#they make each other happy on a fundamental level that they don't get with anyone else

[kingthunder]

trying to nail the characterization i like for geralt and jaskier is like trying to balance on one of these bitches

#look i just want geralt to be a little mean but also soft but also he's a jerk but he's not trying to be? #it's just that he's emotionally illiterate #like he's not NICE but he's KIND do you know what I'm saying #and i want jaskier to have a thick streak of self worth hidden under all that peacocking #like sure he can be insecure but also like #this is the guy who marched unabashedly up to the scariest man alive and was like ✨heey~✨ #this is the guy who got dumped and screamed his breakup song to the whole continent #and he's not nice either he's annoying and sometimes inconsiderate #but he's ALSO KIND #and he and geralt share the same terrible sense of humor #and they don't fit together seamlessly but they DO fit together #they make each other happy on a fundamental level that they don't get with anyone else #anyway #if anyone knows where i can READ a fic like this let me know #witcher #geraskier #let them be spicy but still good for each other

[cerastes]

Arknights God, how do I use Reed the Flame Shadow? I got her and I've leveled her but I think I'm missing something, because it doesn't seem like I'm doing the damage she's supposed to be doing.

So step one is that we need to stop with the Arknights God thing because I'm flattered that you and others have a high opinion of my gameplay advice but it also makes me look like a narcissistic jackass. I appreciate the compliment and I'm happy my advice helps, but to everyone not familiar with the whole "I like to play a heel clown character on my blog for funsies with my friends" will think I'm actually addicted to the scent of my flatulence and the rhythm of my own words. It makes answering these a tad awkward.

Step two is understanding that Reed' skill selection, and which skill is the correct answer to any given issue, has a lot of factors going for it, more than the majority of Operators. If you use Cantabile, for example, you know that both of her skills are bangers, and while they have their respective jobs, they are not hard-slotted into these. Reed's S2 and S3 are similar in this regard. You'll be ignoring S1.

Before we get into that, though, here's some fundamentals about the Flame Shadow: You position them differently from other Medics and most other units. A good Reed tile is one where she has both enemies and allies in her range, so, if you placing her at a front, you'll want her to be a bit behind, but not fully behind, your line of engagement. She needs to be able to attack in order to heal, and her allies need to be in her range in order to get healed. This may sound obvious, but it needs to be taken into account. She's not a Marksman or a Medic, she's her own beast. Another thing that needs to be taken into account is that her healing comes specifically from dealing HP damage to enemies, not barriers. Greytails and the Rat King, for example, have shields that must be broken with Arts damage before exposing the succulent flesh within, right? Well, until the shield breaks, Reed is not giving anyone any succor and they might in fact just explode because while she's dealing damage to their shields, it doesn't count as valid damage for her healing. Keep this in mind so you don't run out of sustain while fighting shielded enemies, since shielded enemies tend to also have high attack. The Final Reed Essential regards her Cinders (AKA Firebrand), which she always has a chance to apply with her attacks and skills (with S3 guaranteeing it): The way it works is that, if an attack would apply Cinder, it applies it before the attack resolves, meaning, the Arts Fragility will be in effect and that attack will already be dealing 30%(32% with Potentials) extra damage off rip. Or, in other words, you don't have to apply Cinder and then start capitalizing on it on the next attack. Arts Fragility, by the way, stacks multiplicatively with Fragile, and they count as different debuffs, despite the similarity in name.

You made it past the tutorial, now let's tackle 1-1:

S2, or as Harvard scholars call it, the Spitroast, is a damn strong skill. For the purposes of this post, I'll be using the M3 versions of the skills. Spitroast grants two allies, with Melee tile priority, 3 fireballs that'll deal 240% of Reed's Attack as damage to enemies they touch every 1.5 seconds, with this 1.5 second timer applying only for each unique target. The fireballs do in fact have a hitbox, so if there's enemies on either side of the fireball unit, you'll trigger two fireballs at once, one for the enemy on one side, and another for the other. Each fireball then takes 1.5 seconds to refresh (they'll look darkened around the Operator) and once they are a vibrant orange again, it means they are ready to explode again. Each time these fireballs deal damage, they'll heal their Operators as per Reed's trait (so 120% of her Attack), and each fireball has a chance to inflict Cinder as per any of Reed's attacks. You can test this yourself by putting fireballs on Operators so they hit enemies outside her attack range, and you'll see that they do in fact also have a chance to inflict Cinder. Be mindful that the fireball's instance of damage counts as a Reed instance of damage! This means that for the purposes of Counter effects, it is Reed that's the source of the damage, so for Spike Chests, Reed WILL receive the reflected damage, and for The Last Knight, Reed WILL freeze if the fireballs hit him, etc etc. The lane-holding application of this skill is that you can grant your cornerstone immense Arts damage and healing independent of everything else they have going for themselves, including through Status effects like Freeze or Stun, as the fireballs are independent entities separate from the Operator. So if Mudrock gets stunned by Nervous Impairment and has sweet dreams of beautiful rocks that go on adventures with her, she's not completely helpless, as the fireballs will keep shredding enemies while she's in dreamland. This actually leads us to the next point: Fireballs cannot be placed on Summons, so if you had dreams of making the sickest Stainless turret surrounded by industrial flames or picturesque mindblasts about Ling's Great Thunderer's surrounded by godly plumes of cleansing conflagration, well, stop being silly and come back to reality, also rent and student debts are due. Fireballs can be placed on 'Enmity' Operators, such as Musha (ie. Akafuyu) and Juggernauts (ie. Mudrock), but they won't receive the healing from each of their hits, as the healing is mechanically counted as direct healing, thus, they may not benefit from it. Well, at least they can always take a whiff of Lena's wonderful fragrances instead. With all this in mind, we get to the Spitroast part of the Spitroast: If you jail an enemy (sandwiching them between two Operators) and use Reed's S2 to give them her mighty balls, now that enemy is getting assblasted by both sets of balls, so a whooping 480% of Reed's attack as damage, which in turn is very likely to diagnose them with Cinder due to how many times they'll be taking Reed damage, so that final damage is now also increased by another fat 30%, in addition to being inflicted with Cinder's ATK -20%, so your engager is safer as well, on top of being healed a lot. So, in practice, let's say your trusted Specter the Unchained is currently blocking Yamcha Jesselton, and as they are engaged in mortal combat, you then deploy Skadi S2 on top of Jesselton as well. But this is all within Reed's range, so you use her S2 and now the shark and the orca also have fireballs around them that further obliterate Jesselton, and he can't even damage Specter in a way that matters because 1) she leveled HP and 2) she's getting an absolutely unholy amount of healing from Reed's hot balls, so, in short, he'll never have another birthday. This MELTS bosses, but obviously, it's a rather expensive endeavor, necessitating 3 deployment slots dedicated to the bit. But no one said being funny was cheap, and end of the day, it's funny seeing bosses melting down to nothing under what's practically two fire buzzsaws.

Ideal Operators for these strats involve your prim and proper engager, someone tough that can take a hit and also hit hard, like either Specter or Skadi S3, but you can also make this engager a dedicated tough slab of meat like Hoshiguma, and your drop-in assassin with huge damage, like Texas the Omertosa, Surtr S3 (two girls that will appreciate the Arts Fragility Reed can inflict!), Skadi S2, Nearl the Radiant Knight S2, et al. 'Enmity' Operators work as well but you'll not be received the healing, just keep that in mind, but they work splendid as well. Once again, Arts Fragility stacks multiplicatively with Fragile, so break out the ol' Suzuran S3 or, if the boss can be Frozen, Gnosis S3 for some more immensely violent peacekeeping.

That was a lot, but trust me, it becomes second nature once you see it in action once, it just clicks and now you know exactly how to roast that spit.

Woah, look at all the progress we made, it's time to start 8-12:

So, S3, the big flashy and fun explosions that scream "I'm a healer, but," in big red flaming text. This skill does a fair amount of things, actually! First of all, Reed will have multitarget attacks, two per attack, and her attacks during S3 will always 100% of the time inflict Cinder, so that +60% ATK buff she's getting is actually bigger than that, given that she'll always have her final damage increased by 30% Arts Fragility on top of that. What's more, Cinder's CANNOT expire for as long as the skill is active, and now have the additional effect of inflicting a Damage Over Time effect that deals 60% of Reed's Attack as Arts damage (so, again, amplified by Arts Fragility). And, of course, as we all know and love, if an enemy dies while having the Cinder's effect during the skill duration, they explode for 140% damage in a 1.7 tile radius, and enemies damaged by these explosions, you guessed it, also become inflicted with Cinder.

That's a lot going on, but it's also pretty self-explanatory once you lay it out like that. Ace detectives might have gleaned something from this river of letters: Cinder is a very strong effect. Cinder lets you deal more damage, take less damage, and receive more healing, since Reed's healing is based on damage dealt. S3 takes Cinder to the next level: Guaranteed proc, now with a DoT, and will never expire until the end of the skill. Not only that, but the multitarget makes it easier to inflict more and more enemies with Cinder, it's truly a fire gone out of control, for the enemy, anyways. S3 lends itself to mob control and killing large crowds of enemies with the power of friendship, but do not neglect its utility in engaging with troublesome elites and bosses! While S2 is her premiere boss-killing tool, it required set-up, deployment slots and tiles you might not necessarily have in high-end content, and in these situations where the boss isn't the only issue, but you also have to deal with an overall dangerous map that's threatening as a whole, S3 may just be the perfect tool to have a more balanced and yet still very potent approach.

This is what makes the Flame Shadow such a fun unit! Your skills are not really locked by circumstance, and they can be used with several different objectives and goals in mind, depending on what the rest of your team is and who your enemy or what the challenge of the map is. With her incredible adaptability and wide array of applications, Reed the Flame Shadow absolutely shines and can be a core part of any team.

