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#i try just watching a single scene? almost certainly
sparring-spirals · 10 months
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will i watch the imodna confession scene if i have some free time tonight, just so i feel a little less bad about writing meta about it? who knows. maybe. perhaps. possibly. (in an ideal world, as i stare longingly at my hypothetical calendar)
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riiwrites · 8 months
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Here’s a more spooky request. Maybe dazai has tried watching a horror movie to scare reader so they’ll lean towards him in the movie and he can comfort or hold them but his plan isn’t working because they love horror movies. I think that would be cute and funny. Thank you 💕
“the scariest thing.”
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❥ pairing : dazai x reader
❥ genre : fluff
❥ warnings : none
❥ wc : 1k
❥ a/n : i loved writing this so much! although, i’m not a big fan of horror movies but I tried my best for describing some movie scenes.
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Dazai greeted you with a sweet smile hidden with a little touch of mischief. He wrapped his arms around you as soon as you stepped through the door
"Ah~ my love, how was your day today?" He asks with such ease as if he’s let out a breath of relief he’s been holding in for a while.
"Hi darling." You replied, accepting his hug instantly when you wrap your arms around the back of his neck and rest your chin on his shoulder.
"Day was good, m’ drained though."
"Oh, you don’t say.."
He has that glint in his eyes as you pull away from his shoulder, raising an eyebrow
"What are you planning?"
"Nothing!"
"Osamu." His smirk only grows when your eyebrows furrow together and a slight pout appears on your lips. He admired that expression for a quick moment before chuckling, placing one hand on your back as he guides you towards the living room, revealing the surprisingly organised sight of blankets sprawled all over the couch, candles lit in the dimmed room and placed on the counter infront of the TV which the channel was switched to Netflix. Your slightly confused expression was suddenly replaced with a look full of surprise but adoration as you stared at the sight.
"Dazai, you did this for me..?"
"Why, of course. I knew your day was going to be rather long and more dreadful than usual, so I prepped you a little something." He smiles at your happy expression, walking over to the couch and taking a seat, patting the space next to him. You oblige obviously and rush over, plopping yourself down onto the blanket from underneath you and sitting on the opposite side of Dazai. He looks at you for a moment looking absolutely bewildered, shocked and almost betrayed.
"Not cuddling up to me after I’ve prepped you such a lovely surprise? I’m wounded!"
"Oh you’ll live!" You say with a smirk, he sighs playfully. "I certainly hope not."
"Osamu."
"Okay okay, sorry!"
Truth was he had already known you would sit on the complete opposite side of him, a big empty bit of distance between you two. He knew how after a draining day sometimes you liked to have your distance, and sometimes you preferred to cuddle up to him, which is why he had crafted the most mastermind plan of all.
"What do you feel like watching?" You ask, keeping your eyes glued to the screen as Dazai has the remote.
"Hm." A smirk adorns his face once again.
"How about a scary movie?"
You turn to him with a smile, being completely oblivious to his 'master plan' as you nod.
"Okay."
He huffs out a chuckle as he throws his head back against the couch, holding the remote in-front of the TV and clicking onto the search bar. 
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Around 15 minutes of the movie pass by, and yet not a single reaction out of you. Dazai wasn’t really paying much attention to the movie, only the suspenseful and tension filled parts as he took quick glances at you to try and sense some sort of reaction out of you - but nothing. Dazai continued to stare intently at you, not only because of him trying to sense any sign of emotion, but just because he found you so lovely to stare at. You looked so beautiful when you focused intently on things.
Once Dazai turns his head back to the screen, a loud scream and figure appearing on the screen makes Dazai jump out of his skin, eyes going wide like tennis balls as he yelps.
"Fuck! Oh bella, it’s okay I’ll hold y-"
"Holy shit that was amazing!"
Dazais head quickly snaps to the side to see you - of all people laughing, at the sudden jumpscare.
"Y-you think this is funny..?"
You giggle at the screen as you reply.
"Yeah! The visuals are insane!"
You had the most precious smile on your face that Dazai was actually in shock of. He stared at you with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth as he processed what had just happened. Dazais plan, for the first time in his life - had backfired on him.
He turned away from you and continued to watch the movie, fearing to inject as he didn’t want to spoil your fun or enjoyment of the movie, although he didn’t quite understand how you could enjoy such things.
After nearing the movies end, you’re still smiling so peacefully, whilst Dazai on the other hand looked absolutely mortified and disgusted with what he had just watched. He had really expected you to be all jumpy and startled, him holding you close as you tremble in fear, not the other way around. He felt defeated to say the least - and very humbled. But seeing that sweet precious smile on your face was all the while worth it. You turn to him.
"Are you okay, love? You look rather..disturbed."
Dazai blinks for a few moments before smiling sweetly back at you.
"Yeah..I’m great, I just- didn’t really expect you to act like that."
"Oh! I’ve seen Possum more times than I can count. I love horror movies!"
He blinks a few times again, before looking down at the empty space on the couch
"Oh."
You tilt your head to the side, surprised to see your lover look so dumbfounded.
"What’s the matter?"
"Nothing, I just.." He starts.
"I thought if I got you to watch a scary movie with me then you’d possibly be startled enough to take up the space on the couch and cuddle up to me. But now I look like the fool who needs to be goddamn coddled!" He huffs and crosses his arms, eyebrows furrowing like a little kid. You giggle at his reasoning.
"I mean, I could cuddle you..-"
"Don’t even think about it. That’s my job damn it!"
You laugh, throwing your head back into the couch as you wipe some fake tears off your face.
"Oh my, I’ve outsmarted the Osamu Dazai! Please, how shall I be rewarded?"
"Oh stop it, I can’t take this anymore!!"
He places his hands on his head, shaking his head rapidly as he continues his tantrum, before eventually stopping and falling back into the couch, he sighs loudly.
"Well I’ve certainly been humbled."
You giggle at this, before crawling over to him and sitting on your knees in front of him. He perks up at this and raises an eyebrow as he stares at you.
"What?"
You tilt your head to the side with a cute smile.
"We can pretend I don’t like horror movies.."
He stares blankly for a moment at your suggestion, both eyebrows now raised and his eyes open wide.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
He smirks, before grabbing you by your waist and pulling you into his side, you squeal.
"Shhh, it’s okay, I’m here." He says, caressing your hair gently as you snicker
"Seriously?"
"Shhhh, it wasn’t real, only visuals.."
"You sure you’re not just telling yourself that?"
"Let me have my moment, sweetheart."
He smiles as he places a gentle kiss on your cheek, you smile and rest your head against his side, peaceful silence fills the room as the two of you are tangled in utter bliss with one another.
"Okay but seriously, I really need to keep close to you tonight." Dazai says. "Im not having any puppets or massive spiders come through any bags or windows tonight."
"Pfft, yeah okay."
"What? I’m being serious, that was the scariest thing ever Y/N!!" He whines, pressing his cheek against the top of your head, rubbing your arm gently.
Sure, his plan may have failed - and it turned out he was the one who actually needed taken care of. But he got his main goal - you, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
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TAGLIST : @hauntedsol @hopefulpain @forgotten-blues @ruru-kiss @texas-bitch-yee @lvstyangel @thetizzler @is-therelife-onmars @atlasnessie @101strawberries101
want to be added to my tag-list? : click here!
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quoththemaiden · 3 months
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The final chapter of @mrghostrat's Big Name Feelings Good Omens AU is dropping tomorrow, so obviously there was no way I could resist writing another fanscene. (Previous scene 1, 2, 3) Inspired by the sheer domesticity of chapters 15 and 16, enjoy this end-of-series scene.
Crowley's key fumbled against the lock — still Aziraphale's lock, technically, but very firmly Crowley's key. "Dinner was good, though?"
Aziraphale rolled his eyes a little at how much more attention his face was getting than the keyhole. Sherlock Holmes might have blamed the wine they shared at dinner for the scratches around the lock, but Aziraphale knew better. "It was delicious, of course. You should know; you were there."
"Nnyeah, well, it's your opinion I care about." As if that weren't obvious from Crowley having gotten them a table at one of the city's best restaurants on Valentine's Day and insisting on not even letting him see the bill.
As if Aziraphale was ever any good at hiding his appreciation of good food.
"Quite sure," Aziraphale replied with a gentle touch on Crowley's arm that swiftly turned into snagging the key from him to open the door himself. Crowley let out a huffy laugh as he followed him inside. "Tea?"
"Sure, if that goes with whatever we're doing next." Crowley had been trying to wheedle Aziraphale's planned gift out of him for the past two weeks, and Aziraphale had remained utterly firm in not sharing it with him. Crowley insisted that whatever Aziraphale planned would be alright with him so there was no reason for Aziraphale to be shy about it, and Aziraphale had said "I know, dearest," and somehow that's as far as Crowley's attempts at learning Aziraphale's plans ever got.
Aziraphale fussed around with the tea and put on some music — old-fashioned stuff on actual CDs, the sap — and Crowley was left to lean against the doorjamb watching him and coming to terms with being so terribly, completely besotted that their evening plans could be "absolutely nothing" and Crowley wouldn't love it a single speck less. Aziraphale had said that he'd always thought of Valentine's Day as just another day, and that he'd certainly never considered that he might be able to celebrate it publicly, so Crowley was already delighted at having coaxed him out to dinner. Crowley found himself very suddenly aware that if Aziraphale's supposed plans amounted to nothing at all, he honestly wouldn't mind. His fifteen-year-old self would eat him alive if he knew, and Crowley felt warm inside to know that that was his younger self's loss.
Crowley blinked out of his reverie in time to help Aziraphale carry the teacups into the living room, and was almost surprised when Aziraphale brought a bag in with him as he followed. "Whazzat?"
"Painting supplies, dear." Aziraphale set the bag down on the coffee table.
Another point in favor of another evening spent doing nothing unusual. Crowley relaxed back into the couch, wondering if his melting heart could leave stains on the fabric. "What're you gonna paint?"
"You!" Par for the course again, then. Aziraphale gave a happy wriggle. "I hope you aren't ticklish!"
Wait, what?
"Uh?" Crowley picked up one of the paints Aziraphale was setting out and found that the label said, quite clearly, "body safe." "Angel?"
Aziraphale looked at him with a smile that said he was still 100% confident in his plan despite Crowley's confusion. "I thought it might be a nice reminder of the con. Getting an airbrush and making stencils didn't seem sensible, really, but I know how to use a brush well enough."
Crowley let out a breathy laugh. "'Well enough' 's an understatement. Geez, now MY gift feels—"
"—completely, perfectly tailored to me," Aziraphale cut in. "I would have been actually cross if you'd insisted on getting me another sword." Crowley laughed again, and it warmed Aziraphale's heart that he'd seemed to do nothing but laugh all night. Aziraphale patted Crowley's hand before picking up his tea, taking an appreciative sip and willing it to calm the excited fluttering in his chest. "What do you think? Another serpent on your cheek? I was thinking a tree would look rather lovely spread across your spine and shoulder blades..."
Crowley shivered a little at that, easily able to picture Aziraphale straddling his hips as he lay on the bed, Aziraphale's left palm spread flat on his back to keep himself steady with the rise and falls of Crowley's breath, his paintbrush tenderly tracing a line along his spine...
"Snake first," he agreed quickly. "And then..." He looked down on Aziraphale's arms and swallowed. "Think you could paint on your own arm? I could help hold things steady for you."
"Oh," Aziraphale breathed, and Crowley's heart clenched in the best of ways. He had no idea how Aziraphale always managed to say that like he was falling in love all over again, time and time again, but he did.
No, that wasn't quite right. Crowley probably did know. He suspected it came from the same place as the way he'd looked at Aziraphale as he helped him out of the car today. Aziraphale had taken his arm without hesitation and looked up at him with a warmer smile than any mortal had ever earned, and Crowley had been certain he was wearing his own heart on his sleeve, his vest, and every other garment he owned.
He adored him, and somehow, ineffably, it was the smallest moments that made it stand out the most.
"...right," Aziraphale managed to say around the happy tightness in his throat. "Some art for the both of us, then."
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monikashinswife · 8 months
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Hiiii I love your Monika fanfic! Thank you so much, I'm so deprive of her fics, I neeed mooooore!!!
If it's okay to request another fic of her where she's jealous. Like the f reader has everyone's attention and they all taught she's single so almost everyone is trying to make a move on her (only her crew knew their relationship) not knowing she's already taken by the one and only Monika Shin.
Thank you so so muuuch!
