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arachine · 2 years

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— 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞?: 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬

+ 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝: multiple stranger things men

+ 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: mature

+ 𝐜𝐰: explicit sexual content

+ 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: so…i’m back. It’s been so long since i’ve posted the first dick analysis, and i just couldn’t resist doing one for the stranger things men! this is just a filler post until i finish writing some of my requests and outlining the first few chapters of my eddie munson series. until then, please enjoy this, i had a lot of fun just spewing all of my whore thoughts into this >.<

+ part two here !

+ 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫: the small font is a stylistic choice. if you are having trouble reading, i suggest you adjust your iphone’s settings!

eddie “the freak” munson

↻ length: the social pariah, eddie munson, is many things. he’s loud, obnoxious, witty, and…a freak. yeah, he roleplays with 15 year old kids, and yeah, he very well may be a super senior–having repeated the 12th grade three times–but those things don’t really make him a freak. no, the thing that makes him a freak is the unnecessarily long, heavy piece of meat that swings between his legs like a pendulum.

coming in at just about 6 inches flaccid, and 7.5 inches fully erect, eddie takes the cake for this lists’ third longest dong.

↻ width: eddie’s a pretty skinny guy, and so, his dick’s probably not much thicker than a febreeze bottle. but it’s okay, because skinny dick, is still good dick.

↻ color: he’s pale but it’s definitely a little tanner than the rest of his body. i’d say it’d progressively get darker the closer it gets to his tip (which is a beautiful mauve-y color that darkens when erect).

extra:

↻ groomed: it’s the 80s, and he’s a metalhead with a wild mane of hair on his head, so naturally, i think he’d rock a little bush. just a little one, but on occasion, he will tackle it with some scissors and trim it down a bit.

↻ curved: oh, god, yes. deliciously curved to the left with a plump, mushroomy head.

↻ veins: duh! two thick veins that begin underside the shaft and split into a fork just beneath the head.

↻ how he uses it: gonna just go ahead and say it, and this may be controversial, but i honestly think eddie would love putting you in a full nelson. now before you scrunch your nose in disagreement, just LISTEN. he’s such a skinny motherfucker but i just know there’s some muscle under those black skinny jeans and tees. i mean, we all saw that scene where he pinned steve against the wall with a broken beer bottle to his throat—albeit because he was defending himself—but that’s neither here nor there. eddie fucks, and he fucks good.

steve “good hair” harrington

↻ length: steve is a ken doll personified. except, unlike a ken doll, there’s actually something down there besides a flat surface—so rest assured, you won’t have to worry about bumping purses when doing the woo hoo. but here’s another controversial opinion: steve doesn’t have a big dick—it’s average, and that’s okay!

steve’s dick rests at a firm 5.3 inches flaccid, and a good 6.5 inches erect. not too big, and not too small. just…perfect, like him.

↻ width: for what he lacks in length, he makes up for in girth! yeah, you’re getting 6 inches, but he’s hitting you with that stretch—and it burns, but in the best way imaginable.

↻ color: the prettiest boy in hawkins has to have the prettiest cock, right? i think it’d be pretty light in comparison to the rest of his body. when i think of him, i feel like he’d be one of those guys who are kinda tan but when they take off their pants, they have the most bizarre looking tan lines ever, and their ass is brighter than the moon! anyway, i digress; it’d be pretty pale with a mean, red tip when aroused, and strawberry pink when it’s soft.

extra:

↻ groomed: yes. he keeps it really simple. shaves it down real low but not enough to the point where he’s bald.

↻ curved: as straight as a pencil

↻ veins: has one on the top of his shaft that wraps around the head

↻ how he uses it: we’re talking about steve here. steve the womanizer, steve the public enemy and panty dropper of seasons one through three. he’s all about that doggy style life. don’t let his himbo persona in season four fool you, that man is a whore! he likes to get down and dirty, and if that includes you on your hands and knees, with your face shoved into the sheets while your tears drip down onto the sheets…then, so be it.

billy “ima turn you out” hargrove

↻ length: i am not a billy hargrove enjoyer but i can’t sit here and lie to you, i just won’t. that silly little fella’s got a cock the size of a bull…

8.2 inches.

no, i’m not taking criticism. he’s big, end of story.

↻ width: the length matches the girth, sis. if you think you can take him—you can’t. and if you think i’m kidding—i’m not. think coke bottle, but longer.

↻ color: tanned to perfection, because of course it is, he was a lifeguard for god sake!

extra:

↻ groomed: like steve, he keeps it pretty well trimmed. although, sometimes, he lets it grow out so he can show off his happy trail. and a sight to see it is!

↻ curved: oh my days, it curves to the right—like a lot. a real captain hook.

↻ veins: absolutely covered in ‘em, but the most prominent one resides on the side of his shaft and if you really look at it, it kinda looks like a little lighting bolt.

↻ how he uses it: you can’t have sex with billy and expect intimacy, that just isn’t happening. he likes it with absolutely no strings attached and no eye contact. so, expect to be thrown into all types of obscure positions, his favorite of which includes you with half of your body hanging off the bed and him pounding mercilessly into you from behind. honestly, as long as billy gets a view of your ass, he doesn’t really care.

jim “big zaddy” hopper

↻ length: the biggest dick on this list. a true monster cock, that is it, that is all.

but if i had to give a specific measurement…9 inches. whether that’s his measurement soft or erect, i’ll let you be the judge of that.

↻ width: he’s so thick that he’d probably split your pussy open if he didn’t properly prepare you, and even then, you’d still never be prepared enough :(

↻ color: i’d say it would be one or two shades darker than his complexion, and the head is definitely not pink. more like a rouge mixed with a little brown.

extra:

↻ groomed: jim just gives grown man, you know? like obviously, he is one, but i just think there’s something so sexy about a man with body hair! so, i don’t think he’d keep it well trimmed, or trimmed at all for that matter. and if he does decide to take a pair of scissors to it, it’s very, very rare.

↻ curved: surprisingly, no. it’s straight, but extremely heavy and he has big man balls to match.

↻ veins: yes, just like billy, they’re all over. with a dick as big as his, he’s gonna need all the veins he can get to transport the appropriate amount of blood to it.

↻ how he uses it: very traditional, very cute and sweet. likes to fuck in missionary because he’s a real man, and he prefers to look into his lover’s eyes while pleasuring them. however, that doesn’t mean he’s a prude. if he wants to, he could put you in a full nelson, but he usually just opts for something that won’t throw his old man back out :)

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x reader smut #eddie munson smut #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x reader smut #steve harrington smut #billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove x reader smut #billy hargrove smut #jim hopper x reader #jim hopper x reader smut #stranger things x reader #stranger things x reader smut #stranger things smut

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friendofcars · 4 months

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Hello! Here is data on point of view distribution across characters in The Dreamer Trilogy (which I will abbreviate as TD3) as a follow up to my TRC data from last year (viewable here). A rather long-winded discussion of the data, methods notes, and some supplemental figures and tables are under the cut. As it was not possible to include all values and stats in this post (nor in the alt text for image IDs), my spreadsheet can be viewed by clicking here,

This project quantifies and visualizes the distribution of chapters and pages in the books of TD3 across characters from whose POVs the story is told. I didn’t have much of a hypothesis going into data collection/analysis, especially not like I did for the TRC data, but I did expect to see Ronan’s POV having the most chapters and pages for the entire series, given the fact that he is the most central of the protagonists. I don’t think page time is the be-all-end-all for a character’s importance, of course, but it is still interesting to consider how spending more time from certain perspectives affects the perceived narrative. I won’t get much into that aspect of analysis in this post, but if anybody would actually like to discuss that, I’d love to!

Results (and Interpretation):

TD3 consists of 173 chapters and 1184 pages (using the U.S. hardcover editions), making the average chapter 6.84 pages. The longest chapter is 16 pages, and the shortest is 1 page.

Figure 1A: The average chapter in Mister Impossible (MI) is considerably longer (9.26 pages) than the average chapter in Call Down the Hawk (CDTH) (6.00 pages) and in Greywaren (GW) (6.40 pages), which makes sense as MI has just 38 chapters while CDTH has 80 and GW has 55 (see Fig. 2). To me, the effect of the longer chapters (and therefore extended time with the current POV character) makes the various POVs feel more temporally distant from one another- not in a narratively incoherent way, but in a way that echoes the sense of isolation experienced by dreamers and weaponized by Bryde as he tries to convince Ronan and Hennessy to abandon their loved ones.

Figure 1B: Chapter length is fairly consistent amongst POVs across the series. Matthew has the longest average chapter length (8.40 page) over a small set of chapters (5 total)- his character development (as told from his own POV) is limited to a small number of instances, which may have stretched his chapters a bit longer. The 'Other' category has the shortest average chapter length (5.13 pages) (Fig. 1B); it includes the typically short chapters from witnesses of Visionary explosions/aftermath (Mags, Dabney) as well as Nathan's manifesto excerpts. (As a side note, I've described the chapters depicting memories from the Barns as 'Mór and Niall.' These chapters do not collectively portray an equal balance of their POVs, but this was the simplest way to categorize them.)

Figure 2A-B: These graphs are representations of chapter distribution across POVs in TD3 in terms of chapter count (2A) and proportion of total chapters (2B). Some observed trends include Declan's proportion of total chapters remaining quite constant throughout the series, Ronan's decreasing, Hennessy's proportion of chapters nearly doubling from CDTH to MI (and staying at a similar proportion to MI in GW), and Jordan's proportion following an opposite trend (consistent proportion in CDTH and MI, followed by a more than 50% drop in GW). Carmen's proportion of chapters also declines after CDTH.

Figure 2C: This graph compares total chapters per character POV over the entire series. We can see that the largest proportion of the series is told from Ronan's POV (53 chapters, or 0.306 of all chapters). To put that in perspective, Hennessy has the next highest number of chapters (26, or 0.150 of all chapters), which is just under half the number of Ronan's. If all characters had an equal number of chapters from their POV (including the miscellaneous POVs as one category labeled Other), they would each have 21.6 chapters, represented by the horizontal dashed line; Declan, Jordan, Carmen, and Hennessy all have chapter counts relatively close to this number.

Figure 2D-E: These are representations of page distribution across POVs in TD3 in terms of page count (2D) and proportion of total pages (2E). Trends are similar to those depicted in 2A-B, but 2E does make Declan's increased proportion of page time in GW salient.

Figure 2F: This graph compares total pages per character POV over the entire series. The dashed line shows that if each character (plus the Other category) had equal page time in the series, readers would spend 148 pages with each POV. Again, page data is similar to chapter data, but comparing graphs 2C and 2F gives a clear visual indicator that Jordan's chapters (on average, 8.11 pages) are longer than Carmen's (on average, 6.08 pages), since Carmen has visibly more chapters in 2C yet nearly the same number of pages as Jordan in 2F.

Figure 3: Figure 3 shows distribution of chapters (3A-B) and pages (3C-D) in CDTH, as well as average chapter length for each character POV (3E). An equal distribution of chapters would have been 13.3 per character, and an equal distribution of pages would have been 80.0 per character. The 'Other' category included chapters from the perspectives of Lock, Breck Myrtle, Shawna Wells, Jason Morgenthaler (and Lin Draper, briefly, in the same chapter), Mags Harmonhouse, and Dabney Pitts. Carmen's average chapter length in CDTH (4.67 pages) is the lowest single-book average for character POVs appearing throughout the entire series. (Nathan's average chapter length is just 1.00 [Supplemental Figure 2], yet his POV only appears in GW via his manifesto excerpts, and while I have attributed these chapters to his POV, I interpret the POV as actually ambiguous. As with Kavinsky's text in TDT, it's not absolutely certain if we are reading from the writer or the reader's perspective [although in TDT, due to the lack of Kavinsky POV elsewhere, it's probably the latter]).

Figure 4: Figure 4 shows distribution of chapters (4A-B) and pages (4C-D) in MI, as well as average chapter length for each character POV (4E). An equal distribution of chapters would have been 5.43 per character, and an equal distribution of pages would have been 50.3 per character. The 'Other' category included two chapters, both with what I deemed omniscient narration. Declan had the shortest chapters in MI (8.20 pages), and Jordan had the longest (11.4 pages, the longest average for a character for a single book in this series).

Figure 5: Figure 5 shows distribution of chapters (4A-B) and pages (4C-D) in GW, as well as average chapter length for each character POV (4E). An equal distribution of chapters would have been 6.88 per character, and an equal distribution of pages would have been 44.0 per character. The 'Other' category included Nathan's manifesto excerpts (3 chapters), 1 chapter from Liliana's POV, and 3 other chapters with omniscient narration. While Ronan never has the longest chapters, his chapters are shorter relative to other POVs in Greywaren, perhaps as a result of the way his chapters are written during his time asleep/in the sweetmetal sea. I have not yet investigated whether chapters tend to be longer while characters are awake vs asleep or dreaming, but that's something that could be measured from the existing data in the spreadsheet! There is also a dramatic drop in Jordan's POV time in GW compared to the previous two books, perhaps because of her increased divergence from Hennessy and desire to establish a life that follows her own narrative.

Other findings: A major difference I noted between TRC and TD3 was the lack of split chapters in TD3. In TRC, the data analysis was made slightly complicated by having to account for the fact that a non-negligible number of chapters would make a distinct and discrete switch between POVs partway through. While I did not observe this in TD3, I did encounter more ambiguous/nebulous POVs as I previously mentioned. The increased presence of omniscience in the trilogy, for me, contributed to the increased sense of scale and stakes compared to TRC. This increased continuity amongst POV (not amongst core/recurring POV characters, but amongst groups of characters/communities depicted in the omnisciently narrated chapters) also contributed to a sense of dissolution of barriers and identities, perhaps thematically in line with Ronan's character development and increasingly holistic perspective of both his humanity and otherworldliness (although Ronan is not necessarily featured in these 'boundary-breaking' chapters). I also briefly looked at occurrences of back-to-back chapters from the same POV; this happens most frequently for Ronan in all three books, mainly in CDTH, and sometimes featuring a dreaming chapter directly before an awake chapter (or vice versa) in immediate succession. Declan (MI), Carmen (CDTH), and Jordan (CDTH) all have a pair of back-to-back chapters at some point in the series; Hennessy has 2 (MI, GW).

Conclusions: In all honesty, despite this project being quite fun and fulfilling and of course, worth doing, I do not think I have any particularly insightful conclusions about the data beyond what I've already discussed. Ronan took up the largest share of the chapters and pages as expected, although I am not sure I expected this to be true by such a large margin. I also was surprised that Declan did not have more chapter/page time, but it is possible that his notable inclusion in chapters from other characters' POVs increases his prominence in the series (and I suppose this is probably true for all characters who frequently appear in chapters outside their perspective). As with TRC, the number of POVs expands as the series develops, often with the effect of increasing the scope of the story's implications, and perhaps, more importantly, showing the story from additional angles that contextualize and/or distort narrative established by other characters' perspectives. I hope you've enjoyed exploring the data as I have, and those interested in my methodology may continue reading below!

Methods:

Data collection was straightforward in the sense that I simply counted the pages in each chapter and then assigned each chapter to a character based on the POV represented. The POV character assignment was more difficult than it was for TRC, as TD3 has more omnisciently narrated chapters, which in itself is easy to categorize, but they often zoom in on or are 'biased' towards the experience of a particular character, so I had to make some decisions as to what, for me, constituted sufficient focus on a character’s internal narration and expression vs. omniscience. In the spreadsheet, I took notes on these more subjectively driven decisions. Again, you can view it here! It also contains data on whether the chapter is from an awake or dreaming POV, and has the first lines of each chapter, among which are some fun repeating patterns.

