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starbylers · 11 months

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Nothing is more headache-inducing than when people say ‘Give me a single piece of evidence that Mike likes Will romantically’ because you just know what they’re looking for is simple, easily summed up and understood statements like overt flirting and obvious verbal hints etc. But this is a friends—best friends—to lovers story. Set in a completely different time period. It’s obviously going to be more nuanced than that?

The other couples on this show did not start from the same basis as Byler. Byler have been best friends since they were tiny. They’re also both boys. It’s also the 80s. Lumax, Jancy and Jopper were pretty much obviously romantically entangled from the minute their stories intertwined. (They are friends to lovers, yes, but the platonic side of their relationships was not hugely explored before their romantic interest became obvious, although they were still all friends before dating/kissing which is why they work). They are also all heterosexual couples.

Is it not obvious that Byler is probably going to look a little different in terms of its build up? Is it not obvious that it’s not as simple as ‘Mike likes Will and is 100% aware of it and cool with it and therefore treats him exactly as he would a girl he fancies’? Can people not consider context such as hmm if Byler was going to happen as they say, that means Mike would like boys, in the 80s, which would probably be a pretty difficult thing to navigate and come to terms with so maybe his feelings for Will aren’t going to be as in your face and overtly romantic as I might expect from the other pairings. And is it also not obvious that given M*leven is a canon couple, Byler happening would have to be intended as a plot twist, a twist which would be redundant if they gave obvious hints that Mike is in love?

But even keeping that in mind, Jancy, Lumax and Jopper have behaved in very similar ways to how Mike and Will have consistently done aka intimate heart to hearts, confiding in each other about their problems and fears, really emotional scenes that build the bond between them. And even aside from those glaring similarities that go right over peoples heads:

Mike confides in Will in a way he just doesn’t with El, there’s a deep sense of trust there

Mike pays extremely close attention and takes care of Will hinted in s1 and shoved in our faces in s2, a desire to protect that rises way above the rest of their friends

He treats Will with miles more maturity and compassion than he does El in s4, and is in fact made to look and feel really happy by Will’s literal (disguised) feelings in the van

And those are just a few examples of how strong and close their bond is on Mike’s end. People just brush this stuff off as platonic because well, yeah…they are friends. But it’s friends to lovers!! And a slowburn plot twist at that! Their relationship for the entire show builds the foundation for a realisation that the perfect person has been right in front of him the whole time! We might not see Mike giving Will apologetic M&Ms or calling him pretty, but what we do see over and over is how the two of them work really well together, as a team. A million times better than Mike does with his own girlfriend.

The only real difference with Byler and the other couples is that the obvious romantic vibes for those couples began way early on. Because they could. Because there was nothing really preventing them from realising and acting on their feelings other than ‘we’re attracted to each other but oh I’m dating someone else or oh we’re scared to take that next step’. When it comes to Byler, Mike and Will and Mike specifically have much bigger barriers to contend with. Mike may not understand what he feels for Will is actually love. Mike may not even realise he likes boys, he’s had a gf this whole time after all. Mike may be really scared to even subtly act on his feelings if he is aware. And these people expect Mike to be smiling all lovesick at Will, staring into his eyes, saying romantically coded things? (The biggest joke of all is of course that these things actually have happened but when they do? It’s oh they’re just good friends stop being delusional!!)

Byler is just a very complex and nuanced relationship, you can’t take the same approach to analysing it as you would M*leven like oh proof Mike likes El? That one scene where he called her pretty. He said he was scared she’d leave him. He said he loved her. It’s very easy to cherry pick and point to these moments, but to understand Byler you have to look at the bigger picture and not everyone’s willing to take the time to do that I guess 🤷🏽‍♀️

#byler #anti mileven #a long one

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therosebunpost · 1 year

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Inspired by true events of my life, I give you yet another story idea:

(Also inspired by a conversation I had with a friend after they so wonderfully listened to me ramble about two dudes from the 80s for hours on end. You are an absolute real one my dude)

But basically let me set the scene for you. Reader is in their 20s (I turned 22 during this event, though any where in the 20s range is fine), and they largely have felt like they’re life has passed them by. Their high-school experience wasn’t very note worthy, they’ve never been on an actual date, hell they haven’t even kissed anybody. (Hahahaha! I wasn’t kidding about that true events thing my dudes. 👁👁) So, this year they’ve decided they’re going to try and have as many experiences as they could. Obviously they want to have more experiences after one year, but it’s easier to think one year at a time.

On their birthday, they’re checking off a few boxes. 1. See a live performance. 2. Go axe throwing and hang out at a bar. Lucky for her, they have a mall that can do both! So, reader gets all dressed up to go out and see this cover band. Shes alone largely by choice but also she doesn’t have a lot of friends, vibing to the music until the intermission which is where she meets Steve. Steve, who was sitting at the table beside them, feels sympathy over the fact that she’s alone. (He may have had a few drinks, so he’s feeling just a bit more emotional and reminiscent over his own days of loneliness. Plus he’s with his friends, so the contrast just hits him.)

Reader casually mentions it’s their birthday and they came because they didn’t have anyone else to go with, is unaware they’ve made a terrible mistake. Steve, who is now fueled with alcohol and extroverted ambition, sneaks away to tell Eddie of this. “It’s her birthday Munson! Come onnn, please?” Eddie obviously can’t say no to Steve, so when he walks out on stage, he gets the whole band to sing happy birthday to her.

Reader is mortified. Especially as Steve plops back down, all smiley and sweet, so she can’t even really be upset with him. She pretends to be happy, even tipping the band after their performance because she just has to now. Unaware to her though, Eddie’s been watching from the sidelines and could see the horror, so he pulls Steve aside.

“You…asked her if she wanted us to sing her that, right?”

“Wha- Why would i do that?? It would have ruined the surprise!”

“Steve.” Eddie directs him to look at her again, at the way she seems to wince when people wish her happy birthday as they leave. “I think she was trying to keep a low profile, dude. She was alone, no birthday stuff in sight. Usually if they have birthday celebrations the place would have notified us already.”

“….Oh. Oh no.”

“Yeah…”

Steve starts ahead, fully intending to apologize, Eddie following after him incase things go south. He tries not to wince when Reader looks spooked as the two approach her. “I’m..so sorry, I didn’t realize you might have been trying to keep a low profile! It’s just, well, my boyfriend is in the band and I thought it’d be a fun surprise- I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

Eddie comes up behind him, clapping him on the back with a chuckle. “He really didn’t mean to scare you, Sweetheart. Stevie here just gets a little over excited. Hope you liked the show at least?”

Just a tad intimidated by having not just one, but two attractive guys talking to her, Reader is quick to nod. “It’s fine! Really, I made a promise to myself that I wasn’t going to tell anybody. I really should have kept to that, you didn’t know. The show was great, thank you.” Then after a few more words, Reader turns to leave, but not before hearing Eddie as he leans close to Steve. “I don’t blame you for wantin’ to impress her Harrington, she’s real pretty.” Cue flustered Reader all but booking it away.

So, you’re probably wondering where the axe throwing comes in, right? Well, instead of just one day to celebrate their birthday, Reader is having a birthday week! So, the next day they go back to the mall where there’s an Axe throwing lane and a bar. Once again shes alone, and shes determined not to let anybody know it’s her birthday. She’s just going to have a fun, low key time chucking axes, and hanging out at the bar. Well, that was the plan until her server turns out to be Steve Harrington. Steve, who may have accidentally let it slip to Robin that it’s Reader’s birthday, who is now apologizing again after Robin makes a big deal out of it.

Basically, Reader just can’t get peace because of Steve’s inability to understand the idea of flying under the radar.

I’m thinking it could be a whole series of blurbs of different experiences that Reader could go on with Steve and Eddie!

#thebunspeaks #stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve harrington x reader #eddie munson x reader #fluffybunnycorner #stranger things hc #legit the thing with the band singing to me actually happened #though instead of Steve it was a very nice lady #and the leader singer didn’t resemble Eddie but like come on #I had to make it a Steddie thing #plus corroded coffin becoming a cover band is kinda funny #but yeah that was a mortifying experience #memorable but mortifying

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esther-dot · 2 years

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How do you think j0nry@ stans got the idea that j0nry@ would end up canon? I cant seem to rap my head around the concept because at least jonrice has some “stuff” to point to their ship but j0nry@ has very little stuff that makes any sense besides the theories from self insert ar/ya stans

I’ll tell you about what I’ve seen, but I think you’ll regret asking 😂

For starters, they have the original outline. I know we all laugh because the story has changed so much, but I actually have some sympathy for this because I think the fact that Martin apparently always intended for Bran to end up king is really interesting. Obviously the context/meaning of it changed, but I’m not sure why fans act like the details being different means there isn’t anything to be gleaned from the outline. Also, I do think it matters that Martin liked the idea of a Jon x Stark girl romance because a) it means everyone arguing he’d never consider Jon/“sister” pairing can be ignored. The idea was very much in his head at one point! b) it means he thought fauxcest was commercially viable. Anyway, at one point he did say Jon would have a romance with Arya.

From the most reasonable to the most disturbing reason…swords are common phallic imagery. Can I stop there? No? Jon gives Arya a sword in AGOT. Jonry@s have metas about how that means they will eventually have sex.

Actually, maybe this is more disturbing. The argument that they will fall in love is supported with quotes about their existing love, as in, they think their sibling bond is foreshadowing for romantic love. That’s why they harp on how rarely Jon and Sansa think of each other and talk about how Jon doesn’t love Sansa—because the absence of the sibling love (in their minds) sinks romantic Jonsa which is funny because that’s what a lot of us look at and think is what would make it possible. Anyway, that means that a common thing to do is to think of this moment--

Arya ran to him for a last hug. "Put down the sword first," Jon warned her, laughing. She set it aside almost shyly and showered him with kisses. (AGOT, Jon II)

--as a shipping moment. They use it in their metas/shippy fanart.

The other thing I’ve seen them point to are the comparisons of Ygritte to Arya:

Ygritte watched and said nothing. She was older than he'd thought at first, Jon realized; maybe as old as twenty, but short for her age, bandy-legged, with a round face, small hands, and a pug nose. Her shaggy mop of red hair stuck out in all directions. She looked plump as she crouched there, but most of that was layers of fur and wool and leather. Underneath all that she could be as skinny as Arya. (ACOK, Jon VI)

and

Ygritte trotted beside Jon as he slowed his garron to a walk. She claimed to be three years older than him, though she stood half a foot shorter; however old she might be, the girl was a tough little thing. Stonesnake had called her a "spearwife" when they'd captured her in the Skirling Pass. She wasn't wed and her weapon of choice was a short curved bow of horn and weirwood, but "spearwife" fit her all the same. She reminded him a little of his sister Arya, though Arya was younger and probably skinnier. It was hard to tell how plump or thin Ygritte might be, with all the furs and skins she wore. (ASOS, Jon II)

Look, you asked, and I did warn you. They take those passages and say, (I’ve seen this multiple times by different Jonry@s), “Why are you thinking about Arya naked, Jon?” You brought this on yourself anon. You have to live with that.