・❥・Hi there beautiful Anon! Thank you so much for requesting! I really appreciate you! So anygays here you go, I hope it is up to your liking. Enjoy reading<33
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"Jelly Jelly" (Monika Shin x F! Reader)
warnings: none? not proofread
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
"You ready?" Monika's voice beamed all over the room as she called for you. She smiled when she heard your hurried steps. You gave her a smile when she took your bag to carry it for you, "are you sure about this?" You carefully asked, worried about going together to the studio because of the fear of the fans seeing as both of you wanted to keep your relationship private.
"Yes honey, let's go." She squeezed your hands, leading you to her car. The car was filled with calm atmosphere as you both jammed to the music. Both having a good time dancing and singing the words to the song while on the road.
"I'll text Yuri and let the crew know we're here." You informed her when the car stopped in front of the studio. Monika just rubbed your thighs as she watched you click on your phone.
After a few minutes, you both heard laughters and voices of your girls. That's the signal that you both waited. "Good luck darling." She whispered lovingly, caressing your face as you rubbed her hand that is on your thigh. You lean in for a soft and passionate good luck kiss before stepping out the car.
"Unnies!" Their enthusiasm was welcomed by both of you. You gave the four of them a hug, and Monika doing the same as they all became close with her through you. The crew had a few small talk with Monika before she parted ways.
VivaDiva has been going strong eversince you created this crew. With your charismatic dance moves and versatility, you manage to captivate your audience. On top of that, your stage presence left the audience in awe. Your popularity was undeniable.
And there was also no denying at the fact that you are very attractive. And you attract people easily. Your qualities can be also seen in your crew. Lily, Yuri, Nari, and Minji. These girls also made their name in the dancing community. There was so denying that your crew was one for the look out.
With you being their leader, you always help them and offer the support that they need. You would cater to their needs like a mother. And your crew does the same for you. They would always support you and that's one of the reasons why this crew is strong.
As you and your crew descended to the stairs, the tension arises. Your presence is certainly felt, like it was always the first time.
The crews were preparing and finalizing for the Battle. Watching other crews rehearse and checks, but during those times. Monika can't help but noticed how almost everyone tried to get even bits of your attention. She would always notice how the other crews' members tried to talk to you or have you notice them.
It doesn't help that when they are dancing or performing to their assigned task, they would find a way to make eye contact with you or wink at you. But like always, you would give them a polite smile. Knowing that your blush was only for your girlfriend.
But one of the more determined one is Funky Y, knowing who she is, you also happen to recognize her because of her talent and she was someone you could talk to about being a leader. But Monika notices her hidden motives as it is not that hard to distinguish and she knows how attractive and talented her girl is.
But she still can't help but feel jealous. She hated feeling like this. But she chose not to make a scene about it because of her role in this competition. She just observe silently, but she doesn't realize how her jealousy is building up.
After the rehearsal, it was time for the battle. And the crews were given the chance to choose who to battle. And when it's Funky Y's turn.
"Who would you choose to battle with?" The MC, Daniel asked the blonde. She look around the studio until her eyes stopped at you. You did not falter and held eye contact with her. Your crew exclaim happily when you're chosen. They wanna see you battle.
As the song started playing. The moves were thrown out in a rhythmic battle between two known names. You two were different and the audience are going nuts because of how insane your body moves to the rhythm. It was mesmerizing and addictive.
During a tense dance battle between the you and Funky Y, Monika's impartiality wavered. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy as she watched you both battle, the other judges nod in approval of the your performance. And it was all decided when the three judges raised your card. All of them taking turns to explain why they the winner. When it was Monika's turn to critique, Monika's words were unusually harsh towards Funky Y.
"You may have the looks and the moves, but dance is more than just that," Monika critiqued, her tone laced with resentment. "You need to dig deeper, show more variety, and remember that dance is an art, not just a show."
The audience fell silent, all of them taking Monika's words in. And you couldn't help but look at her in question. Funky Y also did great.
When Monika realizes her words, she ended it in a good note. Sighing as she watch you take your seat with your crew. Once the shoot ended, you find her.
"Monika, we need to talk," you said, your voice
soft yet determined. You took Monika's hands. Your other hand caressing her as you completely noticed how she's been acting. And her snapping at Funky Y was the confirmation.
"I know you're feeling jealous, but you're the one I love, the one I want. No amount of attention from others can change that. I'll prove it to you through my dance, and I promise, our love will remain stronger than any competition."Monika's heart melted as she looked into your eyes.
She had let her jealousy get the best of her, but your unwavering love and reassurance were all she needed.
You shared a tender moment before you return to your home.
After what happened, you both carefully let everyone know about your relationship. Yours and Monika's professionalism showed. And you dance not only for the competition but to show her your and commitment to Monika.
As the competition continued, the your performances became a beautiful declaration of love, and Monika, sitting among the judges, couldn't be prouder of her girlfriend's talent and devotion.
Your love story became an integral part of Street Woman Fighter Season 2, reminding everyone that love could withstand the fiercest of battles.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
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respectthepetty · 6 months
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I need to stress something somewhere. And I know you will be able to help or even help be observe but, I have a haunting feeling that in the clips we have of Mork reading to Day, is in the future and….Mork isn’t actually there anymore . … many reasons with the scenes set up but the main things for me is the fish. There is only one in the rank now in that scene. And the book marks in the book. 1 fish bookmark, the other an avocado? And their legs are covered with a blanket. So no 2 slippers of fish is shown……am I creating narrative things that are not there or seeing things wrong? it just feels almost a melancholy scene set up in front of the tank…… and I’m scared!!
What are your thoughts pretty please?!
Anon, I'm choosing violence first, then I'll be kind.
On Spanish TikTok, or as I like to call it Tea Talk, someone stated they saw the book's ending, and it ended with Mork dying and donating his eyes to Day.
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The people of Tea Talk ripped that video to shreds. The comments section was not pleased with the mentiras (lies), and Indonesian TikTok even showed up in the fray with the actual book to prove the original poster was "Livin' La Vida Loca."
I don't know how this cookie will crumble, but let me remind you of two things:
#1 - This is GMMTV.
It gave us The Shipper in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, and I think it has been correcting that wrong since.
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And it gave us Only Friends in 2023.
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I wanted murder and mayhem. Instead it gave everyone happy endings except the slut because apparently he had too many "happy endings" and *morality* or some bullshit.
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If you are watching Playboyy, it's what Only Friends could have been if Disney BL hadn't produced it.
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I might sound salty (because I am), but I'm really just trying to emphasize that GMMTV wouldn't. Period. Full stop. GMMTV wouldn't give us a sad ending to a branded pair. It will kill a mom quick, but sad times for a branded pair? ¡Nunca! For example, how did we all know Palm x Nueng were gonna be safe and sound in Never Let Me Go? Our Skyy 2. Can't have Our Skyy 3 if it kills a ship now can it?
#2 - This is Aof
The director, producer, and screenwriter extraordinaire shot Pat (Ohm) on Christmas Eve.
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He killed Papang!
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Hell, he killed Singto before the series even started!
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Mork (NOT GAWIN, NO!) got beat up and was hospitalized!
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And yet, we got a happy ending each time.
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The man wants to make use cry, but he has never ended with queer trauma to do so.
Which is why there are still two fish in that tank.
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And I think the avocado is a shout out to Jimmy's love of them (because who doesn't love avocados, am I right?).
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So as much as I do not think the reading scenes we keep getting are set in the present,
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I don't think they are setting us up for a sad future, especially because Korea already did this trick.
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If you watched To My Star 2: Our Untold Stories last year, you know that shit hurt, every, single, episode,
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and because it hurt, we were too blinded by the pain to notice the happiness sprinkled throughout.
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The happiness we were seeing wasn't flashbacks of their past relationship or even snippets of their current one.
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THEY WERE GLIMPSES OF THEIR HAPPY FUTURE!
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Korea gave us The Eighth Sense and Strongberry's Choco Milk Shake, both which had the perfect premises to fuck us over, and yet my only complaint was NO POLY!
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If Korea can delivery happy endings, Disney BL can too (but not the kind it punished Boston for. Never those kind). It isn't Taiwan, and it certainly isn't Japan who is ALWAYS itching to give maximum pain. This is "soft power" Thailand, GMMTV, Aof, and a branded pair. If GMMTV brought out Gawin to get Krist and Joss back to kiss a homie, I greatly doubt it would tank the JimmySea ship for a sad ending (did you get the pun?). If there is one thing I can count on GMMTV for, it's to secure the bag. Sell merch. Sell novels. Sell a special box edition of the series. Sell the ship. That won't happen if this is sad.
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Also, color-coded boys in love get happy endings.
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It's science.
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waitmyturtles · 4 months
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I can't grab screenshots of these scenes yet from Ossan's Love Returns, episode 7, which is such a bummer, but anyway, I need to meditate for a second on what I just watched:
In a BL, in a wonderful Japanese BL, I got to see a story of an overworked mother, under-supported by a society that expects its office workers to be working all the time, all while still expecting mothers to mother in a way that is so demanding that it is literally impossible to imagine surviving. Having Chizu collapse after temporarily losing the support system of her brother's family to help her watch her son was the appropriate health response for a woman who, as a mom and an office worker, is literally expected to do the absolute impossible.
And she was calling herself a failure! And was trying to pull office work together at the hospital! And felt that she was the obstacle for her team's assignments not getting done. Almost everyone around her was intervening to keep her from working, but -- the reason why she felt the need to work was because her previous society had trained her to need to work in literally every moment of her life.
And, at the same time, she was calling herself a failure of a mother! And her brother's family had to intervene and remind her that her support system is literally her extended family, and that it was okay for Chizu to think of her extended family as her own family, with all the benefits of dependence and intimacy. And Haruta and Maki and Kurosawa all offered their unconditional assistance as well ("Grandpa has a game," that got me).
Being a working and single mom doesn't have to be so hard, in a country that depends more and more on working women in its national economy. Japan indeed is looking into investing more into childcare benefits to encourage families to have more babies, to combat the country's falling birthrate. We certainly need these kinds of expanded benefits in the States.
The fact that THIS DISCUSSION was had in the midst of a BL, where the main couple was reminiscing on their wedding, in a country where they can't legally marry and have children as a couple and as an official family on record -- this episode was VERY deeply layered, and I absolutely loved it.
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ptsdangeldust · 5 months
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tw rape / abuse / suicidal ideation / self harm
can i just fucking say that the "poison" scene was just fucking flawless to me. as a survivor of rape and psychological abuse it was so fucking hard to watch and hit on every note i wanted it to. the suicidal ideation, the self destruction, the pain, the torment, the addiction, the hopelessness, everything.
[this got long LOL big analysis of ep4 basically]
also it's a little funny how easily i called it when the pilot came out that angel was gonna have ptsd and cope with it through hypersexuality . like this was obvious from the start to me and they do telegraph / foreshadow it from the first episode pretty well in my opinion. like ALMOST too much. but at the same time i'm kind of glad. like that's what i like about the show is that it *is* so raw and over the top when it talks about this kind of thing. that's why i like campy edgy uncomfortable shit bc where the fuck else am i gonna hear anyone specifically hit the perfect sweet spot of just exploitative-feeling enough to feel palpably uncomfortable in a way that just like. perfectly conveys this message. in my opinion, obviously.
it's like so crazy to me that i had this exact high expectation for the show and adjusted for edginess and got exactly what i wanted and then some. like. god. they hit every note in succession all at once and then tied it off with a beautiful, nuanced but genuinely well paced and well thought out resolution.
