#and she doesn't have to feel conflicted about it

[willowser]

sweet as cherry wine—

bakugou katsuki x f!reader wc: 2.6k+ tags: katsuki pov, tough family conflicts including emotional and physical abuse (non-graphic), toxic relationship dynamics (not with reader), bakugou x f!oc, eventual office romance, canon-typical violence, light smut, slowburn emotional growth, mentioned death of a family member, happy ending, tags subject to change.

once again, very big thank you to @kodzu-ken for giving me the opportunity to pursue this idea !! our office romance is coming.....i promise......i just have to give bakugou several different layers of trauma first akhfkahfa

𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐑 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐈𝐒𝐓 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐁𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐄 ˎˊ˗

title | part two

When Katsuki is 8, his grandmother dies.

There's very little he knows about death then, but he feels it coming in the months before it happens, before any of the grown-ups sit him down. It startles in his brain at her arrival, sudden and instinctive, like the little animal of him has smelled that something is off.

One day Obaachan visits—and then just never leaves, instead installed into Katsuki's playroom: the "office", once a kingdom of color, overrun with swaths of fabric his father brought home in great bundles, spooled out across the floor.

It takes both his parents and his aunt and even his oldest cousin to complete Obaachan's hostile takeover, and once she's settled in, he's entirely barred from the room. Not even allowed to dig through the scraps of red and blue and yellow, to pull satin over his shoulders or to chase tulle down the hallway.

No, after that, Katsuki can only stand at the door with an eye pressed to the crack, breathing in time to the hiss of Obaachan's machines.

Sometimes she watches him in return, catches him in her cloudy, sunken stare from her final resting place on the futon. It scares him in a way he doesn't know how to translate yet, all her protruding bone and thin, transparent skin, the way her mouth folds in on itself when she sees him. It makes something cold coil in his tummy, something that feels far too big for his little body.

There isn't much she says and that makes it worse, somehow. Her voice is as frail as she is, but there's an echo after she speaks, the same sudden silence that follows glass shattering. Most of the time, he's already on his way out of the room, moving much too loud and much too fast to show his respect and to slow down and listen—

But the one time he does, her words splinter something, hard, inside of him.

"He's just like his mother."

It hits him hotter than his mom's palm, shuts his mouth before another word can form. He's yelling about something, because he's eight and still throws ugly tantrums and because the witch matches him beat for beat, feeds his unruly little fire. It's not the first time he's ever heard it, even that young, how much like her he is, but the way Obaachan says it. Like she's peeling something rotten off the sole of her shoe.

When she looks at him, really looks at Katsuki, it's like she's seen something. Caught him, somehow, doing something he should be ashamed of, even though he's only eight and doesn't know any other way to be.

That night, he lies in bed and tells himself he doesn't care. That she's old and mean and wrong. That his mother is a hag and his grandmother's even worse and he doesn't care, he just doesn't give a crap.

And he remembers it all anyway.

Obaachan's machines go quiet in the spring.

The office becomes an office again, all her things are packed and put away; his mother scrubs it all down herself, and his old man sews late, late into the night for a couple of weeks. Katsuki avoids that room for a while, walks past the door too fast, hears phantom hissing where he knows there is none.

He doesn't cry through the incense and sutras, and he never says that he misses her, doesn't even think it, and yet still—sometimes her voice rises up right behind his mother's, just as sharp.

Time drifts forward in slow, heavy pulses, with days folding into months and months folding into years. By sixteen, Katsuki's more of a weapon than a young man and he fights like violence is the only language he knows. Anger lives in him full-time, pressed tight behind his ribs, radiating out through every word, every action. There are moments it's so strong and he doesn't know how or why, almost like it's not even his but something that was passed down, written in his blood. Like a birthright, or a curse.

He sparks off his mother like dry wood under a match.

It doesn't take much, just a glance, a shift in tone, a scrape of chopsticks a little too hard against her bowl. At this point in his life, they don't even try to talk very much, because when they do, it never ends very well.

And tonight is a perfect example.

Katsuki's halfway through with dinner, voice sharp with frustration and a mouth full of rice, "—busted my ass on the field and still lost points just 'cause I didn't kiss the ground Eraser walks on." He doesn't stop to breathe, doesn't notice how his mother's stopped chewing across the table, only continues when Masaru nods sympathetically. "And class rankings are a joke, anyway. What's the point of top scores if they're just gonna kiss up to who they like better? If they're gonna act like I'm the problem for pointin' it out?"

There's a pause as he stops to swallow, as he glances up at his dad for—something, validation or anything. Since he was a kid, his old man has let him talk himself in circles, cry over the same damn things over and over again, and sometimes Katsuki needs that space and sometimes he just wants—

"You know," Mitsuki suddenly murmurs, as casually as a blade slipped between ribs. "For someone that's supposed to be so smart, you sure run your mouth like an idiot."

The air stiffens, between all of them. Katsuki goes still, jaw tight around the bite he hasn't swallowed, because he wasn't expecting it when he should have been. From her, he always should be expecting it.

"The hell's that supposed to mean?"

The old witch hates when he swears, but she doesn't jump on him for it, doesn't yell, only shrugs like she isn't tearing him right open at the dinner table. "You come home whining about how everyone's out to get you, how the system's broken when it's really just your big mouth that's getting in your way, Katsuki."

"I'm top three in my year," he grinds out. "Ain't nothin' in my way."

"Top three," she repeats, "not top."

Katsuki flushes, immediately. It stings because it's true, because it's the same thing he's been telling himself over and over again every night. Only now is he realizing just how familiar that voice inside his head is.

"All your talk, all your pride," she shrugs again, lazy and offhand. "Not worth a damn if you have nothing to show for it."

The scar on his shoulder is still pink, under his clothes, just like the one near his hip; they're the softest parts of him, a tenderness that had to be torn out and stitched back together.

Some nights he wakes up choking, breath caught sideways in his throat, gagging like he's trying to spit up sludge that isn't there. Some nights he closes his eyes and all he can see is what's left of All Might, brittle and burned out—and it's his fault. Katsuki is the shadow. Katsuki is the reason the light doesn't reach.

"I do have something to show—"

"Then show it." Finally, she looks up at him, lip curled in—annoyance, like this is the stupidest conversation she's ever had, like this is all shit he should know by now. "Quit walking around with your head up your ass, acting like being the loudest in the room makes you the winner." She snorts, one cruel sound. "That's not being the best, that's just your big, fat ego."

Katsuki scoffs, to scratch the itch in his throat. "Yeah, you'd know, huh?"

"Don't get smart with me, kid."

"I wouldn't have to if you knew a goddamn thing!"

"And there it is, Mr. Know-It-All!"

There are so many things he wants to say and doesn't know how to, none of them fit in his mouth. They feel small and tiny and weak, and he never learned how to be that way.

He settles on: "What the hell is your problem?"

That bites. Not deep, but enough to scar, and she blinks, like it's hit something she thought she fortified. Her mouth twitches like she's biting something back and just for a second, he sees it: the edge of guilt, or fear, or some soft thing she won't let live. And then it's gone just as fast, buried like everything else.

"You're my son," Mitsuki says, final and flat, "and I'm not gonna let you turn into some loser just because you don't know when to shut your mouth and listen."

