#it's like people forget that this series is not based entirely around fight scenes... those are just occasional...

[vulpinesaint]

bitches will watch a whole show about a man trying his very fucking hardest to avoid violence as the first option and save people and protect people and watch his struggle to be a good person by not falling back on the tactics of violence that he was taught and that the world keeps trying to hammer into him and the fact that he only fights and kills when he has exhausted all other options or when his immense efforts to talk through things and compromise and work for diplomacy have failed and go 'haha he goes hmmm all the time! he never talks!' come ON now. every motherfucker in the witcher meets geralt of rivia and they go "pleeeeeeaaaassseeee geralt of rivia be a stoic violent man and go kill this thing for me so that i can avoid my problems" and then without fail geralt sighs really hard and LAUNCHES into a paragraph-long speech on what he thinks the correct moral situation is that NOBODY in that situation wants to hear except him. BE SO FUCKING REAL WITH ME THE PROBLEM IS THAT HE TALKS TOO MUCH!!!!!!

listen i am geralt of rivia hater number one but one thing i actually CANNOT stand is when the fandom mischaracterizes him. took one look at this man who speaks very straight-forwardly and matter-of-fact and is a little recalcitrant with his words sometimes and went "haha he communicates in grunts! man who only says 'hm'!" and then won't even write him to speak in full fucking sentences. hello???? hello???????? yes the netflix show was a bad influence on everybody because they were trying too hard to depict geralt as a stoic manly badass but we CANNOT let that distract us from the REAL thing to make fun of geralt for. which are his Constant Unprovoked Monologues

[flemingsfreckles]

How do you come up with ideas for your plots/ work your way through the stories? Do you have a process?

Short Answer: My ideas are just sort of whatever pops into my head, some is inspired by real life, some isn’t. As far as how I write them, I don’t have a process that I follow every time I write, it’s very chaotic and just based on vibes and what I’m feeling most of the time.

Long Answer:

My ideas, a lot of them come randomly into my head, either at work, in the car, in the middle of the night when I wake up and can’t sleep, or like when I’m doing other things. Half of the ideas I have I forget before I can write them down. Some of it is based off of things that happen in my real life but a fair amount isn’t based off of anything specific. I also get requests in my inbox that I’ll use as entire fics or as portions of a fic. Often if I try to sit and write and come up with plots I’ll come up with nothing.

A lot of the time my fics are based off of one sentence/paragraph that I want to write and I’ll build a whole fic around it just so I can write a single scene 😅

I also don’t write my fics linearly/in order. I’ll write the end, then write a couple sentences in the middle, then jump back to the end, then go to the beginning, then back to the middle.

As far as where the story goes, it depends. Things like Replacement and Physios Daughter I had a general idea/outline of where I plan to take the story beginning to end before I started writing it. PD I didn’t write out an outline and just kind of did it on vibes but I did know in my head I wanted them to go to the Olympics, end up together, have to be sneaking around, etc.

if I do actually write them out they are usually incredibly vague [Replacement Example: Ch1: intro, Jessie arrives Ch2: first game, hits they like each other,Ch 3: team bonding? Another game 4: after training fight? 5: start together, tackled, Jessie stands up for her 6: more post practice training, 7; Janine’s wedding (kiss)] obviously this is not exactly what I followed as far as writing replacement but it helps me have a general idea of where I’m going. I add in little side plot points and tidbits to make the fics longer as I want to or I see fit.

With fics like Drunk Dial or Better Boyfriend, those I didn’t plan to be multipart series, it was just based off of people asking for more so those had no plan and were entirely spur of the moment what I wanted to do with the plot.

A lot of it also depends on feedback I get. Even with a fic I planned to be multiple parts like PD, I didn’t expect it to ever be nearly as long as it was, but people liked it and kept asking for more so I was happy to write it.

[slowdripsunrise]

jfc okay so i have forgotten/been too lazy to write up reveiws here i apparently havent updated since. lone women which is well. so ive read a shit ton since then so i'm going try my best to write up as much as i can in this post bc i don't want to just. stop and skip over stuff. so well. here we go. spoilers for various books under the cut, i'll tag them all !

first book i finished after i last updated was silver nitrate by silvia moreno-garcia. been a while but damn do i remember the fucking vibes. absolutely killer vibes and atmosphere, and the plot was fun and interesting; i do remember being a bit confused in one of the final scenes fighting the guy but it wasnt enough to take me out of the story. the characters felt real and i could feel their love of movies and maybe each other off the page, definitely recommend if you're looking for an atmospheric, creepy little book.

next (and i'll just group these together) i read the poppy war trilogy by r. f. kuang ! absolutely wonderful storytelling and the characters were interesting and loveable. i think that this story succeeds in being one of the few good "war stories" as in it doesn't glorify or make light of any aspects of the war. there are good moments and bright spots throughout, but in the end pretty much every single character we know and love ends up dead, and before they're dead, they've been shaped so thoroughly by the war around them that there is no way anyone could have come out of this series thinking that it in any way romanticized the events. i loved everything about it and more. but while i did love the series. tbh i don't agree with everyone saying that its the most serious and intellectual and groundbreaking book in the entire world. yes it is groundbreaking and yes it is based on a lot of real life horrific events, but it's also. extremely entertaining. it's written beautifully and has some very poignant scenes that i love, and i am gonna be honest i lost where i was going with this point. i think what i'm trying to say is like before i read it, i saw a lot of people on the internet saying that it is like. the highest peak of literature and such and like. for me, it's mostly just a damn good time. i go into most books looking for entertainment (meaning like. i would like to feel emotions, not necessarily happy ones, just emotions in general) and what i think a lot of people made it seem like, was ONLY an epic tome about the brutality of war, the military, and colonization. and it absolutely is about that ! i am not docking points for it being about those things, in fact if it hadn't had all these hard hitting topics i wouldn't have liked it as much. but it's ALSO about rin, kitay, and nezha, and how they love and hate each other. and sometimes i think people lean too much into one aspect of the book, one way or the other (i have absolutely seen the inverse of this, people forgetting about the colonialism and militarization aspects in an impressive show of hypocrisy. which... is worse imo.) but idk. i have no idea what i am trying to say i just like this book yall.

next oml. okay again grouping them together for my own sake but i read the southern reach trilogy by jeff vandermeer ! this series was such a creepy and weird and offputting good time i ate that shit right up. the first book and the biologists pov are my favorites, and all of the insight we get from her and the first book into area x was just. so compelling i could not put that shit down. i'm pretty sure the second i finished in the hospital lol i was INVESTED. and honestly. i did really like the second book. not as much as the first, but i don't think it was bad or underwhelming compared to the first. once i got past the pov shift, i really liked controls pov partly because he is just some guy. like he is just so average and banal, and seeing this set against the absurdity of the rest of the book was really interesting. i liked how even though we weren't IN area x, the southern reach still had that otherworldly and offputting suspenseful energy, even in a familiar setting (office building type i mean. as opposed to weird as fuck forest). that and also i am deep into my f1 phase so like i kept picturing control as checo perez. like hes just so guy to me like hes just a normal guy that has no fucking clue whats going on and thats really funny and awesome to me. like man. anyway the third wasnt my favorite, but i still really like the series as a whole and will probably read the 4th one coming out whenever it does.

NEXT. sharks in the time of saviors by kawai strong washburn. did i cry. maybe. did i really like the story. yes. it was definitely a change of pace for me after reading the above books but the story was lovely and magical and engaging and very sad and i enjoyed every bit of it.

after that i read scattered all over the earth by yōko tawada, which is a story that i kinda have mixed feelings about? i listened to the audio book and the narrator did such a wonderful job, i loved listening to the two man characters talk about language in the mc's made up language, panska. and if the book was just about that, i probably would have liked it more, exploring language and the loss of it; however one of the side characters constantly get's misgenders when the story is outside of her pov. and it's like. really fucking distracting. so like i guess i don't have very mixed feelings about it lol. i liked one bit, definitely did not like another bit, and the rest of the book wasn't really strong enough to sway me back into the "i like this book and think it's interesting" camp. although if you can get past the blatant transphobia, the audio book really is nice to listen to, especially coming off a post surgery high.

next i read the ghost bride by yangsze choo ! this was another really atmospheric, palpable book. i could feel the setting, the humidity, the smells, all of it and it was so good! an engaging story, i'm pretty sure i read this one in a day or two. the characters were fun, the plot moved quickly in a way that made sense, and exploring the realms of the dead and the living with the characters was so fun, definitely recommend !

im gonna wrap this post up here mostly bc im hungry but i still have a lot more to update on ! if u made it this far thank you and also im sorry. happy reading!

[arcticdementor]

On my "REAL Banned Book List", unlike Barnes and Noble's fake "banned" book tables, works of fiction very rarely appears.  School teachers might want children to believe short simple books readable by adolescents are "Banned" because Oooo👻 forbidden fruit, don't read the age appropriate short fiction the school librarian tells you to".. But in reality 95+% of real banned books are non-fiction political tracts, censored histories, or terrorist manuals. And the fiction books that are banned are usually fictionalized versions of those, works like "Camp of the Saints", or "The Turner Diaries", despite their ability to move people emotionally are not banned for their emotional content but for their political content (and in the case of "The Turner Diaries" its accurate instructions on bomb making)Subscribe HOWEVER! There is one series that was driven from bookstores, and by the late 90s was almost totally disappeared based purely on the... "feelings"... it generated in its readers. A fantasy series set entirely on another world with more or less nothing to say about politics back on earth, awakened... stirrings... in its readers so disturbing to the powers that be it had to be stopped.

…

The Chronicles of GOR by John Norman (Pen-name of Philosophy Professor John Lange) Begun in 1966 and continuing to... today (he's 92), the 38 book series is a Pulp Science Fantasy series in the vein of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Barsoom" series (shout out to John Carter of Postcards From Barsoom ) It has a lot of neat fantasy/historical/military hypotheticals to get the young male mind going "what if Vikings raided Japanese samurai cities with flying monsters?" but the thing that outraged the feminists and what they'd never admit enraged them, was its effect on female readers.

…

This is the world and theory of mind Norman paints with a philosopher's attention to completeness... 38 books deconstructing and undoing not only modern feminist ideas of equality, but Christian ideas of the equality of the soul and nobility of the feminine spirit. By any standard maybe the most sexist misogynistic books ever written, not out of ignorance or resentment but a philosopher's indifference to any social or ethical preening that might impede the truth... And women freaking loved it.

…

Consummately refusing to acknowledge or accept that Norman's audience ws well beyond 50% female (men read it for the war and there's tons of books on that) feminists starts campaigns insisting that Norman's audience was entirely male abusers and misogynists, and naive young impressionable boys who needed to be taught not to rape, but were being taught the opposite. Of course Norman had merely written the type of violently sexual romances that had been staples of harlequin romances and women's lit had been romanticizing for decades if not centuries... on paper he'd just made the war scenes more realistic and engaging aside from the fantasy fortresses and rideable giant birds. But he did something 30s romance writers like Margaret Mitchell, and now tens of thousands of romance, erotica, and fanfic authors never did in all their sexy violent stories... Something the feminists could never forgive him for. Sandwiched between the fighting and the fornication, he explained with a philosopher's exactness, WHY those stories are sexy. Amidst the pulp adventures and wars on an alien world, and the sexy slavery, Norman lays out a comprehensive theory of human sexuality utterly incompatible with feminism, "Democracy", equality, and possibly even Christian civilization. He summoned the primordial lusts and hungers from the cruel ages of humanity into the hearts and souls of his readers, and he told them their names such that they could never forget them, nor look upon the egalitarian world world around them with anything but boredom and disdain. In short: It's pretty hot.

[thepaperclip]

Chapter 3 Heist Time Let’s Gooo

Heist time, and notably, Jodio is the one who is left outside as the lookout. Either this is because he’s best suited for outdoors work (November Rain hasn’t been shown active indoors yet), he’s legit the best lookout as the smallest and sneakiest of the group, or Dragona possibly would rather Jodio be outside and thus have the best chance of getting away in the instance of an emergency escape.

Dragona calling Smooth Operators their “kids” that’s so adorable awww.

Dragona: “We’re only here for the Diamond, no one touch anything else.” Paco and Usagi:

^ no notes lmaoo

Also Usagi just cutting up a painting when he’s supposed to just get a diamond and leave like no evidence…instead of just…..taking the canvas off the wall…..Usagi, honey, dear….

Also Paco don’t believe that I’m forgetting you nabbing those $20s, not sure how it’ll play into things later, but for the upcoming…stuff, Paco and Usagi are established to have cash money and a pair of scissors respectively.

Whatcha doing with those volcanoes and volcanic rocks, Rohan? Whatcha got there, Rohan?

Usagi and his chemistry and geology knowledge, we stan this multitalented hot dog boi

I love the way Jodio not only is looking through the Rohan’s book for clues, but is also kinda getting distracted with little fun tidbits he finds that has nothing to do with the heist. Like being super excited about seeing behind the scenes art for the manga he likes, or legitimately finding the pictures of the dog cute.

If I recall correctly, this dog was featured in Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan, and is most likely a fun Easter Egg from Araki. Though, it’s also very fun to speculate if this makes this iteration of Rohan just literally the same character as the Parts 1-6 timeline based on just how similar this one is to that one.

What is up with that cat??? No one knows, not the teen robbers, not Rohan, not any of us in the audience, and arguably not Araki either (I kid, he definitely has some sort of plan given how carefully he planted the presence of the cat around)

(Side note what if there are two cats the entire time lol)

Jodio does notably seem to be legitimately worried about the consequences of the other teens getting caught, or at least just Dragona. He’s willing to tell them to get out of there so they could try again some other day. Dragona also seems to listen, however both siblings are cut off when the safe is found.

Rohan had the safe in his lab area behind some sort of bookshelf it looks like. Also, Rohan’s mansion is huge what sort of money is this man making.

Dragona is goaded into committing to completing the robbery, and good thing Jodio manages to distract Rohan to buy enough time.

I’m not sure why Jodio seems to have made the cactus poke Rohan, maybe to provide further distraction? Either way it does seem to further clue Rohan in that Stand Users are around.

The things of note for the upcoming Stand Battle: the cat, the certain A’a rocks inside the safe for an unknown reason, and that the cat’s Stand seems to be some sort of tripwire effect. I wonder if Araki is further developing on some ideas for applications of Stone Free, but right now we don’t know much about the stand.

There’s also a second stage to this Stand Battle—Jodio realizes that Rohan may be a Stand User, and he might have to work to either keep Rohan from coming inside while also keeping himself hidden, or all present parties are going to have to fight the cat.

Note that chapter 1 has mentioned that basically, “4 people wasn’t enough, there would never have been enough people for this job”. So it looks like this heist is only going to become more and more complex as the chapters come. In what way, it’s unclear, but it looks like a LOT of setup for the rest of the series is happening from the get-go here.

I’m still waiting on how Rohan is going to play into this, given that he has a reality-breaking stand, is a “make your own luck” sort of man, and has the closest possibility of direct contact with Jodio, who believes in a “Mechanism,” where with careful calculation and action, Jodio will use it to get luck to go his way.

