#kind a girlbossed the lighting

[konaiiro]

Smoke breaks on their drives

[nightmareevara]

Growing up taught me that we shouldn't break our own heart for someone else who won't value us as much as we value them. Never forget that.

[alchemania]

I'm feeling absolutely bonkers rn so I wanna talk about music again because I'm crazy about the OST of this game so!!!! Here I go!

I've been thinking about Raiden and Wanderer's themes a lot and I love how they contrast - so, you have Raiden, who like. Her theme starts OFF strong and triumphant you have the horns you got the drums and everything is crescendoing and you feel it in your soul and your bones and then it drops and it's more muted but then by the middle of the song it crescendos again like thunder do you feel me it's about insane power all at once and then it's gone and it builds and builds and builds again and that's the cycle!!!

Whereas with Wanderer it starts off gentle and slow but there's a steady beat that only gets stronger as the song progresses and unlike Raiden who starts off virtually capturing your soul with the baseline this song steadily keeps on moving and building and building it's like a gentle hand that gently takes yours and begins to walk with you and gradually gets faster and faster until you both are virtually on the wings of the angels, running as fast as you can possibly go!!! Power showcased in completely different ways and I love love love them both Raiden is like power just. In who she is you LOOK at her and you know she'll mess you UP but in Wanderer's case he's like. A wild card who seems unassuming but is extremely dangerous if not taken seriously it's like dormant. Dormant power. Do you feel me.

AUGHHH I LOVE THIS GAME'S SOUNDTRACK IT'S SO GOOD IT MAKES ME WANNA CRY PLEASE TALK. TALK TO ME ABOUT IT .

[chadsuke]

Comics Read in 2023:

Mr. Bride Vol. 1 by Natsumi Shiba (2020)

Mr. Bride Vol. 2 by Natsumi Shiba (2020)

Mr. Bride Vol. 3 by Natsumi Shiba (2021)

Mr. Bride Vol. 4 by Natsumi Shiba (2021)

Shadows House Vol. 1 by Somato (2019)

Shadows House Vol. 2 by Somato (2019)

Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu Vol. 4 by Natsuya Semikawa & Virginia Nitouhei (2017)

Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu Vol. 5 by Natsuya Semikawa & Virginia Nitouhei (2017)

Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu Vol. 6 by Natsuya Semikawa & Virginia Nitouhei (2018)

[ID: Covers of the aforementioned books. End ID.]

[deadsetobsessions]

“Did this place pick up a ghost when I was dead or something?”

Tim whipped his head towards Jason, who looked mildly perturbed.

“You too?!” Tim demanded.

“What?”

“The ghost! I kept thinking it was a hallucination, you know? But even when I laid off of the caffeine, there’d be a fucking shadow at the edge of my vision! At night! You saw it too, right?” Tim rambled, increasingly agitated. “It even moves the fucking coffee mugs! I know where I left my favorite mug, and it sure as hell wasn’t in the sink!”

Jason blinked at him, face morphing into concern.

“Replacement, when was the last time you got some sleep?”

Tim inhaled. “Jason, I swear to god I will replace all of the shampoo in your twenty six safe houses with glitter glue if you don’t tell me whether you saw it or not.”

Jason nodded immediately. In his defense, Tim grew up to be a scary motherfucker. Diabolical little shit would have been a fucking terrifying villain.

“I knew it.”

——

Danny hummed. Tim was going to freak when he found his cowl three inches to the left.

He merrily avoided all of the set up cameras by simply going invisible and intangible, save for his arms that he uses to sweep the cowl to the side.

He could hear the static on the cameras. Danny grinned. Operation Gaslight, Ghostkeep, Girlboss is on.

——

“Tim-” Dick started, only to be cut short by Tim whirling around and jabbing a painful finger into his chest.

“You owe me this, for that Arkham comment when B went missing.”

Dick raised his hands in surrender, guilt flaring.

“Drake, what kind of pointless scheme are you getting us in, now?”

“Not now, demon brat.” Jason elbows the kid. “Just go along with it.”

“Look.”

“Well. I guess we were right, yeah, Tim?” Duke muttered, eyeing the moved cowl. “My ghost-sight isn’t seeing anything. Not even wind movement.”

“What’s going on, boys?”

