#it's so complicated i hate that i can't give you the context yet

[serpenlupus]

About Wyll and his horns

Let's say I was writing a part of my Tav's story with Wyll directly connected to the dialogue he has during the tiefling party, and while struggling with this bit, I've realized there's quite a few misconceptions floating around. I felt compelled to add information to the table that might clear them, so here we go.

First, what exactly happens to Wyll when he disobeys Mizora in act one? Well, he doesn't get turned into a devil, he certainly doesn't get turned into a tiefling, he's not a half fiend, not a demon, none of that. Wyll stays human, but he has horns and red eyes (and other features we can't see on his model as of now).

(Everyone has their race listed, Wyll's remains "Human")

This is because when a warlock fails to uphold some part of their contract they can suffer a certain number of consequences, Wylls is “The character grows horns, a tail, or some other devilish features that can't be removed by any means short of divine intervention. As long as these marks persist the character detects as a fiend when subjected to Detect Evil and Good spells or similar magic.” ( from Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, page 214)

And I’ve come across some people that think it wasn’t so bad of a punishment, that he was being racist towards the tieflings, or just not being justified in being upset after having his body forcibly changed against his will. I think they are missunderstanding just how insidious Mizora’s actions were, and here I just want to give some context to maybe bring a better understanding to the situation. Your conclusions are up to you.

Gonna start by using a not exact analogy, but I think it’s going to make the explanation easier. Stick with me for a minute.

Remember Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean? He had a branded “P” on his arm that marked him as a pirate. A murderer, robber, criminal, etc. in the eyes of the society he was a part of. What did Jack do to earn the branding? (if you don’t know this I suggest you look up the “people aren’t cargo mate” scene) He refused to transport slaves and later freed them, and Beckett had him marked as punishment.

Then, in the first movie, he saves Elizabeth, a woman he didn’t know, from drowning. Right after however, when Norrington sees he has a branded “P”, he’s like “alright, off to jail with you, and then hanging”, no other option crosses his mind. Again, Jack doesn’t know Elizabeth, isn’t indicated to think he is going to be rewarded for helping her, he just sees a drowning person, sees that no one else is going to help, and chooses to save them. That is a pretty selfless/good aligned thing to do, for no other reason that he was the one able to do it, yet the branding in his arm overrides any good action he could ever do, marking him as a criminal for execution and no further thought.

In a way, that’s what Mizora did to Wyll; she forever visibly branded him as someone that has made deals with devils, and that in the world of DnD is a VERY BAD THING. Personally I really like the mod that gives him more devilish features, but at the same time I think there was something clever about choosing to leave him looking more human. He can’t be confused with a tiefling, he doesn’t have the ears, the claws, the tail, all those features that characterize them. He looks kind of uncanny, and that would be like a red flag for anyone in that world. (Beyond the already existing hate for tieflings that I’m not gonna tackle on here because it’s a complicated thing that deserves its own post). And Wyll wants to do good, he wants to help people, to be a positive force in the world so, so badly. This dude got abducted by a nautiloid, got tadpole’d, and the first thing he did right after that was come across the Tiefling refugees and be like “Oh you need help? No worries let me teach you self defense. Oh you being attacked by goblins? Let me blast them real quick”. His way of saying fuck you to all the awful things that have happened to him is being aggressively good and kind. Mizora knows this very well, wants to see him suffer for her amusement, wants to remind him he can't escape her claws, so her choice of punishment was to forever taint his future interactions with mistrust and suspicion. Some people can go real fast from “oh thank God they saved me” to “oh no, are they gonna rob me, are they trying to trick me, are they in cahoots with the ones that attacked me first?” just because of outward appearances. Especially in DnD world. And that deserves its own conversation, but we're focusing on Wyll here.

(Mizora, when I catch you Mizora)

“Well, maybe he shouldn’t have made a deal in the first plac- - “ He was seventeen, alone, preyed upon by Mizora and put in an impossible situation. Please PAY ATTENTION to the story you’re witnesing.

Anyway.

About the tieflings. I know it’s easy to think his words can be derisive towards them, but it’s less about the horns and more about his body being changed against his will. Imagine instead that he got half his face burned, or something that disfigured him. I think his feelings at the moment were closer to that, and yeah they are pretty insensitive words to say to someone with a similar condition (horns or disfiguration), but when feelings are fresh and raw like that it’s easy to say insensitive things. Not saying it was ok for him to say those things, but ther was no malice in his words. I’ve also seen some people share that they think Mizora wanted to change him more to make him unrecognizable to his original self, the Wyll Ravenguard kid, and I think there is some truth to that too. She wants to make sure that Wyll remembers that he belongs to her, there's no question to that.

(MIZORA, WHEN I CATCH YOU MIZORA)

Whether the Tieflings refugees would feel unsettled by Wyll or not? Yes. In a way, they would. From reasons aside from the ones I explained above, remember that these specific tieflings come from Elturel. If you didn’t pass the History check or don’t remember, Elturel is a city that was literally ripped from the land and dragged to Avernus, First layer of hell (it left a hole on the ground and everything) because their mayor made a deal with the Archdevil Zariel some decades back in the timeline. He sold the souls of all its citizens and the city itself.

This was probably one of the worst times of their lives. Some even got captured and forced to participate in the blood War, like Dammon as a mechanic. And after Elturel got returned to the surface, the tieflings lost their homes because they reminded the other citizens of the literal Hell they’d just gone through, and they kicked them out. And remember, they met and saw Wyll as a human, and then saw him with horns. It’s not unreasonable to think that by looking at him they would be reminded of all the events that led them to the awful situation they’re in. Because of someone that was making deals with devils, just like Wyll. Even if his situation is completely different. And Wyll knows that, that’s why he tells you the tieflings are unsettled by him and chooses to stay away during the party.

It was never just about the horns.

And I know Wyll calls himself a devil but I think it’s because it’s the closest thing he looks as; devils are a whole different race with their own intricacies, although humans can be turned into devils ONCE their souls go to Avernus and they start climbing the power hierarchy there (Mizora and Raphael are cambions/ half-devils btw, which is a different thing,  there are plenty of videos exploring those details more in depth).

Do I think Larian should have made some of this information clearer/easier to access? Maybe? but to be fair, it's a game focused and dedicated to a crowd that was already somewhat familiar with the source material, that blew up waay out of what they originally expected to reach. Hopefully they’ll add some clarifications like they did to other quests. 

Anyway these are my two cents to the conversation, have a nice day, and don't hesitate to add your two cents if you feel like it!

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #wyll #bg3 wyll #wyll ravengard #wyll bg3 #mizora #lore #baldurs gate #bg3 discourse #bg3 discussion #elturel #bg3 companions #tieflings #I hate mizora so much oh my god #fully headcanon that when my Tav went to Avernus with Kalach and Wyll they destroyed her #he canonically goes after her in one of the endings #so wtf not #and don't get me started on Ulder Ravengard #I'll rip him a new one on another post #just you wait #tw slavery #tw mentions of slavery

[groenendaelfic]

do you think wille will/should abdícate in the future or do you think he’ll become king one day?

The way this is worded I am 99.9 percent sure this is one of my friends trolling me, but I'll bite anyway even if it is, so strap in, because I have many messy, convoluted THOUGHTS. (in case it isn't sorry for presuming Anon and thanks for your question and being curious about my opinion)

The reason why I think this is a friendly troll ask is because you can't make this an or question and I have been very vocal about that in the past. I mean you can, Young Royals fandom is doing it all the time everywhere, but you shouldn't and yes I'll keep being nitpicky about that.

Why? Because In the context of monarchies and royalty the word abdication only applies to crowned monarchs and yes it does make a difference.

Let me use a (simplified) irl example: Harry didn't abdicate, William can't abdicate (yet), only Charles can and only now that he's king. Charles could have given up his rights to the throne in favor of William when he was still Prince of Wales, but that wouldn't have been an abdication, not if he had done it before becoming King himself.

The same is true for Wilhelm. Wilhelm can only abdicate after ascending the throne. If he's not king, it's not an abdication.

Yes I'll keep harking on about this until the end of my days, because while it might not seem like a big deal what word you use here, it actually makes a big difference legally and politically and on all levels if it's a crowned monarch and head of state formally abdicating or if it's an heir giving up their place in the line of succession.

So what we're actually all discussing here (most of the time) is should Wilhelm give up his place in the line of succession and right to the throne, and my immediate reaction to that (after no, never, but also he's sixteen, it's way to soon for any of that) is, how and in what way?

We're all rooting for Wilhelm and want him to be happy, of course we are. Wilhelm is my absolute favorite, but I hate this trend in the fandom that's romanticizing what everyone likes to call "'Wille's abdication" or abolishing the monarchy in general, because just because "it's right", doesn't mean it's in any way easily or quickly done in a "haha and now Sweden no longer has a monarchy" kind of way. That's not how it works.

Don't get me wrong, I'll never romanticize the monarchy or any other systems enforcing hierarchies and inequality, not in irl nor in any of my fics. Tax billionaires until they aren't anymore, eat the rich and yes, of course get rid of all monarchies, but you can't just go "lol no longer a prince", especially when like Wilhelm, you're still a teenager and can't make a properly informed decision about what you're doing.

