#IT HONESTLY DOESN'T SURPRISE ME THAT HE NEVER DEVELOPED A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP WITH IT? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

darkstarofchaos · 2 months

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Let's get uhh...constructicons/Prowl (for the ask thingy)

Don't ship it.

Why don’t you ship it?

The biggest reason is that nothing about the situation was healthy for Prowl. Not only did he become part of Devastator in the most traumatic way possible, but the time afterward was physically and psychologically harmful for him as well. Outside of that, there just isn't much for me to ship there? Prowl sees the Constructicons as a weapon and the Constructicons are just fanboys (up until the narrative decides Prowl needs to be utterly alone and they drop him like a hot potato). The whole situation was incredibly wasted potential.

2. What would have made you like it?

A different writer.

On its own, Prowl being forced into Devastator isn't a deal breaker for me because the Constructicons weren't the ones responsible. They did decide afterwards that they liked Prowl and wanted to hang with him, but until then, he was never even meant to be part of the team; just a disposable test subject for integrating someone new with an existing combiner. And I do honestly get the appeal of, "You were disposable to them, but not to us". Goodness knows Prowl needs someone in his corner. Heck, I can even get behind the angst of "this situation is physically hurting Prowl, but none of them - including him - want to stop".

So the setup was great. Super unhealthy, but you can do some pretty interesting things with unhealthy. But as they say, the devil's in the details.

See, I like the Constructicons. I do not like the way John Barber writes them as an interchangeable amalgam instead of letting them have some individuality. And I really don't like how he tried to resolve that conflict with earlier portrayals by saying that combining "rots away the individual". I like the idea that the Gestalt mind affects its components, not the idea that it supercedes them. I also don't like Prowl's recent instability being ascribed to the combining process and not, y'know. The traumatic events surrounding it. But we get this explanation from Galvatron, who delivers it alongside lies about Prowl killing Spike's father, so I can ignore it. I can pretend it's just another lie.

What I can't ignore is that Arcee doesn't hear this and think, oh, maybe it's not Prowl's fault he's been so erratic lately. Maybe I should see if he's okay when I get a chance. Nope. She just turns on him completely. Because the post-Dark Cybertron arc is the "let's tear away what little support Prowl still has" arc.

So I don't like how the Constructicons were written, I don't like the in-universe explanation for how they were written, and I hate the way everyone saw Prowl falling apart (including people who dared to call him a friend, Optimus), and just went, eh, I don't really care. He's just bad. And then, just to make sure Prowl loses everyone, the Constructicons turn on him too. Because apparently they can spend time in his head and like what they see, but it's still somehow a surprise that the mech who tolerated them because they were useful might not actually want them the way they want him.

Get these mechs a different writer.

3. Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

As I mentioned above, the setup is great. It had a lot of potential, not just in terms of the relationship, but for character development, worldbuilding, and even the introduction of something like chronic illness with Prowl's physical health being affected by combining (again, he was introduced to the team as an experiment in adding bots to a combiner. It would make perfect sense if it wasn't an entirely successful experiment).

I also like a lot of the art and fics I've seen for them, even if most people seem to ignore the inherent angst in favor of sweet, funny, and fluffy pieces. I just wish more people dived into the physical and psychological impacts, whether in a shippy way or not.

#transformers #Prowl #Constructicons #Prowl/Constructicons #It's too bad I have no interest in writing IDW fic #The whole 'Prowlastator' thing is fascinating #but I can't stand most of the characters I'd have to write to play with the idea #Might use a G1 AU to play with it on my own terms idk

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gwyns · 2 months

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I’m the anon that asked about Gwyn & Az! It’s nice getting to talk about things like this! I don’t go on twitter as much, because the e/riel’s there are truly unhinged. I don’t know why e/riel’s think it’s stupid that gwynriel’s are fine with Azriel saying “I don’t have a mate”, but we are because we’ll get to actually see it on page. Why would they want their ship to develop off page where you can’t read about it? Makes no sense. One of the best things about romance is getting to see the two characters slowly become enamored with each other.

I don’t think they have crushes on each other either (Gwyn might think he’s attractive) or are best friends (yet), but I think they are very good acquaintances. We will get to see their friendship develop on page, as well as their romantic feelings which will be so nice to see. I definitely agree that there is a mutual respect and trust between them. Azriel sees the warrior in Gwyn. He doesn’t see her as a victim. And so far, he treats her with respect and his interactions with her feel healthy compared to his interactions with Mor & Elain.

Do you think Gwyn and Azriel will become lovers/a couple first and then will have sex/explore it, or start exploring sex and then become lovers? I have a lot of thoughts on the sexuality aspect. It grosses me out how some e/riel’s think survivors of assault can never have sex or have sex that might be more kinky. I honestly feel like there’s a lot Sarah can do with them not only as lovers/a couple, but their friendship build up and them as individual characters. I don’t think Gwyn is going to fix Azriel, but she will help with his self worth and help accept parts of himself.

hiii i'm so sorry it took me awhile to get to this!! i agree it's very nice to be able to talk about this <3 i understand your avoidance of twitter they're... horrid on there. i've gotten to the point where i just drag any of them i happen to see on my timeline and they usually block me so, it's been fun!

i grow more and more convinced every day that e/riels have never read books before. when a character says something like "i don't have a mate" in a fated mates series that's the author telling us "yes he does, he's just too stupid to see it right now". of course he has a mate, sjm loves her happy endings. it's a little something called dramatic irony and i believe the greeks coined the term. like it's obvious to us, the readers, where this is going but he's oblivious to it. it's not hard to figure out

yes, yes, yes! i definitely think that by the end of acosf they're both on each other's radars. gwyn is comfortable being alone with him and az admires and encourages her. they're not super close (yet) but they find themselves liking one another's company more and more. it'll be such a seamless transition from acquaintances to friends to best friends to lovers and i can't wait for it!

now that's where this gets tricky. it's hard to tell when sjm will introduce their physical relationship but i hope it's more towards the end. i want their friendship to be at the front of their relationship for awhile. i do think that they won't become "official" or anything until after they have sex. i think they'll realize they're attracted to each other, and gwyn will be curious enough to ask him about it and az would be willing and... well you can guess the rest lol

oh definitely. azriel needs to self reflect a lot and realize he's worthy of love as is. he doesn't have to constantly try and prove he belongs when he already does. i think gwynriel have the potential to be one of sjm's most beautiful couples. the comfort they'd find in each other, how they'd help one another to see that they're worthy of everything they have and want... ugh i love it. they really do share many similarities and parallels and that's not a coincidence on sjm's part

as for e/riels being gross, nothing about their behavior surprises me anymore, unfortunately. i have to believe they're younger, stupider people that don't fully realize how harmful their thinking is. gwyn can and will have a healthy sexual relationship in the future, if that's what she wants. she's more than her trauma and assault, she's even said so, stop reducing her to only that and reflect on how your words can harm real people who have experienced similar things

#antielriel #anti e/riel #acotar #azriel #gwyneth berdara #gwynriel #asks #anonymous

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mdhwrites · 3 months

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When I watched Amphibia, I kinda had a hard time understanding how certain headcanons were developed in the fandom. Especially Grime being Sasha's 'toad dad' and Olivia and Yunan being Marcy's 'newt moms.'

Like...by the end of the series, I totally bought Sasha and Grime as close friends (heck, they sold me as friends partway through season two), but Grime never gave 'adoptive dad' vibes to me. Putting aside the fact Grime's the reason Sasha spent her first month in Amphibia in a cell, he's also a pretty toxic influence on her, indulging her worst traits and only really improving as a person when he and Sasha form the resistance in season three.

And I'm confident viewers only started the 'newt moms' headcanon because of the episode Olivia & Yunan. Which is pretty ironic, since in that episode, Yunan initially objects to saving Marcy (she didn't even refer to Marcy by her name, just 'the human' XD), and like you said, Olivia explicitly states she's motivated to save Marcy because she trusts her and thinks her intelligence will help them defeat Andrias, not because Marcy is someone she's emotionally attached to.

Sure, in The Hardest Thing, Olivia and Yunan hug Marcy goodbye, so there was clearly some fondness for her by the end, but nowhere near familial feelings. And yeah, maybe you could argue Olivia cared for Marcy since she insisted on being 'gentle' when Marcy was being pulled out of the tank, but that's just basic decency; hardly 'adoptive mother' behaviour.

With all that in mind, why do you think so many got so hooked on the idea of these people being found families for Sasha and Marcy? Did they think Sasha and Marcy both 'deserved' a found family just because Anne got that with the Plantars? Did they just like the idea, even if canon did almost nothing to validate it?

I personally think it's because a lot of people thought Sasha and Marcy's parents were abusive (another headcanon I can't get behind), and believed they deserved to find 'better' families in Amphibia. But that's my take; what's yours?