"loser, baby" was so fucking perfect as the counterpoint to "poison" in this episode. also charlie coming in and being purehearted but not knowing what she's doing and making it worse. but angel ultimately understanding that she meant to help and it's not her that's the problem obviously. and then husk is ultimately the one to give a shit about angel (with some encouragement, which like i honestly appreciate that he doesn't take angel's bullshit and isn't just the like Token Black Savior who has no character or agency of his own [of course i'm white so don't take me as the authority on this issue but i'm certainly aware of it]) and like not only try to stop him from self destructing but like relate his experience and make him admit he has a fucking problem. sooooo much of abuse is built on making the victim think they're at fault for what they're going through. the way val makes him look in the mirror and say "yes" outloud to himself over and over while literally holding his head and threatening him was such a good way of driving that home. and then we see angel have so much pride poked at so easily when he's called fake because he's SO aware he's putting on an act. he lets himself be exploited because he thinks it gives him a sense of control. can't be called fake if i'm an actor. can't prove i'm ever real. never have to BE real. never have to admit that anything is wrong and come to terms with it.
and so husk comes right the fuck out and says it. you're a loser. you're washed up. you're a has been. you're self destructive. you hurt everyone around you. ..... and you're not alone. THAT'S the important part. that's the real thing that gets you out of abuse. people. not being alone. like not just KNOWING that THEORETICALLY you're not alone but actually having people show up and help you and put in the work and relate to you and listen to you and let you listen to them. that's why abusers chronically work to isolate people. because it's so much easier to exploit someone who has absolutely no support system. who only answers to them. who has no one to turn to if shit goes sour.
ok also the fucking hypersexual self harm? i have NEVER seen that portrayed so accurately and so explicitly before. i feel like basically every single time i see it talked about at ALL in media it's either 1) portrayed as like sexy or ultimately good 2) strays totally the opposite direction and is talking more about cycle of abuse shit (which yes that's also important but not what i'm after) 3) really just hinted at / i have to like extrapolate it from vague hints or 4) exists in shitty media that is not ultimately trying to tell a story about escaping abuse it's just talking about a tragic waif and trying to make you feel sad. which is just another kind of exploitation really. so it was very refreshing to see it made very clear that angel was going around *trying* to get drugraped (which is NOOOOOT the same as consent. but i'm not going to get into that) because he was trying to hurt himself. he knew it wasn't good for him and he sought it out anyway. he could have wound up dead and he did not care. that's how low his self esteem is. that's how little he thinks of himself. that's how absolutely terminal his suicidal ideation is. i like used the word 'passive' at first but no i would not call that passive he is clearly actively suicidal hsuidguhds (ftr passive suicidal ideation is like. 'i wish i could go to sleep and not wake up.' but not actually acting on it. active is when you start purposely not looking both ways when you cross the street. that's basically what angel was doing)
anyway yeah. ep4 was kind of the peak for me i'm ngl HUIDGHIS obviously i'm very excited to see where things are going in general but especially more huskerdust........ i would like live if they didn't actually end up together but it feels clear to me that they genuinely care about each other and at least angel does seem to have... romantic-leaning feelings for him. would be cool if they had some scene where husk is like just cuz i care about you doesn't mean i'm going to be your magic saviour through love or whatever. bc i feel like it would be so easy for angel to immediately want and/or expect that. i did personally coming out of my abuse where i was absolutely desperate for real actual non-abusive love of any kind but i was NOT remotely healthy enough to truly accept it then even if it had actually been handed to me and i wound up in something that was..... better, yes, but ultimately still toxic and not completely ideal. not abusive, no, just not like. healthy. lol. but i do have good healthy happy love now so i'm glad lol <3 but like anyway this is a common thing with abuse survivors and it would *make sense* to see it but like i wouldn't put it past them to just go straight into "and then angel got better immediately and they got together and everyone lived happily ever after the end" HSDUIGSHUID but like idk man. we'll see LOL
also i did want to comment on like...... the fact that the scene was worked on by someone with a legit rape fetish who was like straight up into angel/val as a ship and thought it was like cool and fun or whatever. like. i really don't think the scene itself came off as glorifying rape or abuse. it's blatantly obvious that it's not good and the emphasis is placed entirely on angel's pain. and like it's. it's not porn. it's evocative. it's explicit. but the purpose of the scene is not "look at this hot sexy sex" it's "look at this horrifying abuse". like yes obviously there are gonna be people who get off on it but people can get off on anything if they try hard enough. porn is art explicitly meant for jacking off. not everything about sex is porn. i think if you interpret it as glorifying sex you're honestly out of your goddamn mind. the song ends with angel talking about how he wants to fucking die because of it. is that glorification to you?? really???
ultimately, *I* think it's good. i think, objectively, the team did an extremely good job. give them an award or something. i swear. where's the oscar. my boy angel needs his oscar LOL
... one last note, because this is tumblr: this is very triggering material. probably it should've had a better warning of some kind. but it is telegraphed/foreshadowed like i said and the show is rated 16+ on amazon (i feel like it should be 18+ imo but it's like. it's repeatedly listed as being for adults/"R rated" in promo material at least) and sex and violence are listed right there at the top of each episode where it shows the rating so like. idk man. that's as much warning as is usually given for this kind of thing ngl. i absolutely am not saying it's not triggering. but it is important to portray triggering things. it is important to talk about these things to give people in these situations someone to relate to and to give them the language to understand how to escape abuse, first of all, and like also art in general *should* be challenging. i think they genuinely said important, unique things and said them well. they did wayyyy better than i thought they would. for real. like esp coming from viv knowing her past like. clearly someone in the room actually knew what they were doing lmao (one of the writers for hazbin also worked on the episodes in helluva that covered similar abuse recovery material so. you know)
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auspicioustidings · 7 months
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Make your own way home
Word Count: 850
SPOILERS for MWIII BELOW THE CUT!
Summary: Short little drabble of what happens a few weeks after that ending cut scene.
CW: Dubcon/non-con by virtue of spirit possession.
If there was ever an example of wrong place, wrong time, you think you were it. The trip alone to the Highlands was supposed to be a journey of self-discovery. It was supposed to calm your mind, let you meditate in nature and find some peace. Not be in your head so much.
And now here you were, in your head. Stuck in your head. 
You hadn’t ever really given much thought to whether you believed in ghosts or not. You thought of them as something from horror films, always creeping in the dark and spooking young couples in their new house. You had never considered that they could be out in the hills during the daylight, waiting for a warm body to commandeer. 
And he had commandeered you without too much of a fight. For a few hours you had wrestled him for control, but his will was overpowering. It didn’t help that whoever had rudely put themselves in the driver's seat was an arse.
Let me out
“Cannae dae that, got places to be.” 
It’s my body!
“Our body hen.”
No, absolutely not, this is not a communist body, this is single ownership
“In that case, it’s my body” he laughed, seemingly finding your screaming in your (his?) head amusing.
It is NOT
“Let me see if I have a pretty wee body tae match my pretty wee voice.”
You could only watch as he took your body to the lakeside and peered into the glassy surface. It was bizarre, watching your own face light up in a grin that looked nothing like yours. He seemed pleased with what he was looking at, and you thought if you were in control you might have blushed. In fact, you knew that to be the case seeing a dusting of colour appear. Interesting, your body at least still reacted to your emotions. 
“Fuck me, look at this,” he all but purred, a hand coming to squeeze at your chest.
Oh, oh it wasn’t just your emotions that your body still reacted to. You felt the touch as if it was someone else’s hand on you and you certainly felt the sick little bolt of pleasure from it. The little bit of excitement of how horribly wrong this was. 
“Dinnae tempt me hen, told ye we have places to be. Once we get there we can play together as long as ye want.”
You could not think of a single thing to say to that and you almost felt a sense of motion sickness when your body started moving again, trekking through the mountains at a pace you would never go at. You tried everything. You pictured a battering ram to try and smash through to get control and he responded by putting thoughts in your shared headspace of the ramming turning lewd. You sang obnoxiously and he only joined in using your voice, delighted with how it sounded. You gave him the silent treatment and got so painfully bored of it that within 30 minutes you were back to just wailing in your head. 
“Ye know, they dinnae usually stay.”
What do you mean?
“When we take a body, the previous tenant disnae usually stick around.”
Am I going to die?
“Naw if ye dinnae want that. Even if ye did, might keep ye around. If ye behave might even let ye have control for a wee bit, would ye like that?”
If being possessed was not terrifying enough, the concept that the thing possessing you one, had plenty of experience and two, had never had anyone survive was making you feel sick. You felt that feeling in your body and he felt it too if his confused little grunt was anything to go by.
“Come on hen, be nice,” he said, not stopping but shoving a hand unceremoniously into your pants to rub gently. “Just relax.”
It was an insane feeling, you touching yourself but it actually being someone else controlling the movements. He wasn’t going fast, the languid pace seemingly aiming to soothe more than anything. It was wild that it sort of worked, that sick feeling fading out to a hazy rolling pleasure that was only just a gentle simmer.
At some point you felt your thoughts drift off to a strange sleep even though your body was still awake and moving. When you felt consciousness leak back in, you could see yourself approaching a house. 
“Look who's finally awake! Good timing princess” he said. You could hear the exhaustion in your voice, you wondered if he had let himself and the body sleep at all. Maybe if the body slept, you could wrestle back control.
You watched as your hand came to knock at the door. Watched it open to reveal a huge man in a skull balaclava. Watched and very much felt when your body launched at him, pushing the mask up to get your lips on his. He reacted as if he knew you, holding your body tight and laughing into your lips.
“Knew you’d make your own way home.”
“Always do LT.”
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Force, I am SO frustrated with the Filonification of popular Star Wars. People keep on trying to make arguments about Star Wars, yet they refuse to actually watch Star Wars and make sensible criticisms about it because they’re literally just parroting whatever weird non-canonical shit Felony spit out in an article last week.
I was looking at this article:
And I was legitimately trying to look at the criticisms and see if I can agree with any of them, but they don’t make any sense and I can just feel Filoni oozing off them.
So imma rant, got it?
Mistake Number 1 that led to the fall of the order: They were too much into politics.
More specifically, the article claims that “they very much had a hand in the flipping the Senate” with reference to the Vote of No Confidence for Valorum in tpm, but it’s been a minute and a half since I saw the prequels, so I read the Wookie summary, and I might’ve missed something but I don’t think there’s any mention of them, like, voting or doing anything significant in the Senate in ep1? I feel like it would’ve been mentioned if it was even vaguely implied that the Jedi mind tricked the senate or lobbied for the vote to go one way or another, but it isn’t mentioned anywhere and it don’t square with what I remember, so I’m guessing they just made this up and convinced themselves it was canon? Tell me if you can figure out what they’re talking about or if there is a canon basis I missed.
Other than that, I do not remember a single scene where we saw the Jedi do anything more political than take orders from politicians or exist in the senate building in the prequels.
Mistake Number 2 that led to the fall of the order: Suppressing Baby Murderer’s emotions.
…A Take, certainly. So this one’s talking about Anakin’s grief over his mother’s death, which I agree would be a fucked-up thing to suppress. That’d suck. If it actually happened because… the Jedi do not know that Anakin’s mom is dead. They do not know that Anakin and Padmé went to Tatooine, since they were ordered to stay on Naboo. They are utterly unaware of everything that happens on Tatooine aside from Yoda feeling the Tusken Massacre in the Force. Yeah, Anakin told Obi-Wan that he’d had dreams about his mom dying, and he didn’t do anything about it, but that wasn’t Obi Wan suppressing Anakin’s emotions—that was just him saying that it sucked that he had a bad dream, since I don’t think Anakin said it could’ve been a vision or anything, so this one doesn’t land at all. Where did they get this idea???
Mistake Number 3 that led to the fall of the order: ‘Allowing’ Maul to take over Mandalore (somehow?)
I can feel my brain cells dying. Maul joined up with a terrorist group and some crime gangs to forcefully take over a neutral system. None of that was ‘allowed’ by the Jedi. They also say that the Jedi ‘sent’ Obi Wan to get rid of Maul when I remember Yoda telling Obi Wan some shit like “Send anyone to Mandalore the Jedi cannot” and then Obi Wan went to Mandalore anyway and it didn’t do shit. Anyway I feel like the author of this article might own a ridiculously annoying cowboy hat. Just a hunch.
Mistake Number 4 that led to the fall of the order: Baselessly Exiling Ahsoka (Baselessly?? There very much was base)
So. Wrong Jedi Arc my beloathed. Here we are again. The article claims that the Jedi “exiled Ahsoka Tano on mere suspicion alone and didn't even confirm whether she was involved in the bombing of the Jedi Temple or not”. Which. Hmm. So, there was a big investigation into the bombing that pretty definitely said that Ahsoka was almost certainly the bomber. It wasn’t ‘mere suspicion’, it was all the fucking evidence very clearly pointing to her. She ran away, she worked with a damn separatist assassin, she was found in a warehouse filled with the bombs. The audience know she was framed, but the characters don’t because the whole point of framing someone is to convince the other people they did it. If the Jedi had exiled her for this, they would’ve been being very reasonable and justified. Will also point out that the Jedi were forced by the Senate to exile her and did not want to. They apologized and let her back in as soon as they possibly could.
Also there’s this weird (actually!) baseless claim that Ahsoka was one of the most powerful Jedi in the Clone Wars. Which has no proof because it’s untrue—she’s a padawan with max 2 years of training. There’s no way she’s more powerful than a fully trained knight, of which there were still quite a few. But of course she is, because she’s Felony’s beloved OC who can do no wrong.
Mistake Number 5 that led to the fall of the order: Not giving Baby Murderer power
I am convinced that no one involved in writing or editing this article has actually watched RotS, and has only ever listened to Felony talk about RotS. They claim that ‘they invited Anakin over to the Council as a pseudo-member and his only task was to spy on the Chancellor. Not only was this political meddling once again, but it was also an insult to Anakin’ oh no, they insulted Anakin, clearly this means he’s justified in murdering them! Also, the Jedi Council apparently wanted to appoint Anakin, they weren’t literally forced into it by Palpatine. You know, that scene where Palpatine is like “yeah, I’ve forced the council to put you on the council even though they don’t want you there. You’re my spy on the council now” that didn’t happen actually. The Jedi were completely evil in not allowing the unstable baby murderer a full seat on their governing body when they were forced to put him there through nepotism. Them asking the only guy who’s close enough with the chancellor to investigate him because he’s overstayed his term and is overreaching with his powers is also completely evil and awful and unjustified. Uh huh.
