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leewritestoomuch · 2 months

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just watched a tiktok that essentially went ‘check your tone b4 u talk to my girl/dont talk to my wife like that’ and now i need protective naruto charas w this.. team 7 ?! (and maybe the other konoha 11 (+ sand sibs kinda fit this too but omit and add whoever! no pressure!!))

I love how this is definitely pretty much canon to Sasuke’s character lol

Some are modern AU, some aren’t. It’ll be pretty much obvious, but if it’s not, it doesn’t matter too much.

I only did team 7 (Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and Sai) this time since the entire Konoha 13 and sand siblings can take a while and I just did all of them on my last post.(sorry no Yamato, I don’t know how to write for him tbh)

Fem reader

“Watch your Tone before you speak to my girl.”

Naruto Uzumaki

He can’t figure out why this guy is actually flipping his shit over something so small?

All you did was bump into him while you were trying to turn around from the counter in the kitchen. The party was packed, but the kitchen wasn’t quite as bad. You didn’t think you had to watch your every step so carefully.

The guy, clearly drunk off his ass, turns around and tells you to watch yourself. He throws out some basic insults, nothing too deep, but the attempt pisses your blonde, hotheaded boyfriend off.

The guy reaches for you, probably to tap your shoulder, throwing out some “flirty” comment meant to degrade you.

Naruto shoves the dude back, “watch your tone when you talk to her. That’s my girl.”

The dude, with as much respect for Naruto as he had, nods quickly, scampering off.

Naruto pours you another drink, giving you it as he pulls you onto the dance floor.

Sasuke Uchiha

Somebody talking down to his wife?

He knows damn well you can handle yourself, so he’ll stay back, but if you look at him for some help, he’s coming right on over.

He caught wind of the guy telling you off for being weak, saying you’re no help so you have no business ever being a ninja.

He can’t help but wonder what the hell this guys problem is. His wife isn’t weak. You’re one of the top ninja in the village, without a doubt. Maybe he has an issue with women?

“Don’t talk to my wife like that. You’re half the ninja she is.”

Sai

He’s right there and some dipshit has the nerve to talk down on you IN FRONT of him????

It was over something that was common knowledge to a person native to the village your team was visiting, but you simply didn’t know. You’d apologized many times. Wasn’t that enough?

He’s very subtly sassy at first. He’s monotone and flat in tone, but he’s being snarky. You can tell and the dude is catching on.

As Sai gets more pissed off, he gets more obvious.

Because it takes a bit to make him actually feel any which way, this dude is just a dickhead. And Sai isn’t having it

“Watch your tone. Talk to her right. Or we can handle this elsewhere?” Sai is smiling, but it’s a threat.

Sakura Haruno

She’s fuming when she hears somebody talking down to you. How dare somebody shit talk her girlfriend while you’re just trying to shop.

You’d gotten the last of something, since you were there first, but some Karen ass woman wanted it and was telling you why she deserves it more than you.

You’d explained kindly how you got to it first, but looked about ready to give it up and hand it over.

Sakura wasn’t going to let this woman step on your toes

“Watch your tone when you talk to my girl.” Sakura balls her hands into fists beside herself, but doesn’t raise them.

The woman is scared because Sakura is lowkey jacked and now she knows she’ll never be safe again. She gives it up.

Kakashi Hatake

This person didn’t know you were with Kakashi, without a doubt.

You were in a book store, and apparently you’d accidentally bumped into some girl and knocked all the books out of her arms. (She was carrying way too many without a basket for some reason)

You apologized, helping her pick them up, but she wasn’t letting it go.

She kept insulting your thinking skills and asked if you’re going blind. Over all, just things Kakashi knew weren’t true or didn’t matter. It was an accident. (And if you were going/are blind, it’s still, and more so, not your fault so he’s trying to figure out who tf this girl is??)

He waits to see what you do, but he won’t hesitate if he sees you need just a bit of help.

“How unhappy with your life do you have to be to talk like that?” Kakashi asks, closing his book. “You should watch your tone when you talk to my girl.”

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darkcircles4lyfe · 4 months

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Behind the locked door

In honor of Izuku’s mask disintegrating into rubble, I think it’s finally time for me to really dig deep into his character. I’ve been keeping this one in my back pocket for a while. Amid all the talk about Izuku’s fading narration, the “control your heart” subplot, I’ve been trying to find the words to articulate how I know exactly where this is going, at least on a certain level. Most recently, I read this meta from pika who brings up how the word “control” alone can be misconstrued (by us). And then I thought about how a while back I made a similar point, although I said Izuku was the one who got it wrong. At that time, I was holding back a huge piece of evidence because it was external to the story and I wasn’t sure it would be received well. As a result, my argument fell a little flat. Well, now—after 411, right before leaks for 412—it might be my last chance to play this card.

So about that external evidence. I struggle to bring it up because it’s gonna sound an awful lot like I’m projecting onto Izuku if I don’t do it justice. But… I look at the way his storyline has been going lately and I see a pattern emerging that I’m very familiar with. Fortunately, I don’t have to dump a bunch of personal junk on you in order to illustrate this pattern, because a certain personality typing system already has it all figured out: the Enneagram.

Now, hang on. I’m not one to put people in boxes. My trans ass? I managed to get a different result every time I retook the P0ttermore quiz. MBTI, zodiacs—not my thing. But the Enneagram comes the closest I’ve ever seen to covering all the bases and revealing actually meaningful insight, at least for myself. On top of that, I find it extremely useful for fleshing out fictional characters, hence this post will be taking advantage of that.

For those who aren’t familiar with it, here’s a quick overview: The Enneagram consists of 9 individual personality types, each arranged carefully in a sequential, circular manner. They are also simply named 1 through 9. While this might seem kinda basic, there is actually a surprising amount of nuance and fluidity involved. Typing is done largely through personal introspection (you don’t really have to take a test). Adjacent numbers share some core themes with each other, and according to a web of arrows between them, one type can take on either positive or negative traits associated with other types depending on how emotionally ‘healthy’ they are, causing a lengthy spectrum of different ways each type can manifest. That part gets kinda complicated to explain here, so for more info, the Enneagram Institute website is a decent place to start. I also highly recommend the Enneagram album by Sleeping At Last (and if you really want to dedicate some time, the accompanying podcast) to really get inside the heads of the types on a deeper level.

My interest in applying the Enneagram to Izuku comes from observing how differently one can interpret his character based on whether you read him as a 2 or a 9. And even though no one uses this language to talk about him, the distinction accounts for a bunch of different rifts in the fandom: whether you appreciate bkdk’s relationship, whether you can acknowledge Izuku’s flaws and weaknesses, the severity of his vigilante/rogue phase, and most importantly the gravity of his concealed heart, his rage, and what it all means—what he needs in order to grow and triumph.

Discussion of Enneagram types in the fandom is pretty scarce, but where it exists, I have only seen him labeled as a 2. Type 9 and type 2 can be similar at a glance in a lot of ways (actually, 9s can be mistaken for any type because they are like all of them combined). It’s easy to see Izuku as a 2 because he is the helping hero archetype. He puts others’ needs above his own and he is always ready and eager to help. If you listen to Sleeping At Last’s song for 2, you’ll notice that it’s all about care and noble sacrifice with the underlying theme of neglecting or even harming oneself: “I just want to build you up, until your good as new, and maybe one day I will get around to fixing myself too.” Sounds pretty obvious, right? Well, here’s the thing. You really get to know what your type is by how it hits you where it hurts, so I like to focus on each type’s basic fear and basic desire, first and foremost, as a tell. A 2′s basic fear is of being worthless and unloved. Consequently, their most basic desire is to be loved. And 2s have been taught through their negative experiences that love is conditional, something they have to earn from others. They need to be needed. So let’s say you think Izuku is a 2. This means you consider his heroic, self-sacrificing tendencies to be a result of his growing up quirkless and being told he is worthless and powerless because of it. Through this lens, he is trying to prove himself to the world by being useful. Along these lines, you may also assume he is trying to prove himself to Katsuki. Taking this train of thought even further, you may interpret Izuku’s relationship with Katsuki as an obsession of his, where he is either blind to Katsuki’s more negative traits in favor of gaining his love and praise, or else bitterly determined to prove him wrong. This is how a 2 might behave in an unhealthy relationship with an 8, which, yes, I do think Katsuki is an 8. That’s a tangent for another time, though.

But does Izuku ever “need to be needed?” It’s worth noting that while 2s’ search for validation might seem insincere, it is actually motivated by a deep, heartbreaking insecurity. They think they don’t even deserve love unless they are useful to someone, so they do everything they can to be worthy. Does Izuku show signs of this motivation?

If I stop to think about it, I can’t exactly see this in Izuku’s character. Yeah, his dream is to be a hero, and in his childhood, he was denied that dream. However I think we need to take a step back from that for a second if we want to dig deep. I mean, a lot of the other characters also behave heroically, act selflessly, and strive to help. Does that mean all of them are 2s as well? Of course not. So let’s instead turn to observe how Izuku acts with his loved ones, friends, and peers in other/adjacent contexts:

Inko: He is committed to protecting his mother from fearing for his safety. He wants to be good enough to not cause her to worry, rather than good enough to make her proud or make her love him. Idk about his father but at this point I think it’s safe to assume he is deeply unimportant.

All Might: I would describe their relationship as one of mutual responsibility. Izuku feels a responsibility to uphold All Might’s legacy, All Might feels a responsibility to teach him well. Because of this mutuality, I don’t think it quite makes sense to say Izuku deliberately seeks approval for its own sake. You know what I mean? They may be a mentor and a pupil but in practice they are almost more like co-conspirators. They don’t really have a power dynamic going on.

Shouto, Tenya, other friends: Izuku seems to take an interest in what makes his friends tick, and he sets himself aside in order to both analytically and intuitively determine what’s wrong and how to solve it. Examples include his fight against Shouto in the sports festival, and his stubborn concern for Tenya’s reaction to his brother’s forced retirement. He will put himself in the line of fire specifically when confronted with another person’s inner demons. This is not a labor that is asked of professional heroes, it’s just who Izuku is. You can also extend this observation to how he sees through Tomura to Tenko, but I’ll get to that later. Basically, while 2s seek to help in all kinds of ways, a 9’s strategy is always centered on the realm of the mind.

Kota: Adjacent to the paragraph above, before Izuku literally gets into a position where he needs to save Kota, he becomes interested in the boy’s point of view out of genuine curiosity. He doesn’t go “oh no, this kid doesn’t like heroes, I better get him to like heroes.” Instead he seeks out information as to why he thinks that way, and patiently listens. He’s sorry about what happened to Kota, and he understands. Twice (ch 71 and 72), he recognizes the fact that everyone has their own point of view on quirks, and he can’t really do anything about that.

Mirio: This might be one of the most telling examples. Mirio is the platonic ideal of an All Might successor. He’s “perfect.” He even looks the part. While this initially makes Izuku uncomfortable, he doesn’t become insecure and defensive over it. On the contrary, he easily comes to the conclusion that actually, Mirio should have One for All. Just like that (ch 172). If Mirio hadn’t dismissed the “hypothetical,” he probably would have gone through with giving it to him. That’s not how a 2 would respond. A 2 would double down and aim to be better than Mirio by trying to establish some relationship of need, fueled by the insecurity. Their shared subplot with Eri would have looked pretty different, I think.

Katsuki: I’ve mentioned before that I believe their rivalry only exists because Katsuki put it there. First of all, we can see that after the sludge villain incident, Izuku weirdly takes Katsuki’s dismissal of Izuku’s help as practical advice. Like, “oh yeah, I guess what I did was pretty stupid and dangerous, and I’m not cut out for this hero stuff. Now I can move on and find a realistic career.” Hello?? He accepted that so easily. So Izuku clearly isn’t motivated by a desire to prove himself to Katsuki. Even when he proclaims he’s going to surpass him, it’s like he’s happily mimicking Katsuki, not reacting based on insecurity or pride. Izuku is content to meet Katsuki wherever he is, and he’s satisfied with whatever kind of relationship they are able to have, including a rivalry, so he isn’t vying for his affection either. We can observe this when he gives up the role of reaching out a hand to save Katsuki to Kirishima, and also when he thinks about how “blessed” he is to even have a normal conversation with Katsuki. He doesn’t push things. It’s also stated in Deku vs. Kacchan 2 that Izuku doesn’t excuse or overlook Katsuki’s ��bad side” but still admires him for his other traits. This is not at all characteristic of a toxic 2x8 relationship.

