#when really most of what I was interpreting was unrealistic

[beanghostprincess]

I have seen a wild amount of people complaining about the context of Wind Breaker and how "unrealistic" it is for the characters to go to school but without any teachers or adults being shown or protecting them and... First of all, realism is not what you're going to find reading a Shonen and if you want a full-on high school experience, read another manga. It is very common to skip those details as a writer because they are not interesting in the slightest and they have confirmed multiple times that all of their grades are awful, so you won't get a silly little arc about them studying, because they directly don't. To say it is "unrealistic" is to ask for boring, pointless, plotless occurrences in a Shonen manga about fighting. Are people even hearing themselves when they complain?

But it's not only from a writer's perspective skipping what's unimportant that justifies the lack of teachers and responsible adults, but the plot itself. At first, it is confusing, but I think you only have to look a bit deeper into the cultural context of the story to understand why there aren't teachers/adults shown.

I'm around chapter 100, so I am not sure this gets explained further in the manga, but my theory as to why they behave this way is pretty simple, honestly: They are poor and in ruins, and adults with the power to change things do not care about them. Easy as that.

Whether it is real or just an exaggeration of what's actually going on, it has been shown countless times (especially in Umemiya's backstory, explaining directly how authorities don't care about the kids or anybody, really) that the whole city is made for outcasts and left to rot by the government. It is not some apocalyptic bullshit, it is stuff that happens every goddamn day in real life. They go to school but they aren't shown studying and the place itself is a mess. We only see Umemiya running the school but it is confirmed that there's staff and somebody grading them somehow, despite never being shown studying or doing anything other than patrolling. But they have shown us that the city used to be extremely problematic and chaotic and only recently have things started to change for the better. Most villains and even main characters are orphans and live on their own. There's a whole arc about a group of kids being left to rot in poverty without any means to study or live a normal life. Even our main character lives on his own in a horrendous apartment. Like--

I believe you have to be blind to not see that, if this isn't just literally some people turning their backs against poor kids in a place in ruins, it is at least an exaggeration of these things happening in real life. Because they could have classes and teachers and everything you want in the manga to make it more realistic, but this is, after all, from the perspective of teenagers who can't rely on anybody but themselves. There's only so much a teacher can do, and we know most of them do nothing for these kids. So if it is "unrealistic" perhaps you aren't aware of what damn hyperboles and metaphors are, but this is from the students' points of view, and when you live in a place like this, it doesn't matter how many teachers there are or police, because they won't help. So they are directly erased from the story to be replaced with Sakura's point of view of Umemiya running the whole place.

So I think that instead of looking for realistic interpretations of their high school experience, perhaps you should empathize a little with the actual real high school experiences of people like them.

#'they are fighting and the police doesn't do anythin-' the police never gives a fuck the police has never given a single fuck #i have seen people get killed in my street and robbed and raped every day and the police have never done a thing please grow up #'where are the teachers!' well maybe they do try to teach but when the kids aren't being taught how to live they don't give a single fuck #perhaps that is why they follow only umemiya have you perhaps considered that #you could also say the author skips these things to not make it boring or idkk maybe the city itself funds these kids #but i believe it is just the representation of sakura's pov being left behind by every adult in his life #i am not in these kids' place luckily but i also don't live in the best district and it IS dangerous to walk around on my own #and police or adults have never done a single thing to fix that #so i understand where the story is coming from and why the school in this manga is this way #anywayyyy people are soo boring perhaps the manga only wants to tell you the interesting stuff #if they talked about them trying to graduate THAT would be unrealistic bc they don't care and also you'd be BORED #people learn how to read between the lines i am begging you oh lord #wind breaker #wind breaker (satoru nii)

[bitchapalooza]

I was thinking I wanted a queer platonic partner, but thinking about it more I don’t? I don’t want any intimacy whatsoever. I don’t wanna be touched unless it’s simple arm holding/arms linked together or a quick hug or lean on when in troubled times. I don’t want to be called a partner or anything either. I guess I just want a best friend to maybe live with? Just be close to someone with mutual trust and comfort and understanding and respect? I don’t wanna rope someone into a relationship that’s other than friendship because that’s all I want; I wouldn’t ever want to hold someone back if they want to be an intimate or romantic relationship! Having a close friendship sounds so heavenly to me, while having any other kind of relationship makes me feel anxious and uncomfortable to think about. God this book did so much for me ngl..

#it just made me think a lot about myself #I’m gonna reread it #it really made me realize I have a very uneducated view on sex and romance #to me sex was always hand in hand to romance because that’s how I #consumed it in media/fandom which how I even got into it(thru shipping) #i used to think I was a hopeless romantic and pansexual bc of this #when really most of what I was interpreting was unrealistic #I think my views on how a relationship worked was always childish? #like I mean how maybe a 6 year old would view how it would work #like just hand holding and kissing and smiling is what defined a relationship #not any other factors I had learned about through media (I’d say daily life but I think I shouldn’t use my parents as a good example) #(I mean used to; I always thought aggressive teasing name calling and hitting was a (healthy) form of affection so…) #most of the time when I characterize a ship I find it hard to make it romantic so I research what things are romantic to do #even then it’s hard bc I don’t see how exactly it’s romantic #so I kind of just default to them hanging out like a couple of friends would #this is all so fucking liberating omg #it feels like I just stepped out of a cage? like I’m letting myself actually think without worry #talkies #asexual #aromantic #aroace

[tac-the-unseen]

JUST READ THE COD GANG REACTING TO READER FALING AN ORGASM SO WHAT IF READER ADMITS THEY NEVER HAD ONE BEFORE?????? LIKE- NEW RELATIONSHIP??????? SORRY FOR CAPS IM ECSTATIC RN BC UR WORK IS SO GOOD🫶🫶🫶🫶🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌

COD characters finding out that Reader's past lover(s) have never given them an Orgasm.

Am I exactly sure what Anon is asking? No, But I will persist.

I'm choosing to write this with the interpretation of Reader never having an orgasm even though they've had sex with others. (The other way I read it was that Reader just flat out never had an orgasm before, and I think that's extremely unrealistic. So we're going with that one) ALSO because of the prompt You and the guys have yet to bump uglies!

Ghost:

•Simon is a little confused "Like...None of them?"

•He takes it very seriously

•He asks you to elaborate a little more. He just wants to know if the other guys sucked (or just didn't in this case) or if you two needed to do something specific in order to please you.

•He understands if you need some kind of accommodations and will ask you what he needs to do

•You and Simon have a long discussion over what you want your first time with him to be like. He makes sure you both have a clear understanding of what's to come (ha).

Soap:

•First thing he says is “Would you like to?”

•He thinks it's a little funny but really sad too

•”Darling, you're too pretty to let subpar men just use you.”

•He immediately wants to show you how it's done and what you've been robbed off

•He asks if he can take you for a “good ol' mustache ride”

Price:

•”Young men are dumb.” He says and takes a drag from his cigar

•”But I guess it's nice to know I have no competition.” He smiles

•He does talk to you about your needs and what he needs to do to meet them properly

•He takes you out on a nice dinner date, goes on a nice walk with you, and end up with his hands wrapped around your waist taking you home

Alejandro:

•Can not stop laughing

•As soon as you tell him he erupts into a fit of giggles. He takes him a full 3 minutes before he calms down enough to hug you and pat you back.

•”You poor thing.” he chuckles and kisses your cheek. “I'll make sure to make up for all their failures, Mi querida.”

•He’ll ask you what they were doing down there the whole time. Which leads to even more laughter when you tell him.

•”But I think I should buy you a nice dinner first.” he winks

Roach:

•Stunned

•Absolutely floored

•”Like never?” He signs. You can see the horror in his eyes

•He’s got his head in hands, contemplating life. He's so concerned for you. He has to take a moment of silence to comprehend the level of incompetence the men in your life must have had.

