#I have yet to see any redeeming qualities in this man

[showerthoughtsofagoldengoose]

why Okarun is a real g

-he was bullied and had no friends and somehow came out of it without any exceptionally strong feelings of hatred or resentment towards his peers.

Trust me as someone who has been in that position (minus the bullying) it is SO easy to hate everyone. From what I’ve heard we learn very little abt this character’s life but I’d assume he might have at least had a good upbringing to turn out like this. I did not so that might be part of why I literally despised everyone and became a bit of a femcel for a while…

-polite, puts others first.

Legit who doesn’t like someone like that? I see no need to even elaborate on this point.

-he respects women’s boundaries.

It’s so common for boys in shounen to be creeps and so seeing a male shounen protagonist who actually is decent towards women is really refreshing! Especially one from a show whose premise revolves around him losing his dick and balls! (The only other shounen I really like is chainsaw man which takes an incredibly nuanced approach to a perverted male protagonist, and I wouldn’t really call Denji perverted as much as he is horny, desperate, and a typical teenaged boy. He reminds me a little of my boyfriend when he was younger lol)

unrelated but even tho the “scenes” of creepiness in the show are kind of unnecessary (I think they’re there so turbo granny can come in clutch and save Momo from whatever is happening to her, since turbo granny’s whole schtick/initial redeeming quality is protecting girls from those kinds of threats. That and the series is batshit insane and needs ridiculous ways to get from point a to point b. I still see why people don’t like these scenes tho) it is kinda interesting to me that the most pervy fuck it I’m gonna use the real word RAPEY literal attempted sexual assault moments in the show seem to be used to make us dislike a character and view them as fucked up. (Allegedly they stop being used which thank God but I digress I’ve been talking abt them too long lmao)

the good guys in the series are like, actually pretty innocent. Aira looks at her dad’s porn to figure out how romance works, Momo and Okarun have this incredibly sweet and innocent romance, and don’t make it weird or creepy when they see eachother in a vulnerable position, Jiji is just a very close childhood friend of momo’s and while he might like her he seems to be pretty respectful and again, innocent. Have yet to meet the rest of the cast but I do hope to see this pattern of innocence continue.

I might also be reading into it too much idk

[thebaldursmouthgazette]

For all their screaming and crying about how Solas deserves compassion I feel like a lot of S/lavellens lose their credibility when they bend over backwards to defend Solas's every flaw but do not extend any of that grace or sympathy to characters like, Vivienne, Blackwall, Dorian or Sera, whom they tend to boil down to being arrogant, a liar, pro-slavery and racist. It's really telling that it's about their romance and nothing else. Like, girlies, your man has all 4 of those qualities going on at once and is, if anything, less justified because given any opportunity to grow or change he says "no". I do not want to see you in the Blackwall critical tags after you wrote a 1000 word essay on why Solas should be redeemed.

Yep. I think sera is a particularly good example of this (though they’re all fair examples), because their actions are so similar (though with wildly different reasons) and the reaction so different. Sera expresses her disconnect from elven culture due to being raised by humans and only really having it acknowledged she’s an elf when someone is being racist to her or bothering her about why she’s not elfy enough, and gets almost no sympathy. She’s called racist even though, if you take five minutes to actually listen to what she’s saying, it becomes clear that it’s internalised due to how she grew up. She is also literally like 20.

Solas, meanwhile, belittles and demeans modern elves literally just because he’s an asshole. There’s no childhood trauma here. There’s no internalised racism. He just doesn’t think modern elves are people and thinks the culture they lovingly cultivated and insisted on keeping, despite constant efforts to wipe it out, is stupid. But he’s not called racist, no he’s oh so wise and insightful, please solas bless us with your wisdom while we kiss your feet.

Solas committed a genocide, created the blight, treated his victims with contempt for continuing to exist, killed multiple people, used people as tools, killed trusted allies for so much as questioning him, arranged major attacks killing swathes of people, denied those people personhood to justify it, lied, manipulated, gaslit and betrayed everyone in more ways than you can count, and it is less acceptable in some areas of this fandom to criticise him at all than it is to act like the 20 something lesbian dealing with internalised racism is an evil racist witch with no redeeming qualities, or to act like the black woman who is trying to work within a system to protect her people as much as she can is an evil oppressive witch with no redeeming qualities (they’re comparing Vivienne to Mythal now. I wish I was joking. Apparently having a flawed but well intentioned approach to protecting innocents who are discriminated against is comparable to running an empire fueled by slavery).

Like lots of these characters have flaws, but none of them are approaching Mr Genocide, yet they’re attacked and given no grace while if you say one critical thing about mass murdering pookie bear you get called a slur.

[starglaee]

I’m a Mike Barnes hater. If Mike Barnes has no haters, I’m dead 🩷

[unconventional-lawnchair]

Like my father {Blurb}

Sirius Black x Porter!Reader

Summary: Reader wants a man to love her like her father loves her mom. She just hasn't met him yet.. maybe.

AN: I needed a break from all the angst I'm writing.

Wc: 1494

Cw: use of Y/N, oblivious reader, idiots in love, not proof read

Part two

“Lily, I implore you to raise your standards.” You snarked as you entered the kitchen, giving your mother a kiss on the cheek and she playfully pinched your side.

“{Y/N} Euphemia Potter!” She scolded and you giggled, hurrying over to your father and kissing on the head.

“Good morning, princess.” He hummed and you smiled.

“Morning daddy!”

“Oi! Pops, she just insulted me!” James shouted across the table and Fleamont huffed, looking up at you. “Be nice to your brother, princess.”

“Daddy you know I can't.” You insisted as you walked across the table to give Lily a hug. Pressing your cheek to hers as she giggled.

“You're way too pretty for my wack of a brother.” You continued and your mother looked at her father fondly, taking his hand in her own, which he quickly squeezed in return.

“You're one to talk, you haven't dated anyone… ever. Not that anyone would date-” James smirked and Lily rolled her eyes, laying her head on his chest and pinching his side as he tried to continue.

“Ouch!”

“Thank you Lily.” You giggled and sat down at your seat, muttering a thank you to Sirius as he handed you your morning tea. Giving a low hum at the smell of the sugars and fragrant tea leaves he shifted for it. “Besides, I have standards that prevent me from stooping too low.”

“Standards?” James scoffed and you hummed as you took a sip of your tea, muttering another thanks to Sirius who began to serve you breakfast- a routine you two picked up at Hogwarts that was getting hard to break. “You have standards? You used to crush on boys left and right!”

“Yes but the second they didn't meet my standards they were gone.” You insisted with a hum and James shook his head with a scoff.

“What standards could you possibly be talking about?”

“Well…” You muttered and began to tap on your mug in thought. Slowly smiling to yourself. “I want a man who loves me like daddy loves mum.”

You could feel the room quiet as your words hung in the air. Your father glanced up from his breakfast, a soft smile spreading across his face, while your mother’s eyes sparkled with pride.

“Now that is a standard I can get behind,” Fleamont said, his voice warm and filled with affection. “A man who cherishes you and treats you with respect is worth waiting for.”

“Exactly!” You exclaimed, feeling a surge of confidence. “I want someone who understands the value of love and partnership, not just a fleeting crush. Someone who will stand by me through thick and thin, just like you two do.”

James rolled his eyes dramatically, leaning back and throwing his arm around Lily. “So, like us?”

You gave a long sigh before you slowly smiled. “Unfortunately, yes. You were gifted with dad’s love language, it's your only redeeming quality, I fear.”

Lily snickered and James gave an offended gasp.

“I want…” You trailed off as you put your hand to your cheek and crossed your leg over the other. “I want to come home to flowers. And tea made the way he knows I like. I want him to think about coming home to me at the end of the day.”

You didn't even seem to look when Sirius poured more tea into your cup, stirring in some sugar as you talked. Even though everyone else at the table noticed.

“I want a man who gets along with my parents too! And daddy has high enough standards as it is!”

You glanced over at your father, who was smiling proudly at you, his eyes twinkling with affection as he glanced at your mother who seemed to just be eating it up. “I do have high standards.” He mumbled with a playful grin, leaning in to kiss your mothers temple. “But I’m confident that any young man would be lucky to have you.”

“See?” You said, pointing at him with a mock-serious expression. “Even Dad agrees! So, boys, do take note: you’ve got to bring your A-game if you want to win my heart.”

James snorted, not noticing as Lily and Sirius seemed to make eye contact over the table. “What if they show up with flowers but no charm? Or worse, what if they have charm but no flowers? Sounds like a dilemma.”

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head. “That’s why I’m not settling for just flowers or just charm, James. It’s about the whole package. I want someone who knows me better than anyone. Someone who knows my favorite flower,” You held up your finger and Sirius smirked from beside you.

“Sunflowers.”

“My favorite movie,”

“Grease.”

“My favorite book,”

“Little Woman.”

“And even my favorite meal!”

“Anything your mom cooks.”

“Exactly!” You turned to face Sirius with a bright smile. “See? It's not so hard, even my brothers best friend can figure it out.”

