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#do you even realize what a clown you look like trying to defend a character as pure as the driven snow by sending anon hate to someone as
signedkoko · 2 months
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HII I have been reading your writing for a while now and I lOVE IT! I've been waiting to put in a req when they got open sooo! (Your writing always makes me hAPPYY when they come out) <33 Any chance of an Overlord!GN reader with Mammon / Striker? Just general romantic Headcannons- Like how it is to date them/everyday stuff with them (The reader is always serious (and tall 👀) and owns a big casino in pride (Maybe Mammon taking interest in it? idk))
Mammon | Striker [Romantic]
In which you are their overlord s/o that owns the largest casino in the pride ring. Reader is genderneutral.
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The guy looks like a total clown next to you
And he is, but he loses any sense of danger when he's standing next to you, who happens to be just a few inches taller than him
Your cold sneer next to that goofy grin, like he knows he's totally lucked out having such a hottie for an s/o
To many in the greed ring, he was the greediest of all, but when they came up top to the sinners realm and met some of the overlords that roamed the lands, they started to realize that yeah, maybe Mammon wasn't so bad
While Mammon used to attract many fans, ever since you two became an item, they've stayed far, far away
At first, he hated it because it meant he couldn't scam some pathetic sinners
But you had the idea that he could come by your casino for official meet and greets; that way, people would pay the entrance fee for you and him for just fucking around in a casino all day
Mammon is actually kind of an airhead at times
He isn't stupid, but he isn't all there, especially when with you; he just turns his brain off and lets you do the thinking
You're better at it anyways
During extermination, you can't go down and be safe with him; he will often come up just to ensure your safety
Sure, you seem scarier, but that's only because he is in his smaller form
You two are a literal power couple; you could take over all of hell if you tried hard enough
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Striker always preferred to stay away from the pride ring
Sinners were such a hassle, especially keeping up with the overlords and what they considered 'theirs'
In fact, he'd stay in wrath all the time if he could, but business always called for his presence in the upper ring
He isn't stupid enough to fall into the grip of an overlord-run casino, but more than one of his targets did
Your security caught him more than once sneaking angelic weapons into your casino
The third time it happened was enough, and you came forward yourself to speak to the man
He was charming and convincing, but you weren't one to let things slide so easily
You promised he could do whatever he liked with your occupants, given that he gets their casino dues in
And well, for how much he was paid, that wasn't too terrible a deal
The two of you ended up a bit more than intertwined, though, and the assassin managed to worm his way into your heart
And god, was it ever a sight
One of the oldest overlords that towered over anyone that came before them, with a face like a funeral, next to an imp
An imp no one really knew, either
At the end of the day, the only people who dared question you were other overlords, but they tended to leave their noses out of others business, respectfully or not
While you could defend yourself rather well, Striker is more than happy to handle anyone who dares try to touch you
Interrogations are useful, you know; that way, he can kill off the whole chain of command
He's very romantic and gentlemanly with you, even if you don't ask for such from him
Don't think your position of power will ever make him feel like he is the lesser; he will take good care of you no matter who you are
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Author's Note - Thank you so much for requesting, I'm glad you got a chance! It was a nice break going back to some Helluva Boss characters (not that I hate writing hazbin, but it was a lot of requests).
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glimmersea · 4 months
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hohoho i'm back for more Merryn lore!! (i didn't realize the ask meme had multiple sections)
What can they be found doing at the tiefling/goblin party?
Is your Tav a romanceable character?  Are there any specific requirements to romancing them? Does your Tav need to be flirted with to start the romance, or will they approach the PC themselves if approval is high enough?
What do they say if the PC tries to force them to go up on stage with Dribbles the Clown?
Ahhh thank you for sending so many good asks! I appreciate you. Additional Merryn lore:
What can they be found doing at the tiefling/goblin party?
Trying to sleep with Zevlor. If Volo is at that party he's drinking with Volo. They're getting louder and louder yes-anding each other's melodramatic recounting of the day's events. When Alfira asks the player character what her angle should be re: the song she's writing about them Volo and Merryn are talking animatedly in the background and when you talk to them Merryn reacts to and judges whatever you answered Alfira.
But to be serious about Zevlor I think Merryn, despite being a drow, really deeply empathizes with the plight of the tieflings, who can never go home again, and Zevlor specifically who is trying to hold everything together and seems to be constantly feeling like he's failing at that and I think just as the player character says to Wyll and Halsin hey you should come join the party (with possible subtext being because I'm into you and I don't like to see you standing off by yourself) Merryn feels the same way about Zevlor.
Is your Tav a romanceable character? Are there any specific requirements to romancing them? Does your Tav need to be flirted with to start the romance, or will they approach the PC themselves if approval is high enough?
I think if he is romanceable the start of it is triggered by gaining an inspiration point specific to his entertainer background: either playing music with Alfira at the grove party or successfully reciting your way through the poetry options Bernard gives you in the underdark wizard tower.
If the former, I think he can be approached the night of the party and your conversation will be about like... unexpected heroism and goodness coming from places people don't often think to look. If Merryn is in fact spending the evening hitting on Zevlor you can comment on that and he'll try to defend himself by being like well, why not, he's attractive and he seems like he needs to unwind a little, because I think it would be fun if you can get the initial impression that here is yet another horny bard only to learn as time goes on that that is not Merryn's angle. He will not kiss you here unless you kiss him first and you can sleep with him or not but he'll be standoffish the next day if you do. Despite that he'll tell you more about himself after this, although he's unusually reserved in his private life For A Bard.
if the latter you'll get a scene the next time you make camp in the underdark where he's up after the others have gone to sleep, just holding his violin and staring into the fire. He'll talk about the automaton's "there is a light in every living thing / it's crawling towards the surface to survive" and give you additional context for the work it comes from. You can ask if he wrote it-- he didn't but he'll tell you about things he has written, songs about finding beauty in the dark, about missing something that no longer exists or maybe never did, about lost love. He'll tell you this is the first time he's been back to the underdark since he ran away from home several centuries ago. You can ask if he was afraid to come back and he responds that he was afraid it would be hard to leave again. Despite the fact he could never really belong in Menzoberranzan, the underdark is still home to him even after so many years.
Alternatively, if you already got the former scene at the tiefling party, he'll tell you all of the above and then at the end start to play his violin quietly, singing a song you recognize as being about the drow hero Drizzt Do'Urden-- this is another Merryn original and he claims Drizzt is, too. You can express disbelief or annoyance that he would claim to have invented Drizzt, he's a real person, surely, to which Merryn will respond that there are no perfect heroes in the real world.
What do they say if the PC tries to force them to go up on stage with Dribbles the Clown?
I do not know the answer to this as I have not done this sidequest yet 🫣
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to anthony it was also a competition with kate, to prove himself to her in his own clown logic. my best explanation is that he wanted to be around kate, win their arguments (without realizing what his feelings were) and defend his character, but she was always shutting him down, closing the door, leaving the room. so he resorted to manipulative and pushy methods like how he got to sit with edwina and kate at ascot, coming to a party he wasn't invited to, and courting edwina so hard so kate had to tolerate his presence. i think he really didnt care that edwina would get hurt because he was self-centered about his own wants. even in ep 1 it said said to his douche friends the difficulty is finding a wife while "wooing the piece" would be easy - i don't think he cares much about his wife's wants beyond children, he cares more about qualities of a viscountess. my interpretation is that while he says he doesnt want his wife to grieve like his mom did, he's also terrified of losing someone else he loves. throughout the show he doesn't consider any feelings his wife might have for him but is more concerned with choosing anyone with the right qualities that he knows he won't love. esp after ep 4 it's clear he's more spooked at falling in love himself, in ep 5 it's clear he doesn't pay attention to edwina anymore now that they're engaged. he really doesn't care if he hurts her what with the way he's acting around kate, then trying to get out of the engagement without concern for edwina's heartbreak until kate begs him.
but also it's just a lot of bad writing! and i realize i'm rationalizing and giving more thought to this than the actual writers did!! anthony's not the only character they had doing whatever needs to get the plot to the wedding. i think there could be something to be said with anthony's character about unaddressed trauma unintentionally hurting innocent people around you because you're so focused on your own (emotional in this case) survival that you forget they have wants and needs too. but these writers are definitely incapable of handling that topic well lol
I don’t think Anthony viewed it as a competition with Kate. That makes him look even worse. I think the whole thing would actually make more sense to me if not for his actions in ep 2. He goes out of his way to woo Edwina with grand gestures. He buys her a horse. I also think people forget that he was willing to read Benedict’s love poem to Edwina and only stopped because of Kate and Violet. So if he was alone with Edwina he probably would have read it. Which was strange because if he just wants friendship in a marriage, why is he reading her poems about love. I could believe book!Anthony’s courtship of Edwina because he did the bare minimum and expected his title to do the work for him. Which made sense for someone who didn’t want love in their marriage.
But also, if his motivation that he was afraid of loosing someone he loved, the whole thing would have made more sense. His motivation of not leaving behind a grieving wife didn’t match up with his actions. It’s only mentioned in ep 3 and then never brought up again. He doesn’t seem worried about this with Kate. Then in ep 8, it comes across more as Anthony is afraid of loosing someone that’s why he doesn’t want love. But I don’t think the writers wanted to admit that Anthony didn’t give a shit about Edwina feelings, just as long as he didn’t love her. So they had to give Anthony a more ‘selfless’ motivation.
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ziracona · 3 years
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Friendly reminder you have to pay me $5 to read and respond to anon hate, or I'll just ignore the pissbaby missive and move on without ever reading it, add you to my blocklist, and forget you ever existed. <3 which is actually preferrable to the $5 things because that's way undercharging to deal with a toddler tantrum from an entitled adult on the internet tbh but I figure if it's that important I may as well leave the option open for now out of my intense charitable kindness.
#'The Crypters didn't-' sweaty I'll never read more of your message but yes they did <3 they're evil little shits and I'd kill any of them#with my own hands go get a life why are you so emotionally unstable and pathetic you can't handle a single person online having an opinion#that isn't yours on the internet step on glass <3 be a better person or be hit by a bus <#The fact everyone who stans these characters is so pathetic I get hate for making a /meme/ --not even hate a /meme/ about the arc of a#game I'm playing where the /villain/ of that arc says a line from a series of unfortunate events? Is further proof how right I am#and how stupid disgusting and pathetic you are. go fuck yourself love <3#this is genuinely funny I feel like the jester with the rabid dogs painting#Lostbelt 2#do you even realize what a clown you look like trying to defend a character as pure as the driven snow by sending anon hate to someone as#a way to try and convince them? It's so fucking funny like you are all so stupid#but if that's who you stan I'm really not surprised. Like attracts like I guess rofl go decompose in an open grave with your garbage faves#You’re literally so stupid like before I was like ‘yeah villains whose asses I wanted to kick’ but now I’m dedicated to absolutely despising#every one of them on a more personal level just to piss you all off for mildly inconvenienceing me#anyway I’m right I’m better and nicer and smarter than you because i rock I don’t harass strangers over my feewings not being able to stand#a difference of opinion and I can critically read content
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makeste · 3 years
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BnHA Chapter 325: Deku VS the Outside of U.A. ~Conclusion~
Previously on BnHA: Ochako was all “dear bloodthirsty mob, this kid you see standing before you has fought harder than anyone and put his life on the line to protect you all, so please chill the fuck out, jesus christ. like, putting aside that he’s humanity’s best hope and so it’s very much in your best interests to let him rest and recover someplace safe so that he can keep fighting for us, are y’all seriously going to turn away an injured and exhausted child in front of his sobbing mother?? seriously?? come on now.” I’m paraphrasing here but that’s basically how it went down. Anyway so then the mob was all, “...” and Deku collapsed to his knees in tears, and Gigantic Fox Lady and Kouta ran over to give him a hug but then the chapter ended.
Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “FINE, YOU CAN HUG HIM”, which, was that so hard?? The U.A. Clown Mob is all “come to think of it, we’ve kind of been taking the heroes for granted this entire time, maybe we should be less passive in the future. anyway so Deku if it’s not too much to ask, can you please save everyone and fix everything.” Deku is all “I sure can, and by the way I forgive you for swarming around all menacingly two minutes ago and trying to deny me basic shelter and stuff.” Ectoplasm is all, “hey Todogang get a load of this. [walks in a circle].” Hawks is all, “that’s literally the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.” Rat Principal is all, “anyway so that’s what your students did today, hope you’re enjoying your new *~*ROBOT LEG*~*, Aizawa.” Aizawa is all “[lots of exposition about Kurogiri and for some reason, Toga, while being all brooding and sexy].” All Might is all “[standing here right outside of U.A. doing absolutely nothing and being foreboding AF]” and that immediately sucked away all of the warm fuzzy feelings from the hugs, goddammit.
each new week has become a waiting game of “when will Deku finally get to take a bath so people will actually be willing to go near him and give him the hugs he deserves.” the stakes have never been so compelling. I’ve almost forgotten about AFO entirely
lmaoooooo
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me: for the love of god will someone please give Deku a hug before I die of old age
Mineta: YOU GOT IT!! --
Iida: [SWIFTLY CUTS HIM OFF] NOT YOU
fucking losing it at Mineta’s crying face. he really wanted to hug him. I legit feel bad but this is also the funniest thing I have seen all week, omg
somehow Kouta, who last week was only a hand’s breadth away from touching Deku’s head, is now twenty miles away from him in this new chapter
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can I make a Loki reference here. is this recap a good place to insert a joke about someone using a TVA time-rewinding device to fuck with my poor boy Kouta over here. well anyway there it is
AND NOW HE’S BACK ALL OF A SUDDEN OMG
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(ETA: since when is he “niichan” omg?? can’t handle this cuteness.)
BUT THEY’RE STILL NOT HUGGING HIM FFFFKFFFFF. WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO. WHO DO I HAVE TO BRIBE AND/OR BLACKMAIL
OH NO KOUTA IS CRYING THAT’S IT I’M DONE FOR
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“when I heard that lady I knew that I had to go, but then stop again within inches of actually touching you because you smell like week-old rotten onions.” listen Kouta, I’m not saying I don’t get it, but you all can’t keep doing this to me. it’s the way you guys keep teasing it. like, if you’re gonna hug him, hug him. don’t just stand there with your arms held rigidly out in front of you like a molded action figure
OH MY GOSH BUT HE SAID THE THING
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KOUTA SWOOPING IN AT THE LAST MINUTE TO TAKE ALL THE CREDIT FOR FIXING DEKU LIKE THAT ONE KID IN THE GROUP PROJECT WHO DOES ABSOLUTELY NOTHING BUT STILL TAGS HIS NAME ONTO THE REPORT ANYWAY, WHAT A KNAVE
GASP
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(  ´͈ ᗨ `͈ )
SHE PICKED HIM UP LIKE A LITTLE BABY OMG?? she just leaned right over and lifted this child like he was a small animal. like a lil baby futon that she was about to hang up to dry. oh my god
-- HEY WHAT
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(: well that’s extremely fucked up. though sadly not too surprising given what we just saw these past couple chapters
incidentally, I hope that anyone who was legitimately defending the civilians’ perspective earlier takes note here of how quickly that line of thinking -- “we’re just trying to keep our families safe” and all that-- can lead to straight up bigotry. if you’re willing to deny a child shelter and protection simply because he’s not YOUR child, and because you’ve decided based on Internet rumors (no real-world parallels there, I’m sure) that he might present a threat, it’s really not that much further of a leap to discriminating against entire groups of people simply because you perceive those groups as being dangerous. I’m sure the people who turned Gigantic Fox Lady away also told themselves afterwards that they did it to protect their families. “better safe than sorry.” “she’ll be fine, someone will take her in, but as for us, we can’t afford to take that risk.” people can come up with all kinds of justifications for treating other people as less than human, and the really scary thing about it is how fucking easy it is
one last quick side note, which is that Horikoshi does a great job here of showing how scapegoating works, given that AFO is the one who’s really to blame and who presents the actual threat, and yet Deku is the one who ultimately winds up being the target of the mob’s fear and outrage despite him being as much of a victim as they are. gotta love that irony, which unfortunately plays out far too often in the real world as well.
anyway I’ll get off my soapbox now, sorry about that. let us continue
YES, FINALLY OH MY GOD!!!!