So, to them there is the author’s intent in the original outline followed by a promise in the first book of the two later having a romantic relationship, the “erotic subtext” continued with the comparisons to Ygritte which all culminates with this:

Jon flexed the fingers of his sword hand. The Night's Watch takes no part. He closed his fist and opened it again. What you propose is nothing less than treason. He thought of Robb, with snowflakes melting in his hair. Kill the boy and let the man be born. He thought of Bran, clambering up a tower wall, agile as a monkey. Of Rickon's breathless laughter. Of Sansa, brushing out Lady's coat and singing to herself. You know nothing, Jon Snow. He thought of Arya, her hair as tangled as a bird's nest. I made him a warm cloak from the skins of the six whores who came with him to Winterfell … I want my bride back … I want my bride back … I want my bride back …(ADWD, Jon XIII)

To them, Jon is talking about Arya being his bride. A lot of these fans think Arya will be QitN, so it’s possible they have a theory about Jon marrying her to unite his claim with a Stark post parentage reveal, just as Jonsas argue? I really don’t know because they tend to hate Sansa so I’ve blocked a lot of them. But, that's the proof/argument I saw before I filtered the tag.

I responded to an ask from a Jonry@ once here, and explained why I didn’t think it was happening.

#anti jonrya #ask dot #< tag to filter

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knowlesian · 2 years

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i’ve had a couple interesting talks over messages about this, so i figure what the hell. i could do with some light(er) writing today.

so: my angle at approaching legit predictions for future seasons of any given show is usually more about general story arc than ‘here’s the exact details or situation’. (if only because i think that’s easier to follow/predict when the writing is good.)

with that in mind, i’ve been trying to figure out what i think is next for ed.

given the end of the finale, picturing ed going full fuck it terrifying is easy. and to some degree, i assume that’s what ed tells himself is about to happen/what he’ll try to live out, but i also would argue this next arc will be more about his sadness and lack of desire to keep the mask up anymore than his anger.

and he is angry: reasons and debating their validity aside, the anger exists.

but we don’t end on ed’s anger, or his violence. we end on him crying and staring at the lighthouse. and given that good writers are usually fairly intentional, i think that’s meant to be a guiding light. (bad pun not apologized for and intended, etc.)

i think it’s also worth considering the horrible choices ed makes from a more galaxy brained perspective, just to see what the fuck is going on there in terms of ‘why ed, why? why’d you do it?’.

so, toe first since it’s the easiest; they set that up with ‘cutting off toes for a laugh’ in e9. ed set up a ship culture where you cut off somebody’s toe and force them to eat it not as an act of supreme punishment or anger, but for shits and giggles. (look. when i say stede comes from a culture of violence too, i’m not denying the violence of ed’s world is easier to spot. fuckin... ew???? ew, ew ew ew ew. ew.

...and his feet were probably so DIRTY okay. okay i’m done. ew, though.)

now, my subjective read on that moment has a lot to do with the way the writers set this up; absent that line from ed giving us the context we need about how he and izzy rolled before we met them, the toe moment is like ‘well obviously this is wanton cruelty and not a regular-ish joke we pirates like to play’. because duh, that’s how any normal and even VAGUELY healthy human would take such a moment happening to them. and morally it... remains that, because jesus fuck ed i know izzy was a dick but fun fact, you did not have to respond with metaphor toe sex/communion! weird! bad! again: dirty feet! that one is more aesthetics and less morality but i remain horrified by both!

‘is it better or worse to be forced to eat your own toe if it smells of roses and not stinky feet’ considerations aside, if we factor in what ed tells us about the funhouse mirror logic of a ship where you have to put down your dog and might end up eating a toe and those are things people just... accept, what he’s doing there is showing izzy (with oomph!) that okay fine, message taken. we are back to business as usual.

(i also think he’s pissed off at izzy and almost certainly that’s a factor in there since we humans are complicated and tend to have a million internal reasons all jostling for position when we make choices, but the context is there for a reason.)

why he shoves lucius is like... again a million reasons i won’t even begin to tease out since they’re all connecting dots and not as easy as just referencing the context. same with ‘why frenchie and jim?’ (though for reference my easy answer to both is: Reasons, many of them thematic and in-world emotional.)

in terms of what that means for his arc, i think the fact that he doesn’t actually kill lucius matters. because ed’s first moment of being the kraken was very, very actively killing his father, like killing him beyond even the eensiest shadow of a doubt dead. lucius just gets a shove overboard and left to die, murder doesn’t count if you can say NOT IT before they die style like ed’s been doing for years.

which isn’t to excuse ed or mitigate the fact that no matter how we try to divine the internal character ratio on how much ed really wanted lucius to die and how much he felt like this was the only call to make (much like e6 when he was trying to tell himself to just do the fuckin’ thing and kill stede, before the crew became the kraken and it drove him into the bathtub and to confess his sins instead) it’s sort of something we can all wrangle over forever. but he could have used that giant rope dangling conspicuously nearby to do to lucius exactly what he did to his father.

a conscious choice was made there. honestly, same goes with the rest of the crew. he could have demanded izzy/ivan/fang kill them, he could have killed them all himself, and instead he leaves them on a tiny ass island with very little hope of escape.

in terms of the only good choices he makes during this part of the finale... ooof, ed. not great. many notes. all the same i think the choices made to go for his old avoiding direct killing and hiding it method with the crew and having the in-world means to recreate the first time he became the kraken with lucius and simply pushing him into the water (...yeeeeah he pushed his father’s body into the water afterwards in an attempt to hide what happened, didn’t he) indicates where ed’s headed, as well as where he’s at when he makes those bad choices.

tldr: i think we are definitely going to get ‘I DO NOT CARE, THIS IS FINE I AM NOT SLOWLY DYING INSIDE, NOW WATCH ME BURN SHIT’ angry mask-on ed, but i also think we are going to see a lot more of sad being honest about how he feels when he’s alone (at the very least) ed than his initial set of horrific choices would lead us to think.

#as ever though: who knows!!!!#ps once again only you can prevent weird toe crimes #ewwww and DIRTY FEET????#sorry just. no. no to cutting toes no to eating toes no to all of it #ofmd spoilers #my ofmd meta

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7ban-sama · 2 years

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reflecting on Hanako's quality of being so “^^”, but this often indicating an unwell state of mind, more than it does happiness...? mmm... his content, front-facing demeanor feels designed to mask things, intentionally. since Hanako is keen on not appearing vulnerable or ever really speaking about himself deeply, personably. I think this veneer is useful to him. He uses it to deflect unwanted pity and attention., as much as he uses jokes to deflect sincerity and concern from Nene repeatedly.

however, this smiling face is not used to appear more likable, in fact, you could almost say it is intended to do the opposite of endear Hanako to others-! ... Hanako decidedly is really bad at making people like him meaningfully, he is very very rude (this might be lost on us gaijins but he is culturally SF RUDE), and seems to have a genuine problem with valuing others deeply. life is not... precious to Hanako. feelings are not precious or to be preserved.

as someone who is using icons for RPing him, there are 500 fussy, eyes-narrowed, leering Hanakos which feel more authentic to his emotional palate. His heavily lidded aloof selves... if you were interfacing with him more seriously, this is what you get more often. there are many points in the manga where he more or less goes sigh and ‘drops’ the ‘pleasantries’.

so, when he is nico nico he is often being snake. in fact, he even puts on this face before saying very intentionally hurtful things — with the intent TO make himself out to be-? upsetting, jarring, unpleasant. someone who is making an inapproproiate expression for what he i saying.

this is just mean...

about to threaten aoi’s life with no warning, using her as bait

being cruel to kou...

uh... being cruel to kou, again... (what could it mean...!)

purposefully trying to upset nene as much as possible before the severance, so she’ll lash out at him and reject him

even in one of the mooost recent chapters, he’s doing this while trying to crush nene’s hopes about dying for him / becoming a kaii. seriously Hanako... you’re so mean...

... and, admittedly, even a less severe situation like this

... it’s still hanako being. m-mean, and saying something very bluntly, while smiling. since nene only just met him here, she is totally unprepared for this demeanor of his... and, I think most people are, since a lot of humans and kaii alike think of Hanako as! a creepy, selfish person!! ... and I think that is hanako’s willful intent...!!!

obviously, sometimes he is being sincerely happy and playful. also i think his flirtatious theatrics are ‘real’ in that, he is a nasty pervert, just facts. aside from that though, i think when hanako is experiencing something more sincere and ardent, it manifests in a more... troubled way. if you can think to any particularly emotional scene where we know hanako is being real... is he, smiling hugely- not... really... at best you get the boy in PP smiling with cinched brows while talking to nene amidst the clouds. he’s troubled....

this is a guy who gets super flustered over receiving a cheek kiss, guy who gets unspooled by his brother saying ‘suki’. even a young amane cannot handle his feefees. a lifelong affliction of struggling with expressions of sincerity

i think... he looks absolutely tongue-tied and overwhelmed. he cannot radiate confidence like this... he is ill-equipped to handle his own intensity.

whjat a lil creep.

anyways all of this stuff makes me really contemplative about particular hanakos. well, we now know about what the school wonders function as [gatekeepers that maintain the boundaries of the near & far shore] and, we also know that hanako willfully was setting up aoi to be sacrificed later. so these gleeful boys... they have an insidious quality, don’t they...?

It’s worrisome that at this point, Hanako has even surprised Tsukasa, our chessmaster ‘villain’ moving everyone around with a grand plan in mind. I feel like we should all be sitting around wondering what HANAKO’S plan is at this point. you’re sooo weird...

needless to say, the version of hanako i trust the least actually is THIS mfer

YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! .... everyone is so ready to pity you amane but i am not. GIVEN YOUR TRACK RECORD... I’M JUST NOT QUITE SURE.

this doesn’t pass my smell test!!!!!! i’m documenting my mistrust for posterity so when the murder is revealed in 2028 i’ll have had my say

#☀️#💭

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agentnico · 1 year

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The Fabelmans (2022) Review

Marriage Story did it better, just saying.

Plot: Growing up in post-World War II era Arizona, young Sammy Fabelman aspires to become a filmmaker as he reaches adolescence, but soon discovers a shattering family secret and explores how the power of films can help him see the truth.