For bar graphs with dots, each dot represents a single chapter. You may also notice that the graphs are missing p-values from statistical tests this time around! This is because, since completing the TRC data, I’ve realized that such measures of uncertainty re: significant differences are not appropriate for my dataset, which is not a sample representing a population, but rather a complete group of chapters (so parametric tests are not necessarily helpful or valid). However, I still like to run the tests for my own amusement and to see what the results would be if this were a dataset for which ANOVA and contingency tests were appropriate, so I have standard deviation bars on the graphs where calculable (but no standard deviations in the text of the results section for legibility) as well as the p-values in tables at the end of this post for anyone also curious. I did still calculate the numbers of chapters and pages that would represent an equal distribution across POV characters, which are represented by the dashed lines on the relevant figures. I think this is helpful to visually gauge 'over-representation' and 'under-representation' of character POVs.

Below are the supplemental figures showing all character POVs rather than lumping some together in an 'other' category. The MI data in figure 4 is not expanded below because the chapters designated as 'other' were omniscient and thus would have remained in the same category.

And finally, here are the omitted p-values, if you'd like to pretend along with me that all the chapters in TD3 are not a complete set but rather a representative sample of a greater population of chapters that's out there in the universe. :) When I give a p-value below the 0.05 threshold but still write 'no significant differences amongst any combination of characters, I mean that the p-values generated for the comparisons between each possible pair of characters were all above 0.05, which are distinct from the overall p-value generated from the ANOVA.

#the dreamer trilogy #call down the hawk #mister impossible #greywaren #ronan lynch #declan lynch #jordan hennessy #carmen farooq-lane #long post #rchl #now onto more qualitative/linguistic things! xoxo

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goingbuggy · 4 months

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Shanks' Savior Complex

A few months ago, I posted a joke tweet about Shanks’ savior complex and Buggy’s inferiority complex. While Buggy’s feelings of inadequacy are pretty obvious in the source material, Shanks is constantly evading serious analysis because of how little he appears in the manga and how nebulous those few appearances are. So, naturally, I was met with a lot of confusion. (What do you mean by ‘savior complex?’ Why Shanks specifically?) I thought I’d address all that now in one comprehensive, all-inclusive post.

Before I dive in, please note just a few things:

A SAVIOR COMPLEX is a pattern of unconscious behaviors. It is associated most often with self-sacrificial people – those who help others even at the cost of their own personal well-being, mental or physical.

Within the field of psychology, ‘complexes’ are just constructs. My goal is not to diagnose. Rather, this post is a conceptual analysis using the idea of a “savior complex” to better explore Shanks as a character.

Now that all that’s out of the way, let me begin!

For a character who is so significant in the grand scheme, Shanks is remarkably absent for the better part of One Piece. Really. He is so nonexistent, actually, that the first chapter of the manga is probably the most we’ve ever seen from him uninterrupted. This is for good reason, though; Shanks is the catalyst for Luffy’s entire journey. He owes a lot to Shanks: his devil fruit, his life, and even his dream, to an extent. Luffy learned a lot about being a captain from Shanks, and much of his advice – like picking and choosing your battles, for example – Luffy puts to good use later down the line.

So, considering his role as Luffy’s mentor, it’s fitting that Shanks’ character is defined by RESPONSIBILITY. He’s goofy, sure, but don’t let that devil-may-care attitude fool you – Shanks is a knowledgeable pirate, grounded by the weight he carries. His dialogue and actions throughout the first chapter reflect this. When Luffy demands to be taken out to sea, Shanks refuses, claiming he is too young. While the rest of his crew wax poetic about the freedom and joy of being a pirate, Shanks is the one bringing them back down to reality, telling them not to fill Luffy’s head with “crazy ideas.”

Those who know him best seem to agree. “The captain’s just doing what’s best for everyone,” Beckman states. “The safety of the entire crew and ship rests on his shoulders.”

Although Shanks is realistic, he is not a pessimist, and he certainly still values dreams. Let’s not forget: Shanks entrusted Luffy with Roger’s hat. Not only that, he asks Luffy to give it back when Luffy has become a great pirate – not if. Of course Shanks has hope for the future and the new generation. He's just also experienced enough to know the dangers and horrors of the current world, and curbs his own expectations as a result. Yet again, Beckman reinforces this when he talks to Luffy.

The future needs a strong foundation. Anything is possible, including what Luffy wants to achieve, but there are necessary sacrifices to make dreams a reality.

I believe Shanks sees himself as one of those necessary sacrifices.

Oda may not have envisioned Shanks losing an arm in the original draft of the story, but this decision sets a precedent going forward, for both Shanks as a character and the series at large. Sacrifice is at the core of One Piece’s identity; previously, I’ve discussed its emotional significance as an act of love. But sacrifice also serves as the foundation for the new generation. Corazón’s sacrifice, for example, enabled Law to outlive him and change the future. Toki and Oden’s sacrifices enabled their children and the Nine Red Scabbards to change the future. Queen Otohime, Fisher Tiger, Shimotsuki Yasuie… although these characters died without ever seeing the future they hoped for, their sacrifices are the foundation upon which their successors enact change.

And who do we also see facilitating the changing world, ensuring the “new age” succeeds?

Shanks.

Whenever Shanks reappears in the manga, it is usually on the precipice of a dangerous conflict, or at exactly the perfect moment to intervene in said conflict. Take Shanks visiting Whitebeard, for example; here, he attempts to navigate the growing tension between Ace and Blackbeard, which eventually results in the war at Marineford. Although he fails at convincing Whitebeard to stop Ace’s revenge quest, it’s clear that Shanks has a vested interest in balancing the current forces at play, including marines and pirates.

At Marineford, not only does Shanks intervene to stop the war, but he saves Koby, a member of the new generation who will undoubtedly change the future on the marines' side of things. His words also reflect my point about sacrifice as a foundation for change. As he stops Akainu, he praises Koby for putting his life on the line: “The seconds of courage you bet your life on creating, for good or bad, have just now greatly changed the fate of the world!”

This aspect of his character remains consistent in Film Red, too. Even though he has grown to love Uta as a daughter, Shanks still encourages her to stay behind because her singing brings happiness to a world where "peace and equality don't exist." Afterwards, when Uta causes the massacre on Elegia, Shanks shoulders all the blame, effectively hiding the truth to protect her. He sacrifices his own connection with his daughter for what he believes is the greater good. Note that Shanks’ own personal feelings on that decision are never explored or discussed; obviously, Shanks loved his daughter, and it's safe to assume he didn't want to leave her. But he set aside his own happiness and made the hard choice anyway. (Sound familiar? The "savior complex" alarm bells should be ringing in your head.)

Even as an emperor, Shanks sacrifices his own strength, influence, and reputation. His fleet is “notoriously weak.” The pirates within it even admit that they never would have survived this long without Shanks protecting them. This fleet is another responsibility weighing Shanks down, and yet he takes on that burden anyway for their sake.

We don’t have the full context behind Shanks’ decision at Loguetown either, but it’s likely that his refusal to go Laughtale right away ties back to responsibility, too. We know whatever Roger said to Shanks the day their crew disbanded rendered him to tears. (Did Roger’s answer to his question change his mind?) We also know he regards Luffy as Roger’s successor, and claims Luffy acts just like he did as a kid. (Shanks "crowning" Luffy with Roger's hat also parallels Shanks' moment with Roger visually, placing them in similar roles.)

Given this, it’s possible that Shanks believed he could take on Roger’s legacy, but later realized he would not be the one to change the world. Roger might have even tasked him with finding the “true” successor, who will “turn the world upside down.” (Shanks’ fixation with the “new age” would also make sense in that case.) This is all speculation, but I thought I’d throw it out there anyway, because if this were true, Shanks would have sacrificed his own dream for the sake of the world. (Very fitting!)

But how does Shanks feel about his role in the bigger picture? The short answer: we don’t know, and I think that’s purposeful. Oda consistently draws Shanks looking wistful and resigned when it comes to his choices; although he has severed relationships and damaged his body, not once has he expressed resentment, anger, or sorrow. In fact, he's usually smiling.

Shanks also has his own monologue where he discusses the act of crying.

If you apply his advice to his own character journey, it raises a lot of questions. Does Shanks view his current sacrificial actions as “overcoming” his own tears from back then? Is that why we so rarely see him cry now? Considering how reserved Shanks is in expressing negative emotions, I think it’s possible. His emotional restraint could also be seen as “saving face” for the sake of others – something I’ve discussed before. That is my own interpretation, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

Speculation aside, Shanks has shown time and time again that he prioritizes the future over his own life. His dedication to/fixation with the "new age," his role as a mentor, how he believes in putting his life on the line and "overcoming" negative emotions... these indicate a pattern of behaviors seen in those with savior complexes. Even if it's at the cost of his own mental/physical well-being, Shanks plans to facilitate the world as Luffy changes it.

Is the "new age" his dream, or did he sacrifice his real dream for the sake of the new age? Does that dream even matter to him, anymore? The reasoning for Shanks' motives is still unknown, but the answer must lie in whatever mysterious question he asked Roger – otherwise, why hide the context for his massive turnabout at Loguetown? Once the curtain is drawn back on that moment, I think we will begin to see Shanks in a new light.

#one piece #shanks #red haired shanks #luffy #one piece meta #op meta #long post #meta #akagami no shanks #character analysis

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vasito-de-leche · 17 days

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hi hello!!! I’ve been reading your Horropedia stuff and oh my goD the way you write him fills my itty bitty heart with glee- would it be alright if I asked for a character analysis on him? I’d love to hear your thoughts on him!! ༄⋆｡˚✵ ໒꒰ྀི ⸝⸝´ ꒳ `⸝⸝ ꒱ྀི১

;R1999 HORROPEDIA - General Headcanons

Compilation of headcanons and analysis on Horropedia as a character and other related things.

TYSM! I'm very happy that you like my horropi posts! my horroposting!!

I don't know much about the horror genre or horror culture because I get scared very very easily so I don't watch many horror movies, but I'll do my best to deliver a good analysis of our boy o7

On the subject of horror, ableism and neurodivergency.

It goes without saying that Horropedia's character revolves around the horror genre. In this bullet point, I'm not aiming to list every single reference to movies or horror culture, but to tackle his relationship with it and how it gives further context into his personality--as well as how his heavily implied neurodivergency is meant to bring focus into the ableist ideals and practices within the St. Pavlov Foundation.

The very first part of Horropedia's storyboard and his 01 Story explains the origin for his love of horror AND affinity for tinkering with technology: his adoptive grandfather, described as a failed researcher and forgotten horror novelist.

In these excerpts, it is VERY clear that Horropedia and his grandfather loved each other despite the poor living conditions. This aspect of community and family, as well as a strong sense of self and individuality is very important, because it goes against EVERYTHING that the Foundation stands for.

Compare the "role models" of the Foundation with the "troublemakers"--on one hand, we have Sonetto and Matilda. On the other, we have Vertin and Horropedia. All four act as parallels and foils of each other in this aspect. I think everyone is more familiar with Sonetto and Vertin, so I'll begin with them to make this whole tangent easier to digest!

Both characters are direct opposites of each other, but their origins are similar: neither of them has any sort of strong ties to the outside world. Sonetto does not know about her biological family. Vertin was the youngest arcanist to join the Foundation, and vaguely remembers her mother. The key difference is that Sonetto hasn't shown any interest in finding about her biological family, adapting perfectly to the model that the Foundation aims to instill into their students--whereas Vertin's character focuses a lot on loneliness, on finding a community. Because Sonetto lacks this support, this solid ground in which she could cultivate her own identity separate to her martyr and obedient dog role, she's considered the best of the best. And because Vertin keeps stepping out of these ideals and strict guidelines, clinging onto her own sense of self and individuality, she's considered a troublemaker.

Now, let's focus on Matilda and Horropedia. Unlike the previous examples, these two HAVE families outside of the Foundation--which are a very important part of their lives--and it's implied that both of them chose to join the Foundation, unlike Sonetto and Vertin who had no choice.

We already discussed Horropedia's grandfather. When it comes to Matilda, it's stated in one of her Stories that the only way for her busy parents to show affection and give her the time of day is through academic success, which explains why she's so hellbent on being the best. Family is very important to both of these characters. Both of these characters also suffer within the Foundation because they have strong identities and lives that the Foundation does not agree with. In Chapter 03 "Nouvelles et Textes pour Rien," the very first stage shows the way Matilda, the newest student in class, is immediately put down by the rest of the class.

In this context, Matilda is being cast aside and ridiculed because her knowledge (of arcanist origin, coming directly from her grandfather) and her inability to give proof (note how mankind considers knowledge discovered or passed down between arcanists as "inferior," as seen in 1.3 "Journey to Mor Pankh", because they cannot verify it themselves).

How does this relate to Horropedia?

Well. The second part of his Storyboard shows the connection I'm trying to make.

Horropedia went through a similar experience. Both he and Matilda were ostracized by their peers because they didn't neatly fit in within the perfect model of a Foundation arcanist. We even see that he had to abandon his love for horror, instead "blending into the quiet campus." Their uniqueness, their history was slowly washed away.

So what is the difference between the two? How are they parallels and foils of each other? The difference is that Matilda, like Sonetto, was assimilated into the Foundation's ideals, whereas Horropedia was able to break free and retain his sense of self. The things he loved, the things that made him himself.

His Monologue voice line expresses this sentiment perfectly:

We all experienced the past where we were denied, distressed, and lost. That beautiful building, the white cradle, cut off all the "inconsistent" parts from us, in order to shape us into a "better" self … All in all, I am relieved that I am still me, and you are still you.

We see time and time again throughout the main story and sprinkled throughout other events, the Foundation is an organization that advocates for order and peace--something that they believe can only be achieved through the assimilation (or taming) of arcanists. They are written in a very specific way that shows how oppressive they can be to every single minority, not just related to neurodivergency. It's intersectional oppression.

It's just like horror.

Horror as a genre has an undeniable connection with communities such as POC, LGTBQ+ or neurodivergent and disabled people. Or just women in general! These groups have been demonized in one way or another in these movies. At some point, we have seen caricatures of people like us used to scare the masses.

...And in some cases, we've reclaimed certain aspects of it. Take one of the latest movies for example, "Lisa Frankenstein", or an older piece of media such as "Carmilla," a book that might be the origin of the predatory lesbian stereotype.

To me, it makes a LOT of sense that a character so heavily coded to be autistic or neurodivergent has a hyperfixation as loaded as horror. Fundamentally, Joshua and horror should not go together--because his Medium is "Logic," which contradicts the whole nonsensical and fantastical aspect of the horror genre. This is the subject of his interview with Pandora Wilson, actually!

In here, he explains how horror has its own set of rules and guidelines, a "rigorous internal logic" as he puts it, which allows anyone to survive--as long as they understand how horror movies work. We see this aspect of him in action during the 1.2 event, many many times! We see the way he interprets it, how it relates to his way of thinking and his life, how he embodies horror as part of his life--it's in his chosen nickname, Horropedia--it all falls into place rather nicely!

Horror can only make sense if you take the time to study the laws that govern it, when you pay attention to the details.

A lot of the discussion surrounding Horropedia is obviously about his hyperfixation with horror, how he would act in a slasher movie, if he would make fun of certain tropes and this and that... Which is fair! That IS the whole point of his character!

But I hope I was able to emphasize just how meaningful his connection to the genre is. It goes beyond a classic hyperfixation that could wear off in the future. Just note the description for his i2 Garment "Screamism":

A little monster under the sheets and a steadfast guardian of the heart.

Details and things I had no idea where to fit in that first bullet point.

