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its-your-mind · 5 months

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Some Thoughts on the importance of physical touch and connection for the Hells: A reflection on the new animated intro.

In general, I think the Hells are a really strange and special group, especially for a dnd party. They pretty much laid all their baggage on the table within the first week of meeting each other (What the Fuck is Up With That?) almost as a litmus test: "hey, here's all the shit that comes with being me, last chance to run away if that's too much."

and none of them did. and they all kept choosing to stay, even as shit got even weirder and more and more disturbing answers came to light. I think that continued choice from all of them - to stay - is what makes the bonds between the Hells so deep and so special.

okay trauma analysis and party dynamics is a DIFFERENT POST but it was all RELEVANT INTRODUCTION bc the CHOOSING TO STAY and the KNOWING EACH OTHERS' SHIT are like. key components to understanding why I am so feral about this. okay hopefully you will understand. the body of my essay is below. it has pictures. it got... too long. so. it went under a read more. yw. anyway click below if you want a very detailed analysis of an animated intro that is literally only one minute and thirty seconds long

For the first bit, character intros for Fearne, Orym, Imogen, Ashton, there’s no physical contact.

BUT. First intro of hells as a team. Ashton Trauma Flashback interrupted by laudna approaching slowly from beside him with her hand gently in front of him to signal her presence without startling him, and THEN just talking at them. Bringing him out of those flashbacks. Reminding him where he is and who he’s with.

And tbh? For Ashton? Touch is always iffy, so this is almost a more understanding and kind way to bring them out of the flashback. Just physical presence is good! UNLESS. (unless) first actual touch. Fearne stealing their coin purse, so gently that they don’t even notice it (FLIRTING THROUGH THEFT callowmoore my beloved)

(also grabbed the cap that shows her with his coinpurse these fucking ANIMATORS)

okay pt 2 FLYING OFF THE AIRSHIP

Ashton's first instinct and priority is grab laudna’s hand bc he KNOWS she is made of paper mache and he is ALWAYS watching out for her out of the corner of his eye bc she is breakable and he’s not gonna let her break bc he KNOWS what it’s like to be breakable and need someone to catch you when you’re falling but ANYWAY. he grabs her he uses his hammer as a fulcrum to throw her at Imogen

because OF COURSE he knows that the safest and most comfortable space for laudna is in imogen’s arms. and the two of them wrap their arms around each other and hold tight Superman style bc ofc they do and once laudna is in imogen’s arms she’s absolutely delighted by this whole situation bc OFC SHE IS

(tf do you mean I can’t add more than ten images on mobile UGH fine I’ll finish writing then draft and move to PC the images are IMPORTANT TO MY POINT anyway insert lesbians here) (note from future mind: I have decided that these pic descriptions i left for myself to grab the right images are fucking hilarious so they’re staying in yw)

Then fearne (who had been on her way in that direction already) swoops under Ashton to catch him as he flips over from the momentum so he can land on her giant bird back and she can fly him away.

(Pics: It’s fine to touch Ash if you’re saving their life)

(also not pictured: chet staying on the ship but losing his hat, orym grabbing it out of the air, imogen casting fly on fcg right before she catches laudna, fcg flying over to grab orym) All of this happens in six seconds by the way. One round of combat. These animators are fucking incredible.

BACK TO CHARACTER INTROS laudna who is ofc alone and in the dark at the bottom of the Sun tree, reliving her past…

(Pic: sad lonely laudna)

right up until Imogen puts her head on her shoulder, and the darkness burns away into light. She doesn’t say anything, or talk with laudna - all it takes is that physical reminder that she’s not alone anymore, that there is warmth, that she is surrounded by a family who loves her so much they chose to turn down comfortable beds in a lord’s manor so that they could join her in sleeping at the bottom of the Sun Tree. (Fav lil detail - fearne wrapped around Orym like he’s a teddy bear, and holding tight to laudna’s blanket to make sure she can’t go anywhere.)

(Pics: THE POWER OF LESBIANS AND FOUND FAMILY)

fcg. Fuck. Starts with their flashback, with their red eyes and their buzzsaw, but almost immediately we see Ashton reach out to grab their shoulder and Orym whip out a vine to tie up their saw.

(pics: reaching out even if it might hurt youuuuu)

Imogen goes on her knees and wraps her arms around FCG’s other side, and the rest of them all gather around him, holding him to keep him and each other safe, but mostly just grounding him in the present by surrounding him physically until the flashback fades and he’s once more aware of his surroundings.

(Pics: what the fuck they just need to be held)

(once shit has calmed down fearne uses this opportunity to pick Ashton’s pocket again. Flirting through theft).

(Pic: fearne is a menace to society)

final fight scene. fuck yes.

(Pic: IT’S THURSDAY NIIIIIIIIIIIGHT)

This is mostly just giving all of them room to be badasses (as they deserve) - but there are some things!! First!!

(pics: THESE WITCHES BE BITCHES minus fearne sry fearne we miss u but you are on fire and laudna is made of wood currently)

Imogen and laudna casting spells back to back, trusting each other to take care of what’s on their side. Inseparable, even in a battle where their party has scattered to fight other enemies.

BUT. The BIG thing though in this sequence. Maybe my favorite part? Idk I don’t have a favorite. But!! Orym. taking out four of Otohan’s shadow knights. then facing off against her personally!! And it’s one-on-one, because this was Orym’s task alone - to find the person who attacked his leader and killed his family. He’s angry, but mostly he’s honed-in and focused and determined. This is his mission.

(Pics: WHO’S JUST A LIL GUY NOW HUH)

But then, when Otohan pushes him back…

(Pic: fuck. shit. fuck. im. fine. anYway. them.)

FCG and Ashton are there right behind him, and they put their arms out and catch him so he doesn’t fly back any farther. And there’s this look of surprise on his face, because once he lost Will, he never expected there to be anyone else standing behind him, ready to catch him. And yet, here they are.

(Pics: fuck yes fuck yes fuck yes GOOOO ORYM!!!)

They give Orym a push forward and follow behind him, and he walks back towards Otohan with confidence. Lil grin on his face, brisk walking pace - he even does a little fancy sword swoosh! Because maybe he’s not strong enough to take out Otohan on his own. But the thing is, he’s not alone anymore.

(Pic: THEY.)

None of them are alone. And whenever any of them forget, or slip into old habits and memories, the rest are right there to reach out a hand to remind them.

Building a family out of broken pieces is difficult even without an apocalypse. But the Hells have shown each other, over and over and over, often with their actions even more than their words, that they really are dedicated to this family that they've built together. This intro fucking slaps so hard and the animators deserve so much praise for how incredible this intro is

#Tbh I could (and probably will) write multiple essays on the new intro but this is the one I love the most #no I’m not touch-starved what are you talking about #critical role #bells hells #c3e76 #cr3 #c3 #cr3 spoilers #c3 spoilers #bells hells intro #ashton greymoore #laudna #fearne calloway #imogen temult #fcg #orym of the air ashari #chetney pock o'pea #bells hells animated

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magenta-embers · 6 months

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My Jikook Journey

Part 2 of my intro.

From "multi-shipper" to "...wait a goddamn minute."

This will be a messy and detail-lacking overview because I could easily do an individual post on each thing I mention here and delve deeper (AMA!).

When I became an ARMY in 2018, I was excited about the treasure trove of fanfics now available to me. The ship didn't really matter, but my bias was/is Jimin (bias wrecker Tae then) so the very first fic I read was a vmin camping one (there was only one sleeping bag, gasp!). For me, shipping meant I'd read fanfics or save fanart of certain pairs together because in a fictional sense/in another universe, they make a good couple. I think this is a healthy approach, keeping that boundary between reality and fiction.

When I mentioned to my k-pop fan step-sister that I was reading vmin, she gave me a weird look. She said taekook is THE ship of BTS, which confused me because vmin seemed to be closer and have better chemistry than Tae and JK. Turns out, she was right. Searching by most kudos on ao3, you get a shit ton of taekook. I accepted it readily and just thought I must be missing something since I was a baby ARMY, so I read those super popular fics and started to enjoy taekook too. I started to focus more on them because... it felt like that was what I was supposed to do.

It's a common problem, isn't it? Baby ARMY who are open to shipping are quickly found and "guided" to taekook before they have a chance to glance in another direction. If they try, taekookers, who are the majority in the shipping sphere, will convince them that taekook is THE ship. Even if they aren't ARMY (my step-sister), they know that much. As a new fan, you just want to fit in, so you'll go along with what's most popular. Some people eventually find their own way, but many don't. Asking questions is vital, but if you do it aloud, you risk getting attacked by a small but extremely aggressive portion of the most infamous fanbase.

Even back then while just innocently reading any well-written fic I could get my hands on, I noticed that Jungkook was usually portrayed as a lot edgier and darker than he really was (manifested the 2023 JK aesthetic) and Taehyung was constantly portrayed as... Jimin. Especially in fan art. For some reason, a lot of the time, the appearance/vibe/personality of Taehyung was truer to Jimin than to himself, and that confused me. "Why not just make it Jungkook x Jimin?" I kept seeing them trying to force Taehyung into the dynamic that Jimin has with Jungkook when their own dynamic was perfectly fine.

Slipping down the pipeline, I started to watch taekook moments/analysis videos because I thought gotta be missing something, right? That's how I found out people are convinced they're dating, and it wasn't just a fun fic/art thing. The videos themselves were... something. There were just way too many red circles, too much slow-mo, and too much mind-reading going on for me to take any of it seriously. Plus, the moments that weren't exaggerated were just close friend skinship. Hell, Taejin were doing more sus shit together than taekook.

And yet people insist on taekook even when taekook do nothing to insist on themselves.

At this point, it was deep into 2019. Jikook were wilding in 2019. Even I was noticing all the... little things that made me raise an eyebrow. The touches that lingered just too long in rather intimate areas, the fond/awed looks at each other, the shameless flirting, the complete lack of physical boundaries, and the normalness of it all between them. That's telling. Even though I was mainly a taekooker with a shit ton of fanart and fics saved to my phone, if you looked at my liked YouTube videos around that time, I had jikook moments videos saved, not taekook, because their moments were just more fun/juicier to watch overall. They just interacted differently than they did with other members.

A quick example would be a video compilation of taekook holding hands. Sure, they're holding hands, maybe even interlocking fingers, but they're usually standing side by side and looking in different directions or just having a neutral expression. But if you watch a jikook one, not only is it much longer, but it's just different. I feel like I'm interrupting sometimes. Even in such a simple action like holding hands, there's a softness, an intimacy there that doesn't exist in taekook. Jikook wouldn't just be holding hands (usually for absolutely no reason), they'd be looking into each other's eyes, smiling sweetly, fully turned toward each other, attention completely captured by the other. How can I explain the look in their eyes? It just doesn't exist with vmin, yoonmin, jihope, etc.

Sidebar: All of those pairs have flirty/sus moments as most really close friendship dynamics do, but they're lighthearted to me and never invoked a true sense of.... whoa whoa whoa, hang on. If Jungkook and Jimin were my close friends IRL and I saw the way they are together, my alarms would go off. As either, "Oh my god, they're fucking," or "Oh my god, they wanna fuck each other." People always say, "Oh, Jimin's like that with everyone." No. No, he's not. Pay attention. Really pay attention to the differences in the dynamics between members. None of them have the "same" relationship. Especially pay attention to how the rest of the members react to Jikook.

Anyway,

So here I was noticing this... deeper intimacy in simple interactions with those two (because I'm a human being with eyes and life experience), and yet my Twitter timeline would just dismiss them entirely. "I love their friendship," "Wow their brotherhood is so beautiful," and "They're all so close," and normally these statements wouldn't bother me because technically they're true, but I started noticing that taekook or yoonmin would brush shoulders and everyone would be like, "Omg taekook/yoonmin married/boyfriends/real," over nothing. Their moments are cute/sweet/funny, but never more than that. The blatant hypocrisy did frustrate me a little, but ultimately I didn't overthink it; I didn't want to be delulu or look too deeply into anything because I still thought I must be missing something. Taekook is the most popular for a reason, right? Right?

