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violetfaust · 4 years ago

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I'm interested in hearing more about why you think Margot should've been Rumbelle's daughter. Sounds interesting, but what would that mean for her enchanted forest life? I think her being Robin Hood's daughter would've been fine if not for Zelena

Okay, Nonny, since you sent this a few days before Mother's Day, I'm gonna finally take the opportunity to try to sum up and speed-run the Belle's Daughter Margot feelings that have haunted me for THREE YEARS. Buckle in; this will be more than you or anyone asked for.

Disclaimer 1: It's been, well, three years, so my memory of Curious Archer and their story is not perfect; could be off on some details here. And Disclaimer 2: I really loved Tiera Skovbye as Robin/Margot; she did a lot with not much screen time, and she and Rose had fabulous chemistry. So although she was well cast as Robin Sr.'s kid, Tiera would be perfectly believable as a Rumbelle daughter, too--maybe give her some low-lights and call it a day. We keep Tiera as Margot in this rewrite. Okay: onward.

(Since one of the few things that would have to change about Robin if she were Rumbelle’s daughter is her name, I’ll just mostly use her Hyperion Heights name “Margot” throughout this post for simplicity.)

First and foremost, the foundation of everything: Margot is so like Belle! She is so like her. They have the same love of adventure, a similar sense of humor. She took Alice on a date to a bookstore. Most of all, she has Belle’s ability to see past “the mask of the monster” to a person’s heart. There was a great scene where Tilly explained that she didn’t want Margot to see her “bad days” because she thought it would be “too much,” and Margot said words to the effect that she was there for the bad as well as the good.

Obviously, people don't have to grow up to be exactly like their parents (Belle and Rumple sure didn't)...BUT. In fiction, one of the fun parts of next-gen stories is for the audience to see how their favorites' personalities are passed down. It's just more fun to see a Henry who has parts of Regina/Emma/Neal than one who doesn't; it's fun to see Lucy resemble little Henry. And it would be fun to see Margot be like her parents (she is very like Robin Sr; not so much Zee). Seeing a character who has so many of Belle's traits becomes just more...fun...when she learned them FROM Belle.

The family feud Rumple/Hook angle turns Alice and Margot’s relationship up another roman tic notch. A classic trope! It’s about reconciliation and love remaking and erasing those old grudges. Which is even more important when we’re supposed to believe that the evidence of Rumple’s final redemption is his saving Rook.

On a more macro level: the entire claim that OUAT is "a show about hope" COLLAPSES because it ends with the annihilation of the Stiltskin family. Rumple, Belle, and Neal are all dead; Henry doesn’t acknowledge them as his family; and Gideon is a friendless and forgotten orphan in another world. I did my rants about this three years ago, but long story short: the show’s not about hope unless it’s hopeful for EVERYONE. And having at least one of Rumbelle’s children alive and happy at the end (with her True Love and friends and acknowledged as part of the family) would fix that. My objection has never been that Rumple (and even Belle) die, but the way it happened.

And of course, Rumbelle needed to have at least one other child because Kitsowitz managed to deny them even one single shared happy moment surrounding Belle’s pregnancy with Gideon and his birth. Even if the audience didn’t get to see it (and we could have gotten a glimpse in Beauty), we deserved to know it happened.

Finally: Zelena did not belong in S7, period. I know it was fun for her fans! (Although apparently there weren't enough of them to positively affect the ratings, meow.) I do know! But it was bad storytelling. She served no point in the larger season arc, and the serial witch killer plot that was invented to serve her was one of the worst and most stupid things Kitsowitz came up with in seven years, and ate up time that could/should have gone to develop other characters. (Driz and Ana come immediately to mind, instead of having them shunted off to another universe, but also Henry/Cinda/Lucy and of course Rumple since his plot was coming to a close.) Zelena didn’t even get any significant growth herself, or develop her relationships with Regina or Robin. She still didn’t express regret for the horrible things she did to characters we love (Rumple, Neal, and Robin Sr.); the only result of all that screentime was to give an unrepentant rapist a love story with a person--we barely see and have zero investment in. And even that was ultimately negated at the end of the season, because in the finale Zee’s back in Storybrooke sans Boo Bear.

So, all that said: what would have to change about Margot’s, and Curious Archer’s, FTL storyline to give us Margot Gold?

Her name—but actually very little else. (And frankly it would have been more respectful to have Belle name her daughter after Robin Sr., who was actually her friend, than for Zee to name her kid after the man she raped, manipulated, and ultimately got killed—but that ship had sailed.)

Belle and Rumple could have given their daughter any number of fairytale names after people they know, aka fresh take on a Disney character. My favorite possibilities are Aurora (and then Curious Archer could have been Curious Beauty, and done a riff on the Sleeping Beauty story as part of their FTL backstory, with a built-in TLK) and Merlin (very pretty for a girl, I’ve always thought).

But the character herself would have been very much the same: she could be Rumbelle’s jock daughter, trained in archery and swordsmanship by family friends (Merida/Mulan/Charming), but always feeling out of place in her family of scholars/sorcerers/nerds.

I am SO sorry for the length of this--there's even more under this cut!

Robin/Margot felt insecure about trying to live up to her father’s name; Rory/Merlin/Margot could have similar anxieties trying to live down her father’s Dark One rep. There could even be a similar story where she was born with magic (like Robin was) but loses it or chooses to give it up—something that would estrange her further from her family. Or, if she was Merlin, she could keep her magic but be reluctant to use it, and part of Curious Archer’s Hyperion Heights arc would be both Margot and Tilly discovering and accepting their magic. (Sapphic sorceresses for the win.)

Now, one of the cutest things about Alice/Robin’s FTL dynamic was Robin being a girl from the Land Without Magic finding her feet in an enchanted forest, with Alice’s help. But it would only take a little finessing of S7 Rumbelle’s story to get that for Rory as well. (Of course, any decent story would have a LOT of finessing of Rumbelle’s plot so that Belle didn’t die and put Rumple on a suicide mission, but again—assuming the ship has sailed…)

Say that Rory is five to six years younger than Gideon. The Rumbelle family spend a dozen years or so traveling the realms, but then Rumbelle decide that they want Gideon and Rory to be comfortable in the LWoM with their extended Charming family, so they settle back into the Pink Palace so the kids can get a LWoM education. They still take occasional journeys, often Rumbelle going to save some hapless souls, but Rory grows up primarily in SB with very few, vague memories of all the fascinating places they visited when she was a small child. This feeds her hunger for adventure along with some envy of Gideon for having so many more fairytale experiences—another thing that makes her feel like a misfit in her family. So, presto, when she moves to FTL she and Alice have pretty much the same meeting/adventures.

One of the key notes of Rumple and Alice/Tilly's relationship, showing his growth and making it so special, was how he chose to set her free of being the Guardian or whatever, allowing her to be free and get what he never had, the chance to grow old with the woman she loves. And that would be weakened if Rumple knew that by choosing Alice's happiness over his own, he was also choosing his own daughter's happiness (because we know Rumple picks his kids over himself ever time). But--he doesn't have to know WHO Alice's True Love is when he makes that choice. He could just know that there is someone, or simply realize that Alice deserves her freedom for her own sake. (Rumple's daughter also getting happiness would be a side benefit that he didn't learn about till later, and have the added perk of Rumple actually getting a narrative reward for doing something good. Which almost NEVER happened! Bonus.)

Finally: I do understand that Robin's presence on the canvas was important to fans of Robin Sr.--getting to know he's remembered and having someone carry on his legacy. Of course I get it--Rumbelle and their family not having that is my biggest complaint (of so so many).

But we don't need a grown-up Robin Jr. to be Robin's legacy. Let her stay a cute background kid with perennially baby Prince Neal. There's already a character, one we're invested in, to carry on for the Hoods: Roland. And again, it would be satisfying for the audience to learn that a five-year-old orphan wasn't shunted off from what family he had left (Regina and Henry) into another universe and never heard from again. If Kitsowitz didn't waste time with Zelena, they wouldn't have needed the idiotic Jack-is-Hansel-the-serial-killer twist, and we could have have had Roland filling the role of Henry's best friend/little brother (and therefore Lucy's fake HH dad--God, that plot was bad all the way back in season 1; why Kitsowitz why?). We'd see Roland onscreen, part of the family, at the end of the show, perhaps with his own True Love (Drizella, maybe, or better yet Gideon) and happy future.

So, that's it: the combination of Margot Stiltskin-Gold and Roland Hood tightens and heightens the storytelling throughout S7, closes some plot holes, and actually fulfills some of the show's stated themes. Who knew!

Anyone else want three years of OUAT theory vomit? 😋 Shoot me an ask!

(I actually have another one, god help us all, but I might save it till Father's Day...)

#rumbelle #ouat of all things #curious archer sort of #rumbelle family #belle french #deserved a daughter damnit #roland hood #anti-kitsowitz as all things should be #long post guys sorry #op #UN!proofread!

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mashi-sims · 4 years ago

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6 Popular tropes that fit #Cooliver

1. Friends to Lovers. Duh

This is the most obvious one, and I wanted to start with this one because if Cooper and Oliver ever become canon, this is what their relationship would be.

In my head, Friends to Lovers is always problematic because it’s easy to lose a beautiful friendship to a mediocre romantic relationship, as has happened to many LGBT couples on TV, but if done correctly, it warms my heart and makes sparks of joy fly all around.

The journey of their friendship not only as a partnership but as a mutual beneficence that helps them both grow and develop as their individual selves, helping each other find their own path, confidence in themselves, inspiration and motivation to fulfill their dreams, ultimately becoming better individuals aiming to transform into the best versions of themselves they can be, *voice intensifies* all while being together and offering each other’s company and support, becoming accustomed to being next to one and other and not being able to imagine a life without the other, slowly developing emotional ties that make them consider if a different kind of love exists, and them exploring it and realizing that, in fact, THERE IS. That type of slow build that transforms into a romantic relationship because they both agree they are each other’s most treasured person and they want to stay in each other’s lives forever, that’s some GOOD STUFF.

2. Fake Dating

The reason why I believe a good fake dating au can get so popular, is because it can offer a pretty natural transition between “Not having any kind of feelings”/”Being unaware of their feelings” to “Oh, my gosh I am in love with this person what do I do”, and it can be so heart-wrenching it’s addictive.

In a beautiful world, Oliver is totally in love with Cooper and he just doesn’t know it yet, and there’s where this trope comes in handy.

There’s a number of reasons why two characters may start fake dating; getting someone off their backs, making someone jealous/angry, needing a date for a special occasion, or getting some odd financial benefit from it, if you’re willing to take it as far as getting married and having to pretend to be actually married so nobody know their marriage is a scam.

They agree to start fake dating or to start introducing each other to other people as their boyfriends, because Cooper wants these interested girls (and boys) in his money to go away, or because Oliver is the only single one at his ballet and he doesn’t want to go to after-show celebration alone, and after one or many fake dating moments, they start realizing they don’t need to act or pretend to act a certain way at all, because there’s stuff they’d normally do with or say to each other, or at least the trust or the reliance is already there.

Think about the inevitable time where they do have to stop acting like fake boyfriends and they start missing it, or when they mid-date realize there’s something real between all that pretending and now they don’t know what to do about it, imagine the conversation they’d have when they realize they can’t go back to being friends anymore.

3. N Things

This one is more like a writing strategy than an actual trope, but it still works. We’ve all read the “4 times they almost kissed, and one time they did” or the “3 times they said I love you to someone else, and one time they said it to each other”

Okay, now hear me out- how about, “3 times Oliver said Cooper wasn’t his boyfriend, and one he didn’t have to”, or “5 times Oliver said he wasn’t gay, and one time he couldn’t”? I’m down for that.

The heart of this trope is the repeatability of a certain joke, a comment or an unfortunate event and that’s obvious it’ll turn itself around, and it’s that one moment that finally comes which makes you want to dance under the rain.

To me, the amount of times Oliver’s had to tell other people that he isn’t gay or that Cooper’s not his bf (Cooper also said it once) is the perfect starter to this “n things” strategy.

Come on, American Housewife! You’re making it too easy for me to expect that one moment when it all turns around!

4. Babysitters

Neither of these boys is ever shown to be a kid-person nor to have a soft spot for babies, or anything like that! Like, at all! Their whole characters are based around the facts that they are both money-driven, superficial, and self-absorbed (although in the process of becoming better than that), and we barely ever get to see them pouring their hearts out or letting their guard down.

Therefore, imagine a day where Oliver is forced to babysit Violet (or another baby if there comes to be another one), and he’d undeniably be annoyed at the situation because this baby/toddler has ruined his plans, but Cooper obviously stays and helps him out because where else would he be?

It’s the times driving them both crazy when they don’t know how to make a baby stop crying, or when they’re deciding who should change the diaper because neither of them wants to; it’s the time when they’re both a mess because some chaos happened with the food or the paint while they were trying to come up with an activity.

Then it’s Oliver slowly coming down with baby fever as he’s trying make them laugh or when he’s walking around the room trying to make them fall asleep, and Cooper is in awe because he had never seen that side of his friend, and he had never expected it to look so damn cute, and Oliver had never expected Cooper to stay with him for a whole day just taking care of a baby.

It’s at the end of the day when they’re tired as hell but they agree that they had fun and that they’re glad they had each other to help out, and although they don’t say it, maybe it wasn’t so bad their original plans didn’t end up working out.

5. Hurt/Comfort

This is not a trope for everyone, you may love it, you may hate it, you may be indifferent, or you may be like me; somewhere in the middle but with some strong opinions. If done right, it can be a beautiful addition to the story of two characters in process of falling in love. If done wrong, it can victimize the characters in unnecessary ways or show them in a light that doesn’t suit them, thus making them feel out of character, which is every true fan’s worst nightmare.

Although, let’s focus on the small things; like characters holding on to their emotions for too long until they really can’t do it anymore, and they need somebody to help them out, even if they resist it, because in the end they’ll acknowledge they’re thankful for having them, and it also makes their relationship inevitably grow and develop, because there’s something really special about having someone you can truly be yourself with and knowing that they’ll stay, and they’ll help you through everything and make you feel like you’re going to be okay, even (and especially) during your worst moments.

(Although really toned down,) we’ve already seen this kind of comfort between the two; like when Cooper found out Oliver lied about his vacations, and he told him he didn’t need to lie to him out of all people, and that he could come on vacation with him whenever he wanted, or when Cooper’s parents ditched him and he confided in Oliver, who believed he had become tired of hanging out with him, and Cooper had to reassure him that wasn’t the case; those were small moments where we got to see them somewhat upset and being comforted by the other, and that’s when it feels like their friendship is strong and real.

The reason why I believe this trope fits them so much is because they are barely shown in a vulnerable state that allows them to have a sad plot where they’d need to be comforted, and it’s during times like these where you can really see their relationship grow.

Also, I want to point out that it’s not about romanticizing or sexualizing sadness, at all! It’s about using these moments to slowly build and give consistency to the relationship- don’t even get me started on how much I hate seeing and reading characters making out after having a breakdown.

6. Mutual Pining

Some people like to suffer, okay? Some of us like a good tragedy, and there’s nothing more tragic than two characters who are deeply in love with each other, but they’ve resigned to keeping it hidden deep down because they’re convinced the other doesn’t feel the same and they don’t want to lose them nor their friendship, even if it means having to live with a painful secret for the rest of their lives.