I hope these analysis and this entire blog gave away the fact that I'm also extremely neurodivergent and my special interest is overanalyzing things to an insane degree. These are the details that I HAVE to share with others or I'll explode, but I don't know where exactly fit them in the previous bullet point.

Related to this whole discussion about horror, ableism and neurodivergency. Horropedia's Night voice line mentions "The Man in the Frame."

Fine. I've always considered "The Man in the Frame" to be a conventional horror story. But when I myself stay in a frame … I finally realized it's really horrific.

I discussed this voice line with some people and some interpret this as a reference to the way characters in the main screen can turn into paintings. However, I believe this is a reference to the neat, little mold that the Foundation and the School of Discipline insist on using to raise their arcanists.

"The Man in the Frame" is a Russian animated short by Fyodor Khitruk, which you can actually watch here on Youtube--it's only 10 minutes and it's very interesting! I actually watched it to understand what Horropedia was referring to.

For those who don't have time for it, the short follows a man living within a frame and the different phases of his life. At first, it's a simple rectangle, four black lines caging him--when he falls in love, he gets out of this frame, but returns to it. Each phase shows him slowly working to "better" his frame, so it's more elaborate and ornate like those coworkers with higher positions. Until he refuses to step out of this frame, now at the top, even turning a blind eye to the suffering of others who ask for help, ordering everything to be put within more and more frames, his own becoming more and more claustrophobic until there's nothing left of him.

Of course Horropedia finds this story terrifying now that he understands what it's like to be suffocated by conventional and strict rules.

In this same vein, I want to talk about the fact that every character (except Tooth Fairy, since we don't know her real first name) in the 1.2 update has a name that starts with J--Jennifer, Jessica and Joshua.

Horropedia's name is said to reference a movie named "Joshua" from 2007. I'm not going to watch this movie because its premise sounds scary to me and I would like to sleep tonight, BUT the poster for this movie is relevant to the discussion of "The Man in the Frame".

If someone has seen this movie and would like to add their two cents about it and how it might relate to Horropedia, please, by all means! I would love to hear what you have to say!

Next thing I couldn't fit in: Horropedia's items.

A character's items are meant to give us a little more insight into their lives and important aspects that the game wants to highlight about them. If you've read my previous analysis of Dikke and Tennant, then you know what I'm taking about. One of Horropedia's item stands out to me.

His glasses allude to his fanatism and devotion to his interests. His gadget set alludes to his logical side and intellect, the technology that his grandfather taught him. But what about the green tie clip? There is nothing outstanding nor worth noting about this clip, other than the fact that it's green.

Why does it matter that it's green? Because green is Horropedia's color.

It is the main representative color in his design, the one that pops up the most in his i2 Garment and sprites, the color of his shirt and monster slippers, the color of slime and ooze from horror movie's practical effects, the color of the entire 1.2 event. It is the color that, in this case, represents the aspect of horror.

It's the color you see once you understand Horropedia more (by raising his level and insight) and the color that is subdued and hidden by default in his regular sprite, only seen in very specific areas as shown below.

Perhaps this is an extrapolation on my part, I'm willing to accept that if it's ever confirmed, but with the amount of detail given to each character and their items, I think it makes sense for this simple, green tie clip to mean much more than "oh hey, Horropedia wears tie clips!" the same way Tennant's third item is a direct display of how much New Delhi meant to her despite the lies she tells in her voice lines.

Note the first phrase Pandora Wilson uses to describe this item: "A green line cuts through a black-and-white checkered world." To me, this alludes to Horropedia being an outlier within the Foundation, as someone who fought the system and remained true to himself despite everything.

He is the green line that cuts through this checkered world, everyone knows him and his eccentric nature, he fully embraces his status as a problem child and even gives Jessica tips on how to avoid being brainwashed by the School of Discipline in her own event.

The next and final part of this bullet point is more of a personal observation?

I've seen a lot of people focus on the fact that Horropedia would poke fun at every single horror trope because "they're too predictable" and I feel like this is not quite right? Yes, he plays the role of That One Guy who is very aware of the sort of movie he's in, who serves mostly to explain horror tropes to the audience and be self-aware or joke about how certain aspects make no sense when we think logically (outside of the context of horror) about them. But we also see how serious and eager he is during the whole 1.2 event. And tropes exist because they work, because they are part of the formula in each genre. Being able to spot a trope does not mean that the media you're consuming is bad, it's just something that you were able to pick up on because it's part of the genre.

From my understanding, shock value and surprises are part of horror. That's why we have these twists at the end, like the reveal of a killer who survived being killed by the protagonists. Yes, Horropedia DOES mention that jumpscares are outdated, but we understand jumpscares as a cheap and fast way to scare people by catching them off guard, like Five Nights at Freddy's for example. But the element of surprise is still important, it's just something that this cheap tactic and actual horror share.

Logically, horror makes no sense because there's no way for a zombie apocalypse to happen, or for ghosts to haunt you and so on and so forth. This is why we suspend our belief, to fully immerse ourselves in the worlds being presented to us--one must understand the logic within the context of these movies, rather than apply outside logic to it.

This is a really long tangent just to say that Horropedia wouldn't exactly be the type of guy to engage in horror with such bad faith interpretations or opinions, since his To The Future voice line does focus on the impossible, the surprises that the future might bring. Expect the unexpected, as he says!

Future, future, hmm … Our future slides back to the past. What else would be impossible then? Perhaps that blondie would accept an award on the stage of any film festival, or the lame horror novels written by my grandpa would win the Nobel Prize in Literature, haha … I mean, you can always expect the unexpected, my friends!

There is also the fact that his Inheritance Skill is LITERALLY named "Jump Scare," because even though it's an outdated practice, it requires a lot of redirection--to ease the viewer into a false sense of safety only to hit them with the real thing, which fits the way Horropedia's Incantations work! He shoots randomly or with his eyes closed and his shots are redirected to the enemy! It's like his Ultimate description says:

With that, I think I got everything off my chest and out of my brain. Sadly, I don't think I have many headcanons that I could ramble about without making this post longer than it should be?

I guess I like to think Horropedia is left-handed and wears his accesories on reverse to throw people off, if that counts? I also like to think that he just naturally assigns a piece of horror media that he knows to everyone he knows in his brain, and that's how he knows them as or remembers them. Oh! I also think he could figure out the plot of FNAF if he wanted!

#reverse 1999 #reverse: 1999 #reverse 1999 horropedia #horropedia #i blacked out for 3 hours to write this #almost 4 actually #i love him can you tell

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haeryna · 3 months

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OH MY GOD BAEEEE

i literally love your satosugu fic so much IM SCREAMING LIKE UGHH ITS SO GOOD AJDJWJS

like im not over exaggerating it hurts so good like i swear you know how to hit us hard 😭

i love your writing style and the way that we can feel the characters emotions (or maybe thats just me being sensitive..? IM JOKING BAE) like i can imagine how hurt reader is by satosugu leaving her and how mad satosugu are at themselves for leaving her too LIKE UGHHHH

and readers thoughts are completely valid because satosugu left without explanation, basically deserting her and then suddenly they come back?? like i’d be so hurt and mad that they’re back BUT ALSOO when she got called princess? i feel like part of her just wanted to cave especially when she was being held like that but then the other part of her was fighting, reminding herself how badly she was hurt LIKE OH MY GOD YOU ARE SO GOOD AT THIS I LOVE YOUR WRITING AAAA

and for satosugu their reason for leaving and not contacting was also completely valid !! i love that we get to see how much they miss reader and how upset they were that they left but also their reason for leaving? literally GUT WRENCHING. Yes they love reader as much as they love each other but they had to get out of there for their own safety and it just hurts so good 😭 AND THE WAY THAT THEY STILL LOVE HER TOO IT HURTS SO GOOD LIKE WHAT THE FUCK WHY ARE YOU SO GOOD AT WRITING IT MAKES ME SOB— okay but really the way that they never stopped loving her shows how much they truly loved her in the first place because even though reader thinks she means nothing to them she was the only person that they could ever love the way they love each other, oh my god and when they find out she never left and how she’s been alone for the past 5 years i can’t even imagine the guilt and hurt they felt. i can’t even when Suguru finds her letters like the pain he must’ve felt? The way he slowly saw through the letters as the girl they left behind changed, BUT THE WAY THAT THEY WILL NEVER LOVE HER ANY LESS. Also when Satoru notices how reader has changed physically like i just KNOW he wanted to burst into tears, seeing the people you love so frail and vulnerable is a pain that you can never forget so imagining how Satoru felt coming back after years only to find her looking like that must’ve been so painful for him. DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE PART WHERE HE SAYS HOW HE FORGOT WHAT IT FELT LIKE TO BE WITH HER LIKE OH MY GOD STOP IT RIGHT NOW. Like even though reader doesn’t even want to be in the same room as him he can’t help but feel alive because she’s just always had that affect on him like oh my god i literally want to bawl. Okay but also Suguru writing all of his songs for her 😭 I can’t help but wonder if he still has the guitar she thrifted for him? Also the part about Satoru’s makeup artist? “She’ll never do it like you” IM ACTUALLY SOBBING.

I love the way you write so much, it’s so real and has so much emotion. As a theater kid this entire fic is so good for character analysis like I LOVE analyzing characters and the way you write them just makes it even more fun ! I love the way that each character is actually complex and how their emotions feel real LIEK OH YMGNDODQJDHJWNS

(omg i didn’t realize how like jumbled up this all is im so sorry 😭)

I can’t wait for more to be revealed about their relationship! take your time writing the next chapter 💗

ANON PLEASE I WANT TO PUT YOU IN A LITTLE JAR WITH A BOW AND KEEP YOU SAFE YOU'RE SO SWEET AND KIND AND I LOVE YOU !! let's get married. rn. but PLEASE i was sitting here squealing and kicking my feet and looking at this ask every five minutes...i'm so glad you love it :') it makes me feel so happy that you feel like i've written them to a depth that you feel like you can analyze them!!

just for you bae, some little snippets that may or may not get woven into the main story: (suggestive but not explicit!!)

suguru keeps the old guitar you thrifted him. he actually bought a special case for it, so that even with all the damage, it'll still remain strong. there's a metaphor in that, he thinks, in the way that he'll only bring it out when he's writing a song that's meant for you. they're all meant for you, so he finds himself bringing it out constantly. he refuses to try the demos that the studio sends over, of metal and rock, because it feels cheap and artificial.

satoru keeps you and his lockscreen. it's a photo of you and suguru standing together, backs towards the camera. suguru is mid-laugh, and your eyes are shining. sukuna used to give him shit for it, until choso stepped in, recognizing the wistful love in satoru's eyes every time he'd see it.

the first time they were intimate together in their shitty apartment somewhere in seoul, suguru calls out your name. satoru says nothing of it. in turn, suguru pretends not to notice when satoru calls for you in his sleep.

kenji is dissatisfied. in a small town like yours, classmates have paired up left and right. you were meant for him, he believed. but now that satoru and suguru are back, and you're about to leave, he'd rather clip your wings than let them have you. if he can't have you, then he'd rather let you take the fall.

shoko is bemused, in a sad sort of way. she knows she can't interfere. that, and her girlfriend hates satoru with a burning passion, so she doesn't want to start any fires there.

(utahime will never forgive how satoru had made fun of her when she'd taken a particularly nasty fall during a dance practice. they weren't even in the same industry for god's sake. utahime does not care.)

you're exhausted. money is thin. you've given up on your dreams of a musical career. the notebooks of sheet music and lyrics lay aimlessly on your floor. you pretend like you realize the bleakness of your life. in reality, when you can't sleep, you find yourself scribbling words and melodies.

satoru and suguru tried, once. to replace you. to find someone else. they couldn't even seriously stomach the idea before they gave up and went back to pathetically looking at old photos of you. one of the first things they got when they made it big was a professional album done of all the photos they had of you.

(shoko laughed until she cried when she heard about it, before smacking satosugu and telling them to "go talk to her and do something about it, dumbasses.")

ALSO DO NOT APOLOGIZE FOR THE RAMBLE!! i adored it and i hope to see you around nonnie, take care of yourself <33 i hope my other fics will be able to allow you to analyze the characters as well; the next chapter will be a doozy considering how badly i want to make it realistic but there's a lot of thought that goes into that hnghh. i hope you have a lovely day/night bby!!

#strawberry picking🍓⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡#idol!satoru gojo #rockstar!suguru geto #literally shaking in my chair #you like my writing???#you like me???#omfg !! kisses you

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goldrushenthusiast · 1 year

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Analysis on Snow and Lucy Gray’s relationship, as requested by @mym00nagedaydr3am :).

They definitely loved each other, though their reasons for it may have been out of their control, and it wasn’t true love. That’s the best way I can put it.

Coriolanus Snow- he talked about how he had thought about his future wife before, and how nobody but Persephone the cannibal was really that appealing to him. In drops Lucy Gray. She immediately captured his -and everyone else’s- attention, and in the first thirty minutes of knowing him she saved his life and his reputation. That definitely leaves a mark.

Coriolanus is drawn to things that are unlike the ordinary. We know this because of how he reacts to Katniss and Peeta’s fire costume, and how he reacts to a bunch of their stunts in general. I’m not as huge a hunger game fan as bosas though, so I can’t speak much on that. But, I do know Coriolanus thought (rightfully) about how people from district 12 were “stunted, joint swollen, and always died within the first 5 minutes.” (the beginning of chapter 2). He was surprised by Lucy Gray because she was clean, she had makeup on, and she made an excellent first impression (saving his life & reputation).

This was only amplified further by the fact that Lucy Gray sat down with him, and stood up for herself by demanding he believe she could win it. Coriolanus didn’t see that coming. He fully believed that his tribute would be terrible, and the shock of her not being so gave Coriolanus a bit of a boost in falling in love. He expected the worst, got the best, and the room in the middle had to be filled with love.

I’d mention how Coriolanus also sees Lucy Gray as his property, and how he’s been raised with that mindset, but tbh that whole “she’s mine, she belonged to me, blah blah blah” part of their relationship is just so weird and off-putting, though it does make sense for his character. Lucy Gray would not be having that though, lmao.

Now, Lucy Gray- she had just gotten out of a bad relationship, and her ex having sentenced her nearly to death is a great way to move on quickly!

Lucy Gray likes courage, and bravery. I can’t find any exact quotes at the moment, but Lucy Gray did thank Coriolanus for protecting her & the covey from Mayfair when he killed her at the hob even though it was hard for him. The act of even showing up to the station, how it was a test to see how willing he was, also proves this.

Lucy Gray also values family, above all else. She tries to make goats milk for Maude Ivory to “bring a bit of happy into her life.” She says the only thing she would miss would be them when she left district 12. Coriolanus accepts her family, and her “crazy” stories about them not being really district fairly quickly. She definitely appreciated that.

Not going to lie, at the beginning, Lucy Gray probably was only flirting to intrigue Coriolanus. In chapter 25, she says “Sure, I flirt with anybody. It’s part of my job.” I believe she still has this mindset when she arrives at the capitol. She is used to living by her charms (and voice), and so that’s exactly what she does. Coriolanus actually treats her with respect, and as a person, opposed to the other inmates & their mentors, so he also leaves quite the good impression on her.

Their relationship in district 12 takes a different turn, though. At the beginning, it’s fine. She is overjoyed to see him, and finds it very romantic. “You found me.” “You knew I would.” things like that get said to each other often in the beginning. But soon things change. They have the fight about their dads being killed by the other, which I believe is fundamental to their relationship. Lucy Gray thinks that capitol people are all terrible, and by the way Coriolanus jumps straight to defense tells her a lot about him.