Furthermore, Araki has previously explored the ideas of fate and karma, what with the “disasters” and “luck” events that played heavily into Parts 7 and 8 (Valentine using the Saint’s Corpse to manipulate entropy and guarantee fortune for his reality, Wonder of U and Tooru pulling Final Destination moves on Josuke as he altered that “karma” in order to win, using his status as a sort of miraculous being in order to balance out Wonder of U’s calamities and break the curse).

I do not think it is insignificant that Araki is having a random stray cat who has nothing to do with the parties of the heist (no one owns that cat and it had come from basically nowhere) be the one that is acting as a spanner in the works for this heist. Especially given Jodio’s fixation on “Mechanism”. He is doing his job correctly and has his eyes on the goal, and yet it seems Fate is throwing an unexpected hurdle at all of them in the form of this stray cat who is a Stand User.

Oh I’ve just realized, could this be another version of Stray Cat? There is a cactus and a cat in this chapter, after all. And also, this cat seems to be able to utilize a fishing line-like string to wrap around its victims who touch the string in any way.

Also it does not escape my notice that Jodio has put his hood up. Is this a “flip the baseball cap to a different angle for go time” or a way to hide himself/protect himself? Who knows! Can’t wait for next chapter!

Jojolands live-blogging let’s goooooooo

1st impressions under the cut:

Jodio is such a wild name especially considering there’s a Spanish meaning (look it up lol). It makes me think of the Jorge Joestar novel where it says that Erina spelled George II’s name as “Jorge” to keep the “Jo” and it’s like ah yes, it’ll play out how you think in the Spanish-speaking Canary Islands.

Jodio’s narration makes him sound like an actual 15-year-old, and there’s something a bit charming about that. He goofs around and wants to become rich, but he also follows other people’s orders and definitely is flying by his pants as he goes through this process. Araki did a great job establishing Jodio through his narrative voice, stuff like, This may sound like bullshit” and his tangent admiring Meryl’s designs.

There’s definitely the “Giorno” connections (Giorno was the child of both Jonathan and Dio and Jodio is like combining “Jonathan” and “Dio” as names, both are 15 in their stories and have jobs connected with crime, and both of them have clear ambitions). Both of them definitely are observant and can read people very well. However, unlike Giorno, Jodio is not a smooth criminal. He reacts with violence first as opposed to trying to charm his way out of situations. Jodio’s been a low-level grunt for gangs since he was a child, rather than Giorno being a solo petty thief who, once completing initiation, dethrones the Boss and takes charge in like a week.

Another notable thing in this story is that Jodio is a Jojo who comes with a sibling, an older sibling at that. Jodio is definitely protective of Dragona, and also defers to their choices, and listens when Dragona begs Jodio to hold back. I love their rapport, it definitely feels like accurate sibling energy. They crime together, goof off with each other, both of them protect their mother and each other. I love how Dragona was begging for the police to leave Jodio alone because he’s a kid, a minor, and that Dragona holds Jodio back from going too far when beating up the cops who’d assaulted them. I also love how Jodio saw what was going on with Dragona and went “aight time for violence” immediately.

Definitely a new dynamic for the Jojo and JoBro, and also a refreshing take on Jojo sibling dynamics. Jonathan and Dio was about the worst way siblings could go (understatement), and Josuke and Joshu plus the other Higashikata children had a rocky dynamic given that…well, the amnesiac teenager being adopted into the family is a lot to get used to, so in some ways Jojolion was in part the Higashikatas learning how to accept Josuke and give him the family he needs. Johnny and Nicholas seemed to have a positive relationship, but of course that ended with tragedy given Nicholas’ passing.

Regarding the discourse over Dragona’s pronouns, I admit, as someone who is cis, I don’t feel I have a right to comment on this detail beyond that this is only the first chapter, and we don’t know how Araki will handle it for the rest of the run. Given that Araki is a cis Japanese man in his 60s, and that his writing and portrayals of other marginalized folks doesn’t have the best track record (Part 2 the anime had to cut out some rather unsavory caricatures of Mexicans, and Part 3 tended to play into uhh questionable “exotic land” stereotypes especially along Southeast Asia), I wouldn’t recommend getting one’s hopes up for the most stellar execution of representation for Dragona here. I will definitely say that no matter what happens with Dragona, it’s a Your Mileage May Vary situation, but beyond that, I’ll leave that to people who know more and have lived experience when it comes to talking about Dragona’s gender identity.

Meryl is the tallest Jojo character now after the Pillar Men and that is amazing also, yeah, how many hustles does she have? The fact that she’s a school principal as well as a small business owner as well as a crime boss (not sure how big her gang is though). I’m sure there’s a joke about the US educational system in here somewhere lol.

Also, a Jojo in a US public highschool. No notes lmao

There’s several references to our time, like Dua Lipa, Uber, and Covid. We can assume that means this takes place past 2020, most likely around 2022-2023 since no one is wearing masks, but Dragona doesn’t like the officer getting that close and cites social distancing as a reason—notably, the officer is shown as Asian since he asks “do you not want me to get close to you because of my race?” which also references the spike of hate crimes against Asians during the height of the pandemic. There’s also a bit of a meta mark of the times given how Araki went ACAB in the first 5 pages of chapter 1.

The Filthy Frank lookin’ ass dude. No notes lol

This part’s theme seems to be focusing on a new concept called “Mechanisms”. As far as I can understand about how it works given what we have so far about it, it seems to be something to do with “social systems.” Jodio built a social system of “trust” through being a good Gofer for the gang he works for, while the classmate he compares himself to is bullied because he doesn’t have a system like that for the school. Even though the unnamed student is larger, maybe smarter, and presumably wealthier, he’s singled out for bullying because he doesn’t have a good “mechanism” and will be due to leave the school soon. We’ll have to see how this plays out in the coming chapters…

HEIST HEIST HEIST HEIST

The jewel in the heist will not be how Jodio gets rich, or else, perhaps it will prove more trouble than it’s worth. I say that based on nothing. Araki might pull a different trope regarding this jewel, but I doubt he’d make this into a Maguffin for very long.

[thatgaiagirl]

Finally got around to watching Arcane and OH FUCK OH GOD I HAVE THOUGHTS-

What i’ve seen so far when it comes to the ending is basically people choosing between Vi and Silco in that ending scene and (mostly) dismissing the other perspective, and i wanted to give my thoughts.

First off, Powder and Jinx are not two different people. I know the language in the show kind of implies that with Jinx saying ‘Powder fell down a well’ and stuff like it, but i dont think they’re two seperate personalities. Powder became Jinx after the explosion, one evolved into the other. The best comparison i’ve seen is that Powder is like a deadname: Jinx abandoned it because of the trauma associated with it.

And that’s where my opinion comes in: both Vi and Silvo were right, but both were also very wrong. Each of them loves Jinx, but the way in which they love her has given them blind spots.

First, Vi. She’s understandably horrified at Jinx’s behaviour, girl is a reckless mass murderer who almost shot her when fighting the Firelights. She’s also worried for Jinx’s mental health, because Jinx is very obviously not stable. Both of these reactions are completely normal, and her desire to help Jinx is a good thing: this behaviour isn’t normal, and Jinx does need help.

The problem is the way Vi loves her. Vi loves Powder, the memory of her sister, and she’s essentially been stuck in stasis as the rest of the world changed around her. As a result, Vi is stuck in the past: she’s convinced that the way to help her sister is to make everything go back to the way it used to be, which is not what Jinx needs. The only real variable between then and now for Vi is Silco: her sister changed because of Silco, therefore Silco brainwashed her and getting rid of Silco will make her Powder again. She doesn’t realise that Jinx can’t be Powder again. She can’t undo the things that her sister experienced, can’t undo the changes she went through, and trying to is hurting her sister instead of helping. Jinx didn’t forget the past: she’s haunted by it. When Vi starts calling out names in the dinner party, she’s worsening Jinx’s mental state: we see the background disappear entirely and every name Vi calls becomes another monster to hurt Jinx. Vi can’t recognise that those names aren’t positive for Jinx anymore, and trying to force her sister into the past only made Jinx more incoherent in that moment.

Then, we have Silco. Silco did genuinely care for Jinx and love her as a father, but he’s also not exactly a mentally healthy individual. He wasn’t necessarily a good father, but he was certainly a loving one. He truly accepted her as Jinx: not forcing her to relive her past, in fact, he was doing everything in his power to help her move on from it. The only frame of reference he had was himself, so his ways of helping her deal with her trauma was based on his own experiences (hence the baptism scene). Being accepted as Jinx, as who she was now, is exactly what she needed: not being forced to relive her traumatic past.

Like Vi, the way in which Silco loves her gives him a huge blindspot. He accepts her including her flaws, which is good, but in doing so he has romanticised those flaws, which is bad. As far as he is concerned, the violent behaviour, the hallucinations, they are a fundamental part of his daughter that is included in her ‘perfectness’, which is a TERRIBLE mentality to have. We see throughout the series he is incredibly lenient with her, to the point of letting her stab him repeatedly and kidnap him without once getting angry at her. He cannot recognise those parts of his daughter as something that’s hurting her and everyone around her, because he views her as the perfect embodiment of Zaun: chaotic and tragic and fierce. By telling her she is perfect in his last breath, he has essentially frozen her in this terrible mental state forever. She will never change now, if she’s perfect in her father’s eyes, then why would she get help? She doesn’t need it.

The sad thing is, there is a middle ground here. There’s a way for her to get help and recover whilst still embracing her identity as Jinx, but she’s forced to choose between two imperfect options and we can see the strain it puts on her.

Vi loves her sister as Powder, and that allows her to accurately see that her sister needs help, but because of her attachment to Powder she thinks the way to ‘fix’ Jinx is to make her Powder again, which only hurts her sister more.

Silco loves her for who she is now, for Jinx, the embodiment of Zaun that she has become. But this blind acceptance means he is unable to recognise that his daughter needs help at all.

I find it incredibly tragic, and pretty realistic to how real relationships can work and how love, no matter how genuine, can end up blinding you to what your loved one actually needs.

In conclusion: poor Jinx.

[itsclydebitches]

Thinking back to the earlier volumes, isn't it weird that Ozpin either 1) didn't notice Jaune faked his transcripts (imagine if he was a Salem agent) or 2) decided to just trust this kid with fake transcripts when he is so paranoid that not even his inner circle has his complete trust?

I've always worked under the assumption that he had to have known. Even just ignoring the unlikely event that Jaune managed to secure transcripts that were that persuasive and Ozpin never followed up with/realized that Jaune didn't attend a previous school as he claimed (the huntsmen world seems to be a small one, increasing the likelihood of Ozpin hearing about potential new students, and Jaune couldn't have passed the test Blake, Ren, and Nora did for those students with unconventional educations prior to Beacon), he also just acts like he knows and is keeping it quiet. Ozpin is not at all surprised by Jaune's lack of knowledge regarding landing strategies, or his genuine fear about the initiation. Some like Ruby may be nervous about teams, but no one else is scared because to a Beacon level huntsmen there's nothing to be scared of - this stuff is easy-peasy. A guy asks for a parachute to safely land? That would have immediately tipped Ozpin off if he didn't already know. Plus, the person in these scenes who does pick up on these discrepancies, Glynda, is the one Ozpin ignores. "Oh, you think Mr. Arc isn't ready for Beacon? Haha, no reason to address that little observation..."

He had to have known, so the real question is why he'd allow this. You're right that it was a security risk, but it appears far riskier in a post-Fall story. Yes, of course Ozpin always knew about the threat Salem posed even if the audience did not, but the Fall wasn't just a shock to us and the other characters. I think people forget that it was absolutely a shock to Ozpin too. As far as he was aware, things were going swimmingly. It's that wonderful time of peace! Yeah, he starts hearing reports of enemy movements around the same time that Jaune was allowed in (meaning that any worry wouldn't have started until he'd already taken a risk on Jaune), but no one could have predicted that within a few months the entire school would be overrun with grimm. Meanwhile, telling people about Salem has been a known risk for at least several lifetimes. Letting Jaune into the school without credentials is only perceived as such a big risk after we've watched Cinder pull that exact stunt: sneaking into Beacon as a student and helping to destroy it from within. But, given the knowledge everyone had in Volumes 1-3, it doesn't surprise me that Ozpin would see one action as a STAGGERINGLY bigger risk than the other. He doesn't tell his inner circle about Salem because every time he tells people about Salem they drop the fight, betray him to her, or fall into such despair that they're functionally no longer allies - as the group beautifully demonstrated when the secrets came to light. Jaune is just... taking a chance on a kid with potential. One is a proven risk within a war that impacts all of Remnant; the other is only at that same level of risk if Ozpin were truly paranoid and spiraling when it came to imagining the worst possible scenario for every situation. What if this bumbling kid is secretly an intelligent spy sent to undermine my school from within, despite every possible proof to the contrary?

But it's details like this that make me roll my eyes so hard at the "Ozpin doesn't trust anyone" rhetoric of both the show and the fandom. Not trusting everyone with everything - because different people are more likely to be trustworthy or not; different pieces of information have the ability to do more damage than others - is not the same thing as not trusting, period. Ozpin, like Ironwood, has never been paranoid. Everything he fears is true, proven again and again across multiple lifetimes. It's not paranoia when people are literally betraying you left and right. Yet despite this, Ozpin extends a shocking amount of trust. It's as you say, he does let this unknown kid try his hand at being a huntsmen. He lets a former White Fang member into Jaune's class, allowing her to hide her status as a faunus the whole while, outright telling her that she can keep her secrets until she's ready to share them. He previously allowed two bandits into his school - who later revealed they'd come with the explicit purpose of learning how to murder huntsmen!! - and despite being betrayed by one he still keeps her brother as his second in command. He trusted his inner circle with everything but the secret that has screwed him over time and time again. He trusted a bunch of nobody students when they randomly showed up at his safehouse, demanding to be a part of this battle. He trusted them again despite the horrific way they put his trauma on full display. And then hit him. Screamed at him. Ignored him for months on end. He trusts them so much that when four of them came back with Emerald he didn't even question it. This 14yo boy I'm inhabiting wants to risk everything by "trusting love" in the woman who, just a few hours ago, was trying to help Cinder murder our Maiden? Lol yeah sure, why not.

