#'I have a rep to maintain' -> 'everyone sort of looks the other way with Bucky'

[daydreamerdrew]

The Adventures of Captain America (1991) #1

[9w1ft]

Sharing my random thoughts since you asked for asks! You don’t have to respond. But I was noticing those articles of Karlie finally commenting on Taylor again came right around the time Biden was being pressured to drop out of the election and the Democratic Party seemed to be scrambling a bit. I feel like the friendship groundwork is being laid to be ready in case Trump is actually re-elected and KK is thrown back into the fire by association. His win in 2016 changed so much for them. Thoughts?

i did ask for asks! 😆

in a way i think what you are suggesting is a little bit paradoxical because if they were operating under the same manual and all things being equal, then the threat of a trump win would have had them laying the groundwork to distance themselves again, not the opposite.

that being said, times are sort of different. and priorities are different, in a way. i could write so so much and if people have other points to bring up please do, but ill just write a little.

one thought i had was that last time around they did not know what a trump presidency would mean, only what we could predict, and now they have something to look at as an example. also, jared had played a notable public role in trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, so the win had immediate optic implications as well as logistic implications to anticipate. this time around, jared isn’t on the trail, and is reported to not want a role in a possible second term. i think ivanka did show up at the rnc last month though and brought jared with her.

to circle back to my second point, i just hope that people consider that a lot of this sort of maneuvering or salvaging or pivoting that they might have done following the 2016 election results might not even really apply this time because they are in a different stage of life. biden’s win in 2020 is an example of this. trump being out and a democrat being in marked the end of a lot of worries and barriers that we assume they put up. but with the pandemic and time spent out of public, i get the sense there was a lot of introspection and reevaluating that went on and we can see that one or two little things entered their lives. now, the stakes are a bit different regardless of who is in office.

taylor’s fame is different in scale now too. i don’t think i have to delineate that for anyone here. but i want to say that it feels like it’s nearly reaching “too big to fail” levels

also, one other point i feel compelled to bring up is that while karlie has gone on to maintain haters, all of all this for the past 8 years has by and large not stopped her ability to succeed with her business and creative endeavors. i recognize not everyone’s gonna agree with me on this because it’s a sort of core talking point that is ingrained in a lot of kaylor thinking, but i do recommend people take a step back to look at this from a birds eye view. even just since 2019. karlie has continued to be the face of a perfume in carolina herrera and even repped the brand at the met gala, she became the face of a cosmetics company in estée lauder and still does campaigns for them, she did a line of sportswear in adidas and has continued being the face of products in the health and fitness sector, has continued to expand her forays into the tech sector, has done stuff for many LVMH luxury brands, looking camp right in the eye has become a meme with longevity that she herself has embraced, re-signed with swarovski and repped them at the met gala, has expanded kode with klossy and created many opportunities for her scholars via her connections with all of these brands that she works with, including people like tim cook, and shes got connections to people like bob iger, she helped arrange a tech panel for the white house, she continues walking the runway when she wants at the biggest events where otherwise she gets invites to, like paris fashion week, she continues doing couture fashion spreads, she now owns two magazines, had a street named after her, like, i could go on and on and maybe someone out there is hemming and hawing about project runway but i sometimes feel like people try to equate what people on the internet feel to what the business world feels about karlie and to push that her bearding ruined her image and prospects.. when in fact she’s continued to do so many thing that surely wouldn’t have happened if this association (and for the “see how you didn’t say kushner!” crowd ill say it, her kushner association) was seen as an actual problem to her clients, that actually have working relationships with her and know her. please understand that im not making this a conversation about values. im looking at the actual business reality and any affects there have been, which i would contend there have been less than people often imagine.

all of this to say, i am very much not convinced that the prospects of a second trump term are a driving factor in their decision making this time. i think it’s more about them deciding if it would be valuable to them personally, a net positive in their own lives, to be seen again. and i happen to think a little bit of this is on us to help provide for them. as a proof of concept. a window for them, in a way, in what could be best expected, if any good should be expected all. but that’s a tangent for another time, methinks.

[maelstrom007]

I want to hear about Mal

🐷💯🎮🤍

-Ghoul

Y’all I’m so normal about Mal you wouldn’t believe

For those who don’t know, Mal is my oc from @ghouljams Fae!cod au. They’re a changeling, and the only consistent identifying feature is that they always have bright red hair regardless of their physical appearance. They run a studio and specialize in crafting magical items for the local Fae.

🐷: What is your oc’s favorite animal?

Spiders! Spiders are so crafty and are such beautiful artists and in Mal’s opinion are misunderstood. While I haven’t written about it yet, Mal definitely has some spider characteristics themselves. Mal and the local spiders have an agreement that as long as they don’t make the shop look decrepit and abandoned or leave spider webs in the paths of customers (…at least not too many) then they can hang out and make themselves at home.

💯: Share three random facts about your oc that others may not know.

So even though Mal is a changeling, in my mind there is a sort of baseline form that one could consider their ‘true form’ and which takes no effort or magic to sustain. Every other form they take requires some amount of magic and concentration to maintain, meaning that if they get exceedingly distracted or drained they may briefly revert back to that true form. (What that true form looks like is for y’all to wonder and for me to write about)

There are two ways I like to think about Mal’s magic. For their appearance, I imagine a sort of kaleidoscope that ‘fractures’ their body into a million pieces of light before their snap back into focus in a new way. For everything else, I imagine them plucking at imaginary threads that make up the known world and tugging on them, tying knots, untying knots, etc to work their magic.

Mal didn’t really grow up around other Fae, so their understanding of magic and Fae customs are very much self taught up until recent years. I like to think of it as someone who immigrated to another country as a child, grew up, and then returned as an adult. In theory they know about the culture and social norms, but haven’t ever experienced it first hand and stick out like a sore thumb.

🎮: What are three of your oc’s favorite hobbies?

Weaving is definitely at the top of their list, with gossiping coming in at a close second. Finally, Mal is definitely a gym rat 😂. Catch them spending all their free time lifting weights and casually saving gym bro’s when they fail a rep. Always giving encouragement though!!

🤍: What are three of your oc’s neutral/questionable traits?

I think that Mal’s biggest questionable trait is that they are ride or die to the extreme. Like, it takes a lot to make Mal truly consider you a friend, and once you’re there it’s over man. Like for instance, Witch has wormed her way into Mal’s affections, and now in Mal’s mind she can do no wrong. Witch could stroll up one day and say that she wants to destroy the world and set it ablaze and Mal would come out with gasoline like sure boo whatever you say everyone had it coming anyway. Do they like the world? Sure. But someone they think highly of and care for wants to see it gone, who are they to question that?

Because Mal didn’t grow up around Fae, they got burned a lot when they were younger, accidentally agreeing to unfair contracts or other such because they weren’t familiar with all the nitty gritty rules and technicalities the Fae are prone to use. This means that they threw up walls really quickly, and they themselves became a stickler for technicalities and precise language in order to protect themselves. This means that while Mal can be nice and personable, they’re more often than not operating under the assumption that they are going to be taken advantage of in some way and will preemptively try to protect themselves. Lots of mixed signals coming from them.

Finally…Mal likes neither cold nor hot drinks. Let me explain. If Mal is having a soda and it’s been in the fridge, they will leave the can on the counter for several minutes to let the temperature come up, then pour it in a glass to disperse the cold even more. Truly Mal’s favorite drink is a chai, where the chai mix is at room temperature and the milk was in the fridge, so that when they are mixed together it creates a perfect Neutral Temperature™️.

Bonus picrews:

[reinemichele]

Well, I've been wanting to make a post about what I like about show!daniel, but I want to write most of it on a day where I'm not in as much pain and I can articulate myself better, but for now:

Daniel is a complete dickhead. He's a bitter, mean old man. He makes a point of putting his flaws on display so that other people can't hurt him with jabs about his failed marriages and children who resent him. He goes out of his way to avoid using any tact, using his journalism as an excuse even when that's the reason his interpersonal relationships all collapse, to the degree that it's like he has no self-preservation in front of 2 bloodthirsty monsters. He's a total asshole. He has plenty of regrets, he's scared of his own mortality, he's in pain, and he's making it everyone else's problem.

... And I love that! 🥰

Maybe it's the cat person in me, but I really enjoy fictional characters who are deliberately written to be unlikable. I find it really refreshing and, in a way, cathartic, because I'm also a complete dickhead. In a world where the vast majority of characters are these silly little caricatures of humanity that have carefully selected flaws that can be excused away, that don't have bad intentions and all their conflicts revolve around a comical misunderstanding... I enjoy it a lot whenever characters are just allowed to reflect the selfishness and pettiness of human nature.

I feel like that kind of realism is doubly satisfying when this is a character in his 70's; kinda like what eric said about the idea younger people have about old men being wholesome, older people in fiction don't usually get to be cranky and shitty. They're kinda pigeonholed into being grandmas knitting, cooking, slipping their grandkids money, or grandpas helping build something or paint or give the right advice, etc. And that's ridiculous, right, because we all know that old people aren't all cookie-cutter shaped and can be horrendous trainwrecks. There's a lot of shit daniel does that reminds me of my own asshole grandparents, or the patients my mom gets for hospice that come with a warning. (These are her favorite patients, so that's probably part of why I gravitate towards asshole characters too.) These defense mechanisms exist to protect yourself from being hurt and maintain the fantasy of being in control, when people inevitably decide to withhold compassion/kindness/human dignity from you.

So, like I said, it's refreshing and inch resting to me; I like that he says something mean in a deadpan voice and 2 handsome young-looking vampires start giggling and twirling their hair, I like that he gets to have a sort of "coming out of the closet" realization after a lifetime of failed connections and loneliness, I like that he gets to become a sexc gilf vampire, I hope to god he gets some good dicking down in-universe/on-screen, and I'm happy that eric got his wish of playing a vampire. I had no idea that I wanted this, but apparently this is the kinda gay rep that I, personally, wanted!!! It's exciting, it's fun, I'm having a great time

... Well, this got way longer than I was intending to write today... but I didn't really want to Just say that I enjoy that he's an asshole; I wanted to elaborate on why instead of it sounding like a juvenile jokey post

[alacarhelsng]

The Ship (Cont.)

"Right." Alacar sighed then continued. "I need you to let us onto the ship he's working on right now without setting off any security measures." "Done," Qimzal said curtly. "Say hi for me, and blow him a kiss." The feed cut out and the group waited in awkward silence for a while. "That happened." Bea spoke up having been stuck at an angle that forced her to watch. "Yes well… not all friends in high places are the same." Alacar groaned. "I'm surprised something like you has friends." Syhren quipped to which Alacar would have responded had the ship not started moving at that time. Slowly at first until the bay got a full lock on their position and they began to steadily accelerate towards the docking zone. Within five minutes, five very very tense minutes of not knowing if they were heading into a betrayal

Silence hung over the five in the cabin as the ship landed and they waited. In the positions they were stuck in they would absolutely not last any sort of attack, luckily they wouldn't have to. Harvey, who had opted to stay in the very limited and dangerous space in the main compartment, opened the door for them. First Lonque fell out and landed on his face with a bit of a smile, then Bea fell on top of him. Or she would have if he was already most of the way towards the exit. "How did you even." Bea looked started, and Harvey helped her up with a smile. "Ye, I find it best not to question 'im, you ain't gettin' any answers from 'im." After Bea managed to get up the other three detangled themselves and followed her out the exit to find Lonque with a very bemused expression on his face while a very wide-horned troll berated him. "..and what is this outfit?! Don't you know as a low-cast you should be dressed impecably! If you would, compare yourself to me. Every part of my uniform is clean, crisp, and perfectly in place as it should be! If a high-blood hadn't made this request I would have you sent straight to the cells for rehabilitation immediately. And look at the company you keep!" The fleet official gestured towards the group making their way out of the ship. "Not even a single unwrinkled outfit amongst you! I should rep-" He immediately cut off when Harvey stepped out of the ship and began making an odd wailing gurgling noise like a small animal being stabbed and drowned at the same time. "I-I-I-I-I-I I am Rimmer Acenet! I was just addressing the m-misconduct of your group sir." He quickly fell into a doubled solute which just made Lonque silently laugh behind the man. "Uuuuuuhhh At ease?" Harvey nervously responded which just seemed to make Rimmer switch to a stand that was more tense and somehow less at ease than before. "I am assuming you are the highblood in charge here! I was asked to assist you in any way possible!" Harvey nervously looked at Alacar who shrugged then back at the overly stiff private. "Yea uhhh…. so we got some boxes? could ya like… move 'em to the engines?" "Yes! Right away sir!" "Thank ya kindly." "No, thank you!" With that Rimmer rushed past the group and began the laborious task of offloading all the explosives. "Well, that's one thing taken care of." Alacar spoke, somewhat astonished by the situation. " "Yea so uh…. what's next on the list?" Harvey said, arms on his hips. "Right." Alacar stepped in front of everyone and began to recite the plan. "Bea, you're on lookout, get somewhere high and use those eyes or yours to keep track of the position of key figures." Vlad cut in to get Syhren's orders knowing she likely would refuse to listen to Alacar out of spite. "Doll, you need to take out surveillance to give us room to work." Syhren nodded and Alacar continued. "Then we're going to need a distraction to pull anyone guarding her out." "I can handle that." Lonque spoke and Alacar simply accepted it, knowing he'd get it done no matter what it was. "Finally, Harvey we need you to secure and maintain our escape, none of this matters if we can't get out. Also, it's clear that our new friend is only going to listen to you." "Will do." "Vlad, you're with me, I'm not the strongest troll so I may need help carrying Calmet." There was also the unspoken agreement between him and Syhren that he was to keep Vlad alive no matter what, and despite his distaste for the troll, he wouldn't begrudge her desire to keep someone she cared about safe. He intended to do so as long as it didn't interfere with saving his mate-sprite.

