#i saw someone say it would have made more sense to let him compete and then pause the results if he wins before the investigation is
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mishkakagehishka · 6 months ago
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Can't believe they actually disqualified netherlands ?????? For a still-being-investigated claim ????????? I wonder if it's bc they had a proper eu.rovi.sion song and would have been actual competition
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idlerin · 1 year ago
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THEY’VE GOT NO IDEA ABOUT ME AND YOU — sakusa kiyoomi one-shot smau
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you and sakusa kiyoomi have been competing with each other since your first year when for the first time in your life, someone beat you at academics (something you based your self esteem on).
you developed a begrudging crush on him in your second year when you realized he wasn’t that bad when the two of you stayed late in the classroom and you had a breakdown and instead of telling you to suck it up like you expected he would, he wiped your tears with his handkerchief and calmingly brushed your hair away from your face (he still called you a dummy tho).
it was in your third year when sakusa (with a flushed face) asked you out while you were ranting about how you were going to outrank him in the next semester as well. you were so shocked it took you too long to answer and he stomped away annoyed (you ran after him and held his hand which made both of you blush— you guys did go on a date the following day).
once you made things official, you both have agreed to keep it a secret (mostly cause you didn’t know how to tell everybody, sakusa didn’t really care, but you do, so he cares by default). none of your friends know about your romantic relationship with your academic rival who you swore you hate so much. not even your childhood best friends, kenma and kuroo, knew. for kiyoomi, motoya didn’t know (but sakusa knows motoya has his suspicions).
you talk about sakusa all the time in your priv (which is an acc just for you, but ever since dating him you’ve let his account in).
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the following day, sakusa was more aware of his surroundings— and glared at poor yuu a lot who didn’t know what he did to upset sakusa.
it took you a while to notice but when you eventually do, you laughed so hard your friends thought you were crazy. later on at lunch you coddle sakusa (and tease him also) but your laughs were contagious and he gave in after a while and even let out a small smile.
that small smile diminishes later on in the next period where you guys end up arguing— which was normal, what wasn’t normal was when “yuu” raised his hand and sided with sakusa’s point. which made sakusa mad, because why the hell would anyone disprove your point? you made sense! sure he was arguing with you too, but he wasn’t saying you were wrong, he’s just saying there’s more to it than that. (he’s the how-dare-you-disagree-with-my-gf boyfriend)
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unlike our [name], sakusa has surprisingly healthy study habits despite juggling volleyball and academics.
[name] does indeed do better in the exams, with a point difference but still.
they go on a movie date after! motoya was looking for kiyoomi everywhere.
[name] accidentally sees kuroo and kenma in the mall when their date was about to end. they saw a glimpse of sakusa and thus, confirmed, [name] really wasn’t delusional.
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kenma was following [name]’s phone in life360 and stumbled upon her sweetly feeding sakusa kiyoomi— the same person she’s been ranting about for years— while kissing his cheek. it grossed him out but not enough to not take a picture.
motoya signed kiyoomi up for the date auction for fun (kiyo currently has the most biddings).
you irritatedly dug out your wallet and tossed your bag to kiyoomi’s lap and ran.
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a/n — apologies for zero nonsense updates i needed to get this out of my system!! (and a lot happened, one being i fINALLY finished jhs hello 3 weeks of freedom before i go back to school)
general taglist + @renardiererin @giyuus0nlywife @luvrsthrist @cherries4denki @cloud-lyy @misscaller06 @noideawhothatis @wolffmaiden @rivaiken @wooasecret @weird0o0 @eclecticlandmughoagie @gokm1023 @bitchotine @nicerthanu @sukunasrealgf @ris-krispie
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otakubimbo · 10 months ago
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Fake Love, Fake Rage
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Pairing: Miguel O'Hara x f!Reader
Contents: Yelling. Anger. Cussing. Mentions of fake dating. Angst. Mean Miguel. Miguel who can't talk about his feelings. Harassment. Unresolved argument.
You didn't think your life would turn out like this. What's the problem with a little white lie anyways? Miguel had a huge problem with that little lie.
Sticky Note: This is part 1 of 2, there will be a happy ending but let's get some angst in the meantime <3. Not proof read, if I missed any content warnings let me know. K. Thanks. Mwah.
Masterlist
Nothing could have prepared Miguel for the words that were going to come out of Jessica’s mouth that afternoon.
“So, you finally confessed to her, huh? About time.” Jessica says as she drops a stack of reports on his desk. He immediately looks up with an irritated confused grunt.
“What are you talking about?” He questions picking up the papers she just put down, turning his attention to that instead of her.
“You and Y/N are finally dating. It’s the word around the society.” She huffs, a smile painted on her face as Miguel's head snaps up and he stares at her wide-eyed.
“Que carajo? We are not dating. Who the hell is saying that?” He questions, eyes glowing red as his face heats up at the thought. Well yes, the two of you were close, as close as someone could be to Miguel, but dating? No, absolutely not. Of course, he’s thought about it. You had a genius that rivaled his own, you were beautiful, talented, competent, serious but funny. Miguel shook his head at the thoughts.
“Everyone’s saying that she said it. That’s why I thought you finally confessed your feelings for her.” Jessica shrugged casually, mildly amused at this.
“I do not have feelings for her.” He grumbles standing up from his desk to find you and ‘fix this’. Both Jessica and Lyla exchange looks at each other as he storms out of his own lab to yours, the one he personally built for you because he doesn’t have feelings for you. He absolutely has feelings for you.
As he makes his way to your lab, he can hear all the whispers of people about the two of you dating. Mostly people are shocked but can see it with the amount of time the two of you spend together and the things he does for you. There are some whispers about how you’re obviously too good for him and how he could ever convince you to date him with his personality. But he already knew that he already knew that you were too good for him. All of this just made him angrier as he neared your lab. You could feel him before you saw him, without the need for your spidey senses.
“Yes O’Hara?” You question, not even looking up from your task of working on a watch as Miles holds a light for you and Hobie is handing you tools. You, of course, could do these tasks by yourself but you enjoyed their company.
“Why the hell are you going around telling people we are dating?!” He barks at you; you still don’t lift your head from your work.
“Tone, O’Hara.” Is your response that makes his nostrils flair. He takes a deep breath; he knows your stubbornness will not allow you to communicate with him if he’s yelling at you. You made that very clear in the early stages of your ‘friendship’.  Miles looks back and forth between you and Miguel while Hobie looks amused as usual. You had already told Hobie the incident that brought upon Miguel being in your office right now and he told you Miguel would be pissed.
“Why are you lying to people saying we are dating?” He asked in a calmer tone which surprised Miles, he’s never heard him speak so calmly but of course, this was usually reserved for spaces when it was just the two of you.
“Ben Riley wouldn’t take no for an answer, so instead of making him lose his teeth I told him we were dating.” You say nonchalantly still not looking at him.
“So, are yall dating?” Miles quietly asks more to you than to Miguel.
“We are not. Now hold still so I can finish these modifications.” You respond shifting his hand back in place.
“You would be lucky mate to even fake date her. She is one of the most fit spider women around.” Hobie jokes which just makes you roll your eyes.
“Everyone out!” Miguel growls at Hobie and Miles, now you finally lift your head to scowl at him.
“This is MY lab, O’Hara. You can’t just command them out during the middle of my work.” You huff, eyes narrowed at him. You and Miguel glare at each other.
“Ooof” Hobie huffs as he stands up from the desk behind you, putting your tools back. “Let’s leave the lovers to quarrel alone, mate.”
Miles nervously puts your light down while Miguel glares at them as they leave the two of you alone. The two of them didn’t even get out of earshot before you started yelling at Miguel.
“You think we should of just left?” Miles asks, worried about you.
“Oi, yeah absolutely nothing worse than getting in-between a couple's fight.” Hobie says as he casually puts his hands in his pockets.
“But she said they weren’t dating.” Miles looks confused.
“Yet”
At this point, you were truly heated at what his problem was. He could simply just deny that you two were a couple, there was no need to storm into your lab when you were in the middle of working.
“Miguel, I’m seriously too busy to do this right now. If you want me to be able to go on any missions, I need to work on this.” You gesture at your exposed watch on your desk.
“You’re the one who’s going around telling everyone we are dating because you can’t just reject someone.” He snaps back, towering over you. You roll your eyes deciding to just ignore him and get back to your watch.
“I told you; he wouldn’t take no for an answer, and you’ve been clear about spider-on-spider violence.” You respond with a roll of your eyes, whispering how he’s a hypocrite for the whole Miles situation. Miguel aggressively rakes his fingers through his hair, eyes going a light red annoyed with your instance that you weren’t in the wrong.
“And now, I’ll be getting back to work.” You say now having to adjust your stuff since your help was told to get out.
“You do realize what people are saying right?!” He grunts as his hand slams on your workstation.
“If it’s really that bad for people to think we are dating then just simply tell everyone we aren’t. I really don’t care that much truthfully; I just said the first thing that came to mind.” You don’t even acknowledge his tantrum anymore, tools in hand going back to your watch.
“Seriously?” He asked, his tone is different than before, it sounded saddened? That makes you look up at him, and really look at him. His brows were furrowed, and his teeth were clenched but there was something in his eyes that you couldn’t understand.
“What’s actually wrong, Mig?” Your voice was soft, gentle, the voice you only used when he was in one of his moods which seems like right now.  Your eyes gazed upon him in worry and concern for him. He hated that. He hated seeing everything fade from around you, that all he could see was you. Your lips pressed together, plump and soft, your eyes shining at him as if he was the only important thing right then, the nickname you gave him falling off your lips making his pulse pick up. He almost let himself get caught in that until the voices of the other spiders played in his head, what Hobbie said played in his head, he was no where close good enough for you, he would never be. You deserve something better than the monster that he is. He breathes out curses in Spanish as he grows more frustrated with everything, mainly himself.
“Mig, you know I haven’t taken those Spanish classes yet. What is going on?” You ask even more gently than the last time, you could tell it was more than you pretending to date him. There was something else, something he wasn’t telling you.  “Talk to me, you know you always can.” You say when you don’t get a response from him.
You reach out to touch him, like you always do when he gets too into his own head.  He pulls back quickly, scowling at you.
“Have you ever thought about keeping me out of your shocking business? This stupid fake dating shit. And of course, people believe it because you’re always forcing yourself around me. I don’t want to be in any of your stupid drama, for shocks sake. Leave me out of your shit. Have you ever thought that shit was annoying? Because it is, it’s annoying and pointless. You’re here to do your job and that’s shocking it. ”  He spits at you and your eyes go wide.
 He’s never spoken to you like this before. Yeah, he had a temper and could even get frustrated with you but you thought maybe it was different between the two of you. The conversations you’ve had, all the time you’ve spent with just the two of you. You thought you were at the very least friends.  You could feel your eyes starting to burn, but you refused to cry, especially in front of him.  You grab your deconstructed watch and all your things in grabbing distance.
“Fuck you, Miguel” you say as you shove your way past him. He fucked up, he knew he did so he let you walk off. Hoping you could calm down enough to let him speak to you again, but he didn’t know when that would be. He saw the tears starting to form in your eyes when you pushed past him, he heard the crack in your voice, but he said nothing to stop you. No apology, no explanation, nothing.