Of course, they make up (and out), and Lucy Gray is very appreciative of how Coriolanus treats Maude Ivory and his “clear” devotion to his friend. I’m quite sure Coriolanus’ relationship with Sejanus was actually quite a bonus point in their own, so when she realized that Coriolanus betrayed him, she realized he could betray her too.

That’s another thing about Lucy Gray. Trust. She never had it with Billy Taupe, and she thought she had it with Coriolanus, but she actually didn’t. It’s very important to her, so when she realized he had lied to her, she couldn’t just move on from that.

That’s another one of the most interesting aspects of both of them. How quickly they fell out of love, and towards hate and murder. When Lucy Gray realized that Coriolanus killed Sejanus, and that he’d have no qualms about staying in district 12 now that he got rid of the guns, she knew she had been betrayed. When Coriolanus realized Lucy Gray knew, he easily started shooting at her, albeit not before trying to at least talk. This goes to show how they were both raised. Coriolanus to fend for himself, Lucy Gray to think about what her relationships with everyone around her mean and represent.

Coriolanus also says that he was “beginning to sympathize with Billy Taupe.” This clearly shows that the second that his relationship with her was over, that he could no longer benefit from it, he turned on her. He said “hell no!” and got out of there with a mind that only amplified what he now thought of her. Vicious, cutthroat, and manipulative, all things he also was. Coriolanus’ victim mindset is also very interesting tbh.

In the end, I’m very sure Lucy Gray lived. She’s smarter than a lot of people give her credit for, especially Coriolanus (until the last few pages). They wouldn’t have worked out long term, due to their differences in what family meant, what the capitol meant, and just in general how different they were, but just them being together probably changed both their lives. Coriolanus’ for the better, Lucy Gray’s for the worst, which actually represents a lot of what happens in their other relationships (Snow lands on top, Lucy Gray is forgotten.)

That just made me remember! Lucy Gray’s ballad! A stroke of GENIUS writing. How Lucy gray mysteriously vanishes in the blizzard, how her parents don’t realize how far she is gone until it is too late, how she leaves no trace except in the middle of a BRIDGE, because that’s what they were to each other. A bridge to the other’s life. I might have to make a separate post about this stupid ballad, but yeah.

If you read this all THANK YOU!! It means a lot :). If not, I don’t blame you, this is probably my longest tumblr post so far lol. I just find this whole book so fascinating.

#ballad of songbirds and snakes #bosas #suzanne collins #hunger games #hunger games prequel #me posting abt hunger games???#told yall i love this book a lot #Coriolanus/ Lucy Gray #coriolanus snow #sejnaus plinth #lucy gray baird

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sainamoonshine · 2 years

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More The Locked Tomb speculation

So I’m not really the smartest when it comes to analysis and meta, and this book series keeps kneecapping me with stuff I didn’t see coming. But there is one (1) theory I’ve been working on since HtN, and this new book just gave me more ammunition. Now, I don’t actually know what the conclusion of that theory is, mind you. But I can sure as heck see the steps that might make the shape of it.

Some facts and speculations about John Gaius and Necromancy. (I’d make a cut but I STILL don’t know how to do it on mobile. Sorry!)

I don’t buy that Necromancy just ‘happened’ to John because he was super special and the Earth loved him lots. It would be the most ‘a wizard did it’ thing in this entire series where the magic system is well defined and thorough.

At the beginning of Nona the Ninth, in the dream, when John mentions their project getting potentially shut down, he says that M- and A- could have found work in that field again, but not him. He was ‘irradiated’ and would never be allowed to work on anything similar ever again. As others have already pointed out, he is clearly leaving out something in his telling of the story. There was an inciting incident that he’s not telling us about that destroyed his reputation somehow

Notice how he also mentions that C- was assigned to them to supervise something about checks and balances but she became ‘on their side’. When they hear about the project shutting down, M- panics about what they’re going to do with all their corpses test subjects (despite how later on in the story John hurriedly assures us they were acquired legally.) There is concern about disposal. Very much implied the bodies are radioactive now. I’m getting some vibes that maybe all the rules of ethics might not have been followed.

Also when the details of their project go public, ‘everyone has an opinion about it’

We know that to give birth to a necromancer, you must: be on one of the Nine Houses, or surrounded by Nine House dirt (as in the case of Judith’s birth.) We also know how Harrow’s parents ensured that she would be a necromancer by killing 200 children at the time of her conception and harvesting the necromantic bloom. Therefore, we can assume that you can only be born a necromancer if you are surrounded by enough ambient thanergy, either at conception or at birth.

When Harrow tells Gideon about this in the pool scene of GtN, she says that the power generated from the infants alone would have been enough to destroy the planet. Infants ‘always do [generate a lot of thanergy upon death] for some reason’

When Harrow confesses the sins of her parents to John in HtN, he is quick to reassure her that she is forgiven and also very insistent that no one else needs to know. No, really Harrow, do not tell anybody about this. Suspicious behavior much?

Let us remember that John Gaius, Necrolord Prime, chose a crown of baby finger bones to represent his divinity.

But let’s go back to his story in NtN for a moment… in the very first chapter, he tells us that the cryo process was entirely working! Except the maternity issue, which was still not totally ironed out. Said ‘issue’ doesn’t apparently warrant more explanation until he’s arguing with the billionaires who want to leave earth almost an entire year later.

The reason the billionaires give include that the cryo process isn’t moral, that there is an 8% mortality rate, and that they haven’t fixed maternity. Apparently earlier in the project their funders hadn’t cared about maternity or mortality rate, and John tells us that ‘we were the ones who argued them down to 8% and asked for more time’. But, funnily enough, then John takes pain to specify that it was M- who had first rejected the high death risk and for more time to fix the maternity issue. I wonder if John himself would have been fine with the cryo being deployed as it was way back then? I wonder if he resented M- for delaying things?

But that’s not the point of this post. Where I’m going with all this is… they were allegedly working on corpses. Where the fuck did they get the data to know that the cryo process would kill unborn babies? How did they test for that? Animal testing???

Anyway. I don’t have anything more and I know this is not coherent but it sure points at something. Nothing is these books is there for no reason. The maternity issue is relevant, and I think something that they tried, some test they did, might have resulted in John becoming a necromancer.

#the locked tomb speculation #john gaius #nona the ninth spoilers #harrow the ninth #gideon the ninth #the locked tomb

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lryghe · 9 months

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MXTX thoughts; themes

Okay so this was supposed to be a post about themes AND conventions common throughout MXTX’s writing, but I literally wrote too much for one post so I’ve split it in half. This is the half that addresses two of the most prevalent themes splayed across MXTX’s novels. Yes, this post will contain spoilers for all of MXTX’s works (though probably minor ones in terms of plot points). Expect the second half in the next week as I’m kind of busy over the next couple days!

REDEMPTION

In SVSSS, Shen Qingqiu has this genius moment where he realises that he’s now an active part of ‘PIDW’, that the people around him are actually affected by what he does. This comes in relation to (unsurprisingly) Luo Binghe, and the guilt he feels for having been so caring towards him before hurting him so soundly. And this realisation takes 70 chapters but when he does realise this, he actively starts making himself better, so that he’s ‘worthy’ of staying by Luo Binghe’s side, even after all the anguish he caused him. He’s attempting to redeem himself even from the very beginning though, because when he had transmigrated, his very first thought was to change the hand fate had dealt him, wanting to survive past his probable miserable ending in a pickle pot at the protagonists' hands. This wasn’t driven by guilt but over time the guilt complex gradually appears in the picture.

MDZS is focused mostly on Wei Wuxian’s guilt complex and him working to forgive himself and move past his time as the Yiling Patriarch. Lan Wangji is a key factor in this, his presence being something that Wei Wuxian clings to when he comes back to life after the burial mounds siege. And it’s something so important to MDZS as a whole because it’s so lovely that although Wei Wuxian himself admits he had done horrible things, Lan Wangji is there to help him through it, and he eventually comes to forgive himself for his actions (even if the rest of the world probably hasn’t). I’ve already talked about this before on 4 separate occasions, so if you want more insight just find a post about MDZS thoughts on my page :)

And finally, there's TGCF. The key characterisation point that Xie Lian has is the guilt he carries over the situation of Xianle and the death of just about everyone and their mum, but over the course of 800 years he eventually moves past it? He even feels guilt over how Qi Rong turned out, something that’s so stupid in the scheme of things, but he’s such an empathetic and intuitive character that he’ll stew in guilt over it anyway. I don’t think this theme is as important to TGCF because Xie Lian is also very mature (one would hope so after over 800 years of living) character, and he states (in one of my favourite quotes of all time) “rather than remembering how I was butchered and trampled hundreds of years ago, I’d prefer to remember that I ate a delicious meat bun yesterday”. And this gives important insight, because he feels the guilt but he moves past it, and Hua Cheng is central to this, helping Xie Lian realise he’s worthy of love, after 800 years of suffering.

LOYALTY

This is a rather obvious theme and I plan to actually write an analysis about loyalty in MDZS specifically, but I think we can categorise it and explore it in two different categories.

Firstly we have romantic loyalty, something that is prevalent throughout all her works considering that they are all romances. Each love interest remains steadfastly loyal to their main character, even through the rise and fall of dynasties, through death and through years of steadfast mourning. It’s so important that these characters remain loyal, because even though Lan Wangji mourns, and Luo Binghe has every chance to sleep with his future 3000 wives, and Hua Cheng could have destroyed his ashes when he lost track of Xie Lian 800 years previous, none of that occurs. They continue holding on to that loyalty and it fuels many of their motivations. You can also point out the loyalty that the main characters have for their love interests. Shen Yuan sits through 1000+ chapters of some horribly written stallion novel because he has some ridiculous crush on the protagonist of said story. Wei Wuxian has a similar type of obsession with Lan Wangji, every second thought something along the lines of ‘Lan Zhan would love this!’. And Xie Lian waits quietly at Puqi shrine for Hua Cheng, no matter how long it took for Hua Cheng to come back to him… “Last time, they spent eight hundred years running towards each other. This time, it only took an instant to fall into each other's embrace.”

Another type of loyalty that could be explored is familial loyalty. Yi Ziyuan, Jiang Yanli, and Jin Zixuan end up dying to protect their home, dying to save their brother, and dying trying to make their wife (and by extension, son) happy. Wen Qing and Wen Ning die to protect Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian sacrifices his core for his brother. Qi Rong spends time hanging out in his aunt and uncle's tomb for some weird reason. The various peak lords of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect spend years fighting for Shen Qingqiu’s body. Xie Lian cooks horrendous food, because his mother cooked the same way and even if its not on purpose, he holds true to her memory. This loyalty is the backbone of character backstories, whereas romantic loyalty is more of a plot device, but both are equally significant.

There’s another version of loyalty that I want to talk about, but I think I’ll save it for my eventual post on analysing loyalty in MDZS.

I may post the second half of this post in a few days (I haven’t finished writing it (I haven’t started writing it)). Until then, goodbye.

Words: 997

Reading time: 4 mins

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thebestofoneshots · 7 months

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I have been summoned :D

Hello!! Thank you for tagging me because I love analyzing so much 😊

First, I’d like to say and warn you that my predictions may be too far-fetched/detailed. Quite literally researched so much to double check my facts and opened a word document to for out my analysis and to plan and space out my thoughts (Get it? Because constellations and all are in space…? Anyway-)

1) We gon’ analyze this from top to bottom. The top two corners of the cover have the same sigil, just inverted. A crescent moon, a star, and a girl. Now, if we were to just scrap the surface of the meaning; The crescent moon is Remus, the star (of the show) is Sirius and of course, the girl is the reader.

But what I find interesting is how you chose the waning crescent moon to represent Remus, instead of the full moon like most people do. The waning crescent moon symbolizes ‘the perfect time to rest and regenerate’. Ironically, the waning crescent moon is one of the first few stages of the moon before it turns full once more.

I’d like to think that you’re representing Remus as his own person. He is a werewolf, yes. However, it doesn’t define him as a whole. That is not all who he is. Not to mention, I love how the moon partially encompasses both the girl and the star.

The latter two are positioned in a way that makes it seem like they find comfort with the moon. The moon has a small opening; it doesn’t confine the star or the girl. Rather, it encourages freedom and independence.

Ergo, Sirius and Reader find comfort with Remus and Remus protects and shelters them in a way (reference example: when Remus calmed Sirius and Reader down from causing trouble with Barty Crouch Jr.). Remus doesn’t restrict neither Sirius nor Reader to be with him. They can come and go as they please, and Remus wouldn’t mind. But the positioning of the girl and the star make it quite obvious that they choose to be with the moon. They want and are drawn to it.

I also want to highlight the fact that the star is practically clinging to the middle of the curve of the crescent moon. Referencing Remus and Sirius’ good relationship (platonically or romantically, take it as you please) and how Sirius is connected to the moon, only because of Remus. However, the girl is sat towards the edge of the crescent moon. Almost as if she’s looking at the moon and the stars. Referencing that Remus and Sirius are not the only reason why she has this connection with the galaxy.

The Reader being a fairy already made that connection and helped her have a natural inclination towards subjects like Divination and Astronomy. I think her being drawn towards our two boys just amplifies it. Moving on!!!

2) The Sun. It’s partially filled in. Maybe it’s nothing. But I feel like it’s something. So I thought, ‘What could possibly block out the Sun?’. Short answer; the Moon. When do the Moon and Sun align together? During a lunar eclipse, werewolves don’t transform apparently. So, perhaps there will be a lunar eclipse to come within the next three remaining chapters? Perhaps a really soft Moony too 🤭.

Suns – There are suns scattered every on the cover. There’s a sun on the crescent of the moon, suns at each corner of the book title. Suns at the bottom. But that’s not just the Sun, but it shows Earth and Mars too. I’m not entirely too sure about the science behind this, but I do know that there will come a point in time the Sun, Earth, Moon and Mars will align together in a straight line, creating the total lunar eclipse. So perhaps, we wouldn’t get a regular eclipse, rather a total one.

Also, the Sun represents life, light, warmth, power, and divinity. This somewhat correlates with the symbolism of the fox. Perhaps this hints that the Reader is the biggest star among the three. Because if the Reader has some sort of correlation with the Milky Way, which contains so many suns, technically that would make her brighter than the brightest star of Canis Major and the moon put together ;)

Not to mention, moonlight is just reflected light from the Sun. Without the light, we wouldn’t be able to see the moon. (I actually have no idea where I’m going with this last paragraph 💀)

3) The constellations; (from left, right then center) Canis Major, Lupus and Vulpecula. All of which represent different animals.

Canis Major is a dog = Sirius

Lupus is a wolf = Remus

Vulpecula is a fox = Reader

Now the first two correlating with each other makes sense. Considering Sirius’ animagus and patronus is a dog, while Remus turns into a werewolf and his patronus is a wolf. (Remus never actually casts a corporeal patronus as to not make people suspicious of him. Poor Moony).

Now the link between the Reader and foxes interests me. My biggest hunch I have right now is that Reader is also an illegal animagus like Sirius. Which would make sense considering a fox is a symbol of spirituality, creation, omens, afterlife, offering wisdom, guidance, protection, nobility, and a sign of good luck to those they encounter them.

And the Reader has proven to show a majority of these traits naturally. How did the Reader become an animagus? In the earliest chapters of this book, I recall that young Reader and Sirius bought a book about animagi. I also faintly recall Reader copying some important pages off the book (most probably the process and preparation for the potion and all).

Next, there is something behind each constellation that represents our beloved main characters. Canis Major and Lupus have the marauders map behind them, representing their involvement with the famous Marauders, the four boys sharing their shared tendency to spread and cause mischief.