And that—that's what guts him.

Some loser.

It's not the first time he’s heard it, even that young, but the way she says it. Like she means it, like it's already true. Katsuki stares at her and he doesn't know what his face is doing, but it burns—in his throat, behind his eyes, down to the fists he has in his lap.

When he shoves back from the table, the whole thing rattles, even the legs. Plates clink and cups slosh, chopsticks jump. Whatever, he growls—maybe, he doesn't know and doesn't care—and he stalks away with a fury so hot that it takes his breath away, and it's rooted in him, that fire.

Inherited. Thrumming inside his chest like a second heart. Less of something he feels and more of something he just is.

Her voice bites at his heels, trails him down the hallway and past the genkan and framed photos of their family, hung like ornaments, and Katsuki hits the garage door open so hard it splinters all the cracks in the wall even further.

Masaru finds him thirty minutes later.

Katsuki's hands are greasy, buried in the guts of an old Toyota Crown they've been picking at for months; some shitty thing Masaru bought half-rusted out of a field in Noto because he liked the bones.

The old man doesn't say anything, just walks around to the passenger side and leans onto the open hood. Katsuki doesn't look up, still breathing too hard from his nose, fucking hands shaking in small, infuriating ways.

Silence stretches between them, thick and oily, until the socket wrench slips for the third goddamn time.

"Fuck!" Katsuki spits, louder than he should. Masaru won't nag him about it, but that bothers him even more, to just have to sit in the quiet judgement and listen to his behavior echo back at him.

He flinches when his dad raises his hand, and so the old man makes a point to soothe the tension in his neck, to pinch at the muscle above his shoulder until it releases.

"Use the 13 mil," he murmurs, and—

It makes Katsuki's jaw tick, because he knows, he knows what the fuck to use. He just didn't want to.

Still, he swaps the wrench and gets the bolt loose with a hard, angry crack, and the sound satisfies something small and mean in his chest.

They work in that silence for a little while, the kind that feels like it's pressing up against his ears. Half-seething, Katsuki hunched over the hood like a dog waiting to be struck, scowl deep enough to scar; Masaru only hums under his breath, passing a rag and the right socket without being asked.

There's a little radio on the shelf, tuned low to some enka station neither of them have ever bothered to change.

"Did I ever tell you how we met?" Masaru gives Katsuki the chance to answer, but he doesn't, so he doesn't push. "We met at the fabric house. She came in red-hot over a shipment, some dyed silk that came out wrong. She lit into the floor manager like it was personal."

Katsuki snorts. A short, cruel sound. "Sounds about right."

"She was wrong about the dye, but she wasn't wrong about the way they were handling it." He smiles, like it's a fond memory and not an admission that the witch has always been psychotic. "Your mother saw through the nonsense faster than anyone else in the room."

Maybe at another time, he would have tried to picture it: his father younger, wide-eyed, caught in the orbit of a woman like Mitsuki, all fire and sharp elbows, raising hell like it was second nature, like it still is—but the thought tugs at some raw, unnamed thing inside of him, so instead he shoves it down as far as it will go and seals the lid.

"I don't know what caught me first," Masaru continues, soft. "That she was loud, or that she cared enough to be."

Katsuki's frown deepens. "You're both insane."

"Maybe," His father laughs, and when Katsuki glances at him, the apples of his cheeks are red, glowing. Still that young man, still enthralled. "But we know what matters, and we look out for each other."

It burns something deep in Katsuki, hearing that, and he doesn't know why. It feels like disgust, but—that's not quite it. More like disbelief. Furious, bone-deep disbelief, to think that someone as gentle and quiet as his father could ever understand the wildfire that is his mother. To think there is some unseen side of her that he's never met, hidden and whole and that knows how to be gentle back.

"How?" Katsuki stands so fast that bolts clatter, that Masaru looks up at him in surprise. "How the hell do you deal with her? She never shuts up, she never backs off, she gets in everyone's face, always has to win—"

"She's not trying to win," Masaru disagrees, quietly.

"The hell she ain't!" Katsuki scoffs, throwing his hands out, because it's right there in front of his father's face and all he does is frown. "You always take her side! Even though she starts everything, and she's always pushin'—pushin' like 'm some little brat that doesn't know squat, that can't do anything right!"

Masaru doesn't flinch, or argue. Only watches him, silent and steady.

It makes his voice rise, crack with all the heat. "You act like she's perfect or somethin', but I'm not you! I can't—jus'—sit there while she tears into me!"

He’s nearly as tall as his father, but the old man kneels anyway, settling down to meet him, gripping both of Katsuki’s forearms; firm, unguarded, showing no hint of threat.

"She's not perfect, son," Masaru murmurs, voice low, "none of us are. She pushes you harder than she should, sometimes, because she sees the strength in you, even when you don't, because she doesn't want you to ever be unprepared—but that doesn't mean it's always right. That doesn't mean you have to be okay with it."

His face pinches tight, and he squeezes his eyes shut and when his father tries to hug him, Katsuki yanks away. Because he doesn't know any other way to be. The wrench in his hand doesn't shake anymore, but on the inside, something is splitting wide open, a slow kind of panic. Creeping, like rust spreading under paint.

His old man talks about love like it's so simple; patience is just something you give, forgiveness is just something that comes—but Katsuki isn't built that way. His mother isn't, either. They burn too hot, too fast, and leave ash in their wake without meaning to. Masaru will never get it, because he's not wired the same way and doesn't carry the same pressure in his chest, the same sharpness in his teeth.

But his father is right about one thing: just because he is stupid enough to endure the shit, doesn't mean Katsuki has to.

[selenepsyche]

Astro Observations with Selene (Part 2)

Undeveloped Capricorns & Aquarians are truly a pain in the ass. Y'all can never hold yourselves accountable for shit. Even if you get proven wrong with factual evidence or witnesses, you still gonna say or do out of pocket shit that don't even make sense. Y'all be wanting to win a argument so bad and act like you know everything when you don't. Is it that hard to say "I was wrong, I apologize"? Someone could accurately predict a stock market crash and you'll bring up shit that happened ten years ago just to prove a point, like just take your L.

The 12th House is truly the house of your hidden enemies. My 12th house is in Aries and my worst betrayals have come from Aries people. In 6th grade, my former Aries best friend randomly switched up on me and bullied me out of jealousy and envy. It sent my mental health into a deep spiral. A few months ago, my former Aries friend flirted with and dated my shitty ex behind my back when we had just broken up, then proceeded to say it isn't a big deal and threatened to beat me up because I went off on her. Long story short, they didn't last because he broke up with her and now she's a miserable bitch.

Scorpio Men are some of the messiest people I've ever met, mainly undeveloped Scorpio men. I would not trust them with your secrets. I wouldn't even tell them how your day went. They gossip more than woman do.

Venus in Virgo men, are there any of you that AREN'T players? Every time I look in the chart of a male celebrity or influencer and see that he has a Venus in Virgo, I don't even be surprised. (Austin Butler, Vinnie Hacker, Anthony Ramos, NICK CANNON). Do you know what all these men have in common? They have all certainly had or was rumored to have cheated on their partner or have flings with multiple women.

