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soul-controller · 1 year

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Influencing The Influencer

Hello there everyone, this is a story that I’m pulling from my Patreon vault from March 2022 for public release here on Tumblr. If you enjoy the story and would like to see more content like this, please feel free to click here to subscribe to my Patreon.

For 34-year-old Tom, there was nothing he enjoyed more than helping people become their best selves. Either in-person or through social media, the relaxed and kind individual absolutely loved guiding individuals to becoming their best and truest selves. In fact, there were a fair amount of popular social media influences that he had helped guide, but none of them compared to Chris Nelson.

To Tom, there was nothing hotter than a cocky and hairy dude, so it was no surprise that with Tom’s help, Chris became a permanent resident of the #1 spot on Tom’s list of hottest men. With incredibly masculine and intimidating tattoos, the man was easily able to appear cocky and scary upon first glance. But even though it was true that Chris was a fairly self-centered dude, Tom loved it… especially since Chris absolutely had plenty of reasons to be so cocky now! Besides encouraging him to get those tattoos and grow out his body hair, Tom’s forward-thinking mind had helped the man become even more attractive by encouraging him to develop a healthy workout routine at the gym and a prominent self-care routine at home. The end results were absolutely flawless, as Tom’s influence was able to give Chris an incredibly buff physique along with a well-trimmed and thick beard that just further complimented his already attractive face.

While there usually wasn’t any sort of ulterior motive for these acts of kindness that Tom provided, he soon found himself rewarded one day by helping a young man who revealed himself to be some sort of warlock-in-training. His powers hadn’t fully developed to the point where he could transform himself, so Tom’s assistance in terms of helping him begin a gym regime and gain more self-confidence was extremely appreciated and thus deserved to be rewarded.

After talking with Tom for a bit, the warlock soon learned the truth behind Tom’s eagerness to help others: he himself had body image issues and constantly wished that he could be someone else. So, as the warlock suddenly had an “aha” moment, he quickly jumped to his feet and began to flip through the pages of one of his many spellbooks. Upon finding the right one, the warlock instantly cast a spell that gifted Tom with a magical ability: the gift of possession.

Given his general disbelief in all things mystical and magical, Tom still found it hard to believe that he had been gifted with such an ability until the warlock dared Tom to run into him. Unsure yet willing to give it a shot, Tom did as he was instructed and charged towards the man, closing his eyes in preparation of slamming his 220 lbs body off of the equally bulky warlock and tumbling onto the ground. However, just as he braced for impact, he suddenly found himself calmed with a sensation of full-body ripples. Confused, he opened his eyes and found himself still standing upright, but now in the body of the Asian warlock who had dared Tom to run into him.

In complete shock, he desperately flailed about in hopes of freeing himself from the man’s body. Eventually though, he was able to find a solution by pressing himself out of the warlock’s back and returning to his physical form of the black and Alabama-raised Tom. While now armed with such a seemingly powerful gift, Tom decided that it was finally time to be a little selfish and test drive some of the many bodies that he had helped mold into prime specimens of masculinity.

Of course, given Chris’ position on Tom’s list of hottest men, it was no surprise that he was the first man that Tom contacted about meeting up. Not realizing that anything sketchy was afoot, Chris enthusiastically agreed to meet up the next day for a “hang” in the park.

After a rather challenging search for a parking spot the next day, Tom finally made his way out of the car and towards the agreed-upon location in the park. Stopping as he began to enter the gated tennis court, he waved towards Chris to showcase his arrival. As the man ran towards the gate to greet Tom, the magically-gifted man couldn’t help but swoon as he watched the man’s ripped body jog over to him. Staring as the man’s pecs wobbled and his biceps bounced with each footfall was such a turn-on to Tom, but even more so when realizing that soon he would be the one in control of that body.

“Hey dude, how are you doing?” Chris said, taking a few deep inhales and exhales as he looked towards Tom. While he wanted nothing more than to answer the question, Tom’s gaze was permanently transfixed on the man’s complexion as the sweat-induced glistening of his skin indicated that the man had already been working out prior to Tom’s arrival.

Not wanting to waste any more time, the two men finally found themselves on the court and began to play some tennis. In between each grunt and groan of whacking the ball back onto the other side, the two continued to make small talk while catching up on each other’s lives. Tom’s life wasn’t nearly as eventful as Chris’ given the fact that Tom was able to quickly summarize his life in just a few volleys back and forth, but Tom didn’t feel too bad. With his boring life out of the way, this would just allow Chris to continue expanding upon his own life so Tom could as seamlessly as possible continue doing Chris Nelson’s daily requirements.

After two matches where Chris absolutely demolished Tom, the two men opted to take a water break while continuing to make some small talk. While it was nice to continue to make some small talk with the person he helped influence, Tom couldn’t deny that he was just constantly scanning the area for the perfect time to make a move. He wanted so badly to be the resident inside that hunky flesh that it was all he could think about!

As Tom continued to sip on some water, Chris’ cocky self attempted to show off his tennis prowess by bouncing a ball onto the racket while consistently flipping it. Unfortunately though, this plan quickly backfired as the ball fell off of the racket and fell away. Watching as the man turned his back away from Tom to retrieve the ball, the black man finally found the perfect opportunity to possess the tattooed hunk. Setting his water down, Tom immediately ran at a breakneck speed directly into Chris. Groaning in discomfort as a sudden pressure emerged in his back, he could only grimace and twitch as Tom squeezed his entire body into the man and took complete control. While this occurred, Chris’ head dipped downwards as his soul was pulled into a deep state of unconsciousness to leave the body an empty husk.

Not long afterwards though, the man slowly brought his head back up and opened his eyes as he returned to consciousness. However, as Chris looked at his hands and flipped them back and forth before using them to feel up his body, it soon became clear that Tom was now the one in control. “Oh fuck, I can’t believe this is actually happening,” Tom purred, his shorts beginning to immediately tent as he heard the cocky yet energetic voice coming out of his mouth. Lifting his arm up in horny curiosity, Tom leaned his new nose towards the sweaty armpit and took in a moment to smell the natural odor of his new body. Like a child sniffing a marker, Tom felt as if he was experiencing a new kind of high.

Taking a moment to look down at Chris’ tatted up and buff physique, these new hands began to eagerly explore the terrain by squeezing the muscle upon tensing up and flexing. It was just as erotic as he had envisioned, especially given the fact that he had done in broad daylight and there had been absolutely no witnesses. But as his new cock continued to leak pre-cum against his hairy thigh, it quickly became clear that he needed sexual release and he needed it now.

Running towards the fence where both men had left their belongings like their phones, keys, and wallets, the new Chris Nelson scooped up everything in his arms and made his way over to the hunk’s sportscar that he had seen countless times on social media. Unlocking the door and hopping into the front seat, the desire to get off was getting even more intrusive in his mind. Quickly realizing that he had no way of returning home before he’d cum, Tom thanked the heavens that the windows of the car were extremely tinted as he frantically pulled down his shorts to begin beating his meat.

Looking down upon dropping his underwear to the floor of the car, the man was immediately impressed by the girthy and long manhood jutting up towards him. Chris easily had a dick that could rival that of porn stars, with Tom estimating that the man was at least 10 inches long. “Fuckkkkk,” he moaned as he wrapped his right hand onto the throbbing manhood and began to slide it up and down the shaft. Despite so much real estate to cover with his hand, it only took a minute max before Chris was shooting out thick ropes of cum that immediately coated his still-glistening body.

After a quick search through Chris’ gym bag, Tom was able to quickly clean himself and speed off out of the park and towards his brand new life as Chris Nelson.

* * * *

Since his possession of Chris Nelson over a month ago, Tom had been quick to adapt to the life he had so easily taken over. Of course though, everything wasn’t complete smooth sailing as he struggled to fully replicate Chris’ cocky and occasionally intimidating personality. But through a quick conversation with the warlock who had gifted him this power, Tom was able to learn how to pull up parts of Chris’ repressed personality and memories to help him better acclimate to his new life.

As a result though, after a week of struggling, the fans were relieved to see that Chris Nelson was seemingly back to his old self of creating humorous TikToks and making weekly podcast episodes. But while the fans were certainly happy to see this return to form, they were even more excited to find that the man was feeling even more liberated when it came time to showcasing his body. Given Chris’ already inflated ego merging with Tom’s own ego, this new Chris Nelson was quick to recognize just how damn sexy he was. Due to this, his socials soon began to lean in even further to the thirst traps that he posted, but now instead of every couple of months, it was practically every other day! No one was complaining though, especially as the fans were quite eager to share their own demands for Chris to open up his own OnlyFans and share more of his glorious body to his adoring fans.