You smiled to yourself and took another sip of tea, not noticing your parents sharing a look and your brother giving you the most shocked expression.

Sirius just chuckled and picked a grape off his plate. “It's easy when you never shut it, Potter.” He then proceeded to flick it at you, quickly, you caught it and rolled it between your fingers.

“Oh! And playful too! I don't want to be dreadfully bored around the bloke.”

“Playful? So you want someone who can keep up with your incessant snark?” James interjected, eyebrows raised in mock disbelief. “Good luck finding that! You’ll be searching for ages.”

You shot him a playful glare. “I’ll have you know that my wit is one of my greatest assets, thank you very much. I need someone who can challenge me, not someone who’s going to sit there and nod while I talk.”

“Couldn’t agree more.” Lily chimed in, her voice light and teasing. “After all, who would want to date someone as dull as a rock?”

“Exactly!” You grinned. “I want someone who can banter with me, someone who can make me laugh until I cry; I want to marry my best friend.”

“Do you have other friends?” Sirius sassed and you gave him an offended but playful gasp.

“Excuse me?” You exclaimed, hand over your heart in mock horror. “I have plenty of friends, thank you very much! Just because you’re one of them doesn’t mean you can throw shade like that.”

“Friends who actually like you, though?” Sirius teased, leaning back in his chair with a smirk. “That’s the real question.”

James burst into laughter, shaking her head. “Honestly, {Y/N}, you might need to reconsider your definition of ‘friends’ if he’s the best you’ve got.”

“Hey now, I’ll have you know that Sirius is a very valuable friend.” You shot back, your eyes narrowing playfully. “And let's not forget, I was Lily’s favorite Potter first.”

“You still are!” Lily cooed as she reached across the table, James quickly lifting his hands to keep you two apart.

“Hey! Hands off my wife!” He playfully scolded and you laughed, before giving a dramatic sigh.

“I want a man… who’s patient and sweet. Who knows what he wants and will take his time for it.” You nodded as if to agree with yourself. “I want someone who doesn't see me as some fleeting crush. He sees me as someone to work for, who puts in the time and energy.”

James smirked, leaning forward with a teasing grin. “Good luck with that! You’re going to have to beat them off with a stick.”

“I’m serious, James!” You shot back, a hint of frustration lacing your voice. “I want someone who values me, not just for my looks or what I can do, but for who I am. Someone who appreciates my quirks and my drive. Someone who knows all my little weird things.”

“Wow, when did you become so profound?” Sirius said, feigning shock as he dramatically placed a hand over his heart. “I didn’t know you had it in you, Potter.”

“Oh, shut it, Black. I’m just stating facts.” You replied, your tone playful yet earnest. “I deserve someone who sees my worth and is willing to fight for it, just like my dad did for my mum.”

Your father smiled at that, clearly pleased with your sentiment. “That’s right, my dear. Love is about commitment and effort.” He stood up and walked around the table to kiss your temple. “You should never settle for less than you deserve.”

“Exactly!” You nodded, feeling empowered. “I want a man who knows that love isn’t a race.”

“Mhm.” You father agreed before he patted Sirius’s back as he passed. “Good luck, son.”

Sirius felt his face flush and he slowly smirked to himself, biting his cheek.

You looked at him and furrowed your brow, before you mother came over and kissed your cheek and dismissed herself as well.

“What was that for?” You huffed and Sirius shrugged.

“Who knows?”

[kcwriter-blog]

I've been thinking about how we the players know so little about Solas compared to what the writers and developers know about him and how that affects the way he is written.

I mean we know he is an ancient elf. We know he was powerful enough and skilled enough to create the Veil. We know he and Mythal were friends. He doesn't seem to have liked Andruil and Falon'Din much. Skyhold belonged to him. He removed vallislin. He tried to free slaves. He had kind of an underground railroad thing going. He seems to have had a lot of money secreted away. He painted even back in Arlathan. A lot of statues seem to have been made of him. People in the Vir Dirthara knew he created the Veil but were surprised that he would do something like that. He seems to have always had an affinity for the Fade and spirits. He enjoyed whatever version of the Game nobles in Arlathan played. He was cocky and hot blooded, always spoiling for a fight. He is capable of love and friendship.

I think that's all and it really isn't much. Everything else anyone says about him is pure speculation. It makes meta fun but its easy to get too caught up in our own ideas.

We speculate about him based on things we learn from his personal quests and what we see in Trespasser but we don't know anything for sure. Was he a slave? Was he a spirit called out of the Fade by Mythal and given a body? Did he manifest a body like Cole? Was he just a normal elf born in a small village to the north? Was he a noble and privileged or did he work his way up? Did he join the fight against the Titans? Was he a genius who theorized that the waking world and Fade could be separated? Did he use untried magic because his back was against the wall and he couldn't think of any other way to save the world? Was he a friend of the Evanuris so they trusted him enough to fall into his trap? Was he one of them?

So many questions. The writers have tried to portray him sympathetically. They want us to empathize with him. And I have to ask myself why? He is one of the antagonists. Wouldn't it be easier to portray him as not having any redeeming qualities? And yet, he is basically described as the hero who lived long enough to become the villain.

I know his detractors believe he is a genocidal, racist maniac but that doesn’t track with everything we learn about him as high approval or romanced Inquisitors. It certainly isn’t born out by his statement that he is doing his best to minimize the damage.

He truly believes what he is doing is best for the world and is willing to break it and remake it. What does he know? But more importantly, what do the writers know? Fen' Harel has existed since Origins. Devs have always planned for him to make an appearance. That means the valleslin has always been a mark of slavery even if the Dalish didn't know. The Creators have always been horrible, slave owners even if the Dalish don't remember. Which means Solas has always been the rebel fighting for what he believes is right.

Why do the writers see him not so much as the villain (although Epler uses that word constantly - he is usually the only one though) as they do a somewhat noble person who keeps making mistakes? Why is he portrayed as just a sad man who can't see past his regret and guilt. What was he like? What changed him? What did he know about the Veil before he put it up?

I get that a lot of people don't like the idea of being tied to him in Veilguard but maybe the writers did that so we have no choice but to get to know him - the good and the bad. Maybe we finally get to know Solas the way the writers and developers know him. I'm looking forward to that.

[daenerystargaryen06]

Reasons Why Daenerys Sacrificing Herself is Stupid

So, I have seen from the fandom points on that while people might not believe Daenerys will be killed, she will die sacrificing herself for the good of humanity against the Others in the books. Thus ending her arc in a 'better' manner. Yet this STILL includes harping on a female characters death, even if it is 'heroic', it's still just as bad as contemplating Dany dying by being killed by anything else. Some reasonings based on this theory vary:

-Some say Dany sacrificing herself will be a 'redemption' after she goes mad in the books and burns shit down (which is as ooc as it is and stems off of misogyny).

-Some say it is better for Dany to die sacrificing herself as a hero to rid/atone of the 'sins' of her ancestors (also misogynistic, and stupid.)

-Some say they'd rather see Dany die through self-sacrifice than any other way (but why see Dany die at all? Why not want for her to live happily instead, either as Queen or in a home of her own choosing?)

-Some say Dany will sacrifice herself to Jon as Nissa Nissa for the good of humanity (also misogynistic. Reduces Dany as a character. Dany is Azor Ahai, not Nissa Nissa).

The issue within Dany sacrificing herself overall, is it is an inherently misogynistic act within itself perturbed by those who want it to happen. Either way Dany sacrificing herself makes her a plot device, no matter how it happens. It strips away her character and what she represents.

-Dany sacrificing herself as Nissa Nissa is misogynistic in the way it strips Dany down from her character and simply makes her a tool. A vessel used for 'man pain' and only given a role for the man to be the hero. The woman dies so the man can continue on. She dies for the man and that is her only role in this portrayal. Even if Dany 'willingly' made herself Nissa Nissa and allowed it, overall it leaves a bad taste. It paints a narrative that her only use was for another man. A narrative that she was only useful for being a man's 'lover' and murdered in the end. A piece to be used and tossed away once done with.

Let's face the truth here, Dany is Azor Ahai. Her dragons Lightbringer. Dany does not need to be Nissa Nissa, because she already fulfilled the prophecy. Drogo was the sacrifice in this situation instead of Dany. The roles were reversed.

-Dany sacrificing herself (through battle or other means) also paints a misogynistic narrative. Her being a piece for sacrifice strips her of all her qualities; her intelligence, her ability and skill, her overall character arc and what she has done and achieved. It paints a picture that she is only of use to die. It makes everything she has ever achieved and accomplished and learned wasted on nothing. What is the point of her arc and all that she has learned and done if it's all just going to be wasted on her death in the end? Her apparently 'sacrificing' herself?

I do not see anyone discussed more of sacrificing themselves than Dany. And it's sad how people cannot enjoy a deeply written and amazing character without speculating on how they're going to die. It's sad people cannot enjoy Dany just for what she is without needing to make up theories just for how she will die. Why must she die? Why can't she live and have an accomplished and complete arc that results in her eventual happiness?

