what are your thoughts on the ministrife situation? imo literally the worst fate for eridan to be damned to tbh

i think he will eventually (after <5 minutes) just shoot cronus and leave. (CW for mentions of abuse and cronus's romantic grossness and stuff under the cut).

Ignoring the extremely creepy and gross fact that Hussie doesn't seem to have a problem with the age gap (it's There, we've acknowledged that it's creepy and weird, i personally think it highlights how immature the dancestors are despite their physical age, and it actually serves to hint at how trash they are, but it's still really uncomfortable in the moment and never gets properly called out. In any case we've talked about it critically, we can move on and talk about characterization now), he and cronus are actually kind of polar opposites. Given that Cronus, along with many of the dancestors, are riffing on what the fandom interpretation of their Alternian counterparts are, it's kind of a fascinating look at all the things Eridan ISN'T.

The fandom (especially at the time) had flattened Eridan down to "overdramatic Nice Guy hipster who won't stop hitting on people," with varying degrees of sympathy. In other words, they took all of Eridan's outward presentation - the narration calling his genuine anxiety and distress "overblown emotional theatrics," the fact that his being rejected was a running gag - entirely at face value, while also missing what sort of archetype he was actually supposed to represent.

At no point does Eridan ever actually mention a hipster interest, like vintage clothes or indie media. It's all entirely in his design and Karkat calling him a hipster (it's not even in his character introduction), so presumably, it IS a part of his character (Karkat knows him really well), but it's probably a part he keeps to himself, like his love of wizards.

Moreover, he isn't really a Nice Guy. The closest he gets is thinking Nepeta owes him a chance for saving her life, but as far as we can tell, he only ever asked her once, got rejected, accepted that rejection, and has never taken out that rejection on her. When he complains about it, he frames it as a bitter "I guess what I did wasn't enough," not "she's an unreasonable witch withholding romance from me even though I'm so nice to her." All other romance attempts are crimes of... just being way too forward.

He bursts into Kanaya's DMs demanding she auspicetisize with Vriska because... that's what she likes to do, right? The same happens to Terezi in [S] Karkat: Wake Up. He comes on strong in Rose's DMs and after getting a little annoyance back, goes "wow, we kinda have something," and does not realize her blowing up his computer is a rejection because she didn't explicitly tell him no and he's a dumbass. And even though he's nasty at Sollux because emotionally, he's still bitter about Sollux "stealing" Feferi from him, at least CONSCIOUSLY he's recognized the rejection on both fronts and has repeatedly told Feferi that he has no more interest in getting back together with her, in spite of her recognizing that he's emotionally not over her. And speaking of Feferi, his confession to her is entirely genuine and respectful toward her feelings. At no point does he indicate that he feels like she owes him a date.

These aren't Nice Guy actions, they're "I have 0 social skills or self-awareness" actions. And also a little bit "due to my trauma and anxiety and desensitization to murder, I struggle to care about other people" actions. He's not even actually casteist or genocidal - I spent an entire essay arguing that.

But regardless, that's what the fandom ran with, in large part because they didn't bother reading between the lines. Ironically, like Eridan, they just believed what he told them. I don't even necessarily blame the fandom - at least part of this obfuscation was intentional, and a clever trick on the part of the writing. By highlighting Eridan at his worst, and having the narration be complicit in his self-delusion and mockery, the story is able to put the audience in the same mindset as his in-universe bullies - Eridan is dumb weirdo whose emotional problems are worthy of ridicule, not sympathy. Let's all point and laugh!

This sets up his meltdown to be more of a twist - even though his literal introduction is him killing something and talking about genocide, the very real danger he poses is forgotten both by the audience and the other characters because they've gotten so used to dismissing his feelings that they ignore his cries for help and the warning signals he gives off. And it makes his character more relevant and meaningful, because this happens in real life all the time - I'm sure we either all either knew, or were, the friendless weirdo at school who, upon reflection, definitely had either some bad shit going on at home or severe and untreated mental illness (or both).

The reason I'm bringing up this fandom misinterpretation is because, like a couple other dancestors, Cronus is very much a riff on the fanon version of his Alternian counterpart. Unlike Eridan, who's not actually casteist, but desperately trying to act the part, Cronus IS a casteist sea dweller who thinks he's better than lowbloods and land dwellers. Unlike Eridan, who seeks emotional connections with others, and accepts rejections, Cronus is only looking for some action, and keeps trying even well after he knows he's been rejected. Unlike Eridan, who's so consumed by anxiety and trauma that he's pretty much unable to function properly, Cronus DOES exaggerate his problems and explicitly leverage them for attention and sympathy. And unlike Eridan, who feels crushed under the weight of duty and responsibility, and tends to blame himself when things go wrong, Cronus refuses to take responsibility for anything, immediately blaming anybody BUT himself.

They're practically exact opposites, and this is, again, a clever trick on the part of the writing. It's an excellent usage of a foil: though superficially similar, the differences between these two really serves to highlight just how much Eridan is NOT the things that Cronus IS.

And it's especially interesting given that Eridan spent his entire life trying to emulate Dualscar, to the point of modeling his outfit after the guy. To him, it was not only his duty, but his inevitable fate, to wind up as Dualscar's successor. And when he finally meets the guy in person, his opinion is "even I think you're trash."

If that isn't a form of rejecting the values his society has told him repeatedly that he has to uphold, maybe in the service of perhaps setting up some sort of redemption arc or something, I don't know what is.

I've seen people point to this moment as kind of a hee haw funny one-off joke, look at how little Hussie cares about Eridan, but that's not what it is to me. You don't really need to say anything more about their relationship to each other. Eridan thinks Cronus (and by extension, everything Cronus stands for - and everything Eridan has tried to be) is garbage, but is lonely and friendless and desperate enough that he feels pushed into accepting it anyway. It's extremely consistent with his characterization and character arc.

So uh, yeah. Join me next time for more deep dives on how this funny innocuous thing in Homestuck actually Means Something.

I think another thing to note is that a lot of the TSATS negativity stems mainly from users on tumblr. I’ve been on twitter & Tik tok and the reaction seems to be overwhelmingly positive. Like the first few days the book came out, seeing tumblr reactions versus other platforms was literally like night and day. I’ve even seen some ppl say they cried a lot or that it’s their fav PJO book! (Which is a surprising but whatever 😭) I have seen some criticisms on the other platforms, sometimes about the writing quality or OOC-ness or being underwhelming, but it still wasn’t all terribly negative. The only place I’ve seen VERY VERY harsh vitriol is on here, and I’m not sure why. personally I thought TSATS was okay and I have my own criticisms, but honestly I have that with every PJO-verse book. Imo some of the takes I’ve seen here are valid, but some are also really really mean and honestly a tad overdramatic, but idk why or what it is about tumblr. I think I’ll stay away from here for a while when chalice comes out.

This ask is from May 18th, I'm so sorry for the delayed replies. 😭😭😭 It got caught in a mess for quite a while aksdkdakj---

Ok. So.

You're saying that most of the negative reviews come from Tumblr whereas TikTok and Twitter give mostly good feedback. I think I can offer a few explanations about this.

Tl,dr:

Tumblr allows long posts, whereas Twitter and TikTok have a length-wise limit to their content.