While Tom was rather fluid when it came to his sexuality, Chris’ overbearing ego and heterosexuality was making quite a dent in terms of his desired sexual partners. While it was still hot to imagine using this bulky body of his to top a man, Tom was allowing Chris’ personality take charge and help him understand more about just how great straight sex was. Although the intercourse was still something he was adapting to, Tom absolutely loved the power trip that he felt when he would bring back women to Chris’ place and take charge in the bedroom. Watching their dainty hands and well-manicured fingers run along his buff and sculpted torso was quite erotic to watch, especially since it just made him feel even bigger than he already was.

Even though the idea of living life as Chris Nelson forever seemed like a dream come true, Tom couldn’t resist the concept of trying out another body soon. He still had quite the repertoire of men that he helped mold into the undeniable hunks they are today, so it seemed that soon enough he would be leaving Chris to give another man’s body a test drive…

#possession #racial change #male transformation

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familyagrestefanblog · 11 months

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Chat Noir in THAT moment of "Revolution"

May I say with every inch of my heart: fucking THANK YOU Adrien for speaking up to give the governmental and systemically oppressed civilans who think themselves the helpless victims of a normal but highly corrupted, extremely dangerous and selfish person in their mayor’s position an actual VOICE.

And he even did it in probably the savest and most orderly way as well, which ensured that Chloé can neither use the citizens’ reaction against the people themselves nor dismiss it overall because every other approach but EXACTLY what Adrien did here would have resulted in some variation of a chaotic sea of voices and opinions contradicting and clashing each other in various degrees of intensity, favoritism, audibility and spoken CONTENT, in an environment where people could have then freely spoken against and FOR Chloè too.

Ladybug and Chat Noir showing up in a political situation like THIS to get the people on their side to rise up against the corrupted mayor by taking full control of the whole situation should have been an almost IMPOSSIBLE feat to accomplish this quickly and smoothly in execution because a political scenario like this is a literal MINEFIELD as we saw at the end of the last episode. One wrong word and everything could have ended up in total madness that would have either taken a serious amout of time and effort to get back under control or outright through FORCE (or both)

But Adrien was just out here and did it in 5 seconds FLAT.

Thank you Adrien for taking the massive value of your status as Chat Noir into your own hands and acting as the politically most competent and most effective fucker in this entire mess of a situation (besides Lila but that’s a given) as Chloè’s true foil in this entire episode.

You know I would never use the word “perfect” to describe Adrien as a person but I’ve gotta be honest, the way so many massive delicate factors of how to approach not only a political conflict but a full on governmental escalation like this - were a whole sea of angered people have to be lead to speak as a unit - were immediately NAILED with this ONE perfectly timed and worded sentence and this ONE striking hand gesture was pretty fucking close to perfection. Ladybug and Mayor Chloé were having a hero-villain akuma pissing contest of moralities and Chat Noir just pulled all of that back into harsh reality with one swift action to actually give the power back to the people. Let’s fucking GO!

That was the most effective, competent, responsible and situation-appropriate (and that in corrupted POLITICS) leadership action being taken in the entire episode and it was done in 5 seconds flat by Chat Noir who eagerly wanted to intervene since right the beginning of the episode. No wasting time holding a speech, no unnecessary hero smack talk, no showmanship and no personal verbal morality battles. Just using his status to act as a leader for the civilian people so they can join him to act as one strong unit no matter their age, voice volume, body height, strength etc, 👏it 👏did👏 not👏 matter. 👏

(only people without arms would have been excluded, if you really wanna nit-pick)

He did everything so fucking RIGHT in that moment. Through providing them with a clear-cut language and morality standpoint from his part - without making it about himself-, an easy and situation-specific & very fast, universal and practical but also very impactful way to communicate their game-changing opinion for this ONE specific point he names very forthright and that calls the problem right out on it’s core, so Chloè and the people who support her have no wiggle room to shut it down or dismiss it through pocking holes by claiming people could have misinterpreted what he meant.

5 fucking seconds. PLEASE make it entire episodes!

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femmefatalevibe · 1 year

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Femme Fatale Playbook: How To Set Healthy Boundaries

Step-By-Step Guide To Setting Boundaries:

Self-reflect on your deepest desires and values: Be honest with yourself about your likes, dislikes, principles, preferences, and turn-ons/turnoffs in every area of life

Evaluate which people, relationships, tasks, and activities give or deplete your energy

Decide on which relationships/tasks you deem essential and/or necessary to live your desired lifestyle

Set personal limits on energy-draining relationships and activities

Communicate these internal limits clearly, calmly, and impersonally to others (Use language that conveys an "It's not you, it's me" kind of vibe)

Align your words to your actions: Stick to your stated limits. Squash the urge to people-please when your boundaries do not satisfy others.

Regularly check in with yourself, evaluate, and adjust your boundaries if necessary: Introspect from time to time to gauge whether your boundaries allow you to feel comfortable with yourself, daily activities, relationships, and overall life satisfaction. Consider strengthening or refining your boundaries if you still feel generally uneasy or anxious during certain activities or around certain individuals.

Boundaries 101:

Know the difference between boundaries and expectations: A boundary is about you and how you will respond to another person's actions. An expectation is the way you expect others to conduct themselves (at least in your presence/relationship). Gently bring up the behavior or actions that bother or trigger you. Communicate your boundary to them when it comes to these conversation topics or behaviors. Say "when you talk about "X" topic or do "X" behavior, I feel uncomfortable/stressed/upset and need to remove myself from the conversation (either physically, hang up the phone, stop answering texts), etc. If they're well-meaning friends, family members, partners, etc., they will respect your boundaries and know that there's an expectation in your relationship for these topics/behaviors to not come up and, if they do, be apologized for and corrected immediately (humans slip up occasionally; you will know the difference between disregard for your well-being and an honest mistake by their reaction to your calling them out).

Under the importance of differentiation: Internalize that you're not responsible for other people's emotions. While you should communicate with tact and have empathy for others, there is a difference between being callous and prioritizing your own needs. Learn to gauge where your needs and those of others begin/end. Both parties typically are acting with their own self-interest in mind (this is not a negative thing, we're hardwired to be a bit selfish to survive), so one person sacrificing themselves results in fawning – with the potential for burnout/manipulation – not fairness. Consider agreements with others like an unwritten contract. Every decision requires a meeting of the minds where you both spell out your desires, concerns, and rights to self-protection.

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anderscim · 5 months

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// DRDT spoilers up until ch2 pt. 1

okay, so i actually do have a more… debatable reason why i believe J is the chapter 2 culprit. i’ve never mentioned it before, so i might as well.

time to break it down. ^^

————

again this is more of a personal interpretation that can be argued one way or the other, but for me, J’s secret quote regarding Mai Akasaki is one of the major indications of J being the culprit.

i’m not going to elaborate on what the secret quotes are since i assume many people know about them already—but for clarification, i am referring to the ones that appear on Mai Akasaki’s info page.

okay, so my point: until at least the chapter 2 victim, each character’s secret quote and/or bonus episode related to Mai Akasaki happens to be correlated with the reason behind their death.

i’m just going to work through some examples.

Xander’s quote regarding Mai is as follows:

“She couldn’t stand to do nothing.”

(also fun fact—when i went to fact-check, the first quote that appeared for me was coincidentally Xander’s. what luck.)

this quote is specifically about taking action—though we don’t have any details that could indicate what exactly Mai was trying to do, it might’ve been a plan exposing the fatal flaws of Hope’s Peak that went terribly wrong (and resulted in Mai’s own death).

in my own interpretation, Xander himself takes actions that represent the need to do what it takes to end the killing game, even if it means going against his own morals. but in the end, he trusts in himself that killing the-person-who-may-be-somewhat-responsible-for-the-killing-game is the right decision, and he goes through with the plan. this ended up in his attempt to murder Teruko, and consequently, his own death (though due to Min’s intervention). in other words, Xander’s choice to take action was the very decision that led to his downfall.

…please let this be a definitive correlation.

alright, moving on to Min’s quote regarding Mai:

“An average girl with nothing special at all about her.”

(´-`)

…okay, maybe not the most helpful. but there is a different source of information i can use, thankfully. time to refer back to Min’s bonus episode with Mai.

towards the end of the video, Min says this:

which is… incredibly ironic in correlation to the events of the first chapter. Min, in fact, does help someone. Teruko. Min defends her from Xander after he stabbed her. but Min’s intervention is exactly what led to Xander’s death—and consequently, what tied Min to the same fate. if Min hadn’t been there to defend Teruko (albeit the whole “manipulate the crime scene to make Teruko seem to be the culprit” part), she likely wouldn’t have died via execution like in chapter 1. so to me, Min’s desire to help others—as was detailed in her interaction with Mai—was exactly what led her to her fate.

either way, for both characters, a core theme that was involved in their “cause of death” (or motive to murder depending on how you look at it) was also closely linked to their relationship with Mai Akasaki.

okay, so how does this relate to J? at all?

well, uhm—might be best to take a look at J’s secret quote related to Mai.

