#at BEST they want him to do edgy shit just for the sake of it because edge = iNtEreStInG which is. not much better lmao

[butwhatifidothis]

Do people really not see the inherent disconnect of the claim that Houses Claude is genuinely an amoral opportunist when his dream is to break down barriers to foster unity and peace? Like, is there not a fundamental incompatibility in having a desire for everyone to get along yet being a backstabber that throws people under the bus for their own benefit? From a personality/character standpoint, all that does is make Claude look like a ginormous ignorant hypocrite, and an idiot even though he's supposed to be smart. Because if his end goal is to create a diverse and harmonious community, how is he going to bring people together if he constantly betrays every side? And from a writing perspective, it makes no sense to have a character's actions and goals be completely contradictory and never address it.

Also for someone who is amoral, it sure is interesting in Balthus' Classroom QA Part 2 that Claude likes "ensure the fewest casualties" and dislikes "do anything to eradicate the enemy" when the question was "the war has been dragging for long so let's end it quickly". It's kinda like he has some principles or something.

Like, the idea of Claude being an untrustworthy backstabber who opportunistically takes advantage of everyone without ever growing close to them is just Hubert minus Lady Edelgard could be an interpretation of his character that aligns with at least his initial showing, or a surface level understanding of him. He calls himself the embodiment of distrust, he never fully opens up to anyone, he can in fact be fairly manipulative and callous; the crumbs are there, for sure.

But it also has to ignore how far he's willing to go to protect his people (putting himself in high danger when he is not sacrificial like, say, Dimitri is), or how he supports others having dreams for themselves (Goddess Tower), or how open he is to criticisms against what he thought (Cyril's support), or how he tries to be there for his friends (Marianne's support), or how he's open-minded enough to listen to people he initially thought needed to be his enemy (Rhea), or how violence is not just not something he considers but is something he actively rejects as a means of getting what he wants (The Alliance Leader's Ambitions, near the end), or how putting the people's lives in danger is something he is adamantly against (as you point out, Balthus' classroom question). A staggering amount of Claude's character has to be deliberately ignored in order to come to the conclusion that he's just a backstabbing opportunist who does anything to get what he wants (who magically gets fixed by Byleth's mere presence), because a backstabbing opportunist who does anything to get what he wants who magically gets fixed by Byleth's mere presence does not describe Claude.

Even if one were to take the game's writing failure of properly presenting Claude tackling racial issues (like never addressing Petra's situation despite having supports with her) you can't really deny that Claude is, in fact, a caring person after taking everything in his character into account. For all his flaws, he never abuses the trust people have in him to the extent that they are actively put in danger, nor is it ever the case that the "doesn't truly tackle racial issues" ever translate to anything so drastic as "which means he'll actively worsen relations between two countries." And, well, yes; you still do have to take into account that his dreams are of bringing people together and disregarding past bad blood. He never stops trying to achieve this dream, and he wants it to come true so badly that he is willing to let other people that he trusts rule Fodlan to work together with him to achieve it, shown in VW and even AM. That means a lot for someone like Claude, who is otherwise pretty slow to trust other people so deeply.

That's not someone who would use Leicester's bad history with Faerghus as fuel to violently invade it. That's not someone who would use Almyra's navy to make it look to Sreng like Faerghus tried to invade it. That's not someone who wants to conquer other nations and make his own come out on top. Those things describe Hopes!Claude, which 3H!Claude is not.

It's like. You know how some 3H's fans see 3H as "Edelgard, Dimitri, and the third guy that justifies my fave"? How a lot of people in 3H's fandom don't really see Claude as his own character with his own perspective and ideals and beliefs and morals that are unique to him, and only see him as a battering ram to try and knock down one of the other two lords? And so don't really care how he's characterized in other things (like fanfiction, fanart, meta, or in this case spinoff media) because they never really cared about him as his own character? But then get really, really, really defensive when you point out the flaws in their perception of him, saying that you're the one who never understood or liked Claude, because if you did you'd "realize" that he was always [insert vague, bland description that happens to prop up the lord they actually like]?

Yeah that's basically what's going on here. Most people who prefer Claude as their fave lord do not like Hopes!Claude, some of the loudest voices in the JPN Amazon reviews were of people who hated Hopes!Claude and were literally trying to warn Claude/GD fans away from Hopes as a game because of how awful their writing is, while nearly every Hopes!Claude fan that I've seen vastly prefers Edelgard as their fave lord and are - you guessed it! - very defensive when it comes to Claude fans venting their frustrations over Claude's shit-end-of-the-stick treatment he got in Hopes.

So like, yeah. It's less that people aren't directly computing that Claude's ambitions and character don't match how he's depicted in Hopes, but that they just don't care that it doesn't since 1) it justifies their fave and 2) they never really gave a shit about Claude anyway

[ikkaku-of-heart]

“Why Ikkaku Ships LawNa” TED Talk

Stepping onto the stage, Ikkaku was dressed fairly professionally. A crisp black blazer, pencil skirt, and oddly enough, glasses she did not need in the slightest. Adjusting those glasses, she cleared her throat before unbuttoning the blazer to reveal a t-shirt underneath, LAW X NAMI 4 EVER printed in bold black letters over a yellow heart.

“So. Trafalgar Law and ‘Cat Thief’ Nami. Allies. Friends? No, lovers. That’s right, Law and Nami are banging. But they’re doing more than just that, aren’t they? Nami’s sunk her claws into him while Law’s stolen her heart. Or maybe it’s the other way around? Either way, it’s undoubtedly one of the best things to ever happen to my captain.”

Staring out at the audience, Ikkaku continued, “I’m sure many of you are asking ‘how the fuck do those two work?!’ Well, I can understand how you small-minded fools could think that. He’s a grumpy bastard while she’s a greedy minx. He loves doing horrible experiments while she loves conning people out of their money. But you only think that way because you aren’t looking very hard at them, are you?” She took a sip of water, paying no mind to the people who grumbled or tried to leave.

Yeah, good luck with that. She had the other Hearts barricade the doors. No one was leaving until she said so.

“That’s why I’m here; to educate the masses on why these two work. So let’s get started, shall we? We’ll start with the surface reasons. Nami is more than just a ten; she’s an eleven, just like Law. She’s drop-dead gorgeous and yeah maybe it’s shallow to say but I think Law deserves someone as pretty as him. They are very aesthetically pleasing as a pair, and it makes my inner fashionista happy to see them getting dressed up and looking damn fine when they go out together.

“But she’s more than just good looks. No, this girl is everything I think Law needs in a partner. She’s his intellectual equal. Seriously, she’s one of three people on the Thousand Sunny that Law can have an actual conversation with about hundreds of different topics. Politics, history, weather, science, economics, culture, she even knows a little bit about basic medicine so he can talk to her about his work without getting a completely blank look in response. She’s also wily as fuck. Like, her deviousness rivals his at points and that is damn impressive. Do you know how rare it is to find someone who can get the better of Law, even for something as simple as stealing a wallet? And even fewer people he likes enough to not plot murderous revenge against. Just petty payback. It’s great to watch.”

Had it been anyone else, perhaps Ikkaku would have been offended on her captain’s behalf that someone would be bold enough to even attempt to pickpocket him, but Nami was a rare, extremely endearing exception. A woman who had managed to capture his attention and can keep him on his toes was exactly the kind of woman she could picture Law falling for.

“Next, she’s also a great balance to his personality. I’m not blind to the fact that my captain is a fucking grumpy ass and a bastard. All dark and edgy and full of spite towards the world. Nami’s not quite pure sunshine but she’s bright, you know? She’s gone through some shit too but is still smiling despite that. Still fighting to achieve her dream. Kind of a warm summer sunbeam to counteract his winter gust of wind if you want to get poetic about it. But she’s also not totally innocent. She’s done some dark shit for the sake of survival. You don’t spend years working for the man who murdered your mother for the sake of freeing your village without doing some morally questionable things. Yeah, not nearly as bad as Law has but she’s still got a bit of darkness balance out the brightness. I think someone who was too much joy and sunshine would utterly repulse a cynic like Law. Gotta have a bit of both. But she’s definitely more light than dark which is what he needs.

“And then there’s the fact that she doesn’t stand for his bullshit. She’s willing to call him out when he’s being too much of a bastard or a stubborn ass. Law needs more people who care about him enough to do that. I can’t always be the one pointing out when he’s being an ass. It’s nice to have someone I can tag in to take over an argument when I need a breather.”

One could argue that was a somewhat selfish reason, and perhaps it was just a little, but Ikkaku would stand by her statement. Hell, having a second person willing to come in and tell him off was a good thing for all parties. It was easier to ignore the scolding from his engineer after all these years, so a second opinion telling him he was being reckless or not taking proper care of himself might actually manage to convince him to do what was best.

“But I think the biggest thing that makes them work is that Nami understands Law in a way I don’t think anyone else really can. She’s told me about what her life was like before Straw Hat saved her, and Law finally spilled his guts to us after Dressrosa. It’s impossible not to see the parallels, even if their stories are kind of opposites. Like, both of them became pirates at a young age and were forced to deal with the guilt that came from the death of a beloved parental figure sacrificing themselves for them. Both were haunted by the shadow of that murderer throughout their lives until Straw Hat stepped in and kicked their ass. So, they can relate to each other in ways I don’t think others really can. Not even me and the crew.

The thing is, Nami’s gotten closure in a way that Law hasn’t. She’s learned to let go and even forgive a little. To smile with all her heart and keep moving forward with her life. So I think Nami’s really fucking good for him because she’s an example of what he can be. She went through a hell that wasn’t totally unlike his, but she came out the other side with a smile despite it all. Hell, you could even argue that she went through something even worse than Law, since he at least didn’t have to work under the person he hated the most through most of his life. I think if their situations were switched, neither would have survived.”

Ikkaku gave a sigh. “Straw Hat kicking Doflamingo’s ass isn’t the closure Law needed, and anyone who thinks it is doesn’t know my captain. He spent ten years plotting to kill that man. To burn down his empire and destroy him in every way he could think of just to ensure the man truly suffered. And yeah, the pink bastard’s in jail now and no longer ruling Dressrosa, but this was never about freeing a kingdom or putting the bad guy away. This was about revenge. Revenge Law was willing to die for. Straw Hat may have beaten him, but it wasn’t the victory Law needed. It wasn’t like what he did for Nami. Yet while I know Law’s never going to fully get that same peace Nami has so long as Joker is still alive, but I still think it’s important for him to see that there is life after the pain. That if Nami can get through it, so can he. I feel that because she’s gone through something similar, she can kinda…get through to him in a way we never could.”

There was a pause as Ikkaku looked out at the audience. Some had begun to nod while others were looking at her skeptically. Understandably, really, as she was a rather biased party, but thankfully she had come prepared for this argument. Helped that she’d had it with Law himself once.

“Now, before anyone thinks this is just me projecting what I want for Law onto Nami, I think he’s good for her, too. Don’t get me wrong, I know she loves her crew, but that girl is surrounded by the likes of Straw Hat, Zoro, Franky, and Brook 24/7. She needs someone on her intellectual level she can talk to. Someone who understands the difficulties of running a ship and that she can bounce ideas off of. Law can advise her on the quartermaster duties I know she takes on and how to run things most efficiently. Someone who can appreciate her sexiness without becoming a drooling mess and who doesn’t fall for her seduction tactics too easily. Hell, I think he can turn the tables and seduce her right back!

“On top of that, you know how I said she can help him get closure for his past? Well, I think Law’s good for her in that he can understand the anger and frustration she must have felt while working for that Arlong bastard. He understands her pain in a way not even Straw Hat could. And, let’s be honest, the guy’s not actually dead. If he ever got out, I feel like Law’s kind of the ideal guy to go to for help. He’d understand why she needs revenge and could get her to him no problem. Luffy of course gets first dibs because he’s her captain, but if Nami wants Arlong dead instead of just beaten to a pulp, well, Law can sure as fuck make him suffer before finally crushing his heart in his bare hands.”

