#(abt his beliefs)

[lungthief]

listen. i know it's not 2014 anymore and i know it's just a throwaway line and that the russo brothers didnt intend for marvel action blockbuster captain america the winter soldier to become the tragic gay love story that never was but man. having steve say "it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience" in a conversation about romantic relationships right before the bucky reveal is so cruel. it's not just about steve and bucky obviously having the shared experience of being "out of time," it's the fact that they've both been stripped of their humanity in opposite directions. steve is a legend, he is an american hero and a national icon before he is a human being the same way that bucky is a weapon and a killing machine before he is a human being. steve knows that anyone who falls in love with him in the 21st century fell in love with captain america first, and that's just not him. but then the one person who knew him first and knew him best and loved him (not captain america, that little guy from brooklyn) so much he died for it is alive, impossibly. and it's a miracle because he's back and it's horrific because he's back under the worst possible circumstances. but to steve, the winter soldier is worth tearing the world apart for because he's always been bucky first. they find each other and suddenly they're human again. and maybe, despite it all, being "out of time" becomes a blessing, because in this century they'd finally be allowed to love each other the way they've always wanted to. like real people do.

like. no. the captain america trilogy isn't about two queer men traumatized and alienated by war and modern life rediscovering and reclaiming their humanity through their love for each other. but. i mean. it couldve been

[suntails]

strength and nobility

[dukeofthomas]

I find the fact that the confrontation at the end of UTRH is often summarized as Jason asking Bruce to kill the Joker for him fascinating.

Because that's not what happened.

Jason holds a gun up to Joker's head, gives Bruce another, and tells him that if Bruce doesn't do something (shoot Jason), he will kill Joker.

Jason doesn't give the gun to Bruce so that he would shoot Joker. He isn't expecting Bruce to pull the trigger on the clown. He's asking Bruce to do nothing. To be inactive. Because that will still be a choice, and despite having done nothing, everybody clearly agrees that Bruce would still, at least in part, be responsible for Joker's death.

...And to me, this moment is a kind of- microcosm, of the rest of Jason's point. Because after being captured and carted off to Arkham, the villain will escape again, and will kill more people. The only way to truly prevent that from happening would be to kill them; Bruce refuses to do so, and I respect his right to choose such a thing for himself, but it is still a choice, and if we agree that Bruce's inaction during the confrontation would leave him at least partly responsible for the Joker's death, then we must also agree that his inaction in permanently preventing the Rogues from killing more people means he is also, partly, responsible for all of those deaths.

[rachiebeee]

they are best friends and siblings and i love them both so dearly. featuring piercings bc i stand strong in my belief that they would

[delawaredetroit]

Never had a unhostile conversation in over a decade? Obviously they're besties.

Because they are often in the same place at plot significant moments (and because Horikoshi often doesn't give his story any breathing room for downtime), people get the impression that Izuku and Bakugou interact often. But it's directly in the text that for the majority of their lives (and at least a quarter of the manga), they never talked to each other outside of necessity.

The "childhood friend" thing and All for One's projection of Kudoichi onto the both of them has poisoned a lot of the fandom's perception of their relationship. It's in the School Briefs that Izuku knew they weren't actually childhood friends but that he had no other word for it. Yes, Izuku still calls him by a childhood nickname that indicates closeness. Because he wasn't able to make any other connections after his quirkless diagnosis and he was holding onto any human connection he had. The fact that he calls him Kacchan only further emphasizes that any positive relationship they had ended at an age where calling him cutesy names was socially appropriate - because the other childhood friends - Bakugou's middle school lackeys - call him Katsuki.

All for One assumed Izuku and Bakugou are closest because the only person he ever genuinely cared for was the person he developed in the womb with. And because he sees them as Yoichi and Kudou in his head despite the lack of similarities in their dynamic

[beanghostprincess]

It still amazes me the number of people who see the juxtaposition between Nami and Usopp during Wano and their fight against Ulti as "Nami's devotion to Luffy is unmatched, unlike Usopp's" when she isn't able to say he won't be the king of the pirates but Usopp is telling her to lie.

I think most people don't have in mind, either, that Usopp isn't the one being directly asked. He is looking out for Nami and begging her to lie to keep her alive because he is scared to death they might lose her for something as insignificant as lying. For him, lying is a form of survival and it is not that big of a deal because he trusts Luffy enough to tell Nami to lie about her feelings. It is something that will only stay between them because he knows it is better to lie than to die and Luffy would want it that way too.

