#and he doesn't want to

[mage8]

If Dan and Phil currently or ever own a car, Phil needs this. 💀

[respectthepetty]

Power Dynamics in Naughty Babe

@visualtaehyun wrote this wonderful post about how we see devotion play out in the episode five opening scene of Naughty Babe through the language Yi and Diao use. *read the post!* However, the biggest takeaway is the shift in power that is being freely given by Yi and fully accepted by Diao.

The scene begins with Diao on the floor, lower than Yi,

only for Yi to lift Diao up, carry him, and switch positions to where Yi is on the floor lower than Diao.

Diao leans down to kiss Yi, and Yi sits up to reach the kiss, bringing both to an equal level.

But this scene is just the icing on a long baked cake because this is a well-deserved win for Diao after an entire season of Yi dominating him in Cutie Pie.

It was difficult for Yi to give up his power to Diao in Cutie Pie. Even when he was being kind to Diao, he was always slightly higher (look at that rainbow!).

Diao was fine with that. He understood it was difficult for Yi to open up, so relinquishing his power would be tough for Yi.

But Diao thought it would happen eventually. He believed that at some point, Yi would trust him enough to let him in, but Naughty Babe started with Diao admitting that Yi is still closed off. They aren't married because HIA YI won't allow it. Even when the parents question the decision and compare Yi's decisions to Lian's, Yi still says "no"

So when Diao tries to run off to Switzerland, Yi questions what he has to do to keep Diao, and Lian, the best buddy who calls Yi stupid and everyone compares Yi to, says this - "be his dog"

It's a wild claim that seems meant for laughs, but Lian continues with telling Yi that Diao loves his dog. Diao's dog is ridiculous and causes trouble for Yi, but he is obedient to Diao, and Lian understands submission very well. This was an entire discussion between Lian and Yi in Cutie Pie 2 You about power imbalances.

He is telling Yi that he must submit to Diao. Lian trusts Kuea enough to bow to him, to kneel at his feet and be vulnerable in front of him, so he offers this advice to his stupid friend.

And, thankfully, Yi listens because from then on out, he willingly lowers himself to Diao.

As soon as Diao allows him into his apartment, Yi gets to work. If Yi is higher than Diao,

he lowers himself so they are equal.

When Diao scolds him, he remains seated instead of rising up.

And even when he pulls Diao down, it's to make them equal.

He asks for consent instead of demanding submission

And he lifts Diao up.

Yi consistently positions himself lower than Diao.

Even when his usual abrasive behavior emerges in the car, he quickly lowers himself onto Diao.

The only time he has stood higher than Diao was when Diao directly questioned him about faking his amnesia. They are in the midst of a color exchange, so it feels clear that Yi was going to lie his way out of it since he had Diao back, but instead he admitted his wrong.

And Diao walked out. Yi followed scared that Diao would leave him again, but instead of trying to dominate Diao into staying, he admitted his powerlessness.

Everything was on Yi's terms in Cutie Pie. Diao getting a dog was because Yi allowed it. Diao being allowed to continue teaching was because Yi told him he could. There engagement was because Yi finally wanted it. Yet here is Yi telling Diao that whatever DIAO WANTS TO DO, Yi will abide by it. And we get back to what Lian was telling his stupid friend. Yi needs to trust Diao enough to submit.

Yi immediately tells Diao he trusts him without hesitation because the power Yi was holding onto was to protect Diao, but this entire ordeal has shown him that was his mistake, something his father even points out.

Yi was so hellbent on controlling Diao to protect him that he didn't realize Diao is perfectly capable of protecting himself AND taking care of Yi. Diao riding his bike is what kept him safe. Diao has several medals in Taekwondo, yet doesn't need to display them. Diao would've been on a plane to Switzerland before Yi could've caught him because he is a smart man. But more importantly, as Yi's father pointed out, Diao would have never left Yi in the first place if Yi hadn't pushed him to it. Yi has known Diao for 20 years, and Diao has always trusted Yi, even when he shouldn't (the tiger), so why hasn't Yi put some of that trust back into Diao?!

When Yi is lower than Diao, Diao is taking care of Yi. He doesn't want Yi to give away all his power. He wants them to be equal. He wants Yi to see him as equal because his family has always treated him as a pawn, which Yi started doing, and he won't accept that from the man he loves.

So when Diao tells Yi that he can take care of Yi, Yi finally realizes that Diao can, and he wants him to. Yi surrenders.

This plot to ruin their wedding is wildly ridiculous, but what better way to align with Cutie Pie and make a statement about the power of marriage, then to give us a plot where a powerless character is given the authority to ruin his. Diao's family used this marriage as a way to secure power. Yi used his authority to stall the wedding. Yet here is Diao using his power to fuck it all up.

