on what we see of grishas parenting) 9 year old commits cold blooded murder two times? both being that type of kid that would do that, but for a girl his age he’s never actually met? mikasa killed the last guy bc it was life or death but eren was wayyyy too comfortable murdering those men, whether they were sex traffickers or ordinary bandits.
so he’s always been That Way. during the 57th expedition, levi literally said that eren is a monster, and not bc he can transform, but that NOTHING will keep him in a cage. fighting the female titan in stohess? bro already had a bloodlust. “it was like i wanted to die.” “IM GOING TO KILL YOU ALL!!!!” the difference between eren’s bloodlust toward the titans in s1-s3 and onward is him learning that there are other people out there and it’s actually the people stopping him from being free. the whole world hates their island. eren wasn’t satisfied by reaching the sea by itself because he wanted more and more, combined with his desire for revenge.
however: eren cared about his friends. that’s why he was so determined for the rumbling test not to be an option when he was 18, it would’ve meant historia becoming a mindless titan (i think? i just remember historia would’ve been harmed) and he was genuine during the cart scene when he didn’t want anyone to inherit his titan. he meant it when he said he’d always wrap mikasa’s scarf, and he DIDN’T mean it when he said he hated her in s4. that part was acting. idk if i have to drudge up every moment that proves eremika care about each other (shipping aside).
anyway, and when he learned sasha died? he knew it was going to happen - the overall ‘timeline’ of aot is very linear. remember all the flashes of the future at the end of s3p1, the start of s3p2, the start of s2? there are other moments but i’m getting off topic - and he’d laughed bc that’s how eren expresses tremendous grief caused by his own worthlessness. same thing happened when hannes died in s2.
so eren cared about his friends.
MANGA SPOILERS!
hell, arguably eren cared about every innocent person. when he learned he was gonna kill the kid in marley (totally blanking on his name rn sorry), he kneeled in front of him, crying and apologized. that’s another reason i think that the aot timeline is linear. that for 2,000 years, this was set to happen (hence the title of the first episode and the episode where eren goes to paths with zeke). so in a way, EREN is a SLAVE to no one but himself. he didn’t know any of that until he kissed historia’s hand and got all the memories of the future.
about that: when eren kissed historia’s hand and saw the future, he saw up until the moment he starts the rumbling. he didn’t see that his friends would fight him. he didn’t see that he’d lose. i think that’s more proof eren cared about his friends. he knew about sasha, but he couldn’t stop her from dying. when he learned everything that was going to happen, he became so detached bc he knew it was all inevitable.
the person eren is, he would stop at nothing to get ‘freedom’. at his core, he’s malicious and like you said selfish by all means, but he’s not a psychopath either. he thought he had good intentions, and then he had to fully embrace the monster he is. he went from going fucking ballistic at reiner and bert and screaming that they weren’t human anymore to becoming inhuman himself. he’s so fucking complicated.
AND THEN. the final chapter. eren knowing the future must’ve included his knowledge that he sent dina to kill his own mom and start this story. eren knew that he MADE grisha kill rod’s family and steal the founding titan. (more reasons he became detached.) he tells armin that paradis will know peace thanks to 80% of humanity dying, but armin in eren’s last moments acted like he was thankful despite knowing how shit that excuse is, and eren must know it too. a few years of peace and all that environmental damage for what? when the world recovers, it again will try to kill paradis. HELL in the extra pages, we see paradis become a fucking fascist military state. eren didn’t activate the rumbling to protect his friends. eren tried to avoid it to protect his friends.
but it was inevitable. and at the end? he’s a slave to himself. he’s a selfish, immature, pathetic and malicious little brat, the same as he always was. he doesn’t want mikasa to forget about him boo hoo bro. but did he cry about it in front of armin bc eren had any control of beginning the rumbling, sasha dying, etc. and he’s just that horrible? or bc he had no control, and he pushed armin and mikasa away to save them from himself. that could be pretty open to interpretation i think?
so all that said, do i think it’s wrong for u anon or anyone else to hate him? lol absolutely not. even tho i don’t, that’s one of the main themes of aot. there is no black and white. everyone has their one intentions and reasons, and some you can understand, but forgive, some you can understand and can’t forgive, some you can not understand and can forgive. me personally, i can find sympathy for eren, i can understand, but his actions are still unforgivable (even if you simply counted him making that jab at levi that one time on the airship about the letter🔪/hj).
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saetoru · 1 year
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This is a genuine question that I've not known how to ask but I'm gonna try, is there anything that I can do as a white person to help poc? I've never treated anyone different but I obviously can't understand the day to day struggle, and whenever I see posts like yours I want to *do* something about it but it's such a big widespread issue that I don't know how.
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hello i appreciate ur ask/mindset and being willing to try and do something !! it’s rather refreshing to see <3 i put my answer under the cut. also, do know that i can’t speak for all poc as a whole as i’m just one person but these are just some things i think are nice that some of my white friends have done around me that help me feel more heard / seen as a poc. the root of racism is obviously systemic but there are social aspects of it too that u can individually work on that honestly makes the world of a difference
the main thing to rly do is stay aware and educated on issues and concerns poc have. read articles, talk to poc u know, be aware of current events etc. ignorance is often times the root of a lot of issues like microagressions and cultural appropriation and whatnot. sometimes u don’t know and accidentally perpetuate a harmful stereotype or appropriate something culturally significant—which ignorance is not good, but it’s fixable !! id prefer someone be unaware than just racist u know ??
u can also support local small businesses that are poc owned depending on ur area. don’t buy ethnic goods off of overpriced white owned companies online—its usually cheaper if u buy from ur local ___ owned store / brand etc bc they’re not trying to make an outrageous profit off of “exotic goods !!!” for example like turmeric and henna. they should not be as expensive as certain brands make them out to be—and that’s bc they’re trying to sell you products at high prices at the expense of someone else’s culture. there are also obviously more than a few causes u can donate to that aid marginalized groups in multiple different ways, but i won’t ask of anyone to spend money bc obviously idk everyone’s situation.
but the main thing u can do is be as educated and aware as u can on racism bc it bleeds into literally any and every aspect of poc life and more often than not, without realizing it, you as a white person have probably fed into at least one microagression or stereotype against poc and made them feel out of place. that’s not to make u seem like some villain / asshole, but like i said before, ignorance is the root of a lot of the more social problems we face, and it’s always better to learn and grow than stay ignorant and refuse to acknowledge something you may have accidentally said or done.
please look into what ingredients are in foreign foods before trying them, please do minimal research into what it is u might be having before having it. it’s become a trend on tik tok to try cultural foods and i’ve seen more than one small business suffer from white people leaving bad reviews and comments and etc on ethic dishes that are exactly what they’re supposed to be. you will not like everything you try, some things are acquired tastes, but that doesn’t mean they’re bad !! be respectful to ppls dishes and their backgrounds. do not wear sexualized versions of cultural clothing !! do not wear off brand kimonos and lehengas and etc that are sexualized by white brands to prom or on halloween. our clothing and cultures are not costumes. they have meaning and history.
i’m not saying you as an individual have done all these things, but these are things that happen all the time and continuously harm poc. kids are teased for clothes and food from their ethnicities and are discouraged from learning about their backgrounds in their youth only to find those same things become trends when they’re older. all these things ultimately come from one thing: and that’s ignorance. so like i said, trying to be aware of what u can is always the first and foremost thing you can do. you are privileged and sometimes you will unknowingly say / do something that stems off of that privilege and accidentally hurts a poc. just listen to them when they voice that, and learn and grow from it. i know the chronically online ppl seem like making one ignorant mistake means ur automatically racist and irredeemable, but if u acknowledge that u have been ignorant and have learned, that’s all we ask and i promise most poc are not crazed ppl who start witch hunts for tiny mistakes. all we ask is that you make a visible effort to hear and acknowledge our concerns.
ok ramble aside i rly did appreciate this ask and i hope u know it’s nice to see that ppl do care enough to try and be conscious of their actions and at least make a slight difference. i hope u have a good day and take care !! <3
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tonya-the-chicken · 1 year
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I mean though Enji could have been a little less OTT and not done everything wrong. Its just too much really. Like his predecessors being Gaara's dad or Shinji Ikari(or Zuko's dad) more or less were just fated to be villains who die or get a redemption that now feels quite deserved for Erina's dad but none of them did anything as much as Enji. At this point Endeavor has more number of villainous acts depicted than AFO and his kids together.
I feel like it's less about what he objectively did or didn't and way more about the way it is depicted, ye
Some bad fathers are written in a way that hints they are meant to be perceived as the flattest most one-sided dudes out there. And I think it's ok because sometimes you just can't dwell on the character for too long, you have to make priorities. And when you make more complex characters you have to prioritize where you spend your time too
In Horikoshi's case FOR SOME REASON the need to balance between "Enji did all those horrible things and tormented all his family members" and "Enji is capable of growth and has some genuine care for his family and is a person with his own struggles" is resolved by gently writing how his desires overshadowed any care he had and how he had bad ideas he might've not registered as *that* bad and how he didn't necessarily have intended to cause all that harm but he did anyway and he is analyzing he is growing he is finding new priorities trying to become better REMEMBER HOW HE BEAT UP SHOUTO???? LOOK AT THAT. IT IS SO CRUEL HE IS A MONSTER and the way he felt he can't stop if he went so far already and how he once took a genuine interest in his wife and he remember it for years HE IS A VIOLENT ABUSER DO YOU REMEMBER THAT???? OK???? MAYBE A RAPIST TOO and the way he tries to fix things that can be fixed and we see him worrying about Natsuo and others... And how he cried after finding out Touya is alive. Like, he is so deeply human A LITERAL MONSTER LOOK AT THIS FACE
I don't think anyone else receives this kind of treatment. Dabi almost caused Natsuo's death and openly says he wants to kill Shouto but that doesn't influence the way he is treated by the narrative. There are no constant throwbacks to him hurting someone. No trauma in our protagonist, whom he attacked and Shouto has no hard feelings, only a desire to save him. Enji is trapped in the past he can't fix but none of the literal villains terrorists mass murderers are treated this way. Sure, their storyline is different but how come the things THEY did in the past can be forgiven and forgotten but with Enji we have to constantly keep in mind all the evil he did. Like, if the manga doesn't end with him alive and moderately well while redeeming someone like Shigaraki or Dabi I'll tell you honestly I think it would be the most trash writing ever. You can put all the effort into becoming a better person and all you get is "past never dies" or you can put zero effort but have sad childhood so of course you will be saved!!! Let's forget everyone who ever suffered from your treatment. We are not mad at you
It's confusing and inconsistent. It reminds me of the way people would write something and then get mad if others don't see certain characters as bad/good enough. Like, why do you love this and not that? And so they start being aggressive at fans. How dare they liked someone I created not in the way I want it!
But then, I don't want to be too mean to Horikoshi. Maybe he is just that shit at keeping a balance. A sorta straight line between past Enji and present Enji though I feel like it would be easier if we had his motives explained in detail. Past Enji and present Enji don't feel consistent with each other enough which makes little sense when he is the one telling the story of his past. "I didn't mean to neglect you" but no sign of him thinking about not neglecting them in the past? You have the opportunity to confirm every Enji's word. Idk man
It's a lot about perception and depiction and what is important to the plotline. If you are going to drag the backstory so much and keep on returning to it, then shape it out nicely, show new details, change perspectives. We don't dwell on anyone's backstory for as long as todofam
Sometimes I just feel I like the idea he wanted to write but not what he actually wrote you know? But then, how do I know what was his idea
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I would love to hear your thoughts on [Unidentified Media]! We can all try to be grownups and survive disagreeing with a person on the Internet if that's what happens
Okay but I really hope you don't care deeply about this to the point of offence, I really don't want to upset anyone, and people really care a lot and I get it!
It's just that, I was requested to watch the latest Stranger Things by my very non-fandom normcore friend and I'd fallen behind since I forgot the netflix password on my laptop, so I saw all the spoilers before external social pressure got to me and got me to make the effort to watch it on the TV.
I just feel like I watched an entirely different show from everyone who'd got really invested in the first half of the season and then got completely crushed by the second half. First of all, no one spoiled ANY of the main story to me. I was more spoiled on the main story by fukkin BBC Newscast interviewing Kate Bush about the belated hit single, than anything I saw on tumblr.
And I casual fan watched this thing with the expectation I needed to be able to talk to my friend about it more than Tumblr, and you'd all be a side benefit where I could get the fandom goods and slyly ship that new ship on the side and it would just be a nice little thing between us who see subtext since my friend has no shipping instinct at all and the most important detail I had to get right was recognising Friendly Orderly (thanks IMDB) as Jace from the Shadow and Bone movie she took me to a few years back.