-The theory that Dany sacrificing herself for redemption after burning a city (like KL) is gross. Season 8 isn't canon, it isn't a part of G.R.R.M's ending. I highly doubt Dany is just gonna go crazy and start massacring people, when that has never been the point of her character and arc. G.R.R.M paints Dany as a HERO. Her narrative arc overall is that of a heroic one (but that doesn't have to include self-sacrifice done as a 'heroic' or 'redeemable act' either). G.R.R.M has also already denied a theory speculating Dany burning down the Water Gardens, why would he have her burn down KL instead? It makes no sense and would be a very ooc thing for Dany to do (no matter the circumstances). It is again, misogyny, to believe that Dany would just suddenly go crazy and burn shit, only to be able to 'redeem' her actions later by sacrificing herself and getting killed. If I needed that shit of an idea as an arc for Dany in the books, I might as well just ring up D&D and ask them to finish the books instead.

-Dany sacrificing herself to atone for the 'sins' of her ancestors/bloodline is also just as bad. What sins have her ancestors committed that she needs to atone for? I'd say most of her blood already atoned for their own sins given the tragedy that befell many Targs throughout the years. It does NOT fall on Dany to 'atone' for what her ancestors have done by sacrificing herself. There is the saying 'not to judge a person by the sins of their family'. Dany is not her family. She does not need to 'atone' for any sins. I'd say she's already doing a pretty good damn job of it already by upending the slavery economy, and being the person that she is- kind, compassionate, etc.

-As for theorizing she will sacrifice herself because there is no other vision for her death- again, I ask the question: why does she need to die at all?

Dany doesn't need to sacrifice herself. I doubt her arc will lead to that for her end. She is TPTWP, Azor Ahai. Her role against the Others will be one of triumph, not death. Dany is fire, she is life, she is Mother. There would be no point in her entire narrative arc, or even her written existence for that matter being raised up as such a large role, just for her to die in the end through 'self sacrifice'. I am sure many sacrifices will be needed during the Long Night, but Dany won't be one of them.

Let's not forget that Dany is the only person to

-First learn of the Song of Ice and Fire within the books

-Bring dragons back from extinction into the world

-Upend the slave trade/economy to help those enslaved

-Walk through fire to hatch dragons from stone

It is not her role to simply be used and traded off as some pawn for sacrifice. Her role is much bigger than just that. Dany is one of the main central characters within ASOIAF, she is the Fire in the title: A Song of Ice and Fire. Her role is not to sacrifice herself to the Others, but to end the coming darkness and bring Spring.

Dany is a hero, and she will continue to slay. Stay mad about it.

[incesthemes]

HELLO! I have to know, what did you think of Madhouse at the End of the Earth??? What were your favorite parts?? :3c pls share your thoughts

OMG THANK YOU i will say i have literally not stopped thinking about this book since i finished it early last week. i have a normal amount of sticky notes marking my favorite quotes/events and other notable moments.

(pictured: exactly 120 sticky notes.)

literally i don't even know how to move on from this book, it made me so insane. i NEED to do horrible and illegal sex acts to adrien de gerlache. there isn't enough de gerlache rpf to satisfy my desire to see him stepped on. he's so utterly pathetic and useless and stupid. no redeeming qualities whatsoever. just a soggy idiot who gets them stuck in the pack on purpose and then has the audacity to regret it. like how do you get any better than this. i cannot believe this man was real and actually existed in the same world i live in today. what the hell man.

anyway. favorite parts are probably. de gerlache and lecointe getting the belgica stuck in the pack on purpose was like, an unparalleled reading experience; i physically yelled out loud while reading it because i couldn't believe my eyes. but here's my full-ish list of every part i marked for being completely deranged:

lecointe SLEEPING on the tonite to thaw them out. literally what an insane man. ok girl (secondarily: lecointe thawing out the tonite by holding them close to the fire. GIRL)

that time cook and amundsen tore apart a seal and drank its blood directly from its veins while tollefsen watched in horror

every single time sancton described cook's nose (the "peninsula" comment got me bad)

"strangely enough the thing in sir john's narrative that appealed to me most strongly was the sufferings he and his men endured," amundsen wrote. "a strange ambition burned within me to endure those same sufferings."

and by god he did. even if he had to force the issue (the iceberg plan is a particular fave)

everything about the penguins, from de gerlache's petulant, childish refusal to eat them because he was salty the men didn't like the food he picked out, to amundsen's obsession with eating raw penguin meat, to the fact that they lured the penguins to the ship with van mirlo's godawful cornet playing

the time they caused a fire on tierra del fuego and had to go put it out, only to return to the ship to see it decorated for christmas. nothing says season's greetings like the minor destruction of someone else's land

they ran the ship aground. TWICE. before ever even making it to antarctica. TWO TIMES!!!!!!!!!!

cook and amundsen's first date climbing up a mountain and nearly plummeting to their certain deaths once each

de gerlache hosting a meeting about what to do when they were out of the ice, being pathetic about it, then begging lecointe to let him change the minutes so he'd sound cooler

DANCO'S BODY STANDING UPRIGHT AT HIS FUNERAL AS IF IT WERE POSSESSED

the fact that everyone hated michotte's cooking and yet no one bothered to even do anything about it. like what. if you hate it that bad make your own food cmon girls......

the unexplained random screaming that amundsen, cook, and koren heard but no one else did............. okay! #normalthings #sanitywin

cook going off the rails worshiping the sun. antarctica claims yet another victim (cook's sanity)

speaking of cook, the fact that the most likely theory for why everyone went insane was cyanide poisoning. from cook's photo developing solution. the DOCTOR did all this. it seriously doesn't get funnier than that

cook hanging penguin carcasses along the belgica's hull as they made to escape the pack. like imagine being in puntas arenas and seeing this ship no one is expecting come into port and everyone has these crazed eyes, some of them are screaming and in the throes of a full mental breakdown, and there's fucking penguin carcasses hanging off the ship like some kinda charms. the mental image alone sent me into hysterics i swear

and most importantly, the fact that all of this happened and they still managed to keep the ship. i think sir john, crozier, and shackleton (et al) are rolling in their graves over this expedition. most incompetent freakass men you know got to keep their ship and yours is at the bottom of the ocean. i can't even believe it.

on a serious note this was just genuinely a great book, it's written so well and in such a particular way; reading nonfiction has never been so fun—sancton made these cold boys sound like shounen anime characters, for real. it was awesome seeing the steps they took to ensure survival and the mistakes they made which undermined the expedition. there's a lot to learn from this expedition and a lot to admire about it, for what it was. it was also just an insane ride from beginning to end—everything went wrong, nearly every guy on that ship was in way over their head and completely wrong for the job, and they kept making the worst possible choices at every turn. the fact that they survived is a miracle and honestly i do think, even though cook was probably accidentally responsible for how crazy they got, he deserves a lot of praise for keeping the ship together and being so proactive in their survival. and never have two people matched each other's freak the way amundsen and cook did, oh my god. they're calling tollefsen the madman while yearning to plummet from an antarctic mountain or live on an iceberg. but sure tollefsen was sooooo crazy.

anyway sorry this is really long but holy shit this book made me so crazy. it's gonna take such a long time for me to get to a point where i can be normal about the belgica after reading this. holy shit man.

[jtl-fics]

Fluent Freshman - Part 37

PREV

Laughs might be an understatement.

Falls into hysterics might be the better way to phrase it.

It’s all so ridiculous.

He’d been scared to lose them and yet here they all were. Running around in Abby’s backyard, making a huge fuss about something stupid, talking about killing Daniel, arguing about his diet, and watching him with growing concern as he continues to laugh.

“See! This is because you gave him the damn milkshake!” Kevin exclaims turning to Aaron throwing a hand off.

FF laughs harder.

“How the fuck is Smiths having a mental breakdown about a milkshake?! He’s probably freaking out about that asshole and the fact that you want to let him make it to try-outs!” Aaron shouts back.

“He could be great!” Kevin defends.

“Man, is it worth him being great if Smithster is like this?” Matt asks.

“Well, we just keep him away from Smiths.” Kevin crosses his arms defensively. “Andrew can do it like how he kept Riko away from me.” Kevin points at Andrew.

“Riko was on a different team.” Captain Neil reminds coming up to look at FF in concern as he continued to laugh.

“He was prepared to keep you away from me and we were on the same team.” Kevin argues again.

“I don’t think Andrew is going to make out on the roof with Daniel.” Nicky says with an awkward laugh apparently recovering from Gran’s stated new favorite. Andrew and Captain Neil made faces, “Yeah, he’s not as cute as Neil.” Nicky agrees before settling at FF’s side, “Hey buddy, what’s going on? Do you wanna lay down?” he asks like FF is a toddler who is over tired.

He is pretty tired.

“Nicky he’s having a mental breakdown he’s not a toddler who needs a nap.” Aaron says.

“Well, what do you want to do Mr. Future Doctor?!” Nicky asks panicked.

