#it just said nothing whilst trying to say too much imo

[thatgirl4815]

A few thoughts re. your post about Top/cheating double standards - I feel so bemused bout ppl who say they felt conflicted bout the Sand/Ray love scene cos it was cheating (if nothing else, just listen to the scoring! If you were meant to feel icky about it the music would tell you so! The way it was scored and filmed is 100% meant to convey a sense of romance and love and *fucking finally* - nothing about it indicates shenanigans are afoot!), because at this point literally EVERYONE knows Mew is faking his relationship with Ray - Mew knows it, Ray knows it, the audience has always known it. Just because they haven't explicitly verbalised it doesn't mean they don't know it. The last time they saw each other Ray accused him of still loving Top and Mew didn't deny it, nor did he try to stop Ray from leaving (some ppl might even consider that as good as a break-up...). Now compare that to Top: at the time of the Car Incident, both him and Mew have genuine feelings for each other and are genuinely having a go at making something of it; they are on good terms - they part on good terms. Like you said, yes Boston messes with his head, but that's literally all it takes to get him to cheat. Okay, ppl will bring their personal povs/experiences re. cheating to the table, as is their right, and I get that it's an emotive subject (and one for which I too have basically zero tolerance), but I'm not sure how anyone can say with a straight face that those two scenarios are comparable let alone that what Ray did was worse. I keep seeing ppl watch the Ray/Mew end scene and come away from it happily acknowledging that Mew consciously using Ray explains his indifference to Ray/Sand, whilst simultaneously still condemning Ray because they don't seem able to extend that reasoning to Ray's own behaviour - Mew's not the only one clued in! IMO there's no way Ray would be out there having ridiculously hot make-out sessions with Sand if he believed for one second that Mew was genuinely falling in love with him (or even genuinely trying to). Even when he's high as a kite in ep 8, it's obvious he knows what's up - when your so-called boyfriend (who up until a hot second ago repeatedly and flatly denied having any romantic interest in you whatsoever) recoils from you in private but plants one on you in front of his ex in public...like Ray said, you get the hint! You can argue semantics about cheating and sure, in an ideal world they'd have had that open and honest convo then and there because yes, it's always better to communicate your feelings instead of running away to interrupt a perfectly lovely platonic bestie sleepover, but have they MET these characters??? They're walking disasters! It just fascinates me that you have Mew, the so-called victim of Ray's nefarious betrayal, not only shrugging it off but actively giving Ray his blessing to have as much sweet sweet sex with Sand as he wants, and yet parts of the audience are still like 'I dunno, still feels wrong...'

As far as Top is concerned - like you, my issue with his character isn't so much the cheating, it's how two-faced he is: he's a completely different person in his interactions with anyone who isn't Mew/someone Mew is on good terms with. And to be honest, I like him the best in those scenes! I do believe he's trying to be a better person for Mew, or at least he thinks he is, but as other ppl have pointed out, at the moment it's only performative precisely because he doesn't bother when Mew's not around to see it/won't hear about it. Sand is the obvious example - even when Top's ostensibly offering him an olive branch, his words may be conciliatory but his tone of voice/facial expressions are anything but - they ooze scorn and smarm! And you could argue that he's making progress (not telling Mew about Ray/Sand, or bout him saving Ray from arrest), but to be honest I enjoy the Top that turns on a dime the second Boston or Sand show up (I love his chemistry with both of them - that little Top/Boston scene at the party in ep 8 cracked me up) because that keeps him interesting - you're always waiting for the facade to drop!

Excellent points all around! Your bit about the use of music and tone to highlight the purity and positivity surrounding the SandRay scene in Ep9 is really telling. Like you, I see a lot of people resisting the narratives’ attempts to guide us towards a positive/negative outlook on the plot—not to say people should not push back against these details when the characters’ actions are deserving of scorn, but these details give us a good sense of the characters’ head spaces. They wouldn’t be there if they weren’t meant to inform our impression of these situations.

The entire RayMew talk is so necessary to the conversation of whether SandRay is considered cheating. I won’t fault the pushback to a certain extent, because I can’t say that anything in this show is the most straightforward. But like you said, these characters are messy. In a perfect world, yeah, they’d lay everything out on the table and have the “what are we?” discussion before going forward with other people in any way. But especially for someone like Ray who is so conflicted in his feelings (and so clearly struggling to accept that Mew has never, and will never, love him romantically), that just isn’t plausible. The most important point to me is that MEW DOESN’T CARE. He might as well have said it before with how blatantly obvious it was. Like, what is Ray supposed to think about the status of your relationship (which was never explicitly defined) when you refuse to kiss him in private but make out in front of your ex-boyfriend?

Gonna list a few of your claims here that I connect with a lot because you really said it best:

“…when your so-called boyfriend (who up until a hot second ago repeatedly and flatly denied having any romantic interest in you whatsoever) recoils from you in private but plants one on you in front of his ex in public...like Ray said, you get the hint!”

“IMO there's no way Ray would be out there having ridiculously hot make-out sessions with Sand if he believed for one second that Mew was genuinely falling in love with him (or even genuinely trying to).”

I don’t think anyone is arguing that what Ray has done is the best way to handle the situation objectively (at least, no one that I’ve seen), but just that the circumstances and evidence we’ve been presented with are not 100% aligned for Top and Ray and should thus not be treated as equally wrong. When the characters themselves are not only demonstrating these lack of feelings but calling them out verbally, there’s substantially less room for the “Ray is just as bad as Top” thing. And I do expect to get flack for this but honestly, in my viewing experience, viewing the situations as objectively as I can, what Top did is worse for the reasons you outline. And this is not me saying that Ray can do no wrong. It’s in consideration of what was expressly defined by each couple.

Regarding Top’s character in general; Top is two-faced, and I also enjoy that aspect of his character because it’s the only thing that really gives him any dimension. I wish Mew could see him when he interacts one-on-one with Sand and Boston because I have a feeling that would enlighten him to aspects of Top’s character that he’s hidden away. The funny thing is that Mew seems to have suspected this right from the start, yet he hasn’t ever seen this part of Top.

#thank you anon for putting it so eloquently #I know this discourse is a tricky subject for many people but I think we’ve gotten more clarity on it in Ep9 #ofts #only friends #only friends the series #sandray #raysand #RayMew #TopMew #only friends top #ask #only friends ask #only friends meta

[georgieluz]

if you don't mind much, what was every thought that crossed your mind during ray persons scenes in gen kill?

every single thought? anon, don't tempt me

that being said, i shall give the people what they want! so ray is the kind of annoying that i live and breathe for. the kind of annoying that makes me wanna open up his brain and dive inside. just pure unadulterated unhinged energy! zero shame or dignity present in that one. none whatsoever. but it's endearing y'know? i wanna tell him to shut the fuck up but i also want him to live in my pocket and give me a running commentary on my life?

i didn't wanna love him at first. it's gonna sound weird but it felt too predictable for me to go for yet another smartass idiot who can't for the life of him know when to shut the fuck up. so i kind of rebelled against myself and held out for a while. eventually though, he did wear me down and i did find myself shaking my head disapprovingly but smiling fondly alongside brad. i think though it was the deeper aspects of his character that finally drew me in, the ones that you have to look deeper into, in the shorter scenes that maybe don't seem that important but have subtler little details.

and if we do wanna get deep about it then i always enjoy a character who clings desperately onto humour and sheer absurdity as a coping mechanism. it's pretty clear that ray falls within that category and i did enjoy getting to see a little bit of how he reacts when he can't reach for that coping mechanism as easily, when he's too exhausted and fed up to pull the mask on.

another thing i noticed that made me appreciate him from just a really small action is in the episode where everyone is trying to cheer walt up. ray uses his method of being a comedic annoyance to give walt some kind of normalcy that he probably isn't getting from the others, who are trying to reassure him and look after him in a more direct and 'impactful' way. but ray decides to go and basically dry hump his head and say stupid shit and yeah, walt is a bit irritated bc of everything he's dealing with, but as a viewer, we get to see ray actively using the way the other marines see him to try and give walt a sense of "nothing is going to change, you're still you and i'm still me". whilst brad, nate and espera are there basically outwardly telling him not to worry (and walt needed that too, i love my dads <3), ray takes a much subtler approach in supporting him. which when you think about it, really is the opposite to how we talk about ray usually. he's anything but subtle generally, so i think this little bit of information and look into his character, and intentions, was something that just really stood out to me bc he chose that approach for walt, imo at least. i know it's a tiny tiny scene but it just helped confirm a lot of my thoughts about how ray approaches things and how, sure, he is naturally unhinged and doesn't think before he speaks a lot, but sometimes, you can actively see him using that humour and those jokes and all his ridiculous antics to pull his friends out of whatever dark crevice their mind has fallen into. he does it with brad as well. i feel like his actor portrayed those purposeful moments really well also, because for me, i could tell when he was just being ridiculous and himself and talking shit, and when he was playing it up to keep others focused on him and not the other shit going on around them. anyway. this is one of the reasons i love his character and his portrayal a lot. it's not lost on me that it actually is a back-and-forth with ray that eventually pulls walt out of his downward spiral either, at least surface-level. it was a team effort, but ray continuing to prode him eventually got him to 'snap out of it' and feel like he was being treated normally.

and as much as i loved his comedic scenes throughout the series, and all his songs and ways of keeping everyone entertained, i really enjoyed his portrayal and depiction in the last two or so episodes, where you start to notice the mask slipping. it's thrown back on pretty quickly, but i appreciated that we got that small insight into how everything has actually affected him and it actually felt different afterward. he goes back to being a smartass and being the annoying friend who never shuts up, but you can see he's changed somewhere deep down underneath as well.

and the fact that it's his final look toward trombley that kind of sums up the conclusion of the show and the true realisation about what they did there. i don't know if i can explain it coherently yet, i guess i'm still processing what i'm trying to say about that final scene. i'm sure it's been said a thousand times by someone, a lot more eloquently that i ever could, but his final look really spoke volumes to me. his reaction to trombley and the video and then finally walking away felt like a confirmation of the message that the show presents to us throughout the whole series, but which they let us pick up and spin around for a few episodes to fully absorb, before letting ray finish it up with a single look. idk, maybe i'm just rambling.

maybe this is completely different from what you were asking for anon, so i'm really sorry if it disappoints you, or you were just looking for silly commentary on all the unhinged shit that comes out of his mouth lmao but yeah. i am a little bit obsessed with ray person. i truly would like to examine his brain up close.

all that raging internalised homophobia as well, huh?

anyone wanna unpack that with me?

it'll be fun, i promise

#me when i started replying to this ask: i'm just gonna keep it brief bc it's midnight and i'm already kinda sleep deprived #i'm so sorry it ended up being this long #it might not make sense bc i only got like 30 minutes sleep last night and i had to wake up at 5am #but i do in fact have several thoughts about ray avril person #do i ship ray and walt now? is this a thing? oh god do i? #i don't know???? #i probably don't? right? #generation kill #julian's inbox

[brokentoys]

Speaking of the good comics, which ones are those or what ones do you recommend?

Okie! ✌️ I'll list my absolute favorite ones!

Batman Chronicles #3 (1995) / Riddle of the Jinxed Sphinx.

This one is actually a mini-story in a comic filled with three mini stories. (The other two being about Zsasz, and Croc) - but that doesn't matter. Despite it being a short story, you get a good look in Ed's head. This is actually a take on the "Eddie tries to give up leaving riddles behind". Which there's been at least three of those I can recall. Most people know of the one based on the Animated Series / New Adventures of Batman & Robin. And while that one's good. This one's the best because it focuses on Riddler more rather than Batman and Robin trying to figure out if Eddie's actually giving up riddles or not. It's also more realistic to OCD compared to the other one(s) which does it in a sillier manner. I'd go into depth as to why, but I don't wanna spoil anything.

That being said...

Batman Gotham Adventures #11 (1999) / The Oldest One in the Book!

Even though, imo, it's not as good as above, I still recommend reading it regardless! It has a very emotional ending, and it still has some characterization points I like. (Dealing with Ed's shame regarding his mental illnesses). Which is funny, given that I actually dislike most of the Gotham Adventure comics with Eddie because they also watered down his character to be a money grubby thief and nothing more. (When that goes against everything about Animated Series Eddie from the beginning - who didn't care about money / tried to kill a greedy CEO)

Batman #23.2 (2013) / Solitaire

May be my FAVORITE Eddie comic. Maybe. Also you'll notice it's one of the few recent / post New 52 comics I'll add to this list. It's such a satisfying read.

DC Strange Love Adventures (2022) / Dinner for Two

EDDIE IS CANONICALLY BISEXUAL HELL YEAH. A short story in a comic with many short comics (most of them are Movie Baits) but this one is so so so so fucking good. Probably the best Riddler comic in the last nine years or so (at its time). Which is sad. But it's a comic that truly understands what a lonely person Eddie is. Which I wish more comics would acknowledge that. Amazing read. It's the last one in the book, though.

BATMAN #608-619 (2002) / HUSH

If you read this one expecting Riddler - just know you won't see much of him. But by god, the moments you DO see him? Totally worth it. Jeph gave a new concept for Riddler, and how he could be a WONDERFUL villain. Unfortunately DC discarded all of this.

Batman Confidential #26, #27, #28 (2009)

A Batman and Riddler team up comic! Although there are parts I've felt were contrived, this is a VERY enjoyable one that's three parts. Eddie and Bruce's dynamic is just so fun and hilarious (in a good way!) And Eddie's characterization is also entertaining as hell. It helps show how Bruce and Eddie can help each other, too.

The Brave and the Bold #183 (1982) / The Death of Batman

ANOTHER Batman and Riddler team up comic, though older! This one's also a blast just because, again, Eddie and Bruce's dynamic is so entertaining. But Bruce's patience seems to be much thinner in this one, because he snaps at Riddler A LOT. They also share some pretty hilarious back and forths.

Detective Comics Annual #8 (1995) / Questions Multiple The Mystery

In this one, Eddie finally opens up to an Arkham psychiatrist, and tells his story. Whilst this one, unfortunately, goes with the "Eddie is a cheat and cheated in school" concept - the rest of it makes up for that. I also feel it has some good depictions of his psychosis. May even been the first comic to show him struggling with psychosis? But I can't quite remember that.

Gotham City Sirens #3 (2010)

About a reformed Eddie. And man, he just has some good development in this is all.

Gotham City Sirens #9 and #10 (2010)

This one has many reasons why I love it - like how I love most of these, it's another comic that gets deep into his psychology. And for once, depicts Eddie as beating himself up / talking down on himself rather than the generic "I'm THE GREATEST PERSON ALIVE-" I guess what I'm saying it also feels like a more realistic depiction of NPD.

