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wen-kexing-apologist · 2 days

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Unknown, Ep 11: To Grow Taller

Alright y’all, I just want to say that I am not super thrilled with how Episode 11 went. I felt like they completely obliterated the emotional build up to the change over after they did such a great job of navigating it in Episode 10.

So as much as there were some lovely images of hands, I’m not that interested in writing about it. So it is time, it is time to do the thing I should have done long ago.

It is time to write about Lili and San Pang.

Hands down my favorite part of this episode (and probably one of my favorite scenes of the series) was seeing the two of them interact, of seeing more of Lili’s inner workings, of understanding that she knows more than she lets on. I loved Yuan telling Qian that Lili is smart, and I loved the proud little smile Qian had when he heard that.

The most important scene in this episode, to me, starts with the height wall. That thing has been causing me psychic damage since episode one. It pans down to Lili. I like how long the camera lingers on her eyes. Lili has seen everything that has happened in their lives and she’s been spared from a lot of the violence, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t beared witness to it.

I was really struck by her words to San Pang:

“When we were little, Qian was always there to help us with everything we did. He would measure our height every year. I always wondered when I could grow taller than him. Then I could protect him.”

I know we have seen Lili constantly take a back seat in this story. We have seen her even acknowledge Qian’s focus on Yuan multiple times throughout the show. We don’t see her doing as much for Qian as Yuan does. She doesn’t know how to wrap up leftovers, she’s not a great cook, she doesn’t try to pay the household bills. But that’s because she loves Qian like a sister does, she’s got a secure position in the household, she’s not trying to be Qian’s partner, and it is a testament to Qian’s love for Lili that she does not know how to do some of the basic life things, because it means that she’s been so well taken care of she hasn’t been forced to learn.

There are all these little elements scattered across the series that show Qian’s love for Lili. The picture on his desk at home is of him, Yuan, and Lili at Qian’s graduation. He has the magazine she’s featured in on display. He immediately softens on his anger towards her relationship with San Pang when she asks him to go on a family vacation.

She has seen how much Qian has suffered, and she loves Qian enough to want to shield him from any more harm.

And San Pang is so lovely in this scene, with his head resting on the stair railing, a sleepy look of love on his face as he stares at Lili. I love the way San Pang smiles to himself when she tells him this. Because Qian is family to San Pang and San Pang is family to Qian. San Pang loves Qian and wants what is best for him always. And I do think there is a difference there between the soft, dreamy, comfortable expression he has when looking at the woman he loves, and the small smile that lights up his eyes at the thought of Lili loving her brother enough to want to protect him.

Lili’s face is serious, and she does not always look in San Pang’s direction when she talks:

“Even though he is a few years older than us, his hands are always covered in scars and calluses.” Lili tells the ground. It’s interesting to me to see when she is comfortable enough reviving a memory to look San Pang in the eyes because she doesn’t do so until partway through her hand cream story:

“One year, I took the hand cream my classmates gave me” she looks at San Pang “and rubbed it on his hands at midnight.”

The camera cuts to San Pang who is listening to Lili absolutely enraptured by her. And I do have to commend the show for how they have navigated Lili and San Pang’s relationship change. In very few frames, with little fanfare or flare they have made San Pang and Lili’s relationship clear, understandable, and believable. We’ve had like, two minutes of them together up through now, and all I need to believe these two will be together forever is all in the way that San Pang looks at Lili. That man is not only head over heels in love with Xiao Bao, he’s ass over tea kettle in love with her as well.

“He scolded me for it. Do you know why?”

“I do.” San Pang says with a smile. And I love that because we remember that San Pang and Qian have grown up together. San Pang has been helping take care of Qian and the rest of the family for years. You know in the way that San Pang smiles that he is remembering Qian as a young man complaining about Lili lotioning his hands in the middle of the night. Hell, I can picture Qian’s rant right now. “Because it smelled like roses.”

Lili laughs and covers her face in embarrassment. “That’s right.”

But like a lot of scenes in this show, the transition from lighthearted to more serious changes on a dime. Lili’s face slips back in to a frown as she turns over a thought. “Nobody cares about Qian.”

And this is what it feels like sometimes, with how stubborn Qian is, with how much weight he wants to carry for himself, with how much debt he owes to the likes of Le, Xiong, and San Pang. But they don’t expect repayment, they did this because they care about Qian. San Pang has helped Qian weather many many storms. He has pushed when Qian needed pushing, he has pulled when Qian needed to be held back.

“Yes, they do. We all love your brother.”

Qian has so much love in his life, if only he stopped long enough to see it. If only he let go long enough to feel it. I was not thrilled with how they fumbled so much of the emotional weight of Qian and Yuan getting together in this episode, but I am glad the show took time to highlight how much they all love Qian and to show the audience that they want to protect Qian just as much as Qian wants to protect the rest of them.

All this to say San Pang and Lili work incredibly well together as a couple, and I’m so happy that we got to have this little moment between them, both to breathe a bit more life in to their relationship and to remind us all that Yuan is right. Lili is not as naive as she seems.

All gifs by the lovely, wonderful, marvelous @wanderlust-in-my-soul. THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU ARE THE BEST <3

#this scene is so important to me #I have been severely neglecting talking about Lili and San Pang and that sin ends today #unknown #unknown the series #unknown the series ep 11 #unknown the series analysis #unknown the series meta #san pang #wei lili #xiao bao #san pang x wei lili #she loves her brother so much #she sees what he has done for her and for their family #she hoped to one day be big and strong enough to protect him #i was so close to crying about it y'all

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whereismyhat5678 · 4 months

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HOLY. SHIT.

I don’t even wanna separate these?? TAKE THE WHOLE SHEET I’M SO PROUD OF IT WHAT????

I was playing around with expressions and OMG, I think I unlocked something???

It was mostly from yesterday’s post, I liked the way I drew Pizza Head so I decided to try drawing him again (since it’s been a while) AND GOD I LOVE THESE‼️‼️‼️ Seriously started out rough but then I just kind rolled with it! I like it! I like it a lot‼️ 😆😆

Also since I drew Brick yesterday as well, I decided to change the way I draw him, just a bit 🤏

Today was so fun AAAHHH!!!! 💞💞💞💞💞💞

#Pizza Tower #Looking at these so proud 😌😌#I was on the coach for what- 3 hours? It was worth it- 💀#I think the way I’ll draw Brick for now on is what he looks like in game but the legs look just a TINY bit like baggy pants #Like have you ever seen animated animals have those legs that look baggy and the feet underneath #I’ve seen it somewhere I know I have but I don’t have a good example…Still I tried to make it look sorta like that-#And I like it! I think he’s looks adorable!! 😄😄💕💕#For Pizza Head I wanted to give more life in his expressions and poses #I think I did it well enough before hand but I want to express MORE of it #Like the better parts of it- Him looking smug him looking angry him looking annoyed etc #I like the one I colored and the one where he’s singing to himself- THAT one I had fun with he looks great 😂#I also like the one where he’s doing a raspberry #I did that one without a sketch!!#I’m basically trying to focus more on the expressions I think. I had the most fun with them and that’s the thing that made me realize I #need to put more life into him. He needs to be flexible #Sorry if I rambled to much- 😅 Just spilling my ideas. Hope you don’t mind 😂#Doodles #Pizza Head #Brick #Gustavo #Gustavo and Brick

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elliesflower · 1 year

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i saw you in a dream [5]

summary; you attend ellie's open mic performance. and meet her...roommate.

chapter; 5/? 3.1k words

cw (per chapter); recreational marijuana usage, language

an; hi lol. i love u guys, thank you endlessly for dealing with my slow updating of this story. anyways, i think this may be my favorite chapter yet, please let me know what you think! i love a good cliffhanger ;) (as always, find it on ao3 here)

chapter 4 here

Friday came entirely too quickly—you breezed through your last final exam on Thursday, which left you way too much time to anxiously anticipate your upcoming…event.

“Date!” Dina exclaimed. “Ellie asked you to go because she likes you, it’s practically a date,” she singsonged, twirling a piece of hair around her finger childishly.

“Yes, because I’m sure we’ll have so much time to talk one-on-one and gaze longingly into each other’s eyes in between performances,” you replied sarcastically, continuing to rummage through your closet. “And, you don’t know that she likes me, maybe she just asked me because I was right there.”

“Okay, for someone so smart, sometimes you’re a little stupid,” Dina said, and you shot her the most evil side eye you could manage. “Ellie may or may not like you like that, but she likes you enough to invite you to something that sounds personal and important to her. This is your in! Now, you just have to get flirty.”

“‘Get flirty?’ Do you even know me at all?” You scoffed, turning to face her. “I am, like, the most awkward human being on the planet.”

“Okay, I take it back,” Dina laughed, standing up. “Let’s just focus on finding you an outfit.”

“What the hell do you even wear to an open-mic?” You complained, turning back to continue looking through your closet.

“You could wear something of mine, if you want,” she suggested.

“Uh, no thank you,” you smiled, pulling out a plain black mock-neck from the depths of your closet, turning around and holding it up to your chest.

“Hey!” Dina gasped. “What’s wrong with my clothes?”

“No offense, but I don’t really think…whatever look you have going on is the one for me.” It’s not that you didn’t like the way Dina dressed, rather, you really did like it—but expressing yourself through clothing had always been hard for you, sticking to more muted tones, blacks and greys. Dina’s wardrobe was loud and colorful, she always looked so put together, and she never seemed to wear the same thing twice. You admired it, really, but still found yourself gravitating towards more basic clothing.

“Whoever said saying ‘no offense’ actually makes a statement any less offensive needs their ass beat, to be honest,” she replied casually, and you could hear her sorting through hangers in her own closet. “Just try this, at least. It would look nice with that shirt, I promise!” She was shoving a colorful chunky-knit cardigan into your hands before you could protest, and you grimaced.

“I don’t know Dee,” you held up the sweater, contemplating. “I never wear stuff like this.”

