#then i think it genuinely would’ve been an important moment for his character

[starstriix]

can we talk about just how effective jock would’ve been in pushing a jo character arc. It’s not just the fact that Brick acts as a good moral compass, but it’s also how he encompasses EVERYTHING jo tries to avoid (he’s open with his femininity, emotional, sensitive, clumsy etc) and jo…still likes and respects him??

Like, she views him as an equal to the point of overestimating him (you and I both know that mf was trying his hardest in the thumb wrestling scene and jo was all “oh he hardly tried!! what a gentleman!!☺️” GIRL YOU NEARLY BROKE HIS THUMB). You can tell she genuinely enjoys competing with Brick, and she’s never bored whenever they interact. She’s often the one to go up and talk to him, despite beating him time and time again. Jo views him as a worthy competitor even after witnessing him being the most embarrassing man alive (who the fuck tries to dislocate their hip to impress a girl) and pissing himself.

The point is, Jo clearly holds Brick in somewhat of a higher regard despite him showing weakness so often. And that’s important because Jo’s main driving force is not wanting to appear weak.

You can see little moments of her showing care or concern before immediately switching back to her cutthroat attitude. Caring is a “”weakness”” that prevents you from winning (demonstrated by Brick in episode 7). When Jo volunteers to have makeup put on her, she immediately covers it up with a facade of toughness and says she’s “only [doing it] for the good of the team” (Compare this to Brick’s “Yeah, you heard me.” after announcing his dream of going to fashion school). She’s definitely struggling with internalised misogyny and associating femininity with weakness, but that’s an essay for another day.

Brick shows so much “weakness” and yet she still somewhat respects and even cares for him more than the other contestants. And I find that SO interesting.

Especially because he's her rival??? Their relationship is the embodiment of competition. Overcompetitiveness (or toxic competitiveness) is one of Jo's most glaring flaws, so to have her actually care about the one she should be against the MOST? It's a really good way of showing her overcoming her own toxic competitiveness.

Also, the parallels between Jo basically kick-starting Brick's character arc about prioritising the wellbeing of others...and then having Brick be a focal point in a Jo arc about prioritising the wellbeing of others...chef's kiss

I'd also like to add a little detail in relation to Jo's contestant biography. Specifically on her weird dream about letting a guy win because she thought he was "attractive." Yes this was hinting at Brick idc it was way too specific and odd compared to the other dreams, and Brick is the only guy we know who constantly competed against her (and lost). And I'm definitely reading into this too much, but it's actually quite interesting how her subconscious attraction to the guy overpowered her very, VERY intense need to win. Guess that's why it was a weird dream, but it still makes me think about the potential of Jo sacrificing her win for someone she grew to care for. Also I want representation of masc women in relationships that aren’t just played off as a joke

I can go on about this all night (I wish I could) but yeah. I really wish they'd give Jo a proper character arc because she really deserved one. She deserves to be able to grow and develop because she's a great fucking character, and Brick was literally the key to all of that. Peace out

#jock rant number 2736e72827 #total drama #jockjockjock #td jo #td brick #td jock #tdroti #ps shout out to maggot in rat’s clothing for being what i’ve always wanted in a jo character arc. and also being excellently written

[a-sketchy]

the thing about yosuke’s shittiness around here (up close and personal, the campout) is that the vast majority of it isn’t doing literally anything for his character. i completely think yosuke’s shittiness is important to his character, but it’s by and large reflections of his own insecurities and flaws. he’s insecure about his masculinity and sexuality, he’s lame, he’s selfish, he’s obsessed with the idea of women, his mouth moves faster than his brain, he doesn’t like himself, and he cares way too much about the societal ideal of ‘normal’. but it’s really important that he’s self-aware! he knows when the things he says are shitty, he knows he’s lame, he knows he’s selfish, he knows he’s putting up a front of being carefree and normal. but there’s absolutely no self awareness here, there’s no recognizing he went too far and apologizing the next day, there’s no regret, there’s not even any self-deprecation, and there’s absolutely no compassion or empathy like he has in serious moments. a lot of what he says is just mean for meanness’s sake, in an execution incongruous with previous behaviour. it’s not even funny!

#tbh i think the thing with kanji in the tent was the closest to being interesting #like by the end he’s warning against kanji leaving the tent #so clearly he cares about kanji more than he’s homophobic #he was straight up just saying that stuff to be shitty. knowingly! #that’s interesting! and the whole thing reeks of yosuke’s own insecurity in his masculinity and sexuality #he took it way too far and i deeply wish he’d quit it with the we statements #but if he had even a single line like ‘shit… i shouldn’t have said all that’ or recognized he was in the wrong at all #then i think it genuinely would’ve been an important moment for his character #everything else was just extremely shitty for no reason. the fucking swimsuits was pathetic but the gross guilt tripping was awful #he’s just lacking all of his usual self awareness. he’s lacking all of his good qualities and nuance #like it’s a fundamental misunderstanding of what makes yosuke’s other moments interesting or funny #this is just him being mean getting punished arbitrarily and not learning anything #on paper i get it. i get how these events could be continuations of established charateristics #but it’s just so mean and shitty that it becomes absurd nonsensical and unenjoyable #the stuff with hanako is just genuinely repugnant on the game’s behalf. it serves no purpose other than cruelty #definitely the worst part of the game so far #rambles #p4g posting #yosukeposting

[pascals-doll]

 CONVENIENCE STORE

ellie williams x reader

『••✎••』 in which ellie self-loathed in her mistake as the weeks pass. you both went back to your regular lives, so will life spare a divine intervention? | WC: 12.0K

🫧 THIS IS A SERIES | FOR ALL PARTS GO HERE

🫧 SERIES MASTERLIST | CH.3 HERE

🫧SHE TOLD ME WATCH THE SNAKES CUS THEY WATCHING YOU! TYSM BABIES FOR THE IMMENSE FEEDBACK ON THE FIRST CHAPTER OMG 🥹!!

🫧description: MODERN AU! DESCRIPTIVE ANGST!, INTRO TO 2 IMPORTANT SIDE CHARACTERS!, latina!reader, descriptions of reader having bronze/tawny skin, mentions of religioius la virgen, a little bit of a abby mention ☺️, mentions of smoking marijuana, talk about about identifying sexuality, mentions of toxic relationships, bff!dina, reader speaks spanish! (very little in this this chapter), dina speaks spanish, reader’s nickname from her close friends is “gatà”, mention of y/n once (___), kissing! love reconciliation, use of pet name (mama).

CHAPTER TWO

oh, how Ellie texted you the morning right after as she woke up thinking about you. the way she grabbed her phone, opened the contact, and began to fly her fingers away in confidence.

Ellie had every intention of contacting you, she genuinely couldn’t get you out her mind as she had already put the lipliner you left her on her nightstand for safe keeping.

just like any regular person with the phone number of who they spent the night dancing with and even ending the night off with a kiss, you would think to text them.

yet, she sat there on her bed slightly hung over but Ellie truly believed that she could’ve been plastered, and she still would’ve remembered meeting you. she had her phone in her hands.

how hard could it be right?

how hard can it be to just type a quick message to the girl she over the moon infatuated with after the first night?

it was alot harder than ellie definitely thought….

Ellie wishes she could say that as she had her phone in her hand, her thumbs got to typing away with ease, and already asking you on a date.

a simple hello could’ve also just sufficed.

still, her fingers wouldn’t move, loosing control. it was like the wiring in her brain had short-circuited; a blank mind being the only thing processed.

in reality, she sat there with phone in hand, staring at the blank blue bubble waiting to be written in.

it had been 2 weeks since the night of the party.

2 weeks.

two weeks.

how did Ellie fuck up this badly?

she wasn’t quite sure, but she had been living in an eternity of pity and grimace since then.

why?

it was because only Jesse’s ass could be spending almost any given moment he has on the phone with Dina while Ellie couldn’t even send you one damn text.

one night Ellie came back from home working late-night at Joel's car-shop.

she was beyond exhausted and the first thing she heard as she walked through her shared apartment with Jesse was Dina's laugh.

Ellie was happy Jesse finally found someone he genuinely likes but it was her own 'pussy-ness' that irked her.

she practically dragged herself to her room in her own wallow but of course, Jesse wanted to greet his best friend.

"hey Els! how was work with y'old man?" Jesse questions, approaching you while still on the phone.

"fucking mute that shit!" Ellie panicked as she whisper-shouted like she was going to be caught or seen. Jesse rolled his eyes before pressing mute on the Face-Time.

"bro what the fuck is wrong with you?" Jesse retaliates, he looked at her like she was wielding a gun around.

"what the fuck! nothing!" Ellie sneers out harshly like as if she wasn't the one causing a scene.

Jesse huffed out but before he could speak, a familiar voice rang through the speaker of his phone.

'Deens! I brought my mom's menudo! your favorite!'

She knew it was your voice, even off one night with you.

she would be able to recognize your voice anywhere.

Jesse watched how you relaxed when you heard her, completely pulled into a trance in a matter of seconds between a phone call that wasn't yours.

"do me a favor—and a favor for yourself, text her for fuck-sake." Jesse sighs out, shutting the door to your room.

Ellie was sure it was too late to try again now.

it was too late all because of her own overthinking.

she was sure it would take a miracle to get another chance with you.

༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻

on your side of things, you felt completely fooled.

when you woke up the next morning and finally was conscious enough to check your phone; just to see your notification box empty.

could you even be angry at Ellie?

you would begin to slightly overthink.

you didn’t know why you cared so much, you were cross-faded half the night and it was just a party….so why couldn’t you stop thinking about her.

you’re not gay…..well…no….ehhh..

you literally felt so stupid as you mentally pondered with yourself. even if it was just drunk you acting up last night.

you remember it so vividly and clearly, there was no way you could try to play this off.

“que piensas, gatà?” Dina huffs out, bagel in hand as she throws herself on her bed right next to you, referring you to the name she's been calling you since 7th grade.

“has he texted you?” you gave Dina this look which Dina reciprocated by arching one eyebrow in case you were trying to insinuate something.