Yi stands higher than Diao in their official wedding pictures, and he looks miserable while Diao is playing his part happily.

Lian is shocked that Yi is willing to be the victim in this scenario. Yi doesn't lose, yet Yi is allowing himself to be publicly embarrassed and branded the loser, so Diao (and Yi) can gain some power over his family and this horrible deal everyone constructed without Diao's knowledge.

Yi never wanted Diao to leave, but in order for this plan to work, it has to look believable. Diao has to leave. And Yi has to try to stop him because Yi has to appear to put up a fight.

But he already surrendered to Diao, gladly.

They are equal now, and their marriage should reflect that without all the restrictions and obstacles being built into it.

Diao's family was unwilling to give them that power, so they must take it by destroying the way things are and rebuilding on its ashes.

So Diao is gonna fuck up that wedding, and Yi will trust him to do it because their marriage isn't just about a partnership and love, something these shows have constantly harped on (love isn't love if we aren't treated equally), but about the power others have denied them, and they deserve the right to enter into it on their own terms.

[the-everqueen]

my gender is "doomed by the narrative"

[canisalbus]

✦ Fashionably late ✦

[delzinrowe]

jordie don't make me cry...

BEST BIG BROTHER EVER 🥲

[symphonyofsilence]

Let the poor man rest.

[trekkerac]

he's like a faulty lightbulb

[fairsweetlonging]

truth serum / system reveal au where shen qingqiu gets hit with an uncloaking spell that reveals the system in the reflection of his eyes every time it pops up.

during one of his missions, in the treasure hoard of some dragon-like creature, he finds a golden, oval shaped hand mirror, its gaudy style more victorian based than anything (airplane you hack!), that doesn't seem to do anything when he looks into it. but when he does, it reveals the system's screen in his eyes.

he doesn't notice this, of course, because he can't see it, and the system, surprisingly, stays quiet.

the peak lords think he's cursed.

maybe mu qingfang is the first to notice, during the mandatory post mission check-up, when shen qingqiu is scrolling through his most recently accumulated points and mu qingfang can see the strange vividly-blue lines reflected in his pupils. it's gone when shen qingqiu blinks, like it was nothing but a trick of the light.

it comes out when yue qingyuan is visiting and, just as he's done laying out the plans for a new mission, shen qingqiu's eyes glaze over and a bright blue box takes over the whole of his iris. shen qingqiu goes quiet; the thing in his eyes moves, shifts, pulses for a second, like static worms crawling all over his pupils. then he blinks, and it's gone, and shen qingqiu accepts the mission that yue qingyuan was almost sure he would decline.

maybe there is an intervention, when the peak lords corner shen qingqiu at qian cao peak and try to figure out what's wrong, subjecting him to all kinds of treatments and curse-finding spells that turn up empty, they can't find anything.

of course, the silencing threat is still very much up and running. at first shen qingqiu was kind of confused by the whole ordeal, but when the peak lords start describing a "strange blue box", he realizes, with sickening suddenty, that they're describing the system. and he can't say anything.

this only makes everything worse, because their fellow peak lord now keeps evading every question and acts like he doesn't understand. liu qingge points right at his face and asks, "that blue box, what is it?" and shen qingqiu laughs nervously and starts talking about how bright the weather is and surely it's the sky and nothing to worry about!

even worse, during the intervention the system thought it was a good idea to start talking to him, so now even the peak lords who hadn't seen it and who might have been persuaded by light tricks and reflections, get a first row view that no, that definitely isn't a trick of the light.

they try to do the whole thing of "are you in danger, blink twice" but shen qingqiu can't even do that because it's still a direct admittance!

maybe eventually he starts saying vague confirmations that don't actually confirm anything, like "this master hears what you're saying", or maybe he goes with a classic "this master can neither confirm nor deny that." but the system starts warning him for that too and eventually he stops saying anything, which worries the others more.

luckily mu qingfang catches on that every time they ask a direct question about the box or shen qingqiu says anything vaguely confirming, it appears. it doesn't appear when they ask about curses or demons, so it must not see that as a threat.

for a little extra angst: maybe the peak lords keep pressuring him for answers, and at some point shen qingqiu gets fed up and snaps out something like, "why don't you understand that i'm not allowed to answer that!" the system counts this as a direct admittance, threatening it's existence. so it punishes. shen qingqiu has a qi deviation so bad it lasts two weeks and takes two people every day to cleanse his meridians. the system doesn't appear in that time. it doesn't appear for a long while after that, either. the peak lords stop asking, mainly because shen qingqiu will instantly leave the room if they do. they don't stop searching for a cure, though.

shang qinghua returns from a business trip and catches on the second someone mentions a blue box and forced silencing.