Venus in Sagittarius people, y'all have a wide variety in whom y'all would wanna date right? It doesn't matter where they come from, their religion, their culture, their race, maybe even their gender. Especially you Venus in Sag men. Yeah, you like to date every woman under the sun right? I'm wondering how long it's gonna take before I see a Venus in Sag man who hasn't switched partners faster then the time it takes them to change a car's tires in a Nascar race.

4th House Placements need to realize that not every familial problem is yours to solve, especially if you're in a toxic household. I understand you may feel attached to your family, but you have a life to live. Don't forget to put your needs first, you're what's important.

Undeveloped Cancers love playing the victim I swear. Y'all start drama and do shit to hurt people, but when you get confronted you wanna play the victim and whine about it. Stop being pussies.

Pisces Men usually have trouble conveying and stabilizing their emotions. I think it has a lot to do with Pisces being a feminine sign, and society has made it to where men aren't supposed to be too emotional. They think they're supposed to be tough and hard. This can manifest as them having trouble controlling their anger or avoiding conflicts all together, being narcissistic, manipulative, and secretive. Pisces does rule the 12th house after all. Not all Pisces Men are like this of course, but it's something to look out for.

Thank you all for reading this! I truly appreciate all the support. I didn't expect for this one to mainly be about men, yikes, so in the next one I'm doing only women-based observations.

dividers: @omi-resources gifs: Pinterest

© selenepsyche - All Rights Reserved

[allenvooreef]

Friends if you need some hope in these dire times let me tell you about the radicalization of my mother.

She was raised somewhat conservatively and never really questioned it; our household was mostly a 'we don't do politics' one, until 16 year old me started throwing wrenches into polite conversation as I was learning about social justice. I've always really struggled with doing that, because my fiery sense of justice is locked in an eternal battle with my debilitating fear of conflict, and I've always assumed my speaking up at the dinner table didn't accomplish much other than bum everyone out and give me panic attacks.

However, skip a few years forward and suddenly the whole family agrees on that thing I used to ruin dinner over. And now I'm ruining dinner over the next societal issue I've learned about. Skip another year and suddenly my mother is talking to her mother about these issues. Two more years and she's subscribed to leftist newsletters, signing petitions, donating to grassroots organizations. Skip to 2025 and now she's at a demonstration with me and my brother! She's challenging xenophobic rhetoric at her new work place! She is passionate and brave and she's learning and she's out there doing her part! As I grow, she's been growing a couple steps behind. And I'm just constantly amazed at how far she's come and so proud to be her kid.

My takeaway from this is first: don't let anyone tell you the older generation is incapable of change, or that people only ever get more conservative with age. And second: even if it doesn't feel like it in the moment, speaking out makes a difference, and it is absolutely worth the discomfort. Ruin a dinner or two, then give it time. You don't always have to make big waves - go make ripples.

[midnight-in-town]

ANE 158 or how to do character developments right

It's no news that I'm a big fan of Kato-sensei's writing [x][x][x] but the current arc is full of great examples that she specifically rocks dynamics between her characters. :D

Starting with the tumultuous friendship between Izumo and Shiemi that really blossomed throughout the story, ending on full sorority and support from one girl to the other.

But also Izumo's friendship with Shiemi helped her getting closer to the other members of the Exwires, which really gives a different vibe to Izumo's character compared to the beginning of the story.

Obviously, the fact that we targeted her family issues during the first Illuminati arc is also part of the explanation, but Sensei spent a lot of time giving focus to Izumo's developing friendships (and love of romance and drama haha) since then.

Then, we finally reached an understanding between Rin and Shiemi vis-à-vis their romantic feelings for each other and how they have so much on their shoulders and riding on who they are (origin wise) that it always takes a long time for them to fully confront each other, eyes to eyes.

Considering, where we started, with a bigger bond between Yukio and Shiemi than Shiemi and Rin, Kato ends up speaking throughout the story about youth pressure in a very adult world, but in the end, true feelings prevail and war matters less than love.

Rin even asking for consent, what a guy ! (◕‿◕✿)

Thanks Mephy for good advice for once !

(could have fooled me)

And lastly, the complex but beautifully heartwarming bond between Rin and Yukio. Personally, reading the chapter, I was particularly glad about two things.

First, Yukio realizing he's not jealous, because he's not in love with Shiemi (anymore ? never was ? it's probably hard to define) :

In my opinion, there has always been a genuine friendship between Yukio and Shiemi but, because Shiemi was his first real friend with whom he could be himself and with whom he found understanding, he put a lot expectations on how special it was to him, without realizing that what he needed was to find more friends to lean upon and share his burdens with (because, despite all his achievements, he's still 16).

So what Yukio probably mistook as romance was simply enjoying the friendship of someone who could appreciate who he truly was, when he was starting to immensely detest himself. In this chapter, after everything he went through, I'm very glad he realized that he's not hurt nor envious and that he can be happy for Rin and Shiemi, because he's a good guy.

Second thing, a part of me actually wonders whether or not Rin probably didn't understand what Shiemi was trying to say at first because inwardly, and probably unconsciously, he was scared it would hurt Yukio and their latest reconciliation :

But when Yukio told him "actually I'm not angry at all", Rin became emotionally available to finally truly listen to what Shiemi was trying to say (even if she did indeed try harder to confess to him, haha, good for her ! What a Queen !).

It's all up in the air, but I enjoy this idea that Rin was scared to understand what Shiemi meant if that led to more conflict with Yukio, because sibling love is different but as important as romantic love, and Rin was never going to be happy if it came at the cost of Yukio's own happiness (again, they're 16 and they went through a lot).

It's like, for a chapter or two, the battle against Satan going berserk and the Illuminati doesn't matter anymore. Well done, as always, Kato-sensei !

To quote Izumo & Mephy:

they're such a #mood

And very important last panel :

#cuties

[wandixx]

Bear 🐻 with me, because I don't usually go there, but I've got idea for Reverse Robins AU. If I got something wrong, feel free to yell at me.

Damian is oldest, but Duke is first one adopted. I have a lot more ideas, but that's what caused the spark. Like I said, 🐻 with me.

Like, Duke became Bruce's ward as an 8 year old, or something, after he became his own vigilante, running around in bike helmet, gas mask that probably didn't have filters changed in too long and off-brand Batman hoodie, looking for his parents and tormenting Riddler. Once he got somewhat settled, and Bruce started going out as Batman more, Duke became Lark, in part to keep doing good work, in part to keep being with closest approximation of parent he now has. And that's Dynamic Duo. I'm not sure how We Are Robins would work in that, sorry.

Then when he is late preteen/early teen, when Talia realizes Bruce can keep child actually alive, she drops teen Damian off (he's like, sixteen/seventeen).

There wouldn't be as big conflict for a mantle, because it wouldn't be as established as Batman's partner mantle and show me one teenager who would found anything done by younger kids as cool enough to fight for it. But he'd probably still try to drive Duke out for one reason or another. Maybe make him stop being vigilante, because "Batman can have only one partner and I clearly am more worthy". Dami would also be going through quite a bit of teen angst, because at the League, he was seen as practically adult, capable and all. He was a leader. He was a killer. He controlled not only his life, but also others. And then he was in Gotham, where he couldn't even have a say in which classes he wanted to attend when, if at all. So not only assassin reprogramming, but also great loss of autonomy. (I think he'd go by Vulture, to strike fear in hearts of villains, and then move on to Heron or something). I think he and Duke grow to be amicable with each other, if not outright brotherly.

