#which.... demonstrates a misunderstanding on how that works

[lttleghost]

literally the people in the BrBa fandom who like think its super important to focus somewhat on the bad things Jesse's done instead of just acknowledging those things tend to have misunderstandings on either how selling drugs increase harm (which while there's other complexities to parts of the drug trade, simply making and providing drugs alone does not increase the harm those drugs cause) or they have misremembered some of his actual actions as being more in his control than they actually were, and with some people it really feels like it comes from the stigma against addicts even if they think they're not falling into that

and like again this lack of understanding around everything relating to drugs and addiction especially, even from people that mean well, is the whole reason it's more important to focus on the good in Jesse and how he's the victim rather than acting like there's no one acknowledges his flaws and the bad things he's done, cause a huge fucking swath of people outside our little tumblr circles do and act like every single bad thing in his life as entirely his responsibility without aknowledging any way that the world worked against him or the abuse he faced and see him as less of a person because he's an addict

and like I do think if Jesse wasn't the type of person that sees his own flaws and ultimately tries to do his best to change and learn even in the terrible situation he's in that doesn't want that change to happen, and instead needed people to like... constantly tell him to be better, then yeah it'd definitely be much more important to focus on those flaws and the bad things he did... but that's not the case, even the one thing he plans to do that was awful AND fully his choice (trying to sell drugs to the rehab group) was something he snapped himself out of when he was able to concretely see a consequence he hadn't considered before, this doesn't negate that trying to sell drugs to the rehab group was wrong, but it does add complexity to how we judge that action playing into Jesse as a whole

like you can't just sit there and act like ur so smart for aknowledging a character written like a real person is complex without thinking about the greater social commentary you're getting across when you insist we can't simply aknowledge the bad things a character does and have to still really judge them on those things or say calling them a "good person" erases the bad they've done and not consider if what you're saying is like... useful on a wider scale in combating the stigmatization of characters like Jesse (especially surrounding drug selling/making/using drugs) or if you're just refering to "woobification" bullshit that isn't particularly prevalent in the wider world

#okay I'm not that great with words but i hope this is understandable #jesse pinkman #jesse brba #jesse breaking bad #jesse pinkman brba #breaking bad #el camino #brba #like okay i may not have given this one person time ebough to respond to the last few things I've said but #im so blown away by like me trying to be like hey with Jesse as a character for wider commentary its not a good stance #to focus on his flaws #even if you are ultimately presenting a complex picture of him #because of the stigmatization and demonization of addicts #and when i asked for examples of Jesse CHOOSING to do things wrong outside of se3 #a) i got the selling drugs to the rehab group which like YEAH DUH THATS HIS 'im the bad guy' bullshit im alrady aware of that and agree #but i also was presented with 'while the war on drugs is bad meth is also bad and he chose to make and sell meth' #which.... demonstrates a misunderstanding on how that works #AMD THEN..... THEN I GOT 'Jesse talked about and used drugs around Jane and was responsible for her relapse' #and... EXCUSE ME? did we watch the same show? maybe Jesse was naive to think he could keep Jane away from all that stuff but #HE TRIED HE TRIED TO PROTECT HER #like in that case it just feels like... ur blaming him for being an addict wether or not he tries to keep it away #from someone else at risk #which like goes into its stupid to simplify people into obly good and bad actions #and I'm just #fucking furious #meat.txt #this is my girlfriend don't touch him

[artist-issues]

If you haven’t seen Wish yet and you love Disney, do not go see it. I am telling you now. It is ripping out the hearts of the Disney movies you love and then waving their corpses around as if celebrating those hearts.

I’ll explain why, again: the message of Wish? Awful. Anti-Disney.

But they've been doing this for a long time. Saying one thing with their movies, and saying another with their PR and Disney Parks Soundtracks.

I'll explain.

Main Idea of Disney's Wish (and the You Are the Magic theme park song and merch): "The power to make your wishes come true is in you."

≠

Most Disney Movies' Idea on How to Have Wishes: "Do what's right, (trust a higher power) and something even more wonderful than what you wished will happen."

Don't try to argue with me about this. You have to look underneath the slogans and the sweater designs and the song titles to what the stories actually support to acknowledge this.

Because you can’t say “do what’s right” has power unless you answer the question “who gets to decide ‘what’s right?’” (Which, coincidentally, is a question Wish brings up and then doesn’t answer.)

Audiences of Disney used to accept that wishing on a star was much like prayer; there’s something you long for, and it’s out of your hands, but you wish for it and you do what you know is right in the meantime. And you’re not crushed, you’re not downhearted, because somewhere in your mind you trust that the combo of those two things—wishing on a higher power and diligence to do what’s good—will be what makes your wish come true.

Trust in a higher power—COMBINED WITH:

—diligence to do what’s good.

The Blue Fairy (higher power) gave Geppetto his wish specifically because he had demonstrated commitment to do good, whether he got what he wanted or not. The Fairy Godmother (higher power) gave Cinderella her wish specifically because she kept on being kind and good to low creatures like mice and wicked stepsisters, whether she got what she wanted or not.

Do you know why that combo (higher power + diligence to do good) is impactful? Timeless? Important?

Because it’s selfless. You want something, but you’re not going to sacrifice doing the right thing to get it. You’re not going to focus so hard on making what you want a reality, on your own, that you miss out on things that could be more important than what you want. And, you’re not so self-focused as to believe that if you don’t do it, it won’t get done.

Jeez, that’s the whole point of The Princess and the Frog!

Tiana wishes to have her own restaurant, and she believes that only her own hard work will grant that wish. She misunderstands her dad’s advice before he dies. She isn’t willing to trust a higher power combined with her own diligence to do good—she only trusts her own ability.

It’s not until she realizes that Ray, the character of faith, was right all along that she learns—what she wished for was too self-focused. It wasn’t complete without love. Something bigger than herself. And getting that was never going to happen just based on her own hard work.

But you know what? It was never going to happen just by a “higher-power” flavored shortcut, either. Because Facilier offers her her wish if she’ll just trust him, no hard work needed. But what does she say?

Trust in a higher power + diligence to do what’s right = selflessness, and getting more than you could have ever wished for. And if your wish is selfish, doing those two things will change your wish into something selfless.

More examples? Get ‘em while they’re hot, in case Wish made you forget, just like the current #NotMyDisney executives have forgotten, what real Disney wishes are for.

Belle wishes to have adventures in the great wide somewhere--but when she's imprisoned and that chance is taken from her it's not reversed because she worked hard to make her wish come true. It's granted because she gave up her wish for her father: she just did the right thing, regardless of her wish. And in the end, she does get what she wished for, which is adventure in an enchanted castle...and much more, because she gets true love, a throne, and a castle full of friends.

How about the One Who Started It All? The one Wish is failing to pay genuine tribute to?

Snow White wishes for someone to love her, and he does--but when they're separated, she does not exercise power to make The Prince come back to her. Instead, she loves who she can where she’s at—the Dwarfs. In the meantime, she has faith that he will keep his promise, and that pure trust in a higher power outside of her control is a big contributing factor to why the Dwarfs come to love her, and learn from her...and in the end, even more than she could've wished happens. He does take her to his castle, but she also has seven new friends who also love her, and the Queen is dead. And she didn’t need to use “the power in her” to work harder and get it done. She just needed to not focus so much on herself at all.

How about a male main character? One who’s wish starts out selfish, but after learning to wish on a higher power and be diligent to do the right thing, gets more than he could wish for?

Aladdin wishes to be somebody different (somebody he believes Jasmine could love, somebody who lives in a palace and is respected and “never has any troubles at all.”)—but doing everything in his own power for that wish proves that it was selfish all along; so he switches to doing the right thing, regardless of if his wish comes true, and he gets even more than he could’ve wished. He gets real love with Jasmine, he gets his friend Genie, and he gets to be free from feeling “trapped” because he doesn’t have to hide who he is anymore.

Or Simba?

Simba wishes to get to do whatever he wants as King—but when Mufasa dies and he’s convinced it’s his fault, it isn’t for that wish that he goes back to Pride Rock to confront his past and his Uncle. It’s because he had an encounter with a higher power—his father—that helped him to realize his wish was selfish all along. He gives up the selfish wish, and he goes back to take his place as king, not so he can do whatever he wants, but so that he can take self-sacrificial responsibility that comes with ruling. And because he just does the right thing, finally, he gets more than what he wished for.

How about something more recent? Zootopia.

Judy wishes to make the world a better place by proving she can be what she wants to be and catching bad guys—but when she tries to make her wish happen on her own, in her own abilities, she fails and is forced to realize that she should’ve been looking for help by understanding “bad guys,” like Nick. It’s only after she humbled herself, admits she’s wrong, and changes her wish from “proving I can be what I want and catching bad guys” to “proving that understanding each other makes the world a better place” (much less self-focused) that her wish comes true—and so much more. She does make the world a better place, and she does get to catch bad guys, but she also gets to befriend one who was a good guy all along, and become all-around more effective at her dream job.

This is how Disney always has been. Because it’s at the heart of good storytelling, and even life (not to get too dramatic.)

The power is not in you. Because it’s not about you. Self-sacrifice, faith, and doing the next right thing regardless of if you get your heart’s fondest desire is what makes more than just your wishes come true. And there has to be belief in a higher power to make that message powerful.

But Wish?

Not only is it bad at showing instead of telling. Not only is it lazy and soulless.

But it’s characters rip the Star out of the sky and say “don’t wish on this. Wish on yourself, to get what you wish for. You don’t need a higher power. You don’t even need to sacrifice to do what’s good—whatever you do is good, because you are the one doing it.”

That is wrong. That is not true, and it is not powerful. There’s no sacrifice in focusing on or placing your trust totally in yourself, and it undoes every good thing Disney has done up until now.

And it undoes it on the 100th anniversary, and it flaunts Easter eggs of the very things it’s undoing.

#pinocchio #disney #wish #Disney’s wish #wish Disney #Wish #Disney #meta #character analysis #storytelling #the princess and the frog #Disney fan #princess tiana #tiana #Naveen #Dr. Facilier #disney villains #asha #king Magnifico #Valentino #queen Amaya #ariana debose #chris pine #Cinderella #classic movies #film analysis #animated movies #animation #wish 2023 #Aladdin

[transmascpetewentz]

i meant wrapped not trapped, I do not blame you for misunderstanding me, thats entirely my fault

I think you seem to believe that my issue with transandrophobia as a label is the idea that trans men face oppression (which they do), when instead its the idea that the oppression transmasculine people face is something completely unique to them, instead of being the underlying current of tranphobia

I literally spent the first paragraph explaining my issues with the *concept* of it before segawaying into my issue with it as a conterpart to transmisogyny due to them not sharing an underlying ideological framework

And to touch on some of doberbutts points, trans women are also correctively raped and have suicide rates, and the issue of access to abortion is for every person with a vagina, not just trans men

A frustrating thing that he does there is that instead of giving a counterargument to one of my points (what i personally believe to be a misnomer about the purpose of the label of transmisogyny, were you (nonspecific) view it as a threat to the validity of the trauma we face, and not as a way to describe their own, and what others believe to be just attention seeking) is to bring up severe (often sexual) trauma as a way to put a landmine on that specific point, because any attempt to explain why they are wrong becomes a personal attack on the traumatized parties

this got quite long, so response under the cut. @doberbutts this is the same anon you responded to (by reblogging my post) earlier.

ok

no form of violence experienced under an oppressive system is truly "unique" in that i don't think there are any experiences of violence or oppression that apply to only one specific group, but the motivations behind the violence can differ depending on the demographic it's being done to. i do not think that any specific example of transandrophobia is something that no one who isn't transmasc has experienced, but transandrophobia is the oppression specifically targeting transmascs. i and doberbutts have already pointed out how this works, so i don't feel the need to reiterate that.

