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pickalilywrites · 1 month

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Aruani going to see a movie on Valentines day. Modern AU fic.

writing this fic made me feel better~ thank you

things best left unplanned

aruani. college au. 2122 words.

Armin Arlert is the type to meticulously plan everything down to the last second. It’s relaxing for him to come up with a detailed itinerary that includes bullets with sub-bullets that have their own sub-bullets that have their own sub-bullets. Crossing out completed tasks gives him a surge of dopamine like no other, but he knows that it’s not the lifestyle that other people would deem normal. The way Armin operates currently leaves hardly any wiggle room for error. Of course, Armin creates different scenarios in his mind and plans out alternative schedules should the original be abandoned due to circumstances beyond his control, but there are unexpected events that can avoid his foresight completely including (but not limited to): traffic jams that span half the city and render nearly every mode of transportation useless, restaurants closing for maintenance, and unplanned power outages. For Armin, these are catastrophic events that might as well be equivalent to the whole world crumbling around him. For Annie, it’s just another day and she takes everything the world throws at her in a stride no matter how unexpected.

Although she’s very different from Armin, she doesn’t seem to mind the to-do list Armin brings to every date. She watched with amusement as he would cross out every activity they completed in their holiday-themed date to-do list even though other people would probably make fun of him. She even waits patiently for Armin if he has to pull out his alternative schedule if their original plans get derailed. She adjusts so calmly to Armin’s rigidly planned itinerary that Armin can’t believe it sometimes, especially considering how laissez faire Annie is with her own plans.

When Armin asks Annie what her plans are for the weekend or the evening, she usually just shrugs her shoulders and tells him she hasn’t decided yet. She could watch a movie or read a book, but she doesn’t tie herself down with a detailed schedule that needs to be followed to the very letter. Maybe that’s why she has such a calm demeanor, especially compared to Armin’s tightly-wound personality that is threatening to snap at the nearest unexpected inconvenience.

Armin knows that his rigid disposition is grating. Even his friends, despite their patience, can grow irritated when Armin displays his inflexibility one too many times. Armin doesn’t want his unyielding nature to wear Annie down, too. It’s a wonder she hasn’t grown tired of him already. He probably should have been more courteous towards her, especially when planning dates in the past. Heck, they had spent the entire winter going through a painstakingly planned list of holiday activities Armin had scheduled, so Armin decided to take a much less structured approach this upcoming Valentine’s Day by planning absolutely nothing besides a skeleton of an idea.

“The movies?” Annie asks, looking up at the theater that Armin has led them to. Her ungloved hand is clasped in Armin’s mittened hand as she casts her boyfriend a skeptical glance. She’s used to Armin pulling out a list by now and going over each bullet even though he memorizes everything the night before, but he’s empty-handed now. She raises an eyebrow at Armin. “What movie are we going to watch?”

Armin gives his girlfriend a strained smile. His hands are itching to reach into his pocket and pull out the schedule he didn’t make. His anxiety is spiking, his heart is racing, and he’s feeling light-headed. If he thinks about it too much, he might puke. He swallows down the bitter bile rising in his throat and says, “Oh, just whatever good is playing. Did you want to watch anything in particular?”

Annie notices his uncharacteristic behavior, but she doesn’t comment on it. Instead, she shrugs at his question and answers, “I’m good with whatever.”

The response should ease Armin’s nerves, but it only makes him feel worse. It’s not Annie’s fault. There isn’t anything that would make him feel better in his current state.

“Right, that’s great,” Armin says weakly. Hand in hand with Annie, Armin marches weakly up to the ticket booth and says, “Two tickets, please.”

The high schooler working there glances up at Armin. He has bags under his eyes like he stayed up studying for an exam. He looks so miserable that Armin almost apologizes, but before he can the high schooler yawns, asking sleepily, “What movie?”

“Er.” Armin glances up at the movies that are currently showing but is soon overwhelmed with all these titles he’s only seen in advertisements or commercial breaks on TV. “Do you have a recommendation? Anything that’s showing within the next hour or so should be fine.”

The ticket stand worker hums and types something into the computer. The computer is a dinosaur, a boxy, old model that Armin hasn’t seen since at least elementary school, and the high schooler bangs on the monitor in the hopes that this will speed up the computer. He sighs through his nose when the computer fails to give him the movie schedule and taps his fingers impatiently, giving Armin and Annie a tight-lipped, apologetic smile as they wait. After a moment, the theater employee says, “Alright. Busy day, but holidays like Valentine’s Day usually are. All our romance movies are sold out until tomorrow evening. The action, sci-fi, and drama movies are all booked, too. We do have some seats open for the animated children’s film that’s screening as well as that horror movie that just came out. Do either of those sound good to you?”

Neither of those sound good to Armin. Nothing about an animated children’s movie or a horror movie sounds remotely romantic to him, although he knows it won’t bother Annie whether they watch one or the other. He doesn’t want to leave the theater without having watched anything, though, and so he grits his teeth and asks politely for two tickets to the horror movie because he figures it would be more appropriate for people his and Annie’s age.

“Are you okay?” Annie asks, glancing at Armin. She’s holding Armin’s hand, but his grip is much tighter than it was before they had stepped into the theater. If Armin were to take his mittens off, Annie would see that his knuckles have gone completely white.

“Yep. I’m fine,” Armin says, although his answer comes out stilted and unconvincing. He tries to smile, hoping that his expression will be enough to fool his girlfriend. “I’m just excited to watch the movie.”

“You hate horror movies,” Annie points out.

“I ... I’m not opposed to watching them with you. I know you find them entertaining,” Armin says, and he gives Annie’s hand a quick squeeze. “Besides, it’s a horror movie that’s being released on Valentine’s Day. How scary can it be?”

“Hmm” is all Annie says in response. She observes Armin for a moment before squeezing his hand back. “I’ll grab some snacks for us. I’ll be right back.”

Normally, Armin would tag alongside her and insist on paying, but his nerves are absolutely wrecked and all he can do is nod numbly as Annie’s hand slips out of his and she heads towards the concession stand. She comes back shortly with a large bag of popcorn drizzled with butter and an assortment of candy.

“Ready to go?” Annie asks.

Absolutely not, Armin thinks, but he fakes a smile and nods before dragging his feet as he follows Annie into the theater.

It turns out, Armin discovers, that a horror movie released in the middle of February can be absolutely horrifying. The movie itself is shot in highly saturated colors, a stark contrast to the typical horror movies that Armin is familiar with where most of the scenes are so dark that he can hardly tell what’s going on to begin with. At least with those types of movies Armin can’t make out what’s on the screen and only the fear of the unknown can scare him. In this movie, Armin can see everything and even the most mundane scenes terrify him because the eerily vibrant colors on the screen are assaulting his corneas.

The movie starts out like any ordinary coming-of-age college movie about a film major with a seemingly normal life going about his day. It’s only the oversaturated color palette and odd shots that linger far too long on characters after they’ve finished speaking that give an indication that this isn’t an ordinary movie about a college student and self-actualization. Soon after the film major finishes a date with his girlfriend, he goes to bed and wakes up the next morning only to find out that his girlfriend has been murdered and all the clues lead to him only he has no recollection of killing her at all. As it turns out, his girlfriends have a habit of being murdered and he’s accused of murdering them each time, but nothing can ever tie him to the crime.

Armin feels queasy after the first murder. The camera focuses too long on the girl’s body, her blood spilled across her bedsheets and pooling on the hardwood floor. The bright crimson blood that fills the screen is even worse than the dull merlot that Armin is used to in gory horror scenes. As the film student descends into madness, unable to recall if he’s really at fault for all his girlfriends’ murders, Armin can feel himself spiraling further and further into a wormhole of despair. He tries to minimize his fear by watching through his lashes, squinting but not quite closing his eyes so that he can at least say he watched the movie if Annie asks, but it doesn’t work. His hands clutch at the arms of his theater seat and he finds himself descending into the darkness as the minutes tick away until it overtakes him completely.

Armin wakes with the theater lights shining in his eyes, flinching at the sudden light. “Wha’ happened?” he mumbles, sitting up in his seat. He wipes at his mouth with the back of his hand and is horrified to find that he was drooling.

“The movie ended. And I think you passed out in the middle of it,” Annie replies. She doesn’t seem at all bothered. In her arms is a bucket that had once been filled with butter but is now being used as an impromptu trashcan to hold the empty candy packages that Annie had somehow finished by herself. Annie notices Armin’s expression of despair and humiliation and assures him, “It’s fine. You’re actually lucky that you missed most of the movie. It wasn’t that good. Not the worst horror movie I’ve seen, but it’s also not one I’d write home about.”

“Oh my god,” Armin groans, burying his face in his hand. He slips down in the faux leather seat and wills the earth to swallow him whole. He’s never been an impressive person, but he at least never wanted to look like a complete loser in front of Annie. It looks as if he’s failed today. He doesn’t think he’s ever going to bounce back from fainting during a horror movie. Annie must think he’s a complete idiot. “I’m the worst. I just wanted to be spontaneous for once, to be cool like you. I wanted to be able to go with the flow and plan things as they came up instead of being a stickler for schedules and rigid plans. I just ruined this Valentine’s date by trying to be cooler than I actually am and I -”

Annie pulls away Armin’s hands and leans over to press against a kiss against his lips. It’s enough to shut him up completely.

“Wh-what was that for?” Armin stammers. He can already feel his cheeks heat up. He can still feel Annie’s lips pressed against his and it takes all his self-restraint not to reach up and touch his fingers to where her lips once were.

“You’re cute,” Annie says. She sits back in her seat and observes her boyfriend to see if he’s calmed down. She tilts her head to the side slightly and says, “I enjoyed today even if you thought it was a complete disaster. It’s sweet that you decided to be spontaneous, but it’s not something you have to do if it makes you uncomfortable. I actually like how structured our dates usually are, and I love that you take so much time to plan everything.”

“Really?” Armin mumbles.

“Really,” Annie replies. She stands up as the credits finish rolling and holds out a hand to Armin to help pull him out of his seat. “Come on. Let’s get dinner together. I’ll take the lead.”

Knowing Annie, she doesn’t have a restaurant in mind at the moment, but she’ll be sure to find one soon enough. If Armin were in her shoes, he’d be nervously scrolling through Yelp for the suggestions and scouring by ratings, recent reviews, and distance. His palms should be itching to pull out his phone, but he feels strangely fine with Annie taking the lead.

“I look forward to it,” Armin tells her. With a smile, Armin takes Annie’s hand. He doesn’t know what she has planned, but he trusts that she’ll lead them somewhere nice by the end of the evening and somehow that’s enough.

#aruani #snk #armin arlert #annie leonhardt #college au #modern au #asks #answered #anon #anonymous #requests

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leonhardt-simp · 1 year

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The Girl Who Wrote Me Letters V.

[post-canon/canonverse] | chapter 5

— Annie x Mute! Fem! Reader.

summary: Actions speak louder than words now. Annie is met with difficult decisions but she’ll do anything to figure out what happened to the girl without a voice.

author’s note: Thank you for everyone who waited so patiently, and thank you @tsukidrama for being my beta reader! I hope you enjoy 💕

Series Masterlist

[warnings in masterlist]

“This isn’t up for debate, Doctor.” Vivianne spoke with a huff towards the end, the discussion on what their next move was already annoying her beyond belief.

If Y/N couldn’t convince the doctor to let her move a little freely, she would feel guilty of not helping those around her.

Y/N began to sign ‘I just want to be able to guide our coworkers to their destinations, I think if we have someone who actually had a name of importance there, It could change-’

She was interrupted by Vivianne’s laugh in her face, tossing a paper onto her desk to add to the endless amounts.

“And then what? You die trying to defend a crate with less importance than you?” Vivianne’s golden eyes looked lovingly towards Y/N, her lips lifting into a smirk.

“You’re being foolish, dear. This isn’t some hero story. You’re gonna get yourself killed over people who already don’t want us here.” She reached into her lab pocket on her chest to pull out a cigarette pack, putting one into her mouth then tossing the pack into a drawer before shutting it.

‘They respect me enough-’

That got another muffled laugh from Vivianne, her hand pulling the unlit cigarette from her mouth. “Ah yes, the people of thugs and thieves definitely respect you. Bold statement, Doctor.”

Y/N rolled her eyes, her annoyance evident through the furrow of her brows. ‘I can probably show better results than you.’ She signed with an attitude, her attitude causing doctor to scoff at the mere challenge of that statement.

This cigarette gave her a bitter taste in her mouth, so she flicked it into the trash.

“Ah? So that’s why you’re Head of this operation, right? Why you stepped down from that brilliant offer the Queen gave you? Why you’re in my place now? Be realistic, Y/N.” She stood from her chair, walking around the desk, her hand gliding over the papers.