“She kept it a secret, and told no one.”

this quote is very likely related to J’s connection to Mariabella Rosales—which is detailed very clearly in her motive secret.

so… quite frankly, i’m scared this is a major red flag. it feels very fitting for the person with a quote related to their secrets to be the chapter 2 culprit—after all, it’s not only related to the official murder motive, but the secret detailed in this quote is something that J is incredibly defensive about and would hide it at all costs… if it wasn’t for Arturo exposing her in front of everyone. it would be interesting if somehow, the already-revealed motive secret was a major motivation for the murder. i feel like it would also make sense for J to have a bonus episode that discusses her origins and the deeper reasons behind her hatred of the “selfish and artificial celebrity” lifestyle she was forced to live in for so long.

but… that’s more speculation, not an actual claim. it’s why i never addressed this in my death predictions post. (-.-;) well, at least this is one way to show my thought process.

as always, take all of this with a grain of salt.

#bagel’s train of thought #bagel’s blurbs #drdt #danganronpa despair time #despair time #mai akasaki #xander matthews #min jeung #j rosales #fangan #fanganronpa #i had no idea what i was saying throughout… all of that (._.)

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brokendoor16 · 2 months

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Okay. So I just realised I haven't posted anything in a while and this has been in my head ALL DAY, so please enjoy my English-Lit-level analysis of why Too Sweet is the most Anthony J Crowley song ever to Anthony J Crowley!!

(What this means is that I'm about to analyse every single fucking lyric in excruciating detail, I apologise in advance)

HERE GOES!!

It can't be said I'm an early bird // it's 10 o'clock before I say a word- Starting off easy here. He slept through most of the 19th century, and can you IMAGINE what he'd be like in the mornings??

Baby, I can never tell // how do you sleep so well?- Bit of a stretch on this one since Aziraphale doesn't canonically sleep, but let's just say sleep is a metaphor. He's asking how Aziraphale can seem 'at peace' so easily, when he can never seem to find any sort of balance.

You keep tellin' me to live right // to go to bed before the daylight- Aziraphale has a very strict set of morals, some instilled in him by Heaven but also some of his own; it's one of the things Crowley loves about him, but it can also result in him coming off like he's telling people how to live their lives 'right'.

But then you wake up for the sunrise- Now THIS is an interesting one. Waking up at sunrise and going to bed in the daylight both result in a lack of sleep, but one is seen as a 'good' thing to do. Aziraphale is just as run-down and burnt-out as Crowley, but he's ignoring it because it's for the 'right' reasons.

You know, you don't gotta pretend- He knows what Aziraphale's doing, and he's saying that he doesn't need to hide behind his heavenly facade; he can be himself.

Baby, now and then // don't you just wanna wake up- So you could probably take this one two ways; either as the whole demonic-temptation idea, or as an invitation for something they do frequently: get drunk, sped time together, and ignore Heaven and Hell for a little while.

Dark as a lake // smelling like a bonfire // lost in a haze- Funnily enough, being 'dark' and 'smelling like a bonfire' are both things you could associate with Hell, or the Fall. You could hear this as Crowley asking 'don't you want to let go and have some fun?' or you could hear it as 'I know this is selfish, but don't you wanna Fall for me?'

If you're drunk on life, babe // I think it's great- He's acknowledging that all he really wants is for Aziraphale to be happy. If he lived by all his strict rules because that's what he wanted, or because he was 'drunk on life' enough not to NEED anything else, that would be great.

But while in this world- They're not gonna be on Earth forever, especially if you imagine it from the perspective of pre-Apocalypse Crowley, so they may as well make the most of the time they have left.

I think I'll take my whisky neat- Well, first up it's Crowley and we all KNOW he's got a drinking problem. But also, it's a way of saying 'I know you worry about me, but this is who I am, and I'm gonna do it anyway'

My coffee black and my bed at three- There's not much to analyse on this one. Six shots of espresso in a big cup, and partying till God-knows-what-time.

You're too sweet for me- oh my GOD, the things I could say about this line. Honestly, I just feel like Crowley is always worried about 'corrupting' Aziraphale, or not being good enough for him. He's 'Too Sweet' for Crowley, because he's never felt love as soft and sweet (the closest he's ever got was God, and She was quick to cast him out) and he's scared of breaking it.

I aim low // I aim true, and the ground's where I go- This bit's almost sarcastic, and a little self-deprecating; you can't aim lower than Hell, and by asking questions he sure hit his target.

I work late where I'm free from the phone- He works a little ahead of time to stay clear of Hell's reprimands, or 'phone calls'. Also, working 'late' could link to working in darkness, which he's been doing since he Fell.

And the job gets done // but you worry some, I know- Aziraphale is constantly worrying about the Arrangement; not for himself, but for what Hell will do to Crowley if they find out. Crowley constantly finds himself reassuring him that as long as 'the job gets done', he'll be fine.

But who wants to live forever, babe?- This part's almost ironic. Crowley doesn't WANT to live forever, but he will, and so he can afford to be a little reckless; to him, it doesn't matter either way.

You treat your mouth as if it's Heaven's gate- Aziraphale is always so careful about everything he says, even to Crowley, needing to make sure he stays 'Heavenly'.

The rest of you like you're the TSA- Aziraphale is ALWAYS careful with everything, regulating everything by Heaven's rules and regulations on what he can and can't do (think the TSA do's and don't's).

I wish I could go along // babe, don't get me wrong- Despite spending most of the song (and his life) railing against Heaven's rules, part of him still wishes he'd been able to 'go along' with them.

You know you're bright as the morning // soft as the rain- It just shows that everything Aziraphale is is the exact opposite of Crowley (or at least, of his image). He's 'bright' and 'soft', two things you'd never find in Hell, and Crowley doesn't quite know how to handle it.

Pretty as a vine // as sweet as a grape- He (Aziraphale) may be 'pretty' and 'sweet', but there's something else about him. Vines and grapes turn into wine, which Crowley is already addicted to; he's scared of becoming addicted to Aziraphale's sweetness.

If you can sit in a barrel- Obviously, grapes left in a barrel ferment into wine; he's awaiting the day Aziraphale gains just enough bitterness to go against Heaven. However, wine is considerably sweeter than Crowley's aforementioned whisky, so although he wants him to see Heaven the way he does, he prioritises keeping his sweetness rather than becoming fully bitter- he may be 'too sweet', but that's what Crowley loves about him.

Maybe I'll wait // until that day- This part's almost funny from Crowley's perspective, because there's no 'maybe' about it. He'd wait eternity to be allowed to love Aziraphale.

SO. There we go. If you actually read this far, tysm and I am SO SO SORRY, but hope you enjoyed my ridiculously long and mental-gymnastics-y analysis (I will not be rereading this or I won't end up posting it, so sorry about any mistake)

Have the best day ❤️❤️

#good omens #ineffable husbands #anthony j crowley #aziraphale #good omens 2 #ineffable idiots #character analysis #Kinda?#Song analysis more like #But from the POV of a character?#Honestly idk what happened here #And I am very very sorry about it #Anyways #hozier #too sweet #crowley good omens #anthony janthony crowley #i am unhinged about this show #Can you tell?

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sapphicthunderhead · 13 days

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TMA SPOILERS AHEAD:

I think it’s time for an Annabelle Cane retrospective because I will. Never. Be over her.

She is the neglected (Jon parallel) youngest child of a large family. She ran away (Jon parallel) in a bid for attention. Mother of Puppets marked her (Jon parallel) through an incident involving an old woman, a place she wasn’t meant to be, and a giant motherfucking spider (Jon parallel).

Years later, she’s at Surrey University. She’s probably a psych major, probably nice to janitors, definitely has an eccentric sense of style. (I heard her character description for the first time— heard “vintage clothing store exploded on her”— and that, I think, is when I began to fall for her.)

She volunteers to participate in a crackpot experiment, the details of which she knows very little. (Was there a control group mentioned? No. There never is when it comes to testing “psychic abilities.” Were the other participants made to sign NDAs so they couldn’t disclose details of their part of the so-called experiment to the public or to Annabelle, leaving her suggestible, and thus making the whole enterprise susceptible to producing skewed results? Evidently not.)

Through this “experiment,” she becomes a receptacle for fear, a vessel for the essence of the Web. Of course she does! She has some severe mommy issues, as established in the statement she left in the house on Hilltop Road, and the Mother of Puppets has decided to treat her like the favorite daughter she always wanted to be. It is an ideal arrangement for both parties.

Now she feeds. She nearly dies. Her apotheosis is a resurrection. She is full of spiderweb. She escapes; she disappears.

Onto the creation of Chelicerae. She functionally becomes a serial killer. She fills people up with spiders.

She finds her brother in the ranks of the Mother of Puppets’ forces, Neil Lagorio, and catalyzes his final transformation into the spider monster in Creature Feature. (That’s either him or the director, but I lean towards the former.)