When you left your lab, you went directly to Spider Byte, your watch wasn’t working currently since you took it apart and you just wanted to go home. You hadn’t started crying yet but she could see something was wrong when you walked up to her.
“Hey Margo, my watch is kind of out of commission right now. Can you get me home?” You ask breathy, your chest tight in an effort to keep your composure.
“Of course, girl but are you good?” she asks, concern written all over her face. You wave her off dismissively.
“Yeah, I just got some stuff to take care of at home. I’m good. I’m good.” You say through your gritted teeth, hoping she would drop it and she does, going into start to bring up your home universe.
“So, you and Miguel?” She questions, an eye looking up at you hoping this wasn’t your problem.
You take in a deep breath, “There’s definitely no me and Miguel, absolutely not. That was just a lie I came up with to get Riley off my case ya know.” You respond trying to keep your voice steady and reassuring.
“Yeah, yeah I get ya.” She replies, dropping that topic also as she pulls up a portal to your universe. “Thanks, Margo, I’ll catch you later.” You say stepping into the portable before she could even reply. And that was the last time anyone had seen you.
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luna-rainbow · 1 year ago
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Rewatched CATWS on my unexpected day off. I guess I've watched it enough that I am noticing things more in the background XD
I'm noticing more details about CEvans' acting this time around. Steve seems to have this sense of...brittleness, and maybe a little anger, during the first half of the film. The smiles seem just a little forced and his interactions a little distant, until he figures out Hydra was there the whole time and suddenly he's got direction.
The circumstances around Fury's "death" caught my eye. After Fury was shot, Sharon busts in the door and introduces herself as Agent 13 sent to "protect" Steve on Fury's orders. This is...an interesting assertion, given that Steve is shown to be incredibly capable, not just physically but also intellectually, to protect himself, and Sharon isn't shown to give Steve the emotional safety that he was craving in the beginning of the movie, nor was she ever demonstrated to be physically competent enough to protect Steve (unlike, say, Nat). It would seem - and that does seem to be Steve's belief too based on his response - that she was sent to watch him, not to protect him. I still think there’s enough in canon to make Sharon either good or bad right from the start.
Anyway, then this exchange happens:
Sharon (on radio): Foxtrot is down, I need EMTs. Person on other end: Do we have a 20 on the shooter? Steve: Tell him I'm in pursuit.
How did the other person know there was a shooter? Was it someone who was listening in to the bugged apartment, or did Sharon have time to tell them before going into Steve's apartment, or did they know because they were part of the team that sent the sniper?
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I feel like I've mentioned this before (I can't remember half the things I write so anyway, here it is again) but I feel like Steve's response here suggests that he's already starting to clue in on who the Soldier might be. When he's chasing the shadow across the roof, his expression was furious, urgent and determined -- but that all changed when the Soldier caught the shield (picture 1) and made meaningful eye contact tossed it back (picture 2). Steve just looks...surprised and uncertain and, shall we say, a little vulnerable?
Also I didn’t notice this before, but the Strike team were there to watch Fury’s operation as well, so no wonder Fury had to go the whole way including fooling Nat and Steve.
Right before the infamous elevator fight starts, Rumlow gets in the elevator and they have this exchange:
Rumlow: Evidence team found some fibres on the roof they want us to see, you want me to get the tac team ready? Steve: No, let's wait and see what it is first.
Obviously during this time Steve is also very distracted by what Fury has told him and what Pierce has tried to entice him with, so it could just be Steve trying to shelve that thought for later -- but he was also very interested in what Nat could tell him about the Winter Soldier (she used that information to stop him being angry at her), so I wonder if it's a little bit of a cover tactic as well, i.e. he didn't trust the Strike team and didn't want them to get close to this mystery assassin's identity.
I remember there was a meta about how well CATWS established competency, and I just love watching that all over again. Not just for Steve and Nat obviously, but even for the Strike team — they are shown to be incredibly capable and in sync during the Lumerian Star sequence, which is why the stakes of the movie felt so real.
Steve donning the last uniform Bucky saw before he fell off the train is an underrated romantic trope 😂
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depressedbloggerwrites · 5 months ago
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i feel like writing an essay on why jeffannie is a horrible ship
disclaimer before i rant: you are completely entitled to your opinion on whatever ships you prefer! this is just what i think :)
i'm going to begin with the most obvious problem with jeffannie: the age difference. at the start of the show, she's eighteen (a TEENAGER, guys) and he's in his thirties. they are at vastly different stages of life. he has way more life experience than her.
even if we ignore that, they just make no sense together. they already have that father/daughter dynamic, and the chemistry community reddit is constantly on about is nowhere to be found. all the kiss scenes felt forced (maybe not debate 109, but i'll talk about that later). also, jeff having two awesome women competing for his love, and then going after the teenager with a boyfriend...interesting.
i don't think jeff is necessarily predatory; he is very clearly not exclusively attracted to girls as young as annie, but that doesn't mean his attraction to her isn't at least slightly iffy.
i saw someone say annie and jeff, a recovering addict and someone who currently has an addiction, would not have a very healthy relationship in the long run, and i agree. as the original poster said, annie worked so hard to put her addiction behind her, and being with jeff wouldn't be good for her.
also, whoever made that tumblr post saying every jeffannie episode would work better with jeffbritta or abedison was 100% right, which is why i'm going to discuss the problems with each jeffannie episode.
jeffannie began in debate 109, when annie and jeff had to argue the point that man is inherently evil on the greendale debate team, and the debate ends in a scene where the leader of city college's team launches himself out of his wheelchair; jeff instinctively catches him, and the leader uses this to support the point that man is good. annie proceeds to grab jeff and kiss him, which makes him drop city college's leader, which wins them the debate, because 'he dropped him because he was horny!'
god.
obviously, you can see why that made me uncomfortable to watch, but i guess you could look past it in the comedy and chaos of it all. anyway, jeffbritta would have made that episode so much better. britta would definitely be on the debate team, and since she and jeff actually had a normal age gap, which would make everything far less creepy.
next, let's talk about the worst thing in the world:
pascal's triangle revisited.
actually, the episode was fine. i enjoyed it. but that kiss at the end makes me so angry. jeff, you have these two beautiful women who you have been pursuing this whole season, and you go and kiss the teenage girl. THE TEENAGE GIRL. jesus fucking christ. and she had a boyfriend too. you know what would have worked? abed convincing annie not to transfer instead. infinitely better chemistry, and an abedison kiss that actually impacted the plot would have changed my life.
the conspiracy episode was excellent, but jeffbritta would have made it perfect. i don't think it expanded on anything problematic jeffannie-wise though, so that's a win.
and then you have intro to political science. i haven't really seen anyone talk about this, and it's once again not a bad episode, but i really think the writers just didn't want britta to have a storyline that actually developed her character, because she would have devoured in annie's place during this episode. jeff's dynamic with her is already perfect, and it would make so much more sense for them to run against each other, as opposed to jeff and annie.
all those alternate timeline jeffannie scenes in remedial chaos theory already sucked, but i didn't care too much because i knew they weren't going to push it into anything too serious, but then you had annie tell jeff he reminded her of her father mid-makeout and it's just...wow. so the creators knew they had this very obvious father-daughter like relationship, were fully aware of it, and still forced the ship. cool.
now, don't kill me for this, but i'm one of those people who actually genuinely, really liked season 4. and one reason why i liked it was because the one major jeffannie scene they had was the imaginary alternate timeline one, which acknowledged that jeffannie would not be good together, and was hilarious. so thank you season 4, they can never make me hate you <3
introduction to teaching was also great because there was a plotline centered around jeff and annie that never tried to force any sort of awkward romantic chemistry (at least that's how i remember it), which seems impossible in community. honestly, this episode just proved that platonic jeffannie is superior to romantic jeffannie.
but that period of bliss where there was no romantic jeffannie didn't last long, because then you have g.i. jeff.
i love g.i. jeff. it's one of my favorite episodes, and was phenomenal for jeff's character. there was just one line, where animated coma dream jeff tells animated coma dream annie, 'look at the rack i gave you.' that was just kind of gross and didn't sit right, especially since a major plot point of this episode was jeff turning 40 and having a crisis. annie was *checks notes* 23-24 during this episode. the age gap is still very concerning here, and was made worse because of the fact that it really highlights how jeff is aging.
and then season 6 got so close to leaving jeffannie behind, forever, and then they had to ruin it with the series finale. i'm just saying, we couldn't have a platonic jeffannie goodbye like we got with jabed (speaking of which, the jabed goodbye arguably hurt more than the jeffannie one)?
anyway, i am desperately hoping we get jeffbritta/abedison (or trobed!) in the community movie, even though i know that's probably not going to happen, i do not like jeffannie at all, and thank you for reading my explosion of angry thoughts!
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leggerefiore · 4 months ago
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Can't Stop Feeling
cw: not overly romantic, Archer pov, tension, implied manipulation
pairing: Archer/Reader
You were a thorn in his side. Obnoxious. Over-confident. Ornery. The Rocket Executive ground his teeth every time you dared show your face near whatever project he was currently heading — Often truly there to go after his boss. As if he would let that happen. Archer wanted to scoff. You clearly thought yourself some little hero. Saving pokemon and innocents from the evil of Team Rocket. He despised you. Your presence was enough to make him break his carefully trained facade.
He had enough.
This time — He needed to stop you. You had done enough damage to their reputation. Grunts were beginning to question the strength of the executives… Not to mention even daring to think that Giovanni was not the competent leader that Archer knew that he was. It was maddening. How could one person so flawlessly cause this many problems? Sure, there had been others before you, but they had all eventually been overwhelmed. Archer hated to admit it, but he understood why his boss was so adamant about offering you a place high in their ranks. If you could join them, everything would certainly be a lot more manageable.
As it stood, however, that was not the case. You rejected it outright, saying that you had no interest in being around scum. Archer had almost snapped at you for being so callous. Scum… You viewed Team Rocket as scum. He could not say that he did not view you so differently. If the day would come where you suddenly vanished, he certainly would not have shed a tear or spared a single thought outside of relief. He moved to block your path as you approached the Silph Co. President's office. A business meeting was happening, and he was going to make sure that it was successful.
This failing… He grimaced. It would simply not fail. Your prowess mattered not. Your cocky grin. He narrowed his eyes. Who did you think you were, truly? You spoke his name, a familiarity that he had wished that he had never so foolishly granted to you. Why did you think you were someone worthy of being familiar with him? He pulled out his pokeball, readying himself for yet another battle against you. The grunt at his side looked terribly nervous, as he seemed far more intense than usual.
The following defeat made her scatter, rushing away from the defeated admin. Archer grimaced. He waited for you to walk past him, but you seemed to linger before him for a moment. Your eyes started into his. He felt as if he saw something strange in your eyes. They glimmered with some emotion that he failed to quite pinpoint. You smiled at him this time — not so much cocky anymore.
“You're a guard dog, huh?”
The simple sentence set off something in his mind. Harsh offence crashed in his brain, yet… He could not deny it. Someone had to stand to protect Giovanni. He would gladly do it. Now, you were actively trying to get under his skin. Why? You have already proven yourself stronger than him.