“girl…he called me!” she looked around with an exaggerated look of shock with a hand on her heart causing you to giggle out with her.

you let out a whistle at her playful smugness “‘atta girl!” you were happy that at least one of you got a message back.

"What!? did she not text you?" Dina asks you slightly shocked, Dina did not miss the little kiss you had shared last night.

you didn't even meet her gaze, just twiddling with your thumbs.

"no... but I mean, she was just another person at a party that you have a good—" you rambled, trying to convince yourself more than you were trying to convince Dina.

she quickly cut you off "yeah babe, but that was with men and during all those stupid little breaks that dick claimed were needed." Dina begins. you already know what she was getting at.

"hoe, if you don't look at me."

you brought your eyes to meet with Dina's.

"look I know we made out in 8th grade—" Dina chuckles out which causes you to groan out annoyingly. you throw one of her stuffed animals at her; she caught that shit with ease.

"Dina!" you beam out, you were internally cringing for some reason and felt anxiety bubbling inside you out of the blue.

"babe! you were on gay shit last night. somebody had to say it." Dina could've worded this so much better, but it was Dina.

she was going to put it in the only way your current stubborn self would understand; by being blunt.

you weren't shocked.

you weren't acting as if hearing those words make zero sense to you.

you were confused, maybe slightly ashamed too.

you couldn't quite put a pin in your emotions which was now causing an inner distress to ignite.

"I-I-am....I-I" you sounded like an infant trying to mutter your first word.

que mierda, fucking get it together.

you internally scolded.

"___, I'm not telling you anything. I'm just saying that Ellie is definitely a lesbian and she made you feel something. that is okay—i mean girl! you were with your ex since our highschool sophomore year....do you really even know yourself—like that at least?” Dina was your closest friend and each word that fell from her lips was for your own good.

you needed to open your eyes.

yes, you were so assured of yourself and your life.

yet, you let someone dictate for so many years how to feel. you were never sure of your emotions till now; but you still find yourself struggling with the aftermath of how he treated your feelings as you forgot how to treat your own.

just having to recollect the memory of it, how he could take the power away from your words.

it enraged you as you felt sick.

"no, he fucking deprived me of myself." you spat out, a slight shake in your voice at the mix of emotions. you wanted to cry; not knowing why.

Dina got closer on the bed to now be completely side by side with you. she pulled you into her embrace from the side.

"you deserve to find out, it is your life now." Dina reassures you, calming you down.

she was 100% right.

you deserved the opportunity to find out who you really are, not just naive high school you because you were way past that time.

you needed your mental to catch up with you after being under someone else's impression.

you were going to do just that.

༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻

after that morning after the party; for the next 2 days, you hoped for something.

a text or a call.

you got nothing.

you will say you thought about Ellie quite often, but you gave up hope she would contact you what felt like to be a while ago now.

you had a life to get back too, you were too slightly egotistical to let yourself get too wrapped up in ‘what if's'.

you weren’t quite sure now on your whole self-discovery journey.

you weren’t reliant on the woman but the way you couldn’t even restock items while you were at work without thinking back to her.

the way Ellie felt.

the way she felt on you.

you recalled every single little thing about her like you had been precisely studying a subject for school.

the way her lips fell perfectly into yours.

the way her warmth was able to whelm you in.

the way she was able to pull you into her by doing nothing.

she had completely contaminated your membrane with just her.

it was becoming infuriating as the days pass.

༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻

Ellie was beyond fed up with her mind.

anywhere she went, almost everything reminded you of her.

it felt like universe was trying to rub her stupid mistake in her face.

Ellie was working another day at the car shop with the clock reading 5:40 pm.

the sun had begun to set as she finished up the last tweaks, she needed to make on the car's engine she was working on.

she wiped the slight sweat off with the back of her wrist as her hands were covered in black grease.

"why don't you g'head on home, kiddo. I’ll finish it up." Joel perks up from behind as he placed the toolbox he brought in on his workbench.

"you sure?" Ellie questions as she walks over to the utility sink at the far corner of the repair-shop.

"Yeah, I gotta work on that client's tires—the one I told ya he came in makin' a fuss his tires weren't low enough." Joel chuckled out slightly at the end which caused Ellie to give a soft giggle.

"you talkin' about Sergío?" you recall a couple months back how a man came into the shop with the coolest lowrider she had ever seen up-close.

"yup. that's tha'man." Joels southern accent draws out.

"he should be comin' in soon" Joel told Ellie as he began to move the car Ellie finished up into the lot with the rest of the other vehicles.

now you could call Ellie crazy for this but there was no way this was coincidence.

Ellie was sat on the stool, sipping on a soda as she took her small break as she watched the familiar old school impala drive up.

the blaring headlights caused her to raise her hand, shielding her eyes with the long of her arm.

Ellie's vision was obstructed temporarily but as it quickly refocused; she immediately noticed the huge rosary pendant that hung from the man's rearview mirror.

it was the same religious female procession that was on your lighter.

for some reason whenever she thought of you, she would then see an image or an item of the beautiful prophet.

call Ellie delusional......but to Ellie, this was a sign.

if this is you, please let me see her again. she mentally prayed for.

༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻

more days passed during these dreadful two weeks.

the both of you lived in sync as you both spent time moping over each other during your daily duties of life.

another day where you were having an unpleasant smoke session. you usually would roll up after you got out the shower, depending on the weather for your drink of choice.

you would have a hot tea or iced latte to go with the lit joint in your hand as you sat on your woven chair outside of your porch.

your mind couldn't even relax as you inhaled your kush, you would ask yourself if it was something about you that made her 'unattracted' to you.

she probably thought you were one of those girls…

you felt yourself physically cringe at the fact you even thought that.

you truly just didn't know.

Ellie had been the first woman to ever give you enough attention to have you really question yourself.

couple months before you left after the college semester finished, there was this girl in your finances class that had sat down next to you.

she had the strongest female physique you seen, her arms showing she was a gym-rat.

you even remember her name being Abby, she was sweet when she flirted with you.

it had been the first time a woman ever flirted you which automatically caused your body to flush and grow shy.

you remember shutting the poor girl down by just switching your seat, not really processing the fact she had just flirted with you.

you rubbed your head slightly as you continued to drag out your joint, puffing your smoke out after each inhalation.

this situation is different, you weren’t in a relationship this time.

you had already got a taste of Ellie and now it was something turned gluttonous.

you ash your roach before grabbing your bag and heading off to work; your brain tingling still over the auburn beauty.

༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻

you worked in a convenience store; it was owned by your family. more specifically, your tía owned the store ever since your tío had passed away a couple years ago.

she needed help with the store, so you quit working as a sale's assistant to spend half of your day behind a counter.

you honestly thought this was better than the shit you called your old job, you were practically your own boss all day.

the convenience store was located at the corner of a cold-de-sac.

it wasn't too far from a couple car-repair shops and a plaza that had a few options of chain-stores.

your family made a lot of connections through the shop. you would say that the area you lived in was community dominated and tend to be the same community who have lived there since you were born.

your convenience store was like the hot spot for your neighborhood due to the popularity of your tío before his passing.

this made your heart full, and it was worth it every time one of the regular's came in, like right now.

"aye! Pachuco!" you shrilled in pure excitement as one of your dad's friends that you grew up with walks in through the front door.

your convivence store was a little bit different than your regular 7/11 or liquor store.

the counter was all the way in the back, so it would be a bit hard to see who's coming in unless you look at the reflective circular mirror that was at each corner.

Pachuco dressed exactly like his name though, you could not miss him from miles away.

"como estas, neña!?" you leave your section behind the counter, greeting him as you smile at his term of endearment.

you enjoyed the times your job and store gave you, especially moments like these because you never knew if it could be someone you knew who can walk through the doors at any moment.

"I've been good! what will it be today?" you question happily as you get back behind the counter.

"how's that little boyfriend of yours?" the question was a harmless one, he didn't have a single idea that you guys broke up, but you still felt yourself wince at the mention.

"aye pachi, boys will be boys." you state simply, not wanting to get into it.

he observed your demeanor as you pulled out his favorite pack of cigars from the back-shelving.

"then just two Tylenols, gracias Mija—ay! what did i tell you? don't fuckin' date this age. to be honest, we never stop being dumbasses! Jaja—es un milagro que mi esposa no me haya dejado!" Pachuco laughs out as he pays.

you let out a laugh with him before giving him one last hug before he is on his way out, waving goodbye and throwing him a smile.

༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻

“so kiddo….y’tellin’ me that you finally get a girl that gets—you— t’dance and y’dont text her?” Joel summarizes to his understanding at Ellie’s rundown of that night while cleaning grease from the wrench he held.

Ellie just stood there with an awkward look on her face “I thought I raised you right…” Joel grumbles out teasingly.

the awkward look completely fell into a straight-doomed face “jokes kiddo! jus’jokes!” Joel chuckles out, putting the wrench down and popping the hood of the car he was working on.

“ugh! why did I even tell you!” Ellie now began to complain, throwing her gloves off and onto the chair she was once sat on.

“oh, c’mon now! jus’admit it….it was love at first sight.”

the phrase his Ellie’s ears completely drowning out all her sense.

Joel’s voice echoed through her ears with only you as the single thought that lied on her head for what felt like was already decades.

“you wouldn’t even believe her beauty, man…”

Joel knew you were kind of-talking to him, but you were so lost in thought it was almost as Ellie was trying to process it herself still.

“alright alrigh’—why don’t you go down t’store and get us couple drinks, yea?”

Ellie agrees with a nod her head before hold her palm out towards Joel’s direction.

“what?” Joel questions with a hip popped as he works on the popped-hood.

“the money, fam” Ellie remarks simply.

Joel’s expression glazed as ellie continues for stand there with a cheeky expression causing a roll of his eyes.

“fine ma’treat” he mocks out, pulling out a 10 from his jean-pocket.

“awh! thank you Joel.” Ellie’s tone was sarcastic as she threw joel a goofy grin that joel returned.