•When he finally sits up he looks you directly in the eyes and signs “Thank God I'm good with my hands.”

Gaz:

•Slowly turns his head to look at you with his brows furrowed and confusion

•Is too shock to speak

•He gets up to pour himself some Scotch

•”How many times have you had to fake an orgasm?” “8” he proceeds to down the entire drink and pour himself another

•This time he hands it to you “You need this more than me.”

Rudy:

•He gets up and takes a lap around the house

•When he gets back he pulls you into a hug

•”You deserve so much better, Mi Tesoro.”

•Kisses your jaw and runs his hands down your back. “I can give you so much better.” He tells you in-between kisses

•He offers you himself until your properly satisfied, for however long that takes

König:

•”Why do you like incompetent men?”

•He means it in a genuine way, But he accidentally reads you to filth.

•”Why spend your time and affection on someone who cannot please you?” he asks. “I didn't want to seem shallow.” You replied. “Shallow? Liebste, No.”

•He practically scolds you for allowing such men into your life. It's actually the most you've ever heard him speak. Which really tells you how upset he is.

•”You're Lucky I'm here. I will not let such things happen ever again.”

•And fuuuck, he means it

Mace:

•”Other men are filthy animals.” he tells you like it was a normal thing to say

•He gets in close to you and rests his arms on your hips. “Don’t get me wrong, I'm a man whore.” He laughs lightly and kisses you “But you knew that.”

•He asks you for all the funny details and thinks it would make a decent bonding experience.

•He tells you about his less than great sex stories and failures

•”Rest assured sweetheart, I'm a pro at making people scream.”

Thanks for reading <3

(I realize now that I wrote them all in different mindsets of this prompt... Good luck with that, I guess)

#cod mw2 #x reader #reader #mw2 #cod #fluff #könig #fanfic #mace cod #simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #john price #alejandro vargas #rudy parra #colonel könig #gary roach sanderson #kyle gaz garrick #ghost x reader #soap x reader #könig x reader #mace x reader

[viihoff]

How does Astarion and Tav's relationship develop during their romance? A little analysis and a really long post, part 1 of 2, first and second Acts.

Please note that this is an interpretation. Your Tav's relationships with Astarion might evolve in a different way, it's a mix of both canon and headcanon material. I just love analyzing people and writing stuff.

Act 1.

During this time, Astarion's in survival mode. Being thrown into the world, unknowing if he's free of Cazador's will or not, if he's being chased or not, Astarion resorts to the skeleton of his behavioral pattern - manipulation. He cannot trust Tav, both because he's a vampire (and vamps don't have a good rep, of course), and because the centuries he spent in servitude, deprived of any hope and freedom, thought him to rely on himself, only. He's lost, scared, bewildered. Astarion is drunk with the sense of freedom, but he doesn't know when or how it might end, what's out there for him, and what to do. Seeing Tav, he latches on to them, and starts to plan how to get the most out of them.

So, feeling where the wind's blowing, and seeing Tav as a solidified leader of the group, Astarion starts playing his game. He tries to appear charming and flirts with Tav (and sometimes not only them, but also Gale, Wyll, etc, he needs to have his options open) despite not being whatsoever close to them. It might appear, from Tav's perspective, that Astarion's just like that - overly flirty, promiscuous, a down to earth guy who seeks the simple pleasures. And, maybe, genuinely likes them, why not. But, of course, Astarion doesn't. He actively acts on the persona he created, not willing to share his true feelings yet. He might feel sympathy towards certain Tav's behaviors, like being self-serving, but he doesn't trust them. Again, yet. Even during the first and second sex scenes with Astarion, as he confirms in Act 3 if you didn't get his confession, it was only a transaction for him. His body for your loyalty and a faint chance of you being enamored enough not to stab Astarion in his back.

This is the reason why I don't believe that Astarion develops a crush on Tav in the 1st Act. He prayed for 200 years to the gods for him to be saved, of course they won't send an angel now who would magically sort his shit out for him and basically save him from Cazador, will they? It would be really unfair, after all these years, and totally unrealistic. So, everything he does is an act, confirmed to me by the way Petras acts when you meet him in Act 3. Same mannerism, same learned by heart 'honeyed words' Astarion uses on Tav to lure them in. The way he talks, gestures, plays with the pitch of his voice - Tav's constantly bombarded with the best tactics Astarion has developed to lure people in. There's only a number of times when's genuine - when you reject him, and when he's bitching during the cutscenes and over some of your choices. Right now, the only feeling Astarion's is comfortable to share is anger and mild dissatisfaction. All of his pain is saved for later.

I'm confident to say that spending the night with Tav was a 'duty' of Astarion's, as he himself believed, and he didn't get any initial pleasure in doing it. Of course, he did it willingly (and it was good sex, otherwise Tav wouldn't have been screaming Astarion's name into the night for everyone to hear, lol). However, it was no more than a type of physical labor one performs, totally mechanized.

Act 2.

This is when the immediate danger of being turned into a mindflayer is not a real life threat anymore and being 100% reliant on the good will of Tav isn't a survival strategy.

Genuine friendship starts to develop due to the time spent together and the good things Tav is ready to do for Astarion without asking anything in return. Everyone who's upset over not being able to start as friends with Astarion before initiating the romance - rejoice, I really believe it happens this way in the game. No matter the approval, Astarion begins to warm up to Tav and other companions only in Act 2, feeling comfortable and experiencing true camaraderie for the first time in his life. I say that because I believe that most of the bonding is happening behind the scenes, and the only thing we see is the byproduct. You cease to be a group of survivals in Act 2 and become a real team.

Thus, Astarion begins to feel safe. Not only thanks to Tav being compassionate towards him UNCONDITIONALLY, but because everyone else in your band is ready to protect him and one another. Astarion finds true safety, and, thanks to that, survival mode is finally off.

His mental capacities are finally free to start not only caring about his immediate survival (because he's surrounded by friends, and I don't care how apathetic companions act towards Astarion in his spawn ending, this shit is the result of time crunch, not the way the band would really behave, I'm sure of it), but observe. He sees the person before him, Tav, who does things and doesn't ask shit in return from him, who's genuinely compassionate and kind, and he finally stops viewing this as a weakness. Why? Because it was proven to him by Tav's actions that being a good person is a real life strategy and doesn't always leave you weaker than you were before, but stronger, with more allies and resources than before.

By observing Tav, Astarion sees and understands that there are people who can care for him, and they don't get crashed by the big bad world which is cruel and actively acts against you.

No, the world is indifferent, and shit happens because people choose to act like that. Cazador was a cruel monster to Astarion because he chose to, and Tav cares for him and stands for him because they chose to. There are people who he can trust.

This is the point when Astarion cracks. I believe that he falls for Tav not for their looks or certain temperament (this is the reason why you can romance him as a gnome who he is racist towards, lmao), but they way Tav treats him. He falls for Tav's protecting and kind nature towards him, and after that, I think, he starts seeing beauty in the looks, certain character quirks and stuff like that.

After you helped him decipher his scars and/or protected him from the blood merchant, all of his walls are down. He's a cup full of sheer admiration and gratitude, and, when he confesses, he still doesn't understand that he's in love. He thanks Tav for being there for him, and although he doesn't know what he feels or wants, he enjoys having Tav around him. Being with Tav gave him the strength to believe that good things can happen to him, too. Despite still being in danger from Cazador, he's finally hopeful enough to desire something beyond being away from his master.

He wants revenge. He wants to finally stop pretending. He wants closure. He wants to move on. And he wants Tav.

He wants to treat them the same way they treat him. He finally has the capacity to give back the kindness, because he was given enough of it for him to spare.

And then we move to Act 3, but I will do this part some next time, because this post is already ungodly long. I will also write about the way Astarion's relationship with Durge evolves and how it is a bit different from a standard romance.