Anyway I ended up BAWLING over Max and adoring that storyline which absolutely fucking carried the show, and Eleven and her story which was actually riveting and I could see this was something they'd seeded from the start OR had gone back very carefully to explain plotholes/mysteries they'd flagged up from the first season or two. And the whole thing that everyone else was doing was so thematically tight to that.
I did think the WHOLE Russia plot was entirely stupid and fanservice for the Hopper actor guy to watch back later as the core audience and no one else, and the whole thing would have been a normal length if they'd just REMOVED it whole cloth and got the adults out the way another way. Like, the previous season would have been excellent if the russian thing was waaaaay lower scale and borderline imagined/threadbare single rogue actors concluded in a single season, and the American government was jumping at shadows, the kids legit were always a second away from seeming like they'd conjured the whole thing as a prank and there never HAD been russians in Hawkins, and Russia as a whole remained oblivious to this, like, they didn't order it nor did they actually ever have anything to do with it. IDK maybe the russians were operatives trapped in America and trying to get home by a portal if you HAD to send Hopper there. But frankly you shouldn't. But regardless, once they actually got to the finale movie of the damn thing, it was thematically tight and made sense to the story they were telling even if it was entirely stupid and pointless and also grounded in silly tropes, apparently has caused real world harm with the concentration camp appropriating (??? aargh??!?!?!). But like, that's legitimately my only complaint with the entire season/show storywise, taken at face value and just for my enjoyment/quick impressions of what is a good story.
So, to get to the actual point, fandom has completely and utterly made up the Steddie ship because there's legitimately nothing but a few seconds of actor chemistry, like, the 4 gifsets I saw beforehand are IT. Like maybe 3 shippable exchanges of actual dialogue interspersed through 9 MOVIE LENGTH EPISODES, and I don't even think Steve was putting out the vibes that hard. He was genuinely playing as in love with Nancy and permanently distracted by Nancy even when talking to Eddie. The looking at his lips gifset where Eddie looks moments from snogging Steve would be woefully onesided because that's literally the conversation where Eddie confronts him to tell him he's still in love with Nancy and Nancy leaped into the Upside Down after him in a heartbeat.
I loved Eddie. INcredible character. 10/10 would buy again. He and Friendly Orderly were both great characters with minimal IMDB histories who I cannot wait to hopefully be cast in a ton of stuff to continue their careers post-ST and for us to adore.
But that post about how Stranger Things is written as if being a nerd is the greatest oppression one can face? Literally true. Will crying in the car after assuring Mike that his nerdiness will not stop El loving him is THEE pinnacle of this ridiculousness but you have to understand, they Empire Strikes Back'd the whole story, Which means every single plotline they harped on in this first "half" is now set up for the second. I literally can't comment on how grossly they treated Will because while it seems vile so far in a meta sense that's not where they're leaving it, and Jonathan's reassurance to him and genuinely careful writing to make it clear this was all textual stuff and NOT the actors being goofy and putting gay subtext in means that Will is subtextually gay in an INTENTIONAL way. He's been written like this because they are acknowledging his sexuality, making his story about it until he gets back to Hawkins, and very clearly setting up that he's in absolute shambles, personally, in a way that HAS to be addressed later. Him crying like that was his horrible cliffhanger to be resolved that's just as horrible as Max in the hospital: that NEEDS to be fixed but the writing has put him here, not anything the actor did for funsies.
Meanwhile the sound editing on Eddie parading around the lunchroom was ATROCIOUS and I am 100% without reading a single interview or whatever that this is because the actor voluntarily leaped off the table and wandered out of the range of microphones etc and fucked up their sound set up by treating all the cafeteria as a stage, and it was so hecking cool they kept it in and just boosted the sound in a really weird way that made it all muffled and frontloaded in a way that my TV speakers hated. I could see the improv dripping off this lad. So I don't trust a single thing fandom is saying about ANYTHING he does as intentional writing because there's like 3 things per scene he's in that I feel were actually in the script because they're on message to the themes and the rest is all adorable actor bullshit.
What I can see is a character who they wrote as The Alpha Nerd, the Baddest Badass in this very persecuted subgenre, the man who makes it all worthwhile to be a nerd, the pinnacle of the mountain that these dweeby kids might climb. An accumulation of all that makes the younger ones cool all crammed into a single character. Mike's Heart, Dustin's funniness, Will's creativity, like even sass for sass with Lucas's sister??? Metal is the Nerd Music and you know he's in it for the Lord of the Rings references. And he's KIND to these little uns, even when it seems almost overbearing in the cafeteria scene he doesn't make it about bullying them he still manages to be aggressive but turn it around to a positive conclusion so they're not "in trouble" or ostracised for asking for a replacement for Lucas.
In short, I don't think he was actually meant to have as much characterisation as was brought to the role, and so him being written as an aspirational character makes him like. The Gandalf of D&D, and the rest of them the awed Frodo he's mentoring and setting them off on their journey, to a new level of pure geekdom, the untoxic pinnacle of what this personality trait might be, the unbeatable nerd who can't be bullied, who rises above it, who, of course. In the end will be SO cool that his outro is the bassest badass thing a nerd ever did see.
He was DESIGNED for his one true memorial to be a painting airbrushed on the side of a van showing his final concert, a la wizards on vans. That's his vibe, a living breathing Too Metal To Exist painting from the side of a van you smoke weed in.
It's just wildly unfortunate that he was so good at the role everyone adores him, and is always shipping around for ships they like, and he interacted with Steve twice while Steve was in a relationship quandry since his one true love is technically dating someone else still, leaving him single and open to interpretation (ish). Throw in the bananas good chemistry Steve and Robin have on screen and you get so much more character room to flesh him out so of course he is one of the better characters. And fandoms love shipping the two white boys who look at each other once.
I feel genuinely bad that people feel queerbaited and angry at the end of the season, but I think all the characters they feel were slighted (except Eddie) are being set up for a part 2 which lifts them up, while for example Max was an absolute MVP of the season but it looks like she may be getting a rest now for carrying the story after her FANTASTIC work in this half, so now we can maybe explore Will's story some more, for example, because he got so much less. El's the only one who really needs to be super character explored every season and they consistently do that because, well, she's the mainest plot character and fascinating. But this slanting towards one or the other character while leaving out others has helped lift up a sense that it shit all over certain characters, and Eddie counted as a main enough character to even be included in that group.
He never was, he just was a convincing side character who was adorable and badass so of course people want more of him. But it's not like something happened to make the writers just randomly decide to kill him after the first few episodes aired and they didn't put in a ton of queercoding and they didn't write parallels with him that would seriously mean that he was in contention as a love interest - his only major relationship was with Mike and Dustin and since Mike wasn't there, Dustin carried the end of his story alone (and it was lovely, and, again, made me cry but not bitter tears of resentment, just good tears of sad catharsis and loss of a nice character and grief well-written in the aftermath). If anything they said LOOKED like it was a parallel for love interest stuff, it was to boost our understanding of the main characters and to help us relate back to Eddie in turn by shorthand relating him to the ones we were already invested in (though again, so charismatic these are lines the writers only hypothetically needed if he'd been flatly acted XD)
Anyway as you can tell I think he's amazing, I just can't interact with a single post about him because every single one i've seen has severe poisoning with fandom anger, shock, queerbait allegations, intense Steddie shipping and denial and bringing him back to life etc, all of which are valid normal fandom things for any character, except the overnight aspect Netflix gives us and the ENORMOUS vitriol and also everyone's past fandom baggage like, literally overnight made a blorbo who's floating in a cesspool of stuff I don't agree with and don't want to interact with because I fundamentally don't see it that way and there's no dang normal content about him being cute and funny in an environment where he's not fandom's latest martyr on the My Gay Blorbo Deserved Better And You Murdered Him For Being Gay, JUST LOOK AT HOW THEY TREATED WILL, YOU ASSHOLES.
So, um. Having a normal one over here enjoying a show on the surface level while skeptical and not particularly wowed by the writers' deeper messages beyond "friendship good, family good, love good, everyone happy and successful when love and friend and family" which is, the basicest take ever but also guaranteed to make me cry if done with true authentic belief (and it was) but also in no way inspiring to make me go any deeper on fandoming given the weird worldview exposed by psychoanalysing literally anything that a male character who seems to represent an aspect of the writers does that is not clearly actor improv, and yet also having free access to Deep Fandom due to my entire dash posting this stuff :'D
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metalgirlrising · 1 year
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Idk but the majority of "tumblr funnymen" on here is a bit cringe. Everyone's sense of humor comes from just....being sarcastic and referencing someone else's joke on here but they rlly aren't "jokes" it's usually someone else snarky comment on a specific conversation (the "you may be ___ but IM different." Is the only one to come to mind rn)
And I know it's sparky for ME to bring this up and maybe even cringe myself since no one is doing any harm and ppl are just having fun on Here but it just reminds me of when I was in highschool and I didn't know how to fit in at all. I didn't know hownto dress nice or have a sense of style or even knew how to socialise. Anyways I had language arts with these two white girls and they where snarkey as all hell. They where the type of girls who felt they where the cut above the rest because they made family guy references AND read books and got straight A's. I had once bought myself a pair of hello kitty glasses and wore them to school a couple of times. (Again I had no sense of style and was trying to figure it out but I knew I looked cute in glasses and this was the Era where girls would wear those 3D glasses u get at the theater and just take out the lenses anyways I just thought it was cute) and I remember they where making comments about me they made a comment about me loud enough so I could hear them saying "oh, you mean the girl with the FAKE glasses?" Within earshot so I could hear. A part of me was a lil hurt and maybe my self esteem went down a lil but also I remembering thinking 'man....what a fucking prick.' Like I KNOW they're fake I know that everyone KNOWS their fake. It isn't big news to anyone.
But the story doesn't end there. In the same language arts class the two girls grouped together with this scrawny white boy that would be tumblrs sexyman and would be obnoxious trio in the back making snarky comments making references that they think no one but them gets yadda yadda. WELL this one dude enrolled in our class he definitely did and sold drugs. On top of that he was genuinely funny. He even made conversation with me a few times and he was the ONLY one that talked to me during class. WELL.... somehow me,him, and the three snarky kids and I think two others got grouped together for a project. I already made plans so sit there and stay quiet and do my work alone but somehow the three obnoxious kids and the stoner guy got into a discussion about the "best method" of using a bong and these pretentious ass kids said that a water bottle is the most efficient way to smoke think we where gonna be like "ooooh and aaaah" cause they didn't think anyone smoked weed in this class and the stoner guy was like "are you fucking kidding me a water bottle are you dumb??" And continued to lay down hard how and why it was efficient at all and these three kids tried to chime in with some shit they pulled up from wiki pedia or something but this dude wasn't having it. Then he went "you guys obviously never smoked weed." And they where ALL quiet and all I could think of was "ooooooooooh" this dude redeemed me without knowing he did. It was great it was awesome because he was right!
I wish I spoke up then but lmao idk sometimes when I see certain posts I just think of those two gals
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blueprint-han · 3 years
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[Image ID: A black picture with the title “HOW TO SUPPORT FANFICTION AUTHORS” written in bold caps lock, colored with a winter forest picture. End ID.]
Well, this post has been made countless times, but I’m making one too because I’ve seen a lot of people say they’re new to tumblr and don’t know the whole “reblogging is better than liking” rule and other stuff. So without any further ado, here are ways YOU can support the fanfiction authors. Now keep in mind this applies to almost every author out there, not just the stayblr fandom, so if you’re a silent reader (or even if you aren’t), I advise you go through this post. Warning, this is a fairly long post going into detail, so yeah. I still expect you, the readers to read this, and if you’re a writer, feel free to lmk if i’ve written smth wrong or if you want me to add something! ^^
In this post I’ll go into thorough analysis of the pros and cons of each of the methods listed here and how YOU as a reader can show the authors whose fics you read more love and motivate them to produce content.
WARNING; LONG POST! GOES INTO A DECENT AMOUNT OF DETAIL. NOT EDITED, EXCUSE ANY TYPOS.
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#1 : LIKING !
I think this is basic common knowledge, and a lot of people tend to do this. When you like the post, the author sees it, you see it, and if the author has their liked posts accessible (which majority of the time they don’t), and if someone deliberately goes to check it, then they see it. See why so many authors say just liking does nothing? Only liking says “Hey, I’m gonna tell you your story is not that good by simply liking it and not sharing it with other people. :D”
♯ PROS:
You’re telling the author that you've read their fic, and either you’ve enjoyed it to a certain extent, or you’re just saving it to read for later.
Likes are seen by you, the author and anyone who has access to your likes (which, most people don’t).
