#but also look at these clown villains who want to have the attention on them 24/7

[erythristicbones]

also figuring out more stuff for the JDK villains and going "yeah artie & apollo are like Team Rocket vibes, except one of them is actually an evil mastermind and doesn't want anyone, even their bosses, to know". the ideal way to tell the story is that you think they're the two most incompetent, low-level minions on the totem pole and then you realize Apollo has been orchestrating things from the beginning

[noroi1000]

❝𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐮-𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐢❞ Chapter 18

Satoru-Sensei | ←Previous chapter • Next Chapter→

Summary: Watching the death of a person who destroys you from the inside and then being forced to kill that person yourself. This is different than suddenly finding out about death. But they both hurt the same. He would lose someone who made him feel emotionally important to someone. He didn't want Megumi to say it, but he did... He didn't want to experience loss. He didn't want to lose you. He had to take you to safety. You were the person who was his warmest ray of sunshine. So... Don't dare they put finger of you...

"Is it polite to break into someone's house? Megumi?" He hummed in a sing-song voice. "Nope... After all, I'm the villain here, right? Am I the villain for you?"

"You-!"

"It's me! Hello everyone! First-year teacher at Jujutsu High School, Gojo Satoru!" He bowed dramatically." So, shall we start?"

"Don't play like a clown!"

"Aww... Megumi, you are hurting me. Didn't you say I was crazy? Why don't you let me play one?" He clapped his hands with a smile.

"(l/n) is here?" Itadori asked, looking at his sensei, who was still smiling.

"Didn't Megumi tell you everything? I understand you didn't believe him right away."

"Sensei...!"

"I don't know who you're talking about. There is no (l/n)."

Itadori almost sighed with relief when he heard the white-haired man's words.

Fushiguro must have been wrong! It was impossible for you to live! Gojo-sensei would never do that!

"There's only (y/n)-chan." He said it suddenly, running his thumb over his jaw.

Itadori's body froze when he heard this.

Gojo-sensei never lied. And now he confirmed what Fushiguro told them? How could this be possible?

It's...

His eyes were wide, and his mouth was slightly open.

"If you asked about (y/n) right away, I would tell you right away that she's here. Why should I hide it any longer if you already know?" He said, walking slowly on the sand. "Besides, she doesn't have that name anymore. I can ask her to be Gojo at any time. And she will."

"Why?!"

"Because according to everything that exists, she's dead. She voluntarily gave up the name she once had last year."

"Why are you forcing her to do this?!" the girl screamed. "You can't treat her like that!"

"I'm not treating her badly. And also, I'm not forcing her to do anything. She's here of her own free will. She wants to be here. I'm not forcing her to do anything. That's why we're here together."

"And what about this?! You keep her here, away from the world! She has no one here! You want to show that she's dead! You make her want to be here! You show that there is no world outside you! You're crazy!"

"Nobara, I didn't expect you to think of me that way..." he groaned.

He took off his glasses and put them in the pocket of his white shirt.

"You can't treat her like that!"

Suddenly, the nails flew towards him and stopped in front of his body, stopping through his infinity.

"Kugisaki!" the pink-haired man was surprised by the girl's sudden behavior.

"Look carefully. This isn't the Gojo he used to be!" She said it with a loud voice before snapping her fingers. "Hairpin!"

"Oh! I forgot that you are all strong! I'm sorry, but I stopped paying attention to the surroundings of other sorcerers when I had to teach the next first-years." he said with the same expression he had at the beginning.

He stared at the large nail of cursed energy driven into his indestructible barrier.

Even a hairpin doesn't do anything to Infinity. This should get in like a normal barrier. But now it doesn't work! Infinity is not an ordinary barrier!

"You said I'm not the same Gojo? I'm the same. I just realized something."

"What?" Fushiguro summoned his divine dog to stand behind him.

"From a certain moment two years ago, I wanted to protect (y/n) at all costs and keep her away from me. I realized that I wouldn't be able to do this while she was a sorcerer and developing. At some point, she wouldn't be in school anymore. And with this technique, she will definitely be sent on more dangerous missions. I couldn't be with her all the time. That's why, when I saw her in the forest, unconscious and weak, I thought I had failed. I promised to protect her. And it was all because she was a sorcerer." He shook his head from side to side with a small smile.

He reached for the girl's nails and tossed them back to her carefully.

"Don't waste your nails that you can use to fight curses."

This wasn't a trick or a scam.

This was real behavior.

"I can only protect her completely here. She is always with me, and even without me, nothing will happen to her here. I also realized that she is the person I want to live close to."

"Did you know she was your student?" The dark-haired man growled.

"I know." He sighed. "I just wanted to protect her and take care of her. But the longer she was with me... For the first time, I felt that someone genuinely cared about me... Someone who would never stop smiling at me. It was a difficult decision for me, but I realized that if she had been mine, maybe life would have been more beautiful.

"Shut up! She's-!"

"She's my girlfriend. And she wants to be mine. I come home every day with the certainty that she is there and waiting for me. Without a moment of doubt, I enter the house, and I know that it is not empty. There is someone out there for me." He suddenly spoke seriously. "Maybe I've become too emotional now, but I want to show you that it's all true."

"So why doesn't she come here and tell us the truth?!"

"She sleeps. She was tired. I'd rather you don't upset her. She has forgotten that life, and when you come, she will suffer from the past."

"Don't upset her? Has she forgotten about that life? Sensei! You're the one who made her do this!" the boy with small scars shouted and swung as he ran to hit the white-haired man.

"Wah, I didn't expect this from you, Yuji. I thought only Megumi would be like that towards me." He grabbed his fist. "Tell me, Megumi, do you care about (y/n) because she reminds you of Tsumiki? At least that's what I thought."

"Shut up! Finally, tell the truth! You did it for your own good! You took her here so as not to lose someone close to you! You took her so you wouldn't have to watch her go! You did this to her so you wouldn't have to lose the person you love! So you don't have to experience the same thing again!

"Second?" Kugisaki whispered, looking at him.

Gojo's eyes widened slightly, and then he clenched his jaw.

It is not the same...

It's not the same feeling...

Watching the death of a person who destroys you from the inside and then being forced to kill that person yourself.

This is different than suddenly finding out about death.

But they both hurt the same.

If he found out about your death, he would suffer because he would never even have the opportunity to say goodbye to you.

He would lose someone who made him feel emotionally important to someone.

The trauma of losing a friend, and the despair of losing the person he fell in love with...

He didn't want Megumi to say it, but he did...

"You did it so you wouldn't have to go through the same experience as when you lost Geto Suguru!"

He snapped...

His heart was empty.

He did this. He didn't want to experience loss. He loved you. He didn't want to lose you. He had to take you to safety. The world of Jujutsu is not safe for a person like you. You were the person who was his warmest ray of sunshine.

And so...

"Don't talk as if what I went through once meant even more than it does now! You don't know it when the only person you could ever be truly close to suddenly passes away forever. And you have to kill that person! You don't know the feeling of sacrificing everything you've ever felt because it will be good for others! Just once, I want to do something just for me! If I let her come back, it would be like killing her! You know what this world does to people like her!"

Everyone backed away when they heard his scream.

"You don't think I'll ever let someone take her away from here! She's staying here, where she's safe! And as long as you're here, I'll show you that I won't let anything hurt her! Don't lay a finger on her!"

A/N I know there are references to Suguru in many of my stories.To the past. But this is a necessary part of Gojo's character. Geto - who was his moral compass - after he left made him change. Therefore, when writing about Gojo, it will always have something to do with Geto.

Taglist: @mc-reborn ; @yihona-san06 ; @yerinsshi ; @erisfayred ; @tohsri

[lolotheparagon]

Rating Every TNBA Redesign Cos Why Not

The New Batman Adventures was the last season of the infamous Batman the Animated Series, although it moved to another less strict network. Because the producers wanted to do crossovers with the Superman animated series, they gave the series and its characters a more streamlined style to it. Now I dont wanna blame Bruce Timm entirely since there were many artists on staff back then who did the redesigns but because I hate this coomer, Im going to anyway. In BTAS, you can tell each character apart and they have their own unique outfits and looks to them. But here, these are some of the most unimaginative superhero/villain designs Ive ever seen. Although some did surprise me and were not that bad. So, for a bit of fun, here's my look at each Batman character's redesign in the final (and worst) season of the show.

(Not counting Robin cos he's a different character to Dick Grayson or characters that had very little changes like Clayface or Harley Quinn)

Batman

The big emo rodent himself. For his redesign, I like the more sleek look to Batman's cape...thats it. His original design is really hard to perfect. Its got everything. Why tamper with perfection?

Batgirl

I actually kinda like Batgirl's redesign. The yellow gloves and boots really help her stand out and its the one of the few times the darker toned outfits actually accentuate a design rather than ruin it. Too bad Bruce Timm couldn't stop salivating over her and the rest of the women in this show. So next time you see someone consider Bruce Timm this legendary storyteller of Batman, give them a healthy reminder that he shipped this college girl character with her mentor/surrogate uncle figure FOR YEARS.

Alfred

Its like they sucked away all of Alfred's snark and replaced it with a cardboard cutout. Literally, he looks so sterile and empty. Who had the idea of making Alfred look more bored and done with everything? Also whats wrong with his chin??

Commissioner Gordon

Good ole Commissioner Pringle got off pretty much unscathed but I think they made him a touch too old considering they gave him a more lanky body, which makes him look more feeble and weak. Dude looks old enough to be Babs' grandad

Joker

Ohhhhh boy. So Joker's redesign is infamously considered by fans as one of the show's worst redesigns, to a point even the showrunners were like yeahh. And thats not unwarranted. He looks like an inverted Dr Draken and im so glad they redesigned him again for Batman Beyond and onward.

Seriously he's A CLOWN WHERES THE MAKE UP?!!

Two-Face

I know Two Face is just a redrawn version of the original design with the TNBA streamlined art style but I want to draw special attention to the monster side of Dent's face. Notice in the original it looks more manic and feral? Heavily contrasted with the conflicted, guilty look on Dent's normal side? But here, in the redesign the monster side is less scary and Dent looks way too bored and angry. The overuse of black lines doesnt help.

Catwoman

She looks like Harley Quinn or Barbara wearing a catsuit. Starting to see a pattern here?

Baby Doll

Its a tough call cos they both look very good but Im gonna lean towards the redesign cos shes got that creepy doll look down to a T (Annabelle would be proud) whereas her original design looked more like a Tiny Toons character.

Scarface and the Ventriloquist

I like the redesign cos of the exaggerated style of the rest of the show perfectly captures Scarface since he's, yknow, a puppet and having the Ventriloquist be shown to be scared and submissive really does show how the puppet is ironically the puppetmaster.

Penguin

Actually I like both of them. They both give off that sophisticated element Penguin is known for and after so many reiterations of him being this crass Scouse-talking crime boss, its nice to see versions of him going back to his rich asshole roots.

Bane

In the original, he has a luchador-style mask and wrestling suit fitting his Spanish roots. Here, he straight up looks like a gimp. Its really bad. Embrace your heritage, Bane!

Riddler

They went from Frank Gorshin to Jim Carrey for Riddler (fitting cos Batman Forever came during TNBA's development) and I love that. So I love both of them. Nice to see a villain with some fucking colour in TNBA cos im tired of seeing all this black outfits. Also his cane being an extended question mark instead of a question mark on top of a regular cane is genius.

Mad Hatter

Both of them fit Hatter's deranged stalker vibes perfectly, but I wish they kept the colour scheme for the redesign cos Hatter's new colour scheme looks too rounded and doesnt stand out.

Poison Ivy

Killer Croc

Finally, now he looks like an actual crocodile instead of whatever the hell he was supposed to be!

Scarecrow

Okay, who the fuck decided to make Scarecrow look like the Babadook? Cos I want to give them a raise. Holy mother of piss, that is terrifying. That shit belongs in the Arkham games. I still prefer the old design cos it has that perfect blend of goofy and gothic. He looks like a Cacturne now that I think about it.

Mr Freeze

HONEY WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOU?!! WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE A FUCKING FUTURAMA HEAD?!! WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK?! YOU HURT MY HUSBAND, TIMM, NOW ITS PERSONAL

[insanesanitysparks]

Katsuki Bakugo is an Introvert

Inspired by an interesting conversation with my twin (who is an introvert). She isn't as obsessive over the anime as me, but from what she does know she casually noted that Bakugo had some introverted tendencies. So obviously I'm going to write a "quick" spark about it.

He's not an introvert in the traditional sense. He doesn't hide away in his room, not all the time at least, and he doesn't completely avoid people. He wants to be a hero and not even his introverted tendencies are going to stop him from following his dream!

When it comes to dealing with people, Katsuki gets exhausted being around large numbers of them and that makes him moody. Moody enough to hurl insults left and right and attack anyone that invades his personal space. In Junior High, he enjoyed all the attention he got from being the best but is also wore him out. And of course Deku ALWAYS had to follow him when he was trying to find some space to breathe. Katsuki doesn't want to admit that he needs a break from the spotlight, so he kicks the nerd away. He doesn't want to talk about his feelings. He just wants quiet.

When it comes to family, Katsuki is in constant conflict with his extroverted mother. She's a strong woman who loves the spotlight and loves showing off her perfect family, but Katsuki hates it when she drags him out of the house. He grumbles and groans the whole time until he can come back home and seal himself off in his room. It's different with his father though. The older man being a similarly quiet individual. On days when Mitsuki goes out by herself, the two men will often just sit in silence. No words are needed. They know the other is content just knowing that they are there. It's a time for them both to recharge. Sometimes, Katsuki will even smile after these gentle moments with his father.

When it comes to friends, Katsuki is picky. Extroverts can be loud and pushy, two things that he doesn't need when he's ready to isolate and recharge. While he likes being the center of attention, usually there's no more than two or three people that he allows to stay really close to him. Deku is not one of them. On top of just being downright annoying, there's just something about Deku's presence that drains Katsuki faster than with most people. In Junior High he had two somewhat close friends, but even they weren't perfect. They made dumb decisions unbecoming of a future hero. He had an inkling that the friendship wouldn't last, a feeling that proved to be true when his friends bailed on him when the sludge villain showed up. And of course the only person willing to risk their life to help him was the damn nerd that exhausted him just by existing!

Then he gets to UA and is confronted with a hoard of loud, excited individuals that rub him the wrong way with just about every damn word out of their mouths. It puts him on edge. He can't escape them and that bothers him. There's no place to recharge and as soon as school is over he's the first one out the door, eager to go home and collapse in solitude.

But then they're moved into the dorms. He'd be thrilled about not having to interact with people on the way home anymore except now he has to share his mornings, afternoons, and evenings with this group of clowns. At least one good thing seems to come of being kidnapped and moving into the dorms, and that's Kirishima. The extroverted dumbass can be a bit of a blockhead at times, but he's often just what Katsuki needs. In fact, maybe Kirishima isn't actually an extrovert. Maybe he's an ambovert? Switching between social and silent as he deems necessary. Kirishima always has his back too. At the USJ, the sports festival, and then coming to try to rescue him from the League of Villains...spending his own money to do so.

Eventually, Katsuki will invite Kirishima to his room. The first person to see his dorm since they'd moved in. Kirishima doesn't judge his taste. He points out what looks cool and then they sit in silence, Kirishima messing around on his phone while Katsuki reads a book. Occasionally the red head will lean over to show him something cool that he stumbled across but otherwise Kirishima is fine just chilling.

And then Kaminari joins the party. Katsuki had no intention of letting the ditsy, loud blond anywhere near him but Kaminari made fast friends with Kirishima and seemed to look up to Katsuki. No matter where he went, Kaminari was always tagging along after Katsuki and Kirishima. It was annoying, but the other blond gradually began to grow on him.

