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whxre-bxby · 1 year

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Mansk(recom) Characterisation

I have Mansk brainrot <3 here's my interpretation of him and some random things I want to point out. Some of it is canon :)

I will totally be adding more things to this as time goes by.

(This is a clusterfuck of thoughts, no order sorry. It's a mess. This has absolutely no structure)

HE IS NOT NEARLY APPRECIATED ENOUGH AS HE SHOULD BE

Masterlist

MANSK HAS AN AMERICAN EAGLE TATTOO ACROSS HIS CHEST (I think that's what it is, I'll make a separate post about it with sketches)

Just like the eagle Quaritch has except its wings are spread above his (massive, sexy) pecs.

(I saw some art and maybe it's not an eagle but a three headed angel of death)💀

Here is a random picture I found of the back of Mansk's head. <3

love him sm

The look of DISGUST he has when handling Tsireya (gorgeous queen).

(ew it's wet, quickly tie it down)

She's wet from the ocean and his hands must have gotten wet and he's all grossed out from the 'fish-lipped alien' and has to touch it.

Deffo thoroughly wanted to wash and disinfect his hands after.

The man HATES nature. I mean he despises it, on Earth too (whatever was left of it). That's why he is wearing the opposite of Walker's outfits. He's covered, head to toe. Expect for, well head. But everything else can't come in direct contact with nature on Pandora because to him it's scary and gross.

He hates native Na'vi too but once he becomes a recom, it dies down a little. Now, his hate for them is divided between blue forest Na'vi and the water Na'vi.

He still thinks of himself as human rather than Na'vi. I'm saying, when the man woke up from recom, he needed to be alone for the rest of the day while the others were discussing the mission. He just left the room and locked himself in his room, sitting in silence. He didn't want to look at himself in the mirror because it was too much. He just died and now he was back in the form of his enemy. The enemy terrified him because that's how he died in the first place.

While Lyle's first thought would be to pull down his pants and check out (yk) , Mansk would refuse to remove his clothes because he was worried he would lose it if he genuinely saw himself properly for the first time. I'm saying if the man saw all of himself in the first few days he would be so lost in himself and overwhelmed he would break down and cry. He seems like this intimidating tall man who has it all figured out but I'm telling you HE IS A SENSITIVE SOFTIE AND TAKES EVERYTHING TO HEART. He would avoid reflections, keep his head down and prefer not to directly look at his teammates because they were blue too. (Blue Na'vi racist kinda, but with PTSD)

He is quiet. Not shy quiet, just observing quiet. When he does speak he uses the least amount of words to express himself. Mansk is clever and when he says things they have been thought through by him. He never speaks before thinking. He's confident but doesn't express it. Basically the opposite of Lyle.

He likes wearing his shades because 1. they look dope 2. he isn't happy about being in a Na'vi body so he wants to seem as human as possible. Adding to that, his tail freaks him out. He wishes it weren't there. Sometimes he forgets it's a part of him now and it scares the shit out of him. His new body has him feeling really down because he knows that he can never return to Earth like this.

Grillmaster 100% without a doubt. I love that this fandom just decided that. It fits so well. Can't cook things like pasta or make soup. He can grill and fry shit. That's his thing. For properly baking something he will need luck on his side but it might work.

Another random thing. This man NEVER gets sick. I'm saying he's immune to it all. You're sick? Have the flu? Covid? It never gets him. He's safe with the immune system of a god.

He gets a sore jaw from constantly biting down and clenching it due to stress (just like me fr fr)

Adding to that, he almost always looks like he is in deep thought. He looks almost scary because he seems so intimidating. It's rare when he smiles.

THAT'S WHY THIS PICTURE IS SO PRECIOUS.

(Quoting Taylor Swift: Yeah, you got a smile that can light up this whole town) :0

YOU PRECIOUS MF COME HERE AND GET SOME LOVE! ISTG SO FUCKN CUTE I WANNA EHUEIJDNJKE AHHHHHH

He is the type of person that lays in bed for hours before falling asleep. Maybe because of some fucked up shit he has seen that stays in his head. He also refused to sleep on his back in his new body because of his tail and braid.

If there would be a skiing holiday, THIS MAN SNOWBOARDS. Quaritch would be the dad with skis and a large backpack.

He is super precious and soft. Will never want any of his teammate to know but if he finds someone he likes, he will be silently obsessed. Not in a creepy way, but he can't stop thinking about them. He doesn't fall for people easily but when he does HE FALLS HARD.

Mansk is self conscious so if he likes someone he will never act on it and never tell anyone. At night when he is alone, he would be going over all the reasons of why it wouldn't work out and why his crush doesn't like him or can't like him.

All he wants is to be cuddled, taken care of and kissed to sleep. Honestly, that's it. He wants to give everything he can to the person he cares about but will need constant reminders that they actually like him back and that he isn't just imagining it. If the person is gone for a few days, his bad thoughts will return and when they come back he will be distant and ask things like 'Sorry, I'm bothering you aren't I? You probably have lots to do.'

TO WHICH YOU HAVE TO TACKLE HIM INTO BED, WRAP HIM IN A BLANKET LIKE A BURRITO AND CUDDLE AND KISS HIM ISTG HE NEEDS LOVE BECAUSE HE HAS BEEN DEPRIVED OF IT HIS ENTIRE LIFE.

Leading to his fam, he joined the military because his dad did and so did his grandpa etc. It's a bloodline thing and because of that, he's never been loved properly and always treated as a soldier in making. He needs to be drowned in love.

SUPER NERVOUS around his crush. Sweating palms, stuttering, all that shit. He's down bad.

Here is him freaking out that they are under attack and yelling "NA'VI" in his super masculine deep ass husky voice✨️

More...

gorgeous fuckin precious bean

- if ANYONE compliments ANYTHING on him he will never forget it and always think back to that moment

Example : "Hey Mansk, nice shoes/shirt/shades/tattoo's"

"Thanks." Is all he says but HIS HAPPINESS IS GOING THROUGH THE ROOF AND WHEN U GO AWAY HE WILL TURN AWAY FROM OTHERS BECAUSE HE CAN'T SUPPRESS HIS SMILE ANYMORE.

NSFW: if the person he likes is wearing an apron with barely anything on or nothing underneath = huge turn on, instant boner, Mansk will become putty in your hands

random: (lyle listens to taylor swift (shake it off while working out))

have a nice day :)

Tag list:

@drinking-tea-and-be-obsessed

#private mansk #avatar mansk #recom mansk #mansk #mansk x reader #recom squad #avatar recoms #james cameron avatar #avatar movie #avatar the way of water #grillmaster mansk #mansk grillmaster #recom lyle wainfleet #lyle wainfleet

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littlecharmingenvy · 9 months

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Belphie Headcannons

This is the first thing I've written for a fandom in literal YEARS so forgive me if I'm a little rusty- but anyways belphie headcannons!

warnings: nsfw (MDNI), mentions of lesson 16, belphie being a little shit

~SFW~

<3- Steals your clothes to put them on his pillows to sleep with. Doesn't matter if you're in a relationship or not, as soon as he gets comfortable with you, say goodbye to your comfy sweatshirts

<3- Very clingy. Thinks he's being slick ab it (he's not) always finding excuses as to why he ended up right where you are, totallyyy a coincidence. Brushing your teeth? That's crazy, so is he. Getting up for a midnight snack? Suddenly he's wide awake. For a yandere, he's got an awful lot of tsundere habits

<3- If he knows you'll be busy with plans with someone else -especially one of his brothers- he just so happens to fall asleep directly on your lap and just won't wake up. Oh, you weren't able to make it? That's ok, you can just nap with him instead :)

<3- ^^^ only gets away with this because he's the youngest. He knows his siblings can't bring themselves to be as mad at him as they should when he brings out the puppy eyes and he uses that to his full advantage

<3- Speaking of the puppy eyes, no one's safe except for MC. Bonus points if they're an oldest sibling who's used to it from their own siblings, or are a youngest sibling themselves so they know what tf is up. The others don't know how they don't fall for it, and it frustrates Belphie as much as it entertains him

<3- Even tho he's fairly small for a demon, he still stands at about 6'2. He's the second shortest of his brothers, Asmo being the shortest.

<3- Still gets nightmares from when he killed MC. He always goes to them for comfort, but the guilt of it all eats him alive. He never tells them why he's upset, but MC has an idea

<3- This man wouldn't know a coping mechanism if it hit him in the face. Relies on Beel to process things and to comfort him, which Beel is happy to do. Belphie tries to return the favor when he can. He's awful at comforting people, but Beel finds his awkwardness with it strangely comforting

<3- overall this man is just a pisces (bitch) who is too tired to process things. but, he is sweet when he wants to be

~NSFW ~

<3- brat. Doesn't matter if hes domming or subbing, full fledged brat. Anything you want from him, you'll have to (figuratively) beat it out of him

<3- He's torn between preferring to dom or sub. On one hand, he loves the control domming gives him, as well as any chance he can get to break you. On the other hand, he doesn't have the energy to a lot of the time. Plus, it's nice to let himself get taken care of sometimes. doesn't mean you won't have to fight him to get him to sub tho

<3- Prefers receiving versus giving head. He doesn't mind giving, in fact he enjoys it, but boys just lazy :(

<3- Does enjoy when you sit on his face, especially since it's less work for him. Likes teasing you by making you keep eye contact, and will stop if you do.

<3- I've seen a lot of people say he would fall asleep during it, and as hilarious as that image is, I'm not sure if he would. Idk, I just feel like he'd be too into it to fall asleep. Might fall asleep while you give him head tho-

<3- in theory, he'd have some pretty out there kinks, but they normally stay confined to his fantasies, as he doesn't feel like putting the effort in to test them out and totally not because he's scared you'll think they're weird

<3- Overstim him!!! please!!! He'll stop his bratting real quick once he realizes you still aren't stopping after he's cum for the 3rd time-

<3- On the opposite end, if you want to see him cry, edge him. He can take being overstimulated like a champ, but with edging he'll break after 15 minutes if you're lucky

<3- adores cockwarming, and will often fall asleep while inside of you despite your protest. He just wants to be as close to you as he can get, especially after a hard day. How could you say no when he asks so nicely? :(

<3- not much aftercare from him. If you ask, he'll help you clean up, but otherwise he tells himself he'll deal with it when he wakes up. always regrets it when he wakes up tho

anyways hope y'all enjoy!!! live, laugh, lethargic-

#don't come at me for the pisces slander-#i'm a pisces too #obey me #obey me smut #obey me belphegor #obey me headcanons #obey me hcs #smut #obey me belphegor smut #obey me belphie #om! belphegor #belphegor x reader #om! belphie #otome

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pretend-erin · 10 months

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Stray thoughts on Kururi & Mairu

So I am probably one of the very few Kururi & Mairu fans and I want to talk about them. They are, unfortunately, victims of being anime girls from the 2000s - there are a lot of problematic things in drrr that we, as a fandom, should acknowledge and discuss. Simon, Namie, the treatment of characters like Vorona and Anri, I could go on. But right now, I want to talk about the twins.

We don’t get a lot of information on the Orihara family as a whole. All we know is that Izaya was very isolated as a child, and seemed to resent his sisters for being carbon copies of each other. So the girls decided that they would be opposites. They picked their personality traits, splitting them evenly. That’s why they act opposite in the chat room - they do it all on purpose.

I can only speculate here, but it seems like the Orihara parents may not have been around a lot. Actually nobody seems to have parents in drrr. Why was Masaomi able to do all that while he was in middle school???? And the only parents we see are awful - like Shingen?????? He’s our parental figure in this show????Anyway. It’s a pretty common headcanon that Izaya’s parents were not very present, so we can only assume the same for the girls. Izaya, due to his own issues, resented them. All they had was each other. And that is not good!

If you think about it, their codependence is really sad. They’ve had to rely on each other for everything. Even though they purposefully act different from one another, they need the other one in order to feel whole. Izaya said they were basically the same person, and they changed that. But in the process, they cut themselves in half. They’re still operating as one.