Ozpin extends an extraordinary amount of trust given his circumstances. That's canon to my mind. What's ridiculous is that the comparatively few times he's held back have been blown into this inaccurate image of him being paranoid, or so manipulative that he refuses to allow anyone else agency through information. But Ozpin trusting others 99% of the time is the part of the story that has always made sense. Trusting others with caution during such a dangerous war is not - and should not - be criticized for this extent, especially when the other option presented is pure foolishness. Which, frankly, is where I think Oscar is at, surviving his blind faith in someone like Hazel purely because the plot bends to accommodate that. It also remains a strange theme in the face of Ruby's current characterization. Ozpin, according to the show, is flawed because he didn't trust love... yet this is the same volume when Ruby tells all of Remnant that Ironwood can't be trusted. No explanation, no attempt to reach out, just a black and white dismissal that he is an enemy now, full stop. And we can't even contextualize that with, "Well, Ironwood is too far gone to ever trust again. There are some cases where love just isn't enough" when we redeemed both Emerald and Hazel within episodes of each other. The PTSD riddled former-ally doing horrific things in the name of saving at least some of his kingdom is too far gone, but the guy who murdered the majority of Mistral's huntsmen, works directly for Salem, and has spent his two major appearances trying to kill/torture a kid is not? Yeeeaahh. That's really absurd to my mind. At the end of the day, RWBY's themes of trust are just fundamentally flawed. There is no solid foundation to work from and no continuity across the series, let alone across different characters. Ozpin trusted Jaune, but is said to be too untrusting because the show is basing "trust" on whichever characters it likes most in a given moment. It is, again, why we get a "Ruby will save the day because she's so trusting. More trusting than Ozpin ever was" while she is, in that exact moment, keeping these secrets from Ironwood. Or themes of Ruby uniting the world... while she explicitly says, "But not that guy." Any compelling story about trust we might have gotten died the day the group stole everything from Ozpin, punished him for things outside of his control, cut him out of their lives until the plot forced them to work together again, and the story never once went, "Hmm. Maybe our supposedly trusting, forgiving heroes shouldn't have done all that."

[bookwyrminspiration]

Half of the things that regarding Tam in Kotlc frustrate me honestly. It feels like he’s pushed aside in the series so frequently, and I feel like this really peaked when he was in the Neverseen in Legacy. First off, it kinda rubbed me the wrong way the way that half of the characters were acting like Tam betrayed them? And maybe I just horribly misread the scene in which he was taken to the Neverseen, but I would not say that was a consensual decision, like at all. Gisela basically just said “Hey come with me or I’m making an entire species extinct and killing your sister.” like that’s manipulation that’s not what an honest decision looks like. I just felt so bad for him because he was borderline kidnapped by this awful group and it felt like no one was taking it seriously. Sophie reached out to him once on her own, and then once again when Linh pushes her to. That’s about all she did to try to help Tam for pretty much the entire book, unless I’m forgetting something. It just frustrates me, especially considering how much she did to try to figure out who her parents were during that book. This isn’t a thing against Sophie, it’s just that the things she did during that book kinda make it seem like Sophie being able to get a matchmakers list is more important than Tam being kidnapped. I don’t know, I just feel bad for Tam it always feels like he’s getting the short end of the stick when he seems like he’s one of the characters who would need support the most? I mean, he’s got so much to deal with and half of his scenes just feel like “here’s a scarring situation for you Tam! Now go back home to Linh or something.” Also, the way they described Tam being chained and mind-controlled actually made me sick that’s really horrific. (Also I don’t know where to put this, but characters keep acting like Tam’s super-ultra edgy and I don’t really see it? This is probably just me, but he’s always seemed more like a really stressed out person to me, not necessarily edgy. This might just be because he’s in a stressful situation in like 80% of the scenes he’s in.) I’ll be honest, Tam just kind of feels like a punching-bag character half the time.

tam is one of my favorite characters so i'm looking forward to this one, nonsie

I do feel that Tam's situation was treated very similarly to Keefe's, though there was actually a lot differentiating the two, which makes it feel weird. To summarize, Keefe ran away to the Neverseen, actively making that choice, and Sophie decided to trust him with that decision. She thought it was dumb and that they'd have to rescue him, but it had been his choice. And she coordinated with him, reaching out nightly to see what was going on and to get a sense of how he was doing. She was actively doing what she could to monitor him and balance her other responsibilities

some of this mindset carried over into Tam, while I think he should've been approached differently. because this wasn't his choice. it wasn't coordinated, and he didn't want to be there. he wanted out, and he wanted to be out safely. My mind is linking it to that one conversation with Sophie you mentioned, the one with Linh. Specifically because he told Sophie not to reach out to him, and said "I. LIKE. IT. HERE[...]I'M EVEN MAKING FRIENDS," (Legacy 407). I think this kinda led us to the "Tam wants to be there the way Keefe did" connection that really isn't accurate. he was threatened into joining, and nothing he says after the fact will erase that.

additionally, while Tam was with the Neverseen, Gethen was back and could search his mind, which was why Sophie didn't reach out to him more than twice. it was a risk that could put Tam in direct danger, and he wouldn't know when it was coming and couldn't agree to that risk. so if the two paths of action we're applying to Keefe and tam are to try and physically remove them from the situation or keep tabs on them, since contacting him is off the table, you'd think they'd focus more heavily on trying to get him back. but they...didn't.

I agree with your assessment of her priorities as well. i don't fault her for trying to figure out who her bio parents are or for wanting to explore matchmaking, i'm judging her for her timing. because she's consistently been very motivated by her friends and keeping them safe, it feels a little off that she prioritized matchmaking over Tam's physical safety. i know the love triangle and romantic drama has a lot of draw for some of the younger fandom base, but I feel as though it was prioritized too much and actually betrayed some of Sophie's key values for publicity.

and going back to the "he always draws the short end of the stick," thing, I think you're exactly right. i honestly can't think of any scenes off the top of my head with Tam where he's allowed to just be a teenager and take a break. There's always drama with him, which I think in part comes from the "sarcastic dark aesthetic friend" he's kinda gotten boxed into. he's there to be dry and pessimistic and further the conversation. note: he doesn't actually seem like a dry/dark outlook person as much as a lot of us (myself included sometimes) make him out to be. yes, he uses a lot of sarcasm, but that's not synonymous with dark and edgy.

to me he sounds like..,bitter? and resigned? and just generally annoyed to be there but doesn't want to show it. i don't think that makes sense so let me expand on it. he feels like when one friend of yours has invited you into a group of theirs friends (none of whom you know) and you're just kinda existing in the same space but are slightly uncomfortable and don't know what to do with yourself, but you don't want to let it show and risk offending anyone. you talk and fake your way through it but it feels off and you just don't like it and don't want to be uncomfortable anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if he actually has a lot of anxiety that everyone around him just doesn't pick up on

his life changed drastically very quickly and he doesn't have a lot of friends. sure, there's the group, but they're not friends in that way. tell me, can you think of one person Tam would tell his worries or fears to? I can't. the most obvious might be linh, but I don't believe he'd tell her, because he'd want to protect her instead of burdening her with his worries. I think he's tied to her a lot and seen as a package deal in a lot of canon--and frequently in fanon--so it can be hard to separate them at times,

I might be jumping around a little, but back to the chains. those are incredibly fucked up, and I don't think they're given the appropriate emotional response they deserved. this is a teenager who has been physically chained for all hours of the day, for weeks. and he's just living with it, knowing he can't take them off. and when Sophie learns and tells Mr. Forkle, his response is that he's never heard of something like that before and would need to research it. Like?? excuse me?? one of the minors you let swear fealty to your organization is literally chained and you're 1. not trying to get him back 2. just saying you need to research it.

that's another thing! everything I remember (and I might be forgetting something) is the teenagers talking about Tam being missing and how they need a plan and want him back. But there are several adults in his life now who could step forward to take that responsibility. Tiergan. Mr. Forkle, Squall, the bodyguards, any dwarves working with the Black Swan, etc. You know, these adults with loads more resources and people at their disposal. they could do something, organize something, make an effort. A child was kidnapped and it feels like they went "wow that sucks. hope we get him back. anyways--" idk. that's just something that's bothered me.

he just keeps getting hurt again and again. it's like that's all we focus on with his character, him being sarcastic and dark in stressful situations and not him just existing. we see him fighting with his parents, fighting with the neverseen, being teased and singled out when he's around Keefe, like can he catch a break? can we just let him smile for once?

I, for one, think he deserves to be more than just a punching bag, nonsie

[oceanera12]

Sylvie should not have been a Loki-Variant, Change my Mind

Soo...

I have some problems with the Loki series.

Don't get me wrong, it's a fun show to watch and I enjoyed it (for the most part) but there is one specific thing that I have a major problem with:

And it's how they decided to portray/use Sylvie.

Because LET ME TELL YOU-- She should not be a Loki-variant. Heck, her character isn't even BASED on Loki.

Sylvie is based on this gal right here, The Enchantress (who is usually named Amora, but there is also another version of her running around whose name is-- wait for it-- Sylvie Lushton)

Heck, Sylvie even "enchants" people, which is what "The Enchantress" is kind of known for. Sylvie is very serious in the show, with no "joking" or "mischievous" side, and yes you could make the argument that she's had that stomped out of her because SURVIVAL. But I'll raise you a "Loki makes jokes/messes with his opponents when he's defeated or taken prisoner by literally everyone." And Yes, I know they made her different because of the Character dynamic but it's one of those things that I don't think she should have been a Loki variant. At all.

Now, me being me, this was something that bugged me so tremendously, I tried to figure out how I would have personally introduced/changed Sylvie into something a little more... well, not a Loki variant.

Here's what I came up with:

Let's start with the show setup: it would basically go the same with Loki getting taken by the TVA, recruited to fight a variant Loki, figure out where the Variant is hiding, etc, etc.

We'd still have the whole "hood reveal-- GASP, A WOMAN"

But said woman doesn't just run away without a word. Instead, she holds out a hand and says something along the lines of "if you want to live, then come with me."

Loki being, well, Loki, is extremely curious and goes along with her.

The episode would end with Loki asking who she is, and she gives him this surprised look. "Sylvie."

Loki: ... *confused look* "I thought you were a Loki-variant."

Sylvie: *also confused* "...Do you really not remember me?"

The episode ends with the two staring at one another then cuts to credits.

The next episode is different from the rest of the series because it is a flashback episode to Loki's childhood. Without going too crazy on the details, Loki had a childhood friend named Sylvie. The two of them bonded over having magical abilities and would get into trouble together. They'd go places they were not supposed to go and such. One day they went to such a place and something bad happens. I'm thinking giant monster attack or something similar. Loki and Sylvie get into big trouble and Sylvie gets into a difficult position and she screams for help.

Then there is this moment where we have a timeline split with the following two scenarios:

In the first scenario, Loki leaves Sylvie behind and saves himself (this is Loki's timeline). A few days later, the Asgardians pulled Sylvie's dead body out of the place they were not supposed to be. Loki never comes forward about how he left her and everyone just assumes that Sylvie got herself killed by going into the forbidden place alone. Young Loki feels guilty about leaving Sylvie to die, but he forces himself to forget about her and convinces himself that if he hadn't left her, then he would have died (this is kind of the start of Loki leaving people/betraying people who are his friends and family.)

In the second scenario, Loki hesitates but ends up going to help Sylvie. Both of them make it out of the dangerous area alive, but Loki is badly injured and ends up dying from his wounds shortly after they escape. Sylvie takes his body back to Asgard, basically knowing that it's her fault he's dead and she is going to be punished for it. However, Odin and Freya both see Loki's death as a heroic one, as he went back to protect his friend, despite the fact that both of them were not supposed to be in that area. In other words, Loki died a warrior's death and will be received into Valhalla, which is a comfort to them both. Sylvie (who I forgot to mention is another orphan that was just being raised in the Asgardian equivalent of an orphanage) is not exactly "adopted", but she is taken in by Odin and Freya, to honor their son's sacrifice. In turn, Sylvie takes on the name "Loki" as a second name to honor her friend. It is perhaps a year or so after this event, the TVA shows up and wipes out the timeline (I justify this because if Sylvie in the show is not supposed to be a girl and that's her "crime against the timeline" then she should have been taken by the TVA when she was born). Since Sylvie has taken on Loki's name, she is technically a "Loki" variant, which explains the whole "Loki variant" is behind all of the disturbances.

Now, I would personally play this Sylvie with a different personality. So Sylvie in this version is less in the REVENGE route and more in the SURVIVAL state of mind. Her entire goal is to survive. And if that means taking out the TVA to do that, then so be it. She's been planning this for years and everything was going according to plan, but then the TVA brought in a variant Loki.

Now, Sylvie knows that this Loki isn't HER Loki. But she doesn't know what Loki did to her in the normal timestream. She thinks that maybe she was strong enough to get both of them out or maybe Loki and her managed to both escape. In her mind, Loki is her friend and basically the closest thing she ever had to family. So even if this Loki isn't her Loki, she's going to try and help him survive.

Sylvie explains all of this to Loki, who is now feeling a tad guilty about leaving his Sylvie to die, but also feels a bit justified since he clearly would have died if he had gone back for her. Loki being Loki lies to Sylvie about what happened to her, basically painting a tale where Sylvie died the heroes death in his world, and the name had caught him off guard since his Sylvie was dead and he did not know how she would look grown up.

The show continues on, the main focus on Loki and Sylvie's relationship being more friendly on Sylvie's part, with Loki slowly feeling more and more guilty about lying to Sylvie. Especially when this Sylvie basically swears to him that she is not going to watch another Loki die.

Sylvie is very determined and focused, like she is in the show. She is still distrustful of people, EXCEPT for Loki (my reasoning behind this is even though he's the God of Mischief and such, Loki promised Sylvie when they were little that he would never lie to her. And that was a promise Loki had kept... until meeting Variant Sylvie).

Meanwhile, Loki has the internal conflict over him basically killing his own Sylvie, especially as he grows to really like the very-much-alive Sylvie. Here is all the flirty scenes and such. Loki probably decides at some point that he is going to try and make it up what he did to his Sylvie, by deciding to keep this Sylvie safe and happy.

Most of the show continues on pretty much the same, with the big climactic fight at the end except for one difference:

Kang the Conquerer or whoever the kriff that guy was, reveals to Sylvie what happens to her in literally every. Single. Timeline. Except hers.

So that Sylvie vs Loki fight in the show, is now a legitimate Sylvie vs. Loki fight. Loki, at this point, was probably planning on telling her the truth, but creepy not-the-watcher-but-kind-of-the-watcher dude beat him to it.

Loki tries to apologize to her, convince her it's a bad idea to kill this guy, and all that stuff, but it's too little too late. She decides to spare him, out of respect for her Loki but basically tells him that if he ever shows his face to her again, she will kill him. Then she shoves Loki through the portal, kills the creepy dude, and proceeds to drop to her knees and sob because the one person in the world that she thought would have her back, did not.

Now, Loki is determined to keep his promise he made to himself about keeping this Sylvie safe and happy, even if that means she is going to kill him if he returns and that is his mindset going into Season 2.

And that's all I've got at the moment since Season 2 hasn't come out yet. I shared this with my Padawan and my boyfriend and both were extremely interested in it so I thought I'd share it on here.

((Also, now I don't feel weird about shipping these two because I'M SORRY shipping a variant of the same person is just... weird. I can't do it without feeling weird, okay???))

[joheun-saram]

promise - 1 (knj)

Chapter 1: New Year’s Eve

masterlist | next

Summary- It’s NYE and you can’t wait to bring in 2017 surrounded by your friends, but there’s a new cute boy around. You’re intrigued but quickly find out there is it’s no good being cute when he’s literally the most infuriating person you’ve met.

word count- 3.1k

pairing- asshole!Namjoon x Reader (alternatively, edgelord!Namjoon)

rating- PG15

genre- collegeau, roommatesau, enemies2lovers, slow burn, this chapter is platonic fluff(and angst I guess), future angst, fluff and smut

warnings- alcohol consumption, marijuana consumption, Namjoon being an absolute ass, he’s against socialism for a hot second (to rile her up, our Joonie is still woke tho nw), mention of sex, Jungkook’s parents based on my actual best friend’s parents (shoutout to their amazing jello shots!)

a.n- Well, well, well... if it isn’t my simp ass writing another Namjoon series. Love that about me. Get ready for some slow burn and a lot of Namjoon just being annoying! 🥴This is a drabbleish series so most parts will be about 2-3k.

