#i feel like id he doing a disservice not including him

[quigzahhutt]

one(1) person wanted a snippet and obviously because I am so kind, I will give it :3

Liam Lawson/Logan Sargeant / (title pending)

Although they are both blonde, Juri’s hair is drastically different from Logan’s. His former teammate usually kept his hair choppier, chunky and frizzy– Liam always made fun of him, saying it looked like he plopped a mushroom on his head and called it a day. Logan's hair was wispier, fuller– longer and kind of wavy– buzzed on the sides, unlike Juri. Liam kind of wanted to tug on it– test if it's actually attached to him or if it's some sort of bizarrely realistic wig, because surely Logan's hair can't just look that good all the time. — — — It does, as it turns out. They're finally, finally getting into the car after what feels like days of pointless meetings talking about the same four things they had discussed just the day before. Logan had gotten first dibs, clamored into the small shared motorhome and instantly began changing into his fireproofs. It's not the most distracting thing on the planet; it comes with the territory, seeing your teammate practically naked. Liam doesn't really think twice about it as he busies himself by cleaning his helmets, labeling the visors and making sure they're sorted in the correct order. The part that does distract him, though, is when Logan runs his fingers through his hair after getting fully dressed, heaving a big, satisfied sigh at the comfort of being back in his race suit after a long and arduous winter break. He must notice Liam watching, because Logan shoots a toothy and somewhat uneasy grin in his direction as he laces up his boots. Liam has to shake himself, mentally noting that Logan's hair seems solidly anchored to his scalp as it tangles between his fingers, and then quickly ushers himself out the door because is it getting hotter in here?

this is for u @colors-of-feeling I'm so glad someone is excited about my works :') (and of course @lolexjpg it's almost impossible to write a LiLo fic without thinking of u)

(I hope y'all don't mind me tagging u!)

[blueyellow8green]

TBOSAS: my second read annotations

"Who were all these people hanging around on a weekday at the zoo? Didn't they have jobs? Shouldn't the children be in school? No wonder the country was such a mess." (P.49)

Annotation: omg he sounds like a Tory, boy shut upppp

"Without turning he knew it was the girl, his girl, and he felt immense relief that he was not entirely alone." (P.49)

Annotation: you cannot convince me he sees Lucy Gray as an equal. His possession isn't romantic it's degrading.

"She ran her thumb over the glossy, white surface and slipped the petal into her mouth, closing her eyes to savour the flavour. 'Tastes like bedtime.'" (p.42)

Annotation: Literally consuming the symbol of his wealth -> foreshadowing him leaving the capital for her/because of her.

"She parceled out her roses like diamonds, though, so it has taken a good bit of persuasion to get this beauty." (P.38)

Annotation: roses - Snow's symbol from a sought gift and sign of wealth, plus ties to his mother. In THG they (the roses) are all white (a lack of colour representing Lucy?) and used as threats.

Addition: I think some of the rose symbolism for snow is obvious of course. Something beautiful but with thorns. And him gifting one to Lucy Gray as a token that represents him being another sign of ownership which creeps up throughout. And this parallels his interactions with Katniss and the rose in Mockingjay where it serves as a reminder that he will always own her.

"'Imagine how terrified she must be, Coryo,' Tigris has said. 'How alone she must feel If it was me, anything you could do to make you feel like you cared about me would go a long way. No, more than that. Like I was of value.'" (p.37-38)

Annotation: The way she has to remind him about empathy.... Snow is not an empath.

Addition: Tigris spitting bars as usual.

"The mayor glowered at the camera as he slapped his hand into the second bag and pulled several slips out. A few fluttered down to the stage as he read the remaining paper. 'The District Twelve boy tribute is Jessup Diggs.'" (p.29)

Annotation: the sealing of fate done so carelessly? Doesn't the boy even deserve grace?

Addition: something about this just hurt, after Lucy Gray slipped the snake down Mayfair's dress the Mayor doesn't even have the courtesy to be careful picking out a name. And the way the other names fall it truly is just terrible luck for Jessup, any of those names could have been it. It really hits how many children stand on the execution block at this moment.

"This District 12 girl? Could there be a bigger slap in the face?" (P.22)

Annotation: foreshadowing (or preshadowing) Katniss. Snows weakness since the beginning has been underestimating the districts. And his own self-imposed importance

"'You forget I'm part of that litter,' said Sejanus hoarsley."

Annotation: oh Sejanus baby :/

"He thought of people putting a price on her [Tigris]. With her long, pointed nose and skinny body... She had a sweetness, a vulnerability that invited abuse... The idea made him feel sick and helpless, and consequently, disgusted with himself." (P.4)

Annotation: weren't so disgusted to not do it to Finnick though we're you?

Addition: Collins very neatly tries to handle SA as a topic in a way that is palatable to the age range of her books whilst also not dismissing it. On a series built on exploitation it would be a disservice to recognise the role SA does play in this on all sides. It's especially interesting how Snow later becomes an abuser and SA facilitator when it suits him despite his revulsion here. I don't know if that's because he cares about Tigris or the damage to their reputation if she sold her body as he is alluding too.

\/\/\/\/\

I don't normally do posts like this and I doubt people care but if you do wanna see more feel free to let me know! Also had no idea how to format these so included text IDs below for accessibility/legibility. Anyway have my dumb thoughts.

[paris-geller-was-straightwashed]

y’all realize that like...elliot didn’t add ‘/they’ to their pronouns for fun right.

it’s there for you to use. he added ‘they’ bc he wants you to use it. and if you only selectively use ‘he’ just bc it’s also included like I’ve seen everyone doing, you’re not doing them any favours. while I don’t think it’s as bad as using old/wrong pronouns, it’s not a lot better bc you’re still ignoring a part of who they are.

also, not to ruin anyone’s parade, but I’ve seen a lot of people refer to elliot with almost exclusively male terms, like ‘king’ and others lump him in the group of trans men when they never once said what gender they are, if any. not once in the post does elliot say he’s a ‘man’, or any particular gender. just that they’re trans. and I think to immediately start ascribing maleness to him when he hasn’t personally claimed it, is doing them a disservice.

