#and so does luz in his life

[cherrymoonvol6]

happy belated bi awareness day to the bi4bi couple ever (lunter)

[quadrantadvisor]

Sometimes I still think about The Owl House Gang all trying to watch ATLA together but then Zuko's backstory in The Storm retraumatizes Hunter so bad they have to stop

[kakusu-shipping]

They are Shota4Shota4Shota to me

[electraslight]

Adding on to my recent posting, I want to say this: If you do not accept moments in which belos is genuine, you fundamentally miss what makes him terrifying.

Belos loved his brother very dearly. The only times we have ever seen him genuinely happy were when caleb was still in his life, he keeps his old coat in pristine condition, uses his art to decorate and symbolize his glorious empire, some could say he idolizes the human realm so much because that's when caleb was still around, still loving him. Belos's love for Caleb is in everything he does.

Which is terrifying when you think about Belos's crimes, and one by one, they all lead back to love. Trying to kill everyone on the boiling Isles-it's all because Caleb married a wild witch and left Belos all alone. Hunter's existence and the genuine love he has towards him? It's love more like a worshiper at an idol's feet- belos worships hunter more than hunter does him, tries to lock him in his mind forever so he never leaves him after Hunter finds out the truth, refuses to kill hunter only because he needs Caleb to come home with him no matter what. He recreates his brother over and over and it hurts him every time but he kills him because they need to love him the most.

In kings tide, he offers Luz mercy. Belos empathizes with her, away from home, a symbol of who he still thinks he is, painfully nostalgic for the past. But why does he love the human realm so much? Why does he miss the past?

Because that's when Caleb was his.

The idea that Belos is a "narcissist who can't love anyone" is, first of all, kind of abelist to real people with NPD, secondly, patently untrue, everything he does is because of love, and thirdly, missing the point of why Belos is disturbing. Because he thinks doing these things in the name of love is just. It exhonerates him in his mind, that him loving his brother to death means all of this means something, when really Belos is at a point where his love for Caleb is more of a religion than the one he's performing.

Belos is supposed to be loving and warm. That's how he lures in his prey, convinces Hunter to devote his life to him, how he wins over an island of people he wants to kill. He loves, and it's real as rain, but his love is like cancer. It kills everything in you but itself.

[isakvaltersnake]

things from the 2001 television programme band of brothers that haunt me to this day:

- we’re paratroopers lieutenant, we’re supposed to be surrounded. not to be your 60 year old military obsessed uncle about it but that line goes hard

- nix’s little giggle he does sometimes

- I’ll never forgive them for leaving gene’s medic training out of their training montage. in fact you know what? go back in time, film a parallel sequel of the other 9 eps from gene’s pov

- popeye’s “they called you guys too?” and the way his accent specifically scratches my brain

- they gave me moose heyliger and his massachusetts accent for like 20 minutes then the narrative snatched him away from me and i still miss him

- the way meehan looks at winters after he tells him to close the flap, in fact let’s talk about how every single one of winters’ commanders are obsessed with him in one way or another he truly is the it girl

- the chaos and fear that precedes gene and the calm and comfort that follows him

- I know everyone thinks “we’ll go to chicago, I’ll take you there” is the insane line but the one that actually makes me lose sleep is “what, and give up all this?” THAT MAN SAID I WOULD RATHER LIVE THROUGH THE HORRORS OF WAR THAN HAVE LIVED MY LIFE WITHOUT YOU

- alley is So Beautiful and I don’t think we collectively talk about it enough

- babe being some rando replacement in episode three and whilst his other replacement friends are being absolutely roasted he is immediately adopted by bill and then gets gene fucking roe of all people to connect to him?? he’s too powerful I need to study him

- speirs being this ghoulish terrifying boogeyman until lip is anywhere near him then he’s suddenly dimples and kicking his feet and giggling

- speaking of lip and speirs their little sarcastic in jokes, lip finishing speirs’ sentences fml it’s giving married

- you been working out? IN FRONT OF EVERYONE?? LIEB YOU SLUT?? THEN YOURE GONNA LAY IN HIS BED WAITING FOR HIM??? insane behaviour

- the unexplored but high potential friendships and the way I wanted like 16 more episodes for shifty and lip, nix and luz, nix and web, sisk and perconte, winters and gene, grant and tab, lieb and alley, speirs and harry, etc

- the more haggard and bitchy nix gets the hotter he gets. he also must be studied.

- “you should pack up those ears and go home” ok sobel kinda ate with that one ngl

- speaking of sobel the little confused/bewildered/piss-pants faces he makes david schwimmer the actor you are

- the silly little wide stance pennywise ass run hall does before he gets murked RIP king

- klepto speirs ilysm

- joe toye and his brass knuckles are v sexy

- sink letting nix give winters his oak leaves was very shipper girl of him

- lip harry nix speirs winters in the eagle’s nest dream blunt rotation

- the unsustainable amount of cunt served by nix, frank, babe, and luz at all times is truly a marvel

- tab really checked lip’s dick and balls mid battle and honestly that’s friendship

- bit parts for simon pegg, tom hardy, andrew scott, james mcavoy, michael fassbender, jimmy fallon ?? bob casting director you will always be famous

- peacock is so fine if he was even a little good at his job I’d be obsessed with him (special shout out to the scene of him getting sent home on furlough)

- I could list out every one of their meaningful little moments together but really it’s babe and gene just tethering and grounding each other and how they seem to gravitate to each other out of blind instinct? that’s some Brontë whatever our souls are made of bullshit I’m afraid

- ok I know I said I wasn’t talking about little meaningful moments but gene staring across the convent at where babe is sitting, lost in the peace

-bull in replacements getting imprinted on by a bunch of baby ducks and being SO PLEASED ABOUT IT he’s not the stepfather, he’s the father that stepped up

- speaking of, the underutilization of bull in the back half is such an out of character bad call

- you are officers, you are grown ups, you oughta know. HE’S RIGHT AND HE SHOULD SAY IT AND THAT’S ON GENE BEING THE ONLY ONE ALLOWED TO TELL OFF WINTERS

- I know nix and winters are married and whatever but the real married couple behaviour is luz constantly pissing off joe and joe immediately letting it go

- lip and speirs and their mutual competency kink

- I’M REAL SORRY FRANK skinny ilysm

[for-those-who-wait]

Werewolf Hunter is so little, just a lil wet guy. Is there a reason for his size?