Thanks for the beautiful @ditttiii​ for beta reading and to @aroseforyoongi​ for helping me with the political argument (also for dubbing this Namjoon edgelord!joon 🤣)

As always feedback appreciated, a reblog and a like goes a far way. Send me an ask! 💌

taglist- @namyoongles​ @cheesecakes-randomshitz​ 

Send me an ask to be on the taglist!

-

You were running late. Very late.  With a sigh you watched the street pass you by in a blur, the distant roar of your bus dimmed by the rap music that blasted through your ears. You looked at the group chat to be bombarded by messages.

Jungkook: bro istg if you’re not here in the next ten minutes

Hoseok: HURRY UP! JK IS DOING SHOTS WITH HIS DAD OMFG

Jimin: OMG Y/N. WE’RE GETTING DRUNK WITHOUT YOU

Jungkook: adsdsd duddde u suk wdt syop taling foevr

Yoongi: I’m gonna drink all the whiskey I got from Korea this week if you don’t get your butt over here.

Yoongi: Jieun says hi btw!

The texts continued to devolve into nonsense as you willed the bus to move faster. You were annoyed. Jungkook had planned the new year’s party at his parent’s house, and you were beyond excited to party, having spent the entire winter break stuck at home with your parents as they argued over the smallest things. You tightened your grip around your duffle bag as the bus came to a stop. Trudging through the snow you finally reached the familiar red door of your best friend’s house.

You knocked, taking in the large three-storey suburban house as you waited to be let in, already digging through your backpack for the bottle of tequila you had brought along. If they took any more time to open the door, you were going to start drinking right there on the porch. Before you could uncap your bottle, you were greeted by Jungkook’s dad, the familiar, jolly older man moved his hair out of his eyes as he greeted you.

However, before you could finally get out of the cold, he stopped you, presenting a tray of colourful jello shots.

“Y/N! Penalty for being late. You have to take a shot!” He laughed as you sputtered, his face reddened by what you assumed was alcohol. You had known Jungkook since the two of you were freshmen in university and had routinely stayed with him and his parents during break, but you had never seen Mr. Jeon this drunk. You stood awkwardly, not knowing what to do as he insisted, your friend finally joining him and encouraging you as you tentatively took a shot.

“I changed my mind! One of every colour!” Mr Jeon exclaimed joyously as Jungkook groaned.

“Dad! It’s cold. Let her in!” He whined and thankfully, you were let in. Taking off your shoes and leaving your bag by the door, you ventured into the living room where you saw all your friends. Hoseok leaned where he sat on the couch, his face buried in his phone as he, no doubt, texted his hookup. Jimin danced next to the Christmas tree the Jeons had yet to put away with a glass of liquor as Yoongi played the piano in the corner, cuddling with his girlfriend Jieun. Bubbling warmth swelled your heart as you saw all your favourite people.

“Come on let’s get you a drink!” Jungkook put his arm around you, planting most of his weight on you due to the alcohol raging through his veins as he guided you to the kitchen through the living room. In the kitchen, you were met by the sight of his parents swaying together to Yoongi’s expert piano skills, and a man you didn’t recognize sitting at the breakfast island, talking to Jungkook’s younger sister animatedly, who seemed to be trying to leave the conversation.

Jungkook poured you a rum and coke, easy on the coke, as he made his way to the breakfast bar. You stood next to his sister, making small talk before she excused herself to go to her room. She never stuck around long during these get-togethers. 

When she left, you were left standing awkwardly next to the only stranger at this party. The first thing you noticed was that he was tall. Much taller than all your friends, his dark black hair styled away from his face, a strand falling on his forehead shaped like a comma. He was dressed much like everyone else in dark wash jeans and a navy t-shirt with white leaves outlined on the sleeves, except his jeans fit him almost too perfectly, sculpting his thick thighs. Although he seemed friendly, greeting you with a pretty dimpled smile, your sudden attraction to him made you nervous.

“Hi. I’m Namjoon,” he said, eyeing you from over his cup as he sipped whatever concoction he was drinking.

“Oh shit! I keep forgetting you guys have never met!” Jungkook slurred as he sidled up to the two of you with his stool, leaving you standing between the two sitting boys. “Namjoon and I have been friends for years. I think we probably met the same time you and I did, but I guess we never ended up meeting together?” He ended his statement as a question, and it surprised you. You thought in three years you would have met all of his friends. 

“Well, that and I took a break from school. I was doing an internship in California.” He beamed, clearly proud of his achievement. “I worked at Twitch, you know them?” He smirked, and you had to fight your urge to roll your eyes. Of course, he worked in Cali. You went to a university renowned for its engineering degree and it was the goal of every software engineering student to land an internship in California. Those lucky enough to achieve it used it as social currency and bragging rights. You despise those people. It wasn’t that you weren’t smart enough to land that opportunity, in fact, you were coming off of your internship with Facebook last term, but you always felt flaunting a job to be such an ugly trait. However, Namjoon was Jungkook’s friend and so you let it slide.

“Ah Twitch. Very cool.” you hummed as you drank.

“Yeah. What program are you in?” He asked, continuing the conversation as Jungkook disappeared to talk to his parents, trying to convince them to retire for the night since they had embarrassed him enough.

“Computer science,” you replied non-committedly, watching his face break into a wide smile.

“Oh, that’s so cool! Me too!” He replied excitedly. You had to admit, his smile was very charming and you let your guard down a little more. Maybe he just got influenced by kids in your program to brag about Cali. “I haven’t seen you in any of my classes though! Would’ve remembered you. None of the other compsci girls are this pretty.” He smirked, clearly proud of his flirtatious comment. You narrowed your eyes at him, immediately put off.

“So glad to know you deem me pretty enough to notice.” You rolled your eyes, before grabbing your bottle of tequila and a few disposable shot glasses and making your way to the living room. “Well, it was… okay to meet you. I’m gonna go do shots.”

“Wait! I’m sorry, did I offend you?” he asked, brows furrowed in confusion as he easily caught up to you, walking beside you and even sitting next to you on the floor, as you lined up the glasses to pour the drinks for everyone.

“No it’s cool, dude. We just don’t have anything in common,” you said nonchalantly as the rest of your friends crowded the table, excitedly taking a shot glass in hand as Jungkook waltzed in with a plate full of lime wedges and an intricately expensive-looking salt shaker. Namjoon didn’t say anything as everyone took their shots, but watched you throw back your drink, noticing the small smile that overtook your features as the alcohol from earlier finally started to take effect. 

After a few more shots, the party really started. Although there were only seven people, your rowdy, borderline chaotic group had you laughing. Hoseok was going on some tale about his adventures back home where he ended up at a bar with his high school friends and got the numbers of four girls by doing a disgustingly named muff-diver shot. He bragged about his game, and you burst his bubble by telling him it was really only because he was hot. Something he didn’t take much offence to as he wiggled his eyebrows at you. Namjoon, however, came to Hoseok’s defence, much to your annoyance.

“And how would you know? I doubt Hobi here has used his A+ game on you.” He raised an eyebrow in challenge, making you scoff as you rolled your eyes.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well… you guys are friends, I doubt he would try to pick you up.” He spoke with a logical tone, as he eyed you and Hoseok.

“Oh really? Okay Hobi. Since your game is so great. Let’s see it.” You turned around, staring at your friend next to you. Namjoon leaned back against his hands on the floor, watching the scene unfold with a smirk.

“Really darling? Don’t blame me when you fall for me.” Hoseok moved closer, finishing his drink as you huffed in annoyance. You were in your first stage of drunk, the stage where you got mean for no reason

“Get on with it, loser. Your face is making me drier as we speak.” You waved as Hoseok leaned in, his nose rubbing gently against your ear, his breath on your neck, making you shiver slightly.

“Hey baby, how about you let me take you downstairs and defile you on Jungkook’s Iron Man sheets.” His voice was low, almost a growl. You never thought you would hear Hoseok’s sexy pickup voice and you were sure that if you were someone who had not seen him whine and cling onto you after a few drinks, you’d be putty in his hand. Instead, you burst out laughing, doubling over with your hands on his thighs as tears of mirth filled your eyes. Not one to give up that easily, Hoseok continued.

“See. I’m a funny guy Y/N. Let me eat that pussy!” He couldn’t hold back any longer either, his voice breaking at the word pussy as he too devolved into a fit of laughter. His comment, however, broke Yoongi and Jieun out of their bubble as they looked up from their make out session, looks of horror on their faces.

“Please tell me you did not just say that Hobi!” Jieun chided, her voice shrill.

“That’s fucking disgusting.” Yoongi shivered as he drank more of his whiskey in an attempt to calm himself. Hoseok and you continued laughing at your friends’ reaction, the rest of the group joining in, except Namjoon who seemed to be watching the two of you with raised brows.

“Wait. I don’t get it. That should’ve worked.”

“Yeah dude. Y/N what the fuck? Let me eat that pussy!” Hoseok grabbed you by the shoulders, shaking you while screaming at your face, between giggles.

“Oh my god. I’m gonna get a stomach ache. Stop!” you wheezed, before turning to Namjoon. “Sorry dude. I’ve literally helped Hobi pee once. There’s no going back to sexy when you see him whine about forgetting how urinating works.”

“Yeah and no offence babe, but you literally had your hands on my dick and it was flaccid as hell.”

“You guys are weirdly close,” Namjoon commented, his face scrunched as he assessed you and Hoseok.

“You think they’re close, you should see her and Jungkook. They even slept together!” Jimin remarks finally sitting down after dancing by himself for the past twenty minutes.

“And it was fucking horrible. High five!” Jungkook leans over the coffee table to slap his hand against yours, the two of you giggling.

“What kind of incestuous group is this?” Namjoon remarked, sipping his drink before turning to you where he watched you leaned over the table as you still slapped your hand against Jungkook’s to the beat of the music. “So when’s my turn?”

“Excuse me?” You recoil away from Namjoon, almost jumping in Hoseok’s lap. Oh here it was; stage two of your drunk persona, anger. You felt it coursing in your veins at his insinuation. “Who the fuck do you think I am?”

“Apparently the group dick toucher.” He smirked again, that annoying lopsided smile that made his one dimple deepen in his cheek. “I promise I won’t be flaccid like Hobi was.”

“Okay! Y/N and I are going on a walk!” Hoseok exclaimed as he saw your fist clenched. He knew you were ten seconds away from punching Namjoon in the face, and he put his arms around your waist and easily hoisted you up, walking you to the front door.

“Hobi I swear to god, I’m gonna murder him.” You glared at Namjoon as he returned your heated stare with an easy smile and a wave.

“I know babe. So we’re going on a walk. Let’s go pick up some food, yeah?”

The two of you walked around the block to the nearest McDonalds, picking up an assortment of cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets for the party, even getting Namjoon what he wanted, despite your burning desire that he starve to death. By the time, you returned to the party and took a couple more shots you were sufficiently cheered up. Hoseok had that affect on you, calming your mood with his jokes and anecdotes. 

Cuddled with Hoseok as you sat between his legs on the couch, the two of you shared a vape as you let the weed settle in your bones with a mellow buzz. Jimin sat in front of you on the floor, leaning against you as you ran your hands through his hair, enjoying the soft fluff. You were so glad that he had decided to forego his usual hair wax today. You felt like you were in utter bliss, your annoyance with Namjoon long forgotten. That is until you tuned into his conversation with Jungkook - not that you had any choice, because even though he seemed to be talking to Jungkook, his eyes were pointed at you.

“I’m just saying capitalism is the reason you’re sitting here in this nice home. People who can’t afford healthcare or education just need to work harder. That’s how life works.” Namjoon sipped his drink, raising an eyebrow at you, and you decidedly ignored his baiting. It was like he was trying to get you mad on purpose. You didn’t understand his gameplan. Why couldn’t he just let you enjoy bringing in 2017 like an adult?

“Dude… why are we even talking about this?” Jungkook groaned, face scrunching in distaste.

“I’m just saying people shouldn’t look for a handout when there are literally thousands of skills they could learn to make their lives easier. Why are we using our tax dollars for the lazy?” Namjoon shrugged nonchalantly, his gaze boring holes into you as you stared him down. Oh curse your stupid resolve, why did this fucker know you so well, you literally just met! Before you could stop yourself, you were speaking.

“I’m sorry, are you stupid? That is literally the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Education and healthcare are a human right!” Your voice was louder than usual, startling Hoseok and Jimin as you suddenly stood up, walking over to where a smug looking Namjoon and a confused Jungkook sat on the floor.

“I’m not, but you must be, to not realize that we could invest in teaching people skills to make money instead of just giving them money. Don’t tell me you’re a communist.” He sipped his drink, his eyes dancing with mirth, relishing the fact that he had gotten you to argue. And argue you did, for over an hour, the room forgotten as the two of you discussed social policies and taxation laws, ignoring Jungkook’s protests (“We live in a social democracy!”). You could feel the fire in your veins as you raised your voice, while he calmly discussed the matter at hand. Even though Namjoon was the most infuriating person you had ever met, the fact that he kept up with your arguments was extremely satisfying. Your friends knew you were the kind of person to debate a point until all the sides were uncovered so they would never start an argument with you, and as much as you hated Namjoon, you loved that he was such a great sparring partner.

“Oh my god! Shut the fuck up!” Jimin yelled suddenly, breaking you and Namjoon out of your bubble, as you looked at your usually bubbly friend, staring daggers at you. You sheepishly apologized, just as the countdown began.

Everyone stood and you followed suit. However the alcohol in your body decided to catch up as you stumbled, instinctively grabbing on to Namjoon’s arm to not fall over. As you’ve started to realize is his ammo, he one-upped you, putting his arm around your waist and pulling you into his chest. Fuck, why does it feel so nice and firm?

The countdown got closer to one and you felt trapped by his gaze, an intense look in his eye as he smirked at you. His eyes travelled from your eyes to your lips and you felt as if your chest was getting tighter.

“Three!” your friends yelled, but your mouth felt too dry to speak up. You licked your lips and Namjoon’s smirk widened. Why did you find his arrogant face so attractive all of a sudden? You wanted to punch him not two seconds ago!

“Two!” He started to lean in and despite yourself, you started anticipating his lips on yours. 

“One!” Suddenly, your earlier resolve kicked in. No dude who insulted you all night was going to touch you. You pushed him off turning around to Jungkook.

“Happy New Year!” You pulled your best friend towards you by his collar, giving him a loud peck on the lips as everyone cheered. Jungkook smiled, pulling you into a hug and jostling you around, giving you a chance to catch the dumbfounded look on Namjoon’s face.

