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heytemporary · 2 months ago

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I have a theory when it comes to the emasculation & sexualisation of Izuku and rampant sexualisation of the underaged characters in MHA, and why fans and outsiders see it as such.

Before you continue reading I just want to let you know this is not a safe space for proshitters & self identified fujoshis (you know who you are. If the shoe doesn’t fit then you can interact). If you are a proshipper or a self identified fujoshis then its best for both our sakes you block me. If I find you in my likes or mentions I will hide your comment and block you.

I’m also not a fan of toga x oochako, and Im saying this because I mentioned it briefly but its not the worst ship for me to block you (bkdk will always take that spot).

Anyways here’s a rundown list based on what I’ve observed [Mentions of Homophobia, Misogyny & Sexualisation of underaged characters down below. Read at your own risk]:

1.1 Horikoshi’s bias: Any watcher with critical thinking skills are able to see Horikoshi has a clear bias towards characters like bakugo, aizawa, shinso and mineta and he confirmed it himself. From the beginning to the very end of the manga Horikoshi has failed to respect Midoriya’s autonomy as a character, and any time we ever got close to introspection its immediately shut out in favour of the same popular characters over and over again.

1.2:Horikoshi has repeatedly sexualised his underaged characters and seems to show no guilt or remorse over such actions, even in his confessions. This was no accident, and any attempt to address this in a critical light in the manga was a failure, just like all the controversial topics he tried to address in the series (mutant arc -I personally don’t like how others see it as a racism allegory as a Black person, but thats another topic for another day-, eugenic marriage, trafficking etc.)

It also doesn’t help Japan has a rampant pedophilia & SA problem, and the reason you don’t see it on the news is because of shame culture + language barrier + their good PR Team. Anybody who tries to tell you it doesn’t exist are all liars, and anybody who tries to justify it with it being part of their culture is a racist.

2.From a dudebros perspective: We all know dudebros are obsessed with masculinity and powerscaling, but in some cases they are fine with fictional male characters crying, even male characters who don’t fit the traditional masculine role. But Midoriya isn’t the traditional masculine role character and he cries alot. Along the way they mustve subconsciously picked up the writers mistreatment of Midoriya, and so to them it’s like why should they respect a character who acts like a crybabying bitch?

And then they see how “close” bakugo & midoriya are. Dudebros as a collective are homophobic, so at first they would deny it, but then slowly but surely theyd pick up on how weird it is for midoriya and bakugo to be this obsessed with each other. Pair that up with the delusional fujoshis who seem to be fucking *everywhere* they’re going to call Midoriya a gay bitch for being steamrolled by “the goat” Bakugo.

Then there’s the sexualisation part. No words are needed to be said. Dudebros as a collective have little to no morals, especially the misogynistic. They don’t care if the character is 14yr old they’re going to wank their dick off to it regardless and thats the unfortunate truth.

But I feel the other reason why they feel so comfortable wanking off freely is because Horikoshi basically gave them the greenlight to do so. He shamelessly sexualised his characters without attempting to address it in a critical light.

3.From a fandom gay (especially fujoshis) perspective: It’s inevitable that the fandom gays will always find a way to ship 2 male characters, even if the creator clearly states their relationship is platonic, that’s just how it is for the better or worse.

To some credit, I can see why the fujoshis are obsessed with bkdk to the point of it being the #1 ship in MHA (never to the point of peak delusional though). Horikoshi doesn’t know when to put Bakugo to the side for once, or make Bakugo have his own arc without Midoriya being tied into it. It also doesn’t help Horikoshi mishandled Midoriya’s bullied past so the fujoshis are going to either dismiss that entirely or stupidly justify it in the worst way possible. Everyday its parallel this rival that.

I also personally believe Horikoshi baited BKDK content for some extra cash because he realised thats what the fans are into and also realised how stupid it is to trick them, like dangling a carrot infront of a donkey but that’s just my conspiracy theory.

If its one thing fujoshis love is pushing heteronormative roles onto their “gay” favourites and having internalised misogyny, morals be damned. Midoriya is seen as emotional, Bakugo is seen as aggressive. What does that equal to them? Top & Bottom, Alpha & Omega, Dominant & Submissive.

Fujoshis & Proshitters arent going away anytime soon, but because Horikoshi did nothing to shoo away the allegations until the very end of the chapter the fujoshis felt very entitled to act out. If you call them out you’re homophobic, but they would have zero problem dragging Oochako by the mud for daring to get in the way of the ship, and when that arc of her & Toga came out these same ppl who also tried to say Oochako is a love interest repackeged her into being Toga’s love interest under the guise of “girl power & lets go lesbians”.

(Personally as a Lesbian Feminist I am offended by this take but once again I digress)

Once again Horikoshi sexualised his underaged female cast, and while the fandom gays try to play the moral highground holding Horikoshi accountable I personally believe are just as hypocritical. The proshippers mustve subconsciously seen the sexualisation as a greenlight to go full haywire.

TLDR; Horikoshi’s ass writing gave the watchers the greenlight to disrespect Midoriya as this bitch. A crybaby ass bitch from the dudebros and a crybaby bottom bitch from the fujoshis point of view. An ultimate bitch.

These fans will always exist but this reputation is the most prominent I’ve ever seen. In my humble opinion no fandom can ever be compared to MHA and its sheer audacity. Horikoshi & his overall fans don’t actually like Midorya and it’s disheartening to watch.

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martinblackwoodhater · 2 months ago

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Almost every fan piece of media depicting Martin is just blatant mischaracterization that either puts him in the role of "sweet shy cinnamon roll" or "hot sexy guy smiting his opps". And they always without fail romanticize or downplay his flaws.

I think it's mainly cause so many young fans find him relatable, and thus they have warped him so that he would fit into a versatile stereotype, which is AWFUL.

You can like a character just because, but in order to really understand them you have to step away from your own carefully created version for a moment. I love Jon and am in full support of any criticism on the man, he deserves it! Let people hate Martin!!! It's good and constructive!!

It pisses me off so much that his fans don't allow others to hate on him. Its always "wait but whyyy?? Why would you hate my sweetie??? :((((" they cannot comprehend nuanced characters they're always watered down

people have SUCH an immediate kneejerk reaction to even the concept of someone disliking martin like they literally cannot fathom it and it's like ?? he's not even that likable of a character like im not being that radical here 😓

#tma #the magnus archives #tma podcast #martin blackwood hate #anti martin blackwood #martin blackwood slander

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0zeeraa0 · 3 months ago

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Tolkien fans and ASOIAF fans on critical views of the books

so i didn't know weather to put this on my tolkien blog or my asoiaf blog, so im putting it here and rebloging it on them.

i recently saw a tiktok of someone talking about how tolkien fans do not like to engage with the books in a critical way, despite the fact that they often see themselves as very intellectual for being tolkien fans in the first place.

she also brought up the point that asoiaf fans are significantly more willing to do so despite ironically being looked down upon by said tolkien fans.

and i just wanted to talk about why i personally think this might be the case

(also dont take this supper seriously. these are just shower though. literally. i just came out of the shower. my hair is wrapped up in a towel rn)

!! this post is specially about the book fans for each fandoms !!

!! i did not take into account fans of the lotr or hobbit movies, the fans of tr*p, and also not the game of thrones show fans or the hotd fans !!