“you almost 21, y’know that right?” Joel interjected sassily with an eyebrow raised.

“that’s why you let me near the stove now!” ellie bantered childishly before grabbing her headphones; leaving out the car-repair lot.

༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻

♫₊˚.🎧 now playing: land of the snakes

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

Ellie walked down the cracked gray pavement as she took in her surroundings.

she observed each end of each street, looking at the street signs as she walked down; headphones blasting Cole.

she looked at the gas stations, smoke-shops, and laundromats as she crossed the cross-walk as she turned the street more into the busy neighborhood.

she peered an eye-out for a store as her head moved to the beat of the music, the buzzing of the street inaudible to ellie.

she watched as a group of women were walking up with different drinks in her far-view from more down the street.

Ellie followed the direction from where they came from turning the corner. at first, she was greeted with a plaza and a parking lot.

she passes the plaza slightly and it was almost hidden if a person werent looking in the right direction, they would miss it.

Ellie did not miss the store that she assumed the girls must’ve come from.

she couldn’t miss it when the convenience store had a mural of La Virgencita.

Ellie stopped dead in her tracks, only paying attention to the music in her headphones as she couldn’t fathom it.

♫ ain't no wedding and I do the most here

I'm the President you the co-chair.

you the player, yeah, I'm the coach here.

—I coast here.

this weather got me set up on this West Coast shit, yeah ♫

Cole playing in my ear and im seeing this? fuck my life.

Ellie pondered to herself as she just stared at the store, taking in the mural while the lyrics rang through her mind straight into the recollection of you.

her mind recalling your brown skin and the your gold jewelry sparkled as your eyes pierced through her.

she could feel her heart pounding against her chest as she observed the beautiful painting on each side of the store.

Ellie felt she was going mad but every single part of her reeling her in like fish on a rod.

she felt closer to you somehow.

like as if you were there.

༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻

call yourself unprofessional but it wasn’t like you worked in a office or something.

if that was the case, you definitely wouldn’t be rolling up like you are right now.

you took the split cigarillo that was now packed with good greens up to your lips to lick a slick stripe along the cigarillo before pinching it sealed.

you grabbed your lighter, flicking it open as you focused on the ignited flame; drying your saliva into the blunt.

your focus was interrupted by the sound of the store-bells chiming.

no mamés—im on my fucking break. did they not read the fucking sign.

you complain mentally as you remember switching the ‘We’re Open’ to ‘Closed’.

you walk out from the backroom where the surveillance cameras were back behind your counter.

you knew someone entered but you couldn’t see who.

you decided to duck into the room real quick to put the rolled blunt into the wrapper; placing it in your sweater-pocket.

♫ nothin’s impossible

and all you lame—show me what not to do

i met a real bad bitch in the club tonight

she told me, “Watch the snakes ‘cause they watching you” ♫

Ellie was greeted with aisles of merchandise the second she walked in. she took a few steps down, passing a few aisles as she got closer to the section of refrigerators.

she wasn't paying attention much to her surroundings as she just took in the style of the store. she moved one-side of her headphones off her ear before opening the fridge and grabbing a lemonade for herself, and a sparkling water for Joel.

Ellie turned the corner, catching a glimpse of the clerk counter but she didn't see anyone behind it. she went down the aisle that was now in-front of the counter, grabbing her favorite bag of chips and a slim-jim.

now the next moment that happened.... Ellie swore it was all in slow motion.

if Ellie thought something was wrong with her brain before, her entire cerebellum just shut down for fucking sure.

she turned around with full expectation of having to wait and not seeing you behind that counter.

it genuinely was a miracle.

it was like the universe had been listening all along to the both of you, plotting this moment perfectly to unfold divinely.

Ellie dropped the snack items that were in her right hand, drinks in her left as her pupils flared. completely gleaming her eyes at you just standing there.

♫ now if you only had one wish is it devious?

'cause you already know who your genie is

ain't get a cover now your mag on my penis

like damn, he turned out to be a genius ♫

you felt frozen in place as you both burn into each other’s stare, neither of you processing the moment.

you caught a glimpse of the 'random woman' when her head was turned. she had her hair up in a loose bun and from the back—what looked like a black jumpsuit.

the second she turned around, your heart stopped.

you actually felt your heartbeat turn irregular as you were sure your eyes were gaping as jaw slacked obscurely.

you both were just gawking at each other absentmindedly. slowly, you began to remember how the woman didn't even text you and now here she was; meaning she lived in the area. your area.

you felt yourself emotions fume up "are you gonna pay or?" you nettled out, sounding way meaner than you meant too. you bit your lip in regret as you watch Ellie blink herself back into reality.

she took a step closer, still feet away from the counter you were behind. she tore her eyes from yours.

the woman didn't owe you anything but for some reason, you found yourself pushing for an answer "you come in here for that-" you began, taking your manicured nail and pointing at the items she held in her hands "or for somethin' else?" you finish questioning.

your tone was still bothered but you weren't rude.

Ellie didn't miss a single emotion though, feeling each one of your emotional vibrations straight into her heart. she wanted to open her mouth to explain everything.

in her heart, she was ready to tell you how you made her feel something no one else ever has before or how she wanted to ask you out to a fancy restaurant like she's never done because she's never met a woman who oozed of such divine elegance; while your looks could kill anyone with just one glance.

for fuck-sake, she's looks even better than I imagined.

Ellie knew this was the worse time to be checking you out, but this was something only Ellie had been dreaming about. she needed to soak in this moment.

you were wearing a black Juicy tracksuit; the zipper was halfway zipped revealing the pink halter that slightly pushed your breasts up complimented by your signature cat-eye liner and cocoa-lined lips.

your bronze skin shining through the same statement gold necklaces on the night she first met you, your hoops this time were small gold ones that Ellie didn't miss them. she took in the same details and your different ones.

you crossed your arms starting to get more irritated as you felt like the woman was judging you.... not checking you out.

“i-i’m—” ellie huffed as her eyes didn’t leave the floor before finally gaining the confidence to stride herself over and placing all the items on the counter.

“i’m sor-” you cut her off.

“i’m not gay.”

if you thought ellie’s facial expression was wistful and apologetic, her face went sour—completely deadpanning as each syllable was uttered out your mouth.

you jump immediately “wait!—” now it was your turn to take a breathe, Ellie didn’t move from her spot although her heart felt like it had been ripped out her chest.

“I’m not sure…. it’s a long story.” your explanation was pathetic.

"I was just gonna apologize...I see..." Ellie’s eyes trailed off from yours down onto the items on the counter as she dug into her pockets.

you examined her, trying to pick up on any sense of how she felt.

you looked at her up and down, she was wearing a mechanic jumpsuit that had a few stains and a white wife-beater under it. you felt yourself grow nervous at how good she looked; she looked worked out, but it made you even more attracted to her.

the small details of her becoming clearer as her freckles on her face were kissing her all across her cheeks, you took in how her clothing looked like she just came from a car-shop, and how her loose bun let a few free strands fall in her face.

you felt her rooted into you completely, just taking in her appearance bloomed your heart.

you felt yourself sigh once more, picking up the merchandise scanner and scanning each item. your hand wanted to shake so bad as the invisible blimps of your skin goosebump.

say something, say something.

your mind was burdensome as you force a sentence out of you "I'm-I'm on my break. the sign said closed." your voice was low, wanting to be hidden almost.

Ellie watches you bag her snack and drinks, rubbing the back of her neck to ease the tension that riled within her racing body; heart thrashing against her chest.

"the mural—it caught my attention.... I didn't even know there was a sign." Ellie's eyes meet yours once again.

"I understand if you didn't like me." you rush out, Ellie almost didn't catch it as you held onto her bag of items; she didn't even get the chance to hand you the 10 bill yet.

Ellie thought she was hearing things, there was no fucking way you just stated that shit.

she couldn't help but let out a very audible scoff.

"you ain't even let me say'somthin''" you could hear somewhat of a country undertone in her now loud and clear voice. nothing like the first night, where you could barely hear her.

you rolled your eyes as you felt no hope with the woman, handing her the bag.

"I never said that did I?" Ellie didn't hand you the bill yet, still in her hand. the way she let the sentence fall from her lips made your face hot.

she finally handed you the 10 "you said you were on your break?" she hinted as she held the bill in-between her fingers, making you grab it from her.

you lean in, reaching your hand out but not grabbing the bill "don'tcha know it's rude to interrupt a lady's smoke sesh?" you tease.

"m'sorry mama, any way to make it up to you?" Ellie slys out as you both flirt over the counter with each other like some shit out of a movie.

"join me?"

"i could listen to that 'long story' of yours"

you both gave each other a soft smile as you chuckled, finally taking the ten and putting it in the register before stepping outside your store with the fine roughed-up woman.

༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻ ༺ ♱ ༻

the moment was picture perfect.

you both stood outside your shop, the mural captivating the background behind the both of you as you leaned against the gumball machines that were outside on the side of your shop-doors with Ellie in front of you.

you took the blunt out of the wrapper the cigarillo originally came in, taking it between your lips.

Ellie watched you bring your signature lighter up to the tip to ignite it. you puffed on it a couple times, flicking the lighter to crisp the edges to make sure it burned correctly.

you handed her the blunt, eyes meeting as you caught her staring. there was a moment of silence as she puffed herself. you kicked your feet up in a soft bored-playful manner as you continue to challenge your mental.

"Ellie..." you began, her name falling off like butter as it sounded like a lullaby to Ellies ears. she had all ears and eyes on you as she continued to drag out the blunt.

"I would love to tell you everything—but for right now...." you took a deep breath as you felt the cottonmouth begin to catch you.

Ellie leaned closer, putting a hand over yours comfortingly. she did it unconsciously, by the time she even realized she had her hand on your shoulder; she was already feeling ready to comfort you to even mentally process.

"that's okay-like I said, I'm all ears"

you couldn't process how compassionate she was with you as you spoke up.

