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#and measurement taking and i might have to stand around other ppl in all that time as well. usually im off spinning in circles by myself
opens-up-4-nobody · 1 year
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#*problems occur on a project multiple ppl r working on* my boss @ me: what do u wanna do?#me. disastrously burnt out: i couldnt not even to give a fuck abt all this. i dont care i dont care i dont care#but thats not what i say. i say ok ill talk to the ppl and see how i can drop everything to help. and that probably means driving an hour#away to the other uni which is irrationally terrifying to me to the point where it will probably destroy my whole week a prevent me from#sleeping when i already am struggling to sleep. but its fine. ill get it done and itll be fine. for this stupid fucking project i dont#care abt. ay its so weird. ive never been this angry abt things. i mean its not even really anger its more dispair and frustration but it#manifests as just wanting to scream and throw a fit like a toddler. and i mean its my fault. i dont have to live the way that i do. i mean#i do but in an irrational compulsive way that i cant entirely control. but like its Saturday and i sepent 6 and a half hours taking#measurements and then met with my boss for like an hour and she was showing me cool imagines and talking abt cool new collaborators at her#new school and im just sitting there trying to maintain a smile bc my brain is semi disconnected from my body and im so exhausted#ugh. my brain is so fucked rn. i dont want to drive with even lower functioning thsn usual. and i was gonna meet my friend Tuesday morning#for once. and i might have to drive back and forth multiple days. ans what's my reward if were successful? two fucking weeks of watering#and measurement taking and i might have to stand around other ppl in all that time as well. usually im off spinning in circles by myself#amd looking unapproachable. i dont want to have to b a person around the undergrads#god im so weird. its like from the outside perspective if u were looking thru the window at me u would see me using a hammer and assume im#putting something together and i am but im also hammering nails thru my hand which no one asked me to do#so then why do i have to do it? ugh. thats y its a hard thing to complain abt bc ppl r like oh it sounds like ur compulsive habbits make u#productive and successful and yea sure but they're also destroying my life. im laying on the floor doubled over in pain and ppl r like oh#look how useful u r. who gives a fuck everything feels stretched and distorted like im suffering some sort of selfimposed Devin punishment#whatever. fuck this. tomorrow ill try my hardest to relax. literally i cant remember the last time i stayed in bed until at least 7am. ugh#but i also have some bullshit i have to get done tomorrow so well see#uuuuuugh let me leave this place @ schools send me ur official offers pls i wanna plan out my life for the next 5yrs#unrelated
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Gay wrongs tournament, round one of the losers bracket
Propaganda:
For Kinn and Porsche:
First of all, Mafia prince meets poor boy whom he makes his bodyguard. They are canonically engaged. Some might say they're not that bad, but not only have both killed people without hesitation, they went into scenarios ON PURPOSE knowing what the end result will be. By the end of it all, power couple to the skies but also 2 unrelenting Mafia heads who can and will kill you if you so much as look at their partner wrong.
look the gun tango scene, when they're in the middle of an attempted coup, and they spin around while holding each other and shooting people, is the most iconic thing ever
For Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu:
you've got the founder of the fantasy ancient Chinese CIA and the leader of what is essentially the mafia and then they're soulmates and in love. they're both willing to kill anyone who dares hurt the other while also just wanting a soft domestic life together
Zhou Zishu is an assassin and spymaster who put the current Emperor on the throne, and then quit his job by faking his death (kinda, hes still dying but not as fast as he was supposed to). Had done A Lot on his old job, including murdering children (more than one, and at least one of them in a way I can't even describe without several trigger warnings), exterminating whole families, war crimes (and i dont mean this in a buzzword way, i mean "organized a public execution of foreign diplomats during war time")… btw he doesn't feel particularly bad about any of this, because he believes it was necessary. Like he wouldn't do it for fun, but he thinks the ends (putting a good Emperor on the throne) justified the means (all of the atrocities). As a retiree, he definitely cut down on the amount of morally reprehensible murder, but not murder in general. He still routinely kills ppl, he just doesn't go out of his way to kill more. Wen Kexing, meanwhile, is the Ghost Valley Master - Ghost Valley being a place where the worst of criminals are exiled. Even in such a place, he has reputation as a complete lunatic, owed partially to the fact that he either skinned a man or fed him his own flesh or both at one point, and partially to him having a rule where he would kill anyone who came closer than 3 meters to him. But in truth, everything he'd done was to survive the Ghost Valley and eventually take revenge for his parents, who were brutally murdered when he was only nine. By the start of the novel's timeline, he put his plan in motion - the plan that would drown jianghu in blood, but also deliver poetic justice to all responsible for his parents' deaths, as well as all who'd commit the same crime given the chance. And these two men, these two murderers and schemers, meet - and unexpectedly, find in each other the person who /understands/. The person who is just as ruthless and whose hands are just as bloody, but also the person who knows standing at the top of the world is not worth it, who seeks the same freedom of leaving it all behind, and who is still, underneath it all, a human, with human heart seeking connection. So you have this couple who understand each other with barely a word, and who want the same things - who are so hungry for domesticity and for people they can just goof around with when all their lives they had to measure every step and word - but ALSO where one half a couple is like "i gotta go murder hundreds in revenge" and the other half is like "ok pick you up at 6". (This btw is why I'm submitting novel's iteration of the couple in particular. Show wenzhou with their ridiculous breakups over morality could Never.) Also they were both hiding who they are when they first met, and later flirted about having figured each other out. Finally, I'll leave you my favorite quote that just. perfectly sums up their relationship: "And just like that, they fell asleep in each other's arms, steeped in the smell of blood."
You’ve probably already had submissions for them but I’ll add on. One of them founded an assassin’s guild and killed a staggering number of people. His malewife is the leader of a sect of insane murderous outcasts, and he attained his position by proving to be the most crazy and murder happy of them all. Most of the plot involves him wandering around watching his schemes get more people killed. Together they adopt a kid that was only orphaned due to said scheming (oops). They’re terrible and I love them.
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How would yandere La Squadra go about their darling being extremely paranoid... maybe even an abduction survivor? Like, they won't drink or eat anything that's not sealed or prepared by them, they won't go anywhere without telling a loved one or friend where they are and where they're going. They only use their own car or commute with ppl they are close with, their door has several locks and bolts, the windows have special locks and they have a hidden weapon on their body and know how to use it.
I apologize for the long wait!
Sorbet and Gelato don’t care. Gelato is audacious enough to keep testing your boundaries by inserting himself into your life as mere coincidences. Sorbet is the only one keeping you safe, in a strange way. He constantly has to talk Gelato down with kisses and promises of taking you soon. Even if you pulled a weapon on them, there’s two of them. Your odds wouldn’t even be that great with just one of them pursuing you. The only problem is orchestrating the whole ordeal just right. With the constant paper trail you left, it would be difficult to just snatch you up and make you disappear off the face of the earth so suddenly. They have to strike in the golden hour, which, much to Gelato’s displeasure, means they have to leave you alone. When you stop frantically updating your friends and family, Gelato kicks in your door and Sorbet restrains you. Of course, when you wake up in an unfamiliar place with two men sandwiching you, the carefully crafted walls you put up to protect yourself from your past abduction come crumbling down. Gelato feels the tiniest bit remorseful and tries to kiss it better, but nothing works and they end up having to knock you out. Sorbet scolds Gelato for his hastiness while they cuddle on the chair across from the bed where your sleeping body whimpered and twitched. It would take some time to help you rebuild from your trauma, but the Milk and Milkless Dessert couple weren’t known for giving up easily.
Risotto is the same way. It’s part of the reason he was drawn to you. After researching about a hit and discovering they had kidnapped and held someone for ransom unsuccessfully, he felt it necessary to check in on the victim to see if there were any connections between them and Passione. More accurately, to see if the victim would cause any problems for Passione. When he first seeks you out, he’s not surprised about your demeanor. But something about your mouselike timidness drew him in. He knows he has to measure his steps carefully if he wants to get close. There’s a lot of methodical planning involved to make sure he doesn’t accidentally scare you off. He attempts to insert himself in your life subtly, appearing in places you go but not engaging you. When he was finally bold enough to seek you out in your own home, he finally saw the extent of your trauma. Metallica made it easy to bypass the many locks on the door, but it was a chore to do. Finding you waiting behind the door with a gun drawn was certainly a surprise, though. Seeing your perpetual eyebags and frowning features so frightened made his heart ache. It’s too bad you were close enough for Metallica to work. He’s positive you would’ve put up a good fight. But for now he’s focused on getting you tucked in. There was no reason to whisk you away when it was clear you were smart enough to be scared of the world outside.
Ghiaccio always has to be in the right, no matter the situation. He doesn’t care that you have trauma that makes your day to day hell or that his constant presence makes you wary and weary. His needs and desires come first at the cost of your comfort. He only compromises on his yelling when he notices he makes you flinch. Other than that, he’ll pester you nonstop. It’s a mystery how he is always where you are without fail. At a certain point, you refuse to leave your home because of it. Ghiaccio isn’t understanding of this and nearly breaks down your door and sends you into a panic attack. Seeing you scream and shield yourself with your arms makes him hesitate. What breaks him is when you plead for him to leave you alone and to not hurt you. It’s a rare moment of clarity in his obsession addled mind and he tries his best to calm you down, even though his touch makes you flinch away. In the middle of his attempt to soothe you, he ends up covering you in frost. The effects of White Album make your reactions sluggish and weak, but you have plenty of time to consider how you got here as he hefts you over his shoulder and buckles you into the passenger’s seat, wrapping the seatbelt around you several times.
Melone honestly has an Obsession of the Week™️, which more than half the time is just for scientific purposes. He likes to psychoanalyze random people he sees, just for funsies. You, on the other hand, were far too interesting to just dissect mentally and move on. He tuned in when you asked for a drink that was from an unopened case of products, and his interest only heightened when he saw you take a very calculated path through the lounge area. He noted you made sure to move in the blind spots of the windows and cameras before nestling safely in a corner where you could see the whole room, all the while peeking over your shoulder. At first, he thought OCD or some other disorder. It made sense, but he watched you timidly flick your eyes around as you uncapped your drink , sniffed it, and took a tentative sip. Melone is already mentally logging this information, creating trials and assessing variables as you sip away at your beverage. Of course when he went to pursue you after you left, he didn’t expect for you to pull a knife on him and threaten him with wide eyes to stay away. The reasons you gave were conjecture, though. He could see that you weren’t quite sure of your choice to confront him, the minuscule shaking of your hand only proving it. It’s laughably easy for him to disarm you, even if his thievery skills have gotten rusty from his transition from petty thief into assassin. After his civil approach, by his own standards, you're toted off to a nearby safe house where he could keep you while he arranges for your accommodations elsewhere.
This is a problem for Prosciutto. He and Formaggio are the most social creatures of La Squadra (Melone is well… social in a different way). Prosciutto loves to be seen. He likes going to the opera, to have someone on his arm dressed almost as finely as he was, to go to art auctions, to go out to a restaurant where the prices were high and the portions low. So your paranoid personality, while understandable, poses a problem for the fantasy he made within five minutes of seeing you shuffle around the market in what he would describe as “bum clothes” (aka sweatpants and a baggy shirt). He notes that every step you take is deliberate, every move calculated and determined beforehand. With his years of stealth training, he trails you for a while to fully observe you. One thing that stuck out to him was that you were always in public places, among crowds with just enough people that you would be missed if you were swept off your feet by a dashing blond in a finely pressed suit. Prosciutto is a fixer. He lives to nitpick and improve and fix everyone he cares for, and you are no different. Soon you’ll find yourself in the company of the handsome blond you’ve seen around town, whether you like it or not. He takes it upon himself to interject and speak over you when it comes to certain things, stating how you should’ve handled a situation. Your paranoia is soon taken advantage of, with Prosciutto feeding into it by isolating you and forcing you to depend on him. Not that he minds. He loves to help people improve. On his terms, of course.
Illuso takes it as a challenge. He’s very reserved as well, and when he observed you for his own interest, it was kismet. Illuso is great at playing the long game and letting his opponent’s psyche get the best of them. With your ‘weakened’ mind, he could play around with you as much as he liked. Tapping on your (barred)window, the mirror, moving stuff. Your own personal curator of hell. He never once feels bad, but he wondered why he didn’t stop playing poltergeist after his usual week or so. Soon he found himself just…staring at your permanently furrowed brow and frowning lips. Maybe if he isolated you in a place where he knew there wouldn’t be anyone, he could get something out of you? Secretly pulls you into the mirror world and observes you. He lets you sit in the comfort of assured solitude before making his grand entrance. Of course he didn’t expect to get punched in the gut and to have a knife pulled on him. He might boast that Man in the Mirror is the strongest stand, but stands are pretty much useless when you’re taken by surprise by someone you underestimated. For a moment, he can’t decide if this makes him like you a lot more, or if you deserve a kick to the gut. Maybe both.
Formaggio firmly believes in the ideology of “take no shit, give no fucks”. He may be social, but he’s not exactly socially intelligent. Case in point, he didn’t understand that his social butterfly-ness might be a huge turn off for some people. So he’s pretty much at a loss for what to do. His previous flings loved it, but you, well, you wanted nothing to do with him in any capacity. Formaggio was supposed to have been scouting his hit, but he was mostly checking out the Milfs, Dilfs, and Pilfs (parent) that passed. And when his gaze finally fell on you, sitting by yourself, he had to swoop in. Similar to how he reacts to Narancia, he’s very affable when you pull your weapon on him and threaten him with very serious eyes, even joking with you playfully when you ask him what he thinks he’s doing. I love him dearly, but Formaggio is a dumb man. He can’t read social cues and probably just thinks you’re playing hard to get when in reality you have trauma. But since he hides all his trauma and self hatred behind jokes, it takes him a while to fully realize that you’re broken. And what do you do with broken things? Why, stick them in a doll house and provide for them, of course!
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lichfucker · 3 years
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i would love to hear about why all of the ted lasso characters would fail survivor but especially rebecca
hhh ALL of them... okay the vast majority of the players can be explained away with just "physical prowess enough to make them a threat in individual challenges but dumb as bricks and would not be able to strategize themselves out of a bad spot"
this is abt to get long lmao so I'm putting individual ppl under the cut
nate is the most obvious first boot I honestly feel bad about it. bumbling, socially awkward, has NO idea how to assert himself without being an asshole about it (in the rare instances when he does assert himself at all), and even if he's smart enough to be a great strategist (which he absolutely IS), he can't convey it well enough to convince his tribe to overlook his (probable) lack of challenge ability. most of the time, people don't want to draw harsh lines in the sand on the very first vote so they can pretend everyone's getting along and still friends, so nate would be a sort of freebie vote that it'd be easy to agree on.
beard is too much of a follower. what ted says to dr sharon abt him is, "that man has had many lives, many masters." he's very comfortable being led by people with stronger personalities, and even when he disagrees with their calls he will still execute them like a perfect little lackey. the thing about beard is that I think he'd go VERY far in a season of survivor! I think he could EASILY make it all the way to the end! but I just don't think he can WIN. he's genius-level intelligent and SO strategically savvy, but more than that he is fiercely loyal. he'll attach himself to the right person (or the wrong person, as it were), and even if he is whispering in that person's ear all the way through, he would be TOO content to let them take all the credit, he wouldn't push back against them if they disagree with his plans and make a lesser move instead (the whole beginning of 'beard after hours' is him berating himself for not standing up and making the hard calls even when he knew they'd be better), he wouldn't turn around and slit that person's throat at the end to further his own game, and he would make himself socially impenetrable to everyone else. nobody could get close to him, nobody could like or understand him, he'd probably be seen as good collateral if the opposition couldn't strike directly at whomever beard works with, and if he DOES make it to final tribal, I think he'd have a very difficult time convincing the jury that he deserves the credit and the limelight. he wants to win, I just don't think he believes he deserves to.
ted and roy actually would have the exact same problem, which is "physically and strategically competent, but so FUCKING ANNOYING to live with that they get booted for the sake of tribal quality of life." roy would isolate himself socially with his aggression, and ted...
ted is the antithesis of what a "good survivor player" ought to be, which I actually think could work to his advantage in a number of ways? like I think more typical players would find him incredibly unpredictable because he's sharp enough to see what the best moves are, but generous and self-sacrificing enough not to make them. like, there's a reason he's a coach and not a player. there's a reason he says that he doesn't measure success in wins and losses. if he could survive the first few votes, his social game would be AMAZING-- the entire first season of the show is about him wearing rebecca down through the sheer magnitude of his friendship! lesser survivor players would be so endeared to him that they couldn't fathom voting him off, but they're the ones who are getting picked off in his stead. moderately savvy survivor players would not trust a single word out of ted lasso's mouth; there's no fucking way a man can be this kind and this sincere, not on survivor, it's just not possible, he must be plotting something MASSIVE, we have to strike first before he gets his chance. and the truly brilliant survivor players would realize that he IS genuine, he IS sincere, he IS loyal and giving to his core, and that's DANGEROUS. you can't let someone like that make it to the end or they'll take your million dollars. best to shut it down at the jump.
and above all that, I just think that ted... ted would thrive in the pre-merge, in the tribal portion of the game, he's SO team-oriented, but post-merge, in the individual game... perhaps if he had a solid alliance he could also feel that way about, then it might suit his temperament, but ultimately I think he just. wouldn't want it badly enough. I just think the significant majority of people would be vastly more self-interested than ted would be, so they'd take the shot first.
higgins is an interesting midpoint between all three of nate, beard, and ted, in that he's a henchman through and through even when he disagrees with his boss, he's a pushover who'd be seen as a liability in physical challenges in the early game, and he's off-puttingly friendly and polite to the point that nobody would trust that he's being sincere even though he absolutely is. early boot, maybe second or third.
