#on some level the majority of the women and girls on this show are really hindered by their *status* as wife/mother/daughter/gf
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losing my shit about the two times vimes gets slapped by a woman in the guards books (night watch and snuff; spoilers for both below). terry pratchett is completely goddamn brilliant.
both times, it's near enough to the beginning of the plot that vimes is partially convinced he doesn't know what's going on and is still information gathering (so, working a little on autopilot, although thoughts are starting to coalesce). the women he encounters show up after a watershed moment—major transformative plot points on both occasions—and both help him and help move the narrative along with the information they provide. and this is my favorite detail—he's tired both times, too, and just needs to think, because of the amount of new information he's processing.
from night watch:
"I think perhaps I lost my memory when I was attacked," he said. That sounded good, he thought. What he really needed now was somewhere quiet, to think.
"Really? Perhaps I'm the Queen of Hersheba," said Rosie [Palm]. "Just remember, kind sir. I'm not doing this because I'm interested in you, although I'd admit to a macabre fascination about how long you're going to survive. If it hadn't been a cold wet night I'd have left you in the road. I'm a working girl, and I don't need trouble. But you look like a man who can lay his hands on a few dollars, and there will be a bill."
"I'll leave the money on the dressing table," said Vimes.
The slap in the face knocked him against the wall. /end quote
and from snuff:
She [Felicity Beedle] turned to Vimes. "It would seem, commander, that providence has brought you here in time to solve the murder of the goblin girl, who was an excellent pupil. I came up here as soon as I heard, but the goblins are used to undeserved and casual death. I"ll walk with you to the entrance, and then I've got a class to teach."
Vimes tugged at Feeny to make him keep up as they followed Miss Beedle and her charge toward the surface and blessed fresh air. He wondered what had become of the corpse. What did they do with their dead? Bury them, eat them, throw them on the midden? Or was he just not thinking right, a thought which itself had been knocking at his brain for some time. Without thinking, he said, "What else do you teach them, Miss Beedle? To be better citizens?"
The slap caught him on the chin, probably because even in her anger Miss Beedle realized that he still had his steel helmet on. /end quote
vimes makes mistakes. he makes mistakes all the time, and he knows this, and pays attention to them. vimes spends a lot of time thinking about thinking (engaging in productive, internally motivated metacognition well within his zone of proximal development, my master's in teaching insists i say). he thinks about his thinking, and he thinks about other people's thinking through the lens of his own.
in both instances, vimes is coming to realizations about the true nature of things.
in night watch, this would initially seem to be more surface than deep: he's getting to physical grips with exactly when and where (and who) in the past he is; he's learning the ground, mapping, figuring things out—but vimes is also trying to settle himself back in to what he knows, and what society is in these different times, to see if that fits. plotwise, in vimes's present, the seamstresses have a guild, rights, safety, standards, rules, regulations, and even societal respect—although certainly not close to what they deserve, it's much more than what they had before vetinari made their guild a reality. but in the past, where vimes is now, the seamstresses don't have this level of security, and are subject to violence (although it is shown to be societal and legal violence [being arrested for working during their profession's peak, etc] rather than interpersonal or sexual violence [the agony aunts exist and, it is clearly stated, dispense the same justice that they do in the future, specifically to individual clients rather than to larger institutional structures]).
so, when vimes puts down rosie by making a disparaging joke about her profession—oh, you're actually not important to me or to men or to society at all; your labor is not to be respected; i got what i needed from you and will of course pay you, but in the most insulting way possible—he's not only communicating what society thinks, but a moral issue of the novel as well. night watch, after all, is about revolution: who gets to be in power, and who gets to control who gets to be in power? it's frankly revolutionary for pratchett, a mainstream english author, to treat sex workers and sex work as positively as he does (of course, his depictions are not without flaws). he makes it clear that, after all, shouldn't we view sex work as physical labor? isn't it true that anyone who is employed is engaging in physical labor? how is a seamstress really different from a "seamstress"? (it's the power dynamics and misogyny standard to western/european/american/christian society: women and sex must be controlled by the patriarchial majority, kept small and afraid and in chains.) pratchett legitimizes the seamstresses in vimes's present. in vetinari's ankh-morpork, the seamstresses have just as much power as the merchants, the armorers, the assassins—and vimes knows this, but he did grow up in the past he's in now.
in snuff, vimes's approaching anagnorisis is more obviously manifested. brilliantly, pratchett begins vimes's encounter with the goblins by talking about vimes's childhood teacher, mistress slightly, who "taught [him] how not to be afraid" and made him blackboard monitor, "the first time anyone had entrusted him with anything;" vimes thinks he'll put a bag of peppermints on her grave if he gets out of this alive. all positive, and in fact clearly transformative, praise from our hero. but vimes is in a goblin cave, and pratchett has brought up mistress slightly because vimes is remembering his first (educational, not physical) encounter with goblins. this paragraph is worth quoting in full:
"[Mistress Slightly] had one book in her tiny sitting room, and the first time she had given it to young Sam Vimes to read he had got as far as page seven when he froze. The page showed a goblin: the jolly goblin, according to the text. Was it laughing, was it scowling, was it hungry, was it about to bite your head off? Young Sam Vimes hadn't waited to find out and had spent the rest of the morning under a chair. These days he excused himself by remembering that most of the other kids felt the same way. When it came to the innocence of childhood, adults often got it wrong. In any case, she had sat him on her always slightly damp knee after class and made him really look at the goblin. It was made of lots of dots! Tiny dots, if you looked closely. The closer you looked at the goblin the more it wasn't there. Stare it down and it lost all its power to frighten. 'I hear that they are wretched, badly made mortals,' the dame had said sadly. 'Half-finished folk, or so I hear. It's only a blessing this one had something to be jolly about.'"
a near-perfect depiction, unfortunately, of the educational experience. encounter something that scares you and makes you uncomfortable, examine it with the help of a pedagogist, examine it on your own, take it apart so that you are not afraid anymore, and instead understand what it is and how it is made: that's the experience from the first word of the quote all the way until "Stare it down and lost all its power to frighten." and then, a heel-turn: your teacher shows that they completely misunderstood the lesson they were teaching—and that you, the child, understood both parts of the lesson perfectly: you absorbed the critical thinking skills and that this existing societal prejudice is, in fact, totally correct and should not be examined using the skills you just learned.
thus, pratchett has vimes, our hero, our moral center, spout the violent, ingrained, dehumanizing, incitement-to-genocide nonsense of the society in which he has been formed. vimes does this tiredly, without thinking, without making the connection between how things are and how they ought to be, missing the direct relationship of that required moral reevaluation to the case and situation at hand. and pratchett throws that directly back in vimes's face, physically. both times, pratchett says: even if you're tired, even if there's shit going down, even if your worldview is being turned upside down, even if you're in the dead middle of processing everything you've so recently learned, you cannot make the mistake of dehumanization/depersonalization. and you, of all people, have to know that, vimes. not one drop of alcohol passes your lips, not one minute after six goes by without you reading to your son, not one arrestee is subjected to even small or casual police brutality. and not one person—seamstress or goblin—is to be insulted and discriminated against and excluded from deserving to live. to do so, to make that mistake even once, is to face the immediate physical consequences of it from someone deeply and fundamentally in the know. you need the sense smacked into you.
from night watch:
"Consider that a sign of my complete lack of a sense of humor, will you?" said Rosie, shaking some life back into her hand.
"I'm... sorry," said Vimes. "I didn't mean to... I mean... look, thak you for everything. I mean it. But this is not being a good night."
"Yes, I can see that."
"It's worse than you think. Believe me."
"We all have our troubles. Believe me," said Rosie. /end quote.
from snuff:
It was a corker, nonetheless, and out of the corner of his stinging gaze he saw Feeny take a step back. At least the boy had some sense.
"You are the gods' own fool, Commander Vimes! No, I'm not teaching them to be fake humans, I'm teaching them how to be goblins, clever goblins! Do you know that they have only five names for colors? Even trolls have around sixty, and a lot more than that if they find a paint salesman! Does this mean goblins are stupid? No, they have a vast number of names for things that even poets haven't come up with, for things like the colors shift and change, the melting of one hue into another. They have single words for the most complicated of feelings; I know about two hundred of them, I think, and I'm sure there are a lot more! What you may think are grunts and growls and snarls are in fact carrying vast amounts of information! They're like an iceberg, commander: most of them is where you can't see or understand, and I'm teaching Tears of the Mushroom and some of her friends so that they may be able to speak to people like you, who think they are dumb. And do you know what, commander? There isn't much time! They're being slaughtered! It's not called that, of course, but slaughter is how it ends, because they're just dumb nuisances, you see. Why don't you ask Mr. Upshot what happened to the rest of the goblins three years ago, Commander Vimes?"
And with that, Miss Beedle turned on her heel and disappeared down into the darkness of the cave with Tears of the Mushroom bobbing along behind her, leaving Vimes to walk the last few yards out into the glorious light. /end quote.
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I think something that we need to keep in mind is that Buddy Daddies is taking place in Japan. Not a fantasy setting or idealized depiction of Japan, but just real ol’ Japan.
So a lot of shitty things happening to the female characters and the female characters in the series being placed in positions where they don’t have agency and power is likely being done on purpose. Why? Because the power that women hold in Japan isn’t much. They are still fighting for that, immensely.
Like, Japan’s gender equality ranking keeps getting higher (aka it keeps getting worse). It’s better than some previous generations for sure (and better than some other countries), but Japan went from ranking #74th in 2020, #80 in 2021, #103 in 2022, and now #104 in 2023, this is out of 190 countries.
Kazuki and Rei are involved with an Organization that is male dominated. There isn’t a single female assassin in sight, Rei’s mother is non-existent, and wives, girlfriends, and girls (like Miri) are targeted because of their mere existence and bonds to these male assassins being viewed as a threat. Miri being non-blood related is also another reason why she is targeted, but her being a girl (and likely viewed as useless by Shigeki since, like I noted, we haven’t seen a single female assassin) is another.
Men who don’t fit in or try to deflect from this Organization and the things it stands for, also become targets. Because they, too, are viewed as threats. They are viewed as traitors. Japan is still in a place, in regards to women’s equality, where men are the ones that have to support and speak up for women, in order to make the room and space for female voices to be heard loudly and for women in general to gain more power and control and agency over themselves.
There are, of course, many Japanese women fighting for all of this right now. They aren’t helpless, but the society they are navigating and fighting their way through, was not built for them to have the level of power as men. They really need the support of men, in the same way that any minority group ultimately needs the support of a majority group in order for their own voices to be properly heard. With Buddy Daddies, the Organization and Shigeki represent tradition. They represent “blood purity” and things remaining unchanged - in this case, men being in positions of power and traditional blood bound families that can produce blood-bound heirs.