“What of it?” was his reply. Little emotion was present in his tone, attempting to convey a sense of disinterest. You grinned again.
“It's a shame you devote yourself to this,” you remarked to him, “I like you a lot.”
Archer could not stop his eyes from shooting wide at your words. His lips parted as he attempted to process what you had just said. The first part was expected, but the latter shocked him to his core. You liked him? How? What horrible sense of showing your feelings did you have? You had made yourself a problem in his life, and now you were declaring that you liked him. This was definitely an attempt by you to get under his skin. But… In it… There was an opportunity to buy time. You were not rushing into the office to stop the meeting. No, you were stood before him, waiting for a reply to your confession.
“… I could say the same to you,” Archer's words were careful. If you were not messing with him… These feelings. He would not put himself above such matters. “Why oppose us? What do you gain? If you truly like me, you are only getting on my bad side.” You blinked, eyes filled with a strange feeling once again.
“Am I really?” you asked with a far too innocent inflexion, as if you were completely unaware of what was happening.
“Absolutely,” he let his true feelings bleed out, “You do nothing but cause me more work and embarrass me in front of my subordinates.” For a moment, you were contemplative of his words. He blinked. Were you being genuine when you said that you liked him? His heart raced for some odd reason. He had many confessions by those under him and even from normal people in his day to day. This was nothing new to him.
“… You could do better than this,” you shook your head. Archer scoffed. What did you know about him? This was his better. Giovanni had given him this place. He would be a fool to turn around and reject it. You watched his reaction. “… Why?”
“You couldn't understand,” his tone was more defensive, “I could ask you why won't join us? Your talent is wasted as it stands, in my perspective.” Your face twisted.
“Team Rocket is horrible, and they hurt people—”
Archer cut you off, “And I'm a member of Team Rocket. Do you think I'd care if you started crying or screaming at me?”
You took a step back with big eyes. Then, you rushed past him into the office.
Archer prepared himself for the headache that would follow this.
Yet…
Something inside of him felt happy that he finally returned the way you made him feel.
~
Three years had passed since then.
Archer stared out at the sprawling city below underneath the radio tower from its observation deck. He reflected back on that day. Something followed it. You still ruined Team Rocket, forcing Giovanni's hand into going into hiding as he felt he no longer could hold the respect of his subordinates. The dismantling left the blue-haired man in quite a stir, naturally. Especially when you appeared in the abandoned Celadon hideout. He had glared at you and was about to force you into a battle, but you asked him a question that he never expected to hear from you.
“Is it too late to take that offer?”
He closed his eyes. Had it been? The group had been disbanded. He had again wanted to put you through a piece of the torment you had put him through. But… His plans. Ones that he carefully made from the very moment he considered that Team Rocket might fall… Naturally, he did not deny you. Someone latching onto his arm brought his mind back to the present. The radio was broadcasting its call for Giovanni to return and reclaim his place as the leader of Team Rocket. Everything had gone smoothly. He supposed that he had led the group well enough… Of course, he dared not to take all the credit. It was a group effort, after all.
His hand found your hair, and he gently brushed a few stray strands from your face. You gazed out at the city, too.
“… Are my talents still going to waste?” you jeered at him. He chuckled.
“Of course not,” Archer replied with a certain level of seriousness, “It was thanks to you that we made it so far. I would be a fool not to acknowledge how precious you are to the team.” You let out a contented sigh.
“... I just hope you finally take some time off when Giovanni is back…” you mumbled quietly. He closed his eyes again.
“I haven't forgotten our anniversary,” he ticked his tongue, knowing just what you were referring to, “I do love you, you know.”
You smiled at him, shifting your Rocket uniform to straighten out where it had wrinkled. “I know,” you kissed his cheek, “I love you, too.”
He knew you did. His arm came around your waist and pulled you to his side. You happily leaned into his touch.
Your sporadic confession had truly been nothing but beneficial to him in the end.
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haliteatiger · 2 years ago
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This my "Tav", Silence. I'm still sorta working out her background details, but for now it's safe to say she's had it pretty rough.
Check below the cut for a lot of rambling and pointless, self-indulgent headcanons.
Her name comes from the fact that she didn't speak for the first few years of her life, instead learning to play the violin and communicating through her art. Someone started calling her "Little Silence" and it just sort of stuck. She didn't know her parents, but was adopted by a noble who saw her as a unique "pet" given her unusual appearance - even for a tiefling - and her musical and artistic talents.
Unfortunately, the guy was bad with money, and ended up gambling away a good portion of whatever Silence earned, in the end becoming desperate enough to try and auction off her virginity when she came of age. Silence, obviously, was not going to stand for this, and managed to escape - possibly killing the man who bought her in the process, she wasn't sure and frankly doesn't care.
With only her violin and a precious few belongings in tow, Silence made her way to Baldur's Gate and was eventually found by a gang of performers and thieves (that I have yet to come up with a name for) where she learned ways on how to survive on the streets and defend herself with her art. Now in her late 20s, and poised to set out on her own due to some complications within her social circle, she was taken aboard the Nautiloid.
There are two sides to Silence - one is kind of quiet, observant, and sensitive. She has a way of simply blending into the background if she doesn't want to be observed (she's good at Stealthing, I guess), and the other is her more or less "bard persona", which is outgoing and charismatic. Contrary to her name, Silence can be quite talkative when the mood strikes her. It's usually when she becomes angry, flustered, or anxious where she seems to forget words entirely and has a hard time articulating herself, which has led into some dramatic situations when she lashes out more physically.
Overall, she's easygoing, and tries very hard not to let her emotions get in the way of her making decisions, and so often comes off as more pragmatic than anything. She's also pretty accepting of those around her even if she is, in actuality, slow to trust. I guess you could say she's highly manipulative as a defence mechanism. So it's not that she lies to people, per se, but she can come off as liking someone more than she does if only to deflect harm from herself. She is not a people-pleaser, however, and has very defined boundaries in terms of how far she's willing to concede to someone, especially a stranger. She's excellent at reading people (most of the time), acts more confident than she seems, knows a little about a lot of topics, and is always eager to learn more. She can be impulsive and rude without meaning to, and has something of a sarcastic and dry sense of humor that always seems almost prepared in advance whenever she snaps back at someone. Her charisma and wit often seem to leave others with the mistaken impression that she knows what she's doing in any given situation, and thus has often been beset with expectations she's sure she's more often than not fallen short of. Somehow, people just seem to think she's the most competent one in the room because she talks a good talk. Due to her dual upbringing, she is capable of blending in with high society as well as she does low. Silence will generally act within her own best interests or those of her friends, but it doesn't really take much to persuade her to do the right thing.
A good example would be when she and the gang arrive at the druid hold and is asked to help the tieflings. Initially she denies getting involved until mocked by Astarion for "turning her back on the needy", at which point, just to annoy him, agrees to help. (Although, when pressed she admits she mostly did it because she realized they needed some things in the area anyway and helping them could be beneficial to their cause). She can have kind of an impish sense of humor and while she doesn't like to see others get hurt, probably does take more pleasure in watching her enemies die writhing in agony than she'd care to admit.
Random fun fact: Silence is a feral tiefling, and her tail is supposed to be reminiscent of a heraldic unicorn's or lion's tail. She often carries it with a curl or S shape as she has a somewhat chronic fear of it being stepped on or pulled. She also has cat-like eyes (that I've had to mod in, but really wish Larian would include them naturally in the game because why not??? Same with more variations in tails...)
Other fun fact is that Silence has a Secret Power in which she's capable of using her tadpole to influence those around her when she plays a song infused with a particular strong emotion. Unfortunately, she cannot replicate the song later, at least not in the same way or with the same impact as when she played it. This generally acts like an empathic attack on those who can see and hear her, impressing upon them the emotion she's attempting to convey through song which can manifest in the audience's minds as how she imagines it - so a full orchestra if that's what she's hearing in her head. As one can imagine, the situations in which this is actually useful are few and far between, as it would require the proper conditions and emotional preparation for it to be effective, although I like to imagine she has used it a few times on a smaller scale to calm tensions in the group when camping some nights.
Relationships with the other NPCs:
Lae'zel - Admires her strength, but is suspicious of her motivations mostly because she seems more than capable of finding this creche by herself, but instead wants to drag the rest of them along with her. Either she's hiding an altruistic side to her or something else is going on. Silence tolerates Lae'zel's nasty attitude, but also can't help but find her and her people's culture fascinating. She often tries to overlook the Gith's biting tongue in order to inquire more about it. It's a mystery to Silence what Lae'zel truly thinks of her, but it's probably nothing good (even if she seems to get bonus points every time she shows an interest in her people.) About the only time she gets anything resembling a compliment from her is when she agrees with her about the use of their tadpole or if she does something worth being commended for in battle. Otherwise, Lae'zel doesn't seem to be terribly fond of Silence's violin playing as the high-pitched tones seem to bother her.
Gale - Gale and her get along famously, and, next to Wyll, finds him probably one of the easiest to talk to in the group. They both share a great interest in magic and, at times, a similar sense of humor (which is to say she's about as bad at puns as he is). They're both well-travelled and well-educated, and if she doesn't know or understand something magic-related, she's quick to ask Gale for guidance, and enjoys seeing him in his element. Gale seems fond of her wit, open-mindedness, and appreciation and interest she takes in the world around her and those that live in it. She seems to have a genuine interest and appreciation for everyone in the group and admires her dedication to watching their backs, even if it's obvious she doesn't entirely trust any of them. He likes that she seems to know a surprising amount about wizardry despite not being one herself - at least enough to ask advanced questions about things that he might consider to be outside the interest of most bards, as well as the fact that she isn't easily fazed by things that would turn most people's stomachs or make them balk in disbelief. As could be evidenced by her rather extensive anatomy studies on the bodies of their fallen enemies ("It's free art references!")
Admittedly, Silence was a bit shocked and uncomfortable to learn about Gale's history and his need to consume magic artifacts, but as he seems sincere in his efforts to keep it under control, chooses not to worry about it and does what she can to support him, which he greatly appreciates. There's still that little nagging voice in the back of her mind, however, even if he's friendly enough to get her to forget that at times. She has to remind herself on occasion that she doesn't really know him.
Shadowheart - Shadowheart and her also get along very well, even if they're both somewhat guarded around each other still, and Shadowheart, when not in the right mood, can be very difficult to talk to just in general. But, it's Silence who is first to lower her defenses, and speak to the Shar acolyte candidly. Silence finds the two of them have a lot in common in terms of how they approach most situations - pragmatic but always erring to self-preservation or that of the group's. Shadowheart seems to appreciate Silence's amicability, willingness to compromise, and respects that, even though she is friendly, she isn't naive about it. It also helps that Silence doesn't seem to have a problem with her being a worshipper of Shar and respects her desire for privacy even without being prompted. Silence appreciates how much of a team player Shadowheart really is, with her main interests usually centring around maintaining the group and essentially keeping everyone content enough not to turn on one another.