Now before you all come at me with pitchforks, of course teenagers can tell right from wrong and make informed decisions, but Wilhelm grew up not only with immense privilege, but also extremely sheltered and in a bubble. Yes he started out his first semester of 'high school' in a public school, but I promise you the majority of his classmates' parents weren't plumbers or tax accountants.

Wilhelm has no idea of real life, not even rich people real life. He doesn't go to the store or buy his own clothes, and neither do his parents, nor do they randomly go to restaurants or whatever. Wille has never been able to go out in public without being photographed and noticed and everyone making a fuss, and he has no idea how most things work because there's always staff doing everything for him quietly and in the background.

If, and I say if, Wilhelm is sure he wants to step back from his role, then he should still wait until his early to mid twenties before doing so, because doing so is complicated and not something he can change his mind about later. Also he needs to learn about normal life first.

But I digress. Lets say Wilhelm does want to give up the throne. He's brought it up himself as a possibility when he was still desperately trying to get Simon back in any way he could. That still makes him a prince and a duke.

He'd still be a member of the royal family/house (I hate how that seems to be used synonymously in English). Not being king wouldn't mean he wouldn't be expected to become a working member of the royal family once he's an adult, except now there'll be a different monarch, one he'll have to obey within the family hierarchy, and chances are it'll be August.

Okay, so we take this a step further. Wilhelm gives up his rights to the throne and doesn't become a working royal, but that would mean betraying his family (his words) and stepping away from them. Not just his parents but everything he's grown up with and everything he knows. And he'd still be a prince and a duke.

Wilhelm will never be Joe Average Wille (is Harry now? Was Diana? and neither of them were next in line), no matter how much he might want to, especially not after S02E06 and I know I've said it before but I'll say it again: he'll keep being hounded, he'll keep being seen as royalty, and the only thing that'll change is who pays for his security.

(which btw the security thing is no joke, I know Wilhelm has no Diana levels of celebrity yet, but he's now the first openly queer modern royal and heir to the Swedish throne, there will be significant international media interest and it will stay, especially now with smart phones being able to capture his every move, and I'm old enough to remember the shit show that happened when Diana no longer had official protection officers and police protection and it was not fun, hounded is an understatement and professional 24/7 security is expensive and private security will never be as good as those who also have government/Security Service resources)

Also I firmly believe that what Wilhelm hates is not being royalty or the future king, but being forced into a role, handed a script and expected to perform without any of his own input.

When that changes, and it will, his attitude towards it will also change.

People argue that he'll be happier once he gives up his place in the line of succession, but I disagree.

I think he might have been happier had he been born a normal kid, but also maybe not because then he'd be a very different person, so there's no telling, but he'd always live with the guilt of betraying his family and heritage, and people, both well meaning and not, will never let him forget that.

Yes he struggles now, and I don't want to make light of his struggles, but every teenager struggles with their identity and place in life and things will be different once he's grown up and more secure in himself.

My 'ideal' fantasy solution were this irl would be for Wilhelm to become the last King and to work with the government to ensure a smooth transition once he retires, because abolishing the Swedish monarchy is complicated, but do I think that'll actually happen? No. Because that's not the kind of person Wilhelm is.

Also Wilhelm has been born to immense wealth, privilege and soft power, all three of which he will to a degree keep all his life no matter what happens.

Of course he needs to put his own mental health and wellbeing first, and I'm aware that he never asked for any of this, but he still has it, and with that comes a duty, and I think it'd be absolutely selfish of him to just take that wealth, privilege and soft power and to let the "common people" deal with the mess he left behind, because let's not kid ourselves, if he announces he'll give up his throne tomorrow and sticks with it until he's eighteen and beyond, do you really think people in power won't do anything they can to keep the system in place?

Kristina loves her son and wants what's best for him, even if she's not the best parent, but she'll not dismantle the system for him.

She knew what August had done, and she still would've rather had him as heir instead of even so much as considering anything else.

The Royal Court most certainly won't, and even if the elected government wouldn't be opposed to getting rid of the monarchy (if, there's a chance but not a guarantee, depending who is in power when that happens), that's not the end of it.

You can't abolish the monarchy and keep the nobility (edit: as it's been pointed out you can in theory, but my point is that the nobility won't be happy about it because it's a threat to them as well, and not just socially, and why would a Sweden in the 21st century do one but not the other, elites don't like changes in the status quo, even if at first glance it doesn't directly affect them, and this does), and there will be plenty of people, both obscenely rich and averagely well off people, who will do their utmost to keep their position of privilege.

It will not only become a matter of equality, Sweden is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world. It'll be about history and heritage and tradition.

It'll be a giant mess and if it wants any chance of succeeding, it'll need someone in power to actively work towards it, someone whose position the monarchists and traditionalists and conservatives respect, and that has to be a King Wilhelm, not a Crown Prince Wilhelm or a Prince Wilhelm or a Joe Average Wille who took his wealth and privilege and soft power and ran away because he chose to be selfish and leave a system in place no one was better able to do something about than him.

Now of course I'm once again talking about an adult Wilhelm, canon Wilhelm is still a teenager and shouldn't have to deal with or worry about any of that, and he gets to want to be selfish, because he's sixteen, but he won't always be sixteen, and when he isn't any longer his outlook will have changed as well.

Now we come to another point though, and that is that Wilhelm is not a revolutionary. He has his own head and a temper and doesn't want to blindly do as he's told, but he's not the kind of person who goes and topples a system.

I don't even think Simon is. He wouldn't mind the monarchy being abolished, sure, but I don't think he has the energy to become a political activist and to fight the system all his life, especially in a life without Wilhelm.

With Wilhelm it's different, there I'm sure he'll use the power he has for good. He'd be aware that he can change things and do his best to choose his engagements carefully should he become a member of the royal family.

That said, in time I don't think Wilhelm will mind being King, not if he also gets to be with Simon at the same time, and I don't think he should give up his place in the line of succession.

Finally, and most importantly, because we're talking about a TV show and a fic fandom here and not irl, I love playing with the idea of the Royal Court, the Swedish upper class, and all the conservatives and monarchists having to (figuratively) bow and scrape to an openly queer, headstrong monarch and the gay, biracial love of his life who also happens to be the son of a poor, immigrant single mother, because that is a very, very cathartic thought, and so yeah, King Wilhelm and Prince/Duke/King Consort Simon all the way, always.

That's what drew me to this show in the first place, a queer Crown Prince, and not a random queer teenager going about his normal life. There're plenty of other (great) shows for that.

#king wilhelm ftw #ask me anything #young royals meta #young royals #random ramblings #rant

[weenwrites]

REQUEST: TFP! Optimus and TFP! Ultra Magnus with a human S/O who doesn't believe in (and also condemns) the "family by bond, not by blood" principle; S/O despises said concept, saying that said concept is used to manipulate people, and also make people feel weak.

In addition, both Autobots find the reason why S/O condemns this human concept: This is because S/O's family made them act this way due to S/O's toxic relationships with their family, preventing S/O from making friendships (In severe cases, it leads to unlawful acts commited by S/O's family, not by S/O). Following their discovery, S/O justifies that they live with fear 24/7 before saying this phrase: "Not everyone in this ever-declining world are good people; also not everyone deserves to live. And not everyone deserves a second chance, nor a redemption. I hope you keep this in mind."

For context: Remember that episode from TFP, where Ultra Magnus learns and understands the "family" concept from Optimus following his fight with Predaking? This request was inspired from that episode.

Notes: Abusive relationships; angst, etc.

Feel free if this makes you feel uncomfortable.

✎ A/N: I'm not actually sure whether I should tag with any TWs this since I vaguely mention abusive relationships in what I wrote. But if you think I should tag this post, please let me know!

[ Please do not repost, plagiarize, or use my writing for AI! Translating my work with proper credit is acceptable, but please ask first! ]

Optimus Prime

During his time on Earth, he's noticed that everyone seems to have a different definition of the term "family". Some definitions—like yours, for example—directly contradict the dictionary definition of the word "family". He's wondered if the difference in the definitions is because of the ideal vs. the definition of the actual word itself, and so far that seems to be the case to him.

He doesn't think any differently of you for the way you view family because of your life experiences. He respects the way you see it, and he's much fonder of your idea of "family" more than the dictionary definition of it. And though he hasn't experienced what you have, he can see how the term "family by blood" can be harmful to those who have horrible families.

However, some of his beliefs contradict a couple of yours. For example, he's willing to give almost—emphasis on almost—anyone a second chance if he sees that they're willing to take the initiative to change. He's willing to give second chances to even people who you think might not deserve them. And whether this causes friction in your relationship depends on how the both of you deal with your differences.

And when you tell him that some people don't deserve second chances, that doesn't come as anything new to him. He's heard it before from soldiers and even Ratchet's tried to get it through to him. He knows, yet regardless of how many times he hears this, he will still abide by his moral compass, and do things as he deems necessary.