So there's a LOT here to potentially discuss because you're not wrong in saying that it's a dubious claim. Let's start with just my thoughts on them being found families: I like Grime as Sasha's father figure in works but it is much more a mentor and student relationship but where who is doing which is very dubious. The two need each other but how much one or the other need each other is constantly shifting and it's part of what makes their dynamic interesting. Trying to place a specific label on them is rough and I'd agree that saying that Grime is Sasha's first healthy friendship would be accurate because of the push and pull there.

Yunan and Olivia are great in fanworks as having had a real relationship with Marcy but the show just doesn't support it. Yunan seems to look down on her and barely know her while Olivia is a very normal archtype of the proper, Victorian woman who has to deal with childish antics. Neither are bad characters for it but it does mean that the moment in the end with her hugging Yunan and Olivia is more for the sake of a curtain call than it is a big relationship being wrapped up. They honestly symbolize Newtopia, which Marcy definitely should still love, rather than their actual characters in that hug and I think that works.

Now, why are they called found families?

Well, the first reading for why is honestly what I'd probably put my money on: It's a popular trope and people liked the dynamics enough to want to push it into the box they wanted it to be. Like how TOH is praised for its found family despite the family doing so little together, it's a trope with poor definitions, is hard to disprove and is just roaring through fiction right now so its overuse as a term isn't surprising. The fact that it gets used to describe so many people with just dynamics in general (frankly, it feels like it's becoming harder to write best friends in fiction partially from this) makes me unsurprised that it is getting used here since Anne does absolutely get a found family with the Plantars.

Which does bring a second part in: It makes Sasha and Marcy more important. If they're going on similar journeys as Anne than they totally aren't there to help with the themes and the like, the journey is about them too! It brings them closer to being the focus of the story and as narratively important as Anne which, as we've seen, was a big deal to the fandom. I won't even call this bad, fandom will do as it does, but it does also end up diminishing just how big a deal it was for the Plantars to so thoroughly integrate Anne into their family and then how the Boonchuys recognize that work and accept them readily too. If it's as easy as it had to have been for Marcy, Yunan and Olivia, it kind of cheapens the core thrust of the show, almost like it focused on Anne for a reason.

The last one is... KIND OF what you brought up but I think it's a lot deeper than you frame it. I recognize that nowadays I am an outlier. I literally go and take a walk with my mom every morning, or I'm supposed to, to try and help her be more physically active. My problems with my parents are mostly due to my brain not being able to accept anyone actually approves of me, let alone people who's approval I care about. I am so very lucky to have good parents who I am happy to call my parents and who I am glad to have the support of.

All too many kids, even those not in the LGBTQIA+ but ESPECIALLY if they are, have bad family homes. They dream of being able to escape to a new world that's better than theirs, meet people who accept them for them and let them do cool things and be themselves. Escapism, especially isekai, is EXTREMELY popular for a reason, especially as just the world in general sucks, regardless of your relationship with your family.

So then we get Marcy and Sasha still going back. Them ALL going back because sometimes change is inevitable and not always can you bring the ones you care about with you. It's a powerful message that spits in the eye of that escapism and for a lot of people, that HURTS. Like for as much as I defend the choice, I do understand why so many in the fandom reacted negatively to it. For as much as they potentially didn't care about the Amphibians, they don't want to lose the froggy world that they wanted to live in themselves.

And so we get the projection of abusive parents. We get the toads and newts also being found families because it's so much worse to give those people up in your life than just saying bye to your friends. We get reasons why they should have stayed or at least been allowed to travel between worlds. This isn't even all inherently wrong, especially if you are willing to admit that there was a reason why the show chose the ending it did, even if you wish you could have the one that makes you happier.

Hell, we even see some of that with how people treat angst right here. They want Sasha and Marcy to have abusive parents... Because then they can be told it's okay to reject reality, be given a hug and then move on. Not to explore that abuse but to be given the wish fulfillment of that abuse being met with kindness which is admittedly how you should meet that stuff, please take abuse victims seriously and help them, but life is more complicated than that most of the time.

These are arguments I can understand and sympathize with though. I wish I could see someone using mental illness as now their superpower to be something that makes me happy because it WOULD be nice if my depression made me better than others. I just... don't quite engage with media that way though. It's actually part of what I think makes scripted content harder for me because I engage too genuinely and don't just want a pat on the head and a juice box.

And that isn't to say people who do want that are wrong. I still don't want to be actively hurt by the media I consume. I am still there to be entertained and happy and how that happens will be different for each person. That's part of the joy of life.

So I won't tell people who want Yunan and Olivia to be Marcy's lesbian moms they're bad for wanting that. Just don't tell me that's objectively what happened in the story since analysis and headcanon are genuinely different.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#amphibia

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weakforarwen · 2 years

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Merlin Week 2022 Day 5: Free - Gwen and The Women of Camelot

I wasn't going to write another Merlin Week post, and Merlin Week is technically over, but after seeing some of the hateful posts fans used to write about Gwen, I wanted to show my appreciation for her again.

Gwen was the reason I didn't drop Merlin. After season 1, I'd become incredibly frustrated with the lack of progress in Merlin and Arthur's relationship, and how it seemed to evolve backwards as the power imbalance between them grew on both sides - Merlin's lies and good-natured manipulations kept increasing in frequency, while the trust and equality of treatment Arthur had initially shown Merlin all but disappeared until he began actively abusing his power. The lack of a magic reveal was infuriating as well, since I had expected it to occur early on in the series; when I learned it happened in the last episode I almost called it quits... until I watched The Once and Future Queen and decided I still had a good reason to finish the show, which was Queen Guinevere (and Arwen).

I honestly hadn't been paying attention to the episode, or the series in general at that point, but when Arthur kissed Gwen I knew they were it. I hadn't expected Arthur to ever become more than an idyllic hero, until he impulsively kissed Gwen and was no longer exclusively defined by his destiny and duties to Camelot. And I was so surprised and happy with how stable and healthy their relationship proved to be: no annoying breakups for the most part (4.05 doesn't truly count and, tbh, 4.09 is no conventional breakup), and no dating other people only to reunite in the last episode.

Gwen and Arthur were given a chance to grow and mature and I love them so much for it. I loved their relationship in season 4, how they became a normal couple. For the first time ever, a ship I genuinely loved was allowed to mature and become 'boring' and married; most other ships that get to develop onscreen and never really break up aren't particularly exciting or fantastical (Leslie and Ben from Parks & Rec are an example of this, though I adore them). However, despite Gwen's banishment and the Lancelot ordeal of season 4, and the lack of Gwen and Arwen in season 5, we know those two knew, trusted and shared many of the same values as each other and were equally committed and devoted to one another. Having this kind of paring in a series - one that is exciting and fairytale-like while also being so wholesome, mature, and normal - is truly unique. I admire this a lot about the show; most "mature" and consistent ships are not the main pairing, so I have a lot of love for Arwen and for the example they are of a healthy and strong relationship.

I also never expected to love Gwen so much when I started Merlin. Of all the characters, she had the best and most satisfying arc. I love that she grew and blossomed before our eyes, but, at the same time, never changed and remained loyal, honest, strong, optimistic, gentle, kind, compassionate, humble to the last. I love that she was sweet and conventionally feminine when most great female characters are badass fighters with attitude problems. Many of them also end up quite bitter and morally ambiguous in the end, but not Gwen.

Gwen was so normal and wonderful in a way that was human and achievable. She was a role model; she felt real, warm, and comforting to me. In a show that full of men, Gwen's growth surpassed all of theirs and she alone was enough for me not to choke on all that testosterone. I also love that her relationship with Arthur was good for her. It's true that Arthur failed her when he banished her, and their relationship put her at risk many times, but she grew so much with and from Arthur. He undeniably loved, trusted and grew from her, and would do anything for her as well, and that made her feel safer and confident in herself. She was his love interest but he put her first and their relationship was surprisingly equal. Arthur wasn't jealous or possessive, they talked (in 3.06, Arthur and Gwen openly discussed his engagement to Elena, in 4.09 he told Gwen not to kneel before him and let her explain her actions, they talked many times about his decisions as Prince/King, etc.), he listened and followed her opinion a lot too and stood up to her (to Uther in 1.03, 2.03, 3.07, 3.10, 5.03; to Agravaine, in 4.09 at least, to Merlin in 4.06 when he wasn't himself), he arranged picnics and breakfast in bed for her, gave her flowers, helped her brother and her friends, etc. I hate Gwen's banishment as much as any sane person, but, other than that, Arthur truly respected Gwen. I also love that Gwen had love interests before Arthur; it made her character, and her and Arthur's relationship, even realer and more balanced.

