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suplicyy · 3 days

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this is really specific but haikyuu characters reacting to the reader sticking different flowers in their hair throughout the entire school day!!

A Flower for my Lover

Summary — Haikyuu characters reacting to you putting flowers in their hair at school.

Characters — Kuroo, Daichi, Ushijima, Suna, Hajime, Hinata.

— Fluff

— Gn!Reader

You're in the school's botany club, and recently you've been secretly picked up some flowers from your club for one purpose: put flowers in your loved one's hair at any time at school.

And this has been going on for almost a week, and it looks like you won't get tired of making this strangely affectionate gesture anytime soon...

Kuroo Tetsuro

The first time you did this he was confused, but soon after he joined in too!

The first few times he was taken by surprise and couldn't react, but as time went by he started to lightly tease you about the act.

If you are short, he would raise his head as high as he could so you wouldn't reach him, while laughing at your irritated face because of his teasing.

But don't worry about this!! Kuroo actually loves it when you put random flowers on his hair by surprise.

He would also pick some smaller flowers from the grass, and try to do the same to you.

By the end of the day you would both be laughing as you look at each other's flower-filled hair.

Daichi Sawamura

The first time you did this, he didn't even realize there was something in his hair.

He only realized it when he entered the gym and his teammates were laughing and teasing him.

And at that moment Daichi already knew who was responsible for putting this little flower on his head.

He knows he can't resist because he knows you won't stop, so he just accepts the situation with a laugh.

But what you didn't expect was that the next day he would show up at your door with a bouquet of flowers for you. <3

He approaches you as he takes one of the flowers present in the bouquet, and places one behind your ear, looking passionately at you.

Ushijima Wakatoshi

He really didn't understand why you were doing this.

You thought that when you put a flower in his hair he would express some emotion, but all you got was the same dull expression as always.

I think Ushijima would say something like "That's childish."

You would have thought he didn't like it if you hadn't seen his cheeks turning a slight shade of pink.

He wouldn't protest if you kept doing that (Deep down he likes you doing this, but he would never admit it out loud.)

He doesn't really understand why you were doing this all the time, but if it makes you happy he would keep letting you do it.

Rintaro Suna

He would be the type of person who is too jaded to protest to things like that, so he just accepts the situation.

But I think Suna would find your gesture cute to be honest.

When he wasn't training, he would always stay close to you, as if he were your shadow. So putting flowers in his hair would be a pretty easy task.

Sometimes he would take a photo of himself and post it on his story, tagging you in the corner of the image along with a song that reminds him of you!!

And he would do the same to you, putting flowers in your hair and taking a picture of you, always reminding you how beautiful you are.

Hajime Iwaizumi

Just like Daichi, he also wouldn't realize he has flowers in his hair. With you hugging him so lovingly like that, how would he imagine that you were putting flowers in his hair without him knowing?

He would only realize that something was wrong when Oikawa and the other third years started laughing in his face.

But after throwing a ball in their head, they didn't have the courage to say anything else after that.

Initially, Iwa thought you did it for the purpose of mocking him, but when he notices how sweetly you're looking at him, he dismisses that possibility.

With a blush on his cheeks, he lets you continue to style his hair with the flowers, but don't expect him to keep them in his hair all day.

Hinata Shoyo

He sure would be a blushing mess.

And him being short is a great advantage for you, as you can put flowers in his hair more easily.

At first Hinata would be shy, but as time went by he would start laughing at the situation along with you!

If he saw any flowers on the way to school, he would pick them up and secretly keep them from you.

And the moment you were distracted... flowers would be all over your hair, just like you do with it!!

His happy smile when he sees that you fell for your own prank is certainly priceless.

A/N — Hellooo, tysm for your request!!

You told me to do it with "Haikyuu characters" , but that description is very vague since there are MANY characters...😭

So I put all the characters I could remember in a roulette wheel and chose 6 of them, and the result was the ones that appeared here!! So I'm sorry if there's a character that you don't like. 💔💔

#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu #haikyuu x gender neutral reader #kuroo tetsuro x reader #kuroo tetsurou #daichi sawamura #daichi sawamura x reader #ushijima wakatoshi x reader #ushijima wakatoshi #suna rintarou #suna rintaro x reader #iwaizumi hajime x reader #iwaizumi hajime #hinata shoyo x reader #hinata shoyo

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polin-ista · 2 days

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Look i know everyone is super upset because Pen is probably not going to tell Colin about LWD straight away (I'm gonna keep this non-spoily as possible) and they feel like that's not true to Pen's character from the books.

But from reading the books I feel like she had 10 years to cultivate this business, to pursue her endeavors and after those 10 years before she even has Colin as an option, she retires of her own volition.

But ShowPen is younger, this Pen hasn't had 10 years of purpose in her LWD endeavors, this Pen is more ambitious. I feel like in this version of Pen she is more bruised by society and therefore more brutal with LWD.

It's answering the question of what if Pen

1: didn't have 10 years to find fulfillment in LWD and pursue her writing.

2: what if she didn't have Felicity

3: what if she did this all by herself.

In changing those three integral things you've changed not who she is, but how who she is affects her choices.

I personally like this more ambitious version of Pen I find her interesting and flawed and layered and I think Debling's comment of 'how many you's are there and where do you hide them all?' I think that that's very telling for what we're going to see from Penelope in the second half.

Sneaky Pen⬇️

Playful clever Pen ⬇️

Resentful Pen⬇️

Whistledown (gossip) Pen⬇️

I think we're going to see many different sides of Penelope as a person and it's really all going to come together in the end.

As Colin learns of Penelope so will we as an audience understand her deeper motivations, we will follow Colin as he gets to know these different sides of Pen.

This is a friends to lovers trope and I feel like his perception of Pen has obviously been very one-sided in the first part, not that it's a bad perception but it is very like how Pen was viewing him in season 1 and 2.

I think with the reveal of LWD he's going to have that perception of her cracked because he's always had her on this pedestal (whether he's realized it or not) of purity and honesty and loyalty and friendship.

I feel like that betrayal from her will allow him to see her as a fully fledged person much like she ended up seeing him in the first part of season 3.

Also headcanon that this conflict somehow leads to Pen revealing herself to the Queen (please you don't know how much i need this 😭😭😭🙏)

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ratgrinders · 1 day

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So I read this interview of Brennan Lee Mulligan post-Junior Year (really interesting btw, I recommend everyone check it out!!!!) but I wanted to talk about a couple questions that interested me in it regarding the Rat Grinders:

I love the Rat Grinders and how they're just this dichotomy...Talk to me about leaning into not just that they are the opposite of The Bad Kids, but their corruption, because they were really sweet as the High-Five Heroes before they followed Kipperlilly down this path. Brennan Lee Mulligan: There's an interesting question there. I think that for a lot of it, there were hints, and most of the things we've seen of their sweetness are contextual from bits of writing, little things, investigations. But I think that you can see… It's both. There are elements that they were not always like they are now, but the seeds of what they are now are there in the past. I think that when you look at the High-Five and then eventually becoming the Rat Grinders. There's an indication there of Kipperlilly's focus because yeah, the High-Five Heroes is sweet, but it's also sort of a indication that Kipperlilly is pushing them towards, for lack of a better word, do we have something that we're about? The Bad Kids get their name because they've all been given detention on the first day and it's connected to their story. Whereas you get the sense from the High-Five Heroes that it's not actually describing anything. It's like the person being like, "Our inside joke is going to be high-fives." And you're like, "Well, everyone high-fives." So there's an indication there, for me at least, that Kipperlily is trying to make a comradery right away that is not actually there. It's not based in something that happened to them.

So a confirmation that Kipperlilly naming them all the "High-Five Heroes" on the first day is her trying to "force" a sense of comradery, and also possibly an adventuring identity? Like how the Bad Kids already have this strong group cohesion and "story" because they were all given detention on the first day of classes, and Kipperlilly's trying to create something like that without it having a strong basis.

This seems indicative of a couple things to me, like Kipperlilly having a naturally strong, pushy personality that maybe overrides her other group members, or that she has a certain idea in her head about what makes an adventurer. She wants all the gimmicky stuff like a cool party name and inside jokes, but even then on the first day is trying to force it without having earned it. She's enamored with the idea of an adventurer in terms of them being the hero of their own story, and in her head how good of a "story" you have is directly linked to how good of an adventurer you are.

It also makes her opposing the name "Rat Grinders" later interesting, lol. Rat Grinders is obviously WAY more based in something unique to their party and an inside joke on what they actually do. Maybe it was just because she didn't appreciate her sense of control and her name being undermined.

How do you think they're going to diverge now that they don't have Kipperlilly leading them? Brennan Lee Mulligan: I think that the future of that group is very… I think I leave it to the players, but as you're saying with Kipperlilly, her leadership of that group to me, the moment that is the fundamental, very critical to the season and understanding it I think, is that killing of Lucy Frostblade. Where that is the moment where power and the opportunity for power is chosen over all else. The participation of everybody in that, that the other Rat Grinders came in and that they killed Lucy Frostblade, is the ultimate like, "Oh, we can understand wanting to have the status that The Bad Kids have. This was not worth that. It is not acceptable. Even if you really want to have something, you can't kill an innocent person who is also your best friend to get it. That is evil." And so I think that that's really the turning point for them.

And talking about Lucy being her best friend, and the killing of Lucy Frostblade as the point of no return. I imagine that after killing Lucy the Rat Grinders were deep in the sunk-cost fallacy, that "oh, we've just done this horrible thing, there's no turning back now". Like the text messages the Bad Kids found in Ruben's house.