you do not understand the concept of transandrophobia, and you regularly demonstrate that your understanding is surface-level and comes from people who have an interest in making it seem less credible. instead of asking people who theorize about anti-transmasculinity (including me and doberbutts!!!) you immediately become hostile and make many incorrect assumptions about our beliefs. i find this highly disrespectful and encourage you to stop getting all of your information about transandrophobia from people who misrepresent it to argue against the concept of anti-transmasculinity.

yes, abortion access is something that everyone who can get pregnant has to deal with, but trans men face unique discrimination wrt abortion access and access to reproductive healthcare that trans women do not. this is because there is a fundamental misogyny component to anti-transmasculinity that you and others who deny it because "it's transmisogynistic!!!" seem to have a failure to grasp. transandrophobia is transphobia, misogyny, homophobia, and the specific modifier of maleness on this oppression all at once. i wish there was a better word for how maleness adds to and modifies oppression in an intersectional way that wasn't associated with mras, but alas there is none that i am aware of. also: anti-transmasculinity never says or implies that trans women don't face some of the issues that trans men do! you are treating this like a pissing contest for who has it worse and that is an attitude i'll need you to drop.

denying transandrophobia is a sentiment that is directly hostile to transmasc survivors of sexual assault, abuse, hate crimes and other things that arise from living under a patriarchy that systemically excludes you from both the male and female classes. the reason why we use this rhetoric is because these types of things arise from the specific intersection that trans men face, and how that can further intersect with sexuality. you are simply making up what we believe on the spot and not actually listening. if you want to come off anon and have a conversation in dms, i'd be willing.

talking to people like you is frustrating because you make these claims about what transandrophobia theory is as if we're a monolith or a homogenous group instead of hundreds of trans men on tumblr dot com all contributing to a larger conversation. no matter how much you claim to be in good faith, you continue to disregard actual transandrophobia theory in favor of some bastardized version you got from someone with "white tme/tma" in their bio. i hope you take this criticism and reflect on how you may be wrong.

#asks #transandrophobia #long post

[ghostflowerhotpotch]

Hey hey, MIles gets jealous a lot in this movie, buuuuuut what if we talk about Gwen? 👀

Oh ho ho, I know there has been memes and stuff about that, but sure, let's talk about it.

I know we all mentioned jealousy coming from Miles, but I think is kind of poetic, but also hilarious, how quickly we go from Miles's jealousy to Gwen's.

Specially if we go with the fact that once again, while Gwen doesn't really own any explanations to Miles here, nor has she done anything wrong by being friends with Hobie.

(Also look at Hobie, I want you to remember that. Also he is amazing so he deserves the extra attention.)

Yet what is her reaction?

"Oh, not that many."

I swear, I am trying not to laugh.

See what I mean? Gwen is not only aware that Miles is jealous, she is still is trying to downplay it; even when she is convinced they can't work, she doesn't want Miles to misunderstand her feelings; which she has tried to hide, but I think at this point she knows she isn't doing a good job at it.

(The entire clock scene was very close to a confession let's be honest.)

Also, about Hobie, remember how I was bringing attention to him in the first image? Yeah I am still not sure what to do with it.

Let me be honest with you guys, to get these images I do a lot of slow-motion, which also helps to let certain frames sink better and be sure that I am not just making up what I am seeing; since a lot of these moments are things that last seconds. Very blink-it and you miss it.

And while looking at this particular part, I realized Hobie's expression when he was still were...interesting.

Look part of the reason looking at frames matter in animation is because in real life; an actor could had looked at one direction because he saw a crew member do a funny face, but in animation, when you need to recreate the scene for scratch and will probably be staring at this scene a lot to ensure is up to standard, things tend to have a bit more meaning.

That being said, if you look the scene to normal speed, is extremely fast. Maybe too much for the animators to intend for us to notice something.

So what I am trying to say is that I wonder if Hobie is purposely setting Miles off, and if he is doing so, I honestly think is just to mess with them a little.

Moving on!

If I am honest, you could almost believe Gwen just wants to move on because Miguel is waiting for them and the guy is already aggro, that was my first impression at least, until I re watched and realized that they are just seeing a demonstration before going to Miguel, so they are 1) Really giving Miles a tour, and 2) Stalling. Which doesn't match going straight to the boss.

Also Gwen's voice; the first time I saw this I remember being surprised that Gwen was asking to start moving because before this point she didn't seem to be worried. Her tone definitely sounds a bit exasperated, specially considering again how little they actually seem to care to get to Miguel.

So yeah, Gwen DEFINITELY was asking to keep moving because Miles' was attention was too much in somebody.

Let's rewind a bit because let's face it, I don't blame Gwen for being jealous.

I wish my computer had a way to render a little video without imploding because oh this takes a hot second and yep Miles definitely was looking at Margo a little awestruck.

Let me preface this saying I will not tolerate any Hate to Margo or to Flowerbyte or the shippers. She is great, and I will not tolerate ship wars here.

That being said, Miles definitely is looking a little too much at Margo; I partially thing Miles was a bit shocked because it has been a while since his spider sense got receptive to other spider (which happened a lot in the first movie, not so much in this one for meeting so many spiders.)

But again, I don't think is crazy to say she caught his attention.

No, I don't think Miles is doing anything wrong here, just like Gwen didn't do anything wrong before. They aren't dating, Gwen tried to shut that down, and is not like Miles is trying to upset Gwen or anything. He was just caught off-guard.

Regardless, just like I cannot blame Miles for being jealous of Hobie, I can't blame Gwen for being jealous of Margo.

She hides it better than Miles for sure, but like everything else she does, it comes back to the details and her actions.

Remember, they aren't particularly in a hurry, and she suddenly sounds exasperated out of nowhere. Hmm.

Now, the next moment is very blink and you miss it, I barely had the chance to notice while going in slow motion, but between Gwen telling Miles to move on, and Miles looking at Margo's avatar, this is Gwen's face.

Is very fast, probably the type of thing you don't pick up in theatres, but damn, I am cackling.

I guess she really wasn't expecting Margo to get such reaction out of Miles.

This a good moment to say, that while looking at this, you can see Gwen doesn't have any ill-will towards Margo.

Unlike the previous moment, this expression of her stays for a good moment; I remember that upon first stumbling with the confirmation that Gwen is jealous of Margo, I was shocked to see that expression on her, almost like she herself remembered that Margo situation is far from perfect.

I am SO thankful with the creators for making sure that neither from Miles nor Gwen, we get the plot line of one of them being jerks out of jealousy. Yeah Miles briefly tried to be spiteful towards Hobie, but didn't take long too change his tune, not to mention that Hobie really didn't mind.

And Gwen at any moment is shown to be bitter towards Margo, regardless if Miles was doing puppy eyes at her or not.

I just realized now, that Gwen is actually the first one to say they should go.

I really believe part of this was because the go-home-machine was looking a bit perverse. Even Margo looks a bit unsure of what to do of this, so it makes me wonder if is normal for it to look this painful.

(Sidenote, considering Miles and Gwen looked okay when they got out from this machine, I think Rhino was in pain because he was glitching at that moment. That would explain Margo looking like this if it was "normal.")

It doesn't escape me that Miles' reaction is the most shock one, no idea if Gwen could had picked on that being behind Miles, but maybe she realized Miles didn't particularly enjoy seeing that.

However, what happens next?

And here, I can only show it properly with this gif.

I want also to reiterate, that "Let's go!" Was from Hobie, I think he was trying to warn Miles.

Because Gwen didn't repeat herself, she deadass just sent a web and YANK HIM.

Again, wanting to go see Miguel my ass, you guys didn't seem particularly interested on that before. Not to mention that hey, you can see she isn't asking anymore and considering how she was looking at Miles from behind I don't think is because she doesn't want to be late.

Is a bit too small to take a proper capture, and hard to see, but yep, she looks mad.

I love how Margo laughs after this, like sure, Miles is endearing, but I also bet my left kidney she also clocked Gwen's crush extremely quickly because of this.

I almost expect Margo and Pavitr discuss who is crushing harder in the sequel.

Sorry for making this so freaking long and with so many sideways, but I think I needed to point out a few things, hope didn't bored anyone!

Keep suggesting moments!

#ghostflower #gwiles #gwen stacy #miles morales #atsv #across the spiderverse #across the spiderverse spoilers #spiderman #margo kess #hobie brown #spiderwoman #ghostflower files #ask

[tobiasdrake]

Thinking about redemption yesterday got me thinking about fallen heroes today, and how rare it is to see a character initially painted as a hero be driven to heinousness for legitimate reasons.

Often times, if a hero goes bad, it's because of an external force corrupting their mind. Or it's a misunderstanding and they were secretly still good all along. Or they were just having a rough day and they'll be good again in five minutes.

We rarely see get to see heroes go sour purely on their own merits. Maybe because their values weren't so benign as they'd seemed when pushed to a natural conclusion. Maybe because they expected too much of themselves or of others. Or maybe personal experience taught them to believe something else.

Whatever the case, as often as writers will attempt to examine the transformative power of better angels, we rarely get to see the transformative power of worse devils.

Which brings me to....

Sayaka Miki is a character that holds a special place in my heart, not for overcoming her flaws but for being consumed by them. She's a cautionary tale into the perils of righteousness.

I need to preface this by bringing up that the characters of Madoka Magica are children. They're irrational, judgmental, ignorant of risk, and quick to throw themselves into horrible mistakes with absolute confidence. Because they're children. That's how this works. The villain of the series is a psychological predator who feeds on the impulsivity and poor judgment of youth, grooming them into self-destruction.

The entire system of Magical Girls exists to give these children enough rope to hang themselves with and then to kick the ladder out from under them. That is the plot, with Sayaka being the primary means by which the show demonstrates the complete journey from rope to ladder.

I just. I need you to understand that even at her worst, Sayaka is a victim of predatory incentives and calculated coercions meant to cultivate her worst traits while stripping her of hopes and dreams. To drown her in mistakes she could never take back. She didn't have the life experience to know better. That's why her predator targets children.

Sayaka's rope is woven from virtuous self-image. It's not immediately apparent when we meet her, but Sayaka's fatal flaw is ego. Her moral compass is wound extremely tight, and it's only later that we realize it's wound around her neck.

Like many children, Sayaka is trying on an identity moreso than expressing her inner self. She wants to be altruistic. She wants to be selfless. She wants to be a true hero. She wants to live by nothing more than high-minded ideals, expecting no reward for her efforts (but receiving it all the same).

She wants to be the kind of person that Mami was.

But she has no idea who Mami was. She wasn't there to see Mami fracture. To see her break down in vulnerability and express the isolating misery she lives in.

Sayaka didn't see that. She only saw how cool Mami looked when she was killing Witches. So when she tries on an identity, she's specifically trying on the identity of Mami - blissfully unaware that her interpretation of Mami was nothing but a mask. She is emulating the behavior of a victim already consumed by the predatory incentives she's accepting.

Sayaka was doomed from the moment she made her wish.

Once again, the show does a brilliant job of concealing this at first. Right off the bat, it's easy for Sayaka to be the hero. She saves both her BFFs Madoka and Hitomi from a Witch in her debut adventure, before being immediately thrust into a moral argument that's super easy for her to win.

This is what a hero looks like! Should we stand by and let monsters eat people YES/NO

Sayaka says no. Sayaka says letting monsters eat people is bad. Solid Bioware-level moral dilemma she's got here. Sayaka won +10 Paragon points for the choices she picked out of this conversation tree, lemme tell you!

Moments like this work to disguise what's going on here with Sayaka. Obviously Sayaka's making good choices and doing the right thing when the alternative is Kyoko going "Want me to break your crush's limbs so he needs you for life support?" That's awful, so since Sayaka's against it then that means she must be right. Right?

