#genuinely something is wrong with him and not in a typical victim way. like there’s something so wrong with him

[laniidae-passerine]

Lestat admitting in public that he domestically abused Louis. and Louis knows this and experienced it. and still will never not love him. like truly love him for what he is, not just accepting the good with bad, but loving the bad the ruined the indefensible. what the fuck is wrong with you girl I would tell you to get out but you find a man who doesn’t attack you and you call him boring and dream of your crazy ex. you don’t want to get out. you just wish that your lion pet husband would learn the difference between biting and mauling.

there is something so entirely fucked about Louis’ psyche… look at it all! the physical beatings to an obscene degree, the damaging affairs, the psychological warfare, the public humiliation, the participation in the murder of their only beloved daughter. Lestat does this all to him, or a significant amount even if memory is playing its wicked games. Lestat is a vicious horrible thing with his teeth marks on every part of Louis and yet even with decades of freedom, a new partner, the ability to recognise and condemn cruelty and abusive actions, Louis still wants him back. Knowing what he is, what he can do, Louis wants him back. It never mattered if vampires can dream, for Lestat haunts his waking days, a torturous vision of the only living one Louis really loves.

[lovelyyandereaddictionpoint]

Could you do Platonic Yanderes Endeavor (reformed), Aizawa, Izuku, Mirio, and Bakugou with a daughter/ sister reader meeting up with the reader, and see her in this skimpy outfit being hit on by a bunch of guys. But the thing is she is totally into it and flirting with them too.

Clubbing Culture Sibling Reader | Yandere Boku No Hero Academia

The flirty and sex-filled nature of clubbing isn’t for everyone. Especially not heroes who have everything to lose should they get out of hand. But when their dearest younger sibling decides to pursue a life such as this they can’t leave them to their own devices. Especially since you seem so willing to taint your perfection:

Endeavor (Reformed)

Family is important…especially now that he’s trying to fix his

If you were his child you wouldn’t so much as leave the house without wearing a full-on hazmat suit

But you're not, you’re his younger sibling

Legally old enough to do as you, please

Without your brother playing his ‘guardian’ card

But that doesn’t stop him from heavily urging pleading+ to be invited to your outing

And just like you thought…it was a terrible idea

He doesn’t need to burn anyone he can’t anyways too many eyes

His glare alone sends those interested in you packing

He can’t stop you from wearing what you do or flirting with who you like

but  the latest victims will wish you hadn’t

“I wish you weren’t so….you. Especially with those who don’t deserve you.”

Aizawa Shota

Naturally, as your older brother, he makes a point to monitor you

That includes your typical behavior 

He doesn’t have to like it, he knows it's just how you are 

No the problem he has is the absolute scum that are just too forward

As per usual he’ll cull them mercilessly 

While burying the remains he’ll realize how ironic it is that those who successfully earn your attention end up earning an unmarked grave

“This is just the way things go. If my baby sibling was a bit less…friendly I wouldn’t be so adamant about ending you like this. But it's just the way things go.”

Togata Mirio

Your glorious big bro always smiling and cheering you on

There are very few people who can look past that and see the murderous intent he has

Something that comes up pretty much whenever he’s reminded of your attitude about this sort of thing

It bothers him deeply and genuinely raises his blood pressure that you even entertain this 

And when you turn to him with that cute tilt of your head as you ask him what’s wrong

He’ll smile and lie because he’s such a good brother

But eventually, he’ll get it together

And as your beloved big brother, he’ll be ‘revoking’ your party privileges

“Sorry sorry (Y/n)! You know big brother’s just looking out for you, so trust me on this okay?”

Midoriya Izuku 

He’s always been proud of your confidence 

And when you were little he was proud of how you easily valued your ‘no-no squares’ 

But now you're grown and you don’t abide by those rules at all

It bothers him 

And he’s willing to reason with you…for a little while

But after you brush off his warnings and outright justify your behavior he decides he’s done

Done with your autonomy in general

In his mind, if you can’t handle being responsible about who you pursue, you’re not fit to enjoy clubbing or partying or flirting at all

And he decides this by trapping you

But don’t worry he knows his baby sibling is all grown up now so he’ll have another method for keeping you in place

Like becoming the insistent stalker that’s making you too paranoid to leave the house 

Or the one making sure you need to be inside to receive the package that has to be signed by you

“I told you I didn’t like it. You didn’t listen, now look at what you’ve done.”

Bakugo Katsuki

Is he not above just scooping you up and taking you home

The second you so much as smile at someone he’s decided he’s disgusted enough to send you home and brutalize them later

He will in fact lecture you every time about etiquette and the extras you have to ignore

Yes, if he’s overseas expect a costly call for his 3-hour rant 

If you still don’t tone it back, to his liking, or not at all he’s not above putting you in an uncomfortable or dangerous corner

Maybe letting the villain he’s chasing believe they disappeared into the club’s crowd

Letting the villain shoot their shot 

Only to interrupt and immediately take you, hostage

Surely you’ll see his side then

“Well isn’t that funny? I was freaking right!”

[houxe]

Regarding my SBI/DSMP Fics

TW: Abuse, Trauma, and Mentions of Suicide.

With all that has happened, I did want to come out here and make my stance clear. I will always stand with Shelby (Shubble) and all of the victims who are speaking out against Will Gold (Wilbur Soot). If you still support that bastard, unfollow me and leave my blog and whatever small community I made.

I've already stated this is my Discord channel, but I want to put it here too.

For me, c!Wilbur is so far removed from cc!Wilbur that I don't connect the two. The characters are vessels for my own characterizations and stories. It's a bit like writing Supernatural*, Twilight, or Hazbin Hotel fanfics. I don't support the guy, monetarily or otherwise, he does not interact with fanfics, I have plans to be very vocal that I'm on Shelby's side no matter what/make it clear that what Will did is wrong, and I don't use his real life events as plots in my stories. At least, I certainly don't try to. It's why I typically change traits about the characters. (I.e. Tommy is shorter, Phil is taller, Techno is bulky, and Wilbur always has golden/hazel eyes.)

I'm aware that it's a tad different because it's rp and not something like a full on book or an actor in a movie, but DSMP has also been over for over two years and the characterizations I make for SBI are not at all based on the CCs. Real life Techno isn't a literal terrorist, Phil ain't a father married to a goddess, Tommy is not a traumatized child soldier, and Wilbur isn't suicidal and blowing up countries.

I think I'll likely focus more on Techno, Tommy, and Phil for a while, but I'm not gonna let one dude ruin a fandom and things I've made for myself. Nothing I write is ever made for Wilbur, as I've seen people saying. Additionally, Wilbur was not the only writer. Technoblade, Philza, TommyInnit, and so many others made that story what it was. Not him.

However, if any CCs come forward saying they don't want their old characters interacting with his, I will respect that.

Though I do think there is a tendency to take real life events (i.e. Techno's cancer, LJ's music, Tommy's real life parents, etc.) and put them into fiction about DSMP. I, however, don't try to do that and have stated before that I don't feel comfortable doing so. The truth is that we have not gotten any genuine SBI content outside of DSMP for years. The dynamic in real life is very different from what was presented in the DSMP. Did personalities still bleed over? Yes, I'm not going to deny that, but I'm not going to act like they're exactly the same between character and person either. We've had that conversation like in 2021, it's why we have C! and CC!.

The rather sad truth is, SBI is what got me really into writing and it's a comfort for me that nothing can compare to. Obviously, I don't think it's appropriate to be writing certain types of stories right now or to be involving characters made by CCs outside of the DSMP. I think it's up to everyone else to decide on what they want to do, however, rushing it also isn't the way to go either. Give yourself time to heal and think it over first instead of throwing away something that gives you comfort and has not been associated with by the creators for over two years.

Anyways, fuck Will Gold. Fuck the fact that he hurt so many people, and fuck that he lied and manipulated his way around the damn internet. ESPECIALLY fuck the fact that he tried to diminish what he did and not take proper accountability.

Go and support Shelby so so much, she and everyone who spoke out really deserve it. I'm glad silence on these types of issues is not being normalized.

Here is a list of (American) resources for DV help:

TNLR

RAINN

WOAR

Love is respect

The Trevor project

Futures without violence

National domestic violence hotline

Resource on what DV and abuse looks like

*Changed it from Harry Potter to Supernatural because Harry Potter is a significantly worse and more problematic franchise, even just within the content of the books. It'd be better left in the dust. I've talked about it before, but it was the first thing that came to my mind at the time and was a poor comparison on my part, I'm truly sorry for that.