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AND THAT’S THE STORY OF HOW GIGANTIC FOX LADY BECAME THE GREATEST HERO. PACK IT ALL UP, WE’RE DONE HERE KIDS
holy shit. the real MVP right there. thanks for getting it done champ
jesus christ I have had it up to here with these people
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literally the bar is set so low at this point that I’ll go ahead and take it. helping him because it offers them a tactical advantage is at least one step up from not helping him at all
“WHY NOT SHIKETSU” MOTHERFUCKER I SWEAR TO GOD
-- thank you!!
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okay this one guy with the antennae hair is having himself a character development speedrun here
-- okay, but this part?? fucking this part, right here??
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can we repeat that again?? the part where this guy acknowledges that the problems of hero society were caused not just by said heroes, but also by said society?? the part where he acknowledges that they treated the heroes like celebrities who were putting on a show for them?? the part where he acknowledges that when push came to shove, the vast majority of those heroes, when faced with a situation that offered no reward, were nonetheless willing to put their lives on the line to protect the very same people who then turned around and blamed them rather than thanking them?? are the civilians of BnHA even allowed to have actual deep thoughts about this stuff. holy shit
bro!!
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ANTENNAE HAIR GUY SHOVING KOUTA AND GIGANTIC FOX LADY OUT OF THE WAY TO SLAP HIS NAME ONTO THE END CREDITS AS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER. CONGRATULATIONS SON YOU FIGURED OUT THE CORE PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTION AT THE VERY HEART OF THE MANGA. WAY TO GO BUD
meanwhile, on today’s episode of “one more chapter to go till the big volume cliffhanger, how else can I drag things out let’s see”
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it’s a panel. of people’s feet. just a bunch of normal feet. with sneakers and shit
this All Might shirt guy is getting more screentime in this arc than 90% of the class 1-A kids
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I guess I’m supposed to feel sorry for this dude now that he’s all “if we let you stay here do you promise to somehow magically fix every single problem that we are now currently facing?” those are some ridiculously exacting standards my dude. come on now
KACCHAN SIGHTING
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thank fuck I’m not the only one who’s thoroughly unimpressed by absolutely all of this lol. I feel better now. meanwhile Iida and Kouda and Kiri are ready to run over there and hug them all. you guys are way too forgiving. damn you and your pure hearts
anyway so Deku’s like “yeah, definitely”
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(ETA: almost forgot to comment on the “I’m no longer alone” part – he basically corrects the guy and says “sorry, but you’ll need to direct that question towards all of us, not just me, because moving forward we’re a team.” good stuff.)
you know what though, all joking aside... fuck yeah. because perfect victory, right. the strongest guys don’t settle for anything less. so I guess Deku has pretty exacting standards himself
also can you all just take a look at this fucking kid who’s got so much light in his eyes now that I’m gonna need eclipse goggles. hot damn. “you’re welcome” says All Might Shirt Guy as he is frantically interviewed by several local news networks asking him how he daringly managed to save Deku all by himself. “well I guess I’ve just never been the kind of guy who can sit back and let a bunch of rabble-rousers blame a little kid for all of humanity’s problems. someone had to step in and take action, you know?”
oH MY GOD THE SCENE IS FINALLY ENDING
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don’t let the door hit you on your way out All Might Shirt Guy
but meanwhile, sudden Tododrama action??
oh shit
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there are honestly so many ways in which Ochako’s very moving speech could have wildly backfired that I genuinely have no clue where this is headed lol. how exciting!!
so now Horikoshi is once again stalling for time with random filler panels, but this one is 10x better than the shoes lol omg
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(1) was Ectoplasm’s jacket always this oversized. (2) did you guys know that if you go back to chapter 319 you can see that Horikoshi gave us a sneak peak at Enji’s Sad Detective disguise and I in fact made a joke about it in the 319 recap not realizing it was actually the stone cold truth. (3) did Shouto deliberately speed up out of impatience because Hawks was walking so fucking slow and he couldn’t take it any longer. (4) and what, I ask you, is up with these dramatic speedlines. so many mysteries here. what a masterpiece
everyone is acting all shocked about something ahh what’s going on
wait what
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what the heck. did they just loop around behind everyone. what was the point of that lol. “anyway, so this is what they look like from the back” well okay, thanks for that Ectoplasm
(ETA: so it seems like they were actually hanging out someplace else away from the crowd this whole time, I guess? here I thought they had more faith in Enji’s disguise. I guess Shouto and Hawks don’t particularly want to attract this crowd’s attention themselves right now either, though.)
I am so fucking confused lmao
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speaking of All Might WHERE THE FUCK IS HE lol. but yes, good, OFA brings everyone together, and Hawks is very deeply moved about this out of the blue all of a sudden. you know how it is
aw heck yeah now this is another filler panel I can get behind
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Mineta really wants that hug, good lord. I genuinely love this actually. Mineta if you could just stay little and cute and keep crying about how much you love your classmates in a non-gross way for the rest of the series I would be so appreciative. you’re doing great
IIDA IS HOLDING DEKU’S HAND THIS IS NOT A DRILL. ONE TIME WASN’T ENOUGH FOR MY MAN HE’S ADDICTED NOW
what did I tell you. Kiri wants to get all of the mob’s autographs now. Kiri you’re a peach
Shouji having a conversation with another mutant type is a very nice touch! we really need to get to his backstory soon. I feel like that casual remark from GFL earlier was kind of hinting at more to come
is this the first time we’ve ever seen the Yaoyorictionary in action?? never forget that Viz tried to call it the “Yaoyorozu Reference Book” because they hate fun
last but not least, KAMIBAKU IS BACK ON THE MENU, FUCK YEAH. Kaminari trying to spice things up and introduce a little bit of controversy by smacking Kacchan on the back of the head for god knows what. I will be deeply disappointed after this if I can’t find at least one person unironically declaring that KamiBaku is now toxic and abusive
lfkdlWLWK TODODRAMA??
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oh my god. Shouto’s face. Enji’s face. the back to “oyaji” again. the blunt, not-taking-no-for-an-answer, “I don’t know how much louder the universe can scream at you that doing things alone is not it, so hopefully you got the point” directness of it. fffdlkslj I’m so ready for this Horikoshi please don’t fuck it up my expectations are so high
HOLY FUCK
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I SCROLLED DOWN AND HE WAS ALL “( ❛‿❛)” AND I JUST WASN’T FUCKING EXPECTING THAT OKAY. JESUS CHRIST. GIVE ME A SEC
lol okay moment over and now Enji’s pulling his hat down all dramatically like a world-weary Cowboy
OH MY GOD WERE YOU FACETIMING??
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AHHHHHHHHH
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(ETA: not to put Iida down or anything, but it’s kind of strange that Aizawa is all “the class rep sure did great” when Ochako is the one that was giving that whole big speech for like twenty minutes just now lol.)
(ETA 2: “thank god Iida stepped in just in the nick of time to keep Mineta from hugging Deku.” sorry Mineta I really do like you lately but it’s still low-hanging fruit lol.)
HE LOOKS SO SAD??! HE LOOKS LIKE HEARTBREAK ITSELF??! I AM BESOUGHT WITH THE URGE TO REACH INTO MY SCREEN AND PULL HIM INTO THE SAFETY OF MY ARMS??? MY GOD, AND I THOUGHT DEKU NEEDED HUGS
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH okay I was gonna just hold down the letter H for a full minute and count it out loud but within about ten seconds I realized I needed to chill lol
-- but then again NO, I DON’T NEED TO CHILL, I HAVE ZERO CHILL, ACTUALLY, BECAUSE IT’S AIZAWA WITH A ROBOT LEG AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
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COMPLETE WITH ROBOT TOES FOR THAT EXTRA TOUCH OF AUTHENTICITY!! I LIKE HOW HORIKOSHI PUT ALL THIS EXTRA “!!!” EMPHASIS AROUND IT IN CASE WE COULD SOMEHOW POSSIBLY FAIL TO TAKE NOTICE. “REMEMBER, EVERYONE?” SAYS HORIKOSHI HELPFULLY. “REMEMBER THAT TIME AIZAWA CHOPPED OFF HIS OWN LEG?” oh wow now that you mention it we somehow forgot all about that. like who do you take us for
OH NO NOT THE SAD BOYFRIEND ANGST THAT I WAS SECRETLY LOOKING FORWARD TO WITH GLEE
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well at least he’s not M.I.A. or back with the villains again like I thought he might be. still, that’s gotta be brutal to know your friend is in there somewhere, but to not be able to reach him again no matter how hard you try. that’s the kind of angst that pays off in final battles just when you most expect it. such is my hope, at any rate
what’s this now??
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trying to decide if this is Horikoshi’s way of saying don’t worry about that, or his way of saying definitely worry about that lol
anyway so Aizawa is out here being all irresponsibly handsome once again. when is someone going to do something about him
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here for Sexy Robot Leg Eyepatch Aizawa clenching his fists and making speeches about revenge. pretty sure we’re all here for that
WELL, WELL, WELL
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IT’S ABOUT FUCKING TIME
I’M VERY GLAD YOU’RE ALIVE AND SEEMINGLY WELL, THOUGH!
BUT WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK THOUGH, ALL MIGHT
ffff. bracing myself for that cliffhanger next week. you’d better not touch one hair on this man’s head Horikoshi. I’m watching you 
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mishasminions · 3 years
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The Last Time I’ll Write a Long Post About Supernatural (15x18-15x20)
15 YEARS OF WATCHING THIS SHOW. 11 YEARS OF RUNNING A BLOG ABOUT IT. IT’S BEEN QUITE A RIDE.
[15x20 Speculation + evidence at the bottom]
First off, I just wanna come clean and say, after all these years, I still think they should’ve ended at Season 5.
If you’re going to come at me with “Then why’d you stick around to watch it if you didn’t like it?”, your question is immature, and the answer is simple: I just want to know what happens next (I also love the main characters and their actors too). You can watch a show and still think it’s shit.
Call me a clown, but despite all the disappointment and trust issues that this show has given me, I would still look forward to the day where it might just turn itself around and bring back the quality it once had, or realize the potential of each story it was trying to tell, or at the very least, do justice by my favorite ship.
Never happened.
They’ve had a few good episodes here and there. I can’t imagine the SPN Universe without The Man Who Would Be King, The French Mistake, and Scoobynatural. Seasons 6-10 were enjoyable at times. I blocked out most of 7 & 11-15. 
If you’ve been following this blog since its heydays in 2010-2014, you’d know I’d try my best to defend Destiel and this show’s decisions regarding it no matter what.
Because you know what, as a CONCEPT, this show is good. If you take a look at all the worlds its storylines have birthed in fanfiction/fanworks, you’d see how much Supernatural has wasted its own story arcs. The writing got shittier as each season progressed, and they’ve obviously given up in production as well because the quality in the execution has noticeably gone down too, but if you take a step back and take a look at the bigger picture, you’ll see that this show still tries to make sense of itself.
[If you’re still following this post, please bear with me, I know this is long, but I just want you to understand how jaded and pessimistic I am with regards to this show, so maybe you can buy into whatever hopeful thing I’m about to say later on.]
SO LET’S TALK ABOUT DESTIEL
Never in my wildest dreams did I think that they would give us Castiel’s “I love you” speech. To the point where, if I weren’t so desperate for it, I would argue that it was completely out of character for him to word vomit the way he did (but I’m not gonna diss on that right now because I’ll take what I can get).
I’ve valued every meaningful and obscure exchange that Dean and Cas have had in the earlier seasons, and I was willing to accept their relationship as just that--undefined, without any clear boundaries as to what they really are. And I think that was beautiful on its own.
But now, they’ve chosen to define it.
After they’ve driven every possible wedge between Dean and Castiel in seasons 11-15, to try to explain away their feelings as something they offer to a collective.
Dean can’t mourn and pray for JUST Cas, he has to mourn and pray for EVERYBODY--even Crowley, even some chick he just met, because god forbid he cries about just the guy who has given up everything for him--that would be “too homo”.
They’ve even set Cas on a path to abrupt fatherhood just so he can care about something other than Dean. Make it seem as if Dean wasn’t his purpose through and through.
And after all these years of this stupid show trying to deny it, they choose to acknowledge it at the worst possible circumstance, at a time where they’ve been so far apart, that it seems so foreign for them to suddenly come together.
But here we are. And they’ve chosen to tell us.
Chosen to tell us that everything that Castiel has done leading up to his death, he has done it because he was IN LOVE WITH DEAN WINCHESTER.
Chosen to tell us that the ONE THING THAT WOULD MAKE CAS HAPPY IS DEAN WINCHESTER.
Chosen to tell us that BEING WITH DEAN WINCHESTER is something that CAS WANTS BUT KNOWS HE CAN’T HAVE.
And they’ve also chosen to tell us nothing about how Dean feels.
Sure, finding out your angel made a deal, the stipulations of said deal, his newfound happiness philosophy, his long-winded monologue of why he loves you and why you’re worthy of his love, and to top it all off he tells you that being in love with you is enough to make him happy while he subtly hints that he’s always wanted to be WITH you romantically, was a lot to process in the 5 minutes after you’ve just had an existential crisis.
It’s whatever, right? Let’s culminate 11 years worth of tension and feelings in 5 minutes. Let’s waste the entire episode with cringey expository dialogue, and irrelevant sequences. The whole season was a waste anyway.
You know what Supernatural? FUCK YOU FOR THAT. They deserved better. WE deserve better.
And I would love nothing more than to hurl every possible insult your way,
But for the last time, I’m going to HOPE that you’re finally going to try to make it better for the fans that stuck by you all these years.
No more baiting new viewers, no more placating casual viewers, no more excuses. 15 years. Bring it home for the people who have actually been around.
SO HERE’S HOW I THINK 15x20 IS GONNA GO
There’s two ways this series is gonna end. Horribly or Spectacularly.