I really believe this is just coming from ppl’s (extremely) earnest support for them and making sure he feels accepted in the trans community, but if we really want to lift him up, then we can’t ascribe any kind of particular gender until we’re clear on what he identifies as. it could be male, or it could be non-binary, or it could be a mix like bigender or demi or something, we don’t know! and we should be cautious until we’re super clear.

as we all know, pronouns do not equal gender. take jonathan van-ness for example, another nb legend, who uses he/him but has said he doesn’t like being referred to as a man. and, you know, as a (fellow?) she/they who is uncomfortable being referred to as ‘female’/with female terms, I think it’s important for elliot (and all trans ppl) that everyone else is sure of their gender id and how they liked to be referred. if it turns out he does id as a man then I’ll retract and ya’ll can call them ‘king’ as much as you want, but you can’t just assume shit bc someone uses a certain set of pronouns.

tldr: (also) use ‘they’ for elliot bc they’re his fucking pronouns and don’t ascribe a gender to anyone that they haven’t personally claimed.

*edit:* this post was made not even a day after elliot first came out - before he further elaborated to say he mainly id’s as male. so, yes, ascribing maleness to him is all hunky-dory - now that we know that! but we didn’t at that point, so I’m still leaving this up as is bc the main point of this post was to say not to gender anyone any which way until they’ve elaborated more, and that we should use the pronouns offered (which, as far as I’m still aware, still includes ‘they’ for elliot too).

[suuho]

This isn’t an attack or anything but I’m always curious when people say bts have a good rapline. Do y’all mean compared to other Kpop rappers? Because personally I don’t see a difference. Rm puts on a black aesthetic (I’m black and a huge rap fan so please don’t try come for me army). Suga does what most Kpop rappers do and just talks really fast. Is it because they contribute to the writing or?

I think JHope is the best because I find his rap and performances artistic and not borderline CA lol. I feel like their rapline gets over praised because they have incredibly weak vocal line. So there had to be a saving grace to justify them being a group.

It’s just my opinion but I don’t rate them up their. For me it’s Big Bang then the rest of idol rappers. Because truly id say seventeen rappers are better imo.

i mean, i am not gonna change your opinion or anything. i agree with the fact that big bang are the best rappers in the idol industry - they are miles ahead, but big bang has always been more of a k-hip hop focused group in that regard. especially in the late aughts. that said, not only are bts rapline really talented at rapping, they are very good lyricists and producers as well. namjoon is not the most skilled rapper in the group, but he is probably the most adept at writing and rhythm, and while yoongi is usually tasked with double-time raps (because, well, he is the one who "talks fast"), i think it's a disservice to say that it's only fast talking. he is actually good at it, unlike a lot of other idol rappers (see nct excluding markyong etc), and he has an actual rap background, once again unlike a lot of other idol rappers. he is better as agust d than as suga. hoseok is my favorite member in the group for a reason; i like his flow and his artistic approach the most and i have a lot of respect for him as an artist. he had to learn all this shit from scratch when he was a trainee, and he is very good at it. honestly, compared to other idol groups, they are just better at rapping which is because bts was based on a hip hop concept unlike the usual kpop idol group.

and seventeen, as much as i love them - their rapline is not as good as bts in terms of skill, flow, etc. the only real rapper in the group is vernon, followed by scoups, and then ... wonwoo and mingyu. they are rough around the edges, sometimes sloppy, and seventeen is just simply not rooted in hip hop; often, they don't even have proper bars in a song, which is completely fine! it is not asked of them. you can tell though, that vernon and scoups are genuinely into rapping and hip hop. it's funny though, cause vernon almost became a member of the performance unit. now he has the second most writing credits in the group, and is their most skilled rapper.

anyways, i think mark lee is a very talented rapper as well, and i might prefer chanyeol's double time/rap skills over yoongi's even. pentagon's yuto is another very skilled rapper considering he's japanese and korean isn't his first language; he debuted as the first japanese rapper in kpop. i also dig btob's rapline! (including ilhoon), and hanbin is WAY up there with the best. but that's just my opinion, to each their own!

[daresplaining]

[ID: Excerpt from Bendis’s Daredevil run. Matt Murdock and Milla Donovan are alone in Matt’s office at Nelson & Murdock, talking.]

Milla: “I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable. But I-- I just couldn’t think of any way to approach you other than this.”

Matt: “It’s just that you are mistaken about my being Daredevil. That story just isn’t--”

Milla: “I can’t stop thinking about what happened the other day. When you saved me from that truck-- it really... I mean, I know you are in situations like that... every day... but I am not. Nothing like that has ever-- This is hard to say out loud... The whole situation-- It-- it had an effect on me that I can’t describe. I can’t describe to you why I came down here. I have never done anything like this before and I certainly have never spoken to someone-- Someone I don’t know-- Like this before... In fact, even with you pretending that it wasn’t you as Daredevil who saved my life... this is as intimate a conversation I have had with a man since college. ...I just need to speak with you again. To-- Thank you for saving me. Hmm... This-- this is very embarrassing. I’m going to go.”

Matt: “What do you do, Milla?”

Milla: “What do I do?”

Matt: “For a living.”

Milla: “I work at the Hell’s Kitchen Housing Commission.”

Matt: “You find poor people a place to live...”

Milla: “And we do a lot of environmental testing. Lead and soil. You wouldn’t believe how some people have to live.”

Matt: “Milla... Do you see a logic in that even if, let’s say, I had been the one that [...] tossed you into that clothing store-- Do you see how I wouldn’t be able to tell you that? Do you see how admitting something like that would be very... dangerous for me and for you.”

Milla: “Do you eat food? [...] Would you like to... have dinner with me tonight?”

Matt: “Milla, I can’t take responsibility for you."

Milla: “I’m sorry?”

Matt: “This tabloid mess I’m in. With everyone thinking I’m Daredevil. It’s created a situation around me where no one is really, truly safe. Everyone who works in this office. Everyone in my life-- as long as there’s this feeling that I might be Daredevil... There are people-- vulgar people who could-- I just can’t take responsibility for you.” 

Milla: “Hmm, well... Are we still talking hypothetically?”