[royboyfanpage]

Can I ask your thoughts and opinions on Mia?

Thank You 🙂

Oh I have SO many thoughts and opinions on Mia Dearden.

I feel like a big issue I've seen with how people try and fit the Arrowfam family dynamic is that they end up erasing a lot of aspects of Mia while doing it. Don't get me wrong, I have seen some brilliant analysis of Mia in fandom, but things such as Mia's early supposed crush on Ollie and her kiss with Connor tend to get ignored in the fandom, or in some cases I've seen people try and use the "DC stands for disregard canon" mentality against these events, which I think are just counterproductive.

In the case of Ollie, Mia having a "crush" on him at the beginning of their relationship IS very important to their father/daughter relationship, both in how Mia views herself and what she believes she deserves and how Ollie is able to disprove her preconceived notions of what a caregiver is supposed to do. It's important to note this panel in particular-

Because this mindset that Richard taught her is very influential for how Mia assumes Ollie will be and what Ollie will want. Because obviously Richard is manipulating and grooming Mia when he says this, but those things Richard claims to be doing- loving and caring for her- are what Ollie actually does do when he takes her in.

The biggest examples of Mia's "crush" on Ollie both take place in #11- her dream where she kisses Ollie, and her outright saying she has a crush on him. In terms of the dream, it's important to take into account that this was the same dream wherein she became Speedy. Mia's lived a significant part of her life at this point where everything has a price- the supposed protection Richard gave her came at the price of sex. Since Mia's dream at that point was becoming Speedy, she automatically assumed that becoming Speedy would come at the price of having to have a sexual relationship with Ollie when we know this isn't what she wants- like she told Richard, all she really wants is to be a kid and be treated like a kid, but she's not used to the idea that that could be a possibility. As for her saying she has a crush on Ollie, that was directly following Ollie expressing genuine paternal affection towards her, something she doesn't have experience with. She doesn't know how to respond to that, so her response is a mix between trying to downplay the genuine moment and saying what she still somewhat believes Ollie wants to hear.

In addition, I was talking to @lesbian-cowpoke recently about this actually, and in their words, "Mia views him as a father and that's WHY she had the "crush" on Ollie. Oftentimes, victims of CSA (especially incestuous ones like mia) will engage in inappropriate behavior and thoughts because of the severe damage sustained to their psyche. There are studies upon studies on how CSA survivors externalize their behaviors and have issues with interpersonal relationships, and sometimes (like in mia's case) go sorta in search if relationships that replicate that behavior" which is really the perfect explanation.

As for Connor, I don't think it takes much reading comprehension to understand that scene. It explicitly says in the scene that the kiss was a gesture and not one of sexual or romantic intent. In that scene, Mia was telling Connor she’s worried she’s dirty and nobody would want to love her because of her HIV, and Connor kissing her was proving to her that there will still be people out there who want to kiss her and give her physical affection in a romantic sense, and to prove that he isn't afraid of her diagnosis. He was co-opting a typically romantic gesture to use in a non romantic way to prove that she is capable of being loved, which is Such an important aspect of her HIV storyline.

I think Mia's story is genuinely one of the most well written stories in DC history. The development of her relationship with the rest of the Arrowfam- particularly with Ollie- is so compelling to read. I love the way their relationship is built because there are so many scenes that just feel so real. Ollie and Mia don't have the perfect father/daughter relationship. They have their ups and downs. But the important thing is they're able to resolve these issues with communication.

I'm also a really big fan of the way Mia inherited the name Speedy, and the parallels between her and Roy are so poignant. Speedy as a name repeatedly humanising stigmatised groups in society- addicts, sex workers, and people with STIs specifically. I also love the fact that to Mia, Roy's one of her biggest heroes not in spite of his addiction but because of it- because he managed to overcome his addiction and survive. Speedy means survival and perseverance and it's the perfect mantle for Mia to take up.

So yeah, those are some of my thoughts and opinions on Mia Dearden :) hope this is okay!

[yuri-is-online]

you said that yutu and his friends have fought the heartslabyul boys in the bad timeline before, and it got the gears of my head turning. are they aware that their yutu is their kid? we know that ob! trey loved toying with his kids. even if they're not themselves anymore, it's interesting to know what their first reaction would be when this/these random kid/s (who looks a little TOO CLOSE to their long lost pregnant s/o or weirdly enough them in some cases) gets within their vicinity. can they even connect the dots since they’re phantoms now? do they seethe at this brat who masquerades as a memory of the past? (i can see ob! deuce getting extremely violent since his yutu looks like yuu, especially since i headcanon him acting as his delinquent self but 100x) Or do they just somehow know and not give af at all lmao.

How aware they are depends on 1) whether or not they died before of after the phantom possessed them and 2) who exactly killed them. This doesn't mean they act like themselves though, what I was trying to get across in Rook's pt. 2 is that he knows Roland is someone important, and might even be aware that this is his child, but the finer details are lost on him. He won't kill him outright, but if he starts using magic or if he were to try and kill him then the Hunter would kill him without much hesitation. What's left of Rook's soul would be distraught, his panic would likely influence the Hunter to take the boy's corpse to the Fairest Queen so she could "fix" him. And he wouldn't notice any difference between the two Rolands, if anything he might be relived that his son was no longer "sick." Now as for the specifics of the Heartslabyul boys:

Riddle is a wildly violent phantom. He is actively looking to enforce the Queen's law and take out his own pain on anything that looks wrong or moves. He is so caught up in his own anger, that he doesn't think Yutu is real. He thinks he is a hallucination mocking him for thinking he ever could have been happy, that you ever loved him or wanted to build a family in such a broken world. The real Yutu can't come home now, he hasn't made things perfect for him yet.

We have already talked about Trey, and I don't really want to pull back the curtain too much but (˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵) The hatter is very independent. He is one of maybe two phantoms who have traveled outside of their domain but what the Phantom does and what Trey thinks he is doing are two very different things. When Trey leaves the Queendom he thinks he is going on vacation, when really he is hunting for more victims. As for his children, what is left of him genuinely thinks he is playing with them, and if one of them dies well then they just need to be taken home and put to sleep. As time goes on, the more he watches over them and tries his best to take care of them... then he might start to realize something is wrong. He gets a lot less intelligent and a lot more violent after that.

Cater's unique magic allows him to sit back and relax while his clones do most of the work for him, so actually seeing him is very rare. He spends most of his time in a state that looks like he's sleeping, only ever really waking up to do much of anything when Riddle forces him to. The clones don't recognize Yutu at all, and treat him in much the same way they do everyone else; they tend to be very annoying to fight and narrate how bad you are running for your life in very mocking tones. Actual Cater is much different; he's slow, deliberate in his movements and surrounded by a river of polluted water with a look that suggests he's tired. Maybe he is, he's been splitting off pieces of himself to trap you here and can't be whole anymore. He doesn't recognize Yutu until he finally gets in the killing blow, the only thing he has the energy left to do by then is smile.

Ace and Deuce are typically seen together. They're very similar to their duo magic line, where Deuce charges ahead and Ace laments that Deuce has lost it again, but there is a strange sort of desperation to a lot of their actions. Even if Yutu isn't their child, they recognize him sort of, they have been looking for you for a long time now and are very upset that someone is trying to use this against them.

For Ace, this manifests in him mocking whoever he thinks sent Yutu. He can't look the kid in the eye, if he is forced to think about what happened to you and your child any semblance of intelligence his phantom has leaves. Not even Riddle can control him when he thinks about how that makes him feel. He wants to kill Yutu, remove anything reminding him of what happened from the world at all. But as soon as he looks at him he loses most of his nerve. He's perfect... are you here too? Do you see what Ace is being forced to do to him? He was hoping he would look more like you...

Deuce's phantom refuses to think of Yutu as real. He is similar to Riddle in that he thinks the similarities he notices are just his imagination. It makes him violent, but unlike Ace he has no real problem looking Yutu in the eye. He makes no secret that he is looking to crush Yutu like a bug, how dare he pretend to be someone who has been dead and buried for years now? How dare he mock his grief? He wants nothing more than for you and your child to be here with him, but you aren't and that's just something he needs to accept. It's his fault you aren't here, he sees his current state as fitting punishment for that.