Cheers, vampire lovers.

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #astarion #astarion x tav #text post #next time I will also include some Durge analysis #cause the relationship there is a bit different #you're more of on an equal footing there #I must have made so many mistakes writing this #sorry English is not my first language

[marinareads25]

THOUGHTS ON WHY JACKS IS THE WAY HE IS…

(WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD) So I’ve been thinking a lot about Jacks and how well-written he is as a character. I mean on the surface, his backstory looks simple, but when you really think about it, it is actually so tragic and really puts his attitudes and behaviors into context. The man has truly been going THROUGH IT for CENTURIES and it’s so sad. ALSO, this is just MY interpretation😆😆, I could be 100% wrong LMAO. I apologize, doing this is just my coping mechanism for the Evajacks drought we are currently experiencing. Here are a few things I considered;

The curse is supposed to be IMPOSSIBLE to break.

So we know that his curse is that his kiss is lethal and there is only one girl in the whole world that is immune to it, his one true love. Essentially, Jacks is robbed of ever kissing anyone without consequences. He can do anything he wants, but kissing, which is one of the most intimate and sentimental acts between lovers, is basically corrupted because it inevitably leads to the undoing of the objects of his affection. I mean, sure he can do it, but as long as he actually loves that person (Eva), he holds himself back. The curse is the way it is FOR A REASON. There is only ONE person who he can have a happily ever after with. It is meant to take away CHOICE. It condemns and punishes him with an eternity of loneliness. It is meant to tempt him with attraction and the idea of love, but never allows him to fully embrace it because of its consequences. The curse restrains him. He is meant to get close to love and pleasure, but never too close. In other words, there is only ONE person in the world immune to his kiss because he is NOT supposed to ever find that one person. I mean, what are the odds that you find your one true love in such a vast universe? At the right place and at the right time? And that she loves you back?

The curse irrevocably affects his notions and ideals of love.

I think that after a few lifetimes of being so close enough to touch but never hold, he basically convinces himself that his curse is his destiny. That there really is only one pathway to happily ever after. The lines become blurred and he forgets that his curse is a curse, and instead, simply perceives it as something that is set in stone, and established and completely unwavering. He genuinely believes that he has to make the best out of his situation instead of changing it. So he closes himself off, he refuses to be tempted with love ever again, or hope for something to break his curse. To him, those things are not only unrealistic but a waste of time. Jacks does NOT hope. He hates hope. Because where has that ever gotten him? Absolutely nowhere. He is still cursed. In fact, he is always laughing at Evangeline for being so hopeful about love and happily ever afters and infinite endings (I think by the end of TBONA, he admires her for it, but he does not see the value in her philosophy immediately). In his eyes, there are no infinite endings. If there were, there would be one feasible way to make it work, to find a happily ever after. But no, to him, there is one simple ending for him and he sees it so clearly and vividly and fixed that he cannot ignore it. And so he turns his pain and resentment and hurt into drive. He decides to play into the game of destiny and laugh in its face. He is determined to do the impossible; find his one true love. As we know, Fates are obsessive. So he becomes obsessed with the idea of fulfilling what he now sees as his destiny and not a curse; finding his one true love. In fact, he becomes so obsessive that he starts not giving a fuck about the consequences and will do whatever it takes; kiss as many girls as it takes, play with as many humans as it takes, hurt people, scheme, etc. He does not see himself being capable of having a happily ever after beyond what he thinks is his destiny, which is why he is so determined to go back to Donatella. Even if she doesn't love him. He does not care about that, all he knows is that she is the only person that he will ever be able to have a happily ever after with.

The constant failure in his efforts to break the curse convinces him he is unworthy/incapable of love.

He also starts seeing himself as incapable of love. Not only because he is a Fate or because he is cursed, but he does not believe it’s in his control, he has concluded that his destiny has already been decided. But it’s not only that. The events in the Caraval series are extremely significant. He finally finds his one true love. The ONE person that he can have a happily ever after with and not only does she NOT love him back but also not even a curse/magic can make her love him. This further feeds into his perception of being incapable of love. If not even a curse can make the ONE person that he is supposed to be with, love him, then who will ever love him WILLINGLY and NATURALLY? (Music break: Who could ever leave me darling? But who could stay?🎵🎵🕺)

Which is why he is deeply hurt when Evangeline tells him in The Hollow that they are only feeling that way because of the Mirth stone. He says something along the lines of, so you think you would only ever feel that way about me because of the stone? This brings back his fear of being incapable of experiencing love, not because of the curse, not because of being a fate, but because no one ever will do it out of their own initiative. So he closes off again and that’s why he goes cold again after the incident with the mirth stone. He allowed himself to get lost and entertain the idea of experiencing love with Evangeline for a few days. He allowed himself to imagine and hope that there was another ending, to “pretend” as he said. And it felt so real, it was terrifying to him. Terrifying because it was love but also terrifying because he got a taste of it knowing in his heart he was doomed to never have it or experience it again.

He sabotages himself.

Jacks once said that he was a villain even in his own story, and he really is because he consistently sabotages himself. We know that there is a loophole to every curse and yet he never even entertains the idea of finding it (When Evangeline suggests there might be something for him in the Valory Arch, he says “That’s not how it works.”). He never tries to break his curse, only fulfill it. He never dreams, hopes. He yields to the curse. Every. Single. Time. He refuses to see that he has a degree of free will, no matter how limited. That he does not have to settle for what he thinks destiny has already planned for him. I am NOT saying that he has given up or anything, because WE know the passion and desperation and DRIVE that he has. And he DOES fight against FATE in a way, but I just think all that energy is being channeled in the wrong direction. I think he knows that he COULD dream and hope, but he KNOWS that it takes courage and vulnerability. He KNOWS that to hope and dream is to drop your guard and shield being fully aware that it could end badly, that you could still bleed. He KNOWS that allowing himself to believe in infinite endings HURTS. Because another failure would END him. So he refuses to put himself in a position where he will get hurt. (Music break: I see right through me, I see right through me🎵🎵✨✨✨)

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, he is so babygirl AHAHHA, I love him sm. Anyways, I have an unhealthy attachment to this character and I hope he gets to love and kiss and just be happy with Eva. I really just want him to find peace.

#ouabh #a curse for true love #acftl #the ballad of the archer and the fox #evajacks #jacks the prince of hearts #evangeline fox #the ballad of never after #fantasy romance #stephanie garber

[amorisxx]

“Going Native” trope and idealizing the “other world” in The Owl House

I’m surprised that Luz’s obsession with becoming a witch wasn’t ever seen as offensive by anyone on the Isles. Like the witches on the boiling isles are shown to be born that way and it’s kinda odd how Luz shows up with her own biases and preconceived notions about witches and immediately applies them to Eda and others.

It’s like someone showing up to a remote village only having read about the people but having simultaneously romanticized their culture. Maybe it’s my sociology/anthropology major brain interpreting it that way lmao but that’s a big no no when it comes to interacting with another culture.

I know Eda tells her she’s wearing a dirty traffic cone on her head in the second episode when she dresses up in the stereotypical witch attire. But other than that, I don’t recall her getting much flack for her behavior. (Unless we’re including Amity saying she’s not a witch but I feel like that was more about Amity’s personal gripe with Luz)

I think this is an example of the “going native” trope where the protagonist fully immerses themselves in the new world that they’ve been thrust into. Think Anne Boonchuy in Amphibia (specifically her connection to Wartwood) or even more so, Jake Sully becoming one of the Na’vi in Avatar. However, I think TOH is an underdeveloped example of the trope because the show’s narrative barely examines Luz’s journey from outsider to respectable member of the Boiling Isles.

