#excuse to exercise a came back wrong trope

[shattered-ass]

woke up thinking about toxic yaoi dinotrap where rattrap tries to bring dinobot back to life in a frankensteinesque fashion

[harfanfare]

How to win a heart of Jamil Viper?

1.   Don’t be a typical hero(ine).

Contrary to the popular romance trope, tripping over the air to land on a certain cool-looking boy, and dropping all carried things, wouldn’t make Jamil fall for you. Instead, just falling because of you and sharply crashing with a floor would make him rather cautious around you and keeping a distance whether he has anything in his hands.

Believe him or not, he doesn’t need another ditsy and erratic person around him—like a certain leader from a certain dorm, who happens to create a mess anytime, anywhere.

So, let someone else be the protagonist of the story.

In that situation, you may be a side character that gets its way through obstacles and classic borders of story scheme and is much more interesting than the main persona.

That’s how you get his attention.

‎‎‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎

2.   Be a help.

Oh, a person that would help him with his chores means to him much more than gold. Sometimes.

“Can I help you anyhow?” you asked when Jamil was going to the kitchen after a daily training with the rest of the dorm. He lifted his eyebrow, waiting for further explanation. “I mean with cleaning or something.”

Jamil glanced at you, not sure about your intentions.

Who would like to do something to help without having something in return? With only your will? No, it doesn’t work well in the same sentence.

But some help would be great. So, he just needs to keep sure that he won’t fall into any trap for letting you help, yes?

“Sure,” he said casually, not letting his face nor voice reveal any of his thoughts he run into. “[Name], right? Could you bring and clean the dishes from longue?”

And you helped. You really helped him a lot, staying over two hours till everything was shimmering with cleanliness and your abrupt desire to clean something and be more useful, burned out.

“Thank you for your help,” Jamil said, after correcting the last cushion in the Scarabia’s longue. You flashed him a smile. “But why, if I can ask, did you offer it in the first place?”

He got a quick response in form of a shrug.

“I... don’t really know,” you admitted, glancing at him. “...But you don’t complain, no?”

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎

3.   Be his dish taster.

“The way to a one's heart is through his stomach.”

“Try it,” Jamil handed you a spoon filled with some kind of stew. You consentaneously your opened mouth and drank all content of the spoon. Your mouth filled with many flavours and you couldn’t be sure if you ever ate that good combination in your life. “How was that?”

“Excellent as always.”

You said it all sincerely and maybe would have asked for seconds, if not the fact that Jamil already turned his back to you and got back to pots. He took another spoon and tried the dish himself, clicked his tongue and added more salt.

Once again, he turned to you and handed you a spoon.

“And how was that now?”

“Excellent as always,” you chuckled as he frowned at you.

“Don’t you think that you should add more words to your dictionary? You say the same thing on every dish,” once he said that you finished drying the last plate and preparing silverware for today’s fiesta.

“Don’t you think that I won’t be able to eat anything at the party when I will eat enough of your cooking now to write a poem about each of your culinary masterpieces?” Jamil chuckled slightly at your words.

“So, you don’t want any more?” he teased, but inside he was really flushed. Praises or cajolery, it all makes his heart skip a beat.

Finally, there was someone who appreciated all work he’s done.

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎

4.   Distract Kalim from him.

“You really shouldn’t go there,” you said, your voice as serious as you could keep it. “I mean, what if there is a monster who wants to kidnap you?”

Kalim cocked his head a little, considering your words. After a while, he nodded, fully convinced by your argument.

“You’re right,” he said. “I will warn others about this..!”

Kalim turned on his heel and spotted some people returning from morning classes. He ran to them, greeting them and walking with them as he tried to introduce the situation.

Still not believing Kalim fall for your words, you were standing alone in the centre of the corridor, a bit dumbstruck to discover the excuse Jamil came up with work.

“...Are you sure, you don’t want to tell him that some student’s from other dorm are here?” you asked as if saying to yourself your thoughts aloud.

But there was someone, someone who was hiding behind a big potted palm. He only gave you thumbs up as a preventative measure if there was still a chance that Kalim didn’t just dash through the halls to talk with some dorm students.

Jamil only looked at you and mouthed “No. Party. Today.” and quietly shifted to the corner, where the wall hid him and he could finally get up.

Mission accomplished.

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎

5.   Get rid of bugs for him.

“[Name],” Jamil called out to you, bursting through the door to your room. He looked very pale and panic was staying still in his eyes. “Would you be so kind to... deal with an intruder?”

You frowned a little before biting back a sigh. At first, you were concerned. Even Kalim getting in a serious mess didn’t make him react that seriously. But then you remembered that there was one thing that could make Jamil call you out of nowhere, acting like in an emergency. Emergency only in eyes of few.

Bugs.

Jamil never admitted to you that he is scared of them, but every time you brought up the topis, he snapped his fingers at it, saying that insects just aren’t his favourite kind of animal.

“Hmm~ Maybe after I finish this chapter,” you said, conspicuously turning a page of the book you were reading and with all your will trying not to smile nor to look at the wincing expression Jamil was wearing.

“[Name],” he said, his voice shaking with anger or frustration. “Go there right now or I will make sure you won’t get today’s dinner.”

...No dinner?

“Yes, mum,” you said putting the textbook aside and getting up from the comfortable couch.

Of all people, Jamil is probably the only one—well, maybe also Trey—that could make those words sound dangerous. Like, no dinner made by the best chef in Scarabia? It would be pure agony.

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎

6.   Have competitions.

“Aren’t you a little too good in this game?” you asked, regretfully placing pieces of the game back to the initial places.

He gave you a smile that slowly turned into a smirk, as you groaned at the next round you have lost. You flopped on the big pillow, all your will to play destroyed, as you sank between really cosy material.

“I told you I won’t give you a head start,” Jamil said, his steady voice mixed with amusement. “You even told me that you don’t want me to go easy on you before the game started.”

“Too bad,” you clicked your tongue at his response. “I was sure that after watching you play with Kalim, I remembered your tactics.”

You’ve watched at least eight rounds of Jamil and Kalim playing this game, and when it was coming to end, you were almost sure you understood and remembered the technique he was using in certain situations.

But, to your disappointment, it looked like he – even without using any of his tricky cards in his sleeve – was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, because, after three moves, you knew that probably all three were wrong when the opponent was Jamil.

“You gained nothing by it. Of course, I lost to him or... there would be a trouble,” he exclaimed. “You are different.”

“Oh, thank you. I can lose but he can’t, huh?” you frowned at him as he almost choked on the surprise he felt by hearing your response.

“...Yeah, that’s it. Just it.”

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎

7.   Have study sessions together.

“One class had a test before us,” you said scrolling through your class chat group. “They said that there wasn’t any question about these dates.”

Jamil scribbled down years of the most important magic wars, from time to time looking at you who were listing some test exercises and feeling somehow unmotivated to even properly open a history book.

Your notebook was lying in front of you, today’s lesson topic on the top of the page and many detailed doodles on its margin.

Once again... what was the unit you are having an exam about?

“It doesn’t mean, we won’t get a question about that,” Jamil tried to convince you, sliding textbook your way. “Now, read that aloud, while I prepare notes.”

You blinked twice as if woken up from daydreaming. Were you daydreaming?

“Are you sure..? I mean, all I will do is reading. Wouldn’t you rather want us to read it silently and then share our notes after this?”

“Don’t think about it much. I really like your voice,” he said it so thoughtlessly you weren’t sure if said it as an unarguable fact or just his smooth talker abilities were showing off, “and gave me your notes for the last exam so we’re even. And you won’t do any good notes when you’re sulking over this exam like that.”

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎

8.   Remind him to take breaks.

“You won’t get out of here,” you exclaimed spreading your arms as shielding a door from him. “Not a chance.”

Jamil stood a feet next to you, grimace stretching on his lips as he knew what’s coming up.

“I have to go, [Name].”

He tried to get through you, lightly removing you of his way. He wasn’t a fan of using force on anyone, and he was a hater of using force on you.

Much more than a speakable argument, you were pushing each other closer or further from the door, having a staring contest and reciting all the things he had done in the past two days; except for his daily duties and with the upcoming birthday party of few students of Scarabia who happen to have a celebration in the same day, the number of tasks he was given was overwhelming.

“Stop it!” you protested, trying to push him back. “I am seriously worried about you! Please... take a break.”

Every time he was coming closer to the exit, you stepped back, blocking his way, bumping into him and having to try again.

“You know I have a lot of work to do,” he said, finally stepping back and giving you a break from trying to separate him from the door. “I can’t just give up all my duties, even if I would love a break.”

“I can do it for you,” you quickly offered. “But please, now, go to sleep and don’t you dare touch anything related to school or cleaning.”

...What a weird request.

When was the last time anyone told him to take a break?

He doesn’t remember.

But now, he can say it was recently, all thanks to you.

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎

9.   Promise.

It was really hard for him once all his hard work to keep a high position within the dorm students suddenly dropped after his overblot accident.

“[Name]...”

However, the thing he regretted the most was hurting you. Taking the whole dorm under his unique magic spell, the hypnosis also affected you, making you another servant of his. Even you weren’t the one he ordered a lot, you felt betrayed that even the friendship you two developed didn’t stop him from overblotting.

And if he knew that you would avoid him like fire after the accident, he would probably hesitate a lot.

His throat tightened as he saw you one day in the corridor, looking somehow lonely and tired. He dashed to you, beseeching you to talk to him.

“Sorry for asking, but, Jamil, you don’t hate me, right?” you asked with a pain in your voice. You couldn’t even look at his face, feeling the incomprehensible weight in your gaze. “I mean... Do you only act in front of me friendly? ...Like... with Kalim..?”

“No, no, no,” he protested quickly, making it almost sound like a plea. He gently grabbed your hands, praying that you won’t harshly jerk them back because of him. “I don’t hate you. I really like you. I mean every word I said to you.”

The feeling of release struck you like thunder, you took a big breath, your eyes watering. You slowly reached for his touch, finally ending in a hug.

Jamil ran his fingers through your hair, smelling a familiar, reassuring scent of yours. After a while, he whispered a question.

“So... could you please not avoid me anymore? I know it will be hard to bring up the same relationship we had, but... could you give me a second chance?”

“Okay. But under one condition,” you said, slightly backing off from him. Before he could wonder about the term you would require from him, you finished your thought. “You must be honest with me. I... don’t know what will I do if it all turned to be a play...”

“I will,” he replied, putting his whole heart in these two words. “I will always be honest with you. And won’t ever use my unique magic on you.”

You looked up at him, a small smile starting to rise and heart-throbbing more wilder with his words. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎

10.            Make him confess.

“What are you doing this weekend?”

Jamil appeared in front of you, almost like popping out of nowhere, as you were done with today’s lessons and slowly heading to your dorm. He caught up with you, changing his pace to match yours.

“I have no plans. I will be probably sleeping or something,” you answered honestly, shrugging and reminding yourself that you should finally hang out with some people from your class to make sure your social life isn’t all over dead.

You were walking in quietly before Jamil broke silence and spoke up again.

“Would you like to go somewhere?” he asked his voice only giving a hint of nervousness—it was nothing compared to the stress he felt inside. It was just a “yes or no” question, he knew that he will meet in future many amazing people like you and shouldn’t be stressed, but having someone so dear to him being asked for a meeting where he will try to finally out find his feeling... it is stressful.

“Hehe~ what, are you asking me on the date?” you teased, but much more than mocking, you were hoping for an answer. For the honest answer, he promised you.

“...And what if I am?” he asked, his voice a bit hushed, but steady.

You felt how heat was coming all the way up to your cheeks, although you tried your best not to let anything more, as if a blush wasn’t obvious enough, know how excited and spellbound you are.

“Then, your wish is my command.”

[hello-there]

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[marvelship-oneshots]

SNOWED IN (STONY)

HI! this is my first fill for the "Snowed in" square of the Stony Trope and AU bingo by @therollingstonys hope you like it!

Where Steve goes to Tony's place to study, but it suddenly starts snowing and and they find themselves stuck in the house for the entire weekend. [3.9k words]

Steve hated everything that had something to do with math. Or science, for that matter. He was passionate about art, literature, languages and he could work his way around sports, but math, physics or biology were subjects that he couldn’t understand, no matter how much he tried to. It was not like he would need them in his future, as he decided to go to culinary school after graduating high school. But he needed the grades, unfortunately.

Steve sat in the empty study room of his school and took out of his backpack his very big algebra book. On the cover, there were a bunch of smiling students. But Steve was not smiling. He actually wanted to scream and tear apart the book just from looking at him.

He hesitated, contemplating giving up, before actually opening the book and diving into the impossibly difficult exercises.

The door of the room opened and a breathless student came running in. He hid behind Steve, sitting on the floor. It took him two seconds and Steve barely saw his face, but he could recognize him from his messy hair and his singular perfume. Cologne and cigarettes. That student was undoubtedly Tony Stark, the richest, most popular student of the school. But if asked Steve, Tony was his first, real crush.

Tony was just a sophomore and wasn't part of any sports team, but nonetheless, he was the most envied student of the school. Those who didn’t want to be with him wanted to be him. Steve was part of the first category but gave up hope a long time ago.

“Please, please, I beg of you, act like I’m not here”

Yeah, easy to say when Tony couldn’t feel Steve’s heart beating a hundred miles per hour. Or see his pale cheeks now turned red. Or the knot in his throat because that was the first time ever they were even in the same room, that they both know of.

If asked, Steve would deny that he knew exactly which was Tony’s favourite restroom, which were Tony’s least favourite classes, that he would ditch for the better part of the lesson to wander in the corridors, or which was the best table at lunch to see Tony best. Bucky, Sam and Wanda wouldn’t be of the same opinion, though.

The door opened again and Steve looked up from his textbook, watching as Clint stepped in and looked around.

“He’s not here, is he?”

Steve frowned.

“Who’s not here?”

He would have known who Clint was talking about even if Tony wasn’t hiding behind his chair.

Clint huffed and closed the door shut.

“Are they gone?” Tony asked in a whisper.

“Yes”

“Thank you for creating a safe place for me, man. Knowing that dum dum, they won’t be back for a while” Tony said sitting on the chair next to Steve.

Steve tried to ignore his presence and definitely not to look at him, but it became more difficult when Tony moved his chair closer to Steve’s to take a look at the book.

“Uh but that’s easy” Tony mumbled before starting to explain how to do the exercises.

Soon enough, maths started making sense for Steve.

“How do you even know this? This is senior years stuff and you’re like”

“A sophomore, yeah I know” Tony cut Steve short “I guess the genius runs in the family”

Steve scoffed, shaking his head, moving on to the next exercise.

“Can I ask you something?”

Tony nodded, without looking up.

“What was that all about?”

Tony looked up.

“Oh I asked Natasha on a date on Friday and Clint didn’t take it well”

Steve didn’t take it well either. He felt a pinch of jealousy eating his guts, but he just smiled and nodded, going back to the exercise Tony working on.