When we meet the twins, they seem pretty comfortable around the people Izaya frequently interacts with - mainly Shizuo. He clearly knows them, and knows them well enough to evade them gently. He’s a lot kinder to the girls, even if they get on his nerves.

They quickly befriend the van gang, Mikado and Anri, Shinra and Celty, and Akane. They are present at the contentious Hot Pot Party. And Izaya knows that. He knows his sisters are hanging out with all the people on his chessboard.

Suddenly, they’re part of the chatroom. They’re directly interacting with Aoba (which, are they not kinda parallels to Anri and Masaomi to Aoba’s Mikado??). They have their dojo. Akane Awakusu looks up to them. And even though they get bullied, they have a community to fall back on. They’re not alone anymore.

It kinda seems like everyone who knows Izaya stepped in as big siblings to the twins. They continuously reject him, and he rejects them back. But they have something he doesn’t. Something he’s clearly jealous of.

They’ve never really been alone, they’ve always had each other.

And yeah, the canon portrays that in a super weird way. Sometimes they take the “twisted love” concept too far. But these characters are a lot more interesting than the jokes made at their expense. Sometimes I just pretend the canon isn’t true. I don’t like it! I wish they didn’t do it!!! That’s why I never used to talk about how much I like the twins - people will always fall back on the same joke like it’s 2009. Sometimes you just have to snatch them out of the canon. Take them out of their shitty narrative, they’re mine now >:3

Unfortunately, a lot of the female characters in drrr get ignored or misrepresented by the fandom. Even Celty! Hell, the anime goes out of its way to not make Celty the main character. We get stuck with Mikado for most of the show’s run.

I guess I just find it odd that the fandom doesn’t give the same grace and understanding to the girls as they do the guys. Izaya is everyone’s poor little meow meow (and I’m including myself in that statement) but what about the TWINS???

Idk I think their parallels to Izaya are really interesting, they have everything he doesn’t have. They’re still strange, and may not fit in with their peers, but they’re treated with respect by the very people Izaya focuses most of his time and energy on.

I also think it is so funny that Izaya had two little freak sisters the entire time and we find out about them in an OVA lmao

Like the funniest thing you can do to Izaya is give him annoying little sisters and then not mention them until it’s funny to do so

It’s like when Roger Rabbit can’t take his hand out of the handcuff until it’s funny, it is so funny to introduce these two after you’ve built Izaya up so much. Like he’s just a weird guy with weird sisters. He gets mad when they join his chatroom where he pretends to be a teenage girl. They’re a cringefail family and we simply must respect that.

#brain scramblies #drrr #durarara #kururi and mairu #kururi orihara #mairu orihara #I just have so many thoughts and feelings about them #I want to steal them from Narita. they’re mine now. you did a bad job with them so now they’re mine #this is also kind of Izaya analysis uh oh #don’t discourse me I’m an old man

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dinoburger · 3 months

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hey.

people are dying, but you're giving your cause everything you can. i've seen you work hard to try to help people. you're donating. you're spreading the word. keep going.

keep questioning how you interact with the world and you'll keep gaining richer experiences for it. this is a turning point for many artists, writers, crafters, etc. wherein they realize that fan culture is not giving them what they could be getting by engaging directly with themes and topics and a medium that they personally care about most.

you have to engage with art to get better at art, and fan work can be a great vessel for your thoughts on art. fan work can be fulfilling, but it is also ultimately a sort of self-imposed constraint.

now. you clearly have stories you want to tell about trans men and war and pointless enterprise and they're outgrowing the tf2 framework. they have been for a while. i don't really like tf2, but i *do* like your art and think of you first as an artist who engages with the trans body before someone who partakes in fandom of any kind.

if you decide to take those stories in your own direction, i want to read them and watch them grow. take care.

I have mixed feelings because it's not that I see fan work vs. original work as the dichotomy here, but rather like. A lot of the stuff I do outside of it isn't particularly deep in and of itself but it's still meaningful.

It's funny cuz like, I started getting back into traditional art because I've been painting picket signs. You're not doing that because it's narratively engaging or even to make them beautiful, but to be eye-catching and make a point.

I guess that's mostly what I think about, it's more laterally like, something that can exist without needing to be to that ends.

I don't really think it's a matter of taking the stories I have and restructuring them to add "originality" because that wasn't the point of writing them in the first place, and I'm not going to forcibly take my experiences and try to twist them into a compelling story if they won't fit or shouldn't center me - rather, the work I do doesn't need to be that deep if the context I'm using it for is meaningful already, I don't need to cut myself up for parts.

I want to engage art and culture more in that sense, you know? I think that was part of the joy of making pottery to me when I used to do it, there was always this kind of practicality and physicality that makes it feel significant in ways that aren't simply expressed, regardless of "depth" or branding or anything else.

There is just a kind of funneling that inevitably happens with engagement and social media. I think acting like I'm totally above it isn't honest, it's now 2 AM as I'm writing this response. I don't think of myself as profoundly removed, more the opposite. I think even if you're aware, you sometimes don't realise how bad it is for you until you start peeling away.

There's a kind of sterile singularity to it, every aspect of how art and identity are engaged here. There tends to be a kind of singular authority people take to each other that shapes the landscape here. And there's very much an "I'm not like that" kind of dogma.

Paradoxically it is like, the thing where the more you argue the point, the more it seems like you're trying to establish yourself as the authority of it, and again it's not like none of these things can be meaningful at all, but there's a kind of undeniable tunnel vision you get sucked into.

I don't think anything I've done for the causes I'm interested in are praise worthy, I try to do what I can. But it's still the most valuable thing I could be doing.

#asklies

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thatoneao3author · 10 months

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randomized fic tag game

fuck it I’m creating a fic brainstorming challenge in an attempt to interact with the fandom ig

so I used this au generator to assign you an au, this fan fiction trope generator to give you a trope/situation/sometimes another au, feel free to keep clicking until you get something that inspires you.

then try to come up with the title, plot, vibe, and details of a fic including whatever the generators gave you. you don’t actually have to write it, just put the concept into the world! this is basically just a thought experiment

for example, here’s mine:

The AU generator gave me: summer camp au

The trope generator gave me: Your characters are neighbors and hold up notes in their windows across from each other to talk all the time and they're both developing huge crushes.

okay okay I GOT this

title: i’ll beat your ass in the color war, red

- we got teenage!gallavich, i’m talking season one ian-still-has-freckles little gallavich

- ian gets a scholarship to the camp via a raffle his school did for kids on the honor role. technically, lip got it, but he handed the voucher off to ian because he’s caught up with karen at the time and wants his brother to have a good summer. that’s why ian’s there.

- mickey is put into foster care for one reason or another, something with terry, and his foster family sends him. that’s why he’s there. mandy’s around here somewhere, too.

- all the cabins are really close together, but ian + mickey are placed separately. right next to each other, actually. ian and mickey both happened to take the low bunks next to the windows, which are facing each other.

- ian recognizes mickey as someone from the south side, like him. he also befriends mandy early on, but he doesn’t really speak to mickey.

- UNTIL! there’s a power outage on the camp grounds, knocking out the lights in all of the cabins. And Ian sees a flashlight in the window across from his when he’s trying to go to sleep.

- with the chaos of everything, it doesn’t work, and a generator powers up some of the cabins. for safety reasons, they send those without power to sleepover in the cabins with power so that everyone’s together and warm and guess what?? mickey and ian end up together. sharing a bed because there aren’t enough.

- they bond, but their schedules don’t line up the most and they end up doing the notes-in-the-window thing every night while trying to sleep for a week. they also pass this old notebook back and forth, giving each other doodles and thoughts and questions through the pages. they talk about how weird the experience is, how different the kids are from southsiders.

- then, they get to pick new classes at the beginning of the following week. for the first time since the power outage, mickey approaches him directly and they pick similar classes

- they keep using the notebook throughout the summer, writing down things that are too hard to say out loud like “you’re pretty, red” and “i think i really like you and i don’t know if that’s a good idea”

- they spend free time together in the field, mickey sitting there while his sister and ian make flower crowns.

- they do other arts and crafts together. ian makes them matching ‘friendship bracelets’ and mickey claims to think that it’s stupid. but he wears it anyway, just to see him smile

- idk man you get a summer’s worth of them being cute but not actually dating. mickey causes some trouble, they end up kissing at the camp fire, some sneaking around is involved, there’s a color war (which is like, fun team-based games like capture the flag or huge water fights) where they’re on opposite teams, maybe a little pride event at some point since we’re in the summer time. generally just huge summer love vibes

- i imagine there’s some issues near the end of camp bc mickey likes what they have but he isn’t sure if it can continue when they go back to chicago, he only feels safe doing their whole thing bc they’re away from literally everyone they know.

- one possible ending is mickey telling ian how much he cares, but they have to wait until they’re older and he’s away from his dad for good/he’s more comfortable in his sexuality. BAM! possible timeskip sequel, bittersweet ending. the other ending is ian offering him a place in the gallagher home, BAM! domestic vibes, some found family, and it’s more happy. either one could work depending on what i want from the fic

alright alright i’m all done now. don’t feel pressured to try it if you don’t want to, but i’m gonna tag @creepkinginc @softmick @gardenerian @lupeloto and @this-is-estrelya

#tag game #shameless #Shameless US #shameless fanfiction #shameless fic #gallavich #gallavich au #gallavich fic #ian gallagher #mickey milkovich #mandy milkovich #summer camp au #fic ideas!

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olderthannetfic · 1 year

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Fandom discussions that happen through the anon ask box of a third user who kindly lets us share our opinions on her personal blog obviously risk becoming flat and all that, but I'm kind of stuck on that bi4bi M/F ask because, like... what is the point of critiquing fans for their dumb ship wars and then you just insert yourself in said ship wars like that?

There is something to be said about how fandom treats cishet women (by acting like they're the only demographic present, by refusing to acknowledge their existence, by treating cishet women like the the devil, and also by using the "cishet woman" label as a way of silencing any queer person who disagree with one's opinion, which in itself has a number of other implications), but, like (and maybe this feels a bit personal for me because I've seen it happen one too many times) queer people—especially bisexuals—often "insist" that their M/F ships are bi4bi bc they're tired of bisexuality getting erased, especially when online fandom, like most other online (and offline) spaces, loves to both imply and directly state that bisexual people in M/F relationships aren't queer, or not queer enough, with the opposite also happening in F/F and M/M ships, where a character suddenly turns monosexual, or where bisexuality is not even contemplated.

It feels pretty naive to not take into consideration how that "insistence" often comes from a place of hurt, and not from the implication that being straight is Bad And Wrong™.

And obviously, whatever, everyone can ship whatever they want. But I have to question how many queer people—who aren't, like, antis or whatever—just go up to other fandomgoers and tell them that they're being queerphobic, really, because X ships should be bi4bi. Because there is a difference between someone saying that X and Y are bi, actually, in their own profile (or even lamenting the lack of bi4bi ships) vs. them directly going under a fanfic or other people's post to accuse them of being too straight or whatever.

It can still be annoying, mind you. Sometimes there are implications in how people explain themselves and share what they'd like to see more of in fanworks. I know for sure that some of the "Why don't we never see X" post can be annoying as fuck. Also, fans do often weaponize their (even if real, tangible) pain as a way to win arguments and demonize the other side—we see this happen with antis all the time. But it kinda makes me laugh when people try to critique this by flattening the discussion like this.

Obviously, discourse is annoying and wanting to be as far as possible from it is 100% understandable. And sometimes people just want to complain, which is also fair. But I feel like generalized complaints like this, posted on what is basically a public forum, often just fuels the discourse instead of shutting it off.

TBH, the main time I see bi4bi come up is when I post stats about het on FFN or something, and people come out of the woodwork to remind everyone that just because something is f/m, that doesn't necessarily mean it's het. (I promise you that 99.99999999% of the stuff I surveyed on FFN is the hettiest het to ever het.)

I haven't seen any policing of other people shipping the same m/f ship for not making it bi4bi. It might be out there, but it's not something I run into.