The morbidity of the image had a few people cringing, but Ikkaku merely adjusted her glasses and smiled. “Law’s also good for Nami in that he’ll protect her with his life. The man doesn’t let people into his heart easily but when he loves, it’s like a force of nature. It’s powerful. He would bring the world to its knees for her. There’s also pretty much nothing he won’t do to save her if she’s sick or injured. He’ll protect her, heal her, give her the world if she asked it. And doesn’t she deserve that?

“Speaking of giving her stuff, Law is ideal for Nami because he can give her pretty much anything material she might want. Do you have any idea how much treasure is at the bottom of the sea? We Hearts have basically the whole ocean floor at our disposal, with all the sunken treasure, rare materials, and relics of lost cities we can get our hands on. Law’s loaded. And anything he couldn’t buy for Nami, he could steal with his powers. I doubt she’d even have to ask. Just point and it would be in her hands. It would be worth the cost or trouble to keep her happy.”

Glancing at the clock, Ikkaku decided it was about time to wrap this up. If she kept her captive audience, well, captive for too long, people might start asking questions. Like where the person who was originally going to be giving a presentation had disappeared to. Or they might do something extra stupid, like call the Marines to come arrest the Heart Pirates. That would be so awkward and annoying.

“The most important thing, though, is just that Law’s happy around her. He softens in a way that I usually only see with the crew. And I think he makes her happy, too. I know he’ll insist this is just a fling, but I honestly can see this working out for the long term. Mostly because I don’t think either one would try to pin the other down. Neither is going to be leaving their crews for the other, and that’s ok! They don’t actually need to be together all the time for things to work. They can be apart in person but together in spirit. Nami can continue to work towards her dream of making a map of the world while Law continues exploring the ocean with us. Nami’s incredibly loyal and like I said, once you’re in Law’s heart you’re not getting out, so I can’t see their feelings fading or anything just because they don’t see each other for a while. Hell, I think it’ll be good for them since the distance means they’ll appreciate their reunions more and won’t be smothering each other. And I’m sure Law would let her come along with us for a bit anytime she wanted to explore the underwater currents or islands in the Calm Belt she might be interested in adding to her map.”

Hands on her hips, t-shirt still proudly on display, Ikkaku concluded, “Don’t get me wrong, Law’s a stubborn ass who’s going to take a while before he actually accepts those feelings. Man does not like being vulnerable and these are dangerous, scary, unfamiliar waters for him. He sure as hell won’t be telling her ‘I love you’ anytime soon, but I think she’s ok with that. I’m not sure she’s the type to say it too quickly, either. They’re both smart enough to read between the lines and know what’s up without needing to say the words. That tells me they’re definitely in sync and can handle each other’s unique quirks and qualities. It’s why they’re good together, and why I’ll gladly be captain of this ship, even if it sails into Hell itself. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. As you leave, please take a LAW X NAMI 4 EVER t-shirt. Anyone who tries to leave the room without one will be mauled by Bepo. Or bitten by Shachi. Or maybe Jean Bart will just snap you in half. Depends on which door you leave through. Anyway, goodnight!”

[lilithfairen]

A Review of Fixing RWBY V6

For most people in the FNDM, Fixing RWBY is simply "the Faunus heat fic"—known best for an idiotic bit of worldbuilding that's blatantly meant for cringeworthy fanservice bait. Delve past the surface, and you discover an utter narrative trainwreck wreathed in gross attitudes, terrible writing choices, and a weeaboo's objectification of Japanese culture. IT'S AN ONSEN YADDA YADDA

To give an idea of what previous volumes of Fixing RWBY have entailed: an idiotic rivalry between Nora and Pyrrha, Cardin getting bizarre amounts of focus, Celtic Phoenix cutting out Oscar to make Roman into Ozpin's (and Celtic Phoenix's) vessel, Yang not getting to falcon-punch a creep, said creep getting made into Raven's husband so Celtic Phoenix can take the Branwen tribe away from Raven and give it to him, a bathhouse scene where Roman spouts transphobic insults towards Weiss and Ren, and Vernal being remade into a cultural-appropriation daughteru who doesn't wear underwear.

Based on that alone, you would expect Volume 6 to be just as crap. And I decided to go through the whole darn thing, because RWBY "fix" fics aren't just hilariously shit, they're also blatantly telling of the kind of story people who complain about RWBY really want it to be. But I wasn't ready to discover not just how terrible of a writer Celtic Phoenix is, but what an utter piece of excrement he genuinely is.

But before we get into that aspect of Fixing RWBY V6, let's focus on the "subtle" part of why this series is a trainwreck, and not the kind that occurs because our female protagonist is allowed to have any agency whatsoever.

The writing

We'll start with the simplest part of this, that Fixing RWBY is utterly abysmally written in every way.

The pacing is atrocious. Celtic Phoenix pads out chapters with characters flapping their mouths about things that have no consequence for the story and which are never touched upon again. They meander about doing nothing to progress the story. For instance, the events of canon V6's first episode are dragged out over four episodes in Fixing RWBY, with character interactions that never receive any resolution. Blake and Yang's arc of reconciliation makes zero forward progress until it's abruptly glossed over at the very end of the volume, and Blake expresses distrust of Roman but never once defies his authority. Cardin and his team are given screentime that does nothing to progress the story or the main characters' arcs. The story is padded-out with scenes about side characters that add nothing to the plot or to any of the main cast's storylines, and which add nothing to the story by being present.

Celtic Phoenix is also completely incapable of proper foreshadowing. His version of the Brunswick Farms removes everything that builds up the Apathy's nature and powers, simply adding more dead bodies and meaningless ominous notes; as a result, the entire sequence would be nonsensical to anyone not already familiar with canon. He also tacks on an edgy side-effect to the Silver Eyes, with no build-up or hinting-at whatsoever despite Ruby making use of the Silver Eyes earlier in the chapter.

Characters also blatantly act in nonsensical and contrived ways for the sake of railroading the plot. Team RWBY are separated from their weapons for a significant period during the Argus Limited fight, but JNR gets theirs almost immediately. Cordovin immediately accepts Ruby's claims despite a complete lack of evidence supporting them, only for her to later withdraw her agreement, making this nonsensical decision pointless in the long run.

Celtic Phoenix also doesn't have any idea about logical and sensible worldbuilding as well. He creates "Mimic" Grimm that evolve from Apathy Grimm, despite there being zero relation between a Grimm that absorbs willpower and one that imitates people. The Silver Eyes' drawback is plainly tacked on for the sake of edginess, with no logical rationale behind the loss of memories due to using the powers.

Even when Celtic Phoenix isn't all-but-retreading the same story he claims to need to "fix everything" in, his ideas are blatantly stolen from RWBY itself. Cinder's backstory of repeatedly trying to kill Salem is ripped off from Hazel's backstory, as revealed in V8. The edgy drawback for the Silver Eyes is blatantly stolen from a plot point from Volume 9, which was airing during Fixing RWBY V6's release; the same characters react the exact same way as they do to the similar concept in V9, and Celtic Phoenix even has Yang later call Ruby "Rubes" as she does a few times in V9.

The conclusion of the volume drives home that Celtic Phoenix has no idea how to write a satisfying conclusion, let alone one that builds from what he's written previously. He introduces the above-mentioned edgy drawback for the Silver Eyes, only for it to be completely inconsequential because the main character and her teammates are rendered unnecessary to actually resolving the plot. Through contrived writing, Celtic Phoenix would rather have our protagonists watch as other people swoop in to save the day while they did relatively nothing.

So we've established that Celtic Phoenix is a terrible writer, simply on a technical level. But as anyone even vaguely aware of this series without being the kind of "critic" Celtic Phoenix is will know, the most glaring problems with Fixing RWBY lies in different aspects, which highlight how Celtic Phoenix isn't just a shitty writer but a shitty person as well.

The misogyny

Celtic Phoenix has Ruby, Weiss, and Yang play cards with Roman just so Roman can be better than them and gloat over it. He proceeds to have Cardin fucking Winchester try to coach Blake through reconciling with Yang, while teasing Cardin being paired with Velvet—treating Velvet as a reward to Cardin for not being a racist bully.

When Adam appears on the train, Team RWBY are immediately told by male characters to stay out of the way, and are the last to join in the fighting. They're treated as completely helpless before Adam, who would have attacked them had Qrow not saved them. Adam also causes the derailment of the Argus Limited, rather than it being Ruby's choice to protect the other passengers.

After the derailment, the male characters are far more competent at rescuing themselves and the female characters after they fall from the train. When they arrive at Brunswick Farms, Celtic Phoenix creates a new type of Grimm just to be a more dangerous threat that Roman and Qrow face while Team RWBY confronts the lesser Apathy.

Throughout the volume, and especially while in Argus, Team RWBY are frequently portrayed as being unable to get along, with petty insults and cattiness exchanged between them at the most minor and absurd provocations. In contrast, groups that are lead by and/or consist mostly of men are shown to have no problems cooperating or simply being friends. Even when Team RWBY supposedly reconciles, their interactions are bizarrely toxic, insulting, and judgemental towards each other.

When Adam attacks Argus, Team RWBY's immediate response is to flee from him. They are then all defeated by Adam solo, before he is anticlimactically taken out by a cattle prod to the back, following which Cordovin chews them out for being cowards.

Adam's entire portrayal constantly attempts to paint him as sympathetic, even after he has committed an act of mass destruction and murder, including the use of insinuated sexual abuse of his mother in an attempt to portray him as sympathetic. This stands in stark contrast to Ilia Amitola, who is portrayed as undeserving of forgiveness despite having thwarted Adam's previous attempt at mass murder.

Meanwhile Cordovin, who realized the error of her ways in canon, is rewritten into a coward who's willing to desert the people of Argus, doesn't get to serve as a direct combat antagonist at any point, and is ultimately defied by the soldiers under her—continuing a constant trend throughout Fixing RWBY of female characters being written into worse people and having status and authority stripped from them.

And at the climax of the volume, where in canon Ruby mustered the willpower to use the Silver Eyes to turn the tide against the Leviathan? Of course that doesn't happen in Fixing RWBY. Instead, the Atlas soldiers that just earlier were happy to up and leave everyone in Argus to die comes back to save the day. Even in the climax of the story does Celtic Phoenix take every opportunity to strip female characters of their accomplishments and involvement in the plot.

The racism

As mentioned above, Ilia's treatment as a woman of colour who is punished for extremist acts in pursuit of equality clashes blatantly with Adam's treatment, where Fixing RWBY tries to paint him as sympathetic even following him killing numerous people. This furthers the trend of Celtic Phoenix vilifying people of colour within the White Fang, while only having any empathy for the white man in the group.

Also mentioned above is the ship-tease between Cardin and Velvet, two characters whose only interaction in canon is Cardin hurting Velvet in an act of racially-motivated bullying. This plays to racist fantasies of white men being deserving of love from women of minority groups simply for not being outright abusive and prejudiced against them.

When Maria Calavera, a woman of colour with elements of Mexican ethnicity, offers to lead the protagonists to shelter after the train derailment, Roman Torchwick—whom the white male author blatantly uses as his self-insert—accuses Maria of plotting to steal their kidneys.

Arslan, a woman of colour who previously reappeared solely to cruelly mock Pyrrha's death, returns solely to be killed off by Cinder, a white woman. Celtic Phoenix then revealed in a Reddit post that he'd written her entire character around obsession with wanting to feel superior to Pyrrha, a white woman, to the point where it ultimately results in Arslan's death. (Note that nothing in the scenes where Arslan appears even hints at this motivation, thus driving home Celtic Phoenix's utter inability to show rather than tell.)

And the queerphobia

After Ren fends off a monster attacking Roman, Roman exclaims "My hero!" in a romantic fashion. This is the continuation of a piece of queerphobic "humour" from Fixing RWBY V5, where Roman says he thought Ren was a woman because he isn't masculine enough in Celtic Phoenix's eyes.

In addition, which characters who were involved in the airship theft had their roles entirely excised? Saphron and Terra, of course. Despite forcing Cardin and his teammates to the forefront repeatedly, even to the point of letting Cardin tell Blake to Stay In The Kitchen while he fought Adam, Celtic Phoenix minimizes the role two sapphic women play in Volume 6.

