#i'm down so bad for this show i'm shipping everyone with everyone while simultaneously wanting some of them dead

[theinfinitedivides]

'material from script was shortened during editing'?????? 'missing chemistry that only the actors could see'??????? Netflix what is this behavior

[numbknee]

Why do you think Kyman gets so much hate? I can understand some things about what people don’t like about it but some of the things they say, the harassment is so out of pocket. Especially on Tik Tok! It is like a battle ground out there and they all will shoot you down immediately if you SAY anything. I just wanna love Kyman without it seeming like a punishment 😭😭

Dude I totally feel you. It's so much easier to live and let live so I don't understand how these ppl have the energy to be so aggressively hurtful all the time. This has been said before ad nauseum but for god's sake, it's JUST a fucking tv show. I'm too old for this shit.

(longer explanation under the cut! like... extremely long lol I'm so sorry my thoughts about this have been building up for a while 😅)

I think the extremely aggressive kyman hate is a symptom of growing poor media literacy and the larger "purity culture" trend that's been present online for a while now. It's very reminiscent of American Evangelicalism or Puritanism, where members of the church have to follow a very specific set of rules for behaving and thinking and if you deviate from those rules in the slightest, you're shot down immediately by the community and shamed for being sinful and blasphemous, all to keep you on the "righteous path" and avoid burning in hell for eternity. This is why so many puritanical christians in the US hate themselves for doing what most of the world sees as normal behavior, and simultaneously force that self-hating worldview onto others to "save" them. (For example see this video by FD Signifier on youtube explaining how hardcore religious ppl/conservatives are doomed to be bad in bed because they see sex as "evil" when in reality it's a normal part of human behavior 😬 It's long but very good).

Though, it's important to note that ppl who think this way may not even be christian themselves, but the behavior is so pervasive in american culture that you absorb it even if you're not a puritanical christian. (for example, to quote Ian Danskin, athiests may think "I don't believe in god, but the god I don't believe in is Jehovah). Tons of the first generation of white USAmericans were exiled British puritans who were kicked out of their home country for essentially being self-righteous assholes and trying to force their shit worldview on everyone else lmao. And I think because so many online spaces are so USAmerican-centric, people from all over the world have started adopting that purity culture as well.

Now, South Park is extremely popular (duh). It's been around for decades so it has a ton of fans both old and new. Unfortunately a lot of new fans, especially young people, follow the show for very different reasons than the average normie/not-terminally-online viewer does. They take the characters out of their original context, use them like dolls to make their own stories and fan content, and ignore all the other blatantly controversial shit that's been going on in the show since day 1 (which is why so many exclusively make blasé creek fanworks imo). They want to keep their thoughts "pure" and only engage with content that's approved by the puritanical online community

It's extremely fitting but also sad that Cartman is the scapegoat for everything wrong with South Park, both in the show and in the real world. Either ppl don't want to acknowledge he exists, or ppl latch onto him and project all of that puritanical hatred toward him or anyone that likes his character. Hell, even I'M guilty of this kind of thinking before I watched the show and understood Cartman's character better.

Kyman in particular is a target BECAUSE it involves Cartman, but also because people boil it down to shipping a nazi with a jew which, at the surface level, seems horrible! But if you've ever actually WATCHED the goddamn show, you know that is an extremely reductive and inaccurate interpretation of their characters. It's horribly poor media literacy. These ppl CANNOT seem to comprehend that you can enjoy watching a character who's a "bad person" without condoning their actions, and that enjoying the shipping dynamic of such characters DOES NOT make you a bad person by proxy.

A huge role of fiction as media is to explore ideas that may be harmful in the real world in a safe way because... *gasp* it's imaginary!! It makes you think and experience emotions you may not have the opportunity for otherwise! However, in the eyes of puritans, the fact you're even thinking about something like that makes you a sinner. It's a thought crime, which is why they consider us mentally "sick" for shipping kyman. So, they send hate at the drop of a hat and publicly vilify kyman shippers to reinforce that behavior with each other, all to say "Hey look at me!!! I'm a Good Person! see how much of a Good Person I am??? I'm gonna go to HEAVEN, and YOU'RE going to HELL". Like I said before, it's not that they necessarily believe in heaven or hell, but that's the general root of the behavior. It's performative puritan dog-piling. Also, because they haven't even fucking watched the whole show, they conveniently ignore all the other horrible shit the show portrays because random kyman shippers online are easy targets while Matt & Trey are gajillionaires who are essentially un-cancellable for things they do on the show at this point because, to quote Trey: For anyone to go up and go "Did you see this thing on South Park? That was really offensive" someone's gonna be like "Dude shut up 😒 that's just South Park".

Geez man this got super fucking long lmao. But my advice is to please take care of yourself because, and this super cliché to say, but FUCK the haters dude 🖕🖕🖕 You're engaging with media that brings you joy and exploring interesting ideas with a community of awesome artists/writers/meta-analysts and more. This is supposed to be FUN!! Anyone who tries to take that away from you or shame you into stopping is a fucking immature, holier-than-thou asshole who needs to get a fucking life. The block button is your friend, so use it early and often. You have the power to curate your own online space, and you shouldn't subject yourself to dealing with these dickheads (this is a big reason why I don't have a tiktok lol)

Good luck dude, and keep on shipping kyman 😎🤘❤️💚

[forestknifefight]

Blupjeans Week Day 4

Wow, I'm early today. Prompt for today was Duet, and I wanted to be a little emotional with it. Listening to the song adds to the experience, I think.

Also I'm putting this chronologically before that one live show where they go treasure hunting on Davenport's ship.

Everyone is gathered around a record player: a tall, winding gramophone made by Magnus, bespoke for Lucretia following the day of Story and Song. The sound horn of the machine was crafted specifically to look like a floating jellyfish and then painted to look like Fisher. It was a Candlenights gift, and it made her cry so disgustingly that Taako couldn’t take it and had to leave the room while Lup laughed at the display of emotion.

This gift has been of so much use since its creation. Lucretia has taken the time to artifice, from memory, various songs from the Legato Conservatory, so they can all hear the music again.

Especially Lup and Barry’s song.

That’s what has brought them here today, though none of them know it. Lucretia has finally perfected the song, ready to show them all before passing it on to the couple.

Taako, Magnus, and Merle are settled across a long couch. Davenport has settled alone in an armchair. Angus is perched on his knees in the middle of the room. Lup and Barry, both physical and alive, are squeezed into a single armchair together.

Lucretia stands in front of the gramophone, a small black record balanced between her fingertips.

“Alright, Creesh!” Lup shouts from her seat. “Slap that bad boy on that…” She waves her hand in the air. “Thing! And let’s get this party started!”

Lucretia sends Lup a withering stare. “It’s a gramophone,” she says. “You know, you will be so thrilled that I have taken the time to create this.”

Lup mutters two quiet Yeah, yeah’s and turns to Barry with a roll of her eyes. Barry chuckles and presses his forehead against her shoulder.

“Please, get a fucking move on,” Taako says. “I’ve got a date to binge this new Queer Eye show, and I nee-eed to get to that.”

Lucretia lets her eyes slip shut and she sighs. “Fine.” she turns around and sets up the record on the gramophone, slipping it over the pin. She turns the hand crank on the machine a few times, enough that the record will play properly. Then, she drops the needle.

The second the first note passes Lup’s ear, she grabs Barry’s hand and squeezes. The sweet whine of the violin layered over the harmony of the piano is somehow simultaneously ingrained in both of their memories, yet also lost to them. They remember it so clearly, as if it were yesterday, but at the same time feel as though they are hearing it for the first time today.

The crescendo in the middle of the song comes, and Lup’s eyes well with tears. During the small lull immediately following it, the tear slips down her cheek and is immediately wiped away by Barry’s thumb.

The song ends. Lup and Barry look up at Lucretia, who is smiling at them.

Lup takes a deep, shaky breath. “You did this to get back at me for laughing at you when you got this fucking thing, didn’t you?”

[midchelle]

Thank you @raylangivins for tagging mwahhh kisses :)))

How many works do you have on ao3?

A humble 6.

What's your total ao3 word count?

34,148, would be 90,571 if I hadn't orphaned a fic a while back.

What fandoms do you write for?

It's currently the Beatles, but I used to write some other stuff. YA series. Let's not get into it.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

oh, what a night! - Paul's not looking at John, he’s watching his fingers follow the line of John’s clavicle to his shoulder. “Not going to sleep, then?” “No.” John swallows, feels the dexie scrape down his oesophagus. “Was rather hoping for an encore, myself.” Obertauern, February 1965

Sorry Girls, He's Married - The morning after the Ed Sullivan Show, John is in a strange mood. Cyn is asleep. Paul makes a bad choice || New York City, February 1964 (Added a summary to this a while ago because I remembered it just didn't have one lol)

the late, great, johnny ace - 1981. Paul is making an album.

my brother's keeper - There is a certain clinical satisfaction in seeing just how bad things can get || Chicago, August 1966

you and i have memories - Over the years, John has had many way-out ideas, but fucking off to California and having his memory wiped is certainly a novel one, even for him. (2/5)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yeah I try to! I'm kind of a boomer when it comes to AO3 functionality, so sometimes I miss a few of them, but they're always super appreciated and I try to make sure that I show that.

What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably tell me all my love's in vain. The actual situation in johnny ace is much, much angstier, but the ending has a bit of hope, at least.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

oh, what a night! Absolutely zero conflict throughout.

Do you get hate on fics?

I had one person be irritating in the comments of a fic, but otherwise everyone's been lovely.

Do you write smut?

yeah

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I haven't yet, might after I read the Marianne Faithfull/Edie Sedgwick bios that have been sitting on my desk for ages.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Someone could've stolen something I posted on Wattpad/ff.net and I wouldn't even know at this point because I can't get into the accounts.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Think someone on ff.net offered to translate the now orphaned fic a while ago. Can't recall what language.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I'm open to doing it should the muse strike us simultaneously.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

this dynamic <33

What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I had an idea for a Twilight fic some time ago that I never finished because I didn't know enough about Twilight, but it was a pretty good concept. I might use it for original fiction sometime, I dunno.

What are your writing strengths?

I dunno, you tell me. Descriptions, jokes, bad vibes, idk.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I hate writing the connective tissue bits between scenes, which is why most of my longer fics are in vignette form, and I get fed up of the fic if I've been working on it for a while, so my endings tend to be a bit lazier. Also, I'm not very good at plot. I'm mostly a vibes-based writer.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

It's usually pretty easy to get around, especially if the character themselves doesn't speak the language. One of my biggest pet peeves in fiction in general is the egregious use of recognizable foreign words to show the audience they're speaking another language when everything else is in English. Don't be doing that.

First fandom you wrote for?

Percy Jackson, I think. Self insert ofc, never posted anywhere.

Favorite fic you've written?

Doing the opposite of the way parents pic their favourite child and saying whichever was the last one.

tagging (no pressure!): @aquarianshift @boshemians @eveepe

[thescrapbookingscientist]

Bimonthly Media Roundup

- This is How You Lose the Time War (Books) - A quick read but a memorable one, this novella had some really beautiful and heart wrenching prose and a pretty unique setting about two inhuman (immortal?) rival time traveling secret agents slowly falling in love via increasingly intricate letters left for each other across time and space. The small details we got about their respective societies and how they work were pretty cool, as was the overall enemies who taunt each other to rivals who understand each other to lovers who would die for each other pipeline. I generally prefer my media to be longer and more character/plot driven, but short and introspective is good sometimes as well and I appreciate it for feeling like a full and uncompromised package.

- Tiger Tiger (Webcomic) - I've been meaning to check this out for awhile now, so when I saw that the first book had been physically published I snapped it up and wow, really should have gotten into this sooner it's a blast. The art is gorgeous, pretty much all the central characters are excellent, and the supernatural lore so far has been really intriguing. Period ship-adventure fantasies are a pretty good genre to start with, and it's great to see one with an enthusiastic inventor/scientist who gives PowerPoint-esque presentations to her crew about the cellular structure of sea sponges. Incredible. Though my favorite has to be Remy as his combination of gay angst over falling for his himbo best friend, being a genuinely good, caring older brother, and trying his best to be a decent person while simultaneously dealing with the high expectations placed on him really makes me feel for the guy. Definitely adding to my "eagerly awaiting updates for" list.