Tumblr is more fandom-centered, a much more suitable place to rant in a book of a franchise.

Tumblr has a different approach, which enables different types of posts to come across you, unlike Twitter.

(Please keep in mind that I don't use TikTok, so most of this would be assumptions based on my limited knowledge about the platform. I have a Twitter account though)

Now. The first point is quite clear. Tumblr doesn't have any limitations to whatever you post on the site (or at least that limit exceeds normal people's capacity of writing/reading per post ajsdhakjdhak), which enables you to give long, complicated, detailed essays on a certain topic.

Which is the best fit if you want to criticize something.

Because unlike complimenting something, when you criticize it, you'd need to give a reason for how and why it is bad (in your opinion). To compliment something, you might just need to say simple things like "OMG I LOVE IT" "This is so adorable I might cry" etc...

Adding to that: sometimes it's just easier to list what you dislike, you know? 🤣🤣🤣 I mean. When you hate something, you'd find it very easy to focus on its flaws to dissect, which results in many rants. Whereas when you love something, you just... love it. Not mentioning sometimes you can find it hard to articulate said love.

In Twitter's case: Twitter has a character limit, which hinders people's need to rant. This appears unsuitable when you want to rant about st in dissatisfaction. Although, it'd be pretty good if you're overwhelmed with love and want to flood the complimenting post with memes.

Yes, there're people writing a whole long ass thread on Twitter. But again, with Tumblr alr providing a function, it's understandable which one would prefer.

TikTok, in addition to having a length cap on their videos - which acts roughly the same as Twitter's character limit, allows only video format. This is just a hypothesis, but I suspect people might be discouraged by the idea of making, filming, and editing a video about something they don't like - rather than just... writing it down. I find the second choice much easier.

Similar to the above, Tumblr is more fandom-centered. The app is literally advertised as for Fandoms and Creators.

When you want to share an opinion on a certain topic, you'd go for those who at least have a semblance of whatever you're talking about, right?

Tumblr is created for fandoms and has its own tag system. This makes it easier when you're targeting a certain group of enjoyers. I doubt that Twitter and TikTok, while having their own tagging systems, would be more effective than Tumblr. (Ppl on Twt rarely use tags when it comes to fandoms......)

Different approaches.

Tumblr, as far as I know, filters content by tag. Which means that if you look into the The sun and the star tag, you'd see everything related to it. If you like something from it, chances are you'd get recommended another post in said tag, regardless of what it is about. Including conflicting opinions.

On Twitter, on the other hand, if you want to see a certain topic, chances are you'd need to:

1/ Follow someone who's active on said topic. Generally, you would go for someone you like/ share some of your sentiments/ you vibe with to follow right? Hence, chances are they would share the same view as you.

2/ Search for the tag. But I doubt people would use tag for this book.

3/ Search for any other keywords. This runs the risk of missing content, which might or might not include the criticizing post.

Of course: This^^ relies heavily on my predictions and assumptions of your engagement. It might not apply that well.

All in all, it all comes down to whether and where people choose to express themselves. I have a Twitter and a Tumblr, and I choose to deliver most of my PJO content on Tumblr. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ You don't see me criticizing on Twt, but I'm def there.

About Chalice though, I don't think you need to worry lol. TSATS has its problems because it focuses on already controversial topics and is put on a pedestal before release, so people tend to be more extreme. Chalice, on the other hand, afaik, is about another average quest by Percy? It's not that... extreme, I mean, and there's hardly and complicated plot. I think of it more as a side story, really. So maybe you don't have to worry that much? lol i do hope so. 😂😂

NOW ITS UR TURN WHO ARE YOUR MGS FAVS AND WHY!1!1?1!1?1!1?11!1! ٩( 'ω' )و

EHEHEEEE OK SO I'll say my fav from each game

Mgs1 is def Liquid he. He's so overdramatic it's really funny. He did so many backflips while explaining his tragic backstory 🥰 and then he just fucking died and turned into an arm which is the real tragedy (I have so many random HCs for him it's insane... I also rewrote his backstory a little...the recessive thing is so dumb)

Mgs2 I think it's a split between Raiden and Fortune. Raiden I really enjoyed playing as a character who is just... idk how to put it I just like that he's flawed and not some morally perfect charismatic guy. It feels like he's set up to be that way and then he whines about everything and is very dismissive at some points. It feels like he's a real person and not perfectly crafted to be the ultimate stereotypical good guy protagonist who can stay cool and collected in every situation. He has his moments where he lets emotion get the better of him and I like it a lot.

Fortune I have less to say about her but it doesn't mean I like her less. I think she's a really tragic character backstory wise but I also like how she sort of "plays into it" I guess? Ocelot points it out himself near the end of the game ("you couldn't get enough of the drama"). I thought the ending where she found out she could've died any time and she didn't have some magic ability was sad too and I lowkey wish she didn't die and was like redeemed somehow (imagine she comes back in mgs4 and has to go against Vamp or something that would've been so cool)..anyway I guess I didn't actually have less to say I like Fortune a lot blehhh😋

mgs3 AGH.. EVA ILY she is such a well written character and I love her so much I could write an essay on her if I wanted but I'll keep it more brief here. She's like a perfect subversion of the typical sexualized woman in video game thing...it's what she's doing as a spy for the mission and the best part is it doesn't even really work lol nice job snake. The game itself even adheres to whether Eva is in her Eva persona or her Tatyana one. It's....aghhhhghhh so great. (I have so many thoughts about her and Liquid btw)

Mgs4...difficult but probably Screaming Mantis. For real this time not a lot to say about her but I do like her a lot more since playing the game she went from my least fav B&B unit member to my fav one. She was really fun to watch in all her cutscenes and her boss fight was one of the best MGS boss fights I've ever done tbh. The callbacks and references to the first game were so good I won't lie I was giggling kicking my feet a lil bit. Screaming Mantis ily I have so many thoughts <333

Peace Walker ermmm Kaz and Paz equal I can't decide..also maybe Amanda. Yeah I like everyone a lot 😭 and Cécile....not Snake tho sorry lol. I haven't finished the game so I haven't gotten the full character arcs of everyone so it's hard to pinpoint exact explanations but you know I love Kaz forever and ever mwah mwah (I'm also a transfem Kaz truther and I'm RIGHT!!!). Amanda has a lot of really cool tapes explaining a lot of...not really exposition but it gives a lot of great context to her character. And her voice acting especially in cutscenes is some of the best voice acting I've seen in an mgs game so it adds a lot. Paz I need to learn more about her. I know basic plot points but not the inbetween stuff that really lets you get to know her. I do feel really sad for her though, Kojima decided he wanted shock value instead of a female character having a nice ending 🤷‍♀️ Sucks.

Mgsv QUIET!!!! QUIET ILY!!! she's soooooo OUGH. I'm glad a lot of the fandom has fixed her from her extremely flawed portrayal in the game because it shows what really could've been and I think I latch more onto that than the version of her in the game just a little. The foundation they were working with was still really good. The way they show her and venom building such a strong bond despite never having a single conversation is really well done and I like it a lot. Quiet ily my favourite creaturething killgirl my favourite ear biter offer...

