#so meaningful to this kid who constantly feels like he has to prove himself to everyone

[kiaramori]

📓📓📓📓📓📓‼️‼️‼️‼️

Yay! I’m so excited you sent this to me!! One fic idea I often end up daydreaming about is kinda like a megamind!au (with steddie obvs).

Eddie and Steve both were catapulted from their respective planets at a very very young age, to save their lives.

From the beginning there’s a bit of a class issue—Steve’s pod has a masterful navigation system that allows him to avoid debris and land in a wealthy home, where Eddie is rocketed to earth painfully and ends up with criminals (in jail if we wanna follow the movie but i more imagine just in a more realistic criminal’s home)

Steve grows up being given everything he wants (except love, attention, care). He’s given praise in spades when he acts like a boy-scout and saves cats from trees etc

So he begins to associate love with saving others (thus beginning his hero complex)

In the meantime, Eddie excitedly attends school for the first time—only to be immediately discriminated against because of his alien appearance (maybe blue w/horns)(iceplanetbarbarian style 😳)

He has wild experiments and stuff but he’s a kid, they go wrong. Steve defends the other kids and fully slots Eddie in to a villain role in his head

Steve really does see things as black and white, good guys and bad guys.

Eddie has the classic megamind moment of “no one will let me be good, so I’ll just be bad”

CUE METAL MUSIC

“thus our glorious rivalry began! He would win some, I would almost win others” that vibe

The BANTER.

Ok fast forward to the present day.

Zooming in on Steve, he is really struggling actually. He works at the [Daily Planet knockoff] as a reporter alongside Nancy [his Lois lane] and everyone believes that him (as metro man) and her will end up together etc

Nancy HATES being the damsel in distress though. They’ve been on and off again in their relationship mostly for that reason. She is breaking up with him for good and moving to [knockoff gotham] to room with Robin [who did end up having to ditch Steve for similar reasons of being a frequent damsel being too stressful for her]

Also btw in this universe Hopper is Batman. Because he would be.

In the meantime, Steve learns there was another girl from [knockoff krypton] (El) who escaped like he did, but was subjected to government experiments. Finding her, he assumed they would be like siblings, but she wants to stay in her own city and help the people there

Steve is beginning to feel lost and purposeless, as he kind of is forced to wrestle with things bigger than metro city

As they’re breaking up, Nancy does accuse Steve of caring more about his image and helping people on the surface than actually making meaningful change—

In the meantime, Eddie is having a blast plotting against his favorite superhero!

He is building robots, he’s got his trusted minion (intern) Dustin, he is breaking out of jail. He is having the time of his LIFE. He loves his rivalry with Steve. As soon as he’s been beaten, he immediately starts plotting something again (just so he can see Steve again)

Flashback to Steve, who is having his little quarter life crisis

Eddie kidnaps Nancy (who is FURIOUS about it), Steve goes to save her,

And (unbeknownst to Eddie) Steve decides to fake his death officially so he can be absolutely free to prove to Nancy and himself that he can help people and save the world in lasting ways without making himself known.

“OOooo I’m shaking in my custom baby seal leather boots!”

There’s a skeleton moment, Steve “dies” Eddie is horrified but also feels like he should be happy. He can do what he wants now!

“Take the most evil thing you can imagine and multiply it by six!”

Eddie is having a blast (he is) he is having fun, he is making mayhem and…and…it’s not the same. Life without Steve is joyless.

In the meantime, Steve is running himself RAGGED trying to save everyone in the world. He’s constantly on the move, transporting food to places and water, trying to save every single person. He finds horrifying things he has never encountered before in his life

And he’s realizing that things aren’t so easily solved just by punching baddies. There’s complexity in these issues that he can’t solve by himself. And he’s beginning to get depressed by it.

Which is where we find Steve (in his civilian identity) and Eddie staring up at the metro man statue in the museum. (Eddie also in disguise as a human) (have played around with the idea of Jonathan being Bernard and Eddie disguising himself as Jonathan but meh idk if I’d want that or not)

They end up talking and connecting about their respective identity crises and they decide to meet again.

Montage—they date, they’re falling in love. They make each other want to be better. Eddie shows Steve how to reach a little smaller and understand his only worth isn’t saving people, (caretaking vs caregiving lesson). Steve shows Eddie how to find joy in helping people, and learn to connect with people

Eventually OF COURSE there is a big alien bad guy (maybe Billy as Hal, following the movie plot; maybe Vecna as an evil alien, etc)

Before that though, Eddie and Steve’s secret identities are revealed (much to their mutual horror) and they fight and break up.

Eddie decides he’s going back to being evil, when life was easy.

Anyways the big bad appears and Steve “comes back to life” to fight the big bad. But they are slamming him. Maybe they have knockoff kryptonite, either way Steve is on the struggle bus.

BUT THEN EDDIE SAVES HIM.

“Oh you’re a villain alright. Just not a super one!” (What’s the difference?) “PRESENTATION!!!”

Eddie has his hero moment as he saves Steve, beats the bad guy, and wins over the city in the process

Steve and Eddie make up, kiss dramatically, and find a happy balance of saving people and having fun on their own and live happily ever after!

And that’s the fic idea! Pretty fun to write out lol, I hadn’t realized how much I’d thought about it until I was actually writing it out! :)

#fic ideas #steddie #thank you

[nellie-elizabeth]

Bob's Burgers: Wharf, Me Worry? (14x08)

Aww, an episode about the kids' grandpa! That's a fun concept.

Cons:

I don't have a ton to say in the "con" category here, to be honest. The gift of this show is that if certain characters take the a backseat, we know we'll see a bigger focus on them soon enough. So the kids didn't have a TON of character moments in this episode, it was really mostly about Bob's feelings with his dad, but that's okay because we'll get back to the youngsters more in another episode!

Pros:

I guess I'll start with the subplot here: Linda helps Teddy back at the restaurant to take an actually good picture of himself to advertise his business online. I loved the comedy of both Bob and Linda grimacing in horror when they'd seen the pictures he'd taken so far. He's holding a hammer and it looks like he's a serial killer, not a handyman! This is deeply relatable to me as a person who is bad at getting my picture taken! The bit with the woman in the diner who was shown example pictures was funny too. She tried to push back against her instincts, but yeah, based on what she was seeing of Teddy, she wasn't about to let him into her house alone. In the end, the key to success proves to be to snap a picture of Teddy right after he's taken a bite of a burger! I thought that was sweet, a way of focusing in on the fact that Teddy is their most regular customer and really gets some true happiness out of the food and company.

Then the main plot: Bob's father, the kids' grandpa, takes them for a day at the wharf. It's sweet how excited the kids are to go, since a day at the wharf isn't exactly a super rare occurrence for them. But they're excited for some fun grandpa time! Bob is concerned, however, because his father is very doom and gloom about the world, constantly talking about how everything is falling apart and how we should be bracing ourselves for the worst to come. Bob doesn't want this attitude to infect his children, and have them become pessimistic and down-trodden about the state of their futures!

While at the wharf, Grandpa sends the kids off on their own with some cash, and they quickly get themselves into some shenanigans by finding the booth with the camera in it that controls the talking clam statue, on display to tell people's fortunes. The kids have fun for a while yelling out at passers-by, but when they go to leave, they find that the door has been jammed and they're stuck inside!

Bob comes to the wharf to check up on the situation, worried about what his dad might be saying to the kids, and eventually he finds where they've run off to, and after a long struggle, manages to get the door open and free them! He uses the talking clam to have an honest conversation with his own father about his behavior, and Bob Sr. actually ends up saying that his grandkids are one of the only thing that actually gives him hope about the future, despite all the reasons there are to feel pessimistic.

It's quite sweet, and also delightfully absurd, that Bob has a real and meaningful exchange with his father here, but only through the lens of a talking clairvoyant clam statue at an amusement park on the wharf.

So that's that! A really cute episode, with a focus on a character we don't get to see a lot. I did wonder, though, watching this, why no Thanksgiving-themed episode this year! Maybe there will be a late one next week?

9/10

#review #bob's burgers #bob's burgers review #bobs burgers #bobs burgers review

[marshmallowgoop]

Howdy hey Goop! I had a funny observation with the episode Heiji first appears in (episode 48 I believe.) specifically with the english FUNimation dub.

While he talks about wanting to meet Kudo/always compared to him, he says "I want to see if the great Jimmy (Shinichi) Kudo is talented enough to be in my league, if he is he'll be the first!"

I wonder what he meant by that? Like, as in rivalry, or as in friends? I'd love to hear your interpretation on this, you always have such intriguing opinions and interpretations on things!

Howdy! Thank you!

My response here will actually be fairly heavy and discuss abuse, so please proceed with caution. There will also be minor spoilers for Episode 263.

To really delve into this question, I feel like I have to start by saying that the view I have of Heiji is that of an incredibly insecure person who struggles immensely with feelings of inferiority. No truly confident person would (assumedly) hop on a plane to go "prove" that they're better than a peer in their field. But that's exactly what Heiji does.

And his self-doubt is, sadly, sensical. His father Heizo is Osaka's Chief of Police, who, as Ran states in the man's first appearance (Episode 77), "[is] always on TV whenever something happens in Osaka." Heizo is presented as a huge, well-respected public figure, and that's got to be a lot for Heiji to live up to. Even when Kazuha's father attempts to be encouraging after Heiji is insulted (more on that later), his words only help pile on the pressure (Episode 263):

Ginshiro Toyama: He's the spitting image of you when you were younger, Heizou. Who knows what he'll grow into?

So, it's no wonder that Heiji is so absolutely desperate to prove himself. He's got big shoes to fill, that he's seemingly expected to fill, and, more than that, every interaction I've seen between him and his father is uncomfortably negative. Despite being a capable, experienced, and well-renowned detective of his own, Heizo constantly dismisses his son and his abilities, only ever complimenting Heiji when it's paired with a stinging barb. The first time you ever see the two on screen together (Episode 77), I'm not sure if Heizo comes off worse in the original Japanese script (top) or in FUNimation's English localization (bottom):

Heizo (Japanese script): He's still green, but he's got good intuition.

Heizo (FUNimation English dub script): But don't be deceived by his appearance. He's actually a whole lot smarter than he looks.

...well, in retrospect, maybe it's obvious that the English dub makes it so much worse.

But the point is, Heizo isn't portrayed as an especially supportive father. As far as I've watched, he never once says that he's proud of Heiji, and his insults only grow to be more degrading after this initial snapshot of their relationship. When even Kogoro applauds Heiji's work in Episode 263, Heizo can only belittle him:

Kogoro: Like father, like son! He solved that case in record time.

Heizo: No, this dull-witted son of mine just likes to play detective sometimes. He's got a long way to go to catch up to you, Mouri.

Later in the episode, Heizo even physically assaults Heiji, going so far as to draw blood, in front of a crowd of people:

Heiji: Dad...

And as if that wasn't enough, he verbally assaults Heiji, too, flinging insult after insult at him (and this is really only a small sampling):

Heizo: He's just getting in the way! The spoiled brat let all this nonsense about "high school detectives" go to his head.

I know I've kind of been dancing around the original question here, but I think this background is crucial. While it might be argued that Heizo is simply trying to keep his son humble through his brand of parenting, I feel like his behavior and treatment of Heiji has instead helped nurture something very sad: a boy who gallivants around acting the exact opposite of humble to conceal the fact that he's dangerously insecure.

After all, as I said before, no truly confident person would (assumedly) hop on a plane to go "prove" that they're better than somebody else. Why would they?

So, when Heiji says that he wants to "[confirm] whether or not the great Jimmy [Shinichi] Kudo is talented enough to be in [his] league" in FUNimation's English dub of Episode 48, or that he "[wants to] see if Kudo Shinichi's really worthy of being compared to [him]" in the original Japanese script...

Heiji: I wanna see if Kudo Shinichi's really worthy of being compared to me.

I see a boy so desperately trying to convince himself that he is good at what he does. If he can best Shinichi—the person he's compared so much to in FUNimation's dub that he's even robbed of his own name, known by some only as "The Kudo of the West"—then it means he's not the dull-witted detective his father (at least openly) thinks of him as. It means he's not a worthless embarrassment.

That's how I view it, anyway. I don't think Heiji sought to befriend Shinichi at all when he left for Tokyo, or that he was looking for someone "worthy" of being his friend, but part of what I like so much about Heiji and Shinichi's eventual friendship is that it starts when Shinichi tells Heiji to stop with the comparisons and competitions. So much of Heiji's life has been defined by comparison; even when people around him are trying to treat him kindly, he's still compared to his father, and, of course, he's also compared to Shinichi.

But in that classic moment, Shinichi doesn't compare Heiji to anyone. He explains straight out that he sees no point in it. And I think that's really, endlessly freeing to Heiji, and it's part of why he admires and loves Shinichi as much as he does.

#detective conan #case closed #heiji hattori #heizo hattori #shinichi kudo #ramblings #analysis #anonymous #replies #abuse mention #long post #shinichi was just like 'you don't have to prove yourself to me' and that was just #so meaningful to this kid who constantly feels like he has to prove himself to everyone #my heart #sorry for the long post! it's probably not what you were looking for but i have a lot of thoughts on this #someday i'll finish my salty essay on 263 that delves into this kinda thing more... #anyway since i'm also kind of in an ml mood right now i feel like talking about adrien here too #both heiji and adrien do crappy things that i don't excuse and i totally get people not liking them #but personally i relate to them both so much... #in very different ways obviously because they're pretty different characters #(even with kinda similar backgrounds) #like with adrien i understand being a doormat and cringe and being deathly afraid of disappointing others #but for heiji i understand making everything a competition when it doesn't need to be #and being awful at keeping secrets and unintentionally really rude #so i can't hate these boys... i just feel for them so much and want them to get better #maybe that makes me awful idk ^^; #anyway yes i get the hypocrisy of comparing heiji to someone else in the tags on a post about how comparison bad #but i just felt a need to say it i guess ^^; #shut up goop

[urimaginespimp]

Dare Coupons and Wrong Ideas

2nd and last part of A Naked Nurse and Wrong Ideas (Read this first to know what’s going on)

Bucky x Reader + Avengers still thinking you slept together

A/N: I didn’t expect a lot of you would enjoy the first part so as requested, here’s a follow up!

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When you woke up, you were alone in your room, and it was already the next day. You only have small recollections of Bucky constantly checking your temperature, feeding you soup, and making you take medicine.

Your cheeks flushed at the memory that he had to only be in his boxer briefs because your AC had to be off or else you would’ve frozen to death.

Plugging your phone as the battery was about to drain, you saw that it had numerous messages from the team – some were saying congratulations to you and Bucky, Wanda was asking you for details, Sam was thanking you for making him 50 bucks richer, and Tony was saying you owe him money.

You didn’t think finally getting along with Bucky was that big of a deal for everyone. Chuckling, you decided to hop in the shower before getting some breakfast.

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“I told you, nothing happened.” Bucky was scowling at Sam who was ignoring him for the nth time that morning.

“I remember you also insisting you didn’t like Star Wars, then I caught you ordering Baby Yoda merchandise on Amazon. So, forgive me if I’d rather hear about what we saw yesterday from your new girlfriend.” Sam smirked, not looking up from his phone.

