#like manipulating me; basically; into taking this project (and she didn't even need to; i wanted the hours anyway)

[scare-ard--sleigh]

ohhhhhhhhhh my goddddddddd and now the fucking t*ble t*nnis guy is passive aggressively up my ass : \

[autisticlee]

I hate when people who want to "help" me are only doing it to make themsleves happy or comfortable and not me.

when people are basically like "how dare you not take my advice and do what I told you! dont dismiss me and what I say! I don't care if it doesn't work for you/make you happy/makes things harder for you, it makes me feel good when you do what I say and listen to me!"

i've had friends like this. one more recently from an ex friend group who straight up told me I was dismissing her for not even "trying" to do what she says, despite me saying I tried it previously and it didn't work. she always got upset at me if I had any problems with her advice and it didn't work. telling me i'm lazy and dismissive and giving up and making her feel bad because she's "just trying to help"

if you want to help someone, you have to make then happy, not yourself. meet their needs and work out the roadblocks that get in the way. dont call them dismissive for not taking your advice when YOURE dismissive of their needs and struggles. it's not about you of you're "juat trying to help" and especially of you claim you care about the person.

[yeyinde]

I am binge reading your work and I love your Price characterisation so much! Can you please go into detail what you his childhood looked like and what led him to be this angry, stubborn man who is fixated on saving the world at all costs

this is basically a reinterpretation of opening Pandora's box but instead of releasing great evils, it's just me yapping non-stop about John Price whenever i get the opportunity. but i cut a lot out because it was getting too long, so this is a brief summary on what made John Price the way that he is;

re: abuse (physical, mental, emotional; of authoritative power).

Nepo-baby. Born into Military Royalty. The Price name has a lot of sway in the government. Probably lived in Hereford going up before moving to Liverpool at 18. Realistically, Price has no other career choices because I can't see Mr "threatens to hang superior officers" sitting in a cubical and expected to hit quotas without catching several charges for assault and battery when his temper gets the best of him. And it always does.

His homelife was bad (but absolutely nothing compared to Simon's). His dad was just a staunch disciplinarian groomed by the traditional values of 40s-60s England. The typical "father works to provide for his family all day and then comes home to quiet, respectable children neither seen nor heard with food already on the table waiting for him and a wife that only speaks when spoken to and only ever to agree with her husband (and a lil bit of female "orgasm"????? by god! they've brought witchcraft back to the land of her Majesty the Queen!)"

He has an angry, uncompromising father with a temper and a mother who says thinks like, "well if *you* didn't make him angry, then you wouldn't have gotten yourself a black eye."

His dad was very physically abusive to both of them. Price really tried to stick up for his mum, but that would just set his dad off even more. And afterwards, his mum would just side with his dad, anyway. But on the flipside, I think she expected Price to protect her. So when he didn't (because he's a literal child!!), she'd get angry. But she obviously can't lash out like her husband or even her child, so uses the only weapon she has to gain some semblance of control: manipulation.

Price takes pieces of both his parents. His father, the physical aggressor, and his mother, the manipulative victim. And she is a victim, very much so. But I also think she pits them against each other. Gets bored. Causes issues. But there's power in getting someone to do what you want, and that's how she takes hers.

Price catches on to her in his early teens, but that's still his mother. Even though they have a very rocky relationship, she's still the Victim in his head, even when she's whispering in his dad's ear about all the things she despises about her son. And then going to Price (after his dad does something about it - again: disciplinarian, control freak) and playing the pitiful mother subjected to her husband's tyranny and a sad, weak son who can't do a single thing to protect her when she needs him.

Price learns to manipulate from her. Emotional blackmail. Victim-complex. Gaslighting. Scapegoating. But the biggest takeaway is the way he shifts the victim-complex into heroism (esp with Gaz). They can't be the bad guys. It's a logical fallacy in his mind. They're the ones saving the world, and if the world wasn't so riddled with bad guys, with people who need projecting, then they wouldn't need to do what they do.

