#the shipping could also totally be read as pure friendship

[dragonofthedepths]

Open War AU 18.5.22

When the rift opens up and people and pokémon begin to fall from the sky, the clans are not at fragile peace, but in full out war with eachother. Melli first meets Ingo when he is taken captive by the Pearl Clan, and the other Warden sneaks over to where he's being help prisoner to slip him some extra layers to protect him from the cold.

Day (341/100) of my #infinitedaysofwriting @the-wip-project

#Subway Boss Ingo #Warden Melli #Highlandsshipping #war AU #POK #Pokémon Legends Arceus #the shipping could also totally be read as pure friendship #Submas #Pokémon #datkfic? #Fix tags later #Get some sleep now

[kaliido-s]

Well, the kaiju ship I ship most is Mothollante, but everyone’s already given their thoughts on that so yeah. Has a lot of the pros of Mothzilla with few of the cons, as well as the wonderful aesthetic of a genetically-engineered abomination and a goddess of nature. There’s also the obligatory puns about flowers and butterflies, and Mothra-based hurt/comfort and fluff which is one of my favorite kaiju fan plots.

Mothzilla’s… alright when handled in a certain way, but it’s a “the ship is fine but why is it everywhere” type of thing. And with the MonsterVerse especially, their relationship is better if it’s platonic. All in all, I don’t really ship it, unless a particular person’s take leans to the “humanity’s sins and nature’s virtues” aspect of both of them.

Gong’s pretty good. Tired old men being tired together.

Rodorah’s pure arson and anarchy and I value it for that, but no way is that dynamic anything approaching healthy. I ship it for the lolz.

I’ve jokingly shipped Legion from Gamera and Destroyah together before. Two big buff arthropod ladies.

Angzilla has the same benefits as Gong, really, but with more Showa craziness. I find Kongzillra to be a funny threesome, esp. because GvK would have been over in ten minutes if Mothra was there to slap some sense into Goji, to calm Kong down, and to alert the humans to Mechagoji/Ghidorah.

2MUTO is the kaiju ship I like second most, it gets points for being the only canon kaiju couple I can think of outside of the two OG Rodans, and also because I just love the MUTOs in general. Fr though, those two bugs were so sweet together, and I do think they had as much if not more chemistry than the human leads. Anyone who says that Femuto would have committed mate cannibalism on Hokmuto can face my wrath. MUTOs are clearly designed to fight, hunt, and live in pairs (therefore it makes no sense for her to kill and eat him), and it’s entirely possible they’re like crocodilians (i.e. female raises the kids and protects the nest, male brings her and the wittle babies food. Babies stay with the parents for several years until they can live on their own, and may stay within the parents’ territory for several more years. But now I’m going on one of my MUTO ecology headcanon rambles again…)

That’s all I can think of for now, have fun with these and have a nice day!

ooh this is a long one

- I think the funny thing about the hurt/comfort fluff is I only really like it with the Heisei Mothra. For some reason, maybe because she starts out as a larva, she always seemed a bit less like a goddess to me and more like a really caring person just fighting for what they love. While I read other Mothras as more closed off and unsure in social situations because of their attachment to world peace, Heisei Mothra feels more sociable and peppy, and thus capable of committed relationships

- continuing that, Mothzilla I have never really been a fan of, and I think Goji and Mothra being friends is far more interesting. They care so much and mean so much to each other, but it’s because they value their friendship, and neither of them have really had a relationship like that before. They started off as a business relationship and got closer over time, and I think their friendship is very sweet.

- Kongzilla is (usually) very relaxed old man yaoi and I like that a lot

- If you read my other previous ask about Rodorah, you’ll know how I feel about it. Very wacky very goofy very arson.

- Y’know what, I totally think Legion could get it. She’s pulled tons of arthropod ladies before.

- Again, relaxed old man yaoi, I like that a lot. For them it’s way more like, they’ve been friends for so long and have only gotten closer over time, and everyone’s wondering whether they’re official or not, and maybe they won’t say it out loud cause they don’t want the attention, but they are.

- I had a pretty brief Kongzillra phase and that was pretty fun. Mostly used for laughs and silly shipping dynamics where there’s no bad blood. They’re a power throuple.

- The MUTOs are so cute to me, the part where they meet each other in Chinatown, call to each other, nuzzle, and sync up their vocalizations when they kiss lives in my head rent free. It’s too bad Godzilla hates straight romance, because they were a very adorable and committed couple. (I also would be super into any MUTO ecology posts if you’re offering)

(this clip. this clip right here. the sound design, the cuteness, chefs kiss.)

#mothra #mothollante #mothzilla #godzilla #kong #kongzilla #rodan #ghidorah #rodorah #legion gamera #anguirus #muto #hokmuto #femuto #shipping #kal thoughts #asks

[mechanical-aristocrat]

What are your thoughts on Screwllums letter to Svarog? I'm open for discusstions.

[OOC:]

My immediate thought upon reading it was "this is super wholesome and cute" and yeah, I still definitely think that, but I've got a lot more to say now that it's been sitting in my brain for few days so buckle up:

First off, this man is so totally autistic /aff (as is literally any robot character in any piece of media, you can't convince me that an allistic robot is a thing that exists). Over explaining to make sure the exact point he's trying to get across does so as accurately as possible and apologizing in advance for accidentally crossing boundaries (considering that at this point in time Svarog is basically a complete stranger), as an autistic person myself it's very relatable to see.

Second, I think it's really funny that he only knows of Svarog's existence because he watched what is essentially an E-Sports tournament, which he only watched because Silver Wolf practically begged him to (because I think we can pretty safely assume that the "Stellaron Hunter friend" he was referring to was her); that just adds onto the relatability for me because I also do not give a flying fuck about E-Sports, he's so real for that. I love Screwllum and Silver Wolf's dynamic with each other, they give off uncle-niece vibes and it's very fun (what I don't understand and will never understand is people shipping them with each other, it makes me really uncomfortable for several reasons, but for the sake of my sanity I'm not going to get into it).

Third, the letter honestly just confirmed some of the headcanons I had once I sat down and read all the lore regarding the Machine Emperor Wars about a month ago (which I highly recommend btw it's super interesting stuff). I guess I sort of had the fear that Hoyo would try to make it so the IPC just completely dropped every last bit of their idea to exterminate all mechanical life the second Screwllum proved to them that robots aren't inherently harmful to humanity, and that everything was just magically okay after that and humans and machines could live in perfect harmony with absolutely no conflict whatsoever. Thank fuck they didn't do that because that would've been both super boring and super unrealistic, Screwllum acknowledges within the letter that there are many places where robots are regarded only as tools, they don't often have the same sort of foot holding in society that humans do, and he hopes that changes someday.

(one of the headcanons that I have regarding this is that there's a secretive group of people within the IPC that are specifically trying to fuck up Screwllum's reputation and the reputations other robots who are also massive public figures that advocate for robot rights, but especially in Screwllum's case they haven't found much success because that man does not have a single problematic line of code in his programming)

Lastly, I would kill to see Screwllum and Svarog properly interact in the future, I think they'd get along so well and their dynamic would be so fun. I don't necessarily ship them, but more power to you if you do, honestly I might eventually be convinced to ship them if more stuff like this shows up, this was super cute (also, before anyone reading gets confused, the "we will come to call each other "brothers"" bit at the end of the letter does not mean anything that would make shipping these two characters quote-on-quote "problematic". The word "brothers" in this context purely refers to a strong bond of friendship and mutual understanding. I honestly should not have to explain that, but considering that the internet is the internet, I figured I ought to).

#I've never gotten to answer an ask like this #this was super fun thank you #honkai star rail #screwllum #svarog #ooc | out of character #hcs | headcanons #cinamoncoffecup

[octoagentmiles]

do you have any hcs for barnacles and dashi ? I'm rewatching it and many episodes start with the two of them in the main area , oftentimes there's a third person involved but it's always the two of them so they must spend alot of time around each other :O 10 / 10 bonding

Had to think hard about this since Dashi's role in the main series is so small—but you're actually so right 👀 10/10 buddies 👍

You'll get my headcanons I promise but first you gotta listen to me infodump, okay? Deal:

I personally headcanon that Dashi was one of the first Octonauts, she hasn't been around a super long time- but at least long enough that she was probably around for the first Octopod, and that would give her and Barnacles (and the other OGs) plenty of time to get close.

We know Inkling canonically founded the Octonauts, but I imagine that it was actually Barnacles who picked out the crew—over various fateful encounters (Kwazii, Peso), or already knowing them (Tweak)—with the two exceptions of Dashi and Shellington.

Shellington heard about them through the kelp vine by pure chance, and got himself a job via determination. Then, at some point—he recommended Dashi to Barnacles or Inkling, and got her a position as an intern. (He knew her through her photography; she took pictures for him once or something like that.)

I also headcanon they weren't called The Octonauts yet at that point. I headcanon that Dashi came up with the "Octonauts" name during her first few days, and they kept it. (Coincidentally, the first Octopod crashed during those first few days. T'was completely unrelated, I promise 😅)

Fast forward: I've been thinking about Dashi in AnB a lot lately, and the one question that keeps coming up is: "Why did Barnacles make her the Captain of the Octoray?"

They haven't addressed it in the show yet, and it felt a little bit like the writers just wanted her to Do Something, y'know? So I went back to rewatch some of her main series episodes, and this scene from The Surfing Snails stuck out:

This scene shows how much he trusts her. He trusts her to make the right calls, and to be careful. He shows this trust in her again in the Wild Windstorms:

"...I'm ready for this!"

"I know you are, Dashi."

I REALLY wish they had spent more time giving her some kind of arc, showing this trust being built. She absolutely deserved an arc like Peso's, where we could've seen her growth and her bond with Barnacles getting stronger. It would've made the Octoray thing make much more sense, and I would've loved to actually SEE her evolution from "getting stuck in a whale shark" to "inventing stuff with Tweak" to the level of respect that Barnacles clearly has for her in S4 and Beyond, but instead it feels like all that stuff happened off-screen.