- Crazy Ex Girlfriend (TV) - My sister and I finally made it to the finale, which was pretty satisfying all things considered. I'm still shocked by how good this show managed to be, with it's amazing songs, great humor, and surprisingly healthy portrayal of mental health issues and the road to self improvement via therapy, routine, medication, and taking responsibility for your actions without spiraling into self-deprecation (and of course how hard this road is). I have my nitpicks with it of course and know that the show won't be to everyone's tastes given how "theater" it can be, but I think it said everything it wanted to say and did so incredibly well, it's become a new favorite of mine at least. Gotta give it to Rebecca, she is definitely one of the characters of all time.

- Cabinet of Curiosities (TV) - Not super far in this as I've had quite a bit of other things going on, but I do appreciate the concept and think more purely episodic mini-series should be made. So far I've seen the first episode which was an interesting concept and good set-up but a bit lackluster in it's payoff and the second which was fun in a cheesy way (hah) but did kind of drag in the second half. I've heard the best is yet to come so looking forward to that.

- The Locked Tomb Series (Books) - Nothing new to say but still love these books. Counting down the days to Alecto.

- One Piece Live Action (TV) - Convinced my sister to watch this with me after being surprisingly impressed by the trailers and uh yeah actually it's somehow good actually? There's plenty to complain about if you are looking to do so of course, there was issues with the lighting, the Navy subplot wasn't bad but took too much screen time away from the straw hats, and some of the emotional moments didn't hit as hard with much less build up, but honestly I was impressed by what we got. The casting was spot on and all the actors did a great job, they kept in a lot of the goofy/ fun presentation and world details from the manga, the new content and way they weaved the story together was really well done, the action scenes were neat, and I just think they nailed the spirit of the finding best friends and setting off on an adventure together. Shout out especially to how Sanji was written and acted to be less comically skirt chasing and more of a genuinely sweet guy, the added 'trying on outfits' scene where Nami tries and fails to get Zoro and Luffy to compliment her/care about fashion, and the creative set designs for pretty much every location from the mansion to the tangerine grove to Buggy's stage (as terribly lit as they were). I realize there is no way they will adapt the complete story this way, but I hope it get's a second season at least, they deserve it.

- Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice (Video Game) - The final Ace Attorney mainline game, from case one I was already enjoying it a lot more than the Investigation games and honestly so far it hasn't let me down. I'm enjoying the new location and it's insane rules, the old characters are well written here and play off each other well, I surprisingly like a lot of the new characters, and I appreciate how much the cases tie into the plot and/or characters we actually care about. The only bummer so far is the new prosecutor, I'm sure he has his baggage same as all the others but boy is he not fun at all, not even in a fun to hate way, he's just an annoying religious zealot who's exceedingly arrogant despite being wrong 100% of the time. Like I don't care if you're mean, but be mean in a fun way dude.

- Monthly Girls Nozaki Kun (Manga) - Ah yes Nozaki Kun, not so much a romantic comedy as a comedy built upon the concept of romance being inherently ridiculous. Not a bad egg in this hilariously stacked cast, this remains one of the few manga that I wholeheartedly find hilarious, so I like to come back to it from time to time to get some free serotonin. Special shout out to Kashima for not only embodying the overly capable handsome girl chick magnet archetype but also doing it while being an overconfident, overly competitive, lovestruck dork ass loser at the same time. Honestly the whole cast are idiot losers and I love them deeply for it.

- Genshin Impact (Video Games) - Thanks to my friend I've picked this back up and oh geez I can feel the obsession incoming already. I've mostly just been messing around and trying to get my footing so far since the last time I played was over a year ago, but I'm about to start the second countries main story which I hear is pretty good. I really like the discovery aspect of the game as well as many of the character designs (same body/face syndrome notwithstanding) and have liked the story so far, though I have a few gripes with the experience too. The leveling system is pretty annoying and I don't appreciate the intentionally confusing character rolling system even if getting a random character is kind of fun. If there's a weapon only banner there should also be a character only banner, my experience so far has been rolling 23+ times and only getting crappy weapons. Combat is also not as fun as it could be given how over leveled the enemies are compared to my own level locked characters. Anyway, I have a feeling this will keep it's spot here for awhile so I can say more later.

Listening to: Sway Cover and Eat Your Young Cover by Reinaeiry, Insane by Black Gryph0n, Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths, Comfort Zone by Fukase, Two Princes by Spin Doctors, Money Game Pt 2 by Ren, What About Now by Daughtry, Bad as the Boys by Tove Lo, Adore by Jasmine Thompson, Undress Rehearsal by Timeflies, Self Esteem by The Offspring, Lent by Autoheart.

[letsoulswander]

5, 18, 21 for writing asks!

5) What is the perfect environment for you to write in?

Low stress! that's really it, if I'm stressing about work or life or bills or people being Mad At Me, it's hard to think about creating and writing gets quite difficult!

18) What is a line/scene you’re really proud of? Give us the DVD commentary for that scene.

This is from a fic I wrote mostly in 2019, called "to see or be seen", and it's all about the bit between seasons 3 and 4 of the magnus archives.

I'm a sucker for pining over someone in a coma, and the utter helplessness of it. I wanted to explore that, because after season 1, most of the show just... failed to scare me. Not in a bad way! But it was a horror show, and I got used to the kind of horror it produced, and kind of stopped being scared. But that season 4 teaser? The little conversation Martin has with Jon's unresponsive corpse body in a bed? CHILLS.

I'm not wild about ships or anything, so while this fic IS a pining fic, it's also mostly about the isolation Martin feels. Maybe he was finally starting to feel important, starting to see a path forward- and then what happens? Tim dies, Jon's gone for now (and simultaneously right there, how lonely), and Melanie and Basira are off doing their own bullshit. Who is Martin anymore? He has no friends, he has no home. How can he identify himself? How can he distinguish himself from the anguish of all those stories in the Archives, of losing his friends, of watching the object of his infatuation waste away and being able to do nothing?

I think that dissociation of self is illustrated best here, where Martin realizes there are no mirrors at all, in this empty haunted London. These dreams that get more real, more difficult to ignore each night, and he doesn't even have the option to be himself, to be a self. I set it up earlier in the fic- did you catch it? What do you think? Does it send chills down your spine the way it did mine, when I first decided to take wing mirrors off cars?

21) What is the one fic that got away?

there's two ways to interpret this, so I'll go with both.

the first one is a BBC Sherlock fic where John Watson is a vampire, and Sherlock ends up working alongside him on a case- John is faster, stronger, deadlier, and can smell people where a human might not see them.

I don't remember what the case was, but I remember Sherlock being completely hearteyes over strong, fast, smart, observant vampire!John. at one point Sherlock convinces John to drink from him right before going into a building full of dangerous men, and then John's like "WOAH" and realizes that Sherlock ate a huge fudgy brownie and slammed an enormous espresso-laced coffee in front of John so that when John drank from him, he'd have the advantage of sugar and caffeine.

I think it got deleted because I can't find it anymore, it was up in like 2014 and I think about it all the time.

the second one is a fic I wrote and never finished and probably never will, where Castiel and Jack Harkness (both eternal undying beings) keep meeting at different points in their neverending lives.

The story was meant to examine how Castiel is made for this, prepared for it even- how Castiel has people around him who are eternal too, how any biology or essential makeup of Castiel himself would obviously be ready to endure that long, and how in contrast, Jack struggles with the burden of eternity. Jack, who is human, doesn't have the physical or mental wherewithal to outlast everyone he's ever known and everything he's ever done, but he has to, because he has no choice.

I know I had a climactic scene in mind when I started that fic, but I have no idea where it was supposed to end, so I never finished it. Sad. Maybe someday I'll post it, unfinished, and see what happens.

Thanks for the asks! Sorry it took so long for me to open my computer and answer these!

[kaz11283]

Of Course I'm Here

Characters: Come on you know by now how this goes (Loki x you) (Team x you, platonic)

Warnings: None. And really if you ever see anything that I might need to able as a warning please let me know... I'm the person who forgets there are people out there that get offened by the word F*** if that is an exapmle of anything.

Summary: Mid battle and the avengers keep looking for an answer as to why the God of Lies hasnt showed up yet. Of course you have no idea but at least he proves them all wrong.

ANNOUNCEMENT TIME: hey guys Im back, I know it hasnt been long but I also know I havent been posting every single day like I was, i got into a weird little funk where I didnt want to do anything, I was just feeling completly drained, and I felt bad because I have my little and I didnt even want to play with her because I have just been so TIRED, but I'm feeling better. Work has been kicking my ass here lately and ive been working over 50 hours a week so ive literally been coming in, eatting / feeding the little, getting us ready for bed, and crashing as soon as she falls asleep. But im here now. I will probably be more active on weekends than during the week because I have more time to spend working on stuff but I will be posting also during the week just not daily. At least until after state comes. Thank you so much for the reblogs, likes, comments, follows, and messages please keep them coming! If you would like to be tagged please ask or message, and requests are open. Love you guys so much! 💚💚💚💚💚