♯ CONS:
If you ONLY like, you’re not really helping the author’s work reach a wide audience because this site isn’t Instagram. Reblogging is the only way people can SEE our works. I’ll cover more on that in the next section.
In a nutshell, liking is good! But you should most likely use it in a combination with the other stuff I’ve listed below, because just the like itself doesn’t really do much in giving the author any feedback or interaction on their fics.
To clear shit up; I’m not talking about those people who don’t read the story or appreciate it in the first place. I’m talking about those who appreciate the fic, like it, but don’t leave any sort of feedback to show that.
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#2 : REBLOGGING !
This is SO, SO important. I cannot stress on this enough. Let me explain WHY so many writers stress on reblogging content: 
Tumblr’s tag system is inherently fucked up, and has grown more so over the year. I’m not kidding, at first, the fic either used to show up in the tags or it didn’t, but now, sometimes your fic can be REMOVED from the tags because of,,, idk tumblr tag shit. Anyways, as you can see, it’s very demotivating for authors at that point, because the major way for people to find their content and expand their blogs has been blocked.  
Due to this reason, tumblr authors need to RELY on you, their followers to help spread their works to a wider audience. Now again, before you get me wrong, I’m not saying you ae forced to rb our works regardless of whether you like them or not. BUT, that being said, if you DO infact like the story, there’s no harm in reblogging, right? By doing this you’re indirectly telling the author — “hey! :D I liked your fic! Which is why I am gonna share it to my followers so they can read it too :D” Trust me, you’re doing nothing but helping the people who produce content for you to read. Seems like a worthy cause to hit the reblog button, right? It’s only a one, or maximum two step procedure.
Leave tags in your reblogs! Trust me, as an author myself and as much as I know from all my author friends, we oft check the tags of your reblogs to see if you found any part amazing or even if you have anything to say about the writing we put so much hard work into. Even a key smash or a “This was so [insert adjective] 🥺” is enough to leave a smile on your authors face. 
♯ PROS :
You’re !! Sharing !! Your authors !! Works !! This leads to them getting more recognition, so for the content they’re so graciously providing for free, you’re promoting their blog and helping them expand it.
If the tags are being a shit, which majority of the time they are, then you’re literally making an author’s day by reblogging! You’re showing them that you, a follower and appreciator of their works are willingly sharing their content because it deserves to be seen by more people. Again before any dumb people decide to attack me, i am talking about people who like the fic but don't bother reblogging and are silent/ghost readers. I am not forcing anyone to read anybody’s work.
YOU’RE MAKING YOUR AUTHOR SO HAPPY WHAT MORE REASONS COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT !! 🥺
♯ CONS :
Literally none, because as far as I remember no author is against reblogging of their works. It’s quite literally the way this platform functions. Reblogging is IMPORTANT.
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#3 : COMMENTING/SENDING FEEDBACK !
This kind of overlaps with the previous section, but THIS IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT STEP !! When you leave feedback, you are directly giving the author something so much more valuable to them than high follower/note counts or money. Your feedback is literally our serotonin. I kid you not the number of times I’ve received a positive comment and smiled and it has made my day. There’s a reason youtubers (though not the best example, bear with me here because it was the only one I could think of) ask people to subscribe, like and COMMENT. The subscription is like a follow, the like is ofc like a heart, and the comment is equivalent to an rb with comments in the tags. 
You might argue and tell me that a comment is basically like an ask so the reblogging step isn’t necessary, but I’m sure 99% of you use YouTube and you know that more comments leads to people’s videos boosted in the stream/trending charts. This is what reblogging does. Reblogging shares the piece with other people like minded, which leads to a boost in reads. You are literally helping your author grow.
It’s quite literally the same thing as youtubers. Youtubers NEED validation to keep their content creation going, so do writers, so do other ccs on this site. This post is however, focused on WRITERS, so keep that in mind.
♯ PROS :
By doing this, you’re giving author valuable feedback! It’s similar to what you do in rbing with tags. Interactivity with their fics boosts their note counts and helps expand their audience, so srsly, now think of it: your one comment is playing such a massive role to help ccs create more content.
Imagine how much of a difference the note counts will be in when every person who simply likes after reading the fic, reblogs, leaves a comment and sends an ask. the note counts would be high on each and every fic, which is validation in itself, but your comments would inspire the writer so much more! Please, don’t skip the commenting part. Even a simple one like: “this is so cute!” is wonderful. 
♯ CONS :
Remember, if you’re gonna give constructive criticism (which I’m sure you all are smart enough to know if different from hate), make sure the author is okay with it. Authors need to be in a specific mindset and must be ready to accept criticism, so if you’re gonna give constructive criticism to them when they’re at a low point, it may demotivate them.
Just commenting, instead of reblogging and commenting in the tags/ reblogging and then leaving an ask in their inbox, while it gives validation in plenty, will not lead to the author’s work being spread. Therefore I suggest either reblogging and commenting in the tags or reblog and then leave an ask, or comment under the fic!
!! reminder; I am not saying that if you don’t rb and just leave feedback, your feedback has no value. We authors truly appreciate every bit of feedback, but this post is aimed to help you learn how to interact with and support authors, and make them feel more motivated, because the current scenario of liking and scrolling is taking a toll on their creative abilities. Take it from a person who’s been writing for a year.
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#4 : COMMSIONING VIA THEIR KO-FI/OTHER APPS !
Before any of you attack me, let me tell you that this is not a step that is 100% necessary to do. ONLY donate if you can and if you genuinely want to, and if anyone is forcing you to pay for something against your will, you need to get yourself out of there.
Regardless, if an author has a kofi and you’re able to and you want to donate, you definitely should! It’s also a valid form of support.
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#5 : ADDING THEM ON REC LISTS/ RECOMMENDING THEM TO REC BLOGS
This is such an underrated option, to be honest. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen my fic was recommended onto some rec list and it’s made me smile so hard. If you like some fics, create a rec list! They’re oft very popular amongst the fans too. Making rec posts is such a great way to share your favorite stories with others. 
Rec blogs! I’ve seen a couple going around, and needless to say they are a great way to get someone else to read your favorite author’s work whilst also giving them your own feedback. These blogs oft accept recs via a form or ask box, and they leave your feedback along with their own, or else they’ll oft tag the author in the feedback post, so look! You’re basically helping your author share their fic to many more people, because you’ve given them feedback and a reblog.
♯ PROS :
Validation! Feedback! Reblogs! More exposure! Helping a blog grow! Spreading love! basically a run down of the stuff I’ve said before!
♯ CONS :
Literally no con of this. Unless, a one in a million case, this author says they don’t like receiving feedback/being tagged, and I’m sure NO person has said this before, at least none that I’ve heard of.
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#6 : FINAL COMMENTS; MISC !
When an author points out about how the interactivity is drastically reducing, don’t just give them blind apologies. Yes, you feel sorry for not interacting as much, we understand, but rather show that you’ll become a better content consumer through your actions. We need to see that we’re not just throwing words into a void and that people are actually trying to be better content consumers. 
Understand the fact that authors don’t get paid for this, and 99% of the time, these authors don’t take commissions either. They’re giving you novel worthy writings for free. Take Percy Jackson: You think the author would have felt motivated to write the subsequent parts, let alone two whole series based off of it if literally no one showed that they were interested? Rick Riordan has sales, he is being paid, there are millions of people and big agencies who provide him feedback. Now take that huge amount and simmer it down to an audience of maybe 10000 people This is what fanfic authors want. They don’t want your money, nor are they telling you to risk your lives for them. All they want is, a reblog, some tags, some feedback, some INTERACTIVITY.  A sign that they aren’t throwing fics into the void and that people actually like them, some motivation to continue. Seems fairly easy to throw an rb with some tags, right?
Don’t bother to tell me that we do this for ourselves and we shouldn’t ask for likes and reblogs and feedback, because 1) you are consuming the content that we “write for ourselves” and 2) writers post their content here for interactivity and feedback. We could just not post and write and save our fics in our dungeon drafts for years. But we choose to post to entertain the readers, the consumers. And we aren’t even asking that much in return.
Don’t give me the whole “I’m scared that authors feel that comments are annoying” excuse either because seriously this has been DEBUNKED SO MANY TIMES. Istg, in the nicest way possible, if you still think writers are annoyed by interaction and feedback, after so many posts, long rants have been posted as to how we’re not, then you must truly be living under a rock. There, I said it. Please stop thinking this way, I’ll say it again, AUTHORS ARE NOT ANNOYED OF FEEDBACK, COMMENTS, TAGS, REBLOGS. WE LOVE IT. Saying this is like saying that the audience in a theatre play shouldn’t clap when the play ends because the actors would find it noisy. 🤡
I’ve seen some people saying they have anxiety issues and such, so pls note that I’m not invalidating your condition. If you’re trying to be more interactive, I really appreciate it! If you can’t, that’s fine too. You’re trying.
But for the people who have no reason other than feeling lazy to rb and comment, your lack of interactiveness is not excused. Please. Tumblr is a reblogging site. If you’re gonna consume content like authors are some sort of machines, I encourage you to go get some more perspective.
This site is not Instagram or the satan bird app. Your likes are appreciated but frankly speaking, they do nothing to the author except tell them “Hey i read ur fic but i'm not gonna support u :D” and honestly, that is detrimental to their creative capabilities and mental health. 
DON’T FOLLOW AN ACC JUST TO MINDLESS RB THEIR SIGNAL BOOST POSTS AND THEIR REBLOGS OF GIFS AND NOT INTERACT WITH THEIR WRITING AT ALL ! Trust me, authors prefer a lower amount of interactive followers than a high count that doesn’t even give them any feedback. Again your follows are appreciated, but when you’re following, you know the type of content the author creates, so the author expects that the more followers, the more interactivity. These days, this is just becoming the opposite. So don’t do it! If you’re gonna follow to read, interact with their works. I promise, this will make both you and the author happy. A win-win situation.
In conclusion: SUPPORT YOUR FUCKING AUTHORS! THEY ARE NOT MACHINES THAT HAVE NO FEELINGS TO PRODUCE CONTENT FOR YOU! FICS TAKE DAYS AND DAYS OF PLANNING, PLOTTING, OUTLINING, WRITING, EDITING, MAKING TEASERS. SO JUST SHOW THEM YOU APPRECIATE THEM WITH AN RB. IT’S THE L E A S T YOU CAN DO.
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I will be liking this post here written by the lovely @chaninfused​ and @scriptura-delirus​ . Please take time to read it because if you weren’t convinced by my arguments, you will see how much frustration we as writers face on a daily basis. Please, just show support. Here is the post by @stayndays​ about how to get more people to read your work, because it also has a note on reblogging. Please educate yourself, and put an end to this mindless consuming culutre and bring up some interactivity.
If you’ve read this far, I want you to go to two of your favorite authors and leave some feedback in their inbox, and tag me in it (either tag me yourself or ask the author to do so, they won’t mind). Show your writers that our words are taking effect and you are becoming better consumers. I mean it. I’m serious. I want every single one who reads this post to do this. besides valid reasons, if you’re lazy to do this, you’re a part of the problem. PLEASE get more perspective.
Also, feel free to add to this post! I’d love to read your thoughts too, remember to be kind though. And, if I think your rb is somehow contradicting my points and is bringing down the reason I made this post, I will politely ask you to delete your comment, because this post is about being truthful about the harsh reality of tumblr consumers and how we can change it. I’m sure none of you will let it get to that point, though. <3 love you guys. 💓
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And, just a reminder, don’t just blindly like this too. Do what I said before, and while I am not forcing you, I’d appreciate your reblog, because seriously, it took me 3 whole days to write this, plus, I’m sure this will help more of your followers understand the fault in consumer culture. haha, that’s it! This post was way too long uff.
also, this is ur cue to not be stupid in my inbox. You have something to say? Think I worded smth wrongly? I’m sure it wasn’t my intention to do so, point it out with manners. 
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haleigh-sloth · 3 years
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you were talking about something a bit similar yesterday so I'm sorry for being late to the conversation, but I just do not understand people who are fans of the LOV and yet are so vehemently hateful towards Midoriya, and in turn most of the other kids. I understand the criticism that sometimes the kids get things handed to them by the story, but tbh that is just to be expected of the protagonist characters in a shonen manga like this one. even so however, it's not like Midoriya gets off free of everything that he does? his actions and his sacrifices and very actually very rarely ever truly appreciated within the story, just because he is successful in most of his feats doesn't mean that the people around him necessarily Notice (him only getting one internship request after the sports festival despite displaying amazing power and critical thinking skills, the Stain Hosu incident, even in the VERY BEGINNING of the series when he runs forward to save Bakugou he says himself that he was only reprimanded for being so careless in his actions).