When you start having feelings for another person, you may be brave enough to let them now or try and see where things go, because you have nothing to lose, right? But what happens when it’s your best friend you have feelings for? There’s a lot there to lose if do things go wrong, and there’s no certainty that they won’t, so you might as well leave things as they are, because nothing would be more painful than to lose the person you love the most for making things weird because they don’t feel the same way...

And it’s completely frustrating to see two characters with the same internal monologue, because you know what IT COULD BE, but THEY don’t know that- and I love it.

There’s a million different ways this trope can play out, and it’s always so interesting to see where things go after both characters have resigned to never let the other one know how they feel, and then we get to see these destructive actions like dating other people because they think their feelings are unrequited, but they have no idea the other is in deep pain because of seeing the person they love with someone else... yes, a good tragedy!

Anyway, thank you for reading this rant and feel free to add to the list or make any of these come to life.

#Cooliver #American Housewife #A little rant I couldn't get out of my head

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notanathleteslungs · 4 years ago

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So, I am almost finished with rewatch number I Don’t Even Know At This Point of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. I just noticed something that I find pretty interesting, partly because I never picked up on it before now.

(I am very sorry if this seems to go all over the place, I woke up at 5AM yesterday and couldn’t get back to sleep, I got a massage so I’m a little sore and I wrote the majority of this at 10PM last night when my eyes were trying to unfocus themselves. I still don’t know if there’s any cohesion to it or if it’s as rambley and rant-y as I think.)

TLDR; the presentation of alchemy in Fullmetal Alchemist makes it spiritual as well as scientific.

So when you ask someone what Fullmetal Alchemist is, they will probably think about it before saying it’s a sci-fi/fantasy show. Because alchemy is fake but also is an early form of science. And they’d be right. Alchemy was basically an early form of chemistry with all the talk of elements and what makes up what and yada yada yada. It also is mainly thought of alongside fantasy worlds coinciding with potion-making.

However, there is an inherently spiritual quality to how it is presented in Fullmetal Alchemist.

Let’s start with the transmutation circles. The transmutation circle is a symbol by which an alchemist is able to do a transmutation. There are many different ways to make a transmutation circle, but the base is always, say it with me: a Circle. Circles are the perfect symbol of unity, of togetherness and equality. The reason King Arthur made a Round Table was so that even though he was the king of Camelot he was of the same rank as the knights he allowed at the table. When we did icebreakers in choir, we always made a circle so everyone was included and no one was left out. Circles are the symbol of a whole.

Everyone used a circle to perform a transmutation. If you’re a hobby alchemist, just doing it for funzies in your basement, chances are you carry chalk with you to draw a circle if/when you need to. But a career alchemist—especially the state alchemists—always carried a specialized circle with them somewhere on their bodies. Mustang had his circle sewed into his gloves so he could make a spark and also do the transmutation. Armstrong had his circle engraved on his gauntlets, so with every strike he could activate the circle and make what he wanted. Kimblee, Isaac MacDougle, and one guy in the Star of Milos movie had their circles tattooed on their skin, Kimblee and MacDougle on their palms and SoM guy on his arm. They carried their circle everywhere. It gave them a connection to their alchemy so they could always do a transmutation if they found themselves in a situation. Now on to our human transmutation people.

Ed, Al, and Izumi are rare cases in FMA in that they are able to do transmutation without a circle. It is explained that this is because they performed human transmutation. It is safe to assume that the reason they are rare is because everyone else who did it probably did not survive, so yippee, our three favorite alchemists beat the odds (especially Izumi). As the reward for surviving the rebound, they don’t need to draw a circle; however, they do still make a circle, by clapping their hands and making a circle with their arms. They are still whole. And when Ed was trying to get himself, Ling, and Envy out of Gluttony’s stomach, Ling said it looks like Ed prays when he transmutes.

Here is what actually prompted this idea.

Even though Ed, Al, and Izumi don’t need to draw a circle, they are forced to humble themselves when doing transmutation. The most common thing for them to transmute—and most readily available—is the ground beneath their feet. Unless you’re a contortionist, there’s no way you can touch the ground without bending your knees. So alchemists who perform human transmutation—an act that defies God—and manage to survive the rebound are forced to humble themselves for the rest of their life when they perform a transmutation. They are forced to their hands and knees to look up at their target, a pretty vulnerable position. They are punished for their arrogance by being lower than everyone else as long as they live.

Now, connections. Each alchemist has a connection with whatever they are transmuting, whether physical or symbolic. Mustang has a flame and (probably) a salamander on his circle. Fire is easy, but salamanders got their connection with fire both from their red skin and that when a piece of wood with salamanders in it was thrown on a fire, the salamanders would crawl away as the wood burned, leaving the assumption that they came from the fire. Mustang’s connection with his transmutation of fire is symbolic. Armstrong’s connection is more physical, because his circle is on a gauntlet. Said gauntlet protects his hand as he punches, and when he punches stone, he transmutes that stone. Ed, Al, and Izumi are even more physical than Mustang because they physically touch whatever they’re transmuting. Armstrong has a metal plate between his skin and the stone, but our human transmutation folks have bare contact.

In a way, this bare contact gives them an even deeper connection with their transmutation. Not only are they themselves the circle, they also directly influence what they transmute. In performing human transmutation, they have forged a deeper connection between themselves and the world. Ed is the perfect example of this, because when he gave up his portal, he gave up his connection to the alchemy, and therefore his connection to the world. It’s like humans looking at Mars. We know exactly what it’s made of, whether or not the air is breathable, but we have no true connection to the planet, not like we do Earth. It is this connection to Earth that gave rise to all the myths from different cultures. Ed is kind of like the astronauts in The Martian, or whatever that Matt Damon movie was. He is on the planet, he understands it, but he doesn’t have any real connection to it anymore. It’s kind of heartbreaking when you realize it.

BACK ON TRACK!

Father and Hohenheim are kind of the worst case scenario. They are examples of what happens when you play god and win. They don’t need a circle, a unity. They don’t need a symbol to connect them with their transmutation. They can just be god and make something from nothing. They have no connection to their transmutation or the world despite having this god-like influence over it.

In gaining the philosopher’s stone, Father and Hohenheim were able to ignore what makes alchemy spiritual. Hohenheim doesn’t want to—he has always regretted what happened in Xerxes to the point that he worked with the souls in his stone to get to know them and pay them back as individuals. He got to know them so he could recite name, occupation, and quirks of their personality at the drop of a hat. I can go on a whole other rant about that being a trait passed to Ed and Al based on what happened with Nina but I won’t right now.

This is getting rant-y and I’m losing my train of thought, but basically, the way people do alchemy in FMA has incorporated aspects of a spirituality that you might not notice on your first watch if you’re the kind of person (like me) who watches or reads something for the enjoyment, not the analysis. First, there is a sense of connection between alchemists and their transmutation; they carry a circle—a symbol of unity—everywhere they go to act as a bridge between themselves and their transmutation. Second, people who do human transmutation almost have a deeper connection than other alchemists because they are able to make themselves the circle (and in the act of transmuting, almost pray to the very God they attempted to defy) but in exchange are forced to humble themselves before God and other people. Third, there is a contact between alchemists and their transmutation, but human transmutation takes away a barrier that other alchemists can enjoy between themselves and their transmutation. While other alchemists have the opportunity to distance themselves through a medium, Ed, Al, and Izumi made themselves the medium so they can never distance themselves. Lastly, people who have/are philosopher’s stones have destroyed the connection between themselves and transmutation because they don’t need a circle and they don’t need to touch what they’re transmuting. They don’t need to fear being struck down by God because they believe they are God and transmute as God would, standing tall and proud. Arrogant. I have a feeling if they tried doing human transmutation with a philosopher’s stone, the rebound would be even worse. If their body were taken and someone tried getting their soul back, I don’t think Truth would let them go. Whoever tried saving them would be sent back empty handed if Truth was merciful or wouldn’t go back at all if they were not.

Now that I have well and truly gone on a rant, do with this insight what you will.

#Fullmetal Alchemist #Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood #FMA #FMAB #meta #no joke I put this down because I knew it wouldn’t make any sense even to me and woke up at 6 this morning and still think it’s rambling #the reason I woke up is because one of my sister’s cats was playing with the light cord and clattering it against the wall

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fenristheorem · 4 years ago

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Asks/Headcanons/Stories

Rules, Details and Other Important Information

Updated May 22nd, 2021

Status: Currently NOT accepting requests / asks

See my Masterlist here!

***The ask box will be closed within a couple days of the updated post date (April 30th). It will be closed for a couple of weeks while I bring my request count down (it’s reached over 30 requests) and due to my schedule limiting how much time I can spend writing. Any new asks I receive will be immediately posted stating the box is closed (although I’m still open to receiving comments and other questions via ask box).

How long for an answer: About a month depending on how much work will go into it, my askbox is quiet as of late but I have many that I’m working on currently. I have almost 20 drafts and a nearly equal amount of untouched requests in my ask box.

(Rules under the cut)

Hello! If you’ve reached this post you may be interested in asking/requesting something - go ahead and do so! Just make sure you keep in mind the information I list here because if an ask/request is outside my rules I probably won’t write it (there may be some exceptions heavily depending on certain factors). Therefore, please read everything (even if it’s just skimming) so you get a basic idea of what to expect from me.

The only fandom I write for is Eldarya, if you couldn’t tell by my posts lol.

Who do I write for? (Romantically)

Primarily Lance, he’s the only route I follow on my two accounts and I’ve spent a lot of personal time nit-picking and analyzing his character so I’d say I have a thorough understanding of who he is and how to write him.

I'm second most comfortable writing Valkyon, he was my route in Origins. Even though Origins is past now, I'm still happy to write about him

I’m not very interested in the other routes, but I have a general idea of what they’re like, so I’ll write for Leiftan and Nevra, too (although what I write differs. I’ll always write friendly or fluffy relationship stuff, but I draw the line around in-depth, intimate asks. I don’t know them too well so I don’t mind writing semi-vague things about them, but they won’t be very specific). I’m more comfortable writing Leiftan than Nevra overall.

I won’t write for Mathieu as I don’t know him well enough, he seems to be a pretty basic character but I doubt that’s the case so I don’t want to write something I know will likely be nowhere near relevant to who he is.

I may write for Koori, but not as of right now; I’ll update this if I decide to do so later when I know her better.

Other than what’s detailed here, I won’t write romantically for any other characters.

Have a request that’s not romantic? Awesome, I’ll write general headcanons for any of the characters.

General headcanons basically means anything not too intimate (or an ask that covers many different topics, but that's besides the point right now), I’ll write friendly requests, but not romantic ones. Have a request that seems to walk the fine line between friendship and a platonic / fluffy relationship? Go ahead and ask anyways, I may write it and even it I don’t, it helps provide an example of what I will or won’t write.

I'm happy to write any characters as Origins instead of New Era, just be sure to specify in your ask.

What do I write? (I will add warnings for NSFW and certain angst or violence prompts and how heavy it is in the writing)

Nearly anything, really

Romance

NSFW

Friendships/friendly fun stuff

Angst

Violence

A lot of others

There may be some things I’m not thinking of currently, but again, I’ll write pretty much anything (and I’ll keep updating this list in time)

That being said, I’m comfortable writing some genres with some characters and others not so much. But again, if unsure, ask anyways.

What DON’T I write?

Non-con (no consent)

Yandere

Suicide (I’ll write how it effects others, but I won’t write the specifics on how an actual character does it)

How to specify your ask:

So I’m a very specific person, and I can go on very long rants; just take this headcanon and this second one as an example. However, I know some people prefer small and short, so I’m asking that in your request/ask you specify which type of writing you want so I’m not constantly thinking ‘oh try and keep it short - but maybe one more bullet - oh god how did this get so long? - m a y b e I s h o u l d j u s t w r i t e t h i s a s a s c e n a r i o - did they want headcanons or a scenario/short story?’ Don’t care about how long my response to your ask is? Cool, don’t worry about specifying length, just send your ask (but seriously, be prepared for something close to a novel lol).

In order of shortest to longest:

Mini-headcanons - Usually the fastest to write - Not as ‘mini’ as you may think. It’s not entirely short, I’ll still put in my fair share of thoughts, but I won’t go on major rants about one thing during the ask. It’s a very straightforward / to the point ask. Not interested in possibly reading an essay on why I think this is this and how I feel this effected this person? This is pretty good for you then.

Normal headcanons / headcanons (otherwise known as medium or long headcanons) - Writing time can differ based on how much I rant, but will usually take longer than mini-headcanons - Are you ok if you end up reading a small novella or a post with so many words it rivals a dictionary? Awesome, this is the type for you! Depending on the ask, I can’t promise that I’ll go on major rants that take centuries to write, but it gives me the freedom to specify and clarify things, while also adding in a few of personal comments. This type of ask really allows me to be creative and provide examples or special situations with the characters.

Scenarios / short stories - Will most likely take longer than both types of headcanons - This type of response doesn’t take place in bullets. It’s exactly as it says - a story. I won’t include my personal opinions / theories in this as stories are a narrative, not an analysis for me. This type is a bit restrictive for me as I will press myself to stay as close to canon as possible, improvising my own theories / headcanons only when necessary to bridge aspects within the story (unless otherwise specified in the ask), but other than that I don’t like to intrude my own thoughts / theories in a story. Good for readers who want drama, descriptions, scenarios, or who feel headcanons just won’t fit the ask this time. These are typically a couple hundred words long for me.

Like mentioned above - if you don’t care about how it’s formatted, don’t worry about specifying anything or just add in the ask that you’re flexible to any format. In this case, I’ll choose what format to write in based on what I feel can fit best the ask while being written well. My default is usually headcanons, though.

Other important information:

This’ll be updated more in time

Have any specific details you want about the ask? Be sure to mention it!

I’m fine with writing asks with gender-neutral characters and such. Writing the S/O’s and reader-inserts are female by default for me, but I have nothing against writing different gender alignments

Writing takes time, especially since I try my best to write quality on every ask. It will usually take me no longer than 5 days to a week to write nearly anything, however, if my ask box is busy or there’s a particularly long request that I’m writing, it could take me within 2 to 3 weeks to write some things. I’ll try to keep it first-come-first-serve, but as some asks may be shorter than others, or I’m feeling a bit more productive on certain asks than others, response time may change a bit. I’ll keep a general idea on how long to expect a response post underneath the status listed at the top of this post

I will write for OC's (original characters)! If you're comfortable with it, I would recommend you send these asks not anonymously; I'll probably DM you to get more information. Otherwise, be sure to DM me saying what your ask was so I can connect the details you give me with the specific ask. I don't mind receiving some details via Anon ask, but it would greatly restrict me if I can't clarify some things so I can write better. That being said; if you would like your ask to be anonymous but need to DM me for details, I promise I'll keep your identity a secret. It's none of my business why you wanted to send anonymously, so I won't go revealing anything.

I have a tendency to swear, but only to stress points humorously or sexually. It’s really only to add to the tone of the story. However, if you’d like to request no swearing specifically then I’ll honor that.

With that: go ahead and ask! I always look forward to writing my next request!

Over all, I’ll write nearly anything, and if you’re unsure, just ask anyways and I’ll clarify if I’ll write it or not. And the more specific you are in your ask; the better I can write it (with reason, of course. Too much limitation will hinder).

Have a request? Ask them here!

Submissions are open! Just click on me!