You hugged all of your friends in turn, and when Namjoon, still with his mouth slightly ajar, looked at you expectantly, you raised your hand to him with a smug smile. You kind of felt bad for the way he deflated before he shook your hand, but before you could dwell too much on that feeling, he tugged you closer.

“Well played,” he whispered in your ear, his breath ghosting your neck, and you felt heat rising up your neck. You pulled away with a scowl and before he could say anything else, your phone pinged, the screen lit with the last name you wanted to see.

Taehyung (3 messages)

Oh great. What did the fuck did he want?

-

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[portraitoftheoddity]

So like I really like Steve and all and he's definitely got the right heart and that's what fandom likes about him, how he stood up to bullies and injustice with his fist raised. But recently I've rewatched avatar and Aang got me thinking, is going against the world fist ready really the right thing. Like Aang was no coward he still stopped Ozai but in most of his battles he tries for peace first. In fact Avatar as a whole talks about change in people.

Like Sokka turned from misogynistic to respecting women, and Iroh's love and patience redeemed Zuko. As much as I love Steve Rogers, fist fighting bullies and getting your ass handed to you or successfully beating them to a pulp isn't going to change them, and it sends a wrong message of fighting fire with fire and bullies don't learn when you punch them usually they get pettier. I agree Steve is right at not letting injustice go be it canon or fandom but Iove that scene in avatar when Aang got into a fire nation school and when a guy tried to fight him he was just like nooope but still managed to be on top as opposed to Steve (maybe just fan fic ver) who would try a punch. I mean I can see Steve screaming at the lies of the fire nation school instead of calmly informing the truth and throwing a dance party. Like Aang might be too pacific sometimes but is charging against people really a good lesson. Stand for what's right, but like in a chill way. And I'm not sure if this is just the fandom version of Steve but in TFS we did kinda see him in an alley fight against a just a ride guy. Sorry about the long rant but what do you think about Steve's fight me attitude being completely glorified in his fandom.

I apologize that I’m gonna gonna get a little long-winded here!

I agree with you that peaceful solutions are great to try first, but when it comes to this punch-happy version of Steve you reference, I think you’re kinda looking at a strawman version of the character, anon --  maybe from poorly-written fic or memes, but not exactly the Steve of film or comics.

Now, the respective approaches of both Aang and Steve are in part a product of the media they originated in. A show aimed at kids with a single overall plotline and arc is often going to aim for a peaceful solution and allow for linear character growth -- while comics, movies and shows developed around a character specifically designed to punch Hitler as a statement during WWII are less likely to have a core message of pacifism, and their structure and circular timelines make growth arcs more difficult to sustain. This doesn’t mean one character’s approach or the other is superior, just that they come from different contexts, narratively and in terms of medium. Plus, there are different kinds of fights, and not all are going to offer us the same options as solutions. Looking for ideological purity -- only ever opting for the ‘right’ solution -- can often lead to doing nothing when no ‘right’ solution presents itself, which can result in more harm than taking a less-than-perfect action.

Let us not forget that when an authoritarian army showed up to kill everyone and wipe out the North Pole, Aang does go all Koizilla with the ocean spirit and wipes out the Fire Nation fleet. Aang has fought people. Aang, albeit with the alibi of “a spirit was in charge”, indirectly kills people (Zhao ends up pretty dead as a direct result of Aang’s spirit rampage). This isn’t particularly glorified, but at the time there isn’t a better outcome presented. Doing nothing would have led to the massacre of the Northern Water Tribe.

That said, I LOVE ATLA and its messages of growth and compassion and I think it’s great to have a protagonist who opts to give people a way out.

...Which is what Steve does. 

We see Steve do this more than once. In CA:TWS, Steve recognizes Bucky and tried to get through to him, to avoid a fight. One ensues, but Steve then refuses to fight him anymore once he’s disabled the helicarrier and saved everyone else, willingly putting his own life on the line to gamble on some part of Bucky’s inner self being in there and worth saving. He isn’t willing to put the lives of other innocents and noncombatants on the line -- protecting them is a priority, even if it means fighting Bucky -- but once that factor is out of the equation, he drops his shield and tries to reach him.

In the same movie, a few scenes earlier, Steve appeals to the personnel of SHIELD -- an organization that has labeled him a terrorist and been hunting him -- and paints out the reality of the situation, giving the good people within the opportunity to react and rebel against the element of HYDRA that has infiltrated -- which they do! But there isn’t a magical lionturtle showing up to tell him how to stop the helicarriers from taking off and murdering millions of people without any casualties, so, yanno. He does what he can. 

Heck, Steve is occasionally teased by other characters for his speechifying -- not just to give pep talks, but to try to get through to people. He does this in the comics a lot. You’ve probably seen this page going around:

It doesn’t always work out. But he tries.

You suggest Steve would punch someone who was wrong in Aang’s Fire Nation School, but I don’t agree with that reading on the character based on what we see Steve do. Steve very rarely is the one to completely initiate a fight. Usually he is reactive. He sees a situation where someone is being a jerk, points out the injustice, and if the person is insisting on hurting someone, Steve inserts himself to make sure it’s him instead of anyone else. Whether the jerk in question is a single bully or an entire army.

You bring this scene up, but when Steve confronts the guy heckling in the movie theater (who is making a woman cry, I’ll add), it’s clear from the man’s posture when he stands up and Steve’s look of dread that while Steve has spoken up, the escalation to violence is not his choice. When we see him a moment later in the alley, he’s fighting defensively -- drawing the man’s ire, keeping him distracted. Steve is reactive in this entire scenario -- not the instigator. (and I think if Steve had Aang’s airbending, he’d love to dodge more punches instead of getting his ass kicked!)

The fact that Steve’s primary weapon is a shield -- a symbol of defense, not offense -- speaks to the fact his entire MO is protection. Violence not for violence’s sake, but to intervene in existing violence when there is no other recourse.

But Steve also admittedly has a stronger sense of responsibility than Aang does at the series’ start. Aang dodges, but he also gets called out by other characters for running away from a lot of his problems instead of confronting them. Steve, if he were a bender, I think would likely be an Earthbender like Toph; solid, stubborn, listening and reacting (though ironically, he would lose his shit over the willful obliviousness and apathy of Ba Sing Se’s leadership). Steve feels a deep personal duty to always be in the thick of it where things are already at their worst. 

If there had been no deus ex machina energybending option presented at the eleventh hour, would it have been better for Aang to die and doom the world than to compromise his morals and kill the Fire Lord? It’s a question of hypothetical principles vs reality of harm in that instance. Aang as a character is allowed by the story to adhere to his principles and get a happy ending. Steve as a character does his best, but ultimately has to compromise with reality when he has to, when it’s not just his life at stake, but many others should he fail to act in time. In those high-stakes scenarios, his cards are often limited.

Steve as a character doesn’t arbitrarily start fights. But he goes to where the status quo is untenable, or where a fight is already raging, and he takes a stand. If he can convince someone to step down peacefully? That’s ideal! But usually by the time Captain America has shown up, there are megaweapons primed and loaded and fascists already hurting people or robots trying to destroy the planet or a Titan about to wipe everyone out, so the ideal option is rarely still on the table. No dance party is gonna be enough to change Red Skull’s crazy nazi mind about killing everyone (which is too bad, because I’d love to watch Steve do the lindy hop). There is no ‘chill way’ to stand for what’s right at that point. 

And ultimately, I think we need both kinds of characters! I think it’s important to encourage diplomacy and compassion, to urge people to find common ground and to find nonviolent ways of diffusing and deescalating situations. To look at things from other perspectives, and to give people the option to learn and grow and be better than they were. I love a good rehabilitation arc, and think ATLA does this beautifully and has incredibly important messaging and philosophies.

But I also think we need stories that say, hey, when those options aren’t on the table? When no one is listening no matter what you try to say, when you’ve looked for a way around it and no lionturtles have showed up to save your ass? Sometimes, you have to put yourself in front of the guy swinging punches and raise you shield and stop him. Sometimes you don’t get the nice options that make you feel good; sometimes the world is messy and ugly; but sometimes, even if we can’t do the ideal thing, we can still do the right thing. Take action and put an end to the perpetuation of violence in the moment to protect the helpless. (Then work on rehabilitation and communication.)

[johannas-motivational-insults]

Jo’s Top 10 of 2020

I see lots of artists doing that thing where they post a piece from each month of the year... unfortunately my content creation isn’t necessarily consistent and it’s hard to track what month individual fic chapters were posted in, but I figured I’d do something similar and post my Top 10 pieces of content I created in 2020, what they’re about and why I love them. I actually did get a fair amount done this year thanks to the lockdown, but I’ve narrowed it down to these ten that I’d like to reflect on. (To be fair, I’m probably forgetting something huge. Feel free to leave comments if you think I passed over something important lol.)

10. Friendship in the Horde (meta): This is something I’d wanted to write for a while but finally got around to finishing in February. It’s basically a sociology paper lmao, an analysis of the social hierarchies and systems of the Horde. It was also a convenient excuse for me to gush about Catralonnie, an underrated (friend)ship. But honestly this was an important piece for me because I have always identified with the Horde characters way more than any of the rebels (other than Adora, who grew up in the Horde) and part of why is how they are in an unsafe environment and end up forming relationships that are helpful for survival but hinder them psychologically. And I think to understand the Horde characters and really evaluate their motives and choices you need to understand this first.

9. The Sting in My Eyes: On the surface this is just a run of the mill hurt/comfort oneshot, but it was a really important post-canon processing fic for me. I had a lot of feelings about Catra’s relationships with Shadow Weaver and Melog in season 5, particularly about how Catra must have felt really conflicted after Shadow Weaver told her what she wanted to hear all those years but in a way that felt unearned and out of the blue. It was really cathartic for me to write a scene where she struggles with those mixed feelings but has Adora and Melog to help her process them. And I had long associated the song the title is from with Catra and Shadow Weaver’s relationship, and the way she died trying to redeem herself really solidified that connection.

8. Hail Mary, chapter 6: This was supposed to be a short chapter mostly about the backstory between Catra and Scorpia in this au, with some Catradora yearning thrown in. It evolved into a massive, sprawling thing that is very atmospheric in terms of how the setting and vibes are described and how in the moment it feels. Hail Mary is like that sometimes but that type of narration is usually about football games rather than parties, so this chapter was a fun change of pace in many ways. It was really nostaglic for me to write too, the nerves of being a teenager at a party with your crush and how intense everything feels. And the Scorptra stuff really is delicious, it was nice seeing them have that conversation they never got to have in canon and truly make up, and the tiny sliver I added of Catra’s earlier history was heartbreaking in the best way. So this was not what I intended to write, but it turned out way better for it.

7. A Better Son or Daughter (AMV): I’ve done other Adora AMVs, but this one is really my iconic piece. The song is perfect for Adora, so perfect it’s on Noelle’s Adora playlist. The vid itself is a character study about Adora’s mental health struggles and the way she represses them, as well as a tribute to her resiliency and her eventual triumph of getting to a better place in her life. This is a song that gives me a lot of feelings and once I was making it about Adora it gave me even more, so this was a very satisfying piece to complete. I wish Noelle had gotten a chance to see it but oh well, maybe down the line.

6. Hail Mary, chapter 12: This is the chapter that much of the fic had been building to, Catra and Adora in conflict because Catra finally got the chance to be Adora’s hero and Adora shot her down. It’s painfully analogous to canon, both in terms of how (I suspect) Catra felt in Thaymor and Adora’s tendency to victim blame because she’s so pragmatic. There’s definitely some tones of Taking Control in there but Lonnie does a much better job of examining Catra’s psychology and needs than Glimmer did in canon (a writing error imo, Glimmer should have had more insight). Adora just wants to help but sometimes in her quest to do so she disenfranchises others, and this was a much needed look at that aspect of her character. It’s also an excellent illustration of what it’s like to play a peacekeeping role in an abusive household and how stressful it is trying to protect others while also protecting yourself.

5. Unstoppable (AMV): This is not my favorite Catra AMV I’ve ever done, but it might be the cleverest. The soundtrack is a song about mental illness masquerading as a song about being a bad bitch, which is basically Catra in a nutshell. The lyrics are incredibly fitting for her and her arc as it develops over seasons 1-4. The vid itself takes a hard turn in the interpretation of the lyrics, going from talking about how no one can stop Catra to how she can’t stop herself because she’s in such a terrible sunk cost fallacy spiral, and I think I got several death threats over that twist lmao. As someone who primarily deals in angst, there’s hardly a better compliment to be paid.

4. Demons, chapter 31: This one got real dark on me. The concept of this chapter was originally an examination of how comparing abuse can get really dicey but you also have to respect that other people have had different experiences from you and you have to be careful not to equate things or make it sound like you’re talking over someone else. I guess it’s also a bit of a look at how autistic people (like myself) will often explain why they can empathize so others know they understand rather than saying empty platitudes, but that can come off as insensitive or like they’re making things about them. I mean, in this case Adora kinda was making things about her, but she was provoked into it by a parade of comments insinuating she didn’t suffer at all, which was also unfair. Anyway it’s one of the more important Catradora fights in Demons and something I’d written bits of over a year prior, it was that important to the plot, but it also took a turn I was not originally planning. I finished the chapter when I was in a really bad depressive and self-loathing spiral and that bled onto the page, but it worked perfectly for Catra in this scenario... that push and pull of feeling like the world has hurt and victimized you mixed with knowing you’ve done some bad things yourself and feeling like you don’t have a leg to stand on when mourning the ways you’ve been hurt. It’s intense as all fuck but it’s excellent.

3. Hail Mary, chapter 11: Speaking of dark Catra content, this chapter... whew. It was really something else, to read and to write. I have written flashbacks in Demons that are more detailed and even include explicit violence but because those scenes are always in flashback form I never really got the chance to sit in the head of an abuse victim waiting for the other shoe to drop for an entire chapter like I did here. It’s quite different from the rest of Hail Mary stylistically and is both highly sensory and extremely internalized. It took me back to some terrifying moments in my own life so it was difficult but also extremely cathartic to write. It’s important too because it really sets up where Catra was at mentally heading into her big fight with Adora, and that chapter is in Adora POV. This chapter is ranked so high simply because it’s... polished, as @malachi-walker put it. It almost is its own story within the story and really noteworthy as a piece all its own.

2. Demons, chapter 26: This chapter is very similar thematically to Hail Mary 12, just based in the canonverse. It deals with one of the core (but highly neglected by fandom) conflicts between Catra and Adora, where they both need to feel like they can take care of and protect the other but also detest feeling weak or vulnerable themselves. It leads to Adora’s ego making Catra feel disrespected and Catra’s behavior confusing Adora and making her think she’s an ungrateful brat rather than someone who needs so badly to be needed, just like her. There’s definitely some power struggles in this chapter but finally they’re able to get to the heart of it and seeing them talk it out is so satisfying. Getting this chapter published was also important to me on a personal level because, like I said, this aspect of their conflict and relationship is rarely acknowleged for how important it is when really it’s one of the deepest conflicts between them in the series. It’s a scene I started writing pretty much as soon I knew I was extending the fic into something longer because I just needed them to have this conversation, so finishing it was so satisfying.