That is the world that keeps harming the women in this series, and that is the world that Kazuki and Rei are leaving. That’s the world that is viewed as being incorrect, wrong, and villainous.
Meanwhile, the world that showed Kazuki and Rei that they could change is the one that is dominated by women - childcare. But, unlike the Organization, the world of Miri’s daycare is open to others - the head of the daycare is an older man, there was one male daycare worker at field day, Kazuki and Rei were accepted at the daycare, during field day you can see old, young, and Taiga’s parents who are “delinquents”. Women’s voices are heard. Miss Anna is depicted as strong. Miri is shown having agency, making decisions, being in a leadership role (both in Episode 6 when she leads her friends around the zoo to find Miss Anna and again in Episode 9 when she makes the field day speech). The mom’s shout and are loud (field day), we see them expressing themselves in various interesting ways in the mom chats.
And it is only after Kazuki and Rei start stepping into this world, where learning, changing, growing, and accepting the non-traditional and unconventional are openly accepted that we start to really see them both grow and change too.
Buddy Daddies writing isn’t perfect. I personally don’t like the whole “overprotective dad” stuff and I do feel that we should have gotten another episode between E10 and E11. Some of the events in E11 do feel rushed in their execution. Though I have seen far worse.
But the series is making some points. Kazuki and Rei are two men that are shown to be fully capable of caring for a child. There are some learning bumps along the way, but they are able to do it in the end. Many of the men who are part of Buddy Daddies, like the VAs, talk about how this is a series that men should watch, because more men need to be like Kazuki or learn to grow and put in the effort like Rei.
Men in Japan (and like in many other parts of the world too) don’t put in the same amount of time, effort, and care when it comes to childcare and childrearing as women do. Our protagonists are showing that they can and should though.
And they have chosen to continue existing and pursuing the world of fatherhood, a space where women have more of a voice and unconventional family dynamics are welcomed, rather than stay in the world of assassination where men dominate and blood is what matters.
If the series does go in the direction that many think it will, then Kazuki and Rei (likely along with the help of Kyutaro) are going to be directly targeting and potentially killing the character that represents tradition, male domination, and a world where women and children are killed because they are viewed as both useless and a threat at the same time.
Does it suck that most of the women in the series have been fridged or exist to further the plot of the men (Kazuki and Rei)? Yes, it does. But I think we are meant to feel frustrated about that. We can see the cruelty and pointlessness, and feel the frustration at the powerlessness that they have.
The series hasn’t wrapped up yet. Episode 12 could do something that totally destroys this reading. But, for now, this is what I’m getting from the series. One of the script writers, likely the main one at that, since she is a veteran and has a lot of series to her name, is a woman. So I would like to think that these things aren’t just happening because the plot calls for it (getting Misaki out of the way for Kazuki and Rei), but for more complex issues instead.
#Buddy Daddies#BD#Kazurei#Shigeki Suwa#Misaki Unasaka#long post#meta post#thought post#speculation#BD spoilers#Buddy Daddies spoilers
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kuroo tetsurō | College AU hcs
𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ 𓈈 🀢
summary: a comprehensive list of the CollegeAU!Kuroo headcanons that have been plaguing me for years.
warnings: allusions to alcohol, some sexual content, swearing, kuroo’s abs.
general
he’s double-majoring in business and chemistry—does hella good in both.
academic weapon
fairly active in the party scene, but won’t admit he secretly hates it sometimes. prefers the quieter, more refined bustle of the science library or the local cafés.
didn’t want to commit to the professional level, but still plays club volleyball. never quite finds another team that fits him like Nekoma did.
on the outside
those dark locks are unruly as ever.
he’s always been huge but reaaaaally buffed up after high school: broad shoulders and massive, sculpted lats. chiseled abs and the V-line of a fucking god.
he’s worked hard for that body (more on that under Habits), so he shows it off with what he chooses to wear
fitted tees
those sleek athletic compression shirts
prioritizes comfort—his wardrobe is definitely hoodies- and sweatpants-heavy. see images above for a visual
owns like, nine pairs of gray sweats. the cheeky bastard.
habits
hits the gym like it’s a religion. his routine is immaculate: strength training couple times a week, a run/jog outside nearly every day. he kickboxes sometimes. plays volleyball of course.
doesn’t take enough rest days
and forgets to stretch afterward. his shoulders are always tight because of it.
has a fairly decent sleep schedule
but. he’s a caffeine addict. pulls all-nighters at least once a month, flipping through his textbooks while sipping hot, black coffee.
takes his tea without sugar
and his whiskey neat
doesn’t drink much, though. especially at parties, he likes being able to talk intelligently—to nail first impressions with biting wit and laid-back charm. there’s a certain level of self-possession he cultivates in order to achieve that, though, and alcohol tends to mess with it.
always drives his friends home when they’ve had too much.
academics
he’s good.
really good.
aced Organic Chemistry his freshman year while everyone else was shitting their pants
chats with his Business professors during their office hours for fun
his notes are disgusting. loose leaf sheets stuffed into his books, chicken-scratch handwriting littering their margins.
can’t draw good Lewis Diagrams for shit. his Chemistry TAs give him hell for it.
still, he somehow manages to earn the highest test scores in the class.
competitive. silently simmers when he catches someone earn even a slightly higher grade. he always needs to be the best; he’s greedy for success and recognition.
total workaholic. grinds himself to the bone.
but also, he really, really loves what he does. the little things thrill him: an Acid-Base titration gone perfectly right, or a really good conversation about Keynesian economic theory.
he’s such a dork. he’ll never admit to it though
after hours
he’s not a fuckboy. he’s not.
he just…has a certain effect on women. and boy, does he know it.
as mentioned above, he parties fairly frequently—he’s a hot, outgoing twenty-something, so naturally he’s getting invited to a lot. but again, he doesn’t always enjoy the crowds and the noise, and he really doesn’t like getting wasted.
but if there’s one thing kuroo loves?
it’s attention.
though he lingers at the quieter edges of crowds, pretty girls still seek him out, striking up flirty conversation over the din of party music.
he’ll admit the talk itself is never actually interesting. none of those women are quite smart enough to keep up with him
but all the same, he goes home with them—because they all want him so much. and god, does that stroke some animalistic part of his ego.
the truth is, kuroo kinda needs to feel wanted. he’s a man that spends all his time competing—beating himself into shape to achieve his various goals. so, when people make him feel like he’s good enough as is, it’s worth a lot.
his hidden insecurities are part of the reason he won’t approach any truly intelligent women, the ones he notices in his lecture halls and classes. deep down, he’s a little scared of women that can dominate him academically.
but, secretly? he’s also really fucking attracted to that.
desperately wants to meet someone he can actually talk to, a person that’ll share in his ambition and can keep up with his wit.
but for now, settles just for fucking to relieve stress. wakes up more often than not to an empty bed, with no reminder left behind of the girl that was in it the night before.
A/N - thank you for reading! these were wayyyy too fun to write so this might be the prelude to a bunch more collegeAU!kuroo stuff i do in the future. send me an ask or a message if you’d like to be added to a taglist for that!
requests for haikyuu headcannons/drabbles are WIDE OPEN!!! send in an idea, and follow @eashn for more :)
#haikyuu#haikyuu headcanons#haikyuu smut#kuroo tetsurō#kuroo smut#kuroo headcanons#kuroo imagine#hq boys#hq kuroo#haikyuu x reader#haikyuu imagines#haikyuu!!
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PROPAGANDA
ATHENA CYKES (ACE ATTORNEY)
1.) Despite supposedly being the MAIN CHARACTER of the game she was introduced in, she somehow still always ends up playing second fiddle to Phoenix and Apollo, to the point where she isn’t allowed to take the lead on even so much as a single case. Instead of the senior lawyers standing to the side in a mentorship role like they do for literally EVERY OTHER PLAYABLE CHARACTER, Phoenix and Apollo keep stepping in to outright take over for her. She literally does not make it through even a single case without needing some male character or other to swoop in and hold her hand every step of the way, not only Phoenix and Apollo but once even Blackquill, her rival prosecutor, as well.
Why? It has nothing whatsoever to do with her competence level. It’s a video game; her competence is determined by the player’s, just like everybody else. It seems like the writers just couldn’t STAND the thought of her doing anything on her own, or thought that the players would walk out en masse if it wasn’t the Phoenix and Apollo Show every second of gameplay. (And yeah, it DOES sometimes take me some time to warm up to new characters, but that was the case for Apollo too! At least give me the CHANCE to judge her on her own merits rather than assuming that I’ll immediately write her off!) Like, why did you even WRITE this character if you think so little of her?
2.) WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN. She’s introduced in the middle of a male characters “trilogy” (Apollo justice) so the story is never about her. She appears in aa5 only to NEVER headline her own case IN HER INTRODUCTORY GAME and always fail unless a man comes in and saves her. Her own story is sidelined for Apollos. Next game, she only really appears in one case that’s a throwaway and still can’t do shit on her own. Ugh. She deserved to be treated better, more competent, etc.
3.) my girl is an attorney and a practicing psychologist at age 18 (youngest defense lawyer in the series) & is often shown to be more competent than her male colleagues, and yet is constantly pushed out/sidelined/generally treated like an assistant character rather than a lawyer (the assistant position in these games is usually reserved for characters who don’t have law degrees/are generally not educated enough to understand the courtroom proceedings to their full extent. athena is none of those things but she gets treated the same way by the game because. well. we know why.) Instead of being the main playable attorney in her debut game, the story is taken over by her male colleague (WHO ALREADY HAD A WHOLE GAME DEDICATED TO HIS BULLSHIT BTW) & her development is ignored in favor of his in both her debut game AND her second game. Even when her backstory IS explored it’s done via a male family friend of hers, meaning even when her OWN story is being told it’s not even about her it’s about simon’s lame ass. for extra context here in her debut game she is only the playable attorney in one case out of five, while the other (male) playable attorneys were playable in all or all-but-one of the cases in THEIR debut games. capcom hates women sooooo bad
KOTORI MIZUKI/TORI MEADOWS (YU-GI-OH! ZEXAL)
1.) first: ygo zexal is directed (and partially written) by known misogynist shin yoshida who is on record as saying that he would Never write female characters if he wasn’t being forced to by higher-ups. kotori’s voice actor signed a legal contract forcing him to include her character in Every Single Episode. she gets no duels that aren’t tag duels (2v2 duels), one of those is interrupted in the middle and all others she both loses, aren’t even shown in full, and all happen in the same episode. she is literally contractually required to be a major character and the dude in charge still point blank refuses to do anything with her despite the fact that she’s supposed to be the female lead of the series. please take pity on her for being handed to one of the worst people in the world and how despite the active attempts by other people to make her relevant in the story she was still denied that
2.) She only dueled once in the whole show and it was when she was brainwashed. Her main role is to only cheer the male protag on and say his name during his duels I guess.
