#i will never get tired of the self-sacrificing trope

[groundcontrol21]

Sicktember #14

Prompt #14: “I Might Be A Teeny Tiny Bit Sick, But It’s Fine”

Fandom: Three Musketeers

Title: Keeping Vigil

Summary: With his three brothers all sporting various injuries and in need of care themselves, Aramis ignores his own health as he tends to them. D’Artagnan is less than pleased to find this out, but can he do anything about it?

Notes/CW: I did not use the prompt verbatim in this, but it's practically all there (you'll see it) and it's fine. CW for mentions of and passing description of emeto-related things. Skip from "...the sound higher and more urgent this time" to "'Wait.' Aramis sighed" to skip over the paragraph.

D’Artagnan could not say how much time had actually passed, but it felt simultaneously as though he had passed a century and yet no time at all in a haze of pain and bandages and bitter-tasting tonics poured down his throat. He had half-memories of crying out and being soothed, thrashing and being stilled with a touch, but they were all distorted in a drugged fog. Now, though, he was sure he was waking more fully, blinking at unfamiliar walls and a throbbing ache in his leg that was splinted and covered in bandages. He was finally beginning to clear the worst of the drowsy, heavy feeling in his head, when he felt a convivial hand pat his shoulder, before helping him sit up to take another drink of water. 

“Congratulations,” he heard Aramis saying, “you are the first to remain fully conscious for more than an hour after their injury.”

“What’s my reward?” Even with the water, D’Artagnan’s voice still croaked from disuse, and he rubbed at his throat, trying to clear it. His leg gave a twinge.

“Consciousness.”

“Mmm,” D’Artagnan groaned as Aramis laughed, “I want a better one.”

Aramis’s brow furrowed. “Is the pain bad? I have a couple different tinctures—“

“Nothing yet.” D’Artagnan waved a hand and dragged himself up further against the headboard. “I want to extend my record.”

Aramis smiled cheekily, swiping his fingers quickly beneath his nose. “Perhaps it was a bit of an unfair game in any case, as you were heavily drugged.” His voice took on a serious note. “You were in a lot of pain.”

Thankfully, D’Artagnan could not remember much of how his leg had come to be bandaged and bound like a mummy, but the memory of his brothers falling alongside him shifted vaguely to the front of his mind with a shudder. “The others?” he asked. “Athos and Porthos?”

Aramis sniffled and gave a small cough before answering. “Porthos’s head sustained a major blow. He didn’t wake for a worryingly long period, but he’s been awake now here and there, long enough for me to check on him.” Aramis blew out a breath, and added, as if an intercession, an afterthought. “He’s getting better, slowly but surely.”

“Good.”

“And Athos, he was doing almost the best of us all, his stomach wound stitched up nicely, until a little infection set in.” He sighed shakily, the sound almost snagging on another cough. “It was… scary for a little while, but the fever is low and I’ve been draining the wound. He should heal well in time.”

“Good.”

“I’ve informed Treville that we will remain here until everyone is fit to ride back to Paris, or at least until we can manage a cart for you to ride in with that leg of yours, since I suspect that will take the longest.”

Aramis sniffled again, and D’Artagnan could maybe excuse it, could chalk it up to the herbs in some poultice or another bothering him, if his cheeks did not appear slightly flushed, if his voice was not seeming hoarser and hoarser the more they spoke and the more alert D’Artagnan became. 

D’Artagnan cocked his head. “Is there anything else you want to tell me?”

Aramis wrinkled his nose in thought for a moment, before saying, “That you could use a bit of a shave?” 

A quick palm over his jaw told D’Artagnan this observation probably had some merit, but Aramis cleared his throat, and D’Artagnan would not let the man get away with deliberate redirection. “Anything else?”

But perhaps there was nothing deliberate about it, for Aramis crinkled his brow again, pondering deeply as though D’Artagnan had set him a riddle, even as he sniffled again and wiped at his nose. 

D’Artagnan sighed. “I mean, about you?” 

Aramis looked up at him in surprise, sniffling wetly. 

“And why you’re doing that?”

Aramis’s already pinkish cheeks blushed scarlet, and he gave another small cough. “There is a chance,” Aramis said, sighing, “that I might—potentially—be a little bit sick, but it’s fine.”

“I assume you haven’t informed the others about this hypothetical illness?”

“Of course not,” Aramis said, right according to cue. “They, much like you, have enough to trouble themselves over already.” He sniffled again and tried giving his nose another wipe, but this time it was not enough, and he shook with two tightly stifled sneezes. “Heh’KNGT! Eh’KNXT!”

D’Artagnan rolled his eyes as the man produced a handkerchief from his pocket and gave his nose a blow that was simultaneously the quietest and wettest thing he had ever heard. “Have you taken anything for your theoretical congestion?”

“I brewed myself some tea earlier.” When D’Artagnan continued to look unimpressed, Aramis sighed. “I have another pot of water on the boil now, and if I have any left over after wound cleanings and no one else wakes up and needs any, I’ll breathe in some steam.” He rolled his eyes. “I’ll be fine, D’Artagnan, there’s truly no need to worry.”

When D’Artagnan assured him that he did not want another draught of pain medicine for the time being, Aramis took to the chair which sat at the front of the room, perched in a strategic location which allowed him to oversee all goings-on of the makeshift infirmary like the benevolent tyrant he was. All was silent for a little while, and D’Artagnan contented himself with listening to the deep, snore-like breaths of Porthos in the bed across from him, and watching the chest of the Athos-shaped lump in the bed at the back wall rise and fall melodically. 

Then of course, there were the sniffles and snuffles and increasingly erratic breaths from the fourth member of their brotherhood, which crescendoed at last out of his grasp and into two more hastily stifled sneezes. 

“Ihh’NKSHHT! Hhh’IXT!” He blew his nose again, so softly that had D’Artagnan not been listening for it he might not have noticed it. 

“Well, I already know you’re sick, so there’s nothing to hide,” D’Artagnan said. “No use doing that.”

“Hmm?” Aramis gave a congested hum, and regarded D’Artagnan over the folds of his handkerchief with eyes so glassy and tired it was a wonder they stayed open. He sniffled, completely blocked-up again, but tucked his handkerchief away nonetheless. 

“Holding them in like that. It can’t be comfortable.”

“I don’t want to wake anyone.”

D’Artagnan rolled his eyes and cupped a hand to his mouth. “Athos! Porthos!”

“D’Artagnan!” Aramis hissed, horrified. “Stop it!”

“They’re stealing the wine! They’re stealing all the food!” D’Artagnan called, but his brothers slept away, the patterns of their breathing not so much as having changed. He turned his attention back to Aramis and fixed him with a smug look. “See? Nothing. Just let yourself sneeze, for God’s sake.”

It was Aramis’s turn to look completely put-out. Still, the next sneezes which assaulted him were not stifled, merely muffled into the fabric of his handkerchief. “Heh’shoo! Ehh’hehh’shoo! Hish’huhhh!” Somehow, the sound was still entirely shy and mouselike, and D’Artagnan still reasoned that those couldn’t be entirely unrestrained or natural. 

He let his thoughts drift for a little while, only coming back to awareness when a bit of shuffling and squirming in the bed at the wall across from him caught his attention. “Athos looks a little restless,” he noted.

D’Artagnan looked over at Aramis, and his heart broke at the sight of the man sitting in the chair, staring off into space with half-lidded eyes, his mouth parted slightly to breathe as he rubbed his nose absently with his handkerchief. D’Artagnan immediately felt guilty for having said anything at all, and this guilt multiplied tenfold when the meaning of his words finally broke through Aramis’s fog and sent the man rocketing from his seat with a handful of throaty coughs. 

His feverish eyes landed on the clock on the wall, then darted to where Athos lay, writhing slightly. “Oh, damn, it’s time for another fever reducer!”

“I’ll get it,” D’Artagnan said, and threw the blanket off from his body.

“No you won’t, D’Artagnan!” He called as he rushed to the table to prepare the dose, crushing leaves beneath his pestle, which he brandished in D’Artagnan’s direction when the man tried to swing his legs around to the floor. “Stay there, or I’ll hit you!”

A low voice from across the room mumbled, just loudly enough to hear, “Can’t hit D’Artagnan, he’s hurt.”

“Porthos!” Aramis cried, nearly upending the bowl of herbs. “I’ll be right with you. How are you feeling?”

Porthos’s reply was a long groan that, all things considered, D’Artagnan could very much identify with. The throbbing in his own leg was becoming persistently harder to ignore, but he would be absolutely damned if he mentioned this to Aramis before had treated everyone else.

He noticed the way Aramis’s hands, normally steady and sure, were anything but as he prepared the herbs to steep. There was a frenetic quality to his movements that worried D’Artagnan, and he held his breath as Aramis poured the water he had been boiling into a cup, hands shaking so badly D’Artagnan was sure the man would burn himself. 

He saw the pallor of Aramis’s skin stood in contrast to the red set high on his cheeks, and D’Artagnan could not help but say, “Maybe you should make yourself a fever-reducing draught, Aramis.”

That earned him the type of glare from Aramis that could kill lesser men surer and swifter than any sword strike or musket ball. 

“Aramis?” Porthos said dazedly. “Thought Athos had the fever.”

“He does,” Aramis said darkly, adding cool water to the cup so the mixture would be a suitable temperature for Athos to drink. “D’Artagnan’s pain draught makes him say odd things.”

“Mmm,” Porthos hummed, still sounding confused. “Hate head wounds.” D’Artagnan nodded his commiseration to the man, before belatedly realizing Porthos had closed his eyes again. 

Aramis had taken the fever tea to Athos and was helping the sedate man tip his head up enough to drink it, when Porthos groaned again, the sound higher and more urgent this time. “Gonna be sick.”

Aramis paused, the cup at Athos’s lips. “Can you…” He broke off, the sound of Porthos’s retching permeating the room and rendering the rest of his question unnecessary. “Wait.” Aramis sighed. “I guess not.”

“I’m sorry,” Porthos said miserably.

“No, it’s my fault,” Aramis rushed to assure him. “I didn’t put the bucket back after I cleaned it last.” D’Artagnan followed his gaze to the aforementioned bucket, which still sat by the hearth. “Just give me one moment.”

