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#there's always that one person who wants to prove a point but fails to consider people who willingly choose to not be in relationships
chalametluvrz · 6 days
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jealousy looks good on you
steve harrington x afab!reader
tags gender neutral pronouns. dormmate!steve. cocky!steve. boarderline fuckboy!steve. jealous reader. stubborn reader. very subtle mentions of sex. mentions of arguments. reader is in denial about their feelings. steve is pretty smug. teasing. angsty if you could even count it as that. tbh there's not much to tag lol.
note the entire piece is completely gender neutral, i only tagged it as afab just incase i do a part 2 with smut <33 so lmk if u’d be down for a part 2!!!
wc 1.1k
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you'd be lying if you said you didn't enjoy living with steve; yeah, sure he was loud, he was annoying and you found yourself cleaning up after him on a regular basis, but he was a decent dormmate.
honestly, you were filled with anxiety when you first got told you'd be co-existing with steve-fucking-harrington for your first year of college. your entire high school career, he'd been the popular kid, extremely unaware of how he actually treated every other 'normal' person who just wanted to speed through their schooling years with good grades and then completely disappear from that shit-hole of a town.
but it turns out, he's not the super cool kid everyone jacked him up to be. if anything, he was a moron, a big clutz that could yap for hours on end if you let him.
but like i'd previously said; he was annoying. he was a pain in the ass a lot of the time. noisy at stupid hours in the morning. constantly distracting you when you're trying to study. loud conversations with whichever one-week girlfriend he had. always bickering with you over simple things like what's on the tv, whose chocolate is that in the fridge or how long each of you takes in the bathroom.
yet, amongst all that, there was still room in your heart to have a tiny little crush on him. which when you thought about it, was ridiculous, because you wouldn't even consider each other friends.
however, last night, you had a kind of big argument. it all started when you were trying to study and he was doing nothing but get on your nerves, purposefully trying to distract you all night, despite your constant pleading for him to stop because you had a big test coming up and you didn't want to fail.
somehow it led to him saying you were boring and stubborn, that all your studying is never going to guarantee you a ticket out of hawkin's after you graduate. and even after all that, he still managed to slip in that you have nothing going for you but your 'mediocre' intelligence and that's why you have never had many friends your entire life. which hurt. it hurt a lot.
big jerk, high school steve had suddenly made an appearance back in the room.
and to which, you responded by saying that it's not your fault he doesn't care about his academic achievements and that he'll be stuck in a dead-end job being a disappointment his entire life because all he cares about is getting his dick wet, and nothing else. which hurt him equally as much as he hurt you.
you hadn't spoken since, and just like steve had said; you're stubborn; so you didn't really plan to. thankfully, steve had early lessons today, whereas you had late ones so your paths had yet to meet. but you'd be lying if you said you weren't anxious about going back home after your 7pm lecture finished.
eventually that time arrived, and you were unlocking your front door, praying to whoever was up there in the clouds that steve was in his room so you could slip in and lock yourself away for the night.
little did you know, since he knew you were gonna have late lessons, he invited over a girl he'd been speaking to for.. what was it? literally less than a day.. to do 'certain' fun activities with. and steve thought this said girl would be able to slip out before you even arrived home, so you can imagine the shock on his face when he saw you standing in the doorway as he was kissing this girl goodbye.
you scoff a little at the sight. he was completely proving the point you made last night. he doesn't care about anything but getting his dick wet by every girl he speaks to.
"i.. um. i'll see you later, steve," the girl mumbled, hurrying out of the door because even an idiot could sense the tension between the both of you.
you roll your eyes a little before placing your bag and laptop on the kitchen island. not even speaking as you strolled past him.
"so what.. you're just not going to speak to me?" he asks, running one of his hands through his messy hair. and to that, you didn't respond. "y/n. seriously," steve continues, his voice showing a slight hint of aggression.
"yes, actually. i'm not going to speak to you," you reply bluntly, not even bothering to look up at him. you could feel some brewing in your stomach, like something was churning inside but you just didn't know what it was. all you knew was that it made you feel so anxious you wanted to throw up. it was obviously jealousy but you just couldn't bring yourself to admit it.
"you're speaking to me right now," steve smirks, cockily, knowing exactly how to get under your skin. you just glare at him and say nothing. "come on.. this can't be about our bickering last night?" he says, slightly astonished you were still holding that against him "you know i didn't mean it."
"well, maybe i did," you snap a little, gesturing towards the door and the girl that had just left.
steve chuckled a little at your words and rolled his eyes. "are you talking about her?" he asked, unable to contain his amusement towards the situation. "i.." steve started up, but then stopped the second he realised. were you.. jealous?
it caused him to smirk a little. you were jealous and that's why you were so worked up, and that's why you were so annoyed by him getting his 'dick wet' all the time.. because you were jealous but you were too caught up standing on your high horse to even allow yourself to believe that was true.
who would have guessed it, little y/n, the person who spends all day studying and worrying about their grades fancied steve. mr sleeps around and doesn't care about his grades. steve honestly found it all so funny, so much that he couldn't hold in a little laugh.
"what's so funny?" you say, getting defensive and his sudden burst of laughter.
"oh.. it's nothing," steve replies, deflecting your question.
"no. whats funny?"
"honestly, it's nothing, darling," he smirks, feeling progressively more pleased with himself as he saw your cheeks flush a little at the pet name. 'gotcha' he thought to himself. "don't you worry, i haven't got eyes for her," steve teases, his voice dripping with arrogance that made you want to smack the smug look off his face.
"and um.. y/n," steve says, turning to face you for just a moment. "jealousy looks so.. so good on you," he smirked, giving you a little wink before walking back into his room. leaving you dumbfounded and embarrassed that he was even able to notice.
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thatsonemorbidcorvid · 11 months
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“The women leaders in our study were considered too young or too old. They were too short or too tall, too pretty or too unattractive or too heavy. They had too much education or not enough or their degrees were not from the “right” schools. They suffered from disrespect and misperceptions due to race, color, or ethnicity. Whether they had children or were childless, the women were expected to work harder than men to prove their worth. Women were held back from leadership opportunities due to being single, married, or divorced. There was no personality trait sweet spot, as introverted women were not seen as leaders and extraverted women were viewed as aggressive. The effect, then, means women leaders are “never quite right.””
Full text under cut
https://www.fastcompany.com/90889985/new-research-reveals-critiques-holding-women-back-from-leadership-that-most-men-will-never-hear
A recent study of the 33 biggest multilateral institutions found that of 382 leaders in their history only 47 have been women. And the percentage of women running Fortune 500 companies has only just recently crested a meager 10%.
As researchers we wondered why institutions consistently fail to promote women to top jobs. Our recent study of 913 women leaders from four female-dominated industries in the U.S. (higher education, faith-based nonprofits, law, and healthcare) sheds light on this pernicious problem. As we found, there’s always a reason why women are “never quite right” for leadership roles.
Women are criticized so often and on so many things that they are acculturated to receiving such disparagement, taking it seriously, and working to make improvements. And any individual woman may take it personally, believing the criticism directed at her to be warranted.
But our research reveals that the problem lies elsewhere. Virtually any characteristic can be leveraged against a woman in a discriminatory fashion. Such criticisms often relate to facets of women’s identity in an overt or subtle way, such as race, age, parental status, attractiveness, and physical ability.
Effectively, the surface-level critique functions as a “red herring,” distracting from the inherent gender bias driving the encounter. This type of treatment is so common that we have called it “we want what you aren’t” discrimination.
More specifically, our research revealed 30 different characteristics and qualities of a woman’s identity that emerged as points of criticism creating barriers to women’s success. The clear message to women is that—whatever they are—they are “never quite right.”
Age was a consistent challenge for women leaders in our study. Some of our respondents reported being considered too young to lead, while others indicated being too old hindered them from advancing.
However, being middle-aged didn’t help women’s career prospects either. A physician shared: “I am middle-aged, and men my age are seen as mature leaders and women my age as old.”
Parental status—having children or being childless—emerged as another point of criticism. A higher-education leader described how people assume she “can’t take on a bigger role ‘because of the kids,’” which made her feel that she needed “to work extra hard” to show that she could be both a dedicated mother and a leader.
On the other hand, a childless physician was expected to “work harder/more, accomplish more” than other female colleagues. Mothers were also bypassed for career opportunities, as happened to a single divorced lawyer who was the mother of preschoolers, “due to a perception by my male bosses that I cannot or should not handle [larger matters].”
Likewise, pregnancy was problematic, particularly for lawyers in our study. There was doubt that women would come back to work after maternity leave. Some were no longer given good assignments, while others were forced to quit private practice or work part time. One lawyer described the loss of confidence from bosses:
“Once you are pregnant or trying to have kids, the way management views you deteriorates. The opposite thing happens for male coworkers. I’ve seen it in so many law firms it’s impossible to argue it was just coincidence or based on merit.”
Simply planning on having kids was enough to invoke bias. A woman in higher education reported being denied promotion because she would need maternity leave for hypothetical future children.
Women of color were targets of subtle bias. An African American faith-based leader described being “invisible” and regularly “talked over” by white men. A Native American higher-education executive described being misperceived as weak, “when in fact we are practicing ‘respect’ for ourselves and others.” And a Filipina physician described facing role incredulity, as people assumed that she was “a nurse, and not a doctor and a division chief at that.”
Even physical ability and health played into the women’s experiences. Physical disabilities led to assumptions of not being capable. One higher-education leader who uses a crutch was questioned by men about the way she walks and has been told “to hide my cane, especially for photographs,” as she said.
Regarding health, there were double standards around the way men and women with illnesses were treated. A physician developed ovarian cancer while serving as an officer in the public health service. She explained, “The plan was to discharge me . . . even though men with prostate cancer didn’t have to go through that.”
The women leaders in our study were considered too young or too old. They were too short or too tall, too pretty or too unattractive or too heavy. They had too much education or not enough or their degrees were not from the “right” schools. They suffered from disrespect and misperceptions due to race, color, or ethnicity. Whether they had children or were childless, the women were expected to work harder than men to prove their worth. Women were held back from leadership opportunities due to being single, married, or divorced. There was no personality trait sweet spot, as introverted women were not seen as leaders and extraverted women were viewed as aggressive. The effect, then, means women leaders are “never quite right.”
Organizations that fail to promote and support women in their top roles miss out on performance gains. Fortunately, there are concrete steps that organizational leaders, allies, and individual women can take to mitigate this “never quite right” bias, aiding women’s workplace advancement.
