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luizd3ad · 1 month

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When in Doubt, Blame Damian | Jason x Reader

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 ࣪˖⤷ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ ࣪ ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 ˖ ⤷

Pairing: Jason Todd x GN! Reader

WC: 928

CW: Swearing, over thinking. It’s mostly kinda fluffy. No use of Y/N.

Author's Note: I got this idea while giving my dog a bath sooo here you go idk lol hope you like it🖤

Summary: You get a dog!! … but you didn’t tell Jason.

Not my picture

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You blamed Damian.

You normally blame Damian for a lot. More than you're willing to admit, sometimes for stuff he wasn't even involved in.

But this time you think it's actually his fault.

How could you not blame him? If he hadn't asked for a ride to the pet store. If he didn't insist that Titus absolutely needed a new friend. If he never put that little puppy in your arms basically forcing you to fall in love with the little baby that was giving you kisses, then you wouldn't be here right now.

You wouldn't be in yours and your boyfriend's apartment trying to figure out how to tell said boyfriend that you guys now had a dog.

Would Jason be mad? Honestly? You didn't know. The topic of getting a dog or a cat has came up a few times.

He would usually say things like ‘Maybe’ or ‘Now's just probably not a good time’ it was never a definite yes or no.

So maybe it wouldn't be that bad, you thought to yourself trying to give yourself some confidence.

I mean it was your apartment too. You contributed. And it would feel nice to have something to keep you company while Jason was on patrol or had to go somewhere for a while.

You'd hyped yourself up at this point you had some good arguments lined up for why it was a good idea.

You felt confident about your choice, especially when you looked down at the little puppy sleeping peacefully in his bed that was in your shared bedroom. You got this, you told yourself and you really believed that. You genuinely did.

That was until you heard the front door unlock.

You rush out the room, closing the door softly trying not to wake up the puppy.

You walked into the living room to greet Jason who was out all morning and most of the afternoon training with Dick, Cass and Duke.

“Hey Jay.” You say giving him a soft kiss.

“Hi my love. How was your day?”

Jason says, giving you a tight hug, holding you for a moment.

“Umm it was you know. It was fine. Hung out with Dames. Nothing crazy you know? How about you?”

You rambled pulling away from Jason trying not to sound suspicious while walking to the couch in the living room.

Jason gives you a questioning look but ends up just dropping it and following you to the couch.

“It was fine. Just the normal shit. I missed you though.”

Jay pulls you into him while giving you a kiss on your head. You feel kinda guilty at this point.

You don't like keeping things from Jason. He has a lot of trust issues so it was important that you guys had a lot of honesty and communication in your relationship.

You pull away from Jason and look at him, giving him a slightly guilty look.

“Jay, I have something to tell you. Don't be mad.”

“Did something happen when you were out with the Demon Spawn? Did he do something? What did he say? I'm gonna kick that little brats ass.”

Jason runs his hand through his hair already mad at Damian for whatever Jason thinks he did.

“Jay calm down Dames didn't technically do anything. I did something, and before you get mad-”

You were interrupted when you heard a puppy bark and a slight clawing sound at the bedroom door and judging by Jasons face he also heard it.

“What was that?”

“What was what?”

You give a little chuckle, now trying to play it off. Hoping that this isn't how Jason finds out but knowing that it is.

“Babe Is there a dog here?”

“Um technically..? Yes?”

Jason sighs and gets up to the bedroom and opens the door letting the dog run up to you as he tries to climb up on you. You pick him up, putting him on your lap while he starts playing with your hand.

“Babe, who’s dog is that?”

“Umm… Ours?”

“When did we get a dog?”

Jason says wide eyed and raises his eyebrows at you.

“It's all Damian's fault! He told me how lonely Titus gets sometimes and I felt bad and just look at how cute he is!”

You try to explain picking the dog up so Jason can look at him.

“Don't be mad jay..”

You say putting the puppy on the floor so he can run around a little all while you look extremely guilty.

“Mad? Why would I be mad? Wait baby, is this what you were trying to tell me?”

Jason says sitting next to you on the couch while looking at you concerned.

“Yes… I felt bad making a choice like that without you and I know how you don't like it when people hide stuff from you and I just don't want to make you mad.”

“Baby, I'm not mad. I'm not thrilled that you got a dog without me, especially because it was with the Demon Spawn. But I'm not mad.”

Jason says pulling you into him kissing the top of your head.

“You're not mad? Really?”

“I can't be mad at you baby. You mean everything to me.”

Jason says while the puppy runs up to you guys laying down at your feet.

“I'm still sorry Jay.”

“I know you are, baby. It's okay, promise. Now what's this little guy's name?”

Jason says picking up the puppy and looking at his face while you smile at them.

Maybe you shouldn't blame Damian… this time.

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zepskies · 6 months

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Why We Love the Boys

As promised, here is my review of Supes Ain’t Always Heroes. I actually used to write book reviews in my high school journalism days, so here we go!

What this book is: A masterful deep dive. A study on character psychology, the source of the comic and show’s inspiration, and the narrative themes illustrated in The Boys that parallel American culture and our real lives.

It includes interviews from one of the comic’s creators, Darick Robertson, The Krip himself (Eric Kripke), and actors Jim Beaver (Robert Singer), Aya Cash (Stormfront), Chace Crawford (The Deep), Jessie T. Usher (A-Train), Nathan Mitchell (Black Noir), and of course, Jensen Ackles (Soldier Boy).

It also includes a small but significant ode to the creativity of fans and fandom (with a mention of fanfic writers)!

I’ll admit, I felt seen. 😊

Who wrote it: Psychologists Lynn S. Zubernis and Matthew Snyder. Zubernis is a self-proclaimed fangirl of not only this show, but Supernatural and Eric Kripke in general. (That aspect definitely comes through in her writing.)

She is also editor of Family Don’t End with Blood: Cast and Fans on How Supernatural Changes Lives and There’ll Be Peace When you Are Done: Actors and Fans Celebrate the Legacy of Supernatural. Both of which I now want to read.

Several other authors also contributed to this book, as their expertise and backgrounds lend to the subjects they’re covering, such as racism, sexism, the entertainment industry, the comic’s inception, and more.

Who wants to read this book: Anyone who enjoys learning about what makes characters tick. What drives their choices, their sense of morality and justice, and their trauma and strife that lead them to do heinous things. This book will help you better understand your favorite characters (and how to write about them).

Perhaps most importantly, this book is for anyone who wants to read it put into words, why many of us love The Boys, as well as Supernatural.

In a way, the latter is more escapism entertainment than The Boys. Because in this show, there isn’t much, if any escape.

Despite this being a “superhero show,” as we all know, it’s so much more than that. It’s a mirror held directly into our own faces: about why we enjoy heroes and antiheroes, and excuse the “bad behavior” of the ones we like.

About mental health, grief and loss, nature and nurture, coping mechanisms and the importance of choice in dealing with trauma; of racism, sexism, misogyny, weaponized social media, politics, corporate greed, and the power (and cruelty) of good marketing.

This book explores the true villain of the story (and it ain’t Homelander).

I’m going to get into my favorite aspects of this book—as well as an amazing chapter on Soldier Boy’s character study (and why we love him, perhaps too much).

Though in my opinion, it was missing one small, but key thing…

The Mirror of The Boys on Screen

This world is a gritty, bloody, and at times all-too realistic take on how superheroes would be if they lived in our world.

They are the worst of celebrities, professional athletes, and politicians all rolled into one. They are the shiny products of a company and are marketed as such. And they often buy into their own hype.

Some of my favorite quotes on this topic:

“The Boys often reflects darkness in our real world that is uncomfortable to watch. While we go through the tedium of our daily lives, trying to get by and using television or comics as an escape, it can feel difficult and overwhelming to confront the very real and insidious sources of authoritarianism, nationalism, and corporatism that are not just part of a story. “This show holds up a mirror and forces us to catch a glimpse of things we need to question, and asks us why we so easily believe the talking points of systems with marketing departments and press flacks behind them that carefully massage every word in order to get us to feel enamored with their product or policy.” (p. 227-228)

“The Boys works to reveal the nonaltruistic, sociopathic nature of contemporary US corporate culture. In a sense, The Boys uses the behavior of its characters to diagnose not an individual, but a culture.” (255)

In studying narrative I’ve learned that the best fiction and art serve to reflect the human experience. In this case, it’s something The Boys does expertly, even though it’s packaged in extreme, shocking, and often uncomfortable ways. But also in brutal, hilarious satire that’s fun to watch.

It “exposes real-world abuses, revealing many” of our own frustrations in American culture and in life in general (267).

Major Themes & Questions Explored

Several Boys themes are explored from a psychological, cultural, and narrative point of view, as I mentioned earlier. These are some of my favorite segments:

Toxic Masculinity & Narcissism

A whopper in The Boys, and the main theme of season 3. This book defines clearly what both of these words actually mean from a psychological point of view.

It also takes the bad taste out of your mouth that you might get from just hearing the words “toxic masculinity,” as it’s a phrase that can be carelessly thrown around to describe men and character traits that aren’t truly toxic.

How being emotionally available to your loved ones and not repressive of your feelings doesn’t make you weak, or less of a man. And how “being strong” doesn’t mean being physically violent and domineering. (AKA: the Big Swinging Dick™️ in the room.)

Narcissism is explored in a very interesting way. The book gives a diagram of different aspects of narcissists and how each character (Soldier Boy, Homelander, Butcher, and the Deep) falls into them.

Soldier Boy, for example, is classified as a “Classic Narcissist,” while Homelander a “Malignant Narcissist.” <- This will play into SB’s character study, and the main difference between SB and Homelander.

Butcher, however, displays narcissistic tendencies but is not, in fact, a narcissist. (More of an antisocial sociopath. Yay for him.)

Misogyny & Sexism

The classic superhero world of comics dates back to the 1930s and ‘40s. It has been, and in many respects still is a (White) male-dominated industry, where in narrative, female superheroes typically work under a male leading the team, as in Justice League, Teen Titans, and the Avengers.

As much as I love DC and Marvel comics, female characters have also been drawn wildly sexual for male readers and the male gaze, and non-supe characters have been written primarily as love interests and damsels for the hero to save. (Think Lois Lane, Lana Lang, and Mary Jane.)