HONORARY MENTIONS

BATMAN ZERO YEAR (2013) ... YEAH THIS ALSO WENT ON FOR LIKE 12 FUCKING ISSUES

I didn't love this comic. And frankly, it was definitely dragged out waaaay longer than it needed to be. That's because they literally wanted this to go on for a year (as comics release monthly) But imo, it took way too long to start and takes many issues in before it gets actually interesting. But I bother to mention it here just because it's one of the very, very, very few events where Eddie's the main antagonist. (Other than the War of Jokes and Riddles - but you'll never see me recommending a Tom King book) So props to him. And it still has some fine moments.

Batman Legends of the Dark Knight #185-189 (2005) / Riddle Me That

EMO PLASTIC SURGERY RIDDLER. MY BELOATHED. I literally have a love/hate relationship with this one. Riddler's design, and his characterization was just... okay???? And it's way longer than it should be. This was an attempt to rebrand the character to Appeal to the Modern Kids - and kinda spat on Eddie's old design, plus everything Jeph Loeb did with Hush. Which all failed. However, there are still some things I really enjoy in this comic. For one, it MIGHT be the first to retcon the "Eddie's a cheat / Eddie cheated in school" and instead changed it to that he was a victim of gaslighting by jealous parents. I would say it may be the first time Eddie was depicted as an abuse victim - but I don't know if it's credited to this comic, as it seems like that's just an idea DC must've had in general. As Alex Ross' Justice also mentioned him being beaten by his father for "cheating/lying," and Batman 2004 cartoon also depicted Eddie with a bad father (though the abuse was watered down due to being a kid's show) so it seems like that's just something DC told everyone they were doing with Ed's character or something. Anyway, despite having several glaring issues - there are still moments I love in this comic, regardless. Read it with caution, I guess.

JUSTICE #2 (2005)

While part of a short series, I've only ever read this one. It's an enjoyable one! Ed's intelligence is also credited in this one. However, I like it for it also mentions the abuse Eddie went through. It's also where I got my URL from.

Catwoman: Lonely City (2022)

A Catwoman comic? Why? Because Eddie's drug abuse is mentioned (also since it's a future, it's revealed he got clean <3) and he also fucks Catwoman. What more could you want?

There are more I could recommend. But these are, imo, the very best ones. Of course, I will also recommend watching the Animated Series (he was only in three eps </3) as well as checking him out in Arkham City and Arkham Origins - as those are my fav Eddies in those games.

#( 🧩 ✧ INFERIOR PUPPETEER ✧ | OOC ) #( 🧩 ✧ SENT TO ARKHAM ✧ | INBOX ) #long post

[rosaaeles]

hellooo! new follower here! I was wondering if you could tell us what your stances on the The Hunger Games movies are? and thoughts on the new TBOSAS movie announcement? very curious!

hey anon!

my stances on the movies are..... HMMMMM

on one hand, i adore the cinematography of THG and CF. in terms of what is physically happening on screen, the first movie in particular is beautiful and poignant and there are so many scenes i love (e.g the opening scene with seneca and caesar, the cornucopia scene, katniss putting flowers around rue's body, her tracker jacker hallucinations). imo the cinematography is one of the strongest qualities the first two movies have going for them. the last two are generally a disaster and i think thats due to a bigger budget and the fact that they feel like blockbusters - they lack the intimacy of movie 1 so i generally find them more boring visually etc etc.

i also think some of the casting was good! namely josh hutcherson as peeta and elizabeth banks and effie. sam claflin was good as finnick and donald sutherland was a fab snow too imo. (stanley tucci as caesar as well! he nailed the balance between the flamboyancy of the capitol and it's more sinister side.)

movie 1 means a lot to me, and it always will so i watch it often BUT that is not to say it's not without fault.i have a lot of problems with the franchise and so it's hard for me to love the movies as much as i think i could.

i don't like the casting of jlaw, liam hemsworth or woody harrelson. and it's nothing against their acting, tbh. it's more about the fact that i have a serious problem with lionsgate saying that only white ppl could audition for the roles of katniss, gale, and haymitch (and greasy sue too which??? weird). i've said this before but by preventing non-white actors for those roles in particular, the filmmakers depoliticised the story to an extent and missed out on a chance to address the idea of "seam" being a race alongside it being a class (i'm just brushing over this topic rn bc whilst it's something im deeply passionate about, i don't want this to become another essay about THG and race bc lord knows i've bored so many people with my ramblings rip :')

beyond that, i'm not too keen on how many of the book's themes were ignored or glossed over. finnick's SA and the fact that he was forced into prostitution by snow, the capitol's hoarding of resources, the nuances of being a career, the careers in the 74th games planning to torture katniss etc etc. these are just some of the examples that im reeling off the top of my mind, and they're topics that are barely shown in the movies.

what i'm trying to say is that there was an opportunity to make such a beautiful franchise that accurately reflected the books and didn't shy away from the heavier themes or the symbolism in the books, but instead we got movies/marketing that focused on "team gale/team peeta" and "what district would you be in?". it frustrates me immensely bc an opportunity was missed!

okay phew let me catch my breath.

in terms of TBOSAS, i don't trust lionsgate to not fuck it up so i'm just very cautious about it all honestly. i want to believe they'll learn from the mistakes the last movies made and improve on them but we'll just have to wait and see! i'd love for lucy baird and sejanus to be played by non-white actors, i'd love to see a return to visuals reminiscent of the first movie and i'd love for the filmmakers not to shy away from heavier themes! but idk how likely any of these things are so i'm just keeping my fingers crossed!

sorry this got so long, anon! i hope it answered all your questions!

#this got so long why am I like this! #rosa talks ❁ #The Hunger Games #thg meta #❀ rosa replies

[andthebubbles]

[reskimwatch of bridgerton s1 anthony scenes because APPARENTLY i’m fucking obsessed atm. also, it’s very rambly and unstructured and i wrote parts of it ‘live’ (whilst watching) so just skipppp]

(1x01)

doing a skimrewatch of bridgerton s1 for just the anthony scenes (and any other scenes that take my fancy) and skjfngkfnjfng anthony is such a dick in s1. but, i do think that perhaps if we transported s2!anthony into s1 and refilmed all his scenes, he might not come off as dickish since i kinda get the impression that jb hadn’t been briefed on all the anthony trauma issues. which is fine, he wasn’t one of the leads in s1, but it’s very obvious imo that there’s some depth missing in eg the ep 1 scene with his mum when they’re in his study and she talks to him about responsibility and how he’s not living up to his father etc

anyway!

[eta: later in the series i think this gets better ^ but i’m not gonna rewatch that scene in this ep again just to see what i think of it after skimwatching all 8 lol]

-

1x02

i’ve been reading this wonderful fic which is basically a collection of anthony-centric angsty oneshots and mmmmm okay so in this ep (2) there was that convo between anthony and his mum and hmmmmmmm so in the fic, his relationship/interactions with his mother is a lot more fraught, and i thought it was more the author’s take on it/perhaps something from the books, but now after watching ep 2 i’m thinking that maybe it was sourced from s1 (and maybe boosted by the books)? after all, that fic/the oneshots were written before s2 came out.

now i’m not sure what the canon take is on how much all that stuff impacted on anthony kdjngfkjngkfkgkfk the fic is REALLY good, maybe it’s influencing me. that fic!anthony would’ve been like... after what violet said to him... well idk, maybe 4.15am is too late to form coherent sentences, but ... okay so he reacts after violet says “but i assure you i am more than capable” and that fic!anthony would’ve been like ‘she thinks i am not capable, i am incapable, i’ve been trying so hard and for what?, i am a failure’ and then etc, spiralling from there, but i am not suuuuure if that’s canon!anthony. like i said, the fic is really good haha. 

...tbh, i think that scene can be interpreted however one likes, you don’t really get anthony’s pov in s1 in scenes with his family, and none of the backstory yet, so yeah.

-

1x03

i have nothing to say about this one really, except that violet is kinda annoying now that i’m on anthony’s side HAHAHA (the first time i watched it, i didn’t care because i didn’t like anthony). and mmm on the siena stuff, good on her for kicking him out haha

-

1x04

benedict is such a dear!!!  if i had to be any bridgerton sibling, i would be benedict

i have not much to say about this either, except that anthony is still goddamn condescending and the prince is a much preferable option for daphne compared to the duke imo

-

1x05

yeah the fic definitely amps up the antagonism between anthony and violet lol. not that i’m complaining! i love angst KSJdnfkjngkjgngjfkn

-

1x06

i feel like there’s so much to unpack here if you wanted to, but also nothing at all if you didn’t want to, so i shall just leave this screenshot here lmao:

and maybe say that anthony is an arse and i love that he is skjgnkfgk

-

1x07

(that fic does such a good job at unpacking anthony ‘that does not concern you/you would not understand’ bridgerton lol)

-

1x08

violet being like (5:02) “it’s certainly been an eventful season, what with daphne and the duke, and then anthony” and what?? what has he done skfjngkf

anthony’s definitely a bottom btw KSJDJGKJ (that thing where he put his hands on the beam thing above him when he was getting started with siena lol. also, man was fully whipped with kate, and even kind of with siena tbh)

also yeah uh just general comment, i hated the invasion of privacy and stuff that the duke and daphne went through, and the lack of communication between them and the... by modern standards, sexual assault, although idk if it would’ve been termed that back then. anyway, it stemmed from the utter lack of communication between them, so... that’s why i don’t like simon/daphne as much as kathony. also i just prefer kate and anthony to simon and daphne, i find them more interesting/rounded characters? but that’s very subjective haha

i would loooove to read someone’s unpacking of the whole anthony/siena thing, in fic or like a meta post

anyway! that’s my s1 anthony rewatch done lmao

#ramble.txt #bridgerton #i gotta find my ramble post on my actual first watch of s1 and see how my opinion's changed #// #well i found it

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 311: Hand Gun

Previously on BnHA: Horikoshi was all “thinkin’ about dropping in some woke analogies of the very real and very presently relevant issue of racial profiling idk what do you guys think” and then shrugged and did it without waiting for an answer, and ngl it was a bit sudden, but I’m here for it. All Might was all “DEKU YOU NEED TO EAT” and Deku was all “OKAY” and took his hero bento and went to go stand dramatically on a tower in the rain whilst having some highly anticipated Vestige flashbacks. OFA II was all, “sup, I guess I’m not Kacchan... OR AM I,” and ngl I think he is?? Alternate universes anybody?? Hello??? But anyway, so OFA the First a.k.a. Yoichi was all “remember that time you guys rescued me from my evil brother and Two took my hand and we Had A Moment?”, and Two and Three were all “ahh yeah good times”, and it was very nice and very, very gay. The chapter ended with it being very unclear if Two and Three have actually lent their power to Deku yet or not lmao. Y’all need to get your shit together dudes.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “what if I gave a random bad guy a fucking tommy gun that shoots nails” and jesus christ calm down son. The Hawksquad, a.k.a. SQUAWK as per @hotchocolatier​, are all “time to drive aimlessly around town acting like Deku has a restraining order on us because that’s literally the best plan to combat the League we could come up with,” and I have no further comment. Hawks is all “idk about you guys but I want to know more about AFO and Tomura’s whole deal” and I can’t remember the last time I identified so strongly with one of these characters. All Might is all, “[EXPLODES???]”, and the chapter ends with that mysterious hot girl from the Tartarus breakout being all “HELLO I CAN TURN INTO A GUN AND I LITERALLY DON’T GIVE A FUCK” and (1) WOW, and (2) IT’S TRUE, SHE CAN, AND SHE REALLY DOESN’T. GODDAMN.

(ETA: so this wholly escaped my notice on the first go, and also has nothing to do with the chapter itself, but I only just realized that this chapter was scanlated by a new group, TCB Scans. they actually did a very good job, and I’m curious if they’ve found a new RAW provider, because the quality this week is actually crazy good in comparison to what we’ve been dealing with for the past few months. I’m gonna have to get caught up on what exactly happened here lol.)

so what will it be this week? more Vestige antics? more of Sad Nomad Deku standing on buildings and pretending like he’s some cool aloof antihero, as if he could fool us when we all know his hero backpack is secretly stuffed full with his nerd diaries and the remnants of all the hero bentos that All Might keeps giving him?? or, just putting it out there, just a crazy thought, but you don’t suppose we might actually cut back to U.A.? mmm. side-eyes emoji

maaaaaan I’m starting to get tired of this trend of beginning chapters by dropping in on random power-tripping civilians and/or Shindou lol. just once can we get a chapter that opens with someone I actually give a fuck about

oh at least Endeavor is here

A WHAT SUPPORT ITEM!??! HOLY SHIT DDLKJSLFKJL

lol somehow that’s more terrifying than bullets for me?? like I’m fully aware that bullets will fuck you up way worse and that in real life nail guns probably don’t work like this AT ALL and only have a range of like... hold up let me just google... up to 100 to 150 m/s and distances of up to 500m wait WHAT

okay wait. hold up. like I was expecting google to tell me nail guns only shoot a few feet at most, and instead the first search result is some CDC blog article that’s “dispelling” the “””myth””” -- please note my repeated sarcastic quotation marks -- that nail guns can fire 1400 feet per second, by explaining that actually they can fire anywhere from 315 ft/sec to 1,295 ft/sec, and that “it is in the pneumatic nail gun user’s best interest to handle these tools as if they were a firearm despite having a lower velocity” dlkjdslkjflkl

SO THAT SCENE IN IRON MAN 3 WHERE TONY RAIDS A HOME DEPOT AND BUYS A BUNCH OF RANDOM TOOLS AND SHIT AND GOES ON TO STAGE A ONE-MAN INVASION OF AN INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST’S FLORIDA MANSION HQ IS ACTUALLY TRUE. YOU’RE TELLING ME THAT THE FILM “HOME ALONE” IS ACTUALLY A DOCUMENTARY. “the Discovery Channel television program “Mythbusters” compared the penetration capacity of an airborne projectile shot from a pneumatic framing nail gun to that of a 9mm hand gun” HELLO YES AND A MERRY “WHAT THE FUCK” TO YOU AS WELL

anyway, so. there’s apparently a reason why the Number One hero, who can burn people with the intensity of a sun going supernova, is hiding here behind this concrete support column making frowny faces. nope. nuh uh. he ain’t about that. I don’t blame you buddy

so now he’s barrel rolling out of his hiding place and setting this dude THE FUCK ON FIRE because HELL NO. BAD ENOUGH I HAD TO WATCH THAT FUCKING MUSHROOM EPISODE LAST WEEK! YOU TAKE THAT SHIT SOMEWHERE ELSE