First let’s all take into consideration what Andrew Dabb says about it:
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So, let’s start with
ENDING HORRIBLY
In this scenario, Misha is telling the truth about his last day of filming being 15x18. His “camping trip” during the last few days of filming 15x20, was actually a camping trip. He doesn’t go to Vancouver to shoot.
Jensen wasn’t “being careful” during the zoom interviews that it was just him and Jared quarantining for the shoot, it really was just him and Jared (althought most of these were done pre 15x19) Supernatural isn’t smart enough to do misleading PR, and they’re once again oblivious to the potential of their own story.
Misha hasn’t posted a “Goodbye Castiel” tweet because he’s probably saving it for last episode or he forgot because it was overshadowed by the Destiel trend that night.
So what we get is:
Sam and Dean are on the road again, up against the monster of the week. Only their world no longer has actual Supernatural beings anymore, so the monsters they’re fighting are humans.
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Humans end up killing the Winchesters (despite having gone up against literally every powerful being imaginable INCLUDING God himself). Dean and Sam end up in heaven and relive their greatest hits.
Meanwhile, Castiel rots in The Empty because he died after realizing that he was happy and gay. Jack doesn’t bother rescuing him—his surrogate dad, the guy who made this specific deal to spare him—even though it was so easy for him get Cas in and out of The Empty when he had a fraction of the power that he has now.
Dean never speaks of Castiel’s confession because despite all the hints of a profound bond in the earlier seasons, and the fact that Dean has never cared for anyone (who isn’t his actual brother) as immensely as he does Cas, Supernatural just can’t have its main macho character be “suddenly bisexual” because that would hurt the male ego or some shit.
His heaven would probably be living happily ever after with his family. “Family” meaning Mary and John Winchester--two of the shittiest parents ever (but they’re not going to include them in this episode like they were supposed to because of Covid) and Sam.
Sam also gets a dog. As usual.
I wouldn’t put it past Supernatural to do this. After everything they’ve pulled, this would be right up their alley. I actually expect this ending.
Anyway, onto the next possible ending
ENDING SPECTACULARLY
In this scenario, Supernatural tries to stick the landing, and Jensen’s whole “It didn’t sit well with me at first, but then I took a step back after talking to Kripke, and realized that I had to view it from an audience perspective, I am now really excited about it” (DC Con 2019) anecdote about his thoughts on the final episodes, were actually about Dean potentially ending up with Cas. (Which would totally make sense because Jensen at first didn’t see Dean as anything but hetero, but as of late, he has been throwing in Destiel jokes of his own, so he seems to have warmed up to the idea)
Backed with Misha’s tidbit (DLConline 2020) that he and Jensen had conversations about Destiel, and that they wouldn’t have gone through with it if Jensen wasn’t onboard with it, but Jensen didn’t push back at all. (Why would they need to check with Jensen if it was just Cas going all in?)
Robert Berens (writer of 15x18) also wrote the script at the beginning of Season 15, but made Misha privy to the concept a year prior (Season 14), so they went into this season knowing about Destiel going canon.
This one’s a reach, but this scenario also supposes that Misha was lying about his whereabouts during the filming of the final episode, and him saying that 15x18 was his last episode is part of the diversion to avoid taking away from the weight of Castiel’s death.
And that Supernatural is actually self-aware of its own material (similar to how they have wrapped things up in the past—lots of expository dialogue, poor execution, but fulfills the story arc)
Since Season 15 is basically a Meta Season (Chuck/God as a writer, pretentiously calling out how he created the worlds, its characters, and basically invalidating the past 14 seasons), and 15x19 is supposedly the finale for Season 15, written by two of the worst Supernatural writers, Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming (Bob Singer’s wife), then we can assume that 15x19 is where the shitty writers kill themselves--as Chuck, of course.
So we get a badly written episode that produces a bad ending, or as Becky put it, “All action, and no Cas”
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So we get the bad writers season ending at 15x19.
And 15x20 is where Sam and Dean write their own stories, and where the cast had a hand in pitching ideas for it.
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Dabb has mentioned that 15x20 (Act Two) is a SERIES finale, where they try to resolve the characters’ journeys.
Because as everyone has acknowledged, Supernatural isn’t about the story, it’s about the characters.
So here’s what we can get out of it:
With no more Supernatural beings left to fight, Sam and Dean are in a stalemate. They’ve resigned themselves to fighting to the bitter end, but the “end” has passed, and they’re still standing.
So they try to figure out who they are now, and what they want out of the life they still have.
Sam still wants a normal apple pie life. Before Dean dragged him out of college to go hunting with him, he had a whole life planned out for him. Become a lawyer, settle down with a nice girl, and get a dog. He gave all that up because they had work to do, but now the work is finished, he can finally go back to wanting that for himself again.
Dean finally realizes his self-worth after Cas saves him again. His prayer to Cas in purgatory may have helped him come to terms with his anger, but the whole “you’ve done everything you did for love” speech finally put him in his place, and he learns not to hate himself anymore.
But of course, he cannot fully reconcile with himself if he doesn’t get Cas back, and tell him how he feels.
Because Dean actually wants something for himself this time. Something he knows he can finally have if he can just salvage it.
So maybe this time around, with the help of Jack (off-screen), Dean saves Cas. Grips him tight and raises him from perdition.
They bypass The Empty deal by turning Cas human, and he lives the rest of his days with Dean.
Dean and Cas know they deserve to be saved, and they know that they deserve to be happy.
(Wishful thinking, maybe they kiss a little)
Anyway...
I’m just saying, there’s NO WAY that they’d have Cas go through that whole rushed speech, if they weren’t going to do anything about it later on.
But again, after 10 years of disappointment, I wouldn’t put it past Supernatural to pat themselves on the back and say, “Okay, we sort of gave them what they wanted. We’re good now”
If that’s the case, Supernatural, I’m sorry I wasted my time on you.
Here’s to hoping 🤡
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robininthelabyrinth · 3 years
Text
The Quiet Room
- Chapter 6 - ao3 - (previous tumblr pt 1, pt 2, pt 3, pt 4, pt 5)
The Lan sect’s rules said Learning comes first, and that was because learning was the root of all things.
Humans were changeable and ever-changing, molded by their heritage and their environment; it was through careful education that they learned to comprehend goodness – it was only through constant learning that they could keep themselves walking on the path of righteousness.
Learning from books, learning from others, learning from one’s own mistakes; it didn’t matter.
What was important was that you couldn’t stop learning.
You had to keep moving forward.
Lan Wangji had for some time entertained the thought that his life had stopped when Wei Wuxian’s had. It had felt as though it had: it felt as if his heart had been irrevocably shattered, like a priceless vase that had once contained all his tender feelings – all those feelings that, lacking their container, would now slip through his fingers forever, leaving him as empty as a soulless puppet. He’d thought he was doomed never to love again, never to learn again, all his mind consumed with nothing by memories.
He’d been wrong, of course.
Even with Wei Wuxian gone, he was still learning.
There were his recent meditations on the subject of silence and noise, for one.
There were his wards, for another.
Lan Sizhui was a polite and thoughtful child, inquisitive but a little shy and hesitant, a little fearful to assert himself – a little too quiet, in a way that Lan Wangji was starting to be able to recognize as being not good, a silence and reticence born of concern and anxiety rather than genuine introversion. Luckily, there was also Lan Jingyi, who was and had always been the liveliest and most spirited of children, and yet he, too, was just a little bit too loud in a way that reflected his own method of displaying anxiety, another startling realization that was brand new.
Lan Wangji had always associated quiet with reserve and self-control, noise with carelessness and recklessness, but being in the controlled chaos of Qinghe and really sincerely listening to it, accepting it, came with its own set of revelations. He found that there were people who were naturally loud and those that made themselves be loud, just as there were those who were quiet and those who were forced into quietude. Lan Jingyi worried just as much as the next person, but he displaced those feelings through distraction rather than through the force of his willpower, taking on the role of clown or hero as suited each moment, unafraid to cast himself in the role of aggressor if it would allow Lan Sizhui the chance to play the mediator. The subconscious division of roles allowed Lan Sizhui to feel useful and in control, reducing his anxiety, while Lan Jingyi got to feel taken care of, which reduced his own – it was good, in a way, but after some consideration Lan Wangji carefully took them both in hand and told them that they would need to be more thoughtful about it.
Lan Sizhui could not, should not, always have to be the peacemaker, always yielding and kind and gentle and quiet: he deserved to be loud, too. He deserved to be assertive, to be heard, to feel entitled to take up space regardless of his utility to those around him. He should never feel like he had to pay in service for the right to exist.
And by the same token, Lan Jingyi shouldn’t feel burdened to always have to be the one to take the first step, always acting as the driving force, the loud and opinionated one. He should have the opportunity, and the obligation, to think through what he was doing or saying, to be thoughtful and careful, to sometimes yield if he wished; he should be granted space of his own to make sure that his actions were what he wished them to be rather than some impulse.
Lan Wangji only wished he’d had the wisdom to tell Wei Wuxian the same thing while he’d been alive.
He’d been so short-sighted when he was younger, at first unable to recognize how he felt about the man and then unable to figure out how to speak with him – he’d been unable to break his own habitual silence, and equally unable to see the depths concealed in Wei Wuxian’s brash arrogance, especially towards the end. Like Lan Jingyi, Wei Wuxian’s reckless courage was genuine, especially in the happy days of their youth; like Lan Jingyi, when things got bad, Wei Wuxian had taken refuge in more of the same, building himself walls made of noise that were designed to keep everyone out.
Wei Wuxian might have been noisy and loud, right to the very end, but in his own way he’d been just as alone as Lan Wangji in his excess of quiet.  
The next generation, Lan Wangji thought fiercely, would do better.
He felt comforted by that thought.
The children were chewing over Lan Wangji’s words as they walked along the outmost ramparts of the Unclean Realm, already inured to the glittering barrier that hung in their sky, full of arrays and inscriptions – they were accompanying Lan Wangji on his daily walk.
The Nie sect’s doctors had a very different regimen for curing illnesses than the Lan sect’s, he’d found. Thirty-three strikes of the discipline whip: in both places he’d gotten stitched back up, but while the Lan sect doctors had allowed him to retreat into seclusion, prescribing medicine and rest and self-reflection, the Nie sect doctors insisted on coupling medicine and meditation with exercise. Intermittent and gradual exercise, meant to increase flexibility and reduce muscle atrophy – it wasn’t really that different from what Lan Wangji had been left to do on his own back at home, but he found that it was easier to struggle against his stubborn body when he had company to encourage him to take that extra step beyond his limits, their voices pushing him when his own willpower was insufficient. Even the silent presence of the two children, walking beside him, helped him find the reason to keep going.
Truly, there was much to consider on the subject of quiet and noise, of loud and soft, of loneliness and isolation and how no amount of either introversion nor extroversion could alone save you from them.
Lan Wangji was still thinking it over when he heard a new noise.
It was also an old noise, painfully familiar from all those days of war – before he even consciously identified what the sound was, his back had straightened, his legs sinking into a prepared pose, his mind already summoning his spiritual energy to the forefront in case he needed to defend himself.
Cultivators, flying on swords at speed.
Lan Wangji looked up and saw them: men and women both, a small group – a forward scouting troop, small enough to be subtle and sneak ahead to see what was happening but large enough to ensure someone would be able to return to the main force and warn them if they did find something.
They were dressed in the colors of Yunmeng Jiang, and it was Jiang Cheng leading them.
Lan Wangji’s back stiffened.
He had not seen Jiang Cheng since the massacre at the Nightless City, although he’d heard the stories of how he had turned against his own shixiong and led the greatest of the forces that besieged the Burial Mounds. He’d decided then that he’d never wanted to see Jiang Cheng ever again – he hadn’t been able to comprehend how Jiang Cheng could do a thing like that to Wei Wuxian, who he’d loved.
He still didn’t understand, but he thought, perhaps, that he ought to be a little less hasty in judging others by his own standards.
He’d done enough of that.
“Hanguang-jun!” Jiang Cheng called, seeing him, and pulled ahead of all the other Jiang sect cultivators, leaving them hanging back warily. Lan Wangji turned to face him, conscious of the two young children still clinging to his hands and now half-hiding behind his robes – conscious, too, of the shimmering but translucent barrier that divided them from Jiang Cheng, the barrier that had been raised to protect the Unclean Realm from Lan Wangji’s own brother and all the mistakes he had made, well-meaning as they were. “Hanguang-jun, good, you can tell me, what is the meaning of…”
Jiang Cheng trailed off, his eyes suddenly wide and almost bulging from the force of how hard he was staring at Lan Wangji.
“Jiang Wanyin,” Lan Wangji said politely in greeting – or, well, politely enough.
“Lan Wangji,” Jiang Cheng said in return, his voice sounding strangled. “What…happened?”
Far too much to explain, so Lan Wangji didn’t, just waited for Jiang Cheng to continue with a more specific question.
“I mean, uh. The beacon went off,” Jiang Cheng said. He was still gawking, looking as though he were about to fall off his sword any second. “The – you know the one, the one that shows when a sect’s barrier defenses have been activated. I thought...”
He’d assumed there was an invasion, Lan Wangji realized, and had rushed over at once to try to help forestall it. It was a reasonable assumption, and a noble response: having once lost everything without being able to rely on the help of others, Jiang Cheng now sought to be the help that he had not had.
It was the sort of thing a righteous person would do, and in line with what Lan Wangji thought he’d known of Jiang Cheng’s character.
And yet…Jiang Cheng had still turned his back on Wei Wuxian.
Time and time again, he’d turned away fro him.
“I came to find out what happened, why they put up the shield,” Jiang Cheng continued. “I brought people with me to help, though I left them back a ways so it wouldn’t be an insult. And now I’m here and – and you’re here – and you’re…just…it’s…Lan Wangji, what happened to your forehead ribbon?”
Lan Wangji arched his eyebrows. “Is that your primary concern?”
Jiang Cheng waved his hands around, almost flailing, and Lan Wangji couldn’t quite help but feel a sudden stab of amusement – and then of sorrow, because the flailing was almost painfully familiar. He had seen Wei Wuxian do much the same when he encountered something unexpected, whether some threat or some new maneuver by the Wen sect or, in one notable instance, the unanticipated appearance of a fish in a place where one would not normally expect fish to be.
“I have taken a leave of absence from the Lan sect,” Lan Wangji finally explained, deciding to be magnanimous and take pity on his former comrade in arms. “The Nie sect has permitted me to remain with them while I determine my next course of action. As for the shield, there is no imminent invasion. The situation is – complicated.”
Jiang Cheng huffed. “You don’t say!”
Still, the explanation seemed to help steady him, somewhat, and Lan Wangji observed that Jiang Cheng did not look his best: tired, with circles under his eyes and an unhealthy skin tone. Too much work, too little rest, and probably nightmares…because of what had happened to Wei Wuxian, perhaps? But if so, why had he done it in the first place?
“I cannot let you in,” Lan Wangji added, even though technically he had one of the only remaining guest tokens that still functioned. Jiang Cheng nodded, seemingly having expected that. “I can escort you to the sect leader’s quarters to have your request for admission approved.”
