#he was like my favorite character at one point

[innerfare]

Fingering You - Part 2

Summary: you already know from the title.

Characters: Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Ace, Sabo, Law, Kid

Genre: pure smut

CW: NSFW // fingering, mentions of penetrative sex, dirty talk, mirror sex, Big Dick Beckman, Rude Crocodile, Sadistic Doflamingo

——— 

Shanks: 

You never know what you’re going to get with Shanks, but you always know you’re going to get something. He’s the handiest man you’ve ever met, always copping a feel. When you walk past him, sometimes he’ll reach out and grab your hand. Other times, he’ll simply brush his hand against your thigh. And sometimes, he’ll drag you over to him and shove a finger inside you, not even warming you up (not that it takes much from him to get you wet, just a, “baby, come here,” in that rocky voice of his and a sloppy kiss that tastes like weed). And when he does finger you, you have no idea if he’s going to lazily stroke your clit until you orgasm, you whining and writhing on top of him while he lounges lazily in his hammock, or if he’s going to take you to the edge and then fuck your orgasm out of you with his cock. 

Beckman: 

Have you seen this man’s hands? Two of his fingers amount to a small cock. But don’t worry, he won’t be too mean about it. Sure, he’ll expect you to call him daddy, and no, he won’t let you hide your face or cover your mouth to stop yourself from moaning, but he’ll take it nice and slow, stroking your clit until you’re begging for his fingers inside you because you just feel so empty without him penetrating you, then probing your weepy little entrance, gently pushing one big finger in and only adding another when you’re creaming for him. “That’s my good girl,” he’ll tell you as you adjust to the size of his hands, “taking daddy’s fingers just like you’re supposed to.” When he’s not heaping praise on you, he’s kissing you, his tongue pushing into your mouth while his fingers thrust in and out of your cunt. And once you’ve cum, he’ll deem you ready to take his cock. (Big Dick Beckman always preps you). 

Mihawk: 

He’s something of an expert with his hands. He noticed very quickly what you liked and what you didn’t, making detailed mental notes of how to get you off the fastest. Of course, this means he is also guilty of quickly making you cum so he can satisfy you without investing too much time, which often leads you to beg him to fuck you while his fingers are deep inside you, hitting all the right spots, his thumb torturing your clit. “Please, Mihawk. Please.” You cry into his shoulder as he works your orgasm out of you, and only when he keeps fingering you do you know he’ll soon be following it up with his cock, that knowledge sending another strong wave of arousal through you. By the time he’s licking his fingers clean, you’re about to cum again. 

Crocodile: 

He has a lot of things that need his attention, you being one of them. But if you want his full attention, you’re going to have to work for it. There are the times he fingers you to be nice, to prepare you at least somewhat to get fucked by that big cock of his, but then there are the times you’re just so needy but he’s working late and you find yourself slipping into his office around midnight, your pussy so wet it feels slippery to walk, your juices soaking through your panties. And he makes damn sure to point that out when you sit on his desk and spread your legs. He’ll sit back in his chair in a cloud of cigar smoke, watching expectantly as you push your panties to the side and finger yourself like you were just doing in your shared bed, and when that isn’t enough for you, you pick up his hand and push his fingers into your aching hole. You grind against his hand until you orgasm, and when you finish, he raises an eyebrow at you, a signal to clean his hand off with your mouth so he can get back to work. 

Doflamingo: 

He loves nothing more than to put his pretty little pet on display, and his absolute favorite way to finger you is in front of a mirror. He strips you down completely, remaining clothed himself, and sits you down in front of your naked reflection, your back pressed into his massive chest. He hooks your legs over his knees to keep them spread wide while his hands remain free to torture you, pinching your nipples so you can see for yourself how red they get when he has his way with them, spreading your outer lips and making you describe how your folds are glistening wet, grinning like a mad man when you admit it’s all for him. He takes his sweet time with you, sometimes doing this for up to an hour and not even making you cum once. And of course, he can never keep his tongue to himself, so expect him to be licking all over your ears and neck as he works. 

Corazon: 

He’s actually so nervous the first time. His hands are so big, and you seem so small by comparison, especially your cunt, but you look so desperate, with your brows furrowed and your bottom lip quivering as you grind against his thigh. What’s a man to do? So, he gently slides your panties down your legs and feels your messy cunt for the first time. He can barely breathe as he drags his fingers up and down your slit, and he almost chokes the first time he touches your clit, his heart jumping in your chest when you whine. He does it again, though, and then again, rubbing your clit until your body is shaking and your hanging onto him for dear life, your orgasm tearing through you. Only then does he try putting a finger inside you. And every time thereafter, he does it in that order, knowing damn well that first clitoral orgasm will leave you desperate to have his fingers inside you and then for another orgasm, which is exactly what he wants, you cumming on his fingers over and over again.

———

Hope you enjoyed it! If you want more, you can check out my masterlist here!

[trashcatsnark]

ngl given my other heavy otome fixations was a Voltage game, I really appreciate Solmare/Obey Me for allowing their men to just kind of be pathetic losers sometimes. Like, as much as I love a lot of Voltage games and other otomes, I feel like they suffer sometimes from like refusing to let their LI's be perceived as anything but cool and charming and suave because the audience wont like them if they're not always this cool headed hyper competent dude (not all voltage men suffer from this and in fact my faves are the ones who dont, but for some poster boys i feel it hard) But the obey me boys are just out here being fucking losers and its great. Like, even Lucifer, the prideful coolest most confident mature one is like getting face kicked in by a magic rabbit on one of his cards. They animated this man bunny hopping and singing about camp. He tried to make Dia's favorite cookies so he could earn some Diavolo Good Boy Points and he burnt the fuck out of them.

Characters are hotter when they're at least a little pathetic and cringe at times. In fact the more pathetic and losery, the hotter.

And yes, Mammon is my favorite.

[tossawary]

I saw this play a while back called "Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of)", which was a comedic retelling of the events of P&P by five female servants. (Who all worked in the Bennet household, I believe? Cannot remember the exact setting at this point.)

It was very much in an "low-budget improv troupe" style (though it was not actually improv), so Mr. Bingley's exaggerated "love at first sight" meeting with Jane happened while he had his hand stuck in a Pringles can. A karaoke machine made multiple appearances. If you were looking for historical accuracy or a perfect examination of the social nuances, this was not at all the play to watch, but it was pretty amusing, and it was interesting to think about P&P from the perspective of servants who may have only heard about certain events through gossip. Or who might just be mocking certain figures because they don't like them very much. At one point at a party, a tipsy Lydia got her hands on one of the soldiers' guns and fired it at the ceiling while people screamed. It was VERY silly.

Because there were only five actresses, they were switching between roles as needed, putting jackets or colorful dresses over their plain white dresses. The female servant who played the dramatic Mrs. Bennet also played the stiff Mr. Darcy. Another of the female servants played both Bingley siblings (Charles and Caroline) and also Charlotte Lucas, I think? Another played Mary, Lydia, and Mr. Collins, and also Mrs. Gardiner, I believe. Another played Jane, Georgiana Darcy, Mr. Wickham, and Lady Catherine, and so on. The female servant who played Elizabeth played her most of the time. The quick changes and mannerism shifts were quite funny.

But my favorite part may have been that Mr. Bennet was played by a chair. It was a comfy chair with its back to the audience and a newspaper propped up so that someone might be sitting there reading it, and at one point one of the servants went over to the chair to light a pipe, so that smoke rose from behind the chair. Characters talked to the chair sometimes, but the chair never talked back.