“Flip it to test it”
Leaders can be particularly effective in thwarting sexist criticisms toward women. It’s not about changing the behavior of women—who are the recipients of the unfair treatment—but it is about changing the behaviors of those who justify their actions as somehow merited. Many criticisms fail the “flip it to test it” method miserably. Ask yourself, would the following statements ever be said about a man?
He needs to smile more.
Men are going to have kids and not want to work.
Since Larry has prostate cancer, he can no longer fulfill his job duties.
The clear answer is no. Leaders can infuse awareness of this simple, yet effective, tool to reduce such bias-laden criticisms. And workplace allies can help stop unfair criticism of women by calling it out.
Constructive career-enhancing feedback
Women are almost one and a half times more likely to receive negative feedback that is subjective rather than constructive and objective feedback. Men are often given a clearer idea of where they excel and opportunities for improvement whereas women are given vague feedback that often focuses on qualities like communication style. Even when using formal performance evaluation rubrics, a disparity remains.
Developmental feedback to women focuses on operational tasks, coping with politics, developing resilience, being cooperative, and building confidence. Developmental feedback to men focuses on setting a vision, leveraging power and politics, being assertive, and displaying confidence. Leaders can reduce the gender-biased framing by encouraging all employees to develop both sets of skills.
Do not take it personally
For individual women, hear us when we say, “It’s not you.” We women are conditioned to accept feedback and internalize it as something to “fix” about ourselves. If you are criticized, consider whether it is objective, constructive, and warranted. Disregard identity-based criticisms that are part of a larger pattern of bias against women.
Our research demonstrates that practically any characteristic can be proclaimed problematic for a woman leader to question her competence and suitability for leadership. It takes deliberate effort, but we can turn the message to women from “We want what you aren’t” into “We want what you are.” Doing so will advance women in the workplace and profit the entire organization.
Amy Diehl, PhD, is chief information officer at Wilson College and a gender equity researcher, speaker, and consultant. She is coauthor of Glass Walls: Shattering the Six Gender Bias Barriers Still Holding Women Back at Work.
Leanne M. Dzubinski, PhD, is acting dean of the Cook School of Intercultural Studies and associate professor of intercultural education at Biola University, and a prominent researcher on women in leadership. She is coauthor of Glass Walls: Shattering the Six Gender Bias Barriers Still Holding Women Back at Work.
Amber L. Stephenson, PhD, is an associate professor of management and director of healthcare management programs in the David D. Reh School of Business at Clarkson University. Her research focuses on how professional identity influences attitudes and behaviors and how women leaders experience gender bias.
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yuikomorii · 3 months
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// Ok I didn’t want to go this far but at this point, you guys are hating on Ayato just for clout and it shows. It’s okay not to like a character but straight up spreading misinformation about him is not okay. If you lack reading comprehension, just admit it.
What makes Ayato’s past so sad isn’t only the fact that Cordelia was mean towards him. She mentally and physically abused him, yet what genuinely hurt Ayato the most was the way Cordelia treated ALL the triplets. A part of him didn’t even want to kill her, given that he CRIED in the MB flashbacks because, despite being a huge abuser, he STILL felt sympathy even for someone like her. No matter how horrible Cordelia was, Ayato still wished for Karlheinz to reciprocate her feelings only to finally see her happy.
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Don't even get me started on the Adam curse. He was practically used as bait and abandoned to death by his own brothers, but he still hoped for their safety after escaping. That curse literally destroyed his entire life because its purpose was to make the person who ate the fig drown in despair and go insane. That's why he was sooo obsessed with Yui's blood. Heck, he's cursed in routes other than his own, as he goes insane in Ruki's MB one, to the point that his brothers had to lock him inside the dungeon. In addition, in his MB Vampire Ending, he falls into a coma because he refuses to hurt Yui and keep drinking her blood.
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Other than that, Laito was the one who made him believe that he wasn’t special, hence he adopted the “I will never make someone special again” mentality. He also wanted to kill him when he was younger (no hate towards any of his brothers though). Kanato was the only one who never did something bad to him, considering that when Ayato was a child, Reiji called him the disappointment of the family after failing a test.
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Ayato did twisted stuff too; no character is a saint, but he always tries his best to fix things. Even when not dating Yui, he’s capable of showing compassion, support and a desire to improve his relationship with his brothers BY HIMSELF. Check this analysis for example.
Other than that, despite every time being hurt when trying to show kindness, he still became a very selfless guy who’d sacrifice himself for anyone at any given time. What makes this even more admirable is that according to Karlheinz, he’s literally the only one who actually VALUES his life. This guy who loves life would risk it all for Yui, even when not dating, or for any of his brothers.
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On top of that, he's incredibly empathic?? He forgives everybody, no matter what they do to him, and seeks to maintain good relations with them. In Kino's LE route, for example, he tortures and burns Ayato, but Ayato is the first person to recognize him as his brother because he wanted Kino to feel that he, too, belonged to a family.
Last but not least, nobody silences Karlheinz as good as him. He was also the only one who connected the dots by himself about his dad being the root of all evil, including being the only one who didn’t want to kill him only because he didn’t want to fall into his plan. Check this post.
Oh and, Ayato is actually really big; it’s not that only his fans make him that way! This post basically proves that he’s the IT boy of otome games and I should also mention that he’s the character that sells the most in Japan and China! Just look what Japanese fans think of him. ;)
You can dislike him as much as you want but nobody can deny how brave and pure-hearted he is. He’s the definition of from zero to hero.
As I mentioned earlier, it's fine to dislike him, but don't become obsessed with it, lol. At the end of the day, he's merely a fictional character with endearing characteristics and the male lead. It's really not that deep. Besides, it's embarrassing when the hate comes from Yui stans because she definitely wouldn't be happy of any of you talking about her man in that way.
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david-talks-sw · 1 year
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What are your thoughts on the je'daii? Do they even work, like I find myself irritated by the concept because people often use them to validate/prove the notion that "balance = both sides of the Force"
If you stick to what George Lucas said, in Star Wars a person being "balanced" is someone who accepts their inner darkness and resists its pull nonetheless.
When fans mention the Je'daii, it's usually in the context of:
"The Jedi downgraded from the Je'daii, limited their studies of the Force, refusing to study the Dark Side was a mistake. It was an original sin that caused them to create an imbalance within them."
Which is weird, to me, because the whole point of the comic's narrative is that:
the Je’daii Order’s way was doomed to fail.
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Introduced in the Legends comic series Dawn of the Jedi (2012), the Je'daii are the predecessors of the Jedi. They are an order of Force users who studied and practiced both the Light Side and the Dark Side in hopes of finding Balance.
The reasoning is simple: everyone has a bit of good and bad in them, you learn to master the good and the bad sides inside of you, indulging them equally. But while this method seems sound on paper… it didn't work.
Consider that they’re already dabbling with the Dark Side...
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... but hey, at least they’re aware of its dangers, they’re trying to be responsible about it.
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There's a support system where they all warn each other when they're about to cross a line. But even then, there's many who've fallen and been exiled to a moon, to be rehabilitated.
Suddenly, circumstances compel all of them to use the Forcesaber, a weapon that only activates when you draw on the Dark Side.
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And that does something to them. Over the course of a year, they all become increasingly aggressive.
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Soon, a faction breaks off because they no longer want to stop using the Forcesaber. They’re addicted to the Dark Side.
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A war ensues, at the end of which the Jedi Order is born, a group of Force users who:
acknowledge and accept their inner darkness,
while also striving to overcome it rather than give it power.
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So that’s the moral of the whole Je’daii story.
Their idea of "Balance by wielding both" was actually so fragile and difficult to maintain that all it took was a little push for them to become vulnerable to the Dark Side's temptation.
Hell, even after the Jedi Order was established, one of its founders, Master Rajivari - who in Dawn of the Jedi (2012) is framed as a wise ex-general who, albeit strict, spends his days meditating and philosophizing - he goes to the Dark Side too! 
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Because that's how the Dark Side works.
The Dark Side isn’t just "negative feelings" or a "bad guy superpower" that you can mix with a "good guy superpower" to unleash the ultimate 'Force blast'. This isn’t an anime.
The Dark Side is a drugs/smoking/drinking addiction.
It's selfish, temporary pleasure. The more you consume it...
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... the more you get addicted...
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... and the more it consumes you right back...
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... until nothing remains.
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Jon Ostrander, who wrote Dawn of the Jedi (2012), echoed this sentiment multiple times:
“As I see it, those working on the light side work with the Force, channeling it, open and sensitive to what it tells them. They serve it. Those on the dark side try to impose their will on the Force, to make it do their will, to make it serve them. The Je’daii believe in a balance between the light and the dark side and so attempt to use both. Problem is, a balance is hard to maintain and the dark side is so very seductive.” - John Ostrander, LA Times, 2012
“The Je'daii aren't light side or dark side, although they know and are aware of both. Instead they seek a balance in the Force between light and dark. Balance, however, is a difficult thing to maintain and there is always the danger of falling wholly to the dark side — and some Je'daii have done so.” - John Ostrander, Newsarama, 2012
And this is a recurring theme throughout all of Ostrander’s comics, by the way. Be it with the Je’daii, but also with Quinlan Vos or Cade Skywalker, the point remains the same: 
"Yes, wielding the Dark Side gives you great power, and you get to show off some badass new tricks...
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… but it ultimately destroys you and everyone around you."
Remember: if it weren’t for Cade or Quin’s loved ones, neither of them would have come back from the Dark Side. They aren't badasses because they can use Force Lightning, they're badasses because they found the strength to give that up.
So if you genuinely think the Jedi "downgraded" by refusing to give the Dark Side more power than it already has on them... you're missing the point.
“It’s not about ripping things out of the sky using the Force or Force Lightning. A lot of people, they think “oh look how powerful Vader is, look how powerful the Emperor is, I want to play be the bad guy because I get these powers”. It’s an empty feeling, at the end of the day, after the moment. [...] The Dark Side is a spiral downward that you’re trapped in.” - Dave Filoni, “Force of Rebellion”, 2018
It was an upgrade.
Framing "balance" as "equal Dark and Light Side" is like consuming one (1) salad a day and one (1) whole bottle of vodka and calling that "balanced". No, buddy, that'll kill you. Because:
The vodka is better at being destructive than the salad is at making you healthy.
It's won't stay just one bottle per day. It'll eventually become two, three, etc.
Because as George Lucas stated time and again, resisting the Dark Side is a constant struggle.
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So that's my two cents.
You've probably already heard about the recent announcement of a Dawn of the Jedi feature film, a biblical epic that will be directed by James Mangold.
