#and he overcorrected by saying nothing

[matttheratking]

Okay, I'm gonna say it cause it's 11 pm and I'm a lil tipsy:

If they hadn't pulled all of Trent's teeth out season 3 he would have had more to fucking say about Ted thinking he's not important to the Richmond Story

[eddiegettingshot]

okay actually i need to reiterate like. did we actually watch the breakup scene and listen. there was nothing biphobic. tommy was not telling buck to experiment. he wasn’t telling buck he “needed” to date or fuck other people to explore his sexuality. he broke up with buck because he was projecting his feelings of newness and excitement and pride about himself onto tommy instead of wanting tommy for being the right person for him. this happened after buck outright said tommy is like abby to him, after saying that being with abby was the most transformative relationship of his life. tommy was literally fine about buck being inexperienced until this point! but buck’s reaction to the abby situation and his overcorrection was what made it evident that he had some shit to figure out. PLEASE 😭😭😭😭😭😭

[furryprovocateur]

we're seeing such huge overcorrection from the "trump is a function of the system and not an exception" crowd that now we're struggling to have nuanced conversations about the harm he caused. he pushed for a new wave of deregulation that resulted in a large upward trend in nationwide food recalls. further, by backing the US out of the paris agreement and pulling funding for it, he severely damaged climate research and support in a critical time, and it is still struggling to recover. this is to say nothing of the things like the muslim ban, the corruption and nepotism, etc.

there is a middleground we can meet in where we discard irony and say "trump was not exceptional, but he did cause macro-scale harm in his position of power" instead of going "eh he was an average president that had an unremarkable term". none of this has to be black-white, we can talk away from extremes.

[sailorblossoms-rankane]

Can I ask your analysis on 'who says you're cute' episode?

On the scene where Ranma and Akane walk after visiting Dr. Tofu's clinic (Akane's crying scene is so heartbreaking).

I think that Ranma said 'that hairstyle looks good on you' is out of guilt. When he hears that Dr. Tofu's words don't affect her as she accepts the fact that the man has a huge crush on her sister, this makes him act to say something sorry in a roundabout way.

(I know he apologizes before they visit Dr. Tofu's office, but still, he feels guilty)

But I think it's shifted into something when Akane said and smiled so beautifully (I love love love love love that scene!) 'thank you, that makes me happy'.

That made him realize that Akane is so cute. (I think Ranma (before the cutting hair scene) thought Akane was cute, but this moment really changed the way his thought of her.)

The word, cute, has much deeper meaning now after that scene (to him). This is the reason why Ranma has trouble saying how cute she is (the armor arc really makes the boi fumble so bad when saying how cute she is, and good lord, the Romeo and Juliet scene).

But when Ranma says Ukyo 'you've become so cute' scene, I notice how lackluster it is. I think that Ranma says to Akane 'you're cute when you smile' and the Ukyo cute is the same.

Ranma didn't fumble when he said cute to Akane because he didn't realize his little crush on his cute little tomboy. Ranma saying that to Ukyo is like seeing a long time friend and seeing the changes on her (finally knowing that his friend is a she).

So yeah.... Thoughts???

This is the chapter before "you're cute when you smile" ... he knows damn well he likes her, he's just trying to protect himself by denying her cuteness because he thinks he has no chance with her. He falls for her first, but falling in love is also a process...

Ranma tells you is not guilt, or him feeling sorry or trying to cheer up Akane. He even gets pissed when Akane says it.

this is Ranma feeling guilty:

Nothing Ranma ever says or does to or with Akane is comparable to what he does with other girls. If anything, comparing should be to highlight how different it is...

This is a rejection. This can be associated with guilt as Ukyo often is...(even noticing she's a girl, given the ass whooping he just gave her and everything he just learned. It can be taken as an overcorrection)

The following scene is romantic. Look at how different the framing is – you're not meant to ever compare this to say it's the same as when he says it to other girls! Look at the lighting, how big the panels are, how it takes a full page, highlighting its importance... It doesn't matter that Ranma, who's in the process of falling for Akane, who already knows he likes her but hasn't figured out how much yet, is smooth about saying it. He knows he's telling the girl he likes that she's cute. He's telling her "I'm here, notice me" while being a bit of a jester about it ("gotcha" ... it's a bit of a game, you see, and directly connects this scene to the scene you mention)

he doesn't struggle with telling her she's cute when he's a jester (that he's teasing her like this shows comfort with her that he has with nobody else too)

Also, he does get in his way in the "you're cute when you smile" chapter. He's his own worst enemy, and he "ruins it" here

I agree with this:

"The word, cute, has much deeper meaning now after that scene (to him). This is the reason why Ranma has trouble saying how cute she is"

but this is why

A common thing when Ranma is watching over Akane's unrequited love is jealousy. He notices her being all cutesy in front of the doc and is bothered, and the next time they're over there he keeps pulling on her pigtails to get her attention when she starts acting like that again. "Pay attention to me, not him"

He tries to put Akane's feelings first in some parts, like here (he can't even look at her, he doesn't like this, but he's already showing you Akane's happiness is important to him)

But when Akane says "I'm over him" this is framed as something hopeful through paneling and lighting, and Ranma does what has been doing for a while "I'm here, pay attention to me... notice me" he jumps so he's in front of her so she literally "notices him" ... "look at me"

I think connecting this to guilt is the worst possible thing you can do (which is why Ranma gets pissed) when you think about the story behind Akane's hair. When Akane doesn't accept what he offers out of guilt is fine (like carrying her) but this isn't because he's offering his feeling here. He tends to call her uncute when he doesn't like something she's doing or feels rejected in some way (or when he's trying to downplay his feelings)

When Ranma says he prefers her shorter hair, he is stating his preference. He has to get away from her and gets to a high place like a little cat, trying to get comfortable but incredibly shy anyway, this is very difficult for him... we see several instances of Ranma dealing with guilt (Ukyo, for example, is constantly connected with guilt) and it doesn't look like this.

And this is huge, because the long hair is linked to her molding herself after someone else to get love, and the short hair is her true self. So this is Ranma saying "I like your true self better" ... so Akane smiles at him with genuine happiness (accepting his feelings, even if part of her still wonders if it's guilt). She's smiling as her true self so Ranma, who already liked her, falls even harder for her... part of why things change for him is that from that moment on, the reasons to be in denial are no longer "I have no chance with her" ... if calling her uncute is sometimes linked with Ranma feels rejected, acknowledging her cuteness in his head is the opposite. Ranma likes her smile because he likes it when she's happy (because he likes her!) but this is also the start of her smiles being connected to bonding and affection (more consciously).

Here's something else:

Ranma knows Akane's roughness, and he likes it. He provokes her to get that side of her: he can deal with roughness and genuinely enjoys fighting with her. It's what he's used to (blame genma)

But he struggles to see Akane's sweetness (even though it's the first thing she shows him with "you wanna be friends?") He struggles with it because it's too disarming.

so this is Ranma being unable to deny her sweetness, and falling even harder... things start becoming difficult then not because he has no chance, but because his feelings become too big, too much

i might be forgetting something here, it's the second time i'm typing this because tumblr ate my first response lol i'm not even gonna proofread, a bitch is tired

[chugging-antiseptic-dye]

how to annoy each seventeen member 🤷 :

can be thought of as the continuation of my 'three ways to piss off each seventeen member'

Scoups: Treat him to ice-cream after he buys anything expensive for you and brag about 'affording him' and 'paying for his lifestyle' to his face.