Basically, Luz encountered such little obstacles when it came to being accepted in the isles and I feel like that was so unrealistic. It’s like no one cares that she’s a human at all. It’s completely different from how Anne was treated in Amphibia. She was considered a monster for most of season one, which was funny, but also interesting because it made her character development stand out all the more when the townspeople eventually considered her one of their own.

I guess what bothers me is that the show didn’t really demonstrate Luz earning her position in the boiling isles, which I feel like is important when it comes to considering oneself part of a culture that has been stereotyped and put down. And especially since she ended up being their savior against Belos.

Plus, Luz treating their everyday lives like a fantasy come true feels sorta icky. I feel like that was okay at first, but I never got the feeling that the novelty ever wore off. At some point, Luz should’ve began to acknowledge the boiling isles as just another place and not some fantasy world where she could escape from reality.

#toh criticism #luz noceda #the owl house #toh critical #boiling isles #ramblings

[drconstellation]

Once and Future Royalty

Just, stay with me on this one. I know its going to look crazy at the start, but trust me, I know where I'm going.

It all started with the 537AD scene in Wessex in the opening montage of "Hard Times," S1E3. Yeah, the one where Aziraphale is supposed to be a knight of the Round Table and Crowley is role-playing the Black Knight, and they are both so super-squeaky shiny clean - not a speck of dirt or mud on them. wtf! It looks out of place, unrealistic, and was bugging the crap out of me, like a stone in your shoe. It just didn't fit. I mean, why put a myth, a legend, into that sequence? Oh, OK, yeah, the preceding stories from the Bible, like the Garden of Eden and the Flood, aren't "myths" as well, you say? Hmm. In the context of the Good Omens AU, being a biblical based story, they belong there far more than the legend of King Arthur.

King Arthur, who supposedly united Britain under his rule during the late 5th century and early 6th century, was shown to have the divine right to rule by wielding the mighty sword Excalibur. Some stories tell of Arthur pulling Excalibur from a stone. Some tell of him receiving Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake. Either way, it was bestowed upon him by divine grace. Despite his triumph in battle, he left no heirs, as his queen, the fair Guinevere, was barren. She had a long-running love affair with the greatest knight of the court, Sir Lancelot, but despite this being an open secret in court Arthur would not put her aside. The knights of the Round Table in the court of Camelot were near-paragons of Christian virtue, and there are many tales of their search for the Holy Grail, the cup from the Last Supper of Jesus Christ.

In the end, mortally wounded in battle, Arthur was taken away for healing, and never seen again. It was said he would return when Britain was at it most direst hour to save the day once more. A "messianic" return.

The Once and Future King.

Now, I'm no Arthurian novice; I drank up all of T. H. White as a teenager, read the Dark is Rising multiple times, Marion Zimmer Bradley's interpretation and what ever else I could lay my hands on for a good couple of decades. And there is LOTS of King Arthur stuff around. You are not left wanting for anything new to read or consume. And I'll bet there are a fair few of you also out there who know a quite bit about the legend as well. Oh, and I can't tell you how many times I have watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I still walk around quoting it day-to-day, like the good little Gen-Xer I am, having grown up on that stuff. So I really should have listened to my intuition when bits of Monty Python kept popping up in my brain in response to other parts of GO I was thinking about. (Staaay, I said, stay with me here....)

I kept chewing away furiously on the Wessex problem, growling in feral frustration at it, but also kept reading and sorting out some other ideas and metas at the same time. Eventually I found the key in a tiny little post, about a small detail in the 1941 Blitz episode S2E4, of all places. I wanted to slap myself with how much was staring me in the face so obviously once the door opened. And the damn beauty of it is, that I already written about some it, out of context, without knowing the why.

OK. Where to start this journey...hmmm, back to Monty Python, because, guess what - the Wessex scene is actually riffing off one the more famous skits out the the Holy Grail. The scene is a masterpiece of political satire, from start to finish, but the relevant part here is this sequence:

In case you missed the salient points: Arthur claims he is king by divine providence, because he was given Excalibur by the Lady of the Lake. Dennis the peasant protests this waterlogged method of determination, mentioning ponds, watery tarts and a moistened... well, I hope you get the idea about where this is going.

Meanwhile, in 537AD, Wessex, as the mist swirls around them:

"It is a bit damp," complains a shiny silver Aziraphale.

Yes, Excalibur would be a bit damp after it emerged from the Lake. (vidavalor! Get your mind out of the gutter! I'm trying to have a serious discussion here! Please! And I wasn't even going to go anywhere near what the sword in the stone is really meant to be referring to...it's not even relevant to the discussion at hand, I swear! Well, there is going to be sexual relations mentioned but - oh, never mind...)

Right. Where were we. Lets leave those super-clean elite pretendy knights to swim off through the swirling mist back to their dry homes to write and file reports to head office, along with Patsy and the hired Igors, and Dennis can keep playing in his lovely muddy filth after he finishes protesting being repressed by the divinely-deluded Arthur. I've got a bit more to say about what Aziraphale and Crowley might represent here later but you need some more context first, so lets move on. I just needed to show you the first bit so you can see the Arthurian theme stretches across both S1 and S2, and will likely appear in S3 as well. More about that towards the end.

Ah, before I forget...another ref from the Holy Grail we need to cover:

This GIF, unfortunately, doesn't have the full exchange between the peasants, which is this:

P1: "Who's that then?" P2: "I don't know. Must be a king." P1: "How can you tell?" P2: "Because he doesn't have any shit on him."

Ah. Er. OH!

Have you made the connection?

Who have I been emphasizing as being unusually clean in their Arthurian setting? That's right, Aziraphale and Crowley.

What's this implying? That they are royalty. Celestial royalty. Maybe not kings, but how about princes? You know how we've been discussing whether Crowley was a once at least an Archangel, and there is even a hint that he was a fallen prince of Heaven given during the replay of Gabriel's trial? (Not the prince, but a prince - a seraphim) And that Aziraphale may have once been Raphael, and may be again in the future? Once and future royalty. To me it adds weight to the past discussion, and helps to explain the assumed authority expressed in these two scenes here: On the left, Aziraphale takes control inside the book shop as the angels and demons argue who is going to punish Gabriel and Beelzebub (finally found it after several months!) and on the right, Crowley is shouting at the assembling demons in the street that they are "out of order."

Onward, Patsy. (I hope you're still with me.)

1941, the Blitz part 2, minisode.

We've found Excalibur! On to Camelot!

[Edit note: I've added a few GIFs and screen shots into the sequence of parallels above because I was thinking over a few things since I posted and felt this actually sat better. To try and explain, as they don't exactly match as I would like, in the Holy Grail movie, King Arthur and the knights he has gathered rock up at the foot of Camelot and gaze up in awe at it. "Camelot!" Arthur declares to the party. "Camelot!" Galahad echoes in excitement. And a third "Camelot!" comes from Lancelot. What do we get in GO? Aziraphale leaps out of the Bentley (Crowley's black horse) and declares "The theater! Sophocles! Shakespeare!" I swear, if you put the two side by side, they would match. It's not just a reminder of how much time Aziraphale has seen pass by, or that we are seeing a tragedy play out. But damn it, I could so just see Aziraphale attending a Sophocles performance in Athens back in the day...]

Camelot was King Arthur's castle and home of his court. In S2 of GO the Windmill Theater is established as our court of Camelot where our 1941 Blitz-era Arthurian drama is to play out, involving Furfur and the zombies.

Yes, poor old Furfur. Two's company, three's a crowd, as they say. Now we know we're in Camelot, we need to be reminded of the central tragedy of the Arthurian story, that ultimately led to the golden kingdom's fall. Lady Guinevere, Arthur's queen, famously loved Sir Lancelot, and the two were passionate lovers. It was essentially a love-triangle at the top, with Arthur being jilted, but he wouldn't/couldn't discard his queen. Where do we see this playing out in 1941?

