#i could write so many essays on these dumb characters

[sunnykellyy]

thinking about how even though dennis and dee are obviously so awful and cruel to each other most of the time, they always try to protect each other during life’s most scariest moments. like they rlly only had each other growing up due to frank and barbara being shitty parents and they still depend on each other at the end of the day:((

[crimsonmonsoon]

If you can’t tell I am entirely obsessed with this guy

[zolo-san]

I know I just rambled in the tag, but if you took the time to read all that, might I direct you to this post & my ramblings there as well~

Something about Zoro being one of the most misunderstood and mischaracterized characters in One Piece is funny (not haha funny, funny sad) to me because?? That’s literally how his introduction starts?? With people misunderstanding him and thinking he’s some big, monstrous demon who kills with cause and cannot be trusted or tamed.

Meanwhile the actual Zoro is a driven guy who is often both literally and figuratively directionless in life and found his goals in life through good people (first Kuina and then Luffy). He's tied up in the Marine base not due to those actual crimes he commuted (well not inherently anyway) but because he ‘disrespected’ a Captain's son and stood up for a little girl. He accepts the challenge they present to him and because Zoro himself is a guy that puts his money where his mouth is he assumes the Marines will uphold their end of the deal and let him go (note the actual shock when Koby tells him the truth)

He joins Luffy's crew but also outright says he’s not gonna let his goal take second place to Luffy or anyone else's for that matter, he bears the weight of two people's dreams, his heart isn’t going to be swayed by some pirate.

Speaking of Kuina, her impact and influence on Zoro's life isn’t talked about enough for my liking. She was Zoro's first friend, his first rival, his first goal. He looked up to her so much and his reaction to her passing cracks my heart in half every time because you can seem him just..go numb. Kuina, dead? Kuina, the strongest person he knows, gone? Kuina, who swore to him just yesterday they’d race to the top of the world together, doesn’t exist anymore. His blank face only cracking within the privacy of his sensei before he begs. He begs on his knees, tears streaming down his face please please please let me take Kuina's sword with me. Let me take our dream to a high neither of us could imagine. I won’t let her name die here.

On top of gaining the Wado Ichimonji that day Zoro also gained…fear. Not of death, well at the very least not his own, he gained his fear of not being enough. Kuina kicked his ass every way a person could and still died, what could someone like him do? So he trains…and trains…and trains some more. Overly, obsessively, constantly telling himself he’s not enough, he’s weak, he can’t protect anyone like this and everyone's death would be on him.

As for Zoro being cold and stoic that’s just…not completely true? He’s not stone, he can be excited or sad or angry just as much as most characters he just sucks at showing it canonically (Kuina thinks he hates her before their final fight after all). Sure he’s not as forthcoming about it as some of the other Strawhats but Zoro's more of an action guy anyway, he'll show his love with his protection and unwavering faith.

In conclusion, Zoro is a ridiculously stubborn, incredibly loyal, mildly emotionally constipated, do what you say/say what you mean kinda guy.

(Also that whole ‘Zoro would kill the whole crew if Luffy asked him to’ thing? Top ten stupidest things I’ve ever heard from the fandom and that’s saying a lot. He’s loyal not brainless and heartless guys if Luffy asked him to do that, he would never but I digress, Zoro would square the fuck up with him so fast. DPMO.)

[nobodyfamousposts]

Scarlet Lady Top 10 Favorite Characters: Number 10

For @zoe-oneesama

Okay, I realized as I was writing these that there is way way WAY too much to each of these and why to be able to put them all into one post, so I'm breaking them down into individual essays focusing on each one to keep them palatable.

So without further ado....

Number 10: EVERYONE

Yeah, I know it may be cheating but at this point it was the only choice I could make.

I came to regret making this list, specifically because I couldn’t seem to make up my mind as far as who all would be on it. I reread the entire series. I kept switching people in and out as I was reminded of characters or scenes I loved. And I came to a realization that there is no character in the whole of this series I didn’t enjoy to some extent that they didn't deserve some love in this list and I kind of wish I could have added all of them just to give them all some spotlight.

Yes, it is partly because everyone is vastly improved compared to Canon. But as I reread the series, it came to mind that if Canon didn’t exist and I didn’t have the comparison between the characters, I still very much would have loved this series and everyone in it.

Cause and Effect Exist

It's important to have a setting in which the characters and their actions make sense for the world they live in. When the setting is supposed to be modern day earth, we need the people to be able to show that they are capable of surviving in it on a day to day basis without being so massively incompetent that they would do something like accidentally ingesting poison. Or forgetting how to breathe.

I would think it would be obvious, but sometimes Canon makes me wonder. Which is never a good look for a show that is supposed to have some level of seriousness and involve superheroes.

Here’s the thing Canon can’t seem to get: when a majority of the things that go wrong in a plot are because of everyone having to be stupid to make the plot work, you have a problem with the writing. Changing the material in a story so that younger people can enjoy it does NOT mean dumbing down the characters and throwing in arbitrary lessons with no real reason to them. Even if the show itself is geared towards kids, you can’t treat the audience like they’re stupid.

In Scarlet Lady, the people aren’t stupid.

Silly, yes. Wrong, often. Overdramatic, definitely. But while they may make stupid choices sometimes, they aren’t so dumb that anyone should have concerns about their ability to function at a higher level than an overcaffinated 2 year old.

They’re fooled initially the way many of us would be with a biased story that hits the news first. Oblivious to the problems in a situation that they logically wouldn’t have much direct insight into. Prone to making mistakes and incorrect judgement the way that anyone would. That's normal. That's expected.

But they’re not so incapable as to forget things that happen right in front of them between one day and the next. Or even between one scene and the next.

Things carry over. We see cause and effect. We see consequences—bad and good. And those consequences extend not only for the episode or season but for the entire series.

Aurore KNOWs Alec cheated her before and maintains a tight control over him and prevents more of his antics.

Adrien and Alya maintain a cold attitude towards Lila for some time after her reveal as a liar. And it even remains a point against her as used by Chloe as herself and as Scar to discount what she says.

The boys of the class remember Adrien’s “love letter to Marigold” and try to win him her merch because they’re bros like that. 

Adrien himself remembers the instances of his dad being a massive prick and instead of being surprised and “sad boi uwuwu” each time it happens like it’s supposed to be a surprise that the massive prick would choose to be a prick, he very clearly moves through the stages of grief to the point of a sort of acceptance that involves planning around and even for him.

Gabriel’s horrible parenting and general lack of concern for Adrien or his wellbeing as he ends up a casualty of various akuma attacks was played off for laughs when such incidents occurred. Then they were brutally called out against him in the Finale as a way to counter his claims of doing everything for Adrien’s sake. And the big reveal of the Birthday Scarf…utilized in the last way anyone would have wanted.

And Chloe is perhaps the biggest example as her antics ARE NOT forgotten or ignored by anyone. The classmates still interact with Chloe and are relatively nice to her, but they don’t just forget that she’s treated them horribly. They don’t act surprised when she does anything horrible. Nor does anyone just laugh it off or excuse it as “just who she is”. We see follow up to her behavior—the class fully expecting her to cause trouble and actively try to plan around it. People calling her out on past behaviors. And even bigger consequences as time goes on. Such as Adrien breaking off the friendship. And a blink and you miss it fridge logic moment in Ikari Gozen when you realize that when they said she was banned from all future Gabriel-involved competitions, they meant it.

The fact that by the time the big reveal happened that Chloe was Scarlet Lady, no one was shocked.

Story-wise, this is showing the passage of time and the effect the events of the story are having. It’s showing that there is lasting impact and that what happens to the characters matters.

Meta-wise, this is Zoe rewarding us for paying attention.

Continuity exists in Scarlet Lady. Time exists. The people exist. When anyone does anything, you get the sense that they aren’t operating in a vacuum. The things they do matter. There are consequences. There is an impact. And if there is an impact in the story, there will be an impact on the audience.

Which leads to…

Character Depth/Character Growth

Usually in TV shows of this nature, if there ARE character arcs for the side characters, they only occur over the course of a single episode devoted to focusing on them before moving on elsewhere. 