Aramis was still coaxing a mostly-unconscious Athos to drink his tea, and quite honestly looking a good deal worse than the man in the bed as he did so. That decided it for D’Artagnan, who swung his legs over the side of the bed. It would be hard going, but there were enough things he could grab onto between his bed, the bucket, and Porthos’s bed to steady him, and if not, D’Artagnan was sure he could hop on one leg for a bit. His balance was good enough.

He maneuvered himself to standing by using the bedframe. There was pain in his leg of course, but that pain had been there even when he was lying down, and he wasn’t even sure standing had worsened it at all. D’Artagnan grabbed for the wall a bit ahead of him and took a jump, but failed to anticipate how much the jolting impact would send shockwaves through his injured leg despite it not touching anything. He grimaced, and could not bite back his moan.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing!” Aramis shouted.

“Getting the bucket,” he ground back through gritted teeth. He tried for another small hop, but he was sweating now, the pain almost unbearable, and black dotted his vision. 

D’Artagnan lost track of how long he stood there, breathing heavily and willing himself not to collapse, but a hand appeared, warm and steadying at his back. 

“Drink this for the pain,” Aramis said in his ear, “and I’ll help you back to bed.”

D’Artagnan accepted the cup without question and threw back the bitter liquid in one gulp. He leaned heavily on Aramis as the man half-dragged him back to his bed, all of his limbs progressively leaden and uncooperative, and fell into unconsciousness just as soon as he was lying down once more.

***************

D’Artagnan blinked sluggishly back to awareness, feeling as though he’d swum through molasses and was just trying to break the surface. His head lolled to the side as his thoughts came trudging back to him, and he saw that the floor beside Porthos’s bed had been cleaned and the bucket replaced after all. 

He sought out Aramis next, who was watching him from his chair. “You drugged me,” he mumbled, tongue still slow and heavy. 

“You were due for another round of your pain draught soon anyway. Heh’NGSHHH’uhh! Snf!” Palming his throat, Aramis winced and strained painfully to swallow in the aftermath, the motion taking far more time and energy than it should have. 

D’Artagnan took a breath and reminded himself that strangling the man would do his sore throat no favors. “You need to tell them,” he said firmly. 

Aramis laughed airily. “That I gave you a dose slightly early so you wouldn’t hobble off again and damage yourself further? I don’t think so.”

D’Artagnan’s mouth did not so much as twitch. “Aramis.”

The humor bled from Aramis’s face as he sighed, congested. “Why? I can’t think of a single reason why they need to know.”

“Because we don’t hide things from each other, Aramis,” D’Artagnan said simply. “You know that.”

“It isn’t hiding if it never comes up! It will only make things harder for me, as you’re doing right now. Each of you should only be worrying about getting better yourselves, not worrying about me as well.”

“You don’t get to make that decision for us!”

“What do you want me to say, D’Artagnan?” Aramis cried in a rare display of temper. But as quickly as it had come, it fled from him, leaving him somehow more deflated and weary than he had been before. “Yes, I’m sick. I’m tired, I’m achy, I have a fever, my head is pounding, my throat is killing me, I keep sneezing, and I can hardly see straight. But I’m not the priority right now. Someone has to care for all of you, and I can do it. So just let me.”

Aramis went to the worn journal that lay open on the table near the door. D’Artagnan knew from experience it was there he kept notes of what tinctures he had given and when, observations of wounds and swellings as the days progressed, jotted bits and pieces of passing knowledge he heard from traveling physicians. D’Artagnan craned his neck to watch as Aramis scribbled a few notes, before scrunching his nose against his wrist. 

“Heh’KNXT! Ihhh’KSHT! Snf!” Aramis shook his head briefly before writing a few more sentences and laying down his quill. He moved toward D’Artagnan’s bed, but he had hardly taken a step before he wobbled precariously, legs trembling. 

Aramis clamped a hand over his eyes and moaned softly. After a few shaky seconds, he changed course and dropped back into his chair with another moan, his face ghostly pale and cheeks flushed scarlet. He reclined his head against the wall. 

“Aramis,” D’Artagnan said, feeling his own chest grow tight with worry. “You need to lie down.”

Aramis’s hand dropped to his lap, but his eyes were still shut tight, his voice thin and tired. “I can’t exactly physically do that, now can I?”

D’Artagnan blinked. “What?”

“Look around, D’Artagnan.” His eyes cracked open.  “There are only three beds in this room.”

“So where have you been sleeping?” 

Aramis patted the chair, and though it had been the answer D’Artagnan was expecting, it did nothing to stifle his cry of horror. 

“Aramis!”

“It’s easier this way, anyway, in case one of you needs something,” he said placatingly. “Quick access.” 

D’Artagnan thought a moment, then scooted until his back was flush with the wall, and patted the newly vacated space on his mattress. “Come lie down beside me, then. It will be just like sharing a pack while we camp.”

It was Aramis’s turn to look horrified. “No,” he said with a sniffle and a rub at his nose.  “You don’t want to catch this.”

“So it is bad, then?”

“Your body is under enough stress as it is, trying to heal your leg. It doesn’t need to add anything else to the mix.”

“We’ll switch places, then. Help me to the chair, and then you take my place and lie down.” Aramis opened his mouth, but D’Artagnan cut him off before he could begin speaking. “Don’t argue. It’ll be good for me to be upright for a little bit.” When the man still looked extremely perturbed at the prospect, D’Artagnan rolled his eyes. “Aramis, I’ll be in a chair, not sparring.”

Aramis shook his head. “I can’t be in your bed. You still might fall ill that way.”

“Can you take an infection just by using the same bedclothes?”

“Why else do you think they burn them after a patient has died of plague?”

“We’ll ask the innkeeper for new ones,” D’Artagnan promised. “We have hours yet before nightfall, we’ll think of something.” The man still made no move to rise, and at this point, D’Artagnan was not above begging like a child. “Please, Aramis, just lie down and rest.”

Aramis hunched forward like a marionette with its strings cut. “Alright.” 

He helped D’Artagnan out of the bed again, fussing at nearly each breath D’Artagnan took. “I’m fine, Aramis,” he assured him truthfully. “The pain draught is still working well.”

With Aramis’s aid, he hobbled to the chair, and the movement this time went much more smoothly. He sank into the chair with a contented sigh, and just so Aramis could not misconstrue the exhalation as a noise of pain, he was sure to add, “It feels nice to be sitting for a change.”

Once Aramis was satisfied that D’Artagnan was not lying and would not, indeed, spontaneously break the rest of the bones in his body merely by virtue of not lying down, Aramis went to lie down himself. He made a noise, half-moan and half-sigh, that sounded so relieved as he melted into the bed and into a heap beneath the covers in one fluid motion, that D’Artagnan felt some tension from his own shoulders relax in sympathy. 

But Aramis’s relief was short lived; though he looked half asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, his body had other plans. “Heh’TSCHOO! Heh’KSHHoo! Snf! Hhh’ihh’ISHHH! Snf! Snf! AHH’KSHH’uhh!”  His sneezes, one after the other, were completely exhausted, and he coughed wetly in the aftermath, a fit which had him burrowing into the blanket as he shivered and tried to regain control of himself. He sounded absolutely miserable, and D’Artagnan wished he could rub his back, knowing how much Aramis craved physical touch as comfort. 

Aramis groaned once the fit had stopped, the sound hoarse and crackling. “Now you definitely need new bedsheets.”

“Yes, Aramis,” D’Artagnan said, doing his best to keep the note of exasperation from his voice. “We’ll sort it, don’t worry. Just sleep.”

But the instruction proved a bit supercilious, as the room filled with the congested snores the instant D’Artagnan had finished speaking. He smiled to himself, and settled into the chair for a bit of a vigil of his own. 

#sick ara/mis #doctor heal thyself am i right #i will never get tired of the self-sacrificing trope #nor the 'doctor cannot care for themselves' trope #sicktember 2022 #sicktember day 14 #more muskie snz!!! #the world needs so much more historic snz fic #my writing #snzfic

[burst-of-iridescent]

Hey does everyone remember when Aang physically hurt Katara via burning her due to his own negligence with fire because he didn't listen at all to her concerns? But all of Katara's concerns were her being worried for him getting hurt and not herself, and then he hurts her badly, this never gets addressed again in the show, but I remember this vividly.

i actually like this scene on its own.

aang burning katara is a good character building moment because it's a brutal reminder of his own capacity for destruction. he needs to understand that his reckless actions can have horrific repercussions in order to fully realize the weight of his responsibility as both a firebender and the avatar, and it makes the moment where he uses zhao's recklessness against him more impactful. it also sets up the "water = life, fire = death" dichotomy that's part of katara's arc on viewing the world in binaries, which will later be broken down in book 3.

but ultimately the incident is still of greater significance to aang, and he's the one to bring it up in the guru and western air temple episodes, telling both guru pathik and zuko about his guilt over burning katara and his refusal to firebend ever again. this experience is also what leads him to accept zuko as his firebending teacher, and then finally forgive himself when he learns the true meaning of firebending. for the most part, it's a well-sustained arc and one of the few narratives aang has that is actually brought to completion.

do i wish that katara and aang had actually talked about his actions beyond this episode? yes. do i wish the aftermath had been focused a little more on katara instead of showcasing the impact of her physical injuries mostly through aang's continued self-flagellation? yes. but as a one-off incident contained to a single episode, i don't mind it.

what i do mind, however, is that this is not the last time the show is going to use katara as a lynchpin for aang's character development.

in the book 2 premiere, katara is turned into a pawn to propel aang into the avatar state. in the guru, her imprisonment is the reason that aang chooses to go back to ba sing se instead of unlocking his chakras. that is three separate times now that katara has been damselled in order to facilitate key turning points in aang's narrative, but not once does the same apply in reverse. there is never a moment where aang is the only one put in danger solely to drive katara's arc, the way she is in his. the closest we get is katara bringing aang back to life, but even then his death is still the result of his own choices and more integral to his storyline than hers.

now, compare this to the final agni kai.

at first glance, katara being put in danger just to complete zuko's redemption looks like the same tired trope, and had the scene ended at his sacrifice, it would be. but crucially, it's katara who continues the fight. katara who defeats the scion of fire nation destruction at the height of her power. katara who saves zuko just as he saved her.

in proving herself a master waterbender powerful enough to defeat azula and save someone she loves - someone who sacrificed themselves for her - from fire nation aggression, katara brings her own arc full circle. it is in triumphing over azula by saving each other that zuko and katara become the people they were always meant to be, and so their individual arcs are brought to their narrative culmination through bookending the other. the final agni kai works where the kat.aang moments fall short because it is of equal significance to both zuko and katara's narratives.

obviously, this is not to say that it's bad for certain characters to exist just to drive another character's arc. it's inevitable that some will be written solely to fulfill that purpose because a story only has so much narrative space, and it usually can't - and shouldn't - be divided equally amongst every single character.

but if we're talking about two main characters who end up in a lifelong romantic relationship, and it's the female character being repeatedly damselled to drive the male character's storyline within an already imbalanced dynamic... perhaps it's time to rethink a few things.