I see so many people who are (so ironically) only seeing the story in black and white, when in reality these kids, and Midoriya especially, are being negatively impacted by hero society just as much as the villains are, they're just experiencing it from a different angle. (Which adds a whole other layer to the Midoriya becoming the greatest hero plotline, because the society that he is also fighting against is the one that was shaped that way by his predecessor- albeit unintentionally.) Midoriya is going to be the one to try to save Shigaraki, Midoriya has already become the greatest hero by actively looking past the actions of Shig and the League and wanting to help them.
- I didn't get to finish my thought from the FULL ESSAY I sent earlier (my bad about how long that ended up being lmao) but...yeah I was saying about how Midoriya is already a better hero at 16 than most other pros because he actively wants to help the League. Midoriya is exactly the kind of hero that the villains, and Shigaraki in particular, needs in order to have the happy ending that so many want for him. I agree that the manga has been a bit of a drag-along for the past few...months tbh, and I am absolutely Livid at the way that Bones has structured the story, and it's causing a lot of boredom and Tons of tension with people, but I feel like a lot of villain fans are taking that out on the integrity of the characters themselves, which is causing a lot of the mischaracterizaton of Midoriya in particular. n idk, I just find it sort of ironic, DEFINITELY annoying, and in general just.... :/ yknow. just :/
I think it's completely valid for people to just simply not like certain characters for whatever reason they might have, im not here to police people's opinions, but when people's opinions come at the expense of misunderstanding pretty key elements of the characters / story they're talking about, that's when I have a problem. FINAL MESSAGE I promise lmao sorry again for the 600 page essay
You're good lol. In fact, I've discussed some of this in-depth in private with a tumblr friend. Again, I feel like my DMs are being read 👀 anyway lol
So obviously this is going to be a long ass post so I'll add a cut toward the top. But I wanna start off with: there's a lot to unpack here and I'm going to preface with, I agree with you. But I also have to say that I see both sides, but when it comes to vehemently hating a character and letting that hate for that character lead to bad takes (which I see for Deku and another character that I'll get to under the cut) I feel like the overall point people are trying to make loses its grip because it starts to just turn into bashing, and doesn't actually hold water with what's actually in the story.
"I just do not understand people who are fans of the LOV and yet are so vehemently hateful towards Midoriya, and in turn most of the other kids. I understand the criticism that sometimes the kids get things handed to them by the story, but tbh that is just to be expected of the protagonist characters in a shonen manga like this one."
I'll be honest, I see a lot of people love on the UA kids. Especially ones like Kirishima, Kaminari, Mina, Tsuyu, basically any of the ones with personalities that are beyond "I have to get stronger! I have to catch up with my classmates and live up to everyone's expectations!" Which I personally feel like pretty much all of the UA kids have as personalities, save for the main five, and the few above that I listed. But for the hatred toward Midoriya....oy. Where do I begin.
Well, I actually don't see a lot of Deku hate on my dash. I follow a very small number of blogs, most of which are pretty in line with my POV of the story and therefore, I don't see a lot of bad takes.
A little baby rant inside of this monster post:
Yes, I have come across extremist villain-stan blogs that, while I agree with some of their opinions on the villains, I don't agree with their opinions on the hero characters. I've unfollowed blogs like that, because they started exhausting me and making me upset, tbqh. Like yes, the villains are the best characters in the story. But guess what? They aren't the only ones in the story. We have other characters that are important to the overall themes and messages. I, personally, really like the hero kid:villain set up. Others I've seen want the heroes and villains completely separated in the story and for the villains to save themselves without any help from the heroes?? Makes zero sense because the story is about these becoming true heroes, and in order to do that they need to challenge themselves by saving a villain. So...blogs that were spouting that nonsense, I've unfollowed and stopped engaging with.
But back to Midoriya. Okay, I genuinely, genuinely like Midoriya! I've liked him from the beginning. He's not favorite, he's not even my second favorite. He's in my top 5 though. But the only dislike I personally see toward Midoriya on my blog is for these problematic things that have occurred:
Telling Shouto he thinks he's going to forgive his father because he's kind, making Natsuo feel bad for not forgiving his abusive POS father.
Trying to "reach" Dabi the same way he reached Shouto, only to just cause more harm.
Saying Endeavor is a mentor who made him stronger??? TO Dabi??
Teaming up with the fucking top 3
So....basically...any time Midoriya has been interjected into the Todoroki plot line, he's been less than likable--AFTER what he did for Shouto during the sports festival. That was a positive thing, and it actually kicked off the Todoroki plot line really really well. It got us into Shouto's inner world and started his story off nicely I think.
And you can argue that Midoriya's flaw is being blinded by hero society and seeing the good in everybody, BUT--
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This was LITERALLY THE FIRST INTERACTION between Midoriya and Endeavor. THIS set the tone for the Todoroki plot. So....all that stuff up there that people hate about Midoriya, is definitely valid. I mean...I don't think it's worth hating him for but people can like and dislike who they want. But this just reiterates my belief that so many things in BNHA come to a fucking halt for Endeavor's bitch ass. The main character included.
"it's not like Midoriya gets off free of everything that he does? his actions and his sacrifices and very actually very rarely ever truly appreciated within the story, just because he is successful in most of his feats doesn't mean that the people around him necessarily Notice (him only getting one internship request after the sports festival despite displaying amazing power and critical thinking skills, the Stain Hosu incident, even in the VERY BEGINNING of the series when he runs forward to save Bakugou he says himself that he was only reprimanded for being so careless in his actions)"
So, I don't entirely disagree but I do have to disagree to an extent. Midoriya's consequences have been a topic for a while now and everyone says the same thing. Nothing ever comes back to him, he doesn't ever actually fail at anything. His failures don't actually hold him back or push him to challenge his beliefs. Like...narrative consequences here is what I'm talking about. Midoriya only got one offer after the sports festival, yes that's a consequence of putting your body through ridiculous strain and self-destructing in front of everyone like that. But it ended up working in his favor because he went with Gran Torino who taught him his next big move, full cowling, which I think we can all agree was a major power-up for him. So...it wasn't much of a consequence in the long run. It wasn't a set back. And you're right, he was reprimanded for rushing in to save Bakugo in the beginning, which is coming into play now when we see that it's actually hard for people to step in and save others because everyone is so trained by society to just let heroes handle everything. Even though Bakugo would have died if not for Midoriya. BUT--what happened next? All Might gave him his power. That was a reward by the narrative. Granted that HAD to happen for our story to kick off, but I'm just trying to show how Midoriya doesn't ever actually have any set-backs.
"Midoriya is going to be the one to try to save Shigaraki, Midoriya has already become the greatest hero by actively looking past the actions of Shig and the League and wanting to help them."
"but...yeah I was saying about how Midoriya is already a better hero at 16 than most other pros because he actively wants to help the League. Midoriya is exactly the kind of hero that the villains, and Shigaraki in particular, needs in order to have the happy ending that so many want for him"
Fully agree here. I'll say that recently I've seen a lot of people making posts about how they don't think it'll be Midoriya doing the reaching and saving. How they think it'll be the LOV saving each other without the help of the heroes, how they'll reach each other's hearts?? Which...I don't even know what to say besides ask people who think that what they think the purpose of all these parallels and similarities drawn between him and Shigaraki are for, if not to bring them together in the end (and stay connected too--not just be yeeted from each other's lives), the two brothers who were separated from each other, and a teenage girl who was never accepted by her peers and basically forced to find family in a group of adult men lol. I'm not sure if you were responding to my rant yesterday with this ask lol, but if you are, I mean yeah I'm on board here. Midoriya is supposed to be that "true hero" that breaks through even the toughest, strongest walls, who in HIS case is Shigaraki. But not just him, Shouto, Ochacko, and Bakugo too. There's a kid:villain set up for a reason, so people who don't want that set up are either just....super super one-sided in how they're reading it, or it's just their preference and they're not actually caring about what the story itself is going to do. (Bakugo is kind of a seventh wheel....lol)
Again, I can't say I've seen too much irrational Deku hate on my dash. I avoid stupid shit for the most part. Most of the blogs I follow, while they may not like Midoriya, they still see the redeeming characteristics in him and still make valid takes on the story and take his actual character into account. But I have seen the irrational hate you're talking about, I've just successfully yeeted it from my dash.
Another character, and I know you didn't bring this character up but I feel this issue applies to them as well--is Hawks. Now...I do not like Hawks. I don't hate him, but I seriously just cannot bring myself to like him. I can't tell if it's his fans that have just ruined him for me, or just his overall vibe in the story. I don't even know at this point I've spent so long avoiding getting to know his character. But--I've seen villain-stan blogs hate him so much to a point where they completely forget that he is also a victim of society and has his own issues. And their takes on him come at the expense of....well, a clear understanding of the story. Now right now Hawks is being handled not-so-great, but even before this. Of course nobody has to like him, I mean I just said that I don't, but this irrational hate that comes at the expense of his actual character is annoying to me.
"I think it's completely valid for people to just simply not like certain characters for whatever reason they might have, im not here to police people's opinions, but when people's opinions come at the expense of misunderstanding pretty key elements of the characters / story they're talking about, that's when I have a problem"
Yep yep yep. I agree here too. So in a nutshell, no matter what character it is, if people irrationally hate them to a point where their takes on the story just stop making sense, yes I agree that it starts to wear away at the integrity of the character, and it also annoys me and I end up just unfollowing and I no longer take anything they say seriously. And there are a couple of blogs I follow that really don't like Midoriya at all, but they don't waste their time talking about how much they don't like him. They simply just...don't talk about him. That's what people should do because otherwise it fills EVERYONE'S dash with negativity that we didn't ask for. That's why I'm glad I've stopped getting so many asks about Hawks because I have never really had anything nice to say about him and after so many people sending me stuff asking to talk about him I started to feel like a shitty person for filling peoples' dashes up with that. I mean...I'm seriously mean to Hawks lol. I am. So yeah.
I don't particularly understand the extreme hatred either. I totally get not liking a character but that extreme hatred you're talking about I've made a successful effort to distance myself from. Thankfully.
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dreadpoetssociety · 4 years
Text
I’m Many Things
TW: Mention of sexual harassment
Note: I’ve never really posted these before, so please be lax if it’s bad lol. I don’t see a lot of sibling fics (understandably lol) but I feel weird writing like romantic relationshipy reader insert fics with characters that are significantly older than me. Anywayyy, here goes. This is going to be short for now. 
Note pt 2: Idk if this really is any good. Looking at it now it seems a little off or I can’t really tell if I got Spencer right, but I tried!! It’s kinda rushed, I’ll admit. Also hopefully I used a gif right lol. This is kinda cringey and I promise I’m better than this fic, but I just really wanted to break the ice and start posting them, so enjoy!! (if you have any prompts/ideas please send me some ! I wanna write some more :))
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Summary: Your brother, Spencer Reid, has to have a meeting with your principal.
Spencer Reid x Sister!reader 
(or should I say reider hahahah I’ll shut up.)
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By now, Spencer was pretty familiar with the hallways of your high school, given how many times he’d been called in for meetings with various different staff members, or even from the parent-teacher conferences alone. Thankfully, the office was at the front entrance of the building, blocked off from the rest of the hallway with floor to ceiling windows, with one door. 
Reid had been informed in a very interesting phone call with the principal himself of what you had done. He was used to the petty things from you, talking back to teachers, skipping a class, vandalizing something, but the one thing you had never done, at least until now, was get into a physical altercation with another student during school. Let alone punch the principal’s son. Even so, despite the disappointment, Spencer still sensed that something was wrong in the sense that he understood you wouldn’t just do something like that out of nowhere. 
He was greeted by the women at the desk as he walked in.
“Hello, Dr. Reid. Nice to see you again.” she smiled.
“You too, if only it were under different circumstances.” Reid replied with a polite smile.
“She’s in front of the office, as usual.” the woman gestured to Reid’s right. The office had many rooms in it on its own, its own hallway and all that. Spencer walked behind the front desk and turned, seeing you sitting in a plastic chair near the end of the hall.
You turned when you heard footsteps coming down the hall.
“I know how this looks, but I promise it’s not like that.” you began explaining.
“You say that every time Y/N. This is the third time this semester I’ve had to leave work because you’ve gotten into some kind of trouble.” Spencer replied, obviously disappointed.
“This is different! Mr. Beck is being so stupid just because it’s his own son. You don’t understand, that kid is awful.” you said.
“Y/N did he hit you?” Spencer asked.
“Well, I mean, no but-” 
“That’s exactly what I mean. I understand that you’ve had it rough, but really Y/N getting violent?” Typically, Spencer would always hear you out. He was understanding, and genuinely listened, but the team was just about to leave on a case that was already stressful, and now it’s being delayed, “Y/N there’s a serial killer out west killing people every few hours, peoples’ lives are on the line and this is where I am.”