Jeonghan: Force him to work with a broken tool like small, blunt axe if he is diy-ing or a hairdryer which automatically switches to full heat while drying. I guarantee you nothing makes him madder than something not working like it should and him having no way to change it.

Joshua: Moving the decor he placed exactly in the perfect spot to maximise the aesthetiness of the room. Like putting the cushions in another place or moving the figurines in the shelf.

Jun: Purposely misplace any gifts he gives you like small figurines and trinkets. If he asks you about them, pretend you have no idea.

Hoshi: Scruff up his shoes. Guaranteed to piss him off for at least a month

Wonwoo: Pretend not to notice any small changes about him. If he gets a new haircut, ignore it. If he started to put more effort into his fashion, never comment on it.

Woozi: Mess with all the default settings in his computer or studio equipment

Mingyu: If you can handle his wrath, talk shit about one of his friends to his face :3

Dokyeom: Never believe any story he tells you. Always ask in a slightly doubtful voice, "Really?"

Minghao: Initiate a conversation about a deep and thoughtful topic only to interrupt him all the time while he is trying to say his piece

Seungkwan: Make a big show of being put off by his words and constantly overcorrect him

Vernon: Put on a shallow and airheaded persona and say things like, "I mean, as long as a song charts that means its good, right?" or "If it is from a brand, it is always amazing."

Chan: Be indecisive about everything constantly or change mind at the last second

[rei-ismyname]

The deification of Jean Grey

When a 16 year old Jean Grey was bought to the present by Hank McIrresponsible, she was immediately confronted with the post-death canonisation the X-Men greater social circle had saddled her with. Big feelings and bigger expectations.

The worst of it was from people who'd never even met her, but those closest to her was no less fraught. Adult Scott was certainly affected by her presence, but he behaved the most normal about it (cough, Logan.)

This is a really cute conversation, clearly something Jean needs. Not sure I agree that Jean never had a chance. She made her choices as a hero but there's plenty that *could* have gone differently. Besides, she's already come back to life at least once and travelled through time a bunch. You can't keep Jean Grey down for long. I'd expect Scott to say something like that, though he seems especially pensive at this point. I guess it's understandable, as time travel is a headfuck. It's cute that he's jealous of his younger self and that he admits it.

Scott's empathy for Hank here is really sweet, especially considering the lengths Hank went through to hurt him (intentionally or not.) The very presence of Jean should be reminding people of the culpability of a Phoenix host. Jean is safely dead and can be put on a pedestal, whereas Scott receives nothing but venom. I'm sure Chuck's death is a big factor, but the man tried very hard to die by Dark Phoenix Jean, too. It's easy to overlook the flaws of the dead, and in many ways Jean and Xavier both get canonised as mutant saints. Neither deserve it, for different reasons.

Oh boy, Jean's actions here are difficult to discuss appropriately. She's lonely and scared, she's just woken up from a nightmare, and the person she's closest to is there for her - all grown up. I doubt this is intended to be sexual, my read on it is Jean reaching for platonic intimacy. It's definitely rooted in the love Scott and Jean have for each other, something their awkward 16 year old selves haven't managed to navigate. 'The man I hoped you'd be' is loaded as hell, but it is very human. None of us have ever met our time-displaced selves or loves, and it's very understandable to view them as the same person, except not/better.

I'm not going to credit Scott for not learning into Jean's confusion and need for comfort (because it's just the right thing to do) but I do think he understands and he definitely handled it appropriately. Setting firm boundaries and pivoting the focus to the kind of support Jean needs is considerate and responsible.

Kitty's stance and pseudo-threat here is difficult to parse. She says he handled it well, luckily for him, implying that she was listening the whole time but was also wary of him not handling it well? It's hard to see this as anything other than Kitty thinking they might fuck. I'm not sure they do understand each other, because Kitty didn't listen to him, she just banned him from being in her room alone. Not an unreasonable policy to have, but it doesn't give Scott a lot of credit. As they both leave, Jean cries which seems like a failure of duty of care. Feels like there's more going on here. 'But if the genders were reversed' whataboutery is usually bad faith nonsense, but there is an actual example here. If Kitty heard young Bobby crying alone or screaming in the middle of the night I'm pretty sure she'd check in on him. That she's dated his adult counterpart changes nothing. Adult! Scott and Teen! Jean could communicate telepathically any time they wished, so idk. Maybe just the writers covering their bases and overcorrecting.

Then there's Emma and the Cuckoos. While Emma is the best person to train and teach Teen Jean, she does it in a very messed up way. Jean is so obviously right when she identifies that Emma has issues. I'm not fond of this plot point, or at least how it's written - the whole 'girls are bitchy and jealous' regressive idea put centre stage. This psychic duel fails the Bechdel Test and makes all the adults look super irresponsible for allowing it to happen.

Keep in mind Emma is bombarding a 16 year old with sexual images. Jean IS a saint for putting up with this shit and not melting her brain. Telepathy isn't real, but intrusive thoughts are - and I don't think it's a stretch to say targeted sexualised intrusive thoughts is deliberately traumatizing a teenager. I definitely think this could have been written better. Emma having unresolved Jean Grey issues is to be expected, but dealing with it like this and everyone being okay with it is difficult to believe.

Then again, it seems nobody is immune to the deification of Jean Grey, not even the writers. They all know her as the most powerful telepath so obviously teenage Jean can deal with whatever you throw at her. Kitty and Scott should know better, and Emma has plenty of other ways to train Jean. Yes, she's the great Jean Grey, but she's also a 16 year old who's not coping all that well. I'm glad that Teen Jean and Emma became friends not long after this, but it says a lot that the dude writing it couldn't figure out a way to explain it on the page. There was an opportunity here to show women building a friendship off their commonalities, but instead it's something Jean has to overcome with psychic power not emotional strength - and the adults looking after her don't look very responsible.

[suzukiblu]

WIP excerpt behind the cut; “Cassie has a sexuality crisis, Kon has a gender one, and Circe makes everything worse”. tw: internalized homophobia, unintentional misgendering of a closeted character. (( chrono || non-chrono ))

This mission sucks in a lot of ways, the least of which is trying not to make eye contact with Tim during any of it, which the whole “being stuck in a small room with someone wearing a mask with opaque white lenses” thing makes way, way harder than it has to be, in Cassie’s opinion. 

“You do realize that blatantly projecting anxiety in every single conversation and constantly overcorrecting your behavior to try not to hurt Superboy’s feelings will upset him worse, right?” Tim says, which is another way this mission sucks. 

Stupid Bat-psych profiles.

“This seems like a conversation to have while we’re not breaking and entering for justice,” Cassie says to the door she’s watching for intruders, her arms folded and eyes locked on the doorframe. She wasn’t even weird this time, dammit. Like–not loudly weird, anyway. 

