#which is bad but it's redeemable and he does alright when he IS given time to think about what he says

[blackstarchanx3new]

Creations AU, But I obnoxiously over explain it PT 3

Pages 61-90

Back at it again with Mike and his silly little adventures in Freddy's.

Huh.

What'd you see.

Stop being vague.

Who are these creepy masked people???

The bullies from FNAF four

Damn if only there was an entire side comic FNAF 4 cough cough I made about them that will explain that lol. We'll get to the side comics I promise. ;)

Whatever he saw, he's terrified to re-live.

Ouch.

Someone got hurt-

What the hell are you apologizing for exactly?

What'd you do?

None of those people in the masks were you...

We can tell cause they actually had a skin tone lmfao.

Oh that could use some cream.

So that's why "the bite" kept making Mike uncomfortable...

This kid got his head munched on.

And it wasn't ACTION but LACK of action he's cowering in fear from a child over.

Side note this panel out of context is hilarious and I won't pretend it's not.

Hi Bonnie! :D

He is the best.

Damn okay.

What's reality?

Ominous poster of the yellow Freddy for sure isn't important.

Haha Mike ya have episodes like this often? Often enough he composes himself afterwards.

He's utterly bamboozled Bonnie apparently SAW the kid he was chasing so...maybe.

That smirk is unsettling.

So this part of the building used to be "Fredbear's" the place Michael's favorite animatronic "Spring Bonnie" is from and mentioned earlier. Fredbear is clearly the one who bit the child.

I'd be scared too Bonnie thousand yard stares are concerning.

That's hysterical coming from the clearly possessed giant rabbit but go off I guess-

He's obviously trying to make Mike feel better which is nice of him. UwU

Aww. Hug how sweet.

So now we know a bit more about Mike. Let's review:

This nameless kid Mike saw die was obviously Michael's brother Cody Afton from all the context clues we've been given:

Mike's reaction to Micheal bringing up Fredbears, due to it being a traumatic event.

Cody being "Bit"

Mike doesn't seem TOO sure they're the same person but we know it is.

Mike blames himself for not doing anything at the time to stop Cody's head from getting crunched.

Mike's grasp on reality is...Flimsy. Self admittedly he thinks it's flimsy and he knows when he needs to go home when it's too much.

Mike is desperate for comfort over his trauma with Freddy's and Bonnie's a cool dude who'll give it.

You'd think Bonnie would be a bully from his intro but he's actually a super caring guy, he just can't stand people who purposely cause problems.

Bro comes in clutch with the hugs.

You can see why Freddy would run to this guy to solve issues haha.

So from those first panels we know 1 thing:

He had no clue Ennard was in the room with them. So add stalking to the list of creepy things that clown robot has done so far.

My god it's an old man-

He's Micheal's dad! :D William Afton!

Alright I'm gonna stop being goofy and vague for a moment:

It's obvious he's evil as fuck and for the people who like to bitch he has a personality in this comic or ANY media where people give William a personality: Stop making excuses as to why you write him one note you cowards, you can give him a personality without condoning what he does lmfao. Only a bad writer would say you HAVE to make him one note for him to work. Fucking morons actually you are stupid if you believe that.

If you wanna make him cartoonishly evil with NO redeeming qualities: Cool. Whatever. Just shut the fuck up don't act like yours is "Better" because you can't think of ways to make him anymore interesting.

Everyone's William caters to their tastes. Nobody's is PERFECT. I only judge stupid vapid bitches who complain about other interpretations while blowing smoke up their own asses. Because an ego isn't pretty on anyone lmfao.

The idea giving William a personality makes you a terrible writer/person needs to die I'm sorry that's such a stupid as fuck idea idk who came up with it but kindly stop writing and stop giving writing advice. UwU With love~ From me!~

Anyways I've spoiled William is a bad person who does a bad thing, Won't say what yet but all the death in the building can give ya some ideas. And apparently because William is bad guy there's "Rules" on how to write him. From a bunch of 12 year olds who dunno how to write but I digress.

I detest the idea of that. Because let's be real all FNAF characters are blank slates and the idea of squashing creativity is dumb. Literally go wild with your FNAF AUs.

Rant aside: William seems to be a bit of...An ass.

Just slightly manipulative and rude language towards his only living child it's fine-

Ah yes. He also demands physical affection.

We get Michael's age, he's 23 aka still a damn baby.

Also, William and Michael are British.

Since we're on voices:

Mike Schmidt would sound like Legoshi from Beastars lmfao. I imagine Bonnie with a new York accent. Freddy sounds like a lady.

We finally get to see what Ennard and Michael interact like together...

Michael doesn't seem to put up with him.

Ennard's kind of a prick.

Also apparently they have a HISTORY.

One that involves Michael talking shit about his father...

For people who know shit about the games: Yes Ennard is possessed by the same person from the games.

Hah Michael tricked him.

Okay so everyone in Michael's life is manipulative towards him.

Neat.

Also Ennard is a raging hypocrite.

Also conformation William is an owner not just a robot maker. (Can't remember if this was brought up earlier again some of these pages are 2 years old lmfao)

Also this comic assumes you got SOME Fnaf knowledge. I'd hope it's still interesting for those of you who are here for my other stuff! XD

Like ouch Ennard ya don't gotta be such a jerk.

Also Mike is cute.

This panel unironically is one of my favorites because this man doesn't scream in terror at any of the terrifying robots:

It's the gay guy he's trying to befriend he screams like a little girl at.

Another help wanted joke about the Faz token under the cupcake in the office.

Michael just wants to hang out with Mike obviously.

Despite all the shit he's clearly going through dude puts on a very pointy smile.

This man is built like a cat.

Lol they made pizza together. How cute.

Hah bro is apologizing for something he didn't even do nor has control over-

Is it obvious Michael is abused yet?

Going real unsubtle here: Everything about Michael shows off he has been abused in some way shape or form.

Michael wants to think he's being friendly for reals despite clearly having second thoughts due to Ennard.

Bro is desperate for a connection with someone.

Also

Pff.

Mike c'mon Bonnie's so sweet how could you- X'D

Few things: William doesn't "Let" Michael do things.

If it wasn't apparent he was controlling as hell before it sure is now.

Also Michael is embarrassed of his interests.

Also the locker:

Again we see an instance of Michael going by "Mike" as his locker literally just has a piece of paper tapped over it adding the rest of his name lmao.

Michael is used to being toyed around with that is sad.

Bonnie continues to be a sweetheart even when he's off screen. X'D

Mike attempts to relate to Michael's interests once again.

Also another instance of Bonnie lying his ass off about how close Michael and him are:

He knows Michael's locker combination and puts gifts in there lmao.

Mike clearly likes that plush a lot. Maybe he likes Chica a lot lmao. Who knows.

One thing to note:

If Michael's working day shifts and night shifts...when does he sleep?

Grant it, it isn't ALL THE TIME but still bro's sleep schedule must be OBLITERATED.

Oh hi giant floating head in the hallway you're stalking Michael too huh?

This is just two sides of someone's brain arguing with itself that the entire positive interaction they just had was terrible AND the other party hates them.

And that comparison only makes more sense down the road.

Yeah Michael you tell him. You don't need to take that from him.

Jeremy's a cool dude.

Also the fact the kids pay no mind to this argument is funny.

Also Ennard taking genuine offense to Jeremy being a better friend lmao. Anyone can be a better friend than Ennard. X'D

We hit the image limit but oh boy. So much joy in this update.

#Creations AU #fnaf creations au #fnaf au #fnaf comic #fnaf fanart #fnaf art #fnaf 1 #five nights at freddy's #fnaf #mike schmidt #bonnie #freddy fazbear #fnaf 4 #fnaf 4 bullies #fnaf 4 cc #michael afton #micheal afton #fnaf 4 art #five nights at freddys

[yourplayersaidwhat]

Our party needs to get into a safety deposit box in the local bank. The box belongs to the man we're currently secretly investigating on behalf of the princess for embezzlement. We've also been given a letter from the princess granting our party 2k gold, which we would redeem at the same bank. So our plan is for our wizard, a half-elf from a family of merchant nobility, to use Disguise Self to pretend to be The Suspect and retrieve the box while the rest of us go get our gold. Wizard goes in first, alone, so as not to raise suspicion. Then, the following conversation takes place outside the bank. For clarity, the remaining characters are:

Me: Elf Druid from an incredibly rural community that still operates almost entirely on a barter system, so it doesn't even have currency, let alone a bank. Has never even *seen* a bank before.

Rogue: Lizard Folk who has recently arrived on this continent from a distant archipelago that *does* have currency, but *does not* have banks. A petty-criminal that has never been inside a bank in his life.

Sorcerer: Tiefling that, until about 2 weeks ago, was trapped in a timeless demiplane for at least several hundred if not several thousand years. All of modern society is a complete mystery to him, and if he ever has been in a bank, it's been so long that he doesn't remember.

Paladin: Elf from a large and prominent religious community. Going Through It™ and having a long and continued existential crisis due to finding out the goddess he dedicated his life to has likely never existed. Usually a Good and Moral Boy, he's currently in the "Fuck it, nothing matters" stage of depression. *Absolutely* knows how banks work and is 100% aware that this is is about to be a shit-show, but won't do anything to stop it.

---

Me: Okay, so Wizard's been in the bank for about 5 minutes now, it's probably safe to head in right?

Party: **various noises of agreement**

Me: Alrighty. So! First order of business: Does anyone know how banks work? I'm assuming it's like the market and you just grab whatever you need and then check out?

Sorcer: **shrugs** Last I knew, people kept their wealth in chests in their homes, so I was counting on you guys to know.

Rogue: **shakes his head** My island doesn't have banks, I figured you guys knew since you're from here.

Me: I thought you guys would know since you've traveled more than me. My village doesn't do money, this is the first time I've seen a bank in real life.

Rogue: I don't think they'd keep the gold out for people to grab though, that seems like a bad idea. We probably have to ask for it.

Me: It can't be that hard though, right? People successfully go to banks every day. Wizard is in there right now and he's by himself, so we can handle this with four people. I'm sure if we just walk in there and state our intentions everything will be fine.

Sorcerer: Well we already have our Bag of Holding, so we could put the letter on the counter and say something like "We're here for the money, please put it in this bag."

Rogue: That sounds good to me. I bet they'll really appreciate the convenience of us bringing our own bag, too. Oh! And people tend to get nervous when I smile, so maybe I should cover my face? **wraps scarf around his face** How's this?

Me: Perfect! That should help put them at ease, your teeth are kind of scary. Alright, seems like a pretty solid plan. Easy-peasy. Paladin, your church probably got a lot of offerings, you had banks right? Are we missing anything?

Paladin: .................. No, you guys've got it. Perfect plan, I can't believe you figured out banks so quickly :)

Me: Great! Let's get going then. **helps adjust Rogue's scarf a little higher** Now don't forget, eye-contact is important since they can't see your face, it shows that you're being genuine.

Rogue: I don't have eyelids, so that should be easy.

Me: Man, we are *so* good at banks. Wait til Wizard hears, he's gonna be so proud of us! :D

---

Meanwhile, Wizard's player, somewhere between crying and wheeze-laughing: I can't believe this, we survive two dragons, a hoard of were-gators, and an evil librarian aberration with an army of knock-off slendermen and a malevolent sentient library, and you idiots are going to get killed by bank security! Amazing.

---

(The plan actually went off without a hitch because we got an insane amount of stupidly-high rolls. I thought our DM was gonna piss himself from laughing so hard. Turns out we ARE good at banks! :D

Later we had a party for Plot Reasons and invited the bank staff and they definitely think we're insane but aren't gonna pass up free booze. Having worked a lot of retail that probably wasnt even the weirdest thing that happened to them that day tbh)

#shit my players say #dnd #rpg #submission #shareable #long post #why npcs hate pcs #famous last words

[chezzabellesworld]

What do these three people have in common? Well their birth charts to start out a very similar and they have all had very similar kind of accusations truth and also being able to brush it off at the same time. I have start with Wendy Williams who notoriously worked in I guess the 80s and the nineties to become radio host and almost like a gossip blind item of the original of what people are doing now and people dislike her but they’re all doing the same thing, she worked really notoriously and her and was often at times. The only woman and probably had a lot of and did have a lot of discrimination and black. She was the middle child children when she was younger she was overweight and her parents were very nasty to her about it actually all of these people have this in common as well, that he said he was a fat little fucker when he was younger and Courtney was not fat but chubby people who were not cause I don’t agree with the whole thing of medium because that’s what caused my own differently to what I was anyway so they had similar child all born in 1964 I believe They had people. I’m not too sure about this. She says she’s had money taken away from her and embezzled and from the Kirk Cobain estate but she was very unwell in the early 2000 Tyson had it he had it with Robin given his mum who wanted to really see the relationship like a lot of Hollywood relationships as a agreement and a More kind of relationship if you know you know he was very real for not wanting that and then he had the charges of rape against him which he won’t prison for which a lot of people has persecuted the victim which I think is disgusting. I’ve seen an into the victim and I believer, but what am I getting to in this? This, what I’m getting to all these three people have very redeemable characters and they have redeemed themselves in many ways Courtney with drugs and sort of now emigrating to England if that’s alright living in London now and not being in the spotlight so much where is before she lived for it I think all three of them dead Wendy Williams that’s a whole Nother topic really because I think she Has had an MK2 kind of situation where they have wanted her to shut up she was the original of what did he was doing in fact one of her last interviews on her show was with him meant to be making up on it and seven so they have the modalities cardinal fixed and mutable all evenly distributed in the chart which is good because you don’t sometimes want too much of one and not of the others so that brings me to all three of them are cancers with the Sun in cancer they all have Leo Mercury so they always think they’re right when they’re not.

They always have to be a bad person to have to say and that can be the part of people putting the people not liking them so much because mercury does not like to be in Leo, it’s not a good time for Leo basically or plan to be in because it’s first attitude with words which is partly what makes them so excellent at what they do especially and in the fact of the business is there but you can also make you dislikeable because you won’t anyone else approach we have the fact that they all are Gemini Mars and Venus which is a trait I said in a chart I I’m really charming when Venus and Mars are in the same. You’re gonna get somebody who is very good at fitting in social they might have a problem with boys definitely have a problem with balancing out their masculine and feminine inside and it could be pleasure versus pain a lot and you can see that just by looking at these people

and what they have gone through in Life, the whole accusations Courtney had and still does to this day over Kurt death things are going on and supposedly stealing money off her and not being able to have access to it while looking really unwell as I said previously embezzling Tyson and him but these people matured as a man Tyson has able to redeem himself in a lot of ways they all have lived really many lives. They’ve all had drug problems too and they’ve all just done out their things because of the similar to their chart. I do not no Tyson rising sign to me he could be a cancer rising but he could also be a tourist rising even arising because of the boxing so it’s hard obviously with the data they put on birth choice so you don’t know even a chart with an AA rating Rod and rating he can’t always tell so I tried to carefully celebrities and tried to talk about their Mars and Venus signs, and maybe not even that moonshine because we don’t know because I still think Beyoncé could be a Leo. Everyone thinks she’s a libra rising I don’t believe. so Courtney with her labouring that’s all the looks and how she’s a bit obsessed with looks and mentions it a lot in herself and others that can be the shallowest but it can also be that Gemini side with the gift of the gab and the fact that she did this song about the dress with her and cat For this dress and it became a massive thing , when is an Aquarius rising of course makes so much sense to me alien like big big boobs over the top boobs kind of like Nicki Minaj it’s very funny because they’re in that sense of having that Aquarius first house as well. You do get a lot of Carians that are too, although I think this isn’t talked about much but yeah, this is why I think these personalities are very similar .

Final PSA to this is a fact that Courtney Love called out Harvey Weinstein in 2005 and got blackboard for her never to see the live date or many years later and that’s only the light of day so people with Gemini placements can be whistleblowers but you need to be careful because they do embellished the truth a little bit sometimes not all of them. It’s more common in the women and I believe that the man.