Lastly, I really love that Gwen became Queen. I hate Arthur's death, but her becoming Queen regnant, especially because Arthur chose her and wanted her to be his successor (how feminist of him), made a huge statement imo. I certainly hadn't expected Gwen (keep in mind I knew nothing of the Arthurian legends) to end up the most powerful person in Camelot. Here you have a normal woman - significantly a woman of color at that - usher in the Golden Age instead of Arthur. That was really cool. Gwen alone made the show enjoyable to me as a feminist (despite everything...). And some of the best characters in the show were women who only appeared in a few episodes. Truth be told, the show had great diversity of well-written female characters, but the writers chose not to do anything with them.

We had Princess Elena, sweet, kind, adorable, a bit unladylike, one of my personal favorites; Queen Annis, one of the few older women in the series, wise, strong, fair, and an admirable Queen; Lady Vivian, bratty, innocent, charming, honestly the female version of Arthur if he hadn't had his duties and friendships to ground him; Freya, sweet, loyal, beautiful, strong and tragic, had loved Merlin; Hunith, strong, compassionate, inspiring, brave, a leader, always fought for what was right and raised Merlin so well on her own; Ygraine, gentle and loving, loved her son and told him not to let the truth of her death hurt him; Princess Mithian, dutiful to her father and to her Kingdom, assertive, kind, strong, brave; Grunhilda, evil, but also endearing, hilarious, and refreshingly sexually empowered; Sefa, sweet, gentle, good, had only wanted to please her father; Mary, brave Mary who alone made the dangerous journey to Camelot to seek help for her village; Morgause, not a minor character, but the best female fighter, strong enough to beat Arthur, resourceful, knowledgeable, intelligent, had truly loved her sister; Isolde, loyal, optimistic, brave, empathetic, believed in the power of love; Alice, not a favorite but seemed like a good person; Lady Catrina, one of the most disgusting yet genial villains, so kudos for deceiving and embarrassing the hell out of Uther; Nimueh, she was right in some aspects and very wrong in others, but she had a lot of potential; Morgana, not a minor character, of course, the only one who could match Merlin in power, not an entirely unsympathetic villain, had genuinely loved her sister, Aithusa, and even Mordred.

#bbc merlin #merlinweek2022 #merlin #gwen pendragon #guinevere pendragon #bbc arwen #arwen #arthur pendragon #morgana #another mess

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2xplusungood · 8 months

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I think I finally figured out why the episode "Lethal Inspection" bothers me so much, or more accurately how it tries to emulate the success of Jurassic Bark's ending and ultimately fails to deliver the same emotional gutpunch it did.

In Jurassic bark, we see Fry find the remains of his beloved pet from the past, and over the course of the episode we see him put himself through hell to get it back from the museaum, and later bringing him trying to bring him back to life, meanwhile neglecting his relationship with Bender.

This establishes two things: 1. Fry is still extremely attached to his past life where just the possibility of bringing back SOMEONE to his new life is something he will commit himself to 100%

2. For all of Bender's in your face attitude and claims he wants to kill all humans and how he doesn't need anyone, the moment he gets even the slightest hint of losing someone is enough to make him act like a small, scared child.

The episode intercuts with flashbacks to Seymore's life with Fry and what happens after Fry gets frozen. This not only fleshes out the world of Futurama, but it also gives light on WHY Fry is so obsessed with this dog, as it was the only character who knew him well enough to know what happened to him.

Then comes the ending. The tension between Bender and Fry comes to a head and then gets resolved by Bender redeeming himself by putting Fry's happiness before his own. Meanwhile Fry finds out that Seymore lived for a long time after he got frozen, which makes Fry come to the entirely reasonable conclusion that Seymore lived a full life.

The emotional gut punch comes from Seymore having never actually moved on from Fry, and while his decision was made from a healthy place, it results in Seymore living to the age of 15 waiting for Fry to come home. Its a situation thats heartbreakingly beautiful and not something you would expect from the silly future simpsons show. Its one that personally, still makes me feel things to this day.

On the other hand, theres Lethal Inspection. An episode that fails to set up for an emotional payoff, or even keeps the suspension of disbelief for long enough to have a surprise emotional twist be effective.

Firstly, it immediately contradicts what has already been established in the worst way possible. It reveals that this entire time Bender has been (or at least THOUGHT he was) immortal with the excuse of "I was just pretending to be scared all those times" which annhilates the suspension of disbelief.

Then it does something cool. It puts Hermes and Bender, two characters who havent had a whole lot of interactions, together for an international adventure, giving Hermes another chance to show off his skills and connections as a bureaucrat and the both of them develop a sort of chemistry.

At the end, Bender has to come to terms with his own mortality, and honestly had it just ended there, with maybe Hermes having to step out of his comfort zone as a cold bureaucrat to comfort his friend and coworker, that honestly wouldve been great.

But instead we get this twist that HERMES was actually the inspector that let bender go and it made him quit being an inspector.

Im gonna unpack all this now

Firstly Im just gonna let the continuity of baby bender slide. As far as Im concerned, the growth cycle of robots has basically just been a bunch of off the cuff jokes so its clear its a "dont think about it too hard" situation

This is the first and only instance of Hermes bucking the system that he's been a happy cog in his entire life. This would be fine, even GREAT if they had simply had more build up to it.

Its implied to be this lifechanging event for Hermes as he leaves the robot factory. This falls flat considering that Hermes, up until this point, has been a cold man who treats even other humans as disposable assets. Having a very humanizing moment for a character like this can be effective but you cant just randomly throw it out there, never to be mentioned again.

It establishes an undeserved connection between these two characters despite this basically being the only time they ever really interact for an extended period of time.

The Audience has never really been given reason to CARE about these "characters" as they, with a only a few exceptions like Hermes coming to terms with his shortcomings in Bender's Big Score, have mostly been vessels for joke delivery rather than fleshed out characters while Fry, Leela, Amy and Kiff have gotten the brunt of character development.

What barebones character growth it DOES have is Hermes proving that people like him ARE useful in getting things done, gets immediately contradicted by showing him acting NOT like a bureaucrat

Ultimately any emotion this scene has is based off pure coincidence. We aren't given any sort of idea of how the realization that HE was the one who let Bender slip through the cracks actually affected him as a person. Hell if anything it might've been MORE impactful if the inspector just turned out to be a friend of Hermes who showed more humanity than Hermes ever could

Now what should they have done in my opinion?

First off, instead of a "Bender takes Hermes on an adventure" episode, just commit making it a Hermes episode. Instead of doing the dumb "Sithal War" bit, just have Hermes waking up and follow him through his morning, clearly feeling unhappy with his life and who he's become. This would also be a great oppertunity to give LaBarbera some focus, instead of another 'shes looking for any excuse to leave Hermes for Barbados Slim' joke, have some genuine relationship drama as she ALSO isn't happy with how Hermes has become. Have Hermes respond in a cold, tired manner that only makes things worse.

Take that and follow the same general beats, except without the whole "Consiousness backed up to the cloud" and instead have Bender flaunting how he's not going to die of old age, only to find out that his self-repair functions are faulty. What THIS would do is have Bender face his newly found mortality without cheapening his fear of danger.

From here you have your adventure to mexico as Hermes dips his toes into his old life. Maybe drop much more subtle hints that Hermes has been to this town before as he somehow knows how to get around and where to find the factory. If questioned he could lie and say "I went to a calculator expo here one time" or something.

Then have the big reveal, but FOLLOW UP ON IT. Show that the whole experience has serve as a brief reminder of the idealistic young man he once was and then have there be CONSEQUENCES for it. Make the opening super melancholy so you can contrast it now with him going home with that spark relighting his humanity. Instead of trying to force an emotional moment with a sudden twist and music that implies innocence and youth, give the characters room to breath and let the audience form an emotional connection with their plight.

#futurama #futurama spoilers #jurassic bark #lethal inspection

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discyours · 2 years

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If you are heavily SSA then why are you dating a man?

Same reason the other 90% of bi women do. I always thought I'd end up with a woman but then the universe caught me by surprise and my soulmate just so happened to be a man. Crazy cosmic coincidence! No rhyme or reason to it. Defies all logic really because women are SO pretty and men are SO nasty (except this one who I love <3). Now let me talk about how i'm just as queer as lesbians, if not more because I'm actually DEFYING expectations by ending up with a man.

Yeah nah internalised homophobia + religious OCD sabotaged all of my attempts are same sex relationships. I've been on dates with women, been (mutually) in love with a woman, slept with a woman, but the amount of fear + guilt involved just doesn't lend itself to a healthy relationship. Not to mention that the dating pool is absolutely tiny which greatly reduces your chances of finding anyone who's willing to put up with your shit, both the "help I'm going to hell for wanting to fuck you" kind and everything else.

