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purble-gaymer · 4 months

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THOSE LAST COUPLE CHAPTERS HIT HARD

I just got caught up on your fic and I always oh so love the interactions between the three knight bros. I also adored how you wrote the interactions between Meta Knight and Dedede. I'm a huge fan of redededemption arc and it's why in my hcs I count (an altered version of) the anime as a precursor to the games. I really think that anime Dedede gets a little more hate than he should. He's selfish and a jerk but he's been like that in the games too. I don't like it when people characterize anime Dedede as truly evil and undeserving of redemption because he's meant to be seen more as downright childlike to a fault, even having fits and not being able to read. He's more negligent of real danger even when he's the one causing it than he is downright cruel, and that was proven in the episode where he really thought Kirby died (which was actually a pretty fucked up thing to pull imo). My point is that I think that's exactly how Meta Knight sees him in the anime. Bothersome, spoiled, and a conductor for events that become far more serious than he ever thinks they are. Truly, Dedede has no idea what he's up against with Nightmare, and Meta Knight doesn't hold him responsible for that. He's just there to make sure nothing goes too wrong and shrugs off the childlike berating Dedede gives him afterwards. But for all of that Dedede never stays mad at Meta Knight, and likewise Meta Knight looks out for Dedede in a way by also making sure his exploits don't go out of hand and harm him (since he knows Dedede is playing with fire when it comes to the monsters). Even for the flawed parts of anime Dedede's characterization he's just an immature king who isn't actually that much of a feal threat, just like in the games -- and Meta Knight is his loyal knight who puts up with his antics. Sorry for the drabble but again my point is I just felt like you nailed their interactions PERFECTLY. I can absolutely see in your writing the potential for how their friendship would grow overtime. All the characters really are just silly fellas, reading them gives off those same vibes from the anime. Anyway, I just wanted to compliment you over that .o.

uwhjg. thank you !!😭 dedede has always been a fun character to write whether it’s a serious scene or a silly one, and i wanted to set them on the same course they take in the games. of course, it’ll still be a long time before everyone sets aside their differences enough to become friends, but it’s a start. matching the characterization of the show while doing everything i wanted to was a challenge, but it’s good to hear it paid off! dedede is misled and inexperienced, but he’s still dedede. there are inklings of the character we know today, it’ll just take time for him to grow from his original characterization. like, it takes until triple deluxe for kirby and dedede to really work together. now that nightmare’s gone, it’ll probably follow a similar course.

i’ve had one or two people mention leading up to 93 that not a lot of writers look at mk & ddd’s relationship in too much depth, and i agree. i didn’t get into is as much as i would’ve liked to, but i tried to include it whenever i could because they’re so interesting. you see them hanging out like friends but you also see them constantly denying the other’s wishes and fighting about it later. not to mention the whole ‘let’s blow up the halberd’ debacle. we’ll talk about that another day. but to my original point, dedede gets shelved a lot in favor of developing other characters and it’s a shame. he’d be just as important after nme’s destruction. he’s still got kirby to deal with, after all. it’s not like he and meta knight never interact, either. i’ve inserted a lot of scenes but there are plenty of times mk just shows up in the throne room to ask about something. even things like mk helping dedede with his plan to get kirby into the grand prix in 35/36 are suggested by the fact dedede and escargoon are in the storage room with him when he talks to kirby. these scenes are really only baseless in episodes where the knights don’t appear at all (i’m pretty sure they aren’t actually in 93).

i’d like to say dedede starts to realize just how serious things are after 89 because of the whole…incident with mk, but because that didn’t really happen, it’s not reflected in the show. maybe it’s more in the back of his mind, sort of a ‘no, that can’t be right!’ thought that he can’t quite dismiss. by the time the destroya come along, he just goes along with things because he wants to stop the attack. he certainly understands the danger once they’re at there fortress, so he has to have realized at some point. i think meta knight also starts to gain a level of respect for him after my made-up 89 epilogue, if only because he brought him back to sword and blade to make sure he was safe after. they wouldn’t have fought so openly in 93 if it were the beginning of the show—dedede might’ve been a little upset, but what’s it matter? meta knight is just another soldier under his lead. they’ve been through a lot by the end, and they’re going to go through more.

i wish the show gave them more interactions. i think that’s part of the problem. all you really see of them is mk asking questions from time to time, and it doesn’t establish anything beyond their usual fronts. it feels uninteresting and surface-level. but there’s so much more there that can be brought out simply by removing them from the situation and letting them talk on their own.

shit i just thought of something so i’m gonna talk a little more—the opening of 60 is sort of a fun example. their interaction is very short, but shows a lot. dedede and escargoon come into the courtyard with their destroyed car, and dedede shouts for meta knight to get down there and help. sure, it can be read as a nothing command, but it’s also a declaration of ‘this is serious, we need /your/ help because i know you know what you’re doing.’ he doesn’t call for the waddle dees to line up at the gate and prepare to battle, he calls for meta knight’s help specifically. (i’m pretty sure sirica asks about star warriors before blasting them, but i’m not sure she ever says mk’s name. they probably don’t know she’s actively looking for him at this point.)

i wanted to express everyone as having room to change, because that’s part of what the series is about. it’s about love and it’s about change, and even if the anime isn’t so bubbly bright and happy as the games, the anime is about that, too. they all have their own lives and they all have places they’re going, even if we don’t get to see what happens after they get home to dreamland. these aren’t static characters, as simple as they seem. they have history, they’re layered, and yes, they are very, very silly. letting that potential go ignored would be a crime, wouldn’t it?

#asks #borbology #yeah so this got long and rambly which was my intention #however my intention was not the essay-like conclusion. my bad #that just happens whenever i write for too long #long post #uhhh #wwtmk

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king-paimon · 1 year

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Please Go Watch “Puss In Boots: The Last Wish”!

Please forgive this adrenaline fueled post; I need to let it all out after what I just witnessed.

I just came back from watching “Puss In Boots: The Last Wish” with my brother in the theater. The reviewers weren’t wrong; this movie was freaking amazing!

I was already drawn to it because of the animation, but seriously... everything about this movie was pure gold. The characters, the story, the twists... I loved everything! I could gush about how beautiful this movie is forever and how clever they were when playing around with the framerate for the action bits, because seriously; they did an incredible job. Puss’s new design is adorable and I just love how everyone was designed:

But what really got me, besides the animation and story, were the characters. I loved them! The movie team did an amazing job making me care about them, especially the new characters that I thought I was going to hate, especially the dog. I love him and want to protect him, the poor thing!

They were all great and I loved the found family trope they established. The emotional bonds they share feels so real and good, so when the emotional scenes happen, they are impactful!

And the villains/antagonists... my goodness... They were also amazing and were actually intimidating! I was scared and thrilled whenever they appeared. They were some of the best villains/antagonists characters I’ve seen in any movie for the longest time! Heck, they are far better than most villain characters I’ve seen from other popular properties.

Especially the Wolf, I freaking loved him! Everything about this character was great, from his design, voice, and overall presence. And I’m not afraid to admit that I think he’s horrifying and attractive:

In relations to the villains, this movie has some really intense scenes, and without spoiling too much... this movie got away with so many things that I haven’t seen even in many action packed movies meant for older audiences, from action to even language. I’m not joking; the stuff they got away with in this movie was jaw dropping in the best way. Me and my brother literally had our jaws drop during some of these scenes. Some scenes were DEFINITELY not for little kids.

This is honestly one of the best animated movies I’ve seen in a long time. No, one of the best MOVIES I’ve seen in a long time. It is so high on my personal favorite movie list now, it’s right next to “Into the Spiderverse,” which one of my favorite movies. Hell, I’m even willing to say I loved this movie even more!

If you love great animation, action, story telling, and characters, please watch this movie when you get the chance! Especially in the theater so you can get the full experience, because that is what this was for me; a true spectacle. I sincerely hope more people see this movie because it’s well deserved. Dreamworks really outdid themselves this past year; first “the Bad Guys,” which was also a fun time, and now this. I also hope this means that we’ll see more movies like this with innovative animation and stellar characterization and storytelling. (TAKE THAT DISNEY!)

This movie seriously exceeded my expectations and I fully intend on buying it soon as it becomes available. If you are at all interested, please give this movie a watch. You won’t regret it.

I certainly didn’t. It was worth every penny.

#personal thoughts #puss in boots #puss in boots: the last wish #dreamworks #animation #absolutely beautiful #amazing characters #kitty softpaws #wolf #perrito #beautiful animation #amazing movie #long post #please watch it #puss in boots the last wish

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kkrazy256 · 2 years

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The best way I can describe how I think the fandom would treat Pharma, or at least some of the fandom, is all those posts you see about good characters who aren't good people being called "misunderstood". I also think that, down the line, there'd be those people who try to excuse every bad thing he does.

"I think Pharma's a great character, but he's such a bastard and I would throttle him in real life."

"I think that's a bit too extreme. He's done some bad things, but he doesn't deserve that. He's my misunderstood baby. 🥺"

"He literally makes it his life's work to make one of his brother's miserable and feels relaxed when he kills, oftentimes people who don't deserve death."

"You just don't get him like I do. He's just misunderstood and didn't actually do anything wrong."

Canon!Remedy getting treated by fandom worries me that he'd get treated a bit like Kix.

Like, I had the fandom interpretation of Kix in my head when I went back and re-watched his scenes and I was surprised that the interpretation of him being angry and done-with-everyone's-shit... didn't really exist in the show? The only time I remember him being visibly like that was in the Umbara Arc and that was after he'd been pretty stretched to the limit. He lost a lot of his complexity within a lot of the fandom and I think the same would happen to Remedy. The fandom's version of Kix seems to be "angry and done with shit just because I can be" (whereas in the Umbara Arc, he was angry because he was being prevented from doing his job as a medic and trying to save his brothers) and I think Remedy's reasons for getting so upset when his brothers don't take care of themselves would be forgotten until he's basically reduced to the same as Fandom!Kix.

Fuck, that was meant to be about Remedy, not a rant about Kix. Sorry, especially if I didn't get my original point across. 😅

Of course, there'll always be the sides of the fandom that remember the original portrayal of Remedy and Pharma and I would try to stick to those sides of the fandom because their original characterizations are awesome

(those two are the only ones I know enough to analyze for, sshhh).

If my OC was canon how would the fandom treat them?

WAUGH giving you a big kith, thank you for your super in-depth thoughts. Here are mine.