But Taekook died for me when Tae told Taekookers to get out of their imagination. I respected that from him and took it at face value. It was the most aggressive shutdown of shipping we've ever had. I couldn't brush him off. It's disrespectful. He's uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, over the next couple of years, Jungkook and Jimin only got more suspicious in the minor interactions and in the big staple moments. Rosebowl. Hickeygate. Etc. Everyone was bending over backward trying to explain away the things these two did with each other, and it's always the same excuses. I was also trying extremely hard to think of any reason other than the simplest one because I didn't want to be delulu.

Because there was no way two members of a boyband were actually in a long-term relationship together. Especially in a conservative country.

Ridiculous. Unrealistic. Delulu.

I was basically telling myself in a mirror that they were just extra super duper close friends with muddy boundaries that meant sucking ears and giving neck hickeys was okay. I did allow there to be the thought that, maybe they're friends with benefits and that unavoidable intimacy now bleeds through into their regular interactions.

That opinion carried until 2023.

Isn't that funny?

2023.

The year so many jikookers gave up and bemoaned that those two weren't close anymore or had broken up is the year that finally convinced me.

What tipped me over?

Jungkook's vlives.

The way he kept watching videos of Jimin when he could just phone him. It reminded me of me watching Jimin, but I'm just a fan; I watch those videos because it's the only way I can appease my yearning to be close to and connected to Jimin, and absorb everything that he does or says or is.

Jungkook doesn't have that limitation, so why's he sitting there like a lovesick puppy with the fondest/most loving eyes when he could have Jimin over with just a call? Why's he sitting there looking like he's also yearning for something he can't have like us, the fans, when he can have it? He has Jimin's number. You don't need to watch yourself tease Jimin. You can just go do it. Just text him, bro.

It felt like he just wanted to bask in Jimin without interruption, without distraction, without having to force his attention elsewhere. Beyond being incredibly sweet, it also felt like Jungkook was making a statement, a point, because he kept doing it. Why? Is he somehow obsessed with his friend and bandmate whom he's seen almost every day for over a decade? If it was to promote him, he really didn't have to do all that? He didn't do it for the others, not to that extent.

Watching Jimin, talking about Jimin, singing Jimin's songs, fkn playing Letter on guitar. (The naked vlive flirting session? Lord, what.)

The man kept having vlives with a significant Jimin focus. He insisted on it enough times that it felt like he was trying to slap some sense into me. His insistence bothered me enough for me to finally do a deep dive into jikook.

Down the rabbit hole, I went. The more I learned, the more my jaw dropped. Where the fuck was all this info on my timeline when these motherfuckers were celebrating the most basic kpop boy interactions as if they were wedding vows? I even ended up seeing pictures/info we as fans were never meant to see at the bottom of that hole. If you know, you know.

Eventually, I ended up on this video (bless this fucking channel).

youtube

I want everyone to understand that I had zero knowledge of established relationship timeline theories. I went into this video blind, just trying to find the point in time when JK started to warm up to Jimin. That's not what I found. I found something so much better.

Especially 2013-2015 had me in awe. I think I cried. Jimin and Jungkook had a fattest, cutest mutual crush on each other. Absolutely. And because they were young, not that famous, and still rookies with media and camera training, we get a lot of insight into those two that we wouldn't get in later years when they learned how to mask and behave more "idol"-like. Jimin was especially loud, almost sadly loud. If you haven't watched the timeline of at least those early years, I implore you to. It actually blew my mind and broke/healed my heart. It's really bittersweet to see two teenage boys with little to no experience in anything romantic trying to come to terms with themselves while also coming to terms with each other. It's like watching a coming-of-age romance movie.

I saw clear shifts from when the relationship hit turning points in certain years. I proposed a timeline in my head based on that. Imagine my fucking surprise when I found out other people have also come up with timelines, and more surprising yet, they were all unbelievably similar to mine, down to what changed in what half of the year. I, who had no previous knowledge that this was even a thing. I just noticed it all on my own. We were all seeing the same thing. The same changes. No red circles, no slow-mo, no mind reading. It's all in the body language.

I panicked a little because overall it seemed too good to be true, so I reached out to a taekooker friend to send me her best evidence videos and receipts because I just had to make sure I wasn't going totally delulu here. I needed to see that the other biggest ship had interactions and moments on the same level with that same consistency, maybe even their very own relationship timeline to bring me back down to Earth. But... there's nothing. Really, there's nothing between taekook. Not one moment where I was like, oh? You'll find hours-long jikook content videos that are absolutely jam-packed with content, significant content, but that sort of depth just doesn't exist for taekook. Instead, you get conspiracy theories.

I watched most of the videos on that best of jikook channel and several other staple channels. It wasn't as if I bought into everything presented. I still rolled my eyes at many things that were blown out of proportion by some creators, and jikook isn't free from red circles and slow-mo and bullshit. And yet, I was still overwhelmed by the mountain of crisp receipts dumped on my head.

Jikook have much, much more solid evidence supporting the theory that they are together than evidence against it. I took the facts as they are, took my social experiences for what they are, took my psychology background for what it is, and concluded that they are most likely together, probability-wise. At the very least, they are the ONLY pair in BTS that have ANY legitimate possibility of being romantically involved. If jikook isn't real, then none of the other ships have any hope whatsoever, let's not kid ourselves. It's them or none of them.

They also have much, much more evidence that they are together than with any random man or woman you wanna throw at them. There needs to be valuable evidence or a total shutdown for me to tip the scale. I'm going to need Jimin or Jungkook to state, "I am not dating anyone at all," or "Get out of your imagination," or a bighit relationship announcement, or a clear video of lip-on-lip action or very intimate interaction with someone else.

Frankly, I don't give a single fuck about a grainy pic/video when it's 2023 and there's no excuse for that. I don't give a fuck who owns the same vase or cooking pots. I don't give a fuck if either of them hugged a woman. These are not evidence. These aren't even as good as the worst Jikook evidence.

At this point in time, Jikook is still the only viable option with the information we currently have available to us. This is my opinion and I stand by it.

At the end of the day, the thing I want most is for Jimin to be happy. Currently, it seems that Jungkook makes Jimin the happiest (as Jungkook says). As long as that holds true, I'll be here. If that changes at some point in time, I'd accept it.

But until that day comes, what the fuck else am I supposed to think?

#Jikook

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queerfandomtrifecta · 6 months

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How Izzy’s Death Could’ve Made Basic Storytelling Sense

Just to be clear, Izzy is my favorite and I wanted him to live more than anything. This isn’t about that, and that is NOT why I hated his death. Had it served the narrative in a way that made even the most basic storytelling sense, while I’d admittedly have been devastated in a different way (i.e. the character whose queerness was relegated to the subtext in s1 and as soon as it’s textual and his whole arc is that he’s killed, but that’s a whole separate post…), but at least there would’ve been a correctly crafted arc from a surface level narrative standpoint that ended in the death of my favorite character. But that’s not what this is about. It’s is about how the show could’ve actually made the death actually make sense and work effectively. (Also, if you want my unasked for thoughts on how most of the existing plot of s2 (minus 7-8) could’ve easily been adjusted to fix the narrative as a whole and keep Izzy alive, I wrote this)

But. For those in the fandom insisting that Izzy HAD to die, including DJenks who has said as such in interviews (for reasons I do not understand), from an objective developmental editor standpoint, this is what I think needed to change to make Izzy’s death serve the narrative, character arcs and dynamics, pacing, structure, and thematic elements correctly.

It’s about 2K words just so you know what you’re gonna get into. Spoilers under the cut.

Issue 1. Izzy’s relationship with the crew and how they truly became his family this season totally vanished during his death scene. The same crew who he protected from Ed during the later, worse parts of the Kraken phase. The crew who banded together to save his life by hiding him from/lying to Ed about it, and amputating his leg to save him. The crew he saved by crawling up those stairs during the storm, hobbling out into the rain with one leg and shooting Ed before he could shoot a cannon ball through the mast and kill them all. The crew who called him “our dick”. The crew that then banded together with Stede’s half of the crew to him the leg and the new unicorn (aka the figurehead of the ship). That crew didn’t cry a SINGLE tear when he died. What?? Fang sobbed most of episode one and really lost it when Izzy got shot. Where was that when he died?? Izzy’s last speech to Ricky had something along the lines of: piracy is about belonging/family. We are Good. (Forgive me, I’m paraphrasing, but that’s the gist). Izzy truly did find his family in the crew outside of Ed. That was absolutely fantastic, especially in the first four episodes and episode six. It VANISHED when he was dying and dead.

The fix: To make the death impactful, effective, or even to make it make sense on a very basic acting and writing level, the crew should’ve been utterly DEVASTATED. At least heartbreaking music and like 30 seconds of everyone breaking down and holding each other. At least some of them crying and holding each other in the background when he was dying. Come on.

Issue 2. Thematically speaking, is piracy Good or Bad? Again, Izzy tells Ricky that they (the pirates/his crew) are capital G Good. Yet Ed has spent a lot of time maintaining piracy is capital B Bad. He tells the urchins as such. Here’s some money that I never had, now you don’t have to be pirates. Don’t be pirates. He doesn’t want Stede to kill Ned Low in cold blood. Ed just doesn’t want to be a pirate. Even at the end AFTER Izzy dies telling Ed he’s with his family (implied that this is the crew) and they love Ed, Ed LEAVES THAT FAMILY AND LEAVES PIRACY IMMEDIATELY. We’re left with him and Stede watching the family Izzy swore was Good and loved Ed sail away because Ed thinks piracy is Bad. Which is it?? The death served nothing in convincing Ed he could be happy with his found family on the sea as Ed, not Blackbeard, so the dying words were pointless. The thematic elements are all over the place (for the whole season but that’s another post) and that needs changing to make the death scene make sense.

The fix: Izzy should’ve told him he sees he doesn’t want to pirate anymore, he’s glad he’s found love with Stede because Izzy isn’t going to make it, go run your fokkin’ inn, you twat (affectionate).

Issue 3. Izzy died of bad planning and bad luck. Why didn’t they take the gun from Ricky? Between Spanish Jackie, Izzy, and Jim, SOMEONE would’ve thought about it. If not those three, someone else would’ve, but come one. One if not all of those three would’ve known better. Yeah, Izzy happened to be standing in front of Ed and he got shot instead of him, but you’ve gotta be REALLY looking for that to even be aware it’s what happened. It wasn’t even on purpose unless Ed strategically placed himself behind Izzy (which I doubt was the intent). Izzy didn’t position himself protectively/take the bullet for anyone on purpose. It was just happenstance and you only notice it if you’re rewatching and hyper-analyzing everything (which a lot of us, me included, in the fandom do, but casual watchers don’t. It’s totally unclear as far as the surface level narrative goes) Any sort of “heroism” is not acknowledged, it’s barely even noticeable in the shot. If that was the intent, it HAD to be clearer and acknowledged by the characters so the audience would realize the stakes and repercussions of clear choices. As it is, I don’t think it was intentional. If Izzy HAS to die, it should truly have rounded out his arc in a way that CLEARLY changed the course of the scene, leaving him to protect people he’d put in danger at the end of s1. It didn’t. It just read as terrible planning to the point of it being out of character for more than one character, and bad luck.

The fix: Izzy should’ve saved someone. I personally don’t like the idea of it being Ed. I’s have rather he save Stede (Not really, but it’s better than Ed I guess) But really Izzy should’ve died saving the crew. The crew makes the most sense to me, narratively speaking. He’s their figurehead, he’s protected the Kraken Crew for months and they should’ve been fiercely loyal to him, he blames himself for what Ed did to them (more on this later) so it makes sense for him to fiercely protect his crew. His family. Who should’ve been devastated that it happened because Izzy is the one character of the main three who’s managed to earn that status this season.