White men

Given all of the above, it's blatantly just how deeply bigotry is at the root of Celtic Phoenix's writing decisions. In fact, there is one specific word I'd use to describe Celtic Phoenix, as a person, as a writer, as a "critic" of RWBY:

Threatened.

Fixing RWBY V6 is the work of a white man who genuinely is threatened, who genuinely feels victimized by the story of RWBY. Fixing RWBY itself is the story of a man so offended by a story where the titular heroines are the actual protagonists that he reduces the lead character to a man's sidekick, treats the titular team as incapable of mere friendship, and has them run in terror from a male antagonist at every encounter.

In fact, white male insecurity is at the heart of just about every writing choice of Fixing RWBY, every change that Celtic Phoenix makes. There is not one single episode where Celtic Phoenix does NOT try to have white male characters upstage female characters. White male characters are always more capable of handling challenges than Team RWBY. White male characters are always more charismatic and cooperative and confident. White male characters are always treated as more deserving of respect and sympathy than anyone else. Team RWBY's accomplishments and growth are stripped from them, and whenever they do achieve anything, either a.) white male characters guided them, b.) white male characters did more than them, or c.) it was ultimately inconsequential anyway.

And whether or not they want to admit it to others or even themselves, the people who worked on and otherwise support Fixing RWBY approve of what Celtic Phoenix created because of that white-male self-importance. It doesn't matter what they claim to believe; they've shown through their support for Fixing RWBY that they believe that white men should be the only people who matter in any story. That a story about four brave heroines should instead be a story about how women can't get anything done by themselves. That people of colour should be reduced to snarling villains at worst and targets of racist nonsense from a white man's self-insert at best. That queer people should be swept under the rug so the story can focus on men being entitled to love from women.

All of that is how these people would "fix" RWBY.

[beyondblue2]

To the Dragon Ball Super Haters

So I still to this day see people making the same complaints about Dragon Ball Super, so let me just say this: I don't believe you can dislike Super for the vast majority of complaints made about it and still enjoy DBZ. Allow me to elaborate.

Most criticisms of Super, like inconsistent animation, or power of friendship shenanigans, or half-cooked plot, or powerups that have very little buildup, or hell, even powerups that really only change the user's hair color... are all present in DBZ. I think most people don't want to argue that DBZ doesn't deserve its legendary status because you'd be fighting alone against a horde. But it's much easier to proclaim your hatred of something new and cite a decline in quality.

These people either A) don't like DBZ either and therefore shouldn't be so entrenched in the franchise, B) don't dislike Super for the reasons they give but want to sound like they have good taste, or just dislike it for stupid reasons, or C) were tricked by people who come from points A or B into believing things are worse than they are, because they have the media literacy of a toddler.

It's like this. Say you run into someone while you're talking about how much you love Reese's Cups. And they tell you Reese's are a garbage treat and you're an idiot for liking it. And you get upset, obviously. And eventually you go "okay, explain it to me. Why do you hate them?" And they tell you that peanut butter is objectively terrible. Which, first off, it's not, that's your extremely subjective opinion. But second, didn't I see you eating a PB&J sandwich in the break room earlier? And they're like "yeah, PB&J is delicious, it's the best sandwich ever, nobody's disputing that." And you're just like... it has peanut butter though. And they're like "okay but you're taking it out of context." WHAT CONTEXT, BRO!? Either you think peanut butter is nasty or you don't! So you're either lying about hating Reese's to sound edgy and cool, or you're lying about loving PB&J because you don't want to be ostracized for being a freak.

That's basically what it boils down to. If you don't like Super, I'm not saying you're not valid. But be real. You probably don't like it because you were a kid when DBZ came out and your tastes have changed since then. I'm not going to sit here and act like Super isn't flawed, but let's not pretend that those same flaws didn't exist in Z, either. And don't give me that "Goku should be heroic" shit either, that was something the American dubbing crew did on their own. The same dub where Goku and Chichi had a weird offscreen kiss sound effect also told us Bardock was a brilliant scientist who invented the fake moon. Goku does heroic things from time to time, but he always does it with a kind of selfish basis of reasoning. He loves his friends, but he'll let Vegeta go to get a better fight later. He'll give Frieza some energy, but one more betrayal of trust and Goku will obliterate him.

You're either down with the main character being a flawed and interesting character and therefore will enjoy the Dragon Ball franchise, or you're not. In which case, stop clogging up the Tumblr tags and YouTube comments with your bitching and complaining. You don't see me infiltrating the Attack on Titan community to talk about how much it sucks. You know why? Because I fucking hate that series and I don't WANT to talk about it all the time. So if you watched some essayist trying to recreate the Nostalgia Critic or whatever and he told you Super sucks and you just parrot what he said without a sparking synapse in that smooth soap bar of a brain in your skull, then please, just shut the fuck up. For your own sake as well as mine.

[justatalkingface]

I just... feel like there was a better way 1-A could've done to get Izuku back instead of... what the fuck happened in canon.

Like only the ones closest to him could've come to get him back because everyone coming and saying all these things just doesn't work because we don't see Izuku interact with them enough to get a sense of that.

Or just have Izuku be too weak to move and just have them talk to him.

Or, just prove he's right in them not keeping up (since it was proven later in the form of Jiro getting hurt and Bakugou dying) by besting them in battle and call them out on what they were doing. Followed by someone else (Can be the starhead guy, the lizsrd lady, or even one of the villains watching the fight and listening to what he said) takes him in for some much needed rest.

But I have a feeling you would come up with something better.

I mean, let's be honest, at a fundamental level, the 'Dark Deku' arc needed to figure out what the fuck it actually wanted and gone from there.

It presents itself as Izuku going through a dark phase, falling into being an edgelord and a vigilante, by the fact he left and gets an edgy new look, but.... he's actually supervised by a bunch of top level heroes? So he's not? Moreover, UA is a school he chooses to enroll in *flashback to Mamadori almost pulling him out* so... there's nothing actually wrong in him leaving, either.

It also tries to say, 'Hey, Izuku, don't abandon your friends! They aren't a weakness, they're a strength! You can't do it without them!'

*flashback to Bakugou being bodied by SFO casually*

...Only to promptly show that, no, he actually had a really good point.

SFO, at least, could trashed them using only one of his (many) hands. If SFO wanted to fight him, and he was at the school, and he had just waltzed up there, all that work would have done shit; as is, everything is going as well as it has only been because the heroes planned out everything and ambushed SFO, while also with AFO being nerfed and idiot balled into being a non-realistic threat for most of the fight. If basiclly every high level hero in the country wasn't on hand to throw down, with Eraserhead in position to instantly slap SFO with a no-quirk clause, with time to evacuate the general area and prepare the school, in other words, without every possible thing going right, UA would have been destroyed in a matter of minutes. Most of the heroes would have been killed, UA would have been destroyed, and there would have been mass casualties with all the civilians there, who also had a good point in that maybe, just maybe, putting the villains number one target with the helpless civilians hiding from the villain has obvious downsides?

But, that's a little off focus: how would I do that better? Well, there's a lot of ways to play it, for a lot of potential resolutions, but for starters, the obvious choice is not to attack him.

Like, hell. That shouldn't be that hard of an idea, Hori; Izuku at this point is suffering from mental concerns, he's pushing himself too hard, he's trying to martyr himself for the sake of others. The solution to something like is not, 'punch him better', sweet fuck.

For example, if you want to show them making mistakes, maybe as a lead up to people realizing they've treated Izuku badly, then have Bakugou attack him, maybe with some other people from the class (but definitely not the people Izuku is actually friends with) and have them be bitched slapped because Izuku should be far over powering everyone at this point, and then have it pointed out that, obviously, attacking him isn't helping. Have Izuku get noticeably worse, maybe, in response, and leave, as someone has that (incredibly obvious) realization that they made things worse, and let them wallow in the 'what have we done' vibes that mistake has earned for a bit, with some retrospective on their interactions with Izuku before now.

Then someone like Ochako, Shoto, or Iida could step up and get to the obvious method: talking him down. Communicating with him, like he's a person with his own ideas and agency, instead of trying to change him by force, and then they go, and they talk him down, and to conclude it all later the attackers then apologize for attacking him, and you know, don't do it when Izuku's dead on his feet.

That's basiclly the canon route, for the record, but played out with more realistic consequences instead of it magically working out for them.

The thing is, you can 'force' someone into working with you, but it's... not done like that. A way to 'force' Izuku into teamwork, instead of fighting him, something that Hori nodded at for a second before it became instantly irrelevant, is Izuku simply needing help, and his friends rescuing him from danger. And if he protests? Even better; that brings it back to Iida with Stain, way back when, with a nice sort duality to it about how much he's grown that he's doing it save Izuku. In this scenario, Izuku has no way to stop them from helping other than words because of the situation he's in, and if they just ignore his protests (again, like Izuku did for Iida), then there's nothing he can actually do to stop them. There's a mild problem in him needing help when he's so OP now, but something the manga doesn't seem to acknowledge anymore is that Quirk users.... are still human? Sure, Izuku can probably dead-lift the Titanic or something, but he still needs to breath. And eat. And drink. In general, all that fun stuff biological beings need to do regularly. Admittedly, it wouldn't fit well with how the manga was heading at that point, which is just people throwing around pure power with no real strategy (though I hate that, so... I see no problem here), but Izuku could simply be poisoned by someone. Invisible gas, poison skin, whatever: no matter how strong he is, OFA doesn't make him immune to mundane human concerns.

Boom. Instant distress scenario, but everyone involved doesn't get treated like a piece of shit.

Another idea is All Might, you know, that guy Hori hates. There were some scenes there, with All Might trying to connect with Izuku, and maybe dial him back a bit, that didn't go anywhere. Build off that, work with it, have it come up more. Have Izuku come to the end of his rope, somehow, physically, mentally, fall into despair, and then at that moment where he's about to give up?

"I am here."

There's so much potential on the All Might and Izuku dynamic from the start that never got explored after a while, about how similar they are, how they have the same problems, how that experience could have been used to help Izuku with his problems, and All Might coming to Izuku at his worst, like he could have used at his worst (instead of having an abusive mentor who only talks in pain, and a controlling sidekick who can't take no for an answer), to help him move past it in a way All Might never could? That could have been so great, it really could have, I honestly miss All Might as an active character who does things so much, and the mentor and student dynamic of the two of them together.

And that's not if Izuku just... had this character arc without them, and had new perspective from talking to all the villains that he's fighting, and you know, Lady Nagant, who would certainly have had an interesting perspective on things.... you know. If she was allowed to have it.

But let's backtrack a bit. Beyond the shitty way it happened, with turning 1A into Bakugou's goons, the other problem with this whole clustefuck is it just... didn't know what it wanted to say. I pointed it out awhile ago, but Hori suffers this with Izuku, who simultaneously was a disabled everyboy who wasn't actually special in any way, symbolizing the heroic spirit and how You Don't Need To Be Special, and the fact that Izuku at this point can murder god.

Izuku is symbolizing both of the conflicting messages of the story, that are almost but not quite diametrically opposed to each other: that everyone can be a hero, and that some people are more special than others. And these messages are something Hori can't figure out what he wants to do with them.

There are ways to do both of these at once, but the thing is that's actually super hard to consistently invoke both of these concepts and not have them cancel each other out, and it's why most stories tend to double down on one or the other.

So, let's look at Dv1A from that broader kind of context:

In the grand scheme of things, this is set up as 'everyone is a hero' message, with the (theoretically elite) 1A working together to not only beat someone who is just Built Different from them, but also demonstrate teamwork, friendship, and so on... except it's really tainted by how they're hunting him, but let's ignore that for a sec.

At the same time, the next arc swings in and all of that, all of that, is basically invalidated because they are helpless to stop SFO.

So. How do we do this better? (Beyond just not having god knows how many chapters of everyone failing to meaningfully contribute in the final fight.) Well, for one, we could better acknowledge the situation this is in, and how it's not black and white.

1A comes to rescue Izuku, Ra Ra friendship; from that perspective, we're assuming they have an actual conversation with him, and they open with, 'Come back, we miss you, we can do this together'.