Astarion - Even though she enjoys picking on him from time to time, it's almost always in a way that he can also appreciate. She finds it more fun when the other person is in on the joke as well. This can and does include flirting, but thus far, she's made it pretty clear that she perceives it as simply something to laugh about (even if he might be absolutely serious about it). Unfortunately, at least initially, she also finds Astarion to be one of the hardest to read among the group, and picking on him isn't something she started doing until she knew where his boundaries lay. Up until then, she approached him delicately, allowing him to lead the conversations and learning what she could along the way, which, fortunately, he seems more than happy to do. As a result, he takes her quite a bit longer to translate than the rest, and doesn't feel entirely comfortable around him for a long time to come, really only engaging with him whenever he wishes to engage with her. As a result, the vampire tends to find Silence the most comfortable and trustworthy one of the group even if she seems careful enough not to let him get too close. He's likely the first to notice how little Silence voluntarily shares about herself, often distracting the others with reassurances, compliments, and asking questions she thinks they would enjoy answering.
Despite this he appreciates that she's easygoing and down-to-earth, while still having a good sense of humor and seems to know when to take something seriously, and, while at times seemingly easily impressed with the world around her (like he's one to talk), also seems to accept it for what it is and adapts accordingly.
In actuality, Astarion has about as much trouble reading her as she does him, as he's found it impossible to tell if she's genuine in her compliments and expressing interest in others around her. She certainly seems to have a gift for getting people to trust her. She's good at taking control of conversations and deflecting away from topics she doesn't want to talk about in the least offensive way possible, and he's made the mistake of reading her sincerity as naivety. She intrigues him as almost every time he thinks he has her figured out, she does or says something unexpected, or contrary to what he would assume about her, and he's not even sure if she's doing it on purpose. It's possibly a matter of them being out of step with one another, being of differing natures, even if he gets on better with her than he has anyone else in recent memory (insofar as we know about his story at least).
About the only things that get on his nerves at times is that she's maybe a little too soft, and a little too cautious and prone to overthinking than is good for her, mostly because it ends up involving dragging them into doing something boring or "unproductive" (not to their overall benefit). Never mind that she's encouraged him to wait in camp or go on without them if he has a problem with their decisions. It also bugs him that, even if she sees the merit in using the tadpoles, she's on board with the others that it isn't safe to do so until they know exactly what it is they're dealing with. Rather by accident, it would seem, Astarion finds himself liking her more than he realizes, especially after his condition comes to light and, lo and behold, she's not only okay with it, she wants to know everything about it and how they can use it to their benefit, even if she doesn't seem to be too terribly keen on being fed off of, as long as he can sate himself with bandits and ne'er-do-wells, she's off the hook insofar as she's concerned... for now, and has basically told him that she's his "emergency supply" if circumstances require it.
Despite all this, Silence is still vigilant, and while she trusts him with certain things, doesn't trust him completely, and knows full well the lengths to which his type is willing to go to cover their attempts at taking advantage of a situation.
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shewholovestoread · 10 months ago
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Story of Kunning Palace - Jiang Xue Ning - Part 1
There was something I wanted to touch upon about Jiang Xue Ning (Xue Ning) specifically the part about the first life.
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All we know about the first life and her actions therein are largely from Xue Ning's perspective. Since we're limited because of this perspective, it is also hard to judge just how "evil" she was. She certainly judges herself very harshly but let's dig a little deeper. For the purpose of clarity, I'm going to break this up into a few key points that I think would illustrate what I'm trying to say, the post is split into 2 parts:
PART 1 1) Early Life 2) Desire for power and control. 3) Ning's desire to be loved.
PART 2 4) Alliances in first life and her influence in 2nd life 5) Ning's Personality 6) Conclusion
EARLY LIFE:
Wanniang, Xue Ning's father's concubine, switched her own daughter with Xue Ning, partly out of spite because she was being thrown out and partly because she wanted her own biological daughter to have a good life (a massive fuck-you to the Jiang family)
On her deathbed, Wanniang confesses to Xue Ning about what she did and that she has informed the family as well. Once, Ning's back home, she's faced with a family that she knows nothing about. Her father, in her first life, was largely indifferent towards her, her mother was outright hostile (she remained the same for a large portion of the 2nd life as well) and finally there was Xue Hui, the usurper. Her entire life, up until that moment had been a massive lie and one that had absolutely nothing to do with her, she was just unfortunate to get caught in the crossfire.
If we look at things from Ning's perspective, she was raised by Wanniang and thinks that Wanniang didn't really care about her, she talks about her insecurity both in the novel and show, when she says that Wanniang would sometimes look at her as if trying to see someone else in her face, or that she'd suddenly pull away from Ning. It was only later that Ning realised why that was.
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At home, she always felt like an interloper. She knew that when her mother looked at her, she saw Wanniang and would not let go of that prejudice. Her father had no influence at home (he's repeatedly told that he should leave the home front to the wife) and the sister, who is so damn virtuous that there's no way that Ning could compete with her.
Her ambition then, to become the empress, makes complete sense, it stems from wanting power and control over her life.
DESIRE FOR POWER AND CONTROL:
This is tied to her early life where she felt that she had no control. It is easy to see why she would want to be the empress because the only person more powerful than her would be the emperor. But never again would she be left unable take the reins in her life. I'm going to go in deeper into how she did that in another section.
Her pursuit for power and control stems from her perceived lack of either in her life. She felt like she didn’t have any agency, all of the things that had happened were due to other people and the decisions they made, no one considered Ning’s feelings or what she might want to do.
That she pursues Shen Lang is for 2 reasons, his older brother is sickly and sooner or later, it would be Shen Lang on the throne. The 2nd is that she sees it as balancing the scales. Since Xue Hui took everything that was meant to be hers, she would take Shen Lang, it's that simple. It's fortunate that Shen Lang is a decent man and while Ning was never in love with him, she did care about him.
DESIRE FOR LOVE:
Ning herself would beat up anyone who dared to say that she was driven by her desire for love. Now, some might be thinking that in that case, why did she rebuff Yan Lin who so clearly liked her? That's partly tied to her desire for power and control. She's so incredibly haunted by what her life was like, everything that was taken from her and feeling unwanted by her own family.
She knows that love doesn't mean a damned thing if she's still powerless and ultimately her need for power overshadows any tender feelings she might harbour for Yan Lin. She feels used by the people who should have been looking out for her. Ning thought that Wanniang didn't love her and she could probably deal with that if she got along with her 'birth' family but she instead found herself alienated from them as well. I imagine she felt that there since there was no one in her corner, no one to protect her, she would have to do that herself but that also came from a place of hurt and disappointment. Her attitude towards and treatment of the people in her first life reflects her vindictiveness, she's going to use them to get what she wants.
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Ning's actions in the first life are largely driven by her hurt and the all the trauma she's experienced. Imagine coming home to your "family" and realising that you're the outsider. Her desire for power and love are so deeply intertwined that I doubt that Ning herself could differentiate between them. She’s been hurt by people who should have cared about her, accepted her, and she will be damned before she lets anyone else do that again. It never occurs to her that there are people who could genuinely care about her and moreover she doesn't let herself consider that they might care.
It is only once she comes back that she has more information and context and she spends more time with people like Xie Wei, Shen Zhi Yi, Yan Lin, etc that she realizes that maybe she was wrong. Time and distance allow her to see people more clearly now that her judgement is not clouded by her prejudice, by her hurt. It's why she realizes that Shen Zhi Yi is very clearly in love with her (that's just not up for debate) and even at the end of the first life, when Xie Wei gave her the knife, maybe he did want her to have something to defend herself with. Xie Wei had to know what Yan Lin was doing every night but being an ally, he probably didn't want to alienate him, so instead gave Ning the dagger to protect herself with.
In keeping people at an arm’s length lest they hurt her, Ning doesn’t realise that she’s also closed herself to people who might genuinely care for her and I think she does realise that. It’s just that she figures that it’s a fair trade, she’s convinced that love and regard won’t last in the long run but shared interests will (hence her relationship with Zhou Yinzhi) but she only had to look at You Fangyin to know that people do have the ability to surprise you.
Click for Part 2
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minnlahzz · 4 days ago
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Blue Oak Relationship Headcanons.
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requested
i loved and hated this guy, he's pretty cool though! never really took much interest in him after the gen 1 part ended, but he made a cool cameo in pokemon x y which changed my opinion on him. yes he was an ass, (a little bit) but now he's a cool ass dude (😎) these are called headcanons, so these are my personal opinions, and if you don't agree then it's alright!
— LOWERCASE INTENDED
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blue is professor oaks grandson, and the viridian city gym leader he's got a pretty big name, despite all of these titles/accomplishments, he has his own passions and ambitions he's still working on, so he'd want a partner that also has something they're passionate about. he'd be attracted to someone who has a clear sense of who they are—people who can stand on their own feet and make decisions.
blue is used to people treating him in a higher status, because his grandpa is a legend. he'd be immediately intrigued by you if you didn't buy into his reputation, and met him on equal ground. this is something he's not used to—and definitely something blue would find refreshing. treating him differently to how others do isn't what attracts him only, if you happen to be skilled in battles or had a unique team, that would catch his eye too. to him, anyone with real talent and confidence deserves respect, and that's what he saw in you.
he's straightforward, he'd talk to you first to become your friend (frienemy) if he found you interesting, but blue (as a teen) would rather die than tell you that himself. it's the small acts he does around/for you that tells you that. it'd be pretty obvious, unless you're denser than a geodude. blue hides his kindness with competition and smugness, as he thrives from both, but he means well, and would never intend to hurt you by his words.
blue slowly starts realising he likes you and its pretty funny—he goes through the five stages of grief. (not really) he'd start noticing he's more nervous when you're around, even his pokemon noticed it. he'd brush it off, convincing himself that he's overthinking everything and you're just a really cool friend. "there's no way i like them" he'd mutter to himself. blue would even avoid you at first, thinking that distancing himself would make him snap out of it (didnt work). this wouldn't be noticeable at first, but slowly he gets a little out of character.
you’re both hanging out after a long hour of training, returning both of your pokémon to their pokeballs, and then sitting on a bench in comfortable silence. blue’s been acting weird for a while now—fidgeting, glancing at you every so often like he’s trying to figure something out. finally, he just blurts it out. “I like you.” you stare, caught completely off-guard. “wait… what?” he sighs, annoyed at having to repeat himself. “you heard me,” he says, rolling his eyes like he’s doing you a huge favor by admitting it. but he can’t help a small grin creeping in when he sees your surprised face. hidden from all his annoyance he's pretty nervous.