Mistake Number 6 that led to the fall of the order: Mace Windu Wants To Kill Palpatine Right Away (direct quote from the article)
Yeah, you read that right. I can’t make this shit up, but filoni sure as fuck can. So, Mace Windu learns that the shady Chancellor that’s been overreaching with his authority and has overstated his term is also an evil Sith that has manipulated both sides of the war to gain power, causing the deaths of millions, including a shit ton of Mace’s people and friends, because said chancellor drafted them to fight in the war that he created. This would make Mace pretty damn justified in killing Palpy imo, but Mace specifically goes to arrest him for his crimes. Palpatine then kills three other Jedi Masters in cold blood and attempts to kill Mace, and when Mace beats him he still tries to arrest him—y’know that whole “You are under arrest, my lord” bit?—until the guy tries to fucking electrocute him with his fucking hands and it becomes clear that there is no way to take him in peacefully. Only after palpatine murders 3 people in front of him, attempts to murder Mace in combat, and makes it clear that he cannot be taken in alive does Mace attempt to kill him. No matter how you slice it, that’s not him wanting to kill the bitch right away.
Also the article tries to say that Anakin wanted to bring Palpatine in because he recognized that he should stand trial, which is technically what he says, but he also screams “I need him!” in that same scene so I think we know why he really doesn’t want Palpy to die.
Mistake Number 7 that led to the fall of the order: They didn’t train Luke and Leia
Now this might seem baffling because the article is supposedly talking about things that caused the fall of the order and Luke and Leia weren’t even born until after the fall of the order, but I can assure you that the article does not explain this in any way.
Still, let’s pretend this makes sense with the subject of the article and press on. The article asks what was stopping Obi Wan from training Luke as a Jedi on Tatooine. I feel like the answer might have something to do with the fact that the twins were so powerful that the Jedi were afraid that the emperor could sense them if they were next to each other. Formal training would make them stronger and more likely to be sensed, so they didn’t do it until they had to. This probably would be the most reasonable thing in here if the article wasn’t about what caused the fall of the order.
Mistake Number 8 that led to the fall of the order: Not telling Luke about Vader
Yet another Thing That Lead to the Fall of the Jedi Order that somehow happened after the fall of the order, but if I focus on that I might start screaming, so we move on.
This article leads you to believe that all the problems in ESB could’ve been solved if only Obi Wan had told Luke about Vader. Hmm. Yoda says in RoJ that Luke wasn’t ready for the information when he was told at the end of ESB, which seems very true based on the fact that Luke was unable to accept the information when told, was described by George Lucas as suicidal afterwards, and is suddenly unable to consider killing Mr. Evil Baby Murderer Space Fascist afterwards because of their family connection, and you want Obi-Wan to tell him earlier?
You know that OT Luke would, upon hearing that information before Cloud City, have immediately jumped in his X-Wing and raced to confront Vader. If he found Vader in that state, Luke would’ve been even more unbalanced and unfocused, which would’ve lead to him losing the duel worse and being either killed or captured by Vader, since Leia wouldn’t have been close enough to save him.
Mistake Number 9 that led to the fall of the order: Not believing people who had been dead for 1,000 years were back without proof
I want you to imagine a hypothetical with me: a guy that is somehow vaguely influential in politics walks up to the UN and tells them that Leif Eriksson and the Vikings are back and coming to kill everybody. This man has no proof beyond what he and a couple of people with him say , and there has been no indication of this at all before he shows up. I know in that scenario I’d want the UN to throw him out until he had proof.
That’s the modern day equivalent of Qui Gon telling the Jedi the Sith are back. He’s making a huge claim with no evidence. You can’t expect the Jedi to immediately believe him no questions asked. The instant there’s actual proof of this, we see the two most influential and powerful Jedi, Mace and Yoda, talking about how they need to look out for other Sith. They are taking the threat seriously, they just aren’t omniscient like the audience.
Mistake Number 10 that led to the fall of the order: When they were enemies of the state who would be killed if they didn’t hide, they hid
Truly, a horrible mistake. Now they’re mad at Obi Wan and Yoda for going into hiding, unlike other survivors of Order 66. Other survivors such as Kanan, Ahsoka, Cal, and Quinlan, perhaps. All of these characters went into hiding. Cal and Kanan were forced out of hiding, and Ahsoka helped with the early rebellion while remaining in hiding, but pretty much every order 66 survivor tried to go into hiding.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go cry.
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we need to have an honest conversation about hostile attribution bias, honesty, and bullying.
@deliciouskeys i've had enough of this shit. you wanted to piss me off. now i'm pissed the fuck off.
hey, hiiii. friends of hers? critics? whoever you are reading this and willing to hear me out, i just wanna start by saying don't hate on her or anyone for this. don't send harassment, don't send anon hate, don't even unfollow her if you do read this all the way and find yourself upset with the topics discussed or her actions.
or maybe you wouldn't anyway, and you've already decided i'm insane, fine. but if you are friends of hers, don't barrage her with verbal abuse of any kind even if you are disappointed or disgusted, i'm not about that. and good friends won't just coddle and take your side to enable the bullshit, but they won't try to hurt you when you're down either
and to clarify what this is? it is a harsh criticism of ongoing behavior i have faced from her behind the scenes. or out in the open i suppose but mostly unseen or dismissed.
yes, i have the motherfucking receipts. i've tried to condense them to what i found most relevant to the topics at hand without clipping the interactions so much that they would give a biased misrepresentation, but all conversations as of this moment and to the best of my knowledge are still available to view in full context. mine certainly won't be deleted.
i may have some bad takes sometimes cause i'm as perfect as anyone, which is to say NOT AT ALL. but i'll readily admit that and the fact that i work on it, CONSTANTLY. and before anyone decides to dig through my shit to see if they can find dirt on me IRRELEVANT to this situation to DISTRACT from what's being called out?
all i ask is a fair chance and moment of your time to show you what i've been through, because it's something she never gave me from day one. and bear in mind please, that i am pissed off because it's gone on long enough and now she's trying to drag my friends into it while CONTINUING TO LIE BEHIND MY BACK and feign fucking ignorance.
no more.
deliciouskeys? you. yes you, i am addressing you directly this time. i gave you a peace offering with the mike sully meme, and you just kept going.
since i poked my head into the boys fandom, you have been hostile to me, LIED about me, put words in my mouth, accused me of hostility towards you, assumed my intent while not only withholding the benefit of a doubt, but consistently. consistently putting me down and insulting me as some sort of estranged fandom villain who only exists or popped up to oppose you or ruin everything.
i'm not a fucking cartoon character, i am a person. i do not exist to supplant you or whatever weird shit you keep imagining me to be that makes you act like this.
almost every single thing i say to you, instead of actually LISTENING or i dunno, READING IT AT FACE VALUE, you take. hyperanalyze. and immediately give it the WORST interpretation you can. and that's if i'm lucky.
i'm not here for fandom wars and shipping bullshit. i'm not here for your false dichotomy fantasy. i'm here to be a bullshit shipper and have fun and try to get others to be more open and have fun too. maybe throw in a psa here and there for the things i find important.
i'm not here to get fucking bullied either or to watch others get bullied. you can take your assumed hostility and narcissistic PROJECTION and shove it straight up your ass if you think i'm going to tolerate it.
and what is 'hostile attribution bias'? it's this shit.
oh, and you don't have to assume it anymore. i'm fucking hostile. why am i hostile? oh... at this point, i KNOW you KNOW. but not everyone else does, so let's just lay it all out and let others draw their own conclusions. hm?
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this was what set you off, right? the automatic assumption that this was someone i knew, looking out for me? i suppose that's possible but that doesn't mean i know exactly who it was or that i put them up to it.
and y'know, i might have even said that anon was a bit harsh and still given you the benefit of a doubt. anon was ANGRY and that's clear, but plausible deniability is so wonderful, isn't it?
but you've gone beyond that point. it wouldn't be the first time someone's noticed your behavior, and i can guarantee that. our first conversation was on my post about the comics and what they meant to me, sparked from an interaction i had with another fan of the show who refused to read the comics but still insulted them directly to me.
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the bottom piece is from the post, the top would be the snippet of conversation with the other person prior. all of these are highlighted with slightly adjusted coloring for ease of understanding who's who. and granted, you could argue that i jumped the gun in my first response to you, but then you accused me of being hostile towards people who allegedly read and disliked them. and i had done no such thing, i literally was not addressing those people at all.
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that was the first time you put words in my mouth, lied about what i said, and 'villainized' me for 'attacking people' made of straw i might add, when the post itself SPECIFICALLY STATED:
MISCONCEPTION.
so not the people, but the IDEA. an actually legitimately incorrect idea given context. i could go into a rant about how the comics cover one of the single most important and detrimental concepts to humanity (the war machine) and how american media is so piss watered down, propagandized and censored for babies and pearl clutching old people (and before you clutch your pearls over me 'attacking' babies and the elderly, i am not. i am criticizing AMERICAN MEDIA and PURITAN MENTALITY) that the comic itself was relatively tame outside of the american world view bubble, but that's not the point here, is it.
the 'many many' actually refers to people off of tumblr too, though i'm sure there's a fair share here of that mindset as it's found everywhere with everything. even then, i don't condemn the people. minds can be changed for ideas, that was what i was trying to do. maybe i need better methods and i can admit that.
still you chose to lie to my face or what, attempt to gaslight me?? whatever it was, it was enough for someone ELSE to step in and literally ask if you were BULLYING me.
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and me, being the naive fucking moron that i am and thinking we ended on a nice punny note and the conversation wasn't so bad STILL gave YOU the benefit of a doubt.
did you extend the same courtesy to me later on? well, let's see.
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no. no you did not. snippets of a convo from an anon ask you got on a proposed canon butchlander from when i tried to join in, you immediately accused me of things i have never said or done or even implied. and when i called you out on it, you immediately apologized (good on you, not included here but i DO acknowledge it and DID appreciate it) and i thought, "oh cool! we must be explaining ourselves to try and better understand each other so this doesn't happen again."
only for you to then backtrack and jump back on that ASSUMED HOSTILITY shit you seem to just LOVE huffing. but just for me i gather. maybe a couple others that i haven't seen or don't know about.
considering this is just the stuff i DO know about.
moving on.
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you have questions? oh, what a cowinkydink, i have answers. if only you had just ASKED ME DIRECTLY INSTEAD OF PUTTING WORDS IN MY MOUTH AND LYING.
but to give some clarification to the numbered ones.
love the framing here. OF COURSE, WE are ONLY here to be a NUISANCE. must be nice being a real human who can interact with others instead of solely "bother" them. if you'd actually read the post, you might have seen it was about the BULLYING itself, not the bullshit that apparently makes you rabid enough to be a bully. great use of being obtuse.
stop putting words in my mouth. stop fucking lying about me. stop assuming my intentions. stop painting me for your weird ass personal agenda or vendetta. stop making up bullshit about me when you haven't taken two seconds to get to know me. i did no such thing as 'slur the cishets'. proof is in the fucking pudding.
ahhh... i understand why you don't block people. and i think i'm understanding the insidious behavior and bullying too. you're disgusting to people who you don't want to see the content of so that they'll block you while you get to pretend you're still on your little high horse of being the "less petty" or "bigger" person. and that way you don't have to see their content anymore, right? having your cake, and eating it too. it's smart. it looks good on you as long as people don't see the behavior, like you might actually want to solve problems.
although, if i'm to understand all this correctly, you don't want to given the continued hostility towards me regardless of what i do or say. am i getting this, more of that delectable plausible deniability? or am i giving you too much credit? do you even want the benefit of a doubt at this point? because you stated before you'd rather be considered evil than stupid.
oh, my mistake, "disgusting" than "ignorant". let me not do what you do and put words in your mouth. clarify for me, if you want to.
personally, i think ignorance is more forgivable than malice because at least the uninformed can learn better, while those with ill intent will seek to harm again, but to each their own i guess.
and if you actually have brain damage over a nonsensical but ultimately harmless shit joke online, i'd suggest seeking actual help from a doctor because that isn't normal. but i'm going to be generous and say maybe it was a bit much or gave you a recurring nightmare or something, i don't know you, in which case yeah, get help if you need it. i take mental health very seriously so i'm not joking or being sarcastic here. happy healing and sorry for the trouble if that's the case on this specific thing.
but oh! you just don't want to see it, right? TOO BAD BITCH, I GOT MORE TO GIVE AND YOU CAN'T STOP ME!!