I love that he just looks like a lil dog, I feel others would be a bit surprised (Luz and Camila mainly) since this isn’t how werewolves typically look in media.

He is absolutely sopping wet. The wettest of tiny cat-dogs

Hunter's wolf form is pretty small due to malnourishment throughout childhood (and to a lesser extent, being in a cage for essentially all of the time spent in that form). His diet should consist of a lot of protein via meat, but Belos restricted his access to it since allowing Hunter to eat a proper and healthy diet was, in his opinion, facilitating beastly behaviors and tendencies. I also HC that Hunter has a pretty sensitive stomach anyway since he's the Grimwalker of a human, so he just doesn't eat well for a lot of his life (until Camila gets a hold of him and is like oh no baby your coat is so thin and dull and your nails are breaking you need some protein)

Hunter doesn't actually know what he looks like until TTT. He hears stories from Belos about how dangerous werewolves are and he does notice what few features of himself that he dares to look at (but for the most part he avoids looking at himself). He and Luz see a couple portraits of shifted Golden Guards while in Belos' mindscape, so they absolutely expect Hunter to look like the monsters they see in the portraits (which aren't accurate to how they actually appeared; they're what Belos' interpretations are of those occurrences). Hunter sees the portraits as assurance that he's a monster. Luz sees them as another "So what? You're still Hunter and also Belos is lame and stupid, you're not a monster no matter what he says"

Luz does expect him to be full-size like the portraits and has to do a doubletake when she sees a tiny dog curled up behind the toilet. I think Luz is the type of person to scour mythical creatures' Wikipedia pages, so I think she'd be familiar with the idea that werewolves could either be just wolf or more anthropomorphic, so I don't think she'd be as surprised on that front. Camila probably would be confused at first haha. I also had the idea that werewolves went extinct so long ago that most Boiling Isles residents assume they're just creatures of legend, similar to Grimwalkers. So the others would also be surprised haha

Thank you for the ask, sorry for the ramble!

Werewolf AU Masterpost

[sepublic]

            My problem with a lot of the discourse around SU and TOH and how one killed the dictator and the other didn’t, is that it feels race-blind in a way so typical to fandom.

            White boys are always told they deserve everything; That they’re entitled to it, they should take it. Their anger and violence is righteous, or it’s sad and misunderstood. And those women and minorities, they should always concede to them, their lives are just lesser. Boys will be Boys.

            Girls of color? They’re overreacting, their violence makes them just as bad as the oppressor. They need to learn their place, affirmative action is giving them hand-outs. They need to be demure and forgiving, especially towards white men whose cruelty and suffering is their responsibility, and more important.

            Rebecca Sugar and Dana Terrace obviously have thoughts about representation and depictions in media, particularly kids’ media. So is it any wonder, that in their main protagonists for whom the whole story revolves around, as they interact with others’ stories and help them out, before realizing after depression that they have value as well… That these creators would address the larger, mainstream narrative around their protagonists’ demographics?

            So of course Steven is prepped for nonviolence, for pacifism. He has a shield, he’s a healer, he’s soft and feminine. Being a hero is a burden that scars him, as he renounces his heritage’s authority to liberate others. He is averse to wanting violence against those women. There’s a girl of color in his story, and she’s the sword who’s allowed to be angry with Steven’s savior complex and call him out for alienating her, her feelings matter!!!

            By contrast, Luz Noceda is a victim who has every right to be violent and recognize the necessity. After thinking she’s evil for wanting things or being angry, Luz lets herself have these emotions and even find triumph in them. Being a hero is the dream she actually gets to have, after people like her were deemed nobodies. And that racist, misogynistic, white fascist? Let him boil and be crushed as he begs for his life, his final sensations being fear and agony.

            It reminds me of how when the Sequel Trilogy of Star Wars had been written, Finn was originally going to be a white man, so the twist of Rey saving the day would’ve been a feminist subversion; But when Finn was made black, the writers did not adjust for the implications that now came with a story in which a black man concedes to a white woman. Race does matter when you consider how you write a character, sometimes; For one demographic, an assigned trait may come across as harmless. For another, it leans into problematic territory and stereotypes.

[candyskiez]

so, you've heard shows be recommended because they had gay characters. you don't really know what they're actually about though, and don't know if they'd be something you'd be into and are worried about spoilers. here's spoiler free plot summaries of em!

The Owl House

The Owl House starts out as a typical teenage girl goes into a fantasy realm story, but with a twist. Actions have consequences. The protagonist is a girl named Luz Noceda, who was being sent to a camp to make her behave normally by her mother after causing too much trouble at school. She ends up finding a place she's always dreamed of: a fantasy world. A world where everyone's so much weirder than she is. And she thinks, maybe if I don't belong out there, maybe people will like me here. Maybe I can be special here.

It's a story about found family, propaganda, erased history, living with disability, religious trauma, and neurodivergence. It's fundamentally a show about people who's brains work differently finding each other and making a family that treats them right. Definitely my favorite of the ones on this list. It's about people who've been oppressed being pissed about it and about finding yourself again after giving up on everyone around you for so long. It's basically a show about being a minority and trying to be understood and to understand yourself in the process. It's about growing up neurodivergent and how isolating it feels and figuring yourself out. It's about repairing broken relationships and parents who fuck up. And it's just. Such a love letter to anyone who was the weird kid in school. It's sad and heartbreaking and also so hopeful, and it's wonderful.