So then they were three. Kirishima would make himself comfortable wherever, usually on the floor since it was the "manly" thing to let his friends have the bed and chair. Katsuki usually took the chair since it allowed him to prop his feet up on the desk, no stick-in-the-mud Iida to stop him. Kaminari usually took the bed, though that phrase never quite adequately described the situation. Most of the time, Kaminari laid upside down while hanging half off the bed reading manga.

Katsuki still enjoyed his solitude, but there was something about these two extroverts and the way they could seemingly shut off their loud, energetic side that made Katsuki like hanging out with them. Maybe it was their quirks? They paired well with him in training. Or maybe it was the fact that they were dumb enough for him to maneuver them as needed? Either way, Katsuki found himself eating lunch with them, training with them, and sharing his personal quiet time with them.

And he was happy. He wasn't exhausted like with his friends from Junior High. Kaminari and Kirishima didn't wear him out like they did. They were the type of friends that could talk him into going out to eat and he would actually enjoy the experience. Kaminari could talk him into a board or card game and he would actually have fun playing with the two. Kirishima could keep him in line without making him feel like piece of shit for exploding when he got overwhelmed.

But what really drew Katsuki to the two dumbasses was their need for him too. Kirishima especially. When they doubted themselves, it was always Katsuki who pointed out their strengths and what made them useful. It was always Katsuki who pushed them to be their best and helped them train more efficiently. And the way they looked to him for guidance but didn't just follow him blindly...well, gosh darn it if it didn't warm Katsuki's solitary heart up just a little.

[monstermaster13]

DNI with me if you are into RPs with young characters being put into mommy/baby relationships - by young characters I mean clearly kids or toddlers, I do not want to be hit with pedophile accusations or be accused of 'grooming' because I have been accused of that and for the record I don't remember doing anything remotely sexual and no I am not saying that to cover my ass, I am just saying could you at least clarify how old your character/sona is before roleplaying with me.

Inanimate transformation. Look as appealing as it is to transform into your mom's old sofa to you, it may not be for me and I will only do sentient/living versions of inanimate characters or animatronics. And i'm looking at you every single one of Ciel's doll and pooltoy tfs. Same goes for clothing TFs.

Bodily functions of the scat and piss variety. Foul odors are allowed, but only if it's part of the species.

Drones or fetishization of robots in general.

Sissyification.

Cutesy wutesy overly smotherly stuff.

Non-morphic animal TFs especially if they end in mating. A non-morphic salmon transformation that ends with a breeding scene? No thanks. An anthropomorphic honey badger TF in which the person can still talk and is doing it as a chance to recreate the famous meme? Yes please.

If you like dark TFs that is fine but please don't act like I am being the spawn of Satan just because I want a wholesome TF every once and a while.

'Diseases don't exist/bad things don't exist in my universe' I don't care if you live in a toon universe where everything is happy, in my roleplays and universe diseases, war and other traumatic things do exist, so suck it.

Trying to control my character in roleplays. My characters are mine to RPs

Changed/Puro related stuff.

FNF.

Internet age horror character.

MC.

Body part transformation.

Pokemon TFs with Poke-Speak.

Suiting.

Sexualization of child characters. If I see one underage character getting the rule34 treatment, you are out of here.

'I understand your opinion' 'Waaaaaaaaaa, this asshole bashed my tastes'. if you are going to say you respect someone's opinion only to go crying to your friends over a disagreement I made with you over said tastes of yours, don't go blaming me for it, it's your fault.

World Domination endings. Really? World domination? How cliche can you get, I ask you, how cliche can you get.

Humans Are Evil being used as a trope. If you use this or endorse this trope, screw you. It was bad enough when every environmental save the earth episode, show, movie and special was about this, we don't need a repeat.

Fetishization of people with jobs. Looking at you, every single maid and clown TF enthuasist out there. Same with sumo wrestlers, this is racially insensitive.

Fetishization of organized crime. Looking at you, every single Rubber Rocket Drone TF ever created.

Yaoi or yuri. To clarify I am not against real life same sex relationships, I am against yaoi and forced shipping.

Asshole characters especially if they are a self-insert of the person in question and are supposed to be likable. If you're supposed to be playing a version of yourself, aren't you supposed to you know make them similar to you? Wouldn't you at least want them to be likable or sympathetic? Because if I don't like your character doing something like turning evil and turning everyone into undead slaves, that's on you NOT me. You made your character out to do that. Do you want to be viewed as a villain and not as a sympathetic character? Do you want people to hate you? Because I don't want to have to tell you again and again not to do this.

Poor English speakers in roleplays who are also boring.

Attention hog RPers. I'm sorry but when was THIS LOTR inspired monster RP about your character? This was supposed to be both of us transported to a Conan the Barbarian inspired world of monsters and gain monster forms in order to do battle with an evil sorcerer, and instead i'm only given half of the screentime compared to you? For pete's sake, you just spent a whole hour making intimate love with the queen of the aquatic fish-people and doing nothing else, it's been nothing but you the whole time, I didn't even get my chance to do anything.

Rubber/latex transformation anything. Puro nearly ruined latex creatures for me, so don't even bother.

If you believe i'm racist or transphobic. Yeah, i'm sorry but both of those have already been defunct and I apologized for the latter and cleared it up.

Rude comments directed at the 'Werebelushi Rants', Werebelushi is a fictional character and he does not represent me in anyway…I may write and produce his show but I am not him, my OCs do not exist in real life, don't take it on my OCs if you have an issue. Also look up what the word cowardice means before using it on me.

Hive-minded RPers. 'We all turn into werewolves that hate humans and turn them into werewolves too', look however you portray were-creatures is up to you because there have been so many different takes on them throughout the media but if you are going 'let's make them hive-minded human hating biggots', then I have several things to say to you but most importantly: 'Go and suck on a silver bullet, you asshole!'

If you don't like real person TFs. This is a celebrity TF pro-zone thank you very much.

If you genuinely don't think the following people are horrible: Jeffrey Jones (it is fine if you like him in movies like Ferris Bueller and Beetlejuice, but not as a person), Max Landis (if you think John Landis isn't a bad person, i'd agree with you, but if you think his son is innocent, then I am afraid we can't get along), Donald Trump (If you think Trump is funny, i'd agree with you, but not if you think he's perfect), Anna Nicole Smith, Martin Bashir, Joseph Jackson, Jimmy Saville, Rolf Harris, Bill Cosby (if you like Cosby's comedy or his shows, that is fine but if you think he is not a horrible person, you don't belong here), Roman Polanski (if you love his movies, i'd be okay with it), Chevy Chase (i'm okay with liking Chevy's movies or him on SNL but if you believe he isn't an asshole, I have bad news for you), Brian Peck, and Dan Schneider (this goes without saying, just because I have watched almost all of his shows and liked him in Better Off Dead does not mean I believe that he is not a bad person, he tried to apologize for the things that Quiet on Set mentioned about him and he then turned his back on that and tried to sue the producers of said documentary for defamation), Boris Johnson (see the Trump example).

Derailing RPers. Okay..what the hell was that? Wasn't this supposed to be an Animorphs based shapeshifters RP? Since when did it became an orgy-fest involving henchmen of the organization making out with each-other or turning people into henchmen? Since when it was ever implied the original organization's leader had a clone and the clone was the one behind it the whole time? When was it ever implied the leader was not the real one? I want proper answers for this.

If you are one of those irritating RPers that either keep saying 'get to the transformation' 'I don't care about the story or the character's personality, get to the TF' 'When is the TF?', well screw you…I care about what my characters are like and the TF or good

[saucy-mesothelioma]

out of any horror movie you’ve seen with monster villains which one would you say has the best design out of any of them (and the term monster that i’m using is any type of creature that doesn’t resemble a human outside of walking on two legs)

I hope you weren't expecting a short answer because boy do I have several. And since I'm a slut for practical effects, the majority of these are done practically. Strap in, because here we go.

First up are the Killer Klowns from Killer Klowns from Outer Space!

These funky fellas are from an underrated horror classic that's such a fun watch oh my god it is so off the walls. They were achieved with puppets and animatronics that were designed by the legendary Chiodo Brothers, with the animatronics being built by Dwight Roberts. Even though this is often considered a B-movie, the design and mechanics are genuinely so incredible and are so overlooked in my opinion. They're creepy as all getout, and are honestly pretty fuckin terrifying to watch. Fuck Pennywise (not really, Tim Curry's Pennywise is fantastic), these boys were the og horror movie clowns.

Next, the Tarman from Return of the Living Dead

Believe it or not, this movie is where the idea of zombies eating brains comes from. It also doesn't get that much attention nowadays, so I'm happy to give it some well-deserved recognition. The suit was designed by production designer Bill Stout, built by effects artist Bill Munns, and and worn by the 6'2 actor/puppeteer Allen Trautman. To achieve the melting flesh look, hot melted vinyl was poured onto sheets of aluminum foil and then attached it to the suit in layers, finishing things off by covering it in goo before each take.

The Cenobites from Hellraiser are up next!

I'll only be talking about the og gang here, but there are several newer Cenobites that also have some damn fine designs (haven't seen the 2022 film but holy hell I love those designs). I could go on and on about the practical effects in this movie, especially Frank Cotton's resurrection because oh my fucking god the effects in that scene are beautiful, but I'll keep my focus on these fine freaks. We have the Lead Cenobite aka Pinhead (Doug Bradley), Female Cenobite aka Deepthroat (Grace Kirby), Butterball (Simon Bamford), and Chatterer (Nicholas Vince) who were designed by Clive Barker himself and lead make-up artist Bob Keen, and were brought to life by the make-up team at Image Animation and costume designer Jane Wildgoose. I also want to call to attention to Frank (Cotton) the Monster, who was played by Oliver Smith, because the various stages of reconstruction are genuinely fantastic.

Up next on the roster, The Moder from The Ritual

She's the first of only two mainly CGI monsters that I have on this list, but I fell in love with her design the second I saw her. She was created by director David Bruckner and concept artist Keith Tompson who took inspiration from Norse mythology, specifically a Jötnar clan of giants that were known as shape-shifters that sometimes combined human and animal qualities. This quote from Bruckner honestly sums up my feelings on the Moder's vibes perfectly: "How would you obfuscate the difference between animal and human, and how could an animal form read with a human intelligence?” Although she is primarily animated with CGI, a physical model for reference and some prosthetics were made courtesy of Russell Efx for when the Moder interacted with the actors. The Moder is a fuckin queen in my book <3

Next up is another eldritch queen, Jean Jacket from Nope

JJ is the only other CGI monster on this list, but she's Jean fuckin Jacket just LOOK at her (ironically). The plot twist of Jean Jacket being the alien itself and not the spaceship was such a wonderful one; I can still remember the audible "oh shit" I let out when it was revealed. She was designed by Peele and his team with the help of Caltech professor John O. Dabiri and was based on various sea creatures (primarily a jellyfish) in the way she moves and eats her prey, with other inspirations being the 10th Angel from Neon Genesis Evangelion, biblical descriptions of angels, Robert Mapplethorpe's orchid photographs, and apparently Marilyn Monroe's dress. Guillaume Rocheron worked with the team for JJ's CGI as well as for the practical effect of the dust whenever JJ flies too close to the ground. A fun fact I also love about the creation of Jean Jacket is that researcher Kelsi Rutledge actually created a scientific manuscript for JJ that would hold up to academic standards. It has everything from details about JJ's anatomy and behavior to a goddamn scientific name (Occulonimbus edoequus).

This one is a recent hyperfixation of mine, but it's one I love dearly: the Graboids from Tremors!

Thank you Zoran Gvojic for introducing me to this beautiful film; I couldn't be more grateful. The graboids were designed by Tom Woodruff Jr and Alec Gillis and this film was actually the first one their company Amalgamated Dynamics worked on. The design was based off of snapping turtles, slugs, and rhinos, and were completely done with practical effects in the first film (although CGI with some practical effects would be used to varying levels in the later films). Since the graboids were so large, quarter scale models were seamlessly blended with full scale ones in order to get all of the shots they wanted, as well as a mixture of animatronics and puppets. Tom Woodruff Jr actually puppeteered the full sized graboid named Stumpy from underground, with only an oxygen tank and flashlight down there with him. What a fucking king.

Also I just wanted to include this picture of Michael Gross with some graboid tongues because I like it

And last, but could never could possibly be least

John Carpenter's The Thing, my beloved!!!!!!!!

To say that I adore The Thing and its creature designs is the understatement of the century. My partner can attest that I am completely feral about this movie I love it so much. It's thanks to special effects artist Rob Bottin that we were blessed with these absolutely incredible designs, which were made with latex and foam rubber which were then covered in creamed corn, strawberry jam, mayo, and KY Jelly. Bottin spent 10 days with Norris's actor with Charles Hallahan creating different torsos, facial expressions, and even body hair patterns for Norris's transformation. Fake arms were created with wax bones, gelatin flesh, and rubber veins and hydraulic jaws were made to rip a torso in half. This movie is full of marionettes, prosthetics, hydraulics, and puppetry, and if I had to choose my favorite horror movie I would choose this movie

[dynamo-of-fake-twin-brother-fame]

Sometimes, I wonder why I make some characters (or even real historical figures that are famous enough to appear in various medias) queer in every fanfic I write that they appear in, even though they are a villain who would NEVER, in a million years, actually be queer. And I'm just like, "naw, you kiss other men now". Like Red Skull from Marvel. He's just a gay boy to me.

Like, I know why. But not in a way that, until five minutes ago, I could articulate.

I look at a character that, were this a real person (or a historical figure if they were still alive today), I would be ACTIVELY HOSTILE towards -- following the example of Red Skull, the guy who's so nutzo he thinks THE NAZIS weren't hardcore enough and fights them over it, while also fighting SHIELD and the allies at the same time -- and go "I'm gonna make you something you would hate about others and you can't stop me". This is something I do completely out of spite for people who exist that agree with the characters motives. Like the reverse of that Captain America comic where Red Skull is based VERY STRONGLY off Andrew Tate. Now guess what? If I make Red Skull gay, it'd be like Andrew Tate shouting something shitty and just getting dunked on with an entire comment section going "what are you gonna do about it, gay boy?" Andrew Tate would have a hernia pop over that.

Or like, I point at that person over on TikTok that thinks they were Hitler in a past life and I'm just like -- admittedly, they're doing it well enough on they're own, Hitler would have had them thrown in a dungeon somewhere if he were still alive today -- this person's 'previous life' is just a miserable little piece of soggy toilet paper stuck too high on the bowl and you know what? I'm gonna make him do things in this random fanfic for a media that has cannon Hitler that would give real life Hitler a heart-attack and conniptions and abject horror.

Like, sure, if I were to wake up tomorrow in a world where Red Skull was real, or Hitler was still alive, or Andrew Tate was my neighbor, I would fear for my safety if any of my fanfics that do this came to their attention. Very much know I'd be murdered over this. But it's the SPITE of it all.

I'd wake up, realize I'm somehow in Marvel Universe during WW2, and purposely con my way into Marvel Nazi Germany to PUBLICALLY (I'm thinking hacking a radio broadcast or something) come up with a fanfic where Red Skull gets his guts rearranged by another guy (like Uncle Sam or Captain America or Churchill or some other ally dude) and likes it. And I would do it KNOWING I'm on borrowed time. I would watch HYDRA soldiers bust down the door of whatever room I've sequestered myself in to broadcast this fanfic to as many people as I can and scream, on air, that Skull is having me silenced to 'hide the truth'. Make every single one of those goons look at each other and mutter, after they've turned off the microphone so no one else will hear them, "you don't think?" I want Red Skull to look into the eyes of his soldiers and realize there's doubt there. And he'll know in that moment that I'm cackling at him from beyond the grave. This horrifying monster of a man has been made a clown for my amusement. And his queerphobic, misogynistic over-confidence will crack. Just the tiniest little bit. But that one crack is EVERYTHING.

Might just be me though. Anybody else do this?