Matt: “Oh, yes.”

Milla: “Well, hypothetically, can you imagine a situation where a girl, like myself, might have known all about this before sucking up the courage to walk in here and approach someone, like you, like this? The way I see it-- a girl doing all that is clearly taking responsibility for herself. I don’t live in fear. It is funny how you immediately took my responsibility on yourself... But I guess that’s a topic we could talk about over dinner.”

Matt: “Can I think about it?”

Milla: “Sure. But just for the record... I never mentioned anything about a clothing store.”

Daredevil vol. 2 #43 by Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev, and Matt Hollingsworth

    I hesitated about posting this whole scene because it’s long, particularly when transcribed (Bendis really loves dialogue), but I decided that cutting it up or condensing it would be doing it too much of a disservice. It’s a great scene, and there’s a lot going on, and I wanted to include all of it. 

    Part of what I like so much about Milla is how ordinary she is. This is true of many other Daredevil side characters as well, but always only to a certain degree. Karen Page is a successful and glamorous actress for a while. Heather Glenn is a wealthy heiress. Glori O’Breen is a revolutionary. Dakota North is a supermodel-turned-private eye. Rosalind Sharpe is... Rosalind Sharpe. Kirsten McDuffie comes close, but there is still something polished about her-- her effortless snark, her ability to kick butt when needed. There’s nothing wrong with this-- I love it, in fact (see my thoughts on Glori’s character development in particular), but it is the nature of many non-superhero characters in superhero media to still feel slightly larger than life, and so it’s nice to find one who is more down-to-earth.  

    Another major factor in this is the use of perspective. Matt is the protagonist, and thus we see (“see”) most of his co-stars from his point-of-view. We are in his head, experiencing their behavior. This is particularly true of his romantic interests-- yes, we see scenes of them doing things on their own, but for the most part, the lens of Matt’s perspective and knowledge is always present. But Milla is engaging because-- while we do spend a good amount of time in Matt’s head when she is around-- there are some very hefty scenes in which we are made clearly aware of Milla’s perspective too. Her introductory scene takes place before she has even met Matt (thus, we know her better than he does), and their first meeting is much more from her point-of-view that it is from his. We watch her experience that encounter, and we see the effect it has on her even though Matt does not. This is followed up by a very candid scene of Milla awkwardly discussing her interest in Daredevil with a friend, who laughingly teases her about it. Again, we are getting to know Milla on her own, separate from Matt. Bendis excels at crafting characters who feel real-- partly through, yes, his dialogue, which breaks many of the dialogue-writing conventions but does so in a way that, when it works, makes his characters sound extra genuine. We see Milla’s infatuation, her discomfort, and that makes it very easy to feel for her and identify with her, because even if we haven’t all had a crush, or tried to ask a superhero out on a date, we have all had embarrassing interactions with people, and this leads us to root for her. 

    All of this carries over into the pivotal above scene, in which Milla insinuates herself into Matt’s office and asks him if he eats food out on a date. I love this scene for a whole list of reasons. 

1. It’s super awkward. I mean, it gets better, but a person walking up to someone they’ve never officially met and thanking them for saving their life while the other person repeatedly insists that they did no such thing is going to be awkward no matter what, and Bendis makes the excellent decision of leaning into that reality rather than trying to soften it. It says a lot about Milla’s personality that in spite of this awkwardness, she still goes through with this and says what she came to say, and I then love her extra-humanizing “Hmm... this is very embarrassing. I’m going to go” when Matt just wordlessly stands there. (I also love “What do you do?” “What do I do?” Bendis is a master of this style of conversational humor.) They are both super uncomfortable, which causes us to sympathize with them, places them on equal footing, and makes the rest of the scene-- when they manage to work through the awkwardness-- all the more satisfying. 

2. It undercuts Matt’s secret identity angst. We all (I assume) love Kirsten McDuffie’s playful handwaving of Matt’s insistence that he isn’t Daredevil, and this scene is the spiritual predecessor to all of that. Milla is convinced that Matt is Daredevil-- so convinced that she has put herself in this uncomfortable position to talk to him about it-- and so she has no interest in even acknowledging his denials. She just ignores them. And it’s really funny. It has been said before (on this blog, and elsewhere) that Milla exists in this arc as the anti-Daily Globe. She figures out his secret identity and the results are positive. Matt has spent issues denying, arguing, scrambling to defend himself against prying journalists eager to lay his secrets bare, and then in strolls Milla with “I know you’re Daredevil, and I’m taking you out to dinner.” And then she gets that smooth calling of his bluff on her way out the door, which is just... fantastic. 

3. “I don’t live in fear”. And of course, we get one of Milla’s biggest character-defining pieces of dialogue. In some ways, it’s fairly standard-- Milla has a backbone, she isn’t frightened by the idea of hanging out with a superhero, and “I don’t live in fear” is an obvious reference to Matt’s own “Man Without Fear” epithet. But it’s a great, empowering speech, and it feels important. It gives Milla control in this conversation, and more than that, it gives her control in the relationship. She has chosen to seek Matt out, she has chosen to ask him out, and she has done it with the knowledge that it might not be safe. As the story goes on, we get the sense that whatever understanding she might have thought she had wasn’t quite accurate-- that she has definitely gotten in over her head. But in this moment, in this scene, it’s a powerful statement of intent and a comment on her character-- as a civilian, as a blind woman, and as a Daredevil love interest who is stepping into a legacy that’s drenched in blood. And I appreciate the facial expressions that Maleev gives Matt. You can tell that he is completely smitten with her, and that this speech has floored him. It’s fun to see him in this position, and it builds a strong grounding for the rest of their relationship. 

    I could go on. The artistic choice of placing a flowy, sensual painting behind Milla versus a closed window behind Matt was clearly intentional. I love the implication in the last panel that Foggy and Jessica were listening through the door. “Do you eat food?” always makes me laugh. This is one of my favorite Milla scenes, and with this creative team there’s always more to dissect. 