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And truth be told... it scares me SO much that we came THIS close to an Episode IX: Duel of the Fates that framed "balance" as - you guessed it - giving equal power to your light and darkness.
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Like, how did this ⬆️ get as far as it did? Did nobody think to sit Colin Trevorrow down and explain to him that he fundamentally misunderstands how the Force works?
So all I can do is cross my fingers and hope James Mangold has a better grasp of - if not the lore (I wouldn't be surprised if the words "Je'daii" or "Tython" aren't uttered once in the film) - at least the message.
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jongseongsnudes · 11 months
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twelve.
warning; 😲 1k words.
masterlist.
“oh my god- my head.”
you don’t know what you were expecting to wake up to other than a near-death headache after drowning yourself in alcohol last night.
but despite that... you remembered jake sim.
you vaguely remembered running into him at the club, then sharing a cab home... then nothing. and now you’re here, in bed and in yesterday night’s clothes.
then where was the man?
the apartment was evidently empty once you managed your way out, the silence and lack of life proving your assumption. but a certain food smell immediately catches your full attention, one you don’t usually have but certainly always make for your best friend.
hang over soup.
and to your surprise, there sat a bowl of soup on the dining table along with a note.
- you need it.
you can’t help but smile at the three short words, slightly touched by the man’s actions. not only had he taken you home safely but also prepared this for you. you wanted to thank him but being the awkward person that you were, decided to return the favour instead.
to do what you did best, bake.
four hours later and you’re still in the kitchen, hands busily mixing the flour while your eyes stayed focused on the recipe on your phone. the second recipe you’ve looked up actually, after the first batch had failed miserably.
“yeah... maybe i’m not the best at this.”
flour, milk, egg, sugar, salt... soy sauce. everything you had pulled out were scattered across the countertop, like a tornado had ripped right through your kitchen. only it was all your doing and you had no idea what was going on or how it even happened.
“what happened in here?”
the sudden voice startles you, causing the poor bowl in your hands to fall and meet with its fate on the ground. along with a lot of other things.
“oh- jake you’re home,” you’re a mumbling mess at the sight of the man, who looked extra good today you might add, “don’t mind me. i’ll get it cleaned up soon.”
you crouch down to gather the flour on the floor, only to have some of blow up to your face. of course it would and in front of jake sim too.
such great luck you have.
a low scoff rings through the kitchen as your roommate places his jacket onto the table before crouching down to the ground. he helps you with ease, gathering most of the flour back into the bowl while you’re left staring at him quietly like some lunatic. extra points for currently looking like one too.
he leaves you be without another word, leaving you to finally gather yourself but not even a minute later and he reappears at the entrance. the man had changed into more comfortable clothing, a white tee and some sweatpants.
simple but enough to take your breath away. like every other time.
it was a weird sight, especially after not seeing your roommate at home for so long.
“wh- what are you doing?”
“cleaning?” he says nonchalantly, tone full of sarcasm as he heads over to the sink, “what else do you think i’m doing?”
“oh- wait- no jake it’s fine!” you rush over and attempt to stop the man from washing the contents inside but boy was he persistent, “no no! jake let me-”
he finally turns to look down at you, annoyance written across his face like you had done something wrong. if you were considered stubborn, well jake sim wasn’t all that far behind you.
“okay i’ll... i’ll clean the over there then. thanks.”
you busy yourself with collecting trash for a while, the two of you doing your own tasks in complete silence. but it’s not like you have anything to say to him anyway, especially not when he gave you that look. like you were the most annoying person on earth.
and to be fair, you think you’re currently the most annoying person on earth too.
“thanks for helping me,” you clear your throat, trying to sound as normal as possible as you watch the boy dry his hands, “and... for the soup. i wanted to bake something as a thank you but... well you can probably guess how that turned out.”
“seems like you’re trying to kill me with how burnt those brownies look.”
“hey! i worked really hard to bake those for you.”
“right,” his gaze meets yours across the kitchen, a smile instantly forming on his face to the sight of you, “your face is a mess.”
though his voice was still evidently distant, his laughter that follows causes your heart to pick up. you’ve missed that laughter, you’ve missed him.
instead of going back to his room like you had expected him to do, jake makes his way over to you, the man reaching for a napkin from the countertop. you instinctively step back as he comes closer but with jake’s long legs, the man caught up before you could even get any further.
“jake-”
he wipes away at your cheeks, removing the flour, batter, frosting and whatever else was there on your face. he’s so gentle with you, like he was afraid he’d hurt you. but despite the physical contact, its his eyes that are making you tense, the way they’re so focused on you.
and only you.
there’s an explosion of emotions inside your chest to the sight of your roommate up close. you feel nervous, fidgety all over but it’s not like what you used to feel in front of him from weeks ago but rather a different type of nervousness.
one you can’t seem to explain.
“want to start over?”
gulp.
end.
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makimach · 1 year
Text
Every adaptation of Death Note concentrates on 'Light kills criminals' instead of 'Light kills people he considers bad and/or detrimental to society and criminals happen to be first'.
That is because adaptations make Light mostly motivated by his disappointment in the judiciary system, which is caused by a personal tragedy/impactful encounter( films and drama series) or by heightening his lazy ponderings about the state of the world (anime and musical).
However, by doing so they end up emphasising Light's justification to the world (and himself) for Kira's "mission" while completely forgetting the real impetus behind it-Light's desperate need to always be right, to be considered good.
More than that, these adaptations fail to fully represent how his motivations are extremely human in nature.
The second part of the manga serves the purpose of showing how right and wrong are concepts largely defined by circumstances and changes in society-by the sixth year of Light's rampage world leaders are openly supporting him while Mello is using the mafia to fight and the SPK is quickly labelled illegal by the vice-president of the USA, who doesn't want to antagonise Kira.
With this reversal of roles of the in-universe narrative, it only makes sense that Near and Light would abandon every pretense of fighting for their own ideal of Justice (like the L/Light conflict, even if L was still somewhat honest that he was in it mostly for the rush of the game) and admit to do so only for the sake to win and prove who is better between the two of them (Near at least, Light always tries to hide behind lofty ideals).
The anime, even if it still remains the best adaptation of Death Note so far, falls into the same error of the other adaptations; this is particularly evident in the last episode, that depicts Light's fall from grace and death.
Near's last speech is cut to the part where he identifies Light as a murderer not any different from the criminals he has executed, and they leave out the most important part-Near underlining that Light is not different from the humans he wants to lead from above, as he is applying his own beliefs and passing them as the ultimate truth under the high of the Death Note's power.
Light's dismissal of Near's points kickstarts the forceful take-down from the pedestral he put himself on-first by Matsuda (the one who believed in his humanity), then by Mikami (the one who believed in his godhood) and lastly by Ryuk (one of the real gods of the setting) who really drives home the fragility of Light's body and ego by giving him the fate no human can escape from-death.
And in the end nothing meaningful remains-the world goes back to the way it was and Light disappears into the MU like every human being, good or bad.
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xoraiden · 1 month
Note
Can i have eula,kujou sara and navia reacting to their s/o who endured a lot and manages to rise from the ashes time and time again?
-> destruction, a vicious cycle
synopsis -> no matter what, you can never catch a break. being brought down, rebuilding yourself, and being brought down all over again is your cycle of life.
a/n -> my first official request yayyy!! ah i was so happy when i saw this in my inbox because i'm only creative when it comes to drawing i seriously cannot think of anymore prompts..... anyways everybody feel free to send some in fhajdkdkks they'll likely get done by same/next day!! sorry if this was misinterpreted i cannot focus on anything rn and it's been like this for the past few days
warnings -> mentions of injury, reader showing evident signs of wanting to give up, crying, mostly angst
w/c -> 1.3k
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eula 
she gets that feeling. more or less better than anyone else you know would. considering her horrific past, she would wake up and go into the day blindly, not knowing what there is to come for the next string of long hours. she’s been rejected by monstadts people, by her own family. 
so when you express your feelings to her, she gets it. but she’ll still do her best to comfort you anyways. 
so, she started paying more attention to the things you do and the interactions you have with people.
the first time she witnessed something was when you had tried oh so hard to gain the trust of the acting grand master, jean, just for it to all crumble down due to a silly rumor that an immature guard decided to spread around the favonius headquarters. it had caused a lot of backlash on your part from the cities residents and from all of the knights and the vision holders that are affiliated with them. 
and then, once you regained her trust and worked day and night to get the residents on a good t with you, your family decided to shame you for no reason whatsoever, and bringing another issue you worked to fix for yourself into your life.
it felt rather draining, being unable to catch a break. one thing after another, one day at a time. life felt like a cycle to you at this point. 
whether you had a brutal injury in combat and had to work endlessly (or at least to what felt like it) to prove your strength to yourself and the world once more or simply had to regain trust, you were genuinely tired. 
so, eula tries to take the burden. at first, she tries to take in entirely, but you both knew that wouldn’t be possible. she wasn’t the one injured, or the one who was mere seconds from being roughly escorted out of the city. she couldn’t necessarily shoulder that without being the one in the position. 
but what she could do was allow you to cry and express your emotions to her when you’re in the safety of your own home. you both knew that she wouldn’t turn on you for your life cycle. she was the only person you felt you could genuinely trust at the time and you felt really grateful to have someone as wonderful as her. 
she’s been making it much easier for you to live now, and she’ll proceed to do so throughout the rest of the time the world gives you two. 
kujou sara
you understood she didn’t have much time to listen and understand what your life is like, and all of the traumatic and upsetting stories that go with your name. she’s constantly out, fulfilling her loyalty to the esteemed shogun and leading over the tenryou commission, and she doesn’t come back until late most nights, if she even does come back. you completely understand what she does and why it’s so important, and she always tries so hard to make you feel loved and that she has time for you. 
but you haven’t had that chat about yourself with her yet. and you don’t know when you will.
she first picks up on something being not right when you came home, trying so so hard to fight back tears and nearly failing. you excused yourself to the shower, allowing the tears to spill due to the water muting your cries. 
but she knew. she knew something was up, and she wanted to ask you about it, but at this very moment was one of the first times she thought she couldn’t make up the words to confront you. so when she does, it sounds more like a demand then a question. you both knew that it wasn’t supposed to sound that way.
once you told her, she nodded, getting up and making you some tea to try and soothe you. she didn’t try to pressure you into relaxation, or to tell you to be calm. because telling you that would be unfair. she’s not that way, so why should she force you to be? 