I have seen plenty of complaints about canons that end in m/f with a bi character not being queer enough. The funniest one I ever saw was about Stage Beauty.

I mean... it does end in the leads getting together... But...

(This is that historical movie where he's an actor playing women's roles, then the law changes, and men can only play men and women are allowed to be actresses. It upends his whole life and loses him his boyfriend. His assistant who's obsessed with him in kind of a "Do I want them or do I want to be them?" way takes over his old signature role of Desdemona. He's bitterly jealous, of course. Then they invent naturalistic acting in the space of a month because this movie is very historically accurate. Anyway, it would be pretty queer just for all the gender bullshit that's going on in the main f/m ship even if he weren't visibly also interested in men.)

IDK, I've found annoying people on both sides of this: letting you know f/m can be bi4bi when nobody asked and insisting things are Not Queer just because the endgame ship is f/m.

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zwoelffarben · 2 years

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And this is why every person that follows me wins themselves a background check (affectionate).

Cause every now and then, We gots ta instant block someone.

We're a man and a feminist; and you don't get to say as a blanket statement that we're not worthy of being recognized as a human; and then turn right around and follow us for the funny quips, interesting analysis, or fool-hardy fandom. No. You don't get to take the worst of men, and claim they represent me who has spent a noninsignificant portion of their life helping women get out of dangerous situations. I've dropped everyting in my life to help a woman leave bad living situations four times; every time I've done it meant driving a car sixteen hours; I'm miserably allergic to cats and I've catsat for weeks or months four times, because a woman needed their cats taken care of and I was the first person they thought to ask (not their last resort); I have trauma by proxy because a woman I care about had horrible things happen to them while I could do nothing to help. And no, I wasn't doing any of that wit the alterior motive to sleep wit them: I only wanted to help.

We're also a woman and we get it. It sucks living under the patriarchy. There are some days where we, while BEING A MAN think, "yeah, men suck." But, this shit is the opposite of productive, and yeah sometimes an unproductive kvetch is important for a person's mental health, but like; it ain't just kvetching if you've fucking pinned it and then filled the rest of your blog with the same shit, a lot of it reblogged directly from red names: At that point, it's toxic fixation, and y'all need to stop spiral down 'the manosphere' looking for bad men who prove your belief that men are evil or whatever (btw, this is a reblog responding to someone doing exactly that), because every rabbithole is infinitely deep, and you'll find what you look for.

The solution enrealis to thinking all men are inherently inhuman creatures capable only of hate and harm, is to find some fucking counterexamples. Find good men and have them in your life, and whenever the impulsive thought "Ugh men" echos through your brain, spare a thought for your good friend Dave whose's awesome and good at bowling or whatever the fuck your Dave happens to do, and pivot to thought to say "Ugh, patriarchy" instead, yeah?

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sohotthateveryonedied · 3 years

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so i’m trying to write duke and i don’t think i’m writing him right. how would you describe his personality because with don’t trust fanon lmfaooo

(this was only supposed to be a paragraph or two i swear to god)

1. first things first, duke is a hardcore gryffindor. don’t let the yellow color scheme mislead you, okay. and while most of the time he’s depicted in fanon as “omg this family is crazy and i’m the only sane one,” it’s actually pretty much the opposite? if anything, i think the other batkids would be like “oh finally, someone who can match our level of chaotic energy. HEY DUKE WANNA BUNGEE JUMP OFF WAYNE TOWER—” and an hour later they’d all be in the batcave getting lectured by bruce for leading poor sweet innocent duke astray when really he was already planning on doing that this weekend.

listen, this is the kid who once jumped off a bridge to escape police. this is the dude who decided to fight criminals while they’re still eating their wheaties at 6am in a bright yellow suit. and while duke seems to be the best at following bruce’s command at the moment due to having been trained by him most recently compared to the others and is still figuring out how to be a hero, i’m positive that if bruce weren’t here to guide him, duke would be running around gotham taking down criminals anyway. i mean, he literally did do that with the “we are robin” kids. plus there was the whole thing when he was like ten years old and decided “i am going to singlehandedly stop the riddler in my light up sketchers and pikachu backpack. try and stop me.”

duke is headstrong and has a strong drive toward heroism. he’s an extremely enthusiastic and passionate person in general, and i try to capture a little of that when i write him, even with mundane things like trying to beat his siblings to the last cupcake.

2. another thing i noticed is that duke swears like a sailor in comics? seriously, this boy could give jason a run for his money with how many “@#!%” speech bubbles there are. i don’t know if this is just a trend the writers added in the comics i’ve read of him, or if it’s a genuine trait throughout every comic he’s in, but that’s something to make note of when writing dialogue for duke. after all, he did grow up in the narrows, so it makes sense that he’d use a lot of swearing and slang in his everyday vernacular.

3. i would also make a point of noting that duke is fairly young compared to the rest of the batfamily, being the second youngest after damian. duke is still a teenager in high school, and he acts like it. he’s got homework and friends and is eager to make a difference in gotham, trying to juggle everything and make it all work somehow. he’s stubborn and doesn’t give up easily, so it’s important to write him as someone who is trying to save the world while also struggling with finding time to study for his next math test. he's human. he doesn’t get to dedicate all of his time to fighting crime like cass or jason might be able to, since duke is still a mostly normal teenager with teenager problems.

4. and don’t forget that unlike the other batkids, duke still has two living parents. sure, they’re jokerized and might not ever be the same again, but they’re alive and that’s what holds him back from letting himself get as close to the waynes as he wants to. duke won’t be calling bruce “dad” anytime soon, and i think he’d have some internal struggle over stuff like holidays and birthdays with the waynes, remembering what his parents are missing out on and wondering if joining the wayne family is a betrayal to them. duke is very conflicted over this, even if he doesn’t say it directly. stuff like ducking out of movie night early or feeling a bittersweet pang during thanksgiving dinner makes sense for someone in his situation.

(i usually ignore that aspect in my fics because i want duke to just be adopted and part of the family already, but not everyone does that, and that’s perfectly fine.)

5. honestly, duke is such a caring individual and we as a fandom need more of him being a shoulder for people to lean on because he’s?? so soft?? duke can be so sympathetic and rational when it comes to emotional problems. it seems like duke internalizes every bit of advice he gets from the people around him and uses it to inspire others and help them through their own problems. as tough and hotheaded as duke can sometimes be, he really is good when it comes to emotions.

6. duke is a smartass. he will 100% use sarcasm against any and every authority figure he meets, usually just for the hell of it.

7. he’s very frank in general, usually the first to be like “okay full disclosure, we’re about to die right now. that sucks. anyway—” in a situation. he’s honest and tends to be upfront about his fears/anxieties, usually for comic relief, but i think it still counts.

8. okay i have to add that duke is also kind of a punk? he and jason have a lot in common because of this: they both grew up in one of gotham’s worse areas (jay in crime alley and duke in the narrows) and they’re both highkey deliquents. duke has no problem getting into fights or talking back to authority figures, and it’s gotten him in hot water on more than one occasion. it’s why he kept getting moved around the foster system before bruce took him in because no one wanted to keep him.

9. he’s also gotten so close with the other batkids and we love to see it!! duke calls cass “sis” and treats damian like the annoying little brother he never had and i adore every second of it. we haven’t gotten a lot of interactions between duke and the others aside from training and stuff, but he and jason have the whole “punk kid who got adopted by batman and is baffled by how rich people live” going for them, so they can bond over that. and duke is a thinker like tim, so they can hang out and do puzzles or play chess or whatever it is that smart people do. (and duke and steph are BESTIES i don’t care what anyone says.)

10. most of all, duke is still learning how the whole hero thing works. he’s young and he’s trying his best, but he also makes mistakes. he will be impulsive and screw up, and he’ll try and merge the lessons batman’s taught him and that his parents taught him and that other heroes teach him until it all makes sense in his own mind. duke isn’t experienced like dick or even damian, so he’s going to be lagging behind for a while until he grows until the role he’s made for himself.

other miscellaneous details to include:

- duke is dating izzy, who used to be part of the “we are robin” gang with him - he used to live at the manor and now lives with his cousin jay, but honestly i just have him living at the manor in everything i write because i like it better that way - he can control shadows and light now! what a king! - duke secretly writes poetry and is good at creative writing in general - this:

- duke is super smart?? he figured out that agent 37 was dick grayson without even trying?? i’m so proud of him - his biological father is this supervillain called gnomon so now duke has got four parents: his mom, his dad, his supervillain dad, and bruce (plus selina if you count her as the batkids’ stepmom, which i do) - jason calls him “narrows” and i love that

- and, lastly, the most important panel in the history of comics:

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lovee-infected · 3 years

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Hello! Recently I've seen a lot of twst blogs arguing on how twst characters are mischaracterized, especially Malleus. So do you have any ideas on how he is mischaracterized? Also, is it okay to ask for your general opinion on questions like a short character analysis or how a healthy a relationship with each twdt guy might be? Hope it's okay to ask!

For your first question anon, it's a GREAT thing to ask and to be honest I've been waiting for a chance to talk about him! And for your second one, yes, of course! I just love writing character analyis and it's totally okay to ask for character/personality/relationship analysis here! I've got a lot to say about Malleus so this is going to a detailed analysis about his whole personality.

There are commonly two popular opinions on how Malleus is which divides the fandom into two groups:

Group A:

Those who consider him to be an absolutely soft, baby dragon who just wants to be invited and have a friend. They believe that Malleus needs more attention and can be quite affectionate at the time, he can also be sometimes idiotic toward simple stuff like working with a computer or trying to talk with others which makes him even more adorable. "Despite Malleus's harsh and emo appearance and terrifying powers, Malleus is just a small baby inside," is also a common belief of this group.

Group B:

Those who argue that group A is totally shading everything important about Malleus's personality and true self just because he looks cute and plays with a childish tamagotchi. These group also comes up with rather strong points about his personality such as his status as a crown prince, his naturally dark personality as not only a dark fae but also Maleficent's grandchild, his maturity and cold nature and also, the aspect of his hellish powers which can make him look like an absolute monster at the time.

I believe most of you are familiar with these points of view but the question is, which one of them is the real Malleus?

And the answer is: Neither of them; yet both of them do have a point.

The main problem is how the fandom portraits him as either an emotional tamagotchi baby or an absolutely cold and heartless mister of evil, while the true Malleus is far beyond than just being either good, or bad.

Now let's discuss some of the important facts and common mistakes about Malleus's personality:

(1) Malleus isn't a baby, but he isn't a monster either

This is supposedly the main idea here which will be continued to be discussed through the rest of this analysis. This is often how many end up mischaracterizing him because: the way the describe Malleus is either too dark or too childish. What we need here, is a balance. This is the grandson of one of the most important Disney villains that we are talking about, and don't forget that Maleficent herself was confirmed to consume the powers of Hell, as she was indeed the mistress of all evil. So this dragon boy here surely isn't one to underestimate, and he clearly has inherited that hellish power of her grandmother. It's obviously seen through the story as well, from the way he was presented in chapter 2 and beans day event to how terrified other students always are to even talk about him.

But the thing is, there are softer aspects of his personality as well which prove that Malleus isn't just designed to present an undefeatable force of evil, and this is exactly what makes his personality a lot more interesting.

(2) Malleus is actually hard to approach and talk to

Let's be honest, Malleus isn't as soft and easy to befriend as many fans consider him to be. He doesn't get too friendly or chill as he speaks, and even his close allies like Silver and Sebek fail to get close to him as much as they wish to. When we talk about his dark aura, we aren't just talking about his horns and fearsome magic, it's also because of his personality itself. His calm yet cold tone always remains still regardless of who he's talking to. No need to mention that he isn't an ordinary student either, he not only comes from a well-known family but is also the crown-prince of valley of thorns. Out of all twst characters Malleus is the only one who is directly connected to the great seven by being Maleficent's grandson. His family and people on the other hand are overly protective over him, to the point of not letting him to even have a fake proposal in the ghost marriage event which means that Malleus has also got each and every of his actions under watch.