“Listen, man, if you want I can help you with all of these shit subjects” Tony said, standing up, before walking out of the study room.

“Yeah no, it’s really not necessary”

“Oh, I insist. I’ll bring my notes on Monday”

Steve rolled his eyes. That day he understood that Tony didn’t like taking a no for an answer.

“‘Right. See you on Monday then,...” Tony hesitated, completely forgetting to ask for his name.

“Oh, it’s Steve”

“Right Steve” Steve could feel the engines in Tony’s head working.

“I’m Tony, by the way”

Steve smiled. “I know”

Tony looked at Steve as if he was crazy and walked out.

“Are you for real? He introduced himself and you replied ‘I know’?” Bucky asked, a little too louder for Steve’s taste and slapping him on the back of his head.

Steve had his head buried in his arms on the table of the canteen and growled. He had slapped himself several times since that day, but he didn’t have the chance to tell his friends.

“What the hell is wrong with you man?” Sam rolled his eyes “You were supposed to say, I don’t know, nice to meet you or something, definitely not I know”

“He’s going to think I’m a weirdo. Or a stalker”

“Yes, he will dude” Wanda replied, patting on his shoulder.

“Stevie, incoming, get up” Bucky warned, seeing Tony walking towards them.

“Tell Sharon I don’t want to talk to her”

“Well, I hope you’ll want to talk to me”

Steve’s head tilted up, recognising Tony’s voice, and kicked Bucky under the table for not being too specific.

“Yeah, uhm. Sorry, hi”

Tony took something from his backpack and laid on the table an enormous folder, separated into four big sections by coloured sticky notes.

“Here, the notes I talked to you about the other day”

“You just had all of these notes laying around?”

Tony shook his head, proudly.

“Nope made them all just for you”

Steve looked at Tony and then at Bucky, hoping he could read the brunet better than he could.

“I didn’t want to bother you with notes you already had, let alone making them just for me”

“You didn’t and will never bother me, Steve-o”

Steve blushed, looking away as fast as he could”

“I’m Tony by the way. Or did you already know that too?”

Tony held out his hand to Sam, who shook it forcefully. Wanda and Bucky loudly chuckled. Steve sent a deadly stare on Wanda’s way and kicked Bucky on his ankle.

Steve took the hint when Tony sat more comfortably on the bench next to him, stealing some fries from his lunch trail, and Bucky elbowed him in the ribs, in a clear final to start a conversation.

“So… how was your date?”

“Excuse me?” Tony stopped to look at Steve with a fry still mid-air “What date?”

Steve looked at Bucky and Sam, begging to help him out, but they were both too busy staring into each other’s eyes to notice.

“Your date with Natasha”

Wanda crossed her arms in front of her, eager to see where this was going and Tony looked perplexed.

“Yeah, you know, you told me that you asked her out and your friend was mad about it”

And I was mad about it, Steve thought but didn’t add anything.

“Oh that. Ok, no, you got it all wrong”

Steve’s eyes widened.

“I did ask her out just because Barton had been talking about her forever and didn’t have the balls to do it themselves”

Steve blushed and Wanda had to turn away. If Tony hadn’t been there, she would have burst out laughing in Steve’s face, but she was a good enough friend not to embarrass him in front of his crush anymore than he already was.

“Glad we cleared that out but now I have to go. I will pick you up on Friday after school. Pack an overnight bag and your books, you're in for an intensive Stark study session” Tony declared, getting up, shoving the rest of Steve’s fries in his mouth.

“And just so you know- Tony stood beside Steve, with his hands on Steve’s broad shoulder, and whispered in his ear- I like ‘em blond, tall and oblivious”

Tony winked at Steve’s friends, who were staring at him with their mouths open, and walked away.

Steve suddenly turned red and buried his head back into his arms crossed on the table.

“What did just happened”

“Dude, I think he just asked you out AND called you oblivious” Sam replied, before the three of them burst out laughing.

Only four days passed for Friday to come, but to Steve, it felt like four years.

Steve walked out of the school, waiting for Tony in the parking lot. He leaned against a metal fence, talking to his friends.

“Oh c’mon Wanda, you’re ditching us too?” Sam whined after Wands told them she couldn't make it to their usual videogame afternoon. Steve knew why, no one in the right state of mind would want to third wheel for Sam and Bucky.

Bucky put an arm behind Sam’s back, pulling him closer to his chest.

“This means that we have the house to ourselves” he whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, before shoving his tongue into his boyfriend's mouth.

“Disgusting” Steve growled, looking away.

“Alright, I’m out of here” Wanda said, smacking a kiss on Steve’s cheek.

Bucky pulled away from the kiss and lightly hugged Wanda, before turning to Steve.

“Pot, kettle. You’re the one here with a three-days-date with mr playboy”

Steve rolled his eyes.

“He’s two years younger, Bucky. Two years”

Tony pulled up in front of the three in a bright orange AUDI and honked twice to get Steve’s attention. Steve opened the door and sat in the seat next to Tony. Before he managed to close the door, Sam and Bucky started making obscene gestures and sounds.

“Drive away, Tony, for the love of God” Steve mumbled, turning to secure the seat belt and flipping off his friends from the car window.

The car ride was silent, not out of embarrassment, but because they didn’t have anything to talk about. Maybe they would have found something of common interest if either one of them had the balls to start a conversation. Which was weird because usually, Tony couldn’t shut up to save his life.

They were going in the opposite direction from Tony’s house and Steve wanted to ask why, but he wasn’t supposed to know where Tony lived and didn’t want to look like a stalker.

Eventually, they arrived in a large private parking lot. They both jumped out of the car and took all of the bags from the car. Tony had an incredible amount of things for a two-days-steak out, and Steve offered to carry some of the bags.

“You’re my knight in shining armour” Tony said with a smile that went from ear to ear and Steve’s heart almost skipped a beat.

Then, they both walked for 15 minutes until they arrived at a luxurious cabin. Tony kicked the mat, revealing the key and opened the door, letting all of the bags fall in the middle of the big corridor.

Steve helped Tony put away the groceries after dinner and then brought out his books. Tony returned from the toilet with a box of Monopoly.

“What exactly are you doing?” Tony asked, looking at Steve and the mountain of books on the kitchen table.

“I thought we came here to stu- Steve cut himself short after seeing Tony’s expression- never mind” he finished, putting the books back in the backpack.

“Dude- Tony slammed a bottle of vodka and two shot glasses on the table- it’s Friday night. We’ll think of the shitty stuff tomorrow”

Tony laid on the table the cardboard and divided the money between the two of them.

“So. You’ve heard of Monopoly, but have you ever played drunk Monopoly?”

Steve shook his head.

“Every time you land on someone else property, you chug one shot, if you go to prison, it’s three for every turn you spend in it”

Steve’s eyes widened. That was going to be a lot of alcohol, especially for someone who hadn’t even tried beer yet. But he nodded anyway because, well, Tony.

After they finished the first round around the board, Steve threw the dice and landed on Tony’s property. Tony smirked and poured vodka in one glass and slid it to Steve. Steve looked at the glass and then at Tony, with a disgusted expression.

“Down in one sip, it’s not as bad as it seems”

Steve brought the glass closer to his nose, smelling the piercing smell of alcohol, he closed his eyes and drank in one chug. He felt like his throat was on fire, but after a couple of rounds, it was like chugging water.

They were both lightheaded and had ditched Monopoly to move to the couch. Tony was lying with his head on a cushion, with his legs on Steve’s lap. He poured some more vodka into the glasses and handed it to Steve. He held out his glass, letting them cling together.

“За здоровье” Tony said with a smile.

“What was that?” Steve asked, laughing.

“It’s Russian, it means ‘drink to health’”

Steve laughed, throwing his head back.

“I didn’t know you knew Russian”

“I don’t, this is the only thing I know. The only important thing to know actually”

They both laughed as Steve caressed Tony’s ankles.

“Tony, can I ask you something?”

Tony looked up.

“Where are your parents? I mean, aren’t they mad you’re here without them?”

Tony rolled his eyes and sat up. He took the bottle of vodka and drank directly from it.

“My parents don’t even know what grade I’m in. I’m going to bed now” he replied with harshness in his voice as he got up and walked to the bedroom, stumbling.

Way to go Steve.

The morning after Tony woke up to the smell of freshly made pancakes. He walked into the kitchen with a huge smile, inhaling the perfume. He gulped when he realised that Steve was the one flipping pancake, topless. He stopped by the door, admiring Steve’s perfect back muscles.

“I could kidnap you if it means I get to wake up like this every morning” Tony mumbled, sitting on the stool. Steve smiled, flipping the last pancake and sliding it on the plate. He put two blueberries and a slice of fried bacon to make a smiley face.

He slid the plate in front of Tony, who looked at Steve with a little smirk. Steve observed Tony’s face while he ate his pancake. It was like the tension of the night before had been drowned in their sleep.

Tony let out a loud moan and Steve almost spat his coffee. Tony noticed and chuckled.

“This is the shit, Steve-o” Tony screamed, sliding another stack of pancakes on his plate and drowning them in maple syrup.

They worked the whole day, without even feeling like time was passing. Steve was actually feeling like he was understanding something, which was really good.

After dinner, Tony brought out a poker set.

“Strip poker, you up for it?”

Steve tensed in the chair. Tony noticed and started to look for something in his pocket.

“I have something to ease the tension if you want to” he said, sliding a packet of weed through the table.

Steve’s eyes widened.

“I don’t- I don’t really feel comfortable, y’know, smoking it”

Tony put on a disappointed expression, putting it back in his pocket.

“I can bake it though” Steve winked at Tony, letting him put the bag in his hand.

Tony sat on the counter, swinging his legs as he licked every spoon Steve put down. He ground the weed and it to Steve, who mixed it with the batter before putting the brownies in the oven.

Tony sat on the counter, waiting for the brownies to be ready, swinging his legs in a very childish way, while Steve drew a little sketch of him on his notepad.

When the timer rang, Steve made sure to close his sketchbook before taking them out of the oven and cutting them into even squares. He put them on a plate before sitting at the kitchen table and starting mixing the deck.

Tony took a brownie and bit it, letting out a loud moan.

“Seriously, how do you do it?”

They were already high when they got into the real game. The first items to fall on the floor were the socks, then their sweatshirts and t-shirts, leaving Tony only with his boxers on. Steve still had his t-shirt.

Steve laid his card on the table, smirking at Tony.

“Those- he pointed at Tony’s briefs- have to go” he said smiling as he took the deck, mixing and handing out the cards, without taking his eyes off Tony. Tony took his sweet time getting up and started playing around with the elastic, getting it lower on his hips as he got in front of Steve, who tried to look at his cards, avoiding looking at Tony, sliding his underwear to his ankle, kicking them as far as possible.

Tony walked closer to Steve, tilting his head up with a finger from under his chin.

“Look at me, Steve-o”

Steve started with his mouth slightly open. Tony moved his chair, sitting on Steve’s lap, moving his hips on Steve’s. He took the cards from Steve’s hand, putting them down on the table.

“Let’s pretend- Tony slid his hands under Steve’s t-shirt- just for a second-he pulled the limbs of the white cotton up, moving his hips on Steve’s a bit more- that you lost this round, huh?”

Steve moaned and Tony managed to take the t-shirt away. He scooted back a little to admire Steve’s toned body until he fell ass fist on the floor. They both laughed and then Steve took a piece of brownie and kneeled over Tony. He spread the chocolate crumbles all over Tony’s chest. Smirking, he started hovering over Tony, before lowering his face and licking every last piece of cake from his skin. Tony gulped as he fell the little wet kisses on his stomach.

Once Steve stopped, Tony took the chance to turn the tables, pushing Steve on the floor. As he sat on his hips, Tony felt Steve growing harder under him. He started moving in circles, smirking as Steve started squirming under him.

“If-if you’re going to make me...cum- Steve panted- you can at least k-kiss me”

Tony chuckled, lowering himself over Steve’s face. He caressed his cheek with his thumb and then moved to his lips, brushing them, without asking his eyes away from Steve’s. Their lips barely touched before Tony stood up and went back to moving his hips on Steve's and chuckled when Steve tried to protest.

Tony’s movement became slower and slower until he felt Steve's underwear getting wet under him. He sped his movements until he released all over Steve’s chest.

Sunday was a normal, lazy Sunday. They cuddled on the sofa under a cosy blanket. To be honest, they didn’t even bother putting any clothes back on. They just kept doing their exercises in their birthday suits, teasing each other, but never going over small, wet kisses on their chests. At some point, Tony fell asleep on Steve’s chest and Steve did shortly after while stroking Tony’s hair.

When they woke up, it was already dark outside. During the afternoon it started snowing. They hoped it would stop by the time they had to leave. However, during their nap, it snowed even more violently and it didn’t look like it was going to stop anytime soon. The road conditions were not ideal to drive back. The only thing they could do was stay right where they were.

“You don’t mind staying here until tomorrow morning, do you?” Tony asked, playing with Steve’s hand as they were watching a movie on the sofa.

“Nope, not even a little bit” Steve mumbled, smelling Tony’s hair.

The plan was fine, if only they hadn't slept through every single one of their alarms.

Tony hit Steve with a pillow, waking him up, while he jumped around trying to slide on his jeans.

“We’re fucking stupid. So fucking stupid”

Steve yawned, stretching his arms when Tony threw a shirt on his face.

“Take only the things you need and leave everything else here, we’ll take care of that later” Tony yelled, pouring coffee in a thermos and packing in a box some cookies Steve baked in the evening.

“Go, go, go, c’mon” Tony pushed Steve out of the door and down the track.

They jumped in the car and Tony started driving it out of the parking lot, humming a rock song Steve didn’t know. Steve held the thermos close to Tony, as he sipped the hot beverage with a straw.

“Cookie” he asked right before Steve handed him one.

They pulled up by the school just in time not to be late for the first lesson. Steve kissed Tony’s cheek before turning towards his classroom.

“See ya later” Tony screamed.

“Dude, what’s that?” Bucky asked, pointing at the t-shirt Steve was wearing, once they were in the corridor, after the lesson.

“What?” He asked before looking down at it. “Oh, shit. Uhm…”

Steve scratched the back of his head, realising that the shirt was a little tight and was constricting every movement.

“It’s Tony’s. We had a uhm...a nice weekend”

Tony came up from behind him, sparking him on the butt.

“I can see that” Sam chuckled on Bucky’s shoulder.

“Is that your shirt, Steve?”

Steve blushed in response.

As the group started walking away, Steve pulled Tony into a toilet, pushing him into a stall as soon as they checked that no one was in there.

Tony locked the door.

“Uhm, I like where this is going” he said with a smirk.

“Not what you’re thinking, Tony. I just need my shirt back, I’m having almost no movement here”

Tony chuckled.

“But I like yours. It’s big and cosy and it smells like you”

Steve rolled his eyes.