Kyoko is the devil. Sayaka is the paragon.

But this is a story about nuanced and complex people. Sayaka isn't that person. Sayaka likes the idea of being that person. She's being dishonest - With herself, with others around her, and with the universe.

She's trying on an identity, not fully understanding who she really is or what her limitations are.

Incidentally, so is Kyoko, which is what makes their Yin and Yang dichotomy so potent. Having never been tested like this before, Sayaka is more selfish than she truly understands - While Kyoko, damaged by trauma, is more selfless than she wants to believe.

The thing Sayaka doesn't quite grasp is that, to an extent, it's okay to be selfish. It's okay to want things for yourself. Again, the identity she's trying to live up to was a lie to begin with. She only saw the mask; Never the humanity underneath. So she fails to recognize her own humanity; Her own needs and wants and desires.

She imprisons her own mind in a cage of altruism.

Sayaka is warned multiple times against spending her wish on another person. But she doesn't understand the perils of it. She lacks the necessary perspective to grasp the level of sacrifice she's making. (Because she is a child. I cannot stress this point enough.)

When she makes her wish, Sayaka wants her sacrifice reciprocated. She wants to be rewarded. But she doesn't want to want that. She wants to be the selfless hero for Kyosuke. To silently grant him a miracle because it's the right thing to do for her friend. But she expects, without consciously thinking about it, that the universe will deliver her nice things because she is good.

But life doesn't work like that. It doesn't give you things you aren't willing to reach for. Sayaka said she just wanted him to be happy. She just wanted to help people. She just wanted to dedicate her life to virtue and altruism, with no wants or needs or desires of her own.

Kyoko was being cruel and unfeeling when she suggested crippling Kyosuke; She was trying to express a mask of selfishness, the same way Sayaka's been trying to express a mask of selflessness. But she wasn't the only person telling Sayaka that it was a mistake to do this. She's just the only person who said it after the fact.

So the universe calls her bluff. While Sayaka waits for her sacrifices to be rewarded, fracturing more and more from learning what those sacrifices truly entail, someone else claims her prize. The work gets harder, not just physically but emotionally. And she only gets what she asked for. Nothing more.

This is what a hero looks like. She wanted to be Mami.

Remind me. What was Mami's reward for her sacrifices?

Oh. Yeah. That's right.

The thing of it is, there is a reward for a Magical Girl's sacrifices. There is a prize you're meant to receive for the unjust hardships and self-destruction that you're volunteering to undertake.

It's the fucking wish.

That she, in her righteousness, gave away.

Sayaka's rope is woven from virtuous self-image. Her fatal flaw is ego. She was undone by arrogance expressed in ignorance, not of glory the way we often think of egotistic people, but of righteousness. She held herself to a standard no reasonable person could ever live up to, and it crushed her as it came crashing down.

And yet, she was a victim all the same. Because she was walked, hand-in-hand, to that pier by a predator. Children are meant to learn from their mistakes. Not to die for them.

#puella magi madoka magica #sayaka miki

[general-cyno]

y'know, one zolu moment I don't talk about nearly as much as I should but that I love and find super interesting is the bar fight on jaya. and though I know there's mixed opinions on the latter, I also like the contrast between jaya AND whiskey peak.

when it comes to whiskey peak... I'm somewhere in the middle. as a concept I find it interesting too, since it involves zoro doing things on his own for the sake of the crew for the first time (iirc) and luffy being faced with the possibility of zoro not acting as honorably as he believes or trusts zoro to be at that point. thing is, luffy is someone who places great value in the kindness he receives and returns it tenfold. it's something we see throughout the story and in jaya as well actually, with cricket and his crew! this is also what's attracted him to most of the straw hats (if not every) and his allies also. so in theory, I don't think luffy reacting negatively to zoro attacking the ppl who'd been kind to him and the crew for seemingly no reason is entirely out of character, especially after waking up so disorientedly, and at least not that early on in the manga. he emphasizes it too, when he shows up to fight zoro,

the problem for me lies more on the actual execution of it rather than the idea as a whole. kinda goofy for luffy and zoro to drop lines like "now we'll find out who's superior" during it as if they'd had some sort of fighting style rivalry beforehand and it's kinda removed from the og point of the fight but they're dumb kids and the story can take some goofy turns at times so. shrugs.

I can't tell if whiskey peak was originally meant to have an impact or effect on their relationship afterwards (some opinions I've read insist oda was forced to include it) but if anything, it ended up demonstrating zoro and luffy are better off fighting together than against each other, even as they're going on about killing and beating the other up over a misunderstanding. it reminds me of one comment I read on a r/ddit post a while ago (about another topic though) that pointed out how in terms of fighting styles, zoro and luffy kind of complement and make up for each other's weaknesses, which is such a nice detail and layer to their relationship imo.

and assuming there was a genuine point to it all (it's more fun that way heh), I'd say that it really highlights the importance of moments like those in jaya and luffy choosing to trust zoro not to fight back against bellamy's crew.

as luffy has learned this far, zoro would never hurt anyone for no reason and if there's a "reason" it's usually, if not always, rooted in his wish and duty to keep everyone safe (in whiskey peak, the townsfolk were actually baroque works agents, bounty hunters, who had a tendency to trick pirates like them at the start of the grand line). plus, zoro may enjoy battle but he doesn't fight for revenge or feelings/motives of the sort, as he admits later in skypiea. he does, however, react when the people he cares about are in danger (*waves hand and points at anything involving luffy*), hurt (chopper in skypiea as an example, but there's plenty more) or he witnesses great injustice (like yasuie's execution in wano). he's also not the type to enjoy beating up someone weaker, much less for shits and giggles. he will even save enemies if luffy asks him to, as long as it doesn't pose a bigger or immediate (real) threat to the crew.

compare zoro saving smoker in alabasta vs him refusing to accept x drake as an ally at first due to his known status as a traitor in the wano arc, for example.

and of course jaya isn't an exception. when bellamy attacks luffy, zoro responds as usual:

luffy himself stands up ready to fight too, at first. but as nami brings up the sky island and everyone mocks them for it, then bellamy specifically takes it upon himself to ridicule them - insisting on how foolish it is for ppl to "waste time" chasing their dreams, especially pirates, luffy decides not to fight back and tells zoro to do the same.

this is one of those instances in which the "lu" of zolu really shines through, if you ask me. zoro's got a handful of grand gestures toward luffy on his belt, but this is one in which luffy does the heavy lifting for me. this is acknowledgedment and an insane amount of trust, a moment in which luffy's relying on zoro to understand his motives and to push back his usual protectiveness when faced with an enemy displaying a lot of hostility. and zoro gets it, stays true to the trust luffy's placing on him. he doesn't fight back, not even as nami watches and wonders why.

I sound like a broken record at this point, but OP's brought up in several and different circumstances the fact that luffy and zoro are actually pretty similar. they tend to behave the same way or echo each other's words even when they're apart, share similar views on death, on growing stronger for the sake of the ppl they care about, and more so when it comes to chasing and fighting for their dreams.

in the aftermath of the bar encounter, blackbeard tells nami that luffy and zoro actually won that fight. this includes a curious panel in which luffy reminisces both shanks and ace.

it makes sense why luffy shared this particular moment with zoro, when you think about it. those two are dreamers through and through, and if there's characters who can understand the importance of not only chasing those dreams but also keeping a promise, it's them - whose dreams they initially shared with ppl they cherished as kids and made promises to. for luffy there's ace and sabo, and shanks. for zoro it was kuina, then as an adult there was luffy himself. in a lot of ways, the straw hat is to luffy what wado ichimonji is to zoro. during that fight, bellamy represented everything luffy and zoro stand against both as characters and thematically speaking. and that, along with everything luffy's learned/come to know so far about zoro, is what he relied on. it's so good.

later, there's this scene with zoro and the rest, where nami wonders why zoro didn't go with luffy to face bellamy again:

(fun bit here is that zoro actually asked luffy before if he needed his help. it's a small panel but cute! he trusts that luffy can handle himself, as luffy told him he could, and knows there's no stopping him when he's made up his mind lol.)

whether zoro was referring to bellamy's strength or his lack of belief in/mockery of dreams, or both, it's clear he understood why luffy chose to do what he did and asked him to stay put back in the bar, and he could relate to luffy's motives as well. as I mentioned above, it makes sense why zoro in specific would, without luffy voicing them out loud.

the nicest part is how all of these moments are a product of the writing that's gone into luffy and zoro's relationship/dynamic. when luffy chooses to trust zoro with stuff like this, there's a chunk of context that precedes it (like whiskey peak). and when zoro decides to follow him, too, it's because his loyalty for and understanding of luffy has been continually built as the story progresses which is super compelling, and also wonderful to see.

#zolu #tp #long post #here I go again I knew I wouldn't be able to rest if I didn't type out the whiskey peak thing #anyway I hope this is somewhat coherent bc it's like. 1 am #love theeem. this also made me think again of blackbeard #so excited for the straw hats' eventual confrontation with his crew. he's so similar to luffy (and zoro to an extent) but in such #a different end of the spectrum at the same time #kinda insane that he was introduced so early on actually #ok this is less zolu but yeah #jay reads op

[agentc0rn]

Kieran’s story as a loner champion rival character who challenged the game narrative + parallels with the DLC legends - another character essay

Okay, so this is another long rambling of mine that is probably an overthought (and reflective of past analysis) but anyhow, I like to think that Ogerpon, Terapagos and Pecharunt represent certain aspects of Kieran’s arc (albeit not in order). Although Kieran says himself about how he wants to be like PC/us, to be strong like the hero of the story, he outshone others in terms of being a protagonist; not in terms of simply as a central focus of the story but his desire to acquire qualities of a protagonist, which is very evident in his dominant role in the story. Kieran was a protagonist (along with Carmine) but not the main character in terms of the conditions it came along of being one.

To start, Ogerpon being a social outcast due to a great misunderstanding of her display of strength and act of self-defense as a threat is ironically picked up Kieran through his projected image of a strong “oni”; he later becomes this feared champion whose standards pushes out and judges others based on strength. Consequently, other students view him as overly stern and restrictive. He adopts that oni image and its attributed value of strength in who he sees himself as and subconsciously shows to others. Obviously the context of these circumstances are different, but Kieran ends up with a poor reputation just like Ogerpon did (He also takes the "treasure" - in this case Terapagos - like the oni which stole treasures in the tale of Momotaro).

Secondly, terapagos and its too short arc represents the full extent of Kieran’s desire, his potential and who he is; a reclusive, small being who possess great power and status, which, with neglect, caused great changes when it came to the tipping point. Moreover, Terapagos is the "monarch" of area zero, as evident with the tera crown, just as Kieran was the Blueberry champion/king. On another note, his quote of "I don't need my old self anymore - I will show you that I can change again!" resonates with the idea of transforming - physically and mentally - in conjunction with the terastalization, ultimately becoming who you want to be (penny says this as well).

To add further on, Terapagos' berserk state paralleled with Kieran’s monomia of battling and power (demonstrated in his behaviour at the championship match) that long affected his own well-being and his surroundings. The funny thing I personally noticed is that, Kieran took over that role of “control” as opposed to his possesion under dokutaro theories by capturing Terapagos and using it as a final resort to achieve his goal.

Likewise with Pecharunt's motive, Kieran was someone who deeply wanted something that resulted in the harm of others and himself (also mentioned in the case with terapagos). Kieran wanted not just strength, but also honesty and appreciation (form of love) from others. As our miscommunication led him astray, it persuades him that his self-worth is only found in strength (physically and mentally as a trainer and person), and that battling is no longer fun but a measure of worth, a trial determining the strongest who would outlive the weakest. He worked so hard to fulfill his goals for his own sake yet simultaneously for you in that sense of being proven wrong.