[condoriano-67890]

Ight, Imma write a fanfic— part one, right now, considering how LONG it is. And, this is my very first published fanfic! So please, keep that in mind when reading this.

(Caesar Clown X Fem! SO)

“A Perfect Match”

Genre: SFW

Warnings: The reader is a villain, not a hero.

PART 1

And there you were, finding yourself on Punk Hazard, working under Caesar Clown himself. How did it come to this? Well, you wanted to be a pirate. And so, you began to explore, soon coming to the New World. The first island you found was Punk Hazard— you had arrived on its fiery shores, and fought through the flames as you tried to find a place to cool off. And then you came upon the lake, and saw the island’s icy other half, and Caesar’s lab.

Now, you had no idea he lived here. All you knew was that this place belonged to Dr. Vegapunk, and was abandoned after the incident four years ago, when the nuclear explosion happened due to unknown circumstances, and then Admiral Aokiji and Admiral Akainu came to fight over the position of Fleet Admiral of the Navy.

And although it was abandoned, you thought that, perhaps, there were some resources there you could get. Perhaps some food.

And so, you began trying to find a way across— you tried going around, but that didn’t work, so you jumped on a piece of driftwood and began trying to paddle yourself over there, although the water was boiling hot. And then it was freezing cold. It felt good on your hands, but soon they became stiff, and soon, you got cold. You cursed to yourself a bit, before finally coming to the snowy half of the island, and getting off, laying in the snow for a second before you slowly stood, and waddled to the laboratory.

And then you met Monet, and, having no idea who she was, you just went along with whatever she said. How naive. She eventually convinced you to get into one of Vegapunk’s insulation suits, and she asked you to start working for her and Caesar. And you had no idea who he was, either.

It didn’t take long, before you caved in and began to work for them, and it took an even shorter amount of time before you found out what they were doing to all of those children. At first, you despised it all. But you grew to accept it. And now, you just hung out in the Biscuit room with the children a lot, playing with them, trying to at least make sure that the last years of their lives were good ones. And then, you realized: pure science does not care about societal morals. You thought about Caesar, and how he appeared insane— and realized, he wasn’t insane, he was just so unbiased. And therefore, you stopped caring that they’d die.

Over time, you’d met with Caesar Clown himself a few times (normally it was just so you could praise him, or so that he could give you orders), but soon, you began to grow a fondness towards him. You thought he looked pretty— he was kinda old, but with his wrinkles, he looked realistic. He didn’t look plastic like a lot of people. And you liked that about him. You also found his voice rather soothing (pardon me, but throughout 85% of OP, I’ve only listened to Caesar’s English voice, and I have to admit, his voice is amazing).

At first, you criticized his fashion sense— that tacky orange suit, specifically, but eventually you realized it went very well with his bright, orange eyes. His lipstick also went well with his hair, and so did his coat. And the facial expressions he made! You could easily tell that he was acting (much to the oblivion of the others), but you didn’t care. He was so expressive, although it was all fake, so good at putting on the act of having a mental breakdown.

But Caesar had never seen you before. He thought you were a man, just another one of his oblivious henchmen. He didn’t know that you knew. And therefore, he paid no attention to you. And you used that to your advantage— you hid your knowledge from him.

And then came the Strawhat Pirates.

They came, and were imprisoned, so easily. You thought for a moment. A pirate crew with a combined bounty of over 500mil wouldn’t be imprisoned THAT easily. So, you ran to Caesar to warn him.

You knocked.

“What is it?!”

“Sir, it’s me, one of your men. I’d like to have a word.”

There was a long silence, and then a sigh.

“Come in, but make it quick.”

You opened the door, and stepped in, closing it behind you. Inside the lab sat Caesar on the couch, drinking some wine, and Monet, sitting at the bar. You carefully approached Caesar.

“I have some concerns, sir.” You did your best to keep your voice deep.

“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow. “Spit it out, then.”

“..Sir, it’s about the Strawhats. You imprisoned them, correct?”

“Yes, I did. Are you doubting me?”

“Um— no, sir, not at all, but I’ve been thinking— they’re a pirate crew with a combined bounty of over 500 million beri. I don’t think that little prison cell will hold them for long.”

“….oh? Well then, I’ll have to just tighten the security around there.” He stood, and began to walk towards the door, his arm lightly brushing past yours as he did, making your heart begin to flutter. You turned around, and began to follow him— after all, you had to get back to your post.

Not long after, you heard that Strawhat Luffy was outside in a fight with Caesar, so you and several other men rushed outside to watch the fight. And it was over in just a moment, with Luffy having fainted from Caesar suffocating him, with the power of his Gas-Gas Fruit.

“Praise me!” Caesar cried, and in response, you all surrounded him and began to praise him excitedly. But you were the most excited, and it didn’t take you long to wonder why— before figuring out that you had developed an unquestionable loyalty to him.

And then, of course, the whole thing happened— the Strawhats took the kids, Caesar brought them back, there was a rebel child who kept the drugs away from the others before proceeding to almost die from consuming it all. Meanwhile, Smiley was unleashed, eating a giant drug before solidifying the entire island with its poisonous gases. The Strawhats found a way in, Luffy found Caesar, and then they fought, and Caesar passed out.

A large portion of the lab had been solidified. Every man on the island. Then, Monet died, and the Strawhats escaped, taking Caesar with them, leaving you all alone.

[worstloki]

Okay, this is gettin’ real screwed up here.

I watch a lot of TV. Probably too much. And I’ve seen characters beaten to their knees before, sometimes even with collars. And yeah, there’s usually someone standing over them, and it’s been a woman sometimes. The kind of scene we got in episode 5 of Loki is not new ground.

But here’s the thing. In EVERY OTHER SCENE I can remember like this, the person kneeling is the hero. They’ve been brought down, fully humbled before the sneering villain, and in a few minutes something will happen to get them back on their feet again. It’s usually a tense moment, a “what if they break?” that makes you want the hero to win. You aren’t rooting for, or even liking in some cases, the person standing. You’re cheering for the person on their knees.

This doesn’t seem to be the case with the Loki show. Yes, the viewers may be rooting for Loki, but there’s no hatred for Sif there. She’s not proved herself to be a cold, heartless villain, ruthlessly pounding the hero until all he can do is kneel at her feet.

Except…she did kind of do that. But it isn’t treated as something bad. It’s treated more as something Loki deserved, in my opinion. The show wants us to feel like he deserved to get repeatedly beaten up and told horrible things, just for cutting off a lock of Sif’s hair. I’ll grant, it’s peanuts compared to what happened to him in the mythology. But it’s still bad. Especially since they had him acknowledge it, repeat her cruel words back. They’re playing it off as if Loki is still the villain by himself, and is only good because of other people- Mobius, mostly, but Sif is part of that.

That’s not the way Loki’s character is. In the comics particularly, his biggest arcs are always about reinventing the labels given to him, changing “villain” into something good, something he can use, and doing it by himself. Yes, there’s outside influence, but ultimately Loki is the one who decided to change.

The show is not letting him do that. The show is portraying him as a stubborn jackass who refuses to change until other people show him the light- either with psychological torture presented as therapy, or with beating him up a bunch of times until he gives in. The show and its characters are forcing Loki to become good- they aren’t showing him doing it by himself. He is not becoming one of the good guys, he’s being essentially enslaved by them, and the show is passing it off as somehow all that good influence finally rubbed off on Loki’s cold, villainous heart. That’s why him betraying Mobius was shown as so bad even though Loki barely knew him and had been psychologically tortured by him- Mobius is written as a character who can choose to be good, and Loki is written as a character who must be forced to be good.

And something about an entire show revolving around an independent character being treated as a villain, literally enslaved by the “good guys” (back when the show still wanted us to think the TVA weren’t shady as all hell), beaten to his knees with a collar around his neck until he accepts that he deserves to be alone because he isn’t “good” like everybody else…that doesn’t go down right for me.

The TVA being presented in not just a neutral but often reliable light is something I thought would change once Loki literally called out their propaganda and Sylvie called them fascists, but, for some reason the authoritarian genocidalists are not being presented as a bad thing and it irks me too.

It's especially weird because of the way what Loki claims to have wanted by making choices for people and what Mobius claims the TVA do ARE THE EXACT SAME THINGS, except Loki, until the show, hadn't done that of his own volition and was being tortured during the invasion and is treated terribly for something he didn't even succeed in doing, while the TVA successfully erase events on a mass scale but are presented as having a higher (or at best, - equal) moral ground.

The exact same thing was done in Ragnarok where Loki's "turning point" from a tricksy villainous scoundrel happened because Thor left him frying on the ground and gave him a pep talk filled with lies and general slander about how he could be better - and people see that as good because Thor is framed as a hero, and it's because instead of accepting Loki is a complex character they take what the narrative tells at face value and that is that Loki fights the protagonist(s) so he's bad.

I personally don't like the narrative pushing a character that is canonically an abuse victim and attempted suicide and was tortured right after as someone who needs fixing because he's lusting for power and needs it to gain a sense of control during a retcon which is occurring for the sake of calling him a complete bad guy who needs to change (probably because no actual original character development could be thought of?) after he was just confirmed as queer and colloquially (i assume) called a narcissist because of twisted love.

That he deserves to be alone was presented neutrally as a joke even as he was repeatedly getting beaten to the ground, and then both people he could call friends were removed from his immediate vicinity right after.

Loki isn't being presented as a character that has done a huge mix of good and bad in the movies, he's being presented as an oft incompetent idiot that deserves what he gets because he shouldn't have run away from captors, or he cut Sif's hair, or he killed his mother, or he dared to think he had any importance or could do something good, because the truth is he's an evil lying scourge.

"But maybe," Mobius says, "Maybe he wants to mix it up. Sometimes you get tired of playing the same part. Is that possible? He can change?" And everyone's already forgotten that moments before the mission Mobius said to Loki's face that the TVA has pruned a lot of Loki variants because he's so nice! look! he has hope in him when no one else does! It's also easy to forget the "and hey, if it doesn't work, I'll delete him myself," right after because the guy was smiling through it and the scene is followed by Loki really badly trying to explain the logic of being a trickster who everyone knows is a trickster.

A lot of people payed more attention in Ragnarok than to the other Thor movies so it's not a new retcon and people seem fine with the extremely strange take that 'loki is bad but he can do good sometimes,' because the character is more animated and acts foolish and that's generally more fun for comedy, which is fair for people to prefer imo, people find different things entertaining.

But I do solidly hope the show doesn't go that way though and takes a side with Loki on the narrative stance eventually because I've seen a lot of people who just. miss that the TVA's concept is bad. And those who think they're "reforming" Loki. As if the guy needs anything but a break at this point lmao he only got away from Thanos like 2 days ago please just let him rest for a bit he's a fail villain and it's cringe to have your supposed 1st open queer character get beaten to a pulp by Sif and then put wack sexualizing shots for it too :/

it's like the show itself is trying to sell the angle of "Loki is a villain" and I'm a clown who is still wanting that to be intentional because if it is? It could be amazing and playing with how different parties are framed would be s p e c t a cu l ar and could encourage people to reassess the hero coding in other movies including ones Loki was previously in - but we're reaching the last two episodes and I don't feel like that'll happen.

I feel like even if Loki does reach the end of the show as a transformed person it'll be done leaving the audience with "perhaps you're not so bad after all, Loki," and then also give credit to Mobius or Sylvie or whoever else was involved, simply because as even of yet Loki hasn't taken on a lead role in the show. I'd argue he hasn't really contributed anything worthwhile to plot either. As you've said, he's being shown as someone who needs to change but isn't really motivated to. Aw man they better not make romantic love the reason he wants to change.

[gimme-mor]

ACOTAR THINK PIECE: ELAIN ARCHERON, UNTOUCHABLE

*DISCLAIMER*

This will be a long post.

Please take the time to read this post in its entirety and truly reflect on the message I am trying to send before commenting. My goal is to use my background in Gender and Women’s Studies to deconstruct the comments I have seen on Tumblr and Twitter and bring awareness to the ACOTAR fandom.

The reason I am tagging “Elriel” in this post is to call attention to the arguments in the Elriel fandom that: weaponize Elain’s femalehood to shame real life people for their opinions about Elain’s character and her relationship with Lucien; victimize Elain’s character in fandom discussions; and coddle Elain’s character, which limits fandom discussions about her narrative development and prevents the ACOTAR fandom from holding Elain accountable for her actions and inactions in the same way that the fandom holds other characters accountable for their actions and inactions. It is for these reasons that I WILL NOT remove the “Elriel” tag from this post because all of the above points contribute to the toxic discourse surrounding Elain’s character.

I urge those who use these arguments to understand their implications, why they are problematic, regardless of intent, and reexamine their contributions to the ACOTAR fandom. I WILL NOT tolerate anyone who tries to twist my words and say I am attacking people and their personal shipping preferences. In fact, I AM CRITIQUING THE ARGUMENTS THEMSELVES NOT THE PEOPLE USING THE ARGUMENTS.

Also, I highly encourage the Elriel fandom to read this post because it addresses how the concept of choice as an argument enables arguments to exploit social justice and feminist languge in order to vilify Elucien shippers, among other problematic things.

Elain Archeron is one of the most polarizing characters in the ACOTAR fandom. Though opinions about Elain vary, arguments in the Elriel fandom cite society’s perception of traditional female characters in comparison to non-traditional female characters as the reason behind the hate, and this belief is used to provide an explanation as to why other characters in the series are favored over her. In the series, Elain is portrayed in a wholly positive light and this image carries over into the Elriel fandom, painting her character as a good and kind female who has been unfairly wronged and a victim of circumstances that were out of her control. When arguments in the Elriel fandom oppose other viewpoints in the fandom, they fall into one of three categories:

Category 1: Weaponize Elain’s femalehood to shame real life people for their opinions

Maybe people who hate Elain are just jealous of her in a weird way similar to when someone hates the pretty, nice, and charming girl in school just because she is too perfect

Disliking Elain is misogynistic

What happened to feminism? What happened to women supporting women? What happened to she can say no? All of that disappears the second you force Elain to be with Lucien

Elain antis are misogynistic

All Eluciens are Elain antis

Antis claiming they’re feminists when in reality they hate on Elain and Feyre but love Nesta

Elain antis are such sore losers. Y’all were that bunch of people who could not get over being rejected from hanging out with the cool kids so y’all are projecting your hatred towards pretty people now to get validation

I don’t get how Elain’s love for gardening equals boring for some people. I’m sorry your misogyny finds traditionally feminine activities boring

Why are you attacking a female? What did Elain do? Where are your feminist voices?

The fandom is misogynistic towards Elain

If people loved Elain they would ship Elriel

If you hate Elain it says a lot about your feelings toward women

If you hate Elain because she has no “development” then you must hate Azriel because otherwise you’re misogynistic

Eluciens are turned off by the idea of a woman that has the autonomy to reject a man for the simple reason that it is her choice

Eluciens are all about feminism and “it’s HER choice” until it comes down to females not wanting a male

Eluciens don’t respect Elain’s feelings when they ship her with someone that was part of her trauma and makes her feel uncomfortable

The way some Elucien shippers completely disregard how uncomfortable Elain is around Lucien is so hilariously not funny. Prioritizing being mates over Elain’s feelings is just regressive

It’s hard as a fan of Elain to see someone ship her with a person who makes her physically uncomfortable to be around. Wouldn’t you want both characters to be happy to be around each other

Imagine if SJM saw all the awful things her “stans” had to say about Elain

It’s true that we know comparatively little about her, but is she really boring or do you just not value stereotypically feminine traits?