Issue 4. The death did not serve to move the plot along. There are literally zero things that would’ve been different for the end of the episode, save Izzy being alive and on the Revenge in his rightful role he earned with his crew as the captain, if he’d have lived. Ed and Stede aren’t partnering with Zheng to go after the guy who killed him in the next season. Nope. They got the offer but nah. They’re running an Inn. Which Izzy would’ve supported based on literally everything we’ve seen from him in episodes 5-8. The crew who Izzy protected fiercely and who viewed him as their leader? Not one tear during his death or the the funeral. Happily sailing away to do presumably more Muppet Treasure Island hijinks. No character development happened. No plot development happened. The season could’ve ended literally the EXACT SAME WAY with Izzy alive aboard the Revenge!!! No stakes were changed at all. No one was impacted enough for it to seem like it was even going to be a plot obstacle next season. It just happened, Izzy’s toxic situationship who maimed him multiple times over the course of months to the point of his leg needing to be amputated was sad for one (1) scene, then we moved on and did not seem sad at all at the funeral. What.

The fix: The plot should’ve been driven by the death. Ed and Stede (but especially Ed), and DEFINITELY the crew should’ve been sailing off plotting to avenge the death and defend piracy against Ricky and the British, especially with Zheng who lost her whole fleet. Ricky and the British are clearly (or so I hope, nothing’s clear here anymore tbh) the primary antagonist for the theoretical third season. No one should be running an whim-based inn for fun or sailing off happily into the sunset after the death of the most major character aside from Ed and Stede, who beyond proved himself a major part of something every character (his family) should’ve cared about this season. If he HAD to die, that death should have furthered the plot. But instead, it seems everyone shrugged it off with tears exclusively from Ed.

Issue 5. Izzy got shot in the left side. The side in which canonically NO ONE DOES FROM BEING INJURED ON IN THE OFMD UNIVERSE.

The fix: Yeah I know this is just too nit-picky but it was also just SO sloppy. Like just shoot him on the other side if he has to die, because this was a very memorable plot point more than once in s1. Like, come on y’all.

Disclaimer: Issues/fixes 1-5 would all need to happen together to truly fix it and make the death serve the narrative correctly. Issue/fix 6 is a totally separate route, which I personally hate, but at least the narrative would’ve made sense this way.

Issue 6. The idea that Izzy had to die so that Ed could be free of Blackbeard makes no sense at this point in the story. Ed already threw away his leathers and gave away his treasure to symbolically get rid of Blackbeard, and Izzy very sweetly encouraged him to follow the feeling that throwing out the leathers gave him. Izzy told Stede that he and Ed were good for each other. They balance each other out. Izzy is on good terms with both of them and their relationship, so Izzy “having to die” so Ed could flourish as Ed genuinely makes no sense and came totally out of left field.

The fix for 6: This one stands alone and is my absolute least favorite option, but if it HAD to happen without the 1-5 fixes, here’s how it could’ve made sense. If THIS is truly the way it was going to end, Izzy needed to be continuously antagonistic or avoidant to at least Ed and actually be shown holding Ed back from happiness until that last second. He wasn’t. He was so much better. Izzy clearly does blame himself (that’s for a separate post because I have lots of thoughts there) but to be fair they were both abusive in that relationship, for years it seems. Although I think by the beginning of s2, the power dynamic has clearly flipped and it was Ed who was doing most of it and Izzy was exhausted and knowingly “reaping what he’d sewed” (I don’t Blame Izzy for his abuse but I think this was his mindset) so the crew wouldn’t get the brunt of it.

If he seriously HAD to die because the writers just had to have it that way, those are the changes I think would’ve made the narrative work/make sense, served all the character arcs and dynamics correctly, and actually driven the plot as fictional deaths are supposed to, compelling things into a third season. Seriously, this season finale was a mess of baffling choices the most series finale season finale I’ve ever seen.

Anyway. There’s my unsolicited two-cents. Now back to hoping Izzy’s in the gravy basket waiting to be sea witch necromancied back by seagull Buttons in season 3. I love this show and I hate hating what I hate hating about it because it’s my absolute favorite and I can’t stand it because it’s fantastic and the worst thing I’ve ever seen. (Also, Izzy should’ve lived).

#ofmd spoilers #izzy hands #ofmd #ofmd season 2 #ofmd season 2 spoilers #ofmd meta #izzy my beloved #izzy deserved better #we deserved better #eyyyy djenks if you need a dev editor for s3 just hmu #david jenkins #ed teach #stede fucking bonnet #stede bonnet

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yellowocaballero · 8 months

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Reading 'Solo Leveling' (a webtoon/webnovel about a guy who uses a game-like interface to level up and fight monsters and become ridiculously OP and the coolest and hottest guy in the whole wide world) really proves something to me that I've thought about.

The goal of a story is to achieve what it wants to achieve. Different genres have different certain marks the story should achieve. If it doesn't hit those marks, it's not a good example of the genre. In a lot of was it's not even a good story - it doesn't entertain the audience in the way that they want to be entertained. A romance novel isn't a bad story because it doesn't feature great action scenes, but neither is it a bad story because it doesn't delve deep into the sociopolitical implications of neocolonialism. Does it make the reader feel happy? Is it cathartic? Is there a happy ending? Then it's a good romance story - even if you think stories shouldn't need happy endings.

The 'satisfaction' of stories like Solo Leveling is the fact that is very entertaining to watch a guy be super powerful and mow down bad guys and have everybody around him go "WHOAH that's a cool guy". Maybe it's cool because you're projecting, or maybe you like great action scenes, or because you like 'underdog gets powerful' stories. It's a power fantasy. That is the goal of Solo Leveling, and so long as I'm going "WHOAH COOL", then it's a good story. And Solo Leveling is the example of the power fantasy video game dungeon OP protag. It does those elements, it executes them competently, it's a good story.

This is the third of these types of stories I've read more than 5 chapters of. The first was Omniscent Reader's Viewpoint. And baby. This is no ORV.

ORV a big reaction to Solo Levelling in a lot of ways, since Solo Levelling was very genre defining and influential, and it's hard to write these OP stories without having a relationship to Solo Leveling. It's like the most popular webtoon out there. The OP hero, the gaming interface and rules, the gods fucking you up, power fantasy - they're all checked off by ORV. It doesn't subvert them much. You watch kdj pull one over on a shmuck and you're like HEY YA BABY and you watch him utterly decimate some schmuck and you're like WHOAH COOL. You like ORV, basically, for the same reasons you like Solo Leveling. They're the same genre and in a lot of ways the same story.

But ORV has driven me nuts and after a while Solo Leveling has gotten boring. Because ORV has a fantastic supporting cast that puts the MC's OPness in relative perspective. Because there's cool action scenes with different teams, of different dynamics, giving freshness to each chapter. Because you get to see kdj slowly implement some nuts gambit of the course of the entire arc and when we finally hit the end point where it all comes together it's FUCK YEAH. I'm leaving out the actual depth here. But ORV and Solo Leveling do the same thing, except ORV has a great deal of other story elements that build into the main 'point' and escalate the satisfaction, joy, and intensity of those points. You don't read these OP hero novels for the supporting cast. You read it to watch a dude be cool. But ORV's supporting cast - and, like, the fact that they're actual characters, even the women - gives us a lot of other smaller 'hey yeah!' moments, gives it buildup, makes the OP moments meaningful, and gives a grand climax and huge satisfaction when kdj does what the SL guy did by himself. And the supporting cast is only one example of this. A story is a good story if it accomplishes its point, but a story like SL will never really deliver its promises nearly as well as ORV could. Not because ORV is deep and has """themes""" or fucked up shit like that. The 'WHOAH COOL's are just better. Because ORV knows why stories are good and what makes a good story.

Anyway I'm fucking begging you I have tears in my eyes this is why your fic needs more than the hot ship of the day I promise it won't detract from the ship it will make the ship BETTER but you have to get WHY you like these homosexuals so much and it's NOT just because they're CUTE sometimes there's OTHER REASONS THAT ARE IMPORTANT LIKE THE WOMAN YOU'VE BOOTED AND -

#you're killing me smalls #my writing #orv #omniscient reader's viewpoint #solo leveling #solo leveling is good at what it does bc i've read 120 chapters of it #but it's not great because i don't actually care #man really early on the MC had PTSD and I felt like we were doing something with that #and why he was so desperate to grow stronger and i felt like that was a good character motivation for the #hashtag grindset #we like characters for other reasons than projection. i prommy. prommy i swear #the funny thing is that literlaly everybody who reads all 1 million words of orv #are a kim dokja kinnie and you do have to project insanely #because the story self-selects for kdj kinnies #if you weren't insane in the exact same way kdj was insane #you wouldn't have fucking finished orv now would you

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chubs-deuce · 3 months

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I think I also saw a post explaining that if a ship in the fandom got too popular, the network producers would try and force that ship to become canon.

It's like, I love Charlastor, but I really don't want it to be canon. I feel like non canon ships are more fun!

yeah!!! 100% agreed, and I despise it when producers actually let that happen too :/ Glaring very hard at the grossly entitled people a good while back to tried to sway their preferred ship into canonicity by doing petitions....

I wouldn't want charlastor to be canon tbh.

It's, frankly, wild to me that so many people even equate shipping to exclusively mean "to root for two or more characters to get romantically involved in the source material", and any exploration of dynamics beyond that is then frowned upon, shamed or invalidated.

To an unfortunately large amount of people, shipping is little more than a popularity contest :')

To me, a huge part of the appeal in shipping is that it's a means to explore interpersonal character dynamics from a piece of media in ways we don't necessarily see happen in canon.

I LOVE non-canon ships for the fact that they leave us with SO much creative freedom! [more in-depth thoughts + what appeals to me about charlastor under the cut]

It allows us to hypothesize and experiment in-depth with how these characters would find their way from one type of dynamic into a different direction in so many different ways, without canon to give us one solid path to stick to.

One trope I'm very fond of in fanfiction in particular has always been slowburn with a touch of mutual pining - when a dynamic is truly given room to breathe and naturally grow into different directions and REALLY digs into the involved characters, it enables the authors to thoroughly lay out why and how their feelings change, what affected them in the process and how/when they eventually choose to act on them!

Character analysis is my bread and butter, so if a dynamic strikes my interest it's almost always because it has something unique about it far beyond just wanting to see them all lovey-dovey bc it's cute (though that can be part of it lol).

Charlie and Alastor as a combination are so intriguing to me because they're in many ways polar opposites, but simultaneously also have just enough similarities to leave a lot of potential for a genuine bond.

They combine the most conniving, manipulative, steadfastly and proudly immoral person with someone whose good intentions color absolutely everything she does, who also has the willpower and moral code to see it through.

They're like a forbidden, alluring dance, endlessly circling in each other's gravitational pull - which parts of them will prevail? Who will inevitably buckle to the other's influence first? What draws them in? What drives them apart?

I love watching Alastor's masterfully crafted plans get absolutely thwarted because he can't get a consistent read on her - a being who's - by her very nature of being part demon and part angel - a bundle of contradictions.

I'm also extremely fond of Charlie 100% seeing through him every step of the way and still keeping him around - regardless of his motivations, he is a vital, helpful part of the hotel, and she won't give up on trying to win him over for her cause in earnest.

There are very few things as funny to me as the idea of Alastor -master manipulator - being so far up his own ego, obsessing over getting a figurative hold over this fascinating and yet frustrating princess, that it takes forever for him to realize he's the one being used all along, expertly playing right into her cards.

Simultaneously, there's so many other ways to write them!!! It's just so damn fun to explore all of the what-ifs.

#there's more I could say abt all this but the post is long enough lmfaoo #charlastor #radiobelle #shipping #chubs answers #long post

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izzigearl · 7 months

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The crew gathered in the mess hall like usual, only this week the Captain had someone new joining the crew which she planned on introducing to everyone. The Captain sat at the head of the room on a small podium they put up each week for this exact meeting, this same meeting being the only one the Captain insists on having so the crew doesn’t fall out of touch with each other. Even though the gathering is to help unify everyone the crew has their own groups or cliques that they choose to associate with. The engineers mostly with other engineers, the medics with other medics, the navigators and linguistics specialists, you get the idea. With little crossovers happening all the time too, usually because the two people come from the same planet and it doesn’t matter what their job is on the Starliner, they have something in common so they easily get along.