“Ok, let’s make a deal. You give me my shirt back and I’ll lend you my sweatshirt”

Tony seemed to think about that for a few seconds.

“Only if I get to hold on to it as long as I want to”

“Deal”

Eventually, Steve, with a lot of difficulties, managed to take off Tony's shirt, handing it back to its legitimate owner. Tony was starstruck by Steve’s perfect chest, although he had been seeing a hell of a lot of it in the past couple of days. Steve pulled off his shirt from Tony and wore his.

Once Tony was dressed, Steve went to open the door of the stall but Tony's hand grabbed his wrist, pulling Steve closer to him. He stood on his tiptoes, bringing their lips together.

Steve took Tony by his hips and let Tony cup his face, going deeper into the kiss.

“We’re ok, aren’t we” Steve asked, opening the little door and walking out.

“More than ok” Tony replied, taking Steve’s hand and making their way down the corridor.

[icypantherwrites]

New Fic: Keep the Peace

Summary: Something, Lance decides, about this peace treaty signing doesn’t feel right. Allura agrees and leaves to find answers while Lance stays, hoping to try to get to the bottom of what is going on between the two warring group while not jeopardizing the potential alliance. But it’s not answers that come to pass. It’s war. And these aliens don’t care who gets caught in the crossfire.

Story snippet:

Lance winced at the volume that had not yet ceased, took a breath, and then sat down right in the middle of the group on the ground.

They continued to yell.

He flopped onto his back with an inaudible sigh and pillowed his hands behind his head, feeling the two suns above beating down, and in any other situation this might have made for semi-decent napping conditions (just minus the armor as it was not comfortable at all).

So since napping was off the table and he was actually trying to negotiate a peace treaty here, Lance did something else.

He started doing bicycle kicks.

Within the minute the shouting had stopped and he could feel eyes from both groups on him, their confusion clear and confusion, especially shared confusion, was an excellent first step.

They were behaving like kids throwing tantrums, unable to reason. And Lance had always figured himself to be pretty good with kids. Logic went out the window when they were upset and oftentimes what worked best was a distraction.

He was happy to be the distraction.

He kept going.

On kick thirty-eight and just when he was realizing he’d need to switch to something a little less exerting in this heat, he was rewarded as one of the council members from Eslon asked, her voice carrying her bewilderment, “What are you doing?”

“Bicycle kicks,” Lance answered simply.

Wait for it.

“...why?” came a query from the Snowhis side and Lance internally cheered.

“Good exercise,” he said. “And,” he turned his head, staring at the Snowhis leader before turning to look at the one from Eslon, “I may as well do something productive here since no one is interested in the peace treaty.”

“How dare you accuse us of—”

“I’m not accusing anyone of anything,” Lance said, cutting off the offended Snowhis alien as he sat up. “Just stating facts. We’ve been here for three hours and all any of you have done is yell your demands and refuse to negotiate on anything.”

“We do not owe those Eslon savages anything,” scowled the Snowhis chief.  “It is they—”

“Excuse you?” cut in the Eslon tribal leader, her voice high with affront. “Savages? It is you Snowhis scum that have done us wrong. You owe us back our lands, our lake—”

“We need that lake,” the chief cut in. “Without it my people—”

“And without it my people—”

“And why can’t you share it?” Lance interjected.

“That is prepos—”

“How big is the lake?” Lance asked, pulling himself to his feet now to put him back on height with the aliens all now standing themselves. “Surely large enough to sustain both of your people.”

“Those stupid Snowhis would overfish—”

“We have done no such thing! It is you who nearly ruined it with your farming chemicals—”

“Which we needed because you would not allow us access to the cornivians fields—”

And it went back and forth.

Lance hid his smile as while nothing was being resolved, yet, this was far, far more progress than they’d made before and he was gaining information as to some of the actual causes of the strife that he could use with perspective later.

This was good.

This was communication.

This was how things got bett—

A high pitched whistling noise interrupted both Lance’s thoughts and the back and forth and he felt his stomach clench as there was only thing he knew that made that kind of noise.

A projectile.

READ THE STORY HERE

This fanfiction is a Patreon Fic of the Month, which is a Patreon exclusive fanfic that supporters get to help choose by voting on a prompt/trope and a character that I then write a 5,000 word fanfiction of. If you would like to read this fanfic, as well as hundreds of thousands of words of other additional bonus content and support an author, you’ll want to subscribe to my Patreon. Subscriptions start at just $5/month; less than a fancy cup of coffee! Subscribe here today!

[gingerteaonthetardis]

Can I just say that your Twilight commentary brightens my life? I was a big, big fan of it ten years ago or so, and, being good ole naive 13-year-old-me, didn't see anything wrong with Twilight back then. No Tumblr 10 years ago for me, also. So, your collection of posts and added commentary in the hashtags is very, very educational (not to mention hilarious).

sasha, thank you! it's honestly really reassuring to hear that, because i was also very much into twilight all those years ago, when it first came out and... yeah, i was definitely not aware of any of the problematic elements either. like, whatsoever. more rambling below the cut.

when i was growing up, the idea of an older man who controled nearly every aspect of my life wasn't strange or discomfiting—it was my reality, and what i expected to be my reality for the rest of my life. it was normal. the idea of people going through/taking bella's things, particularly, didn't hit me wrong until much, much later, because that was an unspoken threat in my life, something that was constantly reinforced as normal. bella's lack of autonomy combined with her simultaneous forced adulthood was just... how i felt. it felt normal. (except for the access to the kitchen/cooking thing, lmao. that's one part i envied.)

i also didn't understand the harmful tropes or stereotypes and how they were impacting my thinking. i didn't see the bigotry embedded into every page featuring the wolfpack. i was just there for the rich guy who would solve all my problems, and i never even stopped to consider the rest of the characters, who have now become my favorite part of the series, the richest ground for development and theorizing.

so, now i've sort of come back to it with this fresh vehemence, a lot of enthusiasm, and a sense of good old fashioned righteous fury. i feel like i have lots to say about a long-dead franchise that really influenced me during my teenage years, and i'm glad to know it's not annoying (or, at least, not annoying you!)

i feel like i'm making up for lost time, in a way. (or. well. that's the excuse i'm making for the 37k word half-done fic that's currently sitting in my google docs, basically as a therapy exercise that'll never see the light of day, lmao.) i'm Working Through My Shit, and a lot of that is happening here on tumblr. so, glad you're enjoying the ride!

[thejustmaiden]

Fiction and Real Life Go Hand In Hand

This blog goes out to all those pro-Sessrin fans out there who refuse to acknowledge the very real effects fiction can have on our world and vice versa. I highly encourage other Inuyasha fans who defend/enable these shippers to read this, as well. I assure you, by no means are my intentions here to stir up trouble. Honestly, I just want some good healthy discourse for once if that’s not too much to ask. If you do decide to engage, please be mindful of that and treat others with respect and I will do the same in return. All in all, the goal of this blog is to exercise my right to speak out and be critical about content I believe to have very potentially detrimental repercussions. I ask that you not attack me or insult me simply for stating an opinion. Thank you! 

It’s like the title says, meaning fiction does matter. Where do you think we get ideas for all the stories we tell? Where do we draw inspiration from in the first place?

Real life, that's where! And yes, always with a touch of imagination! Long story short: fiction matters because real life does.

Allow me to elaborate.

Shippers of the Sesshomaru x Rin (Sessrin) pairing say it's not fair of us to throw around serious accusations or use certain deragatory terms that suggest such awful acts like child grooming or pedophilia because of the harmful implications. One of their reasonings being that some people IRL have actually lived through these traumas, so we shouldn't dare to assume they're comparable since one is just fiction and the other is not. But this isn’t about which is worse than the other, because they’re both super problematic. All we’re literally doing is making a link between grooming in real life and grooming in fiction. They mirror each other. Same issue; different mediums. We’re not undermining any one’s past experiences with grooming or the like, nor are we prioritizing fiction to diminish real life abuse. They’re both awful in numerous ways and that’s all we’re trying to say. In fact, if anything we’re attempting to demonstrate just how crucial this correlation is between them. In order to protect past victims and prevent future ones, we must remain vigiliant of the content we consume, and yes, sometimes that means we have to challenge it too. Just because it’s widely-viewed does not make it widely-accepted or well-received. It is paramount that we educate ourselves on how to be more critical of some of the harmful tropes and images that are still way too prevalent in mainstream media. Sexualizing young and pre-pubescent girls is way more normalized than some of us even realize. It’s sad but true that Sessrin is just one of many examples. I know it feels like society has failed us in a lot of ways, but it’s never too late to re-evaluate and re-learn better and more improved ways of viewing and processing information presented to us.

Our mission: Let’s not show our kids that grooming or any other form of abuse are acceptable if they may ever come to experience or encounter it themselves. Be it the real world or on screen. Deal? 

There have been a number of occasions where real life victims do speak up against the Sessrin ship and express how extremely uncomfortable it makes them feel by what it represents. The problem is that it’s becoming more evident now that many of their fans will dismiss anything purely on the basis that we pose a threat to their ship and nothing more. What it comes down to is they have no real leg to stand on and cannot possibly top any of what we have to say so instead they simply disregard it. Our inconvenient truths don't fit into their ideal *cough* OOC *cough* narrative so they just choose to be willfully ignorant. It conflicts with their fantasy, so rather than present a sound argument of their own, they flat-out reject it and offer no plausible back-up behind their reasoning besides "I don't interpret it that way." GUYS, CHILD GROOMING IS NOT UP FOR INTERPRETATION.

Just because you so desperately want your ship to come true does not mean you can up and decide to redefine a word so that it caters to your stance. Remind yourself that these are complex AND objective terms that we have no right to fiddle with to serve our own selfish purposes. This is why we can conclude that there's no debate about Sesshomaru's actions towards Rin embodying child grooming.

I apologize if any of my words are triggering by the way, so please feel free to take a break and return later if that’s more suitable for you. it's just really important that everyone in this fandom comprehends the extent in which Sessrin going canon is catastrophic. And no, I'm not exaggerating; I'm simply speaking the truth. Shippers justifying these horrible acts- yes, even in fiction- is usually due to the stubborn refusal to hear us out. No offense to anyone (just stating facts), but more times than not antis like myself feel as if we’re talking to a brick wall when we interact with Sessrin peeps. They go in circles and never expand on their perspectives. 

Just a head’s up: THIS GETS LONG. Stick with me. :p

Just look at their take on the Inukag vs. Sessrin relationships for example. This isn't a question of age gaps, this is a question of physical/emotional compatibility. Inukag are the same age mentally wise regardless of one being demon and the other not, whereas Sessrin is not and never will be, and yes, even once she's an adult. The thing is we have debunked this time and time again, because they’re not the same and therefore not comparable, but for some reason these fans won’t drop it. Nothing has changed in their argument, yet they’re persistent in bringing it up. I choose to not go into more detail, since like I said, you can find it around everywhere. I just wanted to touch upon it briefly to prove a point. Maybe it will come up again later in my blog though! 

Where was I earlier? Right, child grooming! Haven't you guys realized that what you’re doing is precisely what child groomers do to make excuses or deny any grooming took place at all? (FYI: I’m not accusing you of being child groomers yourselves.) “They reciprocated so the feelings are mutual" is a typical groomer response, but of course it varies. More often than not, victims of grooming aren't even aware they've been groomed until much later. That's how manipulative groomers are that they can legitmately convince you that maybe you're wrong in questioning their motives. Perhaps in the victim’s mind that because one huge indicator of grooming never actually took place it technically cannot constitute as grooming. They start to doubt themselves even though their intuition is telling them something’s off. They should just ignore it then since it can’t possibly be grooming if that one particular thing never happened, right? Wrong, grooming isn’t strictly this or strictly that. It's much more complicated and multi-faceted. This is why the “but Sesshomaru left Rin in the village” point upsets me greatly. HE WAS STILL INVOLVED IN HER LIFE, Y’ALL.  

On top of that, are you aware that this is the exact same kind of predatory mindset pedophiles use to describe their infatuation with children? They'll say things like, "I don't see them as an adult and a child. I see them as two people with a soul connection." Okay no joke, I wish I was lying, but that is literally a point one pro-sessrin fan on here recently used to defend this ship. It both astounds me and terrifies me that they don't see the glaring similarities they share in common with actual pedos.

Alright, I want to quickly return to what I was saying earlier about fiction's impact on real life. (Sorry, I’m a bit of a scatterbrain!)

The characters and their worlds in our stories that we dream up and bring to life are nothing short of awe-inspiring and magnificent if we so choose them to be. If it wasn't for our imaginations, stories like Inuyasha would have never come to exist. Fiction provides us an amazing outlet where we are given the opportunity to express ourselves and explore its infinite creative possibilities.

But strip away all the demons and magical components of this show we all love so dearly and what are we left with?

At the very core, Inuyasha is a story that's very reminiscent of the human experience: love, camaraderie, a sense of purpose, and much more!

So perhaps we got a full-fledged dog demon like Sesshomaru, but does that necessarily mean we can't relate to him or understand him simply because dog demons don't exist in the real world? Well, I hope that's not how you view it or else you're missing the whole point of why humans create stories to begin with. We create them to make better sense of and thus connect with the world we live in. And when you really think about it, our stories are just a celebration of life- both our struggles and our triumphs. Now I'm no philosophy professor, but I'm pretty sure they'd say I hit that nail right smack on the head. ;)

All shitty jokes aside, the whole reason I’m mentioning this specific example in the first place is because this recently came up with another Sessrin supporter. That supporter tried to defend the ship by stating that we aren't allowed to use Sesshomaru as an example to judge by since his kind don't exist in the real world.

Now if it isn't evident already, this "it's just fiction" argument is a popular go-to stance many Sessrin fans will resort to once they've run out of ideas and are metaphorically backed into a corner. The funny/sad thing is that they seem to sincerely believe this is strong enough evidence to defend their ship with, but per usual, they fail to see how hypocritical that would be. I’ll clarify soon down below. 

Seriously, since when did we decide that fantasy- or any story genre for that matter- stopped reflecting the real world we live in? I mean, we humans are the ones writing these stories. Our human influence is bound to make an impact in some capacity. In fact, we want it to!

Obviously none of us have ever met a dog demon like Sesshomaru, because how could we? Let me tell ya, this is gaslighting at its finest! This is a fictional story with fantasy elements, so of course there will be beings and creatures in their world that don't exist in our own. Does that somehow translate to the fact that nothing from the story of Inuyasha can be applied to our own personal stories or that there aren't meaningful messages to be taught and learned?

So on the flipside, if they're not screaming at us "it's just fiction" for the hundred billionth time, then they are, believe it or not, doing the reverse and comparing it to real world history. One instance of this is how they tell us we're making a big deal about something that isn't real, but go right ahead and use the history of feudal Japan to support Sesshomaru's decision to court (aka GROOM) a young girl because that's how it was done back then. And so, your point being?? It wasn't right then just because it was legal, and it's most certainly not right now. This is how all of their arguments go by the way, where you'll constantly witness a cherry-picking approach. It's agonizing to endure contradiction after contradiction in their arguments filled with nothing but holes in their logic.