Izuku counters with, 'But you can't', which is semi-objectively right, but it's also against the message the story wants, which is they're ultimately right anyways because friendship.

So have them simply respond with 'We don't care'.

Have someone, Shoto, Iida, Ochako, Momo, whoever, agree with him that they are, even when viewed collectively, weaker than him, but it doesn't matter, they're doing this anyways. Like a hero, who acts without thinking.

This is a shonen story, at the end of the day. Are they objectively correct? Nope. Is this maybe a poor decision? Sure. But you know what? Plus Ultra. Lean into the fact this is a story, acknowledge the flaws, and then have them ignore it, only to ultimately overcome it anyways with skill, determination, and pure luck.

Because, all in all, not every hero needs to be 'Deku', memetically overpowered, except for this one single situation with AFO. MHA is a setting that could easily support a Quirkless hero, who does hero things, and just... you know, doesn't fight the Demon King, or the High End Nomu, or whatever because that's suicide and they realize their limits. Izuku is stronger than them all, yes, but that fact doesn't invalidate them as heroes, or as his friends, or them working together, or anything like that. This was a place for the story to (try and, even if they ultimately fail because it's way too late at this point) to pull out of the power up death spiral that's overtaken it and say that, in fact, power isn't everything.

And finally, what should have happened is that Izuku should have finally, finally, only at the end of the actual story goddamn it but at least he actually got there, started to respect himself, as a person.

The 'set up' of this arc, short as it was, focused on Izuku's completely lack of self-respect and self-care, how he didn't (and still doesn't) value himself as anything more than a tool to help others, like All Might did, and how he was destroying himself because of that toxic mentality. This was built up, but... it never happened. They fought, they mentioned it to some extent, though that lost its value with how much they were actively attacking him, but we've never seen that new mindset actually, properly excuted; we have yet to see Izuku respect himself.

Fundamental to this set up is his friends pounding into Izuku's skull that he matters. Farther than they did in the story, without the taint of them attacking, they need to say that he doesn't need to be strong, to be a hero, to matter. That him doing this to himself not only hurts him, but it hurts them, hurts his friends, his mentor, his mother, all of who value him as more than just a set up of superpowers in a meat suit. That he doesn't have to be Deku, that he doesn't have be a hero, to be valued, and that just being Izuku is OK.

[macbethz]

oh man i would love more transmetropolitan-adjacent 90s comics recs.....

omg i got you. I will be bleeding a little into the late 80s and early 2000s here (as transmetropolitan itself did with the early 2000s) but I do think they full of a similar kind of gross edginess (affectionate).

THIS GOT SO LONG SORRY I GOT EXCITED. also sorry for grammar etc i am kinda falling asleep but YAYY comics

first of all i will say MANDITORY DISCLAIMER that Warren Ellis is an awful person and you can find all his works online if you know where to look and/or used on eBay. HOWEVER he has unfortunately written some of my favorite comics, including transmet. which means of course a lot of the best transmet adjacent stuff is written by him. So some Ellis comics:

Desolation Jones: ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVES! which is unfortunately forever unfinished at 8 issues. It follows an ex-MI6 operative working as a private eye in Los Angeles, which acts as a secret prison for the discards of the intelligence community. Jones was put through the desolation test for a full year, which was a form of torture where, among other things, he was exposed to images of violence and death 24/7 without sleep, leaving him with little emotion and a very broken mind. Beautiful page composition and art. Be warned though it is just straight up unfinished

"Superhuman Trilogy": This is the name for 3 completely unrelated comics Ellis wrote that all deal with twisted takes on the creation of superheroes: Black Summer, No Hero, and Supergod. Of these I think No Hero strays a little too much into edge for the sake of it, the other two are very good and unique explorations of different aspects of the genre.

Stormwatch: Ellis' Stormwatch run is basically the lead up to the Authority. You CAN skip it and i recommend most people do because it is VERY 90s and not necessarily the good kind. but if you have a passion for 90s nonsense it is very fun and its cool to see the beginnings of the subversions of the comic industry that come to fruition in the Authority. I cannot emphasize enough that this run is fucking insane and of debatable quality. I believe his run goes from vol 1 #37 through the end of vol 2. and don't forget to pick up wildCATS/Aliens if you want to see the true craziness of 90s comics, where a cash-grab crossover is simultaneously essential to the windstorm universe. yeah they just did whatever back then

The Authority: The superhero comic that defined superhero comics for the next 2 decades. Coined the widescreen comic, unfortunately indirectly led the the creation of the MCU. Superheroes as anarchist gods. The end of the century as the end of the world. A lot of stuff that reads to modern eyes as cliche or overdone because the Authority made it so goddamn popular afterwards.

Now for some non Ellis!

If you enjoy transmet you will probably enjoy the other British Invasion writers. Basically there was a period in comics post-Alan Moore where a lot of British writers started getting hired in American comics and writing weird shit.

Sandman: I don't think I need to describe this one. A lot edgier and more directly goth subculture inspired than the netflix adaptation conveyed

Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol: What if instead of making you a superhero your "superpowers" were more like disabilities? And also you were constantly fighting the most batshit enemies possible? That is this comic. Weird, surreal, and very influenced by modern and postmodern artistic movements.

Peter Milligan's Shade, The Changing Man: imo this is such a British Invasion sleeper hit. No one talks abt this one. A being from another dimension with the power to control capital-M-Madness possesses the body of a serial killer right before he is executed on death row. He then teams up with the daughter of the serial killer's victims to stop a plague of Madness from spreading across the US called the American Scream. All about being weird, gross, and awesome.

Now, I have not read Preacher myself. HOWEVER I have seen the show and really enjoyed it. I am naturally suspicious of Garth Ennis but he is a staple of 90s edge so I feel like I have to say something. I can definitely recommend the show and have heard good things about the comic but again. It's Ennis.

Non british invasion and a little later, but I also really recommend Invincible! A lot of that same early 2000s satire and ultraviolence expanded over a MASSIVE storyline that loves superheroes as much as it parodies them

ANYWAY im probably forgetting some but i am sleepy and got excited abt this lmao. A lot of this is pretty popular so might not be anything new but i hope it helps!

[yunwooz]

so so sorry if you're done talking about this, but as someone that fits the worst trifecta in the world (anime/manga fan, atiny, csa survivor) this situation with mingi and mia is kind of... perplexing to me. i will do my best to explain. so as someone that LOVES horror and has read and seen some real horrible shit on the internet, mia ranks pretty damn high in regards to being disturbing. i've watched bits and pieces of the uncensored version, and watched analysis videos when i got disgusted with the fetish-y shit and tapped out. as someone that Knows Shit, i can definitely tell when a series is being disturbing for the sake of being edgy, versus fetish-y. but i also know that other people genuinely /can't/ tell the difference. to them, it's just a gross show with some godforsaken plot points that are interesting enough to keep watching. that's why i'm both wary and inclined to /just/ keep a close eye on things at the same time. mingi has given off no other warning signs from what i've seen, so either he's a real fuckin good actor at keeping shit undercover, or he's just some guy that watched a weird show that is popular (Fuck That Shit btw) and has the stomach to watch it. i'm not comfortable making a concrete decision either way as someone that doesn't personally know or interact with him, /and no one else should either/. idfk about the others, i'm not fans of any of them. anyway. yeah.

thank you for sharing your opinion!! i really appreciate hearing from people who are in the anime/manga fandom space bc while i engage in that content, i have always steered clear of the fandom aspect of things so it helps to hear from other people in the fan space too ^^ you bring up a really good point in that some people can tell a difference and others can't for whatever reason. that's something i have been struggling to wrap my head around since this all started bc i can't imagine watching that show or reading the manga and finding nothing wrong with it. the extent of the grossness can be seen differently from person to person as well, and in looking into this series, i can well and truly say that i have seen people at every point of the spectrum of 'this is good' to 'this is despicable'. i also know that for a majority of consumers, they aren't gonna care if you tell them that what they're watching/reading is fetishy and gross. truly i don't want to speak to the character of any of these people who have mentioned watching the show and withheld an actual opinion because we don't know them on a personal level. it's different i suppose to me having read the obscene defenses some people put out for the content of the series, but i do hope this calls people to be more discerning about popular media and what they're consuming

[eazy-peazy54]

TAKE MY DHMIS AU (this time it is not a reblog)

its called the insanity/sleepless/savior au. (whatever you wanna call it) (mostly called insanity) (for now, until i find a different/better name. or it may never change, who knows.)

(i'm gonna format this in a funny way so people will read this.) (ill also edit this when i make more shit up)

a lot of this is kinda out of character, but its an au, tf did you expect?

now i'm gonna stop stalling

heres how this shit went down..

______________________________________________________________

Red is CONVINCED that something is up with the house.

so naturally, he locks himself in a room with a corkboard and some photos, and doesn't sleep for about 2 weeks straight. (as any sane person would do.) so yes he is very insane also duck and yellow are very much unaware of this

*side note: you know how in the movies, people use red string to connect the clues up? yeah so red was like "yo i need something to tie this all together." so he looked over at a table and he saw some scissors and he um

he cut some of his hair off

besides that, he's perfectly fine.

anyways, after days (and nights) of research and theorizing like motherfucking Matpat Game Theory,

he figures it out.

(or at least, he thinks he does.)

First off; he realizes that the days are looping. he has suspected it before, but he has finally confirmed it.

but red wants out. so he's all like "man fuck this shit., when can i leave?"

and then he comes up with the 'best idea ever.'

"what if we DIE?"

"if we all die forever, then maybe we'll leave this hellish loop!"

So he leaves the room and sees the light of day (he only had one light on in that little room.)

since the room is connected to the kitchen, yellow and duck are in the kitchen talking.

duck spots red first and is all like "WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU?!?!? WE'VE BEEN LOOKING EVERYWHERE"

Red doesnt respond.

so ducks just like "anyways come sit down we got food"

THIS IS WHERE IT GETS WEIRD.

since red is now kind of on this i guess- elevated?? mindset, he subconsciously starts committing acts of.. violence.

it starts off small, with things like pushing stuff off tables, occasional throwing of objects, glaring at people menacingly

then the physical violence kicks in. (swatting away peoples hands, actively ignoring people, making intense efforts to be away from everyone and everything)

finally, red snaps

whilst yellows back is turned one day in the kitchen,

red draws a knife and stabs him. he stabs him 11 times

just as he does this, duck comes in and is like "WHAT THE FUCK"

he's pissed, he's sad, he's angry

he yells at red and is like "WHY DID YOU DO THIS"

and red starts villain monologuing about his theories and research. (also like matpat)

meanwhile duck wants out, so hes slowly backing away. red is turned around so he cant see duck backing away, but duck hits the kitchen counter, and red wheels around and give duck this stare

this stare where you know he is completely gone.

where you know he is lost in Insanity™️

woah that was edgy. anyways red continues. he ends his speech with something like "and now, you must die. for the sake of us" or something

so duck just books it

red follows

theres a bit where duck looks up the stairs and contemplates if he should go up them. he looks up them, then behind him, and then he just- runs left and doesnt go up the stairs.

anwyas in the end red ends up killing him

and hes like "finally, i freed them! my friends are saved" and he thinks of himself as this amazing savior. so then he waits to see if he was right. he sits in his chair and stares out the window for hours.

in his theories, he thinks that in the next day his friends will be gone and safe.

he ends up falling asleep while looking out the window.

now if this was in an episodal format, the next episode would begin.

the intro plays.

duck and yellow are there, and just fine. they didnt remember that they died. (this is including my headcanon that the characters only remember the good parts or "lessons" of each episode and barely any of the traumatizing shit) (okay sometimes they randomly remember the traumatizing things but ypu get what i mean)

but red is just fuckin confused

hes all like

"guys??? i killed you??? waht the fuck?!?!?@?"

and then for the next episode he is just super paranoid

and thats all i have

maybe red dies of stress/suicide??? then comes back the next episode? and forgets?!?!? idk?

but thats it for now

tag me if you make any content about my au btw because i wanna see cool art 👍

[treesandwords]

The Dalion Family For Dummies Anyone But Me Who hasn't Memorized The Entire Inner Worlds of These Freaks (good please don't do that you'll regret it)

Jamos

Military Dad ™

Needs to chill

HATES magic like really an absurd amount. For a guy who scoffs at anyone showing emotion ever he needs to calm the fuck down.

