#in his defense he's not trying to be sexist. he would do this if she were a guy also | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mylifeisfruk4ever · 9 months

Text

"What the fuck?"

Selina felt that those three words were enough to describe her whole relationship with Bruce Wayne. First as Batman, then as Bruce.

She had thought there might be something between them. Luckily it had passed, and a weird friendship had developed between them. Which might make some people turn up their noses since she was a thief and he was a vigilante but Bruce hasn't been so uptight lately and as long as Selina didn't kill and steal only who deserved it, they were fine.

Still, what the heck?

"Oh, Brucie is growing up," Harley said, all too pleased.

She was upright on the bed, while Pamela sat on the other side trimming her nails, seemingly ignoring the ongoing conversation.

Fuck house arrest for both of them. Why had she accepted? Oh yeah, they were friends.

Alsp, Bruce hoped that with her, Pamela and Harley could direct their impulses towards more correct forms of fighting for their principles, without involving innocent people.

So far it wasn't going to be great, but at least Harley had dumped her clown ex, for good this time, so it was a win.

(Probably more thanks to Pamela than her, but details.)

"Let me get this straight…you, mister, I don't look anyone in the face and if you talk to me for more than five minutes I'll start crying, you want….I can't believe I'm about to say it…learn how to seduce a man."

"Exactly," Bruce replied, as he petted one of Selina's cats.

"Just…why?"

"Who cares?" Harley broke in.

"He finally wants to step outside his boundaries! You have my respect!"

"It's not about going outside my boundaries. It's about planetary security."

"Really?" Selina said, half joking.

"Superman is powerful enough to destroy the planet."

This knocked Harley over, and Pamela finally stopped pretending not to pay attention.

Selina didn't know whether to laugh hysterically or slap him on the head, "Do you want to seduce Superman?!"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"To discover his weaknesses and use them against him when his powers drive him insane."

"Wow, talking about trust issues," was Harley's comment.

"I like to be prepared," Bruce said.

"What did the boy scout do to make you fear that he might become world dictator at the slightest provocation?"

The man pouted adorable, and grumbled. Selina still wasn't an expert at translating each other's mumbling but she swore it was something like smiling too much, and I don't trust him, he's got something to hide.

Harley said, "Isn't Superman having an affair with that reporter? Lois Lane?"

"She is General Lane's daughter. A close relationship is not advisable."

"She seems to know him well. Why don't you ask her?"

"She wouldn't answer me, so as not to betray him. Everyone says he's a hero."

"And you obviously don't believe it," Selina suspected.

"No."

"What makes you think he might be interested in men?" Selina asked him.

Harley laughed, "Cupcake, no completely straight man would wear pants that tight."

"Same conclusion I came to."

Oh good. The fate of the world was entrusted to a pair of tight trousers.

"Besides, I've done some research on him, and I might be his type. At least physically. What I lack is the ability to seduce him to lower his defenses and believe me harmless."

"Ability you think we have?" Selina asked, not sure whether to feel offended or not.

"Gotham is very sexist," Bruce said.

"You did your best to manipulate men who thought they knew better."

Pamela smiled, "I'm liking this one."

“I told you Brucie's one of the good ones,” Harley genuinely smiled as she said it.

"And he's a weirdo, like us."

Selina wanted to moan. This is what happens when you make friends with strange vigilantes. She said, "So Superman has a thing for brunettes. Good to know. Have you thought about what to do in case your brilliant plan fails?"

"It won't fail," he said confidently.

"You don't know," she insisted, trying to give him some common sense. A futile undertaking, it was Bruce she was talking to.

"Superman is overconfident. He will fall into the net."

"Definitely not dressed like that honey," Harley commented, taking a long look to Bruce.

"What's wrong with the way I'm dressed?"

"You look like a creepy stalker," Selina said. Army jacket, hat, scarf to cover her face and mascara for her eyes. Bruce was a walking fashion insult. They're definitely going to have to fix his wardrobe, make him wear things that flatter his body and…

Oh god, she was totally on board with that plan, right?

#fanfiction #books #au #quote #superbat #superbattinson #battinson #the batman #gotham #gotham sirens #selina kyle #bruce wayne #harley quinn #pamela isley #the batman 2022 #autistic bruce wayne #batman fanfiction

547 notes · View notes

infiniteetcetera · 5 days

Text

My next weekly controversial ACOTAR post: A defense of Azriel, because if I see one more post saying he has no personality or is an incel (but also an f-boy apparently) then it’s game over

Azriel is such an interesting and complex character I think it’s an incredible shame so many readers misinterpret him just because his character is shown is small bursts rather than loud blasts. SO i’m not going to try and defend him because this man has done nothing wrong, instead I’ll provide y’all with a list of moments that prove both that Azriel DOES have a personality and that’s it’s a loveable one:

•He tells Feyre that Cassian is annoying right up front (a small thing but I appreciate it)

• He spent the night at Rita’s with Feyre, playing silly games betting on Rhys’ dating life (funny for so many reasons) and making her feel comfortable in an overwhelming situation

•Even though he’s quiet and private, he confides to Feyre he doesn’t know where he belongs after 500 years and feels he doesn’t fit in to reassure her that the feelings she’s having are normal

•He was reassuring and polite to Elain and Nesta when they first meet

•Acknowledged that it was a risk and a sacrifice for Nesta and Elain to lend them their house and was thankful rather than antagonistic or rude (*cough cough Cassian*) and met them both with a protective regard to Feyre but an open mind about their circumstances

•Is so upset by the mysogny and abuse in Illyria he straight up refuses to go there because he will not play nice and polite with these jerks like Rhys and Cas do

•In Feyre’s own words, she trusts him well enough that if Rhys was ever doing something to harm her/locking her up like Tamlin did she believes he would not only save her but deal with Rhys himself if it came to it

•Follow up on above, he spies on Amren against Rhys’ orders. When Feyre asks about it Amren says Azriel is the most disobedient of the IC (some of them could never) because he’s willing to do what is right over what Rhys thinks is right (hot)

•Gave Feyre such a stunning smile after she accepts the mating bond that Rhys is filled with jealousy and ready to attack (that is to say, this man is very pretty and deserves credit for it)

•Amren putting her head on his shoulder after battle because she’s tired and everyone (including him) is shocked but he’s polite about it and also it just radiates male worth trusting vibes

•Was literally bleeding out screaming crying throwing up poisoned and still sassed the king of Hybern for Mor and Feyre

•When Cassian is trying to make Lucien uncomfortable Azriel KICKS HIM (all the Azriel is so mean/hates Lucien people come down to reality please)

•When Cassian implies something rude about Nesta and Mor wants to join in Azriel shoots her a look to stop (yes the Az that is supposedly obsessed with Mor and her opinion of him) and Feyre describes said look as as if they had talked about it many times before so YES EVEN PRE-ACOWAR THIS MAN WAS SUPPORTING NESTA

•Feyre and Mor both agree he’s the only one with manners

•He laughed at Nesta’s sassy comment to Mor because man respects good comedy

•When Cassian makes a sexist joke and implies Az is thinking the same thing not only does Azriel not engage with his tomfoolery but Mor cuts in to defend him as the only batboy who never says such things

•Just the ENTIRE sequence of him training Feyre to fly. He’s so sweet and witty and charming

•So gentle and reassuring to Elain, offering to show her the garden and carrying her all the way up to the house

•Him taking care of Feyres injuries from the flying lessons. Again just always being so gentle and sweet. He trusts her enough not to go easy on her but isn’t cruel and overworking either

•The entire Nephelle story and just the fact Rhys gave the story to Azriel as a “gift” this boy appreciates sweet stories about underdog lesbians with wings and I love it

•Just him paying such close careful attention to Elain and recognizing she is a seer, him talking her through her visions and helping reassure her she’s not crazy (he knows what that feels like)

•Even though he hates Illyrians, he helps Cassian break the news to the families of those who lost warriors in the war

•Just “I don’t see you spouting poetry brother” “I don’t need to resort to it😩🔥”

•BE CAREFUL HOW YOU SPEAK ABOUT MY HIGH LADY

•Eris uttered the word “slut” about a woman and this man ATTACKED. Like I am an Eris stan and I know some people don’t like this scene but it’s the true feminist energy I need

•Ignoring Rhys’ order to stand down but stopping the second Feyre says something bc this man respects women’s authority (t’s literally an intentional way of demonstrating Feyres power right after she was belittled by Tamlin. people act like he was rabid in this scene but it seems so clear to me he was intentionally doing this to support his high lady)

•Was the first to realize something was wrong with Elain (also has a sweet exchange of looks with Nesta over it, like they are homegirl’s designated protectors)

•Just EVERYTHING about him volunteering to get Elain back. Whether you ship Elriel or not this was such a sweet moment. He doesn’t hesitate at all even when Nesta says it’s a death wish and everyone’s sentiment starts to change.

•Everything about him saving Elain and the human girl. Just 10/10 all around, hot, stunning, sweet, incredible, precious angel of death boy

•Az is so badly wounded after the rescue mission that Rhys and the others who see him are shocked but he refused to set Elain down (even though she’s not hurt) until Rhys takes her and the first thing he asks is for Helion to come unchain her (not anything for himself). Again just SOOO sweet and caring whether you ship Elriel or not

•Another Elriel moment but well they happen, Az giving her truth teller is just🤧 he’s never lent out this blade to his brothers or anyone else, we know it has some special brand of magic and he likely does too and he offers it to Elain to give her a sense of safety (again even if you don’t ship them it’s just so considerate)

•”Chain me to a tree Rhys, I’ll rip it out of the ground and fly with it on my damned back” LIKE TELL ME THAT ISNT HOT

•A super small moment but after the war when the boys are watching the sisters/Mor laughing and Rhys starts crying Az tells him “it’s real” and I just think the intuitive understanding and care behind that is so sweet (especially when Az is so misunderstood by his brothers)

•This sounds more like a hate comment to Rhys/Cassian than pro Az but when Rhys admits he and Cassian used to beat Azriel for hours to get him to speak to them and he never would, I think that’s such crazy determination and resolve and also he’s wayyyyy nicer than me for still putting up with them after that

•HIM REFUSING TO SPY ON LUCIEN. I just love that degree of respect it’s made even better by the fact Rhys asks about Lucien a second time bc he literally assumes Az was joking and Azriel’s just like “nope not doing it” (again people who say he hates Lucien, please)

•Him finding drunk Cassian and Feyre and trying to fix their terrible decorations the just chugging some wine himself😭 he’s so funny AND sweet

•”Sit, I’ll take care of it.” I NEED THIS ENERGY FROM EVERY MAN EVER PLEASE

•Also him telling everyone to wait for Elain because she’s literally the one who cooked and them eating before her would be rude and I just IWJDKWKDN again so hot and polite and it’s not even a romance/flirting thing bc when Elain comes back and she/Cas give him the opportunity to take credit he doesn’t at all?? He just did it because it’s right and proper

•Him insulting Amren to defend Elain (and then blushing when everyone laughs at his joke) he’s precious (and funny af)

•Him dying at Elains gift JMEKXNEKD the IC stresses him fr and he’s waiting for someone to free him

•Him being nice about Mor’s awful gifts even though she’s known him for 500 years and still gets him awful gifts and also exchanges lingerie with Cassian to his (and Nesta’s) face even though she thinks Az is in love with her

•Half compliment to Az half complaint about Cassian, but when there’s mention of all the universe research Rhys does in ACOSF Cassians like “Rhys told him and he instantly forgot” but As is super interested and listens intently and wants to learn more and I just love a boy with hobbies and interests😩

•Small thing but when he first sees Nes in the house of wind in ACOSF he smiles and is so polite and Nesta tells us for like a whole paragraph how beautiful he is and I trust that woman above all

•Also in reference to the above, Nesta chats with Az for like 10 seconds and instantly wants to train with him over Cas because she knows he’d be better to her

•Azriel blushing when Nesta calls him pretty✨ (such a sweet lover boy I swear)

•He laughs at Nesta’s insults to Cassian but holds back from laughing at Cassians✨

•The only one who literally JUST ASKS why Nesta won’t train and also sparks the idea in Cassians obtuse head that it might be because she doesn’t want to train in Illyria (VALID)

•I know people have mixed takes about how the scene is written but him asking Nesta if she was pushed down the stairs feels genuine to me, like he asks the question very pointedly serious and focuses just on Nesta, his vague amusement after is only in regard to Cassians dumb reaction but the fact he asked her and the way in which he does it (ignoring Cassians input and still waiting for Nesta’s answer) shows genuine consideration to her (still a stranger to him for all intents and purposes) over his brother’s feelings

•Him paying such careful attention to Nesta and being the only one who never starts fights with her to such a strong degree that even Nesta feels too seen by him

•Such a basic thing (but it’s not when you look at the quality of other ACOTAR men unfortunately) but when Cassian asks him if he wants kids he says it’s not his decision (like this is why I hate the anti-elriel “elain can’t bare his children” argument, I assure you Az does not gaf)

•”Azriel had never said a bad word about Nesta” and i’m not supposed to stan???