Canon didn’t give us that much at all in favor of having every episode that should focus on other characters learning and growing instead forcing Marinette to be wrong in some way and learn an arbitrary lesson that often would have better served for someone else.

In Scarlet Lady, the arcs we get are impressive for all that they’re relatively unobtrusive. They aren’t big. They aren’t world-ending. And the thing is, most change in life isn’t. It can just FEEL that way.

Like the way it felt for Kim when he first found out Ondine liked him and then had his confession to her screwed up.

And the way it felt for Kagami when she lost that first match against Adrien.

Then there’s the way it felt for Chloe when she was dismissed by her mother, had her popularity go downhill, and ended up losing her Miraculous.

…or the way it felt for Adrien when he discovered his dad was Hawk Moth.

The reactions we witness are in a great part due to actions outside of the characters’ control, but are ultimately a result of the experiences they have had and the ways they have changed as a result.

The question becomes: are the characters that we meet at the beginning pretty much identical to how they are at the end? Is the world?

The answer in Scarlet Lady is no.

Whether because the characters themselves change or our perception of them does, we can see that they have all undergone some sort of events that create a difference between the start and end points.

Not all of them HAVE to undergo some big emotional arc. Not all of them NEED to. But the characters still mostly go through some sort of growth by the end that I feel make them stronger and healthier people.

You’ve got the big life-altering changes like Lila and Sabrina.

You’ve got the little changes like Nino and Ivan.

You’ve even got the most minuscule, beginning stages of change in Chloe.

You’ve got growth that creates such perfect setup with Mylene when she starts off scared and traumatized by how things went with Stoneheart then is the one who confronts him in the end. And the parallel between the finale and the beginning when she returns him to normal by kissing him just like they did in that first episode to change him back then, too! (Just….GOD, I CANNOT GET OVER THIS!)

You’ve got them reaching out and making friends and relating to people they hadn’t before.

And by the end of it all, we get characters who feel like people rather than props.

They don’t all have to change. They don’t necessarily need to go through an entire emotional arc and back again. They just need to be part of the world they’re in.

Nino doesn’t just pop into existence when Adrien or Alya need someone to interact with. Kagami isn’t just a non-horrible or non-evil love rival for Adrien or a stepping stool for him to “practice“ at being in a relationship before it’s time for him to try the “real thing” with his endgame pairing. Luka isn’t just a decent guy who is the only actual form of support for the female lead and yet only lacking that precious “male lead” title or all around just not “Adrien enough” to fill the role.

Adrien isn’t just a “sad boy” meant to be a main love interest, Villain’s Morality Pet, and the one everyone idolizes and chases after just cuz he’s the male lead and that’s how you show he’s desirable I guess. Marinette isn’t the atlas keeping the story alive because no one else is apparently capable of learning lessons and changing, or even just the bare basics of functioning as individuals. Chloe isn’t just there to be horrible for no reason and get away with it so she can continue to be horrible until the writers suddenly need her to be sympathetic.

And the rest of the classmates aren’t just some Greek chorus there to fill the background.

We see them interact. We see them making jokes or jabs. We see them even…*gasp* having different opinions!

And on something as major and life-controlling as feelings about the “Hero of the City” no less! Why, that’s the sort of thing that would break up friendships and determine who you can sit next to at the cafeteria! The horror! The scandal!

And…oh hey. This puts the characters in different groups. It links them with characters other their Canonically designated pairings and groups. This lets them disagree on things and not need to vilify any of them. This creates implications that add depth to the story and to the people in it.

The characters can disagree without being enemies. They can be wrong without having to be evil. They can make mistakes without having to be stupid. And they can change and grow—both for better and worse.

And we see both and in different ways. SO many different ways.

Adrien goes from excited and impulsive to buckling under the forced responsibility and weight of a partner who hinders more than she helps.

Lila goes from selfishly bad and self-serving to selfish but friendly with better direction of her talents in a less self-serving way.

And Chloe just goes from selfish and bad to selfish and worse..

I mean, it says something that the combination of Lila’s growth and Chloe’s fall from grace resulted in Hawk Moth being unable to use Lila as a tool for his Heroes Day plot like he originally intended.

The key is that whether they necessarily grow or become better people, these characters are still IMPACTED by the events around them and AFFECTED as a natural result of the world they live in. 

You can’t help but feel for them in some way as a result. It’s part of why I love them.

The other part of why I love them is a bit more epic though…

Crowning Moments of Awesome

If there’s one thing I love, it’s seeing characters be awesome. I love it when characters get to be awesome. I would love to see more of it. Especially when the ones involved are characters you wouldn’t normally expect or get to see have a chance to shine.

And it’s when you see these characters be awesome that you really get the sense that yes, this character would work as a hero.

Seeing Max help against Robustus. Seeing Kim help against Odine. Alix stepping in during Pharaoh, calling out her brother’s fan fiction, and helping the heroes escape the security system at the Lourve. Alya stepping in during Copycat to clue Chat in to what’s going on and later keeping Anansi distracted to keep her away from Chat while he’s trapped. Rose kicking Nightmare!Chat in the face to defend Marinette even when she’s on the run from her own nightmares in Sandboy. Luka leading groups twice to stepping in and helping the heroes deal with akumas. Nathaniel standing up for Marinette and Sabrina when they’re accused in Rogercop and then helping the heroes in Reverser.

These little moments of support make such a big different and really make it make sense that the heroes would trust these people with magical jewelry to help them in battle.

And the little moments of characters being petty or strong or smart or turning the tables or just showing off what they’re capable of. Even without superpowers.

Adrien getting petty revenge for Nino and finding a tactic to counter Gabriel in the future.

The Police Force in Rogercop just saying “Nope” to obeying an obvious akuma. 

Zoe manipulating akumas twice to help the heroes. Her two Reasons You Suck Speeches to her mom and Bustier.

Every instance of payback that Tikki gets against Chloe.

Everyone in the Finale. Just…EVERYONE in the Finale. The characters who manage to avoid akumatization by either spotting the flaws in the illusion or refusing to give in to fear and even protecting others. Nora smacking any akuma that enters the home. Claudie pulling off Power Mom and ordering Max to stop attacking the city then helping to calm him down. Prince Ali and Juleka freeing Rose by kissing her! Chris, Ella, Etta, and Manon saving Mylene! Mylene saving Ivan with a kiss in a direct callback to how they first got together in Stoneheart! (Yes, I am still stuck on that!) Ondine saving Kim! Lila and Sabrina saving Alix! Luka facing Riposte alone and unarmed and then Kitty Section saving Kagami! ALL of the Heroes making a final comeback to help take down Hawk Moth for good! Just—AAAAAH!

How could Miraculous have peaked with this in Season 2 when this is Grand Finale material? Because there are few things more awesome than getting to see ALL the characters the heroes met and befriended and helped throughout the course of the story stepping up at the final battle to help take the Big Bad down!

Like…can we just take a moment to appreciate how everyone gets a chance to stand out in some way? Not all of them necessarily good, exactly (looking at you Andre). But still stand out and be memorable. Even characters who didn’t originally get much focus. Especially characters who were originally functioning as cardboard cutouts to fill a scene.

Anyone remember Aurore? How for the FIRST akuma in the pilot of the series and one who is quite frankly the most interesting and noteworthy, we don’t really get to see her again except in the background.

In Scarlet Lady, we got to actually look in to the contest and how she lost as well as the aftermath. She wasn’t some arrogant showoff who deserved to lose to the “sweet down to earth rival”, she was a girl who legitimately tried her best and had valid reason to be upset. Seeing her get revenge on Alec for cheating and humiliating her on live TV was well worth it.

Or how about the Photographer? Just there to take photos of Adrien in the park for a photo shoot or be the school photographer, but otherwise has no personality and is only remembered for his weird “spaghetti” line.

In Scarlet Lady, his role is two-fold. He acts as a sort of supporter for Adrien in his crush. Taking really good pictures of him being happy with the girl he likes. Taking more class photos at the behest of this girl for the sake of a friend who missed out on the class picture. And then there’s his OTHER role as a sort of antagonist to Chloe. He becomes one of the only ones in the early seasons willing and capable of dismissing her tantrums.

