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myckicade · 2 years

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Mayans M.C. - 04x10 - 'When the Breakdown Hit at Midnight'

So much. So much. I'm on my lunch break, so let's just dive right in, shall we?

Spoilers Under the Cut

Phffffff. Okay. I want to start with something that I loved. TIG. Omigosh, how I have missed Tigger. He was the breath of humour that this whole series has been missing. (That's one of my Major Gripes, is how deep and serious-Nah, y'know what? Let's gripe in a few paragraphs). When he was greeted with a, "Hi, Beautiful", I knew what kind of scene we were walking into. "Don't you dare kink-shame me." I... I loved that line, so much. I picked up on a bit of a tonal shift in his character, which I choose to attribute to different writers, but most of it felt like Classic Tig. I just... I have missed him, so dearly.

That leads me right into something else that I loved, which was Tig's discussion with Alvarez. Oh, hell, was that scene beautiful, and much needed. Mn. They know what they are getting into, and that they are stuck in a younger man's game. But, if they want to survive said game, they still have to play, age be damned. They're on opposing sides, and they can't do a damned thing about it (despite Marcus' best attempts).

Speaking of Alvarez... How dare they? That even the ones who know what war will cost them, and have wanted to avoid it from the start, are suddenly willing to go all-in? I can understand some of them changing their minds, but... everyone? I'm actually glad that Taza wasn't around for that one. (And, yeah, I may have missed a bit of that scene, because I was outside feeding the cat that some asshole dropped off. I want him to trust me, so he was my top priority... Then, my dogs barked, off and on, through the rest of it). Anywho, I'm honestly relieved that Alvarez is out, if only for his own sake. I don't know that it will keep, and I don't believe it will save him, but, for right now, I can breathe a little easier.

I hope Letty is breathing a bit easier, now, too. I'm so, so glad she said her peace at the funeral. While she's absolutely right that the Club got him killed... He was also a grown-ass man, who made his own decisions. He knew the risks he was taking, and he put himself where he was, but, BUT!! It was someone else's shit-show that cost him his life. Letty needed to say it, though, and she deserved that moment. I'm glad they wrote it in for her. She has a piece of Coco, with that chartreuse Nova... And, I loved her shake of the Magic 8-Ball keychain.

Kudos to Louie for being a decent dude... Y'know, for someone who sells drugs, and produces porn. (I mean zero offense, as any of y'all's business practices are your own, and this is just about one dude).

Back to Letty. I'm also plenty relieved that she went after Hope. Y'all know I haven't been Hope's biggest supporter, but she worked so hard to get herself right. I didn't want to see her spiral back down, thinking that nobody gave a shit about her. I'm hoping they stick around the series (y'know, if). There's still so much potential for the both of them. (Gabby's death, Isaac's return, there's a little something for each of them).

Other than that, was much else really resolved?

No Taza. Whelp. Okay.

Miguel Knows. It's about damned time, too. I guess I was hoping for a bit... more to the reveal, you know? I didn't want to see Felipe get shot, and we still have no evidence that he wasn't, but it might have lent itself to the storytelling. (Again, I'm glad he didn't get hurt, that we know of, because I fucking love him). If all goes well, I'm hoping Felipe gets one son that's worth a damn. They can't all be duds with the father-son relationships. (At least I never wrote that EZ/Miguel fic, huh?).

I don't really even want to get into the deal with Packer's younger brother being... Ugh. I'm sorry. Unless I missed a whole lot of somethings, this bit feels like sloppy writing. (Any Nip/Tuck fans out there? The Carver seasons? Yah-huh. That kind of sloppy). I hope someone takes care of him, in Manny's name.

MANNY. Boy, am I steamed. What the fuck did they put him in there for, just to snatch him away? And, so violently? So horrifically? This is what I am talking about, with sloppy writing. We already hate Isaac. They didn't need to force the point home, quite like that. I was kind of hoping he really was a Fed, y'know? There's still a chance that he could have been, and that his death will be a catalyst for the Sons to get looked into, right along with the Mayans. Still doesn't fix the evil that they've committed. So devastating.

Yeah, I'm still talking about Manny. I'm honestly kind of heartbroken over him.

My heartbreak extends, next, to Creeper. How dare that bitch? The softest target. She basically just called him the weakest link in the chain, and I want to take a chain to her. Now, he's doing what he can, as the most exposed and vulnerable member of the Club, to try and protect them. He probably thinks it's what he has to do, as the cause of the issue, and as the most disposable dude in the bunch. GRRR. I'm so fucking mad for the man!!!!

Mm. Again, I had some emotions, last evening.

So, in the category of little things that irked me...

Did El Banquero have an actual point and purpose, or...?

Is that what Potter wanted of Adelita? Ah, why? I don't get it. I mean, sure, Power Broads, and all that, but.

They're really forcing this Old Lady feel on Sofia, huh?I know, I'm not feeling it.

And, now... The EZ-shaped elephant in the room. What the fuck is he doing?! Once he darkened Bishop's door, it was obvious the fix was in. I was hoping he'd fail with his vote, but... Yeah. I could complain for an hour about how much this anti-hero-turned-villain arc is pissing me off, but I think my opinions on that are in good order. Now, El Presidente can deal with whoever torched his selling point. I want to say it was Angel, but with that form... Hmmm...

I want to close with this little beauty, for anyone who hasn't, or even has seen it. See it again. I'm still in stitches over it.

Until Season Five...?

P.S. Sally made it, and that makes me happy.

#Mayans MC #Mayans MC Spoilers

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klonoadoortophantomile · 1 year

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okay i know nothing about object shows but im willing to learn so if youre up for another infodump im all ears

STARES AT THIS ASK. okay uhrnmhm thisll be under a cut becuz its long <//3 just gonna talk abt General Osc Things since you said you dont know much… okay👍

okay so object shows are just like.. silly funny web-series things with little object guys. they tend to have faces and little stick figure limbs but of course there are always characters that will break typical design conventions. general name for Eveythjng is the object show community (osc for short. theres so many acronyms hopefully that isnt too confusing..)

first ever object show is bfdi (battle for dream island) it was made in 2010 by these two guys, the huang twins, youve probably seen Something theyvemade before they make a lotta cool things, it started in 2010 and is still going on today! its a competition based show inspired by total drama, and the main premise is 20 contestants who are little silly objects are competing for the titular ‘dream island’ throughout multiple challenges, and characters get voted out each episode by the viewers! bfdi is mostly silly jokes and slapstick type stuff, but still has certain bits where they get more ‘serious’ and has its fair share of lore and character arcs. practically every object show is based off of/inspired by this since it was the first and set up the general formula most other shows follow =)

generally speaking its agreed on that inanimate insanity (ii for short) is the second show to be made, and this one takes even more total drama/survivor inspirations. it started in 2011, and is also still going on, generally the second most popular show and REALLY popular on the tumblr side of the osc, probably due to its more ‘serious’ tone compared to other shows. season 1 is pretty… aged.. you can tell it was made by a bunch of teens in the early 2010s, but season 2 as it goes on gets more and more focus on story, character arcs and development, all that jazz. theres a ton of shows from around the time that later season 2 episodes where releasing that take a lot more inspirtation from it in tone and stuff!

something im not entirely sure how to fit into the main bits is that these are like. largely made by kids/teens. bfdi was first created when they were in like middle school n stuff, same with ii, in more recent years as people who have been the community for a while n stuff are getting older theres a lot more adults of course but its still mainly younger people… not enough people seem to take that into consideration when talking abt the community at large/certain shows n stuff so i figured id make sure to point it out 👍

actually speaking of that. a lot and i mean a LOT of shows end up being kind of… obviosuly made by kids. a lot of people find this annoying but i personally couldnt care less its pretty endearing to me (probably cuz me and my friends were all like that lolz) although i can understand where people are coming from with shit where its just like.. offensive. thats not too common tho in my expierence. okay so generic and ‘poorly’ made shows are super common. the response to this there was a massive surge in joke shows which are their whole own beast. im not too familiar with them so im not the best person to come for for that stuff, they generally just joke about how generic and oversaturated object shows were getting to be around the time . all that shit. gimmick shows are also pretty common nowadays, i havent seen any of these so i have nothing to really say i just dont know much aside from they have Gimmicks and thats the whole premise ?

a show thats become like, massive, considered one of ‘the big three’ up there with bfdi and ii, is ONE by cheesy hfj (sometimes also called hfjone or one hfj) its this sort of meta show that uses object shows as a framing device (and its predecessor was this show called battle for circle which is a joke show poking fun at how low quality and samey everything is blah blah blah) and its. a whole thing . i dont even know how to really explain it in a quick summary its like… the undertale of object shows if that makes sense.

theres just. so much i genuienly dont know how or where to end this off becuz the community is SO big and has been around for over a decade and im only really familar with tiny sections of it…

yeah. general takeaway for me when it comes to Everything as a whole is just like.. object shows. the osc. whatever. is just this big community made of passionate people who like to make things and want to share that and its!! cool and fun and despite it having all the typical fandom issues im really grateful that i discovered this stuff becuz it genuinelyhas changed my life and i dont know if i would be as into making art or if i would have this kinda attitude on art that i have now if it werent for the osc. a lot of shows are really silly and all of it looks. kinda stupid if youre not familar with them but they gneuinely hold this special place in my heart cuz… well im not entirely sure how to put it into words if im bring honest. they just feel very.. genuine to me. everyone in the community is so passionate and it just makes me really happy seeing people making things they love and enjoy regardless of how ‘stupid’ or ‘cringe’ or whatever the fuck it might seem if that makes sense =)

#wow that took. a long time im. not even sure if this is good #left out a Lot of shows im sorry…. wanted to keep it a bit more general/simple #truly breaks my heart to not be able to talk abt random shitty shows i love that only five other people care abt /silly #ask #therealsomajesticdonki #inquisitivewaltz.txt #thisis going in the talking tag i spent so much time on this and said So much hshhshhs #osc #yeah ill tag that too fuck it

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valerie · 9 months

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TWITL - week 29 - summer solitude

I had the building to myself at work after Monday. Everyone else was either still on break or at a conference. I thought I'd have time to watch the yearly mandated videos and do some filings. I only got to watch one video (one more to go!) and not any filing at all. Oi! https://flic.kr/p/2oR6gEX Sooo, I got called out on Spoutible. I liked and commented on a post then commented on another post that was opposite of what I had liked and commented previously. I don't want to be specific because to do so will give more energy to a POS that doesn't deserve it. Suffice to say calling me out was appropriate and I owned up to what I had done. I posted thusly on my profile and it's currently the most liked of any of my Spoutible posts or comments. Go me? Honestly, it feels performative. I posted because I wanted anyone who might read me there to understand that I meant no ill intent (because I did not) and I was glad to be called out. I felt so bad and embarrassed and a little horrified that my seemingly innocent like and comment might have brought hurt to someone. I wanted to lash out, to explain my intent, to get people to see my side, but I didn't. I apologized and understood that what I had done had contributed to a negative vibe, which is something I never ever want to do. Still, I feel as if I was just saying words even though I meant them. I'm glad that the people there understood. How exhausting must it be for people to find offense and expend the energy to try and correct someone. I have been online for a long time and I've learned to just move on if someone posts things I don't like and I certainly am not compelled enough to try to correct them most of the time. I don't take things personally unless it's directly said to me. I might take the time to see what kind of person they are from their profiles. I didn't want to reply to those who'd commented on my comment but I felt I needed to let them know that I understood and I was sorry. And I do and I am. So now I understand that some of the people at Spoutible are willing to post deeper thoughts and they will call out what they believe is offensive. They are a serious bunch and for some, that's a good thing. Part of me wants to write off the whole platform but I'm committed for now because I do want to see how far it goes. But it's hard to find the joy there. Then there's Threads. I really enjoy spending time on Threads and I shrug off the current annoyances because I see enough joy and curiosity and down right good feelings there. I feel good when I'm scrolling through there. I like posting my random stuff. I like that a lot of the people I like to follow are there and I see their posts. I don't see as much as I could since it's all about the algorithms for now but even so, I don't mind. I have patience and I like the vibe there. I have giggled, I have learned, I have appreciated many different posts there and I am hoping very much it continues to grow and improve because it has brought me more joy than some of the other SM I've tried in recent days. I feel more balance there. It will hopefully get better, like with web access please! As for the entity formerly known as Twitter (it's going to be rebranded, maybe tomorrow?), I am still there, mostly to keep from someone using my twitter name. I post my Wordles there everyday and sometimes comment or post randomly. But that place has changed so much and it's just not the same. I'm sad about it but most of the people I want to follow have other places online where I can find them, so when Twitter dies, it won't feel like such a loss. I already miss the heyday of that platform... https://flic.kr/p/2oQM9nj Miguel Ángel Silvestre as Jorge in La Boda de Mi Mejor Amigo I'm enjoying my new MacBook Air very much. I'm also taking advantage of the free year of ViX from T-Mobile. Miguel Ángel Silvestre has a few movies on that platform and I decided to do screenshots of La Boda de Mi Mejor Amigo. The movie, a Mexican adaptation of the 1997 film, My Best Friend's Wedding, follows the same beats as the original and MAS plays the gay friend. I only skimmed through to his scenes but what I saw looks delightful. I'll have to watch the movie properly even though my Spanish is definitely not good enough for that. Ha! https://flic.kr/p/2oQuw9L my MacBook Air in the wild aka at work In brighter light, the MacBook Air definitely is NOT black but rather the darkest blue/gray can be (hence the "Midnight," I'm sure). And lo, fingerprint prone indeed. I don't care, I like it. As I'm typing this, I've got the laptop connected to my desktop monitor, keyboard, and mouse. This way I can still use my larger monitor, even though it's not as nice on the eyes at the laptop. But at least I don't have to wear my readers like this. Small blessings. https://flic.kr/p/2oQuwa2 see, so fingerprint prone https://flic.kr/p/2oRbaRZ ready to eat! We visited my parents yesterday (Saturday) and took my dad to lunch at Harry's Hofbrau. It's been so long since we've been there! My mom didn't go out with us but we brought her food when we went back to the house. San Leandro was much cooler than Brentwood, even at nearing 80F. My parents don't even have air conditioning and most of the time they don't need it. Their PG&E bill is so much less than ours, I'm quite sure. It was good to see them. https://flic.kr/p/2oRbaRt The Bay Area traffic is a bit crazy. First of all, why was there so much traffic before noon on a Saturday on 580? Where is everyone going? Second, where was everyone going later in the afternoon when we were going back home? SO MANY CARS! Even though it was hot as balls when we got home, I felt this wave of relief knowing the open spaces were within reach here as opposed to all the concrete and dense population closer to the Bay. https://flic.kr/p/2oRbb1M along Vasco One more week of summer break (for the students out this way) and then the school year begins. Yes, we have a short summer break. Bummer for the kids and maybe for the staff too? August is the one month of the year where there are no built-in days off besides the weekends. No holidays, no short days, nothing. Every weekday is a day of work/school in August. Must brace myself for it but first, let's enjoy this upcoming week, the last days of July... https://flic.kr/p/2oRaf6e Read the full article

#MacBookAir15"#miguelangelsilvestre

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crankblog · 2 years

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Bree is Definitely a Round Character.

In regards to the novel “Crank” by Ellen Hopkins

May 13, 2022.

Hi guys! Happy Friday! Today I’d like to take a more in-depth look into Bree’s character traits. Now, a “flat” character means that a character only has one main character trait, which off the bat, we know that Bree does NOT.

A “round” character means that the character has multiple character traits, so don’t take any offense to the title lol.

For starters, Bree has two different identities. One being her real name, Kristina, and the other being her made up alter-ego, Bree.

From what we know, Kristina seems to be reasonable, “straight A” type, with her head on her shoulders and is going places in life. This is displayed in many different parts of the book, like when she dials the wrong number while trying to call Adam. “Got some creep’s cellphone by mistake, and asked for the man of my dreams. Don’t think I know him, but if you talk real dirty, I can fake it. Bree giggled. Kristina wanted to puke, thanked him anyway, tried again. (Page 203). Also when she starts to talk about Bree as if she is another person, such as “Despite the monster, fluttering in and out of my head like some demented moth, drawn to whatever light might be left there, despite Bree, demanding that I find a way to get high, as if I had a clue where to get crank back here in Kristina land.” (Page 192).