The same can be said about Vulpecula, however there is the faint sigil of the Milky Way. The Milky Way symbolizes coming of age and afterlife. Look at that, Vulpecula and the Milky Way share one thing in common in terms of symbolism. The afterlife. I think this correlates back to Reader being a fairy. One of the theories of fairy origins is that they are a representation of the spirits of ancestral dead. ✨ A f T e R l I f E ✨. Reader is about to pull out some serious powers >:D

That’s the suspicion anyway.

4) The moon cycle on the bottom. Initially I thought that it was a regular-degular moon cycle. Then it didn’t make sense because there were some stages that did not make sense. Why choose only certain stages of the moon? And they seemed slightly out of order. That’s when I realized, it was the blood moon cycle. Not a regular one. Plus, with the latest chapter being on the night of the blood moon, it makes sense. According to some resources, werewolves are most dangerous during these blood moons. So, assuming we get a chapter with a lunar eclipse, we would have witness different intensities of Remus’ transformations. I’ll end this here.

Whoever reads this, bless you and your patient soul for sticking through this long with (1230 words if you end at ‘with’). Also I just read the comments and realized that @starchaser-lily also made some points that make me look like I’m copying them… I swear I didn’t read it until I looked at the comments 😭 😭 😭 But you have really good points! Great minds think alike? Idk if I’m helping my case 💀

Have a lovely day and lots of love! ~

I cannot confirm or deny anything but, can I just say….

I freaking love my readers?!? I mean look at this 1k words worth of theories over a single poster that’s so freaking amazing! And son well thought out of and so detailed and ingenious. Like man, this is university worth quality analysis, and for my poster??!? I feel so freaking honored!

And the ATTENTION TO DETAIL holly mother of Merlin so freaking precious. Like all of your freaking theories, you guys are brilliant *cries*!

I literally have the cleverest readers of the whole cosmos! I’m so freaking lucky!

Side note: not sure why you think it’s only three chapters left?? It’s a whole lot more than that, like I’m already working on chapter 26 and the end toll is borderline going to be like 40 chapters so you guys are in for the long run.

I did say it was going to be slow burn, didn’t I?

For those who have no clue what this entire thing it’s about, some of you guys ( @cometsghost @starchaser-lily @moonyunebi and a certain little annon ) were theorizing over on this post about a poster/cover for Gilded Constellations!

#one shot #imagine #oneshot #moony #marauders x reader #sirius black #sirius x reader #padfoot #marauders x you #the marauders x y/n #remus x reader #remus x y/n #remus x you #remus lupin x y/n #remus lupin x reader #remus lupin x you #gilded constellations #lilly talks

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lostcauses-noregrets · 9 months

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Zeke said Ackermans have free will but Levi was a slave to his promise to Erwin. Even when goals and Zeke's position changed, Levi thought of his oath. In situations Erwin would spare Zeke! Levi was fixated with Erwin when he was alive too. Whenever we are given Levi's thoughts, most of the time it's about Erwin. In the Guidebook when Levi is given the spotlight it's Erwin Erwin Erwin... Either Ackerbond is real, or Levi was just obessed with him. Mikasa and Kenny were obsessed with their hosts too. What do you think? Is Ackerbond real? Are all Ackermans just obsessive lovers? Am I missing something? I am so confused.

I can’t believe I’m still answering asks like this in the year of our lord 2023. There are two slightly different misunderstandings here. The first is that Levi was a slave to his promise to Erwin to kill Zeke, even after Zeke’s position changed. This is basically the same old accusation that Levi was “obsessed” with his vow and didn’t care at all about saving humanity. If this was true, Levi would have killed Zeke the first opportunity he had, consequences be damned. The fact that he didn’t do that shows that although he was always committed to fulfilling his vow, he never lost sight of the greater goal of saving humanity. For a more detailed analysis of Levi’s vow and how it has quite different connotations to Japanese readers, you can read this ask that @tsuki-no-ura and I answered a couple of years ago. Tsuki's exploration of kodawari is particularly relevant here.

The second assertion here is that Levi is fixated or obsessed with Erwin and that the Ackermans are “just obsessed lovers”. That’s certainly one way to put it, but aren’t all lovers a little bit obsessed with their beloved? Another way to put it is that they are devoted, loyal and true. There’s no question that the Ackermans love their lieges deeply, but they are also willing to make the ultimate sacrifice and to let them go. That in itself suggests there is a selfless aspect to their love. If they really were “obsessed”, I’d suggest they would cling to them possessively and disregard their humanity. That is the very opposite of that Levi does.

So in answer to your questions

“Is Ackerbond real?” Only in so far as it is love.

“Are all Ackermans just obsessive lovers?” I would say devoted, loyal, selfless and protective rather than obsessive.

“Am I missing something?” That really depends on how you view love.

If you want chapter and verse on the Ackerbond, I put together a post listing all the canon information about the Ackermans here: Ackermans Master Post. And I’ve also answered many asks about this topic over the years, which you can find on my blog tagged Ackerbond / Ackerbonds

#asks #levi ackerman #levi meta #eruri relationship #ackerbond #ackerbonds #snk

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afreakingdork · 1 year

Text

Weak Spot - Chapter 3

Warnings: Aged-up Turtles, Romance, Meet Cute, Villain Donatello, Cussing, Crushes, Xenophobia

Synopsis: When falling in love is the easy part where does the difficulty lie? In a society where we’re defined by our job, it’s those little details as a relationship goes on that ends up setting a course for whether or not a couple can make it in the long run.

Also available on Ao3

First 💜 Previous

You were not going to let him get away with dropping what could almost be a relative confession like that. At least, not until after work when you had the time to harass him about it.

You: So…

Rolling over from where you had collapsed on your couch you watched as predictably the message was read and no response came. You’d resigned yourself to a fight earlier in the day after deciding to press the issue, but a part of you could always dream.

You: Are we going to talk about how you ran away?

You chewed your bottom lip as the little read check mark appeared. You tried to picture what he was up to. Glancing to the nearby windows, you spied the last vestiges of twilight waning orange. When your attention returned to your device you saw the response bubbles percolating.

He must have written and deleted several versions because the one he landed on seemed far too short for the amount of time it took.

Donatello: Laughable.

You giggled to yourself. Not that you’d been able to indulge in it, but texting removed the usual bearings in an interesting way. Where in real life you had to hope you caught his micro expressions, his texts would be stuck on display for longer analysis.

You: I’m glad we agree!

You: Though I’m laughing at how cute it was that you got embarrassed

Again the check came and this time the bubbles appeared instantly. The pot was essentially stewing.

Moving to sit up, you wondered how he’d handle the stripped down context. He was obviously drafting something, but he must have realized the same as you that this type of conversation was far easier to abandon. Frowning and worrying that you might have pushed a little too hard, your stomach clenched as a reply came.

Donatello: I see what you’re doing.

You: Oh? I don’t consider this breaking the ‘no frivolous’ texts rule because it’s important to me

He saw it and you curled up into yourself. You’d spent most of the public transit ride home thinking of all the little contingencies he might use to get out of a conversation. Obliviously you had no real remedy if he chose not to respond, but you’d tried to prepare for anything else he could lob your way.

Donatello: For the time being you may exploit the loop hole, but only due to my lack of oversight.

“Just admit you like me.”

You gave a breathy sigh and pulled your device to your chest. A shred of you still wondered, but for the most part you were sure he was interested in some way. His staunch nature prevented absolutes and there was always a chance you were conning yourself, but even the fact that he was indulging these messages seemed to point in your preferred direction. Where that road ultimately lead you hadn’t given much thought, but the fizzy soda excitement was a high you were happy to chase.

You: Should I expect a contract at tomorrow’s lunch?

Donatello: Be prepared to sign in triplicate.

You blew you a puff of air into a smile. With him a line like that could both be a joke and deadly serious. You imagined him pulling out a briefcase and removing large daunting stacks of paper. He’d make for the world’s most annoying lawyer.

You: I’ll bring my embossed pen

You: Back to the original topic though…

Donatello: I’d rather discuss the pen.

You: I’ll share all the juicy details after

You: Spoiler alert: the engraving isn’t what you’d think!

Donatello: In other words, not your name.

You: Elevator explanation first

With your phone balancing on your knee you watched as he again hitched the conversation between intermediary dotted lines. You wondered if this kind of loading screen would be a good real world comparison for the time it took to him formulate verbal conversation. Staring fondly at the screen you dismissed it only because surely that mind of his cycled through so many more possibilities than you could fathom which meant a loading screen as a pathetic comparison.

Donatello: What exactly are you hoping for?

Wasn’t that the million dollar question.

You had a strong sense of the matter at hand and had even voiced your desires aloud just a few moments ago, but there was an undeniable unknown quality to the whole thing.

It had only been two days.

The time frame deflated your otherwise impenetrable smile.

That’s what was holding you up. Unfurling, your phone lowered with your legs and you watched it lull to sleep. The crush exhilaration had shrouded your mind in tittering hormones that made for a high chasing addiction. As much as you wanted to know everything about him, in reality there was no rush. Something so simple seemed like a sobering revelation.

Glancing over your shoulder at the kitchen, you wondered how he’d handle it if you passed on a slapdash response in favor of eating. Meals were quite high on the list of mind clearing activities and would give you a chance to compose something that wasn’t based on pure instinct.

Setting your phone on the arm rest, you stood and moved to the fridge. Taking your time would also shift the tone of the conversation. Grabbing the handle to the ice box, you opened it so its cold air washed over you in time with your second epiphany of the evening.

You didn’t want this to end after two more sandwiches.

Exchanging the freezer door for the fridge proper, you pulled out some leftovers. As odd as he seemed, you craved more. Trying to part the giddy fog in your mind, you set up a mental pros and cons list as you warmed your food. On one hand there had been a few undeniable red flag actions, he was exhaustively closed off, you knew next to nothing what he did outside of getting lunch, and he held vice grips on conversations in a dauntingly manipulative manner.

With a poke you checked if your food was warm enough. The lukewarm response said no, so you popped the dish back into the microwave and the newly sauced digit into your mouth.

Other the other hand he was handsome, mysterious, he’d exhibited multiple times that he was capable of concern or remorse, his vigilante watch translated as attentive, and he’d even been protective over a perceived threat.

Your microwave reminded you it was done and you retrieved the food. The plate stung your finger tips and you set it on the counter to watch the steam roll off.

If you thought about either list for too long, you noticed how each tick skewed the line. For his protection, he’d also taken a worrying satisfaction in scaring another human being. Where he refused to talk about himself cropped up the alluring unknowns. His staunch control issues were what lead to him needing to make amends in the first place.

You leaned over to pop a drawer open to grab cutlery. Once outfitted, you pinched the cooler edges of your plate and transported your dinner to the same spot on the couch. Collapsing into its relenting cushions, your phone lit up and read no new notifications. You flipped it over with one hand and then sought the remote. Whatever app the TV was last on buzzed to life and you let it run with listless curiosity as you took your first bite.

All of this back and forth was nothing unheard of though. Though the serial killer conversation had been partially a joke, there was an undeniable game that had to be played whenever you tried to puzzle a new person into your life. No two people were perfectly made for the jigsaw, but time snapped the piece together regardless as long as they were a close enough match.

A few more bites and your stomach was already feeling warm.

Maybe the puzzle metaphor wasn’t the best.

A personality buzzed about something on the television and you found it caught your attention. Between the video and hearty chews, you felt your resolve stabilize. By the time your plate was clean you’d even found that a tapestry was a much better analogy and even had ancient roots in the fates. Setting your plate aside of a coffee table, you snatched up your phone.

You: I guess you could say your little stunt made me wonder if we should reexamine our current contract

Donatello: Which terms do you not find agreeable?

You tilted your head as you read the question several times over.

You: The length

Though it was by your hand, you found it frustrating that you’d accidentally put yourself into another veiled conversation.

Donatello: Elaborate.

A little surprised hum escaped your throat.

It was almost as if he’d thought the exact same thing.

You certainly weren’t going to waste a chance to make the conversation definite.

You: I’ll just say it then

You: If I’m wrong though, don’t rub it in. I’ll be torturing myself enough

You watched his response stew and quickly typed out a few nonsense letters so your own to signal him that you weren’t done. It took a moment, but his disappeared and you cleared the text to start anew.

You: I think you’re interested in me too, but there’s been mixed signals

Your heart was beating so fast your blood pressure waned in your ears.

You: It was that look you gave me

You watched the quiver in your thumbs as you typed.

You: Would you want to keep seeing each other after you move on to the next sandwich quadrant?

You gave a shaky smile at the ridiculous terms this whole thing was perched upon.

You watched as a read receipt appeared and you tapped the cursor off the text bar to signal the end of your clarification. Your chest felt heavy and you brought one hand up to press your sternum in a pathetic attempt to release the pressure.

Not even his typing notification appeared.

Nerves already frayed, your mind went into overdrive.

Reading back over your texts you winced at the one about not rubbing it in.

Had that not been clear enough?

Mind split right down the middle, your thumbs flew back to your keyboard. For each satisfactory letter that was typed out an equal part of your brain screamed at you for doing so.

It was so much easier to blurt these things out in real time.

You: The nature of which doesn’t have to be specified. Just,

You cursed aloud as when you moved to edit the comma placement, you’d sent the unfinished text.

Staring at it harshly, the fight or flight warped leaving you unsure of what you’d wanted to clarify at all. Coming down, it took over a minute for you to realize the check mark hadn’t appeared. You lowered your screen instinctually. He wasn’t actively in the chat anymore. Putting your device to sleep, you leaned over and set it next to your plate. It wasn’t that strange as you’d left him in a similar manner when you’d made your dinner. Still, you could feel your blood moving through your veins so you desperately palmed the remote for a suitable distraction. You forced yourself to sit through a 27 minute video before you allowed yourself to pick up your device.

You nearly dove for it as the personality on TV recommended something else.

Suddenly in a surprise juggle with your device, the blurry notification disappeared as you mistakenly clicked it. You watched the screen temporarily black out before coming fully to life in the text window.

Donatello: I should have expected two days wouldn’t be enough time to improve one’s taste.

Half on and half off the couch from the phone debacle, you squinted at the message.

It somehow feel perfectly in line with what you expected while being nothing at all what you anticipated.

It was also fascinating how he seemed to take something that should be self-depreciating and make it seem like an insult to the other party.

That party being you, of course.

You: I’ll have you know I gave it a lot of thought. I made a pros and cons list and everything

Donatello: Your data collection capability is abysmal. Have you even considered your sample size or standard deviation?

You: Nope. Want to teach me?

That was truly terrible.

You laughed to yourself.

The way his response bubble appeared and popped multiples times either meant that line had miraculously worked or he was also seized with the comedy of it all.

There were surely more options than that, but you preferred to consider only those two.

Donatello: Ever presumptuous, tenuous, and ludicrous.

You stared as an even bigger smile spread on your face.

You typed out your next text.

With a thumb hovering over the send button you considered how badly this next statement could go.

You had a feeling it wasn’t in your favor, but there was just something about the three adjectives that he had sent.

You gave a single chuckle and slammed your screen with an audible tap.

You: Funny, I believe it was you who gave me your number of your own accord

He left you on read.

You didn’t necessarily regret your choice.

However, you didn’t really love it either.

As lunch loomed eerily close, you checked your bag from under your desk for what must have been the hundredth time. Every time your heart surged not with tempered hope, but fear that your boss would catch wind. The last thing you needed was that guy adding anymore undue stress. That aside, there was still the unmistakable possibility that you had messed up your chance. It definitely stung, but it also wouldn’t be the end of days.

You had only known him two days.