Oh yeah, I for sure think Pharma would get that dichotomy in opinions. Knowing fandom, there will be some people that hate him and claim that if you like him you are automatically an awful person. And on the flip side, people that like him will try to absolve him of all wrong because surely they wouldn't like someone awful unless they were a misunderstood uwu bab-/gags ahjfwawh. I made him to be my corny dramatic villain oc that is capable of very awful things! Sometimes, characters are genuinely awful people even with nuance, and still a good character for the narrative. You can like him without excusing all the shit he's done. You can hate him, but hopefully not blind to the why. Otherwise you're not understanding his motivations at all.

AND GOD REMEDY. AND KIX. YOUR BRAIN. Don't be sorry about ranting about Kix, I think about him so much. I believe Kix being characterized as angry comes a lot from the comics post-war. But that anger is riddled with grief because he has no one left. He is out of time and place, and doesn't know how to process that with strangers that wouldn't understand. All he has is to keep fighting and he doesn't even know for what anymore. Post-war Kix spins in my mind microwave so much, it's so tragic. In tcw, he is frustrated because he feels that he can't do enough for his brothers. In a war where he's constantly subjected to dying vode. Where as a medic, he has the responsibility to do something about it. His breakdown in Umbara was something that has been accumulating for months, maybe years. He wasn't just angry, he was actively being confronted with the fact that he can't save everyone.

And you're right, a lot of the motivations behind his anger is lost because a lot of people treat medic characters as one giant entity. The general blanket of "pissed off, grouchy, will sedate you if you don't listen" characterization where you lose all the little other details of their personalities.

Yeah I think the same thing could happen to Remedy if he were canon. It's not like a show format where he's a background character would give the audience a lot of chance to see him beyond his cranky exterior so it would be easy to put him in that general medic personality blanket. But I hope I do take enough time and care to explore his reasons for being so isolated and distant in my lore and writing.

#clone medic pharma #clone medic remedy #kix #answered

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galaxythreads · 2 years

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Since it is one of my favourite fics (as in the ‘you hate me’ scene has rooted itself like a boabab in my mind as one of the most hurt/comfort things I’ve ever read) I am going to ask for lore about ‘The Weeping Siren’/‘Blodig Skog’.

P.S. I really enjoyed the lore about Stygian.

OKAY. so this is like the FIFTH request I’ve gotten for the Weeping Siren. SO. I finally managed to pump this all out. IT took LITERALLY 3+ hours. @stars-and-darkness asked for this as well as long with several anons.

If there is a scene I didn’t go over that you want me to, put the chapter number and the scene in my ask box and I’ll go over that as well.

Thank you for your interest <3

Here we GO.

LORE FOR THE WEEPING SIREN <- link to story

VERY LONG LORE.

The Weeping Siren has a Pinterest board , AND a Spotify playlist

the characterization of Sif and the Warriors at the beginning was based on a fic I read that I cannot find the name of, where the warriors were actively trying to gaslight Thor into thinking Loki a terrible person.

THIS FIC -- What the Woods Did Bring by GoodForBad -- and THIS FIC -- Over the Edge by j-mercuryuk -- were a HUGE basis for the plot of the Weeping Siren. I highly recommend reading them even if they're unfinished. FF.net has an app, my dears, and it is fantastic. No ads, you can download stories, and they keep a detailed history of every fic you read.

Yes, I am aware that the offical Norwegian translation of blood forest should be blodskog. Google translate told me bloody forest would be blodig skog, so that's kind of just what I went with.

Also the blodig skog means the bloody forest

originally Prince Tjan and his hearty crew were meant to be possessed by the Weeping Siren and take the Warriors and Loki to her. Things...didn't work out that way

This was the original first chapter outline, as you can see, it's VERY different from where the actual story started: (highlighted where the fic starts now)

font used for the story, finish date. I do not use Georgia anymore. You cannot convince me to upon pain of death, I hate it so much, lol.

total page count in Google docs: 195 (probably closer to 220 because of how weird Georgia is, discounting the bonus chapter from Frigga's POV)

actual date I finished it, without edits or the bonus chapter from Frigga's POV.

October 4th, 2019.

CHAPTER ONE:

The story originally started with Prince Tjan arriving on Asgard. I hated it so much. I feel like I started this story in all the wrong places at least four or five times.

"Everyone knows that whatever blossoming romance between Loki and Princess Sigyn that had started when Alfheim came for its last peace treaty nearly a decade ago was squished when Loki smashed his fist into the High Princess's face for still undetermined reasons. Princess Sigyn, unlike the legendary patience she's famed for, had retaliated by tackling Loki to the floor."

^^^ I have no idea what this incident was.

---

"Loki is barely of age now, getting him killed or captured by the whispered creature of Vanaheim's forests is something Sif thought a mother would actively try to avoid."

^^ not even two pages in and we're already heavy on the foreshadowing. Lol. I can't remember if this was intentional or not, but I imagine so.

---

I've had a few people point out to me how this doesn't make sense that Frigga's hair is blonde. She dyed it to fit in with Asgardian culture better.

---

Thor has social skills. Thor knows when to keep his mouth shut. thor is a prince. Thor can keep his thoughts to himself until he's in the company of his friends. THor has --

---

Loki's opinions getting discarded or loudly talked over is a very common theme in this. Even by Thor.

CHAPTER TWO:

“ Sif wakes up stiff and in a foul mood. “ -- I mean let’s be honest with ourselves, she’s kind of in a foul mood for half the fic.

---

“Exaggeration, Loki does sleep, but in all their time spent together, Sif has seen him do it very little. He seems to find the challenge of running off of as few hours as possible exhilarating. Maybe he thinks himself above such meager things, she doesn't know, doesn't care.“

^^^ for the duration of this fic, Loki has bad nightmares. It causes a lot of sleep deprivation.

---

OH MY GOSH WHY AM I USING SO MANY ITALICS. STOP. STOOOOOP.

---

“The table is chipped around one edge, as if someone took a hard swing at it, but the rest has obviously been scrubbed down hundreds of times.”

^^direct reference to this scene in Elementary season 5, episode 10:

“...one of the legs was loose, but uh, I fixed [the table up]. Refinished it. You can hardly recognize it, can you?”

“...in a seventy eight year old murder I was trying to solve.”

someone beat someone else’s head in with a knife, leaving chip marks.

If you guys are beginning to notice that Elementary is referenced a lot in my fics, you are right! I love this series so much.

---

“They aren't sitting together. Both their gazes are lifted up, hands still, and there's that gleam in their eyes that reminds her of last night. Sif realizes almost dully that it's not just Prince Tjan and his guard that carry that...thing about them.”

^^^ One thing that I never really found a place to explain and kind of disappeared half-way through the fic is that the Weeping Siren did enchantments on people. She would bend them to her will and this is why everyone seems out of it. She enchanted all of Ju into giving her what she wanted or looking the other way. Both of these people were parents of two of the missing children and they were enchanted to give their kids to the Weeping Siren.

---

“Well. That's good to know now. A warning before hand would have been better. She'd been half hoping that the curse was an exaggeration.“

Dude. I forgot how much Sif drives me absolutely bonkers. YOU DIDN’T EVEN ASK FOR LOKI TO TELL YOU THE BLODIG SKOG HAS ILL EFFECTS. WHY DO YOU JUST EXPECT--

---

This is literally

----

“ The food tastes hot, as it always does on Vanaheim, and she bites at her lip, quietly longing for Asgard's familiar spices “

^^^ I based Vanaheim’s food off of Mexico’s and Asgard’s off of England. So what Sif is tasting is Any Flavor At All. Actually, I based a lot of Asgard off of England because it is funny to me.

The history of the nine realms can probably be described in this sentence: “Knock Knock, It’s Asgard.”

---

I am pretty sure this was an accident that it doesn’t say “It takes almost ANOTHER full five minutes”, but I’m not going to fix that because it’s very funny.

---

^^^ THOR HAS POLITCAL SKILLS THOR HAS POLITCAL SKILLS THOR

---

^^^ the Weeping Siren’s enchantments. She was actually whispering to them.

---

“ Scared that a Frost Giant will jump out and eat you?" One of the men in the guard asks, and Sif flicks her gaze up to find him in the crowd. No one sticks out. Her cheeks flush some anyway. “

^^^ Vanaheim and Asgard, I feel, have very similar political views on things given that Frigga is from Vanaheim. This includes their view about Jotuns. However, in the Blodig Skog when Loki is taken by his aunt and uncle, given that they grew up about the same time as Frigga, they know that Jotuns aren’t evil which is why they didn’t care.

---

“ The Blodig Skog let them go. She doesn't know how she knows that, only that she does, and it unsettles her. “

“It took them days to find those tunnels. Thor wandered for months with madmen. The forest let them go. There's no other explanation. That wasn't them. “

“Thor shrugs. “My mother’s unrivaled persistence. my father’s tracking spells? Perhaps the Blodig Skog wanted to let you go.”

The Weeping Siren chpt 2, The Blodig Skog chpt 2. The Weeping SIren chpt 8.

---

“ Loki hesitantly speaks up: "Prince Tjan, perhaps...we have had little success in our endeavours thus far to find the creature. I'm no stranger to sedir, if you would, perhaps, let me attempt a tracking spell, I could—"

Prince Tjan's drink smacks down on the tabletop, splashing mead over the rim. "Absolutely not! You'll get yourself killed like the other arrogant muttonheads who thought they could outdo the Blodig Skog's enchantments."

^^^ The reason they are so adamant against Loki using magic is, again, because they are enchanted by the Weeping Siren. She knows how effective using magic would be inside the Wood, so she does her best to not encourage that. If Loki had used a tracking spell to find the kids, he probably would have been successful.

Of course there is the initial “the forest drives all the sedier-weilders mad” thing, which WAS A THING when I wrote the first one, it’s just that in THIS INSTANCE it was the weeping siren trying to scare Loki isn’t stopping.

---

“‘So did they!’ Prince Tjan counters angrily, ‘I know the woods.’“

^^^ I know the woods, is the Weeping Siren directly speaking here. not Tjan. Wow I did a horrible job explaining this, with retrospect. I mean, it did kinda vanish away, but Tjan was absolutely possessed by this point.

---

"This has nothing to do with showing off, cousin."

Sif's eyebrow lifts slightly. "Isn't it always with you?"

Thor kicks her foot under the table, and Loki glances at her.

^^^ this is the only time Thor defends Loki in the story from the Warriors verbal attacks and that makes me sad. :/

---

Captain Yan leans forward, resting his clasped hands on the tabletop. "Tell me Master Fandral, how much do you know about tracking spells?"

Fandral's lip twists, "About as much as the next person. Once you've started you can't stop looking for the thing, unable to rest, unable to eat, yada-yada. Supposed to be one of the most difficult spells to master and used sparingly. Why? No, wait...are you really suggesting that every seidrmaster you've sent in there you've lost because they actually found the Weeping Siren?"