•Also the fact he doesn’t like hand to hand combat bc he doesn’t like getting covered in people’s sweat JEKKDKW I know it’s just a gag Cas jokes about but there’s something so funny and refined about that

•Him being so competitive is hot honestly😩 especially how Cassian describes it as not being in an arrogant or scary way but in a very strategic sort of manner, how he’s often the only one who can compete with Rhys (who was trained for this stuff since birth) like YES

•Az getting flustered and awkwardly walking away when he sees how Nesta is staring at him and Cas KEKKDKE i so highly appreciate his balance between confident and shy boy

•Him and Nesta smiling about Cassians stupidity, being “allies against his insanity,” again, Az just being a friend to her is so sweet (and important given it’s like the one thing Nesta needed in this book)

•Not only does he vote with Cas against keeping things from Nes but when Amren starts saying lewd things about her it’s Azriel (not Cassian bc apparently he could never) who tells her to STFU about Nesta

•Amren tells the boys NOT to touch the sword and Az is legit the only one who tries to listen (the ONLY bat boy with brain cells half the time)

•Just the fact that once he starts training the Priestesses with Cas Nesta notes a bunch of them seem to have crushes on him. Like these girls who have been so traumatized by men they can barely stand to be in public feel that comfortable with him so quickly, he just radiates safe energy

•Also a small moment but him awkwardly smiling the first time he sees Gwyn at training and just trying to act casual to not make her feel weird is so sweet.

•Him dancing with Nesta “as easily as breathing” (again, their friendship means everything to me)

•When Nesta asks him why he came to solstice if seeing Elain/Lucien hurts him and he says “Because Rhys wants me here and it’d hurt him if I didn’t come” like HEJEKNDO he’s so selfless for the people he cares about FR (especially given how Rhys talks to him that same night)

•EVERYTHING about his gift to Nesta. The fact he didn’t have to give her one in the first place (it was no one’s expectation, including hers. on the surface he didn’t even get Elain a gift so it wasn’t just a polite thing). The way the gift is literally SO SWEET AND GENUINELY THOUGHTFUL like he took care not just to get her something but to get her something that would bring her joy and be useful (and is definitely based on his observations about her avoiding the fireplace)

•ALSO when she hugs him the entire room goes silent because they’re just that shocked but he just laughs and hugs her gently and then is blushing after like ANDKEKD

•The entire relationship he forms with Gwyn and how he notes shes competitive and uses that to help inspire her in training and even when he’s teasing her he’s so potently rooting for her too

•Him being nervous about holding baby Nyx with his scarred hands like this precious angel IEKKDKW

Most Offending Thing, His Bonus Chapter (the good and the bad)

•Him scheming about a snowball fight for a whole year is hilarious

•Also him including in his plotting that Cassian would be up all night with Nesta (little did he know his boy only lasts like one round, that and Cassian being so horrified at the thought of Az finding out about him being quick off the mark with Nesta, I just know Az is the stamina king)

•Even his shadows just want him to sleep but your boy is too depressed

•I’m sorry but everything about his and Elains almost kiss is HOT people who think it was overly sexualized or something have missed all the first thoughts we get from like every SJM boy about their LI (ROWAN IN QOS FR) and also the fact that this tension has obviously been brewing for a while??? he’s been avoiding her because it’s that palpable and ELAIN KNOWS IT. it’s a mutual thing it doesnt mean there isn’t romance beneath it or that he’s a creep for wanting her after a year of putting off his feelings

Brief interlude, his offending lines:

•”My two brothers are with two of those sisters but the third was given to another” - the language here might make you uncomfortable but that’s because MATING BONDS ARE UNCOMFORTABLE. we’re told by Rhys himself that they’re often used to “give” a female to a male. the distinction he makes here that Feyre/Nes are “with” Rhys/Cas but Elain was “given” to Lucien is because Elucien is the only mating bond example we’ve followed in this series where the foundation is not love and choice. Azriel does not feel entitled/think he deserves Elain. In this same chapter he feels unworthy to even touch her, stands outside in the freezing cold until he’s “again nothing at all.” Mor tells us all the way back in ACOMAF that he feels completely undeserving of love. Azriel does not think he deserves Elain just because Rhys said so (Az LITERALLY glares at him for saying it). Azriel brought up a valid point (that other characters have too) that the Archeron sisters (who have comparable power) would makes sense all mated to the bat boys (again, comparable power) since we know that’s a crux of mating bonds. Not to mention, Azriel and Elain genuinely just like each other and always have, more so than any of the mated couples even. From a logical standpoint, they would make sense as mates. Even this ships haters say they would be “too predictable/obvious” like SO YOU AGREE THEY MAKE EASY LOGICAL SENSE that’s what Az is implying.

•”Lucien will never be good enough for her” I’ve seen a lot of people use this line to say Az hates/drags Lucien but that’s not how I interpret it at all. First off, all of Az’s other actions (i’ve listed some above) show he’s actually very considerate of/trusting in regards to Lucien. This line to me reads less as “lucien is a bad/undeserving person” and more “Lucien is not what Elain wants” (right after he says she has no interest in him). From Azriel’s POV (and ours my fellow readers) Lucien has done nothing to win over Elain. Yes he’s been polite and I applaud him for that over others actions with their mates (cough cough Cassian) but he’s also never sought her out for a real conversation about the bond, never had any sort of “clicking” moment with her, and still after years just makes her uncomfortable (as far as we and Az know). I think it makes perfect sense to infer from this Lucien is not “good enough” in regards to what Elain is seeking (I think the easiest way I can put this is the idea of “somebody can be perfect but still not perfect for you”). Is Azriel’s opinion a little biased? Yes FS, but also this girl was about to let him do filthy things to her down the hall from Lucien, I say it’s pretty safe for him to infer that she doesn’t want Lucien (and therefor never will).

•”He hadn’t gotten that far with his planning, certainly not beyond the fantasies he pleasured himself to” - I won’t repeat what I said above regarding the sexual undertones in the chapter, but also the reason why Az hadn’t thought beyond this is in the chapter and it’s not because he’s some fuck boy. AZRIEL KNOWS HE CANT HAVE A FUTURE WITH ELAIN AND DOESNT THINK HE DESERVES IT. It’s written all over their interactions together. He wanted to kiss her to have a piece of her to hold onto, not because he thinks he can have a future with her because he knows as things stand he can’t. He doesn’t want to plan to push her/seduce her (like rhys implies) or anything because he doesn’t feel worthy of her and knows circumstances won’t allow them to be together safely. What’s driving him crazy and keeping him up at night with fantasies is that they do both want each other, but imagining a life where they could have more than that and be happy together is impossible for Az because he’s someone who has never prioritized his happiness and does not expect it.

•”I’ll defeat him with little effort.” - Again reading comprehension I beg, this is not a diss against Lucien. If Lucien was the type of guy to invoke a blood duel because Elain chose Azriel (Lucien wouldn’t, Azriel doesn’t even think he would it’s Rhys who suggests it) then YEAH AZ CAN KICK HIS ASS WITH LITTLE EFFORT BC THAT WOULD BE A CRAPPY THING TO DO.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming

•I LOVE everything about his scene with Gwyn on the roof. His vague awkwardness, his teasing of her and trying to be polite, him actually trying to help her train (after we learn Cas has been useless, go figure), and just being so sweet and kind to her in general even though he’s probably still incredibly sad/upset🤧

•This precious boy gets a small urge to cross his arms and is thrown into a PTSD flashback of his father with his mom??? He constantly consciously makes effort not to appear scary/threatening to women because he’s that scarred from his fathers behavior😭

•Listen, I won’t try to entirely defend the necklace thing because I do think it’s weird no matter who you ship Azriel with BUT i will say my best take on it is that it’s a version of self harm/sabotage. Like the only thing that makes sense to me here is he’s subconsciously creating barriers in his relationships with both Elain/Gwyn by doing this which is honestly way less f-boy (a weird take i’ve seen from people, especially given at this point he has no plans to pursue either Elain or Gwyn) and just way more very sad.

FINALLY, sprinkles from HOFAS:

•He’s so FINE in this book

•His silly little things like kicking rocks while trailing Nesta and Bryce to make a point are SO funny

•Him and Nesta working so well together, may not be a point in his favor but it makes me happy

•Azriel loving and defending his mom✨

•Azriel barely snapping at Nesta and then immediately apologizing and saying he loves her. THAT is more emotional intelligence than any other male in ACOTAR has shown

•Him liking club music but also being embarrassed about it? Adorable

•Everything about his interactions with Bryce in this book strike me so hard because you can tell he’s trying to keep his guard up but still has a lot of sympathy for her. I think that gets to the core of who Az is: smart and distant and guarded but also genuinely kind above all

•Also so many small funny little jokes and lines

I COULD PROBABLY SAY MORE AND GO ON FOREVER BUT HOPEFULLY PEOPLE GET THE POINT :)

#a court of thorns and roses #acotar #azriel acotar #azriel shadowsinger #azriel #pro azriel #my sweet angel boy forever #elriel #nezriel #anti cassian #anti rhysand #anti amren #anti IC minus azriel honestly #pro azriel acotar

90 notes · View notes

sockmeat · 1 year

Text

What are y’all’s thoughts on Crimson from HB?? Like obviously he’a a piece of shit, but there is literally so much potential for dark content my mind is BUZZING

I HAVE SOME IDEAS... ok i only have 2 (just a warning, they’re a little dark)

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

THE FIRST ONE: The reader is Moxxie’s little sister. When Moxxie goes to jail and chooses to stay away from his hometown and family, he forgets one thing--his little sister. Ever since Moxxie left, Crimson has been telling reader how much Moxxie hates her, how much he hates the family, how much he wanted to get away from her.