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Oh my fairy godmother I am so happy you are post about Ever After High!!!
Do you have any fanfic or au ideas involving them? Like, what if one character had another destiny or what if they were in the Star Wars universe?! It’s just interesting to think about!
Hey! Glad to see we share another fandom interest!
So, I have this barebones post for what I would have done as a crossover between g1 Monster High and Ever After High.
As for general fanfic ideas I have a few. I shall now list them in varying levels of detail:
1. A Very Charming Groundhog Day Year:
Basically, the Charming siblings time loop back from a bit after Dragon Games but before Epic Winter to the day before the school year started (the day of the Family Ball in the books). While it would be kinda angsty, the best time loop fics are usually crack fics, and this would be no exception (if I ever wrote any of these things).
So Daring, Dexter, and Darling are all initially in states of panic and anxiety. Daring, he was in the middle of a quarter-life crisis and now has to deal with everyone and their fairy godmother thinking he's Apple's Prince Charming.
"Daring Charming, more like Distressed Charming, am I right?"-- Dexter, who should get to exhibit asshole little brother energy more often, as a treat.
Speaking of Dexter, he's panicking cause of all the awful stuff that's going to happen during the school year and also because now he has to go through the nerve-racking ordeal of asking out the girl he likes all over again.
Darling's in hell because everyone and their fairy godmother expect her to be this perfect little damsel, again, which is just- ugh. There are days she wishes she could carry her sword around with her, and they're most days. Also, she never got to talk to Apple about their True Love's CPR, which is just tragic.
The loops go on for a while, some constants in them include: Darling freeing herself and helping little Good-Enough Charming get one of their grandfather's trophies for the scavenger hunt, Dexter and Darling teaming up to kill the changeling and free cousin Charity (sometimes Daring helps but he's content to let his siblings have fun for once), Darling accidentally on purpose flirting with Apple and Apple experiencing several degrees of gay panic, Dexter fumbling asking out Raven for the first time (he's really such a dork, just a funky dude), and the Charming Siblings teaming up to make Milton Grimm's life a living hell.
In one loop they secretly film him playing with his toy unicorns and his action figure of himself and they hijack Blondie's mirrorcast to play it to the entire school.
After several loops a Monster High crossover happens, and so in every loop after that the Charming sibs, who have grown incredibly gremlin-like after experiencing the insanity of the school several dozen times, make sure to drop monster slang when it's just them and Cupid. Like:
Darling: "Wow, Cupid, that top looks clawsome."
Daring: "Totally, it's freaky fierce."
Cupid: "What?!"
Darling: "That top looks nice on you. Anyway, we gotta run."
Dexter: "Yeah, see you later ghoulfriend!"
I have some other half-baked ideas for this one but it'd probably be it's own post.
2. Murdoch Mysteries-ish AU:
This one makes no sense if you've never watched the hit Canadian Detective Show, Murdoch Mysteries. Or maybe it makes some sense, idk. Instead of a modern AU, we have a 1895 detective AU. It's barely an idea, I have no idea if I'd even keep this in the fantasy setting of (an 1895) Ever After or not.
Dexter is the Detective William Murdoch of this AU, the man with no game and beautiful blue eyes who women keep inexplicably falling in love with. He's observant and a little strange but he's also a brilliant detective. One of the major differences though is Dexter is the disowned son of old money parents.
Raven's the Dr. Julia Ogden, the outspoken, independent, and compassionate coroner helping solve cases and being amazing. Her rich, controlling mother doesn't much approve of her life choices but old Mrs. Queen can suck it. Raven and Detective Charming have a clearly mutual attraction but they're both hesitant to act on it cause what's a romance without a good slow-burn.
Hopper's the Constable George Crabtree of this AU. Listen, the everyday George matches Hopper's human side, and writer George matches Hopper's frog side. I will not elaborate, because I really cannot. Just feel the vibes, cause the words aren't coming.
I'm not 100% sure who'd be the Inspector Brackenreid. Part of me kinda wants to make it Professor Badwolf, and then I could make Milton Grimm the asshole commissioner. Coach Gingerbreadman is the Inspector of Station 5, the rivals of Station 4.
Daring is heir to the Charming family fortune. Golden boy, everyone loves him, wants more than anything to be able to talk to his little brother in public, but their parents would disown him as well if he stepped out of line.
Apple is one of Raven's housemates at Sisters boarding house, run by Bella and Brutta Sister. She was once courted by Daring, it was at the point where people were expecting an engagement announcement any day. That's when they suddenly broke it off, with no explanation (the explanation is Daring's in love with another girl and Apple's in love with his sister). Snow White and her husband barely agreed to let her move into the boarding house, I honestly have no clue how Apple managed to pull that off but good for her.
Idk, Darling's a vigilante. She's got the same deductive genius as Dexter, she just doesn't have the same ability to join the police force. Inspector Badwolf is tired of his cops being outdone by the mysterious White Knight (yeah, yeah, I made Darling into Victorian-era Batman). Couldn't the White Knight patrol Station 5's territory? (The answer is no, because Darling really wants to catch a glimpse of her twin and also because Sisters Boarding house is in Station 4's territory and sometimes she likes to secretly crash with her girlfriend).
3. The Destiny Cycle AU (AKA: Ever After High but the Rebel Movement is an actual Rebellion AU):
What it says on the tin. Raven discovers the book is fake before Legacy Day. Her and Dexter, who in this AU is believed to be Ashlynn's future Prince Charming because someone made a good post about the potential dynamics that could cause and I love it, set out to uncover what other secrets those in charge are hiding.
Basically, in this AU Ever After is a dystopia where the Royal Families tied the survival of their dynasties' rule to their stories. Like, magically tied them. The Fates themselves have been bound by the magic of the Destiny Cycle. Ever After's Destiny-bound citizens are forced to repeat the same stories as their ancestors, all because Happily Ever After doesn't include a revolt or the institution of democracy. All stories are repeated as a precaution against anyone figuring out what the ancestors of the Royal Families did.
Taking some inspiration from the SDCC Raven Queen doll's letter from her mother, the Evil Queen discovered the truth about the Destiny Cycle, said "not my kid you bastards", and proceeded to try to break the Cycle's bonds. Her taking over other stories and cursing Wonderland was an attempt to stretch the probability bonds of the Destiny Cycle's magic to the breaking point.
Stuff's gonna go down and basically these kids know time is running out until there's a war, cause the only way to avoid being offered up as a lamb to the slaughter is to overthrow the whole system.
God, I really gotta make this into it's own post as well now. But here's a basic rundown of some stuff I'd include:
Dexter and Raven being young and in love and just all the secret romance feels
Snow White knows about the Destiny Cycle, but Apple absolutely does not know.
Apple being born blonde is a sign that the Evil Queen's schemes loosened the grip of the Destiny Cycle, at least for a moment.
Ashlynn, Hunter, Dexter, and Raven as secret rebel leaders.
The backgrounders will have actual roles dammit! (Looking at you Lawrence Bonecrusher III, aka Orc Boy).
An exploration of artificial Destiny Cycle "True Love" vs. real True Love, featuring Apple, Daring, and Darling.
C.A. Cupid, sent by her godly family to infiltrate Ever After and cure it of the Destiny Cycle, because it's interfering in the domains of the gods.
A unique Monster High crossover idea that I will elaborate on in another post.
These children absolutely end up having to kill someone and it scars them forever.
As for different destinies AUs or Star Wars AUs, I haven't really given them much thought.
I think, in a Star Wars setting (possibly Old Republic?), Raven would be a Jedi padawan descended from a long line of Sith. Instead of Mirror Prison, her mom is dead and her Force Ghost is bound to a giant, mirrorlike piece of kyber crystal. Uh, not 100% sure who her master would be.
Darling would also be a Jedi padawan, and Maid Marian would be her Master. Maid Marian gets into custody battles over this kid with this old Jedi Watchman known only as The White Knight. She'd still have her time-slowing hair flip, in this AU it's just a unique way of activating the Force Slow ability.
#eah#ever after high#ever after high au#apple white#raven queen#daring charming#darling charming#dexter charming#dexterous charming#c.a. cupid#eah evil queen#eah snow white#ashlynn ella#hunter huntsman#eah maid marian#professor badwolf#hopper croakington ii#dappling#milton grimm#headmaster grimm#all these can be taken and used as fic prompts btw#I doubt I'll ever actually sit down and write any of them
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The Sea Beast vs Nimona
I'll preface by saying that these two movies do not need to be in competition with each other nor is the purpose of movies really to BE in competition with each other, but I noticed certain similarities in their messages that I think are worth pointing out. Particularly, I noticed that The Sea Beast does some incredible work where Nimona fails. Mainly, this will be praise for The Sea Beast with some comparisons tossed in for flavour.
The Sea Beast is a movie decrying the evils of blind nationalism while acknowledging the sacrifices of those that came before both in service of and against the system. As with many good movies, a myriad of comparisons can be drawn to modern day problems. While The Sea Beast seems pretty comfortably anti-war, it could also be a more general critique of the treatment of Others. This is where the comparison with Nimona comes in as it is also about the Other (though more specifically, it appears to be about transgender identities. Again, it could be any Other identity that the majority rejects).
I've expressed before that Nimona's lack of monsters hinders it because we don't really get to see the majority have to contend with them. Nimona is the first real monster anyone ever encounters and she promptly dies and is lauded as a hero. In The Sea Beast, there are monsters abound and they look very different from humans and from each other. On one hand, this is just good world and creature building, but on the more meta level, Other does in fact look different. Nimona is not wrong for this, but it seems to say that the Other looks just like you despite acting and BEING different. Again, not a bad thing, that is true. The Sea Beast's approach says that the Other does in fact look different and that can be scary, but 1) they are not a monolith; they look and act different from each other as well, and 2) they are just as capable of great intelligence and compassion.
The Sea Beast also establishes the career and legacies made from violence against the Other. Nimona does this as well, but it feels lackluster. In one of the most amazing movie "tricks" I have ever seen, The Sea Beast starts by indoctrinating the viewer into their world. It shows a child stranded after a Beast attack, a little girl reading stories of heroism against the monsters to her foster siblings, a mentorship bordering on fatherhood as one man still capable of so much compassion (sacrificing his thirty year goal to uphold a code) passes on his livelihood to the boy he rescued. Aboard the Inevitable, there are women in power, fraternity abundant, all manner of diversity and none of it is ever ridiculed or played for laughs; it's a good place where everyone is happy and proud to be there. And these are the "villains." Jacob "who killed five of them beasts in the span of two days" is our loveable oafish deuteragonist. It even shows the hardships that Captain Crow faces when the king and queen try to replace him. Compare this to Nimona where the Academy is very obviously evil from the start. It is shiny and monolithic and only Bal, an outsider, seems remotely likeable. Nimona starts you with the view from outside, while The Sea Beast starts you from inside.