"We couldn't keep up with them." Captain Yan's jaw tightens. "Yes. We lost them, Master Fandral. Found the bodies of three of the five."

The numbers seem off. Sif remembers Captain Yan mentioning this a few days ago, but didn't he say something else?

what he said earlier: ( "Yes," Captain Yan assures, "but we've lost three sedirmasters to the Blodig Skog and killed two others. )

^^^

Okay. So. “The Blodig Skog killed two others.” What happened to all the sedirweilders in the fic the Blodig Skog is what happened here. That wasn't’ something I made up on the go.

Actually, Benar--he lost his protection spell and transformed into the dragon on accident.

BUT.

The REASON Loki knew that Yan and Tjan were lying about the sedirmasters is because guess what? TRACKING SPELLS DON’T ACTUALLY DO THIS. Loki knows that. The Weeping Siren knows this. THOR knows this.

THIS is why Thor was so quick agree with Tjan in kicking Loki off of the quest later in the scene. Not because Thor was being an a-hole and didn’t believe Loki, but because he was trying to protect him. He didn’t know what was up. If it was Tjan or if it was Loki, or if it was both of them. He thought maybe the Blodig Skog was affecting Loki because of the enchantment, but wasn’t completely sure.

He just wanted to keep Loki safe.

Loki didn’t know that, and assumed it was because Thor didn’t trust him.

---

Loki's head whips up to her, eyes heated. "Beg pardon?"

"You heard me perfectly." Sif promises, and then makes a disgusted noise as his expression doesn't flicker. Always so blank. How can he manage that for so long? Why does he?

^^ maybe, just a thought, because you torment him all the time for any other emotion?

---

The keeper of the inn goes pale, "Bar yourselves in the building! No one leaves until it's gone!"

the Weeping Siren YET AGAIN making it easier for her to kidnap the kid. Everyone stuffed inside one place? Super convenient.

---

Sif half expects Loki to free himself of the grip and move for the door—they don't have a lot of time—as Sif would have done, but Loki instead squats down in front of the woman and cups distressed mother's hand between both of his own. "Shh, woman, all will be well. We will find your daughter, I swear."

"Please," the woman gasps, "she's all I-I ha-have. Please."

"Dry your tears," Loki instructs, "Idrissa will be returned to you."

^^^

Despite all his frustrations and desire to strangle his party, Loki still takes the time to show this woman kindness. THIS is who Loki is, at his core.

---

The Weeping Siren grabs hold of the child's arm and the two vanish in a lure of blue-ish light.

^^^ I doubt any of you have noticed this, but I try to make a point to have magic colors line up with the infinity stones. If someone is doing mind magic its yellow, if they’re teleporting it’s blue, etc, etc. Just because I believe the Infinity Stones are a lot more important to MCU until Endgame.

---

Loki uses the clumsy response to someone hurting him right here (and all the time before this), when Loki says this to Sif in the Blodig Skog, she immediately knows someone did it to him and is unhappy.

"Brother, what happened to your face?" Thor questions, tipping his sibling's head up so he can stare at the bruise. Sif feels nothing regarding it. Maybe she will later, but right now there's only an all consuming numbness. (Loki deserved it.) Her hand hurts.

"I tripped." Loki mumbles.

Thor sighs, "Loki. Will you ever learn proper footing? You're always falling or smashing into things."

(^^^Loki is not a clumsy person.

This is from previous altercations with the Warriors, or their other peers, or even (on occasion) their parents.

Thor thinks Loki is clumsy.)

TWS chpt 2.

"He tripped, Lady Sif." One of the girls murmurs. "He's clumsy enough as it is without wet earth to help with that."

Loki digs his nails tighter. It's beginning to pinch skin, but the pain is a relief.

Sif doesn't laugh, but a few try for hesitant smiles that fall quickly. The warrior's back is so straight it looks nearly painful. Loki doesn't know whether to stop her, or watch. It's the strangest sensation to him to not have to defend himself.

TBS chpt 1

Also reminder Thor had no idea what was going on and would have destroyed them if he knew Sif just punched his brother:

TBS chpt 6

---

“ Loki's gaze lifts to Thor's face, a flicker of something she can't place washing over his features. “

^^ Loki wanted Thor to notice the bruise looked like a fist.

He didn’t.

CHAPTER THREE:

"No." Prince Tjan doesn't bother to keep any irritation from his tone. "We're staying in the Blodig Skog from this point forward. That child is our biggest lead. We have an entirely new part of the forest to look at thanks to her. We can't waste time traveling to and from there anymore, we need to go deeper. Prepare your overnight packs, we leave in twenty minutes."

^^ The Weeping Siren decided that Loki was too much of a threat because he actually found her and has decided to kill him.

ALSO:

THIS CONVERSATION -- “ but I'd overheard my cousin and Captain Yan discussing a way to remove Loki." (chpt 9 thor to Sif) -- happened the previous night.

---

“Thor, and Loki enter the tavern. The two siblings look as if they've been awake for a long time, but Sif has her doubts about that.”

Thor was up all night trying to figure out what to do about Tjan wanting to kill Loki. Loki was up all night trying not to have a panic attack.

---

“ Loki's face bares no signs of bruising, and Sif is both relieved and annoyed by that. “

^^ glamor.

---

“ Loki's single, brief attempt to use sedir to track the Weeping Siren fails because there's apparently "nothing to latch onto". “

^^ the weeping siren’s hovel blocks all magic except her’s. Like Wanda and Agatha’s ruins in WandaVision. This is why Loki couldn’t find her.

---

^^ the weeping siren needs consent in order to possess someone and their name.

---

“But, as Sif suspected, their rations don't last past the third day. Well, "past" is a little too strong of a word, they're out before the evening meal. Prince Tjan has them come to a stop much earlier than normal and explains that they need to hunt, but someone needs to set up camp while they're gone.

And, thus leaves herself, Fandral, Volstagg, Hogun, and Loki in the clearing with the camping supplies as Prince Tjan, his guard, and Thor find food for the next few days. She's less than elated with this set up, but holds her tongue when Hogun kicks the back of her foot.“

^^^

AS THIS WAS HAPPENING, SO WAS THIS:

“"No." Thor shakes his head. "Just benching him permanently. All the distinct details are fuzzy now, but I wasn't happy with it. I confronted him in the woods, and he and his guard attacked me."

"But everyone...we saw the bodies. They weren't killed by Mjonlir or another weapon." Sif argues, "He couldn't have attacked you unless...you didn't fight back."

Thor smiles grimly. "I couldn't. The creature found us and bound me by her word. Tjan pierced me with a blade here," his fingers lift up to ghost over his chest. Over his heart. Or near it, anyway. Too close. "And I was too focused on that to do much else. When I awoke, only Prince Tjan and two others lived. The details of what happened to soldiers have yet to be discovered, and I can't remember anything. I took Prince Tjan and the other two as my captives and we wandered in the Blodig Skog for a month before finding Ju again."

AND THIS:

“ His leg begins to throb dully. Likely from the sparring session earlier, but he can't help but feel like it's mocking him. Remember, remember, it taunts, lest you dare think about forgetting. No. Never forgetting. The sensation of the Weeping Siren's sedir slinking beneath his skin as he writhed and then her wild grin as she clenched her fist and he felt the bone explode— “

(tbs chpt 2)

The Weeping Siren broke his leg so he couldn’t run away. She wanted Tjan to kill him. Thor was a little too stubborn for that.

---

Loki holds the older's stare for a long moment before his shoulders slump and he tugs his sibling's hand away from his mouth. "Fine. But come back."

Thor smirks patting Loki's shoulder. "When do I not?"

"You don't want me to answer that." Loki snips and takes a step back so Thor can mount his stallion.

This is the last time they see each other for 11 months. :/ And the funny thing about it is that IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE A PARRAEL because LOKI is the one who doesn’t come back later, NOT thor.

---

^^^ This is where I started the story in the original draft. When i later planned out the fic, it got pushed back quite a bit.

---

"Who wants to play, children?" it whispers. Its voice is still the young females. "Oh, I do!"

You know how they always tell you to have the first line a character speaks be signifcant? Yeah. Well.

“No one wants to die alone either." The Weeping Siren's voice has changed to a nasally old woman's, and it's louder. Closer. Norns. "But alas…"

chpt 3 vs chpt 7

“ Sif's mind flashes back to the kitchen, standing in front of the counter and looking at the height measurements. Yei and Holland. The Weeping Siren's children of the womb. It's not a story for your ears. Bile rises in her throat as the pieces click in a horrid succession. The bones stare back at her, innocent of her thoughts.”

The Weeping Siren’s children died alone after playing when their father came to kill them.

CHAPTER FOUR:

“ Her shoes are missing, leaving her toes to face the cold in only socks. Her armor is also gone, leaving her in the loose shirt and pants underneath. It's cold. Something is wrapped around her left ankle, and an experimental wiggle of the foot reveals the cold metal of a chain. “

People are less likely to try and run away from a captor when they don’t have shoes.

ALSO yes, this is a direct reference to the Red Room and how they made the girls chain their wrists to the bed.

---

“ Sif's hands curl into fists. Her mouth opens without her consent, fully prepared for a rebuke, but Fandral beats her too it. "Hey!" his voice is hard. "Don't touch him!" “

None of the Warriors hate Loki. They tormented him, but after spending years and years with him, all of them grew fond in their own way. It just took something forcing them to swallow their egos for them to show it.

---

“ Loki is squatted in front of one of them, Idrissa, Sif recognizes after a moment.”

Loki promised Idrissa’s mother that he’d find her. So he did.

---

"Loki, let me. You're exhausted." Sif says and reaches up for the child, but Loki's grip tightens.

"And you were vomiting blood." His tone is acidic, "I'm capable of doing something without your help, my lady."

...

“ "Don't—" Sif starts and stops because correction doesn't matter. Loki is crying in pain. The Weeping Siren is making him cry because of pain. "What on the Nine do you think you're doing!?" “

“Sif snorts with disbelief, but clenches her fists. "You'll kill him. You are killing him. Aetheitin isn't meant for long term use, everyone knows that. You're going to kill him, and I won't let you do that. He's my prince...”

^^^ Again, the Warriors don’t hate Loki.

Loki doesn’t know that.

---

It's barely past midday on day six since their capture when a loud clap of thunder ripples through the air. Sif pauses the knife she's been sawing back and forth across several stalks of wheat to look up at the sky and scowl.

^^^ Yes. This was Thor. This is when Thor found their abandoned camp and realized they were gone. He was panicking.