The groups were forming as all the crew slowly filtered in through the mess hall doors. The noise in the room grew to a dull roar as people greeted each other and conversations continued. The Captain watched as everyone entered and once the crowds coming had slowed he stood up and got a good look as the now at capacity mess hall finished getting filled in. The noise of conversation didn’t cease as their noticeably blue skinned Captain stood, however a silence suddenly fell over the room as a human from Earth stepped into the mess hall with a light brown complection. The silence faded as a few of the groups around the hall started whispering to each other; however, as the Human walked to the back of the room, the quiet seemed to follow.

The Captain didn’t blame the crew for their fear of the Human it just seemed odd that over time they wouldn’t warm up to him. It was interesting to consider the origin of the entire crew was from any of the nine Paradise planets and that Carl (the human from Earth) was the only one from one of the five death worlds. The attitudes from the Paradisers was unusual because the Paradise planets have been the most accepting and open people in the whole span of discovered universes, it shouldn’t be so difficult for them to welcome in a Deathworlder like Carl especially because Carl was a total sweetheart and he wouldn’t hurt a fly but no one has really tried to get close to him and he wasn’t very outgoing in the first place. It has been nearly nine months since he had joined the crew and all anybody does is fear him.

Well that was all about to change as the new recruit to their Starliner also happens to be from a Deathworld. The Captain held up her hands getting everyone's attention and the mess hall fell silent again.

The Captain tapped the microphone before she began to speak. “We are all gathered together again to update the entire crew on what is going on around the ship, and this week I want to start by introducing our newest recruit to our crew. Stroughtbearee, come on up here.”

A large figure in a cloak stood up amongst the crew and walked up to the podium in slow lumbering steps. The figure pulled down its hood and revealed her blue tinted skin and brilliant red eyes. Many sections of her face came to a sharp point that was whiter and more translucent than the rest of her deep blue pigments. As she took the cloak off she seemed to shrink in size like some kind of magic trick. The points of the spikes along her body were holding the cloak up enough to make her seem like a large hulking figure but the dainty figure of her normal sized body stood in the midst of the long spikes that protruded out about six inches from her body. Her clothes were finely crafted to neatly go around each spike and not disturb the simple style of the crew uniform, plain black slacks with a light blue button up shirt

Many in the crew gasped but quickly tried to cover up their surprise. This clearly showed the separation the crew had amongst itself and how dynamically different this new crew member was to everyone else. Stroughtbearee recognized the instant social rejection such as this being pretty much the same way everywhere she goes. Being a death-worlder means everyone has fear and anxiety going through their head whenever you are around simply because the living things in your home world had evolved deadly ways to survive like external teeth or poisonous hair. The reality was that those who came from death-worlds were more adept at survival which was why they were often crewed onto large ships like these cruise Starliners to have some modicum of sanity when things go a little awry.

Cruise Starliners like this one stop at many ports and pick up many vermin as well as other strange creatures along with many unusual passengers of any race the universe can offer. Sometimes the crew falls into panic not knowing if their situation is dangerous, risky or food chain oriented. Most of the time it is none of those things and the survival officers know what to do in almost all of the situations. Very rarely does a survival officer actually need to do any survival tactics to help a crew that has crash landed on a planet but when it happens everyone is so happy they are there.

“Straughtbeary is our new survival officer, the second on our slowly growing team.” The captain announced finally cutting the awkward silence like a dull knife. “Please welcome her with our Starliner cruise cheer.”

The crew followed protocol and gleefully began to chant and dance. “When aboard the Melisandaunte ‘Happy to be here’ is what you will say- ay” After the chant rang clear for the third repetition, the tune changed at the end for the grand finale “Is whaaaaat yooouuuu wiiiiill say-ay-ay-aaaay!”

The crew burst into applause and yells of excitement over their grand performance of their port cheer that they welcome every guest that boards the Starliner with. The crew was actually very proud of it because they were the ones who wrote it, worked on it, and perfected it, not that Staughtbeary could tell the difference.

The Captain clapped mirthfully before bringing the meeting to an end and sending everyone back out to their stations. No other business could have been done anyway with everyone all excited for a new arrival.

The crew during the next following days and weeks continued without gaining any deeper connection to Straughtbeary than the obligated “hello” that everyone gave simply recognizing she was a part of the crew, and even that hello was often timid or nervous as they glanced awkwardly at her sharp spikes. No one was actively attacking her in any way but she could feel the tight pangs of rejection as they busily buzzed about their business not paying her any mind or even acting like they saw her there. Straughtbeary wasn’t really much of a social butterfly in the first place but even a single friend would be nice as they travel through the cosmos to the most touristy destinations. She just wanted one confidant she could laugh with as she would share every time she saw a stereotypical tourist doing the most touristy things like taking pictures of the blurry stars out the window of the Starliner, or when they wear their sandals and still have socks on. She only wanted one and there wasn’t any lack of trying either, in fact she had tried enough times to not want to try any more.

During their return loop to the HQ dock for the maintenance that could only be done when the ship is motionless and at the disposal of the dialysis crane crews in the hangar workshops that originally built the starliner cruise ship, you know the one time a year that there aren’t any passengers onboard and most of the crew doesn’t have to follow any schedules, anyway, during that loop the crew was throwing a crew appreciation BBQ with a hawaiian theme (being an earth related custom actually made the event macabre) and Carl being the resident expert was the inspiration (intelligence) for the most of the event. Once everyone had nervously pulled all the information they could out of him they set to work and didn’t come back to him for anything.

Once the BBQ had begun the many performers on the ship were twirling batons lit with fire and dancing on the edges of volcanoes to get everyone's shock and awe for their holographic realism performances that weren’t at all as dangerous as they looked. Carl sat alone at a table meant for eight and slowly worked on his series of drinks that ranged from fun and fruity mixed drinks and slowly became hard liquor. Carl wasn’t drinking his problems away he just didn’t have any company during the party so the drinks filled that role.

Half the night had passed when Carl got up to go to the bathroom. Upon returning to his table he found that the table he had total claim of before had been filled into by a rambunctious group eagerly goofing off and loudly having fun in the ways that Carl didn’t really appreciate or even want to tolerate being around. Carl moved on like he always did when he found himself naturally the outcast in the situation. Carl didn’t only find himself the outcast because of his Deathworlder origin but also because he was more of an introvert than an extrovert which was quite the opposite of most of the rest of the crew.

Carl was now wandering half drunk and unsure of what he was looking for but he was still searching all the same. Was it a spot to sit down? Was it a place to be alone? Was it at the bar? Or maybe at that nearly empty table? That almost empty table sounded better than the full ones, so he swaggered his way over to the table and plopped down in the first available seat. He chuckled to himself at how dumb his night had been already and how much he should just call it a night. He slowly turned his head around the table and finally met eyes with Straughtbeary who was the only other person at the table.

Normally he wouldn’t say anything but tonight he had already been drinking so the words sort fell right out of him without any filter either.

“You have the same problem I do, everyone is too scared or intimidated to become your friend, I’m not intimidated though, I have been to your planet and your people are kinder than mine, mine are all aggressive and jumpy, you guys are all collected and cool, if you didn’t look so scary you would have tons of friends.” Carl blurted out every thought contained in his brain just before he started to have the thought to stop it.

“Well capitan, you are just the freshest perspective on the obvious, aren’t you?” Staughtbeary asked sharply, with every word completely soaked and dripping in her sarcastic tone.

“Why, thank you.” Carl replied, sounding like he clearly did not realize her tone and being too drunk for anyone to tell if he was really being sarcastic back.

“So much for comradery.” Staughtbeary commented unsure of where to go next.

“Oh, yeah.” Carl began with a calm realization. “We technically work in the same office, don’t we?”

Straughtbeary smiled slightly. “I think this is the first time we have actually talked to each other, but yeah, the survival office is too busy for any pleasantries.”

Carl frowned. “Pleasant trees?”

Staughtbeary rolled her eyes at the idiotic pun, but still smiled at his quip.

“Get it?” Carl chimed in digging his own grave.

“Wow, if the pun wasn’t bad enough, you also have to be insufferable.” She stated as she walked away. “Goodnight, I don’t deserve being treated this way.”

Carl wasn’t so drunk that he couldn’t help himself, he was really lashing out and now he felt stupid for doing it. Just when he actually met someone who was being authentic with him he had to push her away in the worst way ever, social awkwardness. Carl’s heart tugged with the weight of every footstep that carried Staughtberry away from him. It was like time had slowed and he was wishing for the steps to stop their expeditious journey that was pulling him back into his lonely cocoon which he had only just begun to burst out of.

“Wait.” Carl’s tone had dropped to a serious and desperate place, showing how vulnerable he was with the quaver in his voice which he hadn’t intended to do.

Straughtbeary froze mid step and waited to hear what Carl seemed so adamant to say.

“Look, I’m sorry.” Carl glanced at his feet. “I have had a rough go at this Starliner and I really didn’t want to hurt my only chance of having a friend but I am scared to be vulnerable enough to admit that I need a friend.”

“I know what you mean with this Starliner, I have only felt like an outcast the whole time I have been here.” Staughtbeary said, still frozen in place afraid to turn around and face Carl.

“Do you want to start over? Maybe forget my social suicide attempt by pun and try to not cross cultural boundaries like being insufferable?” Carl was practically begging.

Straughtbeary turned around and walked back toward Carl. “Sure, let's try this thing again because believe it or not, I am as desperate as you are for companionship.”

Carl sighed in relief and gestured to the empty table. They both walked to a chair and sat down without saying another word. Now sitting in an awkward silence, Carl desperately tried to start up a conversation.

“Staughtbeary.” Carl grinned. “Your name closely resembles the name of an earth fruit, a strawberry.”

“Yes, it does. I was told that when I left orientation to join the crew on the ship. The trainer knew you were from earth and said that it would be a good icebreaker to start a conversation with you.” Staughtbeary stated proudly hinting that she was proud that Carl did it on his own.

“Well, orientation is getting better and better at determining the way in which we need to live our lives, someday orientation will run the whole ship instead of us.” Carl tried his hand at humor.

Staughtbeary chuckled. “We could tell our fortunes by it if it gets any more accurate.”

Carl laughed. “That's good. Your joke was definitely better.”

“Why, thank you.” Straughtbeary said rather humbly.

“So tell me, what led you to getting this starliner gig?” Carl asked sincerely.

“The devalue of life skills in the workplace.” Staughtbeary stated outright.

Carl shrugged. “I was hoping for your story, not the fact that society is crumbling around us.”

“Oh, sorry.” Staughtbeary turned a darker shade of blue, which Carl recognized as blushing. “I applied everywhere that pertained to ecological decay and restoration but not only was there not any job openings, many of the restoring efforts have been solved by gene splicing and the thing that I am so passionate about doesn’t even exist anymore. I got my degree in ecological decay and now it is as useless as an arts degree.”

“Hey, what a coincidence…” Carl started just before he was interrupted.

“You have a degree in ecological decay?” Staughtbeary asked rather excitedly about being in the same boat with at least one person.

“Uh, no.” Carl couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “I have an arts degree.”

They both laughed for a bit before Staughtbeary moved the conversation forward. “So you have a useless arts degree and that landed you here?”

“No, I was trying out to be a part of a musical being done on the cruise ship and even though I am talented as an earthling, I just didn’t stand a chance against the Rumaiens who have two sets of vocal cords and can sing their own harmonies. The Captain of the ship was one of the judges for the tryout and noticed all my survival skills on my resume.”

“So, you were lucky? And I am desperate?” Staughtbeary deflated in her chair.

“No, I was desperate enough to accept the offer of a groundbreaking, ‘at trial’ position that if there wasn’t any good outcome would have disappeared.” Carl shugged. “I had no better prospects either, but at least you came into this position while it is secure.”

“What kinds of skills did you have on your resume?” Staughbeary pedaled back a bit.

“Oh, just knot tying and camping.” Carl stated.

“You had camping as a skill? Camping is a recreational activity, not a skill.” Staughtbeary mused at the incorrect thought.