So, at one point, Mrs. Bennet was yelling and moaning about how the family was ruined. I think that Lydia, whom the embarrassing and overbearing Mrs. Bennet had been actively encouraging to be silly earlier, had run off with Mr. Wickham here. And Mrs. Bennet cried out, "OH, MR. BENNET, DO SOMETHING!!!"

And everyone on stage looked towards the chair with its back turned, which was fairly obviously empty, and which of course couldn't do anything by itself, because it was a chair. Dead silence again.

And then Mrs. Bennet went back to wailing and crying, while her daughters (Jane, Lizzy) patted her awkwardly on the back. And then I think the another actress came in as a servant to announce someone's arrival or something, moving the comedic retelling along. And that's probably what I remember best out of the entire play: Mr. Bennet could be effectively played by an empty chair with its back turned. It was hilarious.

[erinwantstowrite]

i think im not a fan of what dc keeps doing with jason because they keep having him, the abused, become an abuser in some way shape or form. and the classism they don't want to talk about (i am being so for real there is a genuine problem of both writers and readers who do not understand jason's background and it pissed me off so bad because it always shapes their opinion of him in the wrong way and they don't care to even try to listen). and how if they were going to have him come back they should have had delved into his identity crisis and the inherent horror of coming back but not knowing how or why or what to do about it and not knowing what you were doing while dead and having to deal with time jumping forward on you and the fact that you will never get the time back and no one will he the same as they were before you died and how isolating and lonely that would be. and they also definitely weren't prepared for the fact that jason was grieving his life and his death and his hopes for his mother and his dad who didn't get there in time and the dc writers are fucking cowards. which brings me to my next point: why do we keep listening to them about shit because they are quite literally always fighting with each other and projecting their own personal biases into characters (i.e. making them worse than they are/2 dimensional/trying to make them iredeemable so their favorite character gets to shine) and also they are all freaks of nature with a consistent problem of being God Awful People who why would we trust them with these characters. jason todd they don't get you like i do

[shewolf-sinclair]

no i love this. i’m taking ap research and for a while was looking into doing a media analysis project on jason todd and how he exists as social commentary. an essay i plan to write later anyways but without the college board guidelines.

when you think about he exists to critique everything batman stands for.

he comes from NOTHING. he has had to work for everything he has.

bruce is as old money as it gets. he was raised with the world at his fingertips.

jason fights for the general wellbeing of gotham. but deep down he fights for the kids like them. to show them they too can be something. to protect them. the unprotected, often situationally the weakest, the young, the innocent, and the poor. He fights so they don’t have to grow up with crime as their only possibility of a living. so they have options.

it’s not that bruce inherently doesn’t care. but. he has subconscious bias. he fights in crime alley because he hates crime. but he’s not thinking about what his presence might mean to the residents besides taking down bad guys. And he’s more concerned with bigger things like mobs and gangs and big bads than the small things. At least he is by the time he takes Jason in. He’s not just batman either. he’s bruce. he holds immense power as a citizen. he has the ability to improve the conditions in crime alley that pushes those people towards crime in the first place.

jason as RH goes into being a crimelord strictly to dismantle that system (from the inside). Because who cares if petty theft continues he’s keeping the drugs and predators away from the kids. because this generation may be fucked but he can keep the next one from making the same mistakes. and he’ll help this one where he can, too. he’s anti batman because he’s mad at batman, but also because of where his priorities as a vigilante and political figure lie.

batman works with the police. he comes when they call him. if you don’t think that provides bias as to who he helps you’re insane. the police in canon are corrupt, in such a way they mirror the real systemic problems we have in real life, although DC doesn’t always get as graphic within it’s PD and often tries to show them as accessories to heroism (again racist in many ways) this automatically puts batman fighting to save the middle and upper class more often than those in crime alley. and the white residents of gotham more often than the poc.

I know a lot of people don’t like the live action titans show. and while I love it dearly I’m not here to argue about what it did or didn’t get right or do well. I just want to mention l a specific scene in Jason’s s3 arc that ties back to the point of this thread; specifically 3x05 “Lazurus” which stands as one of my favorite episodes of television to this day.

In looking for the exact scene I want to reference I came across Molly’s (jason’s childhood friend) character wiki:

In said scene Jason and Molly meet and discover the whereabouts of a missing kid, to which Molly remarks “He’s poor and brown so the cops don’t give a shit” and while Jason at first says batman will handle it, he very quickly — and after Molly comments on batman’s classism — rushes into trying to take action. The following scene is them confronting the suspected kidnapper and Jason kicking his ass. Maybe even better Jason’s FIRST act as red-hood was saving the kid.

Later in the season he goes on several times to separate himself from scarecrow, reasoning that he didn’t agree to be redhood for senseless violence but because he wanted a better gotham, and wanted the opportunity to take down crime from the inside.

the last thing want to discuss is the kill/no kill rule.

in general redhood doesn’t go on random killing sprees. It is almost always killing predators and abusers, as a way of keeping them away from their victims and saving potential future victims. Because Jason knows locking them up in Arkham or other similar solutions tends not to work. Jason doesn’t kill because he likes it, or is okay with it. It’s a means of necessity. Him having a high kill count is direct commentary on the vigilante/anti-hero trope and on morality and what makes a mean to an end, on what draws the line. His very existence as Red Hood is the same thing as asking “What if you cut a rapists dick off? Or otherwise maim them? What if you commit murder in an act of self defense or one of immediate defense of another?” It’s like when cops shoot a suspect because it’s the only foreseeable way to prevent them from harming people in the immediate future. It’s not arguing that murder is moral. It’s arguing which is less moral; killing them, or allowing them to continue causing harm; knowing you had a chance to stop it. Mind you we are discussing ethics, not legality, as 90% of the vigilante work is illegal.

Batman however refuses to kill, even in the case if the Joker — who murders countless people for fun, including Jason. Batman continues unreliable ways of keeping them off them the streets, with no effort to make them any more reliable. and again is has nothing to do with worrying about the law- he breaks the law constantly.

And this has always been there stark difference, why Jason fights so hard against crime AND a against Batman, and while even after reconciliation they still have a strained relationship.

My opinion on the Latino Jason Todd headcanon

While I do understand ppl's criticism of the latino Jason todd headcanon and how its kind of racist to make the kid with parents with drug problems as the latino one, to me its more of a reclamation BECAUSE of DC's racism.

Read any 80s/90s batman issue that covers gang violence and drugs, most if not ALL of the criminals are poc; black people and latinos visibly make up the majority in the poorer neighbourhoods in Gotham. Aside from the caricaturist way they r drawn/speak, its not THAT weird cause its a reflection of irl big cities where immigrants and marginalised ppl are often forced to live in such situations, (like most of my dominican family lives in the bronx... it aint racist to say dominicans tend to flock there), BUT...the weird part is when the second a sympathetic character comes from that area, he's white and has a name thats "too fancy for the streets".

Obviously, Jason was created to look like the old robin, so I can't say that the whole "diamond in the rough" situation was purposely a tad bit racist, but its still a lil weird (especially with bruce's comment).

If Jason were a part of the overwhelming demographic in his area, the good-kid-in-a-bad-area trope has less connotations. DC is currently trying to fix this trope is by making crime alley whiter, which isn't bad but they could've just yk... humanised the non-white residents.

I also feel like the messed up way Jason was treated post-death is what makes him so relatable to latino readers. His tragic story of dying while trying to save his only living relative is turned into a lesson for newer vigilantes. Jason's particular disdain for abusers on a few occasions was twisted (by both writers and characters) into him always being dumb, reckless, cocky, angry and disobedient, always violent, never having been able to get over his upbringing. None of those things were true (he was a normal level of reckless and cocky like every other robin, not more), but its an easier narrative to digest compared to how it was in reality; a kid who worked so hard and loved even harder, died to save a woman who couldn't care less about his existence. He was an emotional AND smart kid who wanted so bad to help others get better but was remembered as too emotional (in a bad way).

