#especially when its clear that there isnt a very good understanding as to WHY people are upset

[wormrat]

“People are only mad about the ofmd ending because they-” *proceeds to list a bunch of stupid fandom drama that has nothing to do with S2’s overall bad writing, clear lack of sensitivity readers for disability and other marginalized identities, the racism of Ed’s plotline* like ohh okay I see u guys are just able-bodied and yt and don’t want to think critically

no offense but if you watched S2 and all you could think about was how annoying a certain section of Izzy fans were going to be about specific scenes, then you have enormous privilege because the rest of us were over here umcomfortable with the treatment of physical disability and how they made Ed basically a violent MOC that could only be “calmed” by The White Man

[legally-allowed-to-slime]

I think gem's just reacting to pearl the same way pearl reacts to scott/cleo. Pearl doesnt trust scott / cleo at all (for good reasons!) and brings up previous seasons around the same amount as they do to her. Gem, likewise, was betrayed by Pearl during SL from a very pivotal moment that has constantly haunted her since (the 2v1 constantly hangs around her lol) and now holds a bit of a grudge towards her. while pearl has only ever done this once to gem, it was also gem's Only season and also is probably her biggest betrayal. however, yes, pearl does not realize how far this grudge goes and to her, gem is still her ride or die. This unfortunately leads her to choose gem for the poison wall bit which only cements the idea in gem's head that she Cannot trust pearl (and also misunderstands pearl's "everyone else is my ally"). gem also does constantly say that people are antagonizing her, which i think is also a remnant from SL where she thinks people coming over to their base is equivalent to an attack (which it isnt, but she's just being paranoid). (also for the skin discussion, i think people's reactions to her skin being red is valid. to everyone else, the last time pearl did something like that it was just to mess with people and be a menace. so even to gem, seeing the red on her is a big warning sign that things might get dangerous around her. of course, to pearl, its just a transition and a really cool concept! ) as for why she's favoring scott, well he's scott and he's good at pandering to people. in session 1 he's the one that defended joel and gem and reinforced that they were not the ones to steal impulse's cows. because impulse kept pushing it, gem got even more frustrated and put impulse on her hit list. for session 2 he just happened to walk by as pearl left and simply nodded along to what gem was ranting about (i also dont think he said anything relevant here to poison the waters between them. if anything, he's Also a bit confused as to why gem's so mad at pearl because he knows theyre supposed to be close, and just took it in stride).

now for the twitter interactions, pearl is basically signaling that she's going to ally with impulse above all. being number 1 on gem's hit list (especially since he came back in session 2 to steal things), they're both now equally terrible in her eyes. anyway thats how ive been interpreting things at least!! its very interesting reading everyone's opinions on this. i think everyone's reacting in a pretty valid way if you're standing in their shoes and forget the little aspects that we know from watching multiple povs

oh wow it’s rare that i get an anon that i 100% agree with, but i think you said everything so much better than i could have (not a dig at other anons i love every single ask i get and in fact if i could just get one anon disagreeing with me on everything it would make my day)

let me be clear, i can entirely understand why gem did what she did. i don’t want it to seem like i’m hating on her excessively, especially when she’s in my top 2 (top 1 if pearl hasn’t uploaded in two weeks). i absolutely agree with the gem/pearl and pearl/scott+cleo parallels, with scott+cleo not taking double life seriously and pearl regarding SL as irrelevant when gem is hurt by it. something something her own feelings over betrayal are dismissed in her own alliance so she finds it fair to ignore gem’s

and you’re very right for the bit about gem not understanding pearl’s harmless intentions. she’s very paranoid for whatever reason, when everyone’s been nice to her except for impulse, who is having a terrible horrible no good very bad day. she tells joel they have a target on their backs but afaik no one has been nasty to them. BUT this also makes sense, because in SL she was explicitly targeted for being too powerful (eg grian’s TNT ambush), so her paranoia is understandable.

as for pearl, she is loyal to a fault, including to gem. in SL gem kills her twice and pearl barely minds, so there was the faulty assumption that this time, the cobblestone wall isn’t enough to make gem distrust her, because if gem had done the same to her she wouldn’t have cared. again, pearl having extraordinarily high tolerance for her allies but not realising that, obviously, it would not be reciprocated. unfortunate clash of girl with high standards (gem) and girl with no standards (pearl)

red skin thing is just your stereotypical misunderstanding. pearl literally gets cut off before she can explain to gem what it actually means, so gem thinks that pearl decided to go half-crazy unprovoked, when that’s not the truth. so. if they could just talk 1 on 1 and not get interrupted by three other people in the span of twenty seconds that would be great (for me. not for either of them probably seeing the train wreck they are now). but i did think the reason for the red skin thing was an unusually sensible decision for traffic!pearl, considering she throws on the red skin for lesser things. so. just really bad luck that scott started talking there, no one could possibly be at fault for that

as for scott. well. scott. i guess i misspoke there because i’ve gotten like three asks and five tags pinpointing that bit. ok, yeah, gem was already mad at pearl, but like i said, scott reinforcing this belief and making it into an objective fact and not personal grudges is pretty significant to me.

but anon you’re so correct for saying that scott knows how to pander to people. that’s the word for it. he constantly brags about how good he is at making friends, but well! if you’re making friends solely to have more strategic power then that’s not really sincere is it. but he’s good at putting on this inoffensive, just charismatic enough persona to slip under the radar and end up on the side of general approval. to say what people want to hear, basically

and i might be hallucinating but he also becomes much friendlier to gem after he realises that she isn’t weird about pearl anymore. remember, he views her and pearl’s alliance in SL as a near betrayal — so from his pov, gem has had character growth and become a Good Ally TM, and not “rogue” like jimmy or pearl. and it’s always about perspectives. scott is acting perfectly normally from his own pov, and since he wasn’t there for what actually happened. so if gem comes up to him and complains about pearl, an ally he already has tensions with, he’s going to think that pearl must have done something to deserve it. and is he wrong? no. any other person in his position would think that too

also omg the twitter thing makes perfect sense now. pearl aligns herself with impulse, and impulse is gem’s no. 1 enemy, so pearl is now gem’s no. 2 enemy. that sucks for pearl because at the rate impulse is going he’s going to be an outcast in 2 sessions, and with pearl’s already shaky reputation, allying with someone who would be rightfully ostracised, and doesn’t seem to have much morals at all (i fully support him for that btw), is not going to help her image, or her relationship with scott/cleo/gem/rest of the server. gritting my teeth like yes i do want her to be happy but she can’t even act unhinged because all of her exes will pounce on that. she hasn’t even acted unhinged and they’re already saying she is. like oh man just wait

uhh but yeah. toxic yuri for gempearl at least pearl’s kinda happy with impulse?? i guess?? i’m so embarrassed i didn’t even consider that gem would remember the SL betrayal but breakup in ep 2 goes hard. alexa play i love you i’m sorry

ETA: also not sure how to feel about pearl being a legitimate underdog this time. gem and joel are both a powerful and popular alliance, and i don’t think pearl realises that it’s really really bad if she allies with their enemy. but she doesn’t really care about placing high anyway so shrug emoji?

[the-s1lly-corner]

Caine, Kinger, Pomni and Jax dating chubby!fem!reader who is veery insecure like she was bullied irl before and now feels awkward about herself in relationship or smth like that anyway thanks!!!! ik jax will prolly be an asshole tho dats ok

Various TADC characters x chubby!insecure!reader

I'm so mad for sleeping on kiss their music is so good

Characters: caine, kinger, pomni, jax

Notes: reader is fem, jax's part isnt sweet in comparison to the others, written on mobile

CWs: bullying and body issues

CAINE

Has no real tastes, you're the first person hes ever really dated so hes still learning what he likes and doesnt like

What he does know he likes if YOU!

Oh? you're insecure? that's not going to last long so long as you're his partner/friend, hes going to be showering you in praise and compliments

And he would do it regardless of what you looked like

Doesnt really understand why anyone would make you feel bad for the way you look, especially given you're in a digital body

He may be able to understand if you explain, and rest assured hes going to be so so confused on how anyone could be so mean to you of all people

KINGER

Hes also reassuring like Caine, but hes not as upfront and hyped about it- if I'm wording it right.. hes not going to be right in your face about it and screaming his praises from the roof tops

Hea much more one on one and personal when speaking about his love for you

Holds you as well, even if it's just his hand he makes sure you're both physically connected when he assures you that hes in love with you and thinks you're beautiful

Leaves you notes and poems for you to find... hes..

Not the best at writing poems but the effort is endearing

Very loud when standing up for you, he will not let anyone say anything mean about you when hes around

POMNI

Shes a little awkward about it but it's not for any bad reason or any reason that it's your fault

She just thinks you're so pretty and she doesnt want to day anything that would make think otherwise or feel worse

So so careful about her wording that she may come off as disingenuous but if you press her about it it becomes clear that shes sincere

You both talk about your own insecurities, both before and currently as you are in the circus

She looks at you with those wide huge eyes she gets sometimes

Pomni boggles its canon guys and she does it to her girlfriend/j

JAX

I feel like he would lighten up as the two of you get closer but the idea that the dynamic starts off with him as best teasing you and at worst actually saying/doing mean things leaves an off taste in my mouth...