Content warnings: Abuse, Death, Grief, Animal Death, Suicidal thoughts, Vague suicide attempts, Depression, blink and you'll miss it s/h, body horror, religious trauma

She Ra and the Princesses Of Power

Adora was raised in the Horde since she was a baby, being fed propaganda about how cruel the princesses were. After learning how the horde actually was, though, she defects. But there's one problem. Her best friend, Catra, stays behind. Adora finds a sword that can transform her into She Ra, and might be the key to figuring out who she really is, while Catra takes her place as force captain.

It's a story about abuse, at the end of the day. Adora and Catra were stuck in a golden child and scapegoat dynamic, despite how much they care about each other. This leads to them knowing everything about each other but not understanding it. There's a fundamental disconnect between them, because both of their traumas are completely different. They have complete misconceptions about each other. Even in their initial split, they both have completely different perceptions of what's going on and why the other is upset. It's not a story about magic princesses, it's about the cycle of abuse and what makes it so complicated. Does it have flaws? Yeah. But ultimately I really really enjoy it, and when it does something right it does something RIGHT. Get through season one, it starts kids show-y but it gets very good during later s1.

Content warnings: Abuse (obviously), body horror, gaslighting (and I mean actual gaslighting, not what the Internet thinks gaslighting is), suicide, depression, flashing lights and eyestrain during the finale

Steven Universe

Steven Universe is a sins of the father story. Steven is the son of the leader of the rebel group The Crystal Gems, who's name was Rose Quartz. He navigates the confusion of being half gem and half human, as well as trying to figure out the mess of the rebellion and what his mother left behind. He's constantly in her shadow, for better or for worse.

It's a story about grief. How it impacts relationships, how it taints history, how it impacts family. It has some definite flaws, but ultimately it's about very flawed people who have lost so many people in their life trying to cope with it. Trying to handle what they lost and trying to adjust to life without them. It's about how expectations fuck a kid up and about agency and just a show about complicated relationships in general, at the end of the day. Also, it has some FANTASTIC music.

Content warnings: Grief, Abuse, body horror, very creepy people I don't know how to tag, heavy allegories for homophobia

Nimona

Nimona is a story about a guy who gets framed for murder. His name is Ballister Boldheart, a commoner who hoped to become a knight. It seemed everyone was waiting to watch him fail, so it was no surprise when he was the immediate target. Heavily injured and away from the man he loves, he's left alone trying to figure out a way to prove his innocence- until a strange kid comes into his life. This kids name is Nimona, and while he is intent on proving his innocence, she gave up on being anything but a villain a long time ago.

It's about deconstructing the model minority myth, trans rage, propaganda, and with a healthy dose of "FUCK the police".

Content warnings: Heavy injury, on screen suicide attempt, flashing lights

feel free to add more shows! just remember to keep the summaries as spoiler free as you can and add content warnings!

[rogue-durin-16]

I wanted to request more of the artsy headcannons with guys like Liebgott, Nixon, and Winters, maybe (others if you'd like). I loved the other ones!!

A/N: Got requests for this a while ago, but last time a actually sat down to sketch something, it was 2022 I think? So I was a little rusty BUT here they are. To this ask I added Bill (per @msmercury84's request) and Doc Roe (by @jetjuliette's request). Enjoy these delayed headcanons part 2 <3

Warnings: none

JOSEPH LIEBGOTT

This man can't stay still. You're too focused on fixing up the sketch to notice he's no longer there.

One second he's somewhere across from you talking to Ramirez, the other he's standing right behind you, leaning in with arms akimbo.

"Would you look at that."

That nearly puts you under cardiac arrest because how did he move so fast.

Joe zeroes in on the scribbling around the drawing. You're not sure if it's because he finds it funnier or because he doesn't know what to do with the fact that you were drawing him.

"Likes to fumble with grenades. Who the fuck needs a warning?". Everyone. Literally everyone needs a warning. You just sigh.

His index finger lands on the isolated word. Liebling. "Who taught you that?"

Maybe Web. Maybe you read it somewhere. Maybe Joe said it at some point. Either way you give him a vague answer.

Of course he teases.

Of course he pries the sketchbook away from your hands to check if you wrote something like that beside any of the other boy's sketches.

Of course he gets a shit eating grin when he confirms he's the only one.

RICHARD WINTERS

One would think Dick Winters never snoop.

One would think wrong because we're talking about the same man who pulled the "I'm not a quaker". He does snoop, he's just sneakier than the rest.

Which is why he knows you're sketching him right away. He's pretending he doesn't know, though. Maybe he's waiting for you to tell him.

He is however, sneaking glances at you. Expectant? Amused? Curious? Who knows.

He's looking too much and you finally ask what's up.

"What are you drawing?". You give him a look. A 'oh, shut up' look, because he's not as subtle as he wants to be.

Still, because he's not annoying like Luz or Lieb, you do show him.

He lets out one breathy chuckle. Just one. And you bet your life he's reading 'prettiest eyes'.

He sneaks a side glance at you, a little smile. He will not tease you but he's keeping that piece of information with him.

Definitely finds the notes amusing. Doesn't have much of a reaction, but he does say "it's really good."

On God you keep that compliment to your heart.

As close as he keeps the mental image of the sketch to his.

LEWIS NIXON

"do my eyebrows look like that?"

Absolute jumpscare. Where the hell did he come from.

Kind of worried his eyebrows do look like that. He probably frowns at the scribbling because "I'm not a walking encyclopedia."