FF really should stop laughing.

“I don’t study…” Aaron makes a face, “psychology.”

“Literally your only redeeming quality.” Captain Neil interjects but looks chagrined as FF wheezes.

“Shut up.” Aaron spits at him before turning to Andrew, “You’re the one who spends all that time with Dobson. Do you have any idea on how to fix him?” Aaron asks.

Andrew looks at him and FF is a little worried that he might split something in his stomach if he can’t stop laughing soon but he feels like his muscles are stuck in an almost loop that he can’t get his diaphragm out of.

Andrew walks over, “Percussive therapy.” He says and smacks FF hard on the back twice.

“Andrew!” came four different shouts.

FF coughs and it releases him from his hysterical laughing hell.

“Thanks.” He says and his stomach hurts the way it would after an especially hard work out.

“Anytime.” Andrew shrugs and moves back to stand by Captain Neil.

“Smithy? You with us buddy?” Nicky asks concerned and when FF looks around, he realizes it is well and truly the next day and well into the next day at that he must have been on auto-pilot for a while.

“Yeah,” he says and his face aches as bad as his stomach from the strain of using muscles he doesn’t normally. He coughs again, “Sorry about that.” He apologizes.

“Nah man, it’s cool.” Matt assures, “Are you okay? That was uh…a concerning amount of laughter.” He says gently.

“Yeah.” FF says, “I’m fine.” He looks at them and still doesn’t get why they all look at Captain Neil whenever he says it and why Captain Neil always looks especially pained. He decides to move along, “So, Daniel is going to try out.” FF says.

“Yes.” Kevin says at the same time the rest of his friends say “No.”

“Kevin, seriously?” Captain Neil asks.

“We need options.” Kevin shrugs before turning to FF, “Is he any good?” he asks.

“He’s obviously not as good as Smithy!” Nicky exclaims arms around FF in an instant. “Smithy got the offer, and he didn’t.” Nicky adds.

“I didn’t ask if he was better than Smiths, I asked if he was any good!” Kevin bristles.

FF shrugs, “Daniel has always been athletic.” He says thinking about the trophies that lined the halls of their home in Washington.

“The University didn’t listen to Neil and he’s Athletic. He’s going to try-out.” Kevin says.

“Not if I can help it.” Captain Neil grumbles under his breath.

“Neil, bud, you’re scaring me.” Matt says.

“I don’t need a car to kneecap him.” Andrew says with a shrug, “Smith if you don’t want him on the team then-“

“I don’t really care.” FF interrupts Andrew and the goalkeeper blinks in surprise.

“You don’t…care?” Aaron asks.

“Not anymore. Not really.” He says.

Nicky and Aaron were so worried that Andrew would murder Daniel for him that they hid the terrifying goalkeeper’s Maserati. Kevin and Matt spent the afternoon trying to make Kevin’s smoothies taste a little less terrible. Andrew is thinking about kneecapping Daniel and Captain Neil argued in front of people for his sake.

He has friends and they’re some of the most stubborn people on the planet. Once they make up their mind about someone it’s hard for them to change. They don’t care that he’s a mess of anxiety or that he’s got things he doesn’t want to talk about.

He’s got people on his contact list who would text and call him if he disappeared. More than just his grandma.

What does he really have to worry about?

The night and day of processing everything starts to catch up with him. “I’m kind of tired. I think I’m going to go to bed.” He says feeling like the weight from the night before was truly off of his chest and eager to catch some sleep.

“Drink this first.” Kevin says and FF can hear a slight concern for him but he’s not sure why.

He takes the drink.

“The flavors a little better.” Matt says and FF slams the entire drink as he’s learned to do with Kevin’s smoothies, and it really does taste better.

“Thank you.” He says.

“I’ll take that.” Nicky takes the glass from his hand. “How about we cuddle again tonight?” Nicky asks.

FF thinks that’d be nice but also thinks that Nicky moved a bit too much in his sleep.

“I’ll be okay tonight. Thanks.” he looks back at his friends, “Night guys.” He says and heads inside where Gran and Abby were enjoying some tea.

His Gran kisses his cheek, she’ll be leaving after Monday and FF will miss her like he would miss an arm but she has a bowling league to get back to, a knitting club to run, and she misses the Pacific North West. “I’m going to take you somewhere tomorrow.” She says to him in Polish.

“Ok Gran.” He says back in the same language before kissing her cheek right back. He hears Abby make a touched sound and then a commotion outside and his lips twitch in an attempt to smile, “I’m glad I came here.” He says.

She smiles back, “Me too.” She agrees.

***

“Great, Smithy is depressed.” Nicky hisses looking at Kevin, “Why the fuck would you give him one of your god awful smoothies when he’s already depressed?!” he demands.

“Physical health and mental health are heavily correlated. If his physical health improves-“

“Shut up.” Five voices chorus together as one.

“I’m not wrong.” Kevin grumbles.

Neil looks at Andrew, “We’ll watch his back.”

Andrew nods and when he looks to the rest of their group.

They will.

“Now tell me where the fuck you hid my car.” Andrew turns to Nicky.

“I have zero faith that you won’t run him over.” Nicky returns, “Can’t watch Smithy’s back in jail.” He points out.

“To be fair, his back wouldn’t need to be watched if Andrew ran Daniel over.” Neil argues.

“Neil.”

“I’m just saying.”

***

There had been late night dorm discussions about shifts, what to do if they saw Daniel, and Andrew threatening a few more times that he’d call the cops until Aaron called his bluff.

“You would never call a cop to help you.” Aaron argues.

“Bee said it’s the sign of a narcissist if they use what they learn in group therapy against you.” Andrew crossed his arms and looked away.

So they walked back to Abby’s house that morning but… maybe they should have made it clear to FF that they were planning on watching out for him that weekend.

"He left?" Neil asks.

"With his grandma. She was writing to me last night. She got in contact with an old family friend, Smith's godfather. She wanted to cheer him up." Abby says leaning against her door frame with her coffee mug in her hand.

"She's good." Matt says appreciatively.

"Any word on when they'll get back?" Nicky asks.

"More than likely before the end of the day but otherwise? They didn't say. Smith's face did that thing it does when he's happy though so I don't think you have to worry. He's in good hands." she says.

In the end they have different people loitering around Abby's but FF doesn't get back until after they are all back in the dorm.

So none of them quite knew what to expect when they came to Abby's house and found a motorcycle in her driveway. "Wow, that's a nicely maintained bike." Matt comments looking the bike over with an appreciative eye.

"Thanks." came from the door and when they looked up they see FF standing with a leather jacket on and a helmet in hand. "My uh..." he hesitates, "uncle Theo," he says the title likes it's unfamiliar to him, "kept it. It was my dad's and yesterday he signed it over to me." he explains.

"Do you know how danger-" Kevin starts but Nicky's hand slaps over his mouth before he can finish any reprimand.

"Smithy that's so cool! Are you going to get your license?" Nicky asks.

"Oh, I already have my motorcycle license." he explains, "Since I don't like cars." he adds and his face does that thing again that means he's happy, as if talking about his phobia makes him feel better. "I would ride Gran's motorcycle to school a lot." he explains.

The conversation continues as Aaron, Matt, and even Andrew inspected the Motocycle approvingly. Neil was the only one who had ever ridden one aside from FF and he'd always been more interested in ones that were easy to steal than good ones like the one FF had gotten.

FF goes on a solo drive on his new motorcycle and they keep an eye on him when he's back safe.

Eventually, it's try-outs.

***

"You're sure you want to watch?" Captain Neil asks for the 3rd time since FF had stated the night before over dinner that he intended to come to practice to watch the try-out.

"Yeah Captain Neil." FF answers dutifully.

"You really don't have to come." Captain Neil implores again as they continue towards the Court.

"I want to." FF offers a half smile to Captain Neil. It'd be better to know what he's dealing with. He may have decided that he doesn't really care about the fact that Daniel is here since he has faith in his friends but he also would probably die if he sat around waiting for the news.

So he gets to the Court and Kevin hands him a new shake. "This one actually tastes almost good." Matt says with a smile. He takes the same seat next to Coach Wymack he'd taken over the last couple weeks as the team changed out.

Daniel was there bright and early already kitted out. He sees Daniel see him but Coach Wymack stepped between them when Daniel starts to move towards them, "Keep going with your warm-up Stanton." Coach Wymack orders.

Daniel gives Coach Wymack a pleading look but he must not see what he wants on Wymack's face because he scowls at Wymack and FF before he returns to stretching.

FF takes a sip of his smoothie.

He doesn't know if the smoothie is actually good, if his mouth tastes like ash, or his tastebuds are so obliterated from having drank all the previous smoothies that he can no longer understand what tastes good or bad anymore.

There's someone in the stands. "University sent someone to make sure the try-out is fair." Coach Wymack explains as he settles on the bench next to FF.