He gave up so much of himself by devoting his time, energy and studies to bettering himself (which is very ironiccc). Similarily, Pecharunt gave so much in return for its desire to be loved more - it took as it gave. Both have a warped sense of the things they love (or love in general) in their own respective ways. For Kieran, battling was a test of worth and that the things he liked ought to be strong. He went through such a training arc just to prove himself to you (he outright says so). Again, I repeat, Kieran did this all to fight you, ultimately to prove to you and himself that he made the right choice, that the effort for going through all of this was worth it.

Pecharunt went through all the trouble in seeking out the masks just to appease the couple (I would admit this just ties to the theme of treasure and its consequence with obsession in general, but this analysis aims to focus on the connection between the characters on a specefic level). Its grasp of love comes off as materialistic, more so conditional (same way applied to Kieran = battling in which determines one's success that is only found in strength; that to be a friend/rival, he needed to prove himself).

I have no epic quote/ending for this, oh well (it came off better in my head). edit: grammar issues and revised idea phrasing

#ac rambles #kieran pokemon #pecharunt #the teal mask #terapagos #Ogerpon #pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon sv #rival kieran #pokemon kieran #Don’t mind this incoherent wall of text #I just wrote and zoned out

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

(Riddle) Headmage, were you just snacking/sleeping in class?! You need to set a better example for the other students! Furthermore, is this truly the best use of your time to be attending lessons instead of running the school?

Crowley does, in fact, have magic history lesson lines in which he is falling asleep in class and/or sneaking some of his lunch during the lecture 🤡 A real inspiration to us all...

I chose to give Crowley some chicken here because some have pointed out that Sage's Island looks like a drumstick 🍗 and he’s in a different class because I have another Crowley-staff interaction coming up that is Trein-based. I want to give the other teachers some of the spotlight!

Enter; An Unkindness of Ravens.

"Wh-What...?!"

At Riddle's stern accusation, Crowley's consciousness snapped back into place like a rubber band. He bolted up on his seat and swiveled to face the boy.

It was difficult to take him seriously when a piece of fried chicken was lodged in his mouth—the result of trying to snack while falling asleep mid-lecture. (Thankfully, Crowley removed it before he spoke. Not so thankfully, he waved the drumstick at Riddle as though it added to his rebuttal.)

“I will have you know that I am nothing short of being the exemplary pupil. You understand that a mage must look after their health to be at maximum spellcasting potential, correct? Therefore, it is imperative that we receive adequate nutrition and rest—of which I am demonstrating!"

Riddle openly grimaced, but kept his volume low. "Self-care activities are not meant to be carried out during classes, but outside of them."

"Oh, how little you know, Rosehearts-kun!" Crowley sighed. "The life of a headmaster is a demanding one, I'm afraid. My schedule is packed to the brim with meetings and administrative tasls, I can scarcely catch a wink or sleep or a reliable meal.”

Riddle stared hard at the uneaten chicken leg. Crowley slowly hid it inside of his cape.

“A-Anyway! Even now, I am hard at work observing you students so that we may utilize your experiences to improve school curriculum and facilities. If I wished for a small reprieve, could you truly hold that against me?!"

"Headmaster!”

The bark came from the front of the lecture hall, belonging to a man in a black and white striped fur coat. He thrusted his pointer in Crowley’s direction, the crimson dog’s collar and white gemstone affixed to it catching the classroom lights. His students followed where it led: to Crowley.

“Do you have something to share with the class,” Crewel inquired tightly, “since it seems you are preoccupied with chattering during my lesson?“

“Erm… N-No, not at all, Professor Crewel! I simply found myself so engrossed in your materials, I was overcome with a myriad of emotions!!”

His colleague arched a brow.

Crowley loudly cleared his throat. “Y-You may carry on as you were!”

“Contain yourself next time. My patience can only be worn so thin,” Crewel warned. “Now then, if you’ll turn to page 225 in your textbooks…”

When the teacher looked away, Crowley practically melted, becoming one with his chair.

“Whew…! Professor Crewel looked as though he was going to flay me and then turn my lovely feathers into a new jacket!!” he lamented. This time, softly. “Oooh, why must these tragedies and misunderstandings continue to plague me?”

Riddle shook his head. The smirk on his mouth made no attempts to be sad, only satisfactory. “I did try to caution you.”

He returned to following along with the lecture, leaving Crowley to his slacking.

#twst #twisted wonderland #Riddle Rosehearts #twst interactions #twisted wonderland interactions #disney twisted wonderland #disney twst #Two Ravens at the Writing Desk #Dire Crowley #Divus Crewel

[bidisastersanji]

Had literal (not just inspired) Ranma 1/2 ZoSan galaxy thoughts with @anniilaugh and oh boy oh boy oh boy

Zoro and Hawkeye are japanese martial artists training in Jusenkyo, China, they get to the cursed springs and don't listen to the guide about how they should definitely not fight there

Zoro falls into the cursed spring of the young woman and from then on his body turns female at the contact of cold water and back to male with hot water- his dad falls in the panda one.

Mihawk brings them back to Japan because he and his old pal Zeff had made a promise to marry their kids and join their dojos- he has to fight Zoro the entire way

Scene starts with Zeff sitting down his three adoptive kids with mommy issues (Robin, Nami and Sanji) to tell them they're about to receive his old friend Mihawk and his son Zoro- long ago they agreed to marry their kids to secure the "Anything goes" dojo's legacy, and both thought it wouldn't work out since they didn't have kids at first, but both ended up adopting in later years.

All three are pissed that they don't get a say in this- they've never even met this Zoro guy! Who cares if he's been training in China, they can probably still beat his ass.

Fem!Zoro and Panda!Mihawk are fighting it out in the street in the rain (which is what turned them both into their cursed forms)- Zoro is angry that his stupid father figure just decided this for him- fuck this, he's going back to China, and that's that! but Mihawk knocks him out and carries him on his shoulder to the Akaashi residence.

Back at the dojo, Robin hopes he's older than her, Nami knows she, the town lesbian with a gf (Vivi) won't be forced to marry him if it comes to it, and Sanji is just so angry that Zeff would make this decision for them- how stupidly old fashioned and this guy won't be taking over the dojo from them, no way. Also, who cares about a stupid boy. All that matters to him are beautiful ladies, after all. (still struggling a bit with being bi Sanji what's up)

A panda and a young adult come into the dojo and they're like ??? who the hell is this panda? the panda sets down Zoro in front of Zeff like "voila" and they're like! oh- could you be?

I'm Roronoa Zoro. Sorry 'bout this.

Zeff hugs him, feels the soft chest press against his own, and is like- oh. Did he misremember what Mihawk told him, was it a daughter after all?

Sanji is relieved, thinking Zoro is a woman (Zoro doesn't correct anyone, he doesn't really care, he just wants to get back to China and if this means he can get out of marrying on a misunderstanding, maybe it'll work out in his favour)- and he acts like his usual gentlemanly self with him, treating him to tea and asking him about his training. Zoro asks to spar, and Sanji truly couldn't- but can't say no to a pretty lady so they spar but Sanji never actually hits Zoro- always stopping right before he lands a hit, annoying the shit out of Zoro (what a prissy guy)

Having worked up a sweat (that Sanji guy wasn't half bad at fighting, even if he didn't actually hit him), Zoro goes to wash in the men's baths

Sanji, thinking "she" is in the women's baths, walks into the same bath, naked, and is faced with a very built, very attractive man in his bathroom, stepping out of the hot tub. he definitely doesn't ogle him

He panics and runs to the rest of the family being like "there's a pervert in the bathroom wtf"

Zoro joins them, dressed in the same clothes he was in before and reintroduces himself (I'm Roronoa Zoro, sorry 'bout this)

They all gather to go over what's happened in China (including demonstration as Mihawk throws Zoro into the pond) and Zeff cuts him off to be like

"There's truly no problem. So, Zoro, which of my children do you want to marry- although in his letters your father did mention you preferred men, and I only have one of those."

Robin and Nami pounce on this and push Sanji forwards "oh he definitely wants Sanji"- "what?? why me?"- "well, he's half a girl, so it works out perfect for you!"/"I'm a full lesbian and he's a gay man it's not meant to be"

Sanji fights this- "I don't want to marry this pervert!" "Who you callin' a pervert, you walked in on me, curly brows!" "yeah, well you were a strange naked man in my bathroom, so that makes you a pervert" "Yeah, well you took a pretty long, good look at me, so I'd say you're the pervert, ogling me" "I wasn't ogling you you brute!" "oh, I see, you were just jealous of how better built I am than you"

Sanji kicks him into the garden pond and leaves to take the bath he didn't get to take earlier

Zoro (in girl form) also goes to bathe, wanting to clean himself of the dirty pond water- and of course runs into Sanji, who gets a really bad nosebleed

AND SO BEGINS the slow burn of always bickering, full of misunderstandings, gender shenanigans, enemies to lovers arranged marriage Zoro and Sanji, with Zoro being really annoyed at the traditional gender roles that Sanji seems to be trying to enforce, and Sanji being constantly annoyed at this big brute of a man having no sense of priopriety and going around in his fem presenting form in ways that he thinks are a disgrace to womankind

but here is some more adapting:

Sanji, like Akane, has a crush on the local doctor (Dr. Law) but can't admit it to himself because he's still a bit struggling with the internalised homophobia from his birth father. Zoro finds it amusing in the beginning (before he catches feelings and gets jealous)

Again like Akane, Sanji starts with long hair and it gets cut because of a fight Zoro gets into with Pedro (who fell into the baby leopard spring), who will take the role of P-chan, sleeping in Sanji's bed and pining after him

Crazy love rivals galore and infinite fiance(e)s that Mihawk promised Zoro to of course:

the Kunos- Cavendish falls for Zoro when he meets him in his female form (oh my beautiful green-haired girl...). He always has the dramatic entrances (Cavendish, Age 17, the White Horse of Furinkan High), throwing his red roses everywhere. His just as...passionate? sister, Pudding, is in love with Sanji and thinks fem!Zoro is her love rival and tricks him into the rhythmic gymnastics showdown thing where Zoro has to be in a leotard, chained to baby leopard Pedro, both at risk of being exposed if hit with hot water in front of this crowd, and Zoro beats her with three clubs

Hiyori as Shampoo from the Amazon tribe who's at first sent to kill Zoro because he beat her in fem! form but then keeps trying to marry man Zoro who also accidentally beats her- Sanji is so mad about this specific one

Tashigi could be Okonomiyaki Ukyo (we think she's a man at first) or she could be Mousse (blind AF without her glasses) and turns into a goose with cold water

Brook as Happosai (old man with obsession for panties) who trains Zoro at times

Zoro doesn't get rid of the curse because plot but also even if he tried to, he would get lost if he tried to go to China by himself

Zoro's chest is 110cm no matter the form and Sanji is NOT OKAY

SO MANY NOSEBLEEDS (Ranma was such an ecchi manga and Zoro definitely has just as much propriety with his female form as Ranma does)

Nami makes money off of pictures of fem!Zoro like Nabiki does, selling them to Cavendish and all the boys at school who don't know the green haired girl is actually Zoro

Zoro was traumatised by the cat fu training Mihawk did to him as a kid and can only be calmed down and go back to acting like a human if he's pet and calmed down by Sanji. just like Ranma, he kisses Sanji in his cat form in front of the whole school (and doesn't remember it)

#ranma 1/2 zosan au #zoro x sanji #zosan #zosan fic idea #sanji x zoro #ranma 1/2 one piece au #ranma 1/2 AU #this would be just SO FUCKING FUN #with all the usual suspects attending the high school as well of course #zoro becomes friends with luffy and co #is there still the thing where people want to win sanji/akane's hand in marriage by beating her in combat? #that could be a fun scene for zoro to witness on the first day of school #hope I’m giving all the veterans some nostalgia #I grew up with Ranma as one of my first animes

[angryandanonymous]

Doodle of Steve and Tony getting together when Steve turns up at Tony’s Seattle flat to see/surprise him during @cherryblossomsmist “The Single Biggest Problem with Communication” . A fic I am happy to draw all day long (I’m also happy to draw Tony’s thighs all day long) This interaction is just so sweet, and there are so many delicious angsty layers of misunderstanding and miscommunication that still can’t hide the love that these two dorks have for each other.