Oh but he is when he's around you, isn't he?

He double checks the sketch.

He doesn't bring up the 'smartest officer' part, but he does give you a puzzled look. "Huh."

Walks away and walks back at least twice.

Probably finds himself a bit at loss of words, which is kind of a once in a lifetime event. And it was because of a little sketch?

He's glad no one's around to see him fumbling.

He most likely ends up going with "I don't look that good."

Because you can't turn down an opportunity to fuck with him, you say "oh, you do."

"you're something else." He says, because he really can't think of anything else that won't make him look absolutely stupid.

Maybe he asks you to show him the rest of the sketches just to move on from the topic.

The topic being you thinking he looks that good.

BILL GUARNERE

A loud 'HA!' makes you jump and the sketch nearly gets ruined.

"Look at this, Babe! Picasso here drew me!"

Toye says something about how Bill's too ugly for you to actually draw him. You do not agree, actually.

"Well the dame wrote here I'm a... Charmer, alright? What sweetheart, am I charming ya?"

Smug asshole. He is a charmer, isn't he?

Makes a show out of every detail and every scribble aloud like it's the most hilarious and fascinating thing in the world.

An argument breaks out about whether or not he actually has the most creative comebacks. He does.

Cracks up at the nickname part. Like, genuinely loses his shit because, hell, he does have the funniest nickname.

For sure at some point he states he "ain't that handsome" as a joke. Although there's some truth to it.

Maybe he really doesn't think he looks like that and he wonders if you see him like that.

His chest swells at the possibility of it. He doesn't say it out loud.

He does invite you to a drink later though.

EUGENE ROE

This can go one of two ways.

Either he sees it on accident or someone else lets him know you're sketching him.

It's probably the second way, since Gene spends half the time focused on other people and the other half dissociating.

Maybe Babe insistently tells him he has to see something.

Immediately disappointed but not surprised when Babe takes the sketchbook off your hands and waves it at him.

Gene 100% looks at you to silently check if he can see what Babe's showing him. Honestly, you don't care that much because it's Eugene.

Cue quiet astonishment. I'm talking cigarette hanging from his parted lips kind of astonishment.

He doesn't know how to react, so his eyes just go from the sketch to you and back to the sketch.

Needless to say he doesn't quite believe the things you wrote.

'Angel on Earth'? Definitely not. 'Too good for this shit'? Doesn't believe it for a second. The only thing that might be true is the fact that he's the only Doc you'll trust but that just makes him anxious.

He's taken aback by the fact that someone actually thinks those things about him.

He just gives you a small smile and tells you it's really pretty. You consider it a win because he rarely cracks a smile anymore.

·★· ·★· ·★· ·★· ·★· ·★· ·★· ·★· ·★· ·★· ·★·

Tags:

Band Of Brothers: @fernando-jpg @chubbypotatoepie @tvserie-s-world @clumsy-wonderland @lordndsaviorwinters @lanadelray1989 @chanshugsaretherapy @hoddystark

Permanent taglist: @randomparanoid @karlthecat15722 @thebutchersdaughtersblog @amourtentiaa @comfort-reads

[crimeronan]

thinking about the canon selves meeting their princess AU selves again. the current thought is canon hunter talking to princess/empress luz which i don't think i've ever properly considered before but it's very funny and sweet and just a little awful. canon hunter like "listen.... if he grew up protecting and guarding YOU then i'm POSITIVE his life was better than mine. sorry it came at the cost of yours sucking shit though" and empress luz is like "BELOS ABUSED HIM??? FOR OUR ENTIRE LIVES???" while hunter's like ".....SO??? HE DOES THAT IN EVERY TIMELINE??"

[cryptidtumbleweed]

Mysterious disappearances, missing chunks of time, glitchy camera footage, faceless man-like monsters in the woods? Welcome to...

Marble Hornets has always had a special place in my heart ever since I stumbled upon it in 2019. It's a tradition for me to watch it every Halloween, and I still keep up actively with the comics and other things Troy, one of the creators, still does. The fanfics from the fandom have shaped my taste in reading and style in writing, and the art has inspired me.

So, what better use of my time than to smash it together with the most important show in my life?

---

Marble Owls is a Hunter and Luz focused au that follows the two trying to figure out what's happening to the people in their lives.

Two months ago, Edalyn Clawthorne went missing. One month ago, Hunter's father Caleb went missing.

Two weeks ago, Hunter went missing.

The police aren't doing anything.

Luz, having been infuriated by the cops not doing anything even before her own brother vanishes while on a walk at the local park, Rosswood Park, decides to take the matter to her own hands. As she searches for answers, thinking maybe Hunter for some reason ran away or went to look for his dad, she stumbles upon Hunter's diary and a video camera stuffed under his bed, hidden behind boxes. Deciding Hunter's safety trumps his privacy, she starts going through them.

The confusing, paranoid scribbles and weird corrupted footage of the woods only make Luz more worried and determined to get to the bottom of this. With the bits and pieces of clues she has, she sets out to follow the bread crumbs to track her brother down.

Hunter, affected by The Operator's influence, is slowly getting more and more paranoid. His dad's disappearance really messes with his head, only adding to the constant feeling of being watched that's been plaguing him for a while now.

While on a walk in Rosswood Park (totally not there trying to find Caleb), Hunter runs into a familiar face. He doesn't quite know the story behind why his father and Philip had a falling out, he was far too young when it happened. But Philip seems to sympathize with what he's been dealing with for the past month or so, so Hunter gives him a chance when he brings up having an idea what happened to Caleb.

The next thing Hunter knows is that he wakes up in a shack in the woods with no memory of how he got there, or how long it's been.

Philip and Belos were a fun thing to tackle for this. I played around with the idea of them being the same pesron/creature, but eventually settled for separating them. Belos is referred to as "The Operator".