“Just put the damn sweater on and let’s go!” She smiled at you. “Don’t you want good seats?”

You rolled your eyes, but went to look in the mirror nonetheless. “As if there’ll be a fight for front row seats at a college open-mic.”

“Oh perfect,” she sighed exaggeratedly before rummaging in her desk drawer. “Then you agree, you have time to split this with me before we leave?” She held up a small, white tube, and you pursed your lips.

“Okay, fine,” you gave in, quickly pulling your shirt off over your head before pulling on the black long-sleeve.

“Just one hit.”

—

You did not, in fact, take just one hit. It was more like four. Or five…or six, or who could keep track, really?

It seemed like a good idea, a little something to take the edge off, maybe soothe the bundle of nerves that had formed in your stomach and in your brain and in your chest at the thought alone of seeing Ellie—god forbid, having to make conversation with her.

And while it did help a little, you hadn’t smoked as much as Dina, so it still felt as though your heartbeat grew louder with each step toward the theater. All that stood between you and Ellie—and, well, a handful of other attendees and performers—was a short corridor.

“It’ll be okay, just chill out,” Dina tried to subdue you, and her voice was thickened by her intoxication, slower and almost more serious. Her eyes were low as she smiled over at you, bumping into your shoulder softly.

“Thank you, Dina, because telling someone to chill out always works so well,” you quipped, shaking your head as she led you through the doors. Though, you did try to chill out, as it were, taking a deep breath and sliding the sleeves of the oversized cardigan up your forearms, nervously tugging at the neck of your long sleeve, fidgeting with anything you could think of to distract you from—

“Oh!” You exclaimed as you ran directly into a body around the corner, staggering backwards slightly before someone was gripping your arms, keeping you steady. Your eyes trailed up the body before you were met with—oh god, “Ellie!”

“We have to stop meeting like this,” she laughed melodically, smoothing her hands down your biceps before flashing her teeth at you. The chatter of the other attendees faded into the background as you felt your body heat up under her stare, painfully aware of her hands that were still on your arms.

You could do nothing but let out an awkward laugh in response, nodding your head as she took her hands away. Dina cleared her throat obnoxiously from behind you and you turned your head to give her a look that you hoped conveyed: please for the love of god save me.

“Hi, I’m Dina by the way, or you probably know me as ‘the roommate,’” she said, sticking out her hand past you for Ellie to shake, and you had to admire her confidence for a second, the way she could unapologetically be herself in any situation. You’d think that from spending so much time with her, some of that confidence would have rubbed off on you, but no, you were still just…you.

“Nice to meet you, Dina,” Ellie smiled, and her voice was laced with honey, rich and slow spilling from her lips. She reached her hand past you to shake Dina’s, and you moved out of the way slightly.

“I’ve heard so much about you,” Dina dropped her hand and stood next to you now. You looked over at her in shock, and you hoped the shaking of your head and wide eyes weren’t noticeable.

“Uh, not so much,” you laughed nervously, trying to subtly kick Dina’s ankle.

“Wow, you really do have that guitar player look to you,” she ignored you, gesturing to Ellie. “I love the tattoo!”

Your eyes were daggers glaring into the side of Dina’s head, but neither her or Ellie seemed to notice—though it was debatable whether that was good or bad. Ellie chuckled, instinctively looking down at her arm and holding it out as if to show it off. You felt like sinking into the floor, watching her arm flex as she rotated it, skimming her fingers down the length of her forearm, tracing the pattern.

“Thank you,” she was slightly bashful, despite her eagerness to show off. She caught your eye for a moment and—were her cheeks turning red? It is pretty warm in here with all these bodies…yeah, that’s it.

“Well, anyways, nice to finally meet you Ellie, I’m gonna go grab a snack,” Dina smiled politely between both you and Ellie, before patting your shoulder and slipping away. Oh god, why would she leave you to talk to her alone?

“I’m so glad you could make it,” she said, and suddenly everything was fading away again. You took a moment to look down at her outfit, trying to be as discreet as possible. She adorned a light blue flannel, cuffed just above her elbows and a pair of dark Levi’s—her hair was pulled back, save for a few pieces that fell loosely around her face, which you noticed she tucked hastily behind her ear when a strand tickled her nose before she said, “I love that sweater, by the way.”

Dina was going to have a field day with that one.

“Oh, thank you!” You exclaimed, instinctively wrapping your arms around yourself. She smiled at you before continuing.

“Anyways, I’m up last, so don’t feel like you have to stay for the whole thing, if you get bored or anything,” she explained, pointing at the stage behind her. “I’m just glad you could make it.”

On the inside, you were swooning, your eyes were in the shape of hearts and you wanted to reach out and embrace her—you wanted to smell that warm vanilla musk and the earthy savor of weed, you wanted to tell her you wanted nothing more than to spend all your time with her, know her inside and out, you wanted it all.

“No, no, I came here for you,” you said instead, making fists around the material of your sweater and smiling at her. “Of course I’ll stay.”

Ellie’s face flushed again, and you continued to insist it was due to the heat of the room. She glanced behind her, and you followed her gaze to see Dina filling up a plate with what looked like one of everything from the table.

“I should go get ready,” Ellie mumbled before turning back to you. “Why don’t you go grab some snacks with Dina and I’ll catch you after the show?” She sounded hopeful. You nearly choked.

“Yes, I’ll be here!” Of course you’ll be here, where the hell else would you be? You mentally face-palmed yourself before she was giving you a smile and disappearing into the crowd. You took a deep breath and made your way to the snack table, where Dina was still loading up.

“Oh, hey!” She said when she finally saw you.

“Hey, thanks so much for embarrassing the hell out of me,” you complained, stealing a cheese square off of her plate.

“Embarrassing you? Please, I was helping you,” she laughed before stuffing a grape into her mouth. “And it kinda worked, didn’t it? I set you up for a nice little chat with your girlfriend.”

“Oh, shut up,” you bumped her shoulder, but you couldn’t fight the warmth that climbed up the back of your neck. “Let’s go grab a seat.”

The acts that preceded Ellie were actually entertaining—a few songs, a poem or two, and a stand-up act that wasn’t…terrible. Not to say it was good but…you know.

And then the host, who you assumed was Ellie’s roommate, was waltzing back on to the stage as the audience applauded, her short black hair reflecting almost blue in the spotlight. She was eclectic, all mismatched patterns and silver jewelry that hung from her neck and her wrists and her ears. She was funny and vibrant, commanding the attention of everyone in the room every time she stepped onto the stage to introduce the next act.

“Alright folks, please give a warm welcome to my best friend, the one and only, Ellie Williams!” She tucked her microphone under her arm before clapping, moving out of the way of the small stool that was behind her. Best friend? Ellie had only said she was her roommate.

But it didn’t matter, because Ellie was walking on to the stage with her guitar in hand, smiling nervously at the crowd. You clapped as loud as you could, trying to reposition your body so that you could see her slightly better over the heads in front of you, though you doubted she could see you from your seat somewhere in the middle row.

“Uh, good evening, everyone,” Ellie started, positioning herself on the stool and pulling the microphone down to her level. “I’m gonna sing a little song for you guys, if that’s cool.” There was a bit of scattered applause and Dina whooped loudly from beside you. You smacked her with the back of your hand.

Your heart was beating out of your chest, partly from the excitement at getting to see Ellie perform, and partly from your second-hand stage fright. Even though you weren’t the one performing, you always seemed to absorb the nerves of the performer, just waiting for them to make a mistake, even if you didn’t want them to. You especially wanted this to go well for Ellie, and you bounced your leg nervously as she positioned her guitar in her lap.

She strummed the first few chords and you nearly had a heart attack.

C, A-minor, F-major. You could probably play those in your sleep, now.

“Holy shit,” Dina whispered from beside you, and of course, she knew too, from the hours and hours you spent listening to the song, practicing the song, getting taught the song.

“Did I drive you away?

I know what you'll say

You say, ‘Oh, sing one we know,’

“Dina,” you whispered back, leaning into her, but not being able to peel your eyes away from Ellie. “Is that…?” But you already knew the answer.

“Dude. She’s so. Into you.”

“But I promise you this

I'll always look out for you

Yeah, that's what I'll do,

You couldn’t help the smile that slowly spread across your face as you leaned back up, watching Ellie lose herself in the song. Suddenly, you were back in her room, the air thick and heavy, watching her sing softly and strum along when she thought you weren’t watching—that little crease between her eyebrows and the dreamy look in her eyes as she sang with the voice of a thousand angels.

Maybe you had a hard time believing Ellie was into you, but she picked this song knowing you would be here. There was no denying that.

“La, la, la, la, o-oh

La, la, la, la, o-oh,

The song ended entirely too soon, and she was smiling, standing up and adjusting the microphone back into a higher position. Applause was erupting from every side of you and you clapped as though you were the only person in the room, as if she could see the intensity in which you showed your recognition and your appreciation and your utter giddiness.

The host was waltzing on stage again before you knew it, and gave Ellie a hug. You ignored the jealous twinge in your heart, for god’s sake you had literally hung out one time, and the applause continued as she thanked everyone for coming, wrapping her arm around Ellie’s waist and requesting one last round of applause for all the performers. You continued clapping, watching Ellie raise her guitar in the air like a glass of champagne for a toast, before the host whispered something in her ear that made her smile. You again ignored the skip of your heart, instead focusing on Dina’s hand gripping your arm.

“Oh my god, you have to go say something to her, ask her out, something! The suspense is literally killing me,” she whined, pulling you along as the lights slowly turned back on and people shimmied out of the aisles.

“I can’t just ask her out, it’s not that easy for me,” you replied.. You wished it was easy for you, you wished you could be more like Dina, just walk right up to her and say: I think I really like you, and we should go out sometime. But your anxiety paralyzed you, rendered you completely helpless when it came to love and lust.