So y’all are just gonna tell me you prefer Elucien over Elriel? Even though Lucien treats Elain as if she’s something that belongs to him? The only reason he wants to be with her is because she’s his mate, he doesn’t respect her, doesn’t treat her as his equal, even though that’s what mates should be? He doesn’t bother to look past what’s on the outside to see her for who she is. And Elain is obviously repulsed by the idea that she should belong to anyone or have no choice in who she can be with. Azriel is her friend and the only person who sees her quiet strength. He has so much faith in her, in her abilities; he’s the one who kept her company when no one else did, he’s the only one who bothered to see her for more than her brokenness. You’re going to tell me you still prefer Elucien over Elriel?

The more I see Gwynriels that ship Elucien out of their hate for Elain, the less I can understand Elain stans that ship Elucien. Pls Elain has made it very clear that she doesn’t want Lucien, why would you ship her with him? Do you hate her too? Smh

The real question would be, if you care and understand Elain why would you ship her with Lucien (where she canonically shrinks when he is near)?

People crying over Helion and Lucien’s mom not getting to be with each other and her being forced into a relationship she didn’t want, but also ship Elucien? Just say you hate Elain

When Elain’s book is out, Gwyn stans will look like clowns and I will laugh because they set her up by shipping her with Azriel just because they hate Elain. Watch them play the victims now because Elriels are clapping back the hate they’ve sent towards Elain

As romantic as wanting girl who is visibly uncomfortable around a guy who caused her trauma to end up with the said guy. Guess their standards for romance are in hell

Category 2: Victimize Elain’s character

Gwynriels only want Gwyn with Azriel because they despise Elain

Gwyn stans and Gwynriels are Elain antis

No one in the books dislike Elain, so why are there so many people who do?

Elain hasn’t done anything wrong or questionable to warrant the hate she gets

Not having Elain’s POV makes it easy for people to be swayed a certain way about her character if you already don’t relate to her in some way

It’s been years since this series came out and we haven’t gotten a lick of an Elain POV, but people still hate her for what? We don’t know her thoughts, dreams, or aspirations

We haven’t even had Elain’s perspective yet and people are passing these judgments off on her

Elain antis who say she’s boring are just cruel when she has obvious symptoms of PTSD like Feyre and Nesta

Gwyn is one of the most overhyped characters and that’s only because most people hate Elain and they couldn’t wait to find a random girl to ship Azriel with

Nesta was abusive to her sisters but Elain (who has only ever been kind) is painted as the villain

From the text we know that Elain is the epitome of feminine stereotypes (gentle, gardening, baking, non confrontational for the most part). Yet people still call her boring or deny that she has any interesting character traits?

You can’t love Nesta and hate Elain

People hate Elain because of internalized misogyny and lack of taste. All the girl does is tend to her garden and mind her business and they treat her worse than Tamlin

Does Gwyn deserve all this support? Of course yes! She is amazing! But where’s that support when Elain was in the same situation as she? Where’s that support for her right now? Why do they idolize Gwyn for her interactions with Azriel and hate Elain for having any interaction with him?

It’s not even a ship war anymore, they just hate Elain

People hate Elain for no reason

Some of y’all don’t like feminine traits and it shows

We know less about Eris and Helion but people don’t call them boring. Why would rejecting femininity make Elain more interesting?

Elain has had a lot forced upon her

The main reason I believe most people love Gwyn so much is to get Azriel away from Elain. It’s not a secret that Elain has been a widely hated character for years so suddenly we get a new female who has a minimal amount of interactions with Azriel and BOOM. New ship that once again doesn’t make sense (just like Azriel x Emerie after ACOFAS)

Elain hasn’t done something so terrible for her to get this hate. At this point some of you are just being misogynistic and you don’t want to accept it. Don’t call yourselves feminists and then say bs like this, it’s embarrassing. She’s pretty and everyone agreed to hate on her

Just a personal feeling, but I feel like a lot of the Elain hate stems from internalized misogyny. That to be a strong female lead, you need to pick up a sword and fight. That to be strong, you need to adapt traditionally masculine traits

Elain is feminine. She is beautiful. She loves to bake and garden. She is docile, quiet, observant, and a people-pleaser. All traditionally feminine traits. Yet for some reason, she’s like the worst in these people’s eyes?

I think also maybe a lot of people can’t relate to her femininity? That her being so beautiful and quiet doesn’t allow for the people who dislike her not to self-insert? Most of the hate stems from people not wanting Elain to be with Azriel. It’s mean, but maybe the people who hate Elain literally just can’t self-insert if they have a story and that’s why they’re vehemently against it?

Poor Elain. The Cauldron dealt her a bad deal. Upon emerging as Fae, she is immediately declared by Lucien as his mate, never mind that she was already engaged to a prick. Her love life is not good

It blows my mind how they really think that they can compare all the shit that Elain gets with some dumb jokes about Gwyn on Twitter (and yes, the “hate” towards her started mostly because Elriels are clapping back, it was bound to happen)

I would think of it as anti-feminist with Elain and Lucien because she has consistently stated that she does not want him so if she was forced to embrace the bond that would be taking away her right to have a choice but with Az she feels comfortable around so if they were mates then Elain would be happy and feel safe which again should be the priority for women to feel safe in their relationships with anything and to not be forced into any type of situation aka the mating bond in this

Category 3: Coddle Elain’s character

Elain has value the way she is, in all her domestic girly glory. Not every character has to be badass

We don’t speak of Elain’s flaws frequently because everyone else already speaks badly of her, mainly in an unfair way

There is definitely something deeper going on with Elain but by no means will she ever be evil or any less feminine. That goes against everything we already know about her

It’s ok to critique Elain because she needs growth but y’all keep forgetting the shit her and her sisters went through

The last “bad” thing Elain did in ACOTAR was not help Feyre when they were impoverished and I’m tired of people acting like she’s a terrible character when it was their father’s responsibility. It happened 4 books ago and Feyre has forgiven both Nesta and Elain

Elain’s character and the evil Elain theory are a great example of the trend where people only consider female characters interesting if they reject femininity

We don’t know enough to hate Elain

Many people want Elain to turn evil (which in my opinion seems to come from a place of internalized misogyny)

However we don’t tend to talk about her faults, at least not publicly, as that has been, and still is, done to death, and I--personally, at least--find it much more fun to theorise about potentially interesting aspects of the overall plot, than dwell on negatives

And ultimately, I would be shocked if Elain has a more karmically-charged story than Nesta, considering that Elain’s “wrongs” are so much less severe and bad than Nesta’s, and Elain has already apologized for them (or paid the price in other ways, like through what Graysen did)

I guess I also think Elain has suffered and been punished enough. I hope her story is about finding hope in terrible situations, and learning to love her new life, and choosing her own path after everything that has been done to her. I don’t think she needs to be punished anymore or face any additional trauma

Also, why is she being judged on her decisions as a human at all? Fae are monsters to humans! They enslaved them for thousands of years, and the Wall was erected to keep them out

Like I’m sorry, but think Elain would want to leave her ONLY FAMILY AND FRIENDS for the Spring Court where she has no one because--oh look, lots of flowers!--is the craziest thing I have ever heard

Her sisters are in the Night Court. Her nephew is in the Night Court. Her closest friends (Nuala and Cerridwen) are in the Night Court. Her love interest is in the Night Court. Her extended family is in the Night Court. Her home is in the Night Court

SJM isn’t going to keep two sisters together and split up the third. Especially not keep Feyre and Nesta together and separate Elain. They were either all going to end up in separate places, or together. Not 2 here and 1 there

Compared to the other female characters in the series, Elain is the only character whose femalehood is at the center of conversations; this is because arguments in the Elriel fandom fixate on it when discussing her character. While Elain, Feyre, Nesta, and Mor are all representations of white womanhood and white beauty, Elain epitomizes the most fragile version of white womanhood. It’s easy to blame society’s perception of traditional female characters in comparison to non-traditional female characters when it comes to the discourse surrounding Elain’s character because it: falls in line with the fixation on Elain’s femalehood to silence opposing viewpoints; is a simplistic explanation that fails to tackle the underlying issues with Elain as a character, the same issues that are downplayed in-universe; absolves Elain of her wrongdoings; prevents the ACOTAR fandom from holding Elain accountable for her actions and inactions within the series; and diminishes the impact Elain’s actions and inactions have on those around her. It’s not that Elain is hated in the fandom because she’s a traditional female character; it’s the fact that arguments in the Elriel fandom deflect a critical analysis of Elain’s character because she’s a traditional female character who embodies the ideal white woman in need of protection. White fans and white-aligned fans of color, especially white women, have a tendency to vehemently defend, gatekeep, and coddle white female characters in fandom; this makes it difficult for other fans to engage in critical discussions about these white female characters because they’re viewed as flawless and all around perfect characters despite evidence to the contrary. Since Elain is viewed positively by the other characters in the series, it has rendered her character untouchable to any perceived slight or criticism in fandom discussions because those negative opinions challenge what has been said about her character thus far. And as a result, her character has been placed on a pedestal and implicitly hailed as the epitome of white womanhood; and when she’s criticized, it’s seen as a direct attack against white womanhood. Arguments in the Elriel fandom: exploit feminist language and perpetuate white feminist tactics under the guise of defending Elain’s character; center Elain in conversations about female oppression in the ACOTAR world and uphold white feminist ideologies in their critique of ACOTAR’s patriarchal society; and use the fragile white woman narrative to victimize Elain in Lucien’s presence, playing into racial biases that are associated with white supremacy’s defense of white womanhood.

Feminism is a social movement that seeks to promote equality and equity to all genders, and feminists work toward eradicating gender disparities on a macro-level, in addition to challenging gender biases on a micro-level. As feminism became more mainstream, a flat and oversimplified version of feminism emerged: mainstream feminism. The mainstream feminist movement is meant to represent all women, but rarely does it center conversations around issues that concern most women. The problem with mainstream feminism is that it’s just a popularized version of white feminism. White feminism has relied extensively on an individualized understanding of women’s oppression, exclusively from the lens of privileged white women. White feminism only focuses on the oppression experienced by white, able-bodied, affluent, educated, cishet women; and it views gender as the key mode of privileged white women’s oppression, isolated from the privileges granted by their other social identities. White women can be and are oppressed under the patriarchy but only because they are women; their identity as women does not exempt them from the privileges granted by their whiteness. The term white feminist does not mean any feminist who is white, but refers to feminists who prioritize the concerns of privileged white women as though they are representative of all women. However, the term is not exclusive to white people. Because white feminism is so pervasive, people of other racial and ethnic backgrounds often buy into white feminism, believing that if they work hard enough, they may be able to reap its rewards.

Just like white feminism, mainstream feminism only recognizes the identity of being a woman, assumes that all women share common experiences of gender oppression, fails to address other social identities in relation to overlapping systems of oppression, and disregards privilege in relation to various social identities. Just like white feminism, mainstream feminism is palatable because it doesn’t seek to challenge the systems in place, instead its goal is to succeed within them. Essentially, mainstream feminism and white feminism are extensions of performative feminism. Performative feminism is a type of performative activism that’s used to describe feminist views that are surface level and solely for the benefit of one type of person. It’s a pretense which often has nothing to do with genuine activism. Arguments in the Elriel fandom normalize and promote performative feminism because the topic of feminism is only referenced when discussing Elain. This indicates that these arguments are engaging in disingenuous discourse to push a personal agenda within the ACOTAR fandom, and it becomes more apparent when they use white feminist tactics to shut down opposing viewpoints:

White feminists weaponize and exploit feminist language to silence the opinions of other women, especially when they’re called out for their problematic behaviors

White feminists use the phrase “Women supporting women” to defend other white feminists who exhibit problematic behaviors instead of holding them accountable 

White feminists weaponize phrases like “Women supporting women” and “You just hate women” to attack other women who disagree with them on any given topic

White feminists use phrases like “All women face challenges” and “Stop pitting women against each other” to sidestep conversations about privilege

White feminists divert conversations away from privilege and towards the Trauma Olympics to equate their struggles to the oppression of marginalized people 

White feminists skirt around the realities of other forms of oppression and discrimination, downplaying the experiences of marginalized people

White feminists diminish or ignore the ways in which gender oppression affects other marginalized people

White feminists paint those they harmed as aggressive, mean, or divisive when confronted with the ways they have harmed a marginalized group

White feminists deflect criticism by focusing on the anger or emotions being expressed rather than the issue that is being discussed, invalidating the concerns of marginalized people

White feminists speak over marginalized voices in an attempt to sound “woke”

White feminists get defensive and insist there’s no way they could be a part of the problem because of what they’ve done to help marginalized groups already 

White feminists say they don’t see color in an attempt to obscure racial issues that need to be addressed

White feminists center and victimize themselves in conversations about racism, which derails necessary conversations from taking place

White feminists who are white weaponize the intersectionality of their race and gender to avoid accountability

Feminism is not meant to be approached from an individualistic perspective nor is it only about addressing the experiences of privileged white women, it involves addressing the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, (dis)ability, and other social identities as well; and it involves addressing how these social identities relate to privilege. Moreover, feminism is not about women upholding complete loyalty to other women because of a shared gender identity, and to claim that it does implies that women should be held to different emotional standards than men. If men are able to dislike and criticize other individual men, real or fictional, without their characters being compromised, why aren’t women granted that same privilege?

It’s clear that SJM set up the ACOTAR world to mirror a patriarchal society, and that the imbalance of power between males and females stems from sexism. Arguments in the Elriel fandom analyze the ACOTAR world through a feminist lens to show how ACOTAR’s patriarchal society, to which the mating bond is innately tied, contributes to female oppression and limits their agency. When choice and free will are emphasized as part of Elain’s arc, they imply that Elain, through the mating bond, experiences female oppression under ACOTAR’s patriarchal society because of her identity as a female with that identity being the focal point of her oppression in the world. Elain is one of the most privileged characters in the ACOTAR world: she’s High Fae; she’s the sister of the High Lord and High Lady of the Night Court, which gives her access to wealth and political influence because of that connection; she’s able-bodied; she was magically blessed by the Cauldron; and she lives in Velaris, a place that grants females autonomy and power because of the beliefs of Rhysand and Feyre. Arguments in the Elriel fandom trivialize female oppression in the ACOTAR world because they disregard the fact that Elain’s privileges prevent her from experiencing female oppression in the same way that other marginalized females in the world do. The mating bond being one such example because those around Elain are not forcing the bond on her, instead they’re allowing Elain to reach a decision about the bond for herself; a privilege that other marginalized females in the world probably wouldn’t have. Just because Elain has endured hardships in her life and is a female in a patriarchal society, they do not erase the privileges she holds within the ACOTAR world. The failure to include Elain’s privileges in discussions about Elain being a female in a patriarchal society feeds into white feminist ideologies because white feminism operates from a very narrow perspective; it doesn’t take other intersecting identities into account when it examines gender oppression, leaving no room for discussions about privilege (or lack thereof) in relation to those intersecting identities. When discussing oppression in hierarchical societies, it’s imperative that privilege is also included in the conversation because privilege and oppression are not mutually exclusive; they equally affect the ways in which people navigate those societies through their social identities.