like eula, she’ll keep a close eye on you sometimes. the first time she witnessed what she had at first thought was your downfall, she tried to keep herself composed as you struggled to get the blade out of your stomach. 
it was one hell of a journey to get you back on your feet. not only was this weighing down on you, the thought of disappointing sara or being a burden to her (considering her 5 hour stays at the hospital nearly every single day) haunted you. corrupted your sleep, and corrupted your mind whenever she was helping you through your physical therapy work. 
once you were back on your feet, it seemed like another thing after another happened. you were asked so much out of the citizens of inazuma city, and even yelled at, until you snapped at one of them and it was the headline in the papers. even guuji yae looked into it. then again, you worked to build yourself up again.
no matter how vicious the cycle, you knew you always had sara there to support you. 
navia 
she wasn’t stupid, she knew something was upsetting you, but didn’t want to ask. since the loss of her father she’s learned certain ways to cope, and she just thought you were using your ways to cope, too. 
but she realized it was much more than that.
you two had heard rumors of someone going around and pickpocketing people, taking mora. so, considering she wanted to try and solve such a mystery, she asked you if you’d like to accompany her, and you agreed. 
the person who did it was a fontaine citizen who had been doing this for years to survive. the woman lived on the streets, occasionally stealing food from food stands when they came out, or threatening cafe owners into giving her what she wanted. 
considering the fact that she could be considered mental, she framed you. and you were the one who had to face the repercussions. 
thats when navia really started to realize that this wasn’t the first time something this horrible has happened to you, considering your reaction to the whole situation and how you brushed it off whenever she’d bring it up. you had a 4 month sentence in the fortress, and though it used to be something like 4 years, navia made a deal with wriothesley into shortening it due to false accusation. 
but once you got out of the prison, it seemed you couldn’t catch a break from tragedies. from things you didn’t even know you were doing to things people made up lies about, you felt that you constantly had to prove yourself to the people of the city, to prove that you weren’t a horrible person whose only interest is stealing peoples things and hurting others. 
navia would let you talk for as long as you possibly needed, listening extra hard when you mention some more disturbing topics that you barely got back up from, but managed to anyways. she understood the comparison when you mentioned how it feels like a never ending cycle of devastating events, and how you were tired of always being forced to be the bad guy in situations you didn’t even know were happening half of the time. 
she’ll settle your cries with a nice warm hug (if it gets to the point of crying) and makes sure she can help you in any way you need when another one of these incidents happen. she knows she’ll never be able to make it all go away, but she tries to at least make it less of a weight to carry around when you two are together.
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inaflashimagine · 5 months
Note
Did someone say a Nagumo fic? I would like to see it 🤲🏽
ask and you shall receive (pasting 2k below bc i'm unhinged)
You’re considering poisoning the vice principal of JCC.
It’s still in the planning phase, of course. But the true challenge, if this impossible task were to ever be achieved, would lie in the execution portion. Before leaving the airtight rooms of the laboratories, all students in the poisons department must properly discard any concoctions they’ve made in the fume hood (and any other chemicals that require extra care in their disposal are handled by the 24/7 toxic waste team). As many faculty in the department often repeat during their classes, the greatest poisons a student could ever make are arrogance and ignorance. For that reason alone, anything made for off-campus assignments is safely stored by lab managers in the school’s securely locked freezer until they must be given out.
Not to mention that every poisons professor also practices their due diligence by constantly updating the school chemicals inventory, which includes keeping track of the approved materials and poison recipes that students can take out of an extensive library of hazardous reagents, toxic substances, and highly coveted venoms.
That doesn’t mean that students haven’t tried to outsmart faculty or find a loophole in the system. Third-year Tanaka Kaito thought sneaking out with the tiny glass bottle containing his newest poison inside his mouth was a smart choice; and it might’ve been, if he hadn’t tripped over the lab assistant’s foot, which, coincidentally, happened to be in his way. Peers smarter than him have managed to avoid ruptured intestines or chemically burnt mouths, but considering these individuals–of which there are many–still fail and end up being expelled, stealing such precious items is not a risk many in your department are willing to take.
You understand the delicate position JCC is placed in when students break the institutional rules; since the JAA requires any poisons that are used by assassins or during non-educative assignments to be manufactured by those with a toxicology license, it makes sense that the JCC would adopt the most stringent guidelines to avoid a bad reputation.
Still. It doesn’t hurt to dream–or at least, you can’t get expelled for wishful thinking.
Besides, you have to find some way to pass the time in this dreadful class.
“Who are you thinking about killing this time?”
You blink, your eyes falling on the person who interrupted your delusions. The one who makes this class even more agonizing than should be tolerable.
“What makes you think I want to kill someone?” Flipping over the pages of your notebook to a blank one, you begin to scribble today’s course topic and can’t help but note the irony of you desperately wanting Ito-sensei to enter the room so he can start your least favorite class.
The Art of Espionage: For Intermediate Learners
From your periphery, you can see your dark-haired classmate leaning back into his desk chair as he deftly twirls a pocket knife in his hand, unfazed that all of his weight is balanced by one precious metal leg. He laughs lightly at your question, but it’s difficult to catch any mirth that follows it. “I always assumed only assassins carry bloodlust, but you proved me wrong. Though I guess I should’ve seen it coming.” His smile widens, a hint of smugness tugging the corner of his lips as he points the blade toward you like he’s just pointing a finger in your direction and not a potentially lethal weapon. “The ones in the poisons department do love holding grudges.”
You don’t know what others see in Nagumo. Sure, he’s objectively attractive–it would be stupid to argue that fact, and you’re not blind. And yeah, he’s one of the top second-year candidates in the intelligence-gathering department (though there are rumors of him wanting to transfer to the assassin program)–that’s not a surprise for someone who comes from a prominent family of spies, even if it is quite funny that the tidbit is well-known despite everything else about him being shrouded in the largest cloud of mystery…
…but any of those appealing characteristics seem to be thrown out the window the moment he begins to talk. And boy, does he talk.
“See, if I didn’t know any better,” he speaks up, yet again, eyes closed into half crescents as he cheerily jokes, “that annoyed look on your face says you wanna kill me!”
“Well, if you must know, you’re the third on the list. The first person is the vice principal for not switching me into another class.”
Each semester all JCC students must enroll in one class that falls outside the curriculum for their major. This is to ensure that their graduates are competent in all skills that they may need to succeed on the field or in the lab, even if it is unlikely they’d employ every skill on a daily basis. Since the best assassins, spies, weapons makers, and poison experts in the world are adept at rapidly adapting to different situations, it makes sense that the JCC would implement such a rule for their students. But that doesn’t mean you have to enjoy following said rules.
Your first semester at JCC wasn’t too bad. Technically, only third years can matriculate in poisoning classes–though there are a few introductory courses and practicums you can take starting your second year–so you’ve grown well accustomed to enrolling in classes that are beyond the usual chemistry and physics gambit. And since all students are allowed to rank their top choice electives, you were fortunate enough to get the History of Weapon Craft and Creation (considered one of the easier electives for those outside the weapons fabrication department). 
The semester after, you barely passed Firearm Handling & Defensive Training, but at least that class improved your aim with the laser guns in the cafeteria, meaning getting less of those horrid JCC bowls. Yet your luck quickly ran out at the start of the second year, as this semester you now find yourself to be the only poisons department student in a room filled with good-looking, downright intimidating, and incredibly sharp intelligence-gathering students.
You have no idea how you were even allowed to take a class with prerequisites that are nested in the intelligence-gathering department, but your grievances fell on the deaf ears of administrative staff who didn’t even apologize for the scheduling mishap. (Then again, these are the same people who don’t bat an eye when students in the assassin department are gravely injured and even die during an assignment or in the middle of class. It’s no shocker that the second-year class size has considerably dwindled from last year.)
With all other courses being full, your choice was to stick to this option or switch to Martial Arts & Tactical Hand-to-Hand Combat for Advanced Learners. Even if you can’t avoid your fear of looking like an idiot in front of Japan’s future spies, you can at least evade the terror of literally dying by the hands of the country’s strongest assassins-in-training (you heard Sakamoto Taro was a killing machine, a fact you would be happy to simply believe rather than test out for yourself).
However, your earlier fears have now evolved into a living nightmare after Ito-sensei announced that everyone would be assigned a partner to work on assignments together throughout the semester. You didn’t know who Nagumo was until your roommate Aimi gasped at the mere mention of him (which isn't even his full legal name! What is he, Prince?). Banging your head against the wall might be a more pleasant experience than having to hear her complain–for the umpteenth time–that you get to learn from such a ‘genius’.
Admittedly, it's only been a few weeks into the semester, but you're still having trouble identifying the genius part.
“Wow, how scary! I’m terrified!” Nagumo sounds anything but after hearing your empty death threat. “Who’s the second?”
“None of your business.”
“Aw, don’t be like that! Do I know them?”
You think about it for a second, drawing the potential lines forming the network before shaking your head. “Well, actually, yes. Because congrats, you’ve just been bumped up to #2.”
He grins at that, big eyes crinkling. “See, now that’s a better response! But wait, am I third–”
“Second, now…”
“–right, second on the list because I forgot to do my part of the presentation? I swear I meant to get to it, but I got carried away with an outside mission.”
Genius? More like a lazy piece of shift, you think bitterly, eyes squinting at him to scrutinize what he’s hiding under those large dark eyes and that apparently innocuous grin. Of course, because you suck at intelligence-gathering, you come up with nothing other than a pathetic, “Stop lying, you sucky liar.”
The corners of his lips droop a bit further down than usual, but he still manages to adopt that customary smile of his and waits for another beat. Fully aware that the silence and staring make you uncomfortable.
“About the mission or getting the work done?”
“Both.”
“You’re funny!”
“See what I mean about the lying?”
The chair he’s sitting on instantly lands on all four, the harsh sound of pegs scratching the linoleum floors making you startle against your better judgment. One hand rests on his chin as he raises a brow at you, clearly amused. “But really, why would I lie about either part? If it makes you feel any better, I’ll make sure we get top marks on today’s presentation.”
You only have enough time to offer your exasperated sigh as an answer, since Ito-sensei finally walks in and announces the start of today’s presentations.
“Good afternoon everyone, apologies for my tardiness as a meeting went over. In preparation for your first exam next week, each group will be reviewing a different fundamental skill for carrying out espionage. First tactic: seduction.”
When you hear your name and Nagumo’s being called out, your suddenly heavy legs slowly drag their way to the front of the room, already anticipating to make a fool of yourself with your half-assed presentation on how to seduce a target, a skill all these students staring at you in boredom more than likely have performed a thousand times before.