Loki Masterlist

~~~~~

"Y/N, BACK UP I NEED BACK UP! EYES IN THE SKY!" Tony yelled from above, you and Clint stood back to back on a roof top shooting as many bad guys as you could. Clint took aim at another carrier, shooting at the engine causing the entire thing to blow up raining debris and hot metal around you.

"Damnit Clint! Farther away make sure they are farther away!" You yelled popping him on the head with an arrow before aiming it at the thing that was chasing Tony.

"Where is lover boy at? You.sent him the location right?" Nat asked into the com.

"Yes I sent him the location, no I dont know where hes at." You mocked.

"Did you send him the right location?" Sam asked.

"One time, one dam-"

"Language!" Steve chimed in causing everyone to groan. Gun shots where ringing all around you and you could here metal on metal paired with Hulk screams coming from another building over.

"Language." You mocked muting your com son that no one but Clint heard you. "I am a 26 year old woman, I think I'm old enough to cuss if I want." You drew back your bow and sent another arrow flying into another goon that had Nat trapped aginst a wall. She shot you a thumbs up before running off. You hit unmute on your com.

"Jesus, 26? Baby, you sure you don't need to be at a babysitter instead of on a building killing things?" He laughed.

"Dont worry Hawk, when we get done here I've already booked you a nice nursing home to be put into." You put your bow around you and stood on the edge of the building. "I need a better view." You looked round, the top of a taller building caught you eye. "There Hawk, we can cover a better radius from up there, get closer to the action."

"DOES ANYONE KNOW WHEN THE GODS ARE GOING TO BE HERE? WE NEED MORE HELP WERE GETTING TIRED AND OUT NUMBERED!" Tony came over the coms screaming.

"How do we get up there? Or do I even wanna know?" Hawk came to examin where you were talking about.

"Im jumping, you cant tell me that someone wont catch me." You shrug.

"GODS WHERE ARE TH- Y/N DONT YOU DARE JUMP!" Tony stopped and hovered right were you was standing.

"Then take us over there. We need higher ground, we cant cover everyone from down here." You crossed your arms.

"Where are the gods at y/n?" He asked again

"I. Dont. Know. Jesus you guys act like I'm suppose to be there keeper!" A simultaneous you are came from everone through the com causing you to roll your eyes. "Hes gonna be here I swear it! Now take me to the building or I jump. 1.....2....-" Tony grabbed you by the collar of your jacket and flew you to the building.

God these things were everywhere and you were starting to run out of arrows. After shooting another ship and causing it to blow you heard what was unmistakably pounding on the roof top door leading to where you currently was at.

"I have some univited guests about to join my party. Anyone available for some assistance?" You yanked out the two emerald green and silver daggars that your boyfriend had given you not long after you had started dating after throwing your bow around you.

"Buy some time kid, I'm on ground level right now but I can try to get up there as fast as possible." Bucky called over the com.

"Buy some time? Ok. I can do this. I work better from afar but a little hand to hand never hurt anyone, just easier to get stabbed this way." The first of the things busted through the door running straight at you. You jerked out of the way missing his staff by just a few inches. Quickly turning you flipped the dagger like Loki had showed you and stabbed him in his side causing him to fall to the ground before the next one tried to impale you.

"I have two daggers and they have freaking staffs! Back up! WHERE THE HELL AR-" you were interupted by static in the air and a bright light. The bitfrost had just opened up leaving to gods standing in front of you and taking out the remainder ofnthe bad guys. "HES HERE! I TOLD YOU GUYS THEY WERE COMING AND THEY'RE HERE." You pulled two extra coms from you pocket and gave them to Thor and Loki.

"Always a pleasure to battle beside you Lady y/n." Thor smiled takkng the com and putting it in his ear before taking off again.

Loki sauntered over to you and put his arm around you waist, you put the com in his ear as he rolled his eyes. He leaned down and gave you a quick kiss.

"You got a new outfit." You smiled at him. God the way he looked in his battle clothe always did something to you, the horned helment was a plus.

"You like it." He smirked down at you pulling you closer.

"Your wearing your horns to." You reached up and brushed a peice if hair behind his ear.

"STOP. STOP NOW. WE CAN HEAR EVERYTHING AND ITS GROSS." Tony yelled causing you both to roll your eyes.

"Quick run down, bad guys everywhere, no end in sight, and I'm out of arrows pretty sure Hawk is too." Loki waved his hand over your quiver making more arrows appear.

"I see you had to use your daggers. I am sorry for not being here. Are you hurt anywhere?" He asked stepping away from you to examin you.

"Small cut on the side, nothing I havent dealt with before, Ill be fine. You go make sure Hawk is fully stocked up and help the others. I got a birds eye view of you right here." I leaned in kissing him one more time before smiling at him and pushing him away. He kissed his two finger before placimg them over his heart and you did the same, "always." You both said before he disappered.

You could hear Thor laughing at the chaos going on and Steve trying to direct the god of thunder on what to do. You had learned earlier to just let him do his own thing and he would be fine. Tony was still trying to micromanage everything when you heard Loki mumble something in an old language and his com cut out. You had figured it wouldnt have stayed on to long though but at least you had tried. It had calmed down up on your end so you decided to finally go back down to where Clint was at shooting an arrow with heavy duty rope you glided back down next to him to watch what was going on.

"Hello, earth to y/n." He snapped his fingers in front of your face. You had been to busy staring at Loki and that damn helmet. "I dont even understand why were friends." He rolled his eyes propping up on the ledge watching as the rest of the team secured the last of the bad guys.

"Because we both shoot arrows, because we are both the best in the team, or because we both know we are the best looking one on the team so we have to stick together." You laughed jumping up so you could sit on the ledge.

"The birds can come out of their nest now." Bucky called over the coms causing you both to sigh.

When you and Clint had reached the bottom you walked over to Thor theowing your arms around the big goof ball.

"You are amazing during battle as always." He beemed patting you on the shoulder.

"As always? Thor youve only fought with her twice." Steve said beside you.

"I had a week off. Went to Asguard, spent time with the boys. Someone had to keep them in line." You shrugged like it was no big deal.

"She was amazing!" Thor went on telling the story of the fight you had all gotten into.

"Mothers been asking about you by the way dear. Wants to know if you've decided to come stay for a while." Loki leaned down and whispered in your ear.

"I think I'm leaning toward a yes. I can't stand being away from you, you had been gone forever this time." You reached for his hand as you both walked to the quinjet.

"I was making arrangements to have our room redone. I figured you would come with me." He gave you a knowing smirk as he reached up to take off his helmet.

"Leave the horns on. I have a suprise for you when we get home." You pulled his hand away from his head and smacked his butt.

"You are a little minx." He laughed chasing you into the jet while the rest of the team groaned and rolled their eyes.

"Even if you wasnt moving i would be kicking your ass out! I am so sick of the PDA between you two." Tony hollared after you.

"Leave them alone Tony, they are courting. Im just glad my brother is happy and not trying to stab me." Thor clapped Tony on the back.

~~~~~

Tag List:

@kgirardin

@sophlubbwriting

@supbeeches

@high-functioning-lokipath

[godwithwethands]

lmao i don't know all your shipping preferences but can i say, i much prefer sam with ba'al than with jack (this might be because i'm a high jack/daniel shipper but also, i just prefer the sam/ba'al vibe over the sam/jack vibe)

I'm a multishipper so I ship pretty much everything simultaneously: I love JackDaniel too 🥰🥰🥰 They are so cute and so good for eachother 🥺

Honestly yeah I prefer the vibe of BaalSam to JackSam as well 👁️👅👁️ But that's personal taste and interpretation of course 🥴

Oh no now I feel like explaining in depth why I love Baalsam and why I ship it... oh no... someone stop me 😩... LET'S FREAKING GO I'M GONNA EXPLAIN WHY!!!!

Mino’s “Here’s why I love BaalSam so much” aka just me gathering up the few baalsam crumbs the show writers, Amanda Tapping and Cliff Simon left in their wake....and baking a cake with those crumbs.

Before I start, PSA: English is not my first language, so please bear with me if there are any mistakes 😭

Okay so I feel like at first I can't explain it without mentioning the differences with jacksam, and to all jacksam shippers: I love jacksam to bits too and they're so good, as the show has showed us multiple times, but I miss a little spice here 😩🌶️

I will also briefly talk about things I have found in Baalsam fics that I adore in (Fic points)!! And link back to fics I love with (x)!!!!

(Mid-writing note: I realize I say a lot about Baal and less about Sam, and that is because I just think about Baal way much than I think about Sam, mainly because we have so little Baal screentime compared to Sam’s screentime. I often wonder how/what he feels and try to analyze his behavior closely. 🥺 I don’t do it as much with Sam, sadly 😭

1. The ship dynamic scale (totally made up by yours truly, me 😎)

I often describe the ships I prefer as "A is obnoxious and B is struggling to stay sane" (maybe because it is a description of my own relationship??? 🤔) (this is exagerrated for fun and giggles don't worry i am fine and happy). They are all a variation of this, in different levels. I'd say jacksam fits level 1, Jack being obnoxious sometimes but in an endearing, jokingly, "aww you're such a goof 😍😂" way, and Sam's not really struggling, she just laughs and shakes her head, her heart full of love for her man.

Baalsam on the other hand. Oh boy. They are on level 5 out of 5. What the hell. Baal is obnoxious, in the villain way. And that means, a VERY extra way. He's mean obnoxious. Putting salt in the wound obnoxious. "if you don't shut up I will punch your teeth in/shoot you" obnoxious. Sam is struggling every minute to stay sane with this crazy motherfucker. He's SO MUCH. ALL THE TIME. But joke's on her, she also thinks it's funny. 🤡 That's her sanity flying out the window.

Seriously, Sam has to put her foot down. She has to play Baal’s game and sometimes be mean too. I feel like Baalsam allows Sam to unveil her true potential. A strong woman who takes no shit from men and 2000 years old overlords. She can be 200% true, smug, mean. Maybe JackSam respect each other too much they wouldn’t dare saying/doing some things like Baalsam would  🤔 Maybe Sam is restrained by everything she lived with Jack, the respect she has for him, the 10 or so years spent having him as her superior officer.

A lot think that Sam got her smug from Jack, but I don’t agree: she was smug from the get-go in COFG. She just can’t be too smug with him around or it’d sound like insubordination. Aint she tired of being nice? Doesn’t she wanna go apeshit? That’s what baalsam is. Sam going apeshit and quitting being the perfect nice girl.

Baalsam is an explosive volcano and it ravaged me 😩💖💖💖

2. Baal is a Villain

Send him to horny villain jail!!! BONK!!! 💥🔨

Baal being a villain is VERY important. Villains are so extreme. Everything he does, he does way too hard and too much. His evil plans? As layered as an ogre. Onion. I meant onion. His wardrobe? Nothing but the finest. His love? He'd give his Queen the Universe.

I love that. Everything he does, it's too much. But it's so amazing. Urghhj I love it SO MUCH. Sam is overwhelmed 😩💖 All of that for HER?? Damn, boi either really wants to get laid with her especially or.. 🙊‼️ I love the concept of a Villain’s Love because it knows no boundaries. A villain won’t be held back by things like morals, the love they feel is disproportionate......AND I DONT KNOW Sam being able to provoke this kind of feeling in Baal’s little snake heart makes me lose my absolute fucking mind!!!!! 

Very important too: even if he becomes a SGC ally in one way or another in whatever AU, Baal will still keep his good ol' villain habits. Sam would try to tone them down, but they will always be there. You don't erase 2000 years of bad habits 😭. His first solution will be murder, and she will go "we talked about this." Classical Enemies to Lovers shit  🥴💖 (x)

(Fic point: When Baal does something so extreme yet so so soooo damn sweet for her and Sam can’t believe it??? 10/10 Or when he acts on his villain plans for distasteful jokes and that puts Sam on a tight spot and he immediately feels bad at the unfair treatment she gets because of him (x))

3. The endless verbal jousting

I love watching them being mean to each other. If Baal goes too far, she /would/ hit him, and he would turn his other cheek saying "Do it again, loved it". What a freak 🥴🌶️ (x)

Honestly I just love their little sparring matches, even more so when they do it in front of an audience. Like lmao guys..... y'all flirting in front of everyone what the hell!!! BONK !! 💥🔨 horny jail for both of you. At least Teal’c seems to enjoy their jousting  😂 He even teases them holy shit, Teal’c is the true multishipper in that show!!!!

(Fic point: When they argue and come to a fistfight (mostly Sam hitting and Baal taking or blocking the hits)? HELL YEAH!!!!)

4. Admitting the other’s qualities

I’ll start with Baal:

Baal seems to appreciate the courage Sam shows in front of him. You could explain her confidence in The Quest by saying that at this very moment Baal doesn’t have an advantage on Sam since she’s the one holding the gun. There is something else, and I will bring it up later.

Let’s talk about Reckoning!!!! The situation is different, Baal actually called for help whereas he was supposed to kill everyone on Dakara. And here goes the little sparring match in front of Jacob  🤡 Sam ordering Baal around??? Being smug as hell??? 10/10 love it

It’s the first time he sees her and he’s taken aback. He should look mad, having a woman addressing him like that. But he looks rather surprised and curious of what’s going to happen next. I can literally hear the little “Hm. Interesting.” in his head. Baal enjoys that smug look on her face. Tau’ri female who??? Who IS she!!! Quick gotta be a jerk so she won’t suspect I’m crushing super hard right now!!!! Cliff Simon decided Baal will be the horny one among the System Lords and holy shit he did just that 😂😂😂 i’m sorry i’m just incohenrently babbling at this point I CANT BELIEVE THIS, I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!!!!!! you thought that huge ass post was going to be me thoughtfully bringing points and evidence? nope it’s just me losing my shit.

I believe that, despite what Baal says, he recognizes Sam’s intelligence to some extent. He’s just too proud to say it clearly and is too busy testing Sam’s limits. The more I think about it, the more I feel like he really looked for that punch in The Quest. Some kind of... I don’t know... “What makes you so special, as a female Tau’ri, to be on your kind’s elite scout team? How much can you take before you retaliate, if you retaliate at all? Show me what you’re made of.” kind of thing? Baal has shown some kind of interest in Earthlings in the past. He has studied them while living among them and he seems to like how different they are from other humans, Now he knows she’s as fierce as she needs to be to survive in this galaxy.

Have you sEEN his smile and his laugh after she punched him in The Quest? AFTER SHE TURNED HER BACK TO HIM TOO, OH, MY GOD. He really wanted a drastic reaction from her and he got it.

That is a “I love me a woman who can kick my ass” kinda smile if you ask me  👁️w👁️...

What makes me think that it was a test is: after the punch and Sam’s threat to kill him, he stops being so annoying and they can finally work together. But why? Why did he care about being killed? He was a clone, there’s no way he was still hoping to steal the Sangraal from SG-1, so his mission as this one Baal clone couldn’t be fulfilled anyway. That makes me think that he was just testing Sam’s limits, and maybe having a little fun with her.