When 2s are at their very worst or pushed into unhealthy situations, they tend to become more needy and self-centered, even downright manipulative. But at Izuku’s worst, when he went rogue, he pushed everyone away to avoid being a burden. When the refugees at UA tried to prevent him from returning, he was like, “you’re right” and would have turned back immediately if not for his friends, loved ones, and other people who care about him telling him it was all okay. Meanwhile, Katsuki, in true 8 fashion, was pissed off at being rejected and having to deal with Izuku’s stubborn and evasive side (oh yeah, have I mentioned 9s are actually stubborn as hell?), but he made sure to establish that they are (he is) here to step in when Izuku can’t handle things by himself. Katsuki even opened up and admitted to his own weaknesses to show why mutual support is so important. Tbh, a lot of the above can be construed as just super healthy type 2 behavior, but not this. The way Izuku acts at his lowest, and his dynamic with Katsuki? Totally different. Dead giveaway for a 9.

Let’s get into the type 9 itself in more detail to show how it applies to Izuku more deeply—seriously, it’s beat for beat. One of the key differences is, while 2s seek validation, 9s are actually resigned to the belief that they aren’t important. Similar to 2s, a 9′s basic fear is of separation, but their basic desire is actually just peace or harmony rather than love. Notice how these motivations are just like a 2’s, except they have the “self” part taken out. With that in mind, they “achieve” their basic desire through selflessness in and of itself, without the need for recognition. That’s not to say that 9s are better than 2s. In fact, a 9 can be worse, in a way. If unhealthy, they will seek peace at almost any cost to themselves. In other words, they can be more self-destructive while still under the impression that they are doing just fine. “Peace” may refer to the expression of empathy, fulfilling the needs of others, sheltering someone, or mediating a fight—but also to repressing their own opinions and needs, not “rocking the boat,” ignoring negative emotions, or becoming a vessel for someone else to vent to.

What about inner peace? 9s value serenity, and thus they have a complicated relationship with the most tumultuous of emotions: anger. On the surface, 9s look like the type that is extremely slow to anger and highly tolerant. However, as much as they would like to believe this about themselves too, deep down, 9s are afraid of what might happen if they lose control. My phrase for it is this: I feel like a bottled tornado. Personally, I also think of anger as a basic desire to make others feel your pain—not necessarily sadistically, but in an effort to be known, to be understood. The difficult thing to grasp, especially for a 9, is that this is NOT inherently a bad thing. It isn’t wrong to seek sympathy. On the contrary, it is harmful to tell yourself that getting angry is wrong, because it’s like telling yourself that your pain is wrong, your pain doesn’t matter.

The problem is it doesn’t stop there. A 9, in shutting down their anger, ends up with such a low opinion of their own heart, their other emotions dull along with it. They cry less, laugh less, love less. It’s often said that they “fall asleep” to themselves. It all starts with anger. It’s interesting to note how different this whole mindset is from toxic masculinity—where men only feel allowed/able to express emotions through anger. This is sorta like the opposite. Anger becomes the dam rather than the river. For Izuku, I want us to consider that his suppression of anger carries with it the implication that he is hiding other things, too. It’s a given. There’s a whole sea of feelings out there, and we can only see the waves hitting the shore. This brings me to the whole “control your heart” thing. I do think it is worth mentioning that Banjou didn’t just tell Izuku to exercise control. He also told him that his anger could be useful if it is harnessed. With this added context, “control” here means “to master.” And Izuku seemed to grasp this concept… sorta. I think that if Izuku is like a 9, we can assume he has trouble understanding how anger could be a worthy source of strength. His emotions in relation to Katsuki feel more like a weakness to him, a character flaw in a hero, who is supposed to be detached and selfless. But he’s trying to understand, even though he’s afraid of it. He essentially applied the same strategy he used for mastering OFA itself: incremental strength training. Which, okay. Take a moment to absorb how odd that is, in relation to emotions, specifically. Does one learn to cry incrementally? Does one learn to use anger by bottling a fucking tornado?? Like, what, you think you’re gonna be able to let out juuust the right amount of air to avoid an explosion??? No, man… if you want to be the master of your emotions you have to be willing to sit with them. Confront them. Listen to them. Take them in completely and accept them as a part of yourself.

For someone like Izuku, though, it is very difficult to imagine how this is even possible. Tomura, as with every villain, can be used to reflect his hero counterpart’s greatest fear about himself. Tomura literally touches everyone and everything with his rage, and as a physical manifestation of that desire to pass his own pain onto others, destruction radiates from his fingertips. Thus, losing control in this manner must be Izuku’s worst nightmare, as if he would be completely unable to stop the collateral damage like an infinite line of dominoes. But his anger is not something he can overcome, as such.

An overarching theme in this heroes vs. villains conflict is that the villains are not merely obstacles to be overcome. Just think back to Himiko’s bitter rejection of the heroic sense of superiority. She demanded not to be pitied, condescended to, or lied to. Likewise, the answer cannot be that Izuku needs to restrain himself where Tomura doesn’t. What purpose would it serve to show that Izuku is better than him? Certainly not saving Tomura. If this was a battle against AFO, it might have been a different story. In that case, Izuku would have to overcome his emotional manipulation tactics. Tomura, on the other hand, is not so strategic. With his strangely childlike tendencies, he must relish making Izuku mad because it brings them closer to the same wavelength. It’s his own twisted way or seeking sympathy, or at least, the closest thing to sympathy he can get anymore, because he believes he is beyond saving. With that in mind, Izuku isn’t going to get anywhere unless he rises to meet him. Izuku has to match Tomura’s hatred with equally strong emotions of his own, whatever they may be, or else face the loss of OFA (as established in 305). This is not an easy thing to ask of a 9, once they have started to pull the blood from their extremities, become cold and numb. Bringing back circulation is painful and makes the skin crawl.

In case you’re worried about the focus on anger here, I want to reiterate that concealed anger in a 9 is just one sign of so much more. Back when everyone started fretting about Izuku’s habit of self-sacrifice, which would have been the only thing we need to worry about if he were a 2, I was freaking out because Izuku was also starting to look like a person who has too many secrets. You don’t even have to acknowledge the possibility that he lied about what triggered blackwhip. It’s written all over his face all the time these days. It’s especially noticeable when you contrast him with Katsuki after all his own growth. Katsuki confides in people. He acknowledges his weaknesses. He enjoys being himself. He asserts his place. He thinks about Izuku all the damn time and now he even lets himself be soft about it. All this warmth while Izuku is distant, muted, and blank. I know all too well what this state of mind is like. Man, I hate secrets. You get to the point where you don’t know how to talk about even the simplest most inconsequential shit. And the bigger things? They’re like a growing snowball of words in your throat that cannot possibly fit out of your mouth. The “easiest” way to cope is to simply fade into the rhythm of life. Go with the flow.

Since 9s have a natural curiosity about the interiority of other people, they may choose to focus on that in order to divert their own attention away from themselves. Taken to the extreme, they will lose track of their sense of self. Like I said, you can see Izuku doing this as he fights, analyzing the psyche of his opponent, and his match against Shouto in the sports festival was a fantastic early example. They became friends because of how observant Izuku is. His emotional intelligence and intuition are very strong, but gradually, as he has taken on greater responsibilities and experienced more trauma, he has gotten worse at applying these skills to himself. You know, we go on and on about how his narration has been reduced to nearly nothing, and it’s not just an absence of introspection, it’s an absence of self. It creates a lack of ownership over the narrative—what should be his narrative.

Right now, he’s focusing on trying to see Tomura as a person, figuring him out. I think it would be really satisfyingly ironic if in the process, he ends up uncovering insights about himself instead. It’s about time we learn what Izuku’s secrets are. I don’t actually think that Izuku mastering anger will constitute the emotion that is strong enough to keep Tomura from taking OFA. Moreover, he can’t expect to reach Tomura’s core, Tenko, unless he exposes his own. Rather, anger is the conduit for Izuku to unlock something else. Think of the way he described how Katsuki is his image of victory. The feeling manifests when he asserts a stronger sense of self (the urge to win) and he becomes more free with his words. I have no doubt that Tomura has the power to make unfiltered honesty spill out of him. He knows how to bring out his selfish needs, his pain, his pressure points, his fears, his insecurities. Hell, maybe Mt. Fuji erupting is a metaphor. I want to see Izuku explode while Tomura watches with mad glee. But then I want Izuku to Realize Things such that it finally sets him free. Then, instead of Tomura witnessing yet another person he touches fall apart, he gets to see someone become whole.

"I let the scale tip, feel all of it. It's uncomfortable but right. And we were born to try to see each other through. To know and love ourselves and others well is the most difficult and meaningful work we'll ever do." --Sleeping At Last, 'Nine'

#you are very much welcome to send me asks about this and the enneagram etc because it's very fun to talk about!#bnha meta #bnha manga #bnha 411 #bnha 412 #mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #character analysis #midoriya izuku #shigaraki tomura #bakudeku #bkdk #dekubaku #dkbk #lin speaks

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ivystoryweaver · 10 months

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The Only One - A Poe Dameron Story

Episode 1

Fic Masterlist || My Masterlist next->

Overall Fic Summary: You are a computer technician, relatively new to the Resistance. Despite your sunny demeanor, the Resistance is your last hope. Orphaned and homeless, you hide a secret you hope no one will ever discover, because if they did, you would be truly alone, with no place even in a band of rebels.

Pairing: Poe Dameron x female original character. Fic is written in second person, but the female "you" has a name; OC is neurodivergent* (see disclaimer at the bottom of this post)

Word Count: 1.7k

There will be some other oc's too because I don't feel like messing up Jess and Snap, along with familiar faces like Leia.

Overall fic content: Acquaintances to friends to lovers, slow-ish burn, fluff at first, angst later. The fic will get a little darker later, but won't go way off the rails from the tone of the first chapter.

Overall fic warnings: ableism, bullying, mentions of death, some violence though not pervasive throughout, past trauma, some cursing, there will be intimacy, but not terribly explicit.

NOW...

When Poe Dameron set his mind to something, there was no stopping him. Most people knew this about him, and found his tenacity somehow endearing. Or at least useful as a Resistance commander.

This quality of his was sometimes applied to personal relationships as well. When Poe wanted something...or someone, he was typically pretty determined to win them over, or fall flat on his face trying.

The thing of it was, he rarely had to try very hard. His boyish charm, easy good looks and innate charisma only heightened the appeal of his natural leadership and magnetic personality.

As if the deck wasn't stacked in Commander Dameron's favor enough, he was actually good at everything. Despite his slightly shorter stature, he was the fastest, the most energetic, the hardest worker, the first to finish anything, and hands down, the absolute best pilot most members of the Resistance had ever seen.

To top it off, he was just a nice guy. Friendly, witty - he had a way of making everyone feel like they belonged, as if they mattered not only to the Resistance, but to him personally. He never forgot a face, or a name.

Everyone wanted to be his friend, to have his approval or attention, and most people wouldn't have minded more than that. They either wanted to hang out with him, sleep with him, or at least learn something from him.

Which is why nearly every person on base found themselves befuddled when he ordered a round of drinks, boasting about his date...

...with you.

"Her?" Dane, a lieutenant under his command, and one of his closest friends, questioned.

Poe's dark eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Yes, her."

Dane's skeptical gaze landed on his partner, the two of them exchanging curious glances.

"You're serious," Dane went on, running his hand over his bluish-grey chin. "The computer tech girl who's always around the hangar, talking all the time."

"Dane, come on - "

"All. The time," Dane continued, ignoring his best friend. "I swear, you get her started on circuitry or - or - "

Poe silenced him with a glare.

"My point is...you like to talk, Poe. You really do."

Knocking back the end of his drink, Poe rolled his eyes. "And?"

"And...I don't think you'll get in your daily quota of words if you get this girl started on...basically any topic."

"He's right, Poe," Dane's partner Jalen nodded. "She hyper-fixates."

"So?" Poe shot back.

"So once she gets started, you'll never hear the end of it," Dane supplied, signaling to the server for another round.

"Will I ever hear the end of this?" Poe ground out, pushing his chair back and standing up.

"Come on, I'm ordering another round," Dane complained, motioning for his best friend to sit back down. "I'm just trying to save you some trouble."

"Mm, how's that?" Poe groaned. "Because I have training first thing in the morning."

"Just one more drink," Dane pleaded, "And if I can't change your mind about Miss Awkward, then - "

"Miss Awkward?" Poe questioned, leaning back down over the table, but refusing to sit.