#astro observations #astro placements #astro community #astrology observations #astro notes #astroblr #fypage #astrology #cancer placements #gemini placements #leo mercury #mike tyson #wendy williams #courtney love

[queen-scribbles]

Alright, so, Endrali’s class companions + dealing with the fact she’s dating in love with Arcann. (lmao this wound up going best to worst reactions, that was unintentional 😂)

Nadia takes it the most in stride. It still throws her for a little bit of a loop, but the Ossus colony has been cut off from the rest of the galaxy long enough to not have first-hand exposure to most of the terrible things Arcann did. Practically everything she knows about it is second hand reports, which are still... pretty bad, but some of the oomph is gone. But, beyond that, she’s a) Endrali’s best friend and b) Force Sensitive, both of which mean it’s easy for her to see Endrali is genuinely, unreservedly happy in this relationship. So she does the cursory bff “Does he treat you right now(even if he did imprison you and try to kill you in the past)? Do you love him? Do you trust him?” and when the answer to all three is a resounding YES (with the caveat Endrali is 100% convinced Arcann would die for her without her even asking and that thought scares her to death) she’s just kinda, “Okay, I’m happy for you, if he breaks your heart, I’ll kick his ass, but otherwise, I trust your judgement.” and that’s that.

Qyzen is.... confused, more than anything. She did get him back midway through KotFE, so he was there for part of fighting Arcann and for her choice to let Senya take him after kicking his ass /cough at the end. Given their respect for each other, she keeps him apprised of how things go during KotET so he’s not in the dark. Qyzen is thus less surprised than most of the Alliance when she rolls up with Arcann in tow at the end of ch 6 bc unusual allies and showing mercy have always been the Herald’s way, why would she change now? So he more than any of the others saw the evolution of her and Arcann’s relationship through enemies to uncertain to cautious allies to friends. By the time that changes once more to lovers, Qyzen is more suspicious of anyone proving worthy of being mate to the Scorekeeper’s Herald than he is about it being Arcann specifically. Endrali gambles on the 50-50 shot of reminding him Arcann’s the only one who’s ever managed to capture her, the only one who’s proven her equal (or better) in a fight, so if anyone’s going to be worthy, it’s him. Qyzen takes a minute or two to process that, still seems confused and maybe ready to point out that capturing her is more an affront to the Scorekeeper than Arcann proving Endrali’s equal, but she’s the Scorekeeper’s Herald. If she says this is the right call, he’ll take her word.

Tharan, tbh... between how late he joins the Alliance/reunites with her and the fact he’s friends with Duras Fain and Syo Bakarn(both of whom she spared/redeemed), when he finds out she’s partially responsible for the redemption of the tyrant who spent five years strangling the galaxy and is now in love with the man, he just goes  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ OF COURSE YOU ARE. That’s just.... such a very Endrali thing to do. (Not only is it on-brand for her, who else could pull something like that off? lmao) He’s no stranger to the concept of “the heart wants what the heart wants” what with his exotech holo-girlfriend and the bond they share, so he’s less judgey about it than some people.

Felix needs quite a while to come to terms with it, given what Zakuul put him through. He sorta blue-screens when Endrali first tells him, even though he was rescued by and joins the Alliance not long after Arcann joins. He knows Arcann is there, knows Endrali swears he’s different now, and it’s not made clear during the Jail Broken alert if Arcann was aware of/gave the order for what Jarak did to Felix(I, personally, am still pissed BIOWARE did that to him  :|) so I don’t wanna presume there would be personal level animosity, but it’s still not great news for him. He has more firsthand experience with what the Force can do than the other non-Force user crewmates, so he believes Endrali when she says Arcann’s changed now, he knows that’s possible, but that doesn’t erase the harm he caused before. As of about... Echoes of Oblivion(when they go finish off Valkorion and Arcann doesn’t turn on her), Felix is at a point where he can accept this, bc it’s her life and her choice, but he can’t be happy for her like Nadia is.

Zenith... lmao. Zenith practically goes apoplectic at first. He’s already reluctant about joining the Alliance bc there are (former)Imperial there, only did it bc Endrali was asking. Aaaand then he sees Arcann around the base one day before Endrali has a chance to warn him “Oh, btw, I recruited the former emperor of Zakuul :D” and very nearly punches him in the face. (The only reason he doesn’t is Endrali stops him. Arcann would’ve let it happen. >.>) Since not only did Balmorra have a Star Fortress, but the Exarch overseeing it was one of the more fanatical and ruthless ones, Zenith is kinda furious to see that the person responsible for the program and so much other galactic devastation is here as anything other than a prisoner awaiting execution. He’s ready to walk, this is too much, out of all the people Endrali should’ve killed and didn’t this one really takes the cake(he’s yelling by this point. She’s not fazed in the slightest. Arcann’s not sure if he should leave or be ready to haul her back if she gets too passionate about this). There’s some--rising in volume--back and forth that involves Endrali pointing out every one of those people she redeemed went on to validate her decision to spare them and Arcann(he has a NAME, Zenith) is no different. He helped save her base, he’s had her back through countless fights, etc etc. Zenith is Zenith; hardline, stubborn, black and white, “He did all these horrible things, he deserves to die” (paraphrasing, lol)  Endrali gets just frustrated enough that when Zenith starts in grumbling about how she thinks she can “waltz up and just redeem anyone, regardless of what they’ve done”, she lets slip a slightly snarky “who says I ‘just’ redeemed him?” that has him demanding an elaboration. “First off, he agrees with you that he’s beyond redemption; his joining the Alliance is atonement, and second, we” --Endrali plants herself between Zenith and Arcann-- “fell in love.” Zenith just stares absolute daggers at her for a few seconds, spins on one heel, and stalks off. Endrali was more than half-sure he was going to leave and wouldn’t have stopped him if he did. But he doesn’t. Straight up refuses to acknowledge Arcann’s presence; won’t talk to him, won’t look at him, pretends she didn’t say anything if she mentions him in conversation, nothing. But he stays, and she’ll take that.

#queen in space #endrali jade #ardrali #this did top 1k btw :D

[queerstudiesnatural]

.

#ok i am no longer angry <3 #people will say stupid shit sometimes and it's not my responsibility to absorb all the discomfort that comes fr said things #plus i genuinely don't believe jensen is a bad person he's literally just dumb and doesn't think before he speaks #which is bad but it's redeemable and he does alright when he IS given time to think about what he says #like idk call me deluded but i kinda believe as long as you're trying you're okay and i genuinely think jensen is trying #also in context (with images as well as sound) i think he meant that they might have written dean to have flirty moments with girl!jack #not that he himself thinks that would he a good idea #so like idk i'm tired and i think he was clumsy but i'm done feeling angry i deserve to rest #and also he's literally just a man who says things like we can just. not listen lol #but like that's just me feel free to be bitter if you felt hurt that's valid <3 #tbh why did i feel the need to have this whole monologue on here idk but anyway i personally am letting it go #gotta get my zen back and all <3 #for clarification what i meant is that. i simply do not care what actors say about their characters. #and i don't think jensen is dangerous or anything. which is the only thing that would push me to talking any more about this #on social media instead of ignoring him #so i'll just treat him like the no-more-significant-than-anyone-else person he is and just choose not to listen to him

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

What would happen if you were sent back and ended up in the orphanage with Tom Riddle—and say you also had magic?

Oh boy.

Well, there's a lot to question here. Judging by the... spirit of this ask, I presume I'm... pretty much reincarnated. I'm in the orphanage, I'm much younger than I am now and a child, I'm pre-Hogwarts age, and I retain my current knowledge.

For the purpose of this ask I suppose I also retain my current mental faculties. Despite being in the body of an eight-year-old, I'm not The Carnivorous Muffin at eight.

Welp, there's a lot to consider here.

First, I probably don't realize I'm in Harry Potter for quite some time and instead assume I've been reincarnated to some parallel universe. It's the 1930's, I'm in England in the depression, WWI has occurred and the vast majority of major historical events I know about seem to have happened in the right order, and this Earth is eerily similar to the Earth I left behind.

Strange that I appear to remember everything of my past life with my adult mental abilities, but alright universe, I guess that's how we're going to play this.

What I do know is that I'm dirt poor, presumably still a woman which does not bode well for my career prospects, and if I want any prospects in life period I'm going to have to fight tooth and nail for it. It'd be great if I got adopted to help with this, and might be nice to have people in my life who love me, but there's a lot of orphans in the world and a lot of orphans who are much less weird than I am.

The orphanage is the orphanage and not great, Mrs. Cole is overworked, the orphanage is chronically understaffed, and the kids are running wild beating the shit out of each other.

Being a girl, I probably don't have to worry about getting the shit kicked out of me quite as much, but I still probably try to keep my head down and don't aggravate the particularly beefy looking orphans.

Yes, there's some very angry gremlin named Tom Riddle around who will shove you down the stairs in retribution, but that's just a weird coincidence. And then supernatural shit starts happening. Billy's rabbit hangs itself, people get injuries when Tom is nowhere near them, and I start wondering if this is really the Tom Riddle.

I'm in Wool's Orphanage, my matron is Mrs. Cole, Tom Riddle is running around lighting things on fire. It's possible, though it could all be a strange coincidence.

Now, how things go from here depends on how controlled my own magic is. Since accidental magic typically does manifest at least once or twice, it probably does manifest for me for.. something. If Tom Riddle's there to witness it then...

Well, I imagine he's very offended. Here he was, special, different, better than everyone else, and then some girl in the orphanage (who dares to get very good grades on her assignments in school) has it too.

And I just stand there, smiling, going "Tee hee".

He probably confronts me to prove that he's better at it than I am, and he probably is unless the universe hates both him and me, but having someone else with the Shining around probably prompts him to take me as his protégé (in part so he can show off and in part because he's genuinely excited to be able to share this super cool talent).

I am now apprentice to eight-year-old Tom Riddle. Whoop de doo.

Well, I don't remember this part of Harry Potter, so now I'm probably confused as to where I am again. Regardless, I try to advise Tom on how to tone it down and not, say, traumatize Amy and Dennis for life and antagonize all the other orphans forever. He probably doesn't take me seriously. What do I know, I can't even light that patch of grass on fire?

Hanging around Tom Riddle gets me a reputation to, given the difference in genders, probably a fairly nasty one at that. When Dumbledore arrives he's undoubtedly told hot gossip about how eleven-year-old Tom and I have had sex in a ritual to summon Satan. Dumbledore takes this seriously.

Dumbledore probably meets us both at the same time and it's a disaster. I tried my best to prep Tom without revealing I'm a prophet, Tom first doesn't believe there might not be others, then doesn't believe they would be antagonist/anything but amazed by how awesome he is.

Well, Dumbledore lights his wardrobe on fire while I sit there. Dying inside. Dumbledore probably also does something to me too, to teach me some kind of lesson about something.

I imagine he temporarily disfigures me/makes me appear very ugly, then sticks a mirror to the wall, that way I realize that looks aren’t everything/being a whore is wrong. Tom, still traumatized over the wardrobe, is no help and my magic’s probably not controlled enough to do a thing about it.

I spend a day looking like a pig, Tom and I are given just enough money to buy new wands and second hand/barely functioning everything else and given the world’s worst directions to Diagon Alley. Thanks, Albus.

Well, months pass, we get our wands, Tom gets excited for Hogwarts and I... start seriously considering the future. WWII is coming, the Blitz is coming, Tom and I live in east London and must be able to evacuate during the bombing of London (which went on well past the Blitz to the end of the war). I also start considering my future in the wizarding world. Do I now actually have career prospects?

Probably not because I’m muggle born and a woman. My best bet is doing very well in useful subjects and finding employment with the goblins, I can’t imagine they have the same hang ups as the wizarding world.

Tom wants to go to Slytherin, of course, I tell him this is a bad idea. “Gee Tom,” I say, “Not sure how I know this but I have this feeling that Slytherin is filled with people who loathe our very existence and will shank us. Why don’t we pick Ravenclaw or Gryffindor instead?”

No one shanks Tom Riddle! Tom says. Tom is still eleven and while he admits that sometimes I may, in retrospect, have been right about certain things that doesn’t mean he wants to go to the house known for hard work. That’s code word for everyone there being a moron and having no other redeeming features than tenacity. As for the other two, Ravenclaws sound like smug, elitist, nerds and Gryffindors like dumb jocks.

Better to be known for ambition, cunning, and actually being competent.

Well, there’s no talking him out of this one, and goddamn it we’re all each other has.

I’m the closest thing Tom Riddle has ever had to a friend in all these years and in the orphanage the only one who could hold a decent conversation with him. And while it’s not my moral obligation to keep Tom from becoming a domestic terrorist, and there’s no guarantee I even can, dumping him for one of the other houses and drifting apart won’t help.

Not to mention that, after all these years, I’m undoubtedly lonely, I’m in this foreign land, and he’s now the closest thing to a friend I have.

Looks like I’m going to Slytherin, YOOOOOLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOO! I shout as a battle cry as tears run down my face. I may have to convince the hat to put me in Slytherin, but like all human beings I am a mixture of many qualities. I’m not cunning in the least, mind games exhaust me unutterably, but I’m full of ambition. 

This confirms every bad opinion Dumbledore had regarding me and Tom.

For the next several months, Tom probably beats the shit out of dormmates who steal his things/harass him. He beats up mine too because feminism (TM) means that he should treat all people equally when guilty of the same crime. I... am not sure I can win that fight so I just resign myself to having to adopt some of Tom’s tactics to make sure I’m not shoved in lockers, have tampons thrown at me, or pig’s blood dumped on me at the prom.

Once again, everyone thinks Tom Riddle and I are dating. I don’t even know if they’re wrong at this point.

Well, being in class with eleven year olds who seem to have had little to no prior education, Tom and I are undoubtedly blazing through class. I imagine I’m bored out of my mind (the Hogwarts curriculum sounds unbelievably boring) and Tom is... well, probably devouring the library but probably also bored. I decide to try and see if I can find some real history texts on this world (there are probably none, the wizarding world seems to only have two historians and both... have a different approach to history than current modern thought as I know it) and discover what magic even is. That shit is fascinating: wingardium leviosa is not.

Dumbledore likely gives neither me nor Tom points in class, I think the house cup is stupid, so I really don’t care. I have no interest in playing quidditch, neither does Tom, so that doesn’t happen.

The second world war starts up, Tom, me, and the muggle borns are the only ones who give a flying fuck. I work harder on figuring out how to get lodging during the Blitz/the bombing of London. Unfortunately, Mrs. Cole hates me too for being the Bride of Satan, so that’s a no go. Third year, 1939, I probably write her in earnest anyway telling her to PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, send Tom and I instructions for the summer/where the orphans are staying/how they’ve been dispersed to the countryside. As a back up plan, I try desperately to shmooze shopkeepers in Hogsmeade during every Hogsmeade weekend to get myself and Tom part time jobs and lodging over the summer. As a back up back up plan, I spend my time badgering Tom to become very good at survivalist wandless magic and if the Lord has pity on me gain some ability in it myself.

Hopefully, either Mrs. Cole or one of the Hogsmeade shop owners take pity on us. If not, then Tom and I are going extreme camping. Given Mrs. Cole (and the brain damage brought on by Dumbledore erasing memories left and right) and the likelihood of Hogsmeade shop owners just not getting it, Tom and I probably go extreme camping.

(Tom, meanwhile, asks Dippet and Dumbledore if we can stay in Hogwarts over the summer. He’s told no exceptions. London’s being bombed, you say? No exceptions. Toodles. Tom is never the same.)

Me, Tom Riddle, a tent we made ourselves, several rabbits we had to catch and skin ourselves, and the pitiful fire that we can keep going through pure will alone because if we try to use real people spells then we’ll get arrested. It has the benefit of making Tom feel very manly and impressive, catching his own food, but both of us are well aware that this sucks.

But hey, we aren’t dead.

Well, I’m sure Tom doesn’t appreciate that and this is where I imagine he seriously starts talking about violent revolution. I imagine much of my time is spent discussing the merits of not violently overthrowing our ant overlords. I imagine a thirteen-year-old Tom isn’t impressed by my pacifism, but he’s not married to Voldemort yet (probably).

Then I imagine the horcrux thing comes up and... Well, I will argue hard against it. Humans die, it is a truth of the universe, and simply something we have to accept. Horcruxes are not a measure against that, they can be destroyed, given infinite time they will be, and the sacrifice they require is too high: human life as well as the very essence of who you are.