(3) He's slowly getting used to isolating himself

In his ceremonial robes story, he's obviously upset that he never had a chance to wear his ceremonial robes because he never got invited, but when Lilia says he'd one day overcome his ill fate and gets to wear them as he always wanted to, he says that he's fine. Then again when Lilia tried to bring him to the singing test in chapter 5 he avoids showing up. In his voice lines he also said: "Are you as well scared of me?" which is clearly shouting that he's no longer surprised to see people being afraid of him, he's getting used to being feared and at some point, hated. That's probably one of the bitter sides of his personality which he's slowly giving up on trying to change it.

(4) Malleus has got a great confidence and isn't shy at all

There many fanfics in which Malleus is presented as a shy boy who's scared of confessing to his s/o or asking them out, while he's the total opposite in reality. Just like Maleficent herself, he speaks calmly and in a formal tone, is very respectful as he speaks, and isn't one to ever have problem while talking to others.

It's others who always avoid talking to him while Malleus himself isn't the least uncomfortable with presenting his ideas and asking others for help when he needs to.

He isn't ever shy over his lack of ability to work with machines or asking others for help for seemingly childish issues like having his tamagotchi fixed or finding a friend for the GaoGao dragon.

The only thing left is how Lilia described him as "Kind of shy" in chapter five, which is most likely because of another reason discussed in part (3)

(5) He doesn't eat ice cream and play with a tamagotchi for no reason

Malleus explained that everything is ran by magic back in the valley of thorns and no one really uses any machines there, that's how he's pretty new to both technology and complicated tools.

I believe that the tamagotchi part was given to him on purpose, because else than showing the fact that he's bad with tools, it's great contrast to the harsh picture that his power and personality gives him!

Admit it, it's a funny and somehow, adorable contrast to see one of the strongest magicians who can burn the room to ashes in just a matter pf second playing with a children's toy. And I believe that it was given to him on purpose. They meant to give him some soft and cute features as well instead of just presenting him as an evil fae. He is indeed evil and his powers are terrifying, and that's how watching him play with a tamagotchi is rather surprising to many. If you saw Ortho or Cheka playing with one it wouldn't have gone any further than a simple "Awww" or "How cute" because it's something you'd expect to see from a kid, but when you see Malleus of all people playing with it, you can't help but to fascinated and flustered over how cute this fae's habits can be.

Ice cream on the other hand doesn't really have to do with cuteness, it's something Yana Toboso discovered while doing her researches on fae mythology which discuses that Dark faes enjoy cold and sweet foods, especially cream. So it doesn't really have anything to do with him being either a soft or a cruel boy, it's just a normal part of his nature as a fae.

(6) He might be crazily old to humans, but he's still pretty young as a fae

This one has really been getting on my nerves, come on people! It's true that he's probably been living for decades and possibly, centuries but don't forget that it isn't that much compared to a normal fae! Even Sebek calls him 'Young master' which means that he's still a pretty young one, no need to mention that he hasn't yet became the king either so he's not much different from the rest of the students in NRC.

I've seen people saying: "No Malleus won't do that he's -too old-" and I've got to say: What?

Come on even someone like Lilia who's been living for over 5 centuries can act like a nasty 14 year old at the time, so for faes at least, age isn't a limitation.

Malleus on the other hand is still a teenage fae! He needs to discover new things and talk with more people, just like a normal human being does. So if he doesn't enjoy doing anything too silly or stupid, it's because of his 'personality', not because he's too old. Even when tells Lilia that he isn't a child anymore, it's like how an 18 year old says it to his father.

(7) Malleus won't take insult easily

He is polite and respectful in general, but when he's offended, he'd seriously respond to it. Remember that a single swipe of hand from him can set the whole room on fire.

Rook and Leona were probably one step away from being burnt and when Leona really got on Malleus's nerves by humiliating him, Malleus stopped respecting him as a prince of an ally kingdom and humiliated back.

He is calm but to a specific point, and you can make sure that he won't be any soft or forgiving if you offend him, and it'll probably end in no good if he gets mad. So better not think that Malleus is one to just keep it in and later cry in a room because he's sad baby when someone dares insult him.

(8) Angelina Jolie's Maleficent has nothing to do with his story!

Nope, Malleus never had a lover who cut off his wings and sent him to a hell of depression and loneliness, and no you cannot find those two wounds on his back regardless of how romantic it may seem.

I admit it, it's a lovely Au, but it's JUST AN AU! I can still see people saying stuff like "Ohh!! Will we discover if Malleus too had his wings cut off in chapter 7?" and the answer is NO. While Angelina Jolie's Maleficent is surely a great one on its own, it needs be understood that twst's source of main information and characters designs is nothing else than the original Disney villains.

Malleus cannot be associated with any Maleficents else than the version we saw in 1959's sleeping beauty and it's an important fact to look through.

(9) Malleus is NOT Maleficent!

While they are a lot more similar than you can imagine(in both power and personality), let's not forget that Malleus is NOT Maleficent! He's a total new character on his own, and is unique in his own way.

He is twisted from Maleficent which means that no matter how similar they are, Malleus is a new character with a new personality.

Saying that he isn't soft at all and the fandom will see his true face when he overblots ( It's supposed to mean that the real Malleus is an absolutely evil and destructive one, just like Maleficent) is nothing different from denying all of Yana's hard work on designing him and his personality!

Malleus himself said that his grandmother's skills were far greater than his and most importantly: Malleus still has chance to have a better fate than Maleficent did.

Once again: He's still young! He still has a chance to be saved from turning into a heartless and isolated creature like Maleficent. No matter how cold he is, he hasn't yet got to the point of hating the whole world and losing all of his emotions. And that's why it's totally wrong to deny all the good that he might still have inside by saying that he isn't soft at all. He isn't a baby, but he isn't a monster either. Not yet.

(10) Even Lilia agrees that Malleus is still learning and his personality is in development

Can't you see? Malleus isn't attending to this school for no reason. His magic is already top notch, and his knowledge goes far greater than anything they might teach in NRC.

If you take a look at the story, you'll see signs of Lilia indirectly giving us signs of why Malleus still needed to attend to this school. In Malleus's SR robes' story, Lilia told him that he still has a lot to learn and knowledge isn't everything. And what might he find in NRC which has nothing to do with knowledge? People.

Lilia is trying to hold him back from isolating himself like Maleficent did, and is indeed trying to help him make friends and learn to get along with people without thinking that it's useless because they'd fear him anyway.

Also, he clearly wants Malleus to learn and experience new things in NRC by taking part in activities. In Malleus's Halloween SR story Lilia, who was always the one to choose Diasomnia's Halloween costumes, asks Malleus to choose this year's costume instead of him. Lilia first says that he wants Malleus to do it but later tells him that he has other reasons as well, he was trying to put Malleus into trying something new therefore he can have something learn from the experiment! (What a cute papa he really is...)

This is another proof of him not having the cold and unapproachable picture some imagine him to have, he isn't against experiencing and trying new things.

(11) He's still looking for a true friend

Malleus needs a friend, that's a fact. During his chats he mentions how Maleficent always had her loyal pet crow by her side as the only reliable creature she could always trust, and how Malleus wonders if he can ever find such a worthy ally of his own.

Even as he has Lilia, Silver and Sebek by his side he doesn't feel like he has such a friend.

People have been avoiding him through his whole life, and you can see how excited he got when Cater asked him for a selfie as he was one of the very first people who ever tried to approach him.

While he's slowly getting used to being feared by everyone, he'd still appreciate a friend and he needs one. Not even Maleficent herself could've made it all on her own without a friend by her side.

(12) Malleus isn't heartless

While he won't easily fall for anything or anyone, it isn't impossible for him to love.

We haven't yet seen anything that directly gets us to the point of love in the story but it's something you can tell through his actions and words.

When he cares for something or someone, he'd be serious about it.

Two obvious examples would be his tamagotchi and the ramshackle dorm. He'd certainly get out of his way to find someone to fix his dear tamagotchi and as we saw in the Halloween event, he furiously stated that he'd burn anyone who tries to the ramshackle dorm any harm, because he likes that place.

There isn't much he holds dear in life, but when he does, he won't let a single soul to take it away from him.

When he can be this protective over something that just entertains him, just try to imagine how far he might go to protect the one he loves. He falls in love very slowly and it'll probably take him a while to realize it if he actually does. He can begin with small interests and repeated meetings but at some point, it'll turn into a routine, an obsession. He won't easily fall in love, but when he does, he won't be able to easily let go of it either.

(13) His relationship with MC is far more important than you're thinking

Just by going through his voice lines, you can tell how MC is effecting Malleus's personality and life. I'm not saying that it's love or anything but the thing is, MC is changing Malleus nonetheless.

Their relationship has been a totally new thing for Malleus to experience from the very beginning, because MC didn't know him. Malleus is obviously used to being well-known as the infamous prince of the Draconia family by almost everyone, but MC was an exception.

He asked MC to talk to him and tell him stories, it can be clearly see that he enjoys talking to them.

He also mentioned that MC has made him feeling lots of things he hadn't felt before, which can also be connected to part (10) where we discussed how he's still young and needs more of communication and friends because he needs to learn.

Some argue that Malleus couldn't care less about MC and the only reason he shows up around them is because of the ramshackle dorm, which can be easily proven wrong by two hints:

1) Malleus sent a Happy holiday card to MC after the winter holiday.

2)What Malleus told Lilia at the end of the Halloween event stories after all the troubles that was brought upon the ramshackle dorm: "I want that human to enjoy Halloween too"

While it isn't necessarily romance that we're talking about, his relationship with MC is clearly telling us that he's a lot more of emotions and humanity inside him than what we were expecting.

At this point, it's important to see that in spite of his cold nature and mature personality he is slowly beginning to feel more and more emotions as the result of meeting newer people in NRC, especially MC. Saying that he is nothing but a heartless fae who is wrongly thought to be a soft and emotional boy is nothing different from judging him the same way as most of the people in twisted wonderland itself judge Malleus, it's important to see that he's a lot more.

His personality itself is surely amazing and as a Malleus hoe stan myself I can't wait to get more of his background in chapter 7, although it's probably going to be dark as well. They really did give his design a twist and that's how he's a balance of and menacingly powerful magician and a young boy who's just learning to deal with emotions.

For now, that's all I had in mind! Hope that I didn't miss anything. This was a general character analysis which also discussed some of the common mistakes about Malleus's personality but-

In case that you're wondering how he's being mischaracterized in reader insert fics, that'll be a totally different issue to discuss which would also need another post to be discussed through.

Small note: Just saying that there's often a dark lore to twst x reader fics (Especially for Malleus/ Leona x reader) which is usually better to be ignored while reading/writing for them...

#twisted wonderland #twst #twst theories #twisted wonderland theories #Twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #malleus draconia #malleus draconia x reader #Character analysis #answered

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thefanficmonster · 3 years

Text

Caught Red-handed

Corpse Husband x Reader (Gender Neutral)

Warnings: Swearing, Struggling with migraines

Genre: Fluff, Comfort, RPF (Real Person Fic)

Summary: Having suffered from migraines all their life, Y/N knows better than to give them much attention or let them hinder their work too much. However, their boyfriend is a lot more worried than they are and has taken it as his personal duty to ease their pain as much as he possibly can.

Requested by Anon. Hi dear! Thank you so much for your request, I’m so sorry it has taken me so long to get to it, write and post it, but here it finally is and I hope you come across it and read it! I’ve never experienced migraines nor have I known someone who has so if I’ve misrepresented or written any misinformation, anyone who catches it, feel free to let me know either in the comments or in my inbox/messages! Love, Vy ❤

The first time I got a headache was in the middle of math class in eighth grade. I remember it so distinctly because I had never before experienced such sudden and such intense pain. I got to go home early that day and spent a good portion of the day trying to sleep it off but to no avail.

Since then I’ve grown used to having to deal with a pain so strong it renders me unable to function for a whole day about two times a month. Sometimes, I even try to be stubborn with it - I try to push through as much work as I can despite the migraine, but that never works out for a long time considering it ends up crippling me in the end. That’s never kept me from trying over and over again though!

