Love in the air just played with my fucking heart. i thought we survived the episode eleven curse and it's been 30 minutes since i ended ep12 and i can't seem to stop crying. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?? SKY MY LOVE IF I COULD I'D PROTECT YOU FOREVER I LOVE YOU SO SO SO MUCH

So I watched Fiona And Cake and I'm hooked...

First episode:

I love how it started with all the colors and how it felt! The voice acting was spot on and it felt surreal with the pastel theme.

"I don't wanna go to work......" Relatable... Especially since my school will start soon...

The way Cake is acting really true actually! Minus the ice... Also when cats ears and nose are cold that means they are healthy! If their hot then that means the cat is sick.

I honestly did not know Fionna's job was a thing....

When I saw Marshall Lee I screamed. I live for his DESIGN! And his personality.

Love Fern's hair. That's all I have to say.

Man Fionna's Boss is short I thought they were a kid.

Love Fionna's reaction from getting fired...And how she technically flipped of her now old boss.

PRINCE GUMBALL or should I say Gary...

Gary's so adorable! I would love to try the cookies he made! They look delicious and sweet and the latté there!

Fuck Gary's boss! He don't deserve to work with that short ass dwarf (No offense to anyone who's short) he deserves better!

When Marshall started singing I was just amazed by the voice acting again! Like such voice is amazing for him!

Oh the poor coffee...

Aw! Marshall likes the cookies! I hope he meets Gary some episode!

I don't trust this version of Lumpy space princess...

I LOVE HUNTER! They are so gentle and nice! I get a bit of gender enby vibes from them.

I LOVED THIS EPISODE!♥️

Below is the next episode review cause this is getting a bit long and cause I explore a few dark topics.

Second Episode:

I missed Simon so much!

I don't like how he's basically a human attraction to the citizens. I just don't feel comfortable with that cause of anxiety and I don't like getting asked questions in general.

I personally think that kid should've just left Simon alone and not talk about his past to HIS ENTIRE FAMILY!

I do think what's interesting about the trauma of Simon is that he's so traumatized from his past as the "Ice King" to the point he can't look at ice without freaking out. It's like soldiers who have been in wars and are so traumatized by loud sounds to the point they just at times attack.

I like Finn's new design! It matches well with now personality.

And I like how TV (One of Jake's kids) is with him.

So wait Jake's DEAD!?

Blindfolded into a forest... What could go wrong?

I really love the forest layout cause of colorful and bright it is! It blends in with the vibe it's going for.

I was at first like "Woah there's blood!" When Jake killed the fish but then it made sense cause Adventure Time came out year's ago and they now they're audience has grown since then so it makes sense.

I would love to hear more stories from before Simon was the Ice King.

"SUCK ON THESE NUTS!" YES!!

More things that I noticed about Simon when he was fighting the bear thing is that he's not a fighter, he's not violent, he's just trying to fit in the best he can but even he can't cause of how people keep reminding him about his past as the Ice King.

I know what Finn did was irresponsible cause he just blindfolded Simon and led him into a forest but let me explain. He's lost Jake. And when Jake dies he was probably and most likely devastated since he lost the only person he was mostly close to a that was like a brother to him. That's his way of coping with stuff! But he doesn't know alot about Simon so he tried to do the one thing that helped HIM! He tried.

I was so HAPPY to see Marceline and Bubblegum again!

I find it very funny that Bubblegum's skin sticks to the tattoo gun.

Love Marceline's new hair cut as well.

I just Simon to be happy with his wife! Is that to much to ask!?😭

Also I think I catched a Steven universe reference when Cake came out Simon's hair.

This episode was heavy and full of emotion to unpack and I think I like that!

I love the series so far and hope more of it soon!

Also I'M BACK!

Trafalgar Law - Relationship, Intimacy & Sex HC

warnings: NSFW at the end and I definitely got super carried away 😮‍💨 🥵

a/n: I am so obsessed with this man, i just kinda spiraled here so I need others to indulge in this with me 🥺💗 Also, I’d love to hear others’ HC’s of this pretty, grumpy boyyy!

For Law to entertain a romantic relationship to begin with, you’d most likely need to start as childhood friends, crew mates or an ally (being a part of the Strawhats Crew for example). 

He’d appreciate the full package of beauty, brains and strength (beauty being less important but if you happen to be gorgeous AND can hold your own in a fight or have an intellectual conversation with him - you have his heart) 💗

Being in an intimate relationship with Law would mean you’d definitely need to work for it. The first aspect being that you gain his trust because being close/intimate with anyone is terrifying and quite frankly, Law’s scared to get attached to someone. (Poor baby has been through so much loss and trauma that he would need an insane amount of therapy to even begin to unpack all of it). 

Next, you’d prove to him that you’re loyal and supportive till the end. Naturally, he’s going to be apprehensive about being in a relationship and wants to ensure you’re there for the long-haul. He’s not used to all these feelings and romance shit so reassurance will be necessary - especially in the beginning stages.

If Law has a crush on you, don’t think for a second that he’ll speak up about it. He’ll take that shit to his grave UNLESS you’re both put in a life or death situation where he worries that he may never see you again, otherwise - expect to be forward and direct with your feelings for Law if you want things to go anywhere. 

However, beware - because Law would 100% pull the “I’m not ready for a relationship” card & this could be for a number of reasons: #1 being obvious - he’s a well known, highly sought after Pirate who lives a dangerous day to day life and he doesn't know when one day could be his last but #2 there would be some anxiety around just simply being a good partner to you. He knows his trauma has hardened his heart a bit, causing him to come off as a bit cold and closed off but at the end of the day, Law wants to be everything you need him to be. He wants to give you the best but would feel unsure if he’s deserving of you.

Overall, Law would be a great partner to have once you’ve broken down those walls because he’s super level headed, intelligent, cares deeply for his loved ones and will always make you feel protected! Plus, he’s hot as hell - so there’s also that. 

(NSFW)

First of all, you’ll never catch Law fucking a random no matter how much he may wanna get his dick wet. Naturally, he’s not the most horny of the One Piece men, but if the urge hits him, he’ll find some alone time late at night on the Polar Tang to quickly jerk one off before attempting to get some sleep. Basically, committed relationships are the only time he’ll let himself be vulnerable in that way with anyone else. 

 If you’re fortunate enough to be his lover, you will thoroughly enjoy the sex as Law will take such great care of you & leave you wonderfully surprised. Sometimes, you can expect fast, rough fucking where Law overstimulates & abuses your pussy but he’s also someone who enjoys slow, passionate sex as well. In fact, he actually prefers to slow things down as it's like the ultimate, most intimate form of bonding with his partner. 

After a long night in the office, he seeks you out to relieve some built up tension. Law feels like he’s floating on a cloud when he gets to bury himself inside of your glistening folds. You watch his beautiful face contort - slowly crumbling above you, trying to stifle his moans as he bottoms out, savoring how good you feel squeezing around his length. 

Law isn't the kinkiest at first. He’ll start out pretty vanilla until you let him know its ok to spice things up. Medical role play, dumbification (he has a slight superiority complex), and choking (he loves to see his tattooed fingers wrapped around your throat) are all things that would turn the “Surgeon of Death” on.

Doesn’t mind quickies but doesn't really prefer it. He likes to take his time making a mess of you on his cock or fingers. 

Law loves when you ride him - either tracing your fingers over the ink on his chest and or interlocking your fingers with his. Regardless, the Doctor is in for a treat. He’ll enjoy watching your tits bounce in his face, hearing your ass slap against his thighs and even the lewdness of your pussy squelching as you bounce on his cock. As Law looks down and sees the juices of your arousal coat his shaft, at this point - he’s close; whimpering and begging for you to milk him dry. This rewards him with the best combo of visual + physical stimulation so you’ll have him cumming loads in no time. 