LOL look at his face

I know the context is actually him being all “I know I’m responsible for basically everything that happened and so that’s why I’m so grim and serious about this mission to set things right piece by piece,” but in my mind this pissed-off face is 100% all because this dude tried to shoot his eye out with a nail gun. look at that. you made him go full flame face again. beard and all. protecting his face so that it can hopefully melt any stray nails that get too close. nope nope nope

good lord. so what’s up next. let me guess the guy fighting Best Jeanist has like an atomic chainsaw or some shit

lol nope we’re just cutting back to Hawks and Jeanist chilling in the Jesla after they’ve wrapped things up

Jeanist has got some serious Groot energy you guys jesus christ he’s like 12 feet tall

oh snap someone threw a pipe at him now

today is just the chapter of Endeavor being assaulted by random DIY tools I guess

I mean, I get why they’re pissed at him obviously; I would be too lol. but tbh I also don’t really understand the “get out of here we don’t want your help” attitude that all of these people suddenly seem to have?? like it if were me, I would be fucking DEMANDING for him and the other heroes to be working round the clock to fix their stupid mess. I mean who else is gonna do it?? it’s their mess, I sure don’t want to be the one to clean it up instead. anyways but whatever lol

oh shit?

so they haven’t dropped the whole “OFA secret potentially gets revealed to the world” thing yet after all. that makes sense I suppose, it did seem like that whole thing wound up playing out a bit too easily

anyway so yeah

the locals are definitely none too happy. well at least Dabi’s got something to be cheerful about I guess

so now we’re cutting to the interior of the Jesla and they’re chitchatting about the current investigation

oh wow this actually makes a bit of sense now. so there was a reason they were keeping their distance from Deku

please note that even in this abstract Endeavor’s-Mental-Image-Of-Him panel, Deku’s eyes still don’t have the light in them anymore :( my poor son

also ftr I still think using Deku as bait in this particular sense is the shittiest idea ever ngl. like sure, let’s let the sixteen-year-old run around battling miscellaneous escaped prison convicts while we stay several kilometers away ON PURPOSE despite the fact that you’re using him as bait to draw out the Big Bad, who just a reminder can destroy anything with a mere touch and who you were all basically helpless against. what exactly are you all planning to do if Tomura or one of the other League VIPs actually shows up to retrieve him?? are you even keeping tabs on him at all in real time?? jesus

(ETA: well that escalated quickly lol.)

Horikoshi is all of a sudden dropping whole pages of exposition here and I can’t be bothered to summarize this lol so just,

a big fat YES to what Jeanist said, though. that’s why imo they would have been better off laying a trap at U.A. rather than just wandering around out in the open. I assume they’re trying to cut their potential losses because U.A. is full of students (and civilians), but those students also happen to be more capable than pretty much anyone else in the manga at this point. and tbh they’re already in life-threatening danger regardless of how things play out from here on, so they might as well at least try to use the few advantages they have right now. U.A. is almost certainly going to come under siege at some point anyway, so they might as well prepare for it

lol I don’t think I’m explaining this very well because I don’t have the patience right now to break it down point by point like it really ought to be, so for now I’ll just say that imo “U.A. siege” stands a good chance of being the eventual endgame even now, and so this whole “Deku runs around being bait” arc is really just killing time until then lol. like and subscribe for more rambling nonsensical takes such as this. maybe next time I’ll even put it all into one single sentence for maximum meandering senior citizen rant value

well it’s nice that they’re finally talking about all of this I guess

we readers have known all of this for months now but this confirms the heroes are finally caught up. ALSO, Hawks is so fucking smart, as always. kinda wonder if things would have played out differently if All Might had let him in on the secret a bit earlier. probably that’s why Horikoshi made damn sure they didn’t find out until after the War arc lol

OH MY GOD YOOOOOO HAWKS OUT HERE ASKING THE REAL QUESTIONS

“anyone else wondering why AFO bothered to raise Tomura as his fake heir for fifteen years when he was secretly planning on taking over his body the whole time” YES, [raises hand] lmao Hawks where the hell were you when I was debating this “AFO is the final villain and Tomura is just his pawn” thing on multiple occasions over the past several years lol

lmao seeing them debate the metaphysics of OFA and all of its mystical bullshit is seriously surreal you guys

JEANIST HAVE YOU CHECKED OUT MY META TAG I HAVE WRITTEN SO MANY ESSAYS. I ACTUALLY WAS PLANNING ON WRITING ANOTHER ESSAY ABOUT THE THING THAT I’M PRETTY SURE HAWKS IS ABOUT TO BRING UP, BUT I NEVER GOT AROUND TO IT WHOOPS, BUT MAYBE I WILL NOW LOL LET’S SEE HOW IT GOES

yes!!

WHICH AFO FUCKING ENSURED HE WOULD BE BY LITERALLY PLANNING OUT EVERY LAST DETAIL OF HIS FAMILY TRAGEDY, FROM SECRETLY GIVING TENKO THE QUIRK TO MAKING SURE NO CIVILIANS OR HEROES WOULD HELP HIM UNTIL AFO FINALLY STEPPED IN. I’M 1000% CONVINCED THIS IS THE CASE YOU GUYS. NOT JUST BECAUSE I’M NOT A FAN OF “THE WORLD IS A FUNDAMENTALLY SHITTY PLACE, ACTUALLY” TAKES BECAUSE MISTER ROGERS TOLD ME TO ALWAYS LOOK FOR THE HELPERS, BUT ALSO BECAUSE IT LITERALLY JUST DOESN’T MAKE A LICK OF SENSE OTHERWISE. THEIR ENTIRE HOUSE CAVED IN FFS, YOU’RE TELLING ME NONE OF THE NEIGHBORS FUCKING OVERHEARD THAT SHIT AND WENT “UMMMMMMMMM” AND WENT TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON?? “DIDN’T THERE USED TO BE A HOUSE HERE, AND LIKE A WHOLE FAMILY, AND SHIT?”

LIKE I’M SORRY, BUT IT’S ONE THING TO SAY IT’S REALISTIC THAT NOT A SINGLE PERSON WOULD ATTEMPT TO HELP THE WANDERING TRAUMATIZED CHILD AFTERWARDS (WHICH I DISAGREE WITH AS WELL BUT AT LEAST THAT’S MORE SUBJECTIVE), AND IT’S A WHOLE OTHER THING TO ARGUE THAT IT’S REALISTIC THAT NO ONE WOULD BE FUCKING NOSY. LIKE THAT’S A WHOLE DIFFERENT LEVEL OF “THAT’S NOT HOW ANY OF THIS WORKS” ENTIRELY LOL. anyway tl;dr AFO is a piece of shit and Tomura’s entire worldview is based on a magnificently intricate and savagely cruel lie more at 11

anyway so after all that ranting it looks like that wasn’t even what Hawks was talking about after all lol. I just went off for absolutely no reason lol oh well. instead it seems that Hawks is suggesting that Tomura’s carefully cultivated hatred might not yet have actually reached “can defeat OFA” levels even after all of that trauma. interesting!

don’t mind me, I’m just sitting here while my brain furiously scrambles to put together all the parallels between Hawks and Tomura that it never noticed before until exactly this second. like I’m not even sure that was the intent here at all (I need to check out another translation or two lol), but regardless my mind decided that now would be the perfect time to make the connection between these two twenty-somethings who both had horrific childhoods and spent years being molded by their respective manipulative guardians, and developed eerily similar “laugh at everything because what else can you do” coping mechanisms to deal with it all hmmmmm

anyway so they were talking more about their strategy, but now all of a sudden Jeanist’s phone is beeping??

AND NOW WE’RE CUTTING AWAY TO ALL MIGHT AND HIS MIGHTMOBILE DAMMIT so that means the call to Jeanist was actually something important then!! WAS IT BAKUGOU OMG. DOES YOUR INTERN WANT A WORD FFFKLFSJK please it’s been so long I just need a little crumb or two to tide me over lmao have mercy

anyway so All Might’s following the GPS tracking device he’s apparently got planted on Deku (which in my conspiracy headcanons he’s actually had for a long time now, like since before DvK2 lol because HOW ELSE WOULD HAVE HAVE KNOWN THAT THEY WERE FIGHTING EACH OTHER IN GROUND BETA, PEOPLE) and thinking angsty thoughts about Deku’s sucky life

AND NOW ALL MIGHT’S PHONE IS RINGING TOO?? BAKUGOU HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE YOU CALLING. “WHERE ARE YOU HIDING THE NERD GODDAMMIT”

OMG

lol is he under attack or is he just finally giving All Might the slip like we all know he SECRETLY PLANNED TO ALL ALONG oh my poor dumb angstmuffin

OMG AHHHHHHH WHAT

DID ALL MIGHT JUST FUCKING DIE LMAO NO OF COURSE NOT, BUT WHAT

WHAT IS HAPPENING OMG

THE FUCK IS THAT. AT LEAST IT’S NOT A NAIL

OH IT’S A SPEAKER!! OMG DID THEY TAKE ALL MIGHT HOSTAGE

“THEY’RE HERE” WELP, TIME TO SEE JUST HOW SHITTY THIS SHITTY PLAN REALLY IS LOL

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

SHE!!!!

omg. AND OVERHAUL JUST CHILLING THERE IN THE BACKGROUND ALL “WHAT DO YOU EVEN WANT ME TO DO I’VE GOT NO FUCKING ARMS” YEAH GOOD RIDDANCE LOL

DOES THIS GIRL HAVE ONE GIANT LEG OR WHAT, LIKE WHAT’S THE DEAL HERE

-- HOLD UP WAIT, THE GUN IS HER ARM, HOLY SHIT SHE CAN TURN INTO A GUN -- OKAY HOLD UP BECAUSE I NEED TO SAY THAT IN BIGGER TEXT BECAUSE !!!!

YOU GUYS, THE COOL TARTARUS GIRL IS BACK AND HER QUIRK IS “CAN TURN INTO A FUCKING GUN.” THIS IS NOT A DRILL!! MY BEST GIRL MT. GUN IS FINALLY BACK ON THE SCENE WITH HER QUIRK “CAN DO ANYTHING A GUN CAN DO.” “I HEARD Y’ALL WENT AND NAMED ONE OF YOUR HEROES ‘GUNHEAD’ EVEN THOUGH HIS HEAD ISN’T EVEN A GUN, LIKE WTF IS UP WITH THAT LET ME SHOW YOU HOW IT’S DONE” DANG OKAY

lmao only fifteen pages this week, and STILL NO KACCHAN (THEN WHO WAS PHONE!!!), but man I don’t even care because finally we’ve got a cliffhanger that’s actually deserving of being a cliffhanger! hot dog. okay then

#bnha 311 #endeavor #hawks (bnha) #takami keigo #shigaraki tomura #best jeanist #all might #midoriya izuku #cool tartarus gun transforming girl #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha

[honoredbastard]

I COME BACK WITH THOUGHTS/THEORIES ON ITADORI AND HIS RELATIONS- I THINK.

anyways, so i'll just point this out: i'm not good at speaking my thoughts in an organized manner. i absolutely suck at it, i speak on how my brain brings up the thoughts so i might ramble, get over my head in a thought, etc. i can't control it so i apologize in advance for the jumpiness of the texts. i will spell a lot of things wrong and not everything will be correct, as i read translations and on a manga site. don't worry it's not illegal, i believe.

MANGA SPOILERS AHEAD.

i apologize for my absence! last week or two weeks ago the tower to my computer completely broke and will not turn on. i tried to repair it and follow my fathers instructions but nothing worked. even cleaned off the fan and went through countless nights readjusting things. it's not my cords either so to help me out my father is working extra shifts to get me a new pc. so in the meantime i'll do small posts like these but not full writing/head canons until i have a computer tower lol. a family member was kind enough to allow me to have their phone while we work throughout this issue.

now onto the actual topic:

kenjaku and itadori's relationship. ( family wise ).

for context in the most recent chapter, 160 "colony" kamo shows up in sasaki's home and talks to her about the culling game and a barrier. but that's not the point, the point is as he's guiding her to the barrier inside her "dream" at the end he says "oh right. i almost forgot to tell you. thank you for getting along with my son." and then she is awakened inside the barrier, in her pajamas beside iguchi. when sasaki and iguchi look at the barrier and gather themselves they bring up kamo.

sasaki asked iguchi if he mentioned his son and he says no. this leaves sasaki in a state of confusion when itadori flashes in her mind. she says his name aloud like she finally connected the dots. now. why am i bringing up this whole kenjaku thanking sasaki for being his "son"'s friend. it throws me off because why didn't he thank iguchi?

did he not think iguchi meant their friendship? because sasaki was the one uninjured and still counted itadori as a friend? does iguchi not consider itadori as a friend anymore?

because we haven't seen these two at all since the incident. that raised many questions in me. as well "how can itadori be related to kamo?" and itadori is related to choso.

because kamo's technique is explained ( vaguely. we are aware he can create barriers, take over bodies, and has incredible cursed tools. chapter 134. this is also where choso makes his connection ( i believe. ) to itadori yuji as his brother. but because we saw this with todo many thought itadori just had another unconsious technique that allows the person who is hit create false memories and believe of a completely made up relationship with itadori without his knowledge. but alas, i was wrong. ) and we're given more hints shown than told ( imo ) i tried my best to make sense out of the situation and what he said. i think my conclusions are pretty solid, so continuing on.

we're given very little history on itadori, his past, and family. at the start of the manga we know that itadori's only family he knows is his grandfather and that he is ill in the hospital. at the very very beginning we learn that itadori is your average cute, fluffy, laid back but strong and goofy protagonist. in smaller words: itadori is kirby but even cuter and dumber.

my first impressions of him is a pineapple. if you're confused to this saying: it's calling a person prickly on the outside but sweet on the inside. and this is true, itadori's grandfather seems prickly and cold on the outside but he genuinely cares for itadori.

he raised itadori for all we know and did that with his all in assumption. but this ends up backfiring onto itadori, because he cares so much for his grandson - he ends up leaving a " curse " on yuji.

help people. save them.

itadori takes this to heart as his grandfathers speech is his last one. when he looks over to his grandfather the man is dead and now yuji is left alone. then the following events occur.

at this point in time i assumed itadori was an orphan ( he technically is if we're connecting the dots. his parents has not been shown, he doesn't speak of them, they aren't in the picture. we can conclude either they disowned itadori or died before he could make complete memories of them. )

but when we are shown in chapter 143 itadori's parents we see this "woman" jin ( yuji's father ) and his grandfather talking about has the same scar pattern. this scar pattern is either stitching ( assuming that is how kamo keeps the top of the opened skull from coming off. this is also how kamo revealed his cursed technique / body of sorts ( the brain, assuming that is kenjaku in his cursed technique and not the body / puppet he is controlling " getou suguru " ) to gojou. )

this is the only way i find kamo being able to assign itadori as his son. why is that you might be asking this dumbass here.

we do not have the full story, exact date, location, and full context of the memory/dream itadori is having. this cannot be fake either because kamo would than have no reason to call itadori his son. or is there? anyways.

take a leap of faith with me. imagine that before itadori is born ( he seems no more than a few weeks or days old in this memory. hence why i am thinking my conclusion is pretty solid in theory. but yknow gege, there might be something different. ) anywhooo.