The group splintered off on their separate tasks, Harvey staying behind with Rimmer who had finished moving the explosives off the ship and was now beginning to move them into the ship engine room as ordered. Ten minutes in Alacar and Vlad traveled silently through the halls of the ship, avoiding contact to the best of their ability until Syhren's began speaking into all of their ears. " Surveillance has been neutralized, Bea is approaching her position soon. Seems the target isn't on the cameras, that's such a shame for you demon." Alacar was about to swear when Bea's voice buzzed in as well. "I just saw a doctor head into a room in the west wing, and caught a glimpse of the target before the door closed." "Give Syhren a description, Doll I'm going to need you to lead me and Al to that room." "Fine, you owe me a night after this V." Vlad smirked directly into one of the cameras nearby. "Of course doll." Once again the duo was on the move, weaving through the ship with the guidance of Syhren until they made their way to the room in question. "Lonque," Alacar started." we're gonna need that distraction now." The only response they received was a ripple of lights turning off and then on way too brightly as a power surge ripped through the ship then a horrifying grinding and crashing sound. Whatever he had done seemed to pull the doctor out in such a rush that he left the door open for Vlad and Alacar to slip inside.

[starfruit-baby]

as in he was programmed to be revolution leader, and hes not really deviant at all?

because im not an expert, but my general opinion as a Markus liker is that in game, when he shows up in Jericho at first they take him as any other deviant without anywhere else to go, but they only start developing any sort of feeling about him once he decides to take any action whatsoever (in this case, admiration because he wants to do something risky for their greater good, which is heal and maintain the androids there so they dont go out in hopeless deaths), and i personally take his call to action as something he wants to do more than something that hes just doing for the sake of looking good and gathering good rep? and i take it that North showing visible frustration at being in a dead end place, someone else gathering courage for them to live a little better is admirable, but not necessarily romanceable? the whole idea seemed to be that Simon was mostly an overseer in a way, they hand Markus the leadership because hes thinking plans for the sake of everyone but their role becomes pondering on the plans and the details as advisors?

i believe the game is kind of rushed in its build up of uh. honestly every part of it imho (as in all characters paths couldve taken more than what? the 5 or so days they have to do everything they do, but maybe thats just me), and this goes to the norkus romance too, but i am of the belief that North starts feeling something more because Markus passion and bravery matches hers, even through disagreements their overall goal is the same, and how i see it, this just culminates when his care starts showing for her specifically, but thats just my view of it

Ok, here we go...

Question for the DBH specialists and esp Markus stans.

Do y'all think Markus manipulated North into liking him (also gaining her trust in the process) and that also being kinda part of his program?

Why someone with a difficult past would engage in a romantical relationship with the newest guy on town just cuz she got finally heard (in a way)?

Listen, I know the script didn't have Marla as romantical interest. Actually Markus had a human romantic interest but they cut it and pasted the romance in Marla's character, becoming North. We all know it's terrible adapted and the bigger logical part is missed also cuz a relevant part of Markus dev was also cut, that's common sense.

But I'm curious. It's the released version, after all.

[prof-peach]

if fans wanted to include peach in stuff they write, would that be okay? and how would they write peach's personality? aside from "FIGHT ME" anyway, i think that much is a given lol. i only really write the anime characters 'cause that's what i know, but it sounds like it'd be kinda fun to try making a version of ash that fits into this blog's universe! nerf'd Obviously, but i think she'd probably appreciate how hands-on he gets when training his pokemon!

Ok, I get a lot of these messages, and I often hear folks wanting to throw peach into their stories and comics and writings, and I will always simply ask that if it’s published online publicly, to be linked to it so I can snoop and enjoy the content too. If someone asks about her in your work, let them know about the blog I guess? But literally I love that people take this stuff, these characters and stories, and make new stuff with it. No ones making money off my work here? So where’s the issue? Go for it buddy, knock yourself out, I’m all for it.

For you, and all the others out there who want to add peach, and other characters to your world building, I will give you a detailed rundown of the main lot, and how they behave, what they do, how they function. You can use that, use bits, or use none of it, I do not mind at all. If you’re creating something, you’re in control, not me.

So, peach doesn’t actually fight people as much as you’d think. She’s very aware most cannot and do not want to do that, and so she likes to keep to herself with regards to that aspect of her life, she doesn’t ask to spar with people, or even bring it up at all, but people ask her all the time, even if they clearly would lose or become hurt should she miscalculate during the fight. She looks at people like they usually create problems, and often has a somewhat reserved nature to other humans. You have to work quite hard to get anything more than formalities out of her. She will dead-pan handle people with blunt and very to-the-point statements, aid whenever possible, but very quickly get back to handling the Pokemon she so carefully tends. Her focus is clear, she’s all about hard work, her very small select family, and the Pokemon.

Her brutal, loud and brash personality only comes out with friends, family, difficult humans, OR any Pokemon. She will joke and laugh and play with Pokemon, but clam up around humans, maintaining tight body language and generally will be a little cold by regular standards. She does however have some weaknesses in this emotionless shield she puts up. When peach was young she was always angry, which swung so fast to sadness, back and forth. Her teenage years it just got worse and worse, it was crippling at points. She is to this day, full of fire and rage, even sadness, but now she has learnt to control it, to use it. When she sees that in others, it’s familiar, and she is pushed to drop the front, and be very real with the person. Underdogs I suppose, people who get bad reps, but deserve the same as everyone else. She can’t ignore it.

Once you start to pry open her personality, you’ll find she’s a lot more laid back and fun than originally appeared, you just have to work hard to find that side of her. She will meme reference, can’t dance to save her life, loves her coffee, and can be caught in quiet contemplation while gardening. This hobby is her calmest, and often is why she can stay so level headed when her quiet rage boils up again. Without time outside she will become grouchy, a little snippy, and lethargic. Will not go in the ocean for any reason other than life or death, is fine with ponds and rivers, or water at wading height. Likes the rain.

With regards to her training others, they usually have to tolerate her somewhat strict nature. She is a little....unforgiving, holds a grudge if you make a lot of mistakes, and has no tolerance for ignorance in the age of information that we all live in. In previous posts I’ve mentioned she’s only recently selected two students, after many years of testing kids who want to learn from her. Hundred tried out, only two have ever been approved. How she teaches is very fast paced, be prepared to get some scrapes and bruises, she will test your physical and emotional tolerances with intense tasks, carefully watching students like a hawk. Bad posture in your stance? She’ll be the first to tell you to sort it out. Not hearing your Pokemon partner? Right, now you spend the day without using words trying to communicate, let’s see how you like not being listened to.

This is a woman who has spent her life saying very little, and watching everything, she watches Pokemon and can see an issue from a mile off, and in battles, her observations are why she can react fast, and chose effective strategy to avoid damage and achieve results. Don’t let her body fool you, her strongest asset is analysing, watching, planning. Those skills have over the years transferred to people too. As a student, mistakes don’t go unnoticed with this professor.

Her methods are harsh but fair, and should you prove yourself, she will protect you with her life.

Because of her disinterest in kids and lots of noise, she does pass the training of students on to the other staff members whenever possible. Grey takes on the lions share of battle lessons, he is far calmer, more open and friendly, with patience for people, and an empathy that peach sometimes struggles to have. When you go through a lot of harsh training, and difficult events, it’s hard to change how you feel or think, with peach, well, she’s been through it. Most do not come out the other end in one piece, but she did, and it made her strong. You may think I mean strong like buff and big, and yeah sure she is, but I mean it mentally more than anything. Peach will not quit. She has learnt to destroy the boundaries that stop people getting hurt, gone is the fear that freezes you in your tracks, that feeling that you’ll pass out if you go one more step. She’s learnt to ignore it.

This means she’s a little forgetful at how it is to be normal, to be vulnerable and soft and squishy like students so usually are.

She has her issues, but for the most part, visitors get a laugh, a smile, a calm assertive confidence, and facts. She will indulge those who have genuine interest, or show a connection with nature, an understanding of the balance that needs to be struck for everyone to live well together.

Despite her many flaws, she’s fiercely protective, and will go above and beyond to defend the island, it’s staff, the Pokemon and the visitors. Injustice is her biggest gripe, along with littering, and she doesn’t stand by quietly if something happens that seems unfair.

You will not see her without Valka, her vulpix, close by. That Pokemon doesn’t like to be touched by strangers, at all, and will run the second someone comes at her with that intent. Peach will scold you for pushing yourself onto her, should you persistently try to get close to pet Val. They are in sync, if peach is sad, Val is sad, if Val is stressed, peach is stressed, and so on. They are inherently connected, it’s just been that long, the psychic bridge between them has been built, and reinforced over the years.

The only other Pokemon who follows her so endlessly is Booker, a teddiursa who’s pretty rough looking. He quietly trots behind, grouchy and stoic, they fight closely together a lot. He lost his mom a long time ago to poachers, and peach took him in, and changed her whole life for him. Not many people know, but Booker was the reason she left the rangers, changed career, and got so strong. Will tolerate people petting him but isn’t keen at all, grumbles a lot and tries to move away.

You may also need to know about the others, for the sake of writing, she here a few more bits that may be important to you, or others wanting to do this.

Grey is very tall, very burly, composed, tells bad dad jokes, is a bit of a goof if allowed to be. If he sees a pun, he’ll say it. Can’t help himself. Very nice guy to work with, good at keeping people calm and grounded. Pokemon are drawn to him like a moth to a flame, he gives off warm energy, and has inhuman amounts of patience. If you wrong his family however, he will snap back.

He grew up in the city, loves to swim and hike and cycle, can snowboard, is really sporty. A total brain box with held items, and boosting stats. He will explore many paths, to make sure visitors and students get the information they need, in a way that can be remembered and retained for later. Is a huge guy, but will get on the floor to play with a tiny Pokemon. Treats big “meaner” looking species like babies, very good with all pokemon.

His free time is spent either tinkering, swimming, or trimming his bonsai trees. This guy stares at screens a lot, so appreciates time away from them. Peach built him his own little greenhouse for his trees and tools, which he keeps clean and loves dearly.

His methods as a teacher are built around fun and games, he makes hard work easier to do by distracting trainers from the difficult bits, and focusing in on something more interesting or compelling.

His most commonly seen Pokemon would be a houndoom, Saxon, old battle veteran, retired now to herding and being a good boy. Very gentle, loves a pet.

Pari, now a fully fledged nurse, often oversees the labs front desk and pokecentre features, such as healing pokemon, and informing trainers who come to visit. Her skills with eggs and hatchlings is high, she’s great with younger Pokemon, and hands out good advice to trainers a lot. She’s not a fighter, never was, but can find any file, any study, any book, and any refrence you may need. A true bookworm, loves her romance novels, chat shows and upbeat celebrity gossip mags. Will cry at a lot of stuff, be it sad or happy.

She’s got a seriously upbeat personality, but if caught off guard or shocked, she gets a little flustered. Too much chaos will overwhelm her, but usually she’s on top of things. The years spent on the island have made her better at maintaining composure in emergencies. With lots of siblings, she’s very competent with others, and has a good ability to disarm cagey people with her jolly nature. Because of this, she can sometimes gain information from trainers that some of the more harsh professors may not have access to. Charming is a word for it.

Her partners are an eevee, and a happiny. They are quite sweet and well adjusted, the eevee gets a bit bouncy if you get it too excited.