Obviously The Sea Beasts... everything works better as an anti-war film, but other institutions are mirrored here. The Church can feel like a warm and loving place that is sometimes at war with itself and the powers that be, but it only seems that way because you belong. Every member has their own lives and families and hardships both in and outside of their religion, but that all coalesces into unjustified hatred of the Other. Of that which does not fit in. The Sea Beasts starts us off by showing how amazing and wonderful it is to be a part of the In Group and even shows them triumphantly slaying a beast... then it shows us Red's kind eyes. It shows how quickly leadership will cannibalize itself to harm something that it has always been told is harmful (that's something else I love, Captain Crow didn't start it, he's a victim too). It even shows those that profit directly from it (royalty) and those that profit from the sidelines (Batterbie). Again, more effective as anti-war, but still poignant. Where Nimona falters on this point is that the Director was the monolithic bad guy. She feared the unknown, yes, but the moment she attempted to hurt innocents, everyone turned against her. In the Sea Beasts, the crew continued to follow orders albeit less sure of themselves. It took heavy proof and an impassioned speech to get people to stop and think.
On that note, Red didn't sacrifice herself for anyone. She was willing to listen to reason and to not kill the captain, but she didn't need to prove her moral superiority. That was it, reason. If she killed him, then people continue thinking monsters are only capable of violence. Especially since it was obvious he was just as brainwashed as everyone else. In Nimona, with no prompting, she decides that it is her duty to fly headfirst into a monster killing laser to protect people who, just a moment ago were stoning her as she tried to kill herself. It was a preachy mess. How much more impactful would it have been if she took the one person that was kind to her and flew out of the way and let the people look on in horror as they realize what their leaders were willing to do to harm someone who was no threat to them?
In the end, The Sea Beast does a ton of leg work in just about ten minutes more to show the humanity of the oppressor and why they do what they do before stating definitely that it is no excuse. My absolute favourite thing it does is that it never goes back on Maisie's backstory. Her parents aren't actually on some island somewhere living alongside the Beasts all kumbaya, they actually are dead and they were killed by Beasts. Compassion is not a genetic trait. Maisie has as much right to hate and fear the Beasts as anyone else given what she has lost to them, same as Jacob, same as Crow and Sarah Sharpe... but she chose compassion. She learned and accepted and forgave with the knowledge that the Beasts aren't evil, just upset.
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there seems to be this thing with fandoms where if a character is presented as soft and is also good-looking (major ymmv for this in Stolas' case, but bear with me) a fandom will collectively refuse to consider they could be abusive or see anything they do as wrong
like just because Stolas whines a lot and hides his objectification of Blitz behind baby talk and TMI phonecalls it somehow rewrites Blitz's annoyance or revulsion towards him as him 'being tsundere' or 'being mean' to Stolas. But ignoring Blitz getting shot at to pressure him into a deal for monthly sex which leaves Blitz visibly perturbed doesn't count as being mean to them???
I mean I guess it makes sense - the show itself has a kindergarten understanding portrayal and perspective on abuse to the point where none of the characters intended to be abusive feel convincingly like real people because none of their motives are consistent (Stella and Crimson in particular) - so of course the show can't conceptualize abuse as anything other than cartoonish levels of cruelty. it's the part of the show I find far worse than the massive plot holes and lousy worldbuilding, but it actively spits in the face of survivors who've had the people around them manipulated by the crocodile tears and smiles of their abuser, and told they should be nicer and not hurt the feelings of the person they'd rather not have in their life at all
if I can get heavy for a second, it baffles me that a woman could write a scenario where a character repeatedly refuses or is disgusted by the advances of a powerful rich man and decided to empathize with the rich man in that scenario, liking talking points used against Blitz that are usually weaponized verbatim against girls and women when they're trying to turn down someone's advances without being hurt themselves: 'you weren't clear enough', 'you hurt their feelings', 'why couldn't you just like them back when they like you so much?', 'you could have talked your way out of this if you really wanted', etc. It's like nothing short of Blitz surrendering himself to be Stolas' object to make Stolas happy will make them happy.
If the show is trying to convince us Blitz has any real feelings for Stolas at all, it's done a lousy job of it so far. most we've gotten is some indifference to sharing a smoke with Stolas after sex in Harvest Moon and him being shocked (which makes 0 sense) that Stolas could be injured. I can't recall a single instance where being around Stolas actually made Blitz happy or joyful
It's baffling until you remember that this is the same woman who wrote a comic about how catcalling was fine.
Vivzie's had an obscene amount of opportunities to show Blitzo and Stolas interacting on a kinder level and she's squandered every last one. As the original draft of Harvest Moon shows, she's actively removed some of them from the final cut.
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Lol your defending for GabiYui is really on point. I remember some watchers even said 'too bad Gabimaru's heart is stick on his wife, Sagiri is much prettier or hotter' or 'go for it Gabimaru, it's okay to have multiple wives'. Come on, are we now living in an era where a husband being loyal to his wife is something really weird? I need Gabimaru to show his ninjutsu to these people lol.
awww thank you! ofc I will defend GabiYui no matter what since this pair is so close to my heart and has actually inspired me to write better at romance (aside from the other characters from different fandoms I am in) and do my best in life (Nishinoya from Haikyuu is still my main drive but still)
now onto some big points of this ask hehe
re: "Sagiri is prettier than Yui" issue
these two are absolute sisters your honor
I won't deny that sagiri is beautiful like I swear have you seen her and the way she fights back despite men looking down on her and how she swings her sword? plus episode 6 highlighted her being able to balance her emotions, making her gently kill rokurota. ugh perfection. chef's kiss. 1000/10 rating.
but ya know I don't get why people have to be like "Sagiri is way prettier and hotter but too bad Gabi is not in love with her" like what do you mean too bad? like ???? idk if it's just me but does gabimaru have to appreciate her being hot or what? plus ya know gabi is not into the appearance anyways. he even said in the latest episode (which is episode 7 as of this writing) that appearances really don't matter.
plus I don't get why people love comparing yui and sagiri's physical appearance against each other and saying "this girl is prettier" yada yada when they are both best girls with distinct beauty. in fact, there is an interview with Chainsaw Man author Tatsuki Fujimoto about Hell's Paradise author Yuji Kaku where he discussed about drawing female characters. according to Fujimoto-sensei, Kaku-sensei always drew his female characters beautifully in an aesthethic manner and his reason behind this is bcos "all girls are cute regardless so we must always draw them as cute girls" (not exact quote but you get what I mean) that's why Fujimoto-sensei added he has been trying to draw his female characters as cute as possible. so yeah both sagiri and yui are cute and pretty or whatnot. they just exhibit different vibes like sagiri has major main female chara vibes while yui is def softcore cottagecore vibes 🥰🥰🥰
besides, no matter what people say, yui will still be the most beautiful person in gabimaru's eyes. he even said so in both manga and episode 7.
note: he used the word "utsukushii" for the term "beautiful" and in Japanese, using this term means you really find a person so beautiful inside and out that it moves you emotionally so the mere fact gabimaru described yui in this manner despite her telling him that she's ugly is something else 😭🥺💖
re: "it's okay for Gabimaru to take on multiple wives" issue
(THIS ONE WILL CONTAIN MAJOR MANGA SPOILERS AND OTHER CANON EVIDENCES THAT HAVEN'T BEEN TRANSLATED OR MOST PEOPLE HAVE NO HANDS ON DUE TO LIMITED SOURCES)
here's MY NOT SO CONTROVERSIAL TAKE on this one bcos you all know my answer.
it is no doubt that gabimaru can take on multiple wives. after all, gantetsusai mentioned he has multiple wives across japan. plus their time period allows men to marry multiple women so people making this statement knows what they are saying.
HOWEVER!
I actually don't think gabimaru will engage in this sort of thing (see, I told you my opinion on this is not controversial hehe) and here's why.
we all know that osa (aka iwagakure village chief) killed gabimaru's parents and took gabimaru in, even to a point where gabimaru literally lives in the village chief's home like some sort of special treatment.
however, I think one reason gabimaru got special treatment is bcos both of his parents are high-class shinobis (like jonin level) and ofc osa saw his potential that maybe "ah this kid might inherit his parents' ninja skills or something"
plus, osa doesn't have any sons to begin with bcos surprise surprise YUI HAS NEARLY 20 HALF SISTERS with her being the eighth daughter. and accdg to Kaku-sensei, there is a major possibility of yui and gabimaru meeting as children (but alas it is hard to tell since yui has so many sisters). and yes this is all mentioned in Jigokuraku Kaitai Shinsho (pls someone translate this huhu)
so when tsuki (the toasted marshmallow gabimaru that we know) became the 58th gabimaru by killing the 57th gabimaru, he was rewarded for his skills and intellect by marrying yui. but the thing is, it's a common talk among iwagakure ninjas that osa has been looking for a successor and bcos he doesn't have a son, the only choice is to have gabimaru marry into his family (which is common in Japan)
fun fact: gabimaru actually doesn't know why he was married to yui though. he even thought maybe yui has some kind of secret ninjutsu or something. he tried to find out but this boy went home and when yui greeted him with a beaming smile, he was immediately overwhelmed with feelings that he forgot his own agenda 😭😭😭
so what's the point of all this? you see gabimaru has never realized why yui was so adamant abt this sense of normalcy and all that stuff until he finally learned the meaning behind her dream. after all, in iwagakure, when a man is born, he automatically has to be a ninja and a woman has to get pregnant and bear more children that will become ninjas. and if they die during training, then they'll be replaced by another batch of offsprings that will be ninjas or vessels for children.
in short: women in iwagakure are not only beaten, but also treated as baby-making factories (ofc some of them become kunoichis but most of them just become a housewife that takes care of dozen babies). doesn't matter how young or old. as long as you can get pregnant, then you go do your duty for iwagakure. hence why yui loathed this kind of set up and when she voiced out her want for normalcy, she paid the price by having her face scarred.
but what if a girl doesn't get pregnant? ahh then the guy will take another wife, get her pregnant, then process repeat and repeat. it's a cruel cycle that never ends.
in osa's case, it took him like so long before finally accepting his wives cannot give him a son. and in my own opinion, these things can influence gabimaru into not having a harem marriage in the first place. like imagine marrying multiple women just for the sake of a duty.
besides, given how bad he's down for yui, I don't think he would want another woman other than her. like srsly gabimaru has so much respect for her and having a harem marriage would defeat every single thing he and yui are fighting for.
after all, gabimaru hates the idea of women being treated as broodmares. remember, his wife has been "marked" for the same reason. like he really abhors the idea and there are theories of yui being possibly pressured into having children with gabimaru and tbh it all boils down into this canon evidence from the manga.
plus I hate it when people normalize cheating like "gabi might cheat with sagiri" or something like srsly? I thought we were all past NTR and all that stuff? if you are into NTR kinks, there are various media forms that can cater to that and sadly, Hell's Paradise is not the medium for NTR as much as these people want it to be.
that's all for today, folks.