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and i don't have a problem with you writing your personal views about a pairing, any pairing. if that were all you had done, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation or, if you don't care i suppose i wouldn't be screaming into the void.
but you explicitly stated your point of view was "pretty common", that defaults my view as "uncommon" or in other words, "others" me and those who like bottom billy. don't you dare deny that when you know for a fact it's true.
then citing reasons for why you believed your view was more "accurate". you then went on to claim you were "baffled" when if that were true and you were actually interested in TRYING to UNDERSTAND? YOU WOULD HAVE JUST FUCKING ASKED ME DIRECTLY.
not that i would owe you an explanation or apology, or anything. but i'd have been NICE enough to try and answer anyway to the best of my ability. here, i'll do it now.
i'm not a big fan of bottom homie for the same reasons i'm not at all a fan of (show) homewell. apart from the whole superdick/compressing anus thing, narcissistic abuse/grooming and exploiting someone's trauma for a toxic kink is not only a huge turn off for me, it's super fucking triggering based on my experiences and what i have been through. i've had enough people looking down on me and telling me they "know what's best for me" while trying to rob me of my humanity and use me for their gain.
the funny thing is that i relate to homie in that sense but consider myself a total bottom who also LOVES the 'dom mommy' in certain context, but i also share a lot of similarities with butcher as well and know they both have a lot of very intense differences from me. and homie has a fucking vibrator for a dick. you CANNOT make me want to miss a chance for that, it's just not going to happen. and if i ever want to explore any form of 'grooming' kink from a personal place? i'll stick to thanos and mistress death, thanks.
i also don't find toxic masculinity sexy, that's a red fucking flag for me more glaring than the entirety of homelander, i find POSITIVE masculinity far sexier and true 'top' like. MM has the most of that in my opinion and is the sexiest man on the show, besides the guy who plays black noir under the mask.
i also fully understand the kink on the other end, y'all wanna baby him cause he's never had a mommy and longs for some kind of nurturing parental love, and y'all also wanna fuck him cause he's hot. so ya smash the two together and embrace the infantilization kink (which is seriously not my thing)
and listen, more power to ya. if that's what you like, enjoy it. i'm not judging. i just don't have the same fucking taste and i'm entitled to that. i don't understand why you have to comment on it or be "baffled" by the idea that people can be different from you.
for the record, i don't want to smash the two ideas together, i want to help homie SEPARATE and DEMUDDLE the legitimate problems and confusion in his brain that makes him so vulnurable to women's manipulations, and help him grow the fuck up without wanting to fuck his own mother (if he hasn't already) or keep him baby minded forever. i want to untap his potential and see the man he can/would become depending on circumstance.
because i like redemption and character growth and am a sucker for second chances regardless of liking dark media, and there's a huge difference between "i like you" and " i like that you like me".
that requires a more careful handling than anything suface level, but regardless i don't enjoy exploiting trauma kinks or reinforcing toxic masculinity any more than i would enjoy yiff or snuff. i wouldn't judge someone for having the taste as long as no one real got hurt. but that doesn't mean i have to have their taste.
stop kink shaming me or being "confused" by my preference, i haven't done the same to you. and before you pretend you haven't or that i have.
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if you were "seriously trying to understand" you would again, ASK ME DIRECTLY instead of this roundabout bullshit where you talk about it and 'how confused or tired' you are, but can't be bothered to take two fucking seconds to JUST ASK for a more serious answer beyond willem dafoe.
if i wanted to shame you for having a kink, i wouldn't be subtle about it. but i wouldn't anyway because i wouldn't even shame those who have a rape fantasy because i have one and have written and read plenty of it. i file it under 'horror pr0n' with a number of other things, and not every form or 'flavor' of horror pr0n that exists is going to be for everyone, much the same as fucking regular horror. but if it's FICTION, it shouldn't matter.
i understand that and if i judged others for having different tastes or acted... well like YOU, that would make me a hypocrite.
and your friend got it PERFECTLY on the first note. and then decided to enable the bullshit yet again by subscribing to the bane of human unity, tribalism. thanks for reinforcing the idea that this HAS to be a dichotomy WHEN IT'S NOT.
a little healthy teasing and competition? i'm game. it's too bad that's not what this was.
i am not your fucking enemy just because YOU decided i was, YOU do not get to decide that for me. but i'll give them the benefit of a doubt and say they were 'just joking', right?
that's ALL it ever is. "just jokes". but JUST when you or "your side" do it. it's not like you've ever been derogatory and petty about "your side" being the "good side" of fandom.
if you have to constantly reinforce and self assure how "good" you are compared to "others" specifically not part of your niche bubble?
you're an asshole who's not actually "good", full stop. if you have to measure your self worth based on what others do or comparing yourself to them, actually seek help because that's not healthy. just my two cents
but if you want to get technical, NO ONE IS RIGHT AND NEITHER BILLY NOR HOMELANDER IS TOP OR BOTTOM IN A TRADITIONAL SENSE, not just because opinions and preferences can't be right or wrong. because butchlander isn't fucking canon, isn't going to become canon, and as far as we know, both characters are confirmed 100% STRAIGHT within the show with toxic masculinity issues a mile long and would never wanna touch each other like that with a 10 foot pole, and homelander's shown exactly ZERO interest in actually being pegged thus far, so that idea's a headcanon.
even herogasm showed us that 3 on fucking 1 STILL wasn't enough to take him down and homie freaking out over a bruise from an unfair challenge of 3 on 1 because it had logically been a very long time since he'd been hurt makes reasonable sense on a basic surface level. he's then over it by the time maeve makes him bleed and carries on bleeding, and now butcher's dying and is the most vulnurable and literally weak because he's sick of the bunch, so... headcanons? headcanons are fine but let's not forget reality and then laugh at the people who remember it.
and if you had just asked me why i even brought up lovely amazing beautiful cishet women (not at all sarcastic, see above purple posts), instead of YET AGAIN. ASSUMING MY INTENT AND PUTTING A LOAD OF CRAP IN MY MOUTH. you can have that back by the way, what the actual fuck is wrong with you??
or for clarification on why i brought it up? i could have TOLD YOU MYSELF. because unlike SOME PEOPLE, when someone just ASKS a question or gives a neutral or even heated response? I DON'T ASSUME HOSTILITY OR TAKE IT PERSONALLY FROM THEM LIKE IT'S A FUCKING SPORT.
fact (and correct me if i'm wrong): majority of people participating in shipping fandom are cishet women.
this is a simple fact, it doesn't mean anything beyond that, i specifically said both times there's nothing wrong with this.
a majority of people are cishet, so this is to be expected. it still doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the people.
fact: society has issues, ideas, and expectations that affect and harm us all. cishet, or queer. and these issues will and do present themselves in fandom and fan fictions whether we realize that or not. heteronormativity would be one of those. misogyny is another.
and one of my kinks is challenging that, or at least the way i see to challenge that while dunking on redpill idealogy and toxic masculinity because i fucking can.
and i just LOVE how you tout about having the "pReTtY cOmMoN" perception which newsflash, YOU ARE NOT IMMUNE TO HETERONORMATIVE IDEAOLOGY IF YOU THINK TOXIC MASCULINITY IS A REASON A MAN WOULD NEVER BOTTOM. you'd be surprised what people could get up to behind closed doors. but then you turn around and not only put more words in my mouth, enable anon to put words in my mouth, discourage getting a direct answer from me, accuse me and my friends of being the type to randomly accuse someone else of doxxing??? wtf even is that.
and of course. given your 'pretty common' perception being the total opposite of heteronormativity, it MUST mean that society has resolved all of its issues and come to accept queer people exactly as they are in all forms with no expectations or interference whatsoever, oh yeah. places like florida or uganda just totally don't exist. the u.s. isn't on the verge of becoming an actual fascist hellhole for us, and it is TOTALLY just... no one oppresses us. no one.
ESPECIALLY not the cishets.
and despite all the evidence to the contrary, you especially have done nothing wrong here and its all in my head. is that right? can you clarify for me? do you think that my situations have put zero pressure on me in my day to day life? on my friends' lives? do you think you didn't add to that? do you think you and company are the only ones that feel or react like humans?
imagine being so far up your own ass you tell the queer HOW to queer. or at least be a GOOD queer, right?
oh, i'm sorry let me not put words in your mouth. you were of course only laughing at me behind my back for the 'anti-cishet' things i never said.
and no. OBVIOUSLY i wasn't saying any of the shit you accused. i was saying i prefer SUBVERSIVE themes when i do my tops and bottoms and a more detailed look at that can be found in my purple all over responses or just the posts themselves, but if you still want to ask me anyway, i'll answer to the best of my ability.
and what a coincidence that despite you understanding top/bottom not just being related to penetration and some people will feel certain dynamics may be reductive, how ironic that you couldn't possibly fathom that as one of my main complaints.
you don't WANT to actually understand. you just wanted a circle jerk of confirmation bias.
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this anon hit the nail on the fucking head. and you wanted to fight them?? i could have overlooked this but i wanted to touch on something really important because i don't know what anon may have seen but i once saw you answer an ask about homelander's redeemability and you cited "tough love" as a means to get there.
and as a former addict and narcissistic abuse survivor (specifying for context), i can tell you first hand "tough love" is not a real thing, and it's not discipline either because that requires teaching and providing tools for rehabilitation. but don't just take my word for it.
from a psychological perspective and to hear actual professionals go over the concept? "tough love" not only DOESN'T work. it is an excuse to be nasty and abusive to someone under the guise that you are only doing it to help them, when all it really does is make you an abusive fuck.
this would be why the SHOW had HOMELANDER of all people saying it, why what billy did to ryan is presented the way it was with HUGHIE of all people, the guy who was at the time dealing with a huge wad of toxic masculinity issues up his ass, 'got it'. and even BUTCHER'S DAD is presented as the piece of shit that he is who gladly passed on his curse to butcher like it was a 'gift'.
even the comics got this when they present butcher doing his scumlord over 9000 move to hughie and annie saying "cruel to be kind" about his own bullshit. no. no no no. he did NOT do that for hughie's well being. he did it for himself because he was a selfish prick.
and i want to be clear. i am being an asshole here and i fully recognize that. that's for ME to feel better because i am fed up with your bullshit. because you have spent your time poking and prodding me for a hostile reaction. well congrats motherfucker. you got it.
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and there ain't NO fucking love there.
i won't be your enemy. but i am NOT your friend either. clearly YOU wouldn't want that anyway.
but because i always have to add in that disclaimer for basic human decency? EVEN WITH HOW I FEEL and what the actual science says about "tough love", i would still never tell someone they can't use it in fiction, presented as a toxic kink or whatever the fuck else. even if it triggers me. even if i have a thousand different reasons to criticize it and voice that in a separate space.
people can do whatever the fuck they want and i can't control that. neither can you.
but i don't have to engage with the content or speak positively on it or keep my mouth shut, and i'm not gonna harrass people or pull the kind of insidious bullshit you do either.
at the end of the day, this is fiction. and if you feel the need to run an entire fucking smear campaign about me over fiction and preferences??
stop lying about me
stop putting words in my mouth
stop talking about me behind my back
stop predetermining who i am for me
stop assuming hostility when i will flat out tell you my intent and you can just ask, that doesn't just go for me.
stop fucking gatekeeping and gaslighting.
I DON'T HAVE A DISHONESTY PROBLEM LIKE SOME PEOPLE.
and fuck you.
neither me nor any of my friends or these anons are crazy and i will not sit around while you try to fucking gaslight me or anyone else. try it again, i fucking dare you.
bottom billy lovers existing is not an attack on you. it never was. you don't own the tags. FUCKING DEAL.
this behavior? is UNNACCEPTABLE.
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as for fandom? a few more things i want to cover. i couldn't have said it better than a friend of mine who while a little hectic and crazy sometimes, has been nothing but a sweetheart<3 that i just want to encourage and motivate to art or post pictures of her billy butcher kitty babygirl incarnate but unfortunately due to circumstances may be regressing back into her shell.
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a message i will never stop promoting, whatever iteration it comes in, whenever it comes up.
i may disagree with what you are saying or doing, but as long as you are not harming anyone, i will fight wholeheartedly for your right to say or do so.
that is the philosphy of true freedom, THAT is what i subscribe to. and it pisses me the fuck off when i see people trying to punish or hurt people for things that hurt no one. we don't get to decide how other people want to live their lives. we can only navigate and hope we might find a friend along the way.
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and THAT is the single greatest picture of captain america ever fucking created. no i will take dissenting opinions.
in regards to assumed hostility or hostile attribution bias, a more lighthearted and easily digestable demonstration is below.