What is a soul? I’m not sure, we never really learn in HP canon, but whatever it is, it is in some way the essence of yourself. If you take half of it and throw it somewhere else, you will cease to be you, someone or something else is walking around in your body while the other half of you exists in endless agony.

If you must chase immortality, create a philosopher’s stone (as I darkly wonder why it was that couldn’t be replicated and what Flamel had to do to make it in the first place). On second thought, maybe we should search for the Holy Grail.

Whether I can talk Tom out of this or not is... unclear. I’m going to say that I can, in part because I imagine he’ll want to show the chamber off to me, tell me when he realizes he’s Heir of Slytherin, and in doing so I can prevent the basilisk incident from occurring. Without that, there’s no dead Myrtle, which means no first victim. That summer, when he goes to the Gaunts, I’ll go with him and convince him that it’s not worth it. He can just turn around and leave these people alone, I hopefully can talk him down. Which means no second victim.

I start writing Flamel to see if Tom or I can get an apprenticeship (Dumbledore probably beats us to the chase and poisons him against us, but it’s worth a shot).

Then, should all go well, I can convince Tom to find employment with the goblins rather than shady antique dealers on the bad side of town. Hopefully, I can convince him to never become Voldemort, and instead we travel the world together looking for the origins of magic or something.

Dumbledore goes around taking people’s memories of us in preparation for when Tom becomes a dark lord and I his lady of the night darkness.

TL;DR Apparently my life would become an SI/Tom Riddle fic. So, thanks anon.

#harry potter #harry potter meta #harry potter headcanon #tom riddle #albus dumbledore #anti albus dumbledore #meta #headcanon #opinion

[ruby-whistler]

Why c!Dream should (and probably will be) redeemed

Hi! I’m bad with intros. You’ve read the title, so, let’s start with the definitions.

In this essay, we are considering the popularized definition of “redemption” instead of the classical one, which is, as per the Oxford Dictionary, “the act of saving or state of being saved from the power of evil; the act of redeeming.” That’s not however the way the word is used in fandom and media.

/dsmp /rp

The definition of redemption I’ll be working with in this essay is not forgiveness by the people who c!Dream has hurt, nor is it removing himself entirely from his past actions, but moreso the decision to change for the better and abandon destructive mindsets for himself and others.

A “redemption” in a narrative sense would be circumstances and a character arc that would allow that kind of healing and betterment.

I’d like to start this off by the fact that being “irredeemable”, in this sense, also doesn’t exist; redemption is a thing of conditions and choice, not of being allowed by someone else. You can’t gatekeep healing from people who seek it, just to be clear, and that even goes for people who have done terrible things.

Since I understand there is a lot of concern for c!Dream’s past actions, here is a post from people who are much more fit than me to speak on the matter, about the way in which they see a possible c!Dream redemption arc.

Another disclaimer, I am not going to be considering c!Dream only from the perspective of c!Tommy in this essay. c!Dream appears in other people’s perspectives and he himself has his own, unseen perspective. As a character, he is an individual person in his own right rather than just the antagonist of c!Tommy’s story, and so I do not have much concern for their narratives intertwining too much should this writing choice occur.

I’d also like to note that redemption is, in this sense, always a positive thing for everyone involved - someone who’s been prone to doing bad things in the past deciding not to do them anymore and try to change, or just simply heal enough to consider it, isn’t going to have a long-term negative effect in any of the characters, but rather the other way around. Healing is an unlimited resource, and the victims do not have to heal first for the person who hurt them to consider being better.

Here’s a well-written thread on Twitter that elaborates a bit to finish off this point, and let’s move on to actually talking about redemption in the context of the Dream SMP, and c!Dream specifically.

Why a c!Dream redemption arc is not only a good writing choice, but in this case the only good writing choice;

c!Dream, as we all know, has been subject to mental and physical abuse to the point of straight up torture by both c!Sam and c!Quackity (to different extents). He has been in indescribable amounts of suffering for the past 74 days at the time this essay will be published. That is six and something times the duration of the entire exile arc in canon.

Whatever the interpretation of his words in prison is, what is undeniable is first of all the fact his mental stability is absolutely crushed at this point, second that no human being could possibly ever deserve to undergo this, and third, his stay in the prison is showing off his humanity and making him out to be sympathetic.

Now, consider this; how would it feel if c!Tommy died at the end of the exile arc? Empty, there would be no catharsis to such an end, especially because of all of the hurt he’d gone through. Objectively, a bad writing choice.

Let’s compare, narratively of course, this situation to the prison arc. Even though I would never say one of them is “better” or “worse” than the other, since both are terrible and undeserved, c!Dream’s current state checks off all of the boxes that would make his death unsatisfying in the storyline; even if people want him gone, there would still be the dissatisfaction at the current build-up and why they even did it in the first place (it really wasn’t necessary to anyone else’s story to make him out as a victim, and yet they did) if they were planning to kill him off anyways. And since the prison arc is naturally meant to induce sympathy, even from an angst perspective it would simply not make sense within the themes and writing of the plot.

So, c!Dream can’t die, and he also can’t stay in the prison forever - the build-up must lead to something, which is logically a breakout. Great… what now?

Well, the Dream SMP prides itself in accurate representation of trauma and mental instability, specifically cc!Tommy and cc!Dream who have pulled it off incredibly during the exile arc.

Now, undoubtedly, after the prison, c!Dream is going to be just terribly traumatized- considering the writers’ past creative decisions, would it make sense for him to play the role of a dangerous, heartless villain in other people’s stories, while completely ignoring the logical fallout of what he’s been through?

In my mind, no. The most possible result is that cc!Dream is going to rightfully portray someone who’s been hurt so much he is broken, scared and tortured into submissions over months of agony and slowly stripping away of his agency, his dignity, his humanity. And that is… not going to be pretty, nor is he going to be in any way the same as before.

After everything, I’d be surprised if he can properly look at shears without shaking. That’s not villain behaviour, that’s the behaviour of someone who needs help.

Which leads me to another point, which is relatability. Believe me or not, there are people out there who heavily relate to c!Dream because they have been through things that allow them to see themselves in the character - abandonment, mental illness, etc. - or who have had destructive mindsets they have struggled to let go of in the past.

To them, as well as to the viewer, redeeming c!Dream could actually be a very good example, showcasing that anyone who has done bad things or has been hurt in the past can learn that it is possible to be better, to move on, to not be stuck in a loop but to actively seek help and then use that support to find the path to healing.

Making c!Dream a better person, who in a way, wins over his past, over his trauma, over the hurt he’s caused, and manages to actually get better… is inspiring, in a sense. It shows that you can abandon unhealthy mindsets, you can find a support group of people who care about you, you can make your life better simply by deciding to be better and then sticking to that, no matter how difficult the process.

This is why I believe that redeeming c!Dream would not be bad writing, but quite the opposite, and that the prison arc is an obvious set-up. Alright, but how does that work with the character? How could someone so widely hated mentally improve in such a seemingly violent and terrible environment? Would it even make sense within the context of c!Dream’s character so far? Well,

Why c!Dream has the capacity for healing and the Dream SMP the ability to provide it;

First of all, let’s remind ourselves that through c!Dream’s entire spiral he wasn’t ever directly given a chance to change. He was regarded as someone to defeat in order to accomplish a happy ending, or as someone who needed to be removed in order to achieve power on the SMP. Ever since the 16th, which is when the corruption of the character is the most obvious, there have been no attempts to reach out or to help him. I do not blame the characters for this - I am simply pointing out that since it has never happened before, we do not know how he would respond, and that, after everything he’s been through, any bit of kindness or compassion towards him will be a new concept he will have to learn to deal with somehow.

This point is especially driven home by the fact that both c!Quackity and c!Sam would often tell him he is a monster who deserves nothing but to suffer, and that what he’s going through is never going to amount to all the hurt he’s caused - basically removing any possibility for ever getting better (because by this logic, he doesn’t deserve support, and he doesn’t deserve to get better) from his line of sight.

He also hasn’t had a support system since shortly after the 16th, when his friends left him over c!George’s dethronement and made no effort to mend their relationship afterwards. c!Dream isn’t used to having allies and people on his side, but to being hated; again, wouldn’t that mean positive reinforcement could very well be all he needs to make the choice?

His bad mindsets - attachments are weakness, ends always justify the means, people will consider you a bad person no matter what you do - have been continuously proven right by his environment, even in prison. Any kind of subversion, plus an explanation as to why they are wrong, could be of great help to c!Dream.

Just another disclaimer; I do not believe c!Dream would change thanks to the treatment in prison, but rather despite it. His mental stability is non-existent at that point, and in order to get better he needs genuine emotional support from the people around him as well as to heal before he can redeem himself.

Alright, but… c!Dream has hurt a lot of people. Who would be fit to help him?

Let’s start off with the worst option and why it’s impossible the writers would even attempt this; c!Tommy.

c!Tommy has no responsibility to help or ever forgive c!Dream - not to say he could. The two, as it is, would drag each other down instead of helping in any capacity, and only make matters worse. The two of them shouldn’t even interact in the best case scenario - the best thing for both of them would be if they got enough healing and support individually that they could live around each other and not get their trauma or toxic habits triggered when interacting for whatever purpose of the plot.

So, if not c!Tommy (and c!Tubbo neither by extension), who could redeem c!Dream?

Well, he can’t do it on his own for sure. Being in nature with animals is nice, but further isolation from other people would merely help with the prison trauma, not with the state of his tendencies when interacting with others. He, once again, needs positive reinforcement from other people for him to heal properly.

There are two main options for this in my mind, and then there’s a few individuals he could also find comfort in, including people from both groups or those unaligned.

1) Kinoko Kingdom

From the people of this new country, c!Dream has never negatively interacted with c!Karl before, he has never hurt c!George and he hasn’t directly harmed c!Sapnap. Although the relationship with his old friend group could be difficult to rekindle, none of them have grudges against him that are too personal, and they have been canonically close friends since the beginning of the SMP, so it would be very much possible to rebuild burnt bridges. They’d be familiar, and with the addition of c!Karl they could be a good source of comfort for c!Dream after he either breaks out or is released from prison - just gotta convince c!Sapnap not to kill him first.

2) The Syndicate

From the Syndicate, c!Dream has never directly interacted with c!Nikki, and from what I know of her character she never seemed to be very affected by his actions - even doing his work for him when he was planning to burn down the L’Mantree. c!Techno is an ally who doesn’t have anything against him, and as for c!Ranboo, here is why I believe c!Dream being in the Syndicate could be positively influential on his character arc as well;

c!Ranboo and c!Philza have had a conversation about change, during which c!Ranboo made it clear he thinks everyone can change except for c!Dream; who, in his mind, is “too deep down the rabbit hole”. c!Philza replied that he thinks anyone can change if given enough time.

… you see what I’m getting at?

c!Dream has been implied to be an ally to c!Ranboo’s enderwalk state (or the state when he has access to his full memory), and hence would most likely not behave negatively towards him at all. While it might make it more difficult for c!Ranboo to deal with his own issues, it might also give him more motivation to get to the bottom of it as well, especially since he now has access to the person who, presumably, started this all. While this is going on, c!Dream would show himself in a much different light than c!Ranboo sees himin, which could lead to confusion, realization of the flaws in his own logic, and hence, positive character development.

Here’s a great post about why c!Techno as a character could be a great asset in c!Dream’s healing process & redemption, and why there is not much need to worry about him not knowing or finding out about c!Dream’s actions.

Of Kinoko Kingdom and the Syndicate, as far as I know, neither c!Tommy nor c!Tubbo have ever been directly involved with these groups, nor are they planning to.

Another important point to make is that, while c!Tommy needs to be kept away from c!Dream in order to heal properly, the same goes for c!Quackity and c!Sam in c!Dream’s case. While c!Quackity has high chances to interact with either Kinoko Kingdom or the Syndicate in the future, there’s an even higher chance, in that situation, that c!Dream would be offered protection, which is also important; there is no healing from trauma without the knowledge of safety, to some degree.

So, this was an essay as to why I think c!Dream’s recovery and redemption (one needs to come before the other, naturally) is not only extremely possible but also could be pulled off well and have a positive impact on both the characters, and the audience.

#dreblr #dream smp #c!dream #c!dream sympathetic #c!quackity neg #c!sam neg #dsmp analysis #tw torture #tw abuse #long post #i really should start writing longer essays #i need more material #anyways #hope y'all liked this #just joining the debate #:]

[dorimena]

Hello hello! Your blog is beautifully constructed. I hope there will be more dom reader blogs like yours in the future. If you aren’t busy could I please have g/n reader brat taming Bakugou or Shinsou? I’ll leave it up to you to decide. Remember to drink water!

Hello! Thank you! (´ ω `♡) I chose Bakugou, but I might do something similar for Shinsou later on huhu~ And thanks for the reminder! I hope you’re hydrated as well! ╰(*´︶`*)╯

𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔢𝔯; bakugou katsuki

𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔡 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱; 1.5k

𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰; gender neutral reader, impact play (not too hard though), brat taming, crying, mentioned overstimulation, implied edge play, paddle, dom!reader, sub!character

𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔞𝔤𝔰; sex toy (cock ring), lowkey headcanon Bakugou being into impact play, some aftercare before round 2, mentioned safe word (cues like the traffic light colors), aged-up character, Bakugou is 18+

𝔰𝔦𝔡𝔢𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔢; I hope you enjoy it notwhatiseem. I might’ve had to do some investigation, as I was unsure if my plan on how the story was going was a correct, or as correct, portrayal. Maybe in the near future Mr. Paddle will make a comeback-

𝕸𝖗. 𝕻𝖆𝖉𝖉𝖑𝖊

“Baby boy! What has gotten into you today?”

You scold Bakugou as he glares at you from the couch, arms crossed and body relaxed on the cushions as he tries not to show how his anger is making his body tremble.

Unlike you, because you’re quivering in anger, in utter disappointment with the stunt he decided to pull during the Bakusquad’s monthly game night.

It was a fun time, a casual time and place where everyone could leave behind their prohero responsibilities before somehow being dragged away to missions, patrols, paperwork, all the glorious hero work.

But Bakugou decided that this very night, in the very moment Kaminari ‘accidentally’ placed his hand on your thigh, that he’ll be a brat. A jealous brat, which is worse than his usual bratty behavior.

But he isn’t usually a brat? It’s confusing and a whiplash for you, not really expecting to punish him after months of him being so obedient, so nice, so docile with you and everything you wanted or needed.

“Answer me, Bakugou.”

Okay, that made him furrow his eyebrows in worry, wondering if he’s crossing a line, but that already happened the moment he began sassing back at you and insulting you. Not even playful banter, it was just outright rude and degrading.

He went against opening his mouth or talking in general, just huffing as he slouched a bit more into the couch, as if he wants the cushions to swallow him in or maybe he’s trying to keep riling up your mood.

“Sit up correctly.” You snapped, halting your pacing as you standing in front of him, hands on your hips as you take in his sitting position. He’s barely such a slouch; he’s taking this too far.

Or maybe you got too used to him being such a sweet baby boy that you forgot just how impatient you can sometimes get.

This is one of those times.

“You’re not gonna talk?”

He shakes his head. Well, at least he answered, but his posture remains the same.

Sighing, you leave the living room and head to the bedroom, rummaging through your closet to find- aha!

Bakugou, in the meantime, is trying not to let his nerves get to him, not wanting clammy palms and possibly causing more harm with his reactions. All he can hear is stuff being moved around in your shared bedroom and then hearing a small shout of victory.

But for what- wait, why the fuck did you take that out?!

“Alright, baby boy. I hope you remember Mr.Paddle. He will aid me in your punishment.”

No, no! Anything but the paddle! You’ve never used it, at all. Even if there were some close calls, you still never had it anywhere near his skin, or him. It was a gag gift you gave him out of the blue.

“No!” Bakugou yelled, getting on his feet as his arms fell on either side of him, eyes wide in shock and slight fear. How hard could you go with that? How bad will it hurt?

But your amused chuckle seems to make him even more confused. Aren’t you angry at him?