“Well, I tried to get you alone for it four times already and you dodged all four attempts with noticeably not-thin excuses, which means you’ve definitely been planning ahead to do said dodging, as opposed to actually just being busy,” Tim says. 

Dammit, Cassie thinks, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. 

“You are literally his best friend,” she says as evenly as she can, digging her fingers just a little tiny maybe-kinda-bruising bit into her arms.

“I’m your friend too,” Tim says. 

Stupid Bats. 

“When I went to Themyscira last month I met a girl that reminded me of Superboy without realizing that she reminded me of him until after I’d already screwed her,” she snaps flatly. “And yes, specifically all the things about her that reminded me of him were the things about her that I was attracted to, except because she had a huge rack and a big fat launched-ten-thousand-ships ass that her barely-tied peplos barely covered, well, this time those things actually turned me on. So also-yes, I am the worst and I am going to keep feeling like shit about this, thanks for asking.” 

“I didn’t even know I liked guys until I ran into you-know-who again,” Tim says. “Genuinely did not realize it was a thing, despite definitely having had a weird obsession with what, in retrospect, is a truly embarrassing amount of dudes for a straight guy to be weirdly obsessed with.” 

“Is this about Nightwing’s V-neck era?” Cassie assumes. 

“I mean I think I actually was crushing on him when I was, like, a literal toddler, which was much earlier than that, and also I was probably a little bit too interested in literally everything Robin 2.0 ever did in his career ever,” Tim says. “And, like, the time Red Hood beat my face in while wearing Robin’s colors was an interesting experience that I learned absolutely nothing about myself from.” 

“Um,” Cassie says. 

“Also I wasn’t trying to clone Spoiler in the basement,” Tim adds, half-tilting his head.  

Cassie . . . blinks. 

“What?” she says. Tim’s currently occupied with whatever he’s doing to the terminal, apparently, so just shrugs without looking up at her. 

“Ninety-nine times really does not seem like a platonic amount of times to try to bring someone back to life, I think,” he says. “Like, platonic cloning probably only covers about the first fifty attempts, max.” 

“Robin, I would believe your insane abandonment issues would try to clone literally anyone you were even passingly fond of ninety-nine times minimum,” Cassie says blankly, trying to . . . process that, kind of. Is that–like, that was not a subtle thing, what Tim just said. 

“I mean, I thought about it a few times,” Tim replies with another shrug. “But I only did it the once.” 

“. . . ‘the once’ times ninety-nine, you mean,” Cassie says, and Tim smiles wryly and finally spares her another glance. 

“That, yeah,” he says. “And I built an entire illegal cloning lab, memorized literally every single detail of the night I met the original Robin before the violent trauma happened, stole a codename and costume from the subsequent Robin not once but twice, and still genuinely just assumed I was straight ‘til a dude who I knew for less than six months in high school showed up out of nowhere and actually, you know, directly asked me about it.” 

“World’s second-greatest detective, huh,” Cassie says, then has to repress a grimace, because–well, that’s the joke Kon always makes, obviously. 

“I mean you don’t have to have your whole identity figured out from day one,” Tim says. “Superboy definitely understands that, if anyone does. All of us do. Impulse tried to make himself be Kid Flash and hated it, I assumed things about myself instead of actually thinking about myself, Secret was afraid enough of herself to end up becoming a supervillain over it, and Superboy’s been having an identity crisis since the day his cloning tube got cracked. Also, literally Arrowette’s entire life experience. Just . . . literally everything that’s ever happened to Arrowette. Ever.” 

“You didn’t mention Empress,” Cassie says a little lamely, trying not to grimace at herself, because–that’s all true, yeah. She knows it’s all true. Just . . . just it never felt . . . 

“I think Empress might’ve actually sprung into existence fully-formed just to embarrass the rest of us over the course of our respective self-discovery journeys, but all my supporting evidence is technically conjecture,” Tim says, which may or may not be a joke. Who knows, with Tim. “But the point still stands. Superboy’s not mad at you for not knowing something about yourself. None of us are, but especially not him.” 

“I knew,” Cassie says tightly, digging her fingers into her arms a little harder and staring at the wall. “Part of me, anyway. I just thought . . . he’s the perfect guy. I thought if the perfect guy liked me . . . I thought that’d–fix it. I thought that’d be . . . enough. Like–he was already the celebrity crush I lied to all the girls at school about having, just because I thought he was–you know, cool and everything, and so–and then when I actually got a chance to meet him, and then we all wound up teaming up . . . I just thought . . .” 

She’d thought a lot of stupid things, but the stupidest ones had probably been about Kon. 

Those were the things that’d actually gotten somebody else hurt, so . . . yeah. Definitely the stupidest things. 

[generalluxun]

What do you think is Adrien’s main weakness ? ; whole were at it- really great analysis on Chloe btw

With Adrien it's harder to fiddle with, because how much is due to his senti-nature is unclear. We'll pretend it is all him though and say:

Emotional instability.

Seems odd doesn't it? He's the sunshine boy after all. That's just it though. His emotional depth is extremely limited, most likely again due to upnringing.

Adrien does not handle *imperfect* emotions or situations well. His default response is to ignore any ripples in the placid waters of being marketably-upbeat.

He ignores them, and ignores them, and ignores the causes,cand the signs, until *pop* we get an outburst. The outburst can come in different forms. But it is usually acute and disproportionate because he has been holding back the negative emotions for too long rather than addressing them. (This is very common in ppl btw)

However this pendulum swings very quickly back the other way. Having been trained to not make waves, as soon as he does he panics and self-overcorrects, becoming subservient to whomever he perceives as offended by his outburst until things return back to placid status quo. (This too is common)

It's very easy to see how he got this way via Gabriel/Emilie. It's also easy to see how he would develop this pattern with Ladybug too. It's this propensity that makes Marinette/Ladybug's authoritarian swerve at the end of S5/London special so fraught. The boy is not equipped to question any reality now matter how implausible and he is not equipped to handle the emotions cognitive dissonance sets up in him. He is the perfect victim for Marinette's current mistakes.

I *really* don't know why the show is going this route. Nothing so far has led me to believe they can pull it off properly. Both Marinette and Adrien deserve better than this. I expect a lot of Marinette salt to come from it.

I am not looking forward to it.

[denizenhardwick]

detailed analysis of trk ch 11, pt 2. here is pt 1.

tw rape, child sexual abuse, self-harm

the audiobook narrator's delivery in this scene is phenomenal btw. i have the way he says "oh, oh, that's unpleasant, i am not a fan of this at all" burned into my brain forever now. that's the line that had the biggest impact on me, and i just had to turn off the audiobook and stare ahead for a good couple minutes.

his reaction - or, specifically, lack thereof - is very telling. some of it can be attributed to his medication, but not all of it. this is an awful situation and it's going to change his relationship with everyone here forever, and he might be overcorrecting in an effort to seem unbreakable and apathetic. but he does care. he's trembling.

he has also experienced so much sexual abuse in his life that this isn't nearly as shocking for him as it is for everyone else here.

and then there's this.