"Yes! She is totally awkward. And kind of rude."

Poe rolled his eyes again, straightening back up. "She's not rude. She's...sweet."

Dane almost spit out his drink, once again, side-eyeing his partner. "Sweet? Maybe try Lira in the med bay. I bet she's real sweet, if that's what you're looking for."

"It's not," Poe shrugged. Besides, he already had a...thing with Lira-in-the-med-bay. She was gorgeous, sure, but not sweet. "Look, I have long day tomorrow, ending with a date," he concluded, tiredly. "So I'll leave you to make your judgments."

Despite the protests of Dane and Jalen, Poe trekked back to his room, only a little annoyed by those two. Dane generally meant well, but his opinions often landed on the judgmental side. He should have known that Dane would make assumptions about you - most people did.

You were chatty - Dane wasn't wrong about that. And you did, from time to time, have a tendency to rub people the wrong way. In fact, Poe, in small part, did ask you out one day just to get you to stop talking.

He chuckled to himself, remembering the first time he met you.

THEN...

You were fiddling around with the computer system of his beloved X-wing and he mistook you for a mechanic. Without thinking to introduce himself, he rattled off few things wrong with his baby, expecting the typical, 'Sure thing, Commander Dameron.'

Instead, your adorable head popped out of his cockpit, face scrunched in confusion. Your wide eyes blinked rapidly, hair piled up in twin buns on top of your head.

"That's not my job. You might want to try a mechanic," you bluntly stated, your mouth already running away with you before you could stop to focus on who was addressing you.

Nodding his head slowly, Poe regarded you with a smirk on his face. "I'll take that into consideration." He started the climb up the ladder on the side of his ship so he could have a proper conversation with you. As he did, he quickly found out you needed no invitation at all to start talking.

"Good. Because I'm not one," you forged ahead, the way you were prone to do. "A mechanic, I mean. I'm a computer tech, so I only work on computers. I mean, that's what computer techs do, so it would only make sense that I would fix your computer and not all those other problems you just listed to me without knowing who I am, or what I do. Which, by the way, that list of problems sounded pretty long - I don't really think our best pilot should be flying around in a ship that - "

"You think I'm our best pilot?" Poe questioned, hands resting on his hips as he chuckled in amusement.

"Of course," you nodded quickly, standing up to your full height in the cockpit. It was then that Poe really got a good look at you. Aside from the cute buns on top of your head, a row of silver earrings lined one ear, top to bottom. You wore a standard issue Resistance uniform (or the best the ragtag Resistance could muster these days) in all its drab browns, and on your back, perched a light grey backpack.

While he took in your appearance, you were already off and running, explaining something to him about his ship's targeting system.

"...because then you would try to fire on the First Order and might end up shooting half the fleet out of the sky!" You concluded with a boisterous laugh that ended with a little snort.

Narrowing his eyes, Poe extended his hand, a smile of intrigue tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I'm not sure how I've missed meeting you. I'm Poe Dameron."

You completely forgot to shake his hand. You didn't really touch people. It was kind of gross and personal. Besides, you were a little dirty from a long day of work that may as well have been mechanical, despite your protests that you were only a technician.

"Of course you're Poe Dameron," you shrugged, ignoring his extended hand, reaching, instead for the straps of your mini backpack that dropped down to about waist level. Poe would come to find this was a soothing habit of yours. You would tug and twirl your backpack straps so often that the ends frayed.

"Everyone knows who you are, Poe," you forged ahead, realizing your blunder in addressing your superior (a rare realization for you). "I mean - Commander Poe. I mean Dameron. Commander Dameron."

Blowing out a quick breath, you shrugged helplessly. "Sorry, I'm new here, so I don't always call everyone the right thing, and I don't have a title myself. I'm just Elia, so, you know, that's easy to remember...just Elia."

Poe actually found himself laughing, returning his hand to his side since you clearly had no intention of shaking it. "It's nice to meet you, Just Elia," he teased...but his smile faded a little when he noticed you didn't take his meaning.

"Oh, it's not 'Just Elia', it's only Elia," you corrected, talking demonstratively with your hands. "Well, not 'Only Elia' - I mean, my name is Elia by itself. I'm Elia."

Grinning, Poe nodded. "Yeah, I got that. Elia. It's a pleasure."

"Thanks," you affirmed, brushing a loose strand of hair out of your eyes. No matter how tightly you tucked your hair buns every morning, several strands always worked their way loose throughout the day, especially when you were fixing computers on ships.

"So...what's going on with my ship? Is she gonna be ready for the next mission?" Poe questioned...

...and experienced his first complete informational download from your mouth to his ears. You explained to him, in excruciating detail, every facet of what had gone wrong with his computer system, including the targeting system. He tried his best to keep up, but you lost him after a while.

Still, it amused him that another being in this Resistance could probably out-talk him. Poe was always chatting with one person or another, being a lively conversationalist and friends with everyone, so in a way, it was...nice to listen.

"I think..." he slowly nodded, playfully stroking his chin as if deep in thought, "I'm pretty sure you lost me seven paragraphs ago. But thanks for fixing her."

"It's okay," you shrugged, oblivious to a comment that many others might have taken as an insult. "Not many people understand computers the way I do. You're smart at other things, I bet. Like flying, right? I've seen you do some crazy stuff."

"Are you calling me computer dumb?" Poe attempted another joke, but once again, you missed his meaning. Sometimes jokes did that - flew right by you, because you were so literal.

"I don't know, are you computer dumb?" You challenged, still fidgeting with something or other down in the cockpit. Craning your neck back around to see him, you grinned. "Most people are."

Poe left that first encounter with you a little weary, mildly bored, and terribly intrigued. He found you a little odd, but extremely adorable. Something about your twin hair buns, little backpack, intelligence and bluntness piqued his interest. Although he couldn't honestly say he was interested in a date from day one. That came later.

next->

Lmk if you want to be tagged

dividers by saradika

I understand that the term "neurodivergent" or "neurodiverse" is incredibly broad, I am leaving it up to each reader to fill in whatever gaps they wish. I am speaking from experience here. In the case of this story, I think you'll see some of the OC's habits/traits pretty quickly: info-dumping, rambling, speaking bluntly, missing social cues, being literal/unable to discern sarcasm, or sometimes unable to tell if someone is joking. Fidgeting, having a slight aversion to touch and certain textures. Extremely intelligent. If this characterization is offensive to anyone, I apologize. I am happy to hear your thoughts on it.

Poe Dameron Masterlist

My Masterlist

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

Join the tag list (or tell me your tagging preferences by fandom and NSFW/SFW)

#poe dameron #poe dameron fanfiction #poe dameron fic #poe dameron x reader #poe dameron x female reader #poe dameron x oc #poe dameron x female oc #poe dameron fanfic #star wars sequels #star wars fanfiction #oscar isaac fic #poe dameron x f!reader #star wars fic #the only one fic #poe dameron x you #sw fic #poe x elia #oscar isaac characters

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elen-benfelen · 3 months

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welsh remus guide pt.3

Third Lesson

Right then, lads. It’s alphabet time.

Often, when looking at Welsh place names, it can seem confusing and overwhelming for anyone who is unfamiliar with Welsh. Sometimes, the confusion comes from not realising that the names are in Welsh.

Visually, we use the Latin alphabet and so it’s easy to make the assumption that the Welsh alphabet is exactly the same as the English.

It is not, my dudes.

To begin with, the following letters do not exist:

K, Q, V, X, Z

Secondly, these are the vowels:

A, E, I, O, U, W, Y

(Occasionally H is also a vowel but I couldn’t tell you when or why??? I usually go off of vibes)

Next, are the double letters. They count to us as single letters and each make a unique sound:

CH, DD, FF, NG, LL, PH, RH, TH

NG as in thiNG

PH as in PHil

FF as in Fun

RH as in RHiannon

TH as in THat

Now comes the uh, more complicated sounds.

For those familiar with German words such as Nacht or the name Brecht, the Welsh CH is that same sound.

CH as in naCHt

DD is like a harder TH sound. It is NOT a D sound.

LL sounds like hissing. I genuinely don’t know how else to explain this. It straight up does not exist in majority of languages but there are some out there with the same sound (sometimes shown with a different letter).

To hear it and learn more here’s a better explanation.

This is a really fun video on the different accents but someone mentions the town Llanelli so it’s also a good example of the LL sound.

youtube

And so in full we have:

A. B. C. CH. D. DD. E. F. FF.

G. NG. H. I. J. L. LL. M. N. O.

P. PH. R. RH. S. T. TH. U. W. Y.

There’s no K because the C is always a hard C sound.

There’s no V because a single F is always a hard V sound.

J is a modern addition to help us with new modern words we’ve loaned from English. Such as Joke becoming Jôc.

G is always a hard guttural G sound.

Despite misconceptions, Welsh is actually vowel heavy and we tend to stretch vowels. If a letter has a little roof on it, like “ô” or “ŵ” then it’s an extended/longer sound.

This means, when speaking English, our vowels are more likely to be elongated.

Similar to the “r” in Spanish, the Welsh “r” is rolled and therefore many will still roll their Rs when speaking English.

For a reason I have yet to discover, despite H being perfectly clear and pronounced when speaking in Welsh, when we speak English, a lot of areas have a habit of dropping the H sound.

“Here” becomes “Ere” or “Yere”

I am guilty of this. Why do I do this? I genuinely can’t tell you.

For the reasons above, the following words sound stupidly similar to each other:

Ear

Year

Here

Hear

As with any language, understanding the basic sounds helps you understand the core of the accent.

In terms of character dynamics, I would take note that the “CH” and “LL” sounds along with our supposed “lack of vowels” is usually what the language is mocked for. Usually by English folk but other folks, including non-Welsh speaking Welsh folks are perfectly guilty of this mocking.

Fun fact: I didn’t realise W and Y weren’t vowels in the English language when I was a small child. So I really didn’t get why they thought there wasn’t any vowels in our place names.

Another thing to note is that the Welsh language and accents are very up and down. It’s not usually flat or monotone. A lot of people also describe them as melodic. Sing-songy even.

Colourful alphabet video with BSL

Shorter alphabet video

Note: I am not the collective consciousness of every Welsh person. My experience is not universal - especially when it comes to North Walian things. This is just meant to serve as a general guide. Hope this helps and good luck with your writing!

pt.4

#wHeRe ArE tHe VoWeLs? up ur bloody arse if ur not fuckin’ careful cariad #apologies for the violence <3 i possibly have some pent up rage on the topic of vowels lmao #welsh remus lupin #welsh remus #welsh language #wales #welsh #cymraeg #cymru #language #alphabet #marauders era #the marauders #wolfstar #sirius black #lily evans #james potter #hp marauders #Youtube

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lucienarcheron · 4 months

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HOFAS Thoughts and Review!

This is also my review on Goodreads. Naturally, this is full of spoilers so proceed with caution!

4 star read!

This was a wild ride from start to finish. I found that you jumped right into the action and it literally didn't stop. The crossover with ACOTAR was very info-dump but I didn't mind since a) I don't remember anything lol and b) we needed to make the connection. I really loved seeing Nesta and Azriel in this different element. Given the timeline between ACOSF and HOFAS being about 3 months, I loved that Azriel and Nesta now know how to fight together and Nesta is so in touch with her powers. I love seeing how their friendship has bloomed.

Bryce is a menace and will forever be one. She's one of Sarah's MCs I relate to the least and therefore needed to warm up to her more. I found that in this book, I could despite a lot of her arrogant moments that will rub people the wrong way. I love Quinlar's love but didn't appreciate that she minimized Hunt's reaction to basically reliving much of his trauma with the first war. I'm glad she apologized and got to the point of understanding him but it left a little meh of a taste. The ending scene where he goes after her had my heart in pieces!! Through love, all is indeed possible and I love they were always with each other through it all.

Bryce basically being the High Lady of Dusk and controlling the land was amazing! I loved seeing those scenes. Saitha being the one to kneel first, declaring her as queen? Loved that. The two fae kings dying an awful death? Fabulously done! Hunt mf Althar removing his own slave halo and then removing Isaiah's while calling out that governor lady on her shit??? ADORE! Jesiba's everything in this book? I salute you, queen! Sabine's death??? The Under-King's death??? Literally had me gasping so much.

Ruhn my love, you will always be the Crown Prince of the Fae and that soundbite will always be on repeat every time I see your name lol.