"not too long ago, I broke up with a long-term boyfriend—he cheated that's not the point—the point is that.... I have never been with anyone besides him." you explain, your pauses being inhalations of the sparked bud.

Ellies brows furrowed but she listened to you intently, she couldn't believe a woman like you could ever be cheated on.

"I'm sorry, you don't deserve someone like that." she reassures once more causing your heart to skip a beat.

you disregard the comment by giving her a soft smile and passing her back the blunt, not wanting to focus too much on that aspect "I know I sound complicated, but I just never got the chance to figure it out" your voice was somber, picking at your fingers nervously.

your breath hitched as her hand gently picked up your face by your chin, her face a good distance from yours as the steps she took closer to you only closed the space that was left between the both of you.

"y'know that is not your fault right?"

those words brought you back to what Dina told you weeks ago.

"thank you...." you gave her a weak smile as you trailed off "not what you thought, huh?" you gave her this look of pity, not for her but for yourself.

"maybe not but to be fair, I was thinking a lot worse after 'I'm not gay' right then and there" Ellie lightens the mood by making the both of you laugh as you continue to smoke together.

"i may not know much—" you puff out before taking a couple more hits of courage out of your blunt.

"but I know I really like you, Ellie."

your voice was sincere, not a single doubt, or hint of all of this being a 'joke'. she searched your face to see any hence of regret or anxiousness. she found none.

your face was assured and if anything, you had straightened yourself up more which inched your faces closer slightly as your confidence flourished through you within seconds.

the switch up drove Ellie crazy.

your demeanor screaming 'I know what I want' and it was all pointing towards the woman in front of you in this dirty black jumpsuit which made her look ravishingly good.

Ellie followed your confidence naturally, something only you were able to derive out of her so easily.

she inched her face closer as you let out of puff of a cloud of smoke in front her face in a playful manner before her face met yours, now only feet away from yours.

"been one night and I already can't think of any other woman than you, mama."

your heart was running a thousand miles per second.

the same nickname she called you affecting you more than before.

"that why you ain't text me?" the real question of the evening.

the confidence Ellie had just gotten completely diminished.

"I'm not maddd" you drag out, reaching a hand to tug on her jumpsuit gently as you smirk. you weren't anymore.

Ellie was like putty under anything you did, your look and if you commanded her to do anything; she would do it in a heartbeat and Ellie knows she would.

just like that, her tense aura calmed down.

"i was so fucking ready to ask you out on some fancy shit. i was gonna tell you im picking you up at 7, having a whole ass bouquet while you stepped down all divine as fuck—i was so close! my fucking fin—"

Ellie couldn't finish your sentence by the crashing of your lips onto hers.

the kiss wasn't heated or fast, it was purely passionate. you both sulked into each other as your bodies needed this. you indulged in the warmth you both brought each other, your arms wrapping around her neck as the once lit blunt blew out while still in between your middle and ring finger.

the mix of the tobacco from the cigarillo creating a swish in the taste of each other's tongues in distasteful pleasure as neither of you could care or process anything besides being together right here in this moment like a heaven-sent.

if this was the work of the divine, ellie found herself mentally thanking them as your lips moved in sync together.

Ellie pulled away with the biggest smile on her face, biting her lips ever-so-softly before speaking.

"Is there any way tis'beautiful woman could spare a poor mechanic woman one more chance?" Ellie takes a hand, placing it across her heart dramatically causing small giggles to erupt out of you.

you pick up on how ellie mentioned she was a mechanic. ‘that’s so fucking hot’ you thought to yourself.

Ellie watched you in pure admiration and beauty "and what would that be, hmm?" you hum out contently, your forehead's brushing against each other.

"that date. you and me, and a fancy dinner—how about it, mama?"

Ellies eyes gleamed hopeful as your gaze's pour into each other.

"i thought you would never ask, bebé"

there you two were, rekindling outside of a convenience store.

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#ellie williams #ellie williams x female reader #ellie williams the last of us #ellie williams tlou #ellie williams fanfic #ellie williams x reader #ellie williams smut #ellie tlou smut #lesbian #the last of us fandom #ellie the last of us #the last of us fanfiction #ellie williams series #GATÚ🌺

[thranduel]

i just discovered that there’s two different versions of astarion’s hug scene :o

the first version is triggered after you reach moonrise towers when you go to long rest at camp and he basically admits that his plan at the beginning was to seduce you, sleep with you and manipulate your feelings so you’d never turn on him, but it failed because he ended up falling for you. then he says “you’re incredible. you deserve something real. i want us to be something real” in the softest voice, and then admits that for a long time, he used his body to lure people to his master so he’s not used to intimacy and proper relationships and it’s hard for him.

the second version is triggered after you talk to a drow in moonrise towers. she wants your blood to make a potion + for her own research, but if you decline, she’ll turn to astarion instead and say she wants to be bitten by him because she knows he’s a vampire spawn. she asks if he “belongs to you” and if you select the option that says “excuse me? he’s his own person”, he approves. then she keeps pressuring him and he gets visibly upset and says no because he doesn’t want to bite her. she turns to you again and asks if you can talk some sense into him but if you say “he said no. there’s nothing more to discuss”, he approves again.

then later at camp when you long rest, the conversation starts with him thanking you (his voice is so soft in this scene i almost cried 😭). he proceeds to tell you how he spent 200 years using his body to lure pretty things back to his master and he says that what he wanted and how he felt about what he doing never mattered, and you could’ve done the same to him, but you didn’t. his voice was angry while talking about his past, and i love how much thought and detail they put into it because the moment his mind went back to you and how you helped him, his voice went so soft again. there was a quick pause and a small look of surprise on his face before he said “but you didn’t. and i’m grateful”, and the way he said it made me so emotional because you could tell how genuine it was. he’s so used to being told what to do and he said it would’ve been easy to just force himself through it, but for the first time, someone actually cared about HIS feelings and allowed him to make a decision for himself. then you can tell him you care about him and hug him, and the rest of the scene is the same as the first version.

i love both versions so much, but i got the second one in my playthrough and i’m so happy that i did. i think it was such a beautiful and important conversation to have and i’m glad that i was able to support him and allow him to make his own decision because it was such a big thing for him. depending on which dialogue options you choose, you can also get him to confess his initial plan to seduce you like he did in the first scene, or you can just leave it at him thanking you and remind him that he never has to do anything he doesn’t want to do. i feel like that moment also made him realise how much he actually loves my character and how much she loves him. the first version is really sweet too but i feel like there wasn’t a big specific moment that triggered it. you just need to romance him, have high approval and reach moonrise and then it just automatically triggers as part of the romance. but with the second version, i like how you actually had to go out of your way to unlock a specific scene and stand up for him, because later that night he makes the effort to come up to you and thank you and tell you how much it meant to him.

#astarion #baldur’s gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 spoilers

[girlbossnezuko]

The thing about stobin is that they only work as well as they do because Robin was originally supposed to be Steve’s love interest, rather than in spite of it.

Like, what do we love about them?

They’re each other’s best friend

They’re incredibly co-dependent

They can basically read each other’s minds

They’re together so often that you can essentially treat them as one entity

They have genuine moments of emotion

These are all things that are par for the course when it comes to writing romantic relationships. You see it with Jon and Nancy (though not quite to the same level, they don’t have the Stobin Mind Meld) where they’re also each other’s best and only friend, and they also do almost everything together, and most of their genuine moments of emotion are with each other or with family.

Stobin don’t have any family or friends, because Steve’s family just doesn’t exist for some reason, and Robin was introduced to fill his empty friend slot after the stoncy divorce. Robin doesn’t have any either, because why would they flesh out a backstory for Steve’s New Girlfriend when they need to spend all their screentime establishing a believable romance?

So what we end up with is the bones of a romance that they have to hastily cover with the skin of a friendship, and they’ve already laid all that groundwork so they can’t exactly start backpedaling now.

That’s why stobin are mostly comic relief when they’re allowed to be together in s4 btw, they genuinely don’t know what to do with them now bc they didn’t intend for their relationship to be platonic (surely there’s no interesting room for growth in a close platonic relationship, that would be silly). Steve still doesn’t have a love interest, which is catastrophic for a fan favourite main character (bc amatonormativity dictates that being single is a Bad Ending and they can’t give him a Bad Ending, he can’t be punished by the narrative when he’s supposed to be finished his redemption arc) which is why he was shoehorned back with Nancy (bc they didn’t have the space to add another character just to be his love interest). (Robin gets a hint of Vickie bc denying their only explicitly canon gay character a ‘happy ending’ (read: romantic relationship) is also Very Bad, both narratively and optics-wise)

Basically, if they’d started out with the intention of making Robin Steve’s friend rather than his girlfriend, well, for one she wouldn’t exist. But secondly they’d be a lot less close than they are now. They’d be more like what we see in s4: a comedy duo, except without the same level of emotion and intimacy behind all their interactions. They literally wouldn’t have been allowed to get that close, because the number one spot in Steve’s life would’ve been reserved for his girlfriend, because again: amatonormativity dictates your romantic partner is your first priority and your most important relationship. Robin got that spot through a miracle and some gay trickery, and I for one will always be grateful.

I’m probably not the first person to mention any of this, but I’ve been thinking a lot about platonic relationships in media recently, and a lot about stobin specifically. It’s kind of sad that one of the best examples of a close platonic relationship I can think of is just a romantic relationship in a wig, but I’ll take what I can get (and god I love them anyway).