So obviously I love Sam and Daniel and Teal'c a LOT. like a lot a lot. Maybe not quite as much as Jack but a lot more than a lot of other characters. And everyone tells me that seasons 9 and 10 are worth a watch? But sorry all I see is Sam getting objectified and made fun of for being a geek and Daniel turning into Indiana Jones and I am so not here for either of those things?

But that's not what it's like! you say. Okay, so sure, Sam gets to be snarky. But only because it feels like she's no longer respected for her scientific knowledge. She's snarky because it's the only underhanded way she has to win the arguments, and nobody's defending her, they're all arguing with her. It's not a discussion, it's a "haha that's a funny idea miss scientist but we all know better" vs "I know my stuff!" argument. And I'm sorry, but was that *ever* the case with Jack and Hammond? No. Jack sometimes didn't get things. Sometimes Hammond would say "I'm sorry, Congress won't pay for that" or they would ask her to explain it again. But despite all his grumblings, Jack respected Sam's science. Hammond did too.

It's not that I think Cam and Landry are bad people. They just aren't really people I feel like I can admire.

And Atlantis! Atlantis! It's true - I'm bitter about what happened to Elizabeth, so I'm predisposed to dislike post-Weir Atlantis the same way I'm predisposed to dislike post-Jack SG1. And yes, it's great that we see another woman in charge, and it's Sam who is of course a strong character to start with. That's wonderful.

I also hate it.

Yup, I said it. Sam in Atlantis makes me sad because it is completely at odds with the character I'd like her to be.

I'm trying to put it into words, but it's just making me cry instead, so I'm gonna be entirely incoherent. Basically, it has something to do with how she seems to do a 180 from science over the "classic" military path (she has a PhD!) to trying to rise through the ranks as fast as possible.

I'd like to think that one of Sam's favorite parts of SG1 is how she can do both the military and the science. I think it's a disservice to her to make her character a one dimensional Colonel instead of the wonderful scientist Captain/Major/Lt Col Doctor we got to know over the years.

I'm not explaining well enough, and now I'm crying so I won't be getting into my poor baby Daniel. I know, I know, it's just a TV show and I can headcanon whatever I like, dammit. Sorry. It's been a long week.

(if you'd like to reblog or reply, feel free, but please try to be somewhat civil, because as you can see I am not in a great state of mind and this is undoubtedly not very well argued)

if you were wondering about the difference between ti users and te users: imayoshi is a te dom and hanamiya is ti aux. meaning if ur evil and a thinker ur either lawful or overdramatic

Maybe this is wrong, but i fell people are way more forgiving of overpowered characters when they are men, if a woman is increibly powerfull and better that virtually anyone she is unrealistic and a mary sue but if a man is then he is a badass and a aspiration. Maybe it isn't like that and i am overdramatic but it just fell that is how people would act sadly.

Oh no, you are 100 percent right and there's been multiple essays and discussions on it. OSP's Trope Talk on Mary Sues breaks it down pretty neatly, hence why it's not used as much in fandom anymore because people realized how sexist it became.

Yeah, overpowered characters exist, characters that hog the narrative exist, bad characters exist. But Mary Sue started becoming synonymous with "any female character I don't like" (how DARE the protagonist be a protagonist! How dare 12 year old girls write self insert fantasy fanfic, they should be writing on the same level as published authors rather than kids having fun!) and as such...yeah, you're right, it is sexist. Male characters get praised for the exact same reasons female characters are despised and the use of the term "Mary Sue" really exposed that dichotomy.

There are three types of misinterpretation of c!Dream in my opinion; and by that I mean anyone's take ever, whether it's a c!Dream anti or a c!Dream apologist or a c!Dream enthusiast. That's right, I'm making an essay about how in my mind everyone is wrong. This is how I lead debates please don't unfollow me-

1. misunderstanding or overdramatizing evidence

c!Dream apologists; g-guys. I'm not saying he isn't traumatized, but look. I really used to believe he was just everyone's victim and hurt and mentally unstable, and I'm not saying he isn't at all, but I changed my mind because I feel like the evidence doesn't,, point that way at all. Your emotions are valid, but your takes are very removed from what the rest of the fandom thinks because you take little hints and try to make them into some big angsty point within canon.

The evidence we have proves he is more ruthless than anything; even the content creator says that. He doesn't say why he does progressively more ruthless things, and he does say it's for his ideals and out of good intentions, but he doesn't say anything about him being hurt into doing it.

I'm not saying he isn't hurt. But making analysis of an entire character based on something that is barely supported by canon isn't the way I roll and I feel like it's one of the reason why people assume all c!Dream apologist are going to woobify the character,, because some of them really do that.

I don't mind portraying him as hurt by what's happened in canon, because that is a completely safe conclusion, but jumping to the victim side of the scale seems a little bit like painting a completely different picture than what actual canon says. (Note: talking about pre-Pandora c!Dream here.)

There is tragedy in someone being driven by the environment, circumstances and themselves deeper and deeper into corruption, but it feels like by only considering that the entire character is limited to one side of the argument.

I like to also see the side of him that will hurt people because he thinks he has to, because he wants to succeed above all, the side that will ruthlessly murder and manipulate and be calculative and clever and even self-destructive about it because he believes that'll get him towards his ultimately selfless goal.

That's my morally complex bastard.

A lot of people seem to be mistaking or ignoring that for the sake of saying he is just... hurt and that that is an explanation of his actions, and even though they don't use it as an excuse, it feels a little cheap.

And here we come to the core of the problem: an emotional vs. rational explanation for the character's actions.

Because the thing is, with enough evidence, you will see that nearly (we'll get to that in a bit) everything he does can be explained rationally. Everything is connected, everything is the most logical and efficient and merciless route straight from point A to point B, because c!Dream is fascinatingly smart when you look deeper into it.

He knows what he's doing. He knows his actions are awful, and he doesn't care - not because he would be some evil person, but because his mindsets cause him to justify such things, and mindsets are more complicated than feelings.

There is a lot to explore in that direction of the character, but that is material for another essay.

In short, people seem to enjoy removing all of his agency in favor of explaining his actions emotionally rather than from a rational standpoint which results in inaccurate analysis.

Do I think it is completely understandable he attacked L'Manberg?

Absolutely.

Do I think c!Wilbur painted him as a villain to benefit his own power?

Yes.

Do I think he utilized the villain persona as an intimidation tactic and often went overkill with no regard for anything but accomplishing his goals and that he slowly became more and more willing to do bad things of his own accord because he became determined and distrusting of the world to the point of committing horrible actions?

100%.

Analysing that part of the character is the most interesting part, when you consider it - and an important one as well.

2. ignoring evidence

c!Dream antis; please. Stop saying he doesn't care or explaining his actions with obsession or assigning him personality traits or motives that he literally doesn't have in order to demonize him I beg of you.

It's so many basic and easily debunkable assumptions that can be explained with what we actually know of his motives. People will ignore both canon and the authors' words to paint him as some monster with no nuance, which he is not.

We only know so much about him, but people will ignore and deny even the little bit we have for the sake of making him the literal personification of evil and erasing the fact that he is a complex and human character. Just accept he can be accurately analysed beyond hate and let people do it if you don't want to do so yourself.