They’re both given more character. They get moments to stand out and BE awesome. So is everyone.

EVERYONE. From the classmates and big named characters we see regularly to the side characters who only appear once or twice. They all get some good scenes and focus that give them their own identities. All of them are memorable. None of them can really be ignored or forgotten. And part of what made making this list so difficult was that I found myself getting attached to pretty much everyone as I came across each of them that I couldn’t quite make up my mind.

Everyone in this fic has done something to make me happy and warrant my approval. Even the characters I normally wouldn’t like at all had their moments to shine and elicit an “okay, that was cool” from me.

Thus I grant this spot to everyone. To all the characters I don’t get the chance to mention. To all the ones I like albeit somewhat less than others. To all the ones I know are horrible but can’t help but like regardless. To all the ones I fought with myself for THREE MONTHS over which one would get this spot.

I love all of them.

[makeste]

So... How was watching that episode?

I meant to do a post on this sooner, as opposed to late on a Friday night hours before the next episode drops (eta: well apparently there's no new ep airing this week after all so that makes my timing slightly less atrocious), but yeah. basically I loved it. it hurt in all the right ways.

music was incredible. no shot it was ever not going to be incredible. Hayashi Yuuki thank you for always making my emotions your bitch.

there are admittedly a couple of moments in the anime which I felt weren't quite as impactful as they were in the manga. one of these is the moment when Jeanist, after seeing that Kacchan is (he thinks) traumatized and crying, immediately shifts gears from trying to hype him back up to return to the battle, and instead starts reassuring him that he's done enough and he doesn't have to fight anymore and they'll figure out a way without him. when I first read that part in the manga it absolutely slaughtered me. it's so rare to see media that stars young adults as the protagonists, and portrays them as capable young warriors, and yet also acknowledges that even so, they're still just kids. and to then surround said kids with adults who aren't dumbed down, and who are actually smart and capable and who are actively looking out for them and trying to protect them even though the kids are more OP than they are.

so to have a character that looks at someone like Bakugou and sees past how powerful and determined and ferocious he is, and instead just sees a kid who has been so incredibly brave and who they've asked so much of already. and to have that character make the on-the-spot decision to pull this kid out of the fight, regardless of the consequences, even if it means they might LOSE, just because he thinks the kid is hurt and scared and past his limits, and he needs someone to look out for him. that moment says everything about what kind of person Jeanist is. just, that one part got to me so much.

BUT, in the anime it all happens much faster and the moment gets kind of lost because Kacchan almost immediately starts doing his Deku-style muttering, and Jeanist quickly realizes that his initial read was wrong and this kid is actually FULLY AND COMPLETELY LOCKED IN MORE THAN EVER. which is exactly what happens in the manga as well, to be fair. but in the manga I got to read and absorb it at my own pace, whereas the anime just keeps on going with no concern over whether you've had enough time to process everything that's going on. and so that moment just kind of slips by, and almost isn't even noticeable unless you're looking out for it. it's not really a complaint, because there isn't really any other way the scene could be adapted, probably. but it does give me a good excuse to write a mini-essay about how much I love it, so yeah.

moving on though, in spite of my wishing we could have somehow lingered on that part a second or two longer, I did absolutely love the reveal of Kacchan mumbling and analyzing Deku-style. the first of many outstanding Okamoto Nobuhiko performances in this episode. full nerd powers activated. we'd already seen him do this in Bakugou Katsuki: Rising as well, but this is where it really stands out and it was awesome.

and by the way, shout out to the Big Three who are fucking great. eventually when I get around to posting my manga recaps for this part of the story, those will get more into their antics. for now though, I'll just say that everything was very well adapted. and the part where poor Mirio is all "???? sorry????" when TomurAFO has his brief little Tenko outburst was everything I hoped it would be, and Mirio's actor absolutely nailed it. like I knew it was coming and was anticipating it, and it still slayed me. easily a top five funniest moment in the whole damn series.

Kacchan standing up and telling Jeanist to look after the others filled me with just as much dread as the first time I read it. and the first time I read it, I had already been spoiled. so what I'm trying to say is, knowing what's about to happen does not in any way lessen the intensity of this moment. if anything it just enhances it.

the reveal of Kacchan's powerup was so incredibly badass. I can't even describe how badass it was. just, BOOM. now you see me, now you don't. LA DEE DA, HERE I AM! and the narration in the background talking about his quirk. chef's kiss.

no matter how many anime characters I see pulling off the omae wa mou shindeiru, I will never, ever tire of it. it's the single most badass thing anyone can ever do. especially when they were being underestimated the entire fucking time, and now all of a sudden they're out here scaring the shit out of the big bad himself. no one is faster than Kacchan. KACCHAN CAN RUN FASTER THAN ALL OF YOU. HE CAN FUCKING FLY!! HE'S BEHIND YOU RIGHT NOW!! GOD I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

and then Nobu hits us with the coup de grace. "Izuku… can I still catch up to you?" fellas is it gay to spend your last thirty seconds of life having an imaginary conversation with your beloved rival even as you're zapping around like a bolt of lightning, kicking more ass than anyone on earth has ever kicked.

and I was already dead by this point, but then the All Might vestige scene kicked in and resuscitated me so I could die again even harder. worth it.

so what really killed me nineteen times during this part was the way that Kacchan sounded so completely and utterly different from how he has ever sounded before. this is a scene that's taking place entirely in his head (or… in OFA land… maybe???? goddammit Horikoshi still owes us an explanation. THAT VESTIGE SHOULD NOT BE THERE I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYBODY SAYS). there's nobody else around. nobody to perform for. nobody to show off or look tough for. it's just him, and this big mysterious yellow All Might ghost thing.

and he sounds like an entirely different person. nervous, shy, sheepish. no crudeness, no insults. just, aw shucks. hand to back of neck. avert eyes. so this is kind of awkward, but... the thing is, I always wanted to... but I was such a brat when we first met... and I just never found the right moment after... anyway yeah I'm sorry and it's really dumb. but I really just. wanted to get your autograph.

just. this is him at his most sincere. this is who he's always been, all along. the one and ONLY time we've ever gotten a glimpse of him with absolutely no walls. and he is NOTHING like what he presents himself as to the outside world. he is sweet, he is gentle, he is self-effacing. he is painfully vulnerable, which is doubtless why he never dares to show this side of himself to anybody, ever. and he is ultimately so calmly accepting of this one last regret during what he believes are his final moments.

anyway. so yeah. it destroyed me. what else is there to say.

and then it happens. and once again, not to shit on the anime at all because this episode was fantastic, but this was another part that seemed much clearer in the manga. particularly that one page where we see that everyone else -- Jeanist; Mirio; Hadou; Tamaki; even Mirko -- tried to save Katsuki from that final blow, but they were all just a split second too late. the anime did its best to show that, but I think it was just harder to convey in that format. whereas the manga did it beautifully in a way that couldn't really be replicated.

but on the other hand, one thing the anime did VERY well was showing Kacchan's ragdoll body just flop lifelessly away afterwards. holy shit. I watched like a half dozen reaction videos to this episode on Youtube, and in most of them the anime viewers didn't quite realize how bad of a hit it was at first… until they showed that. then they were like, D: D: D:

and then last but not least… the image that broke the internet so hard that it spoiled me even in my paranoid social media isolation. Kacchan lying lifelessly on the ground. it's such a well-drawn panel in the manga, and the anime absolutely did it justice. having him be so pale was a wonderful touch. you see him, and you just immediately know. there's no room for doubt at all. it's powerful af. the Youtuber reactors all lost their minds. one woman actually started sobbing. phenomenal cinema.

so yeah! needless to say I thought it was spectacular. pour one out for the anime-onlys though. and now their watch begins.

[youreobsessedwithtoomanyfandoms]

I Call My Mom, She Said That It Was For The Best

Words: 641

Warnings: probably poor writing and OOC characters but whatever

DC Masterlist Main Masterlist 1989 (TV) Event Masterlist Join My Taglist

I have never written for Damian officially so um...yeah! This is more specifically an aged up Damian, I would say Start of College age so 18-20

This is the "Now That We Don't Talk" part of my 1989 event!