"andrew, who'd barely acknowledged aaron's existence in the entire time neil had known them, immediately looked to his brother."

that's such a powerful line. and then he gestures aaron over but tries to get away when he comes too close because he needs to make sure aaron's okay but can't stand to be touched.

he incessantly shuts down all of aaron's attempts to focus on him to repeatedly ask if aaron's okay. to make sure nothing happened to aaron. he's even willing to hurt him a little to get an answer, because making sure he's okay is the most important thing to andrew.

it's a microcosm of their relationship.

we are also not getting any of neil's thoughts at this point. he has shut down, he's just holding up the blanket and describing what's happening, presumably while just staring at andrew in horror.

the contrast between andrew's actions and the obvious pain he's in, and his dialogue being essentially no different than how he usually speaks, is really something.

not to spoil the point i'm building towards, but he is struggling so goddamn hard to keep being the protector through what has to be one of the worst moments of his life. he obviously never wanted anyone to know about this. he doesn't want them to know, he doesn't want them to think about it or ask him about it or talk about it, but they can't help reacting because they care about him and what they witnessed isn't something they can gloss over and move on from, especially not this quickly.

kevin comes back with everyone else, and neil's hypervigilance snaps him back to attention, we start getting his thoughts again.

nicky ignores neil's warning and moves to touch andrew, which he again tries to avoid. and these moments are such phenomenal pieces of relationship building, they say so much about andrew's relationships on a broader scale.

aaron is extremely important to andrew, and he does want him close, but on his own terms. if aaron tries to reach out, he'll move out of the way.

nicky cares about andrew but can't read the room and is bad with boundaries, especially physical ones. he's way too hands-on for andrew to be comfortable.

kevin isn't trying to get close at all, he's running to get help and staying by the door.

meanwhile, for almost this entire scene, neil has been extremely close to andrew, almost touching him. sometimes actually just touching him. andrew has not acknowledged it in any way, but neil is sitting on the bed next to him holding the sheet up to his shoulders. and andrew is completely fine with it. this is an absolutely mind-blowing degree of trust that he's displaying here and it just isn't mentioned at all.

then andrew sees luther and he puts on a show for him. he acts surprised to see him and then delighted, but he still has a death grip on aaron's hair and neil sees that as a tell.

then it all clicks into place.

i got so mad when i read this. blood-boilingly, blindingly angry. because this is just so grounded in reality, this is how abuse is ignored and allowed to perpetuate in the foster system, and "you're just misunderstanding normal brotherly affection" is a common sentiment told to children when they try to tell an adult about the sexual abuse they're experiencing but don't have the vocabulary to explain what's happening.

maybe it's just me, but andrew's story has such a big impact because it takes a book series about mafia kids playing sports and grinds it to a screeching halt in a way that forces you think about child abuse happening to real kids in the real world. it's jarring and it's mundane, and it's the hardest-hitting part of the entire series because of it.

this also reframes andrew's entire character as we realize what he's trying to do, what he's always been trying to do.

andrew is not an aggressor. he's a protector. and he cares so, so much.

he has been failed over and over again. he did what he was "supposed" to do in that situation, he told an adult. and the adult didn't believe him, but he tried to make sure cass wouldn't take in any more kids after him so drake wouldn't have the opportunity to abuse them the way he abused andrew.

cass took in six more kids. luther didn't do anything, and then he brought drake back into andrew's life and put aaron and nicky in danger, too.

is it any wonder andrew thinks violence is the only way to protect the people he cares about? it's the only thing that's worked.

and then andrew takes off his armbands for the first time and reveals cutting scars, which is a gut punch in and of itself. again: mundanity, vulnerability, a redefining of what violence means in andrew's character.

when he says, "pigs don't like it when people like me carry weapons," it means something totally different than it would have at the beginning of the chapter. you get it now, and so does neil, which is why he hides them so carefully.

andrew will not use those knives to defend himself. we know that now, we've seen it; he fought back, but he didn't take his knives out. he uses those knives to scare people out of hurting others. having those knives makes him powerful because it makes people scared of him, and he leverages that to protect people. and because he's also seen as violent and erratic, he's able to do it without tipping his hand, revealing his weaknesses, showing how much he cares.

and he cares so, so goddamn much.

and that's all she wrote.

i think i have sufficiently justified why this chapter is fucking incredible and how goddamn effective the writing is on a technical and thematic level. it rocks your shit, it turns a lot of the series on its head, and entirely recontextualizes andrew so meaningfully and efficiently. his character has so much to say, and it did need a book and a half of incorrect foundation to say it effectively. he doesn't work if you're allowed to see him as a full, complex person from the start, you need to absorb the weight of how others think of him before you can deconstruct it, and the next book and a half works through that deconstruction. it's really cool and it's brilliant character writing.

[goldenmotive]

It really fizzled out after that. She gets into the Faerie duelist stuff. Those dark fantasies stop showing up. She dips her toe back into cursing during Arc 11 but it's way watered down (she'll curse with Toil but not Ruin). And by then the meat behind it is long gone. This had to happen for a couple of reasons.

On a character level, the curse-wright side of Lucy is all tied up in her anger and lack of closure on past injustices. Part of the reason it fades is her healing. During the implement ritual she decides to dwell on the people that love her instead of the people that hurt her, and to be pro-active instead of carrying past harm forever.

On a narrative level, the curse magic doesn't fit where the story finds itself going. Other people have said it better than me, but Pale starts out as a murder mystery and then turns into a political epic / community-organizing cultivation fantasy. Part of that is a focus on rehabilitative justice - seen prominently in Kennet Below and Kennet Found. The lasting injury that flavors many of the curses and Lucy's fantasies is directly at odds with that.

Which kind of leads me to the key flaw of Pale IMO - Kennet has to be the City on the Hill. And the girls themselves are transformed from novice investigators to moral paragons. This puts a lot of tension on them, because it projects their personal flaws on the morality that they're supposed to represent (which pretty quickly starts reflecting on WB instead of the characters). There's a lot less room to be messy and unhealthy, especially in the back half of the book.

I think a shorter Pale could have let the trio fuck up more. You don't need to be a good person to solve a mystery. You could be a really entertaining and tragic disaster.

My Pale hot take is that Lucy should've done more fucked up and evil curses.

Early Lucy had this creative and spiteful side of her character that I found pretty compelling. It falls off pretty fast, and I get why, but I'm wistful for a version of Pale where the trio gets to be messy.

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

Right, so, I've been seeing some persistent misconceptions in fanfiction where a character has ADHD. I'm a man of color with ADHD and I want to clear some things up. This is specifically about how people tend to write Ed Teach, but it can apply to other characters you're writing with ADHD. And I'd love if other people with ADHD, especially other people of color with ADHD, have any additions to tack on!

These things are NOT what ADHD is.

ADHD does not make you "stupid." This whole thing was inspired because I just read a fic where Ed cites his ADHD as evidence he's "dumber" than the other characters (and this was supported by the writing in the story). There is no correlation between ADHD and intelligence, and we know that Ed is a genius!

ADHD does not automatically mean that someone can't finish school or can't succeed in demanding academic fields. I'm working on my PhD. It just means your character needs coping skills.