I think Price has a bit of animosity towards people he sees as weaker (re: his mum having to share the victimhood with her son). But this animosity can also rear as obsession. He's the only person who can save you/them/the world. And since you/they/the world can't save yourself, then you should just listen to him.

And if you don't. Well, that's going to be a pretty big problem.

Honestly on the fence about siblings. If he has any, it's probably an older sister and she's either the equivalent of Janice Soprano (minus any of the backbone and ambition) or Barbara, resigned to her life and utterly forgetful. but I kinda like the idea of him not having any siblings to weather the storm with, you know? Like, it's just him and a mother who victim blames and ignores, and he gets the brunt of his dad's anger.

He was an obnoxious kid to be around. Probably really tried to impress his dad by adopting all of his values; baby misogyny, bite-sized authoritarianism, military fiscalism/military–industrial complex, militarism, etc., before realising (earlyyyyy teens) that he hates his dad and everything he stands for (but I'm a SUCKER for letting Price suffer and I love cyclicity and generational trauma so naturally, as much as he tries to run from the ghost of his dad, it still lingers - just in different ways; the worst thing you could ever say to Price is, you're just like your father).

Turned into a moody teen in the 80s/90s. His anger is a hair trigger. Utterly uncontrollable. But by this time, he learned to hide it because his dad's way of idealing with trauma was to add more. Therapists are pseudoscience, so he taught Price that men just bury these things. And if you can't, then you should be put down like a dog.

The assessment of a man's character was entirely based on the military tests he passed. And with Price's anger, trauma, he probably shouldn't have passed the evaluations, but since his dad, his grandfather, his great-grandfather, were all military dogs, he learned how to beat it. He's also really good at manipulating people.

I think between 16-17 there was a real attempt to do something that wasn't the military and I haven't decided which one I like better but:

He gets a job (as a port worker or in a factory). The Price name has no sway here (and baby Price grew up surrounded by people who knew his family, who revered them for their service to the country, etc). If he wants to make it, it has to be by his own merit. The problem is, while he's a hard worker, his trauma (men who remind him of his father, women who are too much like his mother) causes an incredible rift between him and authority.

If his boss is a man just like his dad, then Price is a match in a tinderbox.

If he isn't, to Price (who has only just learned to hold his tongue), the idea of a nobody being in a position of power over him will also set him off.

Either way, he's doomed.

If he man is a beast that no one can stand up to, and gets away with things because he's the boss, then Price's temper would flare pretty quickly. Especially if he comes after Price. Bullies him. Belittles him. But the worst is the humiliation. He ends up beating his boss very badly, terrifying the men around him but in their fear, and how quickly they listen to him because of it, Price realises he likes it. That fear can be weaponized. Honed.

Or: same situation, but if you lean more towards Price looking out for the underdog rather than his own self-interest, then he sticks up for someone and beats his boss to protect them. Everyone's still afraid of him, but they revere him. They do what he asks. This version, he realises that respect can be weaponized.

(and if the man is not like his dad, then Price will antagonise him into action. He'd throw the first punch, and Price will retaliate. It would still go too far, but - Nepo baby, weaponized fear: the outcome would be the same.)

He gets taken into custody. The tell him his boss is not going to make it. But Price's dad exercises every ounce of power to get his son out of trouble (because this will look very bad on them), and Price leans several things which shape him as an adult: his name has a lot of power; rules and regulations and just policing won't stop bad people unless you take it into your own hands once and for all, and people listen to him and that either version of the above can be weaponized.

He'd probably take the military a bit more seriously but only because he's trying to get vengeance for himself (even if this is subconscious and he doesn't realise it). He leaves at 18. Joins. And climbs the ranks higher than his dad.

At first, there's a concerted effort to do good but something cracks. Builds. Eventually Price comes to the conclusion that he'll have to take a more hands-on approach and get them a little bloody if he wants real change.

I have a lot of thoughts of military-dog Price. But!! That's basically it.