“B, there’s a ghost in the manor.”

“He’s freaking out because it moved his coffee mug like three times.” Steph chimed in.

——

“Danny?”

“Yeah?”

“Have you seen anything weird, lately?”

Danny tilted his head. “No…?”

“Not even in the house?” Jason asked.

“Shadows? Anything?” Dick asked, eye bags prominent on the normally exuberant man. Danny snickered inwardly. They’ve been up for three days trying to “catch” the ghost.

“Uh. I mean the floorboards creak sometimes? But in terms of shadows… I think I saw them outside? Kind of looked like Batman, actually. But my eyesight gets bad at night. Why?”

Danny could see in the dark just fine.

“Nothing! Let me know if you see anything, okay?”

“Uh. Sure? Maybe you guys should… get some sleep?”

“Uh-huh.”

The bats file out of his room.

——

Danny locked glowing green eyes with Tim and Dick. He did some quick thinking and contorted his ectoplasm into something more grotesque.

“Kkkhggggghkkkkeeee!!!” He screeched.

“AHHHHHHHHHH!” The two of them screamed, both bolting and throwing things at him. It was impressive how fast they backpedaled.

“That was close,” Danny muttered. He quickly scribbled on Damian’s whiteboard with conspiracy theories and dipped before the rest of the bats came thundering.

He fell into a light sleep just as Stephanie checked up on him, work done.

[hoe4hotchner]

Aaron Hotchner x non bau rich reader. Hotchner see's reader be all professional CEO and telling her that she looks hot when talking about work.

Girl Boss | [A.H]

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x rich fem!reader| WC: 0.6k | CW: girlbossing

The sharp click of your heels resonated within the room. Sunlight streamed through the towering glass windows behind you, casting your silhouette against the long table where half a dozen personnel sat, their pens poised and eyes alert.

"Let me be clear," you began, your voice cutting through the silence. "We are not pushing this launch back again." Your words were sharp enough to make even the most seasoned executive in the room sit a little straighter. You placed your hands on the table's edge, leaning forward slightly, the subtle move reinforcing your authority.  

"I expect finalized projections on my desk by tomorrow morning. No excuses. No oversights," you continued. "If there are any further delays, we’ll be having an entirely different kind of meeting. Understood?"

The collective murmurs of agreement followed swiftly, though not without a trace of hesitation. Your gaze swept the table, catching each person’s eye for a split second, long enough to cement your expectations but short enough to keep your employees at bay.  

"Good," you said, straightening up. Your expression softened by a degree — but only a degree. "Meeting adjourned."

Aaron had been leaning casually against the doorway to your office, his hands tucked into the pockets of his coat as he observed the scene unfolding. His eyes tracked your every movement, and there you were — fierce and assertive — commanding the room in a way that made it impossible for anyone to look away. Including him.  

He didn’t interrupt, content to watch as you had delivered your final order, and dismissed the room. His gaze lingered, marveling at the way you held everyone’s attention.  

Finally, your eyes found him. You turned and strode out of the room, the rhythm of your heels once again filling the space.

"Aaron," you said, your voice losing the edge it carried moments before as you walked toward him. Behind you, the meeting’s attendees began packing up. "You’re early."

"Traffic was light," he replied. He tilted his head slightly, his smirk deepening as he added, "Should I call you ma’am now, or will boss suffice?"

You rolled your eyes. Still, you couldn’t keep the small smile from tugging at your lips.  

"Come on," you said, closing the distance between you and reaching for his arm. Your fingers brushed against the sleeve of his coat. "We’re done here."

Aaron pushed off the doorframe and let you lead him, his smirk lingering as he fell into step beside you. Whatever commanding personality you projected in the boardroom, he knew the softer version of you just as well — and he loved both sides equally.  

The elevator was empty when the two of you stepped inside. His arm came around you without hesitation, his hand finding the small of your back. "Long day?"

"You have no idea," you admitted, closing your eyes as you allowed yourself to rest against him. "Sometimes I forget why I even started this."

Aaron chuckled softly, his breath warm against your temple as he leaned down slightly. "I think I just remembered," he said with a teasing tone as his lips brushed the shell of your ear.  

You opened your eyes, pulling back just enough to meet his gaze, an eyebrow arching in curiosity. "Oh?" you prompted.  