[lgbtlunaverse]

"How did Shuro think he could marry Falin when he hated her brother?" you have to understand. Toshiro is from a whole different country. In his head he and Falin would move back to the Eastern Archipelago and they'd see Laios twice a year tops. You can pretend to get along with in-laws you don't like for a few days a year, people do that all the time.

The actual flaw in his plan– which shows he doesn't really understand either of the Touden siblings– is the fact that if the plot hadn't happened and Falin had for some reason said yes to his proposal, Laios would have packed his bags and moved away with them instantly.

[buttdumplin]

yeah simon is the one to scare people away when they get too close you, using his size and movement to intimidate, simultaneously shielding you behind him

yeah soap is the one barking loud, creating a spectacle and calling people out, and warning them away

yeah kyle is the one humiliating people, mocking offenders until either their own actions dawn on them or they finally recognize the venom in his eyes

but price is the one that launches into swinging. there is no warning, no hesitation. taking a step, even a single word against you, warrants immediate action in his mind. it's no laughing fucking matter. you are a top fucking prize, his prize, the best the world has to offer. john is rabid in his protection, bearing tooth and boot and claw and fist. there’s no point in talking to him or trying to negotiate, an offense is an offense and he won’t meet it halfway. someone looks at you the wrong way? they won't be able to see out of swollen eyes after headbutts them, crushing their nose. someone whispers something nasty about you? good luck even eating with that jaw wired shut. god forbid someone touches you, the other three boys can barely hold him back. john will break countless bones in every way he knows and beat his knuckles bloody if your smile starts to drop. 

[askfordoodles]

The brief, but very genuine flash of panic on Emmrich's face if you tell him he's your first "anything"... 💀

the PRESSURE

[brainrotcharacters]

"I walked away. They called after me and I walked away. I always do."

[akanemnon]

Shouldn't there be a minotaur in the labyrinth? Who put this goat here? This is not accurate to the mythology! /j

FIRST - PREVIOUS - NEXT

MASTERPOST (for the full series / FAQ / reference sheets)

[gingermintpepper]

I think, perhaps one of the funniest things to come from EPIC popularising the Odyssey is that now a ton of people think Poseidon wanted to kill Odysseus.

In the Odyssey, Poseidon has no intention of killing Odysseus. In fact, part of the whole reason Zeus lets Poseidon do whatever he wants even though he thinks Odysseus is rad and should get to kiss his wife is explicitly because Poseidon had no intentions of killing Odysseus. Poseidon wanted to pay back the suffering/inconvenience blinding Polyphemus would have caused. It's a really abstract thing tbh. How do you pay back someone permanently disabling your son? Poseidon's solution was just to amputate Odysseus from his other half; i.e. Penelope. The end game was never murder, it was always an endurance race.

(Od. Book 1: Zeus reassuring Athena that he is not, in fact, a part of Odysseus Hater-Nation. Trans. Robert Fagles)

Also, for those wondering if there's any sort of in text reason for why Poseidon wasn't around in God Games - at the time in the Odyssey when Athena petitions Zeus to let Odysseus leave Calypso's island, Poseidon was -checks notes- on vacation in Ethiopia. Yep. He left to Ethiopia for a festival and thusly was very much absent for Athena's whole "please let Ody go? Please? 🥺" request.

(Od. Book 1: While Odysseus was suffering, Poseidon went to party in the east)

I am begging y'all to read the Odyssey. It's a comedy for everyone except Odysseus and Penelope who are, in fact, suffering 24/7 365.

[farshootergotme]

Occasionally I picture Nightwing calling Red Hood "little wing" in front of others and people looking between this huge, 6'0 feet tall man with growing white hair, and then Nightwing, a shorter man who has flawless skin, probably around his 20's, and a fit but not too buff build and they just- don't know what's happening. Is it some kind of inside joke they aren't aware of? Why is Nightwing acting as if he's years older than Red-fucking jacked-Hood?

Nightwing: Little wing, you actually were decent in that fight! I'm impressed.

Hero, who was helping during this fight as well, listening in to the conversation: little...?

Red Hood: Wow, feeling very appreciated right now. Got any other backhanded compliments in there?

Hero: Wait, excuse me-

Nightwing: As a matter of fact-

Red Hood: Nope! I'm outta here. Screw you!

Nightwing: You know you love me!

Red Hood: In your dreams, dickhead!

Nightwing: Hey! We don't use that-

Red Hood: Not listening!

Nightwing: Jeez, kids these days...

Red Hood: I'm an adult and fuck you too!

Nightwing: What? Thought you weren't-

Red Hood: See you never, I'm out.

Hero: ...

Hero: what the actual fuck?

[technically-human]

Recharging