Modern adaptions have given female characters more agency, but their foundations were rooted in underlying sexism and the mythic hero—an Odysseus-type with certain characteristics of male strength and heroism. And that goes all the way back to classic literature, like The Odyssey, Beowulf, and the Epic of Gilgamesh.

In The Boys, the female supes go through the same issues as their comic counterparts. And they are treated how women are treated in the real world—marketable as sexual objects. (Starlight’s forced costume change is a prime example.)

Author Danielle Turchiano argues in the book that the women in power at Vought (Madelyn Stillwell, later Ashley) are given only so much power as men like Stan Edgar and Homelander give to them.

Stillwell, Ashley, and even Stormfront “drink the Kool Aid” of the misogynistic infrastructure of Vought, but they’re not truly “powerful” in and of themselves. (112)

And I would add that the only female characters that have or find true agency are Grace Mallory, Annie January/Starlight, and Maggie Shaw/Queen Maeve. Even Victoria Neuman is trying to work the political schematic and Vought by operating “within the system” Vought has created.

Mental Health, Trauma & Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms

This is a huge section, and rightly so. It kind of spans throughout the book, really, because all of these characters have traumas that inform who they are as adults making the (often grotesque) choices they make.

For many of these characters, it stems from their upbringing and fraught relationships with their parents, whether explicitly or implicitly explored in the show.

Butcher: Is an antisocial sociopath with narcissistic tendencies. Arrogant, emotionally manipulative, violent, and obsessive. He was also physically and emotionally abused by his father, led to use drinking and violence as a means to cope and express himself. His rage is so deep under his skin—he loathes himself for it (and his father), but struggles immensely to escape it.

Homelander: A malignant narcissist, the height of arrogance, and emotionally manipulative. He lacks empathy for others' pain, and in fact enjoys inflicting it. Yet he was a sensitive, gentle child who only wanted connection and love. Vogelbaum raised him like a lab rat and fostered him in a cold, detached cell. He was raised to be entitled and to believe he was an all-powerful god, the lord of his own kingdom within his mind, excused from the responsibility of his actions.

Soldier Boy: Also a narcissist; violent, arrogant, misogynistic, and often indifferent to the damage he causes, emotional or physical. Yet he was also emotionally abused by his father, who set impossible standards for what it meant to be a man. It drives Ben to try and prove his worth to his father, though he’s never able to. It fosters the lack of self-worth he feels as he seeks validation through fame and what he believes power to be.

These three characters have many similarities, but also notable differences that set them apart from one another. And both Butcher and Soldier Boy use substances like drugs and alcohol to cope with their traumas—ones that their forced stoicism and sense of manhood won’t allow them to easily express.

“We see Soldier Boy use substances almost continuously in season three to deal with his PTSD from the childhood emotional abuse he received from his father, the betrayal and assault from his team, and the torture he endured from the Russian scientists.

“In the short term, the use of drugs and alcohol to avoid thoughts and feelings about traumatic experiences can be felt as helpful, but in the long term, it hinders one’s ability to process emotions and can cause a deeper depression from the guilt and shame of both avoidance and substance abuse.” (27)

Heroes, Antiheroes & Villains

This book explores two key questions that the show encourages you to think about:

Who the hell is the hero of this story?

And who is the villain?

The surface-level answer is that Homelander and other supes like him are the villains, and Butcher and his band of bros are the heroes (or antiheroes). But they commit just as questionable, sketchy, and downright murderous acts as the supes they’re trying to take down.

“Butcher is not really a good guy. He’s manipulative and self-centered. His reasons for wanting to take down Homelander are utterly personal. That it serves the greater good is almost a coincidence.” (9)

And if Butcher is not a hero, but a vengeful vigilante, then why do we root for him so much?

Well, we see his incredible flaws. But I sympathize with his struggle in losing his wife and the life he could've continued to have with her. I root for the underdog going against the hydra head of Vought and the psychopathic Homelander.

And I see in Butcher, as I also do with Homelander and Soldier Boy, their traumas and their internal conflicts, their deep-rooted self-loathing, and a desire, deep, deep down…to be loved.

(And to foster connection with others, even if they’re unable to sustain them.)

On the flipside, we have antagonists in this show who do truly heinous things. What makes them compelling and even sympathetic, yet again, are their painful upbringings that have shaped them to be who they are. The supes of this show are byproducts of being treated like products.

Like the saying goes: Villains aren’t born, they’re made.

That’s why the real villain of this story is Vought International. It’s an allegory, and an indictment of the ruthless corporate greed that pervades American culture—and much of the world.

It’s why Stan Edgar is sometimes scarier to me than even Homelander (and was the true villain of my story, Break Me Down), if far more insidious.

Speaking of BMD, let’s get to it, shall we?

Here’s a (lot) bit about the Soldier Boy section of the book.

Soldier Boy: Why We Can’t Hate Him

I had to laugh out loud at the title of Soldier Boy’s chapter:

Loving the Villain: The Confusing Case of Soldier Boy

I’m not gonna lie. I felt called out. 😂

It is a confusing dichotomy. Soldier Boy is an absolute asshole. Misogynistic, narcissistic, arrogant, callous, violent…

But also deeply traumatized, a man-out-of-time, emotionally abused, byproduct of the historically and culturally different time he was raised in, a man who just doesn’t get it…

And also charming, adorably grumpy, and undoubtedly attractive.

It’s hard to indict “Ben” as an unredeemable villain in the same way I do Homelander, the psychologist-labelled Malignant Narcissist.

Therein lies the main difference between Soldier Boy and Homelander: Soldier Boy doesn’t take joy in harming others the way Homelander does. But he still harms people, whether he means to or not.

Zubernis confirms many of my own conclusions and ideas about Soldier Boy, and why I still rooted for him to be better, and didn’t want him to die at the end of season 3.

As Zubernis rightly exclaimed during her own watch of the finale: “Noooo, don’t kill the Danger Grandpa Baby Murder Kitten!” (175)

Because Jensen did what he does best in his roles: He made us feel Ben’s pain.

“What’s funny is, in regard to Jensen playing Soldier Boy, you know he’s fucking fantastic, he’s just so good at bringing the audience, and it’s almost like—what I laugh about is, he was probably a little too good at his job!” Kripke said. (180)

And he continues, “In part it’s because of the fandom. So many people took his side in the finale, they’re like, Were’s on his side, fuck everyone! And you’re like, but he’s the bad guy and he’s trying to kill a ten-year-old.”

Were there fans who held this viewpoint? I’m sure. There are some radicals who don’t give a fuck and will side with their favorite character, come whatever. But while I can’t speak for others, that’s not how I interpreted that moment in the season 3 finale.

Yes, I think Soldier Boy was (wrongfully) willing to fight Ryan. Do I think he would’ve killed him? I’m not sure. I think he would’ve done what he had to do to get Ryan out of his way in his fight with Homelander. Maybe he would’ve been more violent than he intended, in the callous collateral damage he’d shown throughout the season, or maybe he would’ve gone that far, if provoked.

It’s a tough call, as I think this character can go one way or the other in terms of his “villain” nature. We just haven’t seen enough of him in the series yet for me to make that conclusion on the canon-version of Soldier Boy. (In fanfic, I’ve explored my own interpretation.)

But overall, I think The Krip once again underestimated the power of Jensen’s acting.

…And the ardent nature of his mostly female fanbase. 😂

Why We Love Soldier Boy

The author cites multiple reasons for why we love Ben more than we probably should:

It’s Jensen Ackles. Fair enough. His talent speaks for itself.

Soldier Boy’s backstory: He was emotionally abused by his father and as a result, he has a complex regarding his self-worth, “something to prove,” and a secret need for attention, validation, and praise.

He has trauma and PTSD: He is displaced from what is familiar to him and confused when the boys find him, and that is the least of it. He’s been tortured for 40 years. Can you even conceive of that?

He’s charming: in a sexy grandpa, adorably grumpy, lovable asshole kind of way.

We’re drawn to danger: dangerous “edgy” types are fun, especially when you’re physically attracted to the character.

He has his moments of vulnerability: Jensen’s ability to play the nuance in the character is the ultimate draw. I felt his pain, could see his torture, and his resulting PTSD. He longs for a family, even if his ability to bring up those children is questionable at best. 😅

But I think the one aspect the author doesn’t consider is the character’s capacity for change.

Soldier Boy’s Potential

Again, I don’t think you can write off Soldier Boy’s potential for positive character development the same way you can Homelander, or even Butcher.

For one thing, we just haven’t spent enough time with the character. A lot of his collateral damage after he escapes imprisonment has been accidental, or PTSD-induced. Though we can’t discount how he murdered M.M.’s grandfather via collateral damage (and was callous about it).

I think this is what drew me to write about Soldier Boy. “For all his arrogance, his chauvinism, his massive ego and general bastardry, there’s still humanity in Ben.”

In the book, Nathan Mitchell also says something amazing about his own character (Black Noir) that resonated with me about Soldier Boy as well:

"One of the ingredients of a compelling character is contradiction. How does one aspect of our personality contradict with one another? [...] Who is he underneath? How might his true nature contrast with the demands of his job?"

Or coded for Soldier Boy/Ben: The pressures he puts on himself to be the type of man he thought his father wanted him to be.

Again, his sexist, misogynistic ideals are shaped by the time he was raised in, by being a product of Vought, and of his father’s emotionally abusive upbringing. Does this excuse or justify all of his behavior? Of course not.

But I think those 40 years in captivity changed him from the careless alpha dog we saw in 1984 Nicaragua…

He admits to Crimson Countess, with tears in his eyes, that he’d loved her. That he waited for her and his team—arguably the only social system he has in his life—to save him. He’s gutted to realize that not only did she and the rest of the team never love him, they hated him. They traded him for nothing. Just to get him out of their lives.

For all he claims to be afraid of nothing, tough as shit, he is afraid when he goes to face Mindstorm. He knows what the supe is capable of, and he visibly takes a shaky breath and tries to steel himself.