#jigokuraku#hell's paradise#answered asks#admin summer#yamada asaemon sagiri#gabimaru the hollow#sagiri#gabimaru#yui jigokuraku#yui hell's paradise#gabimaru x yui#gabiyui#gabimaru and yui#gabimaru's wife#yuji kaku
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Pleasure Is My Business: Part One
Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader
Word Count: ~2.1k
Summary: You’re brought back to your high school days with this case. You put that behind you when you graduated, but life has a funny way of bringing you closer to the person who made your life miserable back then.
Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill
Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated
x
"The prostitute is not, as feminists claim, the victim of men, but rather their conqueror, an outlaw, who controls the sexual channels between nature and culture." - Camille Paglia
Before you leave for work, you grab the coffee you premade as soon as you wake up. The coffee is right next to your high school reunion invitation. The opened card stares at you whenever you pass by it, begging you to acknowledge it. High school was one of the worst years of your life because not only did kids bully you, but you felt their own pain as your own.
It wasn't fun.
This reunion is in a few days but you're still in Quantico. Looks like you won't get to go, and honestly, you're kind of relieved. Spencer wants you to go and prove to everyone you're this hotshot FBI agent (which you are), but you don't feel like proving to a bunch of people who never gave a fuck about you in the first place.
"Are you gonna go?" Spencer says from behind you.
"We'll, seeing how it's in a few days and we're not in Dallas, I don't think so. It's so stupid because instead of a night, they made it a whole weekend getaway. As if I want to spend more time with them than I have to."
"Maybe you can go to the other one."
All you can do is shrug. You really don't want to get into this right now, plus, you have to get ready for a case Hothc pulled together. Hotch got called to Dallas early in the morning to do a briefing on a case sent by Patrick Jackson, the attorney general.
Hoyt Ashford, a hedge fund manager for a major bank, has turned up dead in a hotel room. Hoyt didn't do too well in the public eye after going on talk shows and talking about how the real estate crisis wasn't a real thing. He posted an apology video about the issue, but once word got out that he died, his lawyers classified it as a suicide.
If you know any better, then that's not true.
According to Hotch, there was Viagra near Hoyt's body. Considering that his wife was at home with the kids, it's safe to assume the prostitute he was with killed him. Something that's confidential and not to be mentioned in any reports is that Hoyt took $10,000 out of a fund in cash. No one saw the prostitute he was with, which isn't surprising since they know how to be discreet. According to Patrick, this is the second murder in Dallas.
You might be able to attend your reunion after all.
"Female serial killers are a fascinating field," Spencer says once everyone is in the air. "We don't have much information on them, but what we do know involves throwing the rules completely out the window. Take the signature, for instance. They don't torture or take trophies because there is no sexual gratification when a woman kills. Murder is the goal. They don't have to do anything extra."
"So, basically, women are more efficient at killing," you half-joke.
"Historically, they have had body counts in the hundreds."
"Assuming that the job is the stressor, what are some of the reasons prostitutes kill their customers?" Hotch asks over the phone.
"Money, drugs, and PTSD. At some point, every call girl, no matter how well paid, gets coerced into an activity she didn't consent to. Aileen Wuornos used to purposefully stage paid sexual encounters as an excuse to murder men she thought would rape her," you explain.
"Wuornos was psychotic and disorganized. I think this girl is poisoning them before she has sex with them."
"She's using Tetramethylenedisulfotetramine. It's a popular rat poison in China which can be easily soluble in alcohol," Spencer explains after reading the files Hotch sent over.
"Poison is the perfect MO. It's quiet, quick, and the victims never see it coming because they think they're getting lucky." Hotch makes an uncertain noise. "Does that mean something to you?"
"These men are paying $10,000 a night for discretion as well as sex. She has a history with them. She didn't decide to kill them at the moment. She walks in with the intent to kill them, and she's doing it before she sleeps with them. She's not just organized, she's also methodical. She decides early which one of her clients is worth killing," Hotch says.
"Maybe the victims all share the same fetish. Both victims were in their fifties, highly visible, and careful of their image. If they were kinky in the same way, they'd go to great lengths to hide it."
"We're facing a corporate culture that'll do everything it can to keep us out."
"Actually, I had some luck there. Hoyt's wife isn't too happy with how he died. She agreed to talk to us but because every silver lining has a dark cloud, the hedge fund released a statement." JJ pulls out her phone to read the statement that was sent to her. "Ashford died peacefully in his home, according to lawyer David Madison.' They're already trying to close ranks."
"Does that language sound familiar to anyone else?" Spencer asks.
"What do you mean?"
"It's the same thing as the murder of the first victim. 'According to the company lawyer, Stanton died peacefully in his home'."
"Y/N and Morgan, start with the wife and see if you can get her to open up. JJ, call the lawyers and tell them I want to meet with both of them."
"You want to play them off each other?"
"I think one of them wrote both press releases. Let's see which one calls us back."
Once you land, you and Derek head over to the Ashford home where Yvonne Ashford is eagerly waiting for you.
"Mrs. Ashford, we're very sorry about your husband," you say.
"I've been getting nothing but condolences all day. I feel like a hypocrite for accepting them, knowing how he died."
"We think your husband might have been targeted because of something sexual he did with this call girl. I know this is hard, but is there anything you can tell us about what he liked?"
"In bed? I can sum it up in one word. Younger."
"How much younger?"
"Twenty-five. That was when I first met him."
"So, your age difference was part of the attraction?"
"Are you kidding? It was the whole relationship."
"Mrs. Ashford, no offense, but your husband spent a lot of money on this woman. Was there anything else at all that he liked from a younger woman besides the ego boost?" Derek asks.
"There's a certain kind of man, Agent, for whom the only kind of sex that matters is the ego boost. In a marriage like ours, you have to work at it or in my husband's case, pay for it."
Your phone rings and you step off to the side when you see Hotch is calling.
"Yeah, Hotch?"
"We got a meeting with a madame that sets meetings up like the one Ashford was in. Spencer is heading over to meet with her. I want you to go with him."
"Sure." You hang up and walk over to Derek. "I got to go. See what else you can find out about Hoyt."
"Yeah."
The madame, Lauren, is hosting an open house where she is able to meet clients discreetly. It's actually pretty smart since people might think they're there for the open house instead of something else entirely.
"This is actually pretty smart," you say when you meet up with Spencer. "Properties like this are safe and an inspection-free investment for large sums of cash."
An older woman walks out of the house with a big smile on her face.
"Well, hello, you two!"
"Are you the--"
"Isn't this neighborhood just fabulous? You're gonna love this house," she cuts your boyfriend off. She escorts you two inside the house for more privacy. "You two need lessons in faking it. I teach a class."
"So, you arrange dates for escorts?" you ask.
"All I arrange are meetings. What happens between two consenting adults when that meeting is over is something I'm not liable for. Now, who wants a scone?" she offers from a platter.
"Listen, we're looking for someone who is a high-end prostitute who takes fees up to ten thousand dollars. She has the intent of killing her clients before having sex with them."
"Oh, yes. We all know about this woman. She's terrible for business."
"I guess there's only so many men that can afford the service you provide, right?"
"Yes, but with the way she's behaving, she's only hurting herself. An escort's client list is the most important investment she has. It's her daily income and her retirement package when she sells the list."
"She's not working with a service then. No madam would allow an escort to kill off the clientele."
"What about the type of work your employees do?" Spencer asks nervously. "We're sort of operating under the assumption that this escort is killing men who make her perform a specific sexual act."
"What did you have in mind, sweetie?" she smirks.
"I... I don't even... I don't know."
"Don't mind him," you giggle. "It's his first time."
"If I may, I think you're looking at this all wrong. Start with this question: why would a man pay a woman five figures?"
"It's not just for sex, is it?"
"Of course, you've got to be good in bed to be successful, but that's the easy part. What men want more than the no strings attached sex is a therapist. Someone who will absorb the worst parts of their personalities."
"They're looking for someone to tell their fears and insecurities to. Everything they can't take home to their wife."
"That's what I groom my girls to do--how to talk to these men and how to listen. Don't get me wrong, deviancy comes with the territory. I can't tell you how many men need to be submissive as an outlet from their extremely stressful jobs. I can tell you that if the sex was the reason she was killing these men, she would have broken long before she charged $10,000."
"It isn't how these men act in bed, it's how they act out of it," Spencer says.
This unsub isn't killing at a specific time because it's whenever her client wants to meet with her. While you've been talking to Lauren, another murder has taken place. You and Spencer leave the open house and immediately head over to an office firm.
Joseph Fielding is found dead inside the elevator, tied to an office chair with X's marked in lipstick on his eyes, and clear tape wrapped around all over his mouth.
"The victim is Joseph Fielding. He was the CFO here," Rossi says when you two get there.
"Was he poisoned?"
"Yes, and staged. She killed him in his office and then rolled him out here to be found."
You walk over to the victim but pause when you see the energy left behind by the unsub. It's blue because the unsub is a female, but you recognize this energy. There are eight billion people in this world with eight billion different base energies. Every single person you've met has their own energy signatures, and you're familiar with this one. Not only have you seen this energy before, you know the person attached to it.
You've met and gotten to know this person before.
"I know this unsub," you say.
"You do?" Hotch asks.
"Yeah, but I can't put a name to it yet. I've definitely seen it sometime in my life."
Hotch gives you time to put a name to the unsub, but for right now, he focuses on what he can see physically.
"The lipstick is new."
"It was done postmortem. Reid said female serial killers don't leave a signature. I think she did that just for us. She's already exposed him at his most vulnerable. Now she wants to be noticed."
There is commotion by the barrier formed by local police by a man trying to get through, which he does eventually.
"Which one of you is Aaron Hotchner?"
"Me."
"I'm Larry Bartlett. I represent Mr. Fielding in Webster Industries."
"This is a closed crime scene, Mr. Bartlett."
"I know. I spoke to Ellen Daniels, and she said you're a very reasonable man."
"Escort him out, please," Hotch says to one of the officers.
"No, wait. Please." The officer tries to grab him, but he doesn't leave right away. "The press is outside and they can smell blood. Is there any way we can handle this discreetly?"
"We're not about to lie for you," Derek says.
"You don't have to lie. Just don't comment."
"Excuse us."
Hotch takes the team off to the side to talk about the benefits of not commenting on the murder. "Is there any reason to go public yet?"