Tags: @unsuretater-simp , @hoeronoa-zoro​ ✨❤️

Don't leave us in suspense! Drop the baldirs gate takes!

the one literally on my mind right now:

there is not a single good astarion/halsin story out there. like prove me wrong i guess, i haven't looked at all of them, but every single one i dip my toes into goes:

uwu poor baby astarion so sad

uwu halsin takes care of him and teaches him consent

uwu halsin is very paternalistic and teaches astarion how to sex

uwu he Big

and it drives me bonkers. like fandom has the habit of infantilizing astarion anyway, making him out to be a poor sad victim. like other people have pointed out the hilarious "man whose personal journey is gaining agency -> let's take away his agency" fanfic pipeline already, but for real!

rambling about how emotionally stunted astarion is under the cut:

he doesn't like to talk about his trauma, but he's also clear that it is trauma. he isn't in denial. he knows he's fucked up. and yes, when it comes to sex it's a bit more of a gray area, but he's a willing participant. he has a bunch of horny comments. he very much wants to hook up with someone at the goblin party, and WILL fuck lae'zel if tav doesn't romance either first. he tends to not enjoy sex as much as he THINKS he will and disassociates and knows his feelings are all fucked up around it, but he is NOT naive or in denial. he actually seems pretty self aware about it! he knows he forces himself through seductions, he knows he uses sex as a tool, he doesn't like either thing but he's been doing it for a long time. he's not naive.

he's also just. not. vulnerable? in general? like the man whines and complains, but he's one of the least emotional people in camp, in that he HATES expressing his real feelings. he doesn't talk about feelings. shadowheart, by way of contrast, is standoffish and doesn't open up easily, but IS able to pretty plainly state when she likes and trusts you. astarion? he has no idea. he will say this. he doesn't admit to liking anyone or anything, and yes, trauma, etc., etc., but he's also just kind of emotionally closed off. in general. anything that isn't superficial is shut down.

astarion actually goes pretty far out of his way to NOT be uwu vulnerable. he HATES being pitied and looked down on, or being perceived as such. CONSISTENTLY. he hates it when you tell him you'll protect him. he doesn't like being seen as weak. my favorite example: he doesn't actually approve of you offering to be his personal juice box after the first bite: he does approve of you agreeing with HIS plan to eat bandits. he doesn't like charity; he likes agency. he'll still take advantage, because he'll take what he can get, but it's REALLY telling he consistently prefers the answer that gives him agency (eating bandits) over the easier solution that doesn't (being fed at tav's discretion). with durge it's even more obvious. he says repeatedly: he wants to be in this TOGETHER. he wants them to rely on HIM. he very, very, very much does not want to be a kept toy.

i think there's also some ambiguity about him calling off sex in his romance. he's VERY clear that he enjoyed sex with tav and sees them as very attractive; it's just that (as he also says) he doesn't know how to have a relationship that isn't framed around sex as a tool and payment. that's re-enforced by his stated vulnerabilities once tav stops sleeping with him: he sees sex as his primary purpose/his looks as his only selling point, and he worries about tav hooking up with the drow twins (slightly) or halsin (more so) as a result. and yes, he has lots of other trauma and issues to unpack on top of it: but from the outset, he's pretty clear that he wants to figure out how to have feelings and a relationship in a non-sexual context. the other stuff exists TOO. many things can be true. it's just that he states, his stated reason for withdrawing, is wanting to sort out his feelings for TAV, not sort out his sexual trauma. again, both are true. but also: BOTH are true. he's not just a sad traumatized boy, he's also and equally trying to learn how to Relationship in a different way than he's used to.

so going back to halsin, who i'm not trying to demonize. all these FANFICS, man. halsin teaching astarion about uwu consent and taking care of him in a strong and paternal way. that's like. the last thing in the universe astarion would want. he'd go full cat exposed to water. and i'm not saying the ship can't happen or whatever, but it's such a common thread in the fanfics it drives me bonkers.

okay but what if astarion shadowheart karlach gale wyll poly. i never get laezel or minthara so idk enough about them to analyze so imma just focus on my Main Camp Team. this gets very nsfw toward the end because i’m ill and i want them all to fuck!

the insane potential for an incredible number of love triangles. it starts with astarion and shadowheart, because he assumes the amnesiac will be the most naive/easy to influence. they pick up gale and astarion finds him annoying while shadowheart finds him sweet and useful to the mission. of course astarion starts trying to compete with and outsmart gale, which just creates an insane amount of sexual tension.

then karlach joins in and shadowheart is immediately smitten with her, leaving gale and astarion to let that sexual tension come to a climax or two. shadowheart, literally conditioned to be non-monogamous is all for it and pouts about not being invited until gale realizes that Oh. Oh. This is a thing that was happening…? well, he can’t blame astarion for liking her, and she’s much sweeter and substantially less threatening than the Girl He Has Feelings For that gale brings to the table.

karlach is a hard one because she is actually insanely monogamous and would be happiest only with shadowheart, trying to ignore the fact that her girl had other partners because she’d never deny her happiness like that. then i think once astarion and gale opened up a bit about their experiences and conditions karlach would really start developing a connection with them that would eventually bleed over into something a little more. she’s used to warming shadowheart up at night, what difference does one more shivering elf at her side make? gale is her fucking bomb bro till the end and he’s super smart and explains stuff to her she doesn’t understand without making her feel stupid.

then we add wyll to the mix. the literal actual genuine knight in shining armor of astarion and shadowheart’s dreams, so kind and honorable and hot they’re down bad. the way wyll suffers under mizora but doesn’t regret his pact with her wins over gale’s sympathy immediately and of course, wyll’s sacrifice to protect karlach gets her right in the infernal engine too.

as for specific small group dynamics ive already gone crazy about shadowheart astarion and karlach so we’ll skip over them for now.

gale -> astarion <- wyll is simultaneously “i want that twink obliterated” and “oh my god you poor injured little stray cat let me nurse you back to health”. very big on the unpacking trauma and having Man Therapy Time that leads to astarion and gale both crying into wyll’s very muscular shoulders

wyll -> shadowheart <- karlach is the knight x princess trapped in a tower x dragon dynamic but the princess and dragon are in love and the knight is an awkward blushing mess who is super into this. i know karlach and shadowheart have some freaky sex so anything with with them would be be BDSM Bootcamp for wyll

shadowheart -> gale <- karlach is fuck your ugly ex you didn’t deserve that, that is NOT love, let us show you how it’s done. they’d also recognize and encourage that little spark of femininity that pops up in gale from time to time and definitely indulge him in it. he’s also an extremely perceptive chatterbox, so honestly i think he’d be the third member of the gossip girl trio over astarion who isn’t quite so analytical

astarion -> shadowheart <- gale is soooo much jealousy competition for shadowheart’s attention but gale is completely oblivious to it. shadowheart adores the concept of being bickered over and feeds into it just a little bit to see astarion squirm. i am a shadowheart fujoshi truther and watching astarion and gale go at it is definitely her cup of tea.

wyll -> astarion <- shadowheart is purely “if anything happens to me, i know you’ll be here to take care of him”. now, put shadowheart in the middle and it’s herding dog x lamb x wolf dynamic all the way. very much the angel and devil on shadowheart’s shoulder when it comes to everything

a really fun one is wyll and karlach + shadowheart and astarion. this i feel would be mostly sexual because what says masc/butch best bros solidarity like topping your respective pretty twink/femme partners together? especially with shadowstar sandwiched between them and kissing like their lives depend on it.

also, there is absolutely some gangbangery happening but they’re very specific about it. if shadowheart is in the middle it’s insanely rough and degrading and pushing her to and sometimes past all her limits with her prior consent of course. she’s definitely into eroticizing her memory loss and getting fucked completely brainless, letting go of all her worries, having everything replaced with love and pleasure and pain that feels sooo so good…

very rarely astarion is in the middle but it’s the complete opposite. they’re all there to love on him, to make him feel good, to make him feel safe and secure. very slow and gentle and at his pace, taking turns touching him and getting him off and completely overstimulating him. someone’s got him held in their arms the entire time, usually karlach or wyll, shadowheart running concentration on his thoughts in case something goes too far and he can’t communicate it. praising him, telling him how good he is, how much he deserves all this love and adoration, etc, helping him completely rewrite the thousands of degrading and harmful sexual encounters he’s had little by little

idk what the opposite of a gangbang is but karlach is just an absolute stamina monster and will sometimes do a bit of circulating because she just can’t fall asleep or she’s too wound up or shadowheart knocked out immediately and she’s sexually frustrated. no one can resist her puppy dog eyes and so she ends up riding wyll into the ground, swapping head with astarion, and having some freaky wizard sex with gale that keeps her going until she’s too exhausted to move

im like chemically addicted to group poly at this point and i will forever be sad you can’t really even do a throuple in-game. however, a girl can dream!

aaaaaaa so tumblr is not a functional website and it ate my next two drafted asks so prepare to get tagged in textposts but @brambleberrycottage sent Lord of The Rings (which will be v interesting bc im quite new to this franchise so pls dont crucify me i know nothing im baby lol) for the fandom ask game:

✨ send me a fandom and i'll answer with the following!