Furfur, pleased with himself for catching an angel and a demon in the act of consorting together (with the help of the zombies,) barges into the backstage dressing room, and confronts the lovers with their crime. But who is playing who in the Arthurian love triangle? I would say Furfur is clearly caught in the role of Arthur here. Consider the following exchange:

FURFUR: Hmm, well, well, well… What have we here? AZIRAPHALE: Sorry, have we met? FURFUR: Oh, no, you never had the pleasure, but… we have, haven't we? CROWLEY: Have we? FURFUR: What do you mean "have we?" You know we have. We were in the same legion. Just before the Fall. Doing dubious battle on the plains of Heaven. Remember? CROWLEY: I remember going into battle, I don't remember being there with you. Sorry. FURFUR: I was right next to you. We did loads together. You use to jump on me back, little monkey in the waistcoat. Anyway, whether you do or whether you don't, it doesn't matter. I'm here to inform you, as a representative of the Higher Powers of Hell, that you, Crowley, are in breach of the Infernal Code. Consulting and collaborating with an angel, Fell the Marvelous, aka… [opens book] Azirapalala. Azirapapap. Aziphapalala. AZIRAPHALE: [annoyed] Aziraphale

Furfur claims a past intimate relationship with Crowley, which Crowley spurns offhandedly. Crowley is playing Guinevere here, jilting Furfur/Arthur, which leaves the demon-smiting Aziraphale standing in for the handsome hero Lancelot (with his French connections, no less), and doesn't he make us weak at the knees when he drops his voice an octave in dominating disgust. (Is it suddenly getting hot in here...? Phew!)

Interestingly, looking back in S1 at 537AD Wessex, though, I would say that Crowley was Lancelot as the Black Knight, a role that Lancelot sometimes played in the legends, and Aziraphale would then be the fair maiden Guinevere. It certainly plays into Crowley's long term role of playing the knight who comes to the rescue of Aziraphale's princess in distress. Excalibur was no where in sight, perhaps still beneath the waters of the lake. Nor Arthur. Perhaps it was still too early in the story then...

I had originally suggested in my very first post that Furfur was given a stag as his demon avatar because he was wearing horns for being cuckolded by Crowley. But I wasn't quite thinking about it in context with the Arthurian legend! The stag is also often associated with royalty, plus while wandering around the medieval bestiary website that someone linked to, it interestingly notes that the enemy of the snake is the stag and the stork (Shax's avatar.) Ah ha!

So how can we extrapolate this knowledge into a possible appearance of the Arthurian theme in S3?

Will we see the love triangle of Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot come back into play and cause more chaos? I'm wondering if it might have something to do with the Fall.

Or will our lovers bring down a divinely-appointed ruler via their committed behind-the-back defiance of expected propriety?

Will Excalibur appear from beneath the waters, perhaps in another form, to declare a new king?

Could it even be a combination Jesus/Arthur, King of the World, returned? And they turn out to be a very naughty boy, disappearing into the night clubs of Times Square, New York, and that's how they lose him? (Social media viral sensation, anyone?)

I wouldn't be half-surprised if Greasy Johnson's name turns out to be Arthur, actually.

And no, I haven't forgotten that Adam's dad was named Arthur as well.

Bring on S3!

**Bonus**

If you've made it this far and you're thinking:

Let me leave you with this last connection.

In the back stage change room, remember Furfur delivers these lines:

FURFUR: What do you mean "have we?" You know we have. We were in the same legion. Just before the Fall. Doing dubious battle on the plains of Heaven. Remember?

On the first level, he is referring the Great War in the Good Omens AU.

On the second level, Furfur is paraphrasing Milton's Paradise Lost.

On a third level, I can (and will in a future meta) connect this back to the training initiative paintball fight at Tadfield Manor in S1.

And even deeper on a fourth level, if you do know the Holy Grail movie well, you'll remember there is an odd little subplot in it, that infers that the whole King Arthur and his knights thing is merely a full-on violent cosplay that is murderously rampaging across the countryside in the present day with the police in hot pursuit. It's a strange juxtaposition between reality and dream, and you aren't quite sure what it is real or not. The ending is bizarrely and abruptly surreal as the two story lines collide in the heat of battle, as the police turn up and arrest the combatants. A bit like this:

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens meta #good omens analysis #aziraphale #crowley #king arthur #king of the who? #the return of king arthur #excalibur #the lady of the lake #watery tarts #monty python #monty python and the holy grail #run away #camelot #arthurian legend #ladies of camelot #guinevere #lancelot #the once and future king #once and future royalty #good omens 1941 #furfur #shax #dubious battle on the plains of heaven #tadfield manor

[eddiediazismyhusband]

Hi! A bit of a weird ask here, hope you don't mind. (I swear it's not meant in bad faith)

So, I'm new to the fandom. I'd wanted to watch the show for a while and I finally found time. I did like it, and all the characters, esp Hen and Buck.

Even previous to watching it, I had seen many posts about Buddie. I didn't think much of it until I watched the show. And now I can say... I don't see it. Like, from Buck's side? Sure. But from Eddie's? Not so much.

They both clearly act like Christopher's co-parents a lot, and that's where I'm like "oh, maybe there IS something". But outside of that, I actually see their interactions as mostly platonic. And when I see people talk about it, I see mostly about how Eddie completely trusts Buck with his son (which I agree with and makes a good point), but not much else.

So, what am I missing? Sometimes some characters are harder for me to "read", so I know there could be stuff that I'm missing. What interactions do you see from them that are so clearly romantic (at least more so than they are platonic)? In which ways do you see Eddie showing feelings for Buck?

Sorry about such a long ask. This might be more of a rant (oops). I just really want to understand, bc everyone's so sure... and I'm not. (Also, thanks for reading if you got this far)

So i’m obviously not going to tell you thst your interpretation is wrong- art is subjective and your interpretation of things is completely valid.

that being said, to me i see myself in eddie in a lot of ways:

- only son in the family, so i had unrealistic expectations fixed on me about what my life as a “man” should look like (im not a man, im nonbinary but i was still amab so to my parents i’ve always been a ‘man’)

- raised in a very religious household where there were certain expectations on who i would one day marry and have a family with (because not getting married at all and never having kids was out of the question)

- i was repressed for years emotionally (and sexually) due to pressure from my parents/church and thought there was something “wrong” with me for the feelings i felt

- i often revert to anger as my default defense mechanism because i have repressed my emotions for so long (which is something i am working through in therapy)

so seeing those things i relate to reflected in eddie, it is easy for me to pick up on subtext (whether intentional or not) when it comes to his sexuality/feelings for Buck.

you mentioned eddie trusting buck with christopher— to me this is one of the clearest examples of eddie’s true feelings for buck because he completely trusts the most precious thing in his life with Buck, but he has never even come close to that same kind of trust with any of his romantic partners… even shannon he was apprehensive about letting her back into chris’s life. this means he trusts buck on a level he has never trusted anyone else before— and not to get into psychology, but often when people are repressed emotionally, they find ways to feed those feelings without overtly feeding them if that makes sense. so eddie giving chris (who is practically his whole heart) to buck is essentially eddie offering up his heart on a platter.

so that gets that one out of the way.

as for other examples… i am going to state again that eddie is more repressed than buck and doesn’t show emotion as easily as buck does so Buck’s attraction/feelings are going to be more clear-cut and obvious.

but i am constantly seeing examples of eddie’s feelings for buck interwoven subtly through things:

- crying over buck after the lightning strike when we had only ever seen him cry twice before

- the hurt in his face when buck said natalia was the only person who “saw” him

- the way that he gets overly jealous and acts petty around buck’s romantic partners (the most egregious being Taylor, but we have seen it happen in his other relationships as well)

- the fact that he has never been able to fully allow himself to have feelings for the women he’s dated

- he is looking for a mother figure (second parental unit for chris) but has already effectively filled that role with buck

