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carnivalcarriondiscarded · 2 months

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On The Topic Of Eddie.

First of all, he’s completely fucked. He’s screwed. I’ve said it a thousand times and I’ll say it again: I’ve never seen a character more doomed by the narrative.

Second, Eddie’s halloween costume was Frankenstein’s Monster. And pray tell, what was the Monster’s whole thing? That he’s betrayed by his own creator, rejected / attacked by the town, deeply misunderstood & interpreted as a violent beast despite being well-read and helpful/benevolent. There are some interesting ties there - especially with the Misunderstood Despite Being Well-Read (switch out violent beast with forgetful klutz and it’s a perfect fit). That, plus Eddie’s description of “...brought back from the dead… by the scientist… stitches… a deathly pallor… a bit of a moral conundrum…”

Take that and add it to how Eddie resembles the “night” side of the clocks (this will be expanded upon with Sally in a different post), and how @/theneighborhoodwatch once pointed out that the color purple is only shown in relation to Eddie & may represent secrets, how in livestream trivia it was implied that Eddie doesn’t sleep at night as he is a “busy guy”, and how Sally’s “monster” only comes out at night and likely isn’t a monster at all - she is dramatic, an embellisher, and said to present things that she herself doesn’t know / is uncertain of As Fact, or at least present them as if she knows exactly what she’s talking about (even when she doesn’t and knows it).

Another tidbit that I may have mentioned but I’ll bring it up again: Eddie’s eyelashes match the scalloped trim under Home’s windows. Three round curves.

As an additional tally in the “Eddie is soooo fucked <3” scoreboard, Eddie is the mailman in a story where one of the first things we knew to be actually happening was the WHRP receiving letters of Welcome Home media (now I’m not saying Eddie sent them, certainly not. He may or may not have had a hand in helping with the delivery, but what I mean with this is how it ties in symbolically/abstractly/thematically.) That plus the red envelope, the general unfolding delivery theme… Eddie even has a holiday explicitly associated with him - Mail-In Time Day.

Then there’s the fact that Eddie tends to express Knowledge and a more worldly disposition, in a way. Despite Frank being mentioned as the neighborhood “intellectual”, and he is so with facts, Eddie seems to have a deeper well of… let’s say cultural know-how. Pair that with how his bio is the only one to say/imply that he comes from elsewhere, that he’s been Around. Everyone else came from their family or don’t have a stated before, but Eddie? He was strongly implied to have delivered to a lot of different places - this is made into a running gag, but we all know a running gag for the Show has deeper implications and meanings.

And the fact that his genuine knowledge as well as his past are consistently dismissed and/or played off for laughs…

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR THIS NEXT BIT: I CANNOT FIND THE OG ASK OUTSIDE OF SCREENSHOTS SO TAKE ALL OF THIS WITH A MASSIVE GRAIN OF SALT, AS THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE ASK WAS FROM PRE-2021 AND SO - ALONG WITH THIS SPEC CHUNK - IT MAY BE NULL & VOID. BUT IT ALSO MAY NOT BE! SO I’LL TALK.

A while back - this is related I swear - there was an ask Clown answered where they talked about some of his notes on Eddie. The first part that I want to point out is how apparently Eddie is a good source for information (specifically How-To), but despite being talkative he doesn’t share unless prodded for it. This directly relates to the above points.

Then there’s the one I really want to talk about - how Clown says that “He [Eddie] has a great deal of precision for someone who presents themselves as a semi-clumsy busybody!”

That single line made me insane, personally. First, the wording. The choice of saying presents themselves as instead of something like for someone who is. There’s an obvious discrepancy between his precision and clumsiness. Now I don’t doubt that he may be a tad accident-prone, but what if Eddie is dialing up the clumsy nature to disarm his Neighbors / craft a specific reputation for himself / give himself leeway in other areas.

On one hand, this is suspicious as fuck.

On the other hand, this is so adhd of him.

One of the things rarely mentioned about it is how sometimes we adhders will play up our more “useless” traits in order to create a bit of a social safety net. Admittedly, I will sometimes play up my forgetfulness so that a) if i do forget things (truth more often than not), people aren’t surprised. b) when i remember things, people are pleasantly surprised. I mean, if people start thinking we’re competent then they’ll start Expecting things from us, which is never a good thing!

And another thing that relates to it that that ask said - Clown says in it that Eddie is slow to anger, but he gets frustrated more easily. Which is fascinating and very relatable. They also said that he can’t talk about it without wandering too far, which - if the post is viable - has… implications.

Anyway I am very confident that Eddie is in fact adhd. List of reasons (refer to the wiki trivia Eddie Dear section for sources):

He’s forgetful

He gets so involved with a task and cannot break away until it’s finished, thus often making him late

He’s particular

He has a watch - likely to help him keep track of time, implying that he has difficulty with the concept (time blindness!)

He is very talkative and rambley

& seems to have slight difficulty with picking up on social cues telling him when to / when not to speak

He’s slow to anger but more easily frustrated

Beyond all of this I don’t have much to add that I haven’t already talked about in a previous post! I’m sure even so I’ve restated some (or a lot of) things - it Happens!

In conclusion: bbg is so screwed & also adhd <3

#ok next up is the eddie & sally post #then it's the sally post bc mmm i have some Things to say about her #then frank & julie - i might combine their Own specs into the same post since there's not quite as much there and it very much intersects #then i'll give us a break with some Reality Mechanics spec-#IM SORRY BUT IM GOING TO BE POSTING LATE AT NIGHT!#you may have to come back to my blog & refresh if you want to read them all #much to say in so little time...#its a hell of my own making! i still have that last thing to draw & a stream test to do...#oh but this is the sort of crunch i enjoy...#crunching on something im passionate about is rarely a drag!#homebogging #wh speculation #welcome home speculation #not much to say in tags... im getting more Thorough with the post itself #leaving more meat there! less scraps to hide!

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aro-comics · 2 years

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Growth (Part 1)

Growth, 1/3 – And … oh my gosh. I can’t believe it took THIS LONG to finish this comic ;A; I feel like I say this every time, but y’all – I STARTED PANELLING THIS ALMOST A WHOLE YEAR AGO. Really. It’s been sitting on my plate for too long, and I’m so glad I can finally share it!

Where do I even begin with my thoughts? For starters, I wanted to say the examples chosen in slide 8 are mainly from larger pieces of media, because they have greater influence on our *general social consciousness*. I don’t necessarily recommend or approve of the source material! I also have more thoughts on these characters, and about amatonormativity in relation to character growth in general, but for the sake of keeping this caption short(er) I will do so on my stories and pin them to my profile for future reference 😂

AUTHOR'S NOTE: For the sake of accessibility (and my own health) I will be making a transcript of the stories in its simplest form, posted here.

If you have any examples you can think of too, please let me know either in the comments or via DM 🐸🐸

I wish I was joking about the events which inspired this comic, but this LITERALLY happened to me, and this wasn’t the only time I experienced some form of amatonormativity or direct arophobia growing up. You may not think things like this are a problem, but this idea of romantic relationships as a crucial part of emotional growth has real world implications. Aros get told that their orientation IS the root of all their problems, or IS THE PROBLEM ITSELF, a lot. And not only is this wrong (and queerphobic), it also causes people to overlook the real issues that we may be struggling with. This can prevent us from getting help we NEED, not to mention the fact that orientation isn’t something that needs to be fixed.

In my personal experience … I don’t want to get into the specifics of the situation described here (Because it genuinely was one of the worst times of my life, and I don’t like thinking about it) – but basically, the help I needed was definitely NOT to get a romantic partner. A lot of my behaviours were very clearly ones that indicated I should have been hospitalized, or at least sent to a highly trained medical professional for intervention. But I never received any care, even though my parents were to some degree aware of what the issue was … and it somewhat appalls me that this family friend would take one look at me and somehow decide the issue was anything less than a serious, medical situation.

I want to emphasize I know none of them did it on purpose, and to be fair, it wasn’t entirely clear what the specific issue was (to the family friend at least). But it does hurt to have so clearly shown signs of crisis, to have done a near 180 in personality and behaviour, and to have it brushed off or implied that this is caused by something fundamental to your orientation. It makes me feel so inherently wrong, and if I’m going to be even more brutally honest I think the amatonormative way I was raised is a big part of the reason why I still struggle with my self esteem as an aro today. Even now, I still get told that maybe my remaining problems and personal struggles will go away if I was willing to give dating a try.

It just makes me so tired.

But, the more I reflect on my orientation and am able to connect with aros and the community as a whole, it has been helping. I don’t think it will go away any time soon, but at least when the feeling (that my orientation is something that’s fundamentally wrong with me) comes up I can tell myself that it just isn’t true. That I know that being aro isn’t a curse, isn’t a flaw, isn’t something that should haunt me for the rest of my life, that it’s something natural and beautiful and that I adore about my community. And I should extend that same care to myself, too. It has been getting easier.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this topic. Do you feel that others perception of your maturity and growth as a human being is influenced by amatonormativity?

Image Descriptions

Title Card: Cover Image. This Comic series is titled “Growth”. Celia, an east asian girl with wavy chin length hair, is illustrated wearing a cream crop top and yellow pants sitting amongst leaves and yellow flowers on a rocky surface. A watering can sits in the background.

Slide 1: Celia is seen standing from the side, with her arms crossed. She frowns. “When I was going through one of the worst times of my life, a family friend went out of his way to tell my parents that he noticed how unconfident I seemed.”

Slide 2: Scene turns to a memory, depicted as a sketch. The family friend is shown talking to Celia’s parents. “He told them not to worry though, because there was an easy solution. I just needed to find the right person, and start dating them.”

Slide 3: A speech bubble from the family friend illustrates this analogy. On the left is a flower pot with no plant, and a sad face above it. On the right is a blooming flower with hearts around it.

Celia’s note: I wish I was making this up. Blossom was LITERALLY the analogy used here

Slide 4: Back to Celia, who is speaking to the reader now: “It really, really hurt. I knew the reason why I wasn’t the best version of myself wasn’t because I hadn’t found love.”

Slide 5: She stares down at a yellow flower as she continues, “But unfortunately, I think thoughts, and unwarranted comments like these, stem from a deeper amatonormative view of the subject of growth”

Slide 6: “Countless stories which show the hero’s growth as pinned to their romantic arc.” Illustrated beneath is a stereotypical hero kneeling on the ground in front of his love interest. He holds a yellow flower as he says “I couldn’t have become the person I am today without you, your love showed me what’s worth trying for”.

Slide 7: “And on the more toxic side of things, those without romantic love or those who reject it end up as decrepit, cold, emotionally stunted, or sad.”

A few characters from popular, influential, or otherwise notable television shows are depicted here: Cruella de Vil from 101 Dalmations, Queen Chrysalis from My Little Pony (Generation 4), Dr. Berkowitz from One Day at a Time, Alan Harper from Two and a Half Men, and Rajesh Koothrappali from The Big Bang Theory. A note indicates to the reader to check the description.

As a disclaimer: The inclusion of these characters do not indicate the author’s recommendation or approval of the original source material – they are only meant to serve as examples of the point to be made.

Slide 8: Scene switches to Celia now watering a collection of ferns, mugworts, and other leafy plants in a greenhouse. She says “As an aro person, it’s tiring to hear the more toxic side of this narrative again and again. It feels like we’re being told we won’t grow, like others can.”

#regularcomic #GrowthComic

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rev3rb · 4 months

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Hey again. Just read the latest chapter, and umm idk how to feel. It was nice to get some more insight into Ferid and see how even as a teen he was always just ~ like that™️. But, I’m a bit taken aback by the implication that Crowley might be Ferid’s reincarnated brother?? Bc to me it read like that was either the 440th person he killed or 440th time he killed his big bro. And knowing Ferid, 440 does not seem like a high enough body count. But idk maybe the brother flashback isn’t related to Crowley at all and is just used to establish a pattern? Regardless, rip to Crowley, Chess, and Horn.

Plot relevant things aside young prince Ferid with his classic ponytail bow was adorable, still unhinged, but also pretty adorable.

I get that. Personally I'm kinda angry about it.

