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starry-bi-sky · 1 month

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I am absolutely loving your Danyal Al Ghul au. While I have a soft spot for the whole plotline of Danny becoming his canon personality almost right after breaking away from the LOA all because of Jazz, I'm just as much for your take in which he goes through the same character development as Damian.

Now I'm curious. You already tackled his relationship with Dani, will you eventually take a stab at when he, Sam, and Tucker meet Gregor? Given that it's one of my hated episodes as I couldn't stand Sam's infuriatingly hypocritical attitude to Danny's suspicions of him, I'd kill to see your spin on it.

Aw, thank you! Danyal Al Ghul aus are what got me into DPDC first, so I have a major soft spot for them. That being said, uh, its exactly that soft spot that causes me to have Many Opinions about the trope you just mentioned. Like the trope is all fine and dandy, i don't blindly hate it, my main issue with it is that most aus i've seen treat his backstory as an ex-assassin more like a pretty cosmetic accessory rather than something that actually should have had an impact on him. Especially if he remembers being in the league.

Like i cannot stress enough the fact that being in an ecofascist assassin cult (regardless of his standing in it) should've left him, in some way or another, screwed up morally and psychologically because that's just how development works. Nature vs. Nurture is like a game of tug-o-war that never ends, where they are constantly fighting against each other and one side usually has the upper hand or greater influence. Children model the behaviors of the adults around them (ex: bobo the clown doll experiment), and what impacts them in childhood can stick with them permanently.

Like how my psychology professor put it: a baby's brain is like wet cement; if you slap your hand on it, it leaves an imprint, and the cement dries that way. The same rings true for small children.

I could go on, but I frankly have so many thoughts on that alone that I would end up completely derailing from the second half of your ask, and I don't want to be more critical than I already have. Especially since you just mentioned you have a soft spot for the trope.

[Okay, hold onto your hats because this is long. Naturally lmao.]

Gregor! Man, I'll admit I last watched the show back in middle school on a dodgy illegal website (it had surprisingly good audio and visual graphics, and full episodes. But really annoying porn ads.) but I only made it to like season 1 before my hyperfixation faded and I lost interest. So I never actually saw the Gregor episode.

But... it is relatively easy to find free websites that stream Danny Phantom :), so finding the episode took me like. Thirty seconds. Plus the Tv.Tropes recap page because my damn earbuds just died and im out in public as of rn.

I'm not sure if I'll write something for the gregor episode like I did with Dani, since Dani's a bit of a special case in that she's a clone and tends to be a reoccurring presence in DPDC, and I thought the new dynamic with Danyal would be interesting.

Plus, I'm not a big amethyst ocean shipper for the pure reason of I'm just not all that interested in it; its kinda bland to me. I'll admit I've entertained the thought in this au due to the whole balcony scene i wrote, but I would've entertained the thought anyways if it was Tucker in that position instead. Big multishipper, me.

But, if I had to make it official? Danyal is not interested romantically in Sam when the Gregor episode happens, regardless of his relationship with Valerie. Who, speaking of I'm trying to think about how that would go, and I'm torn between including him almost-dating Valerie or not.

Because on one hand it helps point out Sam's hypocrisy (and i love her but i am always happy to point out her flaws and address them in au) in this episode in terms of Danny spying on them, but on the other hand I'll want to include a lot of set up in order to make Gray Ghost work in this au and wow will that take a while.

Especially with the Flirting with Disaster episode because it happens due to Technus' meddling, and Danny is, well, the son of the Batman? A trained assassin? An ex-assassin nonetheless, but still an assassin? A prodigy child in this au? He might not have needed to use most of his skills in the last few years, but like... there's just a bunch of 'what if' and 'well technically...' and 'would he? he could, but would he?' things that is getting in the way of my thought process and making my head spin.

Mmm. Okay. Flirting with Disaster occurs relatively the same as canon with a few exceptions; like Danyal noticing the strange coincidences, and he might take the idea into proper consideration because Sam has a point it is strange, especially out of nowhere.

However,,, he really enjoys Valerie's company, and he does really like her. He's been adjusting to civilian life for the last four years and while he's made a lot of progress, he's still. an ex-assassin child living like a wolf amongst sheep. This is normal, typical teenager stuff, and usually his friends like to encourage him doing normal teenager stuff.

So he's stubbornly holding out on the thought that this is normal, that ghost stuff isn't interfering here. He's a little hurt that his friends are discouraging this, he's not bothered by the fact that Valerie is a ghost hunter and he a ghost -- his mother is an assassin, and his father is Batman, and they still had a relationship. (Granted, he's not gonna tell them that)

If anything, being diametrically opposed to each other but still being in love is part of the family! Granted, usually both parties are aware of said opposition to each other, but he'll make a special exception this time around.

(And man now that i'm thinking about gray ghost, im now thinking about various like. scenes i could write between the two of them. maybe in a reblog.)

Anyways uhhh things relatively go the same as canon. Yeah. I think Sam still has a crush on Danny and still spies out of jealousy with Tucker.

Now, the Gregor episode! With that out of the way; the TVTropes recap for this episode isn't the best because it doesn't go into detail about the entire episode like it does with Flirting With Disaster and Shades of Gray.

(which i looked at earlier because I made a section of this post talking briefly about what changes I'd make to the Shades of Gray episode to help set up Gray Ghost, but ended up deleting because it was kinda irrelevant for the matter at hand.)

So I'm taking in bits of the episode clips at a time, I'll try not to get too nitpicky about how each scene goes because then it's gonna take me a longer time to write this.

But! First thing's first; since Danny is not romantically interested in Sam, he is also not jealous of Gregor. He is however, a bit eyebrow-raisey at him in their first introduction, but that's because Gregor is coming off as obnoxious.

Danny thinks he's kinda annoying, and it doesn't take a genius to see that Gregor is trying to impress Sam. But since they've only known him for five minutes he takes the good faith assumption and assumes that Gregor is genuinely trying to show interest in Sam's interests too because he likes her, so he keeps mum. The fake hungarian accent is weird, but it's overall harmless, so he doesn't point it out.