“So you speak when threatened, but not when spoken to nicely? I told you to sit correctly-”

“I will!”

“Baby boy.” Oh he’s done it. He interrupted you just as he was kind of redeeming himself.

Well, shit.

“I’m s-sorry…” He trailed off, slowly sitting down on the couch as he never loses eye contact with you, waiting to see if you’ll finally use the paddle or you’ll continue trying to talk things out.

But you made a good point: why does he only speak up when threatened with punishment instead of avoiding all of this anger?

“Baby boy. Today you’ve gotten bold with your actions and your words. But you’ve been terribly rude with Kaminari! Isn’t he your friend? What did he do wrong?”

You do know, but you wanted to hear it from him.

But Bakugou kept his silence, fidgeting on the seat as he battled his inner, mini Bakugous about the pros and cons of speaking up and answering.

The main pro is that he’ll be given attention.

The main con is that that attention will be given with the paddle.

Well, his pride be damned.

“He was touching you! I hate it when other people do!” He spoke out, voice raising in volume just a bit at the end, but he shyly whispered, “you of all people know how jealous I can get.”

“Oh~ so baby boy was jealous?”

He groaned, covering his face with his hands before taking them away in a flash, grimacing at how sweaty they are and how sweet it smells.

“Don’t make me repeat myself, goddamn it.”

“Language.”

He grumbled, pouting as he looked at you again, slowly averting his gaze to the paddle as it just stared back at him.

Why does he feel like even if he spoke, he’s going to get that touching him?

He was right after some time, his body moving forward with every hit you landed on his ass with the paddle, a cry of the number he’s on leaving his mouth as more drool lands on the bed, more tears wetting the sheets, more precum falling in stringy drips on the sheets.

He can’t even come to care about the rapidly dirty sheets, or even come to think about anything really. Not with how every smack he receives, the hornier he keeps getting. The tighter his hands grip the bed sheets, and if he were at least conscious with his actions, he would’ve heard fabric tearing up and smell a bit of burning.

Is he into this? Has he always been into this? Well, yes. But he didn’t think taking the paddle instead of your hand would be so much better.

God, please-

“H-harder! Please! H-hardeeeeer- ugh fuuuuuuuck.”

You snicker before rearing back into a serious expression.

“Excuse me? You’re not allowed to speak, baby. Keep counting.”

Bakugou groans before it ends in a sob, a weak ‘68’ coming out as you land the last spank on his bruising ass and a small ‘69’ squeaks out of his throat as he falls forward, face resting on a nearby pillow. And if you somehow catch his hips gyrate slowly against the bed and small, hoarse whines leave his body, you decide to ignore and let him come down from the high the way he usually does.

You’re quite surprised at how he hadn’t used his safe word, or any safe cues, within the spankings, and actually asked for you to go harder. But his bruises are enough to make you feel kind of bad, just a bit.

“You know,” you speak, throwing the paddle on the floor before rounding the bed, squatting to look at his tear stricken, blush decorated, sweat sticky face, “I knew you were a slut for impact play, but I didn’t think it’d be this much.”

Bakugou just mewls weakly, voice lost in his trance as he tried recollecting any thoughts of his, especially the coherent ones so he could speak. Even if they’re just curse words.

“Sh-shitty y-y/n…” He blinks a couple of times, trying to unblur his eyes with the tears that seem to stubbornly stay on his lash line.

“Th-think tha-at be ‘nough? Hah… y-yer cute.”

Blinking yourself, you stare as you shake your head. So he wants to act difficult today, huh?

“Oh baby, baby, baby. All you had to do was ask nicely instead of being mean to your friends. You know I would do anything to keep you happy, to please you.”

You reach to pet him, scratching his scalp as soothing as possible, watching as his eyes slowly come back to being sharp, the fuzz lingering leaving as his mouth twitches into a smile, a relaxed, serene smile as his once tense body slowly melts into the bed, the small shudders from the intensity of the situation for his body slowly disappearing as he lets out something close to a purr.

How cute, he thinks he’s off the hook.

“Since baby boy isn’t satisfied with what I gave him, guess I’ll just have to fuck the brattiness and attitude out of you, hm?”

You slowly lift your hand, standing up as you go back to the closet, leaving him with enough time to gather his thoughts back together and come to realize how you’ve tricked him, how you’re not even done yet, how he’s still gonna get punished.

But, he loves overstimulation? How is that punishing?

“Oh! Forgot to mention: you’ll be wearing this until I feel like taking it off, okay?”

And in his line of vision is his cock ring, the horrible toy that vibrates in teasing tempos and makes him pathetically cum, humiliating him. God he hates that fucking thing.

He growls lowly, as if he’d have a threat ready between his teeth, but then you flipped him over gently, the coolness of the sheets soothing his ass as you flick one of his nipples.

He whimpers, puffing his chest out more for you to keep playing with.

“What’s your color right now, Katsuki?”

“Green m-master.”

#notwhatiseem #✿; impurity #bnha smut #bakugou smut #bakugou x reader #bakugo katsuki smut #mha smut #𝖇𝖆𝖐𝖚𝖌𝖔𝖚 #ლ; blasphemy

[mypoisonedvine]

I mean 👀 if I could get your thoughts on Lee Bodecker buying his lady lingerie

listen, there are so many ways I could go with this but for some reason my brain conjured sub!Lee buying a dommy get up for his girl so she has the perfect lingerie to take charge in the bedroom with..... 

“What are you gonna do to me?” he asked with a cheeky grin as he watched you tighten the straps that kept his wrists fastened to either bedpost.

“You’ll see,” you answered cryptically, smiling a little as you finished tying him up and slipped away to the bathroom to change into the new outfit he’d bought you.  Honestly you weren’t even sure how to put it on, considering there were buckles and straps everywhere that you could hardly keep track of.  The corset made your breath catch, literally, but you admired yourself in the mirror as you took in the sight of you looking... not quite like a dominatrix, but certainly like a woman ready to bring a big strong man like Lee to his knees just for a chance to taste you.  

Fortunately for him, you weren’t going to torture him that much; you were way too worked up for that.

You opened the bathroom door dramatically, grinning when his jaw dropped at the sight of you.  “How do I look?” you asked innocently.

“Even better than I imagined,” he purred.  “Fuck, baby, it’s killin’ me that I can’t touch you right now.”

You smiled when you saw his restrained hands tightening into fists as you brought out the riding crop, lightly smacking it against your palm to test the pressure.  “Is that all you wanna do, touch me?”

“So much more,” he sighed.  “Wanna taste you, taste that sweet little cunt.”

“Oh, Sheriff, nothing about me is sweet,” you chuckled, circling the bed and watching his gaze follow you.  You loved when he got all doe-eyed for you like this.  

Gently, you let the riding crop brush over his thigh before you pulled it back and swatting him lightly, making him wince.  

“Not too hard, is it?” you asked nervously, letting the facade of an experienced dom slip.  But he didn’t mind it, if anything he got off on the way he had to teach you out of your innocence, show you how to take control and do what he liked.

“It’s perfect, baby, hit me again,” he pleaded softly.  And you did, one on each thigh with an extra sudden one for good measure, biting on your lip as you watched the way his face contorted in both pleasure and pain.  Best of all was the way his cock jumped and flexed, so hard and red and leaking from the tip.

“I bet your cock is aching now, isn’t it?  Does it hurt, Sheriff?” you asked with a condescending type of sympathy.

“Yes,” he hissed through his teeth.  “Please touch it.”

You answered his wish in the way you knew he wanted least, gently brushing the end of the crop over his shaft.  

“N-no, please, don’t hit me there,” he whimpered.

“God, I’m not that cruel,” you giggled, “but I like how you look when you’re a little scared.”  You moved the crop up over his round stomach and hard chest before brushing it over his face, turning him by his jaw to look at you.  “Such a pretty boy, too bad you’re such a pervert.”

You smacked him again with the crop, this time on the cheek, and he moaned a little.

“See?  You like it.  You like being hit.  What’s wrong with you?”

“Sorry,” he stumbled over his words, “I’m sorry, baby, can’t help it.”

“Aw, that’s alright,” you smiled softly, setting the crop down, “I know you can’t help it.  Just try to be a good boy for me, okay?”

“Of course,” he nodded desperately, “I’m always your good boy.”

“Mm, I don’t know about that,” you smirked.  “I seem to remember an incident last week where somebody came before he was given permission.”

“Forgive me, please,” he whimpered, “you know I can’t hold back when you ride me like that, you just feel too good...”

“I’m gonna do better than forgive you, Sheriff-- I’m gonna give you a chance to redeem yourself.”

You straddled him suddenly, pulling your panties aside to rub his swollen head through your folds, which were already plenty wet from watching him struggle against the restraints.  When you began to sink down, though, you stopped once his head was just barely inside you, grinning as you started to rock your hips.

“Please,” he groaned, “m-more, please, need to feel all’a you.”

“Do you think you deserve it?”

“You know I’ll do anything, please baby, please just gimme a little more, m’gonna be your good boy, promise...”

He gasped when you sank lower, not quite going all the way yet but letting him savor the little mercies you gave him.  You kissed him slow and deep as you rode him, careful to only go about halfway down on his cock before pulling back up, secretly wishing you could take more but knowing it would be better to make him wait.

“Your cock feels so good,” you moaned against his lips, “even if it’s just part of it, you always make me feel so good, Lee.”

You smiled when he whined at your words, pushed deeper into his desperation by the compliment and the way you said his name.  

“Gimme more, please baby, don’t you want it all in you?” he bargained, whining again when you shook your head.

“Not yet, Sheriff, I think I could come just from this,” you winked.  “Wanna feel me come around you, want me to soak this pretty cock of yours?”

You saw the desire to say ‘no’ flash in his eyes-- not because he didn’t want you to come, but because he didn’t want you to come like this when he couldn’t fully relish the way your walls pulsed and fluttered.  But it was overpowered by the way he was addicted to you using his body, taking your pleasure while ignorant to his own.  It drove him wild, so much so that you felt him trying to buck up into you as he squirmed and pulled at the straps that bound him.

“Yes, please come,” he begged, baring his teeth at the sight of you falling into your pleasure, throwing your head back and moaning his name again as you reached your peak.

Just as the final wave of your orgasm washed over you, you sank down all the way and took his cock as deep in you as it could go.

“Fuck!” he yelped.  

“What do you say?” you prompted coyly.

“Thank you,” he answered quickly, “thank you-- fuck, baby, you feel so good.”

You changed the motion of your hips a bit, grinding your clit down on him each time you moved up and down on his cock.

“Lemme see those tits,” he requested, his voice a little rougher than before, “please.”

“Don’t like the corset after all, hm?”

“No, no I like it very much,” he corrected, “just need to see those pretty tits bouncin’ when you ride me, please.”

“Okay, pretty boy,” you offered hesitantly, reaching behind you to undo the snaps, “but you’d better not come before I say you can... you know how you get.”

“I know,” he relented, “I’m gonna be good this time, I swear.”

You unclasped the corset and tossed it aside, watching him bite his lip as your breasts were exposed.  “Wanna taste ‘em?” 

“You know I do,” he grinned, and you sat up a bit and leaned forward to let his lips reach to latch onto one of your hardened nipples.  You moaned as his tongue swirled over the sensitive bud, making your walls tighten around him occasionally.  “You like how I suck on you, baby?” he asked pridefully as he let one nipple fall from his lips while he kissed his way over to the other.  “I can feel how much you like it.”

“Feels so good,” you praised between moans.  “You’re gonna make me come again, Lee...”

“Fuck,” he hissed when you pulled away, riding him faster as you clung to his shoulders to keep your balance.  “I-I’m close.”

“You know you can’t come yet,” you reminded him breathlessly.

“Let me come with you, please...” he begged, but you weren’t even sure he was gonna last that long with the way his nails were digging into his palms.  

“I don’t know,” you chewed your lip as you pondered, “if I do let you come you’d better promise to be on your best behavior all week.”

“I’ll do anything,” he assured desperately, “won’t talk back, won’t touch myself, I’ll make you come however you want, just please let me come now, I-I can’t hold back anymore.”

“Fuck, I’m close, Sheriff, I’m so close and I want you to fill me up,” you groaned.  “I love being full of your come...”

“Pleasepleaseplease,” he sobbed, “m’gonna come, fuck, fuck!”

“Come for me,” you whimpered as you hit your peak, this orgasm briefer yet sharper than the last, accentuated by the feeling of his come filling you in hot spurts.  You smiled down at him as you both caught your breath, loving the way he looked with those blue eyes blown wide, a thin layer of sweat on his forehead and chest, his whole torso rising and falling with each long breath.

You leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss before starting to untie him.

“Gotta let you out so you can clean up this mess you made inside me,” you explained.  “You’re gonna be my good boy and eat your come out of my pussy, aren’t you?”

“Anything for you, baby,” he nodded through his exhaustion, “anything for you.”

#lee bodecker x reader #lee bodecker smut #sub!lee bodecker #slothspaghettiwrites

[maleyanderecafe]

Hey there was a mobile game I wanted to recommend you check out! It’s called MazM: The Phantom of the Opera. Obviously the phantom himself is a well-known character and prime example of a yandere, and this version’s Raoul also takes on that trait a little (although it’s mostly because Christine is in a life or death situation and this he’s protective over her), he’s very sweet and doesn’t wait a moment to shower her with praise. Anyway it’s a pretty faithful retelling of the original book and was extra fun for me as a yandere-lover as you play as Christine caught in between the yandere and the actual boyfriend. I think it’s coming to the switch soon as well if you want to wait for that.

...Are you sure that Raoul just takes on this trait a bit...?

Joking aside, sorry it took me so long to answer this ask. I was originally going to watch a walkthrough on youtube, but then I realized that you said it would be on switch and since I just got my switch emulator, I ended up playing with a friend. I will say that there is a lot for me to say about this game, so this will be a long read.

First things first, I'll admit that I've never actually read or watched the Phantom of the Opera before, so I genuinely have no idea what happens in the story. This is where my friend who I was streaming for comes in because she has read the story so she helped fill me in on what happens (she's also making a yandere vn in the future which I will be spamming the heck out of because yandere vn). I think from what she told me, most of the story is relatively accurate, though some parts are changed for one reason or another (for instance, The Persian has a name in this game, but in the original, he doesn't), which has some pros and cons for some characters. Overall though, the story was pretty good for a first timer like me since it really let me experience what the Phantom of the Opera is truly about. I think the creator Mazm did a good job for historical detail, which makes sense considering their platform is about creating games that reinterpret famous stories (they've also done one for Wizard of Oz and Jekyll and Hyde which I sort of want to play), and there are a lot of different notes the player can collect in the game that give more historical insight into what is going on.

The story for the most part is pretty linear. There are some choices you can choose, but except for two, they don't really affect the story. For the most part, the game plays as a visual novel, though you do have to walk around to talk or interact with things to proceed the story. There are cats and notes that lie around the game too, with the notes giving more historical insight and the cats being used as hints in case you don't know where to go. The story is about a detective trying to find out the truth of the Phantom of the Opera at a request of a client whos husband was a victim of him, but most of the story is played through a flashback.

There are also small minigames as well that aren't too difficult, though I honestly felt like some of the minigames got to be tedious at times, specifically the one minigame where you have to press the order of the mirror combo which I found really annoying because besides the fact that I'm bad at those games, you had to do it every time you wanted to enter under the Opera house, which was just... ugh. The game itself seems much more optimized for mobile than it was for switch considering how slow the characters move (and its really slow walking to different places sometimes) as well as the fact that it takes forever to load between different scenes and there's no touch screen option for switch (that I know of). Plus the buttons for moving and pressing hints were annoying to deal with (though this could just be because I'm using an emulator). I also kept getting confused when I was playing, since sometimes I would walk around the entire opera house trying to figure out what to do next, only to learn that I was suppose to talk to someone that was literally five steps from where I spawned. The last thing I found annoying was the fact that there's no option to skip dialogue which is really annoying when I wanted to replay a specific part of the story to take some screenshots. If you play this game, it's probably better to play it on mobile than on switch.