Giving a little sigh, you tucked your bag back into its slot. Deciding you might as well get some semblance of work done, you brought up several useful screens and moved to tack the time away on your keyboard. You’d gotten into a groove when you heard two employees pass with lunch curiosities on their lips. Checking the time said you could slip away with minimal complaint and, even though your plans were still up in the air when you’d left this morning, you’d still kept your docket open just in case. With a final glance to make sure all work was in order, you swiveled in your chair. Catching your bag in the motion, you got to your feet and headed for the elevator.

Pulling your phone out was almost an afterthought as you debated what to get.

At least, that’s what you told yourself when you saw the notification preview faultily clip an image.

You scarcely heard the elevator arrive and stepped back so no one would hold it for you. Against the opposite wall, you opened the message and stared at it curiously.

Donatello had simply sent a screenshot receipt of a sandwich purchase. Clicking it larger, it read the ever present specifications he’d deemed standard. It also had a sum of two sandwiches so he was presumably going to be in attendance. The payment information had been specifically cropped out, but the header for the shop read its address. Tempering your excitement, you flipped back and forth to type it out in your map app. It was predictably nearby so you stepped forward to push the elevator button.

The trek down and lunchtime rushed streets swept you to the location with little time to overthink. You spied his hulking black coated form through the window and slipped through the door with a pleasant chime announcing your entry. You glanced up at the little bell before heading over to Donatello.

His shoulders held staunch as he passed you only a glance before continuing to stare at the pick-up counter. For a moment you let him continue his oddly petty act before rolling on the balls of your feet and prodding your inner cheek with your tongue.

He hadn’t outright rejected you, but something was definitely off.

The overwhelming desire to poke the bear superseded concern.

If you were already in hot water, might as well take a bath.

“You really streamlined the process of asking someone out.”

Already staring at him, you caught the flicker of recognition in his eye before his pupil nearly rolled. When his gaze landed on you, he seemed to note that you had seen the move and flattened out his expression.

“My other line was something about how it’s presumptuous to just buy someone lunch without asking.”

“You’re overanalyzing.”

You rose up on the tips of your toes to get his full attention. He parted it as you entered his personal space and you did your best impression of his patented look.

His jaw flexed as if he grit his teeth though no pearly whites shined through.

“We’ll discuss it while we eat.”

You gave a curious hum that was cut off when an employee set a sack on the counter. Donatello was in motion before the employee could depart and strung a finger through the bag’s handle. He then followed through by turning to the dining room and going straight to a table. You watched his departing form for a moment and couldn’t help but imagine how he must have thought all this through while he was waiting.

How much earlier than his pick-up time had he arrived?

You followed him languidly and made a show of taking a seat. He slid your sandwich across the table and tucked your bag away beside your chair. When you surfaced you found him sitting still with his untouched sandwich wrapped in front of him.

“Should I be worried?”

The question processed in his gaze and seemed to awaken his limbs.

“That depends.”

Though he made it a statement, the end felt clipped away.

You wondered what else he meant to say as he robotically went through the motions of undoing the wrapping and folding it back. You left him to his routine and instead separated the halves of your sandwich to eat one with the parchment peeled back. You had just gotten down your first bite when you caught him picking up his meal without his usual measured grab.

“I don’t think you understand the gravity of what you’re requesting.”

Pausing, you turned the sentence over before taking another bite. “I’m not asking you to marry me.”

His head lolled slightly with dissatisfaction. Though his face didn’t betray it, you could feel the a dissatisfied aura coming off of him. “The weight doesn’t lie in the fraternization.”

You squinted at him.

He brought his sandwich up and narrowed his gaze at it.

“Is this… related to that taste thing?”

“Yes.” He punctured the single syllable with a sharp bite of his sandwich.

You watched openly as one of his lids twitched. He gave an odd side to side chew of the morsel before lowering the sandwich back to the paper. He seemed to struggle to get it down and his dark mood further clouded.

“Something wrong?”

“It’s me I don’t think you understand.” He grabbed a napkin to wipe his mouth and pushed his meal a few centimeters away from his person.

“That’s sort of the point.”

“Y/N.”

You broke away from staring at him to look at his sandwich.

“Even if we could set aside what is rapidly becoming willful ignorance, you don’t seem to have considered the fact that I’m a mutant and you’re human.”

“So?” Your own meal came down with your brow.

“Which is exactly why I still have reservations about your motives.”

“I’ve never been with a mutant before. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve even talked to one before you.” Flicking eyes between your lunch and his, you made quick work of unwrapping your bitten half.

You could feel his gaze intensify, so your brought yours up in an open show of your honesty. His pupils darted around taking in an unknown amount of information before he looked away towards a window.

With his attention parted, you reached across the table and snagged the corner of his parchment. As soon as you started sliding it towards you, he caught the motion and returned his gaze. He didn’t stop you, so you brought both meals next to each other and started to reach for his. Seeing your hand’s descent triggered something in your mind and you halted. As you twisted to grab your bag, you saw Donatello go for something in his pocket. When you both returned to the table you stared at each other and your travel sized bottles of hand sanitizer.

You immediately laughed in spite of the tense air.

He gave the barest huff and returned his own bottle to his person.

“Great minds.” You mumbled, trying to taper off your giggles as your disinfected your hands.

If he responded, you couldn’t hear it as you finally reached for his sandwich. Peeling back the bread on the half he’d bitten, you grimaced at what lie underneath. His lettuce was a pathetically wilted smear against his oily tomato. Peeking out from underneath that was an alarmingly pale piece of bacon. You picked at the tongue that slumped off the side of the sandwich and found it to be just as floppy as it looked.

“We ordered the same thing.” You remarked before quickly moving to uncap your sandwich. Yours, in comparison, looked like a meal that was ready for its menu shoot. “Are both sides like that?”

He again didn’t seem to respond, so you moved to remove the bread from the rest of his meal. The other half continued the same trend. You sat back in your seat and considered the dichotomy. Confused, you finally swept your gaze to your companion.

Across from you, Donatello’s irritation continued to waft off of him, but he was directing it into his person. It was all such a strange show that it left you unnerved. It reminded you of the day prior when the mystery of the supposedly unknown sandwich shop loomed overhead.

You blinked.

Straightening up, you spun around in your chair. The speed of the move meant you just caught the way the whispering employees departed from each other behind the counter. Your eyes widened to a degree that nearly stung. You spun back around to find Donatello staring at you with a dark knowing expression.

That’s why he had brought up human/mutant relations.

“They gave you a gross sandwich on purpose.”

He gave a curt nod.

“But…” You leaned into the table, but in doing so it brought your face closer to said offense. You sloppily reconstructed it before messily squishing the parchment down to hide it away. “How would they know you’d take the intended one?”

The way Donatello stared evenly back made several things clear.

He had in fact arrived to the shop early.

He’d seen and let them make him a subpar meal.

He then accepted it in a way that ensured he’d get the gross one and not you.

The deep frown on your lips stung your cheeks. “If… If they saw you order it, why weren’t both sandwiches gross?”

“The wait.” It seemed like a struggle for him to get the two words out evenly.

Your lips parted.

There had been a wait from when you’d arrived to when the sandwiches had been ready.

Those whispering bastards had seriously rushed to remake a sandwich as soon as they found out a human was on the order.

As the pieces of the events fell into place, confusion melted away under budding fury. “Why didn’t you say something? That doesn’t seem like-!”

You bit down to keep the presumption from coming out.

He leaned forward in a similar manner as you had done.

It brought your voice down and you spoke before he could. “Yesterday at the building, they weren’t glaring because we were there. They were mad because we were together?”

His chin tipped up the barest amount, but you couldn’t take in his appreciation for your correct guess based on its content.

“That or… that’s just how they look at you.”

“Both.” The single syllable dripped with disdain.

Considering he could barely keep a lid on his resentment, it made very little sense why he allowed this to happen. You forced yourself to swallow your own anger in mustering up a pleading eye. “I don’t understand…?”

His expression was pulled so taunt it seemed like a piano wire about to snap. “I needed to talk to you first and foremost, but trust me when I say the retribution will be swift.”

There was a manic flash to his eyes that you only barely caught before a tidal wave of emotion flooded you. Any remnant thoughts on it washed away as your heart buoyed to the surface. You could feel your eyes rapidly watering. With both of you craned over the table into one another, you knew he had a front row seat. Screwing your eyes shut, you hoped he wouldn’t see it as pity or sadness. You certainly weren’t going to celebrate and you were already forming your own just recourse, but the man in front of you had endured blatant xenophobia in silence just so not as to upset these plans.

You didn’t care.

Whatever terrible things he thought of himself.

Whatever things he might have done in the past.

Hell, for all you knew he was still doing it.

It simply didn’t matter.

You wanted him.

More than ever.

Your eyes popped open in time with a smile on your lips.

He seemed to wince against the brightness of it.

“First things first.” You sat back and grabbed your uneaten sandwich half.

“That’s yours.”

“And?” You pushed it towards him. “You’re not eating that.” You waved off his appalling excuse of a meal.

“You’ll be stuck at work and I can get something else.” He reached out with a single digit and used it to slide the sandwich half back.

“It’s not up for discussion.” You reached out to do something similar, but he hadn’t lifted his hand. You glowered at the offending digit and moved to send that same dissatisfied look to his face.

A resolute blank stare sat there.

“Split then.”

“It’s not even.”

You groaned loudly.

He remained unmoved.

With your uneaten half ensnared, you moved to your bitten half. Searching around, you found a loose plastic knife on the table and made a cut that bisected the sandwich in a way that severed off the contaminated half for yourself. He kept a close eye as you then made a show of folding your parchment into as close of a version as how he did and set the clean segment upon it. It had some sort of effect on him because he finally relinquished his hold. Moving fast in case he changed his mind, you cut the uneaten half and the doled out the sandwich into two meals.

“Obviously this place is not a contender, but it would be annoying if you couldn’t pass proper judgment on it.”

You felt his gaze linger as you took an annoyed bite of your bread. You chewed a little harder than necessary and when his stare continued to linger, you brought a staunch eye to him.

You expected any of a dozen things to be there.

What you didn’t expect was a softness to his features that could almost be read with affection.

You nearly choked as you swallowed prematurely.

“May I see that?” He nodded to the sandwich in your hand.

It seemed like an odd request, but you were still dumbfounded by the kindness in his eyes. You nodded numbly and held it out to him.

With his hands tucked beneath the table he leaned forward. You wondered if there was something gross in your meal that you had neglected when his mouth suddenly opened. Before you could do anything else, his hands surfaced to steady yours and he took a big bite straight of where you had taken your last one. He retreated while chewing and moved his attention downward, finally doing his pick-up calculations.

Several incoherent sounds puttered off your lips as you brought back the little left of your sandwich.

He had just made such a fuss about it being even too.

You waited numbly until he swallowed his mouthful, having a sense that he’d speak on it.

“For clarification. I’m not a germophobe, just cleanly.”

You gaze snapped from your meal to him.

“The hand sanitizer?!”

He didn’t respond, but you were sure you saw the quirk of a smile as he got the right angle down and lifted his own meal to take a bite.

“Don’t think you’ve escaped the discussion.”

“Your far more dangerous in how unpredictable you are. I don’t know if my heart will be able to take it.”

This time you actually got substantial peek of the upturned corner of his lips between bites. “If that’s what you label as dangerous, you might as well leave now.”

“No way, after what I’ve seen? I’m more invested than ever!.”

He shook his head and polished the food he had. “Mediocre.” He gestured to the parchment.

“Agreed.” You nodded into another bite. “But regardless of what I say, it’s still a two-way street. If you don’t want to see me after the next shop, I’ll understand.”

“You opened changing the terms of the agreement, who’s to say I didn’t terminate it early?”

You paused and gave him a suspicious look.

The even gaze he returned seemed to still be genial.

“I can’t tell if you think you’re messing with me on purpose, it’s teasing, or you really mean it.”

“Consider that something you’ll have to contend with.”

“List some more; for my sample size, I mean.”

He tipped his chin up and you finally had a chance to bask in that satisfaction.

“You’ve seen my disposition: Don’t expect flowers and chocolates. I wasn’t built for the machinations of formulaic romance. I’m evil and you will be kept in the dark about many things that widely range from what I simply don’t wish to expound on to legal ramifications.”

You stared back at him for a long moment, but he didn’t buckle under the pressure.

That amicable air had all but evaporated so you took to checking your surroundings for a hidden camera.

Finding you were not in fact on a twisted TV show, you returned your gaze to him to find him leaned back in apparent wait.

“I doubt you’ll believe me if you’re still hung up on the mutant thing, but I swear I’ve already taken pretty much all that into account.”

His gaze narrowed the slightest bit and you let him evaluate you in the same way.

You both came away in a similar stalemate: all evidence said the other was being honest, but it was hard to believe.

“Do you need a list like that for me?”

“No, I’ve gathered sufficient data.”

Now that you needed no consideration over.

It just made sense.

“So…?”

“I’m adding ‘stubborn’ to your negatives.”

“If I wasn’t, I doubt you’d even have given me a second glance.”

You weren’t sure what it was about that, but it seemed to irritate him more than another other jab you’d sent his way.

You hadn’t even meant it to be one.

“We have another shop to explore and then we’ll take it from there.”

“That’s the best I’m going to get out of you, huh?”

He gave you his trademarked look.

You gave a lazy smile and finished up your sandwich. He hadn’t made his usual move to clean up the table and you suspected it was the first of many disrespects he’d be giving the place.

You smiled inwardly.

He had no idea.

“I’m gonna guess I just took another long lunch?” The fact that fewer suits passed outside signified the hour had passed.

Donatello gave a nod.

“This is either the one weird thing my boss turns the other cheek to or he’s building up to something.”

“Best of luck with that.”

“Not a trace of sympathy!”

“It’s your occupation.” His head tipped slightly to one side.

“Thanks for not saying ‘just quit.’”

“Nothing in life is so simple. Are you at least applying for other jobs?”

You laughed. “I absolutely am.”

“Fine then. I detest those that complain without even attempting to change their station.”

“Oh! Your first deal breaker! I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You can use it as an easy out.” His blinks seemed a bit slower as if he were relaxed.

A flicker of warmth sparked in your chest. “If that’s the case you should have told me for our earlier dates.”

He grimaced.

If you were standing you might have fallen over.

It was the first clear and open emotion he had given.

More so than even eating a rotten sandwich.

“Wha…?” You flubbed the question dumbly and rose a confused finger up to him.

“These are not dates.”

Your jaw slacked and you squinted with bewilderment.

“If I were to take you on a proper date, you would know it.”

“You’re… offended?” Recognition bloomed and seeped into the confused cracks.

He only gave you that obvious look. All other traces of emotion disappearing from his person.

“But in your warnings there was that bit about romance…?”

“I’m going to gift you a book on statistics. I expect you to read it in length.”

“Come on! That’s not even a sample size guess! It directly contradicts what you said!”

He clicked his tongue and made it seem like it was heavy labor to open his mouth. “I gave a general statement. You’re folding your assumption into that when you don’t know what I consider applicable.”

“Which is…?”

“Too lengthy if you don’t want to turn a supposition about your boss’s attitude into an certainty.”

“Fine…” You trailed off and made a move to stand. He followed suit, leaving the trash behind, and you bent over to retrieve your bag. “I’m a visual learner, by the way.” Feeling emboldened by how the whole meeting had gone, you tossed a wink along with the comment.

He passed you an unamused look and you grabbed the repulsive sandwich from earlier.

You leaned into him sweetly. “Thanks for considering it, by the way. I want to quell one of your concerns. This is how I’ll deal with the whole cross-species thing.” You whispered before rounding away from him in a extended sweep .

Several people seated nearby seemed to take notice.

“Hey!” You shouted directly at the front counter. “So rotten food is just a standard thing here!?”