"You," he replied without missing a beat. "You look unbelievably hot when you're bossing people around. I should make you talk about profit margins more often."

A surprised laugh bubbled out of you before you could stop it, your hand instinctively swatting at his chest. "You’re ridiculous," you said, shaking your head, though the smile that stretched across your face betrayed your words.  

"Ridiculously in love," he countered smoothly, his hand at your back pulling you just a fraction closer, as though he couldn’t stand the thought of even an inch of space between you.  

The elevator glided to a stop, the faint ding marking your arrival at the parking level. Aaron glanced at the doors as they began to slide open, then back at you. "Come on, CEO," he said, "let me take you home."

[thisispersonal]

bill gaslighting gatekeeping and girlbossing in action.

Text: “my muse I have a question I’d like to ask you!” “Well go ahead sixer!” “Well my muse this isn’t easy but what do you know about love?” “Oh you know I know everything about everything sixer!” “Well My muse I think I might be in love-“ “-with Fiddleford, my Assistent” ”now whatever would make you think that?” “I well that’s not so easy” ”you know when I met him in college we immediately got along! He never thought me strange.” “he helped me with bullies, he said he liked my hands, he helps me in so many ways.” “and he’s so kind to everyone! I admire his mind so much and he always makes me laugh!” “he’s so handsome, the way his hair sparkles when the light hits it in the morning. He makes wonderful music, his ideas are so creative he just seems to compliment me!” “Well sixer that all just sounds like normal friendship to me!” “I don’t know…” “besides isn’t he married? Are you really willing to risk years of friendship on a whim like that? What about the portal who’ll with you on that sixer?” “Well I” “I suppose you’re right my muse, these feelings aren’t worth risking all this over.” “Of course not fordsy! Not to mention what your families might say!” “Yes of course. I- thank you my muse. I think I’d like some time to myself.” “Of course sixer. But don’t forget there’s still work to be done!” “It’s time to get rid of that hick for good!”

[strawbellyx3]

Some thoughts on JinMao in The Apothecary Diaries LN (spoilers)

I love how Maomao's love for Jinshi is written in the Light Novel. She's an unreliable narrator and can't put a name on what she feels for a long time and heck, for the most time she doesn't even want to. The beginning of volume 6 showing this perfectly when she didn't want to leave Jinshi's hair stick behind, carried it with her and when she slept, she kept it near her chest because she didn't want to have it anywhere where she could see it. The symbolism *chef kiss* (she doesn't want to face her feelings but also still carries them close to her chest)

She purposely chooses to avoid thinking about any potential feelings for Jinshi and at the end of the same volume it's also stated that she does have some kind of affection for him that she can't yet put into words.

For readers, it's easy to view Maomao's avoidant attitude as disinterest. Even more so paired with how she doesn't seem to ever be nervous around Jinshi. But really, we don't need blushy nervous Maomao to understand what she's feeling. Her feelings come to show everytime she worries about Jinshi's well being and goes out of her way to get him to eat and rest, takes time of her own day to make sure that he's well.

When at the beginning, she always considered him bringing all these tasks to her as bothersome. Maomao just wanted to experiment with poison and make medicine, she didn't want to spend time on anything else, really.

Then, in volume 9 she's even willing to give up her agency if it meant helping ease his burdens.

Maomao, miss "I don't want to have anything to do with this, this is bothersome" tells him to use all of her. Use her until she falls apart. (while kabedoning him, love Maomao being an absolute girlboss even when she tells him to use her)

She's worried by his selflessness. How he's unable to use other people to reach his goals and shoulders everything on his own, wanting to save everyone. Maomao gets upset by it and worries he'd never get anything in return and become as luckless in life as her adoptive father. Who carries the same selflessness and kindness.

I don't think we talk enough about how much it means for Maomao to get to a point where she would rather get used by Jinshi than to see him exhaust himself.

This whole scene afterwards is just..generally really heartwarming honestly.

(Volume 9 Chapter 20)

Her hands went to Jinshi’s cheek. “You’re only human, Master Jinshi. You’re not some mythical immortal who can save everyone.” She held his face in her hands, the fingers of her left hand brushing his scar. “You can be wounded, scarred, brought low. Only human.”