If this were prior to episode 2 one could argue that he may spare you but given that hes fine with blackmail and leaving an entire kingdom to be eaten alive, I dont think hes above making.. comments

Like do I think hes going to call you every ugly name in the book? No, but some of the things still sting

Do NOT breathe around him if you're insecure

Easily the only one who wouldn't be able to have a normal/decently healthy relationship because of how he starts it off

[old-stoneface]

in later books its like clear that vetvimes is at a comfortable point like they arent really butting heads quite as much anymore, and vimes is just nastily loyal while vetinari dotes on his guard dog, but earlier books - the ones that i have become extremely obsessed with - are all about the tension. the tension. the defining feature of the tension is that its half power play and half sexual. vimes is frothing at the mouth with the promise of retaliation but he cant he cannot resist saving the patrician. he saves him all the time. he Wants to save him. and he cant figure out why. why does he save him?? vetinaris winding just works on him? sort of. yeah. it does. even when vetinari isnt aware hes doing it. vimes is pulled in so close to him while vetinari is twisting him up and wringing him out. the problem with their communication is vetinari hasnt fucking explained himself, and hes right not to, because if vimes understood vetinaris motivations then vimes wouldnt be as malleable. but vimes is angry because he doesnt understand. vetinari is inscrutable to him.

there is this constant question between vetinari and vimes of which one is the master - who is the servant of whom? you look at it surface level and think well vimes is vetinari's guard dog. but they have this mutual respect and trust that develops over a very long time. vetinari is unexpectedly emotionally affected by vimes' actions all the time, and he has no idea how to handle that, because vimes can surprise him. even after hes been patrician for so long, pulling all the strings. he sees something special in vimes, and he fosters it and feeds it and helps it grow, and then it turns around and holds vetinari in its jaws while vetinari still holds its leash - the threat of violence is there but the jaws never press down . theres never any true risk. its a game, its a dance, theyre like lovers..

vetinari doesnt see it as strictly romantic - he sees the tension as tension. he doesnt know the full extent of his power over vimes or what hes doing to him. i think vetinari has a very deep affection for vimes, but its not something that would control his response to vimes. he does let it show when hes rewarding him, though vetinari does have very good self control and discipline. vetinari engineers this tension between them, pulling vimes in very close before pushing him away (he isnt rejecting vimes. he is pushing him away), vimes gets obsessed with that feeling of danger and rebellion - the dynamic that allows them to bounce off each other and snap back like a rubber band - its easy to see how it can become something sexual for both of them. especially vimes with his addiction to danger. he isnt aware he can have those feelings. homosexuality is lost on vimes because hes spent years pushing it down and ignoring it - i personally think it was one of the reasons that he was an alcoholic - the world isnt nice to people who are different and vimes is very aware of that.

the catch and release and winding and unwinding is what gets him. its a thrill. hes addicted to the danger of vetinari, while vetinari has little regard for his feelings beyond being able to manipulate them at first. vetinari tries to keep it impersonal but he cant help it, not in feet of clay, not in jingo, and he doesnt understand himself why he has involuntary feelings of genuine concern for vimes either

[furiousgoldfish]

Damn i was not expecting the "#tw extreme abuse", thank you very much for your words though

I might be able to help the person who asked about healthy relationships though, ive made a lot of good relationships despite my family:

Communication

•above all else, communicate. Tell them about yourself. Learn about them. Get to know eachother! Likes, dislikes. Boundaries especially! Check in on them. Just a quick hi once in a while can do wonders (lots of relationships fail due to lack of communication or miscommunication)

•listen to eachother

Arguements

•if something happens you can always walk away, make sure the other person understands that they can as well. Take time to collect yourselves and explain later why your upset

•be clear and ask for clarification where you need it

•fights can be scary but dont think that someone will leave you after one

•try to steer clear of insults/threats/blackmail if your angry, thats hard to repair after

Trust

•i know its hard to trust and you can take all the time you need to learn how, but making healthy relationships is a good way to learn trust.

•Dont lie to them or you will get caught up in trying to keep it under wraps (unless its to protect your safety, in that case maybe being around this person is not a good idea), not only will they not trust you but you wont give yourself the opportunity to trust them

Kindness

•be nice. Its simple. Good people, the people that will make for great friends/support/family will be kind back! Go out and meet people! Youll make friends! Just give yourself a chance!

•treat other how you deserve to be treated, with all the love and kindess you should have gotten! They will pay it back, they will love you!

Other notes

•express interest in their interests. You dont have to be a big fan, people will want to show you what they like when they like you. They're sharing something special to them. So ask about it! You dont have to engage much with it, but show them their interests have value. It will make them really happy, and they should be open to yours as well.

•do fun shit together! Something you both enjoy! If there isnt anything that overlaps you can do your own stuff in eachothers company. Just hanging out with them is enough.

•being able to love someone else, is to love yourself. You're filled with so much compassion and care for this person, and they will feel the same. They will be their to love you when life hits the fan.

•again take your time, it can be hard to get right. If it doesn't work out thats an experience you can carry into the next relationship, something to learn from.

Caution:

-make sure they actually make you happy and treat you well, not that theyre just the first person you could latch onto

-make sure you both have personal freedoms, your loyalty to eachother should not come at that cost

-keep yourself safe, safety comes first

Finding good people is a very important one as well, if anyone needs i could try explaining that too. Hope this helps.

Hey thank you for sending this manual!

Yeah your situation is extreme, I'm thinking about you and hoping that you get to experience freedom.

Your manual sounds really nice and is filled with common sense, and I've been following these types of guidelines for most of my life, but still had absolutely no luck. The thing is, this would work if you're surrounded with kind, understanding, non-abusive, friendly people who also just wanted to be friends with you and reciprocate and earn your trust and keep you in your life.

However a lot of people will see your friendly, kind, compassionate and communicative nature and decide to make use of it. It's been the hardest thing for me to realize when the other person is just pretending to be friendly back, in order to exploit me. It's really difficult to take distance from someone when they make you feel guilty for it and attack you for it, and it's hard to not feel guilty and betrayed when it happens. Manipulative people make great use of trust and communication you give them! Treating them with love and kindness will often get you in a situation where love and kindness will be expected, or demanded out of you, while you find yourself unable to ask even for some patience and space for yourself. And I'm worried that this is the situation for most abused people, we're often trying so hard to be kind, communicative, trusting, interested, loyal, patient, giving, caring, compassionate, and they zero in on that and eat it up, taking some time to make us let our guard down, before they start banking on us being in their service.

I have been trying to find good people all of my life, and fell unsuccessful, and I've tried hundreds of people, created a system of red flags that make me drop them, and had to drop pretty much everyone. And it's not as if this manual is generally bad, or I've just sucked so much at communicating and building boundaries, it's just, really difficult after abuse to feel okay around people, and to not be bothered by some of their manipulative nature - it hurts us more than it hurts others.

So even as I'm really bad with people, I can't recommend being very kind, trusting or communicative, of course it's nice if you can be that and not get hurt for it, but I absolutely cannot. It never happened once in my life, that someone returned the same kindness, love and care I gave them, and it often broke my heart. I would have to be very naive to still believe that I just haven't done it for the right person - hundreds of people reacted similarly, took what they could, then either turned on me, hurt me and pretended it was okay and I should stop being sensitive, or abandoned me altogether if I ever stood up to them.

This all is not your fault, and I can completely understand how you sent in these instructions with best of intentions, sincerely believing that this is the key to healthy relationships. It seemed like that to me too, when I was younger! I fully believed this would work, kind people would see me and return the kindness, it would be okay. The only thing I can recommend is the stuff you have under caution - if someone fails to reciprocate, or reciprocates at first and then stops reciprocating, get distance. If your freedom around this person is limited, get away, get distance. If they start treating you worse at any point, get distance. It's not worth ending up in another abusive, neglected or scary situation just for the hope of human connection. And it's also really difficult for an abused person tell when they're being neglected, treated badly or their kindness is not reciprocated, just because we've already been used to so much worse, so anyone not outright threatening to kill us seems like a nice enough person who deserves our whole heart. They often do not.

[amozon28]

Spy x Family has done a really good job when it comes to slow burn developing all its characters and world building while still keeping the story interesting and enganging. and with the slow but steady way the characters and plot is being developed its clear to me that Endo has plans for this to be a long term series.