[stardust-make-a-wish]

Do you have any fic recs for haikyuu and fruits basket? c:

ANON I GOT SO EXCITED WHEN I SAW THIS ASK I LOVE TALKING AB FICS BUT IM GONNA NEED U TO BE MORE SPECIFIC RE: HAIKYUU PLS there r so many pairings its hard to rec stuff unless i know what ur looking for.........i guess ill just rec a bunch of diff ones then !!! (disclaimer i am Bad at summaries- rambling ahead bc i cant control myself hxjsh)

i actually dont read too much fruba fic but these two r v good i love

must be love on the brain (that's got me feelin' this way)

💌　kyoru - 4.3k words | “Tohru has a secret admirer. Everyone reacts to it accordingly. Except Kyo.”

it has.......a rooftop scene......its got that good kyoru pining.....its so good ... (honestly this authors kyoru is just *chefs kiss* just go through their frba tag)

my heart on your sleeve

🧣　kyoru - 3.7k words | “In which stealing your boyfriend’s clothing is an art, and Tohru Honda has perfected it.”

,,,, post curse fluff.....established relationship kyoru ufhdhfgcg i die this is so cute and just....rlly good vibes

alrigjt OK so i have.........a lot of hq fic recs........ if u want like all of them here r my hq bookmarks u can sort through them theyre all gems but ill list like a few of my favs !! this is just going to b ship stuff bc i dont read too much gen <//3

• (mostly)canon compliant:

your wide eyes are the only light i know

🌱 bokuaka - 9.2k

kind of like...how their relationship develops over time., its a bunch of really soft moments i love it.. i cant do it justice in this description but its so so lovely...(this author writes the SOFTEST bokuakas i am in sha mble s... pls check out their fics)

From Tokyo and Osaka, With Love

🌻 bokuaka - 8.2k | akaashi and his birthdays from 17-21, or five years' worth of birthdays spent with bokuto

i,, adore ts bkak and this fic is SO HFJFJD i love it a lot ughhgdb its one of my fave timeskip fics !!def a comfort fic of mine <3 (this author also has a bunch of good stuff on their page !!)

you never have to wander, wonder

🍨 sunaosa - 23k | Between food sharing, intimate conversations, special smiles, and thousand-word pictures, this is how Suna tries to not deal with a crush.

honestly i am not even the biggest sunaosa stan but this fic is just so much fun !! i actually.. reread this one a lot FHDJ i have a few fics that i just tend to read when im sad & this is one of them ! its got summer vibes, v v good friendship dynamics + miya twin shenanigans,, even if ur neutral ab the pairing, this is just such an enjoyable read! (its also got fun socmed aspects.... internet famous miyas is always fun) (this authors fics also slap ahshdb honestly just check out the fics of anyone linked here)

all that you were

🍃 sakuatsu - 4.6k | Sakusa confesses to Atsumu with all the enthusiasm of someone reporting a traffic jam.

this!!! is the fic that got me into skts so itd b a disservice if i didnt rec it !! (yes...check out this author too.......their fics r always so good)

liminal spaces

🚪 sakuatsu - 26k | Fuck you, Atsumu thinks, pointing at the pixelated Sakusa in the team photo on his bedside table. It’s easier than you’d think to ignore loving your teammate.

this fic made me feel things and also its just v vibey. i dont rmbr too much but its like....rlly good hdhd

• aus/canon divergent:

the courtship ritual of the hercules beetle

🌿 iwaoi - 66.3k

alright if u like iwaoi & read fics for hq u have probably read this already but it doesnt hurt to throw it in bc this fic is an experience man its SO good. it hurts so much and so good and idk its just kind of iconic

famous angels (never come through england)

📸 sakuatsu - 10.4k | actor au!! its got fun socmed bits via like movie review articles & insta posts n the like its v fun !!! the character relationships r rlly good even aside from the main pair! this one ive been meaning to reread for a while now tbh

as blood returns and returns to the heart

⚔️ kuroken - 8.5k | royalty au by same author as above!! this fic,,, has almost all the things i love in a royalty au and it executes them all so so well... u have... king and loyal protector...pining....rlly fitting vibes,, ugh this fic is so great (check out this author too their fics r v good)

but not for spring to well up

🕰 sunaosa - 40.8k | After ending a relationship with a fiancé, Suna returns home and tries to heal from heartbreak. Here, he finds friends in the form of the Miya brothers, and learns patience, forgiveness, and what happiness means to him.

magical realism/antique shop au thats honestly just so thoroughly written it could b a story independent of these characters,, the miya twins r rlly good & the whole setting is such a vibe,, its def on the longer side but i enjoyed every bit of it!! all the magical lore was super cool n its just. so good man...

a certain slant of light

⛅️ bokuaka - 18.4k | akaashi is an author in need of help. bokuto is a witch who sells him a little light.

i actually just read this fic yesterday but i was rly going through it so i thought id include it fjfhg,, its a magic au still in a modern setting, (lowkey ghibli vibes honestly) and the slow build of akaashi dealing w his problems and growing more fond of these ppl he meets... its so lovely....u become so attached to the setting and characters and their relationships u rlly end up feeling right along w him........it has a happy end though dont worry i would never rec a fic that doesnt end happy mostly bc i myself cant handle it LOL. also the words r very pretty. thats def not the right way to describe it but im here to talk ab how it made me feel not talk abt word choice :’)

ok this was so so long im so sorry omg but i had a lot of fun putting this together & i absolutely have more where this came from if anyone wants FJDJHDJ

[calamity-bean]

the angry prince of goofs

I’ve been thinking about Ziggy Sobotka, which was probably my first mistake, and especially about one little detail that’s demonstrated repeatedly but not really explored in depth: Ziggy is good with technology. 

Better than most of the characters in his orbit, at any rate; he understands computers, understands the internet, has to explain digital cameras and search engines to Nick, who still seems confused. And while, even for 2003, I wouldn’t claim he’s a technical genius, this detail stands out to me partly because it’s one area in which he’s expressly shown to be more capable than his cousin — typically the far more competent of the pair — and partly because he tends to get written off, both in-universe and out, as, well... an idiot. A stupid guy who does stupid things simply because he’s stupid, with no greater character depth or complexity than that.