Ruhn x Lidia's romance fell very flat to me. I love Ruhn and hated everything he had to go through but Lidia's character felt out of left field for me. I expected better/different? We find out out of NOWHERE that she's a mom of twins and suddenly, that's her whole personality. She went from this badass agent to everything being about her kids. There is NOTHING WRONG with her being a mother but why couldn't she be a mother AND care about the cause because it's the right thing to do? This was a missed opportunity in my opinion. I also felt like this was very self-insert of Sarah being a mom to have to include another character having kids. The constant talk about all these traumatized idiots having babies is getting on my last fucken nerves tbh. They have a million years to live so can we, I don't know, let them LIVE for five seconds without the absolute need to "start a family"? Let them go to therapy damn it. Sarah constantly writes about how awful it is that fae are obsessed with breeding and whatnot, yet every single of one her characters talks about babies...pls sarah, I beg. Give me ONE otp that doesn't have children. I know she's a HEA author which is what I love about her and her romances but it doesn't always have to end with kids and I just wish we'd see that more. Ruhn and Lidia did not strike me as characters who would be parents at all but now, Ruhn is a stepdad to the Hind's secret twins? It's very weird to me but I hope maybe down the line, we get to see Lidia realize that she is a whole person outside of being a mom. Aside from all that, the rescue scene was amazing. I loved seeing her destroy that asshole she had to endure and I just want to say, Aelin would be cheering mad hard at her for it! It felt like Lidia's fire abilities, the stag relation, and her son's name were all a nod to TOG and I loved that.

As for all the other characters, I really enjoyed seeing Ithan come into his own even though my guy was making mad stupid decisions along the way. His moment with Connor will always have my heart! l also loved the little bits of Ithan and Perry so much! Tharion my love, you will always be famous for making the most desperately dumb decisions before passing that one brain cell you have to Ithan but you know what? Sathia is going to be great for him and I ship it with my whole chest. Ari was wasted in this book and her ungrateful attitude annoyed me. Sigrid's whole plotline was pointless. Declan and Flynn are the best buds and I love them so much. Baxian, you are a gem! Pax being the one responsible for the actual HOFAS while being a healer who is making those antidotes was a great twist and I love it for her. The little fire spirits were so cute and their little moment with the viper queen made me cackle. The Viper Queen can suck it but I am also so very curious about what will happen now considering how that scene ends with Tharion/Ari/Sathia/Colin. I have a feeling all these characters will be showing up again in the future and I'd be excited to read how that will go. I have a feeling it might be done ACOSF style - in that, it'll be standalone in the CC world.

Bonus Chapters:

Bryce, Azriel, Nesta - hilarious and also so cute how Nesta was fascinated by the music playing from Bryce's phone. Azriel doesn't have a mate or partner so let that be clear LOL. Also Nesta already thinking about babies makes me wanna die tbh.

RuhnLidia - It was cute that she proposed and Ruhn is such a little dork crying left and right hahaha.

Quinlar - Hilarious how the big strong thunder boy was scared of those little dolls HAHA.

Ember/Randall - This made me want the Archeron sisters to have a mother figure so badly! The moment with Nesta and Ember hugging was so sweet in the book. I know people are mad at Rhys for yelling at Nesta but y'all...the whole world was at stake and that was a scary decision to make on Nesta's part given how the Pyrthian is STILL traumatized by the Asterie. I don't love how much he yelled but I get it.

Despite having parts I didn't like, I did overall really have fun with this. I think Sarah always does a great job with the action scenes in the end and giving us that found family connection. I could do without having the whole girl boss/girl power white feminist nonsense constantly shoved in our faces but alas! As I said, I still really enjoyed it! It had a lot of moments that pulled on all my emotions as every SJM book does. I will always enjoy what she puts out because I take it all at face value and read it to have fun. Sarah always knows how to enjoy her writing and you can tell while reading and for me, that's more than enough. The lore/plot is secondary to the characters for me and that is always how she sucks me in. She writes compelling characters who have amazing adventures and friendships that you feel through the pages and I will always enjoy that. Can't wait for more books! Here's to hoping we hear something about ACOTAR soon especially now that Bryce gave both swords back to Nesta! Can't wait to see how it plays out!

#hofas #hofas spoilers #house of flame and shadow #house of flame and shadow spoilers #gigi reads

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hurtyknees · 2 years

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I think Josh Sauchak is one of my favorite examples of Explicitly Autistic Characters In Media.

Obviously, he's not a *perfect* example, because at the end of the day there are still cliches he falls into (being white, cis, pretty young, etc etc etc) but IMHO he's not insufferable, or an offensive caricature (like Sheldon - even tho they have a lot of basic similarities- or Sia's Music ™).

All that being said, here are things i appreciate in the way Josh's character was made:

1. He's an actual adult.

A lot of people who are much smarter than me talked about how shitty it is to infantilize neurodivergent people. And they're right; it annoys me to no end when people who are close to The Autistic Character™ treat them like a child, with no agency of their own. WD2 doesn't do that!

(some could argue that Sitara does it. I'd disagree; It goes with how her character is set up - she cares deeply about her friends, and goes out of her way to make sure they're okay. She's protective. Not just towards Josh, but Marcus, the Unnamed Friend from the Moscow Gambit mission, off the top of my head.)

There's only one person i can think of who explicitly infantilized Josh and treated him less like a person, and more like a pet. And that's Lenny. Y'know, someone who game tried very hard to let us know we're NOT SUPPOSED TO LIKE.

and - SPOILER - it did bite her in the ass at the end, didn't it?

2. He's a full, well rounded character.

I'll try to keep it short and sweet- the difference between Josh and Sheldon - the unholy staple of autistic characters - is that Josh doesn't feel flat. At least to me.

He does admit in one of the side missions that autism does have a huge impact on his personality. Now i couldn't find an exact quote, but after Marcus asks him whether or not he'd take part in the "experiments" being held that could supposedly "cure autism", Josh's answer is something along the lines of "only if I could go back from that. I like who i am, and i don't know if I'd like myself without it (the autism)".

Side note- it's genuinely so uplifting to see an autistic character and people around them not treating neurodivergency like some fucking curse. It happens way too often.

But yeah, going back to the point- Josh has a full, fleshed out personality. He's passionate, self aware, can be absolutely hilarious, and doesn't let other people walk over him. But he also holds himself to very high standards, and can be really harsh on himself if he doesn't meet them.

3. How he's treated by others.

I touched on that briefly before, but i simply love every interaction Josh has with others.

They treat him so normally, that in media where neurodivergent people are more often than not treated like aliens this felt extremely refreshing.

Dedsec members don't baby him as mentioned above, but they also don't get mad when he doesn't understand something, or - in his head - fucks something up.

(And honestly, that applies to everyone in Dedsec. I was so scared that the writers are gonna go for the lowest hanging fruit- do something that will make the group temporarily fall apart. But they didn't. Not when Marcus had his big fuckup at !nvite, not when Ray showed up. They stuck together. And didn't dwell on each other's mistakes.)

TLDR; it fascinates me to no end how media that treat themselves so insanely seriously fail at being inclusive, but Watch Dogs 2 - the game that took a giant U-turn from being that, after seeing how first game was received - has had some of the most genuine, heartfelt, casual representation I've seen in a long time.

Again, it's not perfect. But it's honest and down to earth. It didn't treat marginalized communities it included instrumentally.

I just love this game so much.

#watch dogs #watch dogs 2 #watch dogs legion #josh sauchak #Josh watch dogs #Josh watch dogs 2 #watch dogs Josh #wrench #watch dogs wrench #sitara dhawan #marcus holloway #wrencus

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godzillabreath · 11 months

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Clone High S2 thoughts

Discussion/spoilers (if you can spoil a situational comedy lol) under the cut

I first watched the original Clone High when I was in high school, so it’s a little wild to be watching and getting really invested in season 2 15 years later. It’s something I probably never even considered at the time.

I rewatched the first season recently as well, so I would have some context for going into the second season after so long. And the first season is still reliably so funny, so sharp and biting in its commentary. I feel like there is not a single joke that doesn’t still land today. The characters are so hyperbolic and chaotic that every scene is fresh and you never know what to expect from the plot. The geometry of the character design and the backdrops are simple but so effective and stylish, too. Season 1 really is just a good comedy you can watch again and again, and every character contributes to the laughs and momentum of the episodes. Gandhi is especially missed, and I think you can really feel his absence in Season 2 ),:

Okay, so Season 2. I’m gonna be upfront, I don’t think it is written very well. It feels very much like a fan facsimile of the original biting humor. I think I only laughed at a handful of jokes over the course of the entire season, which was definitely disappointing. It falls into the trap that so many reboot adult cartoons fall into in that it devotes so much of its time to rehashing cancel culture and social media as buzzwords, but not actually saying anything interesting or meaningful about them. The show no longer pulls from teen media tropes and contemporary television drams to inform its over-the-top “melancholy adolescent” humor. It feels like the extent of what they brought to the table was “Tiktok exists, isn’t that funny” and “you can’t be problematic!!!!” humor, but without really exploring the ludicrousness and the discourse cycle of the modern internet. It very much feels like the writers didn’t know the topics firsthand, but still wanted to comment on them in a shallow and cursory way.

Let’s look at the new characters they added. Frida has an incredible design and conceptually I adore her. A mellow artist that skateboards and is hugely gay? All right, I love that. I wish there was a little more to her, though. I wanted to see more of the hyperbolic personality traits that each original character had in season 1. Make her outlandish, make her weirder with regards to her art, I don’t know, you could have gone in so many directions. I just wanted to see MORE.

And this is an issue I have with all of the new characters and even to some extent the returning characters. I feel like Joan especially lost her weirdness and her edge in the reboot, with only the end scene of her freaking out and sabotaging her friends being something fun and true to her vindictive streak that she had in the original season. Confucius feels like he adds nothing to the plot other than to inform JFK and the audience that the internet exists. He should have been a bombastically internet-addicted clout goblin, constantly cutting content, and as he is now, he’s just falling extremely flat. I wanted the writers to crank the dial to 11 with Harriet and really explore her fear of being incredibly basic, like maybe she has Live Laugh Love text art in her room or her favorite tv show is the Office, idk, but as is she just seems like a Normal, Nice Person. Which is Fine, but it doesn’t make for great comedy.

Topher is the only character I feel really channels the chaotic core of the original Clone High season, and he’s not even there for many scenes. I love the idea of a manipulative little mentally ill Redditor whelp. It’s relatable, it works well in commenting on modern internet culture, it’s freaky, I like it. I’m surprised they didn’t have Confucius and Topher interacting more because they both are chronically online and I feel like there is so much potential there.

I guess my takeaway opinion is that I’d like to see them amp up the personality of each of the characters by like 200%. And it’s a little late for this now, but I wish they’d have done more of a slow burn on Cleo and Frida’s relationship. It would’ve been cool to see Cleo contending with the fact that she wasn’t the most popular girl in school anymore and what kind of schism that would have created between her and Frida initially. More of an enemies to lovers dynamic would have been fun.

So those are my thoughts. I could have gone on longer, but... I think this is already getting too long haha. I think I feel so opinionated on it because I can really see the latent stellar potential in the characters, and with a few exceptions, they all feel so underutilized in this season.

Looking forward to season 3+ to see what they do next, though!

#clone high

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sweetcloverheart · 1 year

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Clover Rants Miraculously: Complexity

Miraculous suffers badly from complexity addiction and it’s gotten absolutely worse since season 5 started. Character routes can’t be predictable or just being A to B to C anymore - no, there has to be a twist every minute, they have to deconstruct all the tropes and chara types, they have to keep the audience on their toes every second or else! No one’s allowed to predict anything and things can’t be simply as they appear. However, they also lacks the patience to make the complexity they put in relevant or meaningful. As a result, character growth becomes flat as their personalities and values are changed or reverted back to previous stages to suit whatever the plot needs, with opinions that seem ripped straight from reddit pages and twitter threads that seem to lack any understanding of the topics they’re preaching. No one is allowed to contradict or question anything and status quo must be maintained at all costs, even as it bogs down all the new plot elements and lore they try to bring in. It wants everything to be “deep” without actually doing any work in digging for it.

Which is why the canon Chloe salt, Marinette’s bullying backstory, sentikids, and the Gabriel thing fall flat in their jobs to get everyone to subscribe to the writer’s sole interpretation of the characters/plotlnes they present (and nothing else) - because the writers want the benefits of creating a deeply thematic work that goes outside the bounds of its genre without actually doing anything to create said depth.