The sickness:

The Operator's influence presents itself in a few ways; increasing paranoia being the strongest. Other effects are coughing fits that worsen the closer The Operator is, losing (sometimes significant) chunks of memory and seizures. As it progresses, the paranoia festers into aggression and violent outbursts. There is medicine to help it, but untreated it can lead to fatal incidents when interacting with other people. The Operator seems to prey on those who have struggled in their life.

Below are some other drawings I've made while workshopping this :)

Playlist:

AU go brrrr

[evanvison]

Mentors!

I noticed that I love the "flawed mentor with a student that they treat like their child" trope a lot and wanted to see how many of my fav shows and books (+ a musical) had this trope. In no particular order, here they are!

7. Ursula Callistis "Little Witch Academia"

she is such an amazing character! More people should watch this show. Her relationship with Akko is so fascinating especially after the twist about why she is so determined to help Akko specifically is revealed. I need to rewatch this show again.

6. Athena "Epic The Musical" (1st 2 pics by Luiza Xavier Mazzei)

Athena is one of my fav Epic characters and I love her arc so much. Seeing her start as the Mentor to Odysseus and then switch to Telemachus' mentor is so cool. Also, Teagan Earley (her singer) is awesome! (3rd pic is by @wolfythewitch and 4th is by Luiza Xavier Mazzei again)

5. Toshinori Yagi (All Might) "My Hero Academia"

All Might is an interesting character in his own right. I actually wrote an essay about his heroism and how it has changed for a class. His perfect symbol idea that he built and then decided to move on from and grow from his inability to maintain it. Oh, how I love it.

4. Frieren "Frieren: Beyond Journey's End"

Frieren is an amazing main character and it's rare to see the mentor be the focus of a show. Her growth over the course of the story is lovely in its pacing and I love how when she meets Fern her sense of time does start to slow down as she helps to teach and raise her.

3. Sun Wukong "Lego Monkie Kid"

Wukong has a slew of flaws that have caused issues for him and his loved ones for as long as he has been alive but seeing him grow and change both for himself and for his new loved ones is so beautiful to watch. He sees how his past actions have caused issues for his successor, MK, and actively tries to make sure MK will not have to suffer for his actions.

2. Edalyn Clawthorne (Eda) "The Owl House"

Eda is flawed in ways that are mostly due to her being an outlaw and taking some time to figure out how she should be training Luz. Once those motherly instincts kicked in she started doing a fantastic job. She started taking better care of herself as well. She is a wonderful caretaker of Luz and King. I love you, Mama Eda!

Qifrey "Witch Hat Atelier"

Qifrey is a broken man who is able to hide his pain pretty well from the people in his life (well enough anyway). He loves his students so much but he can get carried away by his grudge against the brimhats. Luckily he has a whole family's worth of people to remind him to relax and take in the calm while he can. Hopefully, he's able to keep Coco from going down a similar path.

That's it! That's all of them! I hope you all liked seeing these lovely mentors and their respective pupils. This all started because a while ago I was talking to a friend about Wukong and I realized that he and All Might fit into the flawed mentor role and from there it spiraled. Now you all got to read this! I also hope this lets other people who love this trope find new characters to obsess over from this list.

[luminouslywriting]

BoB headcanon! What sort of long term goals/challenges do you think the boys would like to accomplish with their significant other? Like a DIY project, sports, gardening, etc.?

A/N: Hello darlings! I have decided to grace you with a request since I'm dealing with a horrible head cold still and need some fluff! Enjoy! Note that the gif belongs to foreverthe80s and my requests are open!

Dick Winters:

-He's got a garden for sure

-It's his pride and joy; vegetables and fruits, an apple tree—the whole nine yards. Every Saturday, he wants to be outside and tending to it with you and he'll even help you plant all your favorite flowers.

-World's nicest front and backyard goes to you two

Lewis Nixon:

-He has a goal of visiting all 50 states while he's with you

-This means either doing road trips, flights, or even boat rides. It doesn't have to be done quickly, he just wants to travel and see the country with you.

-His goal is to get a picture of you two kissing in every state haha

Ronald Speirs:

-DIY project extraordinaire

-He's constantly bringing home random project materials and just being like, "let's make a wreath or let's build a bird-house."

-It's random AF and probably lowkey related to kleptomania haha

Buck Compton:

-Two words....BOOK CLUB

-This man wants to do a spouse/SO book challenge where you read a book together and then get together and talk about it haha

-He wants to hear all of your thoughts on Pride and Prejudice or Guys and Dolls lol

Carwood Lipton:

-His big project is building you a pool and making your house a dream-house

-He does the entire thing himself and doesn't hire it out because he wants it to be something that he gives you

-And it takes a LONG time for the house to be all the way finished, but you're both very happy with it when it's done

Joe Liebgott:

-I can't explain why but I know that in my soul, he's a man who gets really randomly into couples' golfing and tennis??

-Like make it make sense, okay? But the point is that he wants to do matches with you and compete against your other couple friends

-It becomes a monthly competition in the summers

Donald Malarkey:

-I can't explain it but he's invested in making a scrapbook with you that you both add entries and photos to

-His only rule is that the photos have to be in the moment, not posed

-It makes for a full life document haha :)

Eugene Roe:

-He wants to build an outdoor gazebo for your flower garden

-He does all the landscaping in the backyard and you're the one who plans out how you want everything to look

-It's a project years in the making and he's very happy when it's finally finished!

Bill Guarnere:

-He wants to fix up an old car from the 20s for you two; and so you'll work on it together and he'll teach you how to do things with it

-The agreement is that for an hour every Saturday, you two will work on it together, fixing it up and making it look nice

-And then you'll go and put that backseat of the car to good use haha

Joe Toye:

-He wants to film all of the special and important moments in your life and so he starts an "important moments video diary"

-This includes the wedding, when you announced that you guys were having kids, big moments in your life, etc.