Then, when Duke is in late-ish teens, he decides to go out during day and rebrands to Signal (or some other bird name, if you want, but I genuinely don't know enough about birds to give another idea). However, his Lark suit isn't too different from canon Signal one. He can't have the "name my mom called me, name that I carried on as my last connection to my family after my their death and now it was given to someone else and I had no say in it" angst, but I want to give him the "identity I created for myself because it felt like the only thing that could let me do the right thing and connect me to my foster parent, identity I haven't really moved on from, just adjusted as I grew up (became day time hero and changed name to Signal), is now given to someone else, and I had no say in it, and I can't even hate them because they too just want to do the right thing and have connection to the new parent" angst. I think Cass could become second Lark. She deserves that.

I unfortunately don't know enough about Cass to give her too much of a story, sorry. Cass fans, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter. She needs big arc, her part of the story, like everyone else.

Then comes baby Jay, picked up from streets gang enforcer, either manipulated, or regularly drugged with something to be more violent, but who clearly has good heart under all the violence. Bruce takes one look at him and is like "He is just like Damian, but baby shaped" and tries to lure him in like a stray cat. It works a bit, because Jason does get closer to Bats, doesn't move in, because he is independent thirteen year old and doesn't need charity (he breaks in sometimes though and steals food and gear, that fits surprisingly well and is weirdly in the open) He slowly untangles himself from the gang and all. He may go by Bluejay, or something like that, as sort of twist, by whoever first employed him, on the fact that kid vigilantes all go by bird names. And then something happens, Jay disappears from the face of the Earth, presumed dead. Dealer's choice if he actually died or what happened.

Bruce is, obviously, distraught, and can't stop thinking that if he was a bit more present, a bit more forceful, if he managed to get Jason home, nothing like this would've happened. Random members of the gang that previously kept Jay, arrive to Blackgate/Arkham, with so many broken bones, they wished Batman didn't have no kill rule.

But, before Jay died, your chosen line-up managed to rescue some girl, who was beaten up by Black Mask. Nobody is quite sure how she ended up there. They didn't know if she'd make it, but she did, and healed up quite well, cared for at hospital payed by anonymous guy (Bruce Wayne). Yep, that's Steph, and she's eternally grateful that she survived, but she very much could've died back there.

So she becomes Spoiler, doing her damn best to make sure nobody falls through the crack when Bats are focused on rogues and other big name criminals. Fumbled slightly at first, because hey, she has no training and is still finishing healing, but she got hang on it pretty quickly and Spoiler became quite a name on the streets (though not so much on rooftops. They heard rumors, but nobody has time to investigate). (And later down the line her father becomes Cluemaster, so she starts spoiling his game too)

Then Jay dies, Batman is distraught, and he catches glimpse of purple cape in the alley. After few nights he managed to catch up with her and realized, that this is also child vigilante running around and she becomes his emotional support child. She refused to take up the role, kicking and screaming to not let it happen, but B was pushing because "I failed Jay, I won't fail this girl too". For more angst, you could have him not knowing Steph's civilian name for some time because he didn't really care about her as a person but only as a vigilante who reminded him of his lost son he failed to protect.

Rest of the Bats are in various degrees of contact with him, but once they get wind of all that, they're all trying their best to get him od Steph's back, while also making sure she is not running around without proper gear and maybe some basic training, later down the line (I'm thinking that Bruce is outright stalking her, while rest of the Bats more or less drop stuff for her and leave note like "here is relatively adjustable body armor, here is a number you can call if you get in over your head, here is a panic button that'll tell me where you are if you press it, though I'll understand if you don't want it (if you want to throw it out, please destroy it, so noone else can use it, okay?). Sorry for Batman, we're trying to get him off your back, signed Signal"

It does get better with time, thankfully. Maybe Steph even became Lark for a bit, when Cass moved on from the role or couldn't do that for some time, for reasons related to her plot.

And then Bruce goes missing in the timeline and that's how Tim, who already had him figured out thanks to his fanboying over first Lark (idk, I saw somewhere idea that Tim was Duke's Robin and I think Duke deserves to be Tim's Lark in reverse) joins the family because his parents took him to one (1) expedition with them, because he was seventeen, meaning almost an adult and could be trusted with family second, less legal business, and while there he:

found out that Batman was stuck in time

found enough proof to not be laughed and brushed off

became target for League of Assassin's

lost spleen if you're into it

And when he got back to Gotham he just knocked on the door like "Hello, Damian Al Ghul-Wayne, or should I say Batman/Heron. I have proof your father isn't dead please let me in". It took some convincing but in the end they believed him, brought Bruce back (or forward if you really think about that). Then for some time Tim was... kinda there, on the outskirts of Wayne's life's, maybe taking leaf out of Steph's book and becoming vigilante. Then League of Assassin's targeted him for whatever he did before and he goes to Wayne's to ask for help, moves in "for few month for protection" and is never let go.

Could also be, that when Bruce is back from his time jumping, he's also back at harassing Steph and Tim sees it and goes like "I can put target on myself to distract him, if you want" and that's how he gets closer to Bats, idk. I think either way, Tim should be big Spoiler fan. Maybe she rescued him, when he got kidnapped as "a Drake heir" before Brucequest, and she instantly became his second favorite hero

And then Jay appears again, found while trying to steal tires from the Batmobile on a dare. He is far more positive about life, partially because he got away from whoever/whatever made him so angry, partially because he had chance to reflect on his relationship with Bruce and rest of the Batfam. He didn't reveal himself right when he got back because he wasn't sure if he'd still be wanted and suddenly he went from having to potential big brothers, and kinda twin, to four big siblings, and he wasn't sure he wanted to be youngest in such mix. But when he is found, Bruce outright kidnapped him and didn't let him out of his sight for week, because, yeah, with time the pain of loss became less overwhelming, but by god he wasn't losing Jay again. Anyway, this time around Jay was ready to accept hand extended to him and let himself be adopted, finish high school, go to uni, maybe become Lark for some time, but not to long.

By more positive I don't mean defanged, he definitely broke into prison to rebreak bones of the gang members and has to be stopped sometimes if anything reminds him of what happened to him. He's just less likely to go straight into mindless rage. Now he is vicious and can plan how to hurt the most.

But over all, for some time, it's peaceful.

And then Wayne family and associates go to circus that just stopped in town.

I don't have much story for Dick either, sorry, other than angst potential of the fact, that Duke, with power to see close future, was there that night. Not sure who'd blame him more, small Dick, hurt and grieving, or Duke himself.

Also no clue how to include Babs, sorry. She also deserves to be here.

Anyway, what do you think? About all of it?

[chipmunkfanno1love]

How Tails and Knuckles *could* react to Sonamy in the SCU?