“well,” you say, trying to play it cool, “took you long enough.”
he scoffs, shoving his hands into his pockets. “yeah, yeah. just… don’t make a big deal about it, alright?” but you can tell he’s relieved, even from his smug demeanor.
now on to actual relationship headcanons, blue isn't the type to be all public with his relation to you. if you want to then he's cool with it, and if you don't he's fine with it! the drawback of letting people find out is that green is going to tease the shit out of him. not that he cares, but it gets very annoying when you hear the same jokes over–and–over.
the way he'd treat you wouldn't change, you guys are still friends after all, just with more bonuses! blue will still compete with you, and it extends to your relationship in the funniest way possible. whether it's pokemon battles, racing, or just random silly stuff blue comes up with. it's not boring when you have him around.
blue is not a fan of pda. he's not the most openly affectionate person, but he finds ways to show you that he cares. hand–holding is kinda mushy for him, but blue is okay with it if you're okay with it! you'd have to be the one initiating it though.
blue notices every detail, so if he sees one of your pokémon improve or evolve, he’ll definitely point it out. he’d be the one to say, “your pokémons speed has really picked up. looks like someone’s been training hard.” he'd be very close with your pokémon too! like a co–owner if that makes sense, you can leave him alone with them and come back to your pokemon sound asleep with blankets over them. he does not treat your pokemon indifferently, and shows the same amount of respect he does his own.
blue’s love language would likely be a mix of acts of service and quality time—with a subtle hint of words of affirmation, though he wouldn’t make that last one obvious. blue’s always got that confident, "i’ll take care of things" energy. he’d show he cares by doing things for you—whether it’s helping with training, lending you items, or teaching you a new strategy. It’s his way of saying he cares without having to outright admit it. pretty funny.
spending time with you is one of his favorite ways to show affection. he’d want to take you along for training sessions, gym battles (you watch him fight kids), and even little adventures—anything that lets him be near you.
while he’s not big on obvious compliments, blue does have a way of encouraging you when it counts. he’d throw in a confident, “you’re actually getting pretty good, you know” or “not bad at all,” especially after seeing you make progress. sometimes his teasing is even his version of a compliment. when he’s poking fun, he’s often trying to show he’s paying attention to you, even if he doesn’t want to say something outright sweet. It's not that there's nothing wrong with you that makes him not want to boldly compliment you, it's just that he finds it very mushy and shows discomfort sometimes when saying things like that.
even though blue acts tough, he genuinely is your biggest fan! he's very observant, and notices when you seem off or under the weather. he keeps an eye on your progress and celebrates your achievements in his own subtle way. whenever you achieve something significant, blue is proud but not overly sentimental about it. he’ll give you a confident nod and say something like, “I expected nothing less from you.” But you’ll notice he’s more energized than usual.
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eobarried · 1 year ago
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ok let’s talk about miguel o’hara because it needs to be done. i want to clarify that this is not a hate post or anti-miguel in any sense, but it is a critical analysis of his character and role in the spiderverse. if you don’t feel like you can read this right now, i suggest you like it/save it for later and read it when you feel like you can with an open mind
especially for anyone who’s a miguel enjoyer (i consider myself one as well) because if you really love his character, it’s important to understand why his character was created and what a great narrative tool it is! anyway-
miguel o’hara is, allegorically, a bigot. 
now - let’s unpack and clarify that. miguel is allegorically a bigot - his character is used to represent a certain, specific type of bigotry we see in real life. notice how i’m saying “bigot” and not “racist” - because despite the memes, i don’t think miguel’s hatred of miles is rooted in antiblackness. i think it’s rooted in something a little more complicated, which is why i’m using the term bigotry. but this can be a little confusing, so let’s start from the beginning. or, at least, the most important part.
the canon.
i want you to really think about the word used here - canon. hearing that word should break the fourth wall for you, just like hearing “he’s got hammerspace!” should have earlier in the movie - or discussions different characters have surrounding their distinct art styles. it’s meant to break the fourth wall and draw attention to itself. specifically, the use of the word canon here is meant for us to take a step back from the in-universe events (treating the characters as “real” people and looking at events logically) and instead think of the spiderman story and mythos.
spiderman, as a story, has been told over and over again. we, as an audience, are deeply familiar with this story, as we’ve seen it as a live-action blockbuster in no less than three separate franchises. that’s not even mentioning all the cartoon adaptations, and of course the comic runs. adhering to a specific formula surrounding the story makes sense. when someone walks into a spiderman movie, they have certain... expectations. that no matter what version of spiderman this is, that they follow certain story beats and adhere to certain rules as they follow along in their journey. miguel, when explaining this to miles, focuses on said story beats (which i’ll get to in a second), but there’s something that’s way more important than specific plot points that we need to address here.
and that’s theme. 
theme (if you’re not an english literature person), is basically something you take away from the story. it’s usually a moral, idea, or concept that can be applied to the world around you, and helps you learn more about yourself, society, culture, or history. all stories have themes - usually they have multiple. so let’s get into it.
the original spiderman comic was notable in several ways. the thing that made spiderman so popular and successful is that he was the first (notable) teenage superhero that wasn’t a part of a greater team. spiderman wasn’t a sidekick that was written in to appeal to an audience of children. he was a teenager himself - but he was no less competent or strong than the (mostly adult) villains he fought. 
and not only was spiderman a kid - he was the kid. he was a nerd. he was an older white teen, yes - but he represented the type of person who would go out and buy a comic book more than any other hero at the time. before he became spiderman, peter parker was just kind of a geek. at the time (the 60s) this still identified him as an outcast. peter was socially awkward, not good with girls, he didn’t have many friends, and he was bullied consistently. the only thing he was good at was science, basically. we can connect peter’s original portrayal to many legitimately marginalized groups - specifically those that might be autistic and impacted by ableism. to those kids reading that comic, they saw a hero that represented them.
and how does peter represent them? what does spiderman teach these children by reading these comics? the original spiderman is the story of a man who, by chance, was granted the opportunity for greatness - to become an integral part of his community. spiderman uses his skills (both those granted to him by the spider, but also those that he inherently has, such as his skills with science and engineering), in order to prove his worth and merit. it’s lonely, the road he has to walk - he can’t tell his friends and family who he is, lest they become victims like uncle ben - or lest they betray him. he can only rely on himself and his own knowledge in order to protect his community. the themes we draw from spiderman are this: luck can strike at any time, but you need to use your own strength and intelligence to pull yourself up afterwards, no matter how hard things get. no matter how many people you lose.
that’s what miguel believes spiderman is about. this original spiderman story is that of the american dream. of a youth who is ostracized by society (for whatever reason), but is still able to use their own merit to overcome the obstacles placed in front of them and the grief and pain they face on their path to greatness. it’s a hard and lonely path, but miguel values anyone who has the bravery to face it.
so why does he hate miles?
because he didn’t do it alone. because miles doesn’t believe in the traditional american dream.
if you want to read more about that, check out my analysis comparing spider-society and visions academy over here (it’s not as in-depth as i would like it to be, but it gets the job done) but basically: miles believes that every person deserves greatness. he states it very clearly when talking to his dad about how he won the lottery to go to visions: he just got lucky. he feels as if he took an opportunity away from someone else. why is it just given to him, when anyone else at brooklyn middle is just as deserving of an amazing education? when these resources should be put to use to uplift his whole community, not just miles alone?
miles brings that same energy as a spider-person. he’s not just an anomaly because his spider was from a different dimension. he’s an anomaly because he had a mentor. not only a mentor - he had a whole clan of spider-people there for him. while peter b parker and the crew weren’t always very good allies for miles, they still wanted him to succeed. each spider-person was an outcast - not in the same way as miles, but they were eager to describe what miles needed to master in order to keep himself safe as a crime-fighter. although they weren’t always supportive, it wasn’t because they were “gatekeeping” - it’s because they were worried miles might hurt himself. to them, he hadn’t put in the work on his own, and because he hadn’t proven himself as a spider-person in isolation, they thought there was no way he could be successful as a spider-person during a very high-risk mission.
however, miles proves them wrong. it’s true that miles has to pull upon his own inner strength, but he also pulls on wisdom from those that mentored him - his father, his uncle aaron, peter parker, and peter b parker. as well as love and support from his community. miles became spiderman - but not in isolation. he had help, and support, and love - always - that helped him succeed.
because spiderman - in all universes - represents success in america. in the original comics, spiderman is able to overcome his status as an outcast in order to help his city. he now has great power - a potential allegory related to wealth and social or political status. he uses that power in order to protect the community he loves (nyc) as they can’t all protect themselves.
now let’s bring it back. miguel. right.
miguel has already made his mark as a spiderman. although we know he broke canon, it wasn’t related to him becoming spiderman. we can assume that miguel still went through serious struggle and trauma to get to where he’s at. and now, through thematic analysis, we know that becoming spiderman represents success in america.
so, miguel’s dislike of miles, thematically, connects to how older generations may believe that younger generations “have it too easy” or “don’t put in the same effort.” it’s the (mainly capitalistic) ideal that in order to succeed, it has to be in isolation, without outside help. we can infer that miguel is not only upset that miles didn’t do things “canonically” - but that he is afforded success that miguel doesn’t think he deserves. miguel believes that in order to succeed in america, one needs to do it on their own, and suffer in order to succeed. no “hand-outs,” no support, no community outreach. it’s a very rigid capitalistic standard - which is why i called it “bigoted.” miguel is still a marginalized figure - and it’s important that miguel is the one stating the viewpoint, not a white spiderman. because this isn’t a white vs black storyline. miguel’s dislike of miles is specifically a sort of generational, inter-community bigotry.
for someone who hasn’t experienced it - think of it like hazing. you join a new sports team. the senior players say “you carry the equipment out and clean everything after the game.” you ask “why? can’t we all just do it together? aren’t we supposed to be a team?” and they say “no. you’re the new guys. hard work builds character. deal with it.”
alright. so we took a look at canon through a meta-story lens. now let’s pull it back even further.
so, miguel’s ideology. he adheres firmly to canon, a series of events that cannot (or, should not), change. if we apply that to our lives, that sounds a lot like predestination. destiny. fate. let’s call it predestination for now - you’ll see why in a minute.
now, a belief in predestination makes sense. it can bring a lot of people comfort, thinking that horrible events are out of their hands, and often times it can be harmless to believe in predestination in these instances. for example: someone who blames themselves for not being able to say goodbye to a loved one who died suddenly. if this person believes in predestination, it might ease some of their pain and guilt to know that there was nothing they could do - that it was the will of some higher power that their loved one is gone, and that there was nothing they could do to prevent it. some individuals might find comfort in knowing that they are not to blame for the work of the universe.
however, predestination can also be malicious. thinking that things are the will of the universe, or the will of god... that’s been used for some pretty fucked up stuff in the past. in a more moderate (and topical) example - royalty. many kings used the concept of predestination to explain why they deserved the crown. their bloodline was chosen by god himself - that’s why they’re powerful (compare to spider-people and their success. if they are also predestined for their spider-bite, doesn’t that make them akin to monarchs?)
in more nefarious examples, predestination can be used to subjugate and oppress others. predestination was used in ancient indian society in order to justify the caste system - utilizing the hindu concept of karma to justify why certain members of society were mistreated and oppressed. in a more american sense, predestination was often used as a way to justify both slavery and segregation. originally, slavers tried to justify that god wanted black individuals to serve as slaves because it was his will. later, when divine intervention fell out of fashion, they attempted to use eugenics to justify that black individuals were simply born inferior - that it was just science, and that there was nothing they could do about it.
that’s the other reason it’s called canon. the original usage of the word was to refer to the books of the bible that the church recognized as legitimate. it ties back to faith and religion. 
now, religion, faith, and even the belief in fate itself - are not inherently bad. miguel’s belief in predestination doesn’t make him a bad or bigoted person inherently. however, the way he forces other to believe and adhere to it is. it’s very likely that miguel became so attached to the canon in order to justify why his wife and daughter died - in order to remove his own accountability for their passing and instead place the blame on some higher power. this belief snowballed out of control, however - and now influences his jealousy and distaste for miles and his way of life.