#stobin thoughts overflowing. had to put them into the world #genuinely though it’s fascinating. they’re like lightning in a bottle and it happened completely by accident #if they’d been aiming to be more progressive from the start it would’ve been worse!! how crazy is that #I thank god for maya hawke every day I’m so serious #it’s so so rare to get a close important relationship in media that doesn’t at minimum have heavy romantic undertones #it is SLIM PICKINGS out there guys #fighting for my life as an aro in fandom #anyway. stobin 💞💞💞 #envy speaks #stranger things #stobin #stranger things meta #steve harrington #robin buckley #amatonormativity #aromantic

[dioriysus]

love the fact that tim drake’s vulnerabilities and mental health are more explored in the fan fics but he is unfortunately, somewhat suave canonically and is skilled at harbouring all the trauma or atleast intellectualising it rather than giving himself a moment to just feel the emotions (atleast that is my impression from the haze of memories). usually the fanfics depict him as someone unable to control his vulnerabilities and there’s nothing wrong about that but part of the reason that he doesn’t get much opportunity to be outright vulnerable is bc he is a skilled navigator among ppl and convos. the boy literally knows and analyses any thought/emotion that pops into his mind, he’s obsessed with his ability to manage it all.

i think the main emotion he suppresses is guilt and bc he’s objective enough to understand that under this line of work, there is technically no point in feeling the guilt, it’s disregarded and builds up. guilt about his responsibilities as a vigilante, for potentially endangering the lives of the civilians he loves, the overwhelming pressure to please everyone in both sectors of his life. he’s mature for his age, something that’s acknowledged by his family and surroundings and somewhat by himself as well. he doesn’t let himself linger on disappointment towards others as often as he should and moves onto what is under his control immediately.

that’s always been his biggest coping mechanism, control. tim doesn’t dwell, he has enough awareness of the world and his position in it to not constantly be reacting instead of just acting. i think that’s why him and steph’s differences in social backgrounds didn’t hinder the relationship bc he is generally a smart and self aware guy and can empathise with others while sticking to his moral grounds.

steph’s introduction into his life helped tipped the balance he so proficiently curated on the matters of heart vs head. it’s simple around her. yes, he feels a responsibility to keep her out of vigilante life as batman’s protege but she expects nothing from him (at first) and he likes that. that’s not to say that he didn’t fulfil any boyfriend responsibilities (he literally was there to help her deliver her baby) but she likes him for all he is and he does the same and everything else comes naturally and out of duty of the heart.

i think after war games and all, we obviously see him transform more and more into Batman. his civilian life that used to be as equal and important as robin became more withdrawn, a little less genuine and more tactic based? it was an understandable progression given all the losses he had been dealt with. the charms that came from him as a well-rounded person with academic/emotional intelligence were sort of lessened to tools to help enhance robin/red robin’s missions rather than.. ykno.. actually make good connections with people.

can’t say much bout the new52/rebirth as i hadn’t taken in much of Tim’s characters as vividly as his 90s series.. but i do commend the dc writers on letting Tim talk about how much he likes bernard and why.. feel like the last few timsteph content (minus some of the yj stuff) started to feel stale and was just Steph sulking around him (pls don’t hate meeee, there were cute moments but i missed the tension and chemistry from their original run)

i think he’s an incredibly interesting character and if there are to be any other live action depictions, I’d rather they take inspo from the robin series than anything else. let him be the well-liked guy who seems to be doing well in everything and then we can dive into the dynamics with his father, with Batman and other authorities in his life.

also i reckon if damian hadn’t met Tim through his connection to Batman, he would’ve had similar kind of dynamic as he does with dick 😭 idk i love looking at the parallels b/w tim and dick. tim wouldn’t obv give as much grace to damian as dick does, nor can he intimidate him through any means of physical combat like jason (i giggled writing this bc Damian doesnt take Jason seriously but atleast they’re both aware that they both need to reel in the violence). idkidk they’d have a fun back and forth relationship and Tim being the strategist he is would put Damian’s strengths to good use and Damian would respect that.

ok let me stop this rant once and for all bc i have actual tasks i need to get done but i lauv tim drake if u couldn’t tell! if there are any points of this essay that doesn’t make sense, that’s fair bc pls let me reiterate that my memory is not the strongest soldier and i could be mixing iterations of tim from all places saur yeahhh

#tim drake #stephanie brown #red robin #dc comics #bat family

[suchine-toki]

Thoughts about Shinpachi

Many times I’ve seen how he’s called out for being a boring character or that he’s annoying for yelling a lot, and although he never seemed like an annoying character to me, I’ve to agree that he’s dull compared to his companions.

Shinpachi is the ordinary character of the main group, the straight man who balances Gintoki and Kagura within the Yorozuya. He starts out as someone who lacks strength and courage, but gradually improves over the course of the series. His initial goal is to save his family's dojo, though that’s more of something Tae wanted to do for his father, not a personal aspiration of his.

At first he was given the trait of being the leader of Otsuu's imperial troop, which was an interesting contrast to his usually submissive personality, showing he has leadership skills, but he never made much of it. Although it does help characterize him as someone with a very good heart, supporting Otsuu when she was just a street artist.

I think that's the strong point of Shinpachi's character. He’s compassionate and always remains optimistic despite difficulties. He’s kind and genuinely good. But he also suffers from an inferiority complex, he feels he has no control over his life in a society in which he lost the only thing that made him special, being a samurai.

In the case of Gintoki and Kagura, their stories were relatively planned from the beginning (at least Sorachi had an idea), which wasn’t the case with Shinpachi. We could say that Beam Saber arc is the arc of his past. Here, like his companions, he must face someone from his past who has become a villain. While it's a very emotional moment for both him and Tae, this whole situation has the problem that it was never brought up before and never brought up again.

Part of the arc's conclusion is how the two siblings go on vacation after the fact, a joke that takes some weight off the situation in my opinion. The true conclusion of the arc shows Shinpachi reviving the dojo by teaching the homeless, but later we see that this doesn't hold up over time either, so the whole arc ends up feeling kind of pointless in regards to his character development.

Something similar happens in the Correspondence arc, in which Kirara is introduced. Here they both pretend to be someone else when they meet, however, in the end they show themselves as they are, realizing that they’ve many things in common. It always seemed like a very nice thing to me, so I regretted the fact that Kirara didn’t appear again.

This wasn’t only because it was an important lesson for him to learn, but also because it would’ve been interesting to add another layer as Shinpachi's love interest. I don't mean including Kirara in the main cast, but keeping her present through the letters she would write to Shinpachi and bringing her back from time to time would’ve been enough.

Nevertheless, I consider the biggest problem occurred at the end of the series. Shinpachi was slowly but surely becoming an independent character. However, in the ending he’s shown to be unable to move on if he’s not with Gintoki by his side. And don’t get me wrong, I'm not trying to say that it's wrong that Shinpachi is very fond of Gintoki.

Nor it’s bad per se that he wants to be with the Yorozuya. It's about how it was shown. It appears that Shinpachi never followed his own dream. Restoring the dojo was something his sister wanted to do, not him. In the time skip he’s already an adult of 18 years. Staying in the Yorozuya seemed more like the need to remain in a shelter to avoid going out and having to face the world.

I would’ve liked to see that at the end of the series, someone who feels they’ve no control over his life would decide his own path. For someone with an inferiority complex to feel self-confident. Since the first prototype of the character was Nagakura Shinpachi, the captain of the second Shinsengumi squad, I would’ve loved Shinpachi to join the Shinsengumi, taking advantage of his leadership skills.

#Gintama #Shimura Shinpachi #Happy Birthday! #Ended up writing more than expected #But I'd a lot to say #I love him and he deserved better #Thoughts about #I can write #my post

[soulfirespam]

I love Aabriya (Top 3 of DnD personality period!), but gotta say genuinely bad timing for an ExU flash sideways. This didn’t set her up for success (she killed it because she is awesome but still. Sucked a lot of genuine momentum from the bells hells)

This is just one of those times where the story was picking up speed, but not only that the BH as a group were gaining narrative momentum. There was a roll of choices made by each of the members of the hells and they moved up to be the active participants in the world instead of moving through it like habitual NPC’s on a side task. To have that momentum and the loss of a party member all leading up to this episode and then this detour really kinda threw water on it all.

This is kind of the second time where when the story’s momentum was building up to give BH that bit of character growth; having them come together gather each other up and dust each other off. To help build each other up. And instead of giving them that opportunity or that focus, the story split them off which is a choice that IMO does not fit well as a “weekly” actual play show. I am sure it will watch better during a binge or on an animated tv show. But currently as a live actual play show, this kills the pacing for the BH group once again. Takes the emotional weight that came so organically leading up to this moment and diminishes it.

Because when the story comes back to them, it will be nearly a month in real time since FCG died and 3ish weeks since they took the time to sit down and have a conversation to explore the emotional weight of what had happened; something that they did today only after Matt tells them to take the moment to do so. Genuinely wild that such good RP only came about because Matt essentially forced them to sit down and talk. (I mean if it works it works. He should’ve put his thumb on the scales earlier too, so many moments of RP passed over in the rush to keep the “plot” progressing with the Ruidus ticking clock)

I think it’s just another one of those things that makes it seem that the Bells Hells as a group are not as important in the story that is being told in their campaign.

I would’ve been so much more psyched to have had this flash sideways take place at any other moment. As of right now, just having all the lore that was dropped, all the emotional capital and just narrative momentum that was so hard fought for have the air let out of them with this little break for live watchers.

#critical role spoilers #cr3 spoilers #maybe live watching is the worse way to consume CR #binging cr3 might be the better way around #I so wish they had done this like prior to the BH going past the bloody bridge #or in parallel to the bloody bridge storyline #that’s my hot take for the night #critical role #cr3e92 #edited for clarity because I am ranting past my bed time

[lynzishell]

List 5 facts about a favorite sim of yours, and send this to 10 simblrs whose sims you adore ♥♥♥

TYSM for this ask!!! 💖

Okay! Up next from last week’s poll is my MC: ✨Phoenix Realta✨

❄️He loves to cook… as you may have guessed considering he’s always the one cooking every meal.  But… a little background (and I’ll split this into two)… He grew up poor and his mom wasn’t big on cooking, so the times when his kitchen was stocked, it consisted of a lot of frozen and canned/boxed meals like soup, tuna, mac and cheese, and frozen pizza. His favorite thing growing up was peanut butter and banana on toast. He’d toast the bread so that the peanut butter would be all melty and gooey.