And that... kinda irks me! Look, I get why Ziggy’s not exactly a fan favorite. He’s not cool. He’s not a badass. He’s immature and abrasive and makes a lot of frustrating decisions, and I get why so many viewers find that annoying, I really do. But although he can certainly be a dumbass, I’m honestly not convinced that he’s dumb, and I think it does a disservice to the writing of the season and to James Ransone’s performance (easily among his best work, imo, out of the roles I’ve seen him in) to boil Zig down to just a clueless annoyance with no regard for why he acts the way he does or his value to the overall narrative.

So I’ve been thinking about Ziggy Sobotka, and types of intelligence, and finding one’s place in the world, and how Ziggy’s character arc relates to The Wire’s overarching theme of a changing city at the dawn of the new millennium.

Twice, over the course of the season, Ziggy’s mentioned in connection with college.

The first time is in 2.06, as Frank chews him out about literally burning money at the bar — definitely one of those moments that baffles and enrages viewers, cause oh my GOD, Zig, Nick goes to all that trouble for you, and then you burn a hundred dollar bill? What the heck, man. But I love this scene with Frank. It’s Ziggy at his most subdued and collected; it’s one of maybe two substantial conversations between father and son all season; and it reveals that Ziggy is capable of being far more observant than he often seems. Frank, frustrated with the lack of employment available for Ziggy, vents, “Maybe if I’d have listened to your mother, cause she’s the one always talking about you should do the community college, like your brother.” Why would Frank let one son continue his education, but not the other? Well, I have to read between the lines here, but I don’t think it’s outlandish to guess that it’s because Ziggy is — or was supposed to be — Frank’s heir. We know he’s Frank’s firstborn, and we know that for Frank, working on the docks is more than an occupation; it’s a cherished family legacy going back generations and a huge point of pride. Ziggy was probably always earmarked to follow in his father’s footsteps, and he probably always knew it. “You wanna know what I remember?” he says, and describes the education he did receive: a life spent paying careful attention to his father’s world. “Everything. Everything.” College just was not a necessary part of the life planned for him.

But there’s absolutely no future on the docks for Ziggy, and by this point, father and son both know it. It’s a rapidly dying profession with scarce shifts available for L-series juniors, so maybe it’s no surprise Zig puts a lot more effort into being a thief and drug dealer than he does into being a checker. Unfortunately, despite seeming fairly adept in logical-mathematical intelligence (technical knowledge, facts/figures, coming up with plans), Ziggy fumbles in all these pursuits because of one type of intelligence that he definitely does lack: interpersonal/social skills — i.e., the ability to read a room and to play well with others. He constantly annoys people, never realizes he’s being tricked until it’s too late, and lets emotion get the better of him, leading him to be irresponsible and impulsive and seek instant gratification. This is, again, in contrast to Nick, who is much less tech savvy than Zig but far more personable and reliable. People like Nick. They trust Nick. Even Frank seems to have a closer relationship with his nephew than with his own son.

And this feeds into a critical difference between Nick and Ziggy. Nick, with Aimee and Ashley to support, is primarily motivated by a need for money; Ziggy, on the other hand, cares less and less about money as the season progresses and is primarily motivated by a desire for something Nick already has: respect. More broadly, Zig craves the validation of others, whether that validation comes to him as respect or approval or even just attention. This, more than immaturity and definitely more than a simple lack of intelligence, is what drives his behavior, including his most reckless or seemingly inexplicable acts. In some circumstances, it inspires him to act like a tough guy; in others, it manifests in childish clownery like whipping out Pretty Boy or waltzing around with a seeing-eye duck, as though he were a comedian playing to a crowd. It’s why he wastes his money on showy status symbols, like Princess and a $2,000 coat, or on buying rounds for the bar. And of course, it manifests in trying to show up his father, who seems to have plenty of time and money for all the other stevedores and yet, by his own admission, pays scant attention to his own son except when Zig screws up... which, needless to say, Zig has a bit of a chip on his shoulder about.

The irony, of course, is that the harder Ziggy tries to impress people, the less it works. His attempts to act tough get him trounced. The other stevedores are happy to let him buy drinks and play class clown, but they are very much laughing at him rather than with him, and the same guys who egg him on and flatter him always turn right around and scoff at what a fool he is after it blows up in his face. His biggest attempt to prove himself is the car heist... which actually goes off without a hitch! Like I said, Zig’s not bad at logistical planning; he comes up with a clever scheme and carries it out successfully. It should’ve been a triumph for him — proving that he could handle himself, that he didn’t need Nick or Frank looking out for him and deserved to be treated like a valid player in the game. But Glekas, like everyone else, saw Ziggy as easy to take advantage of and too weak to effectively retaliate. If it were earlier in the season, he’d have been right, just like every other time Zig wound up tricked and humiliated. Unfortunately for everyone involved, though, by that point, Ziggy — impulsive, hotblooded Ziggy — was “tired of being the punchline to every joke.”

The Wire: Truth Be Told (which I haven’t gotten to read beyond previews) calls Ziggy the “angry prince of goofs.” I think that, more than anything, Ziggy is someone who keeps trying on different costumes and never finds one that fits. He was supposed to carry on the Sobotka stevedore legacy, but the profession is dying, and even if it weren’t, Nick is far more an heir apparent to Frank than Ziggy is. So he tries to be a tough guy, but isn’t; tries to be the sort of cool, funny guy people like and admire, but can’t; tries to prove himself as a player, but makes mistake after mistake until he screws up so horribly that there’s no coming back from it. When Frank tells him that what he did to Glekas and the store clerk isn’t him, Ziggy replies incredulously, “It ain’t?” — because it is him, he did that! But he’s not suited to being a killer, either; he immediately falls apart with horror and remorse. So what is he? Who is he? Was there anything he could have succeeded at, any way he could’ve made better choices than he did?