I've never sought out straight relationships and I'd honestly sworn off dating men because I thought it was impossible for me to date a man without destroying his confidence and robbing him of the kind of love that a more heavily hetero attracted woman could give him. But I met a man whose personality meshes well with mine, who genuinely wasn't bothered by me finding him ugly, and who was equally hopeless about developing normal feelings in a relationship (he's straight, just has a hard time falling in love). It took two years for the first "I love you" and I still took a little bit before I was willing to say it back, I think finding him consistently attractive took even longer. We're both really happy now and it's a healthy relationship, but I'd never recommend for an equally SSA leaning bisexual to seek out a straight relationship like this, nor am I ever gonna be one of those bisexuals and pretend that being in a straight relationship is just a coincidence for me.

#anon

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greensaplinggrace · 3 years

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honestly THANK YOU for saying all that abt baghra bc i thought i was going crazy from not liking her??? bc i haven't read the books and only summaries of them on wiki and like. i dunno why ppl like her actually even in the show bc this guy, her son, is like "i wanna make the world better for us grisha" and she's just like "no." even tho he sees that she's MAKING HERSELF SICK from suppressing her powers! she's literally like in bed coughing in the flashback yet seem much healthier at the little palace. also like after everything, after her disapproval, after the fold, after centuries of waiting for the sun summoner.. he never abandons her. he makes sure she's cares for. he doesn't harm her. and i have to wonder if baghra has ever thanks him for that, for just not leaving her alone. like i dunno how im suppose ro believe aleks is a heartless villain when he still cares for his abusive mom like this. like has baghra even told her she loved him (honestly she reminds me of a classic emotionally unavailable asian parent but maybe that's just me). also im wondering if baghra ever told aleks that he had an aunt.. bc like.. now that u bring up her isolating him it's like hmmmm...

not at me being like alina... why do u trust the bitter old woman who literally beats u with a stick and verbally abuses u every chance she gets.. just bc she showed a bad painting... like.. pls use two braincells to see that who u figured out as his mother... is also using his protection..

like baghra could've upped and left with alina. but no. she stayed bc she knew she was safe under aleks's protection.

alsoim just impressed that after his first friend tried to drown him and harvest his bones... he didn't go into hiding???? he still wanted to make a safe heaven for grisha!!! HE STILL WANTED TO PROTECT GRISHA EVEN AFTER HIS GRISHA FRIEND TRIED TO KILL HIM FOR HIS FUCKEN BONES. like... this is the guy im suppose to believe is the villain???

honestly i feel like part of the reason why LB's plotlines seem so bad and disconnected (and sometimes outright racist but that's another rant) and why darkles is disproportionately more violent and villainous in the later books is bc she didn't expect the darkling to be so popular and wanted to stick with her guns of making him the villain. but also wanted the money from aleks's popularity. but like you can't have ur cake and eat it too.

Well thank you for sending this ask! It's very sweet and very passionate. I'm glad you liked my post! I didn't put as much thought into it as some of my others lol. I kind of just talked. But it was nice to be able to finally talk about some of the problems I have with both her character and the fandom/author's perception of her.

HERE is the post this is referring to, in case anyone's wondering.

👀👀 You've hit the nail on the head for so many things, here!

Baghra is extremely emotionally unavailable, basically to the point of neglect. She's also verbally and physically abusive, traits which I doubt were only reserved for her students and not her son. Baghra claims she would do anything to protect him, but I've known a lot of parents who have that mindset and yet still harm their children because they think it's "good for them".

Aleksander stays at Baghra's side for years, and even when they're opposing each other she's never too far away from him. Idk if you've read the books but he does eventually hurt her. And as much as I don't like Baghra, I think his actions were horrid. But I'm also honestly kind of surprised it took him so long lmao.

Yeah I mean, in terms of isolation, let's not forget that she never wanted to introduce him to his father, either. Baghra's sense of eternity clouds a lot of her judgments on relationships, which means she views most people as dust and therefore teaches her son to as well. The problem with that is that he's a growing child, and he needs those social and emotional attachments for healthy development.

I would bet quite a bit of money that Baghra has either never told him she loves him or she has told him so few times it's practically forgettable.

And everything becomes more complicated because so many of Baghra's actions are understandable because of her life and her history, but the impacts they have on the people around her, especially Aleksander, are permanently damaging. And the fact that that's never gone over in critical depth in the books or how it's glossed over in fandom is just very disconcerting. Like, acknowledging Baghra's failings doesn't mean we're excusing Aleksander's actions, it just means we're holding Baghra liable for her own. Which the fandom should be doing, considering she's the epitome of an abusive parental figure.

And Alina trusting Baghra over Aleksander is even more confusing! Especially in the show!! This is the woman who beat her and abused her and tortured her friends when they tiny little children (and who probably still does so now that they're adults). This is the woman who mocks you and harasses you and insults you on a regular basis. Why does Baghra revealing she's Aleksander's mother make Alina change her mind?! Like fuck, I'd just feel bad for Aleksander. No wonder he kept it a secret, I would too! And that painting is enough evidence?! Really?! A random painting shown to you by this abusive mentor that's been making your life hell. That's what you're going to betray your new lover over?

The friends trying to harvest his bones thing is a good point, too. I think Aleksander, especially show Aleksander, is incredibly idealistic. I think he cares too much for others - those he's deemed worth his care (a sentiment given to him by Baghra). Despite everything she's tried to teach him about hiding and abandoning others and never caring and never doing anything to help or reach out or connect with people, Aleksander still continues to do so. It's likely because he never got it from Baghra growing up, and so is desperate for those emotional needs to be fulfilled elsewhere.

His turning point, when Baghra tells him it was understandable that those kids tried to kill him because the world is such a hard place for them - that's crucial. And the reason it's possible as a motivating factor is because of that idealism and that desire to help and that desire to be everything his mother isn't. Baghra tells him this trauma he just experienced was because of the oppression of his people, and instead of following her lead and accepting that, going into hiding and abandoning everybody to their misery, he goes I can do something about that. I can make it so this never happens again. Which is usually how trauma like that combines with one's core personality traits at a young age, especially when there's none of the essential support systems in place to aid in recovery (ie, the role Baghra should have been filling but wasn't, because she decided to exacerbate the problem instead).

And yeah, one of my biggest problems with the ham-fisted "beating you over the head with a sledgehammer of evil deeds" look-how-bad-this-character-is! portrayal of the Darkling in the later books comes from the impression I get that Bardugo doesn't trust her readers. She's so desperate to have us hate this character and think him an irredeemable villain, not trusting any of her readers to engage critically with a morally gray character, that it feels quite a bit like condescending fucking bullshit. Which ew, I know how to engage with literature, thanks.

She really does seem to look down on a large part of her fandom, and imo, the infantilization of the female characters in her books seems to carry over to her impression of most of her female readers as well. Which is why the Darkling's character arc gets fucking destroyed. But he's still a good cash grab, of course, so she'll shake his dead corpse in front of the fandom for money every time she wants something from it.

Also! Another reason I think her plotlines feel disconnected (I'm sorry Bardugo I respect you as a person, but shit-) is because the writing in SaB is just bad. I mean, nevermind the absolutely nauseating implications of the way she portrays the Grisha as a persecuted group who's situation is never actually fully addressed as it should be, considering Grisha rights is what her main villain is fighting for (imo for a series called the Grishaverse, LB seems to be pretty anti Grisha), but her characters and story alone are just wrong for each other. They don't fit together.

And the ending is one of the main pieces of evidence in that regard! You can’t say the ending where Alina isn’t Grisha anymore is her “going back to where she started” when she’s always been Grisha. She just didn’t know she was Grisha because she denied that part of herself that she was born with.

Alina is reluctant to move forward or change, she struggles with adapting, and she’s very set on the things she’s grown attached to throughout her life. She also has some latent prejudices against the Grisha, and so denies the possibility of being Grisha for those reasons as well.

Alina’s lack of powers in the beginning of her life because she willfully doesn’t learn about them to avoid change versus her lack of powers at the end of the book when she’s accepted them and then they’re stripped away from her by outer forces are two entirely separate circumstances. You can’t make a parallel about lost powers and lack of Grisha status bringing her back to the start when she was always Grisha and she always had powers and she simply refused to come to terms with it because of personal reasons.

The first situation is an internal conflict that indicates a story about growth and a journey of self acceptance. Denying herself the opportunity to learn about her heritage and to find acceptance with a group of people like her because she’s tied to the past and because of the way she was raised is the setup for a narrative that tackles unlearning prejudice and learning how to connect with a part of her identity that was denied her and learning how to grow independent and self assured. It’s the setup for a different story entirely. The second situation is an external conflict that centers around the ‘corrupting influence of power’... for some reason.

