#being given a second chance even when one truly does not deserve it and consequently turning one’s life around in response

[scarletspider2the2ndpower]

“Life after Death,” Scarlet Spider (Vol. 2/2012), #1.

Writer: Christopher Yost; Penciler : Ryan Stegman; Inker: Michael Babinsky; Colorist: Marte Garcia; Letterer: Joe Caramagna

[crithaus]

Percy being 'like that' in perpetuity is so very in character and funny and I'm still not over it truly. He's a shitty little bastard to literally everyone he knows, this coming from someone who loves him dearly, he's a bratty, snooty posh dickhead to everyone and despite that he had Keyleth, Vax, Vex, Pike and god only knows the guests and NPCs crushing on him at least a little bit, yes his heart is very big and he can be so so so sweet and kind and loving to those who have earned his affections but even to Keyleth, his best friend (re: every moral argument they have ever had), and Vex his beloved wife, (re: truly god I can only remember him flat out telling her absolutely not you scrub go bother someone else when she wanted to help him build her broom's seat but I know there has to be more) he's always had the capacity to be an asshole. Capacity and will without fail or hesitation fall back on being a snooty, aloof, uptight prick. (Edit: no hang on it's time to dogpile on mommy's special little man, in one of the prestream vines he literally threatens to skin someone and make a book out of the people leather and no I don't know the context and I don't need to, there's no way it was justified, this dramatic numbskull has literally always been like this)

Percy's traumatic start was not his fault and I would say that Im on the fence about Orthax being his fault because he says himself that he thought the deal was just a dream, but he does then choose to kick off the whole briarwood arc (starting a fight in Uriel's backyard almost getting them jailed for treason, defingering that one guy, setting that house full of people on fire for a second) and then just go full supervillain for a very long little while, and that most certainly is his fault even if the influencing factors were out of his control, and he fucked up a lot. A lot. And VM, his family, forgave him. Plenty of times. Ressurected him despite the dangers and loved him through his truly worst moments and saved his humanity alongside his life. And now here he is denying Laudna that same chance (while she has altogether done far far less to deserve her death) and I am not at all surprised because he lets his fear direct all of his decisions to an alarming degree. And! Not only that but he is wildly impulsive and has a bad habit of making decisions by himself because by Taliesin's own words Percy always thinks he's the Smartest person in the Room at any given time. He lets fear rule him, he's impulsive, he thinks he knows better than or can outsmart the consequences of his actions, and he's unfortunately very good at eloquently explaining himself. A true recipe for disaster. But, he's scared under it all. Has been for a while.

He's scared of Anna, Delilah, Sylas, it might come off as anger but I'd put money on the fact that that's because he could afford to be angry or at least focus on the anger, cuz he had Orthax gassing him up making him think he actually stood a decent chance at killing them all, he had his family besides him and some decent kills under their belt, he had Anna down an arm locked away in his dungeon cell and they had Pike on their side and Sarenrae with her, but I know they scare him far more deeply than he ever wants to admit (because he doesn't like having situations be out of his control either naturally, cuz the first time that happened he was brutally tortured, orphaned, kicked out of his ancestral home and beset upon by a demon taking maaaajor advantage of him) and now that he's free with most of his soul intact, now that his whitestone is once again full to bursting with life and laughter and children (children he never thought he'd deserve), now that he's settled into the leadership role he never thought he'd be ready for, now that he's settled down into domestic life with his wife whom he loves so much she brought him back to life, he is once again letting that fear (and the certainty as always that his every idea is the only one to have) rule all of his decisions. This is so incredibly on brand for Percy I could puke, and I know he's gonna apologize to Vex for being snippy later so fine Matt, well played I suppose.

Percy might be a dick but he's also a pillar of Vox Machina, these selfish dickheads brought out the very best in that bright young man and I know that with a bit of time he'll pull his enormous head out of his ass and get down to business, righting wrongs and writing lefts in true Vox Machina fashion. He's a hero at heart, even if he is retired, he just needs a bit of time to (over)think it all over.

[pynkhues]

I'm the G/A shipper lol. Thank you for ur answer!! I do think it would've taken Gregg and Annie more time to come together, and even if I get what you're saying, of it could be them regressing (going back to what they'd already done), it just seemed like it was made to be. Gregg also just didn't seem like he really loved Nancy, and Nancy deserved better.

I had a related question. Why do you think it was SO hard for G to come up with what he liked about Annie? Like I wrote in my original ask, I didn't buy it for a second, and while it seemed to say much more about G to me than G and A's connection, I still hated it. It just seemed to really brush off/completely take out meaning of G and A's connection like it didn't mean anything, which even if they betrayed Nancy, and were very immature about it (with again G deceiving his wife while they were trying to conceive???? NOT OK), they clearly had a real connection, and I do think had genuine feelings for each other. Not to mention their history. What's your take?

(x)

I agree that Greg never seems like he's really in love with Nancy, but I also think it's important to remember that we only ever truly see them as a couple through Annie's POV. We're actually robbed as viewers of moments of intimacy or connection between them because at the end of the day, Annie herself doesn't really want to see it.

I do think there's a fair speculation too that Greg probably wanted the opposite of Annie when their relationship imploded and so sought a person like Nancy as a sort of marker of an 'adult' relationship, which is especially interesting because I think the show does a good job of depicting Greg as pretty immature still himself. There is the sort of vibe that Nancy probably parents Greg a bit in that relationship, but for a man who became a father himself when he was a boy, it makes a lot of sense.

Which really comes to your question of why Greg couldn't come up with anything he liked about Annie when she asked. I totally agree with you that I think he could probably list a lot of things he liked about Annie, but I tend to think there are a few things at play.

Firstly, and funnily enough, if I were to compare Greg to other characters in the show, the one I tend to think he's most like is actually Beth. He maintains a performative life that it's clear he's not happy in, he tries to be a good father but doesn't always make it work, he's prone to being selfish, finds himself backsliding into a relationship he thinks he needs to move on from, and is overall reluctant to being vulnerable or emotionally available. That's Beth! And honestly, I think it makes sense for Annie to seek that in a man given her most formative relationship in life is with her sister. (It's why I'll forever be mad too that we never got any Beth + Greg scenes!)

Of course, Annie's not that much better - she deflects with humour and he lets her, but when she circles back to vulnerability, which she usually does, he can't bring himself to be open with her about his feelings which is I think clearest in their scene together in 1.09.

And then she deflects, again, with a joke.

I talk about it a lot in the context of Beth and Rio where I think the show does a really good job of depicting that some dynamics are really hard to change. Whether its Beth and Rio's inherit omissions of truth and their games, or hell, even Beth as the placating, mothering housewife and Dean as the philandering breadwinner, a dynamic established can sometimes feel like a dynamic immovable, and I do think a part of that is what's at fault with Annie and Greg. It's why they so often become kids when they're together again, but I think is also why the space to be honest and open with each other is often seen as a chance to joke or shrug off or make light of everything that was once, and still is, real between them.

It's not to say they don't feel it, or that they don't know. It's just easier to not say it and to not have to deal with the consequences of what it actually means.

[arcxnumvitae]

Consequences || Part 2

He had never seen Aislan particularly angry before, but it was obvious now in the icy chill that radiated off of the monarch in waves, not to mention that chilly glare that seemed to freeze Aodh to the spot. He wanted to look away, shy away in t he face of their anger, but this was part of what he deserved, wasn’t it? He would not allow himself to turn away from the consequences of his actions, even if he knew that the vampire’s claws through his chest would hurt far less than being forced to face the fact that he had upset Aislan.

Before anyone else could move or speak, Camhlaidh stepped forward with a rare moment of agitation written upon his usually stoic features as he waved away the guards that had clustered around the door behind Aislan in response to the commotion.

“Enough!” The single command reverberated through the air with power until even the skies outside seemed to shake with the force of the king of Seelie’s anger. “I understand that everyone is upset, but Aodh Murdoc is a fae of Seelie, and as such is under my protection.” The solid wooden doors to the room swung shut behind the hesitantly retreating guards, and the king allowed his eyes to rest on each person in the room. “I will not allow one of my subject’s blood to be spilled before me in the borders of the land that I command. To harm him will be considered as an act of aggression towards Seelie itself.”

“But your Majesty!” Eilidh stepped forward with indignation. “Look at what he’s done! How can you stand on his side after the way that he’s acted!”

The ma’s dual-tones gaze met hers evenly. “The same way that I would protect you or any other of my subjects should the need arise. I believe that Aodh made a mistake, but I do not believe that he should pay for it with his life. Now,” he turned towards Aodh who finally ripped his gaze away from Aislan, “tell everyone the story of what happened.”

He would rather be run through actually. 

“I...” Aodh swallowed hard and found himself unsure of where to look as he spoke. “One night as I was in distress, I came across a hut. In it was a being who made me an offer of what she described as a ‘second chance’ to--” his gaze dropped, “to be with my wife again.” Despite his insistence to face whatever came for him, he was unable meet Eilidh’s gaze. Perhaps he truly was a coward after all. “I-- paid what was asked of me,” he stumbled quickly over his words, “and when I awoke again, Eilidh was there. I had thought that the hag had worked some sort of magic to reverse time. That we were now living some path that had branched from the previous in which I had done whatever it was I needed to in order to earn Eilidh’s affections in return. I never realized-- I had not thought that--” 

Finally, he looked up once more to meet Eilidh’s eyes and the accusatory glare in them. “I had no idea that your actions were not your own, Eilidh, I am so sorry. Nor did I realize that others would have been dragged into the spell the way they had.” He forced himself to meet the vampire’s eyes and the roiling hatred within, then the king’s, but Aislan’s he could hold only a moment before his fell once again.

“I know that offers little comfort regardless, and it still does not change what I have done nor what everyone has gone through because of me. I--I had believed that maybe I had done something during out marriage to drive Eilidh away, and that were I given a second chance I might be able to fix my mistakes.”

“Do you wish to know why I left that night, Aodh?” Startling after her long silence, Eilidh’s voice cut through, causing Aodh to flinch. “I had wondered afterwards whether I had done some disservice to you by never sharing why I left, but I avoided you afterwards out of a fear that you would invoke our vows to force me to return regardless. When we were wed, I had thought our union was one of our parents’ doing for gain towards our families’ names.” 

Eilidh took a step closer with an unreadable expression. “At first I had thought us near strangers with no love between them. You were always a dour person around others, but that had never bothered me. And...you were always kind to me in our marriage. So kind. ...Too kind. I realized that despite what I had thought before, you did love me, and despite what I had hoped would blossom, I did not love you back. Even then I had hoped that time might bend my heart differently, but with every sweet gesture, every breakfast that you brought to me in bed, it became too much for me. One night,” she took a quiet breath and Aodh felt himself still, “I realized that despite my best efforts, I would never love you.” A truth that he must have realized long ago, and yet one he had refused to accept. It took the realization that even the hag’s magic did not truly sway her heart for the truth to make itself known to him, and yet...

Hearing it like this from her still hurt.

“It was through no fault or your own,” Eilidh continued. “Nor any flaw in your personality. In truth, it was nothing as grand and monumental as that, Aodh. It was simply that I would not ever fall in love with you. And so, in the face of those flowers and the gestures and the breakfasts that increased as you seemed to realize something was wrong, I left. I fled. Were I to do it all over again I would like to give you a proper goodbye, but I do not regret my actions nor the life I have lived since.”

Aodh nodded slowly in the quiet of the room as he grappled with the overwhelming weight of the truths now laid before him. Was it comforting to realize that it was by no fault of his own? Or devastating to have to acknowledge the futility of it all? He had loved or, or he had experienced some version of love, since he was a young boy. It was all so much, and yet he knew what must be done.

Slowly, Aodh sank to his knee before Eilidh. In some far part in the back of his mind, he was reminded of the fact that the pose was one often used in mortal proposals, and, as his hand rested over his heart, the irony of it all considering what he was about to do struck him.

[blahkugo]

𝟓 ༒ 𝔥𝔬𝔫𝔬𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔶 𝔣𝔞𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔶 𝔪𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯

⤷ dirty valentine m.list

⤷ complete bnha m.list

dabi / touya todoroki — daddy kink

a/n: it’s just pure filth. needy!rc & dabi being a dick daddy.

wc: 1.3k

tw: consensual somno, overstim, daddy kink (obvi)

It’s always a pleasure to see Dabi asleep.

Not in fitful naps filled with nightmares, murmured pleas, and sweat-soaked sheets—or the occasional post-battle concussion—but actually resting. He doesn’t get much sleep to begin with, and when he does there always seems to be a grimace attached, a tick of his jaw that makes your breath catch, worried for the safety of his subconscious mind.

But on rare occasions like tonight, you get a little glimpse of your boyfriend truly at peace. Chest rising and falling at an even pace, loose black hair tousled across the pillow, cheeks softly flushed. He looks content, for once, and it makes your heart soar.

It’s really too bad you’re as horny as you are.

Dabi always demands you wake him at the slightest of necessities, claims he’d much rather be buried inside your tight, wet cunt then fighting comatose demons. You should, given how often you’ve woken up to him tonguing it, licking and slurping you as though he’s parched and you’re a glass of water on the nightstand. It’d be a welcomed surprise, really, to turn the tables for once.

Still, you don’t want to be a bother, don’t want to be the needy little thing you always are for him. He deserves to be looked after too—and besides, the sight of him so tranquil is almost enough to quell your salacious thoughts. Almost. You can’t truly deny the slick dribbling down your thighs, the way he could have you satiated and fucked asleep with a few pumps of his wrist.

But maybe you can have the best of both worlds, take this rare chance to play caretaker while still getting yourself off.