#arknights #Reed the Flame Shadow #dreamknights

[sol-consort]

I am once again throwing my mass effect thoughts at you

Feeding people is one of humans many love languages. The first thing we often share from our cultures with each other is our food because we all need to eat, we all love things that taste good, and food can say a lot about a culture. So when humans made it to the Citadel and started mingling with galactic society they’d basically be handing out our snacks and bringing containers of our dishes to work and gatherings to share with anyone and everyone. After a while they’d realize the turians aren’t taking any, when offered it’s rejected, and at first maybe the humans think it’s because turians are still bitter from First Contact but humans still offer anyways. Takes them a bit to figure out it’s because turians can’t eat levo food. Queue humans spending days/weeks painstakingly researching how to adapt their food with dextro substitutes and how to prepare them (and how to keep everything sanitized for the quarians). Next time the human brings a treat to share with their alien co-workers they’ve got two tins of chocolate chip cookies and one of them is dextro. We like feeding our community and peers, making them happy by giving them something sweet, and when the human is present EVERYBODY is getting something to eat.

I still think about that one salarian during the Garrus loyality mission in ME2 who said he loves human food, despite being at an anti-human turian political street speech.

Because if humans are considered diverse, can you imagine how much our culinary dishes are even more diverse? There are different from culture to culture and use so many different ingredients.

We have things for every taste, the complex dishes that mixes so many flavours together, the simple seeming ones that actually require professional level chefs to get it right.

We even cook and make dishes we can't eat, just for our pets because we love them so much. Pet food is a huge market with a lot of science and testing involved in it just to find out which flavours the animals end up liking more. The whole concept of treats was invented because we wanted to share our snacks and chocolate treats with our pets but couldn't since it harms them.

There isn't a field or a craft that a human somewhere isn't passionate about, no matter how nichie or unique. I bet you there are already culinary schools for humans that began having special branches and classes for dextro food and non-hydrating food.

Hanar who are usually reclusive and take centuries to warm up to a species, immediately falling in love with human sea food dishes and the many hydrating fruits we have. Ironically enough, I see them liking any desserts that use gelatine like creme caramel or pudding.

In the Andromeda culture exchange room, at the end of the human introduction VI, they mention to ask a human about ice cream if you ever meet them.

Meaning that aliens don't have ice cream! It's a pure human invention oh my god. A turian in the bar also mentions how the cocktails and drinks were boring and limited before the humans made contact and shared their menus.

How were the aliens even living?? Boring food with boring drinks and no dessert? Fuck yeah we will share our food with them, cooking has always been one of the fundamental traits we associate with our species.

Not only that, it's even a whole love language in humans.

A human can love you so much that they start making you food for lunch and dinner just to make sure you're eating well! Because it makes us happy seeing someone eat something we made, we poured our heart into. Love being the most important ingredient in cooking is the one rule that unites all humans no matter what culture or dish they're making. You can taste the love in food even if it was cooked in a hurry or by someone with no experience, we still eat our loved ones burnt food because we see the effort. Be it the burn marks on their fingers or the dirty dishes piling in the sink, we see clearly how much they tried just to make us something and we smile through the bittertaste and tell them it's good.

Because everyone started at this point, when our food taste horrible and a loved one was subjected to eating it. Or maybe we had to swallow it down. And if we didn't see the love, the potential, we wouldn't have continued on or improved.

Cooking is many things, it's cathartic in nature. It represents family and safety sometimes, luxury and fun other times, resilient and survival and even new beginnings or love confessions.

So many of our holidays centre around food. It goes hand in hand with celebrations.

When it's our birthday, we share a sweet cake with everyone else. When it's an achievement we invite people for a dinner. When it's an average night with friends we go out for drinks.

We bring people snacks when we go out on errands, we keep treats for stray cats or dogs in our pockets, we gift homemade dishes to our new neighbours.

Of course a human is going to accommodate for a turian or a quarian diet. We already accommodate for our friends and their diet limits, be it medical, religious believes or simple taste preference.

I see it happening a lot in C-Sec where turians and humans are common coworkers. Eventually the humans bringing food from home to eat on their lunch break will offer some to their favourite turian coworker. Maybe it's a nervous new guy at work, or maybe it's their grumpy boss with a heart of gold.

Then they realise oh, they can't eat it. So they go back home and the subject gets brought up during dinner with their family when asked about their day at work.

The next day, to their surprise, their spouce packed up a smaller container next to their normal lunch one, labeled "Dextro"

Imagine how surprised the turian is by it when their friendly human co-worker brings it to them saying how their spouce thought of them. The day after it, the humans kid tells their parent they found a snack that's safe for turians and they wanted to share a piece with the turian coworker their parent mentioned before.

The human family inviting the turian to dinner, asking them to bring their family too if they want and sharing a meal together. Making sure the foods are well separated and won't contaminate each other.

Or imagine bringing your turian friend home one day, and your grandma is visiting and she makes a comment on how your friend is as thin as bones and they need to eat more before they leave.

You try to explain how this is how turians normally look but she is having none of it as she searched for a dextro recipe online and tries to whip something up real quick for your friend before they leave.

On another note, think of how funny it is if they could eat earth bird food. Like you're feeding pigeons at the park and a turian comes up and is like "hey I'm feeling a bit squimish...mind if I grab a bit?"

Or you have a pet bird home and go shopping for bird food and your turian friend asks why you're buying so many turian junk food, and that those are overpriced awful tasting brands.

Salarians who never paid cooking or food much mind. Their species dishes are basically those high nutrition cubes and pills we see in future dystopian cartoons. Their lifespan is too short, so they mostly focused on science and technological development.

So the humans with their many different cultures are a literal godsent angels to them. I see them developing a codependent relationship with human culture.

In which salarians relay on human inventions for their luxury and entertainment. Be it our music, movies, food, snacks and videogames. Human dishes become widely popular and a lot of salarian ships start employing human chefs and cooks.

> be a salarian

> culture only focused on technology development

> food tastes like drywall paint

> can't party must study

> speedrun spacetravel

> top of the species in terms of intellectualism but most depressed

> brain had to literally hardwire fast emotion processing to not become too depressed

> must grind for a qt3.14 asari gf

> what are those apes the turians are picking a fight with?

> convince turians to let the apes live

> apes share their cultures

> wtf their food is actually so good

> wtf their music sounds amazing

> wtf now I have a waifu anime gf

> mfw life is suddenly good

#☆salarians #☆turians #☆humans

[roseate-felidae]

Cats are liquid game by last quarter studios

It is a free mobile platform game.

They have a tumblr @catsareliquidgame

So the game is a platform story game. You play as Lumi, a female cat in the rough shape of a ball, that has ears, a tail, a happy blue cat face. She can turn into liquid and gains other abilities later. These include a flying gas form, a cube that can turn off dangerous barriers and an explosive to break down other specific barriers.

The game narrates you throughout each level. Sometimes your own thoughts and sometimes someone else talking to you.

Anything orange can hurt or kill you. You have three lives. Lumi is aware of this. Lumi also glows in the dark levels.

The first game (a light in the shadows or ALitS) is her, on her own, navigating the levels desperately trying to leave.

The second game (a better place or ABP) has her and three friends (one sad, one neutral and one angry, represented by corresponding colours). They each have their own abilities and try to help Lumi with her mental health.

Below the cut is some lore

I shall start with the second game (a better place or ABP). This is actually a Prequel, which I will explain after.

Lumi fights off her depression with the help of her three friends. Later her friends do not leave the platform place like they should have. As they were "fixed". This leads them to start to loose themselves and die. Before dying they give a peice of themselves to Lumi.

The first (green) makes her turn green when she uses an ability. The second (red) turns her red when she gets hurt. The last turns her blue when she uses her water ability.

Blue friend dying and Lumi's water form change after this. Before it was white.

Red friend dying and Lumi's colour change when hurt. Before, it flicked white and transparent. Now its red.

In the end she cannot save anyone. She decides to make a new world in which no-one can ever leave. This is titled "a light in the shadows".

A light in the shadows (ALitS) was the first game. It is about Lumi learning about the dangers of orange objects and abilities. We learn she is here to escape from the deaths of someone. That is because she knows you respawn here. But she desperately wants to leave this place. Strangely, when she reaches the end, she decides that she wants to stay and resets the game by dying.

Most likely, she keeps trying to leave and then resets it at the end. This would erase her knowledge, explaining how she does not know about the fundamentals about the game, despite knowing it in ABP. Making her trapped in an endless loop.

The evidence for ABP being a prequel includes: the end level name being the same as the first games name (a light in the darkness), her changing colours with water form, and injury. The death she is escaping could refer to her friends. No-one else is mentioned. In ABP she also says to keep smiling. This may explain why her expression never changes when hurt, unlike in ABP.

Screenshot above shows her water form is Blue. Not white.

A character apparently found in every level of A light in the darkness is a purple cat with no face. We don't know who they are. Apparently, they are always watching. They are slightly transparent.

The purple one also created the cube. The cube is controlled by the cat (by using some of her lifeforce) to travel over the orange areas and press buttons. These unlock barriers. If the timer runs out before Lumi reabsorbs it, Lumi will die. In "Companion" levels in ALitS, it is explained that the cube is sentient, and its purpose is to make Lumi feel emotions again. They hope its to help her. They are hurt by purple colours.

According to the reset levels in ALitaS, Lumi was locked in this place by her owner. The owner started acting weirdly and said she reminded him of someone. Lumi cannot remember who though.

#cats are liquid #cats are liquid game #last quarter studios #mobile games #cat

[jayktoralldaylong]

There is surprisingly no ABO discourse in the TMA fandom. I don't know if it's an unspoken rule for there not to be, but I was thinking about it.

What would Jon be?

When you think of Jon suffering wet cat Sims the immediate assumption is that he'd be Omega or something, but thinking of his Season 5 persona I entertained the idea of him being an Alpha. Jon could be an Alpha right? He's not the most dominating person in the room but he can get very protective (and Jon with power is very sexy). Then I thought of the fundamental elements of an Alpha which are protectiveness and high level of possessiveness........which is when it hit me.