For a moment, he drops the “Soldier Boy” persona that he wears like a fine tailored suit. And he tells Butcher that the backstory Vought created for him was a lie; he grew up a rich kid who got sent to boarding school, but flunked out, because "he was a fuck up." And his father couldn’t be bothered to discipline him, implying he didn’t care enough about his own son to even lay a hand on him.

He is reluctant to kill Homelander when he finds out he’s Ben’s son (sort of). He even claims that he would’ve been willing to share the spotlight “with his own son.” — Something I doubt even Homelander would do.

Ben even seems to be fighting tears when he levies the same vitriol at Homelander that his own father did at him:

Homelander: “Weak? I’m you.”

Soldier Boy: “I know. You’re a fucking disappointment.”

Let me be clear. I don’t think it’s up to someone to change him (like a love interest). I don’t subscribe to that thinking, that a woman can “change” a man.

For example: In season 2, Butcher tells Becca, “Who was I before you? Nothing.”

And yet, she tells him that he put her on an unrealistic and unsustainable pedestal, in which she felt like she wasn’t allowed to fully be herself, unable to keep him from flying off the handle in rage. That kind of relationship (where one is dependent on the other to “keep them in check”) doesn’t work as a lasting, satisfying redemption arc, and it doesn’t work in real life either.

I do think, however, that a person is capable of change if they’re broken down enough (pun intended), and if they themselves have a desire to change. Someone they encounter can inspire them to be better, like Butcher with Hughie. That person can help support the other.

At the end of the day, however, it’s Ben that has to want to change.

If he wants love and connection, he’ll have to somehow want it, and try (and sometimes fail) to get it, thereby giving him agency and a redemptive character arc.

Now, obviously, it’s up to The Krip where Ben goes from here. He seems to have a more indicting vision of the character than I do (at least, so far). But we’ll see! The fan demand to bring back the character has already had Kripke confirming that Soldier Boy will be back.

Maybe it will encourage him to give the character a more satisfying ending than Dean Winchester got in Supernatural. Though granted, that one wasn’t his doing, apparently he was in favor of the ending the writers came up with.

Comparing Dean & Ben

In his interview segment, Jensen talks about what, if any, are the comparisons between Dean Winchester and Soldier Boy. AKA: Wanting a father’s approval, and an undercurrent of “John Wayne”-esque masculinity in John Winchester that Dean sought to emulate.

Jensen also talks about where he drew from to not only embody the character of Soldier Boy, but bring nuance to him—and show the peeks of vulnerability under the bravado and stoicism.

“He’s so fragile and his ego is fragile. Just like Homelander. These bigger-than-life powerful heroes really have a glass jaw… “And everyone walks on eggshells around him [Soldier Boy], and they tell him that they love him, and it’s the same with Homelander. Then when all of a sudden he faces his old team and Crimson Countess says we never loved you, we hated you—that’s a gut punch for him. Because even though on some level he may have known that, he never thought he would hear it. “And he probably propped himself up around trying to believe otherwise, because how can you walk around knowing everyone you’ve ever cared about hates you? It’s too painful.” (191)

It really is. And I inherently felt this about Soldier Boy/Ben when I watched season 3 for the first time. That’s exactly what I got from his performance and thought, there’s more to this guy than the toxic masculinity he represents.

This guy just wants to be loved, like everyone else. He wants to feel important, and even after his father’s dead, “show him” that Ben is the man his father wanted him to be. And so, he bought into the illusion Vought painstakingly crafted for him.

Whether he can come back from that remains to be seen. But I choose to be optimistic until evidence points to the contrary. 😅 (We’ll see in season 4!)

So that’s my personal take on Soldier Boy and this awesome book. 💚 Thank you again @kaleldobrev for recommending it to me! I hope you all enjoyed my long-winded review and want to check this out.

And if you do read it, I hope to read your thoughts as well!

Tagging people who said they wanted to read my review on this book: @venus-haze @jessjad @kristophalis @sl33pylilbunny

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sweetlittlevampire · 2 years

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“Why be capable of feelings if we're not to have them? Why long for things if they are not meant to be ours? ”

from the 2006 movie "Tristan + Isolde"

All the Prince Lan wangji and General Wei Wuxian AUs on twitter are giving me absolute life at the moment, so here's my contribution to the hype train.

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liyawritesss · 2 days

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Could you possibly write more on having what's basically a long distance relationship with Mateo as he's an agent? I found your headcanons for Gekko with a s/o who is his hairdresser so cute and it's rare to see him written with a citizen!reader (or really find a lot of writing about him at all at this point lol-)

Honestly I just want more fluffy words written with this concept-

ʟᴏɴɢ ᴅɪꜱᴛᴀɴᴄᴇ ʀᴇʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱʜɪᴘ ᴡɪᴛʜ ɢᴇᴋᴋᴏ

-> synopsis | what would a long distance relationship be like with agent gekko from valorant!

-> pairing | mateo armendariz de la fuente/gekko x blk!gn!reader

-> contains | pure fluff, a couple of curse words, 2nd person (you, your, yours), terms of endearment in spanish at the end

-> a/n | aaaahhhhhh tysm for this request! gekko absolutely has my heart so it was my pleasure to write these out! I also agree that the gekko tag (quite frankly a lot of the valorant agent tags) are kinda dry, so here’s my contribution to it! hope you all enjoyyyyyy <3

-> join my tag list!

-> tags | @f3r4lfr0gg3r @badass-dora-milaje @lees-chaotic-brain @uranometrias @jacuzziwaters

I'd like to say that some instances in this scenario will play out differently depending on the timeline of your relationship. What I mean is, certain things can be different depending on if you met/were friends with/started dating Mateo before his induction into the Protocol compared to if the two of you met afterwards. In this instance, we'll go with the route that you two werre good friends before he joined Valorant. Regardless, however, his love for you is very strong and withstands whatever distance his job puts between the two of you, and even though it gets hard sometimes, he reassures you that no one else has his heart but you.

Honestly pray for you and his' phone battery because there's not a time - if he can't help it - that he isn't on the phone with you. Obviously not when he's in the battlefield (he tried it twice and got scolded by you and Brimstone individually. So instead of calling you he listens to the playlist you made him), but throughout the day he's got your phone ringing. You two also fall asleep on the phone together most nights, whether it be just through voice call or though video call. Sometimes he wakes up before you due to training or an early call, and he takes the time to admire your sleeping form. If it's you who happens to wake up before him, you do the same, tracing the curve of his head on your phones screen and imagining being there with him. Yes, you both snap screenshots of each other, but neither of you know it!

On the occasion you both wake up at the same time you'll both do your morning routines together. It consists of a lot of sleepy groans from Mateo - he hates having to be a morning person - with you encouraging him and hyping him up for the day ahead. He returns the favor with a lot of sleepy flirting and compliments on how good you look, and also gives you encouragement for the day ahead. Alongside his pals of course, of which Wingman is the most vocal.

His radivore friends miss you just about as much as he does whenever the two of you are away from each other. If he's moping - they're moping. They kind of play off of Gekko's emotions a little bit, especially when it comes to you because they love you just as much as he does. You did give them shelter and a place to hide after Gekko rescued them, after all, so they're just as protective and loving of you. In fact, sometimes one of them will even waddle or fly up to Gekko with his phone spouting garble that only he can under stand as them asking to call you so they can say hi to you. Mayhaps there's a battle for attention from all five of the little crew but there's definitely enough of you to go around!

Mateo likes to surprise you with little things to reassure you that no matter where he's at or what he's doing he's always thinking about you. Some mornings you'll wake up to a fresh bouquet being delivered to your door, or lunch being delivered to your place of work or university. Sometimes you come home to random packages you know you didn't order, but quickly surmise that Gekko is the culprit when a little gift note is found on the inside of the boxes.

Playing off that, he has his card linked to your phones e-pay so whenever you feel like going out, ordering takeout, etc, he'll have you do it on his expense. It took a while to get you to agree to this because you didn't want it to look like you were just using him for his super covert - yet highly paid - status. But Gekko was quick to put that kind of thinking down: "Hey, in a way, I'm technically buying the stuff for you! Y'know since it's my money? Eh? Don't sweat is, chica, it's all good. Lemme take care of you, yeah?"

A handful of other agents know about you and have even greeted you! Reyna says 'hi' every once in a while, while the likes of Phoenix and Neon are always hounding him for a chance to say hello to you, making jokes about how they're looking out for him in the field for you. Jett knows you because she asked Gekko to ask you if there's any good Korean spots the team should hit up if they're ever in L.A. (of which he took 'offense' to, as if he wasn't sitting right there!). Killjoy is his brainstorming buddy on gifts to send you because she does the same for Raze. Basically most of the agents on the younger side know that Gekko's got a partner, while the older ones acknowledge it but don't pry/aren't as invested in the relationship.

When coming home to visit during vacations, Mateo will go all out for making up for lost time. It essentially consists of doing the things the two of you used to two as teenagers - skating around town, taco-truck hopping, tagging some walls and ending the days with a visit to the boardwalk. Most days however, the two of you just prefer to stay in and enjoy each other's presence for the time that you have each other. Little at home dates like movie marathons, sip-and-paints, cooking dinner together are some things that help the both of you reconnect after being away for so long. And of course, dying his hair!

Gekko will let you do anything to his head to be honest, he trusts you completely. You're both very artsy as well so he's always down for whatever you've got planned, and you've done a variety of styles on him, including hearts, stars, flowers, smiley faces, different prints, and more. At the end of his visit the two of you will do your hair the same color so that it's one way to show you're connected with the inevitable comes and he has to leave.

He also got you two those mood bracelets that are connected no matter where he is in the world. A couple of programmed taps will let you know all of how he’s feeling - how much me misses you, how much he loves you, good morning and good night signals, and even a series of flashes to represent kisses! And of course he had Killjoy to jailbreak it and program more sayings in it, but eventually it got to be too much for the device to handle, so she literally just made yall a new pair in your favorite colors that can send those same messages and even emojis! (yes he spams you with kissing emojis - and so do the radivores!)

He’s got so many nicknames for you it’s insane - sometimes you wonder if he ever uses the same one twice in a day! He likes to see your reactions to each one and concludes a couple to be your favorites judging by how shy or squirmy you get. HIS favorites however, in no particular order: mi vida when he’s being sweet and charming, querida when he’s being silly and playful, and carino for those serious moments and when you wake up/go to sleep together. He gives you cute (albeit sometimes random) nicknames as well that make you giggle and he loves that from you. You’re sure his little critters have some for you too but he doesnt tell you due to ‘critter-rangler confidentiality’.