I also wanna point out real quick; that Dashi is one of the select few characters to ever call Barnacles by his first name only. This is something that the writers frequently use to emphasize closeness between Barnacles and someone else (Kwazii, Natquik, etc), and Dashi has done it twice. I'll admit I thought it was an error the first time, but then I caught her doing it again in Sac Actun. SO CLEARLY THEY ARE CLOSE. YES? WE AGREE. YES.

ok I'm done. pleasure doing business with you 🤝

*slams hands down on table* MISC. HEADCANON TIME ‼️ (which technically, could all totally be canon until the writers finally decide to give us real information ✨)

She has 100% read ALL of his books and journals, at least twice. Sometimes he gives them to her so she can beta read them, and she's also helped edit a few.

She has written her own journals, mostly in the form of scrapbooks, that she shares with him too. He has a first edition signed copy of one of them.

She made friendship bracelets for everyone on the ship after the Octopod was rebuilt, and he keeps his on his desk. It's still in mint condition.

I feel like at least ONE of the cameras in her collection was a gift from him.

She is trained on how to steer the Octopod manually. Considering the only two on board at the time who knew how to do it were Barnacles and Tweak—her showing slight interest was the only convincing he needed to teach her.

Sadly, she's never needed to use this skill. Yet.

She learned how to play harmonica when he decided to learn accordion, so they could duet together, but she got the hang of it much faster than he did.

They work out together sometimes. She's much stronger than she looks—and has won an arm wrestling match against him at LEAST once. She's also beat him in a foot race; it was almost a very close tie, and she needed to lay down for an hour after—but she did it. He will never live either of these down.

They definitely gossip in HQ sometimes, when it's just the two of them.

#*very long dramatic exhale* i have so many thoughts about dashi. anyway- #octonauts #dashi octonauts #captain barnacles #please excuse the slightly off captions in the surfing snail images - they came like that in the clip and i didn't feel like redoing them #also i forget what episode had dashi calling barnacles his first name for the first time 😭 that's why i didn't specify- #but i DO vividly remember it so i didn't imagine it i promise hgdjfk <3 #it was in like s1 or 2 (p sure 1) and she was in the octopod trying to get a hold of him in the gup-a like ''dashi to barnacles?'' etc etc #but anyway: PLEASE anb give us a barnacles and dashi episode!! show us their friendship 🙏🙏 i beg #also this post is Not Ship. i mean idk what anon's intentions were- but as far as i go this is Not Ship 👍❌ ty <3 #dashi beat barnacles in an arm wrestling match back in her early days when she still had Strong Cave Diving Arms™ #but the foot race was more recent. all the octonauts have strong legs from all the swimming they do but dashi's also a SURFER so 👀 #i feel like these tags end abruptly but idk what else to say so 🤲🤲 you've reached the end of the post‚ have a nice day 👋👋 #the end #le fin #<3

[rosiethals]

tagged by the sweet georgie @paulmezcal 😚

1. How many works do you have on AO3? fifteen!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? oh jesus. why would you ask me that. 537,342.

3. What fandoms do you write for? I've written for Formula 1 RPF, Justified and The Vampire Diaries in the past but the at the moment I'm solely writing for Top Gun <3

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

like, what up, I got a big cock the Sereshaw fic that started it all

imagine being loved by me my current magnum opus

good wood this fic still feels like a fever dream

get into it (yuh) the fic that hunted me for sport the entire time I was writing IBLBM and came out exactly how I wanted it to

if the end of the world gets me close to you (well baby I'm finished) my unfinished Bonnie/Damon/Enzo fic 😔

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I read and covet every comment I receive, but I don't respond purely because the number got a little overwhelming and now I don't want to start/show favouritism rip

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I guess because of where I've left it, that would be my fic beyond reason, without a doubt

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? that's gonna be the fic I'm currently writing/editing if I ever get it published! so watch this space <3

8. Do you get hate on fics? thankfully no!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? you could say that! anything that tickles my fancy...

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? no, I don't generally enjoy crossovers

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? I hope not!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? yes <3

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I was saying to Notch just the other day that for me co-writing a fic would be speedrunning the end of a friendship lol

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? "all time" is a huge label... I adore Jake/Bradley with my whole heart but I also love Will/Hannibal and Sid/Geno lol

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? my TVD fic!

16. What are your writing strengths? god this is such a hard question... I tend to be pretty confident about my dialogue and characterisation? I also work hard to make the pacing of a fic feel good...

17. What are your writing weaknesses? absolutely incapable of writing something short once it grows plot on me </3

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I'm going to do it a tiny bit in Bloodsport, but mostly I tend to avoid it because I worry about the translation not being accurate!

19. First fandom you wrote for? I think it was technically hockey RPF? but the fics are deleted now lol

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? it's going to sound cheesy but genuinely every fic I've ever written is a favourite of mine in its own way! I wouldn't publish anything that I didn't completely love.

tag @tarzandavis @gothampot and anyone else who wants to do this!

#Teagan answers #tag games #writing #that word count... christ

[ridiasfangirlings]

is sarumi toxic?? genuine question, i dont know if its just the way certain fanmanga that ive read portrays their relationship. i love the ship with my whole heart, dont get me wrong. ive read lost small world, finished rok and season 1 (halfway through season 2). consuming all kinds of k stuff, i personally dont see it toxic as certain people do (knowing that theyve already reconciled). im super confused on who to believe so here i am asking you

I will say to start that I’m not exactly a neutral third party here, even with me being a filthy multishipper Sarumi is still my ‘main’ ship. That said, I personally don’t consider them to be toxic as a ship. There are definitely elements of their relationship as presented that are not good and could certainly lead to toxicity, but that’s also pretty understandable considering Fushimi as a character is not a healthy person and isn’t equipped to deal with relationships in a healthy way. If we look at, say, only season one Sarumi is a vacuum there’s certainly room to call it toxic, with the way Fushimi interacts with Yata by drawing out all his negative feelings and deliberately goading him into physical violence, but thankfully there’s a lot more to their relationship than episode five of season one.

When you consider the side materials the series is pretty clear that Fushimi’s actions stem from him being an abused and neglected child who clung to the one person who ever showed him affection and who has no idea how to handle things that other people would consider easy. When they join Homra and Fushimi doesn’t feel like he fits in he starts to assume a lot of things, that Yata’s leaving him behind, that he’s going to be rejected, because up until he met Yata Fushimi’s entire life has been him being rejected by the world around him and rejecting the world in turn because it’s his only method of coping. When he burns his Homra tattoo in front of Yata it’s a move intended to hurt them both, because the only way Fushimi knows of to break something that he loves is to do it spectacularly — Fushimi himself can’t break what he cares about so he takes on the persona of the person who could, of the guy who can flawlessly destroy what Fushimi Saruhiko loves every time. Fushimi is so afraid of losing his precious friendship with Yata that he feels like he has to be the one to break it first in order to save himself the pain of losing it. This is a toxic mindset but also a totally understandable one in the context of Fushimi’s character. 

Obviously Fushimi’s way of dealing with his emotions is not healthy but he’s not a healthy person, that’s well established. Are a lot of Fushimi’s problems of his own making? Very much so. Does he really owe Yata an apology for being a dick all this time? Also yes. But Fushimi’s actions are also very understandable due to his upbringing, and Yata himself says that Fushimi is trying to be better — “You have a sense of guilt.” Fushimi’s relationship with Niki is a toxic one because Niki is abusing him and literally doesn’t care about the trauma he’s inflicting on his kid. Fushimi on the other hand is well aware of what he’s inflicting and tries very hard not to care, while still not being able to let go of Yata and still occasionally letting his mask slip (how he has difficulty dealing with a grieving Yata post-S1 for example, and how he still helps Yata in Missing Kings) and ultimately, Fushimi knows what he did was wrong and he and Yata start to reconcile. They aren’t a perfect pure and unproblematic uwu ship but I don’t consider them to be toxic just because Fushimi dared to be mentally ill, the Sarumi I ship isn’t the one where they hate each other and where Fushimi’s still constantly cruel to Yata, it’s the one where they make up and recognize their mistakes and Fushimi starts on a healing path that includes recognizing what he did to Yata and in his own fumbling way trying not to do it again even though it’s difficult for him. (And also frankly if someone does like the toxic version of them go for it, you do you. I really hate how people tend to throw around the word ‘toxic’ as some kind of forbidden brand, like if a ship is not perfect and healthy and wondrous it shouldn’t be shipped. Ship your fictional characters any way you want, as long as you tag things properly! Be free of the need to be judged!)

#sarumi #Talking K #let ships be toxic let ships be health let them be whatever you want them to be #free yourself from the confinement of caring what others think and indulge yourself! #I hate when people use 'it's toxic' when what they mean is 'I personally dislike this ship' #trying to somehow discredit the ship so disliking it makes them morally superior #it doesn't #if you dislike a ship bc it's not your thing own that shit don't try and act like it makes you a better person #anyway that's my rant for the day ship whatever you want be free to live laugh love Fushimi ships specifically

[apr1c1ty-117]

This is merely something I’ve noticed, but there are startlingly few fics for some of my favorite friendships in the Dr. Stone series? 

Ishigami Senkuu and Dr. Xeno?  Prime rival content. Even found family if you so wish! It’s implied that Senku and Dr. Xeno are the only two that are able to work well in sync with each other, coupled with the fact that Dr. Xeno was Senku’s mentor? It would be very good food to have a fic that addressed the relationship between the two and had Xeno act as a big brother/fun uncle/psuedo father figure for Senku who has not had any time to grieve for his father’s loss. Even those who have very logical thought processes are vulnerable to emotion - arguably even more so as lack of experience with strong emotional responses can throw them into an even more emotionally volatile state.  