---

"Let me take it." Loki interrupts, and the room goes quiet. Sif lifts her wide eyes from her shield-brother to Loki, wondering if she heard that right. "Let me take it," Loki repeats, voice filled with more conviction. "Allow him the rest, and I will take whatever is needed so he can."

^^ the punishment was hallucinatory drugs. When they came off the high, which was intended to be torment, the Weeping Siren would help them feel better, thus creating a sort of dependency on her comfort. That is why they would start calling her mother afterwards. She wouldn’t let them sleep or eat, just take the drug and work. The only comfort they received was hers.

The well in TBS never existed. It was a hallucination on Loki’s part because he’s terrified of heights and suffocation.

("I can't." Loki repeats, stuffing his fingers into the crooks of his arms. "Mother will be cross with me.")

^^^ drug tracks

---

But how could Loki not be used to hugs? Sif doesn't know Queen Frigga awfully well, but she seems like the affectionate type. The one that would give out hugs often. Thor never stiffens when Sif draws him in for an embrace, and Loki never flinches away from Thor's frequent shoulder touches or pats on the back, so it's not like they've been touch starved by their parents.

...

Loki shrugs, sighing deeply and squeezes his eyes shut. "Don' know why you care so much. It's not...appropriate for the royal family to show physical affection to each other in public—Thor should know better, but he doesn't care, I think—and I rarely see my parents in private since I've gotten older. I have to make an audience to see my father privately, and Mother only has a few spare minutes at a time for talking. It's not a problem. Used to bother me. Doesn't now."

...

^Loki and Thor were, in my opinion, severely isolated as children. With how busy Frigga and Odin were running a realm, it’s more likely that they raised each other with their parents hovering figureheads that orbited them. I don’t think either of them had a very strong relationship with them. At least, not a proper parent-child relationship. more like a distant friend.

Loki has had few friends in his lifetime and Thor has been the only constant. Thor is the only person who touches Loki frequently, beyond an occasional embrace from his mother.

Loki doesn’t get hugged.

(It is my firm headcanon that the hug Loki got from Frigga after he killed Laufey was the first hug he got in years)

HENCE:

“ Alwa's saying nast'y things." Loki shakes his head, hair sticking to the sides of his face. "It hurts. You don't even like me, and I used to tr' really, really hard to mak' all of y'u, 'cause I don' know...how to have friends, but you always…it okay, I know it's my fault. Somethin' wrong with me, not you." “

CHAPTER 5:

"Alright, enough." The words seem to have been wrung from the Snake Prince, "You've done nothing but stare at me all day like I gave a swift kick to your favorite pet, so will you please explain what I've done wrong this time?"

^^ Loki really doesnt’ think anyone likes him unless they’re forced to, and even that he knows is an act.

----

"No. Shut up." Loki demands, "Because I shouldn't have had to. My silence should have had no effect on whether or not you would refrain from trying to treat me decently. Was your social status so important to you that you would completely disregard the fact that I—" Loki releases a heavy breath, cutting himself off mid sentence.

TWS chpt 5 vs TBS chpt 6

What!? Thor feels incredulous. "It does. I would never have let them hurt you if I knew!"

That draws out the startled, vindictive laughter. His brother takes a wobbly step forward, tears still falling. "I shouldn't," his brother presses out, "have to have told you. We've spent thousands of hours with them. Weeks at a time. But you didn't see, because you're never looking at me! Do you really think that they're the only ones to mock my titles?...”

You should never have to ask someone to treat you with basic human decency. And yet.

----

Sif grabs on his arm and yanks. The searing heat makes her vision dark around the edges and the only think she can focus on is the cold knives of his words digging into her chest. Loki flinches and his hands raised to block off his face. She barely hears the words by how low they're muttered. "At least I never hit you."

^^^

The thoughts Sif never voiced but definitely felt right here:

Oh yeah. You are a human. You are not some overlord meant to torment me. You are a human and you have a life outside of me and you are a human.

And i hurt you anyway. On purpose. For no reason.

I did that.

You didn’t force me to. I chose to.

---

They've been here for...for a while when the Weeping Siren drops into the cellar one morning with a rucksack swung over one shoulder. She drops something heavy on the ground and it lands with a loud thunk before she smiles happily. "Dearests, Mother has an errand she must take care of. I'll return in a few days. Remain here."

...

Thor's head tilts at that, curious. How? She was mad. "What do you mean?"

Benar's fingers smack impatiently on the book. "I mean that she spent a good majority of our lives keeping me from this ritual. She guarded the direct entrance to the tunnels, keeping the Xīn Zhī Chí from me. Now, now I can finally end the Blodig Skog without her making constant efforts to cease any progress."

So that's where they are, then. The tunnels beneath the Blodig Skog.

TWS chpt 6 vs TBS chpt 10

Part of this errand was to stop Benar from entering the caves.

CHAPTER SEVEN:

“It starts—and it ends—with soup.“

as all good things do.

---

"Today we celebrate the sixth year since I began to collect my family." The Weeping Siren announces and sits down in front of them, a glass in hand. Sif suspects it isn't full of anything stronger than acidic water, but she raises it like it's fine wine. "A toast. To our happiness proceeding onwards for many more years."

^^^

this is the day her children died. In her grief she got extremely drunk and rationalized taking Li home with her. Li was hurt and she intended to take him to a healer.

She didn’t.

This is why Li ( "This is my family." Li says in a hushed voice, "I don't know...I don't know how to live anywhere else. How can we leave Mother? I don't...I'm afraid, Sif, please.") doesn’t feel like he has anything else.

---

“Sif glances towards Loki's leg and inhales stiffly, swearing again. Norns, that's so much worse than she thought it was. The leg is deformed enough that Sif has her doubts bone isn't sticking out beneath the fabric. There's dried blood making the black fabric strangely reflective and flaky. She bites back bile and squeezes her eyes shut, trying to reassure herself that she's seen worse on the battlefield before.”

Thor broke his leg. Loki broke his. This is supposed to parallel each other.

---

“She...was just stabbed.

Oh.

That's really not ideal.”

I AM WHEEZING. WHAT ON EARTH?

---

“When they were claimed. (Is his hair shorter? He's favoring one leg, or is she imagining that?)”

^^^

First look at Thor’s permanent leg injury.

---

CHAPTER EIGHT:

“Loki, brother of Thor.”

Loki’s importance is rooted in her mind now.

---

“Systra makes a clicking noise and sweeps her gaze up and down Sif, eyes tightening at the edges. "Come with me." She commands. A few months ago, Sif would have refused and stormed off, indignant. Now she only feels a heavy apprehension and follows after her older sister. Systra stops first to drop her bag off in her room and then leads Sif out of the house. She sits down on a bench hidden in the small corner of the property and Sif recognizes it from when they were little and closer.

Before Systra left.”

^^^

This was never explained explicitly in the text, but one of the HUGE reasons that Sif hated Loki was because of jealously. Her relationship with Systra is terrible and she wanted someone like Thor to protect her as she was struggling to become a Einherjar, but Systra didn’t care. Systra left her on her own to deal with the bullying and the tormenting because she thought Sif was being stupid.

Sif wanted a Thor for a sibling, so she got jealous that Loki did and it eventually turned into hatred.

---

^^^

this argument is based off of the one Isabella and Jade have in Isabella dances into the spotlight, A fantastic movie filled with family drama despite being made for kids. XD I love it so much.

---

Weeping siren.

LINK TO STORY <--

#the weeping siren #the weeping siren fanfic #my fics #writing lore #answered

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iratetourist · 2 years

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eddie munson: running away vs control and choice

i hate the way they tried to frame eddie’s death as being heroic, BUT i do think there is a lot of validity to the idea of him “not wanting to run away anymore”. i know a lot of ppl hate this (i do, too, but only because i think it was done poorly… i don’t think it’s a bad character point in theory), but i think it fits eddie’s personality more than ppl give it credit for.

i think eddie’s whole life has been one big thing where he feels like he doesn’t have control. we know he grew up disadvantaged, with a shit dad for a good bit of it, and we know he is consistently seen and stereotyped as the loner freak, even tho we know in reality he is actually a really nice dude. he’s been forced into boxes and circumstances his entire life with little to no say, so i think it is safe to say he would grasp at any opportunity to feel a sense of control over his own choices and life (like “owning” it), but maybe also would cow to the bullshit more often than not just out of instinct because he might feel like it’s too good to be true and/or that he deserves it.

then chrissy dies and he is thrust into the whole upside down situation and what little control he did have is gone completely. forced to hide out because he’s wanted for murder, forced to contend with this entire debacle because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. he knows that no one outside of the hawkins gang will take the time to believe him or trust him - his life is as good as over, as far as he is concerned. he’s not about to just hang in the towel, per se, but he also has no goddamn idea what he is doing, and just kind of goes along with it all because what else is he meant to do?

but then the upside down mission happens and even if he’d rather be anywhere else, he feels a sense of agency for the first time since being dropped in an extremely traumatizing situation - like right then and there, he can make a choice for himself instead of having it made for him or it getting foisted upon him.

he goes “i can help, i can do this, for dustin, for chrissy, for everyone else, for myself” and then just goes for it. the guitar scene, the sacrifice. impulsive and crazy and stupid? yes, absolutely. he couldn’t know any better, but the fact is that he chose it himself, for himself. no one got to tell him what to do, and he felt like he regained a bit of volition, a bit of sense and responsibility and agency after a lifetime of having it taken from him.

again, i think they could have gone about his death and the theme surrounding it a lot better, but i think this makes sense for him as a character, but that’s just my read on things.

i don’t think he ever wanted to be seen as a hero (his characterization doesn’t support this and also it just doesn’t fit with him tbh), but the duffers weirdly framed his death that way, when i honestly believe the one thing eddie munson wanted and felt he needed was to stop “running” from what he had been told he was and what had been placed upon him, because all running away did prior was reinforce and play into what ppl (himself included) thought of him and only served to preserve the little box he had been placed into (“i do this because society tells me this is what i am, so why would i go against that when i can give them the stupid stereotype they want” vs. “i know what i am and i am that to some degree, but it is not all i am and i am tired of letting the way other ppl view me control how i conduct myself”)

i’ll end this here but ummm yeah that’s just what i think about everyone’s beloved idiot boyfriend hope this made sense lmao

#me writing a miniature character analysis essay a week after the finale lmao #eddie munson #stranger things

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mothman-rewatches · 1 year

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Rewatch: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date" (S1Ep5)

Summary: Buffy has to try and stop an ancient prophecy…while on a date.