(fair warning: this post has become a bit of an incoherent monster so just bear with me)

a large part of this in my opinion could be the fact that tolkien's work is often considered to be "perfect" and "flawless" and "the best there is", something that a lot of the superfans tend to take to heart and internalize. and because they think tolkien's work is perfect, and because they are huge fans of that work, they seem to come to the conclusion that they have perfect taste in literature. so whenever that is criticized in any way they take it as a personal attack. like they're taste and they're personality is being criticized instead of, you know, a book.

this is also why i think asoiaf fans avoid this issue. it is no news to anyone that asoiaf has a.... reputation..... and a very large majority of people are already very well aware of that reputation before they even start reading the books. they already hear the criticism before they can get emotionally attached to what is being criticized. that way even after reading the books and becoming fans despite those criticisms, they are a lot more accepting of having their favorite book be criticized. and are a lot more willing to do it themselves.

another aspect of this uhhh phenomenon is the "mortality" of the books i suppose

tolkien's work is often seen as "pure" and (most importantly for this case) "unproblematic". another aspect fans very often seem to internalize, and may play a role in how little self awareness they have when they have a crash out over criticism. they cant possibly be rude and full of themselves when they're fans of such unproblematic literature!! how dare you!! this could also play a role in the superiority complex i often see from these types of tolkien fans, especially towards fans of other books, namely asoiaf.

as for the aforementioned asoiaf, as we made it clear, it has a reputation. fans know what they're getting into. they know about the sex and the violence and the incest, its hardly a secret. they also know they'll likely be looked down on for liking the books and are prepared for that too. kinda hard to sit on your moral high horse when its literally galloping through the "incest fandom"...

the way the story is presented could also be an aspect in the way the fandoms handle, not "criticism" necessarily, but more like a critical view of the books and the stories and characters within it (if you get what i mean)

tolkien's work can be pretty black and white. lange aspects of the stories is good vs evil. the evil morgoth vs the good valar. the evil sauron vs the good gandalf. the evil orcs vs the good elves blah blah blah you get it. it can be argued that this doesn't really encourage critical views of the characters and storylines. some are good and the others are evil. (please note that its been a long time since i last read these books so my memory might be a bit hazy. like pre pandemic) im not saying theres absolutely no moral ambiguity to be had, but there absolutely are many characters that we are meant to see as unquestionably good or evil. and we definitely are meant to see certain actions in a certain way. theres not a lot of speculation to be had in the canon material (but hey thats what fanfics are for right?). this paired up with the moral superiority mentioned before can lead to being told that you're "excusing" evil characters actions just because you questioned their actions and didn't take them at face value. this is especially bad with the silmarillion, which is supposed to be a biased retelling of events but many people seem to forget that and treat everything it says like its the holy bible. you cant talk about certain actions being presented differently than how they might have actually happened because then you're "making excuses" for the characters and you're very problematic for that btw :/ sometimes it feels like the idea that tolkien's work is perfect and genius is the only thing that's stopping these kinds of people from just saying "it aint that deep bro"

asoiaf in the other hand is aaaallll about moral ambiguity. instead of "evil characters" and "good characters", we have cruel actions and kind actions. both of which are done by every character. yes, some lean more towards kindness or more towards cruelty, but there are very few who cant be said to have at leats a little bit of both (one of these few would be someone like ramsay). even extremely cruel characters like joffrey and cersei have motivation or reasons for their behavior that can be seen as understanding or sympathetic despite them still being inexcusable. asoiaf actively encourages you to think deeper into the motivations of the characters. the pov format of the books making this even more apparent, since we see the world through the eyes of one character at a time. were shown their biases and how they may be contradicted by the povs of the other characters.

now, because as i said these were just shower thoughts so sorry if its a bit of a mess or that it ends abruptly. i just kinda ran out of things to say. if you have more ideas on why this might be the case feel free to drop it in a reblog or in the comments.

#asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #fire and blood #game of thrones #george rr martin #jrr tolkien #j r r tolkien #tolkien #the silmarillion #silmarillion #lotr #lord of the rings #the hobbit

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yesterdayiwrote · 14 days ago

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i feel like Lewis isn't getting enough...i dont want to say hate but maybe criticism? for his role in the F1 movie, we talk a lot about how damaging it's going to be to female fans/women in motorsport and also talk a lot about how bad Brad Pitt is, WHICH WE SHOULD, but Lewis has a producer role right? (pls correct me if im wrong lol) He of all people should know about facing bigotry in F1 and he still goes ahead with this? I dont have any particular ill will towards lewis but i dont like that he's hiding (either intentionally or no) behind the other big names in this film, he deserves a heap of the criticism too! Especially as the one person id expect to be the MOST sympathetic towards marginalized groups in motorsport, im honestly just disappointed at him but also he is an incredibly rich man so maybe i should have expected that,

either way id love to hear your thoughts about lewis's part in the movie, i feel like you are a blog that is very good about taking a step back and not being parasocial lol

Haha, I mean I'm not always good at not being parasocial, but I try to be nuanced at least.

I do agree with you though and I think there's probably three main reasons why that is.

1) people don't know or remember that Lewis is an exec producer of this film. Its actually been kept relatively on the d/l when they talk about it. The focus tends to be on Brad Pitt or Jerry Bruckheimer when they're talking about it on F1 linked shows for some reason and so it's easy to miss that he's centrally involved unless you've looked it up or caught the right conversation about it.

2) people don't really understand what Lewis's role in the film is. A lot of exec producer credits are largely for vanity and just about contributing money, and their involvement is in the background. Brad Pitt exec produced the netflix series Adolescence about toxic masculinity for example (I know... rich right?!). Except Lewis has spoken about how he effectively acted as their consultant on the film. He helped develop the idea for an early stage. As per Lewis, he's very involved in the key aspects of this film as much as Brad Pitt is...

3) it's Lewis and so people who know and like him choose to give him the benefit of the doubt because of his previous activism. Lewis is seen as an ambassador and so they don't like to think he would be responsible for the "bad" stuff and so they assign the blame to people they don't like - a tale as old as time.

Whether it's warranted to criticise Lewis is a different story, and one we won't really know until people have seen the film in full. Not to mention a consultant can offer their input, but they can be overruled for the sake of creative licence. That being said, Is it a coincidence that both of the lead characters seem to be Mary Sue's of Lewis at opposite ends of his career...? We'll never know if he tried to advise against the driver/engineer plot (and the driver/journalist plot) or if he was a proponent of it. Noone will take ownership of the parts that people criticise, I'm sure.

I do think his name should be tied to this as much as Brad Pitt's though, at least when there's discourse around what it represents and the potential damage it could cause. If it's a success then he'll be reaping the plaudits, both financially and otherwise, and so he should be held to account for the criticism as well. He's advocating for the film, his name is in the credits, he's not an innocent bystander in this...

#f1 movie #anti lewis hamilton #yesterdayianswered

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prideprejudce · 10 months ago

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im genuinely curious since i keep seeing this opinion, but i rly dont think hotd writing was bad? nothing is perfect but idk, unless someone points to me the times they had shitty writing im having a hard time seeing it. unless i dont actually know what "writing" means here. english is not my first language, i COULD be misinterpreting things lmao. i rly liked how they did things this season, i think it made sense with the last one, this one was just Tenser because at any second the war will reallyyy break out n we dont know when cuz we have two driving forces from opposite sides not wanting that to happen, thats the entire point of s2 i think: establishing that in war there is no clear winner ("strange victory" n all that), that everyone is going to die, that there is no point to any of it theres no point to war at all, that every character is "heroic" and "villainous" in their own right in the right pov. i think it was a fun season to flesh out the characters, have us not feel entirely happy to be fighting for one side cuz theres innocents in both sides but ultimately we all know they will all die and its all for nothing. thats the tragedy of it all imo. i loved it to pieces. i guess id say im sad some characters didnt interact but also i dont see how they would considering how this season went. n also i wanted more rhaena (i do hope she'll have a cool ass role next season, idc idc)

i personally think this season was truly a transition season to full out war. people are pissed because they wanted war to instantly happen after lucerys died last season, but in reality things arent that black and white and i think it would have cheapened the plot to fast forward through the political negotiations and underhanded scheming to try and win without fighting, to just full on nuclear dragon war.

I actually like the idea that this season was like standing on a cliffs edge where one wrong move led to oblivion with millions of people dying and the practical annihilation of half of house targaryen. I'm glad that the writers took the time to emphasize how dire this war could become before barreling us into it. the political battles and moral dilemmas are just as fun to watch as the actual battles

that being said, there are still valid criticisms of the show being brought up too: like the weird pacing and absolute dragging on of daemons harrenhal ghost adventures. on one hand I get it, because in the books daemon just disappears for weeks at a time, and the writers had to do SOMETHING with him this season instead of having him peace out for 7 episodes. but I agree that the harrenhal visions became repetitive, and I'm also not a huge fan of the back to the future magic being shoved in our faces instead of more subtle clues to it

overall, it was a transition season, not the absolute best season of television history, but it's definitely not the worst (and not even CLOSE to being as bad as got s8). I think in modern age media consumption, people now equate "i personally don't like this" to "this is all horrible and the whole show is trash now"

#house of the dragon #anonymous #answered #hotd #hotd spoilers #house of the dragon spoilers #hotd critical #hotd criticism

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crownedwille · 22 hours ago

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i watched the first two seasons when they came out but felt like s2 was a decline in quality (the lighting… the cinematography…) so wasnt too interested in the third season, only recently watched it and feel a bit late to all the fandomy stuff and catching up on what people think and i just wanted to say that ur opinion about wille renouncing his title/the problems in their relationship/the further decline of s3 is literally the only one i feel is like rational and correct and realistic!!