(Total non-explicit fics on Ao3: 25)  

Stanley Snyder and Dr. Xeno? Yeah ok these two are deffo gay, but all the fics I’ve seen that are written to the standards I hold (i’m picky, unfortunately) have been something like “porn with plot” or eventual smut and things of that kind. Which, tbh, I have no interest in. I’d love to see how these two work with each other, even if it was tagged as a ship. A brilliant sniper and an elegant (hah) scientist - how delightful! Perhaps an analysis on how Dr. Xeno managed to make that beautiful sniper rifle? That would be delicious food right there.  And even if it wasn’t really a plot-driven fic, I would love to see something that explores how their personalities contrast the other. Stanley would likely be more sleek and sophisticated physically (ex/ character design, the way he talks, aesthetic) while Dr. Xeno would have a more refined thought process from which he derives his elegance? Which isn’t to say that Stanley isn’t brilliant himself. I’ve read a few books written by ex military snipers and have enjoyed learning about the training processes and the pure grit that goes into sniping. You really do need to have a sharp mind to be a sniper, which could be a contributing factor as to why Stanley and Dr. Xeno get along so well. There’s so much potential to explore here, and I’m surprised the fandom hasn’t picked up on this opportunity. (Total non-explicit fics on Ao3: 83) Finally, Ishigami Byakuya and Dr. Xeno? wHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE’S ONLY TWO WORKS WITH THIS TAG?! bruhhhh Anyways... These two had met in canon anyways, and as I recall Dr. Xeno had remarked on how Byakuya had somehow managed to balance his kindness with his intelligence? (or perhaps I read that in a fic. i’ve consumed so much content...) Either way the dynamics between the two would be fun to observe as Byakuya tends to wear his heart on his sleeve while Dr. Xeno seems to give out the minimum necessary information for human communication. The things that would be great for the dynamic here are their love for science (or rather Byakuya’s passion for space etc) and Senku. I could easily imagine Byakuya heading to the labs during his off times to get a better grasp on the science behind the space mission (and no totally not because he wants to show his son the very covert pictures he took of the rocket noooo - also that’s illegal lol but shhhhh) and listening to Dr. Xeno chat with the other scientists about parabolic calculations for flight considering the changing temperatures etc etc.  Also did you guys know that in scientific facilities what people are starting to do more nowadays (idk if they did so back then tbh but it’s possible) is to add cafeteria spaces that everyone uses to promote the sharing of information between departments? Although Xeno would likely ignore everything for his work I’m sure that Byakuya would enjoy chatting with the scientist (that reminds him of his son no i will not be quiet about this) and hearing about the current theories and projects he’s working on. This friendship could tie into the first option as well (Senku and Dr. Xeno) because these two would def/ bond over the brilliantly wild child that Senku is.  And for the angst potential? The closer these two would be the more Dr. Xeno would be able to encourage Senku after his father’s passing.  “Your dad would be proud of you” would mean a whole lot more coming from Xeno than just Taiju or Yuzuriha.  After all, Xeno worked with Byakuya at least indirectly and knew him from an adult’s perspective. On top of that, because like Senku, Dr. Xeno isn’t prone to giving compliments, it would have extra value. (Total non-explicit fics on Ao3: 2) Just idk man there isn’t very much content for these at all comparatively. I get that some characters get all the hype but I’d love to see more content for these friendships/family dynamics. Ships are cool and all, but tbh I wish there was more found family vibes in the fandom, especially with such dynamic characters and excellent base content. 

#dcst #dr stone #senku ishigami #ishigami byakuya #dr xeno #stanley snyder #fic ideas?

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Geordi La Forge

By Ames

Our tour through the Enterprise-D wouldn’t be complete without a dive under the door to engineering, so join A Star to Steer Her By for this week’s character spotlight as we take a look through Geordi La Forge’s schematics. There’s a lot to love about The Next Generation’s chief engineer, probably the greatest being the portrayal by film and television legend LeVar Burton. In any other actor’s hands, Geordi just wouldn’t be Geordi.

But sometimes, Geordi can really just be way too Geordi, as you’ll see as you read on below for our best and worst La Forge moments! Let’s just say, he’s a character who makes remarkable friendships throughout the show, and he really should leave all his relationships at that. You can also adjust your VISOR frequency to our corresponding banter over on this week’s podcast episode (discussion at 1:17:39). Now get ready to tuck and roll!

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

Prepare to initiate separation sequence When La Forge is left briefly in charge of the ship in “The Arsenal of Freedom,” he is almost immediately put to the test by the planet’s defense system, and he keeps his cool even while receiving constant backtalk from Logan. It’s one of few instances we see the saucer separate as well, allowing Geordi to make use of the battle bridge to save the day!

Elementary, my dear La Forge One of the highlights of all of Next Gen is watching the friendship between Data and Geordi take shape and grow, and early on we get some great moments of them playing Holmes and Watson together on the holodeck in “Elementary, Dear Data,” which is undoubtedly sweet. Extra kudos to La Forge for putting up with Data’s shenanigans when he’s got all the stories memorized too.

Have you tried turning it off and on again? It’s always a joy getting to watch the engineers do their whiz kid stuff, and we get a good taste of that in “Contagion” when Geordi is inspired by Data randomly restarting himself and uses that as a launching point for wiping the Yamato’s records out of the Enterprise as well. It’s Information Technology 101, and he does it so well!

The best piece of engineering we’ll ever need Speaking of great engineering feats, La Forge does it again in “Booby Trap” when he concocts the purely manual solution to get out of the literal booby trap. Because the issue is with the computer, he opts to turn the whole thing off and have Picard pilot through the debris field himself. All you gotta do is ignore some of the weird holo-Leah stuff and it’s quite brilliant!

I will be your eyes Somehow, all of La Forge’s platonic relationships hit some really high marks, and he forms enough of a trust with Bochra in “The Enemy” that the two are able to survive on Galorndon Core. You’d never think humans and Romulans could find common ground before, but when these two find that they need each other, you think there might be hope yet.

Computer, identify the source of this shadow Geordi has another very nice friendship with his old crewmate Susanna Leijton in “Identity Crisis,” but the most impressive part of this episode is the great sleuthing that he does with some video tapes and the holodeck to determine that there was more on planet Tarchannen III than met the eye. In fact, there were otherwise invisible transfigured rave apes!

A blind man who never would have existed in your society Appropriately, we saw Hannah Bates’s actress in our podcast coverage this week in “Two Days and Two Nights,” and that makes it a good time to bring up that Geordi totally schools her biologically engineered ass in “The Masterpiece Society.” He uses his VISOR to save the day, something no one in their colony would ever have because of their ableist views.

BBFF: Best Borg Friends Forever As with his bromance with Bochra, Geordi connects with another unexpected being in “I, Borg.” Indeed, it’s the engineer’s ability to humanize even the least human, most frightening enemies that proves to be one of his best qualities throughout the show. Watching Geordi remind Hugh of his individuality, give him his name, and save him from Picard is the best of La Forge.

Are you saying I'm some blind ghost with clothes? Speaking of forging friendships, La Forge shared a very clever plot with Ro Laren in “The Next Phase,” and it turns out the two of them work together splendidly! Not only do they confront what could easily be interpreted as their deaths, AND find an ingenious way back to the correct phase, but they also foil a nefarious Romulan plot. Oh dear, what would Bochra think?

The Titan’s Turn Boys We picked on Riker the other week for how he acted when Jellico had command of the Enterprise in “Chain of Command.” But you know who took it like a champ and did his damn job? Freakin’ Geordi! He helped Jellico with the solution to their Cardassian problem and even used his friendliness and good nature to get him to involve that whiny Riker to pilot the shuttle.

They see me rollin’, they hatin’ Whenever a chief engineer gets to roll under a slowly closing garage door, you know you’re in for a good time. It happened in “The Best of Both Worlds,” critically one of the best episodes of all of Trek. But an even better roll is in Generations in which Geordi gets a perfect score for the pirouettes and for sticking the landing in a great pose, all while saving his whole engineering crew!

I’ve never seen a sunrise Finally, let’s close out the Best Moments with just a small detail from Insurrection. While we must admit that the rejuvenation storyline on Ba’ku wasn’t terribly well fleshed out, the character who really gets something out of it is Geordi. When his optic nerves have regenerated, he gets to enjoy a sunrise the natural way for the first time, and it’s tragic because he knows it won’t last.

—

Worst moments

This is why you wear PPE Who’s keeping count of how many times “The Naked Now” or “The Naked Time” has come up in these character spotlights? Well, in the case of the TNG spinoff, you can thank La Forge for catching the Psi 2000 virus in the first place by handling a corpse with no protective equipment. And am I the only one it rubs wrong that he spent the episode complaining about being blind?

An adversary capable of defeating Data Here’s another shipwide problem that was basically Geordi’s fault. With his imprecise wording, he effectively made the computer create Moriarty in the holodeck in “Elementary, Dear Data” and we see the repercussions of his mistake throughout both that episode and “Ship in a Bottle,” which I’ve already given Picard some guff about.

Their rubber band broke, right? La Forge starts the abysmal “Samaritan Snare” off on the wrong foot from the word go. He makes fun of the Pakleds pretty much to their faces, which is uncomfortable on its own. But he simultaneously underestimates them, assuming them to just be dopey but affable instead of dopey and malicious. Getting kidnapped by caricatures makes for a pretty rough day.

That’s a Coco No-No! It begins. Why the show decided Geordi had to be weird with women is beyond us, but it starts with his weird date with Christy in “Booby Trap.” He takes it way too personally that she’s not that into him on their date and gripes about it to Guinan afterwards. And that’s not even mentioning the rest of this squicky episode that sets Geordi up as the incel of the franchise.