[maple-the-awesome]

Friend or Foe || Part 3/3

Part 1 || Part 2

Pairings: Warrior, Sky, Twilight x GN Reader

Overview: Link visits an alternate world without its hero and, more importantly, a version of you without your Link. Unfortunately, it seems even the smallest of details can lead to disastrous results. In spirt of Halloween, I've decided to do a little evil prompt because none of the Links have enough emotional damage yet😈

Zelda Masterlist 💙Fandom Masterlist

Every soldier has something they fight for - something they'd risk it all to protect. For Warrior, that motivation has always come from you. Admittedly, your relationship was a bit sour and competitive at the start since you were both trying to be Hyrule's best soldier, although overtime, spiteful taunting turned into warm banter, and warm banter became affectionate flirting. Do you even know his compliments are genuine? Do you know how weak at the knees you make him or how smitten he truly is? Not to be dramatic, but Warrior would die for you. How would you react if he told you that openly - no hint of teasing or insincerity to be found in his voice? The question has long weighed heavy on his mind, yet he supposes he'll have to wait longer for an answer because there's no way he'll get it straight from this version of you...

Goddesses, Warrior’s tired. It’s been a rough few days of walking to absolutely nowhere through a barren wasteland which has left his feet sore, his back aching, and his eyes barely able to stay open, yet he still volunteered to patrol the area around camp before turning in for the night because despite how worn out his body is, he can’t truthfully say he isn’t used to it. 

As a soldier, he’s traveled similar distances while cutting his way through whole armies, so he isn’t about to really complain about a quick walk around an empty forest even if it is pretty creepy and foggy. Besides, as you’ve always hypothesized, the more tired you are, the more rewarding sleep will be, and you aren’t wrong about that; when being this exhausted, Warrior shouldn’t have any problem passing out the second he collapses onto his bedroll.

Thinking about you during his journey is typical, especially during quiet moments like this. He wonders what you’re up to right now, placing internal bets with himself on whether you’re worried about or have barely noticed his absences. Somehow he convinces himself of the latter, after all you always claim you’re too busy to babysit him, although the former is still a nice thought even if a bit heartbreaking to imagine you becoming weak with concern over his whereabouts. Maybe you just miss having someone around to playfully critique. Maybe it feels too quiet with no one to annoy you throughout the workday. Whatever the reason, Warrior won’t allow himself to think it’s because you miss the man you love; that’s a dangerous thing to hope for.

His lonely pondering must be put on hold when he hears a sound from behind, turning just in time to see the glimmer of a blade being swung towards his head. In an instant, Warrior drops down, dodging the weapon then stopping it with his own which had been drawn swiftly. 

There were a lot of possibilities for his attacker’s identity. It could have been a bokoblin or moblin, perhaps even the same dark lizard the Chain has been hunting for this whole time, yet the very last answer Warrior would’ve imagined - something that took his breath away upon realizing - was for it to be you staring down at him with your lips pulled into a snarl.

He speaks your name in stuttered surprise, eyes as wide as dinner plates as they scan your face just to be sure despite how extremely unlikely it would be for him to ever mistake you. He could identify your beauty anywhere and he knows what it’s like to be at the other end of your blade, the difference being the lack of mischief or hidden admiration in your eyes. Instead, there’s only hate and malice after a bout of shock from your victim somehow knowing your name.

Not letting it be of concern, you bring your sword back and swing again, yet Warrior recovers from each attempt on his life, having sparred with you enough times to understand your strategies, although that isn’t to say you don’t still give him a run for his money.

“You resistance fighters just never give up, do you?! Always trying to play the hero as if you could possibly stand a chance against the Demon King! Look around you! What are you even fighting for at this point?!”

Warrior does look around. He looks around at all the dead trees and dry grass. He looks at the dark sky and the many scars that litter your face. You look as if you’ve been through something similar as the Champion, your entire body torn after many harrowing battles. This isn’t how he left you. He left you back in his Hyrule, a hand over your mouth as you tried to hide your laughter after some dumb joke he made. You were happy then, but this version of you - who he now realizes is not his own - looks miserable and tired, as if all hope has been drained from their body.

“I’m not a resistance fighter - (Y/n), it’s me. It’s Link.”

“The hero Link…?” You ask and, for a moment, Warrior has hope that you’ll halt your attacks. Surely even in this world, you must know who he is because if there’s someone who looks and acts exactly like you, there must be an equal counterpart for him, yet instead of helping him, you scowl before swiping your legs under his, knocking him to the ground with a heavy ‘thud’...He forgot that common move of yours…

You point your sword inches away from his face, for once your expression showing not anger, but rather sorrow as you gaze down at him, “Well, if that’s true then you came too late. Ganon’s already won meaning there is no longer a Hyrule to save. You weren’t here when we needed you most.”

Everyone in the Chain has your name memorized and it's not because they know you personally (you've actually never had the pleasure to meet), rather it's because of how often Sky gushes about the love of his life waiting for him back on Skyloft. Think of any pleasant word in the dictionary and that boy has probably used it at least a dozen times to describe you, be it to his brothers-in-arms or a poor shop clerk who was unfortunate enough to make a sale to him. There isn't a single negative thing Sky could associate with someone he believes to be as perfect as you. Even now, he's struggling to remove his rose-colored glasses to see the truth before him...

This is by far the worst problem the Chain has run into during their journey. Practically the second they walked through the last portal into a disastrous world of demolished forests and smoky skies, they were surrounded by a large army of moblins led by a familiar face Sky can’t say he ever missed. 

Ghirahim, despite being from a different version of Hyrule, is just as annoying and weird as Sky remembers. His minions had no difficulty grabbing a handful of heroes each where their shouts and kicking did nothing to prevent them from being taken to a dark castle on the edge of Faron, or at least what used to be it. Once there, they were promptly taken down to the dungeons, forced to listen to Ghirahim’s egocentric rambling during the whole descent until a new voice interrupted:

“What’s this?”

Sky cries out your name without any hesitation, the sight of you making him forget all about the current circumstances. He’s so happy to simply see you again that he doesn’t question right away how or why you’d even be here. Hell, it doesn’t even process that this wouldn’t be his version of you.

“Do I…know you?” The confused yet disgusted look you send him is what brings him back to reality, crushing his soul as you glance from him to Ghirahim in question, “Where did they come from?”

“Does it really matter? They’re just little rats who were found sticking their noses where they shouldn’t have,” He waves a dismissive hand before snapping his fingers which prompts the moblins to roughly toss each hero into a jail cell then slam the doors behind them.

You cross your arms, not pleased with Ghirahim’s poor explanation, “I’d say it does matter. There shouldn’t be loose Hylians running about. It’s important to know where they came from so that -”

“- So, that you run away and join your own kind?”

You shift uncomfortably at the accusation, “...No, I’m only worried how Demise will feel about this. There’s a reason he killed all unloyal Hylians, you know? What if one of these boys ends up being the prophesied hero, hmm? ‘can’t imagine Demise will be happy to know you took a chance letting his enemy go unnoticed because it ‘didn’t matter’.”

Ghirahim snarls, mumbling curses under his breath before ordering you to just make sure to keep watch over the prisoners while he talks to Demise. With a flip of his hair, he walks off, leaving you to pinch your nose in irritation.

The other heroes are quick to shout protests, yet Sky’s silent as he crawls his way back over to the door just to make sure his eyes aren’t playing tricks on him. It really is you - at least it looks like you as you make your rounds ensuring each cell is properly locked. All the while you look bored out of your mind. It’s only when you make your way to him that you pause to scoff, “What are you looking at? ‘got a concussion or something?”

“...You know, I have a version of you back in my own Hyrule,” Sky’s voice is soft as he meets your eyes not with hate like the others, but rather sympathy and sorrow, “They’re a knight on Skyloft and they’re the kindest, most generous person I know.”

You make a face at his strange comment, “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about -”

“- My point is, I know that like them - like my feather - you must be a good person deep down. I don’t believe you want to be evil, you’ve just made the choices you had to in order to survive during bad circumstances. You’re afraid, and that’s okay. Seeing how this Hyrule turned out, I don’t blame you, but if you help us, (Y/n) I promise I won’t let anything happen to you. We’ll protect you - you can come with us and we can find somewhere safe for you to -!”