Anywho, enjoy

Love Z <3

1 Month After

Y/N snorted as her friend told her about Damian at the most recent gala.

"--Yeah, it was like he showed up and suddenly everyone was moving to let him through." Her friend sighed, "He left in such a rush though."

Y/N hummed and continued to edit her essay for her english class. She wondered if he had left in a rush because he got anxious. He always did at those things, although he would deny it if you asked him. But she knew. She knew him better than most. She knew that he always got anxious at the galas or any events because there would be so many people there. So many people with their eyes on him. So many people to see when he would mess up.

Of course, it wasn't like she would ever know as they no longer talk.

--------

2 Months After

"I just...I dunno why I feel like I do after we broke up."

Y/N's mom sighed on the other end of the phone, "Do I need to remind you that this is what was best?"

"I know. But I just want to be his friend again I guess."

She could practically hear her mom's frown through the phone. "Remember how no matter how much you gave him, the less he wanted you. You can't be his friend, it won't be any better."

Y/N sighed, "I know...I know."

This small pain she felt was just the price that she paid now that they didn't talk.

--------

3 Months After

She stared at the magazine while in line to checkout. He had grown his hair out and his style changed again. She sighed and shook her head as she continued through the line. It looked like he was changing his life again, she was sure his friend group that was always seen by the paparazzi would change again.

She missed how it used to be, before he started getting followed by the media. She wished that he didn't have to change all the time to keep from everyone from knowing the real Damian.

But she knew that there was nothing she could do or say about it now since they don't talk.

--------

5 Months After

Her mom almost instantly picked up the phone, "What's wrong sweetheart?"

She sighed on the phone with her mom, "I wonder what Damian tells his friends that we used to have dinners or go on long weekends with."

"What do you mean?"

"I just mean...even when we were just friends, we always hung out with a group of people. So I just wonder what he's told them now that we don't talk. That everything, platonic and all, just ended?"

"He could." She heard her mom sigh, "But remember, he faded and changed until you left him. I don't want to hurt you but I don't think that you need to worry about it."

She sighed, "I know..."

This really was what she was what she was paying for now that they don't talk and she couldn't get the closure she wanted.

--------

8 Months After

Y/N laughed and flipped over on her bed, "Hey, at least I don't have to pretend I like his music anymore."

Her friend laughed, "Or that you liked being on that yacht his family owned."

"Oh my God, I forgot about that!" She laughed, "Or being at those galas and talking to 'important men' with 'important thought'." She snorted, "They all sounded so fucking dumb and entitled, oh my God."

She smiled as she thought about how she was before Damian and her got together. Back to when he was chasing her. Her dignity and everything about her being more of a mystery to others.

Yeah...she was sure that she was better off now that they didn't talk.

[flamedraco]

So I don't really post a lot on this site. I reblog shit but the amount of times I've actually "posted" in the sense of using my words is a lot smaller than my reblogs. I write a lot of fanfiction though. So in celebration of the fact that my tumblr is now apparently a year old??? I think? Like hell do I know how this site works but I got a notification this morning about it? But in celebration of that I'm going to talk about "You Were Never Meant to be a Hero", my most popular, completed, TNT Duo superhero fanfiction. You'd expect me to talk about my fics more often so if you want to see more of this let me know I guess? And feel free to ask me questions. I enjoy getting them.

So YWNMTBAH started as an urge, as most fics do. I was reading through a lot of TNT Duo fics while working on my first project, Arsonist's Waltz, and I encountered one or two TNT Duo Superhero AUs. Now, I had just come to DSMP directly after two years worth of being in the BNHA fandom. Which if you didn't know is a superhero based Shonen anime. I love superheroes. I always have and probably always will, despite not being able to grow up with too much traditional "superhero" media. So of course I was excited seeing superhero AUs in my favorite ship. I had seen it a lot in SBI stories but not TNT Duo yet. However: I couldn't find the kind of story I wanted to read. The stories I read honestly just...didn't hit the right buttons for me. I'm not saying any of them were bad, gods no. They just didn't have my favorite trope involved or the type of pairing I was looking for. I saw hero/hero, I saw hero/vigilante. I saw a lot of "good" pairings. But I also saw a lot of characters being dumb idiots and while I do love some fun identity shenanigans it gets dull after a while. I have a thing with dense protagonists and 'will they won't they'. I hate miscommunication and a lot of tropes that were being used at the time. There's more to "superhero" than just secret identities. There's a lot of creativity to be had. Creativity and ideas that I just...wasn't seeing. I wanted hero/villain. And I wanted fallen hero, my favorite trope. The antithesis of the redeemed villain. YWNMTBAH started as a oneshot idea. Because I knew how I was. I knew that if I didn't cap it as a oneshot I would spiral when I already had a massive project I was working on. But after giving it more thought...I realized that I really wanted to do more with this idea. I wanted to write a multichaptered superhero fic for my favorite pairing. Self indulgent? Yeah. I didn't expect many people to read it at the time. Little did I know. Which brings me to what I really wanted to talk about: The first chapter.

Anyone who's read YWNMTBAH knows that the first chapter is very unique. I showed you the future before showing you the events that lead up to it. (This is the part where you should abandon ship if you don't want spoilers for the fic btw, link will be down below). From day one I knew what I wanted for the fic. I knew what its themes were going to be. I know precisely what the endgame of the fic was going to be. And for any other authors out there? Here's the best advice I can give you: Know what you want out of the story. Know your ending before you even think of the rest. The job of a first chapter is to ALWAYS- 1: Establish your main characters. 2: Establish your plot. 3: Establish your story concepts. The first chapter is always going to be the hardest in my opinion because it's your first chapter that you, as the author, use to introduce your world to your readers. Think of it like your hook sentence in a professional essay. You need to draw your readers attention and get them to want to keep reading. I was impatient and wanted to write Wilbur's fall immediately. I wanted to write his break down as opposed to the build up. So...I wrote it first. And then realized: I could make it the first chapter. I could make it the first chapter...and then the next few chapters could be flashbacks. Showing the events that lead up to it. Not only was it a clever way to establish the world, the characters, and my plot and concepts, it was a good way to hook the readers' interest! The first chapter's objectives were to make it obvious what the fic was. It should've been a clear sign as to what the fic is. In the first chapter it's present from the start that Quackity is a manipulative bastard and that Wilbur, despite that, and despite knowing what Q is trying to do, he's still a hopeless fool in love. There is manipulation, but there is real love too. (And anyone who got mad over Quackity, the villain, who is tagged as a villain, manipulating Wilbur clearly didn't read the tags. Just because I gave him a sympathetic backstory and the fact that he does LOVE Wilbur doesn't change the fact that he manipulated him and would do it again. Quackity is written as a villain. Thinking he was anything other than a villain was a fool's decision. I could go on an entire separate rant over this aspect of my story). YWNMTBAH is a dark fic. It's been a dark fic from the very beginning. They are a villain and a hero. They are on opposite sides of the war. They are enemies, each other's nemesis. It was the perfect way to introduce people to my world. I knew from the beginning what I wanted for YWNMTBAH. I knew what I wanted it to be. "Fallen Hero" is the trope that refers to a hero who falls into villainy. It's the opposite of the redeemed villain, a trope that I feel is so overdone and overused. It was self indulgent, and I never expected it to blow up like it did. I didn't expect people to latch onto it despite everything. I knew it was different from other things I had seen, it was like that by design. I didn't want to emulate fics like Clinic (that I didn't know existed by the time I was writing it, otherwise I probably would've picked a different villain name for Wilbur other than Siren XD), I didn't want it to be the same hero/hero, hero/civilian, hero/vigilante pairs I had seen, and because of how common Wilbur was written as a villain in the fandom I wanted to write Quackity as the villain. In the same lane: In future superhero fics you'll be seeing Karl as a villain more often too. But by design I made YWNMTBAH to be different from what I was reading. I wanted it to be unique because I wanted it to be EXACTLY what I wanted to read. And apparently? A lot of people got behind that self indulgent idea of mine.