-And then he wants to eventually put it together for a wedding anniversary present montage

George Luz:

-Absolutely wants to do a stand-up comedy show with you at some point and so he starts scripting it out and it's great

-He takes you to shows to get inspiration and then starts prepping for a day when you two finally get to do your own

-Yes, it's a weekend Vegas show that only goes for like a month; he's thrilled

[mdhwrites]

TOH Fans Don't Know What Redemption Is

TL:DR: TOH as a show uses the tropes and veneer of redemption a lot but fails to actually engage with the fact that redemption is not about no longer being a dick. Your kind of a dick friend does not need to be redeemed for calling you names, they just need to stop calling you names. No, redemption is about making up for past sins... Which TOH never does.

You do not go to confessional to tell someone you did something bad and then ask them to forget about it. You go there to be told what you must do to be redeemed in the eyes of the Lord or to be assured that there was no sin in the first place. If there was, you are asked to perform a service, even if just a set of prayers, to make up for your slip in faith and show your devotion to the path of good. You sacrifice your time and seek to do better. That is inherently a part of redemption. I frame this religiously but hey, if you get rowdy in your buddy's house when they asked you not to and you break something of theirs, you don't just apologize. You usually actually try to make it up to them if you can because otherwise all you've done is give them words when it's actions that spoke for your disregard to them. You might even ask what you can do to make it up to them.

For an absolutely classic and genuinely amazing example of this: Megamind. In the middle of his arc, Roxanne makes it clear that what Megamind has done has hurt her. Hurt what she cares about. That it has made her world worse. What does Megamind do? He returns the art, he cleans up the city... In his own way and in general UNDOES HIS CRIMES. In that one moment, he stops being selfish and actively attempts to make up for it for someone else by righting his wrongs. The worst you can say is that he's doing it because he likes someone and wants their affection but like... Yeah, that's the motivation to change and Megamind even admits himself that he's finding doing good to be enjoyable now. It's a powerful moment because it so clearly contrasts who he was in a way that would be impossible if he were not seeking redemption and being redeemed.

The ONE TIME TOH actually manages this is Lilith. She recognizes that cursing her sister was wrong. She recognizes that her attempts to be the most powerful person on the Isles was wrong. As such, her betrayal of Belos is NOT her redemption. If she chose to betray Belos because she personal gain in it or saw that it was a dead end in life, it would not be redeeming (this will come up later). Instead, she is truly redeemed because she gives up potentially everything but especially her ability to be above others and her sister by taking the curse unto herself. By sharing that burden she was responsible for first and acknowledging that what she did, specifically, was wrong.

People don't champion Lilith though as some great redemption, do they? Not when it comes to TOH. She's overshadowed by the ones given more of a to do like Hunter, Amity and The Collector. Especially those first two though. So, how do they manage?

Amity has crimes. She bullied Willow when she did not have to as Odalia's demand was ONLY to stop being friends with her. She bullied Willow regardless. She attempted to murder Luz. She tried to remove Luz's ability to use magic and was overall just a general bitch who was more than happy to keep taunting Luz for entertainment. She is genuinely a fucking AWFUL human being at the beginning of the series. Does she even bother recognizing this?

No. Not with more than words. That's all Willow gets. In fact, Amity is so disinterested in making up for being a bitch to Willow that she ignores EVERYTHING about her for almost an entire season after they 'make up' which they only make up with words. Amity just says the right thing and seems to think that's all it takes. She still uses Willow for her own selfish needs in Falls and Follies and she doesn't respect Willow during Labyrinth Runners. She does literally nothing to actually redeem herself for this.

How about refuting Boscha or her mom? Those are pretty big deals and against her old self, right? Well, yes and no but we need to interrogate the why for that. To the audience, it is meant to signify Amity giving up her past influences to be a better person. As I stated at the top, it is a common trope in redemption arcs which TOH does engage with. However... She's doing them for Luz and not because of the past. She tells Boscha to go fuck herself not because Amity was a grade A bitch with Boscha but because Boscha is now bullying someone she cares about so she can dropped just as fast and brutally as she did Willow in the past for the sake of pleasing someone else. NOTHING about her behavior is different except now she's doing it for someone as good. That's not redemption. We don't praise the Punisher here just because he murders bad men. Odalia is similar. It's not to make up for Odalia's influence or the things she did because of Odalia, it is to selfishly proclaim her own personhood... And more importantly, save her girlfriend. It's not even to make up for the expulsion, it's JUST to keep Luz alive. Yes, she gets them unexpelled but only once she first acts for the sake of Luz not dying. She has NO INTEREST in getting involved until then and at that point, it's not her crime, it's Odalia's. That's what makes her motivation being Luz not work because the motivation might be Luz, but the result isn't her facing her past, it's just facing a cartoonish villain.

And if your argument is "Well, all she did was because of Odalia," I would respond with, "Okay, that not a redemption then, that's just a regular character arc." If your character does not actually try to IN UNIVERSE redeem themselves, how can you call it a redemption arc? Sasha is ready to DIE for all of Wartwood to make up for the fact that they're gonna get wiped off the face of the map because of her. She acknowledges that she was wrong and always wrong and goes out to do something about that. She gives up command to Anne in order to try avoid her old mistakes because she is so actively trying to do better than she used to. Redemption is never easy and requires shit like this. The best way to do it fast is, well... Death.

This is why the heroic sacrifice trope is so beloved for redeemed villains. They go from spending an entire life causing misery and being selfish to making the ultimate sacrifice against that which they stood for. In one moment, they seek that redemption... But expect no reward which only further bolsters how this is redemption. Redemption is selfless. You never HAVE to redeem yourself. You never expect a prize or even a better life from redeeming yourself besides being able to sleep better at night. It's a powerful trope...