Ultra Magnus

The human concept of "family" was once all too confusing to him. One second, the kids told him that "family" are people who are genetically related to them. The next, they said that they consider the other autobots their family (a statement which directly contradicts their previous definition of the word...). So what is he supposed to believe here? That one chooses their own family? Or that family is something you can't change?

But when he meets you, he finds that your definition of "family" is much easier and straight-forward to understand. And after learning about all the horrible things that your "family" put you through... He can understand why you would hate that principle, and why you would hate to have those people be associated as your "family" because you share the same blood.

He would actually agree with the way you view the world. It's full of complicated people. He's seen some of the most disgusting and despicable people in the war from both the autobot and decepticon factions, and at times he can't quite understand why some people such as Optimus strive to give horrible people a second chance. Perhaps he's being too distrustful, but he's just being cautious. After all, he's in a war where he doesn't know if today will be his last or if he'll still have a base to return to the next day.

#tfp imagines #tfp headcanons #tfp x reader #tfp ultra magnus #ultra magnus x reader #x reader #reader insert #self insert #tfp optimus prime #optimus prime x reader #weenwrites

[bookishfeylin]

The whole story of Tamlin betraying Rhysands sister to his father seems a bit weird, and not a "Tamlin would never" sense. I don't remember all the details, but it's strange that Rhys revealed precise whereabouts of his mother and sister. Again not in a "he should have known better than to share", just...how did it come up in the conversation? It was supposed to be some camp or a road to a camp deep in Illyria so he would have had to be fairly specific for Tamlin's father to be able to locate the place based on the description, and I can't really think of a reason to go into that many details in a conversation with a friend about a meeting place with a third party where said friend is not expected to also be. Especially if it's supposed to be secret.

It's either Tamlin pried Rhys for details with an explicit purpose of using them later, which is unlikely, or...

What are your thoughts about this whole storyline? Do you think we will ever get a (convoluted SJM style) explanation of the events from Tamlin's point of view?

*sighs*

This whole storyline makes no sense whatsoever.

Especially in the broader context of the story. So before diving into what exactly happened, we need some backstory.

Per canon, Tamlin's father and brothers were highly abusive--worse than Beron--and Tamlin despised them all for being abusive and for their anti-human bigotry and for their slave ownership.

Per canon, Tamlin and Rhysand were close friends for a period of time.

And per canon, Tamlin is very loyal to his friends--taking Lucien in, for example, and protecting him from Beron and his older brothers despite the political liabilities of sheltering another High Lord's son.

So... we're meant to believe that a prince who is decidedly loyal to his friends and vehemently hates his abusive bigoted family one day decides to betray his friend for his abusive bigoted family???

And like. Why. Why does he do this. Yes it's part of ACOMAFs "he was evil all along he just wore a mask in ACOTAR to make Feyre love him" schtick, but it still falls flat. Even at his most evil in the trilogy Tamlin still hates slavery and hates his abusive father, so... Did Tamlin temporarily forgive slavery and bigotry and decide to kiss up to his dad by killing Rhysand's family? Did he magically forgive and forget his father and brother's abuse to go along with concocting an evil scheme with them? Did Sarah think this through at all???

It makes no sense that he'd betray a friend for his abusers in the first place, much less specifically pester Rhysand for information to give his father and brothers an exact location to find Rhysand's mother and sister. And as you mentioned, why wouldn't Rhysand find giving out specific information suspicious? Unless Rhysand simply referred Tamlin to a specific, secret place they both ALREADY knew of in the Night Court, which again implies that he and Tamlin were incredibly close and that they hung out a lot together, and undermines ACOMAF's assertion that he'd happily ruin a close friendship to play nice with his abusers. It's just... bizarre. It doesn't make sense.

And no, I don't think we'll ever get a Tamlin POV of the situation, because it'd further complicate things. With the established information we have on Tamlin's family dynamic, Sarah can't make this storyline make sense unless she (yet again) retcons something.

#ask #anon #acotar #anti acomaf #acotar analysis #tamlin

[smoothie03]

Do the "understand my ship in 5 mins" template with TeuTemp

I'm glad you asked since I've had that one in my drafts for years

Big/Little Spoon:

Idk both give me little spoon vibes if they're together. So they switch with being the big/little spoon.

Lends/Borrows Clothes:

As teens they are around the same height, so they'd be able to borrow or lend clothes equally. Once they're older (IF KT would be alive) Gabriel would tend to borrow clothes since he's shorter.

P.S. I made him shorter as an adult since he was in a dark and unfriendly place during the time he would have had a proper growth spurt.

(Also a correction: canon adult!Gilbert is 178cm, back when I wrote this chart the updates from Hetalia-Collezione didn't exist yet)

Pet Names:

There's no way Gilbert wouldn't call Gabriel a pet name. In fact he'd more likely call him a pet name instead of his actual name.

Suggestions made by my friend (a Prussia kinnie who I created my version of TeuTemp with; so yeah if I need info about Gilbert I just ask them):

-Goldie (bc of his golden-blonde hair and him being a golden child)

-Ghosty (after his death, Gabriel HATES that name and definitely hit him softly on the head for that one)

(If anyone has more suggestions for pet names, I wanna hear them!)

Introverted/Extroverted:

Actually I headcanon it like this:

Gabriel - extraverted introvert

Gilbert - introverted extrovert

Affection through words/actions:

Gabriel is 100% a man of words and songs (yet has difficulties to explain his feelings due to his upringing) and Gilbert isn't. Gilbert is a man of actions. He would brag about YOU surely missing HIM while actually he wants to say that HE misses YOU but god forbid if he said that this directly, ts ts... So yeah, Gilbert is more of an actions guy.

Confession:

Honestly, it depends on whether they already understand their feelings or not. I think it is complicated for them, since they are experiencing their first ever love in an environment that is horrible for gaining such experiences in a time where they would be judged heavily. Gilbert might say that he likes Gabriel at first but without knowing the full context of his "liking" while Gabriel would only tell him once he's sure he loves him but even if he properly confessed first (which is more likely) he'd be a bit more mysterious about it. Aka "Music transcends language and speaks to the heart. If you would like to, we can sing together."

You can't tell me that wasn't KT being hesitant about slowly telling him how he feels. The subtext with his face in that panel tells everything.

Bugs:

Yeah, I think the chart says enough.

Car:

Gabriel, my dude, doesn't even understand what a car is. And even if he knew, he wouldn't want to learn how to drive. He is a passenger princess.

But tbh I think Gilbert prefers being driven around too so if they need to go anywhere, Ludwig drives them. (Also, he might know how to drive but it's honestly a risk even as a "former" personification, since it's apparently common for albinos like him to have struggles with their sight.)

Cooking:

Gabriel grew up with quite a healthy diet, so he would maintain that and cook a lot BUT Gilbert has to introduce him to MORE spices. (I read sth about the Templars' diet but I am not sure how believable my source is)

PDA:

It is self explanatory that Gabriel wouldn't like public displays of affection since it is sth that unalived him once. If Gilbert would ever drag him to a pride parade in modern times, my poor child would still suffer from so much anxiety at the first time because he still feels watched and scared around others.

Protectiveness:

I would say both are very protective towards one another (in a stilll acceptable, healthy way. It isn't a possessive/controlling protectiveness but more like a protectiveness filled by worries due to their dangerous past but they're working on it)

But after Gabriel "d!ed" and if he ever met Gilbert again in modern times you cannot tell me that Gilbert wouldn't be the clingiest and most protective fuck ever and never wants to leave his side again in fear, someone takes his Gabriel away once again.

Meanwhile Gabriel will share a glare of death if he hears that someone tried to hurt/bully Gilbert. His OG reason for living was to protect pilgrims so I'm pretty sure he has a huge protection instinct for his loved ones.

Relationship experience:

They are each other's first love. They have none. But Gabriel is more socially skilled than Gilbert, so he isn't as inexperienced as Gilbert. (Also, he is Francis' cousin. I bet he taught him basic relationship 101.)

Cuddle Level:

They are both cuddly dorks <3 But Gilbert is clingier.

Awkwardness Level:

Both are fucking awkward when it comes to love but Gilbert is less awkward because he either doesn't UNDERSTAND what was going on in one situation or he simply ACTS like he isn't awkward at all (he is. He would even pray and cry around in shame when he touched Hungary before he knew she was a girl)

Meanwhile Gabriel is an overthinker and shows his awkwardness even more visibly than Gilbert. Also he is more aware of the atmosphere around him compared to Gilbert who is a stupid fuck sometimes. (Sorry, sometimes I still have to bully him)

Jealousy Level:

Okay, when I tried making up Gabriel's personality, I tought of flaws and I wanted to make jealousy his main flaw - ironically for him being considered a golden child that has everything but at the same time nothing- but somehow, in the making of the whole TeuTemp dynamic with my friend, Gilbert ended up being the more jealous one, especially in post-KT-"death" AUs.

Probably, because he is also the clingier one.