“I swear dude, if I have to sit through any more of your pining and love songs I might request a roommate swap,” Dina said, leading you back to the snack table. “She likes you. And if you can’t see that at this point I don’t know what else to say.” You pouted a bit, like a petulant child, crossing your arms over your chest and surveying the room. Before you could even formulate a response, Ellie was emerging from a group of people who had gathered opposite the table. You quickly uncrossed your arms as she caught your eye and made her way toward you.

“Oh look, who would have guessed,” Dina muttered, popping a grape into her mouth. She smiled exaggeratedly at Ellie before grabbing a handful of crackers. “I’ll leave the two of you to talk,” and you wished so badly you could flip her off without it being obvious.

“Hey,” Ellie said quietly, and her voice was almost timid--a laughable comparison to barely five minutes ago when she had the entire audience wrapped around her finger.

“Ellie,” you breathed, shifting your weight from one foot to another. “Your song choice was…inspired,” you said, wrapping an arm across your body. She looked down at her feet, and you wondered if her cheeks would be rosy when she looked back up.

“Oh, yeah,” she looked up at you now, and you were right. Except, it wasn’t actually that warm in here. “Well, it’s a good song, you know.” Her hand went to the back of her neck, just like it had before, and you wanted to pull it away, to intertwine your fingers and just tell her, just tell her you want to go out, somewhere where she doesn’t have to teach you to play guitar and you can just talk, and mentally map the freckles that littered her face and learn about how she got that scar in her eyebrow and find out if she’d rather go to a tea house or a coffee shop and fuck, you had to ask her, now, before you lost the courage and your mouth was moving before your brain could catch up,

“Ellie, I was wondering if--”

“There you are, superstar!” A voice suddenly came from behind her, and you recognized it immediately. The host--or I guess, Ellie’s roommate--oops, wrong again, Ellie’s best friend, was appearing behind her, grabbing onto her shoulder and looking at her with admiration. Ellie seemed surprised to see her, somehow, as she turned to face her, plastering on a smile that looked…forced.

“Oh, hey,” she replied, before the raven-haired girl was pulling her into a hug. You stood awkwardly as they embraced, looking down at the ground in an attempt to seem casual. Oh god, you couldn’t believe you were actually about to ask Ellie out on a date.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met,” the girl said abruptly, pulling back as if she’d just noticed your presence. She left an arm around Ellie’s waist, and you noticed the way Ellie suddenly appeared tense. Like, in a bad way.

You offered the girl a small smile and stuck your hand out politely, giving her your name. She took it and shook firmly, her small hand deceivingly strong. Her eyes were painted with thick, black eyeliner, and they raked up and down your body. You felt like shrinking away under her intimidating stare, averting your eyes after a moment.

“Uh, this is Cat, my roommate,” Ellie said after an awkward pause, giving you a sheepish look.

“And best friend,” she chimed, pulling her hand away. She leaned into Ellie’s side, resting her head on Ellie’s shoulder and using her free hand to pat her chest.

“Ellie and I go way back.”

chapter 6 here

#ellie williams #ellie williams x reader #ellie williams x you #ellie williams tlou #ellie tlou #ellie x reader #ellie x you #ellie williams imagine #the last of us #dina tlou #tlou

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leahxxc3 · 2 months

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Trepidation.

NETEYAM!FEM NAVI

This will be a little series based on somebody’s request.

Part one: Trepidation

Part two: …

Part three: …

Part four: …

A/n- I will be using ‘you’ pronouns.

Thank you to @paintcupp for requesting this!! i hope you like it

Dictionary: ✩

Itetsyìp- little daughter( term of endearment)

Sa’nok: mother

muntxa si: Mate (with someone), marry.

prrnen: infant, baby

A short, panicked gasp left your lips at Mo’at’s words.

You are pregnant.

Mo’at confirmed the feeling you had in your gut about being pregnant and although you should feel happy, you feel nothing but a flood of panic taking over you.

“Mo’at.. how am i supposed to tell Neteyam? I mean, I don’t even know how he’d feel about this. We’ve never discussed having children and i’m scared that he’ll reject-”

Your rambling was cut short by the tsahìk’s laugh echoing throughout the room but your loud heart beat made it sound muffled.

“You really think that Neteyam would ever reject you or the baby? He barely ever leaves your hip. That boy is obsessed with you.”

She laughed again while softly shaking her head and after calming down, she brought her eyes to your own, her amusement mostly gone.

“Listen ‘itetsyìp, you are now a sa’nok and being a sa’nok is the most rewarding thing ever. Neteyam will not take that for granted especially with the woman he loves. Especially with his muntxa si.”

She grabbed your hand and spoke in a soothing tone as tears began to build in your eyes. Fuck, you was so scared.

“Neteyam loves you and he will love the baby that grows inside of you just as much. Talk to him.”

After a few more minutes of overthinking and expressing your worries to your tsahìk, you decided to go for a walk to collect your thoughts.

You still was in shock from the news so when you seen Neteyam appear out of no where and start to approach you with a grin, you froze.

You didn’t want to face him yet, you couldn’t.

If you spoke to him and tried to act normal, he would be able to know that something was wrong and if you ran away, that would cause the same result so basically you was fucked.

You mentally slapped yourself for not being able to come up with something quick enough because while you was trying to look for an escape, he was already in front of you.

His mouth moved but you couldn’t focus on what he was saying.

Was there even any excuse to get out of this conversation?

He was so perfect. His smile warmed your heart, his eyes touched your soul and his heart belonged to you but would that stay the same when you told him?

Unknowingly, you frowned and Neteyam stopped speaking. “Hey, are you okay yawntutsyìp?”

He asked genuinely concerned and took another step towards you.

His hand grasped your own and that’s when you lost it.

Tears fell down your face as your heart began to feel sore.

You was so scared despite Mo’at’s words of comfort.

Neteyam immediately embraced you as you cried into his chest, his hands wrapped securely around you as he whispered sweet words into your ear.

“My sweet girl, what is it? Did somebody upset you?”

He spoke with the most gentle voice which made the tears begin to slow down until they stopped.

“Teyam, I need to talk to you.”

You muttered and removed your face from his chest.

As he stared into your eyes, you felt vulnerable and bare.

Who knew that having a prrnen would cause so much stress.

You felt guilty for your reaction towards being pregnant when a lot of navi women would die to be in your position but it was so much to take in.

“Okay let’s talk somewhere else.”

Neteyam nodded at his own words and interlocked your fingers with his own before guiding you to another less crowded place.

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theoriginalsapphic · 1 year

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Okay, it's been long enough:

Mike was trying to call Will; not El.

The ending scene in season 3 is about Mike and Will; not Mike and El.

How can I be so sure about it? It’s simply by one of the most basic rules of storytelling: show, don’t tell.

To put into simply terms, “show, don’t tell” it’s a technique which transmits information to the audience through actions, words, subtext, thoughts, senses, and feelings, etc., rather than by straight-up telling the audience through surface exposition.

To use a film that probably everyone is familiar with as an example, in Up it’s showcased how Carl and Ellie were deeply in love with each other through a five-minute wordless montage of their life. Without that scene, even if Carl had spent the rest of the movie saying how much he loves Ellie and how he misses her, the audience would probably had not formed an emotional connection with Carl and his story of love and loss like they did with a five-minute scene.

What’s more effective? Which one evokes a more vivid image in your head?

Sarah was sad, so she started crying.

Sarah laid motionless, tangled in a disarray of bed sheets she hadn’t changed in over a week. Tears leaked down her temples and into her ears, but despite the mild discomfort, she remained frozen, glued to the threadbare mattress.

Show, don’t tell.

So, with that being said…

Why do people believe that the last scene in season 3 is about and Mike and El and mlvn?

Up until here, it could be said it’s debatable whether this is about Will or El; El is in the U-Haul truck with Joyce, while Will is in the other car with Jonathan. Both vehicles are on seen on frame driving away, so it could easily be about either of them or even both of them. also, nice parallel with the season 2 finale, with, once again, both Will and El in different vehicles driving away while Mike is framed in front of the Byer's home.

However, that changes during the length of the scene.

What is Mike afraid of?

But what changes he is scared of? The series doesn’t tell; it shows.

The series doesn’t say aloud that Mike is scared of changes related to Will, but it shows it by having Mike somberly stare at the Byers’ house in this scene. If the series wanted to show that Mike’s emotional reaction in this scene is about El then they would have him look at something that the audience can immediately connect with El, like Hopper’s cabin or Eggos or anything that we would immediately relate to her.

The scene that follows this scene just reinforces that this is about Mike and Will by drawing a visual parallel between the two times that Mike felt like he has lost Will.

And even having a verbal confirmation by Mike himself the following season.

Following this train of thought…

Why do people still think that the phone calls were meant for El?

I’m not going to say that Mike told El that they were communicating through Cerebro, or that they couldn’t talk through the phone because the government may had been spying on them because that doesn’t matter.

What matters is what we were shown in the screen, and we were shown is that… El never complained or even mentioned phone calls. Will did.

El never mentions any phone calls or struggling to communicate through the phone with Mike in the entire season. The whole ‘phone calls’ situation is a topic of conflict brought between Mike and Will; not El.

The series has Will verbally express his discontent with Mike’s lack of phone calls while El never even talks about it, so why would anyone relate ‘Mike won’t stop calling’ with El when she never raised a problem about it?

El later appears in the scene that shows the audience that Mike did try to call, but the series doesn’t focus this scene about Mike and El at all. It focuses on El and Max instead.

The series has the chance to relate Mike’s missed calls with El in this scene. Instead, they show two things:

Missed calls were never a source of conflict between Mike and El but is one between Mike and Will, thus confirming that Mike’s missed calls were meant for Will— not El.

El’s priority is saving Max and not her relationship with Mike, just like it will be in season 5.