Canon leaves it slightly unclear the order in which the Rat Grinders were shatter-starred, and just how culpable they are for their actions while under their influence. I'm going to assume that Kipperlilly was the first one, "willingly" taking one (for a given definition of "willingly", as I'd argue she had still be subjected to a year and a half of manipulation and grooming by Porter. She may have been sound of mind, but she never would've done this without Porter encouraging her or validating all her worst aspects). Then, she and Porter worked to kill the other Rat Grinders, an unwilling ritual that put them under the thrall of the rage god. Lucy was the last holdout, and was killed with the assumption that she would come back like they did, but she instead "stuck to her guns" and stayed dead.

I'm also going to interpret the shatter-star as an element of divine manipulation that drives people with rage to do actions they wouldn't do normally, but which are ultimately based on a kernel of truth. Think Adaine in the mall fight, "What would Adaine do if all she ever thought about was rage?" and Siobhan talking about the forest of Sylvaire being destroyed in the search for her mother. We know Adaine would never use such an excessive amount of destruction, but we see the underlying motivation to her actions.

So when the other Rat Grinders killed Lucy, they weren't exactly "sound of mind" as they were under the influence of the rage star, but they were still themselves, they still made the conscious choice to choose power over everything else. The rage star only elevated it to murderous heights; they never would've murdered her without its influence (in fact, I'd argue that the expectation she'd come back is why they did it in the first place), but the motivation still stemmed from a selfish want for power they all shared.

I think, too, that there's a thing with them, there's sort of a you can't have it both ways. The strategy that the Rat Grinders employ to get powerful is to do this grinding. Eventually, they get leveled up also by these powerful monsters that are being killed, they're allowed to join in with, but fundamentally it's like you can't have your cake and eat it too. Kipperlilly as a villain to me is very focused on, "Ooh, I can get by with the letter of the law and not the spirit. There's a better way to get powerful as an adventurer other than going on these important missions where you can probably die." That's the other thing, too, is you look at The Bad Kids, the Bad Kids run into that Corn Gremlin fight, and two of them die. They took a huge risk to save the school and stop something bad from happening, and the Rat Grinders never take that risk. So even as Kipperlilly is like, "Why aren't I getting what they're getting?" It's like, you're not making the choices they're making. Obviously grinding rats in the woods is a safer way to gain levels and the reward for doing it the safe way is you've never saved the world.

And with this last bit, Kipperlilly wanting the accolades of adventuring but without having to risk her life for it. It's interesting that Brennan mentions Kipperlilly avoiding "missions where you can probably die", because I've theorized before that part of the Rat Grinders' motivation for sticking to grinding is them not wanting to risk dying!

This is where genre conflict comes into play for me, because in a normal world I'd argue it's totally acceptable and fine for teenagers to do everything in their power to avoid Literally Dying. However, Spyre is not a normal world and runs on DnD conventions, where Aguefort trains them to be murderous "violent wanderers" who enact their will on the world, sometimes fatally. Death is also comparatively cheaper here when adventurers specifically have an easier time getting revived. The Rat Grinders may protest all they want about the standards of the genre that encourage crazy, violent, fatal behavior, but they're always going to be in the wrong genre and their protests are doomed to failure.

And "having your cake and eating it too". Her adventuring party never took those risks, so they don't get the rewards for saving the world.

#dimension 20 #fantasy high #fantasy high junior year #original post #rat grinders #kipperlilly copperkettle

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rowanwithaz · 3 days

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The dumb anti BKDK/DKBK arguments:

I've seen a lot of people kinda making fun of bkdk/dkbk antis' takes on their dynamic/relationship. But,I think there's also an underlining issue with the mischaracterization of the story,characters,and Hori as a writer himself.

Katsuki/bullying

One of the biggest arguments used against bkdk/dkbk is this one panel.

Which,this scene isn't as deep as people want to believe it is. Well,it IS,but just not on Katsuki's end (I'll elaborate on this in the Izuku section). This scene isn't about Katsuki being an awful person,it's about what Izuku endures as a quirkless person. Don't get me wrong: Katsuki was an absolute asshole in this. But,he's also a fourteen year old egotistical brat. His age obviously doesn't cover for what he's done,but it doesn't make him an evil monster who wishes to abuse and victimize Izuku whenever he possibly can. That's just not true.

(Important side note: it says several times that this is the furthest Katsuki has ever gone with his bullying with Izuku. His friends even comment on Katsuki going too far. So I really don't get why the antis try to claim this is consist behaviour for Katsuki,when it clearly isn't. This doesn't make what he did OKAY though,that's not what I'm saying at all. This scene just gets blown out of proportion most of the time)

Also,let's not forget about the hypocrisy this scene brings. Many antis will say that bkdk/dkbk can't be romantic and it's toxic because Katsuki told Izuku to "kys",but here's the thing; they're the same people who argue they're strictly platonic. It makes no sense. If this relationship was actually as toxic and abusive as they say it is,then they couldn't be friends. Antis use this scene for disproving the romantic interpretation of the two,but then completely ignore it when it's not relevant to their narrative.

Now,Katsuki's ignored development! I've seem a couple antis claim that Katsuki's apology scene was a self pity speech and it was all about him. Which is...SO FUCKING WRONG? I can understand if you've read the first lines of the apology and thought, "Oh,he's just thinking about himself," if you were just really dense and had no context of the earlier events leading up to this apology and stopped reading after a page that is. It's probably one of the most stupid takes I've seen on Katsuki and Hori's writing.

In these panels Katsuki is talking about his feelings,yes. And this is important! Izuku deserves an explanation to Katsuki's bullying,Izuku deserves to hear how Katsuki actually feels. But,right after,he turns it around to talk about Izuku. This sequence of events is extremely important to what Katsuki (Hori) is trying to convey. The truth. I know a people wanted this to be about Izuku being a helpless victim,but that just isn't true to either of their characters,especially Izuku's. And these words are backed up by actions. Over. And over again. Katsuki said he was going to be there for Izuku?

(Note: I'm aware a couple of this manga panels aren't the official translations! And that's because the official translations are very DIFFERENT from what Katsuki is actually saying in those scenes)

He's there. And that's kinda something I feel people forget when thinking of Katsuki's apology. He's already been reconnecting and making it up to Izuku.

Katsuki has gone through so much development over the course of mha,and it's astonishing that people still use the first page of this manga to view Katsuki and the whole story. Of course Katsuki is going to feel incompleted and lazily written when all you focus on is the very first chapter of the manga. Foreshadowing and growth exist,let's not forget that.

Izuku the victim

This is something that definitely annoys me when I see people hating on bkdk/dkbk. Most of the time the antis hate Katsuki so much that they victimize Izuku as much as they possibly fucking can.

Was Izuku bullied? Yes! Was he mistreated? Yes!

But that doesn't make him a helpless victim who doesn't see himself as anything. Izuku does have a sense of self worth. That's just the truth. It always pisses me off when people bring up the "take a swine dive off the roof of the building," line and say if Izuku didn't get OFA he would had committed suicide. Honestly,I think when Izuku starts devaluating himself is when he receives OFA.

For example,when Katsuki backs Izuku into a wall telling him he can't get into U.A,

Izuku says "there's no harm in trying",Izuku thinks he can get into U.A,even without a quirk. He believes,deep down,he can be a quirkless hero. Until he's told otherwise from All Might,then doesn't believe in himself even more when he has OFA.

(In the anime,or just the dub,Izuku says something along the lines of, "they changed that rule!" To Katsuki when we says he can't get into U.A without a quirk,which further proves this point)

And about the, "take a swine dive off the roof" page, this doesn't effect Izuku as much as people say it did. Even in the moment. Izuku wasn't distraught,Izuku didn't go into a deep depression over it,he was pissed.

That is a look of anger. Now,why was Izuku angry? Because he didn't believe this. He knew what Katsuki was saying was just BS. In this scene he calls Katsuki an idiot,then he thinks about his mom. This scene was deep,because it was about Izuku's trauma with his mother and discovering when he was quirkless. This scene was,as I've said,to show what Izuku endures as a qurikless kid and to segway into his backstory.

As for Izuku's self worth,we also see through these pages of him being upset with his mother,he still has hope he can be a hero. He still wishes to become a hero,still acknowledging that he's quirkless,he still believes he can be.

because he doesn't let people hold him back. Because he's stubborn as fuck (a character trait people often forget Izuku has). So I really don't get why people try to paint Izuku as this kid who leaves his self Image in the hands of others,he knows he's not useless.

And when I say Izuku devaluates himself,I don't mean Izuku sees himself as useless. Izuku sees himself as a vessel for OFA from that point on and takes the responsiblity/burden of it. He dehumanized himself because of OFA,not because of the bullying he faced.

(I'm not saying this didn't hurt Izuku in anyway! It did. But I feel Izuku wasn't as effected by it as people think he is,it wasn't something Izuku saw as worth it. He knew what he wanted to be at the end of the day,and stuck the finger to everyone else.)

I hate it when people say Izuku is a basic character,then don't actually know the first thing about him.

Can't be cannon because it's shonen

This argument I can get! But,there are a couple of reasons this is still a dumb argument.

First of all,we're usually talking about shipping. So this doesn't necessarily apply to fan work,which they do for some odd reason.

Second of all,MHA is pretty lgbtq+ positive. With Toga being bi/pan,and they're being several trans characters,and let's not forget about characters like Mineta who is pretty heavily hinted to be bisexual.

And I feel Horikoshi is using the romantic shonen formula,just not in the way they thought he would...

Katsuki is very love interest coded.

With Katsuki being the one the villains (not just villains,people in general) go after to or to get a rise out of Izuku.

And,another important thing to mention when talking about shonen is Horikoshi as a writer himself.