In 2.10, shortly after Ziggy’s arrest, we meet Priscilla Katlow — the same girl listed on the fake paternity papers Zig gets pranked with in 2.07. In the earlier episode, Nick implies that Prissy is, to be crass, kind of the neighborhood bicycle, making it sound like she was nothing more to Zig than a one-night stand. I have a lot of feelings about the fact that it turns out she’s actually a childhood friend who’s visibly in tears over Ziggy’s situation when she finds Nick grieving on the playground of their old school. They’re maybe the only two characters we see who seem to not only care about Ziggy but genuinely like him, and they reminisce about a time, years ago, when he was supposed to buy them all some SoCo and Pikesville Rye. Instead, he bought Boone’s Farm — because, he claimed, “that’s what the college kids drank.” Then, while drinking it on that same playground, he shouted, “College kids ain’t shit!” And I know I’m really galaxy-braining here, really reading a lot into just a few lines, but I can’t help but wonder, like… This seems to have taken place toward the end of high school, since Prissy was driving her mom’s car and Ziggy could pull off a fake ID. Ziggy probably already knew that he was bound for the docks right after graduation, if he wasn’t working there already; Frank wasn’t even entertaining Zig’s mother’s wish that they send him to college instead. And I wonder if, to some extent, Zig resented that? Or resented not having a choice? Because this anecdote implies a mixture of wanting to emulate those college kids (drinking what he thinks they drink) while simultaneously deriding them — perhaps because he knew that he couldn’t be one, no matter whether or not he wanted to, and therefore had to act like the entire concept was beneath him.

I don’t know whether Zig would’ve done better in college anyway. I think that, contrary to popular opinion, he did have his own areas of intelligence and competence, but despite being in some ways the more “book smart” of the Sobotka cousins (Ziggy’s technical knowledge vs. Nick’s common sense), maybe he’d have been too immature to put in the work for school, too lazy or too proud to try. But I just wonder if he might’ve had a better chance at life that way, both in terms of staying out of trouble and of possibly finding a field that would’ve better rewarded his skill-set. Insofar as The Wire in general is about the changing face of Baltimore and how the shifting infrastructure of the city impacts the individuals within it (particularly the economically marginalized), and insofar as season 2 specifically is about the death of American industry and of the traditional blue-collar working class, Ziggy is an exploration of someone who fell through the cracks of that shift and, in that respect, was sort of doomed to failure from the beginning. James Ransone has described him as “very castrated” in terms of his power and potential for social mobility, the game being rigged against working-class people like him even with the advantages of being a white male. Ziggy’s brother, armed with a college education, might fare better in the 21st-century workforce... But even if Zig hadn’t ended up in prison, he probably wouldn’t have lasted much longer in the family business anyway. Johnny Fifty, a more senior checker, is homeless by season 5, and unemployment is the implied fate of nearly all longshoremen in the near future.

And honestly? Although I really like Ziggy, I appreciate that he’s a failure. I think one of the reasons I do feel so deeply for him is that the narrative never rewards his errors or glorifies his misdeeds. If it did, he’d risk coming off as one of those edgy, disenfranchised white guy antihero types, and I doubt I’d have found that nearly as sympathetic or interesting. By the standards of The Wire, Zig’s relatively small-time in terms of how much damage he causes and pretty notable for how extremely he regrets what harm he does do, but that still doesn’t excuse his actions, and the narrative doesn’t pretend that it should. Nor does it pretend that he’s not also worthy of our interest and pathos anyway.

Ziggy Sobotka is not cool. He’s not a badass. He’s not any of the things he tried to be during the season, and he’ll probably never get a chance, now, to be anything other than a murderer locked up for life. And I know he wasn’t entitled to any fate other than the one he earned for himself, but I wish he’d been able to find a better path.

[rosewand]

a canon-divergence masterpost.

intro.

i’ve been writing queenie since october of 2017. she’s had a lot of time to grow to the point where i’m comfortable with her. she’s partially unrecognizable from how we see her in fantastic beasts and where to find them and completely unrecognizable from how we see her in crimes of grindelwald. 

i’d like to point out that my decision to separate her completely from the canon in which her actions become aggressively problematic is not out of a desire to soften or reduce her character. i just have a whole lot of love for the concept of queenie that we see in the first movie. kind, feminine, emotional characters are a rarity in harry potter canon. i like that and want to continue writing it. personally, i think the events of cog are wildly out of character for my queenie goldstein and i will not be using them. 

i’m also perfectly aware that queenie is not my creation. i’m aware that she’s not my original character no matter how much i add to her. she’s property of jk rowling and i respect anyone who decides to follow canon in any capacity. i feel that a disservice was done to her character in her arc and this is my attempt to rectify it, i don’t hate or dislike anyone who has a different opinion.

if my essential complete departure from canon something that bothers or unnerves you, i am not going to be upset if you choose to unfollow or cease interaction. this blog is for my own entertainment and for people who are interested in writing and developing things with my version of queenie. if you are not among them, this is absolutely fine. i completely understand.

now, onto the specifics of my divergence.

character stats. 

starting from the top, i am writing a woman who’s name is devorah vered goldstein. queenie is a nickname that caught on when she was twelve years old. she doesn’t tell everyone about the fact that her name isn’t by birth queenie, but anyone who was to look at her macusa id badge or her birth certificate would see that her given name is devorah. 

this is for character reasons and also because of the fact that devorah is jewish. she has a hebrew given name as a result that means bee. bees and honey are strong symbols that i’ve come to attach to my portrayal of queenie goldstein, thus it’s reflected in her name. 

i also write queenie as a half-blood witch. she had a muggle father and a witch mother. when they died, she was raised by her both-magical grandparents. i find it extremely unlikely that magical people never interact with non-magical people due to their close proximity. as such, it’s canon on my blog that the difficulty behind enforcing rappaport’s law allows queenie to engage with the non-magical world in fairly small ways. 

she goes to the movies frequently. she sang in non-magical speakeasies during the beginning of prohibition after her graduation from ilvermorny. she does not, however, interact with non-magical people on a regular basis up until the events of the first movie and thereon afterward.

another small but important note about queenie’s education: she did not pass her exams during her first year at ilvermorny. after an extended absence following the death of her parents, queenie was unable to make up her losses in marks and had to repeat her first year, something that devastated her. as a result, she graduates at the age of eighteen, not seventeen.

abilities. 