The rest of the team in the kitchen snickered. They were not giving him the chance to explain himself since he got there. Steve has warned them that he’s prone to lie and get defensive when he’s embarrassed.

Huffing in annoyance like a child, he sunk in his seat thinking of ways he could convince them that he was telling the truth, when you finally appeared.

“Good morning.” You mumbled a small greeting and made your way to the cupboards to get some cereal. He noted that you look a lot better than yesterday, and that you just showered.

Heading to the table, bowl in your hands, Nat gestured for you to sit between her and Wanda, and across from Steve, Clint, and Tony. Taking your seat, you scanned who else was on the long dining table, and your eyes landed on Bucky who was five seats away from Steve, and next to him was Sam, and Peter.

You gave Bucky a small smile as a thank you, mentally noting that you had to thank him personally in private later. But unbeknownst to you, the rest of the team took this as a “moment” and were exchanging meaningful looks, except for Tony.

Bucky returned the smile, grateful that you were finally here to clear things up for everyone and prove that he was telling the truth. But then Sam just had to be a villain.

“Hey tinman. I still have 3 dare coupons from you last Christmas. Now I dare you to keep your mouth shut for the rest of the morning.” He said in a low voice, raising his brows when Bucky was about to protest.

“Fine.” he huffed.

“All’s clear!” Sam said loudly, making you jump a little from your seat. What was that about?

“So... Y/N.” Steve started speaking, making you look up to him. “Bucky, huh? Who knew?”

“I know, right?” you smiled at him. So, you and Bucky finally getting along was that big of a deal for them. Maybe it was for team morale.

Nat cleared her throat before turning to you with a grin. “Sam, Steve, and I went to your room yesterday to check on you after FRIDAY said you haven’t been out of your room all morning. And uh, well a partially dressed Bucky greeted us.”

Looking across you again, Steve, Clint and Tony were also looking at you expectantly. You get how it must’ve been confusing why he had to take care of you in only his boxer briefs.

“Oh, I was actually the one who told him to just take it off. It was just getting too hot for him.” You shrugged and missed how Peter spat milk from his seat, and Sam telling him to keep it together.

“So how was he?” Wanda couldn’t keep herself from sounding too eager to know. You raised a brow in confusion at her but answered.

“Honestly, I didn’t know he could be that gentle.” You thought back to how Bucky was gentle and patient in taking care of you.

“Oh wow.” Wanda responded; eyes wide.  Steve was turning red and was now avoiding making eye contact.

Bucky was smirking from his seat. At first, he thought it was going to be more embarrassing for him, but now he was actually enjoying how the team was torn between wanting to know more, and trying to spare themselves the visuals of their friends going at it.

“How would you uh... rate him.” Wanda asked again, making Vision nudge her for the question.

“Well, it did seem like he knew what he was doing. I’d say he has a lot of experience. I'd give it a ten.” You nodded at her, smiling at the thought of how the brooding guy could’ve once been the main caretaker for his sick siblings.

Bucky coughed to mask him laughter, making Sam glare at him.

“How are you now? Is the soreness gone?” It almost pained Clint to even ask that, but he knew everybody else was dying to ask.

“I’m still a bit sore, and my throat does hurt a little still, but nothing some more rest would get rid of.” you shrugged.

Tony turned his attention to Bucky, glaring. “Might have to ask him for tips then.” Clint replied, clearing his throat.

“There’s a kid here, you guys. Keep it down.” Steve warned all of you, referring to how Peter was also in the room, listening to the entire conversation.

“What, I think Pete here could also get some tips.” You replied. Why wouldn’t Steve want Peter to know how to take care of sick people? It’s not like it’s entirely different from how they do it today.

Sam choked on his toast, and it was now Peter's turn to mockingly tell him to keep it together.

“Let me just ask this. Is this a one-time thing?” It was now Tony’s time to ask. He’s always treated you like a daughter, so he wasn’t a big fan of you and Bucky getting together.

You didn’t think Tony was gonna be mad at you for getting sick. This hurt you a little, but you understand that it was your own stupidity that got you sick in the first place. It would’ve been bad if you had to miss a mission.

“I hope so? I really don’t want to miss any missions because I can barely move any muscles. I’m sorry, Tony.” You gave him a guilty look. “But it’s nice to know I could count on Bucky whenever I need any help.” You continued.

The rest of the team, shifted in their seats from cringing at what you just said.

Sam turned to a smirking Bucky. “You’re disgusting.” he said to him.

You finally turned your attention to Bucky. “Anyway, I never got to thank you this morning because when I woke up you were gone.” you smiled at him.

“WHAT?” Nat spoke loudly from beside you.

“You left before she woke up?!” Tony exclaimed. Steve glared at his friend, disappointed that he’d do such thing. The rest of the team were also scowling at him.

“It’s no big deal you guys, he had to stay up all night.” you defended Bucky, making him shake in his seat from now full-on laughing.

“You think this is funny, Barnes?!” Tony got up from his seat to stalk towards him. You got up as well to diffuse the situation.

“Woah, woah, woah. Why are you guys so mad at him?” you asked, standing beside Bucky who was still losing his shit on his seat.

“We know he’s been crushing on you, but he can’t just sleep with you and leave you like that!” Tony was all red from anger.

You paused from where you were standing to take in what he meant. And when it finally sank in why they were all acting so strange, you joined Bucky in laughter.

You rested your hand on Bucky’s shoulder for support, tears brimming your eyes from laughing too hard.

The team was now looking at you both in confusion.

“You thought we slept together?” You asked in between laughter.

“Well, what the hell could all of this have meant?!” Clint asked from his seat.

“I was sick and Bucky was nursing me.” you explained, composing yourself.

“Why was he in his underwear then? Because I do not need to know that you guys were role playing.” Sam interjected, a sour look on his face.

“My AC was off because I was too cold. I got sick because I raced you under a thunderstorm the night before, remember?” you said looking at Sam.

Collective Ohs were heard in the room.

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That afternoon, you were peacefully reading a book on your bed when you heard small knocks on your door.

“Come in.” you said out loud.

The door opened softly and Bucky came in with a smile on his face. “Hey, doll. How are you feeling?”

“I’m actually doing a lot better, Buck. Why, are you planning to strip off to your undies if I were sick again?” you joked, patting on a space infront of you on the bed.

“If you wanted me to so badly, all you have to do is ask, Y/N.” He chuckled and sat in front of you.

“Our friends are ridiculous.” You laughed, thinking back to what happened this morning.

“I know.” He nodded. “They got one thing right though.” he smiled at you again.

“And that is...?”

“I have been crushing on you.” He admitted, his cheeks turning a tinge of pink.

“So, I was right to tease you before.” you smiled smugly.

“Shut up.” he looked down, feeling your sheets in between his fingers.

“If it makes you feel any better, I am attracted to you too.” you admitted, and a boyish smile stretched on his lips.

“Was you being sick all a ploy to get me in my underwear?” he teased, and you smacked him playfully with a pillow near you. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

A comfortable silence passed, both of you just grinning, avoiding eye contact.

“You know, I never got to properly thank you for taking care of me.” You broke the silence.

“How could you ever repay me?” he asked in an exaggerated tone.

“Would a kiss from your crush, suffice?” you teased again, wiggling your brows playfully.

“Hey, you just said you like me too!” He defended himself. “But, yes.” he smiled sheepishly.

“Fine.” you playfully rolled your eyes before leaning in.

His lips were softer than you expected, and you could tell that he was smiling. Pulling you closer to him, both of you were getting carried away from what was supposed to be a quick peck, and missed to hear the creak from your door opening.

“I knew it!” A booming voice cut you both off. Head snapping to the doorway, Sam was standing there with a smug look on his face before leaving and letting the entire compound know that you were both lying that morning.

“Who’s gonna believe us now?” you let out a soft chuckle.

“I guess I have to ask you out on a date now, huh.” Bucky was grinning at you, playfulness lacing his tone.

“Oh, how inconvenient for you.” you gave his lips a quick before finally moving away, giggling.

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Tag list:

@lizzarooni @intothesoul

Special tag bc they asked for pt 2:

@coffeebooksandfandom @harrystylesandthegoobs

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HAVE A GREAT DAY!

#bucky #bucky angst #bucky barnes #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes masterlist #bucky barnes series #bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x you #bucky fanfic #bucky fic #bucky fic recs #bucky fluff #bucky imagine #bucky x reader #bucky x y/n #bucky x you #james buchanan barnes #james bucky barnes #avengers #avengers au

[ttuesday]

Hello there! Thank you for writing all these amazing headcanons! <333 I get so much joy when there's a new post from ya!

I had a prompt in mind: what are the gang members like when they get reaaaaly drunk? Who gets sad & sentimental, who gets all funny and jokey, who is all sleepy, and etc etc etc?

now this is an interesting one hehe

Arthur

When Arthur's drunk, he does his absolute best to try to convince everyone he isn't that drunk. He tries to walk in a straight line to prove he’s ok but accidentally walks into Uncle.

He somehow has great hearing and joins in on every sing song within a five mile radius. Arthur could be talking to you on the outskirts of camp but if he hears someone singing by the campfire, he joins in immediately.

He gets into a very jolly mood when he's drunk and talks about anything and everything. He rambles on about so much he interrupts himself a lot.

If he's sweet on you then Arthur asks to hold your hand and he won’t stop holding your hand for the e n t i r e night. No matter where you go or what you do, Arthur will potter after you with his hand still holding yours. And whenever you look at him, Arthur has a big, proud smile on his face as he looks at your hand in his.

Charles

Who is this man? Where tf did Charles  go? He acts very differently than sober Charles. Whatever idea springs to mind, he wants to do it. If he wants to do interpretive dance in the middle of camp then that's exactly what he does or if he decides to go skinny dipping at 4am then off he goes, trying to find a lake or a river.

One second Charles could be laughing so much he's nearly crying, a second later he could start sobbing because he remembered that time he accidentally shot a lawman's horse when he was trying to aim for the guy. Please hug him.

It doesn't matter how drunk Charles is, he can still yeet anyone over Mount Hagen and he can go from fun and goofy to deathly intimidating in under 1.5 seconds.

And if you and Charles are dating then he just wants to kiss you. He kisses your temple all the way down to your jawline before kissing back up to your ear.

Dutch

Dutch gets quiet when he's drunk. He just kinda sits there and stares off in a daze for ten minutes. When someone talks to him, it's like he buffers for a few seconds before responding.

But when he starts talking, good luck trying to get Dutch to shut up. And this man needs everyone to stop what they're doing and give him all of their attention when he decides to say a speech. And if one person stops paying attention then Dutch storms off.

Dutch really does believe he's unstoppable when he's drunk. And if you don't believe him then don't worry, Dutch has no problem spending three hours explaining how all of his plans are apparently bulletproof.

If Dutch is sweet on you then he tries to flirt with you. But the more he drinks, the harder it gets for him to string a sentence together. "Your eyes..." he slurs his words but tries to stay composed "they remind me... of uh... eyes".

Micah

Micah is so goddamn laid back when he's drunk. Strangely people tend to get on with Micah when he's drunk but by the time he's sober again he's gone back to being... well, Micah.

He's nice ? Which is so bizarre but he actually makes an effort to talk to people without antagonising them and instead of taking offence to comments, he laughs them off and sees it as a joke.

As long as the conversation stays light, Micah keeps his happy demeanour and he isn't even a bad loser when it comes to poker and five finger fillet. In a way, seeing Micah so friendly unnerves some of the other gang members because of how baffling it is.

If he's sweet on you then Micah will continuously asks if you'd like to sit on his lap. Of course he flirts with you but he's a lot sweeter than normal and tells you that you could definitely do better than him so he understands if you reject him.

John

John comes out of his shell when he's drunk. Instead of keeping his mouth shut, he says whatever he thinks of. Yeah he gets into more fights cause he doesn't know when to stop talking.

He can fall asleep anywhere and at any time. You could be chatting with him by the campfire and slowly feel him lean against your shoulder as he starts to softly snore. He once fell asleep while standing up right with one of his hands on a barrel for support.

When John tries to go to sleep when he's drunk, he's like a kid trying to go to sleep at a sleepover. John loudly says the most random words and makes random noises before he bursts out laughing, thinking it's the funniest thing in the world.

If John has a crush on you and he's drunk, he tries to be so helpful. He constantly asks you if you need anything. If you ask him to get you something then he walks a few feet away before completely forgetting what you asked for.

Bill

Let's be real, Bill's already a hothead when he's sober and he's exactly the same when he's drunk. He's very fast to start a fight but if someone lands one punch then that's Bill done for the night. Usually he's a better fighter but he has terrible balance when he's been drinking.

He tries to be productive when he's drunk, thinking that now's the perfect time to do some chores and to go on guard duty. Everyone knows better than to leave Bill go out on watch when he's like this. One time he tried to shoot a squirrel cause he thought it was going to run into camp.

Bill rambles a lot too, mainly telling stories from when he was in the army or reminiscing about different robberies he's done with the gang.

Bill can get really anxious so if y'all are in a relationship, he needs your comfort. His mind starts racing and he worries about little things so for you to be there and tell him everything is alright truly means a lot to him.  

Javier

Javier gets very goofy when he's drunk. He's keeps things light hearted, joking about things but is still able to hold his tongue when needed and have proper conversations too.

Honestly, Javier is probably one of the most level headed people in comparison to the rest of the gang but because he tends to stumble and get his words mixed up, people presume he's completely wasted when he's had a few to drink.

This man LIVES for those 2am deep and meaningful conversations. He absolutely adores having them and being drunk helps him open up more about his feelings so he has no problem expressing his emotions.

Are you ready to be swept off of your feet, both metaphorically and maybe literally depending on if you'll leave Javier do that? He's such a hopeless romantic when he's drunk. If camp is near a field or woodland then he sneaks off, picks some flowers and shyly gives them to you.

Sean

Sean manages to go through every mood when he's drunk. Everything is funny to him and he tries to make jokes about whatever comes to mind. Usually he jokes about Bill and Micah which leads to one of them arguing with Sean.

That's when Sean gets angry and thinks he's able to knock out anyone with one punch. Normally he ends up accidentally walking into a table or tripping over himself cause of how focused he is at punching the air.

Then Sean gets all sad and sentimental, feeling sorry for himself cause he accidentally bruised his leg. He has no problem sitting on the ground and pouting for a while, hoping that someone will walk past and give him some attention for a while.

If y'all are dating then Sean will tell you over and over again how much you mean to him and how much he loves you. He just wants to cling on to you for the night and make sure you know how loved you are.

Hosea

I hope you're sitting comfortably cause Hosea's gonna tell you every single goddamn story he can think of. Hosea tells you funny stories, sad stories, how he first met John and how he conned rich people. He really likes to reminisce when he's drunk.

Towards the end of the night, Hosea eventually gets quiet and if there's a party at camp where everyone is celebrating, then he goes off by the outskirts for a while.

Hosea likes to sit back and watch as everyone enjoys the night. He can get very sentimental when he does this but he likes to enjoy the little moments of the night and savour it all.

If he’s sweet on you then Hosea makes sure you know how special you are and that you deserve the best. He doesn't necessarily flirt with you but instead wants you to know how great you are.