She uses every means available— the internet, entertainment industry, her own skill at interpersonal manipulation— to instill the fear of helplessness, of futility, of autonomy being denied or never having existed in the first place, in the hearts and minds of mankind. She does all this in order to engineer an end that benefits her. She becomes the epitome of selfishness and of cruelty, but also of cunning and resourcefulness. She possesses a foresight of such clarity it seems as if she’s become the Web’s prophet. She possesses qualities of a folk hero, a demigod, a biblical figure. (I am as in awe of her as I am delightfully frightened.)

When the end comes, she is prepared. She has accounted for all possible outcomes. Only one variable remains independent: the plus-one to her parallel— the one card she was never able to play, the piece she could never take for herself. That’s because Martin Blackwood is an active participant, not a pawn. By the time they finally confront one another face-to-face, he knows the rules of the game almost as well as she does. Both he and Annabelle have always moved in the shadows, but his intent was to be underestimated and hers was to inspire fear, and he does not fear her (not like he feared his mother, or being unloved, and he has conquered both of these).

So she doesn’t fill him with spiders. She grows, she changes, she adapts. She becomes truly monstrous; her physical form at last reflects her inner self. She places her bets, plays the last card up her sleeve, and waits for her opponent to make his move.

And she wins.

(Marry me marry me marry me you can have my heart I would treat you so well Annabelle pretty please marry me marry me—)

#the magnus archives #tma #tma annabelle #annabelle cane #i’m in love #mother of puppets #tma web #tma entities #tma fears #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #TMA neil lagorio #tma martin #tma jon #tma spoilers #parallels

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acefaun · 10 months

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Hi, can i request a Thorin x human girl reader story? Reader is scared of Thorin because of the dragon-sickness and seeing that he slowly realizes his mistakes and apologized to her. Please 🥺 🙏

I know you can do it! 🥺💖

Thorin~ Dragon-Sickness

Synopsis: Being afflicted with dragon-sickness, Thorin fails to realize his mistakes until your fear of him shakes him back into reality. But he has to deal with the consequences of his actions.

🍃Masterlist🍃 Female MC!

A/n: Dude. 🥺 Writing this hit me super hard considering not long after the dragon-sickness you-know-what happens to Thorin. I know you didn't mean to, but my FEELINGS are hurting and I hope yours hurt too after this! 🥺

–Word Count: 2,889–

From the minute your party stepped into the Lonely Mountain, you knew what you were possibly getting into. You’d heard the horror stories of this place, stories which you thought were nothing more than what they were: stories.

But… much to your heart ache, you were wrong.

You took Thorin’s desperation to get into the mountain as a simple determined wish to return home. After all, he was so close. You knew it would break him to have to turn around when his home was in his grasp.

There were… subtle changes that you noted upon gaining access to the mountain. You thought he seemed too merciless upon sending Bilbo to face the dragon. Sure… going into the mountain to retrieve the Arkenstone was the whole reason Bilbo was part of your company in the first place—he was your burglar hobbit. But… that didn’t mean any of you wanted to put him in any real life-threatening danger all on his own.

The only thing that seemed to sway your feelings was that Bilbo was determined to do what he signed up for. He was going to help these dwarves reclaim their home, and it was an honorable choice, in your opinion.

However, Thorin even seemed to treat his dwarven allies much worse as time went on. You had all been searching tirelessly for the Arkenstone, but Thorin was less than pleased by any of your efforts; he wanted results. He wanted the Arkenstone in his hands. You helped as best you could, but to no avail. Your aid did not grant them restful nights and chances to stop for food—Thorin was impatient.

From there, things only proceeded to get worse. Your heart ached for the people of Laketown, whereas Thorin had seemingly no sympathy for them—this was only proven to you when Bard later failed to negotiate for their fair share of what was in the mountain. Thorin had indeed changed, and not for the better. You had never seen him more selfish than he was under the influence of this dragon-sickness.

To make matters worse, your heart broke when Thorin came to you and Bilbo, his most trusted supporters, with his concerns. “I have been blind,” he said carefully, eying the two of you as if you'd agree with his next statement. “Now, I begin to see. I am betrayed.”

You were both surprised by his sudden conclusion, but Bilbo was the first to question him. “Betrayed?”

You couldn't tell if this was a personal accusation towards you or Bilbo, or if it was some mistake toward his kin. Thorin wasn't making his intentions or suspicions very clear, so you said, “Thorin… I think you're overthinking the situation. What could make you think-”

“The Arkenstone,” Thorin interrupted, staring harshly as if he were accusing either you or Bilbo. But he was very swift at adding, “One of them has taken it.” He paused, a tense silence filling the air as if he were waiting for the so-called traitor to pop out. “One of them is false.”

You shared a worried glance with Bilbo who tried to calm Thorin’s irritation, “Thorin, our quest is fulfilled. You've won the mountain. Is that not enough?” Thorin remained stubbornly silent, convinced of his accusations. Pleadingly, Bilbo looked at you. “(Name)?”

Nodding in agreement with the small hobbit, you insisted, “We've all made it here together alive and well. We've won the mountain. You made it to your home, love.”

Still, the dwarf King seemed to ignore all reasoning as he brooded, “Betrayed by my own kin…” He truly looked betrayed, and your heart ached for the pain he must have been feeling despite his mind being in the wrong place.

“You- You made a promise… to the people of Laketown,” Bilbo frantically tried to bring Thorin back to reality before he lost himself. I could tell that Bilbo’s feelings of concern were genuine and that he wanted to see Thorin in his right mind as much as I did. They were friends. “Is this treasure truly worth more than your honor—our honor? Thorin, I was also there. I gave my word.”

“For that, I am grateful,” he nodded. “It was nobly done by both of you. You've both shown true loyalty to me…” For the briefest of moments, he was soft and I saw a glimmer of the man I loved. “But the treasure in this mountain does not belong to the people of Laketown.” His tone took a sudden turn, and I was startled by his harshness—though, it seemed to be a pattern nowadays. “This gold… is ours, and ours alone. By my life… I will not part with a single coin… not. one. piece of it.”

“Thorin Oakenshield!” Your outburst caused Bilbo to flinch. He had never seen your anger; Even Thorin was taken aback that you had yelled at him. “You are a dwarf of honor,” you continued your heated rant, “You're a dwarf of your word—a respectable King. Why now are you treating the people who have followed you on this quest as if they are nothing more than petty thieves and liars?! This is your family and if you push them away, you will be left with no one; but all the filthy gold you desire will be yours and yours alone.”

You simultaneously viciously defended the dwarves, complimented Thorin, and declared your stance of things before storming away. This only left Thorin in furious shock and Bilbo was quick to place a hand on Thorin’s chest, keeping the enraged dwarf from following you. Bilbo knew it wouldn't end well…

Nodding his head reassuringly, Bilbo suggested, “I'll talk to her. I'm sure it was nothing but nerves working. After all... you are pitting her against her own people…” He awkwardly patted Thorin’s shoulder at the look of repressed rage in Thorin’s glare. Bilbo repeated, “I'll talk to her…” He quickly escaped Thorin’s brewing fury to track you down.

It was needless to say that you were furious with Thorin. He clearly wasn't in his right mind to be making any sound decisions, so you aided Bilbo in escaping the mountain with the Arkenstone by providing him with some rope you found. After all, there had to be some way to help Thorin, and maybe the answer was getting the Arkenstone as far from him as possible. This dragon sickness had affected him too severely. You were fairly confident that the Arkenstone could be used as leverage to stop this oncoming war; Bilbo was the only way this war had a chance of being avoided.

Though… maybe you should have come up with a different approach when the little hobbit was nearly killed by an enraged Thorin. You were much too late to step in and help, but you were ever grateful to Gandalf for coming just at the right time. He seemed to have an affinity for last-minute rescues.

However, after viewing Bilbo’s safe retreat to Gandalf, you too retreated into the mountain so as not to face Thorin, your broken beloved.

***

It wasn't that much longer later when a war erupted outside of the sealed entrance of the mountain. It was primarily between elves, dwarves, and humans; that was until an army of orcs showed up, forcing the three races to band together in their fight… Well… All but Thorin and his company.

There was chaos brewing, and all Thorin could think was to find you, his love… a traitor. “You…” He hissed. “I never imagined you'd stoop so low…”

Your eyes wearily trailed over the dwarf King you loved. How did it suddenly become just you and him there? Where were the other dwarves? Were you going to have to fight Thorin similarly to what you'd just seen happen between him and Bilbo?

Still, you felt disrespected with the way he was speaking to you. “You would have killed him,” you accused. “You'd have fought your own kin over something they didn't have! I couldn't let you do that…”

“You knew he had the Arkenstone,” Thorin shot back with a deep frown, something you weren't used to seeing him with. He continued his accusations, “You knew he'd give it to our enemies.”

You huffed, incredulous at the pure audacity he seemed to throw your way. “They are not our enemies, Thorin! The elves, the men from Laketown, Gandalf, Bilbo… me. I'm not your enemy.”

“An ally…” Thorin started slowly, his eyes boring into you. “My love… would never choose another over me.”