Martin Blackwood is totally an Alpha. 💀🤣 (Another win for Martin). I don't think there's anyone more possessive in the show besides Elias and Elias is a whole different brand of crazy. Martin seems like a sweet, harmless guy until you start stepping on his toes and he smacks the living daylights out of the aggressor with pure unrefined loathing - Just not easily noticeable cause he doesn't get violent but he makes sure his enemies get fucked up.

So Martin is definitely an Alpha. He gives the vibes of ensuring his mate will never lack, making sure they feel safe when they're nesting and never letting any harm come near their territory. Which raises the question....is Jon his omega then? I think not. Jon seems more like a Beta to me.

Jon: A Beta? That's the most ordinary creature in the whole verse.

Well, Mr. Sims you ARE basic. 😂 You're just a basic guy with super powers. I can't for the life of me picture Jon nurturing anything. He's not even very good at looking after himself and nearly everything he tries to protect crumbles away. He's a very tragic character, with not a lot of self esteem and he masks this by being sassy and sarcastic cause he doesn't want people to see how fragile he actually is. Jon's Beta to me and it feels fitting for him and Martin. Jon would probably try masking as an Alpha and Martin an Omega but the truth about each other would come out and Martin wouldn't care less. He loves his tiny hopeless Beta.

That being said, most of the others in TMA strike me as Alpha Alpha.

LonelyEyes aka Peter and Elias - Alpha/Alpha with Peter being possessive of his alone time and Elias being possessive over his control of Peter. (It would be funny if Peter was Omega though cause everyone would assume Elias the Omega.).

Daisira aka Daisy and Basira - Alpha/Alpha. Look Daisy's Alpha, there's no two ways about that. Maybe Basira is Beta but she strikes me as Alpha as well and they work well as partners.

Melanie x Georgie (can't remember their ship name) - Alpha/Omega....maybe Georgie is really flowery and soothing so she could easily be an Omega with her nurture of the Admiral. She could also be a very kind Alpha to her violent chaotic Omega Melanie. It could go either way.

TimSasha - Alpha/Alpha and I love them so much. ♥️❤️ Sasha just strikes me as Alpha. She would have been archivist if not for Elias' plans and Tim is either an Alpha or a chaotic Omega in disguise.

GerryMichael aka DoorKeay - I've only recently heard about this ship but it's kind of cute. Omega/Omega....cause I think it'd be funny. Obviously the Distortion isn't an Omega, the Distortion wasn't anything but I imagine after getting redefined as Michael it wakes an Omega and it is not happy about it. Gerry is not an obvious Omega and everyone assumes he's Alpha. Little did they know. I like the awkward story of two fakers (because the Distortion would definitely try to hide it's identity) slowly realising and still loving each other cause why not. They're also likely faking to be Beta cause one thing they wanted most in the world was to be ordinary.

Agnes x Jack - Alpha/Beta and this one doesn't even need an explanation.

Agnes x Gertrude - Alpha/Alpha, would be a fun dynamic watching these two growl at each other from the same side of the spectrum.

LonelyEyeSkies aka PeterxEliasxSimon - Alpha/Alpha/Alpha chaos. Lovers of this ship just enjoy watching things crash to the ground and I can't blame them cause I love it too. (Would still be funny if Peter was an Omega. Though Peter wouldn't find it funny at all).

JonMichael - Beta/Omega, but to no one's surprise, Michael's the one dictating everything about this relationship. Jon is shocked to find himself building a nest cause that's how dominant Michael's gonna be.

JonTim - Beta/Alpha and I'm guessing Tim would be a passive aggressive Alpha. This will either go really well or it will be a toxic dumpster fire.

#I can't recall any other rare pairs so I'll leave it like this #tma #the magnus archives #the magnus archive #tma martin #tma jon #tma jmart #jonmartin #jonmart #ramble about ABO #lonelyeyes #daisy x basira #daisira #alice daisy tonner #basira hussain #melanie x georgie #tim stoker #sasha james #timsasha #gerrymichael #agnes montague #gertrude robinson #simon fairchild #michael the distortion #michael shelley #gerry keay #gerard keay #jontim #melanie king #georgie

[lastparty]

something about how the roy siblings on a fundamental level will never be able to understand each other and also believe that they are better and different because they don't know how to acknowledge what has happened to them much less reconcile with one another. even though they should be able to understand each other better than anyone. the whole karaoke sequence like everything all of it. it's connor accusing the others of being lovesponges because he was always always separated from that life by a sheet of glass so he tells himself he doesn't need that. runs for president with part of him knowing it's a farce. and then well kendall talking about how roman was physically abused while he is literally just trying to one up their father and roman trying to play it off. kendall throwing roman and connor's real life experiences in logan's face because he is mad and clearly he's not going to say what he really feels the second after mocking logan for having feelings. and THEN what really gets me is that shiv is the one to bring up her own divorce and express hurt over logan siding with tom. she told her brothers! but while kendall “defends” roman and connor, shiv has to do it herself because it truly stung to have her husband (who. never realised the way logan hurt and still hurts her) emulate her father and leave shiv as caroline. oh and roman of course just Sitting There he feels powerless he can't begin to buy into the confrontation the only real intervention he makes is to downplay being hit. roman who still wished their father a happy birthday and it got framed/interpreted as a betrayal. a kind of inverse of kendall and shiv betraying roman and going straight back to the game in episode one. because none of them understand how the others were raised. roman just sitting there am i making sense yet are you reading my mind and getting what i am trying to express

#roman and logan at the end waughjnaskfd sorry for the block text also #succession #succession spoilers

[the-everqueen]

001: Sandman - A random thought

002: Rose/Corinthian

003: Rose Walker

sandman - a random thought if the corinthian has multiple apartments, does he hire cleaners? or is there like, dreaming magic that keeps the places dust-free? or does the corinthian have a secret assigned cleaning day? (imagine him in an apron and rubber gloves scrubbing the kitchen.)

send me a ship - rose/corinthian when i started shipping it: i think it was after reading heavy lies the crown? that fic is just...mm. delicious.

my thoughts: coco/rose plays with so many themes i find fun. what does it mean to be a person. what do you do after a narrative has ended but you still have to live. what is the difference between devotion and love. can you ever truly love god or is that relationship fundamentally fucked. what if god was also just the girl whose brother you saved and she thought you were some kind of potential guard dog. what if god held your leash and you liked it. what if you bit the hand that feeds you and it still came back for pets.

what makes me happy about them: the thing is, i think rose fundamentally understands the corinthian as a person, in a way that dream never will, because dream knows what he really is was made to be. meanwhile the corinthian understands rose as both human and Endless (because that's his whole function). they get each other. also i'm a diehard believer in giving the corinthian to one of sandman's female characters, because frankly anyone is going to be better at handling him than dream once coco is outside the realm of "favorite" and it leads to Fun Shenanigans.

what makes me sad about them: the thing i'm grappling with in the la guard dog sequel is that, while they get each other, i'm not sure they can...fix each other. like, none of us can really "fix" each other, and both of them have deep-running trauma that goes beyond the other's capacity to heal. there's a part of me that could see a bad ending au where essentially the corinthian makes rose Worse, whatever that might look like. also, at least in canon, that they don't talk again before dream unmakes the corinthian. what does rose think about him, really, in the end? it feels very much like he's Trying with her, even if that's tangled up in his attempts to overthrow dream and save his own life, and even if inherently it's performative on some level.

things done in fanfic that annoy me: a lot of the wider fandom treats rose like a kid. which feels unfair, given that she's a) in her twenties, so a legal adult, and b) shouldering adult responsibilities plenty of her peers don't have to worry about. [insert rant about how Black girls aren't allowed to have childhoods but are also not seen as capable once they're adults.] most coco/rose people are already thinking about rose as a consenting adult and someone with very real trauma, but i guess the other thing would be it's easy to forget the corinthian is an inherently hungry thing.

things i look for in fanfic: ...fics of them at all? authors grappling with categorization of "thingness"? the absence of hob as some kind of uncle figure to the walkers.

my kinks: debates about personhood. pain play. unequal power dynamics. (this is a whole bhol characters thing, i think i just want someone to tie up that white dude.)

who i'd be comfortable with them ending up with, if not each other: again, too poly for this question to ever apply to me. i'd like to see more Rose ships in general.

my happily ever after for them: well, that's just the la guard dog au.

give me a character - rose walker how i feel about this character: big. i care about her. i want to hold her in my arms. i want to bite anyone who looks at her as just a prop for morpheus. tv!rose is SO fucking interesting, the show fleshed out so much of her character in relation to her positioning as a young Black woman, and that is DELIGHTFUL, and i want more people to engage with her.

all the people i ship romantically with this character: obvs i'm writing coco/rose. there's a whole other unwritten thing that is cori/matt/rose as a poly triad. rose/calliope has Potential. rose/barbie, of course, is adorable.

my non-romantic otp for this character: i think rose and lucienne could be such good friends. another storyteller for the librarian??

my unpopular opinion about this character: rose is a lot less naive than people think she is. she's young, yes, but she's experienced, she's intelligent, and she knows her values.

one thing i wish would happen/had happened in canon: i hope we see more of rose in subsequent seasons! she features as a recurring character in the comix. i do wish comix rose had been more nuanced as a character - she's so much the coming-of-age archetype that she's basically not really a person anymore.

my otp/ot3: apparently i am a coco/rose truther. (let the everywoman fuck the eyeball eating nightmare!) but mostly i'd like more people to engage with rose as a subject in general, rather than relegating her to the sidelines or ignoring her altogether.

#ask games #violetoftheendless #sandman

[dawnstruck]

Thank you for answering my ask....if you don't mind me asking (again), who are your favorite romantic relationship's couples in books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series (can be canon or non-canon)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

Ahhh, what are you doing, I am writing novels for all of these now. 🙈

I love talking about my favorite pairings and getting way too invested in them, so you totally brought this onto yourself.