THIS is the reality for many latino diasporas in day to day life; Theres no question that Latino culture is passionate and emotive, but people from other cultures assume that it is followed by instead of logical. both can coexist. emotion does not mean u have no logic. Emotions can be irrational but they aren't inherently that way, and I wouldn't say that the moments where Jason lashed out as a teenager were irrational (in og runs, not rewrites post red hood), they were mostly done to protect someone (going crazy on abusers, disobeying batman to save sheila, that time he got into a fight at school to defend his friend).

A lot of euro-centric culture is OBSESSED with the idea that rationality is separate from feelings and emotions, but not crying at a funeral doesn't mean you're better than those who do. Emotions are the basis of human ethics and morals, they define the way we interact as a collective and ignoring them does not mean they are not there. Theres no winner to a contest of who can feel the less. And the way Jason's emotions are treated (pre-rh, hes definitely unhinged afterwards lol) is so in line with how white culture tends to punish those who aren't ashamed to feel.

I TOTES UNDERSTAND that some ppl who headcanon Jason as latino are doing it for the complete opposite of reasons, like "oh here some angry emotional guy with druggie parents, haha must be latino". Its weird. I dont like it. And its only brought up so he can swear in spanish in some rlly bad text post where his emotions are getting out. But to me there's so much potential for metanarrative and commentary on how latinos are treated in media that can be exemplified through the way his character is treated. Being latino would add SO MUCH DEPTH to his character and his dynamic with the others.

[lacrimosathedark]

The Radioapple Haters™️ are at it again.

This time they're attacking shippers with the newly released Playbill.

There's so many issues with that. Beyond harassing people for ships is dumb.

This is what people are pointing at.

This is on the cast info page. It says Lucifer misses his wife.

So, three things about that.

Firstly, We Been Knew, babe.

His very first appearance, after his daughter says her parents split up, he's in a room covered in pictures of not just said daughter, but her mother too, and he's still wearing a presumed wedding band. If that's not "showing not telling" with a goddamn airhorn, idk how more clear it could get without Lucifer flat out saying he misses Lilith. So like...this is not new info. So there's nothing to really rub in. We knew this.

Secondly, this is in-character Lucifer saying this.

I'm not a professional, but when I was in high school performances, we wrote our own little Playbill bio info things. That seems to carry into professional ones too. If you can read the actual cast, some of the the actors less entrenched in the fandom culture have basically an IMDB of their relevant previous roles, while the ones you see at cons are more personable. Those were written by the actors. So, logically, the character bios are written as if by the characters. This could not be made more obvious.

So, logically, you can read that little above as Lucifer himself actually saying he misses his wife. Which leads me to--

Third, break-ups are messy and painful and Lucifer not moving on, unwilling to remove his ring or call Lilith his ex, doesn't mean they are still together. Hell, they could still even be technically married, doesn't mean they're still romantically entangled.

Look, I know the only seeming one-sided relationships in the show is Vox/Alastor and Adam/Lilith and every other "pair" are together or at least friendly (Chaggie, Huskerdust, Cherrisnake, Staticmoth, Guitarspear) but not every separation has to be a violent resentful split. Lucifer is explicitly Depressed™️ which can be hard for any partner to deal with, especially someone as ambitious as Lilith. It wouldn't be surprising if she, not even cruelly, thought she'd be more successful away from him even if he still loves her.

And all this is on top of the fact that most Radioapple shippers don't expect their ship to happen (some hope it does, some hope it doesn't, I'm personally neutral on the concept), and that a lot of writers and artists explicitly acknowledge and use Lucifer's love for Lilith in Radioapple because people love the drama.

I have several posts listing why one might ship Radioapple so I won't go off about it here, but suffice to say the entanglement between Lilith and Alastor and how the two are similar and different makes interacting with Lucifer interesting from any angle.

This also hurts me personally a bit because a lot of these people are Lucilith shippers and, yall, I'm one of you. I don't want them to get back together for many reasons, but I would love to see endless flashbacks of them obnoxiously in love. Most of my favorite works of fanart aren't even Radioapple, my primary ship, but Lucilith, in large part because of how adorable they are. How indulgent or smitten Lilith can look. How adorably excited or flustered or just happy Lucifer can be.

I love Lucilith. I adore Lucifer. I just also think his interactions with Alastor are funny and intriguing.

We don't need to hate each other. We can try to keep our little sandboxes separate, but we can play nice when we spill into each other, can't we?

I am really just so sick of the silly in-fighting. It costs zero dollars and zero energy to not be a dick. Need to type out a rant to get it out and off your chest? cool. But you can post it privately or delete it instead of going into peoples' ask boxes and and posts to be nasty. Not having the self control and wherewithal to not go out of your way to be a dick to people is honestly pretty pathetic. If you think you're so much better, prove it by being better, or being smug in your space. Making people feel like shit for a nonexistent fictional relationship does literally nothing for anyone and makes YOU look worse.

Dislike the ship all you want. No one cares either way. Just don't waste your limited time in this life making your distaste everyone else's problem.

[crystalizedcryolite]

While waiting for me to finally finish the next chapter..

DESIGN ANALYSIS FOR MY VIGILANTE AU >:D

As always, let's start in rainbow order! But first things first; all CG members have matching eyes, in one way or another! Red has yellow eyes, Orange has green eyes, Yellow has orange eyes, Green has blue eyes, and Blue has red eyes!! I might change things depending on how it looks, though.

Anyway, Red!!

I'll admit, I'm definitely giving him a design upgrade, but let's talk about this one.

Ah, the classic yellow bandanna. How could I leave it out? It's iconic!

His hair is definitely the wildest out of everyone's. A lot of black and grey in his design, too, which makes the yellow bits and the light-up shoes REALLY stand out.

The yellow matches his eyes and bandanna, and is reminiscent of that media trope with seeing yellow eyes peek from the darkness. The mask is, of course, to hide his face. Red didn't really seem like the guy to wear a visor like Green, or cover his entire face like Blue, so he gets that mask! Might change that, who knows.

His outfit looks thrown together with not that amount of effort. Very casual, as Green pointed out. Before Orange, he was the latest addition to the team, which can mean he can be a bit inexperienced. Wanted to convey that somehow!

Light-up shoes, oh, light-up shoes... who doesn't love them? Green certainly doesn't, but Red disagrees!

Next one!

Orange/Sketch

Now, I didn't draw their vigilante outfit yet, but I added the description of it to give an idea!

I wanted her hair to give a very anime-protagonist feel, if that made sense? Not sure if I got that right but it works for me! And hey! Freckles!

Working clothes: His pants are covered in paint to give an artist-like feel. (I should know. I paint a lot and some of my clothes did NOT survive the process.) As for the top and apron, I wanted it to feel like an actual café worker's uniform without it being a basic starbucks rip-off.

Vigilante outfit: VERY reminiscent of outfits animated characters would wear in scenes where they're doing some graffiti on the streets. That was my main inspiration behind the design.

Also in dark colors. They have to blend into the darkness and stuff!

The pouch mentioned was for practical sake; as is something I like to do when thinking of designs. And it helps with the artistic urge to draw at any time, regardless of what the situation is.

Not much to say about Orange's design, besides the fact that I wanted to give it a very protagonist-y vibe.

Yellow/Y

The second design is more or less his actual vigilante outfit, buuuut yeah!