Sadie

When Sadie drinks, she gets sad. She doesn't mean to get sad but her mind wanders and she thinks a lot about everything that's happened in her life and how she's ended up where she is today.

She doesn't speak a lot and ends up getting stuck in her head with thoughts whirling around and around. It can get overwhelming which is why she isn't that keen on getting completely wasted on alcohol.

She doesn't like how crowded camp can get so instead she likes to go off and find a nice scenic area to rest. Normally that helps calm her mind but Sadie also gets sleepy by then too.

If Sadie likes you and feels comfortable around you then she leans against you as ye both sit there in a peaceful silence. And if you suggest it, then she'll hesitantly rest her head on your lap and fall asleep as you play with her hair.

Kieran

Kieran doesn't get drunk often. He hates waking up the next morning and wondering if he pissed anyone off or said something he shouldn't have.

He's very happy when he's drunk, only seeing the positives in things and always smiling. Kieran is still a little shy but he's more open to being involved with what the gang's doing, whether that be singing along to some songs or dancing with whoever to Dutch's gramophone.  

Because of how involved he can become with the gang when he's drunk, he can get involved in a few fights or arguments. But contrary to popular belief, Kieran doesn't back down and makes sure to get his points across.

Kieran gets more confident after a few drinks and flirts with you more than usual. The more accepting you are to his comments, the more he flirts with you. Though if you flirt back then he gets very flustered.

#ayo idk why these are so fuckin long #I tried cutting them down #but they’re still long #so apologies for how goddamn long these are #anywhoosies #arthur morgan #dutch van der linde #micah bell #charles smith #john marston #javier escuella #bill williamson #sean macguire #hosea matthews #sadie adler #kieran duffy #idk why I decided to add Kieran in here too lol

[darks-ink]

Spark

Prompt: How does being constantly exposed to high amounts of ectoplasm affect the citizens of Amity Park? Prompt by: @robotbeowulf Word count: 2,487

[AO3] [FFN] [more Phic Phight fics]

---

Danny shrugged, shifting his backpack to lie a little more comfortably on his shoulders, and pretended very hard to be a regular student. It wasn’t easy, but it hadn’t been easy for the last two years. The constant secret-keeping from everyone was wearing on him.

Not to mention the constant ghost attacks, of course. He was pretty sure all of Amity Park was covered in a thick film of ectoplasm by now, considering how much of it he and the other ghosts spilled and fired during the almost-constant battles. Sure, his parents said that the stuff evaporated and then returned to the Ghost Zone, but his parents also said that humans couldn’t have ghost powers, and Danny was the (mostly) living proof that that wasn’t true, either.

He was jerked from his thoughts—literally—by a fist, grabbing him by the shirt and slamming him against the lockers he had been walking by.

“Hi, Dash,” Danny muttered, trying to hide away his weariness with apathy. “Good morning to you too.”

“Fentonia,” Dash growled back, leaning in close to Danny’s face. A little too close, thank you, ever heard of personal space? “Finally.”

Danny bit back the automatic reply—aw, were you waiting for me?—and settled for grimacing at Dash.

Not that that went over well, of course, because Dash’s other hand found its way to Danny’s shirt as well. With Danny well in his grasp, Dash lifted him, slamming him against the lockers again, this time with his feet off of the ground—no easy way of getting out. Not without using his powers, at least.

“What’s wrong, Fenturd?” Dash asked, pressing Danny against the lockers even harder. “Ghost got your tongue?”

Ha ha, how creative. How funny. Danny was sure he’d come up with funnier jokes in his sleep. “Fuck off,” he grunted at Dash as his back was slammed against the hard metal behind him again.

“Ooh, he’s got bite today.” Dash leaned back a bit, a vicious grin on his face, then crowded Danny against the lockers again. “Oh, no, never mind. Looks like he’s all bark.”

Danny snarled back at Dash before he’d really thought about it—before he could stop himself, really. It wasn’t even words, really, just an animalistic snarl and the pulse of his core that meant his eyes were glowing.

Oh, fuck. And Dash was way too close to miss that.

“Hey, there you go!” Dash… cheered? The fists clenched in Danny’s shirt released, and his feet thumped down on the ground before he’d really caught on to what was happening. Dash was already turning away from him, nudging Kwan. “See, I told you Fenton could do it too!”

That… was not the reaction he’d expected to get to ghostly glowing eyes. What the fuck?

Kwan laughed audibly, and Danny wrenched his eyes away from Dash and towards the other boy. The… the laughing, visibly cheery boy.

Seriously. What was going on?

“So, uh… No bullying anymore today?” Danny asked, and then felt like he could kick himself. Absolute moron. Who asks that sort of thing?

Dash snorted, apparently amused (amused???) by Danny’s idiotic question, and waved a dismissive hand. “What’s the point? I got what I was after.”

Okay? Good? That explained absolutely nothing. If anything, Danny felt even more confused. Had Dash seriously been bullying him trying to get him to glow eyes his? To snarl at him?

What???

Apparently he vocalized that last thought, because Kwan’s eyes turned back to him, a hesitant grin on his face.

And then Kwan’s eyes flashed a bright, glowing, cyan.

Danny, still leaning against the lockers he’d been pressed to, froze up automatically. He knew what that meant. Had spent enough time combing through his parents’ research—and with his own experience—to know that briefly glowing eyes couldn’t be caused by ordinary ghostly causes. An overshadowing ghost altered the eye-color of their host, but that was constant.

And, if there had been a ghost, Danny would’ve felt them. He’d grown more than strong enough to sense ghosts even if they were hidden in a host.

“He’s had them for a while.” Dash spoke casually, like this wasn’t a big fucking deal. “We couldn’t find anybody else with that brand of ecto-contamination, y’know, so Kwan was feeling super down about that.”

“Dash,” Kwan groaned, sounding put-upon. As carefully as Danny listened, the only thing he could hear was the undercurrent of care Kwan held for Dash. For his friend.

“Shut up, man.” Dash nudged his friend, then picked up his explanation that didn’t explain anything. “See, but I knew I had seen you do them too. The glowy eyes, I mean.” Dash underlined the latter with a vague gesture at his own eyes. “So I just had to push you into doing them while Kwan could see, to prove that he wasn’t the only one.”

“Uh.” Danny blinked at them, feeling like he missed everything Dash had said after the words “ecto-contamination”. What?

No, seriously, he knew he’d uttered that word a lot these past five minutes—even if only in his head—but what?

“You had to get him angry, though,” Kwan muttered, bumping shoulders with Dash. “You know that’s not the only way to make them glow.”

“Yeah, but it was the easiest to push him into,” Dash easily admitted.

And then, while Danny was still reeling, feeling like he’d missed at least seven steps in this conversation, Kwan stepped in closer and shot him a bright smile. “Thanks, Fenton. I feel a ton better.”

“Uh, yeah.” Danny blinked, watching the two of them wander off like nothing happened. “You’re welcome?”

“Man, what was all of that?” he muttered to himself, staring at the empty hallway for a moment before pushing himself away from the lockers. He desperately needed to talk to Sam and Tucker, see if they had any idea what all of that was about.

Somewhere, he kind of wished that Jazz was still in Amity. She would definitely know what the hell all of that was all about.

Seriously. Dash had just casually muttered the words ecto-contamination, and then suggested that it was common enough for there to be accepted variants of it.

How had Danny missed all of that?

!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-

“There’s Val,” Sam whispered, leaning in closer. Danny followed her gaze and, indeed, there was the girl they’d been looking for all morning.

Well, it figured that they wouldn’t manage to pin her down until lunch, but it was frustrating nonetheless. Sam and Tucker hadn’t known what the stuff with Dash and Kwan had been about, either, so they had decided to ask the only person they could reasonably ask: Valerie Gray.

But that, in turn, meant that they had to just sit on the knowledge until lunch.

At least she had picked a distant enough seat that they could talk in private. Small blessings.

“Let’s hope she actually knows what’s going on,” Tucker muttered, before nudging Danny forward. “You go first, dude.”

So quick to sacrifice him to the ghost huntress. Danny shook his head but walked over, slipping into the seat opposite of Valerie. “Hey, Val.”

“Danny,” she greeted him back, raising an eyebrow at Sam and Tucker, who sat down on either side of him. “Well, this feels like an interrogation all of a sudden.”

He shot Sam a meaningful glance, but she just grinned back, pushing herself to sit more squarely on the seat. Rude.

“Danny had a weird interaction with Dash and Kwan this morning,” Tucker started explaining, breaking the tension before it could really go anywhere. “We were hoping you could offer… I dunno, some clarification, since you know them better than we do.”

She snorted, leaning back slightly. “They’re Dash and Kwan. Every interaction with them is weird.”

“Well, yeah, but they were…” Danny paused, briefly hesitant to mention it—what would Valerie think of ghost-powered humans?—before powering through. “They were talking about ecto-contamination, and known variants of it.”

The look they got in response was flat. Flat, and clearly confused.

After a long and exceedingly awkward moment of silence, Valerie cleared her throat and asked, clearly hesitant, “None of you noticed?”

“Noticed what?” Tucker frowned, glancing between the three of them and Valerie.

“That pretty much everyone in Amity Park has ghost-like traits?” She raised a questioning eyebrow at them. “Everyone, but especially the kids here at Casper High, has ecto-contamination so bad that we’re all, well. Becoming a little ghost-like.” She paused, shook her head, then asked. “None of you seriously noticed?”

Danny drew back, considering his words, but before he could really think about it, Sam had already flapped a dismissive hand. “The three of us spend so much time in and around Fentonworks that we’re already contaminated to hell and back,” she dryly explained. “And honestly, Valerie, how much time do we really spend with anyone outside our direct circle?”

“Fair enough,” Valerie allowed with a shrug. “Right, so, it mostly seems to be caused by the Portal and the constant ghost attacks. I mean, obviously, right?”

“Right,” Danny agreed, ignoring the way his stomach was turning. He’d tried so hard to keep everyone safe, but had the presence of ghosts been endangering them all along? Had the spilled ectoplasm really affected people, and so badly too?

“Now, what we started noticing pretty early on is that people generally only display a single ghost power, once they become contaminated enough to actually have a discernible ghost power. Some people consider them distinct variants: people with invisibility, with intangibility, flight, etcetera.”

Sam and Tucker both hummed, thoughtfully. Valerie raised her other eyebrow at that, then shook her head and continued on.

“Generally people don’t get contaminated enough to display more than those basic powers, but exceptions exist, I guess. And your contamination is probably way worse than anyone else’s, except maybe actual ghost hunters like the Fentons.” She made a face. “And that’s assuming their jumpsuits don’t protect them, which I doubt.”

“I’m pretty sure they do,” Danny mumbled, trying to inconspicuously watch both of his best friends from the corner of his eyes. The more Valerie explained about the ecto-contamination that apparently haunted all of Amity Park, the more their expressions twisted into something they usually called “suddenly understanding weird shit that had been happening”.

It was, unfortunately, a somewhat common expression these days. What with ghosts becoming a common thing, and all that.

“I… Some of the plants in my greenhouse grow unusually well whenever I’m near. Some even seem to react to my presence…” Sam admitted, her voice quiet, uncharacteristically reluctant. After a moment of hesitation, she tacked on, “And sometimes, when I really really don’t want to deal with my parents, they just… overlook me, like I’m not there at all.”

Like she was invisible, they all heard, despite the fact that Sam didn’t say the words.

Seemingly encouraged by Sam’s admission, Tucker added on, “I rarely, if ever, charge my tech. Their batteries just don’t seem to empty as long as I have them on me. And sometimes when I’m digging into code, it feels like… like I can alter it directly, like I’m tapping into some inner world that doesn’t—shouldn’t—exist.” Just like Sam, Tucker also paused for a moment. “When I’m running from a ghost or whatever, sometimes I run into an alley that I know has a dead end and never hit the wall.”

Like he was just phasing through it, going intangible before he hit it.

Danny swallowed through the clog he suddenly found in his throat, watching Valerie turn a meaningful look to him. She wanted him to tell her about his— his ghost powers. But he couldn’t just pretend all of his powers came from the contamination of living at Fentonworks, could he?

And he definitely couldn’t pick certain powers as acceptable and others as not.

“I… I guess weird shit has happened to me too, yeah,” he finally admitted, cautiously, hoping she guessed the source of his reluctance wrong. “But I never really thought about it, to be honest. Anything I could blame the ecto-contamination for could just as easily be caused by actual ghosts.” And in a way it was, of course. Anything caused by his ecto-contamination was caused by an actual ghost: Phantom.

“But,” he tacked on, knowing Valerie wouldn’t just let that lie. She was far too stubborn not to investigate. “Dash and Kwan apparently saw me with glowing eyes?”

Valerie hummed, then nodded. “That makes sense, I guess. I know Kwan has the glowing eyes variant as well, so that would explain why they’ve been targeting you.”

“It’s been around that long?” Sam asked, leaning forward, clearly curious despite herself. “I figured it would’ve taken longer than that to show up.”

“Oh, no, that was long after I got kicked out of the group,” Valerie said dismissively. “But Kwan saw me with a ghost scanner one day, and he begged me to scan him. I guess he was seriously worried that he had been overshadowed, even if overshadowing doesn’t work like that.”

“I don’t think he got rid of that fear, to be honest.” Danny shrugged, uneasy. “At least, he seemed pretty cheered-up when I, uh, glowed my eyes at him and Dash.”

Tucker snorted, and Danny could see Sam crack a grin as well, probably at his word choice. Well, fuck them. What did you call it, if not “glowing your eyes at them”?

“Anyway, I can’t help but notice that we all told you, but you haven’t said a word about what you can do,” Sam prodded, nudging Valerie. “Come on, Val.”

“Yeah, that does seem a little unfair.” Tucker leaned forward as well, an expression of genuine curiosity on his face.

And, honestly? Danny kind of wanted to know as well. Her ghost hunting suit probably hadn’t protected her, and her new suit definitely didn’t. If anything, the Technus-made suit probably had just worsened it.

“I…” Valerie visibly hesitated, then gave in. “I can fly, a little. It’s not really all that great, but at least I won’t break anything if I ever fall out of a tree or something.”

She said it with a light tone, like it was just a casual joke. All Danny could think of, however, was all the times he’d seen Valerie fall off of her hoverboard, especially at the start.

He carefully does not wince.

“That’s pretty neat,” he forced himself to say instead. “Less lame than glowing eyes, at least.”

Valerie grinned back at him, but before she could say anything the bell rung.

“Guess we’d better head to class,” Sam said with a grunt, pushing herself off of the bench.

“Yeah.” Tucker got up as well, then nodded at Valerie. “Thanks for the explanation, Valerie.”

Danny followed suit, shooting her a smile. “Same. Thanks, Val.”

She had given him a lot to think about.