“You’re nothing more than a brilliant second hand. Know your place.” She swiped the papers off her desk.

The importance of data was nothing significant compared to this power challenge the two held.

Eyes held in a nonverbal staring contest, holding tense energy as the two ideas clashed between the two. It struck a nerve in Y/N as well, cause while it was true, she was still surprised someone who held fonder memories would say such a thing.

‘You’re nothing but a replacement, does that hold any weight in performance?’ She fired back.

That was Y/N’s perfect strike, watching as that struck something in Vivianne’s eyes. A dark attitude grew as that lil comment struck at the Leader’s ego.

Vivianne knew what she was even to someone below her like Y/N, at least in her mind the mute doctor was below her. However, skillswise Y/N exceeded. She admired that about her. That’s what sparked their little fling some few years ago, a spark of interest, that drive.

Vivianne couldn’t deny that the younger doctor was attractive. “But even the first one didn’t want you.” Vivianne smirked, she was all that was left for Y/N. A perfect match for someone who was a coward. That’s what she was wasn’t it? The girl who was missing for years. The girl who used to write to communicate to others.

No, that side was dead..

She buried that side of herself with the many other things she desperately had to detach herself from.

That wasn’t all that she let go though…

Y/N’s hands began to clench at the returning memory of the blonde that held her heart since the very beginning of her adventure. Her eyes closed and eyebrows contorted to the sickly feelings that grew in her chest.

She couldn’t say anything.

“Now if this silly game of insults is over.. You will follow your orders and duties without question, darling.” Vivianne reached over to hold that tense hand of the other, kissing the soft flesh on the back of her hand.

“Just do what you do best, hiding in plain sight and working in your office.”

It happened all too suddenly, the angry pull away of Y/N’s arm, the sudden turn and limp-walk out of the room and the loud slam of the office door.

The silence that followed after made the Admin smile greatly, a little giggle that followed as well once she heard the slam of another door.

“Ah, hello, Dr-” Dr. Adler tried to greet her, but Y/N wasn’t going to listen anyways cause once she left that building, she was already on her way to start her own little mission…

First she needed a crate.

———

“Come help me with this!” Dakota requested, the blondes eyes shifting over to the rugged girl and with no hesitation began her climb down.

As quickly Annie came down from the buildings top, Dakota had already began to emerge with the trolley.

The two quickly began to equip the heavy box onto the moving device, Annie helping mostly with the lifting. Even after 3 years, she’s still got it.

“This makes no sense??” Spoken with confusion lacing their tone, their eyes looking up to lock with the blonde who began to pulling her hair back from her face.

“Let’s try not to question this, We have the medicine, let’s hurry it back.” Annie directed, “It would be a wasted opportunity otherwise.” She added, reaching to grab a hanging cloth from one of the clothing lines. Annie wondered if it would be big enough to make the box not look too conspicuous.

Dakota strapped the box down for a snug hold, nothing was falling from this thing. Annie doubled check, adjusting her satchel afterward.

“I-” Fabel was cut off abruptly.

BANG

The noise – distant yet close was enough for both parties to pull out their weapon’s out of instinct. Both began to look up at the buildings frantically, their backs turned to one another.

Annie held her gun in a vice grip, her alert on high.

‘I don’t like this at all…’ The first thought that came to mind, however the echo quieted down. It somewhat made Annie hope that was just it.

“We need to get this to the warehouse now. Guide me out and then have my back.” Dakota strapped her gun back at her side and with minimal struggle began to push the cart off in the direction of the alleyway. "We're practically sitting ducks out here."

Without hesitation Annie nodded, walking ahead to sweep the alley way just in case. The atmosphere felt off, there didn't seem to be anyone nearby.

“All clea-” Annie went to call out but was cut short as another bang rang, the force pushing Annie backwards causing her to stumble and almost trip over her feet. Panic beginning to form in her head. The sound was so close. Dakota dropped the trolly down, ducking behind it and pulling out her gun.

“I knew something was up. Shit!” The voice of pure annoyance came from the gang leader.

The footsteps ran above them. “Fuck.” A silent curse fell from Fabel’s lips, “Did you get h-….Amby?” Their eyes focused on Annie who began to hold her shoulder, her hand retracted to display her blood.

Annie grimaced at her hand, her eyes meeting up with Fabel’s who’s eyes widened at her in fear. The moment ending when more fire was opened on them, causing them both to flinch away from the fire.

‘Shit!’

Annie crawled to hide behind some barrels, her hand holding her wound on her shoulder. The sight made Dakota’s heart race more than before, this wasn’t just because this could’ve gotten someone of importance killed.

They both were dead if they didn’t act now.

An instinct of protection kicked. A breath of confidence made Fabel pull up and began shooting at the figures aiming from the rooftops, her head steady enough to probably hitting one.

Annie winced but began to pull off her hood, reaching towards the edge to use her strength from adrenaline to rip the fabric. It was a temporary fix to stop but it was better than nothing.

‘You never seem to have a scratch on you.’

She could see those curious eyes staring into her soul as if she read her, how she wished to spill everything. So she did, but only to herself.

‘that was cause I couldn’t with my titan powers..’ Annie responded in her head as she wrapped her wound as best as she could, her eyebrows showed irritation.

She reached for her gun out to help in the shoot out, soon seeing as they began to target the crate. A few men trying to drop down and get close enough to possibly snag the valuables.

‘Shit.’

“Fabel!” She called, the attention of the black haired thief bring caught.

Dakota seemed to hit a good couple of men on the roof, ducking back down to look over at the wounded Ambassador. “You need to grab the crate and go.” She said as she checked the ammo count in her gun and cocking the top.

“What?? No way! I’m not leaving you here.” Dakota refused in absolute disbelief that she even had a thought about that.

Annie shook her head, “No! Listen, grab the trolly, run! I’ll be close behind! What matters is the warehouse.” She was annoyed on top of injured, she was just seeing red at this point.

All of this was getting on her nerves, Kota could tell by how she clenched her jaw, making sure her makeshift tourniquet was on her shoulder properly.

The two stared at one another, their eyes simply showing one another that it was time to stop playing around.

Annie was done with these inconveniences, she was a warrior. Kota could see it in her eyes, the blonde that was written in that book she held in that satchel. The determination, even without the titan smoke she held all the power in her.

“Fine…” Kota nodded, peaking out a bit to see the men jumping down from the fire escape and to the crate.

“Here goes nothing..”

Just when Dakota slipped from cover to the crate, Annie stood up with her gun in hand acting in muscle memory.

This may sound morbid but she felt like she was at target practice, her instincts taking over. Her heart racing as each bang of the gun went off, it was deafening.

Kota slid to the crate, pulling out her knife from her strap on her leg to point at the man running up to her. Her eyes wide but determined, she clicked a button on the knife before the man could even pull his gun back up in her direction, springing the blade free and into the chest of the threat, an easy pick.

It was an easy job on Annie’s part as she recalled many things from the past in her training, her grayish blue eyes seemed to tinkle in the dimly lit back alley.

The blonde was playing for lives as she jumped over the barrels and moved to the next cover spot being a next pile of crates her head ducking down to reload. Dakota lowered her knife and lifted her own gun to start shooting to suppress the fire from the roof.

With a cock of her gun she was back to her job, getting Kota the hell out of there.

She couldn’t even tell how many she managed to knock down but it was enough to have Kota start pulling the trolly out. From there Kota was looking at the abandoned street as people began to run for cover, hiding by their stands or into their buildings.

She couldn’t blame them however when she saw an open wagon. She couldn’t help herself.

She looked around in slightly frantic, until she saw a man ducking behind his stand.

“You!” She called out, motioning to the crate.

“Help me with this and I’ll pay you!”The fearful man couldn’t say no to that. So, he helped. The two began trying to lift the wagon up.

Annie was feeling tired though, her adrenaline started to decline and she began to pant, her ears ringing before she finally heard the call of her name.

“Amby! Pull out it’s ready!” It was enough to pull her out, she began to see slightly blurred but she was gonna get out. Her mission wasn’t done.

Kota climbed up over to the main seat, tossing a coin bag over to the man who had helped her, not even bothering to count what was in there. She was sure there was a hefty amount, didn’t matter to her.

“Keep it! Enjoy your night!” She said, shooing the man off, watching him run off before watching as Annie walked up to the side of the wagon, Kota reaching down to hand a helping hand to bring her small self up to the passenger seat.

With Annie in the seat, she turned around to hold her gun out in case they began to spill from the alleyways, but nothing followed them.

Nothing stopped them as they began to ride, a crack of the reins setting the already startled horses forward.

Once they seemed far enough Annie had sat back down in her seat, leaning back and closing her eyes in exhaustion.

She was sore… She hadn’t felt this since she was 12…

“Rest up, Amby. I’ll get you help when we get back..” The captain had said reassuringly. That was enough to let Annie relax a bit, however her arm was starting to feel the pain of her wound.

Annie could only nod as she leaned back, her head falling back, her hand holding her shoulder while the other still held onto her gun.

The rush had faded, now she just needed to pray they could get to the warehouse in time.

———

She could remember everything, down to the nearest detail of that day. When Annie became just a little closer to the girl who had everyone whispering to each other.

It was simple curiosity that struck her, nothing more than that.

She remembered seeing her fight against some of the other trainees, while it wasn’t the best, she still held her own. What really stuck to Shadis was her medical knowledge, her rush to aid whenever someone needed it. He couldn’t deny it impressed him.

He would observe her whenever she fought, she had a way of moving that would be both ridiculous but effective as she was more passive than aggressive. It was a change from seeing the usual aggressive fighting styles.

She was usually the first to help stabilize trainees before the medical helpers would come in, her eyes always managing to show some compassion that eased the trainee down. It changed what he had believed about her. Just slightly though..

Annie could remember the day that she was sat out from the usual trainee session, her only new set of training be that she could lift a human-like bag. Practically, it was like a weight training when others watched her. Sometimes she was practicing tourniquets or learning to lift the bodies into a wagon.

Though it wasn’t the standard of what they wanted here, Shadis made an exception as a field medic could save a life. It wasn’t like she would make it far anyways…

It was kind of a habit now for Annie to watch her do her separate training sessions as they lasted longer than the usual training session. She also had the usual scout training, so she seemed to have much on her plate but she didn’t complain.

Until, she suddenly couldn’t find her in the crowds of people anymore. She wasn’t at breakfast nor lunch, her spot in the cabins would be empty as well…

That wasn’t until another hot day,

Annie remembered being more preoccupied with hand to hand, her opponent’s day was probably ruined to know he had her as a partner.

Soon after showing her fighting knowledge, Shadis had called her out to take a break. She stood above her partner, in her hand being that wooden knife that she paid no mind to just toss into her partner’s possession before walking off.

Under a tree, she stood waiting for her next set of orders when suddenly she heard slight scribbling causing her head to turn to the noise. Just beyond a little bush was she.

The girl sat crisscrossed with a book in hand and a writer in the next, her eyes observing a grasshopper that sat on a blade of grass. With the new presence, the grasshopper hopped away.

Y/N’s eyes widened before she heard a slight rustle of leaves, her head turning quickly to look up at the blonde who seemed curious in the activity.

Eyes met with equal curiosity, a little head nod started their small discussion though only one-sided.

However, Annie didn’t mind reading.

———

Once they had gotten back, Dakota had given Annie off to a trusted friend for treatment while she spoke with trusted men who would go tell the news to Dr. Adler. She was gonna get this stuff pumped out soon, she first needed to make sure Miss Leonhardt was up and ready, because she wasn’t gonna work her to death. She didn’t need that on her hands at the moment.

“You! I’m trusting you with getting this stuff to those on the Northside.” She ordered, her eyes watching intensely as they began to unload the medicine.

“Oh! and please be gentle. I don’t want to go through hell again trying to get this.” She recalled as she walked towards the room for medical attention, her eyes settling on the woman of the hour, closing the door behind them.

The blonde’s head was throbbing while the gang’s medic took a look at Annie’s wounds, her eyes closed to regain a bit of herself. She hadn’t felt a rush like that for a few years, it felt odd now that she didn’t have her titan form.

She couldn’t really say whether she felt weaker or if she was just always this way, but she was content that she was able to pull her act together. She had a moment of clarity, she needed to step it up.

Even with her head clouded with distractions, she needed to focus better. That much was clear.

“You know you’d do great down here.” She teased Annie not wanting to feed into her antics, she couldn’t help herself though with her usual sarcastic attitude.

“Oh definitely, I’m sure I would.” her voice held a bit of exhaustion but she seemed to rest up as she laid there, a wince coming from her mouth as the “nurse” cleaned her stitches.

“Can you please sit up, It’s time for the bandages.” The quiet medic spoke, aiding Annie up to get started on making sure the wound was properly dressed.