Shaped by physical, mental, emotional abuse; leans into the poor rich kid trope slightly. It all manifests more when he climbs the ranks, gets freedom, and realises that only he can do what needs to be done.

[cairavende]

Worm Arc 15 interludes thoughts

Carol interlude:

Holy shit you really were just a fucking TERRIBLE mother!

Like I get it, you had lots of horrible childhood trauma. And you didn't want to adopt Amy and let yourself get bullied into it by your sister. But that doesn't give you an excuse for how you treated both your kids.

Got to see another trigger event!! Fuck yes. Give me more. I want to see more details on those higher dimensional beings.

Fucking hell seeing Marquis's powers in play is pretty crazy. Dangerous boy.

Carol was just going to full blown stab right through that closet door without even looking inside! She almost killed a child! God damn.

“No.  He’s just my daddy.  Reads me bedtime stories, makes me dinner, and tells me jokes.  I love him more than anything else in the world.  You can’t take him away from me.  You can’t!” Fucking ooof that's a line.

No seriously though this can't be the first time there has been a young child of a cape that needed to be adopted because their parent was arrested or killed. Is there really no system in place for this? Cause Amy should not be going with Carol.

Just the way through most of the present sections of the interlude that Carol thinks about her daughter and Amy. Not her daughters. And this was before she knew anything about what Amy had done. Terrible mother.

HOLY SHIT AMY OH MY GOD YOU MADE IT EVEN WORSE! And I thought flesh coffin Victoria was bad! FUCK!

Vic is going to need lots of therapy.

Fucking Carol basically deciding Amy is her daughter now only because she doesn't want to think about Victoria being her daughter. Damn. Bad mother.

And Amy is in the birdcage (Hellfire playing in my head the entire damn time I'm reading this part). I'd be rather terrified to see what she becomes except no one ever gets out of the birdcage so obviously there is no worries. She is never going to be an issues. (I shouldn't need the /s but just to be safe.)

Brian interlude:

Not much to say here, most of my thoughts on this relationship was said in my last post.

I do always love seeing Taylor from the PoV of someone else. Just shows how fucking badass she is. And kinda terrifying.

"She conveyed an eerie kind of confidence that he knew she didn’t have at her core." This is just incorrect bud. When she isn't thinking about how she is portraying herself she conveys the confidence she does have at her core. The stuff she hides from herself.

Alexandria interlude:

DATES! DATA! LORE! AHHHHHHH!!!!

Date of first Endbringer attack!!!!! Strong estimation of the number of capes in August 1986! Knowledge that Cauldron was working in 1986! Their "success" rate at the time that I can compare to now! (Success in quotes cause I don't personally think tentacles is a failure. I want to meet tentacle lady.)

Obviously I'm not a big fan of any of the Cauldron people on the surface. But I think I like Contessa within those boundaries. I technically have no idea what she can do but I'm almost positive she is some type of precog. And I kind of ship her and Alexandria.

Behemoth is fucking scary. Just light people on fire from the inside, shoot lightning. Full energy manipulation. Damn.

Alexandria is the head of the PRT! Damn! (I assume at least.)

I want to know more about the Terminus project!

And Coil is a product of Cauldron! But he doesn't know it (supposedly). Damn. They list him as an alternate to the Protectorate which is very interesting. I'm super curious what Cauldron's goal with the Protectorate was and how Coil can do the same.

Fucking Alexandria just going and grabbing people to be experimented on and it's "ok" cause they were dying. Holy shit! She even manages to make the comparison to her chemo treatment and still does it! Fuck lady. You can justify anything.

Triumph interlude:

See? Triumph is fine! So Skitter didn't do anything wrong.

Triumph is Cauldron created too. Cause he was only good enough at baseball for the minor league but not the majors. God damn fucking privileged ass rich white boy. And he describes it as a traumatic thing! God. At least later he does kinda call out that he got stuff from having a rich dad with connections.

Assault seems to be doing great! Sure was a good idea to let him join the Protectorate just cause he wanted to be a creep to this one girl. Turns out when that girl is gone he doesn't have any motivations to be a "good guy". Great decision Legend.