i get sad when i see people say that s3 just made them not care or hoping they wouldn’t get together in the end but i also can’t deal with people just buying into the nonsense narrative with a fairytale plaster på såret ending, i completely agree with you that the idea that wille can just like live a normal life isn’t possible and that its much more interesting to imagine how him, and simon, would balance their relationship with the crown (my headcanon is just that sort of after s3 they are like “okay that was cool but lets get real here” and then they sort of goes back to the more realistic handling of the royal family that it has in s1)

also get so upset when i see people saying simon is selfish and always excusing willhems behaviour so thank u for calling him out!!! (more like the writers for fucking him over) i also dont like that in s3 simon just becomes like this passive person while wille takes on the more dominant role as if simon wasn’t the driving force fucking shit up (respectfully) in s1 while wille kept to the sidelines, i guess its to show how they’ve changed as characters but why when wille becomes tougher does simon have to become more docile, like couldn’t they have come togetherrrrr isnt that supposed to be the whole point? they don’t feel like a couple working together despite their differences they just feel like two fanfic characters going from making out to contrived issues pulling them apart so that they can make out again (but sadder this time)

long message sorry, just saying thank you, as im rewatching s1 and being amazed at how good that season was and mourning what could have been, keep fighting the good fight 👑 (also i keep playing with the idea of them doing like a little reunion special in a few years where wilmon are older and the show is more realistic again and in the vein of s1 and i wanted to hear what you think they should do for something like that)

sorry for not answering so quickly but i had to gather my thoughts and find time to give you a proper answer.

first of all, don't be sorry for the long message, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me! and thank you for saying my opinion is correct haha I know it is lmao. But jokes aside, even though I do get frustrated and I'm sure it bleeds through and sometimes I wanna be petty and hateful, I always try to be reasonable and rational when I talk about criticism so thank you for noticing and appreciating it. (and i do think this criticism is justified and rational but apparently most of the fans don't and just see it as being a hater or monarchy lover)

And same, I also find it sad that s3 ruined wilmon so much that you could actually think they're better off apart. Because I certainly don't really see the long lasting success so I just can't be happy about their ending. I guess i have to accept your headcanon, that makes the most sense but it sucks that you have to imagine a better, more realistic ending or future than canon to somehow make sense of it and excuse it, it shouldn't be like that.

(Also wtf, who is thinking Simon is selfish when he is consistently sacrificing himself and putting his own needs before others throughout the show until he can't anymore and Wille is shown to be consistently selfish which is one of his character traits?)

With Simon being more passive and Wille more dominant - I see where you're coming from but I don't fully agree. Yes to a certain degree, how he treated Simon and Simon just retreated into himself but I actually think Wille was more active and tougher previously (esp in s2) and I mean that in both a good and bad way. In S3 I was missing that cunty attitude he had, he never really fully stood up to Simon or spoke up about the bullying behavior from Vincent and other students (well, he kinda did but that never actually did anything), so in general I would say Wille was actually more passive - he just kinda let things happen at Hillerska, let the royal court tell him what to do, didn't pick anything meaningful for his birthday and so on. I wanted that authorititave energy from him, daring anybody to fuck with him or Simon but I guess he couldn't be shown to actually be protective and competent and successful with that, he had to seem like a royal puppet who can't actually make any things happen and only harm Simon with that :/ They should've been fucking shit up together as a power couple but that was nowhere to be seen

"they don’t feel like a couple working together despite their differences they just feel like two fanfic characters going from making out to contrived issues pulling them apart so that they can make out again (but sadder this time)" -> you summed it up perfectly

And yes, s1 is special. It really is so well done (even though it also isn't perfect and has some issues) and stands so well on its own. Now I do love s2, it actually is my favourite lol, we can critisise the same thing that happened in s3 tho, that both previous finales were kind of downplayed and the actions in it were barely relevant anymore and no consequences were shown in the next season. In fact, the sex video was continuously downplayed after the s1 finale where it was portrayed as this international scandal and loads of people on the internet were gossiping about it but no sign of that in s2 or 3. No one seemed to care now that it was official and wanted to know who filmed and posted that video and if the royal court covered it up like that wouldn't be some of the most pressing questions from the public. (but no we had to wrap it up quick and August couldn't be at risk of losing his position for the ending to work)

I could go on and on about the weird choices lol but what I meant to say is, things like the cinematography or the acting is still great in s2 and 3, that's not the problem imo but many other things are that make s3 unfortunately a much bigger drop in quality.

About the reunion - that's a really good question. With the canonical ending I actually wouldn't be excited if they did that (and I honestly don't want it) but it would be nice if it would be more realistic, idk what they would do for that, I can only say what I would want to see: I want Wille to still be crown prince and going to therapy and working on his anxiety and anger issues and be more confident in himself and I want to see him and Simon working through their life as a public queer royal couple with all its ups and downs together and bringing in some new changes and challenge the old rules and traditions and not letting themselves be torn apart but stand strong.

(But apparently that is too idealistic and not actually 'realistic' to think that could happen 🙄)

If you have any ideas about it or wanna write something down, let me know!

And yes I'll continue to fight the good fight and won't stop talking about it as long as I care and as long as I'm here! 👑 💜

#tysm for this message this was nice to read #this got very long oops #once you get me started on s3 criticism i can't stop yapping #ask #anonymous #yrtalk

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arkus-rhapsode · 2 years ago

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I want to talk about Crimson Flower and 3H as a narrative

So... after FE3H discourse makes the round every other week, I end up thinking about it for a bit until I realize, hey maybe its better to not focus on a 4 year old game at this point and occupy your time with something else. Everything has basically been said about it at this point and you know where you land.

But this time my thoughts were just getting too strong for me to ignore, so that's why I'm writing this both get it out of my system and maybe just be another voice in the crowd that some people might want to listen to on the divisive topic that is Crimson Flower route.

Now I really hate that I have to put this disclaimer up front, but I feel like the well of this discussion has become so poisoned that I have to before I make my piece. I want to say that if you enjoy Crimson Flower, if you love Edelgard and believe she did nothing wrong and this is the right route, if you are a Black Eagles stan and you genuinely do not have any issues with Crimson Flower route as a whole-that is perfectly fine.

This will be a somewhat critical examination of the narrative choices about the execution of CF, which I feel like whenever 3H, specifically Edelgard is discussed, there is often very disingenuous arguments people make. Which I believe can create more defensive fans of a particular aspect of a story that we should be able to criticize freely. Which perpetuates this never ending cycle of discourse of legit criticism and defense against that criticism becomes drowned out by trying to decouple these very disingenuous claims from legitimate flaws. So I at least want to make it known that I am going to try my best to be in good faith with this post about this tricky subject.

I also want to just say, this is also going to be mostly an examination of narrative. The thing that I personally enjoy the most in an FE game, but we need to genuinely acknowledge that narrative isn't the only reason why people may like Fire Emblem. The ability to form parasocial relationships with fictional characters and being able to experience something the genuinely brings you emotional fulfillment is not invalid. Being able to enjoy fighting against establishments or ideologies you in the real world disagree with through the experience of a video game is not invalid. The same way someone who plays this game for the experience of gameplay isn't invalid when their primary enjoyment stems from the actual mechanics rather than the "logistics" of the story. The point I'm trying to make is that everyone will engage in media in different ways and will enjoy it other ways and that you don't want to invalidate those feelings someone had with their personal experience. So this is going to be about me and my experience as someone who primarily enjoys narrative.

I am just one guy with opinions who is going to layout what I had an issue with and how I think for me that could've been improved upon. You don't have to agree with me on that, and I'm not saying my way is legitimately better. This is all opinionated.

Buckle this is a long one

First things first Im gonna say Im not going to be using any information given in Three Hopes that may contradict what Im about to say. As in my opinion Three Houses came first and does not include the content from Three Hopes so I should think that Three Houses can stand on its own merits and the content that was provided.