I'd just like to add that if we're overreacting to this fictional ship like they love to say we are then technically so are they. They tell us things like "grow up" or "nobody is telling you to keep watching," yet fail to realize they're reacting just as fervently as we are but just on the opposing side of the same damn argument. I find it interesting how they're as invested in this show but pretend they aren't then STILL have the audacity to say it's only us who care this much!? So thank you Sessrin shippers for further proving our point that fiction is more than capable of affecting reality and the people- YES, US- who reside in it.

It's insane that people act like pedophiles and other creeps don't enjoy entertainment too like the rest of us. Believe it or not, they look just like you and me most of the time. Yes, that means they can easily pass as a “regular guy” if they so wished to. My question to you is how do you think pedophiles will take it when they discover others- underage fans more specifically- who dig the same kinda media they get off to? Maybe not in the exact same way, mind you, but there's a thin line between them when you really think about it. I mean, what other explanation is there for why literal pedos on the internet have been known to sneak into pro-sessrin group chats here on Tumblr before? (Thankfully, they were later kicked.) I know that for a fact! It's almost as if the universe is trying to tell them something they refuse to listen to elsewhere. Hhmmm I wonder what that may be. 

I imagine it’s possibly one of the hardest things to admit out loud and to themselves, but I can almost guarantee you that most of these Sessrin shippers who are victims of CSA and who still see no issue with Sessrin must be living with some sort of unresolved trauma caused by the very abuse they claimed to have undergone. It's been proven that victims who do not seek or properly receive the help and treatment they need in order to address and live with a traumatic experience such as this are more likely to perpetuate that very same abuse themselves in some way, shape or form. What if in this case fiction is enough for them, but who's to say it won’t eventually manifest itself in other more dire and far-reaching ways? It's not like we haven't seen this vicious cycle before, and I can promise you that Sessrin won't be the last. LET'S STOP NORMALIZING & GLORIFYING THE ROMANTIZATION & SEXUALIZATION OF CHILDREN. Fictional example: Usagi Drop. Need I say more? Real world example: Woody Allen. Again, need I say more?

Bottom line is that Sessrin shippers don't want us to think too critically about this ship of theirs, because if we dig too deep then they're forced to face the very troubling implications this pairing really stands for. Of course they'll never admit to them, because instead they rather double down and grasp at the same old straws as long as it means their precious ship is protected at all costs. Screw everyone else if that's what it takes, because they'll threaten to burn down legit buildings in real life if that ensures Sessrin goes canon! (True story, this happened on Twitter.) They’ll taunt and bully anyone who disagrees. Even if all you literally say is that you don’t like the ship, they’ll gang up on you. Tell them about your past experience with being groomed? They’ll laugh in your face. I wish I was kidding, but I assure you I am not.  And they say we're ridiculous and taking this way too seriously? Yeah...

The typical behavior of a Sessrin shipper demonstrates an overly aggressive front since they're usually on defense mode anyway. They only want to ship their sick ship in peace in other words. But just because neo-nazis have a right to spew their bigoted ideology, doesn't mean we don't got the right to punch them! Freedom of speech doesn't equate to freedom from consequences. And Sessrin shippers wonder why they got so many haters. Just sayin'.

Their presence on other platforms like Twitter and Reddit are some examples of how delusional and unstable some Sessrin fans are capable of becoming. Even recently, an anon here on Tumblr sent Richard Ian Cox (English VA for Inuyasha) a totally uncalled for ask telling him that "sessrin is love and there's nothing he can do about it." (That's not verbatim, but if you're interested I'll link you to it.) It appears they discovered that he didn't like Sessrin based on how he had been replying to asks, and just for that reason alone they thought they had the right to harass him. For simply stating his opinion, y'all. They didn't even have the decency to show their face either. Talk about immature and cowardly! 

Just yesterday (or was it the day before?) a fanatic Sessrin user on Tumblr- who’s also been known for hateful remarks on Twitter but those tweets have of course been deleted since then- went out of their way to not only lurk in a group chat they don’t belong to on here but to then proceed to harass a few of us in there. They had the guts to take screenshots from that group chat, tag us in posts on their page regarding what they read in there, and without our knowledge or permission went ahead and actually blogged them?? I mean, who calls out people behind their backs while they're just minding their own business?? It worries me how unhinged and out of touch with reality some Sessriners are. Not all of them, but a whole lot of them. 

It seems all they are doing is looking for trouble, as they just can't stand how much we hate this ship. So it's more than okay if they love on their ship but it's not okay if we don't and we should just keep our mouths shut. But since when do Sessrin fans have authority over our opinions? Even if they were officially canon, nothing is ever gonna change our opinion. Now when they actually do decide to participate in discourse with antis, you'll see them fishing for excuses to bow out. How they normally go about this is by fabricating a way to blame us antis for their exiting a conversation as if we're being the irrational ones here.

There’s no denying that some antis can also be overly blunt or aggressive (nobody is saying we’re perfect here), but speaking for myself, I know I would never make such nasty comments about other fans and their personal lives. And honestly? It would make me feel like shit talking bad about someone I don't actually know. Nah, I won't stoop to that level or give haters that satisfaction. I may not attack them as people, but that doesn't mean I can't attack some of their messed up ideas that threaten to distort how we should or shouldn’t perceive certain dangerous situations and events. Seeing as how for me this is more than just a matter of opinion- it's a moral responsibility and even an obligation.

I know it's difficult to remain civil when things get heated and people start taking things personally- yet more proof that fiction impacts our lives- but that's the only way any of us will ever have constructive discussions about serious topics like this. Unfortunately, Sessrin shippers, from what I can tell, are incapable of engaging in real discourse for the most part. They may be vocal but that doesn't mean they can pack a punch. I’d really love to be proven wrong someday.

Okay, moving on! If they're not involved in some big-time gaslighting then they're using their infamous strawman argument approach.

Sessrin fans’ sole purpose isn't really to defend their ship, per se, but rather to deflect and antagonize. They like to mislead in order to shift the focus/blame onto their opponent or something else that's not related so that they can stray from the main point. 

Take the drama CD for example. It's officially NOT considered canon, right? But that hasn't stopped many fans from referencing it anyway so let’s too consider it for a moment. The point is that they use its "existence" whenever convenient then deny it or downplay it whenever it’s not. So on one hand, it's plain as day that they celebrate it as proof of a romantic future for Sessrin. But then later once we point out to them that Sesshomaru is essentially confessing to Rin that he will wait for her until she's of age, they'll brush it off and quickly add that they didn't interpret the scene that way and leave it at that. I mean how else would you interpret it? And if it's not a proposal of sorts then why exactly are you bouncing off the walls about it to begin with?? If that's all it means is nothing then why are we even talking about this?! You see what I mean here??! And somehow we're the crazy ones? 

Let me to be frank with you. If you haven’t listened to it already, this proposal he offered her sounded like a declaration of love in a multitude of ways, which is wildly inappropriate since Rin was only 12 at the time. Signifying that Sesshomaru was/is indeed grooming her. Well, that is if you choose to recognize the drama CD. Nevertheless, whether you do or not, I personally hate that this non-canon satire is even associated with the Inuyasha name to begin with. Ugh. 

Intentional or not, Sesshomaru made a deliberate decision in that moment to tell a little girl- and not just any little girl mind you but a girl he's taken in under his care for a good year- that he would wait for her if she so chooses once she's old enough. 

The issue is that it isn’t only age of consent we’re concerned about regarding this pairing. What Sessriners fail to see is that this grown male authority- her vassal, her guardian, her adoptive father, or whatever you wanna refer to him as- is basically making a move on this girl he had in his company for quite some time. There's no sugarcoating that. Us antis call it how it is, and I'm sure as fucking day other people who don't watch the show would most certainly agree that the Sesshomaru/Rin bond is filial. Set aside those rose-tinted glasses of yours, and going by everything we’ve been delivered in the manga and parts of the anime (and NOT the drama cd), there are literally no hints that indicate a blossoming romance between this adult male demon and this small human girl he’s taken under his wing. You can imagine them all you want if it pleases you, but that doesn’t mean they’re there. Adult!Rin is a figment of your imagination, nothing more. The idolization of this pairing is pretty disturbing seeing as all we have to go off of in canon is Child!Rin. There have only ever been sweet and innocent moments passed between the two, which is why I’m positive that an unbiased viewer or an outsider would state their dynamic resembled something akin to a father-daugther relationship. I would bet a shit ton of money on that, believe you me!

Rin's inhibitions are low because children are naturally naive and don't know any better. Remember, she adores and trust this man with all her heart, so why would she think any of this so-called grooming is not normal behavior. (I only say “so-called grooming” because I don’t think Sesshomaru bringing her gifts in the village has to be a romantic thing.) Or how would she ever be able to understand that she’s being taken advantage of if she has no previous experience with it? Maybe if she was present for that time Inuyasha and the gang scolded Miroku when they had learned that years previous he had supposedly proposed to this young girl in the village they were visiting, then Rin would. And he didn’t even assist in helping raise her but look at how they reacted! How is this any different than Sesshomaru hooking up with Rin later? It’s actually worse in Sessrin's case. Do you honestly believe that Inuyasha and the others would take kindly to this?

It's not uncommon and considered harmless for young children to have crushes on adults, after all, but the adults in these scenarios should never resort to using and abusing the position of power they held or continue to hold over this child for any reason whatsoever.

What I'm trying to get across here is that no matter how you spin it, Sessrin can NEVER be deemed a morally acceptable pairing. Like ship what you want, we're not saying you can't ship Sessrin. What we're saying is this:

STOP referring to their bond as "pure" and not expect backlash for your grossly inaccurate statements. Just admit it's toxic, because it's extremely harmful to many viewers- and not just victims- to pretend and suggest otherwise.

Please remind yourself of the very real canon fact that Rin traveled with Sesshomaru and they established a bond all while she was just a girl. Oh, and he saved her life too many times to count, not to mention brought her back from the dead TWICE. This is why I don't care much for your counter argument "that dynamics can change over time," because although that's true, like with everything in life there must be standards we adhere to. Exceptions to rules, if you will. Our own basic morals demand it.

For instance, it’s normal that some childhood friends begin to like each other as more than friends years down the road. Nothing wrong with that, because that's a natural and healthy occurrence. Now you cannot apply this to an adult and a child for obvious reasons, but what you also cannot do is apply this to an adult who met and knew another adult while they were still just a child. Why? Well, because it'd be like betraying and perverting that former child's view of you. They were never your equal because your established dynamic resembles that of one an adult posesses with a child even once they've grown up. Think about it this way: it's in the same bracket of family members or family friends who've watched you grow up and mature into an adult. Then later just because they're all grown up, does that mean that those children "are not off bounds" - that's quoting a Sessrin shipper by the way- to these certain family members and family friends? 

If you're still struggling to grasp this, I urge you to take a moment (or all the time you need!) to really put yourself in that child's shoes and self-reflect. Would you truly be alright with a family friend you haven't seen in years (but sorely missed because they used to occasionally babysit you) just someday coming back into your life and then very inappropriately flirting with you or even making sexual advances on you? (Sorry for the run-on!) Or even worse, can you picture this happening to one of your own children??! Seriously, ask yourself that and sit with that for a while and really take it all in. It’s not fun, I know, but if that’s what it takes to help you finally understand then please try and practice more ways to utilize your self-awareness in the future. It’s for everyone’s benefit, not only yours, I promise! You'll also find it makes it tremendously easier to empathize with others.

I got news for those fans who don’t view Sesshomaru as a father figure to Rin. The title we give him doesn’t hold as much weight as a lot of us are making it out to be. Let’s try to be neutral here and stick to the hard facts, shall we?

*Sesshomaru is an adult male authority whose protection Rin is under*

*It’s safe to assume that Rin has grown attached to him and maybe even looks up to him*

*They care about each other and the other's well-being*

*He has has played a crucial part in her supervision and care for a significant period of time (yes, even if it’s just passing a message along to Jaken)*

Not so random anecdote: In an Inuyasha episode I recently revisited, Sesshomaru had just rescued Rin from Kohaku who had been possessed by Naraku and was ordered to kill Rin. Anyway, at the end of their scene you can hear Jaken ask out loud, “what should we do for dinner, Lord Sesshomaru?” And that’s about the most domestic thing I’ve ever heard come out of his mouth. They’re such a family dammit and nothing will ever change that!! <3

This is precisely why I could never in a million years view those past students of mine in a romantic light. I don't care how many years have passed, it's just not possible for me. Just the idea of pursuing a romantic and/or sexual relationship absolutely repels me.

Speaking as a former teacher, you don't need to be a parental figure who's around all the time in order to have great love and affection for a child. I would've done absolutely anything in my power to protect them even though they weren't my own. Then again, I did consider them my children in a way even if wasn't in a familial sense. Does that make my love for them any less unique? No, it's just different but not inferior. When you stop to think about, it really doesn't take as long as you may think to establish rapport with a person, particularly children. Connecting with a child is almost instant (but of course some are more receptive than others), and once you do make that special connection one can only make with a child, a strong and overwhelming need to guide and protect them kicks in almost automatically. The unconditional love an adult feels for a child is powerful and constant, and nothing should ever change that. As much as some of you really want to believe otherwise, that feeling doesn’t just go away because they turned 18. In your eyes, they’ll always be that kid.

I get it, sometimes when we escape into these fictional worlds of ours, it's difficult not to project our own wishes and desires onto certain characters. I don't blame fans for picturing themselves with Sesshomaru- I know I did haha- but never once did I self-insert myself as Rin. I know she's one of the biggest catalysts for his character growth- if not THE biggest- but how and why does that need to turn romantic? There are other antis who I have spoken with on this. They informed me that they used to live vicariously through Rin and ship them together, as well. As they got older, they later learned how weird and twisted this ship actually was. That's what's supposed to happen, y'all, you're supposed to grow out of that fixation. 

Now take your mind out of the Inuyasha universe for a second and hypothetically (or not hypothetically if you have kids) answer me this: if and/or when you ever have a child, would you genuinely be comfortable with the idea of them dating and eventually marrying their father’s best friend who was also there to witness them grow up? Be honest please. 

I highly doubt you would want that- or at least I hope not. You see, that's another MAJOR point I've made a few times already and yet you Sessrin shippers continue to avoid the question. It's pretty obvious it hasn't been rhetorical either. Ignorance is bliss?

Finally, I’d like to address one more point. It seems there is a HUGE misconception and I'd like to clear it up real quick. That is Sessrin shippers misinterpret one of the issues we have with this ship. They chalk up our complaints of Sessrin being canon (which is a LIE, nothing has been confirmed yet) to us just being salty because that somehow means our ships aren't or won’t be. I assure you, readers, other antis and I will attest that this ain't about dumb shipping wars, this is so much bigger than that!!!