So you begin your little mission, clambering over to where Dabi lays peacefully and snuggling up against him. Your actions are silent, completed with the utmost caution as to not risk rousing him. And his warm body welcomes you, stirring only to pull you closer.

When you’ve successfully wrapped a leg around his thigh, you test the waters by humping against it once, twice—softly at first—only focusing on your own pleasure when you’re certain he won’t awaken.

Soon, you’re rutting shamelessly, lost in the chase of your high, a hand clamped tightly over your mouth to stifle gasps and low moans. The friction of your clit against his rough thighs is pure bliss, the slick that drizzles across his skin only provoking you further.

What would Dabi say if he saw you like this? If he’s stirred into consciousness by your sharp inhales and the helpless little juts of your hips against him? It’s dirty, you’re dirty, for getting so worked up over his unconscious body. Knowing him, he’d probably–

“Enjoying yourself, princess?”

The sudden quip makes you jolt, shocking you out of your thoughts as you rush to feign innocence. It’s no use, of course; judging by the smirk on Dabi’s face, it seems he’s been watching you for quite some time.

“I- I was just–” You struggle to explain yourself, feeling heat blossom in your chest at being caught in such an obscene position.

“Well don’t stop on my account,” he tempts, voice dangerously gravely, low enough to make your gut tighten and your legs tremble. “Looks like you’re doin’ just fine on your own.”

You can see the smugness in his lidded eyes, the way he shifts himself up against the headboard, throwing his arms behind his head and repositioning you directly on his lap. All the while, he ignores the whimper you let out, the quiver of your bottom lip as you silently beg for him to touch you. This is a punishment, of course, a petty consequence of trying to fulfill your own needs when he’s right here.

So, what can you do except follow the command? You begin grinding against him again, eyes trained on the beautiful man in front of you. He doesn’t say a word, simply watches as you bounce pathetically, desperately attempting to regain the rhythm you had fallen into only moments ago.

But with his gaze glued to your body, it’s impossible. Now that he’s fully present, you can’t help but long for the rough graze of his fingers, for the feeling of being poked and prodded by the nimble digits that know every inch of your warm walls. And he knows good and well how badly you want him to reach out, to allow you to melt beneath his touch.

Finally fed up with your failure, you mumble a soft, ‘please help me,’ eyes trained anywhere but his own.

“What was that, baby?” Dabi presses a finger to your chin, lifting it so that you’re peering up at him once again. “Didn’t quite catch that.” The look he gives you should be illegal, all pointed teeth and hungry eyes, an amalgam of pure arrogance and satisfaction that even a hero wouldn’t dare challenge.

Your hands dart out to grab at his arm, still helplessly writhing against his heated skin, “P-please daddy, need you.”

Within seconds, you’re lifted, then placed with your knees on either side of his bare leg. Dabi doesn’t bother with flipping you around, seemingly content with watching you fall apart completely on display. One hand remains fastened behind his head, but the other finally moves towards you. His fingers ghost across your thighs, coating themselves in your juices while he inches to where you need him most.

“Poor little baby,” he hums, swiftly sinking two knuckles into your wet cunt, “can’t get yourself off without daddy’s help, yeah?”

The sudden stretch makes you keen into him, hands scrambling for purchase on his biceps. Dabi curls his fingers upwards, pressing against gummy walls at the spot that makes your stomach heavy and your eyes clench shut. In just a few seconds, you feel yourself far closer to paradise than your own ministrations ever got you.

Soon, time is lost on you. You’re unsure of when you reached your first peak, or how many times you’ve cum since, though Dabi’s lithe digits never let up. You’re still meeting his thrusts, rubbing your clit against his palm with every pump and whining incoherently.

The only thing you know, the only thing that truly matters in this moment, is the God in front of you—his touch, his smug grin, his incessant urging that ‘you can take it, princess,’—but your nerves are on fire. You’re unable to voice your concern, too stimulated to offer anything but pathetic squeals and cries of ‘daddy, daddy, daddy,’ over and over again.

“T-Too much– ah, s’ too much,” you sob between gasps, upper body dropping against his chest when you can no longer support yourself. Instead of stopping, it only makes Dabi press harder—but he allows you the simple reprieve of curling into him, moving his free arm to caress your sweat-soaked head.

“Been saying that for a while now,” he grunts, wincing when your fingernails dig into his pecks, “but your sloppy cunt’s still gushing all over me, yeah?”

“I- fuck, I-” You can’t help but stutter, babbling through fuzzy thoughts. Every single part of you begs for release—muscles aching, skin sheen with sweat and tight walls clenching on their own—but he’s right; your body still humps against his every thrust, sorry little movements that achieve nothing but making you beg and blubber louder.

“One more time, princess,” he coos, throbbing cock straining against your ass, “and we can sleep.” Somewhere in your hazy brain, you know he’s lying, know he’ll be wide awake for days to come.

Dabi never gets a good night’s sleep, but it’s fine; he’s always quite content fucking you unconscious.

[leonawriter]

The fascinating thing about Maruki, to me, is that he’s kind of an exemplar example of “does it matter if the character deserves redemption or a second chance or not?” - because the character in-universe are still, understandably, wary of him after his heart has been changed. He canonically states that he’s a changed man, and the PT when they see him are very much “woah Akira, we saw who you were with, are you okay?” in their reactions from what I remember. 

Akira is the one who was most affected by Maruki, and he’s the one who chooses to get in the taxi, and chooses to hear him out. 

Like... I don’t think that any of the PT, even and including Akira, will ever feel truly comfortable with Maruki, as there will always be that bad blood between them. But isn’t he a prime example of how they were meant to help people in the first place? That a person could be the scum of the earth, and yet if their heart was changed, then they could make something better of themself? Maruki does that. He stops his therapy and counselling, seeing that it isn’t a good place for him (or his potential patients) and goes into something where he has less power, but can still hear people out and help them.

His change of heart helped him see how he was hurting others, see how his actualisations weren’t helping, how he’d let his own grief overtake him, and now he can move on.

So like... mid-canon Maruki? Manipulative piece of shit. Wouldn’t trust him with therapy or counselling of anyone, least of all Akira or any of the PT. Restraining order. Give the man an actual therapist paid to deal with his issues and not a school kid to listen to him. 

Post-canon Maruki, though? I’m curious. Where’s his head at. How is he doing. What’s it like adjusting from being a god to being a normal guy again, and knowing just how badly you screwed up. A lot of fandom consensus seems to be that Akira gets a phobia or aversion of therapists, so does Maruki realise this might happen after February 3rd, and does he feel responsible or guilty if he figures it out?

Post-canon Maruki is fun to drop into the pit of “force him and the PT to acknowledge each other’s existence in person” because he isn’t someone they need a restraining order from anymore. If anything, he’s the consequences of their actions given shape and form and he’s also the end result of one direction that their ideals could have gone, so... he’d have a very interesting viewpoint on things. I’ve only read a few fics with him post-canon but they’re all good, and touch on those sorts of things.

[ansksosns]

Sealed Fates

This blog has no followers b u t this is my secret writing blog, where I have not posted any works....until now. 

Simps, I present to you; Tobirama Senju. 

Part 2 can be found here!

Word count: 3023

You burst through his office doors, not bothering to knock or give any announcement of your arrival to his household despite the late hour. You knew he wasn’t asleep; the man only slept when exhaustion won the battle against his mind and body.

Surely enough, there he sat at his oak desk, gracing you with a rare display of surprise upon his face.

“Tobirama Senju.” You growl, gritting your teeth.

He quickly collects himself, his surprised expression disappearing as though it was never there. He now looks tired—How many days has it been since he truly slept?

“I do not recall inviting you into my home.” He says pointedly, as his eyes fall back on to the papers in front of him. He begins scribbling on them, probably updating notes on the newest jutsu he’d created.

His lack of urgency towards you only makes you more annoyed; you thought the two of you were finally getting somewhere, after Tobirama saved your life from the clutches of death a mere month ago. You quickly learned that you were wrong, as he became more reclusive than ever following your discharge from the hospital.

You had every intention on broaching this topic with him in a professional manner, even going so far as to schedule a meeting with him—a meeting, with the man you served as some sort of assistant for a better part of your career as a shinobi.

All formalities went out the window when you quickly caught a glimpse of a very specific marking on the small of your back; one you knew quite well, but had no recollection of getting.

“How long have you had the seal on me?” You bark, taking one step closer to his desk.

He stops scribbling for a moment, considering your words carefully.

You don’t give him a chance to defend himself. “At what point did you decide to brand me with your jutsu?”

You take another step closer to him, and slam your hands down on the desk to get his undivided attention. You won’t let him get away with this without some sort of consequence; he may be above you in the world of shinobi, but he was not above you as a human being. It is time he was reminded of that.

Tobirama gives you a low sigh and then sets his quill aside. He leans back in his chair, lacing his fingers together in his lap. He looks at you with narrowed eyes, silently telling you to tread carefully as you speak. You ignore his warning, and more forward with your wrath.

“I have given you more than adequate work; I’ve dedicated my entire life to yours and Hashirama’s dream for this village. I have fought beside you, and for you without ever asking for anything in return.”

You notice your arms have begun to shake, so you grip the edge of the desk to stop yourself. Tobirama’s eyes have not left yours since he looked up at you, and you find yourself suddenly wishing he would look away. His stare is penetrating; making you feel as though he sees right into your very being.

Despite this, you continue with your rant. “Using this seal to spy on me, whenever, wherever you want—that is your payment to my loyalty, my blood, sweat, and tears?”

Your voice is bordering on shrill as you speak. Tears threaten to spill over your eyes, and you curse yourself for such a display of weakness in front of Tobirama.

“I have forgiven you for many, many, unspeakable things, Tobirama, but this crosses the line.”

He scoffs at you, while giving you a heated glare.

“You think I would place the Hiraishin seal on you with malicious intent?” He asks in disbelief.

His voice is lower than usual, cloaked in anger, as though he is offended by the accusations you are making against him.

You give him a humourless chuckle, “You would do anything if it meant furthering your goals.” You spit back at him.

You can feel the pressure of your chakra rising in the air around you, as you find yourself getting more and more upset with the man in front of you, and for once you think you will get the better of this stubborn man. Of course, he is one always one step ahead of you—his significantly more powerful chakra is threatening to squash yours as soon as the words are leaving your mouth.

Though you know it is a losing battle, you do not back down.

“I will not be insulted in my own home.” He states.

You’ve never seen him this angry before; not even with Madara. You have seen a lot of Tobirama over the years—one would argue that, aside from Hashirama, you know the younger Senju brother better than anyone. This anger you are seeing is entirely new to you though, and if it was not for the rage that burned within your soul, you might have even felt bad for invoking it.

“I will not be disrespected—not by you, or anyone else.” You reply, leaning into his personal space.

You have known Tobirama for too long; you know how to play to his weakness’. The pressure from your chakra, though significantly weaker than his, mixed with a newfound rage, and your close proximity, should be more than his sensory skills can handle at the moment. It would throw him off, and that is what you need right now to get a win.

“I will not tolerate being berated by an insolent girl, on a subject she knows nothing of.”

He surprises you by moving himself forward, sharing a space with you without a second thought. You are eye to eye now, his piercing gaze striking through you that much more. Your chakra’s shove against each other, battling for dominance.

You wonder why he doesn’t just end it; he is more than capable of doing so. Why drag it out for longer than necessary, especially when it is causing this much anger inside of him?

“This is my body, Tobirama!” You snap. “You do not get a say in this, no matter your excuse!”

Your proximity does not bother him, and it annoys you greatly. Even when you have the confidence to be this close to him; to challenge him—he is throwing you through another loop. When will you ever win with him?

You grit your teeth, breathing slightly heavier than you would normally. You continue to hold his gaze, though you feel like it is killing you from the inside out to keep doing so. You can’t back down from him this time; Tobirama has long ruled over your heart and mind far too easily. Now was a better time than any to prove to yourself that you can no longer be easily swayed by the younger Senju brother.

Tobirama narrows his eyes at you, lifting himself from his chair, pushing you out of his space with the sheer force and pressure of his chakra. You stumble backwards a bit, your stance falters for a moment as you are in awe of the raw power he possesses. You do not see it often, as he makes sure his power is stored away for only those who deserve it.

For a moment, you think you have gone too far.

You quickly regain your composure, and use your chakra to force his right back at him. His lips twitch upwards slightly, like a smirk was threatening to pull at the corners of them.

Was he...enjoying this?

It is gone as quickly as it appeared. You convince yourself that you imagined it.

“That seal saved your life.” Tobirama argues. He rounds the desk quickly, leaving you with no time to move with him before he has you trapped against the desk, facing him.

He leaves enough room for you to escape, if you feel the need to but you know you won’t. You are aware of what he is doing—forcing your hand to make you submit to him in this argument. He’d done it time and time again, though never with malice. Tobirama has spent his life being in command, never one to give up the control unless absolutely necessary. He understands that the presence of his chakra is intimidating, and he often uses that to his advantage. Clearly though, he has yet to realize that the threat of his chakra doesn’t work on you anymore.

“I don’t care.” You respond, your grasp on the desk behind you causing your knuckles to turn white. “I’ll never be able to remove it. I’m tethered to you for the rest of my life.”

You don’t mean for your words to sound so delicate, as though they were a confession of your soul. It doesn’t particularly bother you, because you have no intent on leaving his side any time soon, but your poor choice of words change the nature of the argument to an area you did not prepare yourself for.

Tobirama’s chakra stutters before the pressure of it dies off completely. Your own chakra is now powerful against him, causing it to forcibly push him away from you.

He is no longer glaring at you, but staring at you with eyes wide, and a slack jaw.