Next thing is I want to catch people up on what in my opinion are the points I think CF did for me that ultimately left me unsatisfied

The post time skip Fodlan was too different and felt contradictory to Byleth's role

Edelgard's Characterization in CF in comparison to the other lord's in their respected routes

The role of Rhea

The role of Those who Slither in the Dark

SO the first thing is probably the thing I'm mostly going to have to defend if I haven't lost you already, but Fire Emblem Three Houses as a narrative provides us with a five year time skip in the game that depending on the route will change who is control of the monastery at this point in the war, with each route providing a lord the chance the forge their campaign. However, something I don't think is brought up enough is talking about the liberties that CF takes with their time skip vs the other three routes. Azure Moon, Verdant Wind, and Silver snow all paint a post five years Fodlan as one where the monastery territory has been abandoned, Rhea has been captured, the Alliance territory is split between an imperialist faction and an anti imperialism faction, and the Kingdom has been split with Cornelia making an alliance with the Empire to create the Dukedom of Faerghus as the houses of Gautier and Faldarius hold up the Kingdom.

There are obviously minor changes like Dimitri camping out in the monastery in Azure Moon rather than in the care of Kingdom Allies, but for the most part there is a consistently defined world between the three routes. However, Crimson Flower's post Fodlan is much different. With a grid locked Fodlan after five years with just the church territory falling under the control of Adrestia, Rhea wasn't captured and instead made it to Faerghus, The Alliance is still feuding amongst itself, but most importantly than all, Faerghus is a complete kingdom with Dimitri as King and no Cornelia's Dukedom.

So there are two main reasons why this bothers me.

The first is that Three Houses as a game wants to present you with three options at first, with the idea that your choices will effect the outcome of the war when Byleth returns, however there's enough consistency to imply that this is what Fodlan would be like regardless of whose House you would join, with the primary effect being your class making it to the church for the festival which in turn will make the monastery your new territory for which route. However, Crimson Flower decides to do away with the consistency, implying that the effect Byleth had on the situation is far greater than that of any other route resulting in a drastically shifted Fodlan. So this is more of a problem with FE3H as a whole with the consistency of choice. Fire Emblem has never really had a BioWare style choose your own adventure type of game. There's only one real choice you're given in the case of 3H and that's which house you side with, which you are essentially locked into. Black Eagles is really the only route that offers a choice beyond that with choosing to side with Edelgard or Rhea which will effect who the class sides with in the time skip. The reason I bring this up is that it essentially means that you the player are for the most part on rails for a predetermined plot where all the choices for the series have already been made. So the Fodlan post five years being consistent makes some sense as essentially mostly everything that happened in White Clouds was the same with the acceptation of the class. However, the Crimson Flower one not being consistent and being so radically different based on a game with so minimal choice feels more like an act of narrative convenience. That this is what happened because of a writer fully independent from me the player had decided that this is how Fodlan shall be for this story because it fits what they want to tell.

Somewhere I had once read that FE3H shouldn't be treated as one story, but since its a bunch of routes they're all a different universe. Everything might look the same but everything is fundamentally altered that you should accept it as an independent universe. And I can't necessarily say that's wrong as the concept of multiverses is to create a world/scenario that allows to explore familiar characters in unfamiliar settings and you could say that Byleth effect on Edelgard in picking this universe was just so much greater that it would result in such a different universe.

I personally disagree with that which brings me to my second point as I believe this one is going to be a more philosophical point on game design. But I feel like the effort to make three routes so consistent with each other with one so different seems to deliberately undercut the core themes of the game. Offering you a choice that this is who you get to spend your happy schools days with and it is what is going to result in them returning to the monastery one the day of your return. That is the true effect of Byleth on the characters. But as you play through white clouds you can't change what happens to other characters which will result in a brand new scenario. Byleth's presence can never stop Dimitri from going blood mad, Byleth's presence can't stop Claude from discovering the Immaculate One research, and Byleths presence can't stop Edelgard from declaring war. And that is a good thing for this type of on rails route story. Byleth while a player insert who can help their lord in the future, right now everyone is on a path that Byleth can only lightly change. With the characters acting independently of what Byleth and the player desire. And the post time skip Fodlan is a sign of that. Its Five Years without Byleth. This is what these characters would do, that they were always capable of doing and that is why Byleth's return and effect on them is important. This also gives us the ability to observe what a lord is like now after the war, and Byleth's effect on them but also see what a character could be like without that Byleth effect on them. Without Byleth Dimitri stays mad, without Byleth Claude always flees Fodlan, without Byeth Edelgard... well lets put a pin in that.

The only other true choice the player can make beyond the initial one is the side with Edelgard or Rhea which radically alters her. Which honestly feels kinda defeating in a game that has locked Byleth so much on a path and the one time it can deviate actively alters everything. It just feels very hollow as there are parts that make you realize how great the effect Byleth could have on people's lives could be if the game actively wanted to integrate choice with the plot. But it didn't. It wants to make one early choice then lock you in that route for several chapters then remove Byleth and then have their return effect real change on the future of Fodlan. Except for this one route. Its why Crimson Flower feels so much like an asterisk compared to the other route. And I don't just mean the lack of chapters, but this feels like a route that can only exist because it was the one that the developers bothered to create something overly deviating from everything else.

Which brings us to Edelgard's role in Crimson Flower as a whole. Now lets just get this out of the way. Im not going to be talking at all on the morality/realistic implications of what Edelgard is doing. I feel like the "Is she a fascist/authoritarian" conversation is not really helpful to talking about FE3H as a work of narrative and mostly exists to create a bunch of petty beef. This is also not going to be a deconstruction of ever minute detail of Edelgard as a character. This is an examination of her as a character in the narrative that we are presented. This will also involve comparison's to Edelgard and other series lords and I want it to be known that this is not a talking down to the only female lord in the game as being something "lesser" than her male contemporaries. I believe there is genuinely sexism when discussing Edelgard as a character, so I want to say that I am approaching Crimson Flower and Three Houses as a whole in a good conscious that there is not a "right route." That this is a game that where all choices have their pros and their cons. Because that's why we like this entry, right? That 3H would provide us some genuinely complex lords who were all capable of doing great and terrible things regardless of gender?

That's why I had such a long winded discussion about why the change in the post time skip Fodlan is so important both for narrative consistency, but also just generally keeping with the tone, but also it reinforced that Fodlan and its lords while all righteous in their own way can be dangers in their own way. Well that's when I return to the pin about Edelgard. So first I want to go through how the lords are characterized in non devoted routes.

Dimitri in non AZ routes is portrayed as someone so damaged by loss that his who response is to avenge and fight. To never stop making those pay for the damage it has brought on his kingdom as well as any lives lost during the tragedies in places like Duscar and Remire.

Claude in non VW routes is portrayed as a brilliant individual with a lot of charm but seems to be hiding something from everyone. He's a lot smarter than one could assume and that he has some mysterious tie to the kingdom of Almyra that he departs after leaving his land to the stronger kingdom that has come so far, be it Dimitri or Edelgard or the Church.

Edelgard in non CF routes is portrayed as a conspirator to overthrow not only the church but all rule in Fodlan as she believes the Crest based system is flawed and that the only way to enact systemic change is through a single rule. And while she is aware her ideals have costs, she believes that those costs are worth it when weighed against perpetuity of the crest system.

Now I want to talk about what happens to those lords as you play them in their routes.

Dimitri in AZ is portrayed as someone burdened by loss and his quest for vengeance has led to a neglect for his own health and his own actions. That his kill everyone attitude will perpetuate more loss of those he loves and that he needs to learn to rely upon others. That is his true responsibility as king.

Claude in VW is portrayed as an individual who is outside of Fodlan's system who has observed it more as a third party and believes it can be a great place if people work through diplomatically. He too is not a fan of inequality and racism and wishes to make a Fodlan that is more accepting and able to work through negotiation. While he still leaves Fodlan at the end, this time he has been able to implement real systemic change and make one that is sustainable beyond that of a ruler.

In CF we find out that Edelgard is a traumatized girl who was experimented on for the purposes of Crest Research. This makes her a conspirator to overthrow not only the church but all rule in Fodlan as she believes the Crest based system is flawed and that the only way to enact systemic change is through a single rule. And while she is aware her ideals have costs, she believes that those costs are worth it when weighed against perpetuity of the crest system.

Hey wait a minute, that's the same?

So this is where I get to the most glaring flaw for me in this case of narrative and why I think altering the post time skip so much did a lot of damage. Edelgard is a good character and a fascinating one, but in the practice of her narrative, her character journey in her own route isn't like the other lords. Rather she is "right" from the start of the time skip and with the world altering in ways to justify why she is that way.