(Fic point: I LOVE IT when Baal gets access to the SGC and everyone gets on his nerves because he thinks they are all dumb as shit. But when he talks with Sam, he’s not so annoyed. She can keep up with him. Well, sometimes she needs a little help but- Maybe she’s okay to be with sometimes...(x))

Sam’s turn: 

It’s no problem for Sam to admit Baal’s intelligence. However the idea of working with him just makes her go [grimacing emoji]  😭 😭 😭 She just knows he’s gonna be obnoxious pfahahaha But!! She trusts and values his knowledge nonetheless! She knows that teamed up with Baal, they can solve anything. I believe that’s why she asks him for help so easily despite...Well, Baal being Baal.

I feel like, when you put the "it’s a matter of life and death” thing aside, Sam’s desire to learn could push her towards Baal. She knows there is a lot she could learn from him, and they can work together once he stops insulting her every 5 seconds. She can learn from him in those moments.

(Fic point: I love fics where Sam learns things from Baal... It’s usually very sweet, because Sam is absolutely adorable when she’s excited about science and Baal can’t help but melt a little bit when she smiles so bright at him. Thankful.) 

5. Sam’s kindness 

I said earlier that, as we all know, Baal is a villain. But what’s important here is that he is a Goa’uld System Lord. 

No trust, no kindness and love allowed between those guys. Those would leave the door open for treason and low blows. (See Qetesh in Continuum)

(I believe the only Goa’ulds truly in love we saw were Apophis and Amaun’et)

Now what I tell myself is: that must be pretty freaking lonely. In any shape or form. You can’t have friends, because you can only befriend your fellow godlings who will try to kill you at any given opportunity. Same for mates. 🤔 Baal is just alone at the top of his army and that’s all. What if this isn’t enough? He is different from other Goa’ulds.

What if Sam’s genuine worry and thankfulness towards him in Reckoning were the first time he had someone feel those towards him for like, hundreds, or even thousands of years? Not something distorted and stained by any slave-to-god adoration?

He is soooo surprised. He even stutters a little? At a loss for words when faced with kindness, you, galactic overlord? And she looks actually worried about him and his ship about to go down, when before saying thank you, she asks him what’s going on. I like to think that this first interaction shaped what Baal will think and feel for Sam forever....And that it made him a bit soft for her  🥺 Maybe he sees in Sam (and in the rest of SG-1, see: how much fun he’s having with them during The Quest) a possibility for friendship and maybe more, something he hasn’t considered for A WHILE. He seems to be thinking “did she really say that...wait what do I answer to this...uh....Good luck.......ok i said it. damn that was weird.” 

Also can I briefly talk about this??

Why does Sam look so embarrassed in a “Oh god right Dad is right there and saw all of that hUM.” way 😂 I don’t think she felt like it was creepy, since Baal was just responding to her kindness, and she definetely doesn’t want to talk about her being nice to a System Lord with Jacob bjfdjgbfdg

(Fic point: All I can think of is this fic where Sam gets thrown in a prison cell with a badly beaten up Baal (his symbiote is not able to heal his wounds because of a collar he wears), and she refuses to leave him there to die. They escape together 😭💖💖💖 (x))

6. Sam knows Baal will never hurt her

Maybe this is a result of Sam’s kindness in Reckoning, but Baal made it clear to Sam that he would never hurt her directly. And this is what I was referring to when I said “there’s something else” in Sam’s confidence in confronting Baal. This line below activates all of my monkey braincells because what the hell!!!!

That’s “I kinda like you” in Villain language is it not????? Out of all the things Baal could have answered to “You can kill me if you want”, he decides to say “I would never dream of killing you.” with a voice so soft... oh my god. Talking about soft....

Is it me or Baal’s touch on Sam is kind of gentle....like he doesn’t hold her wrist too tight or anything,,,,  🥺🥺🥺😭😭😭💖💖💖 Because honestly, another Goa’uld would have yanked on her arm so hard to put their hands on that hard drive but no no no he just closes his hand on her wrist and lets her go gently when she pulls out of his grip and AM I OVERANALYZING THIS?????? IM SORRY I GOT THAT TRAIT FROM MY DAD!!!!!!! we just have that tendency to watch things over and over again to notice all the small detailsssss

I like to think that afterwards, once the heat of the moment gone, she noticed that, hey. He /could/ have hurt her very badly, she was at his mercy after all. But he decided against it. Maybe because she’s the only one who’s been nice to him for literal cenTURIES????? HHHNHNHNHNHN I CANT!!!!!!!!!!! I HOPE SHE NOTICED IT!!!! And that it’s why she’s so confident addressing him like she does in The Quest.

I think I’ve addressed pretty much everything here and I’m going to talk about more things I like about BaalSam but more on the headcanon side  🤔

Miscellaneous: 

About Baal’s host:

I have said multiple times that Baal is different from other Goa’ulds, and I really don’t think it is just an act. 

He is willing to break the god act, change strategies when he realizes there are better ways to proceed, searching for new allies in drastic situations, etc etc... Baal is way more human than other Goa’ulds.

What if that was because Baal let his host’s thoughts influence his own?

Why wouldn’t there be asshole humans wanting to be hosts to asshole Goa’uld symbiotes? Just like the Tok’ra, but on the villain side? (even if Tok’ras are assholes lol) (except Jacob. I love Jacob) (And Martouf) (I don’t like Martouf but he’s the only one with Jacob that I consider a Real Tok’ra) (The other ones are hypocrites) (ANYWAY!)

I love to think that when Baal doesn’t have the flanged voice, it is his host who speaks, as Tok’ras do. I know symbiotes don’t have to talk with the flanged voice but. Having Baal and his host thinking so alike that it doesn’t matter if it’s the host or the symbiote talking makes so much sense to me. It really could explain his different way of thinking. Baal has shown curiosity for humans and how they think, how to better manipulate them...What if it was because of the good experience he has with his host? It could also explain why he’s the horny one amongst the System Lords 😂 He is just very human in a lot of ways.

Now you’re like “ok but what does that have to do with Baalsam” AND YEAH I HEAR YOU !!!! I just think it may be easier to imagine Baalsam for a non-shipper if you see Baal in that light?  🤔 🤔 🤔 it sure helps Sam seeing herself with him in fics 🥴 I don’t know!!! We know so little about Baal, and there are so many possibilites. I’m going way out of the Baalsam remit but at the same time, I strongly believe those who don’t understand the ship are those who stop their analysis of Baal at Abyss. He is so much more than just “that one Goa’uld who tortured and killed Jack in that one episode”. Baal has so much potential that makes this ship work!! Sam seeing that potential makes this ship work!

Sam hosting Baal (yes, the symbiote):

OKAY OKAY OKAY SO!!! This is something I LOVE to bits!!

That’s a thing that is great if as I said, Baal and his host are on the same wavelength. But it can work without it nonetheless.

Sam hosting Baal, consensual or not, is always ALWAYS such an amazing trope. (x) It’s really something that makes me hyperventilate because it makes them so close...so blended...it’s infinitely intimate... When Baal is in love with Sam, it’s even better. (x) I almost can’t describe it because it is so wonderful. Being able to feel each other’s feelings. Baal healing Sam from inside when she’s injured. Sam deciphering his emotions and most importantly the affection he has for her, especially when he still haven’t confessed it? holy shit it’s SO DAMN GOOD!!!!! The silent conversations they can have within Sam’s head, Baal pouring Goa’uld knowledge into Sam’s mind. It’s just the two of them and I can’t express how comforting that is to read.

i don’t know, random stuff I like i guess, I’m almost done: 

He just really craves her attention huh. Look at that smile, so cute...”I’m smart! Did you know I’m smart as hell? Of course you did. But I Would Like You To Acknowledge It.” He’s even bouncing on his heels, i love when he does that!!!! He is turning towards Sam especially too  😭💖 and she’s just ê____ê LMFAO

(Maybe this is just another “it is my speciality and not yours” moment but hey i like to give him the benefit of the doubt 💖)

Baal being “I’m tired of being a villain, I want to be loved now”...Aren’t you tired of going apeshit? Don’t you want to be nice? just a little bit?

Baal using so much petnames so easily... i’m usually not a fan of those but having him saying “my love, my sweet” etc etc oh fuck!!!!! i don’t know wHY it gets me!!! 

A lot of Baalsam fics are smutty, and while I enjoy that, I still think they have so much potential on the spiritual level. They’re both nerds and they both have so many things to learn from the other. (x)

Baal taking Sam on his ship to show her some neat space stuff.

Baal loving motorcycles just like Sam and modifying engines with naqadah.

Guess i’m just gonna link to fics I love now nvkjfdg and that I haven’t linked to already--

In the Lap of the Gods - Rating: M - Sam gets stuck in a sarcophagus with Baal. Really well thought fic, I love it!!!

The Mating game - Rating: M - Ten dates. Can I call this slow burn? It’s slow but not too slow. Please read this, it’s hilarious and so well written like- this fic makes me lose my absolute shit!

The Mating Game: Endgame - Rating: E - Read after The Mating Game. Honestly yEAH!!! Amazing sequel to an already amazing prequel, what else can I say 😩💖 you got some Host!Sam action in this too!!

Enemy Amongst Us - Rating: E - Hmmmm Sam falling for Baal is always yummy 🥴 It has more than that, it’s pretty wild!!!!!!

Those are not all but they are the ones i prefer 🥺💖💖💖 (along the ones I linked during the essay) 

I think I’m done? Congratulations for reading all of this lmao  😭💖 I hope you can see why I love Baalsam so much now!! They are just SO MUCH FUN!!! 

feel free to send me asks and stuff about this TvT/

[akechicrimes]

You have the best takes and I was wondering what an actual Akechi redemption would look like? Sending him to prison is a weird take I've seen considering the themes of power, corruption, and manipulation of youth, and quite frankly it's just boring and lazy from a plot/character standpoint. I imagine the first step would be talking to Futaba and Haru (and others who were affected by his actions) but I'm not sure what would happen after that.

ok firstly THANKS i do my best yellin into the tunglr void

second “Sending him to prison is a weird take I’ve seen considering the themes of power, corruption, and manipulation of youth, and quite frankly it’s just boring and lazy from a plot/character standpoint” is the SEXIEST sentence ive ever read re: goro and thank you for putting these words in this particular order i want it framed, truly it makes zero sense whatsoever

third thanks for this super duper cool question because weirdly enough i havent…………….. really thought about it before??? ive seen more than a few really interesting goro redemption arc fics but if i were gonna do one myself………………….. hmmmmmm

ok ok ok ok ok ok i will. do my best. big psuedo revisionist fanfic under cut

a redemption arc needs to address the wrongs and hurts that he’s done, as well as just generally other noxious junk. to rattle them off so we know what we’re working with, he

killed wakaba (unknown circumstances), which hurt futaba

killed okumura, which hurt haru

assisted shido in his rise to power

assisted an unknown number of other douchebags like shido in their rise to power

killed an unknown number of other douchebags

created psychotic breakdowns, involving casualties and potentially some deaths

was generally a shit on live television

lied to sae.

betrayed joker.

and from there he needs to address these in such a way that his character grows and is better for it.

simultaneously i think it’s important to weigh the opposite issues, which are the ways that akechi is either right or has a valid point, the ways that akechi has presumably been mistreated/abused by people around him, and just generally following through on seeing akechi become happier and healthier for having gone through a redemption arc. in no particular order, he:

apparently desperately craves approval/recognition from others, but not in a productive way (sorry the TV audience does not actually love you lmao!!!!!!!)

has some kind of complicated relationship with shido to say the fuckign LEAST, and i think addressing that angle of shido’s abuse is important

really suffers from his inability to be honest with just about anyone; how deeply he’s hidden his true self has not only exacerbated his loneliness, but it’s done so in a way that i think should be really understandable to any one of the thieves, who also need to hide their true selves and feelings when in public

is 100000% correct about how much shido should eat shit and die

does have a valid point about how dangerous the phantom thieves are, and, in irony of all ironies, probably is a good critic and moral barometer to make sure joker doesn’t go over any lines

is canonically the character who is most unafraid to go against joker’s orders

is smart all absolute FUCK while maintaining an attitude of FUCK COPS

so with all that in mind:

i’d say, the engine room confrontation happens as SOON as they enter shido’s palace. not necessarily specifically in the engine room, but that confrontation happens off the bat. the phantom thieves take two steps into shido’s palace and find that they can’t go anywhere–everything’s locked, or off limits, and the whole place is under more surveillance than any palace they’ve ever seen. sojiro was right when he said that shido’s paranoid as fuck.