Horikoshi is doing this for himself. He wants to enjoy what he's writing. So,if bkdk/dkbk becomes cannon? It wasn't fan pressure. He wanted to do it. If it doesn't? Same thing. And,from what I've observed,Hori REALLY likes Katsuki and Izuku.

I mean,he's done so much with these two,so many unnecessary moments,for...what? We have to remember bkdk/dkbk was seen as toxic from the fast majority of the fanbase when people starting shipping them. But,what did Hori do? He kept putting in these moments. Kept foreshadowing something...more. And in the process put down many popular ships at the time. Like,Kribaku (NOT HATING) it was seen as the healthy,fun relationship Katsuki could be in romantically. Horikoshi used this to deepen the bond between bkdk/dkbk. (And to probably to add some gay yearning angst)

and let's not forget all the unnecessary sketches he made between the two,and some of his comments on them,

(From the ultra analysis character book)

From the looks of it,Hori just enjoys these two together. Especially considering some of the new drawings/sketches he's made.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter if it's shonen or not. Horikoshi is going to do what he enjoys. And I hope he continues to do so! If mha's end doesn't result with cannon bkdk/dkbk? I couldn't care less if Horikoshi is pleased with the ending,as much as I see the cannon potential.

#greenade #dkbk #bkdk #Mha #Bnha #These are just a couple arguments I see recycled the most #deku x kacchan #dekucchan #Midoriya Izuku #Bakugou Katsuki

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elisiafarias · 1 day

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HELLO I JUST WANA SAY I LOVE THE WAY YOU WRITE ABPUT THE LINKUEI SO MUCH.

Can you Write How would they react if their baby got sick? Please UwU

Im really happy you like it 🥰🥰

Now im really inspired

Pdt: I dont know nothing about babys but im doing my best

HOW THE LINKUEI TRIO REACT IF THEIR BABY GOT SICK (PART 1)

Bi han ❄️

It's only been two days since you gave birth, you were happier than ever, your baby was calm. Also you felt like Bi han softened when he was with you two.

Although he was a present man for you and your baby, he had to attend to Lin kuei matters.

After all he was still the Lin kuei Grandmaster. However, in this short time that has passed he has tried to help as he can, in his absence he left a woman in charge to attend to your demands.

When he arrived he would ask you how you were and then he would go to appreciate his son. When he looked at him, it was as if another feeling was born from him, he loved his son, he felt that he was an extension of him, his blood, It was unconditional love. You also felt that his love for you also grew.

It was early today, Bi Han left on a mission without telling you, it didn't bother you because you are used to it, after all you knew what you would have to face being the wife of the Grandmaster of the Linkuei.

You want to have breakfast, however your baby started crying, you assumed he was hungry, you asked the woman accompanying you to bring him to you. However, your baby did not accept your milk, you tried to calm him down in other ways and see what he had but nothing worked. As you carried him around the room with him you asked the woman.

-I don't understand, he doesn't accept my milk and he doesn't stop crying, what am I doing wrong? -You asked a little desperately.

-My lady, how about I bring you the wet nurse? - The woman suggested to you. At first you hesitated, you didn't want your baby to drink other woman milk, it gave you a strange feeling. But you had to do it for his own good.

-Yes please, but let it be in front of me.- You said to the woman. She nodded and went to look for the wet nurse, however he didn't accept her milk either, then your baby started crying harder.

His crying worried you, it was like he was suffering, something was wrong, your maternal instinct told you.

-Let's take him to the doctor, help me get dressed.- You said quickly.

- My lady, you should stay in bed. - The lady told you worriedly, after all you were still in pain from childbirth.

- Don't worry, I'll be fine, he should be with me. - You responded determinedly, your bond with your son was unbreakable.

They helped you dress, the truth is that you could barely move because of the pain, however you wanted to calm your son's pain.

Fortunately, the doctors were in the Lin Kuei establishments by order of the Grandmaster, to attend to his wife's demands, a wise decision on his part.

When you arrived with them, they asked you questions, examined your baby, and then made you leave the room.

-My lady, due to the hours that have passed without him eating, and given that he was born 2 months earlier than expected, we have the theory that some of his organs are not well developed. Therefore, we are going to feed him through feeding tubes. - The doctor explained to you.

For you it was like a bucket of cold water, it hurt you to think how uncomfortable your baby is going to be, if it would hurt, he is so small and so fragile.

-but there is no other way? he'll be fine? - you asked anxiously

-This is the best option, many hours have passed without feeding, believe me.- The doctor say try yo calm you.

In the end you had to give in, but you demanded to see him as much as possible.

They didn't deny you. Despite everything, you are the wife of the Grandmaster, he would threaten everyone if he was with you, and the doctors were aware of it.

In the end you thanked them, and waited for them to prepare your baby, while you waited you ate forcedly, you weren't even hungry, you did it just so that your condition wouldn't get worse.

Then you went to wait for them to call you so you could see him.

When they finally called you to come in, you went quickly. When you walked in your heart broke, even though you knew your son was going to be full of tubes, seeing him there was more shocking, he was so small, he looked so uncomfortable.

-Oh my life, my sweet baby.- You said to your baby, trying to caress his face.

You could barely touch it because there were so many tubes and cables that you could ruin a connection.

Your heart was shaken, he did not understand anything, you sent someone to notify Bi Han about the condition of his son as soon as he arrived, because you would not be separated from your baby. You felt like something would happen to him if you weren't with him.

So then you were with him, sitting watching him, without realizing it the day was already ending, for you the hours seemed like minutes, it was already 5 in the morning.

Just as you were about to close your eyes you felt a hand on your back.

-Wife....- Bi Han said, when you turned to see the cryomancer he was in shock seeing his son in that state.

He looked exhausted for having just arrived from a mission.

-Sorry, it's my fault, I couldn't breastfeed, he was suffering, so I brought him here.- You couldn't even finish your sentence because you finally broke.

You hid your face from him, you feel weak and vulnerable before him, but surprisingly for you he began to caress your head.

-It's not your fault.- your husband said compassionately.

-You should go to sleep now.- The cryomancer demanded.

-I can't...if I do he will be alone.- You responded weakly. Your husband frowned.

-Y/N, you are recovering, if you continue like this your condition will worsen.- The cryomancer told you somewhat harshly. He didn't like disobedience.

-I can't.- You responded without stopping to look at your baby.

-Obey your husband.- Bi han said harshly, his patience had already run out, the truth is that he was also dealing with many things that he never expresses, adding this situation.

Deep down you understood it, but it made you angry that he didn't understand that you didn't want to be separated from your son, at least being close to him gave you some peace of mind, as if nothing was going to happen to him.

-Okay, I'll do it, but I don't think I'll be able to sleep- you finally told him.

He sat down to look at his son, and he sighed as if he had regretted raising his voice to you.

-I'll stay with him.- the cryomancer said without stopping to look at his son.

That answer surprised you, you knew that deep down your husband was also suffering, but he remained stoic.

-Forgive me, when I finish resting I will come here, and then you will go to rest too.- You told your husband while you kissed his forehead.

He just nodded, and then you said goodbye to your baby and went to sleep (worried).

When Bi Han was left alone with his son, he got up and put his hand caressing the cheek of his baby.

"Everything will end soon, you are strong because you are my son." He spoke sweetly to his baby.

His son looked at him with those little eyes while making noises.

-Shhh..shhh.- The Grandmaster began to make sounds to his son to calm him down.

And it worked, Bi han shuddered. He didn't like seeing his son like that and he wasn't going to accept that his son wouldn't get better.

He was also tired, however he didn't give it importance, he was trained to endure days without sleep.

After a few hours he was closing his eyes and then his head was situated in a comfortable place.

He realized when he felt hands caress his hair that it was you. His head was placed on your chest, after many hours he had found peace, your perfume seemed pleasant to him.

-My love, you must go rest now.- You asked the cryomancer, he raised his head and directed it towards his son.

-I'm fine, I don't need to rest.- The Grandmaster said coldly, you put a hand on his cheek and made him turn to look at you delicately.

- Eat and rest, you haven't rested since you arrived from your mission, and the nurses are also going to change him and bathe him l.-You told him sweetly as you caressed his cheek. He took your hand and caressed it for a moment and finally accepted.

And so you stayed with your baby, hours passed and your husband returned, and that's how you stayed for the next few days, taking turns, or being together. Bi Han still had to attend to some Lin Kuei matters, you wondered how he could be so strong.

Now you were together looking at your son still in the incubator full of tubes. The baby had gained weight.

-How long are we supposed to wait?-The Cryomancer said, already angry, his patience had run out.

-Patience, husband, remember that he will be like this until his organs develop well-you told him calmly.

-These doctors are incompetent.- He responded harshly.

-My love, please don't be rude, they are doing the best they can, without them maybe our son wouldn't be alive- you told him, trying to calm him down, you were sure he was about to threaten the doctors.

He just growled, after a few minutes you dared to say.

-I swear that if he dies- You started to say but your husband interrupted you abruptly.

-Don't you dare even think about it, he will be fine.- The cryomancer responded harshly.

-I would die with him.- You finished saying with a very low voice.

Your husband just shook his head down. He heaved a sigh and took your hand.

-He is a Lin kuei, he is strong, he will get out of this.- The Grandmaster said stoically.

You just nodded anxiously, you want to believe that what Bi Han says is true, so you decide to decree positively.

All these days that have passed you have asked the universe that your son gets better soon, and if it was some kind of karma for the enemies that your husband has killed, may that karma be for you.

Until the day finally came when they disconnected your baby's tubes, to see if he could eat on his own. The Grandmaster commented "it's about time", you just looked at him insistently so he wouldn't be rude.

So there you were anxious and nervous, you wanted your son to accept your milk to end this hell.