“- There is nowhere safe! There isn’t a corner of this land Demise doesn’t control! You’re looking for light that doesn’t exist, so just give it a rest!” Sky’s cut off when you slam your fist against the wall next to his cell, yet contrary to your act of anger, there’s a great pain in your eyes as you look down at him, maybe even a few tears that are barely visible through the darkness, “...The faster you do, the safer you’ll be…”

You are from a whole different life than Twilight. Born into riches and raised by high nobility, you had no reason to take any more interest in a simple farm boy beyond his heroic title...but you did and always have. How did he manage you? Well, Twilight's been asking that question for years. Your parents feel conflicted, your friends often scowl, yet you still pull him away by the hand and kiss him slow in hidden corners during parties, confessing aloud how much you'd like to get away from all this stress of high standards and live in Ordon with him which is a dangerous thought that only makes him wonder how much longer he'll drag his feet. Could you truly be as happy as you say or should he leave well enough alone, after all you have everything. Why throw it all away for nothing? Until this point, Twilight hasn't been sure of that answer…

Time has warned the group before that they should be careful when it comes to approaching locals, concerning that too many strange questions about a shapeshifting lizard and mysterious portals might rub them the wrong way. Heeding his word, the boys have cautiously navigated their interrogations so as to not raise any unnecessary fears amongst those just trying to go about their days. Sure, they’ve still received some raised eyebrows or even glares here and there, but no reaction has ever been as extreme as this one.

“Who do you think you are, disrupting the peace of our tranquil town through baseless claims of monsters and beasts lurking beyond on our doorstep?! Why, we haven’t seen so much as a keese in decades, yet now you have caused innocent families to enter a frenzy worrying about Ganondorf’s return!”

If he wasn’t already so accustomed to the nonsense nobles can spew, Twilight would’ve rolled his eyes at this man’s dismissive speech. Judging on his own personal military and the gold that decorates every wall of his home, he’s clearly in very high standing here - a self-declared king of sorts, one would think based on his fancy robes and ringed fingers. It makes sense for him to be concerned about strangers spreading news of possible danger. Hylia forbid any townsfolk panic and leave for who else would there be to exploit in their absences?

“Strip them of their weapons,” The nobleman orders and there is nothing the handcuffed heroes can truly do as his guards obey, taking their swords, shields, and anything else that could be deemed useful for rebellion all while Time once again tries to appeal to the man’s reason.

“Father, what’s all of this about?” Negotiations (if they could be called that) are put on hold as another joins the party. While none of the other boys bat an eyelash, Twilight’s shocked to recognize the voice, nearly giving himself whiplash just to get a good look at you as you wander into the room with a rather bored look upon your face.

“Nothing to worry about, my dearest star. I will have this little situation taken care of shortly,” The nobleman’s voice changes dramatically when addressing you, suddenly laced with honey as a smile graces his face; a far contrast from the slim he directed towards the Chain earlier. Twilight doesn’t even feel bad that he hadn’t recognized him earlier. Even back in your shared Hyrule, he never paid much attention to your parents seeing as he was only returning the favor by doing so.

Although this you isn’t his own, Twilight still finds himself trying to catch your eye, hoping to appeal to your generosity because surely it’s a universal trait of yours. If anyone could call off your father’s hounds, it would be you, yet it seems Twilight is being too hopeful with that thought.

“Well hurry it up! My friends will be here soon and I don’t want to have to explain to them why my father has a bunch of filthy travelers sitting in our parlor!”

Twilight’s distracted from the horror he was about to feel upon hearing such harsh words leave your mouth when a guard begins emptying his pockets next.

“Hey -!” 

“- What do you have there? Show me.” 

The guard ignores Twilight’s protests in favor of bringing his findings up to his master, holding his hands out as if offering them on a silver platter, “A ring, shire -” 

“- Let me see!” You decide greedily, plucking the ring from the guard’s hand before he can hardly finish his sentence.

“Is it to your liking, my star? Consider it yours then.”

Twilight was about to object to your father’s offer which isn’t his to give, yet you beat him to it, turning the ring over in your palm a few times just to confirm your disgust, “...Nah. It’s hardly worth anything. I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing such a mediocre pebble.”

“Then give it back!” Twilight can’t help himself from shouting, the venom in his voice gaining him the surprised attention of everyone in the room.

“How dare you speak to my child in such a way you -?!”

“- Why?” You cut your father off, an amused smirk tugging at your lips as you make your way towards the cuffed man. Kneeling down, you match his height with the ring pinched between your fingers for him to see, your next words scoffed in his face, “Oooh, I get it: you’re planning on proposing to someone, aren’t you? What an unfortunate soul they must be for this to equal their supposed worth to you. Let me go ahead and save you the time: the answer’s ‘no’. No one in their right mind is ever gonna marry someone like you with a ring like this.”

Dropping the ring in front of him, you then walk away as he bows his head, yet you’d be shocked to know his reaction isn’t one of shame. 

Twilight has often doubted if you’d be happy with him, somehow convincing himself you’d be better off in the life you already have instead, yet seeing this version of you and their corrupted, twisted greed, those insecurities melt away because the you Twilight knows and loves isn’t this selfish. The you he loves begs your father to open his doors for innocent travelers and beams cheerfully at gifts. The you he loves would never judge any ring, in fact he’s now convinced you wouldn’t even notice one to begin with. You’d be too busy saying ‘yes’ to him, jewelry being a forethought in your mind compared to the promise of spending the rest of your life with your beloved farmhand.

[nyerus]

Hi! I would love to hear your thoughts about classism in TGCF, but specifically regarding XL. It surprised me to see people hating on XL for not knowing or doing better during his teenage years of luxury as the crown prince and making XL a complete villain because he didn't take down classism and restructure society despite still being a kid himself. It struck me as odd that the fandom is well aware of his 800 years in poverty but also not really addressing the fact that XL, too, is a victim of classism albeit a little different from someone like MQ.

Hi there! So sorry it's taken me this long to get to this ask, I've just been in sort of a funk for a few days haha.

But yeah, this is definitely a topic that comes up from time to time, with lots of discussion about. It surprises me that despite that, there are still people (maybe just newer fans? idk) who still hate on Xie Lian for his naive views as a 17yo. Especially since, despite being a naive 17yo, he still really wanted to help people less fortunate than himself. He didn't quite understand how to do this in the most effective ways (because he was a teenager), so it came off as somewhat patronizing as he was a person in a position of power compared to everyone else. Yet his desire to help people was genuine, and he didn't personally think of "common folk" as being any lesser than "royalty" -- even though in this case, there kind of literally was a difference. (E.g. when Lang Ying goes from being a commoner to a king, he gets a "kingly aura" that protects him!) So it's honestly kind of incredible that Xie Lian is willing to say things like "I think people are equal, even gods and humans, and if the Heavens disagree with me, then it's the Heavens that are wrong" with his entire heart.

I imagine a large part of the hate Xie Lian gets from certain fans is jealousy or resentment, due to the fact that Xie Lian was "born privileged." But on it's own, "privilege" is not "the great enemy" -- it's what said privilege means in the context of society, and what someone does/doesn't do with it that merits judgement. Xie Lian doesn't fully understand the privilege he had until he loses it (again: because he was 17!), but he still understood it enough to use it to protect and help people. That's more than many other characters can say. Him starting out as a prince doesn't automatically disqualify him from class struggles or the horrors of poverty. It's nonsensical to think so, when this is a character who literally spent almost 800 years busking for scraps, while sleeping in dirt outside and eating garbage….

On the flip side, as you mentioned Mu Qing -- yes, he was a victim of classism. But he's a very strange figure to use as the poster boy for that, though he often is by people who are critical of Xie Lian. This may be a controversial take, despite it being something I think that makes the character of Mu Qing really interesting: but he's a very "typical" guy within the concept of classism. He's someone who started off with a bad lot, but then ended up ascending to the highest point you pretty much can in that world/society. Which is great! He did that through hard work, and it paid off! But now, since he got his "happy ending," that's kind of it for him. He doesn't do anything to materially improve the lives of those less fortunate, especially those he has no personal connection with. This doesn't make him a bad person -- it's not really his job to that, even as a god. He's a martial god, so he's there to subdue threats and all that. Yet you can clearly see, that's exactly the type of person society values because such "rags to riches" stories give legitimacy to the whole system, and because they don't rock the boat once they're on top.