The scene from the fic;

‘‘[Steve] pulled Tony into him. Tony might be heavier, but Steve was still strong enough to move him, even to get his hands under him and lift him, and that was exactly what he did, pulling him into his lap so his knees landed on either side of Steve’s hips. He could probably have done it even with Tony in the armor; in fact, he was sure he could (and wasn’t that a thought?).

“Hey,” Tony said, breathlessly.

Steve reached up, framed Tony’s face with his hands, running his fingers back into his hair. He smiled at him. “Yes?” he asked, grinning.

“Manhandling me?” Tony said, starting to grin a little back.

“Sure, a little,” Steve said, moving his fingers gently in Tony’s hair. It was soft against his fingers, tangled already. Tony’s erection was very hot and very present, pressed into his stomach, now. “You got a problem with that?”

“Not really,” Tony said. “You were pretty thorough about it the other day. When we were sparring, I mean.”

“Not as thorough as I could be,” Steve said, smirking.

Tony’s skin darkened a little, and Steve could feel it heat against his hands. Tony had flushed at that. Steve grinned with delight.

“I’m sure that’s true,” Tony muttered. He shifted his hips a little, up into Steve. “Plan to demonstrate, or are you just teasing?”

“Maybe a little of both,” Steve informed him.

Tony smirked, now. “I guess that’s acceptable,” he said, dropping his gaze to look at Steve from under his eyelashes, which apparently went straight both to somewhere in Steve’s chest to make it tighten a little and to his cock, making it jerk with a heated rush of desire. Steve pulled Tony closer, tilted their foreheads together, and Tony bit his lip as it pressed their groins tighter up against each other.

It felt good, but Steve wasn’t that interested in rushing to the main event, not yet. Instead he waited until Tony cast his eyes up toward him again, raising one eyebrow, then tilted Tony’s head with the grip he had on him and brought their lips together. Tony sucked in his breath and opened his mouth, and Steve set about kissing him thoroughly, running his fingers back through his hair in slow circles as he did. Tony made a low noise and curled his hands back around Steve’s neck, and his cock grew even hotter, slick and hard and needfully wet with precome as they kissed; Steve could feel it sliding hot against his stomach, so hard he half-wondered how far he could bring Tony toward climax just by kissing him with tongue.’’

Written work is all @cherryblossomsmist work, only the drawing and the description before the fic extract are mine .

#angryandanonymous #fanart #my artwork #616 tony stark #616 stony #iron man #stony art #tony stark art #616 steve rogers #616 tony #stony fanart #fanart of fanfiction #smut

[fedyarc]

ִ ࣪𖤐 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞: 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 ִ ࣪ ࣪𖤐

in which one cannot refrain from contemplating the heart of their beloved.

word account: 2.8k

a/n: who would have thought that organizing the text to make it aesthetically pleasing would be so laborious... i feel like it turned out off. also i feel that the concept could have been better developed, but here it is!

HE KEEPS DISTANCE WITH HIS HEART IN HANDS

truth be told, dazai more than anyone else, is profoundly scared when he notices signs of his own vulnerability. he too is deeply aware of this sicken behaviour of his, intimately familiar with it to an extent that it consumes him deeply. he, in fact, nourishes a significant time of his day to cultivate a state of meticulous awareness regarding his actions and portrayal of his image to others. doubts about what someone elses actions represent in a raw and pure manner, how his actions interfere with the overall situation and what could be done to achieve his goals in the moment continually weigh on his mind, always inserted in a circle of doubt and alienation. dazai consistently dissociates, whether consciously or not, from the life around him. this behavior is rooted in fear, and how could he not be scared?

he has grown accustomed to always representing and crafting an idea but not presenting originality to others. so, naturally, when dazai realizes how attached he is to someone, his initial response is to create distance, precisely due to his misunderstanding of what he feels—logically interpreted but never willing to act upon them emotionally. he conceptualizes what he should feel, though only supposing to understand his own emotions.

dazai maintains almost an imperceptible distance, hiding in the artificial warmth of his persona. not too distant to be unable to observe your essence and be continually enchanted by it, but rather with an unilateral seclusion to the point where there are brief moments in which he finds himself demonstrating an undisguised emotional frankness (unaccompanied by the usual dramatic antics he often presents to hide his yearnings) by your side. however, his candid emotional state is revealed through small acts. if you look closely enough or have keen perception, it is possible to observe his elusive face on nights when mutual silence is a comforting piece and see the small shattered fragments of his soul being illuminated with your shared reassuring company, while affection seeks to be offered and conveyed primarily through the embrace and caress of two primal lovers.

HIS AFFECTION COMES WITH A SENSE OF FRAGILITY

the hesitance of his actions towards you is not intentional. he fears not the fragility of your affection towards him, but rather fears himself, for the decay of his own being. he demonstrates unease not with your touch, instead with the consideration of how ineffective it is to offer his affection to someone who is already full of it. his love is suffocating, inconsolable, and always prone to the intensity of wanting more.

in these moments, dazai's depreciative thoughts resonate more intensely and frequently in his mind. his delays in arriving at work become more frequent, and sometimes, when he does arrive - after receiving an earful from kunikida and collapsing onto the agency's sofa - you can observe his longing gaze directed at a space that represents one of his lost memories.

on these days, his touch is more present and intense. his presence lingers around more frequently, and his hugs tend to last a little longer. during these times, make sure to subtly reassure his feelings, either by reciprocating the embrace and whispering that you appreciate dazai's efforts, or by stroking his hair while telling him that you are here as he listens to the beats of your heart.

the terrace was one of the places where dazai could be seen quite frequently. it was not uncommon to observe him in the café below the company, spinning uncontrollably in his office chair or lying on the organization's sofa, singing, and sometimes even trying to doze off (always with his random sleep masks). once, you remember, you were arriving early at the agency to prepare a mini welcome party for atsushi - nothing too big, just placing a cake on his table with some small decorations saying "welcome to the agency!" - and as you were about to turn on the lights, you saw a fallen body facing the floor. your first instinct, obviously, was to try to see who it was and what happened, yet as soon as you turned the presumed corpse, you heard an extremely loud and off-key "boooo" with two pairs of eyes (you swear that the eyes of his mask were something wicked) staring at you with a malefic smile. when you questioned him about why he was sleeping at the agency, he shrugged nonchalantly, saying that now kunikida can't say he is late for work. since then, you keep your guard up whenever turning on the lights when you arrive at the agency.

as you climbed the stairs to your destination, some thoughts echoed in your head, warning you that there was still time to give up on this and just leave the bento box on his table. with or without a note to adress the matter, it was irrelevant; you knew he would guess who had left that object on his desk. the important thing would be that you tried to do something, after all, with the bestest of intentions. at least that way, you would have avoided the embarrassing conversation that occurs when you give something to someone: the wait for their reaction, whether they liked it or not, and the anticipation.

if you went back now, you could grab any case from the agency - which, in reality, would be a pretty welcome action considering the pile of papers that had accumulated from cases to be resolved and some others bureaucracies to be finished, so many that you were sure you wouldn't have time for any interaction with this man at least until tomorrow.

but at the same time, you would love to see his reaction. at least the first 5 milliseconds in which his features would betray a hint of surprise before returning to their controlled spasms. you would like to make sure that dazai understood the meaning behind this action - that you truly care and worry about him. so, what other way would be more personal and sentimental than to deliver something made by you personally?

answer: none, or that's what you would like to think. and because of this logical and thoroughly explanation, you find yourself incredibly exasperated to open the terrace door.

this is usually the place where he accompanies you when you need to take some time to breathe or smoke (even though you abandoned that habit a while ago). it has a breathtaking view. as dusk descends, casting a soft glow upon the world, the scene transforms into a tapestry of mesmerizing beauty. sunlight dances playfully upon the windows of towering structures, painting them with hues reminiscent of stained glass, while distant clouds gather, adding depth to the canvas of the sky.

your favorite conversations with dazai take place in the orange dusk: laughter spills effortlessly into the air as the workday fades into memory, replaced by shared stories and witty banter that are usually accompanied by a small bottle of sake. yet, on evenings tinged with hues of purple, the atmosphere shifts; the air thickens with a sense of solemnity. each breath feels like a cool kiss upon fevered skin, a silent reward for surviving the tumult of the day. in these moments, silence reigns between you both, until weariness claims one, and usually, it's you who surrenders to the embrace of sleep.

"dazai?" you ask, searching for his figure in the place. you spot signs of your routine encounters: some soda cans left from your last meeting, which must have been just last week. there were also some plants he once bought while you were walking together. you remarked on their beauty, and he insisted they 'should receive the warmth of the sun and be accomplices in your next escapades' as he picked the flowers. it didn't last long until they died . the very next week, he appeared with the plastic version and stated, 'they are fine; it's too much of a bother to take care of living things anyway. besides, just don't leave a tortoise around them, and it will be okay.' while reminiscing, a voice wakes you up:

"the very same," he replies lightly, as you try to move towards the sound. he was lying on the ceiling that led to the entrance to the terrace, with his head resting in his hands, staring blankly at the sky. although you couldn't see much of his face, he seemed extremely tired. how long has it been since he slept properly? "what brings you here? don't tell me kunikida-san is missing me already."

"no, not him. i, uh, well," you cringe internally. how is it so difficult for a grown-up to say a full sentence without stuttering? "i've noticed your absence, and well, i'm not sure if i have the right to say this, so if this makes you uncomfortable somehow, do tell, but i… made you this," you say as he sits down. he looks rather perplexed and intrigued, and you are afraid you overstepped any boundaries as you hear him say.

"…what?" his tone is soft, and you're not even sure how you could hear him with how loudly your heart is beating.

"i've tried to prepare you a meal, but i'm aware that my culinary abilities are definitely… something… so do not feel compelled to eat all of this, especially if my cooking does not suit your taste. instead, see this as a reminder that it is important to eat correctly and, uh… i bought the lunch box because it has two crabs! funny, right? i think so. yeah," you ramble as you are met with silence. did he not enjoy it? his gaze was unsettling.

"here it is, do take care and have a… nice day?" you motioned for him to take the bento box from you as you placed the food next to his figure and left hurriedly without even waiting for his response.

taking a moment to scrutinize its contents, the aroma wafts tantalizingly to him, beckoning from afar. it's been an eternity since he savored a meal of such promise, he muses to himself.

"how interesting," he hums, reaching for the chopsticks neatly wrapped next to the food. as dazai unwraps them, he takes a bite of the meal and then glances up at the sky painted in shades of pink, the last remnants of sunlight casting a warm glow over the horizon. savoring another mouthful, he exhales contentedly, appreciating the serene beauty of the rosy sunset. smiling subtly, the man fondly touches the image of the two crabs playing volleyball on the lid of the bento box. "thank you for the meal," dazai murmurs, before returning his attention to his food.