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

↣ VERY IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE but i think i have no choice but to go with aragorn. idk i dont know enough yet about all the lore of the universe to unpack this but. idk. something about that specific Flavor of generational trauma and the concept of corrupted legacy/rejecting his bloodline and coming back to it and learning to accept it and himself and what that means for middle earth in the grand scheme of things and h ow he has to 'forgive' himself/his kind to help everyone else. idk idk. It Compels Me. ive only seen the movies 3 times and i have not yet read the books so im sorry if im saying anything stupid aldjfkfhf 😭

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

↣ SAM!!! SAMWISE GAMGEE !!! SAMWISE THE BRAVE! he is so so friend shaped i just love him so much so many of his scenes make me ugly cry. he was my big toss up for blorbo in this ranking. but i want to squish him. you know ???????

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

↣ NO idea who is underrated in this fandom but i have a Soft Spot for boromir. hes that type. the type we've discovered i always love. the traumatized man with emotional problems who is overconfident. akdjfkfjfkgfj and i KNOW he obviously has his faults but he redeems himself and he reminds us of his true character and he does right by those halflings in the end by god 😭😭 still sad abt it

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

↣ again not that obscure probably idk enough of the more background ppl yet and idk who is popular but i have a soft spot for king theoden. his speech on the hill about burying his son always rly gets to me and he seems very noble and level-headed and fair, if not a little bit prideful at times. so interested in the concept of legacy and the way he talks about it and then how aragorn talks about it too and i always wonder if there is meant to be contrast/reference between them.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

↣ LISTEN..... DO NOT COME FOR ME BUT ITS KIND OF SORT OF SMEAGOL......hear me out. if faramir hadnt caused frodo and same to betray him i think he might still have been good and might still have been free of the ring at last. and idk if that lines up w the lore at all i may be talking out of my ass. im just saying i feel so so terrible about that twist happening to him bc he seemed so happy and free before the ring and then its just IMMEDIATE awfulness and crimes forever. he must be suffering. he died suffering. for the stupid ring. id like to think in another universe he gets something better.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

↣ im sorry this is literally frodo i think 😭 canonically and also fandom-wise. frodo ily i am sorry this burden ruined your life it PHYSICALLY pains me, literally, yet i cannot stop reading about it and thinking abt your struggles.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

↣ OBVIOUSLY SAURON OR SARUMAN.....NEXT QUESTION

I hate to completely ruin my vibey aesthetic blog like this, but I seriously need help and if anyone could share this it would mean a lot to me.

Heavy TW for everything.

I've finally decided to erase my abusive family from my life and I won't be receiving any more financial help from them (what little they gave me, anyway).

I made the stupid decision of visiting them a few weeks and it has been terribile. My mom is verbally abusive as well and my father too. The only reason my mom is not hitting me anymore is because I've already threatened to call the police and record what she says, and since she's a coward all she does is belittle me and threaten me.

My parents (especially my mom) have been abusive in every way possible since I was a kid, and now they repeatedly try to gaslight me saying that I'm a narcissistic liar, that I'm an ungrateful bitch.

They have never showed any type of love or affection, even when I was little - my father thinks taking me out to play with other kids and giving me food was "so much" and "treating me like a princess". My mother has punched and kicked me, belittled me, threatened me, manipulated me for years and even kicked me out once before trying to coerce me to come back to her because I had to "think of your family and your grandmother".

She's also homophobic and part of her abuse towards me is because I'm a GNC lesbian: she constantly forced me to shave, even putting me down and hitting me while shaving my legs; I had no freedom of choice, had to secretly shop for clothes I liked and the few times she found out she cut my clothes with a scissor.

She thinks I'm a man, that I'm dirty and ungrateful, that at this point "I should just transition and live as a man". Just because I'm not what she wants me to be.

My dad touched my intimate parts when I was a kid repeatedly and so did my grandfather (his father) - they sexually abused me when I was barely 5 and it's the first time I say this out loud, but after one year of therapy I finally gathered the courage to say this. Not to mention that my father is incredibly violent, controlling and cheated on my mother multiple times because she wasn't "enough of a wife" for him.

I'm the result of a loveless marriage where my mother tried to undo all her failures and transfer her shitty dreams in me, and when I wasn't what she wanted, I was worth nothing but abuse and violence.

They're now dealing with the consequences of their abusive and terrible behaviour and they're trying to get away by saying that I lie, that I make everything up, that I'm a manipulator and a narcissist and that I "put up a persona with other people" and manipulate them in thinking they're evil - which they are. They try to uno reverse card every fucking thing they did by saying that I was actually the abusive one with them, when in reality I have trauma, depression and anxiety bc of them - and probably suffer from CPTSD (I'm being diagnosed by my psychiatrist).

This isn't even half of what these pieces of shit have done to my life, but unpacking all the trauma is honestly too much and triggering.

I'm done with this, being near them only makes me suicidal and completely reverts all the changes I've been trying to make within myself with therapy.

Unfortunately I need money to pay my uni apartment and for resources like public transportation and food - in the meantime I will look for a job, any job, although the economic situation in Italy is terrible and jobs are almost impossible to find.

I'm sorry I can't give any more proof - there's hundreds of stories like mine, and many of us here are poor and hardly get by. I feel terrible for having to ask for money and I don't want to force anyone or guilt anyone into donating - just sharing would be enough to help.

Me, Playing Luke's route

Chapters 1-5

You KNOW I HAD TO

Also this illustrates why we would be friends but not love interests.

Sariel: he lacks a sense of responsibility.

Me: of which I have so much it spills over.

Sariel: yes. :)

Me: But it is NOT my responsibility to make sure the princes attend to their duties, riiight? :)

Seriel: well...

Me: and, i am studious. It can be intimidating to some people. I wouldn't want to do even more to discourage him from his studies.

Sariel: *disappointed dad look*

Me: ... Dammit. Fine. I'll do it!

Sariel: I can't believe that worked anyways.

#

*later in the garden*

Luke: Pretty AND can cooks! You're such a catch!

Me, who has know Rio for 3 years: I know!

#

MC: thanks Luke.

Luke: but I didn't do anything...

Me: Yeah, he didn't do anything.

MC really be out here saying "Luke, you're someone in the palace I can let my guard down around be like how commoners are" and I'm like, no offense Luke but, Where's Rio? Pretty sure if I am gonna rely on anyone for that it would be Rio if simply because I've known him longer. But it wouldn't even be just cuz of that, he's also more RELIABLE

#

Luke: I'm gonna be your big brother!

Me: Luke, honey, I'm pretty sure this is the OTHER way around.

Luke: why?

Me: you have not been responsible once since I've met you. {This route at least} You won't even come to classes with me, which is the only thing I asked of you.

Luke: *surprised Pikachu face*

#

Sariel didn't watch the trailer. Poor man. Also, I DEMAN A HIGH FIVE FOR PULLING THAT OFF!

#

*later in the kitchen*

Luke: I have BAGGAGE. Like. REALLY heavy baggage.

Me: yeah, I saw your trailer. That's why I'm here.

Altho if I'm honest, if theres anyone who's trauma in willing to unpack it would be Rio.

Luke:...bruh...

#

Me in therapist mode: *fixes glasses* Luke, have you ever been afraid to care about people because the more you care about the more you've got to loose?

Luke: .... Are those Sariel's glasses?

Me:... No. Don't change the subject.

#

Thinking about how Luke WAS actually the one I was most interested in when I started the game and if I didn't start it when the game came out but waited till now and picked his route without watching the trailer at all as I have done in the past I would get an increasing feeling of "what the HELL did I get myself into?" I heard the japanese trailer didn't spoil so much, man those players must have had a wild ride.

#

*in the tavern*

Clavis: heyo lil mama lemme whisper in your ear

Me: * punches him in the face without even turning around out of pure reflex*

Clavis: my beautiful face!

#

Nokto: are you dating Luke?

Me: no.

Nokto: but you just called him "honey"...?