I've been considering a number of possible theories to how Tails and Knuckles will react to Sonic and Amy's -obvious to all but them-chemistry in the SCU. Let's just say I've got two very opposing points of view of where they could go with this plot line and how they'll also develop Amy's sisterly relationship with both Tails and Knuckles.

I give some credit to @ficsinhistory (@redlikerosesandflowers) for inspiring some of my theories here and also @lucidheart3 in whose discussion and theories inspired some of my own as well.

Option 1:

Option 1 is an option that I'm sure most fans agree with as I've heard them share similar thoughts themselves (I believe @wherearedagrapes might be one of them). That Sonic doesn't warm up to Amy at first, either because he doesn't immediately trust her and/or he dislikes her take-charge attitude of acting like she's taking over as leader of his team. He's probably annoyed with her bossy attitude, intimidated at having competition for leadership, and possibly even jealous because he feels that his brothers like her more than they like him.

Tails immediately is taken by Amy's affectionate nature, her street smarts and because she's interested in his love tinkering and has almost as good a knowledge of technology as he has. Knuckles is a little slower to impress as he assumes that Amy is going to be "a scared little girl with a toy hammer", but Amy is quick to prove she's as strong and as capable of a fighter as he is, and that he shouldn't be quick to judge her by her cute and feminine appearance. Let's just say that Knuckle is very quickly impressed by Amy's strength and courage. He'll probably repeat Thor's impressed and blunt statement "I like this one."

You can watch the whole video but encourage you to watch 0:45 to 1:06 as the example of how I see Knuckles and Amy's first interaction. *Warning* - Course language at the end of the video:

I could see Sonic and Amy constantly bickering and butting heads, leaving the family to remark that two sound like an old married couple. I could see Sonic going into a long and irritated rant about how annoying he finds the pink hedgehog, though in that rant there are some pretty clear hints of Sonic's in-denial attraction to Amy, which Tails and Knuckles are quick to pick up on and tease him about.

Eventually Sonic and Amy learn to work together and soon a friendship based on empathy and mutual understanding grows between them. It's from there that it becomes clear that mutual feelings are growing between them, as scary and confusing as it is to Sonic and even Amy at first.

I encourage you to read the link here to my reply to @lucidheart3's discussion page as it gives some written and video examples of how I imagine Sonic's rants about Amy sounding like and Tails and Knuckles brotherly teasing of Sonic would look like:

Option 2:

For this option I imagine that Amy doesn't meet Tails and Knuckles until the middle of the film and by that time her and Sonic have already had some time to bond and work together as a team against the Metal Sonic duplicates. They've had time to form a friendship in their short time together.

When Sonic is finally reunited with his brothers, they aren't immediately impressed with how taken Sonic seems with Amy. Knuckles is annoyed that Sonic is letting his head get turned round by a pretty girl (though he admits she's an impressive fighter) and is concerned that he'll let his obvious new feelings for Amy distract him in his responsibilities as leader of their tribe.

I reckon this famous scene from The Lion King could be a great example of Sonic and Amy's growing feelings for each other and their conflicted emotions as a result. I would exclude the diving into the water part though as Sonic is terrified of water. Maybe him running through a field of flowers and scattering the pollen could work instead.

Tails and Knuckles could act the part of Timon and Pumbaa being concerned that their adoptive brother falling in love could mean the end of their team:

I imagine Tails in particular acting jealous of Sonic paying so much attention to Amy. Though what really hits him hard is when Amy says to Sonic "We really make a good team, Sonic. You know...you and I could really do great things back home. Do you think...you'd might consider...coming back with me?" Sonic replies in such a way that sounds like he's considering Amy's offer and Tails -who overhears the conversation- is devastated and runs away in tears at the thought of losing his beloved big brother and best friend.

It could be a moment where we see even more of Tails' angstier side and the side with a fear of losing his family and being abandoned. It could also be a moment where Amy goes to find Tails and the two end up in a dangerous situation in which they have to work together to get out of it alive. It's a moment where they have to learn to trust each other and where the first sparks of their little brother and big sister bond begins to grow. These moments in Brother Bear 2 between Koda and Nita could be a very loose example:

Of course, the real tender moment happens when Sonic and Tails are reunited and Tails cries out of fear of losing Sonic, saying: "You can't leave! Our team...it wouldn't be the same without you! You're our leader! (tearfully) Please...don't leave...you're my best friend, Sonic. You're my brother. We need you. I need you."

Sonic comfortingly puts his hand on Tails' shoulder and says with confidence "I'm not going anywhere, buddy. I'll never abandon my family. Not ever." The two brothers embrace each other in a warm hug and eventually Knuckles goes to join them with the promise that they'll always be there for each other. Amy looks on fondly, if a bit wistfully, knowing that Sonic has to stay with his family...and soon...she must sadly leave him.

Amy builds her sisterly bond with both Tails and Knuckles and by the time she has to say goodbye to them, she's pretty much in tears. They all (particularly Sonic) try to encourage Amy to stay with them, she says as much as she would love to stay, she knows that she has to return to her home world to rebuild it after Metal Sonic's defeat. As she bids goodbye to them, Tails gives Amy a special phone with a special antenna that enables her to video call them from other planets and galaxies (and hopefully realms). He asks her to promise to keep in touch and to visit them whenever she can. Amy responds with "You know I will." and two affectionately hug. She also says her goodbyes to Knuckles, Tom, Maddie and even Ozzy (with lots of licks, cuddles and pats.)

As Sonic is about to say goodbye to Amy, Tails whispers "You know, Sonic, if you want to go with Amy...that's okay. No matter what...we'll always be a team. A family." Knuckles also gives an encouraging nod. Tom and Maddie are less convinced but tell Sonic to do what is best for him.

Sonic, as much as he's going to miss Amy, knows he can't leave his family, and sadly tells Amy that he's needed here. She nods and says she understands. The two say their bittersweet goodbye, promising that no matter how far apart they are, deep down they'll always be together.

I'm using this scene from Disney's Pocahontas as reference of how I very loosely see this scene playing out. If this movie is considered offensive to any of you then please don't feel obliged to watch the clip. Obviously, I don't see it being exactly the same (I imagine Amy pecking Sonic on the cheek, hugging him, and understanding why they have to part ways), but I imagine the bittersweetness of the goodbye still being the same:

I'd love to hear your thoughts via comments and/or the poll. Any feedback is certainly appreciated.

[aristaspark]

Brooklynn is in love with Kenji / Brooklynn's arc in JWCT.

The post is the follow up to 2 of my posts, the one about why I think Brooklynn isn't in love with Darius, and the one where I talk about how Dinostar being endgame would be terrible in relation to Darius's character arc writing wise.

This is the Brooklynn is in love with Kenji / Brooklynn returning Darius' feelings is the worst pay off to her character journey version.

Saying it here, if you read all that you deserve a cookie 🍪.

Sooo Brooklynn.

A large portion of the fandom is convinced she doesn't love Kenji.

That alone should be a pretty darn good indication that it might actually be the case...if it was coming from any other fandom. But it's the camp cretaceous fandom we are talking about, a fandom that had convinced itself the writers had set up B*nji and still continues to do so even after the crew has admitted that this reception was absolutely not what they were going for. Honest and overly bold confession as someone who has always had vastly different opinions from the majority, I've had this impression since I first entered the fandom, and only time will tell me if I'm right, but I feel like the fandom often misunderstands the writers and what they are trying to convey, especially in the shipping department.