Now, to contrast my nonchalance and even annoyance with these pesky attacks, is my boyfriend Corpse’s concern over them. I’ve tried explaining to him that I’ve grown used to them and that I try not to let them bother me and that he shouldn’t stress over them so much but I may as well be talking to a wall because all he has to do is see me squint my eyes or cringe and he enters concerned-mother mode. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate it to no end, I just don’t want him worrying over something so small. Also, a minor convenience: if the migraine doesn’t hinder me from tending to my tasks, Corpse will. He’ll make sure I’m off the task I’m working and transported into bed in an instant.

That’s why I’m now clenching my jaw, struggling to maintain a poker face as I work on an important project I have to send to my boss by the start of next week. I’ve got plenty of time, but I like to stay on top of my work so it doesn’t pile on top of me, you know what I’m saying. Corpse is sitting on the couch next to me, casually glancing at me every now and then while remaining quiet as to not disturb me. So far so good, he hasn’t noticed anything and, if I didn’t know any better I would sigh in relief. There’s nothing to trigger the pain to arise any further - the lights are dim, I’m staying hydrated, and I downed two painkillers in the bathroom about an hour and a half ago - so I’m sure I’ll be in the clear at least until dinner.

“Wanna watch a movie when you’re done?“ Corpse asks, “Unless you’re tired or anything...“

I flash him a grateful smile, giving his knee a squeeze of reassurance, “I’d love to, babe. But I can’t promise that I won’t fall asleep.”

He chuckles, “Yeah, I know you’ve got a tendency of doing that.” Giving me a side-glance he adds, “It’s cute.”

I roll my eyes, already sensing a blush creeping up on my cheeks and neck which I hide by turning to face my laptop screen. One thing I can’t hide though is the wide grin that’s spread across my face as I mutter: “Shut up.”

Just then, a particularly sharp jolt of pain courses through my head, testing that ability to maintain a resting face. Thankfully, Corpse is turned in the opposite direction, searching for his phone, so I allow myself a brief cringe at the discomfort.

Guess the painkillers are dying down on me, I think to myself, a second away from sighing exasperatedly at the thought that I have to down two more. It was wishful of me to think I could enjoy the luxury of a dull ache until dinner, now the migraine is straight up mocking me.

I quietly stand up from the couch and make my way to the bathroom so I can take another dose of aspirin because I don’t think I’ll be able to focus on my work for very long if it keeps hitting me with this intensity. Opening the door to the small cabinet above the sink, I automatically reach out for the bottle of pills but stop when I see a surprise.

Directly in front of the bottle stands a note written in, you guessed it, Corpse’s handwriting.

‘Already losing effect, huh? When are you thinking of coming clean?‘

Well shoot, am I that transparent?

I sheepishly exit the bathroom, walking back into the living room where Corpse greets me with the same stance as a parent greeting their kid who’s gotten home past curfew: legs crossed, arms folded over his chest, one eyebrow raised, the whole nine yards.

“Yeah, they’re already losing effect.“ I admit, a small apologetic smile tugging at the corners of my mouth, my cheeks burning with an embarrassed blush. “And I wasn’t gonna tell you at all.” I hurry to add: “Please don’t be mad though.“

Corpse shifts slightly, his gaze giving me a onceover as he contemplates how to pursue the case. I’ve already got several arguments/defenses ready - the perks of working for a lawyer - but I know he’ll dismiss all of them no matter how strong they might come off as in court. Bottom line: even statements that would fly in court can’t fly with Corpse sometimes. Especially when my health and well-being are the topic of observation.

“What have we said about lying?“ He finally asks, causing me to cringe and ball my fists in guilt.

However, I still have my arguments ready: “You never asked me so I never technically lied.” One might say I have quite the audacity to plead not guilty right now, even though I’ve been caught red-handed, but what can I say, I’m stubborn in nature. And Corpse knows this, he’s just testing me for his own amusement.

“Poor excuse, Y/N.“ He says with disapproval, shaking his head and fully embracing his disappointed parent persona. “You’re lucky I’m feeling generous today. So, as punishment for hiding the truth from me, you are to ditch that project you’ve been bugging yourself over and come cuddle and watch a movie with me. Bonus points for you if you fall asleep.“

I needn’t be told twice - not only will it wipe that look off his features but it’ll also get earn me a movie night with the additional benefit of cuddling with my boyfriend? - how could I refuse?

I can’t help it, I just gotta push my luck here and poke the bear with a stick, “If the punishments are so sweet I might start being dishonest more often.“

Corpse rolls his eyes, scooting on the couch and tapping the space he’s freed up for me, “I said I was feeling generous, don’t bet on it happening often though.”

Alright, enough luck-pushing, I should be grateful for this generosity instead. I should be using it to the max.

So, what’s stopping you from doing just that?

Good question, brain, good question.

Head still pounding just not as intensely, I slip under the thin soft comforter to find myself not only wrapped in it but also in Corpse’s arm, his warm embrace bringing me instant comfort, walking me on the tight-rope of falling asleep right away.

“Sneaky bastard.“ I attempt to mutter, yawning halfway through.

I feel his lips on the top of my head, placing a quick and gentle kiss in my hair before he says, “You’re welcome, babe.”

Count your lucky stars, Y/N. You’ve got one of the good ones.

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cafeinthemoon · 2 years

Text

Kakashi and Team 7 with a student who just doesn't care

Fandom Naruto

Characters Naruto Uzumaki, Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha

Symbols 💜 . 💚 . 💛 . ▶️

Warning (s) none

N. A. Ok so I’m not sure (actually I can’t remember) what this ask was all about, but according to this title I guess it was supposed to be about a student who doesn’t take the career as a shinobi as seriously as they should since they’re with team 7, and how each team member reacts to their attitude. For this one let’s ignore the fact that each team has only 4 members and include y/n lol

This was an anon request too, and if you anon are reading this, thank you for requesting and sorry for taking this long to post it 🤭

Naruto

Basically you guys don't get along since day one

You are the opposite of each other

Naruto is noisy and full of energy; you are quiet and get tired (n.t.: annoyed) easily

He can't stop talking about how he will become a great ninja and the village's Hokage; you have 0 interest in anything related to it and can't think of something worse than being the village's leader, which would mean work and more work

His grades were a shame at the Academy; yours were ok

Naruto can't understand how someone would not have any ambitions regarding the shinobi world and doesn't miss any chance to judge you as the nosy kid he is

You spend your time as far from him as possible, not because you fear his comments but because you can't stand him

Eventually, as you work more together, you start focusing more on your missions and less in each other's flaws

You start respecting his determination and sense of justice, and he starts to accept that not everybody has the same views in life and that's ok

You even go to Ichiraku and joke around from time to time

You start to think more of how you're going in life

Sakura

At first it's the same as with Naruto

But unlike with the Uzumaki who puts his dream ahead of anything, Sakura puts another person ahead of herself

That would never make a difference to you if she just kept quiet about it, but no, the girl is always talking (directly or not) about how Sasuke is this and that

*Sighs*

She's not the biggest fan of yours either

Despite being familiar with you since the Academy, your grades and abilities never meant too much for her (they didn't mean much to you actually)

The good thing about this is that there's no competition between you, since her grades were always the best

However, while you're reasonably good in fighting and the use of weapons, her practical performances weren't great, so that sometimes a bit of conflict between you are inevitable

Things only calm down when let it clear that you have absolutely no interest in competing with her, and even less in Sasuke

Tbh you don't understand what Sakura sees in that guy

After that, you kinda start a friendly relationship

You find out some things in common outside the ninja world

She gives you some tips about shinobi theory while you give her tips about practical work

You learn to respect each other with this

Sasuke

Tbh there aren't many things to say about Sasuke and you

You almost don't interact with each other

Part of it is because you don't see reasons to do it and the other part is because both of you want to avoid Sakura's scenes

You find each other uninteresting in general, and sometimes annoying: you who don't want to do anything at all and him who only thinks of his vengeance

The only thing putting you together is the fact that you're part of team 7

So inevitably you have to work together

With time, you find out you can make a reasonably good work: you have different talents and abilities, but they kinda match

It's not enough for you to develop a close friendship, but you start respecting each other

Kakashi

Ok there's a reason why I left Kakashi-sensei for the end of this list

At first, he's the worst of your new team mates

He's after you all day, almost as much as he does with Naruto

Maybe he's more frustrated with you than with Naruto, because unlike him you don't make much effort or have a great ambition

You're just there, doing what you have to do and not wanting anything else

Since you don't know him for a long time, he seems intrusive with his persistence

You try to push him away in any way you can, but without being disrespectful

Without realizing, you start working harder to get good results in the missions just to not having him pissing you off later

To your surprise, it works: you improve your abilities and analyzing skills, and he starts to trust you more

You're kinda irritated that his strategy to make you work more succeeded, but you're also content with your progress

You start meeting and having conversations outside your missions

Kakashi is not that open about his feelings or his past, but he's wise and always has great advice

You start to feel at will to seek for his help and guidance

And contrary to what you first imagined, he's not judgmental, so it's good to have him around

You also notice how he cares about his students and does his best even when circumstances don't collaborate

You start to consider taking your activities as a ninja more seriously, both because of them and because yourself

#naruto requests #team 7 #sakura #sasuke #kakashi #team 7 headcanons

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elffees · 2 years

Text

why i hate parting ways

okay so i haven’t been in the fandom long but i feel a little suffocated by all the love and worship Parting Ways gets while i hate it with a passion.

this is all my opinion. im not saying people that love Parting Ways shouldnt, im just putting my 2 cents in to stop this spiral of silence thing we got going on and just air my thoughts out.

(warning: long and gets a little rant-y at the end)

im gonna start this off by saying i love all the other endings. for the most part i think they’re written very well (i do think Blood Brothers could’ve done with some tweaking tho) and i love them all for the themes and mix of bittersweetness they have. depending on your playthrough, they each feel right and that’s the reason why i struggle a lot choosing one i deem my personal canon. i really love them all.

but Parting Ways? is lodged down my throat like a stuck bone and here’s 2 of the main reasons why i hate it:

reason #1 -> it feels so out of character

most especially on Sean’s part

now as a choice based game, it’s hard to dive into characterizations sometimes bc a lot of personality traits are shaped by the choices you make. still, in LIS2 regardless if you play with Low Brotherhood or High, it is canon that Sean loves Daniel to the ends of the earth. out of the two, the only one that can potentially express overall hatred or dislike is Daniel. like, Sean’s immense love and devotion to his brother is what episode 4 is all about. that he will do whatever it takes as long as Daniel is safe, happy, and healthy and he won’t ever abandon him especially in a place that threatens him with avid danger.

but i guess that all goes out the window in episode 5 huh? :D

i’m gonna spread this into 2 deeper sections, starting with Sean’s decision to cross the border anyway.

now in a Redemption/Parting Ways playthrough, Sean has done nothing but teach Daniel to follow the law above all else. that stealing, hurting, and killing are inherently wrong. meaning, for example, this Sean likely wouldn’t have gone through with the episode 3 heist as it’s incredibly against his Lawful beliefs.

him switching gears at the end and wanting to force their way through the roadblock isn’t where my problem lies bc that’s entirely choice based. no, PW Sean forcing Daniel into life threatening danger is where i take issue and is where the first instance of ooc-ness takes place. it’s this dialogue right here where i started to go “what the fuck”:

[source]

Sean: Trust me, okay? Just… get us through. Hold on tight.

[Sean starts recklessly driving on]

Daniel: No! I don't wanna! I'm not hurting anyone else!

[Flores and the police open fire]

Sean: It's too late! They're shooting at us, Daniel! This is the only way!

