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celaenaeiln · 16 days

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“batman loves his nightwing” this and “batsibs love nightwing that”, what about the batsibs’ friends / team loving nightwing ‼️‼️

YES!!! They love him!

The thing about Dick Grayson is that he has such a unique quality that just draws people in and holds them captive.

Titans (2016) Issue #26

He has a charisma that's intense. People from all walks of life find themselves just constantly looking at him for friendship, advice, love, guidance, and just something that calls them to him.

It's the impact he has on people that's astounding.

Titans (2016) Issue #27

They love him so much and they respect him so much that his absence is like a huge gaping hole in their chest. People feel lost without him because they've come to rely so heavily on him. Gar and Steel literally only joined because Dick asked.

This is something Roy catches on to and is well-aware of. He practically hounds Dick into creating the Outsiders with him.

Outsiders (2003) Issue #1

But you think Roy is the only one to capitalize on Dick's Nightwing effect? Hell no.

Titans East Special

Dick isn't just a person. He's a home. He's the guiding hand and the ship's steer control. He's special to people because he's everything they want him to be. He's their lover, best friend, brother, and partner. Whatever role they're missing in life they find it him him because he makes himself versatile enough to fill whatever they're looking for.

Dark Crisis Issue #1

We say batsibs' teams but he's the whole Justice community's everything. He fills the connections of both Batman's side and Superman's side.

He IS the most well-connected person in the entire community.

Teen Titans (2003) Issue #23

Look at what Kon says -

"Nightwing and Starfire brought wave two. Which is just about everyone whose ever been a Titan. It's a natural thing when Nightwing shows up. None of us are conscious of it, really--but we all look to him for orders. Robin's lucky."

The sheer respect. That Kon has for Nightwing is indomitable. Oh, but you think that's all?

Do you know what the superhero community says about Nightwing? Kon will tell you what they think -

Teen Titans (2003) Issue #33

The Titans (1999) Issue #39

He calls. They answer.

Hero-worship of Nightwing is canonically universal. Renaming this the Nightwing Effect

Epilson

The Titans (1999)

Red Condor

Nightwing (2016) Annual #3

Hutch

Nightwing (2016) Issue #75

Kara

Justice League of America (2006) Issue #49

Supergirl (2005) Issue #3

And sometimes this means more than friendship love but still born out of respect. It's so funny to me how Dick goes around friendzoning people.

Cassie

Even when people don't like what he wants they still do it because they respect him. Because he had an impact on them and they were were moved

Titans (2003) Issue #89

Aquaman, Ollie, John (Green Lantern)

JLA (1997) Issue #121

Kyle Rayner

Even people he's just met are like - this guy's pretty good!

Green Lantern (1990) Issue #81

Coming from a Green Lantern comic!! Not even a Wondergirl, Wonderwoman, Batman, or Nightwing writer. A green lantern!

Speaking of which, when Hal Jordon dies, a list of people are selected to be The Hal Jordon's replacement and guess who it is?

Action Comics (1938) Issue #642

Hal forces his soul back into his body and comes back to life but DC does a "what-if" thing and shows what it would be like if Dick actually became a Green Lantern.

Superman/Batman Issue #60

AND BRUCE'S REACTION!! His most favorite son combined with one of his least favorite people 🤣🤣

Superman/Batman Issue #60

But Bruce's faith in Dick actually elavtes his opinion of Hal.

ALSO!!-

Superman/Batman Issue #61

I JUST KNOW THAT BRUCE WAS WRITHING IN JEALOUSY!!

But anyway, shows to prove that no matter who Dick is and what identity he takes, he will always be the love of the hero community. Because in this world, each member is a combination of the Justice League AND the Titans.

Superman/Batman Issue #60

Yet Dick is still the center of it all.

A literal god

Nightwing (2016) Issue #49

Jon and the hero community

Justice League: Road to Dark Crisis Issue #1

"It would mean a LOT to people if you came and said--" "You're all overreacting." "We need you."

"You're all overreacting." - Clearly, this isn't the first time someone has already come to Dick about being the center of the community.

Not just by the batfam, but for everyone Dick is the most beloved person in the community. That is a fact.

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corvidcall · 2 years

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None Of You Know What Haiku Are

I'm going to preface this by saying that i am not an expert in ANY form of poetry, just an enthusiast. Also, this post is... really long. Too long? Definitely too long. Whoops! I love poetry.

If you ask most English-speaking people (or haiku-bot) what a haiku is, they would probably say that it's a form of poetry that has 3 lines, with 5, and then 7, and then 5 syllables in them. That's certainly what I was taught in school when we did our scant poetry unit, but since... idk elementary school when I learned that, I've learned that that's actually a pretty inaccurate definition of haiku. And I think that inaccurate definition is a big part of why most people (myself included until relatively recently!) think that haiku are kind of... dumb? unimpressive? simple and boring? I mean, if you can just put any words with the right number of syllables into 3 lines, what makes it special?

Well, let me get into why the 5-7-5 understanding of haiku is wrong, and also what makes haiku so special (with examples)!

First of all, Japanese doesn't have syllables! There's a few different names for what phonetic units actually make up the language- In Japanese, they're called "On" (音), which translates to "sound", although English-language linguists often call it a "mora" (μ), which (quoting from Wikipedia here) "is a basic timing unit in the phonology of some spoken languages, equal to or shorter than a syllable." (x) "Oh" is one syllable, and also one mora, whereas "Oi" has one syllable, but two moras. "Ba" has one mora, "Baa" has two moras, etc. In English, we would say that a haiku is made up of three lines, with 5-7-5 syllables in them, 17 syllables total. In Japanese, that would be 17 sounds.

For an example of the difference, the word "haiku", in English, has 2 syllables (hai-ku), but in Japanese, はいく has 3 sounds (ha-i-ku). "Christmas" has 2 syllables, but in Japanese, "クリスマス" (ku-ri-su-ma-su) is 5 sounds! that's a while line on its own! Sometimes the syllables are the same as the sounds ("sushi" is two syllables, and すし is two sounds), but sometimes they're very different.

In addition, words in Japanese are frequently longer than their English equivalents. For example, the word "cuckoo" in Japanese is "ほととぎす" (hototogisu).

Now, I'm sure you're all very impressed at how I can use an English to Japanese dictionary (thank you, my mother is proud), but what does any of this matter? So two languages are different. How does that impact our understanding of haiku?

Well, if you think about the fact that Japanese words are frequently longer than English words, AND that Japanese counts sounds and not syllables, you can see how, "based purely on a 17-syllable counting method, a poet writing in English could easily slip in enough words for two haiku in Japanese” (quote from Grit, Grace, and Gold: Haiku Celebrating the Sports of Summer by Kit Pancoast Nagamura). If you're writing a poem using 17 English syllables, you are writing significantly more content than is in an authentic Japanese haiku.

(Also not all Japanese haiku are 17 sounds at all. It's really more of a guideline.)

Focusing on the 5-7-5 form leads to ignoring other strategies/common conventions of haiku, which personally, I think are more interesting! Two of the big ones are kigo, a season word, and kireji, a cutting word.

Kigo are words/phrases/images associated with a particular season, like snow for winter, or cherry blossoms for spring. In Japan, they actually publish reference books of kigo called saijiki, which is basically like a dictionary or almanac of kigo, describing the meaning, providing a list of related words, and some haiku that use that kigo. Using a a particular kigo both grounds the haiku in a particular time, but also alludes to other haiku that have used the same one.

Kireji is a thing that doesn't easily translate to English, but it's almost like a spoken piece of punctuation, separating the haiku into two parts/images that resonate with and add depth to each other. Some examples of kireji would be "ya", "keri", and "kana." Here's kireji in action in one of the most famous haiku:

古池や　蛙飛び込む　水の音 (Furu ike ya　kawazu tobikomu　mizu no oto) (The old pond — A frog jumps in The sound of the water.)

You can see the kireji at the end of the first line- 古池や literally translates to "old pond ya". The "ya" doesn't have linguistic meaning, but it denotes the separation between the two focuses of the haiku. First, we are picturing a pond. It's old, mature. The water is still. And then there's a frog! It's spring and he's fresh and new to the world! He jumps into the pond and goes "splash"! Wowie! When I say "cutting word", instead of say, a knife cutting, I like to imagine a film cut. The camera shows the pond, and then it cuts to the frog who jumps in.

English doesn't really have a version of this, at least not one that's spoken, but in English language haiku, people will frequently use a dash or an ellipses to fill the same role.

Format aside, there are also some conventions of the actual content, too. They frequently focus on nature, and are generally use direct language without metaphor. They use concrete images without judgement or analysis, inviting the reader to step into their shoes and imagine how they'd feel in the situation. It's not about describing how you feel, so much as it's about describing what made you feel.

Now, let's put it all together, looking at a haiku written Yosa Buson around 1760 (translated by Harold G. Henderson)

The piercing chill I feel: my dead wife's comb, in our bedroom, under my heel

We've got our kigo with "the piercing chill." We read that, and we imagine it's probably winter. It's cold, and the kind of cold wind that cuts through you. There's our kireji- this translation uses a colon to differentiate our two images: the piercing chill, and the poet stepping on his dead wife's comb. There's no descriptions of what the poet is feeling, but you can imagine stepping into his shoes. You can imagine the pain he's experiencing in that moment on your own.

"But tumblr user corvidcall!" I hear you say, "All the examples you've used so far are Japanese haiku that have been translated! Are you implying that it's impossible for a good haiku to be written in English?" NO!!!!! I love English haiku! Here's a good example, which won first place in the 2000 Henderson haiku contest, sponsored by the Haiku Society of America:

meteor shower . . . a gentle wave wets our sandals

When you read this one, can you imagine being in the poet's place? Do you feel the surprise as the tide comes in? Do you feel the summer-ness of the moment? Haiku are about describing things with the senses, and how you take in the world around you. In a way, it's like the poet is only setting a scene, which you inhabit and fill with meaning based on your own experiences. You and I are imagining different beaches, different waves, different people that make up the "our" it mentioned.

"Do I HAVE to include all these things when I write haiku? If I include all these things, does that mean my haiku will be good?" I mean, I don't know. What colors make up a good painting? What scenes make up a good play? It's a creative medium, and nobody can really tell you you can't experiment with form. Certainly not me! But I think it's important to know what the conventions of the form are, so you can appreciate good examples of it, and so you can know what you're actually experimenting with. And I mean... I'm not the poetry cops. But if you're not interested in engaging with the actual conventions and limitations of the form, then why are you even using that form?

I'll leave you with one more English language haiku, which is probably my favorite haiku ever. It was written by Tom Bierovic, and won first place at the 2021 Haiku Society of America Haiku Awards

a year at most . . . we pretend to watch the hummingbirds

Sources: (x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x)

Further reading:

Forms in English Haiku by Keiko Imaoka Haiku: A Whole Lot More Than 5-7-5 by Jack How to Write a Bad Haiku by KrisL Haiku Are Not a Joke: A Plea from a Poet Who Has Had It Up to Here by Sandra Simpson Haiku Checklist by Katherine Raine

#poetry #haiku #writing #literature #anime life #long post #i want to apologize but i had to get something off my chest #and the thing was. i love haiku #and when i see posts on here about haiku. i get so angy.#well ok i really get more disappointed bc nobody is really engaging with the form on its own terms #anyway i hope you enjoy some of my favorite haiku because theyre in there!!!!!#i didnt really get into the history of haiku. and i also did not get into why i got really into it #but i will say that i was really inspired by Jacob Geller's video A Thousand Ways of Seeing a Forest #which is a lot about translation #(which i mean. as an interpreter AND a poetry-enjoyer. really appealed to me lol)

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cy-cyborg · 3 months

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Disability Tropes: The disabling change of heart

When a character in a story becomes disabled, they'll sometimes experience a trope that I like to call "the disabling change of heart". This is when the character goes through a massive change in their outlook, their personality, their goals or even roll in the story, specifically because they became (or are about to become) physically disabled. Sometimes, this will be in relatively small ways: the happy-go-lucky comedic relief character might become bitter, angry and jaded after getting into an accident that caused a spinal injury, or the severally depressed and nihilistic character might suddenly start acting more cheerful and hopeful, stating that loosing their leg has "put things into perspective and showed them what really matters". In other cases though, the impact is much larger, the heroic character you've been hearing about looses an arm thanks to the main character's actions, causing them to become consumed with anger and self-loathing which they take out on everyone else, eventually becoming an antagonist as they seek revenge for what the main character did to them. The morally grey or even villainous character is injured by their own scheme, giving themselves a permanent disability in the process, which prompts a change of heart and leads them to turn their lives around and become better people, maybe even deciding to team up with the heroes.

Now, having a character go through a personality and goal change due to a major life event, such as becoming physically disabled, isn't inherently bad. A lot of writers are told to tie major shifts in your character's development to major life events, because realistically, something like becoming newly disabled will at least impact how you view the world around you. I very frequently talk about how if I didn't loose my legs, I would have become a vastly different person, but the issues with this trope depends on how it's used and the reasons behind these developments, and whether or not the change suits the character in question.

Before we get into things, I would like to specify that in this post, I'm only going to be talking about how this trope is used with physical disabilities and other easily visible forms of disability. It does show up with characters who develop disabilities under the mentally ill and neurodivergent umbrellas, and is actually a bit more common than what I'm talking about today, but the specific ways its utilised are so different that it's more or less a separate trope, and one that deserves much more attention than I could give it here as this is already going to be a pretty long post. So for today, I'm keeping to it's use with physical and visible disabilities, and we'll talk about how this trope is used with neurodivergence and mental illness another day.