If you enjoyed, please leave a like, comment, and reblog for others to see! And don’t be shy to send in a request!

#black reader #black tumblr #black valorant #valorant #valorant protocol #valorant x reader #valorant x you #valorant x black!reader #valorant gekko #gekko valorant #valorant gekko x reader #valorant gekko x black!reader #gekko x reader #gekko x you #gekko x black!reader #valorant fanfiction #valorant fluff #valorant headcanons

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just-some-friendly-fun · 8 months

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❥Thank You For Your Service ❥

What are Crow's favorite things to do with (or for) her boys?

Some good ol' OC x Canon brain rot because the CoD hyperfixation is hitting me hard again and I cannot stop rotating these military men in my brain. It's just a mingle of acts of service, affection, the tooth-rotting stuff because I cannot get them out of my head.

Kyle "Gaz" Garrick - Cap Kisses

It's a little thing she likes to do when at least one of them is departing for a mission, where she just tips his hat down to cover his eyes and kisses the lil' flag on his cap. It's a little gesture of encouragement for him to return to her safely so she could reward him with more kisses for staying alive and coming back. Definitely leaves Gaz flushed and he occasionally walks away with more "pep" to his step, leaving Crow to just chuckle and shake her head at the sight. She finds it amusing and charming really. Then Gaz spends the entirety of his missions either smiling so much or just energetic in general that'll make anybody on his team question if he's taken something or not.

Alejandro Vargas - Shit-Talking in Her Native Language

Crow has respect for a lot of her peers and higher-ups for sure, and she's got a certain level of self-control to tolerate them whenever they talk back or talk down to her but it definitely won't stop her from at least running her mouth to the only person who understands her so well, Alejandro (mostly because her team consists of mostly English speaking individuals). Whenever she gets an opportunity to work alongside Alejandro in Mexico or vice-versa for some reason (missions, here and there, etc.), she pulls no stops to whipping out the hottest gossip and dirt on anybody she calls to mind whenever they meet up and Alejandro--- just. listens. To every bit! He even hops in too with just comments here and there before the two are so engrossed in speaking to each other that it becomes almost hard to tell what they're saying but the way they smile and share exaggerated expressions with each other is so endearing and cute it'd make anybody in the vicinity sick (in a good or bad way, depending).

Simon "Ghost" Riley - Making Coffee/Tea

Early mornings aren't her thing (sometimes), and neither are they Simon's but most times, she finds solace in being able to wake up, get out of bed (after going through 20 steps on prying herself out of Simon's death-cuddle grip), and making two mugs of coffee or tea for both herself and Simon. She usually asks him in the morning after waking up at the ass crack of dawn whether he wants coffee or tea, and its usually the latter (in the great words of John Soap Mactavish: "fucking Brits..."). When she asks that question, it's mostly to determine the choice for both of them, a collaborative thing if you will. Simon contributes by choosing the morning drink, and Crow goes to make them. It's a 50/50 sorta, and also-- Crow is just lenient to having either one. Sometimes, they'll both find the energy to get up and they'll both make their respective drinks, finding comfort in passing coffee packets/tea bags to one another, leaning and cuddling while waiting for the water to boil, handing over spoons to mix their drinks, and just... Going to the living room or sitting outside to talk and enjoy the golden hour. Peaceful stuff like that to counter against everything they've been through, y'know? John Soap MacTavish - Sparring & Training

Nothing's more intimate than throwing your partner around and handing each other's ass on a server platter, right? In all honesty, though, Soap and Crow do manage to find comfort even though they're fighting or just working out together. It's the idea of quality time and it is actually really nice for both of them. When out of the sparring sessions, they'll usually just spot each other during heavy lifting routines and will pass praises and hype each other up to get through the training. It can be fun for the both of them and will involve each other through the other's activities? Soap's doing push-ups? Crow will sit on Soap's back while he does push-ups and helps count and for him. Crow's doing curl-ups? He'll be right at her feet to help hold her down and will hype her through out. And when it comes to sparring? It still holds the same effects, they share tricks and tips with each other and don't hold back (it's what Crow wants really; she hates the idea of people softening up themselves for her just because... It seems insulting really). When exchanging punches or dodging, Soap and Crow will occasionally talk amidst it and if anything, it helps Crow by a lot to get her anger out while fighting, boxing, or just anything else with Soap. She's used to diving for the training room to go tear apart some punching bag to get her angry out but this time, it's different. The punching bag talks back (or at least Soap does) which helps her cool down easier knowing she's got someone who's listening to her when she's feeling like a ball of fire at the moment. It's definitely much more efficient and quicker than walloping at a punching bag time and time again, and besides Soap likes hearing her talk (and being thrown around by the woman). Even after sparring is done, Soap and Crow will usually just kiss each other's bruises. It was a joking thing at first (with Soap saying something like: "Oh? You gonna kiss it better, Crow?"), and now they just do it like it's routine. ALSO, whenever the two get ice-cold water bottles for one another, they just hold the drinks to each other's bruises (because sometimes they're both too tired and sweaty to get those ice gel packets).

König - Sharing/Teaching Each Other Their Respective Language & Culture

It's a(nother) way for her to share tongues with König when it comes to teaching her/his language to them. They're usually far away from each other (like Alejandro and Crow) so, they usually call each other whenever available. The constant back-and-forth questions of "what did you say?" or "what does that mean?" has allowed them to transition to this point where Crow will teach König Spanish and König will teach her German, sometimes full sentences and a couple words. It's become a lot more now though as Crow has dived into the teachings that Spain Spanish and Mexican Spanish are very different sometimes which has piqued the colonel's curiosity and led him further down the rabbit hole of learning about Crow, and also she insisted on teaching him more Spanish because she heard König try to use Google translated sentences once. She's also shared some of her cooking with the man whenever he's got the time to come visit her and in turn, König too has cooked for her and shared Austrian specialties with her (I believe that König is a good cook who's learned from his mother and no, you cannot convince me otherwise). They exchange recipes every once and a while along with everything else. Sometimes Crow and König can engage in a couple of short talk and conversations here and there, and you'll probably see them smiling at each other's progress.

Keegan P. Russ - Moments of Silence

I'm still figuring out how their relationship works but y'know what? Fuck it, we experimentin.

As far as I've learned through reading through character after character wikis. It says "He is rather quiet and not very social around people," so, I'll keep to that. Keegan and Crow bond over any amount of quiet time they get together (I'm all for that quality time babyyy) whether that's during transport, heading to and fro from base to their mission, location a to b, you get the gist. Any waiting period or duration they share where they're waiting together? They spend it just by sitting together in silence. Not awkward silence, but the comforting silence that two people can share with each other without the insistent need to fill it up with small talk or just cheap questions. Crow and Keegan have their own silent and communicative habits where they'll look at each other and just nod at one another to acknowledge that they're there. Occasionally, Crow will lean against Keegan if the transport takes long for them to arrive at the designated location or will just engage in silent gestures like-- hell, even playing rock, paper, scissors if she's bored enough and Keegan will subtly indulge every time. They do talk and they absolutely can with each other, but it's just most of their bonding time just lies in silence and there's some sort of comfort there. No pressure to speak, just complete trust that they can fill the space in-between with something that's nonverbal like actions, gestures, and just... Hrhghhg. I'm a sucker for this sort of subtle love tbh.

#stop making me have brain-melting and sickeningly fluffy thoughts CoD!#I look at Monique (oc) and those silly military men and I feel weird!#I feel STRANGE !!! (so happy)#It makes me want to do things !! (Literally write about them being a happy little polycule or flushing out their dynamics with each other)#I dont like THAT!! (I do. I very much do. They make me so happy to think abt fr)#Can you tell who's dynamic I like flushing out with Crow?#oc #original character #my oc #oc x canon #anyways #Monique “Crow” Bonafacia Carmencita (oc)#new tag for her !!#call of duty modern warfare oc #call of duty mwii #mw2 #cod mw2 #call of duty modern warfare #cod mwii #task force 141 #los vaqueros #kortac #call of duty ghosts #konig mw2 #konig cod #simon ghost riley #kyle gaz garrick #john soap mactavish #alejandro vargas #Keegan P. Russ

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overleftdown · 11 months

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here’s my contribution to the miguel o’hara hype train

additionally, here is my practice/first attempt cuz it makes me giggle

u guys comin in clutch w the digital art like cmon cut me sum slack

#miguel o'hara #across the spiderverse #atsv #atsv art #miguel o’hara art #spiderman #miguel spiderverse #feeding u guys my crumbs #take the fucking crumbs #its midnight and i scribbled this shit down #im tirwd #i cannot do digital art #tf is up w all u nerds #pick up a pencil #im kidding

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onlyallytothesun · 2 years

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Oh Hunter, why are you here?

I know its a big mistake to post this but I must:

My dislike of Hunter doesn't stem from his character being particularly terrible (in the sense of him being an asshole personality wise), but more from his blandness overtaking screen time that is ultimately wasted.

People always argue against this by pointing out that Hunter is a clone of Belos' brother and so logistically he should provide a different perspective on Belos as a character and contribute something new to the show.

And I would agree on that if its wasn't for:

I'm sick of pet projects

It's no secret that Hunter is Dana's favorite and I feel like this little fact has impacted the show for the worst.

Writers often joke that they divide OC's based on categories like "sunshine", "the moody cloud", etc... Within this you have ,what I call, the torture pet. An OC that you love but constantly torture of the sake of ~angst~.

While this character doesn't bother me in the vacuum of the internet, it does start to get egregious when applied to a structured story.

A character who only exists to swallow on their misery can get tiring pretty quickly and its hard to pull off.

Hunter is a failed version of this.

He very much feels out of place and almost crammed into the storytelling. He often occupies episodes and comes out learning the same lesson over and over again. Compare that to other characters who progress at the speed of light in less than five episodes (We saw Amity go from bully, acquaintance, friend, and crush in a season. That's impressive).

And truthfully, its because Hunter's story doesn't offer much at all.