#anti kataang #zutara

[raineandsky]

i love your work! would you be willing to write something about a hero and villain who absolutely hate each other, and they get captured by an even bigger threat because hero messes up. Villain is pissed at hero, but he starts to notice that everytime their captor lashes out, hero takes the fall. because he feels guilty he got villain in this mess. Begrudging caretaker villain and self sacrificing hero is my favorite trope LOL.

thanks!!

anon your MIND youre a GENIUS :D this was so fun, thank you for the request!

-

The hero is thrown to the floor in something of a mangled heap.

The sound makes the villain jump. He didn’t even hear the door open. The supervillain levels him with a simmering glare before turning on her heel and slamming the door behind her.

For one horrible moment, the villain thinks the hero’s dead. He gives the mess on the floor a careful kick, and the groan he gets in response sends a flutter of relief into his chest that he hates immediately.

“Thought she might’ve actually got you this time,” the villain comments with forced indifference.

He hates that he’s glad the hero’s still here. Hates it. He despises the little do-gooder. He’d honestly thought the supervillain was cold enough to leave him a reminder of what’s coming for him.

The hero pushes himself up on unsteady, trembling arms. “It’s only a matter of time,” he says quietly. His voice is no more than a rasp by now.

The villain’s heart sinks unexpectedly at that.

The villain says something stupid—talks back, tells the supervillain exactly what he thinks—and she glares and sets her jaw and looks straight past him and to the hero. And the hero leaps to his feet to spit something much worse at her and she always goes for him.

“She knows what I’m doing,” the hero continues after a moment. “I don’t think I can distract her for much longer. I– I’m sorry.”

The last dribble of indifference the villain was clinging to evaporates. Emotions clash. Confusion, anger, defenselessness. Fear; for who? He doesn’t know.

“[Hero],” the villain says a little more intensely than he intended. “What do you mean you’re distracting her?”

The hero tries to give him a smile, but it’s tired and lopsided and not at all genuine. “It’s my apology for getting us both here.”

Something in the villain’s mind clicks into place. He’s always the one leaping up to bite at the supervillain. The hero only gets involved when she’s about to snap. He always times it so when she’s going to take it out of someone, he’ll be at the forefront of the charge.

The villain takes a short step back, like the curse of selflessness will rub off on them if they stand too close. “[Hero],” he says again. “What’re you– Are you insane?”

The hero tries to shrug. It looks more like a twitch. “Probably, at this point.”

The villain changes his mind and steps forward again, kneeling down in front of him. The hero practically lols his head to watch him. The villain hates the dead look of it, and he hates that he hates it.

They’re enemies. Their last fight never suggested otherwise. The hero had backed the villain into a corner. He’d gotten in close to throw his finishing punch just as the corner revealed its very sharp teeth. 

“This is new,” the supervillain had said when she’d come across them arguing in her trap. “It’s not often I get two in one go.”

It’s the hero’s fault, of course it is. If he hadn't pushed the villain straight into the supervillain’s little cage this never would’ve happened.

But the hero wouldn’t be taking the fall either. The villain’s heart clenches uncomfortably.

The hero watches with a slight frown as the villain carefully shreds his own shirt and dunks it into the hopefully cleanish bucket of water in the corner. “What’re you doing?” he asks from behind a pained cough.

“You’re a lot less useful if you’re dead,” the villain says flatly.

He gently tilts the hero’s head towards the dingy light overhead; bruises are blossoming like unsightly flowers all down the side of his face. The villain scowls, swallows his pride, and gets to work.

The hero flinches under his touch more than once. The villain hisses a short, “sit still,” definitely more than a few times.The hero eventually relaxes in his hold—the cloth is probably cool against the inevitable heat of the pain.

There’s an unbothered silence for a few kind minutes. The villain concentrates on the blemishes on the hero’s face, and the hero simply closes his eyes and soaks in the relief.

The villain abandons the scrap in a pile on the floor after a while, and the disgustingly wet plop! of its landing prompts the hero to open his eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” he says almost immediately. “God, I was trying to help but now you’re having to do something for me—”

“Shut up, [Hero],” the villain snaps. “This is nothing to what you’ve done.”

The hero blinks at him for a moment. Sniffles. Dips his gaze to the floor. “I’ll make it up to you.”

“You heroes are so caught up in your weird little morals.” The villain gets to his feet with a sigh. His knees ache after all that. “I don’t care. Just–” The words falter for a moment. God, he’s going to sound like he cares. “Just don’t die.”

The hero glances up at him sombrely. Selflessness doesn’t look good on him. The villain can feel his face scrunching up at the thought.

“If it fixes what I’ve done, I will.”

The hero’s never in this cell. The villain’s never left it. The hero returns with bruises and blood and exhaustion. The villain is no worse off than if he wasn’t here at all.

His worst enemy is doing all this, to protect him? 

The villain carefully lines up the words in his mind, prays his tone comes off as slimy selfishness, and says, “It wouldn’t fix anything.”

#creative writing #writblr #writers on tumblr #writing #writing community #heroes and villains #hero x villain #request #YESSSSSSS i LOVE begrudging caretakers YESSSSSSS #thank you once again for trusting me with your idea i always love a request

[anthurak]

So here’s something:

I think it would be a really cool touch if ‘Evil, Trauma/Guilt-Possessed Knight!Jaune’ turns out to NOT actually be a good fighter. Like sure, maybe he’s really strong, but all of his attacks are these wild slashes and punches that the girls are able to fairly easily duck and weave around when fighting him.

Why? Because Jaune has literally never been all that GOOD of an actual fighter. At least compared to his teammates and friends.

When it comes to offensive capability, Jaune’s weapon is about as bare-bones as you can get. He doesn’t even have any ranged attack capability. Even Crocea Mors‘ so-called ‘upgrade’ in Volume 4 doesn’t actually add that much of actual significance. All the ‘two-handed’ mode adds is a bit more striking power and SLIGHTLY more reach, while at the same time SACRIFICING a large chunk of Jaune’s defensive capability with the loss of the shield. In effect, the upgrade causes Jaune to LOOSE more than he actually gains. There’s a reason I keep calling that upgrade a gross perversion of what Jaune represents and a manifestation of his guilt, grief and self-destructive drive to avenge Pyrrha’s death.

And all of Jaune’s fights across the series have repeated this idea. Think about it; Jaune is NEVER shown doing anything significant in terms of directly fighting opponents or enemies, at least when compared to his teammates and friends. Literally the only time Jaune manages to do some kind of meaningful, direct attack on an enemy; Cinder during the Battle at Haven, it was only because Cinder in no way considered him an actual threat. And once Jaune proved he might be a threat, it very nearly got him and Weiss killed.

Instead the actually important contributions Jaune makes to fights come in the form of coming up with plans, coordinating, and tanking hits directed at his allies. And of course, healing, rejuvenating and powering up his allies’ once he discovers him semblance. All things he’s been doing more and more of since Volume 5.

THOSE are the areas Jaune actually excels at. Not slaying monsters or crossing blades with bad guys.

So I think it’s only logical that some kind of dark, ‘possessed’ Jaune would likewise reflect those qualities.

I mean, really ask yourself: What kind of sense does it make that an ‘Evil Jaune’ would randomly become actually ‘good’ at fighting? Are we saying that being fully consumed with guilt, trauma and regret somehow imbues a person with a bunch of fighting skills that they have never actually demonstrated or possessed?

It is literally the same tired trope of ‘I’m evil now so that means I’m suddenly a badass fighting for some reason’ because the writers couldn’t think of another way to make this person a threat. Not to mention, you know, being a pretty fucked up line of logic.

Instead, what could make Evil Jaune an actual threat is an extrapolation of one of the strengths he HAS always had; being really tanky. Basically, Team RWBY are able to knock him down without too much trouble, but they can’t seem to keep him down. THAT’S the actual threat a Dark-Possessed Jaune could pose while staying consistent with the character that’s been built up over the course of the story.

#rwby #rwby volume 9 #rwby theory #rwby analysis #Jaune Arc #rwby character analysis

[yearningagain]

hear me out okay

very hallmark esque, slow burn, hurt/comfort, older!steddie trope where steve ends up following in his dads footsteps, moves to a big city, gets married, has a kid or two (or more). he loses contact w everyone but robin (who was too stubborn to let him go and every day he is thankful for that)

but then he divorces, gets in a fight with his dad or something and decides to go back to hawkins. reconnect with his roots. maybe he brings his kid(s), maybe he doesn't but shows the picture he keeps in his wallet of them to everyone.

something something steve gets a flat or something fucks up his car and he brings it to thatcher tire, the best reviewed auto shop in town.

eddie never left. the band didn't take off, something or other, but he has a steady job at thatcher tire and keeps in contact with the the whole crew minus steve, but was heartbroken when steve just up and left and didn't keep in touch.

so when steve brings in his car, eddie is equal parts elated and furious, gives him the cold shoulder, etc. steve is hit with feelings of what could have been, what should have been, and tries to reconnect with eddie. with the whole crew.

everyone was angry, hurt, sad, but eventually welcomed steve back with open arms. robin never really left him, so she gives everyone a spark notes run down of what happened (maybe his dad threatened him, maybe he had no choice, or maybe he was a self sacrificing idiot once again and figured everyone was better off without him). everyone but eddie. because eddie holds the biggest grudges known to man.

but now that they've seen each other, they can't stop thinking about the other, and it comes to a standstill when steve shows up at eddie's trailer/apartment/house with some sort of gift and the biggest apology up his sleeve. eddie lets him in, let's him talk (albeit reluctantly), and they move forward. start over maybe, strangers to acquaintances to friends to...?

eddie meets steve's kids. loves them half to death, almost like they were his own. spoils them rotten. they love eddie.

something something they admit their feelings and live happily ever after.

pls feel free to take this and run with it if you want! and shit if i ever get motivation to write again maybe i'll make this shit myself.