“A friend of mine told me to put it on my resume because there are many in the universe who don’t see camping as recreation and see it more as a whole set of skills, which is exactly what happened to me.” Carl was trying to explain that his side of the story was similar to her story.

“Well, if you hadn't paved the way for me I wouldn’t even be here.” Staughtbeary said appreciatively.

Carl smiled with his teeth and then quickly let his lips fall to cover them up, which was a long standing habit that Staughtbeary noticed Carl do and got curious.

“Why did you sort of stop smiling just now?” Straughtbeary asked.

“Oh, that?” Carl shook his head. “You will stop baring your teeth to smile soon enough.”

“What? Why?” She cocked her head to one side as she asked curiously.

“Well, people from paradise planets, which is everybody else on the ship, don’t have a predator or prey relationship with anything, so when they are around Deathworlders, like us, they see us as Deathworlders in context, so if we show any signs of aggression it will push them into a fight or flight survival mindset, and since they have never needed to prey on other creatures or be prey they don’t know how to fight against anything, so when they get triggered they act like prey, trying to run or play dead or something. It really detracts from getting work done so I never bear my teeth anymore because subconsciously it gets perceived as an act of aggression.” Carl ended nearly out of breath as if he was trying to say it all in one breath.

“I haven't experienced that yet, I don’t think my face changes from pure confusion.” Straughtbeary explained. “Everyone who comes in asking for help with something is carrying a small trinket and asking if it could kill or harm them.”

“Is it like marbles and stuff?” Carl asked specifically.

“Yes, they have marbles and rocks and one guy even brought in a tooth, they are all totally crazy.” She said getting flustered just thinking about it.

“That is kind of funny, I think they are all trying to verify what I have already told them. Even though I was the only expert, they didn’t believe me, and now that there is a new expert they are trying to find out if the first one was really wrong, they don’t want to believe the truth.” Carl explained excitedly.

“You know I thought better of it but I had a moment when I had the idea to just lie and go along with what they say they think this thing will do.” Staughtbeary admitted.

“Yeah, that was smart of you to do.” Carl stated. “I wasn’t so smart.”

Straughtbeary twisted her face in intrigue as what Carl said sunk in. “Wait, what? What happened? Did you?”

“Yes, I gave in,” Carl’s head lowered. “I am not proud of it, but a cult on board the ship still meets weekly to worship a pebble.”

“So you started a religion?” Staughtbeary asked.

“Not really, I went to one of their meetings and tried to convince them to stop, but instead got labeled as one of the deceivers, and before you say it, I know how backwards it is to be labeled a deceiver and it being my word that started the believing in it in the first place.” Carl explained with such exasperation.

Straughtbeary couldn’t stop laughing at the irony of it all. Carl couldn’t believe how honest he had been about some of the most embarrassing things he had ever done. The night was passing by as the two reminisced over some parallels in their cultures and talked through the night one upping each other about scars and wounds. Before they knew it they were side by side looking out the windows at the many star patterns that they each knew.

“This one looks like a Dracnotolumis drainage ivy.” Straughtbeary stated with glee pointing to each star that made up the pattern.

Carl followed along but didn’t know what she was talking about. “Oh wow, another plant shaped one.”

Staughtbeary grinned. “At least it is not another ‘Greek god’ as you put it.”

“Well, Earth’s basic astrology is tied closely to an ancient and dead religion.” Carl said as a matter of fact.

“And Ravnareer’s basic astrology mirrors the life that is upon it, including my favorite things, plants.” Staughtbeary smiled and swayed in place, staring back out at the stars again.

Carl looked down at his feet before glancing over at a nearby group of partiers and then looking back to Staughtbeary. “You ever wish you weren’t from a death world?”

“No, but I can tell that this place has gotten to you though.” Straughtbeary gave away that she had been watching Carl in the reflection of the window as she talked right to him but not turning her head in the slightest. “I would hate to be from some paradise planet, I would be afraid of everything and nothing would ever be good enough, besides that I would be even more upset that I didn’t have all of my life threatening stories which in a whole make up who I am.”

“Yeah, but being from a death world you didn’t really face death that often did you?” Carl asked.

“No, not that often but when I did face it, it was good to know that I was still alive regardless of the threat against me.” Staughtbeary grinned again. “Like that one time I was attacked by a Reek, it’s stinger could have punctured my skin and left it’s poisonous tip behind killing me in minutes but instead the Reek reared back for a strike and I turned my head away which hit the Reek with one of my spikes causing it to spin and fall to the ground probably saving my life.”

Carl excitedly nodded his head. “Wow, that reminds me of the time that I got surprised by a rattlesnake in the wild-”

“Wild?” Staughtbeary interrupted. “Do you have certain animals that are more chaotic than others?”

“Oh, no.” Carl shook his head before explaining. “On Earth, we had many people keep animals in captivity and those that were living in nature and were not domesticated by the influence of humans were considered wild animals.”

“Undomesticated, got it.” Staughtbeary said as if repeating carl.

“Anyway, that kind of poisonous snake makes a loud rattling sound with its tail to warn or scare other creatures away because it is ready to strike to protect itself, and I didn’t hear any rattling until I nearly stepped on it.” Carl started to sound like he was bragging. “The Rattle snake snapped at me but just barely missed.”

“Wait a second, have you ever actually had any life threatening injuries or have you only ever skirted around the dangerous things?” Staughtbeary asked with curiosity.

“No, I have always stayed out of harm's way and most of my scary experiences are just near misses.” Carl explained. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, I am the same way, nothing has happened to me either, I just look back at my life and see all the times I could have died and never experienced the things that could have caused death. I have only been a survivor by avoidance, not experience.” Straughtbeary shrugged from her realizations.

“Well, I believe that makes us better qualified for our jobs then, because I have met those from my world that are not careful and think that nothing bad will happen to them, we are opposite and we would teach others to be like us and avoid dangers. If we were to encourage diving in and asking questions later then we would be as good as doctors treating people for what has happened to them,” Carl explained. “and I am not a doctor, I would not be able to help afterwards anyway.”

“I never thought of it that way,” Staughtbeary smiled. “I also never thought I would be grateful for an analytical over-explanation.”

“Oh, my world calls that mansplaining.” Carl stated.

“Mansplaining? That is rather descriptive and on point, how clever.” Straughtbeary mused.

The crowds of people gathered around the dance floor made some noise that both Carl and Staughbeary thought was part of the partying so they paid no mind to it.

“I wonder, have you ever-” Carl stopped when the crowd's noise didn’t sound like fun noise.

Carl and Staughtbeary were now looking at the group of people trying to understand what was going on. A blood curdling scream pierced the air and Carl and Staughtbeary started running towards the crowd worried for what was going on. The crowds were backing away from something on the dance floor as if there were some kind of dangerous creature. They pushed through the crowds to see what was going on and finally got sight of the cause of comotion.

A team of attractive dancers were dancing in unison and the crowds were entranced and excited, calling out and screaming when some part of the dance stimulated them.

Embarrassed that they were thinking about survival stuff and were reacting to normal stuff like it was something dangerous, they stepped back and sank back into the crowds which wasn’t that hard to do because everyone gave Straughtbeary a lot of space now that they could see her.

The two laughed as they walked away from their embarrassing moment which wasn’t really that embarrassing because everyone avoided the two of them anyway. They walked out of the “Funasium” where the party was being held and Carl walked Straughtbeary to her quarters.

“I guess we need to get off our one track mind.” Carl said with a smile. “See you around the office when it’s not busy.”

“Has the office ever been slow?” Staughtbeary asked with hope for the future.

“No, but I might say hi when I pass by your desk.” Carl smiled again.

“That sounds good,” Straughtbeary smiled back. “I will do the same.”

#humans are deathworlders #humans are space australians #the universe #humans are space orcs #humans are space oddities

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aida-sparks · 4 months

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Buddie fans are relentless (and it's a good thing)

Geez, I was not prepared for the rollercoaster of woe that comes from shipping a pair that is not canon (yet!).

I am not a new fan to the show, 9-1-1. I've loyally watched every week for years, cherished the members of the 118, cherished Buck and Eddie's special relationship. I just hadn't been involved in the fandom of it all up until recently. I was just a tv viewer. But being newer to interacting with the fandom, I admit that consuming social media about 911 and Buddie has thrown me for a bit of a loop. I keep seeing the same recycled tactics to argue why people who ship buddie are delusional and why buddie will "never happen". These arguments are off-putting and frankly quite poor. (I don't like to focus on the negative so this will be my only post dedicated to this.)

Argument One: "There's already a gay couple on the show." No kidding. The statement is problematic in and of itself; people don't go around limiting the number of straight couples on a show, do they? It's fantastic that we have a strong, integral gay couple in Hen and Karen, two beautiful and fabulous lesbians, that are vital to this show, but why can't there be more? One representation alone doesn't cover the spectrum of LGBTQ+ portrayals of different romantic dynamics.

Argument Two: "Why can't we have two guys be close without putting a romantic label on it? It's refreshing to see male friendship." Bro... Platonic male friendship is important (all friendship is). It's not all that uncommon, though. Male friendship is focused on a lot already in many shows. But two adult male friends discovering new aspects of their identify that shift their relationship with each other toward something romantic? That's the more refreshing take here; it's one that we don't get to see in media right now but should. Flip the script, 9-1-1.

Argument Three: "They weren't introduced as gay or bi-sexual. It would be too out of left field to go there now." Not true. The show has the creative freedom to explore this narrative and can do it plausibly. There is obviously a very large part of the 9-1-1 fandom that has already interpreted Buck and Eddie's story as having the potential to become romantic. The pair has many parallels to the other canon couples on the show. There are plenty of moments and scenes from prior seasons (post-tsunami with Christopher, the shooting, the Will, all of Eddie Diaz's fond gazes aimed at Buck, etc.) that can be referenced in future episodes via well-crafted montage/edit that will help shed light on any developing feelings from either or both Buck and Eddie. Besides, not allowing a relationship to evolve into something different just because it didn't start out that way? What kind of stunted outlook is that? We want a story about how individuals can question and explore their sexuality at any age. Heck, during the graveyard scene near the end of season 6, Buck and Eddie talked about how experiences have changed them. They're clearly still growing and changing as individuals. It is not a stretch for them to discover whatever they've been searching for this whole time is actually found in each other. ---- That's it from me on this. I'm going to try doing a better job of ignoring the negative talk out there. I hope all buddie fans stay positive too, and when they call us relentless, we take that as a good thing. I hope we all recognize and resect the other characters and ships of this wonderful, wonderful show of ours too! Most of all, I hope we respect each other.

#buddie #911 abc #911 buddie #buddie canon #buck x eddie #eddie diaz #evan buckley #buddie thoughts #tv: 911 #shipping #fandom culture

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youngyoo-apologist · 22 days

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When it comes to OG!Cale ships I like both OG!AlCale and OG!ChoiHan but it really depends on the scenario

For example, I like OG!AlCale in both regression aus and TBoaH adjacent timeline things because I think a huge thing I like in their dynamic is how mysterious they both are to the other party. The fun of their dynamic is them discovering more about each other and the various miscommunications they have cause of their own personalities, and I think that works very well no matter the universe.

But with OG!ChoiCale, I feel like I can really only enjoy it in TBoaH adjacent things or if they both have the memories of the first life.

To me, a big thing about OG!ChoiCale is about the life they lived together, how they hated eachother, how they both didn’t know eachother for years, how they could have spent time together during the war due to unfortunate circumstances(there not being enough people left)

Like, I think OG!ChoiCale can be such a cool dynamic, such a sad, but comforting one at the same time. It’s a little bitter how the man you thought you would hate forever became a close companion, how he’s more similar to you than your younger self woild have ever thought, but do you really hate it?

Can you really hate having a person who understands you, when so many people have died? When so many are gone?

Something about the sadness of it all, how it was tragedy that brought them against each other at first, but now it brings them together. How they could only ever grow to understand eachother because of the pain they face, the pain that they shared. At some point, can you really hate him, even until the end? After all those years? After coming to understand him? No, you cannot.