#Don't be afraid #I don't bite #I'll happily write characters who do though #fenristheorem writing #askfenris

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bcbdrums · 4 years ago

Text

Purification

All right. @cocoa-at-night was mad at me, and I know others will be... So this is in fact a second sequel to "Torment.” I already had this idea in my head as a possible sequel so... Who says I can’t write two! Therefore, readers, you get two options now. Decide which way you prefer the story to end.

To be very clear, this is a different sequel than “Immolation” and follows a different path to a different ending. It begins the same however. Please enjoy “Purification.”

FFn AO3

---------

Purification

Shego ran the dampened washcloth over the smooth, polished surface of the bar and stared at the grains of wood beneath. She nearly had them memorized, for how many times she'd run the cloth over them to wipe away the condensation left by the rims of drinking glasses. She always tried to find vague shapes in their patterns; faces and objects and sometimes familiar ocean waves. She didn't have anything else to do with her days, after all.

The small wall-mounted television in the corner continued to play news from the local channel, and after three years she could finally understand the Spanish of the broadcast. She'd picked up the local slang faster by necessity, since she couldn't use her powers to protect herself from the type of crowd the bar attracted. It was ironic, for its nearness to the Caribbean, but the slums of El Salvador had been the perfect place to hide. She easily translated the broadcast into the more comfortable English:

"...And here is Dr. Drakken only days ago, unveiling his latest innovation at the world's largest scientific conference in Berlin..." the voice from the TV cut through the minimal noise at the late hour in the bar.

A soft smile came to Shego's face. And then suddenly her vision was filled with the large form of a dark-skinned man wearing a t-shirt that had seen too many years, and with a face that hadn't seen a razor in weeks.

"Venga, chica. Bailar conmigo."

Shego stepped back from the strong scent of alcohol and scowled at the man, a regular at the establishment, but one who never quite took the hint. Especially not when he had had too many.

"Raquel?" came the accented voice of Esteban, her boss and the owner of the place, from across the room where he was wiping down tables and stacking chairs for closing.

She leaned around the offensive man to merely smirk at her boss knowingly in return. He grimaced slightly, no doubt wondering how much of a mess there would be to clean after she was finished with the brute.

Truthfully, she didn't always reject the men who asked her to dance. Whenever she'd had a few shots it was easier to say yes, and she enjoyed closing her eyes and moving to the rhythm of the music, and imagining herself in a different place. But it would always end the moment any of them tried to lay a hand on her...

She couldn't cross that line. There was only one set of hands she ever wanted to touch her, and they never would. Allowing herself to indulge once and pretend with anyone else would open the gate to far worse sins than her most definitely out of control drinking, and she didn't want to deal with the ramifications of heading down that path.

She still wasn't sure when she'd fallen in love with Drakken. She'd certainly been in love with him before she left, but she'd only realized the fact while in her self-imposed exile, when all she could think about was him.

Numerous magazines and newspapers were delivered to the tiny room she rented above the bar, but not of the variety she'd used to get. Now it was all science periodicals, and world news... And her wall was adorned with newspaper cutouts with his familiar, confident grin. The only reason she watched the news at all was for word of him.

She was pathetic.

Her 'clean break' as she'd hoped to make it seemed to have worked for him. He was finding the success she knew he would as soon as she was out of the picture, no longer holding him back. She knew that would have been the result had she stayed, making him question his sudden yearning for 'good.' Less for good, she knew of course, and more for the recognition and honor his genius rightly deserved. She wouldn't have said that years ago, but with the new understanding she had of her feelings...

She couldn't have stayed. He would have denied himself for her. And she refused to let herself think it was because his feelings were deeper too. No, that wasn't possible. It had been made abundantly clear to her over their four years as partners in crime that he simply didn't think of her that way. She was little more than an asset and a comfort; a listening ear for his endless dronings and rantings, easily replaced.

So she had left a note on her pillow one day after painfully listening to him describe the amazing job offers he had received, and simply vanished. She knew he would come looking for her, as he always did because 'he needed her,' so she had made herself impossible to find. She'd not hardly used her powers in three years, and she'd managed to convinced the locals in the high-poverty, high-crime rate slums she'd hidden in that her skin color was due to something between genetics and illness.

'Shego' was gone.

Now she was Raquel, the barmaid who drank too much, wouldn't let anyone get close, and who had a strange obsession with science magazines. Esteban and others had tried to get her to talk about herself, or her apparent science interest for awhile, but they'd finally taken the hint that she was out there in the middle of nowhere, at one of the only respectable establishments in those slums, to make sure know one ever knew her story.

Shego waited until Esteban wasn't looking, and then she lifted her hand above the leering man's head as his greasy fingers reached across the bar for her, and she let him have just enough of a pressure blast from her glow to knock him out. When the man's large, dead-weight hit the floor, her boss turned with a start.

"Ai ai ai, Raquel! Someday I will see how you accomplish that."

Shego merely smirked as her eyes shifted back to the television. It was a simple, lonely life... One that she might leave someday to pursue other interests. 'Shego' as the world had known her could probably never return, after her world-saving ventures with Drakken. She wouldn't want to put his career at risk in any way. But living from day to day and drink to drink, with only her periodicals and the TV to briefly soothe the ache in her heart wasn't plausible. She needed to move on.

The reason she hadn't was for the lack of one thing in every photo, article, and broadcast about the blue former villain who had saved the world: he was always alone. Even the candids taken by paparazzi that she would find in the trash magazines she had specially delivered only ever showed him having breakfast alone at a sidewalk cafe, or seated alone in an audience as he waited to accept an award.

Why hadn't he met someone and settled down already?

That was the last piece... That was what was missing. When Drakken finally had a woman on his arm, and his happiness was complete...then she could risk moving out into the world and being seen again. If he had someone else, he most definitely wouldn't need her. And she wouldn't have to face up to the fact of possibly seeing him again, with the feelings she'd been harboring for too many years that simply refused to die.

"...It has been confirmed to have been a suicide attempt now, as a note was leaked to the press by a source who wishes to remain anonymous from within Japanese Intelligence..."

Shego's attention snapped to the television, where now a years-old photograph of Drakken at the UN, wearing his medal, was displayed in the corner of the screen as the Spanish news anchor continued to read the copy.

"The note was addressed to fellow-hero Kim Possible, and the text reads: 'I can't figure out what I did wrong. I can't live without her anymore. I'm sorry.' The note was not signed, but handwriting analysis easily showed it to be in the script of Dr. Drakken."

Shego felt the world spinning around her as her vision seemed to spin in the opposite direction. Her head swam and ached all at once, and she could see bright spots dancing in front of her eyes even as her view darkened. She stumbled forward to lean against the bar as she struggled to listen to the television.

"And the world remains in shock, one week from the date the acclaimed scientist attempted to take his life by jumping from the roof of the Osaka World Trade Center. We will keep you updated with more details as the story continues to unfold. This is Paola Ramos, reporting."

Suicide attempt? Drakken, of all people? It didn’t make sense... He had everything...everything he had ever dreamed of, and more. She had made sure of it by removing herself from his life so he would have nothing holding him back. How could he have attempted suicide?

"Raquel! ¿Qué pasa?"

She peered upward and let Esteban take her hand and help her straighten up from where she had all but slumped over the bar.

"Phone..." she managed to get out, her throat strangely tight. “I need...I need to know...”

“You need to make a phone call?” he asked.

Shego nodded. As Esteban fumbled in his pockets for his cell phone, Shego thought about what had been reported as the contents of the suicide note.

"I can't live without her anymore," it had read.

He couldn't... He didn't... He wouldn't...mean me?

Shego felt like she might throw up, and as Esteban offered her the phone, she moved past him and all but fell onto one of the bar stools, suddenly feeling like her feet would fail her. She began dialing a long-memorized number, then realized as the phone rang that she didn't know if the number would be the same after so long, but that thought was broken by Esteban stepping into her vision.

"Are you calling 911? What is wrong?" he asked, his dark eyes wide and worried as he studied her. But then, the phone connected.

"Hello?" the familiar voice said through the line.

Shego suddenly realized she had only ever called the girl 'Princess' or 'Pumpkin' or 'Kimmie,' and wasn't sure how to address the now young woman and for a brief time, ally.

"Kim..." she finally settled on, the name leaving her throat hoarsely.

"Yes? Who is...?" A familiar gasp sounded through the phone. "Shego?"

"Drakken..." was her one-word answer as suddenly tears began filling her eyes. "Drakken's note."

"Where have you been!? Where are you? We looked for you for over a year!"

"Did that note... Was it real? What I saw on TV, did he really...try to kill himself?” she asked, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand before digging her fingers tightly into her side as her hands started to shake. When had she started crying?

“Yes... He did.”

Shego’s throat tightened. “Have you...seen him, or talked to him?”

“Yeah, right after it happened, but...he doesn’t want to see anyone. He’s angry and embarrassed that it didn’t work. Shego—”

“Did he, I mean...how is he? Is he okay? How did he survive?”

“His vines. Their own sense of self-preservation must have kicked in, and they grabbed onto the building partway down. He’s in the hospital.”

Shego realized tears were streaming down her cheeks, and her hands were shaking so much it was hard to hold the phone. She closed it hard as she let her hands fall to the bar, and then she leaned forward again.

“Raquel! Mi lucecita, what is wrong?”

Shego took a breath and gathered her strength to push away, even as her vision swam. She left the phone on the bar, knowing exactly what would happen, and then reached across the smooth wooden surface for a bottle of tequila. She ignored Esteban's words as she numbly made her way to her room, climbing the stairs and pushing through the door to stumble against the bed, the bottle of alcohol falling from her grasp. She spun around, and after shoving the door closed she fell back to sit on her narrow, uncomfortable mattress as she fumbled with the lid of the tequila bottle.

She looked around at her walls, with their newspaper clippings and magazine cutouts of photos and articles about Drakken's successes. Tears fell from her eyes anew as she brought the bottle to her lips and soon felt her throat burn nearly as badly as her eyes. And the words of Drakken's note played through her mind repeatedly, her every thought and excuse for the past three years dissolving into torment.

-------------------------

The next morning a pulsing, booming sound caused her to wake, and as she sat up hurriedly with hands alight, the vision of red, purple, yellow, and black that swam before her eyes brought back to mind what she had drunk the bottle of tequila to forget. She let her glow die as she fell back on the bed and hid her face from the light with a pillow.

“Shego!” the astonished voice of Kim Possible resonated against her skull. She regretted the hangover, but she couldn’t have handled her thoughts the night before. Tequila had been the only choice.

“Are you all right? You don’t look so good,” the side-kick’s voice followed just as loud with concern.

“You’ve lost so much weight!” Kim continued.

“Yeah, what about it?” Shego said into the pillow, even her own voice painful to her ears.

“Is this where you’ve been all these years?”

“What have you been doing?”

Shego grit her teeth and ignored the questions of her former enemies-turned-allies after Drakken saved the world, finally moving the pillow to narrow her eyes at them.

“Will you take me to see Drakken, or not?” she asked bluntly.

The brows of both young adults rose, and they looked at each other.

“That’s the only reason I let you find me. Cell phone trace, right?” Shego said, grimacing against the throbbing in her head as she rolled over and got her feet on the floor.

“Yeah... It only took Wade—”

“Will you take me to see Drakken?”

“Yeah... I guess, sure. We can do that.”

“Good. Wait downstairs, I need to shower,” she said.

The two young heroes didn’t move, and Shego realized they were studying her walls with the photos and newspaper clippings of Drakken. But she was under too much stress already to worry about what two college kids thought of her. As she painfully stood, her eyes lighted upon a figure hovering in the doorway. Esteban was hanging back in the shadows, watching the interplay nervously.

Kim and Ron were still staring at the walls, and Shego first beckoned her employer into the room before frowning and sighing dramatically at the other two. They both looked at her.

“Haven’t you already read a lot of this stuff? Hurry up, I want to get to Japan before tomorrow.”

The pair gave her another once-over before glancing at each other and finally slipping through the door, giving an even more confused look at the curly-haired Latino who had been welcomed in. They closed the door behind the darker-skinned man as he looked curiously at the adorned walls which Shego had called home for three years. Finally, he sighed.

“You are going to him, then? This man, from the news report.”

Shego nodded, grateful for her boss’s softer tone.

“Yes,” she said.

“He is the reason you came here?”

She nodded again, sitting on the bed as her head pounded.

“...Why did you run from him?”

Shego’s brows knit together, but after all that Esteban had done for her over the years, she supposed it wouldn’t matter to give away a little more. Especially since she would never be seeing him again.

“I thought I was doing what was best for him,” she said with a shrug.

“But surely, if you were in love...? Was there some problem?”

Shego looked up, her brow twisting further in confusion.

“What... You think...he was in love with me too?” Her head was reeling again. That couldn’t have been what his note was about...could it? He had never showed any sign of having those types of feelings for her...

‘You never showed any of your feelings to him.’

She grimaced at that thought. And she wondered with a sickening feeling...had it really been necessary? All she’d done for three years was wallow in her own misery and loneliness and think of nothing but him. What if she had just...taken the risk?

“If the note on the news was real, then it would seem so,” Esteban had replied as she’d been thinking. She looked up again.

“Then I... I... I have to go.”

She stood again to get some fresh clothes and then paused, looking back at the suddenly long face of her boss.

“I hope you can find him. He will recover under your smile.”

Impulsively, Shego closed the distance between them and threw her arms around her boss’s neck. She felt his large palms hesitantly rest on her back.

“Thank you, Esteban...”

“Goodbye, Raquel.”

---------------------------

Shego raked her fingers through the ends of her hair for what must have been the tenth time just walking down the hall. As she found the correct door number she pushed her hair back over her shoulder, and then tugged down the simple green blouse and black jacket she wore. Possible had been right before... The garments weren’t fitting her as they should, but that was a concern for another day. She took a shallow breath and with a trembling hand, pushed the door inward.

The hospital room was dim and silent but for the beeping of monitors. On the bed, a familiar blue face lay atop a pillow, bandaged, like much of the rest of his body that could be seen. One forearm and foot were in casts, and his other arm was bandaged with the slightest of bloodstains showing through, like the one on the side of his face. She held her breath as she stepped in silently, as if walking into a dream. But he heard her.

The corners of his lips turned down before his eyes opened to slits, but then widened slightly upon seeing her. She hesitated only a moment before continuing her slow approach. She could see now the one side of his face was swollen, and his lower lip was split and bruised. She tried not to picture him falling from the top of a skyscraper, smashing against its sides on the way down only to be inexplicably rescued by his own mutation. Instead she fixated on his eyes that were bleary, shocked, and disbelieving.

“Shego?” he croaked out.

She fought the tears that tried to come to her eyes. “Yes. I... I’m here,” she managed, her throat tight.

He seemed to be studying her as she sat down on the edge of his bed, afraid her legs wouldn’t hold her and also needing to be nearer. The thought that he could have...that he very nearly died, and she didn’t even know...

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Her lips parted as she stared at his expression that was quickly becoming anxious, despite the haze in his eyes she was sure was in part due to the heavy painkillers that were doubtless coming through his IV line.

“What...?” she breathed.

“Whatever...I did...to make you leave...” Drakken said quietly, each word coming out labored through his dry throat. “I’m sorry. Please...forgive me.”