Robot daughter! Good to see you again! And you built yourself a bio body! Or a head at least. Still, fun!

AAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Defiant.

Definitely isn't Polearm McGee! Nope! Absolutely a different person. That also likes really long pointy sticks.

I am glad Frank Miller's Armsmaster was able to remove the restrictions on robot daughters code. She deserves freedom. Pretty much served his purpose now and she basically just keeps him around to humor him. "Oh yes I need Defiant to help me, even though I built his suit and could just control it directly myself."

Seven Dragon suits in Brockton Bay huh? I'm sure that won't result in anything next arc. What with Dragon specifically on the lookout for Taylor and Taylor planning on going with her dad to the town hall on the election.

Triumph gives in to the weight of not speaking up about Defiant being Armsmaster but then he gets mad at Prism for not speaking up! My dude! You didn't speak up, you can't be mad at her for the same thing!

Fucking LOVED the ending of this interlude, and thus this arc, though. Absolutely perfect. Just with the inherent comparison of Defiant to Mannequin, especially considering Colin called Mannequin a "monster" in his interlude and said "I'm nothing like you!" And then Triumph thinking how he could see the reason for every step Colin made and could see himself justifying each one. And the previous chapter had Taylor dealing with how far she had let herself go. All that and then ending this chapter with Triumph staring at the bodies of Crawler and Mannequin (finally confirmed dead) and the line "Maybe it was to find some clue, some sign he could watch out for, that would let him identify the monsters from the men."

Just fucking. So good. I think it's my favorite quotable arc ending so far. I might like Arc 11's ending more (it's close) but not in quotable way. "All lies" at the end of Arc 14 is a close second, but I like this one more.

[tubbytarchia]

i think a lot about scott in regards to both jimmy and pearl. like. i feel like not a lot of scott fans want to talk abt the fact that he’s actually very clever and manipulative and cowardly and just not very good!!

and it’s just something abt the fact that jimmy and pearl are some of the most loyal and loving people on earth. and yet they didn’t want him back. when scott asked jimmy to kill tango of all people. he said you should run. when he told jimmy to say i love you he said you have 30 seconds. and then it happened again. in secret life he told pearl he loved her and she wouldn’t say it back

i am just so in love with it. the fact that scott used jimmy and pearl and then tried to win them back after they didn’t need him anymore. the fact that he left his first two beloved partners in the series with a permanent bad taste in their mouth. i think he changed both their characters irreversibly and that they did the same to him and i needddd jimmy and pearl to talk about it

Yeees anon YESSSSSS you understand...

It's nothing I haven't expressed already, but the combination of serious topics like manipulation attributed to a minecraft series and Scott being the culprit of it makes it kinda taboo to talk about for a lot of people so I'm not surprised that people don't! (Scott being part of LGBTQ and thus attributing negative traits to his character makes you "insensitive" and such, unless you turn it into an AU lol, then it's fine apparently) And if these people are here just for something carefree and the CCs more than the characters, that's absolutely fine! And as I've also said before, Scott is a very compelling character to me and I absolutely don't hate him no matter the things I think he's done to change Jimmy and Pearl for the worse. I wanna know who hurt him...

But as far as my perception goes of the characters etc, yeah, it's this. Scott is terribly clever and skilled and frightfully good at manipulating whether he always intends to or not (he's more or less admitted to it anyhow). He's not often explicit but the kind of language he uses around Jimmy makes Jimmy feel talked down to, or that he's to blame for things, etc, and then sweetens it up with claims of caring. Statements that basically go "I do this for your own good" and such. He was obviously more explicit about it with Pearl but that doesn't make it any better haha