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gais... just don't do it. don't automatically assume that someone means you harm or pain simply because they disagree with you. this is what leads to more problems. this is what leads to human tribalism. this is what divides us. this is what destroys us. this is what leads to wars. fandom shipping bullshit or otherwise.
the fucking stupidest invention of humanity, fought over goddamn unholy wads of paper and scribbles of ink because people couldn't accept that their ideas weren't accepted by everyone else, and anyone who didn't fall in line got the axe. or alienated. or excommunicated. or accused of being a witch. or whatever.
but this is the kinda shit we need to nip in the bud at the most basic level we can, every time we can.
it's called intolerance of the intolerant. and it's how we stop hatred from fostering and the intolerance being tolerated and eventually taking over.
because assumed hostility? it IS intolerance.
people are not made from ideas, it's the people who make or break the ideas, not the other way around. and ideas can change.
that should never be seen as a bad thing because it's necessary for positive changes and better understanding as time goes on.
challenge yourselves and the way you think, listen to newcomers and welcome them, have healthy discussions, learn to agree to disagree. it's not that hard.
and i know, i get it. it's not easy, not that simple either. everyone's on edge, people are sickly addicted to hatred and anger because they are EASY. giving in to them doesn't require self control or any form of discipline, it is as simple as instinct. it IS instinct. but if humanity has ANY hope of moving forward?
we HAVE to learn to give people the benefit of a doubt. we HAVE to learn to listen to each other, *actually* listen and hear *exactly* what others are saying. HAVE to learn to identify the difference between a differing *non-hostile* opinion and actual *intolerance*
because the world has already seen what happens when we FAIL and eventually we WILL run out of chances to get it right.
please at least TRY to give the benefit of the doubt in an appropriate situation.
i'll lead by example.
keys? even you. even now, i'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt DESPITE how you've treated me AND my friends now. because MAYBE you were actually key in the sketch and just having a bad day each time we interacted or MAYBE you have some sort of trauma getting triggered whenever you see my shit or we interact or whatever the fuck it could be, MAYBE you are feeling the pressures of a self discovery coming out journey and it's manifesting badly (yes i did notice that and if this is the case i would still wish you nothing but good will and luck with that, not sarcastic), or some combination, there's a million reasons and i don't know you, so i'm not going to assume or say anything for certain.
unlike some people.
but i don't think you're stupid. on the contrary, looking at your posts, my first 'assumption' was that you are actually very well educated and were just enjoying having fun and being silly. later and based on some things i saw, it occured to me that your education/upbringing may put you at odds or at a disadvantage with connecting with people online or having them understand you, that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you or them, it just means you're speaking different languages.
even the "tough love" thing could be a miscommunication/malapropism. it could also be internal denial because you had a loved one do that to you and still haven't come to terms with the actual abuse you were experiencing because "they knew best"
i've been there. but maybe i'm the one who's projecting just to give you the benefit of a doubt. is it fair for me to take out my own frustrations on random people? fuck to the NO. which is why i TRY regularly to keep that shit in line and my life private.
so i absolutely will not excuse you for being so blatantly dishonest about me either behind my back or to my face because even if you do think i'm being hostile (when i'm not), there's no excuse for that. no, i wouldn't excuse myself either.
that needs to stop in a general sense, and i know you KNOW you are doing that because you'd have to *actually* be the biggest fucking illiterate moron on the planet to not know at this point.
especially when i reached out to you before to try and resolve this calmly and you ignored me and then continued lying about me, yucking it up with anons and buddies like high school mean girls. officially. unironically. instead of doing an ounce of self reflecting.
and i didn't include those messages, but the continued disingenuity and callous misrepresentation is there. and especially the carving into my character to define me however you want without giving me a voice to speak for myself.
stop it. you know it. i know it. maybe you think i'm some country bumpkin cousin hick fucker who happens to conveniently be queer but is remarkably stupid or an easy target.
and maybe i am stupid for ever giving you the benefit of a doubt, but you don't get to rob me of my humanity or basic courtesy.
because YOU'RE human too. and you have a right to your thoughts and feelings and opinions, and i get that, and i support it
even if by some fucking bizarre coocoo for cocoa puffs alternate reality, butchlander were to become canon the way I saw it? i wouldn't gloat or celebrate or try to rub it in your face.
I would encourage you to keep liking what you like and keep being yourself, maybe even harder than before.
even knowing you wouldn't do the same for me. at least from personal experience. see any of the above. and if you think i'm a self righteous prick for it, so fucking be it.
but if you're going to be an asshole? at least own the fuck up to it.
oh, and by the way? i now headcanon that billy butcher once a month puts on a full body gimp suit and with ball gag to do some strange kinda unholy shit with fruit OR veggies (never both), and it HAS to be a waning crecent moon, because i fucking can. and you can't stop me. ;)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
gais... don't immediately assume hostility. please. i know tone can be hard to interpret through writing or typic and emojis help, and yeah, i know i can jump the gun too. but i try to take things told to me at face/basic value or read them in a neutral tone and i think it helps too.
but we should never be judging anyone before we know them.
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4. “Do you…well…I mean…I could give you a massage?”
Harry x Uma
Not the exact quote, but the spirit is here. Just some Harry/Uma moments, it’s good for the soul.
Maeve Mim is an OC of @tiredflowercrown which I borrowed (along with the Overgrowth as a whole), beacuse it’s funnier if the Mims keep doing things like this on purpose. Like, Maddy would also write a contract in a dead language, but, not on purpose exactly? She thinks it’s a perfectly normal language to use.
Also, I could have dragged this out longer, but then the semblance of a plot would be lost. Maybe I’ll write a bonus scene or something, who knows.
Uma is sitting  at her desk, numbly staring at the page before her. Trade agreement with Overgrowth or something. Gods forbid the Mims use any combination of languages known to humankind and/or currently in use. Uma is tempted to just burn the whole fucking page just to show them what she thinks of that attitude.
However, the Overgrowth controls the medicine market. Bloody bitches, the lot of them. And unfortunately, Uma cannot afford to leave her infirmary undersupplied
So she sighs, mentally cursing Maeve Mim and every single one of her cousins/sisters/ whatever they are – spawn of demons, anyway. She glares at the dictionary that refuses to magically show her the correct translation and rolls her shoulders back. Ow. Blame the never-ending shifts in her mother’s restaurant and the scuttles on the deck, the Serpent Prep when she bothers to attend– Just about everything, really.
„What’s it, Uma?“ Harry asks from where he’s seated over his own paper, watch assignments for the crew for the week, if she remembers correctly. Though he might have picked up something else, she has no idea how much time she’s wasted trying to translate this stupid treaty.
„Maeve is being a bloody bitch again, that’s what it is,“ she says.
„Oh,“ Harry answers, putting aside the paper and grabbing his hook, leaning forward a bit. „I can kill her for you,“ he offers.
She does her best to give him a stern look, pretty sure she’s failing at that. But can you blame a girl for not being at the top of her game when a boy offers to kill for her?
„We’re not even sure the Mim granddaughters are mortal, Harry,“ she says instead. She very much doubts that. Just as she doubts the existence of Mim daughters for that. Not that she’s too eager to know how the fuck these harpies spawned or what. 
„I could find out.“
She laughs at that. He certainly would like to try that, she is sure.
„The Overgrowth controls the medicine and drugs, Harry. Better leave them be. And if Maeve dies, who knows who would step up as a leader?“
„Maddy, probably.“ He has leaned back again, though he’s still playing with his hook absentmindedly.
„You wanna bet on it? With the Overgrowth and the Mims? They could put forth the mangy kid of theirs, just to fuck with us,“ she wishes she was joking entirely.
„Pff,“ Harry snorts, „I’m pretty sure that kid has rabies or something.“
„You thought CJ had rabies for at least half a year, Harry.“
„In my defence, darling,“ he drawls, „She kept biting us every time Ettie as much as suggested she should take a bath.“
Uma laughs at that, because what else could she do? Harry smiles at her amusement, still playing with the tip of his weapon.
She shrugs, intending for the gesture to stop the conversation; however, the movement sends an uncomfortable wave of pain through her shoulders and she can’t hold back the grimace.
Harry’s smile immediately drops. „You okay?“ he questions.
„I’m fine,“ she lies easily, even though he’ll see right through it.
And really, he just keeps staring at her with the forget-me-not eyes of his, and she can see the near-apocalyptic scenarios forming behind them.
So she gives in, almost as easily as she lied moments earlier, and she sighs: „I’m okay,“ she states again, „My shoulders hurt a bit, but I’m not injured. And,“ she adds with a glare at the dictionary, „Maeve insists on giving me a tension headache.“
If she can blame anything on the Mim bitch, she will gladly do so.
„You sure I can’t kill her?“ Harry sighs overdramatically and, no, she is not having this conversation again. She glares at him.
„Fine, then,“ he resigns, „Let me help you with the translation.“
She could, yes. But she would just end up going over it herself anyway, to make sure it’s all correct; she makes a face at the thought, curling her lip in displeasure. He must see it, too.
„You’re too much of a perfectionist, Uma,“ he informs her, as if she cared, „Just let me help you.“
„You helped already,“  she states instead, „Got me the book, didn’t you?“
He did, from Facilier’s Arachneum, the only semi-functional library on the Isle. She’s pretty sure bribes to the Faciliers were included – or maybe bribes to CJ, to keep the Faciliers occupied.
„But–“
„No but.“
He deflates from his argument, letting the Hook fall into his lap, and falls silent.
Uma peruses the pause to very usefully glare at the dictionary and rolls her shoulders back again.
The silence doesn’t even last long enough for her to actually pick up the work again.
„I could give you a massage,“ Harry says out of nowhere.
„What?“
„I could give you a massage, Uma,“ he repeats and gestures to her with the hook, „To help you with your shoulders, at least. You could even still work on the treaty, if you want to,“ he adds after a bit of a pause.
Uma thinks about it a bit: A massage sounds nice, actually. „Yeah,“ she agrees, „Go for it.“
He stands up.
„Alright. Take off your jacket, then Captain.“
She leans forward, shrugging off the leather.
„Would be best if you took off your shirt, too,“ he adds with a small smirk.
She protests at that: „Hey now, Hook! You’re just trying to get me naked!“
He shrugs, smirking even more. „Depends. Is it working, Captain?“
Instead of an answer, she throws the jacket at his face. He catches it, unbothered, and throws it carelessly on the bed.
„I’m so not stripping for you, Hook,“ she grumbles.
„Yet.“
And, you see, she really regrets having nothing else that she could conveniently throw at him without much damage or too much work lost. She settles for attempting to glare holes right through his brain.
He stares back for a heartbeat before surrendering and averting his eyes. „Sorry, Captain,“ he apologises quite easily, looking at her again, „May I?“ he gestures around, asking for a permission to continue.
„Yes,“ she huffs, though she’s only pretending the annoyance already, „Get on with it. And give me your hook.“
He moves behind her, already holding out the loop of the hook for her to take when he asks, why does she want it?
„I want something to hold,“ she answers, „And if I hold these fucking papers, I’ll tear them apart.“
„So you just want my hook to play with it.“ he turns the weapon around, the metal glinting over her skin.
„Yeah. I like it. Give it to me.“
„You like it,“ he repeats with a hint of disbelief.
„It’s nice,“ she shrugs, „Calming.“
He withdraws the weapon away, raising it to her eye level.
„This,“ he says, twirling it just so that it would catch the light, „Is a lethal weapon. You know that, darling, right?“
She does know that.
However, she said what she said, and she’s not taking it back.
She stares at him with her best rendition of innocent doe eyes.
Predictably, it doesn’t take long for him to give in: He sighs for the show and smiles so bright it almost makes Uma smile too.
„You’re one of a kind, Uma–“ he says and she can almost hear the sentence echoing around, cut short before he can finish it. She doesn’t linger on that too long, as he lifts the hook to carefully caress her cheek with its curve. Now she smiles.
She shots up her hand to meet the weapon and her rings cling on the metal.
Once she holds the weapon securely, he lets go of it: „Here you go, my dear.“
And then his hands are on her shoulders.
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piracytheorist · 2 months
Text
Ranking SxF season 2 episodes!
So, some time ago I made a ranking of the season 1 episodes of Spy x Family, from my least favourite to my top favourite. I felt inspired a couple days ago and I thought I'd make a similar ranking of the season 2 episodes.
Mentioning again that: This is all my personal judgment heavily based on stuff I liked. You most certainly will disagree with me and that’s fine! Just don’t argue with me because that’s just personal opinions, I’m not trying to change anyone’s minds or prove anything!