So, reasonably, the reader grows to resent Moxxie. Occasionally, she’ll think about what life outside of the mansion is like. She’ll remember how Moxxie treated her, how he made sure she was never around for Crimson’s fits, and wonder if he doesn’t actually hate her.

Crimson has gotten good at spotting when this happens: she’s less willing to listen to his commands, she’s always spacing out, and always looking at Moxxie’s empty room. He’s always quick to snip that hesitance in the bud and warp her perspective of her dear older brother. She’s always been a daddy’s girl (and hasn’t really had a taste of a healthy relationship), so she believes him.

When the IMP is called over to the mansion, Crimson doesn’t tell the reader that Moxxie is there. He is fiercely protective of her and knows Moxxie would try to save her.

Crimson’s reason for inviting Moxxie doesn’t change. He wants Moxxie to marry Chazwick. However, this time, Crimson does have a back-up plan: if Crimson is unable to marry Chazwick, for whatever reason, the reader will marry him instead.

I haven’t quite decided how Moxxie and the reader will reunite, but I don’t want it to be too soon. Maybe she’s attracted to the commotion Millie causes and enters the wedding and barely sees Moxxie before he’s swooped off.

THE SECOND IDEA: The reader is Moxxie’s mother and Crimson’s wife. She basically replaces the actual character. Unfortunately for her, she has a bit of a savior complex so she aims to try and help Crimson’s state of mind.

They met before Moxxie was conceived. Her family is a part of a smaller chain of the mafia and basically relies on the (wtf is their last name??) family to keep their connections and stay out of debt.

The reader’s and Crimsons’ marriage was arranged. It was decided since before they were born that the oldest of their families, which happened to be them, would wed and have an heir.

Unfortunately for the reader, both families have a pretty sexist point of view. They believe the women should serve their husbands and make sure the children are spoken for. Among the long list of no-no’s, she isn’t allowed to raise a fist to Crimson. She hasn’t been taught basic self defense to ensure she doesn’t break this rule.

At first, Crimson is very clear about his hatred for her. Though, since he’s so adamant about not disrespecting the family, he only expresses it when they’re behind closed doors.

The reader still tries despite how he treats her. She’s determined to live a normal life, and if that means risking it to get closer to Crimson, so be it. It’s all or nothing.

The reader’s story is a bit like the ugly duckling. Until her mid-teen years, she has no idea how to dress, pose, or look flattering at all. Crimson continues to be rude and unforgiving until she gets her glow-up.

That’s when he starts to notice her more. How she doesn’t raise her voice at him no matter what he does to pester her, how she somehow finds a reason to forgive him despite everything, how her boobs have grown since they were kids--

Yeah, he pretty much jumps her bones whenever he gets the opportunity. Moxxie is born and the reader stops trying to please Crimson 24/7 to take care and nurture Moxxie.

That’s about as far as I got on that...

I do wanna write these, but I’m not sure how big the Crimson Simps(TM) sections will go considering he’s a douche bag

Let me know!

#spoilers #helluva boss spoilers #helluva boss crimson x reader #helluva boss x reader #helluva boss reader insert #female reader #fem reader #crimson x reader #dark content #tw: dark content #tw dark content #my writing

414 notes · View notes

sokkastyles · 4 months

Note

Hi, I’m finding it difficult to wrap my head around your (and some other meta writers) take on Sokka’s sexism and how writing a nonsexist society would be braver?

Why is it more brave to write a story without bigotry than one overcoming it?

Defensive Writing Section Where I Respond to What I Imagine You Could Respond With: 1) I know the original series did not succeed in, or even really try, empowering its women. 2) I know sexism is baked into the show and its romances. 3) I know Katara deserves better (but, this might be where we diverge, I don’t feel served by a reality/story where we pretend women’s domestic, unappreciated labor isn’t a pillar holding society up. Tbh it feels kinda disrespectful to keep that offscreen and media tends to downplay it as is). 4) I know the show isn’t out yet and we’re all guessing. I am picking your brain on your guess cause it confused me. 5.) Sokka’s arc is about maturing manhood and leadership, I’m afraid removing his sexism dodges an opportunity to explicitly deconstruct its toxic expressions. Again, I know the show was unsatisfactory with this the first go around.

Fan Mail Section Where I Attempt To Convey I Meant No Harm: Love your blog! Again, just confused.

First of all, I did not say that writing a nonsexist society would be braver or that the story should not have bigotry in it. What I said is that the story should have more adult women in it.

For example, I do enjoy Katara's story of struggling against feeling like she needs to take on a motherly role because of her gender. I think it's realistic because it's a conflict many girls face, and watching her fight against that can be cathartic. But what's harder to reconcile is the way the narrative goes out of its way to justify forcing this role on Katara. Not all of this can be chalked up to a sexist world. Kya being dead before the story begins was a decision the writers made, for example. I'm not necessarily saying that should be changed, but it is a common trope in media and it's a problem that women are disproportionately killed off to serve fictional narratives this way. Compare, for example, the way the story explains Hakoda's absence without killing him off entirely, and the fact that we know a heck of a lot more about him as a character than we do Kya. His absence is still used to characterize the heroes, to explain the struggle they face in a war-torn world, but he gets to be an active agent in the story, too.

Another example is that although a lot of Sokka's sexism stems from a lack of understanding of Katara's waterbending, which can be explained in the narrative by the fact that the FN has nearly eradicated southern waterbending, this does not explain why Katara wasn't taught more about her bending by her grandmother, who is both from the northern tribe and present when Hama and the other benders were taken. In the flashbacks in "The Puppet Master," we see that there were many women who used combat waterbending, and apparently waterbending healing was not even known in the south so there was no gendered division like in the north. There's no real reason why that should change so quickly in such a short amount of time to the point where the southern water tribe all of the sudden becomes this hugely sexist society where only men are known to fight.

Katara and Sokka are presented with opposite ideas about gender, but we don't have any real sense of where they got these ideas. I like to headcanon that Katara got her feminism from gran-gran, who fled the southern water tribe because of sexism, but it's strange then that Katara doesn't even know this story. Why is Kanna such a complete nonentity in the narrative, when her story is so important to the story the show wants to tell about Katara?

We get more backstory on Sozin than we do a lot of the adult women in the story, when they even show up. Zuko's mom is fridged just like Katara's, and although I love how this serves as a bonding point between them, it would be less glaring if Iroh's and Azulon's and Sozin's wives were also not nonentities in the narrative.

Someone commented on this post that the live action might be giving us Suki's mom. So let's look at how even this small change might effect the story. Even keeping in Sokka's sexism. Let's say that it does play out like in the original, and when they get to Kyoshi Island, Sokka is shocked - shocked! - to be beaten by a bunch of women. We're supposed to think Sokka is wrong. And he does get proven wrong. But the Kyoshi Warriors are still the exception to the rule. Sokka doesn't so much learn that women deserve respect as much as he learns to respect some women because they can kick his ass.

But, if we bring in Suki's mom, then suddenly Suki doesn't have to be the sole named character responsible for teaching Sokka not to be sexist. The story becomes less about how Sokka should respect women because some of them are cool and he'll get a girlfriend out of it, and more about how all women deserve the same respect, because we see more women just present and living in the world of the story.

I'd also like to ask everyone to take a step back here, because to my knowledge, the show never said it was taking out certain arcs or presenting the characters without narrative flaws. This all seems to stem from the young actors themselves saying merely that the show took out some "iffy" moments.

So what did they take out that Ian and Kiiawntio might be referring to? Maybe some of the anachronistic and, frankly, racist moments such as, for example, Sokka and Katara calling Zuko and Sokka's cultural hairstyles "ponytails." Which would make sense, considering that the show probably feels like they can trust their audience to accept hairstyles that might appear different to Americans moreso than the writers of the original show did, considering that this is not a show airing on American kids' cable in the early 2000s, but a modern show with a global and much more globally aware audience. These are the kinds of updates that I would expect from a modern live action series. And that is a very good thing.

I also trust the young actors of color playing these kids to say "hey, these kids would not actually talk like that!" More than I trust white writers and execs.

#atla live action #katara #sokka #atla discourse

53 notes · View notes

pinkandpurple360 · 27 days

Text

Sooo did anyone notice that this is in fact Stolas’ palace that Andre has taken over?

I know the show wouldnt go this dark but it does seem to me that there’s something happening with Andre trying to usurp Stolas position as prince. Octavia is the heir and she is nearing 18, Andre is unmarried and whoever marries Octavia becomes prince. He’s always creeped me out with Stella and this was apparently intended, so he’s probably going to arrange for her to marry someone or attempt to groom her himself. Which would be a child abuse story but given that this has taken such a melodramatic turn something as dark as that would fit.

If the leaks are true that Octavia did take a life, I have no doubt that it was accidental. She just isn’t like that, has no motive to do so, and she clearly can’t handle her newly awakened powers because her teacher (her father) neglected that job completely. It’s perfectly likely that this was accidental. So Andrealphus took over her role, he is also a teacher of sorcery in the mythology. If however he intimidated Via and revealed this plan to her, and she in self defense attacked him with excess force, that would be quite a twist. My hope is that it was Andrealphus she killed, because god the Stella writing is so sexist and empty already this would be monstrous levels of misogyny. She would be the third dead mother.

From the clip as well we see Via uses both ice and fire power, which is Vassago and Andrealphus’ elements. To me that could imply a relation. Similar to Todoroki being the product of a quirk marriage, I think the selection of Stella and Stolas as spouses was specifically for the purpose of creating an heir with these strong elemental powers. In a sick way Andrea might even see himself as her true parent. The theory that he would have been married to stolas had he been the one born female makes a lot of sense. His gender being the only reason Stella exists adds a tragic angle too. Stella is as of now lacking any powers of sorcery. It shows both the horror and tragedy that the royal family forcibly created her to be a weapon of war.

#helluva boss critical #queue #trailer #theories

51 notes · View notes

thebubblesareevil · 2 years

Text

Phantom?

I wanna say this would take place towards the end of season1 young justice

Klarion had been up to his old habits again but this time he was summoning and binding ghosts to his will causing a whole new brand of chaos. the league is getting desperate calling every magic user they have at their disposal to figure out how they can combat the ghosts. While each of them have their own methods they are usually up agains shades rather than fully formed ectoplasmic ghosts. Both the justice league and the young justice team have met to discuss their next move. They all keep trying to come up with solution when then are interrupted by a young girl that appeared from thin air asking if they needed help everyone is immediately on guard prepared to attack

The girl (ghost?) backs up with her hands up and exclaims Woah woah chillax everyone I’m here to help! Batman immediately jumps in demanding she identify herself she says that’s fair the names phantom. Zatanna looks surprised and says that can’t be true Batman says a simple explain and Zatanna tells everyone about how phantom is a ghost who fought off other ghosts hundreds of years ago but to her knowledge phantom is a myth and well male

“Phantom” immediately gets offended im not a myth im dead there’s a difference and so what if I decided to be a girl this century that’s very sexist of you I mean really

Zatanna tries to apologize but “phantom” just says whatever I don’t care whether you believe me or not I’m here to help. Klarion is messing with my friends and that is not okay. She immediately starts explaining her plan and The rest of the league joins in

In the end they decide to use “phantom”as their secret weapon and she travels with Zatanna Conner Kaldur and Robin. When they get to Klarions base they get in position and wait for the signal but Phantom gets bored and start talking to the others asking about what it’s like being on a team and what each of their powers are she gets excited to hear about Kaldur being Atlantean and what that’s like before moving on to Conner asking what it was like being Superman’s son Conner immediately gets defensive and states I’m not his son I’m his clone. Phantom freezes and seems like she has a million and one questions but moves on to Zatanna just as they get the signal to attack.