"Validating her is exactly what she wants. If we hold back, she's more likely to make a mistake," you say quietly.
"He doesn't need to know that. We need everything you have on Fielding like bank accounts, tax records, and emails."
"Everything?" Larry asks in uncertainty.
"Everything."
"I'll gather everything and send it in the morning."
x
Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)
#spencer reid#spencer reid x reader#spencer reid fanfic#spencer reid fan fic#spencer reid fan fiction#spencer reid fanfiction#spencer reid fic#spencer reid fluff#spencer reid angst#criminal minds#criminal minds fanfic#criminal minds fic#criminal minds fan fiction#criminal minds fan fic#criminal minds fanfiction#criminal minds fluff#criminal minds angst#criminal minds series rewrite#series rewrite#cm season 4
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Worldbuilding: A Critical Role Gen-fic Rec List
Well hello friends! Please enjoy these nine amazing fics about the wonderful world of Exandria and the heroes who live there! Oh, and don't forget to show the authors some love if you liked their work!
ways of helping by Mikkeneko (3622,Teen)
Warnings: None
Pairings: Beauregard & The Mighty Nein, Beauregard/Yasha
Beauregard is on her period and having a rough time. The rest of their nein help.
Reccer says: It's a nice little bit of hurt/comfort with a side of xenobiology and thought about what it would be like to have to deal with a bad period on the road.
swallowed with all hope by renquise (14319,Teen)
Warnings: None
Pairings: None
In Eiselcross, Essek writes reports, makes new acquaintances, tries not to die in snowstorms, and thinks of all the things he did and could have done.
Reccer says: It's absolutely beautiful and a very insightful depiction of what Essek's time at the Vurmas Outpost would have been like - and I appreciate the amount of thought that was put into the surroundings and what life would have been like in Aeor.
talon two by jhai (honekujira) (3047,Teen)
Warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings
Pairings: Cerrit Agrupnin & Kir Agrupnin & Maya Agrupnin
Kir's history of using codenames over the sending stones
Reccer says: Amazing family feels but also a lovely glimpse into what life might have been like in pre-Calamity Avalir.
A Thousand Words for Snow by Schistosity (21016,Teen)
Warnings: No archive warnings apply
Pairings: Jester Lavorre & Mollymauk Tealeaf, Jester Lavorre & Nott, Beauregard & Nott , Beauregard & Caleb Widogast, Caleb Widogast & Yasha, Fjord & Yasha
A series of studies on the Mighty Nein and their language proficiencies. How language fails us, connects us, and defines us.
Reccer says: It's a fascinating study about how different members of the Nein might interact with the languages they know.
You Can Take a Fearne Out of the Feywild... by Beauteousmajesty (2992,General)
Warnings: none
Pairings: Fearne & Imogen, Fearne & Orym
A series of fics about Fearne and her feyness
Reccer says: I love Fearne, and this series does a very good job of exploring why Fearne is the way she is.
once upon a damn-you-all by grayintogreen (615138,Mature)
Warnings: None
Pairings: Mollymauk Tealeaf/Caleb Widogast, Fjord/Jester Lavorre, Beauregard Lionett/Yasha
After their meeting in Zadash, Cree decides to travel with the Nein to try and get Lucien back. Things unfold differently from there.
Reccer says: This monster of a fic (over half a million words, plus multiple sequels) has so much description, worldbuilding, original characters and texture - it's a fantastic read!
Road Rags by Goose (4112,Teen)
Warnings: Discussion of menstruation
Pairings: The Mighty Nein
The women of the Mighty Nein (plus a bird child) talk about handling periods, because Beau is perpetually curious. Later they bother the others about it too, because Jester delights in sowing minor to medium-level discord.
Reccer says: This is a question that I also often ponder, and I love how it was addressed so organically. Also just feels like great girls hanging out vibes
Nova by AnaliseGrey (1221,Not Rated)
Warnings: Some light discussion of starvation
Pairings: Caleb & Nott
Nott discovers that casting magic makes you really hungry, and worries about what Caleb sacrificed for her in the early days.
Reccer says: I love the idea of other, secondary effects of using magic like this, and the way Nott discovers it and the care that it sparks is just lovely
Kinds of Light by Beauteousmajesty (1420,Teen)
Warnings: Major Character Death
Pairings: Two Original Characters
A view of Aeor before the fall, from the eyes of those that just live there
Reccer says: I liked it
If you liked this rec list, follow along for more! We'll be posting a new list with a new theme each Monday. And if you would like to make a rec yourself, feel free to reach out to @professor-rye to request access to the submission form!
Next week, we'll be presenting gen fics focusing on parents and parental figures! Moms, dads, great-great-grand papis and stern sea captains who totally are only offering you a job, that's definitely it, no more.
#critter genfic rec lists#critical role fan fiction#cr fan fic#exandrian lore#the mighty nein#bells hells#critical role fan fic rec list#gen fic#worldbuilding
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I NEED to know how are Joker's goons with a partner they really care and love, I just have a crush in them all
Good thing they have a crush on you too anon! I’m so happy people like them so much. I love this lore building campaign about Joker’s Loyal three that we’re having!! So much content.. they deserve it!
Let’s discuss in detail down below. Grab a snack love 🖤✨
Frost
You have to be mature and ready to not only love Frost, but his daughter, Genesis too. They're a package deal and Frost refuses to let just anyone around his girl. If Gen doesn't like you, it's an automatic no. Thank you and goodbye. 👋🏾
Now if you pass the vibe check? Oh girl you set for life.
Prepare yourself for a long healthy relationship. Frost has been storing up love for someone special and once he finds you? RIP, because he’s gonna unleash it all at once. I don’t think you’re ready cuz this level of affection is so unexpected from a guy like him.
Yeah he lives up to his name and he's got MAJOR guard dog energy, (he wears his dog tags around you so you know he’s about that life) but his devotion is a raging fire that it blinds you. When it comes to his lady, Frost doesn’t hold back. Before you even think about asking for something, it's already done. And don’t get it twisted; he’s not a simp, he’s a gentleman. There’s a difference.
He's picking you up, he's dropping you off, opening doors, silently observant to your needs to cater to them, and he's always one step ahead; and he does it all without asking anything in return. That’s what distinguishes a gentleman from a simp. Frost is all about acts of service. Everything Frost does is structured and orderly so be prepared for that in a relationship. He plans a date and it’s executed to perfection, right down to the time he takes you home or if Gen is away for the night, you’re staying over... 😏
Frost is a gentle giant and quite possessive once you get close. If you’re out on the town and someone tries to hit on you— Frost magically spawns behind you, and a literal growl of “back off” is heard. He’s the best boyfriend but don’t call him that. It’s not “manly” but once he feels comfortable enough to crack a smile around you? It's over. He's locked in.
You are never getting rid of him. Don't be surprised half a year into the relationship and he's asking you to move in. He knows you're the one for him, why waste any more time?
Date ideas: Bars, Sporting events, the gym, out with him and Gen
Mac
Be prepared to be absolutely spoiled. Mac comes from new money and all his life he’s dealt with fake women and friends, wanting access to his family’s wealth. You however don’t care about the money, and that makes him feral.
Mac, despite his frat boy reputation, was raised to respect women and once he sets his eyes on you? He will worship the very ground you walk on. Of course he has to make sure you’re down bad just like he is. The first few months he’s such an arrogant jerk, you almost lose interest, but it’s Mac’s way of testing if you actually like him or just after his money.
Once you pass the vibe check, OH GIRL! He wraps you up in a fur coat and showers you with love.
100% Mac’s love language is gift giving. If he thinks you’ll like it, it’s yours. You get weekly flowers delivered to your workplace and another bouquet to your home and that’s on top of the car he orders to chauffeur you around. There’s flowers in there too. Wait, did you want the car too?! You don’t care about the gifts; but it’s stuck in his head (from past lovers) that tangible things show his love. You have to break that habit and educate this man there’s other ways to show affection.. 😏
Speaking of, Mac is constantly touching you. A hand on your waist, thigh, holding your hand, an arm thrown over your shoulder— you name it, he's doing it. He needs that reassurance that you’re with him. Some people think you’re just using him (he secretly believes it too) but after a year together when you bite your lip and ask can you move in? Big surprise!!! He already purchased a house he thinks you’ll love. And you do just as much as you love him.
Date ideas: Boat rides, flights abroad, Kentucky derby, late night car rides
Neo
You must have patience to deal with this one. He is a walking red flag so proceed with caution. That being said, it’s still possible to tame this heathen and one look into your eyes got Neo acting correct real quick.
Pulling girls isn’t an issue, it’s keeping them that’s the problem. Neo never had a serious relationship before yet he feels something click when you accidentally bumps into him. You got him so tongue tied, Mac and Frost make fun of him afterwards. The infamous Casanova short circuits at the sight of you, don’t be surprised if he hopelessly follows you around the club all night trying to get your number. Thankfully he's cool with the bf of one of your friends and gets your number that way because you vanish into thin air like the angel he believes you are.
Neo has to work extra hard not you scare you off. He knows his reputation has found it way to your ears. He’s a multiple club owner, a known plug, and secretly Joker’s hit man. The odds are not in his favor but he’ll do anything to have you in his life. The way you smile, your soft demeanor… it’s vastly different from his other flings and you are driving him insane.
It’s the first time that Neo is chasing a female, not the other way around.
He’s pulling up outside your place just to talk, I mean, yeah he wants you sexually but he wants to take things slow and that works in his favor. Proving that he’s serious helps to slowly lower your apprehension about him. All your friends warned you that Neo is a classic fboy— yet that’s a stark contrast to the guy who takes you to amusement parks or to the skating rink in the middle of the night. You feel like a teenager again smoking and making out well past your curfew.
He’s trying so hard to be ‘boyfriend material’. The baby is struggling, so don’t laugh. If it were up to him, you would be helping him dump a body not holding hands at a craft store buying yarn. He can’t complain too much since you’re knitting him a new Shiesty so 👀
Ironically he’s the one who has to pass the vibe check. It takes forever for you to give him a chance and “officially date” him after a year of playing hard to get.
And gurl once he gets the green light, you better buckle up. Two months into the ‘official relationship’, he gifts you a promise ring and a key to his place. Once there, you finally get a taste of that fboy energy everyone warned you about.
Neo rearranges your guts and breaks your back but afterwards he sits back smoking a blunt, holding your still trembling body to his— just happy he has a girl who wants to stay with him. He is never letting you go.