He’d never spoken to you that way. It was really unlike him, and he never put the job before you most of the time, and this hit you where it hurts.
It was then that you both were called into the principal’s private office.
“Dr. Reid, I apologize for pulling you from your busy schedule.” the man known as Mr. Beck greeted as he stood up and offered his hand, which Spencer shook.
“It’s no problem, sir, it’s not your fault.” Spencer then saw the other boy sitting in the chair on the far side of the room with a very swollen eye that would definitely be very purple later, a day or two to be more specific he thought. For teens, it takes about that long for the hemoglobin to change the red color to a more blue or purple he explained to himself in his own head, because that’s just how his mind automatically works. Either way, it was worse than he thought it’d be.
“Now, we’ve already talked about the issue over the phone, and as far as consequences go, we’ve been very lenient with Y/N for so long.” Mr. Beck began, “If I’m being completely honest, after what happened today, expulsion is being very highly considered.” 
“You’re going to expel me? You didn’t even listen to my side of the story, I’ve been sitting on that goddamn chair this entire time! You’re just taking your son’s word over mine you biased a-” 
“Y/N!” Spencer interrupted, “Mr. Beck, I understand completely why you’re upset and I’m appreciative of you patience, but expulsion seems a bit extreme. I promise I’ll talk to her and she’ll get the consequences she deserves and this won’t happen again. Suspension I can understand.” 
Great. you thought, Serial killer and now he has to save me from expulsion. Way to go again, disappointment.
“What? You didn’t even hear what happened! Your son was-” 
“Y/N that is quite enough!” Mr. Beck nearly yelled, “We’ve given you so many chances and today, my son tells me that you’ve been making fun of him and violently hurt him without reason! It is unacceptable!”
You genuinely laughed at that point, “I’m sorry what? Your son told you that I made fun of HIM? Have you ever looked at your precious son’s phone?” 
“Y/N shut up. You know what you’ve done.” Mr. Beck’s son snapped. Spencer found the phrasing quite odd. His demeanor was off putting, and he didn’t seem nervous at all. Granted, he could be in shock. Spencer recognized him, though, from pictures you’d shown him when complaining about pretty much every student in school, “You know you came up to me randomly. You know you harass me literally all of the time, and for what?”
Spencer noticed that this kid didn’t look anyone in the eye when he spoke, but slightly behind them.
“Mr. Beck, did Y/N ever say why she hit your son?”
“What does it matter what she says? She cannot be trusted and this behavior is not new. My son would not lie about this.” Mr. Beck sounded offended. 
“As a staff member, though, you shouldn’t let your biases get in the way.”
“She still physically harmed another student. Regardless of why, she must face consequences.” 
“Mr. Beck, it is only respectful to at least hear what she has to say.” Spencer argued. The young boy in the far seat’s face changed. He was nervous now. Mr. Beck sighed, and nodded towards you.
“Mr. Beck, this my come as a surprise to you, but I was NOT harassing your son. He was harassing another girl between classes. She had sent nudes to him, and then I don’t know if they had a falling out or something, but she was trying to like, I don’t know, break up with him I guess and he was following her around and pushed her up against a locker and tried to like, kiss her even though she said no. So I punched him, and then he threatened to send those pictures of her to everyone.” you stated, “Mr. Beck honestly, I’m many things, but a bully isn’t one of them. And no offense, but the last person I’m interested in even looking at is freaking Kyle Beck of all people.” you ranted. Spencer realized then that you were being genuine. You were a good liar to the naked eye, but always gave off the basic tells that Spencer could pick up on when you weren’t being truthful.
It was then that Spencer’s disappointment actually changed to pride. Although he didn’t condone the violence, he understood that you were a loner of sorts, and appreciated that you’d stand up for someone like that.
“Dad, she’s so full of crap! I would never do that, you know me!” he yelled. Reid noticed the small tremor in his voice, and quick change of behavior. 
“Y/N, I know I raised my son differently.” 
“Check his phone.” you said. 
“I know what he does.” Mr. Beck snapped.
“Sir, I believe she’s telling the truth. I say this as unbiased as I can, but I can tell when she’s lying. I am a profiler, you know.” Reid backed you up. He didn’t usually pull out the profiler card, but reading the room, now seemed like a good time. Mr. Beck was taken back for a moment before sighing, and his son’s face completely drained of color when asked to unlock the device.
It wasn’t long after that that the truth came to the surface. Your sentence went from expulsion to a month’s worth of detention.
Walking to the car, Spencer said, “You know Y/N, I don’t condone the violence, and don’t exactly agree with the way you handled that, but I am proud of you for sticking up for that girl.”
“Yeah.” you replied. He noticed that you didn’t seem happy, but more so upset.
“Y/N, what’s bothering you?”
“Nothing.”
“I’m profiler, Y/N. You know I don’t believe that.” he said. You sighed.
“I don’t mean to disappoint you all the time,” you started as Reid’s heart sank, “I know you should be out there saving people rather than staying here and dealing with me. I’m not worth the time. I don’t know why I’m this way, I’m really sorry.”
“Y/N...” Spencer realized his mistake, “I was just stressed when I said that. You’re not a disappointment and shouldn’t apologize for just being who you are. Don’t undermine your importance, either. You mean more to me than the job.”
You smiled, “So does this mean I can come with you and look at crime scenes?”
“Absolutely not.” Reid chuckled.
“Aw, but it would be so cool! I’ll be good I promise!”
“Y/N, crime scenes aren’t cool, and you would cause trouble before we even got there.” he said, jokingly, “I bet you would even try to fly the jet.”
“Oh my god, I never even thought about doing that. That’s such a good idea.”
“And that’s why you’re not allowed to come.” Reid smiled, as they both got in the car and drove towards home. Spencer appreciated the ten minute ride while he could, knowing he would be leaving soon after. 
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siren-virus · 3 years
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welp, I've finally came up with a schedule for asking you questions. Every 2-4 days after you answer something I've sent I shall make an ask, changing the themes between your OCs and their world, and Luckyboy!Ben AU. That way I won't burn you out accidently with asking about the same thing all the time XD And since my last ask was about your OCs, it's time to return to Luckyboy!Ben AU :D
Ok, first question, Would Gwen here have the necrofriggian babies? Big Chill babies (but named differently obviously)? I suspect that she would have them considering that that was something that came up from a... defect, bug, glitch, purposefully put design? in the Omnitrix, as such she should have birthed them regardless of the differences with cannon. Would anyone else know about the babies, considering it was treated as a secret in cannon but maybe not in this AU?
Also, what about Zs'Skayr? He (Is Zs'Skayr gendered? I'll treat them as male for the rest of this ask to avoid complications) is also someone that's independent of the events of the prime universe, and as such I'd imagine that he would still be a threat in this universe.
And the Loboan transformation that Ben went through in the OS, would Gwen also go through it in here as well? We know that that transformation was triggered by Werewolf when the team was attacked, forcing Ben to go through a gradual transformation.
Now back to Nekomata :D Would Ben ever reveal his identity to someone? Maybe Gwen and grandpa Max? Perhaps Rook if he manages to gain the complete trust of Ben first? What kind of situation would allow for Ben to reveal his identity as Nekomata that wasn't a life-or-death one? Because let's be real, in a life-or-death situation anyone would reveal their identities XD
We know that Ben is the favourite barista of the coffee, and with good reason, considering he's a charismatic info brooker that will kick the ass (or alien equivalent) of anyone making trouble, while also being respectful of the clients (because that's mandatory in a job like that one, but isn't it hard to find employees like that in this universe) and keeping their dietaries needs in mind. But does He has any favourite client, someone he's waiting to come because he geniunly sees them as friends even though they only see each other in the coffee? Nekomata interactions don't count for this XD I'd imagine it would be one of the plumbers kids, Kevin or Argit, But who knows? this might as well be a time to make any background character shine :P Not that I remember any of them anyways XD
NGL Im already burnt out on luckyboy (it dont take much rlly, just bored of the idea haha ;;) I'll entertain ur questions tho. maybe it'll spark me back to life. Currently hyperfixated on artfight!
I'm conflicted about this. Idk if that episode was supposed to be a metaphor for teen pregnancy (i still find it hilarious that it's a cannon mpreg episode rip!), but with Gwen it wouldn't rlly work(?) She's quite responsible, and considering her personality she'd get way too attached.
So- I would say that she has a lot better communication with Azmuth then what Ben did, and Azmuth took into consideration a lot of Gwens suggested tweeks. So, no babys- srry. They'd nerf Gwen completely. (poor thing crys over the littlest things...)
You know what? what's the harm in a little childhood trauma, we'll have Zs'Skayr. Gwen never took back control of Ghost Freak after the events of Zs'Skayr. She also never defeated him the first round, it irritates her to know end how much of a coward she was as a child. But she was a child! She's too hard on herself a lot of the times.
Oh geez this brings back memories~ I remember sitting in my loungeroom watching this episode and loving it every time.
The only reason Ben turned into the Laboan was because he chased after the OG wolf man.
I would say Gwen's a lot more cautious in those cases and stuck close to Max. So she didn't end up collecting the Laboan DNA until a lot further down the track.
Maybe similar events happen with a different alien however, something Gwen can't avoid.
Before I dive down into Nekomata I just wanna make note of some Gwen stuff.
Gwen is still quite headstrong, intelligent and cautious when it comes to fighting. Quite similar to how she functions in the OG her fighting is more Defensive. Her fighting style is built off Taekwondo (I think thats what she practised in alien force...) So she's more built for self defence. She's very analytical of her opponents. Her best alien would be XLR8 (my one of my faves ngl). Using her quick thinking she can do small attacks that can weaken her opponent.
Now then:
I usually don't like to reveal big REVEALS to anyone even myself. Which can straight up nerf me when it comes to developing my own characters cause I won't spoil myself.
So it takes a lot of willpower to do this. It's my AU and I say what's canon!
WHEEEEZE BUT TO BE HONEST I LIKE TO SWITCH THINGS UP SO DON'T TAKE THIS AS OFFICIAL OFFICIAL CAUSE I MIGHT END UP CHANGING MY MIND. I'M SO INDESCISIVE!!!
The big reveal:
You know what, I thought about this a while ago. Rook is realsing that perhaps the plumbers are in the wrong. So he only whishes to hear Nekomata out. He ends up finding Nekomata after a big fight. He's quite injured and bleeding out, he can't retain his anodite form (add a bit of a concussion in the mix). Rook panics and has to throw the mask off, because the majorite of blood is under the mask. (mans know first aid). He's hesitant, all this chasing, all this fighting. Surely he couldn't! but He does. He pulls of the mask AND, oh shit, the barista!
I think around this time the plumbers had caught on to Rooks faulty allegiance and had followed him, so He finds himself surrounded. Rook places the mask back on and trys to talk with the plumbers.
They're not hearing it. And Ben, in his weary state, pulls out one of his little teleporter rocks (i forgot to mention he carries around of a lot of them, preinfused with mana as a just in case scenario) grabs Rook by the ankle and teleports them away.
Through a series of events his identity is revealed, to the public and he's on the run. Not sure how that'll go, but it extends the overall storyline!
....
...
You're right, the BG characters really don't get that limelight. So..... Blukig and Driba. He genuinely enjoys their little back and forths. Also in this universe they're gay. I can't imagine those two loving anyone else but each other.
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proship-selfship · 3 years
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csa survivor here, who's probably an "anti" (i used to be proship, bear with me) by your definition because i cannot even begin to comprehend how someone can look at horrible traumatic shit and go "damn that's hot". althought i'm obviously anti-harrassment cause i don't think anyone should be sending death threats to anyone. also i do have a few ships that are considered ~problematic~ because of an age gap or something else. so idk.
but do you have any sources or explanations on how being pro-ship is harmless?
because i can't wrap my head around people jerking off to fictional kids. because in my eyes, if the concept of a fictional child in a sexual situation is arousing, there's probably something not right with you. but again, that's just me.
if you have any genuine articles or responses that aren't just "it's fiction uwu", that would be great. if not, that's fine too. i just don't know how to feel about this discourse anymore because i got harrassed by both antis AND proshippers so lol. yea.
I can see how you would think it’s repulsive or concerning. And hey, I totally get where you’re coming from. It’s less “damn that’s hot”, and more “hey here’s a way for people to explore darker themes without any legal repercussions”. I can’t exactly give you articles about proshipping in general being harmless, but I can give you some stuff on exposure therapy for other survivors of CSA or any kind of abuse/trauma. Also big yikes to getting harassed by both sides of this. Proshippers are supposed to be anti-harassment, jfc.