Me: He just comes quicker when I say that.

{Nokto hasn't actually appeared yet. I miss him... }

24 Days of TVWLM // Day 1

March 1st: The Prologue

Note: I can't believe it's finally March 1st! The month that Bridgerton season 2 finally comes out!! Even though there's been a lot going on (what with still not having a trailer, barely getting any content of Simone and Jonathan, and the India storyline) I am so excited and happy to be finally getting Kate and Anthony on our screens! It's going to be so good. Okay let's get on with the book! It's all under the cut because it's long (I may have gone a little overboard, just imagine how long the other chapter posts are going to be).

Thoughts:

This is a short part, but no less devastating. There's just so much to unpack. I love hearing about Edmund and Violet and I remember that they were young, but 20 and 18!! They were REALLY young.

This prologue really sets up Anthony's story so well. Explaining what a good father Edmund was to all his children, how everything Anthony did was for his father, and just setting up for tragedy. For some reason, this read through it hit me a lot harder. It was always sad, but knowing that we're actually going to see it play out? It seriously made me tear up. And the fact that we're probably going to get Anthony witnessing Edmund dying?? My heart is already breaking.

Show scenes:

I wonder how many flashbacks we're going to get with Edmund. I'm hoping we get a few, not just the death scene. I want flashbacks of Edmund taking Anthony on hikes, carrying him on his back and Benedict in his arms in that leather carrier he made for them. I want all the feels!!

Favorite parts/scenes:

Honestly I just loved seeing what a loving father Edmund was. If I remember correctly, we don't get a lot of scenes really detailing Edmund as a father in the other books. Oh sure, the characters talk about him, but even then, the younger children don't have a lot memories with their father unfortunately. It was great that we got a glimpse, even a small one, into what exactly made Edmund a great dad.

Favorite quotes:

"Lord and Lady Bridgerton were very much in love, and they saw their son's birth, not as the arrival of an heir, but rather that of a child." It's such a simple line, but after Simon's story, it really does hit different.

"No, Anthony liked to think that his relationship with his father was special simply because he'd known him the longest." This is just so sweet and I love the implication that Edmund spent time with each of his kids and loved them equally, that the children knew he didn't have a favorite.

"Edmund Bridgerton was, quite simply, the very center of Anthony's world." Okay just rip my heart out why don't you, it would hurt less.

"Anthony loved his mother. Hell, he'd probably bite off his own arm if it meant keeping her safe and well. But growing up, everything he did, every accomplishment, every goal, every single hope and dream - it was all for his father." Seriously how much pain am I meant to be able to handle?!

"'Mama?' he choked out. He hadn't called her that for years; she'd been 'Mother' since he'd left for Eton." This is especially sad because it really is the last time Anthony is able feel like a child. After this, he has to be "the man of the house". Literally in the next few paragraphs he already starts taking care of his family like his father would.

"'It's all right, Mama,' he said. But he knew it wasn't." He knew everything would be alright before because his father told him that and Edmund never lied. But Edmund's dead now. Nothing would ever be alright again. IM CRYING!

"Edmund Bridgerton had died at the age of thirty-eight. And Anthony simply couldn't imagine ever surpassing his father in any way, even in years." I just- this is going to hurt so much. My poor baby Anthony.

I truly cannot wait to see Anthony work through his trauma, with Kate helping him and also vice versa. I've said this before, but the reason why I love Kate and Anthony so much is how vulnerable they can get with each other. Yes they fight and argue and banter and that is so great, but I love when they get soft with each other. With Simone and Jonathan as Kate and Anthony, this really is going to be an amazing season!

What were y'alls thoughts for the prologue? Don't forget to use the tag and tag me if/when you make your posts! You can also reblog this with your thoughts or go to my inbox.

Also, let me know how you like the structure of the post or any suggestions y'all have to make communicating together easier!

T-minus 24 more days until season 2!!

EPISODE TEN i am worried

"Wherever you go, there you are" hhhh

MARY!! HELL YEAH

Ok wait quick prediction: so stede has let his imagination run a bit wild, fuelled both by his own guilt over how he left/how poor of a husband he was, AND the words of others (esp Badminton). he THINKS he has truly betrayed Mary and she has lead an awful life. Meanwhile Mary has THRIVED. and she's a lesbian.

oooh of course and she has reported him dead!! so she's a widow, and not an abandoned wife.

daughter in breeches!!

She's an artist!!

im just. AURGH. Stede could've lived his best life and left her with hers :(

oh fucking hell im gonna hate this episode. not in a "i hate this episode bad writing >:(" way im just. AAAH i don't want conflict.

i'm gonna strangle stede

is he like. self fulfilling the image he had of them. with the distance between them and stuff. and his kids wholly bored of him.

idk if you can be salty about doug here stede

I LOVE STEDE i do i'm just. very angry at him rn fhjghdkjs

"under the weather" man's HEARTBROKEN

JIM THEY'RE BACK

i love olu SO much

YESS. YESS. I LOVE THEM. GET IT JIM.

Stede is actually impressed! good!

HI HELLO HEAD FULL Mary chooses to go by the Widow Bonnet, there's an air of mystery! it's like a pirate name! but blackbeard doesn't want his name anymore and the Gentleman Pirate never stuck!! he's jealous!!

oh no Ed,,,,,

blanket fort stopppp

is he wearing one of Stede's robes :((

Therapist Lucius is one of my favourite things

if Ed cries i'll shoot Stede

LIFE BEGINS AGAIN but that's what he was gonna do with STEDE i'm EMO

will this be the birth of an even worse blackbeard oh no

i wanna make clear that i think i do understand the choices Stede made here. i'm also. angy. no talky.

GO OFF MARY THANK YOU

KJSDHFDKJH OLU COVERING HIMSELF UP. THE SOCK. DKHFDGK

I love Olu and Jim i love them SO much

Has Ed and Izzy had a lil talk about the whole uh. English Navy thing.

Ed is going like. beyond Stede and into hippie.

uh ohhhh planting some murder seeeeeeds

stop making stories out of your life

oh lord oh no

because like. now it REALLY seems like a whim. he's now seen and accepted by his peers in the upper classes, and now the whole piracy thing is really just! a rich man's little adventure in slumming it!

"he's absolutely lovely :)" -> "charles vane was my friend"

YEAH DUDE YOU HAVE A BIT OF STUFF TO UNPACK. A BIT OF TRAUMA.

Oh Stede :(

AAAAAH IZZY.

with the GLOVED HAND.

AND THE LIGHTHOUSE BEHIND IZZY.

JESUS the names. ok. ok. ok. ok.

oh is Stede drunk. oh no.

i mean this is kinda interesting. Heartbroken Ed is trying to do something wholesome and bring the crew in, heartbroken Stede is being self destructive and bringing his family down.

YOU FORGIVE HER?? okay, now, Stede. Buddy.

UH OH

JDFGJ his point of contention is the METHOD there's the Stede i love

BRO,,,, if they fake his death in a mirror to Blackbeards original plan??????

fuck offff with the flashbacks aaaaaah 😭😭😭

i love them when they're friends aww MARY you ledge

stop it stop it stop it he lets go of his HEART STOP

ED. FOR FUCK'S SAKE. NOT LUCIUS.

Does. Does this count as killing on purpose.

Wait did i not fucking call this earlier in the episode. The birth of a worse Blackbeard. I DID.

another MIRROR absolutely awful.

uh oh izzy…….

oh jesus

Bad new lads: i don't think i can fix Izzy after all.

THE BOOKS stoppppp

Pete. Won't be happy about this. Neither will Fang i can't imagine.

Yeah i can't fix izzy.

oh my god kdhjk "no that was doug! :)" i do love this hahaha

I KNEW IT THEY'RE DOING BLACKBEARDS PLAN. FUCK. RITUAL SUBSTITUTION OR WHATEVER.

the fucking. the leopard is named NED. ED. NEDWARD. i'm DYING here.

Pete :((((

WHERE'S JIM FUCKHEAD.

they cannot be this dumb. god love em.

the cabin's so empty now :(

he's a WORSE goth than when we first met him jesus fucked.

FRENCHIE :(

i cannot believe. he is about to use the Art of Fuckery to execute Blackbeard's corpse plan. on himself. to RETURN to Blackbeard.

he called him Bonnet :(

CANNIBALISM AGAIN

I'M SO EMO NO TALKY

Fruits Basket Manga Review ch (90)- First pages ONLY.