#phic phight #phic phight 2021 #danny phantom #dp fanfic #phanfic #danny fenton #dark writes

[comradekatara]

the gaang + how well they would do on the infinity train?

this is suuuper hard because there are so many factors to take into consideration. first is obviously the train itself. the train's function in a metanarrative sense is to serve as a vehicle for storytelling, dissecting & deconstructing the process of a narrative and how a character's arc is propelled by their circumstances. the train supposedly functions to improve its passengers, and yet we also know that The Train is a deeply flawed mechanism that can corrupt and further traumatize its passengers just as much as it can "fix" them. when the train invites you in with the single-minded goal of getting your number to zero, assuming you ever disembark, you're probably gonna be left with even more trauma than when you arrived, or at the very least, weirder trauma.

grace wanted to be seen, but instead of learning to value herself for her own intrinsic worth instead of relying on validation from those around her, she was enabled by that validation and literally started a cult. likewise, since jet is basically a less heinous version of simon, i see him taking a similar path to the apex (though he would of course name them the freedom fighters) trying to overthrow the tyrannical one-one and reinstate the True Conductor. he would think his path is righteous. he would think he is protecting those kids from evil. who knows what would happen once he learns the truth.

then there is the matter of what the train wants from you. the train arrives at a pivotal moment in one's life, when they are at an emotional crossroads and need a catalyst for growth. for example, jesse's problem was relatively small (because he is perfect) but hurting his brother caused him emotional turmoil nonetheless, so the train stepped in. this means that to answer this question properly, i would have to answer not only when the train arrives for them, but why, and seeing that every single atla character carries massive amounts of baggage (most of it flavors of trauma that infinity train has not addressed), this proves extremely difficult. i have to identify the most narratively satisfying moment in each character's lives to have the train arrive, and then i have to make assumptions about which cars would propel them which way (emotionally). you're asking me to outline nine different fanfictions.

only jet's character feels similar enough to any of the characters we've seen in infinity train for me to even have an inkling as to what path he would take. while sokka and tulip are quite similar as people (rational, scientific yet creative thinkers who over-rely on logic over feeling, are deeply loyal, and instinctually blame themselves for the problems caused by others), their character arcs themselves have little in common. both aang and hazel experience a tragic loss of pure, childhood innocence (which is why i cry over both of them every day), but in relatively dissimilar ways (at least appa gets to return to aang). min-gi and zuko are both pressured by their upbringings to conform to a standard that makes them miserable to please their parents, only to ultimately embrace their own passion & truth... but not only do those arcs play out completely differently, zuko and min-gi are completely different people, and if anything, zuko's approach to life is far more like ryan's (ie, jumping off a cliff and hoping he lands on his feet).

but what i think you're really asking, at the end of the day, is how emotionally mature, self-aware, and capable of positive growth is each atla character? because how am i supposed to know what the train would do to their psyches, considering each external situation would shape them differently, and unless i'm supposed to meticulously craft fanfiction for each one of them (which i wouldn't be opposed to doing, but only for one character, i simply cannot do all nine – also, i'm surprised infinity train AUs aren't more common, but then again i'm not particularly familiar with fanficition, so maybe it is!), it would only be an approximation, in which i identify their core problem (which again, is not how real people work, or even how atla characters work, but how The Train works) and then analyze how long it would take for each of them to solve said problem.

so, that was a very long-winded preface. without further ado:

aang's main problem is that he keeps running away from his problems, which is to say, distracting himself from the enormity of his grief. personally, i would say his coping mechanism isn't the worst. after all, he experiences so much world-shattering pain in such a short span of time, and he does deserve to preserve his childhood and his innocence for as long as possible. but, for the purposes of the narrative, the train must necessarily disagree. he must confront his grief head-on, without distracting himself from it or flying into a destructive rage that he'd only regret later. it also depends on who his companions are. with katara by his side, he can get through anything (and vice versa), but it's unclear who will be there to guide him through his pain. that said, i know he'd make it through okay. he's aang. he has to.

katara lives in a fairytale. like i said with aang, that's not really a bad thing. she's a great kid with big dreams and a big heart. she wants to save the world, and – guess what! – she does. but living in a storybook strips one's worldview of the nuances of life, not simply the harsh realities of the world, but also the full extent of one's personhood, outside of simply the black and white worldview of heroes and villains. katara's apotheosis is when she confronts yon rha, looks him in the eyes, and sees a human being staring back at her, another human being. she is no longer in a revenge tale. she is out of stories to tell herself. (life doesn't make narrative sense.) ironically, the train is a metaphor for storytelling, so katara coming to realize that she isn't in a story would both be confusingly meta and also fucking brilliant (if i do say so, personally). i don't know how exactly it would play out, but by god i would pay to see it.

in many ways, sokka is remarkably open-minded, and in many ways, sokka is extremely stubborn. i think he'd come to terms with his own emotional growth (which would be rooted in learning his own self-worth) faster than he'd come to terms with the train itself. "okay, fine, yeah, i deserve love regardless of what i can do for other people, but WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS PLACE?!?!?" his journey through the train is actually everyone else's dream experience on the train. passengers and denizens alike keep falling in love with him (or at the very least, admiring him more than they've ever admired anyone they've ever met), but he doesn't even notice because he's too busy being extremely suspicious of everything he comes into contact with. yes, he'll solve your problems and puzzles and help people and make meaningful connections and eventually he might start to realize that he is worth something even when he's alone, even (especially) when he's being unconventional or "weird" or "selfish." but even once he does get his door, does he walk through it? oh no, he takes it apart and tries to figure out how it just created a fucking portal. so while he would technically "do" quite well, he is never leaving that fucking train. rip sokka.

well, toph needs to learn to accept and embrace her own vulnerability. she definitely goes through that same crystal karaoke car tulip did. that, or the train just tortures her by putting her in increasingly more painful situations in which she must ask for help. but that's too awful to even think about, so i'm just gonna say she has to sing karaoke.

zuko needs to learn to trust his instincts and his own internal moral compass instead of the external pressures being forced upon him by his Father (capital F to emphasize that his nation & his father – aka the patriarchy – are one & the same for him, lmao). and he would fail. a lot. but eventually he would realize that his number goes down when he lets himself be himself, and he would leave the train happy. he probably also gets a bunch of cute little talking animal companions to guide him through. he deserves it.

the train appears to suki while she's having a breakdown in solitary confinement at the boiling rock. she finds healthy ways to cope with being put through hell while on the train, and by the time she gets off, she's being let out of solitary. it is a very rewarding experience, and one that she can swear wasn't just some hallucination. she's constantly telling herself yes, of course it was just a hallucination.... but still... it felt so real....

if i had to diagnose azula with one singular problem that plagues her at the core of her very being, it would have to be her fear of rejection. but it's not good enough to just keep having train cars reject azula, she has to accept that rejection, instead of just intimidating people into submission after the fact. she needs to understand why she is being rejected, and be fine with it, and learn from it, instead of letting her lack of universal perfection in every area anyone could ever excel in shake her to her very core. when ty lee proved that she secured the affections of dumb stupid boys better than azula ever could, she did an arson to cope (which of course is still very valid of her uwu). azula needs to learn to come in second place, third place, even last place, and shrug it off, think to herself, "hopefully i'll do better next time, and if not, that's okay also," and once that happens, everything else will fall into place. though maybe she could read bell hooks or smth at some point on the train cuz i think that could help too.

mai needs to stop being so goddamn depressed all the time. has she tried lexapro, or perhaps using a lightbox in winter? her favorite coping mechanism, knives, only helps her feel something some of the time, but most (if not all) of the time she's still being expected to play a part. has she tried, like, being herself? i heard from zuko (you know, the guy? from the train?) that "being yourself" works wonders. so the train gives her that opportunity. and she actually even enjoys herself for once in her miserable fucking life.

omg there must've been some sort of mistake ty lee was totally sent here by accident because she's actually super happy all the time and doesn't have any problems!!!!!!!! jk, can u even imagine? ty lee hates her life too, she just doesn't go around advertising it like mai does with her big dyke boots and depressing eyeliner. but apparently she also needs to learn how to "be herself," whatever that means. as if life isn't a constant performance, you know, like jacques said or whatever. she sees mai on the train. she rolls her big beautiful brown eyes. "oh god, not you too."

#obeetlebeetle #fuck this took me over an hour to write #asks #the gaang and #analysis #AUs #synthesis #mailee infinity train au when..... #sokka is the only one who dies on the train. unfortunate. aunt wu was right once again. #god this question was hard #so many factors to consider #i want the mailee season tho #and i want it NOW!

[masterthespianduchovny]

At the beginning of age of avengers, someone assumes that Tony is the leader and he corrects them and say that it’s Steve.

And that surprised me because I assumed that Steve and Tony were co-leaders, but no, Steve was CHOSEN as the leader of the avengers. I was about to say that Tony was second in command, but I’m assuming that’s Nat.

But, as surprised as I was about this revelation (I literally hadn’t seen the movie in 8 years until 3 days ago), it instantly made sense.

As much as the anti Steve crowd hates on Steve, on several occasions we’ve seen Steve not only inspire people, but also get them to follow him. After someone commits to following Steve, they’re typically loyal to him.

We do not see this with Tony.

The issue with Tony isn’t that he’s flawed and has trauma, it’s how he treats others and how he processes trauma. When you lash out at others, ignore them, insult them (for your own amusement); don’t consider anyone else, etc, you more times than not will alienate people who are ok your side or, at least, want to be. A person having trauma doesn’t excuse how they treat others. And there is only so long most will people up with that behavior before leaving, which is their right.

I believe the only person who stayed by Tony’s side no matter what was Happy. Tony and Rhodey commonly fought and Rhodey even sided against Tony as well. Pepper had to take a break from Tony due to his own actions.

People can forgive flaws, but often struggle to forgive habitual poor behavior and various transgressions that comes with it.

We cannot except people to respect Tony or want to follow when he makes a joke about the PTSD (Capsickle), their traditional clothes (Thor), job endangerment (Rhodey; Tony made a transphobic joke about an event that didn’t happen), as well as sexual remarks (Natasha). And that’s not all that he did. This goes beyond being flaws, especially when you’re supposed to work with these people and they’re allegedly your friends.

He also doesn’t tell anyone about his trauma and OFTEN deflects, which may include insults or cracking inappropriate jokes. No one should have to deal with that all because someone is traumatized, especially as ALL OF THEM are dealing with their own and equally valid trauma.

Comparatively, Steve does not do that.

The people who work with Steve and are friends with him take him seriously. They support him and he supports them.

We see this going back to the 1940s. Peggy believed in Steve based off of his resilience and faith of convictions. She challenges him when he accepts his current circumstances.

After Steve saves literally over 400 men by himself, he earns the respect of not only colonel Phillips, but the men he saved as well. When he says he wants to pick his own team, in addition to the wish being respected, the chosen men flat out say that they’d follow Cap anywhere.

This must be stressed: these men were held prisoner and knew they’d encounter the most dangerous weapon and men in the entire war and readily agreed because Captain America asked.

In winter soldier, Steve is declared a criminal and is on the run. When he breaks into the shield headquarters, he gives his speech and EVERYONE minus hydra agents refuse to launch the coded because Captain America explain to them that some dangerous shit was going down. They believed his word because his actions and his character is THAT respected.

See the trend here: people listening and following Steve because they believe he’s genuine and wants to do what’s right.

In age of ultron, we hear a reference that he was chosen as leader. The events in this movie proves why Steve was chosen and Tony wasn’t.

Whether or not you believe Tony was right to crested ultron, he still should’ve told his team what Wanda made him see AND explained why he wanted to create this tech/weapon. Instead, he deliberately kept it a secret and pressured Bruce into helping him. Ironically, despite the claims that Steve feels like he knows that’s best, this is exactly what Tony assumes.

Let’s be clear: not only are Steve, nat, Bruce, hawk eye, and Thor adults, they are also avengers as well. They don’t need Tony to protect them and they all of the capabilities of deciding if they want to do something dangerous and risk their lives. And it’s ego centric as hell for him to actually believe that Steve, of all people, would guilt him by saying he should’ve saved them. Steve wouldn’t have done such a thing both saying that or even making Tony feel bad if he did all he could do.

Despite creating his murder bot due to not consulting his team because he knew they’d say no, Tony did it AGAIN.

Again, where’s the leadership? Where’s the accountability? Where’s the understanding that he may not like the answer, but he does owe it to his team to talk to them? And, again, he thinks he knows what’s best.

What does Steve do in this same movie? The twins start fighting besides him, which he doesn’t interfere with because ultron is the bigger threat. But, rather than fight them like his instinct tells them, he stop and listens to what they have to say.

I want to note that people like to say (and some are thinking), it’s good that Tony built what eventually became ultron, well, it’s good that Steve extended a hand to the twins. They also played a huge role in why the world didn’t lose half its popular, which was a consequence of Steve’s decision making.

Once Steve heard them out and was willing to let them into the fold, he defended them when other avengers tried to attack them. He didn’t leave them out to dry.

Then, when the actual fight happens Tony reveals a few minutes in that they have no other options but to abandon civilians and let them die.

Steve flat out refuses that as an option and makes the PERSONAL decision to stay until every civilian is safe. Not one person will be left to die.

I don’t know about anyone else, but Steve comes off as the clear leader and Tony doesn’t.

What happens next is that literally every current avenger and the twins stay to help. Nat literally tells Steve that this would be a beautiful place to die and explicitly says she’s fighting alongside him.

Whether or not Steve spoke to people, he inspired them to follow him by his actions.

Who is inspired to follow Tony?

Tony flirts with retirement, which no criticism against that.

But, alongside nat, Steve personally trains Sam, Rhodey, and Wanda for team avengers. After accepting Wanda into the fold, he treats her life everyone else.

In civil war, Steve was hands on with wandas training so she could control her power and made sure was protected. He accepted responsibility for not accounting for unforeseen threats, such as the explosives and explained to Wanda the realities of their job. He was realistic with her, but used that as motivation as to why they should strive to be better. Steve was outraged when he found out that she was locked up and freed her from Tony’s unlawful imprisonment.

Even if someone argues she should be locked up, Tony did not talk to her. Wanda didn’t consent to being confined to the house. This is another example of believing he knew what was best for people rather than talking to them and seeing how they feel. He isn’t giving others the right to make informed decisions for themselves and in general.

Steve, on the other hand, consistently considers what people feel because he TALKS to people. He has meaningful conversations with people, such as nat and Sam. Steve formed connections to people, which made them feel close to him.

But, let’s circle back to Tony, he takes a MINOR without the explicit consent of his guardian. Not only does he take Peter without May’s permission, he takes Peter OVERSEAS and to fight at that.

To make matters worse, Peter doesn’t know WHY he’s fighting or what for.

Where’s the oversight or accountability in any of that?

During the fight, someone flat out asks how old Peter is. Tony follows up after the fight, during homecoming, with almost inviting Peter to stay at the avengers compound. As a reminder, Peter was still a literal teenager and Tony still DID NOT ask peter’s guardian if this was okay.

Where as Steve explicitly tells people what they are getting into. He lays out what to expect and that you have a choice in it. Steve never pressures people into helping him and they usually volunteer. And, whatever happens afterwards, he’s there for them.

How was Tony’s mentorship with Peter?

He’s not actively involved with Peter after taking him in as a mentee, pawns him off in Happy, thinks at status reports are sufficient, and ignored Peter’s concerns. Peter was a minor who just had the most surreal experience of his life and Tony doesn’t think this kid would be amped and itching to do more?