Rather than attributing Elain’s uncomfortability to her new life as a Fae female or the mating bond itself and her trauma to the Cauldron, the King of Hybern, or Ianthe, they’re placed on Lucien to cast his character in a negative light. Moreover, fandom discussions portray Lucien as a possessive character to further emphasize Elain’s discomfort despite the inaccuracy of this characterization in canon. Arguments in the Elriel fandom play into racial biases when it comes to Lucien (a male character of color) because they mischaracterize his character in order to victimize Elain (a white female character), placing her character in the role of the white damsel in distress. In Western society, the concept of womanhood has been conceptualized from a Eurocentric perspective with femininity and feminine attributes favoring white women. It’s the idea that a certain type of femininity is only inherent to white women as they are seen as the embodiment of an ideal womanhood. White womanhood has been a symbol of innocence and purity, and white women have been viewed as fragile beings in need of protection. The reason white womanhood functions within white supremacy is because it’s the same idea that has motivated white men to kill and beat black and brown men. The so-called protection of white women has been used as a justification for the horrific violence committed by white men because black and brown men were stereotyped as aggressive and seen as a threat to the virtue of white women. The white damsel in distress trope considered white women as worthy of protection because of their perceived innocence and purity; women of color were not granted that same treatment because they did not fit into the ideal image of womanhood. Over the years, this trope became a means for white women to exercise limited power in a patriarchal society with white women weaponizing their status as the damsel much to the detriment of black and brown men. It’s through the white damsel in distress trope that white supremacy sustains its dominance in Western society. The misrepresentation of characters of color in fandom, the dismissal of their importance to the overall story, and using them as tools in arguments centered around white characters are the foundation of fandom racism; they’re examples of how racism moves silently in fandom spaces. Instead of examining their behavior and taking constructive criticism from fans of color, white fans will often double down on their bigotry and center their uncomfortability in the conversation when confronted with their complicity in fandom racism. White fans expect fans of color to swallow fandom racism in its many forms in order to not ruin the experience of fandom, dismissing the fact that racism is prevalent in nearly every aspect of society. This mentality ensures that no one is held accountable for the harm they caused and alienates fans of color in fandom spaces.

To reiterate what I mentioned in my first think piece: terms like “oppression”, “the right to choose”, “feminist”, “feminism”, “anti-feminist”, “anti-feminism”, “internalized misogyny”, “misogyny”, “misogynist”, “sexist”, “sexism”, “racist”, “racism”, “classist”, “classism”, “discrimination”, and “patriarchy” are all used in specific ways to draw attention to the plight of marginalized people and challenge those who deny the existence of systems of oppression. Yet these words and their meanings can be twisted to attack, exclude, and invalidate people with differing opinions on any given topic. When social justice and feminist terms are thrown around antagonistically and carelessly to push a personal agenda, it becomes clear that these terms are being used to engage in disingenuous discourse and pursue personal validation rather than being used out of any deep-seated conviction to dismantle systemic oppression. Being an ally, activist, or feminist is not an identity, it’s a practice. It requires: ongoing self-reflection; holding ourselves accountable; listening to marginalized people; educating ourselves; dismantling implicit biases; challenging those around us who are exhibiting problematic behaviors; and action behind our words.

It’s important to be aware of the language that is used within the fandom when defending or critiquing characters and ships. It’s also important to question how an argument is framed and why it’s framed the way that it is to critically examine the intent behind that argument: is it used as a tool to push a personal agenda that reinforces problematic behaviors, or is it used as an opportunity to share, learn, enlighten, and educate?

-----------

Tagging: @spell-cleavers @bookofmirth @m0bulidae @ilya-boltagon

[maxwell-grant]

Who's your favorite Batman villain?

The Penguin. Was gonna put off this ask for a bit but I got surprised today with an incredible rendition of him, so now the dastardly bumbershoot waddled and squawked his way into my thoughts again and I gotta talk about him.

Penguin's not just my favorite Batman villain, he's my favorite DC character and comic book supervillain, the main reason I even want to write a Batman story someday.

I love the imagery that surrounds him, the trick umbrellas and the birds he so lovely dotes after and the WAKs and the Iceberg Lounge, which has become maligned in recent years as a sign of his downfall, but I very much appreciate as a concept in general still. I love a lot of the performances and actors who've taken him over the years. Burgess Meredith and Danny DeVito are some of my favorite performers of all time, Paul Williams has a wonderful voice and starred in my favorite film of all time. Tom Kenny, David Ogden Stiers, Robin Lord Taylor, Penguin's just had such great, terrific performances and adaptations. Batman Returns is my favorite Batman film by far and it was what got me to start paying more attention to Oswald.

I love the roles he can play in any given Batman story and how he's managed to endure all of his falls from grace by becoming an indispensable part of Batman's worldbuilding. I love his varied dynamics with Batman and Riddler and Catwoman and Gordon and his henchmen and those who get close to him. I love his style and the way he conducts himself when he's allowed to be more than just a generic mob boss. Penguin's design has, by simply staying unchanged over the decades, gone from "common rich person wear draped over a funny cartoon gangster" to "he is so out of touch and desperate for respectability that he dresses like an 1930s capitalist caricature, like a little kid's idea of what a rich and respectable man looks like, and Penguin's still stuck in that mindset". I love how absurd and plausible he is.

I like that Penguin can very easily fit just about any kind of Batman story, from the campy supervillain plots to the gritty urban crime ones. You can tell stories about Penguin falling in love, pretending to be legit because he doesn't want his aunt to learn he's a criminal, and opening up a comedy act with a talking penguin, or stories about Penguin terrorizing the city with giant robots and guided missiles and driving people to suicide. I like that he's a character who both relishes in his lifestyles of supervillain and crimelord alike, and yet is perpetually restless because the minute he acquires what he wants, he immediately starts wanting something else. He could have Batman and the Batfamily and all other supervillains wiped out and have Gotham in his pocket and maybe even become President of the United States, and he'd still want more. Because Oswald is nothing but wants, the wants of a traumatized manchild in a funny costume throwing money and toys and brute force and tantrums at the world until it makes sense, which only makes him far too fitting as a Batman villain.

Everyone forgets that Penguin was canonically the first villain to ever successfully escape Batman at the end of a story, completely bypassing the usual "villain swears revenge behind bars" ending to instead escape scot-free, and went on to establish himself as one of his biggest, most inventive and most cunning villains, second only, if not equal, to Joker. I love that he's ruthless and inventive and classy and cunning and brutal and how his main trick is using the fact that everyone underestimates the short fat man to his advantage. He's taken traits that got many of us in real life relentlessly tormented for them, and he uses them to pull the wool over those who think they are better than him.

It'ss a trick that works because even in real life people can't stop looking at this weird and silly little man and think "that guy's too silly for a Batman villain, he's not a murder clown or musclebound monster, what's he gonna do" and, yeah, that's the point, that's been the point from day one, he doesn't look scary or intimidating or even that evil, and he's the guy who pulls the rug under supergenius fighting machine Batman and becomes the top crimelord of Gotham City, a city ruled by terrors and manias and monsters infinitely bigger and scarier and stronger than he is, and he STILL made it to the top and he STILL maintains it, time and time again even when newer and flashier and scarier villains come and go. Batman is, at it's core, a fundamentally absurd character, and Penguin acts as a reminder of that. Because the minute we accept a man can terraform himself with training and money into a living legend on the level of gods, there's no reason why a tiny fat man with similar drive and resources can't likewise throw his weight with monsters and warriors far above his station.

Despite how ridiculously often he's disrespected by writers and fans alike, how far he's fallen off his former position in Batman's Rogues Gallery, and how often he's used as just a punching bag for assorted Bat-people, Penguin never goes away. He's the biggest survivor of all of Batman's villains, more so than the genuinely immortal ones, because he's the cockroach that won't go away no matter how many times you flush it.

Because once you get past the piles of money and the lounge fortresses and the armies of goons and the piles of cartoony gadget toys not too dissimilar from Batman's own, what the Penguin has is brains, and spite and hatred on a scale no other Batman villain has. He hates Batman, because Batman is nothing but yet another bully who thinks he can push Oswald around just because he's bigger and stronger. He hates the lower class for it's unsophisticated brutes and boors that made his childhood hell. He hates the upper class that's rejected and also tormented him since infancy, that he desperately spent so long trying to be a part of. He hates the monsters and supervillains he works with and has to associate with to stay alive. He hates the city that he fights to rule over tooth and nail.

And although he may never admit it, he hates himself, because he'a short paunchy man with a beakish nose who's brutal and immoral not just because those are the cards life dealt him, but because he likes what it affords him too much to give it away. Because he's never going to have the love and acceptance he desperately craves, he will never be able to accept it or keep it. Because he can never fully be a gentleman, or a monster, but instead a sad mix who belongs in neither of their worlds. Because at the end, he doesn't look like anyone else. He looks like one of him.

And still, I like Penguin because he's a Gentleman Villain. The one Gentleman Villain of Batman's rogues gallery, even if that's faded from a lot of his recent appearences that pushed the crimelord aspects to the forefront. He dresses like a gentleman thief, he's canonically a huge A.J Raffles fan, he's one of the most cunning brains of Gotham, he's got the money, resources, and adventurous spirit. Problem is, he's The Penguin. And suddenly, all that he has becomes overblown, outlandish, theatrical, and out of touch purely because it's him trying to do all those things. He's a gentleman adventurer gone rogue, the Count Fosco of the DCU, and that only makes it amusing, even endearing, when Penguin does engage in the swashbuckling antics he's so fond of.

When all his plans go to hell and so he starts fencing Batman, or when he commands henchmen with superflous fancy language, or even when Oswald gives the whole "hero" thing a shot and we see he's actually not bad at it, maybe he actually could have been one if it wasn't for the bile drowning his heart and the hellscape that warped innocent young Cobblepot into Gotham's Penguin, a name that immediately denotes something silly and ridiculous, and he carries it with pride, because he will make you respect that name.

And that's just a couple of reasons. I really, really love this character to the point of obsession and the main reason why I ever wanted to write stories for DC was to get to write Penguin and at least try to do the character a little more justice. But if nothing else, Penguin endures, regardless of what happens to him, in and out of universe. If nothing else, that's a very admirable quality in a supervillain. Oswald is the best.

[makeste]

BnHA 326: What’s up Kids, It’s Me, Your Old Pal Stain

Previously on BnHA: Ochako shamed the U.A. Clown Mob into letting Deku go back inside his own fucking school by giving them an hour-long speech about how not to be humongous dickheads. Kouta and Gigantic Fox Lady saved the manga by being the only ones brave enough to give Deku a hug. Shouto was all “man, all this togetherness sure does remind me of that promise you made that we would handle Touya together which you immediately bailed on, doesn’t it, Dad.” Aizawa was all, “for the one and a half people out there who thought that my losing an eye and a leg might actually make me less sexy, I’m very happy to prove you wrong.” All Might was all, “[standing outside the U.A. fortress alone in the rain talking to someone or something??].” Like seriously, what was up with that though.

Today on BnHA: All Might is all “here I am in Kamino having a belated mid-life crisis because Deku abandoned me and I’m a terrible mentor and everything sucks and I hate myself.” Stain is all, “don’t make me come over there and give you a ten page speech about why you’re still the goat while menacingly holding you at swordpoint the entire time” because idk if you knew this guys, but Stain is pretty crazy actually. Anyway so he does that, and then All Might gets all emotional, and then the lady from chapter 92 shows up and gives All Might’s statue an encouraging pep talk, and then Horikoshi is all “and it even stopped raining lol can you believe this shit I’m not even a little bit subtle,” and he really isn’t. But I still got emotional anyway, because seeing people reassure All Might that everything he’s struggled for his entire life hasn’t been in vain just got to me okay. Horikoshi knows I am weak to the All Might feels and he just goes for the jugular every time, that bastard.

lmao. “in the neverending downpour, All Might is...” yeah, thank you, glad we’re getting right to that then

“All Might is driving 95 mph in his busted ass car in the pouring rain, is what he’s doing.” huh

so basically a day or two after his adopted child refused to accept the handmade bento that he packed with love, my man is out here acting like he’s got nothing to live for anymore. this sure bodes well for certain prophecies on which the clock is still ominously ticking down

his fucking face though omg. is it weird that I’m kind of hoping more people ambush him just because I think it’d be funny to see them get their asses kicked like the last bunch

(ETA: or maybe he will just stand there openly not giving a fuck and basically daring them to stab him!! get it together please All Might.)

side note, “anti-hero supporters” is such a strange way of saying “people who hate heroes”, which I’m assuming is what they actually wanted to say?? this makes it sound like it’s a group that really loves antiheroes. “these Hannibal stans have been a real menace lately. time to go deal with them”

ha ha ha, fucking ouch

are you really gonna do it Horikoshi you bastard. are you really going to let that be the final encounter between the two characters whose relationship you once described as the vertical axis of the entire fucking story. are you really gonna?? huh??

huh

you’re telling me you were driving 112 mph and you still didn’t get there in time. you’re losing your touch old man. lol Todo’s ice is almost fully melted already, how late were you

(ETA: so apparently this is taking place after the end of chapter 325, meaning he went to U.A., hung out for a bit, saw the kids come back with his bedraggled half-dead protégé in tow, watched as they shamed the civilians into some long-overdue character development, and then was all “welp, time to go argue with the hero-hating faction or something because I’m feeling useless.” and Edge just let him go, just like that. though to be fair I have to imagine it’s pretty hard to say no to All Fucking Might.)

also belated lol at the fact that the kids were all “yeahhhhhhh we are definitely not gonna touch that thing, let’s just leave it here, he doesn’t need it anyway.” probably the right call to make since they couldn’t get a hazmat team on such short notice

fuck. ha ha ha fucking ouch part two

All Might please put that thing down before you get gangrene. also yeah, you dropped the ball, good for you to acknowledge it. nobody’s perfect and you did your best. but yeah you could have handled a lot of things completely differently. but I still love you

is Horikoshi really putting this flashback here. are you serious. what kind of fucking sadist

look, I swear I’m not one of those people that runs up and down the street shouting “DEATH FLAG!!” at every third panel lol. but this shit screamed Death Flag when we originally got it, and it’s screaming DEATH FLAG!!! even more now. like with the capital letters and exclamation marks and all. and that’s just a fact. I don’t like it but that’s how it is

ffkdjslk

“DID YOU READ THE SIGN??!” Horikoshi asks while zooming in maniacally because he thinks we’re blind or something. lol what

-- though actually, it only just occurred to me that this sign is actually written in English. I never really paid attention up until now and had been assuming it was written in Japanese and translated by the scanlators, but the writing here is clearly part of the original image. anyway so maybe that’s why he’s zooming in?? just to make sure everybody pays attention lol

okay fuck this

see, this is the whole problem right here. once again All Might is all on his own. Deku’s self-destructive angst spiral was fortunately brought to a grinding halt because he actually has support from his friends and family and teachers and classmates. but All Might never had that same kind of support, and it’s made all the difference between the two of them, and not in a good way. Katsuki wasn’t wrong when he said All Might and Deku were both cut from the same cloth. but now when it’s All Might’s turn to go all “I WALK A LONELY ROAD~~” once again, there’s nobody in sight

just, after forty plus years of him carrying this torch, I just wish someone would finally come along to let him know he doesn’t have to. all those things that he wanted to say to Deku are also things that he needs and deserves to hear himself. Aizawa was making a little progress there, but now he’s got his sad zombie cloud boyfriend situation to deal with, and we can’t expect him and his perfect hair to solve all our problems. someone else has gotta step up

oh my god

“you rang?” never mind I take it all back sob

omg why am I laughing. shit

this man truly has the best PR game in the series. we were truly convinced he was gonna suddenly become a good guy and defend All Might against the other villains or some nonsense. as if this wasn’t the same man who decided on a whim that Iida Tensei deserved to be paralyzed, and that his fifteen-year-old brother deserved to die for daring to be upset about it

lol even All Might is all “I genuinely never saw this coming” lmao

just want to say, for the record, I have always harbored a very sensible hatred toward Stain. feeling very vindicated right now. good job Past Me

adsfklwkfsdwgkj

ffffwefjslkg. ghsdlkg. dsfkkkslkjldwkjrg

STAIN: heard you talking shit old man

ME: smh that’s what I thought you’d say you dumb fucking Stain

STAIN: how dare you talk about All Might that way

ME: gljfljgk

(ETA: in hindsight I have no idea how I didn’t clue in sooner that he didn’t recognize him -- or, well, ~didn’t recognize~ him, to be more accurate lol. I think it was the whole “is that a slight against the heroes?” thing that threw me. Viz’s translation makes it much clearer that he’s offended on behalf of All Might specifically, not heroes in general. anyways.)

sob. so All Might is all “yeah I don’t blame you for not recognizing me in this sweet leather jacket”

good thing he still knows how to do this party trick

A+ reflexes on Stain’s part presumably pulling the sword back a few inches to keep this dumbass from impaling himself with his whole pufferfish routine. can you imagine if that was the gruesome death Nighteye foresaw. and he was just too embarrassed to say anything

lol anyways guess I was wrong about Stain everyone

way to fucking go, Past Me. you really biffed this one

oh wait

Stain sure is one wacky rollercoaster ride

oh fuck me lol I forgot how much I did not miss this

(ETA: “this here is the sacred ground where All Might gave up the last of his power and turned into a shriveled old man!! please ignore the part where I admit to knowing all about that, and yet pretend not to recognize said man when he’s standing two feet in front of me.”)