Hold the Broccoli Despite La Forge generally being a friendly guy and a good boss, the way he treats Barclay when we first meet him in “Hollow Pursuits” is downright shameful. Throwing around the disparaging nickname. Complaining to Picard whenever he has to be in the same room with him. Overall treating him like a leper. Not great boss behavior.

I’m guilty of a terrible crime, Doctor. I offered you friendship. There’s good reason for “Galaxy’s Child” making our Worst Episodes of TNG list, and that’s that it entirely besmirches the character of Geordi La Forge. It’s one thing to get a little action with holo-Leah, but it’s another to expect the real Leah to treat you the same way. And then to turn it around so it’s all her fault? Nothing on our Best Moments list makes up for this railroading of an otherwise good character.

Even in a La Forge post, O’Brien must suffer Geordi just plain wasn’t having a good day in “The Mind’s Eye” and it’s full of bad behavior that can easily be blamed on the brainwashing, but blame we will! Manchurian Candidate’d or not, Geordi La Forge was capable of killing the simulation O’Brien at the command of some Romulans, and later dumping his drink on him in real life… but that’s nothing new to the chief.

A century out of date Okay, so it’s plain and true that Montgomery Scott was entirely underfoot and a bit of a hindrance for the engineering crew in “Relics.” But it’s also so sad to watch our resident miracle worker from The Original Series get treated like an obsolete dunsel. Geordi is prepared to ignore the old engineer until the captain takes him aside with another of his patented Picard pep talks.

I'm starting to feel like I know her If falling for a holodeck version of Leah Brahms wasn’t creepy enough for you, don’t worry, Geordi can go lower. In “Aquiel” he falls for the eponymous character by watching her personal logs, ostensibly for an investigation, but then when he hooks up with the murder suspect when she turns out to still be alive, no one can doubt that he’s taken it too far. Like freakin’ always.

How do you feel? We already saw in our spotlight on Lt. Commander Data that installing the emotion chip in Generations was a bad move. Geordi does promise to his android friend that he’ll remove the thing at the first sign of trouble… which happens at the most inopportune time right as Geordi is busy getting kidnapped by Klingons. This guy. Always getting kidnapped and reprogrammed, he is.

This is the exact spot where your statue’s gonna be One more from the movies, and that’s that Geordi gets to meet one of his heroes in First Contact… and immediately creeps Zefram Cochrane out by fanboying all over him. Word of advice, Gordo: if you’re already messing with the Temporal Prime Directive, maybe don’t start talking about going to Zephram Cochrane High School to the guy.

The Butterfly-in-the-sky Effect We get even more temporal shenanigans when Geordi gets a brief cameo in Voyager’s “Timeless.” Sure, LeVar was also busy directing this one so it’s a no-brainer to pop up on a viewscreen while he’s on set, but it also just feels weird for one of our past heroes to be the one browbeating our current heroes to stop their super cool time adventure. What a Herbert.

—

Well, our beach violinist has absconded and our Coco-no-nos have run dry, so we’ll wrap things up here. We’re wrapping season one of Enterprise over on the watchthrough on SoundCloud next week, so get ready for us to tear our hair out trying to think of highlights from that before we’re back on course with more TNG character profiles. So keep your VISOR pointed here, stay in the friendzone with us over on Facebook and Twitter, and watch the sunset with us over the bay.

#star trek #star trek podcast #podcast #la forge #the next generation #generations #first contact #insurrection #the arsenal of freedom #elementary dear data #contagion #booby trap #the enemy #identity crisis #the masterpiece society #i borg #the next phase #chain of command #the best of both worlds #the naked now #samaritan snare #hollow pursuits #galaxy's child #the mind's eye #relics #aquiel #timeless #levar burton #coco-no-no

[kidflashimpulse]

holy shit a friendship-focused fic involving Tye and Jaime and Bart? you're doing the lords work. listen i love romance but friendship fics don't get the traction they deserve. purely platonic dynamics with zero romantic feelings are UNDERRATED in fandoms. it's standard for ships to be the main plot and friendships with other characters to be minor (if there at all), so i love the rare treat where it's the reverse (and the background ship being zetaflash? my beloveds? everything i want)

100% agreed! Like sure, i’m driven by ships just as much as the next fic writer but i feel like in building up relationships and characterisation its nice to consider the surrounding interpersonal relationships that exist, it kind of adds a lot of layers and depth that can be so fun to explore and read about

personally in this case i was primarily driven by a specific plot/concept that i’ve read about on tumblr and other fics that i’ve been sooooo interested in exploring. Honestly, I really don’t know if people will enjoy it or not but i won’t know if i don’t try 😭 it’s a bit on the darker side (i think? idk tbh lol)

that being said, just for the sake of gauging expectations and not making fake promises i feel like i need to clarify a couple things about this fic. I don’t consider this to be much of a spoiler because personally it’s a fairly established hc on my part regarding bart that he’s at the very least had a pretty serious crush on jaime at some point. That’s kinda prevalent in the fic, but because the central topic still remains to be very much about everyone’s friendship, i wouldnt consider it to get in the way of it much.

Zetaflash is also very much in the background because the state of everyone’s social circle is kind of reminiscent of YJ Season 2 where they’re all still in early stages. (i.e right now ed and bart don’t even really know each other at all) Because the fic is still very much in its drafting stage and things rlly could be subject to significant changes, I can’t be 100% sure that i’ll stick to what i’m planning. But I thought i’d share this with y’all cause it’s pretty exciting and i love everyone’s energy too lol

especially since it’s over such an underrated concept!! Friendships and general interpersonal relationships in fics are just something that i adore so much, so i totally relate to you. i do hope i’ll be able to finish the fic and post it at some point :)

#YJ asks #young justice #bart allen #jaime reyes #tye longshadow #eduardo dorado jr #zetaflash

[lokislytherin]

Heyyyyyyyy so this ask is just out of pure curiosity, but what is your lookism

otp

rareship

kinda popular pairing u cant just jive with so much

hello curious anon! thank you for the ask hope you're having a pleasant timezone!

otp: idk if you've seen my posts or my ao3 but i am literally a janiel writer. jaeseok is literally The lookism otp for me. but if i had to pick a second otp it would be zami bc they're so good for each other sorry vinzackers but zami is one of my only few valid het ships that i'll actually die fighting for (i like danizoe too but i think they're better off besties bc they both need a bestie of the opposite gender so 1) zoe can realize guys are not that great 2) daniel can realize he can be good friends with girls without having to date them)

rarepair: idk if anyone ships this other than me but yuimira? i made a bs headcanon post when i saw lookism rarepairs prompt-ish thing and i'm too lazy to link it but if you search yuimira on my blog i bet you'll find it but anyway! mira's 'i can fix them' energy is so strong (read: zack, johan) but she's also really sweet and her angel energy could really balance out yui's bitch energy you get me? hence why i raise you the even rarer rarepair of zamiyui bc zack is also a bitch at least to others you can't tell me no

non-ship: hmmge. HMMGE. CURIOUS ANON YOU'RE GONNA GET ME STONED FOR THIS but i'm gonna say quite a few ships actually so i might as well let the homies flame me sooner rather than later btw some of this might get a little nsfw!

gundaniel: i'm sorry but you can't tell me daniel would ever love gun romantically of his own volition. i only ship it as gun simping for daniel and daniel being terrified and disgusted / noncon / possibly dead dove ish with the broken bone and blood kind of gore combined with noncon

gungoo & jakemuel: they act like brothers. i thought they were brothers for the longest time i can't ship them romantically, sorry for the anon who asked me to write gun x goo and jake x samuel sheesh both of my non-ships!

jakejiho: idm jake but i HATE jiho with a burning passion. i love his bastardisation arc and it was really well written but 1) it took up too much of the main story imo like daniel literally wasn't the mc of lookism for that arc 2) his ending SUCKED. he just died like that and i think it was just like ??? why so sudden?? why he just end like that? haiyaa ptj-nim you already made him bad why not make him Worse and keep him in the story (and keep me fuming every other chapter /LOL jiho's the one guy i would hate irl more than gun bc he's so fucking pathetic istg)

vasco and jace: this is the one i'm gonna get flamed for more than anything but LOOK. vasco's neurodivergent aroace vibes are so strong to me and just. male friendship yk. they're platonic soulmates bc that's good too yk. they're more than besties but not lovers in that sense... not me hinting at my vascojace platonic soulmates agenda in hit and run with "jaeyeol and hyungseok have the special bestie telepathy like vasco and beomjae, but it's different for jaeyeol and hyungseok" as in romantic difference, and one of my readers immediately went omg yeah vascojace should totally get married and i was sobbing like NO THAT WASN'T WHAT I MEANT AT ALL

vinzack: i just can't see it. sorry. i believe in mira supremacy but that might be bc i'm gay and i would date mira if zack doesn't

phew that was a lot LMAO but it had to be said! once again thank you for the ask curious anon feel free to come back to ask more!

#rinanswersthings #lookism #in terms of rarepair i also think gunjaniel would be interesting #bc janiel is daniel x daniel simp (positively toxic) #and gundaniel is daniel x daniel simp (negatively toxic) #where jay is 'he can fix me' and gun is 'i can make him worse' #and i have my Gunjay Parallels #i just wanna see gunjay interact #jay being out of his mind with jealousy at the sight of precious cinnamon roll daniel with the most evil yakuza man ever #daniel: he teaches me how to fight :D #gun smirking bc he Knows jay is weak for daniel: i pin him to the floor and he likes it #jay: *depressed gay teeth grinding* #don't stone me to death in my sleep for thid guys #this is my honest truth

[girlbossminerva]

Okay so I know that absolutely NO ONE asked but I want to say that I grew from hating JeRza to tolerating it, I don't hate it as much as I did before because I sort of understand as to why SOME ship Jellal and Erza but it hits the wrong way when I remember that there was barely enough development aside from the first time they met each other there was already unreasonable romantic tension or it was Erza being skeptical of Jellal and then they almost get to it on the beach through some words and yeah, and then they have mutuals feelings about each other after that reunion like if had Erza visit him a few weeks after her had arrested and talk to him and we got scenes or the manga revealed it to us, I would understand but we get none of that, just a meeting on one day refueled so many feelings and it confused me because if some guy was possessed and trying to kill me, I'd loose feelings after a while or a month..