I noticed recently that some Sessrin fans have even begun calling us Karens lolol like if anybody is a Karen it's them! This ain't about some mere difference in taste, this is very likely to have LONG-LASTING NEGATIVE EFFECTS. Sessrin going canon is a very harmful message to send viewers and children/teens especially. So if anything, it’s these shippers who are being the entitled ones here thinking that the fact we don’t support their ship is the worst thing in the world. NO, THE REAL PROBLEM IS CHILD GROOMING. GET OVER YOURSELF.

Out of nowhere, some of them even started assuming all us antis were white, which in their books is also equivalent to Karens or even white supremacists somehow?? Those aren't one in the same, but it's easy to make it appear that way when the US is currently tackling major systems of oppression and racial injustice. Because to them, all antis must be from over here. (Yes, I'm American. But no, I'm not white.) How else can anyone explain not shipping Sessrin, right?! Somehow they have it in their heads that ALL of Japan and surrounding places are super approving of this ship, and that everyone else isn’t because of their upbringing and “Western way of thinking.”  

To give you an idea of what I mean, look back at what I talked about earlier with their incessant mention of Sessrin vs. Inukag. Because THIS is another popular example of how these shippers present their side and then ignore all the facts. Many fans have already proven how fucked up and inaccurate it is to label whole countries and cultures. It’s like they simply think mentioning it makes it count even though we’ve discredited their points over and over. Nah, you got to back it up with good reasons that support your side of the argument. That’s How To Have An Argument: 101. So at the end of the day, all they're actually achieving in doing is making dumb and entirely unrelated accusations based on nothing just to lead to deductions that are equally unfounded. Nothing at all is accomplished but more gaslighting and hurling of insults on their part = a complete waste of time for antis = an excuse for them to peace out early from the conversation & that’s what they wanted all along

We’ve reached the end (finally! sorry for all the rambling!), and I hope those of you who stayed till the end or read enough can take something positive out of this. As many Inuyasha fans are aware, there will be a livestream with the VAs for Sesshomaru and Rin coming out within the next few hours. We don’t have all the details yet, and afterwards we probably still won’t. I’m not just talking about Sessrin here but about the sequel in general. Whatever happens, please just remember to be kind to one another. If you don’t think you’re capable of doing that, then it’s best you vent and fume elsewhere. Easier said than done, I know, but just try. Throughout this blog, I admit there were moments where I got frustrated and took some jabs at Sessrin shippers. Please believe me when I say that I do not and would not ever wish any of you ill will. 

Inuyasha was such a huge part of my childhood, and I’m not gonna lie, I’m anxious as hell that Sunrise will ruin one of the best things I loved about this show. So pardon me if my reactions are too visceral for your liking. haha Also, like the movies and the drama cd, this sequel is not in fact canon. Therefore, for those of you who disagree or who still plan to enjoy this new series, respect the fact that some of us fans will definitely “cancel” it if we feel that’s what we have to do to come to terms with it and move on. Fans have that right, after all. Why should we get on board with something if it’s so uncharacteristic of and unrecognizable from the original source material? If all this is some sort of cash grab of Sunrise’s doing, then count me out. I truly hope that this sequel turn outs being a lot more promising than a lot of us are expecting. I’m begging you, Sunrise, I wanna believe you’re better than this. Please and thank you!   

By the way, if you’re interested, feel free to check out my two other blogs on this same subject. Click here and here. The last two screenshots do not come from something I’ve written myself. If you’d like to read more from where those came from, let me know and I’d be more than happy to send you the links. Okay, bye for now. Peace out and stay safe, everyone! 

[the-littlefangirl]

TFATWS episode 2 rewatch commentary

We should've guessed John Walker was going to be an asshole the moment it was revealed he played football in high school

That remix of star spangled man is my villain origin story JEEEEEEESUS i want to punch something

They literally mass produced a Walker action figure in two weeks what the fuck

"Your new Captain America" GAAAAAAAAAAh * angry noises *

"For those who aren't familiar with John's resume" thank you GMA lady

My face during that whole speech: wtf and indignation intensify

Bucky's face: yep same.

Imagine being Sam and everywhere you go you're seeing your one (1) mistake spit in your face overandoverandover again that's g r e a t

Tbh that sambucky reunion was anticlimatic as fuck but i actually liked that, it was like WELL HERE WE GO AGAIN they can’t look at each other for 5 seconds before they need to start bickering

"You think it didn't break my heart" SAM SWEETIE

YeAH TELL HIM SAM

The way I know this clip by heart help me. It's still hilarious but it's even better now that I know that they literally just met and they're already bickering can you PLEASE stop you children

T H E  B I G  T H R E E

Spoiler it was a thing

Love how nonchalant Joaquín is about this entire situation lmao

"You sure about that"

*Fakes smiles* yeah, * screams *

Congrats at least you didn't rip your arm off this time that's what I call progress

is he… is he wearing high wasted skinny (jeans) combat pants?

Redwing i'm sorry for what's about to happen :(

"Look at you all stealthy" PLEASE

"it's white wolf, actually" n e r d

SAM MATERIALIZING OUT OF THIN AIR SAFHAJSFHA this is the second time that happened it’s so funny

H E LLO H O W A R E Y O U?

GOOD! WHAT DID I MISS! NOTHING

They're literally 5 CHILDREN CHILDREN PLEASE STOP

AND I CAN FLY WHO GIVES A SHIT fsdjhfadjkfh

L e t  m  e   s e e

Four

Yeah

Five!

YeaH

“So they're strong. W h a t e v e r”

SFHJDASKFA we're superheroes ma'am vibes

3 supersoldiers what could possibly go wrong

REDWING MY BELOVED FAREWELL

"I always wanted to do that" *gets punched in the face* you deserved that

YEAH BABEE look at those wings

Why do the knockoff duo have a special handshake jesus fucking christ i hate them

“SAM JOHN WALKER CAPTAIN AMERICA” Sam: *Glares harder*

Sam is having a very shitty day

So are we going to ignore that Bucky did t h e  t h i n g with the shield? Ok? Ok.

You can't tell me he wasn't thinking of just grabbing it like a toy and not returning it in the middle of the fight sfj

LOOK AT THOSE W I N G S

*whispers* t h e e arm thing

*Stares at the wall* I CAN'T WITH THAT SEQUENCE WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO MEJSFHJASFAH PLEASE they didn't have to go that far with the grunting noises PLEASE

John Walker getting his ass served is something that can be so personal<3

Also, I like that they've now established that he CAN lose a fight, which makes me wonder if he's also going to use his political influence as leverage against sam and bucky once he goes berserk

"It's one of the big three" "Aliens, androids or wizards" "pretty sure" lmao yeah I don't think that's the vindication Sam was looking for

"Look, I've done the work, okay" SHUT THE FUUUUUUCK UP

"You ever jump on top of a grenade" bucky finding out about it in the middle of a briefing during the war fic trope intensifies

"It's a reinforced helmet" well you're fucking losing the point there then you naive clown

Captain "Kind of the government" America??? NOPE NOPE GOODBYE N O P E NOOOOOOOOOOOPE

"Usually said by the people with the resources" daaamn

“I'm Battlestar. John's partner" A clown that’s what you are

Bucky: YES I'VE REACHED MY LIMIT STOP THE FUCKING CAR

"It'd be a whole lot easier if I had Cap's wingmen on my side" FUUUUUUUUUCK YOUUUUUUU

"It's always that last line" yeP

Erin Kellyman is??? So pretty???

"The GRC care more about the people who came back than the ones who never left" love how they keep putting those random bits since otherwise their position sounds??? Extremely reasonable?? BUT THEY ARE V I O L E N T  R E V O L U T I O N E R S fuck off

"Let's take the shield, Sam" oh you BET he's been spiraling thinking about 3224 strategies on how to steal the shield during that flight

Sharon name drop:)

YES I KNOW YOU WERE ON THE RUN FOR TWO YEARS I'D REALLY HAVE WANTED TO SEE MORE OF IT JFC @marvel i hate you so much

The whole Baltimore sequence * chef's kiss *

ELI SWEETIE

Friendly reminder that Isaiah Bradley won a fight against the Winter Soldier. Proceed.

"I'm not a killer anymore" bucky sweetie

"You think you can wake up one day and decide who you wanna be" OOOOF

Carl Lumbly's acting f u c k

"How could nobody bring him up" SAM SWEETIE

I'm going to go ballistic now excuse me:))

This whole scene is so well written jesus fucking christ

Have you praised Anthony Mackie's performance today?

Twitter is this clear enough for you?????

Tbh i'm actually surprised marvel allow them to go there even if the situation didn't escalate.

They put the tiiiiniest handcuffs on bucky lmfao

How many more "bucky"s from Walker's mouth until someone punches him?

"He's too valuable of an asset to have tied up" YEAH BEEP BEEP ALARMS GOING OFF RIGHT THE FUCK NOW UHM THOSE WERE SOME… WORD CHOICES… THAT WERE USED… fuck you Walker

"It's something I use with couples" oh coME ON

SFHAJSDFH this is ridiculous i love it

Malcolm Spellman: * agressively takes notes on Stackie's interviews *

SOUL-GAZING EXERCISE LMFAO

THEY'RE SO STUPID I HATE THEM

Sambucky: *chaotic leg positioning*

Dr Raynor: WOW ALL RIGHT

I love that the staring contest thing is the conclusion of the bucky staring joke lmao

AND DON'T SAY SOMETHING CHILDISH

this is literally not about you bucky

"Maybe this is something you or Steve will never understand. But can you accept that I did what I thought was right?" YEAH!!!! 

Why is everyone, on the show and outside of it too, acting as if Sam made that decision of out the blue and didn't think about it for six months straight, and look what happened! He got fucking played! He's feeling enough remorse as it is jfc

"Thanks Doc for making it weird I feel much better" LMFAO

Oh you KNOW that the shoulder clap is going to come back unironically and it's going to be soft as fuck

"I feel better" "I feel awful" props for the honesty boys!

"It wouldn't make sense to work with you" more like you're the fucking government's lap dog and we wouldn't touch that with a twelve feet long pole. Let's fucking go Sam let's fucking go

10/10 building of Walker actually being a fucking asSHOLE

The Power Broker name drop!

Yes Bucky SHOULD beat the SHIT out of Zemo. As a treat.

"We're going to go see Zemo" *CLASSICAL MUSIC STARTS BLASTING IN THE BACKGROUND*

Oh I love that last bird eye's shot at the end of the scene

Overall thoughts: This episode was MUCH MUCH better on second viewing. I do think it’s a little bit too fast paced so a lot of things keep happening and there’s not enough time to process them in between?? Again the best moments are the quiet ones like the flight back and the Baltimore scene, but mad props to everyone from jumping between comedy and drama so fucking well. Even though there are, in tone, some very opposite atmospheres in the episode it never feels chaotic, and the situations that happen are very well connected and don’t feel disjointed at all.

The highlight of the episode was definitely the two different ways Sam and Bucky are (avoiding) grieving over Steve, and how his legacy hangs between them at all times. It makes so much sense for Bucky to take the entire situation so personally because Steve was the One thing he knew he could trust, while Sam is trying to see the bigger picture and not just what Steve demanded of him.

Hope that makes sense!

[lycorogue]

Miraculous World: New York - United HeroeZ live-blogging (sorta)

Okay, it’s hard for me to live-blog everything I want to squee about, especially with the first watch. But I’m still wide awake and watching the re-air so let’s see how I do. (Turns out, I’m a slower typer than I thought and most of this was done post-watch again :P )

I absolutely love this special’s opening credits. It has a very Marvel feel. Nice.

Um... Uh... Did... Did Cristina Vee forget her Ladybug/Marinette voice over the break? I’m not liking this voice. I’m not liking it at all. STOP WITH THE VOICE! NOOOOOOO! (Also... Mr. Pigeon... Again? -_- )

Love that Adrien has started looking up the meaning of roses so he can find one Ladybug will actually accept. XD The boy tries so hard. <3

Hubby thought that Cristina might have decided to change up Ladybug’s voice so it’s not so obvious she’s Marinette (a la Batman) but the deeper voice is still here for Marinette. WHYYYYY!? The hiatus was clearly too long. She’s completely forgotten Marinette’s voice. OTL

Awww, Miss Bustier is pregnant!? She’ll be a great mom! eeeee

Also, smoooooooooth Marinette. Adrien is TOTALLY just a friend now... >_> Poor Luka. -_-

Also... ALYA’S VOICE IS WRONG TOO! WHAT THE HECK! WHYYYYYYYY. THIS IS SO AWESOME BUT I JUST CAN’T WITH THESE NEW VOICES! Everyone sounds deeper and gruffer... is that because the VAs are out of practice? Is it because they had to record at home with different equipment? What’s going on!?

Of COURSE Gabriel suspects a Miraculous in America. Good way to bring him to the States. At least Keith Silverstein remembered his Gabriel/Hawk Moth voice. I don’t know if I could have handled either Hawky or Adrien having the wrong tone of voice in this.

Oh. Oh no! Oh dear! Nathalie’s voice is the worst! At least hers can be explained away that she’s still recovering from the Battle for the Miracle Box but... *cringe*

KAGAMI’S OFF TOO! I think it’s 100% the actors not remembering the voices they used for these characters. -_- Such a shame. This movie is amazing, but the voices are so hard for me to get past. 

OMG, THE LITTLE CAT TO ALERT LADYBUG IS FLIPPIN’ ADORABLE! I’d hit the button a million times myself, so I feel ya, Chat Noir. Also, BRILLIANT play, Ladybug. :D

Equally brilliant plan on Plagg’s part. At least, it would have been if they were able to actually exercise it. Also.... WHERE DID THIS POWER OF FLIGHT COME FROM AND WHY DIDN’T THEY USE IT BEFORE!? >_> Me thinks the recipe for this power is magically going to be forgotten again once we get into the show proper.

Also, I know there will be salt thrown by the handful at Adrien after this special BUT THE BOY DIDN’T WANT TO ABANDON PARIS! He was going to stay and give up his class trip, but Plagg was right, when does Gabriel ever give him the freedom to do something like this? As someone who never got to go on any out-of-state (let alone out-of-country) class trips, I know how hard FOMO hits. If I had the chance, I would have jumped at it, ESPECIALLY after Plagg came up with a solid plan. EVEN SO, HE WAS GOING TO STAY! PLAGG CONVINCED HIM! And Plagg meant well. He wanted his kid to have a taste of freedom. Just... JUST LEAVE THESE TWO PRECIOUS BEANS ALONE, SALTERS!

UPDATE: The salters did NOT leave Adrien alone for this -_-

-_- And of course Luka’s voice is ALSO off. Still, my boy RACING A FRIGGEN BUS so Marinette can make the trip to NYC! SUCH A FRIGGEN GOOD BOI AND HOW CAN FANS HATE HIM HE’S JUST AMAZING AND *chef kiss* My heart just BREAKS for him though, because he’s sending his would-be girlfriend off on a weeklong class trip with her “former” crush and he KNOWS she’s still in love, but he’s not asking her to stay or pushing her to give up on Adrien and omg this kid is too pure my poor son!