#teutemp #aph teutonic knights #aph knights templar #aph #hetalia #hetalia knights templar #hws #hws knights templar #hws teutonic knights #prutemp

[mla0]

omg i feel you so hard with tht tags in the last post. vinnies my favorite character & when the finale came out a bunch of people even ones who used to like him started to post a lot of hate. in response i used to really try to soften his image & shit to make him more likable bc i thought otherwise people would be like "ew why do you like him" ITS BC HES COMPLICATED!

You get it, It's About The Complexities and moral ambiguity. There's so much to talk about with characters like that, having to balance it between "of course this character needs to be held accountable for the bad things they've done," and "of course this character is capable of change, and there is a lot of context behind what they do, however misunderstood it may be."

Vinny and Shaun are in similar departments in my mind, though I'm sure saying that might piss some people off, and I get that. In my opinion, both get brashly painted as evil when it runs a lot deeper than that, linked in lockstep with a whole lot of fear, trauma, and trying desperately to control a situation you fundamentally cannot control. One of them denies, pushes away and refuses to see the reality of the situation to the point of lashing out and hurting their family, the other was manipulated into having some kind of savior complex (?) that pushed them into getting other people hurt, in some warped attempt to save people which is very ironic and sad. This makes them do awful, fucked up shit sometimes. I don't think anyone can deny that.

But.... Having a character who is strictly good is incredibly boring to me. A great character earns their redemption, and nobody ever loses the ability to change their views, especially after life-changing events that give them a new perspective. A good character can become bad. A bad character can become good. Someone can rest in the middle and make decisions purely based on selfishness, but they could still be technically good choices. Someone can act selflessly and yet still end up destroying everything. Someone might not fit neatly into anything, and do their own shit. What category do those go into- good or bad? You can't really say, can you.

Does any of that make sense? Dunno. I feel like, for as character-driven as both everymanHYBRID and MLAndersen0 are, the characters get flattened into archetypes very quickly, which I don't personally "get." To each their own, though.

Also imagine hating Vinny couldn't be me. Like and subscribe if you're a true hybrid

#ask #Anonymous #long post #i guess

[demcnsinmymind]

You know, I want to do some incoherent rambling about something that I find super interesting and weirdly complicated, but which makes a lot of sense in regards to Lance. I keep talking and talking about him being such a grey character and all the duality and yada yada yada. And I've also talked so much about what I think his story will lead to and that I can never quite decide. I make it a big deal that he hates monsters and abusers and cruel people after what happened. And that even though he can be a total dick and selfish asshole, he is not a cruel or heartless person at all, he does have his heart in the right place even though it's pretty freaking tough to get there, even for him. Yet here's his relationship with the building/ Aza/thoth.

It is the very definition of a monster, abuser, manipulator and cruelty. It defies pretty much everything he likes to say and think of himself - that he's a survivor and determined as hell and that he made it and that he doesn't need anyone to make it. Yet it is the only reason why he's still alive - because it chose to let him live. So given that entire cocktail, one would think that he hates this thing with everything he's got and wants to get rid of it and go against it at any cost.

Yet he doesn't.

And that shouldn't make any sense, but it does in his context. He likes that it makes him feel invincible, that he can't die to anyone's hands because of it. He likes that it does have a tendency to go after and kills monsters such at itself, even though he knows that it's doing it to keep itself fed and entertained, not because it's good and something that he wants. He likes that it chose him, that he's special to it.

His morality and pride works in such interesting ways. Sure enough, he keeps giving it shit and threatens to rid himself of it, going against it, because simply covering in fear before it and saying yes and amen to everything it says is just not him. Yet at the same time, even he wouldn't dare actually put up a fight against it. He could do it. Fight it, take pride in being a 'hero' by beating the monster at the end of the book. But this is not the type of pride and vanity he chooses. Instead, he chooses its admiration of him because that flatters him just as much.

It's just such a weird and nonsensical combination that does make sense, but only in his context. And I find that so interesting. The more I write it like this, the more I'm convinced that he won't ever see it as the enemy. He does know it is a monster. But this very particular one is not one he wants dead, it is a means to an end. An asset. And he purposely chooses to ignore that it's bad. And there's no convincing him of stopping hat. But the important thing here is that he's not just choosing that due to vanity. Or that he's choosing evil for the sake of evil and suffering, like it's tainted him. It hasn't. He still hates abusers and cruelty and monsters. Yet he's choosing to live with one either way. It's a survival mechanism and also an addiction. And also a result of its manipulation. No matter what, it's just such a good mix for him. Admiration with his best options for maximum chances of survival, and he's all about that now, no matter the cost.

#headcanons #hc : relationships #hc : aza/thoth #hc : psyche

[downthepub]

The problem with the ending of Good Omens 2 and people being so upset about it is like, you never believed in it, you never thought anything about heaven could be good, but Aziraphale did, has, and wants to. Agnostic / atheist people may find this more clear cut, but folks who grew up with strong religious beliefs have to at least get it on some level. Like it's more complicated than just "be with you bf bc you love him."

Let me put it in a secular context.

Imagine you, a citizen, "hate" your country because you're so disillusioned with the government and things it's done and / or is currently doing. But suddenly you have the opportunity to get a high up position in that government with the promise that you can make a difference and help people and maybe even change the system from the roots up.

Your own view of the government hasn't changed; you don't like where it's been, or where it's at, but you believe in the people who live under that authority, you love and want to help them, you want to make amends, fix things, change things......even if it costs you something, and you never wanted to be a government employee in the first place. It's a hard decision but it's not about putting yourself first, it's not about "hating" your country, it's about doing what's right.

Meanwhile the person you're dating not only disagrees with this choice but says fuck your country, we need to run away together halfway across the world, we don't need your country, you hate it too, don't you? Why didn't you say no?? And uhhhhh....it's more complicated than that. Your world doesn't work in "do whatever you want and never consider anyone else" ways. It works if you take responsibility and do good when you can.

And perhaps someday you will realize you couldn't make a difference, but right now, this is the moral choice you will regret if you don't make, and loving someone who wants to just run away from that is very complicated and painful.

Because they're not who you thought they were, and you're not who they thought you were, and this is something you can't compromise on. There's no "in-between" right now for this decision. He's an anarchist, you're a liberal, or whatever parties / political ties you want to associate with. He's ready to tear it all down or just walk away; you want to do whatever good you can with the tools at hand, and fix what's wrong, help people where they're at now.

You take your chance and go and do the good you can and try to change the world, or you walk away because someone else says you should - not because you actually think you should walk away.

It's going to break your heart no matter what, but it's not a question you can dodge. Take the chance and do what you believe is right, or go and be with the person you love, but know you made the choice you didn't think was right, and that they don't really understand what makes you tick.

Actually I was surprised and blindsided because I somehow also thought Crowley wanted to be on the side of fixing things, through whatever means possible, opportunities inside or outside of channels. The way he talked in S1 about God and good and evil and regrets and questions, didn't make me think he would be 100% opposed to a chance to go back, to do some things differently, to work to change things. He's clearly willing to march into heaven on a mission, in disguise etc.

And obviously Heaven is not equal to God in this universe where God is a mysterious and terrifying force with inexplicable motives that Heaven (at best) tries to interpret in muddled and toxic ways, while Hell simply goes against whatever they think Heaven or God might stand for. But Heaven does have a lot of power and *some* tenuous link to the divine, however messed up, and it's quite easy to see a disillusioned angel finding the chance to influence and work within this system painful and difficult, but necessary.

And yet my own religious related trauma gives me Crowley's same visceral "fuck no" reaction to the idea of going back and working inside the lines, working within the system, bowing my head in obedience to something I don't follow anymore, can't follow anymore.

To believe that the connection to the divine is owned or usurped by people and systems who have actively used it to hurt and oppress, to do bad things and make excuses for and cover up other bad things, all while claiming to be holy and perfect and above critique themselves. It can make one actually feel a bit sick to think about it too hard.

Once again, it's More Complicated Than That, more complicated than just going along and working in the system. Crowley seems to see nothing redeemable in the system, it's pure toxicity, something to escape, not try to fix, not even try to save or help the people caught up and hurt in it. Just get away before they get you again.

There's no simple compromise, no in-between here. They still love each other deeply. And can't fix this by simply one of them changing their minds. No quick fix. It's about what they actually believe and doing what they each think is right. A separation, a distance, a love from afar, and very much being disappointed in each other not being on the same page.

But they just aren't. They aren't on the same page. They can't be right now. It's honestly not even about who's right or wrong, because it's More Complicated Than That. They really are living the Free Will Version of their own lives, with all the responsibility and pain that comes with that. It's not always the happy, easy stuff where things get to stay the same.

They are making choices, and they are living with those choices. And, just like humans, they are saying OUCH on the inside, very loudly.

#good omens 2 #meta #spoilers #long post #it's rambling #personal #slkfjadlskfjadfsj

[andorerso]

Sissi, please satiate my very academic curiosity about your two OCs Dani and Elijah because I've seen you tag them on some very omg-thats-my-jam dynamics.