He does do the spying thing when he starts suspecting that Gregor might be working for the GIW. The episode only has this happen twice, but for the au this happens a handful of more times over the course of the week, with Danyal's suspicion steadily rising more and more each time.

Hah, when he brings up wanting to spy on Sam and Gregor because of this reason, Tucker still does his "woah! you wanna spy on Sam?" thing.

Danny immediately turns to him, completely unimpressed, and crosses his arms. "Tucker," he says, deadpan, "you and Sam spied on me and Valerie."

He uses a combination of his ghost powers and his regular stealth ability to spy on them. He's hiding in a tree when they're skipping rocks, close enough that he can use his powers to hear them talk but far enough away that he has a good view of their surroundings.

He's invisible in the cinema, but doesn't accidentally get in front of the projector. He checks the inside of the room for the GIW, and then waits outside the actual room itself, keeping an eye on the area and occasionally flying in to watch the movie out of boredom. It reminds him of being back on a recon mission with the League, but it doesn't end with him orchestrating someone's death.

Then when they're at the mall he stays in human form, blending in with the crowd. He runs into the GIW there, but realizes that they're not there because of Gregor; they're just shopping. They didn't show up at either of the last two locations, and he follows them to make sure they're not also trying to blend in. But they're literally just there for shopping.

Danny is rather pleased with this turnout; so far Gregor isn't a spy, he's just annoying. The next day at lunch he asks Sam how her date with Gregor went, and that's how she figures out he spied on them, because well, she didn't tell him that.

"Have you been spying on me?"

Danny messes with his food a little bit, and Tucker is sinking into his seat with embarrassment. He frowns, "Only last night. Those incompetent government dodos--"

His lip curls up; he gets all 'Shakespeare-y' (as Sam and Tucker put it) when he's insulting someone, "--kept appearing whenever Gregor did. I followed you and him last night to make sure he wasn't a spy."

A roundabout way of saying, "I was worried".

Sam is, as canon, furious. Danny understands why, he knows generally speaking that people don't like being spied on. But he's confused on just how angry she is, and is a little irritated by it.

"Why would you do that!" She exclaims, "That's way out of line, Danny."

"How? You spied on me when I was going on dates with Valerie." He narrows his eyes, and points his fork at her, "I'm not blind, I noticed."

"That's different, we told you why we were suspicious. And we don't have ghost powers like you do."

"I don't need ghost powers to sneak around, Sam, you've seen this firsthand. And I just told you why I followed you, I thought he was working with the guys in white--"

"So you think someone can only be interested in me if they're after you?" (this is a paraphrased quote, folks ;D)

"No! If that was the case I would have voiced my concern the moment I thought it. I don't get why you're so angry, you spied too."

Iiits.... a mess. Sam storms off with Gregor, Tucker tags along because okay, yeah, maybe Gregor isn't with the GIW, or maybe last night was a fluke. Either way he ends up tagging along. Danny overhears that conversation between the GIW and Mr. Lancer, and maybe he's right, maybe he's wrong; but something is up.

I've gotten to that scene in the locker room where Gregor tells Danny that he knows he doesn't like him, and I've paused at Danny's reply to say this: Danyal doesn't even bother trying to deny it.

"I know you do not like me."

"You're right; I don't."

"Ah, let me finish. I know you do not like me because you want to protect your friend, Sam, and I respect that."

"...That's correct."

"Good! Because I am going to ask her out."

"I had a feeling you'd say that," he stands up, claps his hand tight on Gregor's shoulder, and leans close to him with a threatening smile, "so you understand me when i say; if you break my best friend's heart, you're as good as dead, right?"

"Ah,, yes. I am so glad we got that cleared out of the way, and now I hope after we can.. how you Americans put it, hang out?"

In the episode he hugs Danny and gives him a la bise (which is that french greeting where you kiss someone on the cheek two or more times) after they end their conversation. But here, when he goes to do that to Danyal, Danny leans away, points an accusatory finger at him, and says; "Absolutely not; we are not close."

The next scene after that is like, end of day. Sam, Tucker, and Gregor walking away. Sam looks over her shoulder to glare at Danny, then gets forlorn. Tucker looks back and just looks forlorn.

(When did I start narrating each scene?? Eh, I'm writing this in brief spurts of time throughout the day. Don't fix what's not broke)

After that there's this whole scene with the two GIW agents that have been chasing Phantom all episode. They're there because they have Tucker's PDA that Skulker took, and it's got the information of their purple backed gorilla assignment on it. They've been going around seeing who Tucker associates with in hopes of catching Phantom.

Uhh ahaha and that is where this gets a little interesting imo, and also allows me to mention that im retconning Danyal's (already) redesigned ghost form. Which I've wanted to retcon even before this moment bc it was just too busy. I'll get to that in a moment.

The GIW suspect Gregor for being the Phantom because of his white hair and green eyes, which is all fine and dandy until you remember: Danyal (and by extension Phantom) has that very noticeable, rather identifiable facial scar that goes across the middle of his fucking face. The GIW could easily suspect that Phantom hides his scar with makeup if he's in disguise, but if they meet a kid with a seemingly identical facial scar and similar disposition? Hoo boy.

Solution? I've got two: Gregor is canonically a kid from Michigan who faked everything to impress Sam. Considering he knows she's gothic and knows that she's ultra-recyclo vegetarian? He probably watched her from afar or got information on her somehow. His hair is dyed, his eyes might just naturally be green, but if he notices that she's got a crush on either Danyal or Phantom? A little sfx makeup could help him recreate a similar looking scar.

My second solution that's gonna happen anyways bc its that suit redesign; Danyal does hide his face as Phantom. Ghosts are emotional creatures and its a popular headcanon that their interests, ambitions, etc, influence the way they look as a ghost, not just their death. A big reoccurring theme of my au is that Danyal did not leave the League unscathed, and that being an assassin is an important part of his identity.

So i'm discarding the hazmat suit look entirely and leaning into the 'assassin' thing. But the general (stylized) feel is like, white ribbon/cloth vambraces that he has used as a garrote at some point, a hood, a gaiter scarf-type thing. I'm keeping the cape. I did a doodle a few days back that's not the official redesign, but a redesign for Phantom. I may reblog this post with that attached because it's got the general feel down. There's very little white involved, but the inside of his cape flares out and looks like the night sky.