Bree on the other hand, is very self-destructive, self-confident, and thinks with her heart and body vs. her mind. Some more examples of the Katrina/Bree situation is when Kristina is acknowledging her new and infected tattoo. “I slithered down the hall into the haven of the bathroom, shed my clothes, showered, scrubbed my skin until I thought it might blister, studied my thigh, found likely signs of infection. Bree shrugged, Kristina silently screamed at the angry green pocket of pus beneath the purple welt-”. (Page 195). She also goes into detail a bit more about Bree and how she feels as Bree while at the pool. “I opted for an inner-tube float along the Lazy River, mostly because of this very cute lifeguard, perched overhead. And there was Bree, smiling seductively, and I swear that poster boy lifeguard smiled right back. And in that righteous moment, complete clarity. Bree was not an invention, not a stranger. Bree was the essence of me.” (Pages 242-243).

Sidenote: I’m honestly not a huge fan of this whole “alter-ego” thing going on. I understand that some people think like that, but personally I think it is just kind of an excuse to not acknowledge or deal with the root issue of what’s going on in someone’s mind. It’s sometimes easier to put the blame on “someone else” VS holding yourself accountable for your actions, and not recognizing that it’s you can lead to spiraling out of control, which I’m assuming is about to happen even more to Bree/Kristina.

Anyways, aside from being reasonable, going places in life, and self-destructive all at once, I would like to point out that Bree is easily-persuaded. “I started to protest. I had some serious shopping ahead. And Bree or no Bree, I wasn’t about to do Chase Wegner. No strings. I just wanted to get to know you better. Where had I heard a similar take? I was about to give him a definite no when he sweetened the offer. I’ve got a little toot, if you’re so inclined.” (Page 265). Kristina then gives in and goes with Chase to his car. She was so strong willed until he had something to offer her. She was just as easily persuaded in the first quarter of the book, when offered meth for the FIRST TIME by Adam, which really shocked me that she kid of just went ahead and did it no questions asked.

In conclusion, Bree is a 17 year old girl that’s tangled up in a big mess right now, and seems to be embracing the mess. Her mind is all over the place and is constantly displaying a battle in her own mind and showing many different character traits. Outgoing, yet shy. Rebellious, yet compliant. Self-destructive, yet does care for herself.

I’m interested and excited to see what unfolds in the next half of the book.

Here is a review done on the book for anyone interested: http://www.helensbookblog.com/2012/12/review-crank-by-ellen-hopkins.html .

#crank #ellen hopkins #kristina snow #round

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marauderundercover · 3 years

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Jason Todd is tired. He’s tired of vigilantes and villains and dreary skies. Despite swearing to himself that he didn’t need a break, nor did he want a break, he accepted Bruce’s offer of a break (though Bruce was smart enough to not word it as a break). Instead of patrol and listening to police scanners, Jason was tasked with scouting out a location for a new branch of Wayne Enterprises in Paris. Tim was bitter that he wasn’t the one going, which just added to Jason’s excitement. If it meant pissing off the replacement, Jason would wear a pink beret, anything to piss the kid off. Grinning as he takes in the clear skies through the window of the plane, Jason can’t help but feel relaxed for the first time in a long time.

--------

So maybe Jason shouldn’t have allowed himself to feel relaxed. Because apparently, Paris has freaking supervillains that can flood the entirety of Paris without breaking a sweat.

Jason curses under his breath as he climbs higher up the fire escape, trying desperately not to look at the carnage surrounding him. The entirety of Paris, underwater. The only reason he wasn’t one of the bodies floating beneath him, was the location of his hotel room. B had insisted on Jason using the Wayne’s suite at Le Grand Paris, the one that he had bought in case of emergency trips to Paris. Not that Bruce ever made emergency trips anywhere, seeing as the bat much preferred to stay close to his own home base. Stopping on the roof, Jason pulls out his phone and dials Dick.

“Hello?” Dick says, his confusion clear even an ocean away. Jason had made sure his brothers knew that his trip to Paris was going to be a silent one, he needed this time away from everything.

“I know the news may look a little crazy right now, but I’m okay. Might need some Wayne Foundation trucks out here though once clean up begins. The survivors are gonna need somewhere to go-” Jason says, stopping as Dick cuts him off with a surprised noise.

“Survivors? Little Wing, what’d you do?” He asks and Jason scoffs.

“Just cause something bad happened, doesn’t mean I had anything to do with it Dickwad. Are there no news stations reporting this shit?” Jason asks as he glances around.

“Reporting what? You’re kinda freaking me out-” Dick says, but Jason cuts him off.

“Freaking you- Okay, hold on.” He pulls the phone away from his ear and snaps several pictures of the carnage surrounding him, careful not to get any of the bodies’ faces in his pictures. He sends the pictures and waits a few seconds before hearing the sharp inhale of his older brother.

“Why are no reports coming from Paris? This is- Jason this is huge. Can you tell how many survivors there are?” Dick asks, his voice more serious than Jason had heard in awhile.

“Not immediately. I can see people on the surrounding rooftops but-” He pauses, glancing around. “There’s not a lot of people up here Dick.”

“You’re coming home immediately. I don’t know why B let you go across an ocean by yourself-” Dick rants. Jason rolls his eyes and prepares to respond when suddenly, a bright light flashes in the sky and waves of light rush around the city. Jason blinks and suddenly, the water is gone. And where there were bloated corpses, are now living people. Smiling and acting as if nothing serious happened.

“What the fuck.” Jason says, and Dick immediately stops talking.

“Jason? What’s wrong?” He asks. Wordlessly, Jason takes several more pictures and sends them, once again waiting for Dick’s response. “I- is that a current view?” He asks.

“Uh, yeah. Some freaky lights went everywhere and all of a sudden corpses are walking around and everyone is acting like this is normal.” Jason says, pacing the roof as he tries not to freak out.

“Monsieur?” A voice calls out timidly, Jason whirls around and his eyes widen at the girl standing in front of him, a foot shorter than him and dressed in what was obviously a hero costume.

“Uh, hi?” Jason says, ignoring the rapid fire questions from Dick.

“Oh, um, are you okay?” The girl asks in heavily accented English. Jason just blinks at her before glancing around.

“What was that?” He asks, barely able to hide the horror in his voice. The girl grimaces.

“That was an akuma, sent by Hawkmoth. You are new in Paris, yes?” She asks and he nods slowly, not sure where she’s going with this. “I am Ladybug, one of Paris’ heroes. I can explain more, but you really should get off the roof first. And try not to panic, I’ll answer what questions I can, but just stay calm.” The girl says, holding her hands up in a calming manner. Jason nods and points to his phone. She nods in understanding and pulls out a yoyo before propelling to the ground. With a yoyo. Jason blinks in surprise but goes back to his phone.

“I swear to god Jason if you don’t say something soon I’m going to-” Dick rambles.

“I just met one of Paris’ heroes.” Jason says, cutting Dick off and reveling in the silence he created. “I’ll call back later, she’s supposed to answer some questions for me.” Jason says before unceremoniously hanging up. Jason climbs back down the fire escape, dropping the last ten feet and landing in a crouch. He stands up and quirks an eyebrow at the look on Ladybug’s face.

“I could have helped you, no need to almost break a bone.” She says with a frown.

“Kid, I’m twice your weight. You might be able to swing on a yoyo, but there’s no way in hell you’re gonna be able to carry me too.” He says, crossing his arms.

“I’m not a kid, I’m uh, I’m a hero, er uh, Ladybug. I’m Ladybug.” She stammers, just solidifying in his mind that this is, in fact, a child. But he just nods, accepting that he was being a little patronizing.

“Got it, sorry. Can you tell me why all of those corpses are just walking around now? And acting as if that was completely normal?” He asks, and Ladybug sighs.

“Honestly, my guess is that they’re used to it by now. There was a lot of panic in the beginning, but once people realized that only made things worse...it’s better to just move forward.” She says, pursing her lips.

“You’re all used to watching people die and come back to life?” Jason asks incredulously. Ladybug nods.

“This all started a little over three years ago. We have to be used to this by now, otherwise people would be akumatized immediately after every battle.” She adds, and Jason frowns. Akumatized? Three years. This has been happening for over three years? Wait a minute-

“Have you been the hero since the beginning?” Jason asks, cursing under his breath as Ladybug hesitantly nods. She glances around, watching the horizon nervously.

“I- I’m not sure why you’re upset about this, and I’m really sorry for this, but you need to breathe. Just, try and think about something else if it upsets you.” Ladybug instructs, her gaze flitting around, occasionally falling back on Jason’s angry face before she’s once again glancing around.

“Why the hell should I breathe? This is- this is insane! You may be a hero, but you’re still a kid. This is-” Jason freezes and blinks as Ladybug’s yoyo nearly crashes into his face, instead sucking up a little purple butterfly. Eyebrows furrowed, Jason glances at Ladybug’s face, almost immediately taken aback by the resigned look on the hero’s face.

“This is why you should breathe. This is how Hawkmoth akumatizes you, it’s how he controls you and makes you into a villain that my partner and I will then have to battle. I understand your feelings, and it’s awful that you can’t completely feel them in Paris, but I have a feeling that you wouldn’t want to be used by a supervillain.” Ladybug explains, and Jason tenses. Stupid ass villains attacking kids who- he quickly tries to think about anything else when he sees how tired Ladybug looks.

“Have you called for any outside help? I mean, no offense, you obviously know what you’re doing. But have you thought of calling for backup so that you can actually take a breath?” Jason asks, and Ladybug huffs before frowning.

“We did- in the beginning. The day after the first attack, my partner and I met up and we called the Justice League. We were desperate, we knew that we needed help, training at the very least. But- the hero we talked to told us to call when there was an actual problem. As you saw with all of the water, I’m able to fix everything and return it to its state prior to the akuma attack. Anyway, by the time we could have built a case and petitioned for help, I decided it wasn’t a great idea. My partner...he’s tired too. He needs a break, so he petitions for help from time to time. But we can’t risk a member of the Justice League coming here, getting upset, and then turning into a villain. There are some akumatized people who were hard enough to beat without them having prior knowledge of combat. I- I trust my partner. But I don’t think either of us could fight against an akumatized Superman or Wonder Woman.” Ladybug explains, and Jason tries hard to avoid glancing at her shaking hands, lest he embarrass the poor kid by pointing out that she’s anxious about the whole conversation.

“Would you be willing to accept help if it’s already currently in Paris?” Jason asks, an idea forming in his head.

“What?” Ladybug asks, her hands no longer shaking as a shocked look flashes onto her face.

“I’ve worked in security in some pretty intense cities. And I’ve worked as a freelance detective. If you want, I could help you and your partner.” Jason offers, only feeling slightly bad for the lies. Well, they’re not completely lies? Oh well. Not like the girl’s gonna figure that out or anything.

“I-I would need to talk to my partner first. I don’t make these kinds of decisions without his input.” Ladybug says, and Jason nods.

“If you and your partner agree to talk to me, I’ll be on this roof at midnight.” Jason says, and Ladybug purses her lips, but nods.

“Thank you. Bye.” Ladybug waves, using her yoyo to swing away across Paris. Jason frowns as he watches her for a moment. Another kid brought in to fight a war that wasn’t their own. Jason curses under his breath, pushing his hair up as he takes deep breaths to calm down. Pulling out his phone, Jason dials the one number he didn’t want to contact while in Paris.

“Hey, Replacement, listen up. I need you to do something.”

#fanfic #maribat jason todd #maribat #maribat damian wayne #platonic jasonette #ao3fic #maribat dick grayson #maribat marinette dupain cheng #This Side of Normal

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serinemolecule · 3 years

Note

Not to harp on the obvious, but the discussion feels hollow without it: the only reason some people - not all, maybe not most, but definitely some - push for "equality" and "inclusiveness" and etc. in tech is because it's seen as a desirable and powerful position. No one's been belly-aching about it back when it was fashionable to tell nerds to stop being fat and ugly and what a bunch of losers they are. It's only up for discussion now that there's something to be gained from it. It's hypocrisy.

(context: a lot of women-in-tech discourse)

I mean, I was belly-aching about it.

I like to say I was a feminist until I met other feminists. I definitely saw plenty of things nerds could be doing better for equality. But then the first time I met other feminists, they were harassing nerds and writing long essays about how nerds were even worse than average men (which still seems to me like an absolutely insane position).

That was... a really big crisis of faith there. I spent years reading feminist literature, trying to understand their point. And the crazy thing was, a lot of the principles and concepts do appeal to me. But then the way they’d apply it, talking about how privileged nerds were, or just using it as an excuse to be assholes to people, that’s always seemed wrong to me.

My approach at the time was just to try to understand it better in private, and never talk about it in public. This lasted until I read the SSC essays on social justice which I entirely agreed on, then I joined Tumblr to hit on Scott, and since then I started getting more comfortable with writing out my thoughts, but also the really bad SJ of the early 2010s just mostly faded away from the spaces I’m in. I still hear insane stories from other places (like the New York Times! wtf!) but it no longer feels like a crisis afflicting my own community, so I never wrote anything out.

Part of it’s that my community is the rats, now. SJWs may still exist here, but they don’t have a social power to turn us against each other. Whatever effect Topher’s tweet had on the rest of the world, it means he’s no longer welcome among rats anymore. We dismiss them with equanimity using the ancient proverb, “Haters gonna hate”.

Anyway, I suppose now’s as good a time as any for me to talk about what I think about feminist theory.

I get the impression that Scott is embarrassed by his old posts on gender politics, but I still endorse every word. Even the words people like to criticize the most, I endorse as an angry expression of “Why don’t you care about how many people your ideology is hurting?” That said:

Privilege theory – I remember encountering privilege theory and thinking “yes, this totally fits the model that normies are privileged and nerds are marginalized”, until I got to the part where they started talking about how privileged nerds were. I think the theory is still pretty good, and of course the practice about writing privilege checklists and using it to silence people is incredibly fucked up.

Patriarchy theory – Fortunately, no one talks about patriarchy theory anymore. It came from the radfems and it always seemed horrible to me. It's uncontroversially true that ruling class is mostly male, but patriarchy theory seems to just equivocate between that and insane conspiracy theories.

For example, “culture is built for the benefit of men at the expense of women” requires you to just dismiss everything that hurts men and helps women, to excuse that fashion policing is nearly solely perpetuated by other women, and even if it’s true, the fact that it is perpetuated by everyone means pointing the finger at a specific group will not help fix the problem. Did Kamala Harris exercise “girl power” when she kept black prisoners in jail past their release date?

Cultural appropriation – The usual steelman I hear for this is “it sucks when white people take your culture for themselves, and yet still call it cringe when you practice your own culture” – but the only objectionable part is the latter! Stop objecting to the former part! There’s nothing wrong with culture mixing and it is in fact one of the most beautiful things in the world!

Part of it’s that I’m a first-gen immigrant, and cultural appropriation attitudes often come from insecurities second-gen immigrants have. Cultural appropriation just means I’m now an expert on your new culture and you’re not allowed to stop me from infodumping on it.

The other steelman is “misusing religious artifacts is bad” and I think to the extent that it’s bad, it’s bad whether you’re doing it to your own culture or to other cultures.

In general I think Halloween was, among other things, a great celebration of diversity that did not need to be cancelled, and I don’t think any costume was offensive to the majority of any culture.

Intersectionality – This word confused me for so long. People kept explaining it as “black women often have problems specific to their group that neither women’s groups nor black groups themselves are equipped to fight” which just seemed obviously true and didn’t seem like we needed a word for it.

Over the years, I’ve seen it be used as a reminder of “don’t forget how your activism affects other marginalized groups”, so it’s probably a useful concept to keep around.

Microaggressions – I think being oblivious to microaggressions is an autism thing, but I still think it’s insane to make them a political issue. Sure, you can vent about them, but acting like they’re on par with actual aggressions just seems like a losing cause.

On second thought, I don’t think I have a problem with making them a political issue in general. I think the whole tactic of SJWs being a hateful harassment mob makes the microaggressions thing just come off as especially petty.