3. assuming the evidence we have is everything you need to determine a final approach and that nothing outside of the presented evidence exists when certain details prove otherwise

c!Dream enthusiasts; this was the only and biggest problem I've had since being introduced to much more rational interpretations of the character - which is emotions, and one of the biggest reasons why c!Dream gets dehumanized in the first place; the fact that we have little to no showcase or explanation of them in canon.

You see, c!Dream is a reserved character. He likes withholding his plans, withholding his feelings and information from the world.

However, since all we can really get out of watching his actions alone is the rational side (and that is deliberate by both the writer and the character, narratively and personality-wise) people slowly begin to assume there is no emotional side to his actions at all.

Which I find,, untrue. Between the people who erase the rational side of the character and those who erase the emotional side, there is little middle ground, but I don't really find either of them right either.

Because neither would be an accurate representation; just because he doesn't actively showcase his feelings doesn't mean he doesn't have them, and the few inconsistencies that are too small a detail for us to put everything together show that he does have an inner emotional world beyond what we see.

The character does work beyond what we know, and expecting that everything can be explained purely by rationality because that's all we see of him seems a little bit jumping the gun.

It leads to a less person-like view of a character who in reality simply doesn't like showing people the way he feels, and I don't really find that fair to him. It is best to accept there are things we can't say for sure, or to say an emotional interpretation can also be valid at times.

It is both important not to deny him agency and not to deny him the ability to be genuinely hurt by others or changed by his environment.

Both of these can coexist, especially in

the correct interpretation

Ok this is a joke.

I have literally no idea. I'm just throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks - he confuses me beyond belief. The only person who knows about both the emotional and rational side of the character enough to have their interpretation unquestioned is cc!Dream - but when we do try to find answers, it is important for us as well that we do not ignore any aspects or possible aspects of the character, because that is the only way to get useful results out of our analysis.

Sorry this was crit of basically every take about the character I have ever seen but I needed to get my thoughts out.

Other shippers shouldn't have to "call out" shippers with bad behaviour, no matter the ship. It's great when someone wants to speak up and tell others to calm down or back off, but shippers shouldn't have to be officers or lawyers or judges of fandom, both because no one has to engage in drama when they're trying to enjoy stuff and because it's ridiculously easy to start believing you're better than thou and thus call out whoever and whatever and derail from there. It's not fair to people that just want to enjoy their thing to say "you're being very quiet about this" like what do you want from them, essays of apologies and self defense and formal addressings for happening to share an interest with some other (often complete strangers) on the internet? That's ridiculous. That's unfair. Only because a group of people is loud both with others and with each other not all other groups have to be the same way. If that groups decide to behave like that, then it's them deciding to behave like that. It's not fair to go after people minding their own business and trying to stay out of fandom drama in one of the most overdramatic fandoms ever.

The block button exists. Many more people should learn to use it as often as needed with whoever is needed instead of ruining their days with fandom drama and then wanting others to do the same.

x

Just My Type (Fred Weasley)

Summary: Wake, shower, eat, and study, that was (Y/n)’s weekly morning routine. She always studies before the start of class and tries her hardest to avoid all kinds of distractions. But when your best friends are the Weasley twins, it’s a lot harder than it sounds. Fred decides to disrupt her morning routine one time with words that leave (Y/n) all red and flustered. 

Prompt(s): “Well you’re fun.” “And you’re annoying.”

Pairing(s): Fred Weasley x Ravenclaw!reader

Warning(s): none

Word(s) : 1.5k

A/N: This is for @im-a-writer-right​‘s 2k Followers Writing Challenge (congratulations again on 2k Ria! Well deserved 💖). This isn’t the first time I’ve written for the Harry Potter fandom, but this is the first I’m posting, so there may be some possible errors when it comes to characterization and I apologize in advance for that; While editing, I also noticed that I used “as if” quite often so...yeah, but with that being said, you may now proceed reading :)

[ please note that english isn’t my first language ]

Noise filled the Great Hall as the students' voices merged as one because of how they talked with each other continuously. It's a wonder as to how they managed to understand what the other was talking about, considering the Great Hall was filled with students who either enjoyed their breakfast while conversing with their friends or were trying their hardest to do a last-minute study before their first subject begins.

Sat on the end of the Ravenclaw table was (Y/n), who was alone. All the other Ravenclaws were with their friend groups; honestly, (Y/n) wished she could do the same, but with the coming OWLs, and with the essays she wanted to revise last minute, she was stuck on the furthest corner of the table with books surrounding her instead of her friends.

Letting out a frustrated groan, (Y/n) thought of how much time she wasted just to rapidly skim the book that didn't even give her much additional information. She closed the book and let out a shriek as a response when she saw a grinning face, specifically, Fred Weasley's grinning face.

"What're you doing sitting all alone here, (Y/n)?" he asked, pulling his face away and grabbing one of the books she previously read. He looked at the book cover and opened a random page before closing it abruptly, a bored look on his face. "I get that you're a Ravenclaw and all but you still need to have at least a little bit of fun." 

"Sorry Weasley, but unlike you, I actually would like to make a good impression for the teachers this year," (Y/n) retorted, she paused to look at Fred before continuing. "Though, it clearly doesn't help with potions since Snape knows I associate with you Gryffindor lot, but eh, I don't mind. It’s not like anyone can actually appease him." 

Fred grinned and swung an arm around her, "Well, Snape's clearly a greasy git of a teacher who shows his distaste towards anything other than the Slytherins. So I would've taken deep offense if you implied that being friends with us lovely and absolutely charming Gryffindors instead of those Slytherins was a mistake you've done."

(Y/n) rolled her eyes, "There we are again, Weasley. You and your overdramatic self making me feel guilty for saying something I meant differently." Fred's grin grew larger at the statement, though it dialed down a little when (Y/n) removed his arm which was wrapped around her. She smiled at him one last time before burying herself in her textbooks again.

Letting out a small sigh, Fred tried to eavesdrop on what the other Ravenclaws near them were talking about. His grin returning for the umpteenth time when the words he was hearing started making sense.

"Come on Romina, you gotta tell us what your type is!" one Ravenclaw exclaimed. She, along with two other Ravenclaws, looked at a black-haired girl who looked unsure in answering the question. Though, not even a second after, the look of uncertainty immediately disappeared and was replaced by an odd confidence.

"First off, I'd like him to be a Gryffindor, considering as everyone in this house's too preoccupied with studying, it'll be fun to have someone who doesn't worry as much around." the girl explained, a smile on her face. "Especially if it's one of the Weasley twins, then that would be wonderful." She looked around and saw him staring, making her look away with an embarrassed smile. Fred too looked away, satisfied with what he's just heard. He didn't know some Ravenclaws acted like that, he thought all Ravenclaws were too busy burying themselves in their books to even care about those kinds of things; he assumed that all Ravenclaws were like (Y/n). He was proven otherwise.

"Not all Ravenclaws bury their noses in their books, you know," (Y/n) said from beside him as if she's just read his mind. She closed the book she was reading. "I just happen to be very conscious of my grades."

"Why couldn't have I befriended that girl over there? She's clearly more interesting and more interested," he asked, face being playfully serious.

(Y/n) snorted and replied, "Please, that girl over there's too possessive of what she thinks is hers. I'm surprised she hasn't yet declared her love for you, Weasley."