The fight was hard but phantom managed to pull through and they were able to stop Klarion and free the ghosts. When it was all said and done everyone was injured in one way or another they had all gotten back to base to report their mission success to the league and were talking when a voice comes from behind “phantom” having fun? She turns around quickly and immediately tackles a tired looking teen to the ground yelling DAD what are you doing here you’re supposed to be sleeping. Everyone is confused after all how could an ancient ghost have a dad? He managed to sit up and replied that he’s so glad she brought that up because last he checked he was about to go fight Klarion the witch boy when the next thing he knew he was asleep In his room in his lair. Phantom? rubbed her neck and said sorry about that but you’ve been working so hard lately cw and her thought he needed a break.

Wally chimes in “what’s happening here?” And the teen says oh right nice to meet you guys I’m phantom. And this is my daughter Specter. Reaction is immediate and they start to get mad at her for lying to them and how she put the whole team at risk, they went in there thinking she was centuries old and she was a child. Kaldur jumps in to defend her and says that her help was invaluable, Danny thanks Kaldur and states that he’s not that much older than her and she is just as capable as he is at beating back klarion.

Things calm down and it’s Wally who asks how exactly Spector is his daughter.

They look at each other and laugh before Danny explains that he took her in as his ghost daughter but she was actually a clone made by his arch nemesis created to replace him. You could hear a pin drop even without super hearing before the team all slowly looks back and forth between conner Spector superman and phantom.

Danny and Elle just look at each other and say what did we say?

Honestly I forgot about this but please enjoy this vomit that has spewed from my brain :)

#Danny phantom #dani phantom #justice league #young justice #Klarion #Zatanna #dick grayson #kaldur #conner kent #brain vomit #i do not control adhd

409 notes · View notes

highfantasy-soul · 3 months

Text

NATLA - Episode 1: Aang (3/4)

[Masterlist of my NATLA thoughts]

An explanation of what I'm doing here and my history with ATLA.

Of course, full spoilers ahead.

I like the change from Sokka being ham-fistedly sexist (though I would argue that in the animated series, it's a defense mechanism due to his feelings of inadequacy and him belittling girls is a cultural side-effect of that rather than the root cause) to him being strict in his leadership role and wanting Katara to 'fall in line' for everyone's safety.

As I saw another post explaining: Sokka is really shown to be the one holding the physical aspects of the village together - defense, food, shelter, order. Katara isn't only focusing on that - she's of course helping out (helping Sokka fish for instance), but she's also concerned about keeping the culture/spiritual/emotional side of the tribe alive.

Sokka thinks that his physical survival focus is the most important, which is where their clashes come from - not him just being sexist. Yes, he does have sexist tendencies, but he justifies them with 'real' reasons that aren't just alluded to like they are in the cartoon: Katara isn't taking the dangers of the world seriously and he feels like it's his job to protect her and if she gets hurt because of that perceived 'naivetee', then he feels he's failed.

It's a much more nuanced exploration of his sexism and machismo - something he and Aang both share in the sense that they both feel like it's their job to protect everyone and that protection, they first try to accomplish through control - Sokka learns against this as he sees how capable Katara is in the world and it comes to fruition in the Northern Water Tribe - where he shares this revelation with Aang. (I've written a little piece about people complaining that Sokka's sexism was 'erased but not erased' here - and there's another really great analysis by another person here).

This is something they argue about right off the bat - Katara not backing down as she insists on the importance of her role, too. Her anger at the way things are and passion to fight as well as keep bending (and strange bald people falling out of icebergs) alive is front and center.

We see Katara taking a mothering leadership role already even though many of those gathered are older than her when she ushers everyone out of the igloo where Aang is passed out and tells them they need to let him rest. Even Gran Gran respects her role as a caretaker.

Zuko's introduction here gives more hints at how much time has passed without outright saying it. Iroh doesn’t want Zuko to get his hopes up to be dashed again, Zuko is steadfast in hunting down every last trace and rumor - even if it takes another 3 years so that he can return home and take his place as next in line to the throne.

I think this insistence of his that his goal is to take the throne, despite his uncle trying to sway him otherwise, is a great set-up for his future arc - him realizing that it's not the throne he really wants - or needs to attain, that it's ok that his real goal is to just have a family and it's ok to put aside the expectations others have set out for you.

I've seen many people writing off the show 'as soon as Zuko said he wanted the throne' since that's not where his motivations END during the story, but I think it would have been a weaker choice and undercut Zuko's story if his motivation off the bat is explained to be his desire for a family, not the throne. Here's another instance where the show isn't holding your hand and telling you explicitly what's going on in Zuko's mind: at this point, even HE thinks that his goal is to capture the Avatar to go back and take the throne. Those who've watched the animated show know that while that's the surface goal, it's because he thinks that's what will get him his family back. His motivations are nuanced and he verbally states things we know aren't entirely true - this is part of his character.

Aang waking up and immediately wanting to play with the kids is a great homage to him immediately asking Katara to go penguin-sledding. It shows he's just a kid who isn't scarred by this war yet and shows everyone that he really does have a whole bunch of joy in him that hasn't been stamped out yet.

Plus, Aang's immediate concern for where Appa is sets his character up just as well as it was in the cartoon

I like Gran Gran being the one to recite the animated series' opening monologue - positioning it as a story that everyone knows and presumably tells/talks about often - but it's new information to Aang - and the watcher who is just now realizing how long he's been in the iceberg.

Aang and Katara's chat about growing up fast is an homage to her saying 'I haven't had this much fun since I was a kid' and him replying 'you still are a kid'. It's a different tone the conversation takes, but the sentiment is the same: when threats loom, kids don’t get to be kids, they have to grow up fast.

Aang explains the theory of bending to Katara - I like how intrinsically they're weaving the spiritual aspect of bending into the world - Katara has no idea what she's doing and has been muscling through it, overthinking how to get water bending to work.

Aang is able to explain a different approach and this is what unlocks Katara's skill - she needed to change the way she viewed it in order to succeed - changing from focusing really hard to connecting to the ability with her feelings and the energy around her - as an extension of herself.

Because while Katara knows one of her primary roles is to keep alive the culture and be nurturing, there is still the warrior side of her that she tries to use waterbending to tap into - though we know she will be a great fighter with waterbending, how she goes about that, contrary to what she's been taught a warrior is, is the key to her success.

Just as in the cartoon, once Katara is shown something, especially the basic moves, she picks them up incredibly quickly. I like the choice to make her even worse at waterbending in the live-action than she was in the animated because it makes sense to me: she's never seen anyone waterbend before, she's the only one, there's a ton of danger surrounding bending, and she has a traumatic memory tied to her bending. All this adds layers and more space for her to grow in the season.

Condensing the three episodes into one, it makes sense that Aang doesn’t leave Wolf Cove (btw, LOVE that they gave 'the southern water tribe' and 'the norther water tribe' settlements actual names), but rather he stays and when Zuko comes with his warship, he's already there. In the animated version, he sees the village being attacked and comes in to stop it - in the live-action, he lets Sokka try to talk the fire-benders down - after all, he doesn't actually know what kind of threat they are and how quick they are to violence.

Aang's desire for peace and to avoid direct conflict is coming out and obviously he doesn’t want to be captured, so letting Sokka try his diplomacy is a way to keep the peace. He watches as Sokka defends the village, and when it's clear that he doesn’t stand a chance, Aang jumps in to stop the violence.

I don't think this undercuts Aang's character at all - letting Sokka try diplomacy and then a little bit of fighting isn't Aang hiding from conflict, it's him believing there was another way than him fighting - in the animated version, Zuko is already burning down the village, so there's no place for Aang to wait for diplomacy.

Katara's point about 'hope is just as important to keeping people alive as food and shelter' was such a great reinforcement of the themes throughout the series: after 100 years of war, people are beaten down and tired of fighting - having the Avatar come back gives them the strength to carry on and fight harder - a theme that's a connecting thread through the season both for the good guys and the bad.

It shows that, though Sokka doesn't understand the spiritual health Katara is always going on about, he still respects her opinions and is able to be swayed by her arguments. He still is angry that Aang lied to them and brought danger to the village, but his sister is able to talk him down into finding another way

Katara stands her ground and her empathy, hope, and anger all swirl together in her confronting her brother who is ready to turn Aang in to the fire nation in order to save the village - in the animated series, Aang isn't there, so Sokka doesn’t have to make that choice.

Katara's argument to Sokka also pushes home another major theme: kids have to grow up too fast - she acknowledges how hard the responsibility has been on him rather than dismissing it wholly as 'playing soldier' like she does in the animated series. Though they both think they're still right and think their contributions are more important, they have the emotional maturity - beyond their age - to be able to acknowledge the strengths of the other.

Without that compromise, Wolf Cove wouldn't have survived.

This gives Sokka his character developing moment where he faces down the Fire Nation army alone and stands his ground to protect his village and everyone in it - he does 'try' diplomacy, but then challenges Zuko to an honorable duel - just as Sokka would do in the animated version - using his brains to get any advantage he can.

I love the addition of the child defenders fighting back as well once Sokka is defeated - they don't take their invasion quietly, they try to fight back the best they can.

I think this section of the episode was phoenomenal at setting up the characters, their motivations, and flaws they might have to grapple with in a compelling way.

#natla #atla #netflix avatar the last airbender #netflix atla #aang #sokka #katara #water tribe

16 notes · View notes

i-like-anything-water · 10 months

Note

Oh man, that fainting scene was PERFECT!! If my questions ever get to be a bother, don't hesitate to let me know; I'm just excited to find another Chloenette fan, and your thoughts are amazing to me. What do you think of these ideas?

AU where Marinette finds the Butterfly and basically becomes an anarchist passing out powers and is convinced she's the hero, Chloe gets the Ladybug and is struggling not to crack under the pressure of being a hero and unknowingly becoming a good person.

AU where the only change to canon is that, at the start of Origins, Chloe and Marinette are dating... but Chloe's the exact same brat she is in canon. The two are genuinely in love, but tend to feed each other's bad habits; for a dash of irony, Adrien and Marinette end up rivals due to Adrien's concerns that Marinette is enabling Chloe, and Marinette thinks Adrien is trying to get between her and Chloe.

Pure, fluffy Crack Chloenette where Chloe goes full Karen and channels her inner Audrey at a fast food restaurant when they screw up Marinette's order. Everyone is afraid, except for Marinette, who is just reminded why she loves this girl.

Like, again, I hope I'm not being a bother, and if I ever get to be, please let me know.

sup

no not all. i actually enjoying answering asks about my ships hjsizjajskskw. thank you, I try my best to make my thoughts coherent.

first one, I'm guessing this is aged up or when they're adults. young Marinette doesn't seem like the type to do that let alone have resources and time for that. Marinette one her twenties just trying to help people while also juggling life and its challenges. she thinks she's doing everyone a favor but with power comes consequences and humans have always had greed. so sometimes it does more annoyances than helping.