Elle Woods/Emmet Forest (Legally Blonde The Musical): In my eyes, the ultimate romance. I love the musical in general and have watched the MTV recording dozens of times. It's my happy place. It is also, in my opinion, better than the original movie, particularly because it gives Emmet more depth and fleshes out their relationship much more.

They have such an interesting development, from strangers to mentor/mentee, with Elle still pining after Warner, while Emmet's growing respect slowly morphs into romantic love. But he never pushes it on her, it's just there in the background, with her completely oblivious.

They bring out the best in each other, both on a private and a professional level. Emmet is never condescending, never superior. He wants Elle to be the best version of herself, to get that chip on her shoulder, to pursue her career for herself and not some dumb man. So then, when the climax hits and Elle is at her lowest, when Emmet stands at her closed door and plaintively reprises her mantra of 'What about love?' - it just gets me every time.

But then! His confession is so quiet and timid, so different from what we are used to seeing in most narratives, Elle doesn't even hear it. And so it's not for his sake that she stays, and it's not him who convinces her to stay. No, instead it's Paulette and Vivienne who talk her out of it, it's her commitment to Brooke that compels her to stay, and it's her own re-found self-love that makes her wear pink again.

And Emmet loves her. All of her. But what's more: He believes in her. He puts his neck on the line for her, risks tarnishing his name. He is there for her through it all - much like she has previously been there for him, treating him to nice things and reminding him of his integrity.

And then we get the ending, the flash forward, three more years have passed, their relationship is going well, and Elle - who was so hung up on getting proposed to - gets down on one knee for him.

Their relationship subverts so many tropes and gender stereotypes, both because and in spite of Elle being this very girly, feminine woman and- Gosh. I could write entire PhD theses about them, I adore them so much.

Erwin Smith/Levi Ackermann (Attack on Titan): Another pairing that is all about support and bringing out the best in each other, but unfortunately in a world that was all against them.

I love that they see each other for what they truly are, their core, their essence. Erwin looks at a wily street thug from the Underground City, and sees Humanity's Strongest. Levi looks at the Commander of the Survey Corps, and sees the childishly selfish, driven, flawed man he truly is.

They understand each other, gradually but fundamentally. If you look at the whole series, there interactions are actually quite limited, but all of them profound. There have such a deep belief in each other, to the point that they willingly let it blind them (e.g. when Levi is shocked to realize how deep Erwin's obsession truly runs).

And Levi loves him. In one way or another, he does. He would put anyone and anything aside to protect Erwin and help him achieve his goals. But then... he doesn't. He does the most selfish and simultaneously selfless thing in the entire series, and he does it twice over. He tells Erwin to give up on his dream and charge at the Beast Titan, and he decides to save Armin's life instead of Erwin's.

Levi, who has been too late to save people time and time again (his mother, Farlan and Isabel, his squad) chooses to bury himself in more grief in order to relieve Erwin of his burden. He makes a promise to him and he spends the next years trying to fulfill it, always with Erwin's face in mind, haunted by this benevolent ghost.

And in the end, when Levi has succeeded in what he set out to do, when he survived in spite of it all and not for lack of trying, he is able to let go. He cries, not just for Erwin, but for all who were lost. For the first time in the story, we see Levi do the salute of the survey corps; but his entire story was about him having dedicated his heart. To his fellow soldiers, to the cause, but - most of all - to his friend and commander.

Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth (A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones): Enemies to friends to lovers, the only instance I can think of where it's been truly done right. They start out on opposite sides of the field, sworn to different sides in a bloody feud, and they hate each other's guts. But they are forced together, having to endure each other's dour company for weeks on end; it's basically the 'there's only one bed' trope, only that the bed is the hard ground in the wilderness and they are chained together.

But they have to depend on each other, too, in fights against common enemies, and their respect for each other grows. Jaime saves Brienne from violation when he doesn't have to, Brienne rekindles his will to survives; she saves him from drowning, and he returns to pull her from the bear pit. "I dreamed of you", he said, and I was fucking done for.

These two have so much respect for each other, first begrudging, and then more honest and fond. They realize that looks and reputation can be deceiving. Brienne learns to see a man - a boy, really - who was forced into a damning decision, who is honorable at his core but was not allowed to act on it. He learns to see a woman who is beautiful in her own right because she is true and good and honest.

When we first meet Jaime, he looks like Shrek's Prince Charming, golden and perfect and glowing. But then it is Brienne who becomes his knight in shining armor, who teaches him that he can still be a good person, even if the cost is great.

I love that they are both damaged, physically and emotionally. I love that they heal together. And I so hope that they will get some semblance of a happy ending in the books. And, as a sidenote, I love how Stiefvater spins her poetry around them. Her writing is so evocative, grotesque and picturesque by turns, just like Adam and Ronan are themselves, and it matches their development wonderfully. 

Also, possibly my favorite first kiss in any novel ever. 

Dean Winchester/Castiel (Supernatural): Possibly my first big fandom OTP, maybe? At least the one I was most invested in as it was happening. I love Dean and Castiel individually, love their roles and developments in the show (barring certain stupid decisions and lots of retconning in the writing, of course), but their dynamic added so much to the show.

Everything about them was so iconic. Lazarus Rising is probably one of my favorite episodes not just in the show, but in general. The whole buildup to their first meeting is so well done. From Dean crawling out of his shallow grave, over finding the handprint branded into his skin and Castiel's angelic voice literally making his ears bleed, over Pamela's eyes being burned out of her skull, to Castiel appearing on screen for the first time amid a rain of sparks.

Castiel looking at Dean with Jimmy Novak's ocean blue eyes, looking into his very soul, both bewildered and intrigued, and speaking out loud what we all suspected: "You don't think you deserve to be saved." - That shit broke me.

Castiel raised Dean from Hell, but Dean lured Castiel from Heaven: bit by bit and probably unintentionally, with no higher purpose in mind. He resented him, and then he let him in, bit by bit, until he had not just another compatriot, but a friend. A best friend, when always his family had come first.

There are so many memorable moments and I cannot possibly count them all. I did stop watching the show somewhere around Season 8, I think, but they always had a fond place in my heart. My friend knew as much and then, when the unthinkable happened last year, she sent me an article saying that Castiel had canonically confessed his love.

Well, that was weird and crazy and unexpected, and of course the show spectacularly ruined itself, but oh well. I will forever believe that Dean Winchester, a human, taught an angel to love and to rebel and to question the status quo. They both had shitty dads and brothers they loved and sometimes hated, they gave up everything and made many wrong decisions in their attempts to do the right thing, and they had each other, here and there, desperately clinging on to that.

Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, Earth. The literal Apocalypse. Their love will overcome a poorly written ending, too.

Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish (The Raven Cycle/The Dreamer Trilogy): They see the sides of each other that most other people don’t even suspect exist. In a lot of ways, Ronan is soft and vulnerable and uncertain around Adam, and Adam sees all of that and more, sees the contractions that aren’t really contradictions at all. Likewise, Ronan sees the beyond Adam’s veneer, beyond the facade of him trying to achieve everything by himself, instead striving to be someone who gives him what he needs, albeit in an often roundabout and bristly manner. And Adam struggles against that but, eventually, he accepts it for the kind, selfless gesture it is. 

I like both Adam and Ronan have suffered, in similar but different ways. Both their traumas are centered around their families and, as such, their healing and their love is sometimes diametrically opposed. Ronan wants to digs his fingers into someone and not let them go, grow his root in them and make a home. The concept of being on his own his anathema to him. Ronan, for all his appearance of being a loner and an outsider, is someone who clings on to his loved ones - his brothers, Gansey, Chainsaw, Opal, and Adam.

Adam, in contrast, is driven by the idea of “you cannot love someone before you love yourself.” Adam has shit to do, a reputation to build, a dream to fulfill. He wants to prove his father and all the naysayers wrong, and accepting seeming “charity” from rich people like Gansey and Ronan goes against his beliefs. He doesn’t want handouts, and it takes him a long time to realize that, just because Ronan’s love and affection are freely given, they are not equivalent to pity or even entitlement. 

But they have secrets from each other, too, and they are not necessarily mature or stable enough to maintain a healthy relationship and good communication with all the crazy stuff going on in their lives, so I am curious to see how things will work out for them in the last part of the Dreamer Trilogy. 

Shiro/Keith (Voltron): I will rail forever about how dirty they were don ein the series. The foundation of their friendship was so strong, so solid, the true bedrock of the entire series and the team's dynamic. And simultaneously so beyond the kind of friendship you generally see depicted. There was no macho male posturing between to alpha male heroes, just open vulnerability and gentle support.

I honestly believed Sheith would be endgame (and who can blame me with how much it was teased in different ways), and so I sat through a rapidly declining franchise. The Black Paladin episode made me think this was it, we were actually going to get something good after all, but then I quickly realized my error and jumped ship.

As in, I still ship them, but my god, I cannot believe how thoroughly the canon sunk that said ship. Obliterated it, even. Not fully confirming the pairing at the end is one thing; marrying Shiro off to some rando was... honestly more painful than your regular queerbaiting, but I won't go into that here.

Jafar/Scheherazade (Twisted): Quite niche and also a rather background relationship that only takes up a few minutes of the musical, but my god. They are so adorable and funny and tragic and sweet. It's the only time I will accept the fridged wife trope to establish a man's tragic past. That they got their happy ending after all was such a sweet relief and I am so grateful whenever I rewatch/listen to the soundtrack.

James T. Kirk/Spock (Star Trek): I admittedly mostly got into them after watching the remake movies, but I honestly love both dynamics. Nimoy and Shattner had such a fun dynamic, often tongue-in-cheeck and teasing, but also with serious and meaningful moments. Quinto and Pine have that origin story appeal, that canon divergence, that young hot guys hot-headedness and clashing of personalities.