That the person approving the request would probably be Nie Huaisang, Lan Wangji did not say – not so much out of caution, which would probably be justified, but rather out of a completely inexplicable urge to see Jiang Cheng start flailing once again upon finding out.
Was this how Wei Wuxian felt all the time?
Interesting.
He began to walk again, the children at his sides slowly coming out, and Jiang Cheng did him the courtesy of not mentioning how slow and stiff he was, although Lan Wangji thought he remembered enough of Jiang Cheng’s mannerisms to interpret the twisted grimace on his face as he glanced over time and time again as a look of concern.
After a little while in which Lan Wangji walked and Jiang Cheng floated alongside him on his sword, the Jiang sect cultivators lagging behind by a respectable distance, the children getting over their fear to start looking around again, Jiang Cheng finally cleared his throat.
“There’s a medicinal blend of herbs that can counteract the anti-clotting effects of the discipline whip,” he said. Lan Wangji glanced at him: Jiang Cheng was staring forward, not looking at him at all any more. “It makes it heal faster. I can pass the prescription along to the Nie sect’s pharmacists, if you like.”
Jiang Cheng had also been struck by the discipline whip, Lan Wangji suddenly remembered. It had been a matter of deep embarrassment for him during the war, making him reluctant to remove clothing even when they were rancid with blood and poisonous fumes.
“Thank you,” he said, and for some reason the children took that as their cue that Jiang Cheng was actually all right and burst out in a flood of questions.
Lan Jingyi wanted to know how Jiang Cheng’s clothing had gotten to be such a vivid shade of purple, while Lan Sizhui was more curious about his sword and how shiny it was – the concerns of children, unburdened by the memories or concerns of adults. Their questions made Jiang Cheng smile, and Lan Wangji thought briefly of the orphaned Jin Ling, who had been temporarily given to Jiang Cheng’s custody to pick up some of the traditions of his maternal sect. A fancy way of saying that the Jin sect wanted him out of the way for a few years until he was worth teaching their own ways to, but Lan Wangji suspected Jiang Cheng would have taken any excuse at all to remain close to his kin.
“What, now children aren’t too noisy for you?” Jiang Cheng asked Lan Wangji, and for the first time it occurred to Lan Wangji that the tossed out words, broken off and abrupt, might be meant as a friendly tease.
“I am reevaluating my relationship with silence,” he said, and Jiang Cheng smirked, amused.
“I bet you are,” he said. “Nie Huaisang alone would drive a man to distraction…”
Lan Jingyi laughed and clapped and that, and, inspired, Lan Sizhui followed suit.
And then, suddenly, Jiang Cheng frowned.
“A-Yuan,” he said, and Lan Wangji was suddenly cold from head to toe, the chattering of the children suddenly too loud in his ears: he had forgotten that Jiang Cheng had also visited the Burial Mounds. “That’s – that’s A-Yuan, isn’t it?”
“Jiang Wanyin…” Lan Wangji started, his voice sticking in his throat, then trailed off. He did not know what he could say that would work to convince Jiang Cheng that he was wrong when he was right, but neither could he admit to the truth. Even if Nie Mingjue had been kind enough to allow Lan Wangji to come to the Nie sect to stay, and to bring the two children with him, that had been under the premise that they were Lan sect children. If he ever found out that Lan Sizhui had been born surnamed Wen…
Nie Mingjue would not hurt a child, he was too righteous for that. But he might not be inclined to let that child grow up in his sect, either.
Jiang Cheng’s face was twisted in a strange sort of way, as if he couldn’t decide to be angry or relieved. “I thought he’d died,” he murmured, more to himself. “I thought…what is that?”
Lan Wangji was momentarily confused by the question, focused as he was by the terrifying implications of Jiang Cheng’s discovery, but then he saw that Jiang Cheng’s gaze went further into the distance.
He turned to look, then felt twist of unpleasantness deep in his belly: there was his brother in the sky, flying to the main gate on Shuoyue, and beside him was Jin Guangyao.
Why did you have to bring him? Lan Wangji thought, unhappy, but he already knew the answer to that. His brother trusted Jin Guangyao. Why wouldn’t he bring him?
If only he would trust the rest of them as much as he trusted that liar.
“We can discuss Lan Sizhui later,” Lan Wangji said, careful to emphasize both the surname and the courtesy name he’d given him – painfully obvious now that he thought about it, though at the time it had seemed only appropriate, the only name he could bestow that fit – and quickened his steps. “Now that my brother has arrived, things will become difficult.”
He wondered, a little bitterly, if his brother had even noticed that he was gone, or if he had been so thoroughly forgotten in his enforced ‘seclusion’ that it hadn’t even been thought of as a possibility.
“Lan Wangji!”
Lan Wangji came to a stop at Jiang Cheng’s shout. Suddenly full of anger, he turned his head back – surely Jiang Cheng didn’t hate Wei Wuxian so much that he wouldn’t let the matter of a small child go, even in the midst of a crisis?
Jiang Cheng was pointing into the distance. Strangely enough, it was not in the direction of the main gate, where Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao were even now landing, but somewhere even further beyond.
“Do you see it?” Jiang Cheng demanded, and his eyes were suddenly wild, his breathing disordered; he seemed far more disturbed than he had when he’d recognized A-Yuan. “Lan Wangji, tell me that you see it!”
Utterly lost, Lan Wangji focused his gaze on the far horizon. It was the same scenery as he’d seen there the past few days, the interspersed richness of the low valleys that quickly arced up into the mountains that surrounded the Unclean Realm. There was nothing there that was unusual…
Lan Wangji spotted a very faint glimmer.
Sun, he thought, the reflection of sun – sun off steel.
All of a sudden, he wasn’t on the ramparts of the Unclean Realm but standing beside Jiang Cheng on a rough-hewn fortress barely worthy of the name, watching the horizon grimly as the damned Wen scout’s flare did its work and the amassed forces of Wen Chao’s troops began to move inexorably in their direction. They would come, he had known, and they would kill them all if they could; it would take everything they had to stop them, and to survive long enough just to retreat once again.
For some of them to survive.
“Invasion,” he heard someone say, their voice hoarse, and only a moment later realized it was himself who had spoken. “Invasion…it’s an army!”
“It’s the Jin sect,” Jiang Cheng said, staring blankly as if he couldn’t believe what his eyes were telling him. For once, Lan Wangji understood him completely; he was similarly shocked. “They’re wearing gold, you can see it from here…the Jin sect has sent their armies here? How could they even think to dare? Chifeng-zun will annihilate them!”
Lan Wangji’s throat worked, and for a moment he felt drowned in the quiet once more, his voice not wanting to cooperate with him, his entire being willing or even wanting to return to the solace of seclusion if it would only mean that he wouldn’t have to hear the horrible din of war once more. But he was not a coward, and would do what he must – even speak of things that felt impossible to be spoken.
“That complicated situation I mentioned,” he said, and Jiang Cheng turned to look at him. “My brother has either conspired with or was duped into assisting Lianfang-zun in an attempt on Chifeng-zun’s life through destabilizing his qi and inducing a qi deviation.”
Jiang Cheng’s jaw dropped. “They did what?!”
“Chifeng-zuns remains alive, but is confined to his bed,” Lan Wangji continued, ignoring the interjection. “Nie Huaisang was the one who ordered the shield raised, saying that there might be an attack – I thought he was overreacting, but apparently not.”
“If Jin Guangshan can take over the Unclean Realm while Nie Mingjue is incapacitated, he can say that the incapacitation is worse than it really is,” Jiang Cheng said, abruptly getting it. Lan Wangji had forgotten how much he enjoyed working alongside those from Yunmeng Jiang, Wei Wuxian most of all but also in his absence Jiang Cheng, who was smart and did not require too many words to understand. “Everyone knows Nie Huaisang’s a good-for-nothing – it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for the Jin sect to claim that they came here at the invitation of the Nie sect to ‘rescue’ them, and remained in order to manage the sect on their behalf. Better that than have Chifeng-zun recover and come after you in vengeance!”
Lan Wangji nodded.
“But surely they didn’t think they’d be able to get away with it? Even if they could manage it for a while, as soon as the confusion cleared up, all the other sects would throw a fit…”
“Jin Ling,” Lan Wangji said, and Jiang Cheng blanched, seeming to realize the problem at once. His beloved nephew legally belonged to the Jin sect; if he dared to protest their actions, wouldn’t they be sure to take him away? As for the Lan sect, Lan Xichen would have been implicated through his actions – they could hold his participation over his head, forcing him to pick between supporting them and losing face for the whole sect, which would in turn weaken it. And that was assuming that Jin Guangyao didn’t somehow manage to talk Lan Xichen into thinking it was all for the best regardless…
There were only four Great Sects left, now. If the Lan and Jiang did nothing, who would be left to stand up for the Nie?
“I have to get inside. Nie Huaisang will need my support,” Lan Wangji said, but instead looked down at the children beside him.
“Go,” Lan Sizhui said, releasing his hand and stepping back away from him. “I’ll take Jingyi and hide in the room we’re staying in. You won’t need to worry about us – go, do what you need to!”
Jiang Cheng flinched as if he’d been struck.
Lan Wangji glanced at him. “The Jin sect army,” he said. “However unlikely, there’s still a chance that we are misinterpreting their motives.”
“I’ll go find out what I can,” Jiang Cheng agreed at once. “How many there are, what can be done…I’ll find out and report back.”
Lan Wangji tossed him the guest token he’d been given. “Be cautious,” he said. He still hadn’t forgiven Jiang Cheng for what he’d done in the Burial Mounds, but he was willing to wait until a better time to talk it over with him – now was not the time to try to gain understanding.
Jiang Cheng nodded and left at once, and Lan Wangji saw the children off, then hurried to do the same.
By the time he made it to the main hall, his brother and Jin Guangyao were already there, and Nie Huaisang was confronting them with nothing more than a fan gripped in white-knuckled hands and a glare.
“– dare you talk as if he’s gone mad, as if he can’t be trusted?” Nie Huaisang was shouting. “You should know how seriously we take such words here!”
“It is because of that that we are worried,” Lan Xichen said, and now it was Lan Wangji’s turn to flinch. His brother’s voice sounded just the way it always did, comforting in its familiarity: he sounded calm and patient, thoughtful and wise, sure of himself. He sounded as if he knew better than anyone else what was right and what was wrong. “Huaisang, you don’t know how much your brother has been worried about suffering the way your father did. He knows that qi deviations can be subtle as well as harsh – he understands that his reason might be the first to go –”
“And so you took it upon yourself to decide that for him?” Nie Huaisang sneered. “You keep saying that he understands, that he would understand, all that. But that’s a lie, isn’t it?”
“Huaisang, please,” Jin Guangyao said, his voice just as gentle as always. “You know we only want what’s best for your brother.”
“Do you?” Nie Huaisang said, but he was still looking at Lan Xichen. “You knew he hated the quiet room, er-ge. You knew that he’d never wanted anything to do with it – it’s not like that was anything new! That was something he’d said repeatedly, year after year, month after month, for his entire life. You knew how he felt about it, and you decided to ignore what he wanted in favor of what you wanted. How is that wanting what’s best for him?”
“I was only concerned for his health,” Lan Xichen said, sounding injured by the accusation. “I had nothing but good intentions…”
“Your intentions are immaterial compared to your actions,” Lan Wangji said, and they turned to look at him, both of them surprised – maybe they really hadn’t noticed he’d left the Cloud Recesses.
Well, he thought bitterly: they’d notice now.
He took a step into the room, then another.
“Your actions are this,” he said, ignoring the way his brother stared at his forehead, unadorned by the ribbon that had been there ever since he’d been a small child, receiving it for the first time from his uncle as a precious gift. “You did not trust or respect your elder brother’s word. You disregarded his decision, treating him like a child who can’t be trusted to make up his own mind – you put your own desires ahead of his, and in doing so, betrayed him. Did you really think he’d thank you for it?”
Did you think I’d thank you one day for authorizing our sect’s attack on the Burial Mounds without ever having to explain yourself? Even our uncle respected me enough to tell me at once what he had done and let me decide how I felt about it, accepting the consequences of his actions!
“Wangji,” Lan Xichen murmured. “You’re still healing, you shouldn’t be wandering around…where is your self-restraint?”
Where is your forehead ribbon, he meant, and Lan Wangji shook his head.
“Wangji, you don’t understand,” Jin Guangyao said, and Lan Wangji stiffened at the unasked-for intimacy of the address. “Whatever da-ge said to you, whatever he did, you cannot allow others to guide you by filling your heart with incomplete echoes of what you have lost. You will never forgive yourself.”
Lan Wangji was so furious that he could not speak. Was Jin Guangyao implying that Nie Mingjue had, what, seduced him? That Lan Wangji held his love for Wei Wuxian so cheap that he would have his head turned by the first person willing to make up to him in such a fashion?
“I should hope you know my da-ge better than that, er-ge,” Nie Huaisang said coldly, still speaking only to Lan Xichen. “Or is this something else where you will believe the words of that lying dog over everyone else and the evidence of your own reason to boot?”
“Huaisang, that is unwontedly cruel, and uncalled for,” Lan Xichen said, tearing his eyes away from Lan Wangji. “Whatever Wangji has decided, I do not blame Mingjue-xiong for it.”
Implying, Lan Wangji supposed, that it was Lan Wangji that was to blame for it.
“Put the blame where it belongs,” he said stiffly, staring at his brother as if looking at a stranger. “Was I to leave Chifeng-zun where I found him, half-dead and dying in our jingshi where you left him at Lianfang-zun’s incitement?”
“You think I don’t recognize that I’ve done wrong?” Lan Xichen demanded. “I will speak to Mingjue-xiong and apologize – I will explain my reasoning and let him decide how I can make it up to him. But please, there is no call for you to be cruel to A-Yao. Do not blame him for my mistakes.”
“What about for his lies?” Lan Wangji asked. He took a breath, sharp and unhappy, and suddenly it was desperately, urgently necessary to know the truth. “Brother, tell me you didn’t know. Tell me you weren’t in on it – that you didn’t try to kill Mingjue-xiong in order to cover up your affair.”
“What, kill, you think I would try to…Wangji! Affair?” Lan Xichen exclaimed, and he seemed genuinely shocked. “No, Wangji, you’ve misunderstood entirely! It’s not like that at all. Mingjue-xiong and A-Yao, they were once lovers –”
“No, we weren’t,” Nie Mingjue said.
They all turned at once. He was standing at the door, all but clinging to the doorframe to keep himself standing; he was swathed in bandages and still stuck with needles. None of them had heard him or seen him approach – he must have heard them shouting and dragged himself over.
He sounded tired. He sounded quiet.
He looked at Lan Xichen.
“I was never Meng Yao’s lover,” he said. “Not now, not before, not ever. And Xichen…you knew that, didn’t you?”
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i think it’s so fascinating how mj is someone who is naturally empathetic and easily picks up on the feelings of others, but she is not someone for whom being kind is always easy or automatic. it’s a skill she has to work for, and something she gets better at as she grows. and it’s part of why i love her so much.