#please use this im begging #steddie #stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things steve #stranger things eddie #stranger things 4 #robin buckley

[treesap-blogs]

HI GUYS IM POSTING ON SUNDAY INSTEAD OF SATURDAY!! Sorry. Back with a review of “The Sunbearer Trials” by Aiden Thomas

Hello, Tumblrians! It’s been a while since I’ve made a review, I’m sorry about that. Alas, only two weeks after school, my mom took me down to the South to go visit some family 😔it was lowkey miserable! 2/10 don’t recommend I got gaslit so many times lmao

SORRY FOR NOT POSTING ON SATURDAY😭I was very busy! I’m gonna try to stop making self-imposed deadlines, because a) I literally never follow through with them so they read like empty promises, b) I get last-minute anxiety paralysis and never upload.

Anyways! Here’s a review of a queer book, because they probably would’ve been restricted in the state I was in. Maybe not banned per say, but definitely not accepted with open arms. The only open arms we’re getting in South Carolina are guns, and dear old Uncle Dave pretending he’s asking me for a hug and not forcing me to do it out of moral/familial obligation. Sorry.

Not really any Book Discovery Backstory for this one, except for that I wanted to get around to reading every single Aiden Thomas book. And this was originally meant to be for the Trans Rights Readathon, but I got tired and gave up! Oops.

The Sunbearer Trials is the book in question! For once, its advertising is pretty accurate: Think The Hunger Games’ nail-biting (and televised) battle royale, mixed with the demigod folklore and plot aspects of Percy Jackson (but make it gods of Mexican instead of Greek/Roman mythology)! Teo, a Semidiós transgender teen(son of Quetzal, the god of birds), because of his Jade status, doesn’t expect to be chosen as a competitor in The Sunbearer Trials: a group of deathly games played by Semidiós teens, where the lowest-ranking has the “greatest honor” of all—be sacrificed in order to fuel the Sun’s power and keep the Obsidian evil gods at bay. However, that doesn’t mean Teo’s worried about others: his friend Niya, the higher-ranking Gold daughter of Tierra, is one of the strongest heroes of their generation and dangerously likely to be chosen. So he’s in for a nasty surprise when two Jades get selected for the games this year, one being Xio, the thirteen year-old son of Mala Suerte, and Teo. Now the two of them must compete in five mysterious trials, against far more powerful opponents, for glory, pride and their own survival.

For a book with that intense of a summary, I wasn’t expecting for it to be as humorous and fun as it was? But I’m kinda glad for that, because hundreds of pages of just on-page child death will inevitably get emotionally taxing. So, I found this to be a very enjoyable read! I liked the descriptions of food!!(don’t read this on an empty stomach), and our character dynamics, which I was pleasantly surprised by because I usually dislike or outright hate books with large casts! Aiden Thomas definitely had his priorities straight on the characters to center though, and although we got to know a bit about everyone, it didn’t feel like there was too little or too much time spent with anyone. It didn’t feel crowded, basically.

Not to be that book account, but we also got a bit of rivals to lovers, with Aurelio and Teo! I was a little on-the-fence about it at first because, you know, tropes, but I ended up growing to like the genuine bond they developed amidst the trials. Also, Aiden Thomas just has a way with writing gay yearning I think! 

With all that said, although this book was a fun read, it felt juvenile at times. If some of the cursing or sexual humor was cut out, it could definitely pass as a middle grade. Personally, I don’t like middle grades, so this was disappointing to me especially considering how dark the summary is? Some of the lines (particularly Niya’s) were so corny or cringey I had to laugh. Add that to this being in a modern world, and I take critical damage from being reminded that memes and vine coexist with demigod death games in this book. 

Anyhow! Overall, this was an enjoyable (even if flawed) read. As you guys should know, I love culturally rich stories, and I loved the Mexican parts of the settings and story. And if you read the summary for that and thought to yourself “hey! That sounds right up my alley”, I’m not stopping you from checking it out. I’ll also be reading the sequel, because there was a hell of a cliffhanger.

Book rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½ stars/5. Finished 04/05/2023.

(Book content/trigger warnings: fire/fire injury, child death(on-page), violence+blood, bullying, gender dysphoria.)

-Paz, signing off!

[eyes-talks-ocs]

Tagged by @winterandwords !!!

Thank you for the tag. (And people please go check them out, since I created my writing blog I feel like I've been the lost shy puppy following them around haha. I love their blog so much 🖤)

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FIVE THINGS I NEVER TIRE OF WRITING!

Rules: list five things you never get tired of writing. It can be anything, tropes, character situations, themes - whatever brings you joy.

(let me know all of your secret self indulgence, haha).

----

No.1: Contradictions.

My favorite characters I have, are nothing but a bucket of contradictions. Macaw, he's the brute with a nasty reputation and a sour attitude that will put you in the ground for looking at him wrong. But - he's gentle. He'll go out of his way to help or comfort random strangers or be a listening ear for someone. Just don't preemptently judge him before he speaks or initiates an interaction. That will determine how he treats you. Lucan, my DnD child. A genuinely kind and friendly guy who wants nothing more than to make the people around him happy. He's carefree and always in good spirits - yeah he's deeply traumatized with anxiety and guilt chewing at him in every silent moment he has. Before running into the current party he's traveling with, he was an honored member of a cult and by his hands, countless people were sacrificed to his gods. In any moment it's called for, he has no problem being brutal and unusually cruel to the point he scares himself by his own actions because he enjoys letting his frustration out a little too much.

No.2: I'll bring you down with me *insert crazy eyes*

Also a trait both Macaw and Lucan share. Just. A complete stupid disregard for their own life? I don't know what to call it. Both of them so jaded with their own actions of the past that it's led to both of them being reckless with no self preservation left to care. Will sink a ship with them on it just to make a point. Will burn a building to the ground with them in it just to watch their enemies burn with them. Fuck around, find out because I am no longer afraid of death and some days I welcome it. Definitely - hurt me so I can feel alive or else I'll do it myself.

No. 3: Symbolism, Symbolism, Symbolism.

Uff. Especially animal symbolism. But everything from the landscape to phrases, to little Easter eggs for myself when I go back through to reread things. It won't bother me if no one else picks up on them. I know they're there and what they mean. My mind works in weird ways and makes strange connections between things and you bet your sweet bippy it's littered throughout all the writing and art I create.

No. 4: Tragic Backstory.

I think that's enough said. I just. It just happens. I create characters just so I can hurt them I guess. Even the ones I make that WEREN'T supposed to be tragic somehow get a little bit of traumatic spice thrown in there. I mean. Look at Lucan. My goal wasn't to have a sad backstory player character. But a happy go lucky adventurer. Well after rolling stats and all that fun stuff I made a backstory that would fit his stats and abilities. Somehow that led to being a cult runaway? Now as the campaign has progressed more and more dark details have been added to his backstory to incorporate and fit into the DM's main storyline. But hey at least he's still a ball of sunshine to be around! (And my DM loves my character's story and every opportunity he gets, he goes ahead and throws a curve ball just to emotionally hurt my character too haha. Like the last one was a small fight with a Kenku and he used my DEAD FATHER'S VOICE to taunt me. Fuck that was something I wasn't expecting the DM to pull. I loved it.)

No. 5: EVERYONE IS BI.

Self projection. I know. I gotta keep reminding myself that not everybody is attracted to everybody. Ha. But reasoning for why basically all my characters are when I try to justify it ranges from: "This is DnD, how could anyone possibly be just straight?" to the dramatic "he's never been treated with compassion or has felt a soft loving touch. He'll bond with anyone who's willing to give him that." and everything in between.

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This tag is open to whoever wants to do it!!

#eyes talks #oc #social throwaways #dnd #dustin #lucan #original character #writing #original writing #writing tag #writblr #writing tropes #tag game

[sclfmastery]

Would you be able/willing to rank the Doctoe’s regenerations on a scale of like 1/10 each or put them in your order of like favorite to least favorite :? (4 whichever master idc)

I can't rate the Doctors from best to worst because everyone's preferences are valid (and subjective). However, I can give you my list of favorites:

Nine (Eccleston)--and I suspect Fourteen will end up tying here for first place, from what I've seen of Gatwa's other work. Nine is absolutely the best person of all 13 Doctors to date. He can be brusque and he has a dangerous temper (only for those who deserve it), but something about the fact that he's raw from the Time War and so self-loathing makes his kindness and wonder at the universe incredibly compelling. He doesn't take bullshit, whereas all the other Doctors tend to PRODUCE bullshit. He's also in some indescribable way more wholesome, more grounded, more fatherly, than all the other Doctors. DON'T. SKIP. NINE!

Thirteen (Whittaker)--occupied First Place as of Series Eleven, but certain writing choices in Series Twelve and Flux have bumped her down one. I adore her for her cuteness, silliness, vivacity, disastrous goofiness and genius, but her almost vicious desire to embody forced hope, her emotional aloofness, and a certain strikingly cruel streak have made it hard for me to accept some of her actions. In a way, she's still number one anyway....but oof, as a Thoschei shipper, she makes me sad. I still celebrate her existence, and she was the first Doctor I ever found myself able to write.  The triumphs she represents for women cannot be overstated, even though we still have a long way to go. 