Chloe is always on the spotlight, especially now that she's prepared to take over their business. she's still young , around 24-27, but her family is anything but unprepared. becoming ladybug at age 20 was the biggest shock of her life and biggest blessing. if Tikki wasn't here she would have already lost her mind and said 'fuck it, all of you suck' and became her mother 2.0

there's drama, there's sexual tension and 'oh god she's my enemy I shouldn't be blushing like a teenager!' they get paired up in work together in their civilian forms and sparks fly (literally lmao). but they can't. because how could they when they still had someone to capture? someone to keep an eye on and capture? how can they think of each other when they should be thinking of someone else (which is still them lmao silly lesbians).

second one reminds me of that one wenclair fic I read where they're not even remotely good but god their romance was epic and lovely. Marinette is actually the more dominant and initiative in their relationship but she's so much better at hiding it. It thrills Chloe whenever they go on their dates and escapades where they beat up people they don't like (which in their defense are mostly sexist, pedo, homophobes etc.) after obtaining their miraculous. i have to do a bit of Kwami swap and have the ladybug, bee and cat on the same tier. still ladybug and queen bee though and they're a trio.

Adrien is just worried for his friend but he wasn't there when Chloe had no one, when Marinette was cornered, when Chloe had beaten up a guy that was way too close, when Marinette had talked Audrey shit in the face after Chloe's 13 bday. He wasn't there, so of course he didn't understand. It doesn't stop him though. He tries to reach out to his childhood friend only to be stopped with a glare from Marinette. He glares back.

"I think he's interested in you," there's a pout to her voice and Chloe smiles. She reaches a hand to brush the hair that's fallen on Marinette's face, cupping her cheek, "Nonsense. He only sees me as a friend. My best guess is he's worried I'm corrupting you."

Amusement flashes into the girl's eyes, "You? But you're an absolute angel, my love."

Chloe snorts as Marinette wraps an arm around her, "Screw you."

"Gladly."

this one could be connected to the second one in terms of their relationship. Marinette is kind and shy and still a bit clumsy, but she's also more confident with her love and doesn't have much inhibitions whenever she wants to know something or gets things done. Especially when it's for Chloe.

She watches in amusement as Chloe chews them out, garnering eyes from anyone inside the store. She should stop her girlfriend, tell her it was only a mistake. But her girlfriend is so damn attractive right now and it fills her with butterflies that Chloe would make sure she was pampered even at the smallest of things.

She does the same of course. She wouldn't hesitate to manipulate or blackmail anyone that comes too close to her liking. So far Adrien hasn't crossed the line, but the idea of toying with him crossed her mind. She wouldn't do it because Chloe is his friend and she doesn't want Chloe upset at her.

After they're done in the restaurant she pulls her girlfriend to the side, smirking at the blushing blonde. "You looked absolutely beautiful there, mon amour."

And that's all. I've been thinking about slightly darker/grey Marinette in my fics but I have yet to find the perfect formula on how to execute her. She's fun though, I like playing with her obsessive characteristics. Also, it's never a bother to me regarding asks about my ships or anything in particular long as it's respectful when asked. Thank you for the asks! Lovely aus indeed.

#chlonette #chloenette #chloe bourgeois #marinette dupain cheng #asks #k7l4d4 #they'd be such an iconi duo #the tension the drama the stolen glances #the rivalries and whispered sweet promised #they make me crazy in a way i am not complaining about #i answered this half asleep so some of em could be crack

25 notes · View notes

soleminisanction · 10 months

Note

I just went through most of your character rants and analysis and I love them so much!❤️ It’s so nice to find someone with a lot of the same opinions as me, especially after seeing a good bit of Tim hate in TikTok comments lately. I love the animatics and cosplays on there but it sucks that it seems like it’s seen as cool to be nasty to Tim’s character over there, or maybe it's just the comments of the videos I get? It’s usually people thinking he’s a misogynist or that his character steals from and or makes other robins look bad to hype him up. I don’t get these comments because I feel like all of the bats have been written with misogynistic dialogue at some point, even the girls! I don’t understand why people latch this on to Tim as some big character trait. Maybe it’s some joke I’m just not understanding. Also with the bringing other characters down to prop his character up, isn’t that what pretty much every character that is currently in the spotlight does at some point (like Steph’s Batgirl run infamously does to Babs and Tim)? Why do they attribute this only to Tim? Also, all the robins steal traits from each in adaptations and other comic runs, again why do they act like it’s a Tim only thing? Basically, all the other Bats do what they claim they hate Tim for?! It’s genuinely mind-boggling to me!

TikTok's algorithm is the worst thing about that app, because it's got a terrible tendency to send peoples' feeds into negativity spirals, and that in turn fosters a community of people who are either looking for rage-bait, are mad because they can't get away from the rage-bait, or try to bait other people to rage because that gets them engagement. There's no way off the merry-go-round once you get on it either, it's just miserable; it's why I eventually had to drop the app and now only watch the videos ported over to YouTube or Tumblr.

For my money, the reason Tim specifically gets blamed for this thing that is very obviously a problem with comics as an industry, not with his character specifically, comes at least in part from the drama involving Steph.

Because see, defenses of Steph tend to start from a seed of truth -- she was the subject of sexist writing in War Games, both in the fact that they chose to fridge her for Bruce's manpain and that artists during cuts away to the infamous torture sequence (which did not need to be as long as it was) drew her in a highly sexualized manner. But some people took that truth and ran with it, leaping onto this frustrating, stupid second-wave feminist idea that women are inherently innocent and can only ever be victims of The Patriarchy and therefor if anything goes wrong in the life of a woman, it MUST be the fault of A Man. And since it can be hard to pin-point which comic creators are responsible for these things, the brunt started to fall on the in-universe men.

So all the men around Steph became scapegoats, and Tim is the man she's both around the most and whom she has wronged the most. And then that attitude got amplified by her Batgirl run, which does this really manipulative bullshit where it only brings up Steph's past in terms that make her look like a helpless victim with no agency, without acknowledging or even mentioning any of the things she chose to do of her own free will. It especially went out of its way to demonize Tim and paint him as unreasonable, judgey and sexist, because the alternative would mean acknowledging that Steph had done some really fucked-up shit to him in the last days of Robin, and it was in fact perfectly reasonable for him to want her out of his life.

But see, that would mean that a good guy (gasp) didn't like her. And had a good reason not to like her. And trying to write a character who rises to become a true hero because they're fighting to make up for the shitty things they did in the past is so much harder than writing a innocent widdle victim who only has the best intentions and whose only problem is that the world is unfair to her specficially. White women with no self-awareness can project themselves on the latter, but not the former.

Amplify that by the faction of Damian stans who treat fictional rivalries as Deadly Serious Business and the fraction of Jason stans who hate him for existing as the result of Jason's death, both of whom will jump on and amplify any criticism no matter how baseless and uninformed just to score points against their perceived "enemy," and there you go. That's what I've observed unfolding since about 2007 anyway.

#fandom ramblings #dc comics asks

25 notes · View notes

that-green-haired-swordsman · 1 year

Text

ZoTash ficlet "A Reason To Live"

Tashigi wipes the stream of sweat off her face with her arm and she swings her Shigure over her head another time, and then waves the blade forward hard, only to get dodged by Zoro effortlessly. The pirate blocks her attack without using much strength and without starting a counterattack either.

:readmore:

“What are you doing? Fight me already!”, the marine captain demands, spinning around and putting all of her might into her next blow. Zoro blocks her again, simply by holding Kitetsu in front of him.

“This is useless”, he growls, pushing her away with his blade and she loses her balance for a moment. “Cut the crap already.”

“Won’t do. Can’t do”, she gives back, running towards him, not guarding herself, just throwing herself against him with everything she has left, but Zoro senses her attack, makes a step to the side and she trips, falls down and roars angrily.

“Why do you never fight me seriously?!” Tashigi yells in anger as she gets up, breathing heavily, staring at him. “You say you don’t treat women different from men and this is what I get?”

“This has nothing to do with you being a woman.” It doesn’t. It never has and it never will. She couldn’t know.

“Liar!” She hates them, all of them. All of those arrogant men who think they’re entitled to use a sword just because of their sex and who degrade her, trying to keep her out of their domain, and this arrogant and sexist ass in front of her is no exception. It’s not her fault she’s a female. Tashigi runs towards Zoro another time, and her opponent only shakes his head and blocks her attack again.

“And I always thought that I was stubborn”, he remarks ironically.

Tashigi pushes her blade against his, and gets even more angry when she sees that Zoro’s not even sweating. She hates him.

“Why can’t you just accept the fact that I’m better than you?” he asks her, looking directly into her eyes. “You’d save us both from this waste of time.”

“Better? You’re just stronger than me and you damn well know why I won’t stop fighting you!” Tashigi growls, but Zoro’s had enough of this. He pushes her blade to the side in a quick movement, and launches the first and last attack on her, a move meant as defense, he knows this will make her fall back to the ground, and so it does, and to her shock he brings his katana down on her, and she watches the sharp blade wide-eyed as it whizzes by right next to her face and gets stuck in the ground. Zoro stands above her with a cold look on his face, and she gasps for air.

He wonders. If she would still be alive, is this how things would have gone ultimately? Although she was technically better than him? If yes... if would have been unfair. Strength… he knew he needed it, so he gained it. And maybe it would have been his only chance to defeat his friend, using her sex against her, although that would have felt like cheating.

“Do you accept your defeat?” he rumbles. He knows she won’t. He wouldn’t, either. He knows that feeling all too well. He’s been lying on the ground the same way she does now many, many, many times.

Tashigi hesitates. She’s still on the floor, beneath him, and closes her eyes.

“You know what I’m going to demand of you now”, she replies.

“Yeah. And you know I’m not gonna give it to you.”

Zoro grabs the hilt of his sword and pulls it out of the ground.

Tashigi feels her eyes burn. Slowly, she lifts herself up.

“This is demoting. To refuse to give a warrior the finishing blow… You don’t live by the sword. Just because of it.”

Zoro stands with his back to her and sheaths Kitetsu.

“Whatever you say.”

Tashigi growls. “Look at me!”, she yells at him. “Look at me and tell me why you’re doing this then! If it’s not because I’m a woman and not because of the way of swordsmanship, what is it then?! Why don’t you-“

“Kill you?” Zoro has turned around to her now and stares at her, just as she wanted.

Tashigi gasps.

The simple answer would be that the world needs people like her. Lawful good people who can help build the world that needs to be built once the inevitable big war is over. A marine, a law enforcement that serves civilization and not the highest bidder. A marine that fights injustice when it’s necessary, a marine he would trust. The difficult answer is, well, not that simple.

“You want to tell me things about being a swordsman? You have the audacity to judge me, or the code I live by? Your view of the world is so limited. All you can see is black and white. You’re blind to all of the grey shades that exist.”

Tashigi holds his piercing gaze. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

Zoro huffs. “What’s your goal?” he asks her then, and that takes her by surprise. “What do you live for?”

“I told you this. I want to collect the special blades in this world from people who don’t deserve to own them. People like you”, she spats.

Zoro sneers. “I did more than enough to earn my swords. You saw it even. A man willing to sacrifice an arm for a sword doesn’t have the right to wield it, then?”

Tashigi opens her mouth, reminiscing that moment in that arms shop in Logue Town, when she was witness to what Zoro was willing to sacrifice.

“That was just you being crazy. It doesn’t prove anything other than you not taking your own life seriously. You could have died there.”

“We all can die every single day. If that’s what you’re afraid of, you should stay in bed in the morning.”