Caught up in your display and already storming the employee’s fortress, you couldn’t be sure, but you imagined Donatello watching after you with that fond expression in his eyes.

#rottmnt #rottmnt donnie x reader #rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt x reader #donatello hamato #donnie x reader #rise donnie #rise donnie x reader #rottmnt donatello #rottmnt donnie #me #fanfiction #my fanfiction #weakspotfic

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curiousity-cell · 1 month

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in book 1 they’re obviously meant to be playing cardboard cut out bad sisters. sjm clearly fucked herself over when she realised she can concoct stories out of them and is trying to backtrack & retcon the severity of the cabin. nobody really likes book 1 elain (or nesta) like there’s some bits that show her personality and feyre’s love for her but both elain & nesta are evidently there to play the role of emphasising how hellish feyre’s past is compared to where she is in the spring court/the end of book 1.

if we were to analyse the early parts of the cabin though, i’d argue that elain was less the meek one who quietly observed but more played mediator to keep nesta happy (who she would’ve realised was the nastier one).

this tracks throughout all the acotar books apart from obviously ACOFAS/ACOSF where the relationship is breaking down due to trauma over losing their father/nesta isolating/etc etc.

i think it’s also worth noting that it’s said through the early chapters of book 1 that they all bicker & argue. as sisters do.

they’re all a worst version of themselves. elain is whiny & meek. nesta is obviously cruel & haughty. feyre is bitter & angry (understandably but mostly with her mother tbh.)

[“honed her words into a sharpness that had become too common in recent weeks”] - safe to say hunger probably makes you more irritable and especially when you’re in tight spaces and can’t escape each other when you have screaming matches.

now this is not a dismissal on how feyre feels. this is more of a “i don’t think you can point fingers at anybody in that cabin as they were all playing a different narrative role & only feyre was a whole fleshed out character at this point in terms of sjm’s writing which she is clearly trying to backtrack & slightly undo the severity of because she figured she wanted to write stories of the sisters by book 2” type of analysis.

feyre was evidently taking centre stage as the sympathetic main character, nesta & elain as the useless big sisters who refused to help to add more pressure onto main character feyre, same as papa archeron (though slightly more sympathetic as he’s literally got a disability and physically can’t help but shows empathy towards feyre because he can’t help)

i could go on to chat about how different ACOTAR!sisters vs ACOMAF!sisters are but that’s another post. hope this makes sense

#elain archeron #pro elain #acotar #ghostposting #ghost posting #pro elain archeron #pro feyre archeron #feyre archeron #pro nesta archeron #pro nesta #pro feyre #nesta archeron #archeron sisters supremacy #nesta and elain #nesta and feyre #elain and feyre #feyre and elain

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liberty-or-death · 1 year

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"What’s wrong or right lies within me; slander or praise derives from others. Let us not discuss about what has been gained or loss. " - The significance of Wei Wuxian's proclamation.

This is one of the major lines in MDZS, and it has been brought up for discussion recently. I thought I’d chip in and bring something more to the table

In Chapter 75, Lan Wangji meets Wei Wuxian in the Burial Mounds and there was a conversation that went as follows:

He (Wei Wuxian) said, “Could someone give me a bright sunny path that’s good to walk on? A path that allows me to protect myself and others without using ghost cultivation?”

Lan Wangji stared at him without replying. But they both knew it in their hearts.

There was no such path.

There was no solution.

Wei Wuxian replied slowly, “Thanks for spending time with me today. And thanks for telling me about the news of my sister’s wedding. However, what’s wrong or right lies within me; slander or praise derives from others. Let us not discuss about what has been gained or loss. (是非在己，毁誉由人，得失不论) I’m accountable for what I should do in my heart. I also believe I can control myself.” - Translated by me.

An alternative translation from @fwoopersongs: ” Thank you for being with me today, and thank you also for relaying the news of my Shijie's marriage. But right or wrong - that is mine to discern, ruin or acclaim - that outcome lies with others, whatever may be gained or lost, I will not pursue. I have the measure of what I should do. I also believe that I can maintain control.”

What’s really interesting is the phrase “wrong or right” and the way “slander” as used in this phrase has historical roots.

Wrong or Right 是非 - The Book of Rites

This is a specific term that refers to the rights and wrongs or a particular topic, or discourse. It originates from the “Book of Rites”, a compilation of Confucian ideology during the Waring States to the Qin and Han Dynasty. The original phrase in Chinese is “夫礼者，所以定亲疏，决嫌疑，别同异，明是非也” which means, “rites are used to determine the closeness one has, to discern any doubt or suspicion, to differentiate and to perceive right from wrong.”

The Origin

The entire phrase was likely inspired by a couplet that’s located in the Yuelu Academy in Changsha City. The Yuelu Academy was established in the 976AD and it’s an institute of higher learning since the Song Dynasty. It has become a university since 1926 and it was changed to Hunan University.

youtube

Written by Kang Minben (the head of the Yuelu Academy), the entire couplet goes like this:

是非审之于己，毁誉听之于人，得失安之于数，陟岳麓峰头，朗月清风，太极悠然可会。

To judge what is right or wrong by oneself, and to hear praise and slander from others; what has been lost or gain is fated. To ascend the peak of Yuelu under the radiant moon and admist the gentle breeze, Taiji would be achieved in due time.

T/N: The peak of Yuelu is the highest peak of the mountain at 300m above sea level.

Analysis: The couplet instructs students to distinguish between right and wrong, and make light of what is gained or loss. Students should seek to ascend to the peak of their knowledge, and it hits them, it will be like the clear moon and the cooling breeze. They would then be naturally enlightened about the origin of all things.

(I've highlighted the parts hat kind of correspond with the original phrase in MDZS)

君亲恩何以酬，民物命何以立，圣贤道何以传，登赫曦台上，衡云湘水，斯文定有攸归。

How should we repay the kindness of our leaders and our parents? How do we uphold the lives of the people? How does the sage pass one his ways? When one steps onto the Hexi Terrace and overlooks the drifting clouds and the River Jiang; the learned shall bear this responsibility.

T/N: 赫曦台 Hexi Terrace is located at the front gates of Yuelu Academy.

Also, if this topic interests you, @fwoopersongs’ post goes into more detail about the historical context of this couplet. Please check her post out and give it more love! Without her encouragement, I would have shelves this meta lmao 😂 (I had to retrieve it from the recycle bin to work on it again lmao)

#Youtube #wei wuxian #lan wangji #cql #mdzs #mdzs meta #cql meta

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head-empty-just-sigma · 1 year

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so i’ve been thinking

i know, dangerous

in all honesty, what is our cast of characters supposed to do about Fukuchi..?

i’ve already made my rant analysis (that you can read here if you’re interested) about how Fukuchi is really just an old man with a time traveling stabby stick that makes for a horrible OP villain. up until now, when presented with such a crisis, either soukoku or shin soukoku will partner up and defeat the big bad… or at least they had weaknesses, like Dostoy not anticipating Dazai was going to find him at the end of the cannibalism arc, or how most of his henchmen and underlings were eventually foiled or defeated to come to a satisfying conclusion that set us up for the next story beat. even Ranpo has his weaknesses, and his whole character is centered around knowing everything

well, we know for a fact that that’s not going to happen this time considering our usual duos and their friends are having some technical difficulties at the moment...

so that makes me think…

who is left to fight at this point..?

obviously we have Fukuzawa, who is currently fighting, and Atsushi is... around. but, the character on my mind the most at this point is Mori, since he’s been missing for quite a long time now. this by itself isn’t a big deal considering side characters often go literal years without any story time. however, this becomes a bit more interesting considering what’s happening to the rest of the Mafia and the world right now in bsd

so, i’m going to analyze some pieces that might be added to this 4d chess board of a story line. including more than just Mori. however, i’ll be talking about Mori quite a bit in this post, like almost half of it actually, so if you don’t feel like reading this, that’s fine

🔺minor spoiler warning for chapters 30/31, 50, and 84, and Dead Apple and Stormbringer. also spoilers for basically the entire current arc up to the most recent chapter as of writing this (ch 105) since i talk about most of the main events/situations🔻

I’ll start by taking a moment to talk about the European android everyone knows and loves(?) from Stormbringer…

Adam Frankenstein

Ah yes, the android, the myth, the legend, and the being that made me cringe so hard i got face cramps the first time I read him chewing and swallowing multiple pieces of gum like candy. That Adam.

We never see him or even hear of him in any other part of the story, including the main manga. He’s kind of just in Stormbringer and never brought up again, supposedly living somewhere in Europe doing android detective things. We haven’t even gotten a hint or any foreshadowing that he might show up in the main story, either. The reasons I think he may show up now are kind of simple to be honest.

He’s an android. That’s it. He’s, y’know, not made of flesh… And he doesn’t have blood.

What makes blood important right now? The vampires. Considering we know that Bram can transform a human, alive or otherwise, into one of his minions by ingesting their blood, we can probably assume that this is how it works for the other vampires as well. Therefore, Adam is at a major advantage against such an enemy since 1. his body is made of metal that couldn’t be damaged by Piano Man’s wire guillotine or regular bullets and survived the heat of Chuuya’s first Corruption with minimal damage, and 2. he doesn’t have blood. He does have this blue substance that I assume acts something like oil or fuel for his body, but since he’s most definitely not human, this doesn’t count as blood for him. He can’t be turned into a vampire. I don’t even think Fyodor could hack him or put a virus into his system, like he did to the Moby Dick (which is technically an ability that got turned into a mechanical ship). If anything, the vampires would just break their fangs trying to bite into his neck.

Since he’s in Europe, which is where our two jail kings and their entourage are, it’s more likely that Adam will appear in the jail scene with Dazai and Dostoy. I’d honestly be happy to see this because it would be interesting to see how he and Chuuya would interact now after so many years apart if Chuuya is ever cured of his, y’know, vampirism. Since he most definitely isn’t going to just die. It would also introduce a new character for people who haven’t read Stormbringer, which could reignite interest in this god forsaken arc for those of us who have given up on getting more than a few cliffhangers and a reminder that Fukuchi sucks every new chapter (trust me, I feel you).

Moving on to another semi-short analysis for a character we haven’t seen outside of light novels. And the mildly disappointing adaption of one said novel.

Shirase Buichirou

Another character who is also in Europe, specifically London, is Shirase. At the end of Stormbringer, he and Chuuya parted ways on somewhat good terms when Shirase heard of a group called the Stray Sheep in Europe, which he joined. Nothing has been heard of him since, similar to Adam. The only reasons I bring him up here is that 1. he’s in Europe, same as Adam and the jail kings, and 2. he is also connected to Chuuya (and is familiar with Dazai, to some degree, but this isn’t important).

I’m hesitant to say he’ll appear in the story considering we truly have no idea what the state of the BSD world is right now. Japan is overrun with vampires, and there’s probably nobody left there who hasn’t been bitten unless they’re a major character in the story (that hasn’t already been bitten). We know that the vampires have been moving out by disguising themselves with sunglasses and stuff to hide their eyes and complexion and getting on planes. Where those planes went to, we only know it’s somewhere overseas. There’s also mentions of fictional countries that only exist within the BSD world, similar to Kenji’s home town being a fictional one from a novel written by the irl Kenji. Fukuchi mentions he “needs to control half the nations’ armies” in order to carry out whatever plan he has, and it’s probably safe to say this has already come to fruition since he threatened to set the vampire army in motion if One Order wasn’t unlocked.

The likelihood of a character like Shirase appearing without being a vampire is much, much lower than Adam, and for more reasons than just because he’s a regular human. Shirase has no ability and is not named after an author or any other real-life person (that I know of), therefore it’s very unlikely he’ll be revealed to have one unless he wields an ability weapon like Fukuchi’s sword. Which is also highly unlikely. Given these conditions, he’s probably already been turned into a vampire along with the rest of the organization he joined. Another possibility for his inclusion is just to be killed off (by, perhaps, a vampire Chuuya). Or he might make a joint appearance with Adam, but I still doubt he’ll be a major character unless he’s there to die to further the plot.

Not to mention Asagiri has mentioned many times that Chuuya’s story is a long one that’s full of hardships, so perhaps one of those hardships may just be having to kill an old friend.

Sorry Shirase fans, but that’s just my thoughts on the matter.

From here on, I’ll be discussing Mori and how he’s appeared and disappeared throughout major story arcs and how he’s interacted with the ADA since the cannibalism arc. I know he’s apparently a controversial character to talk about because of his ability and the comments he makes about underage girls and whatever, so if you don’t feel like reading this part, that’s fine.

In case you’re interested in another character appearance, I have added a few honorary mentions at the bottom of this post.

Mori Ougai

Port Mafia Boss. Underground doctor. Ex-military doctor. A third of the Tripartite Framework. And one half of the first version of soukoku before it was known as soukoku.

His titles honestly don’t mean much to me as the only thing he continuously claims to motivate him is his position as the Boss, which is reasonable as his entire livelihood is dependent on the organization and its success. He fills his role well as a clear villain character with extremely black if not straight up non-existent morals, which we get plenty of examples of during the Dark Era, the Guild arc, and even the Cannibalism arc. The currently arc also proves that he’s both willing to provide some aid to the ADA, as well as make manipulative requests of them despite the horrible position they’re in currently for his own potential benefit. He is truly, wholeheartedly, an evil character.

What I want to focus on the most is his hand in moving the pieces on the chess board, so to speak. We know that Dazai and Dostoy are both sitting on the board, presumably in control of every piece, but is that really true? Remember, Dazai is only the way he is because Mori manipulated and taught him to be that way, which we can see from the parallels in how they act when making threats or doing something morally wrong. The comparison between Dazai’s attitude and Mori’s in chapter 30 is telling enough, seeing that Mori’s expression when he murdered the previous Boss 8 years ago (as well as when he talks with Hirotsu in this chapter) is almost identical to the one Dazai makes as he says his thinly veiled threat to do the same to Mori. The anime makes these expressions even more similar than they are in the manga, but I take everything studio bones does with a heavy grain of salt at this point… And not just with BSD

The last time we saw Mori was when he was mentioned in chapter 91 as the liaison who informed Tanizaki and Kenji that it was time to come out of hiding. He appeared normal and not infected by the vampire virus, which isn’t much of a surprise to me. Stormbringer showed that he’s more than capable of avoiding death, and by proxy, avoiding the master assassin Verlaine. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to assume he was able to avoid the hive mind army of vampires that are just regular soldiers, and most of the ability users that have been infected are mafioso who Mori is very familiar with. However, whether or not he’ll intervene in the prison arc is not what I plan to discuss here.

The previous two characters would only make sense to appear in the prison because of their relationship to Chuuya and their location. Mori is Chuuya’s Boss, sure, and sure he probably wants to keep Dazai alive and on his radar, but Mori is still in Japan and knows that Meursault isn’t a place to be taken lightly.

No, I think Mori is about to become a player in the battle against Fukuchi.

My evidence isn’t necessarily anything concrete or even any foreshadowing, such as with chapter 84 when it was pretty obvious that Akutagawa was going to show up to aid Atsushi when he was saying he was all alone, or back in chapter 31 where it was obvious that soukoku was going to reunite for a big fight.