Straightening your posture, you’re ready to begin your long unnecessary speech on the purpose of seduction until Nagumo yawns. Loudly.
The action has you momentarily pause, soft tittering spreading throughout the classroom until you narrow your eyes at your beaming partner, clear your throat, and continue.
“Seduction can be used as a weapon when the person employs the technique to obtain an objective, as seen in–"
“This demo we’re about to show!” Nagumo cuts in, waving his hands animatedly as if about to introduce a mesmerizing performing act. Your confusion only continues to grow as he sharply turns on his heel to face you, bewildered to see that his usual bright smile has been replaced with a more coquettish expression on his face.
“What are you–”
“The word seduction means to ‘lead astray’ in Latin. Doing such a thing means you have to observe your target’s every move. How they move. How they look at you. At others. At their surroundings.” Every step he takes forward means you take one step back. Until you find yourself hitting the wall, your eyes widening with how cold it feels against the back of your neck. “How they react. How they respond to you.”
He doesn’t even have you pinned, his arms laying idly by his sides while you dumbly acknowledge you can easily escape right now. But for some reason, you feel trapped under that curious gaze, the upward quirk of his lips sending a weird shiver up your spine.
“Catch the changes in their body language.” He tilts his head, and when strands of his shaggy black hair tickle your cheek you fully realize the distance–or lack thereof–between you two. “Are they fearful? Or are they open to receiving your advances? Do they approach you just as eagerly?”
Since when did he get so close?
You gulp when his hand dances over your hip while the other outstretched one reaches your face, and you hate how your head instinctively leans toward the motion. It becomes harder to stand your ground while your gaze flits back and forth between the inked numbers on his fingers and those half-lidded eyes, a darkness so rare with how inviting it seems.
As he delicately brushes a strand of your hair behind your ear you wonder if he can hear the frantic hammering of your heart against your chest. Even if he can’t catch it, you can tell by the slight way his eyes glisten that he certainly knows, and maybe even relishes, the effect he has on you–the way you’re futilely trying to snap out of the reverie you’re currently in, drunk in the smell of whatever woodsy fragrance he decided to wear today mixed with the sickly sweet scent of that caramel candy he was chewing on earlier.
Well, fuck.
“And it’s in that moment, when their mind is distracted and more focused on you than their own thoughts”–his nose brushes yours, and your breath hitches as all you can do is close your eyes–“is when you make your move.”
You feel your lungs deprived of air the second he presses you deeper into the wall, one hand still on your hip as he uses the other to swiftly grab a piece of paper tucked in the back pocket of your pants.
A sharp inhale is what returns you to reality, your jaw slackening upon seeing him retreat and wiggle the neatly folded piece of paper he stole from you.
“Nagumo,” you nearly growl as you feebly attempt to get it back from him, which only seems to get him more excited as his face breaks out into a full-blown grin and he waves the item higher with that freakishly long arm.
“Should I unfold it? Reveal to all the secret recipes?”
“Do it and you die!”
“Is that a joke or a threat?” As if he’s some film actor breaking the fourth wall, he turns his head toward your classmates and winks at them. “You can never tell with poisons students.”
The room erupts into laughter.
If only you did lace that paper with poison! You’re mentally preparing to fight (and definitely lose) to him when Ito-sensei’s booming voice keeps you two in check.
“That’s enough, I believe we extracted the main point of your presentation. Either return to your desks or report to the staff room after class for wasting more of our time.”
Both of you don’t need to be told twice–you practically sprint to your desk while an elated Nagumo hums a merry tune from behind, your mind still reeling from what just happened while the chaos in the room dies down and the next group begins their presentation on deception.
How the hell was Nagumo able to do all of that? A presentation you conducted research and rehearsed for around two hours was something he easily accomplished in less than five minutes. And with you as the guinea pig! The thought makes your cheeks burst into flames, but you refuse to hide your face for fear of appearing weaker.
“What did I tell you?” He tosses the paper into your lap–still folded into its original position–as he sends you one of those big smiles that used to give you the creeps but now seems to evoke some other inexplicable feeling. “Top marks!”
The urge to spit out “No thanks to you” is so strong that you have to bite your itching tongue, because that would be a fat lie. So you let out a spiteful ‘hmm’, twitching fingers creasing the folded paper even further.
“Wasn’t it fun teaming up?”
He’s still a bit too close for comfort when he whispers the question, so you lean forward into your desk, trying your best to ignore the buzzing coming from the pest.
“You and I have different definitions of fun.”
“And how would you define it?”
“Not being near you.”
“Guess I’m not the only sucky liar on this team!”
That earns him a glare as you plot several ways to wipe that pleased look off his face. You cross off a few bad ideas that you’re embarrassed your mind even conjured.
“The silent treatment, huh…Didn’t peg you to be the type who does that.”
The eye roll you offer him appears to be a sufficient answer as he lets out a small huff and pretends to listen to his classmates’ project, his bored yawn louder than whatever is being presented. You naively think you’ll be able to endure the remainder of the class without his yapping.
And then he turns to you once again, an impish spark in those large, curious eyes.
“But I just need to ask–what’s written on that piece of paper anyway?”
You press your lips firmly into a straight line and stare at him, bemused that he hasn’t figured it out. He matches your stare, looking at you expectantly. Maybe he’s pretending that he hasn’t read it–with how fast he is, you wouldn’t be surprised if he only needed one or two seconds to skim over the writing.
Then again, you’re the idiot for having a physical copy of your plan to cheat and steal from the school chemicals and rare toxins inventory.
“It’s my formula for a poison that I’ll use to kill you.” Like a psycho, you grin triumphantly upon seeing the way his mouth turns into a tiny shocked ‘O’.
And like the maniac he is, he’s quick to return your smile, though it doesn’t quite reach those indecipherable eyes. “Looking forward to it!”
You’re too proud to admit that you feel the same.
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rynekins · 8 months
Text
Once again my mind is plagued with Sideshow Bob brainrot and I must infodump about him for a bit to clear it. This is a sorta continuation of this post where I ramble about how prison warped Bob’s personality. While I often consider doing a more structured series of Sideshow Bob reviews, I have nothing concrete planned at the moment, so posts like these will remain sporadic. However, I am rather open for more discussion with those who dare ask.
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The focus today is on Sideshow Bob’s defining character trait.
There are many popular labels used for Sideshow Bob that fail to paint a full picture because the very opposites of those aspects are also true to his character. Highly educated with a great capacity for idiocy. Sophisticated with bouts of unhinged rage. A mastermind whose plans never work. A murderous psychopath who’s never actually murdered anyone and has attempted to reform. A villain who has saved the day, more than once. A failure that never gives up. All of these apply but I feel he has a more comprehensive character trait. One that remains true in every appearance, exemplified in all of his actions and downfalls. Above everything else, and I say this with the utmost affection, Bob is an attention whore.
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Bob needs an audience like he needs air to breathe. All the world’s a stage and he lives to perform. He's pathetically desperate for your reaction, whether it’s praise, scorn, fear, or a laugh. He’ll sing, act, tell jokes, contort his body, or share the details of his cunning scheme with you, even if it jeopardizes everything he’s worked for, in exchange for a fleeting moment of recognition.
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He wants to be seen, heard, known, understood, celebrated. Don’t we all. But his craving for validation can never be satisfied, which led him down this road of suffering. In the flashback in “Brother from Another Series”, during the sidekick audition, Bob looks a bit more composed than usual.
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This is the earliest moment in his life that we witness. He’s hiding all his iconic hair in a hat and presents himself with dignity and poise; is this where he gets bit by the acting bug and everything changes for him? Doubtful, since his mother is a famous actress and he probably grew up in a home that valued the arts. I think he might have been repressing a lot of his more comical tendencies at this point, then unleashed them due to an unexpected pie to the face. Bob is angry at first, but within seconds relishes having an audience’s approval. All it took was Krusty calling him a “genius” and Bob’s fate was sealed. In “Krusty Gets Busted,” it’s up to interpretation if Bob genuinely wanted to solve Bart’s problem out of the goodness in his heart, or if his ego demanded that he prove to his audience what a good role model and host he can be. In” Sideshow Bob Roberts,” he charms everyone in town with his silver tongue, but is still so insecure about how he’s perceived that he feels he has to cheat to win the election. In “Cape Feare,” Bart compliments his voice and he’s all too eager to boast his musical talent. In “Sideshow Bob’s Last Gleaming,” being called “smart” is enough to let his guard down.
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He needs constant reassurance that he’s smart, talented, and loved. I believe that in “Black Widower”, Bob’s courting of Selma wasn’t a ruse, at least not at first. They probably had nothing in common (certainly wouldn’t bond over media taste) except that both were painfully lonely. They fell fast in what they thought was love because they showed each other the slightest bit of affection, then opened the floodgates of built up feelings that had nowhere else to go. But realizing there would always be another man in her life more important than him, MacGyver, any love Bob felt towards Selma evaporated.
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Combine this pettiness with his freshly warped sense of morality courtesy of Springfield Penitentiary, and he would find this sudden violent hatred justifiable. But everything has to be a spectacle with Bob, so of course he would end things with a heckin’ fiery explosion. As we have established, Bob is prone to self-sabotage. He can be unbearably pretentious, so he struggles finding others that share his passions. But Bob isn’t a gatekeeper for these interests. He would love nothing more than to discuss art, music, literature and theater and convince others to appreciate them as well. He has a desire to teach, and finds fulfillment when he helms his own educational program with an audience willing to listen and cheer him on. He doesn’t have such luck with his peers, who tend to throw his books back at him. In the episode “The Man Who Grew Too Much”, Homer mentions Mozart’s name and you can tell Bob is ready to drop everything and gush about a special interest, but Homer then reveals that he doesn’t really care. So imagine being in an incredibly niche fandom with no one but the void to hear your headcanons or fan favorites. That’s Bob's predicament, but he’s persistent (and maniacal).
Little brother Cecil is similar, but he’s more likely to back down when the audience doesn’t indulge him.
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It is left to our imagination what their childhood was like. Their mother might have encouraged them both to pursue theater, but did either of them ever feel pride in their accomplishments? Is there a reason Cecil gives up and Bob can’t be stopped? Perhaps Bob leans into the villain role because he’s convinced himself he was born for it (give him credit, he does play it cartoonishly well), but when the tables turn he’s equally as enthusiastic playing the part of a noble hero. He seems unable to turn off the dramatics either way. There have been a few moments when he admits he does not want to commit to a violent act, and you could argue it’s because deep down he knows he’s playing a character that he's taken too far and that it isn’t his true self, or maybe he's horrified his true self is a monster and he’d rather play a different character as a means to contain it (I am not referring to moments from “Day of the Jackanapes” or “The Great Louse Detective”, moreso “The Man Who Grew Too Much”, “Gone Boy”, and “Bobby It’s Cold Outside”). His instincts during these moments seem to be to run away.