Under the cut, it’s gonna be a long one.
It might not be how you cope, sure, but for some people it can give them a way to explore what happened to them and find some closure, almost in a way that desensitises the one suffering to the trauma itself, and it’s been shown in some cases with PTSD to help with the symptoms: x x x The big thing here is that it’s in a controlled environment. You can stop at any time if you’re exploring it through fandom content, which is probably the best part of it if you are shipping “problematic” ships to explore what happened to you. And some people might not do it to cope. Some people just enjoy exploring darker themes because it interests them. It doesn’t really reflect on them as a person, sometimes a spoon is just a spoon. Sometimes you see two characters and want them to make out. It doesn’t make you a bad person. This gif from a shoe0nhead video sorta explains it:
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The next thing I want to cover is the whole “jerking it to fictional kids” thing. By definition, paedophilia is a psychological condition that can be treated, but not very well understood. I’ll make it clear now that I’m not defending the actions of paedophiles, but let’s make it clear that this condition needs to be better understood to prevent any harm to children and to better treat these people. I won’t deny that there are some very sketchy individuals on this website and other social media platforms. Now let’s discuss the laws around pornography portraying minors in very adult situations- while Australia doesn’t know the difference (because blanket solutions to intricate problems is kinda what we do here), in the US and UK, to my knowledge, explicit images of fictional minors is not considered CSEM (Child Sexual Exploitation Material). They do not portray real minors, and therefore does not endanger any real children or warrant an arrest or investigation- most of the time the artists have the good sense to age these characters up to be over 18. In the past, antis have wasted the time and resources of the relevant authorities by sending them after artists who haven’t broken the law, and organisations like the Centre for Missing and Exploited Children and INHOPE have repeatedly asked for this to stop happening. The use of the term ‘pedophile’ to brand proshippers ultimately ends up with a “boy who cried wolf” effect where the word loses its true meaning. Again, sometimes a spoon is just a spoon.
To put it rather simply: those who partake in problematic content or ships are not breaking the law or causing harm. What causes harm and distress is when the content that creators have tagged appropriately is dragged into spaces where it was never meant to be without the artist’s permission or knowledge or the right tags. I can understand how it upsets you and other csa survivors who might think similarly, really I do. But the best thing to do is trust that these people who ship the things you find problematic know the law and do not intend to hurt anyone because of it. 
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none-but-y0u · 3 years
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yes i’m posting this twice. idk how to use this site correctly, and i have no shame so we move
Saw this post by @memes-saved-me​ HAD to write a fic about it because it wouldn’t leave my mind
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Months after the fight, Billy hadn’t really made up with Steve per se. He hadn’t said those two words because in his opinion, they held no weight if there wasn’t any action behind it. But still, Hawkins was only so big, and the Party was only so small, so eventually they had to get to a point where Steve didn’t flinch at every purr of the camaro and where Billy didn’t feel like something was clawing away at the insides of him every time Steve avoided him.
So nowadays, if they ever saw each other out and about, it was more of a head nod that symbolized “I’ll leave the kids alone, if you promise you’re keeping Max safe” type of thing. And occasionally this extended to a “I’m at the quarry. You’re at the quarry. We’re not going to talk about the deep bags under your eyes or the darkening bruises on mine, but we can share this blunt and pretend we’re angsty teens, even if it’s just for a moment.”
In school, it worked similarly. Tommy was still on his weird homoerotic pulling pigtails thing where he would say comments about dethroning King Steve, but would also always seem to have his eyes on him everywhere he went.
And Billy knew all about homoerotic pulling pigtails. Had his fair share of pulling pigtails with a certain recently dethroned, brown eyed, king, and that got him nowhere except blood on his fists and a syringe in his neck. But he’d let Tommy figure that one out on his own.
Read more under the cut or on ao3 HERE
“Yo, Hargrove,” Tommy shouted across the parking lot, waving him over.
Looking up, Billy took count of who was around - a bunch of preppies he definitely didn’t have time for today - and shook his head before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. He could quietly hear Tommy mutter a “this fucker” before walking over to Billy.
“Dude, you didn’t hear me calling you?”
“What is it, Hagan?” he muttered, not even sparing him a look.
Tommy leaned back against the camaro, attempting to look cool and nonchalant, but quickly moved upon seeing Billy’s glare. He opted for crossing his arms and plastering a glare on his face. “You seen Harrington?” he asked, squinting towards the emptying school building.
“Why the fuck would I have seen him?” Billy huffed, blowing out a stream of smoke.
“I dunno. I see you guys sometimes in the halls or in the cafeteria, so I just thought that you and he were-”
“We were what?” Billy glares, cutting him off. Tommy has the good sense to take a step back.
“Nothing, man. I just thought you were friends or something.”
Billy scoffs, rolling his eyes. “So ‘cause I don’t pull Harrington’s pigtails like you do, that means we’re friends?”
“Pigtails- I don’t! I’m with Carol!” Tommy stutters out, his freckles standing out more as his face goes red.
Billy gives him a pointed look before taking another drag.
“You used to do it too. Before you got all soft for him,” Tommy mumbles after a moment.
And Billy doesn’t have time to deal with Tommy and his unrequited, unrealized feelings for his ex best friend. Took him long enough to figure it out himself, and he doesn’t feel like going down that road again. “Fuck you want, Hagan.” He says, a slight growl in his throat.
“Nothing, man. I just didn’t know if you saw him. That’s all. He wasn’t in class today, and you know how everyone is with him now that he’s...you know,” Tommy trails off.
“Ain’t that your doing?”
Tommy flushes again, rubbing the back of his head. “Mm, Yeah, I guess.” He goes silent a moment before. “Hey, me and Carol are going to the Mart after this if you wanna’ come.”
“Hard pass,” Billy chortles, throwing his cigarette to the ground. Moving past Tommy, he walks to the driver’s side.
“Yeah, course,” Tommy says. His face is downturned, and Billy can see the slight bit of hurt staining Tommy’s face. Closing his eyes, he sighs to himself. Knows he has to correct this because Tommy’s doesn’t mean any actual harm. Just wants to know if his ex-best friend is okay.
“Have to drive my sister around, that’s all,” he gets out. Tommy’s face lights up at that just as the familiar dash of red works its way through the crowd.
“Yeah, alright. Catch you tomorrow then.”
He starts to walk away, and Billy curses at himself for being weak enough to ask. “If you hear from Harrington before Monday..."
Tommy turns, grinning with a knowing look. “I’ll let you know.”
Max finally gets to the car, skateboard in hand, dirt smudged across her forehead, and a cut on her cheek.
“You’re late, shitbird. Didn’t I tell you 4:00? Not 4:20.” Billy mutters, getting into the car.
“You can take me to the arcade,” she says, ignoring him.
“What happened to your face?”
She pulls down the visor, examining her face. “Nothing.”
“Maxine.”
“Don’t call me that, William ."
“What happened to your face?” And then, when she still hasn’t said anything minutes later, he adds, softer. “I don’t want Neil to think..." And she knows what he means. Goes real quiet, picking at a scab on her arm before.
“Nothing. Just a couple of boys. But I handled them. I’m fine, really.”
He takes his eyes off the road, looking her over for any other bruises, before nodding. “There’s some bandaids and stuff in there,” he says, nodding towards the glove department.
“Billy, I’m-”
“Fine. Yeah, I know. Just clean it at least. So it doesn’t get infected.”
She gives him a look before complying. “I said I’m fine. I can handle them,” she huffs.
A small smile sneaks onto his face as he watches his sister not sister angrily clean the mark on her face. Yeah. She can definitely handle them.
___
They’re driving home after the arcade, something heavy blasting through the radio, when the light turns red, and he comes to a stop. Looking out the window, he notices Tommy’s car at the Mart. After a moment, its owner walks out from the store. Following someone. Always following someone. And then the person turns, and Billy’s heart momentarily stops before filling with anger.
Steve’s leading Tommy and Carol, but his face is all different shades of blue and purple with an accent of red dancing over his lips. He says something to Tommy, arms flailing, as he tries to walk off. Reaching out, Tommy grabs his arm, pushing him towards the hood of his car. After a moment, Steve listens, sitting down and placing his head in his hands.
And the whole scene reminds him of before, except this time, Billy’s knuckles aren’t covered in red. There’s a rage boiling in his gut. “You know who did that to him?” he manages to get out.
Max follows his eye line before nodding. “Dustin said some guy called Sean jumped him or something.”
“Sean as in Stephens?” he asks, fingers crushing the cigarette in his hand.
She turns to him, a worried look on her face. “What are you going to do?”
Billy sneaks another look at Steve, and the anger festers within him. The light turns green, and he curls his fingers around the wheel. “I’m gonna make sure he doesn’t touch Steve ever again.”
___
Steve’s signature BMW is already at the quarry, by the time Billy pulls up the next day. He leans on the hood, staring up at the sky. Billy checks himself in the mirror before making his way over to him.
“You got bruises on your hands today,” Steve says with a nod.
“You got bruises on your face,” Billy shrugs.
Steve chuckles, “Yeah, I guess.” His eyes sweep over Billy’s body before settling on his face. His tongue darts out over his lips, and Billy has a strong desire to chase after it. Wants to feel Harrington’s blood on his own lips.
He looks away. “What, man?”
“Nothing. Not used to seeing you without them.” Another lookover. “You got freckles, you know that?”
It’s only then that Billy really understands the whole King Steve thing. Completely gets why no matter how much Tommy claims to hate him, he can’t keep his eyes off of him. There’s just something about the way Steve looks at you like he’s scavenging your body for its deepest secrets because he genuinely wants to know everything about you. Like he actually cares about you.
“Yeah, well, I’m not used to seeing you with them,” he stutters out.
“I think I look kinda badass.”
Billy scoffs because of course some sick part of him finds a roughed up Steve who’s still got that loveable charm incredibly attractive, and the thought bubbles in his gut uncomfortably.
“What? You don’t like it? Don’t think I look pretty enough?” He takes a step closer, encroaching on Billy’s space with that dangerous smirk on his lips. Billy feels all sense leave him, suddenly feeling like all those girls who probably stay up all night thinking about their one moment with King Steve. And what’s happening right now. This moment right here. This is most definitely his moment.
Steve takes another step, eyes sweeping over Billy again. He goes to curl his lower lip into his mouth when-
“Ah fuck!” There’s a trail of flesh blood staining his lips from the recently opened wound.
“This is like the tenth time today. It’s never gonna’ heal at this point,” he groans. “I hate this so much.”
Shaking his head, Billy goes to his car, grabbing the first aid kit.
“Come here,” he says curling his hand around Steve’s wrist. Steve makes a small oomph sound at the sudden movement, but complies nonetheless.
Pulling out an alcohol swab, he goes to press it to Steve’s lip, but Steve stops him. “That’s gonna sting.”
“Don’t be a baby.”
“I’m not,” he huffs. “I just- ah shit !” He glares as Billy runs the swab over the cut. “Maybe warn a guy next time.”
Billy scoffs, “There won���t be a next time.”
“Yeah, we’ll see,” Steve hums. “Everyone’s gonna wanna take a jab at their old king sooner or later.”
“Nah. I won’t let that happen.”
“What? You gonna follow me around all day being my knight in shining armor?” Steve quips with a raised brow.
And Billy so wants to say yes. Wants to say he’ll be his knight in shining armor and so much more if Steve’ll let him.
“Stop talking before you bust your lip open again.”
Steve smirks as Billy works his way through each cut and bruise. “You did a pretty shit job at this,” Billy says after a moment.
“And you’re doing too good of a job at this,” Steve counters. Billy’s hands still, and his mouth drops slightly. “Don’t worry. I’m not gonna say anything. Just think that you’re doing all this for me, and I never did this for you,” he says with a shrug. “Just seems like you’re doing a lot for me.”
And Billy would do anything for Steve if it meant he’d get to run his hands down the angle of his jaw like this, or if he got to count the moles on his face, or if he got to run his fingers over the curve of his lips like this.
“What’re you doing, Bill,” Steve exhales, breath fanning out over his lips.
Billy hesitates for a moment before...“I’m taking care of you.”
___
Steve’s back in school on Monday. And Tommy spends ten minutes talking about how Steve probably got his ass handed to him by whomever beat his face in. But when Sean Stephens walks past them, face looking ten times worse than Steve’s, Tommy changes his tune and spends the next twenty minutes praising Steve’s fighting skills.
Billy spends the day with his hands in his pockets, and a grin on his face.
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talas-starlight · 4 years
Text
Killing me softly - Sokka x reader
SUMMARY: Having only heard good things about Sokka, you always wanted to see how great he is for yourself. When you finally get the opportunity, you struggle to find him as funny as everyone said.  