Curly hair -despite my inability to draw it- and Yellow has been a favorite hc of mine!

His outfit is somewhat inspired by steampunk? Not exactly, but I DID have steampunk in mind while making it! The pilot's jacket was the best change yet.

Someone on a03 has told me that he looks like Alan, somehow! I'm not sure if I see it, so does anyone else see it? It would be a funny coincidence if so!

Green/Songbird

His hair is my favorite part of my Green design so I HAD to keep it! The classic headphones are there with a gamer-ish colour scheme.

VERY hip-hop and streetdance inspired! His visor is a reference to the sunglasses Orange gave him in the "More Faces" short, rather than his sunglasses in the Influencer Arc.

His clothes are a reference to the clothes I see my sister wear for her own dance training, and I love streetwear in general, so its a perfect fit! The necklace is just for show, though. Nothing practical about that, but it does look cool! Plus, it's a notion to his powers! His outfit is practical, but still shows off somehow, just like Green!

My vigilante!Green is the most experienced in the group, so I wanted him to look that way, somehow? And he definitely looks the most professional! I think!

Blue/The Witch

The second member to join the vigilante team!

I HAD to give her a hat. The witch's hat is a must. Practical? Not exactly. Cool? Yes, indeed.

The mask is my favorite part. A direct reference to the "Faces" short, AND a good way for Blue to, ahem, mask her identity (hehe a pun)

The sweater and coat combination seems strange, but it looks a little like a modern witch outfit? Trenchcoats definitely give a vigilante vibe in a way, and Yellow already had one, so Blue gets a belt and a sweater to go with it!

Blue definitely needed a bag for her potions. She can't just make them on the spot!- well, she can, but it would still be a hassle! She'd be the most practical when it comes to her clothing for vigilantism, after Yellow.

Purple/Aeolus!

Obviously, the cloak is a reference to elytra. The green hairtie, the bag and the cloak buckle is a reference to their mother, Orchid. You can see the vines on the bag strap, the flowers on the bag and buckle, and the leaf-shape on the hairtie.

There's also a lot of green on them, wink wink ;3

To hide their identity, they cover a majority of their face with the cloak hood!

It was hard to balance the colors, but I'm happy with the results! This one is simple compared to the others, but its still cool nonetheless!

Purple was meant to have ripped jeans but my drawing ability to low, so... sorry, Purple.

AAAAND THAT'S ALL! Sorry if this seemed boring or disappointing, or whatnot. I tried my best!

[erinsunmentionables]

Veilguard—The Apotheosis of Victim Blaming

I am an abuse survivor. Part of the reason I empathize so heavily with Solas is because of this. I’m not the first person to point out that his behavior in DAI has all the hallmarks of an abuse victim, and everything we know about Flemeth/Mythal from the first three games and all supplementary content has characterized them both as abusers. Because victims becoming abusers is indeed a real and tragic phenomenon.

I was so hoping they’d handle the subject with the nuance and maturity we’ve come to expect from BioWare. Instead, we spent all of Veilguard combing through the most painful and traumatic memories of someone who was coerced and abused by a person he trusted, all the while the characters we’re meant to view as good and empathetic people mock him and glorify his abuser, who among other things willingly owned slaves.

Because there is no grey area, Mythal abused Solas just as Flemeth abused Morrigan and her son, and Justinia abused Leliana. And it’s clear this was the intention. It was always the intention. The foundations of it were too strong to remove entirely from the game, but I guess someone higher up wasn’t comfortable acknowledging that women can in fact be abusers, and men can in fact be victims.

So instead we get a group of relative strangers rubbernecking the tragedy of an abused man and going out of their way to heap the blame on the victim. At one point Lucanis literally says that he ‘should have just said no’ which is the kind of talk you hear about victims of assault and abuse all the time from the worst kind of people. I should know, because I’ve had the exact same experience.

It’s not just a disappointment. Disappointment doesn’t begin to touch it. I feel sick and I feel betrayed. I came to Dragon Age with DAI. It remains my favorite (or was, now the whole thing just makes me depressed) because, despite how dark things got, compassion and empathy were always there. The abused always had a voice, however singular, to stand up for them and defend them. Not so here.

There’s a sense of callousness and mean spiritedness that permeates Veilguard. Not sure if that was the intention, but that’s what we got. I couldn’t even finish the game—‘just say no’ was the last straw for me—but against my better judgement I looked into the endings, and really that was my mistake. Because the ‘good ending’ essentially boils down to the abuser oh so magnanimously releasing her victim while a group of strangers gaslight him into submission. I don’t really understand how we got here, but I hope the Devs understand just how damaging a message they ended up with. I know what it’s like to be judged with malignant bias by people determined to hate you while your abuser is lauded and praised. Because abusers are often charismatic and excellent at keeping up a saintly appearance to hide their monstrosity and further alienate their victim. That’s what this feels like.

They can try and retcon it all they like, maybe new players won’t notice, but anyone who remembers the last three games knows better. Flemeth and Mythal may have been victims once, but both went on to use and abuse the people closest to them. Sugarcoating them in the interest of ignoring/making their victims look worse is genuinely vile.

I don’t know who let this change happen, but they’ve contributed to an already skewed public perception about what abuse looks like and how abusers get away with their crimes.

[gothamite-rambler]

Nightwing and Control Freak being frenemies

Context: Control Freak has mellowed out in the villain game, he does a lot of team ups and messing around, but when you reach a certain age of villainy you get bored. Nightwing is oddly one of the few heroes he likes in a frenemy way.

Nightwing and Control Freak stand on the sidelines as the other Titans engage in battle, their attention half on the fray and half on each other.

Control Freak (furrowing his brow): We should be fighting, right?

Nightwing (crossing his arms, looking unaffected): You're not a threat at the moment.

Control Freak (nervously chuckling): Same to you. So, uh… you want to talk about favorite movies? We might fight over that.

Nightwing (shrugging): Sure, why not? What's the scariest horror movie you've ever watched?

Control Freak (perking up): Good question! "Cabin Fever," the original. A lot of people don’t like that guy's movies, but I'm an Eli Roth fan. They're just insane, hardcore horror flicks.

Nightwing (smirking): So, you’re a fan of Rob Zombie's movies?

Control Freak (shaking his head emphatically): Nope! I could never get into them. It felt like he was forcing the bleak and edgy tone. It’s like, dude, you’re remaking Halloween—chill out.

Nightwing (nodding): I see your point, but I’d argue the first Halloween remake he did wasn’t terrible.

Control Freak (raising a finger): Okay, I’ll give that one a pass. It’s the sequel that felt… like—

Nightwing (interjecting, chuckling): A pizza cutter? All edge and no point.

Control Freak (grinning): Exactly! That's a great observation—I'm definitely using that. "The Devil's Rejects" had that edgy vibe, celebrating the bad guys with zero redeeming qualities. As a villain, I appreciate the praise, but honestly, none of the characters in that film were likable at all.

Nightwing (chuckling, nodding): Right? Not good when I’m rooting for nobody by the time the credits roll.

Control Freak (leaning in, eager): Exactly! I've rambled about my horror movie tastes; your turn. Let me guess: Friday the 13th!

Control Freak chuckled dryly, clearly joking around.

Nightwing (shaking his head): Nah, that stopped being scary after Jason went to Manhattan.

Control Freak (scoffing playfully): Don’t forget space!

Nightwing: True! Then it became enjoyably dumb horror. Honestly, the movie that scares me is "High School Musical." When those movies were out, I was terrified everyone would randomly start singing and dancing, and I’d be the only one who doesn’t know the words.