Written by: Joss Whedon, Rob DesHotel, Dean Batali

Directed by: David Semel

Aired: March 31st, 1997

WARNING: This episode contains spoilers.

I wish I could say that this was one of my favorite episodes so far, but I can’t. I can’t even say I liked it, because really, I hated it. Let’s jump in.

Recap: Buffy and Giles are in the cemetery. Buffy stakes a vamp, who leaves behind a ring that Giles takes to investigate. The next day, Buffy and Cordelia compete for the affections of Owen. Buffy goes to talk to Giles, and together they figure out that the ring belongs to the Order of Aurelius. Giles states that Aurelius spoke of an “Anointed One” who would be brought to the Master, but before he can finish Owen comes in. He and Buffy agree to meet at the Bronze that night, and Owen leaves. Giles tells Buffy that the Anointed is set to rise that night, and they must stop it. That night, Buffy and Giles wait in the cemetery, but it’s uneventful, so Buffy heads to the Bronze. She’s too late for her date, however, and sees Owen dancing with Cordelia. Meanwhile, a bus is coming into Sunnydale, and a strange man starts preaching about Judgement Day. Vampires attack the bus, killing everyone. The next day Owen asks Buffy why she never showed, and they agree to try again to meet tonight. Just before Owen comes to get her, Giles stops by her house and tells her that he might not have been too far off, and she should go check the Sunnydale funeral home. She ignores this and goes on her date with Owen, leaving Giles to investigate instead. He is attacked at the funeral home by the Order of Aurelius, and Willow and Xander rush to go get Buffy for help. Angel finds Buffy first and tells her about what’s going on, and when the other scoobies get to her, she reluctantly agrees to go look. They head to the funeral home, where Owen - unbeknownst to the others - follows them. Willow, Xander, and Owen lock themselves in the viewing room while Giles and Buffy look for the Anointed. The other three are attacked by the strange man, who has been turned into a vampire. Buffy comes just in time, and puts the vamp into the incinerator. The next day, Owen asks when he can take Buffy out again, but she turns him down.

Overall Thoughts: I meant what I said about hating this episode. I really, really did not like this episode. By the last half, I had to force myself to finish it. It just wasn’t that great, and my dislike of Owen definitely contributed to my whole attitude about this episode.

On a brighter note, there was something I liked about this episode. It returned us to the overall arc of the season: The Master. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the side episodes and the characterization it gave us, but it’s nice to see that it isn’t all witches and she-mantises.

I would save this for the characterization section, but because Owen isn’t a character we will see again, I’ll say it here. I hate Owen. He killed the whole episode for me, even though he was there to point out that Buffy trying to balance normality and Slayerdom is next to impossible. But mostly, he was just dull and annoying. He tries to come off as this deep and dark guy, but really if you wipe away some of that intrigue he feels a little bit like an excited puppy to me. And his thing with Cordelia. Oh my god, his thing with Cordelia. I’m not a fan of Cordelia this season, trust me, but Owen’s attitude and behavior around Cordelia is the worst. He seems to act like he’s above her, like because she is who she is and he is who he is, she’s someone to look down on. It’s really uncomfortable.

In that same vein, there is a scene that I hate. When Buffy and Cordelia are having this weird…competition for Owen’s attention, Buffy makes a snarky comment to Owen about Cordelia’s body. He, in turn, makes a comment of his own. I don’t love Buffy putting Cordelia down to impress a boy, but I definitely hate Owen doing it as well.

There’s also this running theme I’ve noticed in the last several episodes, and it’s starting to get old. This season, so far, has relied heavily on fake outs. The first scene we see in the entire show is one where you are led to think one thing only for it to be the opposite. I want to see them start to move away from that.

Also, the “gotcha” for the episode reveals that the weird preacher vampire Buffy killed was not the Anointed, but the little boy on the bus was.

Characterization: There aren’t any real comments on characters this episode, really, but I did want to take a second to point out that when Owen comes into the library, Giles seems genuinely offended that a stranger is in their space. He forgot he was a librarian for a high school, you guys. If I remember correctly this is a sort of running joke.

Facts: This episode is the first to include a fight between Buffy and a vampire in the opening scene.

David Boreanaz breaks character for the first and only time in the series while meeting Owen - at 28m26s.

Quotes: “In that case, I won’t wear my button that says, ‘I’m a Slayer, as me how!’” - Buffy Summers

Apocalypse Count: 1

Final Notes: Feel free to leave any comments, suggestions, or questions in the ask box!

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #buffy the vampire slayer s1 #never kill a boy on the first date #mothman rewatches #rewatch

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 3 years

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Psycho Analysis: Suicide Squad Team A

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS! Seriously, as soon as you click that read more, you’re gonna be smacked with SPOILERS! Don’t say I didn’t give you ample warning this time!)

The world’s in danger yet again, and Amanda Waller is in need of some expendable forces to take on some dirty jobs in the name of preserving peace. Last time she did this, it seems like she hired the wrong people. Nice guy Will Smith Deadshot? Bland, boring Killer Croc? El Diablo, who became attached to a bunch of reprobates after spending a couple hours with them? The only one who was useful in that squad was Katana. She had their backs, could cut all of them in half with one sword stroke just like mowing the lawn, and her sword traps the souls of its victims. Unfortunately, she was decidedly not expendable, so what is a girlboss like Waller to do?

Easy: Assemble a brand new squad of criminals to do the dirty work. Harley and Boomerang are the only ones she brought back, because let’s be real, they’re the only ones we give a damn about. Filling out the rest of the squad are the stoic, craggy crackshot Savant; the handsome, German spear-thrower Javelin; the alien warrior Mongal; the frothing, psychotic animal Weasel; the confident and all-powerful TDK; and Blackguard, who is literally just a guy. Together, this team gets deployed to Corto Maltese to do what no one else can do, and with skills like theirs, they are absolutely unstoppable!

They all fucking die before the opening credits.

Motivation/Goals: Considering the goal of the squad is to shave time off their prison sentences by going on the mission, it’s ostensibly the reason every single one of these goons accepted the job. Savant and Weasel are pretty well established in this regard; we get to focus on Savant for much of the opening, so we can get a sense of him, and Weasel is stated to have murdered no less than 27 children. So, yeah, they need to do this mission.

The rest, though? Who knows! Why are Mongal, Javelin, and TDK in prison? How did they even get an alien like Mongal? What did they do to land in the position they’d need to go on a suicide mission? Why doesn’t this movie have flashy, intrusive cards explaining everything to us in a throwaway gag in a montage?!

Blackguard, at least, has some other motivation. He sold out the entire squad to the military of Corto Maltese, which is why they’re ambushed. Now, there’s actually some ambiguity here: Did he do this of his own volition, and was this a complete surprise, or is it, as it is heavily implied, all part of Waller’s plan and she let this happen as a diversion for the other team to get in unnoticed?

Honestly, though, it doesn’t matter what their goals are. They’re all dead within five minutes of the movie starting, with one exception.

Performance: So, the reason these guys are even worth talking about is because, despite their minuscule screentime, all of their actors manage to cram in enough humor and characterization that they’re all pretty fun and likable. Michael Rooker is as stony and stoic as ever as Savant (until he hilariously isn’t), Flula Borg’s Javelin is really sweet and charming in his interactions with Harley, and Pete Davidson’s Blackguard is just amazingly douchey and pathetic. Special mention goes to Nathan Fillion’s TDK, who has an utterly endearing and unwavering faith in his astoundingly crappy ability to… detach his arms. It’s honestly kind of beautiful. Then there’s Weasel as portrayed by Sean Gunn, who is just a hilarious crackhead of an animal man.

Final Fate: Literally every single one of them die horribly thanks to Blackguard’s betrayal. He’s the first to go, because as soon as he walks out saying “Hey guys, it’s me, the one who contacted you!” he literally has his face blasted clean off. The rest go soon after. Mongal, in one of the most astounding moments of idiocy I’ve ever seen, leaps on a helicopter despite Rick Flag telling her specifically not to. Her weight and strength send it careening out of control, which leads to it shredding Captain Boomerang to bits before exploding, burning her alive as she painfully screams and writhes in agony. TDK gets his arms shot into Swiss cheese, leading to him bleeding out since even detached they still are part of him. Javelin is also shot, but gets a dying moment with Harley where he passes her Checkov’s Javelin. Finally, after witnessing all of this carnage, Savant completely loses his shit and tries to swim away, leading to Waller blowing his head up.

You may be wondering what happened to Weasel. He appears to drown as soon as the Squad deploys, because despite being actually smart in this movie, Waller forgot to make sure everyone on the Squad could swim. Thankfully, this lovable child-murdering crackhead rodent was just sleeping, and wakes up in the first credit scene.

Best Scene: Obviously, it’s their one and only scene. It’s a magnificent slaughter that puts the X-Force scene from Deadpool 2 to shame.

Final Thoughts & Score: I’ve gotta hand it to James Gunn. Even though these losers are only onscreen for a few minutes, they all get to cram a lot of charm and personality into that time, to the point it’s actually kind of sad seeing them all die. It’s a beautiful mix of comedy and tragedy. Since their screentime is so limited, though, I’m mostly going to be grading them on style, performance, and so on rather than on villainy like normal. They are all bad guys, as they don’t really get a chance to redeem themselves like the other Squad, so I’m still counting them as villains, which means they could potentially score above an 8 (which is the highest score I’m willing to give heel-face turn villains, because they end up being better as characters in general than as villains).

I’m also not going to talk about Boomerang (I’ll talk about him when I review the original Squad) or Harley (because she not only lives, but deserves her own solo Psycho Analysis). Now here we go, from best to worst:

TDK

If you thought anyone but TDK would get top marks, you’re sadly mistaken. Seeing Nathan Fillion proudly wield the insanely lame power to detach his arms to lightly tap soldiers on the head and gently grab their guns is a sight I never knew I needed to see until this movie. The fact he just seems so darn proud about this power that he doesn’t even bother to use in any way that would be remotely useful is honestly really endearing. Frankly, the sheer fact they adapted Arms-Fall-Off Boy in any way is enough for me to give him a 10/10.

Weasel

Weasel is just disgustingly delightful. He’s just a horrible, nasty, ugly little bastard… But he’s kind of adorable? He clearly has no idea where he is at any given time and is just so goddamn freaky that I can’t help but love him. The fact that, despite being a character who in the comics is noteworthy only for dying on his first mission with the Squad, he manages to survive the entire movie is pretty impressive. Hopefully he comes back in the future, but either way he gets an 8/10 from me.