"You Were Never Meant to be a Hero" is my baby. It's my magnum opus. It has an entire multiverse surrounding it now with alternate timelines and AUs for this AU. It's helped me build an amazing community and I feel absolutely FLOORED with the beautiful artwork I've received for the fic over the years of it being uploaded.

So from one author to others: Write the things you want to see in the world. Be the change you want to see. I've seen a lot more hero/villain pairings since I posted YWNMTBAH and I couldn't be happier to see them. Write things inspired by other author's works. Just make sure to credit them and tell them about it. We love it when you guys do things like that. Enjoy creating what you want to create and don't worry about what other people might think of it. Because you should write for yourself, first and foremost. So what if someone would've enjoyed YWNMTBAH if Quackity got redeemed? That was never the intention of the story. That was never the point. So what if someone didn't like that Wilbur ended up with Q in the end because of how Q manipulated him at first? It's a dark fic, read the tags. Write for yourself. Write what you want to see. Inspire others to create. And if you see my fic and think you want to write a version of it in your vision? Fucking do it. I dare you >:) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/37319827/chapters/93120913

[rise-my-angel]

Rhaegar and Lyanna shippers and their stans are their own worse enemy. If they stopped being so weird about both they would probably not get that much shit from the fandom, but instead they have to write dumb metas/essays about how Rhaegar isn't problematic and RxL isn't problematic. But they are so weak that they can't even admit it, it's honestly pathetic.

People ship so many wack pairings and stan so many insane characters, that their dedication to forcing Rhaeyla to be romantic, ended up shooting themselves in the foot. It could easily be a gross ship that most people ignore, but they are so passionate about Rhaegar being the best guy protagonist that it ruins it.

Rhaegar was an emo loser who had no friends and was obsessed with prophecy. He put his wife through 2 dangerous back to back pregancies then kidnapped a child and impregnated her by force. Then he got crushed to death with a hammer by a guy with antlers on his helmet. He is a creepy asshole loser.

But if they just admitted that, then I wouldn't care as much. I love Euron Greyjoy but I would be the first person to sprint full speed and drop kick him off the top of the Wall. I've never defended him and I never will, but he's still one of my favorite characters. I'd rather beat him to death with my bare hands before pretending he isn't a complete irredeemable monster. Which makes my discussions about him not really offensive because I have never pretended his flaws are defendable.

People still get away with shipping Sansa and Sandor, another child girl/adult man pairing, so why do Rhaelyas stand out? Because they refuse to agnowedge a single thing about their ship being gross and problematic.

I get the idea of Jon being born from rape is an undesirable thing to think about, but at least if the shippers owned that fact as horrible, I could look passed their cringe fanart posts.

This is a series full of horrible people who should never be shipped together, but still are. Its the common denominator of trying to white knite for indefensible characters that bothers me.

Rhaegar sucks. Its okay to still like him though. But he shouldn't be defended. I make fun of Euron Greyjoy every single chance I get and hes one of my favorite characters.

I challenge Rhaegar/Rhaeyla stans to unironically do the same. It's fun dunking on characters you like.

I literally refer to Jon Snow as a caught in the rain wet dog asking to come back inside. Its not a compliment, I'm making fun of him. Its fun to mock things you like.

I just want them to understand it's fine to not defend things you like to the point it drives everyone else away from your ship or character.

I HAVE TO LIVE WITH THE REALITY THAT SHOW ONLY FANS THINK THE EURON GREYJOY I LOVE WAS MR HOT TOPIC BIG COCK MAN. I LEAN INTO IT THOUGH BECAUSE ITS FUNNY. JUST OWN WHEN YOUR FAVES ARE GROSS AND PATHETIC.

[davidpincher]

i posted last week about how i went to watch oppenheimer as part of barbenheimer & then ended up writing a 900 word essay about it. three people asked to see the essay so here it is:

a three hour anxiety attack

i watched oppenheimer; had dinner, watched barbie and then showered. i cant stop thinking about this movie. the thing about christopher nolan movies is that there’s always a part of them that makes me remember why i love movies, a part of me that is reminded of their power in the way that they make me feel things. most succinctly, yes, this movie is a three hour anxiety attack because i spent the entirety of the movie anxious, knowing little about this film other than that an atomic bomb is going to be made and dropped on hiroshima and nagasaki.

while i was much too dumb to understand the timeline of events, christopher nolan still makes such a foreign experience feel personal and familiar. relatable even, even though the times have changed. people have always been people, flawed and trusting and selfish. there’s the case of the spy, a jewish man, much like oppenheimer, that oppenheimer initially trusts out of community in hard times. you can understand oppenheimer’s devotion to the war, as someone so personally affected by it. there’s something personal, in the orchestration of the betrayal by robert downey jr (i cannot remember his characters name, truly, he was not that memorable), and how oppenheimer goes from respected to blacklisted. people are petty and cruel. i don’t think i’ve ever seen a movie with a sex scene that i found added to the plot of characters, but there is something so powerful in jean’s death being the only one explicitly shown on screen: humans are selfish and will be our own demise because we, more often than not, cannot find the empathy to care for people who we don’t know. it’s the trolley problem - the death of a lover or the death of hundreds of thousands, or even, the very end of the world.

there’s one line of dialogue that hasn’t left my mind since i finished watching this movie, almost ten hours ago now. it’s the moment in which they’re discussing what cities to bomb, and one character goes ‘not kyoto. there’s too much culture. plus my wife and i honeymooned there’ or something of the sort. it’s the kind of moment that shocked me, how the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians were held in the hands of a guy making decisions based on his honeymoon. it’s the most memorable example of the question ‘who had the right to power’, regarding people’s lives, that consumes this movie. who has the right to create and use a weapon of mass destruction? another that i think of, is the scene with truman. i think that christopher nolan has portrayed a president more accurately than any other piece of media in the past: the president is not just some boss man, he is a guy appointed to look over entire fields he could not possibly understand the weight of, not even if he tried. truman’s depiction in this movie - as does everyone’s, honestly - feels so real because every single person has flaws. everyone here is so deeply flawed and insufferable, even oppenheimer, who likely is only slightly better because he’s aware of it all.

in high school, i was forced to spend two entire years studying world war two and the cold war from every perspective - japan, germany, italy, the united states, the soviet union, china, france and england. so of course, the questions of the ethics and necessity of the dropping of the atomic bomb came up, and there are so many discussions to be had within that. and yet, there wasn’t enough in this film. maybe this is a good thing, given that would require the opinions and analysis of the work of many historians that would likely derail the vision of nolan’s film, it would’ve meant a lot to the little nerd in me specifically.

oppenheimer opposes the hydrogen bomb because if the united states has one; the soviet union, their enemies at the time, would be forced to make one too. on a side note, another moment in this film that made my gut wrench was when this claim is denied on the belief that russia does not have the resources, or knowledge to compete with the united states. and god what a fucking blessing and curse is hindsight, as underestimating russia and the soviet union during a war is just as relevant today. this makes an interesting biopic to me because everyone knows about the atomic bomb. everyone knows about chernobyl and nuclear power. in fact, in the very basic level science classes i took, the world nuclear power became synonymous with chernobyl. bad things happen, and we know it, and this movie helps to warn us a bit about it.

enough on the history nerd stuff i truly did forget how much of my life i spent studying history, even if i only stopped just over a year ago. the sound design of this movie was fucking insane. every piece of audio, the line delivery, everything, made me feel so much (besides rdj - i get what people say about people having faces that know what iphones are) the shots were fucking masterful and despite being a three hour film, there was not a single moment (beyond the sex scenes mayhaps) that i felt dragged on for longer than they needed to. once again, just to end this off, god i fucking loved the sound of this movie, the build up, the anxiety, everything. while i most certainly have not seen enough christopher nolan to say definitively that this is his best work, i can most certainly see why people would say it is so.