Chloe can’t just be a dumb mean girl bully with a sad backstory to explain why she does it - nah, she has to represent the worst of humanity and parallel an abusive parent and monologue about how she has no soul and everyone’s stupid for thinking she does and turn out to be responsible for every bad thing to everyone ever, but the writers will never actually address any of it meaningfully while actively trying to pretend that any implications they made about her character or backstory doesn’t exist or act like it was actually this super malicious psyop done by Chloe herself and we just imagined seasons 2 and 3 in a collective mass hallucination.

Marinette can’t just be cringe about her first crush because she’s a teen and that’s what teens do when it comes to first crushes - nah, she has to have this completely out of nowhere and nonsense dramatic backstory about a prank by Chloe and Kim that justifies all the (kinda borderline creepy) stuff she pulled in the start of the show with PTSD and now you can’t make fun of/criticize her or your mocking a trauma victim you jerk (all while these issues get solved in one episode and all the other reasons to properly explain her flightiness around Adrien are either swept under the rug or just ignored due to inconveniencing their insistence of pushing this “Dating trauma” storyline that somehow only effects her with Adrien and not Luka or Chat Noire for reasons)!

It’s not enough that Adrien (and Kagami and Felix) is an abused kid trying to get out of his father’s controlling grip and come to his own as he explores expanding his boundaries and learns to stand up for himself - nah, he has to be a magical slave golem with 180 different flavors of awful implications baked into the lore of how his creation works and no feasible way for him in canon to actually break away from his dad on his own or with help, with the ending (if it makes it to the final draft/actual episode) regarding it making his entire journey of self-actualization and independence basically meaningless

Gabriel can’t simply be being an over-the-top control freak because of losing his wife and have that be shown as unreasonable - nah, he needs to be given Marinette’s exact same backstory (minus the bullying but I would not put it past them at this point) to justify why he’s totally in the right to be ruining children’s lives and terrorizing citizens and should totally be allowed to win in the end. It’s not that he’s unfairly putting the responsibility of his grief onto completely strangers and poorly justifying it with the idea that it’ll restore his family back to their idyllic days and benefit his son - in the end, guy’s just “a man who loves his family”, so let’s just forget about all the terrorism and emotionally abusing his only living child and focus on the important stuff, like the fact that Chloe and Lila are both the devil and more evil than him.

(Speaking of) Lila can’t just simply be a consummate liar who develops an irrational hatemance against our leading lady for pointing this out - nah, she has to turn out to have a gajillion different damn fake families and even faker aliases to jump through when she get tired of it or they get compromised, and all with it’s own naming system! Are her eyes actually green? Does she really have hair? Is she even Italian? Who knows - certainly not the writers! Isn’t great you invested years of interest and headcanons into a character who turned out to be a complete sham and whom the writers are now going to use to recycle the S1 villain gimmick because the Butterfly is the only villain allowed to exist? I sure am!

The writers want their story to be overly complicated and “deeper than average kids cartoons” but they want to retain their “silly simple cartoon” format and while it’s possible to do, the show runners seem adamant in not taking the steps forward necessary to achieve it, causing a constant conflict in both the show’s genre and character narratives that hurts it’s plotline

TLDR: In the immortal words - pick a lane my dude

#Clover Rants Miraculously #ML Salt #I spotted a queuety

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lumiidragon · 5 months

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So now that I've seen the last season of the Nine Realms, I can finally give my own personal review on it, and the last seeing as how this was the last season and TNR is officially over.

So needless to say SPOILERS BELOW! PLEASE STOP READING HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LATEST SEASON AND DON'T WANT SPOILERS!!!

So let me start out on a, sadly poor note with this: this season was super disappointing... The big finale, the end-all, the conclusion to The Nine Realms was...flat. Boring. Pointless. Like, this was actually probably one of the more poorer seasons...

So let's start with The World Serpent (Yeah, I can't spell the other name, so I'll just refer to it as 'The Serpent' for ease. This dragon was honestly a really cool design, but not as a "predator of all dragons and the destroyer of The Hidden World". First off, a top-tier predatory animal that is meant to destroy all dragons and the dragon ecosystem...doesn't make sense. Why would an animal like that exist??? If The Hidden World is supposed to be this perfect dragon paradise, then why is there a dragon that literally goes against this notion. Also, this dragon was literally seen poorly trying to catch a terrible terror in a flock of three that was just casually flying around its face like a cat trying to catch a fly and not doing very good at it. This is the dragon that can supposedly take down any dragon such as a Red Death? A bewilderbeast? Any titan-class dragon? No, I don't think so. The poisonous gas attack it has is powerful, but this dragon just doesn't scream "Destroyer of The Hidden World" to me. Not that a dragon that is destined to destroy the world all the dragons that are damned there forever makes sense anyways, but still. On top of that, this dragon spent most of its time "defeating the Riders" by hitting them with the same amount of power any other dragon enemy has and then just taking off. That was pretty much it. It hit once or twice then ran away. The series literally only made this thing to be "unbeatable" because they made the Riders' dragons have 2 HP per battle and have the bad guy dip afterward, thus drawing this out through the entirety of the season. This dragon wasn't powerful, it was long-winded. Finally, the final battle was so.......boring? The group brought in an "Army Of Dragons" to defeat this thing, which would have been cool if it weren't for the fact that they basically just brought one or two dragons a piece. That's not an army and if a handful of common dragons with two special bosses (the Faultripper and the Sky Torcher) is all that it took to beat this thing, then this dragon was never the ultimate dragon destroyer the legends made it out to be. I could really go more into how The Serpant and the battles with it were pointless, boring, and just anti-climatic, but this section has gotten long enough, so I'll leave it at this.

Next up, Tom and Jun. Their romance drama was so pointless and added literally nothing to the story. This is the last season and it's only 6 episodes long. They don't need teen romance side-drama this late into the series, they need to concentrate on what was supposed to be the issue at hand. That, and Jun breaking it off with Tom over him doing the same thing he's always done since Season 1 really shows their compatibility as a romantic duo. But yeah, their whole romance here was just completely pointless and added nothing to the series. Also, Alex and Eugene was also completely unnecessary with what they were trying to build.

Then we have the villains. So Buzzsaw's goons and Linda are the most pointless characters in the villain side of things. The bumbling side kicks to a villain can be charming, but when every villain's group are just kids in adult bodies that still need to be babysat or else they can't do anything right, then it gets annoying and kind of pointless. Linda was probably the worst of them. As for Buzzsaw, his redemption was too much a play off of Dagur and, in my opinion very unnecessary. It felt like they only redeemed him because they didn't need him anymore, but didn't have the time to properly deal with him. As for Sledkin, she was actually a decent villain for what the series was giving, but ultimately fell into the weak trope of "I'm so desperately obsessed over my final goal that I am just throwing self preservation out the window so I can be pointlessly reckless despite being a very intelligent individual" and ended up getting killed over it (which I'm surprised TNR actually had a human death in this).

So let's finally move to my final complaints with this season:

-Thunder being "alpha" is bullshit. There is no way the night lights (yes, even the Elder Night Light) are the "Kings of Dragons" when most dragons didn't give them two glances. So there is no way Thunder is an alpha. I'm sorry, but no. Also, with the Elder Night Light passing, it's nice to see how literally no one cared since Thunder can glow like a radioactive lightbulb now, I guess. They grieved Sledkin more than this dragon. Thunder hardly even cared. Along with the night light thing, Thunder's family is not only useless in the series, but seeing as how we never get a real reason as to why night lights are breeding with each other, I am not convinced that this family line isn't just a messed up family wreath than a family tree at this point. Nothing was explained, so the fans only have the fact that there were only 3 night lights from Toothless (Toothless who was basically never mentioned in this series) and the Light Fury (who wasn't mentioned at all) and no others exist, but we see night lights having kids with each other....I....ew.

-The Raker episode was literally just not necessary and could have been left out altogether and nothing change. This is the last season, we don't need pointless spoilers.

-Olivia was being built as a true character earlier in the series, shame she was basically forgotten about. Same for the other parents.

-The Gods Realm was boring and really uninteresting to look at. Like...it might as well have been any chamber in any cave around the world, not the "Lungs of the Hidden World", which the dragonite still makes no sense and there's no way they would have run out of oxygen in that massive chamber that quickly with the stone removed. None of that made sense.

-There's no way Tom would have ever learned how to communicate with dragons with Valka's staff. I don't know where they got this "Hypnotizing" thing from, but Valka lived alone with dragons for 20 years. She communicated and learned their language that she developed replications of in her own way. Tom cannot learn that in a short montage because Valka's power with dragons came from her connection and understanding from more time of experience with dragons alone than Tom has even been alive for. The staff was a tool, not the power itself. That, and Hiccup would never use his mother's staff. That's A. not his approach to dragons anyway, and B. his mother's. Valka most likely would have had her burial with that staff. Oh, and it's nice to see yet another thing just be casually destroyed and not cared about.

-And I think the last thing I've got for this massive post is the ending. Yes, the dragons leave. What a surprise. This time, the dragons choose to leave and more or less say "Sorry kids, you guys...eh, kinda suck.". The Riders were basically pleading with their dragons (mostly Tom) that there had to be another way and the dragons wouldn't even let them touch them anymore. They acted like they had their fun and it's gone stale so it's time to leave. Great...bond??? Of course, it was over "HOOMANS BAD." so why bother to fix the world when you can just hide in a dead-looking cave system forever? Right? Not only that, but the group itself also split up, expect for Tom and Jun of course, because how else can the series end off with the romance that they pointlessly shoved in.

So yeah, this season was......not good. I really had my hopes out for the series ending much more interestingly, but in the end, with the dragons shoving themselves away again, nothing came from this series other than Tom gets a girlfriend and the group learns the true power of video calls. So in all, I give TNR a personal 5-6/10.

#how to train your dragon #httyd #the nine realms #httyd tnr #tnr salt #//There were some parts that made me laugh and stuff//#//but overall the season was a bust to me//#//and that's sad//

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mostremote · 2 months

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Can you talk about your opinion on Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes? Interested to hear why you dislike it. Loving the fic, my flatmate and I basically have a bookclub about it every Friday.

Thanks for the ask and I'm glad you like the fic!!

I’ll keep my Ballad criticism under the cut. I will only speak to the film, as I’ve only read little bits of the book. I also saw the film months ago so some of the details are fuzzy now.

Political philosophy. There are two versions of Snow’s origin story you can tell. One is political and the other is psychological (or you could combine these). A story about the rise of a dictator ought to have something to say about the nature of oligarchy, or how political systems thrive off psychopathy, or the banality of evil, or whatever it’s going to be. The Hobbes vs. Rousseau human nature question is Ballad’s only concern, and it explores this in no depth whatsoever. ‘I think there’s a natural goodness born into us all. […] You can either cross that line into evil… or not. And it’s our life’s work to stay on the right side of that line.’ This is so shallow, and we have no idea what good and evil even mean to these characters. And because Lucy Gray’s philosophical position and her vague exhortation of ‘freedom’ is so undeveloped (which is really just about rural vs urban aesthetics rather than any rights-based issue), she has no political role in a narrative about a future-dictator. Her role is almost entirely romantic, and unsuccessfully so (see below).

As for Snow’s philosophy, there is zero engagement with the dictatorial system that defines Snow in the original films. His final conclusion, ‘the whole world is an arena and we need the Hunger Games […] To remind us all who we truly are,’ has the seed of an interesting idea in it, but is unexplored. Why do people need to be reminded of their inherent brutality? What purpose does this serve? Why is it only the Districts who need to participate in that reminder, if this is supposed to serve as some self-revelation? Given that the Capitol is artificially engineering this brutality, how does that relate to some essentialist view of human nature? None of this is explored.

Psychologically flat/confused. Is this a story about corruption, a good man becoming bad? Or an exploration of psychopathy & violence, a bad man thriving? The problem is that this film depicts Snow’s first acts of violence, and yet they have no impact on him. His first murder is a completely justified act of self-defence. His second murder, too, is enacted to prevent a group of people getting hanged. He seems almost completely unaffected by these killings. Sejanus’ death provokes an emotional reaction, but given Sejanus is his friend this informs us about his feelings on guilt and loss, not about his feelings on murder. Which he seems to be fine with. Meanwhile, he has no moral qualms about become a gendarme for a fascist regime. Snow appears to have a psychopathic level of comfort with violence, and I would love if this was a film about a psychopath thriving in a society that inadvertently enables and celebrates such behaviour (Nightcrawler, There Will Be Blood), but it isn’t. We learn so little about the society itself and so little about Snow’s psychology that this falls completely flat.