Perhaps your words affect him more than you can comprehend.

You retract your looming chakra, and step towards him, but he takes one step back for each foot you move forward. He is quick to hide his emotions again, replacing the softness he held in his eyes for you with a drawn out and irritated sigh. With closed eyes, he turns away from you.

You watch in complete disbelief. Tobirama Senju has just backed down from you; he submitted, and in turn, admitted to his defeat. You did not expect this from him.

You open your mouth to speak, but the lax of his shoulders stops you.

“I thought of it as a means to protect you.” Tobirama says gently. There is no trace of anger, or annoyance in his tone anymore.

You feel your resolve crumble at his tone, and your heartbeat doubles in the confines of your ribcage.

You hate this.

You hate how he renders you like this so easily.

His hands ball into fists at his sides as he lets his words hang in the air, allowing you the time to process them.

“You do not need to protect me, Tobirama; You have so much more to take care of in the village. You should have complete faith in my abilities as a shinobi to take care of myself.”

He scoffs loudly at your words, and shakes his head from side to side but he refuses to look at you.

You want to question him—make him tell you out right that he doubts your skills and has no faith in you at all; that your stint in the hospital and him saving your life were all the signs he needed to change his mind about you.

But seeing him this way leaves you with no other choice other than waiting it out.

Minutes pass as you both stand there in silence. Tobirama is seemingly struggling to find the words he has been looking for, and you are just waiting for him to speak them. You decided that one way or another, the two of you would settle whatever this is before either of you leave the room.

You only hope it won’t end with him saying all the things you can’t bear to hear; such as how useless you are, or how much he doesn’t need you anymore.

If that is what it came to though, so be it. If it meant sorting this out, you would take his words with your head held high.

You rest your hips against the desk, folding your arms over your chest.

“Tobi,” You say gently, to serve as a reminder that you were still here with him. You know, of course, that he can’t forget that; he is especially strong with his sensory skills—almost always aware of everything around him without meaning to be.

He turns to you and your breath catches in your throat. He looks utterly defeated and exhausted. His hard, pensive gaze turned in for a much softer one and lips parted slightly. The tension in his forehead usually caused by having his brows knitted together in concentration is gone, and it makes him look much younger.

Tobirama was either always dressed in his armour, or kimonos since they had established the village; it helped maintain an almost royal like status to the clans who joined the founding of Konoha.

But he is just a man—still so young. War often aged people much further along than they really are; something you often forgot.

You find yourself then wishing, if only for just a moment, that you can take it all back. You wish you were easier on Tobirama, and gave him more of the support he needs without question.

But you knew, as Madara once said, Tobirama Senju will always listen to you. Though you would never take credit for the accomplishments he succeeds in, you are aware that you have an influence on decisions he makes from time to time. The two of you are a team, always; even in your stubbornness and anger, you worked together like it was second nature to you both.

Damn him for doing this to you. Damn him all to hell.

“I have lost almost everyone I have ever loved.”

He says it slowly and carefully as though he is not sure if the words will scare you away.

He takes one step closer to you, and stops as though he is unsure of what to do. Words bubble in your throat, but no matter how much you will them from yourself, they do not come out.

“I refuse to lose you, too.”

The words are spoken so quietly, but they ring loud and clear in your mind. The doubling of your heartbeat from earlier now tripled as his voice echoes off the walls of your brain. It’s just like him to confess such a thing behind a wall of pride, but the fact that he said it at all meant that he is serious.

Your balance on the desk gives out, and you quickly slam your hands into it to catch yourself from falling completely. Tobirama steps closer to you, his eyes searching your entire self, up and down. The words are caught on your tongue; a lump forming at the base of your throat prevents you from breathing.

Tobirama’s voice fills the silence. “Putting the seal on you without your knowledge was wrong, I will admit that much.”

He sounds stronger now, more determined than you have ever heard him before.

He takes one more step closer to you. Your knees grow weak.

“But it was the easiest decision I have ever made. I will continue to stand by that decision until my very last breath, even if it means you hate me for it.”

Those words manage to snap her out of her dream like state. Does he think getting rid of you will be so easy? It is just like him to do something like this—damn him. This all could have been avoided if the two of you had just told each other sooner.

You lean forward, slowly raising your hand to the side of his face. You give him ample time and room to inch away from your contact if he wants to, but he does not move. You cradle his cheek in your palm, fingers hooking behind his ear, thumb gingerly brushing against his cheek bone.

It is to your surprise that he leans in to your touch, and closes his eyes. Your heart pulls in your chest.

“I could never hate you, Tobi.” You say softly.

This is the truth; no matter how idiotic he is, the harder he pushes you away, giving you the Hiraishin seal—you could never hate Tobirama Senju.

“I am tethered to you for the rest of my life,” You repeat. In a moment of boldness, you grab one of his hands and slowly drag it to settle on the seal that is placed on the small of your back. You hear his breath catch.

“—By something much stronger than this seal.”

You love him, more than he will ever truly know.

You ghost your lips over his, waiting for the moment he will push you away, but it never comes. His grasp on you only tightens as he pulls you flush against him, capturing your lips in his.

He is soft, at first; gentle with you as he engulfs your body in his arms. The palm you had on his cheek slides down to his neck, lazily clinging to the ends of his hair.

You both pull away, only leaving a breath of space between the two of you. Your eyes meet briefly, before he is on you again, kissing you harder than before, with a certain finality burning through. You only return the kiss with as much passion, scared that Tobirama will be gone the moment you stop.

You pull him closer; he grabs you by your hips with a bruising force, walking you backwards into the desk before lifting you with ease to sit upon the edge of it. He kisses you harder than the other times, rutting himself between your legs.

It is all lips, teeth and tongue with the two of you; low and heady sighs escaping your mouth when he pulls away from you, leaving trails of kisses and bites down the side of your neck. Gasps leave you and you encircle your legs around him, securing him to you. Hands tugging at his hair, causing salacious groans to seep through his tentative mouth.

You say his name sinfully, and before you can register his firm grasp on you, he is lifting you up off the desk, and moving you from the office, to his bed room.

[4ragon]

I'm not the original anonymous but I would extremely want to see that essay about Apollo's trust issues.

Also since I just finished Spirit of Justice, do you think Lamiroir ever told Trucy/Apollo about her and if so what would be their reactions?

Let’s see if I can write this up without crying again like I did on twitter.

So a while ago a friend of mine asked me why I liked Apollo, and I really couldn’t put my finger on it. I knew he was my favorite, but unlike Simon Blackquill, I hadn’t done that deep dive into figuring out why. I’d always just sort of loved him, and was never able to pinpoint the part that made me care about him so much. It drove me crazy, too, I love rambling about characters that I love, and I love writing from Apollo’s perspective more than anything. So why did I love him? Why did I care about him?

Well. I figured it out. I figured out my answer.

I think there are two things that characterize Apollo more than anything. One: He has trust issues. He genuinely believes that the people around him don’t give a shit about him. Especially after being betrayed multiple times in that first trial, he truly and deeply believes that the people around him are only trying to hurt him and is too scared to really believe that they care about him.

And two: He cares so much about the people around him that he constantly helps them anyway.

So like. And I won’t tag her because I don’t think she’d appreciate it, but I was watching the laquilasse AA4 stream last night, and the entire opening of Turnabout Corner is so striking to me, especially right after the end of Turnabout Trump. At the end of Turnabout Trump, Apollo’s trust and belief in Phoenix is finally and thoroughly shattered, and Apollo lashes out, punching Phoenix in the face. And for good reason! That was a huge breach of trust! Apollo literally did the exact thing that got Phoenix disbarred, namely present evidence that wasn’t real. Sure, they never exactly claimed it was the real deal, but Apollo didn’t even know it was faked, he just trusted Phoenix and this new piece of evidence and it almost fucked him over. It did sort of fuck him over, he did lose his job and his Mentor.

And then, Phoenix calls him and says that they’re in trouble, and Apollo doesn’t even question it, of course he shows up to help.

Like. You can feel how much he mistrusts Trucy on their first meeting, in everything he does and says. Especially when Trucy and Phoenix are in the same room, he’s actively thinking about how he doesn’t ‘buy their act’ when Phoenix is calling Trucy daughter-ly nicknames. And then, in a way, he’s kind of right? They guilt him into essentially being their errand boy, and I feel like they’re constantly and loudly using him throughout so much of the game.

And Apollo was there anyway. Apollo doesn’t even trust them and he’s still there the first instant Phoenix says he needs his help.

Like you can loudly do and say whatever you want and crush his dreams and betray his trust, and despite everything, there’s always that part of Apollo that desperately needs to help anyone who asks him. He can’t even bring himself to trust them, and he’s still crawling back the moment someone needs him, ready to let them disappoint him over again.

Like this struck me about Apollo from the moment I played AA4, but he’s so lonely? And desperate for connection? He cares so much about a world that has always and consistently never cared about him, and he just keeps caring and keeps caring even as that starry-eyed naivete is ripped away. And I feel like he just wants someone to care about him back, but never really able to believe that they do, because they never really seem to, because every time he allows himself to trust it’s just thrown back in his face so horribly.

Here’s an interesting thing I noticed: in Turnabout Trump, there’s a really interesting line. Phoenix has accused Kristoph of being the murderer, the extra person in the room. Kristoph takes the stand and claims to have witnessed the moment Phoenix committed the murder. And this exchange happens:

Apollo: There must have been someone else there at the moment of the crime!

Kristoph: Justice... I just said I saw no one. Not a soul.

Apollo: B-But, that goes against what Mr. Wright said!

Kristoph: Ah yes, this mysterious "fourth person"... ...who would conveniently be the "real killer", I suppose.

And this is well past the point where Phoenix has accused Kristoph of being that person. There’s no possibility at this point that they’re both innocent, it’s either one or the other. And Apollo is still so desperately trying to find a way for them both to be innocent, basically saying, “Just give me a fourth person and I’ll believe you.” And then Kristoph turned out to be a monster, and then Phoenix turned out to have betrayed Apollo from the start, and as far as Apollo is ever aware, none of the care from either of these men was ever real. He trusted, and he suffered the consequences.

But again. He’s still there. Someone pointed out a while ago, but Apollo stays. Apollo shows up to the Wright Talent Agency under false pretenses, and he complains and hems and haws, and he still stays. Why?

Phoenix and Trucy loudly manipulate him into working their case. They’re perfectly happy to flaunt that they’re basically tricking him. And he stays. Why?

Because Apollo can’t trust them, but he wants to so fucking bad. He doesn’t even seem to like Phoenix that much, but he wants that connection so fucking bad. He cares about them so much and he doesn’t believe for a second that they extend that feeling back at him, and he’s compelled to stay anyway.

He knows Trucy is practically using him, and he’s a sobbing mess when he thinks she was kidnapped for a few minutes. He’s cynical and mean and it’s all just to cover up the fact that he loves all these people around him with all his heart and they never once pay it back. And he comes back anyway. He’s like a fucking loyal dog that is never given enough affection and so he’s constantly trying harder and harder to earn that love while never believing he’ll ever really get it.

(Shit nope crying again)

It’s just so sad. And this is all without adding anything from the 3D games. The 3D games do build on this theme in one way or another, but from the get go, this is who Apollo is. A caring young man who is constantly punished for caring and yet can’t stop caring anyway.

We see it again in the 3D games. And I think part of why I don’t enjoy DD as much as SoJ is that DD doesn’t capture this mistrust the same way. It’s so surface level, that sense of betrayal and mistrust and anger he gets consumed by in that final case. And the worst part is it doesn’t have to be! There’s already that foundation! Apollo has been hurt already a million times. The only person he’s ever been able to trust, the only lifeline that’s kept him above water since he was a child, was Clay Terran, and now that was taken from him because he DARED to trust someone new. That’s so fucking compelling! But we never get that! We never get to see how Apollo is feeling. We get that he’s convinced Athena did the murder, but never really get into the Why, into the What This Means for Apollo.

It’s a bit better in SoJ. We see how far he’s come in terms of trusting people when he trusts in Trucy wholly and immediately in case two. And then, conversely, we see his mistrust and hurt when they introduce Dhurke into the mix. Apollo refuses point blank to believe that Dhurke had come to visit him, that Dhurke cared about him. Apollo demands to know why Dhurke was there, what Dhurke wanted, how Dhurke was going to use him. He’s been able to slowly start building that trust with people like Trucy, but he still cannot let himself trust again when Dhurke had already betrayed that trust.

I said it before, but as much as I hate the slapdash ways in which Capcom keeps throwing backstory at this boy, I love what the backstories are, because they build on this angry, cynical, lonely young man I care about so much. He’s been hurt and abandoned and used and betrayed since he was young, and being good never truly paid off for so long, but he kept doing it, he kept being good, he kept caring about people because he couldn’t help it, and kept hoping that maybe they could care back. And eventually I think it does start paying off for him. People do start caring about him. And I feel like it takes until around SoJ for him to start really believing that the people around him might care about him too.

Also congrats on finishing SoJ! Since there’s a very good chance that they might be announcing AA7 soon, I...hope? fear? expect? that they’ll touch on this then. However, I also worry that they’re going to botch it up so hard.

I know what I want to happen. I want Trucy to be angry. I want her to be angry at Lamiroir and Phoenix. She is constantly putting on a mask to try to make the people she loves happy, and I feel like this is a reasonable breaking point. After all, this is kind of the one thing that Phoenix hasn’t been honest with her about. She had a brother right there, and knew the whole time?! She had a mother there the whole time?! And no one bothered to tell her?! I think she’d be heartbroken, and I think she deserves to be angry. She’s been through so much, and they never give her time to really grieve or be upset.