Jimmy's attitude towards Scott after third life is such an interesting thing to analyze and I'm so happy of his feelings manifesting more. In Double Life Scott had it out for the ranch and ofc Jimmy did what he could to defend the ranch's image etc, but oh boy, the LimL "you have 30 seconds" moment... Also when Jimmy was about to kill Scott for the time that Scott promised him, Scott said "I love you" again and "it's fine even though you didn't say it back" (paraphrasing) and Jimmy just fucking stays silent before going "appreciate it" and shooting him. Very fire of him. That made me so happy lmao. And him taking gradual enjoyment out of hitting Scott in Secret Life (as he deserves to). And the further moments you brought up, and now what happened in Real Life even if it was a one-off SMP. I hope he keeps going like this lol

There is the time in Secret Life where Jimmy seems to project onto Pearl in telling her to attack Skizz and be mean about it, sigh..m they just need to sit down and talk. I need this so desperately. They just need to get talking and it'll all work out from there, they can do it, I believe in them...

Either way both of them refusing Scott's approaches is the best thing ever. Scott should team up with people like Gem more instead who aren't affected by his bullshit anyway and also just make for fun dynamics

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.211 thoughts

[I'm Beggin' of You Please Don't Take My...Band???]

(Contents: power system analysis - Unchaste, character analysis - Kururu)

Damn, didn't get to make the "don't take my mom" joke, but at least I still got to use the Jolene joke at all

Speaking of things I was wrong about, I'm bummed that Kururu's interaction with Kaede wasn't at least somewhat amicable, but it is clear that there's something wrong (probably from a development in Kururu's life or manipulation on Soul's part), so it's definitely not too late. I was at least right about Fuuko and Julia joining the band to replace lost members, though! Just...not at all in the way I initially projected! I also seem to have been right about Kaede and Raita's souls being the components that Fuuko needs to fix her vessel, but I won't worry about speculating on that this week

The real meat of this chapter though is Kururu herself, as she's finally getting some much-needed development and her stocks are going through the roof! Both her near-useless power and her fairly generic archetype have been fleshed out tremendously in this one chapter alone, doing wonders to hype me up for what's to come next in her story!

Starting with Unchaste, we've seen a lot of Negator abilities undergo massive changes between Loops, like Unfair's activation requirement switching from being hated by others to acknowledging others' strengths or Unstoppable's deactivation switching from breaking oneself to breaking something else, but I think this is the first time that the target has changed

Previously, Kururu seemed to define chastity as a lack of love; if her target knew love but didn't currently possess it, then to her, they were living a chaste life. In other words, while she couldn't negate "true love," Kururu could fill the holes in the hearts of those who were lacking love. This is why she thought she thought she could affect Fuuko, but because she believed Fuuko wasn't actually in love with Andy and was instead just pining to have someone to fill the void created by her decade of isolation

Now, Unchaste creates that hole and then fills it. Now, chastity isn't just the lack of love, it's also the the purity of devotion. Being faithful to your beloved is a chaste act, so naturally, adultery is an Unchaste act. If "true love" is chaste, then Kururu can negate it and steal it, creating an impure love built on deception

...Wait a second, this really IS Oshi no Ko!!!

Ahem...so not only is the targeted concept expanded, the overall effect seems to have expanded as well, though that might just be because we never really saw it in action. We were told that those affected by Unchaste "bum rush" Kururu, and Kururu called Fuuko her "captive" when she used it on her. I'm assuming the idea was that the target would obey her whims, but that's not really how it was explained. I always thought it was an ability meant for drawing attention, like an aggro ability, and that the targets would basically chase down the user

However, not only did the fans seem unaffected, but the people she wanted to effect are acting as they normally would towards the people they already love. This implies that either a) the overall effect has changed, and b) that Kururu's level of control over who is affected has changed. She isn't just unilaterally affecting everyone who hears her music, she specifically went out of her way to steal Kaede's bandmates. In other words...

Kururu's tragedy has already been averted!

Her original problem was that her fans rushed the stage and the concert had to be stopped, and then even after she got more control she didn't want to cheat by making people love her over other idols by any means other than her own talent. Now, not only are her fans not rushing her, it seems she can also decide who does and doesn't fall under her spell! Thanks for the help, Soul, the only thing we need to do now is fix whatever confidence issue she has and she'll be a friendly in no time!