Nightwing let out a laugh-cackle, and Control Freak nodded in agreement with his perspective.

Control Freak: I respect that—I had to deal with those movies in high school. Gabrielle this, Troy that, dang it Sharpay was the true character to root for.

Nightwing (smirking): You would root for her, I respect that as well. The songs are catchy though.

Control Freak (chuckles): Facts.

Nightwing (leaning against a wall casually): You into musicals? There’s this one about a zombie outbreak where the zombies burst into song.

Control Freak (raising an eyebrow): Give me that title later. But be serious now—what’s the craziest intentional horror movie you’ve seen?

Nightwing (scratching his chin thoughtfully): Honestly, I can't think of anything I watched a long time ago, but "Smile" really got to me.

Control Freak (crossing his arms, nodding seriously): Hmph. We’re not fighting over that—because I freaking love that movie!

Suddenly, Raven slid over to the group after a punch from Jinx. She stood up, glaring at the men.

Raven (exasperated): For the love of—could you two stop chatting and fight?!

Control Freak (putting his hands up defensively): Excuse me, we’re talking, ma’am! Have you seen "Malignant"?

Nightwing (smirking again): Yes! It got awesome in the middle, didn't it?

Control Freak (enthusiastically agreeing): Dude, yes!

Raven (rolling her eyes, frustrated): Don’t mind us—enjoy your conversation about lame horror movies!

Raven stood and stomped off, grumbling to herself.

Control Freak (looking after her, bewildered): No offense, but I thought she'd be into horror movies.

Nightwing (chuckling softly): Nah, she gets nightmares. Just ignore her. So, what did you think was the best scene in "Malignant"?

Control Freak (grinning broadly): This is going to be a long talk because if we’re diving into favorite horror scenes, we really need to discuss the wild stuff in "Smile."

Beast Boy smiled, watching the two men engaged in conversation.

Beast Boy (with a big grin): That’s nice to see.

Raven (calling from a distance): Beast Boy!

Beast Boy (startled): I'M COMING, BABE!

[bitingdrivers]

Bones AU

Recently my brainrot got to the point of me mashing two of my favorite things together, so I present you this Bones AU I cooked up

If you never seen Bones here's a excerpt from Wiki:

The show is a forensics and police procedural in which each episode focuses on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth to the forensic anthropology team of Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan

So now that you know what Bones is, here's my thoughts on the characters (get ready. I have a lot of thoughts)

Max as Dr. Brennan

Max is forensic anthropologist (one of the best in the World!). He is cold and rational (love is a chemical reaction). He comes off as a little off putting and doesnt get social cues or customs.

In the show Dr. Brennan is also a renown writer with a best seller book series. I'm not sure I can see Max in this role, but I desperately want to keep the plot of the episode with lab being a club every character works at (in the episode Brennan writes a story about a club called The Lab and reads it out loud to Booth who is in a coma)

A very important part of Brennan's character is the fact that she is an orphan. Her parents left her and her brother alone when they were teens. I think in this au Max can also be an orphan, but unlike Brennan, his father will not be redeemed. My idea is Max's father was actually a really dangerous fugitive and his family had to run away and hide from him. And maybe in order to hide her kids from Jos she decided to put them in the system. Maybe she comes back later and then tries to mend their relationship (basically the plot between Brennan and her father in the show)

Daniel as Agent Booth

Daniel is a fbi agent and a former sniper (also one of the best) who went through war. He is emotional and up beat, goes by gut feeling and loves to joke around. Daniel is a pop culture fan and loves sports. He is the one to "thaw" Max out. Gives Max little pet names (Bones, Maxy, Maximus).

At the start of their relationship Max and Daniel argue a lot because of their different views on life and Daniel sometimes thinks that Max is emotionless and doesn't have empathy. But when they start getting closer, Daniel starts seeing Max as a caring and emotional person that he is.

In the show Booth's character is built on his role as a protector. His father is an alcoholic who used to abuse him and his little brother Jared. Maybe Daniel is the same in this au, but I'm not sure I want to make Daniel's father an abuser. but this au is still in the works so.

Charles as Angela Montenegro

Charles is an expert on computers and reconstruction of victims identities / crimes. He is a free soul, an artist who never really wanted to work with dead bodies and only does it to help his best friends Max and to make enough money to go to Paris and live his artistic life full of sex, muses and parties.

Charles is very emotional and empathetic, but also impulsive and doesn't stay in one place for a long time.

Carlos as Dr. Hodgins

I'm not completely sure about this casting but the relationships with other characters work really well. idk I need to think about this more.

Carlos is an entomologist, botanist, and mineralogist. Most of the time he is very calm, but when it comes to things and peoke he loves he can be described as enthusiastic and eccentric.

A big part of Hodgins' character in the show is his upbringing. Hodgins' family is millions rich and is one of the sponsors of the Jefferson University and the lab. But I don't really see Carlos as a millionaire (even if Hodgins himself doesn't act like that). The part of the rich sponsor family in my mind belongs to Strolls (obviously), so maybe Carlos is a normal guy. idk

Also an important thing is Charles and Carlos relationship. It is very sexual at the start but after some rocky moments they build a very loving and strong relationship.

Oscar as Zack Addy

Oscar is studying to be a forensic anthropologist. He is truly a Max's student. He sees Max as his true mentor and role model. Oscar is very smart and a little nerdy about it. He also is rational and calm, but very impressionable due to his young age.

Has a very close relationship with Carlos because they live together (Oscar lives in the attic of Carlos' house) and work in the same office.

Lando as Sweets

Lando is a young fbi psychologist who was assigned to Max and Daniel to asses their relationship and then basically imprinted on the pair. Lando is a geek, he often makes references to pop culture and freaks out over a new Avatar movie. He is also very awkward and vaguely intimidated by Daniel at the start of their sessions.

Lewis as Cam

Lewis is a coroner. Despite being the official boss of the lab, he and Max basically run things together. He is cool and approachable down to earth boss, but very strict about the rules and paperwork. He and Max have a small rivalry (bones vs flesh thing) .

Other characters

The rest of the grid will be squinterns (squint interns) and other workers of the institute!!

I imagine George as Clark, a very reserved and serious guy who tries to keep things professional, but turns out to be a big gossip.

Seb plays the role of Gordon Gordon. A weathered psychiatrist who has to sort Max's and Daniel's relationships.

I think I'll end this post here because there's so many things I can talk about. Maybe I'll make another post about squinterns. OK hope you liked it bye

[crimsonxcloverr]

dale kobble x reader.

content warning: fluff, slightly annoyed dale, mental health issues/reader having a bad day, poor eating patterns, casual intimacy, mentions of blood from minor injury, playful banter.

word count: 2197

a/n: i tried to keep dale in character the best i could! we also deserve to be comforted by our favorite old man. enjoy!

TENDER LOVING CARE

ruth helps you up and tells you to go back inside as you sniffle. you wipe your tears with the back of your hand and let out a soft sob. you were already having a rough morning, it was just one of those days, but now your favorite jeans you thrifted were completely soaked and they were ripped on the knees. as you walk inside, dale can hear your sobs from downstairs.

“jesus christ,” he sighs running his fingers through his hair. “what now?” he hollers from the basement, his voice filled with a hint of annoyance.

there was no response which annoys him even more.

he was in a time crunch and needed to get this doll finished. he goes to get up and his annoyed demeanor softens as he sees the emotional state you’re in and your scuffed knees.

“oh, little angel,” he coos softly as he gets up and makes his way to you. he wraps his arms around you and squeezes the daylights out of you, your soft sobs muffled in his chest. “why don’t we go upstairs and get you cleaned up? hm? come on.”

he takes your hand in his and guides you up the basement steps, your knees throbbing and burning.