TW. D3ATH/IMPLYING ANTI LIFE ATTEMPT

kamo had to have taken over yuji's mothers body after an accident OR after she gave birth to yuji. his grandfather is interrupted by her before he can finish his sentence but it seems to be leading to the conclusion that either kaori ( yuji's mother ) died while giving birth to yuji or kaori could not conceive and tried to take her own life or cause an accident that would take her life. ( i read a fan translation for this part but im pretty sure i also read the official translation today too and it added up to the same. )

i believe in the first idea, but since kamo's cursed technique wasn't explained in detail i don't know the conditions of his body technique. does the original host of the body have to be dead? can he regenerate body limbs ( i highly doubt. getou lost an arm during his fight with yuta. overconfident dick. reminding me of an ex ANTWAYS. i forgive him for being overconfident smooch. he learned. OFF TOPIC but continuing on i promise.

this is being continued from the cut off point. i'm so upset so it'll just be summarized. i can't believe this shit lol i took three hours just to finish it for it to literally cut off the bottom half.

continuing on in a sadge mood. kamo must not have the complete ability to take over a body. after all getou took his only arm he had as he was dying and choked his own body to his full ability. getou was willing to die ( possibly, you never know he could be alive if he killed his own body. moving on. ) just to have the chance to save his friend from being swallowed by a damn box.

so there has to be a chance that kamo cannot fully take over the previous persons complete consious and memory of their body. if getou still had his other arm after losing the fight to yuta, he could've choked kamo with both arms. in theory kamo wouldn't be able to control the right arm and die to the previous host choking him to death.

so why wouldn't the other hosts do it? after all, kamo did say it was his first time experiencing such a thing. assuming kamo has lived throughout many bodies in his 150+ lifespan none of the previous hosts could take control of their body.

i believe getou was completely influenced by gojou and his six eyes. there is no way gojou would even try to speak out to his friend unless he had an inkling or saw getou still in there. helpless and without the ability to save himself from the cage he's in.

being used and puppeteered in his own body by an external force. laughing in the world he could not. putting getou into a constant misery and defeat that he couldn't escape his hell. the one he tried so hard to fight and get out of. even if it was the wrong path.

gojou was the last person to witness getou dying. he had to watch getou bleed out after their conversation because he couldn't bring himself to kill his friend. the one he spent his whole jujutsu student life with. so for gojou to say such a thing to getou despite all that he did had to break getou out of his misery and give him that small sliver of hope that he could do something. of course he failed, but i doubt that's going to be the end of that.

the only way i see kamo being related to yuji is if he took over kaori's body before the pregnancy. assuming that when kamo takes over a body he becomes one with said body and is that person for however long he lives in said body. my only thing is, can he take over a persons body whilst they are alive? i would go more in depth like i did the last time but i am extremely upset about my work being erased so that's the end of this part.

thank you for reading! i have one more thing for you though.

the last time we see sukuna in a manga page after the shibuya incident is where he is on his throne and in his domain. this is after yuji is stabbed by yuta and is presumed "dead" at the time. he seems to be interested in yuta and i can think of 2-3 things. I would love to hear your theories too so don't be afraid to barge into my dms like the koolaid man.

A - sukuna is interested in Yuta because of his ability to use the reverse healing technique ( only a few sorcerers know this. sukuna being the first. shoko being the second one to be told that she has this power and then gojou. ) because of this he sees potential in yuta as well or has added this boy into his plans. after all, there is very few that can make sukuna make an expression that isn't an RBF. aka megumi and possibly gojou. I was looking at the page of him stabbing yuji and noticed we only see the entry point of where the blade enters. it's smaller because some got chunked off so its a possibility yuta used this to his advantage when "killing" yuji and instead hit an artery that could kill him but quickly healed him afterwards. or just his heart. the ideas.

B. Rika, Yuta is able to completely control Rika as shown. Even though he claims he is on the weak side, these two combined seem like an unstoppable force. He may be interested in Rika as she is a curse that has been put on someone that can fully control it. Not many people is shown to be able to control their curse. As we haven't met many.

this was enti and that's the last of my post! thank you for reading and it was a fun one. even though i had to restore this shit. anyways, i'd love you to add or fix up my ideas and tell me your thoughts and opinions! Thanks a bunch!

^ this is for pure humor

#𝄖entiramblesツ #jujutsu megumi #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #yuji itadori #itadori #yuji #getou suguru #suguru getou #sukuna ryomen #sukuna #yuta #jjk yuta #gojou #geto suguru #suguru geto #theories #jjk theory #manga spoilers #jjk spoilers

[amphtaminedreams]

Sitting Front Row at...(On a Budget Obvs): Lookbook no.15

Hey to anyone reading!

And welcome to my fave lookbook I’ve done in a longggg ass time! Yes, that’s partially because it involved making collages and doing the low effort work of scouring Vogue Runway for “research purposes”, but I promise, that statement wasn’t made out of COMPLETE laziness-I am super happy with it too. It’s been a good use of pre-part-lockdown-lift time in the interim between that brief period of Christmas celebrations and eateries finally fucking opening again because let’s be honest, I always knew I was gonna get distracted by oat milk vanilla lattes and veggie all day breakfasts once I could actually sit down with them at my fave local cafe. You could say I was very much operating on a self-imposed deadline.

The “what I would wear to sit front row at...[insert designer here]” TikTok/Instagram reel trend was something I wanted to get on board with ever since I first saw one and whilst the option of doing my own live action take-I really cannot bear the thought of having to edit footage of myself awkwardly attempting to sit nonchalantly in front of a camera for hours on end-was off the cards considering my complete lack of screen presence, I decided a Tumblr text post would work just as well, and if not even better in a way. Given the absence of the time limitations you face when you’re making a reel or a TikTok I thought it’d be cool to present the looks as part of a mini moodboard for each designer which adds a bit of context to each look even if you aren’t familiar with their past collections and establishes the general vibe of the brand I’m attempting to replicate. Not to sound snotty or as if I am the font of all knowledge on anything high fashion related but even with my amateur knowledge I noticed that as the video trend took off and was adopted by big name influencers, it became less about the average person putting their own personal spin on the aesthetic of the labels we can’t ordinarily afford and more about them building outfits that only vaguely resemble the general public perception of the brand around the real corresponding (and often gifted and thus inaccessible to someone who doesn’t makes thousands for a sponsored post) pieces they own SO I thought I’d take the trend back to its roots and get a bit resourceful. All that being said, in no particular order, here are the outfits I would wear to sit front row at Gucci, Vera Wang, Miu-Miu, Marc Jacobs, Dolce & Gabbana, Brock Collection, Alexander McQueen, Etro, Burberry aaaand Saint Laurent based on their past collections and guess what? They didn’t cost a shit tonne of money :-)

-disclaimer: will include an asterisk before any new purchases if from a high street store though to be honest, I don’t think there are any, we shall see! I do include where I got old purchases from in case anyone wants to search anything on Depop/Ebay-

1. Saint Laurent (formerly Yves Saint Laurent)

-blazer from identityparty on Depop, pleather trousers from Zara, jewellery from Dolls Kill-

I know technically abbreviating Saint Laurent to YSL doesn’t really make much sense anymore given the brand’s name change in 2012, but I’ll always think of it as that in the same way I’ll always associate it with the slightly dishevelled yet simultaneously glitzy rock n’ roll aesthetic. The thing is, whilst YSL hasn’t done anything wildly out of the box for a long time, it’s rare they put a look on the runway that I wouldn’t wear; they never end up being a fashion week standout but the Parisienne take on grunge we’ve seen Anthony Vaccarello establish as his go-to will always have a place in my heart. 

2. Alexander McQueen

-embroidered leather jacket from Ebay (originally Topshop), harness from Amazon, dress from ASOS, boots from Koi Vegan Footwear-

Alexander McQueen is a brand that is pretty much universally liked, from the historically extravagant and groundbreaking shows the man himself put together to Sarah Burton’s more toned down but still beautiful collections. Obviously I didn’t attempt to do justice to the former, so I tried my hand at putting together a look inspired by Sarah’s blend of delicate femininity and nomadic edge, and it went...okay? Like it’s definitely not my favourite of all the looks because it does give off slightly cheap copycat vibes buuut outside of the context of this lookbook it’s cute.

3. Brock Collection

-boater hat from Ebay, midi skirt from morganogle on Depop, corset top from ownmode_, heels from amybeckett1, bag from Primark-

Brock isn’t as well known a brand as most of the others in this list but I adore everything Laura Vassar Brock does and I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to try and channel the vision of one of the OG pioneers of the cottagecore vibe through my own wardrobe. I mean fr, this woman’s work as a steady provider of meadow photoshoot worthy dresses and corsets and skirts is v slept on and I will not stand for it. I will sit in front of a camera and then write a paragraph in my blog post begging anybody who reads to give LVB (an abbreviation I acknowledge is unlikely to catch on because Lisa Vanderpump anybody?) some form of acknowledgement for her services to period romance novel inspired moodboards everywhere.

4. Marc Jacobs

-coat from House of Sunny, white shirt from Retro World Camden, co-ord from Sugar Thrillz, bag from Poppy Lissiman-

If there’s one thing Marc Jacobs always does, it’s COMMITS. TO. HIS. THEME. I just KNOW he has a secret Pinterest with separate boards for every fashion era of the 20th century and he is putting those boards to good use providing us with collections that are as immersive as they are eclectic year in year out. 

5. Miu Miu

-beret from H&M, hair clips from H&M, jewellery from Primark, coat from mollyyemmaa on Depop, shirt from YesStyle, sweater vest from YesStyle, skirt from Depop, diamanté belt from Brandy Melville, shoes from Koi Vegan Footwear-

We all like to talk about Bratz dolls and Monster High dolls and Barbies as fashion inspo but can we all focus on Cabbage Patch dolls for two secs so as to acknowledge the fact that a Miu Miu collection is basically all their fits grown up? And made boujie as fuck? If I want my fix of Wes Anderson meets Scream Queens (what a combo) inspired outfits, if I want prissy and girlish but also glam, if I want to look like a bratty rich girl whose one redeeming quality is her eye for vintage clothes, I know where to look and that is the Miu Miu section of Vogue Runway. 

6. Vera Wang

-blazer as in no.1, velvet bralet from catdegaris on Depop, harness from Amazon, skirt from Ebay, knee high socks from Ebay, lace up boots from Ebay-

Vera Wang’s RTW aesthetic, a blend of the ethereal, ultra-feminine bridal designs she’s known for and British style punk rock influences, is something I feel has only become firmly established in recent years but it is everything I ever wanted and more. I always find myself trying to balance the part of me that loves everything girly and delicate and pretty and the part of me that would love to be in a biker gang and Vera’s collections are always an inspirational reminder of just how well it can be done.

7. Burberry

-coat from charity shop, suit from emmafisher3 on Depop, top from simranindia, shirt underneath from Zara, jewellery from ASOS-

Now I’m not gonna lie, I’m not the biggest fan of Burberry but there have been a few looks over the past few years I’ve really liked and as someone who owns numerous trench coats, high necks and way too much plaid, I thought it’d be an easy one to replicate. Plus, if you can count on Riccardo Tisci for nothing else you at least can rely on him giving you some layering inspo which is very much needed in a country where it literally just snowed in April and where my plans for today have just been cancelled because the iPhone weather app did a Karen Smith and didn’t predict rain for today right up until it started raining so thanks for that one British meteorologists. Your incompetence strikes again.

8. Etro

-corset from Urban Outfitters, vinyl trench coat from Topshop, boots from Ebay, black slip dress from kaoanaoleinik on Depop, fur trim afghan coat from louisemarcella-

Like with Brock Collection, Etro isn’t a hugely well known brand, but it is always one of my favourites-to add a spanner into the works of any attempts to cultivate a firm sense of personal style, I live for the ornate Bohemian look that Etro does so well just as much as I love both grungy and girly pieces, and so I really wanted to include a brand whose collections go down that route. It was a toss-up between this and Zimmerman, the flirtier, free spirit counterpart to the dark romance of Veronica Etro’s designs; her vision really shines through the most when it comes to the brand’s winter collections, imo, and given that I live in a country where winter or some weather state resembling it does seem to take up 70% of the year, I did decide on channelling her work rather than that of the equally talented Nicky and Simone Zimmermann this time round.

9. Dolce & Gabbana

-flower crown from ASOS, tiara from Amazon, earrings from YesStyle, dress from alicealderdice1 on Depop, opera gloves from Ebay, boots from Koi Vegan Footwear-

D&G is a brand I felt really conflicted about doing-I don’t include their current collections in my fashion week reviews based on the actions of designers Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce over the last few years because I don’t want to mitigate the collective effort of fashion critics to push them towards irrelevancy. Though people like to claim the brand has turned a corner since Lucio Di Rosa was brought on board as the manager of celebrity and VIP relations last year (they are as prolific a force on red carpet fashion as ever), we haven’t seen any real meaningful apologies or reparations made by Dolce and Gabbana themselves which once again leaves us in the all too familiar quandary of whether or not we can separate the art from the artist especially when it is far too much of a simplification to only credit the two men for their work given there’s a whole design team behind them. There are a LOT of shitty people working in fashion, the whole industry is a bit of a cesspit if we’re honest, but I don’t think that should stop us from at least being able to appreciate old collections if we make sure we aren’t engaging in any kind of promotion of current works whilst doing so. D&G are a brand of high highs and low lows, with looks that range from hideously ugly to showstoppingly beautiful in a single show-when the looks are good, they are GOOD-and their presence in the fashion world is most definitely felt whether we want it to be or not. It would just be shit to refuse to recognise the existence of some real iconic runway moments, the practical work that went into the ornate detail and opulence that helped cement D&Gs place in sartorial history, the styling that’s made goddesses and fairytale queens out of modern day women as they’ve glided down catwalks, the far more extravagant and, let’s be real, sexier version of our world D&G shows have transported us to in the past. Will I talk about D&G ever again? No, and if you Google the scandals their brand has faced over the past few years, there are more than enough reasons why, but just this once I did want to pay homage to some of the collections, the snippets of which I saw on my Tumblr dashboard back when I was about 13, that first got me into fashion.