When the nurse brought him to you you were so happy to see him disconnected, he looked more comfortable, although your baby gained weight he was still so small.

It was time, you got into position to breastfeed him, your husband put his hand on your baby's head to help position it.

-Come on my life, eat.- You said sweetly to your baby.

And as if it were a miracle, your baby started drinking, you could feel that connection with your baby, it was something unique and beautiful.

Bi han let out a small smile.

-Look at him my love, he's healthy now.- You said excitedly.

-Very well, we will leave with him immediately.- Said the cryomancer proud.

-Wait, Grandmaster, we must prepare him and do some final evaluations.- The nurse said scared.

Bi Han grunted. You just laughed.

-It's okay my love, the important thing is that our son is healthy, and he will be with us, thank you very much nurse and the doctors too.- You said happily.

Your husband looked at you and kissed your head.

-You did very well, wife.- The cryomancer said with a small smile, it was the first time you saw him so sweet to you.

After this event you couldn't be happier, for your son to be healthy was the best thing that could happen to you, and Bi has also shown that he loved them both.

END

Author note:

Hello hello I hope you liked it, don't look for inconsistency with the baby's plot, I don't know much about them XD but I did my best.

AND AS ALWAYS KUAI LIANG AND TOMAS FOR LATER (BI HAN INSPIRES ME IMMEDIATELY I DON'T KNOW WHY)

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tokiyumejo · 1 day

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do research about R18 games before downloading ! ^p^

Seeing another post calling whb card stories with demons rape-y and mention literal SA I am still questioning if people really expect vanilla sex only. Surprise, some people may be into rough sex with consent and WHB was created as game with various sexual themes for as big amount of people as possible.

WHB having similar concept to a certain game you may like before coming to WHB doesn't mean both games must be similar in amount of smutty themes.

Yes, with hot takes I see from certain people impression of them thinking whb is "slightly smuttier version of o*bm" becomes bigger and now I can't do anything about it.

WHB is made to be heavy with various kinks mentioned, kinks is half of game's appeal and not everything here must be sterile or vanilla, and I thought it's easy to understand.

Venting again, even though I have vanilla tastes, seriously, I am not a fan of some scenes in card stories, but for some reason even I don't see rough sex with horny mc and devils who want it as SA.

...but if you have the same situation with me - card stories not fitting to your taste, just say so and don't call it rape ?

Honestly, this makes me again think how much WHB needs a big starting warning screen with list of triggering themes in game. Both for everyone's safety, and for understanding how this game is heavy on kinks, and doesn't fit everyone.

#whb #shitposttoki

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crazy-pages · 2 days

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First step to being a rationalist.

Acknowledge it might not work.

Let me take a step back for a moment. The single most important principle of science, in my opinion, is acknowledging the possibility of failure, that something might be beyond you. People often think of science as how you discover the truth, but I think it is more accurately and importantly described by how it lets us determine what we do not know.

For most of human history, we not only did not know what the sun was made out of, the question was fundamentally beyond our grasp. There was nothing any amount of scientific principle could do that would let you know what the sun was for most of human history. To be a scientist about it, to apply the scientific method to understanding the sun, is not just being able to know nuclear physics. You have to teach yourself to know when to say 'I don't know'.

For most of human history the sun has been fundamentally beyond our capacity to understand. And yet it is one of the most enduring and common subjects of false explanations. To internalize the scientific method, truly in a way that changes your thinking relative to what it was before you learned it, you have to become someone who, if you were living in those times, would be able to say "I don't know" even when everyone around you has an answer.

So let's talk about rationalism.

Rationalism is not just the idea that we can understand human biases. It's not just the idea that we can be more thoughtful or knowledgeable people by understanding these biases. No, rationalism is specifically the idea that by learning enough about human biases and by leaning on hard enough on data, we can reliably make correct and optimal moral choices. It is the belief that by performing enough rationalist study and training, and applying enough information science to a problem, one can proceed on the assumption they have come to the correct conclusion.

And those are very different things. It is the difference between saying "by understanding wood better, we can construct better foot bridges" and "by understanding wood better, we can span the San Francisco Bay with it".

Because here's the thing, better is not the same thing as reliable. Even if we grant the assumption that learning about biases makes one less likely to fall prey to them, and that is an assumption, an 80% chance of making mistake is also less than a 90% chance of making a mistake. It's valuable, that's a good thing, but it is not sufficient to say "hey so I used this method to come to my conclusions, therefore I'm sure I didn't make a mistake".

If you want to be a rationalist, the first rational principle you need to apply is that of the scientific principle looking at the sun. You need to be able to say "There may be nothing I can do, with the resources I have access to, to be sure I am actually free of bias and mistakes in logic. This may be fully beyond me, for the entire span of my life." And not just in the sense that nobody is perfect, but in the very real sense that you cannot depend on the train of logic in your own head to lead you to a correct place.

And the reason this is important is for the same reason it's important in science. The moment that you presume something is in fact knowable in science, it just becomes a tool of accrediting whatever conclusion you come to. It stops being an actual tool of discovery and becomes a rubber stamp of validation. It becomes something which makes you feel better about the conclusion you came to, not something which actually helps you in any way.

The moment you say to yourself, "because I am a rationalist, I am confident enough in A, B, and C to take actions X, Y, and Z" you've failed to be a rationalist. (Unless you provide a double blind study of a large well-controlled population, one of which was given rationalist training and the other which wasn't, upon the end of which it was determined that the rationalist trained population did indeed perform to an improved standard meeting a high minimum on certain metrics (upon which you must limit your assumption of rationalist improvement to those specific metrics). And then this study has been in the corpus of literature long enough to be peer-reviewed and criticized and had duplicate research and further investigation and a good long while for the scientific community to dissect it. A thing which has definitely not happened yet.)

The most important thing you can learn from rationalism is not an understanding of a specific set of biases. It's not the particular ways human cognition is messed up and it's not any type of information science. It is the fact that humans are flawed.

The most important thing you can learn from rationalism is humility, not hubris.

To do otherwise is for rationalism to just become another tool of confirmation bias, something making you think you are more correct than you actually are.

The humility you have to learn from rationalism is that you must plan and behave on the assumption that no matter how rationalist you think you are, you might still be behaving in biased ways. That there might be no way to fix this. And so all you can do try to behave in ways where even if you're wrong, you're going to minimize the harm you do to others.

This is where futurist philosophies derived from rationalism, the idea that the unimaginable number of humans in the future are so much more than the ones now that it justifies worker exploitation and present harms to make the far future better, falls apart. This is where AI doomerism/utopianism, the idea that general AI is definitely the biggest threat and potential boon facing humanity so we have to put all of our resources into safe AI research at the expense of everything else, falls apart. This is where effective altruism, the idea that we can quantify the outcomes of charity thoroughly enough that it makes sense to hand over direction of all charity to a small group of experts, falls apart.

Because the answer to "what if you're wrong about these philosophies?" is that a lot of people get very hurt. We are flawed. Fundamentally so, and I don't know that anyone has ever proved a way we can get around this. The only thing I know that we can do about this, is to try to behave in ways that minimize harms while trying to make the world better, rather than trying to maximize a hail mary to find the holy grail.

To which I can already hear the rationalists saying that this might not be enough to save the world, that anything but convulsive directed effort focused on is already doomed, so we have to pick one of them.

To which I say. First off, how are you sure of that? How is this a thing that you know for certain?

But more importantly. Yeah. You're right. There's no way of knowing for sure what course of action will make the world a better place. There's no way of knowing that anything short of futurists sacrificing the workers of the present to build a brighter future will be enough.

But if you are actually a rationalist, well. That is what you have to live with. You've got to be the scientist looking up at the sun and saying, "I don't know."

And then you should go and do things to make the world better without being sure of your prognostication of the future.

#rationalism #ethics #philosophy #futurism

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winterpeta1s · 1 day

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About Jax's change in Episode 2 and why I believe it's intentional

I know it's hella late to give my take on this but idc let's go.

I know a big portion of the fandom believes that Jax hasn't changed at all and he was the same jerk from pilot to episode two, and that people dissapointed about him just had the wrong headcanons, which is very possible and i understand why they get that idea. Jax was a very popular character based on headcanons and ships mostly.

But after rewatching both eps, i respectfully disagree, in my personal opinion Jax did have a change and worsening in behaviour from Episode 1 to Episode 2. it could as well just be that he had more screentime this time and more lines to fully show his true colors, but here is what i think

There was change, it wasn't that big, but it was there.

In episode 1, Jax is shown to be a much more laid back character, unbothered, casually mean and cruel. Pranking and pushing people around him (just like in episode 2, yes) but he wasn't shown to be angry.

In episode 2, we get a more annoying version of him, maybe because we see him more. But he is more irritable, goes out of his way to be aggressive, he is not unbothered, everything bothers him, almost like a frustrated teenager to be honest. He craves violence, he craves chaos and is willing to do anything to get it. Paired with his frustration at everything around him(which we didn't get to see in the pilot, he didnt care about things around him at all)

In this scene where he looks heartbroken that he didn't get to see violence, you could just laugh because it's kinda funny how annoyed and desperate he is, but i believe there is more to it and this is how he actually copes with things around him.

There were bits of the episode where i thought he was about to cry, he was angry and annoyed but looked about to cry. Could perfectly just be the new details in animation and his model but after all, im gonna theorize anyway.

I don't know if he cared about what happened to Kaufmo or not, but something in the pilot seemed to set him off. Maybe the abstraction as a reminder that he could end up like that anytime soon, maybe he couldn't get it out of his mind. Or maybe is something else.