When a director makes a semi autobiographical film, one has to wonder if this director is simply too full of themselves and are in love with their own image. I mean, that’s my opinion on that upcoming Madonna biopic that’s written and produced by herself and I’m just like “Madonna, hun, stop crying for Argentina and take it down a notch, okay??”. However in this case the director in question is Steven Spielberg, who obviously is one of the great auteurs of Hollywood. As such The Fabelmans instead acts as a love letter to the art form of cinema, and how film allows us to escape or alter reality, no matter how harsh it gets. For the main aspect of his life that Spielberg brings to this story is the dysfunctional family that he had when he was young. I mean, not sure how much of it is true and how much made up for the benefit of the film’s narrative, but evidently Spielberg loved both of his parents, yet his parents together were not the right pairing. Again, this film is never as intense as Marriage Story, but yep, as you can imagine Michelle Williams spends 90% of the movie crying. It’s an engaging and very personal film for Spielberg even if it does tread the landmarks of generic biopic tropes.

The cast is obviously solid, as Spielberg can afford to avoid bad ones. Paul Dano makes for a likeable father figure, even though it’s so hard to believe that the guy is nearly 40! Him and Elijah Wood simply don’t age! Regardless, Dano is great as always even though you don’t actually spend that much time with him as his character is always at work, however I guess that makes sense in context of him being detached from his wife, played by Michelle Williams. Speaking of Williams, I’ve seen many reviews clamouring for her to be nominated for an Academy Award, however personally all I saw was her crying non stop. It’s like her 5 minute appearance in Manchester by the Sea has been stretched out into feature film length. She also looked really weird in this film, I’m not sure why. As if her face was slightly puffed out and she was having an allergic reaction... strange. The kid that played the young-Spielberg-type Sammy Fabelman was great. Felt like the type of coming-of-age character you’d see in a Richard Linklater film. But in fact the stand out for me was Seth Rogen. Don’t get me wrong, he’s great in those raunchy comedies he does, however I always appreciate whenever he attempts some serious dramatic work. He was surprisingly believable as Steve Wozniak in Steve Jobs, and here playing Uncle Bennie who in some ways in the main instigator for all the drama that transpires. There’s an easy tenderness to his persona, as he’s both a best friend to Paul Dano’s character, but also has his affections for Williams. Yet he is also self conflicted in that he also loves the Fabelmans as a whole family. He even cares about Sammy, pushing him more towards not giving up on his ‘hobby’ of filmmaking. I was really impressed with Seth Rogen in this film.

Performances aside, I personally believe what Spielberg sets out to do with this film is admirable, in sort of peeling back the layers of himself that we wouldn’t usually get to see, and his love for cinema is so prevalent in every single shot of this movie, however at the same time I’d also say the film is a tad overwhelming. Its a potent memoir that struggles by being too saccharine and preachy at times, and also I myself did not get swiped up in the emotion as much as I think the film intended me to. Again, just wasn’t buying Williams’ constant cry-baby expression, sue me!

Overall score: 6/10

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boreal-sea · 4 months

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Why can’t people treat the Democratic Party like they do with JK Rowling?

“Death to the author! Just because I’m buying and supporting her work doesn’t mean I support her views but if you vote for Biden/Democratic Party then you endorse all their behavior and your supporting genocide :)”

Obviously these two actions (buying JKRs work and voting) have completely different impacts and one obviously is more important but like???

Firstly, I actually don't treat JK Rowling that way. I have completely abandoned Harry Potter. I refuse to engage with it.

"Death of the author" doesn't work like that anyway - it's a rhetorical analysis technique used to ponder the impact and meaning of a piece of writing by setting aside anything that author may have said about it themselves and solely looking at what they actually wrote.

Using death of the author on Harry Potter means you observe things like "wow, whether she intended it or not, the goblins are an antisemitic caricature, there's a lot of subtle racism and classism going on, there's some pretty fucked up morals being taught here, and there's transphobia, gender essentialism, and fatphobia."

It does NOT mean "go ahead and enjoy this piece of media even though the author is actively trying to kill trans people!"

Plus, she has said many times that if you continue to engage with HP, she takes that as a sign you secretly agree with her, you're just too afraid to say anything.

Secondly, the Democratic party isn't lobbying for my death, and in fact, Democratic-run states are the ones that have passed laws to ensure trans rights, to ban conversion therapy, and to make sure trans people have access to surgery, medication, and that we can pee safely in public.

Biden's administration has done many, many good things. Do I disagree with how he's handling Palestine? Yeah, of course. But I like many things he's done besides that.

So no, Biden isn't like JK Rowling, even using the best faith interpretation of your metaphor and using the wrong definition of "death of the author".

However, I do hope people are smart enough to realize that even if they despise Biden and don't want to vote for him, they should still go vote anyway and vote for the most progressive candidate that can actually win all the way down the ticket. In most cases, that's going to be the Democrat.

But the bottom line is that if you don't vote for Biden, Trump is going to win. And if you hate how Biden is handling Palestine, you're REALLY gonna hate how Trump handles it. So if you want to fucking help Palestine, Biden is your best option.

To be frank, if someone claims they care about Palestine but say they're not going to vote for Biden, I don't actually believe they give a shit. They just think this is a game. If they're willing to let Trump be president, they don't give a fuck about Palestine - they just hate Biden.

#uspol

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captnjacksparrow · 2 years

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From the manga we know that Naruto is a closeted gay, so I was wondering how you think he'd overcome his internalized homophobia or if he even would? Obviously the story we got is that he just stays in the closet forever and marries the first woman who comes his way :(, but what do you think would need to happen for him to be 'open' with Sasuke? Would the two of them admitting their feelings for each other be enough? Do you think it's more realistic for him to just stay single forever in a village like Konoha (pining after Sasuke in secret)? Personally, I'm torn... I also feel like Naruto would go for a girl because of Kushina's final words, but then again she said not to go for a weird girl and that's what he went for. Between Naruto and Sasuke, I can picture Sasuke not caring about it. But I don't think he would act on anything unless Naruto does first. If the next generation cashgrab nonsense didn't happen how do you picture their lives ending up?

The answer is in your ask, Anon. But right after that, you denied your own Answer.

This line...

Between Naruto and Sasuke, I can picture Sasuke not caring about it. But I don't think he would act on anything unless Naruto does first.

The first part is an Absolute Fact. But the second part is where my opinion differs. And I'll just say why.

It's a known fact that Sasuke was the one who was very aware about his own feelings much earlier than Naruto ever was.

And hence He will be the first person to act on and bring out Naruto from the Closet. I don't mean anything in a Horny or Sexual way like a Fuckboy or Sex God... Sasuke could just pose a simple indirect remark and Naruto might hit the Euphoria!!!

Since when did Naruto acted first about anything between them, anyway??? It was Sasuke who initiated many things between them.

Naruto, here, was admitting the fact that he regretted over and over about not reaching out Sasuke sooner. Naruto was fairly 8 years old here.

Even after Graduating from the Academy, Naruto hadn’t reached him out as he intended and still behaved catty towards Sasuke.

It was Sasuke who literally lit up this bond by doing this Warm Gesture by setting aside his Dreams and Ego.

And here, after seeing Naruto's brave act of piercing the Kunai in his wrists in order to continue the mission (it's also one of Sasuke's treasured memory)... Sasuke got impressed with Naruto and hence he decided to walk next to Naruto. Another Initiation from Sasuke...

During the Tree climbing Training, Sasuke initiated a normal conversation, that doesn't involve any teasing or argument.

He just called out Naruto's name... (Another one of Sasuke's treasured memory) and asked for the Tips, all the while Blushing.

Even Naruto himself was surprised with the fact that Sasuke was the one who talked to him first. Sasuke simply could've asked the tips to Sakura who successfully climbed the tree, you know. No need to ask to a loser who is still behind him. It's another Total Crush Behaviour where Sasuke initiated an act of Bonding and remembers that even during his death.

Another Instance where Naruto was just doing his own thing... without bothering anyone and it was Sasuke who just initiated to tease him by asking, “Can’t you take care of yourself??”

Here, Sasuke initiated another deliberate and intentional act of coming close to Naruto's face and staring at Naruto with such a painful and longing face.

Just like 2.5 years before, Sasuke once again initiated an intimate act which gave off this borderline creepy platonic Hug vibe. An Act which Sasuke could've clearly avoided and killed Naruto just like that.

Even when Sasuke became 32, he didn't mind asking such a sulking and salty Question in front of everyone... Which only Naruto could understand. Another sulking initiation from Sasuke.

So, Compared to all these moments, tell me on how many instances Naruto initiated a friendly interest to be around Sasuke other than those times he wanted to play catty rivalry???? (Ex, Accidental Kiss)

The Answer is Zero.

Even his First Confession in VoTE1, it was all just a monologue to Naruto himself. It took Naruto to get a fake confession from Sakura (a person whom he considered as a Closet and hid all his feelings for Sasuke) and that led him to Confess to Sasuke for the first time under the Bridge and stopped spouting that Brother nonsense. Because he thought he could play Brother forever but the moment his Closet (Sakura) decided to kill Sasuke... Naruto decided to take on that role of a Partner and said, “I’ll be the only one to take it. I’ll bear all the burdens of your Hatred and we’ll die together”

Even in other popular medias like

Broke Back Mountain... Ennis was extremely closeted but it was Jack who was very aware of his feelings.... that initiated everything.

In Mo Dao Zu Shi... Wei WuXian (WWX) was an Oblivious person... It was Lan WangJi (LWJ) who initiated and had shown his love time and time again. And LWJ's love has to be spelled out by his brother to make WWX to come to a realization.

It's not that I don't want/like Naruto to act first. It's just that there is no Canon panels to back up that idea... And Yeah, Naruto is a Hero and he chased the Heroine... So logically, he must do the confessing first... Well, Except it's not. Because Bringing in some Cookie Cutter Hetero Trope into a Gay relationship simply doesn't make sense just because the Author made N as a Hero & S as a Heroine. It just doesn't work out that way.

Now that I come to think of it, Atleast Naruto made his confession twice verbally. Whereas Sasuke’s chapter 698 confession was all about his Monologue to himself. So, Sasuke hadn’t yet verbally acknowledged about anything from his side.

This is exactly why I think Sasuke should/would act first... And Sasuke initiating things were backed up by Canon too. If Sasuke could subtly convey his feelings, am sure Naruto wouldn't feel disgusted and slowly but surely he would come out of the Closet and embrace those feelings finally.

Even if he can't able to openly claim that Sasuke as his Husband, atleast he would stay single on the outside.... And on the inside, he would play 'friends' with Sasuke.

#narusasu #sasunaru #nsn #sns

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vodkassassin · 3 years

Note

Can I hope for a little cucumber plane ficlet?? If it's eating me this much idk how much it's devouring u. No pressure tho

Dw my darling anon I gotcha back ;3

—

“You remind me of my husband.” Shen Qingqiu says one day, out of the blue, as he’s sipping his tea and watching Shang Qinghua do paperwork.