they try to leave the palace for the day to regroup, and akechi’s there like a guard dog ready to defend shido’s psyche. why wouldn’t he be? he must have planned that perhaps the thieves would retaliate like this, whether or not joker was alive.

that whole very embarrassing breakdown happens. haru and futaba already canonically seem in favor of akechi rejoining the team, so although haru does say she won’t forgive akechi, i do think that doesn’t need to be at odds with them being in favor of him working with the team.

so, say, akechi’s on the verge of being convinced to work with the team, and he’s not necessarily all in on this whole “being alive” thing, and he’s not super convinced that he deserves redemption, but the phantom thieves really really really insisted, because the phantom thieves can and do change hearts, even when they’re not in palaces, and they’ve just changed akechi’s. 

cognitive akechi doesn’t show up because i’m using him later.

first thing: akechi, haru, and futaba need to have a talk, which is actually pretty easy and not even irrelevant. go through shido’s palace, get the letters of rec, everyone recognizes akechi. like haru in okumura’s palace, akechi’s practically their ticket into half the ship.

getting the letters of rec naturally brings up okumura and wakaba, imo, because it hammers home that these sorts of scumbags are the kinds of people that akechi was killing. and also that this is the kind of scumbag that okumura was, in life. have haru go through the five stages of grief all over again, like she did back in okumura’s palace, realizing that her father kills his own employees for the first time. have her struggle all over again to reconcile the father she loves with the father who died with the father who murdered and exploited and drove his employees to the brink of death. have akechi face that even the people he killed were people, too.

depending on your interpretation of wakaba, she was either just as corrupt OR she was genuinely a nice woman, but that can be addressed in a bunch of ways–akechi didnt know what he was doing at the time, or he totally did but didnt feel like he had any other choice–either way, some sort of contextualization of wakaba’s role in shido’s conspiracy needs to be unearthed. 

say futaba wants to know what her mother was like. say she asks akechi because akechi knew her, maybe knew wakaba better than futaba ever did, because futaba was young and also because futaba never spent a few days literally crawling through her mother’s psyche like akechi did. make akechi tell futaba about the woman he killed with his own mouth. maybe he tells her only the good parts. maybe futaba MAKES him tell her the bad parts. maybe futaba thanks him for it, and akechi figures out that an apology could never be enough.

the point, basically, is to use shido’s palace to have haru, futaba, and akechi come to terms with each other. forgiveness isnt necessarily the point–understanding is more important. haru and futaba come to understand how and why akechi did what he did, while akechi has to sit through several weeks of looking his victims in the eyeballs.

for extra bonus points of making akechi look his victims in the eyeballs, personally i think that futaba would be the most supportive of all the phantom thieves of akechi turning over a new leaf. she canonically tells him that “it doesn’t matter where you start over” and relates his struggles to her struggle to turn her own life around, and honestly i think sympathy would fuck akechi up the most.

meanwhile, in the real world, capitalize on akechi’s position: if he’s deep in shido’s conspiracy, it really only makes sense that akechi could locate the people they need rec letters from in the real world, and use that to find their cognitive equivalent in shido’s palace. show me akechi’s relationship with shido, founded on akechi trying to appease shido and trying to avoid shido’s wrath simultaneously. 

maybe shido’s closing in on the phantom thieves in the real world. he suspects that things haven’t gone according to plan. make use of the fact that shido trusts (to an extent) akechi’s word, and have akechi cover for the phantom thieves in the real world. 

maybe show me shido actively manipulating akechi with praise. show me the greys of that relationship, like how we saw madarame treat yusuke well, or saw sae at her best and worst with makoto. show me how difficult it is for akechi to continue to help the phantom thieves even while actively engaging with his own abuser.

make akechi a traitor to shido. being a traitor was his role, wasn’t it? to betray the thieves? just have him betray shido back. he’s good at being a traitor, isn’t he? akechi probably volunteers himself for the role. let him capitalize on his ability to lie and outsmart those around him. let him make it up to joker in the only way that akechi feels he can: even more lying.

get all the rec letters. akechi himself hands shido the calling card. confront shido–cognitive akechi is there and just as much of a bitch as always. show me how much disdain shido has for akechi, how little he thinks of akechi, how nasty he is–and how blindly adoring cognitive akechi is in return. it’s gross as all hell, but it’s a final nail in the coffin to haru and futaba’s grieving process, even forms some sort of solidarity. 

there’s half a second where akechi is in the position to kill shido. shido’s shadow is down, akechi’s got a gun, he could pull the trigger before anyone could stop him. futaba tells him not to. 

haru tells him that he can kill shido if he wants to.

everyone’s like HARU??? HELLO???? but haru says, as far as i’m concerned, this man is just as much my father’s murderer as akechi-kun is. if you want to, i won’t stop you. but i know that it’s harder to survive than it is to die, too.

akechi does not kill shido. they steal shido’s treasure and return to the real world.

at this point in the canon plot, yaldabaoth starts to happen really fast, but bear with me for five seconds–bring sae back on the scene. shido confesses, and akechi’s reputation goes up in smoke. people call him a fraud, people won’t stop talking about shido being his dad, akechi’s name gets dragged through the mud worse than back when the PT were at their most popular.

sae takes up prosecuting shido’s case, and akechi can’t avoid her forever when he’s supposedly a key witness. sae says, i’m going to give you one chance to explain yourself. you lied to him, you tricked me, you pretended to be my partner all that time and then ran rings around me. talk.

so akechi explains himself, even though half that stuff isnt permissible in court. he doesn’t butter her up and he doesn’t use his cutesy prince mask, and for the first time sae sees him as he really is. and sae says, those are some pretty serious offenses, akechi, what are you going to do now? 

akechi’s just gone through that whole bonding session with haru and futaba, during which akechi had to realize, ah, shit, i fucked over the lives of these two very nice girls and even inflicted the same trauma that i myself went through onto other people. so akechi tells sae, well obviously i don’t fucking know, i dont have a career, i might be expelled, and i’ve killed a shitload of people and there’s no way that i can make up for that. but if i could, i would want to do something to right the wrongs that i did–i’d want to address the murders i committed, and maybe do something to fix it.

sae says, you’re smart as all hell, what you’ve done is irrevocable, you know your way around the police and its corruption, you’re willing to do better and you know how hard doing better is going to be. i’m the same way. i might not have killed anyone, but i’ve ruined the lives of so many people in the name of my career and a distorted sense of justice. if you want to do better, i could use a person like you. what do you say that when this case is over, we become partners for real, this time?

akechi says, but sae-san, what about your reputation, what about your career, wouldn’t it be bad to have a fraud like me by your side?

sae says, i didnt have you as a partner the first time around because you were stupid. use your head, make it work, and maybe i’ll buy you sushi off the conveyor belt someday.

case number one is prosecuting the shit out of shido. sae said they’d be partners after akechi is no longer a key witness, but at this point, being a key witness is basically like being her assistant. sae’s there every step of the way while akechi gets shoved through the public wringer. i say, make him lose all his public fame and reputation and more, everything that he thought he wanted, and he come out with sae’s respect, akira’s support, and the phantom thieves on his side.

the trial starts to stall because of yaldabaoth’s influence, which then brings us to that whole reveal about yaldabaoth using akechi as well for yaldo’s own ends. yaldabaoth offers the p5 vanilla bad end, in which the phantom thieves continue on and become incredibly famous and eliminate most crime because they just change the hearts of anyone who does anything halfway wrong.

i say, let the thieves deliberate on that one. all of them, not just joker. it’s not actually a very bad deal, necessarily; it’s just vaguely skeevy and authoritarian. let’s say, akechi is the biggest opposer, and points out that if akira goes down that route, akira will be doing exactly the same thing akechi did for so long–using his power for his own self-satisfaction, power unchecked and out of control. let akechi use the fact that he’s akira’s “rival” and outspoken critic to good use. akira tells yaldo where he can stick it.

fight yaldabaoth, win. sae takes akira into custody. akechi makes good on his deal with sae, and both of them work together to use akechi’s testimony, akira’s testimony, and shido’s testimony to nail shido and clear akira’s name. 

from there, flash forward to the epilogue in the same way that it happens in canon, except akechi is now sae’s lackey and she’s overseeing his efforts to undo whatever damage he did to all the nameless people he’s hurt over the years. she’s going to become a defense attorney, and akechi’s probably going to become her assistant and later paralegal. both of them are committed to reforming the justice system for the better and addressing their past wrongs.

im actually big fucking mad at how little i had to change about persona 5 canon to make this redemption arc work. @ persona 5 royal meet me in the pit.

[serenefreakgeekao3]

🌈; 🌕+☀️male ships please? (I'm Slytherin and a girl btw) I have GAD, MaDD and obsessive tendencies so I have some issues. I am opinionated and adore debate, writing/reading, and photography. I love art museums, too. I'm really sensitive and tend to lash out, but I'm really empathetic and always feel bad. Im a very introverted person as a result, and focus alot on grades. I have a sense of humor, though. Also I can't choose between an edgy or soft style so I'm always changing.

A/N: I share your nuerodivergent brain symptoms, so I relate to this pretty well. I hope this works out! And I hope you're doing well!

I SHIP YOU WITH:

🌕Remus Lupin

You are a fairly private and shy person, so you typically didn't branch out from your few friends. However, sometimes your brain would get to you, and you'd be in a crowded hall or near a group of people who were laughing, and you'd feel your body begin to freak out. One of these times, you had managed to quickly dash into a nearby empty room, breathing quickly with tears in your eyes.

When the door opened, your heart practically stopped, but it was only one kind boy entering quickly, shutting the door behind him. You both stared at each other for a moment before he reaching for his inside pocket, pulling out some chocolate. "This helps me, usually." You thanked him, reaching for the chocolate and eating it slowly as he sat next to you on the floor, staring at the opposite wall, quite like you. After a few moments he whispered that you could talk if you wanted to- it helps sometimes- and you nodded your understanding.

Once you felt yourself calm enough, you began apologizing- which he quickly debunked- and explained that crowds make you uncomfortable, and how your paranoid brain told you people were making fun of you, even if you knew rationally that hadn't been true.

Remus nodded, glancing at you with a soft smile before reaching over to pat your shoulder. "I understand those fears. Not to the extent you do, of course, but I have some slight idea."

He then changed the subject, speaking about how he had seen you in one of his classes before, and had seen you reading and had always wanted to ask what it was. You both began discussing your favourite books, and quickly delved into other subjects as well. After awhile, you realize you're feeling completely better, and you thank him for the help.

"It was no problem at all, I enjoy your company. Maybe we could hang out again soon?" You both promised to meet back up in the library, and it became a frequent occurence. Eventually, Remus took to walking you through the halls to helps with your social anxiety, and you were slowly introduced to his best friends that he always spoke about.

Remus was never one much for debate, instead listening and adapting his opinions based on facts he hears. However, once you met both James and Sirius, they shared your affinity for debate, and you shared lengthy conversations about various topics. Remus was very obviously pleased that you all got along great, and you were happy to finally find people to be around that didnt drain you.

It was after you all graduated Hogwarts together that Remus finally told you he was a werewolf. You had known something was up, considering he disappeared every month, but you hadn't been too worried about it. When he told you, you decided to research and look up everything you could about them to better understand your friend. Once Remus realized that you weren't going to run away scared, he finally asked you on your first date. Romantic feelings began blooming over time, and love was slow but sure.

☀️Neville Longbottom

You knew of Neville Longbottom, sure. Everyone had heard of him, or had seen him stumbling through the halls as a kid or calling for his frog he had lost sometimes. It wasnt until seventh year when the Death Eaters had taken over Hogwarts that you had /noticed/ him. He was brave- stupidly brave- and would stand up for justice and take the punishments himself if it was for the younger years. Seeing him volunteer to take a Crucio so that a first year hufflepuff didn't have to made you simultaneously hurt inside, but feeling an overwhelming need to help him.