In the remake, Spock and Kirk have to figure out how to work together, have to learn to rely on and trust each other. In the originals, they already have all that, comfortable like an old married couple, used to each other's habits and idiosyncrasies. They are new love and established love juxtaposed, and I adore both versions.

And, as you can see from this list, I simply love a captain and his right hand man.

  There are more pairing that shaped me and that influenced my own writing and my general interest in how narratives are built. In general, I am always more interested in characters and, by extension, their dynamics with each other, than the plot and worldbuilding surrounding them. And, of course, this list does not necessarily reflect my thoughts on what real life relationships should be like (especially since most of them happen in extraordinary circumstances).

#OTPs #literature #musicals #legally blonde #eruri #aot #snk #braime #game of thrones #asoiaf #destiel #pynch #sheith #spirk #starkid #ask #spn

[consoledacup]

Hey, thank you so much for the Jordayla missing pieces you post they make so much sense and they are for sure just deleted scenes that AA just didn't have airtime to air.

Here's my actual question I have seen comments suggesting that Jordan is doing and saying the exact same things for Layla that he did for Simone. Now just as a disclaimer I was never a Jimone fan so I've only watched their scenes once when it aired and I could never imagine going back to watch them but I have no recollection of Jordan being Simones bestie and being able to let her in when he is going through a tough time or just in general like he is with Layla. So I just wanted to know do you see similarities? because I'm convinced I do and btw that doesn't mean I don't think Jor loved Simone as best as he could at that time I just think he didn't know the type of love he's experiencing with Lay was possible.

Thank you, Anon!! I'm thrilled you see them as deleted scenes. I've thoroughly enjoyed writing them.

It's no secret I'm also not a jimone fan, so I got you. I'll try to answer this from an objective lens, but I can't guarantee that it won't be Jordayla-skewed.

The most succinct and thematic divide between these two couples is "show vs. tell."

With Jimone, Jordan was telling anyone and everyone he was happy, he was in love, etc. Nothing wrong with that on the surface. But with Jordayla, Jordan just WAS happy. To the point where everyone around him noticed without him saying a thing. And the two closest male figures in his life figured out he was in love and dating Layla because he was so happy.

With Jimone, they were lauded as great communicators. But that just wasn't evident when really hard stuff or even just mid stuff happened. To your earlier ask, Simone's dream was to be the next Serena Williams, and he was like, you play tennis? But how many times had he frequented Layla's studio before they were even together? Not to mention everything that happened with Simone's adoption dilemma. She didn't even want him there when she gave birth. He couldn't reach her at her level and give her what she needed, and she firmly kept him away. But Jordan obliterated Layla's walls. Not an easy feat when she had been steadily building them higher and higher and successfully kept everyone else out. But not him. She let him in.

And then when it came to football, Jordan has always kept Simone at arms' length. Even when they were fully together. Even when Simone tried to bulldoze her way in after his concussions. She gave her best effort, but he wasn't having it. With Layla she just kept pushing until he relented and listened to her. She knew what to say to get through to him and made him really understand she believed in him wholeheartedly.

Simone saw his potential in being great and maturing. But all of that actually happened when Jordan got closer with Layla. Jordan has never felt more understood than he has since falling in love with Layla. He desperately wanted things to work with Simone because they had gone through a lot together and committed to each other in a huge way. But they just couldn't understand each other on a fundamental level.

Jordan and Layla waited so long to tell each other they loved each other. But every single moment prior, their actions showed how much they loved the other.

Actions speak louder than words, after all.

#jordayla #all american

[free-fart-avenue]

I wanted to have a mental break down in the corner of my bed but when I got there I just kept watching YouTube in the corner but I feel slightly more shitty, not even enough for me to realize right away that I feel more shitty, but I still feel like the break down is happening.

Is there a way to find out if something is wrong with me? I don't usually (especially if it has something to do with me) understand any emotion other than happy.

Like I get that emotions are feelings but when do they happen? I know what sad and happy and angry feel like but I've never FELT stressed, I just suddenly break with no warning. I mean I get a near constant dred any time I don't do anything but I know that one, that's guilt. I'm good friends with guilt. Have been since childhood. It won't leave..

Is stress close to guilt? What about morning joy? What is it like to wake up excited for the day? How can you have motivation to do great things for yourself while also being happy with what you have?

I look at something and know it needs to be good so that anyone who comes across it will be happy, nothing missing and every effort I can give goes into that. But then..

"I know that I don't know how to do that and that is really important.."

"I want to be able to say I did it ALL by myself so I can't ask someone to do it for me. And I know how to do it I just haven't ever done it so I'm not good at it."

"Is this whole thing even needed? The world has gone on this long without it and no one will even see it and if anyone does they won't even know the parts I worked the hardest on.."

"no one will know how hard I worked on it unless I tell them and I know how annoying that gets... I shouldn't make it."

So on and so forth. I know what it is like to be excited about something but each time I am there is a special dred that I will lose the motivation before I can act on it. I never know when it will be here or for how long and I try to act on it each time. But what about the things I don't want to do but have to?

Laundry? Cleaning my room? Cleaning the litter box? School work? How can I do the things that need to be done with a passion that nothing can put out? I don't understand, on a fundamental level, the people who can do things they hate, well, without being told.

I've lived all my life with guilt for not doing, not only what needs to be done but also what I say I'll do. I will probably never say "No more! No more will I let guilt control me!" Be cause if I do... I'd feel guilty. I'd hate myself for going back on what I said and bring myself back into my depression and feel worse about it, and I feel like if that happens I will never get out.

What's worse is I know how to get rid of this feeling but I don't have the motivation to start.

Part of me is scared. The people that I know (I call them acquaintances because I don't like or trust them enough with my problems) and I see pretty regularly get worried when something is different about me. I do really love seeing those people ever single time I do, I have for years, so for at least 7 years these people are used to seeing me with a smile because I see them and am happy. But when I found out that I want to be a person who isn't always happy, someone who can say things as they are without fear of hatred, they have been getting worried when I don't smile for 20 minutes..

I know who I want to be but I'm scared of people being worried. I know most of them would be there for me but on days when I see them and have a headache or am just more tired than normal I get people who think we're close asking in the most worried tone from them (sometimes pulled aside from the group) "Are you okay??"

I don't want that

#rant #this wasnt supposed to be this long.. #oh well #emotions #i dont know how to shorten it #sorry #brain go brr

[originalpackersandmoversblog]

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Along these lines, you want to position yourself to change with your new hitched life by understanding this under given considerations.

Research for another home and make sure to change your area

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Exactly when you start squeezing your things, endeavor to wipe and sort out things that you will not use them some other time on. Save individual boxes for things, that you really want to dispose of, that you want to give and things that you want to sell during a parking space bargain. Following pressing all your critical resources, part with your unfortunate things before you take your activity to your new city, and preplan exercises preceding moving into another home.

Endeavor to coordinate a moving vehicle or a truck without any other individual and ask your friends or relatives to assist you with moving your things to your new city. Exactly when you endeavor to play out your moving task in isolation, you ought to expect full obligation to do all things. This endeavor would end up being all the harder and disturbing for you to do it without any other person. If you are not enthusiastic about continuing ahead your own, you can enlist capable packers and movers additionally, by using buddy references, web crawlers or by using any relocation reference section.

Endeavor to deal with your work yourself and sort out some way to be independent

Ensuing to moving your family products take out your things from groups, plan your things as shown by your taste and settle down at your new home in your new city. Endeavor to finish your work isolated like cleaning the house, washing the articles of clothing, making arrangements for your bedding and cooking for the family, when your accessory isn't with you or your life accomplice is crushing endlessly.

Endeavor to manage your money related costs independently by saving some money from your family expenses so you don't have to in every case depend upon your soul mate for easily overlooked details. Endeavor to be really strong and control your sentiments as it requires a speculation to draw in with your new associate, family, city, people, culture and on occasion even food.

Plan a period table and make yourself involved the whole day

Make a timetable for performing and changing your regular activities, for instance, going for a stroll, going for your rec focus work out, cleaning your home, cooking, etc Make yourself attracted with some kind of activities to make your whole day involved.

Endeavor to travel solo and enquire about the new city

Use public vehicle, the city metro train or enlist a taxi with the help of your PDA, when you want to travel solo in your new city. If you don't be aware to drive a two or a four-wheeler, endeavor to go for a driving school and expert abilities to drive in a rush. Notwithstanding, make sure to take your driving license and your cap close by you whenever you go for a ride inside your new city.

Make new companions and learn new culture

People you meet in your new city will be by and large one of a kind corresponding to people whom you have met around there. They will have different ends, considerations, experiences, etc, on various things they know. In this cutting-edge period, it's quite easy to find new companions through web-based entertainment stage like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc

You can moreover make new associates by chatting with your neighbors, hitting up some social gatherings or gatherings and looking into a few progressive activities. Endeavor to learn about a few new things by going to specific courses and remembering for a few remarkable activities that your life accomplice have never endeavored and made the individual being referred to attracted to you.

Return to your work

Right when you really want to go for an errand in your new city, join the work field in which you at this point have a fair experience or join any field you are particularly fascinated by. Assuming that you have a broad stretch opening in your livelihood, endeavor to join a few educational courses to pull together. You can similarly learn about doing some web-based business over the web and get cash working from your home.

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[inkblot-inc]

I don't know know if you would consider it an au, but Back in Step is one of my favorite fics. I recently read What We've Lost and I loved how you brought in even more context to the dynamic between Strange and the Reader, the reader and Christine, and even the reader and Wanda.

You made me glad Strange dies btw

I think I figured out something, and I wanna know if it was intentional: when the reader starts staying at Wanda’s cabin with her she never comes in contact with the darkhold, but they start feeling more "malice" toward their memories of Christine and they almost get corrupted the longer the reader is there. Even after reader gets captured that hatred continues to build until we get to Back in Step. I just want to know if that's the dark hold's influence or not?