I skimmed thro ch-89 to know the context of ch-90. it was Cinderella’s play. In this chapter, Kyo says early on, that time has passed since the play & that they are NOW starting their third year in high school. cool.

This part will ONLY focus on the 1st few pages of ch 90 abt (kyo & tohru) & stop before kyo’s memories starts, because the early pages contain:

Tons of new unexplored analysis of (kyo & tohru) characters that unfortunately was intentionally cut & worse! “changed” in the anime.

No space to add kyoko’s story in this post.

Kyoko’s story is full psychologically & socially.. I need to take a deeeeeeep breath before I unpack it. very deeeeep breath!

-Glimpses of Tohru (the silent grieving girl) Subtle Writing of Grief:

Right from the beginning, I hate how much insight into tohru’s grief & weakness as a human being is already there in the first few pages of ch-90 than the entire 3 seasons of the anime! From few pages we have:

Tohru’s seemingly delighted watching a video. Subtly, showcasing tohru’s grieve & paving the path for tohru’s trauma exploration later in the story. Grief is not sth you quickly past, that’s the most tragic misunderstanding of grief. Time will pass, so, you’ll be better & healthier. Really?!. Tohru’s inner desire to see her mom alive manifested in her words: “ like a photo comes to life” T_T.

The story/writing/manga is acknowledging tohru’s heartbreaking & NOT cute habit of talking to her mom’s cold dead photo! In the anime, tohru talks to her a lot in se01 & it’s up to you to see as as “ cute” as all the canon characters do or actually feeling it IS wrong. Kyo’s  “ what would she do if there were a video of her mom”! “ drives the point more abt tohru being a sad grieving human~not the “advice-giving, optimistic angel, & rain-stopping sunshine in the anime.

Tohru telling kyo to NOT catch cold connecting it to se01, ep 9 (haru’s ep) when tohru was afraid that yuki might catch cold & kyo noticed that! so now in se03, they’re dropping this plot altogether within the main anime, for what? we dont even know if this part would be included in whatever “ kyoko’s” spinoff content would be. -_-’.

That’s how you write subtle trauma such as (grief) for a main (female) MC. subtlety is the key. Respect the viewers intelligence & do it.

You don’t have to give her the long speeches or the many focused ep that yuki had. he’s the kind who confront himself inwardly constantly.

You don’t have to showcase drama, confrontation & force the emotions out like you did with kyo. he runs from his trauma & punishes himself.

Tohru buries her feelings! she’s different from both kyo & yuki. So, with her subtle & symbolic scenes are enough!!!The viewers will catch it if you show it, but ignoring it, cutting it & hoping the viewers will magically predict what you cut, is weird. But the anime isn’t even into us predicting nor subtly showing her cuz this tohru is NOT the tohru we have in the anime. How?

Simply cuz there is no kyo’s inner thoughts abt small things such as tohru’s photo obsession which subtly shows her grief & trauma. If kyo didn’t monologue abt her, tohru does not exist as she’s meant to be. You loose the subtle insights into tohru if you cut kyo’s inner thoughts. Not everything kyo thinks abt in regards to tohru is romance!!! That’s a very narrow & superficial look into the writing of kyo/’tohru dynamics. Flip the pages, hmm..cut this kyoru scene here & there cuz we dont want the anime to be only their love story.. But the story itself IS NOT only their love story at all. These pages/scenes here are abt tohru as a PERSON. Not tohru the lover...

- Writing Clashes between manga & anime: (Kyo’s Conscious Gradual Psychological Exploration vs Shock Value & Drama)

In ch 90 i really love all the inner self talking that kyo’s doing. It really explains why he ended up rejecting tohru so strongly. Also, going for a trip into kyo’s mind is hella exciting, new, refreshing & full of analysis-worthy exploration! Kyo’s inner psychological argument with himself is a psychologically-informed presentation of a tried guilty mind:

“ Why can’t I stop thinking of (kyoko’s words) lately? Acknowledging that he IS remembering kyoko & never forgot her. This is also supported in the anime itself. When he apologized to a sleeping tohru in se01, ep14 & se02, ep9 , confronting yuki in the stairs & other instances as well. 

“ It’s like a lid been opened & all the memories came pouring”. Acknowledging that kyo DID open his lid since se02, ep9 byt chose to run & not confront it due to his guilt of ruining tohru’s happiness by confessing his connection to her mom. 

“ pretending I didn’t know, pretending I forgot”. Here is a blatant clash in kyo’s writing (1) between the anime & manga (2) between the anime’s episodes themselves!!. In the manga, again kyo chose to ignore & pretended to forget. Death is NOT sth you forgot. Kyo saw kyoko bleeding & dying.  The anime chose to make him totally forget & it could’ve worked if they didn’t included all the canon moments of him actually remembering & pretending to forget. Is that lazy writing? or was the director for se03 different from se 1 &2 &? chose to NOT watch the two previous seasons? Why would you consciously include a contradicting depiction of your character on screen for thousands of confused viewers? Was the scene of kyo’s shocked gave upon seeing kyoko’s photo that artistically appealing that you forgot everything? I really have NO problem of kyo forgetting kyoko if that was written in the anime since se01, but it wasn't. that's why it sucks. 

“Is this payback? maybe I want to blame ME?” augh! i love this line so much! Directly hinting to the viewers that this is kyo’s one-sided guilt before his story with kyoko even started! subtly paving the path for the reason of his rejection of tohru” I dont want forgiveness. I want to blame ME.

-I don’t mind that the anime left kyo’s thoughts of kyoko until the climax in eo8, cuz ep 8 was SO well-done! Se03, ep 8 pacing was very suitable to (1) uncovering dark secrets & death, trauma, & guilt. (2)  for exploring the effects such secrets on kyo’s character, decisions, mentality. Also, the animation of kyo’s face all ep 8 was one of the most expressive facial expressions the anime has ever delivered! The eyebrows, eyes, mouth, tears, body languages, heartache was all 100% perfect. The fact that the following eps didnt have much time to express everything & chapters were cramped is not ep 8′s fault but the decision to have 13 eps. Kyo’s delayed trauma deserved to have its own ep.

-What I DO mind is the added scene of ep 6 where he freaked out upon seeing kyoko’s picture, the concept of shock is perfect & so suitable for an anime but was NEVER properly written into the anime itself from the beginning. On the contrary, the anime itself contradict such usage of such value. Good job ruining an otherwise perfect-depiction of two traumatized characters (kyo & tohru) with ONE scene.. -_-

Side Notes:

I thought tohru is narrating the 1st page in ch-90, turned it out it is kyo!!!! Kyo narrates sth? Kyo monologues? kyo has a POV? Just the setting of kyo doing that feels different! I duno if it cuz when that happens in the anime it’s always clash & drama! lol, or cuz it’s sth original!

Shigure’s “ it’s broadcasted all over the nation” is epic! XD! you know poor stupid kyo would fall for that! XD. kyo, you really are an idiot! XD... man this scene would’ve been epic comedy~ lol.

Tohru not knowing what a “dvd” is is outdated for the anime, but to still keep the sentiment of “her wishing she’d have a video footage of her mom”, they could’ve replaced her words with “ It’d be fun watching this play years from now & remembering all the details”. I know that to some, it feels weird that tohru doesn't have video footage of her mom in this era. but trust me, this is more common than you might think. My late brother, who’s way younger than me, doesn't have much video footage, he always felt awkward & preferred not to be filmed. We got photos for him tho~

Even if you want kyo’s knowledge of kyoko to be in the climax only. You can always include this scene of tohru & kyo in the first pages in the anime somehow. It doesn't even need to be abt the dvd even tho that’s manageable. Cutting this short scene of them talking abt videos, & catching cold is cutting tohru’s trauma from its core. Then, the old grandpa’s narration from se03, ep6 would at least have some backup in the anime’s canon.

Momiji & shigure are perfect as a comedic duo!