Like, it adds in extra layers when they both care about each other at some point mid-way through the war, but they still can’t really talk to eachother properly. They care, but they frustrate one another, anger each other. Choi Han doing increasingly more risky and self sacrificial things because ‘I’m a hero’ ‘I have to do it.’ ‘It is justice to save people’, despite the fact that it’s at the expense of himself

And Cale’s frustration at Choi Han’s attitude. He can never wrap his head around the fact that Choi Han destroys himself for the sake of other people, and believes it’s heroic(He knows Choi Han doesnt, he know Choi Han hates it too, but he doesn’t know what else to say to himself other than the fact that ‘it’s for the greater good’, because he will go crazy if he doesn’t)

He’s mad, but there’s some twisted sense of understanding in there too. Cale understands, because he became trash for his family, he became trash to protect them, he had to do it.

But that’s only what he thought.

He was older now, he had lost them all, and he had seen how his trash act hadn’t done anything to protect them. It only distanced him from them, and now they were gone, and he could never see them again, he could never make amends.

Cale is mad at Choi Han for sacrificing himself because while Choi Han is hurting himself, the people who he loves, and the people who love him, watch him do it over and over again and he doesn’t listen to their worried cries.

He’s mad, but he understands. It was frustrating to be on the other side, watching someone destroy themselves for the sake of others when the people who cared about them wanted the exact opposite. The only difference between him and Choi Han was that Choi Han was never a good liar, he could never hide how much pain he went through.

In a way, Cale thought it was better that way.

At some point, there is love that is there. Love that follows them, and it’s so painful because they both know the tragedy edy to it that is how they are doomed, how they can never be happy in the first time line where they knew each other.

Because as Cale and Choi Han, they can’t be happy. Not when so much has been lost, not when the world is falling apart, they may love each other, but loving each other as they are means being in a world where everything else they love is gone.

It is a cruel kind of love.

Like let’s say they do pursue these feelings, even though knowing those two I don’t think they’d ever say anything in that scenario. If they did it would probably be Cale going like:

“Choi Han, do you love me?”

Choi Han doesn’t say anything, but his silence in place of adamant refusal is enough of an answer.

“Do you love me, Cale?”

Cale doesn’t say anything either, only smiling at Choi Han with his signature, cynical and bitter smile.

He didn’t deny it either.

It was a confirmation of feelings, but unlike the confessions from romance novels and stories, the main character and lead do not end up together and live happily ever after.

They stay together, but the world around them is not happy, not at all. They are together, but not as partners or as lovers, but two people who live in their suffering because all they can do is live.

I feel like anything they do together would always have an air of melancholy to it. Maybe they kiss, once, and no more, because there is no point in making it a regular thing. Not when everything in their world will end, even if they keep on fighting for it to not be that way.

They kiss, and it’s short, but in that short moment, the world is nothing but Cale and Choi Han.

Isn’t that selfish? If it’s like this, then they could ignore how everything has gone so badly. But that is exactly why they cannot be together, there is no ignoring the reality of their situation, no matter how sweet it would be to live in a false dream and never wake up.

I like my OG!ChoiCale a little doomed.

#I LOVE DOOMED YAOI!!!!!!!!#I can only like OG!ChoiCale when they’re different from TCF ChoiCale #actually that’s something I don’t like in a lot of things #where it’s just TCF copy and pasted but Roksoo is gone and OG Cale is in his place #it’s something I don’t prefer personally #because I like OG Cale as he is #and not as KRS’s replacement #I like both of them and they both deserve their own stories #not to say that OG AlCale is similar to TCF AlCale #they aren’t really similar #but I guess I’m more particular about how I feel on OG ChoiCale cause they’re my favorite ship 😭#yes the ship with zero screentime is my favorite #I know #it’s tragic #but yeah I like OG!ChoiCale as doomed old man yaoi #I think there is a lot of potential in their dynamic #because of how doomed the TBoaH universe is #tcf #lcf #just rambling #trash of the count's family #lout of the count’s family #tcf novel #lcf novel #og cale henituse #choicale

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leonardcohenofficial · 4 months

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Do you ship Hawkeye and Margaret?

not in any real sense of an endgame, but i do find potentiality in that relationship compelling. i think that the friendship we got to see on screen is ultimately more interesting than if the show had gone for any real romance between them, but i get why people ship them/enjoy the very few and far between actually good fics that explore what could have been. (a bit of a sidebar but had wayne rogers stuck around on the show, i think there would have been more of an established trapper and margaret arc—which we get hints at in season three—and it would have been cool to see what a houlintyre take on something like "comrades in arms" could have been.) in the early years most of the hawkeye and margaret dynamic is based on antagonism and harassment, with one of the first episodes that allows them both to have personal growth being "carry on, hawkeye" (and even then there is still plenty of both in the episode). over the years, as margaret's character gets to develop (with both positive and negative overall results imho—this is a bit of an unpopular opinion but i do actually think that a lot of the softening of her character makes her less interesting, i think she's at her most interesting when she's more complicated emotionally and morally), her relationship with hawkeye becomes less combative but is marked by a deep level of emotional connection in which they still quibble and fight, but they're not trying to tear each other down anymore.

one of the biggest missed opportunities for continuity in terms of exploring hawkeye and margaret's sexual and emotional intimacy comes in season six between "comrades in arms" and "what's up, doc?"; margaret and hawkeye are implied to have had (presumably unprotected) sex in "comrades in arms," and six episodes later, margaret has her pregnancy scare (also really interesting to me is that margaret says that she was "with donald about six weeks ago in tokyo," and "what's up, doc?" aired six weeks after "comrades in arms"). it would have been bold for 1977-1978 network television for the show to explore a main character getting another married main character pregnant—fun fact in that there was a CBS-rejected a script very early on in which hawkeye would have had to deal with the consequences of potentially getting two different nurses pregnant—but would have been interesting to see follow-up to that plotline. we get a hint of that with the "i'm glad it turned out the way you wanted it to." "so am i." "i'm also sorry." "so am i." exchange, but that would have taken on a very different weight had there been actual potential that hawkeye got her pregnant (which is something i'm interested in exploring in a fic sometime; watch this space lol).

all this to say also margaret and hawkeye are both hot and i think that shipping them is fun and if people want to write thousands of words of smut inspired by the "if i didn't hate violence, i'd kick you." "would you? with high heels?" exchange who would i be to complain?

#mash #margaret houlihan #hawkeye pierce #m*a*s*h #tv: mash #anon #good houlihawk writing is really rare but it's like the girl with the curl right in the middle of her forehead #when it's good it's very very good and when it's bad it's horrid

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in1-nutshell · 6 months

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Human Buddy the senior liaison becoming friends with First Aid

SFW, platonic, familial, Human reader, implication of reader passing away of old age

MTMTE

Buddy is the human equivalent of Ratchet.

They are a Grumpy Liaison sent originally to keep Cybertronian and human relations good then later to watch Megatron.

They know that something is up all the time.

They call it “The-Kids-Are-doing-Something -Stupid- Radar.” Buddy has a habit of calling a lot of the bots “Children/ Kids.”

Distant explosion

“Thoughs kids… I swear they are going to be the death of me…” --Buddy

Even though every single one of them is older than him by a good millions of years.

Buddy senior is never too far from Megatron. They take their job seriously. Almost acting as a third shadow, the second shadow is Ravage.

On the off chance that they aren’t watching Megatron they are usually in the Med Bay or at Swerve’s. They relate to Ratchet the best out of all the crew and are often seen together talking about the most random things.

Buddy and Ratchet staring at each other.

“What are they doing?”—Bot 1

“I don’t know. Maybe they hate each other?”—Bot 2

Meanwhile Ratchet and Buddy are having a conversation with their eyes/optics about how dumb everyone’s injuries are today.

The dynamic does change a bit as the new introduction to First Aid.

Especially when Ratchet goes off to get Drift. Buddy senior meets First Aid after the dilemma at Delphi. First Aid is very intrigued by the older human.

“So… you’re a human.”—First Aid

“Last time I checked. And you’re a nurse?”--Buddy

“Sort of. I mean now I’m the new Chief Medical Officer.”—First Aid

“You’re what now?”--Buddy

After Ratchet’s departure is when the both start bonding a bit more. It first began with medical similarities between Cybertonians and humans before moving on to different more lighthearted subjects such as the latest gossip around the ship or First Aid subscription on the Wrecker’s log.

“So Aid… what’s this about Springer?”--Buddy

“What do you mean?!”—First Aid

“Aid I’ve seen your notes.”--Buddy

“…please don’t tell anyone.”—First Aid

“Kid, my lips are sealed, just tell me more about this Wrecker.” --Buddy

Over time First Aid feels more comfortable around Buddy. Buddy as much as they hate to admit it First Aid begins to look like a son to them than just a regular co worker. Has referred to First Aid as their son before, but First Aid doesn’t exactly know what the meaning of the expression is.

“Did you refuel today?”--Buddy

“I will in a couple of minutes.”—First Aid

“You said that nearly half an hour ago, go refuel son.”--Buddy

“…”

“What’s a ‘son’?” –First Aid

When Ratchet does come back with Drift, First Aid does ask him what it means. Ratchet lets out a chuckle and points out that Buddy sees First Aid as their sparkling.

First Aid is happy.

He called them his parent one time at Swerve’s.

That was the first time any of the Lost Lighters had seen their senior Liaison crumple down in happy tears. There is a lot of explanation on how much joy they feel after that.

First Aid after that is rarely seen without Buddy nearby.

After a good two years on the Lost Light Buddy calls for a meeting with their close friends and Captains as witnesses. They express that they know that their time now is coming close to an end even more being in space and they wanted to give each a copy of their will in case at any point they were to pass they wanted all their things straightening out.

There are plenty of tears shed, especially from First Aid upon realizing how short the human life span is especially at the point where Buddy is at.

“Please don’t talk about that… not now.”—First Aid

“It’ll be okay First Aid. Everything will be okay.”--Buddy

“Can we just talk about something else? Please?”—First Aid

“…Okay Aid. What do you want to talk about?”--Buddy

First Aid expresses his feelings about their mortality to Buddy later that night. After a bit of tears from both ends, they both promise to have the next few days to be the best together before the end comes.

First Aid did keep his promise till the very end.

#transformers #idw mtmte #more than meets the eye #transformers x reader #mtmte ratchet #mtmte first aid #mtmte x reader #human buddy #maccadam

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xailey56 · 1 year

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While I’m on the subject, because I didn’t know that much about Jaiden and Roier in the begining they were one of the pairs that made me think that maybe the pairs actually were random rather than being prepicked out or at least made me think that only a few of the pairs were planned and the rest random but now I’m thinking that all of the pairs were preselected by presumably Quackity and the pairs that ended up not really working out (ie Fit and Spreen or Dan and Maxo) only didn’t really work out because of the nature of the egg event.

Quackity has said that he didn’t really expect the egg event to end up like this, that he didn’t expect everyone to get this attached and what I think he was probably assuming was that the players would treat the eggs more like a pet, essentially like a tamagotchi and that the event would be more low key. And maybe it would have been if the eggs were just mobs, but instead the eggs from the beginning have been extremely child coded and having real people who can talk even if it is only using signs just cemented them as the players children.

Assuming that Quackity was trying to optimize the pairs for the best potential for interesting interactions that are fun to watch or people he thought would get along really well, maybe he was exactly on the money about the pairs that didn’t really end up spending that much time with each other but because of the nature of the event we didn’t really get to see that dynamic explored.

For example I believe Spreen has basically said he isn’t really that interested in the egg event, that he doesn’t really want to roleplay an egg dad and that’s totally fine. Most of the players have ended up being drawn in by the event, but it’s understandable that it wouldn’t be for everyone. But because of this I can’t help but wonder how things would have panned out if the event was something completely different. Using Spreen as an example again maybe he and Fit would have made a really fun duo in a different kind of event and they could have had a really interesting dynamic. They’re another pair that I don’t really know a lot about either of them, but I think I saw that Spreen is a good pvper and Fit is known for tb2t content so I can definitely think of some event types where that would make for a very interesting dynamic.