You stood up for him when you could, when no one was paying attention. If there were "prefects" chasing him, you'd distract them with a spell or misdirect them, causing them to lose him. You made sure that if the Curcio was going on a little too long that you'd cause some kind of disruption somewhere else, making the attacker direct their attention somewhere else.

But of course, someone was bound to notice. It was unfortunate that it happened to be one of the Carrows. While Neville was being Crucio'd, for much too long a time, you glanced around trying to find something you could use. Seeing a trophy case in the next hall, you pointed your wand to it and shattered the glass, quickly stowing your wand away. That was a common trick of yours, one that worked the most often. And indeed, it distracted the attacker, who stopped the Crucio and turned to run into the hallway.

You quickly rushed toward Neville, helping him to stand and whispering quickly that you needed to get out of there. That was before you suddenly were struck in the back, and your entire body lit up in pain. You screamed and fell, Neville catching you and laying you down. You could barely pay attention to your surroundings, but you heard him yelling and screaming to leave you alone, to punish him instead. But the pain kept on. Until it didn't anymore.

Glancing back, still sore and tired, you breathed deeply and noticed Neville standing over an unconscious body. His knuckles were bloodied and he was heaving, but he quickly rushed to you and helped you up, pulling you to a nearby classroom.

"I had noticed you were helping me," He had said, eventually, after making sure you had drank water and were feeling better. "I thought it wasn't just me at first, that you just happened to do that. But at the same time, I guess anytime I'm around that injustice, it's always me stepping up loudly. So it's always me you're helping." Neville laughed slightly, rubbing the back of his head. "I do have to thank you though. If it hadn't been for you, I'd probably be dead by now."

From then on, the two of you looked out for each other closely, but didn't spend too much time close together. Showing the Death Eaters that you cared for one another would only end in pain.

Flash forward, and /somehow/ you both had survived the war. It was months later, and Hogwarts was just starting up again. McGonagall had invited you back to repeat your seventh year, and you agreed knowing that you'd need the credits for your future. Then, you had seen Neville again.

At first you were too shy to approach him. You hadn't actually talked with him much the year before, perhaps you had been imagining the close relationship you thought the two of you had? But you couldn't stop yourself from meeting his gaze everytime you entered a room, smiling and nodding to each other.

It was Neville who finally approached you, a month later. He was shy, and it was so adorable. He asked if you'd go to Hogsmeade with him, and you agreed immediately. From then on, you two were hardly ever separated, learning about each other more and more each day. You never spoke of seventh year unless it was during the night, in hushed voices, speaking of fears of losing your own life or his, fears that he shared. He held you close, tightly in his arms, and promised to never let you go.

[dotshiiki]

Giftfic 2!

A gift for my @pjohoobigbang beta and artist,  @preciouschildrenofolympus! Thank you for your enthusiasm for the project and sticking it out with my crazy long fic, and for making it such a fun experience for me! You’ve mentioned that Annabeth and Hazel are your favourites, so I tried to incorporate them both into a story just for you!

Nightmares--a gift for @preciouschildrenofolympus.

Summary: Annabeth might be able to convince the boys that her post-Tartarus nightmares are nothing, but Hazel and Piper know better. A girl-bonding moment on the Argo II set between HoH and BoO.

The scream shattered the silence of the night. 

Hazel sat bolt upright, cracking her head on the low ceiling above her bunk. 

In the ship's corridor, heads were popping out of their respective cabins, their faces ranging from drowsiness (Frank, she could tell, was struggling to shake off sleep) to alertness (Leo was already wide-eyed and ready for a fight). Percy and Jason, who'd been on guard duty above deck, came stampeding down. 

'What is it?' Piper asked. Percy didn't answer her. He made a beeline for Annabeth's room. 

It had been her scream, Hazel realised. They gathered around the door as Percy burst in, shouting Annabeth's name. 

A moment later, they both emerged, Percy holding a mortified-looking Annabeth like he was afraid to let her go. 

'I'm okay,' she said. 'I was dreaming—well, nightmares, you know. Sorry I woke everyone.' 

'What were you dreaming about?' Piper asked. 'Anything we should know?' 

Annabeth shook her head. She said, quietly, 'Tartarus.' 

Percy's arms around her tightened. Annabeth extricated herself from him gently. 'I'm fine, seriously. You should all go back to sleep.' 

'I wasn't sleeping,' Percy said. 'I could keep you company—' 

'Go back to your watch, then.' Annabeth looked around crossly. She took on a stern expression of authority, the face of the de facto leader she'd been when Hazel first joined the crew. 'Gods, Percy, we're demigods. If we can't handle simple nightmares, how are we going to deal with Gaia and the giants—or anything that might be attacking the ship in the next five minutes, seeing as no one's keeping watch?' She looked pointedly at Jason. 

Jason muttered a quick apology and hurried back up to the top deck. Frank and Leo blushed and melted back into their compartments. Hazel had a feeling they wouldn't dare show their faces until breakfast time. 

Percy hung back, reluctant to leave Annabeth. 'Percy, I'm fine,' Annabeth repeated firmly. 'It was just a nightmare. You of all people should understand. It's going to happen. We just have to—let it pass, I guess.' She hesitated, then kissed his cheek. 'I'll sleep better knowing that you're on guard.' 

Percy cupped her chin and kissed her. 'I don't like leaving you alone, Wise Girl.' 

'NO HANKY PANKY IN THE CABINS!' Buford the table, complete with holographic Hedge, joined the party, making everyone jump. For the second time that night, Hazel bumped her head, this time against the top of her doorframe. Son of a gorgon, she was going to get a real lump there. 

'You heard him,' Annabeth said weakly. 'Go on.' 

Percy kissed her again and went back to join Jason.

Annabeth closed her eyes. Her arms were trembling. Had they been all along, or had she held it in check to brush everyone off? 

Without a word to Piper and Hazel, she disappeared back into her room. She left the door slightly ajar. 

'She's not okay,' Piper said. 'Come on.'  

She pushed open Annabeth's door. 

'Piper, she said—'  

'I know what she said. But that's not what she needs.' 

Hesitantly, Hazel followed Piper into Annabeth's room. 

The older girl was lying on her back in her bunk, her eyes open and staring at the ceiling. She didn't turn at Piper and Hazel's entrance. 

Piper crawled over to Annabeth to lie next to her. Still uncertain about all this, Hazel took the other side. The three of them lay there, their shoulders touching, until Hazel thought Annabeth must have gone back to sleep at last. 

Then Annabeth spoke, in a barely audible whisper, 'I couldn't tell Percy.'

Couldn't tell Percy what? Hazel wanted to ask, but she thought it better to wait. 

'The scariest thing about Tartarus—worse than the monsters and the evil gods and the whole damn place trying to kill us—the scariest thing I saw was him.' 

She told them how Percy had stood at the edge of an endless chasm and turned a flood of poison back on its creator. 

'He was protecting you both,' Piper said. 'Akhlys would have killed you.' 

Her voice was uncertain, and Hazel knew it was because Piper hadn't really see the full height of Percy's powers yet. She couldn't readily imagine how terrifying the image could be. Hazel suspected she herself probably hadn't seen all Percy could do, either, but she had been to Alaska with him and watched him summon hurricanes and destroy a glacier. 

Hazel remembered how Frank had been afraid of how she might see him after he'd gotten the blessing of Mars, or slain the katoblepones in Venice. Listening to Annabeth now, Hazel could understand those fears better. Even when done in defence of the people you loved, unleashing death and carnage changed a person. There was a fine line to walk between righteous protection and sadistic revenge. 

No wonder Annabeth was so torn up about this. 

And no wonder she couldn't tell Percy. Hazel imagined the look on Frank's face if she told him his insane Mars-given fighting skills terrified her. He'd be crushed. 

'It wasn't what he did. It was …' The sheets trembled with Annabeth's shudder. 'Tartarus brought out the worst in us. We'd just gotten past these curse spirits, too.' She described the arai—demons that were more fearsome than Hazel could imagine, that cursed you with the very misdeeds you'd lain upon others previously. 

One curse in particular made Hazel shiver. Annabeth described how she had been plunged into isolation, completely abandoned. 

'I don't know how to explain it,' she said. 'I knew he was there, but it was like he wasn't, like I was alone. I don't know how to tell you what that feels like.' 

'Like no one in the world can see you. Like you're surrounded by people but you don't exist to them,' Hazel said softly. 

'You do know,' whispered Annabeth. 

'That's what it was like in the Fields of Asphodel.' 

In the darkness, their breaths seemed to ebb and flow in harmony. Hazel felt the distance between her and Annabeth shrink, like a line pulled taut. She hadn't had much opportunity to get to know the older girl before this. Hazel had spent a lot of time with Piper on their quest to reach the House of Hades, but Annabeth had only been around for a week before she'd descended into Rome after the Athena Parthenos. Percy's girlfriend had seemed incredibly steady, impossibly wise, and insanely brave. Hazel had been in awe of her. 

Hazel was still in awe of her. But she also grasped now how real Annabeth was—broken and terrified and struggling, just like they all were. She was touched that Annabeth trusted her enough to let her see this. It was like gaining another sister. 

'The worst thing was,' Annabeth said, 'it wasn't a new feeling. I—it was awful because I had a friend who … well, I thought Luke cared about me, but he left me behind, and it felt like that all over again, and I remembered all the stuff Luke did because he got so angry at the gods. 

'And then when I saw Percy looking that mad … I love him, but I'm also—I'm also scared for him. That he could do what Luke did.' 

'You're scared for him,' Piper said. 

'Yes.' Annabeth sounded confused. 

It took Hazel a second to understand what Piper meant. 'You said you're scared for Percy. Scared for him, not—' 

'Not of him,' Piper finished. 

'I—' Annabeth let her breath out in a long, slow hiss. 'You're right.' Her laugh came a little breathlessly, a mixture of tears and relief. 'He's still Percy. He—' 

'He loves you,' Hazel and Piper said simultaneously. 

'You should have heard him talk about you when we were in Alaska,' Hazel said. 'I wondered sometimes if you were actually a goddess instead of a demigod like us.' 

'It's so annoying,' Piper added teasingly. 

Hazel didn't have to see Annabeth's face to know she was smiling. 'That's my Seaweed Brain,' she said fondly. 'I just wish I didn't keep having nightmares about us in Tartarus.' 

'I think I can help with that,' Hazel said. 'The Mist isn't just good for disguising things. It can send dreams, too. Good ones.' 

'Have you done it before?' Piper asked. 

'No. But it's got to be easier than tricking a sorceress. Close your eyes.' 

Hazel concentrated on sending them all vision of happiness. Simple things, like joking around at the breakfast table while the boys traded bad puns and fist bumped. Hopeful things, like sitting on a tropical beach later in the summer while Piper taught them how to surf as she'd promised she would one day. She didn't know for sure if this would work, but she was confident that she could weave enough protection to keep the darkness at bay for tonight at least. 

None of them had any nightmares for the rest of the night.

Okay, I know in BoO Piper mentions Annabeth telling her about Percy and Akhlys. It doesn't say that Annabeth shared it with Hazel, but it doesn't say that she didn't. I feel like it's definitely possible, though. It's Hazel—the girl who got Leo to spill his guts about Calypso and was a comfort to Percy when he first showed up at Camp Jupiter. Her empathy is way more developed in the series than Piper's!

Anyway, I don’t know if you share that view, but if you don’t, I hope it didn’t spoil the gift!  

[davidmann95]

So. Secret Empire. I read it and it's just a sickening mess. Everything happening is just in service of making the Big Event Happen (like civil war 2, bluh) and the only reason I'm really excited for this is so that we can just purge nazi-cap from our collective consciousness once this is over. I don't even have a question! I'm just venting about this shitty event! Fuck nick spencer, that guy is a moron with no respect for where cap CAME from. "Oh he was a nazi the whole time" eat SHIT SPENCER

poorsimon said:Do you think there is a slight possibility that we’ll get a fantastic four book in 2017 to celebrate jack kirbys centenary? Marvel is a hot mess right now with that boring fascist captain America and every series that I was enjoying is either ending in the next couple of months or crossover events are ruining them, looks like marvel is in the same place dc was during the new 52 era

Anonymous said:Thoughts on Dark Matter/Generations/Secret Empire? Specifically for secret Empire, Cap is on of my favorite heroes and I feel like this fundamentally breaks him in a really shitty way. Not to say we won’t get good stories with him in the future, but it’s sort of like Dr. Light where every time he shows up you can’t help but think of identity crisis.