And while this type of story telling is very obvious with Twilight slowly letting his walls down around his family and falling inlvoe with his wife and loving his daughter through as his denials and “for the mission”s he tells himself i actually want to talk about Yor a bit here because her development is far more subtle.

for how happy and loving Yor is its very easy to forget or not notice how incredibly sad her life has been. she didnt get a chance at a childhood because at  very young age she had to become a parent to her younger brother, so much so that she developed her entire life around him. and once he became an adult and didnt need her anymore, she didnt have a life of her own.

and this is where we meet her at the beginning of the series, having no real friends, being told constantly by her coworkers that shes not normal, living in humble furnishings and only owning practical clothing despite having the money to treat herself and live comfortably. and shes still being an assassin despite not needing to provide for her brother.

and this is something she directly confronts during the cruise arc when theres a moment when she thinks she may die, and is at peace with it because up until this point her entire reason for existing, caring for her brother, had been fulfilled. and while she realizes shes still needed by her fake family, that isnt really a healthy substitute for how she values her life

and at first a lot of her development is around her insecurities around her new role as a mother and wife. which is understandable given the time period and the comments she has recieved from coworkers and others that see her as “lacking” in that regard. however everytime she expresses this Loid reassures her shes perfectly fine, and infact she stops thinking this way after the park bench conversation she has with Loid after knocking him out.

this panel is especially interesting to be because it really highlights WHY Yor has so many insecurities about what others think of her, she spent so much of her childhood alone and working instead of playing with other kids her age or having parents to take care of her. shes doesnt have a lot of socialization skills to help her navigate throught the world. its honestly why i think she clings to the title of “mother” and “wife” so hard because those roles has rules and expectations for how to act that she can figure out. but when it comes to just being “Yor” she doesnt know how shes supposed to be

which is why im REALLY excited for the future arcs involving the Ladys Patriot Society. Because all these ladys love Yor for being HERSELF, they praise her for her mothering skills, they think shes awesome and funny and sweet and genuinely enjoy her company. even when she fails or makes mistakes they dont put her down, because everyone makes mistakes thats normal

Yor has been the sole provider for her and her brother, and being in a league of assassins is mainly a solo job. she doesnt know how to work with others and always thinks she needs to carry her own weight, which is where a lot of her insecurities about not measuring up and having such a low sense of self worth comes from. but the ladys clubs dont treat her like that

im so excited so see how Yors arc of self worth outside of what she can “provide” for other people and just learnt o love herself as she is.

[natsmagi]

tbh maybe this is a hot take but i really dont get why people insist on having one person in natsumugi be this Super Toxic one and the other a victim. the easiest conclusion to draw is natsume being the bad guy and tsumugi the victim due to natsume getting physical and berating him at times but far too commonly do i see people insist that its the other way around and that tsumugi is actually the super toxic one and natsume just lets tsumugi emotionally manipulate him and thats ?? so weird to me ??? both of these are so weird to me ???

i can ofc see where theyre coming from. both natsume and tsumugi have plenty of issues going on in their heads. i feel like natsumes situation is more commonly understood as him simply just being difficult though and not being the best at managing his emotions, and with tsumugi i get it because he doesnt really have much of a moral compass. he doesnt quite understand peoples feelings and it results in him doing pretty fucked up things at times, but to then frame him as someone who would be abusive?? that doesnt sit right with me

tsumugi may not understand peoples emotions and be apathetic to the struggles people are going through, but its clear to anyone that that man has good intentions at the end of the day. at WORST he may get overbearingly controlling, but its never in a "you cant do x y z" way, its in a "i signed us up for this job opportunity because i thought it sounded nice and didnt speak it through with you beforehand and now we have to do it" way. had this been 2nd year tsumugi maybe he wouldve been far more desperate and even manipulative to an extent because he was in such a dark place, but current day tsumugi is actively trying to understand people better. hes trying to learn how to feel. in wonder game he even outright said that natsume taught him pain and everything else. his growth is clear

i cannot see tsumugi taking advantage of natsume in a genuinely destructive way with modern day ntmg. again, maybe during the earlier !-era stuff he could be more destructive, but natsume also does a relatively good job keeping tsumugi in his place during that time too, with him getting physical and all. its only in !!-era where tsumugi doesnt really mind it and can even make playful jokes about it because theyve Had this development in their relationship. theyve moved Past many of their toxic attributes, and theyve finally grown to understand one another. this is also when tsumugi can have a more "dominating" role in their relationship, since natsume has come to trust him to this extent, but tsumugi wouldnt take advantage of that. again; theyve now grown very close and understanding of one another. theyll have banters such as tsumugi wanting natsume to do something like idk. wear a dress. to which natsume will reply with kys but again. in !!-era this is banter and tsumugi wouldnt actually force natsume to do something he doesnt want to. theyre just very comfortable with each other now

i also really hate the position natsume gets put in with all of this. so often he is already hyperfeminized by the fandom for no reason whatsoever (which is especially fucked up considering how much he canonically hates being seen as a girl), and by making tsumugi this manipulative and abusive partner youre stripping natsume of even more autonomy and framing him as powerless. naively in love with a man thats hurting him. and that doesnt sit right with me either!! natsume does have a big heart and he has endured more than he probably should, but to think natsume would just take it ??? natsume has BACKBONE. if tsumugi upsets him he will either 1. get really mad at him or 2. start ignoring tsumugi alltogether. hes not just gonna put up with it. and tsumugi will notice this change in demeanor. ask if hes done something wrong. he may not understand what it was he did but he never intends on hurting natsume and would genuinely want to resolve it. tsumugi isnt stubborn in this regard, if he fucks up he wants to fix it. and natsume isnt a damsel in distress, why do you want him to be a helpless maiden so bad ??

theres alot of nuance to all of this and im obviously not gonna tackle every single element of their relationship and this is just an overview but TL;DR ntmg are both awful and have many faults and their relationship has gotten incredibly unhealthy at times but the point is theyre growing PAST that. maybe sometimes these toxic traits of theirs will resurface, but that does not make one the abuser and the other the victim. theyre just two fucked up people in love, standing as equals and learning to understand one another. stop framing one as evil

[its-no-biggie]

hmm havent been rvb posting much..... time to talk about simmons and caboose! cause a while ago i saw a post saying that simmons and caboose are on "opposite ends of the autism spectrum", which is SO true and i wanna talk about the different ways theyre each autistic coded.

[apparently i am incapable of writing a reasonable length post, sheesh]

bc like. simmons is what people typically think "mild" autism looks like. textbook "aspergers". theres a reason im using terms that arent used by the autistic community, and its because autistic people arent the ones who make these kinds of distinctions. this is autism as seen by neurotypicals: socially awkward, smart in one area of expertise but talks about it a little too much, annoyingly pedantic at times.... you get the idea. and while these are autistic traits that i can relate to, i feel like caboose is a better representation of what it feels like to actually have autism. like, he has an easier time making friends with robots than people, he never understands whats going on except for the time travel in season 17, where hes the ONLY one who understands it. he doesnt understand figurative language, constantly misses obvious social cues or breaks unwritten rules that everyone should know, and has a very hard time lying, deceiving, or keeping information from people.

and i think the reason caboose is more relatable even though simmons is more "textbook" autistic, is because caboose is written as DISABLED. he has a hard time following simple conversations. he cant understand things that should be obvious. everyone around him is constantly frustrated because "why cant he just DO it??" so even if his symptoms dont line up exactly with autism (especially since the way hes written changes over the course of the show), at the end of the day, autism is a disability. so personally, i relate a lot more with him and his struggles than someone like simmons, who is awkward and "weird", but doesnt really seem to struggle with day to day life.

in short: simmons is what masked autism (especially if you have a useful special interest, like computers) looks like from an outside perspective. a little awkward, talks too much, but smart where it counts. generally "useful", and mostly "normal". but caboose is what it feels like to grow up with autism. always confused, everyone treats you like youre different and you cant really do anything about it, cant seem to get along with anyone even though you just want to be friends, and no matter what you do, you screw up everything you touch.

anyway im not saying that simmons isnt autistic, or that hes "less" autistic (bc that isnt a thing lol). simmons just masks a lot better than caboose. thats what an autistic person pretending to be "normal" acts like (its certainly how i act around other people lmao). but because hes not written by an autistic person, they write him like thats all there is to it. which is kind of unfortunate because it feels like theres a whole other side to him that we never really get to see.

now, the fact that the writers set out to write a nerd and wrote an autism stereotype, and set out to write a dumbass and wrote someone who is clearly disabled..... that is a whole separate conversation that im not gonna get into. especially since i dont really know much about rooster teeth, aside from the fact that the fandom seems to have wholly rejected them, and of course what i can see just from watching the show. but i think its clear that its not exactly good representation.

anyway, i still hc them both as autistic, and if/when i write them, i hope my interpretation reflects that while still being true to the characters. it actually works out great for me that theres one autistic person on each team, because whenever im thinking of dialogue and i have an idea thats a little too autistic (like saying something really blunt or picking up on a pattern most people wouldnt notice) i can usually give it to one of them instead of writing it out entirely. which works out really well for caboose especially, because he tends to be quiet during exposition unless hes addressed (bc he cant follow it). so having him make autism commentary can break up all the "blue team problems" nicely. plus having him innocuously call people out when theyre being ambiguous is WAY funnier than "haha caboose doesnt know whats going on" imho

[comradeboyhalo]

Okay—you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to..! But I’m actually SO curious on your essay thoughts of q!Bad in 4halo fics. Because (I think) it’s kind of rare that q!Bad is depicted accurately in.. most qsmp ship fics. And I feel like q!Bad always becomes.. obsessed with romance with q!Forever in many 4halo fics?? Or super open + emotionally stable?? I don’t know how to explain it, but that’s why I’m curious of your thoughts (because I’ve read your fics and 100% trust your characterizations, especially of BBH cubitos <3)

hihi always down to ramble. and i agree, a lot of bad's flaws are smoothed over in 4halo fics, which makes him incredibly ooc. also, i dont think that these mischaracterizations are necessarily bad, i understand that in fluff fics (or angst fics, which im guilty of) sometimes theres no room in tone to fully capture all of q!bad's complexities. but that doesn't mean i cant have some gripes!