ADHD does not mean that someone will "hyperfixate" on or suddenly lose interest in relationships, whether romantic or platonic.

ADHD doesn't mean your character struggles with personal hygeine or keeping their home clean. Please stop making me read fics that characterize a man of color as dirty or incapable of keeping his home clean and excusing it because "he has ADHD!"

ADHD doesn't mean that your character will need someone to look after or supervise everything they do. Ed does not need a White man to take care of him or make sure his work gets done.

ADHD doesn't mean a character will be unable to sit still, focus, stay on-task, or sit in silence 100% of the time. We all have different tolerance levels and those can change depending on current circumstances.

Here are some more realistic, interesting ways ADHD can impact successful, smart characters of color, like Ed.

He might feel the need to be hypercompetent, all the time.

He might get frustrated with himself. ADHD can be frustrating! You can be on top of things 99% of the time at work and school, and have people look up to you, and then you'll realize that you've been forgetting to book that doctor's appointment for six months straight now and you'll feel like a failure.

He might overcorrect symptoms. For example, he might have trouble keeping a neat, organized space and know that messes stress him out, so he overcorrects by being a bit of a neat freak and avoiding mess wherever possible so his space never becomes unmanageable.

He might struggle with The Evil Boredom. That's when you feel super understimulated and nothing is enough to help.

He might have trouble sitting still or saying quiet when he's nervous, feeling strong emotions, or in a boring environment or trying to do a boring task (the scene where Ed struggled with being still and quiet while fishing, while also feeling strong emotions of guilt, was super relatable).

I like to write AuDHD characters (with both autism and ADHD), and it can add a fun new dimension! I personally headcanon Ed as AuDHD. When you have both, symptoms can be frustrating because they can feel contradictory (for example, my autism demands I keep a neat, tidy space and I like routines, but my ADHD means I have trouble keeping things tidy to my standards and routines are super boring).

And finally but crucially: it's obviously okay to headcanon a character as ADHD or with any other neurodivergence when you're White. However, it's important to remember that the experience of neurodivergence looks different for people of color. Boys of color with ADHD, for example, are often overdiagnosed with ODD and labelled as "defiant" or "uncooperative." I often avoid telling White friends and coworkers that I'm AuDHD because it tends to make them infantalize me, as if I haven't already proven to them I'm a capable adult. People of color often have to go undiagnosed or without appropriate medications (if needed) and/or are misdiagnosed. If you're writing about a chracter of color with ADHD, I really recommend finding a sensitivity reader.

[qqueenofhades]

Hi just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to thoughtfully respond to these anon messages. I work in dc w a fairly wonky set and i cant overstate how haunted the DC Professional Thought Havers are by the spectre of the "low propensity voter." I think these ppl (myself included LOL) thought we had everything figured out ahead of the 2016 elections and then never recovered from the way it ended up going......i feel like in all the years that followed.....the liberal bubbles.....the coastal elites.......the hillbilly elegies......the real america....the ohio diners....the pennsylvania diners.......the polls......the 2020 horserace....while part of an earnest attempt to understand What Happened, were primarily self-indulgent, self-flagellation for being "out of touch" bc of a self-diagnosed "elite" status that then turned into ANOTHER myopic view of the world, just opposite, where the "libs" are hapless and everyone else remotely to the left are primarily victims to the unstoppable supernatural forces of the Right. Then in 2020 the narrative flipped AGAIN and once again, instead of taking the opportunity to expand a worldview and having the bravery to confront their own shortcomings, the opinion havers and wonks and beltway pressers have decided to groupthink their way into writing off democracy altogether. Its BEYOND frustrating to see! Like damn volunteer at a soup kitchen or smthn instead of being obsessed w the fact that i vote lol

Yes, and there are several reasons for that. First, despite all the factors that contributed to Trump's shock win in 2016 (anti-Clintonism, white backlash to Obama, general low voter enthusiasm, Russian disinformation, etc) we should never forget that until James Comey decided to announce 10 days before the election that he was reopening the EEEEEEEMAILS case, even though we all knew there was nothing there, she was leading fairly comfortably in the polls. And while we will never know how the 2016 election would have gone without that, which imho was one of the most unforgivable acts of blatant sabotage by a public official in American history, it's also true that we saw her poll averages start sliding almost in real time, as people who hadn't really been keen on voting for her anyway decided firmly not to and Trump was able to scrape out 16,000 votes across PA, MI, and WI to take the Electoral College. Which... we all remember how we felt that night, right? (Or in my case, early morning, since I was overseas?) We don't, we really, really don't want to feel that way again. Just saying.

As such, the media (which had already beat up Clinton nonstop during the BUT HER EEEEEMAILS saga) drastically overcorrected and as you say, began writing endless angsty handwringing pieces about Trump Voters in Rural Ohio Diners and giving endless sympathetic airtime to how "economically left behind" they felt, regardless of the fact that open racism, especially Obama backlash, was and remains the principal animating feature of Republican politics (since their only economic platform is that which makes very rich people even richer and Democratic economic policies are the only ones actually targeted at helping ordinary people). The hangover was so strong that even when Democrats had a massive 2018 midterm result and flipped the House blue for the first time since the post-ACA backlash lost it in 2010, the Conventional Wisdom was now beyond any doubt that Democrats were doomed for a generation or something, and not that Trump had squeaked out a fluky win (while losing the popular vote) due to endless Russian/Comey/third party-etc interference and wasn't actually that powerful. Even in 2020 when Biden was leading fairly steadily and things were going to hell with Covid, etc. etc. TRUMP IS UNSTOPPABLE, TRUMP IS GOING TO WIN.

(And now. Like. I know Trump thinks Trump won in 2020, as do a large majority of his cultists, but that doesn't mean he did.)

Even after that, when Roe went down in 2022, that made no difference to the RED WAVE COMING!!! narrative, and the amount of smug white male pundits insisting that abortion just wasn't very important and people weren't going to base their entire vote on it reached truly disgusting levels. We're now seeing the same thing with the constant "people won't vote for democracy and/or abortion rights" blast, when as you say, this narrative has just been completely made the fuck up by a lot of groupthinking DC media who are determined that this time, Trump really is going to win and then they get to be principled chroniclers in opposition or something. Not to mention, the basic principle of "democracy and abortion rights are good" do in fact win by thumping margins every time they're on the ballot, including in deep red states. But there is literally not a single piece of empirical evidence despite the massive amounts of it supporting the truth (i.e. that Democrats are doing historically well in competitive elections since 2018 and there's not really a major reason to think this will change in 2024) that will get the media to change the "Democrats in disarray and Biden Iz Doomed" horserace BS they so love. They don't like Biden because he's boring and competent and just does the job without being insane, because it's totally a great idea to treat American government like a reality show! (Recall the infamous comment by the CBS CEO who literally said that Trump was bad for America but great for CBS, because he pulled in high ratings and therefore lots of money and visibility for CBS. We live in the worst timeline.)