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But Bob can’t live secluded in his lil lighthouse forever, even if it means no one gets hurt and he would be free. Prison made him crazy. Isolation would destroy him.
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doberbutts · 7 months
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I’ve always said that if I ever have kids I want to adopt, and specifically adopt someone who’s older in the system because the older they are the more likely they are to age out.
Maybe I’m misunderstanding the thread but. Is that still a good thing to want to do?
The thread and conversation is not saying that fostering and adopting is necessarily a bad thing. It's saying that the system in which we do these things sucks, does not take into account the very real problems it has and has had, and that for every feel-good story related to fostering and adoption there are dozens of kids and now-adults with lingering trauma regarding their housing situation.
If adoption is something you're serious about, then by all means, there are so many kids in the system that need a way out. But- and this is a big "but"- you need to go into it prepared. Most of these kids have some sort of trauma, because the system is inherently traumatic. Do you know how to parent someone through their trauma? Can you make that commitment? Can you take this as seriously as if it was a child of your own blood, and commit to forever in the same way?
If you want to adopt, you need to take that commitment as seriously as if you had birthed the child yourself. And if you want to adopt older kids, you need to be prepared to parent someone through their trauma, because they need you to be able to help them out of that dark place. People don't want to adopt them because they don't want to deal with the trauma, but the honest truth is that if no one helps them how will they avoid the incredibly high rates of homelessness, human trafficking, sexual assault, and jailtime waiting for them when they age out?
You're not getting a brand new "fresh slate" baby when you adopt an older kid at risk for aging out. You're getting a whole ass person who is old enough to be deeply harmed by everything that has led up to this point and who has had the system prove to them over and over that they can trust no one and they have no one there to help them. Kids who bounce from foster to foster with little more than an hour's warning and a trash bag to throw all their stuff in before getting dumped at someone else's door. Kids who may still remember, miss, even want to return to their birth family. Kids who may have been hurt by their birth family from the start and now have no trust in anyone. Kids who may be well behind in school due to bouncing from district to district. Kids who've never actually made a friend. Teenagers who still wet the bed. Eight-year-olds acting out their sexual assaults on others because they don't know how else to cope. Preteen girls who can't stand to be in the same room as your husband or father or grandfather without a screaming tantrum. High school students who can't read or write because no one cared enough to teach them how.
These are often kids who have been failed by everyone else they've seen. Don't be just another person who's failed them too.
My sister was 13 when my parents took custody of her. My sister was raised by an addict mom who chose drugs over her, who chose her pimp boyfriend over her, who chose to look the other way when said pimp boyfriend started noticing her daughter was "becoming a woman". My sister spent her first year with my parents having screaming fights with them because she wanted to go home. Not because "home" with her birth mother was better, but because that is what deeply traumatized kids do. Better the devil you know. It didn't matter that it wasn't her or her mother's choice- the state took her away, not my parents. My parents just ensured she had a soft landing. It took a long time for her to trust them enough to call them her family- keep in mind that my dad is her uncle by blood.
And she is considered one of the "lucky" ones, who went straight from separation to an adoptive family who committed to forever immediately. I don't think getting trafficked and beaten and starved and neglected for 13 years is particularly "lucky", nor do I think it leaves behind a non-traumatized kid. But if that's considered lucky, then what happens to the unlucky ones?
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theerurishipper · 6 months
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After learning about the leaks about Paris special, I just want to say that all of the comics and headcanons fans created speculating how they would be in emoverse are much better than what we got. Wouldn't it be ironic to say that they're born evil like Chloe in ogverse and that some backstory doesn't justify their wrongdoings. They are evil and very much proud of it with either their cringe worthy fails or terrifying terrorism
Agreed. Like, I don't mind the arc they were intending for with Chloe, I don't mind them showing that some people can't change, but then they'll redeem the terrorist/abuser. And they'd rather say that Chloe is just inherently evil without exploring or acknowledging the backstory and motivations they wrote for her. That's the issue here. And now Shadybug and Claw Noir are going to get some half-assed redemption. Honestly, I would have preferred them being evil, you know, like an everyone has a good and bad side in them and who you are depends on the choices you make kind of thing, especially since Miraculous is so fond of redemptions.
I get it, that's just my wish and the show doesn't have to follow my exact preferred storyline to be good, but the information we have doesn't paint a very promising picture either way. Considering the bullshittery of the Season 5 finale and Gabriel's shitty-ass redemption, it really just feels like this special is pushing the Gabe Is Good agenda in our face, you know? I mean, Guardian Angel? For the child abuser in our main continuity? The one who doesn't seem like he did a good job in the alternate timeline either seeing as his son was so unable to process his grief that he became a magical terrorist? This guy is called Guardian Angel? I mean, maybe he did his best, but we won't know until we watch the special, and the show has a habit of blaming Adrien for Gabriel's actions anyway, so. It just feels like it's pushing the "some people are good and some people are evil no matter in what continuity, and Marinette and Adrien are good deep down, and so is Gabriel. But Chloe is just always evil lmaooooo." I don't mind it too much, but shit's still kinda weird, man.
And like, what do you mean "Shadybug and Claw Noir don't even like each other?" That's kind of the whole appeal for a lot of people lmao, and they hate each other? I mean, I'm not going to judge it based on my expectations and say it's bad just because I didn't get what I wanted, but... really? And I'm also gonna go out on a limb and say Hesperia and Claw Noir have no personal interaction despite them being father and son and Adrien's motivation being to bring Emelie back. Like, at a certain point, it crosses the line from being my insignificant expectation to being just... bad choices and an inability to create proper payoff. I think Hesperia interacts more with Marinette than Adrien in this special. Getting major Season 5 finale-esque "Marinette replaces Adrien in his arc" vibes.
But I'm not disappointed, surprising as that sounds. I never expected it to be good. I was always just here to see Claw Noir on screen so I can properly pick him up and toss him into my fanfics. I was excited for the special, sure, but I didn't have my hopes up and the leaks seem to have proved me right. Idk, maybe they'll surprise me. I doubt it though.
Thank you for your ask!
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Long time lurker here who finally took the plunge and watched/skimmed through their ‘historical’ doc. For what it's worth, here's my amateur psychoanalysis of it:
They both suffer from substantial minority complexes: Him for not being his brother (who’s more good looking, smarter and is to be king). She for being a child of a broken home and divorced parents with sometimes dubious backgrounds. She seems to always have wanted to be her own version of Gwyneth Paltrow, in all ways.
She seems to suffer from some sort of magical thinking, where her life necessarily must feel like a Hollywood film. I think her main sources of inspiration are Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, You’e got Mail, When Harry met Sally, etc. The song choices, the wedding speech, poems etc. give it away. Reality probably became too painful for her at some point as a child, so she started inventing a magical version of it that she’s trying to recreate. Becoming rich and famous is prob her way of proving to anyone who made her feel inferior as a child that she is worthy, even superior. She needs people to think she lives in some sort of ideal Pinterest version of California where she’s a modern Gwyneth Paltrow, royal to boot. It’s all wide brimmed Cali-hats, barefoot Joni Mitchell running, hop-in-the-car for a secret beach swim with your lover, topped off with avocados kind of vibes. Not a care in the world, happy happy happy. It’s all very nineties, but it makes sense considering when she grew up. She’s enacting the dream of the hurt child of a divorce, and he’s paying for it.
Of course she hates Kate. She represents everything Meghan wanted to be growing up: from a loving core family, financially comfortable, tall and slim (I bet that’s a thing), polite, educated, artsy, knows how to carry herself, etc. Kate not playing into Meghan’s hugging and ‘American’ ways was probably too much of a painful rejection for Meghan, a reminder that she’s really a fairly clumsy person with poor manners from a broken family (my guess is this is what she actually feels like inside, even if it’s subconscious). You can see it in the way she looks at Kate that she triggers some deep sense of inferiority, and so her solution is to be a b****, because she was never taught that jealousy usually says more about yourself than it does about the other person.
Her mom doesn’t feel genuine, not a lot of kindness shines through there. It’s interesting how close she seems to have gotten to her daughter once Harry’s credit cards were in the picture. Harsh, I know, but the whole thing feels off.
I somehow think the truest thing they have in common is that they’re both products of divorced parents, with dads who have felt a lot of subsequent guilt, trying to compensate for their failings by not calling out bad behaviour, and not making them take responsibility for anything growing up. The result is two overgrown teenagers with no sense of responsibility, no self deprecation, and zero self awareness. Heading for disaster methinks. 
Everyone is taking advantage of his status and money, and he doesn’t see it. Very sad. 
He seems happiest when he's smoking weed.
She shape shifts constantly; in their ‘candid’ moments (who knows what is actually real, it’s all filmed), she’s the uber feminine, helpless, sweet girl that Harry gets to save, who makes him feel smart. When she’s being interviewed independently, or sitting at a UN conference table, her voice deepens and she shows up as someone completely different, the ‘smart one’. There are numerous examples of her shape shifting throughout the years; it's been there from the beginning. 
I actually find Harry and her dad quite similar - both bratty ***holes.
Sorry for the lengthiness, and thanks for a great blog! You've provided sanity with your great analysis of this whole drama throughout the years - thank you :)
Thanks for sending this in!
I agree with the inferiority complex, and I think they both compensated for that by creating these over-the-top personas based on their paid press. The trigger for Harry's new persona was his time in Afghanistan and the trigger for Meghan's new persona was getting her suits role.
They both suffer from magical thinking. Thanks for focusing on Meg's magical realism, instead of Harry's. I found the bus tour of Hollywood boring when I saw the documentary and I wondered why they bothered to put it in, but I think you're right and it's all about her magical transformation. I noted the romcom element as well and one thing I found interesting is that the first three episodes of the documentary resemble regular royal documentaries with stock music, but then the last three incorporate romcom music. It's a big shift in tone, and it also happens in the book. The first few chapters are royal biography (albeit kind of weird) and then it's all rom com with a big dash of spite.