"Well, even if she did, I wouldn't be at all interested. She isn't my type, and I've already got my eyes for someone else," he stated proudly, his tone as if he's just won the Quidditch cup single-handedly.

(Y/n) looked at him with a raised brow. Curiousity about what he meant by 'his type' consumed her mind. "Oh? Then may I know what your 'type' is, Weasley?" she asked, emphasizing the word type.

Fred stared at her for a moment, amusement in his eyes. He pondered on whether answering her question seriously or if he should be the opposite of subtle.

Considering he's Fred Weasley, he decided to go with the obvious choice.

"Well (L/n), that's a tad bit too personal, don't you think? But if you must," he sighed heavily, as if (Y/n) was forcing him to share what his 'type' was. 

She on the other hand tried to hide her genuine curiosity with an annoyed expression, though Fred can easily see right through her. 

"First of all, she's got to be able to play Quidditch decently, making George and I constantly target her with a bludger since we both know she can easily swerve past it. She's also got to be a chaser for her house team, if I'm being more specific." Fred started rubbing his chin, making him look like he was thinking of something very deeply, "She's got to have (h/l), (h/c) hair with matching (e/c) eyes. Also, she's a prefect who'll obviously be head girl in her seventh year; she's always got her nose buried in a book as she claims that having fun is a last choice because she'd rather study, but we both know it's a lie. She's also able to be courageous at times, not physically, but implying it with the use of her wits." he paused for a second, holding on to (Y/n)'s eyes as her face suddenly felt hot. He smiled, "Pretty sure Granger's following her footsteps. But most importantly, she's got to be the person I'm talking to right now, whose face is almost as the same shade as my hair, and is the person I'm asking to be my girlfriend."

(Y/n) stared at him for a few more seconds, mind processing the words that just left his lips: 'the person I'm asking to be my girlfriend'. Um, what? 

“What– who– me– why?” (Y/n) spluttered, completely flustered. 

Fred only rolled his eyes teasingly at the question. He thought that his declaration was enough for her, but he did catch her off guard so he understood that she was still processing his words. But instead of repeating his essay-worthy declaration, he opted to use just simpler words that he knew would get a rise out of her, “Well, you’re fun.”

“And you’re annoying!” She immediately responded without a second thought. This emitted a laugh from Fred because her response was all too sudden as if she programmed herself to say those words every time he says she’s fun (and now that he thought about it, maybe she actually did. He could vividly recall telling her she was fun during first-year and her responding with the same three words. Huh).

(Y/n) zipped her mouth shut, she still felt flustered as she watched Fred’s amusement to her reaction, he was clearly entertained. Perhaps he achieved his goal after all: to distract her from her studying and entertain himself. She groaned on the inside, thinking of a way to compose herself. And she did just that

She closed her eyes for a second to calm her racing heart as she took in an intake of breath before releasing it. (Y/n) hoped that it would help her understand his previous words easier. And somehow, it worked.

When (Y/n) finally composed herself and got her confidence back, she looked at Fred with a small smile, her cheeks still burning hot, "Well, Freddie, you're lucky that you're just my type." She kissed his cheek before grabbing all of the textbooks in front of her, which were already arranged, before heading off to her first class.

George was watching everything that happened between Fred and (Y/n) from where he sat on the Gryffindor table. And when he saw (Y/n) plant a kiss on his brother’s cheek before scurrying off with a small, shy smile, he took this as his cue to finally near his brother and ask him about what happened. And tease him afterward of course.

"So was that a yes or a no?" asked George as he made himself comfortable on the empty space beside Fred. He looked at his twin expectantly, who didn't return his gaze, rather, he continued staring at the Ravenclaw's figure until she exited the Great Hall; mischief was evident in George's eyes as he gave his brother a teasing grin, "Merlin, you are already smitten."

×××

gifs are made by yours truly unless stated otherwise

posted: 08-01-20

i might be a loser, but i can safely say that i have never blocked someone for having such a bad interpretation of a dsmp character that it made me angry

like bruh half the shit that happened in the smp is open for audience interpretation anyway. i love this smp as much as the next person in the fandom, i love angst, i love overdramatizing things, but sometimes ppl sound like theyre arguing over the lives of Real people on here when its def not that serious.

please for the love of god, i dislike c!dream but that doesnt mean im gonna write an essay over why c!dream is awful and terrible and deserves death and then tell people who disagree to go die too like huh

im passionate about this too but you can be passionate while also letting others have a good time. not everyone is here for super critical analysis.

its alright to pick things apart and be analytical and to make angsty fics, and its okay to wanna joke around and have fun and see the villains as nice people, just dont shit on the people that dont have your style of media enjoyment im begging.

List five things that make you happy, then put this in the ask box of the last ten people who reblogged something from you to spread some happiness in the world! 😊💫

uhhhh

1. learning about 2000s fandom culture... for some reason

2. night vale

3. brian david gilbert, polygon.com video producer (i think i’d be an asset to the team don’t you sir)

4. writing!!!! poetry? music? long-winded and overdramatic but admittedly well-written essays? trashy nanowrimo novels? yes!!!

5. and team starkid (because come on i got asked this by a starkid stan how could i not say that) (lauren lopez is a queen tho) (srsly)

I do not even care for Save the Date so much but all the fuss over Justin. Whew. This fandom really was overdramatic about the whole situation. I would romance Justin out of spite.

Girl do it!! He is the best thing to come out of this book and I’m not saying it just because I’m romancing him. Also I feel you because I wasn’t even playing the book until like two weeks ago when I decided to catch up on some books and I was like ???? is this the man that’s making you all write long ass essays about? And to be honest I wasn’t even planning on romancing Justin (I was thinking of romancing Simon) but the fact that his story is much more interesting + my desire to spite all the uglies made me decide on the opossite

After thinking about it more (and getting more perspective from fics lmao), I think it makes perfect sense that Jack got shifted away to D.C. in the later seasons. Yeah, I don't think he would've been happy with the job or with that environment, but I think it makes a lot more sense than him retiring or coming back as a civilian to work with the SGC. Hammond was head of Homeworld Security, and with him retiring, it only makes sense that Jack would've been the one to take his place. Plus, with Hammond gone, they needed to make sure that there wouldn't be someone like Bauer taking control of everything.

Yeah, he would've been happier if he'd retired and worked with the SGC as a civilian or some other option like that, but like– I mean, come on.. this is Jack we're talking about here. When has this man ever chosen his happiness over his duty?

and ofc i personally like the idea of jack in d.c. bc it opens up lots of angst fic ideas since we all know he isn't happy there

Sorry, friend, but I'm gonna have to disagree with you. Although I'm guessing you expected that :)

Well, I'm kinda gonna have to disagree with you.

(Trigger warning tw for mention of suicide below)

Production-wise, I totally understand why they sent Jack to DC. It got him off-screen but he was still involved enough that RDA could make guest appearances. It's a better look for your much-loved main character than, like, killing him off or having him leave in disgrace (which both probably could have sunk the show instantly).

In universe, it makes sense from a pure chain of command perspective--Hammond is general when Jack is a Colonel, then Jack is a general and Hammond is running Homeworld, so it's natural that when Hammond stops running Homeworld, Jack would take over.