I also think there’s a lot of competing access needs here. I actually really like infodumping about what kind of Asian I am to anyone willing to listen, and I think acting like the question is the root of all evil is really unfair, especially since literally everyone who’s ever asked has been happy to learn about the finer points about Chinese ethnic groups.

Isms as prejudice + power – People have mostly stopped discoursing about this, which is good. Language policing always seemed bad to me.

Objectification – SSC says everything I feel on the topic: https://slatestarcodex.com/2013/03/17/my-objections-to-objectification/

The last time this came up in Discord, people said that objectification is more than the straw-man being criticized in this article, that it’s about people being entitled to your body or whatever. But I think the article does address that: “This is obviously a legitimate complaint. It’s just not a complaint about objectification.”

I got exposed to objectification as a criticism of hot girls in video games. And I just can’t see hot girls in video games as a bad thing.

Rape culture – [cw rape] This is an incredibly sensitive subject so I’m going to give you some time to stop reading here.

Our culture has a serious problem with rape. I think it’s important to understand that it’s usually committed by friends and family, that it’s depressingly common and has nearly definitely happened to people you know, that it’s usually committed by people who don’t think of what they’re doing as rape, and that all the discourse on it is really fucked up.

I also think that calling this “rape culture” entirely misses the point. I’m sympathetic that SSC doesn’t understand it: https://slatestarcodex.com/2013/04/19/i-do-not-understand-rape-culture/

Our problem isn’t that we glorify rape. Our problem is that we consider it a special kind of evil so bad that of course no normal person would ever do it, and this makes it easy to rationalize that whatever this normal person did couldn’t have been rape, which causes huge harms.

I don’t have answers, but I think it’s incredibly clear that calling it “rape culture” doesn’t help.

In general, I don’t think feminist activism on the topic of rape goes in the right direction. The smug “consent is like tea” video has the exact same problem. People don’t need to hear more “normal people would never rape” messaging.

#gender politics

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imo-chan-imagines · 4 years

Text

『 Random acts of kindness | Haikyuu!! Headcanons 』

The everyday acts of kindness our boys do and think nothing of, but are actually incredibly sweet.

Characters: Sawamura Daichi, Kuroo Tetsurou, Ushijima Wakatoshi, Iwaizumi Hajime, Sugawara Koushi, Bokuto Koutarou, Azumane Asahi, Oikawa Tooru, Akaashi Keiji, Nishinoya Yuu, Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Kozume Kenma, Miya Astumu, Miya Osamu, Sakusa Kiyoomi, Hinata Shouyou, Kageyama Tobio, Tsukishima Kei, Yamaguchi Tadashi, Haiba Lev

Tags/warnings: Haikyuu!! (anime), no warnings, fluff, lots of characters I didn't realise how many I'd done until I came to type up the list 😳, a lot of cats and dogs, cuteness, headcanons

A/N: I've had an exhausting and busy week, and just felt like writing some comforting fluff. Thanks for reading! Please enjoy! ♡

And please consider voting in this poll (ends this Sunday 18/10/20) to help me celebrate reaching 100 followers! Thank you to everyone who's already voted! ♡

☆ Sawamura Daichi ☆

Helps lost people find their way and regularly gives directions

We're talking off-duty, here Daichi puts the 'hot' in 'Hot Fuzz' 🥵

Hahaha, fuck 🙃

He's very approachable and warm, and gives excellent directions

He'll also walk them there if they don't understand or don't feel confident, even if it disrupts his day 🥺

And he's really good at helping lost kids and calming them down he feels so proud when he gets them back to their parents, safe and sound 🤗

☆ Kuroo Testurou ☆

Helps elderly people with their shopping bags and getting across roads

It goes against his nature to stand by and let an old person struggle, and even if they're not struggling, he always offers his services anyway

He has a soft spot for old people, 'kay? 🥺

He makes a point of getting the traffic to stop so it's safe, and letting them hold his arm as they slowly make their way across the street

They often tell him that he's 'a very sweet and handsome young man,' and 'nothing like the other young people you meet these days' and he blushes

☆ Ushijima Wakatoshi ☆

Gets things from the top shelves for people that they can't reach at the supermarket

It's a pretty normal thing to do, right? So he's chill about it

Except he will 100% walk down the entire length of the isle just to help if he sees you stuggling it's super cute 😩😍

But he won't smile or make idle conversation, or anything. He'll just nod courteously

It can be a little ominous, with his looming height and serious face, but most people take the gesture well 😊

☆ Iwaizumi Hajime ☆

Pays for the shopping of the person in front of him when their card gets declined or they don't have the right cash

He manages to offer in a way that isn't offensive or patronising he's honestly a life saver 🥺

He's very humble and casual about it

It's what he hopes someone would do for him, if he were in that awkward situation

And you never know what struggles people are facing, so his philosophy is to always be kind what goes around, comes around, my dudes 😌✌

☆ Sugawara Koushi ☆

Leaves snacks and a cute thank you note on the porch for the mailman

Or mailwoman! Or mailperson!

He hopes that the little gesture will brighten their tough day of work so precious, I can't 🥺🥰

There's usually a good selection, too no skimping here, no sirree 😌

If he's home, he'll give them a cheery wave through the window as well

Especially in this COVID-19 environment. Suga would really appreciate the services they're providing

☆ Bokuto Koutarou ☆

Spends time every week playing with the cats and dogs at the local shelters

This man is hoenstly a blessing, I physically can't 🤧

He loves seeing their little faces light up when he walks in, scruffling their ears and playing fetch, etc. and just generally showing them that they're still loved 🥺😭

And he helps take the dogs for walks too, so they get their exercise, and brushes them down, and rubs their tummies–

He wants to adopt, but he's not settled enough, so he knows he can't 😭 but it's his goal

One day 😖

☆ Azumane Asahi ☆

Always holds doors open for other people

We're not just talking the occasional, feebly held door

Asahi will ALWAYS hold a door open for anyone else

Men, women, children, old people, people with prams, whole families– literally everyone

He is TALL and STRONG, and he will be USEFUL

He will hold it open even if you're really far away, like the giant dork that he is 😂😂 you cannot escape

☆ Oikawa Tooru ☆

Often pays for the next customer's coffee in advance

Sure, it makes him feel good about himself. But, I mean, why not? What's so wrong with that?

Oikawa calls it SAOK-ing people (pronounced 'soaking') meaning: Secret Acts of Kindness Iwa-chan has told him to change the name, but he won't 🙄

Oikawa would love the touching joy of a stranger paying for his coffee in advance, so he gets a warm, tingly feeling when he thinks about it happening to someone else because if him he's literally beaming for the rest of the day 🥰

☆ Akaashi Keiji ☆

Buys food and drinks for homeless people when he passes them

He sometimes stops to have a chat with them, too 😔🤧

He's the least condescending person you could meet if you're in trouble he's so genuine, I can't

Except for maybe Iwa-chan and Daichi. They're also very down-to-earth

He'll also give them all his food vouchers that he's been collecting in his wallet to help spread their costs

Akaashi finds it hard to watch other people struggling and suffering, and so always makes the time for it when he can afford to

☆ Nishinoya Yuu ☆

Helps make up the numbers for the kids playing games in the park

Be it soccer, dodgeball, basketball, volleyball, tag, or something else entirely, Noya loves to see the kids running around in the park, playing games and enjoying themselves

So he's only too happy to join in when they need more players he'll sometimes recruit Tanaka to help as well

Yuu fits right in with them, both in height and mentality 😂😭😂😭

He may or may not get them to call him 'senpai' 🙄😂

☆ Tanaka Ryuunosuke ☆

Helps fix people's cars on the road

Tanaka's one of those people that knows how to change a flat, and so can't drive past someone having car trouble without stopping and helping

He's also a pretty good handy-man in general, and is always willing to help out his friends and neighbours with their jobs that need doing

Like plumbing problems, putting up shelves, building furniture, etc. He's good with his hands!

Kiyoko: 👁👄👁

And he'll never charge a penny! He's all too happy to do it out of friendship and the kindness of his heart 😇

☆ Kozume Kenma ☆

Hosts gaming charity livestreams for various causes on a regualr basis

All the donations go directly to the charity of choice for the stream, not through him, so everyone knows it's legit 😇

He also donates gaming consoles etc. to charities and organisations that help kids who are in hospital

He's a huge advocate for charities and organisations that focus on helping people through gaming, like AbleGamers and St Jude PLAY LIVE, and regularly donates to them

Honestly, Kenma is an angel 🥺 👉👈

☆ Miya Atsumu ☆

Gives up his seat on public transport for old/pregnant/disabled etc. people

Look, Tsumu can be a little selfish and grouchy at times, but he's not a complete asshole 👉👈

There's a line, and hogging seats on public transport when someone else clearly needs it more than him is, indeed, the line 😌

He'll do it without a second thought or a fuss, and with a smile on his face but will be low-key proud of himself, ngl

He will also get offended if someone else doesn't give up their seat when they should, and may confront them about it 😳 like, what makes you so special that you can't do that simple courtesy that even he does??

☆ Miya Osamu ☆

Donates food to charities and shelters

Both store-bought food and from his own shop

Literally gets so depressed at the thought of people not getting to eat 🥺

This man LOVES FOOD. And people are out there not able to?!

He also has a scheme set up where homeless and stuggling people can come into his shop for some free onigiri

This man 🥺🤧 can I please marry him already?!

☆ Sakusa Kiyoomi ☆

Donates sanitary supplies like soap, toothpaste, antibacterial gel, pads, tampons, etc. to shelters on a regualr basis

Literally cannot abide the idea that people are forced to live without these basic necessities, simply because they can't afford them

It's almost for his own peace of mind rather than theirs? 😅😂 almost. He does actually care on their behalf, too

But he doesn't like to make a big deal out of it, and so donates anonymously

His donations are literally a godsend to those people, though 🥺😭

☆ Hinata Shouyou ☆

Reads books to kids at the library when he's there with Natsu

And he's really good at it! He reads very animatedly, and really gets the kids engaged with the stories you can just imagine it

The kids all love him and bring him their favourite books to read!

And the parents all watch and compliment him on how good he is with kids

And this goofball just blushes and grins like a doof 😚 so freaking sweet

☆ Kageyama Tobio ☆

Always carries a spare umbrella with him to give to someone

He hates getting caught in the rain himself, so he keeps a spare just in case this precious baby 🥺

He's had to use it quite a few times, sometimes giving it to people he doesn't even know, so he ends up not getting it back and has to buy a new spare

But it makes him smile, if a bit awkwardly, to know that he's helped someone out, even just a little Tobio!! 😭🤧🥺

☆ Tsukishima Kei ☆

Steps into the road to allow room for people with pushchairs and prams

I know it might not seem like much, but this is Tsukki, guys 🙄

*Narrator voice* this is one small step for man, one giant leap for Tsukishima!

And this just goes to show that he's not as tough of a cookie as he looks

He doesn't like the idea of parents etc. and young children having to walk in the road he gets worried for them...🤭

And he does it consciously, which is important

☆ Yamaguchi Tadashi ☆

Spends time each week looking for the animals on the 'lost' and 'missing' posters around town

He hates to think of them out there, cold, alone, frightened–

It makes him feel nauseous just thinking about it 😣

My poor, precious baby!! He's too pure for this world!! 😭

It's not often, but sometimes he actually manages to find one and bring it back to its owner safely, which is a huge boost for his mood and confidence

He feels so valued and appreciated, and just happy that the little guy is SAFE 😇🤧

☆ Haiba Lev ☆

Helps strangers get their cats out of trees and other high places

What else is a tall, handsome, goofball-of-a stranger to do? 😌

Legit, he doesn't think twice. Tall people should use their height to help people, shouldn't they?

Sure, it doesn't always go to plan, and his arms sometimes end up looking like well-used scratching poles, but he's just glad to help 😇

It's good to see the cats safe and with their owners

♡°☆•♡°☆•♡

If you enjoyed, please consider voting in this poll (ends this Sunday 18/10/20) to help me celebrate reaching 100 followers! Thank you to everyone who's already voted!

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bangtan-sonyeonddaeng · 4 years

Text

BTS Mafia AU| You both are arranged to be married and he is sad on your wedding night

Namjoon

Namjoon was laying on the couch in the living room, and you were in the bedroom. This was how you two had went to sleep every night. You were put into an arranged marriage and were set to be joined together tomorrow. You couldn’t sleep, feeling anxious about everything. You got up to get a glass of water when you heard a loud sigh come from the couch.

“You can’t sleep either?” You ask Namjoon.

“No.” You sit down on the end of the couch by his feet. He sits up with you and runs his fingers through his hair.

“You want to talk about it?”

“No. It’s nothing I haven’t already said before. It’s nothing against you so please don’t take it that way. I just don’t want to get married this young to someone I barely know. But I guess it can’t be helped.”

“Well we might as well make the most of it right?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean we can get to know each other. I know we’ve only known each other for a month but, I’ve come to know a few things about you.” He lifts an eyebrow at you questioningly.

“Like what?”

“That you’re hard working, passionate, and you care about the people closest to you more than anything.” He smiles at that and you offer him a smile back. You reach your hand over and take his and hold it in yours. “We’re both in this shitty situation but at least we’re together and have each other.”

“You’re right.” He kisses the back of your hand and you feel your face heating up.

“You want to come sleep with me? I feel bad that you’ve been sleeping on the couch all this time.”

“Oh, no it’s okay I’ll just stay here. Really I don’t want to intrude or make you uncomfortable.”

“Mmm, nope come on. I insist.” You stand up and tug him off the couch. He’s not used to people telling him what to do other than his parents, but he finds himself more than willing to listen to you as he trails after you, smiling to himself. Maybe things will work out after all.

Jin

Jin didn’t keep his displeasure about this arranged marriage a secret. He vocalized it constantly. Around you, his parents, your parents, but they basically told him to suck it up and that the didn’t have a choice if he wanted to take over the crime syndicate for you and your family. You two are sat on the couch, watching a movie when Jin suddenly speaks and interrupts your own thoughts.

“This sucks.”

“So you’ve said before.. many times.”

“I just don’t get why our parents are doing this! I mean no offense y/n. We’ve known each other for a while now and you’re really sweet and funny and honestly have become a really close and trusted friend but, I’m not ready to be married!”

“So why don’t we just run away then?”

“I’m sorry?”

“We can just leave. We don’t have to stay.” Jin scoffs and stares at you incredulously.

“You obviously don’t realize my family has members of our gang in every major city in the world. I can’t go anywhere without being found out.”

“We could go to a small town somewhere. Where no one would know or recognize us. Or we could just go to some deserted island and start our own country or something I don’t know.” Jin laughs and you smile at him back.

“If you weren’t Jin, heir to the most notorious crime family in the world what would you be doing with your life right now?” Your question causes Jin to freeze for a moment, trying to think of an answer.

“I don’t know. I really haven’t given it much thought.”

“Oh come on, surely you have.”

“I mean.. I guess I would want to be a singer. I’ve always loved singing. It makes me happy and makes me forget about my problems for a little while. But I don’t see a point in thinking about that now when there’s nothing I can do to change my circumstances.”

“Will you sing something for me?”

“You... what now?”

“Will you sing for me? I want to hear you.” Jin’s mouth hangs open in surprise for a moment before he nods his head and agrees. His voice immediately soothes you, and seems to soothe his worries too as he sways and gets lost in the music. When he finished singing he looks at you and smiles.

“Thank you y/n. I feel a lot better now actually.”

“You’re welcome, Jin. You’ll always have me, okay? We’re in this together.”

Yoongi

Yoongi had been acting weird all day. He seemed rather sad and gloomy. It was the day before you two were supposed to be married and you knew this had to be bothering him. He made it clear from the start he didn’t want to marry you, that he was only doing this to please his parents so he could produce an heir and carry on the family name. However, you thought over the past few months you had cracked his shell even a little bit.

He was sat in the chair, staring out the window at the cars passing by and sipping a glass of wine looking completely lost in his thoughts.

“Yoongi?” He sighs before turning his gaze onto you.

“Yeah?”

“Is everything okay? You’ve been acting really weird today.”