But in my opinion he was acting extremely irritable and trying so hard to find entertainment in violence as a way of coping, and he was already irritable looking for something to get distracted with

Im not implying that he is a good person or a sensitive guy deep down or anything like that, in fact i believe he's going to become even more antagonistic as the show goes on and this was just a small glimpse of it.

In the end, this is just a theory and character analysis, which i'm not claiming to be true

#the amazing digital circus #tadc #tadc theory #character analysis #tadc jax #tadc spoilers #jax the rabbit #jax

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ianthoni · 13 hours

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Listen, Anthony's IG stories be about unconditional love and whatnot. I don't give a flying rats ass, they're about Ian 😎

LISTEN whenever i share my thoughts ppl call me crazy. But hear me out. I'm running an update account (@ian-anthonyupdates ) and im following his stories since december. And i believe all his stories about destiny/finding the true love/unconditional love/universe/sun-moon coded, fire and water coded stories are about Ian. And i have a ten pics limit so im gonna show a little bit whats in my head. (Check spirituality/lover boy tags in my updates profile you're gonna see what i mean i think half of them are related to Ian if not most) (the unconditional love videos he share is gonna be last)

Starting from his art pieces and their connection to Ian. This post was shared on the night of eclipse. For you guys to fully understand this whole interaction i need to start from the beginning of the day. Ian shared he watched the eclipse that day. He sharing a meme and a shadow of the eclipse (I'm gonna explain more in the next part) and then Anthony shared the red painting you can see at the back. Around the same time. That was Ian's FIRST ever comment in Anthony's painting account. He also followed Anthony's painting page and said 'this one was my favorite one so far'. And that night Anthony shared this heart, with the painting Ian liked at the back. Heart with an eye in it. Now eye is a keyword for us remember that it's gonna come up later in this essay lmao also noticed the tray in the table? Yeah it is coming in now.

Now here is the part tray comes in. That first tray is Anthony's tray. We can see it on the story he shared from the same day. And the eclipse story is Ian's story, he was watching the eclipse. Did you notice something? It is Anthony's tray, theyre watching the eclipse together. Now you may say that tray didnt come out in the factory as one piece. But remember it is from the same day. And its up to you if you believe it or not im just giving my observation. And remember this is the same day he liked Anthony's painting and followed his account. It is very very possible that they were together and maybe he even watched Anthony while he is painting.

After that watching the eclipse story. Anthony made an eclipse painting. Very obviously the sun hugging the moon. I love sun and moon ianthony stories because Anthony himself said Ian is like the sun. And we all know the romantic meaning of moon and sun, how sun illuminates the moon, how moon is in love with the sun and always around it. So it fits them. And Anthony shared this painting a few times after he did it which he was not doing that at the time. Like he wanted someone to see it and like it, comment on it like he did before with the red painting. But it didnt happen sadly :/ (this also might be the reason of instagram drama but im not opening that can of worms)

Now the EYES. Anthony and his obsession with blue eyes. This is definitely coming from looong before (i.e all his past gfs being blue eyed) but you know who's the first blue eye he met? Yeah you guessed it right. Ian. It doesnt even have to be love, but i think ian's eyes was always a safe place to him, something warm and remind him home and makes him feel happy cause Ian makes him happy. And he always complimented ian's eyes, how theyre beautiful and whenever Ian wears blue he always mention it, he even said "your eyes are out of this word" in Jared Leto live stream. So he loves blue eyes of a special person. And if you noticed before he loves drawing them too, either just blue pupils or full blue eyes but there's a couple of them. I'm specifically sharing this one cause he put a secret message in this. "I see the universe in your eyes" he shared lots of stuff about universe and destiny and love. And talked about him and Ian meeting again was universes job/ destiny. So i think he is associating Ian with the destiny/universe/galaxies stuff. NOW whats MORE interesting is Ian shared that story 7 hours after Anthony shared his painting... Interesting right. Oh btw Anthony always share his painting steps but he didnt share the i see the universe in your eyes. Like its a secret message just for one person to get it. And that person get it and send his own message back.

To accompany the eclipse painting, he used two songs, one that talked about a "longing" and another that was called Bliss and was the same piece that was playing in another story he shared that was about "consciousness observing the feeling of falling in love". (Which makes the romantic connotation of the eclipse painting undeniable). To make it even more interesting the same day he posted that eclipse painting he posted a picture of himself in lan's office, under a tapestry depicting a sun.

Ok this is getting SO LONG. But stay with me. The first one the hug. I shared that the hug looks exactly like their hugs. This is not obviously just that. The caption is more important. "Our differences makes us complete. Anthony talked about Ian and him being opposites in multiple videos till now. They're like water and fire, sun and moon, yin and yang. But this doesnt change the fact that they always find each other. If anything they're so happy with it now. They're getting along more than before.

Well do i have to say anything? Friendship always wins.

Again water and fire hugging allegory. I love that he's thinking of each other like that. He also make comments about Ian bringing the fire, also the fact that he's sun literally fire ball. Ian's favorite movie rrr had water/sun allegory. So it is obv to me he thinks of them when it's about opposites falling. Oh and he also have a "in order to live life we need fire" tattoo.

This one is so funny cause i didnt get it until they talk in the live stream. He talked about how he saw Ian going for a walk and he said can I join you too? And ofc Ian said yes and they went for a walk around together. He literally shared this the day Ian and him go for a walk together 😭 he said life is pretty good actually after spending time with Ian is so🥺

This was also from the same day he went on a walk with Ian. I think it fits. Watch hot tub live stream for the full walk story.

This was the day after they spend time together, going for a walk, shooting day. He missed someone.

Tbh this is pretty self explanatory too. He did see Ian as coming home, a safe place, like turning back home after a Kong tiring day, just like he did with meeting with Ian again and glowing with him each passing day.

Well Ian is pretty LMAO and i don't see he's posting this about someone new. Like idk 🤷🏻

Again the unconditional love theme. He share a lot of stuff about this actually. I think it fits them. He loves Ian without a reason.

People think the first one is about someone new. Cause of the way it says "and then one day someone walks into your life" like someone walks into his life just now. But i see this as him remembering their first meet. How Ian walked into his life that very day in 6th grade and how he changed his life completely. Anthony is so talented don't get me wrong but if they're smosh now, if he is Anthony Padilla™ now its because of Ian. Ian was with him from the very beginning. He was helping him, encouraging him, supporting him when he was a shy lil teen in front of the camera. I think Ian is the one that walking in his life and completely changing it in the best way possible.

Unconditional love, a theme he is posting about very occasionly. Since we're that deep and ppl already call me delulu im just gonna write what i write to friends when i see his unconditional love stories.

Unconditional love means he would love him without expecting anything in return. This doesn't mean there's no love returning back to him but means he would love him even if there wasn't. Even if Ian didn't hug him enough or kiss him enough or share him with the world the way he wants it. He'd still love him. Cause his love is unconditional. He doesn't need any of this. He still loves him without getting to shout out to the world.

He is meaning he would love him for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish. This is basically a wedding wow. It doesnt mean he thinks Ian wont make him laugh or he is not beautiful or hes poor, no he means even if he had nothing he'd still love him. Hence the unconditional. They loved each other when they were little boy's that have nothing and look like little gremlins. And i think its not gonna go away soon.

Oh also did you notice something? The very beginning of the video. Is basically the same as the ornament in Ian's room. With a bright and rising sun in it : )

Ok bye love y'all 💖

#smosh #ian hecox #anthony padilla #ianthony #☀️🔍#Anthony's Instagram stories #soupmates #soulmates #soulmatism #analisys

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copperbadge · 12 hours

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Howdy! I am considering submitting manuscripts I've written to a publisher or possibly self publishing. The publisher states on their website that authors must maintain an active social media presence. I'm not normally a social media type, Tumblr is my only one. What would you reccommend for such? Is it worth it to pay someone to make a website for me? Thanks and many virtual kisses for Dot and Deebs!

Honestly, I haven't submitted to a publisher since before a lot of modern social media existed. :D

It is my understanding, but this is secondhand information, that publishers want you to have either a twitter or a tiktok, preferably both, where you're frequently active and have a high follower count, because they want you to be able to publicize your book on it. One of many reasons I don't even consider trad publishing anymore is that I don't want to spend a significant chunk of my time filming videos for the sole purpose of hawking my books.

Now, as I said, that's an inference I've drawn; you may want to speak to someone who has been trad published recently to get the inside scoop (readers if you work in publishing or have been published recently, feel free to add commentary; remember to comment or reblogs, as I don't repost asks sent in response to other asks). I do have an author website but I built my own; I don't know what the going rate is for paying someone to build one these days but most website platforms are pretty intuitive to use -- I built mine on Wordpress and I'm building a new one on Wix currently, and at this point both are very drag-and-drop oriented. I do think a website is a good thing for an author to have, but I wouldn't pay someone to build one for you until you've taken a swing at DIY and decided it's not where you want to spend your time and energy.

In terms of self-publishing, the good news is that none of the rules apply; this is also the bad news. :D Because the thing about selfpub is that you either pay or DIY for...everything. It can be very inexpensive; when I publish a book the only direct monetary cost is what I pay for an ISBN and a proof copy of the book, which I will make back in the first 10 sales or so. However, I am "paying" in man hours in terms of typesetting, cover design, uploading the PDFs to lulu.com, proofing the initial copy, correcting the proof and reuploading (which usually involves further typesetting), and of course all the publicity -- website design and redesign, copywriting, tumblr posting. And while my profit per copy sold is well above what most authors with traditional publishers will make, that's because the publisher is doing a lot of the work for you. And, because I don't have an active twitter or tiktok or a publisher, my books are not very widely publicized. Undoubtedly I sell fewer copies than I would if I had a robust twitter following, but catch me touching that rancid wasteland without inch-thick gloves on.