Well, there's probably more to it than that, of course. Honestly her real tragedy has probably just been changed like Feng's, but still, the act of defeating her here and subsequently having a discussion with her will probably be all we need to fix her. The question though is how

Presumably, she might still be able to use Unchaste on the fans if she needs to, like if she perceives that they're leaning towards Kaede over her. If Kururu's abandoned her pride and is willing to use Unchaste to make fans now, then Kaede will need to take advantage of some kind of weakness within Unchaste. My guess is it will have something to do with the soul, since she seems to be gaining access to hers, so maybe by "touching the audience's souls with her own," Kaede will wipe away Kururu's negation?

In fact, the soul is probably Unchaste's weakness overall. If Andy were to come in, I think it's pretty safe to say he'd be able to resist Unchaste, and the best way I can think of for him to do that would be for him to use some immutable aspect of his soul to retain his memories of Fuuko

Of everyone, I think that Nico would be the most resistant since Unchaste erases and replaces memory, which would require that the target forget details about their past. Since Nico is Unforgettable, he should be immune inherently, but even if he isn't, the expansion of his memory from his brain to his soul likely gives him an extra line of defense

How the rest of the cast who aren't present would fend off Unchaste isn't super relevant, though. The important thing is how Kaede and Raita will manage, and I think that Kururu gave us a pretty big hint this chapter

"Up until now, all I've wanted to know is what you have that I don't. I have that thing now. I'm done losing."

At a glance, it seems like the thing that Kururu has in common with Kaede is the ability to appeal to her specific audience, as evidenced by her aforementioned enhanced control of who Unchaste affects. Thematically, though, one would assume that the thing that Kaede has over Kururu is love

"True Love is Sincere! Infatuation is Mere Veneer!" - Kururu's encantation, Viz translation "Ai wa magokoro. Koi wa shitagokoro." - original Japanese “With love (愛), the heart (心) is right in the middle (真心, sincere) but with mere flings (恋) the heart is underneath (下心, ulterior motives.)” - literal translation

Kaede is willing to make her voice sound awful to a general audience in order to appeal to a specific audience with poor hearing. To Kururu, that must seem like Kaede is willing to change herself, throw away everything that makes her her, to be loved. No wonder, then, that Kururu has completely changed her style from pop to death metal; her very identity no longer matters to her as long as people will love her

But that's where her mistake is. Kaede isn't beloved because she's willing to bend over backwards and be someone she isn't to gain love from the crowd; she's beloved because she's a genuine and earnest person with a sincere love for the crowd. She's flexible enough to change her approach to ensure that her audience will have the happiest experience possible, even if it means letting someone else take the spotlight

Kururu, meanwhile, has always been portrayed as someone willing to change herself to appeal to others; she lies about her hobbies, her skills, and even her favorite foods, all to make her brand more appealing to a general audience. In other words, Kururu's true self is hidden behind a veneer, a focus-tested pretty face put on with the ulterior motive of garnering maximum popularity. This version of Kururu doesn't care if the crowd enjoys themselves, she cares that the crowd loves her

The distinction is pretty subtle, as in the end the crowd should theoretically have a good time either way, but one performer aims to give the crowd something to cheer for, while the other aims to take the crowd's cheers

Whatever ends up happening between her and Kaede, I'm honestly just really glad that I was finally able to dig this deep into Kururu's character. I don't think it's a controversial statement to say that Kururu was one of if not the least interesting Negator previously, she was certainly near the bottom of my list when I did the character sorter, but now? Well, I won't say she's one of my favorites just yet, but damn if I'm not attached! And her arc isn't even done, she's in her villain era right now! How much more will I like her when she turns good and gives us a genuine smile??? We've probably got a few more weeks until we find out, and I can't wait!