So then it's odd to be angry at Xie Lian but not Mu Qing (or others) for the lack of some "grand revolution" that some readers seem to want.

Ironically, Xie Lian used what power he had to try and help people -- and he was worse off for it. If he had done nothing, he would have been able to live a happy and carefree life. He would have lived and died as a rich prince/king with no troubles. Like, that's the point! The societies we live in punish those who want to broadly help others or make meaningful change, while rewarding those who quietly play the game for themselves -- because it helps keep the wheels turning. It doesn't matter at "what end" of the spectrum you start out on, the rules apply the same way. If you go against the establishment, there's a price to be paid.

Throughout Xie Lian's long journey, he learns this lesson the hard way. And the fact that in order to change it, he would somehow have to change the hearts and minds of pretty much everyone -- which is an impossible ask. How is he even supposed to that, or restructure society as a whole, without vast amounts of collateral damage? In the end, Xie Lian discovers that he was not wrong in his desire to help people, even if he cannot help everyone. He can still help people he meets in whatever ways he can, and that is still important. To show kindness, mercy, and empathy towards your fellow man is worth it. Helping your neighbors or complete strangers you meet once and then never again -- all that is still worth it.

I wish I had the time to sit down and really talk about this in a more organized way, but these disjointed thoughts are all I can manage at the moment! I hope it was still valuable to you in some way, and thank you for sending in the ask!

(Also, I recently reblogged a post that talked about something similar if you wanna check it out, Anon. It's right under the manhua highlights I think!)

[cosmicjoke]

How Ash's Sexual Abuse Impacts His Perception of Himself Part 1:

I think one of the biggest mistakes people make in their understanding of Ash is in thinking, because he had the intellectual capacity to objectively view the abuse he suffered as wrong and to understand objectively that his abusers were bad people, that must also mean the abuse he suffered didn't have a genuinely negative and crippling impact on his perception of himself. Typically, you see people who make this argument also lamenting the ending of the story as "bad" or "unnecessary", or done for "shock value". They argue that Ash would have been able to recover from the sexual abuse he endured because he already showed an intellectual resistance to it coloring his perception of himself. But I think this is completely wrong, and I think, further, it only serves to undermine the seriousness of what Ash went through, what was done to him, by framing it as something simple intellectual prowess and fortitude should be able to overcomes, as if that's how the insidious nature of abuse and the ways in which it impacts its victims has ever worked. Emotion isn’t dictated by logic. How we feel isn’t dictated by logic. Being able to objectively acknowledge that something that's happened to you is wrong doesn't mean you haven't internalized the experience or will somehow be able to escape any and all feelings of responsibility and self-blame. Victims of abuse, particularly child abuse, can often objectively understand that what they went through was wrong, but they often still struggle with feelings of shame, rooted in the sense that the abuse must have somehow been deserved or otherwise a result of some failing on their part, which is also why you see victims of abuse often struggle to fully blame or hold their abusers accountable for what's been done to them. I think this very obviously applies to Ash, evident in his naked self-loathing displayed throughout the story, and there are so many examples throughout the story that prove without doubt that Ash's perception of himself has been impacted and terribly skewed by the abuse he's suffered.

So I'm going to go through just some of the examples of that evidence:

Example one. When Ash is forced to watch footage of himself being raped by Marvin, he reacts with evident shame, unable to even look at the film being shown, turning away from the screen and falling mute. He explodes moments later in this scene when Willard keeps badgering and harassing him over his age and his history of working as a child prostitute on the streets of New York, before again seeming to crumple and resigning himself to the things Willard is saying about him, insinuating that he's always been a bad person, always been a "whore", etc...

Example two: Ash weaponizing his sexuality. Ash often willingly puts himself into positions of letting others see and treat him as a sex object to advance his goals. This speaks to someone who is willing to sacrifice their sense of self-respect and dignity by allowing themselves to be abused or otherwise objectified, in the name of gaining an upper hand. What this tells us about Ash is that his sense of identity is wrapped up in the idea of being a sex object. He treats taking on this role almost as a natural extension of himself. He falls easily and readily into adopting the persona of a "whore" when it benefits him to do so. That doesn't seem like something someone would do who genuinely believed themselves to be above or to be better than reducing themselves to sex work. It speaks to someone who believes their dignity and body is an acceptable thing to sacrifice because it isn't worth anything, anyway.

Example three: Ash's father calling him a "whore" and Ash not at all seeming offended or angry about it, not even acknowledging it, simply brushing it off like it isn't a big deal at all. Almost assuredly Ash isn't offended by his father calling him something so derogatory because Ash, deep down, likely agrees with his father about what he is. We see other people who have abused Ash do the same thing, blaming him for their actions and accusing him of being a whore or a slut, acting as if Ash seduced them. The police back in Cape Cod do this to Ash, too, blaming him for his baseball coaches actions, telling him and his father that Ash must have done something to make Coach Peterson rape him. It only makes sense for Ash to have started to believe, consciously or subconsciously, that all these people telling him his abuse is his fault, must be right.

Example four: Again, we see how truly bereft of self-esteem and convinced of his own rottenness Ash is when we see him openly express here his genuine belief that Eiji will eventually grow "sick of him", and thus, get over being sent back to Japan. He genuinely believes that Eiji will eventually grow to hate him because he'll realize what a worthless person Ash is.

Example five: Relating to example four, how willingly and ready we see Ash is kill himself to save Eiji. This doesn't speak to someone who holds their own lives as very valuable. There are countless examples of this throughout the story, of Ash willingly sacrificing himself to save the lives of other people. He treats his own life and well-being like it doesn't matter at all, and that tells us that Ash doesn't see his own life or person as equivalently valuable to other people's. Again, this comes from suffering a lifetime of abuse and being told and treated as if he's nothing but an object made to fulfill the pleasure and satisfaction of others.

Example six: Ash having a literal mental breakdown while being held captive by Dino, referring to himself as a "living toilet" made for Dino and all of his other abusers to empty their sperm into whenever they got the urge. Ash starts to laugh uncontrollably at the idea of Dino wanting to make him the heir to his criminal empire, saying it's "the funniest thing (he's) ever heard". Ash sees it as a massive joke, laughing at the irony of being treated as nothing but a worthless object his whole life, only for Dino to want to make him his heir. Ash then says "Sorry, but I don't think I'm going to rise to your expectations "Dad".", and that's indicative of him seeing himself as only being suited to the role of being Dino's and others sex toy, expecting himself to fail at taking on the role of anything "better" or "higher" than that. He can't envision himself as accomplishing anything beyond his life as a criminal and a prostitute, because the abuse he's suffered and the life he's been forced to live as a result of that abuse, have conditioned him into believing himself to be worthless.

Example seven: Ash being willing for Max to use the photographs of him being raped for his article, saying "Dead people don't have any privacy to protect. Or any sense of shame". Again, we see Ash willingly allowing his own sense of dignity and well-being to be sacrificed here, despite the humiliation and shame it causes him to be seen the way the pictures depict him. He's saying here that he has no rights, and no right to even feel ashamed of himself, because this is just what he's always been. A sex object. A thing made for the pleasure of others. This so clearly demonstrates that Ash has indeed internalized this idea that's been drilled into him his entire life, that he's a worthless whore and nothing else, and so he shouldn't even attempt to preserve his dignity or sense of self-respect. He's expressing here that he has no claim to those things, and so it's pointless for him to fight for them.

There's other examples, but I can only fit ten pictures into a single post, so I'll be making a second to drive my point home that Ash's self-perception absolutely was negatively impacted by the sexual abuse he was subjected to. That, indeed, his sense of self-worth was deeply eroded by that abuse.

[utilitycaster]

To expand that point about queerphobia (also, to an extent, gender equality) from the tags on someone else's post and sort of tying it back to my post yesterday about wanting to see characters work through similar experiences: I think it makes a lot of sense in the case of Exandria and Hale to build a world that does not have queerphobia and to allow people to choose to insert it if that is something their table wishes to explore. It's very much a case of wanting to build a diverse but non-utopian world that is welcoming to a wide variety of players.

I think it's a very understandable urge to want to see characters deal with the same challenges we face, and I think there are TTRPG settings that have done a good job depicting homophobia or transphobia; it's present though not common in Fantasy High, and The Unsleeping City is very close to the modern-day real world and has, well, period-typical attitudes.