And that doesn't mean he isn't loyal to Luffy or his dream. He is just looking out for Nami's safety. And as I said-- He isn't being asked directly, either. It is easier to tell others to lie about something of the sort than to do it yourself, and if the roles were reversed I personally think he'd have the most awful of times with it too.

Nami refuses to say Luffy won't become the king of the pirates because for her, even if lying has gotten her out of messes, she puts her trust and loyalty in Luffy before her own instincts of survival because lying is what got her to push them away when they first met and this is the one thing she can't lie about because it would hurt more than death.

Then again, I think she would do the same exact thing Usopp did if she wasn't being the one asked. It is the whole point of the scene, actually. They both know the most rational thing is to lie so the one witnessing the scene will always be cold-headed about it, but the one having to lie is the one suffering the bitter realization of how lying about this and saying it out loud is way harder than it seems from an outsider's perspective.

So I am tired of seeing people criticizing Usopp for his decision during the fight against Ulti as if it were that easy for him to see Nami being about to get killed if she doesn't lie. Sorry for the guy to actually want to protect the people he loves instead of letting her be reckless and basically kill herself freely for telling a truth even Luffy would tell her to lie about if it meant living.

[puppyeared]

Remember how they pointed out that Palistrom wood was becoming rarer? Because Belos kept over harvesting it and not giving it time to grow back?

The University’s tree is blue. Its a big ass Palistrom tree

[steamedlotusroot]

as a native chinese, i feel like some of yall are taking the gods in lego monkie kid a bit too seriously. i understand why it feels iffy to ship / make silly content of deities that people worship irl (eg. nezha, sun wukong) but it’s a phenomenon on chinese social media too. c-netizens ship the fictionalized versions of these gods, which the gods of lego monkie kid are. they aren’t the actual gods people worship; they’re slightly tweaked versions of the book characters, just like any other chinese adaptation or retelling of jttw (and such stories like fsyy) also, no, nezha isn’t a child, in lmk or jttw or sometimes irl. just because he’s often depicted in child form doesn’t make him an immortal child. eros / cupid is often depicted as a winged baby, and he has a wife and kids. it’s basically the same thing here. nothing in lmk suggests that nezha is a child (his voice, his appearance, his personality etc. all imply he is an adult), and while he’s described as youthful in jttw, he’s already 1700+ years old by then and gods can shapeshift. people only think he’s an immortal baby because that’s a popular depiction of him, since one of his prominent myths is set during his childhood. but as long as you’re talking about the god nezha (fictionalized or the religious figure) and not the human child nezha, then that’s an adult [edit: the last sentence couldve been worded better. i would summarize it as “immortal youth nezha is a valid depiction and is popularized by mythology, but adult god nezha exists too and they are NOT mutually exclusive”]

[5ftboy]

"They were good guys. And I don't think the people who killed 'em ever knew that."

[mamawasatesttube]

ooooo timkon w “Can you just hold me?” or “You look like you need a hug." for the ficlet thing :3

Kon's hair is a frizzy mess.

That's the first red flag. Kon is ridiculously vain when he wants to be, with a whole hair care shower routine, silken pillowcases, and an array of curl creams and whatnot that he had to explain to Tim twice before any of it stuck in his head properly. Tim teases him for it now and then, but he knows it's because Kon doesn't like people seeing him at anything but his best. Kon got too used to being picked apart on camera for that.

So the fact that his hair is unkempt and mussed as he lets himself in from the balcony is... concerning.

Even more concerning is the way he barely even looks at Tim before he throws himself at the bed, flopping face-down with an oof. The balcony door closes itself behind him like an afterthought, and he heaves a huge, melancholy sigh.

"Kon?" Tim pushes away from his desk, trotting over to the bedside. Kon's legs are sticking off, and Tim shakes his head fondly as he reaches down to tug Kon's boots off. "Long day, huh?"

The first boot comes off in his hands; the second follows almost instantaneously. Kon lifts his head from the duvet to give him a slightly sheepish look over his shoulder, apologetic, before he drops his face back down with a thump.

"I'm tired," he mumbles. And he sounds like it. There isn't even a hint of a smile in his voice.

Tim crawls onto the bed next to him, rests his hand comfortingly at the small of his back. "What happened?"

Kon hisses out another sigh into the duvet. "Someone tried to—and don't get your knickers in a twist, I'm fine—but someone tried to dissect me today. Again."

Alarm jolts through Tim's whole body; his hands immediately start roaming Kon's torso, probing for wounds. "What?! Are you hurt—"

"I just said, I'm fine, Rob." Kon sounds a little wry as he rolls onto his back. "Jeez. What happened to your listening skills?"