Sorry this got a bit long

I also love all your other writing 😁

Be still my heart-

First of all: I LOVE long asks bud, never apologize for that ☺️

I consider all of the things I've written so far to be AUs, I dunno about anyone else, but as soon as it diverges from cannon it can be considered as such. Anyway-

I'm glad you loved TBBIS and What We've Lost, it was definitely fun to write and think about!

Having the reader's dynamic with Strange to be this sort of one sided jealousy and even hatred for what the other has (even if it is mainly Strange's jealousy toward Reader) is something I wanted to bring attention to. He literally did take everything from Reader and left them with nothing. Even worse, expected them to just move along now that he "had the upper hand". He knows he was in the wrong, he knows what he did was fucked up, and that's what makes him so hateable in this universe

And his bitchass caused the snap...

The Reader and Christine are complex. And part of me wanted to take the time to write out how they were together in more scenes, but the difference in tonality just wouldn't fit in there in my opinion. I thought it'd be too jarring. But Christine and Reader really did love each other. They'd been together for years before the snap, and had just gotten engaged ,timeline wise, by the end of DS1. Getting over Reader was not an easy thing for Christine to do, having though they died for five years. Stephen just placed himself in a position where Christine would cling to him and in that vulnerability, wiggle his way back into her heart. Christine and Strange were always complicated and things never seemed to workout, but the Reader was a sure thing and she genuinely loved her. Despite the shock amd anguish of Christine moving on, Reader does still love her and more than that, they care for her. The Reader is eventually able to acknowledge the circumstances of things and can't really blame Christine for finding someone else in the event that they "died". Christine being happy with someone else pales in comparison to Christine being happy with Stephen Strange specifically.

Again, his bitchass caused the snap...

On a fundamental level, the Reader and Wanda's friendship started with them finding kindred spirits in one another. As two peope who have quite literally lost everything that mattered to them, I definitely felt the need to show their interactions as emotionally traumatised besties just trying to do their best and find some sort of normalcy in their lives.

And finally, the Darkhold.

I'm so glad you caught this buddy you don't even know! What you've been thinking is spot on. The Reader was being effected by the Darkhold the longer they were in the cabin and they were still corrupted by it leading to TBBIS! Now the thing is, the Reader hasn't been constantly in contact with the Darkhold or even read it like Wanda has, so the malice growing in them could be considered equal parts Darkhold influence and the Reader's own hatred building up and coming to a head. The darkhold changes you forever once your directly exposed to it, but that line may get a little blurry when you're only talking about close proximity...

I'm glad you've enjoyed what I've written, and hopefully you'll like what I put out in the future as well bud 😊!

#jc inked asks #i'm not even gonna lie this made my heart so full to answer #back in step #what we’ve lost

[march-of-the-marred-gods]

A Fell Angel and a Nephilim reluctantly sit next to each other at a rather long, oval dining room table. The former is the Father of all Nephilim, Amon, and the latter is his descendant via humanity, named Lazarus. Lazarus awkwardly attempts small talk amidst the happy chatter of everyone sitting around he and Amon.

"How's the search for Sarnon?"

"Not great. I think I taught them how to cover their tracks a little too well."

"Sorry to hear that."

"Thank you. I know they visit the communities as I do, so I hope one of the villages will give me some sort of sign that they're alive, even if it's just a brief sighting."

Lazarus stares into the whiskey in his glass. He feels something welling up within himself. He takes a sizeable gulp of his drink. He doesn't know what else to say, but Amon continues before he thinks of anything.

"On the bright side, I did reconnect with one of my other children. Her name is Claudia. We originally met when we were both with child. She had the misfortune of finding a human male to mate with that was immune to her spell, and he began abusing her. I visited their home as a guest, but the man rushed me out the door after he caught me watching him berate and hit her, for accidentally spilling tea on me. I came back to kill him in his sleep, and showed little Claudia and her children to a nearby settlement full of her siblings that had the means to care for them all. She began doing the same for her battered siblings after that."

"Wow, that sure is something."

"It gave me hope that little Sarnon was given the same care... if anything happened, that is."

"Yeah. I can see that...." Lazarus trails off. With every word Amon had just said, he became more frustrated, and he was now at his tipping point.

"I bet it feels good to talk about old stories about being some random Nephilim's hero, but you don't really fix anything on a fundamental level. How anyone gives a shit about you or what you have to say is beyond me."

Lazarus' son, Apollo, was observing quietly and carefully. He sees this as the time to intervene. He calmly leaves his seat, comes over to Lazarus, and whispers in his father's ear.

"Dad, it's really not the time for this. Don't start this again."

This had the exact opposite effect Apollo was hoping for. Lazarus' face had turned as red as a cherry, and his sclera had turned jet black. It was not out of embarrassment, but out of sheer rage. He grips his glass and it begins to crack.

Amon felt mortified that another one of his children felt the need to speak on his behalf. He speaks up, and the room starts to get quiet as the others take notice of what's happening.

"Lazarus, I wish I understood why I make you so angry. But the scope of my senses, while great, are still limited. I can't read one's mind. I only help my children if I see or know the problem. I can't help with things I don't know about. So if you have a dilemma, especially if I'm the cause, I'll be happy to help you out if you tell me what's wrong. I'll do whatever I can. Just please-"

An older Nephilim, Spencer, tries reprimanding Lazarus.

"Lazarus, you're acting childish and being disrespectful to Father. What is the matter with you?"

This latest comment was the final straw for Lazarus.

"Every fucking day someone asks me what my problem is with Amon. I keep telling you all, he makes me sick acting like he's done anything meaningful. Still, I get the same question, each time from a different person. You can't leave well enough alone? Then I'll clear the air for you all."

Apollo is scared of what this might entail, and tries to convince Lazarus to stop.

"You don't have to explain yourself. You don't have to do this right now-"

Lazarus shoves Apollo away. "Apparently I do! Nobody in here fucking listens to me otherwise! I'll tell you why Amon makes me sick. He let my whole village get murdered by Angels! I... I'm the last survivor of the Prytanny Northdrift settlement."

Amon's eyes widened with shock. "Northdrift... I can't believe it. I thought your accent was familiar, but I couldn't place it. Lazarus, I am so sorry."

"Of course you don't remember. You never visited us. Why would you want to? It's a frozen wasteland up there."

"But I did visit. One of the last times was about 400 years ago. It must have been right before you were born-"

"Then where were you when they killed everyone I ever knew? How can you answer for the corpses still buried there? I still hear their screams and cries for your help! Their agony is my own, and WE hate you!"

Amon was close to breaking down, his voice shaking. "Lazarus, please believe me when I say I had no knowledge of the attack until after it took place. I am not an all-knowing being."

"Why aren't you?! You're supposed to be our hero! As I grew up I heard all about how amazing you were. Everyone speculated you had clairvoyance due to how often you came to people's aid in the nick of time. I looked up to you! It was my goal to grow up strong enough to meet you, until that fucker Elias came by himself just to kill us all-- knowing you had just visited us 10 years prior. Somehow, he knew you wouldn't be back for some time. I hoped you would come save us anyway because you just had to know we were in danger. But you never came."

Amon took a moment to compose himself before speaking, lest he begins to show cracks.

"I'm sorry. I'm not some grandiose hero. Your community's speculations were just that. I really am nothing more than a father trying desperately to protect his young. I do fail at times, and it kills me when I do. When I heard about what happened, I rushed back to Northdrift. There was still blood and body parts strewn about. That's how recent it was. I thought maybe I could find survivors in that case, but Elias himself came down to drive me out, so that was impossible. I am so sorry for not being there. I didn't think he would go for such a small place with such massive forces. I thought you all were safer up there... But I was wrong. For that I apologize. I wish I could have been there in your time of need; I do."

"Well, your regrets mean jack to me."

"I know. But it's all I have to offer. Unless... you allow me into your heart; to be your family in place of the family you lost."

"How can you do that with thousands of other brats, huh? I'm sure I'm far from your favorite, anyway. Other Nephilim treated me like I carried the plague if they knew I came from Northdrift. Your children are accepting to all except those who had the nerve to get caught in, and worse-- survive-- an Angel's 'cleansing'."

"Oh, Lazarus. I didn't know this was going on, either. As for those that treated you terribly, I am deeply sorry. I will address that with everyone. But by thinking yourself so distant from me, you push me away. Will you at least consider my offer? It might help heal your wounds... at least a little."

Lazarus gives Amon a deathly stare.

"How about you fuck off? I only have room in my heart for my two kids, and the one person who did show up to save me when I was little. I owe my life to them, no thanks to you, or any of my fellow Nephilim who treated me like I was nothing afterwards."

Before Amon can stop and ask who Lazarus' mysterious savior is, Lazarus gets out of his seat, taking his now cracked glass with him. He snatches a huge bottle of whiskey off the kitchen counter and goes into the hallway without another word.

#oc #excerpt #no 666 amon #lazarus #HOOOOOOOOOOO BOY #i finally got around to editing this to have laz talk about he was treated

[tuiyla]

Should I like, maybe examine why Santana would fall for Brittany over the others on a character level?

not the og anon but i love brittana so i’d love to hear your thoughts on this!

I kinda got into it when replying to OG Anon a second time but I didn't want to leave this unanswered, and since then I got another ask I'll take as a chance to explain Brittany's POV. So with this one, allow me to look at Santana's POV in-universe a bit! Because bringing in the production perspective is always appreciated but it can get messy and sometimes it's nice to just look at these characters as people.

To be perfectly honest this will be more gushing than analysis and I don't think I could, or maybe should say why it's Brittany over the others. Because we could talk about compatibility and the potential of any pairing, but the truth is that we only ever see Santana be romantic with Brittany and Dani, but even the latter is on such a minuscule scale. So it wouldn't even feel fair to compare with any other ship because it would all be pure speculation. I think there's space for that, but just for right now and for me, who does treasure Santana's other relationships very much and doesn't want to diminish their importance in any way.