maybe it's just because I've got cook islands on the brain, but jamie (esp season 1 jamie but like. season 2 as well lmao) would play A LOT like early ozzy. an arrogant wonder-boy who's good at everything (did you know there's literally a survivor casting archetype called the "amazing ace"?), with a heart-wrenching underdog story (playing for richmond, that is), an absolute beast in challenges, a huge threat but always immune, he'd win his way to the end but ultimately be beaten out in final tribal by someone smart enough to have dragged him along as their meat shield the whole game.
and as for rebecca... g-d. this one I think hurts me the most because she has everything going for her, she doesn't have a single one of the problems I've listed for anyone else, but I do genuinely believe that rebecca still loses. she's strong and she's smart and she's assertive and she's ruthless and she's sociable and she's a great liar and she's ambitious and she's ADAPTIBLE (she immediately bounces back after not getting the sun to run the photo of ted and keeley and comes up with an alternate plan that will still serve her own endgame, and by g-d being able to roll with the punches and change course is the single most important thing a survivor player can do), but rebecca still loses.
even if we set aside the fact that survivor on the whole is not particularly kind to women over 40... season 1 rebecca, especially early season 1 rebecca, is spite-motivated to the point of self-destruction. she will set her sights on one target and she will be relentless in her effort to get that person out and it'll make her so myopic that she won't see her own end coming immediately afterwards. nobody on that tribe wants to be her next victim-- better get rid of her once she's proven what she's capable of.
she's also dreadfully insecure in the wake of her divorce and when her polished veneer cracks enough to let it show (how many days of being rained on do we think it'll take for her to slip? my guess is five), some people will see it as the vulnerability that finally allows them to connect with her on a human level, while others will see it as a threatening endgame storyline and an exploitable weakness.
there are some juries, particularly old-school juries, that wouldn't vote for her in the end purely based on the fact that a million dollars is just a drop in the bucket to a woman like rebecca mannion welton. that would be a real shame, and a disservice to the game she would have had to play just to make it that far.
what's more likely than that, though, in my opinion, is that rebecca... loses the drive to win. I think that somewhere along the way survivor stops being a game that she is playing, stops being a competition, and instead becomes a journey of personal growth through adversity. I think she, like ted, stops measuring her success in wins and losses. I think she proves herself more capable and resilient than she ever thought she could be, and that is worth more to her than the money or the title of sole survivor, and she stops fighting for it. and maybe the jury admires that, and gives it to her anyway, rewards her transformation. or maybe they don't. maybe they view it as a concession, a forfeit. but I'm not certain that that moment of revelation happens at the final tribal council. I think it happens just before. I think it happens after the final immunity challenge, and she tearfully and valiantly allows herself to be voted out just inches from the finish line. I think rebecca is the fallen angel of the season, and she goes off to the jury with her head held high, which is nice, and so very noble of her, and the fans would be DYING to have her play again but she wouldn't, because she'll have gotten everything she could have wanted out of her survivor experience, and she doesn't need the crown on top of it.
I think rebecca COULD win. she just WON'T.
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sukirichi · 3 years
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hi suki! wanted to tell you this bc i have no one else to talk about it with ><
( you can answer this when the English chapter releases! i was able to read it because my friend bought the WSJ issue)
I was trying to udnerstand Naoy's character, so I was reding everything from CH138-151 again. I'm kinda sad at how people just calls Naoya a Toji fanboy (though true LMAO) and not realizing how Toji really influenced his persona. Like the admiration Naoya held for Toji is so deeply engraved in him that he, who was called a genius sorcerer as a child, looks up to a man who was called a failure. Toji is probably the only man in the clan that he respected, that's why toji's level of strength became his "picture" to follow. And I think a lot of who Naoya has become is because the Zen'ins literally groomed the decency out of him. Still, though groomed to be everything he is, he himself chose not to change anything about it.
(wait but also?? little naoya looks cute like he would guide old ladies on the ped xing so what the fuck happened after that)
I guess one major reason why he does not respect anyone else in the clan (besides his superiority complex) is because of the Zen'in's concept of what is marked as strong. Like, the way they see and treated him as if he's the best sorcerer in the making, yet failing to see Toji's powers and rejecting him fully. It's something similar to Mai when she said "Maki has talent that I don't. And the clan rejected that; that talent that I lacked", except Naoya is raised to be a confident (arrogant?) child, thus he takes it as a challenge instead and works to achieve it.
So, when Maki reached the level of Toji, I think his reaction wasn't simply stemmed on his "fanboy" antics, but his desperation of being part of that level of strength. I think he's more irritated in the fact that Maki, someone who he does not see anywhere near as strong as he is (though he does say Maki is strong in chapter 138), reached a level of strength that he hasn't; that he is trying hard to achieve. It's also the same with having your favorite superhero getting defeated. And Naoya's in denial that there is someone else who could be the same as Toji.
I like how he's an antagonist that was not build under the foundation of a sob backstory (though it was a v small sneak peak of his background and was mainly centered with his admiration for toji, plus I think people forget that Naoya is an antagonist), how he acknowledges that he has not reached that level of strength. Of course, I'm angsty about his misogynistic ideals. I get that he's from a very traditionalist clan so... yeah. I mean, no child is born evil. Children learn from those around them (I've seen many people say he's trash since he was a kid when he said that "i wonder what miserable face he has", but like he's a kid, he doesn't know what he's saying AHSJFJWJQ8QR he was either taught that or he just learned it from others. Funnily enough, he does say toji has a pretty face now LMAO). Maybe it stems from something else, maybe it didn't.
I'm not saying him trying to kill Megumi is forgotten (Though, the Jujutsu Society is a place where teens get executed for the simple fact that they are too strong, so im not surprised. Just like Noritoshi said, age does not matter in Jujutsu Society). I see now why he was really pissed about Megumi being the head, since Naoya has been promised the position since he was young, only to loose of a 15 year old who is the son of the man he admires :')) However, still, none of it excuses the shit he did. He still has a shitty personality, but it's nice to know a bit of a background.
Anyway, that's all for now. My English is bad so that might be all over the place •`,`• That's just my take on it so I could be wrong or maybe seeing him wrong since we still don't know much abt him. I'm always scared to talk about naoya because the last time i did (on twt) i got a backlash of hate (ppl really do get hate just from admiring someone's characterization). Your blog is like a safe haven for naoya stans, so i thank you for that hehe.
Have a nice day suki!! kisses~
(also this is a PSPSPSPS to a naoya childhood friends au fic pls 👁👁)
bestie omg I am so sorry, I found this deep in my inbox and I am *shakes* and yes yes let’s talk about naoya, I would be more than glad to and I’m sorry I didn’t see this any sooner!! more rants and simping under the cut
I'm kinda sad at how people just calls Naoya a Toji fanboy (though true LMAO) and not realizing how Toji really influenced his persona. Like the admiration Naoya held for Toji is so deeply engraved in him that he, who was called a genius sorcerer as a child, looks up to a man who was called a failure. Toji is probably the only man in the clan that he respected, that's why toji's level of strength became his "picture" to follow. And I think a lot of who Naoya has become is because the Zen'ins literally groomed the decency out of him. Still, though groomed to be everything he is, he himself chose not to change anything about it.
omg for this…I’m actually like…like I love the detail that naoya admires toji? as we can see from the panel of little naoya, it’s like people have already planted in his head that no cursed energy = loser, yet he ended up admiring him and I am,,,my heart is just soft! exactly! just think of naoya born as a genius sorcerer yet his admiration for toji, who is painted as the clan’s failure, helped shape him into who he is! idk but I just really love the fact that naoya, who is like born with the pressure and role of being clan leader, somewhat strays from tradition and ends up finding strength into toji and even strives to follow him or “stand by him” someday. for me, it just shows that perhaps naoya isn’t really half as bad as he should be in an honest sense, meaning that he’s evil or morally corrupt because he was born that way or because he chose to be that way. I do agree that perhaps he is the way he is now because he’s groomed to be like that, but of course, I’m not going to disregard the fact that somewhere along the way, Naoya could’ve matured to choose himself to not embody the misogynistic tradition of the zen’in clan.
This could just be me, but my interpretation of it is that Naoya seems more like the perfect product or embodiment of how the clan shaped him to be, blinded him with false morals and the patriarchy presiding into them. Rather than Naoya being just “a misogynistic arrogant man” in my perspective and my opinion, I see him more into the bigger picture of his toxic upbringing to begin with. Like, no child is born evil unless there’s like a predetermined curse deciding their fate for them, so its partly the Zen’in clan’s fault he’s that way. But Gege showing that Naoya admiring someone the Zen’in clan disregarded, it shows that he is capable of being himself without the clause of his clan enforcing things to him once again, like the whole “he’s gonna be the future clan leader” thing, though that is still heavily embedded within him.
(wait but also?? little naoya looks cute like he would guide old ladies on the ped xing so what the fuck happened after that)
OMGGGG PLEASE THAT’S SO CUTE, HE LOOKED SO INNOCENT AND ADORABLE BUT EVEN AS A CHILD HE WAS ALREADY CALLING PEOPLE A LOSER LIKE EYE
I guess one major reason why he does not respect anyone else in the clan (besides his superiority complex) is because of the Zen'in's concept of what is marked as strong. Like, the way they see and treated him as if he's the best sorcerer in the making, yet failing to see Toji's powers and rejecting him fully. It's something similar to Mai when she said "Maki has talent that I don't. And the clan rejected that; that talent that I lacked",except Naoya is raised to be a confident (arrogant?) child, thus he takes it as a challenge instead and works to achieve it.
Anon, is it just me or like…was his superiority complex also enforced on him by the Zen’in clan as well? Again this could just be me going all psychologist mode on Naoya but the nature of superiority complex is quite interesting, you know! As a psych student, I perfectly understand that superiority complex either stems from several things like a) wanting to live up to one’s or others expectations, b) masking it with a deep stem of insecurity, or c) it’s a coping mechanism. See, I could go on and on about but then I’d have to link all my past studies lmao so let’s just put it on layman’s terms that my interpretation of Naoya’s superiority complex is once again, influenced by the clan. Imagine being a kid born into a clan where people remind you again and again that you’re the future leader, that you would be the one to guide them or protect them or discuss the clan’s future and status once you grow, and you’re quite groomed for it.
For such pressure to be put on a child’s shoulders, it kind of strips off his youth and instead of him enjoying his youth, I can imagine that it took a toll on little Naoya, and the reason he grew his superiority complex is his way to cope and reach the standards and expectations that is given to him. Of course, he’s a kid, he might start to wonder, “Can I even do all of that?” but seeing as the Zen’in clan highly measures strength and growth based on abilities, cursed energy, and overall just to conform into the image they’ve held for years, it’s quite obvious that Naoya can’t exactly voice out his worries over this, so instead, he masks it with a superiority complex that absolutely boosts him to a higher level, thus giving him the confidence he needed to carry out his tasks and the reassurance that, “Yes, I am worthy and I will be the clan leader.” As for your theory that he takes it as a challenge, I can see where you’re coming from! I think Naoya is the type of person who definitely likes to challenge himself, but one of the reasons I love his character so much is because he’s not completely a brainless “head on straight to war” type of person too.
He knows his limits and knows which side he should be in, as showed when Yuuta came and mans surrendered easily. Idk why but to me, Naoya, who is such an arrogant confident man who has high trust in abilities, but at the same time can admit when someone is stronger than him (like him admiring Toji and Gojo) just makes him more human and a little more beautifully flawed. Like, he’s not perfect and he’s most definitely an irritating character, but the way he was written is just *chef’s kiss*
So, when Maki reached the level of Toji, I think his reaction wasn't simply stemmed on his "fanboy" antics, but his desperation of being part of that level of strength. I think he's more irritated in the fact that Maki, someone who he does not see anywhere near as strong as he is (though he does say Maki is strong in chapter 138), reached a level of strength that he hasn't; that he is trying hard to achieve. It's also the same with having your favorite superhero getting defeated. And Naoya's in denial that there is someone else who could be the same as Toji.
Yes, ah I really do love this theory that he’s more irritated because in his mind, he’s like, “I’m a genius sorcerer! I was meant to be clan leader! This is my rightful spot to be a strong one, so how come Maki, who is a woman, with no zero cursed energy has reached the level of the person I looked up most to?” again, Naoya didn’t say that and those are just my opinions and brainrot so don’t come at me for it uwu, but yeah I do think that he’s very aggravated that he didn’t react that level first. Because I guess you could say, he’s probably alluding that Maki reaching Toji’s strength = them being equals, and ofc Naoya wanted to be the one standing beside them. It probably hit his superiority complex that he wasn’t the one in Maki’s spot especially when he tried so hard to achieve it, and considering the gifts he was given (same cursed technique as his dad and him having cursed energy) it threw him off.
Yeah, Naoya is most likely in denial and becomes aggressive over it, although I don’t really mean physically aggressive because Naoya is actually quite calm and ‘composed.’ If ever he did go on a rampage, he does it in such a suave, calculated manner with this silent confidence that he will win. It kind of makes you root for him because he even fools the audience (by audience I mean ME) that he’s going to OWN that fight but whoop, he got his ass kicked. Plus ten points for confidence and a bonus thousand points for being sexy though!!! Yeah, omg he’s probably in disbelief that a woman of all people could be like the person he admired most.
I like how he's an antagonist that was not build under the foundation of a sob backstory (though it was a v small sneak peak of his background and was mainly centered with his admiration for toji, plus I think people forget that Naoya is an antagonist), how he acknowledges that he has not reached that level of strength. Of course, I'm angsty about his misogynistic ideals. I get that he's from a very traditionalist clan so... yeah. I mean, no child is born evil. Children learn from those around them (I've seen many people say he's trash since he was a kid when he said that "i wonder what miserable face he has", but like he's a kid, he doesn't know what he's saying AHSJFJWJQ8QR he was either taught that or he just learned it from others. Funnily enough, he does say toji has a pretty face now LMAO). Maybe it stems from something else, maybe it didn't.
OMG YESSSS ANON YES YES YES *slams down simping button angrily* That’s what I like about him too! Even though Naoya is cocky and wayyyy too arrogant for his own good, I also like that he acknowledges he’s not quite in a level he wants to be in yet. And hah, his backstory, it wasn’t totally sob because it’s obvious he was much too doted on, but I still hate how they made him like that. True, if he’s still carrying the same misogynistic ideals as he is now in an age where he has the mental capacity to improve and be different, then the belief has become more of a choice than something engraved into him, which I am really disappointed and not really into because of course, he’d be much better if he wasn’t like that in the first place. LOLOLOLOL yes yes he’s a kid, it sure as hell doesn’t excuse the way he is now but like just think !!
if a kid was spouting out such mean words and CLEARLY no one is correcting him, who really is the problem here? A child has a harder time deciphering what is right and wrong by himself without proper guidance. And he didn’t have proper guidance, they really just let him be like that and it’s because the clan!! sucks !! ass !! YEAH he probably called toji with a miserable face because he hasn’t seen him before but after seeing the iconic dilf, Naoya gone be like, “anyways, I lied, moving on—”
I'm not saying him trying to kill Megumi is forgotten (Though, the Jujutsu Society isa place where teens get executed for the simple fact that they are too strong, so im not surprised. Just like Noritoshi said, age does not matter in Jujutsu Society). I see now why he was really pissed about Megumi being the head, since Naoya has been promised the position since he was young, only to loose of a 15 year old who is the son of the man he admires :')) However, still, none of it excuses the shit he did. He still has a shitty personality, but it's nice to know a bit of a background.
yeah no of course, no worries! even as a hardcore naoya stan, I can admit this dude is TERRIBLE for so many reasons! yeah I mean that could be pretty irritating because he was born for it, raised to be clan leader, groomed and expected he’d have that role, but nah someone else took his throne. yeah I’m with you on that, naoya has a shitty personality and I would totally smack him if he was real because he makes my eyes roll to the back of my head, but knowing his background and theorizing (read: me going all psychologist mode because he’s the only character I ever cared about to apply my studies into) his character is quite fun. I wish we had more scenes with Naoya though, I really hoped he’d play a bigger role but he just…died, I guess, though I’m starting to believe that maybe he really isn’t dead! Gege did him dirty omg I’ll cry again if it’s really GENUINELY confirmed my baby is gone.
Anyway, that's all for now. My English is bad so that might be all over the place •`,`• That's just my take on it so I could be wrong or maybe seeing him wrong since we still don't know much abt him. I'm always scared to talk about naoya because the last time i did (on twt) i got a backlash of hate (ppl really do get hate just from admiring someone's characterization). Your blog is like a safe haven for naoya stans, so i thank you for that hehe.
ah no worries about your English, I didn’t really notice anything wrong with it tbh! And I understand, these are all just our opinions/theories/perspectives, we could be wrong or not, we don’t really know because we’re not Gege (⋟﹏⋞) NOOOO PEOPLE HATED YOU ON THAT? ISTG I’VE NEVER SEEN A FANDOM CANCEL SOMEONE AS MUCH AS JJK FANDOM CANCELS NAOYA AND NAOYA STANS LIKE – he’s just a fictional character omg, cancelling naoya is understandable because I would too but attacking his fans? or generally anyone who talks about him in a neutral or not in a way that goes, “yeah I would punch this mfer” is just?? doesn’t make sense to me bestie, people really choose to do that with their time yikes.
AND AWWW THANK YOU YES I PROTECT ALL MY FELLOW NAOYA STANS HERE, I respect who people simp for because if it’s what you enjoy and as long as you’re not hurting anybody, then it really doesn’t matter and it’s not a big deal! and you’re always welcome here uwu. have an even nicer day bestie and I’m sorry I didn’t see this sooner AAAA I really loved talking about this tho HEHEHEH I’m not actually too much of a JJK theorist since I’m not smart enough to pay attention or infer from all the details but NAOYA HMMMMM also childhood friends fic? hmu let’s hear it!! also ahh hmm idk but i get really happy whenever people talk to me freely about naoya bcos even tho i have been a naoya simp for like three months, it was not until recently that people came to me about him and i have just been simping alone (bcos people MADDDD) spsppsps okay rant over thank you anon i love you kith kith <3
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post-canon JM but make them vigilante monster hunters
never seen a single episode but i think this might be the plot of supernatural? idk i bugged the server with this and now other ppl have to see it.
tw for general monster-related horror and descriptions of it, and very very mild injury
ao3 link here!