He catches one of Tim's wrists and holds it to his chest, over his heart; Tim can see the sliver of an incision, cut right into the center of the S-shield emblazoned on his chest. He can't tell if it cut the skin beneath or not, but at least he doesn't see any blood.

The tiny smile on Kon's face fades, and Tim softens, studying him. Now that he can look properly, he can see the telltale signs that Kon cried, earlier; his cheeks are a little blotchy, his eyes slightly reddened. An eyelash is stuck to the delicate skin just below his eye.

"Some... ugh. They were some, like, Cadmus-wannabes. Total bozos, though. They had a red sun lamp, but no metagene suppressant, so." Kon shrugs, discontented. "They didn't even use the energy restraints like that time with Amanda Spence, like—c'mon, at least do your basic research if you're gonna try to vivisect a guy, right?" He snorts humorlessly. "I got out fine, took it down, called the S.C.U., it's whatever. I'm just... I'm so tired, Tim," and his voice cracks on Tim's name.

"Kon," he murmurs, leaning down. He presses their foreheads together, his chest aching. He'll have to check the news, find out from reports who exactly was behind this, because... it shouldn't matter, since it's already taken care of, but something inside him burns at the thought that anyone, anywhere, could put such a bone-deep sorrow into Kon's eyes.

"I'm so tired of people acting like I'm—like I'm not a person just 'cuz I hatched outta some stupid tube in a lab." Kon's eyes are too bright. He squeezes them shut and takes a shaky breath. "Like—what do I gotta do, y'know? How do you just—how do you even get through to people who're so convinced clones aren't people? I'm a person, too! I just... I..."

Tim very briefly debates the ethics of breaking into Stryker's just so he can hit someone with his staff. Or his car.

"I'm... really sorry you had to deal with that," he says instead, lamely. It's cold comfort, and awkward, and—

And it makes Kon laugh, watery but real. He blinks his teary-bright eyes up at Tim, brushes a gloved hand to his cheek. "You're mad as hell right now, aren't you?"

Tim smiles ruefully and presses his lips to Kon's jaw. "You caught me." Another kiss, to the corner of Kon's mouth. "I just—I hate that I can't do anything to fix this kinda thing for you. You don't deserve it."

"Mm." Kon takes a second to collect himself, swallows hard, and breathes out slowly. "You do more than you realize, I think. Can you just—can you just hold me? For a little while?"

Tim flops down on top of him immediately, wraps his arms around his head and neck, and smushes his face into Kon's hair. It would probably be more comfortable if they were side-by-side and facing each other, but the advantage of this position is that—

Kon laughs again, soft and fond. His voice is still a little thick, but he's smiling now. "Is that comfy for you...?"

"Kinda." Tim kisses his temple, too. "You smell like smoke."

"Mmf, sorry." Kon sighs again. "And I got it all over the bed now, too, huh..."

"S'okay. We can just grab a different blanket later." Tim scrunches his fingers through Kon's hair until they hit a tangle. "...Want me to wash your hair for you?"

Kon's arms tighten around him, and suddenly he seems like he needs a moment before he can respond. Tim doesn't rush him.

"Yeah," Kon croaks out after a moment, his voice suspiciously wet. "Yeah, Robbie. I'd like that a lot."

[bearofohu]

sorry for doing this again but how are ppl seriously claiming that rin and haru werent written with the subtext of having any romantic tension……… what the fuck do you think the association with sakura trees means in japan???? the power of friendship??? commodore between men?? it means gay sex fall in love. like come the fuck on

[coldflash-corner]

I am a big worldbuilding bitch. When I make soulmate AUs I have fully stopped thinking abt the main pairing, and have started working out the entire world and society and all of the soulmates every canon character I find compelling would have, or would not have, depending on the context of the AU and the character

So what I'm trying to say is that I started making a Coldflash AU where soulmates can hear each other's heartbeat and now I'm in a worldbuilding pit that I can't crawl out of

[ritzcuit]

it occured to me that "datz being a walking encyclopedia abt the revolution and dhurke and dhurke's ideals and his family and their history and everything, bc he is an insane gay fanboy" ...of course he's trying to combat misinfo and protecting the good name of the defiant dragons, of course, but you know who hes really talking to? RAYFA

she's like i need to look into that Normal Not Traitorous Snake. for braidhead. and their patronage. which is also my patronage but i'm not acknowledging that right now. so she's digging through books and articles and shes like...! Braidhead! I had no idea your father once tore a tank apart with his bare hands! impressive considering we have no tanks (complimenting) and nahyuta is like ..........he. What are you reading

and it's like "the seven most fucked up things dhurke sahdmadhi definitely did (number 5 will shock you)" and he's like oh for the love of