10. Gucci

-fur coat from Topshop, clips from Zaful, glasses from Ebay, dress from gracewright246 on Depop, shirt from Boohoo, blazer from charity shop-

Now last but, if you ever read any of my fashion week reviews (the likelihood of someone actually having read one of them and reading this is incredibly, incredibly slim lol, I wouldn’t read me either) you’ll know, definitely not least, is Gucci because Alessandro Michele comes through every!! single!! time!!

The man is truly the king of quirky throwback maximalism and it hurts my heart that a lot of people seem to think of it only as a brand associated with ostentatious displays of wealth. Year after year since Michele was made creative director he has released purposeful, fully-fleshed out collections which unravel themselves to us on the runway like time capsules containing the belongings of the rich and whimsical and yes that can sometimes result in outfits which are *ahem* a bit mismatched but it doesn’t matter because through fashion he manages to take us to a vivid version of the past where people could dress as freely and lavishly as they wanted to, into the wardrobe of a person unaffected by the side-eyeing of others. You get the impression he doesn’t design so much as plays around with some kind of enchanted dress up box and takes inspiration from there and to give that impression is only a credit to his talent-to make outfits so kooky and extravagant look like they were meant to be takes a boldness and genuine love for clothes that I do tend to feel a lot of the big name designers have lost in the pursuit of profit and the necessary placating of the dying customer base that keeps that coming in. Of course I'm not for a second saying Gucci does not care about profit, but at the very least, they have on board a creative director who genuinely has fun with what they’re putting out there and wants to make a statement too and that really shows; you can rest on your laurels and sell tweed boucle jackets to rich old white women for eternity but nobody’s going to mention your brand name and the word groundbreaking in the same sentence ever again unless they’re talking about what it was a century ago, you know (mentioning no names...unless...did I hear someone say Chanel)? That feels like such a shady way to end, lol, but I’m sure said brand will survive-to be fair, they’ve been included in every other What I’d Wear to Sit Front Row At video I’ve seen so although I’m always slagging them off for doing the saaaaame thinggggg year after year, for that same reason their aesthetic is instantly recognisable and so will always be a source of imitation. There are obviously pros and cons to being a brand which constantly reinvents itself but I think it’s totally possible to do that whilst maintaining an overall mission, and Alessandro Michele’s work at Gucci demonstrates that with ease.

Anyway, if you got to here, thanks for reading! I know I’m super behind on this whole TikTok trend and I know a Tumblr post instead of a video is a bit of a cop out but all the real, physically awkward ones out there know that watching yourself back is excruciating lmao, so I hope this does the trick. After this, I’m gonna get back to the reviewing S/S21 collections post though knowing me I’ll probs take a few days to get back into that because I feel like since I left full-time education (RIP me going back in a few months) writing continuously like this for any longer than about 15 mins fries what brain cells I have left. Again, thank you for reading and if you are, sending many good vibes your way! Stay safe!

Lauren x

#front row #frontrow #fashion #fashioninpo #fashion inspo #style #style inspo #designer #gucci #vera wang #burberry #label #miu miu #runway #fashion week #mood board #ysl #saint laurent #runway trends #ss21 #lookbook #vintage #outfit #marc jacobs #Alexander mcqueen #runway fashion #high fashion #haute couture #trend #collage

[atthesuburbia]

*        ⁽　accepting .　⁾      FINN SHELBY AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.            ⁽     @inescape  .    ⁾     this will have spoilers.

season one.

we      first      meet      finn      aged      10,      (going      on      11      during      the      events      of      season      one):      at      this      time,      he      is      very      uninvolved      with      the      family      buisness,      with      his      aunt      polly      having      looked      after      him      during      the      war,      as      he      was      much      too      young      to      be      drafted.      he      is      largely      left      to      his      own      devices,      the      first      hearing      of      him      he      had      been      caught      playing      with      a      loaded      gun      that      john      had      left      lying      around.     one      thing      is      clear      from      season      one;      finn      idolises      tommy,      who      wouldn’t?      he’s      his      older      brother      who      he      sees      as      brave,      fought      in      france,      everyone      in      small      heath      knows      his      name.      he      thinks      pretending      to      be      tommy      is      fun,      that      that      type      of      power      is      fun.      he’s      a      liability      in      the      loosest      sense      of      the      word,      whilst      he      wasn’t      the      target      for      the      car      bomb,      he      could      have      died.

season two.

finn      doesn’t      do      much      in      season      two,      not      much      to      develop.      he’s      older,      he      is      the      (kind      of)      reason      that      the      peaky      blinders      get      into      cocaine,      but      that’s      really      it.      he’s      used      to      the      riches,      but      still      wants      to      be      involved      in      the      family      buisness,      but      isn’t      really      allowed.      he’s      just      the      look-out.

season three.

season      three      is      when      the      writers      begin      to      expand      more      on      finn      and      his      involvement.      prior      to      the      events      of      season      three,      finn      has      never      been      arrested,      he’s      remained      out      of      trouble,      never      getting      his      hands      dirty      beyond      a      few      lies      here      and      there.      ARGUABLY,      HIS      HANDS      ARE      STILL      CLEAN.      he      was      the      messenger      for      the      train,      he      was      supposed      to      let      arthur      and      john      know      that      they      didn’t      need      to      blow      it      up.      he      didn’t      run      fast      enough,      and      because      of      that,      his      brothers      almost      hung.      and      yet      he      walked      away      free      at      the      end      of      it,     minus      being      arrested      at      tommy’s      house      at      the      end      of      the      season.

season four.

firstly,      let’s      establish      the      fact      that      from      10      onwards,      finn      has      basically      raised      himself,      with      the      majority      of      his      family      moving      out      of      small      heath      where      he      remained.      he’s      not      part      of      the      family      in      the      broader      sense,      with      everyone      recieving      a      black      hand      minus      him      (luca      had      a      bullet      for      each      shelby,     he     wasn’t     one).      i      imagine      that      between      the      end      of      season      three,      and      the      start      of      season      four,      something      HAS      happened.      why      else      did      finn      feel      the      need      to      say      ‘Peace’      if      he      was      never      fueding      in      the      first      place?      they      hated      tommy,      not      him.      john’s      death      hit      him      hard.      if      anybody      had      time      for      finn,      it      was      john:      it      was      their      scenes      you      saw      most      whilst      finn      was      growing      up.

after      the      day      finn      was      a      boss      in      the      office.      Yeah.      this      is      arguably      my      least      favourite      scene      in      peaky      blinders,      but      i      do      think      it      lends      itself      and      the      idea      of      what      a      man      was      seen      as.      if      you      want      to      watch      it,      it’s      episode      3,      around      minute      52.      the      general      gist      is      that      tommy      promotes      the      idea      that      you      don’t      want      to      feel      sorry      for      people,      not      people      that      work      in      factories,      not      sex      workers.      that      he      just      needs      to      be      a      man,      and      that’s      the      only      way      to      get      a      seat      at      the      table.      finn      apologised      to      the      woman,      and      he      said      never      again.

finn      is      now      a      bigger      part      than      ever      in      the      family.      his      brother      is      dead,      and      he      sees      himself      as      the      person      that      needs      to      step      up,      there      is      an      empty      space      at      the      table      that      he      should      fill.      he’s      tasked      with      essentially      protecting      arthur’s      life,      and      keeping      watch      on      changretta’s      men      at      the      bridge:      an      order      to      shoot      if      they      approach.      he      admits      that      he      can’t      do      it,      that      he’s      not      john,      and      that      he      can’t      just      shoot      a      gun      and      be      okay      with      it      the      way      they      can.      we      then      see      how      that      turns      in      the      events      of      season      five:      see      next      section.

finn      says      peace,      but      he      doesn’t      get      that      option      when      he      thinks      arthur      is      dead.      assuming      that      he      didn’t      deal      the      final      blow      after      grace’s      death,      the      man      he      blinds      at      the      boxing      match      was      most      likely      his      first      kill.      he      does      it      under      the      order      of      tommy,      who      he      still      wants      to      impress,      to      prove      that      he      is      a      man,      and      that      he      can      do      it.       “Take his eyes, Finn. Do it for Arthur.”     and      he      does.      because      he      doesn’t      know      that      tommy      is      lying,      that      arthur      isn’t      dead.      imo,      it      was      needless,      isaiah      was      there,      tommy      was      there.      either      of      them      could      have      done      it.

season five.

finn      isn’t      allowed      to      get      his      hands      dirty,      understandable,      right,      considering      last      season      he      couldn’t      shoot      a      gun?      well,      he’s      back,      and      he’s      looking      for      trouble      when      he      takes      his      first      bullet      with      isaiah      and      aberama.      finn      is      still      trying      to      prove      himself,      two      years      down      the      line      from      john’s      death.      ada      says      so      herself,      that      he      has      nothing      left      to      prove.      but      he      still      sees      himself      as      the      odd      one      out,      never      quite      enough      which      is      highlighted      when      he      talks      back      to      tommy,      claiming      himself      as  “the one you never got around to” .  again,      he’s      now      shooting      without      a      problem,      and      is      pretty      known      to      be      someone      who      uses      sex      workers.      this      is      a      pretty      drastic      change      from      the      finn      we      saw      the      previous      season,      someone      who      said      that  “I don't want it like that ever again, Tom. Not when they don't even want to do it,” , and      it      turned      to   “I like fucking everything.”

Now.      do      i      think      finn      has      the      potential      to      be      the      black      cat?      Yes.      he      would      have      known      where      aberama      and      bonnie      were      camped,      he      knew      the      plan      to      assassinate      mosley.      however,      i      do      think      it      is      more      likely      that      finn      is      just      kind      of      stupid,      and      trusting.      after      everything,      he      still      trusts      tommy,      and      so      he      quite      happily      told      billy      the      plan,      after      all,      why      not?      he      thinks      they      are      basically      gods,      that      he      himself      is      invincible.      finn      still      looks      to      tommy      for      approval,      you      see      it      during      michael’s      speech      at      the      garrison,      where      he      tells      finn      that      he      could      be      different,      part      of      the      new      generation.      he      watches      tommy,      to      see      his      reaction.

#* ... FEATURING. ) “FINN SHELBY.” #is this development or is he Just A Dick #this isnt even development im just taking about finn at this point #the link for s4 gives u like a 30 second clip of it #i dont wanna format this now so i am leaving it as is

[thisdreamplace]

Hi, i just wanted to say something and I hope everything will be understood as English is not my first language.

Just a lil thing about me: during one of my worst times in my life I got to find out about loa. Things had to work quickly, whilst having anxiety I tried using methods of everything loa, Neville, the secret, etc. my case was the same as it is with many: I just wanted a person back into my life, while I had the worst mental breakdown ever

While I acknowledge some very good intentions with loa, I also see a lot of risks and boundaries, that people don‘t seem to have and maybe also the lack of understanding for a few situations.

I get loa, I get the work behind it, I tried it, sometimes successfully used it, had my typical ups and downs but to a certain degree I strongly believe it messes people up.

I read about someone in your asks talking about their sp for 3 years now and with everything that happened, taking a step back, not thinking through loa but with a sense of reality: who would want Someone back into their life who for several years treated them like sh*t, taking them for granted or even just as a doormat? During my work I had to face the harsh reality: while we seem to be able to be successful with something like loa, if it’s used during deep anxiety and without boundaries, is this still something to work on? No, it makes matters worse.

I could go on about this longer but idk where this ask stops to insert words so i’m suggesting something for people who deal with anxiety during loa: step back for a moment. Acknowledge your anxiety and tell yourself that it’s okay for this moment. Ask yourself, what your boundaries are, write a list for your future sp and their positive aspects, things you want in a good friend or partner. And honestly, befriend yourself with the thought of letting go of that old sp who literally causes you anxiety.

I think it is in no way good to use loa for someone, who hurts you, loa is about prioritizing YOURself, allow yourself to grow, even out of your dependence towards your old, hurtful sp. loa is about letting go so LET GO of hurtful things. If this person is leaving, honestly, that’s the sign of the universe to let them go because you have better things coming for you. Loa is about selflove: stay true to yourself, your real needs and your boundaries and your list of your future friend or partner.

Loa will get you that: what you truly are. If you see yourself as weak and as a doormat, then this is what you get, typical psychology.

Don’t be too hard on yourself folks, this is not loa imo, this is wishful thinking, codependency and deeprooted hurt feelings.

And the good thing is, there are many positive and gentle ways to get out of this, the right people will come across and follow but it’s time to cut of toxic people, regardless of loa, because it’s not working there anymore AND IT’LL BE SO WORTH IT!!!!

I’ve seen many people terribly desperate and anxious about loa, this is not how it should be. It’s OKAY and good to feel negative things but not if it’s regularly coming from another person and if it’s ongoing.

I’ve been there and I feel many many more times better than I did with my only focus on loa and a person who hurt me continuously. I was not aware of my reality. You can change your reality but not the reality of another person who shows you obvious signs that they have no other intentions than using you. You don’t want that for you, you want actual love.

In the beginning it’s hard but the fear of letting go in the end was not as bad as the damage everything before had caused. It’s absolutely worth it and important. That’s when LOA starts and it will work in different ways to help you get on the right path. (:

Thank you and good day to everyone reading this.

I wish for everyone to be more conscious about themselves, to be more caring towards themselves. Don’t give hurtful people more power over hurting you than they already have.

Hi. Respectfully, I disagree with your point of view. It’s very law of attraction based, which is cool. But this is a law of assumption blog, heavily inspired by Neville Goddard’s work. So we just aren’t on the same page off the bat. But I think what you said is fair and not everyone is into the radicalness of the law of assumption. So perhaps someone who will come across my blog will read what you said and it will make everything click for them. Good for them!!

I agree with your points on focusing on yourself. Look at my pinned post. Look at my response to most anons and even my personal posts. It all comes back to you, always always always. But you lose me on the victim mentality. There’s nothing to let go of except the victim mentality. That’s really all you have to “let go” of in terms of the law.

I could care less if a person decides to manifest their sp or someone new. It’s weird to me to try to tell someone what they should and shouldn’t be manifesting. I just want everyone to be happy and no one gets to decide what that looks like for them, except them. Hard pill to swallow, but no one is causing anyone anxiety except themselves. Do we tend to place our problems on things outside of ourselves? Yeah, that’s part of the problem and why we manifested so much undesirable experiences in the first place. But in the law of assumption, you take full responsibility for your life. Period. We now know we were always in charge and we can make a beautiful life for ourselves. I don’t want to sound harsh or anything, but it is just simply the way the law works.