I can’t get over tohru’s art~ <3

Pinning kyo at the beginning is epic~ kyo always gets the BEST romantic lines when he talks to himself. “ burning (tohru’s ) memories into my head or forgetting everything”. The torturing fire inside him is only distinguished by loving her but is also ignited by loving her~ what’s the solution~

i love your blog! i started playing idv recently and i'm in love with your writing! know that you have an avid supporter of your blog 🥰 and i would like to see more of Andrew’s little things because i need my boy’s stuff😔

awww! thank you nonnie!

i have some more ideas for andrew, i know this bit plays heavily on his behavior and what goes on in his head, but i think those are important things to start out with, i’m sorry if those parts are dense and/or hard to read.

misc. andrew kreiss headcanons || cut for length

andrew is... a lot to unpack (loving). he’s an asocial, anxious, coarse man, with an inferiority complex complemented by years of intense religious trauma, with a side order of mommy and (lack of?) daddy issues. 

most of his interactions with survivors and hunters alike are very tense and rocky, andrew’s emotions being an unpredictable swing between bending over backward to prove his usefulness or snapping when required to respond in an overly aggressive manner. 

considering the time range that the manor survivors are from, andrew would probably receive some disparaging comments and microaggressions due to his albinism- the manor is already an unsafe place. The expected response from its inhabitants is even more triggering for andrew’s poor self-esteem. 

any sort of friendship or half-honest relationship is incredibly rare, and will only happen by circumstance, or if you approach andrew in just the right way, even platonically. especially platonically. andrew is deeply immersed in the narrative of his own monstrosity, maintaining and constantly feeding into the belief that he is positively unlovable and any kindness shown to him is an attempt to use him or some subconscious pity response. pity is the last thing that andrew kreiss wants from people. 

not only are those infantilizing words blatantly insulting, but andrew’s inferiority complex is tipped off by nearly anything, so even kind statements can be perceived as disparaging jabs or send andrew into a guilt-ridden spiral, thinking that he’s tricked the other party into seeing him as something other than himself. 

now for a little break from the psychoanalyzing lmao

andrew is super illiterate. he was never given any formal education, though his mother did her best to teach him the basics of the alphabet before she passed away. since he worked closely with the church and the bible would’ve been one of the most readily available pieces of literature, it’s expected that he knows a plethora of bible verses, but they’re mainly memorized. 

poor guy has really bad blood circulation, so he’s cold all of the time- another reason for the cassock and patched-up coat he’s always wearing. this isn’t due to his albinism, mainly just because of how tall he is. i headcanon that he’s at least 188cm when his shoulders are hunched, which is pretty much always, and stands at a whopping 195cm when he straightens out. 

now, as for his interactions with the people he trusts the most (still, there’s barely any trust there), andrew is flaky at best. it’s not his fault; his primary defense mechanisms include obscene amounts of self-isolation and some behavior that could be low-key considered emotional manipulation; mainly unintentional guilt-tripping. in particularly overwhelming situations, andrew tends to mutter to himself about any assortment of topics, always in a low, frantic tone, whether he’s discussing his own unworthiness or cursing out someone else. 

contrasting heavily with the media he’s been exposed to, andrew curses quite a lot. he’s not super bad about it, but it’s part of his image that he has to maintain for his own perceived sense of safety. however, if you use the “lord’s” name in vain around him, you’re going to get at least an eye roll or a nasty look shot your way. andrew doesn’t go out of his way to fight or correct people he disagrees with, but he definitely finds ways to passive-aggressively make his opinions known. 

andrew quite enjoys gardening, specifically orchids and irises. back at Lutz Graveyard, he had his own little plot outside of the cemetery walls. 

i headcanon that andrew’s family is german, so, adding a german accent and the occasional foreign phrase, he’d be relatively difficult to understand if you’re not paying attention. not to mention andrew’s mumbl-y speech patterns.

andrew has a surprising sweet tooth! although, he does hold indulging himself in such activities to be a bit of a shameful activity. he favors raspberry pastries or any time of glazed item- cake doughnuts are his weakness. also a big fan of hard candies! he still has some vague memories of sharing small caramels with his mother as a young boy; hence, he keeps it as one of his nostalgic favorites. 

really likes art. he’s always been around artistic depictions of his faith, and, lacking the vocabulary to express himself otherwise, andrew picked up whatever he could and scribbled things out. small pieces of smudged paper (andrew is left-handed), ripped and torn around the edges, can be found around seldom-visited corners of the manor, scrawled over with graphite and ink.  

also tagging @rintares because of their andrew fixation /pos

Yes, a Reddit post. I’m sure so many of you are shocked that our colossally bad take came from there, (and probably from Toyotaro’s burner account lol), but nevertheless, here it is. How to even begin to unpack this... Okay, here we go: 1. Goku’s was hardly the only one who didn’t want to stop Gero. Vegeta literally threatened to KILL anyone who DID try to stop them. Tien wanted to fight them to test his limits. Goku’s desire was to fight them, yes, hello, this is Goku, But he also refused to just find and straight-up kill Gero when he TECHNICALLY hadn’t done anything to warrant it yet. And, as we actually came to see, that’s not an entirely unwarranted stance; things changed between these two timelines even without direct intervention. Unlikely as it was, it was possible that Gero may not have gone through with it. There have been entire books and films on this topic.. 2. This stupid claim just refuses to die. At what point in any part of the fight with Goku and Cell was it even IMPLIED that Goku could have won? Goku stated he’d been going all-out in his fight with Cell, when the Cell Jrs arrived and started attacking, Goku was getting bodied even though they were only about as strong as Vegeta or Trunks, who were both far below him when at full power. Goku could not have beaten Cell. ONLY Gohan could. The boy even said that he’d thought Goku and Cell were both not fighting seriously because they looked to be moving slowly to him. Gohan was already stronger than Goku, before he ever turned SSJ2. Period. And for the love of GOD, STOP with this “severe emotional trauma” nonsense! Gohan had been watching people die, his friends no less, since he was FIVE. In fact, seeing that at FIVE is FAR more likely to have given him any severe and lasting emotional trauma. PICCOLO is more likely to have caused this than Goku. Yes, the Piccolo the OP even then tries to claim is the paragon of fatherhood. Gohan was already afraid of his own anger, he always had a dislike of fighting and hurting people. The thing that shook the boy the most was watching his dad die and knowing it was partly his fault. Even then, he grew up into a healthy, well-adjusted man with his dream job and a family. Just STOP pushing your headcanons onto him for two seconds! 3. THINKS he could have killed Buu. Opted to try to teach those still alive a technique that would enable THEM to kill Buu and keep protecting the Earth even after he was gone. Could have killed Vegeta, yes, and sent him to hell and left Bulma and Trunks broken-hearted. Instead opted to try to reason with him first and allow him to think he’d finally caught up to him so he’d stop obsessing over their power gap to the point of SELLING HIS SOUL TO AN EVIL WIZARD TO GET THE EDGE.. And now, for the completely asinine reasons Goku is eeeeevil: 1. You’re acting as if this isn’t just Goku. That is LITERALLY Goku. Always HAS been Goku. He treats EVERYNE as a peer and potential friend and ADORES the idea of trying to fight strong people. Note that he also ASKED for a spar, didn’t just “attack” or something. This also has nothing to do with a thirst for “power”, it has to do with Goku trying to test himself and push himself to be the greatest warrior it’s possible for him to be. This is the same mentality that had Goku excited for the Tenkaichi Budokai, that had him excited to face Vegeta, that had him spare Piccolo and Vegeta for the sake of  rematch against such a great opponent someday. This is not some sort of development that happened post-Namek, and it’s by no means Evil. Also, how tf did VEGETA supposedly warn him when Vegeta was back on Earth and nowhere to be found?  2. Again... this is just Goku. This is how he is. That doesn’t mean he didn’t care about the plight of others though; Goku doesn’t just sit back and ignore suffering he’s been made aware of, and he helps his friends. But yes, the idea of facing HIMSELF was exciting to him; possibly his ONLY chance to compare his progress to another “version” of himself.  And... I’m sorry, but Goku erupting into a fit of rage over his family’s murder is invalidated because he was mad it used HIS body? Really? NO KIDDING I’d be extra pissed if some psychopath took over my body and murdered my wife and little boy! Who WOULDN’T be pissed about that? The last thing his wife saw was her husband’s face grinning as he cut through her and their son. The last thing Goten saw was his daddy GLEEFULLY murdering him. The fact that he flew into the biggest rage he’d ever had since he first fought FREEZA over this shows how much that hurt him. The fact that you think it was entirely about the use of his body and not their deaths shows a piss-poor ability to analyze what you see on screen, ESPECIALLY as he was upset but mostly indifferent hearing how Zamasu stole his body UNTIL he told Goku he murdered his family too. THEN he flew into a rage. This is also going to invalidate an upcoming point, so pin this.