You're right in that it was nice to get some insight into Ferid, but I don't know if that was worth the trade off of what we got. What the HELL do you mean that named characters that were prominent at one point (even if it wasn't THAT prominent) got killed OFF SCREEN with no indication that this was the case up until now. I would probably be fine about it if we'd had ANY foreshadowing about it, but no. Instead they disappeared without explanation and then are just declared dead. Their disappearance didn't even ring as that weird since Ferid, and therefore Crowley since he's following him around, are up to things that aren't popular with the majority of the vampire population. I remember mentioning that they hadn't shown up in a long time semi recently in one of these, but the reason I hadn't harped on it as much as someone like Narumi is bc they disappeared at a natural point instead of in the middle of the arc. I'm getting side tracked though. Ultimately, this felt INCREDIBLY dumb and a bit like Kagami just wanted to kill them off since he had no further purpose for them. If you're going to do that, at least HINT that the fact that they haven't shown up in a bit is weird. I just. oooough. I'm talking in circles. But yeah. Imagine if this happened to Rene and Lacus too :) (likely won't since Lacus has that whole thing with Yoichi).

I also find it annoying that Crowley was killed with so little fanfare. I get that it's because of the whole vampires have no feelings thing, but still. It's just insane to kill a character who has been around for so much of the story like that. It really makes Crowley come off as a plot device for Ferid's story rather than anything of real importance outside of that. Without the added context from the Mikaela light novel spin off (which reminder, still hasn't been finished) he feels like there's just so little going on with him other than his relationship with Ferid. Don't get me wrong. I think Crowley is a fun character, which is why I think this is just doing him so dirty. Was I asking for some drawn out fight between him and Ferid before he was killed? No, not really. I just find the situation of Ferid killing him off at all kinda dumb. idk. I have no suggestions about what I'd like to see. It just... wasn't that. Maybe I'll feel better about it later if his death is revealed to be more plot relevant.

ANYWAYS! I better move on before I'm here all night. ...Okay but last thing. YET A FUCKING GAIN we're jumping from one subject to another JUST to draw out some reveals and give us more questions. I'm going to pull my hair out lol. I really shouldn't be surprised that the second Shinoa starts diving into The First's memories we flip to this scene. I have a bit of a feeling that it's because she's going to learn what the audience already knows, but I just don't get why that wasn't lumped into the previous chapter. Would have felt much better if we'd just started this chapter with Ferid and Crowley. I guess page count could have factored in but... just feels like maybe you could have cut down some of the last chapter to make space for this. Ah... but maybe I'm just being a hater at this point. Anywho...

I too was wondering if that was the implication, but yeah, the number tripped me up. That DOES seem too frequent to be his brother, so I'm also wondering if that's the number of people he's killed. Yes, it seems a little low, but maybe that's people he's killed with a specific purpose in mind. Ones that tie into that rebirth mentality he has going on here. I'm sure we'll find out eventually. It does seem like we need more context to figure out what it is exactly Ferid is doing. Maybe he IS just killing people because he feels like it's time for them to go, but you'd think that he wouldn't bother to count them. Who knows.

Okay, maybe I'm just imagining it but I SWEAR we'd seen a younger Ferid design before at SOME point, but for the life of me, I can't remember where. Something about him talking about how he was a Mikaela candidate too or something like that? I bring it up to say that I swear we've seen a Ferid design somewhat similar to this before, but regardless, you're right. It is nice to see that design and that he really doesn't seem to have changed much over the years. Vampirisim apparently didn't change him.

#Owari no Seraph #OnS 134 spoilers #Ons 134 #Crowley Eusford #Ferid Bathory #Anonysis asks #My posts #Owari no Seraph spoilers

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kamreadsandrecs · 5 months

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Title: Paladin's Faith (Saint of Steel #4)

Author: T. Kingfisher

Genre/s: fantasy, romance, mystery, romantasy

Content/Trigger Warning/s: gore, death, violence, murder, sexual harassment (not explicit)

Summary (from author's website): Marguerite Florian is a spy with two problems. A former employer wants her dead, and one of her new bodyguards is a far too good-looking paladin with a martyr complex.

Shane is a paladin with three problems. His god is dead, his client is much too attractive for his peace of mind, and a powerful organization is trying to have them both killed.

Add in a brilliant artificer with a device that may change the world, a glittering and dangerous court, and a demon-led cult, and Shane and Marguerite will be lucky to escape with their souls intact, never mind their hearts…

Buy Here: https://argyllproductions.com/product/paladins-faith-saint-of-steel-book-4/

Spoiler-Free Review: Kingfisher does it again! As always the romance was on point and delightful. Marguerite is a delight to read, and honestly strikes me as much more…open, I guess? Than the previous protagonists. Which is funny given her line of work, but she read as the one with the least to hide, and was most willing to acknowledge her own feelings and the feelings of others.

And then there is Shane. I was not entirely expecting this storyline for him, but I am IMMENSELY pleased with and delighted by how it went. His connection to the Dreaming God was mentioned in passing in previous books, but now that I know how deep that connection goes, and what the loss of both that connection AND the connection to the Saint of Steel did to him, well… I mean, is it any surprise that his self-doubt runs VERY deep? This facet of his personality plays a lot into his dynamic with Marguerite, and makes for some admittedly squee-worthy moments between the two of them.

Wren is also a delight and a darling in this one. There is an entire subplot going on with her that in some ways was more enjoyable to read than Shane and Marguerite’s, largely because while the beats for the Shane/Marguerite romance were more or less familiar and unsurprising, Wren’s subplot was less predictable.

Speaking of the Dreaming God, it was fun getting to meet more of his paladins! I kind of hope some of them will get books of their own eventually, but given that there are still three more paladins of the Saint of Steel to go before the current series is finished, I suspect it’s going to take a while. And honestly, I’m more interested in seeing more paladins of the Forge God; they seem pretty cool, based on the few glimpses Kingfisher’s shown of them in previous books in this series.

I was also delighted by all the throwbacks to the Clocktaur War duology! Readers who’ve read those books are going to be in for a TREAT, given how many nods and mentions are made in passing to characters and events that happened in that series.

Since there’s a rather heavy Dreaming God presence in this book, it shouldn’t be any surprise that there are demons at play, and the one featured here is VERY interesting. Won’t say more to avoid giving out spoilers, but I think a lot of readers are going to be fascinated by this one - and by the implications that particular plotline has for a whole lot of things in potential future books in this series and in others set in the World of the White Rat.

Overall, this was a great continuation of the series, even if the connection to the bombshell ending of Paladin’s Hope isn’t as direct as some readers might’ve wanted. Then again, that’s been the pattern for this series all along, with each book able to function almost as a standalone and instead lightly referencing previous books instead of being direct sequels. Still, that plot thread in Paladin’s Hope is picked up in this one, though in a highly unexpected way that might leave some readers feeling a bit rabid about the release of the next one.

Rating: five rats

#book review #book reviews #paladin's faith #t. kingfisher #saint of steel series #romance #fantasy #mystery #romantasy #books

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theoneprecioustome · 1 year

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Aikoto Moments Masterlist: P3P (Makoto Route)

Now that I've finally played P3P for myself, I figured I should replace the old Masterlist with an updated one!

As usual, lots of images and SPOILERS for the entire game below the cut!

Since we already have a P3FES Masterlist, I'll only be focusing on the stuff that's different between FES & P3P.

I won’t include Aigis’s S-Link, since it’s optional and I want to focus only on the non-avoidable Aikoto moments.

I organized everything chronologically.

Most important ones are in Bold.

Additions

✤ The game makes a big deal about Aigis hugging him, it won't stop mentioning it. She hugs him for way longer here than she does in FES, where she stops hugging when Ikutsuki shows up.

✤ For the summer festival, Makoto can actually go with Aigis and Mitsuru. He also gets to hold hands with Aigis. Most importantly, this is the default route: the one that happens when you have either rejected every other invitation or have received none. In fact, it’s the only one the player CAN’T reject.

✤ When Aigis visits his room, she sits on his bed rather than on the floor.

✤ During the Ikutsuki betrayal, Aigis says “Makoto-san…” as she fights to regain control of herself.

✤ They make it even more obvious that Aigis wanted to be assigned to the same room as Makoto during the Kyoto School Trip.

✤ Nyx Fight: Aigis' calling out to him is the last thing Makoto hears before he falls unconscious.

✤ Aigis is the one to notice Makoto coming back after sealing Nyx. We also get a sprite of Aigis crying.

✤ Rooftop scene: This short description was added before Makoto ultimately closes his eyes.

Omissions

Since P3P has no cut-scenes or character models, a lot of things are missing Aikoto-wise. Much of Aikoto comes from Makoto reacting to Aigis and interacting with her outside of player input, which is sadly missing in P3P because Makoto either becomes a dot moving through the map or simply isn't visible on-screen lol

✤ Since we can't see the models, we don't see any implication that Makoto is attracted to Aigis at first sight just like Junpei and Akihiko. There is no heart, no disappointment at not being able to approach her first, etc.

✤ In FES, Junpei and Akihiko are disappointed that Aigis is a robot and Makoto isn’t. In P3P there is no contrast because the only one shown to be disappointed is Junpei.

✤ During the Ikutsuki betrayal in P3P, we get a description saying that Aigis looks at Makoto. However, there is no mention of the fact that Makoto is looking back at her and that it's this silent exchange that snaps her out of it.

✤ During the 11/30 scene we lose Makoto hanging back looking at Aigis as everyone else leaves. In P3P, the description just says "Your friends have gone back to their rooms".

✤ 11/2 Scene: He takes her hand on his own too and we do get a description for it (one of the only times Makoto is allowed to do anything on his own in P3P). However, we're missing the bit where he reaches out to touch her head.

✤ During Koromaru's last walk, Makoto is with Aigis and Koromaru but P3P doesn't say this. So, we miss the part where "making the most of this moment" for him involves hanging out with Aigis.

✤ Since there are no cutscenes, we don't get to see Aigis looking at Makoto and trying to draw the strength to stand after doing so. We can't see her reaction to Makoto levitating towards Nyx either, all we get is her "Don't go!"

✤ While Aigis is the one to notice Makoto coming back in P3P, we aren't told that Makoto gets emotional when he sees Aigis cry.

✤ In the rooftop scene, everything that comes from Makoto is pretty much gone. We aren't told that he wipes her tears away and that Aigis holds his hand in hers, etc. Instead of laying on Aigis' lap, he is laying on the bench with Aigis sitting by his side — in the English translation, at least.

The Japanese is more ambiguous (>枕元には、寄り添うようにアイギスが座っている…) and while it does say that Aigis is sitting near Makoto's head, it also uses vocabulary that means 'cuddling close together'. So, in the Japanese version at least, the Rooftop scene is likely meant to be the same as it is in FES.

✤ The final cutscene didn't make it to P3P, either, so we're missing Makoto's gorgeous smile and Aigis being depicted without her mechanical parts.

✤ In P3 and FES, the ending credits open with Makoto and close with Aigis. In P3P, the ending credits just follow the order in which everyone joins SEES... Somehow, they still managed to have Aigis show up during the first "I'll never leave you."

Extra

✤ When you become lovers with one of the SEES girls and go to Tartarus with them, they have have special dialogues. Here is Aigis:

“When I’m with you, Makoto-san, I feel… like I’m in pain. I don’t know how to describe it well, but it’s like my heart is full… This must be what it feels to have your heart pound.”

✤ In the NG+, the game allows the player to choose who they want by their side in the rooftop scene. In Japanese, this person is the player's 'precious person' (same words Aigis uses to describe Makoto). This, coupled with the fact that two out of the three possible options (Yukari and Fuuka) pretty much quote Aigis' lines to Makoto, says a lot about how meaningful it is that Aigis is the True Endings' default choice.

✤ To add to this, in Kotone's (FeMC's) route the player is given the option to remain friends with the social links. The only exception is Aigis, who automatically locks onto the romance route. It is safe to assume that if they had gone back to modify Makoto's social links, the same thing would have occurred there.

P3P Remaster

✤ It’s worth noting that the lines missing in translation are, sadly, still missing in translation.

#persona 3 #aikoto #makoto yuki #aigis #games #p3p #moments masterlist #aaaand done!

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hunter-sylvester · 1 year

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I was talking with my friend about Hunter’s emotional state throughout the film (as you do) and we came to the following conclusion.

Disclaimer: I know full well that Metal Lords (2022) is a lighthearted comedy & coming-of-age film of which Kevin is the main character. Like, I get why the film goes the way it goes and I love it as it is. However, I obviously hyper-focus on a certain character and I just like exploring the ‘ifs’ in films & shows, so here’s the thing:

Getting dumped at rehab by his dad should have triggered a Macbeth level breakdown in Hunter and here’s why.

Quite early in the film it’s established that Hunter’s mom left. The only explicit text we get on the subject is in Kevin’s voice-over. “He’s been into a lot of things since I’ve known him, but he’s stuck with metal longer than any of them. When his mom left in seventh grade, he decided it was the key to everything.” And two shots of the picture frame Hunter has in his room that his mom has literally been ripped out of.