Has 9 kids. Also has zero idea how to interact with children. Maybe this was a bad idea.

~trauma~

But he never talks about it because it "doesn't matter" except it Very Much Did Fuck Him Up

Technically probably a war criminal but got away with it

"Not everyone is EXACTLY like me with all my same views and values???? what is this?? Something's wrong with everyone but me I guess???"

Scarily good at convincing people to do what he needs them to do

"I wish we could go back to the Good Old Glorious Days of our former empire when *checks notes* my people definitely weren't constantly at war and in much worse conditions than they are now"

Everything even remotely personal is a secret. If it's not one it should be.

Collects weird shit and pretends not to

Katrine

Mom

Screaming internally

The backbone of this family istg

Does things for The Aesthetic

Obsesses over the latest fashion trends

Pretends to know what she's doing. Does not in fact know what she's doing.

Yup that's me. You're probably wondering how I got into this situation.

Re: overseeing the leader of a foreign party of rebels from the country you're currently at war with making a formal oath with your daughter & signing contracts in blood

WILL organize a party even if literally everything is in shambles because that's what you do

Laedir

Traumatized oldest son trying to pretend he's not traumatized

Loves his wife

Would honestly just rather let her do everything because she's better at it

Horses Make More Sense Than People

His horse is his best friend

(his horse might be his only friend)

(I am now realizing Laedir is a horse girl)

Zones out during important meetings

Sad Conflicted Boy

Needs a hug

Plagued by intrusive thoughts

Hates water (for good reason)

Quinnton

A himbo honestly

Doesn't have a clue what's going on most of the time but pretends to

The supportive brother

Tries to be cool

Long hair

Has a good heart, just doesn't think things through most of the time

Charms everybody

Ghost story teller extraordinaire

Absolutely adores his dad and older brother

The Cool Brother to Laedir's Nerd Brother

Jock

He & his mom are holding this family together

Gevin

Edgy

Depressed Thot ™

Secretly writes emo poetry but nobody knows that

Scares kids on purpose

Probably gay

Drawn to the ~forbidden lore~~

Convinced everyone hates him. Pretends to roll with it and embrace his role as "everybody's villain" but actually is dying inside

(And actually most people *don't* hate him, he's just kind of a dick and if he was less of a dick they would show that??? boy no offence but you're dumb [affectionate])

Girlbosses too close to the sun

Polyglot prodigy

Fights with his twin in other languages so no one knows how badly they're swearing at each other

Tall af

Carries around a fancy knife at all times for The Vibes. Yes that is an actual and ultimately very emotional plot point.

Bronwyn

The other twin

Honestly? An icon

Angry

Does what she's supposed to but really, really doesn't want to

Also a polyglot

Delays marriage as long as possible because she is definitely just freaked out by the idea of being forced into a maternal role and definitely doesn't also have zero interest in men

Though she does sleep with a guy she's not supposed to just for the sake of having a Dirty Little Secret

Tries to go to college but fails the application (basically)

...and ends up going off into the woods to hang out with a bunch of lady druids

Mad at everyone and also trying so hard to love them

Makes her own clothes

Ciaran

Does not give a single fuck

Probably only likes like 2 people

He's a nerd and then you dig a little deeper and turns out!! He's a bigger nerd than you'd even imagined

Knows exactly what he wants

And what he wants is to live in the woods and never speak to another human again, which he can't have, therefore, rage

Short

Annoyed about being short

Blunt

Does actually care about the people you'd least expect him to care about, but doesn't like showing it

Kind of mean to his siblings but they can't take him seriously bc he's basically a grumpy toad

Jerod

My boy!!

Loves everyone (at first)

They do not always reciprocate

Such a simp honestly

Isn't as honest as he'd like to be

He's so open and innocent that you'd think he'd be, but this boy spends like half the book Telling Lies

Sort of a kleptomaniac??

Like. Has drawers and boxes full of random stuff he finds and picks up that usually doesn't appear to belong to anyone. Usually.

Procrastinates

Has Visions ™

Runs from his problems

BLIND to flirtatious behaviour

"Am I the only one who feels [x way] and therefore obviously Insane, or does everyone else feel it too and they're just lying to me??"

I've said this before but !! Ace king!!!!

Scared of snakes

Germaphobe

Honestly so so unhealthy oh my god

Cassian

Love me love me love me

Seriously needs attention All The Time

Great with little kids

Very gay

Wishes everyone would Just Lighten Up Dammit

But also Feels intensely

The one who tries so hard to make everyone else happy, also the one who needs very badly for someone to try to make *him* happy and isn't getting that

Super supportive, gives long motivational talks at 1 am probably

Cannot take criticism

Wants to be useful

Does what he's supposed to but in a cool way

Able to speak his mind w/o being a dick

Always sees the good in people even if they've shown him otherwise

Nurei

Fashion Queen

The one everyone likes

Smol

A little self conscious

The party planner

Gets along with almost anybody & brings out the best in them

Honestly a great friend

Ok she's a kind of mean to her little sister though

(but they end up friends)

Horrible immune system

Never really stretches her comfort zone. Is ok letting herself be told what to do and not questioning things

Very compassionate but not very emotional

Esme

Cries

When she's angry, when she's sad, when she's happy etc. there will be tears

Also needs Attention

Bad at math

Does whatever the fuck she wants

Bugs her siblings so much but is also so loveable

Is secretly terrified of not being "enough"

Major anxiety

Would probably be an activist

Will call people out with zero shame

Fear of abandonment

Rips up barbies (or Fantasy Medieval World equivalent) & teaches her impressionable nieces how to also rip up barbies

Taglist: @kaatiba

[sainthelgas]

Buffy s1e07/s1e08 thoughts

Spoilers below. Readers beware. Your in for a scare.

Part 1: s1e97

Oh i just said that im not dure to make of angel. Hopefully this episode will let me get a better idea of his gist.

Is like the buffy/angel ship mostly popular due to wish fulfillmen? It kinda feels like to me there relationship isnt ad interesting as it is appealing for the shows prime audience. Angel is kinds like hot and edgy but like in a sensitive sort of way. Unlike someone like Xander he isnt that needy. Its not even clear if hes really into buffy. I assume mostly so he can have plauable deniability in court. I kid I kid. In all fairness i ship zillow so my opinion on relationships shouldnt be trusted. And i dont really like men with the gosling phenotype. But thats my personal taste. If i had to have sex with one of the men from buffy so far and i couldnt pick the principle who was canniablised id probably pick giles.

Willow is the funniest character on this show. Here dialogue isnt super funny, or at least in comparrison to the other characters. But her delivery is top notch.

Ew. Gross. There goes any plauable deniability. Oh shit hes a vampyr????? Okay, i thibk im getting the ship more now. This is kinds like proto twilight. "Ooh baby i want you. To drink your blood???". Except the implied fact that edward is signigabtly older then bella is context. Xander i also hate this guy but you can not tell her to kill him right now. At least wait a little for fucks sake. Even if thats true she obviosuly isnt gonna listen to that right now.

I fuck with Darla big time. She reminds me of Akai from csm. Maybe judt cause theyre both blone if im being honest.

HES 240?! Fucking hell man! To be fair he isnt like still hanging around high schools like edward. He just happened to get involved with high school bullshit.

Ya know xander isnt perfect. As we learned last episode. But he would never do this shit. Like yeah angel is definitely more emotionally mature then xander but thats mostly cause xander is in fact a teenager. Angel is old enough to have five generations or grand children and hes still acting like a tortured pretty boy.

Angels gay as shit for that. Sorry. I did wanna give him the benefit of the doubt but no more. I hate this shmuck. Darla should dump the chump and get with a real man. And i guess she did. Except he dumped her to date a high schooler like an undead scott pilgrim. I saw this all but maybe his sad backstory will change my opinion on him. Honestly id probably like him a LOT more if he was played by michael cera.

Giles should start fucking buffys mom so its less suspicious when he shows up places for no reason.

Update: the sad backstory got me. He judt got a big spike in edge points.

When she said "you're sick. Youll always be sick" i started drooling . And there she goes. Bye darla. All she did was be the best chsracter on the shoe and then die. Ooh shit i love how the subplot at the club eith the place getting fumigsted kinda reflects the titular vampire slaying. It feels like they're playing into the question of how necessrry it is to slay all vampires and the moral grays in the middle. It also helped me understand the buffy/angel ship more. Like im not a fan but i get it. I understsnd it but I dont want it. Im still on the Xillow train even if i vsnt imagine it heading anywhere besides front first into the side og the mountain. Cause even if they do get together i feel like xander eill still see himself as "settling" which will play into willows feelings of inferiority to buffy which will then feed into xanders feeling of having settled. But thats kinds what i find interesting about it.

Part 2: ep s1e08

I lobe the cold opening for this episode. We're fsr enough in you kinds get the monster of a werk formst do thry csn start getting weird with it.

"The only reality is virtual. If youre not jscked ib youre not alive" is perhaps my life moto. I should get thst tattood on my forhead. Is this gonna be the late 90's internet episode? I hope so. Also willows turtleneck in the opening but is amazing.

She met someone?! Holy shit! Finally shes moving on from xander. I think its funny how willow is like more online then buffy. When you gotts explain to your real life friends why you have a boyfriend on the other side of the planet.

Im happy but shes kinda also getting into the bad habit of seeking out validation online. Which is a no go. Id know. Anyones better then xander probably. (Will regret this later)

What what nazi germany what? Whos the nazi? Was the internet already radicalising people by this point??? They say jacked in like it explains anything but it doesnt

This is just a good episode. It really plays into willows insecurities which i like. The visuals and aesthetics also have me flipping like a dog. Especially the harsh green lighting at the climax. Thats what im here for!!!

[ginger-snappe-420]

Fr tho it does come off as a parody! I think the thing with Cactus and the mlg jokes were the creator's attempt at humor. Which tbh isn't that funny but to each their own y'know? (My humor sucks anyhow so I can't talk 😭) But yeah the whiplash between V3 episode one and five is so bad.

Like if I watched the first episode and then the fifth episode without watching the other ones, I would think they're two different shows. Episode one was more funny (or at least trying to be) than it was serious. Like you said it had ear rape and fucking mlg air horns for god's sake! But then episode five is just a bloodbath that tries to have character development in it.

I haven't watched episode 5 in a long time, so sorry if I get anything wrong, but the scene with Plug and Flashdrive just felt so... Off? Like it felt out of place for a show like OT. And same for whatever the fuck was going on between Arch and Mint. Like to go from two characters discussing how one feels ignored because of the other's busy schedule (which tbh I never got that vibe before that scene), to two characters making out while two other characters acting surprised and shocked, to someone getting their fucking face bit off is like... HUH?? I'm sorry but it feels like this show was trying to be many different things at once. (At least I think so, let me know if I sound dumb rn.) But to have two characters having a serious chat about their relationship to two characters having a makeout session as a joke (btw it wasn't even funny. It made me really uncomfortable like. THE SOUNDS???) is like. Bro come on. Idk I'm sorry I'm tired.

But anyways my main point is that the show started off more comedic and silly and then turned into an edgy bloodbath with a fucking demon trying to impress SATAN (I'm sorry I can't get over that what the hell 😭). I'm not saying that you can't start off a show being lighthearted and then it turning into something darker later on, because that does happen. But this isn't the case. Like this happens over the span of five episodes, four is when it really started getting bloody. And mind you episode one had fucking MEMES in it. Which by the way have NOT aged well.

I do like your idea about how Smore could work tho! I really like the idea of like the contestants being like "punished" for being pieces of shit. But in the show it just comes out of nowhere! The creator didn't have any ideas for Smore and just added him for the show to be edgy and for him to add drama to Mint and Arch's relationship.