i dont think this is exclusive to 4halo, but 4halo is also bad's current biggest ship, so a lot of it just happens to fall on it. but i really hate how fanon!bad gets stripped down to a mere love interest who is just...very perfect in how he interacts with romance. he wants to go on cute dates, he confesses in a very sweet way. he is kind and nice and a little insecure, and is just so boring. its very much reminiscent of old skephalo fics, where bad is seen as "innocent" and then any other interesting trait of his gets stripped away. i also end up feeling im reading about a highschooler, when q!bad is 11k+ and cc!bad (obviously influential of his character) is in his late 20s.

again, i understand why people write 4halo on cute dates and first kisses. thats what fanfic is for! but i cant help but see the entirety of the ao3 page full of these very...allo-typical romance plots and think "...he would not fucking say that." q!bad is messy as fuck! if you don't interpret him as arospec, then hes at the very least repressed, and not in a cute YA romance way. a 1k fic of pining that ends in a nice love confession just doesnt convince me im sorry!

and then there's the blue diamond obstacle that gets in the way of 4halo monogamy....skeppy. again, i get why most 4halo shippers arent going to mention him, cause theyre just not into anything skephalo. i cant blame them for that. but im a master nitpicker, so ill still nitpick cause this is my blog. bad brushing over skeppy is ooc. bad acting as if skeppy is in the past is ooc. bad pursuing any form of relationship without including skeppy is ooc. bad choosing any other person but skeppy to be his #1 is ooc. and yeah it sucks for shipping if you dislike q!skephalo, but thats how it is and its not changing. and also any fics that push bad to "move on" from skeppy is just ??? not only is that his soulmate across lifetimes, but skeppy isnt dead? hes just not on the island? help??? bad has two hands, but one hand will always hold skeppy's and he's made that abundantly clear many times.

anyways im also not immune to q!bad butchering in 4halo fics! ill admit that, in writing the hanahaki au, i couldn't really find time to fit a lot of q!bad's humor into it, and he ended up more openly angsty and sad and vulnerable then he really is, or would ever be. so i totally get it, and im fine if other qbad viewers despise how he's written in it. however i will stand by the fact that q4halo would never pursue a traditional relationship together, and i chose the ending to be ambiguous because thats how i believe their relationship (and feelings) are: ambiguous. that's why, to me, 4halo is so good. i don't want to read about them confessing their feelings. i want to read about how their relationship is an undefined, confusing mess that will never be defined, and im just so surprised that there aren't more fics like that out there.

[obm-avenquire]

extra luke thoughts i couldnt be bothered to edit

my tone in more edited writing often ends up sounding a bit. melodramatic and over-think-y, but i dont really perceive luke as a sad character! he's someone incredibly resolute, and even if his surface level opinions seem harsh, they're brittle and easy to break through. i think luke worries too much about being fragile, when that fragility can just as easy become /flexibility/. i believe this flexibility built on his foundation of genuinely strong morals will make him - already makes him - incredibly strong as a person. 

i do think there's some inevitable heartbreak that will happen - luke idolises too much for that to not be the case - but i don't think there is much that is unsurvivable for him. part of why i'm so irritated by a lot of the excessive infantalisation and chihuahua jokes about him is that like...he is the character who has received the most development in obey me. like he has changed a LOT throughout the story, and while i won't spoil anything there is a clear arc, and even WITHOUT that luke is already incredibly up there so far as strength in character (as a person, not as a literal character). the jokes just feel...so misplaced, i guess? like he's not some over eager annoying brat that wants everyone out of the way so he can take over, he's genuinely eager to learn, and his hostility to demons is completely understandable and the reasons he has for fearing them (being evil) is literally something a lot of the demon cast take pride in for a good chunk of the plot. 

admittedly i think a lot of my frustration also comes from chihuahuas being notoriously mistreated and boiled down to accessories (hence why theyre often aggressive and yappy. theyre small, their needs arent being met and they cant defend themselves any other way) because i sure do lack the parental/older sibling urges needed to feel like...protective or genuinely attached to luke in any sorta way. he's like bottom 3 on my list of charas to care about and thats not out of dislike, just out of apathy. but i also cant stand for slander and hypothetical injustice (/lh) so im gonna complain!!!

ANYWAYS if nothing else i think. lukes belief is important. like he really trusts that people like micheal and simeon are good, and will be good and keep that strength. by that same virtue he can have a similar confidence in himself, not arrogance, mind, just. yeah. hes good. he knows that!! he needs to learn to be better since the racism isnt ideal but yknow-

speaking of learning hes REAL determined like!! hes genuinely happy to keep working and trying. he doesnt want to be coddled because he genuinely wants to know and be better.  like. he DOES think like a child. he wants to grow up so fast, but he has so much time, so much more than most, but if he has all the time in the world then why not NOW? (course, waiting is easy for patience, simeon, someone who hasnt let time move for himself in centuries)

i think theres a sorta. inevitable conflict with simeon and luke coming whether solmare mentions it or not but like. dynamic wise. because simeon refuses to see change in others unless they dont let it be ignored, he needs everyone to be within his perception of them and the role hes assigned them in his mind. but luke is someone who WILL change, and is changing, and simeon can only infantalise him for so long before it genuinely becomes a problem, especially when it’s balanced/offset by the way that him and luke very much begin playing the roles of a struggling parent and over eager child. while luke is strong, and good, and genuinely skilled, he also needs time to be none of those things. everyone does, but it’s especially important for child development, even if said child is over a thousand years old. 

its something that id argue does give us way more insight to the celestial realm than a lot of other vague exposition we’ve gotten. while luke is considered especially talented, there never seems to be any indication that he is odd for an angel, adult or child. that combined with how vacant the celestial realm feels, how emotionally detached it is, gives some interesting extra details to the basis of the celestial realm not being holy and happy in the way it’s implied/perceived to be. which isnt a new revelation by any stretch, but...context, yknow? extra supporting evidence. idk! these are my rambles that i am putting out many of which are years old and some that i thought about literally yesterday!!!

[castlebyersafterdark]

i think youre right about the bi/gay debate (sorry to bring it to you... im not bringing it in a Im New Here way, but rather an I've been here a while and youre someone i feel safe asking about this, sort of like sitting down at a kindly hot gay wizard's knee and asking for wisdom way hehe.)

HOLY HECK i did not even see the slideshow length, 300?! i know we celebrate the boys here, but when youre compiling like that it starts to feel like compensating for something. and you're right - so far (im about halfway through) ive been asking myself things like 'but why does that make mike bi?' on every other slide. theyre detailing the plot of s4 from mike's pov; things that all bylers agree on, gay and bi truther alike. none of it so far is evidence for bi mike. at one point they say 'theyre not compatible in a romantic relationship, but mike likes kissing her as we can see here...' and this is what has me respectfully yelling HOW CAN WE SEE THIS PLEASE because so much of these discourses is about opinion and subjective interpretation. im about to sound like a nerd: it really makes me miss school. and uni. and debate club. and seminars. with actual discussion and evidence. hell, i even miss english class and writing essays. make a point. provide evidence. follow up with explanation. the teachers actually called it P.E.E.

PEE. amazing.

but youre right, because its ok for everyone to have their interpretations, especially as the show is unfinished! maybe im just endlessly confused by people's need to justify and be right. what is gained? i think i expected too much from the fandom lol, i expected academia. i feel like i get that open-mindedness from some places though, and from you (plus many other treats heh heh). i think i would love to have had you in my uni classes, vinny! youre so interesting and kind.

and im endlessly interested in the sexual attraction vs. love thing, because ive definitely seen people say that sexual attraction isnt needed. aromantic gay folk, etc... i must be honest and say it gets beyond my understanding and i cant form an opinion on that

footnote 1: im gonna finish the slideshow because today i was reading about the Sunk Cost Fallacy and want to be masochistic (only 150 slides left! its ok though, the vast majority are screenshots of the show itself that illustrate... nothing lol)

Hope you two anons don't mind a little three-way action combining this conversation 🤭 just so my blog isn't dominated by this topic with redundant points! I totally don't mind the topic if it's open and friendly and analytical rather than fighty. All good here. Under a cut since this is long and if people want to skip this topic:

"sitting down at a kindly hot gay wizard's knee and asking for wisdom" - Firstly, love that, obsessed with you. And YEAH the number of slides made me irl do that slow blink meme gif, we know the one. I wasn't very compelled. Am I too staunch and biased? It's not that "oh this character must be gay because I'm gay and like Byler" - no? A lot of people like Byler and aren't gay at all. I've been in fandom culture a long time and don't need to project. I just see what I see. I've shipped many things where I knew the characters weren't queer but I liked the idea. This is the first time in a long time that I feel the shipping and analysis collide and can actually be one in the same, a fandom rarity in my opinion and taste in media.