And also: I chose to rank each episode by five criteria, the things I love the most about the show: 1) Humor (intentional or not), 2) Character (defining or cool moments and such) 3) Cute 4) Plot (how much development there is and how well the action is delivered) 5) Feels (of any kind).
#12, Least favourite of the season: 29. The Pastry of Knowledge/ The Informant's Great Romance Plan II
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Humor: 6/10 Character: 6/10 Cute: 7/10 Plot: 6/10 Feels: 5/10
I think this is the only episode that got points removed for something I didn't like. I made some very passionate posts about it when it first aired, particularly due to how after watching it I realized I'd been treated very unfairly by some fellow fans, and thus I'm almost incapable of rewatching the first half. Yes this is about Damian bullying Anya, no I won't shut up about it.
Anyway. This is still quite a high ranking (it's higher than the three lowest from my s1 ranking), cause the humor and the cats of the second part were quite entertaining on their own. It got a few points for plot because it introduced the stakes of Anya getting low grades, and also because of the discussion between Franky and Twilight about Garden.
#11: 36. Berlint in Love / Nightfall's Daily Life
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Humor: 9/10 Character: 6/10 Cute: 6/10 Plot: 5/10 Feels: 7/10
A very high humor score because I honestly doubt a single minute passed without me laughing my ass off in this one. It was so ridiculous and they loved making it so. Though having two wholly different parts, they were both fun in how they were around two characters blinded by their affection for Loid to the point they have no idea how hopeless their goals are. I just love how exaggerated it all is.
Some feels points were added for Yor talking about remembering what Loid had told her during the bench scene, and also because we get Loid being a stupid simp for his strong wife.
#10: 31. The Fearsome Luxury Cruise Ship
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Humor: 7/10 Character: 8/10 Cute: 6/10 Plot: 8/10 Feels: 6/10
Reminder that this is still a high ranking. I'm just being strict in the ratings because the entire season is so good, the bar is really high!
Anyway, though I like this episode, it feels more like a passing point from the previous one to the next, compared to those specific episodes, so that's probably why it's this low. I love how the assassins plot is kicked off and we get to see some action, and character points were added for McMahon's ruthless killing of the stalker assassin.
#9: 28. Mission and Family / The Elegant Bondman / Extras
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Humor: 6,5/10 Character: 9/10 Cute: 6/10 Plot: 9/10 Feels: 7/10
This is the first time I felt the need to use decimals, lol. I just feel that this episode is one of the darkest and most serious of the season, but also... Bondman's part was ridiculous (affectionate) and the omakes were great by themselves, so I felt that a mere six wouldn't do.
I'm honestly entranced by the first part. The plot and exploration of Yuri's and Perkin's characters were near damn perfect, I only wish there was a bit more beyond that episode, haha. I understand the focus needed to be in the Cruise Arc, so I feel a nine will do for this one. The feels were honestly added because I was a bit touched by Perkin's motives, and how those touched Yuri too.
#8: 30. Plan to Cross the Border
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Humor: 8/10 Character: 9/10 Cute: 7/10 Plot: 7/10 Feels: 7/10
The Shopkeeper's introduction was amazing, albeit terrifying. Olka's was a little more subdued, but it was more touching. I felt both also reflected on something about Yor, so it was overall very satisfying. Due to so many introductions, plot was light (not that I minded), but Anya's scheming put up points in humor and cute. Feels points were added for Olka wanting to escape the crime underworld, and how that affected Yor.
#7: 32. Who Is This Mission For?
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Humor: 8/10 Character: 8/10 Cute: 8/10 Plot: 6/10 Feels: 8/10
I'd spent the entire week before this episode aired wondering how Yor would manage fighting Barnaby, and even though I should be used to the story's wackiness by now, it still managed to surprise me and make me laugh. Also Loid will never outlive his ridiculous tourist getup. Anya was an adorable little gremlin who couldn't stop having fun, so cute points went up, and Loid managed to spend one (1) episode without going "For the mission!" once, so character and feels points went up as well.
#6: 26. Follow Papa and Mama
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Humor: 9/10 Character: 7/10 Cute: 8/10 Plot: 6/10 Feels: 8/10
To be honest, I think I'm a bit strict with this one. I don't know how this story manages to make miscommunication so funny for me, but it was legitimately hilarious. The thing is, this was the only episode of the season whose manga chapter I'd already read, long ago too, and maybe my expectations for its adaptation were unrealistically high - probably also due to it being the season premiere and I'd spent ten months without my show, so I'm probably biased. Mind you, I still loved it, but this further cements my will to stay anime only.
Anyway! Character points went a bit down because I didn't feel we saw anything new, but the cute and feels persisted because of Anya's machinations and because of Yor admitting how good she felt with Loid dedicating time for her that day.
#5: 34. The Hand That Connects to the Future
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Humor: 8/10 Character: 7/10 Cute: 8/10 Plot: 8/10 Feels: 8/10
A lovely, hopeful closure for Olka and the rest, Yor getting the acknowledgement she deserves, a spectacular ending of the assassins fight, high stakes with the bomb threats, and an emotional ending scene with Twilight carrying Anya to bed and then the family getting ready to meet in the resort island. Not much else to be said <3
#4: 35. Enjoy the Resort to the Fullest / Bragging About Vacation
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Humor: 9/10 Character: 7/10 Cute: 9/10 Plot: 6/10 Feels: 9/10
No, I'm definitely not biased because this episode shows us the first glimpse of Twilight yearning for Yor what are you talking about.
Who am I kidding, I definitely added feels points just for that look he gave her while she watched Anya play with the sheep. The whole episode felt so relaxing and fulfilling after the intense assassins plot, especially the scene of the Forgers having tea upon returning home, that I don't mind that the second part at school feels a little exaggerated. The ending scene with Anya being surrounded by liars though is top notch.
#3: 27. Bond's Strategy to Stay Alive / Damian's Field Research Trip
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Humor: 9/10 Character: 8/10 Cute: 8/10 Plot: 7/10 Feels: 9/10
Endo used Dog Cuteness! It's super effective!
Yeah, the whole adventure and the way it was presented were appropriately hilarious and we saw some more of the dynamics between Bond and the rest and I really liked that. Plot wasn't heavy but I was all wide eyes at the introduction of a truth serum, and at the second part when Mr. Green talked about people defecting to the West. Feels went up thanks to, among others, Twilight thinking he was helping Bond get his "revenge". Also, though the second part didn't do much for me, it actually felt nice to see Damian laugh innocently like the kid he really is.
#2: 37. Part of the Family
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Humor: 8/10 Character: 8/10 Cute: 9/10 Plot: 8/10 Feels: 9/10
Despite the mopping wet of a dog we got here, I kinda felt this was less... humorous, or at least not focusing so much on the humor aspect. I felt it was more cute and emotional that Bond was just trying to help left and right but was only misunderstood by Twilight. The action takes the place of a plot here, and I loved it all. Some development too through Twilight realizing he can relax a bit with Bond, even though he's still in denialTM about how much he appreciates his company.
#1: 33. The Symphony Upon the Ship / Sis's Herb Tea
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Humor: 8/10 Character: 10/10 Cute: 7/10 Plot: 9/10 Feels: 10/10
Yeah OH MY GOD are we surprised. Top tier shit. Excellent balance of pretty much everything in this one. The humor even in the way Yor took out some of the assassins. Her flashbacks with Yuri. The ACTION and the ANIMATION of it all. HER REALIZATION AND DETERMINATION POWERING HER THROUGH. HER LOVE FOR HER FAMILY.
Yeah wow it's really so good any eloquence evades me. Perfect. Mwah. Thank you Endo-sensei.
~
And here is the overall ranking of the episodes, from both seasons, based on the ratings I gave:
1. Operation Strix
    2. Secure A Wife
    33. The Symphony Upon The Ship / Sis's Herb Tea
    24. The Role Of A Mother And Wife / Shopping With Friends
    38. Part Of The Family
    16. Yor's Kitchen / The Informant's Great Romance Plan
    27. Bond's Strategy To Stay Alive / Damian's Field Research Trip
    14. Disarm The Time Bomb
    12. Penguin Park
   11. Stella
   21. Nightfall / First Fit Of Jealousy
   35. Enjoy The Resort To The Fullest / Bragging About Vacation
   15. A New Family Member
   9. Show Off How In Love You Are
   5. Will They Pass Or Fail?
   34. The Hand That Connects To The Future
   3. Prepare For The Interview
   26. Follow Papa And Mama
   32. Who Is This Mission For?
   13. Project Apple
   4. The Prestigious School's Interview
  30. Plan To Cross The Border
   28. Mission And Family / The Elegant Bondman / Extras
   8. The Counter-Secret Police Cover Operation
   6. The Friendship Scheme
   31. The Fearsome Luxury Cruise Ship
   25. First Contact
  23. The Unwavering Path
   18. Uncle The Private Tutor / Daybreak
   6. The Target's Second Son
   36. Berlint In Love / Nightfall's Daily Life
   20. Investigate The General Hospital / Decipher The Perplexing Code
   19. A Revenge Plot Against Desmond / Mama Becomes The Wind
  29. The Pastry Of Knowledge / The Informant's Great Romance Plan Ii
  17. Carry Out The Griffin Plan / Fullmetal Lady / Omelet Rice ♡
  22. The Underground Tennis Tournament: The Campbelldon
  10. The Great Dodgeball Plan
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tuesday again 10/24/2023
this post and this series not sponsored by hellofresh
listening
caravan palace's new single MAD. genuinely the song i've had on loop while working but i had a very strong "ugh can't use that one it's cringe" reaction while drafting this entry and am trying to sort of sit with myself for a bit and go okay WHY is it cringe? how can we talk about it being cringe other than the fact that steampunk and electroswing are no longer fashionable? some weeks the policy of No Such Thing As A Guilty Pleasure is easier than others
i would not classify this song as electro or swing, and it's considerably jazzier than their more recent dancey pop stuff. more of a languid stroll with enough brass to keep my brain interested while i peer at spreadsheets? spotify
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reading
Alexis Hall's A Lady for a Duke. i liked this quite a bit but i have some longer form thoughts percolating that require a reread. it was a tense but fun read, i do not know that mr hall achieved the goal he set forth below. in a broad initial stroke, there is certainly a great deal of internal conflict not helped by our trans lead’s difficulty seeing her trans self in a loving relationship.
how this conflict resolves did genuinely keep me on the edge of my seat bc i could not fucking figure out how she was going to do it
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watching
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951, dir Lewin). this is a movie where (in the immortal words of the switchblade sisters podcast) it’s not what happens, but how it happens. the movie opens with fishermen dredging up two star-crossed lovers. i will not be particularly concerned with spoilers here or in my letterboxd review.
age and a deft scorsese-backed restoration have been very kind to this sea-mist movie. cinnamon fucking topography, technicolor at some of its prettiest and best used. jack cardiff (also did Black Narcissius, The Red Shoes, The African Queen) you've fucking done it again. the restored version is on american tubi and it's so so lush and dreamy. the very first handful of scenes contains a church bell ringing wildly, giving you glimpses of commotion on the beach, and it just keeps getting better from there. the beach party, full of dutch angles and toppled statuary and debauchery and no one dancing the same, is exactly the same as every beach party i have ever been to.
james mason is at his hottest, wettest, and most brooding. not all of our main characters are as openly debauched as pandora, but all of them are just as selfish. i have a lot of fucking beef with some of the letterboxd reviewers, who are simply wrong. pandora is not supposed to be a likeable or redeemable character. i think one of the questions for YOU to answer is whether or not a flighty, homewrecking, irresponsible woman like pandora is redeemed through her willingness to die for true love-- this is generally an admirable quality in myths and fairy tales, but is it cancelled out as just another flight of her fancies that ultimately kills her?
also the people who don't "get" what the film's about and complain it's too slow. it's about insanity and the sea what's not to get!!!
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thank u @dying-suffering-french-stalkers
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playing
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so we are mostly through the genshin 4.1 part 2 events. i am so tired of the past few battle events cycling through the same arenas; however, this is the first event where i read the directions and was like "augh that's too complicated we'll do that later" and did all my weekly bounties instead. speaking of bounties, i finally did enough to unlock the treasure chest locator and confirmed my suspicions that i have in fact picked over the region pretty well in the last ~two months. the liffey and research institute were at 85% and 95% respectively before i unlocked this thing, but i did almost immediately find two remarkable chests in the far south by the port. augh. would have bit me if they had teeth etc. i would prefer if the regions showed 100% when i have actually 100%ed them instead of whatever margin they have going now, but i recognize that i have brain problems.