I had not considered this aspect of the Kate rivalry, and I'm going to have to think about this. I think you're right, but it goes a bit deeper. I think Kate was supposed to become part of "the family she never had." She was supposed to be the loving sister Sam was not. That's how the magical thinking worked. That's why there is so much bitterness towards Kate. Notice that Charles actually stepped into the dad role Meghan expected him to play, but Will and Kate were not willing to play the part of loving brother and sister. That's why there is so much anger there.
There's something off about Doria, but she's smart enough to stay on the sidelines.
Divorce is a big factor, I agree.
He doesn't see it at all, which is odd because we all thought both he and Will had a good radar for users. It almost seems like he's used to lower-level users, and he doesn't realize how things work at this level of money where people are willing to give you one of their empty homes until they figure out how they can monetize you.
Drugs are a huge factor. I didn't understand how dependent he was on them until I read his book.
Everyone seems to experience a different Meghan, and many people (Naniki, Nina, staff) have said she starts out charming and then she turns on you and becomes a different person. It's going to be interesting to see how she turns on Harry.
They say you end up marrying your dad, and Meghan seems to be proving that. She turned a prince into Thomas Markle.
Thanks for the kind words. It has been a wild ride, hasn't it.
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pikahlua · 2 years
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Revenge of the Power of Friendship: I’ve connected two dots...or actually a whole lot more than two, because it turns out that’s the whole fucking point
Hello.
We need to talk.
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Still freaking out over chapter 362 even though the official hasn’t dropped yet?
Good. That’s good.
I’m obviously enjoying this immensely.
What? Do you find that weird? Giant Katsuki Bakugou stan relishing in the current manga events? How could this possibly be?
This ain’t my first rodeo, kids. I’m well-versed in the tropes of shounen anime. I knew shit was going down the moment Toga yanked Izuku to Octo Island.
I’m just surprised we got to this point in the story so quickly, if I’m being honest.
Anyways, I have a meta for you. It’s a good one. Probably correct, too.
We’ll be touching on many things today, including but not limited to:
The heroes’ battle strategy
The Second OFA User’s quirk
All Might’s OFA vestige
AFO’s weakness
Saving Tenko Shimura
How the fuck a certain beloved character could still survive
Consider yourself warned.
Anyways, who wants to know what the fuck is going on in this arc?
Introduction
I don’t have a lot of time, so I’m not gonna do my normal meta weave for you. Some of you are probably wondering if Switch Theory or Possession Theory will come into play, so let me just say up front: this theory is separate but NOT mutually exclusive from them. I noticed a big thing which could ultimately play out many different ways, and the ways it can play out could still include either of those theories. What I’m about to explain is meant to be taken as a general observation. It likely has holes that will need to be melded into whatever new information we get in the future.
It’s just...this is too glaringly obvious now. SOMETHING along these lines is definitely happening right now in the MHA story.
Instead of laying this out for you dramatically, I’m just gonna get to it. Here are my observations.
The heroes are in on saving Tenko
There are two important people who were involved in drafting the heroes’ battle strategy: All Might and Ragdoll.
I know there were plenty of people out there who expected Shouto to kill Dabi or whatever. Plenty more still think that the heroes are trying to kill TomurAFO.
What happened with Dabi should prove that they’re not.
Heroes save. Heroes are explicitly forbidden from killing. But you don’t need to have faith in them for that either, because we’re talking about All Might.
All Might knows who Tenko Shimura is, and it was foreshadowed a long time ago that he would do something to try to save him.
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We know Izuku wants to rescue that little boy crying inside TomurAFO, and there’s no reason for him to have kept that a secret from anybody when the heroes were planning their attack. Everyone he’s working with are heroes. You can say what you will about each individual character, but it’s not even necessary that everyone wants to save Tenko. Given how strong TomurAFO is, anyone would be able to see that it could be much easier to save Tenko than kill the monster he has become. The goal is to stop Tenko from wanting to destroy everything, and there are ways other than killing him to achieve that.
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The evidence is there on the stage of their battle.
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The goal is to separate AFO and Tomura. They don’t mention killing Tomura in planning.
Additionally, OFA is part of the plan to fight Tomura, but no one ever says anything about how OFA would be used.
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If they just needed firepower, they wouldn’t have needed to include other people in the team fighting Tomura. And they included a LOT of firepower otherwise in that team. So...it must be something else OFA is supposed to do.
Probably the Second User’s quirk.
And above all, Katsuki doesn’t smile at all during the fight, which is kind of a tell. Katsuki distinctly always fails to smile when he’s in the mindset to perform a rescue.
The Second User’s quirk creates connections
Like I said, Switch Theory is not required for this meta, but it does contain some important elements I need to mention now.
I’ve never been more certain it relates to: touching a person (holding hands?) and saying their name.
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Note that I didn’t say that was an activation requirement. I mean, it probably is, but it’s really more about something else.
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"This is the story of how we all became the greatest hero.” I’m making this singular on purpose.
The full potential of One For All must rely on the connections Izuku has made with other people. The more connections he makes, the stronger he becomes.
I didn’t mention the significance of Ragdoll yet. Why is she important?
Because her quirk exists inside AFO.
She could be a window into AFO. Her quirk could actually end up being his weakness. She just has to be connected to another person on the outside.
Each fight has shown a person “thinking” of their friends as “one”
What have we seen in this war so far?
We’ve seen Shouto think of his friends just before hitting Dabi with his ultimate move.
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We’ve seen Jirou attack AFO out of love for her friends.
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And what’s interesting about both of those moments is that...they were extremely effective.
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In Jirou’s case, she even reached and empowered the stolen quirks inside AFO.
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What if all of these events are actually the result of OFA? What if they’re all connected?
What if everyone is affected by the Second User’s quirk already?
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All they would need to do is “think of everyone together as one.” One For All, if you will.
And this accomplishes...what?
Katsuki’s gonna live
What was Katsuki doing right before he went all-out against TomurAFO?
Mumbling like Izuku, taking note of TomurAFO’s battle habits, fighting through the pain...
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He was thinking of Izuku.
...maybe even talking to Izuku.
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TomurAFO freaks out about losing his cool against a non-OFA user. He thinks of the Second...which implies the Second gave him a lot of trouble before he ever had OFA either.
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(That’s a yin-yang image if I ever saw one.)
Perhaps the Second’s quirk gives a compounding power boost of some kind depending on how many connections have been forged, or maybe it’s based on how “united” the connections are in heart and mind. I say power boost, but I don’t know if it’s actually something so straightforward as a strength increase. I’m just saying whatever it is, it seems to...empower people.
At this point, I’m inclined to name his quirk “Rally.”
It gave Shouto the strength to reach Touya’s heart, as represented by their childhood selves.
It allowed Jirou to reach out to the vestiges trapped inside AFO.
It allowed Katsuki to...see All Might’s vestige?
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I’ll come back to this.
I just want to round this point out first by pointing out...this bit?
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Maybe this is OFA, actually.
Or maybe it’s not, but...
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...maybe it’ll allow a connection between Shouto and someone else despite a large distance between them. Maybe Shouto is healing Touya’s chest (whether he realizes it or not). And maybe OFA will allow Shouto to use it on someone else who needs it.
Just look at that X over Shouto’s chest in the above panel, and...
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...look at Katsuki’s uniform design. Look where his heart wound is.
All For One versus All Might
Okay, let’s get back to All Might’s vestige.
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As I pointed out in my literal translation of chapter 358, AFO’s stated goal here is to define the world by “things that are me” versus “things that are not me.” He’s placed a piece of himself in Tomura and taken him over. He’s kidnapped and raised kids as potential vessels for him. He’s created noumu of the dead to obediently follow his orders, and he communicates to them via radio waves like they’re all some kind of hive mind.
So what if the “not AFO” pieces of the world could do something similar?
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What if they could unite via the power of OFA? What if the Second’s quirk IS Switch, or else something else that allows him to create vestiges in everyone?
What would they place in everyone that they could resonate with?
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There is a lot of weirdness happening in this scene. A) They must be in the vestige plane, but whose vestige plane? It certainly doesn’t look like Tomura’s or Izuku’s. It’s a blank white space. B) Katsuki is wearing his school uniform...with a tie??? He’s only done that once before...
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I genuinely cannot tell if Katsuki’s meeting with All Might’s vestige is actually happening in the moment or a flashback. Izuku as OFA’s holder doesn’t appear wearing clothes in the vestige world, so...is this not Katsuki’s vestige world either? Is this a piece of his soul as manifested by the Second’s quirk, and it takes on the form of what he looked like when it was forged--say when he united Class 1-A together to go save Izuku? a.k.a when he was able to “think of everyone as united, as one”?
Is this actually happening in the moment, and All Might’s vestige is doing something to save Katsuki? Perhaps Switching with him? Was his vestige already there and empowering him? Was it part of the plan? Is Katsuki trying to somehow inject All Might’s vestige into TomurAFO so it can save Tenko?
Remember: All Might’s vestige is not a quirk. It’s a piece of his consciousness. It’s basically a fragment of his soul.
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Things that are AFO versus Things that are All Might
Talk about a brand-new Possession Theory! And a new Fusion Theory!
How can Tenko Shimura be a hero?
Thanks @class1akids​ for helping me realize Tomura’s growing an extra face.
I suppose if Katsuki’s heart or body craps out on him, we can always grow him a new one to put his soul back in.
Maybe we can grow bodies for all the other stolen quirks’ vestiges, too.
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roachleakage · 5 months
Text
One of the biggest problems with both the Law of Assumption and the Law of Attraction is that they're both designed to be unfalsifiable, meaning, it's meant to be impossible to disprove them no matter what results you get. No matter what you do, no matter how hard you try to manifest, failing to accomplish your goals can't be considered a failure of the concept; instead, it's automatically considered a failure on your part to roleplay a better life hard enough.
This is a pretty popular tactic with scammers who want to exploit people. For example, multilevel marketing companies work to instill in their "salespeople" (victims) that if they aren't somehow making money with the company, it's because they are doing something wrong. Can't find anyone to sell to? You must not be harassing- I mean looking hard enough. No one is interested in your measly selection of products? You just need to buy more to show them what the company has to offer! And if all else fails, you need to look into growing your downline by any means necessary - which includes posting videos to your social media telling everyone how incredibly successful you've been since you started selling for the company.
You can also see this in some Christian circles, and let me tell you it's no less of a red flag there. Pastors might tell you some variant of the following:
G*d always answers prayers, it's just that sometimes the answer is "no".
If you didn't get what you were praying for, it's because you didn't have enough faith.
In order to really prosper as a Christian - by which we mean get wealthy - then you have to show your loyalty to G*d - by which we mean give us all the money you can afford.