Ten (Tennant)--before Thirteen and Nine, Tennant was my favorite Doctor, simply because he was exuberant but also malicious, an interesting combination, and so sad and so reeling from so many losses. He is also the Doctor who, on record, treated the Master best, and I won't pretend that's not a deciding factor for me. He reached out and said, "actually, let's talk about this," and the Master came SO CLOSE to listening that he ended up saving the Doctor's life by (ostensibly, at the time, as far as he knew) sacrificing his own. My Thoschei ship was born with TenSimm so as horrible as Ten can be (looking at how he treated Jack Harkness and Martha Jones here), I can never bump him down below third place.

Twelve (Capaldi) and Fugitive/Ruth (Martin)--despite my myriad of qualms with Moffat's era, Twelve, despite being grumpy and misanthropic, was also rarely cruel. In the most misguided yikes way, he also reached out to the Master, and, even more, Missy. He tried so hard but the Vault was not a real form of bonding and rehabilitation. It was "hey best friend, let me take advantage of your dire circumstances to 'help' (emotionally manipulate, but unintentionally) you become good like I try to be (but , without effort, am not--and it's nice that Twelve, like Nine, is aware of this). If you become exactly like me I won't be alone in the universe anymore, and we can stop trying to kill each other." The Vault is the misguided extension of Ten's effort to "keep" Simm in Sound of Drums. For a long time I genuinely hated Twelve for this, because of how "benevolently" controlling he was, and how much Missy suffered trying to please him and pretending to be unable to escape the Vault in doing so. But the more Thirteen has done even objectively crueler things, to the Master and others, the more I realize Twelve isn't a terrible person. He's just tired, scared, and lonely. As for the Ruth Clayton Doctor, she was sort of under utilized so it's hard to get a read, and I understand she mostly exists as a foil to Thirteen both in Series 12 and in Flux, but media analysts have commented that her cold and brusque demeanor veers a little too close to the racist trope of "angry black woman." I tend to agree, although I genuinely believe if she gets a series of her own (thanks, Big Finish!) she will be able to show a greater range of characterization so we can truly know her as more than a shocking plot twist about the Doctor's much much longer past.

Eight (McGann)--I only watched the movie, but he's such a Byronic mopey angsty sweetheart. Cannot resist those puppy eyes.

Four (T. Baker)--wacky esoteric professor vibes. Do recommend. Kind of scary but I like the Doctor to give off slightly cryptid vibes.

Six and Two (C. Baker and Troughton)--Admittedly I have seen almost none of their episodes, but I love the clips that I've seen.

Three (Pertwee) and Five ( Davison)--I had such high hopes for Five until he treated the Master worse than a series villain would in the one multi Doctor Classic special (where the Master was genuinely trying to HELP lol; Three did the same thing, which I found even more jarring), and also let him be burned alive when he could have easily done something to intervene. It just seems so unaccountably sinister lmao.  Three I think generally treats the Master quite well and is a fun character; I’m a huge fan of Jon Pertwee’s son Sean and his work on Brother Cadfael, lol as well as Gotham.  But ultimately Three is a bit overbearing, arrogant and opinionated, in a way that isn’t endearing (at least to me) and I think he really patronizes his female companions (yes, including Jo Grant). Might just be a sign of the times, although I loved his era if only because it had so much of Delgado’s Master.  And I mean Bessie. How can you not love the era of Bessie lol. 

One (Hartnell, Bradley)--I am completely turned off by One, which I know is fandom sacrilege, but again this is a personal favorites list, not an evaluation of each character's worth. But like the original team discussed (as seen in An Adventure in Space and Time), Hartnell played it a little too rough and severe at first, and the character behaves like some sort of dignified old aristocrat while going around killing people with rocks and smiling about it. I think it's an invaluable glimpse into how the Doctor was before they were around, and softened by, humans, but it still turns me off to the character.

Eleven (Smith)--this is nothing against Matt Smith, who is a superb actor, but Eleven is so cold, so cruel, and so determined that because he's the quirky white male twink genius, any conduct whatsoever is justified. It's as if Moffat exported his (equally lamentable) characterization of Sherlock Holmes over to his first run of a Doctor. It was during Smith's run that I stopped watching DW altogether, and only came back about halfway through Capaldi's.

And if you don't see War!Doctor on this list, that's intentional. :)))) And I won't even open THAT can of worms :))))))).

#ooc

[heretherebedork]

I've been loving Plus and Minus up until this episode idk I'm tired of the whole I have to break up with you for your own good trope and I thought the reason why he said was bullshit cause we all can tell he is still in love with him I get wanting drama and angst but between this and the who out of no where Nikita being in love with him (which I thought she was gay) but I felt this kinda ruined it

I get being sick of that drama. It's a very specific trope that a lot of people don't enjoy.

For me?

It works. It's such a cultural thing, that loyalty to family and that need to make parents proud and to live up to expectations and to put family above personal. That's the real crux of the issue. Ze Shou is acting the way we, in a more Western culture, would expect. He's putting his relationship with Li Gong above his relationship with his family.

But Li Gong is expressing that much more traditional East Asian cultural norm of putting the parents and immediate family unit above the romantic relationship. He is choosing the peace in Ze Shou's home for him and choosing his father for him because it's what is expected.

In this case, it's not specifically about being best for him, it's about those traditional values and their importance in terms of their relationship. Li Gong doesn't want to be in a relationship that's going to tear a family apart. It's not about what's best for Ze Shou, it's about what he can handle and how strongly he feels about this.

Yes, Li Gong is still in love with Ze Shou. But he's used to being sad alone, he's used to being in pain alone, he's used to pining alone. And he'd rather go back to that and keep Ze Shou as a friend and brother but see his family happy than stay as his lover and feel like he ruined a family that has so little.

Nikita did kind of come out of nowhere, no denials. And feels very... pointless. I'm not super mad because I'm fairly sure that Li Gong is going to tell her about what really happened this time. But I also see the point of it. It's specifically there for give Ze Shou the final nail in the coffin reason to get out. He still had the tiniest, tiniest shred of hope and now it's gone.

I still enjoy the show. There's always going to be some kind of stupid drama in a BL, they just can't help themselves, and at least this one makes sense with Li Gong as he is, the self-sacrificing young man who'd always put what he saw as the greater good for the most people above his own happiness.

I actually think that Li Gong is to be too late next week and Ze Shou is going to leave and he's going to have to deal with the fact that he brought this on himself and on both of them and Ze Shou is going to leave and it's gonna break us all because the tagline of the series has been about distance and we've never had any distance so I think we're gonna get a very Korean time skip of distance.

I hope I'm wrong.

But I'm worried.

Anyway.

I understand being tired of the trope and I admit that it feels a little pushed here but I also understand it as it happened in the show.

#plus & minus #taiwan bl #taiwanese drama #twdrama #bl drama #bl series #zheng zeshou x fu ligong #zheng ze shou #fu li gong #zeshou x ligong #ligong x zeshou #ze shou x li gong #li gong x ze shou #i have a lot of thoughts

[womenofwonder]

Best tropes:

The Butler becomes the adopted dad to the emotionally repressed rich kid with issues

Villains who genuinely love and care about people be it their children, partners, or friends. They’re still as evil as you get but they love their wife dearly

The cinnamon roll who’s really nice and sweet until you mess with someone they care about

The jerk with a heart of gold, but not in a deep-down-they’re-nice way or even worst a they-have-a-tragic-past way. A jerk who is honestly nice whenever someone needs them to be. The type who will be rude and constantly snip at the other characters but also will try to help them whenever they need help.

Self sacrifice. It’s a cliche but one I never get tired of. Ever. But a variation I would like to see is someone sacrificing themselves and obviously being terrified by it. It just makes it seem an even bigger sacrifice when you have a normal person who doesn’t want to die and is just panicking then a hero stoically facing their doom.

Defiant to the end. Someone’s about to get killed or tortured, the villain has them at their mercy, and they just taunt them mercilessly.

Girls fighting in heels. It’s as unrealistic as you can get but it’s also a lot of fun. Especially if they just stab someone with them.

#Tropes #writing prompt #ideas #personal favorites #writing #butlers make the best dads #villian #Cinnamon rolls #jerks with a heart of gold #defiant heroes #brave heroes

[niallloverontheloose]

"Stiles made a divine move, but he was only capable of doing that because Scott refused to let Stiles sacrifice himself or anyone hurt Stiles"

Look at what well known harasser and rabid Scott Stan - Derek/Stiles/Peter/Sterek/Steter hater Claude Frollo just posted in the Stiles Stilinski tag on purpose:

https://princeescaluswords.tumblr.com/post/661308239644868608/stiles-played-a-deadly-game-of-goo-and-chess

Hello @princeescaluswords 

Aren't you tired of obsessing all over a neurodivergent character you claim to hate and of using every single ableist trope and stereotype to belittle and demonize Stiles in an attempt to prop Scott up? 

"Peter claimed that chess was Stiles game, but Peter does tend to exaggerate" Funny how Scott stans are so bothered by Peter praising Stiles and pointing out that chess is Stiles' game to Derek that they need to lie and make shit up in order to belittle/invalidate it, isn't it? And by funny I mean ABLEIST  

The most hilarious thing though is that according to antis' own logic, Peter exaggerated when he said he was impressed by Scott's ingenuity in Season 2, too. Everyone who watched Teen Wolf knows that Peter Hale was being blatantly sarcastic and only did it to manipulate Scott into going to Jackson (which Scott did by the way), since Peter never even bothered to hide the fact that Scott can go die a miserable death in a ditch alongside Gerard for all Peter canonically cares and openly mocks Scott "my plan is to get Stiles to come up with a plan"  McCall's stupidity throughout the whole series. Thanks for proving a point, Escalus!