Shang Qinghua pauses. He lifts his brush up and away from the paper so that no excess ink drops and ruins all his work, and pin his bestie with a hard look.

“I’d hope so?” He says flatly, puzzled. “Because … we are married…. How many husbands do you got, bro?”

“I think the fact that we’re married and you still call me bro is grounds for a divorce,” Shen Qingqiu promptly replies, as usual. “No, I mean, in my last life. Back in… you know. Modern times.”

Shang Qinghua is quiet. Then, “You were… married before?”

“Yeah? I’m a total catch, you’re not special.” Shen Qingqiu scoffs, and then hurriedly adds, before Shang Qinghua has the chance to pull out the Devastating Broken-hearted Puppy Eyes — don’t give him that look. his husband had coined the term, not him — “Shut up, obviously you are or I wouldn’t have married you. But, yes. you’re my second husband. If we’re counting my past life. Which we are.”

“If we’re counting past lives, from before,” Shang Qinghua says slowly, setting aside his brush, “then you’re not my first husband either.”

There is a beat of silence.

“I think I shouldn’t be as surprised as I am to hear that, considering I married you myself here,” Shen Qingqiu says, after a long moment. “But, still. You?”

“What? I’m a catch,” Shang Qinghua defends mockingly, voice dry.

“I know that, shut up,” his husband smacks out at him absently with his fan, a thoughtful look overcoming his face as he stares across the room at the wall. “What was he like, then?”

A little awkwardly, Shang Qinghua shrugs. “Um. Well. You, I guess.”

Shen Qingqiu turns to look at him, eyebrow raised. “You really only have one type, don’t you?”

“You only have one type!” Shang Qinghua raises his hands and gestures air quotes with his fingers. “‘You remind me of my past husband.’ How can I remind you of someone I’m not like? You’re a hypocrite.”

“A hypocrite who is your type.” Shen Qingqiu points out. “What did he do?”

“Nothing, he was a spoiled rich trust fun baby and I had to teach him all about memes so he wouldn’t embarrass me in public. He didn’t know memes, bro, can you believe it? Lived under a rock before I saved him. At least you know about memes.”

“I’m glad I’m apparently a step up from your last marriage.” Shen Qingqiu says, dry as a desert.

“What did your husband do?”

Shen Qingqiu pats at his lips with the folded end of his fan. It’s a tiny fidget but it’s a cute as hell habit and Shang Qinghua loves watching him. “He was still going to college, when I died. Majoring in business and management. He did something on the side to make some extra cash because he refused to let me carry us with the money I got from my parents, but he’d never tell me what it was.”

“Oh.” Shang Qinghua says. He picks up his brush again, fully intending to return to the report he was marking over, when he stops. Sets the brush back down. “Wait.”

“Hm?” Shen Qingqiu blinks at him, head tilted. Adorable as hell. Shang Qinghua shakes his head slowly.

“Bro.” He says. “Husband. Love of my life, of my — What, might I ask, was your name? Back then?”

The slow and idle flapping of Shen Qingqiu’s fan slows to a stop. “What?”

“Just — Just humor me.”

“Okay,” his husband — his husband, wait wait wait, his??? Husband??? — says, slowly, like he thinks he’s stupid. “Shen Yuan.”

Shang Qinghua picks up his calligraphy brush and throws it across the room. It paints a long, thin black line down the wall. He picks up the ink stone and chucks it after it for good measure.

“Ummm, Airplane, what—?”

“Bitch!” He says, pointing a finger at his fucking husband accusingly. “We’re both stupid!”

“Um, slut? Don’t insult me without telling me why!”

“My name back then,” Shang Qinghua wails, tugging uselessly on his own bangs, “it was Shang Lei!”

Shen Qingqiu — Shen Goddamn Yuan — blinks. And then he splutters.

“Fucking what!” He shrieks.

“I married you,” Shang Qinghua groans, bending over to slam his face into his desk, and likely getting the ink he had painstakingly brushed over the report smeared all over his face, “twice!”

It takes a while, all afternoon and evening really, for the both of them to finally calm down. They’re still mindblown when they cuddle up in bed that night, but when Shen Yuan curls in to stick the frozen tip of his nose to Shang Qinghua’s neck like the icy bitch he is and always has been, he sighs.

“It’s gotta mean something, that in an entirely new universe we still ended up together without actually meaning to.” He says, and Shang Qinghua can feel the man’s smile against his skin as he wraps his arms around him. “Are we in a goddamn soulmate fanfic or something?”

“Aw, babe,” Shang Qinghua nuzzles downward and peppers his husband’s face with kisses. “That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me!”

“Don’t fucking tell anyone.”

“Nobody would believe me even if I did!”

“What’s that suppose to mean?!”

#cumplane #cucumberplane #shen yuan #shang qinghua #airplane bro #airplane shooting toward the sky #Vodkassassin fanfiction #svsss prompts #anon ask #anonymous #ask box #vodka answers

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jihyuncompass · 2 years

Text

How They Were in School

More than one headcanons set a month? Who am I

Rich kid, obviously.

Although he was rich and everyone knew it, he also wasn’t the type to brag about his wealth or his family’s status in school. At least not intentionally.

Sometimes he’d make a comment purely out of ignorance. No harm intended, but still enough to make people roll their eyes at him and groan.

“What do you mean you don’t have a driver? How do you get to school?”

The bus Marius. The bus. Like a good chunk of students do.

“Oh I didn’t realize people actually rode those here!”

Despite his occasional ignorant comment Marius was actually fairly popular with the other students when he was in school.

Of course his family’s status and wealth had some part to play in why he was so popular, but ultimately a lot of it came down to him just being a good guy and charming by nature.

Marius is very inherently kind, even if he can come off a bit obnoxious.

(Well maybe a little more than a bit)

But you can’t deny he has a good heart and all the best intentions.

Of course, Marius was also very popular for his looks. He isn’t blind to his own charms and appearance and neither were his classmates. Marius’ winning smile and flirtatious remarks got him many secret admirers in his school years.

Not a valentine’s gone by where his locker wasn’t filled with cards from his admirers. Even if he never really entertained the idea of being in a relationship too much.

As much as many would assume he’d run for class president Marius actually wasn’t the type to seek out that kind of attention or position.

In fact, Marius was far more content sitting in the corner of the art classroom, pouring over his next piece. Learning new art mediums and experimenting with different forms. Taking as many art classes as he could and trying to push aside the business/marketing courses his councilors and family tried to push him into.

He was very popular with the art teachers. Which meant he got a lot of extra privileges.

Graduated with a 3.9 GPA. While he generally did very well, he ain't perfect. But then again, grades don’t matter when you’re a von Hagen.

Right?

Okay so in canon Vyn was most likely taught by private tutors instead of actually going to a general public or private school considering he’s like. Basically royalty but let’s just pretend here alright.

In school Vyn was known for being an exceptional student.

Perfect grades, All AP/IB courses, that kind of deal.

He’s that kid that everyone knows is gonna end up going to one of those incredibly well revered Ivy League schools, where he would also end up doing exceptionally well.

Socially Vyn is decently popular. He’s liked well enough by most people and not many people really find issues with him. However Vyn is also almost always primarily focused on his academics, so he’s probably not one to really try and be popular in the first place.

Vyn is also well known for being a tutor to a lot of other students. It wasn’t uncommon for teachers to ask Vyn to help tutor struggling students, if not having students reach out to him first.

Vyn is actually a really great tutor though. He very clearly knows and understands his material and is actually pretty decent at teaching it to others.

He’s also a pretty great tutor too. Similarly to how he is as a professor, he has his expectations but isn’t overly strict or harsh. He’s a much more encouraging teacher than anything else.

Anyone who went to school with him could probably tell that he was going to become some kind of educator. Although his choice of psychiatry might have been a little more of a surprise.

Most people probably would have pegged him for something more… politically motivated considering his family. But as we know, that was never quite Vyn’s style.

Graduates with a perfect GPA. Was absolutely the Valedictorian for his class and gave an extremely inspiring speech that most of his classmates still remember years later.

Regardless of if he’d admit or not Artem was a huge nerd in school.

He wasn’t incredibly popular but everyone who did know him liked him a lot. Artem is a pretty easy person to like and get along with in general.

However, even for all that friendliness and charm he does have, Artem is also almost painfully oblivious to most people's attempts at advances towards him.

It’s not that he was uninterested in people finding him attractive or desirable, he’s just got the kind of person who’s gonna notice it.

You could probably walk up to him and straight up tell him that you find him handsome and ask him out on a date and he’d likely just assume you’re being friendly and trying to befriend him.

We love him for that though.

Academically he does very well, not quite Vyn levels of perfect academics but he does well in his courses. Even if they aren’t all APs or honors courses.

Artem finds himself drawn towards the political science and history courses. After all, with two parents in the legal field he can’t help but have an interest.

Artem is also a debate club champion. Just as he’s known for his success in the courtroom his school years were remembered for his success in the debate club. You could give him any subject or stance and he’d be able to make an incredibly successful argument.

However, despite loving those political science courses and government classes. The place where Artem finds himself truly happy is in his time as President of the film club.

The club wasn’t immensely popular at his school, but popular enough that once a week he and a few other students would get together to watch films and discuss them. It’s a big part of where his love of film and movies started. Even if most people had no idea.

When he graduated, he was absolutely one of the honor students. Even if not valedictorian. However, no one would deny that Artem had some really good things in his future. Especially as he headed towards his Law degree.

Luke wasn’t really all that popular.

Although he wasn’t unpopular either?

Honestly Luke wasn’t and has never been the type to really care all that much about that kind of thing. Popularity isn’t a huge thing for him.

The popularity he does have though, comes from his good natured personality.

Luke’s a good person, that has never been a point of debate. He’d be the type to pick up the book you accidentally dropped, or walk you to the school nurse if you felt unwell and so on.

While Luke is generally very outgoing with others he can sometimes come off as rather reserved when it comes to talking about himself. He doesn’t talk a whole lot about himself to others and would much prefer to listen and help other people.

As a result, while he is well liked by many of his peers, most people don’t actually know a whole lot about him as a person. They know he’s kind, and that he genuinely wants to help others, but that’s the bulk of what most people know.

Luke’s a good student, although he wouldn’t be the type to brag about being on the honor roll or getting an A on his final exams. He does well while keeping himself humble.

He’s also very well liked by the staff at the school. Luke is the kind of person that would never dare to be rude or disrespectful to the staff, which earns him a lot of extra points.

Luke is the student who knows every janitor’s name and asks about their day. He’s good friends with the lunch servers and always gets a little extra food as a result. He’s well loved by the librarian and always has first dibs on any new mystery novel that is put on the shelf.