because forcing a canon - a story - on miles, is wrong. when miguel tells miles that his father must die, that he has to adhere to canon - that’s a horrible thing to say to a young black boy. to tell him that in order to be successful as a marginalized individual (to be spiderman) that he has to lose the last black male role model he has? it’s heinous! it’s akin to telling miles that in order to succeed, he has to cut ties with part of his culture. which does happen to young marginalized people in america. they are told that in order to be successful, they have to leave their culture, community, and support system behind.
it’s especially sinister when looking at it from the point of view of storytelling. when looking at it from that angle, miguel is basically telling miles that in order for his story - the story of a young black boy - to be profitable, he has to go through even more trauma and loss. it’s similar to what his guidance counselor mentions when discussing how miles should write his college entrance essay - that he should lie, and emphasize that he struggles while growing up, and that his support system was unstable. it’s the traditional story of a struggling black boy - which i discuss more here when talking about earth 42 miles and his inclusion in the spiderverse.
miguel’s bigotry is centrally tried to his idea of what american society expects of marginalized individuals who were able to achieve their dreams despite it all. a story of pain and struggle. one where they were able to - only through their own strength and intelligence, and maybe with a little bit of luck - pull themselves up, and quietly work towards their own success.
miguel’s belief in the american dream and predestination not only influences his treatment of miles, but also his creation of spider-society. now, let me be frank: miguel, in this franchise, is not supposed to represent someone who created systematic oppression. he’s simply one of the people who believed in bigoted ideals and allowed those ideals to influence his decisions. because when miguel created spider-society, it basically became an elitist isolation chamber. spider-society is located in a huge tower on miguela’s earth. the tower is so tall and imposing on the utopian landscape, there’s no way that miguel is able to properly support his own community as spiderman - he’s not worried about what happens to his own community. especially once we learn that a good portion of them live underground, where miguel can’t even see them. even if he wasn’t occupied with anomalies at all times, there’s no way he could even connect with nueva york around him.
the same can be said of all the spider-people in headquarters. they’re not even in their home dimensions. how can they possibly support their communities when they have isolated themselves as far away as they could literally be? it parallels how successful individuals often treat their communities in reality - what do wealthy people usually do at the first sign of their wealth? they build a huge mansion to get away from it all. many times in our capitalist society, wealthy and successful people abandon the communities they should be supporting. 
miguel represents that. he is a successful, powerful person, who decided to focus only on other successful, powerful people like him. marginalized people who achieved the american dream on their own. people who, instead of uplifting others, instead tear down those who don’t fit into their “mold.” who are successful in their own right, but don’t hold the same ideals and values that they do. who aren’t the model example of marginalized success in the eyes of the (white) american “audience.” 
miguel is a product of a great problem within society. while he partakes and perpetuates bigotry, that doesn’t mean that he’s irredeemable. the narrative shows that miguel is a broken man. if we think about to the end credits scene from itsv, where he calls his dimensional travel bracelet a “goober” - he wasn’t always so hateful. he wasn’t always like this. he can un-learn his bigotry and he isn’t completely lost. the way that he discusses his ideas - it’s clear that he knows that there are flaws in them, just as other spider-people consistently point out. he can be changed and improved - just like our real leaders and role models can be changed and improved. miguel is not without saving - but it’s important to remember that he does need to be saved. 
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lady-ashfade · 2 years ago
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Modern aemond targaryen HC’s
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Requested by anon: hi girlie, saw you want some requests<3 if so, give us some thoughts about aemond in modern au!!
This is short so I apologize.
Taglist: @dangerousbluebirdpoetry @second-try-stevie @prettyinblack231
Warnings: Non
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Aemond Targaryen was the middle child of the family.
Everyone in his family were horseback riders and everyone competed. Their family was always winning and one the bests in the world.
He how ever didn’t have a horse, no matter how hard he tried they just didn’t like him and he just wasn’t skilled enough.
The other kids in his family made fun of him for it so he constantly was putting himself down. So he focused on learning and keeping up with his school work and others interests. 
Then slowly his left eye started to lose its vision. Then he went totally blind in that eye. He hated it because it was another thing he would have to get bullied for.
Time flew by and Aemond started to get colder and quieter. The only ones he would talk to was his mother and sister, not to be confused for his older sister from a different mother.
He was very smart and went on to travel around world with his teammates for quizzes and tests. Decathlon team is one of the few things he participates in.
I see aemond doing a whole bunch of things. Like volunteering at a animal Shelter, maybe on the debate team, joining a summer baseball team. The list is endless.
Man also has a part time job as a barista- I know it’s over used but you know it’s true.
Of course Aemond is a straight A student. But don’t get it twisted he is not with “the nerds”. He’s a mix between the bad boy and the quiet kids. He doesn’t like to talk to anyone and has gotten into fights and beaten the shit out of someone more then once. 
You can disagree with me on many things. But what you will not do is think this man doesn’t wear dark academia clothing. He’s rich and had a sense of fashion- Need I say more? (Also pic at the top is what I pictured)
Vhagar. A retired race horse that his aunt laena had before she died, but he snuck in one night after losing his eye trying to find something he desperately was looking for. Vhagar was mean and didn’t trust anyone and that’s why she was almost put down before laena took her in. Now, she’s Aemonds.
Needless to say he also trains Vhagar back to being a race horse and his damn good at it.
Some small HC’s with dating modern Aemond? 
He would visit the animal shelter sometimes and only saw you there a few times, mostly coming in when you weren’t there.
He would see how loving and caring you were to the animals there but never really thought about you before one day having to work close with you.
You’d come in while he’s with a cat and he’s having a hard time trusting aemond but as soon as the cat sees you it will slowly poke it’s head out. “Hello little guy.” You looked over at aemond and gave him a wave, asking if it’s okay to be here.
He said yes and you sat down and let the cat slowly come out to you and started to make conversation with aemond. He start to notice how good looking you were and the way your gaze softed each time you looked at the cat.
Sooner or later the cat was on your lap and was purring as you pet it. “Come here.” You patted the floor next to you and he was hesitant but did it anyway. “He loves pets and you both needed a push.” Taking his hand in yours and placed it on the cat.
And to his surprise the cat leaned into his hand and you laughed softly and he couldn’t believe how lovely it sounded to him.
After that Aemond couldn’t get you out of his mind. He would ask when you worked to maybe get paired with you again and slowly you both formed a friendship.
Then he asked you out on a date. He was actually really nervous when he did and you couldn’t help but find it cute. When you got to know him better you saw he was way different and was actually really sweet.
Dating Aemond would include:
Coffee dates
Book shopping dates
Him reading to you/or you both reading the same books.
Mans romantic and will take you on a cute picnic.
Please cuddle him because he’s so touched starved.
Will hold onto your hand and waist protectively and be like a guard dog.
Him getting insecure sometimes.
Being his shoulder to cry on and him doing the same for you.
Him getting angry a lot and you calming him down.
His family loving you because they see how much happier he seems to be with you. Alicent thinks your a angel and loves you to death. 
Aegon might flirt with you and aemond getting dragged away by you to stop him from fighting his brother.
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shitpostingkats · 1 year ago
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Yu-Gi-Oh Review Roundup: Arc-V!
Favorite main character: Shay Obsidian
Raidraptors slap. Every era of this show has one archetype that makes the twelve year old inside my brain start cheering in adoration, and this time, it’s raidraptors. What can I say. I like birds.
Shay himself also does a whole lot to sell the coolness factor of his mechanical falcons. The blunt, to-the-point, selfassuredness he carries himself with is almost intimidatingly edgelord, but some great voice acting work by Matt Shipman keeps him on the humaner side of anime emos. (Also, if you didn’t know, Matt Shipman, also voice of Reki in SK8 the Infinity, and if you hadn’t made the connection between season one Shay and breakup arc era Reki, I’m sorry that is in your brain now.) 
His design is the wonderful kind of harmonizing amazingly well with his monsters without being overbearing. With all the old fighter plane influence of the raidraptors, it makes perfect sense for Shay to sport his trademark leather trenchcoat that comes complete with the asymmetrical zipper and wide collar of an aviator's jacket. I particularly love the red scarf being the unofficial uniform of the XYZ rebellion, and it going completely unremarked on in the story. It’s clever to see how it’s worked into everyone’s outfit without it being pointed out to the viewer; it’s like an easter egg hunt. On Shay, he wears it in mimicry of a silk flight scarf, another visual nod to WWII pilots. 
And in Shay’s case, it makes perfect sense he would need the outfit of a pilot, because asides from Yuya, he is the one who most routinely rides around on the backs of his monsters. I never get tired of Shay flying onto the scene on a 3,000 pound eagle shaped warmachine, completely nonchalantly. Why is he the only one taking advantage of having his monsters around outside of duels. Let everyone have terrifying monstrosities as their main form of transportation.
Favorite antagonist: Sora Perse
The candy munching warcrime gremlin of all time. While it’s a little weird that Arc-V out the gate started exploring the ramifications of being a card game child soldier, Sora’s arc as he grapples with it is the emotional core of season 1, and it genuinely gets pulled off pretty well. Also, he plays fluffals.
Fluffals is the pitch perfect archetype for Sora. I’ve said before how much I love in yugioh when the cards someone plays tells you more about their character, how I go off the wall when their archetype is a mirror of their personhood. Fluffals is also just great on its own. Perfect yugioh design. Cutesy cuddly monsters that are actually filled with KNIVES and SAWS like they are being dissected by a deranged weird little child. Then the double meaning of fluffals being innocent and adorable, but secretly hiding a darker side, just like Sora. He is constantly switching back and forth between frighteningly competent and “oh my god he’s just a kid”. 
On of my favorite moments in the show is when he and Zuzu reunite and she says farewell by doing the fusion summon salute, only for Sora to jokingly correct her posture. Their friendship is so wholesome okay. Deep down, this kid is genuinely hurt and doesn’t know how to make friends, so he’s reaching out with the only way he knows how, by taking the role of teacher but that's only a facade to get to hang out, and that line is where we first hear them acknowledge it to each other, grins on their faces, happy to still be teacher and student, but also, friends. 
This is in the same stretch of episodes as Sora casually stowing away on a helicopter by jumping fifteen feet into the air and grabbing the wheel well.
Favorite side character: Yugo
I guess they just put a special sauce in the Arc-V blue haired bois.
Why do I list Yugo as a side character? Surely, by virtue of being an au version of the main character, he should be counted with equal narrative status?
Nope! He shows up maybe a dozen times, usually randomly, to yell and crash his motorcycle into things. Then disappears again. I love him.
Yugo has, unlike the other two blue haired bois, this endearing puppy quality that makes every conversation he’s in feel playful and exuberant. And that lends itself well to the few dynamics he does find himself in, whether it’s bouncing off Yuri’s smirky villainy, or having genuinely a more emotionally intelligent discussion with Zuzu about what going on than Yuya ever manages to have with her in the whole series. And while I would have loved to get more time between him and Rin, it’s clear from just a few minutes with him how deeply he cares about her. Winning him the coveted medal of “#1 straight relationship in yugioh I would 100% believe in”. They’re just really sweet. And I would storm the Konami headquarters to get them the happy ending they deserved.