So there isn’t much to go off, but there’s implications. You could just read it as him being a temperamental little shit that ripped up a photo in anger. But I think it’s more interesting to go a little further.

We know how Hunter feels about his dad, once again being something touched on in part by Kevin’s voice-over. “Sometimes he’s not so nice to people when he’s uncomfortable. And being around his dad makes him uncomfortable” It’s a line that is cut off by Hunter being a little shit in DnD but we know the word is uncomfortable. Then, obviously, Hunter and his dad are mostly seen mid-shouting match. They don’t get along. They can’t communicate productively. They just don’t get each other. There’s a lot of yelling and his dad makes him uncomfortable.

And with all of that he still has a photo of him and his dad on his shelf. What that tells me is that Hunter has to fucking hate his mom. We don’t get much of an indication as to why but one factor that would make sense is that she abandoned him. She left. And she left him.

If we assume that Hunter and his dad have always butted heads to some degree, his mom leaving him with his dad would be even worse. She rejected him, she didn’t want him and now all he has is someone who makes him incredibly uncomfortable to be around. His dad is a cunt, but at least he didn’t abandon him.

Now, Kevin. Bare with me here, it’s about to get gay. That’s how I see the character, however, it can still apply if you do see Hunter as straight (I don’t know how you manage it, but go off, cis)

Hunter is clearly very very attached to Kevin. Possessive of him, even. I think it beams off the screen that Hunter is in love with Kevin. But even that isn’t entirely necessary to acknowledge for it to be clear that Hunter sees Kevin and himself as a package deal.

“We’re Skullfucker” Skullfucker isn’t just their band to Hunter. It is them. It’s them against the world. They’re not particularly shown to have many/any other friends. One can infer that Hunter has people he plays DnD with. But that doesn’t necessarily make them his friends.

“you are afraid of everybody” It doesn’t matter that Kevin says this in the heat of a fight. I think he’s dead on.

Kevin is the only person Hunter feels safe with. The only person he’s not scared of. And then Kevin abandons him too. Not explicitly. Not to Kevin. But Hunter deeply feels like he has. Kevin getting a girlfriend, trying to get her to be a part of the band. Not to mention drumming for a different band. It would shatter the image Hunter has in his mind of their band being them. Of them, and their bond, and the time they spend together being something uniquely special.

And then his dad is so fed up with him he dumps him at a rehab facility for no other reason than just not wanting to deal with him anymore.

I don’t buy even for a second that Hunter was dropped off at rehab for being ‘addicted to metal’. His dad didn’t wanna deal with trying to be a parent to a delinquent child that stole his fucking credit card. So he dumped him somewhere where he wouldn’t have to deal with him. In a “they’ll fix him” kind of move.

What I buy even less is that it fucking works. Hunter is portrayed as doing better after rehab. Like it was a wake-up call to someone whose main issue was just being an asshole.

No. Fuck that.

That was the last person he could rely on abandoning him too.

His mom doesn’t want him. His best friend/crush doesn’t want him. His dad doesn’t want him. There is no way in hell he is doing better after that. Hunter spends the entire movie an anxious (autistic) mess that automatically shoves down any emotion that isn’t anger. Being abandoned by everyone he had left would have been more than enough to break him.

There is just no fucking way that Hunter is okay.

#metal lords #metallords #hunter sylvester #kevin x hunter #kind of #kevin schlieb #my post #schliebvester #just my interpretation #hunter is gay #hunter is autistic #every member of skullflower is autistic #hunter has anxiety #the 'go off cis' thing is meant to be a light-hearted lil jokey don't take me too serious #I have not read macbeth #I just like the phrase 'macbeth level breakdown' don't come for me #hunterwriteswords

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movedtodykedvonte · 1 year

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Spamton and Violence

Something that I keep seeing pop up around the secret bosses is the dialogue you get for how you defeat them and the implications of it. It’s explained best here in this post (link) for the most part.

It mainly focuses on Jevil, but I (of course) wanna talk about Spamton. That post briefly mentions that the most beneficial way to deal with Spamton isn’t with violence, which I think is very interesting. When you initially encounter Spamton, the only way to actually progress with his storyline is without using violence and striking a deal with him. If you do use violence he laments that if you had shown these aggressive signs sooner he would’ve made a different offer with you (snowgrave/weird route) before you are bared from interacting with again in the normal route. This is very interesting to me because despite Spamton being an intense and aggressive person currently, it shows he isn’t necessarily or instinctually violent.

Spamton of course wants to get revenge but what is best for the characters is not always what they need. In snowgrave, violence ultimately benefits no one despite it being the only way to progress in the route. You traumatize Kris and their friends, very likely kill one of them, genocide the entirety of cyber city and Spamton still doesn’t win in the end. It is the most miserable end of Chapter 2 for everyone. Yes, the route shows just how bad Spamton can get but it also shows how bad you can get and how weird everything is. Hence it also being known as the weird route, the route that is odd or not the normal. Just as we can’t assume we as the soul are usually this cruel, Spamton is not usually this drawn to violence. Manipulation and con artistry? Yeah? But no outright mass murder. That’s weird.

However, in the normal/pacifist for the best ending for Spamton it is wise to spare him. Using no violence other than the act that you requires you to attack his strings. Fighting Spamton in his neo fight is notoriously harder and takes longer than sparing. However when you spare him he becomes grateful, thankful even, following your lead in being merciful/kind and wanting to turn over a new leaf, wanting to actually better himself along with live for the better of others too. Of course, it is most likely said in a moment of mania and questionable sincerity, but it’s undeniably a happier and less foreboding/bitter sentiment in the violence route when he promises to go neo. This all to be noted that Spamton does better and progresses in a more satisfying way when you don’t use violence and get him to engage in violence the least.

As a character, Spamton is geared toward a lack of violence and force and trying to let things filter out in a more natural way. Violence is a way to force fate or break the norm in the UTR universe and thematically fit a character like Jevil, who actively tries to avoid the conventional and be weird. However, for a character like Spamton, who tries to adhere to some preconceived convention in his mind, it goes horribly wrong trying to force anything, including violence. The dealmakers are depicted as the better options compared to the puppet scarf as well, the scarf described as an object that is geared towards fighting/no healing (which most avoid), while the dealmaker boosts almost everything else DEF, MAG and even benefit your party moneywise.

To me, Spamton goes with what he considers the winning strategy, which is ultimately decided by you.

#spamton #spamton g spamton #spamton g addison #undertale #deltarune #utdr #deltarune analysis #deltarune headcanon #i dunno #im thinking of him #ill prob update the fic tomorro #im really trying #the cold is finally dying down #so fic time #i wanna write more of the addisons and addispam #mmmm #audi banner pop surv #night night

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psychewritesbs · 1 year

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HI ! another anon here, unfortunately I saw many (or not many but very vocal) express joy at the possibility of Megumi being completely erased by Sukuna. And I don't know if I'm simply in denial but I refuse to believe that this is the ending that Gege would give his deuteragonist, and leaving pending points like? not even a closure like he has even given to side characters? Megumi is my fav, I know there is a possibility that he dies, but not like this, not now. u still have positivity? :')

HOLA dearest Another Anon,

I mean... what can I say. I was, quite literally, boasting about wanting to see Megumi suffer like the massive idiot that I am. I even busted out with the tacky Mexican telenovela villainess laughter.

Seriously, I am insufferable...

... And then I saw what Gege did... it broke my heart because I wasn’t expecting it to be so damn cruel. Gege. is. a. fucking. sadist. Just you wait you damn cursed cat, I’m coming for you just so that I can ask you how poetic it is to have “Victoria” carved on your forehead. I'll be your Goddess of Victory alright.

That said, I can see why someone would be overjoyed at seeing Sukuna overpower and obliterate Megumi’s consciousness. Either they don’t care about Megumi or they are excited by the implications.

But for us Megumi-lovers... I totally get it. Not only is it hard to ignore that Gege has killed off or “put in the corner” so many important/major characters already, but if “Megumi” is gone and only his body remains with a different consciousness within it... well, even if he looks like it, he’s not really Megumi any longer, is he?

And honestly, this whole experience made me realize that, as much as I love JJK in general, I’m here for Megumi and Megumi’s growth as a character.

Anyways. Yeah. I am cautiously optimistic under the cut for several reasons, but mostly because Gege gives meaning...

I am cautiously optimistic

Cautiously optimistic because as much as my brain can’t help itself, I don’t want to try to predict JJK anymore. I think some of my headcanons have come to pass in a different expression of what I had in mind. But that’s the thing with “Archetypes”, Archetypes are an empty shell until they are given meaning.

So at this point I just want to enjoy what’s left of this roller coaster ride. Read this to mean that I’ll probably won’t be able to help myself and will continue trying to guess how things progress.

JJK is beautifully unpredictable even with all of the foreshadowing that Gege dropped along the way.

I’m also cautiously optimistic because Gege has shown us at least a couple of times that the original body’s consciousness can still awaken and take over.

Finally, I am cautiously optimistic because the kanji in Megumi’s name can be said to symbolize a light in the darkest of shadows. A blessing in a cursed world.

After all, does light not shine brightest in the darkness?

I personally HOPE that this poetic justice comes back into play later on. The power of names is a trope after all.

There’s also thoughts that have been shared with me by others...

Like ma 🍒, who keeps reminding me that we don’t know how this is going to play out yet and that there’s details we can keep in mind that might mean that this isn’t the end for Megumi.

I think moving forward you might also start hearing more evidence about why this is just temporary because, as has been largely theorized, Sukuna just needs Megumi’s cursed technique to make him a new body.

Another thing to keep in mind is that...

Gege is good at manipulating emotions

Like... reeeeeal good.

Just look at the current state of the Megumi fandom or how any time Nobara is mentioned the fandom goes into an uproar.

This is a culmination point and it has been beautifully executed in the sense that it’s got you and me and millions of other people lamenting whether this is “it” for Megumi.

So the way events flowed could all very well have been crafted for the sake of emotional impact.

But we simply won’t know for some time.

This is a call to trust the process. We have no choice but to let the cat cook.

If this is, indeed, temporary, then we will get our closure.

If this is “it”, however... well...

I have to say there’s something larger at play here, and that is “the kind of story Gege is writing” and “the kind of writer Gege is”.

So keep in mind that...

Gege is an existentialist

To your point about how unsatisfying Megumi’s death would feel if this is “it”... yeah. Totally.

So that should tell you that you have to think of Gege as either an existentialist or a nihilist mangaka.

Since I’m not sure whether you understand what these concepts mean, what I’ll say is that life is what you make of it. It’s up to you to decide whether life is inherently meaningless and chaotic, or whether there is meaning and order to the chaos that is life.

An existentialist author is someone who writes about characters navigating the meaninglessness of the chaos that is life, and who seek to give meaning and purpose to said chaos.

On the other end of the spectrum you have nihilism--the belief that life is meaningless.

SO... if Gege was feeling pretty nihilistic on the day he came up with Megumi’s death and the JJK ending, then we can expect that Megumi’s death is indeed anticlimactic like a certain someone’s death...

Not sure if you read my response to Recurring Anon about JJK’s writing in which I confess that I am not a fan of Chainsaw Man’s brand of existentialism because it feels a bit too much on the “navel gazing” end of the existential spectrum, and anti-climatic to boot because it’s nihilistic at the core.

Similarly, CLAMP’s writing is also existential, anti-climatic, and can err on the nihilist end of the spectrum too. i.e. I understand that the art style and overall lack of screen tones in xxxHolic is meant to reflect and evoke a sense of vacancy and emptiness because that is how the mc experiences the world. Something like that.

My other beloved existentialist is Shinichiro Watanabe who will shred your heart to bits and pieces with inconclusive but optimistic existential angst.

Bang. See you space cowboy.

You can watch a Watanabe ending and walk away both heartbroken and inspired. The man is a genius.

I bring up all of these examples because you can more or less organize these authors into neat little boxes.

If I had to compare mangaka, I’d say Fujimoto and CLAMP are nihilists, whereas Gege is more like Watanabe, an existentialist who chooses to give meaning. That’s why Gege’s character’s deaths have always felt very poetic despite how brutal they can be--there’s meaning to them.

Megumi’s “death” in the larger JJK-scheme of things, with the rather limited information we have right now, feels nihilistic af.

So let’s assume for a minute that he doesn’t come back... like yeah, I’m in denial and cautiously optimistic, but we have to prepare for the worst because Gege is unpredictable af and I wouldn’t put it past him to have killed Megumi because that’s how he rolls. SO...

If Megumi doesn’t come back, what meaning will Gege give to Megumi’s death?

How will the events that follow create meaning around Megumi’s death?