...
It's late. Again.
She sighs, rubbing at her eyes until starbursts dance in her vision. If her lab manager knew she was in here at god, is it already 3? in the morning, he would probably have a fit. But it's not her fault her work has been so. Uncooperative. Realistically, she could be doing some of this at home, but the lab computer already has everything she needs, and it's so much easier to focus here.
Well. Most of the time.
Her water bottle is still half full, but she decides a walk to the vending machine at the end of the hall would do her some good. She can stretch her legs and get some caffeine at the same time. Best of both worlds.
Right then, a sound cuts through the air. It's a dull roar, crescendoing to a peak that it maintains for a handful of seconds before fading away. As jumpy as she gets this late, she hardly bats an eye as she digs her wallet out of her backpack. It's a common sound to hear in the building, one that you get used to quickly once you spend some time here. The university has a wind tunnel it uses for classes, as well as research. She's seen it before, used it first hand - even down in the basement of the building, the roar of the compressed air tank when the valve is switched practically shakes the foundation. That's how you tell the first years apart from everyone else. They're the ones who jump when they hear it, looking around in confusion, and sometimes fear. But it doesn't take long for it to become background noise.
She's more concerned about the fact that it's so late. Some poor graduate student, down in the basement in the middle of the night running the tunnel instead of sleeping. Or doing literally anything else. Unfortunately, she can relate.
The door shuts with a weighty slam behind her. The silence of the building is even sharper after the echo of the wind, and she fights down the urge to shudder. The hall is long, dark - the university installed motion activated lights in most of the buildings a few years back, and the effect they create as she walks down the hall is surprisingly eerie. The fluorescents flicker on with the faintest clicks and hums as she walks below them, boots clicking against the tile floor. She's a fast walker, always had been - and the incessant sound of her footfalls in the quiet somehow puts her even more on edge.
The pale light from the vending machine reflects against the linoleum in a way that could be inviting. In theory. But it's really more off-putting than anything else, like the sickly glow of a motel sign off of the interstate, flickering a destitute "no vacancy" into the night. The selection is slim, but she punches in the code for an overpriced iced coffee that feels cool and familiar in her hand.
The scream of the wind tunnel comes and goes again, louder, now that she's outside the lab. She can't help the unease creeping down her spine in the wake of its silence. On one hand, it's a comfort to know at least one other person is in the building with her. But even then, the still quiet it leaves behind is always worse, and it sends the hair on the back of her head standing at attention.
It only gets worse as she walks, and she fights the urge to look over her shoulder. Everyone knows the feeling - when you're a kid, and you sneak into the kitchen in the dead of night to get a drink, only to sprint back up to your room as soon as you can because you're so, so sure something is coming for you.
And now that she's thinking about it, she can't not think about it, which is as futile as it is frustrating. She tries to force it down along with the beating of her heart, but the fear simmers beneath the surface like a pot on the stove, two seconds from boiling over. She's already more than halfway back, just a few more seconds and she can slam the lab door shut behind her and feel almost safe.
The roar of the tunnel, again. She can't help the jump, this time, on edge as she is. Strange, they don't usually run it so many times in so few minutes-
A thought comes to her then, without warning, the way they do when you realize you've forgotten something important. She remembers the conversation with striking clarity - Ajay, her roommate, working on a big research project. He needed to test his prototype in the wind tunnel, and he'd lamented to her over dinner the other day that a replacement part they needed downstairs wouldn't arrive until next week. Which sucked, because he has a deadline for a paper submission coming up and needed more data-
Most of this is useless. But she remembers, now, better than anything she ever has, that the wind tunnel hasn't been working all week. The lab is closed, would be until Wednesday, until the new part comes in.
The roaring shriek comes again, pounding against her eardrums in a way it never has before. Oppressive. Almost hungry. It's closer, it's louder.
It's behind her.
She turns. As she chokes on her own heartbeat and sinking dread, she turns.
And something is behind her.
Thin and wrong, inky black and too many limbs. A long torso with a long head attached, crooked on its neck. Gaping white sockets where eyes would, should, be. It has no mouth, and yet she knows with absolute certainty that it was making that sound. A mocking imitation of something so familiar.
And she knows, an anchor sinking into pitch black water, that it's going to kill her.
blood blood i need blood your blood your face you
It's in her head, a voice with no mouth to speak it. She opens her own mouth to scream, but it's useless to her. Nothing comes out, not even air. Maybe she can run, she has to run, has to get away. But she can't bring herself to turn even a sliver from the nightmare in front of her. A deep, primal fear convincing her that the second she can't see that thing is the second it will get her. 
Maybe she can run, still, with her eyes on it. But one of her feet finds the other in her panic, and she falls to the floor. She thinks she feels a pain in her wrist, but it's dull and far away. Hardly a blip on the radar of fear fear oh my god what is that thing-
It's coming for her, all bending joints like limbs of a puppet, pulled by invisible strings, limping, creaking in unnatural steps and lunges. Its eyes never once leave her, glued to her in hungry determination. The roar comes again, but it's twisted and warped like scrap metal and just as jagged around the edges.
And then it stops. Not more than ten feet from her. Frozen. She doesn't breathe, she doesn't think she could if she wanted to.
"That's enough."
It's a man's voice, from behind her. She doesn't have it in her to turn around, to look away. But it doesn't matter. Whoever it is god she hopes it's a who and not a what steps up next to her, in front of her. It might not be accurate to say he's shielding her, but he's between her and it, and she doesn't feel relief, but she feels. Safer, somehow.
She's never seen him before. His hair is long, streaked with grey, half tied up in a bun at the back of his head. He's wearing a long dark coat over long dark pants, tucked into black combat boots. And that's really all she can see from the floor.
As he steps forward, the creature seems to recoil. It hisses, maybe, and then another sound follows. A sad remixing of its own imitating screech from before, not quite a howl but more of a cry. It sounds pained, almost, creaking and desperate. Limbs rear up, but amount to nothing. It's an uncoordinated movement as it falls back on something like haunches.
"I'm watching you, now. There's nowhere you can hide from me."
The man's voice sounds strange to her. There's a cracking, almost static quality to it. She has no idea what the man could possibly be doing, but it looks like it's working.
Until it isn't.
The thing writhes and shrieks again, louder. She can feel it down into her bones, scraping at her marrow, god she wants to throw up. The man in front of her staggers slightly. He mutters something like a curse under his breath, brings a hand to his head. The thing is moving again, shambling towards them. It looks weaker, shakier than before but no less threatening. No less horrifying. Maybe even more so, with the look of a sick, maimed animal as it staggers down the street.
She thinks she might be about to pass out with the sudden chill that overtakes her. But the fading of her vision never comes, and is that. Her breath? She can see it in the air in front of her, condensing like it does on cold winter mornings. With a blink she realizes there's a fog as well, come seemingly from nothing. It's thick and low-hanging, coating the floor of the hall and swirling upwards. It chills her exposed skin, goosebumps racing up and down her arms.
She assumes the thing must be doing this, a defense mechanism or something, but it's slower than before. Subdued. It's still making its way toward them, but it looks lost, like a fawn trying to walk on new legs.
Until another man comes from an adjoining hallway, and bashes its head in with a baseball bat.
It's a solid hit, and the thing goes down almost immediately. The man, the new one, gives another swing, and another, and a few more, for good measure. His bat is slick with something dark and oily. And then the thing is still.
It's quiet for a second, two, then-
"Excellent timing as always, dear." The staticy click of the first man's voice is gone. He sounds out of breath, even though he hardly moved.
The second man laughs, and the cold and the fog seems to fade with it. He's bigger than the first man, taller. He's wearing a bomber jacket over a nondescript t-shirt, fingerless gloves and jeans frayed at the edges. Like he just walked out of an action movie. Or a horror movie. With the thing laying at his feet, the second might be more fitting.
"That was cutting it a little close, Jon. We knew it was with the Stranger, that it could fight you off-"
"Yes, yes, thank you, Martin. That's what the bat is for, after all. The Lonely was probably a bit overkill, though."
"It's not overkill if we don't get ourselves maimed, Jon-"
The first man - Jon, apparently - turns to her then. His face is scarred, and dark shadows hang under oddly bright green eyes. But his gaze isn't unkind as he looks down at her.
"Sorry, are you alright? I was hoping we could take care of this when everyone was gone, but-" He laughs darkly. "Well, I was in university once, I should have known at least one student would still be here in the middle of the night, even on the weekend."
The man going by Martin walks over, as Jon extends a hand to help her up. She's lost all hope of her brain trying to process what's happening but step one can at least be get off the floor. But she can't even do that properly. The hand she raises is the same one she fell on, and the twinge from her wrist shoots up her arm almost immediately in a shout for attention.
It must show on her face too, because Jon makes a sound and then Martin's asking her, "Oh, are you hurt?"
"Uh, n-no, I mean…'s just, uh, my wrist. Kinda, fell on it funny." Her voice isn't exactly steady, but it's a far cry from where she was expecting it to be. At least she's orbiting the realm of comprehensible.
Martin crouches next to her. Up close she can see his face in more detail - his eyes are a slate grey, like the fog from before. But they're kind, wrinkled at the edges when he smiles softly at her. "Mind if I take a look?"
She's not exactly in a position to say no, so she gingerly holds her arm out. His hands are rough, calloused, but surprisingly gentle as they probe her wrist. She can't stop the trembling, now, completely unrelated to the pain.
"It's a sprain." Jon says, laced with certainty somewhere above her.
Martin sighs, long-suffering. "Thank you, Jon, I was getting to that."
"Just trying to help." She can't see him, but she can practically hear the cheeky smile tacked to the end of that sentence.
"As much as I hate saying it, he's right." Martin eyes her with something close to humor, like they're in on a joke together. He shrugs a backpack off of his shoulders, rummages through it with one hand. "I think we have some elastic bandages left for something like this…"
"Front pocket." Jon says again. He's moved closer to the thing, the corpse, it must be, now. He's turned away from her, and she can't see his face.
"Thank you, love."
"Of course."
"Um-" She cuts in suddenly, her nerves and panic getting the best of her. Martin looks up from her hand, and Jon turns back to glance at her.
"Sorry, uh, I just- what the fuck was that?"
"I'd tell you not to worry yourself over it, but I don't think that's much of an answer." Jon says, coming back towards them. He crouches down before he continues. "Let's just say this is...our day job."
"It is three in the morning, though."
"That would be the, colloquial use of the term, Martin."
"Just saying." With Martin in front of her she can actually see the cheeky grin, this time.
He uses the bandage to wrap her wrist. It smarts a bit, but the pressure helps. He's clearly adept enough to do this and talk at the same time, because he cuts in next. "We're here to make sure things like that-" he gestures with a nod of his head. "-don't hurt anyone."
Her mouth is full of sawdust. "W- what, like, monsters and shit?" She always did swear a lot when she was stressed.
"More or less."
"If it's any consolation," Jon says. "These things aren't exactly...common. You have to have a special kind of luck to run into something like this."
Yeah, luck.
He sighs, then. He looks tired. "I'm so sorry. If it means anything. This isn't the kind of thing you'll be able to just forget, or-"
"That's why we're here." Martin cuts in. He's finished with her wrist, neatly wrapped and held in place with little wire clips. "To try to stop stuff like this from happening, before it happens. Sorry we were late."
It's not a stretch to imagine what would have happened if they hadn't shown up even later, or not at all. But it's something she will try very, very hard not to think about.
She swallows. "I guess...thank you, then."
"Of course."
The adrenaline and sudden lack thereof leaves her with a jittery exhaustion deep in her core. But she has so many questions, how could she not-
A chill, and a rush of wind and waves hit her before she can get another word out. It's gone as quickly as it had come, so much so she thinks she imagined it. But suddenly, she's alone.
The men going by Jon and Martin and the misshapen corpse of that thing are gone. The hall is just as it had been before, dim lights and freshly polished tile. No sign of anything, or anyone. Except for her.
She knows with crushing certainty that it wasn't a dream. Couldn't be a dream. But she knows that's what people will tell her. So she says nothing. She says nothing, and hopes nothing ever leads her to cross paths with those two ever again.
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marveloussupernerd · 3 years
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Ice Cream - Vanderwood
Uhm so... this idea started w this being abo seven. Then about Unknown. And then about Vandy. Just to clarify, I know lots of different pronouns are thrown around for Vanderwood, but I’m playing the safe route and going by he/him because that’s what the creators said 😀 no judgement if you hc otherwise though! Sorry this is probably gonna be OOC bc I have not played another story so my interactions w him have been slim to none
Summary: You were just kind of... depressed today. With the hacker at large, Seven and Mary Vanderwood III have been tasked with watching you through security cameras. Kinda rough when you won’t leave your room and there aren’t cameras in there. Vanderwood tries to cheer you up
PSA: this lowkey deals w mental health but not explicitly ? Inspired by me bc I get depressed~ esp when I am PMSing (which I am doing now) and genuinely can’t get out of bed and do things (ppl are iffy on mental health so just to say I have been diagnosed and was given birth control to help... which honestly has helped a lil). So I thought this would maybe help me and hopefully some of you, Jesus Christ I’ve prob lost so many of you w all these announcements
You just... couldn’t get out of bed. You had been stuck inside for a few days now, watched over by Seven and Mary Vanderwood III via security cams. But not getting to go outside and have human interaction kinda sucked. And then all your work was stressful too. You just didn’t want to move. And so you didn’t.
You got dressed though. That was a good start. Granted it was in something that could also be considered pajamas, but it felt nice to change your clothes. Felt productive. You went back into bed.
How long had you spent in bed, scrolling mindlessly through social media and watching stupid YouTube videos? You looked at the time; it was 1 pm. You were lucky you had today off, but had hoped to be more productive today. Oh well.
Your video was interrupted. A call from Seven. It was probably important.
“Hey Seven!” You picked up, bringing your voice to its typical cheery state. “What’s up?”
“Are you okay?” The voice on the other line asked. You jumped; it was deep, much deeper than Seven’s, and very serious.
“Are you using a voice modifier?” You giggled. It felt nice to talk to someone.
“Huh? Oh, no. This isn’t Seven.”
You paused for a minute, raising an eyebrow. Your voice caught in the back of your throat. “Are you... the hacker?”
“No!” The voice sounded urgent.
“Tom? Seven’s childhood friend?”
“I’m not fully convinced he exists.” The voice replied, an edge to the voice making it sound like a joke.
“Honestly? Me neither.” You paused, trying to think of who it could be. “I fold. Who are you? And how’d you get Seven’s phone!?”
“Giving up that easily?” The voice was teasing you now. “I thought you’d do more than two guesses.” You huffed out a sigh, making sure your annoyance was heard. “Come on, who would have access to Seven’s phone?”
That literally made no sense though. “...Mary Vanderwood the III?”
“Is he calling me that to you too now?” The voice asked, clearly annoyed. “My name is not Mary Vanderwood the III, and I’m not Seven’s maid. I just go by Vanderwood.”
“Hi Vanderwood,” you greeted. “You’re... a dude?”
“Yes.” He sounded annoyed still. “I don’t know why he’s said all this stuff.”
You giggled. “Well, back to the beginning of the conversation. Why’d you ask if I was okay? Is anything suspicious happening?”
“You just... you haven’t left your bedroom yet.”
“Oh” was all you could say.
“Oh? Are you okay?”
“Yeah of course!” You figured you might as well explain yourself. “It’s just, uhm, I haven’t really wanted to get out of bed and be productive. Sort of a mental block.”
“Oh,” his voice was much more understanding now. “That sucks.”
“Yeah... I think it’s because I haven’t interacted with people in a while. Just kinda holed up in the apartment. Hard to stay motivated.” Why were you telling him all this? He just wanted to know if you were okay. He wasn’t your therapist. “Oops! Uhm, sorry. Didn’t mean to unload that all.”
“You’re okay. I’m... sorry to hear that.”
“I’ve dealt with it before so like... it’s fine. It’ll pass. There are way more pressing matters right now,” you brushed it off, shrugging even though you knew he couldn’t see you.
“Do you-“ he coughed. “Do you like ice cream?”
“Yes?” What a change of topic. “Who doesn’t?”
“Well, if you want something to do, do you wanna get ice cream? If you’re feeling up for it.” He sounded almost awkward. It was kind of sweet.
But still, more pressing issues at hand. “I don’t know if I should with the hacker and everything. Everyone has security but me and so I-“
“I work with Seven. I think I can protect you.”
“Think?” You teased.
“You know that’s not how I meant it. I know I could protect you if need be. If you don’t want to though that’s okay.”
“No!” You shouted. You covered your mouth immediately, embarrassed from your outburst. “No. I think that’d be really nice.”
“I can pick you up outside the apartment in like ten minutes? You don’t have to worry about getting dressed up nice or anything...”
This was all so sudden. “Oh, I guess you do know the address, huh.” You were more saying it to yourself than him. “Wait! What do you look like? So that I don’t get picked up by the hacker or anything.”
“Uh...” he seemed so confident, but very uncomfortable describing himself. “I’ve got brown hair. Kinda long? It goes down to my shoulders. You know what? The lining of my jacket is leopard print. That should help.”
You were silent. Leopard print?
“Don’t make fun of it.” You could hear the scowl in his voice. “Ten minutes. See you then.” He hung up before you could say goodbye.
He did say not to look nice. Which made sense, in retrospect, because he had seen you for the past few days lounging at home. There was no need to try to impress; he already knew how you looked on the norm.
So you grabbed a jacket, your phone, and your wallet (with pepper spray attached to it for good measure), and headed out.
You kind of felt like a hooker, standing out at the curb waiting for a car to drive up and get you. But, you pushed those thoughts out of your mind. You were getting real human interaction today thanks to Vanderwood.