Past Me, I know we’ve had our ups and downs these past ninety seconds, but I’m really starting to think you were on to something. this dude has always been kind of insufferable. always acting like his high horse is a fucking giraffe when it’s actually a Shetland pony

dammit now he’s got All Might going off on a depressed monologue

oh my god my heart

shit

why the fuck does that hit so hard. he became a hero because he couldn’t bear to just sit back and let bad things happen to people who didn’t deserve it. I mean that’s basically the same as every hero ever, right? so why does it still hit so fucking hard every single time though. what is it about seeing someone so determined to stand up for other people and fight on their behalf. it just never loses its impact no matter how many times I see that determination mirrored in so many of my favorite characters

“I wanted to make the world a better place.” omg. but you did, though. like seriously, I feel like people are always dogging on him for not being 100% perfect, and fandom really doesn’t give him enough credit for everything he still managed to accomplish. this man came of age at a time when Japan was by all accounts a total shitshow, and singlehandedly managed to bring about an era of peace that lasted for four fucking decades. can you imagine having peace for that long?? that’s longer than I’ve been alive. shit

and he gave people hope. he inspired them and protected them and made them feel safe. and no, he couldn’t save everyone, because he’s only one fucking dude (and also because the whole time AFO was also out there desperately working to undermine him so that he could keep preaching his narrative of “heroes are bad actually”). but you know what he did do, is inspire multiple new generations of heroes who, if they can all manage to work together, will finally be able to accomplish everything he never could

so yeah. forty years of peace, and inspired the “that’s how we all became the greatest heroes” generation -- that’s a fucking win in my book. talk about having a net positive impact on the world. lol anyways now I’m all fired up and ready to fight anyone who tries to talk any shit about you, All Might

“but what if I talk shit about myself” okay listen up All Might I’m gonna need you to try just a little bit harder to work with me here okay. please calm down and stop blaming yourself for every single bad thing that’s ever happened in the world. do you remember that time Bakugou was blaming himself for Kamino, and you gave him a hug and told him it wasn’t his fault, and that he was only a boy, and that even though he was strong, even strong people can struggle with the burdens they place on themselves, and that you were sorry for not seeing that earlier? do you remember all of that? that’s what I want someone to tell you too, dammit. anyway please stop breaking my heart please and thanks

wtf

are you dead All Might

um

I don’t even have the slightest idea what’s happening lol

oh snap did he grab him so they could hide??

hold the fucking phone. don’t tell me this person in the background with the umbrella is here to actually do something decent??

oh my godddd

and here come the feels. oh boy. okay don’t mind me, I’m just gonna sit here sobbing over this fictional lady and her simple act of kindness in this weekly shounen manga that I care about way too much

FUCKING DAMMIT AND HERE’S A SECOND HELPING

DON’T MIND ME, I’M JUST GETTING DISPROPORTIONATELY EMOTIONAL OVER THIS WOMAN’S DETERMINATION TO HONOR A MAN WHO SACRIFICED EVERYTHING TO SAVE HER AND COUNTLESS OTHERS. I’M JUST HAVING SOME FEELS OVER HERE ABOUT HER HEARTFELT, DOESN’T-EVEN-KNOW-ANYONE-ELSE-IS-WATCHING FEELINGS OF GRATITUDE THAT COMPELLED HER TO COME OUT HERE AND MAKE THIS SMALL BUT POWERFUL GESTURE. I’M JUST OUT HERE GETTING ALL PROFOUNDLY WORKED UP ABOUT STATUE MAINTENANCE AND THE HUMAN RACE. NEVER MIND. JUST IGNORE ME AND CARRY ON

holy shit. I was not even remotely prepared. you can’t just do that to me. you can’t just leave all these death flags on my lawn and then suddenly shift gears to show me the best of humanity in a chapter where I was expecting the worst. that fucks a person up lol

OH ARE WE STILL GOING

my heart. you see that, All Might. your legacy is so much more powerful and meaningful than you think

...has. has Stain actually been giving All Might a pep talk this entire time

I give up lol. this dude is a fucking enigma

YAYYY

it may just be a metaphor panel, but I’ll take it lol. I missed them. nice to see the traffic light trio front and off-center. I know the whole “this is the story of how we all became the greatest heroes” thing had left some questioning whether certain characters would continue to play a central role in the narrative, and hopefully this will help to ease those concerns just a bit

anyway, so idk if it’s getting a bit chilly down there in hell, but damned if Stain didn’t just give an actual decent fucking speech

I have to say, earlier when I was whining about All Might not having a support squad, I really was not expecting Stain to be the one to come over and pat his head and reassure him that he made the world a better place

-- okay LISTEN

YOU CAN’T JUST COME INTO MY HOUSE AND HIT ME WITH THOSE ALL MIGHT TEARS AGAIN GODDAMMIT THIS ISN’T FAIR. my god. first 317 and now this

holy fucking shit

“I’m just gonna pretend like I haven’t been stalking him for two days and didn’t see the entire Deku bentogate thing go down, and then I’ll give him the whole big speech that I rehearsed, and then I’ll turn around and be all ‘BUT IF YOU’RE A TRUE HERO’, and then I’ll toss him the super-secret AFO wifi password that I stole from Tartarus. god I’m such a badass. fucking give myself chills”

so basically what you’re telling me is that this whole time my “what’s up kids” characterization of Stain from this shitpost has actually been 100% accurate. just want to make sure I’m understanding this right. okay then

“and then I’ll dramatically spin around and be all NOW COME KILL ME BITCH”

it must be so much fun to write Stain. drawing this coked-out maniac who talks like a chatbot that was trained to speak by reading Alan Moore monologues. that must be a trip

anyway so All Might is still crying, the awesome lady from chapter 92 is admiring her handiwork totally oblivious to the batshit insanity going on fifty meters to her right, and it’s finally stopped raining lol

“THE RAIN WAS A METAPHOR YOU SEE” yes, yes, we got it lol. thanks for that Horikoshi. don’t think we needed any help putting the pieces together on that one but I appreciate the effort

so that’s the end! and as I mentioned in another post, I had the count off by one chapter, but next week should be cliffhanger week! so break out your U.A. Traitor bingo cards, friends and fiends. either that or something else happens that I’m completely not expecting at all. which, based on my success rate with Stain predictions, I’d say is more than likely lol

mmm but anyway, so now that the Hug Deku 2021 campaign has finally come to an end, what’s it gonna take to get a hug for my struggling bento-preparing jacket-rocking world-weary death-flag-waving husband who is the worthiest man to ever live and deserves the fucking world, goddammit

[shotorozu]

relationship realizations

— ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦ 3k followers milestone

character(s) : multiple characters (bnha)

legend : [Y/N = your name] they/them pronouns used, quirk not mentioned

note(s) : happy 3k ‼️ thank you all for all the love, and most especially those that continue to send love, and indulge in my works. further context, this is what the bnha boys/men learned by being with you :))

»»————-　♡　————-««

midoriya izuku

↮ that his opinion does matter. okay— it’s not like you handed his confidence to him, no that’s different. but, you are a main contributor to the sudden increase of confidence in himself. before, he was just so used to be brushed aside, other people being told to ignore him whenever he does this, and for his rambles to be ignored like white noise— but after you showed up and spent some time with him, he realizes that it’s not the end of the world if he does ramble, and it’s not the end of the world to not be confident about your opinions 100% of the time, but what does matter is that his opinion was heard. which ultimately lead to him being more confident in expressing his own opinions, not caring if it’s apart of the vase majority, or the minority. he’ll forever love you for this.

todoroki shouto

↮ that taking your time isn’t abnormal. shouto, being someone that had little to no set example of what romance is, and being exposed to romance comedies, and tv shows— made him realize something. that people were already kissing on the first date, and he felt well,, under developed because of it. he was never the biggest fan of physical touch, it’s not to say that he never wanted to kiss you, he always does want to, but— he won’t just kiss you just because it’s the first date, or because the movies said so, even as much as he wanted to, no. that’s not what he wanted. he felt worried that he was moving too slowly, compared to the examples he’s seen online but— you say things differently. you allowed him to take his time, showing him patience as you peck him on his temples, and he couldn’t be more grateful to love someone like you.

bakugou katsuki

↮ that being vunerable isn’t a bad idea. you’re even aware of the many few boundaries katsuki has set up for himself— like no pda. which, you’re perfectly fine with, but katsuki hated the idea of being vunerable because well,, people shoved him onto this pedestal at a very young age, he’s thee bakugou katsuki, there’s no room for vulnerability (or so he thinks) besides all might and deku, you’re really the only one that has seen the vulnerable bakugou katsuki, not the loud and explosive one everyone is used to. he was repulsed by the idea, but after the first time he allowed himself to cry on your lap, shedding tears as he trembles in your caring embrace— he realized that he has someone, and that someone wouldn’t care for the world if he wasn’t this big and strong person 24/7. he won’t say it out loud, but he’s incredibly thankful

kaminari denki

↮ that people do take him seriously. nearly everyone sees this man as this.. class clown, goof ball, and that he’s ‘stupid’ or he’s ‘lacking braincells’ most of the time, and that’s all they make him out to be. denki doesn’t like drowning in self pity, but he can’t help it, why doesn’t anyone take him seriously? but wait, that’s when you come along. it was heartbreaking to say the least when you saw how shocked he was when you wanted to hear his plans and ideas. to anyone else, it might appear to be the bare minimum, but it’s everything to denki. to be taken seriously when the time says so, to be treated like the next person with ambitions. sure, he loves being a jokester, he loves making people laugh, but he can’t bite back the smile, when he sees you worry about him after every short circuit, and kiss him on the cheek whenever he comes back to his senses.

shinsou hitoshi

↮ that not everyone’s opinion is valid. okay hear me out, that might be considered a bad thing, but it’s really not. in fact, it’s a good thing. hitoshi’s just used to hearing sugar coated and backhanded compliments being thrown his way, people saying that “you’d be a good villain, at least!” but, he doesn’t want to be a villain. sometimes they’re not even backhanded, and he’s just used to accepting it as it is. because, everyone has been thinking that way, since well— he first manifested his quirk. but that’s when you come along, and blow away his expectations. you weren’t afraid to tell him the truth, that he shouldn’t have allowed all of them to insult him like that, since he deserved all of the good that was in the world. that wasn’t the part that stuck out the most, but it was the part where you told him that it’s the intent that mattered, and who cares if his quirk seems villainous, as long as he meant well? for once in his life, he stopped paying attention to the senseless comments, and focused on what really mattered— you.

kirishima eijirou

↮ that you don’t need a flashy quirk to be honorable. his quirk, while it took some time for it to be in the state that it is today, it has always been an insecurity of his, not that he’d admit that. that he can’t create big explosions or large glaciers of ice like bakugou or todoroki, or he can’t create whatever he desired like yaoyorozu, he just felt,, plain sometimes. which was something he never voiced out in such a blunt manner before, since he always presented himself as this cheery dude that’s always ready for the occasion. it might be easy, he probably curses at himself for being under your spell a little bit too easily, but he feels great whenever you praise him for his hard work, and especially his quirk. even when the insecurity slips out by accident, and when you’re questioned if you really meant that, you stay true to your statement, and that was an eye opener.

amajiki tamaki

↮ that there are other ways of being strong. look, it’s not like tamaki’s quirk is weak— in fact, it’s the very opposite, but his self esteem, and the absence of a sociable personality does take a toll on him sometimes. he feels like he can’t do anything right, especially when he mutters, messes up on what he wants to say, more importantly when he has an idea on what to say. he feels helpless, compared to the other two strong personalities of UA’s big three. and that’s why, you’ve showed him that shyness is completely normal and fine, and it’s not just him that struggles with socializing— and besides, tamaki does have other strong points, like his ability to be considerate with his actions, and his carefully selected words of affirmation whenever he sits next to you on a date. tamaki might be socially uh.. weak sometimes, but he’s come to realize that it’s fine, since he has other strong parts!

monoma neito

↮ that he won’t be forgotten, and also— that being nice to class 1-A doesn’t sound that bad. come to think of it, neito DOES have a nice side in him, but it’s just not exposed to class 1-A for several different reasons (that are layered) when he was younger, he was told that his quirk wasn’t that spectacular, people have underestimated his quirk a lot. not because it’s ‘boring’ but because it just ‘copies other quirks,’ and has no individual attributes. thus, lead neito to act out as an attempt to stand out and not be ‘boring.’ in reality, neito doesn’t realize that he’s anything close to that, and that he can be remembered in the best ways. like, when you first saw his room, and it was covered in pastels, and whenever he sees you, the first thing he says is a compliment. who would’ve guessed it from him? and most importantly, when he is nice to class 1-A, he finds himself laughing at amusement— and he thinks ‘hey! this,, isn’t bad.’ it’s a slowburn for him to finally act like how he is with his class but hey, process!

dabi todoroki touya

↮ that he needs someone. how ironic, a villain— needing someone, and all for what? just to be abandoned for someone better? no thanks. you didn’t actually shove it in his face for him to realize it but, you did contribute to it. his staples were starting to falling off again after another gruesome mission, dabi didn’t feel like plucking them out himself, but he knows that he has to— he went to go pick them off, until, you come in. a stapler in your hand, as you practically make him sit tightly as you replaced the staples. it stings, not that he’ll ever admit that, he’ll just stick to making fun at you in such dabi fashion. but ugh, there’s that warmth again everytime he looks at you. it’s not the cruel burn, similar to his quirk— but it’s,, gentle. it makes him want to disembowel himself, but he doesn’t mind it when you touch the cool metal. just,, get out of his face before he decides to flame you, all just because he learned that he needs someone (he won’t actually flame you but ugh, he’s still dealing with that kind of warmth you’re making him feel)

»»————-　♡　————-««

likes and reblogs are appreciated, thanks for reading!

i do not own bnha/mha and it’s characters. boku no hero academia/my hero academia belongs to horikoshi kohei, i only own the writing and i do not profit off of my hobby

do not plagiarize, reupload, translate, or use my works for audio readings without permission

[soulmate-game]

Harley's Plea for Help ch. 6

Ch1 Ch2 Ch3 Ch4 Ch5 Ch6-- you are here

Yet another night of barely any sleep, but this time Marinette didn’t have the coffee-angel Red Robin at her rescue. No, instead she had to go completely uncaffeinated until she and her class got to Wayne Enterprises. Madame Mendelieve could only sigh as she watched Marinette scamper off to the café as soon as they made it past the initial security of the building. A couple of her classmates chuckled or snorted at her familiar behavior.

It was the same barista at the register as before, but this time Marinette felt too tired to properly order or be adventurous in looking for new flavors.

“I feel like death. I don’t care if it tastes like pure bean oil today. Flavors will take away from the amount of coffee you can shove in one cup, right?”

The poor barista blinked, eyeing the deep bags forming under the poor girl’s eyes. She sighed. “I had hope yesterday that you were just a normal caffeine addict. Now I see we actually have a second Mister Drake,” she said it as if she was mourning at Marinette’s grave before poking a few buttons on her touchscreen order station and turning her head. “One Insomniac CEO, but not for the boss!” She called out. The barista making the drinks paused for a second with wide eyes.