Belos & Hunter

He is written to be an angst white boy who trusts dictator of an Uncle but in reality his Uncle is evil and shit. Then after a time he finds out and realizes "its all been a lie😫😫😫" and becomes a good guy.

So I'm sick of this story, its stale, its bland, and its as white as white bread can get. Which is a shame because in Hunter's introduction it very much felt like they were going in a different direction. Even more it felt like threw Hunter we would get interesting insight into other characters.

But two things:

-The crew ultimately throw away Hunter's fun persona for the sake of dabbling in angst as soon as possible.

-Belos doesn't treat Hunter any different from any other character. He treats Hunter the same as Kikimora and Lilith. If that's the case, why is he here??? We already have Lilith and Kikimora to show he is a huge abuser. Like???

Despite being a clone of his brother, Belos doesn't react any differently (except for one scene). He is still as manipulative, still as demanding, etc...

You know who does provide a new look at Belos? The Collector.

With him we see Belos' true colors, when he worries, when he longs to go home, etc... This two gossip and I think that's neat.

We don't see Belos act this way with anybody else but the Collector, and that's the kind of intrigue I expected from Hunter.

The only scene we get that could allude to something new is when Belos sees Flapjack and shouts "Caleb" before attacking again.

Which means that the trigger for this traumatic memories wasn't Hunter, it was Flapjack💀. Making Hunter's uselessness in the story even more apparent.

Talking about wasting space, we should talk about:

Hollow Mind

So this is the episode they were hyping up, the episode they promised would blow on our minds. And its was meh.

In retrospect, this episode was a waste of time and a waste of concept. For the synopsis of "The characters get stuck in MAIN VILLAIN'S MIND" the show did a whole lot of nothing.

We retreated scenes we already knew and could interfere as an audience all for the sake of keeping Hunter's angst train going. We pushed Belos' backstory into the background just so Hunter can go "Oh no he is evil😫😫😫".

An episode that promised an interesting outlook on our main villain and protagonist had to be side stepped so the side character could cry more. GODAMN.

Final Thoughts

I know why the fandom loves him and all, but the reasons are dubious and i rather we admit that he is only liked because he is an angst character rather an interesting addition to the show.

#the owl house #toh hunter #toh caleb #toh the collector #toh belos #philip wittebane #caleb wittebane #hunter wittebane #toh #i dont know how to tag for the life of me

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erenaeoth · 2 years

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New Tekken Bloodline trailer just dropped. What are your thoughts?

I'm pretty hyped!

Lots of the things I was concerned about in the teaser trailer are addressed in the full trailer. Like I was concerned that they would depict young Jin as already full of rage, giving him no chance to change after his mother's death, and absolving Heihachi of the role he played in cultivating Jin's hatred for his own ends. This trailer makes very clear that Heihachi is invested in shaping Jin into someone violent and hateful, and makes reference to Jin's more pacifist ways beforehand.

likin jin's lil smile here

I was also mildly concerned that they might somehow do a stripped down Tekken 3 story without reference to Jin's friends, but seeing Xiaoyu and Hwoarang with speaking lines and prominent places on the release poster makes me confident they will get big roles in this. I was also unsure how they would play Jin and Hwoarang's rivalry, but the glimpse we get in the trailer looks well characterised to me.

"not" friends

I like the inclusion of characters from later games, who could plausibly be around, like Leroy and Feng. I don't know if Julia's Tekken 7 costume might mean they're going to leap straight to her Tekken 7 vlogger vocation. I hope not since I prefer her in earlier games, but the game devs seemed confused for years about what they wanted to do with Julia, so I understand if tv writers will attempt to consolidate her character more into one thing.

Nina seems surprisingly cogent for an amnesiac assassin waking up from cryosleep, but her Tekken 3 story was always odd to me, and the whole Ogre mind control seemed peculiar. Maybe they'll build up some kind of rapport between her and Jin so that Ogre can make her try to assassinate him? Or maybe they want some rapport established to give better grounding to her working for him in later games?

I'm not too fussed about Kazuya being labelled the ultimate evil, and tentatively hopeful that this means the writers are going to try and explain the (otherwise quite left-of-field) hatred that Jin has for the entirely absent Kazuya. I hope we will see a clear Heihachi line of propaganda saying that Kazuya is the worst, and that Kazuya and Ogre are built up to be the big bads of the series, only for Heihachi to shoot Jin in the ending. It seems they'll not shy away from showing Heihachi's ruthless training regimen, which should at least give the audience pause to wonder what living as Heihachi's sons might have been like.

So yeah, this trailer mostly makes me feel positive. It seems like they're committed to a Tekken 3 story, and the changes they're making from what I can see feel pretty uninvasive and contribute to existing lore and world-building in an interesting way. I'm looking forward to seeing how this goes.

aw my bby look he's so happy :)

#tekken bloodline #tekken anime #tekken netflix tv series #jin kazama #tekken #tekken 3 #tv #asks

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chronussy-bc · 9 months

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About This Blog...

Well, this is a blog for Black Cat content, obviously. I will update news, posting metas, sometimes also the fun stuff I come up with. My favorites are the Time Guardians, with Sephiria as my bias. So if they happen to be those you hate, protect your sanity by scrolling past. I will warn you now, waging a war here, on my land, is not gonna end well for you.

Also, I ship Train/Sephiria. I have no problems with other ships. You can ship whatever you like and express it freely. However, please respect other people's ships, including mine by hyping your ships in the right posts and ignore what you don't like.

My meta posts are my understanding on the characters and the story through what I read in the manga mainly. I have to admit I hate the anime with a passion. You can debate with me and contribute your opinions to every topics, but remember I do not follow the anime lore. The metas are the only battleground. It's cool to have perspectives clashing.

No bashing allow. Explaining why you hate something and bashing are very different things. Explaining earns you allies, while bashing earns you block (at least that's how it is here).

My first language is not English so sometimes the writing is not perfect and as coherent as I want it to be.

That seems to be all. However, what's important needs to be repeated: Right place, right time, right attitude. I'm literally Creed's level of pettiness when someone doesn't understand common sense even with it already written down. So please, don't be that someone.

Some analyzing (the posts all have links to their later parts):

Discussion: Does Creed Hate Women?

Unpopular Opinion: Creed Actually Resembles Sephiria More Than He Does Train.

Lucifer Representation: Creed Diskenth

The list will be updated.

#pinned post #Not think of making this before since I didn't expect my commitment to Tumblr could last this long #please read this

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kerasafari · 4 months

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My Exciting Journey into Machine Learning: For Beginners in Kochi Unveiled

Hey there, fellow curious minds! Today, I'm thrilled to share my personal adventure into the captivating world of machine learning right here in Kochi. If you've ever wondered what it's like to dive into this tech wonderland, buckle up as I take you through my experiences and discoveries during machine learning for beginners.

The Starting Point:

It all began with a burning curiosity about artificial intelligence and machine learning. Living in Kochi, a city known for its vibrant culture and tech-friendly atmosphere, I felt the urge to explore this fascinating field. After some research, I decided to take the plunge and enroll in a machine learning for beginners training program.

Choosing the Right Spot:

Kochi surprised me with its array of training institutes, each offering something unique. After careful consideration, I landed at Zoople Technologies. The friendly atmosphere and the promise of hands-on learning appealed to me, and it turned out to be the perfect choice for a beginner like myself.

The Learning Curve:

Machine learning sounded like a foreign language initially, but the instructors at Zoople Technologies made it all so digestible. They started with the basics, explaining concepts like algorithms, data sets, and models in a way that even someone with zero tech background like me could understand.

What I loved most was the practical approach. We weren't just memorizing theories, we were applying them to real-life scenarios. From predicting weather patterns to recognizing handwritten digits, every lesson felt like solving a puzzle, and the "aha" moments were priceless. They give the best instruction for machine learning for beginners.

The Support System:

One thing that stood out during my machine learning journey as a beginner in Kochi was the incredible support system. Whether it was the patient instructors or my fellow learners facing the same challenges, there was always someone ready to lend a helping hand. We formed study groups, shared resources, and celebrated small victories together.

Real-World Applications:

As the training progressed, the coolest part was seeing how machine learning is important as a machine learning for beginners. It is used in everyday life as a great hype. From personalized recommendations on e-commerce sites to healthcare applications, it was mind-blowing to realize the impact this technology has on the world around us.

Networking and Future Prospects:

Another unexpected perk was the networking aspect. Kochi's machine learning community is buzzing with enthusiasm. Guest lectures, meetups, and industry events provided opportunities to connect with professionals already making waves in the field. It opened my eyes to the vast career possibilities ahead.

So here I am, on the other side of my machine learning training journey in Kochi, armed with a newfound understanding of algorithms and the excitement to contribute to the tech evolution of this amazing city. If you're in Kochi and contemplating a venture into machine learning, my advice is simple: take the leap! The journey might seem challenging at first, but the experience is nothing short of magical. Who knows, we might just cross paths at the next AI meetup in our tech-savvy city!

#machinelearning #kochi #big data #datascience

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implayingavideogame · 1 year

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Sports Story (12/27/22 - 01/16/23)

(I originally intended for these to be diary-like logs of my progress through a game, but I do not have the patience for that currently. Instead, I’ll use these as personal reviews that also serve the purpose of reminding me what I liked [or didn’t like] about a particular game. Also: I’m writing this for me, because I tag these in a way in the hopes they’re never found. Hilarious.)

What a disappointment.

Hype is a dangerous thing. You let yourself get excited for years about the release of something, wondering how it’s going to exceed your expectations. When Golf Story came out in 2017, I knew little more than what the positive reviews said. It’s a unique golfing RPG with funny dialogue! Sign me the hell up. I devoured that game in the span of a weekend and patiently waited for the sequel. When the delay was announced in August 2020, I was sad but respected the team’s decision to ensure the game they wanted was released. I’d rather play a delayed game than a buggy one.

Lucky for everyone, we got both!