Fukuzawa, so far, has been the only person capable of standing up against Fukuchi alone and not being beaten within seconds (except Tachihara, but, well… yknow). So this alone is interesting to me because Fukuzawa is one of the strongest fighters in the ADA, and arguably one of the strongest fighters in the entire story considering his ability has nothing to do with his raw swordsmanship and martial arts skills. Keeping that small fact in mind, I want to jog your memory of the battle that happened in chapter 50 between Fukuzawa and Mori. Both of them are afflicted with the cannibalism virus, which is probably causing them to feel horrible with symptoms, but they still face off in a 1v1 that looks a little unfair. Mori has his ability, Elise, that does whatever he tells it to do and is basically a highly skilled and deadly combat ability. Fukuzawa, while still an ability user, only has his sword and his physical talents. His ability is a support ability that works on his subordinates, he can’t use it to fight like Mori or Fukuchi. However, he still holds his ground extremely well and even destroys Elise within minutes if not seconds of the fight starting, and Fukuzawa deals the fatal blow to Mori first. Even though Mori also severely wounds Fukuzawa just seconds later, it’s more important that this fight showed us that they are practically equal in combat skill. Not to mention Natsume makes an appearance to tell the two of them to stop fighting since both of their organizations need to survive to uphold the Tripartite Framework, which is something they both agree to disagree on basically.

There’s also the events of Dead Apple where, while under the effects of Shibusawa’s fog, Mori and Fukuzawa are fighting their own abilities and struggling. However, when they meet and switch opponents, they easily take down the other’s ability. They even share a few lines of dialogue that shows they’re familiar with each other’s fighting styles and tricks, similar to their explosive meeting in chapter 30 during the Guild Arc.

Now let’s look at the situation Fukuzawa is in right now. His subordinates are in all danger, and the only one that could potentially be coming to his aid is Atsushi, which is a possibility that I’ll mention at the end of this post. However, doesn’t this setup of our protagonists in a life-or-death situation with no help in sight, seem a little familiar to you?

Dazai was surrounded by soldiers in chapter 31 when Chuuya arrived to (begrudgingly) help him out, on Mori’s orders. Dazai was literally dead in Dead Apple when Chuuya showed up to punch him in the face (deserved) to save him.

Atsushi rarely wins on his own, but with Akutagawa’s help and the singularity created by their combined abilities, they’re able to defeat almost any enemy. And when Atsushi was desperate for help in chapter 84, Akutagawa arrived, even if it was on Dazai’s orders.

Fukuzawa is currently losing the fight against the OP time traveling stabby stick wielding grandpa, putting him in a dire situation of trying to save the ADA while not dying in the process. So, will Mori come out from wherever he’s hiding to provide aid to Fukuzawa? Will zenki soukoku come back and parallel the other soukoku’s reuniting/working together to defeat the big bad? It’s hard to say, honestly, but I do believe it’s entirely possible considering Mori has been strangely missing in the story after agreeing to aid the ADA. Well, the ADA needs aid. Badly. And it’s about time they finally got some.

I think Fukuzawa and Mori have the potential to defeat Fukuchi together considering their both equal in strength, so perhaps putting their finely tuned skills together is what will prove to be our deus ex machina that defeats Fukuchi’s self-induced deus ex machinas that are honestly getting pretty damn tiring at this point.

There’s also the fact that Mori had originally agreed to aid the ADA on the condition that one of their members transfers to the Mafia, so perhaps Mori showing up to aid Fukuzawa will be a manipulation tactic to force them to agree to let him choose who he wants to join, since he only actually wants Yosano out of the deal. However, it’s possible that maybe Tanizaki will be the one to change organizations? He did offer to go in Yosano’s stead in chapter 65 when the deal was originally proposed by Mori, who straight up lied about what Fukuzawa told him over the phone that the one person Mori couldn’t choose was Yosano. Mori is a very, very smart man, so he probably knows that if he forces the ADA into enough of a corner under the guise of helping them, he can get what he wants out of them as well. He could also allow the majority/some of the ADA members to die or come close to force Yosano to heal them and work for him one way or another, since we saw in her backstory in the military that Mori isn’t above shooting someone to make Yosano heal them because now they’re “close to death”. He most likely hasn’t changed much in those ways over the years, so I’m expecting to see some extreme manipulation taking place on his part if he does come back into the story.

Honorable mentions that came to mind as I was working to gather potential suspects:

Atsushi

He’s there, kind of, I guess. So much of the arc recently has been like 2 pages of one perspective before changing to the next that I’m not even sure if he’s still the main protagonist anymore. /j

Since he’s also at the airport where this whole *gestures wildly* thing is happening between the two Fuku’s, it would make sense that he at least shows up during the fight. We also know he’s actively looking for Fukuzawa because he can’t decide on what to do next now that he knows what the DOA is after.

The only way I see Atsushi being implemented in the battle is if he gets super upset or angry over seeing all his friends and coworkers in serious trouble, and either Fukuzawa releases his ability (if that’s even possible) from Atsushi and allows him to use the full power of the White Tiger to fight Fukuchi, which could potentially defeat the time-traveling sword since the Tiger’s claws can cut through abilities. The other option is he goes feral? I don’t really know to be honest. Maybe he just gets his ass beat again by Fukuchi. Who knows. I’ll just be over here preparing the party poppers for Kunikida’s promotion I guess.

Verlaine

Why? For fun.

He’s never appeared in the main story line since he lives in the Port Mafia’s basement basically. But considering the Mafia kinda went up in flames (or vampires, I guess) it’s possible he’s on the move now. Whether he’d appear in the jail, to save Chuuya, or appear at the airport, potentially under Mori’s orders, I honestly don’t know. But, since he’s part of the Mafia and another character we haven’t seen, and the cover of volume 22 as well as other official artwork has been featuring several Stormbringer and Sheep references, some people believe we might be seeing someone from that cast of characters in an upcoming chapter. But honestly I think they might be on as much copium as I am…

It would be funny to see Verlaine show up and just crush Fukuchi in like 3 seconds while the rest of the protagonists couldn’t defeat him though.

Ango?

We see Ango last in chapter 95 when it’s revealed he’s the one that demanded a seal be put on One Order, at Dazai’s request as part of his plan to counter Dostoy. He hasn’t been a big player in this arc beyond being the coordinator early on for the ADA’s moves, but since they all were reunited and came up with their own plans, he’s been more active as just a background character acting on the messages from Dazai. But, since he is the final piece of the Tripartite Framework, I thought I’d just mention him here as well. Natsume clearly wants the three organizations to work together, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Dazai has also given Ango a message or plan to relay to Mori. I don’t think he’ll ever be a super big part of the current events, though, just more of the background coordinator.

The Guild?

We kind of see them and then we don’t. We know Fitzgerald wants to work with whoever is winning, which as far as we know, he thinks is going to be the ADA. He was giving them aid in exchange for Yosano healing Mitchell, but we don’t really see anything come after this agreement is made? Atsushi and Kyouka get into one ambulance with Mitchell inside to bring her to Yosano, and at the same time, Yosano (along with Tanizaki and Kenji) are attacked by the government who set up their own trap unknown to Fitzgerald and Atsushi. We know Fitzgerald didn’t set them up because in the first few pages after we see the government attacking, we see Fitzgerald explaining why he didn’t go with the 74 plans Alcott prepared that included selling out the Agency’s location. Technically, it only happened because Tachihara is a Hunting Dog, so he betrayed the location of the meeting since Mori sent him and the other Black Lizard captains for security, and Tachihara is using his metal manipulation to pretend as if there’s an ability user attacking them with the government so they have to retreat after Kenji is severely injured. He’s also there to prevent Atsushi from reuniting with Yosano just a few minutes later. Which is truly impressive since he’s technically fighting himself the entire time? Wow is that symbolism of him as a character if I’ve ever seen it, that’s for sure. Not to mention he also stabs himself with Gin’s knife, just *chefs kiss* of a character I really wish he wasn’t killed/vampire-d whatever the fuck happened because he deserved so much better. But anyway, we never see the Guild again after this. So we have no idea what they’re currently doing, nor have we seen the other branch of the “Guild” that Steinbeck created at the end of the Guild arc since the end of that arc. So, I doubt they’ll come back.

The Clock Tower?

They’d have jurisdiction over Meursault, but it’s hard to say if they’ll step in. They haven’t been a part of the story at all beside Agatha’s little cameo from chapter 12. On a side note, I believe Agatha’s ability will be something along the lines of causing death in accordance to the lines in the poem “Ten Little Soldiers” (obviously I’m not putting the original name here) since her ability is named after the mystery novel And Then There Were None that’s about ten people dying on an island of various means that follow the reasons in the rhyme of the poem. It’s quite interesting, actually. But back to my main point, I don’t really see why they would suddenly come into the story now. If anything, they might appear if Fukuchi decides to try and use his vampire army against the governments of the world and create a world-wide coup d’etat with One Order.

Is this a copium-driven fever dream of a hope to have? Haha, fuck yeah it is! But I’ll let the copium win today if it means having at least a little hope that Fukuchi’s arc of shitty OP-ness will come to an end soon. Please. Asagiri I’m begging. I’m on my knees. Just PLEASE

Anyways, that's my thoughts on the matter. This theory was a little out there and not really based on too much evidence, but I still felt the need to write up this post, or else the brainrot might actually get my final braincell and it'd be all downhill from there.

As always, I hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading. If you have your own idea of what you think will be the thing to defeat Fukuchi, feel free to say it in the comments or send a message to my Inbox on my profile. We can cope theorize together :)

**i just finished editing this oh my god this is so long i’m sorry i just had a lot of brainrot about this and i’m desperately awaiting whatever is going to end Fukuchi to the point i want to do it myself

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be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie · 10 months

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Longass for the nights and days of life Chapter Eight RAGE Notes

I had a LOT of strong opinions on this one, babes. Oh ho boy it’s time.

-I thought the Olangi were absorbed into the Omaticaya and not other plains clans, I wonder if there’s a particular reason they weren’t in this fic… I'm always suspicious of every decision Lottie makes.

-Tonowari getting an invite to this gathering from Jake: nah.

-Listened to Cover Me In Sunshine on repeat reading this. That’s what Spider and Ninat were singing, I don’t make the rules.

-Jake fighting the English innuendo has to be every Na’vi hearing him speaking Na’vi every day. He has to be fucking it up in a way that makes it dirty some of the time.

-The heard stuff has me like, on the edge, I think it means some shit.

-The absolutely hilarious idea of Jake and Neytiri keeping maskless-only-human-left Spider around and thinking no one is gonna question it is so fucking funny to me. I also love them keeping their GOD CHILDREN secret. EYWA IS THEIR GOD WHO IS GOING AGAINST THIS? Like, if literally God blessed me with kids in an obvious miracle way to people that all super believe in God I’d be like, so this happened. Crazy right? Anyway- I also love that they didn’t discuss it beforehand, like they just figured it’d all be literally fine. They are so goofy and fucking stupid as fuck.

-Spider giving Neteyam bits of fruit makes me want to die! That’s aDORABLE! He is a PROTECTIVE older brother. They are not going to survive his kidnapping.

-Neytiri really came for Neteyam’s ass with that intro. "Here is my brave, cool, son, and my loser son who can't say hi."

-Ah, it’s because the Olangi are our dissenters it seems. I also really like this idea of an anniversary mourning period, I haven’t seen that yet. Every time I see a new idea in this fandom I get hard as a rock (figuratively), like I didn't even tHINK of this concept and I thought we were running out of new ideas.

-Love Jake public speaking king. I always forget he is a natural born leader and speaker.

-We love an Eytukan spirit tree moment. Although, now that I'm thinking about it, he may be the character that means the least to me.

-For some reason I cackled at Jake “the fire is too hot on my legs, Neytiri!” Sully.

-INFORMATIVE AND EYEOPENING IS THE WORST THING TO SAY EVER ABOUT SOMETHING THAT WASN’T A FULL LECTURE, THAT MEANS U HATED IT AND YOU’VE BECOME A WORSE PERSON BECAUSE OF IT. This man Tsantu is a school shooter that everyone saw coming.

-Lol Jake and Neytiri both feeling wary around Tsantu because he’s just them if they didn’t find each other to heal for. I am laughing through my tears. It's a great in depth character analysis though. Usually, I hate the concept of healing for each other, and I hate how much I adore codependency, but if you think about it all Na'vi are pretty codependent with their mates. Jake and Neytiri though? They are a whole 'nother level. They built their second chances on each other. Without the other they don't have the life they have, and they functionally have nothing to live for.

-Lol maybe he won’t assassinate someone and instead will be fixed by fucking Peyral.

-I didn’t ask this before, but MOE?? WHY IS HIS NAME MOE. IT MAKES ME LAUGH EVERY TIME I READ IT, I AM PICTURING ONE OF THOSE TERRIBLE HIPPIE GUYS ON SURVIVOR.

-Yeah, nope, we are still scared of Tsantu. He’s still school shooter vibes.

-Ah yup, there he goes, time to murder a whole family?? Sure that’ll fix it all buddy. Eywa knows and that’s why you haven’t seen ur mate, psycho. A lot of people have lost people and haven’t tried to murder families, my guy.

-LOL FAMILY ANNIHILATORS FEAR ONE MAN AND ONE MAN ONLY, AND IT’S SPIDER SULLY. HE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO COUNT BUT HE’LL STOP A FAMILY ANNIHILATOR IN HIS TRACKS.

-Lol I get the point but to say this shit to Neytiri of all people is batshit. She has lost literally so much, I was waiting for her to be like “Hey, my sister was murdered in front of me, then my entire home was burned down and my father and my best friend died in front of me as well, what more do you need me to loose until we’re even buddy? Murder all three of my children and my mate and then we are good?? This isn’t the grief olympics, man. We aren’t competing.”

-Tbh they are all being A LITTLE FUCKING GENEROUS with this guy imo. I have always been of the mindset that trauma is a reason and not an excuse. This dude attempted to kill an entire family. Three children. Babies. The only reason he didn’t is because one kid woke up. He is not the first or the last person to have lost family, lost a spouse, lost a child, or even to have witnessed this specific loss personally. He’s not the first person to have wanted someone else to feel that pain with him. But making the decision to cause that same pain, attempting that, that’s unforgivable to me. That makes you no better than the person that did that to you. Idk man maybe it doesn’t fit here, but that’s my continuous domestic abuse argument. “Oh, he was abused too,” well, that makes it even worse to me that he knows what it feels like and still actually went to go cause that same feeling for someone else. It’s disrespectful to those who have been through the same trauma and don’t repeat the cycle. Anyways. No justice for Tsantu. Throw him to the wolves. Jail for attempted child murder? He also did assault a kid. The last fic I read with this premise only Jake was attacked (although much more successfully) and when I tell you the attacker was given the death penalty I am not joking. Forgiving this guy alone is crazy (although I understand the investment in moving on, and improving and being better than those who hurt us), bUT TO MAKE HIM AN AMBASSADOR?? Jesus fuck, I might as well hire a bank robber to be my accountant. How can we trust this aTTEMPTED CHILD MURDERER with any ambassador position on Pandora, after this he wouldn’t be allowed within 300 feet of schools.

-Neteyam being shy and Spider being a clown is ADORABLE.

-BOB TRIPPING AND JAKE LAUGHING AT HIM IS SENDING ME. I'M WAITING FOR THE DAY THE FICS BECOME LIKE ROUGE ONE FICS WHERE K2S0 IS JUST A REALLY TALL AND UNEMOTIONAL GUY. BOB IS JUST A BIG GUY WITH A SKIN CONDITION WHO IS JAKE'S BEST FRIEND.

-SWAPPING KIDS MID FLIGHT, HILARIOUS AND CRAZY.

-I loved the repeated family version of the toruk chase, almost the same ending but with the kids laughing instead. It’s like they’re all having their out of danger relief moment, and this time Jake and Neytiri are the adults and seeing first hand how bonkers they were lol.

#i hope you enjoy queen #jake sully #miles spider socorro #spider socorro #spider sully #tonowari #ninat #neteyam sully #peyral #bob the ikran #avatar #avatar the way of water #james cameron avatar #fic recs #melissa og #melissa on avatar (cameron)#melissa is an english major

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