Tony doesn’t think Peter might need some hands on mentorship? Tony thought he could mentor from afar with updates and camera footage, but it actually engage.

Them damned accords!

Tony signed the document due to guilt and tried to get others to sign it despite him being mostly responsible for why the accord even exist or, at least, did a lot of shit that is now being penalized. I’m not sure if he actually read it OR if someone summarized the point.

Whereas Steve DID read the accords and his stance wasn’t one of guilt, but concern and ethical issues with what’s in the accords. Steve was prepared to retire because his beliefs didn’t align with what was being asked of him and others. He didn’t ask anyone to back or follow him.

But, people do eventually back him and follow his lead. They know exactly what they’re getting into. And, despite knowing the risks and eventually getting arrested, they stick to their convictions.

When Tony finds out that Bucky killed his parents, despite knowing that Bucky was brainwashed for LITERALLY decades, he tries to kill him. When cap realizes this, he constantly tries to neutralize Tony.

Let’s go back. Steve knowing that Bucky needs to be arrested, decides to save Bucky both for Bucky’s protection AND so those trying to bring him in doesn’t get hurt/killed. Once Bucky is safely arrested, Steve lets the situation go.

Oh, before I really get into infinity wars, there is no mention of Wanda harming other people even accidentally. :)

Tony, as usual, ignores what others wanted, like strange, and think he knows what’s best. He plans to fight thanos henchman by himself as well as thanos completely ignoring the concept of teamwork. (He also jumps to insulting others for his own shits and giggles—keep in mind, these are people he doesn’t know).

What does Steve do?

He was successfully on the run with nat and Sam and they worked together as a TEAM to save vision. They then meet up with rhodey and formulate a plan as to how to stop thanos. Steve coordinates with various people to have the battle in Wakanda. He doesn’t assume he can fight thanos by himself or should.

Steve refuses to trade lives because every life is valuable.

When the Snap happens, Tony fucks up into his cabin in the woods and lives his life.

And what does Steve do?

Run a support group to keep hope alive for people who are trying to see the best in a shitty situation.

He stays an avenger and does whatever needs to be done because he’s there to serve the people regardless of the despair he feels.

Don’t get it twisted, Steve is not perfect, but he constantly led by example, put the wants and needs of others before himself, was a hands on mentor, listened and supported others, and refused to leave anyone behind and/or die. He was always willing to be the only man fighting the battle and even to die for his beliefs.

And this man is called selfish by some.

Where as Tony consistently believed he knew what was best for others, was willing to let people die, was a shit mentor, mocked and ridiculed others, put his own feelings first, etc.

And this is seen as a leader???

Let’s not forget that dangerous tech he left to a MINOR after he died. Peter was so overwhelmed by the responsibility, he gave it to the first person who listened to him and who he believed to be responsible. This isn’t a condemnation of people. Again, his a literal minor—15 or 16. Who is overwhelmed about the shit stark left on his shoulders.

When old cap spoke to Sam, he gave AN ADULT, his shield. One with loved experiences and who knew how to handle complicated feelings. He knew what Sam was willing to handle and could handle.

And another thing: the fact that people were willing to go on the run with Steve says a lot. This is the second time Steve has been on the run and people, Sam and nat, were willing to follow him and assist (both times).

Tony couldn’t even get people to stay faithful to the legal accords. Rhodey said peace out as soon as cap returned. Nat abandoned Tony to join Steve. Vision questioned his life choices, and then went black to be with Wanda. And Peter didn’t know what the fuck was going on.

And Tony stans think he should’ve been leader based off of using his money for the avengers and giving them a place to crash.

LOL!

People want Wanda to apologize to Tony for invading his mind when he should apologize for her parents dying. If you’re a weapons manufacturer, there’s no such thing as believing only the “good guys” will use your weapons. You know your weapons could and will get into the wrong hands. And you also know that without war, you’d be out of a job. But, also the “good guys” are usually imperialist who fuck over other countries as they undermined these government structures to steal resources from them and other shit.

Just because starks stopped manufacturing weapons doesn’t mean he can escape accountability for what his weapons did to others.

Tony also ratted out that Clint had a family and was fine with them being jailed because they took the “wrong” side. Did he apologize to any of these people? The ones he had jailed and the ones who were forced to go on the run for a bill he supported, and then admitted was fucked up? (The same law he later broke twice.)

But, he’s a leader???

#pro captain america #pro steve rogers #steve rogers defence club #Steve rogers #Captain America #pro tony stark #pro iron man #anti tony stark #anti tony stans #anti iron man #for every post I see mistagged I’m mistagging my own #if I can’t peruse the Steve tags without anti mess you can’t do that with the Tony tag #:) #childish but I don’t care

[apsarrow]

i am interested in the dabi redemption essay 👁👁

Okay, so I wanna preface this with this is all just my opinion based on my own experiences and interpretation of his character, just, so, you know people don't come after me for having opinions.

I am putting it under a read-more because it's very long!

Essentially my interpretation of his character is that he is someone who has been abused and neglected a lot as a kid. He was told he would be a great pro-hero, he had it drilled into him so much that he took it became his sole goal in life which is very much understandable because kids are easily influenced. As far as I can tell, he was never presented with any other hobbies and so, never developed any other interests. Having his goal crushed at a such a young age - which is understandable because he was hurting himself, it's not a realistic goal but a kid that young is not gonna understand without having it explained properly, which it wasn't - would be a very traumatic experience and would result in a lack of identity. I think To(u)ya (sp???) was a teenager when this happened so the development of his own identity is pretty crucial at that stage of development and a lack of any sort of identity can be pretty harmful. Also, this is a very long analysis of his early childhood but I promise it's relevant so just hold on, please.

Anyways, as I see it, he really just wanted to prove himself to his dad and his dad never explained why it wasn't possible in a way that he would understand. I believe his parents encouraged him to make friends but really they should have encouraged to take part in other hobbies and activities way earlier whilst he was doing all his training, regardless of any injury or non-injury. It's simply not healthy to present a young child with one purpose, encourage them to pursue it and ignore any other parts of life, and then expect them to just be immediately able to adjust to not being able to pursue the one purpose they were given.

So, when something that traumatising happens, kids will have many different reactions, and you can see it in all the Todoroki children. Some will repress it and have to deal with it later in life (Shoto), some will try to fix it and make things better (Fuyumi), some will be rightfully upset about it (Natsuo), and some will be outright angry and will lash out at others. All are equally valid responses to a traumatic experiences but that does not make it okay to hurt other innocent people. So, this is where the redemption comes into it. Touya has hurt (and murdered) many innocent people as a way of coping with these traumatic experiences. He turned on the world and told the world it wasn't good enough (which it's not, hero society is a shitshow but that's a whole other essay) and he made everything the world's problem. Frankly, I don't blame him for doing this because he was never given the type of support that would allow him to develop healthy coping mechanisms. It's still not okay to do this but it's not really his fault because from my perspective, he's just kinda figuring it out on his own. This is something that happens a lot in real life. People are abused, they are not supported by people around them or are in fact completely isolated as a result of the abuse, they lash out and hurt people. Often, people will realise later in life that this is not good for them and they will seek out therapy and try to develop healthier behaviours.

Now, when you're surrounded by other victims who view the world the same way that you do, it can be hard to recognise your own faults because your actions are constantly being validated. I know I said earlier his response was valid so now it's time for some clarity - his feelings are valid, not his actions but the LOV essentially validate his actions because they're doing the exact same thing. They are victims of abuse or neglect in various forms and they are lashing out at the world and they are finding small successes which kind of reinforces this idea that this is the right path to take and it's all okay. If your shitty actions are being validated constantly, you're never gonna reach that point where you realise you're actually hurting a lot of people and that's not okay and you're never going to try to get help or improve on anything.

So, like I said before, this is something that happens in real life. People do get abused in real life and some people have this reaction. Sure, they're not gonna go out and murder people but they will hurt friends and family. This is a thing that happens. And I think redemption for Touya would be most meaningful to those people who have been abused and do relate strongly to his character. The message would be that it is not your fault that you were abused, you are not inherently a bad person for lashing out you but you cannot keep hurting others. Touya realising this might even encourage people who do have this mindset to seek help and improve their own lives. And I also think that, if done properly with a scene where Touya explicitly does not forgive his dad yet still becomes a better person, it would be a good example of how you do not have to forgive your abuser for the pain that they have caused you but again, you absolutely cannot hurt innocent people just because you are in pain.

Ultimately, I think it would be an incredibly uplifting story about overcoming abuse and neglect, and the ways in which you can be a better person despite your past.

BUT, I also think it would have to be incredibly well-written because as it stands, Touya is not in a place to do this right now. As far as I can see, he still does not have any other hobbies or interests. His purpose simply shifted from being a hero to hurting the person that hurt him. He needs hobbies and interests and a goal that doesn't revolve around hurting others before he can start to make any sort of steps towards redemption. And if I'm being totally honest, I don't think it's going to happen. I'd like to see it but I don't think there's enough time left in the story (obviously I don't know how long is actually left of the story, I'm mostly just guessing here) for all the steps that need to be taken in order for him to be fully redeemed without it seeming rushed or badly written. And I think, unfortunately (for me more than anything because I really wanted to see this), his main purpose seems to be to push Endeavor's redemption arc further.

#sorry this is a mess! I'm not sure it makes sense #I'm actually really bad at writing up my thoughts because they're so jumpy and all over the place half the time >.> #but yeah these are my thoughts on what a redemption for dabi would mean #again sorry it's a mess

[celestialmazer]

Julie Mehretu, Untitled 2, 1999. Private collection. Courtesy of White Cube. © Julie Mehretu

Julie Mehretu, Hineni (E. 3:4), 2018. Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musée national d’art moderne/Centre de création industrielle; gift of George Economou, 2019. © Julie Mehretu. Photography:Tom Powel Imaging

Julie Mehretu, Mind-Wind Field Drawings (quarantine studio, d.h.) #1, 2019-2020. Private collection, courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery New York/Paris. © Julie Mehretu. Photography courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery

Julie Mehretu, Mogamma (A Painting in Four Parts) Part 1, 2012. Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. © Julie Mehretu. Photography: White Cube, Ben Westoby

Julie Mehretu, Conjured Parts (eye), Ferguson, 2016. The Broad Art Foundation, Los Angeles. © Julie Mehretu. Photography: Cathy Carver

Julie Mehretu, Migration Direction Map (large), 1996. Private collection. © Julie Mehretu. Photography: Tom Powel Imaging

At home with artist Julie Mehretu

CAMILLE OKHIO - 25 MAR 2021

Julie Mehretu speaks with the joy and conviction of someone who has had the freedom to investigate all their interests. Curiosity has led her to the myriad topics, objects and moments that inform her work, among them cartography, archaeology, the birth of civilisation and mycology. Since the 1990s, her practice has expanded outwardly in all directions like a spider web. A lack of understanding and preconceived notions among reviewers have often led to her work being flattened – simplified so that it is easily digestible – but in reality, her work is far from a simplistic investigation of any one topic. It encompasses multitudes.

The artist’s recent paintings are mostly large scale, but her early works on paper (often created with multiple layers – one sheet of Mylar on top of another) are as small as a six-inch square. The works often comprise innumerable minuscule markings – tremendous force and knowledge communicated through delicate inkings and streaks. Their layers reveal, rather than obfuscate. And though Mehretu’s creative process springs from a desire to understand herself better, the work itself is in no way autobiographical. 

Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the tails of a continental rejection of colonialism, and raised there, then in Michigan, Mehretu has a flexible and full-hearted understanding of home. It is not one physical place, but many, all holding equal importance. On 25 March, Mehretu will present her first major retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art, with works spanning 1996 to 2019. The institution is an important one for Mehretu, as it played host to several pivotal shows in her youth.

Her exhibition has served as an impetus for Mehretu to look back at her already prolific career, observing and organising the thoughts, questions and answers she has put forth for over two decades. The six years it took to bring this exhibition together proved an incredibly valuable time of reflection, fatefully dovetailing with a year of quarantine. 

Wallpaper*: Where are you as we speak?

Julie Mehretu: I’m in my studio on 26th Street, right on the West Side Highway. I’ve worked here for 11 years.

W*: Are there any artists, writers or thinkers that have had a meaningful impact on you?

JM: I don’t know how to answer that because there are literally so many! It’s constantly changing. Right now, Kara Walker, David Hammons, William Pope.L, and younger artists like Jason Moran (who has made amazing work around abstraction). There are so many artists that have been informative and important to me: Frank Bowling, Jack Whitten, Caravaggio.

I also look at a lot of prehistoric work, from as far back as 60,000 years ago, as well as cave paintings from 6th century China and early prehistoric drawings in the caves of Australia. 

W*: What’s the most interesting thing you have read, watched or listened to recently?

JM: For the last few weeks I’ve been immersed in Steve McQueen films. I’ve been bingeing on lovers rock music. And a TV show that really moved me was [Michaela Cole’s] I May Destroy You. It’s difficult, but it was really well done and powerful. 

Ocean Vuong’s novel On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous is amazing. The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing is a really incredible book too – she studies this mushroom that became a delicacy in Japan in the 7th century. It started growing in deforested areas – it’s in these places destroyed by human beings that these mushrooms survive. [I find it interesting] that this mushroom grows on the edge of precarity and destruction. Like with Black folks, there is a constant aspect of insisting on yourself and reinventing yourself in the midst of constant effort of destruction. 

W*: What was the first piece of art you remember seeing? How did you feel about it?

JM: One of the first times I remember being moved by a work of art was looking through my mother’s Rembrandt book. We brought so few things back from Ethiopia and that was one of them. [Particularly] Rembrandt’s The Sacrifice of Isaac. That story is so intense. I was so moved by the light and the skin and the way the paint made light and skin. 

W*: Do you travel? If so, what does travel afford you, and what have you missed about it during Covid-19?

JM: I travel a lot, but I haven’t travelled this year. There has been this amazing sense of suspension and a pause in that. I miss travelling, but going to look at art, watching films, reading novels and listening to music is the way I travel now. For instance, I’ve been listening to Afro-Peruvian music and now I want to go to Peru.

Before I know it we will be back in this fast-paced, zooming-around environment – there is something I want to savour by staying here, now, in this time and absorbing as much as I can.

W*: You are said to have a vast collection of objects and images. Walk me through your collection – what areas, materials, makers and things have the largest presence and why?

JM: When you enter our home there is this long hallway. Framed along the wall we have around 20 fluorescent Daniel Joseph Martinez block-printed posters he made with words – almost poems. Our kids grew up reading those. One says ‘Sometimes I can’t breathe’ and another one says ‘Don’t work’, while some are really long.

We also have a great Paul Pfeiffer photograph of one from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse series. We have a group of Richard Tuttle etchings right over our dining table. We have an amazing David Hammons body print as well, and my kids’ work is all over the house.

W*: As the daughter of immigrants and an immigrant yourself – how do you conceptualise home and how do you create it?

JM: There were a lot of times I felt very transient – as a student and a young adult, going in and out of school and residency programmes. It always came back to music and food. There are certain flavours, foods, music, smells that you take wherever you go. Also as a mother, I’m building a home for my children. Home becomes something else because of them. They are the core of home now. 