In a world where Grisha do not have social, political, or economic power and they are hunted, centering your heroine’s journey of self acceptance and growth around an external conflict about... the corrupting influence of power (in a group of people that don’t actually have any power?!) just doesn’t work. It is literally impossible to connect the two stories Bardugo is trying to push in Shadow and Bone without seriously damaging the main character’s developmental arc.

The only way a narrative like this would work, claiming that she has gone back to where she started, is either a) if the Grisha weren’t actually a persecuted group and instead were apart of the upper class, or b) if the one bad connection between the two instances is acknowledged - that Alina denied a part of herself crucial to self acceptance and growing up, and that losing her powers at the end has also denied her. It is a tragedy, not a happy ending.

Alina suffered because she didn’t use her powers. She grew sick. It was bad for her. This was not a resistance to 'the corruption of power and the burden of greed', it was her suffering because she couldn’t fully accept herself.

Framing the ending as a return to the beginning can’t be done if you don’t address how bad the beginning was for your main character. You brought her back to a bad point in her life. You regressed her. This should be a low point in her arc. It should be a problem that’s solved so she can finish developing organically or it should be something that is acknowledged as a tragedy in it’s own right, for the future the world (the writing) denied her.

This is a ramble and it makes no sense and I’m really sorry, but my point is that Bardugo put the wrong characters in the wrong story. The character arc required for organic development doesn’t match the story and intended message at all. The narrative doesn’t fit the cast. She's got two clashing stories attempting to work in tandem and she ends up with both conflicting messages that fans still can’t comprehend in her writing and an ending that doesn’t suit her main character to such an impossible degree that it’s almost laughable.

So yeah, there's a few reasons why I think the story and the plot feels so bad and disconnected. I hope you don't mind me making this answer so long! 😅 I was not expecting to write this much.

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valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn · 2 years

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The whole idea of 'Stephan going mad watching the love of his life with someone else' physically hurts me because it doesn't acknowledge that:

1) Love fades guys. If it's not actively maintained, your gonna lose feelings. Don't get me wrong, you'll still care about the person but it won't be romantic in nature. Speaking of which:

2) Platonic love is a thing. Infatuation is a thing. I honestly never got the impression that Stevan and Christine where actually in love with eachother. (Speaking strictly from the first movie) They just seemed like good friends who fucked. And Stevan didn't have any other friends or even family so it was up to Christine to step up when his accident happened. No one else even visited him in the hospital! How many close friends has Stevan ever actually had? How many people has he actually dated dated vs just fucking? Does he know the difference between platonic and romantic love? Love vs infatuation? I'd believe it if he doesnt. Sorry I ended up going on a tangent, but that would be a great concept to explore in MoM. But I guarantee they won't.

Also, if he truly loved Christine, he would be happy in her happiness. So the whole concept of the wedding being 'painful' is bs unless it really was never love in the first place. They are talking out of both sides of their mouth. - 🐍 Anon

You're right and you should say it!

Stephen doesn't have any family alive. They changed a few things from the comics where he's the elder sibling, Donna is his sister and Victor his brother (and they're both dead). However in the MCU he only had Donna - she died when she was young which inspired Stephen to become a doctor. Both parents are dead as well so I'm afraid he only has Christine.

Frankly judging by his attitude in the hospital it doesn't surprise me that he didn't have many friends. Not because he was so insufferable that nobody wanted to be close to him (a little too arrogant, yes, but I've dealt with worse), I just got the impression he wasn't interested in maintaining relationships, focusing instead on his work and some "escapades" with Christine. And those times when he was with her he definitely developed feelings for her but that doesn't mean he has to act on them.

It's almost as if some people can't imagine a situation when someone loves another person but doesn't make a move which is crazy because it happens all the time! You can catch feelings for pretty much anyone and sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn't and that's alright. There are times where making a move would only make things worse.

Which kind of takes me to your first point... when would they work to keep their romance alive? Christine is way too busy in the hospital (in ER of all places!) and Stephen has a multiverse to protect. It's far healthier to show them hanging out every now and then as friends who care deeply for each other, who help one another but stay on their own paths. Like you say in #2, platonic relationships exist and they're wonderful.

I just hope, whatever they do, they don't show Stephen in the wedding trying to ruin it or making things miserable for her. I wouldn't mind some healthy and funny banter with the groom, some lines where they tell each other that they still love one another but they realize they can't be together, and for Stephen to perhaps look a little sad but happy to see Christine with someone who loves her. Now that would be great.

We'll see.

#Stephen Strange #Doctor Strange #multiverse of madness

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0606-hyuck · 3 years

Text

BOYFRIEND!KUN

includes:

♡ before the relationship

♡ becoming comfortable/humour

♡ relationships with other members

♡ jealousy/pda/flirting

♡ disagreements

♡ dates/texting/social media

♡ languages/"i love you"

masterlist

enjoy!

wc: 1.4k

♡ before the relationship ♡

you knew each other through your mutual friend, ten

as you spent time together and with ten's other friends, you started developing a crush on kun

he was always just so sickeningly sweet to you and you'd never been treated so well by a man that wasn't even your boyfriend

kun was always really fond of you too and loved your company

he also had a crush on you but you had no idea

he respected your boundaries and would never knowingly flirt with you or do anything to make you uncomfortable

and because of this you assumed you were just a good friend to kun

eventually ten got sick of you fawning over his friend and he told you to just confess to kun

it took you even longer after that to actually work up the courage and tell him you liked him

when you did, he was so surprised and he had no idea you liked him in that way

you'd both been so platonic with each other that you'd assumed you would never get together

"why didn't you say something earlier?"

"why didn't YOU say something, kun?"

♡ becoming comfortable/humour ♡

starting a relationship with him felt really natural

nothing really changed, he'd always treated you so well

you just openly flirted with each other now

kun would always get flustered whenever you flirted with/complimented him, especially if you did it in front of his members

because they'd all tease him about the blush spreading across his face

you also love to cuddle up together

kun loves being the big spoon and feeling like he has you protected in his arms

he could just sit for hours cuddling with you, watching movies, talking etc

you knew he was getting comfortable in the relationship when one day he came out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his hair

"why did you do that? you have short hair???"

"you do it all the time and it looks fun so i wanted to try it"

is highkey really witty

will banter with you if only to see you smile

and because it amuses him

if you're getting a lil too cocky he'll come back with a clever but good-natured reply/joke and you're like "damn where did that come from"

DADDY KUN

he's just all round very domestic with you

even before you two started dating

we all know kun is such a parent figure to his members and he's really no different with you

treats you like the queen you are and always puts your feelings first

to the point where you sit there and think "what did i do to deserve a qian kun in my life"

lowkey existential crises because you're not sure what you did in a past life to get so lucky with kun

but it's fine tho

♡ relationships with other members♡

the other members love to call you their second parent

or even just refer to you and their mum and kun as their dad

they love to tease kun when you're around, especially if it's about you

cue ten and lucas screaming in second-hand embarrassment when kun does something cute with you

also relentless teasing from yangyang and hendery

yangyang: *in kun's voice* jagiya~ don't forget to eat today

honestly they all put bets on when you two would start dating because they knew it would happen eventually

and xiaojun would be like "no, placing bets on their relationship is wrong" but he'd also win the bet lol

♡ jealousy/pda/flirting ♡

i don't think kun would get visibly jealous that much?

like if one of the members was playfully trying to make him jealous he'd probably tell them to back off just because he knows that's the reaction they want

if some stranger was flirting with you he wouldn't necessarily feel jealous, but he would kindly but firmly tell the person you are taken

he'd be more worried about the person making you feel uncomfortable rather than jealous tbh

kun understands you have your own life and doesn't get jealous when you hang out with your friends or family

he's not a massive fan of pda, but sometimes for fun he'll kiss you in the dorms because he knows the other members find it cringey

he gives off "middle-aged-dad-deliberately-embarrassing-his-teenaged-children" vibes

you aren't a couple that flirts much

just because your relationship is so domestic and wholesome

although you do find it fun to flirt with kun in front of wayv and watch him turn beet red

kun prefers to tell you straight up how amazing you are rather than flirt with you

but occasionally he'll come up with a line that's so clever and smooth

it’s just very attractive the one time a year he decides to actually flirt with you lol

♡ disagreements? ♡

you almost never get into fights with him

but when you have a disagreement, it's usually about how you want to be independent and not rely on him all the time

can be a bit overbearing and he can get his feelings hurt when you remind him he's your boyfriend and not your caregiver

you know he loves spending money and buying things for you, but sometimes you want to be able to buy things for yourself and not need his help all the time

a big clash for you is money

but you know he's only offering to help because he loves you, he's not trying to embarrass you or anything like that

it just genuinely doesn't cross his mind that you'd want to spend your own money or do stuff yourself

and once he knows it's an issue he backs off and even encourages you to be more independent