They've had this conviction that the gyrospheres somehow meant the characters were made for each other, and only saw the story through that lense, not even thinking of the possibility that the writers... well, didn't have that lense.

I'm like 99% sure Brooklynn is still in love with Kenji.

At no point in the story do they show Brooklynn questionning her feelings for Kenji.

She looked smitten with him in the video on her phone. She looked smitten with him when she came home to his trailer, displaying physical affection and being flirty despite her mind already not being there. She looked in love with him when they ran up that cliff, and actually conflicted when she had to miss this moment because Daniel called her. She wanted to be with him in this moment, but she was already so far gone that she couldn't hold out on responding to Daniel. She looked shattered when Kenji broke up with her, at a loss for words. She came home, angry and crying, and the first thing she did was throw the picture of Kenji and her in the trash because of how hurt she was. The ONLY picture in her appartment, mind you.

I think Brooklynn's reaction to the break up is one of the biggest proof that she still loves him. This was the perfect opportunity for the writers to show Brooklynn questionning her feelings for Kenji. If deep down Brooklynn didn't really love Kenji, then him taking the burden of breaking up off of Brooklynn's shoulders should have somehow relieved her. She could have went home and, instead of angrily slamming the door, throwing his picture in the trash and cry, realized that she wasn't as sad and angry as she should have been, that she was almost... indifferent, which would have been a way to actually set up that story arc for her. But the writers didn't do that.

I can already hear people say "oh, but she did it in her scene with Darius" 🧏‍♂️.

Well, no.

Once again, she never, not even once, put HER feelings into question. She put Kenji's feelings for her into question, because she can't fathom why he'd break up with her, because, in her delusional mind, she was only "a little distracted".

But if Kenji had not broken up with her, she wouldn't have.

And I think it's very telling that she brings up Kenji in that scene with Darius. Darius is seen making moon eyes at her, he is already smitten with her. For Brooklynn's hypothetical feelings for Darius not to come out of left field later in the show, Brooklynn should have behaved in a way that betrayed that there had been a shift in the way she felt about him him after that time she'd spent with him, and yet, the first thing she does in the only Dinostar scene up until that point, is to remind Darius that she is tied to Kenji, and that she is still very much thinking of Kenji. I cannot stress enough that the show made it painfully clear that Brooklynn's feelings for Darius hadn't changed during these few days she'd spent at his place. It's not what is shown, and it wouldn't have made sense either, because a few days prior she was still in a committed relationship with Kenji and was crying and angry about their break up. And the way she speaks about the break up to Darius, as if it was an argument that had ended badly, using present tense, shows she has not accepted it.

Now a little... case I have to make. Do not think I'm in denial enough to pretend that the way Kenlynn was handled in season 4 of jwcc was good. It simply wasn't. Where I disagree with the fandom is on there being no set up and no chemistry. The set up was there and the chemistry too, but the exection was extremely rushed. When I say that the set up was there, I mean that to me, Kenji liking Brooklynn didn't come as a surprise. He was flirting with her since season 1, and there were scenes in season 3 that suggested that he started genuinely liking her, to me what was lacking was simply a scene of him realizing that his feelings had evolved. But where it really lacked was on Brooklynn's end. It really did seem like Brooklynn first accepted to date Kenji because he liked her. She definetly got closer to him during season 4 and developped an innocent crush on him because who wouldn't, but not to the point of being in love with him like he was with her. But yk what? That's ok. I'm ready to accept this as a fact. Brooklynn was a thirteen year old girl whose guy best friend fell in love with her, and he started acting incredibly sweet to her, so why not go for it? This isn't the best writing ever, but it's not unbelievable.

But Brooklynn doing the exact same thing with Darius in Chaos Theory doesn't hold the same implications. Once is a coincidence, twice is a pattern. As I'm fairly convinced the show made it clear she had never seen Darius as anything other than a friend before he confessed to her, if she was to suddenly developp feelings for him, then that would just suggest that Brooklynn will fall in love with anyone that confesses their love to her. No matter if she's a single teen or a young woman who just got dumped by the man she was with for 6 years, the simple fact that someone confesses to her is enough for her to start seeing the person in a new light. I think people understimate and frankly don't care about how much Brooklynn returning Darius' feelings would butcher her as a character. People criticize Kenlynn every day of the week over the fact that Brooklynn liked him seemingly out of nowhere and yet they're out here praying the same will happen for Dinostar. She was crying over Kenji a week ago, no matter the amount of chemistry she might have had with Darius when she was thirteen, it would be out of nowhere in Chaos Theory.

Another case I have to make is that it would remove any agency from her, once again.

Kenji breaks up with her, her status is now available. Brooklynn didn't have any say in the situation, it was Kenji who ended the relationship. She is not single by choice, Kenji broke up with her. Then Darius seizes his chance and confesses he likes her. Once again, she has no agency in this. But since Darius has always been her best friend, is in love with her, and she is now single, then why on Earth wouldn't she love him. He's perfect for her, she should love him.

Sorry, but the Dinostar dynamic stinks of nice-guy syndrom and I'm tired of pretending it doesn't, or it's more that I'm tired of people pretending like they don't see it. I like to believe the writers actually were very aware of that.

Speaking about it, I'm starting to think that the way they made Darius' confession so similar to Kenji's in Camp Cretaceous was not a coincidence. You know, the, "you're amazing" speech, immediately followed by the most akward backtrack. I really think that we are supposed to see the two scenes as parallels and that, this time, they will have Brooklynn finally get some agency back over her own love life.

She started going out with Kenji because he liked her, she got dumped by Kenji, Darius came and told her he liked her, Kenji doesn't want her anymore because she hurt him too much, so she has every reason to go for Darius. He still wants her after all, so everything bounds up pretty well.

But this is forgetting HER feelings and agency, a thing this fandom loves to do. People are sure Kenlynn are over because of the way Kenji reacted to her betrayal during season 3, and I'm like, ok, but it doesn't change the fact that the last time Brooklynn saw Darius she clearly wasn't in love with him, and the last time she saw Kenji she cried and was salty because he "dumped" her.

Brooklynn fighting to get Kenji back is the most satisfactory resolution to her arc and the one that actually makes the most sense considering the scenes we got. It would finally give her the chance to actively choose who she wants to be with, not because this is her only option available, but because he is the person she truly wants even if he doesn't want her anymore. It would make the most sense regarding her overall story because the reason Kenji broke up with her in the first place was because she was no longer putting any effort in the relationship. She would have to overcome that flaw by putting an extreme amount of effort, thus care, something she had never quite done.

It would show her character growth, show that she has learnt from her mistakes, understood that she needs, and wants, to show the people she loves (Kenji) that she does love them. This is actual character development.

But what does Brooklynn suddenly falling in love with Darius would say? That Kenji didn't accept Brooklynn's treatment of him because he didn't really love her, unlike Darius. That Darius was right, that she was "amazing" even when she was neglecting everyone, the very flaw the writers said she had to overcome to complete her arc. Shipping aside, Brooklynn returning Darius' feelings doesn't involve any character development for her whatsoever.