[nxrthmizu]

victory tastes bitter // mlb

fandom | miraculous ladybug 

genre | lila salt with a dose of marinette deserves better 

w.c | 818 

summary | A quick drabble about Marinette giving up hold on her burning empire. Honestly, she should just drop that class already. They look pretty toxic to me. Or maybe I've been reading too many class salt fics.

author’s note | Also, why do people always confront each other in the bathroom? Can we please so somewhere more sanitary, please? And what if there was another person in the stall,,, it would be so awkward for the poor soul.

So that was what victory tasted like.

Lila smiled to herself, humming a victorious little tune under her breath to celebrate her complete conquer over Bustier’s naive little puppets. The bluenette was completely outnumbered— Not a single soul in the classroom believed their sweet saint, innocent, helpful, kind, the ‘Everyday Ladybug’ Marinette anymore. The Italian resisted the urge to snort. A few months ago, Marinette had been so high-and-mighty about it— Trusting that her friends wouldn’t turn their backs on her, trusting that her friends would see sense. What a joke.

The faster you learn that people sway as easily as weed crops, Dupain-Cheng, Lila thought in amusement to herself as she fixed her hair in the toilet mirror. The better.

The last thing she expected to see when she looked in the mirror was Dupain-Cheng staring back.

Shrieking, the Italian launched herself away from the mirror, cling onto the sink for support. Shock had overwhelmed her like a skyscraper-tall wave, drowning her in a surge of emotion for a moment before receding back into the deep ocean. “What…” She panted, huffing as she regained her composure. “What is wrong with you?”

“Nothing much,” The bluenette shrugged. “Just thought I should offer my thanks.”

Wide-eyed, the Italian blinked a couple times, completely taken aback by the behaviour of the girl she thought she’d taken down. “… What?”

“Just thought I should offer my thanks, Lila.” Marinette repeated impatiently, rolling her eyes blatantly for all of Lila to see. “Is your non-existent hearing problem back again?”

Clearly, the Italian did not take pleasure in being snarked back at. “Be careful with your words, Marinette.” Lila spat, looking down on the former class president as if she was some sort of trash that didn’t deserve a second glance. “If I were you, I’d keep quiet from now on. You’ve lost.”

“Lost?” The last thing Lila expected Marinette to do was to giggle. “Lila, you helped me take out a bunch of trash. This whole time…” The bluenette started met Lila’s gaze, azure blue eyes glistening with a royal confidence. “This whole time, I’ve been overwhelmed by class rep duties, having to do free commissions, having to fork out my time for the benefit of the class— And not once did they thank me. How do I say this… Ever since you took them away from me, I’ve been…” Pausing, Marinette searched for the right word to use. “Free.”

Too stunned to say a word, Lila could only watch, hands still dripping with soap, as the bluenette continued on.

“I cleaned out my room last week. No more having to keep up with everyone’s schedule to make sure our class hangouts don’t crash with Adrien’s photoshoots, Alya’s babysitting duties, Rose’s chores. No more having to wake up at 5pm before someone’s birthday to make sure there were enough cupcakes for the whole class. No more having to bend myself over backwards to do favours that I shouldn’t have to.” Marinette breathed a sigh of relief, as if she was… Happy, for the first time in a long while. “You’ve… Liberated me.”

“H— How is that possible?” Lila fumed, clenching her fists as she stalked forward to the bluenette, who maintained a calm face, a regal, royal composure in the contrast of Lila’s destructive, speculative, impulsive decisions. “I… I took away everything from you!”

“I’m aware, Lila.” Replied the bluenette, gently pushing away the Italian when she came too close for comfort. “Everything as in all the unnecessary trash I was dragging along with me. I didn’t know that they were a burden on me before you took them away. It’s like…” She pursed her lips, “Like you took a weight off my shoulders.”

She had been so close to victory! Lila hissed in her head, clenching and unclenching her fists until there were numerous crescent-shaped indents on her skin. Why was Mari-brat turning everything against her so quickly?

“Think of it this way,” Marinette put kindly, using her open palms to reassure the agitated Lila. “I had a court of unloyal subjects. You helped me weed all of them out. Does that make sense?”

Scoffing, Lila tried to take pride in the fact that Marinette, essentially, had no ‘court’ left to rule. “And now you have no subjects while I have a bunch of loyal ones.” She sneered, crossing her arms. “What’s a ruler if she’s alone?”

“Who said I’m alone?” As if Lila had just stated something utterly stupid, Marinette tilted her head sideways, feigning a look of innocent confusion. “You forget, Lila. This whole time that I didn’t need to cater to my classmates— I’ve been making new friends. I have connections within the student council, the art club, not to mention some other classes that I’ve helped out before. I’ve never been alone. I’ve just been blind.”

Lila stared.

“And now you’ve opened my eyes.”

Victory suddenly tasted bitter.

mwahahahaha

[tryingmyves]

Girl All the Bad Guys Want

okay i won’t lie, i remembered this song exists and i could not get the idea of a badboy!iida out of my head

this is a bit self indulgent because i was definitely that girl in hs lmaoooo

anyhow hopefully y’all like it too

PAIRING: Iida x Y/N

cw: badboy!iida

✨ tagging the iida army: @coleluuviida + @saturnity + @peachiileaf ✨

You have a reputation at UA, mostly with the male students. It isn’t something you put effort into maintaining or even something you cultivated on purpose, but you’ve gained some notoriety amongst your peers. At first glance, you don’t seem too different from your female classmates. You certainly don’t feel superior or disparate from them, but you’ve also never quite felt like you belonged with them. You don’t excel at being soft and demure, and you refuse to shrink yourself down in order to make others more comfortable in your presence. You spit in the face of all the things typically expected of a lady. And frankly, you’re more than a bit awkward when you hangout with the girls from your class. They always invite you to their sleepovers and shopping trips, and try to engage you in their conversations, but you’re always worried about saying the wrong thing or accidentally offending them. You’re never really able to add anything of value when they talk about the boys in your class - a recurring subject. Mina knows everything about everyone in class; she loves to gossip. It’s like her horns serve as antennae and pick up on all the juiciest secrets. She is always interrogating the other girls about their crushes but you just never really felt that way about anyone. Honestly, you find the conversations about who likes who to be a bit boring. You typically end up hanging out with Bakugo, Kirishima, and the rest of that squad. Boys are just easier to be around. They don’t get offended at your crass comments and your sometimes gruff disposition looks outright friendly next to Bakugo. 

Your undeniably attractive appearance, unquestionable skill with your quirk, and nonchalant attitude have landed you in the sights of several of your fellow UA students. You are the embodiment of do no harm, but take no shit and something about you is intoxicating. Mina frequently jokes with you about how the entirety of the Bakusquad is duking it out to see who gets to ask you out first. You roll your eyes at her, convinced she’s imagining things. But in reality you’re just clueless. As cliché as it is, you really are the girl all the bad guys want. Too bad you didn’t want them back. 

What you didn’t expect with your tough exterior, competitive nature, and tendency to slack off on class work is that class rep, Tenya Iida, would want you too. God, not even he expected it but he had fallen hard. You frustrate him. You’re just as smart as Yaomomo or Todoroki, but you skate by in class. You don’t outwardly disrespect authority, but you won’t blindly accept orders just because someone says so. He thinks the rap metal music you listen to while training is abrasive and doesn’t understand why all your favorite artists sound like they’re mad at their fathers. He finally gave up on lecturing you on the fact that the fishnets you wear with your uniform are not regulation and he was still wrestling with how he felt about learning you were one of the students caught at a dorm party with alcohol a few weeks ago.  More than anything he hates that you’ve so effortlessly got him pining for you and you haven’t even noticed. Iida loves the rules! Order, structure, regulation - these are the things that Iida covets, so why was he craving the taste of your lips on his?

He is tired of silently lusting after you, and decides he’s going to try actively pursuing you instead. Tenya thinks that you like “bad boys” so as foreign as the concept is to him, he concludes he’s going to have to take on that persona. He starts off simply, making a playlist of songs he’s heard you blaring from your dorm. He eases himself into your music, starting with Linkin Park and Korn, before adding Incubus, Machine Head, and even some ICP to the mix. He’s hesitant at first… the music just sounds so hostile and aggressive to him. But soon he finds himself relishing the fierce energy the songs give him. Tenya gets why you train to this sort of music, his workouts becoming more intense than ever. They end in his chest heaving and his hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. His muscular calves throb vigorously after every run and he feels powerful. It gives him a new found confidence that he strategically channels into his interactions with you. For class today, Aizawa simply instructs you all to pair off and spar. You’re about to ask Sero to partner with you when he approaches. 

“Y/N. You’re with me.” Tenya doesn’t ask, he’s telling you you’re his partner. 

A small sound of surprise leaves your throat at his unexpected forcefulness, but you don’t question it. You just nod, giving a small shrug to Sero before following the class rep to a vacant spot of the training gym. 

You look over your challenger, rolling your head on your shoulders a few times to loosen up. “Don’t expect me to go easy on you. You asked for this,” you smirk, bringing your fists up in a defensive stance. 

Before you can even blink, Tenya has closed the 10 foot gap between you, sweeping a long leg beneath yours in a circular motion, knocking you off your feet. You land with a thud on your back and the air in your lungs is forced out with a nmph. 

“Just try to keep up, Y/N.”

Oh, it’s on. Previously you found Iida’s flustered demeanor around you endearing. But this new, assertive, almost cocky disposition is irresistible. His momentum propels him in a circle while he stays anchored in place on his massive left thigh. As he finishes turning through the motion he reaches forward hoping to pin your arms to the ground, but you’re just getting started. You plant the palms of your hands on either side of your face and kick up from the ground with a boost from your quirk. The added flow of air thrusts your legs up and over your head so you are now standing once more. You are sure that the soles of your shoes connect with Iida’s face during your arch through the air. 

“It’s not going to be that easy, specs,” you taunt. Now it’s your turn. 

You launch yourself at Tenya, closing the small gap between the pair of you in an instant. He extends a locked arm to block your approach but you simply dip your head, gliding underneath and down the length of his limb until you are just one step behind him. You pivot on your right foot as you swing your left arm across your body. Your open palm lands just between Tenya’s shoulder blades, your natural momentum accompanied by a gale force wind. The impact knocks him off his feet and sends him toppling forward. Tenya’s speed is unmatched and his large frame is covered in tone muscle, but with the addition of the very air around you, your strikes are ferocious. Your air quirk aids in your mobility, but you’ve used it to master hand to hand combat. You dominate in tight quarters, so you just need to keep Tenya close. He’s already returned to his feet, calculating his next move. The moment ‘s hesitation creating an opening for your right shin to collide with his side. Tenya growls through gritted teeth in response to the blow and the feral vibrations send shivers down your spine. Instead of recoiling from your attack Tenya’s hands clamp onto your shoulders like vices. His brows are furrowed in smug determination, and he practically sneers “Recipro Burst!”

You are propelled backwards rapidly, the gym surrounding you flashing by in a blur, the only thing you're able to see clearly is the dark glint in Tenya’s eyes and the zealous grin on his lips. You try to activate your quirk to counter his momentum, but it’s futile, he is pushing you backwards so quickly you can’t manipulate any of the air whizzing past you. Your back is suddenly pinned to the back wall of the gym, Tenya’s large hands holding your slender wrists to the concrete wall. He places a muscular thigh between your legs so his left knee is pressed to the wall as well - he has you completely immobilized. Both of your chests are heaving, your faces no more than three inches from one another. You don’t know what possesses you but you smash your lips to his, desperate to close the miniscule gap between you.

Tenya’s body stiffens in shock for a moment before he opens his mouth, snaking his tongue past your lips. You wrench your hands from his grip, placing one on the back of his neck and tangling the other in the mess of his navy hair. You didn’t expect the class rep to be such an amazing kisser, but when he catches your bottom lip between his teeth you can’t contain the soft moan that escapes you. Tenya swallows your noises and begins to pull away. Your lips hungrily follow after him, but you’re stopped when one of his calloused hands rests on your neck with just enough force to hold you in place. 

“Such public displays of desire are unbecoming of future heroes, Y/N. Come to my room this evening and we can finish this privately.” And with that, Tenya separates himself from you completely, already settling into a stance that signals he is ready to continue sparring.    

[highsviolets]

waterfall inquiry: javier peña x reader

pairing: javier peña x young analyst!reader

summary: words should not make you feel so much.

warnings: age gap. kissing. and - the worst of all - f e e l i n g s. (soft ones)

a/n: [edited 10 June ‘21] this was supposed to be three parts...and now there’s more. I regret nothing :) 

[next] [series masterlist] [main masterlist] * gif: @anakin-skywalker​

“Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name”

 “as kingfishers catch fire” | gerard manley hopkins

Neither of you should be here. Strictly speaking, at least.