Tashigi presses her lips together in anger. “Stop talking to me like that! I know that! I’m not too sure about you, though. Do you even have a goal, when you’re willing to throw away your life away like that so easily?”

Zoro breaks their gaze and turns his head away now. “I do. Everyone on the Grand Line does. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here, would we? And besides…” He crosses his arms in front of his chest now, rises to his full height and looks at her again. “I didn’t put my life at stake back then. I’m not as careless as you think I am. I didn’t train for years only to lose my life in a run-down swords store.”

He pauses briefly and then continues. “I will die by the sword, but with holding it in my hand in the most fierce and glorious battle this world has ever seen. I’m going to be the world’s greatest swordsman. And if I won’t, I’m gonna die trying.”

Tashigi gasps. She sees a determination, a willpower in Zoro’s gaze that amazes her, adds a perspective to his persona that forces her to change the way she thought about him. He turns around them and walks away from her. “Pick up your sword and then leave.”

“What then?” she asks him, and he stops.

“I don’t care. Get back to your men or whatever it is you prefer doing. But don’t get in my way.”

“I mean after you became the world’s greatest swordsman.”

Zoro turns around and looks at her.

“What?”

“You must have plans for your life after that, don’t you?” Tashigi picks up Shigure off the ground, and she concentrates on the feeling of the hilt in her hand, its structure, the weight of the blade.

To her surprise, Zoro says “Whatever fate’s chosen to do with me after that.”

“You can’t let your life being decided on by something as fate”, Tashigi shouts incredulously. “How can you be so careless about your own life? Y-”

“There are things beyond our control. So why waste time and energy in trying?”

“I don’t understand how this attitude goes along with such a high ambition.”

Zoro thinks about that day eleven years ago, and how his plans got thwarted and if it’s not fate he should blame for this, what else?

“You don’t have to.”

“That’s all you have to say about this?” Tashigi says loudly and angered.

Zoro grinds his teeth and snaps in a sudden fit of anger. “Why do you even care? You don’t know a single thing about me! But I’m telling you one thing about me and that is that you start to go on my nerves! Worry about your own business!” And he thought he’d be over with this. Two years of training, both physically and mentally, and she still manages to get under his skin.

That she shakes her head doesn’t exactly help to calm him down again.

“I can’t stand seeing your face anymore. Get lost!” he yells.

“This is it? You only live to die?”

Zoro freezes. Tashigi looks at him with those strange big eyes, and he doesn’t know what it is, but it does something with him, but he can’t figure out what. He turns away from her and those big eyes.

He chews over her words in his mind, and something inside of him clicks. His gaze becomes absent.

“I was never afraid to die.”

“You’re looking forward to it.”

Zoro’s head snaps around and he sees her stepping towards him, slowly. He wants to move, but he can’t.

She stops. “That’s why you throw yourself into battle after battle, right? That’s why you chose that dangerous goal.”

“No. I made a promise.” Zoro curses himself inwardly and wishes he could bite off his tongue. He does contemplate it.

“What kind of promise is that to get killed with guns blazing and all? A suicide pact?”

“I told you to care about your own business!” Zoro barks, having a hard time to keep his temper in check. How does she know how to push his buttons every single time they meet? He’s been so calm and collected ever since he met his pirate crew after two years of being separated from them. Until now.

Tashigi huffs. “Such a waste of talent. Really. One of the most talented swordsmen in the New World, and you don’t want to make good use of that gift. It’s a damn shame.”

Zoro looks at her incredulously. “Are you fucking kidding me now?! Who the hell do you think-“

“You got it.” Tashigi turns away from Zoro. She feels a lump in her throat, feels stuck. Shocked even. He never planned to get back from the last island. He planned to die there. Planned to only live long enough to fulfil his goal and Luffy’s, and then go down, with a sword in his hand. She doesn’t know what must have happened in his life, to him, to create an attitude like that. And also she doesn’t know why she even cares so much.

Zoro stares at her back. “If you as a swordswoman don’t understand me, I don’t know who does”, he accidentally says aloud, and when he notices it, he holds his hand to his forehead in embarrassment.

“I have a life-long goal!” Tashigi yells then and faces him again, not understanding her outburst. “My goal doesn’t depend on a single event! It’s a journey, it’s about learning about people, about history, about honoring the sword! You don’t honor them! You’re using them and they don’t have a chance against it! All they’re for is to lead you to your demise! Like I said, you don’t deserve them.” Tashigi’s gaze lands on the floor, and a single tear she doesn’t understand runs down her cheek.

Zoro tilts his head and scratches his temple. “That’s a strange way of looking at it.”

“Well, if you don’t understand me and I don’t understand you, there’s nothing else left to say then.” Tashigi takes a deep breath, wipes the tear away quickly, hoping Zoro wouldn’t notice, and attempts to leave the place, and as she walks past him, she hurts, and she’s confused and annoyed about this sudden wave of emotions she’s confronted with now. She hates what being physically close to him causes within her.

She gasps again when she feels his strong hand around her arm, forcing her to stop. She looks at him, but he doesn’t reciprocate the gaze, just looks sternly in front of him, lowering his head slightly, his hand still around her arm, his jaw moves, and she can’t help but blush, and it’s truly unfair how handsome he is.

“I do honor them”, he says quietly, not moving an inch. “I wouldn’t be where I am without them. I guess you just have to accept that people are allowed to handle things differently.”

She doesn’t tell him to let go of her arm.

“Just as you have to accept that everything you do has an impact on this world”, Tashigi gives back, also quiet. An impact on people.

“What it is you want me to do?” Zoro asks her now. “How do I make good use of that… impact of mine?”

Tashigi looks at Zoro, and to her surprise sees that he looks at her, too.

He doesn’t know what causes him to ask of her opinion, why it’s important to him to hear what she has to say. He doesn’t understand why he even talks so much with her, either, why he can’t control what he shares with her, why he becomes more and more of an open book to her with each time they meet. There seems to be some kind of connection between the two of them, and for a reason beyond his logic, she now knows more about him than every other person he ever met. Although she is not a friend, not a comrade. But not a rival or enemy either. It is because she fights with a sword, too? He’s met many swordsmen before, and never formed a connection with them. It used to be because of the way she looked, but that’s not the reason anymore.

He lets go of her arm he held firm, but without leaving a bruise. Not because she’s a woman.

“Find yourself a reason to live”, he hears her saying softly. “Aside from the thrill of maniac fights and the bloodlust and all.”

He almost snorts.

“Are you serious?”

“I am. You’ll never experience true inner peace or bliss if you won’t.”

The smirk disappears from Zoro’s face.

How does she know…?

He feels her stroking his arm gently before she starts walking away again.

But he can’t move. She touched a nerve within him he was sure to have buried a long time ago, together with so many other things. It’s true, though. He’s prepared to die, he has been way back. It’s impossible to live a life like his without being ready to face the reaper at any given moment. He chose to live as if each new dawning day would be his last, and when he recognizes that she doesn’t, that she values and cherishes life, found herself a goal that would keep her occupied much longer than his would, and still is ready to give up her life to a worthy opponent, with a sword in her hand… he turns around to her, watches her go, and a part of him wishes she wouldn’t.

And as if she would sense his thoughts, Tashigi stops, hesitates, and then says “You can come with me if you want. After all that.”

“What?” Zoro asks, raising a brow.

Tashigi doesn’t turn around. “You can join me searching for these swords I want to gather. I assume that some of them might be very powerful, hard to taim. You seem to have a natural talent for that. Maybe I’ll even let you keep one of them.”

“How generous of you”, Zoro scoffs.

“Besides”, she adds, “I can imagine some hard battles about the blades with their current owners, so you’d even have something to do. Win-win situation.”

“And how do you think this would be going to work out? You’re a marine, I’m a pirate, wanted dead or alive.”

“I don’t think that would stop you.”

Zoro smirks.

“Think about it. My offer stands. And until then…”

Tashigi grabs Shigure’s hilt, clutches her fingers around it.

“… stay alive.”

Tashigi walks off.

Zoro watches her leave, accepts that fate will bring them together again someday, and smiles.

#I just want them to talk alright 😭😭😭#One piece #Roronoa zoro #tashigi #zoro x tashigi #zotash

31 notes · View notes

abugwritesstuff · 2 years

Text

Prince and Consort Dad/Family Headcanons Pt 1

i had so much fun thinking these up and honestly, several of them are just good material for fluffy little fics i think i'll write at some point. i'm gonna post these in a couple parts since there are a couple other bonus characters i'm writing up ideas for. :)

in this part: guy, lynt, roy, toa, fenn, and rio!

guy

i think they'd either A) wait a few years into being married to have kids, which i can picture being something that would perhaps buck tradition a bit, or B) get knocked up before they tie the knot and then just very rapidly do a big 'ol fancy wedding in avari

i can see him being maybe mildly shocked but then reacting like "yes of course" like it was inevitable that this would happen at some point.

guy on his "you're mine" bullshit as per usual amirite

anyways

he would be basically draconian while she's pregnant but in a way that is both nonsensically paranoid and masking that he's anxious about her wellbeing

like sentencing her to bedrest for literally no reason, making her eat specific foods, etc.

they'd fight about it and eventually he'd ease off somewhat

he would have jasper provide him dossiers of information about pregnancy and whatnot, but despite this...

he would 100% just assume all his kids would be boys and just be flabbergasted when they aren’t.

like he has, like, two daughters and then his son

he’d just go around like “when our son is born” and the mc is like “…uh?”

anyway he is STUNNED for awhile after the birth of their first girl, tho he does warm up to it all

guy the girl dad is so funny to me

very defensive of anyone who doubts the abilities of his girls (because you KNOW avari is sexist as fuck) and he is just completely inordinately proud of his children even if what they’ve done is just average

chronically incapable of hearing anything negative about his kids from anyone

some noble getting glared at by guy because he said something less than entirely flattering about his baby girl

no she’s perfect shut up 😤

guy probably *should* reflect on his own childhood and consider the expectations that were placed on him, but in all honesty i don’t think he’s that self aware so i don’t think he really parents his kids with any particular thoughtfulness or strategy

he’s also a bit harsher on his son that on his daughters

i feel that he’d be the type to wanna do that vonn-trapp whistle shit but the mc would be like “absolutely not you weirdo”

guy is not as bad at being a dad and his own dad because his dad is like, some kind of fucking weird pirate villain, but he’s still not amazing

i don’t like guy that much lmao

sorry

lynt

i feel that lynt would start trying to knock up the mc literally immediately after they get married

just like “well this is what happens next, no?” and just go for it

i don’t think they’d actually have kids especially quickly, i think it’d take a few years of trying, which would be emotionally upsetting for the both of them. but they do eventually get pregnant

i think he'd try to be helpful during pregnancy and birth but i'm not confident he'd be super successful. think he'd be at a bit of a loss for what to do aside from maybe being a pillow

bony ass pillow though

i think growing up as an only child makes lynt want to have at least more than one, so he’s very very pleased when they have their first babies: twin boys

a lot of lynt napping with the babies in the courtyard, sneaking away from prince duties to spend time with them

family cuddle puddle

both those boys have rather more serious and less sleepy temperaments than lynt as they grow up, taking a bit more after their mother

this makes lynt a bit sad but then, when they boys are about seven: they have their third child, a girl

lynt is wrapped around her finger, she’s the absolute apple of his eye

she takes after him in personality and is with him like a little sidekick most of the time