Now, the hood and gaiter scarf gets rid of most of the problem, but Danny's hood doesn't stay on all the time, so the GIW have likely seen the upper half of the scar. :] Gregor's own drawn-on scar doesn't have to be 1:1, but it looks close enough, right? A small scar cutting through the edge of his brow and ends right below the corner of his eye. A 'cool, badass' one opposed to Danny's 'garish' scar.

But! Back to the episode scene. Canon Danny gets written off as being 'too prepubescent' to be Phantom, and honestly it'd be hilarious if Danyal was written off for the same reason (he's calling them idiots in his head if they do). But instead -- leaning into the GIW's incompetence here -- he gets written off as being too mature or too talkative. Or something equally as absurd.

Sam breaks up with Gregor for canon reasons, but when Gregor does his "i really like you, but, come on-!" and gestures to tucker, he adds on "and that scary friend of yours too, seriously!"

Things go relatively the same as canon after that. Danny does end up apologizing for spying, however. Sam does it first. Sorrows, prayers, all that.

Things usually end up changed or different when I actually write it down, so I'd likely add more or adjust different scenes according to the flow of the oneshot. This is just like, a general vibe of how things would go, and where some of the more obvious changes would be if I did write this oneshot.

Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for the ask :]

#dp x dc #dpxdc #dpxdc crossover #danyal al ghul au #danyal al ghul #i dont even mind the trope that danny becomes like his canon self i just want *some* kind of impact on him. but as it stands most aus i've #seen lowkey treat his assassin background as an accessory. like dyeing your hair or piercing your ears. that being said its also a silly #au where they're brothers and are related to each other and thus doesn't have to be that deep at all! im just bored of seeing the same thin #all the time. especially considering danny is usually depicted as the paler/whiter passing twin and being the 'kinder. more compassionate'#one between the two of them. give me danny who suffered crises of morality! danny whose morally darker than a cloud #morally orange and blue danny who sooner understands 'dont litter' than 'dont murder'. arrogant danny! he dotes on the people he loves but #is an utter bitch to everyone else and thus has to learn to be kinder. danny discovering himself outside being an assassin #his brother remembers a kind and compassionate older brother because thats how danny interacted with him. But danny had no qualms turning #around and slicing the tendons of one of the other assassins because of smth they did that displeased him.#he can still be like his canon self but shouldn't there be something that stays behind? Lingering like a blast shadow?#danny who carries weapons on him always even though he knows he doesn't need it but it makes him feel safer.#danny who spits out the oddest. most foreboding shit sometimes and his friends just stare at him and go 'bro what the fuck??'#idk if i can share the website where i found the episodes bc of risk of copyright. but just search up #'where can i watch danny phantom for free' and look for a reddit post with that question. the comments give website options.#i keep thinking about gray ghost now. valerie finds herself becoming a member of the 'danny fenton protection squad' with sam and tucker #danny takes a page from his beloved mother's book and calls his partners 'beloved' and equally sappy pet names.#he also throws the BIGGEST shitstorm of the century when he finds out about what Axion Labs did to the dogs. hoo boy.

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meredithbeckham · 9 months

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i will meet you on another planet if the plans change

be on your own way, daughter.

#the100edit #the 100 #bellamy x octavia #bellamyblakeedit #octaviablakeedit #blake siblings #*#octavia and bellamy going from all the other has in the world #and each in their own ways fighting that and clinging to it in equal measure #to octavia choosing peace and her family on skyring with the desperate hope that one day she will see bellamy again #and the faith that if nothing else he will know she was happy and know what he meant to her and that will bring him peace #bellamy letting octavia go in s1 even though it goes against everything he is and trusting he will see her again #how desperate each of them are at the end of s4 to see each other again and begin to repair what was so horribly damaged #bellamy losing octavia just when he had her again #the parallels in this relationship the extremes #the letting each other go and finding each other again #learning to love and extend that fierce blake loyalty to other people and each of them being better for it #how even still there is always a part of them reserved for the other and they can never be truly free of each other #there's just nothing like them you know????

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nandermoenthusiast · 9 months

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i dont think i will ever be over nandor tying guillermos cape with such care and focus. that moment its possibly my favourite from the finale NANDOR ACTS OF SERVICE GUY MAKES ME WANNA CLIMB A WALL and the way hes putting guillermo on equal ground now makes my heart grow 3 sizes

and to be honest i dont think they can go back to where they were before. for anyone whos worried. like yeah he told him “now clean up the body” after he reverted back to human but to me that was more like nandors brain going like. “i cooked now you clean”. he went through such a tremendous amount of work to help guillermo. he had the empathy to recognise the problem. he thought it through concocted a plan. he got the robes and the candles and he painted and hung those banners. he held a fakeass ceremony with all their friends and elders so it looked official. he then also comforted guillermo when he couldnt do it and staked derek himself without a second thought. so maybe its was more of a. i pulled you out of a very hairy situation. can you take care of the body now? (also it IS gonna be hard to let go of certain habits so maybe some comments like this are gonna slip out next season, but that is just because they are useless and in guillermos absence the house fucking imploded in one year lmao… maybe guillermo is gonna teach them how to take care of it themselves next season so they can split the workload and cute shenanigans will ensue)

i just dont think it was mean spirited on nandors part tbh. LAZLO even offered to help. i dont think that was just to have him in the next scene i dont think an unusual detail like that could be just for convenience. i do FULLY believe they are gonna all be on equal grounds next season. and thats gonna be so fucking delicious to me specifically