(image heavy meta under the cut)
mj in general is uncannily perceptive and finds it second nature to put herself in someone else’s shoes--part of the reason being an actress makes perfect sense for her character. in spectacular spider-man 85, there’s a small gag where mj tells peter he looks troubled, and peter responds “tell me about it”, only for mj to go “okay!” and immediately list off the reasons why he’s upset. peter notes that mary jane “read [him] like a book” (keep in mind at this point they’d been broken up after peter’s failed first proposal and had fallen out of touch, and mj still doesn’t miss a step). 
with peter/mj being one of the cornerstone relationships for spider-man, it’s not hard to find moments throughout their time together where mj reads peter in a way no one else can--she’s one of the few people in the world that peter completely opens up to. but i think it’s notable that she still is attuned to peter’s emotions before they become close. she’s there for peter as they grieve over gwen together--most famously in the epilogue for tasm #122, but also in lots of smaller ways. she’s the only one who notices peter struggling to get through school after gwen passes, and she seeks him out when he isolates himself, repeatedly inviting him out of his shell.
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(tasm #124)
but we don’t just see her do this with peter; she also steps in to help liz after harry dies, despite the way their relationship fractured once mary jane started suspecting harry was acting as the goblin.
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(web of spider-man #101)
she sees past may’s folksy surface and seeming frailty, acknowledging the many difficulties she’s endured and the will of steel she has.
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(spectacular spider-man #186)
she uses her class clown routine to help cheer gwen up after her father dies.
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notably, she also is the first one to realize gwen has run off after flash gets into a fight, and she volunteers to be the one to go after gwen--admitting that even though it’s unlikely she’ll get through to gwen, she still feels like she has to try. meanwhile peter, the guy gwen was on the verge of marrying, was too caught up in his own feelings to check in with her.
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(spider-man: death and destiny #2)
she defends peter and harry for being standoffish after gwen dies and harry overdoses.
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(tasm #125)
she has a real sense for when people are hurting or in need, and when you put all of this together, mj starts to sound like a saint. and she is an incredibly compassionate and supportive person! but harry’s above reaction- while cruel and possessive -- isn’t coming out of nowhere. the end of their relationship was pretty terrible. mary jane flirted with peter a lot after gwen left him to go to england, and it clearly made harry feel hurt. there are lots of ways you can interpret her actions--she never considered their relationship to be serious, her feelings for peter were already present, she was trying to give harry a reason to end things between them. x-men/spider-man #1 has gwen suggest it’s a sort a reverse psychology mind trick to keep harry’s attention on her (something peter also suggests in another issue), and mj more or less agrees with her. regardless of her motive, she’s told multiple times that her behavior is hurting harry, and she keeps doing it. his anxiety about their relationship is part of what leads to him to start taking drugs. when she does eventually dump him, mj tells harry he’s “always been good for a few laughs”, but shouldn’t let it go to his head... words clearly designed to sting.
to be absolutely clear, harry had lots of his own issues that had nothing to do with her (including his deep insecurity that could often make him an insecure jerk), and mary jane isn’t responsible for anyone’s actions besides her own. but i do think it’s notable that she was dismissive of harry’s feelings and the fact she was hurting him, even though it’s repeatedly made clear in other issues mj does love harry as a friend; interestingly, she also had similar, though less extreme, behavior with flash when she and peter were dating.
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(mj in tasm #97 / mj in tasm #162)
the difference here is that we get more insight into mj’s feelings and mindset, as her character has become more developed. when peter confronts flash about flirting with his girlfriend, he learns mary jane had been hiding the fact she and peter were seeing one another from flash. both of them are upset (peter acts just as petty and jealous as harry did), and mj describes just seeing peter again as “something that took more courage than i thought i had”. but she shows up anyways, and she and peter actually communicate with one another.
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(tasm #165)
mj flirting with flash is just a reaction to all the messy and contradictory feelings being that come with being in a relationship, and the specific issues that are present in a relationship with peter. but the fact that she can explain all of this peter shows she’s still pretty in touch with her emotions, and it seems like a part of her suspected all along something like this would happen, as she tells betty in tasm #130 that she doesn’t want to fall in love with peter because she likes him too much. she’d rather keep things simple, even if it damages the relationship.
(also, just to be clear-- mj wants a real relationship. in web of spider-man #6, when she and peter are split up, she bemoans her single life and thinks longingly of what it would be like to be married and start a family. of what it’d be like to be with peter. but she cuts herself from this dreaming, because she says it’s useless to think of something she’ll never be brave enough to pursue.)
another prime example of this ‘being alone is easier’ attitude is how she acts around her sister gayle - whether it be leaving her to do the chores while she danced and played when they were growing up, or refusing to live with gayle after their mom died and running off to aunt anna’s. by the time we get to mj’s backstory, we as readers have started to get inside her head and listen to her inner monologues, so we know at this point that mary jane cares deeply about her loved ones and is acting out of fear and self-preservation because of the trauma she’s been through. but mj is also careful to show none of that to her sister, instead just putting up a “party girl” wall.
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(spider-man: parallel lives)
mary jane is, once again, the only one noticing her brother-in-law feels trapped by the news of expecting a child, and it reminds her all the abandonment and forgotten dreams that have caused her family so much pain. in this case, empathizing with timmy - seeing his pain - caused mary jane to rudely brush off her pregnant sister, because she couldn’t handle being vulnerable about her feelings or getting involved in another tense family fight. it’s easier just to keep them at arm’s length.
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(spider-man: parallel lives)
yes, mj can read people... but that doesn’t automatically mean she’s going to know how or even want to reach out to them. that’s the emotionally heavy stuff we know terrifies her. she’s just as likely to self-sabotage as she is to reach out to someone if she knows they’re dealing with something serious.
why do i bring this up? because it makes mj a richer, more human character, and it also makes her acts of kindness even more meaningful. it is very hard for mj to let herself become emotionally involved. even when she can read someone is hurting in a situation, she doesn’t automatically become considerate or comforting, even with people she loves.
that’s why her choice in tasm #122 is so outstanding--it’s not what mj wants to do, but she makes the choice to commit to peter and stay there for the hard parts. she chooses to be peter’s friend, she chooses to rekindle their relationship and marry him, she choose to stay with him even when their marriage is harder than she ever imagined. she’s a fierce friend to harry, even after everything that’s happened between them. she welcomes him back to school, she doesn’t give up on him when he’s the goblin, she notices he’s living out of his store when norman cuts him off and makes sure he has a place to go. she becomes so close with may that, after peter’s presumed dead, may calls mj peter’s great gift to her, and the reason she has to keep on living. she helps keep gwen’s memory alive. she chooses the people she loves. the fact that she fails, that she’s scared, doesn’t make her stop trying. she does it over and over again, and that’s what so heroic about her.
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(tasm #275)
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How about the V3 boys, (the ones who died) with a s/o whos the Ultimate Spirit Medium/Necromancer and they call the spirit of the dead character? I just wanna see some scenarios/hc's of that, if u could do it that'd be gr8! If not thats okay, i understand ^^
hey everyone, long time no see! sorry for sort of vanishing for a while, i’ve been super busy with school and my job and kind of lost interest in danganronpa for a little bit,,,, but i’m back and i’m gonna try my best to get through the requests in our inbox and maybe even try and finish a few more of the october prompts (if you guys would still be interested in seeing those!!).
anyways, sorry for the long wait on your request, anon! this was one i had started a few months ago back when i was writing regularly and i finally buckled down and finished it!! i decided to do all the v3 boys (except kiibo because uhhh hes a robot) instead of just the ones who died in canon to avoid spoilers for anyone who hasn’t finished the game yet!! i apologize if some of these seem repetitive i sorta started running out of ideas by the end lmao. i hope you enjoy, anon!
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warnings: mentions of death/dying (obviously), general angst
*✧・゚: *✧・゚:*✧・゚: *✧・゚:*✧・゚: *✧・゚: *✧・゚:*✧・゚:*✧・゚:
Shuichi Saihara
— to say the least, Shuichi is a little shaken up now that he’s gone and you’re... well, not.
— he always told you he’d stay by your side forever, and he feels guilty. he feels like he broke a promise
— but... you talk to him again that first night. you say his name and look straight at him. can you see him? no, it couldn’t be... right?
— of course, once he puts all the pieces together, it all makes sense
— you’re the ultimate spirit medium, for goodness sakes! of course you can see him and speak to him the same way you would any other living person
— after a while, Shuichi stops feeling so guilty for leaving you. partially because it doesn’t feel quite like he’s abandoned you, and also because you reassure him that he didn’t do anything wrong by dying
— i mean, come on, it’s not his fault he got killed! how could you ever hold that against him?
— still, it takes him some time to come to terms with everything.
— though he loves you, he still finds it sad that he can never speak to anyone else ever again. at least, not without your aid.
— but as long as he has you by his side to help him cope... he knows he’ll be alright
— after all, he loves you, and you love him. and that’s enough to give him the strength he needs to keep from falling apart.
Rantaro Amami
— he's still very protective of you, despite the fact he’s merely a spirit now
— he’s always right by your side, no matter what.
— even when you aren’t able to take a moment to talk to him, or even look in his direction, Rantaro is right there
— if he were still alive, the way he now follows you around all the time may seem obsessive and creepy, but you actually appreciate it
— nobody else can see or speak to him but you, which makes his constant presence comforting, in a way
— Rantaro isn’t able to touch you in the same way he could when he was alive, but nonetheless, he still tries
— he’ll try to place his hand atop yours, or wrap his arms around your figure, but he always just passes straight through you
— you find the chill that blossoms on your skin where he touched you comforting; it’s a reminder that even though he’s gone, he’s still there with you
— it breaks his heart that he can’t truly be with you, but he tries not to focus on his own problems too much
— after all, your happiness is much more important to him than his own; you are his priority
— you’ll have to remind him that it’s okay for him to be sad, and that he shouldn’t bottle up his own emotions to be there for you
— he’ll want to keep being the person to take care of you, and watch out for you, but he needs you to be that person for him
Kokichi Ouma
— you didn’t really think Kokichi would start behaving himself just because he’s dead, did you?
— honestly he uses the fact only you can see and speak to him to his advantage
— good luck trying to keep your cool around other people while he’s off being a clown right in front of you
— but of course, he’s not all fun and games
— i mean... he’s dead. and that sucks
— he probably won’t show it, at least not right away, but he doesn’t like the feeling of separation between you two
— sure, he’s still around, but not like before. before, he could surprise you with a kiss or a suffocating hug, but he just can’t do that anymore
— it hurts. really bad.
— but he knows he’ll be okay. he know’s he’ll get used to it someday, as long as he has you with him to cheer him up when he gets especially sad
— you’re his sunshine, and he may not show it, but he needs you. so don’t leave him all alone, okay?
Gonta Gokuhara
— lets be honest... Gonta has the hardest time of the bunch adjusting to being nothing more than a spirit
— you’ll likely have to give him a lot of comfort. he’s confused, and he misses being able to be with you for real :(
— the hardest part for him is no longer being able to touch you
— he longs to feel your lips press gently against his cheek, to lay in your lap as your hands comb through his hair... he’d give anything to hold you in his arms again...
— unlike Rantaro, he’s not content with merely passing through your body when he makes contact with you
— it just... upsets him. it’s a cruel reminder that his life ended, and that he will never get to hold you, kiss you, and just love you the way he could before his life ended
— be patient with him, please... he’ll adapt eventually... but it could take a while
— just make sure to remind him how much you love him, he’ll need a lot of reassurance and comfort from you
Kaito Momota
— surprisingly, Kaito adapts to the situation pretty well
— if he is struggling with any sort of major emotions, he’s doing a stellar job of hiding it from you. and you hate that
— you don’t totally believe him when he says he’s okay, or when he tells you not to worry about him
— you know him better than that. it doesn’t make sense to you. he just died for crying out loud! he can never follow his dreams, never have the future he always wanted with you
— and you don’t understand how he can just shrug all that off and continue being your boyfriend like normal
— you confront him about it one night. he’s laying on his back, hovering beside you as you read (Kaito loves being able to float around in midair. perks of being a ghost, right?)
— "how can you be okay?" you blurt out suddenly. he looks at you, confused.
— you continue, asking all the questions that had been gnawing at you for days, and when you finally finish, he just laughs
— "of course i’m upset. but it’s a man’s job to protect the ones he loves! and being there for you is much more important than staying upset about this." he explains
— you can’t help but feel a little stupid. he’d always put you first, always prioritized your needs over anyone else’s, even his own. and he wasn’t about to stop just because he died
— fortunately for you, he isn’t upset with you sort of asking him why the hell he wasn’t a huge, depressed mess.
— in fact, he thinks it’s really sweet that, despite the fact you should be worried about yourself so you don’t end up joining him in the afterlife, you spent your energy fussing over him
Korekiyo Shinguji
— with Kiyo, not much changes. at least, not on his end.
— he’s very fascinated by the mere notion of being a spirit and has the time of his life unlife getting used to his new body
— at first you’re happy for him. i mean, it’s good that he’s not struggling, right? shouldn’t you want him to feel okay? you wouldn’t want him to suffer in sadness like you, right?
— but he’s so enthralled with his new state of being he... almost forgets to check up on you
— and even when he does spend time with you, it almost feels like all he does is talk about himself and the new things he’s discovered about being a spirit
— it’s frustrating, to say the least. you know you didn’t truly lose him, but it feels like you did
— when you finally tell him that you feel like he’s changed, he’s confused
— when Kiyo hears you say how much you miss him, how you feel like he’s so different now, he’s kinda just like ???????
— how could he be different? it’s still him, don’t you know that?
— after a long night of reflecting while you sleep (not needing rest is one of the many perks of being a spirit), Kiyo realizes what he’s been doing wrong
— you used to love when he’d talk to you endlessly about his work, his research, etc.
— but now, when he’d ramble on for hours about new things he’d learned thanks to being a mere spirit, it was just another painful reminder to you that he was dead. that he was gone.
— the moment he gets a chance, he apologizes to you. it’s a bit of an emotional moment for both of you, being the first time either of you have confronted the end of Kiyo’s life head on
— he tries to hold you, but all you feel is an icy chill where his flesh would have met yours, but oddly enough... it doesn’t make you feel worse
— you’d anticipated another tsunami of your own tears after Kiyo’s body passed through yours, but it’s comforting, albeit in a morbid way
— he’s gone, but you haven’t lost him. and you’ll never lose him; he’ll remind you of that every day if he has to
Ryoma Hoshi
— man, if you thought ryoma’s attitude and general outlook on life was depressing before, you’ve got a big storm coming
— for a long time after his death, he’s very... cold. to everyone and everything
— he’s upset. but not because he’s dead, but because he can’t protect you anymore
— being there for you, to defend you and keep you safe, had become his raison d’être, so to speak
— he knows you can still see him and talk to him. he’s not stupid. but he pretends he doesn’t hear you at first. part of him thinks that if he shuts you out long enough, you’ll come to your senses and realize you should be upset with him
— but you never do. despite what he thinks he deserves, you never turn on him, never give up on him, never stop loving him
— with time, he’ll come around and start learning to cope with his own death, and the fact you outlived him
— and you’ll be there with him every step of the way (whether he likes it or not)
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g-on-ef · 3 years
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Blitz decides to take up Strikers offer because frankly, he’s confused. For the first time, someone has gave him respect, and treated him like an equal. Is this what life could be like for him? He can feel the chemistry between himself and Striker, it’s different than the transactional fucks with Stolas.