lynt shows up to events and she’s in his arms or holding his hand the whole time

at balls they’ll disappear and be found napping in the hallway on a settee

anyways yeah. so fucking cute

i do feel like lynt would be a tad oblivious to more serious things happening with his kids and might struggle to know how to provide support beyond a hug

he would absolutely have a protective side, though, if needed

would burn bridges and start all kinds of shit if his kids were threatened

no more conflict-averse lynt if it’s about his babies lol

i also feel like he’d both unintentionally and intentionally cockblock his own kids when they’re older lmao

just showing up at the completely wrong times, constantly

i want a lynt and family sitcom

roy

he’s one of the princes i can see having a pretty large family, i feel like that suits him

they have like five or six kids in total, i think more boys that girls

they'd have kids maybe like a year or two after marrying. i think they'd plan that shit out meticulously. they don't give me the vibe that they'd be surprised by it, at least not for a first one

that picture-perfect prince thing does get carried into this arena as well, i think in order to soothe any anxiety or worry roy would kinda immerse himself into trying to be the most perfect supportive partner ever and would maybe go a bit overboard initially

but all that said i think roy would be a pretty great dad since by all i’ve seen his dad was pretty great too so he had a good example

but he does make sure to shelter them from expectations of being perfect, or of having to save/advance the nation, definitely encourages them to be kids

i feel like they’d do family camping trips and things like that

he’d teach them how to ride horses also

they have enough children that when they attend events outside of the country, roy and the mc can be seen counting everyone to make sure no one has wandered off somewhere

roy walking around with two children under his arms lmao

carrying on some kind of completely perfect diplomatic princely conversation while wrangling a squirming toddler

lmao i love it

i think he’d be great with advice and guidance but that his kids would be like “🙄 ugh dad” because he would get a bit preachy with it

100% that dad that turns a joke into a (well-intentioned) lecture

roy’s kids like “do not try to show dad a meme he’ll ask you to explain it and ask how you know those people”

literally like this

altogether a very wholesome family

toa

toa may be my actual favorite so this is a longer one

he does not have an especially big family which is almost a shame because i can imagine that he has some BEAUTIFUL children

girl and a boy, in that order

i do see them having their first very soon after getting married but unintentionally, they got caught up and forgot their birth control potion or spell or whatever it is people do

i feel that it’s a pretty stressful time given that mc is perceived as avarian, i feel that idina would have it out for her and that the pregnancy would have to be semi-secret for awhile due to various dangers

toa has an anxious personality so he would be very on edge and protective

get that boy some lexapro STAT

i feel like toa would be at kind of a loss on how to be a father since his own sucks so bad

like he’d know what he didn’t want to do but wouldn’t know what to do so i think he’d worry a lot and try to make up for it by doting on the mc, very mother hen toa

i also think that when his kids are born and as they’re growing up, he’d have a lot of moments where he’d be processing his own childhood trauma

like holding his son as a toddler and being like “i could never let anyone do to him what they did to me”

like the experience would make him actually start to despise his father rather than just being intimidated

so much hurt/comfort fic possibility with daddy toa lmao

anyways

toa’s pretty gentle with his kids, very calm, has high expectations for them academically but doesn’t really punish the kids for things very often given what he was subjected to, which could cause some issues but mc probably handles discipline so it turns out okay

his daughter takes after him in personality and is extremely magically adept- my suspicion is that since the mc also has ancient magic, any kids she has with a prince will all have ancient magic of some kind, but i think this is a *bit* more of an issue in qelsum than it would be maybe in the other countries

like mc is so out of place as a supposed avarian and toa is so frightened of her ancient magic being manipulated by gilbert that it’s kept very under wraps

so their daughter comes along and is so magically proficient that it’s kind of shocking

their son is also extremely magically adept, but not as serious or academic in personality as his sister, but since he’s a boy and expected to have ancient magic he receives more training on it openly when in qelsum

which is frustrating for their daughter

she has a bit of a complex about it and so toa tries to tutor her privately when he’s able to

they understand each other well- he sees a lot of himself in her so he can read her fairly easily

i could go on about these dynamics for awhile, i feel like qelsum and toa and whatever family he’d have would be very complicated not necessarily because of his parenting

i don’t think he’d be the snuggliest warmest kind of dad (i mean more than his own dad but that’s not saying much) but i do think he’d be the kind of dad that just brings them fruit

was gonna be candy but mc was like “you’re giving them a sugar high all the time please don’t”

so he just send them plates of cut up fruit when they’re studying or whatever

buys like a ton of whatever his kids say that they like

i think he shows his love for his kids by doting on them and worrying about them

interrogates his kids on whether or not they’ve been sleeping or eating enough or if they feel sick or if they’ve gotten outside lately and do they need any help with their homework and-

very worrywart toa

i think he’d get his feelings hurt if kids like ever purposefully kept secrets or snuck around

he wants them to feel like they can come to him with anything and i think sometimes struggles to express those feelings

anyways 🥺

fenn

like roy he’d also have a larger family but by luxure standards i guess it’d be small lmao

they’d wanna wait a good couple years before having their kids

no birth control mishaps with them, fenn is too experienced with that shit lmao

however i do think there’d be a possibility that their first kid would be motivated by trying to get kieran to back off

like we know how he acted in some of fenn’s event routes, i think it’s entirely likely that he’d be trying to figure out how to get rid of MC before she can produce a next heir, yknow? he's a lil smarmy bitch and it feels in character to me

so i think that could be a cause for conflict but inevitably he would give up

my hypothesis: they have maybe like four, five kids?

i see fenn as being like, prone to showing off the mc while pregnant

like “i did this 😏😌” lmao

he’d be a fucking anxious wreck anytime the mc is in labor, i don’t think he handles her being in pain well

just sitting outside the room with violet telling him to get his act together and stop freaking out

i think most of the princes get teary when their kids are born but i think fenn does in particular and it surprises him

i also don’t think he’d be entirely certain how to be a parent other than just showing up and being around them a lot, which is what he didn’t have as a kid

similarly to toa, fenn would have some childhood trauma/neglect to process while his kids grew up

like watching his kids reach the age he was when the eva thing happened and being like

“oh, i was taken advantage of and preyed on”

similar thing where his relationship with his father sours even more

i think he’d be very protective of his kids, probably would steer them away from louis at every opportunity as a response

anyways

i think they’d have a pretty tight knit family as a result of fenn trying his best to like, actually be present and know things about his kids

i feel like he'd maybe write some stories for them since he's a writer

anyways yeah it’s cute

mc is the one that puts the cut off at whatever number they end up having, genuinely think fenn would be like “wanna make another? 👀” lmao

also no matter who mc ends up with i have a headcanon that toa’s daughter and fenn’s daughter become bffs because that would be funny

rio

oh you know he was MADE for this shit

they have a bajillion kids because of course they do

most out of all the princes

they have like eight or nine, just an absolute army, a stampede of kids, voleri children just popping up out of nowhere all the time

rio attends an meeting between the princes and pulls an expected stowaway child out of his coat

all the princes looking at him like 😐🙄🤔 and he’s like 😄

he’s a super fun engaging kind of dad, their home is full of pillow forts and games and a lot of giggling

i think they probably start having kids within about a year and people start asking them about kids, like, six months before the wedding even happens

just the kind of place voleri is 🤷🏻‍♀️ i remember aidan being like “ah, your future wife!!” in an event when rio brought mc to the palace so that’s just what they’re like lmao

rio is fucking SO excited during the mc’s pregnancies but especially the first

just telling EVERYONE that they’re having a baby!!! 😄 isn’t that great!!! a baby!!!

he'd dote on mc so bad, you just know it

feeds the HELL outta her, rubs her back and her feet, makes her teas, tucks her into bed

a frantic mess at first when she's giving birth

have you ever played the sims? y'know the animation that the dads have when the moms go into labor where they're freaking out? that rio's energy at first. but he gets it in check and then is fairly helpful, just being sweet and encouraging

after it’s born rio is just like

sneaking out of royal duties all the time just to go look at his kid 🥰

papa rio is just very cute so nobody can really get all that mad at him for his antics, though aidan probably does have to kind of steer his attention back to work

rio keeps a thick book of wallet size pictures of his kids in his pocket at all times and shows them to people, it doesn’t matter if you don’t care or have already seen them, he’s showing you

anyways the palace is big enough that all these kids could have their own rooms but they share a few rooms instead, lots of bunk beds and whatnot

rio and the mc making the rounds through the rooms to tuck everyone in

very wholesome, 10/10

i think rio would probably still be his oblivious self so more complicated issues might be handled by mc, but rio would be great at comforting his kids

rio hugging a daughter through her first heartbreak and then bringing her a giant dessert tray lmao

rio is a dad that cries at weddings

can you imagine the adorable ass family photos they'd have? i die

that's all i have for this post, but i've got lance, dia, and the valets all done so i'll post those soon as well :)

#court of darkness #voltage inc #voltage games #rio voleri #fenn luxure #toa qelsum #roy invidia #lynt akedia #guy avari

130 notes · View notes

roostertuftart · 1 year

Note

I know you're the Kyle expert, but I knew a guy who thought Stan would be an incel. Thoughts?

Hmmm. Idk, I've seen that float around and I don't really get it?? Like, I can sorta get it more than when people seriously say it about Kyle. Stan definitely seems to fall into more... Viewing girls sort of in that perhaps lightly internally sexist way than Kyle seems to, of having some sort of unintentional separation between boys and girls that makes him kind of view girls as very different types of people friendwise, if that makes sense. Like, say he was dating a guy- I don't think much would change in terms of the guy being an extremely close friend who's been elevated up an extra level to romantic. But Wendy isn't really like that. She's not Stan's friend outside of their relationship.

And okay, that's not to say Kyle is a bastion of anti sexism himself, ESPECIALLY noting earlier seasons, but Kyle doesn't really seem to act the same way Stan does when interacting with girls?? His early season sexism felt more innocent and childish, something he's definitely grown out of now. It was less built on this deep internalized toxic masculinity and more like the "eww cooties" ideas that happen a lot with young kids. Obviously division based on traits like sex is not good under any circumstance, but it doesn't seem to have carried on much in his modern view of girls. Nowadays Kyle just seems to view girls far more equally even when divided from them, and cares more about listening or hearing out where they're coming from and understanding their frustration with sexism, for example. While he doesn't really have many close female friends (and really none of the boys actually do besides Stan), his behavior doesn't really shift at all to trying to be gentlemen-y or something around women, denoting a very equal level view of them.

But, in Stan's defense, we see him interacting with the girls way more than Kyle, and I think him having dated Wendy, interacting with her friends, etc etc over the series gives us way more to work with in that area than we get to with the more or less far in between hints we're given with Kyle. One thing that I think may impact this for me is also kind of that the few times we HAVE seen Kyle's attraction to girls play out, putting aside Leslie bc oh boy was Kyle blindly simping there, he doesn't seem to be as quick to focus on like... I guess vaguely sexual aspects like the other boys, which leads to him just seeming to objectify women less (Not to say that being sexually attracted to someone is inherently objectifying, but there is more of an overlap with people who are drawn by looks and engagement in objectifying behavior).