Oh yeah and TV 14 is definitely NOT the right rating for the show. Here's a quick description of what R rated films have: "An R-rated motion picture, in the view of the board, contains some adult material. The film may include adult themes, adult activity, hard language, intense or persistent violence, sexually oriented nudity, drug abuse or other elements, so that parents are counseled to take this rating very seriously. Generally, it is not considered appropriate for parents to bring their young children with them." Sound familiar? (I highlighted what applied to OT and the fact that young children should not be watching this show. Which. Y'know is mostly what the osc is. Also wtf is adult activity? Idk at this point I really don't care)

Also something else I want to talk about: What the fuck is Beer and Trowel's relationship? Are they friends? Boyfriends? Friends with benefits?? Because like they never shown any signs of dating and then they just start making out. WHY?? There was no reason for that happening either they just did it. Was it a joke?? I didn't laugh. Like I said it made me hella uncomfortable because the SOUNDS. And it lasted way longer than it needed to. Oh yeah and it was never brought up again either. Maybe if the show has more episodes it would've explored that but how are you gonna make out with your best friend for no reason and then just act like nothing happened. And the fact that Stapler and Carpet were so surprised that Carpet LITERALLY passed out from pure shock is really telling of how Beer and Trowel's relationship is portrayed.

And another thing (I'm so sorry): But the whole thing with the Minotaur felt weird. Like they had the two cohosts go into a public area, bomb the area (or something like that I forgot) and then kidnap someone?? And then inject them with a solution to make them murderous?? DO YOU SEE HOW INSANE THIS SOUNDS?? And at the end of the episode it was revealed that the Minotaur was just some guy living his life. So they made Minotaurs out to be monsters but in their universe they're just people?? Sounds like racism ngl. (Again I haven't watched this show in ages so let me know if I'm getting anything wrong.)

In the end though, the creator is just an idiot loser who thought he made something that was good. But it wasn't. And he acted like a man child too. Like how tf are you gonna joke about self harm and suicide if you censor words like shit and you're afraid of your PARENTS cancelling your show for a joke about Harambe 💀

so uh, object terror..?

I think I'm just on the road to dragging myself deeper into osc hell, but whatever, I'm doing this to myself.

But what is Object Terror..?

I know what it is, I just watched the eps that are up right now, but like why is (was?) it so controversial? I feel like it could've just easily been brushed off as a parody object show or something at the end of the day. It's not really good, but it's by no means how bad some of you have been talking about it.

I could kinda get being freaked out if you clicked on it without warning but they say the r-slur within the first 30 seconds. You'd know that it wasn't a normal object show before you'd even get to any of the gore.

Actually no- can I talk about that? They say the r-slur not even 30 seconds into the first episode but still have the audacity to censor fuck, shit, and bitch? That's actually insane to me.

And sure, I guess you could dismiss it because it was 2016, and god certain sectors of the internet had that word in their normal vocab, but that doesn't make it ok, or even make sense for the show??? Idk the development hell it went through, but like, if they were going for like edgy object show why censor swears? It just feels strange?

Again, I'm so out of the loop for this show. It's entirely possible that they like reuploaded it with censors and deleted the originals or something, but still.

I just can't wrap my head around why someone would make a show with sex jokes, murder, gore, and the like but draw the line at objects saying fuck? Like what morality was there to uphold? Of course, a lot of kids were (are?) watching, it's the osc for fuck's sake, but again, it just doesn't fit with what the show was?? Idk why that gets under my skin so badly.

I don't think anyone's even really talking about this show anymore but if you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about. I'm done here.

[nathalielovesonedirection]

and the pain never left, it just transferred to someone else

synopsis: y/n committed suicide years ago but the boys still remember them

pairing: one direction x sixth member reader

TW: OVERDOSE, PILLS, CURSING, MENTIONS OF DEATH AND MENTAL HEALTH

please don't read if you're sensitive to topics above

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Liam's pov:

today marks 5 years, 5 years since we barged into the bathroom where they layed limp on the floor holding the damned bottle of sleeping pills, everyone thought they were better, management thought the therapy sessions were doing her good but apparently not, they tried, they were a fighter , key word is... WERE

×FLASHBACK×

"niall, can you check up on y/n please? it's oddly quiet she's usually blasting music or something!"

"wait I'll go with you mate" zayn stated and with that they got up, they had a close bond with both of them especially niall, they never would get annoyed at niall, never!

"LIAM"

Niall's voice rang through my ears. that couldn't be good!, i sprinted toward their room, then i saw them: pale skin, limp figure and sickly color, then i spotted it: sleeping pills, the bottle was empty which means one thing that they swallowed it whole "CALL AN AMBULANCE QUICKLY!" i panicked while dialing the number, my fingers were numb, my mind had tons of questions; why? did they think this through? will they wake up? when the paramedics came through the door checking on them, they stated what i feared the most : they took their own life while we were oblivious, but they were getting better, what happened? all the therapy sessions? the insomnia? the pills? the anxiety they felt? ; niall broke down into tears the minute the medics finished them up. we tried to comfort him our best, gone, they were gone, our baby bandmate

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

a few days after the funeral and all media was heartbroken for their death, weren't they the reason they hated themselves? why the caring now for? i never cried, i still couldn't process any of this shit, i was supposed to keep everyone in check for their sake but that doesn't mean that i didn't cry myself to sleep the last few days, i was getting a change of clothes when i noticed a medium glittery box, I'm sure it's not mine but it has our initials on it, it smelled familiar too but i didn't want to do this alone

"BOYS, can y'all come 'ere for a second?"

we all gathered in my room , harry started tearing up upon seeing the box, i embraced the boy and we opened the lid: it's full to the brim: polaroids of us, polaroids of them, their favorite perfume, some of their jewelry, and a letter in her unique handwriting which reads

To My Boys<3

if you're reading this that means I've succeeded, I've always felt safe with you guys, i left you all little things to remind you of me and how much i appreciated all of you in my life, niall i left those cool sunglasses for you, harry i left a few rings for your collection and nail polish, louis you smol bean i left that edgy band shirt that you eyed in my closet didn't think i saw you right? you're wrong lou!, zaynie i left the colorful scrunchies that Doesn't make your hair strained and hair products for you, liam i left the chain and that perfume for you, i don't want to see any of you crying, just take of yourselves, i know that i have been putting you all through hell taking care of me, I've been such a burden on you guys.

NIALL continue being your carefree, happy go lucky self I'm watching you if you didn't listen then my ghost will haunt you forever

HAZZA I don't know without you what I'll do please embrace your love for nail polish wear whenever wherever you like, if people don't like they can just bugger off

LOUIS the sass masta, i need you to take care of yourself loubear, don't let your sassy self fade away after i pass away

ZAYNIE i don't want for you to continue working for record do you think i don't know what you're doing to yourself take a break and focus on yourself and make yourself happy

and finally LI i know that you're putting your emotions at bay but you don't need to hold it in daddy direction!, you don't have to be strong, you can just curl up and cry and crumble, you're human li,

I LOVE ALL OF YOU GUYS HOPE YOU ALL CAN FORGIVE ME ONE DAY

Y/N

i don't think any of us has ever cried this hard before, they were a true angel who fell from heaven

×END OF FLASHBACK×

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

×PRESENT DAY×

me and the boys had a zoom meeting due to covid restrictions we couldn't see each other to celebrate y/n's 5th death anniversary then at this moment i got Niall's request to join the meeting and i did, the boys's faces popped on the screen, i really missed these boys, we haven't seen much of each other since the pandemic started, we spent the next few hours of the meeting recalling memories with them in it like how them and zayn used to have their own section for hair care or how they fell on stage with harry one, they were amazing, their pain never left but it transferred to someone else..

a/n: that's my ever first writing and i hope y'all enjoy and send requests if you have any<3

[shurisneakers]

harmless (i)

Summary: Bucky volunteers to go stop a small time villain, but nothing can prepare him for what exactly he has to deal with. (Bucky x villain!reader)

Warnings: cursing, nonsense writing

Word count: 1.5k 

A/N: listen i just needed something to keep my mind busy and a perry the platypus!bucky and dr. doofenshmirtz!reader was the only thing i could think of. dont have any high expectations from this series, you will be sorely disappointed.

If you have any ideas for this series, lemme know!! it’d be cute to write!!

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Series Masterlist

Bucky Barnes, for all intents and purposes, is edgy. 

His SHIELD salary is definitely enough to afford him a simple beanie, gloves even if he’s that eager. His long hair, though a spectacle in itself, isn’t as good at keeping away the cold as he claims it to be. 

It’s a personal choice, a fashion statement even, to be roaming the streets in a long flimsy t-shirt that does nothing to accentuate his broad shoulders, and tactical pants that look a little too comfortable. 

It’s cold. He says he likes it, to appease his blond haired best friend who insisted that he wear a cardigan at least. He won’t like it in a while, but he would never admit it.

The bike ride to the other side of town for a minor mission takes longer than he expected. The wind rushing by gets his adrenaline racing. 

Official missions are long and gruelling, and oftentimes not fun. But it gives him a purpose.

It’s easy, therefore, to find him brooding when he’s not on one. 

No one wants their room to be on the receiving end of Bucky’s stress-cleaning sessions. His baking is more appreciated.

So when there’s news of a small time villain creating havoc again, it made sense that he volunteered to go sort it out. No one else wanted the job. They’d all been at it before. 

SHIELD didn’t seem particularly bothered either. 

“It’s not that serious, Barnes.”

“I’m going.”

“Just stop her from doing whatever dumb plan she has today. She seems to have a new one every week.”

“Can I-”

“This is not an assassination mission.”

“Fine. Can I-”

“No.”

“Fine.”

He didn’t know what to expect. He had an idea of how they should be. Smaller villains tended to be more aggressive, vicious to prove their point. They were here to stay.

He wears his regular gear. Enough knives to make a butcher look away in shame, and guns including, but not limited to, his biceps.

He finally pulls the bike to a stop a few metres away, leaving it out of reach in case things got too out of hand. He didn’t want to have to walk back to the Tower, and his friends, as much as they loved him, would never go out of their way to pick him up. Little shits. 

The address is a dingy, plain concrete house near an old construction site. It was flat and felt more like an afterthought than an actual building. It looked more like an abandoned Walmart than an actual villain lair. 

The only entrance is the door in the front. He counts to three, lifting his leg to kick it down.

It falls down ungracefully, loud and creaky like it was bound to the doorframe by rust. 

The only light source inside is a green light. All the way at the other end on an elevated platform is a desk and a chair facing away from him. He can’t see much other than that.

Someone’s laughter comes back loud and booming. He raises his gun, feet apart in a defensive stance. 

“I’ve been expecti-” the voice pauses mid-sentence- “Did you just kick down my door?”

He looks behind him to where the wooden piece is on the floor. He certainly did.

He can finally see you as you stand up, green light illuminating your face. You reach over to the side, pressing a few switches. 

He squints when all the lights turn on, pulling the both of you from darkness. 

“Dude!” you cry out, face twisting into what only could be described as a mix of horror and disdain. “What’d you do that for?”

He doesn’t say anything but he doesn’t lower his gun either.

“You’re an Avenger, just fuckin’ pick the lock or something. This is expensive!” 

He only watches as you whine, looking beyond him at your now demolished entrance. You take a few steps closer, jumping down from the elevated platform.

“Insurance isn’t going to cover this.” You drag your palm across your fist before extending it towards him. “Pay up.”

He wasn’t sure if he heard you right.

“What?” he finally asked, voice gruff.

“All you superheroes go around, destroying walls and cars in the name of world peace like you own the damn thing. Not today, bitch boy. Pay up.”

He doesn’t have his wallet with him. He didn’t expect to need it.

“I’m supposed to be stopping you.” 

“You can do that once you pay for my door.” 

You sound resolute, unshaken. A little annoyed. There’s what appears to be a gun in your hand, although it’s unlike any weapon he’s seen before.

“What’s your plan?” Bucky looks at your hand. Your stare follows his. You lift the thing up and he tenses.

“I was going to freeze some jerk but now my plan is to get you cancelled on Twitter.” 

“Why?” his eyebrows knit together in confusion.

“Local superhero destroys property of tax paying citizen for no good reason.”