My issue is this: they're different characters. Jack's strengths are not Hammond's strengths. I love Jack with all my heart, but he really does not suffer fools, is entirely too humble, and despises politics with a cynicism that's impressive (and, coincidentally, much like my own).

What are the main pillars of Jack's character over the course of the first eight seasons?

He's courageous to a fault.

He will do anything for those he loves. Anything.

He's reclusive and a serious introvert despite his act to the contrary.

He copes with his dark past and often-life-threatening job with sarcasm and humor.

He's got this yearning for a simpler, happier life that he knows he can never have.

I'm WAY oversimplifying his character here, but I think I've got the basics down? Anyway, these traits would make him a wonderful General--without the trappings of DC.

What I'm trying to say, I guess, is that I can totally understand why they would promote him, but the environment as head of Homeworld is just so contrary to his character. Ultimately, Jack is more of a lone wolf than he appears, I think. He accepts Daniel and Sam and Teal'c because they're his family. I think he'd really struggle with managing a ton of people and the constant need to be someone he isn't. Obviously, definitely is ADHD coded, which would make paperwork and the like nearly impossible as a full-time gig (at least if his ADHD presents anything like mine). All this makes me think that a Jack running Homeworld Security would probably quickly become a Jack who is depressed, lonely, isolated, and suicidal. And, unfortunately, the characterization of Daniel/Teal'c/Sam in the few s9-10 episodes I've seen doesn't give me confidence they'd be able to pull him out of it.

That makes me sad, and so I'd rather believe Jack is smart enough to realize the job would be a toxic situation for him and find a different way forward. I'm a civilian and I know it's a totally different mindset when you're in the military, a mindset we can't understand, but I'd still hope Jack is enough of an independent thinker to go against the expected move. After all, we know he did something similar in the 2010 timeline. So...yeah. I guess my issue is less with the idea of promoting Jack to Homeworld and more with the idea that Jack would go happily and passively, *even* if it meant he could be with Sam.

I'd like to think Sam sees it too, and helps him find a different way forward.

I dunno if that makes any sense. And of course you're absolutely welcome to have your own perspective, please don't feel bad about it - no wrong answers here, just my own weird opinion/logic/headcanon mix here.

The Break Up

Fandom: Glee Characters: Blaine & Sebastian, Sam Words: 918 Summary: Sebastian goes to Sam to try and understand why Blaine broke up with him. Note: Seblaine Spring Fling Quote “It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them— Agatha Christie. I know Spring Fling is on May 6th, and much love to those that organized it, but this had to be posted today. When you read you will see why.

The past 36 hours had been the most surreal of Sebastian’s life. Yesterday Blaine had broken up with him. Today he was in the house of Blaine’s ex, talking to Blaine’s best friend about how he could fix things.

“He broke up with me Sam. He called me an insensitive asshole that never listened. He compared me to Hummel!”

Sam tried not to laugh at Sebastian who sat in a chair with his elbows on his knees and head in his hands. It was funny because Blaine had been in the exact same position the night before “Well, one of Blaine’s major complaints about Kurt was that he never listened to him.”

That got Sebastian’s attention because he was instantly out of his seat “I listen to Blaine!”  

“Really? Can you even tell me what Blaine was so upset about?”

“Something about my Lacrosse banquet.”

“And why was Blaine upset about your Lacrosse banquet?” He had known it would take a few steps until Sebastian figured things out but DAMN!

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m here” Sebastian sighed as he flopped back into the chair.

“Sebastian, what day of the week is it?”

“Thursday”

“The..?”

And…the epiphany “Oh my god! Blaine broke up with me over that stupid movie?!?”

“First of all, it is not a stupid movie. It is a cinematic classic” Sam corrected him “Dude, he talked about this for months.”

“Fine, I’ll take him Friday. What the hell is the difference?”

“Um, it has to be today, on this date.”

“This is ridiculous.”

Sam smiled and then walked over to his desk and pulled out a paper “I wrote this a couple of weeks after Blaine made the college essay video for me. My English teacher gave us a word and mine happened to be ridiculous. We had to find a quote with that word and then write an essay on why we chose the quote.”

“Sam, what does this have to do with anything?” Sebastian sighed (overdramatically if you asked Sam)

“The quote I chose was It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them. Sebastian, Blaine is the best friend I’ve ever had and most of it is because we can be our true geeky selves with each other. You don’t think we know it’s at least a little ridiculous that we have our own Super Hero costumes? That we freak out every time a new comic is released? That I can speak Nav’i and he can answer in English? That we can pretty much quote every word of Harry Potter? And I’m talking all seven books.”

“That’s not ridiculous” Sebastian mumbled “That’s Blam.”

“Ok, what about Seblaine? Black Friday you went sock shopping at 4 AM with your moms. That was ridiculous.”

“And pajama bottoms. We shopped for pajama bottoms also.” Sebastian smiled at the memory. That had been the night that he had accidently told Blaine that he loved him.

“Ok, and pajama bottoms. That Rudolph sweater you wore to Rachel’s Ugly Sweater party was pretty ridiculous. You made Blaine dress up in a tea pot costume when he lost the Super Bowl bet which was extremely ridiculous. Sebastian, your entire relationship with Blaine has been a series of ridiculous events. Would you have wanted it any other way?”

“No” Sebastian knew that Sam was right. All of those events were what made Blaine Blaine. The guy that he loved beyond reason. The guy he couldn’t imagine being without.

“How do I fix this Sam?”

“My friend, you’re going to have to be very, very ridiculous.”

A few hours later, Blaine was waiting at the theater for Sam. He had already received a text that told him Sam would be late but to go in and get them some good seats near the back. That was unusual since they normally sat upfront, but it wasn’t as strange as Sam’s request to switch costumes. He had switched like Sam asked, but he would have much rather have been wearing the robes. The robes had a hood he could have pulled over his head and wallowed about what a jerk his boyfriend, well technically ex-boyfriend, was.

He decided to send Sam a text to see how much longer he would be. When he was done, he noticed that someone had sat in the seat next to him.

“Um, excuse me. I saved that seat for my friend.”

“Arrrrgggggggg!”

“No seriously, he’ll be here any moment.”

The guy motioned his hand back and forth between them but still only said “Arrrrgggggggg!”

“Yes, yes I can see that our costumes go together…” the guy lifted the head off of his costume “Seb?”

“Hey, Killer.”

Blaine was ecstatic to see him, but wasn’t about to let Sebastian off the hook that easily “Don’t you have a Lacrosse banquet to be at?”

Ouch! “I let Thad handle it. I told him I had a prior engagement with my boyfriend” then Sebastian added “If I still have a boyfriend.”

He wanted to make him suffer but Blaine just couldn’t do it “You still have a boyfriend.”

Sebastian smiled and silently thanked Sam before saying “May the 4th be with you, Killer. Happy Star Wars Day.”

“May the 4th be with you, Seb. Happy Star Wars Day.”

On the other end of the row, a little girl in a Princess Leia costume turned to her mother and asked “Mommy, why is Hans Solo kissing Chewbacca?”

Notes: For those of you that aren’t total Star Wars geeks: May the force/ May the 4th (Get it?). See why this had to be posted today? Forgive me for being two days early?