I think Apollo would be ecstatic and angry at the same time. All he’s ever wanted was family, and now he does! He already loved Trucy, and thought Lamiroir was amazing, so I think he would be so happy to have that family back in his life. On the flip side, I do think he’d be angry at Phoenix, particularly for keeping it to himself before Lamiroir came into the picture, but I think if they talked it out, Apollo would come around to it and be able to forgive Phoenix.

[dannyboy-writes]

Warmth

Pairing: Daenerys x reader (no pronouns nor indications of any gender)

Summary: What happens after Daenerys cheats on you with Jon

Warnings: Cheating?

Word count: 1451 (holy shit)

She didn’t know when she fell in love with you. Maybe it’d been when you stood up for her in front of Viserys, not caring the consequences it would bring. Perhaps when she saw you at the market in Astapor, buying food for the hungry children; or when her heart stopped just a bit longer as you offered yourself to fight the Meereenese champion.

She knew all she loved about you, that she did. How your eyes held more warmth when speaking to her. How your eyebrow raised a bit too high when you were intrigued. The sweetness you had with those you loved and the fear you imposed to those against you or those you cared for. How quickly you would hide the blooming emotions, rapidly putting on the mean, serious facade.

Not for her, never for her. She could always read you like a book, always wearing your heart on your sleeve, waiting to pour it out into the canvas.

But not now.

Now they were cold, and distant. And any special treatment she would’ve once gotten was gone.

It’d become obvious when you stepped foot in Winterfell. How their gazes were held in between them for a little too long, but were quickly dismissed. How she did and said things, as if searching for forgiveness within you.

Now your eyes were as cold as the snow around you two - if not more - and the distance between the both of you, although not literal, abysmal. Your tears threatening to fall, but being pulled back in.

She didn’t deserve them, not after this. You weren’t gonna give her that. You’d given her everything, you would’ve given her the world had she asked, but not tears. Oh, how you wanted to cry and scream. At everything and nothing, at the gods, at him. At her.

She knew it was a facade and that you were hurting beneath the cold demeanor, and that was probably what hurt her most. She’d lost the privilege to see the hidden emotions, to be able to see underneath the deceitful front. But she deserved it, she’d caused it.

-

“Where would you go, if you could go anywhere in the world?” Dany asked, eyes glistening with joy, pressing herself tighter to your embrace.

“I don’t know. Probably a nice house by the beach, with lots of trees and pretty sunsets. You?”

She stared into the dark blue of the ocean for a second, “I don’t know. I might join you in your beach house, if you’ll have me, of course.”

“I’ll always have you, Dany,” you smiled, pressing a kiss to her head.

-

Not anymore. It was all gone, all for a stupid mistake, all for a warm bed. But not even, because the man from the north wasn’t even half as soft as you were, and the cold of his fingertips froze her fire-blazed blood.

You had left the comfort and heat of the Winterfell castle against better judgment, and the icy weather was taking a toll on your under-protected body. You just couldn’t be there with them. Having to pretend nothing had happened, the unspoken topic everyone seemed to know about.

You’d heard her call for you and you figured she’d follow. Part of you wanted her to do so, to be able to forgive her; but your brain kept forbidding you from doing so, and the pain in your chest reminded you why.

“Please, come inside y/n. You’ll freeze without cover.” She was right. Leaving the castle into the unfamiliar iciness with only your leathers was not smart, but you still didn’t turn to face her, only holding your arms closer to yourself, as if it would force the heat not to leave your body.

You took a few more steps and coldly spat out, “I’m fine.” It was bullshit, of course, but what else was there to say? Anything there was she already knew, why say it?

Her following footsteps were the only audible thing besides your occasional sniffles and the howling of the wind. Now she wasn’t going to leave you alone? Now?

“Would you stop following me, please?” You stopped in your tracks and turned to face her, “There’s a reason I left the castle, you know? If I’d known you’d follow me I wouldn’t have bothered getting in the snow at all.”

She stopped in her tracks the second the words left your lips, her face braced with hurt. She didn’t expect you to say this, but then again, she couldn’t really blame you. “I’m sorry,” she simply said. “I truly am, y/n. The last thing I wanted was hurting you.”

A scoff left you, “The last thing you wanted?” You searched her face for the joke to drop, but there was none. “It’s the only thing you did.” With that you walked past her, going somewhere warmer than the white snow, but were stopped by her. She held your arm tight, but not painfully, not letting you move. Well, if you tried you probably could, but there was no will to do so in your body.

“Please, y/n,” she looked at you, begging you to listen, and her hurt decreased slightly as you shifted in your spot crossing your arms and raising an eyebrow at her.

“I can never take back what I’ve done, never. And asking you to forgive me is selfish, I know. I know,” she remarked. “But I am, asking you to forgive me, being selfish; I am. Because I love you, and I need you, and I was too blinded to see that, for which I’ll never be sorry enough. I wish I could go back and stop myself, I really do. And I understand if you don’t ever want to speak to me-”

“No.” You sternly said. Stopping at your sudden intervention, she started searching for hidden words in your face, finding none. “You don’t get to say that, you don’t get to say you understand and you can’t do anything. You- You don’t get to stop fighting for- For me, for us, you don’t.” She straightened her back with determination in her face and urged you to continue. “You don’t get to break my heart, apologize and move forward just like that.”

The look in your face was less menacing and more downcast, tears threatening to fall from your glimmering eyes. A slight tremble ever so often in the still cold environment. You weren’t sure what was colder, the snow or the situation. 

“So what now,” she asked, wanting nothing more than to fix things, to undo everything she’d done. “I want to fix this, what do you need me to do? Whatever you need, I’ll do it.” 

You stared at her, thinking your next words carefully, shifting in your position, your gaze turning from her apologetic face into the identical scenery. It would’ve been a lovely view had the circumstances been different. 

“I don’t know if I can forgive you,” you mumbled as her penetrating gaze grew smaller, filled with defeat. “I want to, I really do. It’s hard enough to have your heart broken but I can’t even bring myself to hate you, Dany.” A laugh fell off your lips but there was no happiness behind it, just pain, “It’d be much easier to hate you. To not feel my heart beg for mercy when I see you and him, but for some reason I can’t. And it hurts, it does- so much,” you stopped a second to look at her, finding her taking every single one of your words, however painful they were. 

There was silence after that statement, neither you nor Daenerys knowing what to say, sometimes it takes more than wanting to fix things to actually do so. Your mouth opened a few times without any words leaving your lips, but your mind settled on something. “I can’t promise it will all be roses. Or that I won’t be pissed, or that it will be easy, because it won’t.” She shook her head in understanding. There were no formalities anymore, no Queen and follower, just two broken people, holding onto a little bit of hope in all the despair. “But if you’re willing to not give up on this, on me, then maybe, just- maybe it can work. But I need you to work with me.”

She jumped into your arms, speaking into your neck, “I will, I will. I promise, y/n, I promise.” She would’ve done anything for a second chance with you. 

It wasn’t going to be easy, you both knew that. And it would be a rocky road, but you’d walk it together, and in the end it would be okay.

~

Requests are open and if y’all don’t stop me imma keep posting Dany cause I love her :)

[lily-mj-fae]

Nesta and Elain

I’m going to add now: I recognize my own clear bias towards Elain. And in many ways, this post is in part to defend her, especially since now that fandom has more insight on Nesta, there’s been an increase in hate towards Elain, especially in regards to her interactions with Nesta. Some of these include expecting her to remain in a toxic situation purely because she “owes” Nesta. And so i want to discuss, why that mindset is wrong (which i’ve done a couple times in terms of morally/ethically) because they barely have a relationship anyway. Mostly, i just want to actually describe what we see of them. I’m going to try to stick to mostly just facts of what happens, with some inferences based on text on either side.

So there’s a lot of evidence to show, that while the two clearly clung to each other when their family fell, and that there’s obvious love on either side for each other, they do not have a strong relationship. Or a healthy one. Or a good one.

Not only do we have Elain mentioning that no one ever really listens to her (which is obvious it does in fact apply to her family as we see in canon a few times over, I’ll get to that). But you’d have thought that in ACOSF we’d see some kind of fond memories from Nesta about Elain. Some kind of fondness. Something that made us really believed and finally understand why she loved Elain so fiercely she would have ripped apart the world to defend her. Instead, we learn, Nesta has never told anyone she loved them until she said it to Feyre. And we do not see a single happy thought about Elain from Nesta. No happy memories. Nothing. But there was no explanation for WHY she felt so strongly for just Elain. And not a single thing to really support her feeling that way.

We’re led by Feyre to believe that Elain and Nesta are so close. And at first glance, sure, it’s easy to believe. They spend the most time together. They gossip and talk at dinner together. They have the matching iron bracelets (that I believe wasn’t a purchase made by both as Feyre seemed to think, but by Nesta, because Feyre mentions specifically how Elain had spent her money on gifts for her sisters, and I think if Elain had been involved, she would have gotten one for Feyre). Then throughout the series we see how much Nesta is willing to fight to protect Elain. How much she wants to keep Elain away from danger. We see her wanting to do things with Nesta, but not knowing how anymore because she’s becoming more distant. We see Elain even wanting to spend time with Nesta and trying to keep her included in things into ACOFAS.

To me, the illusion fades with that conversation with Lucien in the library. When Elain says that no one really heard her. And when you look at things, it becomes obvious. Most especially with Nesta. Feyre we know already knows little about her sisters. She assumed that Nesta hated her, and that her sisters would be glad to have her gone. And is surprised that Nesta would have gone after her. But with Elain we see this frequently. Elain wants to help Feyre. So she speaks up. Yes, it puts her relationship at risk. And yes, we know that Nesta takes over in an attempt to provide a buffer for Elain should Graysen find out, to maybe save her from the heartbreak of him leaving her for helping any Fae. But it doesn’t change that it was Elain’s decision. Elain’s desire to help. Nesta instead pushed her out of it wherever she could (IE taking over correspondence for them) in the name of protecting her. This is a problem. Because 1) Nesta is sacrificing her own feelings to do what Elain wants, which I think is wrong. Nesta didn’t want to help, and I think she should have stuck to that. Stuck to her own decision. 2) Nesta is preventing Elain from dealing with consequences of her actions (IE, if Graysen found out she was helping the fae). 3) This is disrespecting Elain's agency. She's not letting Elain be herself by constantly interfering 4) she then goes on to belittle Elain for those things, despite it being her decisions and actions to interfere. And we can recognize that her intentions are good all we want, it doesn't make the actions themselves good or even appropriate. Intentions only mean so much. They certainly don't excuse such detrimental behavior.

Now could Elain have fought back? The black and white answer? Yes. But it's not that simple. Elain we know has been belittled from a young age by at least her mother (okay that's an assumption on my part. But with feyre's description of their mother and Nesta's memories, i certainly wouldn't be surprised if she'd said those things to Elain's face). And essentially raised to be pleasant and agreeable. A proper lady. Her confidence in herself doesn't seem very high. Not to mention, she's much quieter than Nesta. Imagine how exhausting it would be to fight your sister on every little thing you wanted to do. And we see this in canon. Every time Elain wants to help, she has to fight Nesta. I don't think this just magically started in acomaf. I'd wager its been going since a minimum of coming to the cottage (It’s part of why I think Elain doesn’t necessarily take up chopping wood when the request is there. i think she attempted once, and Nesta stopped her and wouldn’t let her). I personally think since their mother's death. Elain is also younger than Nesta, and we do have canon evidence of her having at least one memory full of complete adoration. And a respect for the art form and her sister's views on life. So her fighting back, isn’t as easy as fandom wants to think it is.

I also want to bring up someone once mentioning in ACOTAR when Elain and Feyre were talking, and Elain mentions that she feels awful to have her friends over because Nesta makes them uncomfortable, and how that’s so disrespectful of Elain. No it’s not. Elain is allowed to have friends over. And Nesta just glared at them. I’m not saying she had to like them (because I understand why she wouldn’t), but that was rude, and she could have easily been elsewhere, and let Elain have her friends and enjoy time with them. I also read it differently, in that Elain feels awful inviting her friends over because it’s upsetting Nesta too. Which isn’t fair to her either, given that Nesta has at that point begun isolating herself (and while we as readers become aware of why later, Elain has absolutely no idea. And already has said Nesta wouldn’t talk about it. Implying she tried reaching out too), thus leaving Elain feeling very lonely. Overall, Elain here is feeling the way she should. It’s like when you have company over and your parents start yelling at you, or just being anything less than polite and you have to deal with the awkward tension. 

Then comes ACOSF. And i know i wasn't the only one hoping to find out more about their relationship. And i’m not the only one who was left disappointed that we still don’t get to understand Nesta’s behavior when it comes to Elain. In fact, if I had only read ACOSF and you had told me that before that, Elain seemed to be Nesta’s favorite sister, I’d call you a liar. I do not get a single ounce that Nest has a loving feeling for Elain in ACOSF. Certainly at the very least, not enough to justify the way she treated Elain vs. Feyre in earlier books. Not to mention, Nesta is under the very immature and inaccurate idea that Elain has chosen Feyre over her. As if it’s black and white. As if Elain can only love her or Feyre. And yes, it’s a sign of her mental illness with depression and trauma. That’s fine. But it still shows a very limited viewpoint. And really only shows a care for herself, no thought of Elain or Elain’s state of mind or even really any empathy for the fact that Nesta was the one causing the rift between them and how that was truly affecting Elain. (Again more trauma response. But my point here is that there is very little empathy towards the sister that we’re told she so vehemently loves).