❄️He learned how to cook properly from Julian during the year he lived with him in Copperdale. It was the only real quality time they spent together, but they both really enjoyed it. When Phoenix moved to the city, he fell in love with the variety of food and restaurants available. He started collecting cookbooks and watching cooking shows to learn more and more complicated recipes. It can be difficult to cook for only 1-2 people, so it’s nice that Atlas and Asher come over for dinner every Sunday. (fun fact: all of these things are very important to the future of Aspen’s story btw)

❄️The man cannot sit still. He’s even worse than Dawn in that regard. He always needs to be doing something. He actually misses the days when he was training and climbing to prepare for the Mt. Komorebi excursion. It kept him busy and active all the time. After that was over, it was kind of a bittersweet moment, like he didn’t know what to do with himself. So, he got into running. Luckily, Aspen keeps him quite busy now, but he still runs every day, rain or shine.

❄️He is very much addicted to coffee and has been for years. He likes it strong and black. He can’t start his day without it, and he drinks multiple cups throughout the day, especially at work. At this point, he can barely function without it and gets really bad headaches if he goes a day without a cup.

❄️And, of course, he’s a new father! And he is soooo happy! Aspen is a lot of work, but like I said, Phoenix always needs to be up doing something, so he’s happy to be taking care of her. He’s just so grateful she’s finally here. 🥹 And honestly, he’s pretty bummed about having to go back to work sooner than expected. I think there’s a part of him that would’ve loved to be the one staying home with Aspen. Once Dawn mentioned wanting to stay home, I think a part of him wanted to say that he does too and maybe she should be the one to go back since she makes more money. Instead, he signed himself up for a more demanding, higher paying, career path, and cut his own time at home short, so that he could support Dawn in staying home with their daughter. It’s in his nature to put her first, and he genuinely wants to do whatever he can to make her happy, that’s his priority, but I don’t think we should ignore the immense sacrifice he's making. He doesn’t want to be away from Aspen or miss out on any big moments in her development any more than Dawn does, but he also doesn’t feel right about taking that away from her. My heart kinda aches for him a little, y’know.

I love him so much! And it’s been too long since I’ve gotten in his head and done a proper character development exercise for him, so I really enjoyed this! TYSM for sending me this ask!! 🫶🏻

#i'm so obsessed with this photo of him and aspen #you don't even know #slowly but surely making my way through these asks #if you've sent me one recently i promise i'll get to it #i really do love them sm! #ask game #oc ask game #aries outtakes #phoenix extras

[cupio-stardust]

In defense of 8-Ball

A lot of people in the BFDI community don’t really care for 8-Ball, and that leads to a lot of people mischaracterizing him. Because of this, I decided to make a mini essay ranting on several topics relating to him. This includes the following:

-Mischaracterization in the fandom

-His relationships with other characters

-His missed potential

With that said, let’s start with the first section!

Mischaracterization in the fandom

I can’t stress how much it infuriates me whenever I see a piece of content that portrays him as an asshole. 😭

I know it’s easy to see him like that, since he almost makes his team lose twice. But the thing is, he’s not as bad as people make him out to be. When both TB and GB died, there was pretty much no one else to lead the team to victory. 8-Ball, however, took initiative and became the “temporary” team leader. I honestly think it says a lot that he was willing enough to take on a role like that in a dire situation. Sure, you could say he was rude to ignore Grassy, but let’s be real, would YOU want to be led by the literal child of the group who does nothing besides say his name? (By this point at least that was all he did) And hey, he wasn’t THAT bad of a leader either. Yeah, he use TB’s contraption, but fair use I guess.

Also, it’s not like he was bullying Grassy, he was just more focused on the game. In fact, it’s actually GB who was bullying Grassy, but I don’t see many people hate on her for that? (This is not GB slander btw! I love her)

While yes, most of his dialogue boils down to, “I don’t have a favorite number” it’s important to note that it’s not his ENTIRE character. He’s smart when he needs to be, as shown when he used TB’s contraption in an admittedly smarter way than GB. Plus, he genuinely cares about his team. Even though it doesn’t seem like it, you have to remember that he went (with Blocky) to Four to ask him to bring back GB and TB. If he didn’t care about them, he probably would’ve held off from it and just continued to lead the team himself until they inevitably came back.

I think the fact that 8-Ball’s whole reason for the team leader thing makes him seem so much better than how he’s normally perceived. He just wanted to lighten up the mood by making jokes, but he just took it too far by not realizing that it was actively harming their team dynamic. When he realized this, he apologized in an oddly genuine way to GB. The fact that he took accountability just goes to show that he’s a pretty decent guy who may or may not be autistic. /hj

His relationships with other characters

This is probably gonna be my favorite section lol. I absolutely love his banter with the others, especially with GB. Speaking of GB, let’s start with her!

8-Ball and GB’s little rivalry is honestly really fun to watch. The way they continuously fight for the attention of their team members, their small moments of bickering, it’s just so sjahjwzjhsjshsh

At first, GB hates him because in her eyes; he’s an asshole who tries to sabotage the team and steal her role as team leader. But when 8-Ball apologizes, she admits herself that he isn’t that bad of a guy/“a completely useless moronic dumb robot”.

After that, they don’t get many more interactions, which is unfortunate because they had such a fun dynamic! I would genuinely pay so much money just to see them have more one on one conversations. 8-Ball’s teasing + Golfball’s temper would’ve been a nice way to spice up the interactions of ABNTT. But alas, we can only dream. :(

I also wish that he got more interactions with the EXITors, since they have the feeling of a found family, so 8-Ball being included in that would be nice.

His Missed Potential

Sighhhhhh, this is the most annoying part of this whole thing: the missed potential of 8-Ball.

It bothers me that he was eliminated so early on in the series. Even though his “arc” was pretty much completed, there was still room for them to expand on him. Like I stated in the previous section, his interactions with GB could’ve served as nice comic relief, along with perhaps touching on his comedian side a little more? Maybe learning to crack jokes that fit the situation, and making sure that they don’t hurt people. ALSO! There could’ve also been more interactions between other characters besides GB and Basketball. Like maybe TB or Blocky? Hell, even Grassy. Oh yeah, and they could’ve also expanded on why he’s so adamant on convincing others he doesn’t have a favorite number. And maybe, just maybe, a little angst? Typing this all out is annoying because there was SO MUCH potential but they missed out on it. 💔

Conclusion

Ending off this small rant, I just hope in future TPOT episodes he gets more than one line per episode. (His only lines so far have literally been “Four’s back, let’s go!” and “Blah blah blah blah”) At the very least, I hope this short essay has made you like him a little more than before, or even like him more!

#bfdi #battle for bfb #tpot #8 ball bfb #rant post #ramblings #Ireallylike8ballguyscanyoutell #appreciation post #idk where i was going with this

[soup-of-the-daisies]

Prongsfoot Week

Day 1: When and Why did you begin to Ship Prongsfoot?  What makes you Ship it?

It was this weird little moment where I just… realised it, I guess.

Jily was my first ship (I truly didn’t care about any golden trio-era ships, considering I identified strongly with Harry and Hermione and didn’t have any interest in relationships myself), but even back when I was focused on Jily, Sirius & James’ friendship brought me great delight. I liked Sirius regardless (favourite character and all) and having him there in Jily fics, as comedic relief or James’ best friend, was always lovely. When I returned to the fandom after a break, I got curious about ships with Sirius that was anything other than Wolfstar and then I remembered Prongsfoot.

I just think it’s such a natural thing for James and Sirius to fall into. Jily is canonically established, so we know they’re going to get along eventually. But with James and Sirius, it’s already there, you know? They already love each other so deeply. We hear so much about James in the books because Sirius (bless him) is there for Harry to talk about James, and it’s obvious that he genuinely enjoys talking about James, both the good and the bad stuff. Even during the conversation after SWM, when Harry’s upset, Sirius is just… okay with talking about James’ bad traits with Harry. He doesn’t shy away from them, and I like to think that James would’ve been the same way had their roles been reversed.

There’s a whole lot of talk about allowing men in fiction to have meaningful friendships without it having to turn into a ship, and there’s truth in that, but — and I cannot stress this enough — good friendships are the best foundation to build a romantic relationship upon. James and Sirius seem so intertwined that their romantic relationship very rarely feels different from their (if well-written) friendship: it usually gets a bit blurry and odd when there’s sexual intimacy involved, but it makes sense for them to wade through that eventually because they work so well together as partners, platonic or no.

For me, Prongsfoot/Bambibelle is simply a very, very fun ship that feels comfortable and chill. They’re complete equals first and foremost, they don’t need to apologise to one another for existing incorrectly. It’s telling that when Sirius ran away from home, he went to James and his parents: the Potters represent comfort and safety to him, and that’s just really important in a relationship. Them kissing and being sickeningly domestic is just a cherry on top :)

#prongsfoot #bambibelle #prongsfootweek2023

[blue-dream-rhapsody]

Spoilers for the end of the TYBW manga! If you’re only watching the anime, this will be in like the last two episodes of the whole show, so look away!

This is gonna sound like me being biased again (and I definitely am, don’t get me wrong) but I think I have a universally true argument here.

Renji was a weird choice to have go with Ichigo to the last clash with Yhwach.

To be clear, I’m very fond of Renji. I also think the conversation he and Ichigo have on their way there was a fantastic moment in their friendship, and want to keep it intact as much as possible. It’s just that, when I think of the magnitude of this particular moment, the literal last battle at the end of the series, it just feels odd for Renji of all his friends to have this pretty prominent spot.

Who is Ichigo teaming up with here? Aizen, the major antagonist for basically half the series. Uryu, the enemy-turned-friendly rival-turned-fake enemy-turned-genuine ally just acting as an infiltrator all along because he’s got roots in this battle. And… Renji. The Guy.

Like seriously, I’m trying to pinpoint exactly what narrative function Renji’s presence here serves, and for every one I can find, there’s just someone who does a better job? Like, okay, say he’s serving as the presence of a Soul Reaper. Except Rukia would also do that, down to the rank they have, and given her meeting Ichigo is how the series began, it would additionally be a natural bookend for her to be fighting alongside him at the end. (And obviously I am deliberately ignoring bullshit like power levels or whatever, because of the four in this alliance Ichigo’s ridealong contributes little more than a distraction while Aizen tanks the damage, Uryu fires the arrow, and Ichigo makes the cut.)