- he is constantly looking at buck like he hung the stars and the sun and the moon

- he has only started going off the deep end of this fixation with shannon after buck came out to him, and he is onyl actively remembering their relationship as what he wished it had been rather than what it was— something i used to do back when i was still in denial about my sexuality was imagining this dream life where i was happily married to a woman because that is what i was supposed to want, not because it’s what i actually wanted

- eddie is the only one who has shown he understands buck’s recklessness is less him being reckless/thinking he’s unbreakable, but that it’s actually buck seeing himself as invaluable enough that getting hurt wouldn’t affect anyone around him

- one of my favorite scenes is post lightning-strike when eddie climbed the ladder and instead of trying to lower buck to the ground immediately, he initially tries to pull buck closer to him while screaming for him

the list could go on and on and if anyone else wants to leave their observations on eddie’s feelings for buck in the replies by all means please do! but these are just a few ways in which i have personally seen eddie’s devotion to buck portrayed in a light that is much deeper than a platonic level.

i hope this made sense and offers a new perspective for you, and i’m glad that even though you haven’t seen enough evidence in your own interpretation, your first instinct isn’t to jump down people’s throats to tell them they are wrong, but instead reaching out and asking for other opinions to better contextualize why us buddie shippers are so invested in these two!

(and never apologize for a long ask to me… if there’s one thing about me i love to yap lmao)

i hope you have a lovely day, anon!! 💕💕

#911 abc #eddie diaz #buddie #911 spoilers #911 #evan buckley #buddie 911 #buck and eddie #911 on abc

[akajustmerry]

on sherlock adaptations: what do you think of house

I have so Many thousands of thoughts of House as a Sherlock adaptation that I could write a book about it and chapter one would be called: A HOUSE IS NOT A HOLMES© because I don't CARE that they called him House and idc that his apartment is 221b and that he plays the violin sometimes and solves problems, that's not my friend Sherlock Holmes!!!!!

House doesn't work as a Sherlock adaptation because deduction as Holmes practices it in the stories is not SPECIALIST KNOWLEDGE!!! the whole appeal of Holmes is that you read it and you feel like you could also deduce things. Holmes teaches you a way to look at the world and be more observant and use that knowledge to help people.

Holmes isn't a politician or a policeman even, he's a guy who wants to help because he's studied a particular way to see the world and you can too.........House is a SPECIALIST DOCTOR with a typical Doctor's God complex. That's as far as you can get from Holmes!!! The whole point of Holmes is he's not part of an institution!!! He operates OUTSIDE OF IT. House's knowledge base is medically specialist, you can't engage with his deductive reasoning the way you can with Holmes in the stories because to know what he knows you have to go to med school for 20 years. There's never a sense when you watch that you could have figured it out. Also, House's job description is institutionalised and established. He's not doing anything (med malpractice aside) that wouldn't be in the scope of any other specialist.

Thirdly, Sherlock Holmes isn't a guy looking to have power of people. This is the thing that arguably pisses me off most about House which is the interpretation of Holmes as someone looking lord his intelligence over others. I think this comes from the prevailing tortured genus trope. But also people not being able to tell the difference between Sherlock as a character who is just very open about his observations and someone who's an asshole. Sherlock is actually a very honest character which sometimes yeah means he's harsh but mostly he's just truthful. House mutilates this trait beyond recognition to the point of near constant and unrealistic cruelty.

Finally, I think making Holmes a doctor literally means you can't actually have a Watson because arguably the whole point of Watson, other than to be the audience pov, is to add credibility to Sherlock's unorthodox career choice AND to provide a traditional scientific perspective. House being a Doctor means none of that is really needed. Everyone knows, understands, and respects what a Doctor is!!! Wilson as a Watson figure has nothing to do except be the audience's WTF POV. Even the way Wilson and House's friendship is done is simply, like.... they didn't read the source material. Do you get that these men are meant to be at the very least friends who enjoy each other's company?? Also I think people need to shut the fuck up about House MD being a secretly gay show. A show doing homophobia on the regular isn't gay in any way that matters.

I say all this as someone who's watched it and enjoyed it at times. House and Cuddy were literally like one of the first ships I ever shipped. Do you know how weird it is to be 15 rooting for 2 middle aged co-workers on tv to fuck?? Anyways, I have lots of other thoughts about how the show handles House's addiction and disabilities and how arguably these are also taken loosely from Holmes lore. But if House MD must be considered a Holmes adaptation, it's one that mostly just mutilates. Almost every criticism hbomberguy says in his Sherlock is Garbage video essay is also applicable to House MD.

#house md #sherlock holmes #sorry to get weird about my no1 blorbo sherlock holmes I'm not actually <3 #house

[humanpurposes]

maybe you're interested in what i have to say, maybe not.

I feel really disheartened that someone expressing their dislike and skepticism for a trope managed to spark such a volatile few hours on here.

For Em's original point, liking or not liking the bimbo!reader trope is a matter of preference. Calling it anti-feminist can still technically be an opinion, and if you disagree that's fair. For me, bimbofication can fall into the illusion of Choice Feminism, that being a woman and making a choice does not make that choice inherently feminist when it could be contributing to harmful stereotypes or unrealistic standards. For example, the pursuit of beauty standards. Me bringing this up isn't to say that wearing makeup, spending a lot on skincare, or making physical alterations to your body is morally wrong, but we don't exist in a vacuum. We should do what feels right, but we can still question why it feels right. I'm a woman. I like to think I'm intelligent. I also like to think I'm hot as fuck. None of these contradict one another.

I would still hope that we as writers can critically assess what we're actually putting out. And most of us are operating in the HotD fandom where problematic tropes are kinda the norm, but then when I read a dark fic, I am under no impression that what I'm reading is healthy, acceptable or empowering outside of fiction.

Characterisation and accuracy is something I have a lot of thoughts on but we've already seen how well that conversation goes on here. All I'll say is that I personally think that Michael Gavey would hate a bimbo character, especially because he seems to value intelligence (or academic performance at least) over visual appearance or social status. But we all have our own interpretations of the character, and it's Ewan Mitchell in glasses, that's the main reason why most of are writing for this character.

Anyway, the really cool thing about freedom of expression is that we get to like and dislike things. I can understand that if you're someone who enjoys reading or writing this trope that the original post might have made you feel angry or upset, but we as adults can control how we react to people who disagree with us. Some people on here take Tumblr way too seriously and take it way too personally when someone disagrees with them. I've said it before, but "don't like, don't read" can be applied to opinion posts. Someone posting an opinion about a trope on their own blog isn't an attack on anyone, but condemning people for that comes across as very hypocritical to me. Write what you want, no one is stopping you.

#me when i overshare #hotd fandom

[krakensdottir]

I think the reason I'm not vibing with a lot of speculative Good Omens meta now is that I'm focused on what I think the scenes actually mean, what actually is and will be, rather than what could be.

Crowley's memories, for example. I fully agree that other things COULD explain his seeming memory gaps, and there's a lot of ways you could interpret them. But I'm focused on what the scenes are intended to convey, what the probable thought was behind them, and therefore, work out whether it's likely to come up later in the story. In this case, I'm at least 80% sure we're meant to pick up on those moments as significant. It's not that there aren't alternative explanations, or that some of them aren't completely logical. I'm not speculating within the story, I'm picking up on story cues from outside of it.

And that goes for most of my speculations, to be honest. I think we probably won't see the same human characters again, because that would fit the pattern of the series so far - human players are introduced for each chapter of the story. And it feels like Nina and Maggie have concluded their arc, and don't need any more celestial intervention (if they really needed any in the first place). It seems unlikely, too, that Crowley will hang around his and Aziraphale's space when he's not in it. He's already living in his car, so it's easy for the plot to move him wherever he needs to be. That seems deliberate to me. Like, if I was about to move the story to another location - say, America - this is the way I'd set it up.