“You think just anyone could’ve pulled that off?? I think that’s just one victory to add to the future many!” Dakota celebrated as she turned her back when Annie had begun to get her body bandaged out of respect.

Annie shook her head, “But, we need to start looking at the obvious here. You said you didn’t recognize those people.. Do you think we were set up?” She pointed out.

That entire scene shouldn’t go unchecked, especially since those people didn’t mind killing someone important. It seemed like they didn’t really hold back, that much was enough to make Annie start paying attention.

There’s too many things that didn’t make sense. Someone obviously led them there and from how Kota had expressed how their usual trade offs went, this was way different than usual. They needed to work this out before anyone got hurt further. Annie was worried her killing people again would compromise her position, that war was coming again.

Fabel’s expression turned slightly more serious as they began to remember more.

“It’s hard to say it was a set up though… Especially since they were right about the location… The people up on the rooftops didn’t look anything like the people who dropped the stuff off either..”

The medic patted Annie on the shoulder as a motion to let her know she was good to go, helping her take some painkillers for the road.

“Then?” Annie responded as she scooted to the edge of the bed.

“I think someone saw us and ran to tell someone else… I think the crate was genuine from the doctors… but…” Dakota was still in doubt, she didn’t know exactly what to say about the whole thing.

Annie tried to think a bit harder on what they witnessed, her eyes moving to see a cleaner shirt and hood on the chair beside them. She smiled in slight appreciation as she moved to grab the slightly baggy but wearable button up to throw on.

“But?” Annie questioned, her head turning over to the captain as they turned to look back at the blonde.

“The attire, usually it’s people from the actual medical buildings we have down here that drop the stuff off…” Kota explained, her eyes shifting away to look at a nearby wall.

“They looked cleaner?? Like actually professionals.” She described them and Annie took the facts into consideration as she buttoned up her shirt leaving the first few at the top unbuttoned as she got lazy. She didn’t mind rolling up her sleeves, her hands tucking in the shirt in a bit as well before she went to grab her newish hood.

Dakota wasn’t sure exactly what to make of the new information since everything turned out alright, for the most part. “We won’t know anything more until we hear back from-”

Then she was interrupted, a slam of the doors and some frantic footsteps rushing their way caused Dakota and Annie to both look over.

“CAPTAIN! The…” The gang member was panting and heaving from their long run, it alarmed both the Ambassador and the Leader.

Dakota looked over to who she recognized as Douglas, “What’s wrong?? Wwhat’re you running for??” The young assistant nodded in response, his bent over to catch his breath.

“There was… pant…An attack… pant.. On the East medical building…” He struggled to get out as much as he could.

It took him a hot minute to properly get the words out, him standing straight to look towards his leader and the ambassador.

“One of Vivianne’s people said there was still a doctor inside… One stayed overtime, I couldn’t bring myself to go inside to help.” He admitted his guilt, not receiving any judgment from either of the two.

Annie and Dakota looked at one another, she patted the boy’s shoulder, “You did well.” She reassured the boy before waving him off. “Now, go. Get home safely. We’ll handle the situation shortly.” She confirmed as she shooed the boy away, watching as he was jogging off again.

“You think it’s the same people who were shot at us earlier?” Annie wondered out loud, Fabel walking past to start getting ready for their next adventure, checking her weapons before placing them back in their holsters.

“One way to find out, I suppose.” The leader didn’t seem too thrilled about it. Going into possibly another gun was something she wanted to avoid, there was enough bloodshed.

Annie nodded, pulling up her hood as she began to grab her things once more, grabbing her satchel as they began to head out.

——

The boy wasn’t lying when he said there was an attack, when the duo arrived there seemed to be glass broken, bodies starting to lie in the corridors. It made Annie feel a clench in her gut, something about all the medical stuff around gave her those slight flashes of the past.

There were many times Annie would come into the medical buildings above ground, then she would see her. However, nothing would remind her better than after her mission.

Kota watched the Ambassador space out, snapping her fingers. “No time to get distracted, come on.” She whispered just in case there was more people inside, the only thing they hoped for was that the doctor was still alive.

Annie followed close behind, the stairs creaking underneath their weight as they went up. The place seemed like it was ransacked almost, however nothing was taken? As if someone was looking for something… or someone.

Annie made a mental note of the papers on the ground, the different rooms that had boards and desks, some held beds. Whoever stayed here had gotten up and just left without their stuff, it was obvious it was sudden as well.

Anyone could tell these people were leaving in a rush and those who intruded were searching for something, it wasn’t hard not to be curious of the damage.

It seemed to just get worse as they kept walking down the corridor, A light at the end of the hallway showing nothing but a shadow kneeling down beside something before walking off to the side.

It was a sight that made both the leader and the ambassador hold their breath.

“Is anyone here?” Kota called out, Annie moving forward with her gun in hand. The call obviously made someone shift to hide or run cause they both heard the sound of steps walking further away.

Dakota took initiative to move closer into the room, her hand holding her gun close while Annie moved in after, looking around and behind the door but…

No one was there.

The first thing they both noticed was the bodies laying about, one with a book over it’s face and two more. One slumped against the wall by the door and one laying behind the desk. Color Dakota impressed, she wasn’t sure what to say about this sight. All she could do was whistle as if to say ‘wow’.

“Fucking hell…” Dakota wondered how these Doctors trained.

Annie looked about, her eyes soon landing on the chalk board of notes and equations. Her interest was piqued as she felt connected to the letters written there.

Dakota searched about to look down on one corpse in particular, a body with a book on its face, kneeling down beside the deceased body to lift the book up. Maybe a sign of respect? The book didn’t seem to hold any value to hiding anything. They even went as far as checking pockets but nothing.

“Did you find anything?” Kota wondered but got no answer as Annie stared at the hand writing, her ears began to ring slightly as she stared at one little note on the chalk board in particular.

The silence was enough to cause Kota look over to the ambassador, watching her actions carefully as she stood up.

Reminder: Meet with Luther and Denis for delivery.

‘Delivery?…’ Annie questioned, her eyebrows furrowing down before something clicked in her head. Her first instinct was to pull out the journal but just as she did, a loud slam had echoed through the room.

Before either could react, Dakota felt the back of her leg get kicked in, sending her to her knees before a sharp and hard pain whacked her on the side of the head that knocked her over. The sudden commotion pulled Annie out of her small distraction.

Annie turned to pull her gun up but within an instant it was shot out her hand, sending it out of her hand, the person in question finally getting them both in a vulnerable state.

Annie held up her hands up in surrender “We aren’t here to-” Her words died on her lips the moment that she connected eyes with those familiar E/C eyes.

Annie at first thought maybe this was another one of those things she just imagined but when she heard the gun cock, she felt slight panic. The doctor panted as she tried to gain the courage to take another life, but just before she finally got to pull the trigger…

She was quick to pull down her hood, hoping to see if that changed anything. The it went quiet.

‘That can’t be…’

There was a new shift in the air, the gun in the doctor’s hands beginning to tremble slightly as the two held eye contact.

Y/N began to get filled with a whole new different emotion, the feelings of everything from betrayal to anger, frustration to happiness and grief… Why now?? Of all the times she needed Annie? Why now?

“… Y/N?…”

taglist: @cess02 @tsukidrama @the-camilucha @scouts-stuff

#annie x reader #annie leonhardt x reader #annie leonhart x reader #aot x reader

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bluemidnightmelody · 3 months

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lover/fighter - my favorite moments

[Little snippets from my Finnick/OC longfic that are stuck in my head]

From Chapter 44 - Neptune in 4th house

Finnick leans against the old wooden desk in the small improvised office and watches her as she purposefully stows all kinds of things in the designated place. "Isn't that too much for you sometimes? After you keep starting arguments with Donna because of me, so that I can get some peace and quiet at home, all you ever do yourself is work," he replies.

Rhea pauses and looks at him. "Those are two things you can't compare," she says seriously. "I love my work. I don't do it because someone else tells me to or because I have to. I never wanted anything other than this. This is where I grew up and taking care of the people around could never be too much."

It's exhausting and sometimes very draining but just as fulfilling for her. She could never imagine stopping. "We both know that you would also rather be at home looking after your people. If you could decide for yourself, you would never have come back here after your Games, would you? You'd be sitting at home in District 4 now, taking the boat out every day, going fishing with the boys, lying in the sun by the sea, eating dinner with Mags and Annie. You probably would have started working as a fisherman after all, like you wanted to, not because you had to, but because you are someone who gets bored easily when you have nothing to do. Maybe you could have become a teacher. I think at least that would really suit you, you're good at it and good with children."

"You think children should take me as an example? I think many at home would disagree," he replies with a smile, but there is a trace of sadness behind it. It's hard to listen to her talk about what his life could have been like, and he likes the picture she paints. Very much so and he has to realize that his comparison was really more than inappropriate.

"I think everyone should take an example from you," she replies seriously. "But we both know that what you do here in the Capitol is nothing but slave labor for Snow to get the most out of the Games. It's not work, it's exploitation, something completely different to my situation."

Not even the victors dare say that out loud, not here in the Capitol. Nevertheless, she simply says it as if it were the most natural thing of all, openly expressing her rejection of the president without a trace of fear. That alone calls for recognition, but in the same breath she is one of the few people who still sincerely believe in his respectable character even after the Capitol has distorted his image so much. He gets a warm tingle in his fingertips as his gaze rests on the floor.

When he looks up again, he has a gentle smile on his face that looks like it wants to become something more. But he doesn't say a word, he just looks at her with this unreadable expression on his face.

"What?" Rhea asks, a little flustered, her embarrassment rising to her head along with the heat. It's as if his eyes have some kind of magical power that allows him to do all sorts of things to you just by looking at you.

His smile widens a little. "Nothing," he then says casually, pauses for a few more seconds, then pushes himself off the edge of the desk and strolls leisurely back into the hallway.

Rhea can hear his footsteps as he descends the old wooden steps of the staircase, presses her hands against her cheeks and sighs. Why is this guy so intense? There's no other way to describe it, everything about him just seems too much to handle. She wonders if he's always like this by nature, or if it's also a bit intentional because he knows exactly what effect he has on others. Probably a mixture of both.

It's like a damn strong drink and when she's around him, she sometimes feels like she's in a daze. But because of the sweetness, you only notice the effect when it's too late and then you just want more and more. She's worried that she might do something foolish while she's under the influence or even end up becoming an alcoholic, so to speak.

She quickly returns to the task at hand to distract herself from these thoughts. Since she knows what's really going on in Finnick's life, that warm tingling feeling in her chest always leaves a tinge of guilt behind, because something in her subconscious says that it's taboo to feel these things, that he would reject having this kind of affection directed at him.

Links to all the chapters: lover/fighter - Chapter Index

fanfiction on ao3 and wattpad

#finnick odair #finnick odair fanfic #finnick odair x oc #finnick odair x reader #finnick x oc #the hunger games x oc #hunger games #the hunger games #fanfiction #ao3 #thg finnick #thg fanfiction #hunger games fanfiction #ao3 fanfiction

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moonspirit · 10 months

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Can you give us some insight into Armin's head during the sex scene (which was PHENOMENAL btw) at least how it compares to Annie's pov

Alright so let's get into it!

So, sex can be a profoundly powerful and emotional experience to go through; you are incredibly open and intimate with someone else. You are vulnerable and weak and pull everything you feel from your partner. It can be frightening to put yourself in this position. And here we have Annie, who's never been treated 'human' very much in her life; and Armin, who hates himself in a whole lot of respects. Hence their first time is a cathartic release. This is also 80% of the reason it's been building up for this long.

More under the cut.

Armin is always busy trying to stay on top of his various doubts, hatreds and guilts. Now, we had a glimpse of Armin's thought process in Chapter 2 when they (almost) got it going. Ofc, he was feeling it, but he was busy overthinking, over analysing, doubting himself, calculating, worrying etc etc - he didn't let himself truly "go".

While back there, he was bogged down by his various issues, now, he's been hit by a wave of anxiety and sinks to a new low, where he's not only worried about his capability but also very irritated. Thinking you don't have what it takes to really please someone (especially sexually, when sex is very important to you!) is an awful, awful state of mind to be in. It's dangerous. So he goes home, crippled with fear and anger, and all this despite knowing that Annie does want him, from all their messing around in previous chapters. Why? Because knowing is one thing, seeing is another, but feeling it together is a whole other experience.

When Annie turns up, he's shocked, he's not in a good mental state, he's scared; but when he realises why she's there and that they're truly alone, he relents. But sex is not a one-man job, both of them have to feel good and he's not confident at all, so he opens up more than just physically. Armin isn't reckless like Annie, he plans (more on this later)*. Now this is where things change for him, she tells him to find out what he can or cannot do, instead of worrying about it prior to the act itself. She invites him to jump 'into the blue' (more on this later too)**. He trusts her and he jumps.