Javelin

Honestly, aside from Boomerang, his death stung the most. He’s just so cute and charming, and he doesn’t even get to fling his javelin at anyone! Thankfully, he passes it on to Harley, and boy does she ever get to use it! He’s so cute, I have to give him an 8/10. I just wish we got more of him.

Savant

Savant is just an absolutely hilarious bait-and-switch. We follow him through the prologue, with everything seeming to point to him as our main character and the Squad leader. He’s stoic, he’s cranky, and he has impeccable aim… and then we get to the beach and he just freaks the hell out and starts screaming and crying and running away like a little bitch. Seeing Michael Rooker act like he’s shitting his pants after playing a badass like Yondu is just the sort of hilarious subversiveness that James Gunn loves to do when you let him loose. The fact that he looks like, to paraphrase the TVTropes YMMV page for the movie, a “cyberpunk Tommy Wiseau” is the icing on this 7/10 cake.

Blackguard

I was prepared to hate this guy just based on how lame Pete Davidson’s costume was, and you know what? I do hate him. But I love to hate him. He’s just an utterly pathetic scoundrel and a coward, true to his name. The fact he is the first to die, as just about everyone predicted, and is killed absolutely gruesomely makes any annoyance he could provide moot, and his freeakout over being seated next to Weasel on the plane is actually kind of funny. I was originally going to give him a 6, but you know what? He can have a low 7/10. He’s like the only member of this particular Squad to actually do anything evil, so I gotta give him props for that.

Mongal

Let me make this perfectly clear: I do not blame James Gunn or actress Mayling Ng. I’m not actually mad at either of them for what they chose to do, because it is ultimately hilarious and sad. It suited the narrative of the film, and I’m not actually, genuinely mad.

With all that out of the way, Mongal is one hell of a stupid cunt. It is one thing to cause your own death with your stupidity, it is something else entirely to cause the death of a beloved character with your poorly planned attack. The fact she didn’t take into account how her weight and strength would effect an airborne helicopter makes one wonder if she is really supposed to be based on a character who can take on Superman and live to tell about it.

Let’s compare her to two similar characters to really show how bad she is. Like Blackguard, she is directly responsible for a death on the beach, Blackguard being responsible for everyone by selling them out and leading them into an ambush (and yes, I’m including him as well), and Mongal killing Boomerang with the chopper. The difference is, Blackguard’s betrayal was deliberate, he meant to sell the team out, he was actively doing something evil there, while Mongal killed Boomerang out of sheer idiocy.

Now, let’s compare her to Zeitgeist from the similar bloody massacre that occurred during X-Force’s deployment in Deadpool 2. Like Mongal, he accidentally kills a teammate. The difference is, in the case of Zeitgeist, he only accidentally melted Peter, it was a freak accident, and ultimately it does get undone by the end. Meanwhile, Mongal made a conscious, stupid decision and ended up killing her squadmate with her own idiocy. She sucks, hardcore. I don’t do this lightly, but I’m giving her a 1/10. Villains just don’t get much stupider than her.

I will giver her this, though: the makeup work on her is good. She’s lowkey kinda hot if I’m being honest. But being hot and having good makeup does not a good villain make.

#Psycho Analysis #The Suicide Squad #Savant #Michael Rooker #Javelin #Flula Borg #TDK #Nathan Fillion #Weasel #Sean Gunn #Mongal #Mayling Ng #Blackguard #Pete Davidson

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sunmoontruth-stiles · 3 years

Text

Ok this is gonna be long. I’ve literally been slowly working on this for… too long. I’m just in a mood to have a long discussion about ships. I’ll be looking at canon and not, so bare with me. I don’t ship all of these personally. I’m mostly just picking the most popular ones. I chose to leave out a few that I just don’t want to talk about. I tried to keep this loosely chronological, but that quickly went to hell. None of this is meant to be hate towards anyone’s ship, just my personal opinions on each of them.

Canon:

Scott x Allison: True Classic

Scallison is so sweet as it is truly the epitome of young love. Romeo and Juliet, except Romeo is even more of an idiot and Juliet is a badass who dies for a cause. They’re moral and ethical codes are both highly valued by themselves, even if they don’t align with others very often. They loved with everything they had. They were beautiful. We’re they soulmates in the end, or just the first love who will always hold a special place in your heart? Who knows, but I’ll always love these immature kids who thought their love could change everything.

Stiles x Lydia: The Long Awaited

Stydia is as slow burn as you can get. Unfortunately their actual getting together was slightly rushed in my opinion. They didn’t have time to find their own as a couple because Stiles just wasn’t in the show enough at that point. I know the reasons behind it, but it did leave this couple at an awkward stage of official-but-not-shown. The idea that Stiles loved her as a kid, immature and infatuated, and he saw her for who she really was, will always be cute. Then they grew, changed, became friends, and found other people. Them finding each other later on, having real love that’s developed slowly, is a wonderful arc. Though, a part of me will always believe they should have pursued other story lines in the wake of Stiles’ absence from the plot. They’re finally together! …but we don’t get to see it.

Jackson x Lydia: The Image

Oh Jackson and Lydia. Honestly, I love them. Their connection at a time in their lives when they couldn’t open up to anyone else, just hits me right in the feels. I mean, god that HUG. You know the one. Always brings me to tears. I’m so sad their relationship was almost entirely depicted during Jackson’s kanima time when he couldn’t think nor truly act for himself. Those small moments of scared vulnerability when he wanted to protect her from himself… I’ll miss these two. They deserved to find other people and remain life-long friends. I loved their moment in the last episode. I wish they’d gotten to see each other grow. Also they had such bixbi solidarity vibes, and I’ll die on that hill.

Scott x Lydia: Leaders

Ok, I’m gonna be honest here. I ship it. The power couple they would have been?? Also them coming together after they lost Allison would have actually made sense. A part of me kinda wishes the writers had moved on from Stydia as a romantic relationship and leaned into them growing as friends and Stiles moving on from his childhood crush. Scott and Lydia actually would have had good chemistry. They were both very headstrong heroic types, but Lydia would have balanced Scott out well intellectually. They had the history, and I think it could had worked if they wrote it right. Plus, Scott and Lydia would have been a better endgame that Scalia.

Scott x Kira: New Beginnings

These two were adorable. Kira was a badass, don’t get me wrong, but she let herself be soft in a way Allison was always afraid to. This couple was truly Baby. Absolute dorks. I can definitely see the lasting quality between the two of them. They saw things very similarly, and had a ton in common. I do think Kira deserves more characterization outside of their relationship, like more of her friendship with Malia. Overall, her departure from the show will always be sad to me. It was bad writing. Scott was over her far too quickly.

Aiden x Lydia: Pretty People Herd

I honestly didn’t see much between these two other than mutual attraction. The best thing to come out of this relationship was Lydia’s line, “You’re not just a bad boy, Aiden. You’re a bad guy. And I don’t want to be with the bad guys.” Good character development moment.

Ethan x Danny: Step to Redemption

Danny really was the thing that made Ethan look outside of the pack for what he really wanted out of life. They had a few cute scenes. Gotta love Danny’s final remarks, “Dude, it’s Beacon Hills.”

Allison x Isaac: Unexpected Rebound

Ok, I like these two. Isaac could match Allison’s snark in a way Scott couldn’t. They both fought the progression of the relationship slightly. They didn’t expect to fall for each other. They were less willing to let someone in close. I’d love to have seen more… but unfortunately their time was limited. On a side note, sometimes their relationship did feel like ‘we both are in love with the same guy, let’s cope with each other’, but I find that completely valid. I’ll talk about Scallisaac later though.

Stiles x Malia: Anchors

Ok but, them <3 I love what they did for each other. Stiles was able to help Malia connect to her humanity and other people. He never tried to isolate her in their relationship and encouraged her growth. Malia offered Stiles the emotional support he never asked for. She defended him, fought for him, and loved him fiercely. Stiles needed that so much after season 3. I think they were a love that wasn’t meant to last, but the impact of it was forever. I wish we’d gotten to see a real end for them where they agreed that they needed to grow as individuals but would always still care.

Liam x Hayden: Three’s a Pattern

These two’s characterization stopped whenever they had storylines together. Their relationship was built on Scallison references. Hayden’s character could have been interesting, but they never really gave her a moment to shine. Liam has the worst plots when they revolved around her. Cute couple, poor writing.

Derek x Braeden: Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girl Boss

Derek deserves to be happy so much. Kate and Jennifer were just... jeez. Him and Braeden were cute and deserved more screen time. I think her intensity allowed for Derek to let go of control a bit more comfortably. Let Derek Be Soft. Anyway, love them.

Corey x Mason: Gotta Have That Rep TM

These two could have been cute if they were shown for more than two seconds at a time. I highkey forget Corey even existed all the time. Kinda just felt like a relationship to fill TW’s gay quota.

Jackson x Ethan: The Callback

Honestly? Loved them. Loved the chemistry. Loved the dynamic. Best twist. I know it was probably written in like that because Colton came out during his time away from the show, but it absolutely fit his character. Jethan is top tier.

Melissa x Chris: BAMF Parent Duo

Ok, so like, Melissa deserved this plot. She deserved someone to care about her. However... what the hell? Chris? In canon, his wife died like 2-ish years prior? His daughter died 1 year prior?? Is Chris really in a position to pursue a new relationship?? Also, like, Scott and Allison dated and loved each other up to her death. Kinda weird to have their parents hook up. I don’t hate it, but I don’t ship it…?

Scott x Malia: Lead up? What’s lead up?

These two came out of nowhere I stg. Like, 6B really tried to tell us this was something that had been slowly developing in the background? Also, I understand that they are their own people, adults, and completely in charge of their own romantic pursuits: but did Scott seriously never call Stiles? Like, Malia wasn’t just his first girlfriend. She was his first. Like, dude that’s your best friend?? Not even a head’s up? No, ‘hey would this bother you?’ Oof. Plus Malia was way too chaotic for Scott. She existed in gray morality that always prioritized her immediate circle, and Scott was a very black/white type of heroism. I just didn’t feel like they fit.

Non-Canon:

Scott x Stiles: Childhood Best Friends

Ya, sorry, I don’t ship Sciles at all. I get it. Like, I totally understand the ship, and I mean no judgment at all. I just see them as friends. I really value good male friendships in media because I feel like we don’t get enough, and I always liked these two.

Stiles x Derek: Enemies to Lovers. 100k. Angst. Hurt/Comfort.

God these two really are what fanfiction was made for. I could write a much longer discussion about Sterek, and I probably will eventually. I’ll try to keep this brief. These two weren’t always on the same side, but their approach was the same. They were very similar at their core. Plus, wow the chemistry. This should have been canon. Jeff’s a coward.