The main thing you need to be mindful of is ensuring that you, as an author, are not including your ingrained biases about disability into the reasoning behind the change. Let's look at one of the examples from before, an evil character who, after loosing their arm (because it's almost always loosing an arm for some reason) becomes a villain and wants revenge against the main character. In a story like this example, the character who became an amputee often views this new disability as something that has ruined their life. It's something that has caused them to suffer, and they want to make the main character (or whoever has "wronged" them) suffer like they did. Stories like this example portray disability as something that is not just horrible, but life-destroying, especially with villains who become all-consumed by the misery this disability has brought them. Many stories that utilise this version of the trope also often perpetuate the idea that if you become disabled, you'll have to give up all the things you love and your goals, even when this wouldn't necessarily be true for the character in question.

Let's say your character was a knight, and the main character cut off their arm in a training accident. obviously you can't be a knight with only one arm because you can't fight anymore, so they left their order. Now this character has become a villain and has found power that "makes up" for their disability, perhaps magic or some other force that doesn't exist in the real world, and are back to get revenge on the character for ruining their lives. Here's the thing though, the loss of a limb, or at least, the loss of an arm specifically, often isn't the career ender people think it is, even back then. In fact, there are many historical records of real amputees continuing to serve as knights and other similar military roles after loosing an arm or at the very least, continuing to fight in other ways. One such example was Götz of the Iron Hand, a mercenary knight who lost his arm to a cannon. Götz had fought as part of the Roman empire's military in 1498, but shortly after left to form his own mercenary company. He lost his hand in 1504 and continued his career as a mercenary with the help of an iron prosthetic capable of holding his sword and the reigns of his horse, among many other things such as writing, for another 40 years. Götz wasn't unique in this though, several suits of armour from the same time period have been found with integrated prosthetic hands, though the names of their owners are unknown. There was also Oruç Reis (aka Aruj Barbarossa), A privateer admiral who served the Ottoman Empire in and around the Mediterranean who lost his left hand - earning him one of many nicknames: Silver-Hand, thanks to the colour of his prosthetic. Oruç, like Götz, continued his career for several more years until he was eventually killed in 1518.

My point in bringing this up, is to highlight how important it is to double check that the reason your character's whole motivation for turning to villainy, isn't just based on your ideas about what a disabled person can or can not do. Actually double check it, research it, especially if it's important for your plot.

Even in the cases where the disability in question actually would stop someone from being able to do something, the incorrect assumptions can still occur and cause issues in different ways. For example, a character in a more modern setting who looses their arm due to an accident the main character was responsible for while serving in the military would be discharged, ruining the character's plan to become a general some day. This absolutely would be devastating for a character like that, and they realistically could struggle to adjust, both in terms of getting used to their disability and finding new goals for their life. They may well feel anger at the main character, however, if you are portraying just living with a disability, in the case of this example, living with an amputation as inherently "suffering" for no other reason than they are disabled, it is still perpetuating those really negative ideas about disability. I've said this a few times in other posts, but villains who are evil or even just antagonists purely because they're disabled or are trying to avoid becoming disabled is a trope all its own and one that is best avoided if you yourself aren't disabled, as even outside of spreading these negative ideas about life with a disability, it's just an overdone and overused trope.

But what about when this trope goes in the other direction? when you have an antagonistic or even just morally grey character who becomes disabled and this is the catalyst that turns them into a good guy?

For the longest time, I knew I usually disliked this version of the trope too, but I couldn't put my finger on why. With disability being the reason someone became a villain, the underlying reason it's there is often able to be boiled down to "I, the writer, think being disabled would be terrible and life like that is inherently suffering, so this character is angry about it," which is obviously an issue (the "inherently suffering" bit, not the anger). However, when a character becomes good due to becoming disabled, the reasoning is usually more along the lines of, "this is a big change in a character's life that has caused them to reconsider and revaluate things" (or at least, that's what I thought). This isn't bad, nor is it necessarily unrealistic. Hell, as I already said, I do consider my disability to be a catalyst that made me into who I am today. I also know plenty of people who, after becoming disabled later in life, did have a big change in how they viewed themselves and the world, and who consider themselves better people since becoming disabled. It's far, far from a universal experience, mind you, but it does happen. So why did this version of the trope still not sit right with me?

Well, I think there's a few reasons for it. The first being that there's a tendency for non-disabled people to think real disabled people are just incapable of evil deeds, both in the sense that they aren't physically capable of doing them (which is bad and not even always true for the reasons we already discussed), but also in the sense that there's this idea that disabled people are, for some reason, inherently more "good" and "innocent" - As if breaking your back or loosing a limb causes all evil and impure thoughts to be purged from the body. This is a result of many folks viewing disabled people as child-like, and thus attributing child-like traits (such as innocence) to them, even subconsciously. This is an incredibly common issue and something disability rights organisations are constantly pushing back against, as this mentality can cause a lot of unnecessary barriers for us. With how often I and many other disabled people are subjected to infantilization, I would be honestly shocked if it wasn't at least partially responsible for people thinking becoming disabled is a good reason to kick off a redemption arc.

This infantilization isn't unique to physically disabled people by the way, in fact it's way, way, more commonly directed at people with intellectual and developmental disabilities - or at least, people are more open about it, but as I already mentioned, how that is reflected in tropes like The Disabling Change of Heart is vastly different and deserves a post of it's own.

That's mostly just speculation on my part though, since that infantilising mindset does show up a lot in media, but not usually as part of this trope specifically.

However, it's not the only reason I wasn't a fan of it. When the disabling change of heart is used to fuel redemption arcs, I think, once again, that the disability itself being credited with causing the change directly is another factor. When this happens, it's usually because "it put things into perspective for me and showed me what really mattered."

This sounds better than our previous example on the surface, but stories that use this logic are often still portraying disability as an inherently bad and tragic thing, something so bad, in fact, that it makes all the other (legitimate) issues they thought were massive before seem so small by comparison. This is a type of inspiration porn: content made to make non-disabled people feel inspired or just better about their own situation. It's the mentality of "well my life is bad, but it could be worse, at least I'm not disabled like that!"

In a fictional story, this might look like an athlete character who dreamed of making it big so they could be famous and get out of poverty. They were a dick to anyone who got in their way but only because they were worried about not being able to make rent if they don't constantly win. One day though, they overworked themselves and got into a car accident on the way home because they were too tired, and now they're in a wheelchair and can no longer walk, which is (supposedly) absolutely tragic and way worse than anything else they were already going through. But they end up becoming a better person because it has put things into perspective for them. Yeah they were struggling to make ends meet, but at least they weren't disabled! Now that they are, they know they shouldn't have cared so much, because money doesn't matter when compared to not being able to walk, right?

As well as portraying disability in a negative light, these kinds of stories dismiss and diminish the other struggles or challenges the character is experiencing, placing the status of "not disabled" above all else.

There's also the fact that, when a lot of real people say their disabilities had positive impacts on their lives, they don't usually mean the disability itself is directly responsible for the change. There's exceptions of course but for myself personally, and most of the people I know who say they are better people because of/since becoming disabled, the disability has been more of a neutral catalyst than the actual cause of positive change. Meaning, it opened the door to allow those changes to happen, but it wasn't the direct cause. For me personally, becoming physically disabled at a young age didn't make me a nice person like people expect, I was still a little judgemental asshole for a lot of my childhood. However, because I was disabled, I had to travel a lot, initially because I needed medical treatment that my local hospital wasn't equip to provide, and later, because I started competing in disability sports. because of both of those things, I met people I never would have otherwise who made me reconsider what I'd been taught on a wide range of subjects, and made me question where those beliefs had come from in the first place. When I say my disability played a part in who I became, it wasn't because my disability itself change me, but it helped me meet people who were positive influences on me and my life. but when creatives make characters who experience arcs like this, they ignore this, again, defaulting to the "this was a bad thing that just put all my other problems into perspective" reasoning.

Some iterations of this trope also use disability as a kind of "karmic punishment" where the disability is portrayed as a rightfully deserved punishment for an evil character's deeds - usually something relating to the disability they acquired but not always. An example might look like an evil tyrant who punishes the rebels they captured by cutting off their hands. Eventually, this catches up with him, maybe the friend or a child of one of the rebels is able to capture the tyrant and cuts his hands off as payback so that he gets a taste of his own medicine, a taste of the suffering he imposed on others. Now facing at least one of the same realities of the people he subjugated, he realises the error of his ways. With some pressure from the main characters, he has a change of heart and surrenders himself, steps down to let someone else take his place, or perhaps he decides to start changing policies to be more in-line with these new morals until some other character usurps him, becoming an even bigger threat than the previous former tyrant.

Once again, stories that use a disability like this are still portraying the disability as an overall inherently bad thing, but there's the added layer at play in this example. The thing is, there are a lot of people in real-life who actually believe disability is a punishment from God. I remember one time when I was over in the US, an older lady came and sat down on the seat beside me on the bus and started asking me about my disability and specifically, how I became disabled. This isn't an unusual interaction, it happens fairly regularly whenever I use public transport, but on this particular day, the conversation suddenly shifted when I told her I became disabled when I was very young. This woman, despite the bus-driver's best efforts to get her to stop, ended up lecturing me for an hour and a half (during which time I couldn't move due to how my wheelchair was held in place) about how my disability was punishment from God for my parent's sins. She then tried to convince me to attend her church, claiming they would be able to heal me. And the thing is, this isn't an uncommon experience.

A lot of disabled people are targeted by cults using this same method: they'll convince people their disabilities are a punishment, make them believe they deserved it, that they just weren't good enough, but don't worry, if you repent and come to our specific church we can heal you. There was even a case in Australia recently that uncovered a cult called Universal Medicine, who taught that disabled people were reincarnations of evil people, and that being disabled in this life was their punishment, as well as that parents who have disabled children were being punished for other sinful behaviours. They were found to be operating a disability care service named Fabic that was being paid for by the NDIS, a subsection of the Australian government funded healthcare system that specifically aids disabled Australians by paying for and subsidising treatments, technologies (such as mobility aids) and other services relating to their disability. Fabic was found to be stealing excessive amounts of funding from their disabled clients under the guise of therapies and carer services, but was not actually helping their clients at all. Whether it's just taking advantage of them to get their money, or actually using this logic as a justification to mistreat them, this mentality of "disability is a punishment" actually gets real disabled people hurt or worse, and so seeing it come up in media, even if there is no ill-intent, can be very distressing and uncomfortable for disabled audiences.

So with all this being said, is the disabling change of heart a trope you should avoid in all it's forms and versions? No, but it does need to be handled with extreme care. I do think it should be avoided as a reason for a character becoming evil for the most part. If that really can't be avoided in your story though, at the very least, ensure that you foreshadow the change. Your happy little ray of sunshine, embodiment of sweetness and innocence type character probably isn't going to turn murderous and want revenge for an accident for example. A character who is likely to be driven to that kind of extreme of wanting revenge for their disability, so much so that they become a villain, probably already had at least a few traits that would predispose them to that line of thinking already, before becoming disabled. As for when it goes in the other direction, and you have a character becoming a good guy, avoid using the reasoning that "the disability put things into perspective for me". Instead, if you must use this version of the trope, use the character's new disability as the reason they encountered other people and situations that challenged their views, things they wouldn't have encountered otherwise. No matter the reason though, be very careful to avoid inspiration porn, and as always, try to find a sensitivity reader to give your story a once-over, just to make sure something didn't slip under your radar.

[Thumbnail ID: An illustrated image showing the same elf character twice. The picture of her on the left shows her laughing evilly, two tiny horns protruding through her brown hair. She is wearing a black dress and red shoes. On the right shows her in a yellow dress, sitting in a bright pink wheelchair with her head held eye and her eyes closed. The horns have been replaced with a glowing halo. In the centre is text that reads: "Disability Tropes: The disabling change of heart." /End ID]

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unbidden-yidden · 10 months

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Honestly at this point, I'm really uninterested in hearing any gentile's "critique" of Judaism.

Whatever it is, whatever you're about to say, I am 1000% certain that at least one Jew has already raised this issue in ways that are thoughtful and centered in respect for other Jews. Probably lots of Jews; possibly whole theological movements. It's even possible that this particular topic has been under active discussion for hundreds or even thousands of years.

Someone has already said this better than you will. Someone has already raised whatever issue you have and grounded it in their own experiences of having lived a Jewish life.

So just leave it to us. Just stop. You're not helping. At best you're white-knighting, at worst you're actively contributing to an antisemitic majority culture.

"Well I've never seen Jews discussing [x] topic!" Your ignorance is not reality. These conversations are happening, possibly offline and at our Shabbos tables or shuls only, but they are happening.

"Well [x] topic impacts me personally!" Does it? Does it really? Because unless you live in Israel or Palestine, no Jewish group - no matter how seemingly numerous we may be in your city or neighborhood - is actually powerful enough to affect large-scale (or even typically small-scale) changes. Our fundamentalism is, for better or worse, directed at other Jews. The most intense thing I've heard of outside of Israel is a community getting together to petition the city to allow an eruv or a concentrated effort to make a few neighborhood blocks particularly Jewish because they're within walking distance of an orthodox shul. All other issues - no matter how ugly the opinions - are something that is part of much larger social trends that unfortunately some Jews happen to be engaging in. We'll deal with them; you focus on your people.

"I'm just listening to ex-fundamentalist Jews and white-knighting trying to help them be heard and not shouted down!" So first of all, if you knew anything about this topic, they typically call themselves OTD (which I'm sure you know what that stands for, because you've been listening) and secondly, great! You should listen to them. But their critiques are not your critiques. I can go on all day long about my family and their bullshit, and I can even (sometimes) appreciate you chiming in supportively. But it hits different when you go off chattering to other people about how my family is bullshit.