Shego didn’t bother trying to stop her tears anymore. She took a slow breath to try to calm the ache in her chest as she tore her eyes from his, instead looking at his hand lying on the bed, his knuckles bruised and scraped. She hesitated, but then gently held his hand in both of hers. His skin was clammy and cold, and she noted for the first time the too-slow beeping of the heart monitor.

“You...you didn’t do anything wrong,” she said, looking back at him. His confused and now fearful expression was a blur through her tears. “I did.”

“...What?”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” she repeated with more strength, recalling the words of his note. “I did. It was just me. I...I’m so sorry, Dr. D.”

Her voice rose on the last as her throat tightened, and she closed her eyes tightly as hot tears slid down her cheeks. She tried to keep her cries quiet, and some time later her attention was drawn back by his hand shifting in hers. She looked up at him, her eyes pleading. He looked a bit more focused, and a familiar, analytical expression had joined the caution and confusion on his face.

“I don’t understand,” he finally said. His fingers curled around hers and held on firmly.

Her heart thudded against her ribs, and she let her gaze fall to her lap. She had already broken her promise to herself, to never see him again... But clearly, that had been a mistake from the beginning. If she was honest...then at least she would know, there was nothing else she could have done. And yet, the most important words she could say to him still died on her lips.

“I didn’t want to hold you back,” she said, staring down at their joined hands. She was careful not to hold too tight for his bruised knuckles. A long moment of silence passed before he spoke again.

“What...? But... Shego...”

“I didn’t want to be part of...this world,” she said, lifting one hand briefly to gesture weakly at the opulence of the hospital room. Not exactly what she meant, but she hoped the point would get across. “But I know you, Dr. D.... You...you wouldn’t have taken any of the jobs, without me. I just...wanted you to be happy. And I didn’t want any of this...”

There was another silence, broken only by her sniffling as she gradually brought her tears under control. She heard Drakken take a long breath in through his nose and then release it just as slowly.

“Thank you for visiting me...”

Shego turned abruptly, her tears stilling with a silent gasp. Drakken’s eyes were on their joined hands, and he looked sad.

“You look...” he began, glancing up at her briefly before his gaze fell again. “Hm. Where will— That is...”

He trailed off, glancing away toward the curtained window in the room with a slight grimace. Shego tried to follow his train of thought.

“I don’t...have to leave right away,” she ventured carefully. He looked back at her, his expression guarded. “We could...catch up for a while? If...if you...”

She broke off as tears threatened her eyes anew. Who was she kidding? His note had been clear...

‘I can’t live without her anymore.’

“If you...don’t mind having me around, I could stay...longer.” She set her hand back atop his, minding the scrapes on his knuckles. The pressure of his fingers against her palm hadn’t diminished.

Drakken’s swollen lips parted, his dark eyes seeming to glitter even brighter for the mottled bruising on his face. And then, a shadow came over his features.

“No, that’s...that’s all right. You can go back to...your life.”

Shego held her breath. She thought about telling him she knew about the note, but...what if that only made things worse? Then he would be embarrassed, and he had already...apparently given up on living. What would that new revelation do to him?

His words were also unknowingly meaningless, she realized, as because for the past three years she...had had no life. Only worrying and pining over him, waiting for the day he married so she would know he didn’t need her anymore, and then and only then could she come out of hiding. But she had left El Salvador behind fully when she had come to Japan. The bar was already out of her mind. All she wanted, and what she really needed, was...

She took a breath. “Drakken...”

When she met his eyes they were sad. She looked down again.

“I...I also left because...because I’m in love with you. But I knew...you didn’t feel the same. I knew you could find someone to replace me and...really fulfill you, and it seemed like...the best way I could give you everything you wanted...was to be out of the picture.”

She sniffled, bringing one hand up to wipe her eyes and nose before straightening up from the tense hunch she’d found herself in and then leaning back on her hand, the other still firmly gripping his. She didn’t want to hear his confirmation, but she needed to. Knowing that her feelings weren’t reciprocated would mean it was all worth it. Even though it didn’t explain his years of solitude...or the note. She didn’t want it to be about her. She couldn’t be the reason that he’d nearly—

“Everything I wanted? Shego...”

She cast a cautious eye on him, and he looked a mixture of confused, hurt, but somehow resolved. His hand suddenly left hers, and her throat constricted with the sudden loss. And then she was gasping in worry as Drakken started trying to push himself up.

“All I’ve ever wanted—” He stopped short with a hiss of pain, shaking as he paused halfway up.

“Dr. D....”

“...Is you.”

Her breath caught, and they stared at each other eye to eye. Drakken’s expression was steady but fearful, and her own she knew reflected utter shock. She was so startled she hadn’t even realized she’d spoken a response until he answered her.

“The note was about me...”

Drakken let out a soft, almost exasperated puff of air and lightly shook his head.

“What did I do to...make you think I didn’t love you?”

Shego blinked rapidly as tears filled her eyes.

“Oh, Dr. D.!”

Her arms were flung around him as her lips gently pressed against his, minding the cut and swelling. His least injured arm raised to wrap around her, but without the support his frame shook and he began to fall. Shego guided him down, never breaking the intimate contact. Her tears fell on his face as she cried through the kiss, but his hand pressing into her back strengthened her. She let her fingers move through his hair, ever so softly touching the swollen parts of his scalp as their lips barely moved. She was careful to keep her full weight off of him, but the warmth of their chests together was like a salve, beginning to mend the wounds in her heart.

When they finally parted and she opened her eyes, she found his just as wet.

“Shego...” he whispered hoarsely, and she heard a catch in his throat. “Don’t leave me.”

She held him tighter. “Don’t let me go.”

--------------------------

One month later, Shego was grinning happily as she pressed her face further into Drakken’s neck where they sat together on the sofa in his new apartment. She sighed contently as she snuggled closer into his left side, her arms around his neck and her legs folded and halfway over his lap.

“Shego...” Drakken whispered, “this isn’t exactly...it’s not...”

“Mmmh, let everyone see how much I love you...” she murmured, turning to face the camera placed in front of them, the magazine photographer looking at them quizzically as she offered something between a smile and smirk. The interviewer stood close by, equally ill at ease, but Shego didn’t care.

She positioned her hand on Drakken’s shoulder so the diamond of her engagement ring sparkled in the light. Her heart warmed when his healed left hand reached up to hold hers, and she laced the fingers of her right hand through his, setting her left on top again to show off the ring. She tilted her chin up toward him and was rewarded with his radiant smile.

“I love you...” she said softly, “and I want to spend the rest of my life telling you.”

“I love you, Shego,” he breathed.

Their lips met in a gentle, ardent kiss. Beyond them, after a long minute, the camera flashed.

22 notes · View notes

needs-to-stop-looking-at-yigas · 4 years ago

Note

okay first off your writing is SO GOOD!!!!!! but i was wondering, since in most of the works so far some of the other yiga are kinda mean, could we get sooga and/or kohga bonding with a newer recruit? like they’re having a rough time adjusting and it’s just tender and sweet

One, the yiga aren’t exactly mean. It’s levels. See, the foot soldiers are very kind and respectable to Sooga, for his status, and devotion to Kohga. The Blade masters are hard on Sooga because he was once one of them. As such, they’re VERY competitive with one another, and accept nothing less than perfection from one another. The Blade master’s aren’t bad guys, they’re just way more heavy handed. Trust me, if push came to shove, these guys would have Sooga’s back.

And two, there’s actually a mission in aoc that kiiinda has something in those lines. It’s where a yiga member misses home, so you give him veggies to remind him of home (think it gives Kohga an extra heart???), so let’s do it based of that guy!

“Rounds, once more! Let’s go!”

Whenever Sooga wasn’t serving Kohga, he was busy tending towards the soldiers' training. He was busy training the newest recruits, and it was quite a solid lineup so far. Quick, devoted, opportunistic. Just what the clan needed. All but one. The one who seemed to be the most distracted. He was the newest one of the pack, having just joined the clan yesterday. He was slow, he kept tripping over himself, he kept fumbling. It was odd, given the fact that just the day prior, he was near the front of the pack. He tripped up yet again in the course, unable to dodge the obstacles set before him. He was about to get up and try again, when he looked up to see Sooga peering over him.

“Not you. Get up, follow me. Rest of you, follow HIS orders!”

He left the newbies to his own second hand, a man who was close to being Master Kohga’s right hand (long story). The footsoldier stood up, following Sooga. He stayed close to his side, less he got lost in the maze of the base. He then stopped into one of the storage rooms, shutting the door behind them. He looked down at the meager creature before him, and he couldn’t help but scoff. He didn’t look down on him for being on the lower rung of the yiga ladder, but for the fact that he wasn’t giving everything he had to the clan.

“Explain yourself.”

“I don’t, uhm-”

“You will look at me in the face.”

“You mean mask?”

He chuckled, but when Sooga didn’t do the same, he shrunk a bit. He fiddled with his fingers, clearly nervous under such an intense gaze. He went silent. Sooga fought the urge to sigh.

“You are now a member of the Yiga clan. Therefore, your devotion must be unlimited, and unwavering. Unless you are injured, you give all your body has to the clan. Do you understand?”

He messed with his fingers again, and Sooga couldn’t help but notice just how young he was. But a boy, in Sooga’s eyes.

“I’m sorry. I know I said I wanted to join, and I’ve already sworn devotion to Kohga. But I just...I’m distracted.”

“Explain.”

The soldier hugged himself, clearly going into something uncomfortable.

“I...I dunno. I’m used to having a mom, and a dad, and my sister. I’m used to sitting down and having warm meals in my own bed, I miss playing with my friends. I miss my village, I miss the goats, the horses, even the cherry trees. I even missed being called by my own name, Alfo-”

“You do not speak your former name. You learn to look without a face, and to be silent, even when asking for help. You and your team must be in sync, and you could ruin it in your longing. Do you understand?”

He looked up at him, before nodding. Life in the yiga clan was not easy. He too, joined the clan, and felt the confusion. He too, yearned for his home way back when, and even now, he’d turn if he thought he heard someone speak his name. It was rough, especially at this young age. No one was to know of another member's past, aside from Sooga, but from what he gathered, his parents died, and his sister had gone missing. He needed resources, needed a place to stay as he searched for her. It was a noble dream, that much was certain. Sooga wanted to bark at him once more, before his heart seemed to recall what compassion was.

“Look. Perhaps you need independent training, until you grow comfortable with the other’s. I will train you myself.”

“Are you...serious? Really?”

The boy looked damn excited, but he stopped bouncing on his feet the second Sooga cleared his throat. This was going to take some work, it seemed, before this foot soldier could properly represent his clan. Still holding a chipper attitude however, he was sure to make the other aware of how important this offer meant to him.

“You will NOT regret this, Sooga! Not for one-”

He seemed to forget the door was closed, causing him to hit his face against the door, and swear under his breath. Sooga sighed. This was going to be a challenge, for certain.

-----------------------------------------------

“Good, good. Again.”

Sooga was surprised how effortless this suddenly seemed to be. The little one started their training with more rants of home, more longing for what was once his life. Sooga, instead of telling him to hush and focus, allowed him to rant. It improved his skills considerably. His feet danced across the floor, his dodge timing was perfect, and although Sooga blocked them, his attacks hit their marks every time. He even managed to dodge one of his attacks, which was rare on someone so low on the yiga clan ladder.

“Right!”

Armed with but a Vicious Sickle, the young one found himself standing toe to toe with Sooga, enough so, that when their weapons locked together, the boy didn’t immediately fall over from his massive weight. Course, Sooga eventually gained the under hand, shoving him, and forcing him to drop his weapon. He looked ready for backlash, cowering as he stood there, when Sooga nodded.

“Nicely done. You lasted far longer than most. Seems as though you just needed to clear your head, young one.”

He bounced a bit on his feet, picking up his weapon and spinning it in his hand, suddenly overflowing with confidence.

“Well I mean...I AM pretty strong when I put my mind to it. Never really got picked on during school. Pretty smart to, I’d sa-ow!”

Not paying attention, he nicked his finger with the blade. He dropped it again, putting his finger in his mouth. Sooga rolled his eyes, leaning down to pick it up, before putting it back in his hand.

“Another rule of the blade. Respect your weapon. It is meant to serve you, but it is useless without the same amount of care. It is a mutual respect. Do you understand?”

He nodded, taking the blade back from his hand, and tucking it back into his belt loop. The boy was young, dumb, and eager to prove himself to his elder. If that didn’t ring any bells. The boy seemed to be done with his finger, and he finally found his voice.

“So, what now? We gonna learn some of the poof stuff? I wanna teleport and stuff!”

“That takes displicine, and concentration. Two things you do not have yet. It’s also why you are not allowed on the field yet.”

“Which is not fair!”

He cried out, following Sooga as they made their way to the dining hall. Most of the clan was happy to survive on mainly bananas, but the boy looked none too interested.

“What’s the matter? You are not hungry?”

“No, I am. I just...I kinda missed the food back from home.”

Sooga scoffed. Figures. Sooga couldn’t blame the poor boy for dwelling so much in the past. Not everyone was like himself, longing to forget his old life.

“Let me guess. You want something like meat stuffed pumpkin.”

Sooga didn’t expect him to gasp, and nudge his arm, clearly excited.

“How did you know!? Can you read minds!? What number am I thinking of!?”

“No, it’s just predictable, given what you told me about your previous life. Bit of a ‘bumpkin’, as I’d put it.”

Sooga chuckled. Maybe it was the fact that he grew up with younger siblings, maybe it was his natural knack for being a caregiver. But regardless, Sooga found himself charmed by this little one, enough to at least not bark and tell him to eat what he was served. Oh, he was soft in the heart, just like Kohga said. Speaking of Kohga-

“Sooga, there you are! Been looking for you!”

The dining hall was abuzz from Master Kohga’s presence. Excitement that the young one hadn’t seemed to fully grasp, like some newbies. Before Kohga could continue, he pointed towards Sooga, as if accusing him of something.

“Did you know he could read minds?!”

Kohga cocked his head to the side, clearly confused.

“What? No he can’t. Love the guy, but he’s stupid.”

“Oh, can YOU read my mind then? What number am I thinking of?”

Kohga folded his arms over his chest, scoffing.

“Easy, 420.”

“....Is this yiga magic? I wanna learn that!!”

Kohga seemed to find him just as amusing, shaking his head.

“This one of the newbies, isn’t he? The one you said you wanted to train personally?”

“Yes, Master Kohga. While his mind races with frivolous things, he does in fact, have some skills. His reflexes are swift, as well as his feet, even amongst the foot soldiers.”

“Am I...skilled enough to get meat stuffed pumpkin?”

Kohga cocked his head to the side, and Sooga had to pull him into a bit of a side huddle.

“He misses his old home, Master Kohga. Not to mention, some variety in their diet COULD do some good in terms or morale.”

Kohga scoffed, arms folded.

“I like this kid, but you can’t sit there and tell me this kid is THAT special, Sooga. I’m not going all the way out there just so he can have special eats.”

“....Please?”

Kohga knew that look in his face. Sooga would NOT let this go, he could tell. He groaned, lightly shaking his head.

“Fine, just. Fine.”

The kid seemed to hear them, and whooped in celebration. Right before his excitement made someone fall over, and drop their bananas everywhere. Kohga sighed.

“I can’t believe I like this kid.”

“Neither can I, Master Kohga.”

They watched him scramble and try to pick everything up, before slipping on one of the peels, starting the mess all over again.