“It was in your best interest,” you replied quietly. You thought you were doing something good by ensuring the Arkenstone was out of his grasp, but it seemed he was too ill to see that you were only trying to help him. “Thorin,” his name came out in a disappointed sigh. “Bilbo’s right; you can’t see what you’ve become. You can’t see what this gold is doing to you.”

“So, you also think I should part with my treasure?” Thorin titled his head, but his expression wasn’t a pleasant one. “Man does not deserve the riches that rightfully belong to my people—to me! I am Thorin, son of Thrain! I am the King under the Mountain!”

“You’ve abandoned your people to die out there in a needless war!” You argued fiercely, trying to get him to hear you. “You’re the reason Laketown has been turned to ashes, you almost killed Bilbo, and now you forsake the lives of those who have given you their loyalty!”

“I am their King,” Thorin bellowed. “The number of lives lost is nothing compared to the riches this mountain holds. Life is cheap… A treasure such as this cannot be counted in lives lost. It is worth all the blood we can spend.” His words were heartless. You could see that he was looking at you but his eyes were glossed over with an ugly obsession; He was looking at you, but he could not see you; He was listening to you, but he could not hear you.

You hummed absently, tears glistening in your eyes as you whispered, “You’re not the Thorin Gandalf introduced me to.”

“Nor are you the woman I fell in love with,” he hissed. “She was not a deceitful wench.” After a tense moment of silence, his voice seemed to waver, as he ordered, “Leave… if you wish to live.”

That was your breaking point where the tears dripped down your cheeks, but you didn’t give him the privilege of letting him see you break. Abandoning Thorin, you left to gather your things. Even after your long adventure, you didn’t have many personal items on you aside from the bag you’d come all this way with.

But as soon as you mentally prepared yourself to leave your short-lived home, Balin stopped you, meeting you at the door of your room. Meeting each other’s gaze, Balin apologized, “Sorry you have to go through this, lass. Dragon-sickness can overtake even the strongest of us.”

“I can’t blame him… for something he didn’t choose. But I also cannot stay to see a stranger in the eyes of the King I love.” You paused, your heart aching as you lamented, “We’ve been through a lot together, all of us, and we made it to Erebor. I’m sorry I can’t follow through until the end. If Thorin refuses aid, I will return to my people and help them myself.”

Balin could only support you with a small smile. “Understandable, my lady. We wish you luck.”

“I would think the dwarves need luck far more than I do…” You offered a slight smile in return for his kindness before leaving.

For extra measure, you took an extra bag filled to the brim with gold treasure. Just because Thorin had lost his mind with dragon sickness that didn’t mean you would forsake your people. You would do what Thorin could not. It was too late to repent for the war that had begun, and it might not have been enough for the whole of Laketown to rebuild their lives… but you prayed it would help lessen their suffering once this horrid war was over—at the very least, you hoped it would help the children and elder.

However, when leaving for the exit of the mountain fortress, a voice sternly called out, echoing through the stone halls, “(Name)!”

You froze, unable to face him, but fearful of his continued wrath—especially now that he was there to catch you making off with his gold. Warily, you uttered, “Thorin…”

“Is this how you choose to end us?” Thorin asked venomously. “Stealing from me and making off with that bowman?”

End…? No. That’s not what you wanted—especially not with another man. You simply wanted to preserve what was left of something good while, at the same time, helping your fellow suffering people. Thorin surely had some audacity telling King Thranduil about the suffering of the homeless and suffering dwarves when he was going to leave the humans of Laketown homeless and suffering in the coming winter.

But, for you, it was too late for running back to your people. Thorin caught you red-handed, and you didn’t have the will to fight him. You couldn’t protect yourself as you did Bilbo; you didn’t have the heart.

Tears blurred your vision as you turned to face him. “Thorin…” Your voice cracked as you looked at his blank expression. “I don’t want to remember you like this… But if you should kill me for trying to fulfill your broken promise…” You trailed off, your bags falling beside you, clattering with the weight of the gold coins. You couldn’t see him like this… His expression hurt your heart far too much, and that’s not the last thing you wanted to see if he decided to kill you. So you dropped to your knees, your head bowed in surrender.

Thorin’s sharp eyes were glued to the bags beside you for but a moment, softening as they landed back on you… You were shivering before him, something… he never thought he’d see. Your cracking voice should have been enough to shake him, but seeing you trembling in terror on the floor struck a chord in him. He never wanted to see you like this—not because of him, of all people. He’d have killed anyone who had the audacity to make you cower in fear. Thorin’s throat tightened almost painfully as he quietly called, “My love…”

You sharply lifted your wide, misty eyes, finding a kind-faced dwarf King gazing down at you with his hand extended. Sadness was deeply etched into his features; he no longer looked like a man possessed… Your throat tightened, and you choked out, “Thorin-”

He interrupted you, enveloping you in his strong arms, exactly where you belonged. “My love,” he repeated, again and again. “My love… I should never wish to bring you harm.”

An audible sob left your lips, your eyes flooding with tears that billowed down your cheeks and soaked into his sleeve. Your cheek pressed into his shoulder as you held him tightly as if he’d slip away at any moment if you were to let go. “You’re back…” You cried, “My Thorin.”

“I am… I will not let gold sway my loyalty to those I love.” He caressed your hair reassuringly, holding you firmly against him. You could feel how deeply he inhaled, taking in your presence in his arms, the feeling of you pressed into his chest—this was something he never wanted to lose, and neither did you. Quietly, he continued to speak, “I have a war to fight. Orcs are overtaking our forces. Will you wait for me? I will aid your people once we’ve won. I doubt that will be a suitable enough apology… But I will never stop seeking your forgiveness for all that I’ve done.” Pulling away enough to look at your face, his thumbs gently caressed your cheeks, wiping away your tears. Deep within his gaze, you could see the great anguish he felt for his actions; he loathed that he had hurt you. “(Name), I am sorry… Dwarves are foolish creatures.” “You are an idiot…” You agreed in a surprisingly delicate manner as you caressed his cheeks, your fingers lightly tracing over his beard. Despite your consistent hiccups and sniffles, your eyes were filled with infinite warmth and affection that could only be for him. “But I love you, Thorin. Please… Go help your friends. Lead your people. Save them.” You offered him a smile in return to his small, adoring one. “I’ll be here,” you promised. “I’ll wait for you.”

#the hobbit #the hobbit fanfic #thorin oakenshield #the hobbit thorin #thorin x reader

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tsarinatorment · 11 months

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Michael Yew's Fatal Flaw

This meta is the fault of @apollosgiftofprophecy who made the questionable decision of asking about Michael's fatal flaw in my vicinity the other day.

People who have been following me for a while may recall I once answered an ask about Apollo kid fatal flaws, and mentioned Michael there. Please ignore what I said back then because I'd barely even started picking him apart to see what made him tick, and my conclusions there have since been deemed rather surface-level!

The first question, of course, is what is a fatal flaw? What makes it different from a regular character flaw? The clue's in the name, I think - fatal flaw is one that's most likely to one day result in the hero's death, as Annabeth also suggests in Sea of Monsters:

“I don’t know, Percy, but every hero has one. If you don’t find it and learn to control it … well, they don’t call it ‘fatal’ for nothing.”

Athena gives us a little more to go on in The Titan's Curse:

"In each case, your loved ones have been used to lure you into Kronos's traps. Your fatal flaw is personal loyalty, Percy. You do not know when it is time to cut your losses. To save a friend, you would sacrifice the world. In a hero of the prophecy, that is very, very dangerous." I balled my fists. "That's not a flaw. Just because I want to help my friends—" "The most dangerous flaws are those which are good in moderation," she said. "Evil is easy to fight. Lack of wisdom… that is very hard indeed."

Of course, she's talking specifically to Percy about his flaw here, but there are certainly broader points to be inferred from this. When you break down all her warnings, it boils down near enough to "your fatal flaw is one you either cannot fight, or do not want to fight, because you think it is right/justified", which is interesting. It's a flaw that you don't, necessarily, recognise as a flaw, which makes it difficult to do anything about because how can something that's right be wrong?

As Athena says, the most dangerous flaws are those which are good in moderation - flaws that, in most situations, actually help, or are perceived to do so. These are the flaws most likely to kill the hero - and maybe others, as well.

With that out of the way, let's start picking apart Michael properly.

Generally, I see anger, pride or stubbornness put forwards as suggestions for his fatal flaw, so I'll look at each of those and see how well they actually fit. On top of that, I'm also going to explore two other contenders that I've come to notice from the hundreds of times I've re-read his scenes - protectiveness, and love.

First up, let's talk about Anger.