Who was she talking to? She knew Jinshi was standing in front of her, but for some reason she kept seeing Luomen’s face.

No wonder I’m so upset. The principle that drove Jinshi’s behavior seemed very similar to Luomen’s. She was afraid that if he went on like this, he would end up just as luckless in life as her old man. Just like Pops... He’d spent himself trying to rescue everyone and everything. Like a fool. He should have wanted more, been greedier, but instead he’d suffered his fate patiently. Suffered and suffered, and for what? To become an old man resigned to his empty hands. This was, it was fair to say, Maomao’s one criticism of her father. She’d felt it keenly in the affair with the Shaonese shrine maiden. She respected Luomen immensely. A man who never lost his kindness no matter what unhappiness he encountered was like a miracle. The price, though, was that his body and his heart were both battered. In time he became so that everything he did, he did in the expectation of defeat. Would Jinshi end up like him one day? Or— “Please, please don’t go doing anything else like burning a brand into your skin,” Maomao said. “I heard you...the first several times,” Jinshi replied. “Are you sure?” A smile flitted across Maomao’s face, and she slowly pulled her hands away.

[heartfullofleeches]

Girlboss gaslight hatekeep bunny and her malewife(gn) wolf darling sounds. So cute. Bonus points if she buys them a cute collar and gives ear scratches whenever they bend down to her height.

"Gah!"

Your heart leaps into your throat as your front door flies open. What- Who is in your apartment? You weren't expecting any guests - let alone any who already had a key to the one place you felt truly safe. You haven't had any recent visitors besides-

"Lilith."

You hear the air drawn through her teeth - the portrait of her shadow growing taller against the light bleeding from the living room as she nears. You still had time to flee - if you wanted. She may have the upper hand on you most days, but you're still bigger and faster than her. That leaves the question of where you'll run to. This is your home after all. Maybe a neighbor? The police? They'll call you the crazy one once they see her, but anything is better than her being here.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Lillie?"

You swallow the lump in your throat - pointing your eyes at her foot rapidly tapping at the asphalt. "You... You said only your friends call you that."

"Ugh." The rabbit sneers. You still feel the heat of her stare upon you. You contemplate squeezing past her as she moves closer, but you can already hear her sobbing to her friends about how the mean wolf locked her out in the cold. The sharp edge of a small box jabs you center between your ribs as she shoves it against your chest.

"Open it."

"What is i-"

"Just do it."

Nervously, you peel back the wrapper paper with prudence a professional would have during a bomb defusal. If only Lilith was as innocent and kind as the little smiling bunnies printed on the brightly colored sheet. You pry open the boxes lid, half expecting something to pop out at you as your shoulders lock up. After several beats of silence, you insert your hand into the gift box-

"Wait, how did you get a key to my apartment?"

Lilith brushes your hand out of the way, grabbing you by the collar of your shirt as she grabs the item for you. You tell as she pulls you to her height - frozen as she fastens something around your neck.

"Is this... a collar?"

"Clearly. Our anniversary is coming up soon so I had to get you something at least."

She scratches behind your left ear. When did you start dating again?

"T-thanks...Can you tell me how you got the key now?"

"Get your ass inside this apartment."

[bubsmiraculousau]

These are my OT5 brainstorm pages. Elaborations on how I got to these below! I reference concept pages so if you see any pictures you don't recognize that's why. <3

First up is Cat Noir who I think is already perfect lmao. For my version though I wanted to lean closer to his PV design because I love it, like his larger triangle nose (you can't really see it at the angle in my drawing but it's there I swear!), the bigger bell, the more elaborate belt, etc.... so basically everything ... just in my style instead.

With my designs I think that whenever someone transforms into their miraculous persona it's based on what they think a hero looks like or what they think is cool. I think Adrien reads a lot of comic books and is a fan of characters like Batman (relatable for him LOL), Catwoman, and Nightwing, so his suit reflects that kind of vibe.

Extra: I decided that Ladybug and Cat Noir's masks go all the way up their foreheads because it looks nicer in my 2D style with their bangs haha.

Next up is the one and only Ladybug! Unpopular opinion but I actually like the all red suit! My hypothetical series would be a webcomic, and I feel like in action scenes the red differentiates her from Cat Noir esp at a distance, and more red style keeps their color ratios even.