The reason I get frustrated when it comes up in discussion of Exandria, and now Hale is that it's almost always used for one of two reasons: explaining why people (either specifically or generally) don't like a character; or even more frequently, explaining hesitancy between two characters in a ship. It's a convenient way to say "this person is oppressed or afraid for reasons that are objectively in no way their fault and which make the people who dislike them objectively bigoted and wrong". The problem is, while that's a valid story to tell it's often really not the story the cast is telling with these characters. Even more frustratingly, it often is used to steamroll other stories that may place those characters in just as innocent a position.

Some good examples in which this has happened in the fandom are Jester and Dorian. Jester lives on the Menagerie Coast, which is referred to a pretty wide variety of materials as being a place that is especially trans friendly (in a world where trans and nb characters already frequently occupy prominent positions and are not depicted as experiencing pushback). Her mother, a courtesan, indicates that she takes clients of varying genders. The biggest influences on her life are her mother and an otherworldly fey entity who famously can shapeshift. There is absolutely no canonical evidence that Jester would be unaware of the broad range of genders and sexualities in the world nor that she would feel obligated to embrace one that she is not; in fact there is quite strong evidence to the contrary. But if you claim that she's experiencing compulsive heterosexuality, it excuses you from having to consider that Jester is genuinely not interested in Beau, or at the very least is genuinely interested in Fjord.

Similarly, it was, at least prior to the reveals of early Campaign 3, common to headcanon that Dorian had run away from his parents because he was trans and they were transphobic. A trans reading of Dorian is still obviously entirely valid, but he left because his parents were suffocating and overbearing and often pit him against his brother. Dorian is still absolutely the victim in this! It's a valuable thing to relate to for people who have experienced parental abuse and impossible expectations. But it does still force you to think about Dorian's parents as complex people who came to this conclusion of childrearing (even if they are still in the wrong) and not just mindless bigots to be disregarded. And I think the former is nearly always a better story than the latter.

What also frustrates me is that this rarely works through the ramifications. The systemic queerphobia that would be required to put compulsory heterosexuality in place still exists once someone overcomes that and comes out; but that never comes into play when people are talking about the ship, because it's only ever used to explain why the ship hasn't happened yet, never as a significant part of the world that would affect the characters throughout their entire lives.

These are only two examples; there are countless others, some particularly egregious (*cough* Essek comes from a society that explicitly believes in reincarnation across bodies of varying genders and the queen for eternal life is in a lesbian relationship, I promise you his fraught relationships with his parents are way more complicated than simple homophobia or transphobia) but all of which seek to incorporate bigotry not as the destructive and deadly phenomenon it is, to be explored in the safe space of fiction, but as an incredibly lazy shortcut to be discarded as a continuity error once it's served its purpose.

[alice-after-dark]

StaticMoth Thoughts

So disclaimer that I am a "ship what you want to ship as long as you don't force it on others" kind of person. If you really like StaticMoth and think they are genuinely in love, you do you boo. You'll get no hate from me. However this is not that kind of post, so if that's not your cup of tea, I do suggest skipping. You have been warned.

TW for abusive relationships, sexual abuse, and other canon-typical triggers. Discussion of homophobia (Vox is from the 1950s after all)

So I'm going to get right to the point. I see a lot of people pointing to that one split second clip of them making out and saying they're in love...and I wholly disagree. I see their relationship as a purely sexual one, with some potential romantic manipulation from Valentino's side of things (because we all know Vox is insecure as fuck).

Vox grew up during a time period where liking both women and men and being openly sexual was not accepted and his demon life is his first real chance at exploring that side of himself. So he is very vulnerable to someone like Valentino who is the complete opposite and solidly comfortable with his sexuality and desires. Valentino is everything that Vox couldn't even fathom being. Fuck, even in Hell, Vox still strives to maintain a spotless image. The idea of not only being in a relationship with a man, but being able to actively pursue his desires is absolutely foreign to him and Valentino knows this. Which is exactly why he loves playing with Vox.

I do also want to make it clear that I think they are mutually abusive to each other. Vox is a control freak and tries to force Valentino into the box he needs him to fit in for the V's image. He refuses to engage in PDA and frankly doesn't even like to touch Valentino in public view if he doesn't have to. However, we also see that Vox can't just tell Valentino "no" and expect him to listen. He needs to placate him, satisfy him in some capacity, or Valentino will go off and do something stupid that will wreck their image. He is always placating the other demon. Valentino needs to be kept happy and sated, in whatever way necessary. And sometimes that means Vox getting...personally involved when he may not want to.

Now, telling Valentino "no" for most things can be pretty easily placated, but telling Valentino "no" when sex is involved? That can get downright dangerous. A horny Valentino is not so easily swayed in another direction. One thing about Valentino is that he's picky. Once he has his dirty mind set on someone, convincing him to redirect to someone else is nigh impossible. The who matters just as much as the what to him. So if Valentino comes to Vox with sex on the brain, "no" isn't really an option. Vox might be able to swing a "later," but even that is tricky and delicate and usually requires some kind of...compensation for the wait. And for Vox, who is used to the scummy darker side of the TV industry, well, this is just what you do to get ahead in the world.

(This is not to say that they don't ever have consensual sex, they absolutely do...that's just not always the case)

Do I think Valentino is the worst offender out of the two? Yes. Do I think Vox is a completely innocent victim who did nothing wrong? No. I think they are in a mutually toxic, abusive, and fascinating relationship.

[doll-elvis]

Your thoughts on the Letterboxd reviews for prisiclla? I’ve gotten mixed messages from them, about the movie overall and Elvis’s portrayal

for now (even though I was refreshing letterboxd every 1.2 seconds yesterday🤧) I’m trying to stay away from reading letterboxd reviews- solely because of the amount of review inflating by the anti-elvis crowd and because of the review bombing by what I’m assuming is elvis fans: it’s just incredibly hard to find an unbiased review atp

but yes definitely a lot of mixed messages: I’ve seen people complain that the film was too sensitive to Elvis, and people complain that it wasn’t sensitive enough to him, like ma’am which one is it 😭

@septembersghost changed my brain chemistry yesterday with all of their amazing responses to asks about this film, and this one in particular helped me realize why we are seeing such a wide variety of reviews, and even reviews that are contradictory to one another ⬇️

tbh I was very naive with my expectations of how I thought Elvis would be received by audiences because for some reason I thought people would be able to go into this film without their own biases and without any preconceived opinions of Elvis- but of course I was wrong about that 😭

I think most people are seeing this film with the hopes that it will validate their beliefs that Elvis was an “abuser” and a that Priscilla was a “victim”, and like septembersghost said, if they want him to be a monster, they will see him as one regardless of the film’s intent

and so many reviewers are doing exactly that

like mistaking Elvis’ genuine innocence, and his “little boy”-like qualities as something perverse and harmful. like I saw a reviewer say that his baby talk with Priscilla was creepy… bffr

Elvis never had any ill intent with his baby talk, it was simply something he grew up with, but of course people are twisting the narrative to make it seem like Elvis was baby-talking with Priscilla in a perverse way. Not to mention the fact that Elvis would baby talk with literally everybody from his cousin Billy to his dad, to his daughter, to the Graceland staff etc. etc., it wasn’t something reserved for Priscilla because she was younger than him

“him yuvs you and her yuvs him” in what universe is that anything but cute 😩

excerpt from “Elvis and Me” by Priscilla Presley

I’ve also seen reviewers say that Elvis was “physically neglectful” towards Priscilla in the years leading up to their marriage because he wanted to save penetrative intercourse for marriage… it just seems like no matter what Elvis’ intent was, or what the film’s intent was, people will twist it in a way to make Elvis look worse

I’m personally not surprised that a man from the silent generation aka a man who was born in 1935 in a Christian household believed that sex was for marriage 😭

of course he didn’t abstain from it completely but it doesn’t shock me that Elvis intended to marry a virgin woman, especially knowing that he abstained from penetrative intercourse with many other women that he considered for marriage like June Juanico and Anita Wood