So -- I think it's probably pretty important to understand that I have deliberately rejected trad publishing for good but not lucrative reasons, and I'm considered at best an iconoclast and more commonly a crank for having done so. If you can go the tradpub route, I would, but I also wouldn't put any money you're not prepared to write off as a loss into that pursuit. Definitely I would see if there's anyone in the industry you can reach out to who can answer these questions with a more thorough understanding of what publishers look for in an author and how to go about achieving that than I possess.

In any case, good luck! It's a journey regardless and I hope you enjoy your time on the path wherever you end up. And I'll give the cryptids a special cuddle for ya.

#auntyproton #publishing

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ashwhowrites · 14 hours

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Hi 🫶 may I request a fic where robin and reader are dating. Vickie is starting to show signs that she likes robin and sweet robin is totally oblivious because she is so in love with reader. The reader on the other notices everything and wants to show vickie that robin is her girlfriend and she will never have robin.

I MISS ROBIN! Thank you for asking for her, miss my baby girl. I hope this is what you wanted and you enjoy it. Thank you for requesting 🫶🏻

Lost cause

Robin met Y/N through Steve, she was an original member of the gang. Robin was horrible with first impressions so it took a while for Y/N to tell if Robin even liked her or not.

But Robin really liked her. She used to roll her eyes when Steve talked about love at first sight. Robin believed that was a bunch of bull. Until she saw Y/N. Robin felt things she never thought were possible. Stuff that she didn't ever feel with her crush on Vickie.

It was like in the movies, where the girl moved in slow motion as she laughed, with her hair flowing and the sun behind her. Y/N had Robin frozen in her spot and Vickie was the last girl on her mind.

Even if Robin did not want to admit it, Steve deserved the credit for them getting together. Robin was too chicken to tell Y/N about her crush, so Steve did it for her. But she was damn excited when Y/N walked up to her and asked her out.

And a few months later, the two were the strongest couple in the gang. They were barely ever apart, tied together as they held hands.

Y/N knew Robin used to have a thing for Vickie, and she tried not to be jealous about it. She knew Robin wasn't interested, but it bothered Y/N how Vickie suddenly was.

What made it worse was that Y/N was a year older than Robin, she graduated with Steve. That meant her girlfriend was alone with Vickie all during the school day. Y/N trusted Robin, but she didn't trust her to understand the difference between being friendly and flirting.

~~~

Robin was barely listening to Vickie, her blue eyes searching the crowd for a familiar face.

"I think the uniform looks really cute on you," Vickie said, she waited for a reaction but it was like Robin didn't hear her.

"THERE SHE IS!" Robin cheered once her eyes found Steve and Y/N walking into the gym.

"Who?" Vickie asked, she followed Robin's eye direction.

"My girlfriend," Robin said with a love-sick sigh. Vickie put on a smile as Steve and Y/N looked over.

Y/N waved and blew a kiss to Robin

Immediately making the short-haired girl blush and send one back

"I wonder what they are talking about," Y/N wondered out loud as she watched Vickie and Robin

"Nothing for you to worry about," Steve said as he shrugged. He took a handful of popcorn and handed the box to Y/N

She grabbed a few pieces but kept her eyes on the two girls.

"I know, it's just Robin used to like her. So she obviously finds Vickie attractive."

"Robin liked her, and Robin is in love with you. There's a big difference." Steve said

"Thanks, dingus. State the obvious." Y/N scoffed as she rolled her eyes

"Well, would you look at that! Couples that spend time together become the same person!" Steve mocked

He hissed as she twisted his skin in a pinch

"Do you ever worry about them? Like liking each other?" Vickie asked as she watched Steve and Y/N shove each other.

"That's hilarious," Robin laughed. Steve and Y/N? Even the thought of it would make Y/N fall over.

Robin was counting down the seconds of the game, impatiently waiting for it to be over.

"Do you have plans after the game?" Vickie asked

But once the final buzzer went off, Robin was already halfway down the bleachers.

"I guess so," Vickie sighed to herself.

Steve and Y/N were talking as Robin walked over.

"See? No reason to be jealous. She's right here!" Steve said, a little too loud that Robin heard.

Y/N laughed uncomfortably as she nudged Steve in the ribs

"Jealous of what?" Robin asked, leaning down to kiss her girlfriend

Y/N hummed into the kiss

"Nothing. Don't listen to him," Y/N said, brushing it off as she stood up

"Ready for dinner?" Y/N asked

"Yes!" Robin said with glee, lacing her hand with Y/N's as the three left the gym. Only Steve noticed that Vickie waved goodbye.

~~~

The school hosted a little fair for fundraising. Y/N wasn't excited about the idea of walking around in the heat with high schoolers but she'd never say no to Robin. Steve tagged along, as he always did.

Y/N clenched her jaw as she saw Vickie walking towards them with a huge smile.

"Rob! You are here!"

Y/N and Steve shared a look as Vickie practically yanked Robin into a hug.

"And I brought Y/N and Steve!" Robin said, moving to hold Y/N's hand.

"I see that!" Vickie said through a tight smile. "Well, I've been dying to try one of the pretzels with cheese, would you want to get one?"

"Oh definitely!" Robin said, "You guys coming?" She asked as she turned to look at Y/N and Steve.

Y/N looked at the line and groaned. "I don't know, that's long as hell."

"I'm thirsty so how about you and I go get drinks and we'll meet you in line?" Steve asked, Y/N wanted to deny the idea but he was already dragging her.

"Steve! I don't want to leave them alone," Y/N said as she kept looking behind her. She growled as Vickie laced her arm with Robin's.

"I know, but you were two seconds away from blowing her head off with your eyes. Let's leave the powers to El."

"That's not funny," Y/N scoffed

"Trust me, Robin is going to come right back to you."

Robin waited patiently in the line, her arm hooked with Vickie's so neither would get lost in the crowd.

The line moved a lot faster than they thought, already ordering as Robin stepped forward.

"2 pretzels and one cheese please."

Vickie smiled as Robin paid for the pretzels. She walked out of line and waited on the side with Robin.

Robin thanked the person who handed her the snacks. Robin didn't say anything as she began to look around.

"Will one cheese be enough?" Vickie asked

"Of course, we just share!"

Vickie smiled at the thought of sharing cheese with Robin

"Just breathe and let Robin figure it out," Steve advised as they walked to Robin and Vickie. Y/N was pleased to see they were no longer holding each other.

"Got your favorite!" Y/N said as she wiggled the glass bottle of coke.

Robin smiled, "I did too!"

Y/N handed her the coke and Robin handed her the pretzel.

"Wait, the pretzel is for her?" Vickie asked, disappointment in her voice

"Yeah, who else would it be for?" Robin laughed, not knowing her comment made the air awkward. She opened the cheese and held it in her hand for Y/N to dip.

Steve coughed and gave Vickie a small smile.