The Embassy maintains regulations about these sorts of things, you’ve heard in jagged claims that coat the walls in a sickly iridescent sheen. Not the pretty kind that makes glitter sparkle. No, it’s the perverse shine — pyrite and oil spills on tepid water and those cheap kaleidoscopes they sell at county fairs.

Everything, it seems, is whispered here. Here at the Embassy, anyway; Colombia itself is a messy, irreverent place. A dreamlike people, an altered state where God acts as the intermediary between man and demons, not angels.

Perhaps that is why the Embassy is always quiet. The shrill clang of a phone ringing makes everyone start, fearful of keeping demons at bay. Even the PR reps speak in hushed tones, the words soft and soothing like cotton balls dipped in baby oil gliding across skin — crafting press releases each word slotted for a specific purpose, hand-picked with evolutionary precision.

It harasses you, stinging pricks drawing blood from beneath the surface of your bronze skin. Words should move freely, you believe. Like the way the Mississippi runs in during the spring melt: coarse, unimpeded, roiling in caught light, caressing the riverbanks as it soaks up all the world gives it — thrusting forward after a winter fraught in immobility, reveling in flinty purpose.

There’s a difference between words of fabrication and phrases of culled authenticity — the ones that stream from bleeding hearts, bound tightly by shoves and glares and hands that can’t keep still. Hands that grasp for something tangible. Anfractuous reminders of why they must be so careful, why they must keep the truth of themselves limited to brief instances of throwing back light or heat.

There is one man, you know, who thinks like you do — and he laughs at the fact that your jobs depend upon other people being careless with their words. Bandying about locations, codenames, numerals, what to buy at the grocery store. You can almost hear him, that marmalade voice spreading over you, eyes gleaming in smoke and fervor: yeah, carelessness gives us both a job. But it hurts, too.

Tonight, though. When you both are here when you really shouldn’t, you really fucking shouldn’t, not when you’ve been dreaming about him for…for how long? How long have you been in this country that makes a mockery of verisimilitude? Long enough, apparently, for everything else to blur when you look at him, for you to have memorized the way his shirts pull tight over his back when he’s leaned over his desk.

Eyes climb up the length of his torso, the slope of it heightened by the way he’s bracing his weight on his hands. His palms are spread wide and god as much as you think you want to stop the way your mouth runs dry at the sight his large palm, you can’t.

A sigh leaks out. The man in question spares a glance your way, matching the twist of his neck to the cigarette he brings to his lips. “You alright?” he mumbles around the thing, and you grip the desk’s edge a little harder at the sound, at the sight, of him in his element. His exhale — a finely tuned purse of the lips, discreetly directed away from your work — should feel the same as your sigh, but it doesn’t. It washes over you instead, and you rock in the way his existence ebbs and flows in and out of your person. Easy. Like breathing. Like all you have to do is breathe, and he’ll be there.

There are stories about him. When you had been sent down to Columbia as a junior analyst after the death of Escobar, you had quickly dived into the mythos the man. How could you not, when he was everywhere, the scent and swagger of him drawing eyes from every corner of the barricaded building?

The others — the replacements, someone had once termed the batch of new personnel flooding the country to fight Cali — had told you the stories; where they had heard them, you weren’t sure. Huddled over tepid drinks in the bar after work, blazers shrugged off and shirtsleeves rolled up, you had let them regale you of how he fought for years to bring down Escobar, only to be in Miami when his partner did the deed. How he fucks his informants; although, one of them admitted with a sigh, he hadn’t been known to do that in a while. How he was ruthless in the pursuit of justice. A fucking legend, man, someone had crowed about the older man, tongue loose with overpriced alcohol.

And through it all, there was you, eyeing the man himself across the bar. The embrace of his hands against the whiskey glass, the way he barely shuddered at the consuming burn of the stuff when he tossed it back in a behavioral gesture. He seems sad, is what you had thought. Whatever opposite of sad existed in this opulent measure of time by which you both abided — that’s what you wanted to do for him. To make him not-sad. He is aged, perhaps, but not old, rather like someone who could be young if they could shed the pallid skin of responsibility.

But you can’t play God in this country of fallen beings. Being consumes you instead, devolving into an obsession, hanging onto the ledge of yourself — gripping humanity and slicing rocks and graphite that stains your skin even as it slides away, too smooth to be held in hands that ache, swollen, from typing up reports detailing the tumbled-gravel sins of humanity.

He likes you. You think he might, anyway. He consults you before any of the others, and once or twice he’s dragged some Columbian officer into your tiny workspace, asking you to confirm the intelligence on whatever operation he’s desperate to get approved so he can do something. He asks with words that curl up and over themselves like whitecaps, one hand resting on his hip as he nods along to your recitation.

But it’s really his eyes you watch in these moments, aching in fluttering hope whenever they rest on yours. Javier Peña’s eyes when he visits you in your workspace are pleading thermoses of life under sterile fluorescent lights. He likes to send you a half-smile and a nod when you’re finished, tossing them over his shoulder as he escorts the man back to the Ambassador’s office. You are both too good at your job not to love it in some sick & twisted way, and he knows.

Other times he simply drops by. Leaning against your cubicle, he fiddles with a cigarette and chats with you as you work, asking questions that he knows he’s the only one examining.

Talk to me about the families of la cartel de Cali, he mutters, the hoarse sound deep and aching in your gut. About their mothers, daughters, sons, cousins, in-laws. Is anyone sick? Do they want to go on vacation? What’s the drama of the week, no, don’t laugh, — he smiles, here, barely, the delicate minutiae of the expression an external revelation of his magnetism — there always is in families. They’re human just like us. And that’s when he sighs, and looks across the hall, where in his office there’s a diagram of the Cali bosses splayed over the wall. Yeah...they’re like us.

Javier makes a slowly forms a habit of it, of stopping by your cubical and wrapping you in currents of charisma and truth. He does you a solid, too, bringing you to the attention of your superiors when he mentions your diligence. And you repay him in kind, taking care to slip into his office with new intelligence before the brass gets word. You tell yourself it’s simple mentorship. Mere patronage. He’s paying it forward, helping the young analyst get ahead in their career. These meetings are nothing to him, and they ought to be equally as empty to yourself. It’s just exchanges of information. Conversation between colleagues.

Of course, that doesn’t explain why you look forward to his fingers touching yours when you lend him a pen, or, when he makes some half-whispered joke in Spanish, it makes you shiver. Or the pride that blossoms in your chest, embracing you all soft and balmy, when he considers your words. He handles them like he does his favorite cigarettes, rolling them between his fingers, palming their weight, letting the texture seep into his skin before he lights them on fire.

You drop your pen a lot; he brings a finger to his mouth in thought. You don’t see the way he smiles when you do that, grinning at the muttered curse and roll of your eyes. And he decides that he likes the way you laugh about it; poking fun at your own mistakes, the skin that matches his own gleaming in the warm sun.

He can never do that. Perhaps he should? But he doesn’t make mistakes like that, toss-away interruptions of intended action. The mistakes he makes get people killed. All the more reason to keep checking with you, he reasons, to double-insure the intelligence. Can’t have another mess. And he likes to hear your laugh. Nothing wrong with that, he says. Nothing wrong with something that makes his heart stir and entices the eyes hidden behind yellow aviators to trace the length of your neck a little longer than strictly necessary when you throw your head back in unmarked joy.

And tonight, in his office? Tonight he seems melancholic again, like the first time you saw him across the bar. He keeps shifting his weight, one hand on his hip, and then on the table, and then shrugging off both his jacket and his tie and tossing them unceremoniously onto the couch, limbs extending listlessly. It’s as close to careless as he gets.

Or maybe it’s just the exhaustion fusing into you both. You feel slow and hazy, torn between staring at him and bleary eyes glaring at the map beneath his fingers. if you just look at it longer, you think, you can will it all to fall into place. and maybe if you did he would kiss you, and maybe he would kiss you the way he has always wanted to live.

Maybe if you traced your tongue along his exposed collarbone, penning of licks of hope in the space where his words seem to get caught, where his perpetually open collar leaves him defenseless to an onslaught of physical impressions…maybe then, he’d exhale in blessed adoration, taken outside of himself for just one moment.

He’s asking you a question. You alright? He does that a lot, you realize. Checks in with you. When you answer, he laughs — those delightful eyes seeping warmth into your weary bones as they crinkle in a smile — and he reminds you to call him Javier. He — Javier — has rebuked you at least three times tonight alone, but you’ve yet to oblige his request. If you do, if you let your tongue caress his sacred name and rest in its life-sodden weight, you fear…

you do not know what you fear. you do not know how saying his name will shift the tides in your life. but you know that you will remain forever anchored to him, tethered to his lunar opacity.

“What’s this?” you ask instead, shifting to rest against the desk. You’re beside him now, hip adjacent to his as you look up at him. Latent smoke hovers overhead, and locks of his hair have come undone after the long hours of work and now rest over his forehead small waves. It looks like it aches, being so out of place, and yet so distinctly him. Caught. Destined to arch over his tanned skin, all the while lingering in a place where it should not. Not here, anyway. Not tonight, in his office, far after everyone else has gone home.

“What’s what?” Javier rejoins, distracted, still bent over the desk, still bracing his weight on those fingers.

Rustling papers catch his attention, and he twists to meet your gaze. “This.” You point to the unfamiliar word, stamped out in standard font. “My Spanish is decent, but I’ve never seen this word before.”

The wrinkles behind the shield of his fallen hair press together as he cranes his neck, adjusting his stance to read the word on the paper you thrust in his direction. It clears rapidly though — the visage sailing and unfurling itself when he absorbs the story hidden in-between letters on a page.

He repeats the word back to you, leaning into the sound the way he leans into you, inching closer in his explanation. You stare at his lips, completely captivated — his tongue catching between his teeth — the purse of his lips — the rearrangement of his jaw as it conforms to the aerodynamics of structured syllables.

“Strictly speaking,” he says, eyes roving your face, deep and dark, “it means elf, or spirit. Something ethereal. It’s used in stories a lot.” The words are smooth, smokey, whiskey-like as you let them drip down your skin, the insides of your thighs. “Entiendes?”

Your body temperature rises. You can feel it — the way your mouth’s run dry and the paper’s slippery in your grip. Did his voice drop lower when he used the familiar form of the verb, not the formal? You think it did. Oh god, he’s so close, he could just extend a hand across your body and it could rest on your hip. You had never really noticed his height either, always in heels. Tonight, though, the heels are in the corner with his jacket and tie and you realize that he’s inches above you, yet somehow still within reach.

“What’s” — you swallow thickly, desperate to remain professional despite your wide eyes, the tongue tracing your lower lip — “what’s the non-strict definition of the word?”

He gives you one of his trademark smirks. “It can also mean,” he says, “enchanting. Charming. For someone or something to be magical.”

Nodding slowly, you drop your eyes down to the paper again, desperate to avoid his gaze. It follows you, watching your eyes hide even as you adjust to be ever-closer, a bare foot extending outward and brushing against the fabric of his dress pants. “I suppose that makes sense.”

“Say it,” you hear him urge, your head bolting up, incredulous. And you try, you really do, but it’s so new and unfamiliar and you’re so goddamn nervous with him looking at you, that you fuck it up. Words are but the vessels by which emotions themselves are expressed, so maybe the act of speaking should not make you feel all by itself. But it does — oh, god, it does, and you feel like you’ve shrunk in the process, dwarfed by this man with rolled up shirt sleeves wrapped around muscular forearms, who grins impishly around his cigarette.

“Not quite.” He stubs out the thing, and to your surprise, brings hand to your jaw, cupping your chin in-between his thumb and forefinger. “Say it again.”

“No, I can’t; I..“ you protest, and for what? because you don’t want him near you? no, that’s not it, but you’re being branded by his touch all the same.

“Say it again,” he commands again, more gently this time, his words accompanied by an encouraging nod.

You comply readily, sounding out the syllables. His strong fingers manipulate your movements, guiding you in pronouncing the difficult phrase. It’s forceful and noble, a tender yet compelling influence that teaches you how to wrap yourself in the meaning of the word as much the word itself. You’re tingling; is it from the thrill of achieving or from his sturdy hand against your bare skin?

He doesn’t back away when you’re finished speaking, but holds your stare. Dimly, you register the steady crescendo in your breathing. He’s not immune to your proximity either: his Adam’s apple bobs as he pushes down the deficit of hope flooding oppressive maxim of his presence. Times stretches as you remain caught in his hold, coursing through you, carrying you downstream in brash, coarse recklessness. Are the emotions you swim in those eyes yours, or his, or some measure of both?

The pads of his fingers migrate, drifting to rest along your cheek and tumble into his touch like a moth to flame, or fish to water, or whatever trite phrase people use to make sense of such profound belonging.