Another point I've made countless times is that Brooklynn's neglect of Kenji and their relationship is shown not to be specific to their relationship. Brooklynn neglected all of the people she loved. The Nublar 6 tease her about the fact that she always abandons them to her face, and Sammy further confirms that she was like that with everyone when she says that she was barely around and that, even when she was, she wasn't. What Brooklynn did to Kenji, she did to all the people she "loved", and Darius was no exception.

So once again, the show never suggests that the reason Brooklynn neglected Kenji was because she didn't love him. Because if that was the case, then that'd mean that she didn't love any of her friends.

Now the small details that I've already talked about.

Earnest spelling out to the audience in the least subtle way known to man that her arc is about learning to appreciate the things she had, and neglected. Doesn't lead to Dinostar no matter how I look at it, and this scene was here for a reason.

The way she looked at Kenji during the plane scene, which everyone seem to ignore because she had a more "visceral" reaction to seeing Darius. I already explained how I didn't see anything even remotely romantic in the way she looked at Darius, so I'm going to focus on Brook and Kenji. The whole scene between them feels so intimate. The background is blurry, it seems like they can only see each other. And the slow camera movement upward until she realizes that it is Kenji. Her eyes light up for a second, she opens her mouth, but then regret overtakes her because she knows she has already made her decision and she will inevitably break his heart again. The freaking shot where they are both in the frame, silently gazing at each other, both miserable.

Her reaction when she heard Kenji on the phone in season 3. She doesn't react to the others, but the moments Kenji snaps at her, bitter that she's still doing the very thing that led to their break up, she stops walking and looks heart broken for a second.

And then there's that letter.

Adressing the "it's not canon" argument: it will never be canon in the sense that only the material that is in the show will ever be canon. With that out of the way. This is transmedia storytelling. Feel free to search what it is. We are meant to take it as something Brooklynn wrote. The marketing team and executives, aka the people who are tasked with deciding how the audience will receive the show and what they should know, the people who are in charge of the identity of the show in the public eye and its consistency (NOT THE WRITERS) decided to have Brooklynn write this to Kenji. Like, think about it like that: if they had posted the same letter but with Brooklynn adressing Ben, you would have been like, wtf?? What's happening? Because it doesn't make sense in regards to the story. Because it implies that Ben is somehow special to Brooklynn. If Brooklynn had written that letter to Darius everyone would have sworn it was canon. The marketing will never post something that will contradict the narrative. And you can see it in the reaction people had when Dreamworks posted this. Everyone lost their marbles, this post has way more engagement than the ones that were posted at the time, because though it's not in the show, the intention behind them posting it remains. They knew we would take it as something Brooklynn wrote, and chose to have her not write to the camp fam, not to Darius, but to Kenji.

[starlos-soulmate]

Starlo telling Pancake he's Starlo.

I love the idea that he just. Doesn't tell her for a hot minute. Why would he? She loves him as North Star and he wants to be seen as North Star, so why bother? They start dating, he's excited, there's no reason to say who he is.

But the idea of having to tell her, needing to tell her, especially with how she seems to see behind his mask a bit, it scares him. Especially the whole meeting your parents thing too. So he just keeps this lie up, the facade up. Just to make sure he's on the safe side of things and whatnot.

But there's also. He trusts her. He sees that she's a good one. That after his heartbreak, after all of that, he has to try again. And he's had creepy fans upon occasion, but she isn't a creepy fan. She's a friend and she's chill. He trusts her with a lot. He finds that out and it spooks him. And certain "what ifs" start creeping in.

What if she does like who he actually is? What if she loves the farmer he hides? What if she's the girl he can trust and love and adore and share your secret with? He can't hide under this hat forever, she'll find out somehow. But again it terrifies him. Despite his conflicting feelings.

The self loathing runs so deep. But what if her affection for him makes him forget about that for a bit? And he can try again

[thecaffeinatedlich]

Would you care to expand more on what you would have liked to see the narrative and characters do?

(tone note: enthusiastic! not meant to be provoking. genuinely interested to discuss this and dissect this in good faith with folks because I enjoy chewing on this story's issues. feel free to disagree with me on anything I say!)

Because I do think, in the narrative as it stands, in the 9 episodes of S2 that we have, it is actually hard to squish in a more nuanced reflection on the various aspects of social issues and power dynamics between Cait and Vi and in Cait's arc. Arcane's storytelling often relies on efficient use of layered storytelling elements (framing, environmental storytelling, juxtapositions, dialogue choices, acting) to convey a lot of info about the characters and plot (and setting) in a small amount of time, but at the same time it often gives us just enough to carry things without more exploration. S1 was stronger than S2 on this front, but S2 still uses it to compact the story.

But even so it feels like S2 would have benefited from being two seasons or a longer season in order to unpack some things a little more.

Without deep-diving into here, I think Cait's arc is interesting because she starts out kind of naively wanting to do good, sees what things are really like, adjusts her worldview, and then gets sucked back into a less understanding worldview through circumstance and manipulation, and then, yeah, the story kinda gestures towards her making a better moral choice, (and Piltover including Zaun more), but both of these changes feel very balanced on a knife edge (probably for LoL game reasons. which. like. the necessity of the narrative needing to support the constant conflict of LoL is one of the things I think means it is hard to write a settled feeling ending. )

So, yeah, like, imagine if we had like another season and more time to let some of caitvi's character moments breathe more? Throw some ideas out here. What sort of scenes or character beats or whatever would you have added to to explore the issues that S2 touches on, but doesn't explore? What would you have changed to give caitvi "less slack"? I'd love to hear your (and other folks') opinions and thoughts on how to address that police brutality/DV issue! Especially in how it pertains to/relates to wider issues of systematic oppression.

you know, something that bothers me supremely about the scene where caitlyn hits vi and leaves is the imagery, and (i personally) haven't seen it discussed yet

so i'd just like to point out that caitlyn hits her with the butt of her rifle that she uses for police work (and has a similar design to what other enforcers have been seen carrying) while in uniform: the way this scene was written is bound to evoke associations of police brutality and the systemic oppression that has already been shown in arcane.

imo that just makes the whole scene worse by highlighting the power imbalance between vi and caitlyn. it's a big reminder to the viewer that we're seeing a cop that operates within a body that specifically and intentionally oppresses the lower class hitting a lower-class woman with the weapon (not tool, weapon) that we know they used to intimidate and keep them "in line" in the past

i'm not going anywhere specific with this, just wanted to know what other people thought !!

(and yes, i know vi was also in uniform, but that just points out the working imbalance of cait being her commanding officer, aka her boss; similarly i used "that woman" instead of girlfriend as to not bring in the dv undertone— and neither of these erase the socioeconomic divide between them, arguably it just makes it worse)

[supermarine-silvally]

Yara, did you attend the Reverie?

"It should provide some satisfactory entertainment for him-- at least for a little while. He'll mostly just be annoyed about having to find another gloomy castle to live in."

Ask Yara (or any of my OCs) anything!

[royalarchivist]

Jaiden: Cucurucho, you have a lot of power, right?