Now onto the part that I know is my unpopular fandom opinion: Nesta dealing with Elain’s trauma vs Elain dealing with Nesta’s...and how their traumas were very different to deal with in the first place.

My unpopular opinion is that Nesta wasn’t doing anything to actually help Elain. She was doing everything to protect her. But was not interested really in her healing. Nesta isolated Elain, who had previously been social in many ways. We don’t ever see how she fought for Elain to eat or drink or have a will to live. We only hear her say that’s what she did. But fandom does need to stop saying that Nesta was with Elain every second of every day (i have had people say this in arguments. It’s a flat out lie. There’s far more textual evidence that Nesta left Elain alone throughout her trauma than there is that she was by her side constantly. And I don’t say she was never by her side). Because the fact of the matter is that isn’t remotely true. Perhaps of the first few weeks. Before Feyre returned. But after that? We hardly see Nesta with Elain. We instead see her keeping people from interacting with her. Keeping them from giving Elain choices.

And we can shout that she was doing what she thought was best, but it doesn’t change that the effect it had was Elain being isolated and underprepared. Elain had been trying to do her part to help since ACOMAF. And she was being blocked. Elain deserved that chance to go to the high lord’s meeting and share her story (especially since Nesta didn’t want to and wasn’t going to up until the last minute). And Elain should have been offered the same training as Nesta. Especially once they learned she had powers. Instead no one offered to let her help (even though she’d been wanting to help since Feyre first came asking). No one offered to train her. Because Nesta would have had their heads. Saying that it was to keep Elain from doing something she might not have been ready for, plays into the idea that Nesta is protecting Elain from growing. Learning. Protecting her from the consequences. Nesta refused to let anyone really near her beyond the necessities.

Speaking of: Can we please talk about something no one else does? The fact that Nesta just accepts the fact that Elain is mad. That she’s broken. The effect that could have had on her, is so detrimental to Elain’s mental health. The thoughts she was probably already dealing with and then to hear that from her sister? Like she refuses to accept that there could be another answer. And while we might agree and empathize why she would say that, it doesn’t change the effect saying it would have on Elain, who was already struggling heavily to deal with everything that had been thrown at her at once. And even once Elain became Lucid, and they identified the problem, Nesta (and Feyre) continued to try to leave her behind. Again, yes, in the name of protecting Elain. But Nesta never listened to Elain. Never saw that Elain improved upon being involved. That just that action of her wanting to do something, was making her Lucid and back to herself. Instead, Nesta ignored that. Which is why I say she wasn’t focused on Elain’s healing. That and the fact that she’s making assumptions that Elain is fine now.

Elain tried to stay involved with Nesta. No, she didn’t go outside her comfort zone and go into the places Nesta was spending time. But she was trying. I admit, the shot upon Nesta’s arrival is weird. I’m torn between thinking it was a legit, to help relax, or thinking it was something she was pouring as Amren said the comment and decided to drink it instead of giving it to Nesta. (Because yes, it would be easy to say as Amren spoke, elain had been pouring, but even without that, it doesn’t mean things aren’t happening at the same time). When that didn’t work, Elain agreed intervention was necessary. and I just made a whole ass post about why that wasn’t giving up on Nesta like fandom keeps thinking.  

And of course, Elain is not perfect here. She has made her mistakes. Though hers are mostly in terms of words. At least the ones I could find textual evidence for when it comes to Elain and Nesta. And mostly done in terms of emotional response.

Now. I did not intend for this post to shit on Nesta. I’m afraid it feels like it has. So I am going to tag it accordingly. But this was more to bring to light the reality that Nesta and Elain aren’t that close. They don’t have a close relationship. They were more security blankets for each other in ACOTAR, and their missing foundation began to show in ACOMAF when Nesta was unaffected by Tamlin’s Glamour and Elain was. I do think there’s a lot of love to be had between them. (Honestly hearing Elain talk about Nesta dancing, and hearing her be happy that Nesta has the Valkyries, even though she feels like she’s been losing Nesta made my heart swell for the amount of love there). But I wanted to point out that their relationship was extremely surface level and nothing deep. That it’s certainly not what fandom acts like it is as they spin this tale of complete and utter evil Elain betraying Nesta and how Nesta has done so much for Elain. Nesta had never even told Elain she loved her. Ever. Which i think is telling about where they really stand. 

So let’s please stop acting like Elain owes Nesta everything under the sun because of all the things Nesta did for her. Their relationship was never deep. And while Nesta’s protectiveness stems from a place of love, is actually more detrimental to Elain and her overall growth, than it is good. And Elain has done the things she considered to be best for Nesta, and tried to show love her way. Which is equally unperfect. Because neither of them are perfect. 

[perthshirecottage]

I have been rewatching Deception lately and I forgot how amazing this show is! Seriously you should watch it. And I have so many thoughts! There are spoilers below.

So one of the things I don’t get is why everyone in the FBI is so distrustful of Jonathan. I mean I get that he is a convicted felon but like, it was for involuntary manslaughter. Which isn’t good but the word involuntary is also in the literal name of the crime. It means he did something reckless and person died and he is being punished for his stupidity but he also didn’t kill a woman on purpose?! And yes after the crash he ran. But they don’t act like there was a massive manhunt so it was more of a run in the moment panic but he also let himself get caught even though he is a master of disguise? Which could also be attributed to not wanting Cameron to go to jail for his mistakes because I doubt that the first thing the cops did after Cam said the man in the photo was his brother that they let Cameron go with a pat on the back. Cameron was probably brought in for questioning and would have been convicted if Jonathan hadn’t turned himself in to corroborate the story. So while he ran he did still make sure another innocent man didn’t take the fall for a crime that neither of them committed. But when Jonathan is let out of jail to help save Cameron Deakins and even Kay act like Jonathan is some master criminal who can’t be trusted in the slightest. Again it isn’t like it was purposeful and premeditated murder. It was literally an accident and is even how he was convicted. As in causing an accident in which a person died! And if the argument is that well of course he is bad he has been hiding his existence for 30 years...well, so has Cameron! And Dina and Jordan and Gunter! But they can be trusted. They also lied! I will come back to this in a minute.

Why is the FBI so mistrustful. Especially once they have evidence that maybe Jonathan isn’t making it up and is actually innocent. I can actually get on board with Deakins’ not trusting Jonathan. She doesn’t know him beyond‘convinced criminal bad’. But Kay believes Cameron when he says his brother was set up. She knows that she is getting an innocent man out of jail to help find his missing brother. And yet Jonathan is treated like a low life scum bag. Mike is just as distrustful but he also has personal issues with Jonathan so...and yet Mike treats Jonathan the best because he doesn’t actually think sending Jonathan back to jail is the right move because he knows he can help find Cameron. Mike even takes Jonathan back to the Archive to say goodbye to Dina despite the fact that Mike can’t stand him. Mike’s issues are purely personal and have nothing to do with Jonathan’s conviction and yet Mike puts aside those personal feelings. Mike has my respect for that.

It does make me wonder though why Jonathan isn’t allowed to benefit from this deal with the FBI. There are people who have done truly heinous things. People who murdered dozens of people and sold drugs and done a lot of horrible things and yet are allowed to go into witnesses protection or have lighter sentences in exchange for turning in people who are actually worse than them! And yet Jonathan who accidentally (again that is his legal conviction!) killed someone isn’t given any sort of incentive? In Escapology Kay straight up says that Cameron needs to be careful about having Jonathan ask questions in prison because people won’t be happy to find out that he is helping the FBI. So Jonathan is helping the FBI, is basically a criminal informant and is risking his own life to save a woman’s life and yet is not allowed to get some time knocked off his sentence. If he is helping the FBI why can’t Jonathan be allowed to go under house arrest instead? That way he can help while not being in prison and can a little more comfortable for his incarceration? Why can’t he get some time off his sentence for community service? The FBI wants to take and take from a guy who isn’t the worst criminal out there and yet despite all the help he has freely offered with nothing in return they act like he is the lowest of the lowest. Like if he was given the chance to run he would and he would gladly leave his brother to who knows what kind of fate. And in a moment of adrenaline and weakness where Jonathan pointed a gun at a woman (which he didn’t fire!) it confirms all their suspicious that he deserves to be labeled a criminal. Again, this is coming from Kay who says that she believes that he is innocent. Kay even made sure that MW was caught on camera because she believes that MW is the real criminal. I don’t get why Jonathan is given the short end of every stick and treated so terribly because he made one mistake. Even for the people who believe he caused that accident. No wonder Jonathan snaps at the end of the season. The FBI wants to treat him the worst bad guy, then fine he’s the bad guy. And unfortunately Cameron is the face the FBI sends in to talk to Jonathan for help and so Cameron gets the brunt of that anger.

And now back to the secret that has been kept for 30 years. Why is Cameron the scape goat for being the one to keep Jonathan trapped when there were 3 other people who knew? At least Cameron and Jonathan have the excuse of having an abusive father who pounded it into their heads that Jonathan must remain secret and I’m sure there is some leftover mental scaring which is part of what kept both of them in the cycle of keeping Jonathan secret even after their dad died. It’s the only kind of life either of them had ever known and it must have been terrifying to think about breaking out of that. And what is the crew’s excuse. They were all fully adults when they found out and none of them helped the twins get out of that toxic mindset because it does make a really cool show. Dina dated Jonathan and obviously liked him but she wasn’t any more willing to help Jonathan step out of the shadows than anyone else.

Why is Cameron blamed so heavily for Jonathan’s life being miserable? I mean think about it. Sebastian is obviously the one who started the whole mess and is truly to blame for everything. Cameron and Jonathan were just kids forced to do their dad’s bidding. Then after they became adults neither of the brothers revealed that there were two of them. Jonathan was legally an adult when their dad died. Why couldn’t Jonathan say screw the show and walk out on stage with Cameron and reveal the truth? No one was stopping him. And you can’t tell me that if Jonathan really and truly wanted out that Cameron wouldn’t have made it happen. Cameron spent a year of his life ruining his own career and driving himself crazy trying to find proof of his brother’s innocence long before meeting the FBI. Cameron refused to do anything to better his own life until he saved Jonathan. Cameron loves his brother more than anything and it’s so obvious. Cameron even turns his back on Kay, a woman he is starting to fall in love with. Cameron decided to become a criminal and go on the run because he loves his brother. Cameron would give his own life if it meant his brother could be free. Everything Cameron does is for his brother. And yes, Cameron didn’t steal the diamond but letting an innocent woman get in trouble for his own crime isn’t that crazy of a line to not want to cross. Cameron knows intimately what it’s like to feel guilty for an innocent person losing everything because of his own perceived mistakes. But when it’s just Cameron’s life on the line he is all in.

When I think about Jonathan wanting to end the charade I imagine the conversation going like this:

Jonathan: I want out.

Cameron: but we could do such a cool show.

Jonathan hesitating for a couple of seconds: ok.

I don’t think Jonathan put up that big of a fight. If he had made it clear that he wanted nothing more than to get out Cameron would have let him! Jonathan gave in easily and let himself stay there because it was easier than dealing with the consequences of actually going through with it. Again that mental scaring coming into play. Jonathan has only been known as himself by a very very small number of people. Everyone else in the world knows him as Cameron. So he is probably scared of what would happen if he were to reveal himself. He knows everyone loves Cameron but would people actually accept Jonathan? What if the answer is no? What if everyone is disappointed to find out that Cameron has a brother? What if Cameron is accepted and Jonathan is rejected? Would Cameron continue living his life and Jonathan would be forced out and stuck watching his brother from afar and wind up completely and totally alone? So Jonathan stays.

And Cameron loves his brother and knows his brother is amazing. What happens if people discover Jonathan and they all realize how amazing Cameron already knows he is? Will Cameron lose his brother? Will Jonathan realize there are people out there who are better than Cameron? And since Jonathan isn’t forced to spend time with only Cameron will he leave? Cameron couldn’t be truly known any better than Jonathan. Despite having a ‘life’ Cameron was just as trapped and isolated by this secret as Jonathan. Cameron lost a woman he loved because he couldn’t tell her he had a twin and so was accused of cheating because no one thought he should be allowed to trust her with something that important. I think the psychological toll this whole act took has been affecting the twins their whole life. It’s just that when the truth came out it was way worse than either ever imagined.

Again the crew sees themselves as family but they never did anything to encourage the twins to reveal the truth. I’m sure they heard Jonathan express his desire to stop hiding at some point. And none of them advocated for him. None of them helped the brothers to see that their life was actually messed up and that they both needed help. They saw Cameron devastated over his breakup because of this secret and they never said ‘hey, maybe it’s time you were both allowed to have a full life?’ Jonathan was able to actually maintain a relationship unlike Cameron because Dina was aware of both brothers and he didn’t have to hide from her. Jonathan screwed that up all on his own. Because at the end of the day Jonathan and Cameron were both victims of Sebastian’s terrible parenting.

This show has so much going for. I will be forever disappointed it never got the second season it deserves!

[epicspheal]

Hi again! Just wanted to know your opinion on the Pokemon villains, especially towards a chance of redemption. I think the only villains that kinda got redeemed was Archie and Maxie, learning that what they did was a mistake ( a little too late tho) and maybe Colress ( being the true neutral he is), through the Alola games. But yeah, what's you're opinion on them?

Hi Ihopethisendswell!