“Well it’s the day before my arranged marriage how are you expecting me to be? Happy?” His words hurt you, and you look away down at your feet. His gaze softens for a moment before the hard look is back on his face.

“I’m sorry. I know the last thing you want is to be married to me and if I had a choice I would go to my parent right now and tell them to call the whole thing off. I don’t want you to be miserable with me the rest of your life.” You excuse yourself and walk back into the bedroom. It’s an hour later, you can’t sleep as you’re staring up at the ceiling, contemplating running away and just starting a new life when the door swings open. Yoongi stumbles into the room and you can smell the alcohol on him from across the room. He flops into bed next to you.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“What?” You ask feeling rather startled and confused.

“I wasn’t supposed to actually fall in love with you. You deserve to be happy, to be with someone you actually want to marry, not me.”

“Yoongi..”

“I’m sorry.” You hear his voice crack and your heart aches for him. You lean over and grab his hand, lacing your fingers together and giving his hand a light squeeze.

“Don’t apologize. There’s worse people I can think of that I could be in an arranged marriage with.”

“You aren’t helping, you know?” You giggle and scoot closer to him.

“What I’m saying is that I like you, Yoongi. Sure we’re doing things completely out of order but I could see myself falling in love with you too.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. I’m dead serious.”

“Well that’s a whole weight lifted off my shoulders now that I know I’m not forcing you. Hey after our wedding, do you want to go somewhere? Just the two of us, maybe take a honey moon and just get to know each other?”

“That sounds perfect. I would love that. I really hope you remember this in the morning and don’t go back to being brooding and annoyed with me.”

“I was never annoyed with you, just with myself I guess. And trust me I am not going to forget the fact that there is a chance for us to actually be happy together.”

Hoseok

You knew Hoseok was acting down tonight because of the marriage that was set to happen tomorrow. It had been forced upon the two of you, and although you got along well enough you both were a long way from being ready to be married to one another. Your parents had only given you both one month to get to know one another before they announced your marriage that would be in just a week.

Now the night before your wedding is here, and Hoseok has been looking like he was on the verge of panic and tears the whole night. You knew you wanted to cheer him up, so you did everything you could to make him happy. You cooked him his favorite meal, which earned you a small smile. When you also announced that you made his favorite dessert too his face seemed to light up a little. He thanked you for doing those small nice gestures for him but quickly settled back into his poor mood. You did something you had never done before, called his mom.

“Hello Mrs. Jung?”

“Oh! Y/n? Is everything okay?”

“Um, well Hoseok just seems a little down tonight. I made him his favorite food and dessert but it still isn’t helping lift his spirits is there anything I can do? What is he passionate about? What does he like doing?”

“Well, he loves to dance. I know that seems weird. Heir to the Jung family syndicate is actually an amazing dancer.. I always kind of hoped he would gain the courage to stand up to his father and pursue his dreams of becoming a dancer instead of taking over but.. Oh don’t you dare tell either of them I said that!” You laugh and cover your mouth, not wanting to seem rude for finding the little outburst amusing.

“I won’t say anything, I promise. Thank you, Mrs. Jung.”

“You’re welcome dear. I’ll see you tomorrow at the wedding.” You hang up the phone and walk into the living room, connecting your phone to the bluetooth speakers.

“Y/n what are you doing?” You turn on his favorite song, which his mom so graciously texted you after you hung up. You start moving around the room, dancing about and motioning with your hands for him to join you. Ever the dancer at heart, Hoseok begins tapping his feet along to the beat before he stands up, taking you by your hips and dancing you around the room, completely catching you off guard but blowing you away with his dance skills. You step away after a moment, just choosing to stand to the side and watch him get lost in the music. When the song ends he is panting and out of breath, but the smile you had come to adore so much is back on his face.

“Thank you, y/n. I needed that. How did you know I was a dancer?”

“Ah, well I may have called your mom for advice on how I can cheer you up.”

“Really? You did that for me?”

“I did. I know this relationship is kind of built on a forced marriage but, that doesn’t mean I still can’t be kind to you and be there for you.” Hoseok smiles and brings you over to pull you into a hug.

“And the same goes for you too. I hope you can rely on me to help you if you’re ever feeling sad as well.”

Jimin

Jimin has been moping all night. Which was really unlike him. Even with the whole arranged marriage thing hanging over his head he still was usually pleasant towards you. He didn’t blame you for his circumstances at all. However now that it is the night before your wedding he’s been locked inside the bedroom all day. You’re getting quite tired and want to sleep, so you knock on the door quietly.

“Jimin? Can I come in?”

“Sure..” You hear the door unlock and wait a moment before opening it. You find Jimin sitting on the bed, looking rather sad. His eyes are puffy like he’s been crying. You sit next to him and reach out to hold his hand but he moves away from you.

“Don’t.”

“Why? What’s gotten into you, you aren’t acting like your self?”

“Because I feel like such a horrible and shitty person and I hate this situation we’ve been put in to. I feel like I am forcing you to marry me even though it’s our parents. I could put a stop to it if I really wanted to, but I’m being selfish because I actually like you and I feel terrible.”

“Jimin-”

“Don’t try to comfort me please. Just don’t.”

“Goddamnit Park Jimin will you listen to me for one fucking second?” His eyes go wide when you swear at him. You never curse at him and have never raised your voice to him even once. You have his undivided attention now. “If I really didn’t want to marry you then I would have just dropped everything and left, okay? I do like you. And I care about my family as well as your own so I am sticking around because I want to. Not because you are forcing me. So stop saying those awful things about yourself because they aren’t true.” A small smile forms on his face, the corner of his mouth tugging up and his eyes slightly disappear as he looks at you.

“You really mean that?”

“Absolutely. Now let’s get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow and I am not going to look like trash on my wedding day because I didn’t get enough sleep.” Jimin chuckles as he scoots over into bed and pats the space next to him. You law down and turn the lamp off.

“Goodnight, Mrs. Park.”

“Goodnight, Jiminie.”

Taehyung

Seeing Taehyung so sad and gloomy the night before your wedding made you feel terrible. You knew he didn’t want to get married to you. Taehyung was a romantic at heart. He had told you so many times when you stayed up late talking into the night trying to make the most of your situation. He told you he saw himself being with the person for at least a year before proposing, getting married maybe a year after that in the fall, and then having kids and growing old together. However coming from a mafia family had thrown a wrench in his plans when they announced he would be marrying you, to form a stronger alliance and merge your two crime families together. Taehyung was sitting on the couch, staring into the glass of wine that had remain untouched for the last hour as he swirled it around, seemingly hoping to find the solution to all his problems in there.

“Tae?”

“Mm?”

“Are you okay?”

“Not really, no.” He sighs and sets the glass down, throwing his head back onto the couch and staring up at the ceiling, hoping to find the answers that the wine hadn’t given him. Before he can process what is happening a loud pop song is blaring through the speakers and he’s yanked off the couch by you.

“Y/n what on earth-” He’s interrupted by you suddenly shouting and singing along very loudly (and badly) to the song playing.

“Dance with me. Everybody 1, 2, 3!” You reach out and grab his hands and make him dance with you. It doesn’t take long before Taehyung feels all of his sadness melt away. He sings along and gives in, dancing with you and putting everything he’s got into singing the chorus of the song with you. He pretends to be play the air guitar, and you pretend to play the drums. The both of you are bursting into laughter watching the other ones antics. Your eyes meet for a brief moment and Taehyung’s gaze softens. He walks over to the stereo and turns the music down.

“Come here.” He holds his arms out and you walk over to him and wrap your arms around his waist. “Thank you y/n. I really needed that.”

“You’re welcome, Tae. I know you don’t want to marry me but we can at least have fun together right?”

“Even though this is completely different than what I was expecting out of my life, I think I am okay with this.“ You smile up at him and Taehyung pecks a quick kiss to your forehead.

“Good. I’m really glad to hear that.”

Jungkook

“God this sucks, Jin hyung.”

“What does?”

“This whole arranged marriage thing. I don’t know why my parents are pushing this on me so much! I’m only 22 years old I have plenty of time to find someone I actually love and get married to but they want to ‘ensure the family name gets passed on’. It’s bullshit.” Jungkook didn’t realize you were home yet and could hear his entire conversation with his friend whom he had on speaker phone.

“Give y/n a chance Jungkook. They might surprise you. I’ve actually met them quite a few times and they’re really sweet. I actually think your parents did well in picking a good match for you.”

“But we’ve barely talked and I feel like we’re strangers.”

“And who’s fault is that? Y/n has made plenty of attempts to try and get to know you and vice versa but you acted like a child and ignored them because you were pissy with your mom and dad.” Now Jungkook feels bad for a whole new reason. He hadn’t realized this until Jin called him out on it.

“Well damnit. Now I feel bad..”

“As you should. Give y/n a chance Kook, that’s all I’m asking.”

“Okay, fine. Bye hyung.” He hangs up the phone. Jungkook processes Jin’s words and you make a noise in the kitchen to alert him to your presence.

“Oh! Hey y/n uh, when did you get home.”

“Just now. Were you talking to Jin?”

“Yeah, just wedding nerves and everything.”

“I’m sorry we’re both in this situation. I know you don’t want to marry me and we’re both really young. You’d probably rather be living up your 20′s instead of being tied to me. I feel bad.”

“Oh, no it’s okay y/n. Really. I know I have to do what I need to for our families, I’m sure you feel the same way right?”

“Yeah. Sure thing.” You both fall into an awkward silence after that. You can tell by how sad he looks that he still isn’t okay with this. “Well since you’re nervous and all do you want to practice our dance?”

“What?”

“The bridge and groom always share a dance together. Do you want to practice with me? Maybe you’ll be less nervous if you’re prepared. “

“Um, yeah s-sure.” You play a slow song on your phone, grabbing Jungkook’s hands and places one on your hip and the other in your hand as you sway back and forth. Why did he never notice how beautiful your eyes were before? How beautiful you were in general. How cute your smile was. He finds himself gradually relaxing and letting go. He even playfully spins you and dips you causing you to let out giggles when he does and he loves the sound of it. The song ends and you move away from him.

“Are you feeling less nervous now?”

“Huh? Oh yeah. A lot better now. Thank you y/n.”

“You’re welcome Jungkook. Don’t be up too late we have a busy day tomorrow, yeah?”

“Y-yeah. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” Jungkook is in fact up late, having an internal crisis when he realizes that Jin is right. He’s going to give this a real shot with you and make the most of it if he can.

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sol1056 · 4 years

Note

What are your overall thoughts on Castlevania season 3? So far the season, particularly the last two episodes (especially the 9th episode), have been controversial.

Well, that penultimate episode definitely put me in mind of the famous quote…

Obiwan: “I feel a great disturbance in the force…”

Half of which was probably screams into the void over this seeming betrayal, and the other half was shrieks in delight about confirmed OT3 potential.

On a more serious note, I’ve got a bunch of asks about S3, so I’m covering them all in this one response, because my thoughts come down to one thing.

This season was all about trust.

If we can consider this season (much like S1) to be setup, these episodes are for getting characters into the places and mindsets that the following act will require. So whatever we get in S4, it’ll require that Sypha be accustomed to Trevor’s life as an outcast demon-hunter, that Trevor accept his choices impact more than just him, that Alucard repell intrusions on his solitary guardianship, that Carmilla has a bound forgemaster and solid plans to grow an army, and that Issac has a full-sized army of his own.

A pedestrian approach would have been all plot: a whole lot of running from one place to the next while shouting exposition. It could’ve ended up a truly jarring tonal shift between what’s basically four separate storylines: Alucard and Cho’s former prisoners, Sypha and Trevor and Saint Germain, Isaac’s journey to find Hector, and finally Carmilla and Hector. Though given they hardly interact after the first episode, we could treat this as two parallel storylines: Carmilla and her sisters, and Hector and Lenore.

(Spoilers behind the cut.)

Instead, Ellis uses these four (or five) storylines to explore different issues with trust, betrayal, and isolation. Sypha and Trevor recognize that St Germain’s unexpected willingness to trust wasn’t born of seeing them as trustworthy, so much as a symptom of St Germain’s overwhelming isolation and loneliness – and they even remark on the similarity to someone else, implied to be Alucard. Who – after his highly guarded and distanced interactions with Sypha and Trevor in S2, followed by a month (or a year, Alucard’s lost track) of total isolation – has come to the same place as St Germain.

In both cases, those finales pivots on whether this third, isolated person can be trusted, as well as whether that person can trust the pair that claims to be helping. St Germain isn’t a fighter, and goes into the finale clearly terrified as to whether Sypha and Trevor can even keep him safe, while Sypha and Trevor have to take it on faith that St Germain’s intentions are good. (If you take Alucard’s animation to indicate that he has no experience as a lover, then the parallels are even more stark.)

Meanwhile, Isaac – as the captain so insightfully points out – remains fixated on the offenses done him, easily dismissing the kindness of an unexpected gift from a stranger. Hector’s issue, on the other hand, is too much trust, given too easily, with no questions ever asked (as Lenore drives home, first through interrogation and second through manipulation). Isaac’s determination not to trust anyone makes his way more difficult, while Hector’s determination not to question his immediate trust in the latest authority figure is what eventually traps him.

Even the four vampire sisters (an element I really loved, almost making up for the first two seasons’ near-dearth) pivot around issues of trust, but in their case, it’s whether they can trust that Carmilla’s grand vision is feasible. They don’t distrust Carmilla, or her ideas – they distrust that they can fulfill her visionary plan to its fullest extent. But they’re also intrigued by the idea, and clearly competent enough to make it happen – and despite a few times where it seems there might be fractures (more of Lenore’s diplomatic manipulation, in hindsight), the four really do trust each other pretty firmly.

There’s a secondary theme threaded through the storylines, too, although we only hear it stated explicitly in the Isaac and Trevor/Sypha storylines.

the captain: “If you don’t have your own story, you become part of someone else’s.”

The context here is whether one’s motivation comes from an external source, or is internal to the person. Isaac’s motivation (at least at the midpoint of this season) is clearly stated as revenge on Hector – that is, to rectify Hector’s wrongs that undid Dracula’s story. Alucard, too, is trapped in someone else’s story, as his motivation first is that he thinks helping two lost souls would please his mother, and later that training new demon hunters would please Trevor.

Sypha’s motivation is simpler: action! adventure! excitement! And in not stopping to consider the source (or the results) of her motivation, she ends up being accessory to not one but three stories (with Trevor along for the ride). The Trevor/Sypha storyline could be seen, in this light, as one in which they’re tools in other peoples’ stories. They fail to warn/assert/react fast enough to prevent the mad priest’s actions, they learn of (and then tackle) the church problem due to the town mayor’s need, and they learn of (and then tackle) the thing in the basement due to St Germain’s need.

In the end, St Germain (like Dracula) goes onto the next chapter of his story, with Sypha and Trevor left to handle the aftermath (like Isaac). They don’t even reclaim their story with the final discovery of the mayor’s depravity, as they end up (if understandably) destroying the evidence, as the mayor had requested.

When Trevor echoes the captain’s words (which could be Ellis wanting to drive the point home, or could imply that at some point, Trevor also met the captain), Sypha deflects his point. She’s quite certain she’s been living her own story, and enjoying it immensely. In the aftermath, Trevor turns the point around, saying that for the past few months, they’ve been living Sypha’s life, all action and adventure.

Trevor: “And now, we’re living my life.”

Trevor’s origins, after all, lie in the destruction of his family – but that destruction wasn’t at the hands of the demons they fought. Instead, it was at the hands of the church, its people, and the larger community. His storyline in S1-S2 was of someone who’d seen the worst of humanity, and ended up deciding to fight because he chose to, not because humanity deserves it.

With the possible exception of St Germain (which is more of an open question than a certainty), they trusted and discovered their trust wasn’t misplaced, so much as… that taking everything at face value meant they remained blind to what lay beneath. Their story halts with Trevor reminded of why he originally kept people at a distance (through snark and alcohol), and Sypha now enlightened as to how sometimes humans are far worst monsters.

That blindness is also present in Alucard’s story, when he takes the two young prisoners-turned-hunters at face value. He opens his house (well, most of it) to them, trains them, and tells them secrets of how to hunt his father’s race. It’s a radical shift from his original reaction to the Belmont hold, as a museum dedicated to the extermination of his race.