Javier is mesmerized with the way his fingertips trace your cheekbones, the shell of your ear, along your jaw, returning to outline your lips.

“Tell me to stop.” His voice scrapes along your bliss, and you force your eyes open to see that he’s moved even closer, closer-than-close, so tight against you that you’re nearly leaning back over the desk.

“Do you want me to?” His eyes are dark and still now, but for the way they’re trained on yours as you whisper fate into existence.

“No — fuck — I shouldn’t, I —“ his jaw shifts again, this time in agitation, but it is you who does the deed, cutting him off, reaching out to tug on his collar. The action pulls him forward, pressing himself against you, caging you between the desk and the broadness of his firm chest.  And you do know it’s firm now, at last slipping your hands underneath that truant fabric and gliding along his smooth skin. His hands find your waist, gripping your hips as he meets your lips in an open-mouthed kiss.

He — Javier, now — kisses you a single-minded intent, letting his lips slide over yours lazily, over and over, memorizing the imprint of you against his mouth. One hand drifts upward again, cupping your cheek as he tilts your head slightly, letting his tongue delve into your mouth and trace your teeth. It makes you gasp, and you retaliate with a gentle nip to his lower lip, silently begging for more. Javier moans into your mouth, the pressure sending a jolt of pleasure through his body.

Tightening his grip on your waist, Javier lifts you, placing you firmly on the desk, feet dangling a few inches from the floor. You know what he wants before he even has to ask and you give it him readily, wrapping your legs around his waist. Javier’s weight conforms to your own, molding against your body as you press into him, back arching in your submersion to his touch.

He is so eager; his kisses drench you in a deluge of incubated affection interspersed with need. Grasping at his shoulder, you pull him even closer, your other hand anxiously fiddling with his buttons as you sigh, reveling in the storm of his attention. Slowly, painstakingly, driven by a clamoring need for oxygen, he drags himself away from you, parting slowly, ever-loth to break the kiss.

You can’t help the shy smile that dances around your lips when you look up at him, standing above you. His chest is heaving, out of breath, hair somehow even more mussed than it was before. You suppose you can touch it now, so you do, two fingers brushing aside the fringe on his forehead.

Time, and space, and whatever else this stuff is made of have prevented from this alternate reality. until now. it has broken through the dam and caught you up in its awakening, broad and unrepentant.

Javier captures your hand as it lowers, pressing a kiss to the side of your palm. He’s so tender it makes you ache, and you wonder if this is why he stopped fucking his CIs. He requires something more intangible than what they could give him. “Javier,” you whisper.

He hums a question, rubbing a thumb over your knuckles as he watches you consider him, emotion lapping at the shores of unkempt eyes.

“You asked me to use your name. Earlier, I mean.” Should you feel embarrassed? Kissing a man several years your senior? Maybe you should. But you don’t. There’s a cordial warmth spreading through you, bolstered by his gentle touch, the outward connection of him and you that’s been built through months of inanimate remembrances.

“I know.” Javier nods and leans in again, his breath rippling across your skin. “Can you say it one more time, princesa? They say you need to do something three times” — a kiss to your cheek — “to make sure you really —“ a kiss to your forehead — “understand” — a kiss to the corner of your mouth.

The words fall out of your mouth, splashes of unrestrained affection dappling each letter. “Duende, Javier,” you murmur against his lips. “Duende.”

javi tags: @frannyzooey @yespolkadotkitty @rentskenobi @goldenkenobi ​ @goldafterglow @teaofpeach ​ @justrunamok ​ @huliabitch @cri-me-a-river @littlevodika @catsnkooks @themarvelousbear @likeshootingstarsinthenightsky @ladytrashbird @princessxkenobi @roxypeanut @dracos-jedi-marvel @a-seeker-of-imagination​ // taglist link in bio!

[nymph1e]

Right, here's my blow-by-blow predictions of what's going to happen in the Loki series after episode one:

I like to make it a habit to try to predict things in media. These all seem extremely obvious to me, but it feels the same if it's something no one else predicts or something that is really obvious. So disclaimer: if all of this is obvious to everyone, sorry!

What the showrunners want you to think after episode 1:

TVA are the good guys - we've seen this all before: agency takes in a criminal and they become the good guy through them. There are aspects of the TVA that are villainous at this point, but a lot of these agencies are in fiction, take agents of shield. We've been shown the humanity of the agents working there, and we've seen them carelessly slaughtered, and them mourning for their dead. All of these point to them wanting us to sympathise with them.

The second variant loki is horribly twisted and evil, probably caused by some trauma - this is what we're supposed to think the explanation of not seeing him is. In any case, we're supposed to see him as the bad guy, and far enough removed from our variant!loki that there won't be a conflict in killing him

That Loki is planning to betray the TVA, and that this will be the big dramatic tension of the plot - we've seen this before as well. The bad guy gets taken in by some special team, and plans to betray them because that's what's in their nature. We see this guy start to fit in with the "team" but he's conflicted because of his preconceived notions of himself. The team finds out about the betrayal, or the bad guy starts to go through with it - but oh! they've had a change of heart! But now their team hates them and they need to rescue them from peril!

So, as you can probably tell, I don't think these are going to happen. I don't actually think these are bad plotlines, but I think they intend to play a twist on that narrative.

My firm predictions:

TVA are the bad guys - as I said above, moral ambiguity is expected in the secret agencies in fiction, even the "good ones". Especially when there's a... lightly comical approach to the evils being done. Think MIB. My biggest clue that they'll be the bad guys is, ironically, a tiny coincidence I noticed throughout the episode: we don't see what happens when time is "reset", and almost every time before it happens, we are given a human to empathise with before the reset. I think the "reset" isn't so much a rewind of time, and more an anhililation of an entire universe, in order to maintain the current timeline.

The second variant is lady loki - I really, really hope this isn't the case. As much as I would love to see lady loki, it would be a very neat way for disney/marvel to sidestep the genderfluid issue. We wouldn't see our loki as genderfluid, and we likely wouldn't see the other loki as such either, with her being only shown as female. Having a "genderflipped" version of a character in another universe is common enough in media that the cishet people wouldn't question it, and Disney gets to roll around in all that queerbait money. This also makes sense from a logistical standpoint: we'd be able to differentiate "villain!loki" from our!loki easily, and they wouldn't have to double film the scenes and edit Tom too much.

The tension between Loki and the TVA will sort of play out like above, with Loki starting to second guess himself, only to be betrayed after deciding to trust the TVA. I think Loki's real growth this season will be his desire to destroy the TVA going from a purely selfish, desire for power and freedom, to a less selfish desire to free the universe.

Things I'm less sure of:

The second varient is actually our loki. This is, like, best case scenario imo, especially since it's the only scenario where variant 2 loki being lady loki would actually be good genderfluid rep. Maybe.

Whehter Owen Wilson's character will end up as good. I - I honestly don't know? Like, I can see him being a twist villain, especially as his compassion toward the little kid in France would look WAY more psychopathic if he was about to murder them a minute later. But it could also be that he feels that there's no other choice and he's taken over to Loki's side in the end. I have no clue.

So there we go! my predictions from episode one. I expect to be wildly wrong and proven thus by episode two, but some things may prove correct. Let me know what you guys think!

[vampish-glamour]

I never watched G*od Om*ns, so it was fandom again with the "they're gay"???

At least Star Trek did this right, you know, not lying to please someone. Spock and Kirk was never a thing and also was never meant to be a thing. But the creator himself said, if you wanna see them like that, it's fine. Do what you want. But in canon it's not that way.

But really, somehow fandom seems to make it easy for creators to just bait, but never commit and they're happy, wtf.

And IF they get actual lgbt rep, they're upset because it's not the character they WANTED to be lgbt....

Actually, the fandom is largely against them being gay because they claim it’s “nonbinary and asexual representation”.

Which bothers me just because they’re basically applauding homophobic tropes simply because they benefit from homophobic tropes.

I want to make it clear that my problem isn’t “why aren’t you making the characters canonically gay?!!?!!? This is homophobic!!!11!1!1”. I’m fine with the relationship remaining a close friendship canonically. And canonically speaking, I think I might prefer that tbh.

My problem is with how the original homophobia in the book sort of goes ignored, and how the writer teases and hints and in this case I would actually say baits… and then receives praise from the fandom for doing what everyone else does when it comes to gay pairings.

Basic overview of the situation from my POV:

Book establishes a character as a gay stereotype

Immediately goes “but he isn’t gay because angels are sexless unless they make an effort” (IMO the sexless thing could’ve been established in many other ways. Did it really have to be done in a “don’t worry he’s not gay” way?)

Book proceeds to make the gay stereotype thing a running joke, with the character being called various homophobic slurs (but see, it’s funny because it’s misplaced homophobia. He doesn’t actually deserve the homophobia he experiences like an actual gay person would /s)

Show comes out, includes romantic music, lots of subtext, and the writer confirming that it’s a “love story”, as well as the actors confirming they acted “in love”. Except… it’s done vaguely enough that anyone can come away with their own interpretation. Which is nothing new. There’s literally nothing revolutionary about leaving a same sex relationship “up for interpretation”.

All the “representation” actually comes from what the writer says on Twitter. He goes on about how they’re sexless and therefore cannot possibly be gay but are also inherently “queer”… but doesn’t actually add this into canon. So casual viewers are not experiencing any sort of “representation”.

IMO this is a homophobic media trope. Give two men or two women scenes that would be explicitly romantic if it were a man and a woman, tease the audience with “maybeee~”, but still make sure that ultimately, homophobes won’t be offended and can come away from the material thinking “what good friends!”. Say “it’s up for interpretation”, which is something I hardly see with M/F pairings. Especially with the virtue signalling on social media.

Keep in mind, something isn’t “representation” if everyone comes away with different ideas of what was represented. If one person can think “they’re gay and married” and another can think “they’re aspec and in a QPR”, that’s not representation. Representation only happens when something is undeniable. For example, a character who is undeniably bisexual because they are shown to be interested in both men and women (biphobic pannies coming to their own conclusions don’t count here lol, since bi = pan and pan = bi, so even if they claim the character is pansexual, they’re still getting the same outcome)

Now here’s where my issue comes in.

Instead of calling this out, the fandom runs with it and benefits from it. A vague relationship on screen allows them to claim representation for themselves, usually for made up labels like aspec, SAM type asexuality, queerplatonic, etc.

They praise the writer for being “inclusive”, and for “representing” them… when really this “inclusivity” is a result of homophobic tropes, and there’s actually no representation at all. Keep in mind, all the clues for what could be going on come from social media. A casual viewer is either going to see two gay men, or two good friends. They have no way of knowing about the woke “queer” bullshit unless they’re heavily involved in fandom.

The writer has a habit of teasing things and being intentionally misleading. Here’s an example

Not telling what’s going to happen and not giving spoilers, is very different from intentionally baiting. “Wait and see” sounds like a “yes”… because it would be incredibly shitty to lead people on when the answer is a solid “no”.

However, considering he’s only half of the writers, and establishing a relationship other than what he and the other writer discussed would be disrespectful… the answer is very likely “no”.

So just say “no”. It’s okay to say “no, they’re not getting together”. But he knows that people are more likely to watch if they’re waiting for the two to get together the whole time…so he has to keep it vague and mysterious and he has to keep baiting.

Of course the answer could very well be “yes” and that’s what he’s hinting at. But I highly doubt it, mostly because of the “only one author around” issue. So until I’m proven wrong, I will maintain that this is him being intentionally misleading, as he admitted to.

So that’s where I have the issue—I wouldn’t have an issue if he just straight up said “no, they’re not going to hook up, they’re good friends”. What is an issue, is perpetuating classic homophobic media tropes, of giving just enough but not too much…and then saying “it’s up for interpretation”. Which roughly translates to “here’s some crumbs for the gays”. What’s especially an issue, is then disguising this under woke kweer language and lapping up all the praise you can get for being such an “Ally” to “queers”.

And of course, I have an issue with how the fandom receives this. Because instead of calling the bullshit out for what it is, they actually call gay people talking about homophobia “aphobic discourse”, and say things like “gay men have enough representation!!”, and try to argue that actually, the homophobic trope of vague same sex relationships that are left up to interpretation, is actually super inclusive and amazing and progressive because it represents asexuals, aromantics, nonbinary people, queerplatonic relationships, etc.

Or they put down gay people for wanting more explicit representation, because “uhh… some people are aro!!! Some people are ace!!”. Despite missing that non romantic or non sexual relationships between men can be found in pretty much every single piece of media ever, and is 100% socially acceptable. Explicit gay relationships however, are still looked down upon.