In terms of artwork, Mazm's Phantom of the Opera is really gorgeous, from the overworld sprites to the dialogue sprites to the background and CGs. I love how cute the overworld sprites are (I think Jammes and Raoul's are my favorite, they're both so cute) and every background is really nice to walk through and gives a good atmosphere of what it's trying to show. The character sprites for each characters are nice and varied. I can always appreciate characters that have recognizable faces and shapes, since a lot of times I have face blindness when it comes to characters that look way too similar. The CGs of course are super well done and I love all of them. Overall, the artstyle of this game is very solid and I love the way it looks.

The main character of the story was Christine, who looks really good ( I really love her hair), was for the most part alright initially. While I found her to be a bit naive (because she believed that there was an actual Angel of Music when it was just... the Phantom), she was for the most part alright, and even ended up saving another character from the phantom. However, I found her actions annoying after she met the phantom, specifically the part where she agreed to stay underground with the phantom for two days and would be released as long as she didn't touch his mask, and guess what. Right as she was literally about to leave, SHE TAKES OFF HIS MASK, AND FOR WHAT? YOU WERE JUST ABOUT TO LEAVE?? The other thing that bothered me was the after being trapped with the Phantom for about a month, she is given free reign to go back above ground, under the conditions that she only goes to the opera house and at home. During this time, she's expected to break it off with Raoul, so she fakes a honeymoon with him before he leaves for the artic. However, during this time, she doesn't tell anyone, not even Raoul about what the Phantom is up to. She has an entire month, an ENTIRE MONTH to tell someone that the Phantom is likely to hurt people (as previously he had dropped a chandelier on top of the audience) and she just... didn't. Understandably, she might have been afraid that the Phantom might have heard her, but still, what is he going to do to the possible 100 people that Christine could have told about him. She could have saved people from death if something like that were to happen. Near the end, she does get proper character development and learns to choose things for her sake and not others, which was pretty nice and does stand up to the Phantom after all the trauma (and doesn't get stockholm sydrome, thank goodness), but I still think that a lot of her actions could have probably been written better to make her less naive (since apparently in the original she was about 16ish while in this remake she's about 20 so it's less awkward between her and the phantom).

Raoul is the next character I'll be talking about, because even though he is very adorable, he also has one braincell and talks about Christine way too much. My friend and I actually decided to make a counter on how many times Erik and Raoul say "Christine." Erik says Christines name 128 times and Raoul... says it 340 times. This isn't even counting his introduction and only starts up to when Erik is introduced as a formal character and also doesn't count any time he says it in the overworld. 340! My friend kept on joking around that because Raoul says Christine so much, his brother Phillipe became an alcoholic because he's so tired of Raoul talking about Christine. Raoul only really has like three things going for him: the fact that he was in the military, the fact that he's part of the Chagny household and Christine, and that's it. Throughout the story, his goals are pretty much always related to Christine, whether it be to give gifts to Christine, being worried about her or trying to protect Christine from the Phantom. When the chandelier drops on half the crowd during one of the performances, instead of being worried for them or trying to get out of the Opera House, he instead looks for Christine, who is on stage and quite literally in the safest location within the theater. I would consider him a redeemed/protective yandere though, considering his priority is always Christine (he even gives up his own family name to be with her) and he's always trying to protect her. There's a part of the story where Raoul becomes really unhinged when it comes to protecting Christine, lashing out her her friends and other members of the Opera house. He does some really dumb stuff because of the Phantom, specifically throwing away Christine's ring that she got from the Phantom (that she also literally told him before that as long as she's wearing the ring she wouldn't be harmed by the phantom and he just...?? okay??). When he's tortured in the mirror room, he hallucinates Christine blaming him for her capture, and he even cries while hallucinating that Christine friendzones him (which I though was actually really funny, even if it was a tad bit stupid). His redemption comes near the end of the story where he apologizes for being so emotional and realizing that he was a bit of an obsessive beast, and in one ending he lets Christine go to travel the world. To be honest, I don't know if Raoul would continue to be as protective and obsessed with her even after the Phantom's death, but I guess there's not really any way to know.

The Phantom, or Erik (which I know is his cannon name but it makes me laugh because he really doesn't look like an Erik) is the main villain of the story. Unfortunately, in this version, I don't think I can call him a yandere, for one simple character: Melek. Melek, as far as I know isn't in the original story, is a prisoner that Erik has after she refused to marry her. As a character, I do actually like Melek since she's the one of the more sensible characters in the story and she's the more rational one between her and Christine, but her role in the story basically deconfirms Erik as a yandere, at least in this version. For one, Melek is a blind maid of Erik that he did fall in love with and trap, similar to how Christine was, which kind of comes off as Erik being the kind of person who would trap any girl that he likes. Even if this is the case, I don't understand why Erik would keep her alive even after she fell for Christine. Supposedly the reason is that Erik wanted to make Christine feel despair and he did attempt to kill her, but Melek survives and he just... doesn't do anything with her. Honestly, if Melek were straight up not in the story, I would have put him as a yandere because pretty much all of his other actions point to a more possessive/worship type of yandere, but because of Melek it's just not possible in my eyes. Besides that Erik sort of reminds me of a chunni in this version (he's like this absolute darkness is my curse! Like people with 7th grade syndrom seem to have), it was kind of hard for me to take him seriously in certain times. He is very intimidating when he threatens Christine, but his overdramatic nature (which I know is something he's always known for, just this version is uh...) really makes him seem like a child. Erik is for sure suppose to be more antagonistic in this version, considering the addition of Melek and his general actions of possession towards Christine and his disdain for Raoul, but near the end we do see more of his story and we see just how devastating his life is from the moment of birth. I did feel really bad for him when Hatim/The Persian keeps on mentioning the prince he used to work with because its really obvious that he still has trauma from it (and he keeps begging him to not talk about his past and the Persian just... keeps traumatizing him I guess) and the fact that he was treated so badly because of his appearance, but this doesn't excuse his actions in the story. Christine does try to sympathize with him using her own tragic backstory, which Erik kind of pushes away (like bro, we're not trying to see whose parents are worse, she's just trying to sympathize with you, dang) as not being tragic. I think that Mazm did present him pretty well in this story, not showing just his antagonistic side but also his more tragic side. Sadly, like I said, I can't consider him a yandere because of the addition of Melek, at least not in this version.

In terms of other characters, I really like the trio of Meg Giry, Sorelli and Jammes- the friends of Christine. From what I can tell, they're all a bit more aged up in this version, with Sorelli being the oldest and Jammes being the youngest and I feel like they gave more character to them than in the original version. Sorelli is the head of the dancers and the dating partner of Phillip de Chagny, Raoul's older brother and she's the mature and strong willed one of the group, wielding a blade that she uses to protect her friends. I like the fact that they made her a bit more protective and in one of the overworld sprites its mentioned via rumor that Phillip fell in love with her after he saw Sorelli swing her dagger, which I thought was pretty cute. At the end though, after Phillips death, she realizes that she was struggling too hard to climb up the social ladder and decides to forge her own path. In the beginning she attempts to protect her and her friends from the Phantom, declaring that she'll stab him if she sees him. Next is Meg Giry, and from what my friend told me, she was very young in the original books and kind of scardy cat. In this version, she's a bit older but maintains the scardy cat position, and is very terrified of the Phantom. She does gain more character development during the story, standing up to her mother and the managers and overall being a more assertive and confident person, which I thought was a nice touch. Last but certainly not least is my best girl Jammes. In the original story, she barely makes an appearance, but in Mazm they made her quite literally the best character. For one, the canonical reason why there are so many cats hanging out in the opera house is that Jammes keeps on feeding them and letting them in and she has named all of them after the Opera House staff. Jammes loves to spin and has a cute animation and while she can be loud and a bit strange sometimes, she can be smart and assertive when she needs to. Jammes always pushes the other three into being better and protects them when needed (for instance, when Phillip lashes out at Sorelli, she steps in and demands that he apologize for his actions) and can be really smart at times (she's the only character that attempts to at least cover her mouth when the Phantom's fragrance, a hallucinogenic gas, starts to fill up the box seat, despite others who have been in there not even trying) and is the one who stands up for Christine's abuse as well as for the dancers at the opera house being treated unfairly by the manager as she organizes a strike against them. She also becomes part of the women's suffrage after the events of the story. I could go on and on about Jammes, but instead I'll leave a cute picture of her at the end of this entire analysis. Besides those three, I did like Carlotta, the original singing lead of the opera house. Originally, she became an antagonist towards Christine after she became the lead singer, however, she did apologize to her afterwards and befriended her once more before traveling the world. I love her interactions with Raoul because she basically said that Raoul only has Christine and military training and when he gets angry and lashes out, Carlotta glares and him, causing him to cower (this actually does happen multiple times), and I just found that really, really funny. Mifoid, though useless in the story is actually pretty cute as well, I love his bouncing animation. The last character I'll talk about is Phillip because he became meme material for me and my friend considering he probably is so tired of Raoul talking about Christine (we joked that the reason he was sent to military was so that he didn't have to hear her name again) and while he is mostly a decent but strict character in the story, his last appearance really makes him out as a jerk. I did think it was kind of weird that Phillip was so willing to let Raoul go to the Artic mission considering nobody that has gone there has ever returned, and he was rather elitest towards him, not letting him marry Christine because she's of lower

class but during his last chapter before he dies, he goes on a frenzy after he and Raoul have a fight, revealing to Sorelli that he only dated her for fun and not to actually settle down with her, which is just horrible. It's a bit sad though that Raoul only saw him as someone who tried to get rid of him considering that Phillip did raise Raoul and that his last actions were an attempt to save Phillip from the phantom, and yet Raoul barely has a reaction after seeing his body and doesn't even go to his funeral. It's really sad that Raoul didn't even really cry after seeing Phillip's body, considering that he was basically his father figure.

Overall, it's a good game to play and a good retelling of the Phantom of the Opera. I wouldn't consider the Phantom to be a yandere in this game, but I do think that Raoul is one. Thank you for this recommendation!

#asks #male yandere #yandere boy #yandere #recommendation

[pindl3]

I just spent the better half of an hour transcripting Tubbo and Ranboo's entire conversation from the burger van.

The entire thing.

As I was going through it I noticed that it allowed me a much better look what they're actually saying. To hone in on the words.

Also there's one bit of the conversation that I am 100% going to turn into ranboo angst. Anyway, here's the full transcript! Feel free to use ^-^ I know looking through 8 minutes of conversation is annoying. It's all as accurate as I could get it, including the stammering and extra bits.

Video to listen along to

Tubbo: hello!

Ranboo: oh- uh, hel- hello

Tubbo: hi!

Ranboo: how are- how are you doing.

Tubbo: I'm doing alright, uhh-

Ranboo: doing alright- what were- what were you up to?

Tubbo: I was just talking over with quackity, burger business, you know *laughs*

Ranboo: is- is- did everything go well? Is everything ok? With that?

Tubbo: uh, yeah, I assume it's- yeah! I'm pretty sure it's uh, fantastic

Ranboo: you sure?

Tubbo: uh, yea yeayeayea 100%. I think it's going really well! Can I come inside? I wanna have a look at all your- I wanted to have little look at all your place

Ranboo: um yeah, sure- it's not much right now but we're still- um, we're still- me and uhh, Wilbur are still working on it.

Tubbo: Why do you trust Wilbur so much?

Ranboo: hm?

Tubbo: why do you trust Wilbur?

Ranboo: well ok, here's- here's the thing. Basically, I don't like- trust trust Wilbur yet but I definitely do have more trust in him than you do. But um...

Tubbo: yeah.

Ranboo: I mean, thirteen years... I mean, thirteen years, a guy has got to change throughout all of that right? (Unsure)

Tubbo: yeah I suppose so- I mean I don't not believe that he's changed i just think that he has to have the opportunity to prove it.

Ranboo: yeah! And thats why im- that's why im here so that, when he does something that does redeem himself then someone can be there that's- that'll be able to see it and everything- and honestly I would rather have it be me, the person... um, id rather have the person that be there be me instead of maybe someone... else. So um...

Tubbo: yeah I guess that- that makes a lot of sense I guess. I.. I don't know I just- I'm not sure I feel prepared to put my life in his hands again if you know what i mean.

Ranboo: well this isn't- this isn't putting my life in his hands. This is just- this is just making a little burger shop and everythi- are- are you like, okay with all of this right?

Tubbo: oh yeaaah yeaahh it's fine it's fine. I think it's quite enjoyable.

Ranboo: *softly, to himself* ok that's- that's- that's good. Ok, yep...

Tubbo: yeah I understand it all it makes a lot of sense

Ranboo: you- you sure you understand? Because- like, if you need me to- to stop, then I'll stop, like-

Tubbo: no no, it's alright it's alright- is there a reason like, I noticed that you hadn't told Wilbur about the tax reasons marriage *laughs softly, self conscious*

Ranboo: yeah well that's- that's just because- from what I've heard from Tommy and everything the Wilbur that- thirteen years ago at least- might've- he used stuff against Tommy and everything, so, you know just in case, just in case. I mean I still trust Wilbur just not- you know not super fully but still, still at least a little bit.

Tubbo: yeah, o-oh I completely understand though that makes a lot of sense honestly

Ranboo: so I- I mean I like working with him as well- I mean it's nice to just- to do something. You know?

Tubbo: yeah fair enough. Like- yeah I think the competition will be *hesitation* good- yeah I mean I'm very excited, I haven't felt this happy in quite a while. It feels like I've finally got- you know, something under my belt, something I can, you know really sink my teeth into and be a part of- it feels like I'm part of- like a bigger cause now. Like-

Ranboo: so... so you're saying you're sure that this is- that you're all okay with- everything that's going on?

Tubbo: yeah yeah of course! It's just friendly competition man, it's gonna be awesome. If anything it'll just be better for consumers, it means we're gonna make better things for everyone.

Ranboo: *hesitance* yeah, yeah that makes- that makes um... that makes sense, at least. I mean...

Tubbo: I mean, are you alright?

Ranboo: how did you- how did you bury the hatchet with quackity though? That's what I don't get...

Tubbo: bury the hatchet? What do you mean by that?

Ranboo: cuz I mean- how did you make peace with him cuz the last time we spoke about him you were talking about he had a role in your... un- unfortunate removal of life...

Tubbo: yeaahh he did, but- it- I mean to be honest it's as much- well no I mean I'm not even sure it is as much quackitys fault as wilbur- but like- I don't- like- I mean I was gonna die no matter what that day... I mean, it just happened. I mean I don't... eh, I don't have much quarrel with him, I think it's a-okay. I mean, he seems to have... I mean look at what he's built, like, he seems good. I mean... yeah I managed to also, like, clean over all the ruckus that we had about the um, cookie outpost and stuff as well, so that's all past now.

Ranboo: oh really? So he's ok with that now? *relieved*

Tubbo: yeah, yeah he promised me a good life. Like-

Ranboo: what do you mean...? Was your- life not- good before?

Tubbo: no! Nonononono it was- he talked *hesitance* a lot about L'manburg... and like he- yeah.

Ranboo: well- that wasn't- that wasn't really that much of a good life for you though- was it?

Tubbo: oh no- you- you've only heard the bad bits of L'manburg- *confident* L'manburg was amazing. You've only-

Ranboo: he- he promised you like, the- the good bits

Tubbo: yeah, yeah basically, which is- it's awesome.

Ranboo: *softly, to himself* that's- that's good, that's good.

Tubbo: yeah, so I- I figured out how to- like um- get rid of the tension regarding the cookie outpost; we came to an agreement, signed a contract, dot the t's and the i's- you know, put the past in the past. Im excited to, you know, keep moving forward, it's exciting!

Ranboo: ... ok, a-awesome... so- *voice raises an octave* so he's okay with the cookie shop now?

Tubbo: oh yea! Yeah yeah he's 100% okay! Basically, we just came to the agreement- is- I wasn't acting myself, like before when I was working on the cookie shop- I wasn't being myself- I was, I was just upset, and sad, and like- I just wanted to have something to feel part of something bigger again. But then I realized instead of fighting the thing that would've given me that feeling, I tried to make my own. I dig my heels in- it wasn't really- the right thing to do. I-

Ranboo: mhm (of reassurance)

Tubbo: so we signed a contract, I- so the cookie shops still owned by me, but it just exists within Las Nevadas now. And um... yeah, it follows its laws and regulations.