1. Satisfaction, chapter 3: This chapter took me a really long time to write, both in terms of time to get it published and time I actually spent working on it. It’s the crown jewel of a fic that’s really important to me and I had to get it just right, so I spent more time agonizing over every detail and rewriting things to get them absolutely perfect than I usually do (I’m a perfectionist anyway, but this took it to a whole other level). But in the end it was worth it, because this chapter is damn fine. It’s really hot, as you’d expect from a smut fic, but it’s also an excellent character study of how both Catra and Adora were affected by their abuse and trauma and the issues it raises for them in terms of sex and intimacy. Also, come on, we need more BDSM fics out there that focus on the actual point of it all (the trust involved) and promote communication and do the character work to explain why they might be into it in the first place.

BONUS (from December 31, 2019): One of my favorite pieces of 2020 technically came out in 2019, but I posted it on New Years Eve so most people first saw it in 2020. It’s an absolute banger of an AMV called I’m Not Jesus that’s all about Catra and Adora’s anger towards Shadow Weaver and their refusal to forgive their abuser. Funny enough this came out before Adora’s iconic “I will never forgive you” line, and Shadow Weaver definitely made things more complicated with how she went out, but I think the sentiment still applies.

[neversatisfiedwithlife]

I don't understand why anyone even liked Doug in the beginning. I've always despised him, except for a few moments. The fandom called him out for how he treated Izzie in season 4, yet ignored so many other things?

Like did everyone just forget that he walked out on his family just because Sam was diagnosed with autism? He was gone for 8 whole months. And later on he said something about never seeing his son smile, or that he just wants something in common with Sam (when he forced Sam to watch games or something - I don't remember too well). Until later on in the show, Doug didn't do much to try and like one of Sam's hobbies or interests, and just in general took everything as a personal attack. And when he went to Elsa's group he really showed that he was really late in doing anything to try and understand Sam's autism.

Not to mention he was still ashamed of Sam being autistic, and didn't "get over it" until he was outed for it. Plus, he was only supportive of Sam whenever he had a chance to one-up Elsa. Every scene was just an opportunity for him to look like the better parent, it didn't feel like he really believed in Sam at first.

And I can't explain it, but Doug's attitude in the whole show was really irritating. Even if he was right for it sometimes (especially when he found out Elsa cheated), he really took victim playing to a new level. His self-pity was agonising to watch. Not to mention the subtle toxic masculinity here and there. He just overall sucked as a character. He's like that one guy that never seems to be able to stay in his lane.

Sorry for the totally random ask, I need this discussion so bad, I genuinely don't get why everyone loves this character

I do think people sympathized with him at first being cheated on because cheating is never the answer.

But I do get exactly what you're saying, let me try and organize my thoughts based on your points brought up:

Izzie, no surprise she's a lot of people's favorite. But I agree why only when it pertains to Izzie are people's characters defined? Like Elsa no one wanted to view her as a positive character until she was there completely for Izzie, and that confused me because I actually really enjoyed her in season 3 and on rewatch learned to be patient with her in s2.

To be honest some people bring up stuff from season 1 that I literally forgot happened, so yes that could be a thing. I usually start my rewatches at s2, which probably sounds dumb: but I am aiming to do an entire series rewatch.

This reminds me of the Arlo episode, Doug is kinda insufferable here, no surprise he was oblivious, either by choice or just truly that way, the reason behind Arlo's dad not wanting Sam around was because he wasn't neurotypical and because he has autism.

Also the fact that he didn't stay with Elsa's group was actually on my mind earlier. He really didn't put forth any effort to understand Sam and kids with autism.

Also he left and then Elsa is the bad guy when Sam and Casey get on a fight? I hate that nobody brings this up. Idc what happened those are his kids, but he really just said no.

But yes he's only interested in Sam's interest, Antarctica, after Sam and everyone else have paved him towards being self sufficient. When Doug realizes he can be basically completely hands off with Sam now he's intrested.

(Idk if my additions were comprehensive or coherent or even added anything but I hope so. Thank you for this post I completely agree. I've really been having a roller coaster of thoughts on Doug since Friday lol- im not the same person I was a day ago about Doug😂😂honestly though)

[deans-haunted-baby]

The Ones Left Behind

Alrighty time for some truth bombs. I’ve had almost a week to absorb the end of Supernatural and season 15 as a whole. And I think this is the moment where I need to throw in my two cents. For all intents and purposes I won’t go in-depth into 15x20 seeing as that conversation will just open up a whole other can of worms and I don’t need that headache. I have my reasons for being less than indifferent with how the Winchesters’ story concluded. So I won’t go there.

Instead I’ll be focusing all my energies on the unsatisfying conclusions of 4 particular characters. Two of which were main cast members (one that was on the show 12 years and one 4 years) while the other two (played by the same dude) were brought back after a decade long hiatus for a much-anticipated comeback only to be wasted and mangled unfairly by Dabb and his hack horde of a writing staff. Call this a follow up to my last post. If I sound bitter I am because these people don’t have a single clue on how to helm these characters, their relationships or their storylines 😠 Nor do they deserve them.

And yes I’m well aware of Kevin Tran, Rowena, Ketch and several others who got the shaft on this show. Those could be future posts for another time.

But I cannot stress this enough; ADAM MILLIGAN, JACK KLINE, MICHAEL AND CASTIEL ALL DESERVED FUCKING BETTER. There is no arguing these facts, none whatsoever. Not one of these characters deserved that exit to be the final chapter in their story. I won’t do an entire analysis of each character’s arc and role in the show as I’ve already done that in my rant about 15x19. But I will highlight how much season 15 royally screwed over these characters and tossed them aside like trash; as if none of them were ever part of/contributed anything to Sam and Dean’s history/world building of Supernatural’s universe.

*WARNING* This is going to get heated.

Before I dive into the heart of these issues I want to state this is not a “shipping post”. I don’t ship anyone on Supernatural, hopefully this blog has been pretty self-explanatory. So I have no arguments/opinions in those areas. I’ve been a fan of this series for 15 years because of the characters, the familial bonds and relationships formed between characters throughout its run. And I’m well-aware that the Winchesters are the lead protagonists of the show, no need to remind me. These are purely my own thoughts based what I’ve obtained from show canon. Let me just say I can’t get over just how much these writers contradicted and ignored what they put forth in the journeys of these four individuals. its a real headscratcher.

You mean to tell me that after TWELVE DAMN YEARS of Castiel being a rebellious warrior angel, searching for his own identity and meaning in life; making that promise to Kelly Kline about raising Jack as his own/risking his life for him. After sacrificing himself for his son a year ago, acknowledging he was satisfied with his role as a father which restored his faith; that it was all because of/for Dean Winchester? 

You mean to tell me that after Michael, THE PRINCE OF HEAVEN and PROTECTOR OF HUMANITY, was locked away in a cage with a human whom he emotionally bonded with for thousands of years (10 years our time); who was abandoned, betrayed and manipulated by his neglectful/abusive father. After choosing free will and aligning himself with TFW for humanity’s sake, just sided with the Earth’s destruction because his little brother called him names? 

You mean to tell me that Jack, A THREE YEAR OLD CHILD, who’s barely just beginning his life and spent his entire duration on the show wanting to be normal and not wanting to be special. Connecting and being integrated with humans; a child who’s biggest fear was outliving everyone he ever loved. Is suddenly ready to walk away from his family, his home and his teddy bear; to give up being a kid forever and run the universe?

You mean to tell me that Adam, SUPERNATURAL’S MOST INNOCENT CHARACTER and FORGOTTEN THIRD-WINCHESTER BROTHER, after being eaten by ghouls; pulled away from his mother out of Heaven, manipulated by angels, trapped in Hell for thousands of years because Sam and Dean left him there to rot. After coming back and helping his neglectful siblings save the world only to be ripped away from his best friend and THE ONLY OTHER PERSON who gave a damn about him; is sentenced to a life of loneliness, homelessness and turmoil until he dies and ends up in Hell where he’ll mostly be tortured and turned into a demon?

NO. I DO NOT AND WILL NEVER ACCEPT THIS BULLSHIT! 

Season 15 not only manages to contradict itself where these characters are concerned (while assassinating them before the final curtain). But the writers deliberately discarded them before giving us that *sarcasm inserted* epic solo-Winchester conclusion. Regardless of how you feel about Adam, Castiel, Jack or Michael, ALL OF THESE CHARACTERS are connected Sam and Dean’s story and part of Supernatural. And when you throw them away like they mean nothing, you’re essentially throwing away a part of the show’s history. You’re ignoring 15 years worth of story building. 

As I said I’m not going to go into 15x20 for reasons, it doesn’t offend me as much as what was done before that finale. Because I think those other show exits really affect 15x20 even worse than people realize. You want to know why, I’ll explain.

Lets start off with Castiel and Jack, OH BOY! We know where they end up; running Heaven and the Earth together which is all fine and dandy. I love my Dadstiel father/son duo being an endgame family unit. But here in lies the problem, we never saw it. Not even a cameo. And technically their onscreen storyline ends at 15x18 and 15x19 which is an ugly, anti-climatic bookend to an incredibly deep relationship that had 4 years of development. First you have Castiel who completely forgets why he made that deal with the Empty to begin with. HIS FUCKING SON. Not to mention it wasn’t about true happiness it was about giving himself permission to be happy; there is a difference. And then you have Jack wandering around next episode, vacuuming up power cause suddenly he’s a machine now, acting like he doesn’t give a shit over losing his dad to an entity HE’S BEEN DREADING ABOUT FOR A FUCKING YEAR. 

Towards the end of season 15 I noticed neither of these characters were acting like themselves. Their motivations, their personalities and strong ties to one another had mysteriously dissolved. Castiel became less concerned about the danger his son was facing after 15x15 (what the hell was that in 15x17?) and more about speaking when spoken to by either Sam or Dean. Does he know how Dean truly feels about Jack; proclaiming the child is “not family”? I doubt the in-character version of him would let Jack leave with Dean after that insult. Castiel’s not even worried whether or not his son is alive or safe before he makes the big confession later. And for some reason Jack (who’d become heavily suicidal) was more concerned with clinging to the Winchesters, willing to die for them, instead focusing on himself and the one person who’s shown him nothing but unconditional love and given him strength since birth. Both of these characters are canonically depressed and suffer from low self-esteem that was never resolved which makes me furious. 

When Chuck killed Jack at the end of season 14, this devastated Castiel in the first half of season 15. He actually got to grieve that loss throughout the episodes and deal with his anger over it, allowing the audience to anticipate the day they’d be reunited one last time. This part of Castiel’s S15 arc also ironically mirrors Jack’s S13 arc of mourning Castiel’s death until resurrecting him. And when this son finally returned to his father, who got to rescue him, it was such a poignant moment between the two. It was a cathartic payoff after witnessing Castiel in so much pain over Jack. There was so much building up between that Dadstiel reunion in 15x11 and the Empty’s pact in 14x08; this was suppose to be a tragic yet pivotal plot-point in both Jack and Castiel’s stories. And with SPN wrapping up we all expected something BIG. Yet somehow the writers retconned the whole thing by making it all about Dean, which is such a gross disservice to these characters and 4 years of storytelling.

For instance, since 15x18 was Castiel’s exit episode, why wasn’t he allowed to hug his son or Sam goodbye one last time? Why didn’t he have more of a focal role instead of standing around majority of the episode with barely any dialogue as so much precious air time was wasted on frivolous things? Why didn’t he get one last badass fight scene with someone like Death instead of being choked out and tossed around like a powerless mortal? Why did the group need to be split up to begin with when it served no purpose either than that *ugh* moment? Why wasn’t Jack allowed to call Castiel “dad” once before the show ended? He deserved to hear his son address him as dad!

AND WHY THE HELL COULDN’T JACK FEEL CASTIEL’S DEATH THE MOMENT IT HAPPENED? 

The show already established to the audience the significant cosmic bond these two characters shared since before Jack was even born. It was so powerful it boosted Castiel’s grace. Jack could remember who Castiel was from the womb and that he’d protected his mother. Not to mention HE FUCKING RESURRECTED CASTIEL OUT OF THE EMPTY ONCE WITHOUT GOD’S POWER. You’re telling me Jack couldn’t feel his dad being taken away forever despite how far apart they were? No, he’d feel it in his heart. Had we’d been given a scene like that at the end of 15x18 (something of substance) with actual grief shown in 15x19 maybe the episode would’ve faired better for them. 

That said it wasn’t, because Jack was treated the exact same way in his final exit. Hardly any lines and just a bunch of scenes of him standing/walking around until that pathetic reveal at the lake. HE DOESN’T EVEN GET TO INTERACT WITH JAKE ABEL’S MICHAEL/ADAM which would’ve been a great follow-up to the AU!Michael storyline in seasons 13 and 14. I swear these directors didn’t give Alex and Misha any motivation during their last three episodes and it’s evident in their hollow performances. But why would they when the scripts are basically telling their characters to quickly fuck off so the brothers can have their final outing. Jack doesn’t even behave like himself after he becomes the new God. His personality is apathetic, cold, alien, stiff and way too mature for the 3 year old child so closely connected to his family/the human world. In that moment I saw Alex Calvert not Jack Kline. It’s bad enough he doesn’t get a meaningful farewell but again Castiel, HIS DAD, is a complete afterthought to this kid 🥶

And that’s what we’re left with. Forever. A frigid, hollow ending to one of Supernatural’s most healthy, touching, family dynamics. It makes you wonder what was even the point. I can’t even fully enjoy the fact that its canon Jack and Castiel are together fixing Heaven because of what the show presented onscreen as their last hurrah. It’s not sitting right and it makes 15x20 even less appealing to me.

Moving onto Michael and Adam. Get ready for this. I could rant forever about how dirty my boys were done by this show. How they were discarded in the SPN series finale recap etc. just as they were FOR THE LAST TEN FUCKING YEARS. Was there even a plan going on here or was this just everyone making things up as it went? Their ending is the most unsatisfying and cruel thing because its INCOMPLETE. There is no real closure or resolution with them thanks to the monstrosity that was 15x19. AND NO ONE CARES ENOUGH ABOUT THEM TO GIVE A SHIT. 

Much as I’ve enjoyed this show for many years, it NEVER deserved Jake Abel, his talent or his time. I keep seeing so many anti posts about Dean Winchester’s final fate in Supernatural and all I can think about is “try being an Adam Milligan fan for the last decade”.  I’ve had to watch this boy go through hell with nothing to show for it either than years of memes. ridicule and the show’s mockery in forgetting him. Actually he’s the ONLY CHARACTER in this series you’re encouraged not to remember 😡 Also quick question: why give us this really interesting and healthy relationship between an archangel and its vessel if nothing was ever going to become of it? 

At this point I don’t know why Adam or the idea of him was even introduced way back in season 4 let alone revisited in season 5. Because the only thing I see when I look at this character now is SAD WASTED POTENTIAL. Storylines never explored. Relationships that never got off the ground. Backstory we never got to see (like for instance his past with John Winchester and his time in the cage). A character’s birthright (Men of Letters) that was never actualized. AND the unexplained factor that Adam could look directly at Michael’s true form without his eyes burning out (making him a special case). And the thing is he could’ve been a really great character, both him and Michael. They could’ve easily reached popular status just like Castiel given the chance since Jake is a freaking acting-powerhouse. We were given a taste in 15x08 just how awesome these characters could be and how they could’ve contributed so much to the story and its core group. But unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be.