Allison x Lydia: Powerful.

This ship is so great. They really had a great dynamic, and a romantic plot would have easily fit the established narrative. Lydia’s confidence in herself and Allison’s confidence in her own abilities crossing over to each other because that’s what the other lacked? Iconic.

Danny x Jackson: He Gets Him

Danny really saw Jackson for everything he was and still cared. I wished we’d gotten to see more of them. I want more background with Jackson’s eventual coming out and his friendship with Danny. Like, they ended up dating the same guy. What did Ethan have to say about that??

Stiles x Jackson: Bastards

Ok these two had a super fun dynamic. The asshole-energy between them was, great. The snark was always so entertaining.

Melissa x Noah: Family

How were these two not endgame? Their sons were practically brothers already. They had amazing chemistry. The flirting? Not to mention, their timeline would have made way more sense. Missed opportunity.

Chris x Peter: The Opposite of Love is Indifference, Not Hate

Ok so like, this was definitely one of those ships that I had absolutely no knowledge of before I was pretty into the fandom. Like, this was not something I would have guessed just after watching the show. That being said; my god the chaos alone…

Scott x Isaac: The Disaster Duo

Okay ya I love these two. Two dumb asses who act like idiot puppies. Such a fun dynamic. Plus?? Chemistry??? Hellooo

Scott x Allison x Isaac: Three Heads Are Better Than One

This ship is definitely one of my personal favorites. I very rarely poly-ship. I just feel like most of them are just love triangles with an ‘easy solution’, when two of them have no real connection. That is so not the case here. I feel like all of them have such great chemistry with each other. They also have a great dynamic as a group. Season 3A was really just Scallisaac rights.

Stiles x Isaac: I Hate You, jk…Not Really

Ok I loved their banter, but I really just don’t see this ship. Idk, I don’t personally ship it. Would have loved to see their friendship develop more tho.

Erica x Allison: Duo that would stab you with a stiletto

I don’t ship it, but I do wish we’d seen them become friends. I feel like they had a very artificial ‘girls fighting over a boy’ dynamic? They could have been such a badass duo.

Stiles x Erica: Batman x Catwoman

Ok I’m not sure exactly how to express my feelings for these two so bare with me. OMG I love their dynamic so much, and they are sooo cute. Their energy? Amazing. Chemistry? Great. History? It’s there and has so much potential. 10/10. Love them. But, no, I don’t ship it lol. Just really love their friendship, but with the underlying history of crushes.

Boyd x Erica: Was This Not Canon?

How can anyone not love Berica? Ugh they are adorable. These two deserved so much better.

Boyd x Cora: Survivors

Honestly I don’t really see it? Like they definitely had a connection, but it never felt romantic. I really feel like they just had to lean on each other and bond to make it through captivity, and it just lasted.

Boyd x Erica x Cora: The Pack

I literally learned this was a ship a couple days ago. Similar feelings towards this as Bora, but with the added hesitancy of we never actually saw Erica and Cora interact.

Cora x Stiles: Slow Build Up

These two were clearing being lined up to be a thing before Cora ended up leaving. I can’t say I’m disappointed they never happened. Kinda felt like they just wanted to straight-code Sterek.

Cora x Lydia: Mean Lesbians

Not much interaction to actually go off of, but yes I 100% support. They have very different approaches to problems, which is fun. Very ‘opposites attract’.

Malia x Kira: “Maybe you could date the coyote?”

Another one of my favorites!! They really complimented each other. Also, how full circle would they have been? They were introduced in back-to-back episodes. Malia stalking her as a coyote? The line from Kira’s dad about dating it? It would have been so funny if that ended up happening.

Malia x Lydia: Beauty and the Beast, but make it wlw

These two were fun. I liked their friendship, but I don’t really ship it. Though, rip Stiles that would have been hilarious.

Parrish x Lydia: The Cop and The Minor

Must I say more? Like, Parrish’s character, so sweet and big rule follower, did not make sense for what went down with Lydia. I love Parrish, but the dynamic just felt off. It didn’t feel consistent with the rest of his characterization.

Parrish x Stiles: The Cop and The Minor, but gay?

Ok, same reasoning as above, but also they had absolutely no connection romantically.

Scott x Theo / Stiles x Theo: Sometimes The Villain is Hot

Ok I’ve put these together because I have the same opinion for both. I don’t ship it. Neither had any rebuilding of trust, and Theo really hurt both of them. I just don’t really think they work.

Mason x Liam: Sciles Puppy Pack Edition

Similar to my feeling about Sciles, I just don’t ship these two. They had a good friendship, from the little we saw of it.

Theo x Liam: Anchors 2: Electric Boogaloo

Another personal favorite! I really don’t even understand why this didn’t go canon?? The elevator scene was just, so intense. They helped each other grow in 6B, and I really loved their dynamic. They should have hooked up.

Honorable Mention?:

Parrish x Laura: What’s canon?

I’ve seen this in fanfic a lot, and I actually really like it lol. I thought I’d add it in here because I do love the creativity of fandoms.

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gabelish · 3 years

Text

Writing A Character With Borderline Personality Disorder

First of, thank you for wanting to include a Borderline character into your work. We have very little representation in media and when it is there, it’s negative. The antagonist in Single White Female and it’s remake is said to either be Borderline or Bipolar, for example. A few Borderline-coded characters also exist but their symptoms are probably closer to bipolar depression.

Trigger Warning for discussions of suicide, abuse, and hospitalization

What is Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)?

It is called “Borderline” because it is “on the border of psychosis and neurosis. It used to be believed that Borderlines had a tendency to regress into “borderline schizophrenia,” but this really isn’t the case anymore. The term was coined in 1938 and there have been attempts to rename it but this is what it’s called for now.

Here is the raw list from the DSMV. My notes are below and italicized. Important take-always are in orange text.

Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment; this does not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in criterion 5.

A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation

Markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self

Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (eg, spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating) [5] ; this does not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in criterion 5

Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behavior

Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (eg, intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days)

Chronic feelings of emptiness

Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (eg, frequent displays of temper, constant anger, or recurrent physical fights)

Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms

Generally, a diagnosis is only given if a person has at least 5 of these symptoms.

My comments:

Re: #1 There doesn’t have to be a literal abandonment in childhood. For me, I was emotionally abandoned by both my mother and father during my formative years. My mother also hated physical contact so now I have an impulse to seek it constantly. Touch-starvation is an easy trait to add to your Borderline character.

The stipulation in #1 that the frantic efforts cannot be the behaviors listed in #5 means that a Borderline person might: drive 3 hours in the middle of the night to the person who they feel might abandon them; do some extreme begging or bartering to keep the relationship. Also important: these do not have to be romantic relationships.

Re: #3 If Dissociative Identity Disorder means a person has multiple distinct personalities, for BPD we generally feel like an incomplete person, like we only have fragments of a whole personality.

A common joke in the BPD community is “Oh, you have a great personality.” And the Borderline person’s response is, “thanks, I made it specially for you!” You may also hear Borderlines called “chameleons” because we take pieces of other people’s personalities and incorporate it into ourselves. It can be a fictional character, too. I incorporated a lot of NBC Hannibal’s Will Graham into my personality at a point. Another aspect of this is that Borderlines are very good at code-switching. For me, when I’m in a new group of people, I have to “feel out” the vibe and everything and then alter my behavior to fit this social circle. Most people do this to some extent but Borderlines do it constantly and unconsciously and often extremely well. It’s not meant to be manipulative. It’s unconscious, we can’t control it.

Re: #8 The anger is a big one for me and it often leads to homicidal ideation. But Borderlines are incredibly unlikely to act on it.

Other Borderline Behaviors

Favorite Person/FP: Probably the most important aspect of BPD. An FP is specific to BPD. It can be a romantic partner, a crush, a parent, an authority figure, a sibling, or a child (specifically the child of the person with BPD of they have kids). This is the single most important thing in a Borderline’s life. An FP is an idealized person who can never do any wrong in our minds. Even abusive behaviors will be overlooked or reframed.

We don’t always have an FP and I’ve also never heard of someone having 2 FPs simultaneously. I had 2 at the same time once but I would split on one and then idealize them other one. I would never idealize both at the exact same moment. A real or imagined negative interaction with an FP can make or break a Borderline’s day and if it is negative, they can “split” on them.

Splitting/Black-And-White Thinking/All-Or-Nothing Thinking: Borderlines “split” on people, usually an FP. This is how an interaction with an FP can “make or break” your day. If an FP doesn’t text us back right away we might think they don’t like us anymore or are mad or will leave us. So we, unconsciously without our control, “split” on them. When “splitting negative” on a person it is impossible to recall good memories of the person, or they are framed negatively. A once loved birthday gift from an FP might now be seen as insincere or irrelevant. This is the “devaluation” mention in criteria #2.

However, once the person texts back, say 2 hours later, we usually split back, and now the person’s real or imagined negative behaviors are gone and they are once again idealized, as mentioned in criteria #2. You can see how taxing such a sudden shift in emotions can be for a person.

It is also taxing on the FP if they are present during the split or received panicked or angry messages with the above scenario. It causes fights and the FP might view the Borderline person as “Bipolar” “irrational” or “unstable”.

We can split on people that are not FPs.

Tips For Your Character

Your Borderline character could easily be in out-patient therapy. I won’t go into the details but they could be in DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy). The structure is 2 sessions a week, one with a small group, and then another one-on-one with their psychiatrist who is probably also running the group. Psychiatrists need special training to treat people with BPD.

Your character would also do “diary cards” each day and record their mood and any notes about their day. These are easy to add in as throw-away comments like “I’m going to therapy, I’ll be back in an hour or so” or “damn it, I forgot to do my diary card”.

Fun fact: Therapists have been known to drop clients upon finding out they have BPD or giving them the diagnosis because apparently some therapists can’t handle us.

Your character might also be on some medication and an easy scene for angst could be them refusing to take their medication, forgetting to take it, or the meds being of of balance and them needing to go to an ER to be stabilized (usually they become suicidal or paranoid) and have their meds adjusted. This happened to me once. Lithium can be used in extreme cases as a medication but usually a combination of anti-depressants and mood-stabilizers is used.

BPD is often comorbid with depression so your character will probably exhibit depression symptoms as well.

Final Thoughts:

As long as you don’t make your Borderline character the antagonist or a manipulative partner who kills pets like in Single White Female, you should be fine.

Edit: tumblr glitched and I didn’t mean to post this now. I’ll try to get on my laptop when I get home and add a read more.

If you need clarification on anything or additional resources feel free to DM me or come into my inbox!