I think what worries me right now is that Megumi has a bit of a nihilistic view of life. And if Gege is the kind of author who lets the characters write themselves because he wants his characters to be true to their nature, then... this death is fitting. It’s just as meaningless as Megumi believes the world to be.

Makes sense, right?

Honestly, existentialism is hard to explain, so hopefully this makes sense. But right now any mental gymnastics I do to delude myself that Megumi is getting out alive all hinge on Gege being a tortured existentialist who seeks to give meaning.

After all, as a piece of literature, JJK is underscored with a sense of poetic justice that is everything but devoid of meaning.

So basically yeah... This is the tiny bit of positivity I was able to share with you? :') Hopefully it helps!

idk what kind of ending we’ll get. I am picturing something very meta from Gege but don’t ask me to elaborate. I just feel like something very spiritual and big is coming.

But I do hope we get a Watanabe type ending from Gege...

Because the truth is... I don’t believe in happy endings. I believe in Watanabe endings because Watanabe endings capture the existential dread at the core of life simply moving on, with or without you.

And if the ending turns out to be super meaningless and nihilistic, know that there’s only 5k miles between Los Angeles and Tokyo and if we start swimming now we might arrive by the time JJK ends.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

#ask the mental gymnastics anime girl #this got existential real quick #god I love jujutsu kaisen #fushiguro megumi lovers unite

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thecagedsong · 2 years

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Theories (Part II)

Next theory I would like to see play out in a fanfiction, even if it isn’t canon.

2. Soo-Won is able to hear the voice of the gods.

In Chapter 231, Soo Won asks if Yona inherited the power of preminition from her mother, but NOWHERE does the story indicate that this is a hereditary gift. Of the people we know who can hear the voices of the gods, we have: Ik-soo, Lady Kashi (Yona’s Mom), Zeno (before he drank dragon’s blood), and some unnamed priests Yu-hon killed (presumably).

Ik-soo and Lady Kashi are shown to be young priest/priestess in training, and from the implication of them being new to the castle, their parents didn’t have the gift of hearing the voices of the gods (i.e. weren’t already at the shrine in the service of the kingdom). This fits with the fact that they couldn’t go back to their families after escaping Yu-hon’s latest mass-killing.

The gift of hearing the voices of the gods is portrayed as an isolating one, Ik-soo suffering for it without the protections of the royal family. It sounds like the set up is one where a family is honored to have such a child gifted with hearing the voices, and “gladly” sends them into the priesthood when they reach a certain age.

Now we get to Soo-won. Who repeatedly proclaims he has nothing to do with the gods, refuses to tolerate any mention of the gods as anything but useless watchers, despite piles of evidence that the gods are taking an active hand in the kingdom’s affairs.

Part of the reason is his father, who hated his family’s reliance on the gods, but what if Soo Won heard the voices of the gods, but knew Yu-hon’s hatred of them, so he shoved the voices away. Or pretended they were his own thoughts. No fool as a child, he would never tell anyone of the voices (keeping secrets is his character). He eventually quieted the voices so much, that he’s no longer sure what he hears is his own thoughts or the gods. He knows he has this gift, but he’s convinced himself he’s quieted the voices, that he’s done enough that the gods don’t actively influence him.

However, maybe he subconsciously relies on it to make his conquests. How he knows where to be, how he meets exactly the right people, how he knows who is going to betray whom, at least some of those thoughts were warnings from the gods (maybe not the dragon gods, or maybe the dragon gods, who wanted Yona to seek help from their avatars). If this is true, it will continue the theme of his character that he cuts off and throws away things that should help him in a deluded idea that he can’t be be good(or faithful) and be the king Kouka needs.

(The voices of the gods also told him that Kouka needed a change in leadership, and when).

Part of him wants to believe premotion is just a supernatural gift, no gods involved, one that can be passed on genetically, because that means that he’s never heard the voices of the gods, and he’s just that clever and intutitive and his brain likes to speak like omniscient, powerful beings sometimes. He could deny both his gift and the active hands of the gods selecting people to speak their words.

Soo-won probably thinks the dragons just have weird genetic gifts too, if he got to pick the portrayal. He saw Ki-ja’s hand and touched it, but it’s not like he’s sat down with them and chatted about their villages, the way the powers get passed on, or the voices of the gods commanding them to be their avatars and to protect Yona with their lives.

ANyway, I think Soo Won hears the voices of the gods, but refuses to listen/convinces himself he’s just that smart. It’s in character, aligns with the themes of his character, and would be a really fascinating question to explore in regards to faith and the gods of Kouka kingdom.

#Soo Won #Yona of the dawn #yotd #akatsuki no yona #meta #theory

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brionnne · 1 year

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Liar's Den WIP [Working Title, Unfinished]

Almost a solid year (Mar 23rd, 2022) since I started writing and editing this thing, and I planned / plan (?) to do more with it, but I'm honestly not quite sure where to go, and in a way, I honestly think it works alright as a standalone, so I'm just going to throw it out there to show that I do, in fact, write. I had fun writing it, at least, and I hope to make something more of it someday, but...?

Wariness is her natural state. Calculating. Observant. Perceptive. Even then, it isn’t very hard to notice that, out of all the seven deadly sins, she had only ever seen six. No mention of Sloth, of Belphegor, was made—seemingly a taboo topic among the brothers. No wonder why, Morgana thinks now.

“Why are you trying to trick me? I have eyes, you know.” Her expression turns into a bemused smile. “A brain? I may be a mere human,” she makes mystical motions with her fingers, eyes wide and dramatic, before she drops the act with a scoff, “but I know exactly who you are.” Her eyes flicker towards his fingers, blue-tipped nails, which tighten on the door. Another giveaway, Ana observes. She knows by now that Asmo paints all of their nails, but his are chipping; faded. How long has he been here? As long as I have? Longer? She doesn’t ask him. “I’ve seen your portrait, you know? Even if I hadn’t, your fingernails are painted. That might be fine by itself, but your eyes?” She tilts her head, “Strange color for a human. What is that? Purple, right?” Related to Beel? Internally, she rolls her eyes. Obviously.

His hands slacken. He shrugs, trying to appear lax— a nice imitation, or it would be, except the tightness has moved up. The stiffness of his shoulders makes the action slightly less loose than it should be. Interesting, her eyes narrow. He doesn’t like being called out on this. Why, though?

“You caught me,” he raises his hands in a gesture reminiscent of Asmo. It’s sort of … cute, on him. Intentional? Questions she can’t answer yet run rampant. There’s not enough information to infer much of anything, as frustrating as that is—very. As for his lies, she thinks there could be a logical reason behind them, and while his state of captivity makes him look like a victim in some form, his deception speaks against that. Regardless of logic, the hasty fabrication, the stiffness of his fingers and shoulders, makes her have doubts. He’s certainly capricious—just listen to how even toned he sounds now, compared to his earlier panic—but to what extent? Perhaps further sarcasm would be … unwise.

Morgana looks back up, “So what is it that you want, then, if you were desperate enough to lie for it?” She frowns, gesturing to the door that holds him. “Freedom, I assume?”

For the first time, she sees something like a spark in him. Energy that wasn’t there before.

“I thought I might get your help,” he says, “if I pretended to be human.” She can’t tell whether this is duplicitous or not. Even a close inspection shows no obvious signs. Perhaps he’s just that good of a liar. Perhaps he isn’t lying at all. It could be both. Insertions of truth, twisted to fit one's liking, have always made lying easier. Harder to detect by a casual, or even careful, viewer. She’s only seen a single tell, and even then, being stiff doesn’t always indicate a lie — it can be normal tensity; discomfort. Plenty of things that make her slow to place any defining bets. He’s shown her basically nothing.

She had never really given further thought to the implications of Sloth on behavior. Acedia, she remembers, is apathetic. Listless. Lack of care. Her eyes track to his hair — messy; bedhead — to his clothes. They’re barely resting on his frame, and not in the sense of weight, but rather, the jacket he wears is nearly falling off. His shirt — plain, white — is a bit more kempt, but only just. It lifts at his midriff, revealing an un-tied pair of sweatpants that dip low on his hips. He wears no shoes at all, but when she peers in, she can see a pair of long boots sitting in the corner. Effortless. Slip-on. Morgana’s eyes find her own slippers, and she shrugs. Understandable, she thinks. Nice, too. The room itself reflects his state of dress. Untidy. Lacking organization. Her gaze falls onto Belphegor again. He seems, as expected, unbothered. It isn’t like she can criticize that; in fact, it appears they share these traits in common. That being said …

This … probably shouldn’t bother me as much as it does. Her brow furrows. Regardless, the feeling doesn’t leave. It isn’t very often that she can’t get a good read on someone. Being out of her element like that makes her feel uncomfortable. Most people—even the other demon brothers—are easy enough to read at the best of times. Belphegor …isn’t.

(Asmo tells her that she isn’t, either. Is that what dealing with me feels like to him? Eugh.)

“I can’t break the seal on this …door,” he admits, scowling. Surprisingly expressive, his hands flutter before it. That, at least, is truthful. There’s no hesitation in his words, no tightness of his frame. His emotions are visible, but not overdone.

“Frankly,” she says, unable to tamp down her bitterness, “I don’t know what you expect me to do about that. I have no magic.” This may not endear him to her, but it’s true. She’s been painfully aware of her status since being deposited here. Even with potential, the understanding of theory, all that becomes useless when she can’t even apply it.

“That may be true, but you have pacts.”

Morgana raises her eyebrows. “And you know about this …how?”

“Don’t get so worked up,” he huffs, rolling his eyes. “Lucifer told me.”

She snorts. He is cute. Sort of. Shakes her head. “Humor me, then. If I were to free you,” Ana posits, “what is it that I would have to do?”

“If you made a pact with all of my brothers, that would be enough to break the seal.”

She hums. “What do I get out of this deal— I mean, why should I?” It sounds cruel. He could be innocent, she reminds herself. But it’s a genuine enough question, really. Why risk herself? Mammon’s pact was pure luck, and Levi's was borne of some uncanny trickery. Fooled into believing she had won when she hadn’t. He’d been too worked up to realize, and she was, of course, in no hurry to correct him. She was weak here; having something concrete would be protection. “I don’t even know you.”

“Are you—?” His eyes flash. She has to cradle her face to hide the smile this brings. Thumb and forefinger resting on her cheeks. Her hand; a curtain. Neither his apparent anger nor her amusement lasts for very long. “You’re a human,” he says, incredulous. “Don’t you want power—or something?”

Morgana sniffs, fingers coming down to rub at her eternally stuffy nose, “I don’t particularly care.”

He blinks. “Are you not driven by … generosity?” His words are metered, strained, and pushed through clenched teeth; she suspects the word he wishes to have said was not half as nice as the one he had chosen. He’s being careful. It’s notable that he does seem genuinely curious, however. It’s just a guess, really, but this probably wasn’t how he had expected their meeting to go. And it must be weird to meet a human not simply drawn in by that promise of power, especially a power received so idly. A thing that Belphegor is known for accomplishing at a price; a particularly devious demon—manipulative, her textbooks had warned. She’s not sure she wants to deal with the cost of that, really; power and influence are overrated things, anyway—she wouldn’t deny a level of self-motivation in seeking out pacts like Pokemon cards, but. Power is the least of her concerns. Control is a trivial matter. She simply wants to live unburdened, and to do that, she needs to actually be alive. It’s a simple desire; all things considered. Base. Yet she’s curious—for answers no one else would give, she knows. Who would be so forthcoming? Lucifer? Certainly not. There’s clearly something going on here—this attic room, these spiral stairs, up which Lucifer had told her nothing was or would be—and damn it if she doesn’t want to know why this would be worth lying about; if everyone else was lying to her, too. Did Beel know? It didn’t seem that way, certainly, but she doesn’t really know him, either…

“I can be generous,” she reveals after a moment, “but I’m not going to go out of my way if I don’t need to. Plus,” Ana turns her gaze on him. “You’ve given me no reason to trust you.”

. . .

Trust. She falls onto her bed, sighing. How fucking complicated. It’s true that his lies had made her wary, but a part of her — an annoying, shoved-aside part of her — wants to help him. That feeling is as annoying as it always is. She’d been working on this part of herself, slowly but surely. It’s uncountable how many times now that her generosity has hurt her rather than helping, but attempting to be so selfish hurts all those good parts inside her, too. Tears them up and crushes them underfoot.

Tonight, it bothers her so much that it even stalls her sleep. Lying. Rolling. Restless. Why do you want to help him anyway? She doesn’t know, and more than not knowing him, her ignorance of herself is infuriating. She should know this. She should understand herself like the back of her hand. She thinks restlessly. She thinks endlessly. She thinks and comes up blank every time. He’s a stranger, Ana tells herself. He might even deserve it.