“I mean-” he shakes his head, discarding what you’re saying, “-why were you going to freeze someone?”

“Because I wanted to. But you’ve ruined the mood now, so that won’t happen.”

He blinks, lowering his weapon when he realises you weren’t making any attempt to move. “What’s your ulterior motive?”

“Nothing! I just wanted to mildly inconvenience that stupid fuck for being such a prick.”

He doesn’t know what to say. 

“Is that the freeze ray?” Bucky asks instead, raising his gun when he realises there’s a very real chance he could end up like his best friend. 

“You got a problem with it?” You hold it up carelessly. 

“I can’t let you use that.”

“That’s all you’re going to do?” you huff, “Is this what you call an intervention? This is so boring.”

“Give me the freeze ray and no one has to get hurt.” 

“No one was going to get hurt in the first place, genius. All this does is slow him down for 5 minutes so he misses the subway.”

There’s nothing technically that evil about what you’re doing. He doesn’t even know how you ended up on SHIELD’s radar. He gets why no one was particularly driven to take this seriously.

“And for fuck’s sake put that gun away. You’re not scaring me.” 

He doesn’t oblige, even though something tugs at him, telling him that you’re speaking the truth. 

“Here, take the stupid thing.” You don’t bother waiting for his response, bending over and sliding the gun towards his feet. “I’ll find another way to get back at that dickhead.”

It hits his boot with a small thud. He looks down. Its design is ridiculously comical, like you ripped it straight out of a kid’s TV show. 

“Next time, bring some drama. Wear a cape or something.” You wave him off. “Now get out of my lair. I need to fix the door.”

“You don’t have another one of these lying around, do you?”

“Why, do your friends want one too?” The glare you give him is dangerous. He doesn’t react to it. “No, it’s limited edition. I don’t build the same thing twice.”

“You have others?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know, weather boy?” A smile grows on your face, dropping as quickly as it arrives. “SHIELD will tell you if I do. Now leave.”

Bucky looks at the freeze ray in his hand. He supposes his job is done. He was told to stop you, but you didn’t seem to have any inclination to go on with your plan.

“You can ask them if you want, they know about me.” You roll your eyes. “Go ahead, call them.”

He doesn’t want to take a chance. As odd as the situation is, it’s still novel and he isn’t quite sure how to deal with it.

He tucks your weapon under his arm, pressing his phone to his ear.

“Yes, Sergeant Barnes?” Maria’s voice is crisp as ever.

“I confiscated a... freeze ray.” He feels ridiculous even saying it. “But I’m going to bring her in to SHIELD headquarter-”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“But we can’t trust-”

“We’ve been keeping tabs on her for a while. She’s more or less harmless. You can take the rest of the night off, Sergeant.”

He cuts the call, not entirely at ease with the smug, expectant look on your face. 

Still, he couldn’t disobey direct orders.

“I’m gonna... go.” He mentions towards the gaping hole in the wall.

“That would be ideal, yes.” You nod, crossing your arm over your chest.

“Okay.” He hesitates, but finally takes a step backwards. He peeks over his shoulder as he leaves, but finds you swivelled away from him again. 

He steps back outside. The cold greets him again like an old friend. The weight of his weapons feels stupidly embarrassing now. 

It’s a long drive back to the Tower. He keeps replaying the entire story in his mind. He’s unsure of whether he made the right call, but no one else really seemed to care. 

He had seen weirder things. It came with the gig.

He leaves it at that.

“How’d it go?” Steve asks him when he walks into the living room.

“T’was fine,” he answers, toying with the stupid device he took from you. Maybe he would test it on Clint. He had been getting annoying lately. Breathing too much in Bucky’s general direction.

A part of him feels guilty for his carelessness towards your building. The other part is just bewildered. 

That night he looks up the cost it takes to replace a door, making a mental note to draw some money from the ATM soon.

Next part

[blockgamepirate]

Okay fuck all the fake activists on Twitter

This is actual bullshit. Go fight ACTUAL racists and ACTUAL homophobes. NOT SOME GUY WHO JUST MADE SOME JOKES YOU DIDN'T LIKE, FOR FUCK'S SAKE.

I'm actually so mad right now. Because you realise that all those jokes that I've seen people yelling about that he made actually even somewhat recently are making fun of racists, right? And you know his audience is full of edgy gamer boys, right? People who are just straight up allergic to genuine appeals. Edgy jokes making fun of racism is literally exactly what those kind of people need. It gives them a way in without feeling immediately alienated. It makes it easier for them to accept that racism is bad actually, and that people who hate racism aren't all humourless assholes who cancel you at the drop of a hat.

So yeah what you guys are doing right now? This is only driving people away. This is making people defensive. And I don't care if you think perfect political correctness is more important than convincing people to not be racist, because you are fucking wrong. Yes it's fine to criticise him and point out when the jokes feel wrong to you or upset you but don't act like everyone has to agree with you or else they're bigots too. (Also stop yelling about years old shit he said as a teenager, nobody CARES. Let people put their past behind them.)

If you don't like his humour, feel free to just not watch Techno, it's fine. But this kind of humour DOES actually serve a purpose. You can't reach out to people if you expect perfect purity from everyone at all times. Sometimes people need space to adapt into new ideas, and humour is actually one of the best ways to do that because of how psychology works.

And yeah the Asian joke was kind of shit but it was literally making fun of racists who thought every Asian person had covid, back when the pandemic was only just becoming a pandemic. It wasn't making fun of Asians. He even prefaced it with acknowledging the horrific racism (his actual words).

Slavery jokes? Like literally the point of those was to address the unfortunate implications of the video game. It's basically just media criticism. It's not endorsing slavery or making light of the real world history. It's pointing out the elephant in the room. It's dark humour, yes, but like is it really better to just NOT acknowledge how weird the whole minion thing is? I feel like it's actually better to acknowledge it. I'm the kind of person who actually feels kinda uncomfortable about game mechanics like that and it helps me when people point out the implications. And dark humour is actually probably the best way to acknowledge it without making the whole thing sound goofy, because it is kinda goofy, but it's still subtly fucked up.

And the "murder is bad"... I literally do not understand why people are mad about that one. I genuinely don't get it. That's literally the kind of joke I could see like any of the popular liberal late night show hosts making to underline the point that murder doesn't magically become okay when it's the police doing it. Like "I shouldn't have to say this but murder is bad". You know? Because a bunch of people out there are ACTUALLY acting like it's okay for the police to murder people (especially black people). This is the most effective response to that bullshit, honestly. It cuts straight to the point. Murder IS bad.

And apparently nobody is acknowledging that the point of that tweet was to share the petition. He wasn't just like randomly joking about a horrible event, he was trying to help. He's a comedy Minecraft YouTuber, do you seriously expect him to make some sort of solemn plea? No, that would just make him sound sarcastic if anything because he never does that. Humour is how he addresses everything, get used to it or just stop following him.

Also people are just way more likely to respond positively to a joke than to something preachy or depressing, because as it turns out, depression makes people apathetic. I'd be willing to bet more people signed the petition because the tweet was funny than would have if it wasn't. Especially people in Techno's audience.

But these twitter warriors don't care about actions, they apparently don't even care that much about words because there's no way "murder is bad" is a harmful message in this context. So they just care about tone I guess.

Anyway, even of you think he's genuinely problematic, is he SERIOUSLY the enemy that's worth all this attention? All this energy? Fuck off. You know there are bigger fish out there and you didn't go for them, you went for someone you thought you could bully easily because he already has quite a progressive audience.

This isn't activism, this is just harassment. And it was just harassment long before the doxxing bullshit too. Don't pretend like everything up to this point was fine. It was not fine. And it's NOT actually helpful to dig up months or years old shit and plaster it all over twitter and then pretend to care about how these things hurt people's feelings when people wouldn't even have seen them if you didn't dig them up in the first place. If anyone is hurting them right now it's you.

Learn to do some actual fucking work for the cause you fucking shitheads. If that's even what you ever wanted to do, which I kinda doubt actually.

Like I don't pretend like I'm the greatest activist out there but at least I fucking try to do something productive instead of bullying minor celebrities online.

[dontbipanicjonsa]

I’ve been reading Sansa fanfic and honestly I am so fucking tired. What is up with people making her out to be some selfish, mean, vindictive, I-don’t-even-fucking-know-what-else little kid????? Where the fuck does this come from???? What books are you reading?? 

How is it that in a book where characters are committing murder, rape, and even fucking baby exchanges, it is SANSA who needs to repent for her ‘crimes’?

Tell me again how Sansa is a shit person because of one mean thing she said to Arya in a fight but Jon, canonically called a ‘bully’ was the fucking paragon of good behavior as a child. Who’s gonna write the edgy Jon-was-a-pre-canon-bully fanfic huh?? That’s right. Fucking no one. Because we know Jon’s poor behavior at the Wall was driven as much out of his lack of awareness and appreciation of his privilege as it was by his struggle to reconcile the Wall of his dreams with reality. His behavior was an anomaly for him. 

Tell me again how Arya’s seeming class blindness in AGOT is so much better than Sansa’s raging classism. Who’s gonna say it was Arya’s fault Mycah got killed, because she didn’t recognize or appreciate her own privilege? Fucking no one. Because she’s nine, a child, and we’re not monsters.  

Sansa was selfish for expecting things that were already promised to her, but Arya wasn’t? Sansa is selfish for wanting to go to a tourney that’s being held in her father’s name. Sansa is selfish for expecting to be...married to her betrothed? Sansa is selfish for romanticizing/building up the life she is already expected to live? Sansa is selfish because she says Arya will ‘ruin everything’? Lemme tell you I have an older brother and I sure as fuck have ruined plenty of things for him as a kid stuff his friends lent him, that one time he went to watch some Hunger Game movie with his school friends and thought I would be mature enough to tag along and I really really wasn’t. That’s kind of what siblings do???? If Arya comes across as less ‘selfish’ than Sansa, then that’s because she’s hardly ever denied, and even when she is she’s made to understand why. Arya wants to learn to fight? Arya wants to flout expectations? Arya wants to take Syrio along on the ship? She gets it all. Is she selfish? NO. She’s a child. THEY ARE BOTH CHILDREN.

Sansa is mean, for having sibling fights with Arya? Never mind that she’s grieving the death of a part of her, Lady. Jon lashing out at the Wall may be an anomaly, but Sansa lashing out isn’t? WHY. Sansa is vindictive? Sansa who cried when fucking Joffrey dies? Sansa who is repeatedly described as sweet? Innocent? Courteous? 

When exactly is Sansa vindictive? When she doesn’t trust her father- who has been a pretty shit parent to her and fully deserves her distrust- to make the best decisions for her (as he hasn’t in the past) and decides to break one (1) rule in her life to...go to another adult to explain her problem? When she lashes out at Arya in her very valid grief because no one seems to give a flying fuck about helping her deal with it? When she utterly and absolutely ices out Tyrion, the fully grown Lannister man she has been forced to marry? Fuck you.

Ok no. I know. She’s power hungry. Just dying to be queen. I quake in my boots when I read her POV, honestly. Never mind that she is not the one who makes or even influences the decision to betroth her to the prince. (Alright she does in the show. But hey, Arya of the show is a misogynist, Jon is an absolute moron and Tyrion is the good guy so I won’t put a whole lot of stock in show characterization.) Never mind that Sansa’s desire to marry a ‘prince’ is driven more by her romanticizing  and wanting to have a life like the songs, and less to do with power. But nooo. Sansa wants to marry a lord even as late as ASOS. She’s willing to marry Willas because he’s a lord. 

Right. Because it is so much more terrible for a girl to want to marry a rich, powerful, upper class guy to get her out of her current shitty situation where she is utterly powerless, than it is for a slave owning girl to order the massacre of 13-years-old, upper class children. People forget that their fave wouldn’t be the character she is now if she hadn’t been married off to a powerful man all the way back in the first book, who unwittingly gave her a position of power of her own for the first time in her life. Or there wouldn’t be any dragons, there wouldn’t be any khaleesi. Isn’t that how patriarchy works??? Fuck Sansa for daring to want what Dany got- control over her own life via marriage. 