Eventually the rest of the Foxes are out, "We have a potential new recruit with us this morning. He will be trying out for the position that Lisa left open." Wymack explains and FF is shocked to see almost the entire team glowering at Daniel. (His upperclassmen friends he had expected, but Jack, Sheena, and his old roommates seem unamused by Daniel's presence).

Wymack gives the practice to Captain Neil to run.

FF sits back and watches the practice unfold.

He sips his drink.

Huh.

"Christ," he hears Coach Wymack mutter under his breath. "What kind of confidence did that kid have to argue for this try-out playing like that?" Coach Wymack asks in stunned awe as he turned to him, "Did he even ever play Exy before?" he asks.

FF sips his drink.

"I said he was athletic." he says and had figured that would have carried Daniel through. He figured if he didn't know the rules and could play at a Division 1 Collegiate level well then it's not like Daniel had zero chance.

Coach Wymack groans, "Kevin is going to kill that kid." he says and it is amazing how poorly Daniel is doing at the precision passing drill.

FF blinks in surprise before he turns his attention to the player standing still watching over the drill.

FF can feel the fury radiating off of Kevin Day.

Huh.

MASTERPOST FOR ALL PARTS OF FLUENT FRESHMAN AU

NEXT

[gutfaced]

ok re: weird race stuff in thg i literally was just thinking about your post and how every single black boy is described as a threat. anyways. i am dropping in to ask about any thoughts you have on chaff and seeder and how they're treated in the narrative - i've been thinking about seeder's connection with katniss and chaff's with haymitch and how it made wayy more sense for them to be allied with katniss and peeta. idk. felt like another way for them to be more Tragic Deaths. but i also don't know if i'm making a mountain out of a mole hill

hey, hi! you're totally not making a mountain out of a molehill and i do actually have some thoughts.

i feel very strongly about chaff and his part of the narrative (if that wasn't already apparent) and how i absolutely loathe his introduction. kissing katniss as a joke looked very predatory at first to me, and it was weird that suzanne collins would pose one of her black characters in such an unfavorable light as SOON as he's introduced. then you've got the comments about “he could never stay out of a fight,” and then that poses him as predatory AND aggressive. those negative traits will overide the positive in a read where he's been mentioned.

his redeeming qualities is looking over katniss and peeta, (and bonding with him specifically,) alongside playing a huge role in haymitch's life, as a best friend/drinking partner, which even reads as queer-coding, considering that the first person that we see is important to haymitch, is a man. and yes, men have best friends! not denying that! but it's the nature of descriptions in their relationships, and even peeta's adamance to mention chaff every so often. chaff ALSO lasted a long time in the arena, being smart enough to likely figure out the tree + water trick without a spile.

with seeder, she seems almost forgettable. a seam-resembling woman who reassures katniss about rue and thresh's family, and holds a sense of comfort and wisdom as an older woman. and yet, first chance, she's one of the first people to go. we don't get her story, or any important details otherwise, and it really stunts getting to know the (introduced) victors of 11. it simply seems as if they weren't important enough in comparison to other victors, when they were in on the rebel plan in the exact same way.

and on the subject of reaper, chaff and thresh, it is so repetitive to have all 3 of your main black characters be brutal, fighty, aggressive. reaper killed a peacekeeper. thresh killed clove brutally. chaff, we don't know. but if he's a fighter, then i assume his actions aren't any better. it's okay to make your black characters good people. you don't have to weave in microagressive stereotypes to display racism, especially when it isn't your place. each of these characters do so much good, yes! but by collins constantly giving them that fatal flaw of violence and aggression, which is ALREADY a trait that condemns black people in the modern day, true or not true of any character, she undoes that. she harms the community she's attempting to represent in her work.

i could also mention how the torture system in district 11 eludes to lynching, and how strange it is to beat people for eating crops, or kill them for harmless mistakes. it is not racism representation, it is harm, because we don't have to be tied to slavery every time! a lot of our history is, but in the same vein? it's not the only thing that happened to black people, and you don't have to hint or reference it to create a successful black character/population.

very true that suzanne uses each character as a tragic death. it's literally like how every black character dies first in a horror movie. overused, and absolutely uneducated. because we have reaper & the poisoned water (and in the movie the snakes,) seeder in the bloodbath, rue and the spear and her mural/tribute grave, chaff dying right as they were leaving the arena, boggs getting his legs blasted off and dying violently. all of this is repetitive, and she gives life to these characters, just to have that discontinued. and it's unfair, it isn't representation to the full extent.

[rius-cave]

The reason why I think killing off Adam permanently is a huge mistake is the fact that he deserves redemption the most. Out of all Hazbin characters, he's the one who deserves to be redeemed, both literally and figuratively in the viewers' eyes.

He's been introduced as an utterly obnoxious, narcissistic and egoistic asshole, with literally zero obviously positive qualities expect maybe him being a funny guy?? Although his humor was built around vulgar and sexist jokes so it's debatable. He was clearly meant to be an antagonist and that only, kinda like the Vees (although that has room to develop yet, and certainly gonna in s2). No concrete reason was stated as the motivation of his behavior, we can only assume things but it's clear there wasn't much thought, he just wasn't destined to be explained and redeemed. He's just like that.

And that's the big issue. He's kinda portrayed as he's always been like that (why Lilith left him etc). But there's the fact that he's in Heaven. How could he be in Heaven if he's a guy full of negative traits, shitty behavior and issues like narcissism (or even a potential god-complex)?? I don't think it would be possible for such problematic people to pass divine judgement and become winners, not even if said person is the literal first man and hasn't eaten the apple. Yes, we see how lenient Sera is with him about the whole extermination and his behavior, I wouldn't be surprised if Heaven has always been just as lenient, but I don't think they could've determined if he got to Heaven (especially since even Sera doesn't know how people get there).

So what's the point of saying all this? That he HAD to be better at some point. He had to be as "pure" and good as it leads one to become a winner. And that automatically means something had to change that later on. Be it the treatment Heaven gave him, how he's been praised as the first soul to get there, the perfect man, or some kind of untreated trauma from earlier (being abandoned, betrayed, etc) or even just seeing what humanity became (disappointment). I absolutely believe this would be reason enough to give the guy some development and redemption. He was caused to become what he is now by other people and circumstances in some sense, and he, unlike any actual sinners!!!, was actually "good enough" for Heaven. He made mistakes, he had flaws, but he wasn't all bad despite being portrayed like that, he wasn't hopeless, and him being an angel was the proof of that.

But even if he didn't get redeemed, he would've absolutely deserved atleast some character depth and an explanation of why he is like that. Sadly, that obviously wasn't Vivzie's goal, and probably won't ever be. (I still do have a slight hope that Adam will come back in some way once, though that's mostly just desperation on my part and me being delusional lol)

Wow anon, you really went off here. I understand. I also have Thoughts™

See, I am in a bit of a difficult position, because I see most things as, well, as they are. On one hand, yes of course I believe that Adam absolutely deserves a redemption story, or if not that, at least more story, ya know? On the other hand, I understand Adam's narrative purpose for the show and what the big picture is. I also understand the writing flaws of the show and how maybe one explanation is just that, the writers don't have that big of a scope in mind lol.

But also there are limitations that are outside of their control. Adam could honestly easily have a complete season to himself with how much potential as a character he has, but Hazbin Hotel is not about him. Yes, it's about redemption, but it's not about his redemption, you know?

And let's be honest, most of the potential that fanon usually attributes to him is mostly based on the real biblical character that he's "based" on. If he was just a shitty angel with a shitty motive with some shitty beef with Lucifer and hell, I don't think as many people would've cared this much about him. But I also feel like Adam being THE Adam from the bible was more like.... An adendum. Like they knew they wanted a main angel antagonist, and then just went "oh wouldn't it be cool if it was Lilith's ex husband too lol" and then rolled with that.

As for Adam being a good person once, trust me, that is also my headcanon, it's one of my favorite headcanons in fact, but... I wouldn't be surprised at all if it wasn't like that.

I think Adam was a good person once because of all the reasons you listed, but one of the reasons why they made Adam such a shithead is, yeah so he can work as a fun villain, but it's also to shed light on Heaven's hypocrisy and the fundamental problems of the system. It also serves to highlight how ridiculous Heaven is for allowing someone like Adam in for being privileged from the start, but not allowing the people in Hell who are arguably not worse than Adam. Adam isn't only a villain, he's also showcasing the issues of Heaven and their double standards.

And on the subject of the writing process, sometimes for shows like these, it's completely possible that the writing team is aware of how good of a character Adam is, it's highly likely that they've seen the sinner Adam AUs and all the love he's gotten since the show ended, and some of them probably agree that it would be an awesome story! .... But they still had to choose not to do it.

Again, at the end of the day, Adam is not a core part of Hazbin or its themes. Sure, he could represent redemption, but we're also kinda doing that with Angel and Pentious and maybe with other characters. They can't tell EVERY character's story because that just goes outside of the scope of the show. So, they need to prioritize Angel, or Husk, or maybe even Alastor if he gets some sort of redemption too. The show has a set of main characters and it has to put them before the villains, specially when they didn't even know if they'd get a season 2 (or how many more seasons they're going to get). The main cast is already a bit underdeveloped and I can't imagine them cutting even more of that for the vulgar, genocidal villain.