“Deserve being locked away?” She murmurs, an uneasy frown twisting her face. “With nothing?” Closes her eyes. It was glaringly obvious how little he actually had, after all. No D.D.D., which she’d already noticed early on. Absence from chats. Communication. Healthy things that were necessary. Isolation. Loneliness. One of Lucifer’s ham-fisted ‘punishments’? It doesn't feel right.

Even without trust, even if he did deserve some form of punishment, could she say that it would be this? Could she condemn him? Because that’s what it would be. Damning. Not helping Belphegor would only mean that he would be stuck there—living in those conditions, alone, for as long as Lucifer saw fit to hold him. Her wariness didn't mean she had to be okay with that by default—didn’t allow her to simply turn a blind eye. It’s true, she knows this, but that doesn’t mean she likes facing it.

#belphegor x mc #obey me belphegor #i wanted to make them kind of contentious and have a moral struggle idk #i've seen so many people talk about the scene and the betrayal of it #but i didn't trust him and i wasn't spoiled either so no outside perspective just vibes #and i thought it'd be fun to approach it like that #and i also feel like ... i would have noticed a picture or something beforehand you know ? like he just fits into my type so gd well #i cannot be led to believe that i would traverse those halls every goddamn day and not spot the emo boy #i am simply built different #and yeah i'm criticizing lucifer in this because belphegor's whole issue was the belief that lilith had actually died #and i just fundamentally disagree with treating someone who hasn't committed any crimes like a criminal #lucifer backed a beast into a corner of course he's going to fucking lash out like what do u expect psychologically it makes fucking sense #persecution of an as of yet innocent person is likely to make them desperate #they've no other options and the worst has already been assumed of them anyway so fuck it right nothing to lose #lesson 16 spoilers #obey me

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tyrdda-bright-axe · 2 years

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One thing that really annoys me about the Dragon Age fandom is how a lot of people can simultaneously hate on Celene fans (and not just Celene in general! Hate whichever character you want) while not holding Maric, Cailan, King!Alistair and *even* Loghain who famously sold elves into slavery to fund his war effort, fans to the same standard.

(Not really covering Anora since I don’t really see her mentioned much at all by most people, and she’s mostly covered by what Alistair does anyway since mechanically there is no difference in their rule)

Characters who all also MASSIVELY failed their elven citizens and did *nothing* to help improve their rights, and in fact stood by while things like Alienage purges happened. Just see Vaea from the comics, who lived through an attempted purge that was only stopped because Ser Aaron was there, not because it was illegal or anything! And was shocked that Ser Aaron was trying to get her knighted- who really did not think she would get the Knighthood even with a note from his deathbed. And Alistair had been king for more than a decade at that point.

Seriously, I am totally open to any canon source that shows that the Ferelden rulers did anything to help elves in the long term. Maric and Loghain are arguably the worst since elves fought alongside them to regain Ferelden! (and if you want to accuse anyone of an elf fetish Maric is right there, rather than Celene, who in the whole series has been shown to only be romantically interested in one person who happens to be an elf.)

Just to cover Alistair and/or Anora:

The retconned(?) Origin Epilogue shows that elven riots have to be put down in the Denerim Alienage even when Shianni is made the Bann of the Denerim alienage, a position mind you that literally only applied to the elves in the Denerim alienage, and none of the elves outside of it. And Sera’s codex entry implies that canon was not much better. (I mean, let alone the whole situation there where she couldn’t really inherit because she’s an elf and it was pretty much all seized during the Blight anyway) Alistair would have okayed them putting down the riots, because that is what a medieval ruler does. It also was in Denerim proper, the city he rules from, so he likely would have been there in person. Is it moral by our standards? No. Do people condemn people who are fans of King!Alistair? (Not that I’ve seen)

Elves can’t even wield weapons in Ferelden- which highly limits their chance for social advancement in Ferelden’s martial culture, let alone the self defence implications of that. (ie being made knights and climbing up the social ladder to gain land and other titles)

They’re all medieval rulers who have medieval moral values- why is it only liking Celene an indication of your overall morals? Being a lesbian doesn’t change how she was raised, nor does being a woman. It doesn’t magically give her modern moral values. She's no different than the other rulers (other than, you know, she tried to advance elven rights in a way that still fits in her medieval POV) Of course its going to be backwards and wrong by our standards! She does later admit that she didn’t more as fast or decisively as she could have, so there is at least growth!

But anyway, my point is that villainizing people based on liking one character isn’t right. Particularly when it's not even applied equally. Though if you’re a person who hates all fans of the rulers in Thedas more power to you. My main issue is the double standard.

#da fandom critical

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writingwithcolor · 3 years

Text

Jewish author writing about antisemitism; should I include racism too?

anonymous asked:

Hi! I'm a white Jewish person who's writing a story set in a fantasy world with a Jewish-coded culture. It's important to me to explore antisemitism in this distanced setting, and explore what the Jewish diaspora means to me. I have a lot of people of color in my story as well. I don't know whether I, as a white person, should include racism in a story if it isn't necessary, but I also don't want to erase the aspects of many mildly/moderately assimilated cultures that are affected by racism, and I also don't want to imply somehow that antisemitism is a more serious issue than racism, which is obviously not the case. I was thinking that bigotry might be more culture-based rather than ethnically or racially based, but again, I'm not sure how or whether to write about bigotry against cultures + groups based on cultures + groups that I'm not a part of, and people of color in the story would obviously have their own cultural elements. Is acknowledging bigotry necessary?

It's okay to focus on antisemitism

Other mods have important advice on what exactly might be helpful or applicable to include in your story and how. I want to take a moment with the anxiety you express that focusing on antisemitism and not talking about other types of xenophobia will imply to your readers that you think antisemitism is “more serious” than other forms of bigotry. I hear and honor that anxiety, especially since “Jews only care about Jews” is a stereotype that never seems to go away, so I’m going to say something revolutionary:

It’s okay to center Jews in a story about antisemitism.

There, I said it. But I’m not making the case that you shouldn’t include references to or depictions of other types of bigotry in your story. There are a lot of great reasons why you should, because of what it can do for the complexity of your characters, the depth of your worldbuilding, or the strength of your message about the nature of xenophobia, diaspora, etc.

- How your non-Jewish-coded characters react to the things they experience can affect whether they sympathize over or contribute to the antisemitism at the heart of your story.

- How other types of xenophobia do and don’t manifest in your world can help explain why your world has antisemitism in the first place, and what antisemitism consists of in a world that also contains other minorities outside of the fantasy mainstream culture.

- Including other real-world xenophobia can help you set your antisemitism in context and contrast to help explain what you want to say about it.

Both your story and your message might be strengthened by adding these details. But if you feel the structure of your story doesn’t have room for you to show other characters’ experiences and you’re only considering doing it because you’re afraid you’ll be upholding a negative stereotype of yourself if you don’t, then it might help to realize that if someone is already thinking that, nothing you do is going to change their mind. You can explore antisemitism in your story, but you don’t have the power to solve it, and since you don’t have that power you also don’t have that responsibility. I think adding more facets to your story has the potential to make it great, but leaving it out doesn’t make you evil.

- Meir

Portraying xenophobia

As someone living in Korea and therefore usually on the outside looking in, I feel that a lot of people in Western countries tend to conflate racism and xenophobia. Which does make sense since bigots tend to not exactly care about differences between the two but simply act prejudiced against the “other”. Sci also makes a point below about racialized xenophobia. I feel these are factors contributing to your confusion regarding issues of bigotry in your story.

Xenophobia, as defined by Dictionary.com, is “an aversion or hostility to, disdain for, or fear of foreigners, people from different cultures, or strangers”. You mention “thinking that bigotry might be more culture-based”, and this description fits xenophobia better than most other forms of bigotry. Xenophobia can be seen as an umbrella term including antisemitism, so you are technically including one form of xenophobia through your exploration of antisemitism.

I understand your wariness of writing racism when it doesn’t add to the plot, especially as a white writer. Your concerns that you might “erase the aspects of many mildly/moderately assimilated cultures that are affected by racism” is valid and in fact accurate, since exclusion of racism will of course lead to lack of portrayals of the intersections between racism and xenophobia. I want to reassure you that this is not a bad thing, just a choice you can make. No one story (or at least, no story that can fit into one book) can include all the different forms of oppression in the world. Focusing on one particular form of oppression, particularly one you have personal experience with, is a valid and important form of representation.

You also comment that you “don't want to imply somehow that antisemitism is a more serious issue than racism”, but I honestly feel that doesn’t need too much concern. Much like how queerness and disability are two separate issues with intersections, racism and xenophobia form a Venn diagram, with large intersections but neither completely including the other. A story focusing on autistic characters that doesn’t also have queer rep doesn’t imply queer issues are less serious. Likewise, a story focusing on antisemitism doesn’t imply racism is less serious.

I am slightly more concerned that there might be an accidental implication of antisemitism being a more serious issue compared to other forms of xenophobia. Of course, exploring antisemitism alone is completely valid representation, and there’s no need to go out of your way to try and portray other forms of xenophobia. A microaggression or two, or maybe a mutual bitch out session with a gentile but marginalized friend should be enough to show that antisemitism isn’t more (or less) serious compared to other forms of xenophobia.

-Rune

Avoiding racialized xenophobia

I think one thing you have to be careful with here is racialized xenophobia. Are your characters of color getting disproportionately more xenophobia than your white characters? You might be falling into the trap of racialized xenophobia, which falls under racism, which you want to avoid. An example would be “all Chinese scientists are untrustworthy, but not you, you’re one of the ‘good ones.’” Although this is technically xenophobia, it is also racism.

--Mod Sci

In the case you choose to include even small snippets of other forms of xenophobia in your story, attempting to portray xenophobia without the complications of racism can be a difficult process when they often go hand in hand (especially to a Western audience). So here are a couple of suggestions I have of portraying xenophobia without racism.

First and the simplest method is portraying xenophobia between people of the same race. For example, there is definitely xenophobia against Chinese and Japanese people in Korea, but it would be difficult to claim there is a racial component when all of us are East Asian. (Something you might want to be aware of here is intersections with colorism, where even within the same race, lighter skin and other more westernized features are considered more desirable. I suggest looking through our colorism tag for more details)

Another idea is to include microaggressions for specific cultures rather than something more broad. For example, calling Korean food stinky because kimchi has a strong scent is specifically xenophobic against Koreans, while commenting on small eyes can be directed against Asians in general.

Finally, while antisemitism is a form of ethnicity-based xenophobia, it is also a form of religion-based xenophobia. Muslims and Buddhists and Hindus can absolutely be xenophobic against each other with no racism involved. Should you choose this method, particularly if religious xenophobia is only shown in a shorter scene, I suggest you try and avoid portraying any of the above religions as the Bad or Oppressive ones. As a Christian I will unironically tell you that Christianity is a safe choice for a religiously xenophobic character, as we’re far less likely to face backlash compared to any other religion, and inspiration should unfortunately be overflowing in real life.

-Rune

Other forms of ethno-religious oppression

Here is my TCK perspective as someone brought up in diverse environments where there are often other axes of oppression including religion, ethnicity and class:

Racism and xenophobia can definitely be apples to oranges, so creating a universe where racism no longer exists or has never existed seems doable to me. Perhaps in your fantasy world, structures that buttress racism, such as colonization, slavery and imperialism, are not issues. That still won’t stop people from creating “Us versus Them” divisions, and you can certainly make anti-semitism one of the many forms of xenophobia that exists in this your story. Meir has hinted that your reluctance to declaratively show the harm of anti-semitism indicates a level of anxiety around the topic, and, as someone non-Jewish but also not Christian or Muslim, my perspective is as follows: I’ve always viewed anti-semitism as a particularly virulent form of ethno-religious xenophobia, and while it is a unique experience, it is not the only unique experience when it comes to ethno-religious xenophobia. I think because the 3-way interaction between the Abrahamic religions dominates much of Western geopolitics, that can be how it looks, but the world is a big place (See Rune’s comments for specific examples).

To that effect, I recommend prioritizing anti-semitism alongside other non-racialized forms of xenophobia along ideological, cultural and class-based lines for both POC and non-POC characters. Show how these differences can drive those in power to treat other groups poorly. I conclude by encouraging you to slowly trace your logic when depicting xenophobia towards POC characters in particular. Emphasize bigotry along axes of class and ideology, rather than traits linked to assumed biologically intrinsic features. Ultimately, I think recognizing commonalities between forms of ethno-religious oppression as a whole will help make you more comfortable in depicting anti-semitism with the seriousness it deserves without feeling as though you are trivializing the experiences of other groups.