[Daniel is forced to use his powers to clear their way]

to better explain, i wanna make a comparison to Lone Wolf ending. there’s an element of betrayal in both of these. in LW, it’s Sean going against the beliefs he’s taught Daniel, that family should come before the law, by suggesting they turn themselves in. and here in PW, it’s Sean also going against what he’s taught Daniel and saying fuck the rules. the biggest and most important difference is how he goes about these last minute changes.

in LW, Sean attempting to surrender is directly about him not wanting to put Daniel in harm’s way anymore. he wasn’t forcing Daniel to use his power, he wasn’t throwing Daniel in the line of fire, he was clearly suggesting they stand down so no one else got hurt, especially Daniel himself. this fits Sean’s character bc, like i said, one of his never-changing characteristics is that he loves and wants to protect Daniel regardless of your playthrough.

in PW, Sean flips into the exact opposite. and again, no i am not referring to him all of a sudden wanting to break the law. i am talking about his sudden disregard for Daniel’s safety. by Sean forcing them to drive through the roadblock, knowing good and well the only way they’ll survive is by Daniel protecting them, he’s purposely using Daniel as a human shield against his will. it’s horrifying but the most unsettling part imo is that it doesn’t fit Sean’s character at all.

up until this point, Sean has done nothing but try his hardest to keep Daniel from danger, and in PW it’s such a drastic flip it doesn’t make sense for Sean “i love you so much i am willing to walk through hell and even die if it means you’ll be safe” episode 4 Diaz to all of a sudden throw Daniel into the lion’s den himself.

i wanna connect this back to Lone Wolf again and explain why Daniel’s “we’re crossing anyway” mindset makes sense while Parting Ways Sean’s doesn’t. Daniel’s “its my turn to take care of us now” fits that Daniel’s character bc over the course of the game, this Lawless Daniel has proven several times he is willing to do whatever it takes to protect them, including things that are directly against Sean’s wishes.

in episode 3, if you try to stop the heist and Cassidy comes along, Daniel, who believes the heist is a good idea, will choke Cassidy bc he sees her as having poisoned Sean against him. Sean will scream for him to stop and Daniel at first won’t listen bc he thinks by hurting her, he’s helping them. the simple fact he even goes along with the heist regardless if Sean agrees or not is an example in and of itself.

and in episode 4, before Sean can even make a choice, Lawless Daniel will step forward and attempt to murder Lisbeth bc he thinks it’s the right thing to do. now if he continues is based on if you have High Brotherhood or not, but the fact he tried to do it at all KNOWING Sean might not agree is what i’m talking about. like here, look at this transcript of the scene. before you’re given the choice to dissuade or not, Daniel is already 100% prepared to fight Sean on this just in case he disapproves:

[source]

Daniel (to Lisbeth): This is your fault! Yours!

[Daniel uses his power on Lisbeth and begins to hinder her breathing]

Karen: Sean…

Sean: Wait, Daniel…

Daniel: She really did try to use me! And she hurt you! She's bad!

and THEN the player is given the choice to intervene or not after Daniel has already shown he’s prepared to argue if Sean doesn’t agree. and then, if Sean doesn’t agree and has Low Brotherhood, Daniel will straight up ignore Sean’s plea and continue to torture Lisbeth.

there’s a few other examples that show Daniel’s, uh “initiative”, but this is what i mean. playing with a Lawless Daniel, he has already shown time and time again that, even tho it’s rare, he is willing to do controversial things that Sean may directly oppose as long as he thinks the ends justify the means. and this is why Lone Wolf Daniel locking Sean’s door and forcing them through the barricade, while fucking terrifying, fits his character bc he’s done things similar to this several times before. but for Sean to do the same???? doesn’t fit at all.

this is not to say Sean hasn’t tried to force things too. in episode 3, if you disagree to the heist, Sean will try to pull Daniel with him in Merrill’s house. in episode 4, when Sean and Karen are confronting Lisbeth, Sean will try to pull Daniel with him then too. and these instances are both after Daniel has shown a clear lack of desire to leave. heck, you could even include Sean’s unyielding refusal to contact Karen even tho Daniel expressed more than once that that’s what he thinks they should do pre-ep4. but what stands out in these moments is the direction in which Sean tries to pull Daniel to. they are Sean specifically trying to force Daniel away from a situation/person he believes to be dangerous. not to them.

this is again why Lone Wolf makes sense where Parting Ways doesn’t. Sean throws the car keys out the window, putting his foot down and expressing that regardless of what Daniel wants, he will force them to surrender bc he believes it will protect them best. it’s him, again, trying to force Daniel in the direction he believes to be away from danger. but in Parting Ways, it’s Sean doing the exact opposite and forcing Daniel into danger, which doesn’t align with the Usual Ways™️ Sean has tried to force their situation at all.

like, the only time i can think of that may come “close” to Sean deliberately throwing Daniel in harm’s way is if you agree to the heist and tell Daniel to use his powers against Merrill. but even then, that’s hardly similar to what he does in Parting Ways for countless reasons. it’d be more of a parallel/type of foreshadowing if Sean forced a resistant Daniel to do the heist and then straight up shoved him towards Merrill’s shotgun and said “think fast!” when they get caught.

i’d also like to take this time to clarify why Sean’s willingness to use Daniel as a shield in Parting Ways is different from when he stays in the car in Blood Brothers.

for starters, Sean is not actively terrorizing Daniel in BB. even if Parting Ways Sean doesn’t see the tears falling down his little brother’s face as he drives the car, there is no way he doesn’t hear the revulsion and terror in Daniel’s voice as Daniel begs him to stop trying to make him hurt people. we have never seen a time when Sean knows his brother is horrified by what’s happening but keeps going anyway (unlike Lawless Daniel), so for Sean to do this at the most pivotal moment in their lives, feels abrupt and extremely out of character.

and alongside him not terrorizing Daniel in Blood Brothers, he’s also showing nothing but patience and complete trust. this parallels the first border scene when Daniel uses his power to tear open The Wall and Sean stands behind him with supportive hands on his shoulders. in Blood Brothers, it is again Sean, now in the car as to not distract him, essentially supporting his brother in what he’s going to do. to sum up, there is a huge difference in standing behind someone to use them as a human shield and standing behind someone in solidarity and support, and that’s the biggest difference between Parting Ways Sean vs Blood Brothers Sean.

the funny thing here is that all this? that i just wrote? is just about Sean forcing Daniel to act as a bullet sponge in the first place. i haven’t even started talking about the events when Daniel jumps out the car! hoo boy howdy!!

so now let’s talk about what happens after Daniel jumps out of the car. (and mind you, i’m still on reason 1! lmao!!)

after Daniel jumps out of the car, Sean keeps driving and Daniel gets arrested. was i gritting my teeth while typing that? yes. bc

FUCK. THAT.

now personally i can relate to Sean as an older sibling with a large age gap between me and my kid sister. obviously i have never been in the life threatening situations the Diaz brothers have. but if my little sister were to EVER be so completely repulsed and terrified of smthg i was trying to do, that she felt the only way she could be safe and happy was to ESCAPE my presence and FLING herself out of our car, you bet your ass i would do a 180 with a quickness. not to force her back in, but bc “damn i must be doing smthg monstrous and absolutely fucked up. lemme rethink my actions cause this clearly isn’t the move” and then discuss with her where i went wrong.

i do not know how Sean wasnt hit with instant shame, self loathing, and guilt to the point of damn immobilization after Daniel threw himself out of the car to escape him. the fact he just??? keeps driving disgusts me. a lot. and i hate that bc Sean is my favorite character in the whole game.

dude doesn’t even slow down!!! we don’t even get to see if he looks back or not! the only thing we see is that he keeps driving at full speed, leaving Daniel in the literal dust and i. hate. it.

a very popular defense for this that i’ve read around the interweb is that Sean not stopping/turning around is him “respecting and letting Daniel make his own decisions”.

heh :)

this is…. a hysterically funny defense bc, on the same breath, a lot of the fandom agrees that Finn having that exact same mindset just 2 episodes ago was wholly fucked up.

bc let’s be real here, Daniel is ten. hes a child! there’s a huge difference between treating a kid with respect and as their own person versus treating a kid like an adult capable of making extremely life altering and drastic decisions. like?? like?????? (from what i’ve seen) most of the fandom agrees Finn saying Daniel is an “old soul” mature beyond his years is brain rot. and yet, that’s the excuse that gets used for Parting Ways Sean???? sorry but i call bullshit.

this is especially bewildering bc the events of the heist only happen a few months beforehand. it’s not like it’s been years, Daniel has become a teenager/young adult, and is a completely different person than he was in episode 3. it’s only been a few months. in the beginning of episode 5, while the boys are in Away, David motherfucking Madsen even points out that underneath it all, Daniel is still just a kid. regardless of your opinion on David, he is right in that.

now if you don’t think Finn’s “Daniel is older than he actually is” mindset is BS, then that’s fine and those that agree with it, i can see feeling less conflicted about Sean’s…. departure (fuck i’m trying so hard not to say abandonment whoops oh well)…. and apply it as being the same situation. i am just addressing that for those of us that heavily disagreed with Finn’s thought process (not the heist itself, simply his “Daniel is grown” pov), it is hypocritical to shame Finn for it and then go on and use it as a defense for Parting Ways Sean.

it just doesn’t feel like Sean is “respecting” Daniel’s wishes by continuing to drive without him, to me. respecting each other’s wishes is Daniel trusting in Sean’s decision to sacrifice himself in Redemption, or Sean trusting in Daniel to be able to physically and emotionally handle the roadblock in Blood Brothers. no, Sean leaving Daniel in the hands of the feds after just terrorizing the shit out of him feels like abandonment to me. which, as i said in the beginning of this post, seems way out of character bc of how much Sean cares for Daniel and his safety.

and this finally leads me to the 2nd reason as to why i hate Parting Ways.

reason #2 -> Daniel is forced to bear the full brunt of their actions alone

this one might be a tad bit confusing so lemme explain.

in PW, Daniel is the only Diaz left in the states. by him being the only one, almost all of america will focus their Diaz-hate on him and him alone and by staying in america he can do nothing but be aware of it.

The Case of The Diaz Brothers was one that gained a lot of media attention. whether it be the conspiracy bros from Stephen’s reddit thread, or activists protesting Esteban’s death, or the trail of news articles you can find throughout the journey that keep tabs on the chaos the boys leave in their wake. whatever episode, The Case of The Diaz Brothers is one the public has interest in. all corners of american society know of it in some way, from simple online traveling hippies like Brody all the way up to the damn FBI.

in Parting Ways, by Daniel staying in america, he would have to deal with the full force of media and government attention alone. he stays with the Reynolds, Chris becomes his bestie, but literally no one else in the world would be able to help shoulder that weight the same as Sean would have the potential to bc Sean was there (btw i’m absolutely not saying the Reynolds and Chris wouldn’t be good support systems, just that in comparison, Sean would likely be the most effective as him and Daniel were in it together).

i’m gonna compare this to what happens in Redemption. by Sean turning himself in and Daniel staying in the states, the brothers shoulder the weight of american perspective together. Sean goes to jail so no doubt most of the media would pin him as the mastermind. but that doesn’t mean there wouldn’t still be news outlets constantly badgering Daniel about everything that happened as well. and the same way there are people in the fandom that hate Daniel’s guts for the simple crime of being a 9/10 year old, no doubt there would be people in-universe all over the Life Is Strange interwebs that would accuse, blame, and send hate his way. like, there is just no way that, even with R!Sean taking most of the heat, that police-supporters, racists, and etc. wouldn’t still scramble to find ways to harass Daniel too.

but at least with Sean also in america, the spotlight would be split in two. like i was saying before, Sean still goes to fucking prison, so it can be argued that the consequences the Diaz brothers face would be like a 70/30 divide. but at least it wouldn’t be the damn 0/100 divide that happens if Daniel stays in america as the sole remaining Diaz, having to bear the full weight of a nation wide racist spotlight while Sean just gets a tan and sips piña coladas on the beach.

this is not to say that in the puerto lobos endings, america wouldn’t still hate them there too. but i imagine that since they’re in a whole different country, it’d be much easier to just go “bro change the channel” and click to a different tv station when it airs negativity about their case, than Daniel staying in america and possibly having to deal with racist harassment on his way to and inside school. and by living in beaver creek, a town that seems to be predominantly white and judgemental (the Reynolds, the marketplace dude who harassed Fnn and Cassidy), there is no way Daniel would just live in complete peace. and personally i just find that really unfair. the complete lack of consequence on Sean’s part and the full force of consequence on Daniel’s.

reason #2.1 -> and how tf does Sean survive???

this is a minor addition but one that came to mind while writing this post. one of the key elements in Lone Wolf and Blood Brothers is us seeing that the Diaz Brothers (or just Daniel) stay afloat amongst gang violence because of Daniel’s powers.

but??? how does Sean…. do that if he’s alone, wtf? did Sean even open the auto shop?? how is bro making a living??? all we get is a pic of an empty beach and a vague selfie????? hello?? confusion?????