Cucurucho: ...I don't know. Maybe.

Roier: Ah... Yes, you know, don't act like a dumbass, you have it. You have it, man. Eh?

Jaiden: Is there a way for us to protect all the Eggs? Do you know? I don't want anything to happen to the Eggs that happened to Bobby.

Cucurucho: Ha ha ha

Roier: WHAT? [Smacks Cucurucho]

Jaiden: [Bops him] Headpats.

Cucurucho: Maybe.

Jaiden: [Continues to bop him] Headpats. C'mon, I can get it out of you! Headpats! Chin scratches! Belly rubs!

Roier: [Joins Jaiden in bopping Cucurucho, chuckling and laughs]

Jaiden: Yeah? He's comin' around!

[Jaiden and Roier both laugh]

[bixels]

What did/do you like about Pharah?

Uh, gameplay-wise, I really love characters in shooters who rely on three-dimensional movement techs. Chaining together hover and jump to stay in the air for as long as possible and keep momentum is so satisfying, and picking enemies off from the sky made me feel like a bird of prey. I was a good Pharah main.

Story-wise, there unfortunately isn't much to canonically go off because Pharah is so underutilized and neglected. Her personality's pretty boilerplate "heroic hero" (she's literally inspired by Captain America).

But it's the crumbs/bits and pieces that I really latched onto. Pharah's a confirmed lesbian; her short story with Baptiste implies she harbors a crush on Mercy (fucking thank you.). She's biracial Egyptian/First Nations. She has major mommy issues, having grown up both admiring and resenting Ana. She's the bridge between Old Overwatch, inspired by the idealized heroes who surrounded her childhood, and New Overwatch. She's one of the only inter-generational characters in the cast; someone whose experiences span the gap, which is why I seriously believe Pharah would make a great main character.

There isn't much to go off of, though; she's a very uncomplicated character (she's a soldier for a private military corporation, lol.). But that just means she's a blank slate character, so I've seen fanfic writers run wild and create some really interesting takes on her. My favorite interpretation of her's a dense, herbo gym-bro type (a lot of her liens are about work outs, exercising, and playing sports) who's easily excitable under her seemingly self-serious, armored visage. We see how she tends to gloat and hype herself up when she's on a streak too, so Pharah definitely has a competitive and boastful side under her more professional and militant performance.

Now Mercy? Mercy is a real complex character.

[myrkulitescourge]

imo karlach’s soul coin usage seems like it should have been a little more significant than it was.

she only ever really stops to consider the magnitude of burning through a person’s soul for power during an origin playthrough—otherwise she rationalizes to the player that they’re doomed anyway, and if using them gives her an edge in combat, why not use them for good instead of leaving them to be used by evil? the dialogue with lann tarv in act 2, where he tells the story of each soul he's handing over to her, tries to humanize each soul coin, and still she doesn’t really budge and disapproves pretty heavily if she's told no in regards to using them.

it just seems like something that could have caused some kind of conflict between her and wyll, given he sold his soul to a devil in dire circumstances and takes issue with the player for sleeping with mizora, because she 1) is mizora, and 2) similarly expends tormented souls during her romance scene, even if for a different purpose. but it just... never really comes up?

i love karlach. but that seems like it should have gone Somewhere, from a writing standpoint? karlach values wyll as a person but is willing to use currency forged from souls like his for the sake of a temporary power up. she knows the soul is consumed when she uses them. that whole exchange with lann tarv is there to emphasize that every soul coin she destroys was a person once. but it all kind of loses narrative purpose if this combination of factors doesn't mean anything? karlach doesn't change at all in her willingness to use soul coins, no matter what the player says or how much she cares for wyll.

idk. missed opportunity that wyll doesn't have any dialogue about this, of all things.

[leonardcohenofficial]

carter is an egotist to the extent that (especially in the early-middle years) he's self-absorbed and wrapped up in his own world and his own problems, which certainly applies to his teaching style (by the time we get to season five they're starting to really put him through it, which is not an excuse for him being a shitty teacher, but explains a lot of what's going on inside his head LOL). lucy says it best herself when she tells carter in the season five finale, "i think that you're the one who wants to succeed as a teacher, and in order for that to happen i would have to be the perfect reflection of you, and that's not who i am." lucy doesn't have the need for praise that carter does, and him being emotionally withholding to her a la the peter benton playbook doesn't work and ends up coming across as super cruel. take the two scenarios involving the rotation evaluations that come up, the first with peter and carter, the second with carter and lucy. when carter fills out his evaluation of peter, he initially gives him a terrible review because he thinks peter is going to fuck him over, only to find out that peter gave him a glowing review. cut to carter getting pissed off after going through lucy's voice notes (crazy ass!!!!) and telling her to fill out her own evaluation since he thinks she's going to give him a bad one—BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT HE WOULD HAVE DONE—only for her to fill it out negatively because she thinks he hates her! and then she turns it in to mark who thankfully had enough sense to figure out something went terribly wrong and makes them both get it together! carter is someone who is genuinely invested in lucy and in being a good teacher, even mentioning how there's so much he wants to teach her, but i think part of the reason why he's so frustrated by her is that the mentorship style that, while it initially drove him insane and concluded in an insane breakup between him and benton, really ended up working for him, simply doesn't work for her because her needs are different. lucy also refuses to feed his ego—which certainly is not her job as his med student—but given the way he worshipped the ground peter walked on, i think is also part of their dynamic worth mentioning

meanwhile lucy���once she gets over some of her initial nerves and quits lying about where she's at with her skill set—is pretty open about her needs specifically for support and assurance that she's doing the right thing. some of her biggest insecurities that she mentions throughout the series is that she isn't doing enough, that she can't save the patients she sets out to, and that people aren't taking her seriously. this is notably distinct from being coddled, as we see one of the only major times lucy digs herself a hole is when she lies about knowing how to put in an IV and lets other people do it for her when she should have told the truth and just learned how to do it herself. lucy's self-assuredness is the other side of the coin of her fear that what she's doing is not enough. i think it's so telling that one of the first bonding moments between lucy and carter is her eighth episode when, despite their best efforts, the patient they were trying to track down a blood donor for might still suffer renal failure. carter, in one of the first moments of gentleness we see him give her, says, "when you do everything that you can—sometimes even more than you thought you could—you gotta walk away knowing you fought the good fight. you fought the good fight, lucy. tomorrow, you'll fight another one." this episode ("the good fight," which i think is actually one of the best of season five) doesn't solve their interpersonal issues but is a key moment in them attempting to not only communicate with each other more but to actually listen to what the other is saying

[the-lark-ascending69]

Unpopular opinion but Steve telling Nancy he would date Robin if he could is creepy as hell i wish we talked about it more

[rorydrawsandwrites]

Watched Chalupa's sequel vids about The Princess' Jewels yesterday (because I love (vicariously) experiencing cringe)

Honestly, if the story just owned up to her villainy, I'd probably like the protagonist. I too have a feminine piece of turd named Rosie who's a spoiled rich brat and collects pretty men like toys. She deserves to be put in a gigantic blender and she's my special little darling. Let your female protagonist be a piece of shit that's acknowledged as one by the narrative and I'll be on board