I'm not a fan of Erza's personality change around Jellal, it confuses me but it is weird because Erza being I can't say romantic is a bit softer along with her tone and wording and it can be seen as romantic or her being friendly but the "Erza" around Jellal is so submissive without much reason, this is expressed in the 100 Year Quest when she...

Kisses on the window because Juvia had done it to... practice on a pillow so that she can do better on Gray and because "Erza" is a bit clueless Jellal saw it when he came to talk to her at a fast food place or somethin' when she tries it on the window and when Kiria the Diablos Guild Member (Fifth Gen Dragon Slayer) has Erza on a chain in provocative clothing or it's ripped up, I don't remember and honestly I don't want to for the sake of my mental health, a illusion of Jellal shows up and she eats up food in a bowl like a damn dog.

Tolerating is a bit of a stretch, and hating is a bit strong so I dislike this ship.

I totally get you, I don't quite hate the ship but I'm uninterested af. I think I've mentioned it before, but i used to be a huge fan of Jerza until I realized it was cause 1) I've a fictional crush on Erza and 2) it was actually the result of having found a decent writer on FFN that makes fluff i like even today. Aside from that, i literally could not care less for Jellal and it is, as you said, bc he has barely any character development.

I honestly think that Erza still having some feelings for Jellal in the nirvana arc can still make sense since they're relationship is based solely on "we used to be best friends until you were brainwashed and so i hated you for years but I still held a sliver of hope that you'd be back to normal" like i feel Erza can be a very hopeful character which is the only way that her dynamic with Jellal works, so the end in the nirvana arc is kind of a closure and i don't know how the council's prisons work but I feel she definitely could've been allowed to at least communicate with him via letters.

However, trying to extend their "romantic" tension only serves for the detriment of their characters because the only way their dynamic functions is with them never actually getting together and being in a constant stale point, which wouldn't happen of this had been let to remain as a friendship. As an attempt to romance, Erza's character becomes "woman who has not given up on a decade long teen crush and is ready to forgive everything if he turns to the good side" and Jellal's is "man who refuses to be with woman he likes cause he thinks she's too pure for him", it never moves from that point and it gets fucking boring very fast, which is why I prefer Erza in other ships where she is given space to be more. Hell, after writing a jerik fic for an exchange I even prefer Jellal with Cobra because it allows for a different better dynamic between characters that actually can have more similarities, it's the one ship where i felt Jellal's character could be explored.

Also, dear GODS I'm so glad i don't read 100yq, i did get to the scene where Erza was on a leash (though i don't remember much of it) and was appalled at how much mashima hates having a physically strong female character and feels the need to have them dominated (and also how he's gotten worse with the poorly disguised fetishes). I'm sure this is also connected to the "Erza becomes 'softer' when Jellal is around", like he's saying that at heart Erza will be submissive to the right man and i fucking hate it. To me FT ended with the main series and Erza got over Jellal and moved on with her life just being friends with him.

#straight outta the mailbox #fairy tail meta #anti jerza #<- just in case #monet visits

[dailymichifer]

do you ship midam?

short answer: I like them a lot but no, I can't say I actively ship them. It's more of a fun ship-in-law.

long answer:

I'm not very invested in it. I kind of wish I was! I read fics that include them, but I don't go looking for stuff that focus exclusively on Michael/Adam romance (unless I randomly decide I want to read pwp, or if it's a fic rec/a fic written by someone I really like/trust with the characters).

I AM interested in their dynamic, but mostly the non-romantic themes (friendship, vesselhood, etc) and most of the time I'm much more invested in Michael (= what it means in terms of character development for Michael in general) than Adam... If I had to choose a Michael/human ship I would probably pick Michean or Michael/Sam because I'm much more interested in these human characters and the character development that would need to occur for them to end up with Michael.

One big turnoff for me is that a lot of fanon Midam dynamics are based on late season canon (which makes total sense since their only real interactions take place in S15), and I dislike most post-Kripke era characterizations, especially Buckleming!Lucifer, meaning Cagefics/Cage hcs are a bit annoying to me in the context of Midam in a corner + Buckleming!Lucifer who is mostly ignored or used as a plot device for Midam angst (trying to torture Adam or whatever); I also dislike how Buckleming!Lucifer's unidimensionality leads to a less complex interpretation of his dynamic with Michael, which flattens Michael's character as a consequence (e.g saying S5 Michael was lying when he told Dean he didn't want to kill Lucifer, etc.) that's a big nope for me - not matter the pairing/story, if your version of S5 Michael is completely indifferent to the idea of killing Lucifer then it's not Michael to me (and the swan song script agrees with me!) - and I'm not interested in him.

Speaking of flattening, that's another aspect that turns me off... there's nothing wrong with liking that, but the "pure, healthy unproblematic cinnamon rolls" interpretation of the ship does not appeal to me at all. I do like fun normalcore domestic aus, but only with some spice you know? Not necessarily angst, drama and heavy codependency, but at least something that addresses that the characters are more than y/n + y/n-with-wings in a coffeshop. (The same could be said for Michifer ofc, there are some popular fics/hcs about Lucifer being a smoll bean who did nothing wrong/etc.)

I don't think the "100% unproblematic" interpretation I just mentioned is the most common though, I've read great fics/hcs/metas that explore their characters in much more compelling ways... and in general I think Midam is fun and has a lot of potential for all types of interesting dynamics!!

However, looking for Midam 'content' is like a dodgeball game to me because of the headcanon incompatibilities I just mentioned (and the ones I kept to myself djfkjd), and at the moment the ship's potential doesn't motivate me enough to fuel me with the energy I would need to actively, regularly thread my way through this part of the fandom to look for things that tick all my boxes. Add Lucifer to the mix and it changes everything though; Midafer ftw 👑!!

#mod replies

[bridgertonbabe]

For the Harry x Ginny reblog, I think part of it was the actors having practically grown up with each other & viewing each other as siblings. But the biggest factor was definitely the director who has always been open about the fact that he doesn't understand why Harry & Hermione didn't end up together. Which still baffles me today, because how could you let a director be in charge of four movies if said director doesn't understand the characters nor why the characters act the way they do? I'm not gonna go into a rant about this because I need to finish typing up the post about Princess Francesca & Princess Hyacinth but yeah, the movies f*cked up the trio's friendship already from the first movie & Yates f*cked up Harry & Ginny's relationship because he shipped Harry with Hermione & viewed Ron as purely comic relief

#JusticeForGinny #JusticeForRon #MyInner12YearOldIsReallyShowingRightNow

Honestly I assumed that since Daniel and Bonnie practically grew up together it would have been weird for them to do romantic scenes, and Emma and Rupert said the same thing when it came to filming their big kiss (and while we're on the subject I also wanted way more Ron and Hermione scenes than what we got), but you're totally right, if there had been better direction I'm sure they could have squeezed something decent out of them and given the audience something that at least resembled Harry and Ginny's relationship from the books. It's funny because it wasn't until you mentioned that Yates had preferred Harry and Hermione together that I remembered reading about it (I must have repressed it out of annoyance lol). I think it should be mandatory that any director adapting a book series to film or TV should have at the very least read the source material, have a complete understanding of its characters, and dedicate themselves to delivering the most faithful adaptation possible. It's only over the years that I've realised that the reason why I don't rewatch the last four films as often as the others is because of the direction it's taken especially with how the characters are portrayed. From OOTP onwards I felt like they had made Hermione a joint protagonist with Harry and oh, Ron's there too. I used to wonder if they wanted to take full advantage of Emma's talent and put her as front and centre as possible while Rupert wasn't as up to scratch as the others acting-wise, but having seen a number of Rupert's projects I realised there was no issue with his acting and that Ron's diminished role of comedic relief was all down to Yates' own preferences. I wonder what might have been had there been a different director/s at the helm for the last four films but alas, I guess we'll never know.

#asks #saga: might i offer you a small rant? #me: and may i offer you a rant in turn built off of the the rant you have just provided me with? #harry potter #my ramblings

[darudedogestorm]

Too impatient to actually wait for anyone to send me asks for the warriors ask game plus I already typed it all out anyway soooo

👴 : fav elder?

It’s such a hard tie between Littlebird and Silverflame (yeah Yellowfang’s Secret was my favorite book as a child, how could you tell)… Silverflame and Yellowkit had such a sweet relationship (well, as long as it lasted, it was sweet). And I really appreciated Littlebird and Yellowfang’s interactions, too. Their friendship was also very sweet. I still remember that one scene where (sometime after Brokenkit shows up) Littlebird is like 🥺 you saying you dont have time for your old friends? for me? 🥺🥺🥺? Plus her comforting Yellowpaw after Silverflame's sudden passing.

On a related note, went to check their wikis and was absolutely blindsided that Littlebird is ginger. I always imagined her as pure white..

❓️ : fav total background character (im not talking minor characters like say. whitewing or moonlight, i mean cats with like…3 lines tops)

For the longest time my answer to this was Amberleaf. And honestly it still is. She’s Nutwhisker’s mentor in Yellowfang’s Secret, and she’s specifically noted to be especially strict, so it’s kind of like a “damnn you got stuck with the mean teacher” moment, but then she tells Nutwhisker something like “I will make you the best warrior you can be” so it’s like Ohhh she’s not 2dimensionally mean, she probably just has her own way of showing kindness and does actually value her charges 😭

📖 : fav comic page from any of the mangas and why

That one scene in Nighstar’s manga where him and Runningnose are travelling either to or from the Highstones, and they’re talking about how ShadowClan needs a strong leader. And the shadows of the trees cut across the orange field like tiger stripes. FORESHADOWING.