He leaves a note for M and M and Loona, explaining everything, that he’ll be gone for a while, because he has things he has to work out. Honestly, Blitz thinks they won’t even miss him.
Blitz leaves with Striker that night, with Strikers tail curled round Blitz’s hip.
A/N: saw an opportunity to turn this into a mini fic and I did ^^ characters might be slight oc
Blazing red eyes met emerald green ones.
It was so tempting to say yes to give in to Strikers words and join him and his crusade.
His words screaming in his head, drowning out every other thought and reason as to why he shouldn't agree to Strikers plan.
But why not? After all Striker was right Stolas saw him as a plaything and treated him like he was lower than the Prince.
Blitz would never admit it but Stolas's words cut him deep.
Reminding him how he's only an imp, always sexualizing him, talking down on him, making him feel like all he's good for is a good fuck.
Not to mention how that while he agree to be his bodyguard he realized what a fool he was, Stolas could have easily defended himself and his daughter and yet he invited him and his employees and all that it got them was Blitz being reminded of the awful time he spend there, Moxxie and Millie getting hurt and that cheap ass robo clown reminding him yet again how everyone feels about him.
But if agree to join him ... What would happen to Moxxie and Millie ??? His precious Loony ??? He doubts that Striker would let them join them, what will he do without them?
"Well Blitz?"
Blitz felt like he was drowning in his thoughts and Strikers voice was able to pull him out from the very depts of his mind.
"What's your answer?" His tail wrapped itself around Blitz's waist and pulled him closer to Strikers body.
Blitz placed his hands on Striker's chest, their eyes never leaving each other.
However Striker placed his hands down and backed away a little leaving enough room for Blitz to breath and not feel like he was being corner into giving the answer Striker wants to hear.
His tail however remain wrapped around his waist.
Blitz looked away as his hand began to pet Striker's tail the cowboy began to purr making Blitz smile a little, his smile however fell as he thought about the situation they are in.
"I...I don't know," there he said it, he wasn't sure if he should agree to this or not. While the idea was tempting he wasn't sure if he could do it, if he was the one to help Striker to fight along side with him. Sure they tied in the games but does that even mean anything? Is he qualify to stand beside Striker.
After all Blitz maybe a good assassin but he wasn't that good.
Than again his insecurities sure were screaming loudly today reminding him that he'll never be good enough.
He felt a gloved hand under his chin, lifting his head, making him look Striker in the eyes.
"What do you mean?" His voice was soft, not annoyed or angry nor demanding but soft as if he was going at Blitzs pace.
Blitz gulped. This was another thing about Striker that Blitz admire.
The patience he had with him.
Blitz wasn't a fool he knew he could be a bit to much but the short time he and Striker spent together Striker showed him he genuinely liked Blitz and his company.
Last night definitely proved how much Striker loved Blitzs company.
Shaking his thoughts from straying he focus on the question he asked.
"I can't abandon M&M or Loony they're my family,"
H expected him to say something rude about them, find some way to manipulate him into turning his back against his employees.
Striker looked at Blitz and could see how vulnerable he was being, how sacred he was of something awful happening to him after saying no. Not only that but he could see his insecurities clear as day.
They were slowly rising up from whatever cage Blitz had them locked in, could see how they were giving him doubts reminding him of all the lies that everyone has ever told him until they became his version of the truth.
He can't help but wonder exactly what Goiesha and others before that pompous asshole did to him to make him scared to say no. Or feel like he wasn't good enough. Striker vow to hunt them all and kill them.
Striker pulled Blitz closer to him wrapping his hands around Blitz he hugged the smaller imp.
He could feel Blitz body freezing and the contact and not knowing what to do.
Striker ignored that and instead kissed the top of his head.
"I hate being being a weak ass bitch but for you I'll be one Blitz, if you want a better life for them then getting rid of Goiesha and the rest of the overlords is our best bet, I may fuck around wit Moxxie but even I can see how much you care for him and Mildred. Not to mention how much you love your daughter. I won't force you to say yes but think about it okay?"
He tighten his arms around him.
"You have so much untapped potential, don't let fucktards like Goeshia make you think otherwise.
He pulled back from Blitz his tail gave him one last squeeze before uncoiling itself from his body he gave Blitz one last smile before giving him a piece of paper.
"my number if and when you're ready to join me,"
Striker left him alone before he was out of the room. Leaving Blitz alone with his thoughts.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Blitz packed his things away Striker was gone, neither Millie nor her parents knew where he went they were however mad he left them without a warning.
Blitz packed his things away, last night he barely got any sleep hell he was ready to just off himself so that he could sleep.
Last night all he could think about was Striker and how the other imp made him feel.
It wasn't just mutual respect it was the fact that he was attracted to the other imp their fuck before the games was the best fuck Blitz had.
Not only that but he trusted Striker enough to bottom and he rarely did that.
He remembers how Striker made him feel, challenged, appreciated, cared for, Striker was bringing so many feelings out of Blitz he never knew he had.
Not to mentioned that Striker made him question everything he knew.
Striker referring him as a plaything to Stolas cut deep, not because it was Strikers intentions but because how true they were.
Not to mention it didn't matter how far Blitz got he was still a lowly imp who only existed to obey orders from those higher than him.
Him giving into Stolas's demands proved that.
Sure he could use that he gets to keep the book and only has to visit him during the full moon but that didn't change the fact that he was basically Stolas's bitch.
Loo Loo Land and The Harvest Moon Festival were perfect examples of him doing whatever Stolas said just because he got paid or he was wear down until he gave in.
Striker ... Striker did the one thing no one has ever done for him ... he gave him a choice ... he asked him to join him; not once did he try to force Blitz to say yes or kept pushing till h gave in.
Even now he was giving him the choice to say yes or no.
He could've done so many things to force him to say yes instead he gave him space didn't push for more than what Blitz was willing to share nor did he manipulate the situation into his favor he just respect Blitz and left him be.
Blitz wonder if he should give into temptation, say yes and see how far he could go and the extent of his power.
Looking at Millie, Moxxie, and Loona ... he wonder how they would feel if he left.
He secretly wonders if they would even care that he's gone.
Loona didn't really care for him and Moxxie was only there because of Millie and we'll Millie loves killing so he wonders if she even cares about him or just loves that she gets to kill humans.
Fitzorallys words cut deep because it was a question he always tried to avoid asking himself because he knew deep down no one did.
He wasn't stupid, he knows he can be a bit much, overbearing and annoying so will they even miss him?
He takes a deep breath and shoves that question deep within his subconscious, just another query that he will avoid as much as he can.
"Sir are you okay?"
Blitz lifted his head and looked at his fam- employees
He could see them eyeing him carefully wondering what was wrong with their boss.
"Yeah Moxxie everything is fine,"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Three weeks later
Striker open the door before he could even knock.
The cowboy IMP wasnt wearing his hat which made him look sexier than with it on.
"You came,"
"Yeah ... I did ... I'm in,"
Striker nodded his head he grabbed Blitz's bag and jerk his head a movement that told him to follow him to wear Bombproof was.
Blitz followed him. After much deliberation Blitz decided to follow Striker. He couldn't give a good reason as to why he wanted to join him.
Perhaps it could be do to his words, or maybe because he genuinely like Striker and wanted to see how far their relationship could go there many reasons as to why he decided to join Striker but he did know one thing for sure
He knew that if he wanted to make it to the top he'll need to stop serving bitter sinners and partner up with Striker and kill the unkillable. Make them pay for all the shit they put him and IMPs and hellhounds through.
Striker was right if he wanted his employees to have a good life he'll need to change the system
He already left a note to M&M as well as Loona he told them that he would be gone for a few weeks as he had somethings to figure out.
He of course before meeting or contacting Striker, Blitz met up wit Stolas told him that he can have him for a whole day to do whatever Stolas wanted the only thing he asked was for him to give Millie, Moxxie, and Loona 2.5 million dollars each that way they'll at least have money and not worry about anything for the time being.
Worst day of his fucking life but it was worth it. Stolas of course wanted to know why Blitz demanded for such a thing.
Blitz just gave him the finger threw his book in his face and left.
Striker put his bags over Bombproof before his hands grabbed Blitz's waist and hoisted him up placed him on Bombfires back.
Striker got on his hellhorse with ease.
He felt Striker's lips on his forehead before Striker's tail wrapped itself around his waist pulling Blitz closer to him.
"You won't regret this,"
Blitz smiled at Striker before cupping his face leaning forward he kissed Striker the two shared a soft passionate kiss
The two pulled back giving each other soft smiles. Blitz curled up on Striker's chest letting out soft purrs as Striker ordered Bombfire to move.
Blitz for the first time in weeks slept peacefully while Striker brought the smaller imp closer to his body his tail tightening itself around his waist not once did it let go of his beloved.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: Imma be honest with y'all ... It was not supposed to be this long ... Oh well tell me what you guys think ^^
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lovee-infected · 3 years
Note
Alright, this might be a bit too early to be saying this, but ever since Rook's 'betrayal' and those who are hating on him now...I'm kind of worried the same thing might happen to Silver. Since each of the stories take parts from the movies, we know that Silver is twisted from the sword that killed Maleficent. And what if he's forced to defeat Malmal? Knowing toxic people are in the fandom, they might start bashing others for still loving him. That's what scares me. ~🍁leaf anon
I was thinking of the same thing a few days ago www. Well, *sigh* time for another analysis I guess:
Considering what we had to go through after Pomefiore chapter...I thought if it was really just because of how the story ended. But I came to realize something important, the drama wasn't simply because a NRC student voted for RSA, it was because Rook did this, a character who already had a considerably dramatic reputation in the fandom way before Pomefiore was released:
Let me give you a better example, Leona. In savanaclaw's arc Leona was this close to seriously killing Ruggie. We all know that it wasn't intentional, his attack was a result of having his magic stone tainted which soon led to Leona's overblot so his actions/ emotions weren't really under his control at the time.
But still, he almost killed Ruggie but no one ever really started a drama or #CancelLeonaKingscholar tag over it, I'd dare say no one even blamed him either.
Well Leona might not be the best example we can use here but I assure you, if Rook does something really bad, and Leoona does the exacf same thing afterwards, Leona would face less punishment and blame because of his current popularity and clout.
According to the statistics, Leona's currently the most popular dorm leader and most likely the most popular character of the game, doing something absolutely horrible may lead to a mild decrease in number of fans, yet, it'll never, never be as dramatic and horrible as what fans did over Rook.
Look, clout is very important, so if a potentionally popular character does something bad a considerble majority of fans might simply ignore and exucse their deeds, note that as students who have souls of greatest of villains none of them were ever supposed to be any pure either; NRC is a school of villains.
What I'm trying to say, is that the drama was also exaggerated because it was with Rook of all people. Both Rook and Vil are characters who have been looked down on and harassed ever since twst was released, so no wonder why the fandom exploded when Rook of all people made NRC lose the VDC.
-Defending your bias- is something quite common in not just twst but rather each and every fandom all over the world! I'm not saying everyone would just ignore everything horrible their bias has done to defend them, but a huge majority of fans would this soooo when dramas like his arrive, more popular characters like Leona and Malleus have a higher chance of survival while Rook just drowned under the pile of hate comments and posts.
Regarding the Diasomnia chapter, I'd give you an example using Malleus; He is a very important character, dare to say the most important character of the game after Yuu. Why am I saying this? Oh God, can't you all see? The one and only character to be on twst's official poster, the only one who got an official artwork aside his concept art and game cards design; the very last character we're going to have a SSR pick up for and the last dorm leader we're going to meet and also the only character who happened to befriend and get to know Yuu without knowing them much or having a specific chance to meet them in school.
Why is his role so important? We don't know. We don't know what makes Malleus special and that's my point, it can even turn out to be something truly evil.
I love Malleus, but at the same time I don't fully trust him, his "I've got lovely plans to entertain you here" has been giving me chills for so long and if he turns out to be a total contrast to the silly tamagotchi baby this fandom has made of him I won't be the least surprised; yet, even if we get to face a plot twist that changes our entire perspective towards him ( in bad way) I still won't unstan him, not because I think of him as a misunderstood and isolated young boy who is kind and pure at heart no matter how scary he looks on the outside.
Each and every of our characters (except Silver, I'd later explain why) have a dark side to them whether you like it or not, that's a fact. Expecting guys who are supposedly twisted Villains to behave like a prince on the white horse is nothing but a wild fanon fantasy.
I guess Diasomnia chapter is still going to face less drama since most of Diasomnia characters are considerbly popular among the fans, but Sebek's on think ice I'd say, I'm sure that I won't ever see a #CancelMalleusDraconia tag but a #CancelSebekZigvolt tag? That's not too far from mind considering how Rook got shitted on because of a simple vote. I guess almost all of us have already prepared for Silver's possible betrayal as the sword so if anyone ever dares start a drama over something which we already saw coming long ago, that's a matter of immaturity and obvious stupidity.
Long story short, no matter what happens in the future story line, I expect everyone to be civil. Just a boo is all it takes for some dramtic fans to lose their minds again but let me tell you: Even if Malleus DIES(which is logically impossible) in the very end I'm still mature enough to never start a drama over it no matter how badly it hurts.
But...since I know there's never really a way to prevent drama in this fandom, all I can say is to stay silent whenever you see a wave of drama. Don't support the drama, but don't oppose to it either, just ignore it.
I was watching as the wave of Rook drama washed down the fandom and this is the summary of how posts changed under the tags:
12 hours after the release of Pomefiore's final episodes: Memes clowning Rook, mild spams of hate.
12 hours- 4 days after the release of Pomefiore's final episodes: Posts defending Rook, shoutouts, stuff explaining why Rook's vote for RSA made sense, etc.
You see what I mean? The first 12 hours was the main wave of hate spam but this drama was mainly about the spam of posts defending Rook, not attacking him.
Continuing a drama, whether it's by hating a character or defending them just worsens the chaos even as you're totally right and mean good.
The one and only way to truly prevent a drama from being spread all over the fandom, is by not supporting/atracking any posts, ignoring drama and waiting until no one is talking about it anymore.
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mermaidsneedwater · 3 years
Text
you see his baby photos
photographs for this post are here
⇒ jaebeom
“Jaebeom will kill me if he knows we’re doing this.”
“Doing what?”
You and Jaebeom’s mom whipped around from the couch to see him standing in the doorway.
“Uh, nothing!” You panicked. “Just trying to decide what we should eat for dinner.”
Not believing you, Jaebeom walked to the couch to see his childhood photographs sprawled out over the coffee table and couch.
“Eomma!” He groaned.
“Don’t be mad at your mom!” you said, “I begged her to let me see them.”