As such, the mainstream media has a vendetta against Biden, is determined that this time Trump is super definitely going to win and everyone will see how genius they are, and not-so-secretly wants Trump back because a) he's good for money and ratings, and b) because the media conglomerations are owned by oligarchs who have a vested interest in making sure that Democrats and their policies never get too popular. Notice how the once self-proclaimed centrist independent Elon Musk has turned into a rabidly alt-right fanboy ever since the Democrats really got serious about taxing billionaires as a key part of their platform. Likewise, insisting that Biden Iz Doomed makes Democrats nervous (and thus more likely to tune in) and Republicans gleeful (and thus more likely to tune in), so there's literally no incentive for the media to even try to report things accurately. You could create a very different narrative of the 2024 election if you just remotely bothered to write about things that have actually happened as they have actually taken place, rather than bending over backward to insist that Biden being four years older than Trump is a worse crime than 91 felony indictments, 2 impeachments, 1 insurrection, 450 million dollars and counting in punitive jury verdicts, more major criminal trials coming down the pipe, and just demonstrably being the worst human being alive in so many ways. I mean. Wow.

The good news, as I said in my other post, is that when people actually vote, these utter bullshit narratives get routinely blown out of the water, and that's a good thing. Because it turns out that unlike Super Smart Beltway Pundits' Super Smart Predictions, the average American does actually like democracy and freedom for women to make their own personal healthcare decisions, and they vote accordingly. So while yes, it's being made harrowingly much harder than it needs to be because of how much the media simply refuses to report that basic fact, and there is no amount of evidence that will convince them otherwise, at least we're trending in the right direction and, if we all pull our weight, can do it one more time. I realized the other day that I hadn't heard a fucking peep about Ron DeSantis in the last two months, and oh, how glorious it was. I yearn beyond words for the day (God willing, soon) when the same is true of Trump as well.

[rekindlevn]

I can’t wait for the next chapter I’m really excited just thinking about it, I have been checking for updates from time to time but I have some questions. 1.How come the other didn’t wish MC happy birthday? Markus to me personally seem to be the only one that cared or remembered. 2.Also why does MC feel like they messed up so badly? With Markus to a certain extent, I can kind of understand they did sorta like when Markus got jealous if I’m correct from what I can remember but Nico allowed his friends to in someway shape or form kind of disrespect his girlfriend, and just kind of shrugged it off. Jules seem to focus more on his work, even though he may have truly believe that he was doing it for him and his significant other as well as his family, but also pushing the MC away each time he got a promotion. And he also saw MC on their birthday as well. 3.Why hasn’t Nico reached out to MC? I feel like if they had stayed in a relationship he would’ve pulled the card that he did after they broke up and it probably would’ve been worse because it most likely would’ve been over the phone since he went so far away to model. I hope this didn’t come across rude I apologize if it did.😭

Wahhhh!! we are so glad you have enjoyed the game thus far!!

Just a quick note for you - we wont be releasing the game in chapters but more ALL at once! We are little impatient beings and would rather give it all out at once rather than drop crumbs and make you wait :3

As for your questions! Love love them - please do not think you were rude, these are all valid things to ask!!

We will try and answer as best we can but it is important to note that there is a lot that is intertwined with the story of the routes and we don't wanna give away too many spoilers, so hopefully you will understand why we might be a bit cagey ahaha

OKAY SO QUESTION 1!

How come the other didn’t wish MC happy birthday? Markus to me personally seem to be the only one that cared or remembered.

So in the demo, keep in mind time has passed for all three boys, some more than others. For Niko, it's been over 10 years since the last possible conversation with MC so reaching out with a birthday wish now would be something of an anomaly. And we only see him in passing as a poster - no physical contact there.

Jules was stuck in shock. It's been several years since he last spoke with MC, and even seeing them, he didn't even know how to approach it. Remember - he got stuck staring at MC from his car. The litany of emotions and thoughts caught up to him and unfortunately the opportunity passed for him to reach out.

QUESTION 2!

Also why does MC feel like they messed up so badly? With Markus to a certain extent, I can kind of understand they did sorta like when Markus got jealous if I’m correct from what I can remember but Nico allowed his friends to in someway shape or form kind of disrespect his girlfriend, and just kind of shrugged it off. Jules seem to focus more on his work, even though he may have truly believe that he was doing it for him and his significant other as well as his family, but also pushing the MC away each time he got a promotion. And he also saw MC on their birthday as well.

This is the vague answer!! What we can say is that MC has had confidence issues since childhood, and with each passing relationship, this would have only deepened, with them overcorrecting behavior from one relationship to the next only for it to fail anyway.

The reality is that this is how some people do perceive themselves in relationships, regardless of whether that is the truth or not.

And FINALLY QUESTION 3!!

Why hasn’t Niko reached out to MC? I feel like if they had stayed in a relationship he would’ve pulled the card that he did after they broke up and it probably would’ve been worse because it most likely would’ve been over the phone since he went so far away to model.

WOMP! Sorry player you get nothing!

You'll need to wait out for the game to release - or if you are lucky we might drop hints leading up to the release 😛

Really it was so nice to be able to answer these questions!!! Again, sorry that we cant give more info, but hopefully this just gives you enough to think about and hopefully make the anticipation for the release a bit more exciting!

[moonshynecybin]

lonely Marc vs constantly surrounded by friends Vale in the context of the FCO AU means that way more often than the other way around, Marc is the one who has to hang out with Valentino’s friends (are some of them mad at him for making Vale lose the 2015 title? are some of them happy to see Marc because they had befriended him in their pre-Sepang outings and they think Marc is cool?) + the image (inspired by the one on the right of that post) where Valentino comes up behind a seating Marc while Marc is busy listening to Valentino’s friends and Valentino squeezes Marc’s shoulders before bending down to ask him if he’s okay (also asks him if he needs anything, if Vale needs to be a pretend boyfriend he’ll be a pretend perfect boyfriend) and then he starts participating in the conversation with his friends and doesn’t notice that he’s still standing behind Marc, massaging his shoulders now

forced coming out au lfg. the post in question here… this got long sowwy

it is like. okay they spend SO much time tooling around in the paddock right? and yes they are very busy doing their very demanding jobs for most of that time, but they are ALSO basically all stuck together living in an extremely gossipy little travelling TOWN/COMMUNITY that lives together in the space of like a square mile and knocks elbows with each other for a lot of the year. i mean their behavior is highly observable!! cameras reporters and riders everywhere...

so all this to say, if marc and vale want to pull this off (not only to the public, but also to the paddock) theyre going to need to spend a truly stupid amount of time together. especially after a clash like sepang where people KNOW their relationship isnt teflon, theyre going to need to overcompensate pretty hard to overcorrect that bad boy. constantly checking in. like if vale has lunch in a different part of the paddock than marc, headlines are running that are like LOVERS ON THE ROCKS?? they are a HUGE international news item it has transcended motogp at this point. so they are GLUED together inside of work (insane 4 them), and then it also overlaps OUTSIDE of work where they are also supposed to hang out in order to be photographed together. so theyre going on little dates all the time (INSANE 4 THEMMM. they want to fuck so bad but THEYRE STILL EXES and they havent since the pictures but theyre soso horny so they are like. white knuckling it through every date where theyre alone it is. truly insane in their brains. the bathroom is RIGHT there and it LOCKS and if it where a year ago vale would be INSIDE HIM by nowwwww. but instead they are making small talk about tire regulations over seafood. dire. the sex dreams are crazy they are being haunted by dick.) but i digress.