Anyway. A lot of the points for bi Mike overall from many sources of discussion never strike me as evidence he's bi. They could so often go both ways (HA SORRY) to bi vs gay points. And then the gay points tip the scales. So much of the argument is subjective, for sure. But there is coding and hints and arcs that lend solid evidence. His LACK of attraction to women just feels so clear to me when we have soooo much of that with the other male characters? He just acts differently, abrasive to certain concepts. And his relationship with El is a mess. I will feel so odd if we've all analyzed that wrong. All the points about Mike's weird expressions, his awkward physicality with her as opposed to Will, never really seeming all too enthused. It's almost looks like panic sometimes. A lot of what he says that's read as romantic feels like a performance for other people around - MIKE is the one overcompensating here, truly. His defeated facial expression before he says he loved El in the monologue is such a giveaway to me. He's about to lie for his life and hers.

This is what I mean by life and death. Guilt over his new friend dying for them season 1. Anger at Hopper hiding her while he missed her and felt guilt over what happened. Season three conformity and puberty confusion arc, getting mixed up from growing up and trying to be normal. The excitement that yes, I can be normal, this girl likes me. Changing his personality to fit, and overcompensating for not knowing the difference between platonic and romantic feelings for this girl - he struggled with the platonic because he feels he can't have that so his relationship is messy and too physical, not emotional. His mind and body and heart are all at odds. He and El aren't really friends because they haven't had the time or allowed their relationship to be anything but this need to have it be romantic - El's issue, too, with not really engaging with society in a meaningful way. Rambling now. But it's not hard to see if we're paying attention. Haven't even touched on anything to do with his behavior in regards to men or Will - this is already too long.

I think a lot of people will continue to ship what they want regardless of the outcome and honestly - that's fine? What if the worst happens and Mike ends up with El? I will still be a hardcore Byler fanboy until Stranger Things is not a fandom I'm interested in engaging with. I don't really care. I'll forge my own reality through fanfic. I believe those who still want to engage with Mlvn will do so. I can understand why people choose to see Mike as bi. His sexuality isn't canon yet (as opposed to Robin and Will). It's what they're into and HC since we do not know 100%. I'm not so blinded and delusional to not admit that.

Creativity and analysis overall - to anon #1's point. Yes!!! Glad to be enrolled with you at Stranger Things university. I got my little notebook out, overly caffeinated but I'm there for class. I'm the annoying guy interjecting. But I feel like you'd be sitting next to me in lecture backing me up.

and im endlessly interested in the sexual attraction vs. love thing, because ive definitely seen people say that sexual attraction isnt needed. aromantic gay folk, etc… i must be honest and say it gets beyond my understanding and i cant form an opinion on that

I find it fascinating, too! Which is why I try to learn more and more and always try to consider different viewpoints. It's a broken record, but these orientations are totally valid and props to anyone finding what works, figuring themselves out. I don't think everyone is ever going to completely understand every aspect of human sexuality. I don't. I'm always learning. I'm gay and both a hopeless romantic and a guy with a high sex drive so maybe certain realities and lifestyles I don't fully understand the intricacies of - but that's ok. We don't have to walk an authentic mile in each other's shoes, but we do need to respect each other and leave room on the path!! 😁

And a secret 3rd anon appears!! You said please don't post so I won't. But thank you for filling me in on fandom lore. I didn't know all that!!! Yikes babes. I don't like those vibes!!! 🙃 But, that is not my energy, we're all chill and into fun and discussion here. We don't personally have to give weight to every character interpretation but we also don't have to get at each other and blatantly fight. I'm just vibing 😌❤️

[glazeliights]

Danganronpa in toki pona, part 2: talents

if you havent read the first part go do that

toki!

the first post only focused on transliterating, but now were getting into actual translation territory. that means I get to explain toki pona words and grammar. the main two words Ill be using here are ken (ability, skill (but also possibility)) and wawa (power). then there is of course jan (person) to talk about the actual students. for convenience, and to keep with the toki pona spirit, I will try my best to keep phrases short and only use up to one pi.

speaking of which

what the hell is pi?

this is one of the aspects of the language that is most difficult for new learners to grasp because theres really nothing like this in english. so, in toki pona you cant really combine multiple words into one (a process called agglutination, something you might know from jokes about how long german words can get) instead, you have one main word that you attach modifiers to (names, by the way, are always modifiers in toki pona, which is why they need a head noun). so a phrase X Y can be interpreted as "X exhibiting qualities of Y, Y-ish X, X of Y, Y's X", stuff like that.

but things get ambiguous when you have three words. "mute" means many, a lot, etc, but its also used to mean "very". so if you read something like jan pona mute, how are you supposed to know whether its "many good people" or a "very good person"? this is where pi comes in. pi regroups modifiers, and its easiest to show this with brackets. if you do not use pi, modifiers apply to all the words before them. so jan pona mute is ((jan pona) mute), many good people. jan pi pona mute, however, is (jan (pona mute)), a very good person. this is a very important concept to understand in toki pona.

a note about translation & interpretation

words in toki pona dont really correspond 1:1 to any specific word. rather, they cover a range of meaning that can be intepreted in various ways depending on context. akesi Lipamanka calls these ranges "semantic spaces" and has started writing a dictionary based on them. this is sort of like calling something a building and not specifying whether you mean a house, a school, a church, a shopping mall, etc. if its obvious from context, then you dont need to specify. the only difference is that toki pona words generally have broader ranges than english words. just know that for any translation and backtranslation I give, theres a lot of other ways someone could read them.

also, ideally all of the talents would actually be translated into full introductory sentences, both because its more pona and because, again, itd provide some neat opportunities for distinction between characters, especially ones who share a talent. but whenever I need to refer to their talents in a short-form way, these phrases will have to do.

so, aside from individual pieces of vocab, theres not much else to know. I will explain everything else as I go along.

- - -

talentless - jan ken ala (not skilled-person, non-ultimate) or jan pi ken ala (unskilled person, someone with no skills) Im sure theres something fun to be done with the subtle difference between these

ultimate ??? - jan pi ken ???

- - -

ultimate lucky student - jan wawa pi ken pona ("powerful good-possibilites person", luck is.. difficult to translate, but I feel like ken pona is alright at being both concise and clear enough in meaning. its also a wawa cause yknow. luck isnt really a skill)

ultimate detective - jan ken pi kama sona ("skilled knowledge-aquiring person", yeah, no notes here. after all what is a detective if not one who figures out information?)

ultimate affluent progeny - jan wawa pi mani mute ("powerful rich person", I didnt really lean into the heir aspect here sorry. I also do not really care about this guy so eh)

ultimate writer - jan ken pi toki musi ("skilled entertaining-words person", musi is a rather broad category so I think it fits for stories)

ultimate murderous fiend - jan moli ken ("skilled death-person", pretty self explanatory)

ultimate pop sensation - jan ken pi kalama musi ("skilled fun-sounds person", so I really wanted to make sure I distinguished the music-based talents cause technically you could just reduce all of them to kalama. kalama musi is a pretty widely used and generic phrase for music, which imo fits well for pop)

ultimate baseball player - jan ken pi tawa sike ("skilled ball-movement/circular movement person", okay so. I was originally going to talk about how I wouldnt be able to disambiguate the two ball sport related talents bc like. theyre both about moving balls, sike tawa. but then I had the absolute genius idea to use tawa sike instead since it can refer to both the movement of the baseball itself and the circular movement of running around the bases)

ultimate programmer - jan ken pi ilo nanpa ("skilled computer person", ilo nanpa is a fairly common way of referring to electronic devices so. yeah)

ultimate biker gang leader - jan wawa pi lawa kulupu ("powerful group-leadership person" uhhgh sorry I dont really know how to put the kon of "biker gang" into an short phrase. this is an example of why full sentences to describe talents would probably be more apt)

ultimate moral compass - jan wawa pi nasin pona ("powerful good-rules person" nasin can be interpreted as a lot of things, but fundamentally it is some sort of way one might follow, either physical like a path or metaphorical like rules (fun fact: in the context of languages, its often used to mean grammar. people who speak toki pona in a way that deviates from common usage generally call this their personal nasin)

ultimate fanfic creator - jan ken pi sitelen musi ("skilled entertaining-pictures person", I think thats a reasonable translation of comics? plus sitelen can also refer to writing so it works in two ways)

ultimate gambler - jan wawa pi musi mani ("powerful money-games person", also a luck-based talent, therefore a wawa. I dont think this one needs much explanation)

ultimate martial artist - jan wawa ken ("skilled strong person", wawa can also mean physical strength so. I really wanted her to be a jan wawa and a jan ken, to emphasize her strength and add to her initial intimidation factor)

ultimate swimmer - jan ken pi tawa telo/kala ("skilled water-movement/fishlike movement person" both of those are fairly uncontroversial ways to describe swimmimg. no notes here)

ultimate clairvoyant - jan wawa pi sona kama/jan sona pi tenpo kama ("powerful incoming-knowledge person/"future knowledge-person", uouuugh. this is one of the ones that gave me the most trouble. clairvoyance is something thats real fucking difficult to put into a quick and snappy phrase. moreover, I think the second phrase is more accurate but it doesnt include wawa which would set him apart from other ultimates for basically no reason? like mayybe I could say jan wawa pi tenpo kama but "future powers" is a bit too vague imo :/)

ultimate soldier - jan utala ken ("skilled battle person", no notes here)

ultimate fashionista - jan ken pi len pona ("skilled good-clothes person", theres a lot of ways you could go about translating fashion, but I think this one suffices. do not even ask me to try and translate ultimate analyst into a simple phrase I will literally die)