Luke doesn’t get to graduate with the rest of his class. Before he could even graduate he was off to study at university. One day he’s in class and the next day he’s up and gone away.

Some people forget about him, they remember the kind boy who helped them out once or sat in their classes, but his name is forgotten by some. But for others who he was very kind towards, a hope for his success never ceased.

#tears of themis #tot #mihoyo #hoyoverse #marius von hagen #lu jinghe #artem wing #zuo ran #vyn richter #mo yi #luke pearce #xia yan #headcanons

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zazzander · 2 years

Text

Nico and Octavian – More Similar Than You Think

“I always thought you’d make a powerful ally. I see the ruthlessness in you, and I appreciate that. I can assure you a place in New Rome.” [Octavian to Nico][BOO 427]

I want to talk about how the two characters of Octavian and Nico are actually pretty similar. Obviously, they’re backgrounds have strong differences – Nico was homeless for quite a while, for one. Is an orphan (on his mortal side), for another. But beyond the obvious stuff, they become quite comparable.

How they are viewed by other demigods

We are all, I’m sure, familiar with the general distrust Nico invokes in others. As a son of Hades, he bears the weight of suspicion and even enmity. After the events of the original series, Nico is accepted by the camp… to an extent. It seems that they respect Nico and are thankful that he helped save them (and the world), but that doesn’t mean they warmed up to him:

He remembered how nice the kids at Camp Half-Blood had been to him after the war with Kronos. Great job, Nico! Thanks for bringing the armies of the Underworld to save us! Everybody smiled. They all invited him to sit at their tables. After about a week, his welcome wore thin. Campers would jump when he walked up behind them. He would emerge from the shadows at the campfire, startle somebody and see the discomfort in their eyes: Are you still here? Why are you here? [Blood of Olympus 154]

Now, we get less of an impression about Octavian’s treatment by the Romans but I think it’s pretty clear that he isn’t well liked…

“The camp augur we’re going to meet, Octavian, he’s a legacy, descendant of Apollo. He’s got the gift of prophecy, supposedly.” [Son of Neptune]

“Octavian has a lot of friends, most of them bought. The rest of the campers are afraid of him.” [Son of Neptune]

Her words had the intended effect. The Roman officers laughed nervously. Some sized up Ella, then looked at Octavian and snorted. [Mark of Athena]

Some don’t respect him (probably the same ones who don’t believe Octavian can see the future). Some people accepted him – but only because it benefits them (monetarily or via promotions). And the final group, a good chuck of the legion, they fear him.

The fear aspect is reminiscent of Nico.

Of course, Octavian has managed to forge himself a place within Camp Jupiter. His primary position is that of augur. Theoretically this is a position deserving of respect, like his status of centurion, as seen above Octavian does struggle to gain any respect at all.

However, that’s not the part that’s similar to Nico. Instead, it’s the fact that the post of augur is one Octavian holds alone. He is the only priest for the legion, and that keeps him away from the others. He works out on Temple Hill, physically apart from the others. That’s some pretty strong symbolism for how Octavian is ‘different’ from the others at camp. For better or for worse.

How they are described

Before I go further, I want to discuss the various descriptions we get of Nico and Octavian. Once again – the obvious differences can be set aside. Nico is short, with tanned skin, dark eyes, and dark hair. Octavian is blond, blued eyed, and tall.

What I want to discuss is the wording and the vibe they both give off.

First of all, their eyes:

Nico: He studied me, his eyes sharp and colourless, like broken glass. vs. Octavian: His eyes too piercing… [and] Octavian’s eyes glittered with harsh curiosity.

Basically – they have very strong gazes. The symbolism of ‘broken glass’ and how Nico’s eyes are ‘sharp’, is similar to Octavian: ‘too piercing’ and even the ‘glittering’ since it’s described as harsh.

But more important, there is a running theme for both of them of ‘physically unimposing, secretly a threat’. This is mentioned more with Nico, but the characters around him realised he is a threat. A several POVs in Heroes of Olympus don’t seem to realise this about Octavian.

But Octavian still definitely has this narrative.

To dig into this idea a bit:

Nico: as pale and gaunt as he looked vs. Octavian: Octavian’s face looked almost ghoulish under his white mantle…his checks too gaunt, his lips too thin and colourless [and] His face was gaunt.

Their paleness is even mentioned in relation to each other (bear in mind that Octavian is naturally pale, while Nico naturally has more tanned skin).

The kid was almost as pale as Octavian, but with dark eyes and messy black hair.

So you can see that the words: ‘pale’, ‘colourless’ and ‘gaunt’ come up often with these two.

Not only that, depending on the time period, Nico is sometimes described as looking sick. And, of course, Octavian is often described as such – since his physical and mental health declines throughout Heroes of Olympus.

Nico: He appeared anaemic and frail. vs. Octavian: skinny and sickly pale [and] unhealthy version of Will Solace [and] “you anaemic loser!”

The anaemic descriptor is a favourite of Riordan’s to describe several of his characters, but it’s still notable that both Nico and Octavian fall into this category (others include Hearthstone and, if I recall correctly, May Castellan).

Now onto the idea of ‘secretly a threat’.

Nico:

Nico wasn’t physically imposing like Sherman Yang. He didn’t have Reyna Ramírez-Arellano’s air of authority, or Hazel’s commanding presence when she charged into battle on horseback. But Nico wasn’t someone I would ever want as an enemy.

[and] Nico didn’t appear scary. He was skinny and sloppy in his rumpled black clothes.

[and] This scrawny white boy was no fighter… She had changed her mind about that quick enough.

[and] He’d met plenty of scary demigods, but he was starting to realise that Nico di Angelo – as pale and gaunt as he looked – might be more than he could handle.

vs.

Octavian:

At first, he looked harmless, but as he got closer Percy wasn’t so sure.

[and] “Afraid of that skinny little guy?” | “Don’t underestimate him.”

[and] But she knew Nico was more dangerous than Reyna, or Octavian, or maybe even Jason. [the important point here is that Octavian is in this line up at all]

[and] Octavian marched up to Nico. To his credit, the augur didn’t seem afraid, though his only weapon was a dagger.

(a personal side note, there’s also this description of Nico: Nico’s smile was a bit of winter sun breaking between snow flurries. ~ and it’s exactly how I would describe Octavian if I wanted him to appear more likeable. Like winter sun matches Octavian’s descriptions so well and I’m definitely going to steal it)

The Iron Knife

This topic is really more of a side note but I think it should be pointed out – since this is all about Octavian and Nico.

Octavian slid his iron dagger from his belt and threw it at the table, where it impaled a map of Camp Half-Blood. [BOO 65]

At least one of Octavian’s knives (yes, he seems to have several) is made of iron. I point this out because you might think this is a parallel with Luke. But Luke wielded a steel and bronze blade. Luke had this because he wanted to be able to slay mortals, who aren’t affected by enchanted metals, like celestial bronze.

But Octavian is fighting demigods – not mortals. Not only that, but the word is different. Yes, steel is made of iron. But if why not say steel, then?

Reyna is familiar, presumably, with Octavian’s weapons. And besides, she’s the daughter of a war goddess she would be able to tell the difference between an iron and a steel blade.

Now, my point, because there is an enchanted metal that is notably made of iron. Yeah. Stygian Iron. The same metal of Nico’s sword.

So if we read into the wording here, Octavian owes a Stygian Iron dagger. Whether this was a slip up or intentional, it does add to my comparison. After all, Octavian could just as easily thrown ‘his dagger’ or ‘his gold dagger’.

Their Usual Alliances

I’m not going to fill up this post with quotes from all the times Nico has made unusual alliances in the series. Especially in Heroes of Olympus and Trials of Apollo. Nico has connections with monsters above and below. He often calls in their aid, such as with the Troglodytes in Trials of Apollo.

Then we have Octavian, who is able to commission onagers from cyclopes and get ‘wild’ centaurs and cynocephali to join him in a war they really aren’t a part of.

There is even a parallel with Nico and Octavian’s relationship between them and their divine ancestor / parent.

Nico brings in Hades for the finale battle in The Last Olympian, having convinced his father he will be better respected and regarded for it.

Octavian convinces Apollo to work with him, specially to fight a war, having convinced his ancestor he will be better respected and regarded for it…

Yeah, the circumstances aren’t entirely the same but it’s undeniable these two can be very persuasive when they want to be. And they certainly aren’t hung up on if their allies are morally upstanding or not.

(I think it’s a ‘I’ll judge them for myself’ type attitude, but I’m not 100% sure for either of them)

‘Death’ Powers

While it’s never stated, Octavian’s powers are linked to disaster. And of course, with disaster comes death.

Thus – death powers for the both of them.

Nico can sense when his friends die. Octavian foresees how they will die.

And more to that, Octavian probably presents as a herald of doom for the legion, whether he likes it or not. Why? Well, we can divide Octavian’s prophecies into two categories: ‘incoming disaster’ and ‘personal prophecies’.

Example of the latter comes with Hazel’s curse / prophecy.

Stupid augur and his gift of prophecy – of all people at camp to discover her secrets, why did it have to be him?

So while we never get told example what Octavian saw, I’ve discussed before that I think Octavian learned about Hazel’s personal prophecy – how a descendant of Neptune would break her curse. Therefore, Octavian worked out that Hazel was cursed and it was pretty easy to blackmail her from there.

Octavian doesn’t reveal this information to anyone, though we do have the circling rumours and he is pretty loose-lipped around Percy, he is never explicit. He keeps her secret, well, a secret.

However, the next category is different. Octavian foresees at least two incoming disasters: the fight against the giant army & the war with the Greeks. For the first, he informs Reyna and they establish a plan. For the second, seemingly because Reyna dismissed his predication as hogwash, he revealed his visions to the entire legion.

So we can see that, generally, Octavian keeps the personal prophecies under wraps. But the incoming disaster prophecies get told. Therefore, it wouldn’t be surprising if people associated Octavian with impending doom – in the same way Nico is associated to death due to his heritage and powers.

Fatal Flaws

I’ve written at length about Octavian’s fatal flaw – which I’ve dubbed ‘wrath’. Yes, the books will try to convince you it’s pride, but I just don’t see it. Yeah, Octavian has his moments where he could use a bit of humility but he isn’t overly arrogant nor egotistical.

What he does do is get overly angry.

And what’s interesting that, at least a part of, his anger is directed at Percy’s broken promise. Which is, of course, is a major plot point in PJO with Nico.

Percy promises to keep Bianca safe, Bianca dies, Nico is outraged. He holds a grudge against Percy for a decent period of time.

Then we have Percy, who makes an oath to the legion, who promises to fight with them if things who badly – and Percy breaks that promise. Octavian is outraged. He wants to drag Percy and the others back to Camp Jupiter to have them face ‘justice’.