#byler #‘shouldn’t ‘show don’t tell’ be an obvious thing?’ sttwt is still debating what a love triangle is #and whether willelmike is one #honestly the fact that byler had a one-a-one goodbye conversation like jvncy and mlvn should had made it obvious even back then

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hibicactus · 2 years

Text

Sub!Yandere Shigaraki x Reader WIP

Ngl this has been in the draft phase for a long time, but hopefully it will see the light of day as a complete work at some point lmao

Basic summary: Shiggy locked you up in a house (surprise) and your not very happy being removed from your daily life w/o warning (surprise). Shigaraki is pretty mellowed out in this one; more on the angsty emo teen side vs angry emo teen side

-----------------------------

“Stop,” you commanded him, your voice still raspy from yelling at the top of your lungs not that long ago. You had lifted your head with your eyes trained on him, like slits, watching his every muscle tense as he obeyed your command. He looked somewhat surprised, you noted, likely due to the fact that this was the first thing you had said to him at a somewhat normal volume in over a week. You watched him shift uncomfortably as he dug his hands into his pockets to avoid scratching at his neck, and nervously glanced around the room before finally settling his eyes on one of the few empty spots on the floor.

“Um,” Shigaraki began as he attempted to carry a conversation with you..

“You have some nerve trying to talk to me after everything you’ve done.” you cut him off barely above a whisper. Shigaraki closed his eyes and winced. He took a few deep breaths before slowly opening his eyes and moving them towards your face.

“I know..I know, I’m so sorry, I-” the heated look in your eyes told him to shut up.

“If you’re really sorry then…”. You didn’t have to continue your sentence for him to catch your meaning. He’d heard it from you at least 10 times a day, and was familiar with hearing it at night in his dreams (or nightmares). At this point, it was practically an inside greeting between the two of you; Shigaraki apologizes for locking you up in some random house and you order him to let you leave...

SMUT SNIPPET BELOW CUT

By now you’ve noticed that your ministrations have started to affect him in a not so innocent way, confirming a few theories that you’ve had based on how he’s reacted to certain behaviors in the past. The way he would go completely red after you casually joked about running your hands through his wild hair, or the way his eyes would briefly flash a heated look after you teasingly called him a cute nickname. You try to contain a tiny smirk, still having some sense of awareness to hold you back. Given the overall seriousness of the situation, enjoying yourself like this seems highly inappropriate and a bit messed up even but, those are thoughts to file away for later.

You turn your attention back to the shaking boy kneeling next to your bed. It seems like he’s attempting to stifle his noises and contain his reactions, but he’s not doing the best job. Quiet whines and squeaks are managing to slip through, and it looks like he’s trying to rock his hips into the side of the bed. This time, you let yourself grin a bit sadistically and tug on his ear. Shigaraki attempts (and fails) to shove his face further into the mattress before anything else slips out, but an obscene moan still reaches your ears despite his efforts. You think to yourself a bit and decide to move your hand back towards the top of his head and lightly pet him for a few seconds, before grabbing a small handful of hair and tugging his head back, a bit more harshly than you did on his ear.

This time, there’s nothing blocking his face to help stifle his noises and he involuntarily lets out the most pornographic noise you’ve heard from him yet. You let your eyes focus on his expression. His face is burning red, eyes glassy and unfocused, and there's a thick trail of drool running down the side of his chin, no doubt having left a wet spot on the side of the mattress. You glance down towards his lap. As expected, there’s a prominent bulge emerging from his pants, with the tip showing a clear dark spot. You use the leverage you have on Shigaraki’s hand to pull his face closer to yours, unintentionally prompting another whine to slip out.

#shigaraki x reader smut #shigaraki smut #bnha smut #sub!shigaraki #yandere!shigaraki #sub!yandere #smut wip #let's go first post #kinda #basically

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lavendertales · 1 year

Note

Hi!! I love your TLOU writings! Do you think there's anyway you could do a Joel Miller (Pedro) x f!reader with a tall reader? For reference Joel is 5'10 or '11 and I'm around 6'2

It can be smut, fluff, whatever you feel. It's just rare to find fanfics with taller readers 😂 (bonus points if they're plus size)

Thank you so much!!!

as a pretty tall person too, I LOVE THIS IDEA SO MUCH. You're so right, it's rare to see fics with taller people, so let us remedy that, shall we?

Lover—Joel Miller x tall, plus size!f!reader

word count: 609

A/N: this is mostly just fluff with a very smitten Joel Miller. hints of smut, though nothing explicit. Nonetheless, as a lot of my works and my blog is 18+,

AGELESS/EMPTY BLOGS & MINORS WILL BE BLOCKED!!!

gif: @olisgifs

There have been eyes on you since the day you have arrived in Jackson, and months later, there are still eyes on you.

Except now, the eyes that follow you everywhere you go are Joel Miller’s.

And his express something else than the others’; there’s a certain mixture of admiration, awe and desire whenever he looks at you. You’re a tall woman, taller than him even, but he loves that. He loves the way there is more of you for him to adore whenever the two of you are alone. He loves kneading your flesh in between his fingers till it spills from in between; he loves hoisting your legs over his shoulders when he’s fucking you.

He loves every single inch of you, just as you are.

Truth be told, you were astounded at the newfound realization that Joel is borderline unhinged when it comes to you. You hadn’t always had a pleasant experience when it comes to meeting new people, particularly seeing their eyes roam over your tall figure, then dropping to notice the bit of extra weight that your body carried. You were never really bothered by it, you were quite confident with yourself, but sometimes it still got to you.

But ever since you and Joel became an item, any worries you might have had washed away. While he may not have been the most expressive person, and certainly not the most talkative, he showed his care through various acts of service—especially in the privacy of your house.

It was basically impossible to be even remotely bothered by the things that, according to Joel himself, made you an incredible woman.

“You cannot be serious,” you laughed one evening before bed.

“What? You think I’m joking?”

“I don’t know, you tell me.”

Joel’s gaze shifts to your legs, long and teasingly exposed in your gown as you lay beside him. He runs his palm over your calf, teasingly moving upwards to your thigh.

“I ain’t joking,” Joel coos, kissing your cheek, then moving to your jaw. “It’s one of my favorite things about you.”

“My height?”

“That’s right.”

You don’t hide the amusement that your face bestows.

“Not sure how that is a turn on of any sort, but… whatever floats your boat.”

Joel’s kisses go further down your neck, hand touching on your inner thigh now, rubbing the skin there. You smile, closing your eyes and trying to focus solely on the touches, but it only grows your desire more, and you can barely hold your moans to yourself.

“I got so lucky,” Joel mutters in your earlobe.

“I’m the lucky one.”

With Joel, you felt safe and cared for. And you made sure to return his affections tenfold. You enjoyed taking care of him, and you enjoyed seeing that he opened up to you more and putting his trust in you.

“Is it okay if we just watch a movie tonight?” you ask, looking at his face.

Joel instantly removes his hand from your inner thigh, simply caressing your knee. He then pecks your lips and gets more comfortable on his side of the bed.

“Of course,” he tells you.

“I know you probably wanted—“

“It’s okay. What movie do you feel like watching?”

“Well, I heard they’re playing Rush Hour at the cantina.”

“Sounds good.”

These are the moments that always reassure you that you have a great man by your side. In these moments, it’s more than your looks. It’s about safety and comfort, the feeling of coziness that Joel brings to you every single day.

You’ve never felt more confident or loved than when you were with Joel Miller.

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taleasnewastime · 2 years

Note

hi!!! i'm a sucker for single mom!yn fics so what if i love you too much was such an amazing read! thank you for writing and sharing it 🥺 idk if ur requests are still open so if it's closed, feel free to ignore this! may i request a wiilytm drabble where it's jk who's a bit insecure this time? maybe yn has been hanging out with a dad from zac's school/playgroup lately bc they bond over their shared struggles of being a single parent? no pressure tho 😅👉👈 tysm!!

Of course you can request! Thanks for reading and requesting, happy to know you enjoyed :)

Word count: 830

Warnings: Jungkook is insecure this time, think that's it..?

“Hey, Charlie.”

Jungkook looks up from his phone to see the man who must be Charlie waving at you. When his eyes go to you, you’re gently smiling at the man. You don’t look at Jungkook, he assumes you must not realise he’s looking at you.

He goes back to his phone, finishes typing the message before pressing send. There’s a weird feeling in his chest when he slips his phone away and realises the man’s now stood a lot closer.

“I never said thanks for that recipe,” he says, eyes solely on you. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Luke eat so many veggies before.”

Your face lights up at the news. “I’m so happy it helped. I have more if you want them?”

“Yeah, I’d love that. Text them over?”

“Sure.”

“And how’s Zac’s sleeping now? Any better?”

There’s a frown between Jungkook’s eyes as he looks at you. Still focused on the man you don’t see Jungkook’s concern. But that’s what he feels because you’d not told him Zac was struggling to sleep.

“It’s better,” you tell the man. “Still waking up at 5, which is killer.”

“Oh, I remember,” you both share a knowing laugh, something Jungkook can’t join in on.

“I manage to persuade him into my bed for an extra hour most mornings though.”

The man, Charlie nods and then flicks his eyes to Jungkook as if only just realising he’s stood there. You follow his line of sight as if wondering what caused the expression.

“Oh, sorry,” you laugh, Jungkook’s not sure if you’re apologising to him or Charlie. “This is Jungkook.”

“Oh,” Charlie extends a hand that Jungkook grasps in a brief shake. “Does your child go here too?”

Jungkook doesn’t have time to even feel embarrassed let alone respond as you’re giving an awkward laugh on his behalf. Dropping Charlies hand the frown returns to his face as he looks at you.

“Jungkook’s just here to help me with the school run.”

Charlies eyes flash between the two of you before he makes a noise of understanding, his eyes lighting up in the process. “Still to learn the joys of children then?”

“Something like that,” Jungkook tries for the same light tone Charlie uses but it comes out as more of a grumble. He doesn’t miss the confused look you shoot him.

“Well I’ll leave you to it. They’ll be out any minute I’m sure,” he starts to twist to go. “Nice to meet you Jungkook. And Y/N, don’t forget those recipes.”