Michael will never redeem himself after years of scrutiny and being made out to be some kind of unhinged monster. This show constantly enjoyed pounding into our brains how fearsome Michael was. Warned us via Lucifer (LUCIFER, PEOPLE!) that he wasn’t rational, compassionate and didn’t care about anything except war, death and destruction. And that he was incapable of feelings and emotions. This is how Supernatural saw Heaven’s Prince and guardian of the Earth. Christ, they actually did a two-year storyline about an evil Michael from the AU world who enjoyed torturing and killing while trying to destroy the universe. I want to know WHAT THE HELL THIS SHOW’S WRITERS HAD AGINST THESE CHARACTERS? Why they felt the need to bring back Jake Abel, AFTER A DECADE OF FANS WANTING THIS, if it was simply to piss all over his characters one last time before the show wrapped. This is absolutely unprofessional and childish; the fact that Jake is taking this bullshit in stride makes it all the more shameful 😡

We could’ve learned so much more about Michael’s past and his present relationship with Adam. These characters didn’t need to sit in the cage for a decade they could’ve easily been incorporated back into the show as far as season 8 or 10! And been an asset to the Darkness storyline in season 11.There were characters and storylines introduced that served no purpose. Why did we need to keep seeing characters like Charlie Bradbury or (as much as I like him) Crowley or Garth (love him too) or Lucifer or Abaddon or the Wayward sisters? I would’ve much preferred having Adam and Michael around and got to know them instead; especially after 15x08. I would’ve wanted to see what their dynamic with TFW could’ve become had they been long-time allies. Did John ever tell Mary about Adam’s existence? I’d like to see what her reaction would’ve been like had the Winchesters remembered him during that damn 300th episode. I guess that’s another loose end untied.

But because of what Supernatural did to these two characters, it forever taints Sam and Dean. I don’t think Dabb or purist fans realize this. But when new viewers come into this show about two brothers preaching important things like “saving people”, “family first” or “family don’t end in blood” they’re going to see how badly the main protagonists treated their innocent half brother. How Castiel and Jack were treated. They’re going to see the heroes of the story abandoning this kid in Hell forever with no intention of EVER rescuing him. And that’s why their final appearance leaves such a bad taste going into 15x20. Cause as much as Dabb and co didn’t give a shit about Adam and Michael they also didn’t give a rat’s ass about protecting Sam and Dean’s integrity. That’ll be a stain they can’t undo. 

So through all of it, we’re stuck with the abomination that is 15x19 aka the eye-soar to an unfinished/unpolished story of two horribly disregarded characters. Michael gets the pleasure of being character assassinated right before he’s stupidly killed off instead of going out a hero or becoming the next God (as it was his birthright and the setup was there in the narrative). And Adam gets killed off-screen, OUT OF HIS OWN DAMN BODY, then brought back by Jack only to live a miserable, isolated existence since his brothers have nothing to do with him (the dog and car are more important); his best friend is dead, he has no job or money or a fucking home and he’s legally dead! Really what is there left for him besides the brutal fate awaiting in Hell when he dies?  

SERIOUSLY THEY COULDN’T GIVE US ONE SCENE WHERE THE WINCHESTERS CHECKED IN ON ADAM TO MAKE SURE HE WAS SAFE?! 🤬 His last scene pretty much sums up this shit for what it is. Tragic. I feel like crying for this poor sweet boy.

Congratulations Dabb, BL and co for giving us these much deserved broken story arcs of characters you destroyed and made OOC before leaving the airways. You did your show’s protagonists justice by doing this *sarcasm inserted* after 15 years of being onscreen. I doubt these idiotic decisions are going to age well in the long run. They certainly don’t look good on the Winchesters. Anyway that’s my hot take for the day. 

ALL THESE ACTORS AND THEIR CHARACTERS DESERVED BETTER.

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Mod, who are your top 10 favorite characters and top 10 least favorite?

//I have actually been wanting to discuss something like this, so I’m glad someone brought it up to me.

//I’ll go through with this, but I won’t be discussing my least favorites, since I don’t want to bring any negativity, and to be honest, I enjoy writing pretty much everyone in this blog. I also fear if I share who my least favorites are in the main series, said characters won’t get as many asks, and I don’t want any unfair bias. I can definitely admit to hating Haiji though, because...well...he obviously won't be receiving any questions anymore. Besides, I doubt many people will disagree with me.

Honorable Mentions:

Makoto Naegi

Mahiru Koizumi

Kirumi Tojo

Kaede Akamatsu

Tsumugi Shirogane

Shuichi Saihara

Iroha Nijiue

Mikihiko Koyasunaga

Yoruko Kabuya

Tsurugi Kinjo

Uchui Porosen

Kibin Hatsudoki

//Though to be honest, everyone may as well be an honorable mention because I love writing every single one of these guys. Also, like I just said, don’t let this top 10 affect your asks. I love every character in this blog and I’m happy to make asks for each and every one of them. It was really hard to narrow it down to 10

#10: Tenko Chabashira

This might seem a little surprising, given that Tenko hasn't had a whole lot of screen time and story relevance so far. She's only been prominent in two arcs, Deadly Harmony and Novoselic Revolution, both of which she didn't have as much screen time as most of the other characters. However, not to spoil anything major, I have big plans for her, and what I've pulled out of her so far is something I'm proud of. My main goal is mainly to give her a bit of development, and tone down on the sexism element of her character. Not remove it entirely, mind you, because let's be real, Tenko unfortunately isn't Tenko without it, but basically to not do what the DR dev team did and make it the forefront of her character, while her other exceedingly good traits are just at the back until later on in the story.

#09: Kokichi Ouma

Kokichi is one of, if not, my favorite character in the original DR series. My main goal of him in this series is trying to grapple with his constantly changing attitude, mainly towards the DRV3 cast besides himself. At first he's glad to see them, then he turns spiteful towards Shuichi and Kaede when they try to fight him, then he straight up just abandons them and attempts to cut off contact. As he is right now, he's conflicted about how to feel about everyone. Sure, they all still hate him, but during Cabaret Kyojin's they came to his defense when he most needed it. That whole arc might've seemed pretty pointless and acted as needless filler, but my true intention of it was to flesh out the characters involved, mainly Kokichi and Kuripa. Speaking of which, that's another plot point that I'm looking forward to branching upon: the little companionship those two have going on right now.

#08: Monaca Towa

Monaca is a character I actually tend to struggle with in the grand scheme of things. The reason being that, arguably, she in canon is the second biggest antagonist in the series behind Junko. What I tried to do with Survivor though, is not make her an antagonist, but make her slowly become more and more redeemable, despite her actions. The reason why I went with this approach is mainly due to Monaca's last appearance in the series, where she states to Toko and Komaru that she's kind of just done with everything to do with Junko and Despair. I don't think it would be easy to bring her back as an antagonist because of THAT fiasco, and that is legitimately one of favorite scenes of her...which is funny because it's from DR3 and I kinda hate the anime. Her whole presence in Survivor is based around the idea of trying to seek redemption, but she doesn't outwardly want to admit this, nor does she really think she's worthy or deserving of said redemption. She's an adult now, and she grew a conscience. A guilty one that weighs her down and makes her come back to earth to basically settle things and make peace, and though it's been difficult, I love how she's turned out so far.

#07: Akira Tsuchiya

I understand many have their reservations about Akira after what he did this arc, but he's still legitimately one of my favorite villains in this blog because despite the fact that he's a psychopath who kills and ruins people all just for causing Despair, he's just kinda super relatable. He constantly lives with the attitude of just being done with everyone's shit, and I know a lot of DR fans can relate to that. He's also the kind of guy who marches to the beat of his own drum, which is obviously a very slow beat. He rarely ever does what Tsumugi tells him to do, unless the plan interests him or gives him something to do, and his character in general is based around the idea of "Shut-in NEET who just so happens to have a power complex." Overall, what makes him unique to me is just how normal he is, especially when he's compared to the chaotic sea that is the Danganronpa Villains.

#06: Mikan Tsumiki

Novoselic Revolution had the very important role in the story of mending Mikan. Without her efforts and the sacrifices she made in that arc, there's a high chance that the group would have failed to retake the kingdom from Angie and Mikihiko. It goes without saying that the screentime Mikan got in this arc was some of my absolute favorite moments on this blog from a writers perspective. A lot of people in DR dislike Mikan for her actions and character change in the third case of the second game, which I really don't think is fair. Mikan was just the character chosen to be afflicted with the Despair Disease. Nothing else would have been changed had it been a different character, so her role early on in Survivor is mainly her trying to come to terms with her actions, as well as things like making things right with Hiyoko (and Ibuki by extrension) and reevaluating whether or not she's a good person. Mikan is an emotionally and mentally broken child, and it's my full intent in my writing of her to heal her wounds like she does for so many other people.

#05: Narumi Osone

Easily my favorite Zetsubou villain in the blog. During Novoselic Revolution, I really buttered up how much I enjoyed writing Mikihiko, but in reality, I was just waiting for the Rebirth Duo (her and Akira) to burst onto the scene. She didn't make for as great a twist villain in Life and Lies of Akeru Yozora as I would've liked her to be, but even now, I still feel like she left an impact. I mean, she committed quite the number of atrocities. The main reason why I like Narumi though, is how she diverges from the rest of the Zetsubou group. While most of them are doing their evil things for reasons that constitute to causing as much Despair as possible, she does it for almost the complete opposite reason. She absolutely despises Despair, and the only reason she's with Organization Zetsubou, is so that she can patiently await and watch as the Hope that stems from the people fighting back. It's also plays into her ideal. Narumi is so obsessed with Hope that she believes that anyone and everyone who is without hope, and gives into Despair, doesn't deserve to live (and ideal that also allows her to easily hit it off with Nagito). To name the best example: The UUV. Their revenge fantasy is based around the Despair they feel post Ayumu and Marin's deaths, and not around the Hope of their goal of reforming society, even if by force. When Narumi notices this, is angers her so much she murders all of them in cold blood, believing them to be beyond redemption. As a final note, Narumi's violent nature and lust for bloodshed (and lest not forget her weird obsession with Makoto) is also made all the more tragic when you remember she's literally just a 14 year old kid with not a lot of life experience. For someone to be this far gone at such a young age is pretty depressing, but it also provides me with a lot of great writing opportunities, and god damn it she isn't a fun character to write.

#04: Mukuro Ikusaba.

I could pretty much just copy/paste the basic things I said about Monaca's personal conflict for Mukuro, but on a much more extreme level. This is something that I plan on actually branching on later down the line, but Mukuro's backstory and reason why she has a presence here is briefly mentioned by Sayaka in one post. To sum up what she said, when the Foundation were first starting to use the machines to bring back the victims of the first killing game, Makoto was the one who suggested possibly bringing Mukuro back, something that understandably, his classmates initially were against. However, at the time, Kyoko was still new to being the Foundation Chairwoman, and Makoto very much pressed the issue with her. Kyoko eventually agreed to the resurrection, but in exchange, any and all actions committed by the soldier, most notably any treacherous or bad ones, would subsequently be Makoto's responsibility. Of course, as you can imagine, Makoto accepted these terms, and Mukuro was resurrected. For a while afterwards, many were very wary of her presence, and most didn't outright accept her as a member of the Foundation, even when the Remnants of Despair officially signed up. What you have to remember is that Mukuro wasn't really brainwashed into helping Junko, at least not in the same way that the Remnants were. Most of what she did for Junko is what she did willingly, but Makoto felt that in reality, Mukuro was just another one of Junko's victims and she'd never known Hope in her life, which is why she turned out so chaotic, so his whole intention of reviving her was to redeem her honor, of which he was pretty much successful. The main trait of Mukuro's though that I tend to focus on, is arguably her most serious: her PTSD. Of all the characters who could have been hit hard with PTSD, it makes the most sense for it to be a soldier, and since the beginning of her revival, Mukuro has been cursed by the lingering ghost of her dead Despair sister. Junko's presence in her mind less drives Mukuro insane though, and simply makes her doubt herself and her presence, wondering if it was worth being revived, or whether or not she truly deserves to live. But regardless of how she feels, she's duty bound to the end, and still supports everyone unquestionably, especially towards those in her own branch being Makoto, her boss, the man who saved her, and of course her undeniable love interest, and Kuripa to whom she disciplines, but also acts as a mother/big sister figure to.

#03: Hajime Hinata.

It might just be me, but I feel like Hajime in particular is the fan fav in this blog. I feel he's shown up in more posts than any other character, which is fine by me given he's also one of my personal favorite characters, and is probably my favorite protagonist (it really changes depending on my mood, honestly, I think they're all as great as each other). The remnants of Despair's conflict is an obvious one that you commonly see in post-game fics such as this one, and in Survivor, and my personal opinion, Hajime is undoubtedly the one who has it the hardest. However, out of all of the characters in the series who HAVE trauma (and let's be real, that's undoubtedly a LOT of characters in both DR canon, and this blog) he's also undoubtedly the one who handles it the best. However, there is a limit to how much pressure he can take, and that causes him to lash out (like he did with Mahiru during Misfortune's Revenge, which I know we don't like to talk about but its the most notable example). He's been through a whole load of shit and the pressure is constantly crushing him like a gigantic boulder, yet he still forces himself to carry it. Outside of my own writing, Hajime has so many conflicting thoughts and trauma in other fics, and in Survivor, I don't intend to flat out copy them, but I do desire to live up to them. The reason why Hajime has so many burdens placed upon him, and as of Misfortune's Revenge now has double as many, yet is still able to keep going strong, is because he's no longer allowing himself to be weighed down by events that are in the past and out of his control. What makes his ideal unique, is that he has power, almost limitless amounts of it, but instead of focusing on what he can do with it, he's more conflicted and focused on what he CAN'T do, and changing the past is one thing he can't, and as of such doesn't focus on it. He only ever focuses on the present, and the future, and worries about that. And you've got to hand it to the guy, while it's definitely been better, his life is actually super good right now. He has at least 15 really great friends/found family members, a home on an island resort, an AI companion in his phone who will always help him out and support him, a smoking-hot red-haired girlfriend, a pretty good job and a lot more. For him, it's not simply a matter of abiding by the Foundation and fixing the chaos that he indirectly caused. It's also about the fear of losing what he has, and wanting to protect it.

#02: Ayumu Fujimori.

I've said this one or two times before, but I think Ayumu turned out spectacular, and when I eventually had to kill him off, I felt really bad about doing so. The main reason why I removed him, and why I currently don't have any plans to bring him back, is due to my future plans, having him around would make little to no sense. He serves mainly as a catalyst for the new phase of the story, a much darker one, and with his death, we enter that phase. I know many people are worried about it, but it's not just Ayumu's reason for being in the story that makes him great. While it isn't obvious right away, the main character that I was trying to portray with him, is that he's basically the darker side of Hajime. The two of them share very similar traits in character, personality and backstory. Some notable points would be

Both of them are incredibly self-doubtful, and that self-doubt caused them to become Ultimate Hopes.