And Hunter's version of it is literally the worst example I can think of for the trope. Yes, we technically get him rescuing the Emerald Entrails before this as a moment of redemption but what about just redeeming his time under Belos and as the Golden Guard? Well... Essentially no one even gets more than a token apology for that. He just sob stories his way into people's hearts instead of actually do anything to earn their affection outside of Willow KIND OF. But hey, that should be fine since he does sacrifice his own life, right?

Well, again, context. What does he sacrifice for? Because it's not anyone other than him. Just listen to literally the words he's saying. He talks about how much better his life is now. How much he likes the perks of being a good guy like friends. He barely remembers to include that stopping Belos needs to be a part of this without him just looking like a mooch of a friend because he never mentions how it feels good to help people, how he hates what he did with the Emperor or even that he believes more in self expression now. It's ENTIRELY selfish. He doesn't even expect to die, he's just telling Belos to go fuck himself and ends up dying in the process, which is actually pretty normal for a selfish henchman betrayal it's just that the show doesn't realize that's what he's doing.

This is indicative of the show's approach to redemption as a whole and we even get a thesis statement on that. The Collector. If you just say you're sorry and are on the correct side, you're redeemed! Making up for all the damage you did when you absolutely can fix it in like a week? Actually putting yourself up for punishment by those who's autonomy you took away and then tortured? Fucking ANYTHING besides unpuppeting people that he did for months to terrorize the entire Isles? No. He said he's sorry and he's just a goofy little guy so he's redeemed! Right?... Right?

And then the Collector takes this very basic idea of redemption, of just needing to show a bit of kindness and people will magically change, and applies it to Belos. For only the second time, in the whole series, does it not work. The problem with saying that means the show understands this topic and has nuance is... The other example is Kikimora. Neither of these characters are people. They caricatures of villains. They're so pure evil that the idea of redeeming them is, well... A joke. Literally, in the show, the attempt to redeem Belos is a joke. Why would you think the baby eating psycopath was just going to need a hug? That is the level of cartoon villain we are dealing. That's not nuance, it's bullshit, which is why it has never functioned as a critique of SU like it clearly is, especially not when the person who does it JUST NEEDED A FEW KIND WORDS. Like the Collector literally IS just the arc they describe and then try to mock and never even blinks at this fact.

But we call these redemption arcs because they were tokenly villains before hand. I would at this point argue that we need to stop doing that. If we think TOH even purports the concept of redemption, that implies you can learn how to write redemption through TOH. You can't. Bluntly, you cannot because it barely ever tries and when it fails, it fails miserably.

The Diamonds at least promised, and kept their word, to undo their damages. I don't think you get to mock that with your redemptions when you can't even manage that much 75% of the time. See you next tale.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[bloodstainedsaint]

noises in the bedroom with ron, lew, lieb, luz, and shifty

word count: 770+

warnings: reader has female genitalia, degradation (only in ron's), praise, teasing, i call nixon a whore for the reader (it's true)

notes: i couldn't include babe in this one cause i just decided that i would write for him (and therefore i must do Research) but hope you guys enjoy anyway !!

ronald speirs

big on praise-degradation, like 50/50 on it

unless you managed to really set him off (ex; make him jealous on purpose, tease him, be a brat, etc.), then don't expect very many kind words

he can be so mean and unfair when he wants to, but by the end of it he’s worshiping you like you're a deity

he’ll call you a slut but his slut, yk?

could not care less about who hears — no one's gonna confront him about it anyway with his reputation, and they're definitely not coming up to you either since they know ron is going to be death glaring them the whole time

he groans and grunts huskily + openly and encourages you to not cover up/muffle your sounds with your hand

(quickies are, of course, the exception since that would be unsafe, and if higher-ups are around, obviously he's about to care; in any other situation though, no one is safe from hearing the two of you)

lewis nixon

somehow his moans are louder than yours???

LIKE that's not a bad thing, it just means he's enjoying it just as much as you but he's just so vocal about it, saying your name or princess, doll, sweetheart like his life depended on it

(he's such a whore for you, especially when he goes down on you. you're gonna be feeling the vibrations of his groans bc omg is he obsessed with eating you out…but that's another story)

this is mostly because he also does not care who hears (same exceptions as ron). i imagine dick having to come talk to you all flustered, his face matching his hair and his eyes cast to the ground, asking you guys to keep it down

…nixon definitely didn't get any play for two weeks after that

despite being the #1 slut for you, he still manages to tease you, saying things like, “tell me how bad you want it.” (as if he doesn't want it just as bad)

joseph liebgott

he's probably the biggest pottymouth out of the five

anything he does is followed up by a hoarse “fuck, doll” or “shit, (y/n)”

he's trying to cover up the fact that he's a bit of a whiner/panter

he’ll kiss marks onto and around your breasts to muffle the sound of his moans

definitely says “yeah, you like that?” or “that feel good, baby?” during foreplay, smirking down at you while you’re begging for more (he's a little cocky with it)

becomes soft during and afterwards; he's scared to be vulnerable but he can't help telling you how pretty you look, how good you feel, and how much he loves you

will probably confess some of these things in german so he's not as vulnerable, but you still get the gist either way (and if you do understand german, he's screwed)

george luz

honestly he's just kind of unserious, like this man is giggling he's so happy to be with you (and his laughter and smile are infectious so now you're laughing too and telling him to shut up)

he’ll praise you with jokes, telling you you're prettier than any pinup model

“rita doesn't have anything on you, beautiful.” cue you rolling your eyes with a smile and telling him he’s cheesy

he's a little bit of a cusser too (especially when you play with his hair), not to the level of lieb though

“damn, (y/n), i'm lucky you're all mine.”

eventually the jokes and goofiness dissolve into him straight up telling you how good you feel around him and that you're especially gorgeous like this

+ him confessing his love for you when he's still catching his breath

“(y/n), have i ever told you how much i love you?”