♡ dates/texting/social media ♡

kun LOVES cooking for you and making sure you're eating healthy

when he's away he loves to call you just to hear your voice

you have date nights where you kick the other members out and just cook a meal together

but he also loves taking you out to fancy restaurants and spending money on you because it's what you deserve bby

can listen to you talk about your day for hours

you always feel like you're talking too much but he reassures you you're not

you try to get him to talk about himself but he just encourages you to talk more

he always sends cute texts asking if you've ate/slept enough/doing okay etc

just cute lil check ups each day to remind you he cares

literally 95% of his social media is you/selfies with you

he has no problems sharing your awesomeness with the world

also always hyping you up on social media

if you post something he'll repost it on his story and say something like "my partner is hot and they know it"

posts stupid videos of you messing around

like a video of you poorly playing a recorder with the caption "look at y/n go"

and all his members comment on the post to hype you up too

♡ languages/"i love you" ♡

he prefers to talk to you in chinese (mandarin) or korean

but if your native/preferred language is something else he'd definitely try learn it for you

learns it so he can talk to your parents/family comfortably

and also so there's no miscommunication between you

actually learns super fast and you're really shook *insert pikachu meme*

you always tell kun you love him when me made stuff or did something nice for you

you meant it, of course, but you said it so often that it kinda became an inside joke between you

like if you held the door open for him he'd say in a high pitched voice "omg i love you so much y/n" and mimic what you said to him lol

but when you said "i love you" seriously he would instantly know it wasn't a joke and you were fr

he'd smile and pull your face into his chest for a massive hug

kun would be smiling into your hair and rubbing your back and he'd just say "i know"

before he says he loves you back and pulls you in for a kiss

omg ahskkwjwka this is so cute my heart is bursting

in conclusion stan kun and wayv sluts 😜

#neowritingsnet #nct #nct 2020 #wayv #wayv imagine #wayv scenarios #wayv as your boyfriends #nct kun #wayv kun #kun nct #kun #qian kun #kun scenario #kun imagine

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whywoulditho · 3 years

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fullscore trio? (anyone or all of them) + hayato and jin??

AHHH MY CHLIDREN I MISS THEM

long post

I won't say anything about their sexualities because they're children. I know they're teenagers in the finale arc but i never really thought about it so, i dont even have an answer for that

Emma:

Otp: Noremma. It's such a wholesome and healthy relationship I can cry

Brotp: her with Ray, Gilda, Don, Anna, Violet, Gillian and Oliver.

Notp: um, the pedo ones, you know? Apart from that I don't see a reason she can't be shipped with the other kids, they're all really cute

First headcanon that pops into my head: (spoilers) when they reuinited at the human world, she was curious about why they all had similar tattoos on their necks. They tried to explain i guess but she felt like she was being left out on something and you know how much she hates that. So she wanted to get a tattoo for herself too, Norman said that it wasn't necessary and their tattoos didn't have a nice meaning so she really doesn't need to do that but then Emma went to Ray and being the best bro that he is he took her to a tattoo shop with fake ids and she got a 63194 tattoo. Norman wasn't really surprised

Things that give me second hand embarrassment about this character: Honestly nothing. I love everything about her

Cinnamon roll or problematic fave? : CINNAMON ROLL <3

Norman:

Otp: Noremma

Brotp: Norray. And i really love their dynmaic. Also Vincent and him make an amazing duo too and i love them

Notp: pedo ships -because there are many-

First headcanon that pops into my head: Eating too much sweets gives him a stomach ache so he can't ever finish his desserts. Ray is happy about this

Things that give me second hand embarrassment about this character: His character development was great but that arc should've been longer and we should've seen more about Lambda

Cinnamon roll or problematic fave? : Cinnamon roll who happened to almost genocide a whole race oops

Ray:

Otp: None,, bc even tho i dont like talking about their sexualities, well, he's an aroace to me. Ray x Ayshe doesn't sound bad when Ayshe is also an aroace. They're living the qprs i always dreamed of lol

Brotp: Rayemma and Norray. Also him and Violet are besties

Notp: just the pedo ones

First headcanon that pops into my head: He cries in his sleep a lot. sorry :/

Things that give me second hand embarrassment about this character: (spoilers) how he was almost invisible in the last arc. when Isabella died, we needed to see more of how he felt about that. Also i really wanted to see the goodbye note he wrote to Isabella but i guess that'll remain to be another mystery ;-;

Cinnamon roll or problematic fave? : Cinnamon roll. So what if he's a bit suicidal and self sacrifical asf

Hayato:

Otp: None

Brotp: With Jin and Nigel

Notp: Anyone. He's 2, are you all insane

First headcanon: He cried when Norman and the others threw a birthday party for him

Second hand embarrassment: Nope

Cinnamon roll.

Jin:

Otp: None

Brotp: Hayato

Notp: Same as the upper

First headcanon: He seems to be the serious type but he blushes very easily. He likes wearing that face mask bc Cislo used to mock him and call him a tomato

Second hand embarrassment: nothing

Problematic Cinnamon Roll ndkekdlsld

#OMG I REALLY MISSED THEM SO MUCH THIS GIVES ME SO MUCH NOSTALGIA #i used to have a tpn fan page on ig #it was cringe asf but boy did i have fun #i miss those times #anyway thank you for the ask!!#the promised neverland #yakusoku no neverland #tpn #emma #norman #ray #hayato #jin #headcanons #ask game #my posts

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indigosprite · 3 years

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Is it wrong that I like Chrome and Mukuro shipped together? I personally think Mukuro had some type of intimate relationship with chrome, Ken, chikusa and the other girl I keep forgetting about. But I see it all as a hurt/comfort/dark type of intimacy and not necessarily sex either. But then I also think Mukuro doesn't like touching people because he wears gloves all the time, but his small crew is different because they had been through and shared so much hurt and pain. Ah! Sorry for my random headcanons! I ♡ Mukuro.

no need to be sorry i love asks !

I think this ship and whether it is “wrong” or not 100% depends on your characterization of chrome. It has the same problem as the Tsuna Kyoko ship where the problem lies in how it was/is written not the characters themselves. Personally This ship never even crosses my mind I honestly forgot it was a thing until I saw this ask. I can’t say its surprising or even a weird ship to have, her whole character was made for him you’re bound to think about it. Is it wrong ? like any ship it could be but not inherently. The way they meet and interact has a power dynamic that wouldn’t be healthy if translated into a relationship, you can headcanon them so far off track that it eventually makes sense but going off canon and the fics people have written that have this ship its always a little weird in my opinion because they fail to correct the little things that would makes the paring feel normal. The reason I don’t ship it is because chrome is this malleable doll accepting any and everything from everyone and also idolizes him. she lives for him it’s like Harley and joker. (except Harley has a backbone and a lot more to say to joker later in life). it’s clear Mukuro has a soft spot for her and that’s cute, but in general I think it’s dangerous to be in love with someone you idolize, he saved her life then managed to turn this completely normal girl into a murderous fairly violent gang member that can posses her, it’s safe to say she holds him above her own self autonomy. Honestly I think I don’t like this ship because whenever I come across Chrome in fanworks & canon it reminds me how much people hate writing women. I do however agree that Mukuro 100% developed queer platonic relationships with all of them that might have felt like crushes, at some point maybe they were who knows, they sure as hell don’t. I think its a great Headcanon to consider for the gang its one of my favorites. to me romance or these ships being in love means giving a part of yourself up or using two wholes to make another, instead of the usual I’m giving you this small part of me and keeping the rest she’s just giving him the last part of her then it is all his. It really is all up to how you develop her as a character (if you chose to) and put her in that relationship my own version of their relationship makes them balance out but not as a couple.

#khr #kokuyo gang #chrome dokuro #rokudo mukuro #6996 #khr ask #SpriteLand

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gwyns · 3 years

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I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone draw parallels between Feyre leaving Tamlin for her Mate to Elain leaving Azriel for her Mate. (Ignoring the fact I hate Rhysand, the books obviously want me to think he's the best person ever so I'll just pretend). Because that's what I see happening.

Elain and Azriel are so clearly rebounds for one another. Elain's still grieving her human love and life, and Azriel is still hung up on Mor. They're both quiet and available, so they jump to each other. That's it. The Azriel POV was purely about what he wants. How he wants to fuck her and taste her. He's just sex to her.

Even if E/riels had a more convincing case, it's not like SJM hasn't pulled a SIKE on us before. If she goes anywhere with E/riel, she'll undoubtedly pull it back. SJM doesn't take Mating bonds lightly, and she's stated that she loves Lucien. And if anyone deserves the happiness of a bond, it's him.

Feyre and Rhys, and Cassian and Nesta, all had relationships/lovers before Mating. Elain "liking" Az now, (which we're not even clear on), doesn't really mean much.