SO i actually think they avoid group hang-outs pretty vigilantly for a while bc it is literally the only scrap of privacy they can get in almost any context of their lives. like even when they have to spend time together, if its just the two of them there is less overall performance involved. they just have to hang out! they used to be very good at that! yeah it hurts like open heart surgery but #nopainnogain! so they do that for a few months until vale gets VERY publicly invited out by one of his buddies who is like hey bring marquez we havent met him yet... and vale is like. haha okay ! :) (internally hes like. what if i die.) tells marc and MARC is internally like. do they hate me. will this be the worst night of my life. walls up to the fucking SKY.

and they get to this bar/restaurant/thingy and marc is doin fine. again hes nice and hes very pr trained so hes friendly and its pretty even keel for the most part. no one's being a dick. BUT i DO think vale comes back from the bar or something and catches the tail end of someone referencing the pictures or sepang or their time apart... just casual, just a joke. meaning nothing by it bc they think its in the past! but vale has spent a STUPID amount of time with marc at this point, and he's keyed in to all of his terrible tragic little microexpressions (side note. if he rewatched the sepang presscon at this point and watched marc's face i think he would genuinely vomit) so he can see RIGHT through how uneasy he still is and he just. he has to touch him. let marc know that hes on his side here, like he cant say anything but he CAN do this. he HAS to do this bc all of this is his fault! so he pulls marc in under his arm, leans in to kiss him slow and sweet in front of everybody just because he can, and then smoothly changes the subject at the table... keeps his hand on marc's thigh and avoids the way marc stares at him for the rest of the night, the way he relaxes into him slightly. goes home and has the most INSANE wet dream perhaps of all time

[funnycreatortimetravel]

It has to be said.

Discussing Chara's character on Twitter/Reddit is so fucking draining. A lot of people on there are so obsessed with them to the point where they'll get UPSET when people have different headcanons, which is weird because Chara's character and personality are meant to be purposefully vague (not necessarily for self insertion, but yes, Chara is supposed to be somewhat aligned with the player.)

Any discussion about Chara on Twitter automatically goes either 1 of 2 ways, Chara HAS to be portrayed as a reflection of the player without any nuance, or fuck that, here are some things about Chara's character that spawned into existence that have to be there because Chara is an innocent angel who did no wrong.

It's literally along the lines of:

Person on Twitter: "I hate how (insert fan creation of Undertale media) portrayed Chara!"

Other Person: "Really? Why do you say that?"

Og Person: "Because Chara was being mean to Asriel and that was never shown explicitly! Just because Asriel said they weren't the best person doesn't mean that Chara was ever mean or anything!"

Like...you realize there's this thing called nuance? It's literally gone from "I dislike that Chara is being portrayed as the one responsible for genocide when canonically the game calls out the player for what they did directly," to, "Ah man, you got this interpretation of a character who's supposed to be very vague wrong even though it's implied that it was the case in game."

I'm not saying that Chara was straight-up abusive toward Asriel or anything, I know for a fact that they loved him, but it's implied that Chara hurt him in a multitude of ways that affected him even after his death and his descent into madness. Their hatred of others rubbed off on Asriel indirectly, regardless of their true intentions.

It's almost concerning the level of just...defensiveness of Chara's character that people will be willing to go to, and I completely get loving a character to the point of obsession, but there's a difference between loving a character and wanting to talk about them to completely shutting down any conversation of said character because you believe it to "not be accurate," when all it was was just differing headcanons and nothing was too seriously different from the lore.

And I know this is because of the dreaded Undertale Reconciliation/Overcorrection that happened as of late where people got tired of everyone portraying Chara as this evil demon who killed everyone (and I did too), but holy shit, the pendulum swung to the other side entirely.

No, Chara is not solely responsible for the genocide route, no, Chara isn't an evil demon who deserves hell, no, Chara isn't to blame for the player's actions, yes Chara is a young child, and yes, it's implied they were mistreated/abused by humans, which also may be connected to Chara's inexplicit sui*ide attempt and yes, Chara did what they did because they believed it to be the right thing (or at least for revenge/justice), not because they're inherently evil.

However, Chara still got themselves and Asriel killed and Chara still wanted to kill the humans of the village while knowing that Asriel did not want to, which goes beyond being able to avoid accountability. Yes, Chara was aggressive toward Asriel and caused him indirect harm by instilling a negative viewpoint of the world due to their hurt. Chara has had hatred already embedded into them that was then acted upon by the player in the genocide route, and Chara knows this. Hurt people hurt people, and that's the case here.

"Kill or be killed," is the mentality that Chara instilled into Asriel before they both died. Chara could've walked away from the human village at any time and saved before themselves and Asriel, but because Chara wanted to hurt the villagers, it cost both of them their lives. Chara had no qualms about dying for the sake of their goal, but their biggest mistake was looping Asriel into it even when he was struggling against them.

Undertale's lesson, of course, is not Kill or be killed, it's way more nuanced and morally grey than that. The entire point of the game was to go against the mentality that Flowey believed, that Chara indirectly stood for. No matter how you spin it, Chara trying to use their full power against villagers was morally wrong and Asriel had to suffer due to his hesitation to hurt all of those people. If Frisk/Player is morally wrong for the genocide route, then Chara was morally wrong at that moment for trying to kill those villagers, regardless of their intentions to free the monsters. Of course, it is Asgore's fault for putting so much stress on such a young child as the singular hope for the monsters, and I know the humans were wrong for killing Asriel/Chara, but Chara was fully prepared to take seven lives once they reached the surface, therefore making the humans' reactions fully justified.

Asgore killed humans who ended up in his land and there's an argument for that, but then the same can be said for the villagers killing the Asriel/Chara alamgatation that undeniably was going to harm them. If anything, the humans were MORE justified in their reaction than Asgore killing those six children.

Chara's hatred for humanity was always stressed even more than their desire for monsters to be free. Whether or not Chara wants to "punish the player for what they've done to monsters" has always seemed very disingenuous to me because Chara (not the player) finishes off the remainder of the world at the end of the genocide routes. Yes, Chara is meant to be a sort of retribution for the player for their heinous actions, but specifically because they care about Monsterkind? Eh, I never really bought that.

Chara is heavily implied to be the narrator sure, but that alone doesn't make or break other people's headcanons. The game, while it is caused by Chara's actions for better or worse, doesn't have to be all about them. No, you can't blame Chara for the genocide route, but you also, by the same logic, have to give the player credit for the Pacifist route.

Screaming, "No, no, it's the PLAYER'S FAULT," for the 100th time shuts down any room to talk about Chara's moral greyness. Yes, we know it was the player, but that's...kind of the point. The player isn't an inherently evil entity, it depends entirely on the route and your actions. Almost like...Chara? (You picking up what I'm trying to put down?)

So here's everything we know about Chara in the most unbiased way I can put it. Chara was a child who was implied to have been abused or otherwise alienated from their village and for reasons that may be related to that, caused their hatred for humanity and their heavily implied suicide attempt. Instead of dying like they probably expected, they were founded by the Prince of the Monsters Asriel Dreemurr, and taken into the Dreemurr family where they became a part of the family at the beginning of 201x.