BONUS:

(you can skip this section completely if you want. it’s just abt smthg i also wanna talk about but the main focus of this post are the 2 points i already discussed)

okay now that the disclaimer is out of the way, in this skippable Bonus Section i want to talk about another defense for this ending that i’ve seen constantly, that Daniel wanted to stay in america and never wanted to go to puerto lobos anyway.

and to that i say:

because what the fuck are y’all talking about????

“wanted to stay in america” my ass! you know what Daniel wanted? a HOME! what Daniel wanted most was security and acceptance. he didn’t give a fuck where he got it! this logic of Daniel never wanting to go to mexico is like saying Daniel never wanted to go to beaver creek because he liked the damn rickety shack they had in the woods and fans saying “well he wanted to stay there so he should’ve 🤷🏾‍♀️” even tho his health was declining. this logic is like saying since Daniel didn’t want to then leave beaver creek (a place he just didn’t wanna go to), even tho the police were literally on their asses, thinking Sean should’ve just left him behind to get arrested and held in police custody bc “well he wanted to stay there 😀”

the reason why Daniel keeps dreading every time theyre uprooted and forced to move isn’t bc he just Really Loves America™️, it’s bc of what those locations all have in common, the ep2 cabin, beaver creek, etc. its that Daniel thought they’d found a home. little dude couldn’t care less where it actually is, as long as their end goal is stability and a solid place to stay, that’s what he wants most.

and alongside this desire for stability is his very prominent fear of the unknown.

in episode 1, Daniel was extremely wary of them making camp on the trail and regardless of what you do, will have a nightmare while there.

later on after escaping the gas station and before finding Brody, Daniel will continue to show anxiety bc while it’s good theyre away from Hank, he’s still terrified as fuck bc he has no idea where Sean is leading them to.

in episode 2 when Sean first suggests going to the Reynolds, Daniel immediately expresses anxiety bc he’s never met them before.

in episode 4, hes even afraid of Karen at first! like!!!! this boy, who has been beating Sean over the head with how much he wants to see Karen, when she actually shows up, he keeps his distance.

and even without including the brainwashing, this reaction makes complete sense bc of how Daniel’s responded to the unknown before! pre-meeting, Daniel always referred to Karen as their mom. “mom” is an extremely generic title. he doesnt know Karen from a can of paint, but he knows that a “mom” is supposed to care about their children and be a parent. the familiarity of the mother role and simply missing what it was like to have a parent is what Daniel craved. but the uncertainty of Karen Reynolds? the unfamiliarity of the actual human being?? is what causes Daniel to hesitate in ep4. when Lisbeth urges him to go to her, Daniel even straight up says “I don’t know her” as explanation for his wariness.

i bring up all these examples to emphasize that Daniel is just really scared of the unknown. and that connects to mexico bc the reason why he expresses uncertainty whenever Sean mentions puerto lobos isn’t bc he just doesn’t vibe, it’s bc he doesn’t know anything about it. it’s not that he didn’t want to go to mexico, it’s that he wanted to go somewhere with the comfort of familiarity. a place he feels is stable and where they can actually make roots. it’s not puerto lobos itself that he’s against. just it’s strangeness.

like even Finn touches briefly on this.

[source]

Finn: Well, going to Mexico is the ultimate road trip.

(Optional Dialogue) Sean: Not to Daniel. He doesn't even want to go. At all. Instead, he wants to go to Arizona to see his mom... Fuck that.

Finn: It can be tough growing up not knowing your folks... He needs closure, that's all. Give him time. He'll follow you anywhere.

puerto lobos is such uncharted territory in Daniel’s mind that understandably what he chooses to cling onto instead are things he does know. he knows their mother is out there and, thanks to the letter, that she cares about them. and it makes sense based on his fear of the unknown that he’d take more comfort in what he knows of motherhood (“moms love their kids. the end.”) over the sheer confusion that is puerto lobos.

like what Daniel craves most is stability and what terrifies him most is uncertainty. and puerto lobos is nothing but uncertainty.

but uncertainty does NOT equal reluctance! like did people just forget Lone Wolf ending exists? that there’s legit an ending where if Sean refuses, Daniel will try to drag his ass to puerto lobos anyways???? and one of the biggest reasons he does this, and why again Lone Wolf makes sense, is bc LW Daniel was clearly more terrified of the uncertainty that came with Sean trying to surrender than the familiar promise of togetherness that came with making it to puerto lobos.

like those 2 things are all it is guys. Daniel’s desire for stability and his fear of the unknown. he wasn’t averse to mexico itself. Daniel just wants a place to call home, and whether that be in Beaver Creek or Mexico, he’ll be satisfied with either bc the location isn’t what matters. the comfort is. so this popular interpretation that Daniel just hates puerto lobos for some reason? sorry but that’s not for me.

CONCLUSION

okay i have run out of steam and have finally voiced my thoughts. this was kinda therapeutic tbh lol.

so as you can see i really don’t like Parting Ways. it feels 1) extremely out of character and 2) Daniel having to deal with all that shit alone just seems so incredibly unfair and 3) it confuses things bc if the boys could only stay afloat in puerto lobos bc of Daniel’s powers then how tf is Sean living the happy-go-lucky vacation life by himself?? and 4) i really don’t agree with the fan defenses for it i’ve seen, that Sean leaving Daniel behind is “freeing” somehow and that Daniel never liked puerto lobos in the first place. both reasonings i find to be just nuts.

honestly out of the reasons i’ve listed, the ooc-ness is definitely my biggest gripe. like, PW isn’t the first time we’ve seen a character behave in a way that wasn’t previously established, but the fact that Parting Ways’ most integral parts are where i find its ooc-ness, Sean terrorizing Daniel and then abandoning him to the cops, is one of the biggest reasons why i can’t overlook it and just vibe.

i think the only thing i like about Parting Ways is getting to see Chris again and that’s it. which is kinda useless bc we can just see Chris in Redemption ending…. so….. like the only thing Parting Ways does different that i guess is cool to some is seeing Sean’s love interest at the end, but personally i didn’t get attached to the romance in LIS2 so i don’t find their reunion that exciting.

so yeah, anyways. these are the reasons why i don’t like Parting Ways. sorry for the annoyingly long post, but if you read this far then thank you for bearing with me!! 😄

#lexi plays lis2 #life is strange 2 #lis2 #this post is really long i’m sorry #but i had a lotta thoughts! lol

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stellocchia · 3 years

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Contrary to some other anons I totally agree with your point about tubbo. For some reason this fandoms view of “the right thing to do” is often very screwed. The right thing to do isn’t always the thing you are required to do. Did tubbo have to visit tommy? No. Was his nervousness and cautiousness valid? Yes, of course. was it still kind of crappy of him? Absolutely.

Tubbo felt scared to visit tommy because he was scared of what he would be met with. He was scared tommy didn’t want him there. Not only that, he didn’t want to face his guilt head on, and visiting tommy would do exactly that. Tubbo likes to shove down his emotions, and that would require him to do the exact opposite.

But it had been months! Months until tubbo finally summoned the courage! Holy crap, he left his best friend stranded in the middle of no where for months with out bothering to check on him. Of course, he didn’t know the extent of exile, but he knew certain things. He knew tommy was far away from pretty much all civilization. He knew tommy literally thrived of interaction, and probably wasn’t doing too hot without it. He knew it had been months since he’d seen him, surely he would check up on his friend at some point even if he was scared he wouldn’t like him anymore. That’s still a person you care about.

Imagine how different exile would be if tubbo did visit in time, even once. One of the main bargaining chips Dream used against tommy was the lack of care on tubbos behalf. No wonder tommy believed him. (Now, that’s not to say that was tubbos fault, it’s 100% on dream, just an unfortunate consequence. However even if exile was just exile, no abuse, I’d still say it was kind of terrible on tubbos part.)

I think that’s one thing that annoys me about the fandoms interpretation of tubbos character. Flaws and mistakes arnt always loud and flashy. Sometimes they are quiet, neatly packaged and hidden away. And that’s ok. Flaws are what make a character good. Mistakes give them something to learn from. It makes them human. Tubbos flaws might not be as noticeable as say Tommy’s, who’s are loud and worn directly on his sleeve, but they are still there and can do damage.

I think another interesting thing people never talk about with tubbos character that I want to mention real quick is during the festival, before his execution. Wilbur gives tubbo the choice in wether he detonates the place or not. Tubbo is given the line “let the festival begin”, and if he says it, Wilbur will blow the place to smithereens, along with all their friends. And you know what? Tubbo says it. Why? Many reasons, probably. Season 2 tubbo himself was very weak to pear pressure. Not only that, but he would even back then think very logically, wanting to keep himself and his close friends safe. He never publicly denounced wilburs plan, probably for those two reasons right there. And so for whatever reason, he pulled the trigger.

and that’s what I find interesting. If tubbo had done a flashy speech, or yelled about betrayal or justice, or screamed his defiance to the crowd, I think this moment would be talked about a lot more. But he didn’t. It was quiet, neat, and orderly. But it was still there. It didn’t happen because of the execution, but what if it did. It’s strange that it isn’t talked about nearly as much as Tommy’s possible endangerment of lmanburg later on.

That's actually a really good point and I agree with everything you just wrote Anon.

Tubbo's flaws are harder to notice, but that doesn't mean that they aren't there and that they can't harm others. It doesn't mean we can't discuss them.

Flaws are what make characters interesting and, countrary to what seems to be the popular belief, I do really like Tubbo's character! I watched everything my brain let me of his and I really enjoy him! Flaws and all he's a fascinating and complex character.

The only part of Tubbo's character I don't enjoy is how some parts of the fandom are still settled in taking away all his flaws because apparently you can't enjoy a character if they're not perfect...

#anon ask #dream smp #c!tubbo critical #character analysis #long post #your ask there was worded better than I could ever have #it was great!

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msfcatlover · 3 years

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Can you give the bullet points for that Hollow Knight Ludonarrative dissonance essay so us who played the game can fill in the gaps?

Sure thing!

First and foremost, I know many people are familiar with the term “ludonarrative dissonance,” which is when the mechanics of a game run counter to the themes and sometimes the plot of the story being told. On the opposite end of the spectrum, and far more rarely talked about, is “ludonarrative harmony,” which is when the mechanics of a game support the story being told or even tell a supportive story of their own!

I am very firm in my belief that in a quarter of a century playing video games, Hollow Knight has the best ludonarrative harmony of any game I’ve played.

Here’s my primary example: the condemnation of the Pale King’s actions, and how it ties into the original possible endings of the game.

The Pale King’s failure is the great final tragedy of Hallownest. He saw the end coming, knew he could not defeat the Radiance again, and did not want his people to suffer. He determined he needed a being of pure Void to contain the Radiance, but believed that any emotion would lead to a flawed prison. So, he created the Vessels by the hundreds, letting them struggle to the top of the Abyss, and cast each one of them back down into the depths for the “flaw” of being children with actual emotions. We don’t know how he determined this, but when he finally found one that seemed properly emotionless, “truly hollow,” he took that child and sealed the gate behind them, locking the player character (henceforth referred to as “Ghost” in this first draft ramble-essay,) and who-knows-how-many-other Vessels to fend for themselves in the depths.

You already know this. And you already know that child was not given a name (though I will be referring to them by the fandom nickname “Hollow” from here on out,) was purposefully neglected, taught only training and their purpose for existing in the hopes it would keep emotions and desires from taking root. But Hollow did have desires; specifically, Hollow just wanted their dad to be proud of them. When Hollow sacrificed their mind to hold the Radiance and was imprisoned in the Black Egg, after the Dreamers gave their own minds to keep it sealed, the prison was faulty. An unspecified amount of time later, the Radiance’s influence was able to leak out in the form of the Infection, and the kingdom of Hallownest was destroyed.