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

[letitiaslabyrinth]

DIDN'T DESERVE | PART TWO

warnings: feels. like a lot of them. talks about mental and emotional abuse. Shuri goes o f f. angst, angst ending in fluff, y'all get a happy ending this time dw pairing: Shuriri word count: 2.5k A/N: LISTENNNNNNNNN I know I'm late with this alright? I knowww but I'm here now so 😭 also my bad for dipping for like a week? maybe more than that but I'm gonna be honest this fic was kicking my ass cause I was going through a lot while tryna write. needless to say there's so much projecting in this it's c r a z y. anyways even tho this took me so long, im still not satisfied with the ending but i digress since i need sumn to give yall ignore any and all mistakes cause this isnt proof read.

It had been a month since Riri told Shuri she wasn't going to forgive her and it had been the worst month of both of their lives.

Shuri had basically overwhelmed herself with her work in the lab. She never left—she practically slept there most nights. 

It's not that Shuri had things to fix with the suits, hell, she didn't even bother looking at them because they reminded her of Riri, but she needed something to keep her hands and mind busy so she just worked on small projects.

People started to notice, obviously, but nobody said anything. It’s not that they didn’t want to, it’s the fact that they knew Shuri wouldn’t listen. She was in her own world right now—her own safe space and anybody who tried to break her out of it in any way would be yelled at. 

Okoye walks into the lab, rushing to Shuri’s side as she almost falls over. “kumkanikazi wam kufuneka uphumle," (My queen you must rest) she says, helping Shuri sit down.

“I’m fine, Okoye.” Shuri brushes her off and tries to stand, only to nearly collapse for a second time. Okoye sits her down again.

“You have buried yourself in your technology for the past month, Shuri. You are hurting your body.”

Shuri sits there for a second. Her head drops, making her sit up straight. “Alright, maybe, I should take a nap-”

“In your own bed,” Okoye interrupts.

“Yes, in my own bed, Okoye.” Shuri rolls her eyes in fake annoyance before leaving to go to her room.

Once she’s there, she takes a shower first. The water feels so nice against her skin that she doesn't wanna get out. 

Over an hour later, Shuri stepped out of the shower. She wrapped her towel around her body and made her way to her bedroom. She dried herself off and put on a pair of clothes then sat on her bed. It was quiet. She didn’t know how to feel with no foreign noise or voice in the background. Shuri shakes her head and puts her phone on her bedside table. That’s when she sees it. In the crevasse between the bed and the night stand was a photo. Shuri picked it up. It was a picture of her and Imani. It was their first date. Shuri can feel tears starting to form and puts the picture down. She closes her eyes and wraps her arms around her chest, slightly rocking side to side. She hasn't taken any time for herself since her breakup with Imani and now that she was, it… actually, Shuri didn’t know how she felt. At least, not exactly. Yes, she was hurt. Yes, she was upset, but what else? Imani had put Shuri through so much mental and emotional manipulation that even when they broke up Shuri didn’t realize it. Shuri doesn’t know if she should feel relieved now that she knows or not. In all honesty, realizing that she was basically nothing more than a plaything for Imani to control, realizing all the sleepless night and petty arguments would only ever end in Shuri apologizing whether she was in the wrong or not, realizing that her and Imani did have something real before things went south, it hurt.

Over the five years that they’ve known each other, they’ve broken up and gotten back together again a number of times. Shuri knew she shouldn’t have given in to Imani when she told Shuri that she had changed but Shuri missed her. I mean, could you blame her? Imani wasn’t the only person in their relationship and she wasn’t the only one who made the mistakes.

This breakup was different, though. It was final. Shuri and Imani had had an actual conversation, over text, about their relationship. Of course, Shuri had been the one who reached out first but when Imani told her she was tired of going back and forth, that was it. She left her alone.