W* How has motherhood affected your practice?

JM: I became much more productive when I had kids for several reasons – one is that I felt a lot of pressure to make [work] in the time I wasn’t with them, which of course is unsustainable. A large part of making is not making – thinking and searching. 

When I got to work I could get into it much more quickly. Kids grow and change so fast, you feel time is passing so you need to use it. I wasn’t going to stop working, that’s for sure. All women who are pushing in their lives make that choice. 

W*: What is your favourite myth and why does it hold importance for you?

JM: Right now I’m reading Greek myths to my ten-year-old. We’ve read them before, but he wanted to read them again. I still read to him at night even though he’s a voracious reader himself.

The myths I remember the most are myths I’ve come across in visual works. Titian’s Diana and Actaeon – I know that myth so well because of his painting. Bernini’s mesmerising sculpture of Apollo and Daphne I saw in Rome, where her body becomes a tree. The leaves are so delicately carved into the marble, it’s a work of incredible beauty. I’ve been considering this deconstructionist approach to mythology. Storytelling becomes this place to interrogate propositions, which is what I think mythology does.

W*: Have you experienced a flattening of your work?

JM: I’m always concerned with flattening and pigeonholing. That is something that happens to artists like us all the time. When I first was working and showing there was a bit of that happening with my work. It was put into the space of cartography or an architectural analysis of it. It was said to be autobiographical work.

The art world tries to consume. There is this desire to flatten and the desire for Black artists to be a reflection of their experience. I don’t think any artist is like that at all. In reality, none of us are flat. We all contain multitudes and are complicated – that has always been the core of the Black radical tradition.

#julie mehretu #art #abstract art #abstract #mark making #history #geography #nature

[kaypeace21]

can you maybe stop telling people what they ship and what they don’t ship.. i swear you’re so fucking stubborn. and if you wanna defend mike so damn much then do it cause i bet more then half your followers hate him. it’s the way you clearly don’t see how many bylers hate mike and love will do you SEE the problem here??

This is the 5th anon message (in 1 day) you sent me.and you’re not stubborn? I’m not the one who has sent 5 anon messages in a row? Why don’t you just chill out and ignore me. You’re this pissed cause I said your hate to Max was unjustified. I kindly pointed out max didn’t make El spy on Mike - like you claimed . El spied on mike in s2 - before she even met Max. Then you got infuriated that I pointed out that all the flaws you claimed were about the elmax friendship were actually just flaws with mileven. Some of you hate on Max just cause you saw her as a hindrance to Mileven. Then in the second message you got pissed and brought up byler (which I didn’t even bring up in the first post!) Cause you just ... wanted to fight about byler despite totally being a byler shipper? Specifically said if mike was actually gay and dated el before he realized he’d be “an ass”. And if el and mike were confused about thinking they loved eachother when they didn’t “they’d be the worst characters ever.” Then brought up Will being bad cause he called El stupid (which was projection cause right after that he called himself stupid 4x). 3rd message went on a tangent about how much better and nicer mileven shippers are and that you ship both byler and mileven. And 4th message just go on about how Will was horrible to El, and max did horrible things in s3 , and that bylers hate on mike all the time , and elmax sucks. And now this. Yes you totally ship byler and aren’t just a mileven who got pissed that my 1st comment criticized your ship . So then in the second message brought up byler randomly to try and critique it. And just got pissy when called out as pretending to be a byler shipper and not getting the answers you wanted 😂 you can ship mileven. I’m not stopping you .

Also , I’ve constantly defended mike. And called out bylers for the hating him in the past. I literally defended mike when you claimed him being gay and dating el before hand would make him “awful”. You clearly don’t follow me and probably just believe all the lies mileven shippers say about me on twitter 🙄 . I’ve even told other bylers that the way Mike treated El was worse than Will. At least mike apologized to Will. Mike never apologized for lying- to El. And I still said that mike hate is unjustified countless times (cause he’s a kid)! Kids make mistakes! And especially cause I explained Mike saying (In the garage) “ it’s not my fault you don’t like girls “ was projecting his own gay feelings on to Will. Similar to how Will (in the garage) saying El was “stupid” was projecting his own feelings - why Will called himself “stupid” (4x at castle byers) after their fight in the garage and this comment about El. But you get angry at the concept of byler / projection so... that won’t help.

Past comments:

Part 1 (their first Max message/my response ) part 2 (second message/ my response ) part 3 (comments 3-4) . In this annoying ass saga 😂

Now please - move on . I only didn’t block you to prove how unhinged milevens get when you don’t block them . Look how angry you’ve gotten . This bylers is why you have block milevens -they just don’t give up and get angrier and angrier 😅

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Update: 6th message

I said for you to leave me alone. Not mike. How was that not clear? Also he’s a fictional character- what are you talking about?Oh my god .😅 You can do whatever you want on your own blog-just stop spamming me.

Mileven fan base (who are predominantly straight) use homophobic talking points and slurs to discredit byler / queer st fans . Many of us have gotten messages calling us the f and d word. Then milevens constantly private message bylers ,minding their own business, and call bylers “stupid” or “delusional “ ( or straight up sending de*th t#reats) . ( When these bylers are in their own tags -minding their own business- and don’t cross tag mileven at all ) . Bylers rarely go on to mileven posts that gush about mileven and then make jokes about how horrible the ship is and how delusional it’s shippers are (in said mileven post). Milevens do that all the time - they’ll go to a random byler post , only tagged byler , and make such comments about the byler ship/shippers . They also personally insult people for shipping byler and not mileven. Like me. Many mileven anons sent me messages making fun of my autism cause I shipped byler and said I’m not allowed to talk about byler /analyze the show cause I’m autistic and incapable of providing anything meaningful to the fandom because of my autism(all while hypocrically saying it’s ableist for anyone to think El isn’t ready to date yet). And bylers have the audacity... to in turn!!! Not like your ship and critique the issues with the (fictional) pairing using canon evidence in the show . And rarely send any direct messages/personal attacks to people who ship mileven . We criticize a ship - milevens directly message and attack the opposing shippers . There’s a difference between saying In the byler tag “mileven (the ship) is bad” or even an offensive blanket statement like “mileven shippers are blank” vs a person directly messaging a random individual who ships mileven and saying “you’re stupid for shipping mileven.bla bla.” A lot of the mileven fandom doesn’t seem to know the obvious difference when playing the victim. 🙄

And now you say byler is shipped just cause it’s “2 hot boys.” Which is yet another anti byler/pro mileven talking point.  You don’t ship byler (you’re just a mileven troll -move on) . Also-Ew - they’re kids. I’m an adult lesbian who actually likes well developed relationships - especially if lgbt. That’s all. And I’ve already criticized other bylers for some of their questionable heteronormative behavior and creepy fetishistic behavior of the characters/actors.  Also Bylers usually like El -more than milevens like Will. We don’t like mileven cause we see it’s bad for El’s character development and mental health. We care about El and think getting to know the real world and herself is better than rushing into a relationship (before she’s actually ready). But, y’all hate Will over a few comments he’s made. And I’ve seen milevens say they want Will d*ad or even say they wish he never came back from the upsidedown. And that’s just cause you’re threatened he’ll ruin mileven. Ya’ll are projecting . YOU EVEN SAID bylers make you not like Will as much- in a diff message. But go off.   (And leaaaave me alone ). Blocked you cause you have no self control to do it yourself .😂

#byler #byeler #mike wheeler #max mayfield

[hersheykise]

Jonathan Joestar’s Spotify Playlist

Hello and welcome to the beginning of a series (or projected to be ahaha) that has to do with Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure characters and their own personalized playlists! I’ll be listing the track list and then will be going more in depth as to why I chose these particular songs for Jonathan’s playlist. The top part will not have spoilers, but be aware that the second part will so read at your own will! For the first playlist, we have none other than Jonathan Joestar, the original Jojo!

💿✨Track list✨💿

01. Jojo (Sono Chi no Sadame), Hiroaki Tommy Tominaga

02. BREATHE, AB6IX

03. breathin, Ariana Grande

04. We Belong, Ong Seong Wu

05. My Heart Will Go On, Céline Dion

06. Silence, Marshmello ft. Khalid

07. Dollhouse, Melanie Martinez

08. London Boy, Taylor Swift

09. Needed Me, Rihanna

10. Line Without a Hook, Ricky Montgomery

11. Glorious, Macklemore ft. Skylar Grey

12. Fighter, Christina Aguilera

13. Classic, MKTO

14. Win, CIX

15. Blue Hour, TOMORROW X TOGETHER

In Depth (spoiler free)

🔹 Jojo (Sono Chi no Sadame), Hiroaki Tommy Tominaga

Sono Chi no Sadame is the first opening of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and is truly what sets up the stage for the rest of the series. Jonathan Joestar, being the first Jojo, begins the Jojo legacy in Phantom Blood. The song lyrics heavily foreshadow the future of the Jojo series and describes Jonathan as someone who has honor and always does what is right. Sono Chi no Sadame is a spectacular opening act to the unique concept of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. *side note* Muscially speaking wow this song is incredibly good the crescendoes and frequent tempo changes as well as the instrumentals amaze me- this is easily my favorite Jojo opening.

🔹BREATHE, AB6IX

Hamon (also known as Ripple or Sendo) is a technique that heavily focuses on controlled breathing. Jonathan learned and mastered Hamon in a very short amount of time. BREATHE also has a very light feeling to it, making the song easy to listen to which connects to Jojo as he is a lighthearted and easy going guy.

🔹breathin, Ariana Grande

Likewise as BREATHE by AB6IX, breathin correlates to the Hamon technique that Jonathan used to fight. Adding onto that, Jonathan lived in a grand mansion and was very well off financially. This song has an elegant sound to it. Despite the wealth that he had, Jojo did not have the easiest childhood. Ever since Dio Brando began to live with him, Jonathan saw many mishaps occur with his relationships, reputation, and self esteem. But, Jonathan Joestar never gave up on his morals and values, and he always kept “breathin and breathin and breathin” no matter what, making sure he would always do the right thing.

🔹Silence, Marshmello ft. Khalid

Silence explains and describes Jonathan’s teenage years very well along with his relationship with Dio. Dio coming to live with Jonathan messed him up as Jonathan felt inferior to Dio who was taking the spotlight by being an amazing athlete and intelligent student. This prompted lots of praise from Jonathan’s father and comparing him to Dio constantly, which made Jonathan feel like he wasn’t worth as much. “I found peace in your violence” is a very meaningful line that contributes to Jonathan’s and Dio’s relationship because of the fact that Dio was... an extremely violent person ever since he was a kid and has done crazy evil things to Jonathan, yet Jonathan didn’t really hate Dio because of Jojo’s noble personality- Dio was Jonathan’s “brother,” therefore Jonathan couldn’t hate him. Jojo felt like he had to be silent over Dio’s actions because he didn’t want to spoil the love that his father gave to Dio, again proving how big of a heart Jonathan had.

🔹Dollhouse, Melanie Martinez

Dollhouse is a rather dark song, but is perfect to show off the darker side of Jonathan’s character. As we know, Jonathan is a young man who presents himself as well... perfect. He’s smart, incredibly kind and noble, rich, popular, and athletic. After Dio appeared and started to really turn things around for Jonathan, he had to continue to present the same image of himself even though his home life was becoming a wreck. His own father constantly scolded him and loved Dio to a great extent. “Pose with your brother won’t you be a good sister?” Jonathan knew that Dio’s actions were evil and he had ill intent at such a young age but Jojo had to go along with the act that Dio put on, faking the close brotherly relationship between them.

🔹London Boy, Taylor Swift

Sometimes I forget that Jonathan Joestar is in fact British. London Boy is a song for Jonathan not just because he lives in/by London, but also because the song describes a man who is just so sweet and has a beautiful laugh. The overall song is just so positive and loving towards this English boy. Every time I listen to this song I now think of Jonathan, and a smile always plasters on my face. Taylor Swift also has a lyric talking about watching rugby which reminded me of the iconic Jonathan and Dio rugby scene early in the story. Jonathan is such a respectful gentleman whom everyone just can’t help but fall in love with his lovely English charm.

🔷Line Without a Hook, Ricky Montgomery

After upon listening to this song, I felt like it really gave off Jonathan vibes because of the light but a tinge of melancholy sound to it. Thing song is quite reflective of Jonathan and Erina with the lyrics “I broke all my bones that day I found you crying at the lake” because it reminded me of when Jonathan first met Erina, who was being bullied by a couple of boys but Jonathan risked getting beaten up to stop the bullies from harming Erina. Later, Jonathan was laying on a hill with his dog Danny, feeling quite down because of none other than Dio, but Erina came and dropped off some grapes and his handkerchief and that was what really started off their relationship. The iconic line “she’s a, she’s a lady, and I am just a line without a hook” explains that Erina was Jonathan’s sole happiness in his life.

🔹Fighter, Christina Aguilera

Honestly, Dio really sucked (I still love him *sigh*). He wanted to completely destroy Jonathan’s life and make it absolutely miserable... for what? Well, despite the horrific actions that Dio performed to ruin Jonathan’s reputation and will, that ultimately backfired as Jonathan rose stronger than ever. Of course Jonathan was mad at Dio for his unspeakable actions, but because of him, he was able to have a certain drive where he gained immense strength in a short amount of time. William Zeppeli describes Jonathan as a Hamon prodigy because of how quickly Jojo was able to master it. Jojo was a natural, but again, he had that determination to defeat Dio once and for all. Despite the hardships Jonathan went through as a result of Dio’s decisions, Jonathan did not resent him in the end- Jojo became an extremely powerful individual because of his past.

🔹Classic, MKTO

In order to create a playlist for our favorite gentleman, it’s only necessary that we add a classic gentlemanly song to it! There’s not much of a deep gloomy reason why this song correlates with Jonathan, in fact it’s the complete opposite. Classic is a song that talks about being a classy and polite man, and to put it simply, Jonathan is exactly that.

🔹Win, CIX

From the God of High School soundtrack, Win is a song about fighting and training together as a team. This upbeat song greatly reminds me of the mini team of Jonathan Joestar, Speedwagon, and William Zeppeli all fighting against Dio and his minions together. Jonathan Joestar was not able to fight Dio without a hamon teacher, William, and an incredibly loyal friend, Speedwagon. This trio had great camaraderie and were overall an incredibly adorable and high morale team.

🔹Blue Hour, TXT

Ok so does this song really have a deep meaning or correlation to Jonathan Joestar? Nahhh not really, I just added it as a bit of a bonus. Blue Hour has an almost fairytale like vibe to it and I just thought it would be something that resonated with Jonathan, especially when he was a child. So, enjoy this little serotonin bonus boost!

⚠️Part 1 Spoilers⚠️

🔹We Belong, Ong Seong Wu

Jonathan’s and Erina’s relationship was very short... but sweet. We Belong is an emotional love song explaining how this one guy meets someone who is their entire world, like when Jonathan met Erina. Through Jojo’s darkest times when he felt like he lost everything, Erina was by his side no matter what. Even though their marriage was abruptly ended with the death of Jonathan, it doesn’t disregard the fact that Erina completely loved Jonathan and supported the Joestar family for the future generations to come. Jonathan and Erina truly belonged together.