#to see a nandor and guillermo dynamic where nandor has freed himself from the inibitions of a master familiar dynamic? sign me up #he was so fucking warm and caring after he forgave him and idk if i can handle it GOD I LOVE IT #nandermo #what we do in the shadows #wwdits #wwdits spoilers #comment #im making a post out of some of my tags in one of my queued posts bc i #want to put this thought out in the world #i saw a lot of people going now that guillermos human everythings back to the status quo!!! and im like #no the fuck i hope not!! their relationship has consistently moved in a new direction each season #familiar. bodyguard. best man. best friend. now they went through allllll the trouble of showing them having an equals relationship #they made nandor utter the words he will be living in this house as an equal from now on #and next season everythings gonna revert back?? i surely hope not #there is also to be considered from nandors standpoint that now guillermo truly has no more reason to stay. he really isnt a #familiar anymore because he presumably doesnt want to be a vampire anymore (?) so he has to consider #if he wants guillermo to stick around. its gonna have to be out of the love he has for them. and nandor needs to give him an incentive #which would be equal grounds with the vampires even though he isnt one #and guillermo is probably gonna be in such an existential crisis mode that hes not even gonna notice all the cute things nandor is doing #for him now for a WHILE. until he does and thats gonna be delicious #anyway. why do i keep making excellent points in the tags this could have been a post

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mintjeru · 6 months

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plave in tiny

open for better quality | no reposts

#plave #nam yejun #han noah #chae bamby #do eunho #yu hamin #kpop #forgive me for having biases rn i swear i'll love them all equally when i get to know everyone well enough #so. i fell for yejun bc of the horror game streams. saw highlights of the one w/ bamby and the one w/ hamin #like yeah i'm terrible w/ horror too but yejun reacts so cutely help i would protect him with my life #also he has such a comforting voice especially when he sings #anyway. caught up on all the official videos on their youtube so i've switched to checking channels that sub their lives #after that i'll go into watching their vods whether or not they're subbed #which reminds me i need to actually watch all the b.ts w.everse lives i have stockpiled ahhhh #the highlights of the streams are so funny though lol i've been smiling and laughing often these days thanks to them #i've fallen in and have long since lost sight of the exit but at this point do i really want to leave??#tldr. stan plave for a better life #plave fanart

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strrwbrrryjam · 5 months

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this is a dutch van der linde and micah bell hate club - dutch and micah defenders are not welcome here

#also dutch defenders does not equal dutch likers. you can still like hin as a character n stuff #i underrstand he's cool to think about and one of the most conplex characters in the game #but if you come to me and say “dutch is a good guy” or “molly deserved it” or stuff like that. immediate block fuck off #micah though. eh. like. choose better bestie #the writing for micah isnt bad per say but there are better written more complex characters than him #i mean. micah isnt complex at all. hes a bad guy who enjoys doing bad things n it all dates back into his childhood #theres nothing more to that really. bad and malicious people exist and hes one of them #sure there might be more to that but thats all the analysis i will ever do of him. he makes me so mad #also. like. i like vandermatthews. heckbi love vandermatthews because their relationship is so interesting to think about.#but i often feel that in the case of vandermatthews dutch's canon treatment of his partners including hosea gets ignored a lot #im glad they divorced. hosea deserves better. molly deserves better. susan deserves better. everyone deserves better.#rdr2 #red dead redemption 2 #rdr2 dutch van der linde #dutch van der linde #rdr2 micah bell #micah bell #strawberry speaks

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the-plothole-court · 2 years

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neil: wymack found my queen poster

matt: who’s his favorite?

neil: dan probably

neil: oh did you mean band member?

#all of the foxes love queen like it’s literally canon #as for wymack’s favorite fox?#he wouldn’t pull the whole ‘i love you all equally’ shit #it would be closer to ‘it’s easier to ignore some of you more than others’#because there’s neil and andrew with whatever the fuck they’ve got on #but then there’s aaron and renee kind of keeping to themselves but still obviously influencing wymack’s life #wymack definitely does care for each of them equally though #what a father figure #aftg #all for the game #aftg incorrect quotes #neil josten #matt boyd #dan wilds

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delta-piscium · 1 year

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after Eddie graduates he still wants to play dnd so Steve let’s them play in his house and the kids are so excited because maybe this way they can get Steve to play?

he doesn’t, but he watches and that’s something right? Except it isn’t because he keeps humming and snorting and he fucking giggles at one point when they’re deciding how to fight the big bad

they slowly realize that it’s because Eddie tells Steve his plans for the campaign, so Steve is sitting there laughing because he knows what will happen and oh my god this is so much worse than Eddie ever was on his own because now he’ll give Steve these looks and Steve will smile or raise an eyebrow or something and there’s no pattern to what happens after so they can’t even brace themselves, and yeah they should have kept them apart this is a nightmare

#eddie munson #steddie #steve harrington #stranger things #listen I just think Steve wouldn’t want to play but he’d love to watch #and Eddie starts planning sessions when they’re hanging out and he tells Steve everything and Steve is on the edge of his seat knowing what #will happen and seeing what the kids will do #and with all the shit they give him about not knowing stuff so what if he lets out a little snort when they choose to go left instead of #right when actually both options are equally bad #it’s just a little harmless thing to mess with them #Eddie picks up on it and will sometimes look at stave and raise an eyebrow and Steve knowing nothing is about to happen will smile and nod #and the kids will literally loose all the blood in their face and all that happens that session is they buy some new weapons but next times #it happens they get attacked so what actually does it even mean?#it means Eddie and Steve are messing with them just a tiny bit #but also that Eddie is including Steve because he knows he’s hesitant to play bc he thinks he’d ruin it but this way he gets to be a part #of it and also as much as Eddie loves to DM it can get lonely and it’s exciting to share this with Steve #sometimes Steve is humming and nodding because he’s impressed with them though #but it still drives them absolutely crazy bc these kids has such a need to know everything and the DM being the only one who knows is #the point so they can deal but this? yeah it’s a struggle #my post #dels steddie thoughts

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pillowspace · 10 months

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Which is your favorite, sun, moon, eclipse, sunna or meno?

Why would you ask me who my favourite child is?