"Yes, Stiles did pull off a divine move in the episode of the same name, but he was only capable of doing that because Scott refused to let Stiles sacrifice himself or anyone hurt Stiles in order to save others. He found a way to save everyone, by doing the right thing" 

Scott/Posey fans really love to erase canon and give Scott all the credit for his friends' heroic actions and achievements, don't they? Another trait they have in common with Canon Scott McCall 

1• Stiles played a deadly game of Go against the Nogitsune AND a game of chess against himself (Void Stiles) simultaneously, repeatedly outsmarted and outwitted the Fox Spirit that chose him as his vessel, and then defeated it by making a Divine Move. Scott didn't do shit except whine, growl, obsess over Allison, make out with his new girlfriend, get his ass handed to him by everyone, be his usual useless self and throw jealous fits/temper tantrums somewhere in the background. Where he belongs 

2• Scott McCall doesn't have any claim or authority over his friends outside of Scott stans' self insert power fantasies and delusions. Scott also threw a tantrum because he didn't want Stiles to sacrifice himself and lock himself up in Eichen House to save his friends and everyone else. And yet Stiles ignored Scott's whining and did it anyway. Stiles found a way to save everyone, figured everything out, and did the right thing. And he did all that without conspiring with Gerard behind everyone's back, or lying to everyone, around him, or dehumanising werewolves, or selling the Hales out to the hunters, or violating rape victims. Unlike Scott, who did all those shitty things and still failed miserably at everything 

3• No one hurt Stiles in Teen Wolf Season 3B because everyone loves Stiles and no one wanted to hurt him. Not because a whiny, pompous, narcissistic fuckboy with a dumb true alpha title ordered them not to lol

4• Scott McCall doesn't have the authority to allow/or not allow anyone to do anything. Much to his and his fans' eternal chagrin 

"You probably would have figured something out. And Scott did. Repeatedly"

Again, that was sarcasm. Both Stiles and Theo used Scott's own narcissism, inflated ego and delusions of moralistic grandeur against him and mocked him for his self righteous hypocrisy to his face. And neither Scott nor his fans even noticed. Also: when did Scott ever figure something out exactly? When he tried but failed to assassinate Gerard? When he thought that he had gone from being utterly shit at lacrosse to being a star athlete in the span of a day because he was just naturally talented? When he threw Derek Hale under the bus and framed him for murder so that he could be free to stalk Allison and play lacrosse? When he claimed that Kira was a werewolf? When he accused Morrell of going around murdering people? When he assaulted and kidnapped Liam and then called Stiles because Scott can't even clean up after his own mess, let alone take responsibility for his own failures and shitty actions? When Theo played him like a cheap kazoo throughout Season 5? Seriously, when??????

As Peter, Lydia, Malia and everyone else have pointed out, Stiles is the clever, super smart one who always figures it out and never takes advantage of his talents.

Meanwhile, Scott is just a self righteous, judgemental, below average hypocrite who always takes the credit for his friends' heroic actions and accomplishments, judges and/or condemns others for things they never even did and conveniently gives himself a free pass for, and can't even plan his way out of a paper bag without his friends' constant help and support 

"They portray Stiles as chafing chained to a sub-par relationship with Scott, but Stiles literally has a break down when he thinks he’s done something for which Scott won’t be able to forgive him"

Nothing demonstrates Scott fans' ableism and utter lack of empathy more than them trying to cheapen Stiles' trauma and make it all about their fav. Stiles Stilinski got mentally and physically violated by a Fox Spirit who chose him as his vessel; sacrificed himself and locked himself up in Eichen House - supernatural prison/mental institution - to save everyone else; got abused by the wards; repeatedly forced to kill people; couldn't sleep; has been suffering from panic attacks since he was a child; remembered when his mentally ill mom abused him and called him a monster during his childhood; was stalked and brutally assaulted by Donovan; had accidentally killed his abuser to defend himself; and then got gaslit, dehumanised, judged and victim blamed by Scott for it; got blackmailed by Theo and abandoned by the abusive best friend whose ass Stiles risked his own life to save throughout the whole series ("You need me! You trusted him, too!") And yet Scott Fans will try to make it all about Scott instead... which is another trait antis share with Canon Scott 

Scott/Posey fandom's jealousy, ableism, hypocrisy & obsessive hate boner for Stiles and Derek specifically are as blatant and as creepy as ever. Teen Wolf got cancelled due to shitty ratings years ago, and Posey's career followed it down the drain immediately after. But his stans are still out there foaming at the mouth, spewing ableist garbage, and throwing tantrums just because people don't like their shitty fav and have the audacity to prefer Stiles and Derek to Scoot 

BUT SCOTT FANS ARE NOT OBSESSED 

#submission #anti scott mccall #anti tyler posey #spill that tea

[macgyverseries]

rebutting and debunking frequently used arguments against macriley

I made this 10-page google doc rant a while ago, but I never ended up posting it. Today, however, I woke up and chose violence. So here it is: my thoughts on frequently used arguments against macriley.

I took some quotes and arguments that people put online (reddit, tumblr..), and I debunked them all :p I feel like I always see the same arguments all the time, and I’m honestly getting a little tired of hearing them. I’m here to settle this once and for all.

and yes, i did manage to cut down the google doc by 3 pages :D (but it's still long af so rip my brain)

1.”Mac and Riley are siblings because Jack is their father”

I can (mostly) get behind the argument that Mac and Riley shouldn’t be in a romantic relationship because of their super strong friendship. Some people really value that sole platonicness, and I get that.

But the argument that I can’t get behind is that: Mac and Riley are siblings because Jack is their father figure”

If you google the definition of “father,” the first result that comes up is: “a man in relation to his children.”

Now, Jack was definitely the father figure to Riley, and I would consider her his child. He raised her. He helped shape her ideals and upbringing.

Mac only met Jack when he left MIT. So it was pretty much after Mac was raised (by Bozer’s parents haha), that Jack really came into his life. Mac already became his own person. (also, I always saw Mac and Jack as more of a bromance)

So because Riley and Mac met Jack at different periods of their lives, and they were raised differently, I wouldn’t say that they were siblings who were raised by the same father.

2. “The show writers left the impression that there was a huge age gap between them”

I understand this a little. I do think Riley was introduced as pretty young and idk naive? Because she was literally in highschool, and then she went to prison, and then she got released into the wild. Personally, when I started watching the show, I googled the whole cast. So I started the show knowing that they were the same age.

And also, the more I got to know Riley, the more that I thought that Riley was more mature and had an old soul herself. I think it was because she was just a dynamic and round character, who is well-developed.

But, I get first impressions. I feel like once you get stuck on an impression, it’s hard to go away from that.

Also, Jack would’ve totally shipped macriley, and you can’t change my mind.

3. "Riley isn't ready for a relationship"

I honestly think that this argument should be more geared towards Mac. He needs to figure himself out and go to therapy ffs. However, this person targeted Riley (the literal queen), so I shall defend her:

I understand wanting Riley to take some time off, and figure herself out before going straight into another relationship with someone. But here’s the thing. Throughout the first few seasons Riley’s character was very well established, and she didn’t have any partners during that time. She has proven that she is a strong, well-rounded, independent woman (with or without a partner). So i think it is valid to say that she isn’t just some girl who only has boy toys. She is much more than that.

My next point is that Riley has made it clear that she wants a lasting relationship with someone who will support her. When talking with Mac in 4.04, we see her express her interest in a stable, healthy relationship. It’s not wrong to go out and look for that potential partner. This applies to everyone (not just fictional characters): It’s going to take a few relationships and self-discovery, to find a good relationship, and people shouldn’t be shamed for searching for that.

Riley has only ever had two major boyfriends that I remember. First was Billy; she took that relationship very seriously. She really did seem happy with him. It was a shame that he cheated on her. Second was Aubrey. She also took that relationship very seriously. She had been living with him for six months (and they even had the cutest date nights!) So I wouldn't say that Riley only has boy toys. She has meaningful relationships.

Lastly, I think this was written when season four started airing, but it’s been over a year (and a pandemic) since Riley has dated. I think enough time has passed.

*4. I had to split this one up because, oh boy, there is a lot to unpack here.

4a. “If that was the direction they’d chosen to take with that relationship from square one… My issue with it is that Mac and Riley were presented to us as friends/ found siblings for three years. There were NO romantic vibes to speak of between them..”

I actually felt the same way about macriley. The thought of them being together in season one, made me want to throw up. I don’t think the writers intended on having macriley, and I was perfectly fine with that.

I know that people look for different things when they ship. Some really like having instant gratification with the spicy, hot, sexy parts of a relationship, like macdesi (which is why I was fine with the idea of shipping macdesi in the past).

I always wanted to see macriley do more: have hot, flirtatious banters/interactions. it can be hard to ship people who seem to be missing that part of the love equation. So i agree. It's definitely strange. And I understand if you genuinely have a hard time seeing the romantic potential of macriley, when the writers have only dragged out and shown us the platonic potential of them.

Also, the reason why it is difficult to see macriley as romantic, was because they ALWAYS PRIORITIZED AND WERE DRIVEN on their friendship. A partner should be friends first, and then makeout buddies second.

But just because people start off as friends, doesn’t mean that they still don’t have that potential to be lovers. Because guess what?! Feelings change. It’s now canon that Riley has feelings for Mac, and Mac always had feelings for Riley (but never acted on it).

I'm sorry, but you like a boomer when you say “bAcK iN mY dAy, tHeY dIdN’t HaVe fEeLiNgS fOr EaCh oThEr.” like okaAAAyyYYyYY????? We are not “back in your day” anymore. We are in the present. We are in today. And today, macriley is real :)

4b. “There’s the incredibly tired trope where long-term coworkers suddenly catch feelings for each other out of nowhere”

Personally, I will never get tired of the friends to lovers trope. I think the fact that Mac and Riley had such a strong friendship and foundation is what makes them perfect. Again, I know that some people just like instant gratification, but I love when a couple can take their time to have depth, emotion, and realness in their relationship.

Obviously I am biased because I have so much love for this trope, it's my favorite trope, but I don't see why you would use the “it’s overused” as reasoning to hate a ship. Just because a trope is used a lot, doesn’t mean it is bad (that’s probably why it is so good lmao). I can understand getting tired of it, and growing a dislike towards a trope. For example, I have grown an extreme dislike towards the love triangle.

A bit of a tangent: But the difference between overusing love triangles and overusing friends to lovers, is that love triangles aren’t just commonly used tropes. They are cliches. They cause unwanted drama and unnecessary hurt to one character. Whereas friends to lovers doesn’t involve as much drama and pain for a character. It is more of just angst between two people. And we know that they will get together eventually with a happy ending. So it was never really problematic.

And even then, the great thing about overusing or utilizing tropes, is that they can act as a guide. It allows the show writers and cast to make it personal, make it their own, adding their own special flair to it

I just don’t see the “this trope is used a lot” as a valid reasoning for disliking a ship .It just seems like this commenter doesn’t like the friends to lovers trope for the sake of not liking it.