So, why Brittany for Santana. I think the fundamental biggie with Brittana is how they believe in each other. For Santana, that means that Brittany was for the longest time basically the only person who didn't expect the worst of her. I've talked about this before but I don't get how anyone can say Brittany doesn't want Santana to be better at all or that she encourages her worst tendencies. I don't think so. I just think that Brittany has always known what good Santana was capable of and didn't write her off as many others had. So when Santana says, "you've always just wanted me to be myself," it's about that belief. It's not about pushing her to be a better person but giving her space the express what's already inside. Santana proves in The Back-Up Plan that all she really needs is someone to believe that she's worth the wait and long before anyone else did that, Brittany believed.

So imo that's a huge part of it, Santana naturally being drawn to Brittany's faith in her. As I said in my second reply to OG Anon, I also think that Santana likes Brittany's eccentricity. I think she found Britt's blunt yet amusing and very unique way of talking and seeing the world refreshing. Anger had been her default emotion for so long and I think she had her guards up but Britt was able to push through that and be someone Santana's just happy to be around. I also think, being with her, Santana could relax more than she could with other people. It'd be super fascinating to know when and how they began hooking up (from a ch perspective) but I'm sure Brittany was able to put Santana at ease like no others.

Brittany's also shown to be very patient with her. She doesn't tolerate everything, as she shouldn't, but she goes so long before she first starts asking questions about the nature of their relationship and pressing Santana on that. Which I don't see as her pressuring Santana at all, Britt had every right to be confused and to want answers. But overall, she doesn't let herself be pushed away like others do so easily and that's something Santana desperately needs. For someone, when she lashes out, to say: I know you're hurting but that's no excuse, however I won't let it happen because you're self-sabotaging. Like I said Brittany doesn't tolerate everything and I think it'd be unhealthy for both if she did, but she also doesn't give up on Santana.

Then there's Brittany being such an overall light in Santana's life. Everything that's good in this miserable, stinking world. And make no mistake, I don't think you should build your whole life around a single person (hence my love for every other Santana relationship), and I don't agree with the interpretation where only Britt matters to Santana. I think their breakup allows her to branch out and learn to care, and show that she cares, about other people. I don't think Brittany is the sunshine and rainbows one and Santana the mean grump who only ever even likes this one person, like I see others do sometimes. I think that misunderstands both their characters.

But, I do think Brittany softens Santana. I think she brings a side out of her that had until then been buried, probs thanks to Alma (thanks, Abuela). And it's Brittany who can get Santana to drop the tough act, Brittany who smiles at her and suddenly the world's not so miserable. Brittany who makes her feel, you know? And this is where we reach the point when, after all of the above, I say that Santana fell for Brittany just because. I could continue listing what I think she ultimately saw in her, but I think Santana was just a 14-15 year-old kid who got close to this other pretty cheerleader girl and that was that.

Why do people fall in love? I don't know. I just know that Santana Lopez used to count the number of times Brittany S. Pierce would smile at her and she'd die on days that she didn't. That Santana would melt into puddles just staring at Britt for a beat too long in the locker room and see the genius when everyone else called Brittany stupid. Santana grew up thinking she always had to be tough and show no vulnerability but then here was this girl with her blunt words, questioning things no one else did, being so casually honest with an open heart. And then she used that heart to believe in Santana, of all people? Girl never stood a chance against falling for Brittany. And maybe, in another timeline, it could have been someone else but then who would have told her that dolphins are just gay sharks.

#glee #brittana #santana lopez #brittany s pierce #glee asks #brittana asks #santana asks #anon #ask #anonymous #sorry this took long anon but i hope that was sorta what you were looking for? #my thoughts #i love their love #this was a bit messy but you love brittana anon so i'm sure you'll find something in there

[nanakah]

about Ishigami, his growth and Miko's role

most people, myself included, thought at some point that Tsubame's rejection (or acceptance) could wrap up Ishigami's arc and even his past's flashbacks neatly, but Osaragi's arc suddenly revealing there was more to his relationship with Miko made me reflect more and think nah...if anything we're halfway there. It also showed glimpses of him already struggling to find his place in the world by quitting his clubs, even though he was successful at them and there was no Ootomo incident yet to undermine his self-image.

It seemed odd that despite everything he went through he still has his "hair=shield/averting eyes" theme going strong, but it makes sense if you consider even though Tsubame helped him see the way to be more accepting of people and cleared his name, his self-esteem still is super low. I spoke of this in my "sutera" meta, but to Ishigami, his life still has been a sucession of failures and almosts. At his core, he still hasn't fully opened up to people or learned to use his vulnerabilities to his advantage.

If I have grabbed your interest thus far, keep reading for more considerations!

Tsubame is kind to anyone and attempted to do good for him, but ultimately he was never fully himself around her, nor she tried/he alllowed her reaching out to the deepest parts of his insecurities. She doesn't show her own flaws to him either and to this day we get the feeling we don't know her well, just the best parts that Ishigami wanted to see. Kaguya, Miyuki and Chika contribute a lot in a sibling-like way, but there's a limit to how much Kaguya in particular can inspire him. Miko however, has scratched a little beneath the surface and has expressed an interest in helping him with that, even if he himself is still avoiding the topic. She's also more relatable to him in the sense that the rest of the stuco has a history of successes in their lives, while he was able to watch Miko's hardships and failures closely. Their panic attacks even look similar and they're always watching the other to provide backup (in a very roundabout way, at least before) when they happen.

While their personalities are fundamentally different, his arc and struggles remind me a lot of Miyamura from Horimiya and today, as I was musing on what is so different about them as of now, I believe it's how Miyamura didn't have a single *traumatic* mistake to get over, so he goes down his development road much faster. Putting it another way, it's ultimately that Ishigami hasn't yet learned to be kind to himself like Miyamura has through Hori. Like Shirogane and Kaguya are through themselves. In Miyamura's case, sympathizing with how Hori despite her strong exterior can be very fragile inside but still support him (fight for him, defend him, accept his true self, not judge him, hear him, make him feel good enough) made him feel compelled to grow stronger to protect her back.

Miko as she was at the beggining of the story couldn't provide Ishigami this sort of stability (and that's where Osaragi's "prettier story"/"you weren't there for him" reasoning fails) even if deep down she wanted to, but now after making many mistakes, learning from them and becoming more flexible, she absolutely can. Both Ishigami and Miko have deeply rooted issues that took them more than just each other to flesh out and develop, but they're very much the missing puzzle piece the other needs.

Miko still very much has room for growth as well, mainly concerning finding a middle ground between her "bad girl" and "good girl" personas that Ishigami can easily see through, as demonstrated by the consolation chapter. She tried being "bad", she attempted lying but was still saying half-truths, because her love of justice isn't just out of parental abandonment issues or loneliness - she does believe them sincerely. The moment Ishigami headpated her and shared genuine, spot-on words of concern and admiration (thus a hint of fondness), it was all over for her trying to keep up the love-warfare upper hand.

That's not actually new - Ishigami has always demonstrated he was able to see glimpses of her true self, be it teasing how she's an otaku or a closet pervert and such, he never fully bought the strait-laced image she aspired to make real. But it did take him being around her more to see she could be sweet to him and as he puts it, that smiling more is not a bad look on her. Miko says to Osaragi your true self only comes through interacting with others, so given how lonely she has always been (and how the one person close to her - Osaragi - was actually keeping things between them superficial because of her own problems), it's no surprise she's only finding out now who she is. Ishigami can help Miko find a better compromise of good/bad after both not following any rules at all for so long and recently learning that hard work can pay off. Miko immersing herself in his hobby will clash with her rigid study schedule sooner or later, and he'll know how to help her with that better than anyone else.

On the other hand, Ishigami's moral compass, romanticism (love for flowers, planing dates etc) and idealism aren't things he is proud of...yet. He protects himself with layers of cynism, especially in his first appearances, but he is always being contradictory and letting it slip how idealistic/pure he is at heart. He also is only now learning to like his outward image with things like fitness/studying and finding out it's not like he never cared about it - it's just that he was scared shitless of failure, thus never even tried hard in the first place to avoid being hurt. And as I have advocated for in the Sutera post, I expect Miko in some level to help him come to terms with seeing good in himself. Heck, even being able to game with her now and showing off how good he is and having her appreciate it is gonna do wonders to make him feel more "adequate". Tsubame's arc had a lot of him changing himself to become "better", but Miko on the other hand is trying to put herself in HIS shoes to maybe go "hey, I like you as you are. I'm trying to understand you more and put effort in for you".

Ishigami and Miko start out watching out for each other behind their backs - which instead of helping their relationship, drives them further apart because they think the other side is showing no appreciation. As the story progresses, they're slowly learning to make each other more aware of their support, and it is making them open up more in general.

They have a strong belief the other wants to be rescued and there is truth in that. Both want help and to be recognized for their efforts, but won't cry out for it. In the unplugged earbuds chapter Ishigami takes it upon himself to protect Miko's reputation in spite of himself, the election arc has him actually putting effort into the campaign just for the sake of protecting her and at first posing as a rival of hers to Shirogane only to reveal he's trying to "make Miko smile", he is constantly fending off men from interacting with her as protection (while also sounding jealous), he was way more protective of her when she was wearing that cast than needed and is now being able to openly headpat her and sounds almost like her "soothing sounds" from the days of yore lol Sure Tsubame seems like his start to becoming "a better man", but all the way back on the election, it was for Miko's sake that we first SEE him putting effort into *anything* without being coerced by anyone to take action.

And while it's more discreet compared to Ishigami's "white knight" attitude, Miko also tries hard to protect him - cheering him on during the sports festival race and wanting to console him before the stuco intervened, telling him he should study (but he thinks it's just nagging), christmas (which I'll elaborate bellow), making sure he was able to graduate middle school by actually confronting school staff and, of course, their very first meeting as recently revealed.

Many people hated the entirety of Osaragi's arc, but 232 gave very juicy info indeed. Ishigami's reason for supporting Miko from the shadows comes from admiration AND part gratitude for her attempting to talk to him and listen to what troubles him, and seeing they actually had a "falling out" argument was game changing.