“take off your jeans so i can get a better look, my angel. i don’t wanna ruin your jeans any further,” he suggests while removing the clutter off the counter.

“it’s not like i’ll wear them after this,” you reply with attitude as you hop on the counter, dale completing ignoring you as he hums a tune while searching for some bandaids in the bathroom.

you knew he’d fix your jeans for you. you were just having a rough day.

you listen as he rummages through the medicine cabinet and comes back to the kitchen with some ointment and a couple of knee bandages.

“where’s the hydrogen peroxide?” you ask softly as he washes his hands, his back facing you.

he turns to face you again. “it’s not good for your skin. ruth told me. hold still so i can see,” he whispers.

his slender fingers delicately grip both of your legs, his eyes carefully looking for any gravel he needs to pick off before fixing you up. you can’t help but stare at him, your heart swelling at how attentive he is. you push the hair that’s dangling in his face behind his ears and you let out a soft chuckle as he looks at you from under his brows.

“no pesky stones, but i need to clean you up,” he says softly, grabbing a few paper towels and saturating them in soap and water. “might burn so hold still…”

he carefully pats your tender skin as you sit there sucking air between your teeth trying to deal with the stinging sensation. you grip his robe and he can’t help but smile. he continues to wipe up the dry blood and the plasma that oozes from your scrapes.

“i know, i know, baby, just relax,” he tells you, his voice soft and caring. he pats you dry and applies some ointment to his finger, gently rubbing it on the now clean wounds. “see? wasn’t too bad?”

you sit there silently for a second looking down at your knees, your fingers pressing the bandaids gently to make sure they were on securely. as dale cleaned up the mess and put things back the way they were, you make your way to the basement. you didn’t even bother putting pants back on, you just wanted to lay down at this point. you pull the blankets back off the mattress and lay down, pulling the blankets back over your head. you close your eyes and try to take a nap but you can’t help but feel dale’s eyes burning through you. a smile forms on your face as you hear his slippers dragging across the floor, his weight shifting the mattress a little.

“what?” you ask trying to hide the smile on your face, trying to keep him from pulling the blankets off you.

“oh come on, stop acting like a little brat,” he chuckles, moving the blankets off you, his body weight pressing you into the mattress.

he lays there on top of you, your face cradled in his hands. he lets out a soft hum and stares at you, his thumbs stroking your cheeks.

“my poor angel, having such a rough day,” he sighs softly before kissing your nose. he really needed to get that damn doll done, but he knows you’re having a rough day. “anything i can do to help?” he watches you give him a shrug, your smile fading. “hm… how about we do something? we can… listen to music? or we can just lay here and talk?”

“no. i’m fine.” you roll over and he frowns. “i don’t wanna do anything today.”

“not even go thrifting? or out for lunch?” he smirks trying to persuade you into getting up and moving around. “have you eaten anything today?” he kisses your cheek gently.

“i’m not hungry,” you mumble into the blanket. “besides, don’t you have the doll to finish?”

“yes, but that can wait.”

you both knew he’d regret it later, but his main concern was you.

“i’m gonna go run you a nice warm bath then i’ll make us both lunch and some hot coco, with those marshmallows you like, hm? how’s that?” he whispers in your ear before giving your cheek another soft kiss.

“okay,” you chuckle as you finally give in.

moments pass and you’re brushing your hair in the bathroom as dale sits on the ledge of the tub checking the temperature of the water. he looks up at you and sighs noticing you’re spacing out. his heart aches for you, wanting nothing more than to know what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours.

“you ready? i’ll turn away if you need,” he says softly, not wanting to make you uncomfortable knowing you’re in a vulnerable state.

“no, it’s okay,” you sigh really not wanting to do anything but to lay down. it all felt like a chore.

dale notices your behavior and sits on the lid of the toilet, his hands gently undressing you and making sure not to accidentally bump your scrapes. he tosses your dirty clothes in the hamper and watches you carefully lower yourself in the warm bubble bath.

“mm,” you hum softly, the warm water soothing you already.

“perfect?” dale asks as he lowers himself next to you outside the tub. he smiles when you nod and he grabs an old plastic cup nearby. “put your head back, baby. let me take care of you.”

you do as he says and he begins to wash your hair, his slender fingers massaging the shampoo into your scalp. he chuckles at your reaction, loving the way you’re practically falling asleep to his touch. he rinses your hair and continues to pamper you, your body exhausted from all the emotional stress. he moves onto washing your body carefully, trying his best to help you relax. he rinses you off once more and sets the cup down.

“i’m gonna go get towels, you finish washing up,” he says softly while standing. “i’ll be right back.”

you finish up and stand there, dale appearing in the bathroom with fresh towels. he holds one out for you and you get out, dale so kindly wrapping it around you.

“you want this one for your hair?” he asks. he acknowledges your answer with a nod when you shake your head no. “let’s get you dressed.”

he pulls out a pair of underwear from your pile of clothes and grabs a teal t-shirt from his drawer. he hands you the clothes and cups your face in his hands when he sees tears in your eyes.

“hey, hey, it’s okay,” he whispers softly brushing the tears away with his thumbs. “you’re gonna be okay, alright? i’m here, ruth is here too, you’re safe. it’ll be okay, my little angel. okay?” he gives you a few gentle kisses on the lips and pulls away. “i’m gonna make us some lunch and then get that hot coco started. why don’t you get dressed then pick out some music?”

you nod and sniffle, wiping your tears and watch as he goes upstairs to tend to lunch and the hot chocolate. you get dressed and flip through some of his albums after brushing your hair. you don’t find anything assuming at the moment so you just turn on his stereo, the station you picked playing some classic rock. after a while dale comes down with two plates of food, a smile on your face when you noticed what he made you.

“it’s your favorite,” he smiles. “go on, sit, sit.”

“okay, okay,” you laugh as you sit down on the mattress, dale leaning over to put the plates down. “wait!” you grab his wrist to keep him from going upstairs. “thank you.”

“oh, it’s not a problem. you know that.”

he ruffles your hair playfully and descends back upstairs. he comes down and plops down in front of you, opening your can of soda. he takes a sip and you let out a scoff while grabbing your can.

“sorry, had to see if it was poisoned,” he teases.

“let me check yours then, you jerk,” you laugh loudly as you lean over and grab his, dale quickly snatching it back.

“nope, sorry. you have your own,” he chuckles at the banter between you both. he leans forward and gives you a few smooches. “eat,” he whispers against your lips, his tone authoritative.

you can’t help but smile at him and the way he’s so protective over you. you start chowing down, dale watching you as he eats his own meal. it was the first thing you had all day so it was quite nice.

“i worry about you, you know that? you need to start taking care of yourself, and im not kidding,” his voice was filled with seriousness.

“yes, i know,” you sigh. “it’s just one of those days and i don’t know why, i just-“

“it’s okay not to know why, baby, but that doesn’t mean you need to be mean to yourself.” he grabs your hand and kisses it. “i love you, little angel. promise me you’ll be nicer to yourself.”

the seriousness in his voice and the look in his eye makes you melt. this man loved you to pieces and just wanted to take care of you.

“okay, i promise,” you say softly, giving his hand a squeeze. “but you need to promise me the same. i’m tired of seeing you drained because of these damn dolls.”

“okay, deal. but i do need to finish it,” he chuckles as he finishes his meal. “done?” he asks when he sees your nearly finished.

“mhmhmm, i don’t want this.” you hand him the last piece of your food and he looks at you as you feed him.