Which brings me to Ellis’ choice to have the finales as parallel battles, but he manages to have them reflect each other, as well. For Isaac, Sypha, and Trevor, it’s an external battle against an overwhelming foe. Sypha ends with literal blood on her hands, and other than St Germain’s departure, the rest of their victory is literally pyrric.

For Hector and Alucard, their storylines peak (ahem) at what should be a moment of trust and connection, which is why I can see the choice to have those storylines turn sexual. (Honestly, I thought the two young hunters were just going to cook Alucard dinner in return, or something – I had zero expectations that any story would ever go there.)

First, five separate battles would’ve been just a lot of chaos, compared to the contrast of apparent happy-endings (or happy-middles). Second, it drives home that Alucard has defenses all over the place, but none to seduction, while Hector simply clings to whomever is willing to call the shots, and only thinks to question later. They’re in the stage of their story that the captain raises to Isaac: after you’ve achieved this goal, what next? What is left for you?

Which is why I think their parallel endpoints – Isaac’s final battle, Alucard and the hunters, Hector and Lenore – all come to a head at being bound in some way. They’re still playing out someone else’s story, so they run headfirst into situations where that tunnel-vision can be used against them. Isaac may be the least trusting of the lot, but even he shows a remarkable tendency to take things at face value: to trust the gift from the seller, to listen to the captain, to sit and converse with the old witch who tells him about the possessed city. With as little foreknowledge as Alucard or Hector, Isaac rushes in, eyes too fixed on achieving someone else’s goal to see the trap ahead.

None of the bindings are shown as simple, easy to break, or without lasting effect. At the same time, it’s striking that Isaac and Alucard do manage to force their way free, while Hector can only flail about in pain. To me – given the theme of trust – that implies that somehow, both Alucard and Isaac do have the potential for a balanced trust. That is (unlike Hector) knowing when to take it away, even if both struggle with learning to give it.

Oddly, that’s why I think the season managed to position things beautifully for a next season, because we’ve come full circle.

It’s a curious thing about Alucard: when we first meet him in S1, he’s recovering from his father’s betrayal (of attacking humans); in S3, he’s recovering from the grief of loss (his parents, his only two friends) – and S4 ends with him shivering in pain/hurt over the betrayal of two people. Gotta wonder how much more Ellis will see fit to break this character down.

In S2, Hector was a valued lieutenant, if terribly blind to the implications of what Dracula wanted. Now those illusions are gone; he’s enslaved, wanted only for his skills (in the forge and in bed) – and the deal is quite explicit. Lenore has the grace to say that Hector should be getting something out of the deal, but that doesn’t change that Hector can’t pretend there’s no deal being made.

Isaac begins cast out, grieving Dracula (not entirely as a mission, but more as a friend, I think) – and ends with the resources and experiences to go in a new direction. He doesn’t have to take out Hector, who could be seen as small fry, anyway. (Especially given Hector’s now just a shell of a controlled man.) If Isaac chooses to go after Carmilla in S4, that’ll be the first step towards making his story his own. Note also that although Isaac may seem alone, he’s accompanied by a host of creatures. He has allies.

It’s the trust in those allies that seems to determine who ends well, and who does not. Although Trevor and Sypha (especially Sypha) were dealt an emotional blow by the post-battle revelations, they always had each others’ backs – and they leave the town behind, relatively unscathed. Isaac ends victorious, with a few of his army intact and the material to make more.

But the storyline that ends in the ascendant position is Carmilla’s. With her visionary ideas and her sisters’ abilities to make those visions real, Carmilla is positioned to go exactly where she wants. Which is why it’s also striking that (other than Lenore’s sex scene), neither Carmilla nor her sisters really have a ‘final’ battle. They’re effectively a season ahead of everyone else – the trust between the four is already established, solid, and reciprocated equally.

So you could say that being foolhardy about trust will land you in hot water – which pretty much covers all the central protagonists. But the story’s not that bleak, despite its final scenes, because it’s also saying that sometimes, to get where you want to be, you do have to take that leap – as illustrated by Isaac and St Germain. Or even that you trust, and if betrayed, you deal with the consequences, learn the lesson, and move on, like Trevor and Sypha.

Or you learn a different lesson, one preached by dear old dad: put the bodies of your conquests out front on stakes, and lock the doors, and trust no one. Which is a legitimate reaction to betrayal, don’t get me wrong, but one that S3 seems to be firmly saying will only end badly.

#castlevania #season 3 #sol thinks about stuff

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crowmagpie · 4 years

Text

Voltron and the Hero's Journey through the Major Arcana of the Tarot

«The journey of the hero is the oldest story in the world. As the basic structure, it is woven into myths, fairy tales and legends that tell us how a person sets out to accomplish the great work. It is the story behind all these stories, which to this very day are always told in the same way under countless names in all languages and cultures over and over again.

<…>

The journey of the hero is the archetypical pattern of a range of actions woven from these primordial images. This is why, despite its many variations, the journey and the image are always so strangely familiar to us. They always tell of the quest, the adventurous search for the treasure that is hard to find, and are composed of elementary components.

<…>

Yet, as often as this story has been told, as many collections of fairy tales and myths as it may fill, only once has it taken on a complete form as a whole in pictures – and this is in the 22 tarot cards of the major arcana. However, not only are the archetypical events illustrated in these motifs, many connections between individual stages become transparent in the structure of the cards. Their meaning for our path in life becomes comprehensible on the deepest level»

0. The Fool

The very beginning of the story, but by no means the moment since the beginning of the first episode. The story comes to its first stage when the future paladins, and for now completely unaware guys from the Garrison, get inside the Blue Lion and go into the unknown. The Fool depicts a person taking a step into the abyss. The one who doesn’t know where he or she’s going. The one who doesn’t know whether they’ll fall, whether they’ll step on a new ledge or take off. This person simply performs a somewhat thoughtless action - and sets off.

Then the paladins get to the Castle of Lions. There they meet another new phenomenon – literally a new race. Their consciousness expands when they learn that there are other races, other planets, that war is going on in space.

The Fool depicts the unknown, events when a person can’t even imagine what awaits him or her next. And so the paladins - they have no idea what awaits them further.

Also, many of them don’t have the necessary skills, and absolutely for everyone the piloting of Lions is absolutely new.

At the very first stage, they still don’t learn anything, they just try to do something, in the hope that it’ll work out.

Our heroes don’t yet have an idea of what purpose they have. But they will know this. Later.

1. The Magician

The second stage of the path and development of the paladins.

The Magician depicts a person that considers him/herself practically immortal and god-like. A person that is capable of a lot, the one who has an unlimited number of talents (the paladins definitely have individual talents) and thinks the whole world as one big playground. The main problem is that in spite of all the abilities and power, this person isn’t omnipotent and won’t end well without a proper training.

Paladins follow the path of The Magician, gradually mastering Voltron, starting to reap the benefits of their actions. They help, they save, they do a lot, they move their own way and, obviously, consider themselves the real saviors of the universe. They don’t know yet that their power will end where the strength of someone else begins.

2. The High Priestess

In the events of the series, The High Priestess finds several manifestations at once.

The High Priestess herself carries mystical experiences, secret knowledge, secrets that are carefully hidden, but will still emerge in the end. It has many meanings, but we need only a few.

The first correspondence to this card is Allura, possessing the gift of Altean magic, which is hidden deep inside her. We remember this from the episode when she gave new life to Balmera. But this moment will reveal itself later. In another archetype.

At this point, it’s only the power itself napping in Allura. She remains aloof from the battles of the paladins, maintaining a more passive position. Her potential is hidden inside, waiting in the wings. And it will come.

The High Priestess card is constantly revealed in the plot. Through secrets that pop up unexpectedly. For example, through a story about the past of Zarkon and the Galra.

In my personal opinion, this can also be attributed to the moment when the paladins decided not to act «in advance», but by some cunning, using Teludav. The secret may be the meeting of Keith, Hunk and Acxa inside the stomach of the Weblum, as no one knows Acxa yet. As well as revealing that Haggar is an Altean. She also fits the archetype of The High Priestess, but not as much as she fits the card that’ll be shown next.

3. The Empress

The archetype of The Empress is the archetype of Mother. The Mentor and the one who cares, who is willing to help. She is the inexhaustible source of all life, our creativity and our ability to embody something. But it is also a development of the situation, a period of abundance and good luck.

And this is again the archetype of Allura. However, she manifests herself as The Empress not so often as the plot requires. However, this is her arc of personal growth. It should be so.

The most important manifestation of her as The Empress, which can even be called the first, is the healing of Balmera. It was then that power began to awaken in her, which in the future would make her the real Empress, which would give her a lot. Moreover - in the future she’ll show herself as The Empress... with the help of Lotor. Because the Empress always needs the Emperor nearby.

In terms of the plot itself, these are all those moments when the paladins conceptualize something, when they seriously think about what’s happening. But the most important thing is a period of abundance for them, a period when they succeed and it seems that it will always be this way.

The highest manifestation of The Empress is Honerva. She’s both a mother and a ruling figure, who rules from the side, as if from a shadow. She has the power to create and great talents. After all, she’s a scientist. Exploring the matter that the Empress represents is her work. Also, in the future she’ll literally possess unprecedented power, Altean magic. As Haggar, she’ll still remain the Empress, but turned into a negative, like the inverted position of this card. The inverted Empress is a trick, a desire to rule over men, such a woman doesn’t care about her children and her family. A great embodiment of the archetype in action.

4. The Emperor

Under the card of The Emperor are all the rulers, people who have power, as well as those who adhere to serious rules and restrictions. Also, under this card are those who are ready to fight to the end, until their death. Those who have a certain cruelty and coldness. The Emperor is a regime and system that erases the powder of those who don’t correspond to it. He’s conservative and adamant, and it’s not easy to appeal to his heart, despite the fact that he’s inclined to impose his point of view, to teach and control. He suppresses any rebellion in the bud.

In other words, we smoothly come to the fact that the entire race of the Galra, in the form that it exists in most of the episodes, goes under the card of The Emperor. They have strict rules, many, even the most insignificant offenses are punishable by death, and their system works like a clock under the control of their ruler. The leader’s word is the law, the one who doesn’t respect the leader will meet his end. Stability is also part of their lives. Their emperor didn’t change for more than ten thousand years. They’re used to it. They’re used to a lot of things.

And then we go to the obvious personification of the archetype of The Emperor. That's right, to Zarkon. He’s so consistent with this card. Not only is he literally an emperor in his empire, but if before the Rift he was just a serious ruler, a leader capable of holding everything in his hands, then he combined the worst features of the Emperor. He’s a despot and tyrant who doesn’t care about others. He only adjusts everything for himself - with the help of his Empress, Haggar. He strives for even greater power, crumbles under himself everything that meets in his way. Races, planets, his own kind, his own son.

I must say, in the story itself, The Emperor literally means a meeting with Zarkon and a battle with him.

At the same time, we have Lotor, who’s partly an archetype of the Emperor, but not completely. He has both negative traits of this archetype and positive ones. And this is far from the only part that makes up his character. We’ll talk about this later.

5. The Hierophant.

This card means a lot. Both a spiritual teacher, and connection with religions, and traditional actions, and any organizations, all sorts of serious things.

One way or another, in the plot this card is displayed as the beginning of the diplomatic activity of the paladins, all their communication with other races.

You can add the Blades of Marmora to The Hierophant, because they’re an organization that’s very difficult to get into, it’s devoted to underground activities and is associated with information - that is, with knowledge.

Equally important are the negative traits of The Hierophant, which also find a response in the plot. The purity of faith, party, teaching, blood, race - this is its professional headache. Its worst trait is complacency, intolerance and exceptional conviction of its own righteousness.

Lynching, the search for enemies of the people, the fight against infidels, the witch hunt, the tribunal, the auto da-fe – this is its gloomy bottom or black peak. Actually, this we definitely meet in the plot, and more than once. From the side of Allura. From the paladins. From the liberated races. This topic we’ll see many more times.

Another thing is that not everyone is ready to poke The Hierophant into its failures.

6. The Lovers

The card, despite its name, which could warm a shipper’s heart, is not about love. Well, it can be about love, but not in this case.

It may mean a situation of choice, not necessarily related to love. Then it means that one way or another we’ll have to make a decision, decisively and irrevocably, without leaving any loopholes for ourselves and taking on certain obligations. The Lovers depict a bold decision made by your heart. This is an internal knowledge of what is good and what is bad for you personally, which can’t be faked or deceived. You can’t listen to it, you can pretend that you don’t hear and don’t know it, you can act in defiance, but its tone doesn’t change.

In fact, the entire Keith’s story arc goes under this card. And the point is not in his possible romantic relationship.

The fact is that from the very moment he found out that he was a half-Galra, from the moment he began to do something with the Blades... a choice began to arise in front of him.

To take a step towards what really attracts him – the Blades, life with the Galra, inner freedom...

Or to stay with the paladins, in a place that he doesn’t like, but which he «must» take. As we all remember, he made a choice by the heart. He followed the call to work with the Blades.

Choices often confront heroes during narration. But these choices aren’t always truly right.

7. The Chariot

This card is a movement, it’s a pure impulse. At the same time, it’s control over one’s life, a clear understanding of what one wants and what needs to be achieved. Also, various journeys and adventures pass through it.

In fact, under The Chariot card, Lotor and his actions pass in many ways. Because he knows what he needs to do, he knows what he wants, and achieves this in all possible ways. He drives his chariot confidently, rarely doubts anything, and at first he succeeds a lot.

However, the farther the plot, the more we see that The Chariot doesn’t always go in the right direction and sometimes Lotor still loses control over it. This happens when it’s revealed that he built ships secretly from Zarkon. In general, very quickly he passes from a state of triumph and regular victories to a state where it’s difficult to do anything and he’s forced to rush to wherever his eyes look.

In part, The Chariot is also part of the character of Lotor, who’s used to keeping everything under control. At the same time, he’s not just a harsh Emperor, he’s an inspirer, he’s a traveler who never stays in one place and is always open to something new.

On the part of the paladins, The Chariot is their whole journey. Their entire movement is largely chaotic, albeit with an understanding of what needs to be done. They don’t always hold control, and then it carries them away - it carries them into serious, very serious problems.

8. Justice

It’s a very important card. It connects the relationship between action and consequences, taking responsibility for their actions, comprehending social laws, and the ability to make informed decisions. In other words, everything related to karma and responsibility is here.

And this same card is really important for the plot, for the development of the paladins. Because they often acted without thinking about the consequences, relying only on spontaneous, impulsive impulses. There are a lot of such examples, they go through the whole plot, but let's take a few.

The first meeting of Lotor at the paladins took place under the direction of Keith, and he certainly doesn’t realize the lesson of Justice. He’s not used to following the rules, he’s not used to commanding, and all his actions will shout at them in the future - Lotor throws their Lions in all directions like kittens. If he would like to - he would easily kill them.

In many ways, Lotor’s interaction with the paladins goes under the flag of Justice. More precisely, its non-compliance.

The paladins are going to give the prince into the hands of Zarkon – and immediately receive the consequences of their incorrect decision, that is, fraud and further problems.

But the most important thing that our heroes do, which very strongly comes around to them in the future, happens in S6. On the part of Allura, this is a belief in the words of Romelle and an instant decision to punish Lotor, on the part of the paladins – it’s the decision to fight Lotor. One way or another, in the future, their wrong actions will be scourged by the Earth, which, due to their loss, will be captured. The empire is fragmented due to the disappearance of Lotor – and these are also serious consequences.

It’s difficult to say whether the characters learned a lesson in what Justice provides. They at least tried.

And you probably would have understood the whole point if... yes, yes, right, if not for the broken S8.

We’ll return to this topic. Because the amendments that were made to the plot... contributed to its complete destruction.

9. The Hermit

A card of self-development, immersion in oneself and the study of one’s own abilities. The card is also associated with receiving magic gifts that will help the hero fulfill his mission.

One way or another, it’s this card that suits Allura.

She not only differs from the others; the further in the plot, the more distant she is from the others, and the more she plunges into self-knowledge to understand what exactly happens to her, who she is and what she needs – not for everyone around, but for herself.