Anger is the one that seems to spring to mind most readily for some people (myself included), and it's hardly surprising given his introductory scene:

She was in the midst of yelling at Michael Yew, the new head counselor for Apollo, which looked kind of funny since Clarisse was a foot taller. Michael had taken over the Apollo cabin after Lee Fletcher died in battle last summer. Michael stood four feet six, with another two feet of attitude. He reminded me of a ferret, with a pointy nose and scrunched-up features—either because he scowled so much or because he spent too much time looking down the shaft of an arrow. "It's our loot!" he yelled, standing on his tiptoes so he could get in Clarisse's face. "If you don't like it, you can kiss my quiver!" [...] I couldn't believe Clarisse and Michael standing over her, arguing about something as stupid as loot, when she'd just lost Beckendorf. "STOP IT!" I yelled. "What are you guys doing?" Clarisse glowered at me. "Tell Michael not to be a selfish jerk." "Oh, that's perfect, coming from you," Michael said.

(As an aside, I love Michael's "kiss my quiver" line because hip quivers are very much a thing and if you think of his quiver as on his hip instead of his back... he's basically saying "kiss my ass" but in a kid-book-friendly way)

Michael's introduction is full of aggression - he's standing on tiptoes, getting "in Clarisse's face", and yelling at her. To make matters worse, it's in front of a grieving Silena which makes him (and Clarisse, but we've already had four books on how much Clarisse can be a bitch in Percy's opinion) look incredibly callous and uncaring. Percy's rather unflattering description about "two feet of attitude" and "because he scowled so much" adds to the overall impression that Michael's a right piece of work as well. Thanks, Percy.

It's a good introduction, though. This is memorable, as far as character introductions go (far more memorable than the first time we're introduced to Beckendorf, or Silena, etc.), and it's full of personality - personality that says Michael is not afraid to throw hands and will do it anywhere, anytime. It directly opposes him with Clarisse, but in such a way that makes them seem like similar characters, and we know anger/rage is one of Clarisse's traits as well.

This scene isn't a one-off, either. We get the full feud against the Ares cabin, which Michael spearheads:

We ducked as Michael Yew's chariot dive-bombed an Ares camper. The Ares camper tried to stab him and cuss him out in rhyming couplets. He was pretty creative about rhyming those cuss words. "We're fighting for our lives," I said, "and they're bickering about some stupid chariot." "They'll get over it," Annabeth said. "Clarisse will come to her senses."

The fact that it's Clarisse, not Michael, that Annabeth thinks is going to stand down also says a lot about how she sees the pair of them, and she must know Michael reasonably well, so this adds another note to the impression that Michael can be even more unreasonable than Clarisse (although it should also be noted that in this feud Michael is the one in the right, and Chiron has said as much to the campers, or at least the head counsellors - and of course from a narrative point of view, Clarisse is a far more familiar character for readers).

Michael himself also admits later on that he lost his temper with Clarisse again off-screen:

Michael shrugged. "Yeah, well, I called her some names when she said she still wouldn't fight. I doubt that helped. Here come the uglies!"

Those names certainly weren't ones for polite company - or a children's book. I think we can confidently say that Michael certainly has a temper, much like his father is legendary for.

But is it a fatal flaw? Well, sadly we have a scene that's implied to be Michael's death scene (I say implied because we never saw a body and a lot of things don't quite add up, so I prefer to think of him as not-dead, but for the purposes of this meta we'll consider it his death scene), so let's go look at that.

He struck the bridge with the butt of his scythe, and a wave of pure force blasted me backward. Cars went careening. Demigods—even Luke's own men—were blown off the edge of the bridge. Suspension cords whipped around, and I skidded halfway back to Manhattan. I got unsteadily to my feet. The remaining Apollo campers had almost made it to the end of the bridge, except for Michael Yew, who was perched on one of the suspension cables a few yards away from me, His last arrow was notched in his bow.

Michael's final stand happens immediately after several demigods - including his own siblings - are just blown clean off the bridge by Kronos. Is it a decision spurred by anger after things going wrong after they were finally going right? It would make sense.

However, there is one big issue with anger as his fatal flaw. Obviously, Michael does have this temper, and it does get out of hand, but we only ever see it get out of hand in the (relative) safety of camp. The Michael we see in Manhattan actually seems very calm and in control the entire time. He's observant and quick-witted, and is the only head counsellor to spot (or at least verbalise) a potential flaws in Percy and Annabeth's plan.

"He's right," Annabeth said. "The gods of the wind should keep Kronos's forces away from Olympus by air, so he'll try a ground assault. We have to cut off the entrances to the island." "They have boats," Michael Yew pointed out. An electric tingle went down my back. Suddenly I understood Athena's advice: Remember the rivers. "I'll take care of the boats," I said. Michael frowned. "How?" "Just leave it to me," I said.

Of course, Percy being the son of Poseidon can plug that massive gap, but it took Michael asking the question for him to make the important connection that he needed to.

This calmness continues into the battle itself, as well.

Michael Yew ran up to us. He was definitely the shortest commando I'd ever seen. He had a bandaged cut on his arm. His ferrety face was smeared with soot and his quiver was almost empty, but he was smiling like he was having a great time. "Glad you could join us," he said. "Where are the other reinforcements?" "For now, we're it," I said. "Then we're dead," he said. [...] "We have to fall back," Michael said. "I've got Kayla and Austin setting traps farther down the bridge." "No," I said. "Bring your campers forward to this position and wait for my signal. We're going to drive the enemy back to Brooklyn." Michael laughed. "How do you plan to do that?" I drew my sword. "Percy," Annabeth said, "let me come with you." "Too dangerous," I said. "Besides, I need you to help Michael coordinate the defensive line. I'll distract the monsters. You group up here. Move the sleeping mortals out of the way. Then you can start picking off monsters while I keep them focused on me. If anybody can do all that, you can." Michael snorted. "Thanks a lot."

No temper tantrums, no yelling like he did with Clarisse earlier - he's matter of fact when he realises they don't really have reinforcements (not knowing, of course, about Percy's little Styx bath), he doesn't argue with Percy when Percy starts taking command. He continues to say his piece and get his point across, but at no point do we ever get the sense that Michael is anything other than perfectly in control at any point during the battle - which is not what you would expect from a rage-based fatal flaw.

For example, contrast Michael's scenes with Clarisse later in the battle:

The real Clarisse looked up at the drakon, her face filled with absolute hate. I'd seen a look that intense only once before. Her father, Ares, had worn the same expression when I'd fought him in single combat. "YOU WANT DEATH?" Clarisse screamed at the drakon. "WELL, COME ON!" She grabbed her spear from the fallen girl. With no armor or shield, she charged the drakon.

and

"I AM CLARISSE, DRAKON-SLAYER!" she yelled. "I will kill you ALL! Where is Kronos? Bring him out! Is he a coward?" "Clarisse!" I yelled. "Stop it. Withdraw!" "What's the matter, Titan lord?" she yelled. "BRING IT ON!" There was no answer from the enemy. Slowly, they began to fall back behind a dracaenae shield wall, while Clarisse drove in circles around Fifth Avenue, daring anyone to cross her path. The two- hundred-foot-long drakon carcass made a hollow scraping noise against the pavement, like a thousand knives. Meanwhile, we tended our wounded, bringing them inside the lobby. Long after the enemy had retreated from sight, Clarisse kept riding up and down the avenue with her horrible trophy, demanding that Kronos meet her battle.

Calm and collected whomst? Not to say that Clarisse's temper isn't understandable here, but this fits much more in line with Athena's description of a fatal flaw - one that seems justified, right, even (and later on, Clarisse gets frozen by a Hyperborean Giant, so this does come back to bite her!), as opposed to the way Michael seems to stay in control of his temper even when his siblings are being killed around him.

With all that in mind, while I willa gree that anger is a flaw of Michael's, it certainly doesn't seem to check the boxes to be a fatal flaw, so let's move onto the next one: Pride.

Pride has its roots in the same parts of the narration as anger, so this section is going to be rather shorter because I don't need to rehash all the quotes again. The main thing that stands out on the pride side of the feud, specifically, is that it's completely needless for Michael to keep agitating Clarisse and the Ares cabin.

Clarisse turned to Chiron. "You're in charge, right? Does my cabin get what we want or not?" Chiron shuffled his hooves. "My dear, as I've already explained, Michael is correct. Apollo's cabin has the best claim. Besides, we have more important matters—" [...] "I see," Clarisse said. "And the senior counselors? Are any of you going to side with me?" Nobody was smiling now. None of them met Clarisse's eyes.

Chiron's put his hooves down on the matter - the Apollo cabin has the best claim to the chariot, Clarisse is the aggressor here. The other head counsellors all agree with that, too. Michael could, and given the upcoming war, should, ignore her and put his and his siblings' focus towards the war and not an argument he's already won.

But he doesn't. His chariot is attacking the campers - the Apollo kids aren't just defending themselves from the upset Ares kids, they're on the offensive themselves, arguably more so than the Ares campers.