Now look, I know right now someone could be saying I can't read, that its clearly stated in the text that Edelgard says without Byleth she may have turned into a complete monster to see her goals through to the end. This is referring to how in non CF routes she is on the backfoot getting beaten back and forced to take more drastic measures as whoever Byleth comes closer to ending her ideals. Unlike Dimitri or Claude there's not really a psychological arc she is working through with her sociological arc. Dimitri's arc is almost entirely hinged on him as a character changing in his route. And while Claude the character is also mostly the same, you get an understanding of how his continued participation in Fodlan's politics is so important as he effects sociological change. Claude also does the less stuff that could be considered questionable in Fodlan. He neither initiates the war nor does he intimate greater conflict that is tied into a character arc like Dimitri. Claude action's through the war are mostly to keep the Alliance fighting against each other with avoids giving one side a greater advantage. The truth is Claude real "flaw" is that by being an Almyra he is from a race outside of Fodlan that is inherently untrustworthy in society so his continued prescience in his expanded campaign is done with changing that mentality.

Now one could look at everything I said about Claude and say "well isn't that Edelgard though? She's not the one who needs to change but rather society needs to and this is you making it a fruition?" And I would agree however, then why did post time skip need to change and not Edelgard? So going back to the altered Fodlan, the Fodlan post time skip we see in non CF routes has what can be argued Edelgard's biggest moment of political conquest, making an alliance with Cornelia inside of Faerghus using her authority and influence to expand and bring over a chunk of the kingdom underneath Edelgard's wing. And this makes sense with what has been proposed before us-Edelgard had released a manifesto to lords that would side with her and become her allies in the war to come. This act of subversion is something that benefits her goals for conquering all of Fodlan. However, this is one of the key alterations in CF's time skip. Faerghus is not broken in half, with Edelgard having not empowered Cornelia over the five years. In fact, you do battle with Cornelia with her as a kingdom general.

So if Edelgard isn't a character who is subject to change, why did the world change? Well there is speculation in universe that perhaps Rhea fleeing to Faerghus didn't give her the ability. But I do believe the most likely reason is that narratively the writers of 3H wanted to avoid a scenario where while Byleth was gone Edlegard may have empowered and individual like Cornelia. One of the most objectively evil characters in the game. Now I won't go into to detail if I believe Edelgard knew Cornelia was a TWSITD or not, but as it is presented to us, she seems unaware. Instead I'll focus on the primary point is where they don't want to discuss that while in her route Edelgard was capable of doing something that would potentially cast her in such a negative light. After all, the point of her campaign is the while the bloodshed is worth it to make a new Fodlan free of crests, she's willing to show lenency to those who bend the knee. Again, an action not unreasonable for her character. However, I feel like this not happening in CF genuinely robs us from exploring the flaws of Edelgard's path/showing us what Byleth's effect on her truly is.

This is compounded by my issues with how CF is the only route in which you have an active choice beyond class. That by choosing to side with Edelgard when given the option in the tomb would result in this much radical history alteration. But also all of Byleth's effect on her not being as much conqueror over the last 5 years was all done pre time skip. That all that change was done at that moment rather than being something that prompted her to return to Garreg Mach where they'd remeet Byleth and then that would get them to claim it as a base of oppositions in their future war. In CF, Garreg Mach is already claimed rather than the formation of the Dukedom with no real progress. So it makes it seem as though Byleth's real effect on altering this lord's path was always possible in the short time they knew them before disappearing over five years. Of course this is again a bit miffling given that CF is the only route this is a possibility. We can't Change how Dimitri will act in the pre time skip. That he will make choices without Byleth even if they feel urged to remeet at Garreg Mach. But in the case of CF, Edelgard has apparently been changed despite the only real difference in white clouds fighting beside her in the tomb and against the church pre timeskip. But that has sociologically altered so much of Fodlan.

And maybe you genuinely believe that one extra change is enough. Perhaps that one extra choice is enough justification for such a radically new scenario. For me personally, I find that unsatisfying and feels more like the writers traded in a level of consistency for this new scenario that greater justified being on the side of someone who is portrayed as a more active antagonistic force in other routes (Reminder this not me saying the Empire route is an antagonist route. All routes are antagonistic relative to which side you are on).

This is where we get my first what I would've done to make it more narratively satisfying for me. Keep the same post time skip Fodlan as the other routes. Keep Edelgard having brokered a deal with Cornelia to establish the Dukedom and have Byleth find out about it. Be some that either Byleth or another character close to Edelgard questions the extremity of. Then have Cornelia do something evil like she's experimenting on people for TWSITD or maybe she's just abusing the power. Then have Edelgard clean it up. Have Edelgard realize that while she still wants to make her dream of a crestless Fodlan a reality she can't just back lords or nobles that are willing to go along with her for more power. She can still keep the Dukedom territory, but instead she'd be now more understanding what it means for there to be a ruler with a noble soul. So she continues her campaign of conquest but has realized that if she's going to be emperor, she can't just empower people arbitrarily.

In my opinion this not only would tie together some more TWSITD plot while also paralleling it to Edelgard's past and how there was no authority figure to step in and help her all those years ago. But now she is that authority figure. And while it doesn't call her method in question and like Dimitri and Claude she can continue her expanded influence over Fodlan, but now we actively see that Byleth has helped show her that her allies aren't just those pledging loyalty, she actually needs to empower those who are good. She gets to have her fight with Cornelia level and this won't stop her from killing Dimitri in the future.

Like I said, this is what I'd do. And in my opinion it would give Byleth's presence in CF more purpose beyond the bond with Edelgard is nice and fun. But also stay consistent with each route. Showing that there are flaws in Edelgard's sociological plan, but not undercutting what her actual goal is. You can still believe her quest is just and the only right one with her taking an active role in not making the mistakes she perceives Rhea as doing.

And if you are still with me up to my third point, lets talk about Rhea.

So Rhea as a character can best be described as a neutral evil throughout White Clouds. She doesn't really do anything but there is a lot of ominous foreshowing and presentation that Rhea may be up to something or at the very least complicit with many of her policies and tendencies. And when I say "evil" I don't mean she's bad (please don't skewer me Rhea fans). I mean that if the crest system is flawed and the church is emblematic of the systems maintenance of that flawed system. Then Rhea as the face/founder/head of that church bares some responsibility even if all she does is passive.

In all other routes, Rhea is captured by the Empire. Imprisoned in their capital. Anytime she is seen after she is characterized as somewhat docile or defeated, having been imprisoned for so long. VW goes a step farther to reveal what she did as Seiros and all of her actions leading to this point presumably all thanks to be imprisoned and rethinking her life over. CF is the only one Rhea is allowed to be an active player, she is now portrayed a ranting self righteous warrior priest who swears vengeance upon Byleth for being the reincarnation of her mother but not being a proper vessel as she intended and fighting against her. Naturally, if Byleth being the potential for the reincarnation of Sothis siding against her is what her drives her mad, that is believable, however much like the altered Fodlan Rhea in this version is not captured. This is now for Rhea to serve as Edelgard's true climatic opponent. With her symbolically killing the representation of the church and the power of crests being slain by Byleth and Edelgard. Its very poetic. But once again we reach my issue of the time skip altering so much in CF.

As stated before, Rhea was presented as a neutral evil, in doing so she's not really a direct antagonist in any route. Except of course Silver Snow. Where she is deployed as a weapon against Byleth. In this case killing the immaculate one symbolically is cleansing the church of Rhea and allowing it to pass into the hands of the new archbishop. However, Rhea in that fight is under control. Rather than be conscious as an opponent, they make her more of a beast without choice. Thus making this less a flawed character meeting their end and rather a forced confrontation by the evil cult of evil. Now Rhea I think being kept a neutral party was ultimately a good choice. We are given enough about her to understand she has done things questionable and should possibly not hold the authority she has. But she also has not instigated any open any hostility. As such Rhea is more a symbolic player. By making her an active player, CF has to make Rhea more domino and more a threat. She can't portray constant neutrality in a war. But by making her the active antagonist, it makes her less of a symbol and more if just a rotten character who Edelgard is justified in wanting dead. And much like Cornelia and the Dukedom, this alteration comes off as an attempt by the writers to never truly challenge Edelgard's plans for Fodlan. That Edelgard has no flaws in her plan and the bloodshed is beyond justified more than just philosophically. Had Edelgard captured Rhea in CF this would lead to some genuinely uncomfortable questions of keeping her a prisoner. And to 3H's credit they were actually willing to make the player uncomfortable already in Dimitri's route showing him as a mass murderer. Once again, I want to express this isn't me saying Edelgard's quest or goals are wrong and the plot should undermine it. This is me saying that for a game that wants to genuinely have nuanced and uncomfortable political choices made by their character, this is the route where they opt to alter the scenario so that Edelgard is the most justified and does less things that one could find objectionable. Flattening a lot of interesting implications this would raise and what Byleth as a force in this route could possibly able to influence.