Like I need details. Whats their story? Do they hate each other and then oh-shit-regrettably-its-u hate-fuck in some Boston bar? Like I already have headcanons for them, we neeed moore 🥺

me seeing this ask in the morning

they're honestly one of my favorite OC ships, like top three AT LEAST. and honestly? hooking up in some Boston bar is not unimaginable! like you're not very far off at all and I love it 🥰 please tell me more headcanons *chin in hands*

you might regret asking me though because I have a looooooot to say! so much to say. too much, you might think 😭 but they have a long story, and I couldn't give them justice if I condensed it, so I think I'm gonna put this under a read-more

okay, so important context first: the setting is urban fantasy with magic and different sorts of monsters but the twist that it's all out in the open and the world has known about the existence of these paranormal things for a long while now.

Dani's in her mid-20s (around 25-27 at the start) and she has this the devil may care attitude with some serious abandonment issues (because her family situation is complicated and not the greatest). She's very rarely had real connections with anyone, whether platonic or romantic, so it makes her very lonely and basically the only person she's close to is her brother. She will pretend she likes it that way but I mean... she clearly does not. She's also a licensed monster hunter, but while most of her family on her mother's side, including her brother, were/are witches, she's got no magic of her own. So it makes her kind of an outsider even in her own family.

And Elijah isn't human. In fact, he comes from a different dimension altogether so he's a something but no one knows what yet because his kind hasn't really been seen ever before and people just don't have a name for it. He's a couple hundred years old which is old in the human sense, but not so much for their kind. Kinda early 30s in appearance. Elijah technically isn't even his real name but it's his human name and what he goes by for the entire story. His dimension is sort of splintering apart at the seams and his kind are dying by the millions so many of them started seeking refuge in other worlds, including our world. Of course they all have different attitudes towards humans, some think they should be peaceful and co-exist, some think they should just take over and subjugate humans, and some think that co-existence IS optimal but they don't think very high of humans regardless and don't really want to interact much. Basically like "you're just a small ant and I'm better than you in every way but I don't hate you so I guess you can stay." Elijah falls more into that category at the start, although he's actually curious about humans, but he's following his mentor's lead who's kinda like a father figure and the person who leads the group he came over with.

So anyway, Dani gets tangled up in this whole situation as she's one of the first person to actually see and interact with one of the others. You could kinda say they're enemies because Elijah's super loyal to his own people, and Dani's very skeptical and distrustful of them. But most of all, she really doesn't trust Elijah's mentor and that obviously creates some tension between them. So they start off on the wrong foot and they really can't stand each other first. It's a lot of unfair assumptions and prejudices basically, and they're both guilty of it. But they also clash simply because of their personalities.

Elijah's calm, collected, reserved, a bit cold some would say, he doesn't show much emotion and is entirely too serious for his own sake. Dani's more laidback and fun and likes to hide her pain with stupid jokes. She's also very much ruled by her emotions so she's hot-tempered and prone to make hasty decisions that often result in bad consequences and Elijah just. does not vibe with that. At all. There's definitely attraction from the start tbh but it's a "fuck, why them, I cannot stand them" kind of attraction. The "I think you're hot and I'm annoyed about it" kind of attraction.

They do become friendlier as time goes on and they find common ground and realize that they may not be so different after all. During this stage, only a few months after meeting, they actually end up sleeping together at a low point in both of their lives. It's one of those "you're here, I'm here, let's just make each other feel alive" kind of things. But because this is absolutely a slowburn, the next morning Dani's like "you know that was just a one night sort of thing, right?" because she does fool around with people often so it's nothing new to her but Elijah does not, isn't used to this, so he's like "uhm... yeah of course." But internally he's kinda spiraling about it. They don't talk about it, but ofc they're thinking about it.

So as time goes on, they end up becoming really close as friends and literally everyone's shocked about this development but they just... see each other, you know? They get each other in an instinctive way that no one else does. Elijah's absolutely in love with Dani at this point but doesn't really understand what he's feeling so he never does anything about it, just pines from afar, and Dani's sort of still in the denial phase (plus you know, the whole "he's my best friend and I don't really have a lot of people I'm close to so I can't lose him"). Dumb shit, obviously.

There's a jealousy sideplot at some point because I like them but it's not a love triangle because I hate those. It's basically just more of Elijah pining to be honest. Lots of angst because that's just how I roll. Over time, there's like 2 or 3 incidents when they actually kiss (I could even see another one night stand at some point, it depends) but they always pull back or change their minds or something happens outside of their control and it just never ever goes anywhere. At this point, Elijah loves her and realized it, but he's actually kinda content to be just her friend. He's okay with loving her from afar because he doesn't really think it possible to be with her for real, and it's very sad.

Dani, on the other hand, is the opposite. She has also accepted the fact that she loves him and she does not want to be just friends. At some point, they have one of those heated arguments that end with Dani, finally too frustrated with this thing between them, blurting out that she loves him, and Elijah for his own reasons (he has a lot of shit going on) pretty much ignores it and pulls away from her. It's like "this is best for both of us, I'm trying to protect you" blablabla, it's stupid and although they technically remain friends, their relationship is very obviously strained because Dani doesn't forgive him for it. Like the girl can absolutely hold a grudge, but also this is probably the time he hurts her the most, so understandable. I mean you gotta know that this is the first time she said those words to anyone that isn't her brother, and she feels rejected, feels like doesn't love or want her, feels kinda worthless because he's an immortal being from a different dimension, ofc he doesn't want her, why would he, and she feels incredibly angry that she still loves him despite all that. It’s a cycle of self-hatred and resentment, and then all that, along with some other things, pushes Dani into spiraling and she has a brief evil arc, and that's another thing preventing them from being together. (She's pretty mean to him during this era but he's also one of the things that brings her back to herself so you know... fun stuff!)

Anyway, they do get together eventually. I'm undecided on this part because idk what works better yet. One possibility is that one of them, probably Elijah, shows up at her door before a big battle that's gonna happen and confesses and they spend the night together knowing it might be their last night alive. The other possibility is that one of them, probably Dani gets hurt during the battle and Elijah confesses while she's bleeding out in his arms. Either way, they don't expect to survive so they finally come clean, and then... they survive. So now they gotta actually confront this for once.

They decide to give a relationship a try, but it doesn't end well the first time. Sure, they're happy and disgustingly in love for a while but neither knows how to be in a relationship because neither have experience. So as soon as something comes along to shake their foundations a bit, the whole thing crumbles. The following crash and burn might even be the angstiest part of the story, idk. I'm gonna be honest, the end does get a little fuzzy, I haven't fleshed out everything yet. I know I want there to be a temporary character death at some point because I know it's cheap but I live for that stuff. So Elijah dies, probably while they're still broken up, and Dani definitely goes a little feral and sets out on an impossible path to bring him back. The good stuff. He comes back, they reunite, etc. I don't wanna say everything's perfect after that because they still gotta work on their issues, but they have a happy ending and that's what matters.

Tropes include but not limited to: slowburn, mutual pining, it was always you, battle couple, hot-headed & level-headed, unhealthy codependency/mutual obsession, soulmate coded, opposite sides of the same coin, not even death can defeat us, anguished declarations of love, sad people growing an intense connection from shared trauma, grumpy character who only smiles for love interest

Songs that remind me of them: 

Remember to Remember Me by Isak Danielson - this one is pretty angsty, but it really fits a certain period in their story and every single time I hear it, it makes me think of them

An Evening I Will Not Forget by Dermot Kennedy

Evermore by Taylor Swift ft. Bon Iver

The Alcott by Taylor Swift ft. The National

Love Like Ghost by Lord Huron

Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler

(Dani also has a playlist that she made for him even when they were just friends and it's super secret and she's kinda embarrassed about it but she does end up sharing it with him later when they get together. Fun fact, I did actually make that playlist on Spotify.)

Other trivia tidbit that I like but couldn't fit into elsewhere: Dani's full name is Danielle and she HATES when people call her that. Her parents used to do it when they were angry, and her brother still does it to mess with her or when he's disappointed with her. So no thank you. Except if it's Elijah. Other people say it in anger or admonition but Elijah says it out of sheer devotion, and she's very into it.

I could also like... make moodboards if anyone's interested? Or even if no one's interested...

#replies #rustoperator #lmao sorry you probably didn't expect a mini novel when you sent this ask 😭 #im sorry but ily <3 #also i did not proofread this before posting so im sorry if anything sounds dumb 😭 #it's late and it was too long for me to muster up the energy #dani x elijah

[heinzpilsner]

So, apparently, miracles happen - we finally get to overanalyze Zuko's jealousy rampage in "The Beach" today. Yayrgh!

(... I had to rewatch this fragment 10 times in a row, can you imagine the depths of my misery?)

I finally remembered Ruon-Jian's name spelling though, that's handy

I have to dissapoint some people with the promised Zuko roasting though - as it turned out, we're dealing here with a much more complicated psychological bundle than just "Zuko's being an inadequate and possessive little caveman"!

It doesn't necessarily mean he isn't though lol

So, let's try and untangle this ugly mess.

But firstly...

Wtf is it with Zuko constantly dropping Mai's food in this episode? Was it "he can't provide for his female" agenda or something?