“We’re essentially adopting him, aren’t we?”

“Essentially, Master Kohga.”

“Oh well. Least I can call myself a dilf now.”

#asks #kohga #sooga #listen #we stan them adopting the ONE fuck up of the clan

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heat-riser · 4 years ago

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Some weird analysis of when you knew me.

I’ve thought about doing this for a while. One part screaming into the void, one part for anyone who was on tumblr in it’s heyday and watched me be strange and into- frankly- the worst characters and really terrible ships. I’m 26 now and understand a bit more about myself after finally finding a good therapist who specialized in sexual trauma and delving into the deepest darkest parts. Maybe it’s part insight for people who were friends with my at the time- and by ‘at that time’, I guess I mean any point in my life up until a couple years ago. From around 5 years on- I was in a constant state of incredibly deep sadness and anxiety but was too numb to even really consciously feel it. I learned some of the worst things about people and became acquainted with some of the worst things a person can feel at 5, and then again multiple times around 9 due to rape by two different boys. The first, my family and people around me knew about pretty immediately. The second was completely unknown to people until recently. It’s not an easy thing telling your parents another neighbor boy who was a ‘friend’ raped you too. I can’t really explain properly how deeply this effects a person and how people don’t really understand it. Things as little as not being able to be outside my house without a jacket and full pants to cover my whole body because I internalized that showing your body is vulnerability opened up the possibility of sexualization and therefore- attack. All the way to now with everything being resurfaced and having nearly no sex drive and being unable to feel arousal without more anxiety coming in and overpowering the arousal feeling. It was recently recommended to me by my therapist to not play horror games because the feelings of arousal and fear are so tightly linked. I’ve been with the therapist for three years and anticipate at very least another 3-5 and she has clients who have been seeing her 10+ years for having experienced childhood sexual abuse. I can’t remember if I’ve talked publicly here about any of that but most of my friends are aware of the first one (it’s not really something I want to throw out there randomly and conversations in covid time are strange). I was only aware of the first one up until a couple years back. When talking about buried memories, how they come up, how to tell if they’re legit, I halfway thought “what if there was more” and felt sick to my stomach. One of the sure signs of a memory being true is an emotional response. I��m in the process of reclaiming the memories of the events involving the second neighbor boy. But point being- I learned the world was awful very early on and it became the background for all future development (sexual, social, self, etc. etc.). I began to numb myself after the first event and went through half of elementary school and middle school angry, sad, and hateful- I especially hated men, but also just the world at large. By high school, I had learned to shove all of that down. I can’t really recall feeling much of anything in high school. So the people that knew me at the time really only knew a weird ghost of a person. Then there’s this thing called trauma reenactment- where victims are drawn to things relating to the trauma situation. So this is what takes me to explaining the characters I was interested in. 1- Adachi. I now see as little more than a sad incel but it does say a lot about where I was at the time to be so fascinated with him. He shared my resentment towards the world, the idea that anyone who wasn’t depressed simply didn’t understand, and saw more of a problem with the world than his current state of being. Of course that was relatable. I very clearly remember in middle school believing people that weren’t depressed simply had no idea what was going on around them. Of course I thought that and still struggle with that mentality. All I had really known was deep despair and numbing myself from the world. I didn’t understand how other people didn’t realize that but now know what the emotional world I was living in was not typical of children. So here was someone that knew how bad everything around was and how bad the world felt and I clung onto him the same way I did my own idealizations. With what I’ve been processing more recently, the dude needed therapy and to unlearn that depression was cool and correct but had shown multiple times he was unwilling to challenge any of his issues and just started killing people. There were a lot of favorite characters through this but one that sticks out as another really fucked up example of where I was was Damon Gant. I look back at liking him as the ultimate symbol of trauma reenactment. He’s older, he had power, he was creepy, intimidating, unsettling, and controlling. Everything my predators had been to me at the time. So- all of those things were in a way intertwined with my own sexuality as they’re what I first learned with anything ‘sexual’. Some of my favorite ships are due to the same reasoning. Gant and Lana- again, kind of inherently controlling, imbalance of power, and ends horribly and tragically. I always found something intriguing and beautiful about the most horrific and sad feelings. And I’ll touch on it just for the record. Cyrus is big fucked up- but I think he is, though maybe incorrect, well intentioned with his main goal being what he believes will actually be better for everyone cause of his projection of the awful things he feels on everyone. He doesn’t go out of his way to hurt anyone and certainly doesn’t enjoy other people’s pain but rather wants to eliminate what he sees as the reason for people hurting others with and end justifies the means mindset. His numbing/attempts to numb, hatred of emotion, and hatred of people inflicting pain on others is all incredibly familiar and I’m certain a part of me in middle school knew that when picking him as a fave. As I progress, I’m more interested his potential to relearn people and start opening up to feeling. (Pokemon Master’s definitely more than hinted at him changing and I’m hoping that means they’ll go that route with remakes.) I should note that during my most ‘numb’ parts would sneak out and I would be very- and increasingly over time starting with 6th grade- suicidal and became addicted to cutting and self harm (which I realize now are both just further numbing techniques). I described the feeling at the time as a parasite controlling your brain and a part of yourself knowing you had to fight against it. There was a period I was certain of how I would die, it was just when I would finally snap. I should also say how much people are able to numb themselves. I can remember getting so anxious that my heart would race and the world felt fast- I would get to the point of gagging but can’t remember ‘feeling’ any ounce of anxiety consciously. When first becoming sexually active, I had extended, horrific anxiety that would have hospitalized me for a couple weeks if not for my mom being able to stay home with me (also out of work for a couple months and left addicted to xanax for a bit). And still didn’t quite believe her all the way when she suggested it was anxiety. And I sure as hell didn’t make any connections to any possible mental issues around sex. So I’ve ranted enough but saved this bit for the end cause it hits kinda hard. People tend to feel the same things they felt in locations. Curiosity got the best of me and I drove around parts of my childhood I spend a lot of time at and specific routes I would take. (It’s called state dependent memory if anyone’s interested). I’m learning just how much I was numb to everything and wondering just what it was I was covering up my whole life. This isn’t easy to really type out cause of how fucked it is with the realization that I didn’t really experience childhood to a degree. During my drive, past my high school, up near my friends houses, the route I would take coming back from college- I was deeply, and very profoundly sad in my core. Nothing near what a person should have felt through their childhood. I missed so much. And I’m sorry to my friends at the time who only got to know a strange, numb, trauma reenacting, ghost of myself. I’m not going to be able to relive those times in a better light but I can at very least do some work to prevent a future spent numb and profoundly sad. But my brain is finally allowing me to remember some things because it’s deemed that I can handle it, I’m learning more about myself and my past, learning how to listen to what my brain and body are telling me and why, and getting better at expressing grief and real, raw, sadness and a touch of deep-seated anger so I think I might be starting to turn this around.

#TW: rape #TW: self harm #TW: suicidal ideation #some explanation of why I liked the characters I liked #This was meant to be focused on the character thing but went all over the place

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reikiajakoiranruohoja · 6 years ago

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SU Thoughts: Blue Court vs Yellow Court

As I've watched SU and thoughts about how the diamond courts function, I'm often left with two interesting contrasts between the twin diamonds' courts.

Yellow's Court seems to respect her and feel they are useful. While Blue's fears her and seems to barely stand her as a person.

Why I think this is interesting, is how it relates to who the diamonds are and how that goes into their leadership style. As well as their ability to function as diamonds.

Yellow Diamond has often been presented as the worse of the two by her behaviour and her actions. But if we look a bit deeper into her character and ideals, she actually very much wants to be the most objective and fair decider and leader. While she has the rank system firmly in place, she doesn't treat it as a factor of how important gems are. In her rant to Blue in CYM, she outright states that exceptions are not allowed for a reason.

She also notes to Connie that every gem must pull their weight in the empire. Herself and the other diamonds -absolutely- included. The whole argument, though heated, was about 'Pink' getting special treatment. Yellow might seem like a brute, but her morals are firm and fair.

It applies to her court as well. When Yellow Pearl says her opinions don't matter, look at how she says that. It isn't resigned or monotone, she is proud of it. Because it might be a Yellow Court ideal to be useful without opinions. Yellow listens to Peridot up until Earth-saving comes into the discussion, even after she tries to give Peri multiple chances to back down. Her composure and objectivity matter to her, no matter of her own opinions.

There have also been hints that Yellow's Courtiers are given assistive technology if they are (acceptably) disabled. Peridot and Doc (the ruby) have 'glasses', Peridot has very functional limb enhancers and she had no issue with her status as an Era 2 gem until she was contrasted by gems who could shapeshift.

As a contrast, if we look at the Blue Court past Blue Diamond, the story is quite a bit different. The members of the court we meet are afraid of Blue Diamond, but also don't truly seem to respect her in other ways. For higher ranked ones like Aquamarine, it seems they are mostly after personal gratification over pleasing their diamond. Holly Blue Agate fears Blue Diamond, but her adoration for the diamond seems extremely self-serving as well, rather than seeking approval.

If we look at the ones who rebelled from the court, the trend of the gems being more interested in their own goals than their court goals continues. Sapphire, after she fused with Ruby the first time, took action to leave her cosy position just because Ruby was going to be shattered. Lapis was a POW for both sides of the war (intended or not) and yet still chose to betray Homeworld because Steven was nice to her.

Blue Court seems to exist as a place of favours and quick and harsh punishments easily doled out by Blue Diamond. Though she has been mostly AWOL in the series' current timeline, the culture we see still seems very cut-throat and focused more on personal goals than the good of the court as a whole.

Unlike the Yellow court, where the gems show unending trust towards their diamond and that trust is (mostly) returned, the Blue court's gems seem to worship Blue Diamond solely because she is the highest in rank and therefore one who can give favour or punish you.

The one positive aspect of this is seen in the trial episode, where Blue Zircon showed a willingness to think outside the box and question established facts. While Yellow Zircon was more concerned with getting the guilty verdict through as fast as possible. Interestingly, if you look at Yellow and her Zircon, they both seem confident and in unison with their opinions. While Blue and her Zircon aren't as unified but both are seeking more than the easy answers the other court wants.

Why this contrast, then? Aside from the writing perspective, why is the Blue Court so much worse off than the Yellow one?

To me, it has to do with how Blue Diamond both sees leading and what she likes. Unlike Yellow, who truly does seem to enjoy her work, Blue often seems rather dulled about it or not really into it. While no doubt she enjoys supporting art, literature and culture, she doesn't seem to enjoy the whole leading business as much. She is often veiled, often hidden and everything about her in public is carefully controlled. She doesn't let her gems see beyond her mask.

Blue is extremely private with herself, most likely protecting her true thoughts and feelings from others. Those who get to see the real she are naturally few and far between. Blue in private loves games and jokes and isn't too into proper behaviour. But once the mask goes on, she is a petty and rank-aware gem unafraid to hurt others with her words.

Blue, no doubt thanks to her privacy, is extremely selfish. Her focus is often on things -she- wants over what her court needs. Thus, her gems copy this behaviour and are as careful about Blue as she is with them.

The need to protect oneself and thus think more on one's own gem most likely came from how Blue learned leadership and control. From the perfection-obsessed White who wasn't afraid to punish her protegè if they stepped out of line. While Yellow seemed to flourish under such orders and control, Blue seems to have scraped by and to this day truly fears White. Blue not quite fitting in explains her need for a mask, because she cannot be herself in front of White safely. White ruled through fear and punishments and so Blue copies her, not truly having it in her to enjoy it like White or Yellow.

This contrast is, in my mind, extremely important for multiple reasons. First is the juxtaposition of strict order vs a more fluid system, and the subversion of the expected positives. Instead of the Yellow Court being the worse of the two, it seems to have created more confident and loyal gems. While the more complex Blue Court has created gems who are at best paranoid and selfish.

Second, is the role of first impression and how the diamonds subvert it. Yellow seemed petty at first and Blue very nice compared to her. But the more we learn, the more we figure out that Yellow cares deeply and wants to have a working system, while Blue cares only for few gems and her court is far less functional due to her involvement never being as honest as Yellow's.

#Blue Diamond #Yellow Diamond #meta #rambly ddw

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polar-stars · 5 years ago

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(Lea’s) Shokugeki Next Gen - Masterpost Version 2

I’m bored and achieved nothing today, I need to do at least one productive thing

A quick run-down of my Next Gen kids, because why not? If anyone asks me about them I can point to it ;w; It won’t be the most informative post ever but it’s really just a simple introduction. In case it sparks your interest, feel free to inquire about these kids.

I also have a tag on my blog that’s dedicated to them -> https://polar-stars.tumblr.com/tagged/Shokugeki-no-Kimiko-Stuffz

As well as an entire fanfic, which is still in the starters (It will be long. Be very afraid honestly, because I, for the most part, have no idea what I am doing) -> https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11912834/1/Shokugeki-no-Kimiko

Also: There might be some unusual ships in here. I’m sorry if your fave ship doesn’t happen to be included. It really comes down to personal preference ovo;; But please be respecting! I am as well.

Anyways, let’s get into this:

115th Generation (the Prime-Focus)

Kimiko Yukihira

DoB: 27th of June I Daughter of Soma Yukihira and Erina Nakiri | Loves Playing Cards & Grocery Shopping | Dislikes Materialism & Being Called “Kimiko-Sama”

An friendly and optimistic young aspiring chef entering Totsuki as a transfer student in her first year of highschool. Was taught the so-called Yukihira-Style and is therefore known for her creativity. Greatest aim is to create a dish in which her mom can find no fault in.

Hiroshi Aldini-Tadokoro

DoB: 25th of May I Son of Isami Aldini and Megumi Tadokoro | Loves Plushies & Fishing | Dislikes Cigarette Smoke & Dark Humor

A shy but practically angelic guy from Tohoku. Looks out for others a lot, which also shows in his cooking. Very well-versed in both Japanese cooking as well as Italian cooking. Often falls into the shadow of his much bolder cousin, but doesn’t make any attempts to get out of said shadow.

Kaori Hayama

DoB: 17th of February I Daughter of Akira Hayama and Hisako Arato | Loves Gardening & Pastel Colors | Dislikes Mess & Snails

The current valedictorian of the 115th Generation, who more than often gets a sort of nobility attributed to her by the rest of the students. Known as the “Gatekeeper to the Fountain of Eternal Youth” or “Youth Preserver” for short, as her medicinal cooking is famous for energizing it’s customers. Has her goal firmly set on the top of Totsuki and has no interest in socializing whatsoever.

Mika Aldini

DoB: 9th of August I Daughter of Takumi Aldini and Ikumi Mito | Loves Dancing & Romance Movies | Dislikes Rain & Gardening

A fiery, bold girl from Tuscany, who appeared in Totsuki as a transfer student in her second year of middle school. Specialised in Italian Food as well as the usage of Meat. Up to any kind off challenge thrown her way.

Lola Nakiri

DoB: 17th of November I Daughter of Ryo Kurokiba and Alice Nakiri | Loves Limousines & Heavy Metal | Dislikes The Color Pink & Being Bored

The daughter of the headmistress who’s certain she can do whatever she wants. Well-versed in the usage of Seafood and utilization of Molecular Gastronomy, but known for putting more focus on the Seafood-aspect of her dishes. Teases everyone and anyone with no mercy.