Ranboo: ok- so is everything- is everything um... everything's- *pause* w-wait so how exactly again? Sorry- how did you- make quackity ok with it all?

Tubbo: so we went up to the needle, uhh, we just talked it out, we wrote up a contract and I just- basically agreed to have the cookie shop become part of Las Nevadas! Cuz I mean it doesn't make sense-

Ranboo: wait you- you gave away the cookie shop?

Tubbo: well I mean I didn't give it away- I still own it, it's just now part of Las Nevadas.

Ranboo: which is- owned by quacki- you gave away the cookie shop.

Tubbo: well... yeah, but not- entirely.

Ranboo: y- yeah, entirely.

Tubbo: no- thats not how it works at all. It's- it's still owned by me- it's just, it exists inside his territory.

Ranboo: wait- but it's property of Las Nevadas, which is owned by quackity.

Tubbo: no! It's not like that at all.

Ranboo: you gave it- it seems like you just...

Tubbo: no, there's a lot more to it than that, it's not just- it's not black and white and I just- gave it to him- I still own it, I still have full control over it. It's just- it just follows his laws- which is fine.

Ranboo: and his ru- awesome, cool- um, that's great! Oh would you look at that- the bread is- stale- I gotta go-

Tubbo: oh, ok

Ranboo: but it was nice um- it was nice- uh talking to you- im gonna go throw this bread in the river- alright!

Tubbo: okay

Ranboo: um, thanks for- thanks for stopping on by, um- I'll talk to you um... l- later. Alright buh bye-

Tubbo: ok, bye!

Tubbo: that was- that- that was um... uh, I wasn't expecting that to *laughs* go quite like that- I didn't think that mattered that much... uhh- that- I was not expecting that to um... he- he didn't seem- oh god. That was- that felt a little- awkward. I didn't, I mean- *defensive* it's mine to give away! I mean, I- I built the entire place! Like- I built all of it. That is so weird.

#dsmp #mcyt #dream smp #tubbo #ranboo #beeduo #bee duo #transcript #dsmp lore #dream smp spoilers #anyway. I have a ranboo quote from this to turn to angst #hehe

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

After that gorgeous sequel rant, would you be willing to share your thoughts on reylo?

Ugh.

Once again, that is the most succinct, easiest, answer I can supply. But it's so short, and that just won't do.

I mentioned in a recent post that Dramione comes in a myriad of disguises. Every fandom usually has at least one Dramione ship, you can usually guess which characters the ship will consist of, and while you might not be able to articulate exactly what about it makes it so damn similar to Dramione you will recognize it on sight.

Usually, to me, a Dramione ship features a strong, independent, female lead who may be varying levels of sexually empowered, varying levels of intelligent (Hermione loves to tell us how smart she is but it's not the heart of the ship), is strong, courageous, and noble who depending on the story du jour might slide into depravity.  The real give away is her love interest, always a man, usually a young man of comparable age, who has the bad boy appeal that's not too bad boy where he often is redeemed to the good side for 'reasons' in the course of the story.

Reylo is such a Dramione pairing.

You don't believe me? Look at the authors who write it, I haven't done this too often myself, but I guarantee you that a not small majority of them will either write Draco/Hermione or will have it all over their favorites and bookmarks. It's the same damn pairing.

But worse.

Because Kylo-Ren and Rey aren't really characters.

"Whoa, hold up!", you say, "That's just slander and uncalled for!" Well, change my mind. Rey Palpatine and Kylo-Ren are a series of character tropes and archetypes thrown to us by Disney screaming "LOVE MY CHARACTERS".

Rey is our noble, very Luke like, hero who is a scrappy desert rat with overwhelming mystical powers only acknowledged when the movies feel like acknowledging them (guys, admit Rey kicked Kylo-Ren's ass every time they fought with 0 training, come on, it's not hard).

However, there is nothing underneath her surface. Her hero worship of the resistance feels dull and given to her because it's expected. Of course Rey likes the resistance! The resistance is great! Sign her up! Rey has been living in the desert at the edge of nowhere for presumably 15 years, I'm shocked she's even heard of the new republic let alone the resistance. Despite essentially starving and only having a home that's a broken down old fighter, Rey saves a random droid. We're not really given a compelling reason of why she would do this, that she has a deep respect for droids/is horrified by their use, really really really hates the random trader she sells things to, or really really really hates the empire (if she even realizes it's them behind the bounty). She does it just so that a) the plot keeps moving b) to show Rey is... noble... I guess?

Remember that even Luke (who I have some problems with as a character) started his journey with more backstory and personality than this. Luke loved the empire and desperately wanted to become a pilot. He was very put out that his aunt and uncle kept saying, "Uh, no, bad idea." Luke was ready to skip town and sign on up for flight academy, he just got distracted by pretty women, er, his sister.

So, Rey is never given a compelling reason to do any of the things she does in the series. Just vague feelings of hero worship. And, of course, the drama over her parents. Just... I feel like Disney took out a hat, put a bunch of pieces of paper with words on them, and drew out the one that said "orphan angst about parents" and said "See, now she's conflicted! What a character!"

So yeah, Rey is your cardboard generic hero who is so generic she's not even a person. She has no hopes, no dreams, no fears, just these vague things we're told as an audience she cares about but never shown in any legitimate manner. Rey likes the resistance and rando droids, Rey imprints on Han Solo as the father she never had, Rey has this thing about her parents, Rey is attracted to Kylo Ren.

And that last one, oh boy that last one. It sold me less on the attraction to Kylo Ren than... oh... I don't know... Palpatine's secret Sith planet of doom. I mean, we all saw it coming, The Last Jedi it was very clear where that was going and then Abrams went for it even harder. But what we had was a series of skype conversations where Rey went from "Gr, you killed my pseudo father!" and Kylo-Ren responding, "Yeah, well he was my real father AND HE WAS SO MEAN" to "Oh Ben, I will fly to you through space and we shall save the galaxy together!"

I am given no reason to believe Rey's change of heart. Han Solo's death just suddenly... doesn't really mean much to her anymore (the man was murdered by his son in cold blood so that his son could feel better about himself). She believes Ben Solo is good now because Luke is a dick (never mind that, no matter what a dick Luke is, Ben Solo still murdered dozens of children and then went on to gleefully massacre his way through the galaxy). We're told there's a Force Dyad, which is um... not this thing the writer's made up because they were too lazy to convince me that Kylo-Ren and Rey would end up together in any organic way.

So, yeah, why does Rey like Kylo-Ren? Because the Force told her too? Because it was somehow all Snoke's fault in a way that's never properly described? (Indeed despite us spending quite a bit of time on Kylo-Ren's decision to remain Kylo-Ren being a very internalized thing) Because we saw him shirtless in yoga pants this one time?

It's bad when that last is actually the most legitimate reason I can think of out of the whole lot.

Now let's go to Kylo-Ren. If Rey is boring and nonsensical then Kylo-Ren is a dumpster fire and non-sensical. The guy reminds me a lot of Commodus from the film "Gladiator", the man is cowardly, vile, and murders his father in despair that his father never will be capable of loving him/passes him over for the throne. Kylo-Ren's murder of Han Solo is extremely similar to the murder of Marcus Aurelius in "Gladiator". Han Solo is a flawed father, trying to make his peace with his son, who approaches him unarmed and Kylo-Ren decides to murder him in order to solidify his place in the dark side.

Only, the films never acknowledge that every action Kylo-Ren takes is horrifying.

We're told "oh, Kylo-Ren exists because evil Snoke corrupted him" but also shown repeatedly that Kylo-Ren chooses the darkest path again and again and again. He "struggles with the light" but I don't see it. His opening scene, he has massacred a village and is torturing a man for information (this is presumably a daily routine for him). In the same film he later tortures Rey for information. He serves on a Death Star which wipes out billions in an instant. He murders his father to feel good about himself. He dresses as a man who was reviled and feared throughout the galaxy, a man who murdered countless children, and a man who dressed the way he did because he was barely hanging onto life, because Kylo-Ren thinks it makes him look like a badass. Think about it, this is like if a fully abled Kylo-Ren is wheeling around in a wheel chair, perfectly capable of walking, because he thinks that Professor X is so cool. Now, replace Professor X with Hitler, this is what the movies gave us.

Yet, the films seem to take it for granted that Kylo-Ren is a redeemable character. He's just lost and misguided, he's really struggling with the light and dark side! They don't just tell us this over and over again (which they do) but also just assume we know it.

And base the entire Reylo pairing off of it. Reylo believed Kylo-Ren could be redeemed, they battle Snoke together, then Kylo-Ren stabs her in the back and continues the assault on the Resistance and asks her to be his Dark Queen (TM). Reylo is shocked and appalled, I'm just wondering what movie she thought she was watching, because that was coming a mile away.

Later, when Kylo-Ren is redeemed, we're never given a reason why it happens. Leia just gives him a nagging, one word, phone call and then Han Solo shows up to go, "Ben, are you going to do the right thing?" and Ben goes, "Mumble, grumble, fine" because there's only an hour left in the last film.

Kylo-Ren, like Rey, is the writers' desperate attempt to create a compelling anti-hero with all the anti-hero sauce we love. They just won't admit they made an overgrown genocidal toddler.

Wow, this turned into why I hate both Rey and Kylo Ren, but, uh, back to the ship. Basically, the films give me 0 reason to ever believe it, and even if I wanted to, even if I said "Alright brain, let's make these characters real people for once", I still wouldn't like it. Because the ship itself is just as flat as the characters. It's spicy but not too spicy bad boy gets together with strong female lead.

I know a lot of people enjoy this, and I won't say it's any less legitimate than any of the weirdness I ship, but I'm not one of them. And the whole thing just makes me go "ugh".

#ask #anon #anti reylo #anti kylo ren #anti rey #anti star wars sequels

[newsies-of-corona]

Weakness vs Strength

ALRIGHT, WE’RE BACK IN THE GAME!

It’s been wayyyy too long since I’ve done one of these but I was rambling about Varian again and this kinda happened 😂

I’ve kind of touched on this before, but I haven’t fleshed it all out so NOW’S THE TIME!

So without any further adieu-

“Well, shall we get started?”

Before the Storm

One of Varian’s biggest desires in life is helping others. He sees a problem, he comes up with a solution...and it usually doesn’t go as planned. It’s not always his fault, but he tends to harm people through his attempts to help. This only makes him more eager to assist, but it continues in a cycle.

He wants to help, he fails, people get hurt, and he tries again.

He’s so intelligent that he’s able to build these highly dangerous machines, but he doesn’t immediately see the problems before they go haywire.

So, what does he do? He tries to make up for it by building another invention.

And they just keep blowing up in his face every time.

It’s gotta be exhausting.

So when the amber happens and things still go horribly wrong, even though this time he was sure he was finally going to get something right, it takes a huge toll. Especially now that it involves his only living parent.

Villain Arc

Instead of giving up or shutting down, Varian tries harder, giving it everything he has to save his father and losing himself along the way. This also means (as I covered in another analysis way back when) his motives changed. Saving Corona is the farthest thing from his mind, so caring about the people who live there is also not a priority. He even says it:

“Do you honestly expect me to be concerned about the welfare of Corona?”

His willingness to help and fix his mistakes all became focused on Quirin once he decided on a path of revenge, and with nothing tying him down to the people anymore, they were now at his disposal.

He’s seen the damage he can do, and in a different light, he was winning that entire time. All it took was simply switching his mindset to:

“All I’ve been good at is hurting others, so why not use that to my advantage?”

With his vendetta against Corona under his belt, he’s automatically one of the biggest threats of the kingdom (or at least his village) because technically he already was on accident.

In a way, he sped up his own “development” in his skills, simply by twisting his own motives. It was basically just cheating the system. His inventions were already hurting people, but now that he wants them to hurt people, he’s finally winning.

His initial problem with himself became his “solution.” He changed his weakness into his strength.

I’ve seen the question around the fandom “why is Varian so good on the side of evil, but seems to mess up the minute he gets redeemed?”

Or more like the very second-

(I love you bud, but why did you even have a bath bomb on you???)

But I digress-

I believe the reason Varian was so “smart” when he was on the opposite side, is because he could let his “mistakes” run wild since, well, they weren’t mistakes anymore!

He could hurt all the people he wanted and feel accomplished because that’s what he designed his inventions (and genetically engineered monster raccoons) to do!

Redemption

So what does this mean for his turn around? His jump back onto the side of good?

Well, his “redemption” truly started when the compassion he felt before started to return. He saw all the destruction he’d caused in the same light as he did before the amber. He realized he hurt people which was what he didn’t want to do initially before the storm.

And he feels really bad about it because that’s not who he is. He doesn’t want to be known as someone who harms people, even though he initially let himself fall into that stereotype. He wanted to be a change. A defining factor for helping others and improving the world around him, and instead he had done the exact opposite.

During his time with Saporians, his compassion became his weakness.

The Quirinian was the last straw. He had been known for destruction all of his life, either purposeful or accidental, and it was going to change right then.

By opening himself up to others and once again caring about giving Corona a brighter future, he flips it around once again, and those destructive “weaknesses” come back. How does he deal with this? Well it certainly takes some trial and error, but eventually he finds more healthy ways to solve this problem by being more careful and conscious about what he’s doing, and enlisting the help of others instead of going it alone (even though those “others” might press certain buttons and meddle with things they shouldn’t...I’m looking at you Lance-)

Conclusion

Being the villain may have been easiest for Varian considering his situation and given set of skills, but it wasn’t beneficial or lasting.

His true strength lies in his compassion, not his destruction. And through this he’s able to accomplish so many things for Corona. His Season 1 mishaps still occur from time to time, but in the end it’s worth it because he finally was able to do something to help.

Destroying the red rocks, helping stop Cass and Zhan Tiri, and accomplishing his goal of the hot water machines were his crowning moments of achievement because he worked through his mistakes even though it was tough. He also had people in his life to pick him back up and encourage him when something went wrong.

Even though he basically had to start all over again, this time he was stronger than ever before with his friends by his side. (See what I did there? No that was not planned...😂)

So instead of the cycle before the storm, it becomes-

He wants to help, people reassure him, it’s either successful or a failure, but he has friends backing him up either way.

He took hold of his weaknesses in a positive light with the assistance of others, and ended up in a position to help the entire kingdom through his talents.

(And he didn’t need to “cheat” the system this time. He earned his title through sheer determination and drive.)

(I’m so proud of this boy- I just aGh 💙)

#I realize I’ve already done a full character analysis like this on Varian’s want for validation- #but technically this is different! sure it’s the same character but it’s a different topic! #varian analysis #lissa analyzes varian....again #tangled the series #varian tts #varian #villain varian

[aspoonofsugar]

Alright, quick question. Let’s hypothetically say Cinder does have a redemption arc but doesn’t die in the end and has a happy life and all that. Would you consider that... for a lack of a better term, a failure of storytelling? Or would it just be another way Cinder’s story goes? Not trying to discredit you or your theories, just wanting to see your point of view on this.

Hello anon!

No problem! So, imo most of the time in storytelling, it is not really a matter of WHAT happens, but of HOW.

So, for example:

1) Kaneki's happy ending in TG is WHAT I wanted and WHAT I had predicted since the beginning. However, I dislike HOW we arrive there hence the ending of the story does not resonate with at all, despite my investment and involvement with the characters.

2) Penny's death is not WHAT I had predicted, but I really liked HOW it was done and it has made Penny's character and her arc stand out to me. It is certainly a story I would not forget because of its thematic resonance, its ambiguity and complexity and the painful contrast between such a sad story with such a blubby character like Penny.

So, do I think Cinder's surviving would be bad writing? It depends. It can be well done or it can be badly done. Similarly, Cinder dying can be well done or badly done. I am imagining her dying as a result of a change arc and a redemption. Also, I am imagining her final choice to be resonant and important for the plot. I am not imagining her being put down by Ruby as a big bad villain or her being killed off by Salem without accomplishing anything.