What I can never do though, is sit here and pretend like I really think there’s people out there who are just so bad for you. No one said you have to keep a person around. Please, if you truly feel it is best for you to step away from a person, do it. You must always do what is best for you. But I’m not going to pretend like we aren’t responsible for our lives, if we so choose to go down this path. Like, fully, anyone’s sp can be the absolute perfect dream. If they weren’t capable of it, there wouldn’t be a desire there for it. Our desires are a promise. I am glad that you decided to manifest someone new and got something great out of it, but that has nothing to do with anyone else’s journey. Plenty of people get back their sp and they’re perfect and it lasts. Because they did the work on themselves. And there is no one to change but self.

Anyone is the worth the time, if we so deem so. Why should anyone settle for less than the person they want? At the end of the day, you aren’t any less because you love someone so much and want them in your life. And you aren’t any better because you decided to move on and manifest someone new. In the law of assumption, there’s no judgements. All I advocate for is the golden rule to be applied unto others. But other than that, it’s free game to manifest what ever the hell you want. Your reality, your rules.

To me, respecting yourself and staying true to yourself means allowing yourself to have what you want. Not shying away from it or watering it down. Not settling for something less or modifying it. And if you understand how the law works, you know you aren’t “chasing” someone who’s “bad” for you. That version of them only existed because of who you were. And there is no one to change but self! We know this! Being able to take responsibility for that is amazing. Because it sure as hell isn’t easy. But it is setting you up for a lifetime of freedom and peace within, beyond any manifestations.

Finally, I will say people love to look down on sp manifestations and I just cannot relate. Really, sp manifestations can be the most beautiful when you really think about it. Like, there is someone out there who is so worth it to you... you become worth it to yourself. You are able to finally see the love within yourself because of them. The love that was there all along. You are finally able to awaken to your Godself because of them having been in your life. And you can manifest the life of your dreams because of having met them. Because of this person, you learned not to settle and you learned to persist. You got to see how strong you are, when everything was so painful and seemed against you. You found this part of you that you want to experience life with, and that’s so lovely. In that way, it’s like the most romantic version of soulmates you can get. It’s so boring that people constantly equate love with some type of weakness. When really, love is who we really are. It’s so absolutely natural to have a sp! Like really. We are love! Such a desire truly brings us home.

Also, there’s no setting the law aside to “face reality.” The law of assumption literally calls for us to dismantle the illusion of “reality.” It’s not a technique that works sometimes. It’s a lifestyle. So, it’s actually important to allow ourselves to relax into knowing who we truly are (God). Rather than thinking the law only applies sometimes and other times it’s time to “get real.” There’s no one out there calling the shots. We are one with the universe, God, source, whatever you wanna call it. That’s the main thing the law has us realize and accept.

All that being said, I truly hope your message reaches anyone who needed to see it. And I hope my response instills more confidence in those who are into manifesting as a lifestyle. 💖

#sp

[nineteenninety-six]

A Brief Sickness

REQUEST: Hi! Can I request something where the reader is sick or has to leave for some reason and Tommy and Adam are both super worried and Tommy has to deal with Adam without his wife's help but there's an happy ending please ?

This is messy and eh imo

TAG LIST: @stassiebabyy​ @shadow-of-wonder​ @dayna041101​ @futuristicslimemongerbanana​

WORD COUNT: 1415

(Y/N) had been coughing and feeling rough in general for the past few days but she hadn’t paid much attention to it, brushing the concerns of Mary and Frances to the side as she focused on keeping Adam entertained and happy whilst Tommy was away on business. Tommy had been in Ireland for the past week and will be there for another week before he comes home, it had been the longest he had been away and Adam was missing him greatly. Even though Adam was a mama’s boy, he also adored his father, always following him around and playing with him.

“Here, Mrs Shelby.” Mary placed a cup of herbal tea on the side table that that sat next to the couch.

(Y/N) had just had a coughing fit, her throat and chest burning, Adam had looked up from his toys in concern but she quickly eased his worries and prompted him to go back to playing and Mary, obviously overhearing her coughing had brought her a cup of tea.

“Thank you, Mary.” (Y/N) let out an appreciative hum as she took a sip of the tea.

Mary hovered, a worried look on her face, “Mr Shelby, I really think you should call for a doctor. Even if it is nothing, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“I will once Tommy returns home, don’t worry Mary.” (Y/N) said, attempting the sooth Mary’s worries.

“Okay, ma’am.” Mary nodded and left but (Y/N) could tell by the expression on her face that she was still worried.

(Y/N)’s illness had gotten significantly worse during the week and she was struggling to get through each day, Mary and Frances had started to hover around her, following her wherever she went after she had a dizzy spell that brought her down to her knees. She knew she should call a doctor but Tommy was coming home that afternoon and she made a promise to herself that she will call for the doctor tomorrow.

Adam had caught on that something was wrong with her, the exact thing she wanted the least, his wide eyes were always trained on her with worry swimming in them and he had started to cling to her also, always wanting to be held by her, never wanting to apart for long.

As she finished up in the bathroom, (Y/N) suddenly began to feel very dizzy and sick, her sight began to blur and before she could make sense of what was happening to her, she had fainted, falling to the floor in a heap.

As Tommy pulled up in front of Arrow House he spotted a car he didn’t recognize parked outside, as he parked up, he tried to think of who it could be but came up blank. As he approached the front door, he heard the distressed cries of Adam and he immediately increased his pace, the front door opening with a bang as he stepped in.

“Oh Mr Shelby, thank god you’re back!” Frances exclaimed as she bounced and rocked a crying Adam, trying to soothe him.

Tommy took a couple of large steps over to her and swept up Adam into his arm, the young boy almost immediately calming, “What’s wrong with him? Where’s (Y/N)? Whose car is that outside?”

Frances answered the barrage of questions as quickly and efficiently as she could, not wanting to be at the end of Tommy’s rage, “Mrs Shelby had been feeling sick ever since you left and she fainted earlier, the doctor is in your room with her right now, along with Mary.”

“She’s been feeling sick for two weeks? Did she not see a doctor?” Tommy asked as he ran a comforting hand up and down Adam’s back, soothing the little cries and hiccups that came from him.

“She refused to sir.”

Tommy sighed in frustration, “Thank you, Frances.”

Tommy turned and made his way up the stairs, his legs making quick work of them, he reached the door to the master bedroom at the same time the doctor and Mary were leaving, he opened his mouth to ask them what was happening but the doctor spoke before he could, explaining everything to him.

“Ah, Mr Shelby! Everything is alright, do not worry. Your wife just has a common cold but she had overexerted herself which is why she fainted, a week of bed rest with plenty of fluids and food and she will be back to normal.” “Thank you, doctor.” Tommy thanked the man, relief running through him.

“Of course.” The doctor politely smiled, “I suggest keeping the interactions between your son and Mrs Shelby as minimal as possible. It’s much riskier for your son if he becomes sick.”

Tommy ran his fingers through Adam’s hair, hating the thought of Adam becoming sick. The little boy was asleep, his crying fit having exhausted him,

“Of course, thank you again.”

Mary led the doctor downstairs and out of the house.

Tommy stood in front of the door, took a deep breath and stepped in, his eyes automatically going to his wife who was propped up on some pillows, reading a book,  looking pretty sickly.

“Are you crazy?” That wasn’t the thing Tommy wanted to come out of his mouth after two weeks away but he couldn’t help it.

“I know. I’m sorry Tommy.” (Y/N) pouted at him

Tommy moved to stand at the end of the bed, not wanting to move any closer to her whilst he had Adam in his arms. (Y/N) noticed that he didn’t come closer and her pout intensified.

“Doctor says keep Adam away whilst your sick so he doesn’t catch what you have.” Tommy explained. (Y/N)’s expression turned into one of understanding.

“How is he? I heard him crying earlier.”

“Worried about his mama but he’s fine. He won’t like being kept away from you though.”

(Y/N) laughed but it quickly turned into a coughing fit, causing Tommy to walk around and pour her a glass of water and passing it to her.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine now that you’re back, he missed you a lot whilst you were gone.”

Tommy pressed a kiss to the top of Adam’s head, “I missed him too.” Adam as if he knew they were talking about him, whined as he woked up, his arms wrapping around his father’s neck,

“Dada” Adam slowly blinked open his eyes.

“Dada’s here.”

Adam leant back and put his hands on either side of Tommy’s face, “Missed you.”

“Dada missed you too.” Adam giggled.

“Awh, my boys” (Y/N) spoke up, bringing Adam’s attention to her.

“Mama!” Adam struggled in Tommy’s grip, wanting to get out so he could go over to his mother but Tommy didn’t let him go, keeping his grip tight.

“Adam--no, mama’s sick, you can’t cuddle with her.”

Adam began to tear up and it didn’t take long for him to properly start crying, (Y/N) and Tommy locked eyes and smiled at their overdramatic son.

“I’ll take him to bed so he can have a proper nap and then I’ll be back.” Tommy told his wife.

(Y/N) nodded and asked to bring her back a cup of herbal tea.

“C’mon Adam, mama’s fine.” The boy was softly whining in Tommy’s ear as he walked them to his room. The boy pouted at him as Tommy laid him in his bed and pulled the blankets up but after a few comforting words and pats, Adam was knocked out once again, exhausted after the vast amounts of crying he had done over the past couple of hours.

After he tucked Adam in, Tommy went downstairs to make (Y/N) her cup of tea and he also asked Frances to keep an eye on Adam whilst he was sleeping.

“Here.” Tommy placed the cup of tea on the bedside table and pressed a kiss to (Y/N)’s forehead.

“Thank you.” Tommy took a seat in the chair beside the bed and (Y/N) noticed,

“You’re sick, I don’t wanna risk it”

“Two weeks without a hug or a kiss and now you want me to wait even longer” (Y/N) frowned

“Yea, but if I get sick, then you’ll have to wait even longer”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes but the smile on her face told Tommy that she knew he was right,

“You’ll make it up to me though?”

Tommy winked at her, “Of course.”

#tommy shelby x reader #tommy shelby imagines #tommy shelby fanfic #tommy shelby fluff #peaky blinders imagines #peaky blinders imagine #peaky blinders x reader #peaky blinder imagine #peaky blinder imagines #imagines #x reader #peaky blinder fanfic #fanfic #fluff

[bigskydreaming]

One of my favorite headcannons is that Dick not only considered Haly's Circus his home, but the people within it his family. And I don't mean the basic, "I grew up here and this is where my parents raised me" type of family. I mean, him calling the srench strongman Uncle Arthur and getting him to toss him up in the air when his parents were practicing. Him calling the fortune teller Aunty Shya and them sipping tea together whilst she tells him about his future and what the lines on his palms mean.

While it's so fun to think about, it also gets me sad because when Dick was taken away, he lost his parents and his only other connection to "family" left :(

Oh man, I’m with you there and I know I’ve actually expanded on this a lot, just not recently, and like....in a way that’s easily organized and searchable. Because I’m just a winner like that.

BUT YEAH. I’ve long maintained that as much as people and canon focus on the similarities in Dick and Bruce’s early/initial tragedies, there’s an element of disconnect too because Dick’s came with an angle that Bruce’s didn’t, which was not just the loss of his parents, but the loss of his entire extended circus family and his previous environment, way of life, etc. Essentially, his parents’ death was trauma compounded by a culture clash of epic proportions as he was in the aftermath forced to assimilate to an entirely new way of life, in entirely new surroundings.

This is a big part of why I’m so fixated on seeing the Batfamily and his friends be respectful of the meaning and significance behind him keeping his childhood nickname despite all the insults and jokes that come with it, and being respectful of his costumes, etc. Because its fucked up that he never got the chance to grow up in the environment that was his first home, that he was forced to adapt to new circumstances and surroundings that were so often nothing but contemptuous and disrespectful of where he’d come from, let alone what it meant to him.

And I think this is absolutely connected to his fierce independence and commitment to doing things his own way, living his own life....he’s manifesting in adulthood the control of himself, his destiny and his environs that he didn’t get the privilege of having a say in when he was first torn away from everything he knew and loved back then.

And personally, I’d love to see more of his family and friends being written UNDERSTANDING that about him, and sympathizing and helping him retain what he can of his childhood and its importance to him, his emotional connection to it and fond nostalgia for it, rather than see them utilized as mouthpieces for the latest joke about his name, circus origins and costumes, and thus becoming just one more reason/variable attempting to influence him to change even further, give up even MORE of himself in order to fit expectations others have for how he SHOULD act or be.

Ultimately, that all boils down to the fact that even if most of the jokes about him are only said by the other family members instead of random side characters because the stories are focused on the family instead of others......it can ALWAYS be assumed that whatever is said in stories would likely be also said - if not moreso - by other people in Dick’s day to day life, off the page.

And you kinda want Dick’s family to be BETTER than the random assholes in his life offpage, otherwise like, where’s the found family fixation so many of us are supposedly here for, y’know? The idea, IMO, is supposed to be that its a tragedy that Dick was forced away from his first family, not just his parents because of their death but everyone else he knew and loved alongside them, like his honorary uncle the strong man and honorary aunt the fortune teller, people who knew him and understood him and respected him for who and what he was and weren’t constantly trying to change him to match their (usually superficial) expectations.....but at least he ended up with a second family that could fill in the gaps in his life that being torn away from his first family left for him, and that could and would appreciate and respect him the same as they did. IMO, the Batfamily is SUPPOSED to be a REFUGE for Dick, away from the constant attempts of the rest of the world to wear him down and get him to conform to their expectations for him....the Batfamily SHOULD be where Dick can just rest from all that and not HAVE to constantly struggle to maintain a grip on HIS personal sense of self and identity, the him that he wants to be.

But so often what we see in fic and canon is just them adding to the stress, being more expectations for him to push back against, instead of the defenses they COULD be, giving him a breather so at least some of the time, for a little bit, he doesn’t have to constantly be on guard against attempts to change him or make him adapt or conform.