Mona Nakiri

DoB: 17th of November I Daughter of Ryo Kurokiba and Alice Nakiri | Loves Techno Music & RomComs | Dislikes Hot Weather & Rap/HipHop

The other daughter of the headmistress who’s much more quieter and reserved than her twin-sister. Known for making use of seafood fairly well, but her true passion lies in Molecular Gastronomy. Just wants friends but is actually very socially awkward.

Takayuki Hojo

DoB: 6th of September I Son of Terunori Kuga and Miyoko Hojo | Loves Fireworks & Pudding | Dislikes Operas & Complete Silence

The grouchy, easy-to-trigger little brother of the president of the Chinese RS. Being part of the RS himself, Takayuki also specializes in Chinese cuisine mainly having his focus on Sichuan Food. Absolutely hates commentary on his shortness.

Kazuo Mimasaka

DoB: 9th of March I Son of Subaru Mimasaka and Nao Sadatsuka | Loves Every Romance Cliche Out There & His Camera | Dislikes Mika’s Fanclub & Aggressive Dogs Barking

A very eccentric member of the 115th Generation who easily scares people with his mere presence. Truth be told, he’s completely harmless. Traces other people’s work but adds his personal spin on it by working in foul-smelling ingredients. Has a massive crush on Mika Aldini and is a hopeless romantic.

Yasu Ibusaki

DoB: 2nd of March I Son of Shun Ibusaki and Ryoko Sakaki | Loves Forest Walks & Adzuki Bean Paste | Dislikes Gossiping & Tight Clothes

A peaceful and friendly young man, whose gentleness often gives off a big-brother-vibe to many. Knows a lot about Fermenting and produces his own Sake, I mean Rice Juice. His true passion is in the art of smoking however. Much more competitive than he lets on.

Chieko Marui

DoB: 5th of December I Daughter of Zenji Marui and Yuki Yoshino | Loves Chess & Matcha | Dislikes Metal Music & Irresponsibility

A highly intelligent girl and the ace of the Enomoto-Seminar that focuses on literacy-research about cooking. Incorporates said research excellently into her dishes while additionally having a talent for Wild Game, even taking interest in breeding. Known fairly well for loud complains and long rants, usually referring to her dormmates.

Hideyoshi Kawashima

DoB: 19th of August I Son of Shoji Sato and Urara Kawashima | Loves Himself & Parties (in Chieko’s room) | Dislikes Broken Mirrors & Studying

The overly arrogant emcee who’s known to host a bunch of events on Totsuki. Through and through an attention-whore who does has a fair share of admires though, being honest. Spends all of this time where he is not loudly praising himself with bickering either with Daisuke or Chieko.

Daisuke Aoki

DoB: 26th of October I Son of Daigo Aoki and Yua Sasaki | Loves Retro Stuff (mostly 70s and 80s) & His Guitar | Dislikes Horror Movies & Dangerous Animals

A soft-spoken and shy emcee who hosts Shokugekis and other sort off events on Totsuki. Much more friendly than his childhood-friend Hideyoshi, but overlooked regardless most of the time. Bickers a ton with Hideyoshi.

Emi Kusunoki

DoB: 25th of July I Daughter of Rentaro Kusunoki & Mea Yanai | Loves Saunas & The Smell of Gasoline | Dislikes Still Being Without a Boyfriend & Libraries

An often brash young girl who’s also known as the major Gossip Girl on Totsuki, that loves to hear and share all kinds of rumors around. Specializes in Heating. Wishes for a boyfriend with a motorcycle.

Itsuki Kumai

DoB: 10th of March I Son of Shigemichi Kumai and Rui Kofuru | Loves Self-Deprecative Humor & Edgy Rock Bands | Dislikes Colorful Clothes & Phone Ringing

Very silent but also awfully pessimistic. Itsuki has a large talents with vegetables and herbs, as he tries to cook as vegetarian as Totsuki’s tasks allow him to. Additionally he has large knowledge around the cuisine of North-Africa. Forgot how to smile long ago.

114th Generation (The 2nd Years who constantly argue for the most part)

Hiraku Yukihira

DoB: 13th of April I Son of Soma Yukihira and Erina Nakiri | Loves All Thing Decadent & Squid | Dislikes Laundry & Elite 10 Paperwork

Ever since entering Totsuki as a transfer student a year ago, Hiraku quickly worked himself upwards as one of the most, if not the most, admired chef of the school. His sensitive sense of taste, the so-called “Tongue Blessed by Angels” or “Holy Tongue” for short gives him a great advantage at cooking. He’s awfully unorganized however and much of a dense airhead.

Akio Hayama

DoB: 26th of February I Son of Akira Hayama and Hisako Arato | Loves Clipboards & Traveling to the Middle East | Dislikes Stains & Organizing Hiraku’s Fanmail

Hiraku’s loyal and diligent secretary, who does not seem to mind just how chaotic Hiraku can be sometimes. Inherited his father’s sense of smell and is therefore outstandingly talented in the usage of spices and creating fragrant dishes. Very friendly but also easily nervous.

Suzume Hojo

DoB: 11th of April I Daughter of Terunori Kuga and Miyoko Hojo | Loves Memes & Fans | Dislikes Sitting Still & Sexism

The bouncy, energetic president of the Chinese RS. Therefore of course specializes in Chinese Cuisine. Much of a laid-back jokester but does look out for the younger students and takes certain matters fairly serious. Shouldn’t be underestimated.

Shigeo Eizan

DoB: 29th of November I Son of Etsuya Eizan and Nene Kinokuni | Loves His Smartphone & Jazz Music | Dislikes Slow or No Internet & Suzume’s Jokes

A materialistic, cold-hearted young man who’s already involved in consulting-work despite the young age. His cooking relies on his intensive knowledge on the chemical components in his ingredients and how to utilize them. Is incredibly intelligent and fairly good at tricking people into trusting him.

Ai Kabutoyama

DoB: 25th of January | Daughter of Tetsuji Kabutoyama | Loves Violin Music & Butterflies | Dislikes Loud Noises & Movies Without A Happy Ending

A very silent and distant young girl, who barely ever talks to anyone but wears an almost constant miserable expression. Specialized in utilizing Skewers. Friendly but insanely Short-Cut whenever she does speak.

Beatrice Shiratsu

DoB: 9th of July I Daughter of Julio Shiratsu | Loves Posing & Making Lists | Dislikes Video Games & Bad DJs

A girl that can often be rather extravagant but all-things-considered she’s very open and rather sweet. Specializes in Italian Cuisine. Loves partying and is very occupied with savoring the life of a teenager as long as she can.

113th Generation (The Third Years, where most of the classmates have been removed already)

Noboru Shinomiya

DoB: 29th of April I Son of Kojiro Shinomiya and Hinako Inui | Loves Painting Landscapes & Autumn | Dislikes Unreliableness & Getting Bothered on his Day-Offs

Noboru is a serious young man who values organization, structure and a good environment. Gets easily annoyed when such things are not provided. Shows great talent in both Japanese cuisine and French cuisine and feels greatly torn between the two. Wants relaxation.

Kiyoko Saito

DoB: 21st of February I Daughter of Somei Saito and Momo Akanegakubo | Loves Shopping & Kimonos | Dislikes Untidiness & Disrespect from younger Students

Kiyoko is a proper but spoiled young lady who’s friendly as long as she receives the respect she thinks she deserves. She’s specialized in Japanese Sweets, but does know how to make Western desserts as well plus Sushi of course. Very fashionable and has a booming Instagram.

Masashi Eizan

DoB: 13th of May I Son of Etsuya Eizan and Nene Kinokuni | Loves Classical Japanese Music & Kiyoko’s Daifuku | Dislikes Everything He Considers Indecent & Being told to rely too much on his Father and his little Brother Shigeo

Masashi is overly serious and strongly values rules and customs. Considers himself superior than practically everyone on Totsuki, save for Noboru and Kiyoko. Specializes in Traditional Japanese Cuisine and is known for an extraordinary talent with Soba. Has a very short temper.

Ran Mimasaka

DoB: 1st of June I Daughter of Subaru Mimasaka | Loves Her Motorcycle & Her Laptop | Dislikes Bullying & Not Being Active For Too Long

Ran is a calm, friendly girl but also slightly witty young woman. She utilizes foul-smelling ingredients for her dishes. Ran is also often perceived to be the “most normal” one of the Mimasaka-sibling. In actuality, she’s excellent at fishing and gaining information and is incredibly informed about basically every person walking Totsuki.

116th (The 3rd Years of Middle School)

Moe Saito

DoB: 20th of December I Daughter of Somei Saito and Momo Akanegakubo | Loves Balletts & Bears (primarily Pandas) | Dislikes People She Doesn't Know Touching Her Ribbon & Ripped Jeans

Moe is very stoic and barely ever truly emotes. Should she ever actually smile, its a sign of her being beyond happy. She’s a Sushi-Chef whose main gimmick it is to make the Sushi as cute as possible. Also has a great talent for Bentos and while it’s not her main focus, she does know how to make desserts. Speaks dryly but also very bluntly.

118th (The 1st Years of Middle School)

Kei Eizan

DoB: 5th of July I Son of Etsuya Eizan & Nene Kinokuni | Loves Video Games & Tigers | Dislikes Ties & The Scent of Coffee

Kei often has troubles with making a good first impressions as he’s rather grouchy or even aggressive at points and also makes usage of a very foul language. Not to mention the reputation attached to his surname. He does have a good heart however and an actual sense for justice, which shows in his friendship with the frequently bullied Ayano Mimasaka who he befriends and would protect at all costs.

Ayano Mimasaka

DoB: 30th of October I Daughter of Subaru Mimasaka & Nao Sadatsuka | Loves Lewis Carroll’s “Alice In Wonderland” & Sewing | Dislikes People Pulling her Braids & Physics Class

Ayano is a fairly eccentric but innocent, little girl who just happens to have a number of a bit more outlandish interests as well as a creepy laugh and the tendency to pop out of nowhere. She got heavily bullied in her life already just because many consider her weird and scary.

Not on Totsuki (because they’re too young yet)

Nino and Maja Aldini-Tadokoro (Twin-children of Isami and Megumi, little siblings of Hiroshi, Future part of the 119th Generation)

Takahiro Marui (Son of Zenji and Yuki, little brother of Chieko, Future part of the 119th Generation)

Kasumi Ibusaki (Daughter of Shun and Ryoko, little sister of Yasu, Future part of the 120th Generation)

Yoshiko Saito (Daughter of Somei and Momo, little sister of Kiyoko and Moe, Future part of the 120th Generation)

Not on Totsuki (for reasons I can’t get into now because it would be Spoilers for the Fanfic)

Yuu Tsukasa (left), Shouhei Tsukasa (right) and Tsubame Tsukasa (middle) - Children of Eishi Tsukasa and Rindou Kobayashi

Thank you for listening ;w; !

It’s still not complete...haha but we’re getting somewhere

#Shokugeki no Soma #Shokugeki no Kimiko Stuffz #Shokugeki no Souma

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willow-salix · 5 years ago

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Random bit of fun because it's been the kind of day where I needed to make myself laugh.

Everyone knew that Selene had a love of classic horror films, the ones that Alan said were boring and not in the least scary. The same ones that John always turned his nose up at because the special effects were non existent. Virgil liked them because they always had great music to them and Scott and Gordon just found them hilariously funny.

But this one was different, while her favourites were made in the 1960s, she had stumbled across one that was positively modern in comparison from the 2010s. She'd put it off over and over again but if there was one thing that hanging out in a floating space station gave you an opportunity to watch all the movies you had previously never had time for. She had quickly run through almost all the movies on her watch list and was down to two, it was scary or the prank show Gordon had insisted she watch, so it was time to watch the scary even if that time was 3am and she couldn't sleep (not that she expected the movie to help). So there she was, camped out on one of the couches in the sunken lounge of the villa, blanket over her legs, tablet balanced on her knees, watching the movie.

It started with three young girls happily playing tea parties in their attic play room when all of a sudden they dropped their dolls and little tea cups and as one, moved to the windows, opened them, and jumped the fuck out.

Selene jumped in shock. "Da fuq was that about?" she yelped, eyes glued to the action which had cut to a young single father having one last chance to impress his bosses at the solicitors where he worked. He was a widow, his wife having died in childbirth and he was fast running out of money, debts mounting, he needed this job.

The owner of a big old house had died and the young father was the one sent to go through all her papers and check the house over, looking for her most recent will, before they could sell. Seemed simple enough, but this was a spooky movie so obviously that wasn't going to go well.

He said goodbye to his son, planning on being done by the weekend when his son and the nanny would join in for a weekend in the country, all very pleasant... Selene was now quite bored after the dramatics at the start. She reached for her cup of cocoa and sipped as she watched the young father, Arthur Kipps, board the train and promptly fall asleep. Cue a dream of his late wife which shocked him enough to wake with a start. A helpful man by the name of Sam offered him a ride from the station to the guest house.

At the guest house Arthur (whom she could see as non other than Harry Potter no matter how hard she tried) was told he didn't in fact have a room booked and must go away. Strange. But the wife of the landlord took pity on him and let him stay in the attic... The same creepy ass attic the girls had jumped from.

"No Harry! Don't sleep there!" Selene warned but of course the twat didn't listen. Though he appeared to get through the night unscathed and proceed to make his way to the creepy ass house he was looking through.

Selene jumped and squeaked her way through his first visit when the bitch in black decided to pop her ugly ass face up now and then and waft around in the background when she shouldn't be.

She got a major case of the sads when a kiddie died due to the black bitch and got rather indignant on Harry/Arthurs behalf when the villagers all seemed to blame him. But by the time he went back again and began to uncover some clues as to the woman in blacks identity and why she might be creeping around like a dick and scaring the shit out of people, Selene was on the edge of her seat and not in a good way. The ghost popped up, eyeballs being all weird and dodgy and it all got a bit much for Selene, though she would blame sleep deprivation from back to back rescues.

"Expelliarmus! " she yelled, waving her wandless hand at the screen in an attempt to make the spook go away.

She might be a super tough witchy but even she wasn't good with jump scares, it was the dodgy plinky plonky music they used to fuck with your head that always got to her and after she had shrieked and almost dropped the tablet for the fourth time she paused the film and, grabbing laptop and blanket, decided her spaceman would so appreciate a late night visit from his witch.

She padded her way down the hallway from the lounge on a hunt for her elusive man. She checked Scott's office where he was known to sometimes hang out but found it empty. The kitchen was just as deserted so she let herself outside, taking a deep breath of the cooler night air. Ahh, target spotted and locked on! He was stretched out on one of the loungers arranged around the pool, which to some would seem strange in the middle of the night, but she knew he enjoyed the quiet. Such a shame she was there to fuck that up for him. Sucked to be him right now.

She tugged his book out of his hands without asking - he didn't need it now- put down the tablet and scooped up the cat that was curled up on his lap, dropping him unceremoniously on the floor.

"My space man." Armstrong gave an outraged meow but she nudged him aside with her foot. "Go find Alan and sleep on his face."

There went his peace and quiet. Much as he loved her she had the subtlety of a cyclone sometimes, even at half past three in the morning. How was it even possible that she was still this bouncy? He tried to catch his book as it was whipped out of his hands but missed.

"I was reading that."

The cat went next and, although he had actually been enjoying the warm weight of the purring creature on his lap, he would never admit it and therefore didn't raise a protest.