👶 : how old were you when you first touched a warriors book? howd it happen

Probaby like 7???? I don’t know the exact context leading up to this but I was at a friend’s house and somehow made contact with their Graystripe manga (specifically vol 2). They let me take it home to read, later they also did this with the 3rd Graystripe manga and Yellowfang’s Secret (eventually returned ofc). Fun fact I didn’t realize Silverstream was dead cause I didn’t know who she was aside from “Graystripe’s old girlfriend”, I vividly remember playing out a scenario of Graystripe and Millie returning to the forest and meeting Silverstream, using the three LPS I owned (one of which was actually given to me by the same friend… I still have her btw and her name is still Millie). Unfortunately quite literally 0 people at my school read Warriors (or if they did, they didn’t tell me) so I was alone in being a Warriors enjoyer </3

💢 : what scene made you the most irrationally angry upon first reading

The first thing that comes to mind honestly is Nightheart’s first couple of chapters in River, like the way the narrative bends to make him right. It was kinda infuriating. I can’t really remember anything else that made me actually upset though.

💧 : how many times have you cried over this wretched book series? any favorite memories

0 times, I have cried over media maybe thrice in my life. I don’t think I’ve really even teared up over anything happening in the books (tearing up is a little more common for me than actually crying). I don’t really feel much strong emotion tbh.

💋 : is there any ships out there you absolutely hate for genuinely no good reason at all. like its not problematic in the slightest, if anything it's one of the better ones, you just cannot bring yourself to enjoy it

Squirrelcrow… I don’t see the appeal at all. Idk that I’d call it “one of the better ones” or “unproblematic”, mostly cause it’s been literally almost a decade since I’ve read TNP so I don’t really remember much of how their dynamic was (or how it could have gone). I just super do not like Crowfeather and I can’t really see what sort of chemistry Squilf would have with him.

Bristleroot doesn’t exactly inspire rage in me but it does leave me deeply confused and a little unsettled. Like I guess it’s fine but genuinely when Bristlefrost “confessed” back to Rootspirit I thoughht she was lying to him, either for some sort of advantage re:the impostor or to spare his feelings somehow. It felt extremely forced. Sunbeam/Nightheart gives me similar feelings, maybe to a slightly lower degree because at the very least their interactions were mostly positive before Nightheart dropped everything to try and score a marriage visa out of her. Which was still pretty weird so it’s not like it’s better by much.

🐾 : have you ever named a cat after a warriors character OR given a cat a warriors styled name? if so, tell us the story

No but I gave my DOG a warrior name!! I had a mini ceremony for her and everything. I think her name was like Blackwhisker or something (Black- cause her fur was black, -whisker because I thought of her name on the spot and her whiskers were the first thing I noticed).

1️⃣ : was warriors your first animal based fantasy series? if not, what series was?

If it counts, I watched My Little Pony before I read Warriors. In terms of books I don’t really think so? Most of The Before Times is kinda blurry for me, and obviously there wasn’t anything that made as much of an impact as Warriors did.

👑 : when roleplaying (if you ever have roleplayed warrior cats), did you used to power play? be honest.

Nope, actually if anything I think I kinda underperformed… I was really socially anxious and would get so sick to my stomach even typing stuff out cause I thought somehow I would accidentally say something that would make everybody instantly hate me somehow. But on the forum I was on I needed to post at least once every 2 weeks to be considered active, and I loved it there too much to just leave. So on the RP threads, in the few times I posted, I had my character just sleep most of the time, with the idea that someone would wake her up (thus inviting me into the RP and making it okay for me to speak). This did not work out 90% of the time but that’s okay 👍

I did used to do Roblox RP on the Mandaka server though!! The thing about most Warriors RP servers at the time (especially Mandaka’s) is that there was no system determining who goes to what clan, so usually what would happen is 1 or 2 clans had like a million people and the rest had 3 or less. Not really a powerplay but I felt so fucking powerful the one time I singlehandedly restored ShadowClan from a 0 player clan (me being the first cat) to the most populated clan on the server that day. I reigned supreme as Creamstar and then Dawnstar (Creamstar’s deputy ended up having to leave for lunch or something). Considering Creamstar was murdered against the rules of the servers (wasn’t supposed to use claws, no random murders, yet was killed by a random ThunderClan patrol), I took it pretty gracefully I think. Though I did crush some kid’s dreams because they showed up acting as leader, and when I told them I was already leader they were pissed at me and told me it was their birthday so they should get to be leader. I think I just told them it was my birthday too (lie) and at some point they gave up and left. Keep in mind I was like 10 when this happened ^_^;

🗺 : first map you ever watched?

To be honest I don’t actually know… it’s probably not the first one I ever saw, but We All Still Die (hosted by WhiskerMoon) sticks out in my memory as being one of my early favorites.

🖼 : first amv/pmv you ever watched?

Either Blackstar’s Too White and Nerdy by Mama Tad or Brokenstar Has Bad Blood by Urnam7. (Fun fact… I got in trouble at my elementary school after-school care program for asking the teachers to play White and Nerdy cause it was ‘offensive’/‘inappropriate’…. I was like 7 I had no clue 😭) (Better fun fact, this was how I was introduced to Creature Feature).

🖌 : when did you make your first warriors oc? (if you say you've never had OCs, i dont believe you)

Maybe sometime between 6 months to 1 year of having read the books? Her name was Marigoldstar/Marigoldpelt (named after Yellowfang’s dead sister). I was salty that the clans left the forest (as a child I was very change-averse), so in my story, after the clans vacated the forest, twolegs somehow accidentally introduced some sort of nuclear goo that mutated the flowers in one specific area (probably former-ShadowClan knowing me) to be like 12 feet tall. Either before or after the goo incident did the twolegs decide to stop demolishing the forest, clean it up, and designate it as a nature preserve or something. Cats re-inhabit the forest and set up 3 clans, one of which was FlowerClan (because they lived in the mutated flower zone). Neither of the other clans got cool mutated goo based territories :(

Marigoldstar lived in FlowerClan, she had a sister named Daisy(something, I forget the suffix). Her mate was named Blazingfire, he was basically just a trophy husband. She had 5 kids, one for every mostly-solid color of cat that I could think of. The only ones I remember are Stormeye (her gray daughter that was born missing one eye), and Wolfheart/star (black and white daughter). Her dad, Wildstar, was the leader before her, and actually the subject of my first ever fanfic (I wanted to write the prequel first before the ‘actual’ story, but the thing is nothing really happens to Wildstar aside from the fact that he’s a pushover and his mom’s ex disliked him… as did his mom’s ex’s son but then he chills out). Literally in chapter 1 of his fic, some StarClan cat tells him (when he’s a new apprentice) that some day he’ll be a dad and that’s important, only FFN had this weird glitch where if you didn’t add spaces between periods it would delete entire chunks of your text, and because I didn’t know to do this (10 years old) the chapters were nigh-incomprehensible. The fic is gone but I found an archived version of it, which I still have saved.

It’s funny cause Marigoldstar never really had a defined story either. Her sister dies in an ambush to give her angst points, and then she becomes leader. I couldn’t decide if I wanted her eyes to be blue (goes well with her golden coat) or gold (matches her gold coat). I ended up deciding that her eyes were formerly blue but then turned gold after she got her 9 lives. It’s funny cause I actually really disliked blue eyes as a child but w/e ¯_(ツ)_/¯

📝 : if commanded to, without warning, approximately how many paragraphs could you write about your favorite warrior cat before you ran out of things to say

See this is difficult for me because I couldn’t tell you who is my #1 most favorite of all time off the top of my head, but most recently I wrote like 12 paragraphs (maybe a little less?) about Bluestar (see: AMVs)

💔 : have you ever lost friends over warriors related topics?

Nope, this implies that 1. more than 3 people I knew across my entire (irl) life read warriors, and 2. that they disagreed with my opinions.

🌈 : what's the most 2010s wcforum era esque fandom opinion you still hold onto and will fight people over (things like scourges collar color, dovewings eye color, etc)

I don’t think I have any in that vein… in terms of character appearance headcanons I am a firm believer in colorpoint Hawk and Moth (and Tigerstar clone Tadpole) but 100% that is absolutely not a wcforum opinion because it contradicts canon too blatantly lmao.

🆕️ : are you still up to date / reading the new books? if not, when did you stop?

Still up to date, actually I’ve just started book 4 of A Starless Clan. I put it off for a while because for some reason I had such a hard time sitting down and reading 3 and 4 through with my very legally acquired PDFs, and it did not really help that Nightheart is a main character. (He’s marginally more bearable in book 3 but, you know, I didn’t know that).

📱 : were you ever on warriors amino? (if you were, i'm terribly sorry)

Nope, the most involved I ever was in the fandom was on FFN forums (iykyk)

🏠 : about how much do your family know about warrior cats, if anything?

Once I spent like an hour describing the basic lore and entire events of the first series to my dad, like to the point that my throat was sore. He was actively listening and seemed happy to do so, but this was like 2 years ago so I doubt that he remembers anything about it tbh. The only thing my family really knows about warriors is that it’s about cats and I read it.