A gift comes to her through Oriande, when she comprehends her essence in many ways. Then, a «teacher» comes to the rescue – in this case, more likely a «guide», who is Lotor. He could instruct her and help her get to the state of the Empress, which she needed so much. But the story didn’t complete the training of Allura. The Hermit’s path hasn’t been completed. And this is another fail of the changed plot.

Also, this card suits Keith. His choice has already been mentioned earlier, but one way or another, he also went through internal growth in order to find his real self. His Galran self.

Also, the path of the Haggar-Honevra is important. Because she passes through The Hermit at a time when she gradually regains her memories and herself. She again remembers herself, her personality, her son. And she also receives gifts having passed through Oriande.

The development path goes absolutely for all characters. I described only those that have a serious impact on the plot.

10. Wheel of Fortune

I like this card. It carries the inevitability of development, random events, it helps to accept oneself, and also reminds us that everything will end one way or another. That’s why you need to continue to move on and seize the moment. But the most important thing is fate and events, especially influencing what’s happening.

In fact, the most significant events in the plot take place along the Wheel of Fortune. This is the victory of the paladins over Zarkon, then – the battle of Lotor with Zarkon and his victory over him, the rise of Lotor as emperor, the disappearance of Lotor and the capture of the Earth. And also other events... that were supposed to be, but didn’t happen. For example, the return of Lotor. The salvation of the universe is real, not what was provided in the series. One way or another... development stopped and sticks began to be inserted into the wheel.

But its influence doesn’t become smaller.

11. Strength

This card depicts reconciliation and integration of opposites within the hero: male and female, mind and emotions, instincts and rational principles, consciousness and the unconscious.

This card follows all the way of Keith. His decision to be with the Blades, the fact that in the end he became a better leader than he was at first. Because he was reconciled with himself. Because he found strength in himself.

This is also the path of Allura. Its very important part, which was supposed to be decisive. This is the alliance of Allura and Lotor. The way they would balance each other, complementing, improving, not by force, but with the help of soft influence. Strength is never about physical strength. This is primarily strength of mind and gentleness at the same time. The ability to tame the beast, which doesn’t allow to move on.

This was clearly an important development in the fate of Lotor. Because he contains the Galran teaching, their eternal «victory or death» is fixed in his mind. And that bothers him. This doesn’t allow him to fully reveal. In the future, he would surely be able to come to a harmony of the Altean and Galran principles in himself. There was no opportunity. This opportunity has been missed.

Allura also had to cope with her aggressiveness and intolerance, to come to a merger of the two parts. Well. Partly she did it. But because of all the same interference in the story – not to the end. Development hasn’t been fully completed. She didn’t come to harmony in her soul.

12. The Hanged Man

Important card. Special card. It carries a loss of meaning and purpose of the path, awareness of hopelessness in the face of future death, readiness for self-sacrifice. Everything connected with the voluntary sacrifice goes through this card.

Well, the plot has everything connected with it.

If the Galra go under The Emperor’s card, then under The Hanged Man’s one there’s the entire Altean race. In the plot, they’re in a suspended position – in a colony, with the danger that they’ll be found and destroyed, as well as with great willingness to sacrifice their lives for the good of society. Voluntary sacrifice is what they do all the time. Since there’s every reason to believe that the Alteans readily went to possible death when Lotor called for them, this fits even more precisely into the concept of The Hanged Man.

Ulaz, who literally sacrificed his life to help the paladins, also suits here.

The same card suits Allura. And also – Honerva. Not surprising, given that they’re both Alteans. Their sacrifice at the end is a sacrifice for salvation.

Unnecessary and stupid sacrifice, but still we have what we have.

13. Death

Despite the creepy name, this card doesn’t carry a real negative. Death is a card of transformation.

Although it can mean literal death, which is happening all the time in the series. The death of an almost entire race of Alteans. Permanent deaths of the Galra’s victims and the Galra themselves.

But much more important are the «death» of Lotor, who stayed in the Rift, and the immediately subsequent «death» of Allura, who hasn’t died yet, but she’s undergoing a serious transformation during her lifetime. She literally dies in her soul, being on Earth. It’s something like a limb for her, where she wanders, trying to understand what’s happening.

14. Temperance

In general, this card depicts inner harmony. And it always goes after the Death card. When you go through perdition in order to find the radiance of the soul and happiness.

One way or another, the story arc of Allura continues under this card, who was supposed to come to harmony on Earth, figure out herself, realize where she was wrong and so on. This card differs from The Hermit: it occurs precisely after the advent of trouble and a certain depression.

According to this card, life comes after death. We saw this at the end of S8, when Allura sacrificed herself. That there’s afterlife for her. However, in a normal plot this is not the end.

This is just the beginning.

15. The Devil

This card carries a meeting with internal demons, suppressed by desires, as well as with an antagonist who acts as the external carrier of the Shadow of the Hero.

One way or another, Lotor’s life goes under this card. His Shadow is always in front of him - this is Zarkon. At first, he doesn’t fight with him, but tries to reconcile, what we see in his childhood and youth, but not all demons are subject to taming, and Lotor quickly realizes that it’s impossible to reconcile with him. Rather, it can be possible... but he doesn’t want this.

So our prince begins the battle with his father, with his Devil, whose echoes are also found in himself – in the form of a severe Galra upbringing. Lotor isn’t a bad person, he goes as far as possible from what his father did, but one way or another, the dark sides in him manifest themselves from time to time. Take, for example, his actions after the battle with Throk, when the exile to the most distant post was a manifestation of mercy.

In any case, the most important meeting of Lotor and his Shadow occurs when he encounters his father and defeats him. An important detail happens at that moment. The sun is falling on his face – which further confirms this way out of darkness to the light that he committed.

Each character has its dark sides. Pidge has endless egoism, she always puts herself and her family in the first place, and in the series there was no necessary progress further, she didn’t outgrow it and remained together with her demons.

Keith is too hot-tempered, his hasty decisions ruin a lot, and he only partially moved away from this to the very end, but... not completely. Perhaps it’s impossible, after all, it’s part of his character.

The dark side of Allura is her bias, her post-traumatic xenophobia... and also – a hot temper and impulsivity. Take, for example, how she pilots her Lion and how she fights. Over time, she becomes more tolerant, but still doesn’t get a full development, and her darkness remains with her, continuing to poison her life.

Again, everyone has negative aspects, but it doesn’t make sense to describe it for a long time, everyone understands everything.

16. The Tower

My most unlikable card, but very important one.

The Tower is the collapse of obsolete foundations and plans, the resolution of an obsolete value system.

The first moment, perhaps, is the story about Zarkon in the past. This has already destroyed past guesses, thoughts and the belief that he’s actually «pure evil».

Next is Zarkon's hunt for Lotor.

Then comes the betrayal, when the generals betray Lotor and thereby destroy the world familiar to him.

Next event is Allura discovering that Lotor is half Altean. This becomes the collapse of the past plan of thoughts for her. And now everything is moving into a new direction.

And most importantly... there are even three events in a row: this is Romelle's story, the battle with Lotor and the understanding that Shiro had been a clone for a long time.

In general, there’s nothing to say. Some events of this card led to a successful resolution. And some destroyed it all. That's why it’s The Tower.

It leaves nothing behind.

17. The Star

...well, something still remains, and that’s good.

The Star card is hope in its purest form. These are dreams and fantasies, a certain fragility, which may eventually manifest in life, or may not appear. It exists and doesn’t exist at the same time.

Hope really shines on the paladins throughout the seasons. Moreover, it shines both to Lotor and Honerva.

Everyone has different hopes and dreams, but one way or another, everyone has the belief that they will succeed in doing what they want.

To save the universe. To find a safe and convenient source of quintessence. To get the son back.

Not all hopes are justified.

But all the characters continue to believe.

It also describes the events after S6. When everything around gives hope. The hope that Lotor will return to the story.

Again... unfortunately, not all hopes are justified. Sometimes they’re destroyed by someone else's intervention.

18. The Moon

And again, we have a mystery card. But it’s much deeper, it’s the mystery hidden so far that only few could reach. Secrets of The High Priestess are always revealed, but secrets of The Moon – almost never.

Also, this card is responsible for fears and wandering in captivity of illusions. And for deceit too, which is important.

This card mainly refers to the situation with Lotor and the colony. This is a dangerous secret that shouldn’t have surfaced, which created a huge amount of fears – in just a few seconds – and destroyed everything. But much more important is that under this card goes... Romelle. A dark horse, in the words of which there are too many suspicious omissions, and even more in her behavior. A snake hiding under a pretty appearance, pretending to be a victim and a fool. She suits The Moon. And now her secret would have been revealed in the future... if not for the changes in the plot.

19. The Sun

This card, in fact, only partially appears in the story, as well as subsequent ones. Rather, it’s present, but... it’s expressed incorrectly. Because of all the same changes.

The Sun is the first card of rebirth. And also it means happiness, harmony, the beginning of the end of the path and the final victory.

One way or another, it was The Sun that had to fully manifest itself in the last season.

We have already seen its power – when Allura brought Lance back to life. In the same way, she could bring Lotor back to life, which is exactly what the plot was supposed to happen. Reunion.

And next comes…

20. Judgment

Oh, what a beautiful card, twofold and amazing! How much was to happen in Voltron!

This card means healing, transformation, removal of all masks. It continues the theme of The Sun, being its final chord. Masks are dropped, and all things open in their true light.

At the end of the story, or rather, closer to its end, Romelle was to be exposed, and the return of Lotor took place, and the discovery of the true goals of Honerva.

But as a result, we have a completely dead Lotor – which, however, also fits into the concept of Judgment, which also means ultimate death. But given all the past signs – the card wasn’t fully used. What was about to happen didn’t happend. 21. The World The last card completing the Hero’s Jounrey. Homecoming. The completion of the plot. The end of all, achieving goals.We all know how VLD ended. The «happy ending», or rather, what was disguised as it, can only be called an inverted World.The storylines didn’t reach the end. The story arcs of the characters weren’t finished.The Hero’s Journey wasn’t completed. It was rudely interrupted.As if there was one straight line at the end of which someone drew a bunch of strange lines.The World doesn’t mean a complete end. It symbolizes the beginning of a new story. Each of the characters went in different directions, each with their own path.If they all went through the journey that was laid down in this story, as in all other stories like this, they would be really happy. A new era would come for them. A new life.But the broken plot left them with the severity of the past. The plot threw them, spat out, like unnecessary details.The plot grind the lives and arcs of Lotor, Allura, Lance and Shiro. It changed the lives of Pidge, Hunk and Keith in the negative direction.Everything that happened was wrong.Because the Hero's Journey is always the same.Only the heroes themselves differ... and the details.And this journey didn’t reach the end. Real development slowed down somewhere.So, this story isn’t complete. What we’re shown is an unfinished stub.We still love this story. Even as it is.But actually... we all love this story as it should have been. So, we went through the Hero's Journey through the 22 Major Tarot And remember, cards exist not only for divination.Cards are a unique system for exploring the world, psychology and much more.

#tarot #voltron #shiro #keith #pidge #lance #lotor #allura #hunk

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x0401x · 4 years

Note

Why do you think the writers of the Tsurune anime decided to tone down masamina and outright cut out kaisei while pushing for sei/mina instead? It's just so baffling to me why they would alter the canon content from the novels so much. Like, what was even the point?

I’ve answered this question quite a few times before, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever made the point entirely clear, so here we go one last time. Sorry that it turned out so long.

So, in novels and manga or any written medium, creators normally have more freedom to do what they want, but when it comes to TV series, animators have been developing the habit of toning down whatever they can. Most of them have this conviction that the viewers only want to watch calm and relaxing stuff nowadays. Other than this, we get adaptations of popular works that basically exist to promote the source material, most of which rush up towards the end like crazy. It does seem like the Japanese audience has an obsession with comfort animes now, since life in Japan gets more and more stressful with each passing year, but it’s not like they’ve abandoned other genres. This general belief that creators should water down the contents however they can is pretty much destroying the industry, and it’s probably what the animators of Tsurune had in mind when changing the novel’s events into a much less dramatic versions or just cutting them off. That’s issue number 1 with the anime.

Issue number 2 is that animators of adaptations tend to ignore the reader demographic in favor of making the series neutral to please all audiences lately. But that’s only when the majority of the readers are women and girls. If it’s guys, you’d rarely see alterations. It feels like the general conception is that making the contents less “cringy” for men means more people will be watching it and having a positive opinion. It seems to completely slip the staff’s minds that the fans they disappoint mostly won’t feel willing to buy the DVDs or merchandise. This is where most of these adaptations fall flat, by the way. It’s kind of really obvious to me that these series are more prone to succeeding if the studios animate what the readers fell in love with, because the originals are popular for a reason, and it’s that people liked them the way they were. I think it’s only the expected when readers are disappointed not to see animes live up to the expectations, and that whoever picks the source material will feel the difference as well. Still, if the anime isn’t a BL, there’s this unsaid rule that you can’t show too much gay between male characters unless you have an excuse for it. Normally, nakama power and rivalry is what does the trick. I don’t think I need to mention that this is the standard in sports animes.

In the Tsurune novel, most of the gay doesn’t have an excuse. Of course, it’s not officially gay unless canon states it, but the books not only don’t give any justification for it, they get rid of possible justifications, so while you can’t say it’s not fanservice, you can’t label it as just fanservice, either. For a studio that banks off fanservice like KyoAni, that’s a problem, especially since the novel is packed with heavy scenes and even heavier quotes.

I mean, in Masaki and Minato’s case, they don’t have the nakama power or rivalry elements, so one possible excuse for them being so close would be that they’re master and disciple. But Minato makes it clear quite early in the story that Masaki doesn’t have to be his master because just having Masaki’s company is enough for him, and all in all, the two of them have a much more affectionate relationship than the other teacher-student ones from the books. Another excuse would be the found family dynamics, but Masaki already shares that with Kaito, who canonically sees Masaki as the older brother he never had, and their relationship is unlike Masaki and Minato’s as well. Kaito also has a monologue in volume 2 about Masaki treating Minato differently from everyone else in the club, and the way he describes it denotes that Minato is Masaki’s favorite, and that Masaki doesn’t bother hiding it. Just as a cherry on top, Minato often loses his rationality when it comes to Masaki despite being a serious kid, and he’s very verbal about wanting to monopolize Masaki. Add fate to the mix and you have the perfect recipe for anything except an ordinary mentor-pupil relationship.

As for Kaito and Seiya, there was a lot going on between them since the beginning, but the nakama power excuse only starts applying late in volume 1, because they didn’t get along very well at first. And even then the nakama stuff hardly applies to their interactions, where Seiya often acts like Kaito has a thing for him, for no reason other than Kaito’s reactions being amusing. Their relationship also does some big strides in the middle of volume 1, and Seiya literally migrates to Kaito’s side at some point. They don’t seem to have a friendship as strong as the one between Seiya, Minato and Ryouhei, but it’s Kaito who Seiya interacts with the most in volume 2 and he’s also the one that Seiya leans on whenever he needs any sort of assistance. There’s other unexplainable things here and there, such as Seiya taking a peek at Kaito’s sleeping face when it’s just the two of them in the room, or him implying that Kaito is jealous of the motherly attention he gives Minato. It goes on as far as the novel does. There’s literally no scene with the two of them that doesn’t make it look like Kaito is really into Seiya and that Seiya owns his ass but he’s the last one to know.

Back to the main point, it’s really hard to animate all of this without giving people “ideas”. For KyoAni, any gay exists ultimately for the sake of fetishization, and they often follow the “ship whatever you want, even yourself with the characters” model. If being gay is canonically a character trait in the original, it’s out (Violet Evergarden is probably the best example of that one), and if the gay can’t be interpreted as something else, it’s either out or downplayed. In Seiya and Minato’s case, that’s perfectly feasible. Not only are they best friends, they also have a familial relationship where Seiya treats Minato like a son. Minato has sworn eternal friendship to Seiya in the novel, and both he and Kaito describe Seiya as something like a helicopter parent. There’s more than enough counter-argument to remind the viewers that, whatever happens between Minato and Seiya, it’s all a product of their childhood friend bond. Anyone is free to interpret it differently in fanon, but the viewers (at least the Japanese ones) are ultimately aware that the anime is in its “safe zone”, portraying a friendship. Nobody on the Japanese side of the fandom actually believed that there was romance going on in it. On the other hand, if you search in Japanese for people’s impressions of MasaMina, you’ll notice people often saying that the novel makes you wonder if Minato and Masaki aren’t actually dating, or if Minato doesn’t have a puppy crush on Masaki, at the very least. Basically, everyone seems to agree that what goes on between those two is hard to define, but whatever it is, there’s this very particular, “special” air about them that differs from the rest of the characters, which normally manifests when they’re alone together.