“We have another one?!” He asked, shocked. “Piece of advice?” He turned to Marinette. “Get some sleep.”

“Sleep is for the dead,” Marinette deadpanned back. “I got stuff I need to do today.”

The guy just shook his head and sighed, making the drink as Marinette paid and left a good tip. The drink came out fairly quickly, and everyone behind the counter stopped for a moment to stare as she gulped down the hot drink with no concern for her tongue or throat. A satisfied sound left her as she finally pulled away from the cup.

“This is really good!” She complimented, turning to the Baristas with a still-tired smile. It would take a minute or two for the coffee to have full effect, but she already felt better. “A little too bitter for my usual tastes, but perfect for days like today. Thanks!” She waved at them before turning around and seeing that her class was already gone again. Before she could fully process that though, a hand slapped down onto her head and ruffled her hair.

Surprised (really, not a lot of people could sneak up on her anymore. Just how tired was she?) she let out a high pitched squeal.

“You’re a good kid,” the soft, slightly scratchy voice that said that made Marinette’s shoulders drop and eyes widen. Tilting her head back she was greeted with the widely-grinning face of Jason Todd. He was once again in the uniform of a security guard.

“Wha— Uh,” Marinette couldn’t quite find the right words right away. She was too stunned. Jason just chuckled, jerking his head to indicate the same door her class had gone through the day before and leading the way over there. Marinette scrambled to catch up.

Once they were far away enough from prying eyes and ears, Marinette cleared her throat.

“Um,” she started. “Did… I mean, do you..?”

“Yeah, our mutual friends had a chat with me last night,” he confirmed casually. He sent her a meaningful look even though his grin never left his face. “Like I said; you’re a good kid. And I’m not goin’ anywhere. You’re not responsible for the things your parents have done, you know.”

The girl at his side hummed noncommittally, not fully convinced but also not wanting to argue.

“You’re not,” he repeated firmly, stopping in the middle of the side-hallway. They could see her class at the other end getting checked in, but didn’t make a move to join them yet. “I mean it. The stuff that happened to me, none of that was you. Hell, you were a little kid back then. And there’s nothing you could have done to stop it, either. I’m not gonna hold anything against you just because you’re his child. You didn’t ask to be,” he shrugged. “Besides, I get it. Biological relation doesn’t equal family. Trust me,” his grin was gone and a tired one replaced it. “I know that better than most people.”

The pigtailed girl could only gulp, taking a deep breath as she forced down the tears that wanted to bubble up. She had had this conversation with Adrien a few times, but even then she had been convinced that he just didn’t understand. He was just being nice. But this— Jason’s words were more valuable than gold to her. He had no reason to be nice, so it had to be at least partially sincere.

“Thanks,” she whispered once she was positive she wasn’t going to break. She lifted her cup up and took a long sip of her coffee. The slight burn against her tongue helped ground her. “That means more than you know.”

Jason chuckled. “Nah. The fact that you stood up for me to the Bat,” his grin returned to his face full blast, making dimples appear on his cheeks. “Now that, you have no idea how much that means to me. You must have some serious guts to lecture that guy, too. Is it too late to adopt you for myself?”

That tore a quick laugh out of her, making her classmate’s head whip over to the opposite end of the hallway where she and Jason were. She quickly quieted herself, but her eyes danced with amusement as she looked up at Jason. “You’re too young to be my parent anyway, but I wouldn’t say no to a brother,” she joked. Jason’s eyes sparkled.

“Good, exactly what I was aiming for!” He slipped a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her. “That’s my number. Call me if you ever need anything, got it?” He turned to resume leading her back to her class and she quickly slipped the paper into her pocket before anyone saw and got the wrong idea. “And I mean anything.”

Marinette just smiled and nodded. By then, they were close enough for Alya to smirk and ask; “What took ya so long, girl?”

“Oh,” Marinette shuffled a little on her feet before an observation gave her a last minute idea and she straightened up with a wide smile. “We just got distracted talking about motorcycles!”

Jason’s eyebrows raised for a quick second before he settled his expression again and played along. He had figured that not many people knew about her biological family. That part made sense. But she had been a total mess just the day before when she had tried to lie about Paris’ little villain problem in front of Bruce. How was she able to actually come up with a good lie this time around, when she had been just as much put on the spot? He wondered to himself about what was different about this situation to allow her to lie more easily. Maybe Bruce not being there was part of it— she seemed easily flustered by famous people.

Think of the devil, because no sooner had that thought finished developing in Jason’s mind before Bruce Wayne walked into the hallway with a paparazzi-ready smile. Jason rolled his eyes and sunk to the back of the group silently, sinking back into his job and keeping an eye on their surroundings. He listened as Alya laughed softly and elbowed Marinette even as the group turned their attention to Bruce.

“You and your bikes,” Alya teased. “If someone knew enough about motorcycles, I bet you’d marry them on the spot.”

“Nah,” Marinette whispered back. “If they gave me a really nice one though? That’s marriage potential for sure.”

The two girls laughed for a second before focusing back on the tour. Adrien wasted no time making his way to Marinette’s side, silent questions in his eyes. Jason watched with interest as the two seemed to silently communicate with one another. It was obvious that Adrien was calling her lie, and Marinette was essentially silently telling him that she would explain later. It was so seamless and subtle that if Jason hadn’t been extremely familiar with that kind of communication already, he wouldn’t have noticed it. Once again his eyebrows rose a tick on his forehead, and he made a mental note of the interaction. That kind of silent conversation wasn’t an easy thing to do with people. It was most commonly seen in married or otherwise long-term couples, childhood friends, family, or hero partners. The childhood friends and family sections were already ruled out from their background check on her and Harley herself had mentioned that even though Marinette had once crushed on Adrien, she had unofficially adopted the boy as her brother since then. Though, their time as close friends was only documented as having lasted about a year. That wasn’t quite enough time for that sort of effortless silent communication to be possible.

Of course, Jason had his suspicions already. But there was no rush, either. The Clown was on the move and more important to focus on for now. He could focus on the puzzle that was Marinette and Adrien later.

Bruce took over the tour as he had the day before, and the class was instantly riveted once again. If the fact that they were being led through the building by the very man who owned it wasn’t awesome enough to get everyone’s full attention, the man’s personality was. He came off a little carefree and very kind, but there was an obvious undercurrent of just how much he loved his company that showed that he did take it and his job seriously. Just, not too seriously either. And he interjected everywhere he could with personal stories and anecdotes and little bits of his family history that the normal tour guides might not have known. It was not long after he announced that he was going to take them to a lower lab set aside specifically for their class’ tour, so that they could do their first interactive activity, that jason found the opportunity to sidle up next to Marinette on the opposite side from where Adrien walked alongside her.

“So,” he said casually. “How’d you know I ride a motorcycle?” he smirked to show he wasn’t upset as he looked down at her curiously. Marinette blinked, taking her attention away from Bruce to look over at Jason. Once his words registered, she smiled widely and pointed to one of his pockets. The corners of his bike gloves flopped over the edge.

“I noticed those. I figured you’d have a negative reaction that might give us away if my lie was too off the mark, and I do have a habit of saying stupid things if I don’t have a clue or something to play off of. I also had to make it believable for the class, and they all know that my Nonna has played a huge part in my love for motorcycles. I plan on getting a license to drive one when I turn sixteen later this year,” she told him softly. “I tend to gush whenever I see a cool bike, so I knew they wouldn’t question it.”

Jason huffed a little bit of laughter under his breath. It was like the trope of a character looking at random items in the room to come up with a fake name, but somehow it had actually worked for her. She was quick-witted and clever, he had to admit. And observant.

“I was running late, so I must have left them in my pocket when I was changing,” he admitted, unbothered. “Ah, here we are,” he nodded to return the two teen’s (he had noticed Adrien paying close attention as he and Marinette had their conversation) attention back to the tour. Bruce opened the door for the class with a flourish, gesturing for everyone to go in.

“Since these first few days are going to be tours and lessons about working in general, your first activity of your trip is to solve various problems we’ve given you based on real situations that WE employees have been in before. Split up into groups, and choose a table. Each table has a different problem covering a different industry. Reporting, Science— specifically research and development, business management, and entertainment…”

—*—*—*—*—*

“It’s straight,” Adrien assured her, trying to keep himself from laughing as Marinette straightened his tie for the millionth time. “I promise. And you look fantastic.”

Marinette stepped back, nodding at Adrien’s appearance in approval. “I know. We both look great, but…” she fidgeted and then stepped forward to go right back to over-straightening his tie. Adrien snorted, grabbing her hands before she could touch the poor thing again and lowering her arms to her sides.

“Calm down. Like you said, we both look great. You don’t have a single hair out of place, the outfits you made us look amazing, and my tie is at a perfect ninety degree angle to my collar. Take the model’s word for it,” he teased with a lopsided grin. “We look ready for the front cover of a magazine. So just take a deep breath, because we should get down to the lobby soon to wait for the ride he’s sending for us.”

“Right,” Marinette nodded. She followed his advice and took a deep breath. Once she was suitably calmed, she opened her eyes and nodded at him. Adrien smiled and held out his arm, making Marinette snort as she took hold of it gently and let him lead her to the elevator.

Bruce had not specified whether the dinner was going to be casual or formal, but with the fact that his kids were going to be present and it was at his own house, Marinette had a feeling it was going to be more of a casual thing than if they had went out to a fancy restaurant with a black tie dress code. At the same time, this was the Wayne manor they were talking about. She didn’t want to be underdressed, either. Not to mention that it was her design skills that had played a huge part in her winning the contest in the first place, so she felt like she had to show her work again to prove that they had chosen the right person.

A playful wolf whistle greeted the two of them when they got down to the lobby. Alya was, to no one’s surprise, the perpetrator. She stood in the lobby with Alix, Nino, and Max, who all had known about the dinner and agreed to be there to see the two of them off and put Marinette’s worries to rest. The four of them jogged over, Alix smiling and adding her own soft whistle of appreciation.

“You guys look great,” the short skater assured them, taking the time to skate slow circles around them to make sure that nothing was wrong with their outfits. “I think you’ve outdone yourself, Mari! Very cool.”

Alya nodded eagerly, bouncing in place with a wide, beaming smile on her face. “Ah! The both of you look ready to kick ass and woo rich people!” she added. Max pushed his glasses up on his nose with a small grin.

“There is a ninety-five percent chance of your work impressing all of the Waynes,” he said in his own version of encouragement.

“You guys got this!” Nino shot them a thumbs up. “They beat me to all the stuff I wanted to say.”

Marinette beamed, laughing along with her friends as she allowed herself to relax a little. Adrien’s outfit was of her own making, a subtle way for him to rebel since his father had sent him with his own Gabriel brand suit should an appropriate opportunity to wear it come up. Adrien had no plans of ever putting his father’s suit on his body. In an effort to spice up formal men’s wear a bit without making the whole thing white and silver like Gabriel wanted, Marinette had made him a classic silk shirt in black, with short sleeves that fell at that perfect halfway point between his elbow and shoulder. The sleeves had thick cuffs in a dark forest green, with decorative straight stitches on the seams in a bright magenta pink thread. On top of that was a corset-style sleeveless vest with a deep V. The majority of the vest was the same black as the shirt, but with dark green hand-stitched swirls that were just barely bright enough to be contrasted against the black. It created a very subtle pattern that would be hard to see in the wrong lighting, but would make it look that much more expensive and elaborate in the right lighting. The lapel of the vest was in the same dark forest green as the cuffs of his shirt, with a few decorative swirls embroidered on the very corners. The piping of the corset-vest made three curved lines on either side of his waist, curling from mid-rib cage to his waist. It gave him a slightly more feminine twist to his outfit, making his waist look smaller even though it wasn’t actually pulled very tight on him— it was mostly the illusion made by the piping rather than the actual tightness of the garment. The two outside piping lines were done in a magenta pink, while the middle piping line was once again in dark forest green. Unlike most corset-style vests, this one had no buttons or zipper on the front at all. Instead, it was closed only by corset lacing in the back, the laces done in such a dark shade of green that it was almost black, while the eyelets that the laces were threaded through were that same magenta pink as the piping and decorative stitches elsewhere on the outfit. The tie that Marinette had spent so long making sure was straight was almost entirely soft lace, but it was layered in such a way with layers of sheer green and pink lace that it looked like it was a constant swirl of the two colors. If someone got close enough to see the pattern of the lace tie, they would notice that it was a pattern of cats chasing a butterfly.

Underneath the artistic top of the outfit were black dress pants, once again with thick forest-green cuffs on the bottoms. But instead of the decorative stitching, the pant legs flared a bit at the ankles for just a little extra drama. Magenta-pink Oxfords peeked out of the wide cuffs. The green detailing made Adrien’s eyes pop, while the pink accents gave his boyish charm a little more of a feminine touch that almost seemed to highlight his naturally sensitive and charming nature.

In contrast, Marinette wore a sleeveless pink pantsuit. It was the same shade as the pink accents in Adrien’s outfit, and had a built-in corset as well that went only around her natural waist. The corset boning on Marinette was a solid black, while the rest was just the same base pink as the majority of the suit. The black of the boning seemed to flow downwards, changing from boning into thick hand-embroidery in thread of the exact same black. The embroidery flowed down the sides of both legs, in the shape of tree branches and apple blossoms. Pale green accents in the form of swirls at her high neckline and a pale green lace capelet that was the only thing covering her shoulders helped tie her outfit in with Adrien’s. She also wore pale green low kitten heels and her black hair up in a braided bun. With how her pant legs were form-hugging until they flared out slightly at the heel, and the lack of sleeves exposed her toned arms and shoulders and emphasized her strength there without making her look unbalanced or too masculine for the rest of the outfit’s style, she looked ready to rock the business world. Her bright blue eyes clashed with the green details of the outfit just enough to bring attention to them, assuring that people who met her eyes would not be able to easily look away.

The quick snap of a phone’s flash went off, drawing everyone’s attention to Madame Bustier. She was beaming at all of them, and had just taken a picture of her two students all dressed up. She waved her phone happily. “I’m sending this picture to the both of you. I’m so proud of you guys!” she gushed.

Marinette and Adrien both blushed deep red, shifting in their spots. They were confident in their looks, and Adrien was just as proud of his pseudo-sister, but neither of them was very good at handling so much positive attention aimed only at them. Especially not from their extremely sincere friends and teacher.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng?” An older gentleman with a British accent turned everyone’s attention to him. The first thing Marinette thought was that he had kind eyes. He also had soft wisps of white hair on his head, carefully trimmed and slicked back. Of course, Marinette and Adrien also couldn’t miss the high quality and perfect press of his carefully maintained suit. Once he had shown all the proper credentials to Madame Bustier, he introduced himself to the two well-dressed teens with a shallow bow. “I am Alfred Pennyworth, the butler for Wayne Manor. I am to escort the both of you there for supper tonight.”

“Oh! Thank you so much, Monsieur Pennyworth,” Marinette said, walking up and shaking his hand. Adrien was right by her side the whole time, matching her smile watt for watt and shaking Alfred’s hand with just as much enthusiasm.

“Yeah, thank you for having us over. I know it was technically Bruce who invited Marinette, but you’re probably the one that has to do all the work. So, thank you. We really appreciate it,” he told the man sincerely. Alfred’s answering smile was soft, almost fond.

“Yes, I admit I am in charge of most of the work for tonight. But you shouldn’t worry, it’s no different from any other day at the manor,” he said lightheartedly, a little bit of good natured snark shining through his otherwise proper behavior— “Every last one of the Waynes would die in less than a week without me to keep everything in order,” he joked. “Allow me to lead you to the car.”

Marinette and Adrien followed behind Alfred. She didn’t know if it was the calming aura he put off, or if it was the gentle way his eyes sparkled that made her want to look after him. But whatever it was, she found herself wanting to protect this kind old man already. Which is why her eyebrows slightly pinched together. Before climbing inside the luxurious town car he had brought for them, she couldn’t help but turn to Alfred and ask;

“I hope you aren’t overworked. I don’t want to overstep, Monsieur, but isn’t the Wayne family rather large for one person to look after on their own?”