🎶 : give me a song you're surprised you haven't seen turned into a warriors pmv yet - and what character(s) you imagine it to

Ohhhh so many songs. Some of these are purely based on my own personal readings of the relevant songs + characters so it’s a bit more understandable, but ONE exception (that I’m actually hoping to make into a pmv myself) is just so obvious I’d have to make it its own post. Which I will, you’ll know it when you see it. Brief list of the songs though:

Community Gardens - The Scary Jokes ——> Mapleshade. Literally every time I hear this song all I can see in my head is Mapleshade. Opens (and closes) with her spirit taking notice of Crookedkit/Stormkit and deciding to manipulate him for her own gain. Everything in between is basically the events of Mapleshade’s Revenge; she thinks she’s safe from the eventual wrath of her clan because obviously she’s doing this for them, they need this, StarClan would never punish her or her kits because that’s just not an option in her mind. So it obviously comes as quite the shock when it really does happen (“the culmination of man’s mistakes came the day the sun ran so hot, it turned the desert to glass”), culminating in her revenge plans (“if there’s something to be learned from these losers… it’s that the price that you pay for arrogance and a false of immunity is to face the wrath of the dying star”). That line in my head applies both to Mapleshade ‘punishing’ those who did her wrong (the dying star—> cat no longer accepted into StarClan, arrogance/false sense of immunity—> the cats who tossed her aside think they don’t have to deal with the consequences of such an action), as well as StarClan’s ‘punishment’ of Mapleshade (who falsely believed that StarClan had her back). I say punishment for lack of a better word.

Cody’s Theme - AJJ ——> Lionblaze This one I get a little more why it’s not an actual AMV but god I want it to be so bad. Genuinely I don’t remember if Lionblaze being, like, unable to restrain his aggression/battle-hunger was only partially canon or fully fanon, but regardless I think this AMV would objectively fuck so hard. I had this epiphany reading this really excellent Warriors fic by Hissing Willow, their Po3 AU (link here). Wherein this song basically describes Lionpaw to a T. Several specific lines remind me of moments in the fic (“I set the mommy on fire, I set the baby on fire, not even Jesus could stop me” —> one part where he’s terrified that he’ll lose control and accidentally hurt or kill Ferncloud and her kits, despite obviously caring deeply for them; Spottedleaf in a StarClan dream, iirc, holds some mild disdain for him, though it’s possibly for [spoiler] reasons.) Anyway I think this could even work as an AMV based on the canon books. I always imagine the guitar instrumental moment (forgetting the word rn) in this song as the moment where he kills Russetfur, where he’s overcome with that aggression, and then once it actually happens he just kind of sits there in shock at what he’s done. (in the aforementioned fic there’s another moment that fits so perfectly with this but, again, spoiler for the fic… go read it right nowww)

Lullaby for the Taken - Kimya Dawson ——> Bluestar This is the one I need to make a separate post on because I have actually written out an entire, line by line analysis on how perfectly this song fits Bluestar. In fact it astounds me that this hasn’t been made so much so that I’ve been actively planning out a PMV for it. Which will take a million years but like I’ve done it before I’ll do it again. Anyway, in the 10 minutes it takes me to edit my analysis and outline for posting, go listen to Lullaby for the Taken, and then go read Bluestar’s Prophecy, and bask in how right I am about this.

🎥 : fav warriors related youtuber?

I don’t really watch any specific youtubers aside from maybe Moonkitti on occasion

❎️ : what's the weirdest crossover au involving warrior cats that you've made? (if you haven't made any, then what's the weirdest one you've seen?)

I don’t know about weirdest per say but the whiplash I experienced from finally finishing Worm to finding a Warriors AU not three days later was definitelly something. My personal AUs tend to be less “what would these characters be like in a clan” and more “what would these characters’ OC’s be like”. I just know that Boruto has the most edgy BloodClan “Scourge is my dad” OC and gets kicked for powerplaying and having “unrealistic names” on various Roblox RP servers.

🗳 : if you could make any cat leader of any clan right now, who would you pick?

I haven’t gotten past the first few chapters of Thunder yet but I think - and this has to be extremely sudden, right this moment, no time skips or anything - I think it would be extremely funny for Frostpaw to suddenly become Froststar. No warrior name or anything, just straight from apprentice to leader. Word of StarClan. RiverClan collectively in their dreams all receive the same omen/order from StarClan that Frostpaw is their new leader and can she please come and get her nine lives right now, thank you. Everyone is in a panic looking for where she could have possibly gone. Everyone in the conspiracy is carefully weighing the benefits of either assassainating her again or trying to turn her into a puppet leader, and neither of these options seem very likely.

🌟 : would you hypothetically go to starclan or the dark forest?

Hmmmm. See this kind of depends. I haven’t read Squirrelflight’s Hope so I don’t really have a solid idea of how the judgement process works (like how cats are chosen, specific rules if any, etc). Before that book dropped I always kinda interpreted StarClan as being more interested in if you followed the code, if not in spirit then in wording, as opposed to morality. Maybe also the potential of redeemability. Though biases seem to get in the way of this judgement (I’ll literally never forget the retcon that the site did for Ashfur’s judgement, saying that maybe Yellowfang’s judgement was influenced by the unhealthy relationship SHE was in, having distorted her own views of what’s ‘acceptable’ in terms of love… I’m definitely stretching the quote here but I literally don’t care). Anyway since I’m not technically a clan cat I’d probably go to wherever rogues go. HOWEVER, as a child, I REALLY did not like it when cats broke the code, because bro it’s literally so easy, I would give anything to be a clan cat like you and yet you’re throwing it away… Anyway on that basis, if I was a clan cat I would probably go to StarClan for following the code.

🤔 : what's the biggest series plothole that's bugged you?

Literally everything about Nightheart, again the whole narrative bending to making him objectively correct about everything. I swear to god in TBC Sparkpelt didn’t even neglect her kits, when she was with them I’m like 90% sure she was mentioned as actively trying to be there for them while recovering from PPD, after the initial "fuuuck everything is going so wrong for me rn".

But before that, it was the timeline inconsistencies between Tallstar’s Revenge and Yellowfang’s Secret. I couldn’t tell you what they were now, since I only ever read Tallstar’s Revenge once, but being a lifelong Yellowfang’s Secret scholar I 100% noticed some timeline inconsistencies that made the order of events in each book with respect to each other very unclear. It bugged me to no end. Being biased towards Yellowfang I preferred the version of events in YS, but knowing those inconsistencies even existed bugged me so bad.

😱 : how many people have you blocked over innocuous, not at all important warriors related takes?

Oh probably at least a few, but I don’t remember any in particular. Nightcloud haters are definitely on my blocklist.

☯️ : what dynamic between two cats has got you up at night pacing for hours? (romantic, platonic, familial, etc)

As someone who paces my house nightly regardless, the most recent Warriors character I thought of while pacing was literally every relationship Bluestar has ever been in (not specifically romantic, though idk that I’d call what she had with Oakheart anything more than a fling). Again, see my AMV section.

🌫 : what's a cat you genuinely forgot existed until recently?

Not gonna lie, pretty much every background character in the new books… Even the ones that got their time in the limelight, like Flipclaw, really only come to me if I reach deep down in my ‘Warrior Cats Current Allegiances Bin’ located deep in my brain. Literally as I write this I just remembered Cinderheart and Lionblaze had kits. Multiple of them in fact.

#low pitched finite woofing #warrior cats

[mah-gah-lee]

                                                                      GIF by @lukefromsunsetcurve

Word Count: 1303 words

 Summary: Charlie and you are a couple for about two year but you didn’t want fans know about it. Everything changes one night.

 Warnings: fluffy, bite(s).

 A/N: So here another Charlie x reader. I’m kinda inspired this week. This is short but I don’t know, I think it’s cute so I post it anyway. I hope there are less time inconsistencies. I really work to improve myself. Enjoy ! xxx

 disclaimer: I don't know Charlie or Owen personally or what their life are like. All you will read in this "x reader" is from my imagination. My point is not to invade Charlie's privacy. I don't want to offend him or offend anybody else in his life.  This is just me, writing innocently about a boy I find totally pure. All this is not reality

 Tagged: @asdfghjkl-allthethings

  ________________________________

One of the things you value most about your relationship with Charlie is that before you were a couple, you were friends. You already had an incredible complicity that allowed you to experience moments of sweetness but also pure madness or uncontrollable laughter. You can't deny that your boyfriend was a real prankster and his chaotic energy always got you into the funniest situations. Fortunately for him, you had a constant good mood and a zest for life as important as his.

 You lived with Owen and Charlie the first two months of filming JATP first season. The boys were working on the set while you were on your way to a summer theater camp. Getting back to Los Angeles after that was really tough, but you knew Charlie would be back soon enough.

During the filming of the second season, it seemed obvious that Charlie was reuniting with his roommate from the first season, but he had offered you to come and live with them. This time, you even had the chance to participate in the project as a recurring extra.

 Even though you've been dating Charlie for almost two years, one of the things you feared the most was telling fans you were dating him. His popularity had increased dramatically since the show's release and you wanted to keep your relationship as private as possible. But life is a bitch and you don't always get what you wanted.

  Your boyfriend was in the kitchen, Owen was in the living room getting ready for a live Instagram. You came out of your room and headed towards the brunette. Before you could get any closer to him, Charlie whispered to you that Owen was online. You nodded as you leaned over the kitchen counter. You ended up rolling your eyes, annoyed to death, and then a mischievous smile crossed your lips. Without Charlie really understanding why, you got closer to him and started pushing your fingers on his shoulder in a very annoying way. He watched you do it and finally turned to you. You turned your arms in all directions, firmly anchored on your feet. It was a game Charlie had already played at JATP first bootcamp and you had the opportunity to practice it yourself at your drama camp. Your boyfriend's smile was extremely playful.

 “Do you want play this?” he said, a glint of mischief in his eyes.

 “Yeah, why not?” you responded by continuing to move your arms in all directions. "I'm not even touch you"

 “Oh yeah really?”