As you can tell, this overall view is the opposite of the animators’ ideal. If the novel had been animated the way it is, it would’ve probably felt like a BL for the people watching. Not only does it come with practically set ships, it also doesn’t give much space for the proverbial “ship even yourself with the characters” option. To put it bluntly, the animation went through those changes so that it could fit the mold. It gave us SeiMina and even some NanaKai (the latter being honestly disturbing, since they’re cousins), while either toning down or erasing the rest of the duo and trio interactions. It made Minato’s accident with his mom actually seem like Seiya’s fault and didn’t really take the burden off his shoulders but instead swept it under the rug. It also made Masaki seem like a two-faced bastard who only became a coach for the sake of revenge, which means he was using his students (actual 15/16-year-olds) for his own personal gains. Shuu and Minato’s friendship went down the drain, Ryouhei was pushed aside as if Seiya was Minato’s only childhood friend, Nanao was never depicted as his own person, and the girls didn’t even exist 90% of the time. So yeah, none of the changes served any good purpose for the characters’ images. All it did was (try to) fill a quota.

Personally, this whole thing feels like we’re being told to the face, “we’ve given you what you want, now give us your money”. It brings me back to interviews I’ve read featuring Stars Align director Akane Kazuki and his statements about the anime industry being in a pinch, specifically because animators nowadays keep trying to make a fool out of the audience for monetary ends. Seems clear to me that the staff thought the female viewers would latch onto anything as long as it looked remotely gay, and that’s why I was so angry back then. Being looked down on like this by people who expect us to consume their media is pretty offensive, in my opinion. I’m glad there’s at least one creator speaking up about this matter and using the exact same arguments as I have been for more than two years now.

#tsurune #tsurune kazemai koukou kyuudoubu #narumiya minato #takigawa masaki #onogi kaito #takehaya seiya #wow i can't believe i'm getting asks about tsurune in 2020

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k-writer1998 · 4 years

Text

Rebel Hours (9/18)

Kwon Jieun always fit her parents’ image of the “perfect” daughter… at least to their knowledge. Away from prying eyes she was like any other girl living life to the fullest doing what she wants. When a little someone named Bang Chan comes into her life priorities are changed, mistakes are made, and her life finally becomes her own.

Fluff

w.c: 1.6k

Warning: There is a lot of cussing in this one

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What’s up hyung? Why did you need us so early? It’s still morning.”

Changbin’s voice carried from the studio as I grabbed bottles of water from the fridge before joining them. After dropping Jieun back at her apartment, I asked Changbin and Felix to meet back at my place.

“Sorry, you’re the only ones who would have the answers I’m looking for.”

“Us? What’s this about?” Changbin asked.

“Well you know how I’ve been talking to a girl right?”

“You mean the girl you are basically in love with?”

“Eun right?” Felix added, ignoring Changbin’s teasing.

“Yeah… well about that, you know Kwon Jieun?”

“Where are you going with… wait a minute, no way,” Changbin’s eyes narrowed in disbelief.

“Yeah, I was surprised too but she told me everything so…”

“Who knew Kwon Jieun was secretly a rebel? I mean, it’s understandable but dang.”

“Wow hyung that’s some news, you’re still together though right?”

“Yeah, and that leads me into my next question Felix. Do either of you know a Kyunghoon? He was at the gala yesterday.”

Both of their faces fell sour at the mention of his name. If even Felix doesn’t like him, he must be a real scumbag. I know she asked me to stay out of it but after hearing what that prick did to her how could I? It would be a disservice to the world if I didn’t put him in his place. Both boys looked at each other for a moment before Felix spoke.

“We do, but how do you know him? He’s not someone you should associate yourself with.”

“Yeah, I just have a score to even with him.”

“Did he do something to Jieun? I saw them together last night,” Changbin questioned.

“She called me to pick her up from the gala, hence I found out she was Jieun. That asshole tried to force himself on her…”

The anger I felt as the words left her lips resurfaced as my own mouth had to repeat it. No one deserves to be in that situation and I’ll be making sure he won’t be doing it again.

“I’ve heard some pretty messed up things about him. He’ll brag about himself to anyone willing to listen and I’ve heard a rumor that when he brags about the girls he’s been with, he shows off pictures or something,” Changbin explained as he rolled his eyes.

“What are you planning to do hyung? What do you need us for?”

“I need to figure out how to get him alone, I just want to talk.”

“‘YoU juSt WAnT tO tALk’ my ass. Hyung you can’t be serious, you’ll get caught.”

“Felix is right, there are cctvs let alone he only goes to high profile places that have strong surveillance.”

“I’ll figure it out but I’m doing it either way, with or without you guys.”

“Damn it hyung, why are you such a handful?”

Changbin whined but they ultimately agreed to help me. After coming up with a solid plan, the boys left and it was back to the studio until I received a text from an unknown contact.

To: Chan 🧐

Please tell me you are going to make Kyunghoon pay.

To: ????

Who is this?

To: Chan 🧐

🙄 It's Seunghee. If you are, I want in. Jieun’s plan stinks

To: Seunghee?

Yeah I am… but don’t tell her. How did you get my number btw?

To: Chan 🧐

I won’t but there's nothing I can't find. Remember that. I give my blessings as her best friend but take this as a warning. I can track you with a snap of my fingers, you can’t hide from me.

To: Jieun’s Best friend 😰

… noted. I'll text you the details.

I was so busy texting Seunghee that I didn't see a message from Jieun telling me her best friend stole my number from her phone. I chuckle to myself, she really got me there, I'll give Seunghee that. After bringing her up to speed she told me she'll deal with the cameras. I was about to ask her how but then I remembered Jieun said her best friend’s family was in the security business. With everything set, it was time to enact the plan. It took Changbin and Felix a few days to pull a few strings to get Kyunghoon at one of the popular shopping districts today. Everything was nearly perfect, aside from the fact that I was meeting Jieun today. I just have to not be late and hopefully she won’t find out.

I put on my black hoodie over my white sweater and adjusted my black cap before heading out. Changbin lost a game to Felix and had to take one for the team so he would be meeting up with Kyunghoon. Once I arrived, I saw Changbin and Kyunghoon around the luxury stores we agreed to set the trap at. Seohee had already messed with the cctv server so the cameras were down in the whole area. I put on a face mask before quickly sprinting by and stole Kyunghoon’s wallet from his hands, turning back in my escape to taunt him. It was an extra push to ensure he would chase me. Someone as prideful as him wouldn’t sit still. By the shouting behind me, it worked like a charm. I led him into one of the alleyways and purposefully got myself caught in a dead end.

“You messed with the wrong person, asshole. If you knew who my dad was you would be shitting yourself, so just hand over my wallet and I won’t beat you too bad.”

I smirked beneath my mask and put my hands up in mock surrender as I turned around. I wagged my finger at him to provoke him and just like everything else, he bit the bait. I easily dodged his attacks, taking the defensive until he lost his temper and got sloppier which left him full of openings for me to go on the offensive. After roughing him up a bit, making sure it showed on his face that he lost, I grabbed his arm and forced his face to the wall, pinning him in place.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?!”

“You messed with my girl when she obviously wasn’t interested. I would think someone like you would have better manners but I guess no one can expect much from a spoiled rat like you.”

“Hehe, sorry I can’t remember her but with a boyfriend like you she was probably begging for more cause you couldn’t fill her up. I bet she was tight as-”

“I’ve been lenient but I dare you to speak about my girlfriend like that again, I won’t hesitate to break something,” I cut off.

“Once my dad finds out who you are, you're done for. You hear me?! Who cares about some no good slu-”

“I’m gonna need you to shut up now, I don’t think you understand who has the upper hand here,” I growled.

My anger flared as this piece of trash kept running his mouth, so I slowly pulled his arm up until he started to scream in pain.

“Okay! OKAY! I get it you bastard!”

“Good. Now listen carefully. When a girl says no, you’re going to back off, understand?” I pressed him harder into the wall for emphasis and I felt his head nod against the surface before I continued, “If I so much as hear a peep about you doing anything against a girl's will again, I'll come back and next time I won't be going easy."

I threw him to the ground along with his wallet before taking off. The strings of curses that filled the air as I made my escape was like music to my ears. After discarding the mask, I met up with Felix who brought me my backpack where I discarded my jacket and hat before circling back. Kyunghoon was yelling as Changbin and the security guard tried to calm him down. A triumphant smile tugged at my lips at the sight of the damage I did. Felix and I waited at the fountain for Changbin to get out of the mess.

“Who ever you got to deal with the cameras did a good job, there was no footage of any of it whatsoever. Kyunghoon was pissed,” Changbin laughed.

“It was Seunghee.”

“Figures, that is her best friend and her dad run the security cameras for like a third of Seoul.”

I treated them to whatever food they wanted, as a thank you, before I left to meet Jieun. Since we were meeting for dinner I just grabbed a drink as the other two happily bought what they wanted. By the time I reached the meeting spot, I was only a few minutes late but she looked kind of… peeved?

“Hey sorry I’m late, I hope you didn’t wait too long.”

“No, I only got here a few minutes ago too,” she shrugged.

“You look cute today, I like that skirt on you.”

“Thanks. Let’s go get some food first then we can figure out what to do next?”

“... Sure, lead the way.”

No smile, no teasing? What did I do? We haven’t talked much today… there is no way she found out, right? We walked together and I didn’t realize she had asked me a question until I felt her elbow lightly poke my side.

“Huh?”

“I asked what you did today silly,” she lightly smiled.

“Oh, I just hung out with Felix and Changbin.”

“Was that before or after you went after Kyunghoon even though I asked you not to?”

She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at me as she waited for a response. If I wasn’t in trouble I would tell her how hot she looked but now was not the best time. How did she find out?

#stray kids #stray kids imagines #stray kids scenarios #skz imagines #skz sccenarios #bang chan #bang chan imagines #bang chan scenarios #rebel hours #my writing #skz #I'm sorry I'm late just been busy

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knb-matchups · 4 years

Note

Okay, I'm tempted to indulge in both the alternate match up and relationship headcanons for the one I got, so feel free to pick from this either or.

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i’ll go with both ! because a) i have the time & b) it’s so much fun to come up with these ideas?? (*´▽`*)

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your alternate match is . . . 𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐄 𝐑𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐀 !!

it was really a toss up between kuroko & kise for this alternative match. however, i leaned toward kise for this! i’m pretty certain that a gemini & a leo are a great match anyway.

okay so hear me out- kise ryouta is literally a ball of goofy sunshine & you’ll never get bored being around him. he’s a natural when it comes to keeping a conversation. to your introversion, he’s the extroversion you need ! you’ll find yourself opening up because of how easygoing & open he is as a person. his good looks helps, too.

it’s a fact he’s popular, yes, but the reality is he’s only got eyes for you. i mean, you are one of the most realest & sweetest girl (who is, by the way, often overlooked) he knows ! in all honesty, he may in passing not bat an eye at you, but by chance (perhaps through a school project or something of that nature), he’ll get to know you. and i swear, this boy will regret not getting to know you earlier.

he’ll cherish the one on one time that he gets with you because you are like breath of fresh air to him. you aren’t the typical crazy fangirl he’s bombarded with; you’re you & he appreciates how you don’t put on airs and bend yourself backwards to be someone he would fall for. in turn, your genuine personality & overall persona has got him wrapped around your finger.

kise also picks up on your little quirks- like how you are with social situations. and while he may not initially understand empathetically why you get drained being around a group of people, he’ll be quick to make a casual exit with you to ensure you’re recharged to your comfortable state.

he may seem like the type who doesn’t care about girls, but with the ones he’s close with, you best believe he’ll showcase his serious & protective side. let’s not forget the fact he’s also a quick learner; as a result, he’ll be informed on all there is to know about you.

also? give him credit for his outlandish romantic gestures! he adores it when you’re smiling, so for special occasions, he likes to go all out. it may take a few tries, but he’ll finally find out what truly makes you happy & cater his gestures to that.

kise strikes to me as someone who is a party-goer & enjoys the social scene, but at the same time, he does enjoy the more intimate affairs. when he’s bored of hanging out with tiresome people, he’ll definitely find solace in chatting with you about the subjects you enjoy such as your ideas surrounding characters & stories.

he’ll gladly talk about his ideas, to which you’re happy for, but the two of you find he’s a bit better at simply listening rather than inserting in his ideas. no offense; i’m sure he’ll get it one day.

also- kise is definitely a touchy-feely person; he’s not afraid of showcasing his affections through hugs or sometimes a small peck on your forehead. you may have to push him away if he tries to initiate this pda. but, kise can’t help but want to display his love for you (especially if you’re shy about such affection).

for someone so outwardly bubbly as kise, it may come as a surprise to some that he does have a cold side. he’ll only showcase this to people, who he, frankly, doesn’t care about. to you, he’s never truly showed you his colder side because in all interactions he’s had with you, he was pretty cheery & upbeat. however, his two-faced nature comes out especially if his protective instinct comes over him.

he’s quick to change his mood if there’s someone being particularly troublesome to you.

to put it simply, you guys would make a really cute couple! yet, there is always some backlash with having two fundamentally different people together. you both would have to compromise & find ways to make it work because some things just don’t work naturally. but if you do, the effort will pay off !

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relationship headcanons with . . . 𝐒𝐀𝐊𝐔𝐑𝐀𝐈 𝐑𝐘𝐎𝐔 !!

PROS

you’re both so considerate of each other ! you guys literally will put each other first, and it’s so wholesome. sakurai will never want to make you uncomfortable around him, and the same applies with you to him.

of the two of you, it’ll be hard to say who’s the better gift giver. both of you are thoughtful & very perceptive in nature, so who’s to say who’s better if you both win the “best girlfriend / best boyfriend” award?

your relationship is equal in terms of give & take. this is also good to know for the long run because you both know that not one person is trying to do it all.

you guys rarely fight. and even when you do, you both have that ingrained need of reconciling ( the moment probably ends up being like that classic moment where the two of you apologize at the same time -- )

your interests/hobbies align! it makes for a natural relationship to occur based on these similarities in character. due to this fact, you both find comfort in doing these activities together & it’s a way for you to always have a connection.

both of your confidence levels are fairly low, so the two of you try to lift each other up by describing in detail all the good qualities you guys have. this becomes such a soft & tender ritual you guys share.

CONS

you both will have trouble communicating woes that you have with one another. i can see you guys walking on eggshells, trying so hard not to bother each other with things that you think don’t matter.

but if you guys bottle up these woes, the reality is . . . at some point, the bottle will. . . explode because of the accumulative amount ! it doesn’t even have to be something big that blows the cap off.

when you guys end up fighting, perhaps due to this, it can get brutal in the sense bottled up feelings will come out like a tidal wave & things that you don’t mean will come out.

things may be a lil’ awkward & tense between you two; guilt & regret being the main feelings you two share. but you guys will reconcile; you always do !

you both don’t have much of a sense of adventure or risk-- you both are more drawn to staying within your zone of comfort. and while that’s perfectly fine, there may be things you both are missing out on.