I’m just so tired. The point of Sansa’s character is that she’s empathetic. She’s soft. She’s polite and courteous. She’s nice to Sandor when he doesn’t deserve it. She calls Jon half-brother because that’s the politest term she can use. She stands up for others (Dontos, the people right before the riot, Tommen, fuck she even warns the Tyrells about Joffrey) even when she’s at her most powerless. She cries and feels bad and prays for her abusers. She’s unwilling to play ‘the game’. She chooses to continue to believe in and place value in the songs and stories as ideals that deserve to be lived up to in the midst of a harsh reality that has driven lesser people to nihilism and bitterness. This is who she is. To dismiss these things for the sake of making her out to be some mean and petty little girl is to misunderstand her entirely. 

But who would deign to lower themselves to the perspective of a pre teen girly girl anyway, right? 

[lvnatiq]

Random Relationship Headcanons | Felix Escellun x gn!reader

a/n: Hey ! On todays menu I am serving you modern au relationship headcanons. I know for a fact that I can’t write headcanons AT ALL yet here we are, out of spite I will keep trying until I can manage to write good shit. I’m going through a chaotic time in my life so please be patient with me 😭

I’m currently working on tattoo artist! reader x Felix headcanons and college!enemies to lovers one-shot. Knowing that Felix’s fav trope is enemies to lovers, I will post it hopefully before his new chapter drops. I used most of the hcs that were sent to me but if you couldn’t see yours, then it will probably be used on the other works.

No beta we die like men.

warnings: curse words, nsfw under the cut, random sage moments, felix being a ‘the neighborhood’ song basically.

You persuade him to start an Instagram account, and because of his family's popularity, he quickly gains followers. His account is practically empty because he would rather spend his time stalking your account on Instagram. You noticed the emptiness and wanted to take him out and take some photos for his account, which turned out amazingly. He is a little camera shy, so be patient with him.

You like to watch him apply his eyeliner but he finds it so stressing to do under your gaze.  He used to be able to do it easily, but it has now become one of his most difficult tasks. You wanted to ask for his assistance in applying eyeliner to you in the hopes of making it simpler for him; he agreed but quickly regretted it when he realized how near your faces would be. You with your eyes closed, waiting for him to drag the line as he was only thinking about how bad he wanted to kiss you. 

Felix has a Polaroid of you and stella in his wallet I said what I said.

When it comes to himself, he can be a pessimist, but when it comes to you, he is the most loving and positive boyfriend you could ever ask for. You have a dream ? He is ready to help you achieve it. Do you want to change in your life ? Go for it, He’s more excited than you are.

He can be quite insecure at times when it comes to your relationship because he feels like you deserve the world but the world is too big for his tiny hands. Will his cuddles be enough ? God he hopes so.

He almost cried when you told him you loved him for the first time. He's also baffled as to how you might feel the same way about him.

Drunk Felix is really clingy and honest. Whatever he can’t say sober drunk felix can and definitely will.

“May the stars let my death be between your glorious thighs amen-“ “Felix-”

Felix is weird but it add to his charm. It’s not unusual for you to wake up in the middle of the night and find the pillow besides yours empty. In the dead of night, you will find Felix munching on some weird ass food combinations.

He also has a habit of doing things that are extremely adorable without even noticing it. Like walking around the house in his oversized shirts, his hand clutching at the cuffs whilst the other one sheepishly rubs his eye.

“Can I lay on your lap ? I promise I won’t fall asleep. I just need to rest for a little.” His voice is so soft and hushed. “Of course, come here.” He throws himself onto you as he comes hopping on his tip toes.

He falls asleep on his desk too often, so you have to carry him back to his room, where he snuggles against you while you lead him there. Once he's in his room, he insists that you stay with him, so you wait until he falls asleep as you play with his hair, and he wakes up thinking it was all a dream.

I firmly believe that Felix’s love language is acts of service. Like making you coffee and bringing you random snacks as you work or wrapping you up in fluffy blankets whenever he catches you slacking on the couch.

He's been romanticizing anything and everything since he met you. When he sees beautiful flowers, he wants to bring them to you, but he also believes that their beauty stems from the fact that they are alive, so he argues and stresses a lot when deciding what to do in simple situations like these.

His edginess belongs to his impulsiveness and his style only at any other situation he's a complete softboy.

And I'm certain he knows a variety of card tricks. He enjoys showing off, and he enjoys it even more when you become fascinated and beg him to share the trick.

If you're a morning person, you'll probably spend your mornings alone in solitude, finishing work before the day begins, but if you're a night owl, you and Felix will go out for night walks and Felix would go out for night walks, sharing headphones to play some music, enjoy each others presence and develop a habit of watching the sunrise together.

Felix makes you playlists at the most random times and with the most random names. Until one day he sent you a playlist at around 4 a.m called “you”, filled with his favorite music. He usually sees music as a safe space for himself and now that you are his safe place too it’s only appropriate for him to do so. This only further proves how he spends his time thinking about you.

I feel like Felix would have what most would call "attachment issues" but it’s mainly because of his protective tendencies. This is not to say that he’s this "overly jealous toxic" character; rather, he has never had anyone to truly call his own in his entire life so he would do anything to protect it.

Felix is also big on astrology, so if you want the perfect birth chart, he'll give it to you. Also he owns a lovely deck of tarot cards, and if you ask him for a love reading, he can't manage to keep his words and feelings to himself so he modifies your reading according to him and his desires. Let the boy abuse his powers for the sake of love.

His style could be described as dark academia, his wardrobe mainly consists of dark colors, lots and lots of blazers and a lot of oversized shirts. He also loves jewelry so he owns a lot of rings and chains. Just so you know, if you're wearing any of his rings, his heart is doing cartwheels.

Is it obvious that he loves it when you place your hand in his and play with his rings with your fingertips.

Spoil him. Buy him that baby blue hoodie with cat ears.

“Ah, you look adorable.” “Isn’t it a bit too b-big ?” “You could say that. Do you mind ?” “No, I like it that way.” “I would know.” You smirk followed by felix’s gasp. “If you so desperately wanted a cat boy you know you have me right ?” Nudging your shoulder, Sage leapt into the conversation. “What is he talking about ?”  Felix grumbled, only to notice two fuzzy triangular fabrics on top of his head as he brushed his fingertips over it.

He’s obsessed with your hands, kissing your knuckles, drawing circles in your palm. At a certain point it became an involuntary gesture he does it quite often without realizing.

He’s also canonically extremely blushy but he would never admit it. You’re convinced he uses some sort of make up because it is not possible for the pink dusting his cheeks to look this good.

He insists that you’re cold even in the warmest weathers because he wants to see you in his coat.

Sage forces Felix to take his thirst trap Tiktoks.

He really appreciates it when you add to his herbal tea collection without him noticing and he considers it a sign of affection because he takes his tea very seriously.

He loses it when you call him baby he gets flustered and frustrated but it’s all because it rolls off of your tongue so nicely that he can’t get enough of it.

Felix owns a broad collection of scented lip balms some of them are tinted. You didn’t hear this from me.

He never once took anything the Sage says seriously until he saw how well you two got along. He never thought that he would be standing there taking relationship and flirting advice from the frat boy.

Felix is a complete asshole when he wants to. He’s very verbal about it too. Consistent sarcastic remarks and eye rolls. I mean it runs in his blood, look at Escell.

You love it when he suddenly whips out the confident Felix, it’s not a daily occurrence you know.

When Felix is concentrated, he’s lost and there’s almost no way you or anything else can distract him. So it’s time to grab some colorful hair clips and ties to fuck around with his hair.

Felix is not the best at verbally expressing his gratitude towards you. He doesn’t know what he would do if you weren’t there for him at the lowest points of his life where normally he would close himself and bare the weight of his family problems and personal life issues that he can’t seem to get out of. Now he has you, someone who’s willing to listen to him and offer him a warm embrace when he needs the most. 

While you to play games together, when he wins he wears that iconic shit eating grin of his with pride looking at you through the corner of his eye. “Shit, what do you want me to say to that felix ? Perhaps I should call you master now that you won ‘one’ fucking round.” He is praying that the screen light is covering the fact that he is a blushy mess after hearing you say that.

NSFW

I cannot stress this enough but he is extremely vocal in bed. Whining, trying to restrict himself from making too much noise but failing miserably.

Muffled pants, choked sobs and lots of pleasure infused tears.

He loves getting praised during sex but what he loves more is to get praised after it’s all over. Like you telling him how great he was, how well he behaved, how good he made you feel. He experiences sub drops a lot so please assure him that he did well :(

He’s into power-play but not in a submissive or dominant kind of relationship, it’s more of a psychological thing where the fact that he can see how good he makes you feel gives him a rush of confidence and adrenaline.

I believe that this motherfucker is a masochist, pain makes him more excited than getting an update on his favorite author who went on a year long hiatus and that is saying a lot.

Bite him. Scratch him. It is so stimulating for him he can reach his high just from those actions.

Fuck do anything to his ears bite, lick, pull, blow on it. He is extremely sensitive so anything you do will basically drive him out of his mind. It will most definitely lead to him trembling beneath your fingertips.

You must think that you are the only one who is such a tease but you’re wrong. Felix teases you quite often mostly to direct your attention towards him or to keep your attention on him. He’s quite greedy when it comes to you and your hands on his body. Unbuttoning unnecessary amount of buttons on his shirt to show a little skin that he knows you’ll notice. Playing with his necklace placing the chain between his lips dragging it towards the inside of his bottom lip teasing the metallic charm with the tip of his tongue. He definitely ain’t oblivious he knows exactly what he’s doing and he makes sure that you know exactly what he’s doing.

When he’s in the mood he will tug the hem of your top meanwhile his eyes are glued to the floor or graze the temples of his glasses between his lips, his teeth lightly nibbling the pointy edge. He loves to play dumb too. When you question him, he acts like he doesn’t intend anything and that you need to get your head out of the gutter.

At the end of the session Felix looks divine. Drool leaking down from his bottom lip to his jaw line towards his neck, his bangs sticking on his sweat coated forehead, his chest rising up and down quickly. His eyes rolled at the back of his head, his hands still clutching tightly to the sheets. Faint whimpers and deep breaths filling the air.

Leading up to the after care, his shy self returns. He buries his face to your chest hiding his blushy cheeks beneath the palms of his hands.

He likes to experiment a lot and you are his favorite subject.

It shouldn’t be surprising to find random kink definitions or role-play ideas on the search history of your laptop. After all Felix just asked for it to write an email, that’s all there is to it. That’s until you offer to try them out.

He doesn’t act upon his jealousy, what he does instead is that leaving marks on you especially around your neck and your chest where he knows it will show. Don’t cover them up if you don’t wanna deal with him.

“People just don’t appreciate art anymore.” “Felix these are, hickeys.” “Oh so now you are judging my art medium ?” “Since when proving Sage that I got railed by you is a form of art ?”

I didn’t see anyone point this out but whenever he is in the sub space he tends to be more on the bratty side. He starts of shy but his confidence builds up as the tension rises. Meaning that you should be ready to get your patience tested.

When you two are in separate places your suggestive words and tone leads up to phone sex, which Felix secretly fantasized about a lot. What made everything even more dirty was the fact that you didn’t know that he was laying on your bed surrounded by your scent and humping your pillow. Once you come back home you are greeted with a fresh pair of sheets on your bed. Apparently Felix decided to do you a favor and clean your room as well as the the whole house. He’s crossing fingers that you don’t notice because he knows that he’ll never hear the end of it.

Felix knows a lot about sex but his knowledge is based upon fiction rather than experience. So, naturally, he is more interested about learning specifically how your body responds to certain actions, what you enjoy and what you’re interested in so teach him. He’s a good student and oh well he’s a quick learner.

Pull his hair pull his hair put his hair pull his hair pull his hair pull his hair pull his hair pull his hair.

When he settles between your legs as he ties his hair, he places the hairband between his lips and looks up at you with half lidded eyes. It’s his definition of torture.

Even though he doesn’t give off that vibe, he is very freaky if you would’ve known what his AO3 tags consisted of you would agree.

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