That was not only typical of his background (being from the south, and being raised in church) but it was also typical of that time period- I also saw a reviewer say that Elvis had “dated” ideas of marriage and I’m sorry to be crass but no shit??? the man was from a generation that practiced those standards of marriage, so he wasn’t alone in those beliefs nor did he start them

ahh I’m sorry it just bugs me when people completely avoid using context when speaking about Elvis 😭 like why are we using a 2023 mindset to judge a man from 1935?? anyways that’s why I’m now trying not to take every single negative review for its’ word because it’s very possible that these people are simply misinterpreting Elvis and his intentions

of course that is easier said than done, and as Elvis fans I think we all feel protective over him and anything negative about him, especially negativity that isn’t even true, is just so hard to have to see and to read. I truly wish that everyone loved him as much as we do, the world be a kinder place to say the least 😭

in order to keep my mind from imploding I’ve been reading reviews from more independent critics as opposed to larger companies like rollingstone (their review made me want to find a hole and stay there)

I found this guy’s review of the film just by searching “Priscilla review” on Twitter, and this is probably one of the most unbiased takes that I have seen so far ⬇️

review courtesy of Rory Doherty on flicks.co.uk

“but the conditions that his love came with appear to an outsider completely unfair” I don’t think this is a harsh assessment at all, Elvis expected a lot out of the women he was with and I truly sympathize with all of them in that regard

like Elvis telling Mindi Miller that she looked scary without makeup made me die laughing when I first read it because imagine having the nerve to say that but if I was her I would have cried 😭!!

and if his review if completely accurate, it soothes my worries to know that Coppola “is not interested in moral judgement” as it seems like people who hate Elvis are only interested in the film if it does that

if you made it this far I’m sorry I don’t know how to stop this word vomit lmao but I’d love to know what you guys think or if you have read a review that gives you more hope for this film <3!!

[vallcro]

I read all that. ;p And I think it's interesting the psychology behind Joey's actions.

Regarding the bit in your tags, whether or not Tracy should do something bad- I think that depends on where you want the story to go.

Do you want it to be purely self indulgent? Then go ahead with all your favorite tropes and don't pay any mind to what others will think.

Do you want it to be very realistic? Real life victims can still end up doing no wrong but most are flawed because people are flawed.

And if you're lucky you might get both of these at once.

In the end it depends on what you want to do with his character. And how you want it to affect the story. If you'd like you can make his *lack* of action affect his character and story too. And of course you can make an AU of your OCs where something else happens in a different universe.

But I'll ask anyways. Regardless of whether or not he'll actually do something in the story, what would be Tracy's limits?

Would he commit an equally deplorable act and try to get his abuser to abuse another kid to set himself free?

Would he come up with some sort of self defense and abuse Joey back?

Would he do something that's actually moral but might seem immoral to someone who's been manipulated, like reporting his abusers?

I Think The Psychology Behind Joeys Actions Is Also Interesting Bc I Don’t Really Understand It And I’m The One Writing It LOL

When I Write I Like Writing Things I Think Other People Would Enjoy As Well As Myself So Idk If I Want It To Be Entirely Self Indulgent Just Mostly Bc There Is A Lot Of Ppl That Enjoy Smol Bean Bottom x Big Mean Top Like I Do

Honestly I Can’t See Tracy Actually Doing Something Super Bad The Worst Thing He’d Do Is Probably Be Mean To His Little Sister In Typical Middle Child + Big Brother Fashion And Calling Joey The F Slur Despite Knowing He Struggles With Internalized(And Tbh Externalized) Homophobia But Thats Not Like Awful And Most Defiantly Not Comparable With Being A Perpetrator Of SA And DV

So The Worst Tracy Is Gonna Do Is Be A Little Mean And Sassy Sometimes

For The Doing Something Moral That Might Seem Immoral Bc He’s Been Manipulated And Shit: Idk If This Is Considered Like A Morally Good Thing To Do But I Wouldn’t Say It’s Bad But Tracy Defiantly Feels Guilty Abt The Whole Thing With His Moms BF Even Tho He’s Technically Aware That What His Mothers BF Does Is Sexual Abuse And In Any Other Case The Victim Would Never Be At Fault He Still Blames Himself And Can’t Help But Feel Like He Did Something To Bring It On Himself His Brain Def Flip Flops Between “You Have A Perfectly Good Reason To Not Tell Your Mom Finding Out She Got With A Child Predator Would Kill Her + He Threatened You” And “The Fact This Has Been Going On For So Long And You Haven’t Told Your Mom Is Proof Your Basically Asking For It ATP Your Just Fucking Your Moms BF Bc You Want To” So He Definitely Feels Like He’s Doing Something Immoral There

I’m Still Trying To Figure Out If I He’ll Eventually Tell His Mother Abt Her BF Or Not My Original Plan Was For Joey To Be The One Who Helps Tracy Be Able To Finally Tell His Mom Abt It But I Think That’s Giving Him Too Much Credit TBH LOL Joeys Probably Worried If Tracy Realizes He Has The Ability To Report One Abuser He Might Realize He Has The Ability To Report Both Rendering Joey Both In Trouble With His Parents, With The School They Go To Probably, And Maybe Even The Law As Well As Leaving Him With One Less Tracy In His Life </3

Even Though Joey Beats On Tracy And Hates The Idea Of Anyone Else Touching Him He Also Genuinely Loves Tracy Even If He Has A Strange Way Of Displaying It

[dez-wade]

Omg okay so, 🤏🤏🤏 headcanons about Bagi's egg :

• She's a girl!! Idk why I just feel like Bagi with a daughter would be very cute

• I don't actually have any name ideas for her tbh, I guess I'll use Ama as a place holder for now <3

• She is suchhhhh an annoying kid and she has fun with it, she loves doing things specifically to annoy her siblings and worry her tios and tias

• Despite this tho she doesn't like making people UPSET, just annoyed. She doesn't notice the difference between just annoyed vs genuinely stressed out, but if she's told she's upsetting someone she'll stop immediately

• She's both least and most behaved with Bagi. Ama loves Bagi the most, so she acts like a bit of a brat with her but she ultimately always respect her ma and what she asks the most so she'll always, eventually, do what Bagi asks her to do

• She mainly speaks Portuguese!! Even w non pt speakers. She interacts most with Richas, Favela 6, and Roier bc she prefers to speak pt. She knows how to speak english but she doesn't typically do it unless none of her family is with her, and she's alone w people who don't understand portuguese. Otherwise people kinda rely on the tts translation for her

• She likes collecting building blocks and pretty things she thinks Bagi will like!! She also likes collecting things for other favelas people but she gives the most to Bagi :(

• Bagi's paranoia affects Ama in the sense that she REALLY doesn't trust anyone outside of the favela 6 and Richas. She likes all of her tios and tias and siblings but she's a shooter for all of her family and she'll defend them even if they're in the wrong ToT

• She knows Richas is a jealous little egg and she specifically likes annoying him. Not because she dislikes him, but BECAUSE she loves him, she annoys him. He's definitely her favourite sibling tbh, and she feels most comforted and safe with him and Bagi

• She is a menace to animals on that server, she has a habit of killing anything she sees that isn't a pet so if whoever is with her wants any specific mob, they have to get it fast bc she WILL kill it

• Ama is a very strong little egg!! I'd say she has around similar pvp ability as Pac or Roier, she's strong so she can defend her cringefail /affectionate parents <3

• She's very restless, if she's stuck in one place for too long she runs around and punches Bagi or whoever she's with so they can go do something fun

• She likes dungeons and exploring a lot, it's probably her favourite thing to do bc I think she'd be kind of bad at building LOL

• Outside of Bagi, she spends the most time with Forever and Tazercraft!! Her online schedule is late morning - late afternoon so she usually logs in a bit before Bagi and hangs out with Pac and the morning crew before Bagi comes online. When Bagi comes on, Ama obviously goes to her. When Bagi is busy and not giving her attention OR not online she'll go hang out with Forever.