It's hard being an Adam fan that also has a vague idea of how shows and writing work lol

[hellaversity]

It really says something that the Helluva Boss fandom is willing to excuse every evil action Stella does and every evil thing she says, especially her abuse towards Stolas and begging for her to have sympathetic traits, yet not once have I ever seen an HB fan desperately wishing for Crimson or Mammon to be portrayed more sympathetically than they are in the show and call it bad writing when they don't show any redeeming qualities. The fandom just accepts the fact that those guys are pure evil without batting an eye. Nobody asks why they're the way they are. But Stella? Nope, there MUST be a sympathetic reason for her being an abusive bitch to Stolas because it's apparently "unrealistic" for a woman to abuse her husband out of spite never mind the fact that those kinds of women actually exist in real life.

These images pretty much speak for themselves.

Crimson, Striker, Mammon, Andrealphus and Valentino are no less two-dimensionally evil than Stella is. What reason did Crimson have to murder his own wife and make his son experience it? Just to traumatize him? The show never really says why he does it, he just does it so the audience can have a reason to hate him. What reason does Striker have to help Stella try to kill Stolas? None, as far as we know. What is there to Mammon's character other than abusing Fizzarolli and being a greedy asshole in general? Why does Andrealphus flirt with his own sister and participate in her scheme to have Stolas murdered by Striker? Because reasons. Why is Valentino a rapist who takes advantage of Angel Dust and sexually abuses him? Just because he can. What makes Stella any different from these guys other than being female?

Fans are just asking for her to be more sympathetic because she's a woman and they can't accept the fact that women are capable of abuse without trying to justify it. The whole "behind every bad bitch is a man who made her that way" bullshit. People who see a woman beating her husband in public and automatically assume he did something to deserve it even if they have no evidence or context for what actually happened. Even though Stella has been treating Stolas like shit before he cheated on her, and he likely wouldn't be sleeping with Blitzø if she wasn't so horrible to him in the first place. He never even puts his hands on her and allowed her to abuse him so that Octavia could live and grow up with normal parents. (As normal as Stella and Stolas could possibly get with each other, anyway.)

Stella made fun of Stolas for not participating in sex with her and laughed about it while he was standing 2 feet away from her, and knew he was there. Whether or not she raped him to produce Octavia is a discussion for another day. If anything, Stolas cheating on her was revenge for treating him like garbage for so many years. She humiliated and embarassed him in public before getting a taste of her own medicine when Stolas does the same to her in return. She wouldn't even let him divorce her because she enjoys being mean to him. I wouldn't mind if Stella was given more charaterization outside of "abusive wife" but honestly? I don't really care if she's given sympathy or not. I don't want to sympathize with her. If Valentino isn't gonna change his ways any time soon, I have no reason to believe that Stella can. FFS Stella apologists make me mad. Even if you type in the "anti stella" tag on tumblr there are more posts defending and excusing her actions than those actually opposing her and saying "uh, no, she's just a cruel bitch" meanwhile if you type "anti Stolas" that's exactly what you're gonna get, pretty much exclusively.

Goes to show how hyper-sensitive tumblrinas are over female characters rightfully being portrayed as in the wrong when they fucking are.

[saturnsmocha]

READ MY RULES BEFORE LIKING, COMMENTING, AND REBLOGGING!!!

Hey y'all! Remember when I said I had a Lucky Contestant FC of my very own? Well, here they are! They mainly appear wearing the mask, but I wanted to show off their face for this bio so y'all can get a taste of what they look like.

Onto my Contestant...

Leni Sorensen had it all. They were the star athlete/gymnast at their high school, found the perfect man and moved in with him in a nice house after graduating. But then, something crashed and burned in their mental state and now they've turned into a bitter adult who lives in a crappy rundown apartment, has gone through a breakup, dealing with a smoking addiction, and is struggling to find a job. Desperate to get their life back together, upon hearing that if you managed to find a VHS tape in one of the Frankie's Fruit Flake boxes, you'll be granted to participate in a private indoor gameshow with the promise of 5 million dollars, they obsessively remuage through every box for the to be signed up and luckily for them, they finally found it after 769 boxes. They even toke rehab to get rid of their addiction and train really hard so that they can regain their parkour skills in time for the game. Under the impression that it was a simple and harmless yet goofy gameshow like Wipeout, they quickly realize upon being accepted that this "gameshow" is actually a streaming podcast located in the dark web AKA a "red room", where sick fucks pay money to watch people get sliced up by saws, have their skins melted by toxic slime, and be hunted down and killed by monstrous versions of the mascots. With Leni being the only surviving "contestant" able to outwit the monsters with her athletic gift and win the prize, they ended up making the red room more money and is now forced to remain imprisoned at the Parkour Palace until the next season arrives, rather they accept the offer or not.

Extended Bio:

Full name: Magdalena Sorensen Nickname: Leni and Maggie (but if you value your life, don't call them that. Just don't) Age: 24 Gender: Nonbinary (goes by any pronouns) AFAB Nationality: Dutch-American Orientation: Bisexual Family: Mother and father, older sister named Amelia (26) and younger brother James (20) Personality: Leni is as confident and boisterous as they are arrogant. They often act rude, dismissive, and sarcastic. They have an ego the size of Jupiter, they know that they are a gifted athlete and won't let others forget. They believe in "survival of the fittest" and looks down at the more weaker ones, blaming them for their shortcomings and willing to leave them behind if they were in a survival setting.

Leni in general isn't the most pleasant person to be around, which was why they don't really have friends, not that they wanted any to begin with (or do they?). But… They are not without a few redeeming qualities… Right? Yes, their negatives do outway their positives, but Leni's not evil. The whole reason they wanted to enter the gameshow was not just because they want a better living space, but to also have a better living space and makes things right with their ex Brett, so they are capable of feeling remorse. Deep down, Leni does long for companionship, but they don't know how, and because of their crass attitude, no one's willing to tolerate them. Needless to say, they are one tough nut to crack.

Fun facts:

🐇Leni has near vision so she wears glasses, but she does sometimes wears contacts. They wore contacts during the gameshow. They hated wearing the mask and if they have an opportunity to take it off they will. 🐇Leni didn't have the best homelife. Their parents (although they love all three of their kids squally) have jobs that require them to work for long hours, so they're rarely at home and when they are, they are exhausted. But that is not the worst part, they often leave her at home with her older sister who makes it her goal to make Leni's life a living nightmare. James however, is the only one who sees the good in them (and still does) and has looked to them his life, but has unfortunately inherit some their boasting which they nowadays try to discourage. 🐇Before moving out, Leni was the one who does all the chores around the house and prepare food. Amelia is more concerned with being on the phone and James was little at the time, but as he grew up he tried to help their older sibling out. 🐇Outside of a boyfriend, Leni did have a small group of friends at one point, although they all got fed up with their prideful nature. 🐇When they're not training for season 58, Leni would try to come up with plans to escape, lay in bed all day, thinking back on their time with Brett and their friends in guilt or trying (and failing) to avoid conversing with Frankie. 🐇James refers to Leni as his "brother". Amelia and their parents refer to Leni as their "sister" and daughter. Brett referred to them by they/them pronouns. Frankie and Henry also refers to them by they/them pronouns. That was when they came out as nonbinary and say they don't mind being referred to as a "he", "she", or a "they". 🐇Leni sleeps in a fetal position and always hugs onto their pillow or blanket. 🐇Leni has a soft spot for animals, although she has a fear of rats, or atleast used to. It helps that every animal she comes across like her, or atleast don't mind her presence. 🐇During their imprisonment, they noticed an injured rat. Despite their phobia of rats, pity overcomes fear within them (and because they were desperate for a companion to stay sane) and they toke it upon themselves to try and nurse it to health. The rat started to imprint on them and they ended basically adopting it. They haven't thought up a name for it. 🐇Leni does become a amicable person in the future. The gameshow shattered their pride and made them question their motto especially regarding the Noob Noobs and eventually Henry. There are still a few bumps in the road, but they are trying their best to be nicer. Leni isn't fond of children. 🐇They hates anime and sees them as overrated and stupid. 🐇Leni thinks that vegans are pathetic. Leni is a big eater. 🐇Their favorite food are ramen noodles and their favorite drink is strawberry and cream soda. 🐇It's possible that her rudeness and sarcasm is also a defensive mechanism. 🐇They haven't been to college. 🐇They are suffering from nicotine withdrawals.

[gabrielsbubblegumbitch]

I just wanted to say that I am really envious of the way you write the Vees. As someone who struggles with making characters woobiefying and with characterization in general, I appreciate how you can write these characters perfectly that the show didn’t have time to portray. I didn’t have a specific request, but now I was wondering if you could give me some advice on how to analyze and write a character, even if you have a personal bias towards them?