Rukia is also the member of his friend group Ichigo probably interacts with the least in this whole arc who isn’t Uryu Away For Plot Reasons Ishida (or maybe Chad, who I’ll talk about in a moment too), whereas he and Renji go through a chunk of the Royal Palace stuff together. So it seems like that final battle would be the chance to actually give her a meaningful interaction with him as, again, a mirror to the start of the series.

(Disclaimer: I don’t mean this in a shipping sense in any way, shape, or form, though you can certainly take it as you like. That’s not the only way their bond can be relevant, though. My point is simply that Rukia has more narrative importance to Bleach itself than Renji does, compared to how little time she spends interacting with the series’ protagonist in the final arc compared to him.)

So as far as all of that stuff is concerned, Rukia carries more weight, but let’s say Renji was chosen as Ichigo’s closest guy friend or something along those lines. Um. Chad??? My beloved Yasutora Sado??? Like of course Kubo seems allergic to giving Chad anything significant to do at any point past his introduction, but come on! He’s supposed to be Ichigo’s best friend! Again, I’m ignoring power levels. Maybe the combination of Aizen and Yhwach’s presence would’ve been too much for him to withstand given Fullbringer scale, but I still think he’d make more narrative sense than Renji, and that should be what matters more.

Friendly rival? Well that’s Uryu who is already there, and has a way larger stake in this than anyone in Ichigo’s friend group regardless. Less that he doesn’t meet the criteria if we can’t count Uryu, choosing Renji for this reason would just be doubling down on the same thing.

You could also argue Orihime should’ve been the one, as the one Ichigo eventually ends up with (although she at least was with him at the fight just before this, so it being someone else this time doesn’t bother me). And Renji is just, not that!

Renji goes with Ichigo because it’s in character for him, and I don’t disagree with that by any means. But this is the conclusion of the entire 74-volume narrative and I’m struggling to explain why he specifically is the one chosen by Kubo to be a part of this battle if anyone had to be at all. It’s like he went out of his way to choose the least impactful character possible to fulfill this role.

So okay, Kubo, I can play hardball. You want somebody who isn’t Rukia, Chad, or Orihime? I can do that. I’ll even give you someone who’s already right there so you don’t have to make them come running up at the last moment!

You know who should’ve gone with Ichigo to that very last confrontation? Kugo Ginjo, obviously!

Don’t leave, hold on, let me explain myself.

First is the kind of obvious thing, which is that while it was on a smaller scale than they were, Ginjo was an arc villain just as much as Aizen and Yhwach were. He’s the mastermind and the climactic battle of The Lost Agent. So wouldn’t it be fun if Ichigo had the help of the first two arc villains in defeating the third?

The quartet of Ichigo, Kugo, Aizen, and Yhwach is also interesting because they all have connections to the Reio in some form, being either candidates for the role inherently, or having attempted to become or usurp him. There’s really no one else who approaches this (barring Urahara, for the hogyoku).

But wait, you may be saying, why would Ginjo fight on the side of Shinigami if his whole thing is that he hates them? To which I say—he wouldn’t! But I think he would be willing to fight to help Ichigo. Maybe not for everything ever, but maybe for the time where if Ichigo loses, everything will very clearly fall apart, including for the people he obviously still cares about in Xcution. (Also, does he know about Soul King stuff at this point, including that the both of them are candidates to replace it? Preventing that being necessary for both their sakes might be good.)

Not to mention, this would be the first time Ichigo and Kugo can fight together consciously as Deputies. It would give us a more concrete picture of how they feel about one another now that the Lost Agent conflict is over, seeing as this gets very little resolution on either side—and give Ichigo back what it was that Kugo had almost given him during that arc, a “big brother” figure he can rely on in a desperate situation, instead of having to be that figure himself.

Plus… fixing Ichigo’s sword was really kind of just Tsukishima’s repayment, wasn’t it? Ginjo shows up and says four lines, (and probably a fifth on the way there that was “Tsukishima do the thing”) and that’s what exactly? Is that supposed to make up for the extremely personal betrayal? Is that a sufficient expression of gratitude for the respect of taking his body back from the Court Guards’ grasp? He still had to say something about paying Ichigo back because debt’s about all the obligation Tsukishima would ever respond to, but what’s his contribution other than holding that “leash”?

Also for the three of them being revealed alive like a hundred chapters ago, that sure is a whole lot of no payoff. Like for Tsukishima it’s great payoff, but for Ginjo? What was the point of the training they all did with Ganju? Was it really about Ganju getting stronger? And we never got an answer why Kukaku took them in in the first place, could that really have just been chance?

If I want to put on my conspiracy cap—I half suspect Ginjo was meant to go from the time of their reappearance, and more of his backstory was supposed to come to light/he was supposed to get some additional development. But as Kubo’s health deteriorated and he got toward the home stretch, just like it would’ve been difficult to give Rukia the proper due if she’d gone, it became too much for him to do Ginjo justice, or maybe to set up for his role in CFYOW, so he decided to not do it altogether, rather than half-ass it. (This is what I tell myself, anyway). He already has a completely justifiable reason to show up at the last minute with the need for Tsukishima’s ability. He’s been training, supposedly. He owes Ichigo something and acknowledges it. He’s thematically fitting, he’s been absent for so much time after being teased, we know he was doing something because he went looking for Ukitake, it really just makes too much sense.

I doubt Kubo is planning any out-and-out rewrites of anything significant as the anime proceeds, but if he were to tweak the ending at all, I certainly think this would be reasonable.

Anyway, we’ll see what part 2 brings. CFYOW content is getting teased for sure, so who knows what’s in store!

#bleach spoilers #bleach tybw spoilers #bleach anime spoilers #ginjou kuugo #Kugo Ginjo #bleach cfyow #this is still a Kugo-loving household and don’t you forget it

[slamdunkhcs]

the image shift of hanamichi sakuragi

In modern day media and entertainment, a change in appearance is often used to depict a shift in someone’s image or personality.

A prominent example of this is Taylor Swift, who had gone from being a curly haired country star comparing the guys in her songs to “Prince Charming”, to a more mature pop star who had compared her love interest to “James Dean”, a shift from writing about young love to sex.

Hanamichi Sakuragi’s image in both appearance and reputation is something that is very gradual in Slam Dunk, and is something that isn’t realized by Sakuragi himself, until the end of the series.

In the beginning of Slam Dunk, Hanamichi is depicted as a delinquent kid who didn’t have much going on for him aside from getting into fights and messing around with his friends.

This depiction is both shown in the imagery and appearance of Hanamichi, who is a tall guy with a “menacing” look, with his red pompadour hair (a popular hairstyle among delinquents in the 90’s), as well as his raised eyebrows and frown.

Hanamichi was also a delinquent in reputation, shown by how Haruko’s friend Fujii had warned her by telling her that Sakuragi had gotten into many fights in his middleschool years. Hanamichi’s homies also further Hanamichi’s reputation as a delinquent by how they describe his fighting experiences.

But, I don’t think Hanamichi particularly enjoys fighting. His delinquency had been the reason why he couldn’t save his father, and he doesn’t start fights with anyone unprovoked (with Rukawa being the exception to this LMAO). I also think this because of how he didn’t join the Judo Club. If he had fun fighting, I think he would’ve been more inclined to join.

The first shift in his transition from a delinquent to a jock is when he had refused to join the Judo Club. This was unexpected to me when I had first read Slam Dunk. After all, Sakuragi was a good fighter with lots of experience, so why not? As said above, I think the reason for this is simply because he didn’t regard himself as someone who particularly have fun fighting. While he hadn’t particularly enjoyed basketball at this point in the story, I think he was curious about it; he wanted to see how it’d go and he wanted to see if he was a natural at it or not.

I think Sakuragi labelling himself as a basketball man was what made him begin to break away from his image as a delinquent. I also think it’s important to note that Sakuragi himself never labelled himself as a fighter.

As the series progresses, Hanamichi’s change as a person is very gradual. However, this doesn’t go unnoticed by the people around Hanamichi. Both the coach of Ryonan and Shinichi Maki both describe him as moving more like a basketball player throughout the series.

Hanamichi is also spread on a newspaper throughout school, and I think this shows that now his classmates and people in school are starting to view him as an athlete, and not an intimidating delinquent.

However, one of the biggest moments in his shift in image is when Hanamichi cuts his hair. His reason for doing so pointed to his newfound resolve in basketball, as he did it as a way to “punish” himself for being the reason Shohoku lost. I think this proves he had become more of an athlete with a genuine interest in basketball, as the old him wouldn’t have shown that much care.

Additionally, while this change is used as comedic relief by those around him, such as his teammates like Mitsui and Miyagi, or his friend group, I think it’s important to note that Akagi described his new hairstyle by saying “You look more like an athlete now”.

Hanamichi’s appearance begins to allude as a reference to the famous NBA star Dennis Rodman, who was infamous for his red buzzcut.

I think this shift in his appearance was what was needed to bridge Sakuragi’s changes mentally as well.

As the story progressed, it’s shown how Sakuragi had gotten into less and less fights. While he was still aggressive with characters such as Rukawa, Hanamichi had stopped getting into fights with randoms in school.

He had also stopped getting into shenanigans with his friend group, and Yohei even stated “Hanamichi’s totally into basketball now,” after they had talked about how bored they were.

And while Hanamichi had been someone who could easily get provoked (especially by Rukawa) and would start fights as a result, he had held in his anger during the Sannoh match. I think this moment is the most important scene that establishes Hanamichi’s shift from a delinquent to a basketball player.