Incompatible with Sutherland’s characterisation. Ballad’s version of Snow simply isn’t compatible with Sutherland’s regarding his thoughts on love and Katniss, and Sutherland’s paratexts are the entire reason I’m in this game. Snow finds Katniss exceptional: ‘no one else has been a threat to him and she was the very manifestation of threat,’ ‘Katniss Everdeen is the first person who has excited Snow, who has stimulated him.’ He is a man at the end of his life falling in love for the first time. And I find that wondrously compelling given the absurdity and horror of the circumstances of that love (she is ¼ of his age, he is the source of all her trauma). And he falls in love with her because she is a threat to him, not because she is pretty, or politically useful. In Ballad, Snow’s obsession with Katniss is completely reconfigured so it’s spurred by her superficial resemblance to Lucy Gray. I find this incredibly dull, and also confusing, given that Snow’s obsession with Katniss is weakest in the first film and strongest by the conclusion. Also, he is 18 in Ballad. 64 years pass before he meets Katniss. He should not still be obsessing about a teen fling. Gives it weird Humbert Humbert Annabel/Lolita vibes.

‘It’s the things we love most that destroy us’ is also weirdly revised in Ballad. In Mockingjay 1 it has the obvious immediate relevance to how Snow uses Peeta to control Katniss, sure, but as Sutherland acknowledges it also refers to Snow’s love for Katniss. What does it mean in this context? His love for Lucy Gray destroyed him? He didn’t seem to love her, and it barely affected him. His love for power corrupted him? But he’s never corrupted: he supports state power from the outset.

The Romance. Lucy Gray is a deliberately ambiguous character, and we never know if Snow really loves her or if she really loves him. Two dangerous characters manipulating one another with ambiguous motives can be fascinating (save me, House of Cards’ Mattie/Urquhart), but this lacked depth and clarity. Lucy Gray is too opaque, and Snow too underwritten (a better actor than Blyth could have maybe done more with this). Apart from both being pretty and (the film tells us) charismatic, there is little to make this romance compelling. This would have worked better for me if Lucy Gray had an actual political position that tempted Snow, but again, it’s too thin.

Ultimately Ballad is a pretty shallow film, and that’s whatever. The Hunger Games series is hardly a triumph of political philosophy. But as someone who loves Snow, and loves what Sutherland did with Snow, it’s jarring to see that interpretation thrown in the trash in favour of a few half-baked musings on human nature and such an uncompelling romance.

#i'm not looking for a debate on this i just did not like the film

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calextheneko · 6 months

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Mario RPG Post Game Bosses Quick and Dirty Guide

Okay, so I can't promise the tactics I'm going to suggest here are the best effective tactics in the game for defeating each of the bosses in the post game. But I will say they let me roll through all of them pretty fast. Also bosses are pretty much in the order I encountered them. If at any point you're unsure if what boss you should be fighting you can go talk to Frog Sage at tadpole pond to be hinted at where to go.

Before Any Fights

Make sure you've fought and defeated Jinx three times and beaten Culex in Montro town and got the Jinx Belt and Quartz Charm accessories.

Level up as much as possible. You can buy the EXP Booster from the frog coin merchant in Seaside Town which doubles the XP of the person who has it equipped even if they're not in battle. The Lucky Egg bought from the Treasure Hunter in the Moeville Item Shop can be used to double your XP earned a lot for the party if you're good at the shuffle game.

Buy the Earlier Times item from the Frog Coin Merchant in Seaside Time. When RNG just goes bad or you mess up this will let you restart the fight right away rather than having to slowly die and resume from the last save point.

Make sure you have a Feather. If you didn't get won from beating Dodo in the statue mini game you can buy one, or if you want a second buy a second one from the Treasure Hunter in the Moeville Item Shop.

Make sure yo have the Lazy Shell (Weapon and armor) and Safety Ring.

Get as many Kercolas, Red Essences and Rock Candies that you can.

Practice timed hits and perfect blocks because both are required for multiple boss fights and will be the difference between life and death.

Consider getting the Star Egg from Grate Guy's Casino if you can stand the torture that is winning 100 Games of Look the Other Way. It deals a flat 100 damage to all enemies so isn't the best damage but it's reliable and reusable so comes in handy when you need something to damage everyone.

Now to the bosses.

Belome

Fought in Belome temple. Don't be an idiot like me and immediately run through all of Kero Sewer and then have to do Midas River because he's not there. Frog Sage told me he was up to his old tricks. So old tricks made me think the sewers. It was the temple. Travel to Monstro Town and enter the temple from there to get to him instantly.

Belome is frustrating but easy. But you can get rid of most of the frustrating part. Take any party members you want but I recommend including Peach for healing like I will for every fight. You don't need any special preparations to beat him but immunizing your entire party to sleep will save you a lot of grief. I did not, I only had Peach immune to sleep. She had the Safety Ring. Belome spams Sleep attacks so Mario and Geno went to sleep A LOT.

Belome's main gimmick this time is that he can't be injured by any attack as long as he has a clone out. He'll basically bounce back and forth between creating a clone, attacking and attempting to put the party to sleep. If you're prepared (unlike me) and immune to sleep 90% of this fight is solved. Just need two characters who hit hard to rip through the clone as soon as it comes out and beat down Belome. He doesn't really have anything dangerous and aside from not taking damage and so much sleep spam is really not that different from previous fights.

Jinx

Since I was already in Monstro Town decided to go visit Jinx yet since based on the wishes I read on the Pink Stars (You'll see them when you start the post game and follow the story leading to the boss rematches) that he was one of them.

Preparation

Jinx is going to spam mortal blows on your party. Accessories like the Safety Ring and the Quartz Charm are absolutely mandatory unless you have flawless mastery of timed hits to the point you never miss, even so good to have them for safety on the occasion you mess up and they're both really good accessories. Party members, someone, anyone that you're really good with their timed hits and Peach for healing.

Jinx is a bit different in that you're not looking to deplete his HP. All you have to do is use a Team Attack and you instantly win. But before you try to be a smarty pants and go in with a 100% gauge prepped he will set your gauge to 0 when the fight starts. It doesn't matter if the team attack actually deals damage, Jinx wants to duel you to see how to get in synergy with your partners to do a team attack and so you will instantly win as soon as you use any attack. Recommend Lazy Shell and Safety Pin go specifically on Peach.

Jinx hits fast and hard as usual. Anytime you miss a timed hit rather it be attacking or healing Jinx will counter with an instant death attack. This is why you want protection from Mortal Blows. Basically, this entire fight is just a practice of your timed hits and defenses. His attacks can deal massive damage and sometimes one shot characters but all of them can be negated to 0 damage with a properly timed block. There's really no trick to it beyond that. Just used timed hits and blocks to build up your gauge and fire it of as soon as its full. Make sure all party members are up and able to perform the attack. Summoning Toad is not what he needs, you need all three party members. Peach with the Lazy Shell and Safety pin will survive anything he throws at her, so just use her to heal up and revive anyone that goes down while you build up that gauge. Don't lose your cool and keep that timing up and victory will be yours.

Punchinello

Preparation: Not a whole lot you can prepare to do on this fight. Like Jinx this fight is going to revolve entirely around getting your Timed Hits right. And you'll mostly be dealing with attacks that can kill you instantly if you fail to block. But they're not guaranteed 9999 damage like some later bosses they're just really strong attacks, might be survivable with something like Lazy Shell + Ghost Medal. Speed is probably the most important factor here though so the Lazy Shell armor can be a liability. Since Speed is important Geno is naturally one of the best fits for the party. And again I make Peach the third for reviving and healing others.

The Fight Itself

So like I said this game revolves around timed hits. You can't damage Punchinello directly. You can only attack the bombs he throws out. If you do a perfectly timed hit, the bomb will change the direction its facing and face him. Then when the bomb goes off it will explode on Punchinello and damage him instead of you. Be careful to watch the bombs before you attack them some of them will already be pointing at him leave those untouched. This is why speed is important. You only have four party members and he'll drop four bombs. And of course only perfectly timed time attacks will turn them around so if you screw it well hope you can go again before that bomb goes off. The bombs can be killed if enough damage is done but this is kind of a last resort sort of thing and you're more likely to kill one on accident from it taking damage when you damage all enemies with your perfect hits. Mastering the timing for a perfect block against the bombs is mandatory to survival. If you have a hard time feel free to use Earlier Times if you have it to restart the fight until you get it down. Basically hit A right before the bomb hits you. But if a bomb hits you and takes you down you either have to swap that party member out or waste a turn reviving them and lose up to two attacks possibly resulting in more bombs going off on you. Because your timing has to be perfect you they won't spin around loses happen sometimes. Just, best of luck with the perfect blocks and perfect timed hits.

Boster

Preparation

I hate this fight, with all of my hate. This is the first fight to kill me in the entire game. You must bring Geno for this fight, and equip him with a Feather to boost his speed. This fight is just... not a good fight, and is absolutely terrible design in an otherwise wonderful game because there is a very specific solution to the fight and it's just, screw you if you don't know it. Super fast Geno is that solution. Bring Peach for healing, and give Mario the Quartz Charm for damage.

The Fight

So at the start of every round Booster will start building his train. If it gets to his turn he will finish building the train and crash it into your party for 9999 damage. Coincidentally, every turn one of his Sniffets will cast Morale Boost that increases his speed every single turn. See why I hate this fight? The trick is Booster must be attacked before his turn each round to interrupt his building. Which is why you need Geno because the fight will quickly get to the point where no one can out speed him but a speed boosted Geno. Make sure he gets interrupted each round. Then I murdered the Sniffets next, in hind sight it might have been easier to go straight for Booster. Either way just deal as much damage as fast as you can. Rock Candies are useful to deal significant damage to everyone, Geno Flash, Psych Bomb (but only if Peach doesn't have the lazy shell) and of course if you're good at it Super Jump is always amazing. If you're not, kick a lazy shell into them. Just kill the Sniffets or Booster as fast as possible and be aware you might have to restart. If your backline party tags in I recommend immediately restarting the battle with an Earlier Times (You can buy it with Frog Coins in Seaside Town) because Mallow and Bowser will not be fast enough to really do anything unless Booster is low on health and they can finish him off right there. I don't know his HP but you can always have Mallow use Thought Peak once to see his HP if you go for killing Booster first to track the damage on him and know how close you are to killing him. Also, can charge a team attack before coming to the fight and swap Peach out for a turn to Mallow or Bowser to do a damage dealing team attack. I do not reccomend swapping out Geno because you want him there to interrupt Booster from building when the next attack starts. Roselina freaking Luma this fight is easily the hardest in the game for me and just so obnoxious. Best of luck.

Now then whose next... I honestly forget so I had to go google the post game fights. And it turns out it's the freaking cake again in Marrymore. Make your Portal references now.

Bundt Cake

Preparations: Not a ton of prep work here, Quartz Charm and Black Belt are recommended. Peach will put this fight into easy mode so should be included for something other than her healing. Other than her big your favorite damage dealer. Probably put Safety Ring on Peach as usual. She won't be focusing on damage.

The Fight

So the goal is to put out the candles just like last time. The catch this time, the chefs are there and will keep lighting the candles and if they light all the candles bad things happen. Which I never found out what would happen because I never let them get that far. So, you need Peach or as many sleep bombs as you can carry. Peach is better, because you're going to cast Sleepy Time to put both chefs to sleep. I believe if you spin the stick enough to max it out it's 100% chance of putting both of them to sleep but I'm not 100% sure. All I know is I never saw it fail when maxed out in the fight. I also never failed to max it out.

After you put the chefs to sleep, it's just a matter of dealing damage to the cake and healing up as needed. Chefs will wake up every now and then and need to be put back to sleep but as long as you keep them under control this fight is easier than the original fight with the cake. No wonder I forgot this one. I don't know when I actually did it. Just make sure to play it safe and keep yourself healed up and those chefs asleep and you'll be good.

Johnny Jonathan Jones

Preparation

This is going to be a one on one fight between Mario and Jones. Prepare accordingly and equip Mario with your best accessory. Quartz Charm is my preference. Can also do Lazy Shell Armor and Safety Ring if you want to try to turtle your way through the fight. Just a quick warning, there's no way to heal in the fight at all. You can't use items, and only Mario can fight. I guess Jones is a Melee player. Anyway before the fight you'll be asked to choose which party members you want cheering you on. You won't get anyone to fight but you will get buffs from the party. Best way to beat Jones is to take him down as fast as possible so I took Geno and Bowser for damage up and I guess defense up but mostly damage go up.