🔹My Heart Will Go On, Céline Dion

My apologies, I’m absolutely in love with Jonathan’s and Erina’s relationship. My Heart Will Go On automatically reminds me of the last moments of Jonathan. Since the song was a part of the Titanic soundtrack where there’s a romance story and people die on a sinking ship, it really correlates to Erina and Jonathan going on their honeymoon but Jonathan ending up dead on the ship. Everytime I think of either the song or Jonathan’s and Erina’s last moments together, my heart feels heavy. Both the song and the scene are extremely high in emotions and both suit each other quite well.

🔹Needed Me, Rihanna

Dio killed Jonathan so that he could merge with Jojo’s body, and ultimately use it for evil and for power. “Never told you, you could have it,” symbolizes that Dio forcibly took everything Jonathan had, again including his own body. Although Jonathan would probably never say the lyrics of this song to Dio because he’s so noble, externally everyone knows that without Jonathan, Dio would have been absolutely nothing in Part 3.

🔹Glorious, Macklemore ft. Skylar Grey

The song Glorious questions oneself’s purpose in life, the answer being ‘give back to the people.’ Jonathan has proven that he has countlessly sacrificed himself for others, as was seen when he died on the ship and told Erina to take care of the orphaned baby and to “live a happy life.” Jonathan struggled greatly in his short life, but he always had the passion of helping others since he was born to do so.

🌟Conclusion🌟

Thank you for reading through my first ever blog on Tumblr! I hope you enjoyed the playlist and descriptions! Hopefully this playlist blog series will continue with majority of the main Jojo characters- that’s the plan. Have a good day and/or night💓!

#jonathan joestar #anime #jojo joestar #dio brando #playlists #jojos bizarre adventure #jojo part 1 #jjba #jjba jonathan

[peemil]

☕evangelion 😳

y'all are killing me

the more time i spend apart from this show, the more i find myself kind of hating it shsjhl;hjsdhjso;d. i am somehow now in an even worse place mentally than i was when i first watched evangelion but even so i am NOT letting myself fall in the same traps of woobifying shinji and excusing the behaviors i shared with him and vice versa.

starting with my most general take, i don't like the rebuilds. like, at all. granted, i haven't seen 3.0 + 1.0 yet, and i will be avoiding spoilers until there is an official english translation, but i feel like the rebuilds are kind of what you get when you listen a little too hard to people who didn't get the psychological parts of eva and spent the latter half of the series wishing it would go "back" to being a regular mecha anime (which it never was in the first place). the rebuilds lack a lot of the same internal conflicts that drive the characters (especially shinji), and higher budget means the rebuilds can be more direct in their storytelling and less reliant on alternative ways of communicating ideas, which causes the rebuilds to lose some of the avant-garde present in the original series. as a result, it's jarring to see some of the attempts made at this in 3.0, and painful to watch these attempts fail, as they have no real precedent in the film series. the best way for me to explain the rebuilds is they feel like sterilized and polished, but hollow versions of the original anime series. but maybe i'm just biased, because none of the things i liked about the original are present in the films.

on to more minutiae... i've said it once and i'll say it again, asuka langley soryu is a LESBIAN and there's nothing anyone can do to make me stop reading her character in this way. the only male characters she is depicted as having any romantic feelings towards in the series just (unintentionally) so... comphet. her obsessive flirting with kaji is rooted in her need to prove her worth as an adult, i.e., to prove to others that she is something she inherently is not. plus, he's older, and he's conventionally attractive, so if she didn't have feelings for him (or at least publicly perform having feelings for him), she'd be out of her mind, right? asuka is also someone shown to pursue connections out of convenience (literally citing it as her primary reason for wanting to be friends with rei), and any intimacy she shares with shinji (i.e., their kissing scene) is done only because 1. she's bored 2. shinji is the closest person available. i find the notion that she's a tsundere hiding her real feelings for him laughable, because we've seen what asuka is like around people she genuinely likes and whom she wants to like: the hatred she shows for rei takes a different form from her hatred for shinji: whereas asuka is disgusted by shinji, she is resentful towards rei. her resentment towards rei curiously begins only after rei rejects asuka's offer of friendship, so i am inclined to believe that asuka's feelings of anger when she sees rei receives more respect than she believes she does at nerv are compounded by the fact that she wanted to like rei and have a connection with rei, but wasn't permitted to do so. we also get to see how asuka acts around the one person with whom asuka is able to form a meaningful connection with, whom she lets herself trust and open up to: hikari. asuka actually has fun with hikari and feels safe enough around her to not only seek refuge with her and her family in her time of need, but also to admit that her rage is mostly towards none other than herself. her behavior towards shinji is nothing like her behavior towards either of these characters, but it is not much different from her behavior towards kensuke and toji, two other boys in her class, so maybe... maybe she just doesn't like boys? lol. i'm aware that asuka is genuinely homophobic and awful in the episode 24 drafts, and that it was in no way, shape, or form the writers' intent to turn that into some sort of commentary on internalized homophobia. but with the canon footage that did get animated, i'm really not sure how else i'm supposed to analyze this aspect of her character.

similarly, i don't appreciate how many fans will treat headcanoning shinji as gay instead of bi is somehow "bi erasure." number one, shinji's behavior and attitudes towards the women around him is actually kind of appalling, so i wouldn't necessarily want to use his objectification of and acts of violence against their bodies as particularly strong evidence that he's genuinely attracted to women. number two, of course a show about a young man made in the late 90's is going to try to portray the people to whom he is attracted primarily as women. partially because they can't start from the get-go with him having his teenage sexual awakening with another male—for a mainstream anime, that wouldn't be profitable—and partially because this is an anime and showing women and girls in a sexual light is profitable. and given shinji's role of audience surrogate, of course he is going to be the one doing the ogling and sexualizing because he is us, and after all, it is the viewer who wants to see the anime tiddies, no? shinji's more sexual encounters with the women in his life are always either deeply awkward, uncomfortable, and even unnatural, or they completely obectify and commodify the bodies of the women in question. for this reason, i have always seen these moments as existing without genuine attraction: only either confusion (because these situations really are quite blatantly sexual) or simply a disingenuous performance of the attraction shinji thinks he should be displaying, manifesting as the same objectification of women he has seen men exhibit for all of his life—it's little more than a mimicry of the bad behavior he has grown up watching, because that's what he thinks attraction towards women is supposed to look like. conversely, his actions with kaworu, while skittish, seem to come much more organically. shinji is constantly and consistently drawn to kaworu, in addition to being willing to open up to kaworu in ways he doesn't let himself with any other person. granted, kaworu is the only person to give shinji the love he desperately needs and craves throughout the entire course of the series, but the fact that kaworu is the first person shinji genuinely acts like a kid his age with a massive crush in a way that doesn't feel blatantly scripted around, as well as the fact that shinji goes on to feel more slighted by kaworu's perceived betrayal than any mistreatment he experiences from anyone in the whole course of the series (save for his literal father)... idk. sus lol

been awhile since i've done a proper rewatch of this show so i can't speak super generally since i unfortunately don't remember too much. one thing i will say though, i LOVE how the series is very upfront about the fact that shinji's loneliness and trauma (and loneliness and trauma in general) are going to be core themes in the series from the start. people say the first 6 episodes are slow just because they don't have as much action as some of the episodes in the middle of the series, but i remember speeding through them in one sitting because i wanted to understand more about shinji and his inner workings; i was fascinated by his psychology. people famously refer to evangelion as a bait-and-switch, and maybe that's true to a degree, because i don't think anyone really saw the shift to more trippy animation coming, but the psychological themes present in the latter parts of the series are still very present in episodes 1-4. i'm also amused by people who say they're "caught off guard" by the last four or so episodes, because the major shift towards being a show primarily about psychology really begins in episode 16, when eva unit 01 is consumed by leliel and shinji has to confront the "self within his self" for the first time in the train car of his mind. i know it begins as just another angel fight but like... guys... how did you miss that... episode 16, because it really is where this shift begins, is actually my favorite episode in the entire series. that, and it was where i was first introduced to this hegelian concept of each person functioning both as an actor or operator who carries out actions, as well as an audience perceiving and observing their actions, their thoughts, and themself. which, to a degree, solidifies the notion that anything and everything technically could be considered performance. it's made my work much, much easier and my day-to-day life much, much more dramatic.

#nge #he scream at own follower #i'm sorry for talking so much about shinji and asuka. the worst part is that theoretically i could say even more #i haven't even started with rei #though she reminds me of someone i lost contact with so i get too emotional about her to say much of any real value

[lonestarbabe]

ALSJSKSJS I mean at least they’re consistent in writing Owen. He isn’t written well, like.... at all and we know this but at least they’re consistent with it. Like he’s a garbage father and captain and according to Owen, the world revolves around him, trying to save the day no matter what, even more than being there for his son. But at least they’re consistent with it because I don’t think I could handle Owen being wishy-washy and acting like a genuine good parent one minute than lashing out and acting like TK doesn’t exist for 5 episodes or more after that. Like I would genuinely be more upset at him than I am now LMAO. And honesty saying that you love your kid is one thing and I know that he does love TK. I KNOW he does. He just can literally never prove it or show for this love. And I’m not saying he has to do something drastic to prove it but loving your kid is literally the bare minimum of being a parent and he can’t even prove it. He only cares when TK is hurt or nearly dying (overdose, gun shot wound, kidnapping, nearly dying in the house fire). And that, despite Owen constantly having the vibe of a dad who loves his kid, makes me question him. Like I KNOW you love TK, but you can’t even prove it because you’re literally never there for him. He never listen to TK, his apologizes to TK are insincere and he always find a way to make TK’s issues about himself. It’s just confusing to me. But again, at least they are consistent at writing Owen as the piece of garbage that he’s presented as lol

Owen: I SWEAR I love my son, and I regret any moments of being an asshole to him.

Owen two seconds later: you know I have a good excuse for this, TK. I didn't mean to make you feel bad. It just kind of happened.

The vacillating between being a good father and a bad father could be interesting because it could highlight the struggle that Owen is going through and how it makes it hard to do the things that would make his life most fulfilling. I like that they show Owen wanting to be a good dad but often falling short. I don't like that he never gets anywhere with it, and there are few moments of acknowledgement (and I don't need Owen to acknowledge this necessarily, but I need the show to show this dynamic more clearly to prove that there's intentionality with their characterization. Characters can be un self aware, but the show itself should show self-awareness in my view). They have good bones. I mean, I won't necessarily love Owen ever, and he'll never be my fave character, but he doesn't have to be uninteresting. In 911, you have Bobby, and he's similar to Owen in that they show him as a leader and a heroic figure who has intense trauma. But with Owen, the hero part of him is played up too much that we lose the human part of him. They kind of use his victories as a way of undermining his flaws and lessening them rather than letting the flaws and strengths coexist as they do in normal people.

When I watch him interact with TK, it is usually a wreck. You're very right about the insincerity. Owen often feels like he's going through the motions of what a good father should be. He knows what makes a good father, and he wants to be a good father, but he doesn't have the mindset to do more than go thought the motions. It's just really interesting to see how much he stays the same while characters like TK and Judd have developed a lot. Because the show spends so much time on Owen, I find it really off putting that they don't take his character anywhere. I don't need big changes, but I need to see how events influence him.

Like he's guilt trippy and he like you said he doesn't listen. He doesn't have to see everything the same way that TK does, but in good relationships, you're able to listen to what another person is saying without becoming defensive and jumping to judgment. As it stands, TK and Owen can't get anywhere because Owen is stuck in the same old mindset. He has not overcome his trauma, and it's one things to have continued struggles. I love seeing characters who continue to struggle with their trauma and mental health BUT it's frustrating how in denial Owen is (and in many ways this is realistic, but I want to see progress!)

Sadly, their are parents out there like Owen who love their kids but are incapable of showing them that love because of a proclivity towards selfishness. And Owen does have trauma that worsens this for him, but that was no excuse for basically ditching his child. And if he wants a relationship with his adult son, he's going to have to work for it.

Owen is fascinating in many ways because you can tell that he wants to be the perfect father. he likes to give off that image, but at the same time, he struggles to show it when it most matters. And if they were just an iota more self-aware of Owen being an bad father, he could be a great character even if he wasn't a likeable one. As it stands, they under address it, so it feels like a writing foible more than an intentional choice. I do think the writers have awareness of Owen's flaws, but they really don't highlight them adequately or in a meaningful way.

#long #owen talk #owen strand (derogatory) #season 2 talk #911 lone star #asks

[darkasagrowl]

Understanding Wesker’s motivations

I’m not claiming to be an expert on character analysis, but I sure as heck am tired of seeing every RE head canon I come across making this guy seem like he does what he does just for laughs, or because he is “just evil”, or emotionally unattached. Like seriously?

Here I list 3 major points about his character. Some are speculation but most of it is based on information that we have been given throughout the games.

Let me know what you think:

1. Emotionally detached - I can't believe people pull this one up on him constantly. We have more than enough evidence that this couldn't be farther from the truth. First of all, we have Birkin as one proof that he can develop and maintain deep and meaningful connections with other people. We can also go back to re6 and argue that maybe he also had a relationship with Jake's mom, but we don't have enough evidence of that (that I'm aware). Ultimately, we can refer to how he lets his anger control him in re5, if nothing else. He might be incredibly intelligent, but he isn't as rational as he likes to make people believe. 

2. Concerned for Alex? - in re5 there is a list of which of the Wesker children are alive, but in rev2 we see a picture of both Alex and Albert together. He seems to be wearing the same clothes from re4, which could mean the picture dates from around the same time. If this is true, maybe this is around the same time that Alex started her own experiments at that island and they lost touch. Wesker could be using that list and info about the children to try and track her down and find out what she's up to, and maybe he himself gave her the uroboros sample she ended up working on.

3. Superiority complex - I argue that he has in fact the opposite. Wesker has an inferiority complex and it is only enhanced further the more he interacts with Chris. I think Wesker is a bit jealous of him, and also, hates that Chris got such an accurate read of him. So this one's a little long:

Wesker has lived his whole life thinking all he had ever accomplished was on him. He believed he was smarter and generally better at everything than everyone else. This boosted his ego from a very young age. He finally discovers that everything he has ever done, everything he had ever thought or discovered or whomever he'd manipulated to get what and to where he wanted could actually not be due to his free will, but because he was being controlled by Spencer and Umbrella and even his existence was, as he put it, "manufactured". He was manufactured to act that way; to think that way - he was manufactured to be this next step in human evolution that he had always thought he was. But he was actually a thing, not an actual person; no better that those experiments he had trifled with his entire life. This realization, I believe, broke him. Just think about it, what would you do if you found out suddenly that your every action or thought might never have been your own; that they might have been imposed on you? Well I certainly know what I would try to do: prove to myself and to whoever is still watching that I can, in fact, make my own decisions; act according to my own free will.

And that's what he did. The whole "God" thing, I think, was him trying to make his actions big, and by big, I mean meaningful. I mean, can you imagine being someone that has been involved in how the world is being shaped, in how different societies are developing solely because of your own advancements and meddling in either science or political relations around the globe (due to selling and enforcing the use of chemical warfare and terrorism)? Can you imagine, after all that, something that would really have an impact in your life and prove to you and everyone around you that you are your own person; that what you are doing, you are doing it of your own accord and, again, free will? I mean, it HAS to be something BIG.