Awww thank you so much ❤️ I don't have like any degree in literature or anything that would give me credibility in giving writing advice, usually I just go with the flow. But I'll do my best!

Imo the most fundamental thing is the way you think about characters. In fandom spaces, we very often see them as "people we like" - hence all the discourses like in Valentino's case "if you like him it means you are a bad person". I think that woobification is influenced by this cognitive dissonance caused by liking characters that should be unlikeable. For me the way out of it was giving up "characters as people" mindset and changing it for "characters as tools". Bacause that's what they are - tools you use to build your narrative. When I say I love Valentino I don't mean I would shake his hand - I mean he's my favourite toy I can do multiple things with. And it's his flaws that make him so much fun. Because outside of the comedy genre, narrative cannot exist without conflict. The more flaws a character has, the more conflict it causes. That's why villains are such a powerful driving force for stories (here are some great essays about it: 1, 2). Put any character in the room with Val and you have an interesting bit not only because of the usual character differences that could happen between eg. Vaggie and Husk but also because stakes suddenly become high. What will he do? Will he hurt them? We saw what he's capable of. Will he be nice? Man, that's even worse because it means he has his own motive to be nice. What might it be? That's what keeps the audience engaged with your writing. Extra points if you give him some human weaknesses or conflicting desires. When it comes to characterization, nuance is the key. That's why I love VoxVal so much - two characters that are absolutely awful but they are fiercely in love. How could Valentino be capable of simply caring about someone but himself? What kind of human is buried underneath all this evil? So much to unpack here. Nothing I'd like to experience but everything I'd like to see from a safe distance. Consider: would you even like the Vees so much in the beginning if they were just other guests at the hotel? In the show, neither of them has a single redeemable quality. And yet, here we are.

When it comes to writing characteristics it's also important to watch characters from different perspectives - that helps with giving them nuance. Let's take Vox. People seem to like and respect him, he's obviously an influential figure (he has a lot of social power). But from Alastor's perspective, he's just a pathetic little attention-seeking looser (he has a fragile ego and lowe self-esteem). Yet his assistant seemed to be scared shitless while talking to him (he had done things that made people from his closer look aware that he's dangerous). Angel knows he watches his abuse and hangs out with Valentino (at best he's indifferent to other's suffering, at worst he enjoys it). Carmilla doesn't respect him but they are on terms good enough, Vox wants to do business with her (he's a competent business partner). For the rest of Vees he's smart enough to listen to him but at the same time he's their cringefail naurospicy bestie. Add all of those perspectives together and you have yourself a multidimensional character that can interact with other elements of the narrative in vastly different ways. Also, from that point you can build up, asking yourself other questions "What would they think/do/say?".

Also, the last thing: every character needs a clear goal that influences all their decision. Choose it and always keep it in mind. Bonus points: a character has two main goals that are contradictory. When I write Vox he has two goal: power and adoration. He always has to choose which one is more important to him because while he has measures to achieve great power, some things that he would want to do are socially undesirable. In Valentino's case: hedonistic pleasure and immediate gratification vs love for Vox that demands sacrifices and compromises.

So anyway I hope that will be helpful to you <3 And don't be too hard on yourself when it comes to writing, not everything must be Game of Thrones. Especially in fandom spaces, sometimes we all want to indulge in some simple fluff or crack.

[suggiesug]

stain x BRATTY AFAB reader

kink list: dirty talk, dom/sub, spanking, enemies to lovers(?) vibe, orgasm + pleasure denial

“Get on your hands and knees and crawl to me.”

Things had been going on like this for weeks now. It was no secret to anyone that you were a brat. You want control. You want power. You want the universe to be how you want it to be, and everything served on a silver platter. Every tick and tock of a clock is to be on your command and no one else's.

“Good kitten. Spread those pretty legs for me. I want to see everything.”

Every brat needs a disciplinary figure. You've found yours in the one man who never fails to bring you to your knees with his presence alone.

The tips of calloused fingers grazing the insides of your thighs has you shivering, instinctively bringing your legs closer together by dragging your knees across the hardwood floor. A sudden, scolding ’ah’ reaches your ears before a boot-clad foot kicks one of your knees out again, a huff leaving you as you're made to spread your quivering thighs apart.

“Don’t run from it.”

The hero killer’s voice used to grind on you in the worst of ways, rough and something else to hate about a man with so few other redeeming qualities. Now, it makes you shudder, visibly trembling as the fingers return to your thighs. An amused huff sounds out behind you, and you have half a mind to twist your head around and snap at the other.

But you don’t. You remain on your hands and knees, legs spread, anxious for what Chizome might do to you next. 

“You’ve become so well-behaved these past few weeks,” he purrs, voice dripping with a taunting sweetness as the tips of his fingers trace the curve over your ass, lingering over your left buttock. “Have you been not touching yourself as I asked?”

“Yes,” you mumble your reply, then let out a sharp gasp when the fingers tracing vague shapes on your ass cheek suddenly dip down between your legs, teasing over the lips of your pussy. The way you flinch and jerk forward slightly has a rumbling chuckle leaving the man behind you, your fingers curling to form trembling fists on the ground in front of you.

“Yes what?” Just as quickly as he’d been chuckling in amusement at your cute little flinch, Chizome’s winding a hand back and harshly bringing it forward against the same cheek he’d been caressing only moments ago. The smack reverberates through the room; as does the harsh yelp you let out, your entire body jolting and your eyes opening wide. You whimper, thighs and arms trembling as they struggle to keep you up. The burn on your cheek lets you know that there’s most certainly a nice, red handprint there. No doubt it’ll linger for a while.

“Yes… sir.”

“Good kitten.”

The same hand that had spanked you goes right back to gentle, painfully slow caresses to the same cheek. If you didn’t know any better, you'd say it was Chizome’s silent way of apologizing. But you know well enough to realize that he’s simply admiring his work. The hand dips down between your legs again, and you're prepared as fingers glide across your wet heat this time, doing nothing more than shuddering.

“You’re so wet,” Chizome coos, and you keep your mouth shut instead of congratulating him for stating the obvious. “You must be eager if this is all it takes. How long has it been now?”

“Two weeks.”

“Two weeks,” he repeats, and your hips twitch when a calloused fingertip rubs over your clit before pausing on it. “Two weeks since you last came. How much longer do you think you can go, hm?”

Your head turns at that, glaring at Chizome the best you can from such an awkward angle. How much longer? The whole point of Chizome coming here today was so that you could get off. Who does this bastard think he is?

Said bastard immediately huffs out a laugh at your little glare, a grin spreading wide across his face. 

The next second, you're lurching forward and yelping yet again when another smack is administered to your previously unmarked cheek, no doubt giving a matching handprint to it. You shudder and let out a whimper, trembling arms giving in and lowering you to the floor. With your forehead pressed to the ground and your forearms either side of you, your position only spreads you out all the more, and Chizome seems to enjoy the change, judging by how he hums and caresses the newly reddened cheek.

“I asked you a question, slut,” With a voice just as demanding as before, Chizome’s purrs turn into something rougher; something less teasing and more aggressive. 

You whimper, your hips instinctually wiggling from side to side.

“As long as you want me to, sir.”

A huff sounds out behind you, and you know you picked the correct answer when the other’s fingers return to gliding along your slick lips.

“That’s right. Good kitten.”

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

[kitkatopinions]

TW: Sucide, toxic relationship, slavery, abuser and victim

My biggest pet peeve with stans regardless of the fandom they are in is always "you would've like female character if they were a man" No. Just stop.

If you want the biggest example of everyone hating on a male character even if they swap genders is none other than GOT Jeffrey.

That spoiled brat has no irredeemable qualities he's just a spoiled stuck up brat who everyone cheered when he died.

HOWEVER im not saying that there ISNT any misogyny towards female character/villains because no matter what fandom you are in there will be misogyny most towards fandom that has a large male fanbase (example Star Wars, Star Trek, Game of Thrones, Assassin's Creed, etc.)

Having a valid reason to hate a female character/villain is NOT misogyny. I hate Neo because the shows wants us to feel sorry for her because she didn't know what to do after Roman's death but are we forgetting an episode ago she DROVE RUBY TO SUCIDE USING PEOPLE SHE KNOW and then she redeemed herself by killing Cat?

FUCK THAT!

Regardless if Neo was a male anyone who drove someone to sucide will never be liked by me or anyone else.

Here's another one Leonora from Castlevanina is hated because she made Hector a slave and saw him as a pet yet she started to develop feelings for him the more time she spent with him. And many people are disgusted because 1) she enslaved Hector and then develop have feelings and 2) because of the obvious power imbalance/relationship of the abuser and victim.

If a character has a trait that triggers the audience or they don't like them for any actions then they can have a reason why they dislike not. I have many female characters that I hate with valid criticism just how much I hate male characters for that same reason.

Yeah, here's the thing, if I actually thought that anti-rwde posters were honestly concerned about misogyny, I would be very sympathetic.