HEADCANONS/SCENARIOS

as mentioned before, your dates will be so cute.

but the special occasion dates are on a whole different level.

sakurai will worry so much about making it perfect (being the perfectionist he is), and he’ll go back to his habit of apologizing profusely if something minuscule is wrong.

say it’s your birthday-- he’ll definitely want to have an intimate celebration because he knows large parties & groups of people is not up your alley at all!

he’ll be so sweet-- hanging up cute decorations at his house where he’ll lead you to after treating you out on an excursion for your birthday. from the bookstore to your favorite restaurant for lunch, he’ll make sure you guys hit all your favorite places.

it’s basically a way for him to showcase his love & gratitude for you ; he wants to say how lucky he is to have you in his life and while he can’t make it super luxurious, he wants this day to be special.

it’s overwhelming how kind he is. he’ll also have all the trademark birthday decorations-- with a theme of red because he knows that’s your favorite color.

red balloons, red confetti, red dessert . . . it’ll be be quite the party even though it’s for a party of two. but, it’s special because even the idea of the two of you having quality time is more than enough.

then again, he doesn’t skimp out on gifts. he just goes all in just to see you happy.

even with how thoughtful he is about his gift, he’ll still apologize when he gives it to you, saying that he’s sorry if it’s not what you wanted or if it’s a bad gift. . .

you, of course, tell him how much you’re grateful for his gift because it’s honestly so perfect? plus, has anyone ever went all out for you this way before? probably not on the same caliber as sakurai- that’s for sure.

he went above & beyond your expectations- essentially, he picked up on what you’d love through small hints from conversation. you’re not the type to give someone a list of what exactly you’d like as you probably see it as rude (which sakurai kind of adores that aspect of you anyway).

the whole day is basically perfect with the perfect boyfriend and just that fact makes you overwhelmed with happiness.

some other relationship things !!

sakurai would love to watch anime with you?? since it’s the next best thing asides from manga. he’ll get so emotionally attached to the characters that you find it kinda sweet how he’ll say with such a serious expression that this character deserved better and such.

sakurai is the type to draw out happy endings to the anime/manga characters that didn’t get the love they deserve. and you admire his skill of the art. but you definitely help with the writing aspect of it (from the overall development & characterization).

if you guys end up living together in a house or an apartment, sakurai is more than willing to do the house chores-- cleaning to cooking to whatever; he’s quite proficient & you’ll be surprised at how good his food tastes, too!

on that note, he’ll get a warm feeling when you offer to help him; old habits die hard since he’ll apologize and say that he didn’t mean to guilt you into doing chores.

you weren’t "guilted” though.

he basically feels so lucky to live with you, so that’s the reason why he’s so willing to be like a “housewife”.

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— lily ! ♡

#knb matchups #kise ryouta #sakurai ryou #knb #kuroko no basuke #kuroko no basket #kuroko no basuke matchups #kuroko no basket matchups #matchups #request #relationship headcanons #alternate matchup

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severalspoons · 4 years

Text

“Wolfwood Mood” quotes

To be updated as I find more.

God may judge you, but His sins outnumber your own. -- @afabbaeddel

“Cynic, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.” ― Ambrose Bierce, The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary

“That's one of the remarkable things about life. It's never so bad that it can't get worse.” ― Bill Watterson

“An encouraged person will eventually get his drive from encouragement; he becomes more dependent. A person that never really receives encouragement learns to move out of spite; he becomes more independent.” ― Criss Jami, Killosophy

They're going to have to glue you back together, IN HELL! -- Demoman in Team Fortress 2

Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” ― Dylan Thomas, Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

“Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.”- Epictetus

“When you love you wish to do things for. You wish to sacrifice for. You wish to serve.” ― Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms

I survived because the fire inside me burned brighter than the fire around me. --Fallout New Vegas NPC

“We all have strength enough to endure the misfortunes of others.” ― Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Man can get used to anything, the scoundrel. --Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment

“And what's strange, what would be marvelous, is not that God should really exist; the marvel is that such an idea, the idea of the necessity of God, could enter the head of such a savage, vicious beast as man.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

“To go wrong in one's own way is better than to go right in someone else's.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment

“The soul is healed by being with children.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky

“People speak sometimes about the "bestial" cruelty of man, but that is terribly unjust and offensive to beasts, no animal could ever be so cruel as a man, so artfully, so artistically cruel.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

“We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment

“Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky

“Killing myself was a matter of such indifference to me that I felt like waiting for a moment when it would make some difference.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Dream Of A Ridiculous Man

“Destroy my desires, eradicate my ideals, show me something better, and I will follow you.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky

“The whole work of man really seems to consist in nothing but proving to himself every minute that he is a man and not a piano key.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from Underground

“One man doesn't believe in god at all, while the other believes in him so thoroughly that he prays as he murders men!” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Idiot

“Scratch any cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist.” ― George Carlin

“Real courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” ― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!” ― Hunter S. Thompson, The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967

“You only live twice: Once when you are born And once when you look death in the face” ― Ian Fleming, You Only Live Twice

“There is no ideal world for you to wait around for. The world is always just what it is now, and it's up to you how you respond to it.” ― Isaac Marion, Warm Bodies

My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.” ― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

“Freedom is what we do with what is done to us.” ― Jean-Paul Sartre

“Better to die on one's feet than to live on one's knees.” ― Jean Paul Sartre

“Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. It is up to you to give [life] a meaning.” ― Jean-Paul Sartre

“There is no reality except in action.” ― Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism is a Humanism

“Life—the way it really is—is a battle not between good and bad, but between bad and worse.” ― Joseph Brodsky

“mankind is resilient: the atrocities that horrified us a week ago become acceptable tomorrow.” ― Joseph Heller

“Do you know what it means to be a survivor? It means that not only do you have to live through things, you have to live with them as well. The second part is much harder and sometimes it takes the rest of your life to learn how to do it. But at least you have the rest of your life…” ― Josephine Angelini, Firewalker

“Someone has to be stoic, for the sake of, in spite of, and in the face of all those who are, not. Someone, has to be serious. Someone has to choose to forgo choice, so that there is an option left for others to consider. Everyone can't be, someone.” ― Justin K. McFarlane Beau

“Loving someone always requires you to not love others.” ― Koushun Takami, Battle Royale

“Dignity is as essential to human life as water, food, and oxygen. The stubborn retention of it, even in the face of extreme physical hardship, can hold a man's soul in his body long past the point at which the body should have surrendered it.” ― Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption

“We are not defined by the things we do in order to survive. We do not apologize for them,” she says quietly, eyes never leaving mine. “Maybe they have broken you, but you are a sharper weapon because of it. And it is time to strike.” ― Laura Sebastian, Ash Princess

“People are petty, spiteful creatures. What they can't use, hurt, steal, or control, they'll usually destroy.” ― Lorna Reid, Darkwalkers

“Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.” ― Lucius Annaeus Seneca

“If someone puts their hands on you make sure they never put their hands on anybody else again.” ― Malcom X

“Think of it! We could have gone on longing for one another and pretending not to notice forever. This obsession with dignity can ruin your life if you let it.” ― Mary Ann Shaffer, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

“Does anything in nature despair except man? An animal with a foot caught in a trap does not seem to despair. It is too busy trying to survive. It is all closed in, to a kind of still, intense waiting. Is this a key? Keep busy with survival.” ― May Sarton, Journal of a Solitude

"You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them." ― Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter

You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise.

--Maya Angelou

You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise.

--Maya Angelou

“Somehow, even in the worst of times, the tiniest fragments of good survive. It was the grip in which one held those fragments that counted.” ― Melina Marchetta, Finnikin of the Rock

“Show me somebody who is always smiling, always cheerful, always optimistic, and I will show you somebody who hasn't the faintest idea what the heck is really going on.” ― Mike Royko

“Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them. Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it.” ― Rabindranath Tagore, Collected Poems and Plays of Rabindranath Tagore

“Survival," I said softly. "It's selfish, and it's dark, and we've always been a species willing to do anything to satisfy our needs. ― Rachel Caine, Total Eclipse

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“To have endured horrors, to have seen the worst of humanity and have your life made unrecognizable by it, to come out of all that honorable and brave— that was magical.” ― Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

“We'd stared into the face of Death, and Death blinked first. You'd think that would make us feel brave and invincible. It didn't.” ― Rick Yancey, The 5th Wave

“I judge you unfortunate because you have never lived through misfortune. You have passed through life without an opponent—no one can ever know what you are capable of, not even you.” – Seneca

I will fight you in Hell upon a mound of bones. -- @shitmygaywifesays

“As long as there’s two people left on the planet, someone is gonna want someone dead.” -- Sniper, Team Fortress 2

"If God had wanted you to live, he would not have created me!” -- Soldier, Team Fortress 2

babies cry because they are alive and that is the saddest thing to be. — spencer madsen (@spencermadsen) December 15, 2011

Do you think God stays in heaven because He, too, lives in fear of what He’s created? --Spykids 2nd movie

“No one can tell what goes on in between the person you were and the person you become. No one can chart that blue and lonely section of hell. There are no maps of the change. You just come out the other side. Or you don't.” -- Stephen King, The Stand

“The only thing that matters in the end is your own survival. It's what humans and cockroaches are best at.” ― Susan Ee, World After

If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn’t as cynical as real life. --Terry Pratchett, Guards, Guards!

“I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are good people and bad people. You're wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.” ― Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." -- Theodore Roosevelt

I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees. --Unknown

if you stay alive for no other reason at all, please do it for spite. -- Unknown

Hell is empty, and all the devils are here. -- Unknown Tumblr post

“Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.” ― William Goldman, The Princess Bride

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.” ― William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

...I WILL FACE GOD AND WALK BACKWARDS INTO HELL— wint ( @dril ) May 22, 2012

#Yes I will put Shakespeare side by side with Dril #fight me

#quotes #nicholas d. wolfwood #what it means to be badass #free will #making choices #choices #philosophy #terry pratchett #tolstoyevsky #princess bride #trigun #everything is trigun

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in-tua-deep · 5 years

Note

I have seen some fics of Five going to high school (and often falling in love with a 13 y/o oc girl which icks me tf out bc that’s an old man, guys) to socialize which gave me the idea of Five befriending old people who are also physically old. For example, Hannah, the German lady in her 80s who poisoned nazis when she was a child. Then there’s Joan who spent his life fighting to achieve his goals despite having to deal with near-constant racism. Just. Five getting along with all these old ppl

you’re RIGHT and consider: Klaus decides it’s a good idea to take Five along to his weekly ladies over fifty stitch ‘n bitch and is surprised and delighted to find that Five actually genuinely gets along with all of them

there is, of course, Hannah who poisoned Nazis and her and five trade poisoning methods the way other people might trade coveted family recipes. Hannah declares Five to be a “nice young man” and the fact that she is in her 80s or 90s means that she is absolutely allowed to get away with it

Fiona is a 60something butch lesbian who proudly displays her mugshots along the walls of her house for everyone to gaze upon in awe when it’s her turn to host. Her wife, Mandy, always makes snickerdoodle cookies and fondly talks about the time her and “Fee” got arrested because Fee kicked a cop in the balls or something.

Doris was an army nurse during her youth and can curse well enough to make a sailor blush and has the bawdiest sense of humor to match. She spends most of her time knitting baby socks and hats to donate and volunteers at a community center where she sneaks food to any hungry teens who have all adopted her as their odd aunt.

Nada immigrated in her teens with her parents and has had to deal with Islamophobia her entire life. She wears a khimār that she knitted herself and laughs when Five genuinely offers to kill any assholes who harass her. Instead, she starts teaching him Arabic since her own grandchildren unfortunately do not speak it

Edith was trans before anybody even knew what that meant and she teaches Five patterns for interesting dresses and fancy sweaters since Five expresses some interest in diversifying his wardrobe (Five personally stands by the fact that skirts and dresses are the best because!! if you lift up front you have INSTANT POCKET/BAG which was very useful in the apocalypse!! of course now his family protest about him flashing underwear or whatever. Edith just introduces him to wearing leggings under and calls it a day)

Kathy killed her first husband and everyone knows it even if she was never convicted. She spends her days volunteering at centers for domestic violence and working with abused women and children. She tells Klaus and Five quite plainly that if Reginald were still alive she would kill him, and they laugh but they absolutely believe her. Five sincerely tells her he would kill her husband if he were still alive as well, and Kathy grins and winks and says she beat him to that one

and all the others. Sally who worked customer service her whole life and lived to tell the tale. Ruby who was widowed young and raised four kids by herself. Alice who is deaf and signs slowly because her parents thought she needed speech therapy to appear normal more than she needed an actual way to communicate. Becca was a teen during the civil rights movement and witnessed schools being desegregated, and is quick to remind everyone that it wasn’t as long ago as they think - she remembers the white kids jeering and the protests like it was yesterday. Susan’s husband died in the Vietnam war and she is very quiet when she finds out that he was in Klaus’s unit.

A rotating cast of women with vibrant and brilliant and unique lives who parade through. Some are fixtures, some come when they’re able which isn’t often, some only pop in on the rare occasion when the planets align.

“Go get the salsa dip, Five.” Kathy orders.

“Why do I always have to fetch everything.” Five complains, even as he stands up.

“Because you can teleport.” Kathy says with a shrug, “If I could teleport then it would be me going to get the salsa, wouldn’t it?”

Five goes and gets the damn salsa.

One time a new woman is very confused and asks about Klaus and Five’s presence at the Women’s 50 and over knitting club (“It’s the stitch ‘n bitch,” Klaus mutters under his breath and is ignored) and everyone just kind of shrugs.

“Women and nonbinary old person support and knitting group?” Edith suggests but everyone agrees that that’s a bit of a mouthful.

“But they’re too young?” The new woman asks again, helplessly.

“Actually Klaus fought with my husband in the Vietnam war.” Susan interjects cheerfully before Klaus can start his theatrics, passing the oatmeal raisin cookies to Hannah who is cackling delightedly, “And Five assassinated President Kennedy, I think.”

“Allegedly assassinated President Kennedy.” Five corrects with a flourish of his knitting needles as Kathy nods in approval.

“Oh.” The new woman says, faintly. “Oh, I think I need to sit down.”

“Don’t worry, dear.” Sally comforts, “It’s only that family which doesn’t make sense. You can probably count on the rest of the world to be at least a little bit sensible.”

“I find it offensive that no one here thinks I’m not too young to be here.” Becca interjects and that sets everyone off laughing and falling over themselves to assure her that she’s as pretty as a picture and fresh as a daisy

i’m having a lot of fun with this as you might be able to tell. Just. Five and Klaus joining in old people things because Five IS old and Klaus fought in the vietnam war so you bet your ass he is demanding the senior citizen discount at restaurants

i feel like Agnes should join the group after her romantic tour of bird sanctuaries with Hazel. Hazel himself is not sure how to feel about Klaus and Five being in the same knitting club as his girlfriend but Agnes is clearly having fun and she makes homemade doughnuts for meetings which means the club isn’t letting go of her voluntarily anyway

AND THEN YEAH i always loved the concept of Klaus meeting up with some of the guys from his old unit and all of them just being kind of like “ah klaus you fucker i never actually took you seriously about the time travel shit i just thought you were on some serious drugs” and immediately just adopt klaus back into the fold

and i mean five is also a soldier in a low of ways so i feel like he would also really fit in with their gallows humor and serious knowledge of weapons. Of course, both Klaus and Five also look young enough to be their grandchildren so they also highkey just straight up adopt them and are fully willing to loom ominously at anyone who bothers them

the hargreeves go to pride and Klaus is like “oh I’m meeting up with some friends as well :)” and the others assume they’re like. party friends he made or ex boyfriends or something and then this big gang of old war vets materialize from the crowd decked out in rainbows bc they do this every year - originally in honor of Klaus and Dave but now klaus is again so Time To Party B)

Five “volunteers” in a nursing home and all the staff think he’s adorable and precocious but actually he complains about technology and reminisces about the great depression and beats the occupants at checkers as he and his opponent trade stories about which joint and bones they can feel storms coming in

just AGE APPROPRIATE FRIENDS

#ask me #stelte23 #you - i like you #i agree that five should not be paired with any teen ever #where's that one gif of the vampire dude being like 'people are like what's what young thing doing with that thousands of years old vampire'#with his 80 yr old gf #far tua long #tua #the umbrella academy #five hargreeves #number five #klaus hargreeves #i had too much fun with this as you can probably tell #klaus is technically only 30 including his year away #but the club handwaves that away #he's the only one they made an exception for #can i admit that the 'ladies over 50 stitch and bitch' is actually a concept from a different drabble i wrote in class today #bc of something my prof said #so i guess that drabble is a prequel to this yelling bc that's pre five being persuaded to go

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