#writeblr #writing borderline characters #writing mentally ill characters #writing resources

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mjsparkour · 3 years

Note

Okay, I asked you a while back for some fic recs and I am in need of more. Have you read any Gina x Ricky lately? Would love for you to share the ones you've loved

Hey!

I’m so glad you liked my rec the last time, there have been alot of fics that have been written since you last asked so this list was super hard to limit. There are alot in this list alone (17 overall I think). I could always recommend more, Rina writers are just so talented. So here's a list of some of my favorites <3

The Story of Us by peculiarblue

‘gina learns that sometimes things have to fall apart so that they can fall back together, right where they were always meant to be’ This is a complete 2 part chapter fic

Thee Rina bible. It’s everything we could ever want and need. Everything we want s2 to be and more. It’s an absolute masterpiece in every way. So many parts where I nearly died, the angst in the fight scene, the tension before they made up (the dress scene that reminded me so much of that amylaurie scene I lost my mind a little more), them being absolutely gone for each other!!! it’s just perfect in every way.

When Your With Me and Were Alone by orphan account

‘Ricky Bowen remembers everything.’ This is a one-shot three-part completed series.

My favorite series, it’s gotta be. It’s the first of its kind for rina fics. Lore does an incredible job of realistically writing rina’s characterization and reactions to Gina moving and what would happen after. A wonderfully talented writer, utilizing the power of her words while minimalist carries an effect.

You Know Me Better by This_is_Riri

‘Gina was moving. This would be her sixth move in seven years. She was used to it by now...only this time, it felt different. Post episode 7.’ This is an incomplete multichapter fic.

This one really gets you at your gut. Heart-wrenching for both characters but mainly gina. The vents that happen to both characters, it just makes sense that so much more than their vunerabilities bonds them together. Perfect execution of the mutual understanding trope.

and I know I’ve kissed you before by ptrprkrs

‘but I didn’t do it right / can i try again, try again, try again? or: 5 times ricky kisses gina + 1 time she kisses back’ This is a complete one-shot.

I love a good five times plus one fic. This one is heartwarming, cheeky and cute. It gives a healthy balance of the inevitable anguish that comes with pining (and not just for the character but for frustrated readers that just wanna put these kids together already) but also the sweet innocence and fluff from first love (or first love adjacent).

what love might have done by rradioh

‘Ricky follows his gut. Everything changes. Some things stay the same.’ This is a completed one shot.

A good look into what could've been for season one. Reflecting moments that felt like they could’ve easily been placed in the show and showed the subtly of the growth of rinas relationship. It wasn’t something that was thrown into our faces but came gradually and this fic facilitates that growth with key moments that add to that. A Great one-shot.

And the 7th Thing I Hate The Most That You Do (You Make Me Love You) by iknowpIaces

‘It doesn’t help that he really does look good in his costume. God, she hates him. She hates him. She hates him. Then, he has the nerve to smile at her. And Gina hates how that smile alone sends her over the moon.’ This is a completed one shot.

SOOOO GOOD. No one understands, I love the trope where one person has a crush on the other and it's unrequited (or it seems that way) but eventually it's apparent that they're also just as gone for that person as soon as they start moving on, or feeling fine with having their feelings not reciprocated. Then they're both just mutual pining messes, ugh I love it. This fic handles the trope with care and rina just comes together organically.

lesson in love by finelineholland

“Give me 4 weeks. I’ll help you out. Like… a crash course, if you will. 'How to be the perfect boyfriend for Nini Salazar-Roberts': A class taught by yours truly.” This is an incomplete multichapter fic.

A rom-com in the form of a fic. It’s so true to Ricky and Gina as characters and their dynamic. The writing is really good and gives so much in terms of plot. I really hope it updates soon because I love a good makeover/transformation fic, it gives she’s all that and geek charming in the best ways.

take me to the feeling by peculiarblue

‘gina meets a stranger at a party she doesn't want to be at, and let's herself fall in love for the night, wherever it takes them’ This is a completed one shot.

Katie does it again. Another classic that makes us fall for rina while they fall for each other under the stars. You can’t help but feel something for them right off the bat because theirs something about the cheekiness of the dynamic and so real. You can’t help but fall for them, a must read.

The Last Time by mytearsricochet

‘this is the one where gina meets ricky and nothing is against them. except for a few misunderstandings, forgotten birthdays, wrong people, and missed opportunities. because as much as love doesn’t care about time, this is the one where time cares about love. and with time, everything falls into place.’ This is a completed one shot.

SO UNBELIAVBLEY UNDERRATED. This fic is too excellent, it's everything rinas could want. it’s an incredibly well done long slowburn that makes you strap in for the ride. With all those teasing moments where they're mutually pining and they're just on the precipice of finding out their feelings for one another only to hold back and stay friends (until the end of course). The end makes you work for it, but so worth it when you get to it.

10 Days in “Love” by kindredspiritsxo

‘It was almost the end of high school and nobody had it figured out. Especially Ricky Bowen. His parents had recently divorced, he had no idea what he's doing for college, his longtime girlfriend dumped him the month before and now he's been replaced by one of the most popular guys in school.

To make matters worse, he leaves for Europe in two days for his senior trip. The same senior trip that said ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend were going on. So, Ricky did what any desperate teenage boy would do to try and get his girlfriend back: he devised a plan. A plan that included the help of Gina Porter and playing pretend for 10 days.’ This is an incomplete multichapter fic.

I love a good traveling fic. Sometimes all it takes to get a character to wake up about things going on in their lives or feelings for character b is a good change of scenery. This fic does a great job of utilizing the enviornment to facilitate rinas love story through one of my favorite tropes, the fake dating trope. There's some angst along the way because nothing can ever come easy but it's not without its reward. It gives me major spiderman far from home vibes just solely because of petermjs adorableness and how that energy kinda translates to rina in this fic more so in the beginning before they have this repertoire.

on the line by peculiarblue

‘with everything in her life finally at a stand still for once the last thing gina needs is one curly haired skater to come in and give her a reason to change again

(or, gina lets ricky back into her life the only way she knows how, at a distance, through daily voicemails, until her heart remembers why she can't love him anymore.)’ This is a completed one shot.

It hurts in the best way possible! that is the best way to describe this fic. Were taken on a journey where I personally wanted rina to just talk to each other in person but the magic was all in the voicemails and the power of their connection. There was a satisfying ending, I couldn't ask for more. If you haven’t read literally everything written by Katie go read it, it won't disappoint.

but everywhere just brings me back to you by ptrprkrs

‘or, ricky is just a little in love with the voice of the girl at the starbucks drive-thru’ This is a completed one shot.

An amazing fic that hits every spot effortlessly, even the ones you didn’t know you had. Like Ricky being a lovesick puppy going to a drive-thru just to hear Gina’s voice for coffee, he doesn’t drink or like. All the while they’d been connected all along. I’m a sucker for any kind of soulmate implications or stories where people are unknowingly connected like that so this ones a real favorite for me. It’s sweet, lighthearted and funny and a great read.

About Love by goldenthread

‘a series of Interconnected one shots and canonical aus for Ricky and Gina <3.’ This is an incomplete multichapter fic.

Here's where I enter some shameless self-promo...I wrote this recently. It’s just some loosely connected one-shots I have of rina based on canon. I write about an alternate first meeting, what would've happened if Gina had to understudy Nini in a rehearsal and (for a future chapter) a babysitting au (for what happened when Gina actually told Ricky the truth, she was babysitting her neighbor's kid when she talked to him at the skatepark). Check it out if it sounds like your thing!

in your eyes by finelineholland

‘you always try to hide the pain, you always know just what to say. i always look the other way. i'm blind, i'm blind. in you eyes, you lie, but i don't let it define you.’ This is an incomplete multichapter fic.

There is something about Rina being written about from an outside perspective that is just so excellent. The story starting with Nini noting the obvious chemistry and their connection and being threatened by it, I don’t know it's just so pleasing to me. Another fic like that one of my favorites (one that I’m pretty sure I’ve suggested in my other rec list), pretend i don’t see it in your eyes by spobylol. Another absolutely excellent read that does not miss once. This story in contrast also writes from rina’s perspective as well which I also thought was well done.

right from the start I knew by anonymous

‘“Uh.” Ricky really didn’t think this far ahead. To be fair, it’s not like he’s ever thought ahead about anything ever in his life, so this is really to be expected. “We - forget about it? Maybe. Or like - I don’t know. I think I have to figure out how to be like - a person right now. By myself.”

“Same.” Gina says absently. “I’ve spent what feels like my whole life thinking about what other people think of me. It’d be nice to - to be able to try looking beyond that for a change.”

Post-Season 1. Ricky and Nini break up, but that doesn't mean things work out right away.’ This is a completed one shot.

The most iconic love confession I’ve read in a rina fic to date. it’s just so good, a certified rush every single time. The mutual pining hits spectacularly especially when you see just how soon it starts to hit Ricky that he’d made a mistake getting with Nini and him paying for that mistake. The writing only amplifies it. Also Ricky telling Gina he’s obsessed with her? yeah, I automatically added this fic to my list of faves.

If they only knew by goldenthread

‘Ricky Bowen never really bought into the whole soulmate thing (except he did) but life got in the way and now he's sort of pretending to date new (totally not intimidating) girl Gina Porter to win back the one and only Nini Salazar Roberts. Not a single thing could go wrong.

The one where Ricky and Gina aren't so good at the whole soulmate thing and they fake date.’ This is an incomplete multichapter fic.

More shameless self promo, sorry y’all but I’m super proud of this one. It’s a soulmate and fake dating au, combining two of my fave tropes into one to make this (surprisingly) long fic. It’s a whirlwind of emotions and a lot of moving parts in the story. I plan on updating within two months then after that there's three more chapters until its finished :) hope y’all enjoy it if you decide to give it a read!

you are the best thing & the worst thing (that’s happened to me this whole year) by tophsgf

‘Gina's roommate Nini is unbearable. What's more unbearable, however? Her very charismatic and totally off-limits sort-of boyfriend.’ This is a completed one shot.

An amazing fic, I need more people to know about it! I really like fics where the development between Ricky and Gina is gradual, which seems to be the case for a lot of fics but for this one in particular I like its execution. Obviously, at first, he’s with Nini so it’s like the dynamic is at a point of comparison from the start but we quickly learn that thanks to good ole mutual understanding and overall compatibility Ricky and Gina are just right for each other. A fun read that hits all the bases.

#rina #ricky x gina #ricky bowen #gina porter #hsm #hsmtmts #high school musical #high school musical the musical the series #nini salazar roberts #rini #rina fanfic #rina fanfiction #rina fics #gina x ricky #disneyplus #disney

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