This is based off the song killing me softly by the fugees which you can listen to: here! or there is a version by zhavia: here!
I strongly suggest you listen to the song because I think the whole vibe you get from it will get you in the mindset for this (and hopefully distract you from how poorly this was executed AHAH)
WORD COUNT: 2.6k
WARNINGS: angsty vibes. tried to have a hopeful ending but idk if it worked lol. poor writing skills.
A/N: ahA I really couldn’t get this idea out of my head so here we are! most certainly did not do this concept/ song fic justice to the way I imagined it but lol this shit low key hurted my feelings but also tried to turn it around? Idk I think this is okay?
KEY: words in-between dividers = lyrics MY MASTERLIST: here!
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I heard he sang a good song, I heard he had a style And so I came to see him, to listen for a while And there he was, this young boy, a stranger to my eyes
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You knew nothing and everything about him all at the same time. Hakoda allowed you to join them as they recruited people across the nations to prepare for invasion day. In doing so, you unknowingly signed a non-verbal contract to hear all the stories and jokes about his son, Sokka. Of course, he spoke highly of his daughter, but there was an unrelenting sense of pride and joy that came with hearing about him.
“You’ll really enjoy speaking with him y/n. He can take any dull or sad moment and turn it into something that will make you laugh beyond your years. He’s been through so much, but he’s become the warrior I knew he was always destined to be.”
It was impossible not to want to meet him. You wanted to hear the stories in the flesh as he became the light in the darkness of this war.
Yet when he finally boarded the ship with his friends after Ba Sing Se, that’s all he became, a story. As a mechanic and strategist, your time was booked to the brim, building upon the plans Sokka created himself. Somehow, you managed to have interactions with Katara and Toph, even Momo, but being in the same room as Sokka? Impossible. You weren’t avoiding him by any means, and neither was he, it just seemed that even when confined to the space of a ship your duties dragged both of you into different directions…. Until now.
Finally having time to relax as you finished reviewing a draft for one segment of the invasion, you made your way mess hall in a desperate search to consume any food you could get your hands on. Walking in, Toph perked up at feeling your presence when entering the room. Considering you were always busy when working on something and she was not too chatty, you got along well with minimal conversations and comfortable silence.
You grab a bowl, filling it to the brim with fresh soup and sat at their table across from her. Feeling content as you feel the soups warm and wholesome scent fill your senses, you glance around to see who else is sitting at the table. Eyes zeroing in on Sokka’s frame at the other end of the table, your breath instantly hitches. Suddenly your face feels as warm as your soup, and you want to kick yourself for letting yourself be so affected just by your incredibly short glance at him. Shifting your focus back to your soup you make the painfully obvious decision to focus all of your attention towards it, only listening to their interactions around you. You reminded yourself that you didn’t truly know him, only what everyone else has told you. You knew better than to let yourself become a total fool for the Watertribe boy without having any proper interactions with him. Hence, you’d be lying if you said you weren’t at the edge of your seat in anticipation to see Sokka joke around and tell stories with your friends. After all, that is what you were told about from the moment you met his father.
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Strumming my pain with his fingers (one time, one time) Singing my life with his words (two times, two times) Killing me softly with his song Killing me softly with his song Telling my whole life with his words Killing me softly with his song
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The excitement quickly dissipated when he began to dive into this evenings’ jokes and anecdotes.
“Guys! You wouldn’t believe it!! I was exploring the ship after training today, and I found all of these Fire Nation scrolls about their art and folktales in one of the rooms, and let me tell you, it’s a load of shit!”
As everyone laughed, you momentarily stopped breathing. Your entire being began to fold into itself, terrified at the prospect of him taking all of the things you favoured about your childhood and rip them to pieces.
Katara attempted to see the light in his statement. “Come on Sokka it can’t be that bad! I mean even the Watertribe has some questionable stories, I remember even the one Gran Gran told was a bit-“
“No, Katara! This is by far soooo much suckier than those stories. Okay, so there’s this one about dragons right? What happens is that there’s this Dragon Emperor who becomes bound to a mortal’s body by a Dark Water Spirit. So obviously! I was expecting this super cool battle or revenge plot, but in the end, they turned it into this lame love story where the Dragon Emperor falls in love with a mortal who turns out to be the Dragon Empress!”
“Aw I think that’s sweet! I mean surely there would have been a battle with the Dark Water Spirit so it wouldn’t have been a total loss?”
“Ugh, Katara! You don’t get it! It's just… sooooo oogie! They shouldn’t have done that. It should have been a story about battle, and warriors! I mean come on, that’s all the Fire Nation is good for right? Destruction and battle. So why did they have to ruin that story like that with all of that lovey stuff?! It just seems like nothing good can ever come out of the Fire Nation.”
Taking another mouthful of the soup, you kept your face downward as everyone laughed at Sokka’s exclamation of hatred for the nation you grew up in. No one knew where you grew up there except Hakoda, and you liked it that way. In complete fairness to you, it wasn’t your entire identity since your mother was from the Earth Kingdom, and you only spent the first seven years of your life there. But that didn’t mean it hurt any less when he tore apart the only things you dearly loved as a child.
Toph sensing your discomfort as you didn’t join in their amusement, she swiftly diverted the conversation into a new direction. While you were grateful, the thought of being in his presence any longer made you want to cry. It clearly didn’t work either as he continued to joke around about the food and other small things he picked up about the nation throughout their journey. Silently finishing up, you didn’t say a word or even give a half-hearted smile as they all laughed. Placing your bowl in the sink, you headed straight to your room.
The actions made everyone at the table confused, yet no one spoke out about it. Afterall, no one really knew you personally, nor did they understand what caused you to cut your interaction with them so short. Sokka himself became particularly curious. Afterall just like you, he heard many great things about you from his father, admiring your kindness and work ethic from afar. So, to say he wasn’t hurt that you chose not to stay longer or even crack a genuine smile, would be a lie.
Making it to your room, you took out any piece of paper or a scroll you used for your plans and began to pour out your pain onto to pages until you passed out from exhaustion. Not caring what contents were on the other side, you allowed yourself to be unfiltered.
You knew Sokka didn’t mean any harm; everyone laughed. He became the light you oh so desired to witness for yourself. Deep down, you knew you would have laughed too if it weren’t for the fact that he took the few happy memories you had with your father and set it on fire. A fire that produced the light you wished to see… but it seemed it wasn’t in the right way you hoped for.
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I felt all flushed with fever, embarrassed by the crowd I felt he'd found my letters and read each one out loud I prayed that he would finish, but he just kept right on
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You sighed as you finally finished fixing the pipes in the lower decks of the ship, once again tired and done with today’s work, you went to the mess hall for a late dinner.
“Hey Hakoda, I finished the plumbing problem so no one on the second floor should have any troubles now.”
“Thanks, y/n! You really are such a valuable person in this team. You’re always making sure everything is up and running.”
“Of course! What would you do without me? After all, let’s not forget how I spend my free time with your invasion plans.” You joked.
Turning your back to him to scoop some food onto your plate, he spoke up from behind you. “Oh right! That reminds me, I mentioned your ideas to Sokka earlier, and he seemed to really like them! But Sokka being Sokka, he got so excited over them and asked so many questions I didn’t even know how to respond. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know he’s probably at your desk analysing all of your scrolls right now. That kid never seems to be able to contain his excitement.”
“Yeah, that’s oka-“abruptly, you dropped your plate as your brain processed the information. If he was looking at your plans, then that meant……
Not even giving the Watertribe chief another glace or end to your response, you ran. Taking the fastest route to your room, everything in your mind and your surroundings became blurred, and you became hyper-focused on the fact that Sokka probably found what you wrote about him. Desperately trying not to cry as you bumped into people in the hallways, you couldn’t think of anything worse to happen in this very moment. The very idea of him knowing how you felt about him as well as how his words affected you made you want to scream. Maybe if you got there in time, he wouldn’t have read enough to understand your feelings fully. But when you bust through your door, it was too late. Sokka stood near your desk, with all the scrolls you ever wrote on scattered around the room. Some lay on your bed, the floor, across the desk, and even one in his hands.
“M- my dad said that you had a lot of perfect ideas for the invasion. B- but I- I found… I never thought…” His eyes never met yours as he continued to read the current scroll in his hands.
You slowly approached him, not caring as you walked over every word you wrote on the floor. “Sokka…” You silently begged him to stop reading, unsure of its contents.
He kept reading clearly in shock at the words before him, “why didn’t you s-say something?”
You sighed, somewhat unsure of how to approach the situation. “It’s not my place –“
He threw the scroll to the ground, finally looking up at you with bloodshot eyes as tears streamed down his face. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT’S NOT YOUR PLACE Y/N! It is your place! You had… no, you HAVE every right to say something! You sat there that night as I picked away at every single thing you ever loved, and you didn’t say a thing! Why would you let me do that to you!” Sobs wracked his body, falling to his knees in front of you. Torn apart on the inside about how much he hurt you. He never wanted this to happen, not just because of his small crush on you- that didn’t matter at this very moment. The very idea that he hurt someone who was so kind and selfless as a person, ruined him.
Beginning to feel immensely guilty for his current state, you knelt down to his level. Placing your hands to his wrists, you gently moved his hands away from his face. “Sokka… hey, Sokka look at me…”
As he looked at you, you struggled to keep your composure as tears began to fill your own eyes.
“It’s okay. What you said hurt, I don’t need to explain that for you to know it. Even though it felt like a small dig into who I am as a person and what I grew up to love, it’s true. What the Fire Nation did, what they are doing is awful, but I can’t speak up to defend them. I am in many ways apart of them. I grew up there, I celebrated their holidays, cooked and ate their food, and read their folktales. As much as I hate what the words ‘Fire Nation’ symbolises to the rest of the world, to you, it’s a part of who I am. No one can take that away from me, not even myself. Despite how much it hurt me, I can’t get mad at you or anyone because your feelings, and everything you said, is valid.” Moving his arms out of your grasp, he wrapped himself around you, holding you close to his chest.
“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve to hear that, you’re amazing y/n. You deserve to be treated with the kindness and love you give to everyone on this ship. I’m sorry. I was wrong. I’m going to be better, I promise. I promise.” Overcome with emotion, the tears you tried so hard to hold back burst at his words.
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Strumming my pain with his fingers (one time, one time) Singing my life with his words (two times, two times) Killing me softly with his song Killing me softly with his song Telling my whole life with his words Killing me softly with his song
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Neither you nor Sokka bothered to move from your intertwined embrace on the floor of your room. You were both a sobbing, crying mess. The pain from both of you suffocated the air around you as you cling onto one another for forgiveness.
Forgiveness for being from the very place that caused him so much pain.
Forgiveness for being unable to embrace so much of who you are.
The pain was unrelenting as he weaved his fingers through your hair, shifting so your noses’ and foreheads against one another as he whispered words begging for forgiveness. Wishing, praying, to the Spirits he could take it all away. Sokka’s heart burns from the raging pain that has awoken inside of him. He doesn’t stop running his fingers through your hair almost as if he can stroke away the broken pieces inside of you, looking for new ones underneath so he can start again. Because despite his resentment for where you came from, he knows that to him, you are like a divine angel. You both have your own complex and conflicting backgrounds of life, but he has a desperate desire to care for you in a way he will never be able to explain.
You wanted to lie to him. Say it didn’t hurt, say you could forget. You could do it easily, but you wouldn’t. Knowing you both suffered enough, you didn’t want to do something that could potentially cause each other more pain. This was enough. As you both continued to cry, holding one another with his hands still in your hair, you leant back slightly, bringing a shaky, tender hand to his cheek.
Looking up into his eyes, it’s awfully evident how much pain swims in his beautiful shades of blue. Yet, there seems to be an unspoken understanding as you see a small glimmer behind all the tears. The light you have been yearning for. He sees it in your eyes too. Neither of you can change or take back what’s already been said, but in this very moment there’s hope. You know you can move forward and heal together.
“We’re going to be okay.”
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A/N: hi friends!! I hope you liked this one 😊
TO THE TAGLIST: hi all! i was a bit torn on what to do here because i wasn’t sure if you all only wanted to be tagged in my zuko series or my other works as well?? so im so sorry if you didn’t want to be tagged in this so please just let me know if you’d only like to be on the list for the series, zuko, sokka or other characters in general :)
TAGLIST: @slythergirlimagines​​ @mangoberry43​​ @eridanuswave​​ @whiskeywinter89​​​ @kaylove12​​ @simplyfandomish​​ @khaleesi-of-assassins​ @callums-keith​ @ilovespideyyy​ @calciumcow​ @blackhood5sos​ @nnon-it-up​
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peach-the-owl · 3 years
Note
with valentine's day coming, think Jester, Beau and Yasha help child reader with their valentine?