There’s been a bit of a theme to my asks the last couple days.

So yeah. Spoilers ahead, obviously: in the midst of an all-out assault on the nation and world, just as it seemed everyone would make it through like always to see another day, America was betrayed by its systems and subverted from within, culminating in an overt fascist seizing of the White House. Don’t worry though, this week Marvel’s saying it isn’t political.

The cake-topper being that as it turns out via flashback, Nazi Cap (and in response to the inevitable um, actually’s: Hydra’s seminal story under Steranko showed their leader as a character created by Stan and Jack as a Nazi, pretty much all explicit Hydra-isn’t-Nazis material are retcons by Spencer for this arc, “Hail Hydra” is an obvious analogue for another fascist chant, the ‘real Hydra’ inner circle includes Nazis and Neo-Nazis, and this Cap’s vision for America includes white children hunting black children in the street. He’s a fuckin’ Nazi) isn’t a construct of the cosmic cube, but in fact the real Steve Rogers: the Axis won World War II, but the Allies used a cosmic cube to create a fake history where Rogers was on their side and they won the war - gotta ask why they didn’t deal with the Holocaust too - with the real guy now reactivated and fulfilling his true mission. Obviously, this not only delegitimizes every story of a character created by a pair of Jewish-Americans specifically to punch Hitler right in the fucking face, but does it by stating that in the natural course of things, the Master Race of course overtakes the Earth with their sheer superiority, with the very concept of the people they would annihilate having a chance at hope or justice or freedom being a lie currently in the process of getting torn down.

This is a little bit touchy.

There’s obvious franchising reasons for this: Chris Evans has made clear he isn’t sticking around for long if at all after Avengers 4, while as of that movie Anthony Mackie will still have at least 3 films in his contract, so it’s in their interests to set Sam Wilson up in the comics as Captain America to match. Problem is, they started the process before a movie about Steve Rogers, so they had to bring him back, and now have to figure out a way to get him out of the picture for a longer period than simply old age or death. And if you want to get him out of the running for the title of One True Captain America, not only making him a Nazi, and retroactively always a Nazi at that, but classifying literally every non-Nazi Captain America story essentially in-universe fanfic? That’ll get him off the board for awhile. It’s ruinously terrible, but also quick and easy, same as it was quick and easy to move Captain Marvel and once upon a time Iron Man into the spotlight in time for their movies by making them fascists. You’ll have to ask Marvel why fascism is their go-to shocking character twist, though.

I think the source point of the issues here stems from something simple I mentioned recently: I don’t think either of the Big Two necessarily believe there’s going to be a comic book industry in 20 years, or even necessarily 10, so there’s no realreason to attempt anything other than drawing as much blood from the stone asthey possibly can. Clearly the creators are trying their best,middle-management I’m sure have long-term plans, and I doubt the powers-that-bewant it to fail. But sales have beendropping for years, and neither of them have demonstrated any plan of substancewhatsoever to reverse that trend. They both had their moments of attempting toright the ship, and both fell through – the original Marvel NOW! and itsimmediate follow-ups were major successes, but half their biggest writers leftin the wake of Secret Wars and sothey reverted to type with endless editorial interference and bullshitcrossovers, while DC’s attempt at innovation with DCYou was scattershot at best,clearly born less of a philosophy of “let’s let our best talents try bold newthings!” nearly so much as “let’s do weird new things that might grab headlines”. 

Viewed in that light, many of their recent decisions startto make sense; after the New 52 trying to draw in 90s fanboys and maybe a couple teenagers fell through, DC’s explicitly banking on rolling back the clock and appealingto the core fanbase with Rebirthwhile simultaneously betting everything on the shock value of incorporating Watchmen, while Marvel has fallen backon its regular event-and-relaunch tactics, and if the “Make Mine Marvel” rumorsare true, they’ll soon be returning to a predominately white and male cast of headlinerswith a handful of exceptions (hence why escape hatches were built into almostall of their recent successor characters – Mjolner was prophesied to return tothe Odinson before the first issue of Jane Foster’s book, Tony Stark is only instasis, the Ultimate Universe may or may not be waiting out there for Miles andhis cast to return, etc.) They don’t think there’s a new audience to be won, orat minimum they clearly haven’t given any thought to the kind of formatting,publication, narrative or marketing breakthroughs that might let them reachthat wider audience (probably part of why they’re so petrified of staying inretailers’ good graces – digital of the way of the future, but they don’tbelieve they’re going to see that future, therefore they’re sticking toappealing to the base while they can), and so naturally they’re going to thetried-and-true methods of drawing cash out of the existing audience until itall falls apart, by which time everyone currently at the top will have new jobsor be retired.

So that Marvel in particular has been overly contemptuous ofprogressive elements of their fanbase isn’t shocking. I doubt their leadershipof middle-aged guys have any particular sympathy for their viewpoint, and if they don’tsee them as a potential pathway to saving the industry either, then it’s not asurprise they clearly see them as a gaggle of mercurial, industry-ignorantwhiners, to be discarded once the half-hearted measures at winning them overaren’t enough. And if they’ve decided they don’t give a shit about progressiveideals in the slightest beyond what’s necessary to avoid mainstream attentionon their fuck-ups, and they don’t seem to be trying to bring about a workablemodel for the industry – especially given that they’re at this pointunquestionably the secondary caretakers of these characters compared to TV andmovies, so these franchises can go on without them – and they’re convinced shock value stunts andevents are the only way to draw in dollars while they can, then yeah. Sure. Whywouldn’t they make Captain America a Nazi? To think that’s a bad idea wouldrequire meaningfully giving a shit about their own product, or at least thinking thatanyone else will in a few years.

As for the Fantastic Four, that’s probably still in Fox’s hands, but I really do hope Al Ewing gets a crack at them someday.

[dxringred]

Hey, I'm the anon that asked you how come you couldn't see both Paily and Emison as decent ships... I'm sorry I truly didn't mean it to come of negatively.. An I sure didn't mean to bring up bad memories. For that I'm truly sorry.. I agree to disagree on certain things you said. An I'm truly grateful for your candor with answering.. Its just the girl that fell for her best friend wishes to have that happy ending we never get.. Which for me is the appeal of Emison. I enjoy Paily also.

I think Emison Endgame is the product of MK not writing it in earlier.. Hear me out.. I think they planned on making Emily an Ali a couple at some point.. I think with all the writers the storyline kept getting delayed.. I think it was suppose to be this I tried cause I really do love you just not that way storyline.. They held out season after season.. Than lots of angry shippers later.. They were like oh shit better give them what they want. Hence the Endgame was born.. 

As for the discussion as a whole. One of the reasons I’m turned right off of Em/son as a ship is due to the premise of: “girl that fell for her best-friend and desires happiness.” And that’s mostly because that’s how my abusive relationship started. She was my best-friend and I had the biggest crush in the world on her, and that’s why she found it so easy to manipulate me etc. which is arguably the issue with Em/son because Alison can use Emily’s long-term crush and adoration as a starting point to manipulate her. She knows how she feels, she knows personal stuff about her because of their friendship, and that means she’s well-aware of her weak points and her strengths. That makes it incredibly easy to use people.

I know a lot of people are very into this trope, and the “best friends turned lovers” is one of the more popular, and I’m guilty of loving it myself but only when it’s done right. Not when there are abusive undertones to it, because that just leaves a bad taste in my mouth in general. I prefer Pai/y as a relationship because the ship doesn’t have the same negative undertones, especially not after their initial rocky start. 

The two relationships, for me, have similar but vastly different premises. Both tell the story of a girl who gets/wants the girl of her dreams. Paige gets Emily, Emily gets Alison. But here’s the difference:

one tells a tale of hope where a depressed, bullied girl who hates herself and thinks she’ll be miserable forever gets her happy ending;

the other tells the tale of a mildly popular girl getting with her highschool crush of the “popular bitch” who’s not even a healthy friend let alone a healthy romantic/sexual partner.

The two stories, when looked into beyond the initial trope, are entirely different, and for me personally it’s obvious which one is the ideal representation not just for the community but also in terms of being shown to a young audience of influential girls. Hint: it’s the first one. 

I mean when I first watched PLL, Pai/y struck a cord with me for the exact reason outlined above - its story, being one of hope and love and promise. Because Paige was damaged but it didn’t make her any less of a person. It didn’t make her any less lovable or worthy. It didn’t make her any less deserving of being happy. She was closeted and lonely, depressed, bullied and suicidal. And as someone who, too, has been all of those things simultaneously, I related to her character immensely. She gave me hope. And she still does, despite MK being a giant screw-up in regards to writing the remainder of Paige’s story.

Alison on the other hand. Well, she’s the character you’re not supposed to want to see get a happy ending. Particularly when you see yourself in Paige. (Or Mona or Lucas or any of her other victims.) She’s the bully, the abuser, the manipulator, the individual who drives people to suicide and breaks them for her own amusement. It’s one of the reasons why I’ve always been for the assertion that the show would’ve been better had she stayed dead. (Or been revealed as alive right at the end, only to turn out to have been the villain all along, or for at least during some portion of the story.)

Having her get her victim’s happy ending instead is.. well, you can probably see why it’s problematic and why fans of Paige and Pai/y are more than a little bitter/angry. For similar reasons it’s always irked me that Alison gets so easily accepted by the core four while Mona is still painted negatively by them, but that’s another discussion for another day.

I think “Em/son Endgame” god I hate that phrase lol never made sense from the get-go personally. Of course I can understand why people were into it, and maybe if I’d watched the show when it initially started instead of binging it then maybe I’d have had more time to see the appeal. But I didn’t, and perhaps that’s where the different perception comes into play. For me the manipulation was apparent from the first flashback between the two, with red flags popping up all the time in their friendship.

I always thought the more interesting story was Emily overcoming her crush on Alison and realizing that she deserved more, recognizing that what she had with Alison to whatever extent clearly wasn’t healthy and moving on with someone else who appreciated her more as a person and wasn’t just using her to fulfill their desire to be admired and given attention.

So when she regressed completely and all of that became completely irrelevant… well, it felt like a waste of storytelling if I’m honest. Like all that build-up and development and introduction of new character dynamics had been for naught. And it was. I’m always a sucker for proper planning. It clarifies things, it makes them easier to follow, and I think the issue with several current shows nowadays is that the writers don’t always entirely know how they want to get from Point A to Point B. Despite claims otherwise. You can’t just decide on Point A, Point B, and half of the journey between the two and then decide you’ll think about the other half when you get to it because you don’t have time and that’s something I can definitely attest to as a writer.

There were several times when I thought Emily was finally seeing it, particularly in later seasons. Where I thought she was going to realize that she was being used, but then she constantly kept going back to Alison and that alone isn’t the healthiest thing. And I know that for a fact because it was a staple of my own abusive relationship with someone. 

If Alison had actually grown as a character I’d probably be less against the ship. I still wouldn’t ship it - no amount of in-depth character growth is going to make me like Alison enough, unfortunately - but I’d understand a lot more why other people do and I wouldn’t be disgusted at the thought of Em/son becoming endgame or labeled as good representation. Because it’s not.

Because I agree with you 100% on the last bit.

“Than lots of angry shippers later.. They were like oh shit better give them what they want. Hence the Endgame was born..”

I’ve always argued that that’s why the ship was “born” and suddenly became endgame despite all of the lack of development and character growth. It’s because of fan service, and that is no way to write or develop a show. You tell a certain story because it’s the one that needs to be told, that should be told, not because it’s the one that everyone else wants to be told.

And that’s my issue with PLL as an entire show, and why I stopped watching this last season, because it’s fan service for everyone at this point, including Pai/y shippers. And that’s one of the grossest things and some of the worst queerbaiting I’ve ever seen so don’t even get me started there.