Selene pushed his legs apart, ignoring his questioning eyebrow and settled between them. He let his feet fall to the floor, making room, allowing her to wrap his arms around her middle and lean back against his chest.

She picked up her tablet and propped it up on her knees. This wasn't going to be pleasant, he had very little faith in her viewing choices.

"Selene, " he sighed.

There was that tone that they all heard at least once a day, the one that said he was already done with your shit. Good job she was immune to such things.

She wiggled to get comfy and smiled to herself. This was much better, her man would protect her from evil jumping ghost ladies that desperately needed to cleanse, tone and moisturise once in a while, he was awesome and could like…shoot it with a laser or some shit, what more could she want in a movie buddy?

"You know I have no interest in watching this, " he protested weakly as he caught sight of the screen.

She ignored that too, he'd like it once it got going, she was sure of it, and hit play.

The dumbass formerly known as Harry had balls, she'd give him that, he hadn't given up and was yet again back in the house of oogie boogies with nothing but a dog for company. The story was unfolding and Selene was actually beginning to feel kind of sorry for the emo ghost, but she still didn't trust her and said as much, very vocally and frequently.

"Don't go in there…. Shit shit shit creepy rocking chair… ahhh I fucking hate those little wind up monkeys, this, this is why kids were disturbed in the victorian times, look at the fucking toys they give them, what's wrong with the parents…" she paused her mini rant by yelping and hiding her face in John's neck when the ghost popped up again, "not cool, so not cool dude. "

John but his lip, refusing to laugh at her comments, it would just encourage her and honestly, she was bad enough as it was. She was so animated in everything she did, so open, honest and just full on.

He much preferred to sit and watch in silence, but Selene was never quiet for long and with four brothers he was used to never getting his own way. It had been a busy few days and while the others had passed out early, they were both too keyed up to rest. He'd chosen the sensible option of quiet relaxation, obviously she'd had other ideas.

He made an attempt to watch the film but it was almost impossible, having missed the start and with her near constant distractions. He gave up all pretence of paying attention and simply enjoyed having her so close, tightening his arms around her middle.

Once she deemed it safe she looked up again, uncurling a little from the protective shelter of his arms and managed to sit through another five minutes without freaking out, that was until there was a massive ass house fire and Harry/Arthur's friend Sam told him a bit more about his own story, that's when she started to get defensive and head more into pissed off territory.

"Why do you keep calling him Harry?" he asked but received no answer as she launched into another tirade.

"What is wrong with you? Oi, ghost bitch, stop that shit! Don't make me come down there! You might be able to mess with the now non wizard but try a real witch for size."

She cheered and got a little excited when the heroes tried to help the ghost, though the bitch wasn't very appreciative and just did her banshee impression, which lead to Selene screaming back at her, as if that would actually help, making John jump in shock. How was she so loud?

She relaxed when she thought it was all over, only to bounce back up in the last few seconds in complete outrage. "They should have called me, I'd have kicked that bitches arse in less than a day and been home in time for dinner, now look! Look at that! What the fuck was that? Fucking vengeful ghost, what's wrong with you!" She pushed the tablet aside in a huff, crossing her arms, sulk mode activated.

The chest she was leaning against was vibrating against her back as he shook in silent laughter. She turned to glare at him, which just made things worse as he lost control.

John was laughing at her, this was unacceptable. She nipped his chin in retaliation, trying to hold in a laugh and not admit that she had been a massive wimp.

He continued to laugh, the lines of stress and worry that had formed over the past few days vanishing smoothing out as he relaxed and let go. She smiled, glad to have helped. Even if her way had been unconventional, it had done the job.

John hugged her tighter, his amusement fading away to leave him with quiet contentment as she placed the tablet on the ground and rested her head back onto his shoulder. High above them, a bright spot in the dark sky he could just make out his beloved craft, awaiting him, but, as was becoming more and more frequent, he didn't feel the immediate urge to return. They lay in silence for a while, watching the stars, relaxed and at peace.

"Want to take your witchy to bed so we can get some sleep?"

He smiled, turning his head for a quick kiss. "That's an offer I would be a fool to refuse."

They gathered their things, turned off the lights and returned to the silent villa, bed calling.

#John Tracy #Selene is the worst person to watch a movie with #it's 3am #There goes his peace and quiet #Thunderbirds #thunderbirds 2015 #thunderbirds fanfiction #thunderbirds are go #Fan fic #fan fiction #fan fic update #fan fic stuff #fun stuff

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rankakiu · 5 years ago

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Thoughts of the Droid: Joker (2019)

Hello people from Tumblr! How have they been in all this time? As always, I hope very well. I will begin by saying that it was really in my plans to see the film of It: Chapter II; however, due to various circumstances, I could not see in the cinema. However, I compensated, watching another movie that shares a feature with It: both films have a clown as a great antagonist. Only the latter is more disturbing, since it does not need an extra dimensional being, but a human disguised as a clown, which in itself is more disturbing. On this occasion I bring to you all my impressions and opinions of the Joker movie, the second film that Warner and DC have released this year and which (obviously) has a plausible origin for the villain and nemesis par excellence of Batman.

Could it be that this movie continues with the hit streak of DC and Warner? Or is it a movie that had a very high expectation and ends up disappointing own and strangers? Stay in my review to find out.

WARNING: NOT SPOILER-FREE. Read at your own risk.

To start, what did I think of the movie? Short answer: simply magnificent and fascinating. Now let's go into the review in more detail.

Characters: What to say about this thing? Each of the characters has been thought carefully and although we do not see much of them, at least they fulfill very well their function of being support characters and even some of them serve as a catalyst to further explore the mind of our protagonist. None of these characters will leave you indifferent and also make the movie a more pleasant experience, due to their good performances.

Of course, I could not ignore our protagonist, Arthur Fleck, played by the great Joaquin Phoenix, who once again consolidates himself as an actor of excellent quality, in addition to demonstrating his talent to his full potential.

In this movie, he interprets (as I mentioned lines above) a man in his forties named Arthur Fleck, a poor unhappy man and that life does not treat him at all well. To top it off, he suffers from a peculiar disorder: he laughs uncontrollably when he suffers certain levels of stress and / or anguish. Basically, when he laughs, it is when he ironicly manifests his pain and suffering. And certainly, in the scenes where he laughs that way, it is where Phoenix's acting quality is most noticeable, since while he laughs, his face is disfigured in gestures of extreme bitterness and pain.

If there is something that the film does quite well, it is to explore the tormented psychology of the character, while offering a possible origin and reason why it became the iconic “crime clown” of Gothic City. Throughout the film, we see him resisting as much as he can the attacks and ill-treatment he suffers from a society that cannot and does not want to understand him; we see him slowly succumb to his madness and dark desires, pushed more than anything for days full of disappointment, bitterness and disinterest on the part of his fellow men. Thus, the film knows how to balance these two aspects that manage to give the character its own mythology, while paying a well-deserved tribute by taking certain elements of comics and stories that are already legendary in their own right.

Story: A story, which despite a somewhat slow pace, manages to keep the viewer's interest for about two hours. And it is not for less, since the history has been meticulously planned and well conceived and carried out. It's a story that doesn't bore you at all, and that really leaves you wanting more. It's funny, since, even long before the trailers, we all knew in advance that it would be a story of the character's origin, so we knew that eventually Arthur Fleck would become the Joker. What really left us intrigued and made us go to the movie theaters was the premise of seeing how he became the clown of crime, whose motives he had to let himself be carried away by his madness and had such a unique metamorphosis. Again, the film tells that story precisely and brutally.

And how to start a story with so much potential? Simple, through a scene, where we see Arthur make up as a clown to go out on another work day and while preparing, we see our protagonist break emotionally for a few moments, where he forces himself to smile and while he smiles he spills a Treacherous tear, shows palpable suffering that has to deal with daily and somehow manages to resist almost heroically. But reality and life constantly inflict wounds on his being.

Throughout history we see many evidence of this: we have that, while Arthur does his job, a band of brats steal a sign and Arthur pleadingly asks people for help, who ignores him in that dehumanized way and not according to that, the same band of brats beat him up.

Or how about the scene where one of his co-workers, Randall, gives him a gun so carelessly and that he lost his job - that despite everything, he loved - and his partner decided to wash his hands , before admitting his mistake?

We also have the case in which Arthur fervently tries to fulfill his dream of being a comedian and unfortunately not only does not succeed, but also Murray Franklin, his idol and role model openly mocks him.

But without a doubt, the hardest blow he suffered was when he learned that everything, ALL OF HIS LIFE, until now had been a lie. Finding out that he was adopted only to satisfy a narcissistic desire of his adoptive mother, that his own guardian allowed him to be abused in various ways and that his origin is completely uncertain create an emotional dent in him, since it has been given realize that his life - in his own words - has been a joke in its entirety. In my opinion, this is one of the most emotional and heartbreaking scenes of the film, since that is where we see Arthur laugh more uncontrollably than ever, while shedding tears and his gesture is of such extreme disappointment and pain, that one as a spectator, you can feel a total empathy with the character, despite knowing that he will become a murderous villain.

Another scene to highlight in the story, is when Arthur, already become the Joker, is featured in the show of his now former idol Murray. That is where The Joker, stopping to read for a few seconds a thought he wrote long ago ("I just hope my death makes more sense than my life"), is that he finally decides what he wants to do and what being he wants to become .

And is that previous scenes, Arthur is seen rehearsing his entrance and his act to the show, where we clearly see that he aimed to commit suicide in order to end his life so tragic.

In my opinion, when he reads those lines of his thought, he changes his mind and decides that he will now be forcefully heard and will do what he pleases and brings his own happiness and control of his life. It is also in this scene where there is a monologue that seems quite interesting to me, since Arthur rants against society that abandons not only the patients with mental disorders, but also the poor and the most needy people. It is, in its purest sense, a passionate speech, full of anger and resentment against society that, unconsciously, led him to become an executioner, now free from the bonds and ideas of good and bad with what society intended to retain him. And now the executioner intends to torture this society, which ironically now cries out for mercy when never had it in the first place with a human being like him.

Also in this scene is where the Joker gives another equally interesting speech, and it is that to some extent he is right in describing society as easily manipulable, since in his own words, that society was shocked by the death of the three Wayne business employees, without even knowing how they really were. Recall that behind the scenes, the three subjects were behaving like real patanes, harassing an innocent woman. In part, their deaths are brutal and to some extent an exaggerated punishment. But this must also be considered: at what point would these three have reached if Arthur had not been present? What limits would have been exceeded? An interesting reflection that gives a lot to think about.

Another point in favor of history, is that it not only focuses on the psychology and evolution of the main villain, but also manages to sustain, showing a dark side of society and especially the eternal struggle of social classes, especially The poor against the rich. Just remember that in the movie, these social classes make their position very clear: the rich condemn the crimes that they have done against them. The poor are full of joy for those acts that they consider pure and expeditious justice.

But…

Did it really happen everything that defined Arthur as the Joker?

Because in fact, in the same movie (and in various theories hanging around the internet) there are several clues that would confirm that the whole story we witnessed as spectators would be false. Some say that all their history is false and others maintain that only parts of it. And one might think that that little detail ruins the movie completely.

In this case, I would not think so.

And it is because of how the character is designed from the beginning. Basically the Joker is one of those characters who, as long as we knows less about his past, is much better, since it is part of his essence, being an entity of chaos whose origin is enigmatic and mysterious, a whole unknown. And if in truth his whole story is ambiguous or it didn't happen the way him told us, his past doesn't matter. What matters is precisely that we have been shown how his madness dragged him into becoming a criminal.

The story definitely gives a lot of fabric to cut from and is very worthy of analysis in many facets. The story, along with the characters - especially the protagonist - is the best of the film, and therefore it is a film that has no waste of seeing again and again.

Action and Visuals and special effects: Well ... where to start? Because if you ask me, I doubt that this film has been a great edition of special effects. I do not deny that I have one or another, but most of all the film is beautifully guided with the environments, the color palette and lights and especially a great script, so it is not necessary great effects. As for the action, the film has good sequences but they are very scarce and when they occur they are usually ephemeral. But do the film need action? Of course not, since it focuses on the character and his circumstances.

In conclusion, Joker, is a film very worth seeing and that has already become one of the best DC films, showing that in truth, when they want, they can achieve these wonderful results and that even overshadow their eternal rival Marvel. Therefore, I give this movie 4.5 out of 5 jokers. Beyond that, this film presents a new scheme that, if exploited in a good way, will create a genre in the superhero films: supervillain movies. And that is one of the greatest achievements of the film.

Definitely a highly recommended movie to watch and a very deserved achievement for DC and Warner. Hopefully they stay on this good path.

Greetings

Rankakiu

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positively--speculative · 5 years ago

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So....who is easily offended?

Yesterday, I made this post which was meant to start a discussion about the possible connection between the way fandom treats villains and the way the media tends to treat mass murders. A few of my followers jumped at the opportunity to point out the differences in how fandom treats white/white-coded villains to characters of color and some went on to point out the differences in how media treats criminals according to their skin color/ethnicity.

Anyone who reads this post may notice that I called no individual out in particular. I didn’t call out any particular fandom (though I did mention specific characters in reblogs to make certain points). There really isn’t anything about this post that should offend anyone, because it was about no one in particular, and if someone didn’t want to talk about this similarity a lot of us see, they could have easily scrolled past and blocked me for good measure, but as predicted, someone got offended and made a post about no one in particular about them...then posted a childish little tantrum in response to me suggesting they told on themselves.

I wanted to test something out, so I made this separate post:

I’ve said for a while now that if you make a post stating that you don’t like assholes, most people would scroll past it, because most people don’t identify with being an asshole (unironically). Some who agree with the statement might “like” or reblog the post. You’re not going to get a reaction out of a lot of people, because most people’s common sense works here: “I’m not an asshole, therefore, this post is not about me.”

However, almost every single time I post about fandom racism or something similar, people lose their common sense. “HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A RACIST!” “WHY CAN’T YOU PEOPLE JUST ALLOW US TO LIKE THESE THINGS THE WAY WE WANT TO LIKE THEM! MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS! UGHHHH! I HATE FANDOM POLICE!!!!”

But again, I’ve made it a habit to not call anyone out in particular, just their behavior, and if I want to refer to a post, I usually just screenshot it and block out the name of the person who made it (unless they choose to engage with me...then their name remains). I do this because 1) the people who exhibit this kind of behavior are not interested in having a rational discussion that doesn’t involve them acting like they’re being attacked, and 2) I don’t believe in dogpiling, which tends to happen and is practiced by people with even the best intentions, so I block names in order to prevent that (but again, if they choose to engage, I can’t be faulted if people want to hand their ass to them).

However, for all the care and consideration I practice--for people who some would argue don’t even deserve it--to not identify anyone in particular, people who are guilty of the behavior I point out are always so willing to identify themselves. Something similar happened with a post I made last year addressing the racist attacks Anna Diop received for being cast to play Starfire in Titans. Anyone who had criticisms about her portrayal that had nothing to do with her being Black should not have identified with a post that was specifically addressing racial fueled attacks. Getting defensive over such a post only outs you as the people I’m talking about.