Now one could again say, well the reason Rhea wasn't captured because Edelgard didn't use crest beasts this time. Edelgard not using crest beasts is a sign Byleth is changing her and thus that greatly alters the future. Once again, I can see that as understandable justification, but again, my issue off only ever being able to effect this lord pre time skip comes in again. If it was possible to get Edelgard to not use crest beasts, then how come it wasn't possible for me to get Claude to have Almyra support? How come I couldn't stop Dimitri before the war? The answer is again as a game the only other narrative choice that could possibly alter the story happens in CF which is the side with Edelgard in tombs choice. And while I'm not against the idea of angry pope Rhea, but I feel making her CF's full on antagonist was almost making a straw man antagonist for your opposition.

As an aside we also know Arundel is still on Edelgard's side and he is Thales so while she might not know his entire deal, I hesitate to imagine he'd stop using crest beasts in the war over the two years Byleth was gone.

If I was going to once again alter CF to be something I would personally find more satisfying. Have Rhea captured and then have Arundel use the same rage stuff he uses on her Silver Snow. This way you can facilitate an Edelgard vs TWSITD conflict AND you still get your symbolic victory of Edelgard and Byleth killing the symbol of the crests and church. Again, Edelgard is able to do what she wanted to originally, but now we are also confronted with the role TWSITD did play in her life and allowing her to rectify it as well as truly killing the old world by getting rid of Rhea and Thales.

And final point TWSITD. TWSITD are bad. They've always been bad. And they genuinely damage the overall story of CF because this is beyond just a narrative choice, its very clear CF as a story wasn't complete. I feel confident in saying that given the numerous chapters missing compared to the other routes, but also the epilogue needs to say "Oh yeah there was totally a bunch of war against them. Totally." I know this point is probably the least controversial when talking about CF, but I still think its a glaring flaw.

So what's the tl;dr?

This is not an "I hate Crimson Flower or Edelgard post" I genuinely have no interest in debating people about characters that like or enjoy. Nor did I want to turn this into a moral argument about the implication CF. I feel like these topics do real damage to any real criticisms one can have for CF as a narrative.

Which for me, CF as a route fails to really mesh with the rest of 3H as a whole. It feels like it takes a lot of narrative ways out to avoid potentially making their lord seem objectionable, despite much of this game wanting to be about how tragically flawed everyone is. Im not saying Edelgard needed a come to Jesus moment of "Are we the bad guys?" No absolutely not. In my opinion we just lack seeing Edelgard change the same way post time skip as others have due to creating an entirely brand new setting that keeping her as a mostly the same character is not questionable. Nor does she have to do anything that could truly be seen as flawed. Things that Byleth's influence may overcome.

Edelgard is a good character and her goals are understandable. I just personally find the narrative bending to accommodate her in ways so different from the other time skips genuinely make it a weaker narrative for me.

If you enjoy CF as it it. More power to you. Please keep loving CF. This isn't supposed to be a dissuading post. This is merely me as one guy who likes a lot of FE because of the stories it can tell sharing why he personally didn't enjoy this one. Maybe I helped put it words for some who might feel similar. But this is just my opinion

If you have something you'd like to add or reply in the replies or tags please flee free, but for the love god, please be cordial about it. There is so much toxicity and disingenuous takes around Fire Emblem Crimson Flower and Edelgard and Rhea in general, that I would like for us to please be able to talk about this in good faith.

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fe3h #black eagles #edelgard von hresvelg #crimson flower #rhea #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #claude von riegan #rhapsode rambles

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st-armand · 2 years ago

Text

Dancefloor Divination

( Reposted from @armands-sanctum ) Summary: Hobie meets you at a club he's going to for the first time, amongst a sea of dazed partiers

Authors Note: Ye asked and ye shall receive. Theres a lot imagery I LOVE to use like planets. Content Warnings: Suggestive and sensual dancing, description of bodies, revealing clothing, fem reader, explicit language, Black!Reader, reader wears a wig (?) (Sorry guys I wear wigs and that’s the only hair I can write rn, also I never see any representation for wig wearers and Hobie, and baby I wear luxurious bundles), bad british slang but I always take criticism and pointers.

Masterlist

Hobie doesn’t often go to dance clubs, he prefers his underground rock shows, or grungy basements filled with listeners thrashing about each other in unison. But that doesn’t mean he shits on clubs, he enjoys all genres, especially by black artists and he’s always down to give anything a listen once or twice.

In this instance, one of Hobie’s bandmates’ partner was desperate to go out, and since they couldn’t find anyone else to accompany them, the band decided to join, plus it would be a change of pace for them all.

Spending an hour ‘pregaming’ (He didn’t know that was a thing usually getting shitfaced at a pub or bar he never thought to get piss drunk before going out,) with his mates and their significant others, smoking up Hobie’s apartment, (He’s always the designated host, always welcoming his peers into his home, no matter the occurrence, and he has piles of clothing from and for his friends so they can comfortably exist in the space.) animated laughs and hushed whispers of gossip echo through its brick walls, garments thrown about as everyone deliberates their outfits.

But the real party begins when they arrive at the nightclub. Encompassed by neon lights and tinted glass, the deeply reverberating bass rocking the concrete below their feet and ringing in their ears. This alone causes Hobie’s blood to rush in his veins, he’s feeling very excited and is only spurred on by the gaggles of people waiting in line and loitering outside the joint, many in awe at the punks, despite it being a normal fashion style in their world, the club goers don’t often get punks at their venues, maybe the occasional goth, especially cyber goths.

Most people are more concerned with entering the venue on time to reach their friends, others are on the prowl for a late night conquest and a sultry dance partner for the rest of the night, flocking to the few single members of the band, like Hobie, similar to moths to a hot and bright flame.

“Hey sexy lemme take you home tonight,” “Looking so damn fine tonight baby…”

But amongst adoring, screaming, fainting fans at his shows, and intriguing invitations for ending the night to end in a cosmic collision of passion, Hobie was in his element, a super-giant compared to the smaller stars around him, they all revolved in unison, and science knows that those with the most gravitational pulls crush all underneath their force.

At the recognition Hobie pulls on his impish smirk, letting his tongue hook into his lip piercing, languidly swiping his tongue over his full lips.

“One at a ‘ime, don’t crowd, yea?”“ You’ll all ‘et a piece of me soon, I promise”

Hobie loves the attention, he is innately cool, but his look and presence was something he had to create with time, his mask was the anchor to the role of spiderman—the seabond vessel, keeping him grounded against the turbulent waters of life, Hobie himself being the captain.

Despite loving the attention and basking in the crowd, he is very particular about the people he allows in his life, watching others with a keen eye.

He may seem overbearing, aloof, and boisterous, he takes on these roles to adapt to the environments he’s in, but Hobie always keeps his best cards last, and close to his chest, the type of person to step in and defend the helpless, but let his adversaries tear each other to shreds.

But as all the conversations, the music, and Hobie’s thoughts settles into the space, a car pulls up onto the curb of the sidewalk, crunching the loose pavement underneath its tires. Hobie glances in the direction of the sleek black car, a group of confident young adults leaving the vehicle. Their strides are self-assured, a practiced strut around the car, and onto the sidewalk.

But amongst them all is you, another super-giant celestial entering the interstellar fray of the nightlife, you radiate an authority that rivals his.

Apathetic expression, lidded eyes, pristinely styled hair tickling your back, exposed in the most tormenting way, by the skin tight midnight black dress, strings of pearls anchoring the dress to your body. Hobie is intrigued, but his curiosity is broken as he’s being ushered into the club.

He also doesn’t mind shamelessly swiveling his head to get a last look, as you and your friends advance into the venue without a breath in the direction of the line. The inside of the club was filled with moving bodies in every foreseeable crevice, a hand on his shoulder guides him to the space his mates have decided to occupy, a standing table.

Your scent has heads whipping in your direction, gracing them with your domineering presence, the crowds of people part like the Red Sea for Moses—like it’s god’s will for them to make space for you all like an assembly of dance club diviners.

You seem disinterested in the acts of the others around you, in their drunken and high hazes, senses melding into each other in a cocktail of euphoria.

Hobie’s dark eyes lose your form amongst the animated crowd, when he does start to get a clearer image of your body and hair in the crowd as you make your way to the dancefloor. Your hips bumping and rolling in rhythmic movements.