The Fight

This fight was the second one to kill me. It can be rough. It's going to test your ability to do perfect blocks. Jones will attack with both spells and physical attacks so you need to be ready to block them... And that's really all there is to this fight. Be able to block his attacks and strike back till he's dead. He doesn't have a lot of HP thankfully since the fight is 1 v 1. If you're a master of Super Jump you can probably kill him in one turn. I don't know I'm not good at Super Jump. Though I finally found out it was because unlike what Toad told me it's not hit the button right before the attack lands but actually when it lands. So with that new knowledge I will have to go back and try super jumping things again and get to 100. Right back to Johnny. So, again it might take you a few tries but you just keep practicing his fight until you can block all his attacks with the correct timing and then take him out. There's not really any shortcut or trick to this fight (Besides Super Jump) just gotta learn the timing.

Culex

Preparation: Here's the one we've all been waiting for. Let's get down to it. Culex is the main course and all the other bosses were just an appetizer before him. So first off, Lazy Shell and Safety Ring on Peach. Second, Geno with Quartz Charm and Mario with Black Belt or Safety Badge. Might want to also consider Zoom Shoes or Feather on Geno and give the Quartz Charm to Mario instead depending on how you want to play it. Finally, go into the fight with your Team Gauge already charged to 100%. We're going to be using Mario, Geno and Peach's Team Attack A LOT this fight. Savs-Us-All blocks the next attack each party member takes and will work on anything.

The Fight

Culex is as expected a beast. And the third and final character I have met my end by. Oh wait, no I didn't because every time I was in danger of dying I used Earlier Times. HA! Take that Culex! You technically never sent me to the game over screen, and I technically beat you on my first try. Anyway, his newest jerk move is to use an HP that deals your max HP -1 in damage. This is important. His new spell Meteor is not HP to 1, it is your max HP -1. If you have even a single point of damage on you the spell will kill you. Now, after he opens the fight with that he'll use it every five turns and give you a counter, and responding to that is going to be a large part of our strategy for how to beat him. Finally, make sure you are maxed out in your inventory on Red Essences, Rock Candies, Kercolas, and Pick-Me-Ups.

First off, surviving the first round is the most important and hardest part of the fight. Once you make it past the first round the fight becomes a lot easier. The largest problem is that depending on your set up there is a high chance that Culex will open the fight dropping your party's HP to 1 and then the Wind Crystal will go off and use an AoE killing your entire party. It's that kind of fight. So, you have two choices here, can keep using the Earlier Times item to restart the battle till you have at least two characters alive or can give Geno the Feather pre-fight so he can move faster and have him use a Kercola. Regardless of which method you use Geno will go first and use a Kercola to get the two or if if you're really lucky your entire party up to max health. Peach on her turn if anyone is dead use Come Back unless the living characters are in need of healing because they will get KOed if you don't keep yourself healed up. Basically priority is as follows

Negate or Survive Culex's Meteor Attack > Heal HP > Revive Down Allies > Deal Damage.

Now, on negating Culex's attack. There are a couple ways to do it. Peach should be going last each round while Culex goes first meaning she'll always go off before him. When the first Cooldown hits 1, have Peach use the Team Attack Save-Us-All on her turn and you'll just straight up negate Meteor when Culex uses it on 0. Other options is once you have someone guaranteed to go after Culex is to use Kercolas, but remember you only have three. Another is to throw a Red Essence on Peach and then have her heal everyone and the two others use Max Mushrooms as needed. Try to save Pick Me Ups for reviving Peach if she dies and use Comeback to revive your other allies, but if you need to get everyone up fast use it. Anytime you have your team gauge fully charged use Save-Us-All with Peach right before Culex casts Meteor. Obviously it won't be charged every turn and that's why you'll need to make do with Kercolas and Red Essences. Save the Red Essences for Peach you don't have enough of them to use on your entire party and last till the end of the fight.

Now... As for actually defeating the enemies. I recommend starting with the Wind Crystal it's weak to special attacks, all special attacks so Geno Flash or even just Geno Beam will make quick work of it. If you're good at Super Jump you can probably take out the Wind Crystal right away.

From there I took out the Water Crystal but I think it may have been a better choice to go after the Earth Crystal. One of them can summon Bowyer's button locks and seal one of your commands. I think it's the Earth Crystal that does it but not 100% sure. Fire Crystal felt like the least threatening of them so saved it for last.

While this is going on always be aware of when Meteor is coming and prepare accordingly. Remember that if Meteor goes off any character with damage on them will die unless Save-Us-All is active. Mario and Geno should focus on damage and killing as much as possible. In the rare event the party doesn't need healing on Peach's turn she should use a Rock Candy to damage everyone, or if you run out of those the Star Egg. You can also use the Fire and Ice bombs just be aware the naturally a the fire crystal resists fire and the water crystal resists water.

Once all the Crystals are down the fight becomes much easier to deal with. Culex will replace Meteor with Final Claw, an attack that deals 9999 damage, but it only targets one person, and it can be blocked with a perfect block. Timing is a bit tricky but it can be done. But either way losing one person is a lot better than the entire team and you have a countdown till he uses it just like Meteor so whenever Team Attack is charged can just use Save-Us-All and bam no Final Claw. So like the previous fight when Team Attack is charged always pop it with Peach when Culex's counter is on 1 to just negate his ultimate instant kill attack. At this point it's just a matter of keeping yourself healed and beating Culex down. Keep persisting and use that Team Attack anytime its charged to negate Final Claw and victory is finally yours.

And with that, you get a completely useless key item per Final Fantasy Superboss tradition that just says you beat the hardest boss. Huzzah! Hope that helps. Not a perfect guide by any means but this is what worked for me.

#Mario RPG #Super Mario RPG #SMRPG #MarioRPG #Boss Fights #Game Guide #Mario #Geno #Peach #Belome #Jinx #Booster #Punchinello #Bundt #Johnny Jonathan Jones #Culex #super mario rpg remake

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lindszeppelin · 2 months

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I've been attempting to like K but there isn't much to her. She doesn't engage with her audience despite having a book club and actively telling ppl to join. Speaking of that book club, it doesn't read(no pun intended) as genuine. There are posts on the official book club account that are about her modeling rather than books. Obviously, she's also a model but that's not her main account, I don't even think she runs the book club account. I've come to the conclusion that the book club is nothing more than a way to make her look like she has any sense of personality and like she's relatable/down to earth(even though buying a shit on of books and having the time to read most of them is privileged af if you really think about). It's all about image and exposure with her. No work, no lessons, no earning it. I think a while back I remember watching some cast interviews from "Bottoms" bc I'm Bi and love comedy, anyway, they were individual quick interviews(looked like they were onset in the gym) and I get to her interview. *deep sigh* She mostly talked about how funny Rachel and Ayo are and how much they improvised but something that stuck out to me was that she said she was excited hearing about the movie being made that she sent in a video of herself for the role without ever waiting for auditions to come around and do it the proper way. Which disappointed me back then and pisses me off now that I've seen "Bottoms". The movie itself was kinda boring and every time she opened her mouth I was unimpressed with her attempt. Her character is meant to be flat and monotone, I think? But I'm pretty sure the character comes off like that bc they had to mold it to her lack of acting abilities. Which could have been avoided if they had auditioned for the role. Anyway, the rant is long but I had to get it out! I wish I could just tolerate her at least, but nepobabies make me want to rip my hair out. "Kaia Gerber swears she's a small town girl at heart"...well if she stepped foot in my town she'd run back to the hills out of sheer boredom and to get away from the bigoted folks, lmao. Ah well, I'm done bitching; Have a great day, Lindsay! ^_^

You are not wrong about the bookclub stuff, and everything else you said. It is very common for a lot of actresses to have bookclubs. Literally everywhere you look you see another book club made by a celebrity. And my understanding is that the reason why some of these bookclubs exist is that the rights to the books mentioned in the club are in part shared with the celeb hosting the book club...and therefore if a book featured on the club gets made into a movie that they can either star in the movie or just have the rights to it. it's not always as simple as an author talks about their book. most of the celeb book clubs are the ones where the rights to said book are shared with the celebrity. they basically get dibs on starring in the adaptation. and library science is definitely run by somebody else, not by her.

and yes, she takes up so much space in the industry. other actresses that need their break or need a job could have taken her place and actually helped a lot of these projects. having kaia on cheapens them.

#lindsay's anon asks

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emblemxeno · 11 months

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What don't you like about Jeritza and Dorothea?

If went in depth about everything I don't like about Jeritza we'd be here all day so I'll just throw thoughts around. He's another "split personality = serial killer" stereotype which I hate cuz it's ignorant and ableist, he gets coddled by the game and was coddled by the fandom for a time because "he wuvs his sister and ice cweam", how he's used by Edelgard makes me extremely uncomfortable and is again another example of ableist writing, his character is basically nothing beyond what was already present before he became playable, he's a poor man's Black Knight that is extremely easy to beat, and he's been touted as an example of 3H's "better queer rep" when Niles was raked over the coals for shit a lot more tame. As a whole Jeritza is one of my least favorite characters in the series as of now tbh.

Dorothea meanwhile is a case of a character who I loved at first but slowly over time she's just become very annoying to me. She's a key example of the game's overplayed melodrama ("OnLy THorNs LeFt on THIS rOSe!"). She's constantly talking about how sad she is about participating in a war that no one forced her to join (and I say this while being a Corrin fan, but the difference is that Corrin is royalty and has more of an obligation to participate in their war) to the point where it feels overdone and artificial, as if the writers are telling the player to be sad about the situation instead of writing more naturaly dialogue to infer it, though that's also the price you pay when you have a silent avatar. A shining example of the game's "serious" storytelling and character moments that multiple people say they cried at is the "We killed Ferdie, professor :(" line, even though in context, getting that line means the player didn't give a shit about Ferdie in the first place so why would they feel as sad as she does now, then?

Besides that, I think her hatred of nobles is a mixed bag because on one hand, yeah fuck the rich and what they did to her and she has every right to be mad and have her guard up around the big dogs, but on the other hand what the writers tried to do with her falls a little flat when all the nobles you control in the game are good people.

Really I could very well put Dorothea in mixed feelings instead, but her character gets on my nerves so much because of what she brings to the table in 3H's nonsense that it's honestly a struggle to care as much for her as I used to. She has a phenomenal voice actress and design though, props for that.

#queue #fire emblem discourse #character hate #there's also the fact that doro is the token commoner in the Black Eagles #but isn't guaranteed a position for her hard work like you'd think cuz of edelgard's ramblings #and it's not as simple as 'she just didn't want to do it' cuz why tf does bernadetta keep managing territory then

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whyismangososour · 11 months

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okay so after re-watching across the spiderverse for the third time (yes I have a problem shut up) I basically BOOKED it to the theater that was playing the miraculous movie and although I can barely understand a word of french the animation was expressive enough for me to still have some thoughts though I’m sure they are limited without proper access to the dialogue (so keep that in mind if you care about spoilers lol) anyway I need a place to put all this so here we go (in no particular order):

- I completely forgot this was a musical until the first song played and so did everyone else in the theater based off their groans of indignation

- basically every time they started singing the whole theater groaned very loudly and it almost got annoying but that could be cause I can’t judge the songs properly yet as I literally don’t understand them

- they also groaned and laughed a lot whenever adrien was getting emotional which????? made me annoyed because he’s one of the few boys in popular media who is shown to be soft and emotional as a strength and honestly the movie just turned it around and played it for jokes and it lowkey pissed me off

- they played careless whisper twice during scenes where adrien is simping too hard and a lot of people found it funny but I thought it was weird and uncomfortable but maybe that’s just me

- oh and about the songs whoever the singer is for Marinette does NOT sound like the regular speaking voice actor and it sticks out like a sore thumb

- again this could be because I’m missing out on the dialogue but I fear some people on tumblr were right when predicting this interpretation of Marinette :/ her only personality traits are being clumsy, being anxious, being bullied, being friendless, basically being like Bella Swan which no disrespect to Twilight fans but I MISSED my Marinette :( the thing I love most about her is how absolutely batshit insane she is and how good of a leader she is and how even the things this movie portrays are almost coded like ADHD and an actual anxiety disorder in the show not just an “uwu sad I’m not like other girls” trait