You barely nod at him, your focus now on Jungkook. The roles reversed, Jungkook is now the one staring off after Charlie, trying to hide his emotions.

It’s not that he’s jealous, at least not in the way people might assume. No, he feels jealous of your shared situation. Charlie can talk to you about something that Jungkook could only pretend to relate to. Because he may have a basic understanding of what it is to have a child but dating you has only made him realise how little he understood. Children are a full-time job, there’s joy there but there’s also so much work and hardship.

He's jealous of Charlie being able to so easily talk to you about it. He’s jealous that you told Charlie about Zac struggling to sleep and yet he had no idea.

He hates that you might be holding things back from him. Hates that you might not want to worry him with things or be protecting him from some of the hardships.

A warm hand slips into his, drawing his attention from the near distance to you.

“Zac’s going to be so excited to see you,” you say softly.

He hates the concern on your face that’s been caused by him. He tries to soften his own features if only to try and lessen your worries. It doesn’t seem to help.

“Charlie’s just another dad. He’s a single parent too and we met at one of the –”

A soft squeeze of your hand is all it takes to get you to stop talking.

“Zac’s struggling to sleep?”

Your shoulders visibly relax in understanding. “He’s better now.”

“But he was struggling?” The questions rhetorical but you still nod your head a little. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It was before we were serious,” there’s a small pause and then you’re filling the silence. “Plus, it’s nothing. I don’t want to worry you.”

“I know. And you don’t have to tell me everything, but I also want to know everything,” he lifts a hand to your cheek, not caring that you’re stood in a nursery playground as he gently touches your lips with his. “I want to know all the small bits if you want to tell me them.”

You nod again, smaller than before with your heads so close. Your lips curve at the edges as you lean in for one last kiss before fully pulling away. It’s confirmation enough to make Jungkook’s heart a little lighter.

#jungkook fic #WIILYTM request #ask

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heloflor · 7 months

Text

Ok so for about a good two-three months now I had a post in my drafts about how I realized I ship Powser, and long story short I started comparing Bowser to what I think to be how most villains in media interact with their damsel in distress if they express “love” for them. Issue is, I don’t have nearly enough knowledge/examples on this topic to know how truthful this comparison is, but said comparison is also the main thing tying this post together. So when thinking of ways to remove this element while still having all the same info in this post, I kind of came up short. Plus, I like the way the post is structured as is.

In other words, here’s the post as I originally wrote it, but be aware that the comparison is probably very flawed. Maybe there’s some truth to it, probably not. In any case, just focus on the Powser side of it, the villain comparison is just there for the structure. Enjoy! (long post ahead, a bit over 3k words)

So I recently realized that I really like Powser which I did NOT expect given I’m usually much more of a “friends to lovers” type of person, and trying to understand why I like it led me to think about how villains tend to be presented in their relationship with the “damsel in distress”, and it’s actually very interesting when you compare it to Bowser.

TL;DR: Unlike most villains who showcase sexual attraction (I think?), Bowser is shown to be romantically attracted to Peach. And while his actions are still very much shitty and should be seen as such, man is he adorable sometimes ! Plus, the way his feelings are shown to be genuine makes him look better than most villains, whose “love” for their victim is portrayed as """creepy lust""" by their medias.

(Obviously there is absolutely nothing inherently wrong with sexual attraction. I’m talking in the context of medias that sometimes tend to vilify it, especially when it comes to the antagonists, hence the language used in this post.)

So the first thing that came in mind while thinking of other villains was Dis//ney’s Alad//din (the 90s/animated one) and how Jaf/ar treats Jasm/ine at the end of the movie, more specifically when he wishes for her to fall in love with him and she ends up pretending to be as a distraction.

Thing is, Jasm/ine doesn’t act like she’s in love with Jaf/ar, she acts like she’s thirsting for him, and the way Jaf/ar reacts shows that this is pretty much what he had in mind when saying he wants her to love him. This isn’t love, it’s lust.

Now, I can’t say I’m someone who watches a lot of movies, especially not live-actions ones, so take what I’m about to say with a huge grain of salt. Basically, I kinda feel like what we see in Alad/din is the norm when it comes to villain/victim relationships? Like you have those antagonists who want the damsel in distress to be horny for them, who don’t see those women as people and don’t give a shit about them, only keeping them to get what they want out of them and having no issue discarding them afterwards if they get bored with those poor girls.

Btw that’s not to say that every single villain who kidnaps someone wants to sleep with them. But when it comes to villains who claim to love their victim, there does seem to be at least some sexual tension here, or at least some uncomfortable touches.

And then there’s Bowser. To give a few examples of what he does:

- In that one 1986 anime movie thing, he gets very soft around Peach, gushing about how he’s in love with her and wants to marry her, trying to cheer her up when she’s sad, and let’s not forget that “it’s more of a bracelet, shows that my love is bigger” line with the ring.

- In the mainline “platformers” games, you have “Mario Sunshine” in which Bowser wants his son to have a mother, and “Mario Odyssey” in which he tries to marry Peach, going around the world gathering all the absolute best things for the wedding. There’s also the New Bros U intro with Bowser gently moving Peach’s chair, making sure she doesn’t get hurt by his attack, showing he doesn’t want to hurt her.

- Not sure exactly if this counts as this could be a form of objectification, but you know that cliché of villains getting that all-powerful thing they wanted and immediately betraying/discarding all the people they worked with and/or claimed to love? Well, in the Galaxy games, Bowser gets the power to create a whole new universe, and yet still takes the time to capture Peach, claiming in the first game that he wants her to rule along with him. Again, this could be a form of objectification, especially when looking at his dialogue in the intro of the second game, but it’s still interesting how Bowser doesn’t really fall on that trope, still having his army and Junior on top of Peach (btw the intro of Galaxy 2 is very funny on that front because Bowser literally has enormous powers and yet still makes a detour for Peach, thus causing Mario to be on his tail. Like, let her go dude, she’s not that into you. You got all the powers of the universe, who cares about that one specific woman when you could have literally anybody else?).

- In the first Paper Mario game, Bowser tells Peach that he would fulfill her wishes if she wants (as long as he likes them) and gushes in his diary about how he hopes Peach likes him. And in Thousand Years Doors, he keeps trying to look for her upon hearing she got kidnapped.

- In Super Paper Mario, he gets overjoyed about the wedding but still immediately shows worry for Peach when Nastasia uses her mind control on her, and in general Bowser spends the game clearly loving being able to call Peach his wife, and joins the team again in 7-2 out of concern for her safety. Same with 8-1 where for all he knows he’s about to die and yet his main concern is her safety, to the point where he's willing to ask Mario to protect her for him. His priority is not being with Peach, instead it's Peach being safe.

- In Color Splash, the first thing he does when first getting back to himself during the fight is ask if Mario brought Peach with him.

- In Origami King, he doesn’t want her to see him as a wet floor sign and later asks Olly if Peach is safe and comfortable, which as I’ve seen pointed out implies that him capturing Peach is mostly a forced vacation/sleepover until Mario arrives and she’s put on the spot for show.

(- In general Paper Bowser is a huge hopeless romantic, at least from what I’ve seen of him.)

- In Superstar Saga he helps Mario and Luigi reach the Bean Kingdom for Peach’s sake. Then in Bowser’s Inside Story his most beloved and protected memories are his memories of Peach + he makes saving her his priority towards the end. And in Dream Team, he hears a rumor that Peach might have gotten kidnaped and immediately flies all the way to Pi’illo Island to find her.

- You cannot convince me that his car in Mario 3D World wasn’t an attempt to impress Peach, given this is one of the only two games (three with Wonder) where you play as her and face against him. /hj

- In that one old comic people kept bringing up after the movie came out, Bowser spends a lot of time gushing about marrying Peach. Also despite Peach being very temperamental in this comic, I don’t think Bowser once tries to hurt her? Obviously you have the Magikoopa brainwashing her at the end which is fucked up but outside of that does Bowser ever get angry or menacing when it comes to her?

- In general, outside of the games where Peach is playable and the intro of Inside Story (which comes off as OOC for Bowser tbh, I get him being pissed off but him trying to burn Peach is just really off), do we ever get to see Bowser raise a hand on her and/or try to physically hurt her? Same for his anger, how often do we get to see him raise his voice on her? And no the sports and party games don’t count since everyone is doing the same thing to everyone else in those, and in the party games it'd be unfair if playing that one character led to Bowser going easy on the player.

Now I might be missing some more moments, especially since I’m far from the most knowledgeable on the sport/party games and some RPGs (slowly making my way through them), but there’s one thing that is very obvious: while most villains express sexual attraction for the damsel in distress, Bowser expresses romantic attraction.

Bowser genuinely cares for Peach. She’s one of his most precious memories. In Super Paper, he snaps out of the joy of getting married when Peach is getting brainwashed, showing how much he values her safety. He absolutely adores her and isn’t afraid to express it, especially Paper Bowser.

Those two instances (Inside story and Super Paper) especially really seem to lean into how much Bowser loves Peach. In Inside Story, the fact that she’s his most well-preserved memory shows just how much he values the little time he spends with her and how important she is to him, not as some pretty face but as a person he genuinely wants to create more memories with. And in Super Paper, Bleck is giving him the one thing he’s always wanted, and yet he still shows some reticence when Nastasia uses her mind control, making it look like Peach being safe and sound is more important to him than them being a couple. Idk, those two moments just really get to me when you think about it this way.

(Btw in Super Paper I adore that Peach hesitates to leave him in 8-1 because, while we know Peach is incredibly kind so of course she’d be worried for a teammate, for once it feels like Bowser actually earned it. He spends the whole game being caring towards Peach, and wouldn’t you know, being nice and respectful to someone actually makes them care for you! I swear the Powser potential from this game is unmatched!)