UPDATE: So, apparently the hate mostly comes from Luka being - excuse the pun but - “one note” where as Kagami is more fleshed out and well rounded? Really? We know just as much about her as we do Luka. Just because we’ve seen Kagami flawed and we haven’t particularly seen Luka stumble that makes her more well-rounded? What if we just haven’t seen what Luka’s bad at? It IS possible to write someone whose flaws don’t necessarily come up often without them being some 2D Mary Sue. Give the writers (and Luka) a chance....

Awww. Adrien feeling guilty about leaving Paris and Ladybug. :’( But look at how cheered up he was just by SEEING Marinette! LOOK AT HOW HE RACED TO HER TO SEE WHERE SHE WAS SITTING!

Aaaaand then she panics. -_- This could have been Startrain all over again, but NOOOOO she’s now so focused on “he’s just a friend and I have to get over him” that she just has 0 chill around him anymore. -_- Go back to admitting you have a crush and just stumbling over yourself around him, huh?

(The Adrienette is STRONG in this scene though and I’m eating it up)

LOOK AT HOW DISAPPOINTED ADRIEN LOOKS SINCE SHE RAN OFF FROM HIM! WHYYYYYYY? And he has to be stuck sitting between his bodyguard and Mendeleiev. Poor kid doesn’t even have a friend to chat with on the long flight. TT3TT 

(So kind of serves Marinette right that she ALSO feels guilty about leaving Paris and now she has Mr. Damocles falling asleep on her instead of Adrien!)

I do appreciate that Cristina seems to be remembering Marinette’s voice more-or-less finally. Yay.

EEEEEE The sunset on the plane scene!!!!! <3 He speaks so softly to her and <3 <3 <3 (Also... Bryce Papenbrook seemed to have lost his Adrien voice in this recording... -_- )

UUUgh... was that still Ben Diskin doing Nino’s voice during the whole Operation New York dialogue with Alya? That didn’t sound anything like Nino! *sigh* Again, the main problem I have with this is the actors didn’t seem to get back into character before recording. Such a shame.

UPDATE: It was in fact NOT Ben Diskin anymore. :’( The new voice actor did well enough, but it just wasn’t Nino. I’m sure it will feel more like him the more I hear it, but I already miss the Southern Cali 90s Surfer Dude accent, even if it made no sense for a Gen Z Parisian to have it in the first place.

Awww, Mr. Damocles changing into his Knight Owl costume. <3 And then had to change back out of it. XD

They... actually named a superhero Uncanny Valley......

Knight Owl and Sparrow, AKA Batman and Robin.

“That’s just Captain Redlight directing traffic.” XD I mean, yeah, we have a lot of superhero characters but I think this is a bit much.

Alya oh so discretely pointing to Marinette as Nino directs Adrien to look out the window to see how beautiful NYC is. XD

AAAAAAND sliding doors vs Adrienette part 1. LOL I love how Aeon instantly figured out that Adrienette belong together.

Ooooooo Sabrina is gonna get herself an American boyfriend (And look at how jealous Chloe gets XD)

Adrien’s Soft Smile as Marinette realizes she was resting her hand on his stomach as she was hiding from Ms. Mendeleiev. So cute!

“Is it a bird?” “A plane” “No, it’s Hotdog Dan!” Oh. Em. Gee. Seriously? Ketchup Boy and Mustard Justice? Why!? Who came up with these code names!? XDDD

HOW DID NINO AND ALYA JUST RIP A HOTDOG IN HALF!?

eeeeeeeeeeeee THE FLOATING SCENE!!!!

Also, helium-voiced Nino commenting about his chick having wings <3

“Do you know this song?” I KNEW INSTANTLY WHERE ALYA WAS GOING WITH THIS AND I’M 100% HERE FOR IT. I AM SCREAMING!

Adrien’s soft asking Marinette to dance with him? He was practically PLEADING for her to say yes! And then she just scurries away from him!? And he grabs her hand to stop her from floating away. And then they just... nuzzle into each other as they dance and... yup. I’m screaming. <3 <3 <3 <3 (Also, the dance was at a party Chloe threw to prove to Adrien that she can be nice; it wasn’t her birthday, but I guess canonically it now was????)

Superheroes in America don’t have to hide their identities... perhaps someone should look into the comic book run of Avengers Civil War and decide if that’s a good thing... >_>

“I don’t mind being stuck with a friend like you” My heart is just flatlining. Like. ADRIEN, JUST SAY YOU ARE IN LOVE WITH HER ALREADY, OKAY!?

Jess and Aeon’s plan is as convoluted as one of Marinette’s XD I just love these two and I hope we see more of them.

Ah, Alya and Nino are good at manipulating their friends. 

Paris is under attack! Oh no! 0_0 

Ah, bargain-bin Doctor Octopus

After fully watching the special I know the answer, but when first hearing Sparrow I wondered if maybe Jess was genderfluid. Kind of a reverse of the Sailor Stars.

The transformation for the American heroes is both awesome and ridiculous and I love them.

“Marinette’s in danger” Adrien then INSTANTLY becomes Chat Noir to save her! <3 <3 <3 <3 I FREAKED when I first watched this part because I was afraid he might have spotted (excuse the pun) Marinette transforming. I was also curious how they were going to explain why they were in NYC. “I’ll explain later” is a good excuse. They are preoccupied by the villain and that gives him time to come up with a lie. Smart?

Aaaaand Cristina Vee forgot her Ladybug voice again. I hope this isn’t a new thing; switching up her voice for Ladybug. I’m not much of a fan, especially since she hasn’t always done it. :/

It kills me that Sparrow constantly comments about not calling for backup and gets in trouble for not calling when Sparrow DID try and the communicator was destroyed.

*flinch* The Chat Noir Cataclysm scene. My heart. It hurts. Poor Adrien. </3 All the guilt he has to hold for the majority of the second half of this thing.

EDIT: Totally forgot about the “American superhero gets understandably emotional over a loved one and smashes the villain through about half-a-dozen buildings with complete disregard for the collateral damage” trope.

Dollar Store Batman couldn’t figure out the manhole cover wasn’t in place. Whoops.

The breakdown scene where Ladybug lets Chat Noir know about how her powers work and how she can’t repair Paris. And Adrien giving up his powers. </3 And even though she’s so upset, and she felt betrayed by Chat Noir, the fact that she INSTANTLY yelled when she heard him renouncing his Miraculous and relinquishing it to Ladybug! And her TEARS as she realizes she lost him and won’t be able to return his Miraculous to him since she can’t even ask Fu to return it anymore!? Aaaaaaaaa! My heart!

“Gilbert?” XD I’m sorry but just hearing the poor little Eagle calling out the name is just too adorable.

ADRIEN WANDERING ALONE IN THE RAIN!? MARINETTE LOOKING ONTO THE CAT MIRACULOUS ALSO IN THE RAIN!? MY HEART IS BREAAAAAAAKINGGGGGG

The press conference requesting the NYC residents to stay inside until further notice. >_> Yeah... that... that might not work out so well if real life is any indication.....

“I wouldn’t have minded being stuck here a little longer with a friend like you.” >______< OH MY GOD, ADRIEN! (Also, Bryce lost his Adrien voice again... *sigh*)

Oh, and Marinette trying to chase him down to finally confess!? TT3TT

Oh man. Releasing a superhero from her fear of her powers. That can’t be.... yup. There goes like a dozen buildings in Manhattan.... -_-

Of course the POTUS is a superhero as well.... with access to weapons. Greaaaat. This isn’t a terrifying thought right about now.

I adore Sparrow. I ADORE SPARROW. I ABSOLUTELY FRIGGEN ADORE SPARROW!

About a million missile launchers hidden throughout the streets of NYC... >_< This isn’t hitting close to home or anything.

Eeeeeee. Marinette isn’t just unsure she can be Ladybug without A Chat Noir. She needs HER Chat Noir. She needs ADRIEN specifically. (Also, there goes Bryce once more forgetting his Adrien voice. Maybe he forgot what Adrien sounds like when he’s sad???)

UPDATE: Can we just talk for a minute the significance that Uncanny Valley - the superhero (accidentally) KILLED by Chat Noir (even if she was revived shortly after) - is the one happily returning Adrien’s superhero powers to him? How she has NO malice towards whatsoever towards Chat Noir? How SHE is the one to tell him that “to err is human”!? Beautiful! Love it! 

Nice. I liked that Uncanny can’t see the kwamis. Nice continuity.

THE LADYNOIR GLOMP! She was so afraid to never see him again. I LOVE how much this solidifies how important he is to HER, if not the team itself. 

The Americans being coerced by a foreign power to start a world war. -_- This truly is hitting too close to home right now....

Uh...How did Ladybug come up with the plan to trick Doorman to go to the Statue of Liberty? Both her and Adrien were already out of the room when he talked about the mystery of Eiffel’s safe inside the statue, and Marinette didn’t have any time to talk to Alya, so the two of them couldn’t have discussed how Doorman resisted figuring out this mystery because you don’t use your superhero powers for personal gain. Did she just luck into there being a mystery there that Doorman wanted to solve? Slight continuity issue there with the writing.... Whoops.

Awww, poor Doorman. He just wants to know the answer to the mystery!

Eagle’s transformation is so awesome! I love it. I love her. I want more of these American superheroes and wielders.

I love that Knight Owl and Sparrow are hand-me-down superhero titles! 

Oh my god, Hawk Moth slowly walking backwards dramatically from the window. XD WHY IS THIS MAN SO EXTRA AS WELL!? At least we know where Adrien gets it from. :P

I FORGOT ABOUT THE GORILLA! OMG! THAT IS AN AMAZING CALL BACK TO HIM! XDDD

So the American Miracle Box looks like it’s filled with Native American styled jewelry. So... are they based off the spirit totems!? I NEED TO KNOW MOOOOOOOORE!

UPDATE: Upon really paying attention to the opening credits, yes, the American Miraculous do indeed seem to be based off spirit totems.

I’m sure there’s more that I reacted to in real-time, but, as I mentioned at the top, I wasn’t writing fast enough to keep up with the pace of the show itself, so this is also largely by memory. :P Oh well. Always wanted to do a sort of reaction post about this series. One thing off the fandom bucket list, I guess.

[kalinara]

You know what I loved best about Shadowhunters?

It is the first time I’ve seen anyone tackle the idea of a deconstructive adaptation outside of fanfiction.

The Mortal Instruments novels were pretty popular as I recall.  They sold well, built up a pretty passionate fanbase, and even got a movie that I never actually saw.  I think I read maybe the first one, and it wasn’t really to my taste, but I didn’t think it was terrible.  It just had a lot of the common flaws that I see in a lot of YA books.  

And generally, when you get an adaptation, it doesn’t tend to touch on these problematic elements.  Or if it does, it kind of sidles away from them.  The Twilight movies, for example, show us a couple of POC as vampires, even though technically according to the books, all vampires get paler with age.  But at the same time, neither movies nor books really address the inherent racist dynamic between the vampires and the werewolves.  And so on.

Shadowhunters is different.

When I watch Shadowhunters as an adaptation, I get the sense that a lot of the people involved genuinely do love the Mortal Instruments as a series, but that they’re not willing to overlook the problematic elements.  They want to explore them instead.

And they did.  Starting with the Clave.  Because, at least from what I recall, there’s not a whole lot TO the Clave in the books.  I mean, it’s there.  Sort of.  But our main trio (Jace, Alec, and Izzy) seem to be primarily fighting demons on their own.  They’re literally children.  I think Alec is the oldest at what, seventeen?  And while they’re meant to protect Downworlders and only kill demons, there’s a certain level of probably unconscious superiority.  I mean obviously they don’t support Valentine, the villain who wants to genocide all the downworlders.  But the elements are still there.  Our heroes have angel blood, our heroes are special, and their authority is righteous.

I’m not trying to attack Ms. Clare with this, because I think this kind of thing is very very common in YA books in general.  But I love what Shadowhunters did with this set up.

First, Shadowhunters did away with the idea of Jace, Alec, and Izzy as lone child soldiers against demons.  The Clave exists, and it’s very visible.  The Institute is bustling, filled with all sorts of background personnel.  Something is always happening.  Things are always being monitored.  There are missions happening that our characters aren’t necessarily involved in.  This does create a bit of narrative awkwardness in the first season, when the show tended to cleave more loyally to the books.  (Alec’s role as de facto leader of the Institute early on in particular seems to wax and wane in terms of level of authority.).  But it smooths itself out early on.  And it makes more sense: fighting demons is pretty important.  Not a matter to be left to three teenagers alone.

The show both ages up our characters, which makes certain romantic plots a lot less creepy, and actually addresses the idea that these people have been essentially soldiers from childhood, and that there is a LOT of institutionalized racism and superiority, along with militant duty, that gets drilled into these people from birth.  We get to see the kind of environment that builds a Valentine, and how even generally rational adults like Luke and Jocelyn might have gotten caught up in his fanatic ideology.  It takes the throwaway comments and superiority displayed by the protagonists in the book and extrapolates where that came from.

I remember reading somewhere that Ms. Clare was really unhappy with Alec’s actions early on in season one, when he was in support of Meliorn being taken to the City of Bones for interrogation (torture).    And I can understand that.  I’m sure Ms. Clare has a very clear idea in her mind about who Alexander Lightwood is.  And her Alec Lightwood would never agree to take a man to be tortured.

But I think that, in terms of the show, it was important to show Alec like that.  Because we needed to see exactly how ingrained this ideology actually is.  Jace is the brooding rebel.  Izzy is the bleeding heart half in love with Meliorn already.  Alec is the responsible one, the dutiful one who shoulders the burdens.  Which means, he’s the character most likely (at this point in the story) to swallow his conscience and misgivings and do what he thinks he’s supposed to do.

It’s an ugly moment, but it provides us with a focal point for his eventual growth.  Alec’s multi-season plot, of overcoming both overt and unconscious personal racism, to tackling the problems of the Clave itself, is one of my favorite parts of the series.  And it had to start somewhere.

One of the touches that initially made me uncomfortable, but now I rather like, is how most of the Shadowhunters are white, while most of the Downworlders are POC.  There are exceptions on both sides (the Penhallows, Luke-pre-Werewolfing, Iris Rouse), but that’s the general gist.  And at first, I thought this was a really bad thing.  Until I realized that the show actually was making a point.

Because the racism against Downworlders is fantastic racism.   And all too often, fantastic racism becomes an excuse to use real world narrative tropes meant for poc and apply them to white people.  And look, I like X-Men as much as anyone, but this isn’t our story.  (And there are very few things that annoy me more than when we see fantasy racism applied in ways that lead to POC being racist against white people: see the anti-alien senator during one season of Supergirl who just happened to be Latina.)