Rukawa had collided with Sakuragi because of Hanamichi expecting a pass from Rukawa. However, Rukawa had ran into him. However, he wasn’t mad at Hanamichi since he knew that this wasn’t intentional on his part. But, Sakuragi got many insults from the crowd and Rukawa told him “It’s like taxes, I already have all your mistakes accounted for,”

This had pissed Sakuragi off and he looked visibly irritated. Even his homies were anticipating a fight right then and there, but, Hanamichi holds in his anger.

Yohei then goes on to describe Sakuragi by saying this, which to me solidified how Sakuragi had really changed his image and how he was perceived by others.

While Sakuragi was fitting the appearance of a basketball player after his buzzcut and how he had learned more about the sport, he was still perceived to be somewhat aggressive by his friends.

However, this moment signifies how his mentality had even changed from someone with no restraint to someone who was able to hold in their anger.

And by doing this, Hanamichi changed himself from a delinquent who really had nothing going on for himself in his life to living up to his self proclaimed title of a basketball genius.

#anime and manga #slam dunk #headcanon #slam dunk anime #スラムダンク #sakuragi hanamichi #rukawa #blog #in this essay i will #essay #slam dunk essay #writing #god i love slam dunk #manga #character analysis #character essay

[thatgordongirl]

Thoughts on Ghosts Season 4 - Part 2

Captain, Pat and Kitty 

Captain

Regardless of my anticipation for Cap’s backstory, I like what they did with him this season. It would’ve been too overwhelming and I don’t want all the backstories at once. His moments with Kitty are both very sweet and wholesome. Though there’s still underlying sadness that no matter what Cap does, it always comes back to the war. Even watching ant colonies and talking about butterflies. It was interesting either way, and him taking his coat off…

Anyway, I also like that Mick the plague ghost listening to Cap’s war stories. You could tell he was really touched by it. Cap seems to be coming around the self expression even more, he’s softer, he almost cries. He’s kinder, asking Robin what’s wrong and agreeing that Julian may have a heart. He’s indulging in activities he never would have before. I especially liked seeing him going for walks/patrols, it’s very important to his character. 

Pat

Pat is going full force English dad vibes. Then he also became a warden and really he had some of the best lines. This season highlights Pat clinging onto comfortable lies. He continues to love Carol despite her infidelity, he talks about how great his holidays were even when bad things kept happing, though he does backtrack. He tells Kitty a comfortable lie probably because it made him feel better when he did it for himself, but Kitty’s missing the context of knowing that it isn’t true. 

He got angry a lot more than usual, I’m wondering if he’s gonna go over the edge. Also the whole vegan thing made me laugh because if they had the ability to look up eggs it would be a whole other story. Still waiting on his birthmark, where it is, and who agreed to it initially. 

Kitty

Kitty has really matured in this season. She’s gone from irritating to Alison to an upbeat friend who knows when to call out someone. She doesn’t lose her joy and enthusiasm, but gains maturity and understanding. She encourages Captain to be spontaneous, maybe because he reminds her of her father or because of all the things he’s done for her already. Her interactions with Alison are more like two sisters now rather tolerance. 

Her and Thomas have this really nice thing going that has been around since Season 1. She genuinely likes his poetry and I think maybe in the future with her help he can really get over Alison for good. The look he gave her has brought that ship right to the forefront. 

#bbc ghosts #bbc ghosts season 4 #the captain #kitty bbc ghosts #pat butcher #thomas thorne

[somuchfuckingsalt]

One thing I think the Duffers dropped the ball on is not using Steve in a leadership role within the group dynamic because he 100% has the skillset for it and it would also round out his character arc very nicely without diminishing the roles any other characters play.

And when I say Steve has the skillset I mean he played team sports and was in a leadership role on those teams. As someone who has played team sports before, the best captains are the ones who are not just physically good at playing the game, but also the ones who are able to coach others into improvement without making them feel like idiots, participate in strategizing and communicating those strategies effectively to the team, leading the team in the absence of the coaches, having good sportsmanship, being able to work with opposing teams without causing problems, etcetera.

Which is my long winded way of saying the best leaders are those who are good with people. Of the many characters on the show - particularly the teens/kids - Steve is arguably the most emotionally intelligent and he is genuinely the best with people. I don’t think we see as many examples of it in the show as we could because 1) I think the Duffers don’t see Steve as any form of intelligent because the Everything about how they write their jock and jock-adjacent characters displays a lot of prejudices and biases about the “dumb jock” stereotype and 2) the Duffers have definitely dumbed Steve down even more throughout the seasons to the point where he is The Protector and the Joey Tribbiani, so dumb he’s become comic relief. 

(playing sports also would give Steve a lot of experience with strategy, both preplanning and in making split-second decisions in the moment but being a good leader isn’t contigant on being good at strategy, I just wanted to point out he could and should be good at it)

Narratively, season 2 would have been an excellent starting point for building Steve’s leadership role since he spends the back half of the season in charge of the Party and, essentially, leading them. That would build through season 3, settle in season 4 as this is the role he has (especially since they were operating without Joyce or Hopper), and then be able to expand on his capabilities in season 5.

In season 4 specifically, Steve insisting Nancy not go alone should’ve been taken as him taking charge in that situation because he was correct, they should not be doing anything alone. I also think doing something small like just inserting a line where he’s asking for ideas on the plan instead of straight jump cut to them going planning how to get supplies would’ve been great.

I also think moments like having Steve’s voice be the voice over leading up to them executing their plan and Steve being the one to be Vecna’d instead of Nancy (which would show that Vecna viewed Steve as integral enough that fucking with his head wold affect the group) would have put an importance to Steve and put him more into that leadership role in to the audience without needing overt displays and adding to run time (since the Duffers tend to cut out a lot of moments where leadership would’ve been evident to save time). By using these 'important’ moments though would’ve been great ways to set up Steve in a genuine, established leadership role in season 5, especially since there’s going to be a time skip. 

I also don’t think that making Steve the leader would be taking anything away from the other characters - at least not the other teens/kids. For starters, Dustin, Lucas, and Max have never been the ‘leaders’ - that’s Mike. Furthermore, the only other person really sitting in that leadership position among the teens is Nancy but she is already academically gifted, the journalist, the detective, etcetera. She also is not the best people person (competent, but it’s not her strongest feature) and she has the tendency to get fixated on things, which isn’t the greatest trait to have as a leader. 

Anyway, I think the Duffer Brothers Joey Tribbiani’d Steve’s charcater and they 100% could have been doing a lot more with him than they are if they weren’t looking at him through biased “dumb jock” glasses. 

#the duffers have definitely fallen off when it comes to ensuring every character gets properly developed every season #they also have a very blatant bias towards 'jocks' and jock-adjacent people #otherwise steve would be more than the tank and dumb comic relief at this point #steve harrington #stranger things

[flashbic]

@fritz-valentine i did it i answered the ask game for the other two!!

2. Favorite canon thing about this character

Cartouche: One bit the show doesn’t lean into enough imo but it's there is that he’s overconfident! Dude is self-assured to a fault! He can make an effort to plan things sometimes, but usually he doesn’t like to bother unless he made a first attempt beforehand and fucked up. He runs into fights unarmed all the damn time! also the bit from the first ep where he’s being smug at Galichon like “of COURSE this is the door to the exit, I trust my instinct on this one, I just KNOW” and they open the door and it’s like. the guards break room asdfgk it’s funny ok

also his whole deal with Isabelle!! His dumb crush is showing at all times, he’s not as smooth as he thinks he is, i just think he’s cute heehee

Falconi: MY BOY HAS ANGER ISSUES. It's so funny how he's presented as the cold, quiet, calculating bad guy… but actually he's fucking seething all the time. He's got that anger always bubbling up right under the surface, and not only is he massively pissed off, it makes him so fucking stupid too, it's great. 

I love his sad backstory, but also love that the whole thing happened over 10 years ago and it doesn't excuse any of the shitty things he does through the show, like, at all, except for the multiple murder attempts on le Lorrain. 

(also the fact that they had to nerf him for the hero-villain team-up episode is never not funny)

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

Cartouche : He argues with Isabelle when she calls him a bandit, but look, the guy didn't learn to commit crimes by being nice and never breaking the law, right?? My headcanon is he used to be a whole lot less nice, but ended up being swayed into helping people as the situation in Paris kept getting worse. He’s a good dude in the end, but he did grow up on the streets with no one to rely on! You can’t blame a guy for enjoying a bit of crime, i think… 

He is very good at card games, and actually taught himself how to count cards! He used to gamble a lot but has generally put that all behind him these days and only plays for fun with his friends. Without cheating, for the most part. Honestly he's infuriating at most luck-based games.

Absolutely thinks of his friends as his family. He'd do anything for them <3 But out of all of them, le Lorrain is the one he most consistently on the same wavelength with. Le Lorrain is the one who joined the gang most recently, but as far as Cartouche is concerned that doesn't matter at all: they just get each other!

Falconi: When he first arrived at the academy, for a brief moment he really thought he’d be able to fit in with the other students and kinda hoped to make friends! When the whole friends thing didn’t pan out (the most popular guy around and his friends deciding they don’t like you will kinda do that, but he struggled to connect with people who weren’t hostile too), he kinda gave up on that to focus on training, which had always been the most important thing to him anyways.

My other headcanon here that kinda ties with the previous one is that there was never any real possibility of him ever marrying Anne de Montsirac, but he genuinely let himself believe it might happen. He was lonely and didn’t know how to fit in with all these rich people, and she was gentle and kind and pretty, and he fell so hard for her… She did like him back, but her feelings didn’t run as deep as his, and in the end her family never would’ve let any kind of proposal happen anyways. It was never going to happen, but everything went so badly that Falconi never quite stopped convincing himself that everything could've been different if he'd been able to propose first.

The bonus Falconi headcanon is he absolutely has a hands kink. He just does.

#cartouche prince des faubourgs #my other Very Important headcanon is that Falconi absolutely is a romantic. not that you'd know considering his current situation #but he is! #bonus le Lorrain headcanon: pre-flashback he would occasionally visit the Palais-Royal! #it was a good place to hear music and it was right next to the Opéra so it makes sense ok #he never really met Philippe d'Orléans though