i follow harry potter canon in regards to queenie’s legilimency. i personally see her ability to effectively read minds as a retcon of established canon. legilimency has been identified as something that simplified into mind reading by people who don’t know any better. in actual practice, it’s a complicated form of navigation and it’s very difficult to find something specific unless you know what to look for. surface-level thoughts would be difficult to pinpoint and it’s not an inborn talent.

as such, i don’t include it in the same capacity. the necessity for something inborn in queenie conflicts with the realism in harry potter  ( a weird sentence to write out but there is a grounding element of realism in the magic )  but it’s a necessity. so as to conflict less with other established legilimens characters, i write queenie as an empath who uses that talent to master legilimency. 

she is able to feel the surface-level emotions of others, not past emotions or ones in the future. she’s given a temporary window into someone else’s heart that’s increased by proximity. the closer she is to someone, the more accurate her ability to interpret and understand what she’s feeling. queenie uses this ability to draw conclusions that can be incorrect. she very rarely uses her legilimency as she’s still learning. conversely, she does not know any occlumency at all, leaving her vulnerable in that respect.

her talent for legilimency is promising but incomplete. it is still very much a spell that she has to knowingly cast and one that she practices on willing people during her tenure at ilvermorny. while she’s managed to get to a point where she can cast it wandlessly, she cannot cast it non-verbally. she must speak the incantation.

canon timeline. 

there are several ways that i’m divergent from the main plot of fantastic beasts and where to find them. i disagree completely with the centrality of jacob to queenie’s storyline. i like jacob a lot, i just wish that they were allowed to be seperate characters. as such, unless i’m actively plotting or writing with a jacob to change the dynamic, i consider their relationship to be a brief fling in queenie’s past. 

yes, she was very much attracted to him. yes, she did cast the legilimency spell on him in a moment of intense excitement at the prospect of getting to interact with someone non-magical. she understands that this was wrong and is a regression back to her younger years as someone who didn’t understand boundaries. she later apologizes for this. 

queenie is especially tested during the events of the film as she believed herself to be more mature that she finds herself behaving. 

her actions with sam and abernathy are indicative of her own morality which is slightly skewed. queenie believes that manipulating unkind people is justified if the situation is dire. she uses her knowledge of sam’s affair  ( which she discovered because of her empathic abilities and also by just reading body language )  to keep jacob from having his memory erased because she planned on getting to know him better once everything was settled. 

abernathy is someone who is terrible to her sister and queenie felt know guilt for manipulating him to an extent to escape a situation so tina and newt could live. 

she is wrong about leta, her desire to assure newt that he deserves better stems only from the fact that she wanted to be kind to him. her legilimency did not factor in this scene, it was pure empathy and she was wrong. something she will later apologize for.

queenie feels a strong attachment to jacob as they both are people with past trauma living deeply unfulfilling lives. the first adventure she’s ever been on has been with him and her desire for more of that is what prompts her to offer that they leave the country together. however, it’s his choice to lose his memories which she understands is a way of keeping her safe.

in my canon, queenie respects jacob’s choice to forget her and she does not go and visit him when he’s established his bakery. she respects his choice and while she does feel like everyone she loves  ( outside of her sister )  will eventually end up leaving her, queenie appreciates someone finally choosing to prioritize her safety over their happiness.

i do not under any circumstances acknowledge the events of crimes of grindelwald. the situations queenie is put into in that movie are wildly out of character in my opinion and serve to undo what she represented in the first film, which is hope and love. in my canon, queenie is not engaged to jacob. she isis still in new york and she doesn’t leave to find tina. she certainly does not drug her ‘fiancé’ in order to get him to do what she wants. 

i understand that her actions in cog are abusive. i don’t want to write them or acknowledge them because i consider them to have come out of nowhere and out of circumstances that i feel are detrimental to my characterization. do not approach me for plots concerning them, thank you for reading. 

plots concerning queenie’s decision to join grindelwald will be accepted on a case-by-case basis with lots of plotting required beforehand. i’m hesitant to explore this with people who are not close friends.

this is a total doozy, i’m aware but it means a lot to me that you read it. thank you again.

[dankcranks]

100% serious. It'll help me get out of my own head, too. I've had a kinda blehhh day

same here friendo

putting this under a cut cause it’ll be long

☝ - How tall are you? - fun story for years i thought i was 5′7 cause that was the height the last time i was measured at my doctor’s office in my late teens, but they measured me “just to see” the last time i was there, and i’m 5′8???? the last few years of my life has been a lie

✔ - Sexual Orientation - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ still trying to figure this out tbh. def pansexual, probably panromantic but also possibly on the grey spectrum??? i value platonic relationships over romantic ones, but do still have the ability to have romantic attractions towards others (although it’s rare) and idk what that means

🚬 - Do you Smoke? i used to a lot a lotttt but nowadays it’s only when i’m with friends that smoke and can bum one off of them (cause i’m incapable of making good choices when it comes to my health)

🍷 - Do you Drink? - yes, but rarely and generally only socially 

♒ - Do you Take Drugs? - prescription yes. but similarly to smoking, i used to smoke a lot a lotttt of weed but now only do when i’m hanging with the person in my life that smokes regularly

😳 - Age you get mistaken for? - honestly idek. late teens? people are always suspeeshy of me when they id me and see my birth year, and i feel like i look like a teenage boyo which isn’t helped by my shit skin

💉 - Have Tattoos? - ocarina of time style ganondorf and skull kid (with the mask you give him on) on my left upper arm, the chorus of hilf mir fliegen by tokio hotel on my back, and schwester on my foot (for my sister)

✏️ - Want any tattoos? - oh hell yes i have like a backlog of tattoos i want

✂️ - Got any Piercings? - snakebites, industrial, rook, lobes x3

✌ - Want any piercings? - occasionally i think about a nose ring, but nah, i’m happy with the ones i have

👌 - Best friend? - i live with one of them, and the other lives on the other side of canada :’)

♥ - Do you like anyone? - lmao nah

🎤 - Top 5 favorite bands? - KSJHDSAK kay i’m putting these in no particular order, cause it’s hard enough limiting it just to five, let alone determine a favourite. also this is subject to change at any given moment. twenty one pilots, weezer, alexisonfire, linkin park(💔), one direction anD HAHAHAHA I’M COUNTING THEIR SOLO CAREERS AS PART OF THIS FIGHT ME