I’ve been sitting on this ask for a bit just trying to gather my thoughts. To be honest, the Pokemon Villains are some of my least favorite aspects of the games, mainly because in my opinion they’re rarely handled well (except for original Team Plasma and Team Skull, those guys are amazing and I except no slander of either)

I’ll start with Team Rocket. They have a very basic but realistic evil goal (especially in a setting as fantastic as the world of Pokemon). I honestly can’t say I dislike them. I would like to see more teams using their concept of just taking advantage of Pokemon for profit and selfish reasons rather than trying to tie in some philosophy (because to be honest in my opinion most of the teams who try to use philosophy to justify their extremism just end up looking really stupid for the most part). I like Kanto Team Rocket better than Johto’s plot and Rainbow Rocket was only good for the “what if” aspect and adding to the new multiverse lore. As far as redemption...I don’t think Giovanni or the grunts really deserve it.

For Team Aqua and Team Magma, I actually like them in a “so bad it’s good” type of way (definitely nostalgia based as even though I got into Pokemon during the original anime, I didn’t get to play a main game until  gen 3). Like the idea of having two separate evil teams competing against each other to see who can enact their plans first is a super cool concept in my opinion but wasted on the idiocy of the “expand the land/expand the sea” goals. I will say I enjoyed their Emerald enhanced plot and ORAS’s expansion on them in the Delta Episode. I think the Emerald clash of Kyogre and Groudon was the most logical conclusion to their schemes. As far as redemption goes, I do think Maxie and Archie should’ve served some jail time like Chairman Rose because their plan was just as catastrophic if not more so.

For Team Galactic, ugh. They’re my second least favorite. They were just boring and made an already painfully slow game even more intolerable. This is where I give the Pokemon Anime credit, they made them more interesting in the games and I actually really loved how it was adapted (proof that when they want to the anime can have some really solid writing). Redemption for them? Nope, you literally tried to rewrite the world. Even with Cyrus’ tragic backstory...still nope.

Now for Team Plasma. This is how you do an evil team. Easily one of my favorite teams to actually go up against in game. I like that they actually tried to tackle an ethical question with Pokemon in Team Plasma.  N was a fantastic antagonist and I’m glad he saw the light at the end and he definitely deserves the redemption. And all of the Team Plasma grunts who actually believed in N’s goal deserve redemption. I really enjoyed what they did in BW2 where they had the Plasma House with the misguided former grunts and the confrontation between the old team plasma and Neo Team Plasma about how ostracized the reformed grunts are. Although I don’t like Neo Team Plasma as much (although the outfits are 100 times cooler), it does make sense that the ones still loyal to Ghetsis would try for another attempt. Also it took me a second runthrough of White 2 to really appreciate Colress and his “this is for science” mantra but you know what, I love him. Him and N are really awesome and deserve the redemption. Ghetsis can go jump in a fucking volcano though, him and his followers (:  As for Team Flare, they suffer a lot from not getting a sequel or third version. But like Team Galactic the anime adaptation did a lot of good for them. Team Flare is like Team Aqua/Magma for me in that I think they’re so bad it’s actually good. They actually had some funny dialogue bits and there was actually a lot of potential for them storywise if we had of gotten another Kalos game. The Great War, and AZ all had a lot of potential. Plus having an Elite 4 member working with them? That was more of a twist than Lysandre being the boss. And the Xerosic post-game plot was heartbreaking. Redemption wise though, it’s kind of hard to do with a group who literally tried to nuke the world. 

Team Skull. I love these guys. I love them so much. This is another example for me personally of an evil team done right. I really liked how they weren’t even evil, just frustrated youth who were failed by Alola’s tradition. Like I could seriously go on about how toxic the Alolan community really is if the fact that a child failing the island challenge (a coming of age journey) somehow makes them feel so down about themselves and feel like rejects to the point they join a literal gang to find some sort of belonging (this is of course not talking about the origins of Team Skull being from a disgraced Kahuna who incurred the wrath of the tapus). Like I feel so sorry for them and I wanted to yell at the Kahunas in game for them not recognizing that their traditions were creating the Team Skull problem. Team Skull definitely deserved their redemption as they reformed in the post game

Aether Foundation though, ugh. Easily my least favorite. I really disliked the Aether Family as a whole as I felt they were invasive to the plot and that the focus should’ve been on team skull and how traditions while important can have harmful consequences. I will say it was nice to have female antagonist and I vastly prefer SM Lusamine to USUM Lusamine. USUM Lusamine was more redeemable but she was less interesting and USUM really screws up Lillie’s development which I dislike (which is saying something because I really can’t stand Lillie). 

Team Yell was a disappointment. Honestly there was so much potential because like Team Skull they are a very grounded team (as you can see, I like the grounded in reality teams more so than the philosphical extremist ones). Like I can totally understand why they would form considering how dilapidated Spikemuth is. The issue is that they aren’t given a chance to do much actual evil. Even though Team Skull wasn’t really all that bad, they still did bad things. Which is realistic given their desperation. As desperate as Team Yell was to get Marnie to become champion I was expecting more sabotage and outright hostility. Which while being bad, would be realistic given their situation. That and the fact that no one really calls out the fact the irony of their sabotage actually delegitimizing Marnie’s strengths as a trainer. Like is Marnie truly one of the strongest trainers from the gym challenge or were their people who could’ve beat her who got targeted by Team Yell and ultimately dropped out? Not to mention the implications of ongoing beef between Team Yell and Chairman Rose. Again so much potential wasted. If they had of just made them just a tad more hostile and had someone point out how they were unintentionally making Marnie look bad, they’d easily be one of my favorites.

Macros Cosmos. I think this was the team most screwed over by the plot, and the controversial anime adaptation did them only a few favors. I’ve said this before, but the royal twins historical manipulation plot was more interesting than Rose’s “I’m going to start the Galarian Apocalypse to save Galar” plot. And the sad part is Rose could’ve been a very compelling antagonist. I’ll say that if they really wanted to make Rose an antagonist, they could’ve taken away the Eternatus plot and just used his poor communication skills to cause problems for the gym leaders and champion. A bad boss with impatience and crappy communication skills is something many people can relate to, and I think would’ve been a more interesting plot than trying to force philosophical extremism on to him because.

And lastly the Royal Twins. Man I hated them, but also they’re some of my favorite antagonists. I think people at times look solely at their goofy hairstyles and entitledness and forget how dangerous these two actually were. They had a whole network of spies loyal to them? Imagine a game with them as the main protagonists where it gets to the point you can’t trust the NPCs because who knows which one supports them. Also their historical revision plot is something so relevant today with textbooks being written in a way to minimize horrible atrocities such as the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Granted their plot in game left a lot to be desired, but they had so much potential and honestly a better reasoning to want to awake Eternatus than Rose did. As you can see I prefer the more grounded teams such as Rocket, Plasma, Skull and Yell (in theory) and the Royal Twins given how their goals relate to the real world. I also think in many ways Gamefreak does better with those plots wiriting wise than the philosophical extremist teams. 

[hamliet]

I know everyone has probably already said their opinion on endeavor’s redemption arc. It’s really controversial to give a man who physically and mentally abused his family a chance to be redeemed since it’s a touchy subject. With hawks take on it now that he knows, I have to say I’m disappointed he still seems to feel the same about him. And considering he’s a hero I’m wondering horikoshi’s message he wants to make is that someone like endeavor can be redeemed if he truly works for it, or at least given a chance. While I believe in giving second chances, seeing how much endeavor hurt todoroki and his family, it’s hard for me to say, ‘yeah he’s sorry, he deserves another chance’.

The only way I’d be okay with a redemption story for him is if he is held accoutable or faces some kind of consequence. If he easily gets forgiven because of his pro hero work, it feels like a cop out.

Do you think horikoshi is trying to make a statement about giving a second chance to abusers? I’m sorry if you’ve already done a long post on the endeavor story arc, this chapter made me question more how endeavor’s story will Play out. I enjoy backstories but I really don’t care about hawks. And him saying he felt twice was a friend and was inspired by him was bs to me. Whether or not you agree hawks didn’t have a choice, to call someone you murdered a friend seems messed up. If he dared to say that in front of toga or shigaraki, they’d really kill him. Those guys were twice’s family. And for him to call twice a friend I imagine wouldn’t sit well with them, especially toga.

Sorry this is long, but do you believe hawks should die, be forced into retirement?

Ah, okay. So this is what I mean when I say the framing is messy. Since Hawks is a hero, are we supposed to agree with him? Plus, Hawks just murdered Twice. Currently all the villains are getting consequences for their actions (Dabi’s isolated and injured; Shigaraki’s possesed; Toga’s alone). Where are Hawks’s consequences?

That said, looking at Hawks’ arc as a whole--which, despite everyone excusing him within the manga, is generally framed as tragic in the broader sense and has been since his introduction--I think his actions make sense. I am not surprised he holds to his admiration of Enji. I see it as tragic, but it fits his character.

I don’t think Hawks is going to have positive development, I’ve never thought that, and the story hasn’t challenged this belief. The thing about a lack of consequences is that it enables a spiral--aka digging your heels in and becoming a victim of a sunk-cost fallacy.

See, Hawks has already become a murderer, been compared to his dad, for the Hero Commission. He’s going backwards where the story is going forwards, and he’s sacrificed everything he has for the entity who saved him. Just like Shigaraki, he’s been exploited by the people who came to save him after childhood trauma--but unlike Shigaraki, he’s not questioning his overlords. He may not like everything they ask him to do, but he’s digging himself in deeper with them, even now excusing the very abuse he himself suffered. He’s justifying himself, which is all normal psychologically speaking! (And a trauma coping mechanism at that.) But if he were to question things, what then? When he’s already given so much, shed blood for this commission, been seriously injured and maybe even lost his quirk for the cause, what happens then? How will his view of himself be affected? How will he go on knowing he’s the villain in anothers’ story? When the gift that enabled him to rise out of the ashes might be gone?

Hence, the digging-in of the heels. He is too scared to consider being wrong. There’s too much at stake.

I do think Hawks is going to die, but I would prefer him to live. I like his character, honestly. But tragedies usually end in death, and I’m a character-survival pessimist in general. If he dies though, it won’t be for awhile. Regardless of his specific ending, I do think he’s being built up as an antagonist for the Todoroki family subplot. Conflicted, gray morally, etc. doesn’t matter--I do not think he’ll be open and talkative about his thoughts, and I don’t think he’s going to be open to saving the guy who just burned his wings off. If he does die, I don’t think it’ll be “put down the mad dog,” and have hope it’d be redemptively.

Related to that prediction, I answered where I think Enji’s arc is going here. Even if some other pro-heroes don’t hold him accountable (which honestly is again not-awesome framing), I think he will hold himself accountable... that said, again, I’ve talked at length about my opinion of his redemption arc, how I don’t love it and don’t think it’s especially well-written either, but whatever, I’m pretty sure he’ll redeem himself and while it may not be satisfyingly written, I think it’ll check off the basics (as I explained in the linked post).

As for Horikoshi making a statement--no, I don’t think that’s his intention, but intention doesn’t mean no one will take that away from the story. I briefly commented  what I think Hori’s intentions are here.

[lonelyghosts-stuff]

Loki-Character Analysis (and Rant lol)

Idk if anyone will see this and I frankly don't care too much, just kind of ranting and venting. (for context I am not necessarily in the healthiest head space as of now so my emotions could be more extreme than they normally would be)

Loki's death is really hitting hard for me again. The fact he went from a mischievous kid who just wanted his father's recognition, to sabotaging his brother's coronation to lead up to defeating the Jotuns for his father and proving himself worthy as Thor, in the process finding out his life was a lie and that he himself was a Jotun who was abandoned, to giving up his life only to be found by Thanos to be threatened and manipulated (idc what anyone says, Loki was definitely tortured during his time with Thanos. How else could you explain how sickly and gaunt he looked when he first showed up in Avengers?) to losing his mother and protecting a mere mortal just because his brother cared for her, also willing to sacrifice himself for her and his brother, to finally having a period of success, only to witness his father die, see his home destroyed, and then ultimately get killed by Thanos as he tried to kill him to protect Thor.

He had an arc. He grew. And then he died. While we will get Loki in the new Disney+ series, he will never be the same Loki unless they find a way to implant the experiences of the prime Loki into this one. While I have no doubt he will be shown key points of his alter variant self's life, seeing them from an outer perspective cannot substitute for the experiences themselves.

Loki was such a complicated character who, while sometimes seeming inconsistent, was consistently inconsistent within the nature of his chaotic and mischievous character. He cared. He wanted recognition and to be viewed as equal to his brother. Along the way he got lost and found and twisted even more. Notice how in Thor 1, he never killed anyone other than Jotuns. While he did endanger other humans, he never killed them despite being easily able to do so with the destroyer automaton. And when it came to his brother, he had the perfect chance to blast him, but resorted to a backhand; and while that could have proven to be fatal, when it came down to it, Loki couldn't bring himself to do it the easy way. Deep down he still wanted to be on equal terms. That's why when Thor returned to Asgard, Loki kept instigating Thor, trying to rile him up so he would fight him. He ended up resorting to threatening harm upon Jane just to get his brother to treat him as equal and a worthy opponent. He denied familial connection to Odin and Thor, trying to convince himself that the reason he will never be viewed as equal with Thor is that he is a Jotun, the "monster parents tell their children about". In the end, when Odin still wouldn't show any more sympathy to Loki or try to reason with him, instead just telling him "no", Loki gave up. He was willing to accept whatever happened to him when he let go and he fell into the collapsing portal of the bifrost.

Cut to the first avengers, he is clearly very changed. He's sickly, gaunt, and weakened, needing support just getting onto the back of the truck for Clint Barton to drive him away on. His eyes are sunken in, he's greasy and slow, and borderline sociopathic. He clearly experienced something that turned him into this. We already know the scepter influenced his mind and that Thanos threatened him eternal suffering that would make pain look sweet if he didn't get the tesseract. But I steadfast refuse any statement someone could give me saying he wasn't tortured or manipulated by Thanos or his followers. Loki quickly goes in for the attack when he arrives on Earth, killing without hesitation or regret. When Thor confronts him on Stark tower, for even just the most fleeting second, he pauses. He knows what he's done and that he's gone too far. Even when he doesn't back down, he doesn't try to kill Thor. He simply, or, well, "simply" stabs him and runs off knowing very well it would take much more than that to kill his brother.