He pulled up in a very standard car, definitely not one of Seven’s babes. He rolled down the window and called your name.
“Wait! Show me the lining of your jacket!” You requested. It felt ridiculous but it was important. You laughed nonetheless, as did he. He pulled the jacket up, showing the intricate pattern. You grinned and got in the car.
“Hi. Nice to meet you in person,” you started, looking over at him. He kept the window down as he drove, the sound from the car loud and the wind blowing through his hair.
“You too,” he shouted, trying to talk over the wind. “Nice day out, huh?”
You leaned your head slightly out the window, the cool breeze a nice offset to the warmth of the sun beating down on you. “Mhm,” you hummed.
Luckily the ice cream shop was only a few minutes away. Good thing too; you weren’t sure what to talk about. You benefited from the fact that most of your words were carried away with the wind; the conversation starters had sucked anyway. You just focused on his surprisingly good driving and the feeling of the sun.
He got out of the car and you quickly followed. He didn’t wait for you, just kept walking to the order window. You scrambled to catch up. “So what’s your favorite?” He asked, sensing you by his side without even having to look.
“Oh, uhm, I’ll have cookie dough. Always a solid choice. How about you?”
He turned to you, a smile on his face that contrasted frankly with the harsh lines of his features. “Dark chocolate raspberry.”
“I can’t tell if I’m surprised or if I expected that.” You let out a little ‘hm’ and shrugged your shoulders. He went up and ordered for the both of you.
“Oh, uh,” you reached into your wallet, but he brushed you off.
“Relax. I can pay for a $3 ice cream cone.”
Your eyes widened. You hadn’t realized that may insult him. “Oh! Uh, that’s not what I meant to insinuate. I’m sorry.”
He glanced over with that smile of his, brown eyes lighting up. Why did it make your heart flutter? You had literally just met the guy. You were such a goddamn simp.
He grabbed the ice creams and handed you yours, his gloved fingers brushing against your bare ones. It wasn’t even skin-to-skin contact! Why did you feel this way from something so small? You wanted to die right then and there. He suggested you eat in the car to maintain a low profile and you nodded, not trusting your own voice.
Were you supposed to talk? Or eat your ice cream? Or both? Your mind chose for you, as words stumbled out of your lips before you could even stop them. “So is Vanderwood your real name?” Idiot. Of course it isn’t!
“God no.” He sounded hard about it. It was hard to take him seriously while he was licking an ice cream cone like that. You tried to hide your laughter. “No, don’t laugh.” His voice wasn’t hard this time. He was almost begging you to go easy on him.
“No I’m sorry! I wasn’t laughing at your name. It’s just... it’s kind of funny when you sound all mad and annoyed but you look so cute eating your ice cream.” No!!!!! Did you just call him cute? This was going AWFUL. You should have stayed home.
“Well, you can make fun of my name. I obviously didn’t pick it. It’s stupid.” Maybe he hadn’t heard the last part of what you said, considering he didn’t bring it up? But why was he blushing?
“It’s not that bad. You could be named Mary Vanderwood the III,” you teased. He rolled his eyes. “Can I give you a nickname? Maybe make it less insufferable?”
“What, you think we’re going to be talking all the time now?” He had a point. Why did you... do any of this? It was so embarrassing. You stared at your ice cream, praying you didn’t blush or shake your leg or do anything to show how much you felt like an idiot. He nudged you, causing you to glance up at him, and he smiled. “I’d love a nickname.”
“Wood.”
“Ha ha,” he laughed sarcastically.
“V! Oh wait... we can’t do that.” Poor V. You had almost regifted his name. “Vandy!”
“Vandy?” He questioned, trying out the name. “I’m not seeing it.”
“I am. Vandy. That’s the one”
“It’s too...cute.” His cheeks flushed red again. He pushed some of his hair out of his eyes. “I’m not letting you call me that.”
“You don’t get to pick your own nickname,” you stuck your tongue out at him. “I think it’s very fitting. It’s cute, you’re cute...” why were you doing this to yourself? You must have hated yourself.
“You’ve said that twice now. That I’m cute,” he mentioned causally, biting down on his cone, the rest of the ice cream gone.
“Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it as an insult.”
“Oh, it’s fine. It’s probably just my toxic masculinity.” It sounded like a joke but he also sounded serious? There were so many mysteries surrounding him.
“Well, if it helps. I think you’re quite handsome too. But that’s a lot of syllables to get my point across.” You were a bit more confident this time. If he was genuinely worried about his image, why wouldn’t you help reassure him.
“Uh, thanks.” He pushed back his hair, pausing midway. “I’m sorry, I’m really bad with gratitude. I genuinely appreciate it, especially coming from you.”
“Well it’s not like I’m lying,” you shrugged. You had finished your ice cream. “Uhm... maybe we should get back. Who knows what Seven’s been up to since you’ve been gone.”
“Oh, yes. Of course.”
The drive back was just as silent as the drive there, the both of you enjoying the sun and the wind again. He turned on the radio this time. It played 80s hits.
He parked in front of the building. “I hope that helped you feel a little better. I mean, I had fun,” he explained. You could tell he was forcing the words out, forcing himself to express some emotion.
“It helped a lot. For real. Thank you Vandy.” You touched his arm gently.
“Can I have your number?” He asked, a small smirk forming at the corner of his lips. “So that I don’t have to call you through Seven’s phone again,” he justified.
You smiled, nodding, wordlessly taking the phone from his hands and putting your number in. Why were your hands shaking? Was he genuinely interested in you? Or was he just a nice guy?
You handed the phone back. “Thank you again.” You smiled, opening the car door.
“Wait!” He exclaimed. You turned back towards him, leaving the car door open. “Can I... kiss you?”
You shut the car door again, nodding eagerly. He pressed himself against the center console to reach you, using one hand to balance himself and the other to brush the hair out of your eyes, cupping your cheek as he closed the distance between the two of you. Your eyes fluttered shut, focused on just how warm and soft his lips were. It was... really pleasant. He didn’t maintain the kiss for long, although you seemed to have lost your concept of time.
He pulled away, hand still on your cheek, smiling that smile again. “Thank you. I hope I made your day a little better. You certainly improved mine.”
Your fingers grazed his own, intertwining with his for a moment as you opened the car door with the other hand. “You did. I’ll look forward to seeing you again maybe?”
“For sure,” he was more flustered now. “Ah, I should probably make sure Seven hasn’t burned down the house. Have a good night.” He regained his composure, winking at you as you exited the car, and driving off, wind still blowing in his hair.
Vandy stans don’t drag me maybe he was OOC but also I wanna think he’s a little less confident in a romantic situation ? Idk. I hope you all liked it tho tyy
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smalltragedy · 3 years
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* brigette lundy-paine, nonbinary + they/them | you know kirby wormwood, right? they’re twenty five, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, two weeks? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to ring ring by mika like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole balancing acts at perilous heights destined to entertain, jack of all trades master of none, refusal to accept the mortal world as it is thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is december 1st, so they’re a sagittarius, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( james, 21, est, they/them )
hllo welcome 2 my third character i love them a lot theyre a. remake of an older oc of mine so this is fun <3 sdfhk anyways once again i am asking u. pleathe like if u wld like to plot.
ARSON TW
mini playlist.
wizard ;; lucas lex / ring ring ;; mika / crows ;; clues / sunrise sunset ;; bright eyes / la llorona ;; beirut / no children ;; the mountain goats / might be love ;; the pesky snakes / sax in the city ;; let’s eat grandma.
statistics.
full name: kirby wormwood (currently).
nickname(s): magpie.
birthday: december 1st, 1995.
zodiac: sagittarius sun, aries moon, libra ascending.
mbti & temperament: estp & improvisor / sanguine.
label: the hellion.
hometown: abilene, texas.
sexuality: bisexual.
pinterest.
biography.
alright lets get right into it. kirby ws switched at birth. they cld’ve hd a very like. picket fence trampoline in the backyard. 4 columns cos its texas n it feels right. bt instead they were chosen <3 somewhat unintentionally <3 by dorothea n fawley wormwood, two traveling circus workers who emergency stopped in abilene.
n u know what. growing up in st. pierre’s traveling circus ws kinda fkn awesome? like ok. besides the fact tht they were homeschooled fr like evr n there were a sparing amt of children 2 socialize with? it ws p cool idk.
it ws kinda like everybody ws their parent n also not at all bc they were all very casual. bt they grew up learning hw 2 maintain the circus (n also like. normal school thingz bt i dnt think kirby hs ever cared abt school like ever) n whenever they hd a show kirby wld facepaint or handle tickets until they were old enough 2 start learning like. the Real fun things. 
fawley hd a lot of his own weird odd little like superstitions n beliefs n practically raised kirby on them like n they dnt rly <3 make a lot of sense. lots of made up philosophy. very much like. nothing defines u. u cn b anything or anyone. n kirby ws like ok cool. n then developed a god complex.
names didnt rly stick 2 kirby when they were a kid like. nothing satisfied them or felt worthy fr them or simply they just. got tired of a name. this isnt related 2 them being nonbinary BUT it did help ease some of the. pressure of exploring gender identity. theyve only hd one name tht stuck genuinely n tht ws magpie n. thts bc everybody hd their own bird name n it felt very. like community. like a role. usually the names they used during performances bt. anyways KFHDSGLKKHL
theyre Kirby bt answers 2 most. neutral nouns.
honestly. they were also a rascal as a youth. ws like. oh. i learned sleight of hand? cool. time 2 pick pockets. wld throw popcorn into the hair of other kids n b like. omggg what was that ... became a mime fr a year. it ws a rigorous training.
now a master of charades. bt anyways. they traveled pretty much weekly, maybe bimonthly n sometimes just pure monthly. there wsn’t an off season fr them, when the colder months came they’d travel south and when summer rolled in they’d go right back up again. it ws easy to switch personas almost daily n just. never reveal ur true self. totally not saying tht’s what kirby did bt thts what they did. it nvr made them lose sight of themselves it ws more like. acting. tricking ppl fr fun. 
anyways all good things come 2 an end and when kirby ws like. 18. they were like hey ur old enough that we cn trust u with fire. we think. n they started 2 learn fire-throwing n like. they were ok at it bt lessons were painfully slow n kirby ws like. i wld b so good at this if i cld do it all the time. n it ws like. hey kirby, chill. u already know a lot of things.
arson tw // u see where this is going. tents are kind of flammable. kirby ws unsupervised. bad decisions all around. circus is aflame. all the animals n all the circus workers got out fine bt like. st. pierre’s ws efficiently out of business. arson end of tw //
n kirby fkn booked it they just. ran. pure fear. nvr looked back which is like super traitorous of them 2 do bt. sometimes they meet up in secret like. sunglasses n all at a coffee shop. not all of them just like. fawley or someone else. theyre like. ur family u cld burn down a thousand circuses n we’d still love u. n kirby is like yeah i know bt i’ve rly committed to the bit now. n they dnt reunite.
anyways. since then kirby hs just been. a traveler. nvr rly staying anywhere fr super long n driving around in their shitty little van tht’d been used as housing back at st. pierre’s.
they’re in irving n theyve been there fr almost. suspiciously long. compared 2 their average stays. when asked abt what they do or why theyre there theyll just. give a vague answer or spin a long tale tht usually involves a burning circus.
theyre staying at uh. abernathy creek rn bc of course they r they fit in so naturally. welcomed with wide arms. might b soul searching rn might b on the hunt fr their birth parents might b just vibing ... whose to say ..
personality & facts.
has a Big personality tht attracts others fr better or fr worse. either super likeable or the most despicable person on the earth. no in betweens. n honestly tht is a talent in itself
has no off button is constantly. spinning tales or performing a dance or getting kicked out of bars fr whatever nonsense reason. 
honestly they prob think tht nothing bad cn ever happen to them even tho like. bad has literally happened 2 them before? love the optimism here. KLFGDLKFSDHGF
acts a bit like u’ve known them fr ur entire life they r oddly warm in tht way bt they themself r so distant tht its like. oh nice ok ...
both honest n yet dishonest like. yes they will hustle u out of ur money bt they will also tell u their opinion straight up. 
probably smart bt they r just like. prime thembo? flowy pirate shirts n cropped tshirts n pants tht r never tight. dresses like they do still work n live at a circus. 
likes 2 instigate things between others n then stand back n just watch it happen while taking like zero accountability. loves a good small town drama. avid milf hunter.
does not hv any faith in the american healthcare system at all n will straight up refuse 2 go 2 a hospital if they get hurt theyre like. i cn do it myself im like practically a professional. they r not a professional. 
bt does hv like. a thing abt apples. fkn loves them. 
uuuhhh cn play instruments bt all very badly. only knows one (1) song tht isnt made up n its wonderwall by oasis. they play it at parties. they expect fr tomatoes to b thrown at them at any given time.
very nimble. agile. granted its frm. learning circus tricks frm a baby age bt they hv impeccable balance n cn sneak up behind anyone without a single noise. uses this 2 their advantage in order 2 scare ppl. chaotic neutral.
loves having the attention on them i wont fk around here. will go to drastic measures to accomplish receiving it. my other muses r capable of taking things srsly bt kirby just. is not. they do not take a single thing srsly they barely even took. st. pierre’s destruction srsly n they caused it. maybe.
likes being able to just. be unknown so the amt tht ppl know abt them is actually very. little. i dnt think they even tell others their last name. sometimes not even their first. just hs so many aliases n nicknames. i know i didnt list any bt thts simply bc Any cld.
probably acts out to compensate fr the. underlying guilt they hv bt thts okay. i mean it isnt bt.
will probably show up if u call them fr help bt they lose interest in people p quickly n r always moving onto the next shiniest person. bt when they do they give them like. all their attention. if u wrong them in this period they will just. ignore it. bt when theyre bored then its like. u werent even friends at all? very odd.
perhaps it is commitment issues bt <3 ya. thts them. they do not claim favorite colors or movies or. most interests. probably bc theyre very very disconnected frm pop culture i think they learn everything thru twitter n google.
i wld not call them a good person bt i also dnt think theyre like evil horrible nasty awful they just. think abt themself a lot more than they think abt others n also refuses to face consequences ever and also .. anyways.
wanted plots.
part of the bird’s nest ;; honorary bird honorary circus member. u hv to be very well regarded by kirby to earn a bird name bt i feel like tht doesnt feel like a lot considering theyve only been here fr like. two weeks KDGDSHKGK. the catch is tht u cn only refer 2 them as magpie frm then forward. 
hand in unlovable hand ;; theres comfort in being terrible ppl together n it may not last bt it doesnt hv to anyways. its just them n the like. vibes. n knowing tht its smth thts nvr gna b long term. cld b anything ur character just hs to be also a little evil. KHDSGFDS
one jester ... wht abt ... TWO jesters .. ;; hoo boy. ooh man. unstoppable force and immovable object combine forces n just become. the worst of the worst. ultimate jokesters. epic pranksters. absolute clowns. chaotic energy unmatched. always nonsense. 
n also ;; ppl they’ve stolen frm, ppl who hv caught them in that act, ppl who’ve maybe seen them in the circus a very long time ago, Found Family Trope, real family shenanigans, kirby just asking everybody if theyre their dad., mortal enemies if they see each other its an instant duel 2 the death, etc.
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seoafin · 3 years
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jjk & tower of god chapter on the same day,,, i spent all of my brainjuice talking abt tog w some friends + working on my wip so this one might be incoherent LMAO but nsjdhfjd this my 2 cents for the chp (1) - 🐱
first of all, the zenins shld just eat shit 🥰 the bar is just nonexistant now 😭😭😭
also maki’s mother said sth that hits way too close to home for me too🥴
the maki & mai, megumi & tsumiki "make a place where they are happy” parallels...mai,, maki wanted a place where u'd be happy!!! 😭😭😭 good points abt any interesting nuances the original jpn might have had though
ALSO MUSCLE MAKI IS HERE
and lmao megumi's "ew no" face ,,, i didn't think he could make a face like that JDJJDJD ,, once again i think his outsider-insider status is interesting but the amount of ppl counting on him/leaning on him bc of strategic position is a lot. ig this is what kamo meant by supporting the 3 families,,,, gojou indeed is playing the long game. megumi in the meantime, very persistent in not getting more involved in clan politics, not using power that is offered to him, or leveraging it - in a way it is good, and it also makes sense with "stress is other ppl" but is interesting from a structural pov. megumi may not rly give a shit abt the rest of the jujutsu world. if the ppl close to him are affected, then he cares. otherwise, forget it.
also im interested in power implications here bcs it sound a little like there’s a slight split b/w leadership and everyday zenins and im curious what it's like if u have no connection to the top of the clan,, and again higher ups being unaffiliated with the 3 clans so they have to appeal to them. curious what other talents the gojou clan have and what they're known for bc clearly it's not just gojou, they still have power without him and still have a stake in the shifting power structure. kamo must be busy too...