“maybe 100 times today, george”

“oh so not enough then” you kiss him before he can remind you again

shifty powers

loves to praise you (and be praised honestly)

like he swears up and down that you're the most perfect girl alive

he can't believe that you're his and he's yours

kind of shy about his moans but he can't stop himself/hide them well enough because he moans at the slightest touch (he's so in love with you)

whimpers when you say he's making you feel good and “don't stop”

he's definitely asking if you're sure about anything and everything, reminding you that you don't have to go through with this if you don't absolutely want to

you just have to be like “darrell c. powers, please just take me” and lord will he oblige you with the brightest goddamn smile on his face

-

taglist: @mads-weasley, @ronsparky, @dcyllom, @malarkgirlypop, @joetoyesbrassknuckles101, @samwinchesterslostshoe

[aaknopf]

Rufino Tamayo’s painting “El Hombre,” the inspiration for this poem, shows a man both grounded powerfully into the earth and reaching up to the heavens. Here the novelist and poet Sandra Cisneros gives a close account of several struggling hombres, situating them compassionately in the broader context of Mexico-U. S. relations.

El Hombre

          After Tamayo

On the eve of International Women’s Day In a field on the road to Celaya They find her body. The deaf-mute girl who Walked her dog in Parque Juárez.

No one tried, blamed, named. The town knows:

It’s her father’s debts. This is how they pay Un hombre who can’t pay.

Mándanos luz. Send us all light.

In small print, in the back Pages of today’s paper, I read this small news:

Un Hombre Purépecha Lifted from His Purépecha Village.

Daily the Purépechas demand his return. Daily el hombre does not return.

He is only one of the many “lifted.”

When you are native in your native land To whom do you demand? Who listens?

Mándanos luz. Send us all light.

The bird merchant at the Tuesday mercado, Six cages of cenzontles strapped on his back, Shoves a mesh shopping bag so close To my face, I have to step back to see. A flutter of frightened canaries. In the eyes of el hombre, The same urgency, the same fear.

Mándanos luz. Send us all light.

The gringo Alan tells me the story Of the pig who thought he was a dog. Solovino he was called, Because he came alone.

How each day Alan drove Along the road to Dolores, The dogs would run from The squatter’s shack and give chase, The pig who thought he was a dog Trotting behind them.

Until one day the pig isn’t there. The dogs disappear too. One by one by one.

Alan shrugs. When un hombre is hungry, There is no one to blame.

Mándanos luz. Send us all light.

The “Religion” section of Our Guanajuato newspaper Features an article on St. Francis, Un hombre of austerity, as A model for all to live in poverty.

This in a country where almost every Hombre, mujer y niño is already On the path to sainthood.

Mándanos luz. Send us all light.

How it happened was like this. One night Rosana catches un hombre Breaking into her grocery store, The son of a neighbor.

Her shouts wake the barrio. They’re able to hold the thief Until the police arrive.

Rosana is there to bear witness At the court proceedings. And to Witness the court set him free.

She gathers her pain in a handkerchief, Goes home and calls the boy’s mother.

Rosana and the mother of the thief. Each Woman lets loose a sea of grief.

When she tells me this story, The sea is still there in Rosana’s eyes.

Mándanos luz. Send us all light.

Carlos and Raúl, the silver-tongued Poets of Chicano, Illinois, have never Been to the country of their ancestry, Though they’re silver-haired hombres.

When I invite them south, they refuse. They’re afraid of bad hombres.

No one has told them The ones who buy drugs and Sell arms to los bad hombres Are U.S. citizens.

Mándanos luz. Send us all light.

The blind harmonica player, Un hombre who plays “Camino de Guanajuato” In front of Banco Santander, Clutches his baseball cap of small coins Whenever he hears someone running too close.

No vale nada la vida, la vida no vale nada. Life’s worth nothing, nothing is what life’s worth.

Mándanos luz. Send us all light.

Un hombre tells me: You don’t even have to learn Spanish to live here. Amado the San Miguel realtor. You can train your staff to do what you need, And you don’t have to pay them much either.

Mándanos luz. Send us all light.

Dallas, 1953. A seer named Stanley Marcus Purchases a mural by Rufino Tamayo To reinforce friendship between Texas and Mexico.

This in a time in history When Texas still posts Signs on restaurants: “No dogs or Mexicans.”

The painting is of un hombre Anchored to the earth Reaching for the heavens, A balance of earth and sky, North and south, yours and mine. Because the universe is About interconnection.

Tamayo calls this painting, Man Excelling Himself.

Mándanos luz. Send us all light.

Message from Mexico to The United States of America: When we are safe, you are safe. When you are safe, we are safe. Tell this to your politicians.

Mándanos luz. Send us all light.

There is a Mexican saying, Hablando se entiende la gente. Talking to one another We understand one another.

I would add: And listening We understand even better.

Mándanos luz. Send us all light. Mándanos luz. Send us all light. Mándanos luz. Send us all light.

More on this book and author:

Learn more about Woman Without Shame by Sandra Cisneros.

Browse our special Everyman's Library edition of The House on Mango Street and other books by Sandra Cisneros; you can follow her @officialsandracisneros on Instagram and @sandracisnerosauthor on Facebook.

On April 12, Sandra Cisneros will appear on two panels at the San Antonio Books Festival.

Visit our Tumblr to peruse poems, audio recordings, and broadsides in the Knopf poem-a-day series.

To share the poem-a-day experience with friends, pass along this link.