When most villains say “I want this woman to love me”, they usually mean “I want this woman to obey and submit to my every want”. When Bowser says “I want Peach to love me”, he means “I want to be able to wake up everyday by her side, make her smile and laugh and be happy, see her be a mother to my kid(s), learn more about her and spend as much time with her as I can”. Bowser isn’t trying to marry Peach because he wants to “own” her, he wants to marry her because he quite literally wants to spend the rest of his life by her side.

Now that’s not to say that Bowser doesn’t feel any form of sexual attraction. But since Mario is such a kids-friendly franchise, the focus is much more on his romantic feelings. Also, I'll admit, whether Bowser is in love with Peach or with the idea of Peach is up for debate.

I think that’s the main reason why so many people are quick to call Bowser sweet/adorable when seeing the way he talks about Peach. Because the thing is, Bowser is still being a complete asshole here. He’s constantly kidnapping her, putting her in a cage on several occasions, forced her to marry him like 6 different times, very often disregards her body autonomy by grabbing her (+ the kidnappings), terrorizes and sometimes even tortures/kills her people, and his phone pic in the parental controls video + the picture frames in Nintendo World make him look like a creep. Despite his feelings for her, there’s definitely a level of objectification here that should not be ignored.

Hell, I didn’t mention the 2023 movie on the list because I’d argue he was more obsessed rather than in love. Plus the scene where he proposes to her low-key feels like the very first time they meet, making his previous actions creepier (or at the very least they barely know each other, heck Peach didn’t even know Bowser likes her!). And he’s quick to use blackmail and violence against her, especially in the end. The wedding cake toppers also show he cares more about himself than Peach and sees her as an object rather than a person.

(I actually take back what I said in my movie reaction post about Bowser being like the one from Super Paper. He might be goofy when showing his softer side, which was what I was focused on when comparing the two, but he’s also clearly not as genuine and sweet as Paper Bowser. The way he mistreats his army and especially Kamek in the movie is also different from most games, most notably the RPGs since that’s when we see him interact with his people and he’s a relatively good king to them.)

Compare 2023 Movie Bowser to the 1986 movie in which he tries to get Peach involved in the wedding preparations, tries to cheer her up, never gets angry at her despite how much she’s resisting him and never once raises his hand on her. Even when she outsmarts him by making him shapeshift, he’s amused by her attempt. Literally the worse he does in this movie is grab her against her will on many occasions (and obviously the kidnaping and forced marriage, that goes without saying).

Going back on topic, despite Bowser being very much horrible in the way he approaches Peach, since every other villain out there is lusting after the woman they capture, making them appear creepy/predatory, Bowser comes off as an angel in comparison. He’s one of those rare cases of a villain who is truly sincere about his feelings for the woman he captures, and since we see other occasions of him being a sweetheart (with Junior) and a dumbass (the RPG series), he becomes an incredibly endearing character. So his feelings for Peach come off as adorable despite the bad elements because we’re aware he has a soft side so we know he’s truly sincere. Him being sometimes more of an antihero in the RPGs + his inclusion in sports games and the like probably also help seeing him in that good light.

(Also yes I’m very much aware that there’s a huge issue when it comes to how fandoms perceive female characters, and I will absolutely believe you if you tell me this is one of the reasons why you have people who talk shit about Peach so much all while defending Bowser’s actions, especially since his feelings for Peach are so rooted into his character. Oh and obviously you have the people horny for Bowser who love his softer/romantic side and value the moments where he displays this part of himself, that goes without saying.)

I’m especially surprised by the 1986 movie showing such a characterization of him, considering it came out 1-2 years after the very first Super Mario game (aka Bowser’s first appearance, at least I think?). Like imagine making a movie about those characters and going “hey you know the giant turtle monster we fight in this game? What if he was a huge lovable dork who just wanted some love in his life?”. Tbh I adore that choice.

Overall, it’s just interesting to see how Bowser differs from other villains on that front. It’s very interesting to see a villain who does pretty terrible things to a girl all the while being genuine in his feelings for her, idk it’s a very cool contrast. I also like how “true love” tends to be a motivation for the heroes, seen as something good, so it’s fun to see stories where villains have that very same motivation without it being “““twisted””” with lust. And yes I know that last point applies to many more antagonists than just Bowser, and not just for feelings like love.

And a bit off-topic but I also really like how you can easily explain Bowser’s behavior here (not justifying it tho!!!). In the Yoshi Island games, we see he was raised as a spoiled brat who was always given what he wanted, made worse by him being a monarch. We even still see some of that behavior in his adult self, for example when he gets angry and starts stomping his foot like a kid throwing a tantrum.

As a result of his upbringing, Bowser likely just doesn’t know how to take a no. He’s used to always get what he wants, and take it by force if necessary. So when Peach refuses him, he does just that, incapable of understanding why she doesn’t want him.

The 86 movie is actually an excellent example of this. In two scenes (the one with Peach outsmarting him and the ring dialogue) we see Bowser getting worked up when Peach is upset, showing he genuinely wants her to be happy. But at the same time he’s incapable of realizing that he’s the reason why she’s so upset and the one thing he should do is let her go. The ring scene especially shows it very well. When Peach throws the ring and starts crying because she doesn’t want to get married, Bowser thinks she’s upset due to the ring being too big and immediately tries to soothe her by promising to get a better ring. Again, it’s kinda crazy how this movie was made when Bowser only existed for a single year and yet they already made him genuinely in love with Peach.

I’d also add that Bowser seems to have a pretty high opinion of himself, thinking he’s awesome and shit (or maybe he’s overcompensating, that seems like a possibility). As a result, it’s possible that his mentality on the situation is “Well I’m in love with her so surely she must love me! How could she not?”, making it even harder for him to comprehend why she doesn’t love him.

Again, it doesn’t justify his actions in the slightest but it’s still interesting how you can somewhat understand why he’s like this.

And as to why I ship Powser, honestly I still have no idea ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I think it has to do with the storytelling potential of a unrequited love/it’s complicated/they have history situation in regards to their roles as monarchs, especially in the case of Peach whose character is brimming with untapped potential. I actually like to describe their relationship as “I hate the effect you have on my life but I couldn’t imagine a life without you in it” or “Our kingdoms are enemies for a good reason but if anything happened to you I’d rush in to save you without hesitation”. It's just that idea of them being ex-lovers who had a bad falling out and how Peach still cares about him to an extent and how their lives constantly intertwine with villains trying to take over their kingdoms + Bowser's kidnappings.

And since we’re talking Powser and since wondering whether they know each other or not in the movie got me to question how we can tell they know each other in the games: the best way I could describe their relationship in the games is familiar/”comfortable”, like you have the way Peach tries to convince Bowser to join the group in Super Paper, the way she talks about him in general in the Mario and Luigi games, or stuff like most cutscenes in Odyssey where she never seems afraid of Bowser.

I’ve also seen that Switch Tennis game with the evil racket and how Peach is the one who tries to get through to Bowser when he steals it, straight up saying “listen to me” which makes it seem like she knows she’s the one person who could get him to stop, or you have the first Rabbids game where she comments on how “Junior is sometimes even worse than his father”, plus the way she looks like a mother about to reprimand her child in the cutscene where Jr learns Bowser is coming home (which I find hilarious; lady that’s not your kid, I thought we’d been through this already in Sunshine!). Oh and CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE WAY SHE’S LOOKING AT HIM IN (spoilers in link) THAT CUTSCENE FROM THE NEW RABBIDS 2 DLC!!!

I don’t know how to fully explain but, looking at these kinds of interactions, you can tell that the two of them know each other, and to an extent Peach knows that Bowser won’t hurt her, hence why she’s not afraid to oppose him. It’s pretty funny actually how in the games Peach tends to be exasperated by Bowser more than anything else. Like he’s not a menace, just a weekly annoyance. And again, when you compare it to the movie where there’s only hostility and awkwardness between them, you do get the impression that they’re two complete strangers meeting for the first time. The fact Movie Peach had no idea about his feelings for her doesn’t help either. Then again, about the hostility, Peach in the games is much sweeter so maybe she shows a nicer side to Bowser because that’s just who she is.

#Powser #Bowser X Peach #Princess Peach #Bowser #Super Mario #Flor talks #long post #looking at the ending of that post you can tell this was written shortly after the Rabbids DLC 2 came out #But yeah; as said in the intro I'm really not sure if the comparison to other villains #and what it entails in how Bowser is seen by the general public is actually a good take; I don't think it is #but also I like how this post is overall written #all in all; that post is just an excuse to gush about Powser; so please don't take the 'analysis' part of it too seriously #btw yes I saw the Wonder animation and love it; pretty funny how powser will never be canon yet Nintendo keeps giving us content #(not that I'm complaining; quite the opposite)#also it feeds my hc that Bowser would LOVE a chubby Peach bc big=healthy in Koopa's eyes since turtles have thick limbs #also also it's pretty funny how I'm worried that Peach being less kidnapped=Bowser's crush slowly disappearing #but then Nintendo keeps proving me wrong by showing that; kidnapped or not; his crush isn't going anywhere; and I'm very happy about it #in other news I'm going to star putting the number of words in my longer posts so people know what they're getting into #also might put the read more earlier to make sure the whole post isn't opened when trying to see the rest of the intro

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ecargmura · 2 months

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Pokemon Horizons Episode 41 Review - Dot And Her Mother

Why are Dot-focused episodes so good? Episode 15, which was a mix of Dot and Liko-focus, was good. Episode 39, the first true Dot-focused episode, was really good. This one was really good since this one focuses on Dot’s backstory!

It’s always nice to see how a member of the Rising Volt Tacklers came onto the ship. While we know the backgrounds of everyone except Ludlow, we still don’t know how Murdock and Mollie came aboard the ship now that how Dot got here is revealed in this episode. Dot was basically the same as she is now, but a bit shyer. She spent her days cooped up in her room streaming, but wanted to expand her horizons after seeing Friede’s thesis and getting some advice from him and Iono. This was how she suggested to her mother, Blanca, that she wanted to aboard the Brave Olivine as a trial period.