And then there's how Kyle has reacted to being rejected, and I know the big one is Super Hard PCness that everyone likes to point out as Kyle being a "nice guy", but in actuality, he was extremely graceful in how their relationship ended, moreso than he needed to be with the horrible things Heidi said to him, and only flipped out after being bullied and teased and harassed by virtually the whole school, Cartman and Heidi especially. It was definitely not anger purely because he didn't get a girl he liked, it was anger that someone he'd trusted and tried to help so swiftly turned on him and humiliated him for no reason at all, that once again he was being put down by Cartman, and that everyone else treated him poorly as well, Stan included. There's also Rebecca who Kyle just... Kinda let go. Like, we don't really see much of his reaction but there's nothing to tell us Kyle was angry their relationship was broken off, so I'm counting it at least a little. There's Nichole too, who once again we don't really straight up see Kyle's reaction to her breaking up with him. But we do see how he treats her, how much he tries to find stuff they have in common to talk about, how his only anger of their relationship not working is Cartman's blatant racism and lies about him purposely made to sabotage any chances he does get with this girl that he likes. It's not anger towards whatever choice Nichole makes here, it's anger about Cartman's needless and morally egregious interference. I know this is a low bar to pass in whether a character is decent to women, but Kyle just repeatedly not behaving badly over his breakups is a big tell to me. So often we see male characters act like assholes just because a girl doesn't like them or a girl broke up with them or something. Even with Stan, in fact, we've seen this play out. I mean. He's pretty okay too but we did see him tell Wendy she was a bitch for dating someone else. This is from early seasons, that I wouldn't solely use as evidence Stan is a crazy sexist even now, but it plays a part in this conversation on whether or not you can more accurately call Stan Marsh the incel-ish one of the two.

Okay, but like. Why am I even talking so much about Kyle here when you're asking about Stan? Well, I honestly think that the duality of them as characters reinforces the ideas of what the other is like to the audience, and this leads into a LOT of the extremes the fandom will push them into (the fem/masc debate, the nerd/jock debate, etc etc) and likewise it does so here. When we see Kyle being kinda more normal around girls, even though it's rare we see him like that at all, it makes Stan seem all the more awkward when in reality, he kind of isn't that bad at all?? He's pretty normal with girls for a boy his age, though he could be a bit less of a dick sometimes. I do think he sometimes has this huge focus on looks, and that can be... Not great, but it's not to a horrible evil incel-ish degree by any means, and I'd argue for his age he's a pretty good guy to, say, Wendy- Not that he can't improve a LOT but Idk, his shittiness comes off more as "dumb little boy is sometimes a jerk to his friends" to me than "secretly hates and disrespects women".

But y'know, at the end of the day, Kyle and Stan are more alike than people think about many of these things, this being one of them. Whether or not Kyle or Stan are better with how they act to women is hard to say. I can see why people would be able to twist Kyle into being incel-ish even if I don't really personally think it's based accurately on the information we've been given. I can see even moreso how someone might be able to with Stan, and while I do think there's at least a bit more of a leg to stand on him having some issues with internalized sexism, I don't think it's accurate with the information we've been given either. Neither of them are really incel-ish to me.

Honestly, if they were dealing with the issue of not being able to find a partner, they'd probably mostly internalize it into self blame and feel bad about themselves but not really broadly blame other people. Stan might slump into a depression or put his focus elsewhere, Kyle, if wanting a partner badly enough (I don't think it's ever been his first priority and I doubt it ever will be) would make efforts to fix the problem by figuring out what's putting people off about himself and try to figure out how he can fix it rather than lashing out. (Also I already lightly touched on why I don't think Kyle would redo his actions in The List right here over not being able to get a girlfriend lol)

#devastatingly kyle has fallen into behavior that on the surface can be incel-ish looking if you don't read that deep into the show TWICE #which i think is also part of why he gets the incel/nice guy treatment from the fandom sometimes #though not too much so I think other ppl can agree Kyle just FEELS very normal around girls and i think that's bc he simply IS #even if ppl can't figure out exactly why he feels to them that way as a character #and then we have stan who rly hasn't fed into any surface level incel ideas but idk I've been seeing it a lot with him #it could be in part though just bc he shows so much attraction and interest in ppl he likes #he is so desperate about his love life sometimes that ig that can feel vaguely incel-y if ppl want it to be bad enough?#idk #sorry irambled about kyle so much it felt relevant #hope this all makes sense #also ty for calling me the kyle expertSDKFSDF aw #south park meta #me talking #ask #anon #kyle broflovski #stan marsh #have i made enough kyle defense meta posts about how he's not an incel to redeem myself from my incel kyle arc guys

28 notes · View notes

beardedmrbean · 2 years

Note

With Biden signing $10k in debt forgiveness for people making willing decisions, I want to know where my $10k debt forgiveness is for expenses racked up during COVID. I never got that. Instead all I got was massive debt and no savings left. So what the hell is the Kentucky fried BS? Why am I stuck payin for some idiot getting a gender studies degree?

Not just the gender studies degrees, I did see a interesting proposal come out of someone from the GOP about who should be picking up the tab for this.

Which is the colleges that jacked up their prices and churned out students with degrees that are basically worthless.

There's also this to consider. Just gonna drop a snippet or 2

The Republicans pointed to Pelosi’s own statement from July 2021, saying "thankfully" the speaker "expressed her agreement" with the GOP when she warned Biden did not have the constitutional authority to cancel student debt.

"People think that the President of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness, he does not," Pelosi said. "He can postpone, he can delay, but he does not have that power. That has to be an act of Congress."

"Although we may disagree on many things, your statement in July 2021 was correct," the Republicans wrote. "President Biden’s student loan giveaway is unconstitutional and illegal."

"Given your previously stated position and your leadership role as Speaker of the House, it is imperative that you act immediately in defense of our Constitution and the powers of the legislative branch," they continued.

The Republicans asked if Pelosi would "commit to supporting" her previous statement "with definitive action to stand up to this blatant overreach President Biden is enacting," further noting the president’s "move transcends the policies surrounding student loans."

"This is an illegal act by a President desperate for a political win," Hice and his Republican colleagues concluded the letter. "We hope you will heed your own words and act to defend the Constitution and rule of law."

_________________________

nancy's a politician so just like the rest of them the way to tell if she's lying is to hold a mirror under her nose and see if it fogs up, this is going to be a tough one to wiggle out of.

Gonna be 100% honest here though, first thing I did when I saw the announcement was grab my phone and send a message to a very dear friend of mine letting her know it had happened.

My personal opinion on the subject is irrelevant in the long run and the relief I could feel in a palpable way from her when I got the response back was something big.

So I'm not gonna begrudge people that get it, it's gonna be a good sized weight off their shoulders, which gets spread out on everyone but again that's not the doing of the recipient.

As to when are we gonna get ours, probably not going to welcome to real life it's not fair at the best of times and actively malicious at others. ________

I will say if you need a way to laugh about all of in order to relieve some of the (totally reasonable) annoyance you're feeling go look round for all the people saying it's racist or sexist or any of the other things like that that everyone is getting the same amount.

just laugh at the entitlement, don't go too deep or you'll just wind up angry again

final note, try to hang back on the irritation and such here for this one till it's challenged in court.

Could still get blocked, which would be one of the other things I told my friend and will suggest to everyone else.

Don't spend that money yet, might not materialize.

#anonymous

50 notes · View notes

bloodonhissocks · 1 year

Text

TSLOCG: Eric Miller

This is going to be a long post following my feelings toward Eric Miller throughout season 1:

1x1: When Bela first ran up to Eric, I got a sense of her character as a super eager freshman trying extra hard to make a drastic first impression so that she would be remembered. As a college senior who's been in a position of leadership, I sort of sympathized with his reaction at first, especially since there were hundreds of people at the Catullan meeting. If some random freshman came up to me wanting to read me their submission or something, I'd be happy to see their enthusiasm but god damn I got shit to do lmao.

Then Eric said that shit about "female spots" and I was like goodbye. And he followed it up with "I would give anything for Elizabeth Warren to be president" which made it all sound even worse. AND he ended it by mentioning the Pot Stickers, the all-Asian improv troupe. Like noooo, way to make it about race too.

1x2: The next time we see him he's saying stuff like "If I want Bark Thins and a mocha, you will get me Bark Thins and a mocha. And don't be cute and try to write a funny name on my cup. You will be cut." So now he's sexist, racist, AND on a power trip.

1x4: When Bela stands up for herself after being uncomfortably stereotyped as part of a joke (and I was really proud of her!!!), Eric is more concerned about Danny rescinding his donation check instead of addressing her experience. I was really sad because I thought her act of standing up for herself was going to be associated with the destruction of the Catullan, therefore implying that she should've just stayed quiet, but half the funds were recovered by someone else, so there was that at least. But it really says a lot about institutions...

In the same episode, Eric tells Bela, "I think you overreacted. Danny can't be sexist. He only hires female assistants." Honey, no, that's...just not true. Props to Evangeline for continuing to be fucking awesome by rolling her eyes and also speaking up for Bela.

1x7: After final submissions, Eric says, "If we choose any new members, tonight is gonna be tap night. We'll come find you in your rooms and whisk you away for hours of traditions that you cannot share with anyone, ever. Including future spouses." At this point, I got really scared that Eric might be like Ryan because the specific word choices and phrasing were really sus, like tap being slang for fuck, hours of tradition, can't share with anyone including future spouses...??? But there was no way because Evangeline was also a part of it.

And then...Ryan sexually assaults Bela after sexually harassing her and she finally speaks up about it to Evangeline and Eric. God bless Evangeline for being perfect, but Eric immediately says, "Can we make this quick" and lowers Bela's confidence and self-esteem even more. Eric starts to freak out visibly and verbally, saying things like "going to Title IX already?" and "I don't want to get involved in this and quite frankly I'm not sure there's a this to be involved in," literally dismissing Bela's feelings and the importance of the situation. His defensiveness made me so uncomfortable to hear as a viewer, like holy crap, he shut her down in such a horrible way.

Later, he asks Bela to talk alone. Before starting, he asks for a glass of water or something to which Bela says no and good because earlier he was such an ass. Then, he says, "I wrote this down so I wouldn't get it wrong...My initial reaction earlier today sucked. As an editor and a sometimes very awkward and thoughtless person, I'm sorry. I handled myself poorly. I believe you, and I will do something about it."

This scene is where things changed for me. At first, I thought that Eric was taking the easy way out by using a script, but in the season finale, he actively takes part in removing Ryan from the Catullan. When Ryan tries to make Bela less believable with ''a girl who gave eight handjobs," Eric counters,

"And who cares how many fucking hand jobs she gave? It doesn't make her any less credible, you shit."

This line is so so so important because yes, it doesn't matter what Bela did in the past. It doesn't erase her experience of sexual harassment and assault. For Eric to say this so outright and to the point means so much for Bela and for people who have had the same/similar experiences. It also really shows that he's capable of change and growth as a person. He went from completely denying Bela's experiences to directly addressing them to taking action. And the words that he wrote down when apologizing acknowledged Bela's experiences and the inappropriateness of his reaction. There were no excuses like "I've known Ryan for years" or "this is a sensitive situation and there's a lot of room for screwing a lot of things up." No, Eric's apology was about him as a person and owning up to his behavior.

And that is why Eric easily got bumped up on my favorite characters list. He started off really terribly but had very meaningful development and that's the kind of shit I love.

#the sex lives of college girls #sex lives of college girls #tslocg #slocg #s1 #eric miller #bela malhotra #I said favorite characters list bc I didn't wanna come off as crazy but he is my favorite #I love him so much #and I just wanted to share #mkwg4271

17 notes · View notes