Favorite duel: Shay vs. Sora
They’re my favorites for a reason. 
Shay v. Sora is peak, not only for both characters, but the entire show. It’s certainly in my list of Top 5 Yugioh Duels Ever. Everything about this duel is pure character expression. Shay’s cold and unemotive dueling crashes right up against the peppy dueltaining that Sora has spent the past few weeks learning. At first, Sora doesn’t even seem to take the duel seriously, countering audience expectations that this duel is going to be important. Because we know at this point, that something is up with Sora. That he knows more than he is letting on and this Shay guy is someone who can seriously engage with him about the larger mystery, unlike everyone else who is still in the dark on the dimensional wars.
Then Sora’s slow burn of the facade melting away. All that theatricality can equally double as a dang good yugioh villain performance. The way the duel slides from using its standard duel cinematography to more of a Marik Ishtar unhinged closeup. There is more dramatic tension in the increasing ferocity that Sora chews on his lollipop with than a full fledged horror movie.
On Shay’s side of the duel, we get dramatic monologues of backstory, finally filling in our understanding of the larger plot, delivered by a seriously shaken refugee who is finally able to traumadump about what he and his friends had to live through. It’s chillingly intense, especially contrasted by Sora’s increasing villainous theatricality. While Sora cartwheels and flips around the crumbling city like an acrobat, Shay’s got a utilitarian body language as he dodges debris. He’s not here to put on a show. He is here to survive and get revenge.
And the conclusion. By gods. There’s something haunting about seeing Sora, who has up to this point been laughing and gloating, crack. Not at the thought of being hurt. But at the thought of losing. Of being second best. He screams as Shay walks away, no longer violent and dramatic, but just a broken kid, terrified of receiving a bad grade.
Gods. Good duel.
Favorite arc: Arc league championship
Shay v Sora may be the highlight, but it’s not the only banger duel from that arc. And there’s also a great variety of good duels. From character duels like Julia v. Zuzu, or plot important duels like Sora v Yuto, to just plain fun duels, like Gong v Grizzlepike. And once the finals get going, it’s basically a nonstop duel fest, cutting between a half dozen parties finding eachother and splitting off again, while some duel and others just try to sit down and figure out what on earth is going on. Which shouldn’t work, but it does. 
Listen, if battle city worked the first time, the second time, the third time, and the fourth time, it’ll be good the fifth time. Trust us. We did the math. Now go out and duel in [interesting environment] and wager [this tournament’s gimmick item] on duels until you have [arbitrary number]. 
And hey! The formula works once again! This isn’t sarcasm, I genuinely think this is a great way to make tournament arcs interesting. The citywide split of four biomes allows for some cool backdrops, and every duel being able to happen basically simultaneously means we can simply cut between whatever's most interesting at the moment, instead of having to see every duel start to finish. 
Also, Moonshadow gets introduced in this tournament, and he is the unsung mvp of the entire series.
Greatest strengths of the series: Polish
The Arc League Championship also stands out to me because I was startled by the quality of its episode-to-episode writing. Plot information is slowly revealed on a regular basis, instead of thirty episodes of Shenanigans that’s interrupted by a lore dump. There’s genuine mystery, and intrigue, as we try to figure out what is up with these mystery xyz summoners and Declan’s master plan. And it’s not just scenario writing that’s received a massive punch-up! Dialogue is flowing better than ever, and effects animation is legible and looks awesome, instead of hyper-compressed pixels. Heck, Yuya has a really good looking 3D model, and his eyes aren’t covered by a helmet, and his jacket realistically flutters with his movement!
This may not sound like that big a deal, but the very premise of Arc-V gives us such a clear point of comparison for “How It Started” versus “How It’s Going”. It warmed my little 5Ds adoring heart to see turbo duels back, and rendered in such believable and genuinely excellent modeling. (Though points off for making Jack’s duel runner drive sideways. You guys know it can’t do that.) Aside from a few minor nitpicks, almost everything that made previous shows awesome is lovingly given a fresh coat of paint, from summoning to landscapes. 
And the writing is also pretty good on the au versions of prior characters! I particularly love Actually Not Problematic Celebrity Jack Atlas, the fun writing challenge of taking a character whose story is so deeply rooted in his setting, then trying to figure out what he’d look like without those factors. Happily Married Crow Hogan. Rebellion Leader Alexis Rhodes. Genuinely Lost His Family And Turned Murderhobo About It Kite Tenjo. There’s something so fun about seeing the paths certain characters could have taken, if only their environments had been different. And it’s a far more challenging premise to convincingly pull off than I see it get credit for. On so many levels, yugioh shows, on a purely technical level, have just gotten better as time goes on, and I absolutely adore seeing what each new series manages to perfect.
Weakest points: Scope
Unfortunately, Arc-V just has a lot to juggle. The devotion to quartets means the math spins out of control. incredibly quickly. Four versions of the protagonist, four versions of the female lead, four story arcs in four separate worlds. A handful of cameo appearances for each dimension, but also two to three original characters as well, bloats the main cast to nearly three times that of any previous show. Four different types of playstyles to write, and for characters that use blends of all four, duels four times as complicated in a single turn. Let’s never forget that this is the era that gave us the infamous D/D/D spreadsheet.
Individual moments stand out as excellent, but there simply isn’t enough time for any of them to really shine. All of the characters I’ve stated as loving, Shay, Sora, Yugo, I love in spite of the fact that their stories never really go anywhere. Shay and Yugos’ primary motivations are to find and reunite with their bracelet girls. And they don’t. Sora? After a wonderful bleed from “no morals allowed” to “one moral allowed”, after struggling for almost a season and a half to rationalize his child soldier upbringing, the camera just stops looking at him. And that’s one of the most complete stories Arc-V manages to tell. Even Yuya, our protagonist, ends the series having not confronted anything about his father, or his blatant mental health issues, both things that he is literally introduced with being shockingly core to his character. Very few plotlines are resolved in a satisfying way, if they’re resolved at all.
In the end, I can’t help but feel that Arc-V wrote more ambitious checks than its writing budget could cash. 
Most yugioh moment:
The entire episode where they break out of prison by hosting a talent show. Specifically, the cheer in Yuya’s voice when he says “Good night, FACILITY! <3”
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sokkastyles · 8 months ago
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ATLA LA Ep7 Thoughts:
Iroh: "how could the Fire Lord think you had turned against him?" *is actually against the fire lord*
Although tbh Iroh is missing those subtle nods in the original that he wants Zuko to turn away from Ozai.
Jee calling Zukp your highness misses whatever point making his crew the 41st was supposed to make! The entire point is that Zuko's crew learned from the story that Zuko was more than just a haughty prince, but someone who understood and fought to defend people like them!
Unless it's a ruse.
...and, it's a ruse.
Something something it's easy to be a hero when you have the power to be and easy to be a bully when you have the power to be. Zuko finds this out the hard way.
Katara: Sokka, stop talking, I want to hear Aang tell about the zukaang enemies to lovers fic he's writing.
SPIRITUAL LEADER YUE
The idea that Ozai is playing games with Azula would make more sense if we actually saw him playing games instead of just criticizing her.
I love Yue!
I really enjoy that the show is emphasizing friendship over Aang being the most powerful.
I'm glad they took out waterbending as an inherent trait that Katara just magically learns, tbh. It never made sense with how it's treated later on.
Also gives more weight to Katara saying she'd rather learn how to fight if healing isn't treated like her inherent special ability.
I love the scenes with Avatar Kuruk
Don't like that Yue rejected an arranged marriage and replaced it with "guy I met in a dream," instead of just choosing Sokka because she liked him and it was her choice. Also don't like that she's free to reject Hahn with no consequences yet the NWT still won't let girls fight.
A lot of the moves from this fight are copied from the original but still manage not to be as impressive.
Oh, I love the addition of the other boys asking Katara to teach them.
The thing about Azula proving herself to Ozai is that it was never about that. It was never about Ozai deciding Azula is good enough to go out into the world. He sends her specifically to capture Zuko and Iroh, but he's still not setting her loose because she is expected to come back. I don't buy it, just like I don't buy that he would praise Zuko for chasing the Avatar around half the world. The last thing Ozai wants is for his children to get ideas about independence from him. Even Zuko's banishment was a way of keeping a tight leash on him. And setting loose this Azula? Disastrous to whatever Ozai is planning. Because if he doesn't send Azula out to capture Zuko, then that means Azula will hunt him down on her own. And the last thing Ozai wants is his kids fighting each other, because that's how you create a succession crisis. In the original, it wasn't about making them compete. It was about Azula bringing back Zuko.
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badbedforbedding · 2 years ago
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Beauty standards in Westeros: wild beauty is beautiful?
Beauty is a huge topic in this fandom, specially in relation to some female characters. And different from the male characters, their physical traits are often put on higher ground than other aspects.
I know that we live in a society obsessed with ~aesthetics~ and with an ideal of beauty that is Eurocentric, ableist, and youthful; so it makes sense that the people (and their opinions) in this fandom reflects these ideals too.
(sigh) Anyway… Westeros is a fictional fantastical world set in a medieval era and this world too holds its sets of standards and ideals regarding beauty, and we can see how they affect the story/journey of some important characters; here I want to focus on the idea of the wild beauty associated with Arya and Lyanna Stark because it's a subjective enough word to cause a lot of confusion.
Now; suppose we all know how detrimental to women these beauty standards are, we cannot ignore that fact that they matter, they were made for a reason, and they serve a purpose in westerosi society:
First, it separates noble from commoners;
A Feast for Crows - Cersei III, Cersei compares Margaerys features to those of common people.
"Even peasant girls are pretty at a certain age, when they are still fresh and innocent and unspoiled, and most of them have the same brown hair and brown eyes as she does."
A Storm of Swords - Jon II, Jon's first impression of Ygritte.
"At a lord's court the girl would never have been considered anything but common, he knew. She had a round peasant face, a pug nose, and slightly crooked teeth, and her eyes were too far apart. Jon had noticed all that the first time he'd seen her, when his dirk had been at her throat."
By these recollections only, it seems like peasants have a certain look that is recognizable and sets them apart from noble people.
Without a deep analyses, we can already conclude that no Stark woman is common looking or plain. Their looks can be set apart from peasants and from among most other houses such as the Tyrell, its pretty signifying of their old noble blood:
Arya Stark - long face, gray eyes, brown hair, skinny and athletic body. Arya has the "wolf blood".
Sansa Stark - high cheekbones, blue eyes and "auburn hair lighter than her mother's".
Catelyn Stark - fair skin, blue eyes and auburn hair.
Lyanna Stark - Long face, gray eyes and brown hair. Slim body and tomboyish. Lyanna had too much of the wolf blood.
Edited: I’m not saying that peasants and common people are ugly, what I’m saying (what I deduced from reading the excerpts) is that compared to noble woman, common women are considered plain by noble people standards.
And the fact that most of these ladies are tied to one of the most traditional and old lineages in Westeros means that they don’t fit the common or plain category by Westeros beauty standards.
Second, it increases women's chance at a good marriage;
A Storm of Swords - Catelyn VI - Edmure and Catelyn talk about his betrothal to Roslin Frey.