I like the ladybug designs with a bunch of black sections they're very cute! Just not for my au. (I think it's just me but I find drawing the ladybug designs with inverted red dots to feel sacrilegious in a way,,, just my neurodivergent brain lol)

And I am a long ribbons truther, I love them and they can be very expressive. Also I knew I wanted Marinette to have a more vertical circular eye shape because her shape vibe is definitely a circle (Adrien's is triangle) and it reminded me of the eyes for the main girl in princess jellyfish (I've never seen it, love the style tho)

Her hair is a more bright blue to contrast her hair against her suit, and make her look more cartoonish. I imagine her idea of a superhero comes from kids shows and some magical girl anime. So her hair has a plastic shiny texture to it because when she thinks 'superhero' she thinks of kids toys. Also I just like color! The blue kinda gives comic spiderman vibes imo (the version with the light blue instead of the navy)

Queen Bee definitely changed the most throughout the design process. I really like her in-show design so I just tweaked it to be more my vibe. Adding a crown because she's a Queen.

Something that I've noticed is that Alya and Chloe actually share a lot of traits (There's even some old concept notes where I believe Alya and Chloe either switch names or roles at some point?? The miraculous concept info rabbit hole is real y'all) and I think this comes through in their final designs.

Like they both share a middle part, which bothers me for some reason, so I decided to give Chloe a little Ariana Grande side part into a ponytail.

I wanted each character to have a cool little piece on their costume, so I tried these little hip things to make her more commanding and girlboss, but currently her weapon is similar to ladybug's (but more like one of those hair ties w the little disco balls on them) and it would sit on her hip and would clash w her hip thingies, so I just decided to make her weapon the hip things instead, combining the two.

Something else that bothered me a lot was that Rena was the only one with white on her costume. Everyone has black but she's the only one with white... my brain says that this cannot be. So I tried to give Bee some fun white fuzzy bits but the texture just was too different...

And then I had the mega-brain idea to make her hair white to tie in the white from Rena. Her and Cat Noir both having blonde hair irked me as well LOL so this hit two birds with one stone. I wanted her hair to be sharper and more aggressively drill shaped because of her abrasive personality haha.

After that, is Carapace. I had an idea for him from the start because I felt like his in-show design just doesn't match his personality... I couldn't make his outfit all loose because I wanted to stick generally to the miraculous suit formula, but I feel like 'skin tight suit' just isn't his vibe. So he has a kind of hammer pants situation.

I think they capture Carapace's b-boy ninja turtle vibe while still looking like a miraculous outfit. Though I decided later that I wanted the pants to be a lighter color for contrast and the visor to be white (to tie in that Rena Rouge white).

Lastly is Miss Rena! Something that bothered me (back on the similarities to Chloe) was that they both have ponytails (yes I know I'm crazy). Even though they have very different textures I just wanted each of them to be distinct from each other. So I put her hair down and just dramatized her regular hairstyle.

Also her and Queen Bee both have black gloves to their upper arms, which, you guessed it, bothered me. So I shortened Rena's to just reach her elbow.

I wanted her to look like a magic-man, her illusion powers evoke a showmanship energy to me. I imagine her and Cat Noir are quite the dramatic theater kid-esque duo.

So, for drama I tried some flowy arm bits, which I think ended up just looking a little strange, so I'll pocket that idea for something else. Then, I tried to add her coattail from the show, but it ended up looking a little frumpy, not the drama I wanted.

I ended up making her coat more triangular in the front, to give off the vibe of a magician's vest, and changed it to solider red/orange double coattails, which I think makes her more magic-man-ish. And I think the white ends made it too busy.

So those are my hero designs! I'm still working out Hawkmoth and Mayura, esp Hawkmoth because I am not good at drawing masculine older men...