#/j #I DON'T KNOWW. I LOVE THEM ALL 😭#i love my kids equally #if... i had to pick... i am fond of sun as he has been developed for the longest?#i suppose sun. that's HARD though #ask #celestial sundown au

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earlgodwin · 1 year

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the thing about rodrigo is that he's too blinded by his own ambitions and has always been dismissive of everyone's (including his family) feelings. unfortunately for juan he became a victim of rodrigo's ambitions, he was doomed the second he decided to favor him over cesare and lucrezia. he isolated him and tasked him with a role beyond his capability which struck cesare's jealousy because he had the chance to live the life he always desired as a soldier but instead, he made him a cardinal. basically, rodrigo set juan to fail and made him envied by his brother, and pitted them against each other. juan should've never been placed in opposition to cesare when he wanted harmony with his family while cesare wanted to be the gonfaloniere. they both wanted something the other one had. cesare's desire to be a leader and fighter and his distaste for juan in that role and juan's wish to be as close to his family as cesare is, especially with vanozza and lucrezia. despite juan having his father's attention, it's cesare that rodrigo trusts and depends on. he did not seem to trust juan enough as he keeps sending cesare to search for him every time and was made to act as his brother's keeper. rodrigo made both juan and cesare feel so insecure and not good enough for him which led to juan's murder and the only way rodrigo managed to come to terms with juan's death is by declaring it a tragedy caused by his rodrigo's lust for power, which corrupted his sons. both brothers are flawed but also victims of circumstances. cesare and juan were both trapped by their father's ambitions which led to their brotherly relationship being ruined when they should have been brothers in arms, not enemies. at last, rodrigo realized how much he failed juan as a father and understood how in the end he had not been there properly for him either. the guy was tormented, suffering from a horrible illness, and not to mention the mockery by everyone, especially when he tried to change after he came back from spain. in conclusion, juan went in an undeserving way. he was discarded like a common criminal with no funeral and no one to mourn him except his father. he was so earnest, he loved his family but felt inferior to his siblings while being desperate for connection, but his father set him to fail and made him gather resentment of his siblings and it was too late to fix it.

just to clarify; this not an anti-rodrigo post. the entire family is messy and they've hurt each other even when they meant to do good and i love them all lmao

#i've been feeling really bitter about how juan got treated and now i'm taking it all out on every character lmaoo #as much as i thought it was cute that rodrigo loved juan so much but at what cost?? he ended up failing him as a parent #like if only rodrigo loved his children equally we wouldn't be here but here we are!! juan's siblings hating his existence #cesare killing juan out of jealousy when he was vulnerable and wanting a reconciliation between them..cesare borgia i will see you in hell #something so sinister about how juan was afraid of not being loved by his family and they all ended up hating him and dancing on his grave #rip sad boy he should've haunted their asses in season 3 now that's something i would wanna watch like i'm seated #not me dragging tf out of rodrigo oops sorry old man ily though <3 #such an unhinged insane family i'm obsessed with themmmm #juan borgia #cesare borgia #rodrigo borgia #the borgias #juan and cesare #borgias #period drama #period dramas #david oakes #text post

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aroaessidhe · 7 months

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2023 reads / storygraph

The Art of Destiny

book 2 in a fun wuxia-inspired high fantasy series

set a couple years after book 1, after Jian failed to live up to his chosen-once prophecy, he is once again training with Taishi who decides to recruit a bunch of her grandmaster peers to come out of retirement & finish his training

Qisami & her crew are lacking assassin work and take a job going undercover in a palace - and the change of pace & new developing friendships give her a glimpse of new possibilities

Sali leads the survivors of her exiled clan to a new home while trying to find a cure for a magical sickness she's developed

#the art of destiny #wesley chu #the war arts saga #aroaessidhe 2023 reads #god this is so fun i love the characters #I think i didn't love it QUITE as much as book one for a couple reasons #the narratives r quite disconnected through most of the book (though i love them all equally)#and also jian randomly has a love interest and istg he was not-attracted-to-women coded lmao......#(I guess that was like. immature/dumb about girls coding. which I feel euh about. but whatever)#shes a cool character and it's like. 3 scenes. still far more focus on platonic relationships. but still.#qisami…….babygirl….is this what mean when they talk about dudes being their little meowmeow.#unhinged assassin who hates children forced to be babysitter then realises children are feral actually & gets attached to these ones #i thought this was a duology but it’s a trilogy. the end definitely doesn’t wrap things up. ESPECIALLY FOR QISAMI #theres MAYBE a few moments where im like oh yeah this is written by a man. not in an egregious way just like. Noticing.#BUT i love it very much overall #lots of ocean boat time. flying lion riding. centipede wagons???????

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dutybcrne · 7 days

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HSR verse Kaeya ideas:

Path of Nihility, Element Ice

Fell in stride with that path due to his depression after his conflict with Diluc and belief his fate due to his family's ties to the Abyss Order may be to bring his new homeworld's doom ( in part because of his Father's final words to him ), maintained in growing to find amusement in the impossible and working towards it regardless of the fact

Has every intention to try and defy his so-called fate even still, even knowing all that effort may be for naught in the end. But at least he would like to say he tried

Tends to help people on a whim, without desiring credit for his actions or if it may help them in the long run

His abilities sap the vitality of his enemies, but consume his own when he uses his strongest ability

Due to his family's contract with the Abyss Order, his lifespan is longer than most humanoids, spanning centuries. Though not quite that of a Xianzhou native, like them, his people do still face a terrible curse to become monsters after a time, like many of the Abyss Order.

He is glad his loved ones will never live to see him succumb to it. One way or another.

Though he also secretly harbors the strongest desire to force the Abyss's immortality on them to ensure they can stay with him, and face the same fate. He has to wonder if the slumbering monster in him is to blame for that, or his own attachments