HE IS PROTECTIVE OVER YOU

your well-being and safety are among his priorities. dazai, being who he is, obviously wouldn't explicitly show his intentions. and if he does, it would be in an exaggeratedly comical manner. his care is revealed through small gestures, like accompanying you in some field cases and ensuring that no great danger is lurking around you, changing your position on the street by your waist, brushing it off as he says that "it's easier for him to meet the serene lips of death if he's close to the street in case some merciful car fulfills his wishes," or by gently guiding you with his hands on your back as you pass through a crowded place. obviously, there are also occasions when his actions are expressed in a more expansive manner, such as:

the agency's thermostat broke and you're feeling cold? for some reason, after you head to the printer to retrieve some papers from the office and return to your desk, a cup of tea is resting right in the center of your table, which curiously happens to be your favorite flavor with the perfect amount of sweetness. sitting down to enjoy it more efficiently (and to avoid any possible spills on your files), before you can wonder how exactly this mysterious someone would know such personal details, you hear a familiar voice echoing behind you, where a comforting fragrance spreads through your nostrils emanating from the garment placed on your shoulder with a comfortable weight.

"my dearest bella, how dare you try to escape from this freezing world without me? no, no. you ought to be more serious! or was it your plan all along? if you truly desired my warm and affectionate embrace, all you had to do was ask nicely, and it would have been provided for you."

somehow, you forgot to check the weather forecast for the day and missed the fact that it was going to rain? worry not! that's actually the ideal situation for dazai to woo you as he accompanies you home.

''bella! heavens must have heard my pleadings for this moment, as they have granted me the pleasure of enjoying your company for a little longer. how disrespectful it would be to see you in this improper situation and leave you at the mercy of the weather… but you're in luck! as the incredible gentleman that i am, i shall accompany you to your destination. don't worry, i have the most effective tool against the rain, and look! there's enough space for both of us. i suggest, however, that you come a little closer – all your work would be wasted because of the rain, wouldn't it? it must be incredibly boring to have to redo your report because of the insensitive of the weather.''

HE ADMIRES YOU

the concept of admiration may manifest itself in numerous ways. it may be exhibited like icarus: who was passionately captivated by the brilliance and warmth of the sun, leading to his tragic downfall in the process of freeing himself, or like narcissus, who admired his own reflection with a profound magnetism responsible for allowing his obsession to flourish, ultimately leading to his tragic end. however selfish dazai assumes his actions may be and reveals himself to be, he admires you with an unfamiliar tenderness.

initially, dazai described the feeling your presence evoked in him as akin to the pressure of bandages encasing his skin. such an intense tightness, irrespective of its source, was markedly perceptible, serving as a signal that his blood circulation was indeed present and, to some extent, functional. due to the restrictive nature of this habit, dazai was able to sense his own heartbeat frequently, palpitating in various localizations providing him a suffocating reminder that he also exists. yet as time progressed since his previous analysis, the man noticed how misguided his initial assumption was.

the feelings you evoke in him are opposite to the ones reproduced with his bandages. they are however present in his daily life and despite inducing a certain pressure in his chest, are anesthetizing. it's even curious how each of your acts is capable of triggering a different reaction in him. your gaze, exchanged with clear surprise on your part – he presumes you didn't expect that upon meeting his gaze, you would discover he was also observing you. you definitely resemble a shrewd bunny, easily startled by abrupt movements. he smiles broader at this thought. your gaze elicits a more apparent heartbeat, one that takes him a good amount of time to control back to normal. his thoughts quickly race, trying to classify and analyze the motivation behind your charming behavior. all the certainty he had in the detailed construction of his image is slowly deconstructed by a mere gaze. your gaze.

"what, after all, do you see that arouses your fascination in me?" he ponders.

"oh, with your loving gaze, i succumb to the mortal sin of yearning for your attention. my, my, how insatiable you are. do you desire that i, too, provide you with the same?" dazai dramatizes.

among all your antics and delicate displays of care, his favorite one is, undoubtedly, your touch. even though the representative caress in the touch is not essentially an unknown idea to him, the feeling carried in the essence of such an action is an unfamiliar subject to the young man. how lovely it is to be able to feel your fingers tracing shapes on his face or to inhale your scent that wafts from your neck – a great choice of perfume, he thinks. it intrinsically represents how sweet your personality is, an angelic charm that dazai allows himself to be poisoned by more and more.

but unequivocally, his favorite moment beetween you both unfolds amidst the tranquil moonlit ambience of your shared room. to feel your breath gently grazing his skin, surrounded by your features bathed in the soft glow of the moon—a moment so full, so brimming with you, so vivid. perhaps this explains how he feels, like a celestial body illuminated by your glow, in an ecstasy provided only by another being—and if lucky enough, capable of reflecting the same brilliance that surrounds him.

taglist 𓏲𝄢 @lovedazai i hope this notif finds you well! srry by disturbing u in ur inbox tho and thank u soso much by your (in)direct encouragement for me to publish this! this means a lot to me \0/ )

#dazai x reader #dazai osamu #dazai x you #osamu x reader #bungou stray dogs

[pikahlua]

MHA Chapter 397 spoilers translations

This week’s initial tentative super rough/literal translations under the cut.

1 まったく気が滅入るぜ‼︎ まったくきがめいるぜ‼︎ mattaku ki ga meiru ze!! ”How absolutely depressing!!"

2 50も半ばを超えて 50もなかばをこえて 50 mo nakaba wo koete "I'm more than halfway through 50,"

tagline 1 躍動‼︎アーマードオールマイト‼︎ やくどう‼︎アーマードオールマイト‼︎ yakudou!! AAMAADO OORU MAITO!! Vibrant!! Armored All Might!!

3 幼気な青年をなぶるってのぁ‼︎ いたいけなせいねんをなぶるってのぁ‼︎ itaike na seinen wo naburu tte noa!! "and I'm tormenting a helpless young man!!"

tagline 2 No.397　ゴミ拾い　　堀越耕平 ナンバー397 ゴミひろい　　ほりこしこうへい NANBAA 397 GOMI hiroi   Horikoshi Kouhei No. 397 Picking up trash  Kouhei Horikoshi

4 貴様はOFAを手に入れる為"激しい怒り"を宿した きさまはオール・フォー・ワンをてにいれるため"はげしいいかり"をやどした kisama wa OORU FOO WAN wo te ni ireru tame "hageshii ikari" wo yadoshita For the sake of getting your hands on One For All, you [chose to] harbor a fierce rage.

5 そこに付け入る そこにつけいる soko ni tsukeiru I'm taking advantage of that.

6 それのみがこの戦いを唯一成立させる！ それのみがこのたたかいをゆいいつせいりつさせる！ sore nomi ga kono tatakai wo yuiitsu seiritsu saseru! That alone is what makes this battle work!

1 私と貴様の縁!!! わたしときさまのえにし!!! watashi to kisama no enishi!!! That connection between you and me!!!

2 魔王が聞いて呆れるぜ！ まおうがきいてあきれるぜ！ maou ga kiite akireru ze! "The Demon King will be shocked to hear!"

3 "無個性"でも戦れる程度とは‼︎ "むこせい"でもやれるていどとは‼︎ "mukosei" demo yareru teido to wa!! "The degree to which one can fight even when quirkless!!"

4-5 私から目が離せないくらい夢中にさせてやるよ‼︎ わたしからめがはなせないくらいむちゅうにさせてやるよ‼︎ watashi kara me ga hanasenai kurai muchuu ni sasete yaru yo!! I'll make you obsessed until you can't take your eyes off me!!

6 「発条化」＋「膂力増強」＋「押し出し」＋「鋲突」　「ダークボール」＋「光塵」 「バネか」＋「りょりょくぞうきょう」＋「おしだし」＋「びょうとつ」　「ダークボール」＋「こうじん」 「BANE ka」＋「ryoryoku zoukyou」＋「oshidashi」＋「byoutotsu」　「DAAKU BOORU」＋「koujin」 Springlike Limbs + Strength Enhancer + Air Cannon + Rivet Stab + Dark Ball + Light Dust

1 ボゴオ BOGOO Sound effect: BASH

1 …雑に組んだな…！ …ざつにくんだな…！ ...zatsu ni kunda na...! "...So sloppily combined...!"

2 ユーティリティマントオートガード"黒影" ユーティリティマントオートガード"ダークシャドウ" YUUTIRITI MANTO OOTO GAADO "DAAKU SHADOU" Utility Cloak Auto-Guard "Dark Shadow"

3 煽りが効いてる証拠 あおりがきいてるしょうこ aori ga kiiteru shouko It's proof my provocations are effective.

4 喋れ喋れ煽り続けろ俊典‼︎ しゃべれしゃべれあおりつづけろとしのり‼︎ shabere shabere aori tsudzukero Toshinori!! Keep on talking and fanning the flames, Toshinori!!

5 マント損壊 マントそんかい MANTO sonkai "Mantle damage:"

6 左上腕骨・鎖骨粉砕 ひだりじょうわんこつ・さこつふんさい hidarijou wankotsu ・ sakotsu funsai "Upper-left arm, clavicle smashed."

7 動作補助MAX‼︎ どうさほじょマックス‼︎ dousa hojo MAKKUSU!! "Operation assistance to max!!"

8 "戦えている"？何を勘違いしている…？ "たたかえている"？なにをかんちがいしている…？ "tatakaete iru"? nani wo kanchigai shite iru...? "'We're fighting'? What are you misunderstanding...?"

1 出涸らしのゴミクズが でがらしのゴミクズが degarashi no GOMIKUZU ga "You're washed-out garbage."

2 ゴミ袋を被ったら気が大きくなったか？ ゴミぶくろをかぶったらきがおおきくなったか？ GOMI bukuro wo kabuttara ki ga ookiku natta ka? "When you put on that garbage bag, did it make you feel uninhibited?"

3 あ？ a? "Huh?"

4 壊れて失うだけだ こわれてうしなうだけだ kowarete ushinau dake da "It'll only break apart and you'll lose it."

5 道具は それは sore (kanji: dougu) wa "That (read as: tool)"

6 限界を超えない げんかいをこえない genkai wo koenai "will not surpass its limits."

7 くれぐれも頼り過ぎることのないようにな くれぐれもたよりすぎることのないようにな kuregure mo tayori sugiru koto no nai you ni na Please don't rely on it too much.

8 アイテムを失ったら力が発揮できない アイテムをうしなったらちからがはっきできない AITEMU wo ushinattara chikara ga hakki dekinai If you lose your item, you won't be able to demonstrate your power.

9 そんなヒーローを私は多く見てきた そんなヒーローをわたしはおおくみてきた sonna HIIROO wo watashi wa ooku mite kita I've seen many heroes like that.

10 気が合うね親友… きがあうねしんゆう… ki ga au ne shinyuu... "We do get along, huh, my close friend..."

1 なんだ？少年 なんだ？しょうねん nanda? shounen What? Young man,

2 その棒切れ一本で勝つつもりだったのか？ そのぼうきれいっぽんでかつつもりだったのか？ sono boukire ippon de katsu tsumori datta no ka? were you planning to win with that one stick?

1 君の時間稼ぎに釣られたんじゃない きみのじかんかせぎにつられたんじゃない kimi no jikan kasegi ni tsuraretanja nai "I wasn't lured by you to buy time."

2 ゴミ拾いできる程ゆとりがあるんだよ僕には!!! ゴミひろいできるほどゆとりがあるんだよぼくには!!! GOMI hiroi dekiru hodo yutori ga arunda yo boku ni wa!!! "I have the leeway to be able to take out the trash!!!"

3 取り繕ってんじゃないよみっともない‼︎ とりつくろってんじゃないよみっともない‼︎ toritsukurottenja nai yo mittomonai!! "You're not keeping up appearances, you're [just] unseemly!!"

tagline 咆哮‼︎ ほうこう‼︎ houkou!! A roar!!

#my hero academia leak translations #mha 397 #bnha 397 #my hero academia manga spoilers #final showdown spoilers

[saintsenara]

1,8,18,21,22

thank you very much for the ask, @ashesandhackles. let's see how these go down...