[glsneeg-enthusiast]

i've been following you for a while, i dont interact much, but i really am in love with how you write henrik's trauma and how he responds to it. i think he's one of the better cases of "trauma and their environment made this character a not very good person" in ocs that i've seen. i think it's a much more human and a much better approach than the "really awful bad fucked up guy who kills and ruins peoples lives for fun and doesnt regret it at all" trope. he's awfully tragic and it's hardly even his fault and i think you go about portraying that in a good way. i really love how you portray his disorders and such too, you don't try to act like they're amazing to have or that they make him evil (iirc you did say it was projection, so maybe that's why lol), it's just something that contributes to how he turned out and i think it's just very refreshing to see that. and i could probably write another essay about randys characterization but i feel this is getting too long already

i think you're good about making them silly without completely erasing all their problems and that's a great thing to do that many people don't, i just feel like it's very refreshing to see you take them seriously while still being able to make dumb jokes and drawings of them

tldr; i really like your little guys <3

[jackoshadows]

Sorry to send you a sansa ask lol I was just wondering if you could help me out. I'm trying to understand why people say sansa is a literal child right now but they also want her to be queen in the end. Are they assuming we will have a big time skip? I mean, if she should be excused for being dumb because she is a child then why do they want her to be queen, wouldn't that make her situation worse?

Welcome to Schrodinger's Sansa!! It's an asoiaf fandom phenomenon where the character of Sansa Stark is simultaneously many things at the same time.

No, they are not expecting time skips. They are arguing that Sansa is simultaneously both very smart and also she's a little child unable to understand when adults tell her things.

Exhibit A:

Linking to this essay because it's often send to me in discussions about Sansa being very smart.

But there’s no reason the readership should share those views. Sansa is a very clever individual who makes increasingly good use of several skills she started the series with, and develops greatly as an observer and an actor over the course of the story.

Same person then writing about Sansa pushing the Maester to drug SweetRobin with the dangerous SweetSleep despite the Maester warning her that it has long term consequences for SweetRobin's health:

I’ve said before that I don’t think Maester Colemon is doing nearly enough to actually explain the problem with sweetsleep to Sansa, so I’ll have none of that either, thank you. She’s thirteen with no grounding in any sort of natural science whatsoever;

More broadly, do we expect thirteen-year-olds to be able to take full responsibility for another’s medical care? Do we expect them to have a sophisticated understanding of, say, heavy metal poisoning, or prescription drug abuse? Even with modern resources? Sansa, who cannot head off to wikipedia and start researching for herself, is in a situation where she doesn’t know what she doesn’t know.

Sansa does not have wikipedia and therefore cannot double check on what a doctor is telling her about a drug is still one of the funniest things I have read on here about the character 🤣, right up there with Sansa being the 'embodiment of hope for the future' and 'flames coming off the side of the face' for a bnf when a blogger called out Sansa for bullying and mocking Arya's appearance.

Again, keep in mind that Maester Coleman is Westeros' version of a physician, a doctor who treats the sick. This doctor is telling Sansa all this in the text:

Give his lordship a cup of sweetmilk,” she told the maester. “That will stop him from shaking on the journey down.”

“He had a cup not three days past,” Colemon objected.

“And wanted another last night, which you refused him.”

“It was too soon. My lady, you do not understand. As I’ve told the Lord Protector, a pinch of sweetsleep will prevent the shaking, but it does not leave the flesh, and in time …”

I try, my lady, yet his fits grow ever more violent, and his blood is so thin I dare not leech him any more. Sweetsleep… you are certain he was not bleeding from the nose? I must speak to the Lord Protector. This feast… is that wise, I wonder, after the strain of the descent? Lord Robert mislikes strangers, you know that, and there will be drinking, noise… music. Music frightens him”

“This descent… my lady, it might be safest if I mixed his lordship some milk of the poppy.

And then when he gives her a final warning, she threatens him with Littlefinger because 'father and I have larger concerns' than SR's health and well being.

Very well.” They paused at the foot of the stairs. “But this must be the last. For half a year, or longer.”

“You had best take that up with the Lord Protector.” Maester Colemon cares only for the boy, though. Father and I have larger concerns” - Alayne, AFfC

This is what happens when fans self-insert and project onto a character and rely on fan made headcanons instead of actually interacting with the canonical text. They want her to be flawless, therefore she's a naive, innocent little baby. The same consideration is never afforded to the other children, even Arya who is two years younger to Sansa. And yet if one looks at their character endgames, Arya is always an assistant to Sansa, there to give her the information while clever Sansa puts together and uses the information to rule.

They want Ned Stark and Maester Coleman to explain stuff to Sansa like this for her to understand what they are telling her:

And yet she is also the smartest, most cleverest character in the series - smarter than Jon, Dany, Arya, Bran, Tyrion, LF etc.

One of the reasons for why we get so many of these bnfs thinking that 'Sansa Smart' will be queen/lady of WF and at the same time arguing that Sansa is naive/innocent/a little child is because they see her as this flawless symbol of kindness and compassion.

I already wrote about this here that in fandoms like asoiaf, virtues like compassion and kindness is seen through the lens of white, western liberalism and traditional femininity. I wrote that long ago and now with the rise of tradwives, it's even more relevant to this discussion.

It has always baffled me that the character trait most often highlighted in fandom for classist and sexist Sansa is kindness and compassion simply because fandom thinks that being polite and having good manners = being kind and compassionate.

This results in posts like this where they argue that Sansa is actually being kind to Jon Snow by treating him like a bastard when the author through Jon Snow is actually being critical of the character!!

Remember this is the quote from the books!

He missed his true brothers: little Rickon, bright eyes shining as he begged for a sweet; Robb, his rival and best friend and constant companion; Bran, stubborn and curious, always wanting to follow and join in whatever Jon and Robb were doing. He missed the girls too, even Sansa, who never called him anything but “my half brother” since she was old enough to understand what bastard meant. And Arya … he missed her even more than Robb, skinny little thing that she was, all scraped knees and tangled hair and torn clothes, so fierce and willful. - Jon, AGoT

We also have a bnf chiming in and agreeing that yes, Sansa was indeed being considerate of Jon's feelings here!

Even Jaime Lannister has had moments of kindness, where he tries to help Pia. And yet the only character in the series on whom these character traits are constantly pushed onto is Sansa Stark.

Sansa can actually be an interesting character if her fans let her be one. She's not a little child who does not understand what Ned and Maester Coleman tell her. She does understand and chooses to ignore it for her own selfish reasons - marrying Joffrey, whom she loved, and becoming queen or wanting LF's plans in the Vale to succeed. That's why she feels 'as wicked as Arya' when she goes and tattles all of Ned's plans to Cersei. That's why she thinks that while the Maester cared for the boy, she and LF had larger (more important) concerns.

Sansa is interesting in the way she deflects and refuses to acknowledge the unpleasant truths before her and lives in this alternate reality where everything is fine. She ignores Joff's sadism because it clashes with her idea of noble, beautiful princes. She ignores what is being done to poor SweetRobin because she thinks it is essential to her own survival that LF's plans succeed.

The reason her stans refuse to dig deeper into the character other than extremes of naive, innocent child and smartest character ever is because Sansa would then be as flawed as Jon, Arya, Dany, Bran etc. and they don't want that for her. They want her to be special in some way and this is it.

Arya killed the guard to survive - and she's portrayed as too damaged to ever live happily with her family. Jon and Dany face hard choices of doing the pragmatic or the morally right thing and are often called out on those choices, especially Dany. Pretty much most of our protagonists engage in morally grey actions.

And yet Sansa fans insist on her being this flawless character- it's everyone else' fault except hers. It's Ned's fault, it's Coleman's fault - they didn't explain properly. It's Arya's fault for trying to help Mycah, Arya should have tried to build a relationship with Sansa. Suddenly it's Sansa who is the outcast in Winterfell and Arya the favorite. Suddenly Sansa is Ned like and Arya 'bites people like Catelyn'.

This leads to her being interpreted as this idiot who cannot understand when a doctor is telling her a drug is dangerous. Which then clashes with their essays about 'Sansa Smart' and how she is going to be the best queen ever and change the system and bring about women's rights and all that.