On the flip side I’m also wondering if the event was different would some of the pairs that work really well together now have a different dynamic or not work as well in that different event. Like would Slime and Mariana still be playing a couple constantly on the verge of divorce who can’t stop having weird live Minecraft sex? I feel like probably not, but what even would their dynamic look like without it. Or Foolish and Vegetta? Would their dynamic be similar because they were already starting to get along and are the builders of the server or would it be different? Would Bad have actually gotten paired with Luzu (like he should have because of the rules of the event) since this hypothetical event might not have leant itself to creating potential shippable pairs as well as being literal parents does and Quackity wouldn’t have had an excuse to play up a potential love triangle between him and two people he’s already shipped with. What would that dynamic have even looked like?

I don’t know, this is just something I’ve been thinking about because I just feel like for a lot of the pairs they work too well for them to have been random and I really feel like Quackity knew what he was doing and thanks to it we have some really amazing interactions between the various members of the server.

#qsmp #quackity #jaiden animations #roier #spreen #fitmc #slimecicle #el mariana #foolish gamers #vegetta777 #badboyhalo #luzu

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blueberry-macaron · 5 months

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I'm in a salt mode so lets get into this

One of the biggest problems people had with the L//S is how poorly developed it's been and how less effort it has been put into it, And don't get me started how Adrichat and Maribug barely interact basically making the ship have 0 chemistry.

But then when ships like Lukanette and Adrigami came along, then there's some Toxic L//S stans who bash the characters (and doxx lukanette and adrigami shippers), with their only excuse being "ThEy R iN tHe Way of adr///ette/L//s (Mainly because they're insecure that Lukanette/Adrigami has Chemistry, proper development and effort and their ship doesn't)

I'm so sick and tired of the hate that Lukanette/Adrigami gets.

I'm so sick and tired of the hate that Luka/Kagami gets.

I'm so sick and tired of toxic L//S stans projecting their ship on every. single. damn. thing

I'm so sick and tired of seeing Lukanette/Adrigami shippers get d0xxed, threatened and bullied just because they don't ship the L//S or Adr//ette

Yikes, people doxxed each other because of ships?? For some reason I'm not entirely surprised. I've seen fandoms with super toxic people and the ml fandom sure can be toxic as hell. If you (general) get so worked up about people's opinions about characters from a kids show, you should be denied access to the internet and instead have access to tons grass to touch. But yeah, even just "normal hate" can be frustrating and discouraging, so it's best to just block those people. I completely understand your frustration.

Luka//nette isn't good because they were half canon, it's good because they have a meaningful bond and the root for drama is always outside circumstances and not the fact that they fundementally don't work together. If Mari wasn't Ladybug, they probably wouldn't have split up. That's why I love this ship so much. Besides, they never got in the way of anything. Realistically, no ship can get in the way of a confirmed endgame ship bc, well, it's endgame. So this argument is kind of falls flat (honestly most arguments against Luka//nette I've heard were either not really important or kind of a very outlandish interpretation of their relationship, I don't care about either.)

Heck, even if Luka//nette wasn't the rival ship but just friends in canon who interacted twice, who cares? Shipping isn't supposed to be serious, it's exploring different dynamics between characters and having fun putting them in different scenarios and have them have 6176310278 different first kisses. There's no rule that you have to be on board with the canon ship.

Now speaking of L//S developement (bc now I'm also in a salty mood and I have thoughts)

I and many others have already talked about how s1-4 didn't really do much with them. But I find it funny when people say that s5 did a great job developing they're relationship because... bitch where? I've watched season 5 (I have no self respect) and everything was confusing and over the place and I think that's bc the writers can't make up their minds about which problems the L//S might face actually matter and how they can be solved.

The season starts with Mari making a big deal about how loving Adrien is dangerous because hero stuff. Oh but actually it doesn’t matter, she likes CN now, problem solved! Oh wait no Chat friendzoned her and Adrien is pushing real hard for Adr//nette so they give up their fucking miraculous (in times of crisis I might add), problem solved! No wait, actually the new heroes suck so they take them back, but that’s okay bc being in love and being a superhero at the same time is actually no longer a problem for some reason! The actual problem is that Mari is incapable of expressing herself because she has trauma. And THAT’S the real shit because fucking everybody gets so invested they organize literal dates for them and watch from a distance until they smooch instead of, oh idk, letting them do things their own way. But actually that also doesn't matter anymore bc Zoe just confessed and Mari was so inspired she immediately ran to Adrien. Oh but Adrien is a senti without free will and he goes to england soon whoopsie. Also Gabriel and Tomoe are now Adri//gami shippers because of course we need an arranged marriage deal type of plot. Oh yeah there's also something about Monarch apparently having all the miraculouses but who cares amirite

See what I mean? There's no structure, no actually overcoming problems, it's just random shit happening without any connection to the previous random shit. The characters don't develop in a meaningful way. Mari's only life goal is making one cohesive sentence in front of Adrien and he's kind of just there. I mean he could maybe feel inspired by Marinette's passion for arts and crafts and try out some stuff or he could continue to have no direction in life. Yes, as a teen it's hard knowing what you want to do later in life, but Adrien doesn't even really have actual hobbies he can define himself through. The writers fail not only to develop the relationship as a whole but also the characters involved as people. They could as easily be a situationship where they meed every two days to make out and it wouldn't change anyting. It's just fan service here and there combined with shallow and forgettable dialogue (I think, there wasn't a conversation that stick with me at least) and idk this maybe works as a first love that maybe lasts for a year before they have a dramatic break up and then move on with their lives, But the show tries to sell this idea that the square will actually stay together forever (or have a constant toxic on-off thing bc that's the vibe I'm getting. Plus Bunnyx sort of implied that).

#ask #honeyblossom-20 #ml salt #love square salt #I can't really say much about Adr//gami since I don't really care for the ship that much #they're not bad but I kinda wish the show would've taken them into a different direction

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fruity-phrog · 2 years

Text

Dead End Paranormal Park shit I need to talk about and I feel bad for my discord server so:

I was expecting a Barney/Logs kiss to be monumental like the first Lumity or Catradora kiss, or at least something like Troyson or Bubbline. But NOOO, I just get SLAPPED IN THE FACE with it right at the beginning of the first episode.

And on the subject, I distinctly remember thinking “I wonder if they’ll have Barney tell Logs he loves them or smth” as I clicked on the second episode. I WAS NOT PREPARED.

Logs is a non-binary gay person. Don’t even fight me on this I’m right.

I was. So. Fucking. Excited. Watching Norma realize her crush on Badyah. It was literally exactly how I realized my crush on my friend and I was so excited to have those two canon.

I was fucking wrong.

Barney talking about transphobia?! Barney talking about people asking about his binder?! THIS SHOW FUCKIN RULES.

Again, I was very wrong about Badyah and Norma.

Badyah rejecting Norma hurt. So fucking much. The rawness of it all just stung so much.

BUT. I HAVE NEVER HEARD ANYONE SAY THE WORDS “I’m straight” IN A KIDS’ CARTOON. It was astronomical. In shows nowadays, queer rep is so far and few between you don’t have any characters to get rejected. So to see Badyah let down Norma as softly as she did, explaining she’s straight then immediately going into a mini sexuality crisis was amazing. Norma’s tears though.

Gonna be honest, was worried about the Josh thing for a minute.

Honestly, I wouldn’t even mind Norma x Zagan. I mean, Zagan’s canonically queer, and I can get behind a good height-difference ship. Also, I love the dynamic of “Morally grey but with a heart of gold x literal demon” Buuuuut Zagan being like 1600 comes with its Twilightes-esque issues.

Not Temeluchus and Pugsely acting like exes that still love each other lmao

Norma regretting everything when her connection to Badyah was lost just hit me in the worst way. The exact same thing happened to me about a year ago - I had a straight crush who was also my best friend, I told her I liked her and we...drifted apart. Everything about Norma's regret from the whole thing is so perfectly written, from her staring at photos of her and Badyah to insisting she's over the crush to being so incredibly excited when she thinks Badyah has come round to her house. I've never been able to relate to a character this much before, and adding on to the fact that Norma has social anxiety and can fixate on one thing until it becomes her entire personality...it just hit me so hard.

Am I still allowed to ship Norma and Badyah? They just meant so much to me before that episode. Is it problematic now? Coz it’s either that or aroace hetero-leaning Badyah.

That whole episode though

The use of the word bi? An entire conversation about how hard it is to come out? The use of the word gay? Norma literally chanting “bi bi bi” like NSWNC?! Screaming, crying.

No, Pauline’s right, Norma’s mum has the best legs.

The coming out scene...shoot me now.

EVEN THE MUM SHIPPED BADYAH AND NORMA-

JULES USING THEY/THEM PRONOUNS. AND SAYING “I use they/them pronouns”. THE GAY IS REAL AND IT IS COMING FOR US.

Not Barney being saved by the power of gay

I called Courtney being an angel from early s1. Suck it.

THE WATCHER THING I DID NOT CALL.

But we all knew Fingers had issues. I mean seriously. The dude’s got slay though.

Last thing - Gord means the absolute world to me.

#dead end paranormal park #dead end spoilers #norma khan #barney guttman #de:pp badyah #de:pp logs #de:pp gord

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suffarustuffaru · 2 months

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i need to share my very horrible idea to combine the reinhard/julius/otto/subaru boy drama into one julius-centric fic

ok so a little while ago ive made all kinds of ottojuli and reinjuli posts and while i havent finished all my major julisuba posts Yet i am quite fond of julisuba also and i think itd be incredibly funny if you just dumped all of these ships into one story. just go ALL IN on that boy drama!!!! go big or go home amirite!!!! the worlds WORST love trapezoid youve ever seen!!!!

this post is just me rambling fic ideas bc i sadly dont have time for Every Fic Idea and also i just. i just think itd be funny putting multiple ships with the same person in them into one fic. on a serious level its like mimicking real life relationships where sometimes people come and go and you have different dynamics with each person!! on another level i just think this is also very funny so!! here we go. under the cut:

anyway so my idea for this is that you know, julius of course meets reinhard when hes ten and reinhard is eight and then it alters julius's brain chemistry. at first he's in complete awe of reinhard. and then over time the shame starts setting in. that julius isnt as strong as reinhard. and the jealousy sets in a bit too, so julius's got this chip in his shoulder trying to carry his family's legacy and trying to carry the weight of knighthood to be as perfect as possible. to be as close to reinhard as he can. they meet again in their teens and julius shows reinhard the ropes of like basic knight stuff bc reinhard just joined the knights. and of course reinjuli become friends but julius has spent his whole life quietly watching reinhard from afar and now julius still has that distance with reinhard even as theyre supposedly friends now. reinhard is a God, you know? his powers and his leash from the kingdom and his family keep him distant and the two of them are ignoring that. classic homoerotic "do i want him or want to be him" friendship where both of you are too scared to get any closer for various reasons with a Twist (reinhard's very real monster complex that keeps getting validated bc Everyone Around Him thinks hes a monster).

anyway but then julius remembers that you know, shit between reinhard and him wont work out for many reasons, like reinhards family deciding to torment julius at various points in his life (heinkel, whos julius's boss, and reid, who went from julius's childhood idol to. you know.), and also reinhard needs to have kids because hes the sword saint, and also homophobia exists in rezero. and also even if those werent all obstacles julius still has his Complexes connected to reinhard and they got that distance between them so. no go. (repression gets in the way of relationships :((( )

also quick side note is that ex 4 happens and julius reinhard ferris go to vollachia and julius interrupts a meeting with vincent vollachia himself to go "I UNDERSTOOD THAT LITERARY REFERENCE YOU JUST MADE. THATS A REALLY GOOD REFERENCE I LIKED IT A LOT" bc hes a massive nerd and ig this is slightly-more-of-a-disaster-gay julius au so julius is like ............................. vincent was kinda cool for that.