Well, I for one refuse to give up on the boy before I see him hunting a mammoth.

...Okay, and now back to analysis.

My quota of unfunny procrastinating jokes is exhausted anyway

Firstly, we need to answer the question: what exactly is going on between Mai and Ruon-Jian when Zuko sees them?

Well, not so much, actually. It's basically their first interaction. Mai is sitting on the couch, Ruon-Jian is talking with her. Mai's body is kinda turned towards him as she grins a little, but there's nothing outwardly troubling or incriminating.

What Zuko did when he saw this picture?

He aggresively pushed Ruon-Jian away from Mai:

"Stop talking to my girlfriend!"

...looked at Mai angrily, and then he threw Ruon-Jian away again when the guy tried to reason with him:

"Relax, it's just a party".

Ugh, I hate it

After which Mai finally confronted him (but that's a story for different time).

So... What can I say?

Zuko's intense reaction in response to the sight really can be called many things. But "completely inadequate" and "unmotivated" would be some of them only if we were sure Mai values him highly at this point.

The catch though is that it isn't the case, is it?

The scene happens right after Mai sent Zuko away for her food like some kind of servant boy, and this little detail actually changes quite a lot.

At this point, Mai's possible interest in the other guy stops being an imaginary problem and becomes a tangible danger. Because Ruon-Jian is an uncharted territory with potential, while Zuko's value in Mai's eyes was already established as pretty low.

This context doesn't magically turn Zuko's physical assault into a normal thing or a brilliant strategy though - regardless of his motivation, his actions were wrong and barbaric as heck.

But before render a verdict on our little Othello here, there are some other questions that need to be answered - it will help us to look beyond the "caveman" label and reveal different facets underneath Zuko's cringe-inducing behavior.

1) Did Zuko realize that Mai is a subject with her own will, and not some object for him to keep?

Probably.

The thing is, if he believed Mai was really into Ruon-Jian, and realized she didn't value Zuko that much at the same time, his behavior really would be an indicator that he didn't respect her will.

And yet, when Mai decided to break up with him, even in his agitated state, Zuko didn't try to argue. It could say a lot about his respect of Mai's desires - unless by this time he simply lost all motivation to try and hold on her, that is.

Anyway, so far, we can't state for sure that Zuko was trying to "claim his property" or something along the lines with his attack.

So, the thing we need to detect is...

2) How aware Zuko was about the real state of things?

And... It's a bit like dead Jet's situation - very unclear.

We know that Zuko's initial assumption of Mai's interest in Ruon-Jian was ungrounded, so he was obviously overestimating it. But to which extent, we can't tell.

What about Zuko's awareness of his low value in Mai's eyes?

Oh dear. Outload, he acknowledged two problems with Mai's behavior:

- she is "cranky"; - she "doesn't have passion for anything".

Both of these things could be just Zuko's rationalization in order to avoid the painful reality: "Mai values me, she's just... such a person? And she's in a bad mood?"

Oh, sweet summer child.

Which would mean he noticed Mai's lack of affection initially, but just couldn't bear to reflect on it consciously.

But there's also possibility that at some point, Zuko realized the real problem, but was just too proud to aknowledge it outload.

(And yet, he wasn't proud enough to refuse Mai's food order or prevent himself from admitting he keeps dating a girl whose personality he doesn't really like all that much. Huh.)

...Anyway, we can't detect the exact picture in Zuko's head on the basis of this information.

But it's not such a bad thing, actually - because it opens a loophole for different interpetations, and we can use it both to roast and defend Zuko in court.

3) Did Zuko value Mai as a unique person and not just as an abstract girlfriend?

Well... According to him, he likes when she "expresses herself" and "hates the world"?

Ugh.

I guess it counts.

So, we can't say for sure his attack was motivated just by "don't encroach on my female" logic. And yet, it was "stop talking to my girlfriend", not just "stop talking to her".

4) Did Zuko value Mai enough to try and fight for her - not just for his male ego?

Perhaps. When Mai put him in front of a choice between her and his self-respect ("bring me food"), he chose her. So at least at this moment*, he valued her more than she valued him.

*The situation itself shold have cooled Zuko off towards Mai to some degree though.

(A sidenote: this quiet act of submission was one of the biggest Zuko's mistakes during the whole disastrous day, actually.

Because in the long run, girls don't love boys for their obedience. They love boys who respect themselves.

The gender here doesn't really matter though - submission from any person who is ready to betray themselves for crumbs of your affection is actually repulsive.

Unless we're talking very specific E-rated context here, if you try to sacrifice your self-respect for the sake of love, you will lose both in the end.)

5) Was Zuko's reaction to the scene totally his own?

Not exactly. I mean, we can't just dismiss the influence of audience's reaction - namely, the boy who bumped into Zuko, - on the character's behavior.

There's always a possibility that Zuko acted the way he did because he decided it was socially expected from him.

But it also can be a point to "attack as protection of Zuko's ego" hypothesis.

6) Would Zuko's behavior be okay if he was calm and didn't assault Ruon-Jian physically?

Honestly, it's a very complicated topic. A person in a relationship kinda has a right to try and protect it - if free will of all partners is respected in the process, that is. So I guess as long as participants okay with their rules, whatever bizarre, it's their business.

And it's interesting that Mai herself didn't seem to mind "stop talking" part - only Zuko's anger.

Regardless, we don't know if Zuko would try and prevent her from talking with other boys in different circumstances.

So... I guess it's all.

And my final verdict is...

It's totally up to your interpretation! Surprise!

Zuko's attack was extremely impulsive, and we have no way of detecting which motivation prevailed here - especially with his general tendency of translating complex emotions into anger.

...But I must say, if the idea was to save his relationship, Zuko probably chose for this the least efficient method possible lol.

In addition to his insecurity and lack of self-respect, the physical aggression definitely didn't make him more attractive in Mai's eyes - and his main problem was her lack of affection!

The most important thing to understand about it though...

By the moment Zuko saw Ruon-Jian with Mai, for him, there was no beautiful way out of this position already.

Like, at all.

Chan's grandma's vase could be saved in different scenarios, but for Zuko's pride, it was 100% too late.

The thing is, from the very beginning of the party, Zuko's psychological state made him physically incapable of seeing things clearly and making right decisions. So, the sequence of his mistakes surely led him to this deadlock. I'm an expert in it - I write all my posts in a similar state pffft

And the tendency only continues during Maiko's following heated confrontation...

Which sounds like a topic for the next part of 'Analysing beach Maiko' series, yay! Until then...

Pheeew, I finally did it! Thanks for your attention.

As usual, I ignore all the notifications.

(Ugh, why on earth Zuko decided some random dude needs to know what this food was "for his cranky girlfriend"? I hate this cursed episode, honestly.)

#atla #zuko #mai atla #anti maiko

[carochinha]

19 Questions for Fic Writers!

I got tagged by @storybookprincess, thank you so so so much!!!

1. How many fics do you have on AO3?

Roughly... 16. That's not bad. Quite a respectable number!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

328,674

Damn. That a lotta word. Wild to think a third of those words are from a single fic huh

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Bit of a lot of things. Hunter x Hunter and Daiya no Ace are my big ones, but I've also written for Kingdom Hearts, Haikyuu, Black Clover, Project Sekai and....... Homestuck.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

"A Very Hisoka Wedding" stands head and shoulders above anything else at 1,143 kudos, which is legit insane. This fic isn't close to being my best. It isn't close to being my most innovative. It isn't even the longest! And yet it has more Hits, Kudos and Bookmarks than anything else I've ever written. Wild. Following that, we have "(Country Roads, Take Me)Home for the Holidays" at 365, my actual magnum opus so far, "Kiss Me Once, Kiss Me Twice" at 321, a short Black Clover ficlet that somehow keeps getting love, "Weekend at Leorio's" at 295 and "Pink Love" at 256.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I used not to respond to comments, but in the past couple of years I've been trying to respond to every comment I get. I like getting responses to my comments when I post on other fics, so I also want people to get that happiness. Besides, it's only polite!

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

...what is angst, signed, a permanently happy ending girlie.

Anyway it's probably "Quadratum Has Pocky", a KH drabble I wrote for Pocky Day which did not leave me with a lot of space for happy endings.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Literally all of them LMAO

But I guess "Red Eyes, Take Warning", my HxHBB fic this year gets special mention by giving Kurapika, the fandom's tragic boy, a happily-ever-after.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Sometimes. Home for the Holidays got a couple of comments once we got to the spicy part about how I should have tagged which character topped. That was wild. I'm talking like, HUGE paragraphs.

But not usually, no.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I did once! It was the vanillaest M/M ever written, but I sure did write it!

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I do really like inter-sports-anime crossovers. I once wrote a Haikyuu x Daiya no Ace ficlet that was quite fun!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not since I was 15 doing it myself translating my terrible Digimon fics into English lmao.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Favourite is a complicated word. All-time, however, isn't.

I've been an Akuroku girlie since 2005 and by GOD I will persist.