And then they act like the religious homophobes, by taking “explicit gay representation” to mean “explicit hardcore sex scene”. Like I’ve seen nobody demand a sex scene when they’re talking about gay representation in G O. I’m certainly not. Yet the kweers always manage to interpret gay people wanting proper representation as “you want sex!!! You want porn!!!”. To me, it really seems no different from religious homophobes seeing an advertisement with two men and immediately talking about how it promotes “deviant gay sex”.

What worries me is that these types of fandoms—who applaud creators for giving gay people crumbs—set a precedent for other creators. They make it known that gay representation actually isn’t needed for media to be praised. They give creators a safe way to get out of representing gay couples—while keeping both the queers and homophobes happy at the same time. Now they can hop on social media and say “no, they’re not gay, but it’s up for interpretation!” And the queers will think this is top tier representation, and praise the creators for it.

As always, this turned into a long spiel lmao. But that’s an explanation of my thoughts and why I’m frustrated. Again—I’m not mad that a romantic relationship isn’t canon. That in itself isn’t homophobic. But the way that the writer and fandom are handling it, is.

I’m not familiar with Star Trek (I do want to watch it, mostly to understand the Star Trek vs Star Wars stuff lmao.), but it sounds like that’s a good way to handle it. If you don’t want to make a relationship canon—that’s fine. But be honest about it, don’t drag fans along with teasing and baiting.

[raayllum]

me and my friends also got in an discussion about catra being latina (which we also hate, as latine ppl) and we got harassed too. i thought that after that whole issue with noelle people would start thinking more critically about it

it’s one of those things that i think white gays in particular tend to fall into of

1) prioritizing lgbt+ (specifically same sex relationships) rep above all other types of rep, including or especially race

2) always thinking that more representation is better

let me explain — although i wouldn’t be surprised if i’m preaching to the choir — point by point. 

prioritizing same sex relationship rep is what queer representation in media has always done. it’s one of the things that reaffirms fandom biphobia, of maintaining that a fan favourite character has to be “at least bi” to ship them consistently with someone of the same sex (lance, sokka, finn from sw). that partner is often headcanoned as gay is the #1 fandom darling (keith, zuko, poe dameron, etc). it sets up a hierarchy of “gay as best” and bi as a consolation prize. 

for example: i was in a m/f fandom a few years ago with two characters of colour, both of whom 99% of that ship fandom — myself included — saw as bi and pan respectively. the male character was later confirmed queer in the show with an ex boyfriend (who he shared one singular scene with and it was their breakup years before the show started, with no previous mentions and one singular 12 second mention of him afterwards) and married to a man in the epilogue (who we never saw him talk to even once before hand). the creators themselves went on record saying they wanted everyone to interpret that character’s sexuality however they wanted. so i kept seeing him as bi the way i had for two years before hand — not because he had to be queer in some way for my ship to work, but just because i liked it and thought it fit his character.

and then i got harassed for it. 

which is to say that white gays will gloss over whatever they can to have their gay ship be canon and beloved and the Best Ship Ever™ and any critique or different expressed preference is Homophobia or a moral failing, obviously. 

it means racist tropes will get glossed over for “cute gay rep uwu” (i.e. finn, a black man, being infantilized in fanworks with his relationship with poe, a lighter skinned latino man, or consistently drawing finn as significantly larger despite the actors being the same height more or less). after all, for the three bi + gay mlm ships i talked about that are widespread, the darker skinned guy is always the “consolatory bi” and the lighter skinned, usually favoured one in those pairings is always the “gold star gay”

it’s the mandate that bi characters are only good if they’re in same sex appearing relationships. it’s the sort of visibility argument that harms a lot of different groups of queer people (bi, pan, ace, aro, trans, nb people, just to name a few) and this emphasis on visibility makes people forget race visibility

for example, if you haven’t done research on racial coding or harmful stereotypes, that catra being latina sounds great on paper. why wouldn’t you want a latina women of colour in a wlw relationship? it looks good!! it sounds progressive. 

but as you and others have pointed out — or experienced — it’s a lot more complicated than that. harmful coding / racial stereotypes have to be thought of and examined and resisted. you can’t just slap any race onto a character, their personality, and history without thinking it through. you can’t white wash character creation. everyone has different stereotypes to combat against and implicit biases that can be unconsciously assigned to a character based on their race and they all deserve space. what is progressive or subversive for latina, or black women in terms of representation, is going to different from one another and from what’s subversive/progressive for white women. sometimes, it actually is better to keep a character white if making them a specific character of colour would do more harm than good

overlooking racial representation and race dynamics in fiction is the most egregious thing tumblr does and it drives me fucking nuts, basically - especially when privileging a white gay ship over a canon interracial m/f ship. twitter is even worse about it

and it’s very unfortunate that she-ra by and large didn’t really think about it and when they did (the joke about bow’s family, noelle supporting catra being latina) they made it worse

and it’s baffling, honestly, that i’m like, 9 years younger than noelle?? less?? and i’ve been doing that sort of research for seven years now and i know i still have a long way to go but like. i really hope all the writers on she ra think things through more for their future projects and how they respond to fans

[thecottageinthedark]

Sorting Glass-Maker’s Dragon

I’ve been working on this for a looooong time, and finally it’s complete enough to post. I’m using the Sorting Hat Chats system, basics of which are explained here by its inventors and here by @wisteria-lodge.

A lot of GMD is flexpoints and inferred stuff, but this is, at least, the way I read the main eight.

Chuubo: Snake Primary, Badger Secondary. His Snake ambition isn't immediately obvious because it's backwards to us; he's an Imperator and a god of dream and probably the Spirit of the Age, but those were just things that happened upon him. He doesn't want fame or fortune; he wants a peaceful human life, or at least a human-style one, and his drive to achieve this has literally reshaped the world itself while still being, at its core, all about him.

His Badger Secondary is hard to see because of the one big gimmick in the way; the Wish-Granting Engine, that supposedly allows instant results with no work, and the way he uses it whenever possible. But the thing is, the WGE is both dependent on his Secondary and in some senses what he uses when he can't draw on that Secondary itself.

Badger Secondaries have to mean what they do; they put in hard work when and where they are motivated to do so. For Chuubo, that's not schoolwork, which is where he as a high schooler is socially expected to, and so he gets a rep for being lazy. Where he does put the effort in, is with his friendships, and in 'learning the ways of Fortitude'. With those, he doesn't cut corners. He doesn't pull out schemes. He patiently and consistently puts in the work. His Secondary is on full display in the way he persists in trying to be friends with Leo, even in the face of Leo's hostility. Chuubo doesn't try to win Leo over with subtlety or with grand gestures; he just doggedly carries on offering support, company, and good-natured teasing.

So where does the Engine come in? Think of the Wishing Map. It's the friendships and connections he's worked at creating and maintaining that help Chuubo's wishes to succeed. Wishes based on whim are almost certain to go wrong.

The wish for a best friend is maybe the most telling part of all. Or rather, what happened after it. Because despite having acquired Seizhi through unnatural means, it never once occurs to Chuubo to continue their association by those-to lean on miraculous or mundane coercion and create a relationship that all goes one way. Having acquired someone to love him, he just proceeds to love them back, with a generosity of spirit that is entirely genuine.

Like a lot of Snake Primaries, Chuubo has a Primary model that he uses to fill in the gaps where his ambitions and his loyalties aren't relevant. His is a kindly and expansive Badger Primary. He lives in this model most of the time-until there's a threat to his inner circle or to his hard-won quiet life. Then he'll set the model aside and act from his real Primary to keep hold of what's his. (Being a snake sometimes helps.)

Seizhi Schwan: Snake Primary, Burnt Snake Secondary. Like Chuubo, their huge ambition is for something that most people just get handed on a platter; to be real, to matter, and to be loved. Their Primary and his instinctively understand each other about this-and also understand each other perfectly about the importance of treasuring and being treasured. (They're all but making big eyes at each other and swooning, in fact.)

Seizhi's Primary is somewhat wobbly in one regard; they're the sort of Snake who has kicked themself out of their own inner circle. After all, they reason, they're not real-not yet, at least-so why should they value themself? There's nothing there to value. This is linked to the burning of their Secondary; their supreme and miraculously-enhanced ability to fit into any social context is something that gives them pain, because it's just more unreality. Over and over they reach out, hoping that this time they've found a destiny; over and over, they stop sustaining an Intention, and the whole thing fades away. Even mundane uses of the Snake Secondary toolkit feel tainted-deceit and lies-and that's a problem, because this is the best and most practiced skillset they've got. They're trying to cover up this lack with a Badger Secondary model, because that's what they feel like they should have, what a Real Person would have-the slow grinding authenticity of method. (Possibly this decision is linked to Chuubo being a Badger Secondary.) But they don't like it. It feels like crap. It doesn't even work that well. And when they're in trouble, they drop the attempt to  Do Things The Real Way and start shifting and adapting and reacting like the Snake they are.

As of the start of GMD they're still hoping for the magic to happen, to wake up transformed into a Real Person who bears little to no resemblance to the 'fake self' they despise-for the Badger model to smother the Snake to death. The situation's in flux. Under pressure, they might begin to find ways to accept themself for what they are, and realise they are loved already; but it's just as likely that they will crack and fall into despair. If that happens, they'll probably Burn their Primary too, cutting themself off from Chuubo and from anyone else in their inner circle. This they'll frame not as a way to protect themself, but to protect the inner circle. A fake person has nothing real to give. How can they inflict such a horrible creature on the people they love? Might as well feed them fairy food and watch them starve, as do something like that.

That unpleasant possibility aside...unlike Chuubo they haven't yet created a Primary Model when the game starts. They might do so during the course of it, though-they will, after all, need to make a lot of decisions, and they won't always be able to relate those back to 'will it help me become real' or 'will it help Chuubo'. I don't think they're likely to copy Chuubo's Badger for this; it fits him fine, as an inherently peaceful Serpent, but Seizhi is an Actual who has had to fight just to exist, and isn't prepared to lay down arms just because things are now somewhat better. What'd work better for them would be a valorous and fierce Lion Model based on that of their brother Laodemus, or a wider Snake Model with an inner circle encompassing 'everyone I know' or 'the whole of Town'.

Leonardo de Montreal: Lion Primary, Lion Secondary. This poor man.

Oh, he'd love you to believe he's a Double Bird, or a Snake/Bird mix of some kind. He'd probably pick one of those Houses out if he had the choice! But that's...actually for pretty superficial reasons. He likes science so he figures he's a shoo-in for the 'smart person house', he's snappy and standoffish so equally he thinks he's in the 'mean asshole house'. But in the SHC system neither of those really fit.

Let's look at his Primary first. He's not a Snake, right away-because he doesn't have an inner circle and he's okay with that. There's no 'my people, who are most important' and 'everyone else'-even when he's not leaning on his Friendless wound, when he's prepared to concede that he cares about Chuubo or Jasper. If he were a Snake, those two would be the most likely inner circle candidates-but they're not in there. Not because he doesn't care, but because he doesn't do the Snake style caring where his people are the centre of his world and the place he gets his morality.

Where his morality does come from is the Song of Hell, his 'love for the wicked'. It's intuitive, not constructed, and centred in himself, not reliant on others. (When he loses his heart, he doesn't draw up a systematic list of ethical principles to live by instead; he creates the Mechanism of Original Sin, which emulates the feeling of having an internal conscience as well as the function.) And the fact that he's a fallen angel means that at some point in his past he gave up Heaven on ideological grounds. The Song of Hell is just right, and therefore he follows it. Any justifications he makes for that decision come after the fact. And so he follows his Song, and becomes heroic-it's not just Jasper he saves, he's got a whole Thing about helping people. That's Lion Primary.

And though he's smart, he doesn't act Bird under pressure; he charges. He responded to Jade's death by first ripping out his own heart to save her daughter, then marching down to the BA to throw down with its Headmaster. He probably has a Bird Secondary model to help with Science, though-and he uses this model to back up his real secondary. Charge in throwing nightmare devices at the problem.

Natalia Koutolika: Bird primary, burnt secondary that's probably Bird or Lion.

Natalia's frozen heart sounds like a Petrified Snake thing, but it's not any specific person that makes her realise thawing is a possibility-it's Fortitude. And that's not because Fortitude is nice, the way a Badger might un-Burn on being accepted into a welcoming community, but because it's magical. The rules of the universe work differently here...so maybe that means things can be possible for her now that weren't possible back on Earth.

I thought at first her primary was burnt, but...freezing her heart made her lose faith in human goodness, and in her capacity for being happy, not in her ability to discern truth. She trusts her cynical System; actually, I think her looking like a Petrified Snake is down to that thing Birds do where their systems often come out looking like the other Primaries. Natalia has decided that the Petrified Snake morality is the true one...but when she arrives in Town, she reconsiders, and begins to edit.