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making
im MAD bc i was given a singular hellofresh dinner by a friend going on vacation and it was fairly easy to make and tasted good and everything WORKED. and it was like a fun little after work project!!! and the directions said “here’s what to do to the peppers if you don’t want it super spicy” and it most importantly it all WORKED. this is a very expensive thing to have a sudden interest in. i feel like i fuck up most of the food i make and i know that's part of the learning curve but it's SO fucking expensive to fuck up food and i have such a limited amount of energy :<
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esther-dot · 1 year
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In s7 Dany told Jon that she was sold and raped. It means she acknowledge that Drogo raped her. Then why is her dragon named after her husband? Not only that she was basically shouting that Drogo has promised her 7 kingdoms which she get in s8. She even told Jon that Viserys was not good person. Yet she named her dragon after him. She even compared her grief of loosing her brothers to Jon's. It was confusing as hell.
It was confusing as hell! This is a really difficult topic since none of us agree on exactly where Martin stands on certain things, none of us know what D&D were attempting to do, and the combination and contradictions of all their ideas was ultimately, difficult to comprehend. 😂
One of the showrunners didn't buy that Dany would be "seduced" on her wedding night, so he chose to make it explicitly a rape scene, and Martin has complained about that decision multiple times, so their perspectives on Dany's relationships differ. I wouldn't be surprised if left entirely to their own devices, D&D would have never entertained the idea of Dany falling in love with Drogo, of her naming her dragon after him. But Martin did write that, so we ended up with some of Martin's ideas, some of D&D's, and it's just a little confusing to pick through it.
A lot of people really like the idea of taking extremes (love/hate), and making them cohabit a single relationship, as a way of….kinda examining the breadth of a human's feelings, how complex relationships can be, and I think Martin is very interested in that. Not just relationships, but the individual having so much potential for contradictory feelings. Doing so allows him to look at nooks and crannies of what people are.
So, you get Dany who loves her brother but also watched him die, was ambivalent about his death because it was to protect her/her child, but then goes and names one of her “children” after him. It makes no sense! Except, she believed they were the last Targaryens, distinct from other humans (basically), and if you look at other mortals as lesser, I suppose it might make you feel a little closer to someone of your own ilk, even if they’re awful.
Jon can’t quite cope with the different sides of Ygritte, her almost shy smiles and tears over a song, her ease with murdering an innocent man. She forces a sexual relationship on Jon, she also tries to protect him. This idea of caring for a person while being disgusted by some of their actions, of caring for a person even though they abuse you…it is something Martin is intrigued by. Viserys, although an abusive pos, kept Dany alive, Martin may have seen it as an examination of all that.
Actually, now that I think about it, Drogo gave her the silver which tasted like freedom, the first freedom Dany had known, so naming a dragon after that, the initial feeling and then the power she’s achieved since, perhaps that makes it a little more understandable? The scene of her riding the horse reads like she's flying and certainly feels related when you read how she experiences flying on Drogon. The dragon eggs are a wedding gift, it is Drogo's funeral pyre in which she births them. They are entwined in her relationship with him. Maybe that's the explanation there?
Or, Rhaegar was the Targ heir, Viserys obsessed over getting the crown, Drogo promised her armies to the cause, it's probably more about the connection to the throne than any of the other things. I mean, showwise, Jon was the rightful heir (Rhaegar's son who rode Rhaegal), Viserion (like Viserys) turned against Dany, it was Drogon that burned KL and (momentarily) "won" Dany the throne. In that way, those names make a kind of sense….I suppose it’s likely a blend of foreshadowing and characterization.
As for talking about losing her brothers, if you believe that s7 was D&D trying to sell a genuine romance, you need points of connection for characters, things that allow them to understand each other, that could have been their shitty way of doing that. If you think D&D were tryin to write a one-sided romance, you look at a comment like that and think D&D were showing how out of touch Dany was with Jon that she didn't even know how losing someone you never knew and someone else you watched get melted isn't exactly the same thing as losing your best friend, the brother you hero worshipped, or watching a baby brother die before you as you risk your life trying to save him.
Just depends on whether you're in the "D&D gave zero fucks" or in the "there was more to it that they dropped last minute" camp. :)
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lauriel816 · 9 months
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Pairing/Shippy list!
I was tagged by @1337wtfomgbbq :) already hyped up I’m sensing there’s gonna be a lot of fun 🤩
Here's the rules:
List your top seven ships.
Put all of them in order of your love for them; 7 to 1, 1 being your favorite.
Name their fandom.
Supply photos for said people.
7) Peter Pevensie & Edmund Pevensie (Narnia)
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Geez. Is there even a proper tag for this?? Not many people ship these two I get it but I just, well, tend to drive down to an end off the beaten track. I really like their interaction in the first film and come to think of it, this was the first movie I’ve seen in movie theater so it kinda hits different.
6) Rogue/Shadowcat (Xmen: Evolution)
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They clearly had some issues at first but ended up getting along really well. Enemies to roommates to friends in combat and… let it hang in there for a bit bcs there could certainly be a lot of possibilities so who knows :D I really enjoy watching them bickering like an old married couple. Could do this all day
5) Hiccup/Astrid (httyd)
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Best anime couple ever! I love how their romantic relationship unfolds in rtte. A slow-burn, took a whole movie, plus three spin-off for it to blossom. Burns slowly but naturally and beautifully.
4) Logan/Scott (Xmen)
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When you talk about Scogan there's no way you can get around talking about that scene where Logan flipped Scott off and Scott just acted cool and cracked a smile. It's all you need to board this ship. Ugh it's shame the writer decided to kill off Scott in The Last Stand. But fortunately it was rectified in DoFP (Don't mention Logan (2017)) and Logan still got years to beef (and highkey flirt) with his frenemy :D
3) Magfam (Cherik + Speedyson) (Xmen)
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What I wouldn't kill to get more wholesome magfam content? For once can we forget about the angst and pain and just sit down and enjoy something of a rom-com, something light, a cute story of how a remarried family getting together. A remarried couple and their teenage son, who hasn't lived with his father for a single day before, try to work out together as a family. Isn't that what we all deserve?
2) Harry Osborn/Peter Parker (Spiderman(raimiverse))
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Quality angst. Their story has everything you need for a classic tragedy. Geez, I remember crying my heart out watching Harry die in Peter's arms as a kid. It left such a massive impact on me that I'm still not over it to this day. I really hate it that NWH did them dirty, Peter out of character, and implying that Harry, being someone vengeful, died of his tomfoolery, making him a cue for some meaningless joke. That's not how they should be. They deserve so, so much better.
1) Neuller (Men's Football RPF)
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My emotional support. My safehouse I could escape to. They are the reason why I'm here in the first place. Decade partners and soulmates on the pitch, two dorks who are always on the same wavelength and always seen together. For Thomas, Manu is the best goalkeeper in the world and the wall of steel behind him, always out there to defend so he could go full throttle forward without worrying; and for Manu, Thomas is his spokesperson on and off the field, leading the charge and helping him organize the defense. Together they grabbed almost all the titles they could. They complete each other, as quoted from Manu himself, Thomas is more than a teammate and he can't imagine a world without him.
Honorable nominees:
Silvercyclops (Xmen (movieverse)): It's a shame they never thought of exploring their friendship. What a waste of the chemistry between Evan and Tye.
Rogue/Gambit (Xmen (all media types excluding movieverse)
Lincoln/Alternate Lincoln (fringe)
Tagging: @manuelmueller @cincydrawing and whoever interested consider yourself tagged by me :D
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imagitory · 10 months
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Just for the record, guys? I've seen the new Haunted Mansion movie multiple times now, and it's really good. Like -- really good. It's like the filmmakers took into account all of the problems I had with the Eddie Murphy film after my mum and I first saw it in theaters back in 2003 while working on their project.
In the Eddie Murphy film, I felt like just about everyone -- excluding the actors playing Edward Gracey and the butler -- were miscast. The child actors weren't that great, the two servant ghosts weren't that memorable (aside from Wallace Shawn reminding me of Vizzini the entire time), Jennifer Tilly as Madame Leota was as terrible of a casting choice as Kristen Chenowith playing Maleficent (sorry, Descendants fans, but -- what??), and Eddie Murphy himself...yeesh. Worst of all though, the woman playing Eddie Murphy's wife was a wooden plank of an actor, which made it so hard to engage with her when she's arguably one of the most important characters in the narrative.
In this film, just about every single person is perfectly cast. Every last one. Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson...even Owen Wilson surprised me! Chase Dillon as Travis...that kid is going places, I'm saying it now! LaKeith Stanfield in particular was absolutely stellar: I even cried at one point, watching his performance, when I almost never cry at movies. Even Jared Leto -- who I admittedly don't know if I would've hired, given his history -- wasn't a bad choice, just as an actor. He certainly gave off "unlikable creep" vibes as the Hatbox Ghost -- so hey, I guess we have type casting, at least! I admittedly wouldn't have picked Jamie Lee Curtis to play Madame Leota, but she was still an infinitely better choice than Jennifer Tilly.
In the Eddie Murphy film, it leaned a lot on slapstick and pop culture humor, as opposed to any of the macabre dark comedy that the Haunted Mansion ride is known for. Eddie Murphy's style of humor really just didn't fit in with the tone of the original ride and the objectively beautiful Gothic sets the filmmakers had designed.
Yes, admittedly, the new Haunted Mansion movie uses pop culture references too (often in the form of rather forced product placements), but I won't lie, they still got a chuckle out of me, particularly since they weren't the only source of humor in the film. There were snappy retorts, cynical asides, subverted expectations, and -- of course -- dark humor, on tone with the ride. One rather funny bit ends up involving Ben and Father Kent trying and failing to convince elderly Bruce not to come to the Mansion after the old man says he's having heart surgery the following week, and later on, Bruce gets the particularly macabre one-liner "I'm too old to die!" right as he's being thrown in front of a speeding truck. We have Bruce cracking a joke to offer comfort during a really heartbreaking scene, rather than just to divert attention away from Ben's grief. We even have the rhyming headstones at one point!
The Eddie Murphy film focused way too much on Eddie Murphy's character being a "bad" father for working so much, rather than the way more interesting ghost story about Master Gracey and Elizabeth. We also get almost no references to the Haunted Mansion-canon characters aside from "Master Gracey" and Madame Leota.
In this new film, the backstories and personalities of the human characters tie INTO the story line with the ghosts, rather than distracting from it. Ben's dealing (very badly) with the grief of losing his wife Alyssa, which makes him particularly vulnerable to the Hatbox Ghost's machinations. Gabbie and Travis are similarly coming to grips with the loss of their husband/father. Travis is also having to contend with being the new kid in town and not having any friends while living in this haunted house that makes both things even harder. "Father Kent" gets hired to do an exorcism for Gabbie and Travis, only to get trapped by the ghosts himself, when he's not even a real priest, but he ends up using his own skill for persuasion and his strong emotional intelligence to bring in the other people they need to stop the Hatbox Ghost. Bruce has been obsessed with the lore surrounding the Mansion and similarly haunted houses for years, which makes him a valuable resource for exposition about the Mansion and later about the Hatbox Ghost's backstory. Harriet, as the resident medium, not only serves as the main combatant force against the Hatbox Ghost at the end since she has the power to banish him, but she gives great exposition about how our world fits in with the spirit world and this universe's "rules" about how they relate to each other. I kind of miss any real use of the Ghost Host, and I admittedly don't love this film's interpretation of Constance Hatchaway, since in the ride she's much more greedy and conniving, rather than just a flat-out maniac (plus, I'm sorry, but the story has both a ghost who chops people's heads off and another ghost who lost their head via decapitation and didn't connect their backstories together??) -- but we still have WAY more love for both the Disneyland and Walt Disney World's incarnations of the ride in this film than in its predecessor. There are even references to the creepy wallpaper and the bat-gargoyle stanchions in the queues!
And then there was my biggest gripe with the Eddie Murphy film -- that at the end, the curse is broken and all the little ghosts are "set free," leaving the "Haunted Mansion" largely abandoned. You know -- when the whole POINT of the Haunted Mansion is that it's filled with 999 happy haunts who want to be there? It'd be like ending a Pirates of the Caribbean film with Captain Jack Sparrow joining the Navy! Yeah, screw that -- this new film has their ghosts stay and make themselves comfy alongside their new living residents. Talk about an awesome fantasy for kids -- I would've loved living in a house like this Mansion, full of fun happy haunts who host rocking parties every Halloween!
But yeah -- I wouldn't say this film is perfect, of course...but if you're a fan of the Haunted Mansion ride, and want a film that captures its sense of creepy, Gothic beauty and dark humor without being needlessly gory or graphic, there's a damn good chance you'll love this. I know this movie should've been released in October and it's not really the "spooky time of year" right now, but please consider giving it some support in theaters, where the actors and writers who deserve your love will get a larger piece of the profit pie for their hard work than when films go to streaming.
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