As we crossed the commons area, a fight broke out between the Ares and Apollo cabins. Some Apollo campers armed with firebombs flew over the Ares cabin in a chariot pulled by two pegasi. I'd never seen the chariot before, but it looked like a pretty sweet ride. Soon, the roof of the Ares cabin was burning, and naiads from the canoe lake rushed over to blow water on it. Then the Ares campers called down a curse, and all the Apollo kids' arrows turned to rubber. The Apollo kids kept shooting at the Ares kids, but the arrows bounced off. Two archers ran by, chased by an angry Ares kid who was yelling in poetry: "Curse me, eh? I'll make you pay! / I don't want to rhyme all day!"

This feels a lot like he's trying to validate that yes, the chariot really is his cabin's, and the fact that Clarisse keeps insisting otherwise despite every non-Ares member of the camp being on Michael's side is insulting/undermining the Apollo cabin's claim.

It also sounds like he made sure to have the final word against Clarisse when she still refused to come and fight, which is a very prideful action.

"Nah," Michael said. "Left it at camp. I told Clarisse she could have it. Whatever, you know? Not worth fighting about anymore. But she said it was too late. We'd insulted her honor for the last time or some stupid thing." "Least you tried," I said. Michael shrugged. "Yeah, well, I called her some names when she said she still wouldn't fight. I doubt that helped. Here come the uglies!"

The thing is, though, that we hit a snag with the pride theory at this point for a similar reason to the anger one - as soon as there's something bigger and more immediate to focus on, Michael sets it aside.

He gives up the chariot they were fighting over - the chariot that, rightfully, is the Apollo cabin's - for no reason other than because he knew that they needed the Ares cabin to come and fight and it was the only thing he could think of that he could do to try and change Clarisse's mind - made even more stark when compared with Michael's original, in-camp, reaction to Clarisse's declaration.

Clarisse threw her knife on the Ping-Pong table. "All of you can fight this war without Ares. Until I get satisfaction, no one in my cabin is lifting a finger to help. Have fun dying." The counselors were all too stunned to say anything as Clarisse stormed out of the room. Finally Michael Yew said, "Good riddance."

It's true that Michael does get upset when Clarisse ignores his sacrifice of the chariot and still refuses to fight, but I think that's understandable given the situation (and he is, still, a teenage boy with a temper). It doesn't change the fact that he does it, however, nor the fact that Michael doesn't rescind the sacrifice and bring the chariot with him regardless, despite its potential stragetic uses in the war. Pride certainly doesn't seem to have much if any weight in his final stand, either, so I'd say that like anger, this doesn't actually fit as his fatal flaw, even if it might be somewhat of a personal trait/flaw.

At this point, it seems a little bit like a moot point to poke at Stubbornness because most of the counter-arguments for anger and pride also address this, but I'll quickly go over it anyway because this is the first one that properly shows itself all the way through Michael's appearances.

I've already mentioned the way he doesn't back down in the chariot feud, which is pride, yes, but also stubbornness - he won't leave it alone, won't let Clarisse stake her own claim on it, keeps fighting past the point of necessity over it.

But then we have his final scene, where he stands his ground. There's no indication that Michael even tried to run when the bridge crumbled.

I got unsteadily to my feet. The remaining Apollo campers had almost made it to the end of the bridge, except for Michael Yew, who was perched on one of the suspension cables a few yards away from me, His last arrow was notched in his bow. "Michael, go!" I screamed. "Percy, the bridge!" he called. "It's already weak!" At first I didn't understand. Then I looked down and saw fissures in the pavement. Patches of the road were half melted from Greek fire. The bridge had taken a beating from Kronos's blast and the exploding arrows. "Break it!" Michael yelled. "Use your powers!" [...] I turned to thank Michael Yew, but the words died in my throat. Twenty feet away, a bow lay in the street. Its owner was nowhere to be seen. "No!" I searched the wreckage on my side of the bridge. I stared down at the river. Nothing.

Michael completely ignores Percy telling him to run, tells him to break the bridge that he's currently on and clearly has no intentions of leaving, not with that notched arrow that he then seems to have fired, given that there's no arrow later on. This seems the closest we've got so far to a flaw that goes beyond a simple character flaw and into the fatal category.

Except.

He's a stubborn character, but just like with anger, like with pride, Michael keeps putting it aside when it might otherwise cause issues during the battle - he questions Percy's plans more than once, but despite that, he cedes command to Percy on Williamsburg Bridge, follows his orders instead of continuing with his own strategies, and generally shows that he's exactly the sort of person you want by your side/at your back when you're fighting. Michael's flexible and prepared to change and adapt as the situation does - which is pretty much the opposite of stubbornness, so while at first glance it seemed like a strong candidate it's once again contradicted by the scenes on Williamsburg Bridge.

So, that's the three usual suspects that arise from the chariot feud all falling apart once we rearch the battlefield. Michael is certainly passionate about the fight - more than once, Percy implies that he seems to actually be having a good time on the battlefield and there's no other explanation other than eagerness for this moment:

I sliced through armor like it was made of paper. Snake women exploded. Hellhounds melted to shadow. I slashed and stabbed and whirled, and I might have even laughed once or twice—a crazy laugh that scared me as much as it did my enemies. I was aware of the Apollo campers behind me shooting arrows, disrupting every attempt by the enemy to rally. Finally, the monsters turned and fled—about twenty left alive out of two hundred. I followed with the Apollo campers at my heels. "Yes!" yelled Michael Yew. "That's what I'm talking about!"

But despite all of this, that passion doesn't seem to be based in anger, pride, or stubbornness, despite those being the first things people seem to think of when they think about Michael - and that's why I have two more options added to the list to explore.

Moving on, then, I'll start with Protectiveness.

So, just now I said that stubbornness is what caused Michael's final moments, but is it really? It was certainly part of it, but also - as I mentioned earlier, when talking about anger, Michael's final stand is immediately after some of his siblings have been thrown off the bridge - having already seen at least one other sibling killed earlier:

Hellhounds leaped ahead of the line from time to time. Most were destroyed with arrows, but one got hold of an Apollo camper and dragged him away. I didn't see what happened to him next. I didn't want to know.

Siblings, of course, that as their head counsellor he is the one in charge of and responsible for - it's likely that he's the oldest in the cabin as well (although not guaranteed), and that these are all his younger siblings that are getting killed/seriously injured/status unknown. We're told that the "remaining" Apollo campers are running for the end of the bridge and retreating as far as possible - all of them except for Michael, who was with them to start with but stopped and turned to face the enemy.

Michael and his archers tried to retreat, but Annabeth stayed right beside me, fighting with her knife and mirrored shield as we slowly backed up the bridge.

Followed by

The remaining Apollo campers had almost made it to the end of the bridge, except for Michael Yew, who was perched on one of the suspension cables a few yards away from me. His last arrow was notched in his bow.

This is the point when Michael makes the decision that the bridge has to be destroyed, figures out how to destroy it, and basically orders Percy to do it. I've got a whole other argument about how Michael is the reason Olympus didn't fall that first night of the siege, but at this point I think it's blatantly obvious that the only thing Michael is thinking about is protecting his siblings. Why else would he put himself (tiny archer who should never, ever, be on the front lines - which is hinted at by the fact he still seeks out as high a ground as he can get aka the cables) as the rear guard, the barrier between an entire army and his fleeing siblings?

He's protecting his siblings - he's guarding their backs as they flee to safety and he's finding a way to stop them from being pursued, even if it kills him in the process. It's clearly the right decision to him, the only decision he thinks he can take - and it's textbook fatal flaw.

But before I settle on that, there's one more I want to talk about, which is really an extension of protectiveness, and that's Love.

I'll admit that love always feels like a bit of a cheat to me as a fatal flaw - it's a bit of a catch-all, in that if you argue hard enough you can pull back almost any character to love in some way (which is why Aphrodite is such an underrated yet powerful goddess), and it's nowhere near as obvious for Michael as it is for Apollo and Nico (yes I know what Bianca said, but consider: she didn't know what she was talking about. Nico's fatal flaw is a whole other meta, though), but I think it fills in a few gaps that protectiveness leaves a little open.

There's something that gets overlooked a lot when Michael gets discussed, especially the chariot feud, despite the fact that Percy outright states it.

Michael had taken over the Apollo cabin after Lee Fletcher died in battle last summer.

No sugar-coating, no forgetting about a background character that got all of two pre-death appearances - Lee was killed in battle, and Michael was the one that took over the cabin from him.

We never get any canon information on Michael and Lee's relationship, but obviously they knew each other well, given that Michael's the next most senior kid - and isn't that the kicker. Because this line tells us one very important thing: Michael had to step into his big brother's suddenly-vacated shoes in the immediate aftermath of a battle, with no time to grieve.

We even have a comparison to make right in that same scene:

Even Jake Mason, the hastily appointed new counselor from Hephaestus, managed a faint smile.

Jake's also been shoved into the same role, a role we later find out he never wanted and never recovered from - big brother's dead, your turn to step up and lead the cabin in war. Most of the counsellors are laughing but all Jake can do is a faint smile. He's not okay, and you wouldn't expect him to be - and in The Lost Hero he's even more blatant about the fact that he's not okay (same as Will, in fact) - so, clearly, Michael is not okay, either.