I could be very wrong in my assumption of this person’s thoughts on friends to lovers, maybe there is a deeper reasoning as to why they don’t like it, but the tone that i interpreted when i read this section, was that they don’t have a real reason to dislike it, it’s more of just because.

4c.“then there's the fact that Riley had a mostly single Mac in her life for 3-4 years and she never even considered him romantically until he was with someone else”

First: Riley didn’t CHOOSE to fall in love. You may recall that “emotions aren’t a science. You can’t control them.”

Second: Mac was broken up with Desi when she caught feelings for him. Plus, the moment Riley saw that Mac and Desi were getting happy together, she moved out and gave them space. She sacrificed her own feelings for his happiness, despite the fact that her heart was breaking.

4d. “and finally, Mac not only still doesn't seem to even have Riley on his radar in that way but he literally told another woman that he loves her just last week. Neither of them look particularly good here if they get together now.”

I'm assuming that this was written when 4.12 first aired. I'm also assuming that this comment was more directed towards the idea of Mac and Riley getting together immediately at the end of the season, rather than later down the road. I always saw of macriley as more of endgame material. That i would see them get together sometime in the future. So I agree. Macriley getting together during that time period, would be too rushed and unsatisfying.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So those were most of the supposed arguments that I saw for people who were against macriley, but I also wanted to provide some really good examples of people who were very respectable, and actually had valid reasoning for disliking them.

1. they just don’t like shipping in general

Ships can be annoying af. Seeing people ONLY focus on the ships is sometimes tiring. I, myself, even feel a little guilty making this post, because I need to chill and mind my own business lmaooo. I really should let people do whatever they want to do with their lives, and not get caught up in the ships, but here I am :p

Anyways, I know that there is a lot of unnecessary drama that comes with shipping, and it's tiring to see people constantly go on and on about romance, when there are other perfect things about the show.

2. No matter how hard they try, they just feel it.

This is literally so dumb (and a little hypocritical/self-contradictory), but if you have a gut feeling, and you just can’t get yourself to ship it, I get it. If you truly and genuinely believe that they are best platonic friends, I can't change your opinion. And I have respect for you (if you say it in a kind manner).

Here is a nice example of a person who expressed their opinion in a nice way, with no BS.

So the moral of the story: I can't control your deepest thoughts. I can't control your gut feelings. And that’s okay. But the moment that you start backing up your thoughts and insights with BS reasoning, is the moment that I lose respect for you.

#macriley #macgyver #sorry that was so freaking long

[kuronekonerochan]

*deep breath, takes cover* so...about Start Up *activates shields*

Warning: This is a rant... a looooooooooooooooong raaant (pls read this in that long man jap commercial singing voice, if you don’t know what I’m talking about google it...it’s...wow).

First, let’s start with how I feel watching this drama vv

^^ Found footage of drama viewers who went into this hooked by the first engaging episodes thinking it would be a good drama and not crumble to the ground in the second half, after already having gone through Do You Like Brahms? and Record of Youth just in the past few months of 2020.

I think the problem with dramas this year is that the scripts seem like they were written without purpose. A writer should want to tell a story. They should have a clear picture in their minds of what story they want to tell. Of who their characters are as people and how they want them to be at the end and what happens to mold them into who they become and how they get there. 

These scripts don't seem to want to tell a story at all. The writers instead seem to have something to say instead of a story to tell. They want to say ppl are like that and they behave a certain way and so we end up with scripts like Do You Like Brahms? or Record of Youth with a million characters portraying relatable irl attitudes and it works as social commentary, but without a proper plot for a story they want to tell to streamline the whole thing it becomes little more than people watching that is interesting at the beginning as character study but quickly falls apart when it becomes apparent they have no idea what to do with the characters they've created. 

And in DYLB the characters ended up having no time to have properly structured arcs because they stopped the drama and filled the runtime with secondary characters demonstrating various forms of pettiness in human nature and when they got back to the main characters and broke them down they suddenly ran out of time to make them heal on screen so it was a rushed mess.

 Record of Youth was so worried with showing also a billion characters for the different types of ppl there were, that besides PBG, most characters had little to no development They were just there, there was no story it was all pointless.

Start up also had this  vast set of characters, each with defined personalities and individual issues to overcome: the sister with her internalized (and misplaced) guilt and her defense coping mechanism of lashing out on her sister and overcompensating stubborn behavior; the mother with her life choices; the grandmother with her past lies and current health issues; Dal Mi with her rage issues and her inferiority complex and her relationship with her sister; Do San with his confidence issues and his self sacrificing/self sabotaging bullshit; Ji Pyeong with his loner complex and his guilt towards grandma and back into her family and the unresolved issues with Dal Mi; plus the found family aspect, the team growing together, Ji Pyeong being begrudgingly supportive against his will and Nam Do San being disarmingly honest and kind to him even when they disagree bc that's how he is, even if he now stands up for himself and starts to be cheekier.

 And that's how the drama was going... until it wasn't. Because there was a sandbox competition and jargon and stuff to cram in there for conflict and a love triangle they decided to drag for some reason... and suddenly because some events needed to happen the characters start behaving in a way that makes no sense to their established personalities. Do San is blowing up all the time and him and Ji Pyeong hate each other all of a sudden... no more endearing bickering, pure vitriol; Dal Mi after the whole reveal with the letters never had a personal conversation with Ji Pyeong again; the mother had an out of the blue christian mea culpa...without barely talking to any character prior besides the MIL; and one of Do San's friends is pissed at Ji Pyeong, also out of the blue bc years ago he was mean to his brother and he killed himself. He is mad now, halfway into the competition...not when they met Ji Pyeong at their old place, or during the whole "fooling Dal Mi as a CEO" arc, or even at the beginning of the sandbox...just randomly now. Artificial conflict who?

 And Dal Mi and her sister...well the drama doesn't have time to unpack all that, or show a proper personal conversation between Ji Pyeong and Dal Mi, but this drama also needs to end with the family back together and Do San still needs to end up as the brilliant confident engineer he needs to be, and since him and his Sherpa, who should have been the one to nurture him (even with a bit of tough love), are now busy hating each other...well TIME JUMP TIME!

Character development on screen who? Do you like Brahms? Start up sure does bc they did the exact same thing...when you write yourself into a corner...stop writing, do a time jump and tell everyone everything already happened. 

This is latest mutation of the time jump trope is even worse than the usual kind. The romantic trope one was usually for self reflection, to make a break from the conclusion of the dramatic plot and transition smoothly into a happy ending (since killing off the bad guy, who one of the characters might be related to or had befriended before he went off the deep end and thus have conflicting feelings about, and immediately jump into the smooching mood might be a tad too much), or fix up the power imbalance in traditional kdramas (the female lead spends the whole drama as his secretary...time jump glow up for curriculum abroad so she doesn’t have to work for him all day before coming home together...not that sexy, kind of exhausting really), or simply kdrama trope tradition like the last minute amnesia...just because.

 But in our year of the devil 2020 time jumps are now where the meat of the plot should be. The emotional resolutions, the healing, the forgiveness, where relationships are mended and strengthened and the important events take place. It’s the divine spa for plot holes and lazy writing where scriptwriters sip their drinks and congratulate themselves for a work well done, because in the end it all worked out...their characters come out of the time jump spa feeling refreshed, with a new purpose in life at peace with themselves and all their struggles past them, just in time for a happy reunion, or just footage of them looking at cellphones and posters and talking about other characters so the audience knows all is well and they’re all pals now... and then they go back to their chores and the camera pans out (okay this one I realize due to the pandemic maybe having the entire cast together could be difficult, but at least showing them interacting one on one for god’s sake).

I know this was long and ranty, but I am getting tired of this new trend of  Don't show and don't tell...at least not to their faces. Go with "Oh, haven't you heard? xoxo gossip girl". I am all for good character study and social commentary, but maybe tell a story and then according to the actions of the characters give them realistic personality traits. And only then, after having a clear plot in mind, incorporate the characters into the story and not the story into the characters.

#tvn start up #start up #do you like brahms? #record of youth #kdrama #cdrama #kdrama edit #kdrama rambles #kdrama rant #kim seon ho #nam joo hyuk #bae suzy #park bo gum #also the discourse for start up is wild #it's twilight team jacob vs team edward levels of aggressive #or wook vs so moon lovers aggressive #I liked them both at the beginning do san was a sweetheart but he was also a doormat #ji pyeong was investment type capitalism manipulative but not in a malicious way that's just his mindset and it's understandadble #anyways I liked them both they were both cute and adorable together and when do san stopped being a doormat and started to speak for himself #and ji pyeong was just baffled by his straightforwardness but they were still cute even when bickering that's when this drama peaked #and then it went downhill #and now I like them both a little less as characters bc the writing and plot ruined them #but I love both actors and they are both doing an amazing work #they are both honestly much better than this drama even deserves at this point #korean drama

[blessyourhondahurley]

Why? Because...

[Read on AO3]

Prompt 1: "I love you" During an Argument Prompt 2: Fun & Games

The first time it happens is in a clash of pain and thunder...

"Because I love you, okay? I'm in love with you!" The words are hurtled into the howl of the storm that's roaring around them. Dean's face is twisted in grief and rage. His mouth works as if speaking those words has caused something inside him to bleed. They almost lost each other again -- more stupid self-sacrificing bullshit on both sides -- and Dean is angry, and he's tired. He's exhausted to the core, so utterly over this cliched repeating trope in their lives. He wants to get past this and get to the part where they can have a life, maybe even a life together. So it's not like he means to say it, but he's beyond ready to say it when it finally comes out.

And after that, everything changes. Things get so damn good. The two of them together, in the Bunker, in their bed, in a relationship that's so much more than either of them ever hoped. Dean's unbelievably fucking grateful, and he never wants to forget all that it took to get them here.

So when they have their First Fight™, about something stupid and domestic like which way the toilet paper hangs or whose turn it is to clean the hair out of the shower drain, Dean flashes back to that moment in the rain. The heat this petty squabble was generating inside him disappears in a heartbeat. Who cares about this penny-ante bullshit when they both almost died a million times trying to get to each other for good?