We have the candle sequence, which, I want to ask readers - did you get the significance of this?

This whole experience is them bolstering each other's confidence. From the socks to the bra to the boxers and more. When Annie shows him that she doesn't expect him to do everything himself, that he doesn't have to worry so much about her, or be hyperfocused about her satisfaction alone, he relaxes. Ofc he does enjoy everything they do before his pants come off, but you can tell he's still 'not letting go'.

Then they Inhale. Exhale. Again, it's them working through it together. Specifically, Annie telling him they'll work through it together. Now, he doesn't just see or know how Annie's always wanted him, he also feels. It escalates from here, she tells him what she needs, how she needs it, and finally, he allows himself to let go. He loses himself in her, in them, and allows to be submerged deep in the blue along with her.

*Re Armin being more careful than Annie. You've seen her being reckless since the beginning of the show, where she trashes her mission for him. Armin consequently, isn't so. Now in this fic, this difference between them continues and it's significant. He doesn't let himself 'live' because he's got too much on his shoulders, too much to think about, too much to do, too much to worry about. Annie on the other hand, is learning to live, recklessly as she's always been, and enjoy it bit by bit. Chapter 6 wouldn't have happened otherwise. This is something I hope to explore more of throughout the story.

** So while PILLOWTALK is obviously a sexy and sensual song, it isn't what drove this chapter. The song for this was always Mermaid by Skott, which is where you have the chapter title 'Into the Blue' and there are several lines that fit so well with what goes on in Annie's mind and consequently, Armin too.

'Isnt it silly, now that you know

Someone this slippery, can't let you go.

It's true, you know that I would jump too.

Into the blue, into the blue

it's proof, cuz we have nothing to lose

And there ain't nothing to prove

You know I'd jump with you,

I'm just as scared as you, alone in the rain

I'll jump if you jump too

Believe me, it is true

You know that I would jump too

into the blue, into the blue

Take my hand, we'll dive into the sea

And pretty much the whole song really xD It's a beautiful song with a brilliant build up, I highly recommend it :3

#VBEOW #aruani fic #anon ask

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low-budget-korra · 2 years

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Comments on The Boys season 3

I should be able to do a comment for each episode but I just couldn't stop watching so here it's my thoughts on the characters this season and a few other things.

Before I start I just wanna say how much I like the fact that The Boys characters are complex and just feel real for the most part.

Butcher

He is a asshole since his first appearance, so watching him go even worse because of the V wasn't that surprising but watching him become that asshole in episode seven, hits different. We already knew what happened but watching it happening and the impact of Butcher realizing he basically became his father, that's heavy.

Hughie

I dislike him for like 90% of the season. What's the problem with Annie being the powerful one? He was insecure about this girlfriend power and influence. That's a red flag.

And just to compare. Frenchie never felt like that with Kimiko, he always wanted to protect her but he never go that far, and never had a problem with her saving his ass.

At least at the end he seemed happy seeing Annie all powerfull against Soldier Boy

Homelander

What I can say about Homelander? What a terrifying, crazy, deep and charismatic villain. It's so non fair that Anthony Starr didn't receive a nomination for his role this season.

That last scene was scary because we know damn well that, bring to our world, if some politician or celebs blows someone's head like that in front of his crow, he would be praise like that.

Frenchie and Kimiko

Their arc was more distant e from the main plot of the season but I really like because it actually develop both of their characters. By the end we saw Frenchie standing up against Butcher and Kimiko accepting her powers. And they are the sweetest, the care and mutual respect they have for each other are goals

Soldier Boy

I def wasn't expecting him to have the role he had. What a absolut asshole, he make Butcher look like the sweetest guy in the show.

One detail that I think adds a lot into his character is his PTSD, which means that he did felt all the experiments that the russians was doing on him which is awful. And in a way Homelander, his son, is a update of him because he is just as powerful but also can't feel pain (not that I remember at least)

Jensen Ackles did a amazing job. The guy spend 84years in Supernatural and not even for once I saw Dean Winchester in his Soldier Boy

MM and Annie

Those two, Frenchie and Kimiko are the nicest people in this show. Not much to say, both of them being the moral compass of the group.

Annie goes through hell this season, this "wherever it takes" bullshit always goes too far, I'm happy that she ended the season okay.

MM having his moment of justice and bring accepted by this daughter was so nice to see.

Honorable Mentions

- I didn't expect Noir to die.

-Newman is not a villain, she just wants to stay alive and keep her daughter safe. Just like most of the characters this season, she just wants to survive Homelander madness and evilness. Hope they don't murder her next season

-Poor Ryan. Butcher was a asshole with him, Homelander wasn't and now the kid has the worst role model by his side. Don't shit Ryan, what would you choose, a guy that blames you for the dead of your mother or the one that understand that was a accident?

Ryan siding with Homelander was Butcher's fault.

-I still in shock that The Boys give Maeve an (until now) happy ending with Elena. The fucking Boys. And the fact that she face Homelander as a equal match, what a queen

- A-Train and The Deep, two desperate for Homelander's attention even tho Homelander despise them. The only "win" moment for A-Train was when she murder that racist fuck.

-Im glad that Ashley did something human at the end, coving up for Maeve's death angle.

-Herogasm

#the boys #the boys season 3 #homelander #soldier boy #Hughie #starlight #annie january #kimiko #Frenchie #MM #victoria newman #Anthony Starr #jensen ackles #a train #the deep #ashley #comments on #queen maeve #william butcher

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crystalelemental · 7 months

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Decided to do some off-typing. Have a bit of fun with it.

Vs. Malva Weather required, opted for Ice because let's be honest, I am in a Big Hisui mood right now. We know this one, they crushed it.

Vs. Siebold Apparently I never paid attention to his stage having Sentry Entry x2. Oops? I then got it in my head that we were going to do the Hoenn Twins, with Tate taking this one. It's honestly hilarious. Marnie flinches center, and Tate suddenly is able to wipe out left with Doom Desire, and take out right from the earlier damage no issue. Sync deals like 56k. This kid is so good.

Vs. Wikstrom Then we go to Liza, who, frankly, is hilarious. Anni Steven is a fun dual strike component, but the gauge can get iffy. Really wish I had Argenta about now. Even so, Liza's Protect lets her tank sync just fine, and by that point she's able to throw out Giga Impact with stacks of PMUN and it's all over for these clowns when she hits sync for like 15k off-type. Sides just melt.

Vs. Drasna I wanted to do a Caitlin clear, and honestly? This is a great showing. Half time to sync is a difficult condition to manage, but once you learn a few things about it, it's actually able to be spun to your advantage. All three survive sync, even if Drasna gets an attack in, because there are just fewer hits before it, leading to significantly less of a power boost from the offensive parameters Power Up On Hit +1/+2. You also have shenanigans like H!Caitlin's shields, which dramatically increase survival. It's not all having a powerhouse, fast setup sweeper nuke the stage. These three had basically no trouble at all.

Vs. Diantha I wanted to give SC Emmet a try, now that I pushed him to 3/5 EX. I had to reset once, because I didn't set up Bug Zone before his sync. I got overconfident. Round 2, I did do that, and he blew it up. Megahorn easily deleted left side for the denial, and put enough pressure on center to win it. I will say, Aaron's a little frailer than I'd want when you have Offenses +5, but careful use of Defend Order and Heal Order keeps him around through the foe's first sync. Pretty happy with Emmet overall, this was a good investment. Bug is finally in a position of power. It's low power compared to other types, but power nonetheless.

#champion stadium #kalos cs #off type clear

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bendtsencotton90 · 1 month

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brillmindz1 · 3 months

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I have a great mobile app idea. What do I do next?

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Also read: Mobile app development companies in uae

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Interviewing potential customers will not only assist you in validating your business concept, but it will also significantly contribute to the development stage of the app. Gather users who would like to use your app. You could find them on different social media networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or on gatherings like Quora, and Reddit. Attempt to ignite a discussion, take part in existing strings — this way you will actually want to attract your ideal prospects to you.

Protect Your App Idea

Thinking "I have a thought for an application" and expecting to make an successful application can demonstrate hurtful. Protecting your application thought is all around as significant as making it in any place. All things considered, you have done all the hard work, be it the time spent in social event thoughts, or brainstorming the highlights, and tracking down the right resources to turn it all genuine. The very thought of losing everything can be nothing short of a nightmare. However, there are certain measures you can take to safeguard your app idea. he three things you can do to safeguard your application thought:

1. Sign an NDA

One of the most widely recognized approaches to safeguarding any protecting any intellectual property — be it a thought for an application or a business plan — is a Non-exposure understanding. In straightforward terms, a NDA is an arrangement between you and your application developer. This implies, by no means, can your application developers disclose any data about your project to any third party.

2. Pick a Trustworthy Development Partner

if you have an app idea but no programming skills then choose mobile app development company as an NDA. Ensure the partner you are working with is credible and dependable. Before hiring a development team for your project, here are some things to think about.

3. Keep it Up to You Until It’s Not Live

While you shouldn't talk about your thought with the stakeholders, it's alright to straightforwardly examine it with friends, and different associates, isn't that so? Wrong. As humans, we have this natural tendency to share ideas and insights with others. The more you talk about your thought, the more vulnerable it becomes to being taken away.

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radfemblack · 3 years

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Why Is the UK TERF Island?

An answer-

Tradition of Cross-Dressing: Cross-dressing is a common trope in British comedy & has been for centuries - there are a variety of forms with the trope including the pervy dude who dresses as a woman to access womens changing rooms. So men cross-dressing is a cultural norm here: they do it for fun & laughs. See Monthy Pythons 'Loretta' scene in Life of Brian - link in another of my comments up-thread. See also: The Two Ronnies, multiple Monty Python sketches, Mrs Browns Boys, Little Britain, The League of Gentlemen, and pantomime dames. So in the UK if a man or a boy puts on a dress, we don't immediately think "there must be a reason for this!". Plus we had a lot of gender bending in the 1970's, 1980's & 1990's popular culture: men in make up, with long hair, wearing skirts were common, as were women with short hair wearing suits - see Boy George, Annie Lennox & Bowie.

Gender Non-Conformity: Gender non-conformity is quite normal & accepted. I think a lot of this is rooted in women being conscripted to work in traditional male jobs during WW2 (eg. as engineers or in the land army) when all men that could be spared, were recruited to fight. Working class women have commonly failed to conform to a meek, helpless patriarchal version of femininity. And British women through history have worked to dismantle gender stereotypes as 'gender' was often offered up as a reason to limit our rights - so the concept had to be destroyed. Thus gender identity theory isn't a good fit with British culture, as gender stereotypes were never as rigourously enforced here & have been consistently challenged / critiqued. See also: cross-dressing

National Character: We have a national character which can be blunt & unpretentious (we call 'spade is a spade') with a DGAF attitude - particularly in the Midlands / North. We also have a tendancy towards piss-taking & we don't particularly like cheats or queue jumping - it's a national delusion of truth & justice (it's just not cricket). For all the talk of British manners, we can actually be quite forthright - we're very good at being very polite & 'civil' while telling people to 'fuck off' to thier faces. British people might not complain about things to your face, but we'll sure as hell go home & complain to EVERYONE we know about it. We've turned sarcasm & passive aggression into a cultural art form. We also seem to have a natural skepticism, resistance to authority & subconcious collectivism.

British Left: The British left is rooted in left wing, socialist, materialist philosophy & class analysis rather than liberalism. This means the that whole of the left in the UK didn't immediately capitulate to a liberal, idealist philosophy that elevates subjective individial feelings over objective collective material reality. Our long history of class analysis & strong leftwing philosophical tradition gave us a powerful basis from which to resist gender identity ideology.

British Feminism: There is a strong history of feminist thinking, activism & networking, & of feminst participation in the union movement & in left wing & LGB campaigning. This mean British women activists had a lot of experience in debating, public speaking, organising, awareness raising & delivering material political change in the UK - this made it easier for women to quickly build organisations & networks, set up programmes of talks, work politicians, etc in response to proposed changes to the GRA. Compare this to the UK TRAs whose main orgainising seems to be around hidden politcal agendas, counter protests, social media echo-chambers, de-platforming & colonisation fo established spaces, etc.

Secular: We're not divided politically by religion. We're quite a secular society - so getting us to collectively accept that people have 'gendered souls' was going to be a struggle b/c you'd need to get us believe in the idea of souls first. Our lack of a Christian right also means we don't have religiously enforced homophobia so much here. And gay & lesbian people are part of our cultural history (even though we treated them like shit). Much of the resistance in the UK is coming from feminists, the left, & gay & lesbian people, and the lack of a Christian right means it's harder to smear British left-wing feminists as right-wing religious conservatives, or to denounce one of the founders of Stonewall as "homophobic".