It's the same with this 'pawn to player' stuff they write for the character. They expect her to be this smart player of the game and at the same time remain this good, idealistic, 'kind and compassionate' leader... How?! LF and Varys did not get to where they are by being good people. Sansa has to get her hands dirty, be ruthless and often times not be concerned about the well being of others - just as she does with poor SweetRobin. And yet her fans think she will become LF level of game player and do it while being kind.

Especially baffling because GRRM is deconstructing all these tropes of good knights and kind ladies. Brienne of Tarth is the embodiment of the perfect knight and yet she is not what one would expect a knight to be. This was part of Sansa's arc of growth - where she sees and experiences up close the brutality and lack of morals of these knights in KL.

The Northerners are loyal to Ned Stark, not because he was some beacon of kindness and compassion or because he had good manners and said please and thank you but because he ruled according to the laws of the land and enforced those laws in a just manner and was therefore an honorable Lord. He beheaded those who committed crimes, he put down rebellions, he took child hostages and he also kept the peace of the land.

And Ned Stark was as flawed as all the other characters. So this insistence that Sansa has to remain this caricature of 'kindness and compassion' - even if it's canonically untrue considering bigotry is not kind - is bizarre and one of the main reasons for why we have Schrodinger's Sansa. I can't wait to see all the excuses and justifications bnfs will come up with if we get TWoW and Sansa is doing all sorts of morally grey shite and going along with LF's plans.

[leonstoenailunderhisbed]

no u get it i DO understand how smart leon is and i wish ppl would talk ab it more. honestly so many things bug me like ppl not thinking hes v v smart (its both implied and outright STATED in the franchise), ppl calling him a twink (is2g no one knows what a twink is now a days, like re2r leon is slept on?? hello have you seen his arms? mk), ppl outright thinking he cant drive (ITS A FUNNY BIT BUT IM SO TIRED OF PPL TAKING IT LITERALLY.), and the biggest one being ppl making him mean. like no? hes a massive sweetheart, like his heart being so big is WHAT makes his trauma so much worse for him bc he cares so gd much, but it doesnt matter in the end bc he cant prevent all the loss around him. 😞 i have so many thoughts ab leon i could go on forever lmaoo, ///insert no one understands him like i do joke/// 🐕

YES THE DRIVING PART DRIVES ME INSANE BECAUSE THAT MAN CAN DRIVE AND BE DRIVES GOOD.

If anyone’s played RE2R, you can clearly tell Leon is a safe and capable driver. I understand the jokes but I HATE when people see a strong male character and they simplify him to be weak.

Leon is not weak, he’s canonically strong and intelligent. I understand people have headcanons and maybe this is a me thing but I genuinely cannot think of Leon as someone dumb or incapable of anything.

I’d write a book about this but I’ve recently started a new program at my college so I’ve been hella busy writing essays 💀

[albywritesfiction]

I just wanted to say, because of the latests asks about the pining of the ROs for MC, that I'm very grateful for your decision to make both Ædric and Cyfrin have pre-existing feelings for the MC.

It may seem like such a dumb thing to thank someone for, but so many IF authors seem to have that mindset that they must make everything so that the story doesn't seem to "revolve around the MC" in-universe, meaning few characters will be interested in the MC in any way from start, and more often than not they will have romances with each other / random people if the player doesn't romance them (something I always hate! - I mean, that last part). It's obviously very valid and makes sense and it's a matter of each author's preferences, but as a player it's dishearthening to see very few games cater to MY preferences in that aspect. The fact yours does is a breath of fresh air to me! So yeah, thank you for that!

Also, I'm re-asking something I had asked before because maybe the ask was eaten or you answered on a day I was very busy and I somehow missed it and couldn't find it afterward - if it's as such, could you redirect me to the other ask? I would love to know if - especially on the capital route - we can decide our MC is still in-love with Ædan despite everything? Like, I know he's not a RO since it's not reciprocal anymore! My angle is basically a MC who wouldn't be able to let go desptie the hurt, or something like that. Would be very tragic of course. I'm not planning on going that way anyway, it's mere curiosity. Oh and if you saw the ask but decided not to answer for spoiler reasons or something else, then sorry for resending! I know tumblr eats asks sometimes and that the search function, if needed to be used, is more often than not pretty evil, so I prefer to veer on the side of caution and distrust towards tumblr, and just ask again!

Hi again Konoï and Noir!

Sorry again about how long it took me to answer your last ask 😭 When I got this one I was like, 😨 I'm sorryyyyy it's queued up for tomorrow though you'll see it soon I really need to write and come up with words faster 😭

I'm also really sorry to everyone else who has sent in asks that I haven't answered yet 😭 I'm not used to having to answer more than like 3 essay question exams that are like, "How does osmosis work? Explain in 3 - 5 sentences" and this was way back in high school 😅 Now the only papers I write are research papers and laboratory reports about centrifugation, adsorption, and other similar topics 😭

So yeah, I'm really sorry again for taking such a long time to answer, but I am doing my best to answer all the great asks I've received!

Now, onto your actual ask!

I'll admit, I wasn't expecting to be thanked for the decision I made about Ædric and Cyfrin having pre-existing feelings for MC, but I'm really glad that you like it 😄 Honestly, I just went with what I thought would make sense for our two sweethearts, and it wasn't always planned that both of them would have feelings for MC 😅

Cyfrin was always meant to have been in love with MC since they were kids, but Ædric and MC's relationship was supposed to be that of friendly acquaintances (with Ædric simply admiring MC and nothing more), then he was going to fall for them throughout the first part of the story and then eventually realize his feelings somewhere in the middle. But then I eventually realized that, because I had already previously decided that he and MC had been taking almost all their lessons together, his feelings of admiration would have grown much earlier after spending so much time with MC 😅

So yeah, I'm glad that you liked what I've decided for Ædric and Cyfrin and I hope you enjoy ATE when I release Chapter 1!

[ghostflowerhotpotch]

About canon or not canon

This is time around I am talking about fandom issues, not Miguel's theory, so is okay if you want to scroll past this.

I had mentioned this off-hand before in other post, but I feel is always good to do some reminders, specially since I had gotten past a certain number of followers, and the last time I mentioned this I feel it was awhile ago.

I do not care what about canon or canon ships when is about fandom works.

I feel I need to make this clear because I had seen a few "How people could like X ship?! It doesn't make any sense!"

My answer? It doesn't matter, this is about having fun.

I don't know how many people actually know this but I RARELY ship canon ships, this has been happening more as of recently but for the most part I had shipped niche ships or even crack ones.

I consider that the best fic I had ever done, is for a ship that is so minuscule there is only 4 fics in ao3, and 2 of those are mine. And believe me, it makes perfect sense, those characters work together in my head and few others.

But fandom has zero to do with canon; fun story guy did you know the first type of fandom as we know it, was shipper of Spock x Captain Kirk of Star Trek? They would have zines with fics, they will hold reunions to talk about the characters, draw comics about it; the creators and the actors even KNEW about this!

But that ship was never canon, and even if people saw potential in it; it doesn't matter. Fandom is to have fun, not to try to limit how people create.

By the way, if you think this take is weird for the type of content I make, let me say it this way: I think people writing about X ship or writing a character in Y way is okay; I can understand sometimes it can feel frustrating and I am not saying you have to like it.

Everyone had been frustrated for that one story they read where the character they love is completely out of character and you want to rage quit; and I get it, I had gone to my friends to rant sometimes about things like that.

Because let's remember, did this person write this story for me, or did this person write the story this way because it thought the idea of X character doing something in specific sounds like fun for them?

I think we all know the answer.

So no, I can get being frustrated, and that's fine and natural, but one thing is how you behave with a few friends in private while talking about petty things; vs trying to scream in a public place where people, including that person, can see.

You are entitled to your own opinion, in your own space, specially when it wasn't asked. Is not hard.

"Then why you do stupidly long essays about what is happening in the movie?"

Because there is a different of what I write in my fic vs what is happening in the canon story!

Because canon and fanon aren't the same thing! And is much better that way.