Cas is still riled up about the chore chart or whatever, thoughts on a different page entirely from where Dean's mind has gone. So when he growls, "Why?" he's not expecting the reply he gets.

"Because I love you, okay? I'm in love with you." Dean says it softly, with a crooked smile, all so different from before.

Cas gets it immediately. Their argument dissipates into the ether, dispersed by a healthy dose of perspective. What's a dirty countertop compared to everything they've been through?

After that, whenever words get heated between them, the little bickers and irritations of marital life, one of them will say it: "Because I love you, okay? I'm in love with you." It never fails to bring them back to center and remind them of how fortunate they are.

#destiel #destiel fanfic #suptober20 #flufftober2020 #promptober2020

[jojosbabe]

God it pisses me off that people think that jojo dads are shitty.

George 1st is dumb but not a horrible dad. Just privileged.

George 2nd died before he could even raise his son. So y'all can fuck off on that.

Sadao is A FUCKING JAZZ MUSICIAN! HE WAS ON TOUR. AND HE SO FAR TO MY KNOWLEDGE WASN'T A STAND USER,IT WOULDN'T MAKE SENSE FOR HIM TO BE IN THE WAY OF HARM. plus Joseph didnt wanna worry him nor holly. Beside he was just providing for his family. Its not like he can stop on a dime easy and help out either. It pisses me off that people automatically think shitty dad. Look imma be blunt. I understand about shitty dads (i had one, but i also have an amazing stepdad) but i dont automatically think they abandoned them or anything. That makes me question y'all more than anything. Write healthy and happy fucking family dynamics you twatwaffles! Besides. Im sick and tired of people making holly look bad too. Like good god. I could go on how much it pisses me off but I'll move on

Joseph: oh boy oh boy y'all love to trash him unless he's goo goo eyes over his dead best friend dont y'all (and this is coming from someone who likes and ships caejose. Tho i dont like sidelining suzie q so i make them poly because fuck you thats why) he didnt know bout josuke. If he did you best your bitch ass he would help him in a heartbeat! I saw as a stupid drunk night both tomoko and Joseph regretted. But they never regretted loving each other nor josuke. Just how it happened is all. Joseph loves his family dearly. More than anyone would know. He is very self sacrificing but he also knows when to cut his losses. He has lost so much and been through hell. So cut the old man some slack. Cant see y'all fairing any better then him if you was in his shoes.

Jotaro: fuck you,jotaro loves jolyne and his wife. Nuff said. I hate how this was played out more than the other crap. Above all if i could change one thing it would be that. Like no matter what canon or self insert. Jotaro is that type to not go into a relationship only to get out of one once shit gets hard. Good fucking grief. We did this family drama trope unfortunately with josuke. Why the fuck would we go through this shit again?! Plus if you're married to JOTARO FUCKIN KUJO of all people. You should know the deal. Plus jotaro marrying someone who isn't a stand user tbh doesn't seem something he's comfy with knowing the potential risks. Having a stand user spouce would make things not only easier but also give him peace of mind knowing they can see star and he can also convey how he feels better or at least a bit easier. Like there is so much i can go on and on how fucking irritating that part is. But alas it would take forever. But a last note. Jolyne doesn't deserve that crap either. Canon also gives her the short end too. And that pisses me off more than anything. She is baby to me so yall can fuck right off.

Again i can go on and on. But it irritates the piss outta me that people have such a damn problem with good fathers and mothers. Or healthy family in general. Or even adopted family (ala dio or shizuka or even giornos case. That is for a separate discussion tho)

#jojos bizarre adventure #personal post do not interact #personal vent #im done with people and their shitty hot takes

[qqueenofhades]

(1/2) Honestly, Hilary, you are a blessing. I want to scream about your amazing Fic, how I love Immortal Husbands and the whole Immortal Family and how I had more fun learning history from your writing than in my whole damn school. But I also want to appreciate your TOG answers and meta. All the more because my friends outside the internet saw TOG as some boring movie with shitty plot and I'm just here in the corner, wanting to scream at someone who will understand about FINALLY seeing...

"(2/2) ...some GOOD queer representation, without throwing stereotypes in our faces, and I can't even begin with the found family trope because THE FEELS. Anyway, what I was trying to say with this rambling: thank you. <3"

....I’m sorry what. Who. Who is saying this. Straight people? I feel like the answer is definitely straight people. Because they have had EIGHTY FUCKING THOUSAND shitty action movies with the Boring White Man Hero, the disposable Muslim-coded (or actually Muslim) villains, the equally disposable eye-candy female love interest who either gets fridged or is secretly evil, Grimdark Everyone Is Secretly Bad And Nothing Matters crap philosophy, Moral Hand Wringing Over Superhero Violence, on and on. So of course they can moan and whine about “iT’s nOt OrIGinAL” and apparently not sufficiently Grimdark and Amoral, and how the dynamics of the team are completely reshuffled in a way that actually doesn’t prioritize THEM, and like.... this is why I never trust media only beloved by straight people, and only ever watch anything after it’s been recommended to me by a trusted queer friend. Because sometimes I remember the difference, and WHOOF.

Because: the gays and people of color DESERVE formulaic action/superhero movies as much as the Generic White Bro (in fact, we can all agree, far more than the Generic White Bro). This is the trap where every piece of media that’s not made by a Mediocre White Man has to be the best all-time of its genre, apparently, rather than using some of the same well-loved storytelling tropes but recoding them and re-deploying them for a more diverse audience. Instead of the Hard Bitten White Man Action Hero, we have Andy and Nile (two women, and Nile as a young Black woman who literally cannot be shot to death, in the year 2020, is fucking revolutionary on its own don’t @ me). As I said in my first meta, even Booker, who comes closest to fulfilling that trope, is made the closest thing to a “villain” there is on the team and even then for entirely sympathetic motives that rest on him having teary-eyed conversations with Nile about how he misses his family and feels like he failed them. His emotions help drive the story in an actually GOOD and useful way, rather than sacrificing everyone else to coddle him through his feeble heterosexual manchildness (why yes, I AM staring directly at the Abomination without blinking). Nobody in the story is EVER penalized or made a fool of for loving their found family (itself an intensely queer trope, even before the queerness of the individual characters) or trying to do the right thing even in the middle of the horrors, and frankly, I just want to consume more media with that as the main message. I’M SO FREAKING TIRED OF GRIMDARK. GOD. IF I WANTED THAT I COULD JUST TURN ON THE NEWS.

And of course, my BELOVED Joe and Nicky: an interracial, interreligious gay couple that has been wildly in love for literal CENTURIES and gives me the opportunity to do things like write the most self-indulgent historical romance backstory fic ever with DVLA. They met in the embodiment of religious conflict and have transcended that, there are never any cruel jokes or expectation for you to congratulate the narrative for being so beneficent as to give you “an exclusively gay moment” (fuck you Disney!). Joe and Nicky’s love story is central both to who they are as characters, doesn’t revolve around them being suffering or being Tormented over being gay (when the cops pull them apart for kissing, they beat the cops the fuck up, WE STAN), gets to unfold naturally in the background of the story with these beautiful little beats of casual intimacy (the SPOONING /clutches heart) and since THEY LITERALLY CANNOT DIE, no chance of the “burying your gays” bullshit. Even when they’re captured first by the bad guys, and I briefly, upon first viewing, worried that they were going the Gay Pain route just for cheap emotional points, they remain constantly united and fighting together and able to do stupid things like flirt when they’re strapped to gurneys by a mad scientist. Then the rest of the team ends up right there with them, so it’s not something that happens to them alone, and Nile comes in to save everyone’s asses, and Joe and Nicky get ANOTHER beautiful moment of fighting the bad guys and being worried about each other and tender even in the middle of this chaos and GOD! MY HEART! MY WHOLE ASS HEART! I LOVE THEM!

And just the fact that it’s not the Evul Mooslim Turrorists or Boilerplate Scary Eastern Europeans or whoever else who are the bad guys, but Big Pharma, nasty white men with too much money and not enough ethics, the CIA (at least tangentially; they could have pushed a lot harder on that but I’ll give Copley individually a pass), and the very forces that want to stop the Old Guard and discount what they do (helping the little people) as worthless... GOD. That is fucking POWERFUL. They literally take the time to explain with Copley’s Conspiracy Wall that even the little things the team does, when they can’t see it themselves, spiral out through centuries and have positive effects down the line. And it’s NOT just in the Western world (no scene in the movie takes place in America, none of the main four characters/heroes are American, and they only go to England when the English villains capture them). They’re in Africa, in Asia, in South America, in all these places where the Western/imperial world order has harmed people the most and in a way that Euro/American audience often gets to forget. On the surface this might be an action movie with Charlize Theron beating up men (which I mean, that alone is fine if you ask me) but there are SO MANY WAYS in which it achieves these deeper moments of meaning and subversion of the narrative that we are so often fed and the ways it could have done this (i.e. the same old Mediocre White Man ways).

I love the fact that the team unabashedly LOVES each other as their family members (I will never get over them all liking to sleep in one room even in their safe house in France), even when they struggle, and that they continue trying to make it right and never consider leaving Booker behind, because he screwed up but they still love him (and he them). I LOVE LOVE LOVE that this movie gave me not just Joe and Nicky but Andy and Quynh: two completely badass queer couples who kick tons of ass and have romance and Drama and rich and well-realized lives outside being used as emotional manipulation or suffering porn for straight people. (I realise it’s only been two weeks since the first one released, but where is my sequel, I have Needs. Especially Andy/Quynh and Quynh/Joe/Nicky needs). I was disappointed that they’d gotten rid of Quynh in a Bad Medieval Way to cause pain for Andy and then shocked and DELIGHTED when she turned up alive in Booker’s apartment at the end of the film. I LOVE that this movie gave me Nile Freeman and everything that she represents in the middle of this hellish year. I even love Booker! BOOKER! When he’s usually the character type I can’t stand and have the least patience with!

So yes. I have watched it three times already. I am sure I am going to watch it several times more. It just makes me so happy.

#the old guard #the old guard meta #joe x nicky #weaverofthenight #ask