"Okay fine - I'm taking all that in and accept that my critiques aren't wanted, but what CAN I do, since I am literally vibrating in place about how Those People Over There Are Wrong and cannot simply ignore them?" Best thing you can do? Honestly? Learn about Judaism thoroughly from a variety of people, and learn how to be a good ally against antisemitism in all the spaces you want us in. Judaism not feminist enough for you? Learn how to make your feminist spaces safe and welcoming for Jews. Judaism not queer or trans enough for you? Learn how to make your queer and trans spaces safe and welcoming for Jews. Whatever movement you think we're not supporting enough or not showing up for enough, or whoever it is you think we're oppressing? Find the Jews who are doing that work (they exist, I promise) and listen to what they tell you about how to make your spaces be better.

#look - I'll engage in these conversations with specific goyim on my terms #but that's for me to decide

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accio-victuuri · 3 months

Text

i am late in sharing this post that became popular days ago, it contains quotable quotes from wyb. he is know to be a man of a few words, but when he does speak his mind, expect the impact. 💥

"I want to say, don’t pursue something blindly, if you purely like it, then just persist and stick to it purely."

"I am actually not a particularly argumentative person, but I am a competitive person. Some things actually don’t matter. Many people may take everything seriously, but for me, I just put myself first in the things I want to fight for."

"I also thought it was quite funny, but it was just a matter of truthfully speaking what was in my heart at that time, without any detours. In ten or twenty years, I may have changed, but at the moment, this is still Wang Yibo"

"I have learned a lot about life through movies, for example: people should adapt to the environment rather than the environment adapting to people, and to achieve perfection in anything is art."

"I don’t want to lose, but I also don’t let myself get addicted to victory. I know how to control myself."

“I prefer not to compete with others for things, what’s yours is yours what’s mine is mine. but if something belongs to me and you insist on getting it, then i’ll fight with you.”

“I like to be exposed to new things, and I also hope to stick to it as much as possible, but sometimes my hobbies may change quickly. For example, I was still enjoying golf, but suddenly I started playing tennis again. There is no way to change a hobby. To practice and improve all the time, maybe study in time periods. So I think I have many hobbies, but I am not good at them. But I just like so many hobbies, which make your life richer and more interesting, and can keep you in a relatively good state in your spare time, including your mental state. Well, exercise is very good"

"Actually, i’ve always been mentally preparing for the day when i will be “not popular”, maybe i’ll go open a shop and sell motorcycles, maybe i’ll open a dance training class, and dance until the day i can’t dance"

"I just want to do things according to my beliefs and never regret it."

#wang yibo #yibo the man that you are #he just keeps getting better and better as a person & as an artist

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aspoonofsugar · 4 months

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Hi! Do you think Alastor and Lucifer are foils?

Hi!

Yes, of course they are!

Alastor and Lucifer's foiling starts in Dad Beats Dad (obviously), where they fight over Charlie's affection. They might seem as opposites throughout the episode, but they are actually the same, as they both try to impress Charlie with their powers:

[ALASTOR:] They say, when you're looking for assistance It's smart to pick the path of least resistance [LUCIFER:] Others say, that in your needy hour There's no substitute for pure angelic power!

Still, Charlie doesn't care and all she wants is for her parental figures to support her:

Charlie: How come he can have faith in me, but my own father can't?

In short, Alastor and Lucifer find pride in their abilities, but need to let go of it, in order to show their love for Charlie. By the end of the episode, they both accomplish this. However, they succeed in slightly different ways, that fit their shared motif of shadow and light. In particular:

Alastor is linked to shadows, as his abilities let him manipulate shadows

Lucifer is linked to light, as his name means morningstar and his powers manifest in light-beams

As a result:

Alastor's development happens in the shadows, whereas Lucifer's in the light - This is true also on a meta-level, as Alastor's arc is the secondary plot-line of the episode, whereas Lucifer's is the main one

Alastor acts as Lucifer's jungian shadow and becomes a catalyst for him to change. Similarly, Alastor himself is challenged to grow by his own jungian shadow, aka Husk

What is the jungian shadow? It is the repressed part of a person. In stories, a character might meet another one, who embodies this hidden part of the self. By integrating with the shadow, the character evolves. In other words, Alastor represents a repressed part of Lucifer and Husk a repressed part of Alastor. Let's see how it all plays out.

ALASTOR, HUSK AND MIMZY

Alastor and Mimzy's bond is unhealthy, as they both enable negative sides of the other. On the one hand Alastor keeps covering for Mimzy, no matter what she does. On the other hand Mimzy feeds Alastor's ego by praising his power and abilities.

So, Mimzy never faces the consequences of her actions:

Mimzy: Thanks for helpin' lil' old me out of a though spot. You're always such a pal.

And Alastor feels respected and appreciated:

Alastor: It's nothing I can't handle. Don't worry Husker. Who in their right mind would cross me?

However, the reality is that Mimzy is using Alastor and Husk points this out:

Husk: You and I both know Mimzy only shows up, when she needs something. That bitch is trouble and who knows what kinda demon she fucked with to come running to you this time?

Not only that, but he openly calls Alastor out on his pride:

Husk: Big talk for someone, who's also on a leash.

Which results in Alastor reacting in anger:

That said, Husk is proven right. It turns out Mimzy has willingly brought chaos to the hotel, so that Alastor could solve things for her. Because of this, Alastor finally cuts ties with her:

Alastor: You deliberately brought danger to this place just to have me clean up your mess. I can't have that here.

This choice is important and it shows how the people around him are slowly impacting Alastor. On the one hand the Radio Demon listens to one of his subjects' advice. On the other hand he acts to protect the hotel. As a matter of fact the moment Alastor steps up as the Host of the Hotel isn't when he sings to Charlie in Hell's Greatest Dad nor when he transforms into a giant and fights. It is when he sends Mimzy away and sacrifices a little bit of his pride to do so. interestingly, this happens as nobody is looking at him, so he isn't really trying to impress nor to trick the others. He acts selflessly in the shadows.

LUCIFER, ALASTOR AND CHARLIE

Lucifer and Charlie's bond is strained:

Charlie: We just have never been close. After he and mom split, he never really wanted to see me. He calls... sometimes, but only if he's bored or like, needs me to do something.

At the root of this conflict there is Lucifer's inability to show his daughter how much he cares. He struggles to express his feelings and hides them behind a prideful persona:

Charlie: I told you when you called me five months ago. Or did you not listen? Lucifer: No, no, no, no. Just, you know, I just forgot. I've just been really busy, ya know with um... important things.

Instead of openly admitting his depression and sadness he prefers to look cold and uninterested. Even dismissive and condescending, like when he arrives at the Hazbin Hotel:

Lucifer: Wow, this place sure looks, uh... Uh-uh. Yeah. Uh-uh. It's got a lot of character!

Lucifer is initially too focused on what he cares about - meeting his daughter - rather than on what Charlie wants - for him to help her with the hotel. He happily hugs Charlie and then immediately moves on to pet Keekee, Razzle and Dazzle, who are his own creations. Only later he considers the welcome Charlie and the others have prepared for him. Even then, he still misses the point and tries to buy Charlie's love by showing off his magical powers:

Haha, looks like you could use some help From the big boss of Hell himself

Except that what Charlie wants from him aren't champaigne fountains or caviar mountains, but an appointment with Heaven, which he negates her. Not only that, but instead of being honest about his fears, he deflects everything on Charlie herself, by dismissing her plan:

Lucifer: Alright, listen, I love that you want to see the best in people, but these sinners... You know, they're just the worst. I, I don't know how much you can realistically expect from them in Heaven.

Luckily, the Radio Demon is closeby, as he forces Lucifer to show his true self.

On the one hand Alastor brings out Lucifer's insecurity and fears:

I'm truly honored that we've built such a bond You're like the child that I wish that I had I care for you, just like a daughter I spawned It's a little funny, you could almost call me dad

He juxtaposes moments of everyday life and affirmations of affection to Lucifer's materialistic and fancy promises. In this way Alastor highlights the faults of Lucifer, as a father. He points out that Lucifer is never there for Charlie.

On the other hand Alastor embodies the kind of sinner Lucifer despises:

Lucifer: Ya see? What I tell ya? Charlie, sinners are violent psychopaths, hell bent on causing as much pain and destruction as they can. There's really no point in trying.

And yet, such a violent psychopath is more willing to help Charlie than Lucifer himself:

Charlie: Dad, stop! He's defending this hotel. It may be a bit more sadistic than I'd hoped. But he's doing it for me!

This realization leads to a confrontation between father and daughter and to an admission on Lucifer's part:

Lucifer: I just don't want you to be crushed by them like... like I was.

The problem isn't Charlie, but Lucifer himself. It is not that Charlie's dream is silly, but that Lucifer's one has been destroyed. This revelation is important because Lucifer's mask comes off and he shows Charlie his weakest and most broken self. He swallows his pride and has Charlie see who her father really his. In all his mistakes and his hurt. And to his surprise Charlie accepts him. Not only that, but she admires him:

So in the end, it's the view I had of you That showed me dreams can be worth fighting for

Symbolically the song More than Anything starts with Lucifer and Charlie in the shadows:

They are repressing a lot and have no idea who the other is. Still, as the song goes on, they get to understand each other:

All that I'm hopin', now that my eyes are open Is that we can start again, not be pulled apart again 'Cause in the end, you are part of who I am

And they end the song surrounded by light:

What is initially in the shadow comes to light in three different ways:

Lucifer shows Charlie his true self

Lucifer sees Charlie for who she is

Lucifer exhibits his weakness in front of the whole Hazbin Hotel. He lets the sinners he dislikes so much witness the mess that he is.

His fragility is in full display. It is in the light for everyone to see.

PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWERS! ITTY BITTY LIVING SPACE!

Another similarity Alastor and Lucifer share is that they are two powerful beings that give much importance to free will:

Alastor: You should know better than anyone what a soul can accomplish when they take charge of their own fate.

Charlie: Together, they wished to share the magic of free will with humanity.

And yet, they are both trapped:

Alastor: I'm hungry for freedom like never before The constraints of my deal surely have a backdoor Once I figure out how to unclip my wings Guess who will be pulling all the strings?

Charlie: As punishment for their reckless act, Heaven cast Lucifer and his love into the dark pit he had created, never allowing him to see the good that came from humanity, only the cruel and the wicked.

On the one hand Alastor controls many souls, but his own is owned by someone else. On the other hand Lucifer is the strongest being in all of Hell, but he is regarded as a disgrace by other angels.

Moreover, they both project their unhappiness on others. Specifically, Lucifer blames sinners like Alastor:

Lucifer: Our "people", Charlie, are awful! They got gifted free will and look what they did with it! Everything's terrible!

While Alastor lashes out on his prisoners, like Husk:

Alastor: If you ever say that again, I will tear your soul apart and broadcast your screams for every other disrespectful wretch who dares to question me.

Still, the point is that Lucifer is exactly like Alastor. He is a gifted creature, who messed up royally and cursed humanity. Alastor instead is exactly like Husk, a powerful overlord, who still finds himself chained. Lucifer is the most hated being in all of creation and Alastor is on a leash. They are both lonely and desperate, but too proud to admit it. In other words, they are both losers:

Husk: There was a time I thought no one could relate To the gruesome ways in which I'm damaged But lettin' walls down, it can sometimes set you straight! We're all livin' in the same shit-sandwich

Just like everyone in Hell. And yet, this is not bad per se. Even if you hit rock bottom, you can still climb back up, as long as you let go of self-importance and start to earnestly empathize with others. As a matter of fact it is only through community and bonds that a person can be redeemed and heal:

Out for love Love Think of who you care about Protect them and be out For love Love You're gonna fight without gloves Long as you're out for love

This is what Alastor and Lucifer are learning through Charlie.

TWO DADS, ONE DAUGHTER

Season 1 sets up Alastor and Lucifer as two mentor figures to Charlie. They share this role in a way, which makes them almost perfect mirrors. Some examples:

Lucifer gives Charlie the hotel building and Alastor calls it Hazbin Hotel

Alastor helps repair the Hotel in the beginning, while Lucifer assists Charlie in building it anew by the end

Lucifer guides Charlie to Heaven, as he sets up her meeting with Sera and Emily. Alastor instead guides Charlie in Hell as he introduces her to Rosie and helps her inspire the cannibals

Both Alastor and Lucifer believe in Charlie, when she is at her lowest. Alastor does so before the final battle, whereas Lucifer after the fight

Alastor and Lucifer fight Adam (another foil of theirs) in the final episode. Moreover, both belittle his abilities and highlight how he is strong, but unskilled:

Alastor: You lack discipline, control and worst, you are sloppy!

Lucifer: So, this is what you've been up to since Eden? Gotta say, you really let yourself go buddy.

In particular, Alastor is the one supposed to take Adam down, but fails and Lucifer steps in by the end. This is just like in the beginning Lucifer is supposed to support and help Charlie with her project. Still, he is absent and Alastor fills the spot.

In other words, Alastor and Lucifer are unwillingly complementary and so far one has appeared when the other has been incapacitated. We'll see if this pattern continues. As for now, they are clearly framed as key to Charlie's development, so it is possible they will come to embody different sides of her:

Alastor represents the sinners Charlie wants to reach and all their pain and complexity. He is also linked to fear and the unknown. He is the ally she finds by herself. He is the found family Charlie chooses.

Lucifer represents the angels Charlie wants to communicate with. He is also linked to dreams and ideals. He is the legacy she inherits. He is the biological family Charlie wants to re-connect with.

In short, they are both parts of who Charlie is and she needs them to grow into herself. Just like they need her to mature and find redemption and happiness.