(the ship I most wish would become canon, however, is also from KH, but it's Soriku, which I've never even written about.....yet)

14. What’s a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

My Hunter x Hunter Praxis AU.

Huge AU, spanning five years, each of which focusing on a different set of characters, with highly specific references to a highly specific university culture from my country that like two people reading would understand. It's also technically a Reincarnation AU.

Yeah I'm never getting that written.

15. What are your writing strengths?

Apparently, characterization and making my character actions and plots seem believable in the context of canon. Which is good, because I really do strive for character voice matching the original, so I'm happy with this assessment by my readers LMAO

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

DESCRIBING ACTION.

If I ever have to write an action scene, I just don't. There is no combat in my fics, not because I dislike it, but because I can't write it lol.

17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Have done it. Will continue doing it when I find it appropriate. Helps when the POV character also isn't supposed to understand the language, because then you're just on the same page :D

18. First fandom you wrote for?

Digimon Adventure my beloved <3

(the fics themselves are also beloved, because although they're bad, I can see where I came from and how that shaped me into the writer I am today. My bad fics are a part of me and my journey just as much as my 100k word epics are.)

19. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Pausing + looking off into the distance.

You do realize this is an impossible question?

All the fics for me are... connections, within myself and with the people around me. Writing each one was a battle of finding the right words within me, the joy of sharing little snippets with friends, asking for help and bouncing off ideas. Listening to music and building the plot in my head as I walk, thinking about it as I fall asleep. Pouring my longing, my affection, my grief, and my hopes into these words, trying to connect with whoever will read them.

So I guess I'll say it's "All The Things He Said". It's the first fic I wrote for Daiya no Ace, a fandom I knew no one in. And I needed a beta. Trying to find that beta actually led me to finding one of my best friends, so I'm very thankful to this fic.

Anyway, tagging people! I'll tag @wingsonghalo because she had to read my bad Digimon fic and @tomioneer because of all I said in the last question!

#tag games

[foeofcolor]

Thank you for going apeshit with me <3 I hate James Bond I love him he's a moron he's the smartest man in the room he destroys everything he touches and he knows it and even so he can't help but reach out in something so human as 'please love me please need me please tell me i did good' he's a whore and a saint and a weapon dont worry im kissing u too

LITERALLY LIKE. He is extremely intelligent and yet he makes the stupidest decision ever possible because he has no sense of self and context or normality.

Everything he touches withers and dies!!! And yet he wants and james bond is someone who does not want by half, if he wants something he needs to consume it or be consumed by it. He's fully and completely everything or nothing kind of guy!!

"Please love me, please tell me I did good" the crux of his relationship with M. She was for the longest the most stable figure in his life and their relationship is a complicated dance, one where bond desperately craves her approval but she will never voice it, one where she makes excepted for him but it will never be enough for him because see above.

He needs absolute certainty, he craves absolution but she will never give it to him lest she lose a weapon so they make do with the fact that she will grant exceptions and lencieny when she can but when pudh comes to shove, the mission will be utmost. To james, that is the surest truth of his life and one he's always conflicted about because she should trust him to do his job but he will also never hold it against her. He can not.

"A whore and a Saint and a weapon" Oh God quantum of solace.... sobbing screaming throwing up.

This is also why when james starts feeling thins for people he tries to leave !! To quit!! Because if he loves someone he need to devote himself in his entirety, he is so unhinged and insane. This is why he leaves with vesper, this is what he means when he says "I've no Armour left, you've stripped it all away", this is why all felix has to do is ask and james goes back.

#ofc this is just abt craig bond. the rest of them are just as fucked up i just havent gone back to em #also ur tag now js #00anon #asks #anon #james bond #m james bond #olivia mansfield #personal shit tm #007 #felix leiter #vesper lynd #here is how bipolar bisexual james bind can still win: by me being positively deranged about him

[tbcanary]

Hi! In lieu of your ‘being a female comics character stan is hard’ post, do you have any comic recs for dinah that rewrote your brain??

this is SUCH a good question, and unfortunately i'm going to have some unsatisfactory answers for you! firstly, i'm relatively new to comics and there's a lot i haven't read yet. secondly, i've yet to find a dinah run where i am completely and totally enamored with no qualms or questions. so i'm listing out the comics i've read and enjoyed, but i'll talk through some caveats with each of them.

birds of prey (1999)

i'm sorry for even mentioning a run written by chuck dixon. let me just start there. this is like, the second comic run i ever read, so my opinions of it are complicated and i don't necessarily recommend it. i just need to list it here, because it was my introduction to dinah and it's part of why i love her so much. again, sorry.

BUT.

a huge portion of this run covers the era when ollie is dead. this is really important context, because i think it's a chance to see dinah on her own and away from him and the rest of the league. it's just her and babs! the birds of prey name comes to encompass a lot of other heroines after a while, which is great and i support it, but for getting full pages of just dinah, this run is excellent. she is kind, she throws herself recklessly into every situation with wild abandon, she protects others even when she doesn't have to -- or really shouldn't -- and sometimes she's even allowed to be funny. also, she's just beautifully drawn for a lot of this, up til they change the art around issue 50. (sorry, but i hate the art of a lot of the bop runs. doesn't work for me.)

dinah and babs are spectacular together for so much of this run, and i love their dynamic dearly. sometimes tim and steph and ted are there and they add an extra level to the dynamic that i really appreciate. just... ignore everything else. and i do mean everything; the plots are absolute bullshit. this is the one where she's briefly engaged to ra's, a thing that makes me so mad i genuinely cannot talk about it without screaming. it's so fucking stupid. i will beat dixon with a stick for that.

the longbow hunters (1987)

dinah lance in the longbow hunters is everything to me. she has complexity, she has depth, she is her own woman and she loves ollie so much.

this run is explicitly meant to be darker and more mature, and i think it gives a little more freedom for dinah to be forthright and open and developed in a way other comics of the era just... didn't. but, that being said, she isn't in there a ton. it is an oliver queen-centric comic from the 80s, and that means she shows up every now and then before it switches over to him narrating his internal thoughts for a while. but those panels she is in have been rattling around in my brain for AGES, so they're powerful despite being fewer.

cw for some extreme levels of violence against women in this run, and specifically for violence against dinah.

(and, yknow, if this one works for you -- there are a couple black canary runs/miniseries from 1991-1993 that have good dinah moments. i can't recommend them outright because, frankly, the writing is hard to follow and the plots and characters don't always make sense to me. but dinah's there, she's pretty, she's doing the detective thing and i love her.)

green arrow (2001)

i am only referring to the first fifteen issues of this run as written by kevin smith. i have not read the rest of 2001 in full, as i have heard that it is incredibly frustrating, and so i have cherrypicked issues here and there when i am in the mood.

that being said. god i love dinah in this one. again, it's a story about ollie, but the pages that are from her point of view KILL me every single time. she's hurting, she's mourning, she's complicated and capable and so strong. god i love a woman. dinah is everything to me.

black canary (2007)

this little miniseries is good. i think about it a lot. ignore the wedding special that comes after and also anything else, i appreciate getting to see dinah with family of her own and i really love mia in here. not that mia is the point of this answer, but i think she needs some appreciation as well. dinah gets to be protective and mad and loving and all of those wonderful things i appreciate about her, and it isn't even centered on ollie. it's all for her little sister! and that's incredible!! i love dinah so much here even if i wish there were a little less "everyone knows what's going on except her" happening, because i think it's unnecessary and there's no need for it.

--

i HAVE read a few other birds of prey runs and justice league storylines, but none of them have provided as much insight for me into dinah's character and motivations as these.

#anonymous #ask.tb #recs #i wish i had more but frankly i am more often disappointed by dinah runs than i am delighted ykwim #like this list doesn't really even scratch the surface of what i have read. but most of them aren't really worth reading. #i think there's value in them! sometimes! #but my god. not much. #anyway unfortunately i'm not a great person for comic recs most of the time bc i juuuust started reading them about a year and a half ago #and my encyclopedic knowledge is lacking #and i keep reading BAD RUNS !!! #but sometimes. good moments happen.

[fereldanwench]

🩺, 💴, 👁️

Oohhhh, well, this is a fun set. (I hate that I don't have :bongocat: emoji on Tumblr, but pretend like there's :bongocat: here.)

🩺- Viktor Vektor

I have unfortunately completely dropped the ball on keeping up with this little story (although I have like 80% of the next chapter finished, I just need to remember how to make the words go), but Valerie and Vik actually sort of dated in the months before the heist. So a core memory? How about a snippet of the very rough draft for the fight that ends it. Context: Valerie was dealing with the anniversary of mom's death, which is a Complicated™ thing even 14 years after it happened, and Viktor just does not know how to handle things he can't immediately fix himself. (Also, he has intimacy issues and if Valerie isn't getting emotional support, she needs to at least be getting off. Particularly at this point in her life. (Sorry, Vik, lmao.))