"She's prettier than I dared hope." Edmure raised a hand before she could speak. "I know there are more important things, spare me the sermon, septa. Even so . . . did you see some of those other maids Frey trotted out? The one with the twitch? Was that the shaking sickness? And those twins had more craters and eruptions on their faces than Petyr Pimple. When I saw that lot, I knew Roslin would be bald and one-eyed, with Jinglebell's wits and Black Walder's temper. But she seems gentle as well as fair." He looked perplexed. "Why would the old weasel refuse to let me choose unless he meant to foist off someone hideous?"
"Your fondness for a pretty face is well known," Catelyn reminded him.
During the entire ordeal of a betrothal between a Frey daughter and Lord Edmure Tully, the latter complained about being denied of choice.
This is important because it shows exactly how it works for them: High lords who inherit castles and land can choose whichever lady they want, while ladies need to compete among themselves to try and get a good proposal, from where they can find security.
Robert Baratheon was to be Warden of the Stormlands at the time he was entertaining a marriage to Lyanna. Let's be honest now; do you think this asshole, the guy who fucks any pretty thing with a pair of tits without thinking, would settle for anything but a comely lady for a wife?
Of course there is the matter of her name and noble blood at play but just like Edmure, "his fondness for a pretty face was well known" and his feelings for Lyanna too:
"You never knew Lyanna as I did, Robert," Ned told him. "You saw her beauty, but not the iron underneath."
A Game of Thrones - Eddard VII
Edited: I’m not even questioning the physical characteristics that women need to have to be seen as beautiful. I think Edmure Tully’s speech at the quote I picked says a lot already, but in short: the preference that these privileged men show towards certain ladies is enough to know what is the standard held by Westeros society as a whole.
At last and most important, it reinforces the gender roles assigned to woman:
This is not supposed to be a critic to any of the women mentioned or their ways, but a critic of the people who praise certain traits and vilify others less soft ones.
About Elia:
"...the Stark girl, who was by all reports a wild and boyish young thing with none of the Princess Elia's delicate beauty."
"Princess Elia was a good woman, Your Grace. She was kind and clever, with a gentle heart and a sweet wit."
About Margaery:
"The girl no older than Robb, very pretty, with a doe's soft eyes and a mane of curling brown hair that fell about her shoulders in lazy ringlets. Her smile was shy and sweet."
About Sansa:
"Soft-spoken sweet-smelling Sansa, who loved silks, songs, chivalry and tall gallant knights with handsome faces."
Gentle, delicate, sweet, soft-spoken and other variants of these adjectives are used to describe these ladies in particular when mentioning their beauty. All these adjectives are found at the appearance section of their pages on Wiki of westeros.
Westerosy woman have little to no say in the decisions regarding their own lives, noble women are always at the mercy of a father, husband, or another man. They are raised to become two things only: a wife and a mother and again gentle, delicate, sweet, soft-spoken are words often related to motherhood and romance.
Wild, willful, stubborn and outspoken are completely different things from gentle, delicate, sweet and soft-spoken. In fact, they are opposite, and that's where the concept of "Wild beauty" draws so much confusion.
Edited: I’ve seen people interpret wild as unkept, savage, plain and/or ugly. The word in itself is not typically used to refer to one’s appearance, but to landscape or actions. But when the wild beauty idea come in George’s text is always to highlight Lyanna/Arya’s different look as well as character compared to southern ladies.
To use someone else’s perspective that is not their loving brother/father (since this means he is biased and unreliable as a narrator, *sarcasm*):
In The World of Ice and Fire - The Fall of the Dragons: The Year of the False Spring
“The crowning of the Stark girl, who was by all reports a wild and boyish young thing with none of the Princess Elia's delicate beauty, could only have been meant to win the allegiance of Winterfell to Prince Rhaegar's cause, Symond Staunton suggested to the king.”
The juxtaposition of the descriptors Wild x Delicate makes the case stronger when we remember that the delicate quality that Elia had comes from her frail and fragile health.
In conclusion:
Lyanna Stark was a beautiful woman with beautiful attributes, her beauty was well known and no one could deny. On the other hand, she lacked the womanly shape desired from most men and had too much force of will to be accepted by the southern court.
Arya Stark is a girl still growing into her features, her looks, and personality are similar to her aunt's even as a young girl. It's not hard to see that she will become as beautiful as Lyanna was said to be.
The wild beauty is in their physical traits but something else too, more ethereal and impalpable, the wolf blood.
Their wild beauty it's a set of all that Westeros holds as beautiful, added to what they fear the most: a strong, willed mind.
That's it, if anyone read so far: thank you for your patience. I am incapable of being brief. I wrote this with my own memory and research, so if I missed something, feel free to add to it. Also, if you are one of those stans who complain about others calling Arya beautiful: fuck you.
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deedeelaz · 1 year ago
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13 Things that would’ve made me (a hardcore obsessed fan of Mission) walked out satisfied after watching DR1.
Note 1: This points are written under the premise of Ilsa being a 100% dead.
Note 2: If she’s not dead, then the cuestionable decisions I’m mentioning here would actually make a lot of sense, but we’re only gonna know once DR2 is out.
Note 3: IMHO
Let’s start:
1. I would’ve loved a sequence of Ethan and Ilsa fighting together, shoulder to shoulder, both kicking ass in synchronised movements like (or better) than the one we got in Rogue Nation. That would’ve been exhilarating and successful in showing us, for the last time, their powerful dynamic. McQ could’ve sacrificed some of the Rome car chase and the train sequence (those were a little too long) for something like this.
2. During the Venice run, when The Entity says “But you could Ilsa…” GIVE us, more than the fraction of second we got, of Ilsa’s face trying to decide whether to escape or go to Gabriel, this movie was so fond of close ups… a longer quiet moment of Ilsa’s eyes/face (Silo style) would’ve being perfect.
3. Give us more than a fraction of second of Ethan’s troubled face or even have him saying something to Ilsa through comms.
4. Give us back that kickass line you took out in the editing room, before Ilsa engages in the fight.
5. Show us a “hard to win” fight for Ilsa… like, make us believe Gabriel is more competent with knives than the Bone Doctor.
6. Put corny flashbacks of ilsaethan during his run to save her (A deleted scene would’ve brought us fans, to ecstatic tears) Fan-service us McQ please! for the first and last time! For what I heard in those podcasts, you weren’t thinking about this group of fans who would appreciate some real mundane bonding between characters, you were only thinking about the fans who come for the action.
7. Make Ethan hold her. Get his shirt stained with her blood.
8. Don’t show us Grace appearing behind Ethan’s shoulder with that change of music. He is mourning Ilsa, Ethan even turns his face a little to acknowledge Grace. Like, there’s nothing more important than “the person you cared about the most” lying dead there. Show us Grace in a close up, looking at Ilsa with remorse instead, makes us feel she’s paying some tribute to the woman who saved her life.
9. Show us a close up of Ethan’s teary eyes in the Venice balcony. Add a shot of Ilsa’s calm face. Show us that Ilsa would’ve wanted Ethan to finish the job and only then show us him convincing Grace into the mission. Jumping so fast to the recruitment scene made us think of Grace as a replacement. She’s a great addition to the franchise, but McQ is making us hate her.
10. Luther said “Why else do you think the Entity wanted Gabriel to kill someone you cared about?…” Why wouldn’t he say “Why else do you think the Entity wanted Gabriel to kill Ilsa? My point is, no mention of her after she died.
11. Benji yelling “Ethan! It’s dead, it’s very very dead!” When the ‘mask making’ machine fries, is a tasteless remark considering the circumstances.
12. Don’t show us any face of any woman, before Ethan makes the motorcycle jump , that was unnecessary and corny (McQ tries to avoid that kind of stuff but when he decides to use them, puts those scenes in the wrong place)
13. When Ethan is over Gabriel with a knife on his throat, even though I saw Gabriel’s blood on the knife, I didn’t feel Ethan determined to kill Gabriel to avenge Ilsa or Marie. Maybe the flashbacks of them would’ve worked better at that moment.
All this would’ve being great to give us, fans, closure. I would’ve gone home slightly less frustrated and maybe return for more viewings.
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thestobingirlie · 2 years ago
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some ppl do too much w making eddie v traditionally smart/knowledgeable or w having steve say that eddie is one of the smartest people he knows (as though steve's best friends are not robin and dustin). i have also seen ppl make steve say that eddie is the smartest person he knows which,,, okay. sure. we're all a little delusional sometimes ig. then use this as a springboard for him just not trying in school or w/e bc he doesn't care despite him clearly caring enough to repeat senior year three times instead of just getting his ged. this also works against what i find most appealing about eddie - like some ppl want him to be a bad boy played straight who is super smart and competent and i do not understand that. i like that eddie is a drug dealer that just can't graduate high school obsessed w his nerdy interests who is not cool and also not v competent outside of his specific interests, particularly in the intense survival situation he finds himself in. that's what makes eddie fun to me and it's also why any fics or aus that make him hyper successful/famous/competent/badass/etc never feel authentic to him as a character imo. they just rarely let the fact that he is a soft-hearted, nervous person at heart shine and that is what i like most about him. also ppl don't appreciate the way steddie defies expectation enough - like when it comes to dealing w the weird, scary world of the upside down you expect eddie to thrive and steve to flounder when steve is actually the borderline hypercompetent one in those situations, even at the very start. that's what makes the pairing fun and so few ppl appreciate that bc they just want to force them into overplayed archetypes.
oh it pisses me off when people try to make eddie scholarly. boy is on his third attempt of senior year. like, he’s clearly trying to pass, but he can’t. and that speaks to trouble with class more than eddie just not trying, or teachers purposely holding him back, which i’ve also seen in fics and just doesn’t really make sense to me. i feel like a drug dealer is the kinda student you would want to leave high school lmao
eddie is definitely not the smartest person steve’s knows, and that’s not a bad thing! no one has any trouble making steve out to be the biggest idiot alive, but for some reason people have a hard time making eddie seem dumb. like, i think i’ve mentioned this before but i saw one fic that said steve only passed high school because his dad paid the school or something? to try and make it seem like eddie was better in school and it’s so stupid! there’s nothing wrong with being bad at school, but so many people just can’t seem to accept that eddie is bad at school, and steve was slightly better, considering he passed the first time.
and yeah! eddie’s a pathetic loser, and i love that about him! he’s a 19/20 year old still in school, obsessed with d&d. people who take that loserness away from him ruin his character.
you would expect eddie to really find himself in a real life d&d game, become a badass, but instead he flounders. he can’t handle it. which is a fun contrast to our other geeky characters. and people that try to make eddie the saviour and steve the one that totally looks up to him, is weird. the fun of steddie is that eddie starts out expecting steve to be a douchebag, and yet he ends up as someone he wants to emulate and become. eddie finds out steve is the epitome of a hero, rather than an asshole jock. (and though i don’t doubt that eddie has traits that steve would love, he’s not gonna be really looking up to him as a genius. because that’s just not who eddie is)
(also, this is kinda irrelevant, but it made me think about kas!eddie, and how people always make him super badass and brutal, and i think it would be funny if he was just a failure at that too. like, not very good at fighting, just treats this shit like a d&d game. literally just a hinderance to vecna. not on purpose to help the others. he’s just shit at it lol)
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