I decided not to replay Golf Story prior to Sports Story, mostly because I didn’t remember the characters from the former and the delay trailer did nothing to recharge those memories. But you are dropped cold into Sports Story. Even as someone who did play GS previously, I had no memory of the characters, and the dialogue does little to help orient yourself. (Why are we waiting for our hotel room on a beach?) It does serve as a nice tutorial section to reacquaint you with the buttons and golfing mechanics, and it quickly introduces you to the concept of more sports: volleyball! ... that you never play again. Also: did the golfing get worse? How the fuck to you mess up mechanics that were already great?

I had no idea that the small amount of fetch quests taking place in the tutorial were actually setting the stage for the game overall. The story - one of the most charming aspects of GS - is nowhere to be seen. Go here, play sport, leave. Repeat ad nauseum. When you find yourself getting physically upset at what a video game is asking you to do, you may have anger issues. You may also be playing a crappy game.

If the entirety of the game could be summed up in one word, there’s no question that it would be “why?” Why am I BMXing in a mineshaft to save a cricket team before the queen arrives via a broken train? Why am I enrolled in a tennis academy and forced to play games with literal babies? Why am I fighting a Creature from the Black Lagoon ripoff? WHY am I on a spy mission to save a random golfer’s father from imprisonment that has NO WEIGHT ON THE STORY WHATSOEVER. I am Davy Jones asking Will Turner: what is your purpose here?

2023 has already started out majorly crappily for other reasons, but I was not expected Sports Story to contribute to that pile. I feel for the developers as they undoubtedly bit off more than they could chew, and the revelation that there’s a secret developer room in Sports Story where everyone bitches and moans about the crappy game they’re making is pretty much all the confirmation I need. Sidebar Games had lightning in a bottle with Golf Story and had big shoes to fill with the creation of Sports Story. If they decide to stick with the Australian-based world with these two games and return to a simpler Game 3, I’m all for it. But this was a major letdown. I’m gonna replay Golf Story.

#i'm playing a [sports story]

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cyarskj1899 · 1 year

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Goapele’s ‘Closer’ Is an enduring anthem for the dreams and goals of Black women. Here’s why.

OPINION: In my circle of life-embattled Black women, "Closer" has been a psalm, a hype song, an anthem of affirmation and the lyrical encouragement to keep believing in ourselves.

Janelle Harris Dixon |

Dec 3, 2022

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Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.

It starts with a gossamer wash of instrumentation, a light plinking of chords mounting into a melody, and in seconds when the beat drops and Goapele’s ethereal voice floats atop the music, “Closer” draws its listener into its introductory magic. It would be lovely even if it just stayed right there in that rhythmic pocket. But then Goapele threads in relatable lyrics about being stuck and pushing past fears and willing her dreams to be real and the song becomes church.

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Initially the title track of her 2001 self-released debut, which sold about 5,000 copies independently, “Closer” was re-released on Goapele’s 2002 followup, “Even Closer,” her first nationally distributed album. The inclusion on that record made the song a star. Two years later, Columbia Records picked up “Even Closer” to gift to a worldwide audience. I don’t remember when I first heard it. I wish I did have some poignant, the-first-time-I-heard-it memory, especially since, by glaring comparison, I can recall exactly where I was and how I responded the first time I heard “Scarred” or “Oochie Wally.”

Also Read: Xscape to receive ‘Lady of Soul’ honor at 2022 ‘Soul Train Awards’

Still, for me and several friends in my circle of life-embattled Black women, “Closer” has been a psalm, a hype song, an anthem of affirmation and the lyrical encouragement to keep believing that however marooned we are in challenges and stagnation, we’re not that far away from actualizing the extraordinary milestones and achievements we’ve been wanting and waiting to happen. That last part is especially important to sisters who’ve been denied, put on pause and otherwise dream-deferred — sometimes because of personal decisions that don’t serve us well, sometimes because of external circumstances that complicate our goal-reaching and dream-chasing but always compounded by systemic -isms and impediments.

This is the time of year, now that much of it has passed, when we start evaluating the wins and losses from the stretch of previous months behind us. Normally, we reflect on accomplishments from this year to shape the ones we expect to check off in the next. But these have not been normal times, and for those of us who were already getting impatient about the slow pacing of our personal achievements, the pandemic has made realizing dreams that much more Sisyphean and labor-intensive.

Also Read: OWN unscripted series ‘All the Single Ladies’ investigates modern dating from the Black female perspective

Once upon a time, I was a voracious vision boarder and compulsive goal-setter. Every New Year’s Eve, I’d buy a crisp piece of white poster board and sit in lotus pose on my bedroom floor to handwrite a massive to-do list — complete with color-coded categories in marker — for the upcoming year. And every year, when I didn’t complete enough of the items to allow myself to feel proud of what I did do, I’d harangue myself with merciless self-comparison and perfectionism, and subject myself to an audit of the regrettable choices that could have maybe possibly contributed to my delay. It’s hard to be a dreamer in arrested development, waiting for the fruition of things long worked, desired and hoped for to unfold in a magical timeframe. I never felt like I’d done enough to get to where I wanted to be so I, as a whole, never felt like enough.

Last year, in a study of more than 1,400 representative Black women and gender-expansive professionals, researchers Ericka Hines and Mako Fitts Ward discovered that 88% are sometimes, often or always burned out because of work. Sixty-five percent reported a lack of personal time and 75% said they sometimes, rarely or never have the energy to spare when they get home. Another report, “Women in the Workplace,” found that not only is burnout escalating much faster among women than men, one in three women have considered downshifting their career or leaving the workforce altogether.

The last two years have taught us many lessons, and the one I remind myself of regularly, especially as the world races to catch up on lost time and money, is to recognize the pressure to perform for the mirage that it is. I still set goals, but I’m not as obsessive about them. If they’re truly meant for me to accomplish, they’ll still be accomplishable if I snatch two hours from my day to watch a movie with the husband I at one time had stopped believing I would meet or block off an afternoon to visit a museum instead of laboring in front of my laptop screen.

There was a too long period of my life when I sacrificed 12, sometimes 14 hours a day to the matrix of the hustle, trying to achieve, achieve, achieve. But busyness — the kind that tries to make me feel like I’m doing something essential to fulfilling my dream when I actually hit my productivity high note hours ago — can be an illusion of time that compromises my ability to be present when it really matters and save some of my best self to invest into the people and activities that create joy.

I don’t know where Goapele was in her own litany of goals or all the dreams she was trying to breathe life into when she wrote “Closer.” But she gifted her fellow Black girls a source of empowering inspiration when she did. When life has been too weighty and difficult, my best friend and I have played that song during tearful phone calls and held the receiver up to the speaker to make sure whoever needed the message that day really heard it. My friends have texted each other YouTube links to the “Closer” video before major business meetings and job interviews, just to lessen the urgency of the moment and remind each other that, no matter what happens right now, an indubitable blessing is in fact on the way. For a while, it was even my ringtone — back when downloading ringtones was a thing — to keep my own spirits lifted when a bill collector or other bearer of bad news might have been on the other end of a call.

Janelle Harris Dixon is a freelance writer, journalist and editor in Washington, D.C. covering the intersections of race, gender, culture and class.

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yors-truly · 2 years

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Huester's Pacing Thoughts (HBOMax/WB Discovery and Animation)

Decided to post this on Tumblr of all places because 1) I don't really feel like making a twitter thread that may not even fit all of my thoughts, and 2) I haven't been getting much satisfaction typing on a word document recently because school started back up and I can't seem to use it without thinking about that, apparently.

I just wanted to utilize this energy I've built up while pacing around the room with my thoughts to ramble about my current gripes with the whole thing between HBOMax/Waner Bros Discovery and animation. I'll probably regret this later, as I get totally overwhelmed speaking my mind, but animation literally means the world to me and I'm feeling mighty courageous right now, so I'll give it a shot.

IDK how long this is gonna be, so I'll put a small wall here to bless your scrolling experience. You're so super welcome :)

Yo, you actually care about what I have to say? Thank the blue moon!

My thoughts may not be communicated well, due to me feeling so strongly about this, so I apologize if my writing comes off as a little clumsy.

I don't know a single person who thinks the opposite so far (other than the people behind this, apparently), but I'm extremely frustrated with the decision made to erase several animated shows from the platform. Shows like Close Enough, Infinity Train, Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (my beloved), and Mighty Magiswords (my beloved and my childhood) are all being tossed into a drenched wasteland, totally inaccessible to the public (maybe unless you pirate or something). Not only that, but the history of these shows are being replaced by space, too! From what I hear, the Infinity Train pilot and all other content has been deleted off of Cartoon Network's YouTube Channel and the show's soundtrack has recently been removed from streaming services, such as Spotify.

In addition to the above, all future content for these shows has also gone down the drain. For example, Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart was supposed to get a second season - one that my brother and I hyped over for 2 YEARS - fully complete and ready to go, only for this to happen and the season to never see the light of day.

This is where the knuckles get cracking. And I mean AUDIBLE cracking.

I am beat by the constant disservice of animation. We - the people who care - are beat by the constant disservice of animation. Not only is it massively disrespectful to the series, but it's disrespectful to the team(s) behind them, the fans of the content, and to the people who pay for this streaming service just for these shows (I know you all are out there... maybe...).

It's not just HBOMax, either, though. It's some major houses in general, contributing to the fall of what made them rise to begin with. They're just about being their own grim reapers, in a weird sense. I very much understand that new heads and whatnot run these houses, but the fact that they have that position to begin with should mean that they care at least a bit about these properties and their history. I tend to forget, though, that that's not always the case.

There are so many other examples of animation and the people behind them getting similar levels of disrespect, other than the complete erasure of them from the face of the Eather. A major part of that having to do with how animation is perceived, from the looks of it. You've got the teams of these shows being mildly overworked and underpaid (and still fighting for fair treatment) and animation being boosted less than whatever else we've got going around. While the thought of at least some stuff getting pushed is great, it's also super degrading and exhausting at the same time.

These points further enforce the false idea of animation being a medium "just for kids," and therefore not worth the same amount of time and recognition - and being viewed as less valuable - than whatever else is being produced in other storytelling mediums.

Coming from someone who is a minor, animation is not "just for kids." Never has been, and never will be.

Coming from someone who has had past experience with animation, has been wanting to get back into it and take it seriously, and has a brother whose been working on a webseries of his own for the past 2 years now with a totally neat crew of voice actors, other animators, and background artists, it is a lot of work, and deserves all of the attention in the world.