MAKIIIIII ,,, honestly my heart hurts a little seeing her getting beat up in recent chapters. but i’m rly happy,, shes FINALLY getting the focus she deserves and i’m confident she will make a recovery and she IS in fact the one leading efforts on the zenin side. im rly hopeful she can take over the clan one day and no longer say she's not good enough
that stomach wound is bad news though so im wondering how she will come back from that,, that she didn't know her own father's abilities says a lot, too. i wonder if she could see the extension of his blade, or if she hasn't been able to see/understand many ppl abilities
im hopeful for next chp now. u can do it maki!!!!
flashing back on these bits, it makes more sense now why megumi wasn't melting down post-shibuya,, seems most information came to him in a sort of timely and calm way? also i rly have to wonder if gojou did not spend a decade plotting in front him bcs he's done it before,,,, like the whole clan head scene in megumi's middle school years....in a way i imagine he wouldve seen that gojou come out of the high school and watch him get more serious as he acquired even more skin in the game
all the time though i wonder abt megumi's tendency toward inertia and nonaction to things that would seemingly give him power and trying to understand it and that IS him being selfish and that IS,, imo the biggest indication of what he actually does or doesn't want. he wants it, he will act and work on it immediately himself. he doesn't like it? act like it doesn't exist. it make me want to shake him around like NO!! megumi pay attention!!! But his reaction to this clan stuff is a contrast to his behavior in recent chapters imo
and more mahjong references,,, between this and yuuji’s pachinko,, i wonder abt the undercurrent of gambling haha. a gamble for the shaman world and who will come out on top? a contrast to the flowy ocean imagery that connects shaman stuff out to the rest of the world
also this ,,,, there's that one jp tweet (i cant find it again😞) that talks about how toji, as the point of distortion, created megumi, who is currently playing a potential convergence/healing/uniting role (if he actually takes it on as a responsibility lol) and connects this back to the medicine buddha,,, whose mudra (hand sign) is used for chimera shadow garden. with the commentary abt ppl with heavenly restriction needing to know what to throw away in order to become strong or tap into their full strength and toji’s commentary at the end of fight with gojou,,  i actually always felt that toji died not having been entirely resolved with himself bc he talks abt going against the self that decided to forget abt self-respect, to live without thinking abt himself or others,,, in a way, living selfishly, for himself, by ignoring anything immediate and i think he succeeded for a while bc he didnt even remember megumi's name. he remembers it when he talks to getou abt him being thankful for toji not killing him bc of potential drawbacks
and at the very end he thinks of megumi again and that last act does think of someone else, like a "life before your eyes" moment where toji thinks about how the zenin's treatment of him led him there or how his return to shibuya ends with him remembering how he gave megumi back to the zenin,,, i think atm of his death he was starting to think he did want to care, in a different way, or that he needed a different paradigm. or,, maybe he was just starting to realize how far the zenin thinking had set into him
so we dont rly talk abt that being an enlightenment moment for toji but i kind of think it was. that megumi has the potential to become a pivotal piece as a legacy of distortion is interesting. i dont actually think toji set up everything intentionally bc he didnt know megumi's ability, and i dont think he wouldve thought that far. i think a lot of the heir and inheritance stuff is sth naobito set in after seeing megumi's development under gojou. it's clear now everyone has been keeping eyes on everyone else
at some point there's some interesting discussion to be had abt megumi and privilege - i'm surprised the canon characters dont hate him more for having stuff just fall into his lap, and so i liked that maki pointed this out that he could use this and he shld bc theres a frustration there - and yet at the same time megumi himself seemingly feels very little attachment to the zenin and the shaman world still. he just cares abt his little circle of people, and it's a very intentional choice, based on his good/bad ppl thing
u cant really affect the entire world, but u can assert urself on the environment around u and decide what u do and dont act on. this part of megumi is more teenage boy and kind of toji-like, i think,,, hence the emphasis on action
u express ur effect and existence through action, who u kill or who u save. toji having very little, while so much falls into megumi's lap while he doesn't want it, doesn't want to acknowledge it, likely doesn't want to take part in a system he doesn't like or, having been raised under gojou's wing, resents or finds corrupt or useless, or doesn't even think on bc he thinks its above his pay grade and gojou's there - this is also megumi's moment to solidify his own direction and commit to working in the system or out of it
the "not caring" is a defensive measure in a way too, i think. i dont think megumi is Big Good and wants to save everyone and everything and the world to be good and pure, i tend to think of him as a resigned chaotic neutral, who wishes he could be good orz
ANYWAY i think there's some interesting juxtapositions with the whole toji > megumi thing, that someone who is born without, restricted, births and creates someone full of blessings. its very shaman-like, action then reaction
AND i wish u luck on ur final paper (bless ur eyes to see incels bc i’ll just log off for the day when i saw one (1) of them on the net) AND DONT FORGET TO TAKE A REST,, the self care is much needed me thinks <333 (2) - 🐱
i love u 🥺🥺😭😭😭 you take care of yourself too!!!
also ur right...all this political intrigue im so curious i need to know how the jujutsu world is structured in terms of the higher ups and the clans. like i assumed that the three clan elders WERE to some extent also part of the higher ups???? but now it seems that the higher ups are a separate entity altogether, so like checks and balances i suppose. except both the higher ups and the clans are corrupt so no balance there 😭
the chapter implied the zenins are losing when it comes to the power struggle between the three clans. im interested. i want to see them all rot!!! like i also said though it’s going to be interesting to see the state of the kamo clan though, considering “noritoshi kamo.” like what do you even say to that???? im going to be surprised if it doesn’t affect their standing in the jujutsu world but then again the kamo clan IS one of the big three.
megumi really is a character that was blessed in all regards but like. doesn’t want anything to do with it LOL he really said ‘this is a pain no thanks.’ like gojo like megumi i suppose. i agree with u the whole toji and megumi set up....genius....i also love their juxtaposition. it’s so interesting and another source of irony.
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arguablysomaya · 3 years
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okay true w/ commune jobs point but like what about ppl with the inability to contribute in all the ways other people can? would you factor in intellectual and developmental disabilities/disorders/mental illnesses/etc?? and how would u tell those who are telling the truth about their disadvantages to those who aren't? 'cause like i have adhd, dyslexia, and dyscalculia, as well as osteopenia (+ at least osteoarthritis), temperature impacted asthma (can't shovel in the winter and walking in the summer isn't always easy), and chronic migraines. wouldn't specialized/long term jobs be necessary to some degree? like i sure couldn't crunch numbers or sometimes even get up from my bed but stuff like sewing, weaving, sculpting, whittling, organizing, counseling, or even like cooking would be bearable on any given day. would we have like a minimum amount of jobs everyone would cycle through or like a variety of job types for each standard of contribution? sorry if this seems nit-picky i'm just one of those people that thinks 10 thoughts for ever time my heart beats, it's exhausting but in the case where considering things others might not it serves well i guess. also would bartering be a thing 'cause labor for labor or time for time seems like it would be good but idk where we stand with those things 'cause if you think about it bartering eventually lead to use of currency instead of services and you'd have to be super diligent about not going down that road again
ok ok ok all really great questions
1) disabilities have to be considered. and we have to believe people. but the reality is that capitalism is much more hostile toward people that can’t to “traditional” jobs than communism would be. for example; who’s to say that shoveling snow wouldn’t be automated? under capitalism it’s not profitable to automate snow shoveling, but under communism, what’s best for the community becomes reality. it really wouldn’t take long to phase out most manual labor very quickly (i believe it would only take 5 years to automate 50% of all jobs?) and also there is the fact that many jobs would be rendered obsolete by the fall of capitalism. 
2) honestly, whether or not jobs would be mandatory or not seems? antithetical in some ways. i know that some forms of marxism call for it, but honestly i live by from each according to his ability to each according to his need. i don’t see why we would have to force people to do jobs they’re unable/unwilling to do, given the sheer amount of people there are and the fact that honestly there just arent that many vital jobs. i think it really would not take long for people to have their pick of the jobs they want. and i also don’t want to say that people can’t stick with one job they really like but that labor is multifaceted. you could be an organizer 80% of the time you do labor and sculpt the other 20%. or you could bounce around to whatever is necessary that you’re able to do at a given time. nobody can measure how much they contribute to society. i don’t think we should try. 
3) i don’t believe we should have bartering, for the reasons you said, plus i really don’t see the need for it. the community should be able to provide enough for everyone, and if it can’t, it’s enough of a problem that other people should get involved for purely humanitarian purposes. if you’re talking about, like, building something for someone, honestly it could a) be automated to the point of not needing too much human help or b) people will help out in the interests of having a fun project. 
thanks for the ask! you brought up some really great questions and i’m gonna think some more about it
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ocular-intercourse · 4 years
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@mangosandchili, Asher, the 4th
🌲 What is the kindest thing your OC has ever done for someone? What is the kindest thing someone has ever done for them? On the flip side, what is the worst thing your OC has done to another person?
People probably don’t immediately consider Asher to be kind, especially not since Adam disappeared. But that’s just because Asher tends to hide it. He is full of kindness, but most of it is silent, secret. Being kind for him is easy, cause he has the means to be kind easily, he does not want the attention because he does not want the praise for something that is so effortless with his privilege. He’s the person to pay for a meal when nobody is looking and when they go to pay the waiter tells them it’s already taken care of. He makes donations, but never in his name. He protects every single person close to him every single day. That’s probably the kindest thing he does, taking the weight of the world on his own shoulders so nobody else has to help carry it. As long as his father is focused on him, he’ll leave his brothers be, as long as he plays along with his father’s wishes for as much as he can bare, his father won’t punish him by harming people close to him. As long as he does not tell people about the things that are happening they are not implicated, they can just live their lives without worry. The kindest thing.. oof, I mean ppl are kind to him all the time cause they want in on the money and connections, so he does not trust a lot of it, or take it very seriously. Devin sticking around even after learning about his father and everything that is happening would be the one. Asher might not want it, but he’s definitely thankful for it, and it does save him. The worst thing is another wonderful painful thing to think about for Asher cause he sees so many terrible things he could list, but one is and will always be on top: Getting Adam killed. You could argue that it was his father, not Asher’s fault at all, but Asher would just counter with if Adam hadn’t known him, hadn’t been his boyfriend, he would not have died, so how could he not blame himself.
🌳 What does your OC do when they see others upset or in pain? An upset friend? A stranger?
That is extremely dependent on the situation. A lot of time he has to keep in mind who is there, what they will see, what his father might hear about it. If he can tell the problem is periodical, it will go away without his help, he will more often than not just ignore it. It’s not worth it, putting people on his father’s radar by associating with them. Most things people are going through are nothing compared to the things his father would do to them if Asher gave him any reason to believe they could be a useful tool to hurt or motivate him. People close to him, Devin or May, he would stay away from them in public, make it seem like he could not care less, and check in on them as soon as he has the opportunity to do so without witnesses. No wonder people think he is self-absorbed and cruel.
🌿 What is something true about your OC that they refuse to admit about themselves? Is there any reason to this besides embarrassment?
Anything positive probably. He is so deep down the rabbit-hole of hating himself for everything that has happened that he can’t accept the good things that are still there. That’s why he can’t understand Devin’s interest for the longest time, it makes him so angry to think he could see something worthwhile in him, he imagines it might just all be about the money. But Devin does eventually list a list of things that made him fall for him, one sounding more outlandish than the next to Asher’s ears. Most of all that Devin watches so carefully, he can see the stuff Asher tries to bury by being deliberately assholeish. He tells him how he can see his kindness, even when he tries to hide it, in the little things he does and hopes nobody notices, he sees how much he cares, that he tries to push for justice in the discussions he has with their teachers, he sees how big his heart is when he puts on an entirely different persona in front of his siblings.. and Asher cries out of relief of somebody seeing anything worthwhile in his character, but he still refuses to accept these things as true. Or more accurately, he argues them away, these things don’t count, most things, most accomplishments, don’t count for him, cause he either sees them as an act he puts on, or a direct result of the money and support he grew up with. That’s why he can’t stand the ‘gifted’ lable either, any talent he has he only has because he had all the resources of the world on his hands and a father at the back of his neck that did not allow him to be mediocre at anything. He does not quite see that only because you are expected to be extraordinary at something most people can’t just simply comply to that and actually succeed. But to him it’s all worth nothing.
🍃 Describe a regular day for your OC. What is their schedule (if they have one).          
His day has always been packed with activities and schoolwork, he’s very used to little free time, he is not exactly good at relaxing, or maybe he relaxes better by doing stuff than by doing nothing at this point. Being with Adam he had wrangled a bit more free time to be with him but he’s still very much overscheduled. So he has the art school classes, working on projects, learning, he has tutors for different languages, mainly mandarin at the moment, he goes to the shooting range, he has teachers for self-defense, he does not go to classes for instruments anymore but he still makes time to play, he goes to night school economics classes on the side, has to do the work and learning for that, he makes time for his siblings, time for the dance classes for the elderly he attends as a volunteering partner, he has clover, though she is well taken care of by the family’s staff, and any time in-between he probably fills with reading, or travelling to see exhibitions or concerts in other cities. There’s the social obligations of upper class people, socializing, fraternizing. Church on Sundays. And then there’s the times his father calls him in, demands him to be there, that can be as simple as business meetings, or dinner with some powerful allies, or turf war discussions with other crime families, or his father dealing out his punishment to the people that wronged him. And then recuperating from seeing people tortured and dying and suffering… Therapy. his plate is FULL. Which is not a bad thing, it keeps him occupied. He would simply not be able to do nothing, it would ruin him.
🍁 What is your OC’s most traumatic experience? (If they don’t have just one traumatic experience either pick one or describe them all!)
:) hooo boy, Asher has a whole portfolio of traumatic events, there are so many they start to become normal to him. He is surrounded by a lot of violence and psychological warfare. Of his father wanting to break him into becoming something he does not want to be. And when Asher refused his father’s orders too much he came up with a new way of disciplining him. Top of the list is of course seeing his boyfriend, love of his life, who he’s been with since they were practically children, tied to a chair, get shot and die, right next to him. By Asher’s father. As an direct answer to Asher’s behavior and educational measure, showing what happens when Asher disobeys. There’s not topping that, really. Maybe there is, but I refuse to.
🍄 How would your OC react to the death of a friend/family member/loved one? Is there anyone they can confide in?
:)) Godddd. Well, the one close death he’s been subjected to he has not really been allowed to deal with, no time for healing and grief. He did go to a clinic for a while after suffering a psychotic break down after what had happened. Asher tried for a while to tell the police what his father had done, even wrote to more distant police departments or investigators, only to always be redirected to his father till he had enough of Asher trying to rat him out and threatened sending Asher himself to prison for Adam’s murder, the staff at the clinic would gladly testify about Asher telling them about it, or threatened other people getting hurt if he kept trying to spread information. Officially, Adam ‘went missing’, the police covered it up, deduced he just ran away, queer kid from a somewhat small town, probably wanted to get away to the city. Asher and Adam’s family very much advocated against those findings, to no avail. He does not really have anybody to confide in. His therapist works for his father so he’s not very inclined to talk to him too truthfully. Other than that he has nobody he would share something like that with, cause he is too paranoid of his father finding out and tying up loose ends. Till now he’s pretty much just relied on numbing medication to get through the day, sleeping pills to get through the night. He has panic attacks and break downs and is irrational and aggressive, he is a mess, but he has no choice but to keep going. He has successfully pushed anybody away enough for them to either not care or leave him alone. I feel like, and Asher would hate that thought, anybody else dying, would almost feel like relief to him. One less person to be constantly scared for. One less reason to stay alive.
🌾 What would your OC be like if they were evil. Or if they’re already evil what would they be like as the good guy?
Evil Asher would be happy??? That’s really the ideal solution to all his problems. If he complied to his father, happily, to step into his footsteps and become his successor, he would not have a single problem. All of his trouble comes simply from him not being able to live with hurting other people. If he’d just be able to do that, no problem, he could just life his regular life at the side. So evil Asher would be soon-to-be crime boss, and good at it.
💐 How would your OC react to somebody telling them that they love them? (+ bonus give another characters/OC name!)
Nausea, doubt, refusal, panic. He does not want it, there is nothing good that comes from loving him, other than putting people in danger, when his father considers them as effective ways to threaten him. He hardly let’s other people say positive things about him, I love yous are definitely too much, he would probably be extra dickish the next couple of days, trying to scare you away more effectively. Devin definitely has been through that a couple of times, any time Asher lets him get a bit closer the next day he pushes him away twice as hard. Good thing Devin is persistent, as long as he knows Asher is just putting on an act because he is scared and hurt, he has no problem seeing past his behaviour.
🌷 What does your OC hate about themself? What lies about themself do they believe? On the flip side, What does your OC love about themself?
:))) It’s all shame and guilt and hatred. Even if he has good sides, they are either an act, or they are just useless? They do nothing for him, or for others. He’d rather be a bigger asshole, feel less, care less, and other people would be much safer.. well the regular civilians at least. He tries sometimes to convince himself, the people his father deals with, the ones he kills or punishes, they are in that situation for a reason, they dealt with the wrong people, they have made that deal knowing what could happen. Better to hurt them, than to hurt unsuspecting folks. But he just can’t justify hurting people, no matter who. So maybe what he hates the most about himself is his code of morality. He also hates thinking about his childhood, about admiring his father, before he knew about any of the crime. The lies he believes about himself are the ones he tells himself, about how terrible and unlovable he is, just a snobby rich kid with no redeeming qualities. He’d really have to dig deep to find anything he would actually consider lovable, I can’t quite come up with anything honestly. Jeez. Poor boy.
🥀 What is something your OC blames themselves for and is it really their fault? Does it keep them up at night and is there any lingering trauma?
Adam’s death, of course. Not that he has any control over his father’s actions, but he could have told Adam more about what was happening with his dad, so he could have made the informed decision of getting the hell out of there. He thinks about it all the time. His guilt, what he could have done differently, how he’s not allowed anything good anymore, cause Adam is somewhere rotting in a ditch and he is living, enjoying things? Impossible, not allowed.
🌺 In what situation would your OC be pushed to commit an act of violence? Would they go as far to kill someone if they had to? How would this affect them and their relationships with others?
:)))) He is constantly being pushed to commit acts of violence and he constantly refuses even though the consequences are hard. He does, however, finally, eventually, get pushed over the edge, when he’s once more facing the same situation, of the boy he loves sitting tied up in front of his father. He laughs about it sometimes, afterwards, the absurdity, the god-complex of his father, who really thought putting them in a room, giving Asher a weapon and telling him to kill his boyfriend would somehow not lead to his own death. So yeah, Asher does decide to kill his father. Thought the deciding part is not exactly an active choice, he blinks and is suddenly kneeling over his father’s perforated body. Which is probably the only way you could get Asher to kill someone, not by making him choose to consciously, but by giving him no other choice, for him to lose control and let his desperation take over. Devin tiptoes around Asher for a while, cause he’s just scared of what that did to him. He’s very attentive, looking for shock and trauma and anything he can help with.