- also while I’m complaining I’m so sad they didn’t delve more into some of the side characters from the show like I would’ve loved for the movie to focus on the OG team of Carapace, Rena Rouge, Queen Bee with the main two or even just if it has a side plot with Luka or something it would’ve been nice but I also kinda get it because a movie has significant less time than a show to go into stuff like that

- also Alya and Nino’s relationship was so botched too because Nino is like a blubbering mess around her which??? the whole point of their relationship is how Nino realizes he likes and then loves Alya because he DOESN’T stutter around her like he did when he had a crush on Marinette and it’s supposed to provide this parallel to Marinette to show how being in a relationship can be steady and calm but whatever I guess we don’t care about any of the side characters now

- anyway Tikki raps at one point and for that alone I think Jeremy Zag should be arrested

- GABRIEL HAD LONG HAIR WHEN HE WAS YOUNG AND HE LOOKS SO STUPIDLGJF

- someone on Letterboxd called Adrien a wattpad bad boy again idk if that’s true cause I didn’t understand the dialogue but pls keep it in mind as you watch it

- a lot of people are praising the animation and on the one hand I think it’s earned because oh my god the action scenes are BEAUTIFUL but on the other hand the characters sometimes have this weird flat, lifeless vibe to them like a character from an illumination movie and idk it was weird

- granted the flat lifeless vibe could’ve been from the weird editing there was such a lack of establishing shots for so many scenes it made me disoriented about where a character was or what they were doing

- also the director refuses in every scene with Marinette and Alya talking to frame them in any interesting environments or angles ever it’s always the same flat and boring shot where they face the front like a sit com character

- anyway the third act was the best because it’s basically all actions scenes and it looks fucking fantastic 😌

- THE AKUMAS WERE SO GREAT I LOVED SEEING THEM EVERUTIME THEY WERE ON SCREEN AHHHHHFH

- even Gabriel looked less ugly in his Hawkmoth mask believe it or not

- I think there’s a chance ladynoir stans might have a good time with this cause there’s a lot of scenes with that dynamic even if it is offset by musical numbers

- sometimes the animation for musical numbers was very very or pretty and sometimes it felt pretty corny which

- made me think that this could’ve been a better 2D animated film since they’re clearly trying to pull a Disney 2.0 Electric Boogaloo with this film (but I might be biased since I had just watched across the spiderverse for the third time like 3 minutes before watching this)

- but they never delved into any of the world building like ever :/ like they never really show anything about how the powers work so nothing is ever established and they don’t even show all the powers!!!! Marinette doesn’t even use her lucky charms once!!!!! wtf dude

- when Marinette meets Adrien for the first two seconds it’s cute but quickly I got annoyed because they didn’t have her start off disliking him because she thinks he’s like Chloe like they did in the show and I feel like that’s such an important part of their relationship that they just completely ignored

- sorry adrienette stans most of their scenes are just lumped together in a montage lmao

- rip stans for other sides of the lovesquare they don’t get any screen time I’m sorry y’all

-although the end scene being presumedly a school dance is dumb and cliche and way too American for a French movie I did love Marinette’s dress I think it’s very beautiful (though buggachat’s ballgown in beau is still my favorite)

- I swear to god I think the animators made a reference to the joker dancing on stairs scene in one of gabriel’s musical numbers but I could’ve imagined it it was so quick

- also the ending felt very weird maybe I’m too used to fandom interpretations where Gabriel and Adrien being revealed to each other is super angsty lmao but it really did feel too happy of an ending like I genuinely don’t know if this is realistic for the characters

- or maybe it is but it’s just realistic for worse versions of the characters !!! because although this could be cause I missed all the dialogue but I swear gabriel doesn’t come off as abusive as he is in the show he just kinda gives off the vibe of a regular bad father which is super lame because that’s another part of the show that I think is super interesting

- also I swear to god I think the themes of emotional maturity and processing your emotions in general are just??? not there???? I’ll have to update y’all after I watch it in English but I swear???????????

- this really does just feel like a miraculous version of the mario movie it’s like all the life of the original is sucked out of it and is replaced by hollow references and an implication that the audience already understands everything because they watched the show so the filmmakers don’t have to explain anything which??? bad film makers bad *sprays with a water bottle*

- and listen I get that it’s an adaptation and it’s not possible for it to include EVERYTHING from the show but I was at least hoping for the same heart and/or a different take on the concept but that’s not what this felt like it felt too cheap and corporate and american (derogatory) to even really try

anyway those are just my thoughts and opinions and I am very open to all of them changing once I watch this in a language I actually fully understand but until then WATCH ACROSS THE SPIDERVERSE (unless you have light sensitivity issues then pls don't cause I don't want you to die ily) ok I’m gonna go shower now bye

#miraculous #Miraculous Ladybug #miraculous awakening #miraculous movie #miraculous awakening spoilers

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thesunshineriptide · 2 years

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Idia, Floyd, and Riddle with a g/n s/o who’s autistic and has issues with randomly becoming mute, mostly in very social places or around people they aren’t comfortable with, so they use ASL to communicate a lot

Haha fucking mood honestly. Legiterally I learned some basic sign specifically because I go nonverbal too. I don’t go around people though so I’m pretty rusty smfbsjnfdksndka anyway thank you for the request anon sorry for the wait

No Words Left Unsaid

Characters: Idia, Floyd, Riddle

CW// PDA, Meltdowns, Overstimulation, Nonverbal, fluff, Floyd leech typical behavior

Floyd

Floyd doesn’t always do the right thing, or the best thing, or the nicest thing, but if you’re important to him then he doesn’t want you to get hurt.

First time he encounters you going mute, he assumes someone did something.

This is a trauma thing, right?

He’s seen that before.

But when you tell him it’s just because you’re overwhelmed, he…kinda gets it?

He had that experience coming on land for the first time, and he still has it every once in a while, so he can relate even if it isn’t an every day thing.

He might ask what you want him to do in that situation, and when you explain he just sits quietly before he nods and says he’ll try.

Dude learns asl in three days by reading a book once and can remember about 45% of it when the first occasion he needs it comes up.

Also asks if you’re okay with touching when that happens and. Well let’s hope you are because if not oops bad stim he did it anyway (not maliciously just forgor)

Tap tap tap

Floyd turned to look at his partner, eyebrow raised. He watched them make hand gestures.

One hand with a thumb sticking up, the other one flat, palm facing up. Fist on palm.

Floyd watched as they repeated the gesture, looking more upset.

He blinked as it clicked, and nodded. Help. He turned to the person he was talking to.

“This is boring. Me an’ Shrimpy are gonna go do better stuff.”

With that, he promptly picked you up bridal style, walking away from the crowded hall. Everyone scattered as he walked, giving him a wide berth as he carried you outside.

“You okay, Shrimpy?”

A hand made into a fist, two fingers clenched to stick up. Hand moving up and down. Yes.

He continued walking for a while, simply holding his partner close. Sure, they could walk, but that’s his Shrimpy. Eels gotta protect their shrimps, and nobody would bother them if he was right there.

You didn’t particularly seem to mind either, content to lean against him as he walked. The rhythmic motion and the sound of his heartbeat and breathing seemed to help reset your autonomic nervous system, and having him just quietly carry you around was a good stim.

In an uncharacteristically Floyd way, he didn’t say a word until you tapped him again.

“I’m okay now.” You said quietly.

He smiled at that, and sunshine seemed to ooze out of him.

“Good! What was that about?”

You waved a hand, “‘s nothing, just overstimulated. Can you put me down now?”

He pouted mockingly, squeezing you closer, “But Shrimpy~” he whined, pressing his face into your hair, “Holding you is so nice. You’re like a stuffed animal, but warm. And cute. And you snuggle back.”

You laughed and settled in, pressing a kiss to his cheek, “Fiiiiine, I suppose I don’t mind being carried too much…”

Famous. Last. Words.

Riddle

Riddle is also autistic and also has breakdowns so he knows the feel.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t know what’s going on when it happens in front of him though because he’s never seen anyone else do it.

So he ends up making it worse the first time, but after having a long talk with you about it he immediately attempts to be better.

Probably didn’t know asl before you, but you bet he’s learning it now.

He also keeps a pad of paper on hand in case you have something much faster to say to him.

When you explain you just need some patience and to leave the room, he’s immediately making plans on what that looks like.

There’s only a little bump in the road but it’s fine

Luckily, you have each other now.

Riddle felt you gently grasp at his wrist. He turned to look, and there you were, breathing a little heavy and moving to hold your hands up.

He didn’t even need to read the sign, he immediately knew what you were asking, but nonetheless, he waited for you to verbalize it just in case.

Flat, open, dominant hand, fingers all held together. motion of flicking your flat palm away from your body, as if shooing something. Away.

He nodded, “We’ll only be a moment,” he excused himself from his conversation to offer you his arm, and you two left the room silently.

He took you down a quiet hallway and stood guard, letting you collect yourself as quick or as slow as you wished.

“Are you alright, love?” He asked when it seemed like you’d collected yourself. “Would you like me to get you some water?”

“I’m okay,” you said softly, turning to hug him. He was gentle and nervous as he hugged back. “I’d love something to drink. Sorry to pull you away.”

“It’s no issue,” he assured, pressing a kiss to your check, “You’re never an issue. I’ll get you that drink. Do you want to come back to the party or do you wish to retire early?”

You shrugged, “I’m…I think I’m done for the night.”

His face was stern as always, but his eyes were just concerned. “I will retire early too, then. I’ll get you your drink and say my goodbyes, if you’ll give me a few moments. Then we can go back to the dorm, is that alright?”

“Yeah, of course,” you replied, gripping his hand tightly for a moment, “Thank you, Riddle. I love you so much.”

He flushed and smiled a little, squeezing your hand back, “I love you too, darling. I’ll only be a moment, and then we can do whatever you’d like…within reason, of course.”

“Within reason.” You agreed, smiling as his form retreated back to the party.

‘Within reason’ turned out to be drinking tisanes and infodumping about various topics for a few hours in the Heartslabyul lounge. You and Riddle talked about everything from the prefect texture of cake, to hedgehog tending, to magical history, to the nature of magestone, to your current fixation, to your home and everything you loved to do as a child. What a night.

Idia

If you’re dating Idia, you’ll probably never be in a situation like the first two.

There are no crowded hallways you’ll be trapped in with him or fancy parties you’ll have to attend because he, also, doesn’t want to go to them.

He too is autistic and hates social gatherings and would honestly rather curl up in a ball and DIE than be stuck there.

However, that isn’t to say he doesn’t help you.

Because evidently, you have to be around people (ew) and if you’re stuck around the Normies, he can’t leave you defenseless.

Idia sat at his computer, eyes flicking between the screen, a tablet, a monitor just above it, and you - you, who was currently standing in a vocal booth just ten feet away. He double checked every input and output a third time, then looked up and smiled brightly at you, giving you a thumbs up.

“We’re good to go. Start with vowel sounds, please.”

“On it!” You grinned, then began to recite every vowel sound every way possible. Accented, non accented, soft, long, short, spread, tall.

Idia gave you a thumbs up, and you began consonants in the same manner.

“Now, say words and phrases you think are most important.” he instructed.

“I’m tired. I’m nonverbal. I need to leave now. I’m hungry. Please. Thank you. No problem. Player one, come in player one. I love you.” You said, loosening up as you continued to babble.

Idia flushed behind the screen, and he thought he had done a good job of hiding it, except the tips of his hair were pink and bathed the room in a rose gold glow.

“G-good choices,” he tried to joke, flustered beyond belief.

“My boyfriend is Idia Shroud.” You added, grinning cheekily.

“I’ll make a special b-button for that.” He winked in a way that was probably supposed to be charming but mostly came off as dorkishly cute.

You cooed, pretending to swoon in the vocal booth. “Did you need anything else?”

He hummed, then shook his head, typing away furiously, “I think that’s enough. I’m almost done, just gotta plug this into the program aaaaand…”

The tablet beeped, then chirped, then booted up a loading screen that looked like a notes app.

Idia grinned and held it close, typing something into it.

“I love Idia Shroud.” The tablet said in your voice. It sounded just like you, inflection and all.

You grinned and took the tablet from him, giving him a kiss on the tip of his nose, “It’s true, the tablet doesn’t lie. Thanks, player one.”

Idia was back to making the room look like a sunset, and he swiveled in his desk chair, “I love you too, player two.”

#twisted wonderland #twst headcanons #twisted wonderland headcanons #twst #floyd leech #twst mc #riddle rosehearts #twst riddle #twst floyd #idia shroud #twst idia #autism :)

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