There’s just a special kind of irony here, because so-called “sjws” are said to be offended by everything, yet we’re usually the ones having conversations about our criticisms of things we actually enjoy in our *own* fandom circles. We’re mostly of the mindset: “You know, I like this show/movie, but now that this problematic aspect has been pointed out to me, I think I might have to watch it more critically now,” or we rant to other people of the same mindset about the reasons why we may not enjoy it anymore. It’s a conversation we usually have amongst ourselves, yet *someone* always has to barge in and make it about them and accuse us of trying to control what they like and don’t like...I just have to wonder if they’re also like this outside of fandom. Like, if they overheard someone saying they prefer pie over cake, are they going to barge in the room complaining, “OMG! Keep your love for pie to yourself! What’s your issue against cake! Stop trying to make me like pie!!!”

#fandom fuckery #fandom racism #fandom #rant #meanwhile #I've left that thread #and they're still leaving notes lmao

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flying-elliska · 6 years ago

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The transformation of Lucas Lallemant pt 1 : Hell Week.

Skam OG S3 can be more or less divided in three acts, and this is even more obvious in Skam France, which has a more...dramatic style of storytelling, let’s say. Act I : Lucas meets Eliott, struggles with his internalized homophobia, develops feelings, ends with Eliott’s apparent betrayal. Act II : Lucas is isolated, struggles, finally comes out to his friends and to the world, Eliott and Lucas reunite. Act III is what’s yet to come, the revelation of Eliott’s MI, possibly elements related to Lucas’ parents and religion, and the resolution.

I want to take a look at Act II as a unit and the essential character developpment that takes place within it, starting from the disastrous party scene at the end of Vendredi 19h21 and ending with the paint scene in Vendredi 18h34, because this is really where we can see Lucas’s arc pivot, as he is left alone to confront himself, and the nuance with which it was done is incredible in terms of storytelling.

Fair warning, it’s going to be a long one.

Vendredi 19h21 : Fête de trop

It has been pointed out by many that, whereas Isak and Martino punched into bushes and garbage cans during this scene, Lucas hurts himself until his knuckles are bloody. He’s angry at the world for sure, getting in a fight with his friends, but it’s ultimately himself he blames - for having feelings, for caring, for thinking he had a chance with Eliott, for being attracted to a boy, for wanting a family that supports him, for wanting to be loved. Chloe possibly outing him by yelling Lucas is gay in a crowd, Arthur joking about his family, Eliott kissing a girl - it brings all his worst pains and fears to a head, and things he’s been repressing for the longest time just boil over, in the shape of rage and inarticulate despair. He punches his hand into the wall because he cannot speak, cannot think, cannot do anything else. It’s violence and self-harm as a symptom of powerlessness. The look on his face at the end I read as him being totally overwhelmed.

In the background the song talks about partying to pretend to be alright - but emptiness and chaos catch on eventually. It’s ironic in a sense because the singer is talking about glitter and kissing boys in public, things Lucas very much shies away from, but in the end the result is the same, loneliness and alienation. The association of the two brings up very old themes in queer culture, specifically things gay men have had to deal with - feeling adrift, disconnected from family and people and feelings, internalized hatred, self-harm, feeling like you have nowhere to go, putting on a happy face even when you’re spiralling out, partying as a substitute for connection, and what happens when the facade breaks. At the same time, the drop after excess can have a revelatory effect.

Even if it’s painful, this scene is necessary and kickstarts the part of his journey where he is facing his fears on his own. The hurt is a recognition of what is happening to him and how important it is.

Lundi 08h52 : Scared but doing it anyway

That's the definition of courage. With his bandaged hand and the slow opening, as he puts his hoodie up, he looks like a boxer stepping into the ring. Lighting is at its most overcast, blue-tinted, dark and depressing. This clip is heartbreaking, bringing Lucas's worst fears to the light. Being mocked and ostracized, turned into a vulgar joke, having been played for a fool.

Fear number one. He sees his friends laughing at him. Lucas is a character with huge abandonment issues, understandably. As his familial situation went sideways and his sense of self was put in turmoil, he’s relied on the normalcy of his friendgroup to keep him afloat, going to great lengths to preserve their view of him - even declaring love to a girl he feels nothing for. Them laughing would feel like the ground disappearing under his feet.

Fear number two. We can see Alex mimicking a blowjob. Through his rant to Mika about dick shaped confetti or his reaction to “Krindr” dick picks, we can see that he seems to be uneasy when it comes to the overly sexual way the gay community is often presented. And homophobic jokes and behavior tends to be overly sexual too, reducing gayness to a series of sexual acts presented as disgusting, instead of the whole love, identity and culture aspects (not that there is anything wrong with gay sexuality in itself, but when it’s reduced to only that, it would be understandable he has issues with it, especially for a teenager who’s just discovering things, belying the cliché that all men are naturally horndogs.) He's afraid of his intimate feelings and process of discovery becoming a vulgar joke, that’s very understandable.

Fear number three. Eliott looking at him smugly. Basically confirming that he’s a player, that this very special connection they had, something that allowed Lucas to open up and be vulnerable and artistic and bold, and muse about alternate universes and play the piano and feel comfortable enough to be happy kissing another boy - was a lie. Eliott doesn’t care and now he’s able to be on the side of the bullies because to him - like the cliché “bisexuality” Lucas had in mind talking to the girls - his attraction to boys is just a fun side piece, he can just go back to his girlfriend afterwards, whereas Lucas can’t. He’s “stuck being gay” and he’s failed at maintaing a straight façade.

To close it off, there’s Chloé, fulfilling the narrative purpose of a ticking clock and a reminder of Lucas’ failure at straightness and imminent outing. This of course, is not really happening, but this paranoia is very typical of being a closeted queer person, of constantly having to wonder who is going to love you anyway and who is going to reject you because even when your people are mostly liberal and tolerant, there is no way to really know because of how deep homophobia is rooted in our society (see my meta about French humor). It really is Schodinger’s unconditional love.

And then there’s Daphné. This is the first of several ‘tonal breaks’ in this arc, in which the angst is cut with moments of levity, randomness and wacky jokes that seem a little out of place but do serve a purpose narratively and in terms of themes. In this one, she goes out of her way to praise Lucas’ masculinity. It wouldn’t surprise me she already heard rumors, going from the alarmed look on her face, and wants to reassure Lucas he is still a man in her eyes. Daphné is an interesting character to do this. Because she has little brain to mouth filter, she tends to say stupid things and offend people, but at the same time, she can break through people’s walls and isolation - the foyer, meant to bring different people together, is a symbol of this. She’s a key representative of Skam’s central theme of people being flawed, able to learn, and of -trying and reaching out, even with mixed results, being a super important thing. Therefore, it’s interesting she’s the first to reach Lucas in this difficult phase, and this will happen again later. At the same time her words about defenseless women needing a strong man is a reminder of the overwhelming clichés about gender roles that make Lucas’ life so difficult.

Lundi 14h03 : Ennemies and Allies

Chloe's threat of outing Lucas whenever she wants gives the whole episode a feeling of urgency. She is extremely hurt and he can’t catch her, either physically or symbolically. She’s a loose cannon, and her holding Lucas’ outing hostage as revenge feels very violent. It's not clear that anybody knows yet, but she could take Lucas's choice from him any time now. His harsh and terrified words (”I’m not a f*g”) illustrate the level of denial he is trying to stay in as it’s slipping away from him, the powerlessness he feels. The scene taking place in PE class with people throwing balls at one person standing in a goal reinforces the overal symbolism of being put on the spot.

On the opposite side, Yann's reminder of support sets up what happens later. He wants to be there for Lucas, but he’s also been hurt by his silence. He doesn’t want the squad to be Lucas’ punching ball if he can’t verbalize.

Mardi 13h08 : Miscommunication.

Eliott is trying to make a joke about the time they met and he couldn’t chose what to get from the vending machine ; Lucas interprets it as him saying he wants both Lucas and his gf, and he responds harshly. Lucas is pretty much standing up for himself here, as painful as it is. He signals to Eliott he's not game to just forgive and forget, to do as if what happens didn't matter. Him alluding to a choice that Eliott needs to make - there's still a sliver of hope there though, as agonizing as it seems.

Lucas not finding a place to sit and leaving the canteen represents his worst fears about coming out - being left alone. It’s a classic high school story trope, not knowing at which table to sit, eg. not fitting in anywhere, so he chooses not to feed himself. (Again, hurting himself).

Mercredi 13h37 : Sorting through your old shit

This moment of levity after the heavy angst serves as a reminder that life, whether you are ready for it or not, goes on. It’s also the second time that the show subverts horror tropes - first in the first kiss scene for romantic purposes, here for comedic purposes with the creepy dolls everywhere and the guy with an axe. The theme is that things that look scary at first often aren’t, and can even bring unexpected gifts. The overall scene doesn’t have much impact on the plot, but it can symbolize several things - the need to do away with the messy things of the past (like all the shit in the shop and internalized homophobia), giving things that are still useful a new place where they can be better appreciated (the couch is a metaphor for Lucas being gay lmao), the difficulty of dealing with grief and your baggage alone and the need for outside help (like the shopkeeper who can’t get rid of his brother’s things), the importance of playfulness and unexpected gifts (table football).

The girls opening up about their dating woes puts Lucas’ struggles in the larger context of teenage boys being trash, normalizing what he goes through. On the other hand, again, Daphne’s comments and Imane’s joke show that the girl squad have their own problems with gender clichés. Manon denouncing them marks her as a safe place for Lucas, as well as her going through the deeper kind of turmoil of love troubles.

Lundi 01h48 : In the abyss

The scene is dark and drenched in blue light, giving it an oceanic, almost submarine vibe. This is Skam taking full advantage of its real time format, showing the story at a time where viewers are very likely to be in the same state of exhaustion and half-consciousness as the characters.

Even though he doesn't show it much, Lucas is a deeply caring character. He's just been extremely burned out, possibly by his family situation, and what happened with Eliott. And yet, it's still there. We can see it here in how he comforts Manon, trying to be stoic, but it's getting to him in the end. Compassion is often much easier to extend to others than to yourself. He might punish himself for feeling too much, but he would never do that to Manon.

This scene is, to me, the most pivotal moment of the season yet along with the piano scene : they're moments where we see Lucas's soul come to the surface. And as vulnerability is key to the plot, those moments of openness really move things along. The piano scene was Lucas letting out his more passionate, artistic, sensitive side ; this moment is more raw and ugly, about what lies beneath the anger, the despair of caring too much. And yet there is beauty and relief in owning it. In this particular context the shell of anger Lucas protects himself with is meaningless - it’s just the utter loneliness of the night and two people who are broken and lost. Manon is also from a broken home of sorts, she’s also been given a lot of reasons to give up on love. The fact that they’re able to share this intimacy of letting themselves feel like that, at a moment where words are beyond them, is however a sign that they’re not giving up. They’re feeling the feelings, as painful as it is, and they have a witness. It’s beautiful.

Vendredi 09h14 : Exhaustion

Lucas's body is basically close to giving up on him. He can front all he wants, but he's still only human. So he goes to see the school nurse for insomnia. He thinks maybe if he can solve the physical problem, maybe get pills, he can go back to being tough and pretending nothing is wrong. The nurse’s answer - not exposing himself to any screens or blue light before sleeping - is laughably unadapted to his problems, which in turn makes the idea that Lucas can solve his problems this way ridiculous as well.

The nurse is a mess - is she cheating on her actual husband there ? Why is she talking about her (murder)fantasies to a student ? Teacher’s back acne ? She illustrates that adults still have problems (again, normalizing what Lucas goes through) and that life in general is messy and you need people on your side who can be there even though you are going through ugly, difficult things. Lucas cannot talk to her, they’re not on the same wavelength at all, but there’s still someone he can talk to. The medecine is not pills, it’s human support and trust.

Vendredi 17h05 : Trust issues

This clip is very painful to watch.

First Eliott’s drawing. At this point in the story it feels like a cruel joke. This guy played him, and now he’s talking about destiny ? Lucas really bought into the whole Polaris thing, we could see he was starving for a real connection, and maybe he thinks Eliott is using that against him, tugging on the heartstrings like a true artsy fuckboi. At the same time, the loneliness that emanates from the drawing is heartbreaking for us, who know what’s up with Eliott.

Lucas decides to go talk to Yann. That’s his destiny. I thought he was going to walk up to Eliott for a moment, the filming is deliberately ambiguous, but no. In a way, he’s choosing himself, deciding to bring stability to his life by opening up to the guy who’s been his main support system for years : Yann. And he lays it all on the table - his problems with his family, his insomnia, the mess with Chloe, the difficulty talking, having a crush of sorts for Yann, falling in love with Eliott. He’s so brave. He banks on his ability to trust Yann, he wants to believe he’ll be there for him. He’s finally coming out to someone on his own terms, with clear words.

It doesn’t work. Now, I never believed Yann was homophobic - his face only shuts down when Lucas starts talking about all the people who already know. But after Lucas’ slow, painful journey towards opening up, it feels like a bucket of ice water in the face. However, it is thematically appropriate.

This story arc tries to balance two concepts very delicately : on one side, as a teenager it’s important to realize that you’re not as alone as you think, not alone struggling. On the other hand, both internalized homophobia and French culture’s latent homophobia (that makes people do shitty things even though they’re not homophobic at heart, without realizing it) make this process of teenage alienation vs self discovery and acceptance, a thousand times more painful than it needs to be. Ending the episode on this note signifies that the struggle is real, that however brave you might be, sometimes the world is going to try and slap you down anyway. Thankfully, the story doesn’t end there, but for Lucas, this is the bottom of the pit. As his instagram post says ‘god needs your lifeboat as an ashtray’. Sometimes your best efforts mean nothing. This seems like a very pessimistic and cruel conclusion but I believe it’s an important beat in the story, recognizing that sometimes things go wrong through no fault of your own. It’s the system that is to blame, that has not given the tools to Yann to react properly and for the both of them to communicate better and for Lucas to accept who he is and not hurt people around him in order to hide. They’ve gone the road of validation over comfort and I think it’s a very interesting choice. (Even though I can also understand people who needed a more positive message and were hurt by this). But like a lot of queer people, I’ve had my share of half-botched coming outs and it’s important to show how you come back from that.

...

So in a nutshell : this week, we bear witness to the slow death of Lucas’ tough, uncaring, player straight guy facade. His feelings have reached a boiling point, and he can’t ignore them any longer, it’s taking a toll on his body and isolating him from his friends. The moments of levity serve to dedramatize and normalize what Lucas goes through, encouraging him to reach out, while at the same time, the show takes his pain and fear seriously, by showing the minute toll it takes on his health and the less than ideal reaction of the people around him. However, through it all, he finds the courage to keep facing his feelings and opening up. He is staring his worst fears in the face - abandonment, ostracization, having his feelings used against him - and he still manages to choose trust. Eliott might have been a catalyst, but in the end he chooses to do what’s right for himself. He talks, even though it’s almost a moment of symbolic death, but the transformation can take root from there. Honesty is grueling sometimes, but it’s still necessary. It’s better than letting the lie ruin your health and your relationship, better than hurting yourself in an attempt to push down the truth, better than violent powerlessness or night time devastation. Lucas is so good at wearing a mask, but how he reacts in this crisis is revelatory of his own deepest need for change and love.

In short, I love this character with the intensity of a thousand suns and even though it's super painful I love that we got to go on this journey with him.

Thank you for reading this monster of a post, and see you next time for pt 2 : Acceptance !

#skam france #skam meta #skamfr meta #lucas lallemant #elu #lucas x eliott #my meta #analysis

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