When he is brought to Asgard for imprisonment, his pride and guilt eat away at him. He refuses to acknowledge what he did as wrong to anyone, but he is very well aware of his actions the weight of them. The person who affects him the most being his mother, the one who always showed love for him and Thor equally. He tries to hide this knowledge, denying her being his mother as well since he is of Jotun blood, but he cares for her greatly still and can't help but feel guilty for how she sees him now. He still strives for chaos and when the Dark Elves invade, he mischievously points them in the direction of the throne room, not knowing their full capabilities, but living for the potential chaos to ensue. Of course this leads to his dear mother being killed. Loki is furious, broken, and lost. His actions have gone too far, causing the woman he loved the most and felt loved him more than anyone else to die. Thor can easily see through his illusions proving that Loki has shown his adoration for Frigga enough that even Thor knows of it. When they finally get to the Dark World, Loki tries getting under Thor's skin again, but also in an attempt to understand him. He prods at Thor's feelings for Jane and reminds him that her life is but a brief moment in their own lifetimes. They bicker and scuffle on the ride to their destination, but it is ultimately resolved by Loki's declaration that Thor can trust his rage, his rage at Frigga's death. When there, we see Jane in direct danger twice. Both times, Loki throws himself in harms way to protect her, seeing her both as vulnerable but also something that Thor cares for. Loki then proceeds to save his brother's life, being willing to sacrifice his own for him as well. Knowing his wound is not fatal, but also being fully aware of his skills in trickery and illusions, not only does Loki trick Thor into believing he is dead, but he also takes the opportunity to try to relieve his conscience; he apologizes. He then follows it up by saying that he didn't do what he did to make Odin proud or acknowledge him, not this time. He did it for the one who truly cared for him and showed it, Frigga. This gave Loki the opportunity to discreetly get back to Asgard and exile Odin and take his place. Now, Loki got the respect and adoration he felt he deserved. But it would only last for so long.

When Thor gets wind of Loki's antics, they both find themselves eventually facing down Odin and him passing away, but not before telling them that he's proud of them and loves them. Even Loki tears up here. He feels somewhat that it's his fault for Odin's passing, but he also feels empty after finally hearing Odin give him what he thought he always wanted. Hela arrives and Loki tries to reason with her; perhaps thinking he can relate to her and handle the situation. Unfortunately, Loki and Thor get separated for a while, eventually reuniting, but on opposite ends of the social class on Sakaar. Loki could easily continue to bask in his new status over Thor, but still decides to help him when h found him in the waiting area for the fighters (even though he eventually tried to betray him later when he realized he could regain what status he had and that he viewed escape futile and pointless with Hela still around). In the end, despite him having the chance to escape and run off, he returns to Asgard to help fight. He even proves key in defeating Hela as he revives Surtur, also grabbing the tesseract on the way. He doesn't hide. He doesn't show bitterness. He returns to the ship alongside his brother. (despite how much Waititi gave a middle finger to the writing and characterization of the characters, I am still trying my best to piece good Loki moments from Thor Ragnarok and fit it into Loki’s personality given that Ragnarok is considered MCU canon).

Thanos attacks. He has Thor in a precarious situation, threatening to kill him if Loki doesn't give him the tesseract. Loki tries to hold out as long as possible, knowing the consequences of giving it to the mad titan, but eventually yields when he sees no other way to save his brother; after giving it to Thanos, he immediately goes to Thor's side to protect him. When Thanos took down Hulk, Loki realizes the only chance they have to get out of there alive is to use his trickery. He proclaims himself Loki, prince of Asgard and, most impressively, Odinson. He accepts who he is. He acknowledges he is the rightful heir to Jotunheim, but he also knows that, even if not by blood, he is Thor's brother, and Odin and Frigga's son. Unfortunately, he rushes to action quite recklessly, potentially undermining the power Thanos has already with even just the two infinity stones he as acquired. Loki is killed. Neck snapped from the pressure of Thanos choking him. He died trying to protect his brother. Trying to fight for the good fight. Died at the hands of the man who twisted him in the first place and promised him suffering if he didn't deliver the tesseract.

Loki may have started out as a dark antagonist, then to a twisted villain, and eventually progressing to an Anti-Hero, but he died a hero.

This just breaks me. He was such a loveable and complicated character. He had many faults, faults he battled with every day. When it came down to it, he threw his own life down for his brother.

It upsets me he died so quickly and seemingly so pointlessly within the first ten minutes of Infinity War. But he also served a great, if I may, glorious purpose. He brought the Avengers together in the first place, and died trying to make sure another one of them, and his own brother, could live on to fight and stop Thanos.

Loki will always be my favorite character and hero and villain simultaneously in the MCU. And I couldn't thank Tom Hiddleston enough if I got the chance for his stellar performance of this fantastic and complicated character who helped bring the Avengers together, even if unintentionally.

[pricetagofficial]

Ghost -Part Eighteen

Warnings: Language, violence, angst, fear, panic, mentions of death

Masterlist

Word Count: 3K

Tag List: @kishony-the-geek @idkmanicantenglish @unknowntoanyone @subtleappreciation @catxsnow @nightwcngs @woahjaybird @screennamealreadyused @river-bottom-nightmare​ @bikoncon​ @arestorationofbalance​ 

A/N: Oops??

The days passed slowly, but Rory was growing more comfortable in her position with the Titans. No one but Tim knew that she was Ghost, and the other four were asked to keep it on the down-low that Rory was even with them. The story that Rory and Tim gave the rest of the team was that the League of Assassins was after her, trying to get her to join so Rory ditched the hero gig and went into hiding.

That was the story that everyone was supposed to give if anyone outside the team found out that she was there, and considering that the story was mostly the truth, they weren't asking too much of their friends. It gave them plausible deniability, and Rory an out just in case it came to it.

It also helped that they were all scared of her in some shape or form. Even from her Arrowette days, Rory had a reputation of being good at what she did. She was smart, resourceful, and was skilled in multiple forms of combat. After revealing that she took down Superman in a spar twice, they seemed to tiptoe around her. Rory didn't mind it that much, she wasn't there to make friends. She was there to hide and get answers.

It had been two weeks since she arrived and the Titans often went out on patrol without her while Rory played guy-in-the-chair for them while they were out. She was smart enough that it benefitted all of them, and it gave her the chance to talk to people she enjoyed speaking with.

"So, is it just me, or are things really fucking slow lately?" Duke asked, his voice coming from the speaker to Rory's right.

She glanced between monitors while she watched Tim and the others walk around Jump City. "What, did I take all the excitement with me?" she chuckled, checking her phone.

"I don't want to jump to conclusions, but it really looks like it. Not one peep out of assassins here and a few of the rouges have been awfully quiet too. Ivy and Scarecrow were active for a couple of days but fell off our radar again. Bruce and the others are waiting on more activity from her before acting." he explained.

Rory froze at the mention of Poison Ivy. It had been a long time since she had seen the supervillain, considering that she was in Arkham until after Rory had left Gotham. She was willing to put down good money on the fact that she had a grudge against Rory still, amongst other things.

"She doesn't know that I was back in town does she?"

"Why would that be important? Is there anything we are missing?" he asked immediately.

Rory scolded herself for mentioning it. Of course, Bruce and the others were keeping tabs on Ivy considering her past with her. It was embarrassing enough the first time when she learned what had happened, but now it just hurt. That was the night she first kissed Tim and even thinking about it brought up memories that she wanted to forget.

"Rory? Is everything okay? Did Ivy do something to you that we don't know about?"

Rory snapped out of her thought and shook her head. "No, I just have a let's say colorful past with Ivy. Bruce knows about it, but I'm sure she probably wants to kick my ass for-"

She should have been watching the screens more carefully, how could Rory have been so careless about it? If she hadn't have been lost in her own world, Rory would have noticed it sooner. There was no way she could mistake what she just saw, that shade of orange was ingrained into her brain.

"Rory? You there? Why would Ivy want to kick your ass?" The tone of his voice sounded panicked, probably close to how Rory looked.

"Duke, I have to go. Call you later." she quickly hung up before pressing the coms button to link herself with Tim.

"Tim! Get out of there now and get back to the tower as soon as you can!" she cried.

Tim froze in his tracks and turned, the camera turning with his body. "What are you talking about, there is no one here?" he asked.

"There is no time to argue! You and the others need to get back here now!" she snapped slamming her hands on the table.

Now that she thought about it, the other four were quiet as well all of a sudden. Their cams seemed to be normal, but something felt off. They were all stationary for way longer than they should have been.

Rory listened as he contacted the others, only for there to be no reply. This set her on edge even more, which was not a good sign. There was no way in hell that he had found her that fast and took out the other four Titans without her or Tim noticing.

With that last thought, the realization dawned on her. It wasn't the others he was truly after, the target was Tim.

As if it was confirmation of her thoughts, Tim's camera lost signal completely and she stared at a static screen in horror. Tim was in trouble and the others were most likely unable to help him. She was the only one who could.

Without a second thought, Rory dashed to her room and pulled on her Ghost suit, and grabbed her swords and handguns. She was not about to walk into this situation unprepared. Jumping out of her window, Rory grappled across the rooftops as she chased the small red blip that was supposed to be Tim. It was still active so that meant that Tim was alive, but not for much longer if she took her time.

The names of the streets blurred as she ran across the city, the red blip getting closer and closer. She had to get there in time, to save Tim. Just because they weren't together didn't mean that he deserved to die for her mistakes.

Soon Rory was on the same rooftop, but there was no one around. The tracker was activated by organic material and was placed in Tim's arm. if Slade removed the tracker, it would have shut down. It had to still be in him and he had to be alive.

With a sound of air rushing past her, Rory jumped back and saw a white arrow there in front of her with a note attached.

If you want him back alive and unharmed, go to the old abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. You have one hour or he will die.

Below the arrow was a pigeon struggling for breath and had a large incision on its side. Taking a deep breath, Rory dug her fingers in and let out a shaky breath at what she was holding. It was the tracker from Tim's arm. She watched as it quit sending a signal and the red dot disappeared from her radar.

He must have done something to the others for them to not respond immediately, and Rory was scared to find out what it was. What were her better options, go and save Tim alone or try and find at least one of the others and risk wasting time and Tim dies as a consequence?

Rory let out a cry of rage and kicked the now dead pigeon across the rooftop, he knew just how to manipulate her into these impossible positions. She was playing his game once again, but if she could win last time then Rory can sure as hell beat him again and again until he finally quit and left those she cared about alone.

This would be the last time Slade Wilson interfered with her life, Rory was going to make sure of it.

Shoving the note in her pocket, she tried once more to reach one of the others. It took a couple of minutes but she managed to get responses from both Superboy and Magician. "Is anyone there? I need a response sooner than later." she snapped.

"I'm here sunshine, what the hell happened? I feel like I got hit by a bus and that's saying something." Superboy groaned through his com.

"One second I was keeping an eye on downtown and the next I was dragged from the roof and was knocked out. I'm guessing the same happened to the others?" Magician asked.

Rory let out a huff. "If only it were that simple, Tim's in trouble. He took the four of you out so I would be lured out into the open. Safe to say that it worked." She took a look around the city and then at her clock. She was wasting time by playing catch up, when Slade made a promise he made sure he fulfilled it, and if he said that Tim would die if she didn't show within the hour, then it was going to happen.

"What do you mean he is in trouble?! Who is this he!? Sunshine, you better start explaining fast." Superboy snapped.

"Deathstroke, he has him. He did this to drag me out of the tower. If I don't show up in the next hour, he'll kill him." she explained. "I just wanted to make sure the rest of you were okay before I left."

"Rory, that is the stupidest idea I have ever heard out of you. You really think that you will make it out of there alive?" Superboy growled before he let out a groan. Whatever it was that Slade did to him, it was still affecting his body.

"You need to get back to the tower, I'm not sure what he did to all of you but I can hear your groans of pain. Magician can check you over back at the tower. If Wonder Girl and Impulse are okay, have them on stand by in just in case I need a quick getaway."

Rory could hear Superboy start to argue her point, but then he let out another groan and there was a thud from his side of the link. Slade had to have used something on him, Superboy was their hard hitter outside of Wonder Girl and made sure that they were out for the count.

"Magician, take him back to the tower," she ordered. "I'll radio once I'm close."

There was a hum of agreement and Rory heard Magician mutter a series of spells before there was nothing.

"Who the hell put you in charge Sunshine?" Superboy asked, trying to breathe through the pain.

"I'm the only one who wasn't knocked on their ass. Besides Wonder Boy, I have years more experience than the rest of you including our fearless leader. Now shut up and get the help you need." With that, Rory signed off and took off across the city towards the address on the note.

It didn't even take her that long to find the warehouse, no more than twenty minutes. Slade had given her a full hour, so what was the catch? Was she at the right place, or was he planning something specifically for her once she arrived?

Taking a deep breath, Rory jumped down and swung through the nearest window shattering it as she landed in a roll. Bracing herself with her hand, Rory took a quick look around. The warehouse was dead silent, no sign of any living thing not even a groan from a captive Tim.

Narrowing her eyes, Rory scanned the area before she went further into the building. Whatever it was, something was messing with the video in her mask. The screen was glitching every few seconds and she couldn't get a full reading of the building.