While we can’t know exactly what is going on inside Octavian’s head, because we so rarely get a glimpse, he does seem to be willing to forgive people.

he allows the deserters to return to the legion,

he makes alliances with monsters whose (presumably) sister-tribes warred against New Rome (if it was the same monsters – gods, that’s a big load of forgiveness right there),

and finally Reyna, who was a traitor to the camp.

So I have to assume that the main issue Octavian has is that Percy and the other’s made a promise to the legion, which they broke.

(I would cut out this bit, since all the deserters technically swore oaths to serve for ten years, but we know the legion doesn’t really care about that, since Reyna only served five-ish years and left to join the hunters. No one was angry about. Plus, people leave to go solo all the time and there doesn’t seem much hatred towards them or anything).

And this all connects to the ‘ruthlessness’ mentioned in the first quote of this analysis. Because both of them can be bloodthirsty–

Bloodthirst and the Desire to Protect

So Nico di Angelo features way too much, often involving him in fights, to go that deeply into his psyche. He’s in way too many books! So I’m going to focus on the finale of Heroes of Olympus, because we get his POV.

Starting with this quote,

Nico was itching to stab Octavian in the chest. He’d been dreaming of that ever since Bryce Lawrence had attached them in South Carolina. But, now that they were face to face, Nico hesitated. He had no doubt he could kill Octavian before the First Cohort intervened. Nor did Nico particularly care his actions. The trade-off would be worth it.

But, after what happened with Bryce, the idea of cutting down another demigod in cold blood – even Octavian – didn’t set well.

[…] It doesn’t seem right? Another part of him wondered, Since when do I worry about what’s right?

Nico longs to stab Octavian. He mentions dreaming about it (not sure that’s literal or not) since the encounter with Bryce. He then goes on to contradict himself, saying that ‘after what happened with Bryce’ he doesn’t want to kill. Then he starts questioning the mortality of it all. Basically, he’s arguing with himself.

He has blood of his hands – he’s killed Bryce Lawrence – and a part of him doesn’t care, hell, it even rejoices. He wants to do it again. He wants to kill Octavian, who is threatening his friends much like Bryce threatened Reyna. He is perfectly willing to die if it means taking Octavian down with him.

In the end, Nico doesn’t necessarily kill Octavian – but he does let him die. Nico’s morality loses that argument. And because it does against what Nico believes should be the ‘right’ choice, he fears Will’s response:

He hadn’t talked to Will since the battle. The Apollo kids had been too busy with the injured. Besides, Will probably blamed Nico for what happened to Octavian. Why wouldn’t he? Nic had basically permitted… whatever that was. Murder by consensus. A gruesome suicide. By now, Will Solace realised just how creepy and revolting Nico di Angelo was.

Nico’s mortality tells him his actions were wrong. Sure, no one else believes that to be the case, but that’s not really important when discussing Nico’s ruthlessness. Nico was there. It was Nico who considered killing Octavian multiple times by his own hand. Only Nico knows that, perhaps, if Octavian hadn’t died by that onager, he’d have died by Nico’s own sword…

Then we have Octavian, whose bloodthirst is obvious. Octavian is perfectly willing to kill everyone in Camp Half-Blood, he orders the legion into battle over and over again. He hunts down the Seven to bring them to ‘justice’.

Of course, this is led by his anger and wrath. He believes, ultimately, that he is protecting his people – the legion, sure, but also the people back at New Rome, which include innocent children. After all, Octavian doesn’t know the Greeks didn’t mean to attack them, that it was Gaea.

Octavian believes that his actions are justified – required, even. Because of the threat posed by the Greeks. And unlike a lot of the other characters, he’s merciless enough to act on that justification.

But it’s important to note that, like Nico, Octavian has a strong desire to protect as much as he does to harm. The most important part of this is the running theme in Octavian’s plans that ‘no Roman will die’. For more on that see this post.

Summary

All in all, there’s a part of me who sees Octavian as what Nico could have become if no one befriended him, at least, on a thematic level. Octavian is older than Nico, he’d been burned just as badly, but ultimately no one has stepped in to… well, love him. Nico bonds with Reyna, with Jason, and finally with Will over HOO & TOA.

No one does that for Octavian.

Apollo almost does, arguably, but we know how badly that went…

And that’s why, Octavian can look at Nico and say, “I see the ruthlessness in you, and I appreciate that. I can assure you a place in New Rome”. Because they are so similar. Octavian knows that this offer might just make Nico waver.

Will certainly thought it might, since he stepped in to interrupt Octavian so quickly.

Basically, Octavian is the Romans’ ‘Nico di Angelo’.

(And it would be really cool if Octavian appeared in the Tartarus book as a foil for Nico. A ‘past demon’ come back to point out Nico’s flaws and mistakes…)

#octavian pjo #octavian analysis #heroes of olympus #nico di angelo #camp jupiter #pjo hoo toa

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shotorozu · 3 years

Note

HI AIDHAIHDHAJD I HOPE YOU’RE DOING WELL RN BUT I SAW THIS POST ON TIKTOK AND- BQKDHQIHAHA ITS SO FUNNY IF IT’S OKAY TO YOU CAN YOU PLEASE DO THAT ONE FOR KAMINARI, BAKUGO AND SHOTO 😭😭

IT’S JUST SO??? BAHAHAHAH THANK YOU THOUGHT ILY🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

(https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSJRWVY2g/)

giving them boxers with your face on them

(tiktok trend)

character(s) : kaminari denki, bakugou katsuki, todoroki shouto (bnha)

legend : [Y/N = your name] they/them pronouns used, quirk not mentioned

headcanon type : fluff, crack (x reader)

note(s) : PLEASE I BURSTED INTO LAUGHTER WHEN I READ THE TITLE, AND IM NOT EVEN SUPPOSED TO LAUGH THAT MUCH 💀💀

no proof read— wrote this at 12am so,, if there are any mistakes, i’ll fix them later!

»»————-　♡　————-«

kaminari denki

you saw a tiktok of someone giving their boyfriend a pair of boxers— but it had their face on it. so, you KNEW that you NEEDED to give this to denki.

beforehand, you asked his besties— sero and kirishima, to help you out on this tiktok. because,, if you asked someone else, it would’ve DEFINITELY been questioned (and obviously, they were willing to help)

but let’s be honest, when you told them what exactly you wanted to get done, they bursted into laughter 💀 and it took them 10 minutes to recover

it didn’t take long for you to receive the pair, and you also managed to conceal the pair of boxers with dark packaging. all that’s left is your boyfriend’s arrival

now— you’d think that denki would know about this new trend going around, but surprise! he doesn’t know 🗿

and even if he did know, i feel like he’d be caught off guard anyway— if you saw someone’s face on a piece of underwear, you would be surprised too

when you were setting up your phone (for the tiktok) that was when denki comes in, “hey Y/N! whatchu doing?”

“hi denki, look! i want you to open something i got you— and it’s custom made.” this sparks his interest no pun intended, and he hurries on to open it

and he is NOT DISAPPOINTED

he doesn’t even comment on the fact that your phone is out which he assumed was for tiktok and he bursts into uncontrollable laughter, practically snorting

“PLEEASEE WHY DO YOU HAVE YOUR FACE ON A PAIR OF BOXERS? I WASN’T EXPECTING THIS—” and he really meant that.

after you finished filming the tiktok, denki basically SPRINTED to the bathroom, so that he could wear the boxers 💀 he has to cherish your gifts as soon as he received them, right?

he’ll talk about them once in a while, “remember the time that you gave me those boxers? plEASE it’s still funny.”

the tiktok does incredibly well, and heck— it even came to the point where the tiktok’s sound went viral 💀 gathering 11k videos under that sound

bakugou katsuki

the idea never crossed your mind— and the tiktok didn’t show up on your fyp. but it did show up on kaminari’s fyp

you’d be scared because one, he’d scold you for spending too much money on ‘stupid pair of boxers’ which you worded in katsuki’s words

and two— this is bakugou katsuki 🧍 pranks and trends like these don’t really work on him, and you’re also scared of angering him?? you value NOT dying in the hands of an angry bakugou katsuki, okay?

but i don’t think that should be your concern anyway, the fact that you even managed to tame katsuki— was enough

back to the topic, kaminari basically dared you to give katsuki that because “he’d appreciate anything from his dearest s/o, riiigght?” and he’s not wrong

so, you receive the custom made boxers in the mail (with your face SLAPPED on it’s front) and you make sure to repackage the boxers

so that the wrapping would conceal the boxers’ print— and so that the surprise would be a tad bit more effective.

when you were discreetly setting your phone up for the tiktok, that was also when katsuki came from his daily workout routine

he’s just like 🤨 when he sees you all excited— and when he also sees the package

“what are you all excited about?” he’ll ask after pecking your lips,“idiot?? don’t tell me yo—”

“no, no! it’s for you, this time!” you reassure him, “i promise it’s not anything funny!” too bad katsuki believes you

he walks over, and immediately tears the wrapping— “what the,,” when he opens the package, he is NOT pleased 🧍

“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?? YOU’RE GIVING ME BOXERS WITH YOUR FACE ON THEM??”

you just laughed out loud, rolling onto the floor in pure laughter— and katsuki can only stare at the boxers in shock, “you’re gonna wear them, right?”

“no, fuck no.” he’s so done with your shit

“aww pleaseee? those were expensive, AND they were custom made.” he’s so disappointed wjdnsjs

“i—” he sighs, “you’re lucky that i love you. i would’ve chucked this.. thing in the trashcan.”

it’s,,, the thought that counts for sure! he’ll probably wear them once in every blue moon though.

kaminari watches the tiktok, and ends up having the biggest field day— on the brighter side! your wallet isn’t that empty anymore.

if you’re curious about the tiktok’s results, it does well— it’s almost scary, considering how the tiktok blew up FAST

todoroki shouto

pleaseeee 💀🖐

now,, shouto would’ve thought that you wanted to gift those boxers to him GENUINELY. like,, sincerely

not like a gag gift, but more like a “oh hey shouto! i saw these boxers while shopping, and i thought these would look great on you.”

and you’d also think that shouto would’ve gotten a lot more used to the social thing— in a way, he has.

but,, boxers with YOUR face on them??? that wasn’t in the run through, tf

you were shopping online for clothes, when you suddenly got the greatest idea to surprise your boyfriend with a pair of boxers—

that had your face on them 💀

you don’t actually mean to tease him, but you’re just really curious on how he’d react to seeing the boxers (and if he’d actually wear them)

you place your phone in a not so obvious area— but it was also high enough to capture his reaction. when you get the boxers, they actually came in black packaging so,, less trouble!

“hey love,” he greets you with a quick kiss on the lips— and he quickly notices the black package that sat right next to you. “what’s that?”