I also think that's why the unreliable narrator / 'we're not seeing what actually happened' theories especially annoy me. Partly because they feel like coping and I think some people are setting themselves up for disappointment. Partly because when it's an unreliable narrator, it's always Aziraphale, and that carries an assumption that this is just Aziraphale's story. Which it is not. But the biggest thing is how unrealistic that idea is. We are two-thirds of the way through the story. There are six more episodes in which to tell the rest. Spending a good chunk of that going over S2 again and showing us 'what really happened!' would be a massive waste of time. I don't see why there would be a secret narrative, because there's literally no time for one. Everything we see onscreen has to count. If you want to make serious predictions, not just headcanons, then you have to take things like that into account.

[honeybee2807]

When I first read Cursed Child at 12, at the time, I was aspiring to be a psychologist and was researching a lot on depression and anxiety(especially for kids and teens since I wanted to help them the most). When I read Albus' character, I kept seeing many signs of him being depressed. The way he seemed to neglect himself(there was a line that described his face as sallow[which is a word used to show unhealthiness and self neglect]), his bouts of anger and lashing out, and his general upset and low self esteem. And since bullying and family issues were top reasons for a child to be suicidal, I was convinced.

Now I'm realising that he's more likely of a candidate for a personality disorder(cough... bipolar ...cough). I admit, I'm not as well-versed in personality disorders(so feel free to point out if I'm wrong).

I remember the first time I read CC, I was a bit confused at Albus' sudden mood changes which I deemed to be unrealistic. A classic example was during his third year. He fought with his dad and got angry to the point that he burnt his hogsmede permission form and had a rant, but the moment he saw Scorpius, he instantly went all cheery and exclamation marks??? Normally it takes a while for someone to calm down from a fight and it would be fine if Albus was relieved or just slightly happy. But he went full on exclamation marks and he def wasn't angry at Scorpius.

But that didn't convince me that something could be wrong. The fact that did was the whole time travel plot. Albus read to me as downright cheerful and his insane plot to travel time couldn't even be discouraged by his bestie who claimed multiple times that this was a bad idea and Albus lost his mind. It was like a switch had flipped and he was opposite. Albus was still Albus sure but he acted different than what was told to us. Of course that could be also because he wasn't in Hogwarts which was a major cause of his distress.

But here me out. Once Rose and Hugo got deleted out of existence, it would be a sensible thing to realise that time travel is not a good idea. Scorpius certainly realised it(tho he was skeptical from the start). But Albus didn't and decided that it was a good idea to try again. Either he was a complete idiot or delusional. Then he gave a monologue how losers have powers and abilities(err wot???) and managed to convince Scorpius to try again.

Albus finally seems to come to his senses afterwards(thank god!).

I was incredibly confused for years. Then I read this fanfic where Albus was portrayed as bipolar and then it clicked. All of Albus' overly cheerful behavior and crazy ideas could be described as manic. And I don't think really need to explain the depression part to y'all.

Again, I could be wrong. I'm extremely sorry if I misunderstood bipolar disorder and mixed it up. But yeah, that was my interpretation.

#hpcc #albus severus potter #harry potter and the cursed child #cursed child #albus potter #the cursed child #ccsquad #hp next gen #tw depression #bipolar disorder #tw bipolar #personality disorder

[kitsunefyuu]

Did you notice how some AFO fans who used to like DFO Theory started to hate it and suddenly attack the same fans? Maybe this is due to generalizing DFO as OOC? I once saw someone saying that "to respect someone else's opinion, just remember that you have also changed your opinion several times" but these people only seem to attack what they once liked for no apparent reason, other than "nooooo my beautiful AFO is not like this 😭😭"

Yes, it is a trend that I did notice when I first came into the fandom that a lot of people would say they are former DFO. Then say how they realize how 'stupid' the theory was and unrealistic. As if suddenly now they are the pinnacle of rational and totally know everything about a fictional character.

I never claim my interpretation is the canon, because I know I could end up wrong. That just how it is and I'm always willing to adjust my headcanons with the source material. But honestly I think the AFO fans that liked DFO and now hate it only changed because other people started being hostile to the theory.

Like popular writers, artist, and all kinds of people begun to sneer at that interpretation beside those in the little community. Seeing it as just trying to 'soften' AFO or as something gross to do to the MC. Or worse some people like DFO but hate AFO so when the former DFO see that they change their mind to double down on disliking DFO as they LIKE AFO. As they see it as like you said 'softening' him to make him palatable. The theory itself, however, is only parentage.

Like it still be valid to assume AFO had Izuku with Inko from a One Night stand, and Hisashi Midoriya is just the guy that stepped up for single mom Inko. We have evidence of there possibly being more aware but if don't like it then that an option too.

DFO theory is simply the theory that Izuku Midoriya is RELATED to All for One. That is the bare bones minimum, I don't care if you are OH HE LOVES HIM or HE AN EXPERIMENT or whatever you want to believe. None of that really registers much to me nor should matter, like DFO can be used in many manner of ways.

The ones that seem to hate is most... Well they tend to either want Virgin All for One (for sexual reasons) or want him to be purely asshole(for sexual or just because love assholes that can go either way) or maybe fear of being the outsider. There also many who claim that every time he does a more evil act that it PROOF he never father a child.

Like tell me you never had a mentally unstable parent that does outrageous things. Anyone can have a kid, it sure doesn't take much for a guy to one and done for various reasons. We also literally been confirmed now he can change his face, DNA, and has actually done so. Also we've seen how he is with Yoichi, literal proof of his ability to love it just dark and twisted.

It why DFO is so interesting since if is the child of AFO it an avenue to explore his character. How WOULD AFO raise a child now that we knows what happened with Yoichi? Is he aware of Izuku? Does he care? We've seen him vault family and say how precious family is.

But then, none of that matters to the former DFO fans who now are DFO hates. They just don't want to be the weirdo outsiders believing in something that isn't even 'canon' and as I've said many times. I'm not exactly going to stop writing or enjoying it even if it NOT canon.

No one can dictate what I like and enjoy. And those people projecting hatred once they loved it?

I hope they know it ok to just like different things and change your mind. They should be happy with what they like instead of just wanting to be 'right'.

#izuku midoriya #all for one mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #dad for one bnha #Dad for One #dad for one mha #yoly's talks

[uroboros-if]

seeing your rant about how difficult it is to be somewhat rude without ruining your relationships in ifs WAS SO RELATABLE! It doesn’t feel real to be always good or nice to characters to be liked

I’m not saying you should be able beat them up and still romance without consequences but romance/relationships aren’t always perfect and peaceful!!! Disagreements/arguments should be something that can happen without it being at the cost of the relationship itself ugh because that’s normal come on >:| as an angst enjoyer, its so hard to have fun without the character being like “you dont agree with me? perish then”

so I’m even more excited for the game now that I saw your take on it because LETS GO!!!!!! <3

You succinctly explained what I struggled to! 😭

I will confess it's half self-indulgent, because I really enjoy relationships where the two must confront their conflicting ideals! I understand most seek other like-minded people, but what of characters who like to be challenged? Characters who can't help but be attached to someone they shouldn't be?

Even setting that aside, you are completely correct! As long as that topic isn't sensitive to someone and neither party is inflexible, people won't automatically like you less.

So not only does such an approval system lose out on angst potential, sometimes it's also unrealistic. There is truth in it as our opinions of others do adjust based on their actions, and those things add up! However, it's a problem when it's applied to even arbitrary choices, or it unnecessarily severely impacts your approval.

Under the read more is my "theory" on why some ROs in IFs are defined by a dynamic trope (rivals to lovers, childhood friends to lovers, etc)!! 💕

It is difficult, if not impossible for a numerical approval system to qualitatively judge your relationship dynamics; it can only judge based on the weight of each choice. It can't, for example, see you've transitioned from being rude, to softening up to the character after realizing they're not so bad. The game only sees the sum of all your negative and positive points.