“mmm, yummy,” he teases and gives you a wink.

after sipping hot chocolate and talking for a little bit on how you were feeling, dale gives you some space to journal and relax as he finishes his doll. you look up at him, his back and broad shoulders facing you. he was so kind and gentle with you today, it definitely helped you. you get up and set your journal aside, quietly walking up behind him. dale was focusing intently on his work until your hands covered his eyes, the sudden action catching him by surprise. he lets out a small huff and a chuckle when he realizes you’re being silly.

“now what do you think you’re doing back there, little angel?” he placed his paint brush down and grabs your wrists to pull your hands away. “so nosy, you just couldn’t let me work in peace?”

“nope,” you giggle adding to the playful banter as he pulls you onto his lap, his large arms wrapping around you.

“mmm,” he smiles, squeezing you tightly in a jokingly manner, causing you to grunt softly. “my sweet angel, all mine…”

“mmfp, okay,” you laugh trying to escape his grasp. he loosens up and looks at you as you sit there straddling him. “thank you for taking care of me today. i appreciate it.”

“oh, baby… you’re absolutely welcome,” he whispers rubbing the small of your back. “everyone needs a little tlc, right?”

“maybe one day i can pamper you?” you suggest, dale’s brows going up with a smirk. “i’m being serious, kobble,” you laugh and nudge him.

“i know, im just picking.” his smirk fades and he lets out a sigh. “i really do need to get this done.”

“okay, so finish it, no one’s stopping you.” your tone was filled with sass and dale couldn’t help but shake his head at how much of a handful you were being.

“alright,” he sighs pushing the chair in with you still on his lap. “you needy little thing.”

you sit there with a satisfied expression while playing with his hair, dale working diligently on his doll the best he could.

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

I know "fuck canon" is always an option and generally the more sensible thing to do, but with last night's episode I had two smidgens of HOPE and now with Tim's apparent new interview I just want to crawl back into my cave again 🫥

Hi nonnie!

TLDR (cause I'm having THOUGHTS): I don't think anything is off the table, if I had to bet money I'd lay somewhat decent odds that Buck and Tommy get back together, and I don't think either side of the ship war has anything in particular that indicates victory.

I'll preface this by saying yes, 'fuck canon'is usually the more sensible option. 'Fuck canon' is where no one ever dies, people do not make stupid decisions, and couples never break up.

And I'll also preface this by saying that Buck is my favorite character (honestly one of my favorite characters of all time, not just this show) and my ultimate OTP is Buck/Happiness in this show, however he gets it and whoever gives it to him. I am quite happy being a multishipper and I started out in fandom spaces back in the mid-nineties, where the etiquette and relationship to the content were vastly, vastly different than today and that really colors the lense I view fandom through. In the ship war, I'm mostly Switzerland.

Still with me? Okay.

My main source of optimism re: Buck/Tommy is the simple fact that guys...911 is Not That Deep. It's a fun show (usually), predicated on ridiculous Situations (increasingly), and in movie terms is a cash-grab popcorn flick. Have they hit something with the characters and actors that often elevates it above its station? Absolutely. Are there parts that make you go, "whoa, this came from the shark on a highway weewoo show?" Of course! But 911 isn't fucking Inception. There's no hidden messages and jaw-dropping plot twists that No One Saw Coming.

Like...all the cries about "learn some media literacy you cretins!" really have me scratching my head because, uh, taking everything solely at face value--this absolutely is the Third Act Miscommunication in the relationship. Both parties expressed a desire for the relationship to be more. They broke up on the tried and true "I'm doing this for both our sakes'even though it hurts" and not a dealbreaker schism which they ABSOLUTELY could have done. Literally, one scene of "wow I can't wait to be a dad/oh, uh that's not something I want" and we have a reason to break up that has the exact same "no villains just circumstance" vibe.

On the other hand, it absolutely is a stopping point that is believably permanent.

They went out of their way to show how desperately much Buck wants to talk to Tommy (like we turned it into a meme, but they didn't really have to show him baking That Much) and how he's spiraling in a way we haven't really seen since Abby. In a Hallmark romcom this would be where the audience is reassured that our plucky protagonist has Real Feelings for the LI.

On the other hand, the show often uses Buck as comic relief and the keep away with the phone could absolutely be the indicator that this breakup isn't as serious as Buck thinks it is and he should move on.

The interviews are pretty disheartening, but the interviews for this show really honestly have always had a kind of weird monkey's paw quality to them. Like, they don't lie exactly, but there's a lot of misdirect.

As it stands now, the relationship 100% reads like a Hallmark romcom that is being written by people who Had a Gay Friend In College Guys, So of COURSE We Know What We're Doing...wait why are you discoursing?

On the other hand, as it stands now, it also wouldn't be surprising if this was the end. I honestly don't think they have 100% decided how it's going to go and the writing and especially the pacing this season has been so uneven that it's not hiding the flaws in the storytelling as well as it usually does.

But, if canon goes in a direction I don't like, I have no problem saying 'fuck canon' ;)

[alkeneater]

E!2080 factbook (that's what i'll call it): brainwashing 😵

I wanna talk about brainwashing because it’s kinda important for my story and sometimes explains some clones’ behavior :) This topic deserves some attention :p 

In general, in my AU we have a cult atmosphere in the Shadow Tower, BUT it's not really a cult. The main goal of the Shadow Government is to grow clones into worthy leaders and soldiers, but at the same time loyal and stupid enough to make it easier to manipulate them. Various methods were used: working with corrupt psychologists, inciting hostility between clones, fake rumors, fake news on fake TV, fake books on the shelves next to the real ones, and of course the scare tactic.

Their favorite manipulation is obviously, “we're doing this for your own safety, the world outside is cruel,” and clones were sitting in the tower like princesses from fairy tales, yeah. You got me, right? Lots of manipulation. But despite the approximately equal attitude towards everyone, it still affected different clones in different ways. Perhaps some biological factors played a role, which I doubt, BUT Scudworth's influence on the clones also helped some to stay sane. I've said this a hundred times, but Scudworth LOVES his clones and he doesn't like the operation he was forced to participate in. Therefore, he did everything possible to prevent them from becoming puppets of the shadow government (he had his own methods, but I'm too lazy to describe them).

So, let's get to the point. I mentally divide all the clones into sane, deviant and ZOMBIES (or brainwashed). Sane people are those who have their own position, are less influenced by the Shadow Government, understand the danger of the situation and want to gain personal freedom. Zombies are people who are doomed to stay in the tower and be used by Shadow Figures for their personal purposes, because their perception of the world is completely turned inside out and will not be the same anymore. Between them, the deviant ones are usually clones who have some disorders due to trauma after living in the tower, but they are still aware of the whole situation and basically refuse to be someone's slaves. Now that we have a rough idea of the spectrum, I want to discuss with you which clone is where on this spectrum.

I was smart enough only to distribute the main characters (and a couple of secondary ones). Most of them are closer to sanity in the spectrum, but they tend to deviate due to psychological trauma, obviously. I want to mention Joan as an example, because although she is the “brains of the team”, she is prone to Stockholm syndrome and, as shown in the first part, sometimes remembers “home” and regrets what she did. That’s why she is not 100% sane.

But I definitely will have a team of complete zombies in the comic who will condemn the main characters for fighting, recruit other runaway clones and try to return them to the tower. Yes, there are clones who were initially against escape and were content to live in the tower, but now they survive on the streets and are extremely unhappy with the situation. But I don’t know who could it be.… But these are definitely clones from the extras, episodic or secondary! You can even suggest your own fan clones, just for fun! (Reminder: My AU is open to everyone and your fan clones can participate in the story, and they can be in any part of the spectrum!). 