 “Yeah, see…” you pretended to push him in an attempt to destabilize him but he didn't move an inch. “I’m not touching you”

 “You better run darling”

 You knew you had better take his threat seriously and slip out of your space to run around the kitchen counter while Charlie tries to grab you. Owen could hear you behind him, but he could also see you through his phone screen. Comments started ringing out about you as the blonde complained dramatically.

 “Look what I have to live with. They are the worst friends. They are loud, they are dispelled. I am the wise kid in this apartment."

 It was so ironic to hear him say that when a day earlier he was acting like an idiot in Charlie's Instagram story. But you loved the dynamics of this friendship. The energy that reigned in the apartment was only positivity and good mood. Charlie finally managed to grab you and throw you over his shoulder, your laughter filling the room. Your boyfriend threw you on the couch opposite your roommate and you tried in vain to get rid of him. But the brown one was hanging over you, and no matter how you moved to get out of there, he always managed to block your legs or arms. You finally screamed frustration but still haven't declared defeat. You kept struggling, laughing, and screaming more before you realize you need more than your weak strength.

 “Owen! Owen! Oweeeeeeen! Help me "

"Oh look at that poor helpless little hamster"

 Owen picked up his phone and turned it to you and Charlie. The position you were in with your boyfriend and the situation left little doubt about the nature of your relationship with the brunette. Your complicity was blatant, you overflowed with love and although Charlie was very outgoing by nature, no one had ever really seen him act like that with a girl in the cast.

 "Handle this on your own, baby," he added, very amused by the situation.

 Your brow furrowed as Charlie sported a victorious smile, thanking Owen for his support. He returned his attention to you with his mischievous gaze and began to sing a paraphrase of a song from the first season, making fun of you.

 " Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do? Heyy"

 Owen had returned to his activities, he had turned back the camera toward him, continuing the live on Instagram. The apartment was a little quieter now that you weren't screaming. But war between you and Charlie wasn't over yet. Your boyfriend had his arms on both sides of your head. Your lively and sassy mind acted on a whim. You turned your head towards his right arm, opening your mouth wide and closing it inside his arm, all teeth out. There was nothing aggressive or malicious, it was the way you played, he knew it. Charlie screamed in shock at the bite.

 "DID YOU BITE ME?" he yells, mostly shocked by the action.

"Yeah, yeah I did it" you laughed.

 You didn't know why you did this but it's kinda fun for you

 "What kind of girlfriend are you? The vampire one?

 You laughed before realizing the words he had used. Did he really just say in front of thousands of fans that you were his girlfriend? A long silence settled in until Owen broke it to calm the atmosphere.

 “Busted! "

 You said a few words to Charlie without a sound, something like "I'm going to kill you. Dumbass". But the truth was, the fans were already shipping you so hard and they welcomed you so well into the JATP family. Owen also pointed out that the live was full of positive comments about you. Charlie was grinning like an idiot before getting up from the couch, pulling your arm up to get you up too. Your boyfriend yelled in the apartment towards Owen's Instagram live that he was definitely going to do one in the days to come. After that, you locked you both in Charlie's room for the rest of the night.

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #charlie gillespie #charlie gillespie x reader #jatp fic #jatp cast #owen patrick joyner

[itsclydebitches]

About Bakugo, I actually think his original characterization is partly why his arc doesn't work for me: it seems like his contempt for others and desire to hurt them is innate, because he was already insulting and humiliating Deku for fun when they were in kindergarden, and at this age I'm not sure it makes sense to blame the adults around him for this behavior. This is also why I don't buy the "childhood friends" narrative, even before the infamous river scene Bakugo was toxic to Deku.

Hard agree, anon. I'm willing to give some wiggle room to the "Bakugo had a messy childhood and that's why he's like this" argument just because I'm not caught up (and thus might be missing some flashbacks/revelations), no one's life is ever perfect, and there's a subjective line between what we read as innocuous tropes vs. realistic traumas (example: is his mom hitting him something we take seriously, or just classic anime "comedy"?), but honestly I'm... not persuaded by that stance. Largely due to what you've said about this contempt being around since the very beginning. Bakugo's cruelty is the introduction to the entire series, the very first thing we see:

First, they're young here. Maybe not kindergarten young, but as we see in the above narration, it's at age four that Bakugo acquired his "I'm the best" thinking (more on that in a second). They're kids. This is not something that developed slowly over the years until Bakugo crossed some kind of line, he's been like this since the very start. Since a kid is capable of forming thoughts, opinions, and making decisions: like attacking another. In what way does this establish them as friends? Izuku literally shaking as he tries to protect another kid Bakugo is has hurt? Bakugo calling him worthless? Gleefully attacking and punching Izuku in the face? They were never friends! Izuku followed Bakugo around because he was paid some kind of attention by him and Bakugo poisoned the well — no one else in class will befriend Izuku. We see this both by the two willing to help beat him up here and, later, when Izuku says he wants to got to U.A. the entire class laughs at both the idea and Bakugo blowing up his desk in response. The bullying is the only kind of "friendship" Izuku has, so he embraces it with a smile and a nickname. Meanwhile, Bakugo allows Izuku to tag along because he makes him feel good in comparison. All Bakugo needs for an ego boost is to look at Izuku. He's the useless, quirkless nobody whose name can be read as "Deku." What's not to like? Izuku makes Bakugo feel good because Bakugo will always come out on top — always win — when pit against him. Did they have a few good moments gushing over All Might? Yeah, but anyone who has been bullied knows that it's not a clear cut "They were consistently awful every second of every day." Sometimes, those moments of pretend or conditional friendship make everything worse.

(As a side note, I keep hearing the more intense fans of Bakugo saying that those who criticize him identify with Izuku "too much" and it's like... yes? He's the protagonist. You're supposed to identify with him. To say nothing of the question of why you'd include such an explicit bullying subplot — arguably at the heart of the narrative in regards to characterization — if you didn't want readers who had experienced bullying to relate to this story. So it's all about victims like Izuku, you're allowed to care, just don't care in a way that holds Bakugo responsible?)

"But Izuku cares about Bakugo. He tried to help him out of the river." Yeah, because Izuku cares about everyone. Overlooking his warped idea of what friendship is due to having no one but Bakugo, Izuku is the kind of person who is going to extend his hand to anyone who needs it, just like All Might would. His extreme compassion and lack of other friends is not good proof that he cares for Bakugo in any true, healthy fashion, let alone that Bakugo cares for him.

As for when this all started, yeah, it was when they were even younger than in the scene above. Toddlers when Bakugo realized he had a strong quirk and Izuku was told he had none. Bakugo's reaction to these events — deciding he's better than everyone else and that justifies harming those "lesser" than him — is instantaneous. That desire was there all along. He just needed an excuse to act on it. After the conversations about the adults' influence on him, I went back to the anime scenes of Bakugo showing his quirk to his class and it's... pretty normal? I mean yes, there's praise, but in what world wouldn't there be praise? A bunch of other kids are going to ooh and ahh over mini explosions and the two teachers, unless they're entirely heartless, are going to tell this kid that he'll indeed make a wonderful hero someday. Those are standard responses for very young kids who aren't going to understand something like, "That is a powerful quirk and you could be a great hero... just don't let that potential go to your head!" There's nothing in those scenes that imply an excess of praise, at least so much that it would totally warp a kid's perspective of others to the extent Bakugo has going on. If I recall correctly, Bakugo's parents are quite disappointed in his behavior, but that never had an impact on him. And as I mentioned previously, we have incredibly talented characters like Momo (getting into U.A. on recommendation), people like Ida who come from families with other heroes they want to impress, Todoroki dealing with a crazy legacy to live up to, tied up in his abuse... yet none of them turned out like Bakugo. All of that didn't kill their compassion, but adults telling Bakugo he has a strong quirk made him into this person? Bakugo wanted to be that person, right from the start.

Honestly, I think a lot of fans latched onto Bakugo — which is awesome! — but didn't want to admit how horrible he actually is. So they took moments largely out of context and repeated them enough until they became fandom staples. Bakugo and Izuku were close childhood friends who just had a falling out they need to come back from. Bakugo was only like this because the adults in his life drove him to that behavior. Izuku loves Bakugo because he can see how good he is, deep down inside, and definitely not because he's been stuck with him since they were toddlers, unable to escape him even at U.A. It's a very sanitized look at their relationship, embraced because fans want them to be friends or lovers. Which is fine! God knows I'm into a ton of "problematic" ships, I just like acknowledging that they're problematic, not trying to sweeten the situation because fandoms have made others feel guilty for liking anything that's not squeaky clean and pure. Bakugo tormented Izuku for their entire childhood. He encouraged him to commit suicide. He tried to keep him from achieving his dream, both by undermining his confidence and outright threatening him (remember burning his shoulder?). He then reworked that obsession when they both got into U.A., trying to prove Izuku's uselessness, failing, and continually struggling with the thought that he's actually a great hero. And it's like... why do I care? This guy is a horrible person, he's been a horrible person since he was a kid, and his greatest challenge for more than half the story is acknowledging that other people aren't worthless trash. His improvement still hasn't gotten him to the standard of an average person, let alone a hero. If Bakugo were a villain, great, or if the story was going to really highlight the corruption of the hero career as a whole (we take anyone with powerful quirks, no matter how awful they are), great, but as a main character hero whose behavior is supposedly just a cover for a fantastic guy, please overlook everything he does and assume he's worthy of your respect anyway? Ehhh. Why do I care about him as a good guy when there are characters like Ida and Uraraka I could stan? To be clear, I'm not saying other fans can't enjoy whatever characters they enjoy, just that from a storytelling perspective I think it's a failure to introduce Bakugo as such an extreme, make him one of the heroes, give him such a selfish struggle, and then expect a lot of the audience to care. Bakugo either needed to be more balanced from the start — regular flaws instead of such an intense adoration for cruelty from the age of four — or the story needed to unpack his behavior in a way it never bothered to.

#BNHA #My Hero Academia #anti bakugo #mymetas