I'd like to hear your thoughts! You're so good at this, and you always explain my thoughts so perfectly. Love and light 💕💕💕

honestly there are quite a few feysand/elucien parallels that people either don't see or choose to ignore.

rhysand was first presented as a villain to feyre, the same could be applied to lucien just bc of his envolvement with tamlin (that he wrongfully gets blamed for btw idk why e/riels love blaming tamlin's mistakes on lucien). feyre was engaged before she went to rhys, elain was engaged before she met lucien. both were/are? still hung up on their former fiances. feysand as a couple represents the night, elucien would represent (at least in part) day. it's literally night and day with them. they're similar but also wholly their own pairing, it's fascinating to me.

anyway i think i will use this ask to spill some of my e/riel opinions sorry about that! alright let's start off with this controversial statement: i don't think e/riel was ever meant to be endgame.

i've seen it said a few times over the years that sarah changed her mind about elucien and while that's possible bc she also previously changed her mind on lucien and nesta one has to ask themselves..... if she wanted to write a mate bond rejection why didn't she stick with her original plan of lucien and nesta being mates? she's said herself that they wouldn't work but she chose to change lucien's mate to someone who compliments him better, and it's to feyre's other sister no less. that tells me lucien is important and powerful, he's mated to one of the sisters, one of the key players of the entire series.

another point is we can assume (and we could be wrong, let me put this here before someone yells at me or vague blogs about it) that sjm had an elucien endgame in mind when writing acowar, right? and when she was touring for that book hadn't she already started work on acofas? and we know that she's never on social media, so if she had an elucien endgame in mind when she wrote all of the supposed e/riel "evidence" where does that leave us?

drama. tension. conflict. angst.

i think that's what it all comes down to. people will say that elucien was a front while e/riel is the true endgame but... it all seems a bit easy, doesn't it? e/riel is right in your face while elucien is silently brewing in the background. what if the bait and switch isn't elucien, but e/riel?

sarah has shown us before that she likes to use her characters as ways for her other characters to end up with their endgame matches. for example, without tamlin, feyre wouldn't have met rhys. and moving over to throne of glass for a second, if not for chaol, aelin wouldn't have met rowan. and in turn, if aelin hadn't given yrene the money she needed in tab, chaol wouldn't have met her.

are the e/riel scenes romantically coded? yes, probably. i'm not saying they aren't, some people picked up on it but i personally didn't get that vibe myself, especially in acowar, but acofas kinda blurred the lines a bit. but even then, i didn't think they'd work out and i still don't understand the arguments that are supposed to be in their favor from that book. elain says she doesn't want a male so that excludes lucien but not azriel somehow? that line means she doesn't want any fae, she wants a human man, she wants graysen. then we have lucien saying he can't even stand to be in the same room as elain which i never read as a "oh i hate this person" kinda way. no, it's bc the whole situation between them is awkward and it obviously makes both of them uncomfortable. it doesn't help when literally all of the inner circle is constantly around them, and being in the night court in general doesn't give them the privacy to get to know each other.

some people like to ask why build e/riel up at all if they're not going to be together? one thing i've always loved about sjm's books is how she can write relationships. now, let's say you meet someone irl and you like them, eventually maybe fall in love with them, and fail to notice how they're not good for you. maybe everyone around you can see it, but you don't. you want a relationship and you're in a decent one, it should work out. like they're not a bad person, this relationship just isn't right for you in the long run. why waste your time? it's life. sometimes things are good for you at a certain point in time but not later on. sometimes you just end up in a relationship that was never good for you. sometimes you fall out of love with someone. you're constantly learning and adapting to things and that's my stance on e/riel. i think they're both looking for companionship and they're the "safest" and most available option.

taking it back to acofas, azriel was relived to not have to get elain a gift and was still gazing longingly at mor. now in acosf he's avoiding talking about her while wanting to fuck elain and getting defensive when helion mentions mor. he's not over her. he's not going to just completely forget 500 years of pining bc elain showed up, especially when they haven't even helped one another to move on. if they had, we would have seen the proof of that. not just "oh she's hot we both want sex", that doesn't make a healthy relationship.

as for elain, she's been taught she has to act a certain way her entire life. she has to downplay her trauma and emotions to appease others so they don't worry about her. maybe she's even had visions involving lucien that upset/scare her somehow and she's reaching out for something else. i think they're both lonely and desperate (at least on az's end) for someone that they ultimately are drawn to the wrong people.

as for the lack of elucien development... this is how i see it. if they're endgame, why would sarah have all of their big moments happen off screen or as a throwaway line in acosf? elain is getting a book, we know this, and with how much of the story is tied to lucien and how much is left unresolved with him, we can also assume he'd get a pov at some point. so imo it makes sense for the fact we got little to no development for them in acosf. no, she wants a huge wedge between them so we can watch them come together. the payoff will be that much sweeter. kinda similar to how she put a wedge between nessian before acosf, sure they had more development in acowar than elucien but i think that's bc sarah knew they'd get the first spinoff. she had to give them that development whereas elucien can wait, a bit longer. it's frustrating yes but i do think we'll get something in acotar 5.

maybe i'm an optimistic fool, maybe sarah did at one point have an endgame in mind for them, but i find it hard to believe she wouldn't see how wrong they are for each other in the long run. she's very good at showing us how well characters fit together with just a few lines.

#sorry this envolved into my rambling lol #i swear i was going to talk more about the feysand/elucien parallels bc i made a list awhile ago #but i forgot some of it so here we are 😬#BUT YOU'RE SO SWEET!! im glad someone enjoys my random thoughts lol #thank you i truly appreciate it 🥺💕#acosf spoilers #a court of silver flames spoilers #asks #aquafaith

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letterstothemidnightsociety · 3 years

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Previously On Supernatural Season 3, we had a really rock solid trio of episodes to kick us off right, so what does SPN do next? It’s gonna lay the groundwork for some spicy character development that may or may not pay off by the end of the season. Let's find out!

To be honest, I felt the next three episodes just sort of plateau? There’s enough nuggets in these three eps - “Sin City”, “Bedtime Stories”, and “Red Sky at Morning” - that it does feel like they’re setting up for something big but it’s taking too much time. If the season had been longer, I don’t know that I’d be complaining, because there’s SO much potential introduced with these character developments, but I know it’s gonna get cut off at the knees in the very near future. 2021 Me has been trained on what to expect from a short season, so half of my brain wants to give the show slack for Unexpected Circumstances, but the other half of my brain is shouting YOUR NOT DRIVING THE BUS FAST ENOUGH, YOU’LL NEVER MAKE IT TO THE END OF THE LINE IN TIME!!!

And that’s maybe unfair because there really are some great nuggets in here. We’ve got “Sin City”, which is Dean’s episode. I mean, they’re ALL Dean’s episode, but this one more so than the other two in this post. Dean gets trapped with a demon who turns out to be...kinda...nice? In kind of a Stockholm Syndromey way I guess? She let’s Dean in on the fate that awaits him when his year long contract is up and it is NOT great. This isn’t the first time we see that there’s more to the demons than SPN has shown us in the past (hello, Ruby), but it is the first time Dean chills out enough to actually have a conversation with one. Dean doesn’t really get it, like he’s still not interested in getting out of his deal, but the fear gets planted, it just needs some time to grow. Oh, also, the Colt Ex Machina is back in action, so that's important.

This dumb bitch thinks he can fool us with that devil-may-care side glance but he caaaan't

But then we get “Bedtime Stories”, the Sam episode, where Sam learns...to let go? That’s the point of this episode right? It’s about letting go of someone before that person becomes too toxic and dangerous? At least, that’s the lesson that Dean wants Sam to take away from this case. But Sam will NOT learn this lesson, so instead he tries to cancel Dean’s deal by killing the crossroads demon who wrote it. Spoiler Alert: it doesn't work.

And then we get “Red Sky At Morning”, which opens and closes with some heavy emotional baggage, but then is stuffed full of fun. Like, this episode ricochets wildly in terms of Feelings, but then that’s probably what we should expect from SPN. I mean, what show have I been watching for 3 seasons now?

Fun Facts guys: I’m a tired Millenial, and swapping DVD discs was too much work so I switched over to watching this season on Netflix and GUESS WHAT???? THESE EPISODES COME WITH A SUICIDE WARNING!?!?!

They're not wrong.