- Marika

Worldbuilding ethnically and racially diverse cultures

As has been mentioned by other mods, I think it’s completely fine to focus your story on antisemitism and not portray other forms of bigotry if that’s the focus and scope of the story you want to tell. My fellow mods have also offered several valuable suggestions for writing about “culture-based bigotry” in general if that’s what you want to do, while making sure it’s not coming off as racially based. One element I can add is that from a worldbuilding standpoint, it will also help to have your fantasy cultural groups be ethnically and racially diverse. After all, this was common historically in several parts of the world, and depending on which cultures you’re basing your coding on, you could absolutely have fantasy cultures in your world that include characters we would read (according to our modern-day standards) as white, and others that we would read as people of color, within the same fantasy culture. All these characters would face the same culture-based bigotry (such as xenophobia or religious oppression), even though they are read by a modern audience as different races.

As a note, the reason I say “read as” and “according to our modern-day standards” is that the entire concept of whiteness as we know it is very specific to our current cultural context. Who is and isn’t considered white has changed quite a lot over time, and is still the subject of debate today in some cases. Your work will be read by a modern audience, so of course, you need to take into account our current understanding of race and the dynamics surrounding it. However, it’s also helpful to remember that our modern racial categories are fairly new in the context of the many millennia of history of humankind, and that they are certainly not inevitable. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking a fantasy culture has to align itself entirely with modern-day racial categories.

- Niki

#Asks #fantasy #worldbuilding #anti semitism #xenophobia #racism #Judaism #Jewish

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hamliet · 3 years

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The Crows Summon the Sun

Or, Hamliet’s review of Shadow & Bone, which gets a 4.5/5 for enjoyment and a 3.5/5 in terms of writing.

The true heroes of this story and the saviors of the show are the Crows. However, the problem is that the show then has an uneven feel, because the strength of the Crows plotline highlights the weaknesses of the trilogy storyline. But imo, overall, the strengths overshadow (#punintended) the weaknesses.

I’ll divide the review into the narrative and the technical (show stuff, social commentary), starting with narrative.

Narrative: The Good

It’s What The Crows Deserve

I went into the show watching it for the Crows; however, knowing that their storyline was intended to be a prequel, I wasn’t terribly optimistic. And while it is a prequel, the characters have complete and full arcs that perfectly set them up for the further development they will have in the books (which I think should be the next season?). Instead of retreading the arcs they’d have in the books, which is how prequels usually go, they had perfect set up for these arcs. It’s really excellent.

Jesper, Inej, and Kaz are all allowed to be flawed, to have serious conflicts with one another, and yet to love each other. They feel like a found family in the best of ways. Kaz is the perfect selfish rogue; he’s a much more successfully executed Byronic hero than the Darkling, actually. Inej is heroic and her faith is not mocked, yet she too is flawed and her choices are not always entirely justified, but instead left to the audience to ponder (like killing the girl), which is a more mature writing choice that I appreciated.

Jesper is charming, has a heart of gold despite being a murderer and on the surface fairly greedy, and MILO THE EMOTIONAL SUPPORT GOAT WAS THE BEST THING EVER. I also liked Jesper’s fling with Dima but I felt it could be better used rather than merely establishing his sexuality, like if Jesper and Dima had seen each other one more time or something had come of their tryst for the plot/themes/development of Jesper.

Nina and Matthias’s backstory being in the first season, instead of in flashbacks, really works because it automatically erases any discomfort of the implications of Nina having falsely accused Matthias that the books start with. We know Nina, we know Matthias, we know their motivations, backgrounds, and why they feel the way we do. It’ll be easy for the audience to root for them without a lot of unnecessary hate springing from misunderstanding Nina (since she’s my favorite). Matthias’s arc was also really strongly executed and satisfyingly tragic. Their plotline was a bit unfortunately disconnected from the rest of the story, but Danielle Gallagan and Callahan Skogman have absolutely sizzling chemistry so I found myself looking forward to their scenes instead of feeling distracted. Also? It’s nice seeing a woman with Nina’s body type as a romantic and powerful character.

Hamliet Likes Malina Now

Insofar as the trilogy storyline goes, the best change the show made was Mal. He still is the same character from the books, but much more likable. The pining was... a lot (too much in episode 4, I felt) but Malina is a ship I actually enjoyed in the show while I NOTP’d it in the books. Mal has complexity and layers to his motivations (somewhat) and a likable if awkward charm. Archie Renaux was fantastic.

Ben Barnes is the perfect Aleksandr Kirigan, and 15 year old me, who had the biggest of big crushes on Ben Barnes (first celebrity crush over a decade ago lol), was pretty damn happy lol. He’s magnificantly acted--sympathetic and terrifying, sincerely caring and yet villainous in moments. Story-wise, I think it was smart to reveal his name earlier on than in the books, because it helps with the humanization especially in a visual medium like film. Luda was a fitting (if heartbreaking) backstory, but it is also hard for me to stomach knowing what the endgame of his character is. Like... I get the X-men fallacy thing, but I hope the show gives more kindness to his character than the books did, yet I’m afraid to hold my breath. Just saying that if you employ save the cat, if you directly say you added this part (Luda) to make the character more likable (as the director did) please do not punish the audience for feeling what you intended.

I also liked the change that made Alina half-Shu. It adds well to her arc and fits with her character, actually giving her motivations (she kinda just wants to be ordinary in a lot of ways) a much more interesting foundation than in the books. Also it’s nice not to have another knock-off Daenerys (looking to you Celaena and book!Alina). Jessie Mei Li does a good job playing Alina’s insecurities and emotions, but...

Narrative: The Ehhhhhhh

Alina the Lamp

Sigh. Here we go. Alina has little consistent characterization. She’s almost always passive when we see her, yet she apparently punches an officer for calling her a name and this seems to be normal for her, but it doesn’t fit at all with what we know about her thus far. Contradictions are a part of humanity, but it’s never given any focus, so it comes across as inconsistent instead of a flaw or repression.

I have no idea what Alina wants, beside that she wants to be with Mal, which is fine except I have no idea what the basis of their bond is. Even with like, other childhood friends to lovers like Ren/Nora in RWBY or Eren/Mikasa in SnK, there’s an inciting moment, a reason, that we learn very early on in their story to show us what draws them together. Alina and Mal just don’t have that. There’s the meadow/running away thing, but they were already so close, and why? Why, exactly? What brought them together? The term “bullies” is thrown around but it isn’t ever explored and it needed to be this season. If I have to deal with intense pining for so many episodes at least give me a foundation for their devotion. You need to put this in the beginning, in the first season. You just do.

A “lamp” character is a common metaphor to describe a bad character: essentially, you could replace the character with a lamp and nothing changes. Considering Alina’s gift is light, it’s a funnily apt metaphor, but it really does apply. Her choices just don’t... matter. She could be a special lamp everyone is fighting over and almost nothing would change. The ironic thing is that everyone treating her like a fancy lamp is exactly the conflict, but it’s never delved into. We’re never shown that Alina is more than a lamp. She never has to struggle because her choices are made for her and information is gifted to her when she needs it. Not making choices protects Alina from consequences and the story gives her little incentive to change that; in fact, things tend to turn out better when she doesn’t make choices (magic stags will arrive).

Like... let’s look at a few occasions when Alina almost or does make choices. For example, she chooses to (it seems) sleep with Kirigan, but then there’s a convenient knock at the door and Bhagra arrives with key information that changes Alina’s mind instantly despite the fact that Bhagra’s been pretty terrible to her. If you want to write a woman realizing she’s been duped by a cruel man, show her discovering it instead of having the man’s abusive mother tell her when she had absolutely no such suspicions beforehand. There’s no emotional weight there because Alina doesn’t struggle.

When she is actually allowed to carry out a bad choice, the consequences are handwaved away instead of built into a challenge for her. Like... Alina got her friends killed. More than once. I’m not saying she’s entirely to blame for these but could we show her reacting to it? Feeling any sort of grief? She never mentions Raisa or Alexei after they’re gone, just Mal, and I’m... okay. They were there because of you. Aren’t you feeling anything? Aren’t you sad? The only time Alina brings up her friends’ deaths is to tell Kirigan he killed her friends when they were only there because she burned the maps. She yells at Kirigan for “never” giving her a choice, but she almost never makes any, so why would he? Alina has the gall to lecture Genya about choices, but she herself almost never has to make any.

Which brings me to another complaint in general: Alina’s lack of care for everyone around her when they’re not Mal, even if they care for her. Marie dies because of her (absolutely not her fault of course) but as far as we know she never even learns about Marie. She certainly doesn’t ever ask about her or Nadia. Alina seems apathetic at best to people, certainly not compassionate or kind.

The frustrating thing is that there is potential here. Like, it actually makes a lot of psychological sense for an orphan who has grown up losing to be reluctant to care for people outside of her orbit and that she would struggle to believe she can have any say in her destiny (ie make choices). It’s also interesting that a girl who feels like an outsider views others outside her. But the show never offers examines Alina’s psychology with any depth; it simply tells us she’s compassionate when she is demonstrably not, it tells us she makes decisions when it takes magical intervention to do so. It’s a missed opportunity. This does not change between episodes 1 and 8, despite the episodes’ parallel structures and scenes, which unintentionally reinforces that Alina had little real development.

Inej and ironically Jesper and Kaz embody the concept of “mercy” far better and with far more complexity than Alina does. The Crows have reactions to the loss of people who even betray them (Arken, etc), learn, and course-correct (or don’t) when they are even loosely involved in having strangers die. They’re good characters because they change and learn and have their choices matter. When they kill we see them wrestle with it and what this means even if they are accustomed to doing so. Jesper can’t kill in front of a child. Kaz wonders what his killings do to Inej’s idea of him.

Narrative: The Mixed Bag

Tropes, Themes, Telling vs. Showing

So the show’s themes in the Alina storyline are a mess, as they are in the trilogy too. Tropes are a very valuable way to show your audience what you’re trying to say. They’re utilized worldwide because they resonate with people and we know what to expect from them. The Crows' storyline shows us what it wants us to learn.

Preaching tells, and unfortunately, the trilogy relies on telling/preaching against fornicationBad Boys. It’s your right to write any trope or trample any trope you want--your story--but you should at least understand what/why you are doing so. The author clearly knows enough about Jungian shadows and dark/light yin/yang symbolism to use it in the story, but then just handwaves it away as “I don’t like this” but never does so in a narratively effective way: addressing the appeal in the first place. If you really wanna deconstruct a trope, you gotta empathize with the core of the reason these tropes appeal to people (it allays deep fears that we are ourselves unlovable, through loving another person despite how beastly they can be), and address this instead of ignoring it. Show us a better way through the Fold of your story. Don’t just go around it and ignore the issue.

The trilogy offers highly simplistic themes at best--bad boy bad and good boy good, which is fine-ish for kid lit but less fine for adult complexity, which the show (more so than the books) seems to try to push despite not actually having much of it.

Alina and Mal are intended to be good, we’re told they are, but I’m not sure why beyond just that we’re told so. Alina claims the stag chose her, but in the show it’s never explained why at all. Unlike with Kaz, Inej, Jesper, and hell even Matthias and Nina, we don’t see Alina or Mal’s complex choices and internal wrestling.

Like, Inej’s half-episode where she almost killed the guy they needed was far more character exploration than Alina has the entire show, to say nothing of Inej’s later killing which not only makes her leaps and bounds more interesting, but ironically cements her as a far more compelling and yes, likable, heroine than Alina. We see Inej’s emotional and moral conflict. We can relate to her. We see Kaz struggling with his selfishness and regrets, with his understanding of himself through his interactions with and observations of Inej, Alina, the Darkling, Arken, and Jesper.

We don’t explore what makes Mal or Alina good and what makes them bad. We don’t know what Alina discovers about herself, what her power means for her. We are told they are good, we are told she knows her power is hers, but never shown what this means or what this costs them/her. Their opportunities to be good are handed to them (the stag, Bhagra) instead of given to them as a challenge in which they risk things, in which doing good or making a merciful choice costs them. Alina gets to preach about choices without ever making any; Inej risks going back to the Menagerie to trust Kaz. Her choices risk. They cost. They matter and direct her storyline and her arc, and those of the people around her.

Production Stuff:

The Good:

The production overall is quite excellent. The costumes, pacing, acting, and cinematography (for example, one of the earliest scenes between the Darkling and Alina has Alina with her back to the light, face covered in his shadow, while the Darkling’s face is light up by her light even if he stands in the shadows) are top-notch. The soundtrack as well is incredible and emphasizes the scenes playing. The actors have great chemistry together, friend chemistry and romantic when necessary (Mal and Alina, the Darkling and Alina, Kaz and Inej, Nina and Matthias, David and Genya, etc.) All are perfectly cast.