If y'all want LESS of the artistic process let a girl know lol! I know some ppl like it but this is very long,,, all my drawings will not have text this long! thx for reading if you did tho xx

[sailforvalinor]

Okay, the joke is funny sometimes, but the “Luke is a baby uwu who wouldn’t hurt a fly and Leia is so much like Anakin and would have killed Darth Vader instantly with the sheer force of her awesomeness and rage” fanon take irks me sometimes. Like, did Luke going absolutely lava-rage-monster insane on Vader, beating the living daylights out of him, hacking his arm off, and just barely holding himself back from chopping his head off or slashing his breathing apparatus open or sending him plummeting into the chasm below for even mentioning Leia and just barely holding himself back from giving into that darkness mean nothing to you? We all think of Luke as this sage-like bastion of light, which isn’t necessarily incorrect, but I think we all forget how hard-earned that is. The entire point of Luke’s arc in Episodes 5 through 6 is just how easily he could fall to the dark side. Yes, Luke is kind and sees and brings out the light in others like Padme, but he is so much like his father! That’s the whole point! He grew up wanting to escape a desert planet, he’s a mechanic, he’s an incredible pilot, he connects to the Force so easily it’s like breathing, he’s impatient, he’s reckless, he develops attachments too easily and they run too deep. He runs out on his training in Episode 5, and from that point on, he’s standing at a precipice—he could fall so easily. He could fall like Anakin. He saw his own face in Vader’s mask in the cave even before he knew the man was his father—he knows it. He has all that darkness in him, but the difference is that he conquers it. Luke is supposed to be what Anakin could have been if he had not fallen; he is Anakin’s chance at redemption. But ignoring all of this beautiful parallelism between the two for the sake of a “haha baby Luke girlboss Leia” take is a severe disservice to both Luke and Leia’s characters, as well as the main narrative arc of Star Wars as a whole.

[woodlandscab1n]

Guys... guys lets go back in time. Guys guys guys please.e..

I can't wait 'till I can get all the other RE games that I haven't played, get hyperfixiated on the whole franchise and literally never stop talking about dumb small details that I saw in a game and talk about that small detail a lot also go on a rampage of finding all the info I can of certain character.

[renthony]

Very much enjoying season 2 of Arcane. I was kind of braced for blatant copaganda in season 2, admittedly, but the writing has been much stronger than that. The ending of season 1 juxtaposing the rocket launcher with the council vote just reeked of "if only the mean oppressed people just waited for the votes to be tallied instead of being so awful and violent!" and it really left me feeling braced for a shitty "violence is never the answer! just go vote harder!" vibe. Season 2 has exceeded expectations on that front so far.

The fandom has been incredibly irritating with its "uwu the cop queen can do what she wants," but every fandom has its members that piss you off, so that's par for the course. I am beginning to think the only reason everyone was pissed off at the lesbian cop in Onward was because she was fat, butch, and Black-coded--the light-skinned skinny pretty girl lesbian cops in Arcane, people love. Meanwhile I'm still over here like, "I'm going to have to write an essay about the history of queer cop characters and the way they've been used as propaganda, aren't I?"

Caitlyn is an absolute monster, but the writing is strong and she makes sense. Ambessa preying on her grief is a hell of a dynamic, and the narrative set it up really well. I was braced for Caitlyn's dictator storyline to get played as some sort of girlboss thing, but the narrative hasn't done that as much as I feared, which is rad.

Vi still irritates the piss out of me, though. Like, oh, sure, you'll collaborate with a cop and you'll date a cop, but you're going to have a little moral crisis over JOINING the cops? Bitch, you are already a morally bankrupt class traitor, you were basically already wearing a fucking badge. And you're shocked when your cop girlfriend is violent toward you? Fucking hell. Don't date cops, y'all. They will hit you.

The only way Vi makes any sense is if she spent all those years in prison as a snitch and a kiss-ass, because I still maintain that there's no fucking way someone spends that long in prison and comes out willing to give a cop the time of day, much less want a relationship with one. The only people who come out of prison with any ounce of sympathy and patience with cops are the people who cut deals with the cops on the inside.

tl;dr, Cait and Vi piss me off, but at least Cait is well-written and makes sense.

[inflamedrosenkranz]

The Femme Fatale as Bi-Han's Ideal Type of Woman (1/2)

Bi-Han: Sareena or Sektor? Sektor or Sareena? Gosh, I really don't know which one to choose.

Indeed Bi-Han, indeed:

Sareena and Sektor have the same hair color, almost the same haircut (right down to the way they tuck their hair behind one ear but not the other, as shown in the first two images), wear red and black and are both firebenders. Their names also both begin with the letter S (S for seduction, sex, siren, snake/serpent and sin?). They both are iron-willed and strong women determined to escape oppression and control their destinies at any cost. One transforms into a red-skinned demon, while the other aspires to become a red-armored cyborg. They are the red to Bi-Han's blue, the fire to his ice.