“oh, speaking of which—” you hold out the box, “open it!”

and shouto is like,, hmm.. because you didn’t tell him what exactly the gift was, but either way— anything from you would be worth the suspense im sorry, but you’re just trying your best to hold yourself back

when he opens the package, he’s surprised to see what appears to be shorts, but when he unfolds the pair of ‘shorts’

😯 “is that..” he’s at a loss for worrd, completely BAFFLED at the sight of your face on a pair of boxers. out of all of the things he was expecting, it,, wasn’t this

YOU JUST CAN’T HELP BUT LAUGH AT THE FACT THAT HE’S LIKE 😯 ➡️🧍

shouto’s so confused, because why are you laughing? was this not genuine? is this not a social cue he doesn’t understand? why would he not like them??

but he’s surprised for sure, so he does laugh, “Y/N, i’d appreciate anything you’d give me. so, this was not any exception— but this was certainly the most interesting gift you have given me.”

setting all of jokes aside, he takes good care of the boxers— commenting on how he doesn’t want to tarnish the fabric, or the print of your astonishing face.

he wears them when he’s not going anywhere 🗿 so occasionally, you’d catch a glimpse of those boxers in the laundry—

he’s not very shy about it, since “you gifted me them so.. i’m using them.”

when you posted the tiktok, it does extremely well— and it mostly consisted of comments like “LMAO WE KNOW HOW MUCH YOU WANTED TO LAUGH” “he was genuinely surprised lmaooo”

»»————-　♡　————-«

likes and reblogs are appreciated, thanks for reading!

i do not own bnha/mha and it’s characters. boku no hero academia/my hero academia belongs to horikoshi kohei, i only own the writing and i do not profit off of my hobby

do not plagiarize, reupload, translate, or use my works for audio readings without permission

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24-guy · 2 years

Text

Okay okay okay.

I want to talk about why cTechno and cEret's apologies were taken differently by cTubbo.

(Disclaimer, as usual, when I say the names, I only mean the characters. If I intend to speak about the creators, I'll say cc before. This also does not represent my emotions on any of the characters or streamers.)

Also I'm watching from Tubbo's POV.

Right. So let's get right into it.

I think it's important, when talking about this, to take the order and context into account, and to understand what is spoken. So, first, let's look at all of Techno's apology and understand why Tubbo trusts him again after it.

First, let's discuss the context leading up to this. And this, obviously, starts with the jailbreak stream where Techno is a known ally and friend to Ranboo, and was the one to approach Tubbo and tell him about both the death and the kidnapping. Taking off his armour, in fact, something I've spoken about as the armour shows how defensive or open someone is depending on how often they wear it. In that moment of almost vulnerability, Techno takes off his armour and tells Tubbo the information. This is how he probably knows Techno is telling the truth, amongst also knowing it's not in Techno's character to kill someone without like... A government involvement or something. From there he was the one to suggest finding Michael with Tubbo.

This alone would put Technoblade into a dubious trust as someone with a common goal. Tubbo understands the motivation, and this allows him to put a little bit of his trust into Techno since what else can he do?

Now we go into the saving Michael streams and they are right to business. They get their goal in order and this especially would affirm to Tubbo especially that Techno is set on getting Michael back. The fact that Techno is just as trusting in Tubbo to get this done probably helps as well.

Oh and then the fact that Tubbo is trusted with an Axe from Techno. Not only do they joke about the irony of Techno sharing an axe, but this is an axe that is worth more to him than the Axe of Peace ever was. This, again, builds up more trust. That Techno is willing to trust Tubbo with one of his strongest weapons, given to him by one of his closest friends.

Now. We skip a little bit to get to the apology.

First off, Tubbo first says he is the one who owes Techno an apology.

And the first thing Techno says? "For what?". In Techno's mind. Tubbo doesn't need to apologize.

He then follows up with "is it for the whole war thing? Because that was both of, you know, I used to be a menace." Techno immediately shifts blame onto himself. He is acknowledging what he himself has done, and, at the same time, he's also basically telling tubbo that he doesn't need to apologize for anything.

And then Tubbo suggests turning over a new leaf, because of their aligned views. This is a new thing. They have acknowledged that they have both done bad things to each other, they are willing to put that aside for this common goal.

Obviously, Tubbo's own execution has not been dealt with in conversation yet. Which means they're probably avoiding it. Knowing how these two are.

Now we go to when the apologies continue after they meet Eret, and I'll go over the necessary context for Eret when I tackle her apology.

I think an important thing to note is that the thing that started this, is Techno pointing out that he and Eret were the ones to kill Tubbo. He took that responsibility himself.

And he instantly goes to mention the festival, before being interrupted.

It's here that Tubbo questions whether or not he is being led to his death.

And Techno starts back, taking the first place in talking, and he mentions the festival again. And he mentions how he "wouldn't go to this much work" and you can't deny the merit behind that.

If Techno really wanted to kill anyone, he would probably do it as soon as he could. He has the ability and power to do so.

And then what does he do? Immediately takes responsibility for the festival. Techno takes the blame for Tubbo's death that day. He says it was pathetic of him; that he should have died for his beliefs. And then he explains the reason why he didn't; because he comes from a place where he only gets one life. Techno admits there and then, whether intentionally or not, that he was scared to die.

Techno also promises to never make the mistake again as Tubbo forgives him.

And now to Eret. Because I think this is really interesting how this exactly parallels Techno in the opposite way.

So. Context again. Tubbo goes into talking with Eret as "they are the one who stole my child". Not to mention that Eret is literally sat on a throne, looking down at them when they start this conversation. You don't want to get me started on camera angles that are unintentionally building character in the dsmp. Also. Eret laughing after Tubbo's "where the fuck is my child"? Probably not a good look... Learning that Eret doesn't have Michael, but instead trusted Sam (the man who killed his husband) with Michael is adding more distrust. Not only that, but Eret not knowing where Michael would be moved to after Sam said "I can keep someone safe, I can make a place for Michael to be safe"? Like. That's something I would hope they would have asked the coordinates of.

And obviously, without any prior motives or trust building before now, there is no wonder Tubbo thinks Eret, the person who led the L'manbergians to their death using a lie, may be lying about this.

And then, acknowledging that he killed Tubbo, she says "we'll let bygones be bygones" which... Coming from Eret, may sound a little bit like they're saying Tubbo did something to him. That's typically who says "we'll let bygones be bygones"; people who have been treated bad by the other person. Not the other way around. It's this sentence that causes Tubbo to back away very quickly from the two of them and have a little freak out about being led to his death.

Eret has to be prompted and asked before saying sorry.

It's no wonder that Tubbo says he's still pissed at Eret after Techno's apology.

And it's now that Eret explains their side of things. Saying how she thought betraying L'manberg would stop the fighting, saying how he's learned about how important the relationships are.

Tubbo seems suspicious at this, and can you blame him? Again. This is someone who has apparently learned this yet had to be prompted into an apology. This is about an act that happened who knows how long ago and yet they've remained silent all of this time.

I understand a little with Techno and Tubbo's silence with each other, they murdered one another (if you count the use of a totem as still killing someone before it works). They would want to avoid each other. They actively have bad blood in every version of L'manberg that techno had participation in ever since Schlatt's appointment as president.

Eret has, for the most part (and as far as I know) stayed away from all of that. There isn't bad blood there.

In conclusion, then, it is understandable how Tubbo is hesitant to accept Eret's apology versus Techno's. Given all of the contexts behind everything, and all of the character interactions they've had surrounding this point in particular.

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khentkawes · 3 years

Text

Tony Stark-antis need to learn some chill and basic narrative comprehension skills. Like really? Again with this bullshit?

Dude, we are ONE episode into Falcon and the Winter Solider and people are already using it as an excuse to resurrect anti-Tony Stark bad takes. Like... WTF fandom? Do we really have to go through this with every single post-Endgame mcu project? Really? When are ya all gonna learn some comprehension skills and actually pick up on what the narrative is trying to say?

Say it with me: the bank loan scene was a not-very-subtle jab at systemic racism and the way black veterans have been treated in American for decades. It’s not an excuse to anti on about how “tOnY sTaRk DiDnT pAy ThE aVeNgErS CuZ hE’s A eVIL bILLIonAiRe!”

Are you all so afraid of talking about systemic racism that you have to blame Tony Stark for Sam not getting a bank loan? Really? After a year of BLM protests and extensive awareness-raising for systemic racism, and y’all still don’t get it?

That’s the real world issue that the narrative was trying to lay out, and it’s the in-universe explanation for that scene, which is trying to address out-of-universe real-world issues. But now let me be petty and go back to the in-universe issues of whether Sam got paid... because this whole take is just pissing me off and I have to rant. So...

Sam hasn’t had a paying job in seven years, and he chose to leave the Avengers when he defied the Sokovia Accords because he blindly follows everything Cap says without ever thinking for himself. He’s been badly written ever since he showed up at the end of Age of Ultron. And that bad writing means he’s just been playing as Cap’s lackey, and in doing so, he CHOSE to leave the Avengers, to reject a government paycheck, and take his chances on the run for two years as a fugitive. So yeah. Two years, no job, no pay. And as far as we can tell, he didn’t do a whole lot of awesome saving-the-world in those two years either. He was just hiding out with Cap and maybe punching a couple of low-level terrorists or something .There certainly weren’t any alien invasions that he stopped in that time. And after that, he was dust for five years. That’s not his fault, obviously, but no one can expect to collect a paycheck while they don’t exist. That’s why the post-Blip economy is probably a bit wonky at the moment. So in total... seven years. No job. No paycheck. Part of that is consequences of Sam’s actions and part of it was through no fault of his own. But yeah, after seven years with no paycheck, there’s a good chance he’s got money issues. Did banks seize assets of those who were blipped? Totally possible.

But now, in-universe, let’s remember that all this bullshit that antis are spewing about “Tony Stark should have set aside money for his friends and teammates” and “Sam saved the world from aliens so many times, so he deserves a pension” and “Tony could set up a trust fund for all of the avengers because they’re his friends!” Yeah. That’s all 100% BS.

First off, Sam Wilson and Tony Stark are not friends in the MCU. Never have been. In Civil War, Tony said, “I know we don’t know each other very well” because they don’t! They’ve NEVER FOUGHT TOGETHER ON THE SAME TEAM! Think about that. Tony wasn’t an active duty avenger between Age of Ultron and Civil War, and that’s the only time period where Sam was an active avenger. So they were never really “teammates” and they weren't friends. They were, at best, acquaintances or coworkers who never worked closely together.