[choose violence ask game here]

1. who is the character everyone gets wrong?

the last time i answered this question i said sirius - both fanon sirius and dark!sirius - and i stand by it, so this time, let's say... dumbledore.

and, actually, i think this for many of the same reasons which inspired my sirius answer. i really dislike dumbledore bashing, since it’s so frequently based in a complete misunderstanding of his character and the role he serves within the series’ narrative conventions - above all, the fact that the omniscient vibe he gives off in books 1-6 is not actually omniscience at all, as book 7 reveals; dumbledore doesn’t know that sirius is innocent, or that moody is barty crouch jr., or that kreacher is passing information to voldemort, because he’s just a human being. far too many criticisms of dumbledore don’t take this into account, ascribing to malice what is clearly just fallibility.

but, with this said, i dislike the anti-bashing turn in dumbledore-centric fics just as much, because many of these pair the idea that dumbledore is fallible (good and correct) with the idea that he is - for want of a better term - harry-ish. and this is just as bad a misreading of the character. dumbledore is not impulsive or reckless or radical - he holds radical views, but he does nothing to actually advance them in society (this is a man who is at the heart of the establishment for half a century, who does nothing with that power to dismantle the oppressive social structures which drive wizarding politics and prop up blood-supremacy). dumbledore is a hypocrite - he’s happy to be depended on by fudge, he is appalled that fudge might depend on lucius malfoy. dumbledore lives in an ivory tower. dumbledore projects his shame and self-loathing onto others in a way which is detrimental to their own happiness. and so on.

none of these things preclude dumbledore being courageous, but his ‘gryffindor courage’ is remarkably un-gryffindorish, and a lot of pro-dumbledore writing is surprisingly unwilling to confront this.

[also, there’s the other layer of pro-dumbledore writing i dislike - when authors make him hyper-whimsical. the man is stylish, rather than dressed like he ran into a charity shop and fell over. his sweet tooth is an incidental detail - and a trait which harry also shares - rather than his entire personality. he is not dithering and indecisive - he is a creature of inaction, but he tends to have settled on a single ‘right’ course very quickly in his mind. he is not silly. he is not a blushing fool in his relationships - all evidence is that he had just as much power over grindelwald as grindelwald had over him. he is not particularly emotionally demonstrative. he is physically strong. he is taller than voldemort. and, crucially, his mask of benign good humour is fake. all of his ‘whimsical’ traits are part of the act, the real dumbledore is ruthless and damaged and a nerd who loves reading and it’s iconic. let him be that way.]

8. what is the common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about?

there is no such thing as canon compliance.

by which i mean that ‘canon compliant’ is a useful tag to have on ao3 as an indicator of chronology - it’s a good shorthand for ‘the people who die in the series will die in this fic too’, ‘the main events which happen in the books will be mentioned here’, and so on. but i’m not sure that i think it goes beyond that.

and the reason for that, is that i have never seen anything which purports to be canon compliant beyond chronology - including my own work - which actually is.

there are several reasons for this:

the first is something which, if you’ve read other posts on this blog, you will know is a common refrain of mine - that the series is bound by specific genre conventions. if authors are transferring the action into a genre different from the ones the series makes use of, they are not writing something which is canon compliant, but canon coherent.

the second is that if authors are filling in gaps which are missing from the series - above all, the marauders-era or post-war-pre-epilogue timeline - they are doing something which is materially no different from writing a non-canon ship. i.e. writing exactly what they want. if your fic is crammed with original characters, or your marauders listen to cool muggle music, or you’ve spent more than twenty seconds thinking about the wizarding political or legal system then i love that for you - this is good and everyone should do it. but it’s not canon compliant. it’s canon coherent.

the third - and undoubtedly most controversial - is that you cannot write something canon compliant and hold the principle that the author is dead. because we know exactly how jkr thinks that canon should be interpreted, and this is often in ways which are - to borrow a phrase from ursula le guin - rather ethically mean-spirited. jkr’s views on fairness, violence, class, motherhood, love, and - of course - gender weave themselves into the narrative in ways which cannot simply be written off as ‘oh, it’s just harry’s perspective.’

i believe we have a moral imperative to know what she thinks and to interrogate the ways in which this appears in the canon text. i also think - obviously - that we don’t have to agree with what she thinks in order to write things which feel close to canon. and i don’t agree with her - not only when it comes to her views on trans people, which are actively harmful - but also when it comes to things like the fact that she’s clearly someone who’s rather vindictive, but who believes that this vindictiveness is really a strong sense of fairness (look, for example, at the dichotomy between how the text presents violence against people it thinks ‘deserve’ it - harry using the cruciatus curse on amycus carrow being a great example, neither harry, nor mcgonagall, nor the narrative give a fuck - and those it thinks don't). or the fact that her own experience of both motherhood and daughterhood - an experience which was clearly very traumatic for her (her mother died of multiple sclerosis, her first husband was violent towards her, she has an extremely difficult relationship with her father) - drives the series’ prioritisation of sacrificial motherhood, criticism towards mothers who don’t make their children the focus of their entire world, and certain coolness towards fathers (especially absentee ones - who will be blamed by the narrative for being murdered by their own sons). or the fact that she has extremely narrow views on cisgender women, even before her views on trans women are taken into account, which turn up again and again in how female characters we are not supposed to be sympathetic towards are written.

i am not, of course, suggesting that writing a fic which is heavily based in canon means that an author supports jkr’s views. what i am saying instead is that fics which engage with questions such as how harry understands violence against the bad guys in ways which go beyond ‘lol, lmao’ or which write lavender as a person whose fondness for stereotypical femininity doesn’t make her insubstantial or which point out that the narrative blaming merope gaunt for dying directly justifies everything voldemort believes are canon coherent.

and, actually, i think that this broader term - canon coherent - is a better one to talk about the non-chronological aspects of canon compliance. because the dividing line between canon compliant fics and canon divergent ones is incredibly arbitrary, and often doesn’t take into account how close to canon the writing in otherwise canon divergent stories often is. after all, if someone writes a story in which harry feels exactly like his canon self, except that the romantic partner he ends up with isn’t ginny, that is arguably more canon compliant than a piece of happy-ever-after hinny in which ginny is a doormat who gives up her career to be harry’s bang maid and harry speaks like he’s had twenty years of therapy. but only one of these pieces will be welcomed onto canon compliant rec-lists and into canon compliant discussion spaces.

[and it’s worth mentioning that plenty of canon compliant only spaces do allow flexibility - above all in being open to interpretations of characters such as james, harry, and hermione in which they are not white. this is good and they should continue to do this, but we can go further, especially in accepting queer interpretations of the main characters into canon compliant discussion.]

i also think - and i’m aware this may sound cruel - that thinking in terms of canon coherence, rather than compliance and divergence, would be good for everybody’s ego. i can acknowledge that plenty of people who diverge from canon can be dicks about it - and i think that the criticism people who prefer the canon endgame ships often get for being ‘boring’ (and, in the case of ships such as remadora, ‘homophobic’) is bullshit - but the canon compliant girlies (gender neutral) are, in many cases, no better. it is not harder to write something ‘canon compliant’ - not least because, as discussed, you’re not - and it is not evidence of an author engaging more seriously with the text and its themes. there is a tendency i have noticed in the fandom spaces i inhabit, many of which feature people whose preference is for the canon ships etc., for non canon pairings to be treated as - essentially - crack ships, especially in stories which are light or whimsical in tone. but when i say that writing on tomarry or snarry or snack or snapemort or drarry or riddledore or wolfstar or what have you can deliver characterisation and worldbuilding and narrative construction which feels infinitely more plausible than many ‘canon compliant’ pieces of writing, i mean this entirely seriously.

and i think it would be good if the dividing line which leads many people to say ‘i don’t read canon divergent fics’ or ‘i don’t read canon compliant fics’ was instead blended into a preference for fics which are canon coherent or otherwise. we would all learn something.

18. it’s absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on…

delphini.

another reason why canon coherence over canon compliance is valuable is it means that one can pretend the cursed child doesn’t exist.

but i would like to make a case for the fact that delphini as a concept (so, nothing like the way she’s written in that play…) makes sense and is a character i’d like to see added to more stuff. she works within both voldemort and bellatrix’s canonical arcs, she gives rodolphus something to do post-war after he spends canon being futile, imagine how funny it would be if teddy had a crush on her, george-michael and maeby style (truly les cousins dangereux), imagine how funny it would be if she is the spitting image of her muggle grandfather and her dad’s having a crisis every time he sees her, imagine her trying to parent trap voldemort and bellatrix into actually falling in love…

you can do serious things with her too - in fact, i have - but, as someone who thinks anything is improved by someone spindly and vaguely sinister, i think she’s a hoot and she deserves to turn up in more things.

21: what part of canon do you think is overhyped?

my eyes were bone dry when dobby-ex-machina died.

22: what is your favourite part of canon, which everyone else ignores?

that harry is a luxury boy. let my man buy his solid gold cauldron, hagrid, don’t be a narc.

[in general, i don't love versions of harry which show him as really abstemious or austere - he's pretty careless with his possessions and he doesn't regard the expensive things he owns as something to be unusually protective over. in his adulthood, he's 100% making sure his shed is stocked with the best brooms on the market and buying himself a little treat whenever he's feeling spenny.]

#choose violence ask game #albus dumbledore #is chill and i'll defend him #canon compliant #is bullshit #delphini riddle #is real #all the takes this morning #asks answered

[rubyvroom]

Oppenheimer certainly is a movie

So I did see this and to its credit I am giving it some thought afterwards. There is a movie inside this movie that is actually pretty good; however, some Decisions were made that obscure this fact.

It is ultimately a Great Man film, and it stood a chance to do an interesting variation on the Great Man film where the Great Man is also the villain of the film. It actually feints at this in ways that I think are extremely interesting, but undermines it structurally in a way I think is detrimental to the film regardless of my opinions on its subject.

The ending, for example, is where Christopher Nolan just cannot help putting in a clever "oh the irony" moment to leave you wow'ed, but it is so transparently doing this that it makes you look back in annoyance at the previous 3 hours.

This invented conversation between Einstein and Oppenheimer that Nolan had to conceal from us earlier in the film to bring back at the last minute so that the viewer can think, oh wow! Of course that conversation was not what Strauss imagined it was at all, he was as a paranoid narcissist assuming they were talking about him rather than reciting the theme of the film out loud for us! It was all a misunderstanding! How tragic!

But why do that? Other than the wow, what is this accomplishing? What is this investigation/hearing structure that we spend much of the run-time of the film in accomplishing? It gives the film a structure that allows us to jump around in time, but what did we get out of this other than last minute reveals? Why did he make it this way?

Well, this is the way to have a film about J Robert Oppeheimer with a villian who is not J Robert Oppenheimer.

So you have Strauss in that role, and honestly, he is played so magnetically by Robert Downey Jr that it almost works. You basically go with it for 2 hours and 50 minutes or so. Because unlike the protagonist of this film he has agency. He is making decisions. He has convictions that he will explain and demonstrate. He's the character making the film go, more or less.

Oppenheimer does none of those things. He is a passive player in his own story. Which is a Decision in this movie, and a big one. Especially if you look through all the contradictions to actual history.

In this movie Oppenheimer really doesn't wrestle with any moral quandries, he does not make difficult choices. The Manhattan Project is a task he is uniquely suited to, as he is to nothing else, as though he is forged for this and only this purpose. Oppenheimer is less an archer than an arrow loosed at the target of the Trinity Tests and left there quivering ever after. It's an inevitability. He does it because it's what he does, what he was always going to do. As a main character he's not so different from the Tenet protagonist in this way. Just like Tenet, this movie is a clockwork propelling the Great Man where he needs to be.