It is therefore perfectly safe to conclude that he likes to play with fire by going for dangerous freedom-loving ladies of poisonous beauty, and that he can't choose one or the other and prefers to worship both, but they've handcuffed him anyway, so it's not as if he has a choice:

NRS: The Bireena shippers won't be happy that we're officially turning Bi-Han and Sektor into a couple...

Also NRS: Well, to smooth the rough edges, all we have to do is make the two girls have similar looks and identical elemental powers. Let's also give them the same will to free themselves from their chains, while we're at it, and a clan to command for each of them: the Order of Light and the Lin Kuei. Don't worry guys, fans are stupid, so they won't see the difference and it'll go like clockwork 👌 .

Bi "Gamous" Han, sticking his head out the door: Does that mean I can put them both in my bed? NRS: No, Bi-Han, this time you're just dating Sektor. Bi "Gamous" Han: In that case, screw you NRS, I'm going to build myself a harem just to piss you off.

Hence, a few moments later... a certain Mr. B. to Skarlet in MK11:

"You are like Sareena." (cf. that video)

Skarlet in MK11:

She has the same chromatic pattern as with Sareena and Sektor, i.e. red and black, but also two-toned hair like Sareena... and the first letter of her name is also an S. Really, Bi-Han??? (Look, another one, @cienie-isengardu 😉 .)

And as if that wasn't enough:

Bi-Han: What about that you dweebs, huh? Yeah, the Netherrealm demonesses are hot as hell and Quan Chi can hold my beer.

Okay, fine, as long as you don't hit on the goth chicks of Vaetern—

Uh, what? ⬇️

Scorpion: That Bi-Han works alongside you— Nitara: I've had stranger bedfellows.

French version: Nitara: I've had stranger lovers.

Okay, so let's sum up: both in terms of their ontological nature (two demons, a tomboy girlboss specializing in warrior and electronic engineering, a blood mage and a vampire; all commanding to fire or blood) and their physical appearance (red and black garments), Sareena, Jataaka, Sektor, Skarlet and Nitara are associated with the archetype of the seductress, the femme fatale. She who beguiles men. And what about Bi-Han? Much to his family's dismay, it seems that's the kind of woman he likes.

Bi-Han to the girls: Want to taste Articka's best blood sausage? The girls: We'd rather taste your blood, Bi-Han. Bi-Han: Would you settle for me sausage?

The second part will be devoted to further analyzing the commonalities between five of these six characters. Where we'll see that Bi-Han and Sareena, Sektor, Skarlet and Nitara all share the same theme, revolving around the notions of imprisonment and liberation, but also of darkness and light.

Source URLs are directly integrated into some of the pictures above, but here are the links for the other images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; the remaining unsourced images being screenshots and edit/collage I made.

[olderthannetfic]

Ok so my favourite type of character is the kind who's scummy and makes the story interesting. I think having some flaws and ugly emotions make for characters that aren't completely flat. But when I try to suggest that the female characters who fall into a bit of the "flawless girlboss" trope might have negative traits and emotions that aren't addressed in canon, I get people saying it's a sexist perspective to take. As if what I'm doing is the same as painting the character in the worst possible light and hating on them. Yeah, I know without concrete examples it's hard to judge whether what I've said is sexist or not. But since when are women not allowed to feel irrational hatred or envy or mind-melting horniness? I thought we were all about "let female characters be messy and nuanced!"

--

Principles and squicked feelings in the moment are, alas, often in conflict. People will continue to be stupid about this forever.

[damnfandomproblems]

Fandom Problem #5240:

Gotta love (translation: Hate) how much of an afterthought female characters treating male characters badly is, in the eyes of most fandoms.

Made worse when it's seen as some of kind of moral good.

It's all "evil boomer humor! Heteronormative! Fiction romanticizes abuse!" when a male character treats a female character badly (ignoring how it's often put in a negative light).

But the opposite is seen as "revenge to men!" Or "are the straights okay lmao" or "girlboss behavior!" by a fanbase.

Even worse when they treat real-life people like this.

No wonder more male victims of abusive women don't come forward.