The Uncomfortable Technicalities Hamliet Wants to Bitch About:

The only characters from fantasy!Europe having any trace of an accent reminiscent of said fantasy country's real-world equivalent are antagonists like Druskelle (Scandinavia) and Pekka (Ireland). When the heroes mostly have British accents despite being from fantasy Russia and Holland, it is certainly A Choice to have the Irish accent emphasized. The actor is British by the way, so I presume he purposely put on an Irish accent. I'm sure no one even considered the potential implications of this but it is A Look nonetheless.

The Anachronisms Hamliet Has a Pet Peeve About:

The worldbuilding is compelling, but the only blight on the worldbuilding within the story itself (ignoring context) was that there are some anachronisms that took me out of the story, particularly in the first episode where “would you like to share with the class” and “saved by the horn” are both used. Both are modern-day idioms in English that just don’t fit, especially the latter. The last episode uses “the friends we made along the way.” There are other modern idioms as well.

IT’S STARKOVA and Other Pet Peeves Around the Russian Portrayal

Russian names are not hard, and Russian naming systems are very, very easy to learn. I could have waved “Starkov” not being “Starkova,” “Nazyalensky” not being “Nazyalenskaya,” and “Safin” not being “Safina” as an American interpretation (since in America, the names do not femininize). However, “Mozorova” as a man is unfathomable and suggests to me the author just doesn’t understand how names work, which is a bit... uh okay considering a simple google search gets you to understand Russian names. They aren’t hard. I cannot understand why the show did not fix this. It is so simple to fix and would be a major way to help the story’s overall... caricature of Russia.

Speaking of that... Ravka is supposedly Russian-based, but it is more accurately based on the stereotypes of what Americans think of Russia. Amerussia? Russica? Not great.

The royals are exactly what Americans think of the Romanovs, right down to the “greasy” “spiritual advisor” who is clearly Rasputin and which ignores the Romanov history, very real tragedy, and the reason Rasputin was present in the court. The religion with all its saints is a vapid reflection of Russian Orthodoxy. The military portrayal with its lotteries and brutality and war is how the US views the Russian military. The emphasis on orphans, constant starvation, classification, and children being ripped from their homes to serve the government is a classic US understanding of USSR communism right down to the USSR having weapons of destruction the rest of the world fears (Grisha). Not trying to defend the Soviet Union here at all, but it is simplistic and reductive and probably done unconsciously but still ehhhh.

However, I’m not Russian. I just studied Russian literature. I’ve seen very little by way of discussion of this topic online, but what I do see from Russian people has been mixed--some mind, some don’t. The reality is that I actually don’t really mind this because it’s fantasy, though I see why some do. I'm not like CANCEL THIS. So why am I talking about this beyond just having a pet peeve?

Well, because it is a valid critique, and because it doesn’t occur in a vacuum. The Grishaverse is heralded as an almost paragon for woke Young Adult literature, which underlines itself what so frustrates me about how literary circles discuss issues of diversity and culture. Such praise, while ignoring its quasi-caricature of Russia, reflects a very ethnocentric (specifically American) understanding of culture, appropriation, and representation. All stories are products of their culture to various extents, but it bothers me on principle what the lit community reacts (and overreacts sometimes?) to and what people give a pass to. The answer to what the community reacts to and what it gives a pass always pivots on how palatable the appropriation is to American understandings and sensibilities. There’s nuance here as well, though.

I'm not cancelling the story or thinking it should be harshly attacked for this, but it is something that can be discussed and imo should be far more often--but with the nuance it begs, instead of black/white. But that’s a tall ask.

#s&b #hamliet reviews #shadow and bone #six of crows #kanej #jesper fahey #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #alina starkov #malyen oretsev #the darkling #darklina #malina #aleksander kirigan #netflix shadow and bone #s&b review

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wildernessuntothemselves · 3 years

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I’m Yours, You’re Mine | 2

Word Count: 2.6k

Genre: Smut, future angst

Summary: You’ve always wished to take a more dominant role in bed, but Chan just wasn’t having it. So when you see an opportunity to do just that with Felix, you can’t help yourself. But you soon come to regret your drunken decision for a reason other than that you’d cheated on your boyfriend with his own bestfriend.

Warnings: Cheating, justifying cheating (badly), yandere!felix, sub!felix, dom!reader, reader tries to pressure chan into subbing, felix getting pegged in a kitten maid outfit, excessive use of whore and slut and noona, degradation, felix messy

Gif Credit

It was a mistake. You had decided. You were both too drunk and horny to think it through and it was best to forget it all.

Felix, however, refused to drop it which really only cemented in your mind that it’s the right decision to stop this thing before it starts. If he’s kicking up this much fuss about it and you’ve barely done anything, what is he gonna do if you got more involved later? No, it’s over and you’d told him as such. You don’t want him and it had been a mistake.

But at night, when you’re all alone with your thoughts after chan had fucked you and gone to sleep, you can’t help but think of the freckled boy and how he had followed your every order so obediently. You touch yourself every night to the memory of it, how good he sounded touching himself for you. It has become a sort of escapism for you, a way to let out your frustrations every time Chan doesn’t let you take the lead.

It pissed you the fuck off, how condescending he’d sound when telling you to ‘stop messing around, babygirl’ as he proceeds to pin you down and fuck you from behind. Still, you keep trying because maybe if he’d let you have this, you wouldn’t run to other men to satisfy your needs.

"Baby, take a look at this." You call out to Chan who was sitting on the chair next to you, turning your laptop screen towards him so he'd see the costume you were looking at, a cat maid outfit for men. He scrunches his nose at it and laughs, "That's certainly something."

"You don't like it?" You pout and he looks at you incredulously. "You do?"

"I don't know.” You shrug, once again feeling ridiculed. It’s not like you haven’t worn a schoolgirl or a sexy nurse outfit for him before when he’d asked. “I just think you'd look cute in it. And with halloween coming up and everything--"

"I’m gonna stop you right there, baby. Absolutely not."

"Why not?" You whine like a child.

"Because it's embarrassing!"

"But it's halloween, it’s supposed to be crazy. No one will care, they might even like it. I’d really like it.."

"No. Pick something else." He deadpans but you keep pushing. "But I want this!"

Chan gets off his chair and sits on the couch next to you, grabbing your jaw and pulling you close to his face. “Baby, I’m a man, not a toy for you to play with and dress up as you please. You never mentioned any of this stuff before and you can’t just drop this on me now and expect me to do what you please.”

“But why can’t you at least try?”

“I’m not interested.” He answers slowly, emphasizing every word. "Now stop pressing or I'll put your pretty little mouth to better use."

____________________

You’re standing alone in a corner, nursing your drink as you watch the party-goers mingle and have fun, when you suddenly feel someone wrap their arms around you and press up their body against your back. You don’t flinch, already knowing who it is.

“Hey, baby, wanna go out for a bite?” The stupid pickup line only serves to make you more annoyed at the boy behind you and you wince as he digs his fake fangs into the skin of your shoulder. Shrugging the man off, you turn to face him. “I thought strong women made you flaccid.”

The sour smile on his face only lasts for a second before it turns patronizing. “That’s not true. I was very into Kim Possible.” He cups your cheek and leans down close to your face, his nose touching yours. “But I’d fuck Shego too.”

You push his hand away and step back, stopping the kiss he was going for. “Sorry, but this Shego isn’t interested in getting fucked.”

Chan rests his hands on his hips and lets out a heavy sigh. “How long are you gonna stay mad at that?”

“How long is your fragile masculinity gonna keep you from satisfying your girlfriend in bed?”

He steps towards you angrily, getting all up in your face again. “Don’t you dare! I always make you cum.”

“So? I can make myself cum just fine on my own. But what I actually want from you, you’re not giving to me.”

“You’re fucking unbelievable.” He yells, face turning red as he prepares to launch into his own angry rant when something catches his eyes and he bursts out laughing. “Oh, for fucks sake.”

You look at him in confusion and he grabs you by the shoulders and turns you around. “Take a look at Felix, honey.” He murmurs sardonically.

With narrowed eyes, you search for the blonde among the crowd of people gathered at your apartment, wondering why Chan was stopping your oh-so-important argument for this. But when your eyes land on him, they blow wide open. Felix is dressed in the exact outfit you’d shown Chan wished earlier, complete with the cat eats and the little bell around his neck. He looked perfect.

“Look at how ridiculous he looks.” Chan’s voice cuts into your thoughts as he leans down to jeer in your ear. "And you wanted me to look like that. Hey, maybe Lix will bend over and let you fuck him if you ask."

He says it with the most sarcasm and contempt he can muster before shoving you a little bit forward and walking off. But it’s far from a joke to you. There is nothing funny about the gorgeous boy looking like he just came out of your wildest dreams.

With anger and lust mixing dangerously in your veins, you march straight to Felix, and without even greeting him, you grab him by the arm and pull him into the bathroom that was further into the apartment and lock the both of you inside.

Pushing him against the sink, you grab his hair and force him to look at himself in the mirror. "What is the meaning of this?"

“Noona?” He wonders uneasily, playing innocent.

“How the fuck did you get this?”

“I found it on the internet, noona.”

“Oh, you found it, huh?” You scoff, running your hand over the black and white outfit. “You just happened to find the exact same costume I was showing to Chan a few weeks back?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, noona.” He stares at your reflection through his lashes, doing his best to look meek and clueless. Growling, you shove your hand between his legs, grabbing at his half-hard dick and making him squeal.

“Oh, you don’t, do you? You’re such a fucking whore, Felix.” He moans, bucking his hip into your hand. "You know I belong to your hyung and you're just gonna betray him like that?"

He shakes his head earnestly, "No, noona. I’m not trying to."

"Don't lie. Little whore only thinks with his cock." You hiss, letting your other hand fall from his hair to his chest, your fingers roughly pulling at his nipples through the thin fabric covering them.

“Ah--fuck--noona!” He cries, thrusting his dick against your hand more and more. "I'm a good boy. You know that noona."

“Then what is is?” You pull his skirt up to clearly show his now fully hard dick straining against the panties he’s wearing. And when you do, you stop in your tracks.

"Are those my panties?" You shriek, pushing him flat over the marble countertop and flipping the skirt over his ass so you can see the black panties more clearly. “You fucking creep!”

You hook your thumbs under the waistband and yank the panties down, getting even more of a shock when you see what he has under them.

"Shit." You breathe, momentarily forgetting all about the panties as you stare at the pink butt plug wedged snuggly in his ass. When you reach out and tap the base of it, Felix's legs buckle. “Is this part of the costume too?”

He stays quiet, burying his face into his arms and you scoff. "God, you're such a slut." You grab the plug and pull it back, only to slam it back in all at once. His scream is muffled against his arms but he eagerly pushes his hips back into you.

You take a few seconds to get your breathing under control. Once again you can’t believe what is in front of you. You’ve only dreamt about something like this before, but here is Felix giving it all to you without you even asking. How can you resist?

"Don't move." You hiss in his ear, ignoring his little moan of protest as you pull away and step out of the bathroom.

You get what you want from your room as fast as you possibly can before going back to the bathroom and finding that Felix has actually not stayed still, and is now standing up and nervously fiddling with his fingers.

"Didn't I say to not move?"

"I was afraid someone would come in." He mumbles.

“Afraid people will find out what a whore you are, you mean.” You step in and lock the door behind you before you before you show him what you have in the box you just retrieved.

You smile at his gasp when he sees you pull out the strap you own, the one you never even got to show to Chan before. Cocking your head to the side, you stare at the shaking boy. “You’ll let me fuck you, won’t you, Lixie?”

He nods before you even finish your question. “Of course, noona. You can do whatever you want to me.”

You smirk like you expected nothing less than that, but in reality you were riding high off of the fact that he so easily gave into you without you even needing to coax him. It made you wanna give him everything he asks for.

But Felix’s enthusiasm is dampened a little when he sees you putting the strap-on over your costume. Pouting, he asks you, “You’re not gonna take anything off, noona?”

"I don't need to take anything off to fuck you." You reply simply and he lets out an insolent whine. “But I wanna see your body. I never got to see it up-close.”

Your face turns hard and Felix takes a moment to realize the implication of what he just said. “So you’re saying you’ve seen my body before? Have you been spying on me too, you little shit?”

He stays quiet, staring at the floor.