You and your friends crowd around each other, playfully grabbing and dancing with each other, hands lingering on each other’s forms, with giggles and laughs that roll your head back.

Hobie is enthralled at the way your neck lolls to the side, your hair rustling from the nape your neck to the bottom of your hips.

Amongst the rest of the rest of the crowd, who is equally as fascinated by the group dancing, they allow more space for the lights on the ceiling to fully illuminate their features.

With the oceanic mob of bodies, limbs and hips moving in tandem to each other to the music, not in complete sync, but enough to feel an overwhelming sense of understanding with your peers amongst the music, breathing ragged, figures moving, grinding, swaying, rocking.

And with them, you look like a prophet, amongst her people, guiding them through a sacramental disco.

He wants to join the ritual too, and be led by your body in the midst of the haze.

He departs from the table with his friends with an, “Oy ‘m leavin’ gunna go check out the dancefloor”

He lets his body guide him, swaying lightly to the tempo (He can’t dance, but he knows how to work his body a bit). He approaches slowly, letting the wave of people direct him to the center to find you. The closer he gets to your back, one of your friends excitedly gestures her hands ‘behind you, BUT don’t look’ and whispers, “Sexy roguish guy approaching you at 6 o’clock”

The whole group buzzes with excitement, and you all increase the authority behind your movements, sultrier, more enticing, a spectacle of your splendor. If one friend found a dance partner, the others will too, keeping a close distance to each friend, and to make sure no creeps slide in between dance partners.

You let Hobie descend onto you, you’ve already been given the heads up, a brush of hair teases your neck and the side of your face, before a glint of metal grazes your ear as Hobie leans to whisper,

“Hope you don’ mind me sliding in here real quick?”

He asks you genuinely making sure you’re interested in dance with him, you cheekily turn your body to face him, letting your hair fall to one side of your shoulder.

You take his countenance in, tall, dark skinned, and gorgeous, eyes holding an immeasurable depth to its warmth, you could easily drown in, and impish smirk on his face, full lips with a ring that scuffed your ear prior.

Hobie stands at full attention, looking down at you in all his mischievous punk brilliance, looking at you expectantly and considerately.

Your words fail you, but that’s fine, your mask is still unbreakable, this is your domain, and you live amongst it with ease, evolved to be fully adapted to your environment.

You flash a smile that allows for a chaste peak at your canines, turning back into your regular position to dance, and letting Hobie’s hands slot your bodies together.

Now you’re no dancer (unless you are) but dancing like this with a man that looks as good as Hobie, you NEED to slow it down, you want him to feel every inch of your body grinding against him with the music, you do just that.

Hobie’s hands glide their way along your hips, holding the fat of your thighs tightly, drawing your closer to his lower half.

Your hips roll in against his front, ticking them every so often to snares or high hats just to throw him off, which results in a deep rumbled laugh bubbling in his chest that reverberates through your body, causing you to smile widely.

Hobie is inebriated off the impression of your body, and the languid circles your small waist whines in, the way your skin and the contrast of the fabric of your outfit feels drives him to senselessness, the second-hand high and lingers of alcohol on his tongue consume his senses, and his reserves.

Hobie takes a gentle hand to scoop a handful of your long tresses, twirling them at its ends to drape the bundles away from your back so he has an unobstructed view of the bare skin, you tense at the feeling, alarmed that he is touching your hair.

"Don' worry luv, 'm being careful, don't want ya hair getting ruined right beautiful?”

“Garms makin’ you look too good”"I'll be gentle wit' ya, be real sweet on you too."

The other hand moves from your hips to your waist, urging you to move faster, grind harder, to take him faster to his breaking point, eyes pried to the shape of your muscles constrict and releasing with every movement, a sheen of sweat covering the exposed skin from the heady, steamy air.

His lithe fingers cloak your flesh, finding exhilaration in gripping your body as he pleases, moving you just how he wants along his body, and you make no contests to letting him lead your figure as he saw fit, melding into each other’s form.

Your friends acknowledge the sensual dance between you and Hobie, cheering you on and sharing knowing giggles between dancing with their own partners.

“Go bestie!”“Ooh~ You’re enjoying yourself huh?”“That’s my bestie dancing on a fine ass guy”

The longer the dance goes, as songs change, the dance between the two of you grows heavier, lingering caresses, soft whines, hushed whispers “Movin’ so sexy f’ me”“Look s’ good whining on me like that,”“Can I dance wit’ ya for the rest of the night?”

With time as the two of you are absorbed in each other, the club occupants dwindle and trickle out of the party.

You and Hobie cease your dancing soon to regroup with your respective friends, but the tension is lingering, even your friends notice this, so they linger back with each other, the parties colliding into fits of laughter, and conversations of their two peers who seem to be magnetized to each other.

Your groups walk to the exit and onto the pavement, legs sore, heels abandoned and nestled into bags and arms, complaints for water and food, Hobie turns you to flashing another smile, his lip ring reflecting the neon nights and the purple hue of dawn approaching in a few hours.

“Wanna spend the rest of the night with us, me even?”

#hobie brown x reader #hobie headcanons #hobie brown #hobie brown x black!reader #across the spiderverse #miguel o’hara x reader #atsv #SoundCloud #armands sanctum

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unclassedguy · 1 year ago

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Jjk 261 leaks ahead:

Alright I was going to post about this in the morning but I got distracted and needed time to process everything anyways.

I don't usually share my thoughts on the new chapters publicly but I will make an exception now 😔.

Yap incoming

ok, so there were a lot of theories floating around before 261 about if we would actually be getting a gojo comeback or not. Honestly, some people pointed out why gojo reviving might not be the best decision for the story, but I was placing bets on it anyways because I too was pretty bummed by his end and also because my naive self chose to believe it was the most likely choice for gege to make.

However I did try to keep my hopes reasonable, choosing to belive that it could just be a hallucination.

Truthfully, I didn't think it would be Kenjaku. I'd seen the theory that it could be them but I honestly doubted gege would do that. Yet in the depths of my copium filled soul I had always been holding onto the hope that kenjaku would somehow return to the story. When I tell you my secret little stash of cope was as potent as some gojo fans im telling the truth 😭.

I honestly hoped maybe it would be kenjaku, just maybe. This morning I sought out the leaks and you know what I saw? This:

I was DYING. For a second I thought gege had really done, I was in disbelief, I was in shock, I briefly wondered if this was a joke.

AND THEN I WAS SO HAPPY. I was like: Yes! Answers! Yuji-kenjaku interactions! An unexpected twist in the fight! Forget the logistics of how kenjaku ended up in Gojo's body, I was going to trust gege's cooking and enjoy the chapter before taking a step back and critiquing anything.

And then I read that it wasn't kenjaku. It was Yuta using kenjaku's ct.

I didn't want to belive it could be Yuta. Of all the outcome I thought it CANNOT be Yuta. Not possibly. BUT IT WAS. IT WAS YUTA.

I have felt emotional when consuming media before, and sometimes underwhelmed or critical when something didn't rub me the right way, but I'd never understood people who act so utterly devastated by an author's decisions.

I UNDERSTAND NOW.

I've been mourning all day man 😭. My gojo cope, my kenjaku cope, all of it down the drain just like that AND ALL AT ONCE. I genuinely am not sure what about this chapter gas prompted such emotion in me. Am I lobotomized after all? I choose to belive its the sheer shock of this chapters events.

Tbh, I read the rest of the chapter in a bit of a daze and I'd have to go back and look over it again to share any actual thoughts or analysis, but I will says some other things stood out at me about it.

first of all, I don't hate Yuta. He's not my favorite character but I don't hate him and I wish the best to you yuta fans, however yall are feeling. his line about how the others are so worried about becoming monsters, unknowing that they've forced that role onto gojo all this time hit pretty hard for me. And now Yuta is taking on the same role since gojo's gone. He's strong and is not just taking Gojo's body but in a way taking on his position as the 'monster' of the jujutsu world, even if only for the dubious amount of time he had left.

Also the way sukuna just, punches yuji aside 😭. Nahh. The disrespect. He rlly just sees yuta in gojo's body and tosses yuji away. Rlly hope my boy beats him up next chapter and it doesn't become a yuta-one-man-show.

Overall I'm dying, I'm crying, I'm gritting my teeth, I miss kenjaku, I miss gojo, rip yuta 😭

(Please gege give me my wife back. Even just a kenjaku flashback is enough. Gege pls.)