"I'll wait with you in line," Steve said as he walked into the line, a silent Vickie following.

~~~

Y/N was growing more frustrated with Vickie. It seemed like she either didn't get the hint or didn't care about boundaries at all.

Y/N tried not to get jealous, just breathe like Steve said. But now Y/N believed it was time to show Vickie who Robin belonged to.

They were at a party, no idea whose it was. But Steve was drunk and dancing with a random girl. Y/N and Robin sat on the couch, giggling as the drinks hit their body.

"Can I join?" Vickie's voice cut through their laughter. Y/N rolled her eyes but Robin didn't notice.

"Um yeah, let's make room!" Robin said. She went to scoot over but Y/N grabbed her hand.

"Don't be silly, you can sit right here," Y/N said as she smirked towards Vickie. She grabbed Robin's hips and dragged her right on her lap. Robin blushed, no idea her girlfriend was glaring at Vickie.

Vickie smiled awkwardly and took the seat next to them.

Y/N didn't care about making Vickie uncomfortable, in fact, it was the goal.

Y/N waited a few minutes, letting the girls get into a discussion. Then she softly moved Robin's hair to the side, leaning in and placing delicate kisses on her neck.

Robin stuttered as she tried to talk, the thoughts disappearing as she tried not to moan. She knew it was inappropriate and rude towards Vickie, but she in no way wanted her girlfriend to stop.

Y/N then moved to the other side of Robin's neck. She enjoyed the way Robin melted into her and went silent.

After a while, Y/N let them continue their conversation before she switched to the next thing.

Y/N moved her hands to wrap around Robin's stomach. Then moved them down to her thighs. She softly rubbed Robin's thighs over her jeans.

Robin could barely handle it, jumping up as she squeaked.

"I need to go to the bathroom!"

"I'll go with you," Y/N smirked as she stood up. She grabbed Robin's hand and both giggled as they raced to the bathroom.

Vickie sighed in defeat as she rested her head against the couch.

Steve sighed as he sat down next to her. A look of pity in his eyes.

"Lost cause, you'll never separate those two," Steve said, then he leaned over and his voice got dark and deep.

"And if you keep trying, you'll regret it."

Steve stood up with a proud smile as Vickie gulped. No way he was going to let Robin and Y/N's relationship be sabotaged.

Not on Steve's babysitting duty.

#robin buckley fanfic #robin buckley x female reader #robin buckley angst x female reader #robin buckley fluff x female reader #robin Buckley x reader #robin buckley #robin buckley stranger things #ashwhowrites #robin buckley requests

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caligvlasaqvarivm · 2 days

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How do you analyze so good I'm really impressed and honestly wonder if I can learn from you

It's a skill, so the good news is, you can practice and get better at it!

Read A Lot/Gain Context

Analysis often means making comparisons or drawing from external context - one of the best things you can do if you want to be better at analysis is to try to cram your head with as much knowledge as possible. The time period, culture of origin, and where the author slots into those are usually major influences on a work (in Homestuck's case, much of it is a direct commentary on the internet culture it emerged from, and missing that part of it can drastically influence how the story reads).

Also important are the works the author themselves are inspired by. You've likely heard some variation of "nothing is original." We're actually really lucky with Homestuck in that regard, as the work is highly referential, and you can glean a lot by looking at what it references (for example, if you watch Serendipity, one of Karkat's favorite movies, which is titledropped during the troll romance explanation, you will understand Karkat so much better). This applies to things like mythological allusions - you'll hardly know why it matters that Karkat is a Christ figure if you don't know what the general outline of the Christ story is, nor will you pick up on the Rapture elements of Gamzee's religion or the fact that Doc Scratch is The Devil, etc. The key to picking up a lot of symbolism is being aware that the symbols exist.

And last, it helps to read a lot of media and media analysis so you can get a better understanding of how media "works" - how tropes are used, what effect language has, what other entries into the genre/works with similar themes/etc. have already done to explore the same things as the piece being analyzed is doing - and what other people have already gleaned and interpreted. I've mentioned before that many people seem to find Homestuck's storytelling bizarre and unique when it's actually quite standard for postmodernism, the genre it belongs to. But you're not going to know that if you've never read anything postmodern, y'know? I also often prepare for long character essays by reading other peoples' character essays - sometimes people pick up on things I miss, and sometimes people have interpretations I vehemently disagree with; both of these help me to refine my take on the matter.

Try to Discard Biases/Meet the Work Where It Is

Many will carry into reading media an expectation of what they want to get out of it. For example, one generally goes into a standard hetero romance book expecting a female lead, a male love interest, romance (of course), and a happy ending for the happy couple. If the book fails to deliver these things, a reader will often walk away thinking it was a bad book, even if the story told instead is objectively good and interesting. We actually see this a lot with Wuthering Heights, which receives very polarizing reviews because people go into it expecting a gothic romance, when it's really more like a gossip Youtube video spilling the tea on some shitty rich people (and it's really good at being that).

There's nothing necessarily wrong with this when reading for pleasure and personal enjoyment, but it presents a problem when attempting to analyze something. There's a concept called the "Procrustean bed," named after a mythological bandit who used to stretch people or cut off their limbs to fit them to a bed, that describes "an arbitrary standard to which exact conformity is forced." Going into a media reading with expectations and biases often results in a very Procrustean reading - I'm sure we've all seen posts complaining about how fanfic often forces canon characters to fit certain archetypes while discarding their actual character traits, etc.

Therefore, when reading for analysis, it's generally a good idea to try and discard as much bias and expectation as possible (obviously, we are never fully free of bias, but the effort counts) - or, perhaps even better, to compartmentalize those biases for comparison while reading. For example, Hussie talks at length about what they INTENDED Homestuck to be, and, while reading, I like to keep Hussie's words to the side while I try to experience the comic fresh, seeing what choices were made in accordance with Hussie's intentions, or where I think Hussie may have fumbled the messaging. At the same time, I try to let the work stand on its own, set in its proper context.

I'd say this is the number-one problem in fandom analysis. For example, people hear from the fandom that Eridan is an incel or a nice guy, so they interpret everything he says and does to fit that belief, or ignore any contradictory evidence. Or they fall for the character's façade that's meant to be dismantled by the viewer. Some works are fairly shallow and accessible, wearing all their meaning on their sleeve (or are Not That Deep, if you prefer meme-talk), and problems arise when a work is, in fact, That Deep, because someone biased towards the former will discard evidence that a work is the latter. This isn't exclusive to HS - it's happened in basically all of my fandoms - which is a statement to how easy it is to fall into this way of thinking.

Even without knowing that Hussie had coming-of-age themes in mind, for example, characters will talk about being kids and growing up. Knowing that Hussie has explicitly said that that's one of HS's themes serves as extra evidence for that interpretation, but the work itself tells you what it's about - if you're willing to listen to it.

Even If the Curtains are Just Blue, That Still Means Something

This is the next biggest fandom stumbling block - thr insinuation that when things in a work are put into the work without more explicit symbolism, that that means they're a discardable detail. This one is more about making a mindset shift - details aren't discardable, even if they don't appear to have been made with the explicit intention to mean something. Everything kind of means something.

First of all, whether or not the curtains are Just Blue is often highly dependent on the work. For example, in something made in large quantities with little time, staff, and budget - say, for example, one of the entries into the MCU's TV shows - there likely isn't too much meaning behind a choice of blue curtains in a shot (although you'd be surprised how often choices in these constrained environments are still very deliberately made). In a work like Homestuck, however, so terribly dense with symbolism and allegory, chances are, the blue curtains DO hold some special meaning, even if it's not readily apparent.

However, even in cases where a choice is made arbitrarily, it still usually ends up revealing something about the work's creative process. Going back to our MCU example, perhaps the blue curtains were chosen because the shot is cool-toned and they fit the color grading. Perhaps they were chosen because the director really likes blue. Perhaps the shot was filmed at an actual location and the blue curtains were already there. Or, even, perhaps the blue curtains were just what they had on hand, and the show was made too quickly and cheaply to bother sourcing something that would fit the tone or lend extra meaning. These all, to varying degrees, say something about the work - maybe not anything so significant that it would come up in an analysis, but they still contribute to a greater understanding of what the work is, what it's trying to say, and how successful it is at saying it.

And this applies to things with much higher stakes. For example, Hussie being a white US citizen likely had an effect on the B1 kids being mostly US citizens, and there was discourse surrounding how, even though they were ostensibly aracial, references were made to Dave's pale skin. Do I think these were deliberate choices made to push some sort of US superiority; no, obviously not. But they still end up revealing things about the creation of the work - that Hussie had certain biases as a result of being who they were.

Your Brain is Designed to Recognize Patterns, So Put That to Use

So with "establish context" and "discard expectations" out of the way, we can start getting into the nitty-gritty of what should be jumping out at you when attempting to understand a work. One of the most prominent things that you should be looking for is PATTERNS.

Writing is a highly conscious effort, which draws from highly unconscious places. Naturally, whether these patterns are intentional or unintentional is dependent on the author (see again why reading up on a work's context is so important), but you can generally bet that anything that IS a pattern is something that holds significance.

For example, Karkat consistently shows that he's very distraught when any of his friends get hurt, that he misses his friends, even the murderous assholes, that he's willing to sit them down and intervene on their behalf, despite all his grandstanding to the contrary. We are supposed to notice that Karkat actually loves his friends, and that he's lying when he says he doesn't care about them.

Homestuck is very carefully and deliberately crafted; if something comes up more than once, it's a safe bet to assume that you're supposed to notice, or at least feel, it. Don't take my word for it:

Basically, [reusing elements is] about building an extremely dense interior vocabulary to tell a story with, and continue to build and expand that vocabulary by revisiting its components often, combining them, extending them and so on. A vocabulary can be (and usually is) simple, consisting of single words, but in this case it extends to entire sentences and paragraph structures and visual forms and even entire scenes like the one linked above. Sometimes the purpose for reiteration is clear, and sometimes there really is no purpose other than to hit a familiar note, and for me that's all that needs to happen for it to be worthwhile. Triggering recognition is a powerful tool for a storyteller to use. Recognition is a powerful experience for a reader. It promotes alertness, at the very least. And in a lot of cases here, I think it promotes levity (humor! this is mostly a work of comedy, remember.) Controlling a reader's recognition faculty is one way to manipulate the reader's reactions as desired to advance the creative agenda.

But this applies to less deliberately-crafted work, too; for example, if an author consistently writes women as shallow, cruel, and manipulative, then we can glean that the author probably has some sort of issue with women. Villains often being queer-coded suggests that the culture they come from has problems with the gays. Etc. etc.

This is how I reached my conclusion that Pale EriKar is heavily foreshadowed - the two are CONSTANTLY kind to each other, sharing secrets, providing emotional support, etc. etc. It's why that part of my Eridan essay is structured the way that it is - by showing you first how consistently the two interact in suspiciously pale-coded ways, the fact that a crab is shown in both Eridan's first appearance AND his appearance on the moirallegiance "hatched for each other" page becomes the cincher of a PATTERN of the two being set up to shoosh-pap each other.

A work will tell you about itself if you listen. If it tells you something over and over, then it's basically begging you to pay attention.

Contrast is Important, Too