#//Was so VERY close to making him path of Hunt #//But then working out how his 'kit' would work said otherwise #hc; kaeya #//I dunno if I wanna make the Knights of Favonius be like #//A faction of the IPC; or if it can be their own thing #//Do love a version of 'Teyvat' being a thing in that universe #//So the way it goes in my mind; his 'skill' Frostgnaw work the same way as his Genshin self with the talent Cold-blooded strike #//Single target; afflicts 'Frozen Kiss' status upon them. Attacking enemies afflicted with it let him regain HP equal to 15% of his ATK.#//Becomes three-target ONCE immediately after his Ultimate; to same effect; having entered a state called Frostbitten Embrace #//His ultimate Glacial Waltz is multi-target/all enemies on field; consumes a portion of his HP upon activation. Inflicts Exposed debuff #//I like to think his animation is like. Once Upon a December; stepping in a waltz as a blizzard picks up; faint figures around him in it #//Icicles like his Burst forming as he twirls as though puppeteered before he throws his hands out & they pierce through the enemies #//Finishing it all off with a bow; exhaling a soft mist. Like Todoroki or that one Gojo clip djfhbfgkh #//The way I'm imaginging it; the music would be something like the Phase II of the Lupus Boreas fight. Just bc I love it so much jhdbgfjg #//Overall; I do like hints of Lacrimosa for whatever song would be it jfbfbd. Not just bc it’s my favorite piece; TOTALLY not lololol #//Ultimate lines prolly being 'Can't handle the cold~?' upon selection; and 'This moment will be frozen in time!' as it proceeds #//I like to think that like how Jingliu's blindfold disappears during Crescent Transmigration; his eyepatch disappears during his Ultimate #//Eyes are closed through it; eyes opening with a flash when he hurtles the icicles #//It stays off during his enhanced skill; then is restored by next turn #//Or smth; idk; I think I wanna tweak his kit for a bit and detail it more but shh #//This is it for now djkngfk #//Technique is Abyssal Heart; upon activation; he immediately attacks the enemy. Upon entering battle; has a 100% base chance to freeze the #enemies for (1) turn. They will take Ice Damage 50% of his ATK at start of every turn. Frozen Kiss will be applied to them in addition #//Idk if that is too broken; maybe. Idevenk shbjdfdjbgdk #//Will edit as I go/come up with new ideas #//Or if sb gives a bit of advice how to do better. Pls help jhdfbgjdg #//I might wanna learn more abt the masked fools for a potential idea; but I think I am content with just keeping jim Favonian aligned #//For now

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bootheng · 30 days

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arlecchino being surprisingly mild towards tartaglia in her opinion and even debatably nice… Meanwhile he (HE OF ALL PEOPLE) says she doesn’t have a sane bone in her body…. Help why is that so funny

#genshin #she judges each person so equally and squarely… meanwhile he’s just like ‘idk i kind of hate all of them. I love to fight though (insane)’

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yeonban · 1 month

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This ends me every time I come across it bc it's THE most fitting Tobias statement in existence. I very much think that if he wouldn't have had to save himself time and again throughout his entire childhood, he would have had no issue with being one of L's men! Hell, he would've probably even been fine acting as a 'bodyguard' the way Watari did and would've paid no heed to the idea of sacrificing himself for L's safety like a lamb to the slaughter if need be, because he'd have liked L as the symbol of justice and he always returns favors/pays people back for what they've done for/to him (whether good or bad).

The issue is that he was NEVER ONCE in his life helped by law enforcement nor anyone related to it. If anything, he saw several people from the 'good side' partake in egregious dealings with his family and absolutely none of them spared a single thought to maybe helping the kid slowly bleeding out to death in the house every other time they came around. What did save him was acting the same way his enemies (parents, as part of the mafia) were, which set him out on a similar path. At that point people would've still had a(n albeit tiny) chance to 'set him right', but instead of a good samaritan taking him in & raising him like a normal kid, it was Watari who found him. And for a while it went well - he learned the people who took him off the streets were L's people and he used to hear about L from his parents (they hated him, obviously); they didn't abuse him (well. to his standards; I'd say Wammy's is very much a house of neglect); they allowed him to be around kids his age and make friends; they gave him the best education in the world - but all that stopped being a thing 'good people' did the first time he realized what the purpose of the House is and, in his eyes, Watari didn't help him for selfless reasons - it was to gain something from him, and maybe if it had been something else he would've been fine with it, but it was his identity; the only thing Tobias had. Then after his disillusionment he kept noticing worse things (how each letter being handed down to them means the one who held it prior died, which means several dozen of children/young adults from the program; how they were allowed to leave and die out in the streets if they felt like it etc), and then years later came L's famous shattering of hearts where he told the orphans that he doesn't do things for justice, that he too could be considered a criminal in the eyes of the law if they heard of some of his dealings.

All things considered, Tobias became a far more well-adjusted person than could have been hoped for sb in his circumstances. He appreciates the House for the opportunities it brought him, but he simultaneously has resentment for it and the staff (+L) attached to it. He doesn't care about how they do things, but his vision of justice is wholly different from theirs. He finds fault in their approaches, and unlike L you can expect Tobias to help you if you ask or beg him to even if he doesn't have any interest in your 'case'. While L is busy taking care of the most heinous cases that haven't yet been cracked, Tobias takes care of the actual evil entrenched in the system; from politicians, to the army, to the mafia, to practically every facet of society you can think of; aka the sides that he was abused by and the ones he's certain are of much more importance to the regular person than some far off genius criminal from the other side of the world. The people abused by law enforcement; the people taken by the mafia; the people accused as scapegoats; they're all people that Tobias willingly helps by taking them out of their situation and giving them enough $ to be set for life afterwards. If someone like him had been there for him when he was a child, he would've had a normal life. But there wasn't, so he's become it for everyone else in his former position/a similar position to the one he found himself in almost two decades ago.

#muse: tobias.#* tobias. / development.#Sometimes I stare at a wall and think about how different Tobias could've been if things had aligned better for him #Wammy's WAS very much a good thing per overall! but it too ended up exacerbating his decisions for his future/current lifestyle #Tbf Tobias doesn't detest his current lifestyle. He doesn't even dislike it. It feels about as natural to him as breathing #and he LIKES delivering payback!! It's one of his favorite things. And he equally loves having the means to enjoy things he couldn't before #but at the end of the day he's become a very... detached person in a sense? I mean he doesn't /feel/ much. When he kiIIs; he doesn't feel #when he helps; he doesn't feel much either. He had one (1) emotion growing up (rage) but he got rid of it when he realized that #being angry all the time would've not only been exhausting but also a hindrance to thinking clearly which he could Not have #if he planned to survive any amount of time in the 'field' he's chosen. THAT is why he's so fond of and helpful to amusing people #they make him feel /something/ and that something is; for once; a POSITIVE emotion!!! The only other times he's actively having fun #are when he sees the looks of utter shock & terror on his enemies' face when they didn't expect him to best them and get what they deserve;#and SOMETIMES when he tries new things. Not Most things though. He prefers those that inject some more adrenaline into him #Tobias when he comes across a funny person; which in turn makes him feel Not Empty Inside: (hovers around them like a curious dog)