Grumbling, he sat next to you on the couch as he looked through the photos on the page in your lap.
“Whatever, you were going to find them eventually.” He shrugged.
Taking that as his blessing to continue, Jaebeom’s mom showed you a photo of him as a chubby baby, sitting happily on a swing.
You were unable to contain your delight as your mouth formed into an o, “Jae you were the cutest baby ever! I just want to gobble you up.”
“Yeah, he was.” His mom remarked fondly.
“Was?” Jaebeom asked slightly irritated.
“Not so much anymore with those awful piercings.” His mother disapproved, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
Shocked, Jaebeom placed a hand over his heart. “So mean. I took it out for you.”
“And you look so handsome now without it.” His mother remarked, not looking up from the photo she was looking at. “Don’t you think Y/N?”
Blushing, you placed your hand on his cheek, “I think he looks handsome all the time.”
⇒ mark
You held the photograph of Mark and compared it to his face. You bit your lip, not wanting to say what you thought.
“What? You look like you want to say something.” Mark said, noticing your reaction.
Exhaling, you answered. “Yes, but don’t get mad.”
“I won’t now tell me.” Mark insisted.
He sat on his knees by the box of his memorabilia, interested in hearing what you had to say.
“Did you ever watch this cartoon, Crayon Shin-Chan?”
“Maybe? I think I used to watch it on Saturday mornings.”
“You look exactly like the main character, Shin-Chan, in this picture,” you said holding up the photo of mark as a baby.
Mark looked at you blankly.
“Okay let me show you.” You said.
You googled a picture of the character and held up your phone and the photograph side by side.
Inspecting the two, Mark rolled his eyes. “I don’t see it.”
“You look identical!” You exclaimed.
Shaking his head, he kept sorting photographs, “nope. I don’t look anything like him.”
“How do you not see it!” You said. “If you were a cartoon you would literally be Shin-Chan.”
“Babe, that would be like if I told you that you look like Spongebob.”
“Hey! That’s not even a remotely fair comparison.”
“Exactly. Which is why I’m saying I don’t look like him.”
“Fine, agree to disagree.” You said, “even though I’m clearly right.”
Mark looked at you, but couldn’t help but laugh at your comment as you both kept sorting through photos.
⇒ jackson
Jackson was no help when it came to these kind of things.
His mom had texted you, I sent you some of Jackson’s baby photos. Let me know which ones you think are cute and I’ll get them framed.
Simple enough right? Not quite.
The afternoon had stretched into the evening as you and Jackson reminisced and discovered the pictures.
“You were so energetic.” You commented, holding the photograph of baby Jackson between your fingers. He stood smiling in a victory pose “I wonder...”
“What?” He asked, curious at your thought.
“Do you think we would’ve been friends as kids?”
“Ha! Absolutely not.” Jackson replied instantly.
“What? Why?” You frowned.
“Princess let me tell you something. Back then? You were so out of my league.” Jackson explained. “I would’ve never had a chance of being friends, much less your boyfriend.”
“That’s not true.” You protested. “I was pretty shy, you would’ve thought that I couldn’t speak.”
Shaking his head Jackson took the photograph from you and set it down on the table.
“Well then why don’t you tell me what you think.” You said, interested in hearing his theory.
“Gladly. We would’ve been classmates, I would’ve definitely had a crush on you, but being the immature person I was, I would’ve teased you incessantly. You would get so annoyed with me, but would eventually come to realize it was my stupid ways. I would eventually get the courage to ask you out, but you would let me down easy.” Jackson mapped out.
“You make me sound so unattainable.” You pouted. “I’ll tell you what I think. We would’ve been friends, you were class clown so everyone would’ve been friends with you. I would’ve had a huge crush on you, but I never would’ve said anything because I was so shy. Eventually, we’d graduate never being more than friends.”
Soaking up your story in silence, Jackson finally remarked. “I’m so glad we didn’t know each other as kids.”
⇒ jinyoung
“Oh my god.” You covered your mouth to muffle your laughter. “Jinyoung what is this?!”
You pointed and flipped through his baby photo album that contained not one, but three pages of Jinyoung sulking at various places.
“I knew this was a bad idea,” Jinyoung grumbled sitting back on the couch.
On this uneventful afternoon, you’d decided to do some cleaning in your apartment, only to discover a box of photo albums Jinyoung’s parents had sent over to your apartment many months ago. Unfortunately for Jinyoung that meant more reminiscing over his baby photos and less cleaning.
“You were such a sulky baby!” You exclaimed. “Oh gosh, this one is the best.”
His ears perked up as he leaned forward to look at the photo you were pointing at.
In the photograph Jinyoung stood pouting, his large ears pointing outwards as he stood straight. He seemed to be dressed in a turquoise crocheted tank top.
“I was probably annoyed with something very reasonable!” Jinyoung attempted to defend.
Looking at him with an eyebrow raised, he held his hands up in defeat. “Fine. I was upset because my mom wouldn’t stop taking pictures of me. But don’t you think you have any photos throwing fit?”
“I definitely do, but not to the varying extent that you do,” you replied.
Narrowing his eyes at you, he spoke “alright, I think I’ve seen enough of my embarrassing pictures for the day.”
“Hey, at least you grew into your ears,” you giggled, poking his side.
He turned to give you the same sulking look as the photograph. “You’re lucky I love you.”
Turning to look at him, you continued flipping through the book, “I love you too,”
You leaned to kiss both of his ears “especially your ears” you then leaned in to peck his lips, resting your forehead against his “and your face when you’re sulking.”
⇒ youngjae
You sifted through the photographs of Youngjae past on your coffee table.
JYP had asked Youngjae to send in a baby photo of himself as a special photo card option for their next comeback.
Stressed and overwhelmed by the pressures of idol life, Youngjae had delayed this task by weeks.
As you cooked dinner, you glanced at Youngjae’s phone to see a message.
You need to send in your baby photo ASAP.
You finished cooking and headed to your albums. There were too many choices. Flipping through the albums you narrowed your choices down to three photos. Laying them out on the coffee table, you folded your hands on your lap contemplating.
Lost in thought, you didn’t even realize Youngjae had awoken from his nap until he wrapped his arms around you.
“Hey,” Youngjae said, his voice still groggy. “What are you doing?”
“You’ve been putting off sending your baby photo so I thought I’d help you out.” You informed him.
“Thank you darling.” He kissed your cheek before sitting down next you.
“Any thoughts on which one to send?” You turned to him. “I narrowed it down to three. I know which one I think you should send in, but it should be your choice.”
Scanning the photos in front of him, Youngjae finally spoke, “let’s point to our choice at the same time.”
“1”
“2”
“3” you said at that same time.
Looking to where your fingers pointed you smiled.
“I guess it’s settled then.” Youngjae laughed.
The photo you’d both picked had been one of Youngjae and his father. He was holding his son as Youngjae drank from a bottle.
“I love this photo, you look just like your dad.” You told him. “The resemblance is uncanny.”
⇒ bambam
“You look so innocent.” You showed Bambam the photograph. “What happened to you?”
Bambam looked up from his phone to see his baby photo on your phone.
“Hey! How did you get that?” He said.
“Your sister sent it to me.” You replied nonchalantly. “She sent some real gems.”
“Since when are you and Baby texting about me?” Bambam asked, curious.
“Maybe a month?” You said, thinking back to the first time she texted.
“A month!” Bambam exclaimed. “Oh god.”
“Oh god is right. I can see why you’re a performer now, you’re a natural.” You told him.
Leaning his back on the couch, he sat up thinking about your earlier comment.
“What did you mean I was so innocent.” He pouted folding his shoulder. “I’m still squeaky clean.”
“Oh please, the Bambam I know now is literally the guy who texted me last week after work that he wanted me on the bed and ready for his big–“
“Okay! I get it.” Bambam interrupted.
“See? Not so innocent.” You said. You held up his baby photo “This baby on the other hand, total angel.”
⇒ yugyeom
“Y/N don’t look at that.” Yugyeom said.
Ignoring his warning you continued flipping through his childhood album. You looked up to see your man child of a boyfriend towering over you and pouting.
“These are so embarrassing, please don’t.” He pleaded with you.
“You were so cute!” You countered. “Please let me see them. I think you were adorable.”
Giving in, he sat next to you on the couch. “Fine. But I’m going to go through them too.”
You both sat on the couch, placing the album between you.
“Are you wearing roller skates in this?” You pointed to baby Yugyeom’s feet. “I wanna hear the story behind this.”
“Oh man, that was before I cut my head.” Yugyeom reminisced.
“What?!” You said, shocked that he had been in so much danger.
“Yeah. My dad had taken me and my brother out to rollerskate. I was so stubborn as a kid, I refused to wear a helmet.” Yugyeom recounted to you. “Things were fine until I tripped on my skate and ended up hitting my head on a rock. There was blood everywhere”
“That must’ve been scary.” You said, leaning on his shoulder.
“I think my dad was more freaked out that me. Luckily I only needed two stitches.” He rested his head against yours. “I still have the scar.”
You leaned back as Yugyeom pulled his hair out of his face. Lifting it up, he revealed a scar going into his forehead.
Reaching out, you gingerly touched it. Pressing a kiss to your index and middle finger you placed it on the scar.
“How come I never noticed this scar before?” You wondered aloud. “It makes you look sexy.”
Scoffing, Yugyeom released the hair he was holding. “I was such an idiot. Hopefully our kids don’t turn out as dumb as me.”
Your eyes widened slightly at his words. Hopefully our kids don’t turn out as dumb as me. He was thinking about that?
Taking in your reaction, he lightly coughed, “I mean you know, in the future. The very far future.”
You smiled, kissing his cheek. “I hope they can dance like you. It would be a shame if they got my two left feet!”
return to masterlist
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wangxiandecoded · 4 years
Text
Episode 12
Previous Episode | Next Episode
(Spoilers for the whole show ahead!)
Even when Wen Chao asks for their swords, Wei Ying is trying desperately to make Lan Zhan look him in the eye to telepathically understand what his soulmate is feeling. Lan Zhan hates it but he has no choice but to cooperate with the enemy. He has withdrawn to himself after the multiple losses he’s faced and being a puppet at the hands of the Wens must be rattling him some more. Even if he wanted to tell Wei Ying everything that’s on his mind, he wouldn’t have been able to find the words to. 
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Lucky for him, Wei Ying has an inkling that his Lan Zhan has faced an inexplicable disaster and that’s why he’s behaving this way with him. He knows it doesn’t mean he should stop reaching out. His concern for him leads him to repeatedly seek Lan Zhan’s face, looking for anything that might suggest how he can alleviate his plight.
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One of the perks of having Wei Wuxian as your boyfriend is that he was born ready to make a clown out of the most dastardly villains.
Wei Ying Says “Fuck You” In The Name Of Love
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Wei Ying has a brilliant idea to talk to Lan Zhan or at least let him know he is not alone.
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There is something powerfully impressive and quietly romantic about Wei Ying insulting the Wen clan by reciting the Lan clan’s rules to Wen Chao’s face, on the heels of the former decimating and annexing the latter. Of course Wei Ying is the first one in a room to stand up to a bully and protect the others but Wei Ying knows Lan Zhan’s hands are tied right now, even if he doesn’t know what exactly happened. But that’s okay, because Wei Ying will defend his honor and become Lan Zhan’s hands, his mouth, his everything that delivers the unmistakable “fuck you” on behalf of his family. And he does it in an act of rebellion that originates in the sanctum of love. Understandably, Lan Zhan falls more in love with him.
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Wei Ying’s Plan Misfires 
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His happiness is short-lived, but honestly who could predict his plan would go like this?
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We see that Lan Zhan does want to confide in his soulmate the pain and pressure he’s been dealing with alone the whole time, but it’s too dangerous for them to talk right now. 
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Wen Chao carries the same kind of smugness as a prick who’s been waiting to out a gay couple. I mean how awful do you have to be to physically abuse Wangxian for.. being Wangxian? Blatant homophobia right there.
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Wei Ying has had enough of Wen Chao’s bullshit and is unafraid to clap back with his signature cheekiness.
When Wei Ying is captured, Lan Zhan blocks the whip coming his way and ends up taking a hit to his injured leg. Wei Ying then wants Wen Chao to come for him instead of Lan Zhan, and we can honestly expect nothing less from Wangxian at this point.
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Lan Zhan conquers his silent grieving and mute seething to stand in defiance against Wen Chao. It is worth mentioning that his patience and tolerance can even bear the brunt of a fallen world, but cease to exist the second someone mistreats Wei Ying before his eyes. You know what they say about love being a vicious motivator. His protective stance here screams..
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Lan Zhan Holds On To Wei Ying For A Short Span Of Eternity
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Wen Chao sure is very curious about the nature of their relationship and unable to fathom what Wei Ying could possibly want with Lan Zhan. He’s already safe and sound with him in Qishan, so if they’re not talking about the Yin Iron, what the hell is it? This inquisition is a bit ridiculous, as if the writer specifically gave him these lines to point out to the audience that Wangxian are being soulmates in love once again.
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What Lan Zhan does not say, he makes up for with the million times he reaches for Wei Ying instinctively; spontaneous skinship is one of the ways through which his love for Wei Ying finds expression. It is phenomenal that He Who Does Not Touch People firmly holds on to his lover through this whole monologue that follows.
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There are few things in the world that can inspire Lan Zhan’s wrath and protection right now, and Wei Ying commands both so effortlessly. Defeated as he is, for Wei Ying, Lan Zhan is always a man of action. And this action particularly proves his willingness to send packing to hell whoever dares to come close to his lover. I wonder what would’ve happened if Wei Ying hadn’t gone to the dungeon on his own volition.
Wangxian Are Once Again Ready To Risk It All For Each Other
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It would’ve been nice to see them get their alone time, but what’s one more complication on the path of true love, right?
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If you thought about it, Wangxian’s universe truly conspires to bring them together sometimes. Wen Ning tells Wei Ying everything Lan Zhan wasn’t able to, and Wen Qing does everything in her power to ensure they’re both out of harm’s way. Even when our heroes aren’t able to spend time together, they are being assisted by outside forces that work to ensure their love has a future. There are always people left in the world who are rooting for Wangxian because they’re the good gays guys! 
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We are well aware of how deeply and madly Wei Ying loves Lan Zhan, but it is startling all the same that even when he is in physical agony, what infuriates him to the point of madness is the news of Lan Zhan being hurt and his home being burnt down. Wei Ying is also more than willing to endure his pain a while longer if it means Lan Zhan has a shot at getting better.
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Wangxian at any given point of time are ready to sacrifice themselves for the other and wage a war against the entire world for wronging the love of their life. That’s what makes these soulmates more unique than most, if not all lovers in fiction. Throughout the story, their romance is subjected to a billion tests and every choice they make is bound to make the viewers cry and highlight the unfairness of the impossible stakes they go through to be with each other. This is no ordinary romance, and that’s why it is all the more fantastic they are able to survive these unthinkable odds and come out shining in the end.