3. Aaaand... we’re right back to the Tournament of Power itself. The Tournament that literally no one foresaw as having those results. The one that as stated to actually buy one universe that was gonna be wiped anyways a fighting chance to survive, and later turned out to be a massive morality test to allow ALL of said universes to survive. Nevermind that though, this OP here asserts that Goku KNEW it would result in that, was TOLD it would even (he literally was not I am so sick of that claim), and didn’t even KNOW they COULD undo it and STILL wanted it! This is easily the most hardcore anti-Goku stance I have ever seen on this topic This isn’t just chiding him for being ignorant or not listening to warnings (again, not applicable), it’s accusing him of KNOWING Genocide would happen and actually WATING that in the name of a few fights.  This being his stance is further illustrated by his assertion that Goku is indisputably a sociopath. Let’s look at the definition of a sociopath, shall we? “A person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behavior and a lack of conscience.” This is not Goku. OBJECTIVELY not Goku. Goku is far from anti-social, and very much has a strong sense of right and wrong, hence his desire to intervene when he comes across people suffering. Hence why he sought justice for the murder of Upa’s father. Hence why he felt IMMEDIATE REGRET after hearing what the consequences would be for the losers of the ToP, and WHY HE FLEW INTO A RAGE OVER THE MURDER OF HIS WIFE AND SON. Goku is capable of sympathy, empathy, and grasps the concepts of right and wrong. A sociopath he is not. And, of course, the stupid assertion that Goku is a bad father and Piccolo and Vegeta are the REAL examples of fatherhood... which is also erasure of Gohan and Krillin, neither of whom assaulted their daughters, tossed them into the wilderness to fend for themselves, forced them to be fighters and face homicidal aliens at age 5,or nearly let them and their mothers fall to their deaths because they were too absorbed with finding and killing an enemy to prove their superiority. To cap it off, Vegeta and Piccolo have somehow inexplicably become the “symbols of hope” in the series, trying to stop an evil, unhinged Goku from annihilating them all, and he asserts that Vegeta became the REAL hero during... the Cell Saga? The arc where Vegeta literally helped Cell become perfect? And was the hero in the arc where he sold his soul to Babidi, helped resurrect Buu, AND murdered hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent people JUST to make Goku mad enough to fight him because he refused to? You know, the thing you actually used as a point of criticism for... GOKU, and are clearly abdicating Vegeta of any and all responsibility for?  Folks, I’ve seen some bad takes in my day, but it’s very, VERY rare to find one this unhinged and frankly inept in one place. This is nuclear levels of Bad Takes here. Just... wow. 

Please elaborate on Andrew’s whiteness being inherit in his character! I have thoughts but I’ve never managed to make them coherent, but I will say that given the common fanon interpretation of Matt as a black man I think the scene where Andrew calls him on his “privilege” has a lot more to unpack than was intended, on the one hand the type of privilege being talked about is honestly tied to wealth + having a stable enough home life to cultivate a stable “normal” moral code which makes sense 1/2

And Matt was written to be white and straight, so that conversation between a white boy from a wealthy family / a severely mentally ill gay white boy who grew up in foster care is not inherently bad (although some language used is still off). And there are some interesting implications to the fact these are two characters with similar traumas but were raised in very different environments with different accesses to stability and turned out so differently. On the other hand Andrew is allowed to express a lot of anger as a white blonde boy, and absolutely trauma survivors should be allowed to express anger but even if you don’t read Matt as an moc he’s a character not actively coded as white in text the way Andrew is who almost never expresses anger in text, which sours that scene in a way. Also like I’m also a lesbian who’d willingly die for Andrew Minyard’s neurotic repressed ass but there’s no way he would walk away from Tilda’s murder if he were black or brown. 3/3

honestly, i don't feel as if the scene where andrew calls matt out on his privilege is unfounded in truth. as much as fanon matt is majorly hced as a black man (which, by the way, is another thing — stop pushing the black best friend steorotype on matt and dan and let them be real people), that's absolutely not how nora sakavic intended for him to be written, and while i do not agree that white should be the default for every character whose ethnicity is nondisclosed in text, i don't think we should add those analysis to the books in itself when we all know what nora sakavic's thoughts on people of color are.

however, even following that hc, i can't possibly say that matt's wealth does not give him an immense privilege over andrew. to understand class privilege you have to understand how inherently tied to race it is, but you also have to consider how deep it runs in our society and how much a person's worth is based on their place on the economic hierarchy. i'm not saying matt as a man of color would not have experienced debilitating and traumatic racist experiences, but i am saying that his wealth shielded him from certain vulnerabilities andrew, as a foster kid, was not shielded from. andrew's marginalization is as systemic and real as matt's as a poc, and his poor upbringing made him vulnerable to one too many things that matt was not exposed to, the same way andrew's whiteness made him immune to many things matt was vulnerable to.

i'll reblog this with my opinion on why andrew's whiteness is so inherently tied to his character because i don't want this answer to be too long lmao hold on

Chuuya Relationship Headcannons

The angry drunk boy with abandonment issues

Steal his hat and put it in places he can't reach

He also has like seven different alarm clocks littered around the room, because he can never get up in the mornings

Even then he can still sleep through it

However it is preferable to insomniac Chuuya

When you first met him, he would never sleep and simply drown in his own sorrows and paranoia

But when you started sleeping over the opposite happened.

You accidentally feel asleep on his lap while watching a movie

And like a cat, it is illegal to move when you are on his lap. So since he couldn't move he dozed off to sleep.

Plus with your presence there, he never felt unsafe, but he will wake up as soon as you leave.

He can sense it

When he is jealous it is confrontational and the opposite of subtle

He will shield you behind him and start yelling at the person who was flirting with you

"you want to fight me! I'll fight you! I'm in the port mafia, want to die? One time I kicked someone's jaw in just because they lied to me"

People are stopping in the streets to watch the scene unfold

One time he made the guy cry

He likes holding your hand in his hoodie pocket

Also he would let you paint his nails, he usually wears gloves so it is like a secret

He wouldn't mind if other people found out about it, but he thinks it is intimate having matching nails that no one knows about

Takes you to vineyards often for wine tasting

After a long day of work we will lay on your chest as you brush his hair

Man loves bath bombs and other bath things, like drinking alcohol in said tub

For someone who grew up poor, he adapted to a jacuzzi tub very quickly

His bedroom is super organized, he hangs all of his clothing because he thinks a dresser takes up too much space

He doesn't have a fire pit, but he has one of those tv backgrounds of one.

One time you guys made smores in the microwave and cuddled by the "fire"

However his favorite date spot is the roof of his building, and having a picnic up there as the sun sets.

He feels most secure when it is just you and him on top of the roof.

When you guys got in your first fight he when up there and cried, he was scared he messed everything up with you

Eventually you found him on the roof and you brought up a comforter

You hug him, covering his shoulders with part of the comforter

"it is going to take a lot more than that to scare me away. Just try to be safe"

You held each with the comforter wrapped around both of you for a while

You both unpacked your trauma up there, and eventually the sun started to set and you guys sat in comfortable silence as it did

And since then, that has been his favorite spot to take you on dates.

I might of made him too soft, but what can I say. I love the big baddie but a softie for your troupe

Hi Whetstonefire. I have a question about the comic where Nightwing cheats on Starfire with Barbara: What happens directly after that? Does Starfire find out that Nightwing cheated on her? And, if so, how does she react? I've read online that (according to Marv Wolfman) Starfire is the opposite of everything Batman taught Nightwing to be and that Batman taught Nightwing to be repressed and cold. What did Nightwing contribute (emotionally) to the relationship between him and Starfire? (Cont.)

(Cont.) From what I can tell, from online, Nightwing was adamant about standards of mercy and monogamy - how do you think, if Starfire were to be written as her own character and not written around Nightwing and his emotional needs, she would handle and react to that? (This bit is an FYI for other readers: this is just speculation, not hate. Sorry about that.) Sorry about the questions! Have a nice day! 