Her Secondary is where she's burnt. Because part of the cynicism of her Primary System is the idea that there's no point trying. Use whatever methods are available, who cares? They won't work, because you can't do anything that matters-the world doesn't work like that. Most of the time she'll use Bird or Lion methods because those come easily to her, given she's a genius and a martial artist, so it's probably one of those. But then again...she doesn't seem to get any joy from them. I think her Arcs will (hopefully) involve healing the burning-and that could look like learning to trust in her charging or her knowledge base, or like finding that what she really feels Right about is putting in the work like a Badger or thinking on her feet like a Snake. (Burnt Badger secondary would be especially poignant, as it'd be her learning to rely on community as a source of strength.)

Jasper Irinka: Bird primary, Bird secondary.

She starts out with her system based on her mom's Heaven-style Lion primary; it doesn't work, and leaves 'a hole in the world' for her. So she starts looking for ways to make it work by picking up ideas from all sorts of people-her dad, her friends, the Moon Prince and assorted other NPCs-and either adjusting it by adding these in or making a new system entirely. And her matching secondary helps her to do this very effectively. Her Primordial ability to shape herself as she likes by growing limbs that she can then use and discard as she pleases is really Bird Secondary-and the fact that those limbs manifest from other people's Hopes? 'I know a guy' Bird.

Sure, she inspires people. But it’s not a Lion inspiration-being so completely and ferociously her own glorious self that others are attracted to her radiance. Jade probably worked like that, from what we know of her, but Jasper inspires because she deliberately does things to inspire Hope in people, using a toolkit of stuff she’s picked up.

(And of course Leo is fascinated with her-not just because she's 'Jade Irinka's daughter', the shine on that would wear off fast-it's that she's a Double Bird like what he wants to be! And she in turn is loving Leo's double Lion because that's what she thinks she's supposed to be like!)

Rinley Yatskaya: Badger Primary, Lion Secondary. Of course the Storyteller Arc kid gets the 'protagonist sorting'.

Rinley's stated purpose in their playbook is to be the social glue of the party, and their powerset makes them really good at it. They first save then make friends with Prince Eduard despite their family's feud with the Rats, and when they see Iolithae in the Titov shrine, they go to rescue her, because Eduard and Iolithae are people and that matters more than Eduard being a Rat or Iolithae being a dangerous sacred horror. In other words, they're a beautiful Universal Badger. As far as Rinley's concerned, you don't just see someone who's injured or imprisoned and then not help them, even if they're meant to be an enemy on ideological grounds or even grounds of prudence. And to help people, they jump right in and Do Something. That's textbook Badger/Lion.

Principal Entropy II: Exploded Badger primary, Badger secondary.

This guy is just community-building and caretaking all over the place. He shows up, he does the work-as the Angel of Fortitude he's literally fixing potholes and curing peoples' ailments! And he's doing that by going to the people and creatures of his Gardens, calling in favours.

And he's doing it because people are important. The denizens of the Evil Island, the people of Fortitude. 'All things can earn their recompense through love'.

The problem is, though-he's doing the dehumanisation thing that Badgers are so infamous for. He's not going 'some people are Enemies Who Must Die, and therefore are not really People', though, which is the usual form of the trope in fiction. That's the mode of a Badger at war, and E2 isn't fighting a war. He's going 'some people need to be Sacrificed for the Greater Good of the Community'. And that's not an easy thing for a Badger to believe. If he was an Idealist, or Snake who is comfy prioritising an inner circle, he could just hold that belief without problems. But being a Badger, he can't. If he sacrifices people, he has to either feel horribly guilty about it...or stop thinking of them as people.

One big group he tends to dehumanise are School students. School exists to create tools to fix the world. It's okay if he makes students into cursed Hall Monitors, it's okay if he turns SEED students into prototype world-trees and weirding walls. That's what they're for.

He also dehumanises himself. He's Other Than Human, Set Apart. He refuses to acknowledge his needs, and overworks himself-he's even, at game start, nullified two Divine Health Levels to make his Code Novae binding on the Evil Island, meaning that if you can get past his Immortality power he's actually the squishiest PC of the lot. So he's an Exploded Badger, sacrificing both himself and others to his community.

Miramie Mesmer: Bird Primary, Badger Secondary. She shares this sorting with her former self, Melanie Malakh.

Melanie's Bird Primary used the Bleak Methodology as her truth system. Coupled with her persistent, hard-working Secondary, this combination made her a star student at the Bleak Academy-a 'prodigy of hatred and despair'. However, when she left the Academy, things fell apart for her.

At the Bleak Academy she'd been sheltered from experiences or ideas that could provide any real challenge to the Bleak worldview. Because of that, her system wasn't as robust as she thought-and she didn't know how to shore it up or how to cope if it shattered. Which-along with the glass dragon-it did; her time in Town, the things she had seen and done, had led her to doubt the truth of ultimate futility. The last straw was the dragon itself. Melanie, through the work of her hands and mind, had created something that was not futile; a master-weapon that could destroy Town, just as she had intended. The very fact that she was able to do that gave the lie to the Bleak Methodology. Unable to deny this truth but just as unable to live with it, Melanie Fell so hard that-as Strategists sometimes do-she lost her identity and became a new person.

Unable and unwilling to use Melanie's system, Miramie has begun to construct her own, drawing on various sources-the communal and peaceful mores of Fortitude, Hideo Hayashi's belief that even unlikeable misfits do not deserve to be left alone without support systems, the other Archive kids' idea that outcasts should stick together, and Chuubo's Snake prioritising of personal ambitions and loves. Since she's not had much time to do this, it's nowhere near finished-but it looks likely to be robust. It also seems to me that she's likely to be able to edit it as she needs rather than Falling-or, if worst comes to worst, to Fall but get back up as herself, rather than shattering again or reverting into Melanie Malakh.

Her Badger Secondary is a contrast to Chuubo's, as where his is socially based and linked to personal relationships (Courtier Badger), hers is more focused on the more usual definition of 'work', and on community in the sense of history and tradition (Bookkeeper Badger). It's her Secondary she brings to bear on the tasks of setting up a cafe from scratch and helping maintain the Archives. It's also what she uses to keep herself going under the weight of the world's wrongness, to keep making art even though it's doing so that activates her Curse. She just keeps slogging away.

I can also see the Badger Secondary in Melanie's construction of the glass dragon. She sat herself down with Hideo Hayashi and learnt glasswork from scratch, putting in the time and effort to both master this new skill and to bring Hideo himself fully under her control. Simple, honest work, even though used for deeply destructive ends.

IN CONCLUSION:

Chuubo: Snake primary, Badger secondary, Badger primary model Seizhi: Snake primary, Burnt Snake secondary, unhealthy Badger Secondary model Leonardo: Lion primary, Lion secondary. Bird secondary model Natalia: Bird primary (with a system that starts out looking a lot like Petrified Snake), very burnt Secondary that is likely Bird or Lion Jasper: Bird primary, Bird secondary Rinley: Badger primary, Lion secondary Entropy II: Exploded Badger primary, Badger secondary Miramie: Bird primary, Badger secondary

[sayedhusaini]

Democrats and Media Do Not Want to Weaken Facebook, Just Commandeer Its Power to Censor

by Moderator

📷(Stock Catalog / Flickr)By Glenn Greenwald / SubstackMuch is revealed by who is bestowed hero status by the corporate media. This week's anointed avatar of stunning courage is Frances Haugen, a former Facebook product manager being widely hailed as a "whistleblower” for providing internal corporate documents to the Wall Street Journal relating to the various harms which Facebook and its other platforms (Instagram and WhatsApp) are allegedly causing.The social media giant hurts America and the world, this narrative maintains, by permitting misinformation to spread (presumably more so than cable outlets and mainstream newspapers do virtually every week); fostering body image neurosis in young girls through Instagram (presumably more so than fashion magazines, Hollywood and the music industry do with their glorification of young and perfectly-sculpted bodies); promoting polarizing political content in order to keep the citizenry enraged, balkanized and resentful and therefore more eager to stay engaged (presumably in contrast to corporate media outlets, which would never do such a thing); and, worst of all, by failing to sufficiently censor political content that contradicts liberal orthodoxies and diverges from decreed liberal Truth. On Tuesday, Haugen's star turn took her to Washington, where she spent the day testifying before the Senate about Facebook's dangerous refusal to censor even more content and ban even more users than they already do.There is no doubt, at least to me, that Facebook and Google are both grave menaces. Through consolidation, mergers and purchases of any potential competitors, their power far exceeds what is compatible with a healthy democracy. A bipartisan consensus has emerged on the House Antitrust Committee that these two corporate giants — along with Amazon and Apple — are all classic monopolies in violation of long-standing but rarely enforced antitrust laws. Their control over multiple huge platforms that they purchased enables them to punish and even destroy competitors, as we saw when Apple, Google and Amazon united to remove Parler from the internet forty-eight hours after leading Democrats demanded that action, right as Parler became the most-downloaded app in the country, or as Google suppresses Rumble videos in its dominant search feature as punishment for competing with Google's YouTube platform. Facebook and Twitter both suppressed reporting on the authentic documents about Joe Biden's business activities reported by The New York Post just weeks before the 2020 election. These social media giants also united to effectively remove the sitting elected President of the United States from the internet, prompting grave warnings from leaders across the democratic world about how anti-democratic their consolidated censorship power has become.But none of the swooning over this new Facebook heroine nor any of the other media assaults on Facebook have anything remotely to do with a concern over those genuine dangers. Congress has taken no steps to curb the influence of these Silicon Valley giants because Facebook and Google drown the establishment wings of both parties with enormous amounts of cash and pay well-connected lobbyists who are friends and former colleagues of key lawmakers to use their D.C. influence to block reform. With the exception of a few stalwarts, neither party's ruling wing really has any objection to this monopolistic power as long as it is exercised to advance their own interests.And that is Facebook's only real political problem: not that they are too powerful but that they are not using that power to censor enough content from the internet that offends the sensibilities and beliefs of Democratic Party leaders and their liberal followers, who now control the White House, the entire executive branch and both houses of Congress. Haugen herself, now guided by long-time Obama operative Bill Burton, has made explicitly clear that her grievance with her former employer is its refusal to censor more of what she regards as “hate, violence and misinformation.” In a 60 Minutes

interview on Sunday night, Haugen summarized her complaint about CEO Mark Zuckerberg this way: he “has allowed choices to be made where the side effects of those choices are that hateful and polarizing content gets more distribution and more reach." Haugen, gushed The New York Times’ censorship-desperate tech unit as she testified on Tuesday, is “calling for regulation of the technology and business model that amplifies hate and she’s not shy about comparing Facebook to tobacco.”Agitating for more online censorship has been a leading priority for the Democratic Party ever since they blamed social media platforms (along with WikiLeaks, Russia, Jill Stein, James Comey, The New York Times, and Bernie Bros) for the 2016 defeat of the rightful heir to the White House throne, Hillary Clinton. And this craving for censorship has been elevated into an even more urgent priority for their corporate media allies, due to the same belief that Facebook helped elect Trump but also because free speech on social media prevents them from maintaining a stranglehold on the flow of information by allowing ordinary, uncredentialed serfs to challenge, question and dispute their decrees or build a large audience that they cannot control. Destroying alternatives to their failing platforms is thus a means of self-preservation: realizing that they cannot convince audiences to trust their work or pay attention to it, they seek instead to create captive audiences by destroying or at least controlling any competitors to their pieties.As I have been reporting for more than a year, Democrats do not make any secret of their intent to co-opt Silicon Valley power to police political discourse and silence their enemies. Congressional Democrats have summoned the CEO's of Google, Facebook and Twitter four times in the last year to demand they censor more political speech. At the last Congressional inquisition in March, one Democrat after the next explicitly threatened the companies with legal and regulatory reprisals if they did not immediately start censoring more.A Pew survey from August shows that Democrats now overwhelmingly support internet censorship not only by tech giants but also by the government which their party now controls. In the name of "restricting misinformation,” more than 3/4 of Democrats want tech companies "to restrict false info online, even if it limits freedom of information,” and just under 2/3 of Democrats want the U.S. Government to control that flow of information over the internet:

The prevailing pro-censorship mindset of the Democratic Party is reflected not only by that definitive polling data but also by the increasingly brash and explicit statements of their leaders. At the end of 2020, Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), newly elected after young leftist activists worked tirelessly on his behalf to fend off a primary challenge from the more centrist Rep. Joseph Kennedy III (D-MA), told Facebook's Zuckerberg exactly what the Democratic Party wanted. In sum, they demand more censorship:

This, and this alone, is the sole reason why there is so much adoration being constructed around the cult of this new disgruntled Facebook employee. What she provides, above all else, is a telegenic and seemingly informed “insider” face to tell Americans that Facebook is destroying their country and their world by allowing too much content to go uncensored, by permitting too many conversations among ordinary people that are, in the immortal worlds of the NYT's tech reporter Taylor Lorenz, “unfettered.”When Facebook, Google, Twitter and other Silicon Valley social media companies were created, they did not set out to become the nation's discourse police. Indeed, they affirmatively wanted not to do that. Their desire to avoid that role was due in part to the prevailing libertarian ideology of a free internet in that sub-culture. But it was also due to self-interest: the last thing social media companies wanted to be doing is looking for ways to remove and block people from using their product and, worse, inserting themselves into the middle of inflammatory political controversies. Corporations seek to avoid angering potential customers and users over political stances, not courting that anger.This censorship role was not one they so much sought as one that was foisted on them. It was not really until the 2016 election, when Democrats were obsessed with blaming social media giants (and pretty much everyone else except themselves) for their humiliating defeat, that pressure began escalating on these executives to start deleting content liberals deemed dangerous or false and banning their adversaries from using the platforms at all. As it always does, the censorship began by targeting widely disliked figures — Milo Yiannopoulos, Alex Jones and others deemed “dangerous” — so that few complained (and those who did could be vilified as sympathizers of the early offenders). Once entrenched, the censorship net then predictably and rapidly spread inward (as it invariably does) to encompass all sorts of anti-establishment dissidents on the right, the left, and everything in between. And no matter how much it widens, the complaints that it is not enough intensify. For those with the mentality of a censor, there can never be enough repression of dissent. And this plot to escalate censorship pressures found the perfect vessel in this stunningly brave and noble Facebook heretic who emerged this week from the shadows into the glaring spotlight. She became a cudgel that Washington politicians and their media allies could use to beat Facebook into submission to their censorship demands.In this dynamic we find what the tech and culture writer Curtis Yarvin calls "power leak.” This is a crucial concept for understanding how power is exercised in American oligarchy, and Yarvin's brilliant essay illuminates this reality as well as it can be described. Hyperbolically arguing that "Mark Zuckerberg has no power at all,” Yarvin points out that it may appear that the billionaire Facebook CEO is powerful because he can decide what will and will not be heard on the largest information distribution platform in the world. But in reality, Zuckerberg is no more powerful than the low-paid content moderators whom Facebook employs to hit the "delete” or "ban” button, since it is neither the Facebook moderators nor Zuckerberg himself who is truly making these decisions. They are just censoring as they are told, in obedience to rules handed down from on high. It is the corporate press and powerful Washington elites who are coercing Facebook and Google to censor in accordance with their wishes and ideology upon pain of punishment in the form of shame, stigma and even official legal and regulatory retaliation. Yarvin puts it this way:However, if Zuck is subject to some kind of oligarchic power, he is in exactly the same position as his own moderators. He exercises power, but it is not his power, because it is not his will. The power does not flow from him; it flows through him. This is why we can say honestly and seriously that he has no power. It is not his,

but someone else’s. . . .Zuck doesn’t want to do any of this. Nor do his users particularly want it. Rather, he is doing it because he is under pressure from the press. Duh. He cannot even admit that he is under duress—or his Vietcong guards might just snap, and shoot him like the Western running-dog capitalist he is….And what grants the press this terrifying power? The pure and beautiful power of the logos? What distinguishes a well-written poast, like this one, from an equally well-written Times op-ed? Nothing at all but prestige. In normal times, every sane CEO will comply unhesitatingly with the slightest whim of the legitimate press, just as they will comply unhesitatingly with a court order. That’s just how it is. To not call this power government is—just playing with words.As I have written before, this problem — whereby the government coerces private actors to censor for them — is not one that Yarvin was the first to recognize. The U.S. Supreme Court has held, since at least 1963, that the First Amendment's "free speech” clause is violated when state officials issue enough threats and other forms of pressure that essentially leave the private actor with no real choice but to censor in accordance with the demands of state officials. Whether we are legally at the point where that constitutional line has been crossed by the increasingly blunt bullying tactics of Democratic lawmakers and executive branch officials is a question likely to be resolved in the courts. But whatever else is true, this pressure is very real and stark and reveals that the real goal of Democrats is not to weaken Facebook but to capture its vast power for their own nefarious ends.There is another issue raised by this week's events that requires ample caution as well. The canonized Facebook whistleblower and her journalist supporters are claiming that what Facebook fears most is repeal or reform of Section 230, the legislative provision that provides immunity to social media companies for defamatory or other harmful material published by their users. That section means that if a Facebook user or YouTube host publishes legally actionable content, the social media companies themselves cannot be held liable. There may be ways to reform Section 230 that can reduce the incentive to impose censorship, such as denying that valuable protection to any platform that censors, instead making it available only to those who truly allow an unmoderated platform to thrive. But such a proposal has little support in Washington. What is far more likely is that Section 230 will be "modified” to impose greater content moderation obligations on all social media companies.Far from threatening Facebook and Google, such a legal change could be the greatest gift one can give them, which is why their executives are often seen calling on Congress to regulate the social media industry. Any legal scheme that requires every post and comment to be moderated would demand enormous resources — gigantic teams of paid experts and consultants to assess "misinformation” and "hate speech” and veritable armies of employees to carry out their decrees. Only the established giants such as Facebook and Google would be able to comply with such a regimen, while other competitors — including large but still-smaller ones such as Twitter — would drown in those requirements. And still-smaller challengers to the hegemony of Facebook and Google, such as Substack and Rumble, could never survive. In other words, any attempt by Congress to impose greater content moderation obligations — which is exactly what they are threatening — would destroy whatever possibility remains for competitors to arise and would, in particular, destroy any platforms seeking to protect free discourse. That would be the consequence by design, which is why one should be very wary of any attempt to pretend that Facebook and Google fear such legislative adjustments.There are real dangers posed by allowing companies such as Facebook and Google to amass the power they have now consolidated. But very little of the activism and

anger from the media and Washington toward these companies is designed to fracture or limit that power. It is designed, instead, to transfer that power to other authorities who can then wield it for their own interests. The only thing more alarming than Facebook and Google controlling and policing our political discourse is allowing elites from one of the political parties in Washington and their corporate media outlets to assume the role of overseer, as they are absolutely committed to doing. Far from being some noble whistleblower, Frances Haugen is just their latest tool to exploit for their scheme to use the power of social media giants to control political discourse in accordance with their own views and interests.

Correction, Oct. 5, 2021, 5:59 pm ET: This article was edited to reflect that just under 2/3 of Democrats favor U.S. Government censorship of the internet in the name of fighting misinformation, not just over.

[muthaz-rapapa]

Favorite Archetypes in Precure

I was going to keep this above cut if it weren’t for the fact that there’s no way I’ll ever be able to go over every single archetype (and trope) there is...so I decided to feature just my favorites instead.

Therefore, expect this to be more self-indulgent than the usual post.

Also, big WIP, will add more as I think them up.

Ojou:

Honorable Mentions: Honoka, Hibiki, Yukari

That one extremely rich gal in the main cast, complete with an esteemed family name, giant mansion, loyal servants and maybe even an exclusive villa for the beach episodes among other things. We don’t have one every season, thankfully, but it’s a very common occurrence in Precure... and honestly, pretty much almost every other anime genre out there.

The girls in honorable mentions aren’t as financially influential as the Ojous here but they do live in a big house so it’s not wrong to say they’re a little more well-off than the average person.

Also, it’s notable that despite their wealthy background, none of them really display qualities of the haughty rich bitch. If anything, a rival who does have those characteristics (especially the “ohoho!” laugh) is sometimes brought in to make them look better by comparison.

Though I can’t deny it’d be super interesting to get an Ojou Cure like that in the future, if possible. One who is selfish, arrogant and insufferable about her social standing but is noble deep down and after some time and development, learns to trade in those negative traits to become more likable. Except she keeps the “ohoho!” laugh because it’s dumb and fun. :)

Princess:

Honorable Mentions: Hikari, Aguri

Sort of like a sister trope to the Ojou, maybe? Well, the aristocratic tendencies are alike.

Only included literal princesses, btw. No girls who are only princesses in name or by virtue of magic or anything like that (sorry, Haruka). They have to come from a well and alive royal family and they also need to have an existing kingdom to be princess of.

So when you narrow it down by those criteria, we actually don’t have a lot of them in Precure. But since we get a variety of otherworldly Cures anyway, we don’t really make that distinction often.

Oh, and for Aguri, she sorta counts as well, being one half of Marie-Ange who was the princess of Trump Kingdom and all. But since the monarchy has been replaced by a republic, she has no princess title to claim anymore so...nope.

EDIT: Added Hikari to honorable mentions since her situation is similar to Aguri’s.

Yamato Nadeshiko:

Honorable Mentions: Karen, Minami

For those who aren’t well-read in this concept, please read this first. 

That said, even though culture and values have changed greatly over the years, I believe the core definition of the Yamato Nadeshiko has remained mostly the same that there is no need for extra interpretation into it. As far as this post goes, anyway.

A soft-spoken, very well-mannered woman hiding a will of steel beneath her serene composure. The simplified version but pretty straightforward if you ask me.

Regarding Honoka and Mai, I’m still not familiar enough with the first two Precure teams to know for sure if they really match the description (especially Mai, Honoka I can more or less agree with based on what I’ve seen)...but I’ll go along with it for now.

As for Karen and Minami, they do show shades of it in their personalities given their upscale upbringing (especially Minami who cried at the thought she might be betraying her parents for wanting to chase her dream) but they’re still more Ojou than actual Yamato Nadeshiko, imo.

Lady Warrior (Cure only):

Honorable Mentions: Ace

Lady of War.

Every Cure fights, of course, but then there are the few who enter the battlefield almost as if they were born to conquer it while maintaining all the grace and elegance of a refined lady.

Moonlight is the epitome of this trope for the franchise as a whole and to this day, I’ve yet to see any other Cure who can surpass her. But that’s fine. It doesn’t mean any of the other Cures listed here is less of a Lady Warrior than she is.

Ace is only an honorable mention because while she possesses a lot of the traits found in this archetype, including the overwhelming strength and confidence, the way she constantly and pretentiously barked on about “what makes a lady a lady” really brought down her value as one.

Not to mention, she’s a bit too flashy compared to the others and that takes away the seriousness I always associate with this archetype.

Fashion:

Well, there isn’t a Precure season where nobody delves into this topic but among the Cures, these girls are known to be the most style-conscious. 

Miki and Kirara aren’t in a sub-tier, btw. They’re just grouped separately because they’re actual models.

Bifauxnen:

Yep. Don’t think I need to say much about this one.

Feline Femme:

Cat girls. Girls with (stereotypical) cat-like characteristics.

I threw this title together with words I thought would sound the nicest but reading it now reminds me of what a friend once told me. That “felines are rather feminine creatures”.

And I think that fits these three, don’t you?

Aoi is not an honorable mention, even though her character concept is based on a lion, because she rejects the girlish image in favor of being a tomboy rock star.

Student Council/Class Rep:

Overall, we have a good number of honor students among the Cures but this category is reserved for those who are shown or stated to be a class representative and/or participate in the student council. Strangely enough, this trope isn’t a favorite of mine or anything but I like “collecting” the ones who have these things in common.

- Known class reps: Kanade, Saaya, Chiyu (iirc?)

- Known vice presidents: Reika, Rikka

- Known presidents: Karen, Itsuki, Reika, Mana, Minami, Madoka

...alright, I’m positive I missed a few people or forgot certain details so if anyone can point out which ones, that’d be appreciated.

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Miscellaneous

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These aren’t archetypes so much as just tropes but I don’t quite feel like putting them in a separate post yet so I’ll leave them here for now.

Glasses:

Self-explanatory.

Hell, everyone here minus Rikka form the Precure idol group, Anata no kokoro o mitoshi-tai, because of this very feature.

Makoto is not included because I believe she only wears class to be incognito when going out.

Keigo (Civilian):

Too lazy to explain this in an eloquent and concise manner so read up.

You know someone is just ultra polite to a T when their formality doesn’t let up even when they’re around the people they’re closest to. Some cases are understandable especially if they were raised under more traditional, classy circumstances or trained in etiquette (like the Ojous, princesses, etc) so this is normal for them.

Others are just more humble in nature like Tsubomi and Himari or speak that way because everyone is older than her like Urara.

I find this trope incredibly charming on certain characters and hope I’m not the only one.

Keigo (Cure):

Carried over from their civilian forms, there isn’t that much of a difference except for the addition of Felice, who went through a huge maturity growth during transformation.

Ace is similar in that aspect, too, since she sounds less bratty than Aguri does.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Update log:

4/29/20 - Post published.