- - -

ultimate everything - jan pi ken ale ("all-abilities person", fitting + contrasts nicely with jan pi ken ala)

ultimate gamer - jan musi ken ("skilled games person", musi refers to anything related to entertainment, and its often used on its own to say game so. yeah)

ultimate imposter - jan ken pi jan ante ("skilled other-people person", again, I think this one especially suffers from not being in full sentences, but I think its still accurate. their talent is (being) other people)

ultimate animator - jan ken pi sitelen tawa ("skilled moving-pictures person", sitelen tawa is a fairly common & uncontroversial translation of movies/videos/animations so yeah)

ultimate chef - jan moku ken ("skilled food person", I really really dont think toki pona is built to get across the tiny little nuance cook vs chef so I guess thats staying out of the tp translation? then again I dont think Ill translate anything with teruteru in it because I dont really like him at all)

ultimate photographer - jan ken pi ilo sitelen ("skilled picture-tool person", no notes)

ultimate swordswoman - jan ken pi ilo utala ("skilled fighting-tool person", no notes)

ultimate yakuza - jan wawa pi kulupu Jakusa ("powerful Yakuza-group person", Im gonna say it outright, any attempts to describe the yakuza in this tiny little phrase turned out reductive and Bad. you really cant put the intricacies of organized crime into a two word toki pona phrase. it does feel kind of like cheating to simply tokiponize the word but the other options all suck ass. the actual description will simply have to be contained in fuyuhikos introduction, where I can use full sentences)

ultimate musician - jan ken pi kalama wawa ("skilled loud-sound person", like I said, I wanted to differentiate the kalama-based talents, and if theres one thing ibukis music is, its loud)

ultimate traditional dancer - jan ken pi tawa musi ("skilled entertaining-movement person", yeah, fairly normal way to say dancing. thats it)

ultimate nurse - jan ken pi pona sijelo ("skilled body-wellness person", if youre partial to nimi ku suli, you could also replace pona sijelo with misikeke ("medicine"), though due to the changed modifier amount the whole thing would then be jan misikeke ken)

ultimate gymnast - jan ken pi tawa mute ("skilled lots-of-movement person", no notes)

ultimate team manager - jan ken pi pona kulupu ("skilled group-wellness person", no notes)

ultimate breeder - jan ken pi soweli mute ("skilled many-animals person", while calling his talent unpa soweli might be more accurate to him being a breeder, I really really didnt want to call him the animal sex guy)

ultimate princess - jan lawa ken ("skilled leader", so, I generally consider leadership to be a wawa rather than a ken, however, I also wanted a way to contrast her talent w kokichis, and I think wawa is more capable of having sinister undertones than ken. I mean think about it, between "skilled leader" and "powerful leader", who sounds more menacing?)

ultimate mechanic - jan ken pi pona ilo ("skilled machine-wellness person", no notes)

- - -

ultimate pianist - jan ken pi ilo kalama ("skilled instrument (sound-tool) person", since theres no other talent that specifically mentions an instrument theres no need to specifically describe a piano)

ultimate child caregiver - jan awen ken pi jan sin ("skilled child (new/young-person) protection person, so I wasnt quite sure how to convey taking care of someone without using too many words, but I think awen comes close enough? because youre keeping them safe and happy? I dunno. though I do like that awen doesnt necessarily imply that maki would be nice to them, which I think could work in her favor?)

ultimate assassin - jan ken pi moli len ("skilled hidden-death person", no notes)

ultimate astronaut - jan ken pi tawa mun ("skilled star-travel person", no notes)

ultimate.. leader - jan lawa wawa ("powerful leader", like I said earlier, I think this makes him sound kind of ominous which fits the way he presents himself over the course of the game)

ultimate adventurer - jan ken pi tawa musi ("skilled? entertaining-travel person", because what is an adventure if not an exciting journey. also Im not sure how going on adventures is necessarily a skill but its even less of a wawa, so)

ultimate tennis player - jan ken pi sike tawa ("skilled moving-ball person", having tawa sike vs sike tawa as disambiguation between this and baseball is like, really flimsy but its better than nothing so Im keeping it)

ultimate maid - jan ken pi pali mute ("skilled many-jobs person", yeah, I think this pretty much gets across her Mädchen für Alles (lit. "girl for everything", a person whos there to help with anything and everything when someone needs them) energy)

ultimate magician - jan ken pi wawa musi (calls herself jan usawi wawa) ("skilled entertaining-powers person/powerful magic person", so. usawi is one of them newfangled words that barely anyone uses but its special to me bc jan Usawi makes some damn good music. also I read somewhere that in the japanese version himiko actually speaks in a distinct dialect? therefore I think itd be kind of cool for her to use nimisin that no one else does)

ultimate neo-aikido master - jan ken pi tawa wawa/tawa Akito ("skilled powerful-movement/Aikido-movement person", uhh this one could go either way. tawa wawa is more descriptive but tawa Akito is clearer abt the fact that its aikido specifically? then again it always feels a bit like cheating to just tokiponize. what ever)

ultimate artist - jan ken pi kiwen sitelen ("skilled artful-stone(or other hard material) person", shes a sculptor. thats her talent. why did they just translate it as generic artist SHES A SCULPTOR. shaking the localization by the neck)

ultimate anthropologist - jan ken pi sona jan ("skilled people-knowledge person", no notes on the talent itself but I heard this guy talks in a sort of archaic way. therefore Id like to propose that he uses majuna bc its a pre-pu (therefore old) word and the word itself means ancient. I think it would be funny if that was a word he used, and perhaps also limited to no usage of ku words? much to think about)

ultimate inventor - jan ken pi ilo sin ("skilled new-tools/machines person", no notes)

ultimate entomologist - jan ken pi sona pipi ("skilled bug-knowledge person", no notes)

ultimate robot - jan ilo wawa ("powerful machine-person", as mentioned in the names post I think theres some interesting stuff to be done with people referring to him differently, especially kokichi)

ultimate cosplayer - jan ken pi len ante ("skilled different-clothes person", so obviously cosplaying is more than just clothes, however it works well enough here  + len can also mean cover in a metaphorical sense, like hidden things and secrets. which works rather well I think)

[mangoisms]

Im just soso obsessed with figuring out tim as a character rn i cant stop thinking abt it (ive always been a jason todd girlie but i read ur fic and that angsty twink latched onto me and refuses to let go)

I think u have a pretty good hold of him, especially bc in present comics writers are so intent on elevating tim in spite of other characters (barbara and her hacking skills for example, or any comparison made btw him and any robin, really) that most portrayals of him are so boring it makes me cry, while you on the other hand took the approach to write about his flaws (which are MANY) while still making him charming and handsome (he is so... !!!!)

To me flaws are also tied to not only the good traits of characters but also their core beliefs and ideals so what can you say abt tim?

I know he can be stupidly arrogant and patronizing at times, that he's always idolized the position and legacy of robin and constantly fights his insecurities with this role and his abilities for the job, that he can also be incredibly selfish or outright mean when it comes to being mindful of other people's feelings for the sake of logic (re when he didnt tell tam abt his dad not being actually dead), but at the same time i cant figure out exactly what he wants to do with his role as robin (or red robin) or why he would want to keep going when his main goals first were just making sure bruce wouldnt go down a dark path, im pretty sure he mentioned not being a vigilante forever but his actual goals remain unclear to me

(Im in the midst of reading his solo robin run but ive read red robin so give me a little room for this, you are definitely free to talk abt more of his comics bc i havent read everything yet and everything im saying should be taken with a grain of salt, video essays and the issues ive read can only get me so far)

He could have gained an inherent desire to help people after all his time as robin and the so fucked up shit that happened to him, maybe as a ways to channel his grief (much like dick and jason and bruce, im thinking abt identity crisis here) after he isnt "needed" as robin anymore, but at the same time that would be so tragic because he was supposed to be different to them, he was supposed to remark the importance of robin's role in helping be "batman's light" and not becoming like batman himself, its just so interesting and im still trying to really understand the extent of his character so id just. Love to get ur thoughts and musings on what fuels tim as a character and how you see him

(I dont have this problem with jason bc his moral conflict is very crystal clear to me and also so freaking juicy, his actions are logical and so understable, granted he also hasnt had as much screentime as tim and i can see when writers just Dont Get Him, misunderstanding the original intent of his character coming back etc etc etc, tim has grown and evolved throughout his tim as robin so this might factor in too)

Anyways sorry for the long post i hope this is alright !!! Loved ur fic to bits and ur writing is a blessing mwah

okay HI i am not exaggerating when i say that i have been thinking about this ask since you sent it HAHA tim is just a parasite in my brain he won't let go...

that's the funny thing about portrayals of him today... i feel like people want to elevate him as a potential batman or a character closest to bruce in terms of intelligence and detective skills, which isn't true at all, i think (because, exactly, you have babs Right There), and of course, narratively, this is all a good thing (this post covers it well, i think). it's in the same vein of people making tim out as the most dangerous person in the batfam, should he ever chose to go down the path, which i can partially blame red robin (2009) for with this panel....