The film absolves Oppenheimer in this way, treating him as swept along by the forces of history rather than making moral decisions. And hell, maybe that's how it actually happened - humans frequently blunder into moral quagmires without planning to. We avoid thinking about the inconvenient truths and wrestling with cognitive dissonance all the time. On top of that, Oppenheimer himself gets a special dispensation for being a Scientist, with zippy quantum physics imagery flashing in his head all the time. How can we expect him to focus on the real world implications of his fancy science? (Except real world logistics is actually the thing he is accomplished in, as we see in the whole section where he designs the Los Alamos project. He didn't actually discover the principals of the bomb, or design the bomb himself. He's not Einstein. He's not even Niels Bohr. He's a project manager. An extremely good one! But let's ignore that, the movie wants us to think flashy Science Visions when we think of Oppie, so okay.) Anyway, we try with a few briefly shown newspaper covers to assign a motive to the man's drive. His Jewish identity gets some lip service, without much conviction or, y'know, actual onscreen depiction. The Nazis are a distant abstraction, less immediate than the lurking communists at every corner. Watch out for the commies, Oppie! They're the ones actually on his street corner, while Nazis are literally represented as a couple headlines. Obviously none of those things really matter. In the end he builds the bomb because he can, because he can do it faster than anyone else and pretty much instantaneously upon realizing it's possible he is mentally committed to the task. It is his destiny and his terrible duty. It has to be him. He is a homing missile. A bomb.

THAT movie is interesting, actually.

I find that part of the movie weirdly compelling, and if they had leaned into that angle I feel like it could have been a great film? If they had only mentioned a few more similar incidents to the cyanide apple, played out his violent tendencies, and contrasted to a genuine love of science -- and what exactly does he love about it, really? -- where does that get us? How does power use people like that? What does it do with them afterwards?

But most of this movie is not that.

Most of this movie is Oppenheimer being unfairly persecuted for being friends with communists, which is presented as an example of scientist as a naive babe in the woods rather than the savvy political operator he actually was in real life. And if you are not pearl-clutching at the thought of talking to commies, this entire plot thread feels incredibly overblown. It's so much of that three hours, you guys. So much. Oppie can't get his security clearance, Oppie is losing his security clearance, wow that's so unfair, and any sense of urgency of what he actually needs this clearance FOR ten years after the war is really underbaked. And honestly whenever they jettison that theme and cover literally anything else, the film comes back to life again -- the Los Alamos/Trinity section in the middle is gripping, his Girlfriend 1 and Girlfriend 2 show actual signs of life in the brief crumbs of onscreen time they are given -- but it's so vastly outnumbered by the time spent in board rooms and congressional hearings.

The purpose of which? The real thesis of this movie, which is that J Robert Oppenheimer was ultimately too naive to understand that the bomb he was making would be used to bomb somebody.

And the nation, represented by Robert Downey Jr (lol) is happy to discard him afterwards. Like I get that's the theme we're working with here. But the movie is none too interested in looking more closely at the why and the how of that discard; Oppenheimer's actual actions after the war are largely elided, as are Strauss's. No context. Oppenheimer's actual political convictions are murky. That would give him agency, you see, and the movie wants a passive martyr (and uses that word incessantly to boot). So our villian is Strauss, an ambitious and vindictive man, in opposition to our pure scientist Oppenheimer, who spent most of his career in Washington while, somehow, lacking any ambition or political opinions at all.

Really, did we need this movie? Yes, it's nice to have adult films with people talking and not punching. The craft is there. It's well made and well-acted, to varying degrees. I like looking at Cillian Murphy's face, and Nolan leans on that smartly. It's most vital sequence (the trinity test) is very good, and so is the scene where he hallucinates the cheering audience after the Hiroshima bombing melting in a radioactive flash.

But honestly? When your key sequence was mic-dropped by David Lynch six years ago, did we need this? What for? Can we have a real discussion now about Hiroshima and Nagasaki? That's the one real utility of this film and one we really have not seen come to fruition. Imagine a version of this film where that conversation between Einstein and Oppenheimer is not a gotcha but a catalyst for a real, raw and jaw-dropping look at how the world was warped by The Bomb. I guess for that we have to go to someone like David Lynch, and not Christopher Nolan.

#rubyvroom watches movies #oppenheimer #film #oscars #inb4 Oscars Discourse and now I can ignore it hooray #I did not read anything about this movie because I avoid film bros as much as possible

[ivyial]

Reading one of your answers, I noticed that you wrote “Leon has a crush” and while I was playing the game, I also had such thoughts because a man cannot behave like that if he does not feel something. Can you please explain how you were convinced of this?

hi there!! i'm so very late to this ask i'm sorry :,)

so i'm gonna try and retrace the steps of how i realised that (from a year or so ago lolol). one thing you have to know about me before we begin is that i cannot recognise flirting for SHIT LMAOAOAO like genuinely. it is BAD. i am seriously socially impaired in that department.

when i played re4r last year, i had not played the og re4 (i still haven't, as a matter of fact). so i went into it relatively blind, with no opinion about leon/ashley (it did not seem like a big enough ship that people were ever giving their opinions on it, apart from the 'overtime' part in the og). i knew a bit about ashley, and how annoying a big chunk of the fandom found her in the og, and that was about it.

ashley flirting with leon in the game was somewhat obvious. the "i think you'd look pretty dashing" line was a big giveaway, although other than that, she doesn't actually make any big move on leon (sure, she offers him to become part of her security detail at the end, but yeah).

HOWEVER.

the dining hall scene happened - leon telling ashley "i'm not used to having such good company"???? that definitely made go 💡!!!

also, if you go back to chapter 9, after ashley's playable section, she finds leon again in the cage, and he says to her "can you make it down? i can catch you". i didn't find his words odd, but i found his tone extremely specific. if you go back and listen, it doesn't exactly sound like a matter-of-fact offer. it sounds like an incentive, but i wasn't so sure whether it was more for ashley's benefit or his own. he just sounds so bashful saying it and he's smiling. maybe that's just me, but i definitely found his tone suggestive in that scene. at the time i just shrugged it off as me misunderstanding tone (as it happens sometimes).

i originally was not predisposed to seeing them as a couple, since i'd never really seen the possibility of it being evoked in the modern RE fandom. i was more of a cleon girlie at the time too (i still am, but not as much nowadays). so i finished the game for the first time thinking "aw, leon and ashley had such a great dynamic, he's very supportive of her and kind, they're a great (platonic) fit". but then, you know, there was still the flirting initiated by ashley, the flirting (?) initiated by leon, and that unusual tone that he had in chapter 9.

so i didn't really see the bigger picture until i read the leshley/eagleone posts written by @sapphire-weapon (if you haven't checked her blog out yet, you have to, not just for her leon/ashley posts, but even for her general meta analyses which are absolutely brilliant). and then, i started putting it together, noticing the instances of leon flirting with ashley, some of which i'd missed, the structure of the story, etc.

and from there, well. you realise how well leon and ashley work together, even in a platonic setting, and you add their occasional flirting, as well as the DINING HALL SCENE??? which to me is a massive giveaway and is one of the things that convinced me the most apart from their literal interactions. room with red wallpaper, a statue of two snakes that could either be fighting or, well, fucking lmao (i also don't need to explain the phallic symbol there), the queen/king paintings, and the fact that this is one of the few rooms in this game where they are not interrupted by any enemies. it's a very private setting + "well, yeah, but i'm not used to having such good company".

leon's crush is also demonstrated through the way ashley pulls out a softer side of him.

you can see in chapter 13 (when he calls out for her from the other side of the cell - if you listen closely, it sounds like nick apostolides is reverting back to re2 leon's voice for that line).

there is also quite a bit of (sometimes unnecessary) physical contact between the two, which is almost always initiated by leon (it might even always be him). see: the way he holds on to her just a bit too long after catching her when she jumps out of the church window + the way they look at each other (chapter 5), right after escaping the ganados and joining luis in the villa (chapter 5), comforting ashley in the castle (chapter 9), and most importantly, checking on her after opening the cell and letting his fingers trail along her arms etc. (chapter 13) and (not physical contact but intended) the way he manages to break saddler's hold to reach for ashley when saddler touches her head on the altar (chapter 15). and i mean, he carries her bridal style multiple times (either catches her when she jumps or carries her like that on the way to the lab) (that in itself is also for the sake of practicality, but it adds to it).

taken separately, these events would probably not mean anything, but when you look at it all together, you realise that leon's feelings for ashley run deeper than just professionalism. i don't think he has to act like that - or at least, not if capcom just wanted them to be PURELY PLATONIC PURELY SIBLING CODED as one part of the fandom shouts all day long

this is a very long answer but yeah!! i hope this answers your question. btw, feel free to send me more leon/ashley asks!! i'd love to answer them :3

#leshley #eagleone #leon kennedy #ashley graham #leon x ashley #resident evil #resident evil 4 #re4 #resident evil 4 remake

[floralewrites]

Hi. How do you think Levi'd act if his wife gave him the silent treatment after an argument (he lashed out on her or they both had a misunderstanding or they both yelled at each other) and later the same day found her crying silently in their room and tried to hide her tears? Headcanons please.

🌹 He absolutely hates it when you give him the silent treatment.

🌹 He keeps up a rather unaffected facade but deep down guilt eats away at him.

🌹He respects your boundaries, so he opts to give you some space in worry of upsetting you if he says anything further.

🌹He recounts your little spat a million times in his head wondering where things went wrong and if he could have said anything differently. If he hadn’t snapped, you wouldn’t be so far from his reach now. You wouldn’t be ignoring his presence.

🌹He’s really not the best with words, at least words that reveal his vulnerability. He wants to so badly apologise and tell you how much you mean to him, how you keeping your distance is affecting him. He just doesn’t know what to say.

🌹Impromptu hallway run ins are really awkward for the both of you. Both of you wanting to say something to the other, but not allowing yourselves to in fear of upsetting the other further.

🌹So he decides to grab your attention the way he knows best. A language which he does speak. Action. He will do acts of service here and there to demonstrate that even if you aren’t talking to him, even if you choose to ignore him like a mere fly on the wall, you still have him. He’s still here. He still has your back no matter what.

🌹He will cover you with a blanket when you’re asleep. He will prepare breakfast for you in the mornings. He will clean your room and organise your belongings. Take on your extra paperwork when you’re asleep so you wake up and its done. Patch up your wounds. Wash your hair and body when you’re too battered and tired to even move. He loves you and he shows you he does in all these subtle ways.

🌹“You don’t have to talk to me, just don’t avoid me.” Is all he says.

🌹And with that your heart swells and tears well up in your eyes. You can’t keep this up any longer.

🌹“I’m sorry!” “I apologise.” You both say in unison.

🌹The look he gives you is one of longing, sadness and relief. God he missed your voice. He just grabs you and pulls you in a hug.

🌹“Levi, Im sorry for the way I’ve acted I should’ve-“

🌹“Tch, i don’t even care about that, brat.” His embrace tightens. “I’m just glad you’re speaking to me again.”

🌹Your eyes widen as you return the hug.

🌹“I’m not the best with words y/n, and i can’t promise this will change, but i will do whatever possible to work on-“

🌹Your turn to hush him now. You pull him into a kiss and hug him impossibly tight.

🌹Whatever it was that transpired between you two was a non issue for now, you had a lot of missed quality time to make up for.

#headcanons #levi ackerman #attack on titan #shingeki no kyoujin #shingeki no kyojin #levi ackerman x reader #levi x reader #levi ackerman x you #levi ackerman x fem!reader #levi ackerman x female reader #fluff #imagines #shingeki no kyojin imagines #shingeki no kyoujin fluff #shingeki no kyoujin headcanons #aot #snk #attack on titan headcanons #anonymous