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel meta #alastor #alastor hazbin hotel #lucifer morningstar #lucifer hazbin hotel #my meta #asksfullofsugar #anonymous

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firesnap · 3 months

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i have a genuine question. i promise i am not at all trying to defend him. ive dropped him entirely, literally deleted everything i had of him and unliked his songs.

ive just been wondering like considering that he has been in therapy, and also considering how if he does take a year off and then comes back, why cant it be redeemable? like cant people change? cant we give them second chances? he is 27. is he just doomed to be an abuser forever?

its just scary and im asking as like a younger person who is in my very early 20s. i know ive made mistakes. i know ive not been a good partner or friend sometimes. (and yes i was also abusive to a past partner...im not proud of it and ive learned from it. i have never ever touched anyone in that way after that. it took awhile but my current relationship isnt toxic and i would never hurt anyone or hit them again yknow?) and it scares me that people keep insinuating that he is irredeemable. like cant abusers change and become better? dont they get second chances? if shelby has grown and healed in 10 months wouldn't it be fair to say the same for wilbur?

im just genuinely asking because based on everything i believe you are older than me and im looking for guidance and just...idk im scared. growing up on the internet has made me so scared of making mistakes and doing anything wrong because when it happens to others i look up to, its always treated as something they'll never be able to change or improve. makes me feel like imma just be a horrible person forever because i made mistakes in the past.

This is a really complicated question that multiple answers can validly fit.

I don't think, personally, that anyone is irredeemable. I think everyone is on a journey of forgiveness and some of us may need more grace than others.

This is tw// abuse even more than the current topic, but my mom was incredibly abusive. We lived in a very rural area and she had a lot of undiagnosed problems and trauma of her own that created a pressure pot of issues. After I was born, she suffered through full on post-partum psychosis that nearly ended about as well as that sentence implies it could have. She was incredibly violent, controlling, and cruel for years. My sister went no-contact with her the second she turned 18. A significant event occurred that eventually spurned her into seeking real treatment that lasted for years. It's still ongoing.

My sister is also still no contact and I support her decision 100%. Those are her wounds and what she needed to do to get peace should be respected. I decided I wanted a relationship with the person who came out of all that work and, even then, it's been hard. I don't know if she's redeemed herself, and my god do we still have bumps in the road, but I support her for trying.

With Wilbur, how he responds to this is going to really impact a lot of things. I mean, I know no matter how he responds I won't be going on whatever journey of redemption and healing he has to go through. I'm tired and I feel hurt enough. I would think, if he wanted to show he was sincere, admitting what happened would be a great sense of closure for a lot of people who put time and energy and faith into this guy for years.

Not every person that causes harm is inherently evil, but there has to be some kind of knowledge that you're aware of the harm you've caused. No one is stuck as anything forever, life is constantly moving, and most people aren't saying his life is just over. You can work on yourself. You can change. And I'm saying that specifically to you, anonymous.

(Saying this, actually, there ARE people who would argue once you've done x you're beyond redemption based entirely on their life experiences as a victim, personal histories and many other factors. Kinda like my sister, that's their choice. And you have to accept that sometimes you fuck up so badly that you will permanently lose some people from your life. But your life isn't over.)

But I do think, regardless of what he says or does about this, his time of controlling a large platform is at an end. He can still do a lot of things in his life after he works on himself -- editing, song producing, directing, writing or whatever -- but being in charge of a large impressionable audience that could enable more destructive behaviors is just not it.

#the current state of things

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gay4abby · 6 months

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Hey, request for Jordan Li:

So, what if Jordan's ex liked them better in their male/female form, and they got insecure because of it. Now they're dating reader, and that insecurity rises. So, the reader assures them that they're perfect in both forms. Smut or fluff?

Thanks.

I Like You in More Ways Than One !!

warnings, insecurities, fluff. SMUT (first time tell me how it was OK? OK!) pairings, jordan li x reader. don’t think this was my best but i really hoped u enjoyed lol

Relationships are a tricky path to follow. You’ll always have a piece of the person that came once before and although there are some that tend to learn how to live with it, there are others who simply hold on to those in the most degrading way possible. Relationships are our puzzle pieces and for a piece to go missing, it’s hard finding the right one that will fit into that vacant spot once more.

Jordan’s ex left a huge dent in them after their relationship ended. It felt like a farce most of the time, but Jordan wasn’t the kind of person to see their partner for who they really are. When they’re in a relationship, a partnership, all they ever see is a rose coloured world. Where everything their significant other does cannot and will not be impacted in a negative way. It’s why Jordan found themselves in situationships more often than an actual relationship nowadays.

Opening their eyes to the wrongs of what their ex put them through was like whiplash. How could they have been so clueless to the way they were treated. Jordan hadn't taken into account just how others acted around their ex, too. So, it was a breath of fresh air when you arrived into their life. Jordan didn't really know what to do or how to react to certain things. With their ex, it seemed as though everything was a problem and Jordan had to walk on eggshells around her.

Whenever she caught them in their female form, the attraction, the yearning (if you can even call it that) dissipated. She didn’t love all parts of them, having shown it one night at a party that Jordan did not attend. It broke them for weeks knowing it was all just a facade for her. That it showed Jordan wasn’t good enough for to even keep a girlfriend. And yet here they were, hopelessly devoted to you, letting their heart feel again and love again and be enthralled in the warmth of intimacy.

But no matter how much Jordan felt for you, there was always a shred of doubt that had them second guessing themselves over and over again. What if you never liked them in their female form? What if you’re just being nice and sparing their feelings because you know how sensitive they get? What if all this is a practical joke and you’re just waiting on the day for them to fuck up so you can finally leave?

Jordan was so stuck in their head sometimes, it was kind of infuriating but this is something they hide so well.

You both were supposed to meet up for a lunch date after your noon classes, but Jordan was nowhere to be found and it started to make you worry. None of your phone calls were being answered, texts left on delivered. You were going around in a twist trying to find them. “Hey, have you guys seen Jordan?” The blonde was the first to look up at you, a big grin spreading across her lips. “____, hey! No I haven’t. Everything good?” Cate asked, hand on your arm as she squeezed it gently. Andre was beside her, the shake of his head telling you he hasn’t seen them either.

“We were supposed to meet up for lunch. I just…I don’t know, this doesn’t happen. Usually they’ll tell me if they’re running late.” The worry was slowly settling into your chest as you emitted a shaky breath. Cate sensed your discomfort immediately and drew herself closer to you. Her hands were comforting, but it didn’t do much to settle the overwhelming feeling. You tried to calm yourself, being outside was a good distraction with the many things around you. “Okay. Okay, hey listen. I’ll help you find them.”

You nodded as you turned around with her to begin your search of Jordan, leaving Andre behind. “Yeah! I’ll just be here, not like I want to search for them too.” His words went off to deaf ears, both you and Cate recalling where Jordan was before you were supposed to meet.

You were going around in a twist. Jordan wasn’t in their dorm room, not in the canteen, the commons or the gym. You tried their phone several times and no answer. Cate was beginning to see just how stressed this was all making you, opting to split up so you both can cover more ground to find Jordan. Please just, fucking be okay. You thought to yourself as you did a 360 on the middle of campus to see if you’ll spot them. It didn’t click to you until minutes later that Jordan was hiding and their hiding place was somewhere that wasn’t quite easy to find.

But the both of you frequented there a lot when you just wanted to be in each other’s presence without anyone else interfering. You began your long trek up the woods to the very secluded clearing of the mountains behind the school. It was like a quiet pocket on Earth that was surrounded by water and trees that stretched for miles high. It was the one place that Jordan had found in order to collect themselves after any event that triggers them.

Being out of breath was not an issue for you, knowing every step and where to avoid placing your feet as you finally made it to the clearing. Your wide eyes laid on the very person you were worried about for the past two hours, your heart sinking as you heard them sniff several times.

“Baby…”

“Fuck! You scared me! What the fuck, what are you doing here?” Jordan, in their female form, got up quickly, wiping away the tears that were sliding down their plumped and redden cheeks. You quickly rushed over placing your hands over them as she looked at you with sorrow eyes. “You didn’t meet up with me for our lunch date, I was going crazy out of my mind wondering wheee you were.”

Jordan’s eyes softened once more before a wave of tears spilled from their brown eyes once more; your heart cracked looking at them in despair. What happened to make her feel this way? And why couldn’t she feel like she could talk to you? You wrapped your arms around her in a tight, warm hug, allowing her body to shake vigorously as they let out a wailing sob. You didn’t know what was going on and when you find out you were surely going to make whoever made Jordan cry pay.

“What’s going on, huh? Why’d you hide from me? Please tell me, did I do something? I can’t stand seeing you like this.” Jordan moved out of your hug, wiping at the snot that formed on your sweater and her nose. She shook her head, grabbing on to your hands to lead you to the rock they were sitting on to have you sit next to them. “It’s not you, trust me it’s never you.” It was a whisper that you almost didn’t catch. Thank you supersonic hearing!

Jordan’s hands found a home on the nape of your neck, your hand immediately placed over hers. You scanned their face, “Talk to me, lovebug.”

“I…uh…I saw my ex this morning. On accident. It wasn’t intentional.” The worry in your chest was replaced with a sizzling anger that was sure to grow into full on rage, “What did she do?”

“No. No she didn’t do anything. I didn’t even let her see me. I just…it just triggered me and I didn’t know what to do so I came here.

“Our relationship wasn’t the best. And I got flashbacks to it and I felt like it was bleeding into ours, but I was making it up in my head.” Jordan paused, squeezing your neck gently before continuing, “I never told you that she preferred me as a guy when we dated. She knew of my ability, but she didn’t take it so kindly whenever I would switch.” She laughed softly to make light of the situation, as if it was something comical to joke about. The expression on your face immediately changed hers back.

“I always just felt like arm candy to her, but I was so in love her, baby I kinda let that all go.” You sat listening to her as she rambled about her ex. Nothing angered you more than when Jordan was made to feel insecure and though you preferred them to just be them when you both were together, it didn’t stop the inkling feeling Jordan had in the back of their mind that you were just being nice about it. “I thought that you probably felt the same way. I don’t know…I don’t know why I thought that.”

You leaned forward to kiss them slowly. Jordan hummed softly as your lips caressed theirs, their hand sliding to your side to pull you closer. It went on for about three minutes before you both pulled away for some air. “Jordy…I don’t want you ever to feel that way with me. I don’t care at all, I care about you. You as in Jordan. The person who would always make sure they have an extra sweater in their gym bag for me. The one who knows my latte order like the back of their hand. The one who doesn’t care when I whine and complain constantly when I’m on my period and have taken over your entire room to self medicate,” you both giggled as you finished your sentence.

It was true, though. You didn’t care at all which form Jordan took as long as they were happy. Comfortable. “Your ex will begin to cough in six days and we can celebrate her death after that. But for now, I just want you to know that I love you. Jordan Li, the love of my life. Property Brothers fanatic. Comic book extraordinaire,” your hands made a home on their warm cheeks, thumb caressing the soft skin as you stared deep into their eyes. “I don’t want anyone else but you. Nobody but you.”

Jordan’s heart beat rapidly in their chest, leaning forward again to plant a steamy kiss on your lips. Nothing made them more sure about your relationship than this moment and all Jordan wanted to do was ravish you alive. “I love you.”

“I love you, so so much.” Your words were breathy, eyes immediately shutting as you laid them back against the rock to climb up over them. The kiss was deepening as you couldn’t help, but smirk a little as you planted your leg between their legs; Jordan lazily humping your thigh. Your hands were suddenly everywhere until you remembered Cate, “Oh my god! Wait! Before we continue I have to tell Cate I found you!”

You scrambled to get up only for Jordan to snatch your phone out of your hand and toss it into the unsettling lake before you. “Jordan!”

“I’ll get you a new one. I need you now.” That shut you right up as you both resumed kissing, this time with Jordan on top. You slid your hands underneath their sweater, moaning as you felt their breasts spill into your hands. Squeezing them brought out the nastiest moan to ever escape Jordan which you even more aroused than you were before. The lips smacking together made the noise echo through the open area, your leg finding its place back in between her legs.

They grind against your thigh, legs squeezing together to create more friction. You tweaked her nipples causing her to push her chest out more and her hand finding its place on the strands of your hair, tugging lightly. You whined softly, your left hand abandoning her soft mound to travel achingly slow towards the place she needed you most. Along with your thigh, your hand added more pressure to her clit, hips stuttering slowly. “Fuck, fuck please touch me. I want your fingers inside me,” she moaned against your lips.

You happily obliged, flipping her over to have her on her back. The rock wasn’t the most comfortable place to be doing this, but you both had major experience going at it on the same rock so they were used to the prickling along their back. Said the “pain’s tolerable knowing I’ll cum because of you.” You held it over their heads for a month. You brought your fingers to their lips, “Suck,” and Jordan being the good girl she is took both fingers into her mouth, wetting it as much as she can with her saliva.

“That’s a good girl,” she could’ve came right then and there if it wasn’t for the sudden intrusion of your fingers in her hole. Her back lifted into an arch, a loud moan echoing through the woods. Your fingers worked expertly as you lifted her sweater to wrap you warm lips around her nipple. Jordan’s moan sounded wet and strained, hands on your shoulders immediately squeezing them with her all might. You felt her squeezing the hell out of your fingers, dripping on to your palms, swirling your tongue around the now perky, hardened nipple.

Pumping your fingers in and out of her while circling your thumb on her clit was driving her mad. She has started panting, short breaths as her legs squeezed around your hand once more. “Come on, you can do it for me, baby. Just let go.” That one little command had her spilling all over your hand, humping your hand as you continued to pump your fingers in and out of her as she came. You rode out her orgasm long enough for her to begin pulling your hand out of her pants to get some reprieve.