Long History of Civil Rights: We've been fighting over civil rights for centuries - we know a genuine civil rights movement when we see one, & we know a demand for privilege when we see one. See also: we call a spade a spade & sense of justice.

British Womens Culture: It's almost like a 'culture within a culture': my Mum has a saying 'your son is your son until he gets a wife, your daughter is your daughter until the end of your life'. And it's true - there is quite a strong female bond in the UK. I saw it through the female lines in my family with my great aunts, grandmothers & aunts; the women will take on the men in defence of each other - I've seen my 70 year old mother take my 42 year old brother to task in defense of my SIL. She just wouldn't tolerate that kind of shit from him.

Which relates to another aspect of traditional British female culture: the 'battle-axe' - these are older, formidable women who are fierce, determined & take no shit. They're a common trope in British TV (eg. Nora Batty, Ena Sharples) and used to command respect & awe in the British working class. They're not as common these days due to changing social structures, but powerful, courageous women who take no shit are a cultural norm. My maternal great aunt was a battle-axe: she was brilliant & an inspiration.

Country Size, Legal/Political Structure & Population Density: We're quite a small country with a high population density: we have collective experiences as a country & our laws (& power) are very centralised (apart from the devolved powers). This means that you can't really miss the main national issues, as they impact everyone - it's not something remote happening in a state or province on the other side of a large nation. Living cheek by jowel, & having a smaller population than some other countries means that less people have to hear about something for it to become a hot topic, news & ideas spread faster, & you can peak half the women in the country much more quickly as fewer people have to hear about it.

#terf #feminism #feminist #terf island #lgb #lgbt #lgb alliance #gender critical

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thedeadhandofseldon · 3 years

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The Anti-Mercer Effect

On the Accessibility of D&D, Why Unprepared Casters is so Fun, and Why Haley Whipjack is possibly the greatest DM of our generation.

(Apologies to my mutuals who aren’t in this fandom for the length of this, but as you all know I have never in my life shut up about anything so… we’ll call it even for the number of posts about Destiel I see every day.

To fellow UC fans - I haven’t listened to arc 4 yet, I started drafting this in early August, and I promise I will write a nice post about how great Gus the Bard is once I get the chance to listen to more of his DMing).

Structure - Or, “This is not the finale, there will be more podding cast”

So, first of all, let’s just talk about how Unprepared Casters works. Because it’s kind of unusual! Most of the other big-name D&D podcasts favor this long, grand arcs; UC has about 10 hours of podcast per each arc. And that’s a major strength in a lot of ways: it makes it really accessible to new listeners, because you can just start with the current arc and understand what’s going on!

And by starting new arcs every six or seven episodes, they can explore lots of ways to play D&D! Classic dungeon delve arc! Heist arc! Epic heroes save the world arc! Sportsball arc! They can touch on all sorts of things!

And while I’m talking about that: Dragons in Dungeons, the first arc, makes it incredibly accessible as a show - because it lets the unfamiliar listener get a sense of what D&D actually is. (It’s about telling stories and making your friends feel heroic and laugh and cry, for the record). If I had to pick a way to introduce someone to the game without actually playing it with them, that arc would definitely be it.

And I’d be remise not to note one very important thing: Haley Whipjack and Gus the Bard are just very funny, very charismatic people. Look. Episode 0s tend to be about 50%(?) those two just talking to each other about their own podcast. It shouldn’t work. And yet it DOES, its one of my favorite parts, because Haley and Gus are just cool.

And a side note that doesn’t fit anywhere else: I throw my soul at him! I throw a scone at him - that’s it, that’s the vibe. The whole podcast alternates between laughing with your friends and brooding alone in a dark tavern corner - but the laughs never forced and the dark corner is never too dark for too long.

Whipjack the Great - Or, the DM is Also a Player!

I think Haley Whipjack is one of the greatest Dungeon Masters alive. The plots and characters! The mechanical shenanigans! The descriptions!

Actually, let’s start there: with the descriptions. (Both Haley and Gus do this really fucking well). As we know, Episode 0 of each arc sees the DM reading a description - of a small town, or the Up North, or the recent history of a great party. And Haley always strikes this tricky balance - one I think a lot of us who DM struggle with - between giving too much description and worldbuilding, and not telling us anything at all. She describes people and events in just enough detail to imagine them, but never so much they seem static and unreal - just clear enough to envision, but with enough vagueness left to let your imagination begin to run wild.

While I’m thinking about arc 3’s party, let’s talk about a really bold move she made in that arc: letting the players have ongoing control of their history. Loser Lars! She didn’t try to spell out every detail of this high-level party’s history, or restrict their past to only what she decided to allow - she gave them the broad outlines, and let them embellish it. And that made for a much more alive story than any attempt to create it by herself would have - but I think it takes a lot of courage to let your players have that agency. Most Dungeon Masters (myself included) tend to struggle with being control freaks.

And the plots! Yeah, arc one is built of classic tropes - but she actually uses them, she doesn’t get caught up in subverting everything or laughing at the cliches. And it’s fun! In arc 3, there really isn’t a straight line for the players to follow, either - which makes the game much more interesting and much trickier to run. And her NPCs are fantastic and I will talk about them in the next section.

Above all, though, I think what is really impressive is how Haley balances mechanics, and rules as written, with the narrative and rule of cool - and puts both rules and story in the service of playing a fun game. And the secret to that? She’s the DM, but the DM is a player, and the DM is clearly having fun. Hope Lovejoy mechanically shouldn’t get that spellslot back, but she does, and it’s fun. The changeling merchant in Thymore doesn’t really make some Grand Artistic Narrative better, but wow is it fun. And she never tries to force it one way or the other - the story might be more dramatic if Annie didn’t manage to banish the demon from the vault, but it’s a lot cooler and a lot more fun for the players if Annie gets to be a badass instead - and the rules and the dice say that Annie managed it.

Settings feel like places, NPCs feel like people, and the narrative plot feels like a real villainous plot.

Anyway. I could go on about the various ways in which Whipjack is awesome for quite a while - she’s right, first place in D&D is when your friends laugh and super first place is when they cry - but I’m going to stop here and just. Make another post about it some other time. For now, for the record I hold her opinions about the game in higher esteem than I do several official sourcebooks; that is all.

Characters - Or, Bombyx Mori Is Not an Asshole, And That Matters

Okay, I said I would talk about characters! And I will!

Just a general place to start: the party! All of the first three parties are interesting to me, because they all care about each other. Not even necessarily in a Found Family Trope sort of way, though often that too. But they generally aren’t assholes to each other. The players create characters that actually work together, that are interesting; even when there’s internal divisions like SK-73 v. Sir Mr. Person, they aren’t just unpleasant and antagonistic all the time. Listening to the podcast, we’re “with” these people for a couple hours - and it isn’t unpleasant. That matters a lot. (To take a counter-example: I love Critical Role, but the episode when Vox Machina pranked Scanlan after he died and was resurrected wasn’t fun to listen to, it was just uncomfortable and angering and vaguely cruel).

All of the PCs are amazing, and the players in each arc did a great job. If you disagree with me about that, well, you have the right to be incorrect and I am sorry for your loss. Annie Wintersummer, for one example: tragic and sad and I want to give her a hug, but also Fuck Yeah Wintersummer, and also her familiar Charles the Owl is the cutest and funniest and I love him. And we understand what’s going on with Annie, she isn’t some infinite pool of hidden depths because this arc is 7 episodes and we don’t have time for that, but she also has enough complexity to be interesting. Same with Fey Moss: yeah, a lot of her is a silly pun about fame that carries into how she behaves, but a lot of how she behaves is also down to some good classic half-elven angst about parenthood and wanting to be known and seen and important. (Side note: if your half-elf character doesn’t have angst, well, that’s impressive and also I don’t think I believe you).

There are multiple lesbian cat-people in a 4-person party and they both have requited romantic interests who aren’t each other. This is the future liberals want and I am glad for it.

Sir Mister Person, the human fighter! Thavius, the edge lord! Even when a character is “simple,” they’re interesting, because of how they’re played as people and not action-figures. And that matters a lot.

In the same way: the NPCs. There really aren’t a lot of them! And some of them come from Patreon submissions, so uh good work gang, you’re part of the awesomeness and I’m proud of you! The point being, the NPCs work because enough of them are interesting to matter. It’s not just a servant who opens Count Michael’s door, it’s a character with a name (Oleandra!) and a personality and history. They’re interesting. Penny Lovejoy didn’t need to be interesting, the merchant outside the Laughing Mausoleum didn’t need to be interesting, but they ARE! And Haley and Gus EXCEL at making the NPCs matter, not just to the story but to us as viewers. I agree with Sir Mister Person, actually, I would die for the princesses of the kingdom. I actually care about Gem Lovejoy of all people - that wouldn’t happen in an ordinary campaign! That’s the thing that makes Unprepared Casters spectacular - and, frankly, it’s especially impressive because D&D does not tend to be good at making a lot of interesting compared to a lot of other sorts of stories.

And, just as an exemplar of all this: Bombyx Mori. Immortal, reincarnating(?), and described as the incarnation of the player’s ADHD. I expected to hate Bombyx, because as the mom friend both in and out of my friend-group’s campaigns, the chaos-causer is always exhausting to me. And yeah, Bombyx causes problems on purpose! But! She is not an asshole.

And that’s important. Bombyx goes and sits with the queen and comforts her. Bombyx gives Annie emotional support. Bombyx isn’t just a vehicle to jerk around the DM and other players; Bombyx really is a character we can care about. To compare with another case - in the first couple episodes of The Adventure Zone, the PCs are just dicks. Funny, but dicks. Bombyx holds out an arm “covered in larva” to shake with a count, and robs him of magical items, but she also cares about her friends and other people! She uses a powerful magical gem to save her fertilizer guy from death! Yeah, Bombyx is ridiculous, but she’s not just an asshole the party has to keep around for plot reasons; you can see why her party would keep her around. And one layer of meta up, she’s the perfect example of how to make a chaotic character like that while still being fun for everyone you’re playing with, which is often not the case. And I love her.

The Anti-Mercer Effect - Or, “I think we proved it can be fun, you can have a good time with your friends. And it doesn’t have to be scary, you can just work with what you know”

The Mercer Effect basically constitutes this: Matthew Mercer, Dungeon Master of Critical Role, is incredible (as are all of his players). They’re all professional story-tellers in a way, remember, and so Critical Role treats D&D like a narrative art-form, and it’s inspiring. Seeing that on Critical Role sets impossible standards - and people go into their own home games imagining that their campaigns will be like Critical Role, and the burden of that expectation tends to fall disproportionately on the DM. And the end result, I think, of the Mercer Effect is that we get discouraged or intimidated, because our game isn’t “as good as” theirs. (And I should note - Matt certainly doesn’t want that to be our reaction).

So the Anti-Mercer Effect is two things: it’s D&D treated like a game, and it’s inspiring but not intimidating. And Unprepared Casters manages both of those really freaking well. Because they play it like a game! A UC arc looks just like a good campaign in anyone’s home game. They have the vibes of 20-somethings and college students playing D&D for fun because that’s who they are (as a 20-something college student who plays a lot of D&D, watching it felt like watching my friends play an especially good campaign). They’re trying to tell a good story, sure, and they always do. But first and foremost, they’re trying to have fun, and it shows, and I love the UC cast for it.

And that’s the other half of it: it’s inspiring! It’s approachable; you can see that Haley and Gus put plenty of work into preparing the game but it also doesn’t make you feel like you need hundreds of pages of worldbuilding to run a game. Sometimes a cleric makes Haley cry and she gives them back a spell-slot from their deity! That’s fantastic! It’s just inspiring - listening to this over the summer, when my last campaign had fallen apart under the strain of graduation, is why I decided to plan and run my new one!

That quote from Haley Whipjack that I used as the title for this section? That’s the whole core of this idea, and really, I think, the core of the podcast.

The Mercer Effect is when you go “that’s really cool, I could never do that.” But Unprepared Casters makes you look at D&D and go “wow, that looks really fun. I bet I can do that!” And I love the show for it.

And I bet a lot of you do too.

#unprepared casters #bombyx mori #haley whipjack #long post #this is really rough but I don't have time to keep working on it and it's already a month later than intended

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hamliet · 3 years

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Unless a Grain of Wheat Falls and It Dies...

Or, why I am pretty optimistic about the fates of Jean, Connie, Gabi, and all titanized people this chapter, which is also an excuse for me to talk about SnK’s allusions to Russian literature.