Okay there are so many separate questions packed in here! I may miss some of them lol and I do not want to put in the hours it would take to produce an orderly response to all this, so this post is going to be a mess.

Initial query and important point: the cheating story was out of continuity. Like, literally, not just by ‘being rejected by the fanbase,’ it was just this weird retcon oneshot that seems to have been some sort of fuck-you to Nightwing or his fans or something. So no, it had no in-setting fallout lol. It, in more ways than most comics, didn't exactly happen.

It was just this weird thing where Dick hooks up with Babs before giving her a wedding invitation, which is both out of character for him in general and out of step with where he was leading up to the wedding--he was desperate to get married so they could have some Normal Stable Adulthood Happiness; the choice to recharacterize him as a fuckboy who regards it as a loss of freedom isn’t congruent, on much more than the level of principle.

As far as how Kori would feel about it, if she had learned...that is very hard to say. Apart from how it would require her to reinterpret everything about where their relationship stood at that point, the data is very unclear, and I don’t even have all of it. Gonna back up to cover some of the rest of the ask, get some context here.

So this actually brings up two of my biggest gripes with Wolfman’s NTT--weird Kori characterization and the weirdly negative interpretation of Batman as parent that backwashed heavily into other titles and influenced the character for the worse, in ways we're very much still dealing with today. 😩

The latter is pretty self-explanatory, though Wolfman’s take that the main thing Bruce taught Dick was repression does shed light on some writing choices and make others funnier. But Kori. Oh my lands.

So, item one, I wouldn't say that Kori is overall opposite Bruce, or even of his philosophy? There are just some very major points of opposition. She isn’t emotionally buttoned-down like at all, especially about positive feelings, although considered realistically with all the bullshit they’ve piled into her backstory she absolutely leans on repression to cope and stay positive, which makes her a lot like Dick actually.

To an extent, she was clearly written around foiling Dick’s Batman-derived traits in the same way that Robin was written to foil Batman, bright and glad and aerial. A Flamebird to his Nightwing in theme if not in name.

You could do some interesting stuff with that, and the bildungsroman aspects of this period of Dick’s life, like he has two roads forward in terms of how he’s going to define ‘adulthood’--does it necessarily require becoming more like his mentor-father, for good and ill, or can he make Kori in part a destination, as it were, and create an adult self that is derived from who he has always been as well as the man he’s modeled himself after?

To an extent I think this even was one of the things going on in ntt but like. Only a little bit.

(Given how much like Bruce Babs is in most of the ways Kori isn’t, especially once she’s Oracle, you could make a case for her as love interest being like. Symbolic of his not being in a rebellious phase? That gets weird and oedipal really fast tho lol.)

Okay stepping down one meta level lol, the thing about answering the 'what would kori' question here is that her character is deeply bound up in her culture, about which we are told and shown a great many contradictory things. Any attempt to read her as an independent character has to tackle not only the gender stuff you allude to and these inconsistencies, but how much of the sheer mess of her is rooted in racism.

'Fantastic' racism, technically, because Tamaraneans aren't real, but the 'taming the savage' narrative that kept surfacing between them and the language used in reference to it is just. The existing racism of presumably the writers, placed in Dick's mouth, and it's super gross. I hate it so much.

(I had a faint hope when they cast her for live action it was with a deliberate intent to directly tackle and better that history, but lollllllll nah. At least they didn’t double down in it tho! Can you imagine, with a black actress, in this day and age....)

So to predict and comprehend Kori, you have to make a lot of calls about Tamaran as a civilization. I like to slightly privilege stuff established earlier if there's no good reason not to, so while much is made over time of her inappropriate rage and the violence she was raised to normalize, I think what she says in her first appearance is good to keep in mind: in her culture, kindness is for friends and cruelty is for enemies. She doesn't understand why the Titans seem to have this backwards.

Kori is not a merciless person. She’s very empathetic, as a rule. With people she loves, she is self-destructively forgiving. That's not a trait only Dick benefits from--her family keeps betraying her in new exciting ways, and she keeps letting them.

Her arc of growing away from that habit is however greatly crippled by centering Dick in the narrative and by the awful 'civilizing' overtones that keep coming into it. When she comes back after the 1986 breakup, still married to Karras, she brings with her a commitment to doing things the Earth way--to eschew lethal force as more than a compromise with her friends’ values, but as a deliberate choice.

This deserved a lot more space and time than it got, and the fact that it didn’t get it is only somewhat due to her being subordinated to Dick and to general writing fail; a lot of it’s just the team book problems of everything happening to everybody all at once.

I mean, Dick’s journey later on to deciding he loves her enough to date her even though she’s married and it’s technically against his principles was packed into this absolutely heinous issue where he was inspired by a woman refusing to separate from her husband who’d just threatened to kill her and their kid with a knife, until being stopped by Nightwing. Because he’s apologizing for what he did.

This is his inspiration for accepting Kori’s marital status! It’s supposed to be heartwarming, as far as I can tell! Not heavyhanded messaging that this is a self-destructive terrible choice in which Kori will inevitably harm him somehow! This issue is pro ‘consensual open relationships under certain circumstances’ and also ‘giving abusers another chance’ as expressions of love. Welcome to the 80s ig.

(Notable is that the wife in this issue was black and the husband and son both looked very white, so it’s probably her stepkid and she probably wouldn’t get to keep him if they separated; this is not even vaguely treated as a factor.)

Point is, everyone was getting too little space to actually go through the amount of development they were getting, and it was clumsily handled; it’s not just her.

In an overlapping period Gar processed his issues with his adoptive father with whom he constantly fought and their shared trauma over the rest of their family (the Doom Patrol) having died violently not long ago via a batshit several-issue storyline where Mento went crazy, created supermutants, and abusively mind-controlled them to attack the Titans. It is literally all like this.

Back to the infidelity thing, now. So much to unpack. So like I mentioned above, their first big breakup, while partially driven by Dick’s existing conflicted feelings about their different ideas about things like ‘killing in battle’ and ‘her identity and loyalties being tied up with her home planet,’ is explicitly over different takes on monogamy.

When Dick is breaking up with her, Kori makes it clear she thinks it’s totally reasonable to have both a husband and a love, since Karras also has someone he loves and they’re both fine with it, but the story doesn't really explain how nonmonogamy works on Tamaran, or even if it's practiced outside the context of political marriage. They do do a sort of...soulbond fusion dance...thing, as part of the ceremony, so marriage is definitely serious business. There are so many levels of cultural difference that get poor to no development.

But to return to the weird ooc retcon cheating story: because of this context, no matter what her personal norms are, Dick specifically casually sleeping with someone else would be something for Kori to be mad about, because of the hypocrisy.

Then there’s the Mirage Incident, which I haven’t read through properly and which was very poorly handled by the writers. Kori is upset about Dick having slept with someone impersonating her and there’s a general vibe of this being treated by Dick’s social circle as unfaithfulness even though he was in fact sexually violated by deceit; it famously sucks.

We still don’t learn a lot here about Kori’s ideas about monogamy, from what I have seen, because her focus is mostly on feeling like Dick doesn’t care about her enough or in the right way since he couldn’t tell the difference. Which is an understandable feeling, even if it’s not an appropriate reaction to have at him at this time.

What Nightwing contributed emotionally........hm. This is a mess, honestly; he was all over the map, and not just because of having Brother Blood in his head. I cannot speak definitively on this, it’s too inconsistent.

For most of their relationship, Kori was the more intensely invested one, the one to initiate and the one who was shown at length to be excited to come home at the end of the day to their shared apartment because her boyfriend was there to see and talk to. If we set aside his more egregious white male bullshit, Dick was pretty emotionally available most of the time, though? They were cute.

Since they split up a lot of ink has been spilled making him less into her in retrospect, but he was pretty invested--leaving her coincided with mental breakdowns both times, and it wasn’t even mostly because she was doing his emotional processing for him, because she wasn’t, although it’s fair to say he often fell into using the relationship as an emotional crutch. Kori was definitely doing the same thing though so...it wasn’t the most balanced relationship in fiction history, but apart from slight codependency and the racism, it was decent enough.

She gets more evenhanded development than most superhero love interests, honestly, because she was costarring in a team book. She had her own storylines. She had other friends.

Mostly both of them just needed some space to finish growing up and stop being retraumatized long enough to process some of the existing trauma better, and I think they could have gone on being good for each other for a long time.