🌸 What would your OC do if they were given god-like powers or the ability to change anything about the world for a whole day?
He would want to meet dead people, mostly artists, he admires. Have a chat with Van Gogh, meet Kurt Cobain, pick Hieronymus Bosch’s brain.. Just talk about creation and inspiration and their world views.
🌼 Describe one of your OC’s worst nightmares.
One of his loved ones dying because he was stupid enough to agree to be close to them, as secretly as they could, cause he should know better, his father has eyes and ears everywhere, how could he be so stupid and selfish. Alternatively his father finally giving up on converting Asher and trying to do the same to Gabriel, or Leo when he is older.
🌻 What advice would your OC give to their younger self? What advice does your OC need now?
Kill him NOW??? You will kill him eventually, just do it now. Safe Adam.  Right now, hm, probably something about sharing the burden. Talking to people, his family specifically, since they are involved some way or another anyways and might just be able to help, if only by having an open ear. But he’s a burned child, he is way way too scared of consequences to his actions now that he would want to take risks, even if they seem unlikely. Better safe than sorry.
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crowned-ladybug · 4 years
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My Big Ramble about the demon cultural significance of shed antlers/horns/whatever, copy-pasted straight from discord and then edited a bit bc I wanna have it somewhere where I can show it to ppl but also I'm not retyping this in a hundred years:
Okay so. i was thinking of the problem of What The Fuck do antlered demons do with their antlers once they shed them
And ofc it changes from culture to culture and also demons who don’t live in communities with a lot of antlered demons might just. not attribute any significance to it and just treat it like cut hair and nails and whatnot, since for non-antlered demons this just isn't a Thing that ever needed a Solution or cultural significance
(sidenote, Caesar himself also lives/lived in an area where most demons have horns or no horns/antlers at all and he got separated from his cultural roots as a kid bc of what happened to his family, so what remains with him is mostly a mix of what he still remembers (sadly clouded over by  trauma) + how he let that keep growing + what others do around him that he just. adopts p easily)
One of the things in demon cultures that give any significance to shed antlers is that keeping your most recent shed ones until your next shed means like. accepting death or at least the inevitability of it. Bc in those cultures, a tradition upon death is building a pyre decorated with plants/fabrics/etc that the deceased demon loved/would have loved or was associated with, and it’s topped with their shed antlers if available, and then ofc the whole thing burned. The like mythos around it is that it’s supposed to be the burning of mortal ties and remains so that the deceased’s spirit can go free, without having to desecrate the body or needing to have a body around at all (both bc bad shit happens and bc i feel like with summoning demons being A Thing, ppl just Not Coming Home is a lot more ingrained as a possibility in demon consciousness than it is in human)
So in those cultures, keeping your last shed antlers somewhere easy to find is like. making sure your loved ones can bury you properly if you were to die this year. It’s not necessarily a sad thing, it can v much just be. acceptance
Another thing that can happen depending on culture is keeping at least one antler from a significant year of one’s life, let that be bad or good. One may keep the antlers they shed after their child was born or after someone passed away, a first successful contract or a significant change - anything that feels like a turning point in one’s life. These antlers are kept as reminders and symbolic like. physical manifestation of those memories that are said to have grown into them like how the rings in a cut of tree tell you of its life. When it comes to the worst times, one may also choose to keep the antler as a reminder that they had survived and kept growing despite everything, and they can do it again
Depending on the exact reason they're being kept, these antlers may become displayed decoration, usually with added decorative elements like lines of beads, ribbons, or even dried flowers. A family home might have a mismatched pair of antlers displayed over the fireplace for example, the shed antlers of the parents from the year they married! Once again depending on the story behind them, these antlers may also become memorabilia passed down through generations
And with the belief that your memories grow into your antlers, if something horrible happens and one swears revenge for it, and then sheds their antlers, they could decide to use the shed antlers to incorporate them into an actual item with use instead of decoration, something that has something to do with the revenge, like a lucky charm (potentially to destroy once the revenge has been seen though) or a weapon (see kinda how in brother bear Denahi ties Kenai’s totem necklace around his spear which he uses to try and kill the bear that killed his brothers)
And going off of that - it'd make a lot of sense to me now for Caesar to have something like that after the death of his family. i doubt he had the skill/knowledge to make his own shed antlers into an actual Weapon, but a charm to serve as a reminder i guess?? a physical manifestation of all his grief and anger, to be finally destroyed when he sees his destiny through??? yeah i can v much see that. Just a small shed antler, maybe half the size of Caesar's current ones originally and now broken in half to be easier to carry around, the names of Caesar's lost family carved into it clumsily. Once Kars is dead and Caesar can truly live happily in the castle, during one of his trips back to the demon world he remembers it and brings it back home. and since he's got his revenge, he's got so much more too, and this chapter of his destiny is fulfilled, he finally gets to burn it
And the original idea i had about this regarding Caesar that still stands is that. we joked about what they do with his first shed horns, the one intact and one broken one, and yeah they still goof around with it and trick poor Speedwagon and all that, that doesn't change. But since the past year had been one of the hardest years of Caesar life, and the year when so much significant stuff had happened to him, i feel like he'd keep it. He doesn't display it anywhere, maybe bc he's not used to seeing demon antlers being displayed anymore (esp as something positive instead of. hunting trophies), maybe bc this one just feels more private than that. He ties some beads on it that feel Right, and then wraps it in some pretty fabric to protect it and hides it safely in the depths of a drawer
Also, based on this, a large part of demons celebrate their new year around antler shedding season?? While not all demons have antlers, it’s something that started in the communities of those who do and slowly became universal and more detached from tradition as a more widespread measurement of time and whatnot became established ages and ages ago
And, okay, additional new stuff:
Taking/owning a demon’s shed antlers is not really something you should do?? Like, as far as being appropriate goes
Taking a shed antler without express permission is seen as a violation of like. bodily autonomy and shit and a form of trophy keeping that’s just really Not Good if you think about it (with the exception of parents keeping their children’s baby antlers and whatnot). Giving away your shed antler to someone however is something of Huge significance bc it’s like you’re handing someone a lil piece of you. Mostly it might happen when someone has had a huge positive impact on the year of your life that that antler comes from. Giving someone yout antler is a huge sign of gratitude and love and respect and it is not to be taken lightly
Giving someone your broken horn/antler however has a Completely different meaning. It’s also a lot more archaic and rarely actually practiced anymore, and it means you’re swearing revenge on the person you’re giving your broken horn/antler to. It once again builds upon the belief of memories growing into the antler, and you’re handing this person the physical manifestation of the horrible things they have done to you, as a reminder that you will come and take revenge on them someday. (It is/was most often done after events that actually resulted in that horn/antler being broken but in extreme cases one might choose to break their own horn/antler for the sake of this tradition, which is seen as like. extreme dedication to this revenge, to the point of being willing to dedicate your whole existence to it and letting it consume you). Broken horns are also typically delivered by mail/a hired messenger instead of given in person
There are also ofc sayings in demonic languages that reflect these traditions/beliefs. “Keeping/holding onto one’s antlers” means being really old/being on death’s door (kinda swallowing the meaning of having made peace with death and somewhat distorting the tradition itself in everyday life). There’s sayings about giving someone your antler/your antler belonging to them that are great declarations of love (not necessarily romantic) and “having one’s horn broken” is euphemism to some great tragedy happening to that person. “No need to break your horn/antler over it” means to stop making a huge deal out of a small slight
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handlewithkara · 4 years
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@leighlew3 
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You say that as if that isn’t something Kara does consistently for people. And was that the same episode where Kara, after watching Lena die and hearing about Lena being twisted to evil rather than a) rushing to Lena to see that she’s okay or b) immediately starting to plot to getting Lena away from the people who might hurt and twist her instead went with c) telling Lena that she was done with her bullshit. 
And after doing that did Kara a) collapse on the floor horrified that she had to call Lena a villain or b) go home to hang with Alex and J’onn and joke about candy left by Myxy? 
I for one think Melissa Benoist is a professional, who tries to create powerful moments even with bullshit material. If you told her to act in love with a tree stump, she would portray that. I don’t think that she has any secret agenda to tank or favor a pairing. => I think she was asked to portray “in love with Mon-El”. I think she did this to the best of her abilities. IMO it is beyond me how anybody could look at her performance in 2x22 where Kara sobs as Mon-El’s pod is leaving or her breakdown at the thought of Mon-El dying in 3x02 and somehow think that she was somehow NOT bringing her A-Game. As such I do think that “how Kara acted with Mon-El” being a good measuring stick for “how Melissa portrays Kara in love”. And that included tons of things like jealousy, like acting nervous and awkward, and tons and tons of little physical fuzzing around (again compare Kara standing two feet away when Lena got poisoned in s3 to Kara always being all hands over Mon-El when he was being poisoned)
I also remember that when Mon-El was gone, she acted pretty much every episode till he returned with an undertone of melancholia even happy moments like seeing the recital of little girls dressed as Supergirl => but then again she also had the backing of the writing then for just that. 
I don’t see this kind of melancholia for Lena in the episodes after Kara told Lena off. I’m sure eventually Lena will show up again and Kara will again try to get her to not be evil. Because that’s what Kara does. She takes care of her friends (as we just saw with Nia) and she tries to stop ppl from being evil even the less deserving like Rhea or Livewire. 
Sure, the next episode could come around and retcon that and tell us that Kara has been suffering, but I don’t see that in her performance (for example in the scene where she is psyched that Dreamer took down a Dominator). 
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The reason I bring him up is because
1.) You people bring him up by comparing William to him
2.) Because you people misrepresent how Karamel came to be
You act like Alex somehow mind-controlled Kara into dating Mon-El and now William. What I’m pointing out is that this is just not true. Lenastans have always claimed that Kara having an interest in Mon-El came somehow out of the blue after Alex brought up the option, but that just FLAT OUT ISN’T TRUE. 
For starters, the first time the topic was brought up it was Eliza and she told Kara that Mon-El liked Kara (not that Kara liked Mon-El back). And what was Kara’s reaction? First laughter, then blushed cheeks, then the camera gazes lovingly at Mon-El on her behalf at how handsome he looks. What does Kara then do with this information? She asks Mon-El whether it is true. But Mon-El denies it and says something dickish. He then collapses and she fuzzes over him. He then kisses her while sick. She leans into the kiss, closes her eyes and opens her mouth before it happens. She later wants to quizz him about the kiss and he denies remembering it, she bites her lips furiously (twice!) and looks upset as she walks away. 
===> Come one, if this was for a ship you like, you would have no problem identifying that Kara might, just might have been interested in Mon-El before Alex said just that to her. (aka Kara’s beloved sister correctly identifying Kara’s behavior)
==> I wouldn’t have to keep talking about Mon-El if you guys didn’t keep up saying things about him and how Karamel came to pass that flat out aren’t true. 
It boggles my mind how you can claim that “Kara took a long time to warm up to Mon-El” when Kara and Mon-El were sleeping and living together after half a season (and again, Kara almost instantly drafted Mon-El into her home and her job), yet it took Kara three years to let Lena in on her secret. How long did it take for Lena to show up at game night versus how long did it take Mon-El or Wiliam?
Again, Kara was positively smiling at the date suggestion before Winn or Alex brought it up. Characters talking to a character about their feelings is a popular short hand, not a sign that a person is being pushed into a relationship. Kara is not some automaton who can forced into sleeping with Mon-El, enjoying it, having a relationship with him, declaring her love for him just because at some point Alex said something. Just like now she’s a grown woman who can decide for herself whether William is something she wants to pursue or not (especially since we know that Kara can go against Alex advice, a season 1 callback btw). 
Sure you can point out that it’s a lazy writing trick for a character to discuss their feelings with other supporting characters and thusly explaining the character dynamics for “the stupid people in the back”, but you know, Supergirl isn’t exactly high literature. And be honest, how long would have I have to look till I find Lenastan fanfics where third party people notice feelings being there or even scheme to get them together? It’s a trope. Doesn’t mean that the show wasn’t dropping plenty of hints that Kara had a thing for Mon-El long before third party characters spelled it out for the audience that that was going on. 
Again ship what you want, but don’t LIE about other ships and characters, especially not while not using the anti tags, without expecting to be called out on it. (I was browsing the William Dey tag)
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You genuinely think that the chance of a relationship turning out badly because somebody sent a couple of overenthusiastic texts is higher than hooking up with a person who SHOT AT YOU? And who LOCKED YOU IN A CAGE SO THEY COULD STEAL FROM YOU?
You do realize that “did it because of a betrayal” is probably like 90% of the excuses made by people who murder their spouse for cheating on them?  Aka the LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO argument?  “X betrayed me”, “X provoked me” are NOT excuses for violence. And note how “but poor X had a bad childhood, he can’t help himself” is exactly the kind of excuse abused people make for their violent spouses? But WILLIAM is the one who is too horrible to have a relationship with and who would send a bad message as opposed to “Lena attacks Kara physically and gets rewarded with romance, isn’t it ROMANTIC and so EMOTIONAL how violent and destructive she becomes over Kara betraying her, clearly this was proof of deep love”?
Again, ship what you ship, but don’t start the conversation on how other ships are morally inferior especially when it’s just a big fat case of pot calling the kettle. 
=> ship and let ship is the way to go, but that’s the whole thing, saying that William x Kara is toxic and a bad message and that he is just as “problematic” as Mon-El (again, in the William Dey tag!) is NOT letting other people ship what they want, it’s passing judgment and trying to make them look bad.  
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anonymoustalks · 4 years
Conversation
The left has become absorbed by identity politics and is obsessed with race.. it scares me that they will create more racists than before they started
(6-17-20) You both like politics.
You: heyaa
Stranger: Hi
Stranger: How are you
You: anything you're interested in?
You: I am fine
Stranger: I'm interested in hearing opinions on things
You: oh, me too ^^
You: what kind of things?
Stranger: Politics is divisive, but in order to get a better understanding I wish to listen to both sides
You: awesome, I think that's great ^^
Stranger: :) thank you
You: do you have issues you care about most?
Stranger: The current fall of western society
You: fall of western society huh
You: can you elaborate more?
Stranger: Over the past few years we have seen western society devolve. Where once we were fairly united and we stood strong, we have become more divided and with the introduction of identity politics, that has just worsened till we have gotten to where we are now. China is currently pushing her borders, and yet with the US in flames and the uk following suit (along with France for that matter), noone challenges it
You: mhm *nodsnods*
Stranger: To speak out against the lunacy is to be called a racist and a bigot, not that that's anything new of course but those who are calling for these things seem to not really understand the importance and significance of their actions. I see this as akin to the 1920s Weimar Republic. They are pushing for things they don't want
You: you type a lot haha
Stranger: Sorry i am choosing my words carefully
You: mhm it's fine
You: so you think strong foreign policy is very important?
Stranger: I do. I am from South Africa, though I live in the uk. For those who live outside the us and Europe, we see the importance of Baro and the us on a geopolitical scale. China owns the east of Africa, if not central as well. The us has been the top dog preventing them and Russia from doing much for years, though that's going to change in the coming years
Stranger: NATO not baro* bloody autocorrect
You: oh okay I was wondering what that was haha
Stranger: If I may ask, where are you from?
You: the us actually
Stranger: I thought you might be given the time :) it's half 1 am here
You: yeah it's late!
You: so in your view, western countries need to have more of a spine?
You: is that basically what you're saying?
Stranger: Always. But history has a cycle.
Stranger: Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times
You: very fair
You: speaking of cycles, I think something that is floating around these days
You: is whether it's sort of like the beginning of the end of american hegemony
You: sort of like UK's empire gradually had its sunset
Stranger: This is what I am concerned with. All empires have their time in the sun, and all shall fade. I had hoped I would be dead before it happened. I made a prediction several years ago that should trump win in 2020 again, there will be civil war. I am unsure on my prediction of civil war, but I can see that he will win. Should there not be war, I give it another 2 presidencies before yourselves will fall, and ww3 breaks out
You: hmm the us is steamy right now, but idk about civil war
Stranger: It's been brewing for a while now by my estimation
You: that said I would not be surprised about China continuing to be more aggressive
You: that stuff with India yesterday?
You: ^^
Stranger: Without strong willed opposition, they will always push more overtly. They have done so in the shadows for years now
Stranger: And that's just one example
Stranger: They have intruded on Thailand air space as well
You: I don't think either democrats or republicans are very foreign-policy aggressive right now though
You: idk if your concern will be that much better with biden
You: clinton was a little hawkish but she lost 2016
Stranger: It would be much worse with Biden, or anyone from the left EXCEPT Tulsi Gabbard
You: oh you sounded like you didn't want trump to win lol
Stranger: I don't like him. But honestly, he's the best option out of what has been shown. Bernie is a socialist, Hillary is a warmonger, Biden will probably be a puppet. Who can stand? Hillary could be strong, but you would go to war. For all his faults, Trump has avoided war and conflict. He brought North Korea to the discussion table.
You: okay ^^
Stranger: I may not like him but he is effective, and has been a boon to you economy though as someone who works in finance, the next crash is due soon
You: fair enough although I think a lot of places are hurt by the coronavirus economy anyways
Stranger: Yeah.. the lockdowns are odd.. why quarantine those who are healthy? We have always quarantined those who were I'll first, and then those who go out and riot get a free pass? It's a bit confusing, and is a little bit of double think. Rules don't apply to you if you have the correct opinions it would seem
You: idk the US never really had forced quarantines
You: everything here was just you were supposed to do it
Stranger: The uk did, apologies
Stranger: Well not heavily enforced near me
You: we had college students going to beaches even though the quarantine was happening
You: because young ppl think they are invincible
You: and dumb ^^
Stranger: Hahaha yeah you aren't wrong in that
Stranger: But I have waffled on, may I hear your opinions on what we have discussed?