If your question has to do with the idea of redemption and if a character deserves it after killing so many people, etc., I would just say Johan from Monster does a lot of horrible things and is still saved, despite it all. Actually, he does not even starts a redemption before being saved and he refuses the chance he is given in the finale. He is still saved and it is implied he will redeem himself in the future.

So, I do not really think there is a crime so bad that can prevent a character from getting a happy ending. What there is in a story though is set-up, themes, framing. And these things are not in favour of Cinder’s survival so far, as @hamliet explains wonderfully.

For example, in Disney Descendants third movie, one of the characters betrays the others, steals a powerful magic item, takes the throne and turns everyone to stone. One would expect her to have to work her ass off to get her redemption and to be saved. In the end she is simply saved, forgiven and gets a happy ending after saying she is sorry. In the movie it is not really a problem because ultimately the tone and genre is such that it fits with the premise that everyone gets a happy ending. Imagine something like this happening to Death Note’s Light. It would not work because the story sets up other expectations and consequences.

Well, RWBY is a story which has its characters struggle and gives them serious consequences for their actions.

Adam mistreats Blake, stalks her to the end of the world, attacks her, refuses to back down when given the chance... and ends up killed by the two people he traumatized as a result.

Emerald takes part in a terroristic attack to make Cinder care about her and because she thinks the world owes her. The result is that she ends up in an abusive and unsafe environment, that Cinder shows her nothing, but coldness and frustration and that she loses the two people who actually care about her. Mercury leaves her and Hazle dies protecting her. After receiving these consequences and makins some steps in the right direction, she is shown somw warmth and acceptance. Still, her arc is far from over and what happens at the end of volume 8 aka Cinder hurting the people she joined is bount to affect her. It is also a consequence in the fact that if Emerald thinks she can just cut all ties with Cinder and her past she is wrong.

Mercury joins Cinder because he wants to be a big bad man who hurts others not to be hurted. The result is that he is currently paired up with Tyrian who is clearly a stand in for Marcus and the whole subtext and foreshadowing around this partnership is not reassuring at all.

At the same time, RWBY is a hopeful story, but has some tragic elements and arcs. Pyrrha, Penny, Ironwood have all tragic arcs, after all.

Because of this, of Cinder lacking a Save the Cat moment, of her being framed as an adult, of the point we are in the story and of everything she does and represents in volume 8, I doubt she will survive.

Does it mean it is impossible for her to have a happy ending, which is also well written? Nope, of couse she can. I just do not think it will happen or that this is where her story is going. Let’s also highlight that I have come to this idea after the last volume. At the beginning of volume 8 I was optimistic about her survival (I am mostly always optimistic LOL). Still, what happens in the volume had me change my mind. This does not mean I can’t change it again if new materials open up new possibilities.

Thank you for the ask!

#rwby #rwby meta #cinder fall #asksfullofsugar #anonymous #tw: penny's death

[taizi]

when the bones are good

@natsumeweek 2021 day 4; sweet/sour

read on ao3

(previous part)

x

Yousuke Takuma looks like he regrets inviting the Natori brothers into his house. They tend to have that effect on people.

“I shouldn’t be reading these,” he says in a very calm tone. “These are the sacred property of your clan. They shouldn’t even have left your property.”

“It’s not like anyone is going to miss them,” Shuuichi replies plainly. “My grandfather still thinks I can’t get past the locks on the storehouse door. Even Takashi can get past those, and he’s eight.”

“Sometimes I just ask Urihime to get me the keys,” Takashi admits. “She doesn’t get along with grandfather so she likes having an excuse to take stuff from him.”

It’s a nice way of saying ‘she fucking hates him’ but Takashi is a nice person. 

The kid is chronically honest. Always has been. He’ll strive to frame it kindly, but the truth is all you’re getting from him. It can be annoying, but mostly it’s pretty funny, and at the end of the day Shuuichi is glad that Takashi doesn’t feel the need to lie or make up stories. Even about the really unbelievable things. He just says what he’s thinking, because he knows it’s the truth, and his big brother will back him up if anyone gives him any trouble.

Shuuichi doesn’t have a lot in his life to be proud of, but he’s proud of that. 

The right people don’t care if a little kid tells ghost stories, anyway. Hinata thinks they’re great. She keeps threatening to write them all down and adapt them into her first screenplay.

Takuma puts his face in his hands. Across the room, Tsukiko giggles, clearly not as focused on her homework as she would like for the rest of them to believe she is. Ginro sets a tray of tea down on the table and gives Shuuichi a stern look for having the audacity to stress her master out so soon after his injury. Chastened, Shuuichi lifts his hands in apology. 

“If you really don’t want to look at them, I’ll put them away,” he says. “But I trust you not to—run off with them and patent them under your name, or whatever it is you think I should think you’re going to do.”

That works a huff of wry laughter out of the man, and he looks up at Shuuichi with a warm expression. It’s the way Shuuichi thinks his dad might have looked at him if he’d been born a proper son.

“Lunch first,” Takuma says, “then we’ll take a look at this paper magic of yours. Though if a couple of little geniuses like yourselves can’t figure it out, I don’t know what you think this old man will be able to do.” 

He adds the last bit with a smile for Takashi, who beams up at him from where he’s been not-so-subtly sneaking Jinbe rice crackers. Jinbe is the most unsettling of Takuma’s three familiars, but he’s also—to Shuuichi’s resignation—Takashi’s complete favorite. It appears to be mutual.

“You’ve kept your promise, haven’t you?” Takuma asks after a moment. “About staying away from those meetings?” 

Shuuichi sighs performatively. “Of course I have. It’s not like I could bring my brother with me, and he’d hardly just stay home. He’s very disobedient.”

Takashi scoffs. “Hinata-neesan says I’m your most redeeming quality.”

“Nowhere in there does she mention ‘obedient,’” Shuuichi replies without missing a beat, and grins when Takashi makes a face at him. 

“Alright, alright,” Takuma says, laughing properly now. “As long as you’re keeping your word, I don’t care about why.” He pushes himself up to his feet, moving a little stiffly, and smiles at his daughter when Tsukiko hurries over to take his arm. “There should be some margherita pizzas in the chest freezer. I bought them on a whim the last time I was at the supermarket. Should we try them?”

Of course they should. Takashi scoops the last of the cookies off the table and piles them neatly in Jinbe’s greedy hands, even though Takuma sighs and makes noises about spoiled shiki. Tsukiko gives the disappearing treats a bit of an odd look, but she seems more fascinated to be in the company of spirits than unnerved.

Shuuichi is beginning to think that his relatives are just bad people. 

“By the way, have you made any progress on,” Takuma starts, and finishes with a nod towards Shuuichi’s arm. 

The lizard is scurrying around in busy little circles, as if it’s feeling restless. Shuuichi covers it with his hand, something that sometimes works in calming it down, like putting a blanket over a bird cage. In this case, it crawls onto his hand instead and resumes scurrying there. Weird little thing.

“I still have no idea what it is,” Shuuichi says ruefully, “but Takashi is trying to teach it tricks.”

Takuma stares at him, and then at his brother. Takashi offers, “It knows ‘roll over’!”

“Go,” Shuuichi’s mentor says firmly, pointing them down the hall. “Kitchen. Lunch. We’ll discuss this later.”

A knock on the door interrupts their noisy exodus, and Takuma frowns. Clearly, he isn’t expecting company. The amiable man’s posture tenses as he gestures for Tsukiko, Shuuichi and Takashi to stay put. Ginro and Benihimo flank him on his way to the front door. 

Exorcists tend to be a paranoid bunch.

But with a dangerous ayakashi on the loose, Shuuichi thinks, with a prickle of unease all his own, maybe it’s better safe than sorry. 

“Urihime, go collect all our scrolls and put them in my bag,” Shuuichi says swiftly. “Sasago, stay right here.”

His shiki both nod, and Urihime disappears. 

Tsukiko is picking up on the atmosphere, even if her eyes aren’t the same as theirs. Even normal humans have a sixth-sense sense for certain things and it’s not to be taken lightly. She shifts nervously, and something in Shuuichi’s chest goes warm when he realizes she’s put her arm around Takashi’s shoulders protectively. 

“Seiji?” Takuma asks. His voice is raised in surprise, carrying from the genkan. “What on earth are you doing here?” 

Relief and dread fight each other in the pit of Shuuichi’s stomach. Dread wins. He’s only encountered Matoba Seiji twice, once at the summit he inadvertently followed Amasaki to, and then again in passing for a few minutes in the woods, but those brief meetings were enough. 

Even normal humans have a sixth-sense for certain things. Usually danger. 

“Tsukiko,” he says casually, “can you and Takashi go get lunch started?” 

To Tsukiko’s eternal credit, she doesn’t hesitate. “Of course. Takashi, will you help me? Dad buys so much weird stuff when he goes shopping that it might be hard to find the pizzas.”

Takashi gives Shuuichi a look that says, very clearly, that he knows when he’s being fobbed off. Shuuichi ruffles his hair in a way that ruins the careful work Sumi-san (the only member of the Natori house staff who will still talk to either of them) put in that morning with half a dozen bobby pins. Now it flops into Takashi’s eyes and he makes an outraged sound, reaching up to shove Shuuichi’s hand away. 

“I’ll fill you in later,” Shuuichi says. “Promise.”

That’s enough for Takashi. Mollified, he trails after Tsukiko without argument, and with only one curious look over his shoulder. Jinbe drifts after them watchfully, and probably only partly in hopes of more snacks. Sasago remains at Shuuichi’s side, a stalwart presence that he’s come to depend on. 

It’s Shuuichi’s job to keep the monsters away. Whatever form they might take. 

Takuma looks irritated as he leads Seiji into the sitting room. With a nod of his head, he invites Shuuichi inside, too. The tea tray from before has vanished, a new one sitting in its stead, and Shuuichi notes with some inward amusement that Ginro didn’t lay out any snacks this time. 

“Well, what do you know,” Seiji says, as enigmatic as ever. “Shuuichi-san, I never would have expected to find you here.”

It’s impossible to tell what this guy is actually thinking. 

“Did you come by to check on Takuma-san, too?” Shuuichi asks. He has to work to keep his tone from biting, but he manages it.

“In a sense,” Seiji replies politely. “I was hoping to find out more about the ayakashi that attacked him. Going after it before it hurts anyone else is an exorcist’s job, don’t you think?” 

It’s bait, as clear and obvious as a cricket dangling from some fishing line. If he were still the bitter brat he used to be, maybe Shuuichi would have risen to it fiercely, like a tide, surging and crashing against Seiji’s unchanging stone facade. He would have said, ‘You don’t care about helping people. You called Takuma-san weak. You’re just looking for someone to use.’

Which is all perfectly true, and perfectly justifiable reasons to not want to drink tea with this guy and discuss the differences in their conventions, but it’s not like calling Seiji out would do any good. It probably wouldn’t even be satisfying. He would just gaze at Shuuichi with that stupid cat-that-caught-the-canary expression and make him feel like an idiot for existing.

He gets enough of that at home, thanks. 

“You’re right,” Shuuichi says mildly, with a smile of his own, “that is an exorcist’s job.”

Takuma eventually tells Seiji what he wants to know, clearly having given up on keeping the teenager away from exorcist summits and dangerous ayakashi, but he does afterword his information with warnings to be careful. 

Urihime sets Shuuichi’s bookbag beside him and he nods his thanks. Seiji clocks the two-second interaction with sharp eyes. 

“Look at that! You have a servant?” His eyes follow her when she moves to stand next to Sasago, next to both of Takuma’s shiki along the side of the room, and he whistles. “Two servants. Pretending to be an exorcist on the sly, are we, Shuuichi-san?”

More bait. Another cricket. Shuuichi sips from his teacup. “They belong to my family. I don’t know why they follow me around. They must be bored.”

All of which is true, technically. Takuma’s eyebrows shoot up toward his hairline, but he doesn’t comment. Sasago turns her head very slowly, and her eyes, hidden beneath their blindfold, seem to bore into the side of his head. Urihime is less subtle and outright hisses at him. 

“Hmm, jury seems to be out on that,” Seiji says, and laughs. 

The sitting room door rattles open and Tsukiko peers through. Shuuichi’s fists clench in his lap, because sure enough, Takashi is right behind her, his brown eyes peeking curiously into the room. 

“Sorry, papa, but is your guest staying for lunch, too? Only, I don’t know how many pizzas to put in.”

“No, no, I couldn’t impose,” Seiji says. “I’ll get going and leave you guys to enjoy the rest of your afternoon. It looks as though you were having a pleasant time before I barged in.”

We were, Shuuichi thinks, but he keeps it to himself. He and Takuma stand up to see Seiji out. Seiji pauses when he spots Takashi behind Tsukiko, and his amicable expression takes on an edge that Shuuichi can’t define. He looks more engaged now than he did during the entire conversation with Takuma. 

“Hello again,” Seiji says in a pleasant tone. 

“Excuse me?” Shuuichi interjects loudly. “‘Again’?”

“Hi,” Takashi replies at length. His gaze is fixed on Seiji’s face as though there’s something interesting happening there. Jinbe drifts like a shark behind him, mask pointed towards Seiji suspiciously.

“As I thought, you have good eyes,” Seiji remarks, whatever that’s supposed to mean. He looks across the room at Urihime and Sasago, down at the bag by Shuuichi’s feet, at the lizard mark curled up on his arm, and then finally up at Shuuichi himself. Smiling widely, he adds, “I look forward to seeing what becomes of the Natori clan.”

Takuma escorts him out properly, and Tsukiko goes back to deal with the pizzas. Alone save for a scattering of trusted ayakashi, Shuuichi kneels and beckons his brother over. 

“C’mere, squirt.”

Takashi crosses the room to him. Standing in front of Shuuichi like this, they’re almost eye-to-eye. 

“Have you met that guy before?” Shuuichi asks. 

“Only once. It was when you had classroom duties and Hinata-neesan took me to the 7-Eleven to get chicken nuggets,” Takashi explains. “We met Matoba-san while we were walking. He said he was your friend.”

“I don’t have any friends.” 

Takashi nods very seriously.

“That’s what Hinata-neesan said. She took out her pepper spray and waved it at him. I think Matoba-san thought that was funny, but he said he didn’t mean to upset her, and he left. It was the right thing to do, probably, because he didn’t have any spirits with him, and Urihime was getting annoyed that he was talking to me.”

Shuuichi feels like he’s aged thirty years in the past three minutes. He digs the heels of his hands into his eyes hard enough that there are spots in his vision when he looks up again. 

“Takashi, listen,” he says, “stay away from him. If he ever approaches you for any reason, tell me about it, okay? Promise?”

He holds out his pinky. Takashi rolls his eyes, much too grown up at eight years old for things like this, but he hooks his finger around Shuuichi’s gamely. 

“Whoever lies has to swallow a thousand needles,” they recite together, and then Shuuichi ruffles Takashi’s hair again just to make him squawk. 

“Sorry about that, boys,” Takuma says when he comes back. 

He pauses in the doorway and his bandaged face creases in a smile to see them rough-housing playfully, Takashi struggling to free himself from Shuuichi’s headlock, the tense atmosphere from before banished like an errant spirit.

“Bring those scrolls with you to the kitchen,” Takuma says warmly, “and I’ll help however I can.”

Seiji can think whatever he wants about Takuma, but the man is clever. By the time Shuuichi and Takashi are ready to leave, packed up with a leftover pizza and some cookies for the road, they’ve puzzled out the array that they were stuck on and Shuuichi managed to make a paperman fly. 

Takuma had looked over the notes he’d taken ruefully. He couldn’t help but absorb some of the practices for himself as he helped the boys study them, and clearly he felt guilty about that. Shuuichi leaned forward across the table and caught his eye. 

I trust you, he wanted to say. You’re the closest thing I’ve ever had to a father. But there was absolutely no way Shuuichi could say something like that. Not out loud, with his mouth, where someone might hear him. 

“Clan trade or not, if you’re ever in danger and any of this paper magic could help you, I want you to use it,” he said instead. “No secret is worth keeping if it means you get hurt. Right, Takashi?” 

“Right,” Takashi piped up, his little voice clear and bright in that sunny kitchen. He was watching intently as his paperman wobbled precariously across the table, trying to carry a note to a delighted Tsukiko, and didn’t bother looking up even as he added, “It’s just paper, ojisan.”