“I’m just not good at the feelings stuff.” He forced a conciliatory smile. “That’s more Misty’s department.” “Maybe I should go date her instead.” Valerie dropped her arms. “You know if you just wanted a fuck buddy, you could have said so instead of pretending like you actually give a shit.” “Now wait a damn minute. I haven’t even tried to get you into bed.” “Right, fair point, actually. I’m practically throwing myself at you and you say just want to take it slow? So no sex, but I also can’t talk to you when I’m having a shit day–What are we even doing?” “Getting to know each other?” Valerie scoffed. “You won’t open up about anything other than boxing and beer, and when I try to let you in, I get stonewalled with ‘I’m not good with feelings.’ How exactly are we getting to know each other?” Her brow softened, and she looked at him with something worse than anger: pity.  “Maybe this was a mistake,” she said quietly. Viktor felt his heart sink into his stomach.  “You know, Jackie said this was your thing. You just bolt as soon as you realize someone isn't as perfect as you think you are.” Viktor had never seen her go so cold before. He closed his eyes. Fuck. “Nice. That’s very nice.” She grabbed her jacket and walked in slow, measured steps to the door. “Guess you should have listened to him then.”  “Valerie, wait, it’s one in the morning. Don’t leave like this.” “Good night, Viktor.”

💴- Hanako Arasaka

It's kind of a cop-out answer because DUH but also I just haven't really explored much of Valerie's relationship to the Arasaka family because I am very intimidated by getting their characterization right: but I mean, helping Goro essentially abduct her and then sitting across from Hanako fucking Arasaka in that derelict apartment for 5 minutes before a bunch of 'Saka elites charge in is gonna stay with Valerie for a loooong time.

👁️ - Sandayu Oda

Kicking that man's ass all over that Japantown warehouse thingy during the parade. Sorry, Sandayu. SORRY, GORO. I'M KIDDING. WE'RE ALL FRIENDS HERE jfc

Similarly to Hanako, I've yet to actually really flesh out the details for the kind of relationship Valerie has with Oda so the canon events are what stick out to me the most. And I think those memories tend to actually revolve more around Goro than Oda, like remembering how Goro made it a point to stand between Oda and Valerie when they first met and how he begged for her to not kill Oda.

But I think they become friends eventually, and to that end, Oda showing his support to both Goro and Valerie when they go to find Yorinobu probably plants the seed for that friendship to start growing.

[cyberpunk 2077 core meme-ory game!]

#oc: valerie v powell #c: viktor vektor #c: hanako arasaka #c: sandayu oda #g: cyberpunk 2077 #t: wench replies #thank youuuuu my love #oc snippets

[cowboylikedean]

You don't understand it because you are not a poc person that was targeted by his disgusting behaviour. She is in a romantic relationship with him. Despite knowing the things he said/did. Her values should be questioned if she is willing to date a man who made multiple racist/misogynistic comments after saying things like "there is nothing worse than white supremacy". She talked about our community yet she is giving a platform (yes she is doing that by letting him perform on the stage every night) to a known racist who harmed the community. And there are a lot of POC people like me who was hurt by the fact that she would do this. Her tour was supposed to be a safe space for us but having a racist there is far from that. If these are the things he would say out loud imagine the things he would say in private. After saying she cares about poc fans not giving him a platform is the bare minimum she can do. And before you bring up his friendship with phoebe, idc about her. I was fan of Taylor not her.And before you ask where this energy was when they were friends, I believed that in entertainment industry you have to be on good terms with everyone even if they are shit people. But getting romantically linked with someone who goes against everything she said she stands for is certainly a choice and makes you question how much of her activism was real and how much of it was performative. Fans have every right to be upset

"But getting romantically linked with someone who goes against everything she said she stands for is certainly a choice and makes you question how much of her activism was real and how much of it was performative."

No. like...

Obviously you have a right to be hurt! obviously you have a right to hate him, and hate that she's dating him and hate that he's there. but like..... dating someone (and btw, Tree has made it very clear, they're just sleeping together) does not mean that you sign off on all their values and everything they say and do.

My beautiful partner whom I love dearly dated a brony. a real life honest to god brony. and she didn't absorb his values! and she long term dated him too.

people are complicated so its not as simple as "if you associate with this person, you agree with everything they've done and obviously didn't mean anything you said before."

taylor can hate everything matty does on stage and still like having sex with him. and the hell of it is, there is not a damn thing any of us can do about that.

And also, this is not without context. as I've said many times, Matty has said that this outrageous controversial shit is a performance. I know plenty of men like that. they're racist and sexist and disgusting because they think that harm isn't real if it's a "joke." often, they don't... mean the harm they say... they just like the power they get from others being upset. and that's objectively bad. but it's not the same as actually believing the shit.

and then there's taylor. taylor just got out of a 6.5 year relationship, broke an engagement, and just bought a house with this man. matty has spent the last 9 years talking about how he should have been nicer to her every chance he gets. so her sleeping with him... makes sense.

i hate it. i hate him. i wish he was not around. he actually fills me with so much gross dread and i HATE seeing them together. my heart drops when i see a picture of them and the shape of his name makes me want to vomit.

but i get it. he talked for years about how he did it wrong and should have done it right and he doesn't actually mean the harm, he just doesn't understand he is still harmful and is a man who has a thing for power, as white men do... and taylor is not in her right mind right now.

i hate it. i hate him. this is objectively a mistake, something i wish she was not doing. but i can't just... not think about this with empathy and also, i'm not going to hold her accountable for his actions.

#ask #taylor fandom #matty sucks and this is gross #and taylor is hurting and i have empathy #are two statements that can and should exist together

[bookofmirth]

The difference between Azriel being protective of Elain and the other males of their mates is clear as hell.

Like, yes we have seen Hunt not wanting Bryce to do dangerous things, but Hunt literally discussed it with Bryce. He didn't make a decision on his own. He didn't spoke for Bryce. He told her why he doesn't want her to do this or that (valid reasons: it could cost Bryce's and other's lives + he wanted to finally live a peaceful life after all the sh*t they endured).

Azriel was fricking QUITE when Elain made it clear as hell what she wanted! He fricking listened to her, and when she was gone he told the IC that Elain shouldn't do that. That's so disrespectful. I have seen Sjm LI males being protective of their mates, yes, but NONE of them made decisions for their mates BEHIND their backs, after they heard them say what they wanted to do.

I can't believe that people are also comparing this to Cassian saying "and Nesta should"?! You know the difference? Nesta made it clear that she did NOT want to scry, yet no one in the IC except for Cassian cared about what Nesta wanted and Amren basically used Elain on Nesta so Nesta wouldn't have any other choice then to accept. Azriel was like "Elain shouldn't do that" and it sounded like it's okay for Nesta to face dark sh*t but not Elain.

Azriel spoke for Elain without her knowing. He knew what she wanted, saw her arguing with Nesta about it and how frustrated she was when Nesta told her no. He disrespected her choice. He also spoke for her in the bonus chapter to Rhys. That's so Ironic, given the fact El/riels love to talk about how her choices matter.

I have seen Sjm LI males being protective of their mates, yes, but NONE of them made decisions for their mates BEHIND their backs, after they heard them say what they wanted to do.

I WISH I COULD PUT THIS IN BIG ASS NEON FLASHING LIGHTS

Even if she were the kind of writer to do that, who wants to be undermined by their partner when they aren't in the room?! I mean?! In what fucking world is that anywhere near okay?! And Az didn't have to guess at what Elain wanted, he didn't have to pause and wonder "WWED", he literally knew, and didn't give a shit.

And yes, Nesta did it to Elain too. That doesn't make Az right, it makes both of them fucked up.

The difference is that a sibling relationship is completely different from a romantic relationship. Siblings are stuck with one another and don't always get along. Nesta and Elain have a complicated relationship but they don't necessarily owe one another anything. They aren't supporting one another financially or emotionally or in literally any other way. Nesta arguing with Elain was uncalled for, but ultimately there is no assumption of support there, there is no expectation that Nesta will be in Elain's corner 100% of the time. A romantic relationship is a partnership - which, side note, is why the entire fandom hates the pregnancy plot. So yes, if Az and Elain were a viable romantic relationship, that does come with the expectation that he like... back her up? That he support her? That he has her back? Which he quite literally doesn't.

He fricking listened to her, and when she was gone he told the IC that Elain shouldn't do that. That's so disrespectful.

This is just. Gag. To sit back, watch your so-called love interest get in an argument and try to assert herself, do literally nothing to help, and then when she leaves the room, turn and say "so anyway, we're going to disregard that..." I mean, we have Mor not wanting to tell Az where she's going because she knows he'll have a similar reaction. Mor intentionally hides things from him to avoid Az getting upset.

You know the difference? Nesta made it clear that she did NOT want to scry, yet no one in the IC except for Cassian cared about what Nesta wantedThat's not love, my friends, and I really hope people aren't laboring irl under the assumption that it is.

It's almost like context matters!

That's so Ironic, given the fact El/riels love to talk about how her choices matter.

I mean the irony that people are screaming about her choice but don't care that this dude is failing time and again to support her choice - when he's around her a lot and knows what she wants. Okay. Sure, Jan.

There are just like 1,001 reasons why that ship isn't happening, of which that small comment is just one.

#antielriel #ask #anon