I know this is silly. However, you cannot deny that this is a holiday Blaine would celebrate.

isadorabeauxdraps replied to your post: isadorabeauxdraps replied to your post: Kubo said...

‘Harass fanartist’ my my you’re in the mood for being overdramatic today aren’t you ? What’s the point in saying the translations for the parralel are not the same when I did say it did not matter to me ? Is it because you want to avoid talking about the very clear and very obvious clues linking ichi//hime to tanabata ? Because this one post made more sense than every outlandish theory you ever came up with ? Sad .

‘Harass fanartist’ my my you’re in the mood for being overdramatic today aren’t you ?

.......Bruh. You are literally calling yourself out in your own tags for your irrationally angry reblog to a post that never even criticized Orihime to begin with, but simply did not conform to your own One True Interpretation(TM) of the character.  

What’s the point in saying the translations for the parralel are not the same when I did say it did not matter to me ?

TFW when someone says they don’t care about parallels, then you point out that they got it wrong anyway, and then they respond with a link to a post that draws a parallel, and they insist again that they don’t care about parallels, and also call you out for not seeing the parallel :|  (Holy semantic satiation, Batman)

Is it because you want to avoid talking about the very clear and very obvious clues linking ichi//hime to tanabata ?

.......You mean that link of yours where you also call them star-crossed lovers because you also have no idea what the word means? Hint: it doesn’t involve actual stars.  

And dude, there’s a reason people generally ignore you when you butt in respond to their posts: you have a spectacular gift for missing the point entirely and trying to steer the conversation away and over to things people have already acknowledged.  Case in point: my saying that Kubo, by his own admission (I thought it was IRs who never heeded the author’s words?) made a stylistic choice re:Orihime but never followed the Tanabata legend religiously, like he does with pretty much everything. Then I focused on the anon’s actual argument, that Ichigo’s Shiba heritage was inconsequential and only a direct link to Orihime and the Royal Realm.  

Remind me again which part of the fandom accuses another for only ever seeing Ichigo through the lens of a relationship and not as an individual? 

Because this one post made more sense than every outlandish theory you ever came up with ?

Every theory I ever came up with?  Damn, I had no idea you were such a fan of my blog!  But hey, you’re absolutely right.  

Here, take a gander at a list of all my outlandish theories including (but not limited to) some highlights like my totally off the mark thoughts on: the nature, purpose and creation of the SK; Yoruichi’s reiatsu-altering powers; Urahara’s character and bankai; Aizen’s motives and philosophy. For most of the rest, there is sadly no way to either debunk them or prove them right, since Kubo left the majority of his plot elements unaddressed.  Buuuut I guess when you said every theory, you were talking about the ones that truly matter, right?

Thanks for proving that you only ever cared about your ship becoming canon and that to you, everything else about Bleach was secondary. 

Y’know... the very thing you keep accusing ending detractors for.

A feat you manage to accomplish while simultaneously showing your ignorance of one of the most seminal essays ever written on literary criticism, which (oh, delicious, delicious irony) was penned by one of your countrymen. 

Sad .

Star Driver and Adulthood: a short essay

I wanted to write this for a while, now I finally found the time to do so, yay!

Anyway, I probably watched Star Driver more than any other person (in the Western fandom anyway), and there is something I noticed: this series celebrates youth and adolescence in more ways than by just displaying energetic teenagers whose biggest weapon is their libido. They are contrasted by a bunch of adults who, for the most part, are not the greatest at being adults. They blend in with those teenagers and have troubles being responsible adults in one way or another, and the things they do because of these troubles end up being destructive on several levels. Granted, not all adult characters that appear in Star Driver are like this, but I would argue that those most important to the story do have their fair share of problems and cause problems. So let's look at the three most prominent ones in that categories, see what they do, why they do it, what it does to others, and what it tells us about the message Enokido and Igarashi wanted to (presumably) send to their viewers in this way. (spoilers ahead, obviously)

Tsunashi Tokio / Head: The most prominent grown-up on the show, and the most destructive, being the main villain and all. Head is an incredibly manipulative character who manages to almost always get people to do what he wants them to, playing his cards very carefully. However, one of his most striking features is his youthful appearance. Not getting into the discussion whether this is a First Phase or not, Head manages to utilize his looks to blend in more with the crowd he commands and manipulates, going as far as posing as a Southern Cross Academy student (and leading the art club if I remember correctly) without anyone suspecting he's the father of a boy who already reached teenagehood himself. But it's not only his appearance that makes him seem hardly older than the main bulk of characters, his manners tend to come off as childish too. He can be just as overdramatic as anyone else in Kiraboshi, and the next scene in his private quarters has him sulkingly demanding to hear a bedtime story, sometimes even lying around in a fetal positon or lazing about in ways you would rather associate with bored teenagers on a rainy sunday afternoon. Maybe it might even be possible to diagnose him with... well... something, given his rapid change between phases of intense emotions in several directions, but the point is that he exhibits the very moodiness that is said of teenagers right in the middle of their hormone distribution changes. It's no wonder he resonates so well with the rest of Kiraboshi. I also remember I read somewhere that the fact he's been looking the same for some 15 years also reflects his failure to change as a person during those years, and I think I can very much agree with that. Head seems to be still the same kind of person he was when he left his father's care, angry about not inheriting the family mark, blaming everyone for this except himself. His anger over this fuels his obsession with Cybodies in general (and the distain for his own son), and that doesn't change at all during all those years and ruins a lot of his relationships, which in turn makes him yearn for those relationships and trying to get them back by using Samekh's powers. So instead of moving on from what he lost, he desperately tries to return to this "glorious past" to get back what he lost because of his obsession in the first place. Even the people he surrounds himself with apart from the teenagers he uses kind of reflect all this. On the one hand there is Ryousuke, one of the more responsible adults on the show, who contrasts both Head himself and all the other characters around him by not only looking somewhat old, but by also having a quite cold relationship with Head - or rather, Head keeps it cold while Ryousuke tried to support him. Then there is Shingo, the only other adult character Head is seen spending time with outside of Kiraboshi-things, and his adulthood troubles might be even bigger than Head's. Much of this is contrasted by his more adult side, the brooding parts of him that sit around and strategize on how to use Kiraboshi and its members to fit his plans best. Head is a man who is highly manipulative as much as he is immature, and who chooses one of the most adult techniques to manipulate people with, sex. He carefully picks the people he can shape as he wants them like this and uses their weaknesses to full effect (best seen with Shingo) and despite posing as a highschool student in his meetings with Sugata, he clearly takes on the leading role in their conversations, trying to get to him like a sort of mentor. Unlike the rest of cast, his fighting style is not as flashy either, as the battles he has with Takuto are downright brutal in comparison, not caring whether anyone might die in the process, not to mention his ultimate goal, which he is fully aware it would kill every living being on the planet. His compassion for others like Sakana-chan or Shingo, or even Kiraboshi-members, appears to be fake while actually having no regard for other people's lives or fates. All of Head's motivation boils down to getting things he failed to get earlier, an incredible obsession with the past and inability to move on from things. Even his hobby reflects that in a way: he definitely painted more 15 years ago, and he decided to stop it in the present, but even that fails to some degree. When his plan falls apart in the end and he is defeated by his own son, the next generation that his father trusted more than him, he is left with nothing.