Both of them once held huge admiration for a powerful group of people. For Hajime it was Hope's Peak and for Ayumu it was the Japanese Government

Said power called them useless, which led to their transformation

Both have pretty sad backstories, which involve two different types of cruel parents and family's.

They both have a best friend who likes to sleep.

Said best friend ended up dying horribly right in front of them, with them both unable to do anything about it, which eventually leads them both to go insane and make some bad decisions.

Though their methods differ, ultimately, they both want the same thing: a brighter future for their friends and the people they love

Ayumu might be a threat, and an antagonist, but he doesn't really count as a "villain" per se. At the core, he's basically just a misguided young man, who the world treated like shit, so he just wants to get back at it. He's also an influential figure, pulling many people into his fight, and gaining many supporters outside of his friends in the UUV. For the short time he was on the blog, he was an absolute BLAST to write, and you can damn sure bet I'm going to miss him.

#01: Kuripa Kurafto.

This is undoubtedly the riskiest part of this list, especially since we're talking about an OC here, but I also think a lot of you guys saw this coming. I can understand why some of you might disagree with me on this placement, but I'll tell you now, if you're unimpressed, trust me, I am barely scratching the surface of Kuripa's character. As of such, I have to go on this based off of what's already known about him. His whole character I feel comes full circle at the end of the Ultra Despair Gang arc, in which the first monumental event in the blog actually happens: him killing Haiji Towa by stabbing him in the gut and sending him falling to his death. This is then followed by a speech to Makoto, Komaru, Toko and Byakuya, which basically lays out the key part of Kuripa's character, being his ideals. Every protagonist in Danganronpa goes by a certain ideal that contrasts that of their enemies. For Makoto, it's Hope, for Hajime, it's Future, and for Shuichi it's truth. Kuripa is the complete reverse, being a protagonist that represents Despair. He's not outright a villain, or even a generally bad guy, but he definitely has some apparent darkness to him, and is also incredibly violent when at the peak of rage. Of course, it all stems from a huge event in his life, the murder of his little sister Kotoko by the hands of Matta Gyalusetsu, which has led to his over-arcing conflict: his desire to find Matta and kill him as revenge. I tend to hate characters in stories who have the "My Sister is Dead" archetype or trope, but the main reason is because most characters who have that JUST have that, and for Kuripa that's something I'm trying to avoid. One of the most important parts of Kuripa's character is the contrast between his dark, almost psychopathic side that believes murder is a suitable way to indefinitely solve a problem, and his regular self, who to put simply, is a complete and total clown. He's like a walking meme, and makes a total fool out of himself, either through just being a mindless tomfool, a playful perv, or a loveable idiotic otaku. Still, his presence is indeed important to everyone around him, especially seen through his interactions with Makoto, Kibin, Mukuro, Uchui, Kokichi, The Kyojin's and the High Roller staff. This is another thing in regards to Kuripa's conflict that is quite saddening to. Similar to Hajime, as things currently stand, Kuripa has an excellent life. He's a successful animator who makes a lot of money from his work, he enjoys his time at the Future Foundation and really looks up to both Makoto and Mukuro who both treat him with a reciprocated amount of respect, he gets to work in tangent with his best friend, he has many pals, some of which are part of an anime club, and on top of it all, he has a cute girlfriend who playfully flirts back and forth with him all the time. He has everything a guy could possibly ever want, but due to his one track mind, he can never be satisfied knowing Kotoko's killer is still out there, and he will do whatever it takes to avenge her...even if he needs to cut a few people down to get it...

//Doing this kind of self-reflective character analysis is pretty refreshing and fun to be honest, although, doing it makes it sound like I have a big head, and am complementary of my own writing where I know many might disagree with my techniques and opinions. You're free to, believe me, but please keep any criticism constructive.

-Mod

[bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture]

It’s incredible how throwing together an essay for classes can make you not want to even think about words for a day. In unrelated news, I made a lot of progress in my Minecraft world, and did some graphing in the process!

Anywhos, time to get into Izuku’s first day of class and all that fun shenanigans (which might be on the Sunday before the actual first day? | April 8th/9th or sommat like that.) I’ll try to get first shots of characters when they pop up, though most show up in the next chapter I think?

[No. 5 - Smashing Into Academia]

We enter into Spring, as well as Izuku preparing to head out for school! Inko is worried about Izuku forgetting something, and I find it hilarious that she is reminding him to bring pocket tissues and a handkerchief. Family of quick criers, them. 

Izuku promises he has everything and is in a hurry to make it to class on time, but Inko holds him back one last time to tell him he looks great in his school uniform. We get a full body shot of his uniform (though from the side) and so we get the first view of the abomination he makes of his tie. Also, a small thing:

Obviously perspective makes it a bit awkward to be sure, but you can kind of see how much he’s grown over the year since the start of the series (which is hilarious to say when we’re four and a half chapters in). 

Anyways, another view of the school, which just has such an odd design in my opinion. I’m sure there’s good reasons for it or it’s based on some landmark / building I don’t know about but Hori is referencing. We next jump to Izuku rushing down a hall, looking for 1a while noting how huge the place is, while noting that less than 1 in 300 applicants get into the hero course - 36 to a grade, divided into two classes of 18. (Plus the two per class that come in from recommendations, but that gets mentioned later.)

He finds the door (which is like almost four times as tall as him), all his anxiety flaring up about how his class will be the elites from that exam, and how he hopes that ‘those scary guys’ (Katsuki and Tenya) are in the other class. 

I’m sorry I’m cackling. Poor anxious bean. He immediately gets to find out that he is, in fact, sharing a class with them both. We also get our first peek of Kaminari, Mineta and some of Ojiro! 

Knock off brand Kaminari… his hair is so fucking weird like this, I can’t even.

Anyways, Tenya is snapping at Katsuki to get his feet off the desk since it’s insulting to UA and the people who made said desk. Katuski blows him off (metaphorically) and demands to know what school Tenya is from. When Tenya offers it as well as his name, Katsuki calls him a ‘stuck up elitist’ who he should ‘blow to bits’, which has Tenya questioning whether he really wants to become a hero.

Tenya then notices Izuku, who is still peeking from the doorway and is startled when he gets noticed. He marches over and tries to introduce himself again, like he practiced this speech dozens of times in the mirror or with the begrudging aide of his older brother in the month between the exam and the first day of class or something. (Poor, poor Tensei.) Izuku cuts in long enough to mention he heard that already, and introduces himself.

Tenya pushes on with his totally-not-prepared-in-advance apology speech, declaring that Izuku had perceived the true nature of the exam while he had not, and that he’d misjudged him, before declaring Izuku the superior candidate through grit teeth. Izuku, meanwhile, thinks that he didn’t perceive anything - which in its own way proves more how he earned his spot; he didn’t rescue Ochako for points, but because he was driven to save her.

Katsuki finally notices Izuku and is not pleased, while we get a shot of the wider class and get to confirm that Aoyama, Asui, Ojiro, Shouji, Jirou, Tokoyami, Hagakure, and then Katsuki and Kaminari again- wait a fucking second.

When the fuck did their rows move around? And when did Ojiro teleport to the other side of the classroom?? What the HELL? I mean, Katsuki and Kaminari are still oriented the same against each other and could technically fit into their second noted spots, but like, I. You know what, nevermind, just assume that was an editing mistake and move on with my life.

Izuku gets spooked again when Ochako appears behind him in the doorway, with her recognizing him by his hair and as ‘the plain looking boy’, while Izuku notes her as ‘the nice girl’ and calls her cute in her uniform, which is adorable. Also, confirmation on the toe finger beans! Also, while she does have some blush marks on her cheeks, it’s not those round circle blush marks like from the anime… suppose we’ll see if those develop.

Ochako is glad he got in like Present Mic said he would, especially with that cool punch of his. Izuku is blushing up a storm and stammering out his thanks for her speaking on his behalf. While she asks how he knows that, we get to focus on Katsuki as we head into a delicious flashback about when they were congratulated on getting into UA.

Their homeroom teacher calls Izuku’s success ‘a miracle we never expected’ while giving a chuckle. This is apparently news to Katsuki, what with the look he gives to Izuku. We can see the buds just coming in on the trees outside - it is March, after all - and Katsuki’s pulled Izuku to the side and shoves him against a wall to ask what dirty tricks he used to get in, which is like. I’m impressed he thinks Izuku can somehow cheat his way into the top school. 

Katsuki logic: There's no way this guy who's just behind me in class scores and with a buttload of determination, who I saw at the entrance exam, could possibly have managed to figure out a way to defeat the robots and get in; no, he must have cheated and tricked the teachers and staff of the top school in the country, which would be arguably even harder and draw more attention than fighting the robots in the first place.

Ah, what a fucking gremlin. He goes on about how he was supposed to be the first and only, and how Izuku tore his grand plans to shreds, and how he’d told Izuku to go somewhere else.

And then! Izuku grabs his arm with both hands, and we get to see him stand up for himself once again:

Friendly reminder that, once again, Izuku is not afraid to stand up to Katsuki where it matters. Also, look at that, he does believe he earned his place in UA, and refuses to back down on becoming a hero now that he has someone who believes in him and is backing him up. God just. The shift in dynamics in this scene, where Izuku is first pushing himself as an equal and with just as much right to aim for heroics and be in UA as Katsuki. It’s fucking gorgeous. 

We return to the present as Katsuki thinks about how Izuku actually stood up to him, and how there’s something fishy about the whole thing. Meanwhile, Ochako notes that that day is entrance ceremony and guidance sessions, and wonders what their teachers will be like, while Izuku is desperately trying to hide how red his face is from having an extended conversation with a cute girl.

I don’t feel like I have anything to add, this is probably the funniest introduction we will ever get to a character. Just, the way he’s just lying there on the floor. The way the two stare at him. The way he just pulls out that jelly pouch and sucks it all down in one go. The entire class united in their ‘what the FUCK’ as he gets up while still in the sleeping bag.

Discord:

What a legend. Also, a face of regret:

Anywho, Aizawa pulls himself out of his sleeping bag while noting it took the class eight seconds to quiet down, before mentioning that time is a precious resource and that they (the class) aren’t very rational. Which I know comes as a shock when considering they’re teenagers, the most rational and logic-minded age group in existence. 

The class realizes that the hobo who walked into their class is, in fact, their teacher, while Izuku determines that he’s also a pro hero - but interestingly, he doesn’t recognize him at all. Aizawa introduces himself by his name and that he’s their homeroom teacher, which surprises all of them again. He then pulls out a school gym uniform (from the sleeping bag!) while telling them to get changed and head out to the grounds.

Wow, I really hope he recently washed and changed into a clean uniform and shoes, or else this is really, really, REALLY awkward. Hell, I mean it already is, but like. There’s dramatic and then there’s whatever the fuck is happening here.

(Honest to god, this is THE most Extra™ and Dramatic™ bastard in the entire series. I cannot even begin to explain the levels of Extra™ happening here.)

Discord:

We briefly move over to Toshinori, who’s reading the Secret Faculty Registry. Which makes me wonder how many people on the staff are actually known to be teaching there by the public. Like, we know Present Mic and Midnight have to be well known staff members, but like, how many more are kept secret? Eraserhead is obvious because he’s underground, and All Might just is not someone you can reasonably hide. But like, in the USJ, the kids are surprised to see Thirteen, so like… what’s the minimum ‘roster’ they keep for the public facing side while the rest are kept quiet so that villains don’t try to target them or the students of UA to get to them?

I mean, look at those security keypads on the doors, they probably go to a decent length to protect their staff and schedules… a shame those all can be worked around with a decay quirk.

But yeah, Toshinori notes that the UA system is like no other, with the homeroom teachers conducting - well, what leads into Aizawa’s test, but I have to wonder whether any of the other teachers have ‘extra’ little tests or showcases they do with their homerooms. Definitely nothing as extreme as Aizawa ‘Plus Extra™’ Shouta, though. Anyways, we go back to the kids in their uniforms who are being introduced to his test - which will apparently be a test of their quirks. (Also, that CURSED bootleg Tokoyami.) 

Ochako asks about the entrance ceremony and guidance sessions, and Aizawa says there’s no time to waste on it if they want to become heroes. And again, with bringing up that ‘freestyle’ educational system and how that applies to the teachers, and knowing how Nezu lives for chaos… yeah, I really have to wonder what the other classes were going through for ‘orientation’.

He then brings up the eight standard gym tests done in middle school - softball throw, standing long jump, 50-meter dash, endurance running, grip strength, side-to-side stepping, upper-body training, and seated toe touch. He notes that the country insists on prohibiting quirks in calculating averages on those records, and considers it irrational, saying that the Department of Education is procrastinating. 

Don’t you love having flashbacks in chapter 5 of the manga?

Aizawa asks Katsuki how far he could throw in middle school, to which Katsuki replies 67 meters. Aizawa throws him a softball and tells him to try it with his quirk, and that he can do whatever so long as he doesn’t leave the circle, so give it all he’s got. Katsuki stretches a bit and winds up, and just:

This is exactly the sort of nerd who would come up with the hero name he currently has. Also, I was just reminded that technically, Izuku is supposed to be ‘narrating’ all this to some unknown audience, which makes all these internal thoughts for Katsuki and others in retrospect even funnier since he had to ask them what they were doing/thinking at the time. Especially the villain stuff, like, dude, what did you do to find out this stuff? Or worse, did you make it up for dramatic effect?

Anyways, Katsuki sends that softball rocketing away, with smoke rings following in its wake. The dust from the blowback wooshes past the other students (and oof, Jirou there wincing at the noise, poor girl, being put in a class with such loud classmates); when the ball finally hits the ground and rolls to a halt, it’s still smoking. Aizawa notes the distance - 705.2 meters - and shows it off to the class while noting how it’s important to know their limits, as their first rational step to figure out what kind of heroes they’ll be.

The class gets into how awesome this is, and how great the hero course is; meanwhile, Izuku is panicking over these events he didn’t know were coming. Aizawa is silent for a moment before echoing their ‘awesome, you say’ back to them. He puts on another dramatic loom as he says that they’re aiming to be heroes after three years, and asks whether they really think it’s all fun and games. He then declares that the lowest score across all eight events will be judged hopeless and expelled, which has the whole class shouting in shock while Izuku panics more.

We briefly jump to Toshinori again, who in turn is noting that Aizawa will be nothing but trouble, as it shows the man’s codename ‘Eraserhead’ and that he’s expelled 154 students by that point. 

Back to Izuku, who is still panicking as he thinks about how he’s still all or nothing, and can’t regulate his power. Aizawa, still being a dramatic bitch, runs his hand back through his hair while declaring that the student’s fates are in UA’s hands, and welcomes them to UA’s hero course. The other students are dredging up their determination, while Izuku’s narration asks what he can do.

God, why do people not write Aizawa ‘Plus Extra™’ Shouta being so overly dramatic more often? He’s like AVPM Snape levels of dramatic. Maybe even AVPM Malfoy. 

As a sendout, from the discord: