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dirtycccat · 3 years

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the demon bros+ undateables showing their love

thought about this for 5 min then had to write it out so enjoy

lucifer

first off you notice he treats you differently

and by differently i mean like you’re his favorite child sibling

you get away with anything??? and he’s softer with you than with the others (which is canon)

then you see that?? he keeps buying you stuff you said you wanted when he was present

and you’re ofc impressed

but you’re more impressed by how open he’s around you

he’ll leave most of his walls down around you

which means you’ll get to experience unfiltered lucifer

he’ll laugh around you more, make dumb dad jokes, nap with his head in your lap, complain drunkenly about his work and bros, give you sloppy cheeks and forehead kisses

you find it rly cute though

if you’re in the human world he’ll 100% take this chance to send you beautifully written letters asking you how you are and leaving some verses that reminded him of you on the back like a 19th century vampire

“dear mc, how is your life? mine is filled with woe and unease since i do not have the light of my life around anymore...anyway here’s a poem about being horny and alone by a 18th century romantic author hope to see you soon, xoxo lucifer”

you try to respond in the same way and send him memes on the back instead of poetry (or real poetry depends on your mood)

mammon

protective of you 100% will throw hands with anyone that even glances weirdly your way

but also wants to show you off? like look at this human!!! this is MY human!!!

gives you random thoughtful gifts that reminded him of you

wants to be around you 24/7 so he invites you to all the events that he thinks you’ll like

you wanna party? perfect. you wanna go on a weird ghost stories tour around the city? cool. you wanna waltz in one of those old people parties? he’s already reserved two tickets. you just wanna lay around and nap? he’s already on your lap.

it doesn’t matter if you’re in a romantic relationship or not this man WILL serenade you outside your window

rapunzel style with an acoustic guitar or with a boombox like a rebel 80s kid

anyway here’s toxic by britney spears babe this is for YOU

levi

considers you his bff ofc

but also at first he’s still really awkward around you and doesn’t really know what to do for you and feels bad thinking only you do things for him

until you reassure him you enjoy just being around him so it’s fine

he blushes and starts inviting you more to his room to game/ watch stuff

at some point he starts buying two tickets to all concerts he goes to and invites you along

but also? he asks you what you’re into and starts marathoning your favorite animes/ movies/ series so he can talk with you abt them

you feel really moved that he’d do that for you??? like??? bruh...

your relationship is basically friends respecting each other and wanting to know each other the best through their passions even if it means getting into some weird shit

it’s rly wholesome tho

if you’re romantically involved he’ll totally do roleplay as your favourite character and you do the same for him and it’s really cute

also imagine: artistic collabs. you make fanart together??? you can program games together???? you do cosplay together??? the possibilities...

satan

he’ll hate to be compared to his dad brother but he does show how much he trusts you by showing his unguarded side too

when he first talked about lucifer without the filter of his nice guy persona you were pretty shocked

like he was really going at it

but then you realize? he’s just like that when he’s comfortable

and it’s not all mean spirited, he just has,,, a strong personality and a lot of opinions about stuff (which you sometimes share with him)

but you also found out it’s really fun to gossip with satan

since he knows all the juicy gossip from his multitude of ties (he’s sharing the title of gossip queen with asmo that’s why they get along so well tbh)

also if you even find a teacher you hate he’ll tell you all their embarrassing moments to make you feel better

he also recommends you books and poems and sends you quotes that made him think about you

so you sure as heck don’t need to buy books while you’re in the devildom bc he’ll buy you an entire library

asmo

compliments you without comparing you to himself which is the highest compliment he can give

like mammon he’s more into the showing everyone his favorite human around while also protecting them

he’ll take you to his parties and gatherings as a guest of honor, he’ll make you meet all kinds of people and open up opportunities for you

he’ll be the one that pampers you

you’d think lucifer is the sugar daddy of the family but nope it’s asmo

he’ll buy you cute clothes, shoes, beauty products everything that he saw and imagined would look bomb on you

if you’re not into clothes he’ll buy you art supplies, books, anything you want but he’ll still probably buy you at least some clothes he thinks are cute

if you’re romantically involved,,,, he’ll buy other toys for you as well which you can try together wink wink

beel

cooks for you

no questions asked when it’s his turn to cook he’ll think about what YOU would like to eat first before making something

which is??? really touching coming from beel

and also means sometimes he’ll make the same dish three weeks in a row and annoy the others while you just get excited bc ??? you get to eat your favourite dish??? again and again????

thank you beel you truly know how to touch someone’s insides

also opens up to you and talks to you about his fears and thoughts

expect to get 4 am msgs from beel if he had a nightmare

which would end up in you coming to cuddle him (and belphie also joins sometimes)

which tbh is that even a thing you can complain about?

belphie

is more baby less murder when you’re around

naps on your lap, naps on your shoulder, naps with you anywhere

but also let’s you nap on HIM

besides being soft around you he actually opens up to you too

and talks to you about his traumas and issues

which he has in common with his twin what can you do

so you have weekly cuddle parties with him and beel where you talk about shit and actually make them resolve their issues instead of just,,, ignoring them

also if you’re into each other you probably tease each other and flirt really shamelessly in public while the others cringe and or blush at your language

are you a cowboy? because i want you to ride me all night

simeon

writes you fancy letters with poetry like lucifer, but his ink is scented and his envelopes contain pressed flowers more often than not

if you’re together you even do letter sexting if you’re into it

creates characters based on you in his stories (which you don’t believe even if levi points out you that the two of you are kinda similar)

asks you to spend more and more time with him and luke

invites you to picnics, reads to you while your head is in his lap, cooks you snacks

if you’re a theatre kid too,,, you do musical love confessions too,,, sometimes by just reciting the lyrics of really popular musical theatre songs in a death panned voice

cough a heart full of love from les mis but read like poetry through the fence of the house of lamentation cough

asks you cryptic shit hannibal style like “tell me mc what does it mean to want to be consumed whole by another? is it a desire to become something bigger than yourself or is it related to our need to become one with our loved one like some cultures pointed out before?”

you’re either really into his cryptid talk or just roll your eyes and smooch him

diavolo

invites you around to his castle all the time

sometimes he even pulls some weird shenanigans just to make you spend more time with him

expect tea parties with him luci and barbatos in no particular combination

gives you compliments 24/7 even in public

remember how he treats lucifer? he’s that for you too but he’s learned from the lucifer experience to focus on complimenting you as a person more than how you look

if you’re into pda he’ll touch you all the time

if you ever wanted a gomez - morticia romance, here’s your goth big titty himbo that’s way too full of love

if you’re lovers expect to be pampered, i feel like? he doesn’t buy a lot of gifts and such because he’s probably tired of material things but he will make time in his busy schedule for you and spend a lot of time with you

which means more to him than gifts

(we will buy you anything you ask though)

barbatos

actually talks with you about stuff outside rad, the demon bros and diavolo

also invites you to alone time tea or wine time

where you drink and gossip

if satan and asmo are the crowned queens of gossip barbatos is the king of gossip but he doesn’t share his knowledge to most people so nobody knows what he knows

but he knows,,,, a lot

and not only that he knows a lot about people nowadays,,, but imagine the things he knows about like historical figures and such,,,

so prepare for story time with barbatos where he talks about how oscar wilde was almost summoned by drunk inccubi during a party once, or how diavolo cried when he was a kid because he sent a letter to caravaggio asking him to paint his portrait and he said no

also if you get drunk together expect really energetic talkative barbatos destroying DESTROYING everyone (except diavolo ofc)

“lucifer please i once saw you crying because you thought diavolo was ignoring you when you actually forgot to press the send button to your messages ”

if you’re romantically involved diavolo will always be first in his hear but that just means you’ll have to invite diavolo along on your dates which just means you’ve got a new lover and a new bff

solomon

he invites you on all kinds of wacky adventures

you visit witches, go to weird magical forest parties or orgies if you want, you go travelling the mountains for rare herbs

it’s like you’re faust and he’s mephisto haha the irony and he’s showing you another side of the world you never knew

ofc the others know about all this but??? they thought it’s normal and didn’t even consider you know nothing about it

but solomon knows what it was like to be just a human

and since he likes you he empathizes with your situation

he also make you meet all kinds of people

since he has 72 contracts and hundreds of years of doing wack stuff he must know some interesting people

and now his friends are your friends

i feel like romantic solomon would be just him?? but less shady with you especially since now you understand him better

but also he’ll probably bring you weird shit from his alone expeditions

did you ever want the tears of a mermaid? a carnivorous plant that feeds on emotions? a crying portrait? no? well too bad because now you have a room full of weird items

...that you love and treasure thank you very much

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lizabethstucker · 2 years

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Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Iron Widow 1

In Huaxia, the highest honor for a young girl is to be selected as a concubine-pilot: supporters paired up with male pilots to power up Chrysalises, the giant transforming mechas that humanity relies on to battle the massive aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. Or so the story goes. In reality the girls are mostly sold by their parents to die, earning the family a financial bonus.

After 18-year-old Zetian's sister is killed by an ace male pilot, she signs up for revenge. The vengeance brings an unexpected result, leaving Zetian labeled as an Iron Widow, a much feared type of concubine-pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up the Chrysalises instead of the other way around.

In an attempt to control her (or destroy her), Zetian is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. No one, not even Zetian, expects the hatred and distrust to morph into a strong pairing and, with the addition of a good friend from home, a force for change. And love.

Wu Zetian is not a likeable character, I need to be clear on that from the beginning. While I understand why she is what she is, that doesn't make her admirable in her actions and reactions. She can be incredibly cruel to almost everyone, whether they deserve it or not. She definitely struggles with empathy.

Then there is Gao Yizhi, her wealthy friend from her teenage years, the one who helped educate Zetian by sharing her tablet of lessons and homework. First appearances show him as a gentle scholar, which he is, but there is also a steel core that makes Yizhi more dangerous than many would recognize, putting his strength down to money and his shady father, a media giant.

Finally we have Li Shimin, half-Rongdi, who was plucked from death row to become a pilot due to strong level of qi, a necessary life force for a Chrysalis operator. Due to his appearance, background, criminal record, and alcohol addiction, Shimin is considered a brute, an animal. Only Yizhi looked deeper, discovering the poet, the student, the gentle man beneath the anger and loneliness and guilt.

This was a strange read. I enjoyed the experience while reading the book, but when I was pulled away by Real Life, I didn't feel the wrench I normally feel. I honestly wonder if part of that detachment was due to the character's unlikability, yet I've read and enjoyed other books headed by an unlikeable main character in the past. Although in this case, with a first person narration, I didn't have time to know and understand the other characters other than from Zetian's perspective.

She does change somewhat throughout the book, but not by much. Her circle expands to add Shimin to her relationship with Yizhi, plus there is a definite attraction between the two boys separate from that to Zetian. These are three broken individuals deserving of happiness in their lives, but the only joy to be found will be within their small trio.

Now the elephant in the room. The ending. Look the other way if you haven't read the book yet. You might pick up something of what happened when I discuss my reaction to the ending. Still here? Okay, don't say you weren't warned. I didn't like it. I found it a bit trite and, while the twist was well executed, was it really necessary to do this? I say no. However, it does make an adequate hook to draw the reader to the next book in the proposed series, so I suppose it did its job.

I found the story fascinating, an inventive rendering of a future world slowly rebuilding after being decimated, all the technology gone. The only returning technology is that given by the gods. Yet the invading aliens are still coming, making the pilots, both male and female, essential. 3.5 out of 5

#book review #Iron Widow #Xiran Jay Zhao #science fiction #Iron Widow series #criminal pilot hero #wealthy scholar hero #concubine pilot heroine

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prairiedust · 4 years

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More Last Holiday Musings...

I want to poke at that interdimensional geoscope a little more, because upon reading it over again, I think I splashed it up a little fast and there are a couple of points I’d like to be clearer about. I meant to queue this up to post last night but also want it to be up before Gimme Shelter so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This is more blue curtains lit crit with a dash of folklore and an honorable mention for post-structuralism. And we’re talking about Supernatural after all, so this is sort of... well, it’s about endings.

Last Holiday was not a typical “filler” or even a typical MOTW episode. It felt extremely insular, possibly more so than any other episode I can think at any other point in the series. As opposed to the usual crowd of “locals,” a spate of victims, and a couple of red herring suspects, the only other people in this ep besides the Winchesters (including Jack) and Mrs. Butters were the two vampires and Cuthbert Sinclair. There was no “case” as in a usual MOTW-- there was no Chuck Struggle, either, and the lack of mytharc was strange against the lack of “filler” schema. That lack of “MOTW investigation” marked this episode also as being about “curiosity”-- the Winchesters all-too-quickly took Mrs. Butters for granted-- Dean even dismissed her as a “Magic Roomba” and that seemed to settle the matter. Furthermore, the moment that Dean spotted Mrs. B in his room, the stage was set for Antics ™ when she held up his goofy Scooby boxers, and indeed a zaniness, an almost manic energy drove the action forward at a breakneck pace. [Spoiler alert, we do get “investigation” in the next episode, 15x15 Gimme Shelter, as stills and the preview show that Castiel and Jack will be teaming up together, in yet another shake-up of the usual “MOTW” template, almost like we can expect the other side of a coin when Sam and Dean switch places with Cas...] These features set Last Holiday apart as not so much “filler” as “between,” as in there was struggle before, and there will be struggle after, but for a while there was cake. (Contrast this to the usual “peril of the threshold” that usually shrouds liminality if you’d like.)

At the end of Last Holiday, however, we finally get to find out what that old blue telescope really is, and with that name we get confirmation that there are no more alternate universes-- Chuck has burned them all. Viewers are left to come to the conclusion that in retrospect the telescope-thing could have changed the course of season 13 completely. The reveal is played off as darkly funny, but it’s also kind of a gut-wrenching moment, too. All the heartbreak of the last two and a half years, reviewed now through the lens of “if only.” If only they’d known about Mrs. Butters from the time they found the bunker, “none of this would have happened”… they’d have had monster radar, they’d have had the geoscope, they would have had supernatural help of a completely different level.

The temptation to read Last Holiday as a Chuck-free episode is strong, but fraught-- the threat of Chuck’s involvement has been established by a pattern this season (well the pattern is woven throughout the whole series really but Dabb has deliberately structured these last three seasons with an exponentially increasing frequency.) I feel like we’ve been conditioned this season in particular to hold ourselves in a perpetual flinch, to be afraid of what we’ll learn “in retrospect.” That geoscope was really_good_subtext, and it is entirely possible, even encouraged, at this point in the plot to take information we’ve learned from the naming of the object, examine our own conditioned response to this episode, and apply both things to the structure of the season so far and make a prediction as to what might happen in the main plot. That’s what I mean about subtext getting loud. We’ve been given the green-light to make a prediction about The Struggle and march forward with it, and see if we will be correct by extrapolating the pattern, or if that expectation will be subverted (the twist is set up to run either way, so either outcome is satisfying.) It is Melville-esque architecture of the highest degree;I could write another thousand words just about that. So I have a prediction that I’m hanging on to, because of what we’ve learned from the geoscope, and what kinds of clues were hung up in Last Holiday, and I’m super excited to either have my hunch confirmed or be frightfully and delightedly surprised. I mean, where the fuck did Jeremy Adams even come from? He’s like our own Mrs. Butters, showing up in the last quarter to run a couple game-changing balls into the end zone, it’s bonkers. I mean, I know writing mysteries is hard and requires still AND cunning, but damn, son.

But anyway, back to the geoscope…

I’m perplexed, from a very “lit crit” perspective, but this is where I’m at and why I referenced blue curtains-- if you shine too bright a light on subtext, does it evaporate-- like looking through an interdimensional geoscope and not seeing anything-- or is “subtext” sometimes not some ephemeral fever-dream that we as viewers conjure up through our experiential interlocution with the text but something a writer has steeped into the narrative as part of their craft? Or when you’re talking about an evolving iteration of writers, is it possible that one picks up a thread that another wove in for something else, repurposing or amplifying it? And, when perhaps is something deliberately instilled in the text in order to become “text” at just the right time? In Moby Dick, [spoiler alert lol] Quequeg’s coffin-- formerly one of many symbolic vehicles used to foreshadow the doom of the Pequod-- is repurposed as a life buoy and becomes the actual object that saves Ishmael’s life, transforming it from a portent of disaster to a symbol of salvation and then to one of Ishmael’s guilt for surviving Ahab’s madness-- the guilt that had been made text by the very opening line of the book, “Call me Ishmael.” In retrospect, the connotations of wandering, exile and salvation behind the name that the narrator gives himself become crystal clear. The problem that the post-structuralist model of “reading” as simultaneously “creating the text” has manufactured is that the idea that “subtext” can often be discounted as something dreamed up wholecloth by the reader, and thus inferior, imaginary, even delusional (and I use that last word knowing what a loaded term that is in the spn fandom, but this is not about a ship, even) where once it was considered to be a valid and measurable part of the text itself, like that dang coffin. It was the basement, the underpinnings, the catacombs below the opera house sure, but it helped to hold up the structure. And for some reason, putting subtext into a piece of media has become passe, or cringe? Anyway, not to be bitter on main but it didn’t used to be this way, at least not in the heady early days of postmodernism. So that green light? Critical hit against blue curtains. And while yes, some readings are going to be better supported than others, and the wild variety of checklists in this fandom mean that some conclusions have been drawn which can’t pan out, if you’re paying attention to the structure, the subtexts, the alchemical/psychoanalytical/postmodern themata, the ending will be very satisfying.

So. What was once speculated to be a symbol for emotional lows or turning points (among other things) in the bunker was textually hit with a bright green light, then Dean got curious about it in text, and we were told-- in text-- that oh it’s just a fancy spyglass, and now that the other worlds are gone, it has no purpose…. that’s what I mean about the geoscope now being “pure”-- it wasn’t clear whether the telescope ever had any function, subtetxtual or not, and now that it’s certain what it’s “function” was, it’s now freed up as a “symbol”-- unless like in Moby Dick it’s new “purpose” is revealed later, but right now it’s caught in this liminal place of not-quite-clue and not-quite-metaphor...

However, and I didn’t put this in my first post because I was trying to be fast and not a wet blanket, but I felt like finally naming the geoscope was an ending.

This is literally Singer, Dabb, and Co tidying up the house before locking it behind them.

I think when Dean said he didn’t see anything through the “telescope thing,” that we’re to understand that maybe this was the last hurrah of the cute, zany, campy “subtext” or even “metatext” if you’d rather that so many of us have been parsing and which has gotten so weird and bright since season 12/13. I think I said in one of the folklore posts that writing about some of the things I write about feels like making daisy chains in the endzone during the big game. Which is fun, that’s how I personally got through having to be in AYSO soccer for four years, by looking for four leafed clovers and eating orange quarters. And we got a wood nymph in this episode, textually even, so I could easily check the “folklore” box on this one. But the sheer euphoria of Last Holiday and all the sparkles it brought into the story aren’t meant to last. When you look back on fifteen years of text, a lot of it is bleak, miserable stuff. That’s not to say that episodes like Yellow Fever and Hunteri Heroici and Fan Fiction et al shouldn’t be celebrated. But I think from here on out, things are going to be less “golly gee, three birthdays!” and more “There she blows! --there she blows! A hump like a snowhill!”

This episode was a gift in many ways, not just for the sense of glee it transmitted-- it also did so much work and there are things I want to yell about in the way language was hit, the red versus green lighting, the way the backwards holidays worked, the projector as a metaphor for Mrs. B projecting her regrets and fears onto Jack, the amount of food that was created and consumed, how that smoothie was also an echo of “fairy food” or an underworld pact if you squint-- but the stakes are so high now. We haven’t been shown the next valley-- there was no final scene of Chuck rubbing his hands together like the villain from a melodrama, for example-- but the last image we got was Jack blowing out a candle. After the candle is blown out, the cake is dismantled and consumed. Once the story is over, all the themes that are so hard to grapple in a text like a television show can be gathered up and analyzed. (IS that all, though? After all, Dean made his own cake later, which, like, echoes of the “oh two cakes” comic lol...)

Since I really never want to leave anything I toss out on this blog on a last note of doom and gloom, however, I do want to say that I too understand what that last image meant. It meant, as Sam said, make a wish. Think of the future, think of free will, and hope for something wonderful to happen. (or do like me and wonder what the hell Jack wished for with dread and anticipation ha ha ha.)

#the poststructuralism of supernatural #the folklore of supernatural #no more tags right now #tag later

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djchika · 4 years

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Alex Appreciation Week Day 5: wanna go for a ride (smut/fluff) | music

(aka a snipper from what appears to be a Pretty Woman AU)

When Alex left Roswell for the last time, he’d prepared for a life destitute. Possibly a hand to mouth existence, but one that wasn’t bound by his dad’s rules. Surrounded by found family and good friends.

What happened was the opposite. Bank was all Alex had. No one he called family, barely any friends. Just a shit load of money from a dead father who forgot to remove his estranged son from his will.

Funny how life worked out.

Manes security was the crown of the Manes empire. It had been built on his father’s unwavering, paranoid insistence that the human race needed to defend themselves. Against what exactly? Alex was never sure. No one else knew either, but they still bought into the belief.

The company started with simple security solutions that branched out to tech which led to multibillion-dollar government contracts. His brothers were all happily ensconced in the family business while Alex had jumped ship the moment he could.

Or so he thought.

“What the fuck do you mean he left it to me?”

“Technically he left it to his sons, but Flint signed away everything to do with the company when he started his own business, Gregory insists he’s retired, and after his breakdown Clay gave Gregory special power attorney and Gregory’s saying Clay doesn’t want it either.”

“Well, I don’t want it! Jim, are you hearing yourself? I can’t take over my father’s company.”

“Your father had the entire board of trustees under his thumb and he kept a lot of secrets. Without one of you to figure things out they’re going to strip it for parts and sell to the highest bidder. You might not care for your father’s legacy, but the Manes Group cuts a hundred thousand paychecks across several businesses. That’s a lot of jobs on the line.”

Fuck.

That had been five years ago. Five long fucking years of going from a quiet life running a small music shop near the home town to living full time in New York city.

Nothing about his new life vaguely resembled his life in Roswell.

Well, except for Kyle Valenti.

“It’s two in the fucking morning. Go home,” Kyle ordered from where he was leaning against Alex’s office door.

“Should I even point out how hypocritical that is considering you’re here too?”

“That’s because you’re a slave driver.”

Kyle was lying through his stupid perfect teeth. Alex worked hard to make sure they were one of the best employers in the country thankyouverymuch.

Besides, Kyle wasn’t even technically his employee. Their firm, Valenti, Valenti and Son had been the company’s firm even before Alex took over.

“I’m going home after this. Leave me alone.”

“As your legal counsel I highly recommend sleep before signing any of those.” Kyle said, nodding at the stack of papers on Alex’s desk. “I’ll be back Wednesday. I already had Jill pencil me in to your afternoon so we can start discussion on the Long deal.”

Alex clicked opened his calendar. “My Monday’s surprisingly free we can do it then.”

Kyle walked over to Alex’s desk, leaning down just so he could point at Alex’s laptop monitor obnoxiously. “That’s because Monday is the day before Christmas Eve and you declared it a company holiday.”

“Right,” Alex said, pushing Kyle away. “See you Wednesday, then.”

“Are you sure—”

“Yes, I’m sure I don’t want to go home with you for Christmas. Yes, I will be fine spending Christmas by myself. Asking me a dozen times isn’t going to change my answer.”

Alex appreciated Kyle’s concern, but going back home provided complications he didn’t want to deal with at the moment.

With a sigh, Kyle straightened and started towards the door. “Fine. I’ll see you in four days. You also have four days to get me the present you forgot to buy me so you won’t feel bad that I already left your present at your place.”

Presents. Shit. He remembered signing off a list from Jill, but Kyle always insisted that didn’t count. Maybe he could get him something online.

Seeming to read his mind, Kyle turned and pointed a finger at him. “You better make an effort of going to a store for me, jerk.”

That was how Alex ended up asking the driver to see if there was a shop anywhere that was still open.

That was also how Alex literally fell into Michael Guerin.

“You looking for something? Wanna go for a ride?”

The familiar low drawl had Alex’s heart beating wildly in his chest. He turned quickly, misjudged his center of gravity and only avoided a complete pratfall because Michael’s arms were suddenly around him keeping him steady.

The shock he was feeling was clearly mirrored in Michael’s face.

“Alex?”

The last time he’d seen Guerin was the last of summer after high school. He was being shipped off to West Point, while Michael was supposed to be on going to UNM on a scholarship.

They’d been friends in the way that two queer kids in a small dessert town naturally gravitated towards each other. Something had bubbled beneath the surface but they’d left it to simmer. Neither wanting to risk the tentative solace they found in each other.

A long series of almosts that never culminated to anything.

Alex had graduated, gone on a couple of tours, got blown up and opted for an honorable discharge.

Michael had apparently graduated, found out working with any sort of system didn’t fit him, and chose to travel the country in his truck, picking up odd jobs where he could.

When he meant pick up. He meant pick up.

Michael gave a low whistle when they entered Alex’s apartment. It was disproportionally huge for someone living alone, but it had come with the inheritance and he’d never gotten around to looking for a new place.

"Always knew you were loaded. I didn’t think you were ‘bring out the guillotines’ rich.”

“I’m not. Or I wasn’t. This was all my dad’s. I’m always afraid I’m going to find a room I didn’t know existed and find out someone’s been living there the whole time,” Alex admitted.

Michael smirked as he made himself comfortable on the leather couch. “Still not a fan of horror movies?”

“I learn from them. There’s a difference,” Alex corrected as he slipped off his tie, coat and shoes already discarded. “Drink?”

“Yeah, why not.”

Alex poured them each a glass, watching as Michael surreptitiously took in the rest of the room. He wondered what Michael assumed of him based on it. He’d never gotten around to looking for a new place and he’d definitely never gotten around to redecorating. Nothing outside of the bedroom was his aside from the baby grand he’d gotten himself as a gift a couple of years ago.

“I see your horror movie education never taught you not to let strangers into your home,” Michael said when Alex handed him a glass of whisky, neat.

“You’ve always been strange. Hardly a stranger.”

He sat down next to Michael, taking a long drink from his glass as Michael did the same. The liquid flowed smoothly down his throat, warming his body quickly. It also served to quiet the butterflies that were fluttering oddly in his chest.

“You never know what’s going on in people’s heads.” Michael smirked, eyes roving over Alex’s body.

Back in high school, with his bad boy reputation, the almost trademark smirk had been charming and innocently dangerous. Now, the slow smirk was backed with a confidence in his sexuality that was outright devastating.

Or it would have been if Alex didn’t see right through him.

“Are the lines part of the package?”

“Depends, is it working for you?

Alex raised an eyebrow before downing the rest of his drink. Michael seemed to take that as an invitation, moving both their glasses to the coffee table before straddling Alex smoothly.

It was his teenage fantasy come true. Michael was different, the cut of his jaw sharper, a dark beard where there used to be smooth skin, but the warmth of his eyes was still the same. The pull that tugged at Alex’s chest just as strong.

“Do you have rules against kissing?”

Michael shook his head with a laugh. “That’s not a thing.”

The kiss Michael gave Alex was surprisingly soft. A tentative press of lips on lips that belied Michael’s previous confidence. Alex tongue darted out, licking against the seam of Michael’s lips until they opened up for him. He tasted like whisky, like the first burst of summer rain.

It barely lasted a minute before Michael pulled back a little, eyes searching Alex’s as if to make sure he was okay.

Unwilling to examine the sudden knot behind his ribcage at that look, Alex surged against him kissing Michael slow and deep until they were both gasping for air.

“Sure this is a good idea?” Michael asked breathily even as his hands roamed, touching Alex’s chest, his neck, his hair.

“Nothing but a business deal, right?”

“Hmmm,” Michael’s hands moved to the buttons of Alex’s shirt, undoing them one by one. “Preferences? Hard nos?” He leaned in, sucking kisses into Alex’s jaw and down his neck.

Alex groaned when Michael’s mouth latched on to his pulse point, sucking gently. He could feel himself getting harder, Michael’s own erection pressed up again him. The sweet friction was making it hard to concentrate on what Michael was saying.

“You’re not going to make me sign a release are you?” he managed to ask finally. For all he knew there might be paperwork involved. He’d never actually slept with a hooker before.

The laugh that rumbled out of Michael’s chest, drew a smile on Alex’s face. “No, but it’s gonna cost depending on what you want.”’

“Consider me your booking for the night then double it.”

He didn’t even care what that amount was. Michael was worth it. Using his father’s money to pay for him was just a fuck you cherry on top.

Michael smiled, slow and filthy. “Works for me.”

(to be continued....)

#malex #michael guerin #alex manes #alexweek2020 #roswell nm #deej writes #deej writes fic #tv: rnm

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multiverseforger · 3 years

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In his original appearance, Jason was scripted as a mentally disabled young boy.[91] Since Friday the 13th, Jason Voorhees has been depicted as a non-verbal, indestructible, machete-wielding mass murderer.[92][93] Jason is primarily portrayed as being completely silent throughout the film series. Exceptions to this include in part 3 when he grunts in pain several times when final girl Chris manages to stab him (once in the hand and once just above his knee), flashbacks of Jason as a child, a brief scene in Jason Takes Manhattan where the character cries out "Mommy, please don't let me drown!" in a child's voice before being submerged in toxic waste, and in Jason Goes To Hell where his spirit possesses other individuals.[55] Online magazine Salon's Andrew O'Hehir describes Jason as a "silent, expressionless...blank slate."[94] When discussing Jason psychologically, Sean S. Cunningham said, "...he doesn't have any personality. He's like a great white shark. You can't really defeat him. All you can hope for is to survive."[95] Since Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, Jason has been a "virtually indestructible" being. Tom McLoughlin, the film's director, felt it was silly that Jason had previously been just another guy in a mask, who would kill people left and right, but get "beaten up and knocked down by the heroine at the end". McLoughlin wanted Jason to be more of a "formidable, unstoppable monster".[23] In resurrecting Jason from the dead, McLoughlin also gave him the weakness of being rendered helpless if trapped beneath the waters of Crystal Lake; inspired by vampire lore, McLoughlin decided that Jason had in fact drowned as a child, and that returning him to his original resting place would immobilize him.[96] This weakness would be presented again in The New Blood, and the idea that Jason had drowned as a child was taken up by director Rob Hedden as a plot element in Jason Takes Manhattan.[55]

Many have given suggestions as Jason's motivation for killing. Ken Kirzinger refers to Jason as a "psychotic mama's boy gone horribly awry...very resilient. You can't kill him, but he feels pain, just not like everyone else."[97] Kirzinger goes on to say that Jason is a "psycho-savant", and believes his actions are based on pleasing his mother, and not anything personal.[79] Andrew O'Hehir has stated, "Coursing hormones act, of course, as smelling salts to prudish Jason, that ever-vigilant enforcer of William Bennett-style values."[94] Todd Farmer, writer for Jason X, wrote the scene where Jason wakes from cryonic hibernation just as two of the teenagers are having sex. Farmer liked the idea that sex acts triggered Jason back to life.[78] Whatever his motivations, Kane Hodder believes there is a limit to what he will do. According to Hodder, Jason might violently murder any person he comes across, but when Jason Takes Manhattan called for Hodder to kick the lead character's dog, Hodder refused, stating that, while Jason has no qualms against killing humans, he is not bad enough to hurt animals.[98] Another example from Jason Takes Manhattan, involves Jason being confronted by a street gang of young teenage boys one of whom threatens him with a knife, however Jason chooses not to kill them and instead scares them off by lifting up his mask and showing them his face. Likewise, director Tom McLoughlin chose not to have Jason harm any of the children he encounters in Jason Lives, stating that Jason would not kill a child, out of a sympathy for the plight of children generated by his own death as a child.[96]

In Jason Goes to Hell, director Adam Marcus decided to include a copy of the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, from the Evil Dead franchise, in the Voorhees home as a way to insinuate that Jason was actually a "Deadite", a type of demonic being from that series. Marcus stated the book's placement was intended to imply that Pamela Voorhees had used it to resurrect Jason after his childhood drowning, resulting in his supernatural abilities: "This is why Jason isn't Jason. He's Jason plus The Evil Dead... That, to me, is way more interesting as a mashup, and [Sam] Raimi loved it! It's not like I could tell New Line my plan to include The Evil Dead, because they don't own The Evil Dead. So it had to be an Easter egg, and I did focus on it. It absolutely is canon."[99] In an early draft of Freddy vs. Jason, it was decided that one of the villains needed a redeemable factor. Ronald D. Moore, co-writer of the first draft, explained that Jason was the easiest to make redeemable, because no one had previously ventured into the psychology surrounding the character. Moore saw the character as a "blank slate", and felt he was a character the audience could really root for.[100] Another draft, penned by Mark Protosevich, followed Moore's idea of Jason having a redeemable quality. In the draft, Jason protects a pregnant teenager named Rachel Daniels. Protosevich explained, "It gets into this whole idea of there being two kinds of monsters. Freddy is a figure of actual pure evil and Jason is more like a figure of vengeance who punishes people he feels do not deserve to live. Ultimately, the two of them clash and Jason becomes an honorable monster."[100] Writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, who wrote the final draft of the film, disagreed about making Jason a hero, although they drew comparisons between the fact that Freddy was a victimizer and Jason was a victim. They stated, "We did not want to make Jason any less scary. He's still a brutal killer ... We never wanted to put them in a situation where Jason is a hero ... They're both villains to be equally feared."[100] Brenna O'Brien, co-founder of Fridaythe13thfilms.com, saw the character as having sympathetic qualities. She stated, "[Jason] was a deformed child who almost drowned and then spent the rest of his childhood growing up alone in the woods. He saw his mother get murdered by a camp counselor in the first Friday the 13th, and so now he exacts his revenge on anyone who returns to Camp Crystal Lake. Teenage fans can identify with that sense of rejection and isolation, which you can't really get from other killers like Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers."[86]

As Jason went through some characterization changes in the 2009 film, Derek Mears likens him more to a combination of John Rambo, Tarzan, and the Abominable Snowman from Looney Tunes. To him, this Jason is similar to Rambo because he sets up the other characters to fall into his traps. Like Rambo, he is more calculated because he feels that he has been wronged and he is fighting back; he is meant to be more sympathetic in this film.[101] Fuller and Form contend that they did not want to make Jason too sympathetic to the audience. As Brad Fuller explains, "We do not want him to be sympathetic. Jason is not a comedic character, he is not sympathetic. He's a killing machine. Plain and simple."[102]

In 2005, California State University's Media Psychology Lab surveyed 1,166 people Americans aged from 16 to 91 on the psychological appeal of movie monsters. Many of the characteristics associated with Jason Voorhees were appealing to the participants. In the survey, Jason was considered to be an "unstoppable killing machine." Participants were impressed by the "cornucopic feats of slicing and dicing a seemingly endless number of adolescents and the occasional adult." Out of the ten monsters used in the survey—which included vampires, Freddy Krueger, Frankenstein's monster, Michael Myers, Godzilla, Chucky, Hannibal Lecter, King Kong and the Alien—Jason scored the highest in all the categories involving killing variables. Further characteristics that appealed to the participants included Jason's "immortality, his apparent enjoyment of killing [and] his superhuman strength."[103]

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volepaw · 5 years

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this is probably a long time ago but i just saw it on my dashboard and if you don’t want to respond that’s fine! I feel so dumb but I really just want to know and I can’t seem to find any ‘explanation’ yet but why what’s thing about the Tribe that makes it racist? Sorry for bothering! (If i’m just being dumb and there is already someone who answered this please let me know)

long post. sorry mobile people

Hey, anon. Sorry this took me a while, my computer died a few months ago and I’ve been using other peoples’ since. Plus I’m just tired of answering questions irt racism but I wanted to actually give you a good answer lol

In universe, frankly, the first issue is the differences from clan cats.

Usually, I’d actually like having groups with different cultures and the like in warriors! I like comparing cultures and seeing differences and effects when it’s handled properly. The problem is how the differences put them at a disadvantage against the clan cats as a whole or show them as strange, primitive, or as something similar to the Noble Savage trope.“The Healer also almost never leaves the cave, because unlike leaders they do not have nine lives and it’s easier for them to be killed.” (x) The fact that the Healer/Teller of Pointed Stones/Stoneteller doesn’t receive nine lives, while indicative of a different culture from the clan cats, clearly places the clans as a more ‘valid’ and legitimate group. This is heightened further when you consider the entire prophecy that they receive during the new prophecy arc.“However, the Tribe has their own prophecy to fulfill: they see Stormfur as their only hope, the silver cat mentioned by the Tribe of Endless Hunting, their spiritual ancestors.“ (x)”A silver cat will come, and rid the Tribe of Rushing Water of the dangerous mountain cat Sharptooth.”(x)While it some will likely argue that this is an unfair comparison considering that they are cats, this harkens back to the White Savior trope/Mighty Whitey trope. Despite the setting becoming more of a fantasy place as production continued, the clans were originally intended to be set in England, specifically in New Forest. (x) Arguably, the original clans can be considered relatively ‘aracial,’ ignoring metaphors such as half-clan kits and the like.This, juxtapositioned with the heavily coded nature of the tribe, creates some unfortunate situations when actually examined. The tribe, with practices including darkening their pelts with mud in order to hide themselves (something that makes me personally uncomfortable) and being able to hunt eagles, harkens back to the Noble Savage trope, with a group doing things that the ‘aracial’ main cast find strange and thrilling to learn and take back with them. Effectively, they use another culture as a backdrop for their own growth and for Stormfur’s story and emotional arc.Stormfur being accused of being the cat of prophecy and Feathertail’s death are just another drop in the bucket of stories of outsiders coming to save indigenous and otherwise non-white groups from problems they can’t solve themselves. There is no reason, truthfully, that a tribe cat couldn’t have dealt with the cougar themselves, given that it took no great skill for Feathertail to kill it. Merely sacrifice. Multiple times over the course of the series, the tribe needs the clan cats to save them from outside threats and every time it feels unnecessary and, frankly, insulting as a Native American myself. A group of cats shown to be able to hunt eagles being unable to figure out a way to drive rogues from their lands is strange, in my eyes, and upsetting at the same time.The argument of subversion could be valid in Stormfur’s case (as he messed it up originally and wasn’t the savior himself at all) if they didn’t go as heavily in the direction of Feathertail being the savior instead. Chosen by the tribe’s ancestors, she even hears voices of the ancestors prior to her death. Feathertail is buried by the tribe with the highest of honors. (x) While in character it’s great for her to have been honored so highly, the fact that the tribe cats had to rely on clan cats to save them is insulting at best.While he wasn’t the actual savior himself, everything with Stormfur and Brook, honestly, is uncomfortable to read when considering the implications of what’s going on. Brook reads like a Chief’s Daughter with four paws. “The Chief’s daughter […] is often the first to befriend Mighty Whitey during his visit to the strange new land. She’ll conveniently be beautiful by Western standards, but with just enough racial traits to be exotic.” (x)“She is the first cat to realize that Stormfur is the cat from the prophecy, and confronts him. Although scolded by Crag Where Eagles Nest, she welcomes the cats if they are not there maliciously.” “This disappoints Stormfur a little bit, since he likes the she-cat’s courage and friendliness. Brook shows up just as the Clan cats are getting ready to sleep for the night. She was sent by Stoneteller to make sure that the cats were comfortable, but Stormfur wonders if it was just him that she was sent to help.” (x)While this seems fine at first, if you just consider it a normal romance, it becomes more uncomfortable to think about. “More often than not, she will fall in love accidentally with the White Man who likes her as well and wants to marry her. Often this can be seen as a litmus test to see whether the white man is worthy of being part of their tribe.” (x)“Rock says that Brook had begun to love Stormfur while she was teaching him the ways of the Tribe. Although cats like her brother, Talon, didn’t care for Stormfur at first, they soon changed their mind because of the love Brook had for Stormfur.” (x)This trope, of a white man coming in and a Native American girl falling for him has been done over and over again, with one of the biggest examples being to Pocahontas. Even looking at the plot for both of these movies, similarities become clear. A young Native American woman, related to either the chief or the future chief, falls for a foreign man while teaching him the ways of her people. Following the conflict, she ends up traveling far from her home to stay in a culture foreign to her, learning their ways. In Pocahontas, there are two different men she falls for. In warriors, Brook leaves the tribe to stay with Stormfur, having become his mate after he elected to stay. Deciding to stay in the tribe, by the way, is almost the epitome of the Going Native trope.“The Going Native trope plays to this fantasy by having a character lifted out of his typical environment and thrust into a new one, only to become a part of that new world. […] As soon as they feel quite comfortable, possibly having fallen in love with a local girl and/or learned big lessons from a mentor figure, count on their old life to come messing with them.“ (x)“As the Clans leave once they have had enough food to eat, Stormfur decides to stay with Brook and the Tribe. Stormfur chooses to stay with the Tribe, with Brook and Feathertail’s spirit. The Clans thank the Tribe and leave.“ (x)The theme of clan cats being more connected to the tribe than the tribe themselves continues with Jayfeather, with him going back to the past using his power as Jay’s Wing. Jay’s Wing urges the group that would become the Tribe of Rushing Water to go to the territory that they’re shown in modernly. (x)The tribe is allowed nothing for themselves. Not history nor their own heroes or successes in the books. Their naming traditions, which are cringeworthy and borderline racist in the books themselves both for normal cats in the tribe and the practice of completely changing the Healer’s name, are mocked by Rock“Rock notes that he finds this method strange, as he perceives that this way of naming kits would cause many kits to be named things like ‘Wall of Cave,’ or ‘Floor of Cave.’” (x) and their first Stoneteller was involved heavily with Starclan (Which, along with the things do with Jay’s Wing, are remarkably similar to the Magical Native American trope in its bare bones), despite the fact that Healers aren’t given the same nine lives as the clan cats. While much of this is likely due to bad writing, it doesn’t excuse the implications that come with what they’ve written. It’s poor writing and an absolute shitshow of racism, with trope after trope being just stacked on top of each other in hopes of making a good story. It doesn’t work and it just shows a lack of care and respect for cultures other than their own. Don’t come onto my post and whine about it being celtic or some shit.

#anonymous #anon #ask #Warrior Cats #warriors #long post

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2tall4this55 · 4 years

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So since my last post i have listened to a few new books and re-listened to one of my favorite series. The series is Kings Dark Tidings by Kel Kade. Their are currently 4 books in the series. The author has recently released book 1 of a new series this past November. That will actually be the next book on my list to listen to. Based on his website he is halfway done with the second book in his new series and the next installment for the Kings Dark Tidings series is called A Mage of No Renown, a kings dark tidings tale. I believe this book is a back story to a character introduced in book 2. For know I will stick to my idea of reviewing the entire series and then each book individually.

FYI, while i don’t go into detail i do discuss plot lines in the series. So while i don’t consider them spoilers i feel a heads up is warranted. I will be going into specifics on the indavidual book reviews.

The series as a whole fits with the classic fantasy genre. It is a sword and sorcery world with some unique world building that makes it stand apart from other series’s. The first unique aspect is the main character Rezkin. Most main characters either start off as complete amateurs when it come majic or weapons or are some how already strong with no real explanation as to why. Kel Kade starts off with Rezkins training. While not everything is explained as a reader you quickly piece together he is being trained by his Kingdom. His training is extreme and by the end you understand why he is a powerhouse. Throughout the story you see him using tactics or skills that are amazing to imagine. While you might think this type of character would make the story boring because you know he is the best, you would be wrong. Kel Kade make every situation realistic. Meaning given the rules of the world and his training every situation still puts you on the edge of your seat. He takes on entire thief’s guilds, assins, and bandits where one wrong move would mean his death. The story progresses from hunting one man based on his last orders, to protecting and honoring his friends, to dealing with a kingdom conspiracy. All leading him to his goal of dethrone a mad king and stoping demons from destroying the world. Each step of the way new characters are introduced each seeing different sides of the main character. One side is the honorable friend that is knowledgeable and follows a knightly code. One side is the natorious Raven who is taking over the underworld. Yet another is the man given the highest honor in the kingdom in secret as a Sowrd Bearer with two priceless shalyn blades. In short this story has a bit of everything. The story will have you laughing at the miss understandings caused by Rezkins lack of knowledge of out-worlder ways and in the next you will be sitting there thinking dam did he just take over an entire city of theifs guilds in 24 hrs just to correct some kids poor training? I highly recommend this series and i can not wait for book 5. My next post will summarize book one.

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marshmallow-phd · 5 years

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Charming Instruction

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Supernatural, Wolf Au

Pairing: Junmyeon x Reader

Summary: You were just an average, everyday college student desperately trying to graduate. Only one more year stood between you and that celebratory walk. However, due to an oversight by your adviser, it seemed that the one class you never wanted to take was required to take that walk. It wasn’t the subject matter that made you uncomfortable. It was the teacher. Your heart sped up every time you saw him and you didn’t want that distraction in your life, attractive or not. With meeting him now an inevitability, you swore that you would keep your hormones in check. But after your first day of class, a series of hi jinks and weird situations lead you to discovering the secret of your professor and why he seemed to bombard your every thought.

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I 13 I Final

No, no, no, no, this could not be happening to you.

For the last month, you’d carefully planned this day. It was the first day of your last year of college. You’d picked out the outfit - fully aware that within two weeks you’d throw all cares of your looks and clothes out the window - and meticulously scheduled your day to be able to start off your year right. And you needed this year to go as smoothly as possible. As a senior, these last two semesters were the most important of your life. Three previous years of hard work could go down the drain if you didn’t keep your focus.

Okay, you could still probably graduate, but you wanted all the honors that came with graduating with top grades. And you wanted to make your parents proud. And you needed the good GPA in order to get a good internship or entry job after graduation.

When you’d sat down with your advised a few months previous to go over your schedule for the upcoming school year, you’d been itching with excitement. The classes that awaited you weren’t too difficult, but they would definitely be challenging and require your absolute attention. Which – given your past history – shouldn’t have been a problem.

Until the ultimate bombshell was dropped by your adviser.

You wanted to be an archaeologist. Someday. For now, you were settling for field assistant because you didn’t want to spend any more years sitting in a classroom reading about great finds when you could be a part of them. You didn’t care if your name was just a footnote about the people who were present in the digs, you just wanted to experience the thrill of finding evidence of an ancient civilization.

But to even get that far, you needed to graduate college. To graduate college in your specific field, you needed to check off all required classes. And you thought you had.

One little folklore class, one little elective that you had once been told was only an option and one you didn’t have to take, had snuck by you. When your adviser explained to you that there must have been some misunderstanding and that this class was in fact a required credit in order for you to complete your degree, your stomach had dropped. It was like your worst nightmare coming true. Not quite that dramatic, but close enough.

It wasn’t the subject matter that made you want to avoid the class. Actually, you found it somewhat intriguing considering how myths and old lore helped shaped the old world and influence their everyday lives. As someone who wanted to keep their focus on ancient civilizations, it probably would be a good class to have under your belt.

If only it was taught by someone else.

There was nothing wrong with Professor Kim. Maybe that was the issue. He was too… perfect. From the way he styled his hair to the glasses perched on his nose to the button-downs and slacks he wore for lectures.

It was your sophomore year of college that you first laid eyes on him. He was a brand new professor and the talk of the campus. Every other teacher on campus looked like the average college professor who was typically much older than the student population and usually had the fashion sense of two decades ago. Not to mention, most of them weren’t as fit or well put together. But when you walked out of the library with your two best friends, you realized that all of the gossip about the latest addition to the university staff was more than just talk and he was nothing like the average professor.

He was standing profile from you at over fifty feet away talking to other teachers, but your glasses helped you focus enough to be able to see his face. And your heart nearly leapt out of your chest and ran in his direction at full speed.

You were so enamored by his too-classic looks that you tripped over your own feet and nearly took Gemma down to the ground with you. In your embarrassment, you took off with Gemma and Cam, your two best friends, on your heels, calling out for an explanation. When you finally came to a stop, you huffed out what they wanted to know. Of course, they just laughed at you and your innocence when it came to attraction of the opposite sex.

After your disastrous freshman year relationship of seven months, you’d sworn off relationships and had never even given the thought of dating a chance since, too focused on your career goals to entertain the idea. Besides, you didn’t exactly know how to interact with them anyway. Sure, you’d had guy friends in the past, but that was different. You weren’t attracted to them. Maybe you just weren’t built for it. You were too awkward and didn’t exactly have the “street smarts” to navigate that world.

It was probably for the best. You never really found anyone that gave you butterflies or made you blush, anyway. There had never been a chemical reaction in your body like that ever not even with your fluke of an ex-boyfriend. Until you saw Professor Kim.

And that was exactly why you’d abstained from ever taking his class or stepping anywhere near him. If you saw even one single hair of his head, you’d take off in the opposite direction. The feeling you got in your chest whenever you caught a glimpse of him scared you. Keeping your head in your books and studies until graduation and then going on a dig far away from this place sounded like the perfect plan. And for the past two years, you’d done a bang up job of it.

It seemed fate just really liked to kick you down when you were skipping along happily.

In the end, there was no way around taking the class and you were forced to have your name added onto the list, probably bumping off some poor, unfortunate student who had thrown away the money just to be able to spend time in the presence of Professor Kim on a weekly basis.

You were a planner, though. And every plan had its deviations, right? Now that you were stuck in that lecture hall, you’d simply make sure that you sat all the way in the back where Professor Kim would be nothing but an ant in your vision. Most of the time, you might even be able hide him from your line of sight with your laptop.

In order for this mastery to work, you needed to wake up early enough to get from your apartment right across the street from the university to the classroom to secure your seat in the back. But you also had to make sure that you didn’t arrive too early so that it would only be you and maybe a few other students scattered across the room while Professor Kim wandered around the front getting ready for the first day of class.

You were initially set up for success. The alarm was programmed and on the highest volume your phone would allow. It was plugged in for the night to charge and you’d already picked out your outfit so there would be no time wasted in the morning.

Instead of waking up to your obnoxious alarm, however, you were woken up by a pillow to the face.

You snarled as you sat up in bed, sleep still crusty around your eyelids that refused to open all the way. Gemma was standing in your doorway, leaning against the frame with her arms crossed and one wrist elevated as she stared at the watch.

“Don’t you have class in like twenty minutes?” she snickered.

Still half asleep, you scratched the back of your head. “No. My alarm hasn’t gone off yet.”

“Try again.” Gemma stepped up closer to you and showed you the time.

Shit!

You grabbed your phone and pressed the home button to check what had happened. Then you found the issue. At some point, probably very early in the night, the charger had come out of the plug in the wall and your phone had died. You wanted to cry.

Jumping up out of bed, you were at least thankful for the clothes already laid out. You’d have to skip any other form of grooming and pampering this morning beyond a quick fix of your hair. After grabbing a granola bar and chugging a glass of juice, you ran out the door and prayed that you didn’t forget anything behind and that you still had a good spot to sit in.

When you arrived in the lecture hall, your stomach plummeted to the floor.

All the chairs in the back were taken, mostly by the male students, or those who just really didn’t care about the face of the teacher up front.

Slowly, you took one step down at a time, searching for any empty seat that you could take. Every semester, the World Folklore class was filled to capacity. There was even rumor of a waiting list to take the class. How could one professor be so popular, magazine-level handsome or not?

Finally finding the one empty seat in the entire room, you nearly cried. It was in the third row, right near the middle. What were the odds of that being the one chair that was free?

You scooted past the other students, apologizing on the way. One tiny piece of luck you got, at least, was that you didn’t hit any of the students with your bag. Settling down in the chair, you tried not to look too forlorn as you pulled out your laptop and readied yourself for the period.

Professor Kim wasn’t in the classroom yet, for which you were a little thankful. As you kept your head down on the keyboard in front of you, your glasses kept sliding down your nose and you kept pushing them back up a bit aggressively.

The consistent hum around the hall died out. Looking up, you shrank back in your seat. Now was the time. Just breathe, don’t settle on his face. You could do this. You could keep your mind focused on the material and not the teacher.

Walking up to the middle of the room and leaning up against the desk, Professor Kim smiled brightly.

“Welcome, everyone, to World Folklore. This class is about delving into ancient societies and learning about their stories that shaped their cultures.” As he went on with his lecture, his eyes searched around the room aimlessly, never settling even as the occasional student sat up straighter. “I want you to really get inside your heads and really tear these stories apart. Don’t be intimidated by the course work or the speed at which we go through the different types of stories. Unlike other credits, I want you to have fun and-”

He stopped suddenly, his hand that was keeping him balanced against the desk slipping and making him jerk a bit before stabilizing himself.

And he was looking right at you.

The smile was gone from his face, replaced with shock and awe. You shifted in your seat. Why wouldn't he just look away?

With a shake of his head, he did just that, after several seconds too long.

“I want you to have fun and really explore the possibility of ‘why’.” His earlier enthusiasm was gone, replaced by a slight nervousness. “Why did they create these stories? Why were they so scared of these tales? As we break down the different mythological creatures and their spread over the world, we just might end up answering those questions.”

While that might have been the same speech he gave every semester, you had a feeling that no classroom had ever heard it spoken quite like that.

Professor Kim spent the rest of the hour going over the syllabus and his expectations of the semester. Explaining in few details the different papers that would be written over the next few months, you had a sneaking suspicion that he was avoiding your section of the room. He’d always turning quickly, giving a majority of his attention to the left and right sides of the stadium seating. Somehow, rather than putting you at ease, it made you even more uncomfortable.

Your personal reasoning for wanting to avoid Professor Kim and keep your bubbling hormones in check was logical. Why Professor Kim was acting in a similar manner towards you was the real question. You’d never actually met the guy so there was no way he knew who you were. Right?

The time for the end of class came. From your experience, the professor always stayed behind in case of questions or simply took their time gathering up their things to avoid the sea of exiting students. Professor Kim did no such thing. Leaving behind his papers, he practically ran out the back door.

Murmurs echoed around you and you even felt a few questioning stares thrown your way. It was hard, but you suppressed the whimpers that were tempting your vocal cords and tried to stay invisible as you hurried up the stairs and to your next class for the day.

This was not happening. This was not happening.

Waking up this morning, Junmyeon had been in a good mood. He’d gotten up in time to get ready, picking out a nice tie to match his light blue shirt hanging from his door. The break between semesters had been a bit boring, just keeping an eye on his brothers and making due with what the town had to offer while he waited for the new school year to start.

But now the new semester was here and Junmyeon was going to be back in the classroom where he loved being.

Everything had gone smoothly as he drank his coffee without spilling any on him, made it to the college without terrible traffic and in plenty of time for his first class. The only mishap was running into Yoo Shin, a fellow history professor at the university. Catching up with him had nice, but it made him a few minutes late and Junmyeon couldn’t stand tardiness.

The students hushed as soon as he came in. It happened every year, but it still boosted Junmyeon’s ego a bit with how easily he could quiet the room. Going into the usual speech to loosen his new students up, he sized up the audience, letting his eyes roam around the room.

And then he found you.

Right there in the third row was the person he’d been searching for so long a time. The shock of you appearing in front of him made him lose his train of thought. He couldn’t even remember the rest of his speech.

But you were his student.

Of course he’d be in this situation. Nothing in his life could be easy for him, could it?

Anyone else in the world, he’d be happy to pursue, to finally get to know his mate. He couldn’t exactly start a relationship with his student. It went against his personal standards... and school statues.

Unable to remember to rest of his usual spiel, Junmyeon had to make up the remaining part of his speech on the fly, cringing on the inside. Was he even making any sense? It was the hardest thing to keep his focus on anything but you and that was making it difficult to know what was even leaving his mouth.

So close. You were so close to him, but he had to act like you were just another student, like you weren’t the most precious thing to him on this earth now as the wolf in his chest whined with glee. After waiting so long for his mate to show up, it seemed like a miracle - and like a slap to the face.

A professor and his student. It sounded like a bad drama. He didn’t even know your name. He’d learn it soon, but he wanted to learn it by introducing himself like a normal person, not by the papers and quizzes you’d hand in.

Groaning, Junmyeon tossed his glasses down on the desk and hid his face in his hands.

As soon as class had ended, he’d booked it out of there and headed straight for the sanctuary of his office. It would have been too tempting to stay behind, to try and catch you and talk to you. He wanted to hear your voice. Was it as delicate as you looked? Or was it stronger, sassier, taking anyone who might underestimate you by surprise?

He’d already caught bad attention from the other students given his very obvious reaction to you. Keeping you after class right after that would have started rumors. That was not something Junmyeon needed right now.

Knock, knock, knock.

Junmyeon jumped at the noise, his heart racing in his chest. It didn’t calm down until Sehun poked his head in.

“Hey,” Junmyeon nodded, leaning back in his chair.

Sehun smirked. “It’s day one. You can’t be this stressed out already?”

Junmyeon shook his head. “I’m just needing a second cup of coffee, that’s all.”

The look on Sehun’s face clearly said that he wasn’t buying it, but right now wasn’t the time to talk about it. Junmyeon knew that divulging the latest upset in his life would come with a hail of questions. Ones that he didn’t have answers to yet. So, instead, he’d keep that information to himself. At least until he knew who you were and how to get to know you without crossing any lines.

“Well, I’m not getting you any,” Sehun teased as he shut the office door behind him.

“I wasn’t even going to bother asking,” Junmyeon laughed. Resting his elbows on the desk, he asked, “What are you doing here? Don’t you have class?”

“Not for another hour,” Sehun shrugged, sitting down in the chair across from him. “I was bored, so I figured I’d come bother you since you aren’t busy with grading yet.”

“That’ll start soon, though,” Junmyeon reminded him.

Putting his feet up on the desk, Sehun leaned back in the chair and folded his hands behind his head. “Until then, you’ll have to continue beating the girls off with a stick.”

Junmyeon shoved the feet off. “That joke is old.”

“Still better than yours.”

It was hard, but Junmyeon let that slide. The guys were always making fun of his jokes, calling them weak and overused. But he liked keeping the mood up and that was one of the few ways he knew how.

“So, why aren’t you hanging out with the others instead?” he asked.

Sehun scrunched his face up in an annoyed fashion. “Everyone is hanging out with their mate in between classes. I prefer not to be around that too much.”

“It’s not an infectious disease,” Junmyeon laughed.

“Might as well be,” Sehun grumbled. “With how quickly everyone’s finding their mates, it feels like the pack has been passing around a cold. Not that I care too much, but I’d still prefer not to catch it next.”

Junmyeon sighed and smiled at his youngest brother. “It’s simply the natural order of things for our species. One day, yours will find you and you’ll start singing a different tune.”

Sehun cringed. “Can I be last?”

With a scoff, Junmyeon waved him out of his office. “Just go get ready for class. Or go find Tao, he’s with you on not wanting a mate.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll get out of your hair.” Standing up, he headed for the door. With one hand on the doorknob, he looked over his shoulder and asked, “Hey, hyung?”

“Yeah?”

“If something was going on, you’d tell me, right?” The look on his face was suddenly so innocent and trusting. Junmyeon almost gave in and told him to sit back down.

Junmyeon let one corner of his lip to turn up into a sorrowful smile. “Yeah, of course. If something comes up, I’ll tell you.”

Once Sehun was gone, Junmyeon picked up his glasses and placed them back on to his face. He didn’t necessarily think it was a lie. Eventually, he’d tell Sehun and the rest of the pack about finding his mate. He just needed some time to wrap his head around the situation. After that, he’d say something.

They were so going to give him crap for this.

#exo #exo fanfiction #exo fanfic #exo wolf au #exo wolf!au #exo werewolf au #exo werewolf!au #exo supernatural au #junmyeon x reader #kim junmyeon #suho #Charming Instruction #untamed wolf universe

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krd530 · 5 years

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Bakugou and manga’s use of gag abuse

I love reading meta about all my favorite stories. But there’s recently been a weird wave going through the BNHA world that has left me frustrated. I love BNHA for how it addresses so many things that I have wanted addressed in manga since I started reading it, twenty years ago. Also its hero’s! As a major comic book nerd this was like a holy matrimony for me. There are many things I love about the comic (and some things I am a bit frustrated with, Give a girl an ARC!) Izuku being one of them.

He’s awesome and adorable and a good person. I love complicated heroes, but the ones who are simply good people are always my favorite. Coming back to complicated heroes though cough-bakugou-cough, BNHA has a good deal of them too. Bakugou isn’t my favorite character, in fact from a purely I-love-them stand point he’s not even top 5, but as someone obsessed with story structure and themes and tackling complicated subject matter he’s at the top of characters I love to analyze and watch develop.

He’s someone who has gone through life without any major hurtles or deficiencies. He’s handsome, charismatic, smart, athletic and he had been given a quirk that is meant for hero work. Yes, he had to train and use it well, but unlike Minato or Koichi, his quirk easily lead to hero like applications. He never had to struggle to find how to make it work. Like Todoroki, everyone always comments on how versatile, advantageous and powerful his quirk is. Also like Todoroki, there seems to be no down side or weakness associated with it. Sure his arms hurt, but considering Deku’s ability literally shatters his own, I think we’re supposed to take away that Bakugou’s quirk is close to perfect.

But where Todoroki’s own perfect quirk has caused him pain and hardship on every level of his life, Bakugou’s has only advanced and made his own easier. That’s the whole point of his character, to have it all. His one downside being that he has a pretty aggressive personality. Paired with all the ease of his life and that literally no-one who has seen him go too far say anything, his personality and belief in winning has lead him to believe he deserves all these things and that he’s above all the other extra’s to the point that he’s offended when others don’t agree.

In normal society that would probably make him some sort of bully, but more of a mean girl bully than anything else. But in this universe, violence is intertwined in everyday life. Villains are constantly popping up and hurting people and the most respected in society are super charged police. Not politicians, not figures like or Mother Theresa. Einstein? Take a hike.

Violent people, doing violence for good are the highest honored individuals that everyone looks up to. That’s bound to twist society towards violence and an acceptance of violence as an everyday occurrence. Though that doesn’t make it right and within the universe Bakugou’s violent actions are considered bad by the main protagonist (he says that telling someone to jump off a building is bad, that’s how you know we as readers are supposed to understand the weight of this transgression), but it does explain how Bakugou’s character was able to become so violent and abusive without receiving any consequences from teachers or those who have witnessed his abuse. And he is abusive, Izuku constantly looks scared of Bakugou when he’s being threatened, he verbally tells us when Katsuki goes over the line, theses are important cues and super relevant to what I say next.

Bakugou was not abused at home. He wasn’t. I know that many abuse victims see what happened with the teacher conference and then later with Katsuki saying that violence is how he grew up and think abuse and that’s fine. People can be offended and mad at the author or the material or the making light of a bad situation and have every right.

Narratively though those feelings don’t matter. In manga and anime casual violence like that is common and used as a gag. Just like boys getting nose bleeds at short skirts or low blouses. In real wold context, they are super offensive and not funny but animation often uses preset actions to symbolize something else. Nose bleeds can be the sign of a pervert, Mineta, or of a girl crazed boy that is harmless, Kaminari. It all depends on how you represent the action.

Violence is the same. If you read Bleach or Naruto or Soul Caliber or DBZ….to infinity, you would understand that when violence is used as a gag its used to show how characters interact when in conflict on a daily basis. When Ichigo’s dad attacks him every day it’s to show how he wants to make sure his son is prepared for the real world but ultimately fails due to his own Neanderthal tendencies, and the number of the teachers punching Naruto on the head due to something he said or did as to show their frustration and how they are vehemently upset and not ok with those actions, similarly when ChiChi hits Goku or one of her kids its meant to give a visual representation of her anger and lecture/punishment. Cartoon characters can’t show nuanced emotion very well and when you’re drawing every panel, being able to wrap up an everyday/non narrative interaction is clutch. These gags are meant to be short cuts for the reader, but if you don’t read a ton of manga or watch a ton of anime those short cuts can be missed or taken out of context. And I know that Bakugou’s treatment is taken out of context because the story tells us that.

Like I said with the nose bleed, different circumstances give different meaning to an action. If the character under abuse looks scared or heartbroken than it’s meant to be interpreted as actual abuse. If the character looks like they usually do, or bashful or angry its a gag meant to convey something else. When we meet Katsuki’s mom its in the middle of a 101 Dalmatian-esque sequence. How parents are like their kids. Mitsuki hitting on the head and harsh words are meant to signify where Bakugo got his personality from. He doesn’t look scared or heartbroken and his fucking teachers don’t say anything to his mother about the abuse. These are two hero’s, if they thought this was abuse they would have said something to her. This absence is another indication that there is nothing narratively wrong here and that the panel was meant to show you the two’s similarities. All Might says something about the warped relationship, but neither go further into it. An indication that its just one of those crazy families and not something more sinister. (My family has often been considered dysfunctional or crazy by others, but we’re just organized chaos, nothing more). If its intended as actual abuse, the character has to look effected in a seriously negative manner and it’s often blatantly called out by the characters or made a larger sequence with implications that something is wrong.

If its a short sequence like this, with a typical response and no call out as abuse by the characters or narrative than it falls into the category of a gag and the entire context of this encounter colors this as a gag use of abuse.

Now as for her words, Bakugou gets his gruff nature from somewhere, and she immediately after says that she is thankful that he’s back that that she was worried about him. This is the most Katsuki way to express worry that I have seen from another character and I would argue that this is one of the core personality traits that wont go away after he becomes a better person. I have never had a problem with Bakugou expressing his worry through harsh words followed by clear sentiment. The only issues I have with him is his use of force and his cruel words that hold no warmth or care for the person he’s talking to. So once again this panel shows us were Katsuki got his personality from, and unless you want him to become completely whitewashed, super sweet and respectful character, eliminating all of his personality by the end of this series, we should look at this use of language as something that is acceptable. Tactful and empathetic? No, but Katsuki is never that anyways, so the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

This use of that gag is meant to represent their relationship together. It quickly shows where his explosive personality and ways of emoting come from and hints that his mom is the root of some of his more aggressive world views, like looking at things in terms of winning and loosing and not being able to back down from a conflict, but there’s nothing that says that Katsuki’s more abusive and dark tendencies came from her example. She seemed like a more toned down and well centered Bakugou. And while maybe not the best role model, theres no evidence of an abusive relationship. The fighting and abuse aspect is meant to represent that they clash due to their similarities, but she obviously cares for him and understands him.

As for the part about how he was raised, I took it as him saying my mom’s a foulmouthed, fuck you, aggressive type of person and that’s how I was raised. No kiddie gloves just a straight forward; you fucked up and now you’re going to fix it or else. His wording is almost always far harsher than his actions. He routinely says I’m going to kill you and then doesn’t try to kill the person. He continuously talks about imparting violence and then doesn’t. So why when he says he’s going to physically abuse kids into listening should we take this seriously? He’s extra, but he’s not a complete pyscho, especially after his massive fight with Deku.

Usually when he says die! Or something to the effect its more of a exclamation than actual wish. So in what world are we all of a sudden taking him at his word? I’ve always taken his token dies and i’ll kill you as an indication of his fuck you personality and almost punk rock disregard.To him, there is no gear except full throttle, so when kids don’t listen you don’t coddle them and talk about it, you make them listen through authority. He says violence, because he always exaggerates his potential actions because he’s extra. And while not ideal, as long as your not physically hurting a kid, this is a way many people choose to parent. By groundings or taking away privileges or making them serve out punishment to reestablish authority. This is how me and my brothers were kept in line. Sitting us down and talking about how we should act and why we should act a certain way, rarely sunk in.

Katsuki recognizes himself in these kids and that was probably how a kid who thought he could do no wrong like him was corralled. Talking all day doesn’t fix shit if the kid refuses to listen. And at no point in this arc did I think Katsuki was going to actually physically harm them. In fact I can’t even find the panels that say that this is how he was raised, but from rereading the arch its obvious the whole way through that he was never going to hurt the kids or physically attack them.

He’s the one who first analyzed that the kids were acting out due to a lack of respect for authority and then came up with the plan for the kids to test themselves against their group without hurting them to reinstate that authority. In no way does he actually act abusive, which considering that his interactions with Deku prove he can, is a pretty big indicator that any learned behavior from his own up bringing wasn’t actually violent. So while he might be super brash abrasive and more inclined towards enforcement over talking, that’s not a sign that he was abused.

And before anyone says that’s not a good way to go about the world, remember that Deku was raised by a soft spoken and emotionally accepting mother and yet he grew up with crazy internalized self worth issues. Bakugou may be scared of failing, but he’s not afraid of valuing himself or standing up for himself. It takes all kinds and there’s no guaranteed way of raising a kid, is what I’m saying and no where in this arc did I pick up on cycle of abuse.

Now back to narrative evidence that the story doesn’t consider Bakugou abused. In addition to short cuts and how the interactions are drawn and framed, the story itself doesn’t lean to this interpretation. His character is meant to represent the one who had it all, but had to learn to be a good person. That’s the cleanest way to get the story that the author is giving us. He has everything, deck has nothing, society will always make excuses for Bakugou and hold Deku unfairly accountable. Look at the tournament, Bakugou won and show cased his awesome power, yet acted like a complete psycho and he got several offers. Deku proved he was smart and resourceful and used his quirk to the best of his ability, but the fact that his quirk was imperfect and flawed and that he was willing to hurt himself to achieve a goal gets him no offers what so ever. Not even an agency that highlights strategy.

More important to the core message though is that Deku struggles are external, proving to the world that he’s worth it, that he will be the greatest hero, where as Bakugous are internal. He has to realize completely by himself that despite his life and society telling him that he is great, that actually he needs to change. And it’s a brutal process, nothing about Bakugou struggling with this realization is easy or clean. He still mercilessly takes things out on Deku and is often still extremely abusive so it is often hard to see his progress from merely his actions, but it is there. This realization and self examination becomes muddied and cheapened if his reason for being abusive comes from anywhere else than society said it was ok.

His story isn’t a cycle of abuse story (that would be Todoroki and Dabi), its a story of how to learn to hold yourself to a standard that isn’t lauded or rewarded by others. Sure we love Deku and All Might escapes Sting’s kill list due to his values, but we are shown time and time again that in this universe morals aren’t considered vital or even very important to succeed. That’s the story, that’s the core of BNHA and the main struggle for the series.

So narratively him being a childhood abuse victim doesn’t fit or add to the story and every characters arc and background is meant to drive the story forward. Which brings me to my last point, the narrative of an abuse cycle within this world. This universes arc that discusses the dangers of a society that relies on violence when taken in context of family life is already being explored with Todoroki’s family. There is no reason to introduce this to another core character, especially when there are so many facets of this universe for the material to touch on.

Todoroki also gives an example of when the story takes abuse seriously. There is cannon material of child abuse (Todoroki looks scared and heartbroken in regards to his father) , characters talk about it, its a driving narrative any time his family is on screen, his entire arc revolves around not becoming his old man. Even if the abuse was subtle to everyone else, it’s made very apparent in his arc and in his thought process. Also notice that while Bakugou’s abuse was blatantly in front of his teachers, Todoroki’s abuse is kept carefully out of his teachers view. This because if All Might or Eraserhead saw abuse, they would do something.

This is how a comic talks about child abuse, there is no reason for child abuse to be inferred or hidden when it comes to a main character. If it occurs it becomes a main part of their arc. Abuse is horrifying and becomes a major factor in a victims life, there’s no glossing over that or saying that it’s not important enough to the person to be mentioned even in their own head. Katsuki never once mentions child abuse or overcoming any kind of issue at home and don’t tell me it’s because he repressed it or doesn’t understand it. If that were the case that there would be hints in his interior monologue that that told us that. But when we see into his head, he discusses where his issues with Deku come from, where his want to be hero comes from, where his realization that winning is the goal in life comes from and never once is his family mentioned. He got his foul mouth and assertive personality from his mom, also maybe his inclination towards being strong and striving to be the best, but his incessant need to win doesn’t come from home it comes from All Might. And his violent attack of Deku comes from his own superiority complex and insecurities of not doing it right. This is explicitly stated. No where does he state that his development as a bully was formed from an example of his parents.

And like I said his narrative purpose in no way deals with past trauma, there is nothing in his past that has gone wrong, he isn’t fighting against a singular point like a parent or legacy, he is fighting against a societal problem. If his mom was abusive, it would register as something that he was struggling against instead of the intangible nature of winning and succeeding that we see. There’s no point in hiding that part of his past if it’s there, no reason for it to be not blatantly addressed or shown. The author doesn’t do delayed reveals, if they talk about something a character is dealing with, then they talk about the whole thing. If they talk about why Bakugou is a bully than they freaking tell you why he is a bully, not some half assed discussion that’s meant to obscure the real reason. This is an ensemble cast story and yes Bakugou is obviously a main character, but the author said this isn’t going to be a crazy long series and that means he can’t spend tons of time on a character who isn’t the main one (and to be honest Deku hasn't had as much time dealing solely with his own issues as Bakugou has) There are plenty of characters that need time to show their projected character arc, so why would you waste your time discussing in length a characters issues, without doing a complete job of it. Especially since we’ve moved on from that point and we see Bakugou slowly evolving in other arcs.

Its dumb to frame it as “this is the root of the problem and now that he realizes it, this is how he’s adjusting”, for you to only be like, “jk that wasn’t the main problem and all the development you thought you understood, you really didn’t.”

This. Makes. No. Sense.

So on no level - from how manga/anime culturally expresses itself, to narrative contribution, to story structure, to the presence of a clear example of child abuse, to time usage and character development itself - does this interpretation fit.

Like I said though, you can see it as abuse, you can feel uncomfortable at it’s usage, you can get mad that something that you see as horrible is being used as a gag. I agree in many ways, but you can’t use this in meta to explain Bakugou and his actions. The story does not see that as an indicator of abuse, so regardless of how it seems to you, its not cannon.

And to clarify, this isn’t a mishandling by the author, or a framing issue - where he doesn’t want to discuss Bakugou’s trauma - nor is it trying to make light of abuse. The only shown “abuse” in the comic is a trope - it doesn’t mean what you think it means. When people say its a joke/funny they mean it’s a light hearted use that is routinely used as a way to convey relationships that have nothing to do with violence. That’s what people mean when they say its cultural. Not that culturally systematic violence is seen as funny, but that instances like this mean something different than what you, as a person not accustomed to cues and methods the Japanese community utilize, see. Its a colloquial metaphor that is universally understood by those in the know, but can be misinterpreted by those who can’t recognize it.

So if you feel frustrated that this abuse isn’t getting more attention, that frustration wont go away, because in the world of the series - it’s never happened. And considering how cool and unique Bakugou’s character arc is without an abuse storyline, it really bums me out when all I see people talking about is what this “abuse” means about his character.

If you want narratives that support past abuse, while only inferring it’s presence or only casually showing its there, I suggest Star Wars with Kylo Ren. Tons of shit implied about Snoke and child abandonment issues with Han and Leia for you to dig your teeth into and is supported by his character arc and inner musings. Also for an extremely subtle use with a hero character I suggest you read some of the pre crisis Wally West stuff. His short return recently also references it and the clear manifestation of his issues from abuse are through out his arc, be it his idealization of Barry and restraint his speed to go slower than him, or his fear of becoming a mentor of bart and therefore pawning him off on the first flash or his own issue with the twins and struggling to be a good dad. Or his relationship with his aunt and the angst of her forgetting him due to speed force timey-wimey stuff. Also how he’s the comedian of the group and constantly makes light of situations/ uses it to diffuse tension, most likely due to growing up with an abusive dad and a negligent mom. I’m getting way off subject, sorry. The point is that there are plenty of stories out there for abuse victims to project and empathize with (Todoroki/Dabi anyone?), but there is no narrative evidence or implication that Bakugo is one of them.

There are not enough stories that touch on privilege within society and how it can lead to villainous actions and thought processes if it’s not addressed or acknowledged. To properly tackle this issue, you can’t give the narrative representation a sympathetic reason for their views and actions. Leaving Bakugou as he was intended is the best way to show and discuss this struggle. We need this dialogue, so stop trying to explain away or give reason for his bad behavior beyond what is given to us. Focus on how he’s going to change instead of rationalizing how he came to be. There are plenty of kids out there who are just like him, bully’s without a reason other than society telling them to be and I want to discuss a story that doesn’t write them off as the villains, but as people who can come to their own realizations and change for the better, in contrast of what our world says will bring them success.

That’s my two cents, it might drag me from my comfortable lurking in the shadows, hopefully not, but I hadn’t come across an argument against abuse that made these points, so I felt the need voice these observations. Also as a kid who came from a family that’s chaotic at best, it really pisses me off when people dictate what kind of family and atmosphere is considered healthy and preach about how it’s absence is the explanation for bullies and abusers. I hate purity rhetoric and Bakugou’s abuse theory seems to stink of it.

#bnha #bnha bakugou #mitsuki bakugou #child abuse #colloquial metaphors #manga #my own two cents #not anti bakugou but no pro either #too much light ::hisses::#i'm gonna go back in my cave now #katsuki bakugou #mha #somehow star wars and the flash got in here #oops

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ghostwise · 6 years

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25 Interview Questions

@luciferesque tagged me in this meme, which I distinctly remember from my LiveJournal days lol. What a delight! Thank you! <3

Wrote this out for my Warden, Hamal! Also tagging @bearshounen and @queerloveandspaceships for this one!

What is your full name and its origins? What about any nicknames?

Hamal Haleir Mahariel. My mother chose my given name. My father left me the surname.

No nicknames. Do not go asking around, either. If you hear anything, disregard it. Any nicknames used in reference to me—if there are any—are for a special few only.

Have you any claims to fame?

None. But I have been insulted by many people with such claims! One called me mouthy. Another, insolent. Fame makes people temperamental. Bastards!

How would you introduce yourself? If you are famous in your world, how would you introduce yourself to someone who had never heard of you?

Hamal Mahariel, of Clan Sabrae. I would introduce myself the same, regardless of what others may have heard.

Well, I will not be further coy with you. Some call me ‘Hero’, but all that I did, I did with others—and still, I am reviled by half the peasantry, not to mention the nobles! The Wardens achieved much in the span of defeating the Blight, but all the popular bits of the story are generally attributed to Alistair, while all the controversial parts of the story get pinned on me. Most of them are fabrications, but that’s how these things go.

Which of your culture's achievements do you hold in highest regard?

Var’myathan. The work being done with the land that was returned to us has been difficult… the Queen gave us all the territories most corrupted by the Blight. The ruins of Ostagar. The West Hills, too. Nonetheless, I am honored when I see how my people have banded together to create a new home.

We’ll make the best of it. We will gain allies. We will thrive. The shemlen can throw a fit if they like. And when they ask for the land back—for they will, fickleness is in their nature—we will tell them to go fuck themselves!

Won’t that be something! Can’t wait.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Oh… nothing in particular. I suppose it was expected that I would become a hunter. But I was wild in my youth, and I was restless as I grew, and my path felt unclear. I simply wished to be happy. Then the Blight came. Whatever I wanted or could have been had I stayed with my clan became inconsequential.

What was your most prized possession as a child? Do you still have it?

A single carved pearl, belonging to my mother. She hailed from one of the coastal Dalish clans, and dove for oysters when the waters were warm. When she found the pearl she kept it for years, knowing that the shemlen view them as valuable. But she simply thought it was beautiful. My father carved the pearl into the shape it holds now. That is the story Ashalle told me.

I left it behind when I left for Ostagar. I do not know what happened to the pearl.

What would you change about yourself, if you could?

I could do with being a bit taller, I suppose.

What are you obsessed with?

Have you met my husband? Have you ever seen anyone more clever and impressive? Are his eyes not like bitter black tea, dark in the slanting light, then golden brown and flickering when illuminated? I’m not the first to love him, I won’t be the last—but he chose me. I think of him constantly!

What is your greatest achievement so far, or the high point of your career?

… I would not call it a career, so much as a series of progressively horrible events, panicked contingency plans, and a shit-ton of luck holding everything together. I guess my greatest achievement is being extremely fucking fortunate. Thank the Creators!

When/where were you happiest?

It took a long time to find happiness; during the Blight, it was stolen in little moments here and there, but always tempered by the darkspawn threat, and the worry of how we would survive, if we would survive…

But then there came a day after the Blight, during the rebuilding.

I had been working feverishly for months, exhausting myself. There was so much to be done to make Var’myathan livable. Then Ashalle pulled me aside, and stopped me. She told me to leave the rebuilding of land to the Keepers, for it was their role. I had done my part, and needed to do nothing more.

Zevran and I left that week. That is when I was happiest; we were without rush, without worry, for once. Not that we have not had our troubles since… but at that time we were simply in love and free.

And the lowest point in your life thus far?

When we lost the Landsmeet, I thought we would be killed. I was horrified. I do not understand shemlen politics at the best of times; they seem to involve a lot of underhanded dealings. But that day, with all the humans, angry and loud and armed! It was dreadful.

What was the best decision you ever made?

Every decision I ever made in regards to Zevran was good.

If you have any body modifications, which was most painful, or which do you regret the most? If you haven't got any, do you have any planned, or would you ever consider getting any?

I do not regret the ways I have adorned my body. They are my culture, alive, on my skin. But the most painful were the vallaslin.

On my first attempt I’d barely had a few lines etched onto my face when the ritual was halted. The pain was too great. I wept all that night, embarrassed and disappointed. I’d failed to get my vallaslin, when all my friends already had theirs.

The next year was my chance to prove myself. I held on as long as I could and asked for the tattoos to spread down my neck, over my shoulders and arms.

Our ancestors once took centuries to come of age. Everything comes in its time.

What is the most idiotic thing you have ever done while intoxicated?

I think I got banned from the Shaperate in Orzammar because a book about nug pedigrees made me angry. … I think.

What is your favourite joke?

Nothing comes to mind. But I do like a good dirty joke.

What is the coolest/most impressive thing you own?

A set of custom ironbark armor that Varathorn created for me.

When did you last cry, and why?

It was at Keeva’s wedding, and I think I cried more at hers than at mine! I’ve always cried easily though. I cry when I am happy, or sad, or angry; or when I become acutely aware of how the moments and years pass us by.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever had?

There is no chaos in the world, only complexity.

I never converted, but the Qun has many pieces of advice that have helped me.

Similarly, what's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for you?

Zevran helped me with Tamlen’s funeral. Without being asked, without being prompted, he prepared almost everything, and pulled me through it. It was not simply ‘nice’; it was compassionate and necessary. I could not have given Tamlen a proper resting place without him.

Have you any vices?

Coffee. I encountered it while traveling during the Blight and get headaches without it…

Do you regret anything?

I regret ignoring my gut feeling that told me to stay and search for Tamlen after he disappeared. But I was sick, and rapidly getting worse, and Duncan told me he was certainly dead. I regret believing that man. I regret everything Tamlen had to go through, because I abandoned him, in the most thorough and complete way possible.

What is the best invention ever?

This is going to sound boring and practical, but we are re-inventing old agricultural practices to rebuild the Blight-ridden lands for farming. Piecing them together from the ancient texts, and our own combined knowledge and resources across clans. The floating gardens in Var’myathan are already a sight to behold!

How would you describe your relationship with your family?

I am very close with Ashalle. She must have had an endless supply of patience to raise me as she did. I never met my parents, but I heard about them often growing up, which was a blessing, though it made me wistful at the time.

Who is your biggest inspiration?

Zevran of course. He always inspires me to do better, for myself, for us, for others. Who else should I be inspired by?

What are you going to do when you've finished this interview?

I was thinking of cooking some pumpkin in milk for dessert tonight… it’s been a good day.

#oc: hamal mahariel #long post #thank you for letting me ramble about my warden kid :')

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celticbarb · 3 years

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Book: The Scot is Hers

By Eliza Knight

Series: Scots of Honor, Book Two

Release Date: July 27, 2021

Publisher: Knight Media

Overall Book Review Rating: 5 Stars

Blog Review Rating: 5 Saltire Flags

1814, Edinburgh

Giselle Hepburn and Alec Hay, Earl of Erroll, General in the Royal Regiment of Scotland first meet in Edinburgh. It was at a ball the Dowager Countess of Errol was holding to find a wife for her battle injured son after he came home from the Peninsular War. Except that her son Alec Hay, Earl of Erroll had been horribly scarred on the left side of his face from the corner of his eye to his chin. He knew all the vain debutants were horrified by his facial wounds, yet their mothers only saw his title, property and wealth. It was absolutely disgusting so he went to the gardens to get some relief. Except he didn’t realize there was also someone also hiding in his garden and demanded they to show themselves to him! Alec was shocked it was a lass who would not give her name!

Giselle Hepburn did not understand why those brainless, empty headed, debutants, thought Alec Hay, Earl of Erroll, was a monster when he was so very handsome and brave. She felt those wounds were more like badges of courage and honor, and it shows the awful conditions and abuse this incredibly brave soldier had to deal with. He was shocked it was a lass but didn’t realize it was her first season and if caught together it would be considered scandalous and they would be forced to marry! He allowed himself and Giselle go their separate ways even though she was the only young Lass close to his age that didn’t seen horrified by his physical looks!

Three Years later- 1817, Aberdeenshire

Now Giselle is being forced to marry by her parents demands, the Earl and Countess of Bothwell. As she was being forced to marry Sir Joshua Keith, a mean, hateful, and horrible man, who was handsome on the outside but on the inside he was a monster and only cared about himself! It was obvious he only wanted Giselle’s dowry and her parents felt he would lift them in better society circles. So Giselle was actually being sold to the highest bidder which she found disgusting. Now she was at his home in Aberdeenshire at Boddam Castle. Keith had already attempted to ravish her with no success so she had to get out! So she climbed on a horse and escaped that was almost the death of her, as the weather turned sour and she almost had a tragic accident but was saved by Alec Hay, the Earl of Errol.

Alec too also needed an escape, as his mother just showed up unannounced but with her old agenda finding him a wife! Except he brought both his best male friends, their wives and and single, titled women needing a husband. Now he discovers Giselle’s name and she was to marry the black guard who biggest enemy most of his life but also in battle, Sir Joshua Keith! So they come up with the idea to secret have a marriage of convenience, except that feelings and attraction get in the way. On top of that they know if her parents and Keith who needs her dowry find out about their agenda someone is going to pay!

Will Giselle be forced to marry Joshua Keith with his empty coffers? Can a woman possibly fall in love with a man with scarred face and honorable heart? A man she barely notices his physical imperfections as she see’s him as the best man she has ever known. On top of that, 'there is a viper who wants Alec for all the wrong reasons like wealth, land and title. Will this couple find their happily every after or will they be forced to marry people they will always detest. Read and find out!

This is the second book and that this is loosely based on a real person from history as William Hay was the 1st Earl of Erroll in 1423 and lived in Old Slains Castle in Aberdeenshire. I love when true history is weaved with a fictional romance. This was absolutely brilliant and I loved the connection between Alec and Giselle, Giselle had a big heart and a lot of empathy for Alec. Saw his scars more as medals of honor and added to his attractions as a brave and honorable soldier. In addition, being best friends with Lorne and Jamie was a big win for me too. That was the hero and heroine for the first book in this series, Return of the Scot. Another book I also highly recommend. As both books are fabulous but you can read either book as a stand alone book too. A book you definitely don’t want to miss. Eliza Knight is a phenomenal author I have been reading for of over eleven years! She also was my first digital book I ever read in her fabulous in her Stolen Book Series another I also recommend!

Scots of Honor by Eliza Knight

Book One: Return of the Scot

Book Two: The Scot is Hers

Book Three: Taming the Scot

Also by this author another series I absolutely loved and recommend especially if your a Scotland lover like me!

Prince Charlie’s Angels by Eliza Knight

Book One: The Rebels Wears Plaid

Book Two: Truly Madly Plaid

Book Three: You’ve Got Plaid

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy from the author. I voluntarily agreed to do a fair review and blog. All thoughts, ideas and words are my own.

Pre-Order Buy Links:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VC98DM2

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09237YK63/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?ie=

https://m.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-scot-is-hers-eliza-knight/1138714170

https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-scot-is-hers/id1551209872

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-scot-is-hers?utm_source=walmarthybrid&utm_medium=

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Jupiter’s Legacy: Matt Lanter on Becoming Skyfox

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Failing to win the Manhunt: The Search for America’s Most Gorgeous Male Model reality show competition in 2004 may have been the best thing that could have happened to Matt Lanter, because between that year and 2006 he had recurring or starring roles in the series Point Pleasant, Commander in Chief, Heroes, and Shark. Besides guest roles, he’d star in a number of films, voiced the character of Aquaman in a variety of animated productions from Warner Bros/DC Comics and was a series regular on the cult favorite Timeless.

All of that was eclipsed, however, by his voicing the character of Anakin Skywalker on the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which he began doing in 2008 and continues to do periodically. Now he is taking on the role of George Hutchence, aka Skyfox, on Netflix’s Jupiter’s Legacy, which will elevate him even higher insofar as genre fans are concerned. That possibility, as well as his view of Hutchence as a character, are among the things discussed in the following exclusive interview.

Who is Skyfox?

NAME: George Hutchence

ALTER EGO: Skyfox

POWERS AND ABILITIES: Flight; super strength; can survive a mile above Earth; uses engineering skills to create tech to use against villains

NEED TO KNOW: Another founding member of The Union and Sheldon’s former best friend before they had a falling out. Now considered the greatest supervillain in the world, George hasn’t been seen for years—his whereabouts and loyalties remain a mystery.

Den of Geek: What appealed to you about George?

Matt Lanter: I remember seeing a bit of Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark in that character. I also kind of saw a little bit of flair, like a Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean.

I also wanted a bit of Paul Newman, who’s one of my favorites. Paul Newman to me always looks like he has a secret just in every movie. If you go back and watch, you’ll see what I’m talking about. He just always feels like he has a secret and I really love that about him. I think it makes him interesting… It felt like I could be a part of something really huge that could be just loved by a lot of fans here in the next several years and just had a chance to be a part of an epic superhero show. Of course, to put on a superhero costume is not something that many of us get a chance to do. So, here I am.

This question would have come later, but I might as well ask it now since you brought it up. What is it like to be strutting around in a superhero costume?

It’s amazing…. but the stylization of our suits are a little different. They’re angular, a lot of straight lines versus kind of rounded pecs. But yeah, the suits are incredible. Lizz Wolf, the costume designer, did just an amazing job. There’s been so much thought and so much detail put into these suits. It’s really a wild thing to see and I think fans are really going to have a heyday with this because each costume has individual characteristics. The costumes have so much intricate detail in them. Every costume is made of different materials, different fabrics, different stitching… It’s a really cool thing so kudos to the design of the suits. They are the highest of quality… they definitely did not shortchange us in that area at all.

You can’t ignore the fact that you put the thing on and you’re a superhero. It’s meant to accentuate the physique that we’ve already been training to build at the gym, and it’s very empowering. It’s just a really cool experience that I feel so honored to be doing.

How do you view George as a person? I know the show jumps in and out of the past and present, but how would you chart his evolution through the course of this first season?

The course of the first season is really different from the overall arc that we see in the graphic novels. We don’t hang with George very much in the “present day” of the first season [but] we see a lot of him during the origin.

George is such an interesting guy. He is sort of our Batman in a way. He’s kind of our Bruce Wayne. He’s this multimillionaire playboy. He appears to have everything. He’s great with women, he’s got tons of money in his pocket, he’s got everything in the world.

But I think very quickly, we see as an audience that George is very empty inside. I think he’s dealt with a lot of pain and loss in his life. I think because of that, George sees Sheldon [Sampson, the Utopian] and even maybe Walter [Sampson, Brainwave] as his family. They were buddies growing up. George’s loyalty is probably, I believe, one of his strongest assets. He’s a great friend and family member. So in an emotional respect, I think that Sheldon and Walter and the acceptance into the Sampson family is everything to George.

I think it’s also fun to play him because everything is big and grand and a performance for George, because why not? What else does he have to do? There’s a lot of layers there and I love that he has fun and he’s sharp-tongued and quick-witted, but I think he feels deeply.

Given your success with The Clone Wars, you’ve had a taste of the scrutiny that fandom can put you under. Is that tough to cope with or have you gotten used to it at this point?

Well, it’s funny you’re asking that, because just a couple of days ago, I did a panel with my Clone Wars pals and I actually talked about the level of scrutiny I did not realize that came with the job when I had originally booked the job of Anakin, but that’s one of the things that I’ve enjoyed most. Mostly, I feel like it’s been positive from the fans on my portrayal of Anakin, so I’ve not really been hammered too hard, but there is a scrutiny there. I think, as long as you keep in check in your own head that scrutiny, whether it be positive or obviously negative, comes from a place of passion with the fans and it comes from a place of things wanting to be good. I mean, of course, you’re going to have a couple of trolls here and there for anything you might do.

But I think sci-fi audiences are really, really smart. I think they want good storytelling. They want characters with depth, so that’s going to come I think with whatever you’re doing. But I can tell you, this is a character driven show first and foremost, and it’s a relationship driven show and they happen to be superheroes with incredible powers. I think when your characters are there and your relationships are solid and established and you understand why people are doing what they’re doing, I think it really helps the story overall.

This is such a great time for fans of superheroes, with the Justice League, Avengers, The Boys, and now, Jupiter’s Legacy, and they’re all so unique.

They are, and I think in a few years people are going to realize how big this actually is in terms of being the first show that’s opening up “Millarworld.” People are going to realize that it’s DC, Marvel, and Millarworld, and it’s exciting to be a part of that.How cool is it that I get to be the first guy to ever play George Hutchence, Skyfox? There’s so much to fanboy about.

This show focuses on the relationship between the parents and their kids and the journeys they all go on.

Which is what makes this story so unique. We’ve seen the guy in the suit and he’s saving the world, but this multi-generational family dynamic is so interesting that Mark Millar has created. And it’s such a basic idea, in a way. What if Superman had a kid and he’s a jerk and can’t live up to being Superman? And the world Millar’s built has the kids of these six superheroes signing contracts with big companies like modern day influencers.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

It’s just a wild, cool idea. It’s something that seems so grounded. I think I heard Mark say this, that these guys can have everything and they can do everything and everything’s perfect in their world if they want it to be, except for matters of the heart. It’s just an extra level of detail on these characters that I don’t think we’ve ever seen before in other shows or movies.

Jupiter’s Legacy premieres on Netflix on May 7. Read more about the series in our special edition magazine!

The post Jupiter’s Legacy: Matt Lanter on Becoming Skyfox appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3sTEqyv

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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amandajoyce118 · 6 years

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Friday Five: I wish…

Since this is the last weekend of Women's History Month, I thought I’d return to a female character themed Friday Five. This time around, I’m giving you five female comic book characters I wish Agents of SHIELD would bring to the screen. The show has utilized an amazingly large number of comic book characters considering it was built around a group of people not in the comics. Some of these are my favorites. Some of these are just characters I think would have been a good fit for a lengthy arc.

Five: Ms. Marvel

Every young person reading comics wants Ms. Marvel to get her own onscreen property. There was a lot of speculation that she would be part of one of the shows in development at Freeform since the network is aimed at “emerging adults” or whatever their tag is now. That doesn’t appear to be the case, and quite frankly, I think it’s unlikely to see her get a TV project unless its on a cable network that has the budget for the VFX her shapeshifting ability would require.

That being said, I would have loved to see Agents of SHIELD introduce her for a one off episode. The SHIELD comics (which, really, were hit or miss and I only recommend them if you are genuinely interested in how different writers work with the characters) featured her for a single issue in which Jemma Simmons went undercover as a high school teacher. She and Kamala ended up teaming up to take on a bad guy, and it was such a fun issue that I’ve wanted to see a version of that on the show ever since.

Four: Iso

This one is a bit of a cheat. Why? Because NuHuman Xiaoyi Chen actually reminds me a lot of Skye before she fully embraced Daisy Johnson. Iso is the Inhuman name the character takes on, but when she’s introduced, there are different people hunting her because of her abilities, and Reader (who is basically the comic book basis for Gordon on the show) is the one who finds her. Iso’s abilities include manipulating pressure, very similar to Daisy’s “pushing” of vibrating molecules together. I feel like introducing someone like Iso would allow Daisy the chance to give someone the benefit of her own experiences though, which is one of the reasons I love the similarities between them.

Iso was “given” to Ennilux, an old Inhuman organization that placed Inhumans into business opportunities, sold people into slavery, and operated kind of like the Inhuman version of organized crime. It’s a comic book piece she could have brought with her to the show which could have been fascinating.

Three: Miss America

I almost didn’t put America Chavez on this list because I feel like it’s inevitable that she (and Kate Bishop) will eventually join the MCU. The characters are too popular and fans are too vocal for producers to ignore them forever. That being said, she’s a character who can literally kick holes in the doors between universes. Given that Agents of SHIELD has already played with the comic book What If scenario in the Framework, went to space and time travelled in season five, and they’ve introduced Ghost Rider who can also open doors between dimensions, America would be a fun addition, even for a short arc.

America is also an out lesbian in the comics, and for all the great representation that exists for SHIELD in ages and ethnicities, different sexualities are not represented well. The writers have a habit of getting rid of characters n same sex relationships. Admittedly, this has largely been because the actors aren’t available, but the show’s writers should at least try to rectify that and America is such a fun character, so it would be a win-win.

Two: Victoria Hand

What’s that you say? Victoria Hand was already on the show? I can’t hear you over the sound of that fridge door closing on her. Killing off Victoria Hand so quickly is one of the things I hate about the series, even though it provided such a great moment with the reveal that Ward was Hydra. Victoria Hand is one of the highest ranking SHIELD agents the show has ever had involved, even in just a few short appearances, and I would have really enjoyed seeing what the show did with her. In the comics, she’s a real badass, and the show didn’t get to explore that very much.

I also really love Saffron Burrows and hate that she’s not in more stuff I actually watch, so... I’d like her back, please.

One: Shadowcat

Considering Kitty Pryde is one of my favorite Marvel comic book characters of all time, there was no way she wasn’t making this list. She’s also the one person on this list who, realistically, will never be in the MCU unless Disney decides to make the FOX buyout official. Because Kitty’s comic book history is rooted in the X-Men, her screen rights belong to FOX. Three different actresses have already played her on the screen, including the lovely Ellen Page, but the character hasn’t really been on par with who she is in the comics.

She grew from a bubbly teenager who loved dance classes into a young adult with a fondness for guys named Peter and an eventual leader of the X-Men. She has been through nearly as much crap as the big names (like Jean Grey and Wolverine), and she’s been a SHIELD agent in a couple of story arcs. It’s a shame the show couldn’t use her and her ability to walk through walls. I guess I can’t be too angry since there is a movie in development over at FOX surrounding her character.

Honorable mentions go to Kate Bishop (of course! Because the female Hawkeye is kind of a mess, but we love her anyway), Dazzler (because her character was so ridiculous in the 80s and I’d love to see SHIELD deal with someone whose famous having special powers they kept hidden), and Black Widow (for the obvious reason that she was SHIELD and Coulson was her team leader, but with a certain actress in the role, that’s a very unlikely option).

#agents of shield #ms marvel #victoria hand #america chavez #shadowcat #iso #friday five

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