"Of course," she muttered and removed her mask before tossing it to the floor. Slade had to have brought her to a building that knocked out her mask's sensors. It wasn't something Rory needed it was more of a precaution, but she knew that Slade probably had some dramatic reasoning for it.

Slowly she rose to her feet and walked across the flooring, she stayed silent as the night listening for a sign of anyone or anything closing in on her. Floor by floor, Rory ignored the slow-growing headache as she checked every room for something she could be missing that could give her a clue to where Tim was being held.

She could feel her body getting more and more sluggish by the minute, but brushed it off as typical exhaustion. It wasn't until she got to the ground floor that Rory figured out that Slade was holding Tim captive in the basement. Looking at her clock, she had at least half an hour to find Tim-

Rory shook her head, that couldn't have been right. Not even three minutes ago, the clock she had just under 35 minutes and now she was down to five. The lingering headache that had been growing in the back of her head suddenly became stronger and her heart rate began to pick up.

She continued to take deep breaths and hurried her way down the basement steps, halfway down she tripped over her own foot and tumbled down the rest of them. Something was very wrong, she was never this clumsy even when she was drunk Rory was not clumsy.

There was only one door at the bottom of the steps, Rory's vision blurred as she tried over and over to reach the handle only for her hand to phase through it. Quickly she got angrier and angrier, why couldn't she just grab the fucking handle?!

She was covered in a thin layer of sweat now, and it seemed that her suit was choking her. Tugging at her collar, Rory finally managed to get a hold of the handle and pushed it open. The only thing was, there wasn't a basement on the other side.

In fact, it was daylight where she was now. Turning back to find the door, Rory saw that it was gone, and left in its wake was a familiar collapsed building. Rory swallowed the lump forming in her throat, she knew exactly where she was.

Rory was back in Star City the day that Slade killed her parents. Deep down Rory knew that they were not good people, but the version of her parents she knew could not be tainted by the knowledge that they were assassins, no different than she was anymore.

Hearing a cry behind her, Rory turned on her heel only to be met with a younger version of herself sobbing over the lifeless forms of her parents. Only this time, there was no Oliver and Dinah there to comfort her. Instead, they were dead next to Michael and Clara Sonnet with Roy at their feet.

Seeing them like that broke something in Rory, she let out a choked gasp as she pushed her younger self out of the way and tried to shake Oli, Roy, and Dinah awake.

"Please, Oli come on! Please! You promised you wouldn't leave me! I can't lose you too!" she sobbed before trying to shake Roy awake.

"This is all your fault." a voice spoke from behind her.

Rory snarled, ready to maim whoever it was that said that only to see that it was her younger self there staring at her with innocent eyes.

"Their deaths are on your hands, just like theirs are." Little Rory pointed behind the older one once more.

Taking a shaky breath, Rory slowly turned on her heel and the sight she saw was devastating. Instead of a crumpled building now, Rory was in Gotham again. There sprawled across the steps of Wayne Manor were the lifeless figures of Alfred, Cass, Duke, and Damian. '

"No no no no no!" she cried diving for them, trying to feel for a pulse. Her eyes met the lifeless gaze of Damian and she grew hysterical. He was so young, he didn't deserve this fate!

Her headache began to grow worse, and before her eyes Rory watched the scene morph into the Batcave. Across the floor of the cave were the last residents of Wayne Manor. Dick, Barbara, Stephanie, Jason, and Bruce were lying dead on the floor with gold daggers sticking out of their chest and a single feather resting on the keyboard of the bat computer.

She couldn't stand this any longer, Rory gripped her hair as she fell to her knees. It was becoming too much, every single one of them died because of her. Her body began to shake from the sobs she was trying to hide, even though she was the only one there.

A hand fell on her shoulder and Rory jumped to see Jesse's animated corpse staring down at her. Letting out a scream, Rory dove backward and away from her dead friend. This had to be a trick, Jesse was dead. She was there when they buried his body in Star City in the Queen family mortuary. That was the last time she ever saw him.

A long skinny finger reached out and pointed at her as Rory laid there in fear. "You did this to me, it's all your fault Twinkle Toes. You're a plague, a curse on those around you," he grumbled, Rory watched in horror as his hair fell out and his face became more sullen and maggots crawled out of the holes that once held his eyes.

Rory was close to vomiting at the sight, her heart rate was erratic and she was barely able to keep herself up. Her throat was sore as if she had been screaming and her hands and hair hurt like she had been pulling it this entire time.

"It's your fault Tim was taken and it's your fault that he died."

Those words struck fear in her heart. Her eyes went wide as everything faded away leaving just herself and a lone figure out in the distance, a figure she knew by heart. Rory ran as fast as her feet could carry her, she stumbled every few steps trying to get to him but it seemed that every step she got closer he would get farther away.

After what seemed like hours, Rory reached his body and rolled him onto his back. Tim Drake laid dead in front of her with a hole through his chest. Rory choked back a sob, Tim was dead and she wasn't there to stop it. She cupped his face letting the tears fall freely from her eyes as she begged and pleaded for him to wake up. This was the last thing Rory wanted, everything she did was to keep him safe, and here she was crying over his dead body.

"Tim, I'm so sorry." she sobbed. "I wasn't good enough..."

Pulling his upper body into her arms, Rory cradled his lifeless form burying her face into his shoulder as she held his body with a grip that could rival death.

[theangrycomet]

Comparing KO’s (OK KO) Character Arc to Cassandra’s (TTS)

Ok THIS^ actually bothers me and I really hope it’s a shit-post. Sorry, @astratic, but you have inadvertently signed up for some Character Analysis.

Let’s establish one critical difference between Cassandra and KO before we really dig into this shall we?

Cassandra is a fully developed, fully functional adult roughly in her early to mid twenties.

KO is a CHILD, who’s age is literally 6-11, though fans typically agree that he acts in the 8-9 range. Additionally, he is commonly head cannoned to be on the Autistic Scale and/or ADHD.

Because of this, their decisions and actions need to be seen through different lenses.

Point 1: work tirelessly to become a hero like [parent] who you idolize

KO:

This statement perfectly depicts KO’s goals. KO strives to be a hero in order to help people to the best of his abilities. He hates being useless and powerless to help his friends, so he trains to be a better hero and works through his struggles with their help. He lives to be like his mommy and his father-figure. I mean, look at him when Gar praises KO and tells him how proud he is of him.

Cassandra:

Cassandra’s goals are different. She wants to be a guard at the end of the day for glory. She wants people to see and acknowledge her abilities and strength and admire her for it.

Yes, making her dad proud is a benefit of that, but that is NOT her driving motivation.

Point 2: Become discourage by lack of progress and hindrance by social status

KO:

Social status was NEVER KO’s problem. His stalling in progress, as I mentioned in another post, was a mental block. He couldn’t tap into his power He came from lower middle, working class family with a single mom.

Cassandra:

Social Status was her problem, but only up until the 1st season finale where she was placed as Captain of the Guard.

She had regular progress in getting more time and respect as a royal guard. The fact that She CHOSE to leave that behind in order to follow her crush on some half-baked, unplanned road trip is only the fault of her own. She threw out the chance she had been waiting for for her entire life to follow Rapunzel.

And than was given numerous opportunities through out the trip to leave and pursue other goals. 

Point 3. Be Mentally Ill

Okay, first OP, you could phrased that WAY better. 

Secondly, the mental struggles our characters face are completely different and largely incomparable so to group the two is insulting to both characters.

KO: 

Disassociative Identity Disorder (or multiple personality disorder) 

Possible Undiagnosed Autism and or ADHD

KO develops Disassociative Identity Disorder, due to his frustration at lack of progress, the manipulation of Shadowy figure, and his bottling up of negative emotions. KO is mostly unaware of what happens when TKO is in charge and vice-versa. It took the two a long time to figure out how to work together and eventually merge back into one personality. 

He also demonstrates some traits typically associated with Autism and ADHD, though some of those could be on account of his age. It is a common head cannon amongst fans that his either and sometimes both. 

Cassandra:

Cassandra doesn’t have to deal with any mental illness until the season 3 finale where it can be gleamed that she’s working through depression if you squint at it. 

Yes, there is the Blueberry Ghost, but she was never a result of Cass’ mental state so much as her being host to the Moon Stone. 

Her struggles lie in reigning in her anger and her pride so that she can see problems from unbiased perspectives and apologize for her actions. And that is left still unresolved by the time the finale comes around. 

Point 4. find out long lost parent is actually horrifically villainous and have a whole crisis about it.

Perhaps, we need a little reminder here before I dig into this one:

KO is a child figuring himself out and Cassandra is an adult figuring out what she wants in life.

KO:

KO had been struggling with his darker side for quite some time before he asked his Mom about who exactly his dad was. 

This was something the show had demonstrated time after time that bothered KO, not knowing who his dad was.

So he finds out his dad was this big time hero, and gets reassurance from that fact that he comes from great heroes, so he too can be a hero. Only for that to be immediately tossed out the window when it’s revealed that the only person he hates in the entire world, the person he dubs as the truly evil villain, is actually his father. 

His whole world is not only shook to its core, but his self-confidence as well. Laserblast was a great hero who turned villain; what does that mean for a hero-in-training whose already struggling with that darker side. 

Praise Carol for not killing PV on the spot. 

Additionally, PV didn’t actually know KO even existed until a few months before this incident, and wasn’t even sure if KO was his kid (KO does coincidentally share a lot of Physical attributes to Gar) until KO came busting in, wearing Laserblast’s helmet and bragging about how his dad was a great hero.

So when they attempted to have that father-son relationship, it was as awkward and strained as it should have been. (I’ll get to the OK KO Finale in just a minute)

Cassandra:

Cass could have cared less as to whom her real parents were. She had her dad. She had her goals. She had her job. Who her parents were and why they dumped her on the Captain was irrelevant to her life. 

She didn’t care until Season 3, and that whole season was OOC for everybody, 

Even then, it wasn’t so much as a crisis so much as an excuse to use to fight Rapunzel. It didn’t matter that Gothel was her mother, it mattered that Gothel picked the Sundrop over her. Which in all honesty was the best thing that could have happened to Cass.

Her “crisis” revolved around a dead woman’s shattered legacy more than her mother. 

Point 5: Fall under the influence of said Villainous parental figure

KO TKO: (again, a CHILD)

TKO was used and manipulated into letting his darker side show by Professor Venomous/ Shadowy Figure, (this is my opinion), in order to actually have something they could relate to eachother on. 

Yes, Shadowy Venomous saw TKO as more of his tool for power, but you can’t deny that he wasn’t motivated to have his son by his side. 

Additionally, KO had at this point literally locked away a part of himself because he didn’t have the tools to deal TKO with this mentally or emotionally. So he responded the best way he could and pushed the problem down so he and others wouldn’t have to keep cleaning up TKO’s messes.  

KO was in desperate need for someone to understand how he was and how to help him.

And guess who was there.

Cassandra: (again, an ADULT)

Cass was never led on by Gothel, she was led on by Zhan Tiri.

Cass was delusioned that the moonstone was hers by Zhan Tiri just as much as Rapunzel was delusioned into thinking stopping the moonstone was her destiny by Demanitus. 

However, Zhan Tiri really didn’t make Cass do anything, she never pushed her past the breaking point, she never forced her to do anything. 

Baked Ziti only prompted Cass, reminding her what she was angry at. 

Cass was perfectly capable of ignoring her and doing her own thing. 

Point 6: suddenly and dramatically betray everyone you love even as they plead with you to stop. Become convinced they all hate you except for [villainous parental figure] who is actually just manipulating you to gain power.

This point is actually a very good description of what happened to both, given different contexts. Again, remember that KO is a child who is significantly more easily influenced than Cass should have been.

(Note: again, Zhan Tiri’s not her Parental figure and neither was Gothel)

Point 7: ruin everything and destroy your home

KO TKO:

His destructive rampage was motivated by the betrayal of the one person he believed to understand and support him entirely. He was literally grabbed by the shirt, lifted in the air, told he was nothing more than a tool at best, and that the plan to conquest together had been a lie. 

Wonder where I’ve seen THAT BEFORE?

(Sorry about the low photo Quality, I quickly search and screen shotted so)

(yes it’s this scene that made me think Mad Ben and TKO would get along)

Cassandra:

Which betrayal are we talking about? Because both involve trained guards rightfully attacking Cass for injuring the crown royalty and wrecking the castle.

Point 8/9: snap out of it at the last second and be horrified at what you've wrought/ the world is fixed by an incredible magic. Reconcile with your loved ones. Flourish

KO: 

This is accurate. 

But KO didn’t have to lose his power to see how bad he messed up. He was actually at the top of his game. He probably could have taken out the President of the Universe if he really wanted to. Instead he begged for everything to get fixed, and wished that EVERYONE (even Professor Venomous) could live their best lives. 

Cassandra:

She was only repentent AFTER she lost her power. Even then, she does not apologize for her actions but rather the circumstances and ONLY to Rapunzel herself. She does not care that she caused a world catastrophe, and still wouldn’t have had she won. 

With how it was executed, Cass did NOT deserve such an easy redemption. She should have had to work at it. She should have at least attempted to apologize to the people whose lives she ruined. To the people she’s hurt. Not just Rapunzel. Rapunzel has no right to forgive her in place of everyone else. 

Eugene should not have to forgive her.

Varian should not have to forgive her.

The Brotherhood honestly deserves to fight her in combat. 

She should not have been able to ride off into the sunset and avoid the consequences of her actions. 

BUT I digress. 

IN SUMMARY:

KO and Cass, while they share some similarities, do NOT have the same Character Arc. At all.

Sincerely, 

TheAngryComet