As you might notice, each of these claims offers a result that the person making them has no actual power to provide to you. Your pastor can't answer prayers on G*d's behalf or convince your boss to give you a raise, leaving it up to the whims of causality as usual. Instead, they insist that a negative result is simply a normal part of the process, that either you can expect to be snubbed part of the time, or that if you don't get the results you want it's your own fault.
Of course, this doesn't actually prove that the claim is true. In fact, when you design an idea to be difficult to falsify, you're actually making it harder to prove - because "the system works" and "the system doesn't work" end up looking exactly the same. That's why these systems rely so hard not on teaching you concrete methods that you can test for yourself, but on making sure you believe that what you are doing will work, and conditioning you to reject out of hand any evidence that suggests otherwise.
This tactic does not help anyone. Instead, it serves to trap people in an endless cycle of victimhood, assuring that they continue to point the blame at themselves instead of asking themselves if the rule they were taught is as good as they were told it is. It also teaches them to contribute to others' victimization, by constantly repeating this message to other members of the community, effectively creating an echo chamber of victim-blaming and guilt.
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albentelisa · 3 months
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Hi! Here's an interesting ask. What if Douxie had met and eventually adopted by Barbara a few years before the events of Season One happen?
Barabra and Jim are both aware of the supernatural during season one due to them finding out Douxie is a wizard. As to how Jim and Douxie both claim: "it was Archie's fault" when Claire asks the same question when she learns.
So, I'd say that Douxie gets in trouble with some witches who have a personal vendetta against Merlin. He uses a de-aging potion to escape them, turning into a twelve-year-old kid. Initial Douxie's plan is to hide for a while, using a potion until the witches leave Arcadia. He also uses a foster care system to throw them off his tracks.
One day, Douxie gets injured and taken to the hospital where he meets Barbara for the first time. Barbara takes a liking to this kid, and after some consideration, decides to adopt him.
That is how Jim gets an elder brother when he is ten. Both Jim and Barbara start to consider Douxie their real family fast enough.
Douxie feels slightly conflicted about the development - while being in an actual family will clearly cover his tracks better, he realizes how much he starts caring about Barbara and Jim. So Douxie's decision is to continue with de-aging until he reaches his actual age of 19 while keeping the magic part secret.
The latter one is where he fails spectacularly because of Archie who isn't able to tolerate being treated as a silly cat for long and loses it one day when Toby tries to babytalk to him. So, Toby, Jim, and Barbara who are present, learn that Archie isn't a cat at all, and Douxie decides it'll be fair to tell them everything fully expecting that Barbara might throw him out after his confession. However, the truth actually makes their bonds tighter. It's such a relief for everyone as Barbara has always felt her adopted son hid something, not to mention that Douxie doesn't need to pretend to be a kid all the time (and Archie is the happiest for finally being treated with some respect).
Initially, Barbara is worried about Douxie's occasional monster hunts, but as he proves his competence, she lets him go. However, she strictly prohibits Jim and Toby from joining - and Douxie supports this decision as he's aware of how dangerous are his outings. Not that the boys agree with that as they keep sneaking out and following Douxie. It ends up with Douxie teaching them how to deal with various types of creatures as he realizes that Jim and Toby will continue anyway, and it will be better to ensure that they will at least know how to defend themselves.
Not that Jim is content with only that. He wishes to have a true adventure, not just warding off some goblins. At some point, he even tries to learn magic, but unfortunately for him, he has no aptitude for it.
Everything changes when Jim picks up the amulet. He (and Toby) know straight away that the amulet is magic, but cannot tell what exactly it is. When Jim is back home, he asks Douxie about it right away - and Douxie doesn't take it well because he 1)knows what it is and 2) knows that Jim cannot refuse the mantle. Merlin ordered Douxie not to get involved with the Trollhunters until Merlin contacts him, but it's not like Douxie can ignore his little brother getting into a dangerous situation.
Blinky and Aaarrrgghh come right amid Douxie's explanation about the amulet. Jim isn't that shocked or scared to see them as he knows about trolls' existence. He's also rather excited to finally get his adventure. Besides, Douxie is on his team too.
Initially, Jim hopes to keep everything from Barbara as he doesn't want to trouble her more. She finds out the next day though as trolls barge in openly (they are sure that everyone in the Lakes' household knows about magic, so see no problem, and Jim has forgotten to mention it to them to keep his mom in the dark).
So, in this AU Jim has support from both his mom and elder brother. It changes some things:
Barbara is initially worried sick about Jim risking his life and only calms down a bit once Douxie promises her that he'll make sure that no one is hurt;
Barbara is a team medic and frequent to the Trollmarket. She still has a relationship with Strickler as no one has been aware that Strickler is a changeling for a while;
Douxie provides some information about different magical creatures and the amulet;
Douxie also helps Jim with dating advice (though, Jim is still awkward when it comes to Claire);
once Jim learns that Strickler is a changeling, he is reluctant to tell it to Barbara. Keeping it secret leads to Barbara falling under the binding spell of Angor Rot. She learns the truth soon afterward, but the damage is already done;
Douxie starts teaching Claire magic once she gets a shadow staff, however, Claire has been interested in magic since joining the team
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midnightpandora · 3 months
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I have so many thoughts on the secret life final and series in general that I need to get out now oh boy this is gonna be a very long and rambling post if you actually read all this I love you<3
SECRET LIFE SPOILERS BELOW
First of all SCAR?? this isn’t the winner I had been expecting this particular season (my bets were on Gem or Impulse) but one I have been hoping would win at some point so I am very okay with this turn of events
This win is so important to me because it proves just how capable he really is, Scar has been overlooked and underestimated throughout the entire life series despite consistently doing well in each season. He’s often considered a joke or a burden to his teammates (Grian in third life and double life and even Cleo a bit in limited life, though she was much nicer about it and seemed to genuinely want to help him the fact that she felt she needed to still shows he wasn’t viewed as capable on his own)
Even in this season, when the infected boogeys went after him they acted like he would be an easy kill but he held his own for a very long time and took all of those chasing him down by quite a lot of health in the process. He’s much more deadly than people ever give him credit for, especially with a bow.
He’s also always either been alone or had teammates who felt they needed to help him and being alone again this season proves that he’s perfectly capable of surviving on his own without a teammate aiding him. When he did finally have an ally at the very end in Pearl she did offer to help him by giving her life but it didn’t feel like it was from a place of pity like with previous allies, it felt like it was purely to level the playing field since Scott had done it for Gem.
But even then he refused and she didn’t shy away from battling him instead, proving it was very much his own skill that caused him to succeed and that he is capable on his own.
Already I’ve seen people representing him as the Earth to go with the celestial body themes of the winners and I absolutely adore this concept especially from the perspective of Pearl being the moon and being the only one he was ever able to be kind to this season. And the only person to team with him who’s really treated him as an equal. The Moon and Earth worked together.
Going into the fact that Scar was only ever able to be nice to Pearl brings me to the next topic, how ruthless the Secret Keeper was to him. Constantly being made to ruin potential allies and friendships, notice that despite hating it he always went along with it when he could have chosen to fail or rerolled. Many people have pointed out that he’s the first winner to stay alive at the end and realistically I have a feeling that wasn’t intentional on their part lol but for the sake of lore I’m choosing to believe it’s because he always did as the Secret Keeper asked (or tried his best to anyways) he sometimes failed but not on purpose or because he was trying to bend the rules always by genuine mistake. The previous winners have all attempted to bend the rules of the game in some way mostly by helping teammates in the end or receiving help when they should all be battling each other. Scar refused Pearls help and never purposely failed or rerolled his task (only when Grian told him to the first session which was only after he had genuinely failed)
I think keeping him alive was the Watchers rewarding him for following their rules and game to the best of his ability.
Now some stuff about secret life in general now that it’s over…
I absolutely loved the teams we had this season they were some of my favorite we’ve ever had. Cleo and Etho finally teaming is something I’d been hoping for for a long time they just have very similar vibes in a way I can’t really explain but I’m so glad it happened and throwing Grian into the mix was just the right amount of chaos to add.
Gem and the Scotts was such an interesting and silly team I love that she was very much the leader of the three and main decision maker she’s an absolute queen and incredible at leading also evident with the boogey army I loved seeing her command them all it was one of my favorite moments of the series. We love girlboss Gem<3 she did so well
The Heart Foundation was so good, similar to Cleo, Etho, and Grian, Skizz and Tango vibe very well together but Bigb was the bit of chaos and spice I think they needed to keep things interesting what a fun group and amazing concept with the heart gambling Skizz always adds interesting dynamics like that to the series<3
The Mounders my beloved. While they didn’t feel quite as cohesive as some of the other groups with all of them often running off to do their own things each session they still remained loyal to the very end, in fact the loyalty all the groups held through the entire season even when things got dicey at the end really shocked me this season but in a good way. Usually as the season goes on groups fall apart or people drift away but nearly everyone stuck with the very first group they formed this season and I really liked that. Their little bonding exercises at the start of each session were also very silly<3
Jimmy and Martyn. While they didn’t team immediately once they did I loved the big dogs so much I only wish we could have gotten a bit more of them they’re so good together. The bone collecting for their tasks was cool and they brought back Property Police vibes which I adore<3
Then we had the lone wolves Scar and Lizzie. I find it interesting that both got massively screwed over by their tasks and failed often to make friends but Lizzie’s solitude was likely her downfall while Scar made it to the very end. Lizzie also had a very “screw these tasks” attitude and instead tried to help Joel with his which lead to her demise while as I said Scar consistently tried to do his even though he knew it would hurt him.
Overall I feel like Secret Life was a very fun spin on the life series, definitely very different from the previous seasons with the task mechanic but not a bad change it kept things new and exciting and as some have said I have a feeling it’s going to lead us into a sort of new era of life games. I loved the amount of interesting interactions it caused between players and the added improv aspect, while it made it feel a bit sillier than some of the other seasons I think a change like that was needed especially to remind people that this is not a scripted series.
as much as I enjoy the lore people have later written around it I hope they remember that at the end of the day it’s just a silly improv Minecraft server not a pre written story and would honestly probably be very boring if it was all scripted, the improv and randomness is what keeps it exciting and allows a number of different kinds of players to participate together where I don’t think strict roleplay would have the same impact. That does mean things sometimes go very different than expected lore/storywise but that’s when the fandom truly gets to shine in finding creative ways to write it together into a cohesive story which is a big part of what makes the life series so great
I really loved Secret Life and I can’t wait to see what else they might do in the future and how the fans will interpret/represent it c:
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