Alfred laughed gently at that, his eyes once again softening. “Do not worry about me, Miss Dupain-Cheng. They are family to me. And though, yes, you are correct in assuming they are a handful, they are also wonderful people. They help me where they can, but taking care of themselves is not their forte. Being able to do that for them is my greatest joy.”

The wrinkles in Marinette’s brow smoothed out and she smiled. “That’s so sweet. You’re making me want to meet them all even more.”

Something about that twinkle in Alfred’s eye made her feel like he was laughing at some joke she didn’t hear. “I’m sure all of you will get along swimmingly.”

—*—*—*—*—*

“I FOUND HER FIRST!”

Alfred had barely opened the manor’s doors to let Marinette and Adrien inside before the chaos started. Or rather, before they were let in on it— it seemed as if the chaos had already been going on for a while.

Jason skidded across the floor in a mad dash, having to grasp the doorframe he was running out of so that he could turn the corner sharply and veer towards them.

“Tell them, Marinette! I found you first, you’re my sister now, don’t fall for any of their Jedi mind tricks!”

Marinette just blinked, a little caught off guard. It hadn’t exactly sunk into her head until right that moment that ‘Wayne Family dinner’ would include Jason. Her mind was still catching up to the fact that she was seeing him out of his security guard uniform for the first time. He wasn’t dressed up at all, in a well-loved brown leather jacket over a white shirt and dark wash jeans. He still had his motorcycle gloves on. Marinette looked down at first herself, then Adrien.

“Are we overdressed?” She asked with a grimace. Jason huffed.

“Of course not, you guys look amazing! But seriously, tell them that I claimed you as my sister first and none of them are half as cool as me.”

Marinette and Adrien traded glances before laughing together.

“If we’re being technical here,” Adrien drawled mischievously as he straightened out his vest. “I met Marinette first, and she adopted me as her brother long before we met any of you,” he pointed out with a sharp grin.

“Ha!” a younger man laughed pointedly, following after Jason. The newcomer was dressed more formally, in a dress shirt under a very luxurious looking burgundy designer sweater. Under that, he wore black perfectly-pressed slacks and nondescript oxfords. His collar showed signs of housing a tie earlier, but he had clearly taken it off sometime earlier. His hair hung slightly long, framing his face with two long locks while the back of his hair slightly stuck up in all directions in natural tufted curls. Like Jason, his hair was jet black and he had bright blue eyes. He was also about half Jason’s size, much shorter and leaner than his adoptive brother. “He’s got you there, idiot,” he snarked smugly at Jason before turning to the two guests. “Miss Dupain-Cheng, Mister Agreste. I’m Tim Drake-Wayne, it’s nice to finally meet both of you,” he introduced himself as he walked over to shake their hands. “And your outfits are amazing! Did you make them, Miss Dupain-Cheng?”

“Marinette,” she corrected with a lopsided grin. “My last name is a mouthful, and I prefer to just go by Marinette anyway. And yes, I made both of these outfits before we left Paris,” she admitted, trying her best to seem professional. She had already ruined her chances of that with Bruce and Jason, but this time she was prepared!

“They are just as impressive as the rest of your work that I’ve seen. And call me Tim, it’s only fair,” and then he smiled.

Damn his boyish grin. He wasn’t someone Marinette had a crush on— he wasn’t her type— but damn he was unfairly charismatic and charming. His smile temporarily short circuited her brain. That was exactly the kind of boyish smile that had started her crush on Adrien, and that she was unfairly weak for. Now she felt a deep-seated urge to protect this boy and his smile or so help her, someone would be sent to the ER if he was hurt and it wasn’t gonna be her. And she didn’t try to dissuade herself from that strong protective urge, her mother had already assured her that all the Waynes were trustworthy and that Tim in particular shared a lot of her bad habits. She could allow this little bit of vulnerability. Hopefully.

“... I’ve only known you for two minutes, but if anything happened to you I would kill everyone in this room and then myself,” she breathed. Adrien elbowed her hard, making her yelp.

“You said that out loud Mari,” he deadpanned. A deep flush immediately came over her face, and she covered her mouth with both hands.

“Oh shit. I’m so sorry— but you— just forget I said anything. Please!”

Tim was visibly shocked, his eyes wide and mouth agape. Jason snorted, overcoming his own brief moment of shock pretty easily.

“Careful there,” Jason chided good-heartedly. His gaze met Marinette’s with a slight weight in it though. “You barely know the guy. He’ll annoy you out of your mind soon enough.”

Marinette caught the hint, wincing and changing the subject. Jason could see that she had done exactly as her mother had warned— she had gotten attached to Tim almost immediately. And while he wanted to believe Marinette when she said that the same wouldn’t happen with Joker, that she was not going to repeat her mother’s mistakes…

He couldn’t help but worry. Joker was a slippery bastard, and good at getting past people’s defenses.

Tim eventually led them all to the dining room, where several people were already sat waiting for them.

“We decided it would be best if we didn’t all swarm you at the door,” Tim explained, grinning at her kindly. “Take a seat wherever you want, Alfred is probably going to be done with dinner soon.”

Marinette and Adrien both nodded, going to sit by each other’s side. Adrien put his hand on her knee when they sat down, and traded a meaningful look with her.

“Calm down,” he whispered. “We’re not in Paris. And if you slip, I’ll catch you. Promise.”

Marinette’s shoulders relaxed a little. Yeah, she could trust Adrien to make sure she didn’t slip up too much. Get too careless. He’d watch her back like she did for him. She’d be okay. They’d both be okay.

“Thanks, Adrien. I needed that.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Permanent tag list:

@rosalineandrosemary @neakco @justanotherfanficlovinbitch @trippingovermyfeet @certainmuffinbagelcalzone @bigpicklebananatree @fantasylover-92 @prongs-flowers @jumpingjoy82 @prettylittlebutterflie @queenz-z @literaryhiraeth @waffelyunsure @deathssilentapproach-blog @waiting247 @theirlmikan @unoriginalmess

Story Tag list:

@golden-promises @tazanna-blythe @chocolatecatstheron @dorkus-minimus @laurcad123 @mizzy-pop

@emotionalsupportginger @alysrose-starchild @emistar0 @kibastray @justanotherfanficlovinbitch @alyssadeliv @blackroserelina @blackstarlight-co @readingalldaysleepingallnight @maanae @aespades @jaybird-and-co @fleursroses @probably-a-hologram @deathssilentapproach-blog @user00000003 @frieddonutsweets @blur-of-colours @prettylittlebutterflie @ladyqnoirr @a-star-with-a-human-name @mizzy-pop @laurcad123 @literaryhiraeth @asrainterstellar @hewantedbeefintheparkinglot @miraculous-trinity-leo @missanalysis @lovelyautumnsunflower @lolieg

[tauremornalome]

so, while it's obviously not 100% true to the mandarin original, i counted how many times the word "fuck" appears in the ExiledRebels translation of MDZS (which i think most of the anglophone fandom is familiar with, and bases their takes on characters upon) and here are the results:

1. wei wuxian: 17 fucks said aloud + 3 "thought to himself" = record 20 fucks

2. the narrator: 11 fucks (9 of them to describe sexual acts)

tied for the third place:

3. jiang cheng: 9 fucks (way less than i expected of him tbh)

3. xue yang: 9 fucks (establishing the record of fucks per chapter in the extra "villainous friends")

4. wen chao: 2 fucks (surprisingly this is shouting at wang lingjiao and his servants)

characters who said fuck once: a-qing, nie huaisang, jin ling, anxin (a prostitute from meng shi's brothel), jin guangyao, two random cultivators in a tavern, he su, yunmeng jiang shidis

which all sums up to 59 f-words in the translation of the novel

some of my favourite fucks under the cut

starting with wei wuxian in chapter 2, commenting on mo xuanyu's situation (he's right):

The words on the paper were small and compact, which hurt Wei WuXian's eyes. He thought to himself, "How fucked up is this person's life?"

11/10 this use of the f-word is very much justified, poor mo xuanyu :(

next on the list: xue yang in chapter 40, upon meeting song lan:

"For once I actually wanted to shop for food, and here you fucking are, spoiling my mood!"

understandable, 9/10 (this doesn't get full notes because i like song lan and this is not fucking ideal for him either :c)

next we have this gem, nie huaisang in chapter 49:

Nie HuaiSang roared at Nie MingJue, "Saber, saber, saber! Who the fuck wants to practice the damn thing?!"

100/10 holy shit!! nie huaisang is braver than any u.s. marine, roaring at his easily irritable jock brother the famous chifeng-zun about not giving a damn about their family legacy

this cute fragment from chapter 55, wangxian in the xuanwu cave:

"And now, we finally have it dead, and the son-of-a-bitch made the hole collapse. Fuck!"

Hearing the 'fuck', Lan WangJi's brows twitched. He wanted to say something, but held it in.

8/10, kudos for calling the xuanwu of slaughter 'son of a bitch'

shoutout to jiang cheng's first use of the word fuck, which appears in chapter 73 (burial mounds flashback):

"I'm the one who fucking wants to give you a thrashing!"

directed obviously at wei wuxian. 5/10, i'm slightly disappointed, please support your brother through his necromancy phase

next, jin ling in chapter 98, must have been picking up bad words from his jiujiu:

"Fairy! Come back! Fuck!"

6/10 you're your uncle's nephew i guess but that's not how a 13 year old should talk to his dog >:(

coming next jiang cheng with his heartbreaking rhetorical question (chapter 102 - he really is having a rough time):

"Why do I have to feel like I'm a fucking clown all these years?!"

12/10, i think this is the only place in the novel where a character acknowledges the general clownery happening around them

followed by jc in chapter 104:

[JGY talking to WWX] "Someone like you is destined to have a short life. You see? Doesn't it feel a lot better if you think about it this way?"

Jiang Cheng raged, "You're the one who's got a fucking short life!"

10/10, a great sentence to say + he's defending his shixiong!!

jin guangyao's last words, as presented in chapter 108:

"Fuck you, Nie MingJue! You think I'm really scared of you?! I..."

and then he died. 3/10

wei wuxian being mean to lan zhan about the phoenix mountain incident (or rather about the fact that lwj thought wwx had plenty of ~experience~) in 111:

"Are you an idiot, Lan Zhan?! You fucking believed all that nonsense!"

4/10 i would say he's hurting lwj's innocent ears with swearing but next chapters are full of wwx begging lan zhan to fuck him, sooo...

xue yang making an epic come back in chapter 118, starting with critique of jin guangyao's interior design:

[about Suibian] "What's the use of keeping a fucking piece of decoration?"

6/10 i know xiao xingchen is blind but i'm sure he would appreciate some decorations in your cosy little house in yi city, not everything has to serve a purpose my dude

aaand in the same chapter dragging jin guangyao,

"You should've gotten a mirror and looked at your face. That smile was nasty. It was so fucking fake I could throw up."

15/10 accurate assesment

aaaaaand we're finishing with this slice of everyday life at lotus pier, yunmeng jiang shidis in chapter 125 reacting to wwx and jc arguing:

The shidi all complained, "Fight outside if you have to!" Please fuck off together, won't you? We're begging you!"

13/10 this is why i love the jiang sect. show me ONE lan disciple who would tell their sect heir and first disciple to fuck off. su she doesn't count

Thank you for your attention, I love science, while writing fic remember to have wwx swear like a sailor, also remember nie huaisang shouting "fuck sabres!" to nmj's face

[erabundus]

KNOWING YOUR PARTNER WELL CAN POTENTIALLY MAKE WRITING TOGETHER A LOT EASIER. ( REPOST DO NOT REBLOG ! )

NAME: avalon!

PRONOUNS: they  /  them  pronouns,  please!

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION: tumblr  ims  are  always  open,  and  i’m  totally  cool  with  handing  out  my  discord  to  anyone  who  asks!

NAME OF MUSE(S): scaramouche,  scaramouche...  will  you  do  the  fandango...  i  also  have  a  few  miscellaneous  ocs  scattered  about,  as  well  as  a  giratina  for  all  of  your  eldritch  worm  needs  —  though  this  blog  is  by  far  the  center  of  my  attention.  genshin  has  a  death-grip  on  my  brain.  this  is  my  curse.

EXPERIENCE/HOW LONG (MONTHS / YEARS?):  oh  god.  off  the  top  of  my  head,  i  don’t  think  i’d  be  able  to  give  a  precise  number.  i  know  my  first  experience  with  roleplaying  in  general  was  when  i  was  super  young  —  probably  somewhere  in  the  10  -  12  range.  (  i  was  allowed  free  rein  on  the  internet;  my  parents  just  told  me  not  to  give  out  personal  information  and  set  me  loose.  horrifying.  )  i  found  a  random  pokemon  message  board  by  complete  chance,  and  they  had  a  section  for  roleplay.  i  wrote  a  pikachu  who  was  a  blatant  self-insert.  i  think  i  had  a  villain  arc?  wild. i’ve  been  writing  on  tumblr  since  around  2012,  though!

PLATFORMS YOU’VE USED: discord  and  tumblr!  and  the  aforementioned  childhood  message  board  experience.  i  generally  prefer  tumblr,  if  only  because  i  like  the  aesthetic  and  it’s  nice  having  everything  i’ve  written  somewhere  i  can  easily  look  back  on  it.  i  have  pages  of  headcanons  just  scattered  across  half  a  dozen  discord  servers.  i’m  still  trying  to  recover  them  all.

BEST EXPERIENCE:  i  have  a  handful  of  rp  servers  on  discord  with  some  close  friends  of  mine,  and  they’re  always  a  blast.  (  i  write  scaramouche  there,  too!  )

RP PET PEEVES/DEALBREAKERS: basically  the  general  dni  criteria  we’re  all  probably  familiar  with  at  this  point.  also,  please  trim  your  posts  and  wait  a  little  bit  before  asking  about  replies.  don’t  try  to  control  my  muse,  don’t  try  to  push  me  to  make  him  act  a  certain  way.  i  think  i’m  pretty  easygoing  otherwise.

FLUFF, ANGST OR SMUT: i  generally  don’t  write  smut,  but  i  absolutely  love  fluff  and  angst  equally.  i  think  the  best  rp  experiences  are  when  you  have  an  even  amount  of  both  to  balance  each  other  out.

PLOTS OR MEMES: honestly,  i’m  perfectly  fine  with  either!

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: i  like  a  little  mix  of  both!  i  feel  like  having  too  many  long  replies  to  get  to  can  feel  a  bit  daunting,  but  sometimes  i  just  get  really  into  what  i’m  writing  and  want  to  pop  off  with  a  novel.

BEST TIME TO WRITE: i  think  my  favorite  time  to  write  is  late  at  night?  it’s  easier  for  me  to  focus  when  it’s  quiet;  i  can  grab  some  tea  or  coffee  (  anything  with  caffeine  )  and  see  what  i  come  up  with.

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S):  at  the  risk  of  making  myself  sound  like  a  clown,  i  think  in  SOME  ways?  specifically,  i  feel  like  scara  and  i  are  both  really  introverted  people  who  wilt  a  bit  when  we’re  forced  into  social  situations  we  don’t  want  to  be  in  —  though  he  tends  to  get  irritated,  whereas  i’m  just  hideously  awkward  and  nervous. also  i  am.  unfortunately.  just  as  short  as  he  is.  and  my  face  makes  people  mistake  me  for  someone  much  younger  than  i  actually  am.  i  live  in  misery.

tagged by: @detectiveheizou!!  thank  you  so  much!  ✨ tagging: @carmcndei @eonsadrft @momijiba @boughtastar @capravulpes @wcndcrcr &&  anyone  else  who  wants  to  fill  this  out!