You: mhm, I disagree but it's cool yo~
Stranger: No that's great, it shows that we can discuss and hopefully come to compromise
Stranger: Thank you for being chill and relaxed
You: mhm I'm basically a hippie though so I don't usually take strong stances on international intervention
Stranger: That's fair and understandable. I used to agree with that as well for many years
You: I kind of think it's a little bit of a selfish position to take (the peace one)
You: in the sense that I don't want to deal with other people's problems
You: so in a sense it's kinda selfish
Stranger: It is and it isn't :)
Stranger: It's a moral good and a difficult thing. Peace only exists as reprieve from war. Humanity is a war like species, and peace only ever exists between them. And I applaud your pacifism
You: idk I'm not sure if it's always something to applaud
You: I think in a sense it's a kind of inaction
Stranger: A good thought experiment for you then, look at ww2
You: yup
You: I'm familiar with isolationism in history and its ramifications
Stranger: The us was neutral officially for years, and because they took no strong stance, the Nazis rose to power. Admittedly it was partly the fault of all the allies and ww1 but that's a digression.
Stranger: But war was thrust upon them officially by what happened. The peaceful stance can be taken from you, but that is not a bad thing in my opinion
You: yup
Stranger: What would you do if you could, at that time?
You: at that time?
You: hmm
You: it's not a question I've thought very much about
Stranger: I thought on that myself
You: and what did you conclude?
Stranger: My answer was intervention. Stop the Anschluss, the Munich agreement, the extremely harsh measures of the treaty at the end of ww1
You: oh yeah that was a terrible treaty
You: I kind of imagined myself as an average person though haha
Stranger: But I understand the reasoning at the time for allowing all those things to go through
Stranger: I am too
You: you would have protested your government signing that treaty?
Stranger: That's why thay generation was called the greatest generation. We the average man stood up and took up arms, because they believed what was right.
Stranger: It is difficult to say that if I lived in that time I would. Of it was today, 100%
You: mhm... war is frightening
Stranger: We cannot judge the past with the same moral standing we have today
You: of course
Stranger: And yes, war really is a horrible thing
Stranger: If peace was an option, I would go for it. Often times though, we have no control over that
You: mhm there is suffering in a lot of places, and violence that arises from suffering and hatred
Stranger: Look at the Nazis and the hatred of the Jews. That was extremely common all across Europe, the uk and the us. Many leaders in politics and business liked the Nazis initially. But just because something is common, does not make it right
You: I actually never understood antisemitism
Stranger: You are quite wise, and I agree with you. But the sad thing is, there will always be suffering
You: or why people hate(d) jewish people
Stranger: The scary thing is, many of those in BLM look up to a man called Farrakhan (forgive me on the spelling) who is a huge antisemite. Like he openly calls for violence against them. He gets away with it, because he is black. Why he hates them I don't know. They are hated I think, because they are the oldest abrahamic religion and the oldest monothesist one as well, from which both Islam and Christianity draw their teachings from initially
You: I just don't understand why they are hated
You: often by christians too
Stranger: Me neither, I find it abhorrent. They have been persecuted for thousands of years
You: yeah idk I just don't understand why
Stranger: I have yet to find out why. I know in Islam they hate them as it is dictated within their scriptures, though the exact wording I am unsure on. Christians I would think it's because they don't believe that Jesus was the son of God
You: I guess so
Stranger: But I may be entirely wrong
Stranger: Which I probably am
You: idk I don't know anything so I have no clue
Stranger: Hence why I like and want discussion :) we learn more through communication
Stranger: We become better the more we communicate
You: is there a reason why you dislike blm so much?
Stranger: I stand against identitarianism
You: so basically all those "pride" movements?
Stranger: I come from a racist country that segregated everyone and everything based on the colour of everyone's skin and I was hated for being the colour of my skin just for being born. I cannot condone movements that wish to implement the same things, as it will lead to suffering and hatred.
Stranger: I have nothing against being proud of your race, though I think the idea is a bit stupid. I have an issue with everything needing to divided up based on the colour of ones skin, I choose to judge someone on the basis of their character. I'm not perfect and there are times where I have been prejudiced but it is something I am consious of and wish to not do
You: mhm okay
You: I'm not sure if blm wants things to be divided up based on race though
You: I thought they were mostly against police brutality
Stranger: Some very much so are. Though I will concede that not all of them are, and I should tar everyone with the same brush. But as a counter to that, look at CHAZ in Seattle, they have segregated farms though calling them that is hilarious
You: I thought chaz is just a city block?
Stranger: On the police brutality, I agree with them and that reform must happen. Abolishing police is not a good idea. More funding is required, better training and better internal policies and structures to vette and review the officers is needed. Abolishing them will lead to anarchy. You are correct that Chaz is, but it is a microcosm showing the very things I stand against. I am against racism of all kinds, segregation is a form of racism. The us had a history where they did it too and agreed that it was wrong
You: mhm
You: I just wasn't familiar with blm as pro-segregation
You: that said, most blm activists are just really young
Stranger: They have been co-opted by those who are. And many activists are young white kids
You: I don't think mainstream democrats take them very seriously
Stranger: I'm not so certain. But I hope I am wrong
You: idk I mean these days who knows what kind media we each read
You: so I'm sure I'm in a bubble too
Stranger: They may see these things as a good and helpful idea, but the road to hell is often paved with good intentions
Stranger: Of course, and I hope I'm wrong. I recommend a variety of news sources, especially independent ones. A great one is a guy named Tim Pool on YouTube. He is a left leaning centrist guy who is upfront with his leanings. But he gives the news as it is
You: mhm I try to avoid youtube news
You: although idk if it's truly reliable to always go through bbc or ap or others
You: they are just mainstream
Stranger: BBC is very biased in my opinion. Tim used to work on mainstream media but he left. I would call him credible, he looks at news sources and verifies them. He's very milk toast and fence sits allot the problem with news is that all sides want to spin things the way they want it
You: mhm okay
You: is there any kind of mainstream media that you like?
Stranger: I don't trust any of them when it comes to almost anything except weather and sport scores. I will listen to what is said from various sources before coming to my own conclusions. I have lost all faith in the media since 2016
You: I see, I guess it ends up being hard to find something to trust
Stranger: Unfortunately it is. My reasons for it was both the elections in the us for 2016 and the brexit vote here in the uk. I was very similar to you then, very much so a hippie and very left leaning. I disagreed with Trump and Brexit, but I lost. But the way the media and society within the left handled themselves and the situation, that put me off completely and pushed me to become more conservative than what I was
You: interesting, although I'm not exactly following what made you more interested in conservative things
Stranger: The constant denigration of those who you disagree with. The treatment hat those people got, most of whom are the working class, upon the backs of which society is upheld. They are not racist or evil. They have a different opinion and different values. How does making a choice in a democracy make someone evil when neither side is perfect?
Stranger: The left preaches tolerance, except that it doesnt in reality
You: mhm yeah I don't like that
You: I don't think it is effective either
Stranger: All it does is polarize people
Stranger: And drive them further away from reaching g a compromise
You: right
Stranger: Don't get me wrong, I don't agree with Brexit, but as a democracy we made a decision. So now we need to exact that decision. I would have voted for trump despite my disdain for him
Stranger: Enact not exact*
You: I think there are a lot of people who think similarly as you do ^^
Stranger: There really are
Stranger: The left has become absorbed by identity politics and is obsessed with race.. it scares me that they will create more racists than before they started
Stranger: Constantly calling your opposition racist and evil will force them into being it
You: mhm I think there are some things to distinguish between social media left-wing people and people in everyday life I think
You: the vitriol is always much more amplified online than people are irl
Stranger: Oh agreed! Twitter is not real life, but it has started to bleed over
You: I live in a fairly liberal state, although I don't really think I have ever seen twitter irl
You: although I do think there is probably self-censorship occuring
You: in the sense that people are afraid of what their neighbors will think
Stranger: There is allot of that
Stranger: Anything you say will be used against you. Even if it's not that controversial
Stranger: People have lost their jobs for an opinion not done at work
You: that said, I don't think that's per say the "left's" fault though -- I just think that public opinion has shifted dramatically in the last 10 years
Stranger: Or how about the man who lost his job because his wife said something controversial
Stranger: I agree with you
Stranger: I really do
Stranger: Allot of this I do think could have been stopped years ago
You: I don't really like the lynch firing of people
You: that companies do for their public image
You: because the truth doesn't matter
You: it's just public image
Stranger: They do so because they are scared of the mob
You: but at the same time, I think public image is a thing because majority opinion really has shifted in the past two decades
You: opinions on homosexuality have swung dramatically in the US
You: ten years ago it was totally okay in public to be anti-homosexual
Stranger: Obama was against gay marriage until it was politically important for him to win the next election
You: but public opinion I think has swung really fast
You: yeah
You: I think he swapped at the first poll that showed >50% of americans supported it
Stranger: Yep! I find it hilarious that that was the case
You: yes but I think conservatives find this kind of fast change extremely uncomforting
You: I can understand that sentiment
You: also isn't it getting kinda late for you? ^^
Stranger: Conservatives are by their very nature are conservative. Change is neither malevolent nor benevolent, but we cannot look at change as universally good. Not can we disregard tradition
Stranger: It's 3 am and I can still keep going, I'm enjoying this conversation :)
You: I need to do the dishes eventually lol
Stranger: If you wish to leave you can by all means :) I won't hate you for it
You: I'm fine either way tbh
You: are you working right now? if you have work tomorrow you should prob go to bed
Stranger: It's up to you :) I can go for ages though my coherence Kay descend
Stranger: I'm sadly unemployed at the moment having lost my job earlier this year
You: coronavirus?
Stranger: Sadly yes
You: that's unfortunate, I'm sorry
Stranger: Not your fault :) so don't stress
You: so aside from Russia and China and the decline of western things, is there anything else that you stress about lol?
Stranger: The drive of censorship
Stranger: I have serious issue with censory
You: mhm
Stranger: And yourself?
You: mhm I dunno really
Stranger: That's good, though I would urge you to become concerned with censorship
You: mhm maybe
You: for me it's sort of a contextual concern I think
You: in the sense that it depends on your vantage point
Stranger: Opinions, art and books doesn't matter. Today it is their voice, tomorrow it is my voice. The day after it becomes your voice. Censorship takes away their rights to speak, and your rights to listen
You: mhm, what I mean is that my family immigrated from China
You: so my reference point of censorship is literal government censorship
You: in comparison the "political correctness" thing just doesn't seem as big to me imo
You: because 90% of it to me is sort of like a person's relationship with the neighbor basically
You: the US government doesn't censor what you can publish essentially
Stranger: That's fair enough, but this is where it starts. Things take time, and if anyone gives in (such as they have in several cases) that builds. In time that becomes the norm, there after what gets censored will not be at the choice of the people but of those who are in power
You: perhaps, although I kind of have faith in the 1st ammendment and the US supreme court
You: we barely have libel laws or defamation laws in the US because of the 1st ammendment
Stranger: I have seen calls to change and amend it. In the uk we have no freedom of speech, people have been arrested for jokes, what's been said on Twitter, etc. There are those who say that it's ok to censor this and that because e they are problematic or it would be good for everyone. But that is how it starts. The US has so much freedom
You: ahh... yeah I feel like it is different in the uk
Stranger: The uk doesn't care for free speech. It's very worrying and there are calls for even more censorship here.
You: mhm that sounds worrisome
Stranger: I guess I project it across to all western countries, and that is something we have seen recently
You: I don't think the US will lose the 1st amendment anytime soon, it's not politically realistiic
Stranger: Look at Amazon censoring books and movies being removed etc, this is how this begins. If it is allowed now, how can we stop it in the future
You: idk the status of free speech in other countries
You: actually this is a very interesting topic
Stranger: The us is one of the only countries that has it
You: do you think freedom of speech should be protected in private spaces?
Stranger: Codified in law that is
You: because technically freedom of speech for us is supposed to be only related to public government relationships
Stranger: I believe it should always be be protected
You: specifically "congress will make no law restricting freedom of speech" (paraphrased)
You: so you believe that private companies should not control what is said on their premises?
You: I mean it's fine if you believe that, it's actually just a bit further than what the current status quo is
Stranger: Yes. They are not above the law. Society may shun them, but they should not become involved. Outright calls for violence are against the law and that should be honoured, outside of that no they should not impose on pthers
You: hmm in the US this is where things get super complicated
You: because conservatives are also the ones who want content restricted/said in their religious schools too
Stranger: I've noticed.. and that has an effect on the rest of the world
You: basically "freedom of religion" and "freedom of speech" being on the same political side here makes things very weird
Stranger: And yeah I am aware of that as well, though the pendulum seems to have swung to the other side now. And it will swing back to the other side again
You: kind of like "My store should have the freedom of religion to deny my patrons of being homosexual in my store" kinda thing
Stranger: Yeah it is hard but there is more to the opposite side than just the one thing
You: it's a weird convoluted thing when both are conservative issues
Stranger: That's a difficult one, but I would say that should be discussed and debated but the highest courts. I cannot say from a legal sense one way or the other, morally I can say that it's hard to decide. I think that everyone should get a choice but I am uncertain
Stranger: By not but*
You: mhm that's fine ^^
You: I just think it's very interesting because most laws here, they govern the relationship between between the government and the people
You: so our freedom of speech laws do not apply to amazon censoring books because they are a private company
Stranger: Which is the difficult thing
Stranger: They are protected by being a private company
Stranger: As it's not just them
You: maybe ^^ we have a free market though, so things that cannot be published on amazon will find an outlet elsewhere
You: provided there is a demand for it
You: that said, it also has some gray area with morality laws
Stranger: That is true but monopoloes make things harder to find
You: kind of like youtube banning pornographic content
Stranger: Yeah I can understand that morally, legally I don't know but I would assume that there is some laws regarding that
You: I mean I'm just used to many various sites having bans of various sorts
Stranger: The uk has some
Stranger: Yeah, but there are protections for them being platforms not publishers
You: I don't think there is any law forcing youtube to ban pornographic content; it's just a branding choice by the company
Stranger: If they are publishers, those protections don't apply
You: like I think they want to be seen as family-friendly
Stranger: Fair enough, would have thought there might be
You: porn sites are not illegal in the US lol
Stranger: Not family friendly, advertisement friendly
You: lol true
Stranger: Sorry I don't know enough to be able to say :) I'm happy to admit that
You: mhm aside from political correctness, I guess I just don't personally see a big problem with censorship in the US
You: although I think I have a different belief than you that I think it's okay for private companies to choose what they want to publish
You: even if the ban content
You: these companies still need to compete
Stranger: Them doing so is fine, but if they wish to be protected as platforms they cannot act as a publisher. I think that's the Crux of their protections
Stranger: It is something that has been going for a while though
Stranger: And I think Trump will have it in his campaign for reelection this year
You: okay ^^
Stranger: But I don't know, he has been interested in censorship and has said he is against it in the past
You: I think people mean different things by censorship
You: but that's just imo
You: there are almost no western countries that experience censorship by their governments
You: so people mean things like censorship at their workplace
You: although imo that's kind of less censorship and more on the political correctness spectrum
Stranger: True. That is very true. But if you don't stop censorship openly, then should it come from government you don't already know you can stand against it
You: but to me, that "political correctness" isn't anything new either; it's as old as time
You: like did we always worry about saying something that would offend our boss?
You: ^^
You: it's always been there
You: I just think people are uncomfortable because bosses have changed in the last few decades
Stranger: It's not just their work place. The new "town square" is has become online. Your freedoms online are not protected despite it being codified in law
Stranger: And you aren't wrong, and coming from China or at least your family, you bring an interesting perspective
You: I feel like in the US we have very little digital legislation
You: the US of is head of hear
You: *there
Stranger: The world needs a digital bill of rights, to protect us all and our data. But we won't get it
You: but I don't think we have anything guaranteeing that speech on the Internet is free by any regard
Stranger: I would argue we do
You: hm? which law?
You: I like most websites have ToS's and rules banning X Y or Z on their site
Stranger: Freedom of speech and expression
You: oh I mean in terms of law
Stranger: That is what I meant, so that we are free to speak and express ourselves. I also believe that our data should be private and cannot be sold and that should be protected. There are other things that I have heard but it's difficult to remember all those that were proposed
You: ahh
You: yeah we don't have those laws right now
Stranger: Today stuff is okay but you are not protected
You: although the EU has some privacy ones that we don't have in the US
Stranger: The EU doesn't care mostly
Stranger: Some laws only protect some information, I'm talking about all of our information
You: ^^
Stranger: Everything we post and do is tracked, monitored and sold
Stranger: We revel in it, "I was talking about cats/dogs and all of a sudden I got adds for cat/dog products"
Stranger: We hear that often
You: yup
Stranger: Also, with regards to our rights and things, who holds these companies accountable?
Stranger: Take google for example
Stranger: They have been caught tampering with the elections
You: well, again, we have basically no laws about this in the US so there is no accountability
Stranger: They openly censor news and opinions
Stranger: They are a monopoly
You: although some europrean countries have lawsuits whatever with them
You: yup they totally are
You: where are anti-trust laws lol?
Stranger: That's what I think Trump will be looking at, I would if I was in his shoes
Stranger: But they were given special protections
Stranger: Those need to be taken away, the large companies need to be broken up but governments are incompetent
Stranger: I don't trust them to do it well
You: mhm it actually reminds me of south korea actually
Stranger: I mean there are a few senators in the states that I think have the moral fortitude to do so, but I don't know
You: countries are loathe to break up companies that they're proud of basically
Stranger: Yep
You: like samsung in south korea lol?
Stranger: They wouldn't break them up
Stranger: It would do serious damage to the economy and blah blah blah
You: their revenue was like 20% of the entire country's gdp
Stranger: Yep it's a difficult argument
Stranger: And I can understand why you wouldnt
Stranger: That 20% could drop to below 1%
You: anyhow it is getting kind of late
You: it was nice talking to you
You: and you should sleep ^^
Stranger: Likewise! :) I needed to move my sleep schedule for a 24 hour race on the weekend anyway, sp thank you for occuping my time and mind :)
You: goodnight!