(and i don't think that's true either. he has the potential to be dangerous just like any of the others but i think the ones to really be scared of are babs, dick, and cass but ANYWAY)

in general, red robin 2009 was a bumpy time for tim with bruce's death and his spiraling, but it seemed to really inform what they were going to do with his character. no more time for the civilian life, committing himself much more thoroughly to The Mission like bruce. which is, if you ask me, a negative progression of his character, which isn't bad, exactly, in terms of storytelling, but it feels like all we get are the 'good parts' now -- the intelligence, the status, the resources, and then we don't get to grapple with the consequences.

there were some in red robin 2009 but it was more tim accepting them and making no move to change his actions, which is fine, but now... idk. but i also don't touch modern comics with a ten foot pole so this could just be. Wrong. but that seems like what's going on. so i feel like that's where people get the idea of him being... idk not the Perfect Robin exactly but. you know?

no no yeah i totally agree!

re (because i want to break this down i'm telling you i have Been Thinking About This): at the same time i cant figure out exactly what he wants to do with his role as robin (or red robin) or why he would want to keep going when his main goals first were just making sure bruce wouldnt go down a dark path, im pretty sure he mentioned not being a vigilante forever but his actual goals remain unclear to me

exactly this. he did say that and i've reblogged this at some point i think, showing a panel from robin 1993 where he mentioned he wouldn't be a vigilante forever, then paralleled with that panel i put in earlier from red robin 2009. (there's this post, which touches on another thing about tim trying to set himself apart as having friends and thus not being bruce LOL which is another topic entirely)

i think that was what red robin 2009 was - a negative progression of his character, one that, again, we never really grapple with, especially as dc shoves robin back onto him now.

his motivations are an interesting thing to me, because he did start out coincidentally, saying batman needed a robin but he didn't assume he'd be that robin, it just kind of happened because he was there (well much more went into it but you know?).

but aside from that, i've never gotten the impression tim really does it for people. i mean batman in general has been about the detective work but i think towards the 80s/90s/00s there was a shift to focusing on the people but tim has never really struck me as a hero of the people. he's more about fighting crime than he is about helping people. i think it is partially informed by the genre - re detective comics, etc - but still. he's not like, say, peter parker/spider-man, who is a hero of the people, of the working class. the people are inherent to him as spider-man. tim does it out of duty and responsibility i think, being the light to batman's dark, of course, but he's also very much a teenage boy about being robin - the cool factor, pointedly mentioning he wants to let off steam by knocking around 'criminals' that kind of thing

which doesn't mean he's unfit for it but he operates in an odd grey area as far as his motivation goes, which i think is where we get red robin? he was defined by being robin and he did his job, then he got the boot. so it is very much an identity crisis but we're seeing that negative change as he changes for the worse, for something darker. i mean, yes, red robin 2009 was again bumpy because he was at a very low point in his life but in general, that run was dark for him.

editorial wise, we'd never get to see what they made of it because they did the reboot and started new-52 a few years after. but whether he'd continue being red robin/going down this path, or if he'd shed the identity and go for something lighter... it's hard to say.

i kind of like the thought that he'd change his identity and try to take a lighter approach, try to pull himself from bruce's influence, though with how it's all set it up, it seems fated that he'd end up there. there was red robin 2009, but then there was his sixteenth birthday incident (which sounds bad here and i'd read this before reading it myself but god when i read it it pissed me off so bad... really what turned me off bruce as a 'good' father figure, i can't lie). he ultimately ends up going back and becoming robin and this is the turning point for him where he agrees to enter this mindset that bruce wants him to be in. (this post talks mainly about timsteph but it is also a point to the end about the shift in his character and how that affected his relationships as well)

i mean i know red robin 2009 is marked by the grief of bruce's 'death' and a bunch of other Very Bad Shit but even when we got past that and he had his little 'Let me let in the people who love me because i am Not batman' he then proceeded to go a little surveillance crazy and make a hit list (something like that, it's been a while..) but. yeah.

ultimately, at the core of his character, i think he is good and compassionate and kind, so, even aside from all that (like the birthday incident), i think he would've made his way there eventually. it could maybe be why we see him returning to robin, if we wanted to try and pretend dc making him be robin is a completely normal and logical decision that they actually thought through. like a way to return to the bases and feel it out from there. though i still think they could've just. idk. given him a BREAK from vigilantism to figure it out. i'm a big proponent of civilians and their place amongst vigilantes and superheroes and i feel like tim's due a break, which is why i put that stuff in my fics. i do want to see him step back and try to figure out his life, because at one point, though robin 1993 was arguably defined by the balance between robin and tim drake and had plenty of civilian friends to keep things interesting, we don't see much as far as what he wants to do. which i suppose could be part of his relatability factor that tim drake, the character, was conceived with

but idk at this point they have to give us something 😭 anyway. this got VERY long i am very sorry.. i don't mind long asks either but i might've overshot my response... alas. i also hope i more or less answered your question??? if not feel free to slide back in here and talk to me! i rambled a bit here and it's like. 3am rn i'm scheduling this to post because i wanted to get it all written Now and. yeah.

thank you SO much very happy to hear you're enjoying everything <333 hope you continue to enjoy :**

[barbiegirldream]

The show literally starts with showing how shit Izuku's life is because hes quirkless, but instead of turning to villainy to get revenge, he chooses to be good anyway and I wish his past was brought up more, especially since his ex classmates know he's quirkless but whatever

Like I think its understandable on a surface level why dabi is a villain, but his focus isnt revenge on his father for all the abuse he put the family through, its killing all of them and especially Shouto. Which as a child is understandable because suddenly Endeavor paid him zero attention and made him feel worthless, but hes an adult in the present who's still targeting Shouto. Vs Shouto who's been forced to be a hero all his life and when his father starts to redeem himself (or tries to), shouto still chooses to be a hero and be good, regardless of what his dad did to him

Its interesting to see the different lenses of nature vs nuture (and theres clear parallels with Izuku and shigaraki, and dabi and shouto), but claiming the villains actions are redeemable or understandable is hilarious. The very first thing the league did was attack a bunch of children as adults in the hopes one hero would be there

like when Shoto told Dabi Natsu almost died and Dabi was like cool Shoto said "are you insane???" and Dabi was like "yes your big brother is a basket case"

anyways I think that the message of choosing to be good and protecting people is a really good message and people who think rooting out corruption involves murdering random civilians and stalking teenagers at malls well whatever that's insane and we all know it

[shadowfiredemonwolf]

on black sun and bb

its pretty clear to me that if everything about the ships remained the same but blake turned was a guy or  sun and yangs genders were swapped  a good amount of the people who shipped bb would be shipping blacksun  instead

for one of the main reasons they shipped bb is the lgbt rep angle ( which is a bad reasoning it doesnt matter if there are tons of shows where het ships become canon or if there arent that much lgbt representation  )

and to be frank all the times I see people claim anti bb people are homophobic or would have seen evidence if it was a het ship or going there are tons of shows where het ships become canon or there are other het ships in rwby implying we are mad about bb because its a same sex ship when its not  and it  comes off as projection

given how many times I have seen them try to use the fact bb is a same sex ship as a shield or specifying the genders involved when making the complaint 

going there are tons of feasible same sex ships but they didnt go that route ( just because a same sex ship is feasible to happen ( as in they didnt hint at it being romantic but they could have chosen to gone that route ) doesnt mean they need to do it just like with het ships just because its feasible to imagine going down that route doesnt mean they need to do it instead of a same sex ship) ( as said before as in they didnt hint at the ship romantically but you could imagine them feasibly going down that route  instead they chose to go down the route of the opposite ship)

“This though? Fuck this whole part. Many LGBTQ+ (wlw included) have been and are very vocal about their dislike and criticisms of Bumbleby, and neither you nor anyone else are in any place to assume that it’s mostly just straight dudes who are upset over Bumbleby.“

I think my initial disdain for the way Sun and Neptune are written came from how sick and tired I am of straight ships being forced on the audience when lots of us are in the lgbta community. Part of it was because my gay ships were sinking I’ll admit but honestly I’m just sick of forced straight ships especially in one of the only shows with enough well written female characters to /actually/ have believable gay ships. I don’t think I hate Sun and Neptune but I do hate how forced the ships are.