He looks sad and troubled to have shut her down there, not simply angry, and so does she (there's tears in her eyes when her face is shown in the next page) - despite her black and white sense of justice at this point of the story, she still wanted to listen to him. And even after that outburst she still believed the rumors weren't real, unlike Osaragi sees it - otherwise she wouldn't have made the effort for him to be able to move on to high school. Why would she care, if she truly hated him and thought he was in the wrong?

If any further proof was needed at all that this info is important, I'm happy to say we have more. I noticed the Christmas stairs scene mirrors this exact falling out moment: "Go away"/"Suit yourself"

But this time Miko had already decided to change, had already seen the mess their relationship became the last time she did not reach out to him and thus already had their previous falling out in mind - meaning she decides to chase after him.

I don't like how the scanlations handled this scene because reading the japanese raws, my interpretation was that Miko was sounding "annoying" because she was still kinda drunk/unfiltered and freaking out when talking to Ishigami, not outright berating him like the Jaimini's box translation made it look like. She also sounds too angry after the fall, so I generally thought Viz's version (the panel shown above) was closer to the original.

"I always have to take care of you! You keep putting youself in danger. You can't make it on your own." is a better translation than Jaimini's, and also parallels better what Ishigami is often telling Miko as well (That she keeps putting herself in danger and that he has to be around to keep her in check). But with 232 in mind, I think it misses a nuance of the original line: "ほんとあんたは 私が居ないと危なっかしく駄目ね" - "Honto anta wa watashi ga inaito abunakkashiku dame ne" - while I'm a novice at japanese studies, gathering from what I can read and trying to get a feel of the whole sentence, it's closer to "So it really is dangerous to you if I'm not there/ It's no good if I'm not around you". You can take that as her being full of herself, which is the route Jaimini's goes ("You'd be screwed without me") but that's too hostile - Viz's got the spirit of wanting to protect him better, but the original has an implication that she has "tested not being there"/failed being there before (due to not fully siding with him in middle school) that's absent elsewhere.

IMO the reason Ishigami's "closed his eyes" arc is not over yet is because he hasn't accepted or gotten over or fully learned from his past yet, he simply shut it down. That's why briefly during the sports festival his eyes are in plain view, then go back to their usual for the balloon gag. I'm not sure if Ootomo herself will make a comeback, may or may not - regrets are regrets and sometimes the only solution to them is letting them stay in the past. But the topic of how he saw Miko in middle school and the letter certainly are being set up to still show up in the story.

If I compare him to Miyamura again, he'd still be at the point before Miyamura's haircut - not wanting to face the parts of himself he doesn't like, not quite ready to change. Not quite ready to patch up his own wounds yet and instead silencing everything from his past.

In this sense, Miko does wonders to make him feel more confident even if he hasn't realized it yet, and she's always dropping little hints she'd like him to worry about his future not in a naggy way, but because she genuinely prays for his success. He unconsciously wants Miko to think well of him and it fills him with confidence and a more prideful image of himself he doesn't really display to anyone else, not even Tsubame - like his usages of "ore" (a more manly/confident way of addressing himself) around her (AND HER ALONE):

( I don't like the available translations to the staircase scene either, lol. Zaibatsu has conveyed the tone of the second scene up there perfectly. For the staircase line, I've seen "I'll be there to catch you" and "I'll save you" which are contextually correct, but to me the original "俺が絶対守る" - "I (ore) will absolutely protect you" carries a much more romantic nuance or ambiguity, regardless of him realizing it at that point. It's like, the title to one of the most romantic moments/songs in the CCS Clear card anime ost, for instance. OF COURSE MIKO LOVES HIM. The narrator doesn't overexplain or take apart Ishimiko's interactions like for Prezguya, but all the evidence needed is there. And I gotta add the very next chapter to the staircase one is the "eternal love" x "real love" I'm super fond of that says fate is irrelevant and to find real love you must use your head to realize/understand things, so makes the romantic subtext even greater.)

This whole affair is also making me open my eyes that I should try to study japanese more...of course I'm happy to have translations and scanlators working hard, but there is something inherently lost in adaptations because it robs you of connecting with the author's intentions unless it was the author who wrote the translation in the first place

Thinking back on Ishigami's early "i wanna die/i'm going home/don't look at me" role, it seems unbelievable we're at the point he's now able to directly confront a "stranger" (lololol) or make serious promises with so much confidence.

PLEASE DON'T END SO SOON MANGA, I NEED MORE.

( off-topic kind of, but i'm lazy to make a separate post just for it: Since I mentioned things lost in translation, I saw something on Discord about Ishigami having an unreliable narrator moment in the "compliments" chapter/Iino Miko cannot love part 4 and holy molly, it is true. He first says something akin to "You're just too beautiful" out of context, Miko HEARS IT - and that's why she looks so shocked before asking for clarification - and he DID SAY IT in the speech bubble, but after she's nice to him and he thinks back to what he said he adds a "Your handwriting is just too beautiful" to his flashback. I'm ONTO HIM. ONTO HIM I SAY. It is what he meant, but it's like his mouth betrayed him. Whether it's unconscious or denial...it totally is something. The scanlation completely skips this and had the same line both times it's mentioned.)

#kaguya-sama #kaguya-sama spoilers #meta #ishigami yu #yu ishigami #ishimiko #it's ishigami focused but i'd be a dirty liar to say i'm not at least a lil bit biased #longpost #spoilers #yes i am an overthinker and overanalyzer did u notice #horimiya spoilers #yeah i kinda mentioned miyamura lol #i'm not even procrastinating anything this time i just rly care for them #kaguya-sama meta #this is a clown here that procrastinated 3 months to write a thesis but is churning out meta after meta for manga #plz forgive typos i'm still lazy to spellcheck this one lol #ishiino #ishigami using ore again to invite miko to the dance makes this post qualify for fridge brilliance now

[raisindeatre]

i'm sorry, i don't want to be rude or insensitive so feel free not to reply but - isn't it a good thing that they cast a half-Chinese actress as Alina? would you rather they had kept her white?

Hello anon, and thanks for the question. Before anything else I just want to say, as always, that this is just my opinion - other people may feel differently, and it’s not my place to judge. But since you asked - I think I would have! Like I genuinely think I would rather have watched a show with White Alina than to sit through so much blatant and horrific racial abuse hurled at the main character!

Diversity is so, so important, and I’m happy that the show’s decision to make her half-Shu Han meant that people like Jessie Mei Li were given opportunities that might otherwise have been denied them. But I just feel like the power of including diversity is undercut when you feel the need to include completely unnecessary racism along with it. I cannot stress enough that NONE of the racism voiced in the show was in the books. And, like, we didn’t need any of it! I’ve read the interviews and the meta where people argue that Alina before the start of the series felt misunderstood, isolated, and like she never belonged anywhere - and so that making her biracial was a way of really rooting those issues in the character. But canon!Alina, before she was made half-Shu Han, already felt all those ways. There was no need to add a racial aspect to that. And so I think what we really need to ask is: did the showrunners really intend to highlight the loneliness and isolation in a main character by making her biracial,  or did they just want a vehicle for their anti-(East) Asian racism? (I’m a little more hesitant to speak on the subject of anti-South Asian racism, since I don’t feel qualified, but @bhatoora points out a similar instance when the Inferni calls Inej “Suli filth!” - a scene which really felt like being hit in the face. I just find it incredibly telling that of all the insults to level at Inej in that moment (murderer, thief, kidnapper - take your pick!) it’s the race-based insult that this Inferni really chose to say with her whole chest. And like, someone wrote this scene into the script. Somebody directed it. Somebody approved it to be broadcast worldwide).

What I think is incredibly important to point out is that the narrative of Alina’s journey to becoming a more powerful Grisha and person, in general, is strongly rooted in the idea of her accepting herself as she is - but this journey to self-acceptance is NEVER directed towards her own Shu heritage. If anything, she actively disavows it any chance she gets - “I don’t actually speak Shu Han”; “I’m Ravkan, not Shu Han”. Like, girl. You are, though! You’re half-Shu Han! There is never a scene where she is shown to be anything other than actively self-hating when it comes to that part of her. 

And I really do understand the canonical context (what with Ravka and Shu Han being at war). I get it - I’d argue I understand it better than any white American that tries to point this out to me. My grandmother is Chinese, in a country where historically the Chinese and the ethnic Malays have been at each other’s throats (see the extremely bloody 1969 racial riots of Malaysia). I understand feeling conflicted and ashamed about your heritage. But I just don’t understand how portraying a biracial character who HATES the part of her that is not coded white, the part that is coded Asian, is supposed to make me feel anything other than nauseated. I fail to see anything about it that is supposed to make me feel empowered. 

TLDR; Diversity is important, yes. But when you feel the need to include racism -and not just include it, but actively write it in - the moment you cast a WOC as your main character, the dangerous message it sends is that diversity cannot exist without racism. That they go hand-in-hand. That people of colour fundamentally cannot exist in a world, even a fucking fantasy world, that doesn’t hate them. And that notion really just makes me want to walk into the ocean and just keep walking, anon!!! Anyway. White people really, really need to do better, or failing that, they need to just shut up and sit down.

Thank you for sending this in, and I hope this answered your question. If you or anyone else wants to know more, though, I strongly urge you to look elsewhere on the Internet. I know people better and more eloquent than I am have chosen to write about this, and honestly I’m too tired to discuss this any further.

#i don't mean to lambast this show entirely #there were some parts i liked! i think in general the casting was fantastic #i liked the way they wrote mal to be a little more sympathetic than in the books (although i was always sympathetic to him) #also david kostyk was like BALLS-TO-THE-WALLS hot!!!! #but for the most part i was watching this show with my stomach tight with anxiety; just waiting for the next anti-asian element to pop up #and like. it's a no for me boss! #asks #anonymous