Without a way to label your actions by anything but a number, a system that purely relies on numerics is incapable of interpreting the dynamics of your relationship, and therefore customizing future interactions with the RO.

Of course, I think most IFs don't purely rely on numbers. Some do a hybrid in which important decisions are tracked qualitatively and lesser ones are tracked numerically. However, even then, some romance is limited by a baseline approval you must achieve in a certain timeframe, and that leads to pressure to meet that mystery number.

Furthermore, these qualitative "important decisions" often have more to do with the plot than how it defines your relationship specifically -- things like "did you kill their father?" rather than "What were their first impressions of the MC?"

So I believe that without a way to interpret the MC's actions meaningfully, there's only one way to play a romance route. There's only one dynamic with that character, one way the relationship can really be. You can be different genders, have your relationship contextualized differently as the story changes from your actions, but rarely does it dramatically differ solely on personality. Rarely does it examine how your relationship varies from the different ways you interact with that character.

I think it's fine that some characters are like that! In fact, it's realistic that some dynamics don't suit certain characters. For example, it's not possible to have rivals to lovers with Salvatore, because they have no reason to see you as a rival, even if you hate them or try to compete with them.

However, taking Sal as an example, your relationship can vary widely by your attitude towards them. It can be a case of friends who lost touch and regret having lost touch; it can be one-sided, as Sal may view MC as a friend, but the MC is bitterly jealous of them. Perhaps MC doesn't think much of them at all.

That's the kind of meaningful interpretation of relationships I aim for--different dynamics rather than boxing in Sal as the typical childhood friends to lovers. There is no one way to play their romance; it should change as the MC is different.

I see how it's not for everyone, and I acknowledge that it is a Herculean task that may, in time, reveal the full extent of its complexity. But I strive for it because such a complicated relationship is central to the conflict of Uroboros. There is nothing more important an undertaking than character relationships in the IF.

Extremely long theory and rambling, but I am so happy someone shares my thoughts, at least as far as disagreements with the ROs!! ❤️❤️ Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to share even more of my opinion, Anon! I'm thrilled you are so excited for the story!

#uroboros-if #uroboros #asks #anon #i adore these asks 🥺💕 #meta #interactive fiction

[tall-glass-of-nope]

I saw Chasing Amy for the first time last night and since I’m generally uninitiated in the world of Kevin Smith films I guess I have no basis of comparison but I was shocked at the candor with which a lot of the sexual topics and relationships are presented.

I expect this will be one of my most unpopular opinions but I’m willing to say it: I thought it was a good movie.

I don’t know how it was MEANT to be interpreted, but here’s what I got from it (spoilers ahead).

I get that many people find it problematic that Alyssa describes herself as gay when she’s clearly bisexual, but with the context that this film was made in the late 90s and the fact that there are STILL people who think bi identities are just noncommittal experimental stops between gay and straight… I just don’t find it that unrealistic that she’d be imprecise with her own label.

Ben Affleck’s character sucks. Like, I hated him. But I don’t hate that I hated him, because it’s a movie and I’m pro-unlikeable protagonist sometimes. There is a lot of dialogue about turning the lesbian, and I think his character does fetishize that. I also think he’s wrong to believe that’s what happened at all. She chose to spend all that time with him, to accept his stupid cringe car speech, and eventually to leave. He doesn’t actually change her. She’s using him (romantically) like she used to use people sexually in her past, AND I don’t think that should be a condemned character trait on her part. If he had really loved her back, well, then it wouldn’t have been using. But it was one-sided imo. I believe she saw the red flags and still chose him, until he disappointingly came around to a proposition that demonstrated he’d never treat her the same again and she knew she didn’t deserve that.

But also I do think she really thought she was in love, so at the one year later mark her emotionality makes sense because that’s a kind of nostalgia that is so personal, even if that chapter is well and truly over.

Banky is gay. Full stop. So, interpret all of his problematic diatribes with that filter. His “everyone needs a good dicking” speech is him telling on himself. It’s repression and a lot of internalized issues, and he talks about this stuff in ways I’ve heard other people in my real life talk about them in private spaces. It’s a realistic portrayal. Also Jason Lee NAILS the little details. He’s staring at Ben Affleck’s lips. He’s jealous of the attention Alyssa gets. I didn’t doubt for a single frame what was going on under the surface for that character.

I will never defend the two main boys in this movie, but they’re written extremely realistically. I know guys like these two dudes. The whole movie long I had two specific people in mind, in fact. And no, I do not have anything to do with them anymore, but I was someone’s Alyssa (or Amy) once.

One final note: I’ve never seen a movie where a straight character actually suggests a three-way as a solution to his love triangle problems and this was portrayed so surprisingly earnestly as a request. Yeah, it was cringe and incorrect, but so is everything about Holden. I just found it surprising that it happened at all, and I don’t think it was entirely played for laughs or pure shock value.

#chasing amy #spoilers #90s #kevin smith #view askewniverse #my opinion #problematic doesn’t always mean bad #movies #ben affleck #Jason lee #banky

[dracomort]

I'm sorry if I have hurt you in any way because that was not my intention. I don't really mind who you ship or what you ship. It's just, I open my Tumblr and the first I see is someone calling something I like a crack ship while talking about their favourite ship. My point is why talk badly about something/someone else's ship when you're also shipping something which is also very unrealistic? Like I get it you have a favorite, but you can talk about your favourite without saying someone else's ship is not possible/crack for that matter. My bad if I made you feel bad because I really didn't want to do that. I just didn't want to the see someone bashing my ship as the first thing I see when I open Tumblr. I just don't get why people can't ship their own things without calling others' ship crack. Either ways, I'm sorry you felt attacked honestly; I really respect you as a person and a writer. And that's why I was sad to see you say those stuff. I really liked your fics as well and I love how you write Tom, I really do. That is why I was so surprised to see that post on my feed, but oh well. I do hope you have a good day and again I'm sorry if I made you sad in any way.

I appreciate the apology. I understand that it's not fun to see something that you interpret as critical toward your ship on your dash, however, I did not put that post in the Tomarry tag. If those kinds of posts are upsetting to you, then consider unfollowing me, because when I receive asks, I will answer them with my honest opinion. Coming into my ask box like that is not appropriate.

I'm just scratching my head here, because tbh that wasn't an anti post? To say that Tomarry requires a reimagining of canon or that there are plenty of things they could dislike about each other is not me saying it's a shit ship. Drarry's my OTP after all, lol, hate = spice. I also didn't call it crack, though I don't think crack is an insult either. Most Tom ships are crackish to some extent, especially ships that require an AU for the characters to even be the same age (Tomarry, Tomione, Taco, etc.). Harry Potter x the dude who tried to kill him a bajillion times is pretty implausible to most people, but that doesn't make it a 'bad' ship. You can make any ship work and there are many, many writers who have brought more life to Tomarry than Canon Hinny received from JKR (before someone else comes for me, this isn't a Hinny critique either, this is a critique of JKR's ability to write romance lol)

This is what I've said on Tomarry and Taco previously.

^FYI this was a joke

Finally, it isn't your ship vs mine. I've shipped Tomarry longer than I've shipped Taco. I'll ship Tom with a pair of snakeskin loafers if I thought they'd have chemistry. I can ship something without singing its praises endlessly. In fact, I reckon I've said way meaner things about Taco on here than Tomarry lol. I've said that Tom would loathe Draco under most circumstances and that he would murder him for sure since lil bro can't stop yapping. I've also said Draco is ugly an acquired taste and Tom has no game 💀. My DAD has come to Draco's defence over some of the things I said about him as we were watching the movies. Roasting is my love language, pls don't misunderstanding it.

#asks #anon #draco cant stop yapping and neither can i #✌