Que Redfield. Like I said before, Chris had Wesker all figured out immediately at the end of re1 (tyrant scene). It's obvious how his laugh affects Wesker. But I believe Wesker is visibly confused by this, and not angered per se. See, I think this is the point in which he has one of his first realizations as "himself" and not as an Umbrella/Spencer project. I think he did think the same thing as Chris: what he was doing, and the way he was acting at that moment, WAS pitiful. But the thing is, although he knew that, he couldn’t understand why. I mean, that was what he had been working on for a long time, and he was finally about to see it in action, but it still felt lacking; and what happened next proves it to him (being stabbed by it meant that thing he was so proud of, so enamored by, wasn't perfect -but he was - so it made no sense to see himself in such a thing; such a “failure” as Chris puts it, or did it?). This started his hatred for Redfield. Before this, we can argue that maybe, during their time together at STARS, their interactions made Wesker see how different his life could have been. Seeing how carefree Chris was in his younger years made him realize how repressed he must have felt when he was his age (and maybe at that time as well), but there isn't much information about this time, except the novels, but I'm not sure about how canon they are, so let's leave this part at that.

Even in re5, when Chris asked if he always takes his ideas from comic book villains, he got it right. I know this one sounds far-fetched, but bear with me here. What if he did? What if the only thing he could think about was to a simpler time in his life, when Umbrella didn't feed him their intentions 24/7? I believe that, when he was a child, his life must have been relatively normal, to a certain extent so he must have had hobbies; things kids like to do growing up. And what is something kids enjoy? Reading comics. I know, this doesn't make much sense, that I'm making this part up or whatever, but we don't know about this part in his life. Maybe, when he found out about his origin and felt the need to reject it, his mind shot back to a simpler time; to when he felt safe and as normal as everyone else. It makes sense to me. But you can disregard this part if you want.

Back to Chris, in re5 we can see more closely how Wesker is jealous of Chris. He's had numerous chances in the past to either let him die or directly kill him, although he always opted for the option of "toying" with him. In re5 this is no different. He could have easily killed Chris (and Sheva) in the first fight they have, but opts to "play" for 7 minutes. The second fight he could have finished the job, but he wanted to make it last and was defeated, which led to him being temporarily weakened and presumably dying at the volcano.

The way he says his name, the way he yells for him; it's always Chris, even though others have thwarted his plans and machinations, Wesker always seems to have Chris in his mind; it doesn't matter who else is around, Chris is always there - it's always him, even when it isn't. It feels as though Wesker wants to prove to either Chris or himself (or maybe both) that he is better than Chris, but always ends up failing.

And ultimately, I think it's because Chris has the life Wesker always wanted to have. This hatred developed from earlier in their lives, to seeing how he has a family that cares enough about him to risk their own lives for him (Claire in both re2 and code Veronica), close friends and a seemingly easy ability to befriend people (something that his cold and controlled demeanor prevents him from, achieving little more than a relationship of authority towards most people *and also, can we talk about his sunglasses? He's been wearing them since before his eyes mutated. Was this on purpose to create even more distance from people and make developing any form of connection impossible?*) and finally, a purpose. Yes, a purpose. He's always had something up his sleeve during his time at Umbrella and after, but their accomplishment was never enough; it never satisfied him. And after speaking with Spencer about his origin, it finally made sense. Those were never his goals. They were the designs of other people whom, at the end of it all, failed; which could also be something that affects him, knowing that, to top it all off, he failed - his existence is summed up to be just a failed experiment.

 Idk man, if that were me, I'd also be poppin' off.

#resident evil #wesker #albert wesker #chris redfield #capcom #I know I may be missing some major points #such as how Wesker exposed Umbrella and Spencer #but maybe it was a little act of rebeliousness? #and furthermore #his friendship with birkin? #he might have also realized that he wasnt really his friend #but was acting the part because of umbrella #maybe! #can you imagine what that must have felt #that your only friend wasnt realy your firend at all? #dude has very questionable morals #but he also had a tough life #head canon

[uaklauslovesdave]

Hi, thank you for sending me asks, I really appreciate it! :D Could you do 002 for klave, I always want to hear your thoughts about them <3

my buddy, my dude, it’s been roughly 17 years since you sent this ask, and i’m oh so sorry for taking this long to answer. it got to be one of those situations where i wanted to do it Properly, which of course brought the anxiety, which of course then brought the avoidance. But we’re here now! it’s a new era and i have a whole bunch of klave thoughts to dump on my unsuspecting followers. let us begin.

when i started shipping it:

Pretty much immediately! I remember first watching s1 and getting that slow confirmation that Klaus time traveled to the Vietnam War. We saw him on the bus with his fatigues and bloody hands and I was like ‘oh god oh no he went to Vietnam didn’t he.’ And then later we have Klaus experiencing flashbacks in the bathtub and there are echoes of the noises of war but also a strong and clear “Dave!” And in that moment my interest was piqued. Dave, he said? Who is this Dave? Is this someone he loved? Did he have a war-time romance with another soldier? And I was hopeful but I also didn’t want to get too ahead of myself because of Queer Baiting in Media reasons (like, I was in the marvel fandom, ok? I went through the whole stucky dance routine). But then, but then! We got more. We got roughly five minutes (or less?) of scenes of Klaus dropping down in front of a disoriented soldier, of this soldier introducing himself as Dave on a bus, of Klaus and Dave dancing in a bar, of Klaus and Dave sharing a kiss in a quiet corner, of Dave bleeding out and dying in the middle of combat as Klaus sobs above him. And it was quick and it was short but it was meaningful and it was tender and immediately I knew that I was gone for them. There was no turning back at this point. I was all in on the Klave Train.

my thoughts:

My thoughts? Where do I even start? I have many! Some are incoherent! Some are devastating! Some are sickeningly sweet! Some are raunchy! Stay tuned to find out!

what makes me happy about them/what makes me sad about them:

So I decided to combine these two questions because, well, I Do Not Know how to untie the happy and the sad when it comes to klave. I tried and I cannot do it. They’re two sides of the same coin with these two. Because their entire relationship is tinted by tragedy, you know? They only met each other because Klaus was tortured and then flung into a notoriously traumatizing war in the 1960s. And who knows what number tour Dave was on. Had he been there for just 2 months or was this second or third time around? I’m not sure which option is more painful, really. And it’s unclear, did Dave genuinely want to serve in the military? Did he truly subscribe to those values instilled by his family? I’d lean towards no, based on the conversation Klaus tries to have with the Younger Dave in the diner. But I think it took Dave some time to get there, as he grew older and came to better understand and accept himself and perhaps grew more and more disillusioned with the life he was pushed into. And then there’s Klaus, whose own experiences somewhat parallel Dave’s (they just happened on a different timeline). Klaus, who grew up under Reginald’s reign of terror, who was taught to be a soldier just like Dave was. But his own disillusionment was expedited and he was able to rebel and remove himself from that scene more easily than Dave could (but at the expense of losing shelter and security and stability). And we have some insights into what it was like for Klaus to grow up in that environment, constantly surrounded by death. When we first meet him he is a person who clearly does not do genuine attachment or sincerity, because that is far too vulnerable and far too dangerous in his experience. He looks out for himself and he does what he needs to do to get by, and he approaches things from a casual, crass (safe) distance. And then there’s Dave, who we learn a little bit about from his interactions with Klaus in 1963 Dallas. He appears earnest and kind, just a Really Good Kid. He seems somewhat confused by Klaus, but also intrigued. Pretty much every time we see Klaus interact with someone in the 1960’s who is not a member of Destiny’s Children they approach him with disdain (referring to him as “pretty boy,” kicking him out of the diner, etc.). But not Dave. Not until he is pressured into it by Uncle Homophobe. And after that Dave seeks him out and apologizes, says that’s not him. And he and Klaus talk, and we see that they really knew each other, they really had a relationship, but by the end of the conversation Dave has been pushed too far. He’s not quite ready to rebel yet, he’s not quite able to make that leap into living as his true self. Just like Klaus, Dave grew up trapped and restricted and surrounded by ghosts. Not literal ones, no, but the ghosts of dead war heroes who came before him, the ghosts of the Ideal Man and Good Son that he thought he had to be, that he thought he had to prove he could become. And it’s not quite clear how and when Dave finally got to that point where he could rebel, where he could finally push past the fear, knock down the walls of the box he had been shoved into. But by the time he and Klaus crossed paths in 1968 Vietnam he was ready. And Klaus was ready. And they brought that genuine, true, real love out in each other. Something both of them probably thought was never possible. Something both of them probably thought was just a myth. Just turning themselves inside out and sharing that with each other. Trusting the other to take care of it and hold and keep it safe. All in the middle of a deadly war. It’s beautiful and it’s painful and it’s why I love them.

things done in fanfic that annoy me:

Nothing really specific comes to mind. Generally if there’s something I don’t like in a fanfic I’ll stop reading and move on. There is, of course, the Fanon Klaus Problem that makes its way into klave fics, so I suppose that annoys me. Or stories where Dave is one-dimensional and seems to exist just to comfort and take care of Klaus. But really, I don’t wanna hate on anyone who writes fanfic in a particular way. You do you. If it appeals to me I’ll read it and if it doesn’t I’ll just pass it by. No big deal.

things i look for in fanfic:

It absolutely depends on the day and what I’m in the mood for in that particular moment. I’m a sucker for angst so I absolutely do not mind reading something terribly sad and tragic. I like hurt/comfort with an emphasis on the hurt. I’m a fan of the GhostDave Watches Over Klaus Through the Years genre. I like stories that explore their time together in Vietnam. I’m into AU’s that include AliveDave traveling back to 2019 with Klaus and they hang out in Klaus’ room in the academy and Dave meets the siblings and Diego gives him a shovel talk. Sometimes I just want that sweet, sweet smut. Mostly I look for something that is both lovely and sad, which is not hard to find because that is, essentially, their relationship. There’s lots of good stuff out there. All y’all writers are talented. I salute you.

my kinks:

Alright, I’m just gonna preface this by saying that I will try my best to be unapologetically open about this, but at my core I am both shy and repressed. My easy and safe answer to this is that my kink for klave is love, happiness, and tender intimacy. That’s what I really want for them. But also. But also! Let them be smutty! Let them find places to sneak away and fuck, Dave’s hand over Klaus’ mouth to stop him from making noise that will alert the other soldiers to their activities. Or maybe they’re sitting under a tarp in the pouring rain and Klaus sees how far he can take it, and Dave doesn’t back down, and it ends up with Klaus blowing Dave while some other guys are sitting just feet away, oblivious to what’s going on between Katz and Hargreeves just over there. And then there’s that time they get to take leave together, and they’re able to get a hotel room, just to themselves, with real walls and a door that locks and a bed and everything. And the digs aren’t great but it feels like a palace compared to what they’re used to, and they absolutely do not waste this opportunity. Dave fucks Klaus into the mattress, and Klaus gets to learn what it’s like to have someone take control because you actually want them to and you feel safe with them, and Dave gets to learn what it’s like to have someone trust you implicitly and be willing to be vulnerable with you. And it’s not perfect, of course, sometimes their histories and understandings of sex and intimacy bump heads, but they love each other, they really do, and they work through it. And they both cry during sex at some point. For Dave it’s the first time he’s done so, for Klaus it’s not (but this is nothing like those other times this is because he wants to be here this is because he’s overwhelmed with love this is a release this is being seen this is being cared for).

who i’d be comfortable with them ending up with if not each other:

Let me be real and say that I really, really, really want them to end up with each other, and I think that this is where the show is headed. But, if that is not the case, as long as they are happy I will be happy. Perhaps that is cliche, but oh well. Just let them experience love and support, whether that’s with each other, someone else, or just on their own.

my happily ever after for them:

I don’t know how and I don’t know when (like seriously, when in the timeline is a big question), but I want them to find a way to be together. Maybe it involves some time-traveling, maybe it involves some timeline-hopping, maybe it involves some Commission interference, maybe one or both of them will be dead, maybe (most likely) it involves something that has not even crossed my mind as a possibility. But, like I said, I think that somehow there WILL be a (perhaps nontraditional) happily ever after for them. It might take some time to get there and I don’t think it’s gonna be a smooth road, but I do think that’s the ultimate destination. And I’m looking forward to the whole process.

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

Good question! My first instinct was Klaus as little spoon. Because he is Klaus but also because of the Bar Kiss scene where Dave tenderly cradles his face and those Very Important blurry behind the scenes instagram photos of Klaus resting his head on Dave. But I also think it would be really nice for Dave to be the little spoon? Because Klaus gets to hold him and act as a Protector and maybe he can feel Dave’s heartbeat beneath his (hello) hand and he gets to wrap around him and hold on tight and he can let go when he wants to but he doesn’t want to, he wants to stay right here as long as Dave will have him. And Dave will have Klaus wrapped around him, holding on, as long as Klaus wants to stay. Dave gets to be held and cocooned in the arms of this beautiful person he loves. Dave doesn’t have to be strong right now, he doesn’t have to put on the face of the Good Soldier. All he has to do is fall into the space between them.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

I’m gonna say that they had a lot of time to sit together and talk while they were in Vietnam. Sure, they had their duties and sometimes they were in the shit but there was also a lot of down time, just sitting around and waiting for something to happen. And so they’d sit and they’d smoke and they would talk. About their interests, about where they come from, and eventually about the life they would build together after they got out of there. But here’s a specific image that I have: they’re sitting close together, maybe it’s dark, there’s no one nearby. Cigarette smoke lingers in the air, mingles with the fine mist. The conversation has turned to music, somehow. Conversations have a tendency to meander when Klaus is involved, and Dave follows him step for step, never tripping, never questioning how they got there. And Klaus asks Dave about his favorite song, and Dave hesitantly mentions “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence,” like he’s embarrassed, but he’s loved it for years and he wants to be honest with Klaus. And Klaus hums and says he doesn’t know it, hasn’t heard of it, and he leans against Dave, lays his head against his chest. And Dave says, that’s ok, it doesn’t matter, it’s just a stupid old song anway. But Klaus says, no, you should sing it for me, I want to hear it, I want to know it. And Dave scoffs and laughs, but Klaus looks up at him, and then Dave looks away, and his mouth lifts into a smile, something small and fragile. He turns back to Klaus, looks him the eye, and softly, so softly, starts singing, “When Liberty Valence rode to town, the womenfolk would hide…” And Klaus drops his head and shifts closer to Dave and hears the words slip from Dave’s mouth and feels the words vibrate in Dave’s chest. He closes his eyes. There’s a war going on. It’s 1968 and he’s in Vietnam and his clothes are damp but he’s right where he wants to be. The song is not romantic, but it’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever heard. He never forgets the words.

#these are my klave rambles! they are long and i am sorry! i could not contain myself! i think you got insight into the Incoherent Thoughts! #alright i’ll stop yelling now #thank you again for the ask and sorry again for taking so long #the umbrella academy #klaus hargreeves #dave katz #klave #an ask and an answer #softforklave