There are strikingly parallel ideas The Brothers Karamazov and Attack on Titan, as well as parallel plot points and imagery to the point where if it isn’t deliberate, it’s uncanny. (NB: before people yell at me about comparing a Japanese and Russian work, Isayama has used Russian names since the start of SnK--Shiganshina is a Russian name.) In particular, there are narrative allusions to a portion of the novel known as “The Grand Inquisitor,” which is a short story within a novel. The central thesis of “The Grand Inquisitor” is as follows:

nothing has ever been more insupportable for a man and a human society than freedom.

This parable is told within the story by Ivan Karamazov, a character whose intellectuality is his gift and his curse. He tells his brother Alyosha that the motivation for creating this parable is precisely the evils done to children (oh look, a major SnK theme) and specifically cites an example which was unfortunately taken from real life in Russia and which Isayama has an uncanny parallel:

I want to see with my own eyes the hind lie down with the lion and the victim rise up and embrace his murderer. I want to be there when every one suddenly understands what it has all been for. All the religions of the world are built on this longing, and I am a believer. But then there are the children, and what am I to do about them? That's a question I can't answer... If all must suffer to pay for the eternal harmony, what have children to do with it, tell me, please? ... if it is really true that they must share responsibility for all their fathers' crimes, such a truth is not of this world and is beyond my comprehension. Some jester will say, perhaps, that the child would have grown up and have sinned, but you see he didn't grow up, he was torn to pieces by the dogs, at eight years old...

... How are you going to atone for them? Is it possible? ... What do I care for a hell for oppressors? What good can hell do, since those children have already been tortured? ... I want to forgive. I want to embrace. I don't want more suffering. And if the sufferings of children go to swell the sum of sufferings which was necessary to pay for truth, then I protest that the truth is not worth such a price. ... too high a price is asked for harmony; it's beyond our means to pay so much to enter on it... It's not God that I don't accept, Alyosha, only I most respectfully return Him the ticket.”

The actual parable of “The Grand Inquisitor” is Ivan’s answer to Alyosha’s question about Ivan’s lines above. Ivan tells a story about how freedom is actually what dooms humanity: it is the curse. (Alyosha does not believe this.) Jesus comes back to earth and is promptly arrested, because his existence and return threaten the wellbeing of society. To be happy, one cannot be free, but one or two strong people in society should be free and bear the burden for everyone else (you can see the parallels to King Fritz/the Reisses).

Nothing is more seductive for man than his freedom of conscience, but nothing is a greater cause of suffering... all his life he loved humanity, and suddenly his eyes were opened, and he saw that it is no great moral blessedness to attain perfection and freedom, if at the same time one gains the conviction that millions of God's creatures have been created as a mockery, that they will never be capable of using their freedom...

This is SnK’s thesis: to be free, there will be suffering. It is part of human nature, and yet to not have it is to be lost. But SnK, despite its explorations of human darkness and monstrosity, has a higher view of humanity than does Ivan. SnK’s view is more alongside Alyosha’s, who says what is honestly the truth about not just the Reisses, but Eren now:

"Who are these keepers of the mystery who have taken some curse upon themselves for the happiness of mankind? .... It's simple lust of power, of filthy earthly gain, of domination—something like a universal serfdom with them as masters—that's all they stand for.”

Mikasa is akin to the Christ figure in the story, akin to Alyosha: Christ is constantly asked to speak, asked to act, and he does not until the very last moment, when he kisses the Grand Inquisitor on the lips. After the story is over, Alyosha then does likewise to Ivan.

Not to mention when Alyosha worries about Ivan’s mental state, he then answers with this:

“Listen, Alyosha,” Ivan began in a resolute voice, “if I am really able to care for the sticky little leaves I shall only love them, remembering you. It's enough for me that you are somewhere here, and I shan't lose my desire for life yet.”

A simple leaf can save a life. A leaf can save the world. A leaf, grown from a tree that started as a seed falling to the ground, dead, only to grow life from that death. Alyosha himself notes SnK’s central thesis of chapter 137 in the (very long) novel’s final pages:

...some good, sacred memory, preserved from childhood, is perhaps the best education. If a man carries many such memories with him into life, he is safe to the end of his days, and if one has only one good memory left in one's heart, even that may sometime be the means of saving us.

There’s a lot more to this, but this is the epigraph to The Brothers Karamazov, the central thesis of the entire novel:

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." -John 12:24

Suffering can grow great fruit in an individual life, and by giving something up, by even death, something beautiful can come. Through cruelty, you can find life.

This is not just a long-running theme in SnK, but a pattern in its plot. Often those who surrender then receive exactly what they had surrendered (but admittedly, not always, like Erwin).

Mikasa accepted Eren’s loss, and got him back.

Mikasa let Armin go, and got him back.

Falco gave up hope of survival, and got another chance:

Hange was going to die alone, feeling guilty for having failed her comrades, but saw everyone again, and they told her well done:

Historia gave up being free, but now we know she will be.

Levi gave up on his revenge, and then got it. Annie thought she would never see her dad again, but she did. For Mikasa, accepting that she has to kill the boy she loves coincides not just with her acceptance of her love, but with the acceptance and knowledge that he loves her:

It always comes with sacrifice, increasingly hard sacrifice, but usually the seeds that are dropped grow and bloom.

This chapter, everyone surrendered their hearts. They let their dreams fall to the ground, and I honestly think the story will allow it to plant life. Yes, the world as a whole is saved and that is enough to make thematic sense, but it works even better if the very people who were titanized this chapter also bloom again. They chose to trust Mikasa, Levi, Falco, and Pieck to finish the task.

The characters giving up their lives only to get them back make sense, and give Mikasa’s sacrifice of Eren. For Mikasa, Eren was her world, and she gave it up when she had lost everyone else. She had nothing left, and she still did it. I would hope she’d be narratively rewarded beyond just the world being saved, because Mikasa has always been motivated by her personal relationships.

Moving on from Mikasa: Connie’s mom has been kept alive and the concept of turning mindless titans back to humans was already brought up specifically in relation to her:

Connie giving up on his mother a dozenish chapters ago only to get her back now--not through sacrificing a child, but through saving the entire world--would fit the themes and patterns of SnK.

Thirdly, Gabi should not die. She’s Eren with positive development, and cannot meet the same end. Even people who are skeptical of every titan being saved seem to agree that she’ll be fine. It’s possible she’s the only one saved, but imo, not likely.

See, the only shifter characters who are going to have the option of self-sacrifice are Falco and maaaaaybe Armin. The others look like they’re about to die right here and now, never mind choosing someone to save: the mindless titans are ripping at their napes. Armin also looks to be in bad shape.

Yet Armin cannot narratively commit suicide; two chapters ago he was still screaming at himself for being useless and thinking he would be better off dead. He’s already tried the heroic sacrifice, too, so why would it work this time around? It does not work for his arc. Falco dying for Gabi was the plan without any freedom from the titan curse; it’s more powerful if ending the curse changes things, rather than forcing him to make the same choice that Reiner has always been trying to make: a heroic suicide. It could happen; it’s just not as narratively strong.

As for whether the worldbuilding rules, we know that mindless titans are not truly dead nor entirely mindless; they just don’t have freedom. Ymir’s case of getting herself back after decades shows that they aren’t quite dead or absorbed. They still have consciousness that can be awoken; Ymir described it as being in a long “nightmare.” Dina still went looking for Grisha. Connie’s mom remembered and recognized Connie, telling him “welcome home.” There is plenty of evidence that there are parts of these people that are still in there even if they are forced to become monsters (oh hey, it’s an Eren parallel; he was conscious of it and had choices while mindless titans do not, but the parallel remains).

#snk 138 #snk meta #aot 138 #aot meta #mikasa ackerman #eremika #eren jaeger #armin arlert #the brothers karamazov #gabi braun #connie springer #jean kirchstein #ymir #falco grice #galco #reiner braun #annie leonhart #levi ackerman #historia reiss

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xaibaugrove · 3 years

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Everyone in the Krew is Problematic

I was inspired to go on this rant by someone who recently brought up a question in a server I’m in, asking why so many people in the fandom seem to hate Mako and Makorra and why. This wouldn’t be the first time I defend Mako and it most likely won’t be the last, but it might be the first time I tear him and everyone else in the Krew down in the process, only to bring them back up. Hear me out though.

I think I’ve totally accepted that a lot of people in this fandom will always hate Mako and that I will have to perpetually defend him, I understand that this is the relationship I’ve chosen with this world. But what I still will never understand are the reasons why people hate/dislike him because compared to how much they love other characters in the Krew who honestly aren’t that much better than him (in some cases, even worse!), it doesn’t make any sense.

Let me also preface this by saying, I love these characters with all my heart and soul, probably more than I should love fictional characters, but this is the life I live and with that being said, I am going to tear them apart just to prove a point. Okay, here we go.

MAKO

Most of his detractors list the usual criticisms, which are valid when isolated. He cheated on Asami, he lied to Korra, he was a terrible boyfriend and essentially he treated the women he claimed to love or care about horribly. Gee, it’s almost like the man was a teenager with no experience in having long-lasting, healthy relationships and was raised in the streets by gangmembers while doing anything to survive and provide for his younger sibling after seeing his parents killed right in front of him and suddenly being orphaned…

I think Mako has been torn down enough, so I won’t get too deep into the tearing down part for him. It really does baffle me how someone can claim to be woke and not comprehend how someone coming from poverty could possibly be a product of their environment. Like, does everyone think that poor people automatically have hearts of gold and turn out like Little Orphan Annie? Why are people surprised that when someone has a shitty life, they might do shitty things?

Also, sooo many people love Zuko, who actively tried to cause harm to Aang, Katara and Sokka numerous times, and sympathize with his troubled past. But like, sure Zuko had an abusive father and his mother peaced out of his life for whatever reasons but at least he had his uncle. Mako had his parents for maybe 8 years before they were murdered in front of him and then had...no one for the next 10 years? Except for Bolin, sure, but no other parental figure in his life. Dude literally had to become him and his brother’s own parent and joined a gang to survive, and after all that, the worst he does is acts as a bad boyfriend toward Korra and Asami and he is instantly thrown to the wolves. Something doesn’t add up. It’s just...I don’t get it.

Yes, the way he treated people was bad, but people can grow? That’s a thing humans can do. And he was a teenager, my god. No, we cannot allow our past to be an excuse for how we treat others, but we have to be aware that there is a growth process to being human. And being human in and of itself, isn’t pretty. You think Mako is problematic? Don’t get me started on your fave.

KORRA

Ok, I love this woman to death but she is ridiculously problematic. She pursued someone in a relationship and essentially forced Mako to cheat on Asami by kissing him against his will, that’s already pretty awful and shows a lack of empathy on her part, also kissing people without their consent is no bueno. But also I just have to say it for the people who might not know this. One of the fundamental reasons why Makorra didn’t work was because KORRA WAS ABUSIVE. Okay? It wasn’t just that Mako was inadequate at relationships and didn’t know how to people, it wasn’t that she was secretly confused and wanting Asami the entire time (biphobia at it’s best) one of the main problems in the pairing was that Korra was crazy abusive towards Mako. Seriously, why don’t I see this more often in those discussions??

If we need examples, I have dozens. Honestly, it’s really easy to see how terrible Korra was to Mako, I’d actually argue that she treated him worse than he treated her. I mean, they were both terrible to one another, but in Korra’s case she went through the motions of being completely infatuated with your first teenage crush, getting with said crush, then crashing and burning once you realize that you have no idea how to treat a romantic partner so after the butterflies wear off you subject them to all the wonderful aspects of your anger issues. Not only did she scream at Mako during every argument they had, she also threatened him with bodily harm if she got really angry. Remember how their relationship crashed and burned in Book 2? Here are the things that Korra did during that time. Let me reiterate, this was not okay.

Mako is visibly shaken by this!

This woman burst into her boyfriend’s place of work and violently kicked his desk out from in front of him with all his coworkers present. That is not normal behavior. That is a red flag. And after she came back, had amnesia or whatever and forgot they broke up after that scene, let’s not forget that Mako was legitimately Afraid to break up with her again. Korra made her partner frightened that they might suffer bodily harm if they upset her. Again, and I can’t stress this enough, this is not okay!

The little scene in Book 3 when Korra is lifting Mako like 100 feet off the ground with airbending while he’s screaming in fear just to make Asami laugh is cute, right? I’ll admit, I loved that little moment too, it’s one of the only instances of Korrasami development that we got, but also, there were sooo many things wrong with that scene lol. Not only does Korra terrify Mako for literally no reason, it’s also sort of just her continuing to exercise some degree of power over him for her own amusement. Almost like a subtle reminder to him saying, “I am stronger than you in every way and I can break your femur like a twig if I wanted to… but I won’t, so look how much fun we’re having!”