🎶 - Top 5 favorite songs? - this is even fucking worse than trying to limit my top five bands alfhdalfhlsjdkf i’m gonna go with the top five songs that i currently keep listening to on repeat (again, no particular order)top - addict with a pensleeping at last - saturnniall horan - seeing blind ft maren morristop - a car, a torch, a deathpale waves - television romance

😒 - Biggest pet peeve? - forgetting about plans (i literally do nothing with my life so like, when i make plans with someone, i'm really really looking forward to it)

📝 - Story from your childhood. - so when we got our family cat, i really wanted to call her cookie. but my mom decided on sophie, and i was highkey offended because i wanted a cute non human name like cookie??? but it’s hilarious now, because i only name animals by human names

💬 - I wish… - i wish i could afford to have more cats in my life

‼️ - Something you’ll change? - ...the amount of cats in my life

💦 - What makes you horny? - i literally had to finish these questions and come back to this lmao. physically, arms and nice hair i guess. otherwise, jfc idk, i’ma go real lame and say personality. idk how the fuck i get turned on okay, it just happens sometimes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

🌟 - A wish you’ll wish for? - m o r e  c a t s  i n  m y  l i f e

🔥 - Something spicy you like? - fuckIN INDIAN FOOD (i’m eating some curry i made right now lmao) shoutout to other east asian spicy foods

👃 You hate the smell of …. - idk fertilizer

👊 - Something you hate? - myself lmao #relatable am i rite

🚶 - Are you single? - yup

💬 - Can we text? - i have no idea who you are

💌 - Fan mail me? - again, i have no idea who you are

💍 - Marry me? - i literalLY DON’T KNOW WHO THIS IS 

💘 - Be my tumblr crush? - ^^^^^^^^^^^^

💭 - Favorite foods? - indian foods, bagels, cereal, ramen, sushi

☀ - Story about your day. - my cat tomi is having one of those days where he decides he’s going to be a gigantic piece of shit. he keeps coming over to me and yelliNG, reaching up to my desk and trying to knock things off. he keeps trying to get in fights with the other cat too. currently, i can hear him getting up to shit in the living room

💘 - Top 5 celebrity crushes? kay so there aren’t enough “celebrities” of sorts that i have that traditional celeb crush on that set my loins ablaze SO here have a list of celebrities that my ass will stan until the day i die because of their raw talent and for the way they treat those around them: tyler joseph, harry styles, uhhhh, josh dun, louis tomlinson, niall horan

🎥 - Top 5 favorite movies? ah fuck. spirited away, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, and i’d be doing my child self a disservice if i didn’t include the nightmare before christmas, ace ventura when nature calls, and fantasia (the three movies that truly shaped me as a person)

📺 - Top 5 favorite TV shows? - i’m about to expose my nerd ass lmao. in no particular order - avatar the last airbender, dragonball z, card captor sakura, battlestar galactica (the 2004 remake also this just reminded me it’s been a while since my last rewatch *heavy breathing*), and, uh, idk, mr bean?

✏ - Random fact about yourself. - am very musically inclined. percussion instruments is my home (piano included in this, cause it’s a percussion instrument thanks)

✈️ - Where are you from? - canada, north of toronto

🚀 - Where do you wanna visit? - germany and more of canada

😍 - Do you have a crush? - lmao no

😷 - Something you hate eating? - fuck kay i’m actually a really picky eater and because i’ve been working around it for years i always forget what foods i hate. uhh. turnips?

🙈 - What makes you shy? - people, but that’s directly related to my social anxiety ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

💃 - Can you dance? - i mean, i CAN, but is it any good? no

💏 - Do you love anyone? - YEEE i love my friends and family (animals count as family)

👟 - Favorite shoe(s) to wear? - i finally got real converse and i  l o v e  t h e m

🌴 - A island you would visit? - when it comes to like, traditional island type things, that’s like, warm places, and i’m not particularly a fan of warm places. like beachy vacation places? nah fam. so like, the kinds of islands i’d want to visit would be countries like japan or ireland

🌎 - A country you would visit? - g e r m a n y

🌀 - Favorite type of weather? - fall, when the leaves aren’t green anymore and some have fallen, and it’s a little windy, and it’s the kind of temperature where you go out in the morning with a jacket, but in the afternoon don’t really need the jacket

🔮 - Do you believe in luck? - kinda?

📱 - What kinda phone do you have? - i literally just bought my roomie’s old lg g4 off him

📅 - Favorite time of the year? - fuckin october because fall and SPOOP SEASON

📚 - Career goal you want? - ...lmao. one that lets me afford to adopt mature cat babes to love and care for

🍴 - Favorite food(s) to eat? i immediately wanna say indian, but i feel like it’s biased cause i’m eating it right now

🍭 - Favorite Candy? - probs sour patch kids

🍇 - Favorite fruits? - bananas? apples? kiwi?????

🚘 - Dream car(s)? - a functioning car that is one solid colour

🚔 - Have you ever been arrested? - nah but i’ve been in cahoots with the law for dumb shit

🚑 - Have you ever driven in an ambulance before? - this question is phrased weird and it’s making my brain fucky. but i’ve been taken somewhere in an ambulance before, yes

🎫 - Do you have a license? - yee i have my full driving license as well as my boating license (lol)

🚼 - Do you have or want kids? - nO only animal frens

🔞 - Are you under 18? - nah

🐶 - Do you own a pet? - ngl i don’t like the phrasing of “owning a pet” buT i do live with animal babes that are under my care :3

😔 - Something that makes you sad? - thinkin about all the animal babes at animal shelters that don’t get adopted cause they’re not babies or they’re a little broken D8

😡 - What pisses you off? - boy howdy that’s a loaded question. lets go with a nice blanket response of “the state of the world”

😏 - What turns you on? - go back to the horny one

😈 - Are you a freak? - this is a very subjective question. to normies? yeah. in the sheets? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

💪 - Do you work out? - like bimonthly when i decide i’m gonna look after myself better lol