It’s interesting to know about Blanca as she is connected to both Dot, her daughter, and Murdock, her older brother. Blanca is totally different from her two family members. She’s chatty, energetic, slightly scatterbrained and a bit overbearing, but means well. I love the little gag with how her Midnight Form Lycanroc has to stop her from chattering too much. I did like that while she did seem like an overprotective mom, she just wants what’s best for Dot—wanting her to say her true feelings, which she’s bad at. I do love how she’s a good mother at the end of the day as she teared up when Dot expressed her true feelings about ending the trial period and staying on the airship for real. It’s cute how both Murdock and Blanca have the Rockruff line, but she has the Midnight Form while her brother’s dog hasn’t evolved yet; will there be a day that it’ll evolve and if it does, will it be Midday or Dusk? Also, I was really surprised with her voice actress! She’s voiced by Motoko Kumai, who has been in the XY series as Serena’s Showcase rival, Nene! I’m usually familiar with her most famous role as Li Syaoran from Cardcaptor Sakura, so for her to voice an adult woman is a strange but welcome feeling; it’s always nice to see returning voice actors and actresses try out new types of roles, even if they’re minor ones.

What I like about the family issues presented in Horizons is that they’re usually resolved on their own without anyone interfering too much. In the past series with Ash, Ash had to step in and solve the family matters. For example, in the Black and White series, Bianca and her dad had conflict and Ash had to step in and battle her dad. In the Sun and Moon series, Ash had to involve himself with Lillie’s family matters at first before they resolved it on their own. In this series, Liko’s family issues were resolved on her own back in Episode 9. In this episode, Dot resolves her own family issues on her own without Liko or Roy interfering. I think that it’s a nice change of pace!

True to Pokemon fashion, battling always has to solve problems. Blanca’s not a bad battler as she uses Counter as her main style of battling. For Dot, she beats her mother with Quaxly as the duck had the type-advantage and also learned another super-effective move, Low Kick. Now, all three Paldean starters got new moves! I can’t wait to see them progress even more! Now, please give Liko and Roy legitimate wins; Dot can’t be the only one of the three kids to keep winning battles!

The friendship between the three kids is adorable. Liko and Roy really like Dot and because they’ve been around each other for a while, they know what to do get her to open the door to her room. This episode, they pretend to leave and it worked. So cute! Liko being a big Nidothing fan and realizing that Blanca once barged into her livestream on accident was cute! I also liked how Liko and Roy helped with chasing Tinkatink around the airship; they just appeared and I found that hilarious. I found the Maushold being mini delivery mice on the airship adorable! It’s like Murdock got four employees that pass food to Dot!

My only concern with the episode is the fact that Friede was sleeping at Dot’s house and her reaction to seeing a random guy sleeping in her living room was too calm. Other than that, this was a great episode! I’d love to see more Dot-focused episodes in the future, whether it be her doing silly things with our main duo, doing collaboration streams with Iono, or battling! What are your thoughts on this wonderful episode?

#Pokemon Horizons #anipoke #liko #roy #dot #quaxly #tinkatink #murdock #blanca #lycanroc #review #anime #anime review #ecargmura #arum journal

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sailtomarina · 8 months

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Wanting to Know Me; Wanting to Know You

So here we are, at the start of Dramione Month, and I’ve decided to toss my hat into the ring and see just how far I can go. This will be my first time participating and I’m basically treating it like my own daily prompter. Most of these will be one shots, like here, but, depending on the reception, I may consider extending some promising ones into more. Today's prompt: Hogwarts - Eighth Year Read in full on AO3! Or, read below for a sneak peek:

There was no question about it. Draco Malfoy had returned to Hogwarts a changed man.

Hermione didn’t even consider categorizing her former rival as a “boy,” not after everything they’d all gone through the past several years. Their experiences were not the sorts of memories any child should carry, and they’d all long lost any claim to the mere notion of youth. They had become adults from far too young an age, Harry and Malfoy most of all.

She’d testified for him alongside her friends—it was the very least they could do considering the pressure he’d been under and the changes they’d seen in him by the end. That didn’t mean they excused all that he’d done. No. There was too much ugly history there.

They did their part to clarify the events of the Astronomy Tower and Malfoy Manor, as well as the visible pressure they’d seen on him over the years under the watchful gaze of his father. Perhaps their testimony helped, because it wasn’t long after that the Wizengamot laid down the verdict—no Azkaban, but a forced return to Hogwarts with expectations of the highest marks and a decade of service to the Ministry.

The first time Hermione set eyes on him at the start of their final, “eighth,” year, she saw a young man broken by the consequences of his actions. Like a wraith, he passed through the hallways nearly devoid of presence.

The first time she witnessed the once formidable Malfoy subject to a gigantic spoonful of his own medicine, she was embarrassed to say that it took her several minutes before she could react.

She’d been on her way to the library following dinner when she heard scuffling followed by what sounded like pained grunts. The noise led her straight towards an abandoned classroom where a circle of students surrounded Draco Malfoy. She watched in horror as students of almost every house took turns taunting him, kicking, laughing. He remained almost completely silent through it all, only releasing barely audible groans after a particularly violent hit. He curled into a ball, protecting his front and crossing his arms protectively over his head.

“He’s too quiet—we’re obviously not hitting him hard enough.”

Hermione didn’t recognize the Ravenclaw boy who spoke, but she did notice Seamus pulling out his wand.

“Maybe a little fire will wake him up,” he snarled, eyes sparking at Malfoy. Hermione recalled Seamus’ mother had only recently been discharged from St. Mungo’s after surviving a Deatheater attack at a cafe. “Incendi—”

“Protego!” The spell sprung from her lips before she even realized she’d cast it. The force of her shield was so strong, it shoved back Seamus and a few other boys who’d hovered behind him.

“What the hell, Hermione? What do you think you’re doing?” Seamus had the gall to point his wand towards her, and she reacted on instinct once more.

“Expelliarmus!”

His wand arced neatly through the air into her waiting hand. Muttering erupted all around her as all the focus turned away from Malfoy.

“Stopping you from something you’ll regret.” She remained hyper focused on the crowd surrounding her. After what she’d just seen, she didn’t put it past anyone to try and overpower her. She’d seen crowds feed into energy like this before.

“Oh, I definitely won’t regret giving this Death Eater exactly what he deserves.” Seamus’ expression was ugly, fists balled in determination.

“That isn’t our choice to make. He’s already received his verdict. The only thing you’d be doing is satisfying your own need for revenge by lowering yourself to the same level of people you claim to hate.” She raised her voice at the end, making sure the words were unmistakable to every single person in the room.

“Malfoy is the reason why so many of our classmates are dead, Hermione, or did you forget? If he just didn’t exist, they’d never have made it into Hogwarts—”

She cut him off before he could continue that train of thought. “If it wasn’t him, it would have been someone else. In the grand scheme of things, Draco Malfoy is nothing. You killing him does nothing except make you a killer.” She turned her eyes to the rest of the room. “Is that all you are? Murderers? What did you even learn from this war?”

Silence was her answer as the eyes on her fell away to look at the floor, or flicker over to Malfoy in indecision.

Seamus’ hand tugged at the back of his hair in frustration. “Bloody hell, Hermione, that isn’t what we were doing—”

“You weren’t trying to set him on fire just now?”

“Fuck. Yes, but it wasn’t like I was going to kill him. I just wanted him to feel a fraction of the pain he caused us—”

“Were you at his trial?”

He looked back at her in confusion. “No. I don’t see how that means anything.”

“So you didn’t witness when they extracted and viewed his memories.” She said it as a statement rather than a question.

“No, again, how does that even matter—”

“It matters because Malfoy has endured more pain than almost everyone in this room. I’m not making excuses for him, but I am telling the truth about that. If you want your wand back, if you all want to avoid expulsion, then I suggest you leave Malfoy alone.” Hermione stepped over to stand in front of where he was still cowering on the ground and watched as the students shuffled out. Seamus was the last to leave, scowling over at Malfoy one more time before slamming the door shut behind him.

Hermione waited a beat to make sure nobody returned, then cast her own locking spell before turning to check on her childhood bully. The irony of the situation didn’t escape her, but she wasn’t in a laughing mood.

“Malfoy?” She kept her voice calm and low, hoping it would relax him enough for her to check on his injuries. “Are you badly hurt?”

He remained quiet, curling up even tighter if that was even possible. For how much he’d grown the past couple of years, shoulders and thighs broadening to fill his uniform, he shrank down an impressive amount when threatened. He reminded her of the blast-ended skrewts with their armored shells made to protect their soft underbellies.

“Malfoy, it’s just me, Hermione. Everyone else left.”

Read in full here.