Now of course, there are reasons why Korra acts like this. She was isolated for almost her entire life and never learned how to treat people and be around people. The Avatar is human because they must live amongst the people they protect and that helps them develop empathy and cherish life. The White Lotus deprived her of that fundamental aspect of her duty as the Avatar and it showed throughout the beginning of the series. Clearly, she was young, didn’t see how her actions could negatively affect others and hurt the feelings of not just her partner but also friends and family (she was really awful towards a lot of people in her life!). But as the series went on, we see her having less outbursts and learning to control her temper more.

One can only assume that she does not have the same behavior with Asami because for one, I don’t think Asami would play that shit, she seems like she would electrocute a bitch in a heartbeat and not hesitate if needed, but also Korra is not the same shitty partner she used to be as a teenager. Again, kids do stupid things. Adults do stupid things. And we learn and we grow. Korra will probably make some more mistakes in her relationship with Asami. I don't think anyone can have one bad relationship and suddenly learn all the lessons they can from it and have a perfect one the next go around. I can totally picture Korra losing her temper and raising her voice at Asami if she gets frustrated and forgets who she’s dealing with. Managing anger issues is hard, I know this from experience, and it doesn’t magically get easier. Of course, if Korra does pop off, Asami would definitely put her in her place because she’s a bad bitch who doesn’t take anyone’s shit, next character.

ASAMI

You know her, you love her, you fantasize about her and you probably have her on your list of fictional characters you would totally bang if you had the chance (I know I do), yes, even your best girl is problematic. It’s interesting to me that a lot of people sympathize with Asami and very few openly criticize her (so few that I’ve never seen anyone say a bad thing about her). What’s there to criticize though? The poor girl was cheated on by Mako, had her feelings disregarded by Korra, who claimed to be her friend but pursued her then-boyfriend behind her back and then made up for it by simping for her for the rest of her life? Also her mom was murdered when she was just 6 years old, her father threatened to kill her once and physically abused her, then died right after they started repairing their relationship, essentially making her an orphan at the ripe age of 22. Suffice it to say, Asami has been through it.

So, how could she be problematic, you ask? Why, of course, through the classic Bryke technique of romance progression in storylines called Kissing People Without Their Consent

To be honest, I did gloss over this with Korra, simply because there were sooo many other issues with that woman and I just couldn’t go through every single one in as much detail but that doesn’t negate how serious this whole sneak attack kissing thing is. Sure, Asami is very emotional and lonely and sort of desperate too, (it's a little sad, really) but Mako is clearly uncomfortable and completely caught off guard by the kiss. This is also the second time this happens to him in the series! There are a couple factors that might contribute to why Asami does this and acts this way, maybe Korra’s general awfulness rubbed off on her (don’t make a dirty joke) but this is still wrong.

AND that’s...pretty much it. Kissing people without their permission is a big no no, though. Not wanting to gloss over that, but Asami really is a good person who just did a not-so-great thing. Getting burned by Mako twice probably made her a little less inclined to be as forward with anyone though, and it looks like she now takes her time and is patient in her relationship with Korra. It even seems like Asami is the only person Korra is afraid to upset, as Korra does seem more gentle and calm when around her. And who knows? Maybe Asami living a life where a majority of the time she got whatever she wanted when she wanted it might have also influenced her to be more assertive or even imposing within her relationships.

If anything, those three fools getting into relationships with each other just showed how not ready they were to be in relationships in the first place and also how not okay they were.

BOLIN

Originally I titled this as “Everyone in the Krew is problematic (except Bolin)” but then I remembered that Bolin totally kissed a woman without her consent so I deleted the shit out of that!

This asshole looks genuinely pleased with himself after essentially assaulting Ginger. Not a good look.

Sure, Bolin is baby. He will always be baby to me. But that does not erase the fact that he also actively supported a fascist dictator. Not only was the kissing without consent thing bad, but there’s also that. No matter how many times people around him warned him about the fact that he was on the wrong side of things, that he was helping someone who was putting people into concentration camps...Bolin wanted to believe the best of Kuvira. He ignored obvious signs that the woman was a dictator committing human rights violations like crazy and you know, there’s gotta be a reason for that too.

Maybe Bolin wanted to feel like he was doing something good for once. When you think about it, with his role as the comic relief in the Krew, and sort of constantly being infantilized by his older brother, I wouldn’t be surprised if the man developed some insecurity in his ability to do anything good or useful for anyone without screwing it up in some way. In Kuvira’s army, it seemed like he was actually taken seriously, he felt like he was doing something that mattered. Korra had being the Avatar, Asami had her business and mindblowing philanthropy (honestly, her ability to be as charitable as she is profitable is insane) and Mako had his police work (ACAB, tho). Bolin had...the role of being a joke. A superficial actor. A former pro-bending meathead.

Bolin lived his entire life following after his brother that once they were adults and Mako finally decided to live his own life for once, it left Bolin completely lost. And lost young men are perfect recruits for fascists.

So, in conclusion, my whole reasoning behind destroying the integrity of my favorite characters is to prove a huge point. All of these characters are problematic. They have flaws, some bigger than others (looking at you, Korra. Just...wow), but ultimately, even if your fave is problematic... that’s okay. A lot of people, mostly younger people it seems, are really obsessed with being right about everything that they do and stan. And that’s a wonderful thing, so much change has come about by the younger generations calling out people who do fucked up shit, don’t want or try to improve, and get away with it. But it’s also caused a lot of people to be unforgiving and completely unwilling to acknowledge when people do improve and try to be better.

Personally, I love my problematic Krew because having issues that you’re constantly working on internally is human. It’s human to make mistakes, it’s human to grow from those mistakes. And it’s inspiring to me, who is wholly imperfect, to see myself reflected in fictional characters who aren’t perpetuating unrealistic ideals of human nature, characters who are messy, crazy and ultimately human.

As one of my favorite manga artists and queen of impeccable character creation Rumiko Takahashi once said:

“I think that perfect people are not very interesting.”

And I will always wholeheartedly agree.

#long post #rant #tlok #the legend of korra #korra #asami sato #mako #bolin #avatar: the legend of korra #back on my random bullshit i guess

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behindyourbarrette · 3 years

Text

like you a latte - matcha latte

← previous | series masterlist | join my taglist | next part ->

pairing: spencer reid x fem reader

a/n: SURPRISE i felt like dropping this a DAY early!!lololololol but here it is! i appreciate the love on the last two parts so so soooo much :) can’t beliEVE WE ARE HALFWAY DONE!! reblog if u enjoyed

—

Needless to say, Twilight Time isn’t very crowded on Thursday afternoons.

You rarely pick up closing shifts anymore—for reasons totally unrelated to the doctor who almost exclusively arrives in the morning—but you’re covering for Sally, and it’s a nice day out. The rain has let up in favor of mild weather, the sun just barely peeking through the clouds as people drift past the shop. Despite the fact that there’s more foot traffic on the street, not many people come in to order. You don’t blame them. Why have hot coffee on a day like this?

Your back is turned when you hear a group enter, and your heart soars at the prospect of tips. For whatever reason, most people are more inclined to tip when they know their friends are watching. You call out to let them know you’ll be right with them, and after you’re done fidgeting with the settings of the coffee grinder, you turn.

It’s Spencer. But he’s not alone.

There are a total of four people before you, each intimidating you in slightly different ways. They’re all agents, as evidenced by their not-so-concealed carries. You recognize a few of the characters. Spencer’s told you about JJ, who you assume to be the friendly blonde, and Penelope, who is a vision in fuchsia. That leaves Emily, who’s whispering to JJ, eyes fixed on you. You try to absorb the sight, them together. Spencer looks at ease, a wide smile on his face as he looks between you and the group.

“Hey, Spencer. These your coworkers?” You crack a nervous smile, knitting your fingers together. He nods, introducing them each in turn. JJ grins in your direction, and Penelope waves at you with a fingerlessly-gloved hand. Emily reaches across the bar to shake your hand. You get the sense that there’s something Spencer hasn’t told you.

“What can I get you guys?”

Spencer shrugs, defaulting to JJ and Emily. Penelope pipes up, eyes bright as she peers at the menu above you.

“Do you have matcha, sweetheart? I’ve been meaning to try that. It’s great for your skin.” You nod, pulling a cup out and inscribing Penelope’s name on it. JJ and Emily both order americanos, exchanging a sheepish grin. After setting their cups aside, you turn to Spencer.

“Genius, you should really try the matcha. It’ll give you brain power. Not that you need any more.” Penelope does jazz hands to emphasize her excitement, and Spencer shrugs. You watch them interact for a moment before you realize he’s turned to you for your approval.

“Oh. I really like matcha. It’s green tea, and a matcha latte tastes light and sweet. I think you’d like it.” He nods, and orders it hot. Penelope orders iced; you smile as you consider that they compliment each other, eventually turning away to prepare everyone’s drinks. They’re all relatively simple, and you manage to include latte art in the hot drinks. Spencer’s is last, and you flick your wrist to finish the design. Crossing the bar, you hand each agent their drink in turn.

Penelope sips at her drink first, the bright green matching one of her rings perfectly. Spencer eyes his dubiously, poking at it with a wooden stirring stick.

“It’s very green.” He whispers to Penelope, who cackles in response.

JJ catches your eye as you watch, lingering between the bar and their seats. With a smile, she waves you over.

“You’ve totally ruined other coffee for Spence. We had to come try it for ourselves.” She whispers, leaning down. You aren’t sure how to feel about her tone; there’s a glint of something in her eye, something playfully secretive. You’re not sure what part of this you’re not in on.The idea of Spencer mentioning you at all is foreign—sure, you’ve told your roommates, and your coworkers found out that you do, in fact, have a favorite regular. Still, you never considered the idea that you bleed into other parts of his life. You steal a glance at him while JJ compliments her americano. He’s sipping at his matcha, a green mustache left behind.

“You have a magic touch, Y/N. I don’t think I’ve ever had coffee this good in the states.” Emily flashes you a grin as if she can sense your nervousness. You relax a little, asking her about her work abroad instead of getting lost in your head. She strikes you as a diplomat, and a compliment from her feels like something to be savored. Penelope raves to you about the health benefits of matcha, and you immediately feel welcomed by her. If you were to run a study comparing the approachability between pink polka dots and pantsuits, you're sure that polka dots would win.

“Are you an agent, too?” You ask, stirring your own iced coffee with a straw. Eyeing the clock, you’ve decided that this counts as your break. Tyler be damned. Penelope giggles, shaking her head.

“Oh God no. Well, technically. I’m a technical analyst, so I work on the computer and tech end of things.” She explains, and you nod. It makes a lot of sense. While both JJ and Emily exude the energy of most cops—authoritative, with a critical eye—Garcia does’t fit that mold. It’s this that draws you to her.

You learn that JJ has a son named Henry, a surprisingly Southern boyfriend to match, and that Emily has a cat named Sergio. Despite their highbrow titles, you don’t feel out of place. It’s easy to sip at your coffee, the cup cool against your fingertips, and listen.

“Are you in school? Spence mentioned that you majored in literature.” JJ sets her cup down, flexing her fingers against the air. You feel yourself flush now that the attention is on you. The fact that he chose this detail to divulge sticks between your ribs. You haven't told him much about your work—he insisted on reading your thesis, and even reread the source material to better discuss it with you—but apparently, what you have discussed has made an impression.

“Yeah, actually. I’m in my second year of law school.” You admit. Emily nods in approval, reaching out to high five you.

“Damn. With all the assholes you deal with in customer service, you’ll make a great attorney.” You high five her with a small smile on your face, stealing a glance at Spencer. He seems elated, clearly enjoying the dynamic he’s observing.

“Do you want to go into criminal law?”

JJ asks, eyes wide with curiosity. You shake your head ruefully. They take it well, shrugging their shoulders. To their credit, their branch of law enforcement deals with the process prior to prosecution. You shudder at the idea of what happens after they catch the bad guys.

“No, not really. I’m looking at either the entertainment or environmental sector.”

The group murmurs, and the conversation devolves into small talk about law. You look to Spencer for an escape, and he suggests that they take a walk. Once the girls have trickled out of the room, each hugging you goodbye, you’re left alone with Spencer.

“Hey.”

You laugh at the simplicity of his greeting, turning to toss your empty coffee cup into the trash. Spencer flushes a deep shade of red, raking his hands through his hair.

“Your friends aren’t how I expected. Really cool, though. Especially for like, Quantico professionals.” You wipe the counter down, and the reality that you’re on the clock hits you, a little dizzily. Did his coworkers really just want to meet Spencer’s barista? The realization tastes a little bitter, and you bite back any further questioning in favor of looking up at him.

“Yeah. They’re like family.” He looks out the window, hands deep in his pockets. His whole demeanor is stiff, and you resist the urge to reach out and force his shoulders down from his ears.

“Did you like the matcha? I wasn’t sure you would. I used the oat milk you like.” Slowly, he relaxes. With a small smile, he nods.