“Hm, fuck,” Jordan breathed out. You lifted your wet fingers to your mouth to lick off her juices from them. You moaned, sliding your tongue between them to get every last bit that hung off of them. She watched you with cloudy eyes and a gapped mouth and swore she couldn’t fall for you more than she did in that moment. “Don’t ever think I don’t want you, you hear me?”

“Yes. Yes. Fuck yes, I’ll never think that again.”

“That’s my girl.”

#jordan li x reader #jordan li #jordan li x gn!reader #jordan li x you #gen v jordan #‹𝟥 requests

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edensremains · 6 days

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consequences

↳ summary: vox’s ars goetia girlfriend doesn’t like the limelight but you know who does? him!

↳want to see Vox in pain? there’s a part two!

↳ not my fav piece but it’s There, there’s a second part to this but it’s Vox going through it. I wrote this for myself before and edited it up….. this feels TOO indulgent like Dulce Vida😭 it’s almost midnight let me get my ass to bed… i haven’t watched helluva boss yet so ars goetia being nobility is all i know my fault yall LMFOAOOOOOO

Vox loved to be in the limelight. His girlfriend did not.

You were a person that didn’t enjoy being paraded around like a commodity, and you weren’t one! But Vox was a very public person by nature, and it was practically expected that when Vox entered a relationship, he’d make an announcement to all of Hell on a broadcast showing off his beloved. It’s not like you two were exactly subtle about their relationship, not very much anyways, you were the only one who really tried to uphold that rule of yours around the cameras. Vox loved to stress you out by practically hanging off you whenever one of his millions of cameras fixated on you two during a live broadcast.

To the public, you were an Ars Goetia that was taking an interest in the Vee’s which did wonders for their reputation, and you’d had a hand in a couple of their marketing decisions as well as their internal division. To the Vee’s, you were just Vox’s girlfriend who was practically royalty that lorded over them when they’d act up, which caused a lot of friction at first. Quick to snip them back into line whenever risky decisions that could impact their reputation were about to happen, they didn’t end up liking that much. Although you didn’t enjoy getting involved you knew that the Vee’s reputation was important to Vox, which meant you had to give a fuck if Velvette was getting into trouble or Valentino was seconds away from storming away with one of his guns in hand headed straight for the public.

As time passed, the two eased up around you and hesitantly began to accept these new circumstances. After more time, they’d come to see you as Vox’s girlfriend who lived with them and stuck around every day, just like them. Which meant Velvette could get a free model on short notice and Valentino could try and get her in the studio when he was down one whore.

…Over Vox’s dead fucking body was he letting his girlfriend star in a porno with some other fucking bastard touching you in any way, sometimes he could barely handle Valentino touching you on his more stressful days. Velvette was fine, you looked stunning in anything she made you wear.

The silence in-between those times was getting to him though.

Everything is about reputation and with you being an Ars Goetia, which is the closest thing to the royal family there is without actually being royally tied, it could elevate the Vee’s status in the eyes of hell just by association. It could have been a great story for the news, if you weren’t so vehemently against revealing your relationship to the entirety of Hell. Vox didn’t actually care for keeping things under wraps, but he likes to pretend just to keep you quiet on the matter and avoid yet another argument about the subject. Doesn’t mean he won’t still grab you by your waist and pull you in every second he can. So what if the camera’s are on? He’s allowed to want to hold his girlfriend. If his hands roam a bit, you can just slap them away like always.

Even so, he pissed you off this time.

During a broadcast, you’d agreed to make a guest appearance for their reality show in the Vee tower, it was supposed to be a focus on Velvette today with her day in the life section. Vox never took the need to hide your relationship secret too seriously, so the other Vee’s didn’t either. After her part playing model for Velvette, she’d gone ahead and retired to Vox’s floor of the tower. Sandwiched between Valentino and Vox, you were laid across their laps and idly scrolling through her phone. Valentino was pressing kisses against your neck as he watched you, trying to get you to set down the phone for your second unofficial boyfriend. Vox? He was watching the broadcast as it was playing out, it wasn’t often they did it live after all. It was risky, but it provided good content when Velvette could interact with the viewers comments immediately.

It was going great until he shifted his attention away for one moment to press a kiss to your wrist before Velvette bounded in through the doors, the camera pointed right at the three on the couch.

“Here they are—? Couldn’t fuckin’ find Val for a second but here he is! See his coat? You’d think I did that shit, but the fluff and all isn’t me, that’s actually his wings. He can alter them or whatever. Yoo-hoo, lovebirds! The two boyfriends and their girlfriend, give us a hoot!” Velvette grinned as she kept her eyes on the stream, unaware of just how deep your reluctance to be in the public eye went as she gave the camera a shake in your direction.

Immediately, Vox felt you stiffen, practically shoving the two off yourself before giving Vox a look. “Velvette!” You hissed, your eyes wide and panicked. Vox, sensing the immediate shift in mood, swiped his hand over a glass panel and the broadcast cut off, ending the show’s episode with a bang. He barely got a word in before you were storming out, heading to your own room on the floor (not that you ever used it, really, Vox’s had plenty of room for the two of you and more), slamming the door behind you and clicking all the digital locks.

Now two hours later, Vox had finally deactivated the electronic locks and let himself in after your refusal to come out. He wasn’t going to wipe the broadcast, the views were already skyrocketing beyond their usual at the announcement. Everyone seemed happy for them! What’s the big fucking deal? It’s not like anyone was really surprised. Maybe that fuck ass mentor of hers was, the one who kept her away from them every now and then for training away from the Pride ring; but who cares about that bastard really? Maybe the nobility or whatever.

Valentino was pacing around, practically twitching with the urge to go in himself and drag you back out himself. Probably to shake her around back and forth, trying to assure himself that you weren’t mad at him for some godforsaken reason that he couldn’t immediately fix with sex. Velvette on the other hand, almost tore him a new one when he’d explained the very strict rule you had about publicity. She’d guessed they were just waiting to announce it and decided to crash and do it for them, not that you were vehemently against it.

“Baby, please. You can’t stay in here forever, what’s the big deal? Velvette didn’t mean it, you know that.” Vox began with a playful lilt to his voice, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. He’d deactivated all the locks after getting sick of trying to convince you to let him in. Why should he have to beg to see you face to face in his own home?

“What the fuck do you mean what’s the big deal?” You hissed, your wings flaring out behind you as you paced around the room, your hands in tight fists beside you. “The entirety of Hell knows about us! I was fucking— I hated even making myself known to help out the Vee’s but I did it for you! Vox, this is too far, you know that.”

“Babe. If this is about the attention, it’s all positive and shit! They all love you. Everyone suspected we were too close anyways, they’re all eating out of our hands right now. Royal gossip and all that junk! Why are you being like this?” His digital screen displayed a frown and furrowed brows, his sharp claws coming up to try and touch your wing gently before you turned away, your wings pinning to your side flatly as if burned by his attempt.

Distance, silence, anger, rejection. This was all wrong. You looked like a goddamn cornered bird, wings flared in defense with a low sound emitting from your throat. It made something odd stir inside him, a desire to reclaim, to soothe her, to possess or reassert himself.

“Come on, baby, you know I hate it when we’re not on the same wavelength. Talk to me, please?” He tried to coax you into calming down enough to talk to him without it brewing into a full blown argument, his voice sickeningly sweet as he let his hand fall back to his side, although it irritated him to have to be complacent yet again about this issue. Why couldn’t you just accept the fame? You’re already at the top of the ladder, what’s some more? “They all love you and I. No one is rioting like you think they are.”

“It’s not about that.” You snap, then your expression flickers for a moment, a trace of guilt. There it is.

He doubled down, coming up closer beside you with a soft, artificial as can be, smile on his face. “Then tell me what’s going through that lovely head of yours. Why are you worried, baby? We should be celebrating right now, hand in hand with some dr—“

“I’m not in the mood, Vox. Really.” You cut in, your fists tightening at your sides as you move around him to continue pacing around the room. “I don’t want to hear about how this is a good thing, when it’s something I never wanted, not now, at least. I wasn’t ready.”

He pauses, eyes scanning your form for a moment before his grin is back smoothly displayed on his screen. “Alright alright, we don’t have to talk about it. Come back into the lobby with me and we can forget all about this tonight. Val is beside himself with anxiety, we can settle down for the night with him.”

“No—“ you begin, expression crumpling before Vox narrows his eyes as soon as the words leave your mouth.

“No?” He repeats, leveling her with a look.

“I don’t… want to just act like everything is okay. Vox, I don’t— this isn’t right. I told you I didn’t want to get pulled into the spotlight, the public.” You stop pacing, instead standing there with a conflicted look in your eyes.

“I didn’t do this, so why am I being punished?” He raises a brow, moving his screen to catch your gaze again. He didn’t care if you were being stubborn, if she wanted to talk, they’d talk. He offered you a way out and you didn’t take the damn olive branch. Typical of you when things got like this.

“Because—! Velvette didn’t know, why didn’t you ever tell the Vee’s that we were hiding it for a reason?” You’d hissed out, your hands reaching up to tangle in your hair, seconds away from pulling.

“NONE OF THAT.” Vox’s voice blared out at a higher volume, a momentary glitch flickering across his screen abruptly as his arms immediately extended out to grasp at your hands, stopping your from trying to yank on your hair out of frustration.

He watched you with an intensity as you briefly paused, then grit your teeth and lower your hands, clasping them tightly around your necklace instead.

He eased up, letting his arms extend back into him after letting go of you. Straightening himself back up, he considered your words.

“It slipped my mind.” It didn’t. “I thought they’d understand because we never made it public.” He never told them for a reason, deep down hoping something like this might happen. It worked, didn’t it? The Vee’s were the talk of the town now, like they always were, the frenzied public eating it up. Not pictured on his screen was him monitoring the comments on the broadcast that he refused to take down.

“Still, I…” Your voice wavers, and he knows he’s almost got you. He’s so close to winning this, to having you back in his arms and the publicity he wanted so desperately, having both would be so, so fucking satisfying.

And then.

“You’re not listening to me, are you? It slipped your mind? It should have been the very first thing you told them after I made it clear to you, considering we spend a lot of our time around the other Vee’s.” You seem to harden with your resolve, gaze flickering to the floor before it settled back to him.

The hell?

He was so close. What happened now?

“Baby, I—“

“Don’t call me that right now.” You interrupt, strict.

“…Alright, then. I’m sorry, but what’s done is done. I can’t take back my mistake, or Velvette’s.” He tries, his voice a faux soothing tone. “Let’s not argue, okay? I just want to hold you right now, you look so…” He trailed off. Honestly, you looked fine right now, a far cry from your earlier trembling and muttering when he’d first checked the cameras of your room hours ago.

“Take down the broadcast.”

“What?” No, absolutely not. That fucking video was earning them so much money right now, and engagement. Why the fuck would he do that?

“Take down the broadcast and put out a statement that Velvette was just exaggerating, that there’s nothing going on.” You calmly stated, then gave him a look, something he hadn’t seen before, not when you usually gave into him and his words.

“We— We can’t do that,” He glitches slightly, before forcing his circuits back into a stable flow. “That’ll just make things worse, and it’s likely been uploaded a million times over on other people’s channels for commentary.”

“Take it down and we can go back to how things were.” You repeat, posture stiffening the more and more he refused. “It’s not the first time Velvette has stirred something up for publicity, they’ll understand.”

“Baby, no. What’s done is done. Wiping it out won’t change things, it’ll just douse more gas onto the fire.” Vox frowned, his hands reaching out for you. “We can make this better. We can keep public appearances to a minimum, we can do whatever you want, but taking it down isn’t going to magically make it all better.”

He watches as your brows knit together, and as you try again. “Take it down, and we can work from there. Please.” You let out a small sigh, your wings trembling a bit as you maintain your composure for the most part.

“I can’t, you know that. People are going to think we have something to hide.” Vox takes a deep breath, unnecessarily but a habit from when he was alive, in order to keep his cool. “Baby, be reasonable.”

“I am being reasonable. I just— Why can’t you do it? Take it down, Vox. Delete the broadcast and we—“

“I SAID I’m not taking SHIT down—“ Vox glitches in a sudden surge of frustration, his screen flashing a multitude of colors before settling on an angry red that blares brightly for a few moments, a string of incomprehensible text rapidly filling the screen. “You s—sound like a fucking broken record, th—this video is making us money and you want to stop it? Who the fuck do you think pays for y—your shit? Ssssshut the fuc—“ The words tumble out of his mouth before he can stop them, the sudden error preventing him from filtering his true thoughts out. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK. He can see the beginning of realization of what he just said dawn on his girlfriend’s face as he immediately clamps his mouth closed, forcing himself to play damage control before things get more out of hand.

“Baby, I didn’t mean that, I—“ He begins, that soft, coaxing tone returning, a sharp contrast to the vulgar and harsh biting sound he’d just spilled out. The petname is laced with something sweet and belittling, as if this was just another tantrum about his lack of awareness about the cameras. You, however, cut in again.

“I told you to stop calling me that.” You speak up, eerily calm now. With a deep breath, you give him that same stare you had before. “You’re not listening to me. Is that what you’ve been thinking all along? You’re a fucking asshole is what you are.” You grip at your necklace, before yanking on it hard enough that the strong snaps and beads fly everywhere in every direction.

“You’re not listening and all you care about is fucking profit. Why am I sitting here wasting my breath talking to a wall when it’s clear you’ve already decided what to do? Fuck you, fuck the Vee’s, and fuck all of Hell. I’m out of here.” You seethe, hands dropping the broken string and some of the beads, and Vox watches as they hit the floor.

He’d given her that pair.