#Sorry for yapping #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #kenjaku #jjk kenjaku #jjk leaks #chapter 261 #jjk chapter 261 #Jjk spoilers #yuji itadori #yuta okkotsu #gojo satoru #sukuna

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imminent-danger-came · 1 year ago

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hi (its the anon who sent you the ask about misogyny lol/correct opinions anon (i dont think my opinions are that great but thank you!) except im not on anon anymore lol) ive been meaning to ask you now you feel about the hero mk warrior mei thing; its by far the most popular interpretation of the hero and warrior dichotomy being applied to mk and mei and it IS a concept İ personally like in my head (İ ❤️ tragedy) but the fandom interpretation has kind of ruined it for me (personally) because it feels like a lot of people only take mk's role in the narrative into consideration and just kind of slot mei into the warrior role without much thought toward her actual character or importance to the plot. that doesnt mean İ hate the idea by any means, but it does kind of make me more critical towards it lol

İ am personally kind of biased towards the hero mei warrior mk thing because for one, İ think mei-swk parallels create such an interesting conflict for mei, and two, because its the less popular interpretation in the fandom İ dont have to see as many bad takes on it haha (im joking)

(also there are SO many parallels between mei & swk that i rarely see pointed out by other fans... like i outside of you i dont see Imk bloggers point them out very often 💔 (ive *never* seen someone point this out before but do think mei stealing the jacket she that gives to mk in 3×02 from ao guang parallels swk stealing the staff from ao guang?))

all of that aside though, im not personally sold on either of these options! İ dont think mk & mei directly fit into the roles of the hero and warrior in the same way as macaque and wukong did! to me it feels like the hero & warrior dichotomy is being set up to be subverted by the show to an extent (whether thats because the show is going to have mei take on the role of the hero, or because mk and mei wont fight at all, or a secret third thing is up to your personal interpretation lol); especially when you take into account the average audience's perspective on the hero and warrior stuff; the obvious conclusion that ive seen most people make is to have mk as the hero and mei as the warrior with most people not even considering mei as the hero/mei paralleling swk! İ dont think this means that mei-swk parallels dont exist (İ spent a decent bit of this ask talking about them LOL) but because they require more inference on the audience's part they dont get talked about as much, which does make me think that show is going to call it into attention at some point (although İm not great with predictive analysis haha, im mostly just putting my thoughts on the table here)

thats pretty much all İ have to say on the topic lol (sorry İ rambled so much haha) im not sure that last bit makes sense AT ALL but hear me out im cooking! İ meant to reccomend some songs that İ thought fit the Imk characters ages ago that İ forgot about lol, anyway İ think burn by the cure is SUCH a samadhi fire mei song. like its one of those songs where it feels like it was made for the character. big shot by jhariah fits like. 90% of the Imk cast imo. like İ know everyone in the comments section is talking about spamton and yes the song is very spamton coded BUT if you erase all your preexisting memories of spamton and only imagine monkie kid characters with it, it becomes a macaque/mei/swk/mk/whoever-coded song. like "think you're a big shot / İ think you're raveled up in a tangle of did nots / you're always just a bit shy, following behind" is so shadowpeach divorcecoded to me. "yeah it's not fair, İ know it's not fair / you aint the only star that's been left for dead" is so shadow play coded to me (it sounds more shadow play coded in the actual song trust me here). İ also think martyr by depeche mode is a samadhi fire mei song (although im pretty sure you could say any depeche mode song is Imk character coded and youd be right aha) also İ think ヘヴンリーユー by lonepi kind of goes down the same route as big shot where you could apply it to multiple lmk characters and it would still fit. its kind of a mei & mk take on the roles of the hero and warrior type thing to me (their asses are NOT escaping samsara!) (one of the english translations of one of the lyrics is literally "time and time again" (what mei says in 3x10) İ think those are all the songs ive been meaning to mention here as of right now ! sorry if this ending seems abrupt İ just dont know how to end asks haha

faggotvivsection I can't believe it was you the whole time! *MK 2x05 voice* What a twist! I always enjoy seeing you in my notes, so hello :)

Anyways, as for the 3x02 Mei and Wukong parallels, I think it goes deeper than just Mei stealing the jacket!

Ao Guang: "Stealing from me? On orders from the Monkey King no doubt."

Mei also steals the map from Ao Guang on behalf of Wukong, just like he had stolen the staff in the past. I think in a way, the map and the staff were both "roadmaps" to get more power, you know. The map enabled them to unseal the rings, and the staff gave Wukong a suitable weapon.

Ao Guang specifically comments on both Mei and Wukong's weapons, Mei with her sword and Wukong with stealing the staff. In a way, both of their weapons are dragon related, one from the Dragon of the West and another from the Dragon of the East.

When it comes to hero and warrior mk/mei, I lean towards both! I think they're both the hero and the warrior for each other in their own respective ways. I love warrior Mei specifically because of 3x10, and because MK refuses to abandon her thus subverting the typical progression of the hero warrior dynamic (even if he can often be dismissive of Mei, stealing things from her [2x06, 3x03], putting a strain on his relationships for power [1x06, 2x03, 2x06, 2x07, 3x03]). I think moving forward however, Hero Mei and Warrior MK are far more likely to play out!

I have a whole samadhi fire part 3 tag centered around a parallel prediction, where we continue the parallel that was set up in 3x10 and 4x08, and while MK is on the verge of destroying the world have Mei get through to MK and reach him. In 3x10 MK is actually able to reach Mei...but in 4x08, MK runs away before Mei can make it to him. So if we had a moment where they were able to close that gap, and neither of them leaves, it'd be really satisfying. I am a huge believer in Hero Mei Warrior MK, don't let anyone ever tell you it isn't real.

Anyhow, onto the song recs:

Burn by the Cure

"Oh don't talk of love" the shadows purr Murmuring me away from you "Don't talk of worlds that never were The end is all that's ever true There's nothing you can ever say Nothing you can ever do" Still every night I burn Every night I scream your name Every night I burn Every night the dream's the same Every night I burn Waiting for my only friend Every night I burn Waiting for the world to end

What a "Samadhi Fire Mei pov toward MK" song am I right. It's also very Warrior Mei ("It follows the tragic tale of a legendary Warrior, and how those who bring light into this world, inevitably bring darkness to those they hold dear" -> "Oh don't talk of love the shadows purr", love a good light and dark motif)

Big Shot by Jhariah

Though I may love Spamton, and this is a very stage motif-y "There is no audience" kinda song, I do get the Shadow Play vibes (it's also giving theater Kid Macaque versus Wukong have stage fright lol), and over course it's overtly shadowpeach-esque. I also get a little bit of s2/s3 Macaque @ MK, especially with "You ain't the only star that's been left for dead"

Yeah it’s not fair, I know it’s not fair You ain't the only star that’s been left for dead I asked about your name on the moon It was quiet nobody knew you Aim like an atom who swears it’s going to shoot you Are you the only one-of-one to be found? If you could see the rest, would it bring you back down? You’re no big shot, think you’re a big shot I think you’re raveled up in a tangle of did nots You’re always just a bit shy, following behind I think you’ve spent enough time Singing the same lines

Martyr by Depeche Mode

I've been a martyr for love And I will die in the flames As I draw my last breath As I close in on death I will call out your name I've been a martyr for love Nailed up on the cross While you're having your fun As the damage is done I'm assessing the cost

THE SAMADHI FIRE MEI @ WUKONG OF IT ALL. Mei having to bear the consequence of Wukong's decisions, potentially burning herself from the inside out.

ヘヴンリーユー (Heavenly You) by lonepi

As the moon waned, I realized you weren't with me anymore. As the dawn of the new day broke, I hid my tear-swollen voice amidst the morning dew. You had said something like, "It's all my fault that you're this way." That's right, it's your fault. But just remember, that's not all of it. Every time my positives overcome the negatives, you toss them in the trash and do it over. You've stanched all those opportunities away from me time and time again.

The first pair that comes to mind is MK @ Wukong, or Macaque @ Wukong, but I think MK @ Mei would be interesting, even if not exactly canon. Mei is carrying MK's mental health on her lone shoulders, so that being disregarded in favor of blaming her for his problems...I dig that sort of broken Mei & MK dynamic.

#faggotvivisection #asks #lmk #lego monkie kid #lmk Ao Guang #lmk Mei #samadhi fire part 3 #hero mei warrior mk #lmk music recs #long post #on god the fandom ruining interpretations is so relatable #just how it is sometimes

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