Date ideas: His various clubs, hole-in-the-wall events in Gotham, his place, (insert your favorite hobby) establishment
#thanks anon!#thanks for the ask!#lore building#oc lore#Joker’s Loyal Three#couple goals#head canon#this was so much fun
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MAKE THEM FUCK LIKE RABBITS IN TBE NEXT CHAPPPPPPP. Like wdym bae u got the athlete stamina? Physical touch is your love language? You've been dying to touch me? my cooter won't let him leave till I've had my fill (pun intended) 😀😀😀😀
Ok jokes aside just finished reading the recent chap + the headcanons and oh god I have THOUGHTS. Kai and his loser clique can all rot, leave it to insecure men to try dragging you down to their level because your ambition scares them and reminds them of just how incompetent they truly are. I'm not a film major but in somewhat similar humanities field and personally I could relate so much to that scene of a group of guys putting a lone girl in such an intimidating situation just to "teach her a lesson" because they consider themselves experienced. Like go to hell. Kudos to her for immediately slapping that cunt and putting kai in his fucking place.
And as for our main couple oh my god 😭 yn you broke my heart by what you said to gojo (I can't imagine how terrible she'd feel once she finds out his past like it's just so heartbreaking to have lost so much and have to hear that you have it easy. Ily bby toru), but watching her accept that she was wrong and how they both communicated really warmed my heart. Fucking finally he admitted he likes her and wants to be with her. Now go be w your girl!!
Thank you for this chapter!😙 it was well worth the wait and I've been in such a good mood ever since reading it. Thank you for your efforts 🫂
like rabbits 😭😭😭🤣🤣 i am unfortunately putting gojo in celibacy camp for next chap bc he needs to master abstinence🧍🏻♀️it’s a 7-day program so we’ll see if he survives /joking. YOUR COOTER COMMENT HAS ME DYING
“leave it to insecure men to try dragging you down to their level because your ambition scares them and reminds them of just how incompetent they truly are”
just exactly ditto. exactly this. i’ve no words to add, u 100% slayed w this. kiss 💋
im happy (but also not very happy) that u resonated w the bar scene. obv not so happy bc i hate that you’ve had to go through that but i rly hope it was some sort of representation for what you’ve had to face :””) i swear men who try to sabotage women’s careers bc of their own insecurities r the scum of earth
AND YES aaa reader’s dialogue in the argument 💔💔 it was so out of line but w everything she’s been dealing w i think it was just a cumulation of all the build up. it felt real to write that part bc ive been in situations where i’ve really liked men who just cannot show up for me the way i need them to, and just turning them into a “villain” was the easiest way to get over them, and i think that’s what was going through reader’s mind in that moment :”) but yes she apologized n i don’t think satoru holds it against her all that much bc he understands her well, but oof yea big chance the regret is gonna bite her down the line
SORRY FOR THE LONG RESPONSE BACK BB i’m so happy you enjoyed the chapter n you’re in a good mood after reading it omg 🥺💕 thank u so freaking much for the ask
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PROPAGANDA
ATHENA CYKES (ACE ATTORNEY)
1.) Despite supposedly being the MAIN CHARACTER of the game she was introduced in, she somehow still always ends up playing second fiddle to Phoenix and Apollo, to the point where she isn't allowed to take the lead on even so much as a single case. Instead of the senior lawyers standing to the side in a mentorship role like they do for literally EVERY OTHER PLAYABLE CHARACTER, Phoenix and Apollo keep stepping in to outright take over for her. She literally does not make it through even a single case without needing some male character or other to swoop in and hold her hand every step of the way, not only Phoenix and Apollo but once even Blackquill, her rival prosecutor, as well.
Why? It has nothing whatsoever to do with her competence level. It's a video game; her competence is determined by the player's, just like everybody else. It seems like the writers just couldn't STAND the thought of her doing anything on her own, or thought that the players would walk out en masse if it wasn't the Phoenix and Apollo Show every second of gameplay. (And yeah, it DOES sometimes take me some time to warm up to new characters, but that was the case for Apollo too! At least give me the CHANCE to judge her on her own merits rather than assuming that I'll immediately write her off!) Like, why did you even WRITE this character if you think so little of her?
2.) WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN. She's introduced in the middle of a male characters "trilogy" (Apollo justice) so the story is never about her. She appears in aa5 only to NEVER headline her own case IN HER INTRODUCTORY GAME and always fail unless a man comes in and saves her. Her own story is sidelined for Apollos. Next game, she only really appears in one case that's a throwaway and still can't do shit on her own. Ugh. She deserved to be treated better, more competent, etc.
3.) my girl is an attorney and a practicing psychologist at age 18 (youngest defense lawyer in the series) & is often shown to be more competent than her male colleagues, and yet is constantly pushed out/sidelined/generally treated like an assistant character rather than a lawyer (the assistant position in these games is usually reserved for characters who don't have law degrees/are generally not educated enough to understand the courtroom proceedings to their full extent. athena is none of those things but she gets treated the same way by the game because. well. we know why.) Instead of being the main playable attorney in her debut game, the story is taken over by her male colleague (WHO ALREADY HAD A WHOLE GAME DEDICATED TO HIS BULLSHIT BTW) & her development is ignored in favor of his in both her debut game AND her second game. Even when her backstory IS explored it's done via a male family friend of hers, meaning even when her OWN story is being told it's not even about her it's about simon's lame ass. for extra context here in her debut game she is only the playable attorney in one case out of five, while the other (male) playable attorneys were playable in all or all-but-one of the cases in THEIR debut games. capcom hates women sooooo bad
CARMELITA MONTOYA FOX (SLY COOPER)
1.) Carmelita has always been portrayed as a sexy badass, but the fourth game in the series does her dirty. Throughout the game she’s given the “bitchy ex-girlfriend” treatment and is always regarded as an unreasonable nag. In addition, they put her in an impractical miniskirt (previous games had her in pants), and there is a minigame where she is forced to dress like a belly dancer to distract some guards (including prompting the player to have her shake her ass for extra coins) and when she complains about this, nobody listens to her, and is then reduced to the damsel in distress in the final act of the game, when previously she has always been a major help in taking down the final boss. While not the main reason a lot of Sly Cooper fans hate this game, it’s certainly a factor.
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okay, so i think i've cracked the code
on why the girls, gays and theys all really like BG3
the short answer is the subversion of toxic gender stereotypes and the more or less relateable themes that each character has come up in game, or are implied, long answer under the cut
lots of people have been posting about individual (main and supporting) character motivations, yes but i haven't really seen any analyses based on gender and/or romance situations quite yet (please feel free to point me to them, i love discourse)
as well, i am well aware that the romanceable characters are scare quotes "player-sexual" for the most part, but some elements of the gendered experience may feel more relateable to certain groups of players than others. i'm going to refrain as much as i can from making moral judgements (in terms of motivations and alignments) because all of these characters are morally complex.
let's take it on a case by case basis, starting with the women in the game (minthara isn't included since i haven't done a playthrough with her as a companion yet :'D):
Karlach
Karlach seems like this huge butch imo, but from what i can see she has to battle with the touch starved-ness. i guess you could make the argument here that that feeds into a stereotype about stone butches, but i think it presents a very relatable (and honest) representation of how a LOT of queer folks, especially queer non-men, deal with being touch starved. i think one thing that potentially a lot of queer women and femme-identifying folks can relate to is the fear of being "imposing" in wlw relationships. for example, i would say the fear of coming off as "creepy" or "dangerous." and inversely, the feeling of relief when you're assured that that isn't the case.
the other thing that comes up, i think, with Karlach is that there's this stigma surrounding masculine women. for one, she towers over everyone else, and she's a barbarian. on the surface level, that can be extremely intimidating, obviously. but playing through her romance, understanding that she is capable of and honestly, exudes tenderness -- and the majority of which being without touching/sexuality, is just... it's really important y'all okay?
Shadowheart
my personal favourite thing about Shadowheart and her storyline is that even if she appears very feminine, there is no part of the game that i can see (thus far) that has railroaded her into that stereotype. not even with the armour choices. in my file, the armour i've picked for her "end-game" level 12 armour is the shar justiciar armour she gets in the gauntlet. it's not stereotypically feminine at all. historically in video games, armour that covers everything on a woman's body (i will bring this up re: Lae'zel as well) is uhh.. really fuckin hard to find.
the other thing is while she may be very femme-coded, she doesn't necessarily use "stereotypical" seduction methods in her romance scenes. her first one is sharing wine with you and kissing, that's pretty much it, right? and if you call her beautiful, instead of acting coy, she says "i know." and thanks you for noticing. she doesn't need someone to simper over her and tell her that. she's also never shy about telling you exactly what she wants, whether in a romantic or platonic situation. picasso, i like it.
Lae'zel
jesus, what can i start with here? this woman is an extremely skilled fighter, wears heavy armour, wields a fucking greatsword that's bigger than she is, all while being like, 5 feet tall. her first romance scene shows me that she is interested in sex but is primarily concerned with her own pleasure (this can be read in a positive or negative way of course: positive being she is getting hers, and negative being not concerned with her partner's pleasure). not only that but she is not interested in having kids at all, based on in-game dialogue. and like i mentioned with shadowheart, her armour (most of the gith armour options you can put her in, i would guess) are full sets of armour - minus the admittedly a little weird lack of butt coverage on most of the gith plate and half-plate that i've seen her in. uhh, yeah- wow.
in a romance, it seems like she fits the "shrew" stereotype, but i argue that for lae'zel, it's more about respecting Tav than it is about swooning over them (and knowing that they're passionate). if she doesn't respect Tav, there's no way she's going to share a bed with them, never mind anything else. that to me, shows a woman who has self-respect, which isn't often something shown so strongly in a video game/media in general especially when it's written by men (which is fucking unfortunate!! i hate it!!) i think this is beaten over our heads as players most blatantly when she challenges you to a fucking duel in act 2 and then if Tav wins she boinks them right in the middle of camp.
Jaheira
Jaheira is old enough to have adult children, for one. i know she's an elf, and there's some in-game dialogue that alludes to her having extended her lifespan, etc. but for argument's sake, let's say she's middle aged - she is in friggin' top physical condition. and while during the events of bg3 she is a widow, you think that's gonna stop her from meeting her goals? not only that, but her adventures didn't suddenly stop when she became a mother. there's not much of a romance element to her storyline, but she's definitely biffing off a lot of stereotypes about older women and mothers here.
the men - most of my arguments here are going to come back to the utter lack of hypermasculinity/toxic masculinity:
Wyll
he talks about dancing with you in his first romance scene, not seducing you - in fact, he shares a really chaste kiss and then is like "but now isn't the time to jump into bed, actually." he friggin blushes, because thinking about a romance with you gets him all giddy. the man dances for you. then he goddamn proposes to you like a proper gentleman. he is concerned with family. he's concerned with Karlach's well-being. he's concerned with other people's emotions, and is extremely considerate of them. he's pacted with Mizora, not some unseen super masc devil. Mizora the friggin danger femme. lastly, and i think this is really important: Wyll, regardless of a high-fantasy setting, is a black man. i am well aware that eschewing the many stereotypes of hypermasculinity in regards to black men specifically, cannot be undone with one video game, but i think it does a lot. it could do more, of course - but i feel that Larian made a wholehearted attempt with this specifically.