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itspileofgoodthings · 2 years

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A Jonathan Byers Meta

I’ve been thinking so much about Jonathan Byers and I have some thoughts (again). (Feel free to reblog if you want but please be nice if you do so!) Jonathan is a person whose core trait, one of them at least, is that he responds so strongly to context and specifically to the kind of context he understands and wants, a trait of many oldest siblings I think. And in that context he can be so many things he is not necessarily in every area of his life. So much of that forward moving momentum he has in the first couple episodes of the show where he’s doing so much so powerfully is caused by it being a context he understands and has chosen to embrace and live out to the fullest- the context of him being the most responsible/capable member of the family. He loves Joyce and Will; he hates Lonny and is going to keep him away from his family at all costs; he considers himself the one in charge. And there is a softness and strength to that that feels absolutely luminous, that feels like nothing can shake it. And so as the show goes on and the lens widens to include more characters and perspectives it feels like Jonathan loses power/feels a little lost/drifts out of the center of the story. And for a long time I considered that a failure of the writers. They paid attention to him at the beginning, I thought, but then dropped him and that wasn’t his fault. But I rewatched Stranger things (seasons 1 and 2) this past spring and actually the thing I saw that surprised me is it makes sense on a character level that he loses that central ground and power so to speak because he is put into a context he no longer really understands or just as importantly doesn’t really want to be in. And yeah I’m talking about his dynamic with Nancy. His dynamic with Nancy in those first few seasons confused me the most and for the longest time because it began so powerfully and then felt like it veered off course. I loved it so much, shipped it so completely, and then lost interest as the show goes. And again I blamed that on the writers (in a way I still kind of do because they’re clumsy but more on that in a minute.) But I think there’s more going on on a character level.

The first beats of Nancy and Jonathan’s story feel so powerful because it’s actually part of that same context of compelling power in which we first meet Jonathan (and if you’re me fall in love with him fast). Will is missing and Nancy steps in to not exactly his place in Jonathan’s family but the position he occupied--and that’s because a) she is trying to solve a problem that is connected with Will’s disappearance, b) she needs help while doing so. Jonathan responds to that context effortlessly and powerfully. He joins forces with her and without any question or hesitation takes care of her physically when she’s in danger. It’s surprising and it’s moving and it feels at first like just an extension of that quiet competence and force of personality we witnessed in the first couple episodes but this time in a romantic context. But actually, it still isn’t romantic with him. It isn’t for him for a long time. Basically until the writers force his hand. And that’s because ---and this SHOCKED me when I rewatched the first two seasons a month ago, almost to the point of anger and quitting the show forever--the show never actually succeeds in establishing that he likes Nancy as a person! It’s clear that the writers intend the audience to pick up on that subtext (or I think it’s clear that that’s what they want) but they bungle it badly if so. The actual basic cues that would tell us Jonathan has a crush on Nancy and have us buy it as a believable emotional experience are missing. There isn’t a scene or even a moment where in any way Jonathan expresses any kind of romantic interest in Nancy at the beginning of the show. It’s not part of the establishing his character. His reasons for taking pictures at the party are muddled from the perspective the show is trying to force and it doesn’t work because all Jonathan has done is be vaguely polite to Nancy at school, caught her eye (quite frankly ACCIDENTALLY that one time), and disappeared down the hallway at the speed of light every time she turns around. She was far more intrigued than he was. The show gives us that moment with tears in his eyes where we’re supposed to believe (I think?????) that he’s so upset she’s with Steve but it’s incongruous and feels so weird and jarring you kind of have to throw it out. Because the show hasn’t done any work of telling us why that would be the case at all. No pining gaze! No mention! No conversation! The conversation they have in the hallway doesn’t communicate longing on his part, only a desire to be away from the cool kids. There isn’t even a time where someone else teases him about his crush on Nancy, the easiest way to introduce the fact of one character liking another. It’s not much of a stretch to believe that he hasn’t really thought about Nancy romantically at all. In fact it’s honestly a stretch to think he does. And there other reasons for his being there that make more sense--though I do think it’s bungled from a writing perspective. He misses Will, he’s out looking for Will, photography is his passion (lol), he doesn’t like the cool kids, he stumbles on their party “eh might as well take a picture and be the cool outside observer that he is.”

And because the writers didn’t give us a clear and unambiguous liking of Nancy from Jonathan as a starting point everything that comes after between them, even romantically or romantically-adjacent in that first season, hits differently once you watch it patiently and closely. It becomes clear that all of Jonathan’s care-taking of her is response not to her as a person he is romantically interested in, but response to context, to being the responsible one, the helper. He gets out her sleeping bag and puts it on the floor because he’s really not thinking with any part of his brain about how he’s in the room of the girl he likes. Because he’s not! He’s there as a larger part of the context the show established for him in the first couple episodes--his family, his role as caretaker. And of course that doesn’t mean that Jonathan couldn’t fall in love with her later just because the story never actually established that he liked her romantically when it thinks it does. Of course that could come later, come OUT of their interactions. but .... it doesn’t. It never really comes through. The most powerful part of their story together is the first part because it’s the only time in their relationship where Jonathan is moving with that characteristic firm decision making and competence. He’s very powerful when he’s saving her life. But everything else feels flat. And part of that is because he’s not a person who changes easily or very much at all. There are things about him that feel powerful and real and RIGHT and then there are things that just feel like him doing what the writers want him to do and those aren’t the same. Everything having to do with Nancy romantically feels like the second thing, like something the writers are making them do. The show even has to use Murray to get their romance actually jump-started because these aren’t really characters electrically drawn together. And so some of the stuff he says, the romantic stuff--it’s easy to handwave. And/or to find other reasons. And no this doesn’t have anything to do with shipping bias, though my shipping has been influenced by paying close attention to his behavior and actions. Because despite the power of Charlie Heaton in a gray sweater backlit by the red light of the darkroom with his hair falling over his face, nothing about it hits the way a Jonathan emotion should hit. And it should hit! The right stuff does! He’s brilliantly and truthfully acted and he’s layered and the right Jonathan moments SING. He’s not really a talker, not fundamentally, he doesn’t show his heart that way but in actions and only some of his actions with Nancy, the ones that really are just part of the context he’s comfortable with, really ring true. The point that I’m trying to get at is that when you look at those first few episodes really closely, emotionally there are only really three things that are actually--in character and in truth-- established about Jonathan’s heart.