Ahh, Valentine's Day, a day of gettting free chocolates from people… oh and love too I guess 😆
I took the basics of the ask, but also changed it around a bit… So I’m not sure how this’ll turn out, Valentine’s Day has always been a little different for me. This is gonna be interesting… Sorry if this ends up turning out badly 😖
Sweet Valentine
Child of the Nein (Jester, Beau, Yasha & Child!Reader)
Jester
"Hey, mama?" You say, making your way over to Jester with an important question in mind. Jester looks over at you, still getting used to the idea that you now refer to her sometimes as mama. She kneels down to match your height.
"What can I do for you?" She asks with a smile and boops your nose getting a giggle out of you.
"Ummm… what do you think would be fun to do with a valentine?" You ask, while swinging your arms from side to side. Jester taps on her chin in thought for a moment.
"Well, getting sweets would be a nice start, oh and looking at their favourite shops or maybe get them a gift they really like…" she starts rambling off different ideas, it eventually turned to really weird stuff that sounded like it was more from a storybook. "… and then he’d take you in his arms and carries you across a field and it’s so romantic. Oh Oskar~." Jester stares off in her little daydream.
"Oskar? That's the character from the book you say I’m too little to read yet, right?" You ask, having gotten lost along the way, this breaks Jester out of her daydream and she gives a faint blush while scratching the back of her neck apologetically.
"That’s right, so maybe don’t do all that, but giving someone treats or little gifts to show you care is always good. Who is your valentine anyways?" Jester gives you a curious look.
"That’s my little secret, but I don’t even know if they can or want to be." You fiddle with your fingers a little.
"Awww," Jester places her hands on your cheeks and lifts your head up so you can look at her. "Whoever you ask is going to be very luck, and as long as you have lots of fun that’s what really matters." You smile at her and nod in understanding. "I have to go now, my valentine promised a walk around town. You have fun and don’t get lost." Jester parts ways with you with a smile and a wave.
After a moment or two you got everything together that you needed and bow your head in prayer hoping this works, the sense of a second presents makes you open your eyes and you look over at the cloaked figure that now stood in the room with you.
"What can I do for you?" The Traveler asks simply.
"Will you be my valentine?" You ask excitedly holding up your handmade card to him. He goes stiff for a moment but slowly, carefully takes the card from your hands noticing the small mistake of it saying Happy Valentime rather then Valentine. He stays silent and just stares from you to the card.
"I- that’s not really how this works?" He says slowly, trying to think through each of his words. Your smile drops a little.
"Oh…" You sigh. "I get it, you already have a lot of people who adore you and probably are really busy, I’m sorry. I just wanted to spend some time with you like Jester has." You turn to leave.
"Wait." You pause and look back at him. "I didn’t say no." Once again he speaks slowly, working out each word individually as if to convince himself of something. You don’t really notice as your eyes light up again in excitment.
"Really! So you will?!" You bounce on your feet in anticipation. He balls his hand into a fist and brings it close to his lips in an unsure gesture, again you being too excited to really take notice of it.
"On two conditions." He finally says. You stop bouncing in place and stare at him. "Firstly, you cannot tell another soul about this." He places a finger to his lips with a quiet shushing sound you repeat the action with an eager nod in agreement, while trying to hold in a giggle. "Secondly," he pauses a moment and you see a devious smirk cross his features. "I go, if there’s promise of delightful mischief." Again you give an eager nod. "Perfect, now I need you to close your eyes for a moment." You quickly slap your hands over your face to cover your eyes, there’s a faint whooshing sound and when you remove your hands you see a man with wild red hair and bright green eyes in place of the Traveler.
"Whoa!" You stare in amazement. "You look really cool Traveler." He gives a small chuckle.
"We can’t have you calling me that outside, remember this is just between you and me. So for today and today only you may refer to me as Artagan." You give a small happy squeal and practically drag the man along with you.
The day went by very well, the two of you pulling various pranks on different couples in the streets, the added fact that you had your deity helping you cause chaos wherever you went was a delightful bonus. It wasn’t like you were causing major harm, some of your pranks even managed to bring a few couples closer together. Eventually you had to return to the inn you were staying at, having to sneak around as to not get caught by any anger couples or towns guard.
"That was so much fun! Did you see the look on that one couples face when they discovered their chocolate was spicy?" You laugh at the memory.
"Or the fellow who thought our fake wall was real." Artagan recalled. "Ah, best fun I’ve had in a while."
"I’m glad you agreed to be my valentine, this was great." You give him a large smile, he hums in responce.
"Well, I should take my leave, there’s a lot I have to do." He says a bit apprehensively, and in just a blink of an eye he’s gone before you can give a quick farewell. A moment later Jester enters the room.
"Sooo… did you have a good day?" She asks you. You smile and nod explaining some of the things you did, making sure not to reveal too much like you'd promised. "That sounds like a fun day to me, I’m sure the Traveler would be proud."
If only she knew.
Beau
You march into the tavern and sit down at one of the tables in a small huff, Beau taking quick notice takes a seat next to you.
"What’s wrong?" She gives you a curious side look.
"Is it normal for someone to be mean to the person they like?" You ask. Beau stares at you then gives a sigh.
"I want to say no, but there are people out there who are like that. But that doesn’t mean that they should."
"Ok, I wasn’t sure, because I ran into someone I know from my hometown and they were being a total jerk to me." You look away from her sheepishly.
"Alright tell me what happened." She says, a bit of a protective tone in her voice. You begin your tale…
While everyone else was busy doing their own thing or spending time with their valentine you took a walk around the town, you actually knew the area decently enough because it wasn’t too far from where you used to live, a day and a half's journey if everything went smoothly.
"Hey! I know you!" You hear an awfully familiar voice shout in your direction making your eye twich but for some reason you feel frozen in place. The kid was about your age, maybe a year older at most. Their snarky, judgemental gaze used to make you feel like you were powerless against them and while deep down you knew you weren’t anymore that stare made you revert back to thinking you were. They give you a smirk. "I knew I recognized a nerd when I saw one. You remember me!?"
"Hi… Layn (tried to make it gender neutral, idk)." You greet through gritted teeth.
"Man it’s been a while since I saw your gross face, and it looks even worse now." They laugh pointing at the smudges of dirt you had yet to clean off.
"Yeah it has been a while hasn’t it. I’m not the same kid you think you can just push around anymore." You huff crossing your arms. They give you a teasing look and start to aggressively jab at you, you use your reflexes to block most of them all while telling them to stop, they don’t. You get fed up to the point that you grab their arm and throw them over your shoulder slamming them to the ground and give them a hard look. They stare up at you in shock.
"Why did you do that?" They seemed genuinely upset and curious.
"Because you wouldn’t stop, I told you I’m not the same kid you can just tease anymore!" You fume.
"How else was I supposed to get your attention." You stare at them confused. They carefully pick themselves off the ground. "You always had your face in a book or something when our parents met with each other, I didn’t know how else to get your attention."
"You could’ve tried talking to me." You say matter-of-factly.
"And risk the cooties? No way!" You just stare at them. "Anyways, since no one else will be asking you… I was wondering if you’d like to be my valentine?" They give you and expectant look…
"So what did you do?" Beau raises an eyebrow in curiosity.
"You remember what you once told me about dealing with jerks?" Beau nods, she'd used another word to describe it but you weren’t sure if you could say it aloud yourself.
"Yeah, I told you if they absolutely deserve it, to sock 'em in the face… wait." She turns to face you fully, you give an embarrassed smile along with a light blush.
"I think I broke their nose." You say, scratching the back of your neck. Beau snorts a bit, trying not to burst into laughter, her fist banging against the table. It takes her a bit to finally calm herself down and clears her throat.
"So first you throw them, then you actually punch them. It’s probably good their parents weren’t around to see that."
"Its just that they’ve always been so rude to me, before I knew you I never knew what to do or how to defend myself. Now they suddenly say they like me and expect me to forgive everything they’ve done just like that?! Not happening! I don’t care if they like me, they should’ve treated me nicer then." You rant a bit, getting yourself worked up again. Beau places a hand on your shoulder making you look at her.
"You know what? You’re absolutely correct. People shouldn’t treat you like shiii– poorly if they like you, that’s basically abuse. Now while I’m not sure if punching them will solve the problem entirely, though I’m sure it would’ve been hilarious to see, I think you still made the right choice. I’m proud of you." She gives you a smile and you return one of your own.
Yasha
You sit deep in thought about what to do today, you weren’t sure how you were going to find someone to love and spend the whole day with so you decided to ask Yasha, she might know the answer.
"How do I find love?" You get straight to the point once you see her, Yasha nearly chokes on her drink at your question.
"What?" She looks at you shocked.
"You know a valentine or something, how do I find one of those?" She blinks a bit then give a small chuckle.
"That uhhh, isn’t really how it works."
"Then how does it work?" Yasha goes quiet, now having to figure out how she can explain this to you.
"Ummm… well it’s not just about… hmm… a valentine is someone you want to show you really care about and appreciate them, it doesn’t just have to be about holding hands or kisses." Yasha explains as best she can (I feel that).
"Oh! Okay, I think I get it." You nod. Yasha gives you a smile and pats your head before heading off elsewhere, probably with her own valentine, who knows. You once again go deep into thought trying to figure out who you wanted to show your appreciation to, an idea comes to mind and you begin your search. You stand in front of a door and give a soft knock.
"You can come in." You hear their muffled voice through the door. You open and shuffle through the door suddenly feeling a bit nervous and embarrassed.
"Hey Caduceus, I was, uhhh, wondering if you’d like to be my, ummm… my valentine today?" He looks at you, raising a questioning eyebrow. "Yasha told me that valentines could be people who we appreciate a lot and I, umm, I really appreciate everything you do for us. So I, uhh, I thought maybe you’d like to be my valentine and we could do something nice?" Each word you spoke made your face turn more and more red out of embarrassment. Caduceus just gives you a calm smile and a small chuckle.
"I see no harm in that, it sounds nice. What did you have in mind?" You stare at him a moment, slightly surprised he agreed.
"Oh! Well I saw this little shop that sells tea and biscuits, if you like that is… sorry I’m not very good at this." You scratch at your head and look away a little sheepishly.
"There’s no need to be sorry, I think that's a good idea." You give him a small smile and the two of you head out to the little shop. You did your best to make this a nice little day, but for you everything never really seemed to work out properly, Caduceus having to purchase the treats from the shop as you didn’t really have any money of your own. The streets were a little crowded today too, making you come to realize you may have slight claustrophobia as the large number of people made you very uncomfortable and nervous.
"I’m sorry, I can’t do this! I’ve ruined everything!" You run off crying back to the inn and hole yourself up in your assigned room. There’s a soft knocking at the door after a while. You don’t say anything, you already knew it was Caduceus who was knocking so you try to squeeze yourself into a ball and disappear. The door creaks open after a minute of you staying silent, the bed dipping a little from the new weight on it. He doesn’t say anything, just sits there with you in a calm silence. Eventually you uncurl yourself from a ball and look up at him, he gives you a kind smile. "I’m really sorry, I wanted to let you have a nice day to show my appreciation for you, but instead I ruined it and you still did everything." You pout.
"I don’t think you ruined anything, I enjoyed myself actually. The very idea that you wanted to do something nice I think is appreciation enough for me." You wipe your eyes and look back at him again, a small smile starting to form.
"Is it really?" You ask curiously, he gives you a nod in responce. "Ok… well since we still have a bag of treats, can we share them here? I don’t really want to go outside right now."
"Sure thing." He pulls out the purchased sweets and the two of you happily share them. Come the evening Yasha finally comes back from wherever she had disappeared to.
"Did you have a good day?" She asks. You nod and retell her the events of your day, she smiles as you finish your story. "I’m glad it worked out for you in the end."
"Me too. So how was your day?" It was your turn to ask and listen as Yasha tells you about what she did.
Bonus: (Bad pickup lines I made up for each kid)
Jester: I'd be your partner in crime any time Valentine
Nott: I can’t give you my heart Valentine… because you already stole it
Caleb: Let’s dance together Valentine, better then any colour ever could
Caduceus: I'd make a thousand flower crowns for you or with you Valentine
Fjord: I’ll be your knight whenever you need me Valentine
Beau: If anyone treats you badly Valentine, just tell me where to hit them
Yasha: If I could, I’d fly with you to a beautiful field, but they wouldn’t be as beautiful as you Valentine
Molly: Let me serenade you with any song you like Valentine, anytime, anywhere
Again I’m very sorry if this was bad 😣
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