Every single time a piece of media so much as passes the Bechdol test or has a woman that never wears a bikini, there are a bunch of misogynistic idiots and dudebros who hate it or those women. And in the modern day, only hardcore Trump supporters are out here out and out saying that they hate women and are misogynists and that's why they hate whatever it is they're ranting against. People do very much so use perfectly valid (or not so valid) "real criticisms" because they don't want to say the honest truth, or because they themselves wouldn't recognize their own misogyny. Recognizing that just because someone SAYS they hate a female character because of an action that they did doesn't mean they're not a misogynist is kind of important. The guys who harassed the actress of Rose Tico off of Twitter all hid behind 'valid reasons' for their criticism too.

But here's the thing:

1. It's important to be able to figure out what is and isn't actually a sign of misogyny. There's not a precise rule, but you can do things like see if the thing they hate is an exception or the rule, or see if they're hypocritical about their reasons, or see what kind of language people use. If they come around with "brat" "bitch" "cunt" for female characters, that's a red flag at best!! But yeah, ANY criticism of that kind of thing isn't automatically misogynistic. It's like yeah, a bunch of misogynists hated Taurial in the Hobbit because she's a woman and yes they disguised that by claiming it was for other reasons, but there ARE very valid criticisms and complaints about Taurial and you have to be willing to hear out those things instead if just blanket assigning 'misogyny.' Lots of things from Arcane to something as bad as Twilight has perfectly valid haters that are fine, and then also a bunch of misogynists that are going to pretend or really think they have valid reasons. Somone being unable to tell the two apart probably means that person is too close to the situation and too defensive, but these critics don't want to admit that maybe they're wrong.

2. If this was something like Steven Universe, then the defensiveness would make more sense. If it were a well written slow burn with a cast of characters with well rounded dynamics that the writers put work into and the show was about rebels trying to fight the system for a peaceful life and the show had never sexualized the women and there was hard-fought for groundbreaking queer rep and it was created by a Jewish bisexual non-binary woman, and there were mistakes and valid criticisms of the series, but also a lot of unjustified venom of nothing but bad-faith... Then we'd be having a different conversation. Instead it's a show about badge-carrying law enforcement officers, who fight the evil civil rights group from upsetting the status quo, in a show that has tons of things just 'happen off screen,' with a history of sexualizing some of the main female characters, that only recently confirmed any main character as queer years behind the curve, and that was created by and mostly written for by a bunch of straight cis men most of them having said or done misogynistic things. Anti-rwde posters like to pretend that there's no reason why a great completely non-problematic misunderstood stand-up show like RWBY made with love by the totally not at all a part of RT "CRWBY" should be hated, and therefore it must be because of misogyny, but they aren't living in reality.

3. Most anti-rwde posters actually don't really care about misogyny and they aren't actually basing this on - for lack of a better word - good faith. They don't care about Jaune harem fics or the fanarts of RWBY girls with giant breasts in bikinis, and they don't call out the writers or even RT for their bigotry, and they have quite literally Trump supporters that post anti-rwde stuff, but none of that matters. Instead they spend their time harassing a group of mostly queer women for *checks notes* criticizing a show written by mostly men.

So yeah. I've seen misogyny in rwde posters tbh, and I don't think that "I have valid reasons for disliking them" is always proof that there isn't misogyny at play, but the anti-rwde accusations are nothing, because not only are they blind to the flaws of the show and the writers and are unable to recognize the difference between misogyny and just criticism, but also they're only using these accusations as a screen anyway, because they only ever go after rwde posters with it and are unwilling to call out the blatant misogyny in the rest of the fandom, in the show, or in the writers room. I would take this seriously if I thought this was an actual concern of theirs, but it isn't. They don't actually care about misogyny, they just want their show to be above criticism.

(By the way, I've never seen Game of Thrones or Castlevania so I can't speak to it, and also I like Neo a lot lol. XD Personally for me, villains doing bad things doesn't typically blacklist them for me so long as they're entertaining.)

[cosmicjoke]

No Words

God damn, God DAMN, I finally had a chance to sit down and watch Part 3 of the Final Season of “Attack on Titan”, and I really just have no words.  I’m just completely blown away.  MAPPA has done such an indescribably stellar job on every part of this last arc of maybe the greatest story ever written in manga form, and they do not disappoint here.  The gravitas of this hour long episode, including the naked brutality of the opening showing us the true horror of the Rumbling, and Eren’s own monstrosity, was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever had the true privilege to see in animation.  This isn’t a children’s show, as the manga itself was never a children’s story.  This is one of the most intensely relevant and truthful depictions I’ve ever seen of not only the horrors of war and violence, but the tragedy of the human condition.  They not only left Isayama’s panels uncensored here, but even added scenes which drove home the true brutality and tragedy of what Eren was doing.  Seriously, that entire opening sequence left me breathless.  I was just sitting here, stunned, while watching it. Again, this story is such an unvarnished and sincere look at the tragedy of war and the human capacity for violence, and really, in many ways, the inescapability of that nature within us.  I’ve always applauded Isayama for his commitment to that tragedy, and not giving in to the temptation of a happy ending in which all is well and right with the world, in which Eren is able to be redeemed, in which the cycle of violence is miraculously stopped.  Like Erwin once said, as long as there is more than one person, there will always be war.  And this episode by MAPPA captured that deeply dark, ugly and somber reality with such immensity and truth. It’s one of the greatest pieces of cinema I’ve ever seen. That really isn’t hyperbole.  I had tears in my eyes at several points watching this episode.  The cinematic quality and standard of MAPPA’s work remains as first rate as ever.

Hange’s moment, man... Again, I’m left speechless.  Hange really was the hero of this episode.  Their sacrifice, and the way it was rendered here by MAPPA, again, the brutality of it (and I know I keep using that word, but I really can’t find any other), watching them take down Colossal Titan after Colossal Titan, before finally succumbing to the heat, the way they caught on fire, and yet even still, as they were burning alive, they continued to fight and managed to take out one last Titan... Ah, it’s got me all fucked up just thinking about it.  They truly gave their all in the end to save humanity. 

And their farewell with Levi, just... oof, man.  Hange really was Levi’s last, remaining friend from the old days, and he has to watch them go, and there’s nothing he can do to save them, nothing he can do to help.  Another burden on his shoulders, another sense of his immense strength failing to matter.  And again, I have to commend MAPPA here, and their attention to detail.  Levi’s difficulty in even squeezing the trigger of his ODM gear drove home just how WEAK Levi still is at this point in the story.  For all the people that try to criticize him for not being able to do more, for not being enough of a force in the final battle, I think this one, small scene of his physical frailty should shut all those people up.  Because it makes crystal clear to the audience just how physically hurt Levi is, how he’s joining his comrades through nothing but sheer will alone.  His difficulty in performing a physical task which, through this ENTIRE series, Levi was more adept at, more capable of, more powerful in, than any other character, and yet, his hands shake here, and he has to grit his teeth and struggle to accomplish it, it proves Levi’s dedication and determination, even through his own deep impairment.  He’s in no shape to be fighting, and yet he does.  He has to, and he does.  That, like Hange, is the choice of a hero.

The same to all the cast.  Armin, Mikasa, Reiner, Jean, Connie, Pieck, and even Annie, eventually. 

I think MAPPA did an incredible job of conveying the true hopelessness of this situation.  The absolutely minuscule chances of success.  And yet here we are, our hero’s arriving to do what they can, regardless of the odds. 

And then there’s Eren.  Eren, who I will always maintain is one of the most compelling and tragic character’s I’ve ever seen.  While we see his undoubted and terrifying monstrosity on full display, and we understand truly, without question, that he has become the villain of this story, we also see in the flashback to his time in Marley, and his interaction with Ramzi, Eren’s humanity, his remorse, his self-loathing, and his regret.  And it’s that humanity we see in Eren, that genuine horror at what he knows he’s going to do, that makes his final actions all the more horrific and unforgivable.  Because he IS human.  He isn’t a monster.  He’s a human being.  And he chooses to do this.  He chooses to, because he WANTS to, just like he admits tearfully and with genuine remorse to Ramzi.  Is there anything more heartbreaking than that?  Eren’s betrayal of humanities hope is so impactful and so hard to accept because of that humanity.  Because we learned to love and care for and root for him over the entire course of this long journey, only to see him fail so utterly.  My heart bleeds for Eren, even as I know he’s become an unredeemable monster. 

My hat’s off to MAPPA, man.  I’m just floored by this first part of “Attack on Titan’s” conclusion.  I couldn’t be more impressed, or more satisfied with the seriousness with which this very serious story is treated here.  This is art, truly.  This is a story which speaks with total sincerity to the human condition.  And MAPPA has brought it so spectacularly to life.  Thank you MAPPA, and most of all, thank you Hajime Isayama for writing this incredible tale of human will, determination, dreams, triumph, tragedy, violence, cruelty, hate, fear, love, friendship and hope. 

I’m gonna’ stop now before I make myself cry.

I don’t think there’s ever going to be another manga or anime that hits harder or means more than “Attack on Titan”.  It’s truly a masterpiece, and in a class all it’s own.