“You’re such a fucking pervert. I ought to tell Chan about all of this.” You push him around to face the mirror again and press his body against the countertop. “The outfit. The panties. The spying.” You grit, taking the butt plug out of his ass and running your fingertips up and down his open hole.

“No, please don’t tell him.” He whimpers, face pressed against the cool marble.

“Why shouldn’t I? He should know what his precious friend is up to behind his back.” You squeeze some lube over your fingers before you push one inside of him. It goes in easily so you add the second one right away, pressing down as you pump your fingers in and out of his ass.

“Nghh--noona--noona!” He squirms under you, hands grasping to find any purchase over the smooth countertop. “Please, fuck me.”

You can’t really deny him for long, already feeling like you could cream your panties just watching him break down under you. As you push the didlo in, he lets out a loud keen that turns into heavy panting as you start rocking your hips into his.

“Thank you, noona.” His voice is garbled and you pull him up by the hair to make him stand up so you can look at his face while you fuck him. He looks like an absolute mess of drool and flushed cheeks, his dick leaking little drops on the floor.

"What a tiny dick you have, Lixie.” You can't help but stare at it and the leather garter belt he has around his thigh with a metallic heart looped in it. Wrapping your hand his wet dick, you start pumping it as you thrust into his ass. “No wonder you can't dom a girl. I probably have a bigger dick than yours."

“I’m sorry, n-noona. Please use me--ahh--however you want.” He sobs, barely able to hold himself up in your arms.

“Use you for what? You’re a complete mess. You wouldn’t be able to satisfy me even if you tried.” You fuck him harder, quickening the pace of your strokes on his twitching dick and shivering at the sounds that fill up the room, from the snap of your hips against his ass, to the slick sound of you jerking him off, to the whiny moans he's letting loose to the tune of the bell in his choker. “But it’s okay, I’ll just think about this when Channie is fucking my brains out tonight.”

Suddenly his face changes, taking on a dark and sinister hue that makes goosebumps erupt across your skin. But you can’t let him intimidate you. If you can’t even dom Felix then Chan is right not to take you seriously. Besides, if you want to keep this going, you have to have him under a tight leash or else he’ll go rogue and expose the both of you.

"What? You have something to say?" You challenge, but he stays quiet, his lips curled into a mean sneer. "You're just a toy for me and if you want me to keep playing with you, you need to learn your place. Is that understood?"

But Felix doesn’t respond, continuing to stare you down through the mirror.

“You want me to leave you high and dry like last time? Because that’s what you’ll get if you don’t back down, kitten.” You warn him, your thrusts turning from fast and hard to slow and deep, and your grip on his cock tightening. “Come on, who is my good boy?”

Finally, he relents, throwing his head back over your shoulder and moaning out, “I am, noona.”

“Prove it or else I’ll have no use for you.” You smatter stinging kisses all over the side of his neck in retaliation for taking so long, and you feel him gulping under your lips. "Come on, little slut, squirt out that cum for me."

“Yes, noona, just need a little more.” He grunts obediently, thrusting his cock up into your closed fist in time with your own thrusts into his ass. "Aahh--noona--fuck---noona!" His hands reach back and his fingers dig into your flesh as he cums, using his hold on you to keep standing upright.

“That’s it. That’s it.” You coo, taking a bit too long before you stop touching him, letting him suffer the pain of overstimulation for a minute, his eyes blown wide as his mouth hangs open as he stares at you with glazed over eyes in the mirror, his cum dripping down your hand and making a small puddle on the floor under you.

“You’ll keep being a good boy, won’t you, Lixie?” You press a soft kiss under his ear that makes him shiver. Letting the tension out of his body, he relaxes back into your arms and closes his eyes.

“Yes, Noona.”

____________

A/N: next chapter is using one of those remote control vibrators on lixie in public uwu oh and making him watch chan fuck reader :)))))

feedback keeps me going and makes me upload faster like this :))))

#stray kids smut #felix smut #sub!idol #dom!reader #yandere!au

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windblooms · 3 years

Text

childe scenario – being taken care of

he’s used to taking care of his own wounds, but having your hands on him instead is a welcome change.

gender neutral reader. mentions of blood (injuries). nsfw implications. 1889 words.

with his unmatched agility, keen attention to detail, and combat technique prowess, childe considered himself to be a warrior.

you, on the other hand, thought of him as a fool playing hero – reckless, pretty much.

sure, seeing him slash with his hydro dangers was hot. witnessing his deft rotation to a bow, firing arrows at a speed that your eyes could hardly match, was equally, if not more drool-worthy,

but childe, in his acute taste for strong opponents, is incredibly dumb when it comes to taking care of himself.

this is when you come in. when he’s taken combat a bit too seriously with marks on his face, clothes torn to shreds, and breath more uneven than the fatui agenda, you’re there to snap him back to the senses he has left.

not like he has that many, you murmur inwardly, dragging him back to his room by the arm. he’s reassuring you that he’s fine, that he’s endured worse in terms of injuries, and he’s had practice in bandaging himself up –

you’ll have none of it. watching childe throw himself into combat is like watching a lit match being chucked into a bucket of gasoline.

hazardous. potentially lethal. preferably avoidable.

“sit,” you command, plopping him on the chair behind his desk while rummaging through the drawers with your other hand. his body melts into the chair and he sighs, contentedly, before suddenly remembering that he’s supposed to be putting up a fight.

“i can handle this myself, you know – ” he reaches towards your hand with his own, grasping for the gauze bundle you found, only to have it swatted away.

“the last time you bandaged yourself, you were bleeding through your shirt and onto the chair. no way in hell am i trusting you with this.”

“we’re not in hell, we’re in my office. you’ve got more important things to do, yeah?”

you scowl, already moving towards him to unbutton his shredded coat. despite his words, he lets you, and you toss it across the desk.

his chest would be smooth if not for the ridges of muscle that trail down his stomach. you’ve seen him like this too many times to be fazed, however that doesn’t stop you from appreciating the intimacy of the moment while it lasts. “i’m paid to look after you. so, no, nothing better to do.”

after inspecting the lacerations across his chest and the disturbed flesh on his arms, you go fetch a stool to sit at the same height as him. standing up isn’t practical when he would be beneath you, and kneeling on the ground is definitely not an option.

once you’re back and situated, you take care in measuring appropriate amounts of herbal medication for his wounds (courtesy of grinding qingxin and violetgrass together).

he watches you work, head propped on his fist while you have his other arm flat on the armrest, and you begin to feel your face burn. does he have to stare at you like that? admittedly, you suppose there’s nothing better to look at while he’s waiting, so you just grumble quietly to yourself.

you’ve measured out the quantities, so you get to work applying the paste to his arms fist. you dare not apply it with your bare hands since it’s unsanitary medical practice, and instead with the back of a chilled spoon.

at least you have an excuse to look at his arms. muscular, with wrists thicker than your own, and fingers definitely longer than yours. of course the youngest harbinger also has a great bod – it’s not like he already has a pretty face and a voice that could melt even the tsaritsa’s frigid heart.

you convince yourself that you should get paid more for this, to deal with his careless attitude and impressive visuals.

“tell me if it gets to tight,” you warn, unwrapping a strip of gauze from the bundle before he lifts up his arm, and you proceed to secure the paste under the fabric.

childe winces slightly, although he’s quick to conceal his discomfort. you know that even he bleeds, and doesn’t have to keep his tough-guy act in the privacy of his own office.

your hands repeatedly touch his skin to tighten the gauze, before proceeding to roll on each new strip. his skin is unbearably warm – although it’s natural with the blood rush – and he inhales sharply as you wrap the final strip over his arm.

“sorry,” you mumble, before pushing the armrest so that childe’s body is fully facing yours. “you might have to stand up for this one, since your chest is, uh, bleeding a lot.”

it’s his turn to scoff, but he nonetheless complies with an oh well smile. you help him steady himself, and he grins in thanks.

“this one shouldn’t hurt as much,” you affirm after inspecting his chest for the second time. the gash is shallower than the one on his arm, although it runs from one side of his chest towards the opposite collar bone.

you pause for a second too long, and childe takes the opportunity to interject. you can hear the grin in his voice when he does. “you gonna check me out even longer, doc?” he inquires, and you’re not dense enough to miss the implications of his words, “it’s cute that you think i don’t notice – ”

“this is purely professional, and you know that.” you interrupt him vehemently, pressing your lips together. “i can’t treat you properly if i don’t know what i’m dealing with. you just happened to get injured here,” you jab at his chest, before turning towards the paste.

“i guess you’re right. but you like what you see, right? that’s good news for me.”

“you’re built. if someone as active as you weren’t, then i’d be surprised.”

“so you admit it!” childe exclaims, as if he’s won something out of you. you remain steadfast in your reasoning, not willing to give him any more ground.

“i’m just stating what i see. you’re built.” not a second longer your hand is on his chest, somewhat forcefully in your embarrassment, and you apply the paste. you hate that he’s taller than you; it feels daunting to be in a position literally beneath him in an immature discussion like this.

“aha,” he nods his head, although he’s not convinced in the slightest. he might be slightly tired from his last battle, but doesn’t let it deter him from making fun of his subordinate. "you should be careful where you touch in a closed office like this.”

he takes a hold of your hand with the gauze, and snakes his arm behind the small of your back. you stiffen immediately, taken off-guard by his boldness, and fight the urge to screech at his bare skin against you and his face so close to your own.

“this isn’t appropriate – ” you gag, hands flying to his shoulders, not quite pushing away. and out of no-where –

you whine despite yourself, flustered at his change in behavior. “childe, don’t make this a bigger deal. you didn’t even want me to take care of you – ”

“you’re right, i didn’t,” he agrees, and his voice stops you from continuing. he winks at you from behind his bangs, and you gulp. “but i can indulge someone who cares about me, yeah?”

is this a trick question? you can’t tell where he’s coming from, since your relationship has always been professional up to this point, and you don't think you’ve made it obvious that you found him physically attractive before. he’s got to be messing with you, you’re sure of it, and stutter out a response.

“a-again, i’m paid to take care of you,” (although, you can see on his face that he’s not buying it, and the bastard intertwines his fingers with yours,) “there are lots of other people you could do this with if you're feeling . . . peckish.”

“peckish, huh?” he murmurs lowly, and removes his arm from your back. but he still holds tight onto your fingers, gauze having been discarded onto the table. you step back tentatively, firm in your assertions.

“i don’t think you’d put up with me if you didn’t care,” he reasons aloud. even though this is the first time you’ve physically dragged him into his office to tend to his wounds, you had remarked in the past that he was being too careless with himself. you press your lips together, thinking, before slowly squeezing his fingers back.

“i do care about you,” you begin, and he blinks curiously, intently studying your face. “but i also can’t lose my job. superior-subordinate interactions like this aren’t exactly good either. you do realize that, right?”

he’s playing you like a fiddle, you’re certain of it, and are trying to play your cards as carefully as possible. he’s never shown interest in you in quite this way before. always teasing, insufferably frustrating in his ways, but never invested in you.

you’re not even sure how to tell if he’s being sincere. your peers have always told you that childe is difficult to read, that, especially since he’s practically your boss, you should consider his words as lip service. sure, he’s physically attractive, and you’ve already made peace with yourself in thinking so.

you never imagined to be in a scenario like this with him, and after analyzing your face for mere seconds, it seems as if childe is following your thought process.

he lets go of your fingers, and you flex them cautiously. you’re both quiet as you gradually go back to bandaging him up, and you notice that, despite your tense discussion, his body seems oddly relaxed against your light touch.

you don’t touch him any more than you need to, almost afraid of being burned by any other remarks he can come up with. you probably won’t offer to do this again for him due to the pure awkwardness of the situation; if he pulled this stunt to dissuade you from approaching him in the future, it was a very cunning and manipulative way to do so –

suddenly, childe scowls. you pause, looking up at him, and are surprised once he pats your head. your mouth opens, trying to produce sounds, and you feel like a fish –

“don’t think too much,” he reassures you, voice reassuring. “i’ll wait with whatever you decide, doc.”

if anything, his words leave you even more conflicted, and you’re dumbfound enough that you don’t finish securing the gauze. childe grins in your stupor and secures the bandage himself, leaving you to think of what words to say next.

he heads to his closet by the door, retrieving a new coat before sliding it over his head and chest. you reflexively run over to go help him, although stop half way. it’s difficult for you to think of something witty to respond with like usual, although you suppose that simplicity could settle for now.

“thanks,” you settle for as he opens the door, “i might get back to you on this.”

mind? a mess. body? feels like jelly. childe? undecided for now.

#genshin impact #childe x reader #childe headcanons #childe scenarios #tartaglia x reader #childe imagines #genshin x reader

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