They are. One- he loves Will. Will is his person, his world, the center. The one he’s always going to protect first, think about first. Will tells us he doesn’t have friends and Jonathan protests it but that probably came from somewhere. His favorite person in the WORLD is Will. The context of Will’s disappearance highlights that so clearly of course but I think we’d see it even without that. The second thing is that he loves Joyce but he doesn’t particularly trust her judgment, considering himself more of an authority on what this family needs than she does. This establishes a distinguishing quality in him, a pickiness and choosiness and prickliness that is essential. He won’t love blindly and he certainly won’t let just anyone in. (When he says he doesn’t like people we should maybe perhaps believe him and not pass him off as a secret softie.) Joyce is part of his inner circle (I love their relationship a lot actually) but he is not uncritical even of her. This is someone who likes to keep people out because this is someone who doesn’t have endless patience for people and the way they do things. He wants things HIS WAY. His way is domestic and so is the context- he’s frying an egg and it feels so homey and good you want to say he’s a softie and a cinnamon roll- but it comes out of a character who knows what he wants. And the third thing, hilariously enough, is that he hates Steve! Somehow the Duffer brothers DO establish this in a far more convincing way than they establish him liking Nancy. He tells Nancy “he doesn’t like most people” and this is true but Steve is a little bit of an exception in a worse way, as the leader of the popular kids. He’s the figurehead for all that Jonathan dislikes and despises and wants to keep out of his inner circle. The fight that Jonathan and Nancy have in the woods feels far more about his disdain for the cool kids than it does about him really liking her and wanting to rescue her from that. The nerd lecturing the girl who wants to be cool and telling her she’s better than that is a stupid trope and one far less romantic than it thinks it is but because the show has established, intentionally or not, that Jonathan doesn’t really care about Nancy romantically all that comes through in a truthful way is that he doesn’t like popular kids. That emotion, that dislike and almost disdain that lives at Jonathan’s core, is expressed far more authentically than any warmth towards Nancy and it’s so telling that it’s that dislike that collides with the other strongest feeling of his life, loving Will, and leads him to half-killing Steve in the street. The warmest Jonathan ever acts towards Nancy is the warmth of context and the warmth of Will (in his absence) and when those reasons fall away you’re left with something curiously cold. And Jonathan, when he loves, is not a cold person. He’s not a chill person. And so watching him do things like give Will Nancy’s gift to him (a hilarious moment), make Nancy leave out the window (actually very dark and strange considering that Joyce knows they’re sleeping together), literally forget Nancy exists when Will comes back and it’s him and Joyce and Will again, ---you can try to tell yourself that that’s just how he loves. But it isn’t. Because we know his warmth in his hatred and in his loves. And for Nancy it really is just kind of “ehhh.” It’s indifference.

tl,dr; the show thinks that it’s telling a convincing love triangle for sure. But because they don’t establish liking Nancy as a person as part of his character early enough and because he isn’t a character whose fundamental traits change or change easily they don’t actually build a convincing enough romance. It’s because Jonathan is a person who responds to context, even the wrong one, and because Nancy has her own journey and insecurities to work through (a different meta) they stay together for a long time. But it isn’t satisfying and it doesn’t work because it doesn’t actually strike deep enough in Jonathan’s heart. It’s not a context he really wants at his core. If he falls in love it’ll have to be with someone he wants to allow right into the very center of his life and heart and right now he’s not interested in anyone being in that place except his family. And so because he’s kind of stuck in this situation (of his own choosing, I’m not absolving him of that) because Jonathan likes routine and to keep doing the same things and is not self-motivated in the most powerful way to be able to get out of this romance—-he drifts to the edges and stops really doing anything interesting at all. He starts doing pot, won’t go visit Nancy on her spring break etc. He’s not really the boyfriend he could be in any way because I think fundamentally he doesn’t want to be. And the show may put other words in his mouth about this, I kNOW that the show doesn’t completely agree with everything I’ve written here. But it seems to me the only true way to read him in light of what he actually does and how different it is when he’s acting with his whole heart and when he’s not.

#jonathan byers #stranger things #thanks for coming to my ted talk #don't know if i should tag this as j/ncy? don't want to clutter the tag #anyway i think charlie heaton knows this and is playing it that way #for reasons unknown #though i always kind of think one of the actors in a love triangle always knows when it isn't really them and withdraws their character #jonathan through charlie heaton's portrayal is not fighting for nancy #as emma said once he simply won't finish the emotional beats that would sell it #he could have had a pining gaze in the car at the end of season 1 but he didn't want to #he could have watched nancy and steve make out with jealous longing but actually he leaves at the speed of light #and it's not HURT that makes him do so. he's just gone #jonathan hates high school and also steve. is indifferent to nancy but will use her for his purposes. and loves will #i'm telling you it is the absolute a) funniest b) tRUEST reading of his character #anyway love triangle stuff always works like this. you simply can't keep three people in a romantic space and expect them all #to be equally invested #it's not going to happen. the magic of storytelling won't actually let it. there is no 'both sides' in love triangles #because romance is a two-way street #one of the three doesn't want to be there!#actually steve is the only one who genuinely loves here. nancy is on a girlboss journey and needs to UNCOVER her love for steve #which right now is just a liking that is very right but hasn't examined #anyway very funny that jonathan would hate steve #very right that steve actually has romance at his center and core #he has no family!!! no context!!!! not even really any friends!!!!!!!!#romance is the lifeline back to goodness for steve. family is that for jonathan but because it's his first context #it's easy to lose and take for granted which is what he HAS done which is why he hasn't really grown.#i love jonathan he needs to get his shit together in season 5. come save will idiot!!!! he needs you #ANYWAY THANKS FOR READING

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