Stranger: I'm glad to have met another willing to talk, take care my good friend
You have disconnected.
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bnha-imagines-hcs · 6 years
Note
A c and e for dabi and twice? (I’m such a slut for the villains oops
( i’ll assume SFW, since that’s the last one i posted and you didn’t specify. | idk if any of this makes sense bc my head is weird atm but i wannit to write!!! i’ve been spooking myself with conspiracy theories... )
| dabi; headcanons.
AFFECTION       yes. now? always.
why else would he bother with a relationship? no trouble getting laid and able to snatch intelligent convos in a bar or park here and there, dabi’s no need to go out of his way for either.but proper, fulfilling affection comes with someone you trust - to an extent.
so. yeah. 
dabi’s always wanted a partner he could truly stand with. side by side, neither lesser or more than the other; whether this would be a romantic partner or not never mattered. a strong, reliable bond that doesn’t hinge on emotional constipation like so many of his working relations. 
                  a, uh. soul mate. if you will. shhh.
      he’s entirely honest with himself about this wish, too - which means he’s not shy about acting on it. unless he has his game face on or you’re around people who shouldn’t know you care about each other, dabi’s open to physical and not so physical affection.around here we’re not too macho for staring deep~~ into each other’s~~ eyes~~ (esp since his are so pretty that it’s hard not to ever get caught staring so yah). he prefers to have at least one hand at you at all times, soaking up your warmth and returning it. idle kisses during conversation, words clear against your cheek, the corner of your mouth. it’s in private that he lets his fingers trace the thin vulnerable skin of your eyelids or the exact shape of your cheeks.
ppl can complain or gag all they want, dabi is and will always be demonstratively loving. (or just. out of fucks to give, but w/e.)
CUDDLING     linked into the affection - dabi is highkey about simple, physical contact. arms around you at all times and usually while he’s behind you (better view on anything that might need to be u know dodged. he protective rawr); resting on your shoulders, round your waist, fingers hooked into the belt loops and fingers tracing the shape of your crotch if you don’t stop him, fingers hooked into the beltloops at your hips, hands at your hips, one arm round your neck w/ a hand on ur shoulder, hand on ur throat, hand resting lightly on ur crown, hands…… on ur ass. yeah.
will shamelessly insert himself into any conversation just by silently curling around you, and staring down ur convo partner like they’re the wall or smth ‘bout to get curbstomped; either, or.other times he lets u be… but still touches u somehow. turned farther away but with a hand on u to know where u at—
—dabi knows damn well how dangerous he is. he’s got to - it’s how he got where he is now, measuring his skill against what he’s got left to learn, against the competition that’ll come for ‘im as he makes a name for himself. consciously & unconsciously, that leads to him placing himself in a position where he can directly oppose whatever might try to fuck up this thing he’s got here, with u.he’s good w/ direct shit. also p good with sneaky shit. if ur a soft lil civilian or otherwise of lesser skill (or equal. or more, really - he’ll lay off some then, but still)- then he’ll want to know where ur at so he can bear in mind the angles if a threat pops up.        so. a hand on ur ass. hey- we can mix business w/ pleasure a lil.
             shhh. it’s totes just cuz he’s an ass man, tho.
straight up cuddling in bed, lazily soothed… all day every day pls and thnx. just hazy dozing, a dream-like quality to simple vulnerability shred. that’s not workable at present, but a worthy goal to set, no..? mmm.
EFFORT     flings, as stated, are for fun. he puts in the effort to be there bc he wants the good times, but it doesn’t go further than skindeep.
a real relationship - to dabi - is committed, and not something he’ll easily accept into his life. the point of one is effort; not in the least bc he knows it takes a fuckton of that for trust to really build. being who he is the way he is means it’s going to take effort.         mostly on his part, he thinks.     buuuuut also on the other part, if you’re not the patient or emotionally intelligent sort (which is fair honestly). 
dabi does not expect any true partner to do all the work. when it comes to effort in bonds, dabi goes … almost for broke, really. he’s neither antisocial nor aromantic, knows he craves emotional connection on several levels, and is therefore invested.                so, although he can be closed off (you may still not hear about w/e got him in this life etc), you can def just go up to him and go ‘okay i have xyz problem with us as we are, i need abc from you / do you need abc from me’. he’ll listen. he’ll try to see it your way too. this boy understands better than most what it really takes to make shit work with smn.
                  the most effort is trying to get him to a point where                   he wants to keep someone around, though. his                  agenda is his priority as is; romance just... well shit,                  you know this ain’t the time for that.
| twice; headcanons.
AFFECTION     at once highkey and lowkey. his anxiety nullifies any impulse to be all lovey dovey bc yeah. actually. that can get you killed. and losing you is high on his list of shit to avoid. so it’s all behind closed doors and there it’s desperate as you know he can be, all over each other, physical reassurance of both your connection and the fact your heart still beats.
starved of it, jin is always up for affection – yet can have too full a head to be able to deal with the extra impulses; physical touch, the emotion it evokes, what it does to his mind.
generally tight hugs, touchy-feely, wants to have his eyes on ur face to read u and check u over. prefers to have some kinda physical contact w/ u when ur together but his attention is away from you; the sensation of good things slipping through his fingers gets intense.
CUDDLING     yes please. jin can actually sleep in the same bed as someone else with little to no problem; at worst he’ll jerk violently in his sleep/during a dream/if his body registers your touch as foreign, but it’s not a punch or shit just an involuntary jolt.
embraces are his fave. full on arms around each other and pressed together. long, feelsy hugs that are all about just. well. affection. feeling each other. finding some peace in the hug and letting it last. 
jin is susceptible to ridicule (from stupid macho morons) but resolved about dem long hugs and sweet, tender love that isn’t afraid to be vulnerable. that’s what his cuddling feels like, always intimate. it can get a bit much to be constantly intimate to that extent, but then he rarely slips up about showing just how much he cares about you in public - so that’s a break from that lmao.
EFFORT     a lot. lots of internal shit, working on new anxieties. trying to ween himself off needing to feel you, to tone down the cling. it takes a few months for him to fully be ready to take this new flaring anxiety in his hands and deal with it like the (at least partially) solvable problem it is, and that’s when he starts toning it down, reassuring himself about the lack of touch, etc.         he’s an anxiety veteran. new causes can be so overwhelming that he doesn’t remember for a while that it’s his brain funking around.
he cares about you / what you’re feeling / needs & wants. might not be able to help, but will fucking care. if there’s one thing you won’t feel, it’s unappreciated. 
twice is a lil more aware of healthy functioning relationship dynamics than some of the other league members, and unlike say dabi he’s really intent on keeping you around. if he’s got something good he’s going to do what he can to keep it.
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marauders70s · 7 years
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Ooh, Hermione and Draco? Title: It's Always You. Summary: Draco asks Her to dance in front of everyone at the yule ball. And everyone's like so shocked but they do it anyway and ppl start clapping at the end. You don't have to❤
like my dudes i know a lot of people hate dramione but i have a special spot in my heart for dramione
Title: It’s Always YouPairing: Draco Malfoy & Hermione GrangerSummary: Ron ruined the night, but the night wasn’t over.
Krum had left after she had told him to go, distractedly, angrily, tearfully. He had been hurt and confused; he had wanted to hold her, to find who had made her so upset, but she refused to tell him what Ron had said. Regardless of Ron’s inexplicable temper, she didn’t want to create bad blood between the internationally ranked Seeker and one of her best friends. And she especially didn’t want to leave Durmstrang with the impression that Hogwarts was bigoted and jealous.
Harry had gone with Ron, predictably. Both had been abandoned by their dates - the Patil twins - and were going to bed. Hermione had already cried herself out in the first floor guest bathroom, careful not to get any tears on her satin periwinkle dress, or to pull at her sleek hair. She retreated to a far table to watch the rest of the dancing. She knew if Pavarti had left, then Lavender was not far behind, and going up to her dormitory to hear them gossipping about Ron’s behavior again was more nauseating than she could bear. Instead, she fetched herself some pixie punch and was determined to stay until the stroke of midnight, and then in the Commons after until she was absolutely sure Pavarti and Lavender were asleep. 
She watched the dance floor; it was thinning now. The older students were out in the Gardens trying to climb into the bushes, or else unlocking unused classrooms or finding other trysting spots. The Astronomy Tower must be freezing but packed with romantic couples trying to look at the stars and make a move on their partner. 
Fred and Angelina were still going strong, though both were covered in sweat, and Angelina’s makeup. Hermione wasn’t sure if it was from them snogging or flinging themselves around so hard her eyeshadow was splashing onto her date as well. George and Katie were near them, but they were leaning against one another in exhaustion, almost asleep - eyes closed - determined to outdance Fred and Angelina. Katie looked very pretty in a blue silk sheath, and Angelina in sequined gold. Both the twins were in what looked to be extra work robes of Mr. Weasley’s. 
Neville and Ginny had disappeared. Ginny had retreated early to gossip to the rest of her envious third year mates. Neville had probably gone straight to bed. She couldn’t see Pavarti or Lavender anywhere, and even Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas were gone off somewhere - probably with their dates - though Hermione wasn’t sure who they were.
Only a very few of the visiting students were left: one Durmstrang girl in Seventh Year, and a few Beauxbatons boys who were hoping to clean up the straggling Hogwarts girls. Hermione saw Pansy Parkinson in black crushed velvet, tiny pearls beading around her waist. Despite her personal hatred of her bully, Hermione had to concede she looked nice. She was dancing with Blaise Zabini, but he was looking over her head at the Durmstrang girl with interest despite being three years younger. 
There were no other Slytherins; Draco Malfoy had gone, and so had his dumb and almost mute cronies Crabbe and Goyle, who had not managed to find partners, and had spent the entirety of the dance sitting down, looking stupid and bored after the banquet had been cleared away. Hermione relaxed a little. There was no one left who she knew well enough to bother saying hello to, or intruding on to keep her company. And there was also no one left rude or mean enough to nag her since Pansy was busy, and Malfoy was missing.
The night trickled by slowly, and even supervising staff who had long retreated to the tables to watch sleepily, began to clear out with yawns, until only Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore himself were left. The other heads of schools were nowhere to be seen, though Hermione thought Madame Maxime had last been with Hagrid.
To Hermione’s surprise, Angelina sat down on the dance floor before laying down completely, sides heaving as she panted. George and Katie roused themselves, having won by default, and cheered and mocked Fred as he dropped too, lying side by side with Angelina, letting their sweat leech into the cold stone floor, Angelina begging Katie to pull off her shoes.
The four of them limped off to an afterparty they were likely to start, not even bothering to lower their voices in passing the teachers on their way out, though George did tip his hat cheekily to McGonagall, who scowled. 
A slow dance came on, and Hermione’s stomach lurched uncomfortably. She had been the recipient of her very first kiss tonight, and she had been scared in the starlight on the terrace, but Viktor had been quiet and gentle, and even laughed with her when she giggled afterwards nervously. Now, every slow song reminded her painfully of what Ron had said. Of the fact Viktor was probably in his room on the ship, angry that their night was ruined and ended early, and that she was sitting alone, afraid to go upstairs to her own bedroom and cast a silencing spell around her bed lest she might offend her roommates. 
She felt guiltier than ever. She shouldn’t have to tiptoe around them. It wasn’t her fault Ron had acted the way he had. He’d been acting badly all year, and hanging out with Fred and George, making Fred bring her little messages that she refused to answer, and Fred made light of. She looked into her empty party cup and set it on the table. It winked out of sight unobtrusively, but it made her more morose than ever, as if promising there would be no punch left if she wanted any. It was just that sort of night.
Sighing, she reached up to pull the piskie pins out of her hair to let it down. She would have to wash it out before it got too greasy and tangled. Maybe she should spend a long time in the bathroom - it was sure to be deserted. This thought cheered her up very slightly. It was a better place to hide than here at a table alone, on the receiving end of unsubtle glances of McGonagall’s sharp gaze, or up in the Commons where she might be forced to socialize with an after-party by the twins.
She pulled the first pin from the nape of her neck and felt a long piece of hair fall. Her hair had definite spring to it, and was longer than even she had expected when she had gotten it all straightened out. She reached for another, already thinking of the steaming free standing soaker tub she could climb into in its privacy stall when - 
“Granger?”
She looked up, and actually dropped her piskie pin in surprise, arm falling dead into her lap. Draco Malfoy was standing in front of her in silver robes and was glancing down at her with the oddest expression on his face. 
Well no, it wasn’t an expression. it was the lack of expression. Usually when he looked at her, he was gloating, or sneering, or smirking, or - but his face was blank. Neutral. Almost nice looking. It was as if a stranger had come up to her, and Hermione had the uncanny sensation of seeing Draco’s face as others might see him, without his personality underlaid. She hadn’t realized he was handsome before. She had always thought him an ugly sort of git.
“Yes?”
She realized he had been holding his hand out to her, but she couldn’t understand the meaning of it, quick as her mind was supposed to be. She only stared at him as he huffed an impatient sigh, his features rearranging themselves haughtily for a moment and bringing her back to herself.
“What are you doing?” she asked suspiciously, but she could understand now, all at once.
“Asking you to dance,” said Draco, wiggling his hand impatiently. 
Hermione checked over her shoulders, and then over his, for his cronies or friends. But Crabbe and Goyle were not waiting with buckets of blood or paint or cameras to pull down her dress. Pansy had been taken off by a Beauxbatons boy with a coy smile. Blaise Zabini was asking the Durmstrang girl to dance, and he was not having the trouble Draco was.
Draco glanced over his shoulder too, impassively. He didn’t worry about anyone else, because he made the rules. If he wanted to dance with Granger, no one would say anything about it. He glanced back down imperiously at Hermione. “Well?”
“Is this a joke?” and she said it flatly, frustrated that she couldn’t see the trap.
“What?” and for a moment, he looked almost offended. “No! You were sitting down by yourself. It’s the last song. Would you like to dance?”
Hermione just stared at him until he dropped his hand and raised his eyebrows coolly. “Fine! Whatever. I don’t care. Don’t dance if you don’t want.” He made to turn away, and Hermione hesitated before she stood. She did not take his hand.
“Is it really a joke?” she asked again, quietly. “If it is, just tell me. I’ll still dance with you or whatever. You can say you got me. Just let me prepare for more of this night.”
Draco actually looked uncomfortable. “No. It’s not…it’s not a joke,” he said at last. And he cringed, realizing how realistic her fears were. He glanced around again. “Look, none of my friends are here.”
“I can see that,” and her voice was even, measured.
“You don’t have to. Go upstairs if you want.”
“Are you sure you’re not having me on?”
“I was just trying to be-” sputtered Draco, incensed. 
“Nice?” Hermione asked sarcastically, and Draco narrowed blue eyes in her direction.
“Are you going to dance or not?”
She was tempted to say not and to laugh about the entire encounter with Harry and Ron in the morning, but just thinking about Harry and Ron twisted her stomach, and she paused, before she nodded, just once, glancing in McGonagall’s direction and catching her quick profile. Hermione knew by the movement that she had been staring at them a moment before.
She felt clumsy, and Draco took her in his arms stiffly. He was a good dancer, Hermione realized. Better than she was. Better than even Viktor. 
“I thought dancing would be beneath you.”
Draco actually smiled, and it took her so aback she stumbled. He followed her weight without pause, and twirled her 180 degrees. “A young man of breeding,” he quoted in a stuffy voice, “has many lessons before schooling truly begins.”
“Did you really?” and Hermione was surprised at herself for wanting to know more. She was genuinely curious. She didn’t know anything about education before Hogwarts, aside from Ron.
“My Mother didn’t want me associating with mixed bloods at the local primary,” said Draco stiffly at first, while Hermione flushed, looking down, acutely aware of her own blood status. “She hired me a governess until I was five. Then a tutor until I was ten. Drawing, dancing, music, history, and the modern languages.”
Hermione actually giggled. “You can draw too?”
Draco quirked a smile. “Very badly. Mostly plants from books. We didn’t have much variety in the library. I learned out of a book of poisons.”
Hermione looked down between them, surprised to realize there was no space between them at all. 
“Je sais que vous parlez français,” Draco said, trying to catch her eye, while Hermione blushed furiously.
“Juste un peu. Et très mal,” she answered him, embarrassed at her accent.
Draco smiled broadly, staggering her again. He twirled her instead to keep her footing.
“What else did you learn?” she asked, rather breathlessly.
“Sums, mathematics, philosophy,” he answered carelessly. “The classical upbringing.”
“Greek and Latin?”
“Only Latin for spellcasting. Beginning magical theory. Children’s guide to Alchemy. That sort of thing.”
“But that’s very advanced!” said Hermione, and her voice was admiring without meaning to. Draco grimaced.
“Yes. It was a lot of work. A very isolating childhood,” and Hermione was quiet again.
“I also read a lot,” she said quietly. “But I didn’t have any tutors or anything. Both my parents worked, and I didn’t have any siblings.”
Draco nodded, and Hermione took it as encouragement.
“Mostly I read whatever I could find in the library. Things you wouldn’t think worth your time,” she added in a hard voice. “Children’s books. Muggle children’s books. As I got older…science too. I loved science. I think it’s what I love about Arithmancy and magic in general.”
Draco Malfoy was in her Arithmancy class, she realized at once. She had never noticed him before, cornered in the back all alone without his friends. Something struck her, something that had never struck her, though she had known it all along, like a passing thing:
“You’re smart!” she cried in surprise, and Draco actually stopped rotating with her, as they held stock still. He was saved from answering by a smattering of polite applause. Hermione backed away from his contact and flushed. Without their noticing, the dance floor had cleared until it was just them, and everyone else had been watching them chat.
Draco only smiled derisively across the distance at her, and gave a very smart, and very formal dancer’s bow, before he turned on his heel, and strode away in a swish of silver robes.
Send me a made up AO3 title and i’ll write you a drabble based off of it!
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