Patterns are also significant when they're broken. For example, say a villain is constantly beating up the protagonist. Here's our pattern: the hero is physically weaker than the villain. In a straight fight, the hero will always lose.

And then, at the mid-season two-parter, the hero WINS. Since we've set up this long pattern of the hero always losing to this villain, the fact that this pattern was disrupted means that this moment is extremely important for the work. Let's say the hero wins using guile - in this case, we walk away with the message that the work is saying that insurmountable obstacles may have workarounds, and adaptability and flexibility are good, heroic traits. Now let's say the hero won using physical strength, after a whole season of training and practicing - in this case, we say that the work says hard work and effort are heroic, and will pay off in the end.

In Homestuck, as an example, we set up a long pattern of Vriska being an awful, manipulative bitch, and a fairly remorseless killer. And then, after killing Tavros, she talks to John and admits that she's freaking out because she feels really bad about it. This vulnerability is hinted at by some of her earlier actions/dialogue, which is itself a pattern to notice, but it's not really explicit until it's set up to be in direct contrast to the ultimate spider8itch move of killing Tavros. This contrast is intended to draw our attention, to point out something significant - hey, Vriska feels bad! She's a product of her terrible society and awful lusus! While it's shitty that she killed Tavros, she's also meant to be tragic and sympathetic herself!

Hussie even talks about how patterns and surprises are used in tandem:

Prior to Eridan's entrance into the room, and even during, the deaths were completely unguessable. After Feferi's death, Kanaya's becomes considerably more so, but still quite uncertain. After her death, all bets are off. Not only do all deaths thereafter become guessable, but in some cases, "predictable". That's because it was the line between a series of shocking events, and the establishment of an actual story pattern. The new pattern serves a purpose, as a sort of announcement that the story is shifting gears, that we're drifting into these mock-survival horror, mock-crime drama segments, driven by suspense more than usual. The suspense has more authority because of all the collateral of unpredictability built up over time, as well as all the typical stuff that helps like long term characterization. But now that the pattern is out in the open, following through with more deaths no longer qualifies as unpredictability. Just the opposite, it would now be playing into expectations, which as I said, can be important too. This gear we've switched to is the new normal, and any unpredictability to arise thereafter will necessarily be a departure from whatever current patterns would indicate.

Patterns are important because they tell you what baselines the work is setting - what's normal, what's standard, what this or that generally "means." Contrast is important because it means something has changed, or some significant point is being made. They work in tandem to provide the reader with points of focus in the story, things to keep in mind as they read, consciously or unconsciously.

Theme

I'm talking about this stuff in pretty broad and open terms because stories are so malleable, and so myriad, and can say so many things. There are stories where horrible cruelties are painted as good things - propoganda is the big one, but consider all the discourse around romance books that paint abusive/toxic relationships as ideal. There are stories where the protagonist is actually the villain, and their actions are not aspirational, and works where everyone sucks and nobody is aspirational, and works where everybody is essentially a good person, if sometimes misguided.

This is, again, why outside context is so important, and biases need to be left at the door. For example, generally speaking, one can assume that the protagonist of a children's cartoon is going to be an aspirational hero, or at least a conflicted character who must learn to do the right thing. However, there are even exceptions to this! Invader Zim, for example, features an outright villain protagonist - a proud servant of a fascist empire - and for a lower-stakes example, the Eds of Ed, Edd, n' Eddy are the neighborhood scammers, constantly causing problems for the other characters with their schemes.

Thus, how do we determine what any particular narrative's stance on a given topic is? It's a difficult question to answer because every narrative is different. If I say something like, "the things that bring the protagonists success in their goals are what the narrative says are good," then we run into the issue of villain/gray morality protagonists. To use moral terms like "hero" and "villain" instead runs into the problem of defining morality within a narrative in the first place. But you have to draw the line somewhere.

So that brings us to themes.

Now, as with a lot of artistic terms, "theme" isn't necessarily well-defined (this isn't helped by the way the word is used colloquially to mean things like aesthetic, moral of the story, or symbolism). Wikipedia says: "In contemporary literary studies, a theme is a central topic, subject, or message within a narrative," but this is still very broad and hard to work with, so I'll give it a shot.

A theme is what a work says, beyond the literal series of events. Sometimes a theme is obvious - the theme of Boy Who Cried Wolf is that if you become famous for lying, you won't be believed when you tell the truth. Sometimes a theme is one of many - for example, Disney's Cinderalla says that kindness and virtue will eventually be recognized and rewarded, and that cruelty is interlinked with ugliness. Sometimes a theme is unintentional - for example, how Disney's body of work tends to villainize queer-coded characters. Sometimes context and the passage of time changes the theme - for example, Snow White originally held a message of hope for wartime families that domestic normalcy would one day return, but is now seen as anti-feminist as it appears to insinuate that a woman's place is in the kitchen, and her happiness is in marriage to a man. And sometimes a theme is not something you agree with.

In any case, a theme is a meaning to be gleaned from the text, more broad and universally applicable than the text itself. After all, we humans have traditionally always used story to impart meaning; our oldest epic, The Epic of Gilgamesh, contains within it several themes, most famously that of accepting one's mortality. It's startling, really, how applicable the story is to this day, even if specific details have become obtuse or unsavory to a modern reader.

This is, again, why it's so important to engage with a text on its own terms, in its own context, with as little bias as possible. A story's themes are not necessarily apparent, and commonly implied rather than stated outright, and approaching the story with expectations can easily lead to a Procrustean twisting of the facts to fit those expectations. A theme should emerge to the analyzer out of the reading, not the other way around.

Identifying theme gets easier with practice, and largely comes down to identifying patterns within the narrative (alongside looking at context and symbolism, of course). What does the narrative consistently touch base on? Are there any references; is there any symbolism? What does the story deem "normal," "good," or "bad"? How are ideas developed, and why? Why did these events happen, and are those motivations echoed anywhere else?

Homestuck is very complex and tackles many topics at once, and explaining why it's a coming-of-age would basically require a whole second essay, so I'll use a simpler and more popular example (like I've been trying to do) - let's say, Shrek.

The most obvious theme of Shrek is that beauty does not equate goodness, that one mustn't judge a book by its cover. The opening sequence is LITERALLY Shrek ripping out pages of a fairy tale book to use as toilet paper, and the movie ends with Fiona finding that her happiest, truest self IS as an ugly ogre. Shrek's main character conflict is that people immediately judge him as cruel and evil because he's ugly, and the characters' lowest points occur because Fiona is similarly insecure about her ogre half, considering it unlovable.

But there's other stuff in there, too. For example, if you know that Dreamworks and Shrek were founded after a falling out with Disney, then the beautiful, sanitized city of Dulac, with its switchback queue and singing animatronics add to this theme of a direct refutation of traditional Disney fairytale values, mocking them as manufactured, inhuman, and even cruel in the way that they marginalize those who don't fit an ideal of beauty. Again we see the opening sequence - defacing a fairytale - as support for this, but also the way that Dulac is displacing fairytale creatures. There's a moment where Gepetto literally sells Pinocchio, which can easily be read as a commentary on the crass commercialization and exploitation of fairy tales Disney likes to do.

And then, of course, there are lesser, supplementary themes. Love being a powerful positive force is one - Donkey is able to rally Shrek after he truly reciprocates Dragon's love for him (which echoes the theme of not equating goodness with beauty, as Dragon is still big and scary), and it's true love's kiss that grants Fiona her happy ending.

And then there's stuff that's unintentional. There's all this work done about how beauty =/= goodness, but then they made the villain incredibly short, which is a traditionally unattractive physical feature. So, does that mean that ugly things can be beautiful unless that ugliness is specifically height?

Sometimes, authorial intent does not match up with result - but in those instances, I think the most is revealed about the author. Modern Disney products tend to be very cowardly about going anti-corporation and pro-weirdness, despite their usual feel-good tones and uplifting themes - and that says a lot about Disney, doesn't it. That's why I think it's still important to keep authorial intent in mind, if possible, even if they fumble what they say they've set out to do.

Obviously, Lord Fuckwad being short doesn't REALLY detract from the overall message - but it's still a weird hitch in the themes, which I think is interesting to talk about, so you can see where personal judgement and biases DO have to be applied. There are two options here, more or less - either one believes that Shrek is making an exception for short people, who are of the Devil, or one believes that the filmmakers did a bit of an oopsie. Barring an outright statement from the filmmakers, there's no way to know for sure.

We can say a work has very complex themes when it intentionally explores multiple ideas very deeply. We can say a work has shallow themes when it doesn't have much intentional meaning, and/or that meaning is explored very lightly. The labyrinthine storytelling of Homestuck, with its forays into mortality, morality, and growing up, chock full of symbolism and pastiche and allusions, is a work with complex themes - especially as compared to the average newspaper comic strip, although they ostensibly share a genre.

We can say a work has very unified themes when these themes serve to compliment each other - the refutation of Disney-esque values, and love as a positive driving force, compliment the main theme in Shrek of not judging books by their covers, of beauty not equating to goodness. Ugly things are worthy of love, and those who push standards of beauty are evil and suck.

Similarly, we can say a work has unfocused or messy themes when the themes it includes - intentionally or not - contradict, distract, and/or detract from each other. Beauty has no correlation to goodness... unless you're short, in which case, you are closer to Hell and therefore of evil blood. To get a little controversial, this is actually why I didn't like Last Wish very much - there are approximately three separate storylines, with three separate thematic arcs, going on in the same movie, none of which particularly compliment each other - so the experience was very messy to me, story-wise, even though it was pretty and the wolf was hot. This is why we feel weird about Disney pushing anti-corporate messages, when they're a big corporate machine, or why it's easy to assume Homestuck was written poorly if you don't like Hussie - we want themes to be coherent, we want context to be unified with output.

Tone

Tone is somehow even harder to define than theme. It's like, the "vibe" of a work. For example, you generally don't expect something lighthearted to deal with the realistic, brutal tragedies of war. Maybe it'll touch on them in light, optimistic ways, but it isn't about to go All Quiet on the Western Front on the reader. By the same token, you don't expect fully happy endings out of the melodrama of opera, or frivolous slice of life from something grimdark.

Tone, too, is something people often wind up Procrusteanizing, which makes discussion difficult if two people disagree. If I read Homestuck as unwaveringly optimistic, with its downer ending the result of an author fumble, I'm pretty much going to irreconcileably disagree with somebody who reads Homestuck as though it's always been a kind of tragedy where things don't work out for the characters. Since it's even more difficult to define than theme, I'm not even really going to bother; I just felt like I had to bring it up because, despite its nebulosity, it's vital to how one reads and interprets a text. Sometimes I don't have a better answer for why I dislike a certain interpretation other than that it doesn't suit the work's tone. I generally try to avoid saying that, though, because it winds up smacking of subjective preference.

In summary... analysis is about keeping everything in mind all the time! But i swear, it gets easier the more you do it. Happy reading!

#homestuck #literary analysis #critical thinking

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