Em/son shippers wanted something and they didn’t back down until they got it, and they went about it in a way that makes me gag even now: belittling the writers and the producers and the actresses. And let’s never forget them flipping insulting poor Lindsey every second of every day, telling her to commit suicide and not leaving room for a single nice comment on anything she posted anywhere. The poor woman probably regrets ever deciding to audition for the role of Paige and I don’t blame her one little bit.

And that’s my problem. You’ve got this abusive ship and mostly abusive fanbase behind it, and that’s why I can’t ever ship Em/son. It’s why I never will. Had it been planned, had it been developed, had it been turned into a 100% healthy ship, had Alison seen the error of her ways and genuinely become a better person, maybe I would. But that’s not what happened. And - with, what, five episodes left? Four? - it’s not what’s going to happen.

If you want to ship it, that’s perfectly fine. I can’t go around telling people what they can and can’t do, I can only explain to them why I don’t feel the same way as honestly as I can. So I know it’s long, and perhaps I missed some stuff, but hopefully this maybe explains my viewpoint a little better. If you managed to get all the way down here then thanks for taking the time to read!

[sage-nebula]

I'm gonna ask Klance as I can't swing a cat without hitting 12 things tagged with that lol

Frrsajfddajgda I KNOW, RIGHT?? Like ffffff, I have nothing against the ship on principle (and more on that in a second), but I actually do have it in my tumblr savior because I could not go into Keith’s tag without seeing KLANCE, KLANCE EVERYWHERE and it got really tiring. I kid you not, once I added it into my Savior I once had a page with just one visible post because everything else was Klance. Jesus. 

But anyway, to talk about the ship itself . . .

Again, I have nothing against it on principle. I don’t ship it, really, but I don’t mind it either. I think that, if written well, it could be interesting and fun and even cute. The problem is, I feel like it’s really . . . really hard to find it written well.

My main issue---and part of the reason why I wanted to stop seeing it so much all the time---is that I feel like, since it’s such a juggernaut ship, at this point it’s become kind of removed from the characters and who they actually are, versus how fandom at large wants them to be. If you watch the actual show, there really isn’t anything romantic about Keith and Lance’s interactions. They’re certainly not the type to call each other “sweetheart” and “baby,” or otherwise act very sappy and in love. But fandom wants them to be like that---they want to believe that one or both of them are pining for the other, that everyone in the castle ships it (and has shipping it as their #1 priority, depending on the work), that this is some grand love story and that, if it doesn’t end up canon, the writers were queerbaiting (when, no, they haven’t been---there’s literally nothing in canon to suggest that this ship is going to be official). It’s to the point where the fandom is so large and so vehement that fanon has superseded canon for many people. Rather than viewing the characters as they actually are in the original work, fandom has decided that they prefer their versions of the characters. And when fandom realizes this, that’s okay (albeit not my cup of coffee), but I think that, by and large, fandom has a hard time realizing it. That’s why you get situations where the shippers harass the creators and voice actors and whoever else on Twitter (which, yes, has happened, apparently---it’s as bad as Steven Universe fandom, ffs).

Even setting aside the absolutely horrendous behavior of some of the shipping base, however, the mischaracterizations are really just not my thing. I like these characters because I like these characters, and so when they act super OoC for the sake of a fanart, fic, or whatever else, I immediately lose interest. I get that people do change how they behave around someone once they become romantically involved (to an extent---their personality shouldn’t do a complete 180), but I’ve seen so many fanworks that supposedly take place in the canon timeline where Lance and/or Keith are so OoC they’re barely recognizable. I remember seeing one fic where Shiro seriously injured / killed(?) Keith (what the fuck tbh), and Lance was crying over him and calling him “sweetheart” and whatnot and I just . . . no. That’s not Lance. It’s not Shiro, either (even though it was an accident on Shiro’s part, to be fair), but that’s really not Lance. When you get to the point that the characters are unrecognizable, why are you even writing fanfiction? What is it that you really want? Is it that you actually want these characters, as they are, to be together, or is it that you just think they’re pretty and want them to fill the tropes that you’ve already become attached to from other fanworks (/yaoi manga)?

I also have an issue with the fact that so many Klance works I’ve seen treat Keith as basically a prop or accessory to make Lance look / feel special. Like, it’s not necessarily that Keith is outright bashed (though I’ve seen that too, and it’s pretty disgusting), but it’s more like they want him pining after Lance as a way to make Lance seem super cool and amazing because he clearly has to be if Keith is pining after him! Or there are instances where like, Keith is the one to stay behind and fret and worry while Lance is out there running dangerous missions all the time (when, in all honesty, why wouldn’t they be on missions together?), or Keith obviously is just the supportive trophy boyfriend who wants Lance to be the leader, etc etc, you get the idea. And I’m not the only one who has noticed this; there was a post someone made a little bit ago about this very issue, where OP actually talked about how they’re a very passionate Klance shipper, but they’ve seen a “a disturbing number of Klance fics” (their words) where Keith is bashed. Keith is my favorite character, so obviously I’m going to have a real issue with Keith being mistreated (whether that’s bashing him or treating him as a trophy / prop to make Lance look better), but even if he wasn’t my favorite I feel like that sort of behavior is garbage. Why ship a ship in which you treat one of the characters horribly? Why are you using Keith as a prop or trophy for Lance? And why would you think Lance, even though he does see Keith as a rival, would want that? (/ why would you think Keith would tolerate it, because again, he’s not the type to stay home and fret while someone he loves does something dangerous---he would be throwing himself into the conflict right alongside them, tbqh).

So I have a lot of issues with how the ship is treated in fandom, and I’m tired, too, of the fact that it’s everywhere to the point where it’s essentially The Ship™ and so it’s present even in things that have nothing to do with it (like Broganes content that comes with a side of Klance out of nowhere, like, sometimes I just want Broganes, can we just focus on that, please?). But that’s more fatigue, rather than actual dislike.

But that said, as far as the ship itself and potential for it goes . . .

Again, if I look at it from a canonical perspective (i.e. if I see these characters how they actually are in canon versus how fandom wants them to be), then I really don’t mind it, and could even like it if it was developed properly. The way I see it is:

To begin with, I see Keith as asexual. His romantic orientation is up in the air; I haven’t decided, and I think that Keith hasn’t had the time nor inclination to really think about it either, because he’s been through too much in his life + is waaaaaaaaay too high-key stressed at the moment to even begin to think about it. Certainly there’s no way he was thinking about it throughout season two, when he was so preoccupied with the thought that he might be Galra (he is) and finding out the truth of his heritage. So even setting aside his orientation, I think that there’s absolutely no way that Keith has feelings for anyone in canon at the moment. I do like the idea of some Keith ships (for instance, I think that Keith/Hunk has potential to be pretty damn cute), but I think that, right now, Keith is just not in the right headspace for a romantic relationship, and it’s not even on his radar. He’s not pining for anyone, Lance or otherwise. He has way too much on his plate right now for that to be the case. I also feel that, similarly, he wasn’t pining for Lance (or anyone) prior to season two, either. Even when he was less stressed / had less going on . . . I mean, let’s be honest, here: Keith didn’t even remember who Lance was in the first episode. It took him a minute before he remembered, “Oh yeah, you were a cargo pilot, weren’t you?” Keith’s interactions with Lance never gave me the idea that he had some massive crush on him. Even his, “We had a bonding moment!!” only really counts toward friendship, because he spoke similarly to the Red Lion (“I’m BONDING WITH YOU” --- oh Keith, that’s not how bonding or friendships work). So as far as canon goes, I don’t think that Keith has a crush on or feelings for Lance. I just don’t.

Lance, on the other hand, I see as bisexual, but I think that he thinks he’s straight, and I think (though note that this is headcanon) that this is part of the reason why he’s so insistent on flirting with pretty much every woman (or female-like alien) that crosses his path. Lance is pretty much closeted even to himself, so he acts aggressively heterosexual in order to try and maintain that denial. Eventually, as he becomes more comfortable with who he is as a person, he’ll come to accept this part of himself as well and that will help him tone down the insistent womanizing, but until then, he’s pretty much bisexual in denial. He’s trying really, really hard to convince himself (and everyone else) that he’s straight.

So that said, I could see him having a crush on Keith, particularly since we know for a canonical fact that he was very attentive to Keith prior to the show even beginning, to the point where he easily picked him out through binoculars in the first episode and ran hell for leather in after him. Yeah, it was all under the guise of “NO I’M NOT LETTING HIM WIN THIS ONE!1!!” but god, how much time did he spend staring at Keith to be able to recognize him like that, despite the fact that Keith had the lower half of his face covered with a bandanna? That’s suspicious af, Lance. Suspicious af. I think that with Lance’s feelings toward Keith, it’s a bit complicated. I do think that some of his rivalry, and some of his desire to chase after / catch up to / surpass Keith is genuine. I think that Lance sees Keith as this amazing goal to chase after, and he gets himself fired up in chasing that goal because it motivates him to keep working and to try harder. Everything seems to come naturally to Keith (from Lance’s perspective), like Keith never struggles, and that simultaneously inspires and pisses Lance off, because Lance works hard for what he gets (even though he wants it to be effortless), and so for Keith to (seemingly) have everything come naturally to him, that makes Lance want to work three times as hard to surpass him.

But at the same time, I also think that there’s a measure there where . . . Lance WANTS Keith to be The Ace, he WANTS Keith to be amazing, he LOVES that about him. Like, again, it’s half inspiration, half anger; he doesn’t actually hate Keith, he doesn’t actually resent Keith, and posts that talk about Lance being an antagonist if Keith becomes the Black Paladin because Lance would never follow him are absolute bullshit because a.) Lance has already taken direction from Keith in the show (last episode of season two), and b.) Lance doesn’t actually hate / resent Keith ffs, he just uses his rivalry with Keith as motivation to push himself to be better. But for that to work, Keith has to be at the top of his game. I think that a lot of people see Lance’s hostile attitude toward Keith dropping out as some resentment / bitterness for Iverson only saying that he (Lance) was in the program because “the best pilot in your class washed out,” and I do think that it’s true that Lance is hurt by Iverson saying that. However, I also think that Lance might have taken Keith’s dropping out personally because . . . Keith was supposed to be the best. He was supposed to be at the top of his game and here he is, dropping out, what the fuck? So he’s super hostile and aggressive toward Keith at first because Keith sort of dropped the ball on being a goal to chase. Meanwhile, Keith is just like “I don’t even know who tf you are” at first, which makes matters worse, haha.

All of this is to say---I do think, certainly, that there’s potential for Lance to have a crush on Keith, that he saw Keith as a sort of goal to chase, as a rival, but also that he couldn’t help but be attracted to that, that he couldn’t help but find Keith extremely, extremely cool (and, though he ignores this part of his brain, damn pretty, too). Keith and Allura have a lot in common in terms of personality, and so it’s possible that the parts of Allura that attract Lance (personality-wise) are the exact same traits that Keith has, and therefore Lance projects his crush on Keith onto Allura, because again, he’s in denial about his sexuality, it’s easier for him to hit on Allura than it is for him to hit on Keith. And it’s extremely possible that his feelings could grow stronger as he gets to know Keith better, though at the moment I still see it as a crush that Lance hasn’t even allowed himself to really acknowledge, because he’s not quite in the right head-space for it at the moment, either.

I could see this relationship working over time, particularly if we got to a point where Keith is the leader of Voltron (I still want Shiro back in the immediate future, though), and Lance is his right-hand. They work really well together as a team and I think that, out of everyone else on the team, Lance is best suited to be Keith’s right-hand, to back him up in terms of leadership. I could truly see them growing closer in this context, could truly see them coming together and, perhaps when things have calmed down and Keith has more of his life in order, he could develop romantic feelings for Lance as well. It’s definitely possible, just not right now.

So yeah, I have nothing against this ship in terms of the characters themselves, but my feelings on it are certainly complicated thanks to the fandom and I don’t really ship it, haha. Maybe someday, but not right now.

(Though some of the art is really pretty, I will give the fandom that.)