[atopearth]

Court of Darkness Part 2 - Lynt Akedia Route

Considering that Lynt seems interested in her powers but not pushy about it, I like him more than the others already haha. It's cute how he has his own napping place and even slept on the heroine's lap without noticing lol. I also really enjoy Haru appearing more! She's a cute and loyal cat so I wanna see her more haha. It was nice of Lynt to suggest for them to pretend to be dating so that the other guys won't bother her, but lmao when he fell asleep hugging her like a teddy bear, and then gave her a good morning kiss in front of his butler omg!!! I thought Lynt was going to be boring, but he's actually cuter than I thought lmao, I especially love how he pats her head hahaha, it's so adorable. It's pretty funny how much Lynt clings to the heroine, I found it hilarious how he kept snuggling against her and rubbing his face on her cheek(?) in front of her friends lolll, that's embarrassing🤣 It's pretty saddening to hear Lynt be so blunt with her and say that he would never fall for her though.

Hmmm, if Lynt comes from a kingdom that loathes conflict, does it mean that the reason he said he would never really fall for the heroine be because he knows that if he really marries her or something it would incite conflict? Or maybe he's just too sleepy for it🤣 I'm honestly surprised the heroine loves Lynt already lol, but he is pretty nice I guess, and very influential to get all the S ranks to help her with her magic lol. But I honestly think they really haven't communicated all that much for her to be so in love with him loll, like sure interested but not love haha. Oh, Lynt has a fiancee, like I'm not surprised since he's a prince, but yep, I would be so annoyed if I was the heroine too. Regardless of the fact of whether the relationship was fake or not, it's true that they shared a bed together etc, like imagine if the fiancee found out about all that?! Doesn't sound like fun, not to mention other troubles coming from the perception that she's his lover when he's already got a fiancee, it's as if she's his mistress, like yep I'm surprised she's not strangling Lynt lol. Can you imagine all the people in the academy talking behind her back about this, they probably think she's shameless omg. Personally, I think she should be more mad about him not disclosing all this rather than being hurt because he's got someone he's going to marry someday lol. Honestly pretty disappointed in Lynt even though he probably didn't mean it, but still, he's really lacking consideration on her part and his fiancee's part regardless of whether he and his fiancee are really "together" or not. He should know better as royalty.

I think I really like Roy, he seems pretty level-headed, understanding, good at reading the situation and kind. In addition, Sherry is his sister and she's such a nice friend~ Aww, Roy actually likes the heroine?! Too bad it's not his route, I would totally pick him though🥺 I really like how studious the heroine is, she could just ask Lynt to tell her what most of the ancient script says but she gets his help to learn how to decipher it herself and I think that's really admirable of her. Anyway, I have to admit that even though Lynt was kinda cute in the beginning, he really hasn't done much lately to make me like him, especially since he's not someone who could understand why the heroine was mad, nor has he really bothered to ask her about it. It's nice that he's helping her find her way back to her world and I guess he probably doesn't want to make her doubt her decision to go back by getting her tied to things here like himself, but it doesn't really change the fact that even though he is kind, he also doesn't really know how to show his feelings. Well dang, Roy took her rejection with such class, I'm impressed haha. Anyway, I understand why the heroine likes Lynt and not Roy, but I honestly find Lynt's lack of communication quite frustrating, especially when he didn't say anything after she told him her feelings for him. He's probably doing his best in his own way to make sure she can leave to go back home without any worries but it's difficult (for me) to feel anything for him when he one-sidedly decides everything for her whether it be looking for the method for going back home, or who should be the one to kiss her to have stronger powers to send her etc. He doesn't talk to her at all, doesn't listen to her at all, it just frustrates me. Whereas, unlike Lynt, the heroine knows how to think about other people's feelings. I think it was nice of her to apologise to Roy for getting him to kiss her for the ritual even though she can't return his feelings. Anyway, I don't mind if Lynt is awkward but he practically actively ignores every bit of honesty the heroine has shown towards him and I think what's what irks me the most about their relationship (if there is even one lol).

I guess Lynt interrupting the ritual was expected, but it's kinda amusing how he's so confused about it himself? Lol. He should really properly apologise to her, but it's not like she really thinks there's much to go back to anyway, it would be sad if she did though. I can't imagine how big of a deal it was for Lynt to use ancient magic considering how he's a pacifist more than anything, but it's still kinda crazy that that was the only way he could express how much he likes the heroine lol. Tbh, I really don't like how they're making Roy be the reason for the heroine to recognise how much she loves Lynt and won't give up on him until she's properly talked to him, it's really frustrating,  because Roy is like a scapegoat for this route. I feel like Roy could have just encouraged her as a normal friend and it wouldn't have made a difference, so honestly it just feels like pointless drama? Anyway, I really admire the heroine for going allll the way to Lynt's kingdom just to talk to him properly, like wow, I honestly would have given up, but the girl's got the resolve. However, I found it silly that the Headmaster and Roy didn't tell/remind her that she's not going to get in the castle just like that lolll. Can I just say, I nearly spat out my bun when the guards remarked about being surprised to see Lynt running (to the heroine) because he only ever briskly walks? LMAO. No, you're not surprised he's hugging another woman when he's getting married tomorrow, but you're surprised about him running for something HAHAHA. I honestly nearly choked because I had to hold in my laughter hahahaha. Lmao, gotta agree with the heroine that is it okay that everything was resolved so easily and the wedding was just called off like that?! Loll. Colour me impressed at how honest and straightforward Lynt is now that he's not burdened with anything lol. I'm not surprised that the magic to return home was "fake" lol but I guess this is easier than her having to decide to stay or not since it's the ending already haha.

Anyway, the ending was so short compared to all the pain the heroine had to go through! Honestly, I thought Guy was a pain in the ass but omg Lynt's route was as well. Like, I guess at least Lynt seemed rather nice in the beginning so I guess there was more "love" to build up on from there, but honestly the moment Lynt told the heroine he had a fiancee, everything went downhill from there for me. It felt like the whole entire route from there was the heroine chasing after a guy who didn't show his love much (aside from some actions), and all the positives just couldn't cancel out the overwhelming negatives of how painful and heartbreaking of a "relationship" it was, when Lynt never communicated anything. Like literally anything. He's indecisive in the sense that he loves the heroine but can't break off from his burdens, so he basically does nothing and just goes with the flow whilst ignoring the heroine's hopes to make everything clear, and then Lynt just wants the "best" for her by sending her back to her world, BUT he's never really asked how she feels about anything. He just does what he thinks is right and then just leaves her to try and communicate with him but he doesn't say anything ever, until he finds out how determined she is by going all the way to his kingdom, and then he's like yeah, I should do something. Like omg, I felt for the heroine so much because it was such a long and hard battle lmao. I also feel bad for Roy because his love for the heroine was unnecessary imo, and he could have pushed her on regardless, but omg did I feel annoyed every day I read Lynt's route because it was just the same thing of him not talking and the heroine trying to talk to him or being sad, so yeah I didn't like this route much either, even though Lynt seemed like he was going to be so much better than Guy in the beginning, sigh. Honestly, if this was real life, he wouldn't be worth the effort and I wouldn't have gone to his kingdom, but I do admire the heroine for doing all that, so yeah, as usual, props to the heroine for always trying her best and dealing with these guys. The ending really didn't have enough sweetness to it to make me happy for them when it was such an agonising journey tbh, I think I might have been more satisfied if they let us cherish the heroine's happiness a bit more but oh well...

#court of darkness

[ademonandherbentley]

Queer Coding =/= Queerbaiting (A Defence of Good Omens)

So. Good Omens is here, and I’ve seen more than a few people dismissing it as yet another round of the queerbaiting we’re all so used to. I’m not trying to override anyone’s grievances, but I do think that we’re starting to fling the word queerbaiting around a little too freely, and I worry that it'll make the term lose it's impact. Queerbaiting is not just any relationship that doesn't end exactly the way we want it to. There's a worrying tendency to be very black and white in our judgments, which ignores the nuance present in... well, everything. On top of that, I think we've all been burned by shows in the past and have a few trust issues when it comes to this sort of thing.

For the uninitiated, queerbaiting is when a show continually teases and/or hypes up a queer narrative that it has no intention of delivering. Perhaps the most famous example is Supernatural, which has spent the last fifteen years portraying a textbook example of a bisexual character and twelve years crafting an epic m/m love story on a cosmic scale... only for all the cast and writers to continually laugh off and brush aside both these things whilst constantly shoehorning Dean and Castiel into chemistry-less and underwritten heterosexual relationships. The subtext (and any understanding of narrative) is the fish hook in your mouth, tugging and tugging, but the show has no intention of ever reeling you in or releasing you.

Sherlock is another one. Damn near everyone who watches the show sees a love story playing out between Sherlock and John. Meanwhile the writers take every opportunity to have John remind us that he's not gay, goddamnit, and as soon as the subtext hit a peak that had every meta writer posting theses about holy shit this is happening, season 4 came around and sank it all without trace. Not to mention so many people embraced Sherlock as asexual, only for Moffat to outright deny any chance of that being canon because it's "boring". Tug tug, goes the fishhook. The writers sit around asking why everyone’s so worked up about a few breadcrumbs, ignoring the fact that they’ve been building the entire loaf for years.

Which brings us round to Good Omens. Take a second. What were we promised, exactly, that we didn't get? Neil Gaiman said the show would go into more depth regarding Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship. It did that. He also said that nothing in the show would contradict the book. 

Pretty much all the most leading comments came from the many interviews in which Michael Sheen (and to a lesser extent David Tennant) described the relationship as a love story. Now, whether you think the show delivered on that or not, we’ve got to keep in mind that Sheen and Tennant are not the writers, producers, or directors. They’re the actors - they have no part in crafting the story, they just bring it to life. Any opinions expressed in interviews about the nature of their characters’ feelings are just their interpretations. And really, can you watch the show and say with any sincerity that those interpretations didn’t translate into their performances? As far as I’m concerned, both actors made good on everything they promised.

Like a lot of other shows, Good Omens hits all the markers in a romantic story arc (from awkward first meeting, to blossoming feelings, to Third Act Breakup, to ending the story finally free to be together) but stops just short of anyone acknowledging the romance in explicit words or actions. Unlike a lot of other shows, Good Omens makes no move to ever deny the validity of said romantic arc. There's no forced sexual tension between any third party characters. There's no "it's not like that" or "we're just friends" (and the characters themselves referring to each other as their best friends doesn't count, especially when said characters are quite obviously stewing in denial and/or repression). To the best of my knowledge, no one behind the scenes has denied a romantic element to Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship since the show aired. Quite the opposite, in fact:

It’s one thing to have wanted more form the show. But I don’t think there was anything that could have lead any of us to reasonably expect anything more, and there’s been no move to negate any of the (imo pretty undeniable) love story between Aziraphale and Crowley. Just because a story doesn’t end with the characters sucking face doesn’t mean that it isn’t inherently romantic in nature.

#good omens #good omens tv #amazon good omens #good omens spoilers #go spoilers #go tv #ineffable husbands #aziraphale x crowley #air conditioning #queerbaiting #queer coding #michael sheen #david tennant #aziraphale #crowley #good omens crowley #meta

[ladyoutlier]

Prompt: I don’t know if this counts as head-canon or not, but I’m interested in the idea that the Crowley’s feet get permanently damaged during the Church Scene (it follows if holy water is permanent death than consecrated ground might be permanent damage as well imo). One day, Aziraphale notices.

Falling was hardly painless. It burned and scarred and left behind a great deal of phantom pains and bad memories. Still, 6000 years was an awful lot of time for Crowley to get used to all that. Let it blend into his identity until it became as much a part of himself as his name. Though he had already proven that names were always up for debate. But it was enough time to let it shift his outlook on life and play a role in everything he did. Soon enough, he all but forgot what life was like without the pain of his Fall.

78 years, on the other hand, isn’t a lot of time for an immortal being to get used to a new source of pain, although Crowley did try his hardest to cope and continue on as normal. He wasn’t sure whether it made it better or worse that this, unlike his Fall, was most definitely self-imposed.

He had made the decision to enter that church to help out Aziraphale. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest move considering that Aziraphale would hardly be gone forever if he hadn’t intervened. He would’ve just been preoccupied for a bit up in Heaven whilst he was issued a new body. Likely, he would’ve made it back to Earth before the century was up, and all would’ve been right as rain.

But for some reason, Crowley just couldn’t let that happen. Had to save him the embarrassment as he had put it. Really though, he just wasn’t all that interested in seeing the corpse of his friend, even if it was hardly permanent. And dying probably still hurt like Hell. Aziraphale didn’t deserve that.

So he had tap-danced his way into that church, desperately trying to keep either of his feet from being too scorched by the holy divinity of God. At least the ground no longer burned when it was reduced to rubble. Still, the damage had been done, and, like his wings, his feet didn’t go back to normal. If he had thought about it a bit more, maybe he would’ve came in kneeling. God would’ve had a good chuckle at that.

It hadn’t been hard to play off the constant ache in his step when he walked. His overly dramatic saunter made it easy to play off a sudden stab of pain as just another example of his inability to remain still for too long. Really, he had the whole world fooled, even himself, that absolutely nothing was wrong whatsoever. That’s probably why he didn’t think twice about it when he swapped bodies with Aziraphale.

That’s not to say that Aziraphale felt Crowley’s pain when in his body. No, that wasn’t the case at all. If God’s holy wrath was tied to nothing but a physical body, well, it would hardly qualify as a punishment. This type of pain was linked to the soul so that whatever body Crowley incorporated, he wouldn’t be quick to get comfortable. 

Still, Crowley had never been discorporated, so his physical scars from his walk down the aisle were most definitely present on the soles of his feet. It wasn’t until a certain holy water bath where Aziraphale noticed, and it was very much the reason why he had left Crowley’s socks on for it. He considered keeping it to himself, but curiosity soon won out, and a week after deceiving Heaven and Hell,  he brought it up.

Their common place of evening banter was undoubtedly Aziraphale’s bookstore, but the angel had suggested they go to Crowley’s flat tonight instead. Surely if the demon was in his own space when Aziraphale turned the conversation to his question, he would feel more comfortable answering it. At the very least, he would have a harder time running away. Crowley had thought the change of place odd, but it wasn’t like he was going to say no to Aziraphale.

They were a couple bottles in, relaxed on an L-shaped couch that hadn’t existed four hours ago, before Aziraphale had the confidence to turn the conversation. It was a real shame to bring down the merry atmosphere with this, but this just wasn’t something he could shrug off.

“What did it feel like? Falling that is?” This wasn’t a new question the angel posed to the demon. Every now and then he would ask it, and Crowley would give him a slightly different answer each time.

“Like that warm bubbly God’s grace inside you suddenly got much too hot.”

“Is that how your feet feel too?” Aziraphale asked as nonchalantly as he could.

“What?” Crowley all but dropped his glass.