Even though it’s still a little uncomfortable that most of the people with “angel blood” are white and most of the people with “demon blood” are not, it does mean that we’re basically returning the focus of the fantastic racism back where it should be: on the POC victims.

Most of the Downworlders we see on the show are good people.  They’re trying to live their lives the best they can.  And the Clave uses the actions of a few bad apples (many of whom have some significant provocation!) to justify a draconian rule over all of them.

The parallels are hard to miss, and the show doesn’t actually try to miss them.  I always think particularly of the episode in season 2, where the Clave starts to chip Downworlders in response to a serial killer targeting Shadowhunters.  It’s heavy handed, sure, but it hits hard when Maia talks about real world racism and how the Shadowhunters are supposed to be better than that.  It’s another episode where a main character is complicit in the institutional racism, and that gets called out too.

It’s not perfect, of course.  And I think Jace, in particular, ends up getting off scott free for things that he really shouldn’t.  (For example, kidnapping the werewolf girl and bringing her to Valentine makes him literally guilty of her murder under the law.)  But it’s something.

Another improvement from the books is in Alec and Magnus’s relationship.  For one thing, they’re a side couple in the books, given a handful of scenes here and there, but very much in the shadow of Clary and Jace’s drama.  Their plots have some seriously uncomfortable elements: the age difference, the way Magnus presses Alec to come out, Alec’s paranoia over Magnus’s sexuality and past experience, Alec’s plotting with Camille to remove Magnus’s immortality.  It’s a mess.

Now whether or not it’s a worse mess than Clary and Jace’s nonsense.  You got me.  But it wasn’t fun.

But even with the problems, Magnus and Alec meant something to a lot of fans.  And I think the show really delivers on that front.  Magnus and Alec go from being a side couple with a handful of scenes, to in many ways, being the pillar of the series.  The age difference is less of an issue (I mean, Magnus is still many times Alec’s age, but Alec is actually an adult in this version).  The biphobia is gone, and while Alec is occasionally intimidated by the difference in their experiences, it never turns into a critique of Magnus. 

Their conflicts and obstacles are much more compelling.  Alec’s initial coming out story was triumphant and the best part of season 1 to me.  The fact that Magnus is a Downworlder, and Alec is a Shadowhunter, with all that entails isn’t forgotten.  The romance, and Alec’s plot of overcoming his racism, are deeply intertwined.  And Magnus isn’t a bit part in the story either.  His plot, especially with regard to his self-identity and relationship to his magic, is just as important, if not more so, by the last season.

The weakest part of the series for me was when they were more faithful to the books, but I thought the show did a good job of refocusing later season events on Clary rather than Jace.  One of the things that annoyed me about book and the early part of the series is that, as soon as we had Jace’s (not) parentage reveal, he seemed to end up with 90% of the focus in any of the family drama.  Clary discovers her long lost father is a genocidal maniac, but Jace was raised by the man so it gets more focus.  The dynamic between Jace and Jonathan had a lot more focus in the books too.  Sometimes it seemed like the story forgot that Clary also had a family stake in more than just her mother.  So I was really happy when the show started digging into Clary’s identity as a Morgenstern, and went the route of linking her to Jonathan.  (Even if I could definitely do without incestuous overtones.)  Jace, as a character, tends to work better when he isn’t the center focus, in my opinion.  Or at least when the focus is shared, and he gets to react and take part in other characters’ plotlines.

You’ll occasionally see this sort of deconstruction in fanfiction (when it’s not a joyous celebration of unlikely characters banging - not that there’s anything wrong with that), but rarely to this extent, and certainly never with this kind of budget.  The idea of a “Shadowhunters style deconstruction” is a really interesting thought exercise to apply to all sorts of media that has both enjoyable and problematic elements.  

[thedenofravenpuff]

The Beginning of the End p2 - Episode Reaction

Alright! Got all hyped up from part 1! Ya’ll know I’m a freaking Sombra fangirl, so that was a sweet arse warm up!

Now let’s DO THIIIIIIS!

S  P  O  I  L  E  R  S

Recap *CinemaSins sin noise ding effect*

*Sigh* Even his evil laughter is such a shame with that voice choice... whyyyy?

Shame they gonna run the final season with that intro song that still doesn’t match the imagery with the song in matching pace... so off.

Okay, with this extra energy he’s putting into his evil laughter(tm) at this point is actually kinda good.

Oh gosh, that attempt to tap the pieces together in that way had me laughing out loud.

Just a thought, I wonder how all the Crystal Ponies are faring with their PTSD after last episode.

Okay, that’s a pretty neat creepy imagery with them shadow hands.

Not even one mention of the Tree’s big “inner Rainbow Super Magic Was Inside You All Along” thing from back when with the box and all. But I guess they happily erased that from their memory at this point. And probably needed the Tree for that. Hmm, does the Tree have anything of itself stored in the Map? Is that growing sentience it has shown saved there someway?

And hafta ask by now... how about the Pillars? They still out there and beat villain arses before too. They gotta be useful backup at least to help out, right?

How about the Tree’s roots under the School and its effects on the Student Six? And those artifacts?

Okay, back to watching the episode. Where was I.. ah yes, mandatory Twilight going “And it’s all my fault!”

Actually a pretty good scene of them battling despair after all that confidence. And it’s no longer JUST Twilight having issues.

Dirt at the dirt pone.

Return of Pinkie Drill!!

Oh Rarity. We need a remix of her “show me the MONEY!” misused in every way.

And... he really didn’t let the crystals reach each other UNDER the ground... I guess those crystal surfaces everywhere in the Empire usually makes digging out a less of an easy tactic.

Even the cake decor has been turned evil!!

Oh, I actually forgot the Tree’s job of holding back the Everfree’s growth!

... they seriously gonna try and tame the Everfree... with one gardening tool each? Okay, they truly are scrambling right now.

ONE earth pony is all it took to take down the front gate. The royal guards apparently unable to do anything with their signal horns destroyed.. Equestrian military never gonna be given a chance to look competent, is it?

Really, were ARE they? The princesses are usually gone due to Dumbass in Distress tropes, not from fleeing.

They already lost their gardening tools.

“Come on everypony!” she says... to the animals..

Short actually pretty intense scene of the vines capturing her as she protects the animals. Nice.

Oh, there they are. Actually came in to try and help. Neat.

Gasp! Starswirl DID show up?? Does this mean...? *Looking around* No..? No other Pillars? Aww..

Actually pretty sweet powermove there, Starswirl.

Ahahahah! Evil controlled Wonderbolts!

So many background pony cameos.

Yaaas, those control helmets~ I’m mostly all up about them because headcanons and Glimmershine’s background story. Let me have my fun.

Kinda love how only Fluttershy is seen smiling at Discord’s sudden appearance (and possibly his joke too). Aww. Besties. 

Poodles.

Redecorating with Sombra: Black Crystal Everything.

As much as Discord’s petty speeches can get annoying, I’m highly amused by Sombra’s repeat attacks with no change in tactic just get twarted by turned into something different by Discord each time.

Callback to how Discord loves to try pass attention to Fluttershy to- AAAGH!! LOWERED GUARD, SELF SACRIFICE TO TWART OP DRACONEQUUS BACKUP!!

... hoow... does dark magic hurt a creature which barely holds proper physical anatomy?

Sombra back there in the background being all “Oookay, rude interrupting my monologueing, but I... guess I’ll let you have your moment? Is okay, guess I’ll just get back to gloating once you’re done.”

Okay, loving the visual of being able to see Sombra in the back making his way towards them despite not centered and kept blurred.

That Deflecting Magic Headspin looked hella badass right there.

“We shall never stop trying to defeat you! At some point you’ll just have to quit just out of annoyance!!”

Oh gosh, Sombra’s faces he’s pulling, he looks like he’s fighting to not get into a cryface and yell “it’s not fair, yer cheating!!”

Aah.. AAAH! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!! Twilight wavy Alicorn mane! She gonna evolve!!??

Woah... That visual of Sombra was surprisingly unsettling. Full on Thanos dusting yet with some distortion too. Neat.

Pretty sure that was the last thing the Sisters expected to walk in on.

Also, aww, no new evolution for Twilight. YET. I’m having a pretty good guess what might go down at least in the finale finale. They ain’t gonna tease us like that without finally giving Twilight the full alicornification at the end!

Well, that’s the smartest thing you have said YET, Princess Sunbutt. Also DUUUH!

Ah, that’s how Discord somehow got that badly hurt. At least that’s a pretty good excused compared to other cases of needing to put OP’s aside to let the Mane Six save the day. Heh, oh Discord. He try. His own way. Kinda counts.

Oh Discord. For some reason, that’s greatest exit I have ever seen him do XD

“I heard that!”

I have an odd fascination with following how Twilight’s bangs bounce whenever she spins her head from side to side.

Huh... I’ll admit I actually thought Sombra’s arc would purely be the first parter and then the Foul Five would get together for part two. Actually excited to see I’m wrong. We’ll get a full season worth of villain plotting ahead of us this way instead, and Sombra got a lot more screen time this way to make up for his past appearances didn’t even give him any proper lines. Heck, the ponies don’t even know yet Grogar is around or that Tirek and Cozy Glow are free from Tartarus, or that Sombra can be resurrected by Grogar at any time. Actually a neat setup, while we are usually used to seeing villains destroyed around same episodes they were revealed.

Ahahahahagah!! She actually got them herded into a (-n attempted) bonding exercise!!

Ahahaha, that suddenly letting go to hide they were holding hands/hooves!

Foul Four works better too anyway. But aww..? no more Sombra......??

Okay, wow, this season start was... something. Wow.

Didn’t meet ALL expectations, but also managed to throw the viewers in for a loop. Which is nice as that worked GREAT for last season finale. I like things ain’t 100% predictable. A lot felt rushed, missing a few steps in logic and a bit of a feeling of a mess, but not sure how much of that is my current migraine interfering. Still, I liked it! Really adored the appearance of Sombra, but saddened by it shown as his last return with Grogar’s comment.

Will admit, I’m a sucker for an over-villain who can keep the rest of the power houses in check. Grogar isn’t how I would imagined him, due to the popular fan depictions over the years. His loss in volume loses a bit of his intimidation factor. He used to be played up as the actual goat devil, but I understand down playing that a bit in modern kids entertainment, I guess.

Chrysalis was a great letdown in last season, I really hope she gets a chance to shine again. She’s a good villain in her own right when allowed the proper resources and to actually show her skills for intimidation. Which, again, makes her loss of that creepy voice a great loss indeed.

I look forward to see what plans Grogar has for all three of them.

For now, I applaud this start of the finale season. Looking forward to see where they’ll take it. My guesses are this season will feature Twilight’s lessons to prepare for her eventual rise to the throne. Which probably will happen at the last season finale, along with full alicornfication with floaty mane and everything.

We’ll see. For now, I’m pleased. My fangirl side for King Sombra has been quite happy with this double feature of him, both with the good and bad of it.

[kingfckr]

everything about Karen and Billy screams pedophilia , js !

Hello Anon ! 

As you didn’t come into my IMs last night to discuss it, I’ll be replying via this Ask as promised. The main reason for the IMs because then it can be a two sided discussion as well as it doesn’t sound like i’m lecturing or being rude ( and I can answer your questions as I go instead of going okay what are the questions being asked from this ask that is just a big statement). because now I’ve got to write pretty much an essay on this statement and you either will continue to be offended by the content and only write back via anon or simply go away without the discussion being had or being notified to read it. I’m not upset by this observation you have at all, because I don’t know your background or who you are or your age and you might not be looking at it the way I am. I want to take this seriously, and actually give you an explanation as to my perspective on the relationship as well as why it’s being written on this blog before anyone grabs the pitchforks and torches or anyone tries to take anything out of context and there starts up some giant witch hunt that tumblr is infamous for. 

First I would like to talk about intent of your question, as there are a few ways you could have worded it and how I have perceived this,  by how you wrote out your statement to me. 

1. you’re saying everything about it screams pedophilia and that’s not even the right term to be honest. pedophilia is a blanketed term people use when it’s not actually right. That is the sexual attraction to young children and it’s horrific. I don’t condone that and I think it’s disgusting. Ephebophilia - would be the sexual attraction to mid - to late adolescence which is still condemnable and it is predatory in nature. it’s gross especially in 2017. It makes me uncomfortable in actual society. 

let’s add the whole “ , js” part of your ask - which makes me believe that you’re either trying to be condescending with your “just saying !”  about it and you think you have higher morals or something than myself.  You could easily not think this ,  and that I should not perceive the ‘js’ as something like that. That’s what’s so horrible about writing to be honest. You can’t tell the tone of someone’s talking voice.

instead: you could have gone “ hey it really seems like Karen and billy’s relationship isn’t good. it’s borderline pedophilia (if you didn’t know the word ephebophilia), have you thought about why you would want to write that?” and I probably still would have asked that you can hop into the IMs and we can discuss it.

Now that’s just one part of it. The second is what is my intent  behind this relationship and why is it being written? 

My intent ? To write something pretty realistic for the 80′s era, especially when there were so many movies that came out during the late 70′s, 80′s and late 90′s which involved a may to december romance .  Either almost graduated or in college or fresh college graduate. Within your ask you never questioned me and ask well how old is Billy in this verse you have ? He’s 18. Dude is out of high school, he’s working in the garage by now and he needs to make extra money by doing shit for other people because being a mechanic in a small town isn’t putting food on the table - so welcome Billy the actual handyman. He’s 18, still dating the girls around his age and he has a flirtationship with Mrs. Wheeler. 

No where did I ever say that this is the BEST relationship either or that it’s healthy or should be looked at as healthy. It’s not healthy at all. Billy isn’t a person she should be fantasizing about because she’s married and infidelity is a horrible thing, and her husband not treating her right is not a good excuse. He shouldn’t be using Mrs. Wheeler as an escape from his shitty life. They shouldn't want or try to use each other. 

Well this is 2017 and you’re writing in 2017 - this is wrong. don’t write this-esque question?

The simple answer is then you need to go have a serious conversation with the people who wrote these and writers from christmas past, present, and future: 

Pretty and Pink (Duckie & Lona)Harold & Maude (Harold & Maude)The Graduate (Benjamin & Mrs. Robinson)The Reader (which is the least of the worrisome things here)Y Tu Mama TambienAdoredClass (80′s)Sex in the City (the tv show)American PieThe Crush (loved this movie and she’s crazy)Breakfast at Tiffany’sAmerican BeautyUnfaithfulCheriYoung AdamWeird Science Desperate Housewives*more*

I would also 100% recommend all of these movies and tv shows because they’re fascinating. It’s fictional. None of these relationships actually work. A lot of it is coming of age stories , some of them are 17+ and others are strictly 18+ . Is it right morally ? No (on my behalf because some people think 17+ is up for debate). Is it right legally ? No (still depending on the country even though I think it should be 18 everywhere). I’m not going to debate that. I’m not really here to debate the legal stand point or morally because It’s only my place to tell you morally how I feel. Legally it’s already moot point. It’s fiction though and I’m not offended by it - actually if we want to stick to rpc, I’m more offended by the gross over 18 people who write smut with minors or who prey on minors here and if we were in an alley way, my 5′2″ would be ready to fight the person who did it. I’m also offended by the people who are under 18 and lie about their age and write smut with adults. If you are triggered by it because you’re a young guy and you were in a relationship like this or a young girl in a relationship like this, I can always tag it for you and it’s not a problem. I have no issue with that. If not you can unfollow me if you were following me in the first place (because this is a heavily triggering blog) , because this is part of the 80′s cliche movies and even up to now it’s a huge cliche.  Troubled young guy that meets the hot for trot housewife that doesn’t get enough attention at home from her husband who would rather be sleeping or doing something else. 