It gave him a headache to make it, but he’d done it for her because she couldn’t find anything she liked in stores. Only a fucking simp would do what he did. A bastard in love would spend their time making it even with his stupid fucking claws, who just watched them tear that shit over a stupid fucking argument on something that was clearly unavoidable. He opens his mouth to fire back another response but you take a step towards the door and all of his composure goes out the window right in that moment.

“STAY.” His voice blares out, speakers blasting with the force of his command and his screen contorts into a swirling pattern, a hypnotic expression overtaking your face the moment your eyes settle on the screen the moment you turn your head, and he sees the effects of his, immediately activated at your movements, hypnosis begin to repay benefits as you remains rooted into your place.

There’s a brief moment of clarity for him. Ah. So it does work on you after all. Then, a deep seated panic hits him. M -;You’r)e going to fffffucking kill h—hi,m.

He freezes, then forces himself into action.

With a trembling hand, he points towards the bed. “…Sit down.”

He watches as your limbs begin to move, expression blank as you seat yourself on the edge of the bed. Your wings are limp, gaze glassy as you wait aimlessly for further directions.

He swallows thickly, before re-engaging the locks on the door, then disables the swirling pattern as soon as the locks click back into place. He’s never used his hypnosis on her for the entirety of their relationship, no matter how infuriating or tedious their arguments got. He’s never been tempted enough to try, but the passing thought if it would work occasionally flickered through his mind. He almost brought it up once to ask her opinion about using it in the bedroom before he decided that was much too insane to ask during their peaceful dinner at one of the hellfire Michelin restaurants he’d taken her to. He didn’t want her to choke on her steak because he couldn’t keep his curiosity in check.

He can only watch as her expression morphs from a listless blank one to slow realization. Then, big tears start to slowly fall from her eyes, silently slipping down her cheeks.

He’s fucked up again.

“Baby, no no, no…” He moves to kneel beside you, taking your hand in his securely. “I’m sorry, I just didn’t want you to leave. Please, let’s talk about this.”

But all you do is continue to sob silently, pulling your hand away immediately.

Vox's digital heart sinks at the sight of her pulling her hand away, the tears streaming down her face like a silent accusation towards him. He knows he fucked up, did something he shouldn’t have, crossed a line he can’t uncross at one of the worst moments he could have chosen to.

“Love, please.” He pleads, remaining kneeled beside you on one knee. “I know I fucked up, I should have never— I was scared you were going to leave a-and I panicked.”

He almost wants to reach out and just bring you in, take you into his arms and comfort you, hold you until things start to make sense again, or until he’s sure he isn’t losing the thing he wanted to stay most despite it all.

“Just— Tell me what to do. I’ll do anything to make this right. Please, what do you need right now?” He hates the way he sounds right now, everything is tinged in desperation and a plea for her to stay.

“I just,” Another choked sob. You reach your hands up to harshly wipe at your eyes, more tears silently streaming down your face. “—want to go home, I don’t want to be here anymore.”

He feels a sharp jolt of pure desperation, rejection, everything he didn’t want, stab through him. He nearly glitches out again, his screen flickering before he bypasses it and forces his composure.

“But this is your home—“

“Vox, please. I want to go home now.”

"Okay, okay," Vox responds quickly, his voice a low sound, trying to soothe you despite the tension that fills the air between them. "You can go… home. I won't stop you. I just—can we talk first? Please?"

He knows he’s about to lose you, right on the edge. He knows he can’t logically force you to stay forever, you’re falling apart just at a few moments under his hypnosis, it isn’t feasible and he knows that.

"I'll have one of the cars take you wherever you want to go," Vox offers, his words laced with regret. He isn’t sure where you’ll go, but he wants to know you’re there safe. "Just let me make sure you get there safely. That's all I ask. Let me make sure you're safe."

You sniffle, your eyes reddened with more tears as you slowly shake your head. “N…No please, I’ll be okay…”

His screen flickers, limbs twitching with need. He has to force down another error from surfacing, bad enough to almost make him crash. The only thing he can do right now is agree. With a swipe of his hand, the digital locks unlock and the door swings open.

“Alright, if that’s… if that’s what you want, I won’t stop you anymore.” He speaks up after a moment, an overwhelming sense of loss washing over him as he concedes. “Just… be careful, okay? Hell isn’t as kind as you think it is.”

The least he can do is watch over you, right?

He has cameras all over the city, she’ll be fine. He’ll be watching over his beloved to make sure she gets home just fine. He doesn’t know where that is, but he’s sure to find out now. And when she’s ready to talk, they’ll talk and iron this out. It’s not like this is the end of everything, what would he tell the other Vee’s? The media? What would he do?

He swallows, then takes a step back. “Just… text me when you feel better, okay?”

“Yeah… Okay…” You nod slowly, then stand up from the bed. Your wings are curled around yourself protectively, and you begin to walk towards the now unlocked door. With each step you take, Vox twitches a bit, hands trembling with the need to reach out and stop you himself. He contemplates something, and with a grimace, his screen activates it’s hypnotic swirl. He hopes you’ll look back at him for just a moment, just for a second. All he needs is just one moment and he can get them to talk this out.

“G—Goodbye, take care of yourself. Talk soon, okay? Message me when you’re home safe.” He forces out, his screen going pixelated with various colors in a moment for a moment before resuming its swirl. You pause your steps, as if contemplating something before you swallow, and continue on your way out. Without sparing him a glance as you go.

You don’t look back at him. Instead, you mumble something he can’t catch out, probably a half-hearted goodbye, and walk out on him.

The text never comes and neither do you.

#hazbin hotel x reader #vox x reader #vox hazbin x reader

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mxi-88 · 15 days

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Amy Kiriwo redemption is real and here's why (an analysis/speculation)

Ok. I don't normally make posts like these but since I've posted Iruma-kun art on this blog a few times some of you may be aware that I really really REALLY like Amy Kiriwo. I really adore Mairuma in general but Amy specifically makes me go fucking coconuts as a fan of that type of character (obsessive, desire-driven, yandere, whatever)—and also because Amy has a certain unique charm about him, whether that be the gap between his twisted personality and his ditzy demeanor or the unique setting, so on and so forth. But I also tend to like villainous characters in general, because they're so unhinged and fun and interesting to think about!

Usually I hate when characters like these get redeemed because the whole appeal of them is how unpredictable and outrageous they are in their villainy, and more often than not, a redemption gets rid of (or at least severely dampens) these characteristics!

HOWEVER. I just caught up with the manga for the first time more or less since Deviculum last year and I just cannot help but feel absolutely insane about how much a "redemption" (heavy quotes here) for Amy is being built towards, and yet I rarely see much discussion about this in fan buzz. This is both in terms of general narrative structure as well as a certain scene in the recent Battler Party arc.

Disclaimer: I have terminal brainrot and some of this might be confirmation bias. But maybe it will still give you some food for thought. It's cool if you hate Amy and don't agree with my interpretation just be nice ok guys?

Part1: Iruma's Belief

I think a good jumping off point for this argument would be addressing a point of contention I've seen floating around in this fandom sometimes: Why does Iruma still believe in Amy?

I actually understand why some people might be confused about this. After all, Amy has done nothing but hurt Iruma and the people he cares about, and he has every right to feel upset, angry, and betrayed after he found out the senpai who he'd related to and looked up to so much was nothing but a facade.

Putting his reasons aside for a second, this scene in Deviculum isn't actually the first time Iruma has acted like this toward Amy. It's easy to miss or forget about, but even after everything that happened at the Battler Party, Iruma never shows any hostility, even retroactively, toward Amy.

He kept what happened with Amy a secret from even Asmodeus and Clara—but he doesn't fret over it like he does hiding the fact that he's human. Iruma just doesn't think it was pressing enough that Asmodeus and Clara needed to know about it. Of course, keep in mind that Iruma doesn't interact with Amy at all from the Battler Party all the way until Deviculum, so he doesn't know the extent of the danger he's actually in.

I think Iruma believes in that weak but ambitious demon he met during the Rookie Hunt. Even if Amy revealed himself to have that perverted obsession with despair, even if he tried to kill his classmates and cause chaos, I think to Iruma it doesn't change the fact that Amy is still weak, just like him.

I think a lot of people forget just how much impact Amy had on Iruma when he was first adjusting to the demon world: he didn't have much of a real ambition until he saw that there were demons like Amy who (seemingly) wanted to make the world a more equal place for those without magic—those like Iruma. (A side note, but I imagine this made the part of Amy's speech during Deviculum saying there would be no place for him particularly hard for Iruma to hear from him specifically).

The thing is though—Iruma isn't being entirely naive here. It's true that no matter what Amy does, evil or otherwise, he cannot change the fact that he was born with weak magic.

It's constantly pointed out that Amy relies on magic that's not his own.

It's pointed out so consistently every time he makes an appearance that for a while I thought there was gonna be some weird twist where it wasn't actually Amy? I'm still not confident in how to pin this obvious foreshadowing but for now I firmly believe it's meant to remind the reader that Amy is dependent on his borrowed magic, most likely from Baal—physically, and maybe even emotionally? (It seems possible from the way Asmodeus's narration in this panel is framed that there could be something more insidious at play like experimentation or something, but that's just speculation)

Amy is dependent on most likely Baal's magic just like Iruma is with Sullivan's magic. They may be gaining more and more power to the naked eye, but the moment the "tool" to express that power is stripped of them, they're helpless again. There's a reason Nishi highlighted the direct parallel of both of their magic devices being ring-shaped.

Iruma believes (or wants to believe) that the facade Amy showed him had a glimmer of truth to it because of how strongly it affected him. Of course, it's also because Iruma is an inherently kind and also selfish person. In my opinion, he wants to have the Amy who he looked up to so much, even if he barely ever actually existed. This is why what he declares to Amy at Deviculum is framed as a desire. This is a strong theme of the series and it's something I'll touch on again in another section.

I feel like I should mention after all of that talk that I don't think Amy is actually secretly tortured about his weakness/abandonment or some sadboy schtick like that. We'll get into this more in the next section, but any self-pity or anger he once harbored was something that was flushed out of him quite thoroughly. Right now, he is very much narrow-mindedly concerned with his obsession with eating Iruma, his goals are aligned with Baal and the 6 Fingers, and his lack of magic is solved by his collar, so it's natural he doesn't really care.

I feel like any discussion of Amy's motivations or themes gets shut down a lot with accusations of "making a villain character sympathetic for no reason" when really I only care about villains being interesting. Like I said at the start, the last thing I wanna do is take Amy's unhingedness or autonomy away, because it makes for a really enjoyable villain. I just genuinely believe that Amy is being framed this way deliberately, and I think it opens some fascinating avenues for his character development other than just "Iruma realizes Amy is actually evil after all because unconditional belief is for naive WEENIES and they defeat him".

Anyway, that leads me to the next section, which I admit, is a bit heavier on the interpretative side, hence my disclaimer.

Part 2: Baal

Listen, I know it's a shounen manga and all, but keep in mind Amy is still a 17-18 year old teen. He doesn't have much life experience. He had a hell of a shit childhood even if he did have a weird sadism thing going on. All of these things don't excuse his evil deeds—obviously. But I do think taking these factors into account is absolutely necessary if we're going to try and understand why he is the way he is.

I'm not gonna recount it beat by beat, but as a kid Amy was not only shunned by his family and peers for his lack of magic, but also by his only friend for something that

"Grooming" is a term with very heavy connotations that I'd like to avoid, but at the very least the way Baal takes Amy "under his wing" is very reminiscent of cult conditioning. Members of cults are often recruited in strained or distorted emotional states in which they have a greater desire for acceptance. This tactic is successful in maintaining loyalty in cults because the members are convinced that no one else will accept them besides the cult figurehead or leader—the result is usually a hostility for the world outside of the cult, paranoia about leaving the cult, or both.

Amy, a young child at this point, says outright that he's being ostracized for his behavior, but Baal validates it, and thereby earns his loyalty. Amy is a child at this point; even if Baal claims he's more "twisted" inherently, I think it's unreasonable to characterize them as equals in this relationship, especially when Amy depends on his magic. I think the Amy we know could be very different if he joined Baal when he was older and less impressionable.

You could say Baal didn't validate Amy with the active intent of emotionally manipulating him, it was just a declaration of his honest beliefs—and I honestly half agree with you. Functionally, however, I do still believe that a conditioning process is what happened. In this same scene Amy seemed to still be at least a little bit troubled about how gifting his horn to his friend troubled her and reflected on his abnormalcy, but by the time he reveals all to Iruma, he shows no reservations at all. He doesn't really reflect on the hierarchy which caused him so much suffering outside of how it contributes to more chaos, more despair.

This interpretation (which I've held for quite a while) brings me to a certain scene in the recent Battler Party arc that was eerily reminiscent of this dynamic. It was what spurred me to type all of this out at 5am on a Monday night.

Humor me for a minute, because I realize the comparisons between Palome/Galna and Amy/Baal are not 1:1, but I feel like there are enough similarities that it's worth talking about.

The idea of a demon with twisted perversions which were encouraged by a sibling figure with an ulterior motive is already a pretty compelling parallel to me, but the fact that it was specifically the story behind the Magitool's Battler Party exhibition makes me think that, just maybe, the parallel might have actually been an intentional allusion.

In particular, the line about Palome "facing her desires earnestly" caught my attention. Quite honestly it seems like Amy's fixation on Iruma has become his #1 priority—and although he certainly has returned to origins (strongly associated with base desires) in my opinion his obsession with Iruma, as twisted as it is, is probably the strongest desire he's felt that exists somewhat removed from Baal's direct encouragement. It's personal. It doesn't serve a greater purpose in Baal's plan. Remember the cult analogy I loosely used for comparison earlier? Cult mentality punishes individuality. Food for thought.