AND THEN SUBARU CRASHES INTO JULIUS'S LIFE and julius is like seeing this guy who's also got a chip in his shoulder and then he insults the knights and says the knights are all depending on their dads (nepotism) and julius is like .......the chip in my shoulder was bad enough and also youre kinda like me fr. and you are clearly a fucking misguided kid so now i have to save your ass. i cant NOT save your ass. and reinhards like "julius and subaru nooo you dont have to do this :((((" and julius cant admit atm that hes also doing this to save subarus life so julius is just like "he disrespected the knights >:(((("

but yes we all know what happened there. julius saves subarus life. julius has to slice subarus throat in that one failed loop. they become friends across several timelines. they also homoerotically share souls, you know, typical bromance things, rivals to lovers except subarus the one going YOURE MY RIVAL and julius is like he is SUCH an upstart. hes really grown on me like a fungus but thats the appeal. and julius i think sees subaru as like a kindred spirit (or at least thats how i interpret julisuba) except subaru is like way more freer than julius is. same desire to prove yourself but subarus not restraining himself constantly like julius. its sometimes to the point of recklessness and general stupidity and what have you, but his boldness and bravery and determination and heart really is admirable.........................

yeah so anyway julius falls for ANOTHER guy again, you know how it is sometimes. the heart wants what it wants and julius is cursed to always have the worst meetings with his closest friends. and of course julius gets heartbroken bc wtf i have to kill my new friend :((( noo!!!! but in the finished loop its like. oh subaru...... hes really improved himself. hes grown so much already. hes kind of. inspirational really. idk how he does it. except subarus you know got that Mystery to him the same way reinhard does (theyre traumatized and Cant Take About It Normally so they just randomly lore drop what they can) and also subarus SUPER into emilia. and julius is like .................... well. subarus taken. haha. and reinhards. taken. fuck me. fuck. and like somethings going on with subaru and rem and emilia right. fuck. and subarus got his whole toxic masculinity / gender crisis..... and he doesnt know hes Bisexual yet...... man. what a loss for julius amirite haha.

and also subarus busy after arc 3........... and julius has no idea whats happening there but that seems Real serious :(( and julius's got other things to attend to so he hopes subaru reaches out to him eventually..... or that they cross paths again since subarus in the emilia camp and julius is in ana camp (and of course reinhard is in felt camp and like that was a whole debacle bc wtf. reinhard, u do know thatd be a big deal to our mutual friend felix?). so. julius pines from afar ONCE AGAIN HAHA.

(also of course subarus still attracted to reinhard here. its um. well julisuba can bond now over pining over reinhard but thats for later also!!)

anyway of course during arc 3 julius briefly runs into some gray haired merchant twink thats being dragged around by subaru bc ana camp rescued this guy from a cave somewhere??? and this new guy and subaru made a deal or whatever so he was just helping out in the background of the fight against sloth??

and whaddya know................ julius goes to drink at a bar bc you know he probably tastes wine for fun in his free time (hes definitely Fond of wine anyway iirc) and now hes Sad over the Ones That Got Away so. bar it is. and gray haired merchant twink is there!! no way. they start talking a bit casually while drinking you know and julius's taste is Unfortunately either the graceful ones (anastasia, because julius has great taste in women) or the cringe fail ones (all the twinks - except for felix - that julius keeps having the wildest first meetings with, because julius has slightly shit taste in men) so julius is like huh this otto guys kinda funny lol. endearing in a weird way!! and -

oops they both end up being a little. they make a little bit of a move on each other. bc they were drinking and got a Bit tipsy. ottos Also not over the one that got away (subaru) (again) and hey. the finest knight truly is. Fine. objectively fine. totally. so you know. things get a little out of hand, maybe they do a bit of cringe fail flirting hidden underneath five million layers of repression and the Horrors of Being Known but ultimately they both embarrass themselves somehow (read: how far they went with each other while under the influence is up to you) and agree to Never Speak of This Again bc oopsies they were both technically each other's first time being Straightforwardly Not Straight with another man. oops. anyway julius has to go back to his camp and otto fucking bolts but he bolts right into subaru and gets his ass dragged into sanctuary drama.

julius is totally not a little bit envious about that.................... about otto getting to accompany subaru to sanctuary... but dont worry julius!! youll get to make up for it later!! bc eventually arc 5 stuff happens. and julius is Glad to see reinhard and subaru again. even with all the Baggage. and subaru is of course Weird about julius but eventually subaru reassures julius after they both confide in each other about the astrea drama (theyre honorary astreas via being dragged into the astrea family mess). and subarus reassuring to julius in a whole new way okay. subaru, whos unrestrained and incapable of being on the down low about anything, and julius, whos always holding himself back with a gazillion layers of repression, starts learning to let go a bit...

but also juliotto meet again. its terribly awkward and they both agreed to never speak of their awkward encounters again. subaru is going ??? and reinhard is clueless. otto then also goes to save reinhard and felt from heinkel trying to take felt hostage, which was also terribly awkward but reinhard and felt are grateful about it (but lbr if reinhard and otto knew each other deeper reinhard would maybe be a little. Apprehensive. around otto while otto would be sympathetic with reinhard bc hes like male emilia). but then while otto manages not to get erased by gluttony....... julius gets erased. of course. which you know results in being forgotten by reinhard in julius's THIRD first meeting ever with reinhard. and subarus the only one who remembers him of course.

then arc 6 happens :,))))) and julius of course has to confront his ideas of knighthood, his identity, his self esteem, and who he is outside of His Name. and also julius gets his ass beat by reid. his childhood idol. who reinhard KNEW was a shitty person but never ever told julius (whether this is because reinhard wanted to spare julius's hero worship or because reinhard never got the chance to tell julius is hard to say lajdsf). but julius does get to triumphantly win in the end!! grow as a person!!! learn to undo a bit of that repression and not hold himself to impossible standards all the time!! hes growing still!!! hes finally solidified his friendships with people like subaru and emilia!! hes remaking his relationship with anastasia!! hes asserted himself, hes planning on going to meet reinhard again one day and duel him!! things are looking up even if its still bittersweet that he doesnt have his name back yet!! does this mean?? perhaps?? a HAPPY ENDING?? julius can have the two men (reinhard and subaru) he admires the most in his life?????? as friends???? or as boyfriends?????? slowburn mutual pining????????????????????????????????????????

and then comes. arc 8 otto. that piece of shit.

julius is very much someone who has to grapple with the weight of the expectations that people throw at him. and also reinhard is someone who May envy julius a bit, but there's also you know, joshua and subaru with the Explicit Envy and (past) resentment because theyre placing heavy expectations on julius!! theyre pointing blame at julius!! julius is trying to find himself outside of stuff like that, especially after arc 6, but he's still got stuff to work on you know? he still has duties to fulfill!! loyalty that he has to act on bc hes gotta help subaru and co in arc 8!! and then in comes otto.

otto is also someone with expectation placed on him, but its Different. ottos mostly a nobody and when hes Not a nobody, his reputation tends to be Derogatory. hes a menace. hes a bad luck charm. hes grappling with the fact that he has to keep being left behind - post-arc 5 bc he was injured, but also repeatedly during arcs 7 and 8 because hes too physically weak to be on the same playing field as emilia or garfiel or subaru on the battlefield. he feels Useless after placing his identity on the expectation that hes Dependable and Useful.

julius is a bit more on even ground with otto now that julius is. also mostly a nobody bc his name is still gone. and also julius had to deal with having that part of his identity crushed. julius tried to be useful over and over in arc 6 only to get his ass repeatedly curb stomped by reid in the beginning. he was a nobody. he wasnt dependable anymore. and also otto is that one guy he had a Passing Fling with over having The Ones Who Got Away and julius was still vaguely hopeful about maybe being pals at least but ottos brushed him off a bit since arc 5. theyre like each others secrets you know? and now otto doesnt know that shit - julius is the only one who Knows - and otto also hates julius's fucking guts now. over SUBARU. and julius has been through this whole rodeo clown circus with arc 3 subaru so this is an absolutely terrible ride through memory lane.

and this is julius's THIRD twink that hates him for terribly unfair reasons. julius is very tired and a bit heartbroken in this au trying to pretend it doesnt bother him. on one level it doesnt. bc ottos pathetic and clearly Overcompensating for Something. on another level it kinda does bc julius had a Thing going with otto. and otto is the complete opposite of julius. like hes different from the other guys julius has liked.

julisuba is about complimentary opposites - they appear Extremely Different at first glance but theyre very similar. theyre people who try to look and act bigger than they are, people who keep reaching to be The Best, to be Perfect, because theyre overcompensating. theyre worried their entire identity is only built off of trying to be bigger than the shadow that other people in their lives (like their families) cast. but they cant reach perfection. and julius is like subaru but if subaru tried to really make himself "refined" - if he tried to stop putting his heart on his sleeve all the time. reinsuba are very similar too. theyre very refined knights who try to keep themselves in check at all times while the weight of the world is on their shoulders. they cant have a hair out of place. except julius is like the "smaller" version of reinhard. julius is less powerful. its like comparing a human and a "god" - reinhard, whos untouchable. but its a double edged sword, because julius gets to be a normal person, because half the expectation placed on him is also purely from himself, while reinhard isnt. reinhard isnt Free. hes on a leash by the kingdom and his family. julius even gets his kind of "celebrity" status stolen from him via the loss of his name. hes truly kind of Normal now - julius is like if reinhard didnt have his crazy abilities and had a little more of a chance to be free.

otto? yeah otto is. very very far from all of that. hes so obviously imperfect that most of his reputation, when its brought up, is just him being known as a mess who's caused various forms of chaos everywhere he goes. either that or hes just. There. Invisible. very very average. and otto is someone who wants a nice comfortable life, someone who wants to fit in - julius and subaru arent Exactly like that, and while reinhard also wants to be normal, ottos the one who has more of an opportunity. but he doesnt. because otto Dooms Himself by being recklessly cutthroat. otto is like if subaru was just. More of an asshole, so ottojuli would just be a rather Extreme Challenge for julius to have to deal with HAH. and normally otto is someone who repays how people treat him - a very "you treat me like this, i'll treat you the same way in turn" kind of deal, except ottos developed a vendetta against julius and its basically like if subaru never let go of his arc 3 julius vendetta.

yes so anyway. etc etc stuff probably happens but i ran out of ideas lajdlfjasdf i just think combining ALL the boy drama and recontextualizing + adding to canon would be. batshit crazy. and terribly entertaining. im so sorry julius but i want to see you crack a bit under the pressure. reinjuli as a ship is like tragic gay yearning that never goes anywhere past being friends with quiet homoerotic tension, then julisuba is. you know. extreme rivals to lovers, starts out Rough but then ends up being super super sweet and theyre Trying their best underneath the self esteem issues. and then ottojuli is. toxic yaoi at its finest (pun intended). you get Every flavor of mlm possible!!

ok so you may be asking "ok what would you even name this fic then" and to that i say that this would be called To All the Boys I've Loved Before.

anyway i really wanna write this idea someday ill inform you guys (if youre reading this and are Interested) if it ever happens :< so. in conclusion this is just julius the entire time throughout all of these events:

#rezero #re:zero #arc 5-8 spoilers #yes i made this post also so i can dramatically drop the wip title for this fic idea at the end of it and then laugh to myself bc i think #its the most perfect title of all time.#also adding up all of the rezero boy drama is important to me ok. and i was mostly going into the julius side of things in this post aldsjf #it gets messier when you remember reinsuba. and ottosuba. and reinotto. its incredibly funny to me. truly the worlds worst love pentagon.#or love square???? love shape????#on a serious note i would love to see more queer stories exploring like. a person's different relationships over the years. bc sometimes it #does feel like this you know?? having drastically different dynamics with each person and each person knows you in different ways!!#its a fun character study exercise. and it feels true to life imo. you grow and change throughout your life and your relationships at each #time period can kind of reflect who you were as a person at the time. if that makes sense. idk i have many feelings on it HAH #natsuki subaru #reinhard van astrea #otto suwen #julius juukulius #also i do often hc reinhard otto julius as being on the ace spectrum. i dont really write otto being ace in mind for Every wip i do but yes #i do have these hcs and reasoning for them!!! also specifically i hc reinhard as being on the aroace spectrum. these are just hcs of course #hah but yes i quite like my hcs for them.

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