And during that time, when Tony appears to have had little contact with the avengers, he was bankrolling the team. He says, “what, am I doing here? Running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?” He made the compound and supplied all of the avengers’ tech. He gave them free room and board. It sure looks like they had everything they needed, so it’s entirely possible (even likely) that Tony was paying the Avengers during this time. But that’s all it was. Two years when Sam was an active avenger, Tony wasn’t, but Tony was still bankrolling the team. After that... Sam was a fugitive and then he was dust. So he spent 7 years with no job, and two of those years were by choice, because of Sam’s rejection of being an avenger and refusal to accept a government paycheck. He chose to be a vigilante with Cap, and vigilantism doesn’t supply a paycheck on its own.

And finally... Sam has never saved the world! And he’s only fought aliens during Infinity War and Endgame. So where are people getting this whole, “but Sam should be paid because hE sAvEd tHe wOrLd!”? Uh, no. Not really. He helped in Endgame. He tried to help in Infinity War. And that’s good. That’s important. It’s not nothing. But it’s also not saving the world. In this first episode of TFATWS, Sam literally accepted thanks from a guy who said “you brought my wife back,” when Sam had nothing to do with that. Bruce snapped and brought back all the dusted. Sam had no role in helping for that. Now I get that Sam was probably just being polite. But it’s contributing to this narrative that Sam did more then he actually did. Naw, man. Marvel never cared about Sam Wilson until five minutes ago. So they’ve never actually shown him doing anything that was, well, important. And that’s a fail on Marvel, but if we’re looking at it from a purely in-universe perspective... Sam Wilson doesn’t deserve any more or less than any other government/military contractor. Because that’s what he is now (he’s not an Avengers because the Avengers no longer exist), and that’s what he was up until the last scene of Age of Ultron. Most of his existence, he’s been a solider. He’s a military guy. So if he’s not been getting paid, that’s on the military. Tony, at most, would have paid him for two years of his time and work. The rest is all on the military, including Sam’s current finances.

Which means, you want to blame someone for Sam’s finances and his inability to get a loan? Well, there are three reasons. 1. Sam chose to leave the Avengers to become a fugitive with Cap, which means he had no job and no paycheck for two years. That’s the consequences of his actions. 2. the military either stopped paying him at some point, or hasn’t been paying him enough/quick enough in the past six months since the Blip. Military pay for veterans and veterans’ access to benefits is a real problem, but it’s a military problem. And it’s possible that any back-pay or pension that Sam is owed is tied up in red tape, which is probably only exacerbated by his time as a fugitive (which might mean he was made ineligible for any pension). And finally 3. systemic racism. His sister was pretty clear on the fact that “people like us” are the ones who always seems to be denied loans. She was saying that there is money available for loans, but it always go to white folks first. Maybe try listening to the black character explain why they believe they aren’t getting paid. Sam (when not on the run or blipped) was living a pretty cushy life as a supporting avenger for two years. He apparently didn’t have to think about how systemic racism could affect his family because he was temporarily insulated from it. Now that layer of protection is gone because he’s not living in a cushy compound away from the real world (which, for the record, is probably a good thing. I think the Avengers being so isolated from the real world is probably partially what led to the problems in Civil War). So now Sam is going to be confronted with the reality that systemic racism is real and can affect anybody, regardless of your fame or your job. And after the past year of discussions on race, the fandom shouldn’t be surprised by this narrative.

I am so sick of every single MCU project post-Endgame being twisted by antis who just want to use it to hate Tony Stark. I mean, seriously. Give it a rest, people! Try reading the narrative the way it was intended and stop twisting it for your hate-Tony-Stark obsession.

#falcon and the winter solider spoilers #tfatws spoilers #barely but still #tony stark defense squad #antis need to be quiet #fandom discourse is exhausting #yall make it harder for me to care about anything associated with captain america and now that's beginning to include sam wilson #khent rants #marvel critical #kinda #i wanted to like the new shows #but the marvel writers are shit #i did enjoy wandavision #even though it had some problems #and i loved seeing rhodey in tfatws ep #khent's marvel discussions #khent's posts

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littlewetbeast · 3 years

Note

you know... sometimes i think i've got jackles figured out, i think i've nailed down why he's so inconsistent about destiel, why he acts so weird about it sometimes and other times not. then some information is flung at me and it's back to square one. why is that man so insane. he just genuinely confuses me.

aw man. this shit is like catnip to my overactive, over-analytical brain.

okay. listen. i’m not gonna lie: the more i try to understand the goings-on behind spn with any degree of nuance, the more my head threatens to melt. HOWEVER. while i joke about jensen ackles being an enigma, i don’t... actually think he is.

[disclaimer: the following points include speculation. i don’t know these people and will never claim to. this is just my take on it. never bring this up to the actors in question.]

the quick and dirty: i believe jensen is likely queer himself. i believe that he strongly identifies with dean, that he feeds off of the environment around him, and that how he feels he can act around destiel and dean’s sexuality depends on 1) his support network, 2) the immediate social environment, and 3) his work environment, all of which have evolved throughout the years BUT can also vary day to day. increased confidence and securer social environment has helped him decrease the need to perform and lessens the likelihood of acting out from insecurity, but doesn’t completely eliminate it. point is: the environment matters. the more insecure you are, the more it will affect your behaviour.

that’s it. not trying to excuse any shitty behaviour, just saying that’s what it is.

the NOT so quick and dirty: so - my point is, as a queer guy in this industry, he has obviously learned to put up a front to protect himself. (even misha does this to some extent!) it’s douchey, and it’s stupid, but i understand it. think of the drastic difference of how he behaves around misha vs j*red, or even in a large group setting. i’m not saying he’s not friends with j*red, but i DO immediately see the difference of ‘front switched on’ and ‘front switched off’.

firstly - just because jensen has matured a lot over the past 15 years and is far more relaxed about himself today than he was back then, doesn’t mean he can’t still have moments of uncertainty that can occasionally push him back to his old, bad habits. basically, for someone who has grown up in a toxic heteronormative environment (being taught by his dad that drinking through straws was gay) - and in an industry that is very unfriendly to queerness and queer narratives until VERY recently (and even now is still pretty toxic) - utilizing his stupid douchey dudebro front during moments of anxiety has probably been his go-to coping method for the majority of his life.

secondly - we all know he’s insanely close to dean as a character. dean is a part of him. he slips in and out of character effortlessly. he cares about dean and dean’s happiness. but dean was never intended to be a queer character. jensen has played queer characters before, but that’s the difference - he is ‘playing’ a queer character. he wasn’t supposed to be ‘playing’ dean as a queer character. readings of dean as queer makes, well. readings of him as queer. that’s it. for someone who puts up such a front, i can imagine he’d be shitting himself at people picking this up from him when he’s NOT in a supportive environment for it. (yes the ‘jackles acting choices’ are a Thing, but they most likely happened within more supportive environments and during times of confidence - and, let’s face it, i think sometimes jacting choices just naturally bleed in because he’s a good actor who makes good intuitive acting choices. that was likely the primary reason for it, especially early on.)

basically - queer readings of dean are taken as queer readings of him. therefore, his reaction to destiel has also varied depending on the environment and his work circumstances. think of there being like... a constantly shifting scale of how supportive his social environment and work environment are of queer readings of the character he plays. the further back we go, the less supportive all of these factors are; the closer to the present, the more supportive these factors are.

“but rosa! why hasn’t he just shrugged and said it’s up to audience interpretation what dean’s sexuality is, like he has recently?”

because of *points to all of the above*.

let’s illustrate what i mean.

exhibit A) it’s fairly early days of “destiel”, maybe season 6 or so. an audience member brings up dean’s reaction to dr sexy and asks why he can react like this yet destiel is not possible. jensen says dismissively because “destiel doesn’t exist” and that dean is simply a fan of the show, to an audience that cheers.

(work environment (spn): not supportive. immediate environment (audience): not supportive. social environment (j*red): less supportive*.) *I am not claiming j*red is homophobic; however, jensen HAS felt the need to perform around him aside from the last 1-2 years.

exhibit B) it’s 2019. jensen gets straddled by misha on stage and gets a [redacted] which j*red notices and covertly jokes about in front of a large audience. he visibly becomes upset and is in a vulnerable state. misha points out a ‘destiel is real’ t-shirt (the very fact that misha did this suggests he’s far more used to a jensen who is relaxed and supportive). jensen gets defensive and asks ‘where is destiel real?’

(work environment (spn): uncertain. immediate environment (audience): uncertain. social environment (j*red and misha): mixed*.) *do i think jensen would have reacted 10x better if j*red had not been there? yes. yes, i do. do i think he would he have reacted better if he hadn’t had a [redacted] that j*red made fun of? yes. yes, i do.

exhibit C) it’s 2019. jensen and j*red are in front of an audience which, given today’s times, are likely more used to queer narratives. it’s highly possible the queer storyline for cas has been confirmed at this point. jensen is calm and in control, and is not feeling the need to act up his front. someone brings up ‘samstiel’ and j*red gags. jensen, unprompted, shows support for destiel.

(work environment (spn): given the timing, likely supportive. immediate environment (audience): likely supportive. social environment: (at home) supportive, j*red: supportive or mixed.)

we know that he has progressively felt less of a need to use his ‘front’ and has become more relaxed over the years, which i believe is likely hugely due to the positive influences of danneel and misha (and maybe others). i don’t think that has been the case for ONLY the last two years. i think jensen during exhibit B was miles away from jensen in exhibit A. jensen is not miles away between exhibit B and exhibit C. those two are differences of environments where he feels confident, in control, and is supported by the narrative he’s meant to play (C), vs an environment he felt less supported and less in control of (B). i won’t get into it in depth here, but it’s worth noting that the past ten years have also seen huge changes in fandom culture, how actors and fandom interact, and how the film industry and corporations at large handle queer narrative and fans. that certainly affects this dynamic.

and that’s it, really. jensen is a sensitive person who feeds heavily off the people and environments he’s in. he’s matured a lot over the years and i truly don’t think it’s a stretch to say that, in environments that would have supported it, he likely has been very positive about queer narratives in spn. source: his stark difference around misha, his willingness to flirt and joke about dean and cas with him, his occasional calmer and balanced reactions to destiel in more private settings.

aaand that’s how i see it, really. even if you don’t subscribe to truthing - or even jensen being queer - all of these things apply just as strongly to men who feel the need to perform. what can i say, toxic masculinity and homophobia sucks a lot and i’m glad society is shifting slowly in the right direction, and that jensen feels safer and more secure than he once did. shame the cw is unwilling to get with the times. EDIT: for some additional, vital context, i refer you to these two additional posts, which cover his upbringing, how speculations about his sexuality has hounded him his whole career, and his first intro to shipping on supernatural being j2/wincest, which included some real ugly shit.

#ask #rosa answers #analysis #jensen ackles #destiel #deancas #jenmish #cockles #gunshots #i am terminally incapable of giving short answers!!! sorry!!!!#YES i can and WILL indulge in speculations around dumb celebrities within the safety and comfort of my tumblr nest

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