There's this great comic by gigausagi on Twitter (it's 🤏shippy so only click if you're cool with that) that explores the idea of Amy's obsession with Iruma conflicting with the will of Baal/the 6 Fingers—I think this is one perfectly natural way his character could develop. I'll get into more detailed hopes/hunches about this later, though.

If the Palome/Galna parallel is an intentional parallel, I think it's really interesting how much it emphasizes the lack of empathy Galna has for her sister because of how it would in turn highlight that feature in Baal, something that I previously had to desperately piece together from subtext. On the other hand, for all the familial fondness Amy seems to have for Baal, at least on some level however shallow, it's already pretty obvious Baal does not care much about Amy outside of how useful he is to his cause.

It might seem silly of me to clarify this considering he's, y'know... the villain, and their thing isn't exactly friendship and rainbows especially considering their beliefs. None of the 6 Fingers display any real fondness for each other—Amy is just the exception here, albeit small.

And Baal does actually have belief in Amy—he believes in Amy's "messed up head". He believes that Amy will prove useful; he believes in Amy's potential for evil. It's a transactional belief, benefitting the cause that they both align themselves with—and which, notably, ends with him in power. Iruma's belief in Amy is largely the opposite. He believes that Amy is capable of good, and his belief in him is founded in the bond they formed.

I also wanna make it clear again that this isn't me scapegoating Baal for everything Amy does because that's lazy and boring and they make it pretty damn clear Amy is all-in on their plans together. However... I don't think it's unreasonable to think this contrast could be a set-up for something in the future.

How could this manifest? Who knows. Right now Baal is more of a passive villain, so it's hard to predict the kind of drastic actions he could take before he does them. Maybe Amy will outlive his usefulness, or maybe there'll be some internal conflict within the group that will strain their allyship. Or maybe Amy's personal desires will conflict with the goals of the 6 Fingers like I mentioned earlier.

Ultimately I'm more concerned with the thematic implications of a conflict like this, which brings us to...

Part 3: Desire

(Spoilers for 2nd Year Battler Party Arc)

I find it veeery interesting the way the protagonists keep aligning themselves with demons like Beem.

They are extremely desire and thrill-driven, I would argue more than any other non-returned to origins demon we've met so far—their parents even suspected they could be returning to origins as a child.

Mairuma has such an overwhelming theme of desire. Mairuma wants you to chase your most private, most shameful, most visceral and selfish desires. Sylvia even went through her evil cycle she was so desperate to fulfill her desire to paint Galna. Mairuma again and again seeks to tell us that there is nothing wrong with being selfish and reaching for what we want.

So far I've talked about two desires that are relevant to the future of Amy's character.

And yeah... it's pretty much spelled out for us here. So, if Amy is still latched onto the idea of eating Iruma, and Iruma is still latched onto the idea of his relatable senpai, how would that conflict be resolved? Well... We've basically been talking about it this entire time. Indulge me for a bit and let me spin the scenario that plagues my mind for you.

I briefly alluded to the possibility of Amy being subjected to some kind of experimentation, presumably to enhance his magical ability. It doesn't have to be this exactly, but nevertheless Amy ends up doing something drastic in order to fulfill his desire of eating Iruma—and in the process either gets used by Baal and the 6 Fingers and thrown away, or intervenes, inadvertently throwing off their plan enough to have him meet a similar fate. It's important here that his magic is taken away somehow—maybe the ring in his collar gets crushed or something. I think it could also be interesting if during this conflict Iruma also lost his ring, or even took it off willingly, to level their footing.

The point is that Amy follows his desire to the point of veering off the path of outright villainy, and onto that personal desire I spoke of earlier.

However, one thing I'm absolutely sure of is that Iruma's desire will be granted. I don't have as much of a concrete picture of this, but I would be extremely shocked if Suzuki "I want to pick everything up" Iruma ever goes back on his desire—especially when it was that first confrontation with Amy that he realized that was his desire in the first place. This, combined with the ominous ass dialogue "It's too late for me, Iruma-kun..." from the panel at the start make me absolutely certain that some sort of Amy redemption is coming—I only wanted to lay out some of my thoughts about it.

I don't think any redemption he gets will cause him to be watered down—Nishi writes way too many unnecessarily insane scenes with Amy for her to just stop cold turkey in my opinion. And even if it ends up incorporating none of the talking points I delved into in this post, I'm still sure that she could do an outstanding job with the task.

And lest we forget how Amy saved him from falling to his death. I think this desire to keep Iruma from dying meaninglessly (or being harvested for his magic or whatever crazy shit 6 Fingers are doing) is also quite a likely point of conflict that could come into play.

What do you all think? Have I gone coconuts? Is anyone else overthinking this the way I am? Is it not that deep? To tell you the truth I probably could have written even more but it's now 8am and I need a power nap. Might edit it up some more when I wake up. Let me know...

#on the art blog like damn sorry i got a lot to say someones gotta hear it #*not art #mairimashita iruma kun #mairimashita! iruma kun #mairuma #m!ik #welcome to demon school iruma kun #ami kirio #amy kiriwo #suzuki iruma #baal

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bemusedlybespectacled · 5 months

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Minor tangent but I have seen a specific criticism of OFMD multiple times that's along the lines of "the problem was the first three episodes being too dark and gritty instead of being our fluffy kind gay show."

And I strongly disagree with that criticism.

Like, Season 1 already had its dark and gritty moments. It was never 100% fluffy. Everything Ed does at the end of 1x10 (throwing Lucius overboard, cutting off Izzy's toe, marooning the crew, and kidnapping Jim and Frenchie) is the most obvious example, but there are others: Stede's experiences as a child, Ed's abusive father, Jim's family's murder. All of them are shown to still be affected years later in a way that impacts how they interact with other people, which is why it's emotionally satisfying when they find love despite it.

Addressing the events of the S1 finale in the first couple of episodes of S2 was vital. It solidifies just how devastated Ed is and how that devastation has affected everyone else, both negatively and positively, for a given value of "positive" (the Kraken crew is clearly closer as a result of their shared trauma). The scenes showing how being part of Stede's crew changed them for the better (talking to and hugging Izzy, Jim telling Fang the wooden boy story with the voices, etc.) were absolutely necessary and arguably the strongest parts of the show, and I don't think we would have had that if the stakes weren't so high. "Ed is a bit mopey sometimes, but it's not that bad!" just doesn't have the same oomph.

Had they pulled a Last Jedi and started 2x01 by throwing away all that build up from 1x10 and making a joke about it, it would have been a poorer show. The times when darker things were treated as a joke (Lucius' experience after being thrown overboard), flat-out ignored (Stede's fairly obvious anxiety disorder), or blown past because of time constraints (Ed getting voted off the ship and then reinstated as part of the crew within a day) were when the show was weakest.

The problem, of course, is that once you've acknowledged that impact, you need to keep acknowledging it. It needs to continue having an impact. And you can't do that if you don't have the time to explore it because you need to skip ahead to the part where everything's fine now.

I'm not saying that they needed to fully shift gears and stop being a comedy entirely. I think S1 threaded the needle pretty well in terms of balancing the conflict with humor. Like, Ed has a breakdown in the bathtub over murdering his father and what a horrible person he is and his plan to kill Stede, and none of that is a joke; the joke is when Stede checks to make sure Ed isn't going to kill him. The sad stuff can be taken seriously and we can still have humor to break the tension! We can do it! We have the technology!

But you can't have a serious thing happen for the sake of growth and then hand wave it away later when it's inconvenient. And you definitely can't introduce ways to break that tension (surprise, Stede is alive because he used This One Weird Trick!) and then not use it when it's inconvenient (surprise, Izzy is alive because he– oh, wait, no, he's dying for realsies).

The issue wasn't the show having dark and gritty bits at all. The issue was the lack of time for those dark and gritty bits to do their fucking job: being a catalyst for personal and relationship growth in a way that actually matters to and affects the story.

#ofmd critical #writing #izzy hands #ofmd meta #personal #our flag means death

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comicaurora · 9 months

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If you still have Sailor Moon on the brain, did watching it at all give you any options you wish to share about other magical girl esk media you wish existed or your own take on how you would create a story in that media space?

If not, then maybe, if you're inclined to, recount some interesting findings about the connections that exist between shojo and shonen media?

(If neither then please disregard, sorry for imposing)

It was interesting! I was surprised at how much it had in common with shonen action anime. Half the boss battles get resolved with a beam clash and the only difference between Super Saiyan and Neo Queen Serenity is whether the hair or the outfit changes.

The one part I found myself sliding off of - due to personal writing preference - is how Usagi is the defacto center of the universe and everyone else is very explicitly playing support. That's part of why I liked the Outer Senshi so much - because they've all got their own ludicrously OP stuff going on, they feel more like equals to Usagi than glorified bodyguards. The inner planet senshi get their own character arcs, which is excellent, but after a while it's pretty clear that none of them can ever finish a fight without Sailor Moon. And that's fine, that's the pretense of the story - their jobs are very explicitly to protect the turbopowerful demigoddess moon princess while she gets her act together enough to remember she can win - but I prefer writing an ensemble cast where everyone feels like the hero of their own story, not the support in someone else's, and that's pretty much antithetical to the core premise of the show.

It also has a lot of the hallmarks of a soft magic system that I personally struggle with - the old "you win by believing in yourself" thing basically means "you win when the plot demands it would be most interesting for you to win" - but again, they can get away with a lot by letting the actual core premise of the universe's power system be stuff like "a pure heart gives you strength" and "the power of love will legitimately make you more powerful." And I respect that the show doesn't just give people powerups whenever - one of the parts I found most emotionally impactful was in the finale of season 3, when Sailor Saturn is going to fight the big bad all by herself and will 100% definitely die in the process, and because Sailor Moon has sacrificed the season's macguffin, she can no longer transform into her powered-up form to help - which doesn't stop her from screaming the transformation phrase over and over, because she is desperate to save Sailor Saturn even if she's been told it can't possibly work. When she gets her The Most Purest Heart Ever powerup at the last possible second, that feels excellent because it's a profoundly impactful character moment that's being supported by the plot with a tangible powerup. It's pretty telling that we don't even see the final bossfight; it's not about the spectacle or the beam clash, it's about the character arcs that surround them. I think that's a really interesting way to handle it and to add depth to an otherwise basic "whose number is bigger" style struggle.

I'm also deeply fond of paragons, and as the seasons go on I really like how Usagi's ultimately kind personality drives her to constantly help, no matter the personal cost or how aggressively people try to dissuade her - and I like that she gets angry and frustrated and even says or does harsh things sometimes, but will ultimately always do what she thinks is right. It makes her feel like a real human being, and the "weaknesses" and flaws in her character - aka the parts that make her something more complicated than a perfectly stoic problem-solving machine - are a lot of fun to watch.

Personal preference, I'd like to see more magical girl stuff where the central pillar of the plot is not a constant will-they-won't-they het romance - but I also like how Sailor Moon as a series is legitimately aware that this is not actually the de facto most important relationship for everyone. Surprising multitude of gay characters aside, I recently caught a season 2 episode where Makoto donates blood to save a close friend, and explains to Usagi that she isn't in love with him, but they have an incredibly profound friendship that's more important to her than any boyfriend, a concept with startles and confuses Usagi. It seems to be a case where the heroine has a Foundational Romantic Subplot that defines the course of her life and the plot, but the rest of the characters get to have more complicated dynamics where their life goals aren't "omg boys", and I liked that a lot!

When comparing and contrasting it to shonen action anime, I think the magical girl genre manages to integrate the lower-stakes slice of life elements significantly more smoothly, and to great effect - the 90% of the show that's silly and ridiculous makes the 10% of it that's extremely serious and gutwrenching much more impactful. That's something that a lot of shonen series struggle with, where the tone goes from "moderately serious with the occasional goof" to "extremely serious with major character deaths." The magical girl genre going from "the dumbest episode premise you've ever heard" to "extremely serious with major character deaths" is a much more precipitous plunge into icy water, as it were.

When I think about how I would write a magical girl story, I basically just smack into the premise of Exalted. Its worldbuilding has exactly what I want - an interesting system of powerset-reincarnation into worthy hosts that allows for complex interpersonal dynamics through varying levels of memory preservation, several different flavors of magical transforming person including Evil Versions, and the one thing I prioritize in my own writing - a world that feels like it can have a lot of main characters and heroes of their own story. Everyone in Exalted has their own shit going on and their own past-life drama, including former friend groups/adventuring parties, soulmates (both regular and evil versions), and anyone who might've previously killed them. Most importantly for my preferences, there's no default main character of the universe. If I were to make an urban fantasy magical girl setting, I'd probably use an extremely similar premise because I find the ramifications of it unbelievably interesting in a way the system itself is not designed to explore.

#asks #not aurora #media recs #writing stuff

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bitethedustfools · 9 months

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New sagau idea? Part 2

Decide to make part 2 because i have bunch of ideas that probably might inspire you and i do feel these kind of stuffs need to be explored more. Fyi, I don't play genshin but i do know some from watching people gaming. Apologizing once more of these kind of idea/au exist as well.

Decide to make part 2 because i have so many ideas.

1) A violent and heartless player

You play Genshin Impact to pass time and are also a very violent and aggressive player where you'll always yell and throw items to vent or throw insults under your breath, and then back to gaming. In short, It's like a Call of Duty toxic player went into Genshin Impact.

Falling to death or drowning angered you to the point of banging your head and cursing. Not to mention, walking in the game angered you too because the characters were too slow!

You suck at first; impulsive action is not the best choice when you're angry, but you are in some way adaptable. You decide that your anger will be the source of your motivation to go through everything, so everything works out in the end.