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Lan Zhan’s concern and affection for Wei Ying is so open that it bleeds all over our screens. It’s like he looks at the rest of the world with aloof objectivity but the minute his lover comes into his sight, his eyes can bloom only warmth and emotion. Even the vision that touches Wei Ying from afar should be gentle and reverent, fit for holding in sight something precious beyond measure. This can be said about the both of them.
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It is when NHS mentions their halcyon days at Cloud Recesses that we realize how their lives have changed irreversibly. Both Lan Zhan and Wei Ying are visibly sadder, like they’re wishing to return to simpler times when courting Lan Zhan was the biggest problem in Wei Ying’s life and fighting his feelings for Wei Ying was Lan Zhan’s. They’ve grown closer since then but the impediments on their road have also grown bigger.
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Wei Ying Asks Jiang Cheng To Stay Out Of His Love Life
Lan Zhan keeps walking like #conceal don’t feel but the sad version of WuJi reveals all.
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Wei Ying has been growing tired of Jiang Cheng trying to dictate what he should and should not feel or do about things that do not concern him and he rightfully puts him in his place in this scene. Jiang Cheng tells Wei Ying to not choose “someone else” as “we” already have a lot to deal with. He implies Wei Ying shouldn’t help Lan Zhan because he isn’t family and is clearly underplaying his injury despite Wei Ying emphasising its urgency. And Wei Ying is so done with putting up with that kind of negative energy in his love life.
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He is quick to silence anyone who thinks they can hold him back from his heart or overstep the boundaries of his relationship with Lan Zhan. And his logic is very sound, for who on earth is capable of stopping Wei Ying from helping him? Not even Lan Zhan! 
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Wei Ying breaks free of Jiang Cheng's grip and leaves in Lan Zhan's direction after patronizingly patting his arm. And that is his answer. To him, Lan Zhan isn’t just another person and there is certainly no choice he has to make when it comes to him. It will always be Lan Zhan who is his foremost priority and the rest of the world has to simply get used to being left behind.
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We see that he knows Lan Zhan would never ask for help but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t need it. His soulmate will hence always offer it, and if rejected, simply throw him on his back and continue while Lan Zhan informs him once again of how “boring” it is. He doesn’t get to do that, but his sentiment is romantic enough to stay in Lan Zhan’s memory for sixteen years and become an action he boldly reciprocates when Wei Ying comes back.
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Wangxian’s Love Story is Truly “Epic”
Episodes 11 and 12 trace the beginnings of the turmoil that will forge Wangxian’s path (and make us weep). Every romance starts from the idyllic state of undisturbed happiness but it seldom remains there through the whole story. And let’s be honest, calamities bring emotional depth and complexity to a plot, exposing that our favorite characters are human, flawed and a lot closer to reality than we imagined. Both the heroes stay loyal to their core values, with the conviction to be fearless in the face of unforeseen adversities in life and love.
And we hope like the hopeless romantics who are in love with the greatest love story ever told, that maybe all the tragedies that are about to befall Wei Ying and Lan Zhan won’t matter one day because their happy ending will heal all wounds. Obstacles will continue to strew our heroes apart and push them towards the other on a loop, but Wangxian are like magnets destined to snap back together. They will ascend beyond the stratosphere of romance, straight to the heavens, because their love’s greatest virtue is that they have each other and know each other more than any two people ever did in all of history. They are devoted to the other unconditionally in soul, mind and body. 
It’s just that our idiot-soulmates take the long way round to realize that their own joint force is capable of annihilating and birthing entire universes, and nothing that ever dared to stand on their path ever stood a chance. And when they do realize that their love is an infinite, impossible force that can bend the laws of nature and be a harbinger of greatness to a world that is doomed to fail, their story is exalted to an epic that doubles as a romance, effectively displacing all the bland, straight examples of love that have infiltrated our past and perpetuated heteronormativity. Because it boasts a love that all of humankind should vie to fashion their lives after and is a true sight to behold - a sight we will rewatch for as long as we live, and bequeath to posterity so they can grow up looking up to Wangxian. Because their love story is the big budget live action fantasy that queer people have been deprived of for so long and is now here to tell us : You should dare to love because it will become your greatest strength. Just like it became Wei Ying and Lan Zhan’s.
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gummygowon · 4 years
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the nutcracker | hwang hyunjin
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word count: 1.1k
genre: fluff
strangers to lovers!
warnings: none
a/n: if i opened up requests (if i can figure out how to do that) would anyone request because i kinda want to do it but i don't want to disappoint any of you guys
hwang hyunjin shifted uncomfortably in his seat as the lights dimmed down in the theater. he still didn't know how felix and jisung had successfully dragged him into a showing of the nutcracker.
his expectations were low in terms of entertainment. the black haired boy expected to be barely awake after twenty minutes because how can you have a whole ass dance performance to music with no words?
he would rather much be at home watching netflix or just cuddling with his dog. but no, his friends had convinced him to seeing a ballet performance since felix's little sister was apart in it. hyunjin had zero clue about what this (play?) was about, let alone knowing what part felix's sister is playing. but for the sake of being a good friend he agreed to come and suffer in silence.
"felix, who is your sister playing?" jisung asked, as if reading his mind.
"clara, she's like the main girl or something." the freckled boy answered, shrugging his shoulders.
hyunjin couldn't help but chuckle at his friend, "you don't know what she's playing and yet you still dragged me here."
"hey, i'm getting you dinner after this so it's fair. and i'm pretty sure she's playing clara at least. she kept nagging me about her role and costumes." felix defended.
hyunjin was about to retort something back but music began to play and the theater was completely dark.
at first, he was mildly amazed at the costumes and everything else until he saw you.
you were playing the role of the sugar plum fairy so you showed up quite a lot during the show which was great for hyunjin.
he was completely entranced at the sight of you. the way the stage lights made you glow along with the gemstones on your costume and the way you moved so elegantly and gracefully made his heart flutter a little bit.
hyunjin didn't have any knowledge of ballet but to him you looked like a professional. the way your facial expressions mirrored the music and the way your body moved was fascinating to him. he was in total awe of you, his mouth hanging open.
jisung had taken great notice over his smitten friend and nudged felix who gave him a questioning look. jisung merely trailed his eyes back to their friend who still had his mouthing hanging slightly open.
felix was trying his absolute best to not laugh at his friend and looked away from him. poor hyunjin hadn't even realized his friends were clowning on him since he was too amazed by you.
once the show had ended with the all the actors coming out to do their curtain call, the three boys stood up and clapped loudly.
you had accidentally made eye contact with a certain black haired boy which sent a bright blush onto your cheeks. you had looked away feeling flustered but you mentally thanked the makeup crew for caking so much blush on your face that it barely made a difference.
afterwards, the three boys went to the front of the theater with felix's parent to wait for their daughter. while waiting, felix and jisung thought of a brilliant idea to tease hyunjin about his new crush.
"that actually wasn't as boring as i thought it was." hyunjin confessed to his friends.
jisung and felix gave each other a look.
"i know right? who's your favorite character?" jisung asked quickly.
"mine's the sugar plum fairy, she was just so mwah" felix playfully answered, kissing his fingers like a chef.
"huh?" the poor boy asked, feeling confused.
"hyunjin, sweetie, we know you have a crush on the girl who played the sugar plum fairy." jisung stated.
flustered, hyunjin merely scoffed, "no i don't."
"yeah, uh huh." felix teased.
just then, felix's sister came out wearing a thick, long jacket over her costume. thank god. hyunjin mentally thought to himself.
felix and his parents quickly swarmed her congratulating her on a job well done. jisung and hyunjin complimented her on her amazing performance and fell into a conversation about what to eat afterwards.
hyunjin was barely listening to their convo anymore and was instead casually looking for you. his eyes carefully landed on you, not too far away.
you were with your friends who had came to support you. you were also wearing a long, black jacket over your beautiful costume.
to hyunjin's surprise or maybe embarrassment, the two of you made eye contact. you gave him a soft smile which sent the boy's heart into a frenzy but nonetheless he smiled back.
"you're not slick." felix's little sister scoffed at him, crossing her arms.
"huh, what do you mean?" the boy asked, pretending to play dumb.
"you know what, i'm talking about. you keep staring at y/n." felix's sister pointed out.
"yeah, she's right dude. you were literally drooling over her whenever she came out." jisung added.
"i was not." hyunjin huffed in disagreement but the blush on his face was telling another story.
the little girl rolled her eyes and stalked over to where you were.
slightly panicking, hyunjin began to mentally prepare himself for whatever was going to come. he snuck a glance at you two and saw felix's little sister pointing at his group. you then made eye contact again with him, sending a blush to both of your cheeks. the black haired boy gulped down his nerves as he saw the two of you walk towards him.
"guys, this is y/n. she was the sugar plum fairy." the girl introduced you.
"hi, thank you guys so much for coming to the show." you beamed at the group. your smile was sending hyunjin's heart beating so loudly he was sure everyone could hear it.
"of course, if it wasn't for my buddy hyunjin here, we wouldn't have came." jisung responded sending a wink towards his friend.
you turned to look at the boy. he was much more prettier up close you thought to yourself. "is that so?"
the latter didn't answer not until felix jabbed his side with his elbow, "ow- i mean yes." he blushed, rubbing the side felix hit.
you chuckled at him sending a soft smile towards him.
"anyways, y/n do you want to come eat dinner with us? we're getting hotpot!" felix's sister asked with her puppy dog eyes.
"sure, why not. i'll ask my parents." you answered, feeling excited because you get to spend more time with the cute boy.
you turned to leave and waved back at the group, "i'll text you!"
and just like that, that was how you met your boyfriend of two years. and you bet jisung and felix forced you guys to sit together at the hotpot restaurant that night which ended up being the best thing to ever happen to you.
nowadays, hyunjin had come to every single show he could possibly make and afterwards the two of you would always get hotpot.
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ursie · 3 years
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Hi, it's me again.
I'm trying my hardest not to be a clown (I'm switching to pirating some books til I figure out where my money should go-- my brain will itch if I don't read, but I don't have to put any money forward or post about it to satisfy my hyperfixation, just read and talk).
New 52 is trending on twitter, probably because of Gail Simone defending Tom Taylor, citing that making Babs able bodied was a decision made at the company level a decade ago, and with Taylor reiterating that Babs is only suiting up for this Fear State event (which, and I'm not defending him for anything, just thinking of how this works, is probably a mandate from the higher ups).
Of course, Taylor has enough clout, I would think, that he could fight this decision.... though I'm not sure he would be successful. And he's responding really immaturely.
I guess my question is, considering that Babs was made able bodied in New 52, and that they seem to be gradually working Babs and other characters back to post-Crisis form but they aren't committing... how would you like Babs to go on? Should she be wheelchair bound again and the magic chip goes away so she can be Oracle again? Like if a writer is told "You must have Barbara Gordon actively in this story, and it must be consistent with the current timeline" what would you like to see?
It's only that I've seen a lot of talk about "re-disabling" Babs being a bad look because the way she became disabled in the first place was so traumatizing.
I'm asking partly because I don't want to put my money in the wrong place, and also because I've been having an itch to write Babs coming back to Oracle myself, and I don't want to do it.... shittily. I realize, of course, that no community is a monolith but the more I go through your blog the more you seem like a person to ask.
I'm sorry for rambling on like this, I am incapable of being concise, but I want to be really clear when I ask because I don't want to accidentally say some ignorant stuff and put my foot in my mouth.
No no I understand!! Truth be told Babs as bg is not nearly as revolutionary/necessary for dc or her character as dc says it is like sgdhdhdhd if I wrote dc I would just have her start as disabled and of been injured in like a gymnastics accident or something. She’s not even the first bg 😭 like she can just be Oracle
Also if you want to read her being disabled outside of redacted I recommend reading “The Oracle Code”
But in the current timeline I think the chip could simply malfunction or something I’m not a fan of the whole eugenics chip obv so it not like. Working would be ideal. It doesn’t need to be traumatic or anything could just be a unrelated medical issue ect. I hope this makes sense?? Thank you for asking 🥰 interesting to think about
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plant-dad-sulu · 3 years
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thinking about this class I took in third year that was all about commedia dell'arte. At the start we each selected a mask that we would portray for the rest of the half-semester (the second half was spent clowning) and the mask i chose was this very grumpy looking face (another grumpy mask was taken by this guy named Mark) and everyone agreed i used it really well, it suited me, and as such I got super into it and was really proud of the character I had made. It felt really natural.
And i remember in one of the final classes we were discussing our characters and someone said "haha it's like Mark is the grumpy old man of the class and Nick is the grumpy old woman" and i had like this really surreal moment where I suddenly realized that I had just assumed everyone would see my character as a man. I did. And it had just never come up before because part of the class was that our characters didn't speak, it was entirely physical comedy, so we made it all the way to the end before I was confronted by the fact that my perception of my performed gender was completely separate from theirs because they were also basing it on the body the mask was on top of. It honestly didn't even occur to me that they might see my character as a woman.
And lo and behold, when we moved onto clowning and we all had to make up a clownsona to perform until the end of the semester, I accidentally did the exact same thing and decided my character was a man, (decided might be the wrong word, my character just sort of Was a man) but thought it was obvious enough from how I acted that it didn't need saying. I mean for god sake, I based my personality and physicality around Groucho Marx. And once again I was smacked in the face by my classmates calling my clown "she." And both times I was too embarrassed to correct them because they liked my characters, we just... didn't interpret their unspoken genders the same way. What I thought was obvious was, to them, not even a thought, and vice versa.
And idk where I'm going with this, it just comes to mind sometimes, but I think what bothered me most about those disconnects was that, to me, the gender of the characters put the actions and behaviour into a completely different context. A performance decision can be completely reinterpreted based on whether the character is male or female, and so it wasn't just the gender that was being misinterpreted, it was the whole of the character, because the context had changed between me doing it and them perceiving it.
And I find that happens a lot in real life too. I do things without realizing that I'm doing them in the context of being perceived female, so my understanding is separate from onlookers. And I don't get surprised when people call me "she" (not all the time anyways) but I'll catch my reflection in a shop window or see a photograph I'm in and suddenly I remember that I don't look the way I think I do. The context of my behaviour is different because I'm different. I'll have a coworker come into a room and tell another one "I can't say this with girls around" and the other will reply "Nick's cool, she's like one of the guys" and it takes me by surprise every time that they've put me in a different context than the one I'm trying to project without even realizing I'm trying to project it. Because it would never occur to me that a man might see me and think "that's a girl," and treat me accordingly. It would never occur to me that I would have to be defended as "one of the guys." I always just assume they'll see me and think, "that's Nick," and treat me as such.
When I was a kid and my sister and I would play pretend (we called them acting games) I would always play a boy and so would she. It was obvious to us. Girl characters just weren't interesting. We would start a game and try to think of the coolest Boy Name that we could because it was just better to play a boy. But when kids on the playground would look at my short hair and baggy clothes and ask me "are you a boy or a girl?" I would be furious that they couldn't tell I was a girl. Now? It's like there's two separate me's. There's the one I see in the mirror and perform when i remember what i look like, and there's the one I don't see, the one that doesn't look like me, who I just sort of assume everyone else can see when i perform it.
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