And like, if that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about this season I don’t know WHAT will. Cuz Dean is absolutely suicidal and I am surprised (??) I guess (???) by how much the show acknowledges that. Or I guess, surprised by how much Netflix acknowledges that. It’s something that I did not...pick up on the first go around on season 3, possibly because I was 19 and I was an idiot and found this sort of emotional vulnerability to be endearing. Listen, I know there’s a lot to be said about the producers of the show making...umm…poor decisions in regards to character developments? But if the target demographic of this show was anything like me - and I suspect they were - then the viewers were also...probably...responding inappropriately to some of those character developments. And here’s the thing - I’m looking at this from 12 years in the future, with 12 years worth of real life drama that makes the heavy handed melodrama of television feel...well, heavy handed. Maybe irresponsible? Certainly a little uncomfortable. Big Me is having A Time confronting Little Me’s taste in TV Characters. It’s one thing to have a kink, Little Me, it’s another thing to romanticize suicidal depression.

And hey, I can’t deny that the character development for Dean makes sense. I actually appreciate that the show is thinking through the world and the relationship dynamics that they’ve built and the toll that these misadventures are having on their main characters. These episodes all get bookended by Impala Fights where Sam keeps pushing Dean to give a shit about his own life and Dean responds with an inability to care. That’s just where he is right now, and I get that. We’re early in the season still. But how will the rest of the season handle this? I honestly can’t remember but I also don’t want this to be a throw-away issue that they use to remind us that Dean’s supposed to die at the end of the season. I’m prob gonna come back to this throughout the season because I ~just~want~this~show~to be~repsonsiblllllleeeeeeeeeeee.

Lol, I know, that’s a lot to ask from the CW.

ON TO MORE FUN THINGS!!

Sam is gettin’ reeeeeallll bitchy in these episodes and #1, I love it, Bitchy Sam 5Ever, but also #2, was this supposed to be the sign that Sam was going darkside? Like, he’s snarky, he’s angry, he’s not pulling any punches and that could just be him reacting to his brother’s situation but it could also be….you know...him...becoming slightly...evil? For instance in “Sin City”, he kills the two demons who kidnapped Dean without even thinking. On the one hand, this is the Winchester MO, they kill demons, that’s their job, but on the other hand, Dean is actively telling Sam to stop. Same deal in “Bed Time Stories” - Sam kills the crossroads demon in cold blood (or maybe viscera). Again, we could blame this on instinct - the Winchesters were brought up to do exactly this - but 1) Dean keeps telling Sam not to and 2) that’s not Sam. This show spent 2 seasons telling us that Sam is the Good Brother, the White Hat, the Touchy-Feely One. This is not the Touchy Feely Sam who reasons with ghosts and falls in love with werewolves. Like, everyone else sees it too, right? Also, he is usually very nice to everyone but he is a REAL BITCH to Gertrude in “Red Sky at Morning.” Like, come on, Sam, she just wants to have a nice time. She is OLD. You really think she’s got what it takes to climb that tree?

Honestly, how tall are this lady's heels?

I know that there was a plan for Sam to start Turning in this season before the show’s episode order got slashed due to the Writer’s Strike. And man, I really would have liked to have seen this play out. Like, first season Sam is the Innocent, right? He’s our stand in for the viewer in those first few episodes and then he’s revealed to be kind of the only thing that went right in the lives of both John and Dean, so Baby Must Be Protected at All Costs. The fact that John ultimately lets Sam go off to college and doesn’t contact him for the next four years says to me that on some level, John felt the need to preserve that innocence, that kind of untouched quality Sam has. Dean is very similar - whenever Sam gets too into the job, Dean calls him out on it. So in the second season when we find out that Sam might be evil, it’s a real punch in the gut, for Dean most of all. But then the show admittedly got bored with that storyline and it didn’t really go anywhere. So whereas Dean has personality in SPADES that fluctuates and changes and develops/maybe just gets more intense as the show goes on, Sam remains that kind of blank slate that the viewer can put their face on. Except now we’re in season three, and if you’ve bought into this show, then you’ve bought into it, so the audience doesn’t need a Blank Slate Sam anymore. And if you start with Sam the Innocent and then introduce the idea of Dark!Sam and then just leave that concept hanging, then isn’t this sort of like Checkov’s Evil Sam? If you introduce Evil Sam in the first act you really ought to deliver on Evil Sam by act three, right? Wouldn’t that have been A+ and Wild? Wouldn’t that have made Sam’s arc and emotional struggles over the previous seasons have more weight?

Will this be resolved in later seasons? Maybe. I’m gonna be honest, this is the last season I watched all the way through and seasons 4 through...like, 8 were real touch and go for me. I know that Sam ultimately is revealed to be a vessel for??? The devil??? And Dean is ultimately revealed to be a vessel for??? Michael??? And then the two of them???? Fight to the death???? Point is, season 5 got weird guys and I’m not there yet.

Back to more fun things! You know what guys?? I think I ship Dean and Bela. I’m...almost ashamed to admit it? Like, I remember Little Me watching this season and just dumping on Bela, I HATED her, but this time? I am 1,000% On Board This Ship. Like, there is an alternate universe somewhere where these two got a spinoff show that ran for 6 seasons and I watched EVERY episode. And then, like, 5 years after it ended, they rebooted it with Dean and Bela’s grown up daughter as the lead and the whole OG cast makes cameos over the three seasons it stays on the air and it’s amazing. I’d own both shows on DVD.

What I like about Bela this time around (and again, I am WILDLY surprised about this development), is that she can dish it just as hard as the Winchesters can. Like, every line Dean throws at her she holds up a mirror to say, “Oh yes, I know the Kettle is black, but what color are you, Pot?” and I’m just continually thrilled. She is also just as damaged as Dean is but somehow channeling it into a healthier way? Like, she’s true Chaotic Neutral, which is not necessarily healthy, it’s just healthier than Dean. Or maybe it’s just that she’s better at managing it. In either case, they are HOT MESSES and I love it. I just love it. I know I complained about shoehorned romances but Ackles and Lauren Cohan just totally crush it in every scene and when Dean walks down the stairs all She’s All That in “Red Sky at Morning”, I yelled at the screen OMG just BONE already!!!!! And then like, 5 seconds later, Bela literally says “We should really have angry sex,” and it was probably the most vindicating moment I’ve had on this ride so far.

I just think they're neat!

WHY did we cancel her? WHY?? I don’t want to believe it was the Wincest again, so I’m gonna pretend that it wasn’t, but it was definitely fans. According to Kripke, Bela gets the axe at the end of this season because of the fan hatred of her. Now, I’ve already admitted that I personally held a grudge, but good Lord, what was wrong with us, as a Fandom? To be fair to me (and all of us), would we have felt differently if we had not been introduced to Jo a mere season earlier?? I'm gonna say yes. Although I had misgivings about Jo the first episode we meet her, by the end of season 2 I was certainly on her side. Working through season 3, I am remembering that, when we were introduced to Bela, I was immediately FURIOUS because WTF, WHERE’S JO? SPN just introduced to her. They just settled on a love interest for Dean and the writer’s just got me on board with that. Now they’ve completely done away with both that character AND that dynamic and you want me to get on board this NEW thing? And be excited about it??? So I'm gonna blame the love-interest-whiplash, combined with the fact that Little Me related my own personal self more to Jo than to Bela, that made me hate Bela in the first place. When you look at how quickly the show abandoned one character to introduce another character, it makes sense why fans got mad, but I’m also mad that we continued to hate Bela when she turned out to be such an A+ Frenemy. It makes me want to shout at the writers through the time void COMMIT TO A FEMALE CHARACTER YOU JAGWEEDS.

What’s wild watching this show now is just how Male it was, especially considering its audience was already skewed heavily female by this point in the series. If you made this show today, I don’t know that you could do that. Today, there’s a real push for balanced, diverse casts in programming, especially in sci-fi/fantasy and young adult. I think if SPN had started in 2021, they would have introduced the Harvell’s or Bela up in season 1, and that introduction would have been much more intentional. The benefit of having a shorter episode count as the standard is that there’s less of the “throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks” approach. Looking at it from 2021, reading snippets of interviews from Kripke, that’s definitely what they’re doing with the side characters in these seasons and you can feel that in Jo and Bela. A shorter season means that the storytelling has to be tighter, it can’t wander, so every decision has to be a load-bearing decision. On the other hand, one of the down sides of having a shorter episode count is the exact same thing - less room to throw stuff, less room to experiment. Heck, Bobby was technically a character they threw at the wall and he didn’t just stick, he became a tentpole character of the series. The only side character that actually made it into the series finale even!

So how much room should we be giving our television programs? I think it depends on the show, honestly. I think you have to decide up front if you want space to experiment, or if you have one, tight, compact story line that’s gonna drive viewers from episode 1 right through the finale without giving them the chance to catch their breath. You have to make the decision, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop making one style of show in favor of the other. Just because we’re in the Age of Streaming doesn’t mean there isn’t room enough for both.

#Supernatural #Supernatural season 3 #Supernatural rewatch #Sin City #Bedtime Stories #Red Sky at Morning #Sam Winchester #Dean Winchester #Bobby Singer #Bela Talbot #TV #TV history #TV format

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