Coming from someone who is passionate about storytelling, animation is the best form of it we have ever had, and probably ever will have... unless something better comes into the mix and outshines it, which I doubt.

You wanna know why I doubt that?

Because animation is art, and art is forever.

Art is created by the hands of the soul. Sometimes, many souls. Art often reveals the journey of the person who created it, usually about a truth or lesson that they have grown to learn and wishes to share with others creatively, as a way to provide a sense of comfort to the viewer during their points of struggles, or just to entertain someone for even a second with something that catches their eye. Art comes with authenticity, intention, and a vision that the creator was willing to share with the world. To have their work consumed alive by some greedy time eater - acting like it never existed - is not only insulting, but it's also a major slap in the face; a shot to the heart. You're looking at the creator - who chose to be vulnerable - dead in the eyes, and saying, "You do not matter."

I don't know about you, but if that were me and my months-to-years of hard work, I would've combusted on the spot, have it be internally or externally. Maybe both, if I'm really feeling it.

So uh... yeah. That happened. We're all upset and somewhat hogwild. Now what?

Well, from what I've seen, people have been using this opportunity to boost and support indie animation until the big boys respawn into their senses. To that I say: GOD BLESS!

I am very much in love with indie animation, major reason why I usually have nothing to talk about with my friends, and although all of this is very crappy, and we will NEVER forget it (best wishes to the teams and their hard work lost into time), the fact that this idea was the result of it is literally heart-throbbing to me! Like I love to see it! Even though I love indie animation, I actually don't have a lot of stuff on my radar, so I'm willing to see what pops out of this.

To end this on a groovy note, go check out and support indie productions! As much as you can! Recommend some by commenting, if you made it this far and wish to share! WE ALL GOTTA EAT!!

Go look at Monkey Wrench and Defenders of Alodia! Go binge Eddsworld, Madness Combat, and Battle for Dream Island again! I'm this close to watching Helluva Boss, despite me not yet being of age, because I want to support the series as much as me and my dry wallet self can! (Had some second thoughts. Changed my mind. Still, go support it!)

There's another show known as Wayfarers of the Multiverse that I heard about on Instagram, supposedly releasing a pilot soon, if not already, so there's another one to go look at!

Also, shameless plug of my brother's own work, inspired by Battle for Dream Island, called Battle for Wonderland. It's still in the works and only has a few clips and a short posted right now, but a plan to release still holds to this year. I also voice act a character in that show, so all the more reason to check it out LMAO!

I'll provide links to all of these in time :)

Maybe, at some point, we can have a streaming service made SPECIFICALLY for animation, hopefully by people of the community, so we can have a home for stories of all sizes and prevent stuff like this from happening in the future, because these stories matter.

(or we could just get DVDs back in business. That'll work, too.)

#huestersvoid #small rant #animation #hbo max #infinity train #mao mao heroes of pure heart #close enough #mighty magiswords #indie animation #art is forever #this felt really good to get out of my system #sorry for it being so long fellas i just get going like that #this took me two hours to type lol I'm out of it

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yurimother · 4 years

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LGBTQ Light Novel Review — I'm in Love with the Villainess

A stunningly profound, entertaining, and queer title that eclipses other isekai and Yuri series

There are few titles the general public seems to be as excited about as Inori and Hanagata's I'm in Love with the Villainess, as it has been sitting at or near the top of Amazon's LGBT Manga list for months and Twitter is consistently abuzz with the latest news on this isekai Yuri series. I was somewhat more skeptical, as I have had relatively poor experiences with isekai and fantasy Yuri. Still, my excitement went through the room, and I eagerly boarded the "hype train" upon the cover reveal for the third volume. Yuri families, where two women raise children together, are one of my greatest desires and something I rarely see portrayed in the genre. However, I still had mostly low expectations for the series going into the first volume. I looked forward to some light meandering comedy and typical boring trope-filled isekai shenanigans. However, I'm in Love with the Villainess more than exceeded my expectations. No, even this statement is far too moderate to describe how utterly stunned and blown away I was by Inori's creation. I'm in Love with the Villainess is completely shattering and easily one of the greatest light novels I have ever read. Thus, I have no choice to award a perfect 10/10 score, my first ever for a light novel.

After waking up in the world of her favorite otome game, Revolution, protagonist Rae is ecstatic to be faced to face with Claire Francois, the game's villainous rival. However, Rae never played Revolution for the thrill of romancing any of the three attractive young princes. She was always in love with Claire. She attends the academy and studies magic in the fantasy world alongside Claire, the princes, and various other supporting characters. Using her skills from the modern world and her encyclopedic knowledge of Revolution, Rae manipulates the situation to be close to Claire, becoming her maid, and garnering status and money along the way. As an inevitable conflict looms closer, Rea begins to enact plans to protect herself and Claire, many of which are not fully understood or explained until the finale fantastically reveals the reasons for her actions. There is a natural and steady pace to the narrative that awards readers’ predictions and attention to detail.

I'm in Love with the Villainess has some excellent supporting characters, all of whom have unique personalities, histories, and abilities, some of which are revealed by Rae's exposition and others naturally throughout the novel. However, the stars of the show are the central couple, Rae and Claire. Claire is an elite aristocrat and extremely bratty. She often sneers at commoners and makes her disdain of Rae very clear from early on. On paper, she sounds like the perfect villain and someone all readers would despise. However, Rae's utter devotion and infatuation with Claire is so sincere that we cannot help but be pulled in and adore Claire and all her tantrums. Rae is a delight herself, continually flirting and poking fun at Claire, which gets her verbally berated, much to her masochistic pleasure. However, she is also exceptionally cunning and intelligent, and some of the light novel's greatest joys are listening to her analyze a situation or watching one of her plans fall into place.

“Ah, I’m… Well, it doesn’t matter. I mean, it’s irrelevant to cuteness—because, Miss Claire, you are cute.” “Huh?!” She pulled away. It was perfect—such a pure reaction. “Miss Claire, you hate me, right?” “Of course!” “That’s fine. Please keep teasing me. I love it.”

The beginning of the book does not immediately clue one into its brilliance. Sure, Claire and Rea get some great one-liners as they bully each other, and the scenarios are authentic and fun, but it is nothing shattering. I was feeling pretty relaxed and having a lot of fun with the characters, their relationship, and the various slice-of-life style scenarios they encountered until one section, I remember the exact page, 81, as it stopped me dead in my tracks. I was flabbergasted and briefly frozen before shooting up out of bed, shouting expletives as I ran to my office to immediately record what I had just experienced. It all begins with the line, "Hey, Rae. Are you what they call gay?" What followed was one of the most thoughtful, condensed, informative, and nuanced discussions of gay and queer identity (both terms used in this scene) I have ever seen in Yuri. Everything from representation in media, the perceptions of and prejudices against gay people, and the role gender plays in romance for bisexual and gay people are analyzed. Its commentary is succinct yet so respectful and forthright that it could have only come from genuine experience, thus selling the book and its characters so much more.

"Queer people were still overwhelmingly closeted in this world, which was rife with prejudice and nurtured little understanding. As I noted, the queer people depicted in the story were either the sex fiends Claire imagined or the free-loving sort Lene had in mind. Diversity and acceptance were a long way off.”

Thus, Inori's writing's beauty exposed itself, and the book opened itself up to a delightful cycle. The narrative masterfully integrates isekai slice-of-life hijinks, like running a cross-dressing café or battling a giant slime with nuanced and challenging moments that dissect complicated topics. The latter mainly consists of a growing rift between the aristocracy and common people, mirroring real-world wealth gap issues, but the novel also touch on matters such as unequal prison sentencing and segregation. Every scene helped further the complexity of the characters and their relationships or else built onto the world of Revolution. Speaking of which, I'm in Love with the Villainess has some of the best worldbuilding ever seen in a light novel.

Initially, brief exposition establishes much of the world, which is adequate if not exciting. I will mark up to a casualty of the light novel's serialized nature, as it must present readers its setting immediately. However, Inori does not stop here. Through the narrative, new elements are established, such as a magic system and the kingdom's politics. Rea notes and describes how the world, while clearly based on medieval Europe, has many modern Japanese attributes, as Japanese game developers created it. Her pointing out the intersection of the two is fascinating. Furthermore, A great deal of time is spent establishing characters and organizations all have their own wants, agendas, and methods, many of which are not even directly involved with the story. Instead, they act as a background and help further contextualize others. For example, the Church publicly appears to lean towards supporting the commoners in their efforts for equality but has its own agenda of superseding the nobility. While they play little role in Rea and Claire’s adventure, they are one of numerous factors contributing to the unrest of the lower class. All these additions are interesting, and it never feels like the story or characters suffer for their inclusion, quite the opposite.

“The Bauer Kingdom had started a step behind other countries when it came to magical research. They dominated the surrounding countries in military strength, and this had made them complacent, leading them to underestimate the value of new magic technology until the best researchers had all been enticed to other countries. Even after the king came up with his magic-focused meritocratic policy, Bauer lagged behind.”

I can only make complaints by scraping the very bottom of the barrel. Hanagata's beautiful art is too infrequent to add much to the light novel, and many scenes crying for illustrations are left to the readers' imagination. However, Inori so wonderful writes the story that one hardly cares and can easily picture every moment with delight. Besides, the manga adaption will nullify this issue. Where I cannot complain at all is the spectacular translation by Jenn Yamazaki and Nibedita Sen, one of Seven Seas best (which is high praise considering the competition). Sure, I was slightly disappointed at first to see the adaptation left off honorifics, but the more I thought about the setting, the more sense it made. I am sure people much smarter than I gave the issue much more consideration, and I am happy with their decisions.

I'm in Love with the Villainess left me reeling with how pleasurable and powerful it was. The story and characters are such a joy, and I cannot wait to see Rea and Claire bully each other again in the next volume. Astounding worldbuilding and powerful, thought-provoking politics surround their antics and the high stakes plot. Every moment of their journey will enthrall readers as they squeal with glee at its hilarious set pieces or are shocked by its commentary of society's most significant challenges. Inori has created one of the most delightful, heartfelt, complex, profound, and genuinely queer light novel series ever. If you only read one thing I recommend this year, let it be I'm in Love with the Villainess.