That's it. I have nothing to add… ask me questions about my AU if you want, I’ll be very glad to answer! 

and read exclamation!2080 on globalcomix ofc!!! :p

[theladyheroine]

Characters for the New TMNT 🐢

❥ Hello everyone! So this will be similar to my previous Kingdom Hearts posts where I’ll try to predict a few things for the future! It’s just for fun but I hope you guys enjoy! 💚

⚠️ Also quick warning, there are spoilers for the Mutant Mayhem movie & the Tales of the TMNT on Paramount! ⚠️

Casey Jones - Okay, so I understand there was a scrapped concept art for Casey Jones from the Mutant Mayhem movie. But whether Casey ends up being a boy or a girl, I really wanna see their friendship again! They always have good chemistry together, & I can imagine them meeting if Raph tries out for the hockey team at school! Jones is like the best player on the team so Raph has some beef. 😅 Not intentionally but I can see a rivalry happening (lol).

Karai - This was more of a what if moment but since the Shredder will likely appear in the sequel movie, Karai would be like one of those characters that turns good in the end. Likely because she never wanted to serve in the Foot Clan in the first place. It would also be cool if she went to the same high school as the main cast, either before or at the end of the film.

Slash - This character was also what if moment, since Slash is usually a small villain. But I really like what the 2012 TMNT did, making him a hero during his arc! I feel if he did show up in MM universe, I can see him being a bit of an antihero at first? Or some kind of mutated crook before agreeing to help the turtles out.

Mona Lisa - Raph’s love interest I feel was pretty underrated until the 2012 version but their own spin on things! She’s one of my favorite characters & I’d love see her again! For this version, I would like to see a human design since we haven’t seen that before! But then she gets mutated later on, & perhaps that can but a new story in the future? With humans getting mutated too at some point.

The Rat King - So, I’m actually not so sure for this one? I know Splinter was the Rat King temporarily during the Tales of the TMNT show. But I did see a post, unfortunately I can’t remember where 😅🙏, but someone said that Bad Bernie might end up being mutated? I can see that, especially since he already looks like a rat or mouse. And he did come back after the East River 3 Arc.

Miyamoto Usagi - Okay this was a lot tougher than I thought. 😅 I understand Usagi is like from an alternate dimension usually? And for a funny spinoff series, that could still work? But maybe more on the science-style of things rather than the magic side? Like maybe TCRI makes a giant portal & the turtles get sucked into it. Landing in Usagi’s dimension by accident!

Venus de Milo - I have yet to see the 90s movies but I’m still a big fan of Venus de Milo! She is so cool & I feel she’s a good contrast to the boys. I’m not sure if she’d be related to them or not, but we can stick with the cousin thing for now. Anywho, for her backstory, I feel maybe she was another experiment from Baxter Stockman? Or maybe TCRI who wanted to recreate his project but she escapes! And meets the turtles!

Irma Langinstein - So I only know Irma from the 2012 version of TMNT, but if she were introduced into MM I feel there’s a lot of cool stuff she could do! Maybe she’s a human friend April makes or she’s some kind of ninja turtle fan girl (lol)! But so far I’ve seen people portray her as a super smart kid & becoming best friends with Donnie, which I like!

[animentality]

Tbh I think it's still legit if you read and like Blue Lock for being so gay (at least subtextually), despite being misogynistic Kaneshiro seems to have sympathy for queer people to a certain degree. Besides the gay sidekick, As The Gods Will also has some other queer side characters (a lesbian, a trans girl, a few more hinted gay boys and a non-binary villain according to my memory) even though not all of them are well-written, the good ones are good. Specifically my most favorite is the gay sidekick Ushimitsu, he's actually a pretty well-rounded character with very strong role as a co-lead in ATGW 2, I never feel like he was disrespected in the story (rather I think he's obviously Kaneshiro's favorite), sure he's got an open ending that can be seen as tragic but it's actually in line of the whole theme of the story and I respect Kaneshiro to commit to writing it rather than just give a copout happy ending and it also proves his gay feelings as real & deep despite heartbreaking.

Now I wish Kaneshiro can have that same energy in writing Bachira as he's in a similar position to Ushimitsu in ATGW but somehow poor bee boy got pushed aside in bllk after U20 arc (probably in favor of more popular Isagi ship with Rin or Kaiser 🙃), I hope he makes good on the promise that Bachira will be a key character later in the series and this time since nobody will die in Bllk I hope Bachisagi will get a deserved happy ending.

well that's the thing, anon.

I feel bad for liking blue lock because it has such a misogynistic creator but it's hard not to cling to something so obviously queer friendly.

like honestly.

there's definitely Japanese media that's queer neutral or queer friendly but blue lock actually feels like it's always on the verge of just being properly queer.

it's not fanservice like free or yuri on ice. it legitimately feels as close to canon as it can get without changing genres. and I think the creator having queer characters in the past gives him some street cred.

i know what homophobia in a manga looks like. it's that awful rapist character from one punch man. this hyper masculine but also hyper feminine muscly man who sexually assaults other men.

it's tokyo ghoul having its only queer characters being pedophiles, rapists, and sex addicts/victims who get sexually assaulted until they're "corrected."

it's having no subtext at all and only ever using gay men as a one off joke and gay women as a fetish.

at least blue lock does seem to respect its characters enough that it takes their hinted at sexualities seriously.

it really doesn't go for the obvious "ewwwwww we're both guys" jokes. it's kept very ambiguous. it's subtle (except when it's not, lol).

the only character who really fits the usual offensive gay anime representation tropes is Shidou, but even him I wouldn't count as bad rep (as the closest to canonically gay character, aside from Bachira).

Shidou might be super flamboyant but he also gets to have the coolest fucking moments in the series. he's not just some pervert, he's a badass. he doesn't just flounder around like some useless weird loser who only exists to be the butt of a joke.

he loves to fight and play soccer and feel alive. he has the coolest aura in the series and everyone is constantly in awe of the ridiculous things he can do.

he's a proper villain, who's out of pocket and insane, but who's also intensely lovable and silly. and honestly portrayed pretty sympathetically. for all his faults, he can be very kind.

there's a lot of depth to him, and honestly, I think Blue Lock is pretty good at not doing anything to suggest oh hahaha homosexuality exists. isn't that funny

plus I think Bachira is canonically gay. we know he's canonically in love with Isagi.

kunigami and aiku are actually confirmed bisexual too.

Shidou and Sae were also highly suspect during u20, to the point where even homophobes cant deny they have something weird going on.

so to me... that's a lot of queer characters who are taken seriously and actually have characters outside of being a joke or a gag. they feel like real people. they have distinct personalities.

the bar is in hell, but it's more than most manga/anime manage.

so I have to give Kaneshiro credit. he's doing as much as he can, without overstepping the boundary I'm sure kodansha has set for him.

it's just a shame he's a sexist. also, I hope Kaneshiro grows a pair.

just have bachisagi get married in the last chapter you pussy.

let Shidou officiate!!!

[headfullmanythots]

ok so i knew that nixon spent time in montecito when he was growing up but i have just discovered that he went to the cate boarding school in carpinteria and there’s a portrait of 17 year old nixon in the sb historical museum and having grown up in santa barbara i am having many thoughts of nixon there

oh my god the au opportunities are practically writing themselves. is it time to project myself on another one of my favorite characters?? sb and montecito are such unreal hilarious towns and nix fits them PERFECTLY i know so many rich kids who nix was probably just like when he was young

i have a visceral need to write a high school winnix au tennis player!nixon and swimmer!dick maybe?? winnix at the local makeout point??