Minsc
the man is large and very visually "stereotypically masculine," yes, but all of his actions are either influenced by Jaheira or Boo. case closed, your honor.
i'm joking. but really, Minsc respects and admires Jaheira intensely as a comrade. and what she thinks seems to matter more to him than his own motivations. that's what made it so easy for the Bhaalist assassins to manipulate him - they just had one person pose as Jaheira. boom.
Halsin
another very visually "stereotypically masculine" man, yes- but i have three things:
he's open to polyamory that is represented in the game more or less in a healthy way
he's very concerned with consent, both in a monogamous romance or a polyamorous one - this includes the bear scene, he does ask about it before like, barrelling into it (and no i'm not poking that bear any more than i have to in this post)
uhh, have you heard him talk to/about Tav? my my.
not only that but this man is quite literally built like a bear, yet he is a druid, literally about all things nature. you could make the argument that this subverts the nature/culture; emotion/reason debate as it relates to gendered roles.
Gale
okay so, not only has it been confirmed/alluded to by in-game dialogue that Gale does the cooking for the camp- (specifically by Wyll if i recall correctly), he's also just a fairly forthcoming person with his feelings and insecurities. i know a lot of people have deemed that a bit annoying, but i do think there is some value in it. for example, he is a little self-deprecating about being a bad kisser, but it's his way (especially if you read him as autistic) of saying "hey, i'm insecure about this and i usually spend a lot of time alone in a mother fucking tower in waterdeep." i.e. i don't exactly know how to do this. he's an honest, giving, and kind man, and is just as likely to show you as he is to tell you how his heart and mind function. he wants you to understand him. he's also very idealistic- that of course can be a double edged sword, but i think he comes by it honestly as well. given his background with Mystra.
i shouldn't even need to mention it but the way the "with you i forget my goddess" and the "you would really prefer me as i am?" lines wrench my heart- like, okay that's very romantic but he's also (imo) accepting that he, a human man, cannot be perfect. that to me is like anti-toxic masculinity in the sense of accepting that a real relationship is where two people are equals and that it's founded in mutual respect and adoration. not unrequited love and service (especially service).
Astarion
get at me if you want, but this man is in touch with his feminine side. i would personally call him high femme, but that's a little besides the point, he sews, appreciates fashion, yada yada.
the next part about him i want to discuss as delicately as possible- he's very forthcoming (once he feels relatively safe and in control of the situation at hand) with his experiences as an ab-se/SA survivor. most men do not have the space to do this, nor are they actively encouraged to share their experiences. and with that, depending on dialogue choices, he wants to cease all intimate contact and go at his own pace. not expecting men to be sexual is kind of big on its own, but given his background, i think it's especially important in his storyline. furthermore, in the spawn!romance stream, he is very explicit about moving forward with Tav as equals.
Raphael
you.. y'all. you already know what i'm going to say regarding the dialogue with Haarlep. i don't really know if i have anything to add besides reiterating that men do not have to be these perfect, virile sexual machines.
Extra Stuff
the emphasis on consent: whether it's in a romance dialogue or if it's the game warning you "you're about to do xyz, are you sure?!"
specifically consent in the romance dialogues though: there are usually 3-4 chances for you as the player to be like "actually, i don't want to do that"
queer couples (npc + npc or pc + companion) are just.. normal. once you get to the lower city you'll hear a ton of ambient dialogue where it will be like "my husband blah blah blah" and you look and it's a gnome and his dragonborn husband standing in the street
uhh, hi larian jumping on the character creator with gender neutral and gender-mixed/mixable options, way to make the player base feel seen. hearing my Tav (Festé) be referred to as "they" in dialogue without issue (especially glaring grammatical ones like i've seen in other games) was really big for me, personally.
openly trans npcs. the defense rests, your honor. okay but imagine my surprise when i hear abigail fucking thorn in a completely missable dialogue scene, where she (the character) talks openly about the fact that she is a fucking trans woman. like.
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I follow you on twitter & all I gotta say is, I love the diversity in your drawings so much, I hate when people make girls all stereotypes & your art makes me feel so comfortable it’s like a warm feeling not to mention your nsfw art. It doesn’t just show the list it shows the love & affection each character has for eachother it shows how intimate & hot the moment can be but also sweet? I’m not sure I love your art too much it really makes my day to see it, but any tips on anatomy?♥️
thank you so much!! i totally get what you mean by a list, that really is what diversity can feel like sometimes. my weight and figure have fluctuated so much over the years and i've gotten enough shit from family about eating habits and how chubby i've gotten, to the point of dysmorphia, and turning to art (and not to mention seeing the vast majority of fat butch rep) to remedy it has done wonders for my body image, and i'm really glad people like how i do things.
in terms of tips, as someone who went to school for this sorta thing, i'm gonna try to make this as accessible as possible aka free resources.
timed figure drawing!
legit, you gotta draw naked people posed in intricate ways. there's literally no avoiding it, you have to draw from life and not from tutorials. obv, i'm not saying go out and attend a life drawing course -- that's expensive shit -- so here's a few options:
i use a site called quickposes, since most figure drawing galleries require subscriptions.
you can set a timer for how long you want on each pose/reference. i recommend challenging yourself with shorter times as it helps you to get rid of any hang-ups about getting the anatomy exactly right. the drawing's got to get done by the end of the timer, don't focus on the details. just draw, be done with it, move on to the next drawing.
there's also a youtube channel that we'd use in class when a model couldn't show called new masters academy and they have a bunch of timed daily drawing exercises.
as a general rule, don't lean on the amount of time you have. what you're wanting to do is get a FULL PICTURE on your paper as soon as possible, regardless of a long or short time. get the full figure onto the paper then use the rest of the time to fuss over details, shading, editing, etc.
do studies!
kinda similar to the last one but in the more time-consuming sense.
use pinterest. it has a lot of uses for a lot of things but i use it quite a bit for both anatomy refs and costume design inspiration. this is legit what my home page looks like now because of it.
here's a board i made on anatomy, pulling from different body types; obviously i get a little gay wid it, but there's a verrrryyyy clear lack of certain body types in a lot of body refs like muscular women, fat women, just overall people who higher fat content than the lean, almost 0% fat of the figures seen in most tutorials and galleries:
this is where pinterest really shines because you can find literally everything on it.
in particular, there's an account called character design references, that is basically a stockpile of references for artists. i wouldn't normally recommend artist tutorials when it comes to wanting to learn anatomy because it can get a little echo-chambery (side-eyes the male vs. female tutorials that float around on twitter all the time) but there are actually some boards that have genuine studies on the human form, even from a medical point of view.
LITERALLY JUST DRAW A LOT.
I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH IT'S GONNA TAKE A LOT OF TIME AND PRACTICE TO GET TO A CERTAIN LEVEL OF SATISFACTION.
like that's it, full stop, draw often. if you're feeling rusty, go back to basics. if you're art blocked, go back to basics. if you're bored, go back to basics.
#ask#anatomy#anatomy tips#talkies#drawing should be about having fun first and foremost#i find figure drawing fun because of how quickly it gets done#art advice
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Would you agree that Spike fans give him traits he doesn't actually have? Like i hear that he always had lines he wouldn't cross and i'm like okay but when? He didn't half qualms Bout murder, raoe, torture, domestic abuse, trying to end the world, killing children so what are these supposed moral standards?
I have tried to quit critiquing spike on my blog due to it giving me a reputation (a lot of spike blogs have me blocked which upsets me as I miss out on good buffyverse posts and I worry I’m being too negative lol). I definitely do agree on this but it does happen to like any character also as fans project onto their favorite characters and try to make them more desirable or absolve them of their negative traits
the biggest one to me is the idea spike is this huge respecter of women because he props whoever he has his sights set on onto a pedestal, but he then treats other women, especially those who he has perceived as wronging him, like garbage. it is especially evident within his rebound relationship with harmony, who he isn’t truly into like drusilla or buffy. one of the biggest scenes that jumps out to me is in season 5 of angel when he belittles this woman for walking alone at night. I understand for some it’s a joke, but when people are serious about it I’m like. he’s a man on a buffyverse show he’s going to be a misogynist
I think people try to woobify spike by saying his negative and villainous traits are because of angelus’ influence instead of holding him accountable for his own actions. it is true angelus was an influence on spike, but it’s a major disservice to both characters by saying that it’s all angelus’ fault lol in the grand scheme of things angelus was with darla for 150 years while spike was with angelus for only like 20 years at most. but the reason why there isn’t the same sentiment for angelus is because of how they were portrayed as humans. a lot of fans find william sympathetic and believe him to be “innocent” while in reality we can see his propping up of women who don’t want him onto a pedestal, and then he blames them when he is rejected when there hasn’t been any indication by the woman that they’re into him. also notice how drusilla is disgusted by him turning his mom into a vampire to be with them. spike molds himself to others, and he very much does that with drusilla. granted drusilla was also shaped by angelus, there still is agency to be given to her. a thing about spike is that he’s been shown to be an unreliable narrator who blames others for his problems (it’s cecily’s fault, it’s drusilla’s and angelus’ fault that she left him, it’s buffy’s fault she keeps rejecting him, etc) so of course he puts that luggage onto angel, especially when it comes to drusilla (who had a relationship with angelus before spike became a vampire, though it is evident angelus would purposely flaunt this in front of spike because spike perceived drusilla as his)
I think the line crossing comes for the spike we see in the show, especially later on. though he’s introduced as a villain, we do not really see the things he’s done in his past that makes him second to angelus as the most notorious vampire, while we actually see numerous times angelus killing, raping,and torturing while reveling in it. killing the slayers isn’t comparable because those are mostly seen as epic showdowns as opposed to the gruesome assault of a romani girl (though I do think there’s greater implications to be read into, particularly about imperialism of a white English vampire seeking out slayers of color and killing them, along with the tragedy of these two slayers). but it’s clear that he has done the things angelus has just not to the level of angelus himself (who he is obviously being compared against). they both have murdered, tortured, and raped (he literally makes a comment about what he “used to do” to girls dawn’s age) but he had different motives as he likes the thrill as opposed to angelus who likes the depravity and “artfulness” of sin. spike is also just seen as being more attune to humanity than other vampires, especially by fans so there is also that. I do think the chip made him adapt to be more “morally correct” and he also had a support group of sorts, even if they did belittle him and he would play as a double agent in the beginning, the scoobies and spike did have a mutually beneficial relationship, so we see more of morally neutral or good spike as opposed to his history
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