#dramionemonth #dramione #harry potter fanfiction #dhr fanfiction #draco malfoy x hermione granger #hermione granger #draco malfoy #dramione month

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kidflashimpulse · 1 year

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i'd like to shout out Chris Jones, the artist for YJ Targets, for not drawing Bart weirdly skinny. Chris drew him to basically be on par with Tim, and his legs are the most muscular part of him (he has thigh muscle. i salute Chris). and the comics are more on model than the show so i'm just glad to see that's what he's SUPPOSED to look like (also: love the confirmation that Bart's built heavier than Ed. personally i don't think Ed is THAT skinny, but i still take the win)

for real, shout-out Chris Jones!! MVP

i totally get you anon, like HOW do you have a hero who’s whole thing is LITERALLY running and not have their thighs built/toned/thick af, it’s literally illogical otherwise. like i get their speed relies on their metagene but… they literally need to use their muscles for it and speed-metabolism or not, their legs get worked tf out lol

the same goes for ass too like when i read fics and my guy gets described as flat i’m like… are we talking about the same character here?? sdfghjkl /j /srs

in terms of him in animation, i think S4 generally has superiority with more consistency though not by a huge margin, S3 also had its good moments . (New Genesis episode, Illusion of control, Fighting Granny episode) His scene in his backyard with the legion is personally gold also because he generally looks great there in a way that it looks like how he’s SUPPOSED to (this is more in terms of face and in general lol) so that singlehandedly carries the season for me my only thing for both 3 and 4 are when his upper body feels a bit disproportionate to the rest of him (like u said, the legs should be and ARE his strongest muscle, anything else just doesn’t make sense). But whenever that happens it’s usually cause u can tell he hasn’t been drawn with as much care as when he’s a bit more of the focus. So i don’t get too fussed over it. When he’s in civvies he’s also generally drawn better so it could also just be the build of his suit, who knows. Point is, animators r doing their best with the time/money they’ve been given, so this all isn’t at all on them and just on us being crazy lol It’s nice though to see him and all the other characters drawn in a more consistently balanced way in the comics !

id tag chris to express our gratitude but maybe it’s not best to tag him under the context of a thicc thighs appreciation post LOL

but in the meantime, let’s enjoy a collage of our guy (who might I add is getting nerfed like crazy here, literally all his falls shouldn’t be happening but i’ll just pretend bro isn’t even trying too hard and taking it easy lmfao)

ALSO in general, his bart art is SO GOOD like look at these, amazing:

I love how he draws his smile in these lmfao

So if possible, please support Chris by buying some copies, they’re great to have as a collection and reasonably priced as well, here’s a link for those who may be interested:

(u can change the location i believe it should have global availability idk why it’s set to canada lol)

i also totally get you about Ed like… i’ve mentioned this ages ago but for Ed’s own sake he better have gotten way stronger by now (and considering how he ate that fight with Tim and Looker it’s pretty promising) so i also don’t think he’s supposed to be as crazy skinny as some of his animated moments might have him but yeah, Barts been in the game for so long now so it makes sense .

#YJ asks #young justice #bart allen #impulse #kid flash #yj #eduardo dorado jr #el dorado #zetaflash

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bklynmusicnerd · 10 months

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Shits on fire again in the Sprina fandom. I tell you just seeing Esme’s face in the previews just sets people off especially when we haven’t seen the chick in ages, we’ve had a Sprina drought and we know Spencer and Trina will be on Monday which probably means she’ll be involved somehow. I think fans patience level with this show is running low again. I say again because this same frustration was expressed when it took decades to get a kiss. Then once we got the kiss it took a minute for the second kiss, then another minute for them to be an official couple. Unsurprisingly they are taking their sweet time with the ILYs and love scenes for them. I’m telling you the most ill advised thing to have in watching this show is expectations 😬

There's a good chance that I just won't be able to answer the rest of these GH asks, and that's because where I think things are headed with this story are very dark and draining. But as someone who survived the Abbie Mills fiasco and was an Iris West Defense Squad member, I do feel like I owe it to those of you who are sticking around to give a little bit of a heads up.

This week's episodes were basically the beginning of a sharp pivot in the story. Trina and Spencer acting either ott or ooc, put into contrived positions that they would never organically be in. And as important as it is to love both sides of your pairing, I need people to really focus in on the positioning of Trina in what is supposed to be her love story. She is being pushed to the side, her connection with and understanding of Spencer is being undermined.

They are trying to lay the groundwork for her to be contrasted with the girl who drugged her. Once again positioned as a romantic rival with Esme, except the optics are more offensive this time because this is now a girl that has fucked Spencer's father raw (with the lasting evidence in the form of an unnecessary baby), revenge porn'ed his friends and drugged and framed Trina. You will never see Dex confiding in another girl besides Joss with his shirt off. This is treatment being exclusively reserved for Trina.

And it becomes a question of, is the rest of the story of Trina and Spencer going to be one where she is degraded, put in positions of being humiliated, established as the perpetual loser? Because if that's the case then what you are dealing with is an Abbie Mills situation. Where tptb both exploit the hype for a black female lead in the center of a narrative and then chip away at her power bit by bit until she is literally shoved in the corner, or in Abbie's case, killed off.

And if that's where things are headed with Trina, which I sadly think is the case. If they have made a calculus that the Esme agenda is more important than anything else, then the fans that intend to stick around are probably going to have to mobilize. Be it some form of "Trina Robinson Deserves Better" or a Trina Robinson Defense Squad.

The same energy that was put into endless free promotion for that show in the name of Sprina, will need to be used to call those in power out (Valentini, Chris & Dan, Korte) for the bait and switch game they are playing. It is actually bigger than Sprina, this is about what they intend to do with Trina, the black heroine that they have been using for positive mainstream promotion for a year. Cause right now the writing is hinting at a weird resentment for the character and her popularity. And when it comes to black female characters, popularity is never the shield people think it is:

I am linking this article again to put in the main tag because I think it is very relevant to the situation that is occurring on GH right now. And in a lot of ways the GH situation is worse because NAC as TA's co-lead has been unwavering in his support of the Trina/Spencer story, he constantly reiterates how central Spencer's love of Trina is to his interpretation of the character.

So if that's still not enough, if there is still a backstage agenda to undermine this popular story? Then, if you are still invested in this, it might be time for not-so-friendly mobilization, with plainspoken language about what's being portrayed on screen (misogynoir, racist optics, white woman victimhood above all).

I'm not saying it will lead to a guaranteed course correct, you can't force them to tell a story they don't want to tell. But at the very least, you can make sure they don't feel overly comfortable doing TA dirty for the rest of her contract.

#general hospital #trina robinson #sprina #yeah this is long because i felt it was necessary #i cannot watch this regularly anymore because this is not an agenda that i find tolerable #and i do think people need to put their efforts into protecting TA as a black actress on a predominately white soap opera #that clearly has entrenched archaic storytelling politics

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stuckinflightrisinghell · 22 days

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Scribbled down a quick story for Arren. Most of it is under the “read more” ‘cause it got a bit long.

Born in the Sunbeam Ruins, Arren grew used to seeing the sun. Began to take the feel of it on his dark scales for granted. His parents, and the rest of the clan, taught him to respect it.

Moving to the Viridian Labyrinth was a steep learning curve for him. While the sun still shone, the shadows beneath the trees unnerved him. Of course he’d seen shadows before back home - had danced in and out of them while playing with other youngsters - but the shadows here seemed much darker, and hid things he had no name for.

He became snappish, and grumpy. This was not what he longed for. Withdrawing from others, he took to scaling trees in an effort to feel the full force of the sun without it being filtered by the branches that blocked out the sky. Once at the top, he’d perch on a branch, staring up into the sky. Often his efforts went unrewarded, for the sky was cloudy, or heavy fog would obscure his vision.

Arren stamped his feet and muttered on these occasions. He just wanted to see the sun, was that too much to ask?

One day, after another thwarted attempt, Arren noticed something strange. The tree he’d climbed had been unoccupied at first, but now…now there were crows lining the branches around him. Both above and below they sat, and all were staring at him. They were silent too - an odd thing for crows to be.

Eventually, one dropped down onto the branch beside him. And spoke.

“Why do you grumble?” It croaked.

“I grumble because I miss the sun,” Arren said. “It never seems to shine here.”

“Is that all? Then you must fly up above the clouds. You’re nimble. You’d be able to, you know.”

Arren considered the idea, then shook his head.

“No, that wouldn’t work. I’m too small. If any breezes catch me, then I’d be blown off course.”

“If that should happen,” the crow replied, “then call out. We’ll hear you.”

It sounded so ridiculous that Arren almost dismissed it as a fevered hallucination - or a dream. But he was neither dreaming or ill. Day after day he found himself replaying the conversation in his head, dwelling on it constantly. Was it possible? Could he actually do it?

“No one’s ever flown above the clouds,” Kissen said, after he’d told her the basic outline. “Even the Imperials don’t, though they do fly higher than the rest of us.”

“What if someone did? What if it’s actually possible to reach the sun?”

“It isn’t,” Kissen replied, shaking her head. “Anyone who tried would…well they’d most likely die.”

Arren didn’t say anything, but it was plain from his expression that he disagreed. The idea had taken hold, rooted itself in his head and he began to think up ways of pulling it off. There had to be a way, there just had to!

The more he thought, the more determined he became. Mentioning his plan to anyone would be useless - he saw that now. They’d only try to stop him anyway. No, he’d do it.

He put his plan (such as it was) into action one bright morning. Birds sang cheerfully as he began his ascent, and a light breeze buffeted him slightly. Arren didn’t really pay much attention though. Slowly, inch by inch, he climbed. His wings started to ache a bit, but he ignored it. His eyes were fixed on the sun. The ultimate prize. If he could just get closer than anyone ever had…

Higher. Higher. Higher. The air grew thinner as he rose, and he began to feel light-headed. But he would not stop. He could feel the warmth of the sun now - it coiled itself round him, welcoming him. “Just a bit further,” Arren thought. “Don’t stop. I’ve come this far…I can’t stop now!”

Onwards. Upwards. His mane was beginning to singe and the heat on his scales was almost unbearable. Endure it! Nearly there! Just a bit further!

But his wings failed him. The delicate membranes couldn’t take anymore, and as his wings burnt, so Arren came back down - much faster than he had gone up. His mind went blank. All he could focus on was his ruined wings and mane - which seemed to be trailing black gloopy stuff as he fell. That wasn’t right, but he had no time to dwell on it.

From the corner of his eye he saw dark shapes spiral up from the trees below him. Crows. A whole murder of them. Sunlight played oddly off their feathers, and for a moment Arren imagined that he saw a huge, long dark shape in their midst, then the murder was below him, around him, above him.

He lay on the back of one, stunned and panting. Even in the depths of his shock, he realised something about him had changed. His scales were no longer purely obsidian - now waves of gold covered his hide. Some formed the shape of the sun, dripping down his sides. His mane, which should have been burnt away, seemed to have melted, turning to sludge instead.

It was then that he heard a voice. But it wasn’t from any of the crows. It seemed to come from all around him, booming through the air like thunder.

“Well met, Sunbringer.”

#he’s wearing heritage of suns by onuo #lore story #my lore #Veilspun #dragon share #flight rising #flightrising

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