The chariot feud is a whole mess of emotions - anger, pride and stubbornness are ones I've already covered - but I never see anyone talk about grief, and how Michael's been forced to lead a cabin in the wake of the death of his older sibling (the first wartime promotion, really - the Stolls situation isn't quite the same), and how he has to be at least somewhat off-balance, because grief is a tricky little thing and there's no way it hasn't got its nasty little claws in Michael, and that only a few scant months - a year at most - after Lee's death, it's still very, very raw.

And there's a strong correlation between love and grief. "What is grief but love perservering?" "Grief is the price we pay for love" - there's a neverending list of sayings about grief and love.

Then there's the bridge. There's Michael putting Austin and Kayla right at the back, setting traps but a long way back from the front line. There's the way he knew that without the Ares cabin they weren't going to win so he surrendered the chariot in the hopes of getting the front line fighters to join in - the ones that will stand between the archers and the enemy, between his siblings and the enemy. There's, again, the way he stood his ground as a barrier between Kronos and his army and his siblings, even though if Percy hadn't destroyed the bridge he would've been overrun and killed (and he was in such a precarious position that breaking the bridge... well, we know what happened or do we).

But also there's the fact that Michael was fighting at all. The fact that Michael wanted to fight - when Percy gives him the opportunity to take the fight to Kronos, to fight back rather than just numbly defending the bridge/Manhattan/Olympus, Michael seizes it.

His ferrety face was smeared with soot and his quiver was almost empty, but he was smiling like he was having a great time.

"That was my last sonic arrow," Michael said. "A gift from your dad?" I asked. "God of music?" Michael grinned wickedly.

I followed with the Apollo campers at my heels. "Yes!" yelled Michael Yew. "That's what I'm talking about!"

He's right there on the front line, it's so obvious that he's there because he wants to be, because he believes in their cause. Because he loves Apollo.

It's never said in so many words (although we know Apollo has interacted with Michael because he's given him those sonic arrows), but it's there in Michael's actions, in how he never falters in the pro-god side of the war despite losing sibling after sibling after sibling to it - Michael has to love Apollo for anything else to make sense.

It's his siblings he sacrifices himself for, but it's his father he chose to fight for. And it's both that he died for.

If that's not a fatal flaw in action, what is?

#michael yew #pjo #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo meta #tsari analyses things #i have so many feelings about Michael okay #he didn't deserve to die #and i sincerely hope he didn't

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personasintro · 1 year

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I avoid posting/ commenting on negatives as much as possible but I think it’s really selfish for readers to ask to advance the plot/ alter the plot. I have an author friend and she goes through a lot of planning, mind mapping, editing, fixing the layout etc. and that’s like every chapter, it’s a repetitive cycle. It takes soooo much energy, research, and willingness to write, trust me. For the readers who are getting tired of the plot, or feels as if the frequency of updates are not enough, maybe it’s time for you to explore another story. Pause for a while. I go through phases of being into one genre and then the next I find myself exploring another coz I loose interest because of many factors but I’ll comeback to it and it’ll be like reading it again for the first time. It’s not the author’s responsibility to cater to all your requests. They have a plan just trust them!!! Don’t cross the boundaries they set. Please be respectful and be mindful of peoples hard work which results to these books that give us a delightful experience and an escape from our realities. Let stories be a safe place and just enjoy the ride, it’s really not that hard 🥺

i love you Mimi, i may have been a silent reader but always cheering you on whatever comes ur way! You’ll get through it 💜when I say MH saved me, it really gave me a reason to look forward to another day. I hope your hard-work and passion for what you do comes back to you as great joy and success.

This makes me wanna cry because you’re absolutely right 😭 either way, it’s very disrespectful of readers to do this even if they think it’s “only just feedback” and sometimes it matters in what way you give it to the author. The moment the author has their own opinion about it or doesn’t agree with them, it’s a train full of hate and bad energy. It’s very sad to see this and even harder to experience almost every month. I love sharing my stories with people, but they tend to forget that I’m writing my own story how I like it and I just decided to share it. Regardless of that, it’s a beautiful thing to share it with the world. It’s not something I haven’t said already, but the moment you set your boundaries on your own blog, there is always someone who calls you mean and rude for doing so and that’s so freaking wrong and toxic.

#ask

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lemonhemlock · 10 months

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Hello,

I really love the posts from this blog. It’s a breath of fresh air compared to YouTube and Twitter which is dominated by Team Black stans.

Can we please talk about the ‘Rhaenyra is the best mother’ propaganda going around.

I’m not saying it’s untrue (though I’m personally skeptical) just that I only ever see it being used to denigrate Alicent as though their situations are in anyway the same. Worse still is when these people (Team Black stans obv.) bring in book ages into a discussion of the show canon arguing that Rhaenyra was only 17 when she had her first son and managed to be a good mother. I’m not arguing either woman, or any woman in general in Westeros, is in a good never mind better situation. Only that it’s easy to argue that Rhaenyra is mother of the year when she has like a half dozen scenes with her children that last all of 15 seconds. She only actually speaks to Jace and Luke in the show.

Alicent may not be perfect but let’s think more critically about the result of Rhaenyra’s supposedly Grade A parenting. Jace is violent and arrogant, Luke is petrified and timid. Neither can fight competently, never mind fairly. Jace cannot speak High Valyrian even though he has both Daemon and Rhaenyra around who were both fluent at the same age. And Rhaenyra send her underage son to the Baratheons when she Rhaenys right as a vastly superior envoy (that’s a different far more annoying topic) — All of this is true even with the buckets of narrative bias working on their favour. There’s a FF trope that Joffrey squired in the Vale, Luke regularly goes sailing with the Sea Snake, and Jace is such a wonderful diplomat. None of which is textually supported but those TB fic writers need desperately for Rhaenyra to look as though she wasn’t just sitting on her ass doing nothing during her stint on Dragonstone.

To me Rhaenyra while probably more affectionate than Alicent; she should nonetheless also be condemned because her selfishness (the reason TB say Alicent usurped the throne for Aegon) puts her children in active danger.

Case in point TB say Aemond needed to be punished because the accusation of bastardy is so dangerous but who might I ask put those children in that situation in the first place? Oh right Rhaenyra.

Additionally unlike Team Green, none of Rhaenyra’s family was truly in danger if she had just capitulated. She’s a woman and the children bastards of the female line. Alicent is there actively counselling Aegon against assassination and conflict. There may have even been a place for her on his small council or she could live out her best Lana de Rey vinyl life and a responsibility free rich lady on Dragonstone (bit rose tinned. I know but not completely absurd)

Just hoping you had some input on this idea that Rhaenyra is an UberMother or even that Alicent is supposedly the worst, most abusive, uncaring parent ever. (This is because she hits Aegon occasionally — but IDK that’s just how boys got disciplined in the past, and why is no one talking about the lack a father figure yet the reason Aegon is a lush is all on Alicent *head desk*)

Thanks

Hi there & thank you for your kind words about my blog. I think the difference in parenting style between the two can be explained due to structural factors, i.e. their social positions & respective privileges.

Rhaenyra is her father's favourite, a princess by blood and has an actual dragon. She's not just any regular Westerosi noble lady. She is THE it-girl. She can afford a laissez-faire approach to child-rearing. She is careless with the paternity of the children. She is oblivious to how she is perceived in court, because, for a very long time, it is not a subject of interest to her, as she just automatically assumes her status and dragon will render that aspect irrelevant ("their views don't matter"). It takes until her THIRD child for her to realise people are gossiping about her and that gossip can be dangerous the more her father is ailing. Because of her short-sightedness, she unintentionally puts her children's lives in danger because she insists on keeping them in the line of succession not just for the throne, but also attempts to steal another house's lands and titles. I have always thought that sending Luke to Driftmark to "rule" would just make him vulnerable to assassination attempts by his disgruntled Velaryon relatives.

Meanwhile, Alicent is terrified that her children's lives are in danger, her father's, her brother's etc. She's not going to be a lax parent, she can't afford that. She grows to be an anxious and dissatisfied adult. While Rhaenyra gets to explore her sexuality and have children she wants with someone she cares about & finds sexually appealing, Alicent is repeatedly impregnated against her will and maritally raped by an old, decaying man. She is always going to have a more complicated relationship with motherhood because of that.

Had Rhaenyra & Alicent been millennial mums living in the contemporary world, they probably would have both done a good job of it, with all the resources & information available today on child development & psychology and with enough wealth to afford appropriate childcare when needed. They also both would have benefitted from superior medical knowledge (so childbirth wouldn't have been a death gamble) and would probably not have been forced into teen motherhood.

#ask #anon #alicent hightower #anti rhaenyra targaryen #not really but i just can't be bothered with tb stans #alicent & her children

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