As depicted in Temmie Chang's concept art, Chara enjoyed their time with the family as evidenced by their depiction.

Chara is stated to have the ability to make a "creepy face," and is heavily implied to be a bit of a prankster toward Asriel. Chara and Asriel continued to bond and it's heavily noted that Asriel likes seeing Chara smile, and they smile quite easily around Asriel. Chara filled the Underground with a sense of hope during their stay, and it's stated that Asgore applied that expectation to them for better or worse. After Chara and Asriel tried making a pie using buttercup flowers not knowing it was poisonous, they unknowingly made Asgore incredibly sick to which Chara laughed it off. Whether or not it was a sadist laugh or a nervous laugh is up for debate, however, it's clear the buttercups making Asgore sick was a sort of revelation for Chara.

Chara developed a plan to obtain human souls, and it's implied they pressured Asriel into said plan. They had the sense enough to know that they didn't want the details of the plan on VHS as evident when they tell Asriel to stop recording. They purposely ingested buttercups knowing it would kill them, alluding again to their more suicidal/sacrificial nature, and then had Asriel absorb their soul. It's stated they wished to see the flowers of their village once again, but whether or not it was a ploy to make it seem as though Asriel killed them is, again, up for debate.

Chara wanted to attack the villagers and use their full power to obtain the souls. Whether or not they actually wanted to free the monsters or not, or it was moreso for revenge of how the village treated them isn't entirely clear, but regardless, their hatred of humanity has been heavily stressed up to this point. Asriel, of course, didn't want to kill the villagers which caused both of them to be killed, instilling the "kill or be killed," mentality that Flowey lives by.

It's clear that Flowey regrets his decision to not attack the humans as whenever Frisk aborts a genocide route, Flowey admonishes them by saying they "almost had it," clearly paralleled to the fact that he feels as though he aborted the original plan for massacre onto that village.

Flowey blames himself for what happened to him and Chara and it's clear his being soulless has ruined or at least changed his perception of morality as he no longer cares about what was right, but his sole survival. He also acknowledges that Chara was the reason behind his philosophical change even after death. After the Pacifist route in which Chara, if them being the narrator during all routes is true, has gone through philosophical changes themselves following the events of the game in which the "kill or be killed," mentality is uprooted by Frisk, the player and their friends.

After the pacifist route, Asriel acknowleges the fact that Chara wasn't the greatest person and says that Frisk is the type of friend he wished he had back then, showcasing that a lot his positive and negative feelings toward Chara were self projected. He also acknowledges that a lot of Chara's behavior came from a place of hatred and unhappiness before they fell, hinting at mistreatment. Chara's actions were what kick started a large portion of the story and in their wake, they left a lot of unresolved threads and hurt feelings and miscommunication. But they also left a large sense of hope that the monsters clearly still feel.

It's clear that Asriel did not want to kill anyone regardless of his desire to free the monsters. Chara is fine with, or at the very least, isn't all too conflicted about killing others for the "sake of the greater good," but whether or not they were doing it solely to free monsters is purposely left vague. Chara has no qualms about killing themselves for the sake of a plan, killing others while using their brother's body, or going against what their brother wants for the sake of their goal. Chara likely knew that Asriel was hesitant, but because they were too caught up, was willing to overlook it or was hoping that Asriel would do what he needed to once the time arose.

Chara and Asriel are both children. One had to go through indescribable pain and the other wanted to ease that pain, even if it meant they would have to take the lives of people when they didn't want to. Chara, more than their love for monsters, felt a burning hatred for humans and was willing to take said hatred out on an entire village rather than just killing the seven people and living. Asriel's hesitation to commit a massacre is understandable, especially given that he is a child and hasn't experienced the same mistreatment as Chara.

Following that, Asriel and them both die to which Asriel takes an interesting stance and blames himself rather than blaming Chara for trying to destroy the village when their original plan was just to get seven souls, even as Flowey. He almost has a kinship with Chara, calling themselves monsters of sorts, but in reality, he's just self-projecting his negative feelings.

During the events of the Pacifist route, Frisk and the Player essentially have to undo the mistakes of Chara and Asriel to save Asriel from the unfortunate circumstance that he was put into, both figuratively and literally saving his soul and putting Chara to rest.

However, during the genocide route, we instead reinforce the idea that killing is morally right to Chara. I know a lot of people say that Chara was only influenced by the player in the genocide route, but I believe that all the player did was simply reinforce the belief that was already instilled into Chara. Chara never had any qualms about killing even without the player influencing them, and now, without their soul, all the player has done is feed the fire of Chara's hatred and animosity for not only humanity but life itself. The hatred and leaning toward killing has always existed within Chara, it's just up to the player whether or not we want to follow and reinforce those beliefs or show the traumatized children that there's a different way.

[keisenthusiast]

pov: you are in a backstreet relationship with hinata!

— a backstreet relationship is a secret relationship that is kept hidden from others, such as friends and family. —

[character includes: hinata shoyo] this is x reader btw

- dating shoyo in secret feels like living in one of those rom-com anime but with extra chaos, because this guy? he sucks at keeping secrets. he tries, he really does, but it's like his entire body fights against the idea of subtlety.

- he also has no concept of personal space, so when he sees you, his first instinct is to hug you, cling onto your arm, or grab your hand before remembering, "oh crap we're supposed to be sneaky." so he panics and overcorrects by shoving you away, which makes it way more suspicious.

- sneaky hand-holding.

karasuno is walking back to the hotel after a tournament match. everyone is exhausted, some complaining, some just dragging their feet. shoyo is walking next to you, hands in his hoodie pocket.

when the team gets distracted by a street performer, he sneaks his pinky around yours. just a little.

you glance at him.

he glances at you.

both of you keep walking like nothing is happening.

- shoyo sucks at being sneaky, but he tries. he folds little notes and slips them into your bag when he thinks no one’s watching. they’re always messy, sometimes crumpled because he shoved them in his pockets for too long.

one time, you find a note that says:

"u look cute today :D (but u always do!!!) also, i saw a cat that reminded me of u. also, i miss u. ok bye."

you turn to find him already looking at you, wiggling his eyebrows excitedly. very proud.

- late night texts

he really really enjoys talking with you so he'd do anything to keep the conversation up. your conversations go like this:

- secret glances during practice

you sit on the bench (js imagine you're somehow a manager or smth), shoyo keeps stealing glances at you. whenever he lands a good spike, he sneaks a quick look, checking if you saw it.

when you give him a tiny thumbs-up, he practically vibrates with excitement.

kageyama notices. "why do you keep looking over there?"

"what? no i don't!" shoyo panics, voice a little too high.

"yes, you do."

"no, i don't!!"

bro im so tired but it's so addictive at the same time 😩💔💔 again, i'm sorry if there's any mischaracterization, i literally wrote this at 1am 😔 anyways

i think this is them in their third year 🗣️🗣️ aren't kuroo supposed to be at college or something? heh look at my husband in the back yall 😏