• She is such an enabler with Tazercraft and I imagine she gives them batshit insane ideas to do tbh. I think she'd like seeing them cause problems and has fun helping them build machines and get materials but she kind of just lingers in the area while they're building bc she doesn't really like building

• She likes dragging Forever out to bring her to dungeons and explore because he's the most geared up out of the Favela 6 so she trusts him to keep her alive even tho he's bad at pvp ToT she sees him as a protector and, behind Bagi and Richas, he's someone who makes her feel safest :')

• Ama likes following Richas around when they're together and she's like a shadow to him. He's her big brother, and she adores annoying him for it. He's usually the victim of her brat behavior because being annoying is the best way she expresses love LMAO but ultimately she'd fight the codes and feds for him, and he's one of her favourite people

• Ultimately though she's a mama's girl, she loves and feels safest with Bagi. She likes accompanying Bagi in anything she does, even building. She looks up to Bagi a lot and will argue with anyone for her, even Favelas, even if Bagi is in the wrong simply because Bagi is her mom and it's them against the world :')

• I will stop now bc this is already long and I don't remember what I've already said LOL

It's very long but dw, I really like it! I always saw Bagi having a daughter too, so I really like Ama. I can imagine her trying and failing to drag Bagi to a dungeon (I don't think she ever did one lmao) and bother Forever or Etoiles for it.

I also can see her being really spoiled, especially by Tazercraft.

I think it's really ironic that she's bad at building, since most of the time Bagi feels like she wants an egg because she wants help in building and decorating.

And I can see her bonding with Richas into killing animals and villagers XD

[ficview]

View - And So We Spiral

By DaScribbla

AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9502808

After Berlin, 15-year old Peter Parker nurses his growing crush on his mentor. Tony Stark tries not to notice, and inevitably fails.

I was sure that no other Starker fic could ever come close to the epic romance that was Revelations, and I couldn't be more glad to be proved wrong.

The story progresses very similarly to your typical non-PWP Starker story. Peter has a crush. Tony notices. Tries to avoid it. Gives in eventually. They have to hide from their friends and the public. They succeed in keeping it hidden until whenever/the truth comes out (Spoiler Alert: it does).

What's special here is the treatment and gravity given to the events that carry forth said generic plot. As much as I enjoy this ship, I must confess that I actively avoid thinking about its moral and legal implications. Some stories circumvent this dilemma by aging Peter up or Tony down; the age gap persists nonetheless. And So We Spiral is the only story that addresses these issues realistically and with sensitivity.

Pros:

-Amazing use of atmosphere! An ever-lingering sense of melancholia permeates this world and its characters. Tony and Peter know what they are doing is not right, but they are unable to stop and that disturbs them. There is an oppressive weight pressing onto everyone's shoulders, and the writing masterfully conveys these feelings to us.

-As mentioned above, realistic treatment of plot. Peter is not of legal age here, and the reactions of people who get to know about the relationship are appropriate and frankly what will (and should) be in the real world.

-Well-written characters. Peter acts like he's fifteen. Some may find him a bit OOC from his MCU version, but again, this fic is not 100% MCU compliant and incorporates elements from the comics. And I was pretty impressed with Tony's portrayal as well. One of my usual grouches with this ship is how little reason Tony has for being attracted to Peter. Well, that's not elaborated upon too much in this story, but I genuinely didn't care, which brings me to the next pro.

-It's not about falling in love. It's about the consequences. And oh boy, do they face quite a bit of those!

Cons:

-Again, generic plot. I think I read the first 100 pages on autopilot. Could have been a little more engaging on that front.

-Peter is a victim of past sexual abuse and that is not given its due weight. Some of the smut do not make merge well with Peter's past.

(Not sure if this is a pro or con). Not a totally healthy relationship. It's kind of shallow. We never really see many romantic moments out of the smut. And though, they are willing to fight for each other, that seems to stem more from decency and duty towards a partner than genuine love.

I'm more inclined to call this a pro for the rather nuanced depiction of an age-gap relationship based on sexual attraction, but for all the trouble these two go through, you need something solid to root for as a reader. Tbh, I would have been totally fine with them parting ways forever at the end, and if that's what the author was trying to convey, well and good.

The ending definitely warrants a special mention, with bittersweet being the most apt word to capture the feeling. All in all, one of the deeper MCU fanfiction I've read, and despite the flaws, it has trumped nearly every other Starker I've read, and proven itself worthy of ranking at the top of the Starker list.

[sayakxmi]

[Magi reread] Night 34: Answer

Best mom award in Magi goes to Ja'far.

Thank you for being the only person to point out that these are KIDS.

Another moment you don't think too hard until you reread it while thinking too hard. Sinbad doesn't see the child that Aladdin is. He just sees somebody with a lot of power. Well, he's not ageist, I'll give him that. But Aladdin is ten. Power or not, he's young and very openly doesn't understand much about the world, he admits it himself.

Like, if you look at Magi as typical shounen, then it makes sense. But the thing is, Magi is not a typical shounen. I'll forever view it as a victim of the wrong time. Magi is that transitional series, something between the old and new shounen. If it appeared now, it would've been far more popular. It has some of these shounen tropes, but at the same time it doesn't depend on them. Your actions have consequences, life is no fiction. If you get too cocky, you end up as a slave, don't you, Sinbad?

It kind of reminds me how I talked with Yudja about it once, how Sinbad is a shounen hero trapped in a world that is much closer to the real world than a cartoon. Determination and the power of friendship aren't enough, and he learns it the hard way... and yet, here he is. Still living a fantasy.

I'll forever mourn Magi not airing later.

I do like the fact that he asks her. Several reasons. 1 - shows how passive Aladdin tends to be, a guide that lets himself be guided (which isn't exactly a bad thing, but still), 2 - it might've been not planned, but after being a slave, it was honestly pretty nice that he didn't make that decision for her.

Sinbad says it. She's smart.

And Sinbad's a damn good negotiator. Well, he is a merchant.

Sinbad is sexist. Hardly a surprise.

That face.

Force-fed respect women juice.

Not for long, but oh well.

Yeaa, it's probably Cassim just making him the center of attention, not something specific that Alibaba does. It's just all attributed to him.

Aladdin & denial the arc.

Welp, there it is. Sinbad's motto, besides calling everything fate. Decide on something, then keep going, no matter what. Thanks for that one, Ja'far.

Ja'far looks so proud of him. Bro, you have no idea yet where it'll lead : (

SinJa is an awesome ship when well-written. But, anyway, I like that chuckle and expression.

Lmao. I love it when they're allowed to be silly.

Still, Sinbad isn't some pure evil. He makes a shitton of extremely bad chocies, and some of them are very much unforgivable, but he isn't simply badTM. He's a fascinating character, but sometimes it feels like the fandom views him either as just good or just bad, when he's canonically and very pointedly depicted as having both of these sides to him.

I want to crack open his skull and watch his brain under a microscope.

Anyway, but I was thinking about it, bc here he just notices somebody struggling to walk, and he automatically tries to help.

Yeah, that does look like how his life usually looks. Tries to do good, gets himself into some trouble.

Huh, that doesn't align with Ahbmad's words.

He's genuinely horrified.

I love this entire page. It shows Sinbad's priorities pretty well - laws don't matter, only what he considers to be the right thing does. And here it's not a bad thing. it's not something we disagree with, obviously. But it does make sense that one day he'll reach the point where only what he views to be the right thing will matter, even if he has to do something disastrous.

Weird fog.

I'm pretty sure that this scene doesn't happen in the anime.

Bro he misses him so fucking much I just CAN'T. Just. Ugh. IF ONLY UGO-KUN AND ALIBABA WERE HERE. They knew each other for one adventure, it's been like two-three days max, probably, and I just can't. Aladdin cares so fucking much. This is his best friend, he found him on his own, and he wouldn't trade him for anybody, no matter how shining and powerful they are. He likes that incredibly ordinary and kind cheapskate. I just CAN'T, UGH

[the-nysh]

Saitama's reaction to Cosmic Garou is a sorely underrated interaction imho. It's not the typical aloofness he shows most opponents, or the surprise Boros managed to elicit. He looks genuinely unnerved when he sees Garou's new form, what he's become.

Good. Because he could immediately tell something was unnaturally wrong. That Garou's character wasn't the same person he knew just moments before - when his aura, way of speaking, personality, and appearance had all suddenly become something else with no other logical explanation. Unfortunately just seeing his changed state wasn't enough for Saitama to understand or register that something truly Bad(tm) had just happened to him after punching him away (he'd been corrupted; a victim to an evil cosmic...entity/infector/parasite/manipulator of some other alien foreign power who caught him in Saitama's stead) to take the situation seriously. Where Garou himself needed some serious help that could no longer be dismissed as any old walk in the park, since the game had completely changed. But at least Saitama could sense he was weirdly no longer behaving as Himself (much like how Bang, and readers who actually care for him, could tell he was unnaturally Not Garou.)