“Yeah, ojisan,” Shuuichi teased laughingly. 

Takuma rolled his eyes, but gave in with a smile, as if he couldn’t help but be charmed by their noisy, obtrusive presence in his home. For a second, even though he was clearly the one who had gone out of his way to help them—wasting an entire day working with them on magic he didn’t fully approve of them studying in the first place, an entire day he should have spent recuperating—Takuma looked as though they were the ones who had done him a favor, just by being there. 

“What did Seiji mean when he said you had good eyes?” Shuuichi will remember to ask his brother a little later, when they’re walking home. 

“Oh, I guess because I noticed the weird mark on his face,” Takashi says. 

“Weird mark? What did it look like?”

Takashi hums thoughtfully, glancing around. He trots off the road a little bit to pick up a stick, then crouches in the dirt and starts drawing a strange, crooked symbol. Shuuichi leans over him to watch.

It’s not a symbol he’s ever seen before. Yokai writing, if he had to guess. 

“What does it mean?” he asks the shiki. 

Sasago drifts over and inspects the drawing, her face giving nothing away. 

“‘Something owed,’” she translates after a moment. “I think the closest human word would be ‘debt’.”

“Huh,” Shuuichi says. He offers Takashi a hand and hauls the kid back upright, frowning thoughtfully. “And you said it was on his face?” 

“Yup, above his right eye. Didn’t you see it?” A thread of anxiety works its way into Takashi’s voice that Shuuichi is quick to smother. 

“I didn’t have my glasses on,” he says smoothly, “so I must have missed it. You know your eyes are better than mine.”

Takashi grins up at him, appeased, and they spend the rest of the walk playing with bits of talisman paper. It’s habit by now to keep their pockets stuffed full of scraps. Shuuichi manages to make a couple of them fly, and Takashi claps his hands together in glee every time.

To anyone who might be watching, it probably looks like the wind is catching the scraps and lifting them out of their hands instead of the shaky first steps of magic it really is. There won’t be anything to question about the sight of two brothers, taking their time getting home to a place where no one is waiting for them, laughing and jumping as they try to catch those floating pieces of paper.

#natsume yuujinchou #natsuyuu #natsumeweek #natori shuuichi #natsume takashi #yousuke takuma #matoba seiji #my writing #natsuyuu fic #second hand

[kitkatopinions]

I feel the need to hear your opinion on this since this is something I've been thinking about recently, and it's how crwby handles complex relationships/abuse in their show... It's infuriating.

I can't tell if they genuinely think they are writing this in a good way or if they know they're half asss-ing it and don't care since the fandom will eat it up anyways. Two big examples that come to mind for me in the last volume are emerald & cinder and whitley & jacques. In both instances the the victim never gets a moment of closure or a moment of breaking away from their abuser, nor are either victims allowed to show any sort of 'hesitance' (for a lack of a better term) related to their abuse.

Emerald (despite being all over cinder before Midnight), just conveniently forgets about her for the finale. Same for whitley. He just completely forgets about jacques (the man who manipulated him from birth) the moment weiss hugs him. On a shallow level, watching a victim pay no mind to their abuser is satisfying, but it being so immediate is just unrealistic and takes away from the pain that we are supposed to think these characters have suffered.

One of the worst things about suffering from abuse is how is affects the victims even when they have left the abusive relationship, but crwby seems to want to erase that completely from characters who should experience that for plot convenience.

It seems like the lesson learned from this is "if you were abused, just get over it and be convenient to our heroes or else!" And it's pretty gross imo.

Thoughts?

I thought that I would put these two asks together and take this opportunity to talk about the abuse victims in RWBY and how they're handled. I've tried to think long and hard about what to say about this, because this is an important topic to me and something that's personal for me. I'm an abuse survivor, but I have a complicated relationship with that part of myself and I'm never really comfortable talking about it much. But despite the fact that I've experienced abuse, I recognize that I'm not a professional sensitivity editor, not a therapist, and not someone who's studied the effects of abuse.

I'm simply writing this based on my own feelings and what I've picked up witnessing other abuse victims discuss their own feelings about abused character. There will be RWBY criticism below the keep reading. Please keep in mind that I'm not speaking for all abuse survivors and am only trying to articulate my own feelings in regards to this issue.

The first thing to note is that there isn't one, correct, right way to write an abuse victim in my opinion. Lots of people have different reactions and responses to abuse, the way they were abused is often also different, causing different reactions.

In the first anon, it's noted that Emerald and Whitley both seem to move on from their abuse quickly and with very little effect on them or their stories. Many abuse victims put their experiences on the back burner or 'in a box' to deal with later, or mask and pretend that they're alright or that their abuse just didn't happen. Some of them let their feelings or their anger simmer over time. There are also abuse victims who do just... Move on with relative ease. I'd imagine that's very rare though. (again, I'm not not an expert or any sort of psychologist.)

In the same way, an abuse victim becoming an abuser in their own interactions is something that one hundred percent happens. Cinder, Salem, Adam, and even Blake and Winter have all acted in abusive ways towards the people around them (though obviously Blake and Winter acted much less abusive than any of the villains mentioned.) It might be very hard for abuse victims to not fall back into those patterns of abuse that they've suffered, especially if they go through it at an early age. I'm not very comfortable talking about my own experiences, but myself and my siblings have all had to fight down toxic, hurtful traits that we picked up either through emulating or through survival. And it's hard to do that. Portraying characters who have been abused that lost that fight and might have abusive tendencies or slip themselves is - to me at least - sometimes even helpful in working through my own feelings.

And there are definitely one hundred percent abuse victims who feel like the way they were treated is deserved, that they 'earned' it, that they must 'make up for it.' Oz is in this category. There's nothing wrong with the concept of a character who feels responsible for their abuser or the hurt their abuser has caused to others, there’s nothing wrong with a character who tends to act as though everything is their fault and who thinks very poorly of themselves.

In theory. But the problem is that in application, there are a lot of pitfalls and struggles that come with writing for abuse victims. Understanding, thoughtfulness, and care are not the RWBY writers’ strength, and any time you portray real life issues that strongly impact the real life people involved in them, you have to be aware and careful with the messages you’re sending. This is obviously very important when someone writes for any minority or oppressed group or the issues that they face, but it’s also important to remember when you write for abuse victims, because they do have stigmas around them and deal with stereotypes and harmful portrayals as well. Let’s look at what I consider some harmful or hurtful pitfalls when it comes to abused characters.

Are the abused characters treated as the victims they are? If the abuse a character faces is treated as comical, treated as unimportant, or treated as deserved, that’s an obvious major flaw. Sad to say, but RWBY does not pass this. On two separate occasions, a character is hit by someone close to them in a way that clearly causes them some pain, with Blake hitting Sun across the face for following her, and Winter hitting Weiss for answering a question incorrectly and again for failing in her training (I tend to be more sympathetic towards Blake’s situation, as it is more gray with her clearly thinking Sun had stalked her which is a clear trigger from her own abuse, but this is an explanation, not an excuse and the fact that it was framed as funny rather than something Blake shouldn’t have done and should apologize for is the problem.) They also do not treat Ozpin like the victim when Qrow punches him in the face, having no one call Qrow out for it and having him never express guilt or try to apologize for it. Yes, I know Ozpin had retreated, but they never showed Qrow even make an effort to get Ozpin to come back so he could apologize. . They also ‘redeem’ Hazel and give him a ‘partially right’ storyline despite his openly beating Ozpin, unfairly blaming him for the death of his sister, and insisting that Ozpin deserved to be tortured. On top of this, despite having been horribly abused by the SDC, Adam isn’t treated with even an ounce of sympathy or understanding and Jacques Schnee and the SDC is treated like a more comical-ish nuisance in season seven and eight. This is greatly flawed. Hitting someone because they lied to you or kept secrets from you is not okay, hitting someone because they said something you don’t like is not okay. This should not be treated as funny and it shouldn’t be treated as the fault of the person who was hit for not being a good enough friend.

Are the abused characters mostly villains, when the heroes have never faced it? The reason for this is obvious, although it’s valid to have a villain be an abuse victim, it’s never alright to villainize abuse victims. Making the majority of your bad guys abuse victims and your good guys have positive relationships is in my opinion, harmful. Point for RWBY, this is not the case for their show. Mercury, Salem, and Cinder on the bad side are all abuse victims with Raven being a possible, but unconfirmed abuse victim as well. While Weiss, Blake, Ozpin, and Whitley are also abuse victims, with Qrow and May both being possible, but unconfirmed abuse victims, and Winter and Emerald are both abuse victims who were on the side of a villain and then turned good.

Is the abuse more severe in the ‘bad’ characters and lighter in the ‘good’ characters? If the abuse that the good guys faced is mostly lighter things and the abuse that the villains suffered is worse and more severe, that might send some bad messages that people who suffer more are automatically worse people, or ‘unsalvageable’ or ‘too broken,’ as opposed to the people that ‘there’s still hope for.’ Unfortunately, I think RWBY is almost a tie? We’ve never seen Weiss or Emerald suffer more than a hit, we don’t know for sure that Whitley or Winter were ever victims of physical abuse. Ozpin and Blake’s abuse is worse, however, as they are hunted down by their abusers who attempt to murder them, make them suffer, and hurt their loved ones. They also were heavily emotionally manipulated and victim blamed by their abusers. And on the villain side, Mercury was beat by his father who hated him and stole his semblance (an extension of your soul, I believe, in canon,) and the abuse led to the loss of his limbs. Cinder was forced to work hard labor by her abusive employer and the ‘stepsisters’ treated her badly, and she was physically electrocuted. We see her abuse extend to Salem using her Grimm arm to hurt her, copying the effects of the necklace. Adam was also a child laborer who worked in terrible conditions who got his face branded by his employer, in the SDC, which had to have been anti-faunus charged due to his bull horns. We don’t see Salem ever physically abused, but know that she was mistreated, isolated, and neglected by her ‘cruel’ father. So it’s not quite a tie, there are more severely abused characters amongst the villains than the heroes, but this is close enough that I don’t consider this much of a strike against them.

In the villains, is the abuse they faced given as ‘reason’ for their villainy? As I said before, villainizing abuse victims isn’t the way to go. A good way to avoid this - I think - is not have abuse be the sole reason for someone’s fall into a life of crime or cruelty. This is something that RWBY... Fails at imo. When showing us Mercury’s backstory, we’re introduced to him through seeing that he had just killed his abuser who cost him his legs, and then gets recruited by Cinder who at the very least likely emotionally and physically abused him the same way she did with Emerald, leading to the conclusion that the only reason he’s there at all is due to abuse. However, he’s just a teen and it’s possible that (like Emerald) he’ll be redeemed. A much more condemning story to talk about is Cinder’s. After people had been clambering for a Cinder backstory since volume three, RWBY finally showed us one. But it doesn’t include Cinder meeting Salem, why she joined her, her proving herself, none of that. Instead, Cinder’s backstory was entirely focused on her abusive situation as a child, entirely focused on her suffering. Cinder killing her abusers and then killing the teacher who decided to arrest her for getting herself out of her abusive situation was portrayed as the only needed backstory, the explanation to why she’s a power hungry, abusive, cruel, selfish, and just plain evil person. ‘She was abused’ is the explanation for why Cinder is where she is and why she is who she is in RWBY. That’s highly problematic to me.

In the heroes, are they “the Perfect, Sanitized Abuse Victims?” As I said before, there is no one type of abuse victim, but if someone has several abuse victims and they’re all either submissive, sad, and self-doubting, but gentle and caring and soft or dropped their abuser like a hotcake and never looked back, never seem affected, never really talk about it after they left... That’s bothersome to me personally. Measuring how RWBY is in this particular subject is... A little harder than I thought it would be. Let’s start by looking at the most prevalent abuse victim, Blake. She’s one of the reasons why this is hard to gauge, because for the first five seasons, Blake was deeply flawed and clearly affected by her abuse in ways that made her ‘unappealing.’ Blake was cynical, stubborn, cold, hard to get to know, she didn’t trust easily, she lashed out at her friends regularly, ran from her problems, made choices for her friends, and had a very negative self image. This didn’t stop her from being a good character and friend with a lot of good sides, too, and she had real, important friendships. This was - to me - a really great portrayal of someone clearly affected by their trauma, with lots to work on, who was still a good person. Some of her faults and problems started to get resolved in a natural way through her journey with Sun in volumes four and five, but when season six came around, many of Blake’s other traits suddenly vanished. No longer stubborn, independent, or cynical, and no longer standing up for herself, or really displaying her temper or hardheadedness or her struggles with getting to know people... Blake became more submissive, sad, self-doubting, but gentle, caring, and soft. Sigh. As the first ask mentioned, Whitley and Emerald both seemed to drop their abusers quickly the second they were removed from their lives again. it’s also worth noting that Whitley was treated with nothing but coldness and contempt by Weiss until he ‘proved himself’ by doing something selfless. Weiss did more or less drop Jacques the moment she left her house in V4, only mentioning him or her experiences when she’s using it to talk about Blake, and when she confronted him again in V7, she did so as someone who is proving she no longer cares. Ozpin seems to be the only one still unable to move on from his abuse and the ‘unappealing’ abuse victim. The first anon is right, there’s something satisfying with seeing an abuse victim move on like their abuser didn’t matter. But when almost all your abuse victims do, and one of the only other ones is turned into a submissive and soft support based / romance based character, and the only really ‘unappealing’ abuse victim is someone we’re supposed to see as ‘gray’... There’s something off there, in my opinion.

Were the abuse victims treated respectfully and thoughtfully by their friends, and if not, were they portrayed as wrong? This probably isn’t something that really even needs an explanation. Abuse victims should be able to set their own boundaries and tell their stories only when they want, when they feel comfortable, Their friends should be understanding of this and not force anything from them. In the case of Blake and Weiss, this is handled really well! Their friends let them talk about their experiences in their own time, and they’re understanding and validate their feelings when it comes up (much more common with Blake than with Weiss, who like I said, seemed to move on from her dad quickly after she left.) However, when it comes to Oz... This is all wrecked. Although unintentional (no one knew how deeply tied up with Salem Ozpin was or how intimate the memories they were going to watch were,) our main characters still forced Ozpin’s deepest and most personal secrets out of him in a fit of upset while he was tearfully begging them not to. He was forced to relive his most traumatic experiences in hi-def with other people watching with him, all his secrets and all his abuse wrenched away from him in what was clearly a very painful way. And then no one showed Ozpin even the slightest bit of sympathy or understanding for what he’d gone through, and no one ever apologized for what they had forced him to relive. In fact, Team RWBY were clearly displayed as in the right, and Oz was displayed as completely wrong for not trusting them implicitly. He had to apologize to them, which they acted begrudgingly accepting of as if they hadn’t shouted at an abuse victim after forcing him to relive all his worst experiences.

Are some abuse victims portrayed as bad for things that other abuse victims aren’t portrayed as bad for? Like the second ask says, in RWBY, Cinder and Mercury are treated as villains for having killed their abusers and Cinder is almost arrested for it, it’s considered a step in the direction of their villainy. But Blake is (rightfully) treated as the victim who was forced, who had no choice, who just wanted the abuse to stop. This is hypocritical and fundamentally flawed. I think this is a reflection of the fact that Cinder and Mercury are meant to be ‘bad’ abuse victim, who had violent tendencies and anger issues, and were already featured as bad guys before their backstory’s dropped, whereas Blake was meant to be a better abuse victim who (by season six) was starting to get written as a soft girl who just wanted to help her friends.

All in all, although there’s some things that I think that RWBY did well enough, I definitely think that I would consider their portrayal of abuse victims to be lacking. This is just my opinion and the way I feel about the writing, but there are a lot of ways to look at it. I think overall, I just really wish that the RWBY writers had been a little more sensitive and spent a little longer focusing on the character arcs involved in abuse recovery. (There’s still a chance for Whitley, Weiss, and Emerald to get more focus in volume ten, though, so long as the writers don’t timeskip!)

#rwde #rwby criticism #rwby critical #rwby hate #rwby bashing #tw; abuse #trigger warning; abuse