“It was good. I like most teas, I’m finding. It wasn’t too sweet.” You add matcha to the mental list you keep, of drinks he likes. It’s become your mission to expand it. In the months since he started branching out, you’ve managed to add a few drinks to his core rotation.

“You know you’re one of my friends too, right?”

This catches you off guard. You pause in the motion of sweeping the floor, carefully raising your eyes to meet his. While nervous, he sounds sincere. When met with your silence, he continues.

“I just wanted you to know.”

You nod carefully. The implications of this are something you’ll consider later, when you’re alone. He’s only confirming something you’ve already known, but something about it stings. The word crosses your mind briefly, but it sticks. It’s bittersweet.

“I know.” Your voice is low, soft against the din of the coffee shop. Spencer doesn’t look satisfied, opening his mouth to say something then closing it again. He glances between you and the window.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

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give-your-name-away · 3 years

Text

Hunger Games Name Analysis

I remember when I was in middle school I was obsessed with the Hunger Games. I only ever had the first book, but I read it over and over again until it's pages were completely warned out. I didn't care about the romance, but I was hooked by everything else. The games were what drew me in, but the world building is what got me hooked. I could tell very easily how different all the districts were and how the capitol kept them under control. I could see how cruel the country was, but everyone lived with it because they had no other choice. It was fascinating to me.

The Hunger Games is actually what started my love for names in the first place, and there is a very good reason for it. Suzanne Collins was very clever with how she used names in her world building and it shows. It helps fleshes out her world and her districts in a very fascinating and unique way.

It took me a while to put my finger on how exactly she does this, but once I did I found it even more fascinating. The key is she didn't look at her world as a monolith. This sounds obvious, but when it comes to the small things like names it's easy to overlook. Collins did not make this mistake, and in turn each district has their own rules for naming their children.

(If you want to read this on AO3 then the link is here https://archiveofourown.org/works/32092420)

District 12: This is one of the districts we see the most of, as it's the home of the main character, Katniss. Some of the names used are Katniss, Primrose, Peeta, Gale, Haymitch, Lucy Grey, Leevy, Posy, and Thom. These are some of the more down to earth names in the universe, and most of them seem familiar, if not a little altered. Peeta seems to be a variant of Peter, Haymitch a variant of Hamish. Leevy could either be decended from Levi or Livy. The names evolved from modern names, which makes sense considering how long in the future it is. In District 12 you either name your children already known names, or names based on nature. (Katniss, Gale, Primrose, Posy, ect) and even some of the natural names change through time. One example is Thom instead of Thorn, or it could be a variation of Thomas.

The thing that is interesting about district twelve is people aren't getting 'creative' with spellings or variants, at least not on purpose. They're naming their children off of things they already know, which is what happened before people had access to things like internet or other cultures to mingle with. District 12 is very isolated, so they use names they already know, names that are familiar even to us. People are also struggling to get by, so they don’t spend much time getting creative.

Capital: The next location we go to is the Capital, and we spend quite a long time there. Some of the names we run into are Coriolanus, Effie, Cinna, Diana, Tigris, Arachne, Seneca, Caesar, Messalla, Octavia, Venia, Urban, and Portia. Most English speakers have somewhat of a familiarity with these names, though more from stories than from people in real life. There seem to be three different categories of names. Names that are descended from Greek names like Effie, Arachne, Portia, Caesar, and Cinna are good examples. There are Roman names like Coriolanus, Diana, Seneca, and Octavia are good examples.

Finally there are the noun names, or noun variant names. They’re not nearly as common it seems, but Tigris and Urban are good examples. They break the rule of exclusively Roman and Greek names which is a good way not to make the Capitol seem like a monolith.

District One: District One names are extremely distinted, and it’s hard not to notice how odd they seem from the beginning, when Katniss mentioned that the district one female was named Glimmer. Other names include Velvereen, Facet, Augustus, Glimmer, Marvel, Cashmere, and Gloss. We don’t have a wide variety of names but the ones we do have are very telling.

There are fabric names like Cashmere, Facet and velvereen, a variant of velveteen. Adjective names are pretty common too. These seem odd to us, but I find them akin to virtue names.

There is an oddball name there, Augustus. It is a Roman name that seems to fit in with the capitol. This could be reminiscent of name trends changing quickly in such an affluent district as he was the victor in the 67th hunger games, or it could just show the closeness between Distinct One and the Capital, to the point that even the baby names are influenced.

District Two: District two names are also distinct, but it’s harder to place exactly why. Some of them are Cato, Clove, Brutus, Enobaria, Lyme, Cray, Romulus, Pugnax, Sejanus, Marcus and Sabyn. As we can clearly see, most of these are Roman. Cato, Brutus, Enobaria, Romulus, Pugnax, Sejanus, and Marcus. Unlike the capital there don’t seem to be any Greek names.

However there are some odd names in the mix. Clove, Lyme, Cray, and Sabyn. They are quite hard to place. Some are real names, but their meanings don’t fit with the district, so I believe Suzanne Collins took the same route as she did in District three (More information below) where she took career related words and altered them enough just to be unrecognizable. After all District two’s official purpose is masonry.

Clove is the present tense of the term Cleave. Lyme is most likely a variant on the word Lye, as the only other thing I could find was the disease, which seems unlikely. Cray could either be the English name that already exists, or a variant of clay.

Sabyn is a bit harder to place, but it seems to be a variant of Sabine, which was a term for people who lived in Rome. It’s not of Roman origin, but it still fits.

District Three: There are only four names to draw from in district three. Beetee, Wiress, Circ, and Teslee. The pattern here is very easy to decipher. They seem to be district career related names, but changed somewhat. Unlike district one names that name their children directly after verbs and nouns very purposefully, district three names are slightly more subtle.

Beetee seems to be based off of the brand name BT. Wiress is clearly based off of Wireless. Circ is a shortened version of Circuit, and Teslee seems to be a variant on Tesla. It’s unlikely that the brands Tesla and BT are still around. They probably just morphed into the language, with the citizens of district three not knowing where they came from, similar to how most people don’t know where names like ‘Mary’ or ‘Zoe’ came from. I’m unsure if Circ and Wiress follow this same pattern, as circuits and wireless seem like they should still exist in the world, but it doesn’t seem purposeful.

District four: District four has much more interesting naming conventions with the names of Mags, Finnick, Annie, Coral, and Mizzen. They seem a little odd, but downright normal.

Coral and Mizzen seem to be the only names that are fishing or water related. Mizzen is the mast in front of a ship's main mast, and Coral is coral. Even then Coral is a perfectly common name in English, so these conventions don’t seem too related to the career of district four.

However Mags is a variant of Margaret, which means pearl. Finnick means marshland, which is a type of wetlands.

Annie does not have a water related name, simply meaning grace. However the existence of both the names Annie and Mags seems to show that it’s common for district four to use nicknames as full names. That itself is not uncommon with how much time had passed, but it is interesting to point out.

District five: While Foxface is from this district ‘Foxface’ is not her real name, so she doesn’t count. There are theories about her real name, but nothing canonical, so I’m not including her. This is a shame because we only have three names to work with. Hy, Sol, and Porter.

The names are very short compared to the other districts. However they also directly relate to the district’s industry of power. While I find this debatable myself Hy seems to be related to Hydraulic power. A little more obvious is Sol being related to Solar power. Porter seems slightly different, named after a porter cable instead of a direct power source.

There isn’t a lot known about this district, so it’s hard to analyze much further.

District Six: Everything about district six is vague. Even it’s industry, which is transportation, isn’t very specific, and there isn’t much to analyze. The names we have are Otto, Ginnee, and Titus.

Names seem to be unrelated to the industry, similar to twelve. Furthermore, similar to twelve the names seem to be alterations on well known names. Otto is just Otto, but Ginnee is a variant on Ginny.

Titus is a bit more complicated. It is a Roman name, like the capitol and the second district. This could mean a lot of things. I find it rather likely that do to their purpose as transportation they have the ability to leave, even if only occasionally, and unlike other districts can absorb certain facets of culture like baby names from outside their district. Of course with such a small sample size this is just a theory.

District Seven: District seven is the lumber district, and the names appear to be very reflective of that, though not in the obvious way. If someone were to think of lumber inspired names they’d probably come up with things like Willow, Oak, Leaf, and Ash, or something obvious. Instead we have Treech, Lamina, Johanna, and Blight.

You really have to look into the meanings, but once you do the implications become clear. Treech is a variant on the word tree. Lamina is the blade of a leaf. Blight is a disease that commonly affects trees and plants, which I find it odd to name your kid after, but it still fits.

Johanna isn’t related to trees in any way, instead it is a common English name. It makes sense for English names to still exist, considering that it takes place in what used to be America. Plus it isn’t the only example of this, as Annie from district four’s name also works like this.

District Eight: We actually have a good sample size from district eight, the district in charge of textiles, despite it being a rather minor district in the story. Bonnie, Bobbin, Cecelia, Woof, Twill, Paylor, and Wovey.

As we see with Bonnie, Cecelia, and Paylor the default names seem to be of European origin rather than Roman origin the further the districts are from the capitol. While I don’t believe this is purposeful I don’t believe it’s entirely accidental. With how far they are from the capitol it makes sense that there wouldn’t be much influence, but on the other hand it also makes sense that the little influence there is wouldn’t be purposefully emulated due to the hatred of the capitol.

The other names seem to be industry related as well. Bobbin is a small tool used in a sewing machine. Woof are the crosswise threads in woven fabric. Twill is a type of fabric weave, and Wovey is from the word wove, the past tense of weave.

Bonnie could either be a normal English name, or a variant of the name Bobbin. Variant names are extremely common, and it’s quite natural that they could develop.

District Nine: District nine is the district of grain, and along with ten we know the least about these two districts. We only have two names to draw from, Panlo and Sheaf, but they are both related to grain.

Sheaf is related directly, as sheaf is the term for when grain is tied together. Panlo is indirectly related, as it is based on the latin word for bread, panis.

District Ten: District ten is the livestock district, but their names don’t seem as related to their industry as the others are. Though we only have three data points to draw from. Brandy, Dalton, and Tanner.

Tanner seems to be the only one directly related to livestock, as Tanner is a career of tanning animal hides.

Brandy is a type of alcoholic drink, and it’s also already a name. Same as Dalton, which means settlement in the valley.

Unlike the other districts all three of these names are actual names used in modern day life. And unlike other districts with common English names these have a distinctly more modern feel to them.

District Eleven: District eleven names are a personal favorite of mine, though I may be slightly biased because of Rue, my favorite character. We have a decent pool to draw from. Rue, Thresh, Chaff, Seeder, Reaper, Martin, and Dill.

I like the symbolism of Rue. The word Rue in english means regret, however it is also a type of flowering plant. Thresh is either named after the method for separating grain from a plant, or the thrush bird. Chaff is the word for a corn husk separated from the corn. A seeder is a type of tool for seeding the ground. Reaper doesn’t mean grim reaper, instead it’s the term for someone who uses a scythe to reap grain. Dill is also a type of herb.

Martin doesn’t relate to the other names, and seems to fall into the ‘leftover English names’ category that seems to exist in all districts.

District Thirteen: District thirteen is an interesting one. They don’t have an industry, not anymore at least, nor do they have any ties to other districts that could influence their names. We have Alma, Boggs, Homes, Mitchell, Jackson, and York.

The interesting thing about these names is that they’re all surnames. Some can be first names like Jackson and Mitchell, but even those ones originate from surnames.

There has been a trend in recent years of parents using surnames as first names. A few examples of this are Sawyer, Taylor, Sutton, Carter, and Madison.

I’m not entirely sure why this trend developed, but I do have a few theories. District thirteen is very strict and militaristic. In such an environment it’s pretty common to refer to people by their surnames, so it makes sense that surnames would start to leak into first names.

Another theory is that referring to someone by their surname was a sign of respect in district 13, similar to how it is in the real world. It’s possible that either consciously or subconsciously parents started using surnames as first names to bring their children prestige. This happens in real life two. One of the most prevalent examples is parents giving their daughters either masculine or male names in hopes that it would help them in the workforce. Of course in district 13 it seems far more widespread than in real life, but unlike real life district 13 has a noticeable lack of outside influences that could provide a more diverse culture.

Although at the end district 13 was taking in refugees from other districts due to their lack of fertility. Their seemed to be people from multiple districts. There was 10% of the population from 12, at least one boy mentioned from 10 and most likely more, quite a few people from the capital, and while it’s only mentioned that two people tried to get there from 8 and failed it wouldn’t be unlikely to assume that there were a few that succeeded in coming to 13. In the future of the universe it would be interesting to see how this would effect naming culture and the development of new names.

#hunger games #the hunger games #district 12 #district 1 #district 2 #the capitol #name analysis

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