“I—I just noticed in our little escapade last week where we, you know, pulled one over our respective head offices…” He paused to look at Crowley who stared at him slightly slack-jawed. “Well, I noticed you had scars on the soles of your feet. Rather extreme ones too. And—and considering we can look any way we please and do away with things like scars, I assumed that these in particular must be related to a holy event.”

“Yeah it was.” The demon’s mouth was a thin line. “A holy event.”

“Oh, I do hope you didn’t step in that holy water I gave you. Everything in me said that I shouldn’t give it to you, but I did anyway.”

“Nah, was before that. 1941. Church. You know.”

Of course he knew. Crowley had once again showed up to save the day and, more importantly, his books. It was the kindest act anyone had ever done for him, and the demon refused to let him properly thank him for it. The holy water had been his later attempt at that.

“Dear Lord, Crowley. This didn’t happen to you because you felt the need to save me, did it?”

Crowley cringed at Aziraphale’s tone of voice. Last thing he wanted was the angel’s sympathy—or his guilt for that matter. “I wasn’t bloody certain what would happen when I went into that church. Figure a bit of foot pain isn’t that bad considering.”

“How’s a permanent injury to your celestial being not bad?”

“Well, the Almighty could’ve smited me then and there for stepping foot into Her holy sanctuary. Everything kind of pales compared to that.”

Aziraphale’s jaw practically fell off. “You thought the Almighty might smite you, and you still went in to save me?!?”

“I hoped the whole saving an angel thing would convince Her to go easy on me.”

“Crowley!”

“I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

And he meant it. Absolutely one hundred percent meant it. He’d do anything for Aziraphale, although he usually tried to keep him from knowing that.

“I’d rather you not maim yourself—or risk your life—for me. Especially when it’s a non-lethal situation!” Aziraphale was now standing, his wine glass forgotten on the coffee table.

“With how your relationship with Heaven is, I’d say there’s all the more reason for me to.”

“Then I hope you don’t mind me saying that I’ll do the same for you going forward.”

And now Crowley was standing as well. “Of course I mind!”

“So, do you see where I’m coming from? Will you trust me to handle myself.”

Crowley sat back down, defeated, and Aziraphale followed suit.

“I’ll do my best, angel.”

They were silent for a moment with Aziraphale’s gaze turned to the demon’s snakey boots. He cleared his throat and spoke up. “So your feet do hurt then?”

“‘S fine when I’m sitting down.”

“And when you’re not?”

“Maybe hurts a bit now and then.” Crowley shrugged in an attempt to downplay his words as much as possible.

“Is there—”

“No, Aziraphale. Nothing you can do unless you also have a way to make my wings white again. And don’t say bleach. It’s not a funny joke.”

“Never would have thought of it, dear.” He moved closer to Crowley on the couch. “But I can’t stand to sit here knowing you’re in pain.”

A confused yet knowing expression flooded Crowley’s face. “Demons are use to pain, angel. We always feel it. The Fall wasn’t a one-and-done deal. We just get used to what it feels like.”

“Oh.” It’s a small little noise that escapes Aziraphale’s lips. One that holds a lot more emotional meaning than the word’s dictionary one. “Crowley, I—I didn’t know.”

“It’s not like I ever told ya.” He avoided the angel’s gaze. “Like I said, we get used to it. No use crying about some 6000 year old drama, now is there?”

“I’m so sorry. That sounds absolutely awful. I wish I could, I mean, there has to be—”

“Can we please not turn this into a pity party. Really I’m fine. As fine as I’ve ever been anyway. And I’d really just like to get sloshed with my best friend, if you don’t mind.”

It was time to back off. Crowley was done with this conversation. To the demon’s benefit, he had given Aziraphale a lot. Let loose quite a few secrets, and the angel appreciated that. If Crowley just wanted to drink now and have a good time, Aziraphale was going to do his best to give him a good evening.

“Of course. I shouldn’t have pushed you on this. We can go back to drinking.” 

He picked his wine glass back up but didn’t return to his side of the couch, instead remaining next to Crowley. If the demon minded, he didn’t show any sign of it. 

If Aziraphale couldn’t offer him any relief for his physical and spiritual pain, he could at least provide Crowley with his company. Really, that’s all Crowley wanted. Just Aziraphale’s company. Because, even though he didn’t tell the angel, just being around Aziraphale made him forget all about every ounce of pain he had ever felt.

#Good Omens #Good Omens fic #my writing #asks #Anonymous

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Why (most of) the 2010s Marvel legacy characters didn’t work

For Marvel characters I think it comes off as profoundly undermining when they get legacies, at least in the specific way Marvel attempted this throughout the 2010s.

To explain this we need to actually first look at DC’s characters in order to compare and contrast why legacies for them tend to work out better than they do for Marvel.

Simply put back in the 1930s-1950s (if not even later) DC’s characters were almost always created as powers first, people second. Wish fulfilment fantasy figures over flawed mere mortals.

Consequently you could legacy Green Lantern and the Flash in the 1950s and then do so again in the 1980s-1990s because so so long as you had a guy with a ring and another guy with super speed you were retaining the essence of both characters, the fundamental point and appeal of them.

But the Marvel characters were the other way around and practically deliberately designed to be so. 

Thor was the story of the life and times of Thor Odinson. Spider-Man was the story of the life and times of Peter Parker. The Fantastic Four was never the story about a brainiac who stretched, a girl who could go invisible, a kid who could burst into flame and a guy who looked like a rock monster. 

It was about a stern scientist obsessed with his work. A nurturing young woman who loved him but was frustrated by his tendency to get lost in his work. Her younger brother interested in sports cars, girls, excitement and other typically hot headed teenage endeavours. And an average Joe who was tortured and depressed that he was no longer human. 

Ben Grimm could’ve looked like any kind of monster and the central point of his character would have been retained. The F4′s specific powers, complemented their personalities, but they were not the driving point unto themselves. 

In contrast let us consider Captain America, probably the Marvel character who’s done the ‘replacement legacy hero’ storyline the most (at least within 616 canon). How comes he  lends himself so much better to this type of story than the other Marvel characters? 

Simple, because unlike most of the big name Marvel characters you know of, he wasn’t created in the 1960s or beyond. Cap was the product of the 1940s and was a peer to those same early days super heroes from the Golden Age, including the original Green Lantern and Flash. Like them he began fundamentally more as a symbol and powerset than a person. 

But now flashing forward to the 21st century many (most in my view) Flash fans were upset (and continue to be so) Wally West’s ascension to the Flash mantle was undermined and ultimately undone for the sake of restoring Barry Allan to the spotlight. The reason for this upset when Wally himself had replaced Barry? Wally had proven himself a far more flawed, nuanced and complex character than Barry had ever been. 

He demonstrated a degree of characterisation in the Flash role that Barry never had. It wasn’t even that he simply had more of this than Barry, but that Barry, just like Jay Garrick preceding him, had little to speak of in the first place. Thus the contrast between Jay and Barry was mostly superficial but the contrast between Barry and Wally was as stark as comparing Spider-Man to 1950s Superman.*

But Wally West, and the entire DC Universe from Post-Crisis onwards in fact, were in that mould precisely because they were trying to be more like Marvel comics has been since the 1960s onwards. 

DC in effect began prioritising the people beneath the costumes over the powers.** But Marvel starting in the 1960s had pretty much always been like that with their heroes.

Consequently when legacies popped up and those new characters were pushed as being just as good, just as worthy, or (in some cases) lowkey pushed as being better  than their predecessors it naturally rubbed those fans with decades of emotional investment the wrong way. OBVIOUSLY  a woman or a POC can be just as worthy and just as capable as a man or a white person as a superhero. But series to series, character to character, it was almost like Marvel was taking away your beloved pet.

Imagine for a moment you had a pet named Rex that you’d known and loved for years. 

Then Marvel insisted on taking Rex away from you when there was nothing wrong with him. In his place they give you another clearly different pet with Rex’s collar, who gets Rex’s bowl, Rex’s food, Rex’s toys, Rex’s bed and even Rex’s name and asks you to treat them not as just a new dog but straight up the new Rex.

Except he isn’t Rex. Rex is Rex. The ‘new Rex’ playing with Rex’s toys, doing the same tricks as him or having his collar doesn’t change that.*** 

Because Rex was more than a collar, his toys or his tricks. He was an individual that you’d known and loved. And even if you know Rex is going to come back ‘eventually’ having Rex taken away from you at all, having the new Rex supplant them (especially if old Rex was screwed over for the sake of new Rex’s arrival) and having so many people insist new Rex is just as great or more great than old Rex (to the point where many people loudly proclaim they don’t even want the old Rex back and the old Rex was kinda lame and boring) is going to create a massive dissonance. Maybe you would’ve been chill with the new Rex is he was just another additional pet called Rover or even like RexY who was similar yet different to Rex, but not actually promoted AS Rex or as his replacement. 

Maybe you would’ve been okay with the new Rex if the old one got too old, died naturally or accidentally. But you aren’t okay with it because there was nothing wrong with Rex, you LOVED Rex and Rex had been with you and been around generally forever. So the new Rex felt like he was undermining him, especially undermining Rex’s individuality. 

That’s how I think most Marvel fans felt about practically EVERY legacy situation that’s ever cropped up from the 1960s onwards, not even the ones just from the 2010s. I remember  the outrage when Bucky was announced as the new Cap. I know there were people salty about Eric Masterson as Thor and the Spider-Man Clone Saga speaks for itself.

Compounding the situation is that more than a few media outlets (despite imo not representing the feeling’s of the majority at all) promoted (and in some cases still promote) the new characters as not just better than they are (see the dozen or so lists talking about how great Riri allegedly was) but along with many fans tear down the older characters whilst doing so. 

See every article ever talking about why Peter Parker in the movies (and sometimes in the comics) NEEDS to die for the sake of Miles becoming the new Spider-Man in spite of their rationales rarely making sense from a creative/financial POV and utilizing misrepresentations of both characters to varying degrees. Even fans that appreciate the social/political relevancy of the new characters are going to naturally be upset in response to that and angrily voice opposition when the character they love gets dragged through the mud like that. And that then gets exacerbated when they are labelled as bigots for feeling upset by the changes or reacting against the character they love being dragged through the mud.**** 

Especially considering they would’ve reacted the same way regardless of who was the replacement hero.  Again, fans at first didn’t take kindly to John Walker or Bucky as the new Captain Americas so the idea that backlash against Sam Wilson was entirely or primarily racist was itself profoundly ignorant. Especially when you consider black reviewers such as those on the Hooded Utalitarian were calling it out as bad storytelling and bad representation for black people. SpaceTwinks went issue by issue through Spencer’s Sam Wilson run and called it out as racist, ignorant and naive. NONE of which is me saying that there isn’t more than a little bigotry going around detractors of these new characters nor that there aren’t obviously bad actors.

But those people did not and do not represent the majority and framing the situation as though they do is disingenuous and highly unethical. In conclusion, the backlash against the 2010s Marvel legacy characters was entirely natural, understandable and for the vast majority came from a place of love for the original characters not a bigoted hatred for the new characters skin colour or sex. 

It was a testament to Marvel’s, and the wider media, misunderstanding the psychology of most comic book fans. 

P.S. In regards to that, though it isn’t exactly talking about what I’ve spoken about I’d highly recommend checking out this video which touches upon the disenchantment Star Wars fans felt over the Sequel Trilogy, which itself could be viewed as doing the same thing Marvel did with it’s replacement legacy characters.

P.P.S. The reason I think the likes of Miles Morales or Kamala Khan succeeded where others failed is chiefly due to their rise to the role of legacy replacements stemmed from their predecessors not  being sidelined for their rise to the spotlight. Miles never ever replaced the 616 version of Peter Parker, widely considered by most fans and Marvel internally as the true and legitimate version of the character. Kamala Khan meanwhile picked up the Ms. Marvel only when Carol Danvers discarded it and became Captain Marvel. She was still in the spotlight in her own right, Kamala simply got her own spotlight using Carol’s obsolete name. Which isn’t all that dissimilar to fan favourite Cassandra Cain’s rise to the Batgirl mantle now I think about it.

P.P.P.S. A possible counter argument to all I’ve said is the success of the Superior Spider-Man/Otto Octavius. After all why was he embraced when Sam Wilson and Jane Foster wasn’t? Was a double standard rooted in bigotry at play?

No, but the answer isn’t neat and simple.

I think Ock as the new Spider-Man was more embraced partially because Ock had been around essentially as long as Spidey himself. But more poignantly  pre-Superior Spider-Man was so atrocious that a sizzling and sexy idea like Superior (which generated tons of cheap novelty) felt utterly refreshing, even to people who had actually LIKED pre-Superior Spidey under Slott. It’s like how people praised the early Big Time stories despite their problems because compared to BND they were genuinely better.

Plus Superior, for all it’s god forsaken writing, didn’t exist to clearly workshop potential movie ideas or chiefly in aid of a social/political cause. Someone can agree that there should be more black or female superheroes but disagree that the older characters should be sidelined in the attempt to achieve that.

Especially when there were better alternative options such as introducing those newer characters within and alongside the established hero’s narrative or simply introduce them independently as has happened recently with the likes of Lunar Snow.

*This is also why I suspect Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman survived from the Golden Age into the Silver Age. Because they were the DC characters who (more than any of the other ones) had actual personalities/substance to them. **Of course this didn’t begin wholesale with the post-Crisis era. But noticeably the characters who had worked with this new shift in priorities prior to Crisis on Infinite Earths stayed generally the same thereafter (E.g. the Titans, Batman) whilst characters who had largely vacillated or struggled (e.g. Superman and Wonder Woman) were given fresh starts which proved critically and financially successful.  

***Not even if he does everything just as well as Rex did or does some stuff differently that’s still good (although the overwhelming majority of the time new Rex is clearly not as good as the old Rex).

****I’ve seen people be called racist and misogynists for calling out Riri Williams honestly ridiculous degree of competency as a hero/tech genius in spite of her age. This is not an invalid criticism, yet disliking the character because of those reasons is grounds to be labelled as something ugly by another (imo minor yet also vocal) contingent of fandom. 

Hell I was called a Trump supporting Breitbart reading bigot for calling out Marvel as two-faced due to never putting a black writer in charge of Sam Wilson as Captain America or a woman in charge of Jane Foster as Thor. It isn’t exclusive to comics either as I and other people have been accused of racism/misogyny for disliking the Last Jedi in spite of that film to my eyes being itself racist and sexist anyway.

#Marvel #Marvel Comics #Marvel legacy #DC #DC Comics #Spider-Man #Captain America #Flash #The Flash #Green Lantern #Barry Allan #Jay Garrick #Wally West #Riri Williams #Iron Man #Iron heart #Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi #The Last Jedi