and i think at first it can be a really cutie bonding thing for her and nahyuta, of course, she's so curious, she wants to know the truth, very badly, not just for knowing about her "real father" but because she wants to unlearn everything horrid she'd been taught you know? and it's nice for nahyuta to reflect, if not incredibly retraumatizingNKLDFNGD Like it's fun and all but everytime nahyuta talks about how grand and honorable dhurke was he's like [compounding with guilt and shame and regret]let's take a break for now,

but there's a lot of spots that nahyuta can't tell accurately anyway. bc they weren't there and they don't know. for sure. they know secondhand stories but in the pursuit of truth, aren't there better sources? and he's like...you know who would know more than me? datz. and rayfa's like THE SMELLY HAIRY MAN?and hes like wh He's not smellier or hairier than anyone else what are you

i think rayfa and datz are very like, like she knows him, and he of COURSE knows her, but it's not like she needs any raising, like she still has her mother... all that. so when she approaches him datz is like aw hell i'm in trouble I DIDN'T DO IT I SWEAR and shes like SHUUT UPPPP [STAFF BONK] I have questions about dhurke sahdmadhi. which ofc datz is like oh :D? bc that's, APPARENTLY, HIS FAVORITE THING IN THE WORLD.

but the long story short is that guards are running through the palace like ohfuck where's the princess oh Holy Mother help us all WHERE IS SHE and nahyuta's like ?!?! bc what if she got like, super abducted, while trying to find datz, what was he thinking asking her to go Find Datz when datz could be LITERALLY ANYWHERE and then it turns out she's definitely with datz. like in the mountains.

like she asked too many questions and datz was like Y'know what......how about i just show ya ^_^ ive been meanin' to go up there anyway! and they're just coming back from visiting the old mountain hut that's Still Standing despite everything. it's like sundown and everyone's freaked the hell out and rayfa is still asking so many questions like wait, and how did he stage this breakout!? and what were your escape routes?! and datz is like you sound like a cop im not answering those and everyones liekWHERREEE THE HELL WERE YOUUUUU

but datz is smiling all proud and satisfied bc he feels like he got to do something for dhurke, now his daughter knows more about him, isn't that great? and rayfa [will never be satisfied] but she has a lot to chew on. she's learned a lot. in this respect, the smelly hairy lizard man is worth keeping around. she goes to thank him for this but finds a datz-shaped cloud next to her bc he bolted the second he saw the guards

[skyberia]

so I’ve been turning over the question in my mind of why exactly Goro stays loyal to (/aligns himself with) Shido for so long, and wanted to get your thoughts. do you think the sink-cost fallacy just has that much of a chokehold? or other factors combined with fear, despite goro’s confidence in his abilities, since shido has yakuza connections and ways of contracting murder outside of the metaverse? or, I think it’s evident from the engine room dialogue & more that on some level he does want acknowledgement from shido.

in fanworks that explore him refusing to carry out akira’s execution, that usually comes with the realization that someone does in fact want him around and that he’d be a fool to throw that away, but maybe that’s reading too much of the player’s emotions into Joker’s actions/dialogue—still, I do think it’s clear from their confidant that joker is written to care about Goro. so then it makes me wonder why Goro was willing to throw that away, or if he didn’t think it was genuine, or if it just wasn’t enough.

u clearly have many thoughts abt akechi and I love how you write in your comics, so I hope you don’t mind me asking for your take on this!

maybe this is kind of a boring take but i do think it's a sunk cost fallacy thing at the end of the day. the other factors you've brought up might play into it a bit too but i really think that the main thing is: this is a revenge plan he's dedicated the last two whole years to And ruined countless lives over (including, i'd argue, his own) AND by the point we see him in game it feels like it's nearing the final stages. this is as far as one can get from a point where you'd be able to just admit your plan sucks and abandon it!!

comparatively speaking to all that, akira is really just a distraction & obstacle in the face of the Grander Scheme. whatever he can offer goro will obviously just pale in comparison to finally getting the revenge he's worked soooo hard for. any other hesitations can just be looked over with the idea that killing him means he's won & that he's better than him <3

[filmfactors]

Since I'm on the topic, something I think about Turbo is that the nervous giggles he does when stressed/upset, etc isn't faked- I really like to believe he's always had that or adapted it during those years alone.

Or at least it wasn't as intense as a full body reaction, if he's always done that. [gestures at that one King Candy storyboard.]

[nukacourier]

While I can understand SOME reasons some people may not like Arcade I've never seen anyone bring them up and instead usually just wildly misinterpret the kind of character he is