I think this is all the explanation needed(and all you need to dismiss people trying to take moral superiority over liking Bumblebee). Something the toxic side of the fandom loves to do is project and project hard. They cannot understand why someone would not think like them or like the things they do unless there's something wrong with them or they contextualize it through what they themselves would do.And that's one of them accidentally explaining how that relates to Bumblebee: wasps like it because it's a gay ship. They thought Black Sun was forced because it was not a gay ship. Therefore, since everyone must either think like them or be defective, clearly you think Bumblebee is forced because it's not a straight ship. You don't like it because it's gay.“

basically they are just calling blacksun forced because it was a straight ship if sun was a girl they wouldnt make that claim so I cant take anytime I hear someone try to pull the you would ship bb if it was a m/f pairing  or wouldnt be calling it forced if it was a m/f pairing for if sun was a woman and yang a man they wouldnt be shipping bb and would call bb forced

if whether you ship  a ship or not  is determined by genders involved  like say if two ships were paired against the other and what causes you to ship one over the other  the pairing  is genders involved  it is a shallow reason   representation isnt more important then good writing

basically you shouldnt ship a het ship over a same sex ship because its het  and you should not ship a same sex ship over a het one because its samesex 

I would still ship blacksun even if yang and suns genders had been swapped at the start

it doesnt matter that male yang x blake was feasible/believable  they gave femsun x blake teasing mutual attraction etc and the buildup given would have made me ship blacksun from the start just like male sun x blake and then proceeded to give it the v4-5 development

it doesnt matter that bb at the start would have been believable ship  since they didnt go that route they instead teased blacksun m/f route  if your basis for hating blacksun/sun is that there was a believable same sex ship that they could have went with ( believable as in there wasnt teasing but they could have chosen to do that) you are projecting when you claim people oppose bb because its a w/w ship

with blacksun it was given years of teasing mutual attraction and development since v1 to v6 goodbye scene which came off as romantic in how it was shownw

 while bb arguably began to be teased in v7 v6 finale at best though nothing was inherently romantic moment

(people who try to make the claim it was built or teased from the start are wearing shipping goggles to see the most minor moment as romantic because they want it to be true and ignoring framing and context like the v3 finale ignoring that adam said he would destroy everything blake loved which includes friends and family to try and claim it declared blake loved yang romantically when it didnt .

or act like blakes reaction to it had any romantic connotations

there was nothing for sun to see in that scene where blake held yangs hand  while feeling guilty that would cause him to think romance

“The way that this scene was framed means nothing. If you wanna talk about what “makes no sense”, it makes no sense for this one bit of handholding to signal to Sun that Blake had romantic feelings for Yang. Especially since he hasn’t been present for any other moments that could have potentially hinted to him that Blake had feelings for Yang. The very most he can learn from this is that Blake is worried for Yang, that she cares about her, that she’s sorry for what happened to her.“

also burning the candle isnt romantic  yang reached out and helped blake  they danced for a bit which we hardly saw and then yang gave blake to sun to dance with when yang didnt have any issue with that ) and ( blake chose to dance with sun she could have chosen not to 

there was nothing flirty there  ( yang winking at blake which she has done to other characters before even a wf grunt )  I have seen people try to use a renora or blacksun moment to argue we have to see the blake and yang moment as romantic because we saw the renora /blacksun moment as romantic ignoring the differences between them

with blacksun it was suns introduction moment

eight-of-pentacles . tumblr . com/post/651259837931569152/why-do-you-say-yang-winking-at-blake-in-burning

Because it’s about framing and context.

Sun’s wink is accompanied by a slow-mo pan of his expression, followed by the camera focusing on Blake’s slack-jawed attention, along with a literal choir singing in the background while she stares at him. This is his introduction— to Blake, but more importantly, to the audience. This is the first moment we properly meet him, and it’s through this very particular gaze.

Yang’s wink is precipitated by her trying to convince Blake to come to the dance for her own mental and physical well-being. There’s no attention given to any other motivation on Yang’s part during the exchange, or what Blake’s reaction was following.

One of these has clear romantic intent. The other does not. If I were to present these two scenes to a random bystander and remove the names from the samples, and if I asked them to tell me which scene they thought was meant to be a romantic one, my guess is that they would go with the Sun and Blake scene. Because again, it’s about the framing of the scene, and the context of the situation the characters are in.

I say that Yang’s wink is dubious evidence at best, because I acknowledge that it can technically be read as romantic— but a.) it’s extremely covert, and only noticeable if you’re looking at it to find romantic evidence in the first place, and b.) I’m highly doubtful that was the writers’ intent in the first place.

while with renora it was a plane moment where the way renora acted and bb acted with each other was different   not to mention the framing

renora was a private scene with the song about noras feelings playing nora did the lay head on shoulders scene  and moved to get closer. 

with blake and yang it was just part of a rwby moment and yang held blakes hand to comfort her reciprocating what blake did when yangs hand shook

(not to mention renora was teased since v1 ) 

[gale-gentlepenguin]

ML Reboot: Miraculous: Heroes of Miracles: The Lovesquare (Season 1)

-I think it will be important to say that the lovesquare is very much as integral to the reboot. But I will be changing a few things about How its handled.

-Origins still has both Marinette and Adrien falling into the lovesquare, but the event is altered

-Its actually after they beat stoneheart and Ladybug kisses chat noir's cheek, thanking him for the encouragement, and that she is "lucky" to have a partner like him. Its seeing all of the aspects of Ladybug that hit this boy like a truck. From her cute nervousness, to her confidence, her clever mind, and her supportive side. Its right after that that Chat noir has his soft "Oh" moment

-And yes even the precious Umbrella scene is getting some tweaks.

-For one, the gum seat is being changed because its pretty tame. So instead Chloe tells Adrien she needs a bucket of water, which he gets and Sabrina sets the trap. Adrien realizing what they were doing comments that this is a bit too mean of a prank. Chloé assures him it is fine, "Dont you want to fit in?"

-Adrien feels conflicted but does decide that "To hfil with it" and swipes the rope from Sabrina. This results in the bucket falling earlier, Which good news, Marinette and Alya dont get soaked, bad news "Marinette's Design notebook" does.

-And Chloé decides to play it up, making it look like Adrien's idea. Which causes Marinette rage much like in canon but now more so.

-Alya is a bit suspicious of how it was set up, but she sees her new friend in pain and is more concerned for her.

-Adrien feels guilt as getting the bucket was his fault, and he wants to make it right. He ends up venting at a table during lunch and Nino happened to be there and is like.

-"Sounds like you should apologize. Even if you didnt set up the plan, you have to clear the air." Nino himself didnt understand why he bothered telling him this. He normally never gets involved with drama.

-Adrien turned to see Nino there, and thanking him for the advice. Asking for his name.

-"Nino"

-"Adrien, sorry for randomly dumping that on you."

-Nino tells him its fine just go deal with his drama, he doesnt care for it.

-So Umbrella scene. Adrien has his umbrella, and much like the intro of the scene, Marinette dismisses him. But this time he peps himself up to go and make it right.

-He approaches her, and first thing he does is apologize, explaining that he was trying to stop the bucket from falling. He never liked harmful pranks and he especially hates the fact that Chloé didnt tell him her plan, he would have never agreed to it. He explains how he never been to real school before and is just trying to find his place. But he knows that he doesnt want to be Chloé's friend if it means hurting people. He gives her the new note book, he got it along with a fabric/swatches binder, (based on the one his dad has). Commenting that he saw one of her designs and thought it was good.

-Marinette was definitely surprised seeing this caring, and thoughtful version of what she thought was yet another spoiled rich kid. But it was him giving her the umbrella and hearing that laugh that did her in. She was left Thunderstruck, just like in canon.

____________________________________________________________

-Chat noir is actually less flirty in this. He still flirts, but usually its seen as banter. Which Ladybug goes along with. Only in super serious situation she will be like "Time and Place kitty" Which means focus, and that is when he does.

-Marinette does know Adrien's schedule to an extent, mainly because she has asked about it. They are friends, and Adrien does want to hang out with his friends.

-Alya finds out about Marinette's crush 5 episodes in. Marinette hides it and is in denial about it for a bit. Thinking that he is out of her league and doesnt want to get her hopes up. Alya nips that bulls*** mentality in the bud.

-Chat noir and Ladybug do hang out outside of akuma fights, and it isnt uncommon to see them on patrol. Chat noir comments that next time he will get macarons from his favorite bakery. Funny enough, Marinette was at the counter 10 minutes before and saw chat noir walk in to pay for the macarons.

-Marinette and Adrien hang out as friends sometimes (granted not all the time, because schedule).

-Marinette’s first civillian interaction with Chat noir is still Evillustrator. (There are some changes to this episode) Chat noir is a bit more flirty (since Marinette is Adrien’s friend) he wanted to see her flustered. But Marinette was cool as a cucumber, even with the danger. So Adrien thought she was cool.

-After Evillustrator battle. Chat noir tells ladybug he is going to check on Marinette. Since she was put in danger over it.

-So Balcony scene where Chat noir commends the baker girl, in which Marinette teases saying that He should stop being so flirty, ladybug might get jealous. He blushes and asks if that’s possible. Which chat noir then covers up with bravado. Marinette gives him some cookies as a thank you. And chat noir promises he will get her something as reward for her help.

-Adrien’s first civilian interaction with Ladybug is Pixalator, (it’s a change from the plot and character in who the akuma is). Ladybug basically guarding Adrien. As this girl is in hot pursuit of Adrien. Ladybug keeps him safe and it’s Marinette doing her best to be professional. He even saved ladybug once before “appearing to get captured.” Chat noir shows up shortly after. Apologizing he was late. Ladybug said it was fine, “Just don’t make it a habit”.

-Ladybug checks on Adrien after, and he thanks her. Asking if there is anything he could do to thank her. She smiles and tells him to enjoy life. And kisses his cheek before heading off.

-There will be LADRIEN AND MARICHAT