Canon cannot be as weird or corny or dumb at times, because it cannot be everything people want; so is nice to have people going crazy with wild ideas. And fanon shouldn't limit itself because is about being creative and seeing how far the human imagination can go.

I think is important remember what happened in canon because I had seen literal people have interpretations of a character (which is fine and dandy,) and then try to say is canon and people who disagree are haters (NOPE.)

I like discussing what the hell is going down the movie because I love the canon material and exploring those topics is fun for me, and because I want to have a way to say "I believe this is what went down and here is my reasons for it." Maybe is the ADHD or maybe is the trauma but I like to be able to justify my response.

But I also recognize when something is totally not canon and I am just exploring ideas. I also like to talk about how things could had been handle better in canon; (because a teen who is just starting doing fanfics should be as cringe as they want, but when the source material is fucking up a story then this is an entirely different story.) That's fun for me too.

Sorry this got so long, it was suppose to be a short message, but like I say, I like to be able to justify my response.

[sugoi-and-spice]

So, out of curiosity and need...mostly need with a hint of curiosity...What ARE your hcs(at least the ones that have been revealed but I am big dumb/ones you wish to share) for Tomura in play nice? I know you have a Dust Daddy Bible with this information in it. Sharing is caring. We need our daily juice.

Ooooooh, this is a really interesting question - essentially headcanoning my own character! Lol! I'm trying to think of what Play Nice Shigaraki headcanons I can reveal without spoiling anything/that hasn't already been revealed. Most of my Dust Daddy Bible (LOVE this btw, lol), is backstory that I can't totally reveal yet.

Alright, maybe I'll expand on/clarify some points that have shown up in the series.

Shigaraki didn't go straight from his birth family to AFO's care. He spent about three years in the foster system between then. He had a rough time in it (like many kids do), got in a lot of fights in school and at "home", faced a lot of bullying and abuse, and spent a lot of time on the streets. More details to come in story.

AFO is very aware of Shigaraki's initial extortion of MC - it was, in fact, AFO's intention for MC to be a little hookup for him. He didn't really care how it happened, if she'd be wow'd by money and status or would need to blackmailed, etc - and to be honest, he didn't really care. He could tell that Shigaraki needed an outlet and had tried to hire him hookers/take him to soaplands before, which Shigaraki vehemently rejected. So he figured an arrangement like this would work better.

His insomnia, night terrors, and memory loss are driven by PTSD and to be revealed mental illness. He's cycled a lot of different medications, but very little therapy. The reason for this is, also, to be revealed.

He and Spinner are the same year in college, but Spinner is actually two years older. Dabi is also older, but has a few overlapping GE's with Shigaraki. Shigaraki did know them both before college however, through circumstances that are still to be revealed. (¬‿¬)

Aaaaaand, I guess here are a couple of little fun ones too xD

He hates Hollywood blockbusters almost on principal, especially superhero movies (of course lol). He thinks they paint an unrealistically optimistic view of the world that makes people stupid. The same applies to rom-coms. He's a horror guy, through and through. And while he'll never admit it, MC definitely gets him into reality tv.

He's primarily a PC gamer. His Switch was actually probably his least-touched console pre-story. But since it was MC's main console, he got a lot more into it.

Writing is his worst subject. He has particular trouble with argumentative and creative essays. His best subject is, predictably, math.

While he has a lot of distaste for "popular kids"... he's super into cheerleading uniforms. That whole corruption kink thing. He wanted to go to MC's Sports Festival this year (about a month after they met) until he found out that she was not going to be part of the cheerleading demonstration (she was participating in main events with her club), and got kind of pissy about it.

This was fun! Might add onto this through reblogs if I think of anything else - but if you have any specific questions (or HC's of your own), I'm also happy to give my take on those too! ^_^

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[percontaion-points]

Gate Crashers chapters 21 & 22

Click here for the rest of the series!

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Chapter 21

He took a moment to check on Harris, whose cheek was also pressed flat against the glass like, well, a Peeping Tom. 

This is yet another moment of: when you are an author, you can write literally anything that you want. So why the fuckity fuck would you actively choose to write this?

Maximus’s smile was broader and brighter than a chrome grille. “Thank you for the question, Stan, and I’d say the only polls I care about have girls dancing on them. Next question.”

If this is the author’s attempt to write a witty and charming character… Try going back to school and learning about homophones, dipshit. 

Unable to avoid the inevitable any longer, Maximus leveled a finger at the proverbial eight-hundred-pound gorilla in the room. In this case, it was an eight-hundred-pound gorilla named Buttercup. After several generations of captive gorillas being taught sign language, they eventually organized and demanded citizenship. So the Association for the Advancement of NonHuman Persons was formed. Its membership includes several thousand gorillas and chimpanzees, sixteen herds of elephants, twenty-seven pods of dolphins, and a particularly clever African gray parrot who served as treasurer. Buttercup had recently become a correspondent for Branches & Fruit Monthly, following his award-winning essays “Zoo Employees Fragile. Do Not Wrestle” and “Why You Not Groom Human Children?”

I feel like the author is trying so, soooooo hard to emulate Douglas Adams here. 

The problem, as I keep pointing out… This comes out of left field, and I’m kind of sitting here going… ???? What????

“Oh, come on. With a crew this large, there has to be at least a couple of closet furries. C’mon, folks, raise your hands. We’re all adults here.” The crew looked back at him in muted horror. “Nobody? Well, they’re probably just shy.”

WHY. WHY THE FUCKITY FUCK WOULD YOU FUCKING WRITE THIS SHIT?!

He deftly slid out of the way just as Buttercup’s chair shattered the podium.

Chapter 21 summary: Jeffrey and Harris take a two week shuttle up to where the war ship is currently being built. When they get up there, they meet up with Felix, and some other members of the crew. Everybody else is unimportant background noise… I say knowing full well that this chapter could have been an email. 

Eventually, the crew has a press conference. The reporters ask if it’s really okay to send a ship with completely untested technology out into deep space. They also ask about the weapons on board. For some reason, there are gorillas on the ship. I don’t have answers. 

I think instead of hammering in how little that I laughed, maybe I should start up a count of how many times I wanted to die of cringe. At least that number would keep changing every time. 

Chapter 22

Vel Noric stepped cautiously through the great hallway leading to His Superiority the Kumer-Vel’s chambers.

NO. STOP IT RIGHT NOW. STOP IT. 

“The high-space portal was detected on Earth itself.” 

That did surprise Noric. “That’s not possible. There hasn’t been enough time for any signals from the ship to reach Earth. They can’t have copied the technology.”

 “That is true, yet here we are. One of our reconnaissance platforms detected the high-space portal on Earth’s surface almost half a cycle ago,” said the voice. “So either you can believe that the humans produced a highspace portal domestically or that they have some way to communicate instantly, which the best Lividite scientists ensure [sic] us is impossible.” 

My main question is… Why are they so convinced that humans are this fucking dumb? 

No, really. I want to know. Because we’ve been given absolute OODLES of page time about these aliens, yet still somehow know next to NOTHING about them. 

Jak’el clicked his teeth together. “I’m surprised at you, Grote. We need the barbarians to gin up a healthy panic. Coups are so much simpler if you wait until the population demands one.”

Chapter 22 summary: If I have one complaint about this series, is that there is so much that’s said… But not one single bit of it is spent on things that are actually important. For example, this chapter opens on more than two pages of watching these aliens interacting with one another. However, to what end? What is this accomplishing? Why should the readers even care about this? None of these questions have ever been brought forth, and I’m seriously getting so fucking fed up with it.

Eventually, one of the aliens starts to complain about how his commanding officer ordered him to not completely destroy Maggie. The other alien says that the humans have already opened up an inter-space portal on earth… Which is against all discussion about what the humans can and can’t do. 

At the end of the chapter, it’s revealed that the other alien is literally… uh… I shit you not, two smaller aliens standing on top of one another, and wearing a trenchcoat. Their goal is to goad the one alien into doing his bidding, I guess? Again, a lot of words are said. Nearly a page of this. Yet nothing is ever actually explained to the readers about this. I’ve given up on trusting the process at this point; the author has lost their chance this late into the book.