(The Pale King often gets pilloried by the fandom for “letting” that happen by showing any level of caring for the child. This is the wrong conclusion.)

The game begins with us playing Ghost, having at some point escaped from the Abyss and (seemingly) having lost their memories in the wilds outside the kingdom. It is as Ghost that we track down the Dreamers and slay them, opening the Egg to face Hollow and put an end to the plague, though how exactly that happens and what the outcome is depends on your choices throughout the game.

As a fellow Vessel, you can take Hollow’s place. When Hollow is slain, Ghost absorbs the Radiance and the Egg reseals itself.

Using the power of the Dreamnail, you can enter Hollow’s mind and fight the Radiance directly, driving her back into hiding for the foreseeable future.

If you have the Voidheart charm equipped and choose to fight the Radiance, you become a “higher being” yourself and are able to slay her for good. The kingdom is free of the plague, and Hollow even survives and has another chance at life. (This one is, by the way, known as the “True Ending.”)

And here we finally reach my argument, and I can stop regurgitating old information. Because these endings and what you need to achieve them is what finally solidifies just how wrong the Pale King was. Wronger than he ever knew.

He must have thought the Vessels less than people, or he would not have been willing to kill so many. But he would not have rejected so many of them if the Vessels weren’t inherently feeling, thinking creatures like any other bug in the kingdom — none of them were “truly hollow.” Children, left to die in the dark by the hundreds. The greatest sin he ever committed.

We know he did, on some level, care about Hollow, but still chose to neglect them in hopes of stunting their emotional growth. That he believed the sacrifice of one Vessel and three of his most respected advisors (give or take Herrah, who’s whole deal with him is kinda... weird,) to eternal imprisonments was better than letting the whole kingdom fall to the Radiance’s vengeance. That the ends justify the means. It’s his last thought, still echoing in his corpse when we find him on his throne: “...No cost too great...”

But the ends don’t justify the means, and I don’t just mean because the plan failed. I mean because it was inherently flawed in its initial premise, the very assumption he built it on: that “being hollow” was the solution to the problem.

A truly hollow Vessel would not care one whit about the mission or anything else. If Ghost were hollow, there would not be a game; they would wander aimlessly, not speaking or interacting with anyone, until they finally died.

If you play Ghost as being hollow, or as close to it as you can, you’ll be ignoring all NPCs. You’ll not be buying any upgrades or equipment. You’ll not be wandering far from the central path. Why would you? A hollow Vessel should care only for their mission, find the shortest route to enter the Black Egg, slay Hollow, and be done with it. Not only does this make life much harder for you, it nets you the worst ending. The Pale King’s trap just resets, now with the Dreamers dead so none can ever try to fix the problem again, and it will fail eventually, because Ghost isn’t hollow. The very fact there is a plot to follow, a goal to achieve, means that Ghost has goals they are willing to suffer hardships to reach. Frustration, determination, and pride in success have to be assumed, complimented by the fact those are all the emotions the player will feel on this particular run.

If you want to face the Radiance, you have to upgrade the Dreamnail, and you’re not told that will be the end result when you first receive it. You have to be ambitious and stubborn, at the very least, to pursue that goal blind, or you have to really want to know what the Sage will give you as a reward. You have to experiment, going back to bosses you’ve already beaten to fight their dream versions and put them to rest, track down the hidden dream roots and clamber all over the map to solve their puzzles. For the second ending, Ghost has to have goals outside of their main mission, has to think through the concept of deaths enough to make the connection between the ghosts and the bosses, and repeatedly return to speak to the Sage for the upgrades. They have to be curious enough to even use the Dreamnail in the first place, and like it enough to want to improve it.

And how do you get the best ending? The true ending? Slay the Radiance, defeat it for good, save the kingdom of Hallownest?

You explore. You wander off the main path, root out secrets and shortcuts and answers. You need to talk to multiple NPCs, and not just speed through their dialogue to get your reward but actually think about it and remember who’s connected to whom. You meet the White Lady in the Queen’s Garden and travel down into the Abyss, both areas you never need to go to and which no one will even tell you about before you’ve been there. You throw yourself against the Path of Pain again, and again, and again, and again, with no promise of reward, just to see what’s on the other side.

To truly defeat the Radiance, you have to play Ghost as being curious, distractible, attentive, and caring. They cannot be isolated and they cannot be ignorant. And if you care enough to end up with the Voidheart, you probably talked to everyone, helped them complete their quests, tried different charm combinations and ran around the map just to see how people reacted. You probably wanted to know the secrets of Hallownest, and refused to let insurmountable odds turn you away.

In the true ending, Ghost actually has a pretty strong personality, told purely through mechanics.

Story and gameplay.

The Pale King was wrong. We’re told that, asked to look upon his actions and despair that anyone could be driven to such lengths... made worse by the fact his theory was flawed in its very foundations. Being hollow was never the answer; a hollow Vessel was always going to fail. The cost was too great, and all the awful things he did to try and stop the Radiance... it was all for nothing.

Harmony.

It’s just... it’s heartbreaking, and absolutely beautiful.

And every time I see people say Ghost can defeat the Radiance because “they’re the one who’s really hollow,” I want to rip my hair out, like how the fuck can people just IGNORE the SMOOTHEST INTEGRATION OF STORYTELLING AND GAMEPLAY I’ve ever seen in my LIFE, one of the HARDEST PARTS OF GAME DEVELOPMENT that someone probably spent months getting down to such a truly astounding finish, and somehow reach the conclusion the guy whose fuckups lead to the deaths of hundreds of children, intentional child abuse, and the downfall of his kingdom was RIGHT?!

#hollow knight #hollow knight meta #hk meta #the pale king #hallownest #games #my life #mine

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communistkenobi-archive · 3 years

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as someone who mostly sticks to the little inhabitable corners of the sw fandom, what do you mean when you say a lot of meta blogs post racist takes? i just follow a handful of people to avoid general cringe, so i’m not familiar with the popular meta blogs or their opinions

This topic is a bit complicated because I think that often times, a bad reading of certain conflicts in SW can lead to racist conclusions, even if the intent of the interpretation is not racist.

For example, a very common argument in the fandom is the idea that the Jedi are not morally culpable for the slave army they led into battle during the Clone Wars. The reasons for arguing this is that the Jedi were hamstrung by the Republic and more or less forced to into leading the war - basically, they had no way of refusing this and had no political recourse. Sometimes you see people argue they were as helpless as the clones, sometimes not.

Now this isn’t a terrible reading of tCW on the surface, but the issue I have with this interpretation is that you are giving a pass to what is essentially the Republic police force (the Jedi Order) for leading a slave army because they didn’t want to and the Senate made them anyway. And like, politics and power in real life do not work this way - even though the Jedi don’t have direct political representation in the Senate in the form of a Senator, that doesn’t mean they don’t have political power. They are agents of the Republic; they maintain its borders, they are dispatched as Republic representatives to settle disputes, they are given a fair bit of personal discretion on how to handle the conflicts they are dispatched to solve, etc. They have an incredible amount of political capacity, even if they are ultimately still accountable to the Senate. In the same way you wouldn’t argue that like, the FBI doesn’t have political power because they don’t have an elected representative speaking on their behalf, you wouldn’t argue the Jedi have no political power either (I’m not saying the Jedi = FBI, just that they are both federal agents and powerful political bodies in their respective states). Political power comes in many forms, and an elected official is only one (small) form of power.

So to say that like, these extremely powerful space cops had no choice but to lead a war with a slave army of brown men is really... not great. And I need to emphasise that the clones weren’t just marginalised or disenfranchised - they were legally classified as property, in the same way a car or a house is your property. They had no rights as citizens because they were not legally treated as people. And because tCW is written for an American audience by American authors, they are very intentionally drawing parallels to the legacy of slavery in America, a history and context that you can’t ignore if you want to answer the question of “who is morally culpable for the crime of using slaves to fight a war?”

To argue that the Jedi are not actually at fault for their position as heads of the Republic slave army is just, like, politically incoherent and nonsensical, and leads to situations where you can say things like “the Jedi and the clones were both marginalised by the Republic.” People often treat the Jedi and the clones as suffering together during the Clone Wars and being on the same side (in opposition to the Republic & Separatists), but the reality is that the Jedi were legally treated as a privileged class of people responsible for policing the Republic, and the clones were legally classified as property. There is no situation in where they are legally, politically, or morally on the same footing, and if you want to argue that conclusion, you are now stepping into very shaking historical ground with a “not all slave owners” sort of argument (now I realise that the clones “belonged” to the Republic and not the Jedi directly, but the Jedi are representatives of the Republic in all the ways that matter legally and politically).

Star Wars is extremely politically confused and incoherent, and even encourages the audience to come to the exact conclusion I’m arguing is faulty, but that doesn’t make it any less problematic or reactionary. And I’m far from the first person to point out the flaw in interpreting the Clone Wars in this way - there has been a lot of discussion on how much blame to lay at the Jedi Order’s feet for the Clone Wars.

I think there is also a tendency to want to paint the Jedi as marginalised by the Republic because of Order 66 (ie, the concern is that if you say the Jedi were bad/corrupt/wrong/etc, then you are therefore also saying they deserved Order 66), which that in itself is a whole other problem. Because like regardless of how much you do or don’t want to blame the Jedi for the failures of the Republic, that does not justify or rationalise their subsequent genocide. The way genocide is presented in SW is an ahistorical and incoherent mess anyway - genocides are not an isolated, singular mass death event like Order 66, they are an ongoing process and policy agenda enforced by the state (which the Jedi are part of!) that is expressed in a number of ways, from legal restrictions on your rights, to religious persecution, to population transfers, to etc, etc, etc. Now there was an infrastructure put in place to carry out Order 66 in the form of the clones, but like, states that want to commit genocide do not generally allow the target group to lead state armies and act as state representatives.

The other issue is that citizens in the SW universe had rational, logical reasons to hate the Jedi, precisely because of their political privilege in the Republic and their status as Republic agents. The Republic is a shitty and corrupt state that is deeply unequal and violent, and so Republic citizens despising the Jedi for upholding that state is a completely reasonable thing to do.

But groups that are the targets of genocide in the real world are not targeted for rational reasons. They are used as scapegoats for social and economic problems, they are painted as impure or unclean, they are otherised by the state so that other citizens do not view them as fully human (so that when the state does start enacting mass violence, their citizens are primed to accept it). And most of the time, these groups are used as scapegoats because pre-existing societal bigotries make it easy for citizens to believe this propaganda. And all of these “reasons” for why genocide is necessary are irrational and incorrect - there is no material or logical basis for bigotry except to further the interests of those in power.

But there is for the Jedi, which like... SW itself is sort of implying that genocidal events are founded on some sort of rational basis - the problem lies in the fact that genocide is a step too far in addressing that issue. So even though that is baked into the fabric of the text, I reject the interpretation of the Jedi as marginalised prior to Order 66 because it also implies that bigotry is rational on some level, and bigotry is inherently irrational. There is never a “good” reason to be bigoted towards a marginalised group, and genocide is an inherently bigoted undertaking.

And as a small side note - I still like the Jedi despite this, and I’m not calling anyone racist for simply liking the Jedi. What I’m saying is that people need to be honest about the Jedi’s political power and place in the Republic if they want to avoid getting into the very weird discourse I’ve outlined above.

I hope that makes sense lmao. My problem mostly stems from the fact that Star Wars calls upon direct historical parallels as inspiration for its conflicts, and a bad interpretation of those fictional conflicts very often sounds similar to the bad and reactionary readings people have of real life historical events. And like, if you aren’t intimately familiar with those historical events I’m not going to fault you for that, but they can’t be ignored when people point them out and provide that missing historical context.

#sw.txt #questions in spaaace #sw meta #tcw meta #Anonymous

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