Ratings: Story — 9 Characters — 10 Art — 5 LGBTQ — 10 Sexual Content — 2 Final — 10

Review copy provided by Seven Seas Entertainment

Purchase I’m in Love with the Villainess in digitally (9/23) and in print (11/10) today: https://amzn.to/32NEyG1

Supports creators by purchasing official releases.

#yuri #lgbt #lgbtq #reviews #lgbtq+#i favor the villainess #i'm in love with the villainess #girls love #gay #queer #light novel #manga #gl #politics #feminism

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dorky-thighchi · 4 years

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WHAT I LOVE ABOUT DAISUGA AND CANON MOMENTS

Let’s appreciate these two for leading the team to the nationals (long post ahead)

1. Their goals and hard work for the team:

They’re always shown together planning for the team. When Asahi stopped playing volleyball, Noya got suspended, former coach Ukai stopped coaching. I felt bad for these two, they went through hard times as their captain and vice captain it’s their obligation to unite and guide the team. During their first year and second year they were used to failure and called flightless crows. Their expectations crumpled but they did not give up. It’s Daichi and Suga’s job to bring back the name of Karasuno to the nationals with the help of coach Ukai and Takeda, finally they made it to nationals, that’s why their former captain was so proud of them because they followed his words. When they didn't have their coach yet, they behaved as Karasuno’s temporary coaches (thank goodness Takeda’s an angel). Daichi was shown coaching the team in the first few episodes and Suga helped Tanaka bond Kageyama and Hinata. Suga questioned Daichi’s plan about the weird duo (Daichi’s a matchmaker) but after what Daichi said he helped the two bond and honed their skills.

In the HQ light novel “Melancholy of the third year student”, Asahi stated “with Sawamura leading the team and Sugawara taking care of the members, what could i possibly do to contribute” he witnessed Daichi and Suga walking together in the hallway; Asahi was impressed because of their dedication to guide the team to the nationals despite they’re in college prep class still they gave their best in guiding the team. Tanaka also acknowledged his senpais hard work that’s why he extremely respects his senpais, he was always there supporting the two. Coach Ukai madly respects Suga because he gave his setter position to Kageyama for the sake of the team and Daichi because he’s the best in motivating the team.

2. They know each other so well:

Daichi has this proud mode when he talks about Suga. When he told the team that Suga’s an experienced setter he had this “Yes that’s my amazing setter” face and when Suga did that amazing spike he jumped like a kid. In the HQ light novel “Sugawara’s decision” this happened during the first training camp. Suga was anxious to tell Daichi of his plan to give his setter position to Kageyama. When Suga finally told Ukai about his decision, Daichi and Asahi overheard their conversation and promised to win any match as much as they can. When Suga stated “I think in order to win, the person we need right now is Kageyama” Daichi and Asahi expressed their concern because the three promised to step on the court together (i get so emotional when the 3rd yrs play together). Daichi was worried and he told Suga that they can do something about it. THIS IS ACTUALLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE HQ LNs because of what Suga thought after their discussion “He was glad to have sawamura who accepted him the way he is, as his teammate” AND I FUCKIN LOST IT HQ LN SHOULD BE ANIMATED. Daichi supported Suga’s decision for the team, “Daichi was very certain of Suga who had been with him for the past 3 years”, he even stopped Tanaka from interrupting Suga’s monologue telling him to listen.

Remember when Ukai announced the first lineup for dateko vs karasuno match and the shot was focused to Suga and back to Daichi; you can see Daichi did this weird eye thing glancing at Suga. Daichi’s proud moments of Suga were “I think you’ve revived too Suga” and “I’m glad you still want to fight” when he told Daichi “I do wish my tosses could’ve played a part in the victory”. When Asahi and Noya stopped coming to the team, the only members left were Suga, Daichi and the 2nd years. Suga also took the blame and Daichi was there for him. He was shown secretly listening to Yamaguchi and Suga’s conversation about the mop (and comforted him that he shouldn't blame himself. I’m kinda disappointed they didn't include this in the anime). These panels show their trust and respect for each other.

He cant even dare to hurt Suga (but lets Suga punch him anytime) and he knows when Suga goes to overthinking mode. Also Suga knows Daichi so well i think i’m gonna cry. Scolding Daichi when he was not vocal during the game; Suga’s known for being the only one who can lecture Daichi. When Daichi told Suga and Asahi that it’s better to hand over the team to the 2nd yrs, Suga knew Daichi didn't mean that; Daichi felt hopeless because they lost again. He knew Daichi wanted to stay and play volleyball and step on the orange court.

He’s also used to Daichi’s stern mode. Daichi was also shown being the one who can keep Suga in control like “Suga please calm down”. Their relationship isn’t fully conveyed in the anime but i’m thankful that creators created drama cds, light novels, extras, spin-offs and haikyuu stage play to let us know more about the characters.

3. The team parents:

They always discuss about their team members like Suga asking Daichi about Kageyama and Hinata (kagehina bond ep) and Tsukishima. In the haikyuu drama cds “what if karasuno’s manager isn’t shimizu kiyoko” and “the reason behind the t-shirts” they were worried about entrusting the manager’s job to Tanaka, Noya and Hinata. When the team was hungry because Kiyoko wasn’t there, Suga told Daichi to take action so he assigned the weird duo to buy foods for the team and they were the ones who planned for the names of the shirts with the help of Noya, Kiyoko was pissed at the two because they were busy thinking of their own shirts. In the haikyuu light novel “the last summer vacation” (Sources: 1|2) Suga watched the team with worry on his face because it was so hot so he approached Daichi and expressed his concern that the team will get sick from the heat. Coach Ukai overheard the discussion and called a meeting. They’re usually seen together in every scene in the anime, stage play, haikyuu light novel, extras, manga, spin-offs and drama cds, scolding Tanaka, Noya, Hinata, Kageyama and Tsukishima; discussing volleyball stuffs; and buying pork buns for the team. In the lets haikyuu and extras (hq spin-off) it’s actually semi-canon they’re karasuno’s team parents. They also have this karasuno christmas bonding tradition.

It was also STATED BY THE DIRECTOR IN THE HQ MAGAZINE AND THE VOICE ACTORS THAT DAICHI AND SUGA ARE THE TEAM PARENTS AND TANAKA’S THE BIG BROTHER (here are the links: 1| 2|3)

IT’S CANON!!!!!! IT’S DAMN RIGHT CANON!!!!!TEAM PARENTS DAISUGA IS CANON!!!!!!

4. Teasing, bickering and just them being dorks:

Suga teasing daichi is my jam. In the HQ LN “Yachi’s delivery mission” (Sources 1|2), this conversation frickin made me squeal like a mouse with laryngitis. After practice the team was thirsty and wanted something cold to eat. “It’s indeed hot, lets get ice pops before we head home” daichi stated then frickin SLY/LIL SHIT SUGA JUST CASUALLY SAID THIS REMARK “Oh that’s not a bad idea, are you going to treat us Daichi-san” HE FRICKIN ADDED -SAN. So the team didn't let the opportunity go away they screamed with joy and thanked Daichi. After what happened Daichi just glared at Suga who was smiling at him. Daichi’s a softie when Suga’s involved. Suga got Daichi to buy ice cream for the team. I REPEAT HQ LN SHOULD BE ANIMATED.

Daichi knows when Suga’s about to do something stupid and his antics. They argued about this. When Suga was mad at Daichi because he was implying that the last year shrine visit was nothing; he was so pissed he started fuming at daichi. Suga also told Daichi that steak just being steak is better over diced steak. Hyped suga and daichi trying to calm him down is the cutest shit. In the HQ LN “Tokyo Expedition: Captains’ Meeting”(Sources: 1|2), Daichi warned Suga about Kuroo because he knows how to read minds and loves mind games and Suga was like ‘you need to chill Daichi’. When it was Suga’s turn to pick a card from Daichi’s deck he picked the joker and twitched his brows, Daichi whispered at Suga telling him whenever he drew the joker his brows twitch so Suga massaged his brows. I REPEAT AGAIN THIS SHOULD BE ANIMATED. The other captains and vice captains are competing against each other but look at these frickin idiots they are helping each other. DAICHI OBSERVING SUGA THEN WARNED HIM ABOUT HIS TENDENCY OF TWITCHING HIS EYEBROWS. IM GONNA FRICKIN DO A BACKFLIP. Also Daichi and Suga love to make fun of asahi but when you frickin hurt asahi these two will frickin punch you in the face. Frickin daisugasting dorks.

5. They are always together and in sync:

In the manga, anime, extras, stage play, light novel, drama cds and official art/merchandise they’re usually frickin together and always in sync, same reactions and thoughts. Remember when Daichi looked at Suga (S1 ep24) like he was asking for approval then Suga nodded. That was so cute ugh.

Extras:

Suga is 6 months older than Daichi. June 13 and December 31. Their birth dates makes me go WAIT WHAT.

Suga and Daichi’s name meanings are compatible.

During the christmas bonding time, Suga received daichi’s gift, a daruma. Daichi bought it as a gift because it weighs like a volleyball (he’s such a volleyball nerd) and he told Suga that they should draw the eye together. (Source link)

Suga thought that Daichi was jealous of his t-shirt because the phrase on his shirt was cooler than his. (Source link)

Suga’s first synchronize attack was a success and he tossed it to Daichi. Coach Ukai assigned these two along with Tanaka to learn synchronize attack.(Remember when Daichi told Suga he borrowed coach ukai’s tablet so they can watch the videos together)

The way they look at each other like there’s nothing else to look at.

What I truly love about these two is their relationship and trust for each other.They complement each other, which makes them a good combination. They went through obstacles and look THEY MADE IT TO THE NATIONALS, kiyoko witnessed their progress and asahi thanked suga and daichi because they welcomed him again in the team, remember when asahi was not sure if they’d accept him to the team but daichi and suga were just laughing and made fun of him.

Their vice captain and captain interaction isn't fully expressed in the anime and i hope that everyone will appreciate them more! They made it to nationals! And them being proud of Hinata and Kageyama in the hq time skip is one of the best treasures Furudate sensei gave to us.

Lets talk about these two. Daisugasting volleyball idiots.

I rest my case.

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