What do you get out of writing his relationship? I feel like i’m staying true to his character. I feel like i’m staying true to the 80′s mindset and the tropes they used . I’m not looking at this blog through 2017 lenses. I want people to pick apart his relationships, how he treats people , how he’s treated , what he feels like . I want someone to go - oh my god I get it in the end . Through his story, that this fictional character is made up of stories has so many other issues going on and various degrees of bad things and maybe good things happening in his life. 

It’s not censorship, but it’s wrong so don’t write it? well it’s a minor form of that. You can write whatever you want on your blog as long as both parties are 18+. There are physical books that authors write that I find very disturbing and I don’t read them. I don’t write letters to them and say you shouldn’t have written this. I think this is something that needs to be exercised on tumblr. Even on tumblr when I think wow that’s a bit tacky - I just go on about my way. It’s none of my business what you write with fictional characters.  I think more of us, including myself, need to exercise our ‘mind your own business’ policy when it comes to thinks that aren’t as important. If someone really is offended by the content they can easily unfollow or block the tag that I can create for it.  I am not forcing anyone to view my blog, in fact I have said on many occasions that I will not force anyone to interact with Billy and if I see you making things about how you hate billy and billy rpers I’m probably going to unfollow just because i probably make you uncomfortable. When I see content I don’t like on tumblr I might think in my head, that’s disturbing - i don’t want to know how you got in that mindset or ‘yuck’ about something. It’s still none of my business.  Everyone is writing for themselves and writing with their partners.  I’m not the word police. No one is. 

It sounds like you’re defending Ephebophilia and Pedophila ?            No.  I have extremely strong views on Pedophila as well as Ephenobilia. I have very extreme strong negative views on them and I’m a bit rash to be honest, because I have a sixteen year old sister. Pedophilia is disgusting. I don’t even understand the concept of having sexual feelings for underage children. It makes my stomach churn and you know those movies where the parents would go crazy because someone took their child or killed their child or did something even worse ??? That would be me. Even with my sister I tell her all the time she needs to be safe, because I honestly don’t know what I would do. I would end up on the TV Snapped. 

Ephebophilia is equally as gross when it comes to Under 18, however it’s range goes to 18-19 as well and while it is probably uncomfortable it’s not illegal. However, this is only the legal age in the U.S. So i’m strictly speaking here. Apparently in other countries in europe it’s 16 which is the age of consent and they aren’t really considered minors. (personally I believe it should be 18 everywhere, but I’m not a world leader). There was not as much stigma around it now and people are not as aware as they are now of the affects that this can have on someone’s psyche. 

The thing is too these types of relationships are sometimes mimicked by life. Toxic relationships, dating older people, dating younger people, dating old people - skinny people - fat people - blue people - different races - different cultures - people who speak different languages - bad relationships -abusive relationships - happy relationships - boring ones - exciting and thrilling ones - one’s that go on forever - immortal ones - ones that are cut off too soon - people die to young - they lie to each other - they’re honest - too honest - they sleep around - only marry and sleep with one person - they are bad for each other - one tries too hard and the other doesn’t. 

So, are you worried that I condone this type of behavior? or you think it’s problematic writing it? Well I think it’s for more problematic and sad that the boy has a horrible father that beats him and I’m exploring this side of abuse. I’m uncomfortable with it? a bit yeah, but it’s a story I feel like needs to be written and it needs to be written by more than a dozen people and written over and over again and written for dozens of reasons because we relate to movies and books and writing. If someone connects with it on any level and goes fuck. I get it. or they get a piece of themselves back from it and go this was me in some way. I think we’ve all done our jobs/hobby as being a writer. 

I’m not writing this to make it ‘acceptable’ or ‘healthy’ that’s not the end goal. How does Billy change from this? Is it worse? Is it better? Does he feel like a victim? Will he feel that way when he’s older? How will he accept the consequences of either a) breaking up a family or b) being someones secret or c) someone knowing what he’s doing.  What are the social consequences? Is he a social outcast more now? Is Karen? Is it one of those on and off affairs? What made it happen if it did? How did it end? 

The thing about some of these movies above are that they’re not supposed to make you feel safe. It’s a story. It’s a story that has you on edge all the time - through the introduction , the rising conflicts , the climax , and resolution . If we’re always going by the logic that we need to feel safe and secure while reading/watching something we’ll never read or watch anything. I’m sorry if it’s upsetting to you, but there are so many other more upsetting things in life that this is at the bottom of the barrel for me and probably a lot of people, so as i said before I can tag it and I’d be happy to tag billy’s interactions with any mrs. wheelers.

I hope that this also clears up why I’d rather it be a discussion. I don’t know who you are, how old you are, your background in any of this. I won’t even know if you took the time to read all of this and I can’t tag you to make sure that you do. 

TL;DR: SCROLL UP. 

[canvaswolfdoll]

CanvasWatches: Young Justice (Seasons 1&2)

As previously established, I have an atypical relationship with superheroes. More involved than the theatrical releases, but not to the point of actually reading the comics (with but one exception[1]).

I tend to prefer animated series when it comes to experiencing superheroes.

So I’ve been meaning to catch up with Young Justice, the slightly more mature spiritual successor of the Teen Titans cartoon. Teen Titans stands as one of my favorite shows, beyond genre and without hesitation.

Comparing the two may seem unfair but… well, I refuse not to. Because the two happen to make a good exercise in comparing and contrast, share elements and characters, and one of them is following the other.[2]

Young Justice opens well, just casually tossing the audience into the thick of things. The well-known characters (Superman, Batman and Company, and so forth) are treated as previously established, while the more uncommon heroes are given light introductions so that the show can just go.

The sidekicks are given access to the Hall of Justice, but not any real place in terms of the Justice League. It’s a publicity stunt, and the sidekicks are quickly fed up with being shoved aside, and hijack a mission to prove themselves (and just have something to do). In the process, we introduce Superboy, Miss Martian, and Young Justice is established.

Though the group is only ever referred to as ‘The Team’ which I dislike. It just feels like the writers and staff are embarrassed by the moniker, and are avoiding acknowledging it, and I hate when superhero media try and pretend to be above such things. Just embrace it! It’ll make things a lot more fun! This show actually does a good job of good natured mockery of everything except the name.

So, I mostly enjoyed the first season. They build the characters and the world while developing a myth arc that operates in the corners of the story so each episode can still stand alone, narratively, but still all link together as a cohesive whole.

Even as new characters and team members are introduced, the central six are still prominent in every episode to anchor the audience, give us characters we know and are thrilled to see grow. New elements are well paced with their introduction, and my only criticism is that Zatanna and Rocket didn’t get quite enough screen time to grow on me (especially Rocket, who was a very late game addition).

There are plenty of episodes with inventive and interesting story ideas; my favorite being when magic separates adults and children into two worlds, and how the show then plays with the concept and answers many small questions while it happens.

They really make the most of being in a world where superheroes are a thing, and idolized. From small details like high schoolers unironically wearing t-shirts with superhero emblems on them,[4] and interesting conflict between the realms of Science and Magic, which you rarely see in stories that embrace Clarke’s Third Law as much as the DC World. Is Dr. Fate a sufficiently advanced Alien, or is Magic that unexplainable?[5]

Speaking of Dr. Fate, he had such a compelling sidestory throughout the first season! Introduced as a former hero, then we learn the true weight of putting on his helmet. From there, he becomes The Team’s plan of last resort, until it finally comes to a head and someone has to finally make the ultimate sacrifice!

It combines a few of my favorite tropes: Blue and Orange morality, great power carrying a heavy cost, and Legacy Characters!

The only episode of the first season that I didn’t really like was ‘Secrets,’ due to its trite villain for the evulz and the rather depressing twist at the end.

And you know what? Everyone acts so reasonably!

When a psychically produced simulation goes wrong, to a traumatizing extent, a psychologist is actually brought in!

Superman struggles with the sudden appearance of a clone, and Batman, he who adopts and raises all the children, steps up to tell Clark to get a hold of himself and help the boy.

No one ever forgets that they have Dr. Fate's Helmet on standby if needed!

Three of our characters are in compromising positions to select villains by the end of the season, and what do they do? They come clean, tell the details to the rest of the team, and all come together to make a plan!

There’s nothing I hate more than plots that can be solved in moments if people just bloody talked to one another. Plot-required mistrust and secrecy is such weak plot fodder, that I was happy the show decided to subvert it in the best possible way.

But then there’s the second season.

Oh man, is the second season… disappointing.

First of all, there’s the five year time skip. I have decided I don’t like how western media uses time skips.

Because, in most Anime, time skips are used to handwave away boring bits (IE: then Bob trained hard for two years and… now he’s back).

But when a western show does it, they do it to Up the Ante, introduce mysteries, and obfuscate all the fascinating things that might have happened. To make the audience go ‘Oh wait? What happened to So-and-so?’

It… just feels like a cheap trick to me. And a distracting one, because suddenly there’s a new batch of kids, but I don’t care about them because I’m waiting to hear what happened to the characters we already know and love!

And Young Justice does a particularly bad job, because the events that happened in the missed time period would have been fascinating to see pan out. The new characters would be exciting see introduced and inducted. Would it have taken time? Yes! But then these things would carry weight!

Heck, Zatanna and Rocket, who I was just complaining we didn’t get time to care about have both moved on from the Team! They barely get cameos. So they were just wasted additions in the last season.

Plus, they used it as an excuse to implant drama. The worst drama. Drama that also causes my two least favorite story techniques!

First, a lot of just telling the audience about character history, instead of letting  us experience it. We are told Miss Martian has taken up Mind Breaking villains, and that’s bad and we should hate it. Except we don’t see it being the problem it is, just get told that it’s been a thing by Superboy and… eh? Besides Psimon (who, frankly, both deserves it and is able to recuperate), Miss Martian doesn’t do it on screen until the one time it’s the worst possible thing to do!

Which brings me to the second, and worse crime: no one tells anyone crucial information.

Because you remember when I was praising the first season for subverting that last season? How the original team came clean and told one another how they’re being blackmailed?

Yeah. They’re now doing the stupid thing. We have a season long plot where Aqualad’s a mole and… only a select few people know. Select people that excludes original team members, including the psychic mind-breaker and Superboy!

Egads, I understand not telling the new kids, but at no point should any member of the Season One team have been excluded from the circle of trust, Nightwing!

By the way, Robin is Tim Drake in season 2. Which means we missed an exciting arc of seeing Dick Grayson separating from Batman, and also skipped Jason Todd entirely! I would love to actually see what Jason Todd was like as a Robin for once, but he’s always skipped.

And yes, unlike Batman: The Animated Series, Jason Todd exists in the Young Justice narrative.  We see the memorial hologram.

I mean, the second season wasn’t all bad. Blue Beetle was a strong addition to the cast, along with the compelling aspects he brought. Impulse is a good replacement for Kid Flash. Beast Boy was also pleasant to see, though he was ultimately underutilized[6] Static and his compatriots were also fun. However, from there, I don’t care about the rest of the new cast, as they never had any screen time to make me care about them. They existed for fight scenes and little else.

They weren’t introduced or given an origin, just dumped on us and demanded we muster a care. Which I couldn’t because… eh?

Ignoring the story surrounding Aqualad and dumb secrets, the Reach Invasion storyline was interesting, even catching me off guard in relation to Green Beetle, which is good writing!

The Light were less involved this time, mostly letting Lex Luthor carry the position of resident plotter.

Having not actually seen Luthor in action much, I did enjoy him as a villain. It’s actually fun to watch a villain who is very good at outthinking those around him and planning ahead, all while keeping his hands clean and his enemies managed. I kept expecting him to end up using both The Light and The Reach to reach his own, separate goals.

Roy Harper and his various clones did drag throughout both seasons. The grumpy pants vigilante with a chip on his shoulder was okay once. Not great, but adequate. But then Red Arrow faded away, replaced by Arsenal to just… do the story all over again? Only without the weird flirting with Cheshire.

I guess Lian would’ve been hard to get away with had they not done the time skip, but… actually, Lian added very little, so that’s not an excuse.

While I liked Artemis, I do wonder if the same basic story could’ve been done with Ravager instead, who has more of a history in the comics of working as a Good Guy than Artemis/Tigress did, and would’ve gotten Deathstroke in sooner.

Mostly I just think Sportsmaster is a silly character concept, and would’ve been happy to not have him.

You could even keep Cheshire, since comics Cheshire is unrelated to Sportsmaster and Artemis. It would’ve been so easy to pull off, and would’ve excited Teen Titans fans.

But that’s just me speculating based off the decisions I would’ve made. Maybe they were going to include Speedy initially, but realized they needed another girl for composition balance.

Then the second season ends with multiple loose ends, one dead character everyone liked, and a look to the future!

So of course the series is promptly cancelled. Whoopee!

So, first season was strong, second season felt like they were rushing things, skipping over rich and compelling material to get to a story they wanted to do.

Now Netflix is bringing forth (at least) a third season. I remain cautiously optimistic. On one hand, rumor says Tara Strong is coming in as Raven, bring us ever so closer to the Titans reunion everyone desperately wants.

On the other… well, the cast and roster is already pretty heavy, and viewpoint characters are few and far between. Focus will be split many ways, and I’m not sure they’ll be able to continue good character work if they don’t pick favorites and let them work. Plus, what if they do another timeskip?

Still, I liked it enough that I’ll watch the next season once it comes. But I’ll be critical.

Kataal kataal.

[1] Speaking of which, I’ve been considering checking out the recent run of Jughead comics. Thoughts? [2] We’ll ignore Teen Titans Go! because I haven’t watched much of it.[3] [3] Though Trigon Dad is still an amazingly inspired concept. [4] Though they never address the matter of royalties. Seriously, I would love to hear if Superman gets a paycheck. Or is them being public figures make their IP public domain? [5] I always disliked how the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been so dismissive of magic. Why does Thor have to be an alien from a distant culture? Why can’t he just be a god without the snide remarks? Let me have my magic. [6] I will admit that the departure from the Teen Titans interpretation of the character clouded my judgement. But, then again, that’s my definitive version of the guy.