Professor Green / Okamoto-sensei: She's definitely the most quirky of the characters I'm talking about here, and the most harmless, but that does not mean that her troubles with adulthood don't have any negative consequences. Obviously enough, many of Okamoto-sensei's mannerisms look like those of a teenage girl, fawning after good looking young men and pop stars and appearing to have no interest in men her age. Granted, it's not really clear how old she is, but given her profession both in the school and the ruins, she's definitely not early twenties or something like that anymore. Yet she goes after guys at least half her age and even starts a relationship with one of them. Her whole non-Kiraboshi self seems centered around scoring with teenage boys, even going as far as making use of her First Phase just for exactly this purpose. Here, we are shown how negative this behaviour can be in a more subtle way. Sure, she makes a few of the guys she targets uncomfortable, but the main point that makes her actions come across as dangerous is the fact that using her First Phase to manipulate time around her to appear younger (or... something like that) influcenes the time-space continuum so much that it causes earthquakes and almost makes the volcanoes on the surrounding islands activate. As these phenomena are explicitly linked to her using her First Phase, we are meant to take her behaviour negatively. In addition to that, she later gets defeated in her fight just because she went back into fangirling-mode, despite having the upper hand the whole time. Like Head, she also exhibits contrasts to this behavious, as when it comes to working for Kiraboshi, she is very competent and professional, most of the time at least. Even during leader meetings, she appears less loud and confronting than people like Head or Benio. There might also be a slight "be yourself" message woven into her story. While she has access to her First Phase, Okamoto-sensei might have been able to surround herself with hot high school boys, but it is only after she is defeated and cannot use her mark anymore (as it's not a true one at this point) that she finds someone who is really interested in her beyond a crush due to being pretty. And in fact, we later see her on a date with Tsubasa, and it appears as if this relationship actually works well. In other words, her fake, younger self netted her fake attention and returning to who she really is made her gain someone who accepts her for what she is, making her obsession with her younger self and other young boys obsolete (in fact, you never see her fawning after other young guys again once she starts dating Tsubasa) and unlike Head, it seems like she does actually drop it.

Makiba Shingo: I suppose if this whole topic is one that has been talked about before, its kind of doubtful anyone talked about Shingo, as he's being dreadfully underappreciated by the fandom. Anyway, Shingo is one of the harder to talk about cases, as the series doesn't focus on him very much and thus we don't have that many materials to work with. This means that we will have to interpret a lot here, but I think the main points will come across regardless. Shingo is a curious case, lying in a 15-year-long coma for unknown reasons and aside from his hair length, he does not change at all during that time. When he finally wakes up in the penultimate episode, he reveales his motives, but probably due to the fact that he just woke up from an extremely long coma, his words are cryptic and slightly confused, which isn't helped by - in my opinion - the fansubs not paying a lot of attention to the linguistic details of what he says and how he does that. Shingo's speech is slightly childish: while "boku" as a first person pronoun is not unheard of among adult men, the way he starts his monologue by adding "ne" to it (and also his intonation) sounds not much like how an adult would speak. But apart from that, there is also the content of his words. Apparently, the way he imagined adulthood would work was not the way he actually experienced it. Unfortunately, this does not become very clear in the fansubs, as they shift the sentence focus away from the world ("sekai", which is marked by the content marker "wa", making it the subject of the sentence) to being an adult, which slightly changes the message Shingo is trying to get across. It also makes a lot more sense when seen with the original intent of the Japanese sentence; Shingo's troubles started because what he expected from adulthood and what he got did not match, and so he rather wanted to stay a child (or adolescent). He mentions he "stopped growing up" and uses a verb that is used for when someone consciously stops something by performing an action (like... stopping your car or something). Combined with a comment by Enokido (or Igarashi, I forgot, sorry) that Shingo's body does not change at all, as well as another one where he said Shingo would "grow up" after the end of the series implies that he apprivoised to make use of his First Phase to stay at his at that point current age forever. This did not work out well, however, as he describes how he's been "left behind", which could mean that the people around him did not agree with his decision, or found it freaky or something like that, or he simply failed to fulfill the expectations of the world around him even more, but in any case, it appears that he was lonely when he met Head and stepped right into his trap. This is the part where Star Driver shows that even Shingo's troubles with adulthood are destructive on the long run. While it's hard to blame Shingo for his actions, as we would have to know how much he was aware of the whole Cybody issue and Synpathy's abilities, it's these problems he has - the confusion about adulthood, his dissatisfaction with it and then facing the reality that the solution he chose didn't end up helping him either - that make him easy prey for Head's manipulation tactics which in turn enable the latter to get his hands on the only Cybody that lets him, who does not own a king's mark, take control over Samekh and kill all life on Earth to fulfill his own obsession with the past. In a similar fashion to the other two characters above, there are also aspects that contrast with Shingo's childlike way, or rather, because we see so little of him it's only one thing that does: sex. Granted, we have no explicit confirmation that he slept with Head, but the hints as well as his crush on him are very much there, and it fits a narrative about the libido of young people. Basically, Shingo's own obsession with his youth drove him into the arms of someone who, by doing something very adult with him, ended up manipulating him into partaking in his destructive behaviour. Somehow, you could also say that his relationship with Head as such is/was destructive, as it is questionable it helped his adulthood troubles (or any other issues he might have) and not only lead to a bad fate for himself (15 years of coma and right after that possibly temporarily dying together with the rest of humanity), but also for everyone else in the world. Again, Shingo is hard to blame for this situation, but he appears to be another narrative tool in the creators' warning about trying to retain or regain your adolescence when you should have moved past it for long.

The only other relatively prominent adults on this show cause nowhere near as many problems as the three described, and can hardly be used to get my point across, but even they are no pillars of righteousness. Ryousuke is incredibly passive and probably the only one who could have put a stop to Head's plans had he cared to think about what was going on instead of just going with the stream. In fact, had he never been so passive and put Head to his place (or at least talked to Sora about his feelings) before his fiancée got pregnant, all of this mess would have never happened. Shibuya Hideki (Professor Silver), on the other hand, quite firmly embodies adult corruption, only caring for his scientific research and not about what happens to anyone around him. He fumbles with alien robots, and even tries to fuse people with them, all in the name of science, and despite his heavy involvement seems to be the most distanced from Kiraboshi's (faked) goals. In contrast to all those weird adults, we get a huge cast of teenagers who are energetic, mindful and constantly switch between childish and adult topics and behaviour. But unlike Head and the rest of his ilk, they get things done and win in the end, triumphing over even the most adult techniques of manipulation.

The young characters could be the topic(s) of a future talk or two, but to speed up this already long post, the conclusion is that it seems like series writer Enokido Youji wanted to tell us that adolescence is great and something that should be celebrated instead of being packed to the brim with responsibilities and limits. However, while "shouting out your youth" is a great and encouraged thing to do, once you're over the point of this adolescence and reached adulthood, it is important to let go of it, to move on and face the responsibilities you gain as you mature. Desperately trying to stay young or return to that "glorious past" does not give you anything, it rather hurts than benefit you and the ones around you.