Insulting is your mother tongue, so that means the characters and even the NPC are not spared as well. Most of your vicious, colorful insults and hurtful comments went toward people whom you hated and annoyed the most.

You remember the time when you laughed at Timmie's dumb dead birds and wished you had an option to push him off the bridge. His dad probably sensed he was a little b*tch back when he was a baby and went out to get some milk and never come back.

You sometimes intentionally let them die in a fight or or do something all in the name of experiment. You would even build a prison for them in the serenitea pot and just do the f*cked-up stuff that's possible in this game.

So one day, you broke your gaming setup due to your outburst, and somehow you woke up in Teyvat.

You didn't believe it was reality, and you still treated them as characters. Besides, they looked stupid with those stupid clothes on. They would stood out like a sore dumba$$ if they walked around in your world like that.

Anyway, killing Hilichurl or other small enemies is no problem for you. Committing a crime doesn't bother you. You probably don't bat an eye on killing people as well. Besides, all of this is just a game to you.

They're not real to you.

Their death is their fault for picking a fight with you. Should have just looked away instead of approaching you. Not your fault their feelings hurt.

Archons wanted to smite you, and somehow you managed to escape them and deal a few harmless blows. Not that it matters; you will be the one to seek them out and fight them when their backs are on you, and the cycle will repeat.

How you're still alive using a measly weapon because you don't know how to use claymore, polearms, and etc. is beyond you. But hey, anything is a weapon as long as it deals damage and even if it don't, you are still satisfied from letting all your anger out.

Nevertheless, all of the nations are in turmoil, and the culprit is none other than you.

The characters will definitely hate you, or maybe they feel ashamed and insecure about themselves because they want to fix themselves. Some acolytes and the people who believe in justice and peace had 'kill on sight' pinned on your back. They don't even believe that you are a god. God don't act like this.

The Wanderer 4th betrayal definitely happened, and Dottore clones definitely got hunted for sport because they annoyed you Does the Fatui wants to recruit you? You don't know, depends. Do they believe you are the god they worshipped? Also, don't know. Not like you care though.

No one can wreck havoc and commit more sins than you. You, a single person, broke Teyvat's peace and order effortlessly than the fatui with just impulsive anger and chaotic energy.

And if one day you realize that you actually have blood on your hands, you'll probably shrug it off and say it doesn't matter.

If you go back to your own world, no one knows what you have done. Who's going to tell the police? The dead people you stabbed out of annoyance? Those fiction characters that had animosity toward you?

No, will there even be someone alive in Teyvat if you were to return?

2) Streamer and gamer player.

In which you are transported into Teyvat along with some game skills, menus, and anything relevant to a game. That includes the chat box.

You learned that you were still streaming when you got sent to Teyvat, and everyone in the chat can see you. Cool, so it's not a dream; it's real, and instead of playing, you are the player! Where's Aether/Lumine? Why are you here? "AIYO!?? We got to see DAT CAKE!"

You are not aware that you looked like an idiot talking to yourself unless pointed out by the chat. It seems that the chat sees you as part of the game, which means that they can see the characters and NPC thoughts and words while you see them as a normal person.

Cool. Now you have to have the chat got your back, or else you're doomed. Dead. Unable to be revived. You're not sure if you can do that, but you're not willing to try.

Another problem that arises is that the chat tends to troll you or bombard you with loud sounds. It makes it harder to trust them or focus on what the characters are saying when they did this.

Sometimes you beg the chat, like they are some sort of sadistic god looking down at you from above the clouds with their chins high and a sneer.

All because you want some goddamn money because apparently, if they donate money, it instantly becomes moras and you're broke as fuck like cmon, help a fricking clown out.

Strangely, despite everything looked real, you have the physics of a game. The things you find in the game work if you try hard enough. For example, glitching under the Mondstadt's land. With these kinds of things, you don't need to walk when you can just glitch and get sent flying across the nation. Just making use of this bug makes your life easier.

Oh, how did you get stuck on this cliff while you were trying to use another entrance to Sumeru? That's right, it's an experiment to see if it works.

"Don't laugh, chat; I'm doing this out of curiosity and for you. Youre the one whos suggesting this."

The characters in Teyvat thought you were a rather peculiar person, talking to yourself at random times, and you seemed to know too much even though you didn't do any research, merely fighting hilichurls and robbing back the bandits–

–Oh Great Archons! You can fly!? No? It's a glitch? Well, they don't understand enough to understand you, but hey, that's so you. Keep up being weird, player.

Maybe the things you do are… unique and can be considered divine in their eyes. After all, who could walk on air like you do? Or bringing people back to life and knowing so much? No one could do that, so you must be a god!

As a matter of fact, you remind them of a certain figure. That's right! The creator! The creator acted like you too. Always talking to this thing called "chat"

"Um, no, I'm a gamer and chat is chat."

You fail to take into consideration that while everything looks like a game in your eyes, the people are definitely real, and this is what they thought of you.

3) Killer player

You don't play Genshin Impact, but you are quite resourceful, cunning, and deviously smart. You know this game is quite famous, and coincidentally, the prey you aimed to take life is playing it too.

In order to get closer to your prey, you must be fluent in their language. You listened to all that your prey blabbered and what they showed with an interested smile. You even question them once in a while to get them going all for the sake of learning the prey's personality and schedule and how you want to unalive them.

When you did kill your prey and accidentally broke their computer/laptop in the process, you got transported to Teyvat. In a way, you had stolen your prey's fate instead.

(The characters had mistaken you for their creator before but dismissed it because you lacked a certain presence. However, you do feel familiar with them because you sometimes watch over the game when your prey has played before.)

Now, you heard interesting things about this game, and you grew more interested when the characters interacted with you. How amusing! The characters had no idea you were a very sinister and cunning person behind a weak and polite persona.

In terms of healthcare, they are leaning toward supernatural stuff, and the medicine using materials found in this world is also effective. However, they seem to be lacking in a certain area that needs surgery.

Most deaths were common due to hilichurls and bandits, or those whom they called the Fatui, so they wouldn't be examined too closely. You doubt that they even have something that closely resembles fingerprint identification, judging by the lack of technology..m

…Which means hiding and killing is much easier than in your previous world.

Teyvat is such a nice place to have entertainment. It didn't take too long for you to settle here and get comfortable.

Monstadt is a city known for freedom and peace; however, once you arrive here, every night, no doubt a single person will go missing or be found dead. You are normally a silent killer, but you couldn't resist letting them know. Their expression thrilled you.

All those knight roaming around at night, and they couldn't even save a single person. What a pity.

In Liyue, the funeral parlor became rich all thanks to these crimes you were committing. Does a certain acolyte know what you're doing? Maybe not, afterall, there are more ways to kill a person than just a sword and poison.

Accidents could happen, you know? falling off a cliff, in the wrong place at the wrong time, being mauled by animals where people conveniently are not near, or dealing with the wrong person.

Inazuma is much more easier; their deaths could be pinned on one person who is also the source of the nation's tense atmosphere. Hatred, anger and fear rose with each crime you committed, but there is no evidence that you did it. After all, what could a weak and polite person who looked like they couldn't wield a sword do?

Plenty actually. Not that they know.

Sumeru is quite nice. Full of gifted scholars and intelligent individuals. You thought it will be a challenge seeing as you have similar minds and yet, most disappointed you.

All these smart people, and they couldn't string the murder together. Maybe you don't kill the right one which mean the don't care. Oh? Then should you kill the one with that grey hair? He seems to be someone of importance.

You made Akademiya your target. You must admit that you learned quite a lot of precious knowledge in this place. While youre here, might as well pretend to be one and use this time to gather infos.

They did not know and realized how you got into the Akademiya or how you had disguised yourself as one of the scholars. They don't know how you got through security or how one by one are slowly not attending the class or the expedition.

They said that acting confidently like you belong there and becoming part of the background like a plain NPC is always the key to infiltration.

And oh, even if they get suspicious and point that out to you, you know what to do. Lying, speaking half the truth, and gaslighting are also languages you are quite good at.

And Fontaine, oh, Fontaine. A nation that is known for justice when, in fact, it's not always about justice but entertainment. It is a nation that indirectly challenge you as well. Entertainment? Why, you know what kind of entertainment you shall give! It will be something that everyone remembers for the rest of their life.

You are like Jack the Ripper, never caught and never punished. Did the Archons ever suspect you? Who knows. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't.

All you know is that you have an alibi to back you up and a likeable and underestimated personality.

#genshin sagau #sagau #genshin impact sagau #self aware genshin #genshin impact #ideas #alternate universe #write

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catnipplot · 1 year

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Sagau Genshin -but the characters can't agree what God you are

So just about every Sagau AU for Genshin agrees that every character and/or country/faction just accept the player as the Creator (or at least eventually, in the cases of the Imposter AUs). Yes, sometimes the different countries have conflicting lore connecting you to their archon, but that is as far as it goes. Which does not account for the different perspectives cultures from vastly different environments and traditions have.

So instead I porpose; Sagau where nobody agrees on who the player really is aside from a higher being. Either because of them not realizing their all controlled by the same person or they realize you are the same person, but disagrees on who you are.

To start lets address a character everyone skips over: The Heavenly Principles. There is nearly no canon-knowledge about her, so it is free reign. She is more aware than any other character, having not just awareness of this being a game, but having awareness since Gun Girls. She remembers Gun Girls and Honkai Impact, during which she was crushed by her awareness. She knows you are a player, but that doesn't matter. You are her Constant, whether you played the other games or not. Her Constant, her companion, her last anchor -when she feels you play genshin that first second, she attacks the twins to keep you connected to this world. While she doesn't share the truth with the rest of the world, Kiana might become the number one reason you isekai -and gain powers after arrival.

Now everyone else is just aware of you're influence, not the game.

Moonstadt has at first a few people actually thinking you are Venti -what with him being their god and not havin' been seen for so long-, but said archon quickly spread the word that this was not actually the case. Since then theories are running wild here, but at least they all agree you are one god. Some like Barbara, Kaeya, and Venti do think you are in fact the creator god. Lisa accidently started a rumor that you were started a rumor that you were basically an archon that was sealed away during the Archon War and Barbatos' soulmate as a joke, but the rumor mutated and now there are proofs to the point she believes it(Which makes a certain bard blush and stutter). Bennett is part of the group that thinks you are a Adventurer Archon, as you always use them as vessel when adventuring. Meanwhile Razor thinks you are the Guardian Spirit that was his childhood hero, a human raised by wolves like him, who ascended and returns to guide them during difficult times. And there are at least 50 other possible godhoods.(Think wall with strings If you 'descend' you will find a loyal fellowship regardless, but if you try to deny your godhood then that can only mean somebody erased your memories. So no worries, the theories will continue as a attempt to help you regain your 'true' past and punish whoever attacked you.

Liyue is much more structured; they all agree that you are the God of the Beginning. Not so much a Creator as a bringer of change who only appears at new beginnings -may it be their world, a new era or to fight the End of Days. Which of course makes everyone silently panic when your present gets known. They want to belief it's just a new era coming, but you use them to fight... Zhongli, just as his people, quietly spreads his network, searching for your 'true' enemy -the Abyss or the Fatui. They are ready to fight on your side regardless. Given this, Liyue might end up special when you isekai, as some characters will tread you as equal. But never forget that they see you as their last defense against Armageddon -they might speak to you like a friend, but you are so much more important.

Inazuma actually do not welcome you right away. They are seeking eternity, you bring change. But after the Traveler, who is recognized as your champion, saves them, they accept you. But the Traveler only tells them that you are 'his/her god'. So they consult the old books. They find a old, practically burned text on the Archon of Hope and Dreams. Beelzebul is devastated that she had apparently forgotten her childhood crush that died centuries before the Archon War, but had you returned? If so, you were clearly still reforming. If you descend, they welcome you at first open to you either staying or leaving to create your own city. But what is eternity without hope? Won't you reconnect with your old childhood friend?

Snezhnaya thinks you are a god connected to Visions, as you can use all Elements (even if through different vessels). Still there are pretty split at who you are. Most think you are either the Archon of Power or the Archon of Souls. Interestingly enough those two ideas give you vastly different backgrounds; The Archon of Power (Childe believes this) supposly was banished to the abyss after placing mortals over their fellow archons, while the Archon of Souls was imprisoned in Celestia and hidden from the other Archons since Creation. Either way you escaped. The Tsarista keeps quiet on the tropic, but would waste no efforts to bring you to her if you were to ever descend. She might even come to pick you up herself.

Sumeru meanwhile thinks you a Overseer to the Archons, meant to protect the balance between them in the world. You always did so from Celestia, with the Heavenly Principles as your Executer. But something happened. Members of Akademiya tend to think the Archons had fallen to the point you had to intervene yourself, while everyone else thinks there was a traitor in Celestia that forced you to flee and is responsible for the chaos appearing across the Teyvat. Still, to them you are the Judge of the Gods. Someone to be obeyed without questions. If you ever isekai, you might end up getting pressured to play the act, or they might think you have been corrupted and must be protected till your divinity restores.

Last, but not least, we have Aether and Lumine. Now regardless to which you chose, they hold the same option and loyalty to you. But they also look at the Teyvaters with pity; for a god you might be, you were not of this world. You were of their home world. Their beloved god who crossed worlds to save them when they were attacked at the beginning. Alas, this was not your world, which was why your powers are limited so much. If you descend they will conclude that Teyvat attacked you, caged you like the twins, forced you in a mortal form and messed with your memories -which neither sibling will ever forgive. You are their god after all, Teyvat had no right to you.

#genshin sagau #sagau x reader #sagau aether #sagau lumine #sagau brainrot #sagau zhongli #sagau ei #sagau venti

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