Memories of how they were before they made anything official ran through Shuri’s mind. The midnight calls that would end up with Shuri falling asleep first because of how safe she felt with Imani. The constant texting and inside jokes they had with each other that no one else understood. The sound of her voice, her sweet, pretty smile that she always flashed at the camera, the future plans they had made with each other. Shuri had felt like she had met her true love, her first love. Ironic, huh? That the first person she ever dated would be the same person she would be with five, ten, twenty years later. Shuri had opened up to Imani about so many things. Things she would deny if somebody had asked her about it. Yes, Imani was Shuri’s first girlfriend but she made Shuri feel like they would never leave each other. Like they would stay together forever.

Shuri’s phone buzzes, the sound freeing her from her own mind. She lets herself go and wipes the tears she didn’t even realize had fallen. 

Ima ❤️

iMessage

Shuri dropped her phone. She got up, pacing around her room. So many questions started falling into her head all at once. She couldn’t think. She could hear her heartbeat in her-

Incoming call from Ima red heart

Shuri gasps, “Fuck!” 

Tears swelled her eyes. Why was Imani reaching out now? Just when Shuri was trying to start her healing process. Shuri sunk to the floor, head in her lap, hands over her head. She let her ringtone play out but even when it stopped she didn’t make any efforts to move.

She ended up sleeping there

Shuri hears Okoye’s voice when she starts waking up. Okoye’s shaking her and checking her vitals with her kimoyo beads.

“Okoye, I’m fine,” Shuri groans. Her side hurts from the way she slept but she barely even remembers sleeping.

“My queen, you have a visitor downstairs in the common area,” Okoye says.

Shuri prayed to Bast that it was Riri instead of Imani. "Tell them I'll be down in a second."

Okoye nods once before leaving.

"Imani?" Shuri says, causing her to turn around. She looks… different. A good different. But Shuri won't let herself fall for that trick again. "Why're you here?"

"I came to apologize." Her voice is different, too. It sounds more mature than Shuri remembered. "I was tryna reach out to you last night so that we could actually schedule a day that you weren't busy so I could come by but you didn't answer so I figured an apology in person would be better."

Shuri keeps her guard up while Imani talks, her arms folded over chest. "I don't forgive you."

Imani stays quiet for a few seconds. "What? Shuri, I said I was sorry."

"Yeah, and I do not forgive you. You put me through hell, Imani, and I know you didn't seriously come here thinking that those two words would make you forgive you for everything. And, to be honest, I would tell you how fucked up in the head I am because of you, but knowing you, you'd probably use it against me in the future, if we even talk. So, why don't you just save both of our time and tell me why you're really here."

"Fine." Imani takes a deep breath. "I wanna try this again. I know I hurt you, and I am sorry, Shuri, I was going through a lot at the time we were dating and I projected my emotions onto you, which I shouldn't have. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me and I can't live without you."

"Then don't," Shuri shrugs.

"What?"

"Live without me."

Imani smiles. "I knew you'd understand -”

"Oh, no no," Shuri cuts her off, shaking her head. "I'm not saying we can get back together, Ima, I'm telling you to kill yourself. You know, since you can't live without me, just don't bother living at all."

"Shuri, what the fuck? What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me is that my ex-girlfriend who mentally and emotionally abused me for years came into my house uninvited, gave a half-ass apology where she tried to turn herself into the victim, and then had the balls to ask me to get back together. That's what's wrong with me. You've ruined so many friendships I had and now thanks to you, I can't get them back. You knew I had never dated a girl before and you took advantage of that." Shuri raises her finger as Imani was about to say something. "And before you say it, no, we cannot just move on like we've done in the past. I deserve someone better than you. Someone who doesn't treat me like shit and doesn't ruin relationships I have with people just because they're insecure about themselves. So, do us both a favor and get the hell up outta my house. And if you can't find the exit on your own, Okoye and the other Dora will gladly help you." Just as the words left her mouth, Okoye and a few other Dora Milaje soldiers came from the shadows, spooking Imani.

"This isn't over, Shuri," Imani says while she's being rushed out. "You'll come running back!-”

"Oh, for bast's sake," Okoye says, rolling her eyes and pushing Imani out the house. "Make sure she leaves the city," she tells two of the Dora. "I do not want to see her here or anywhere in Wakanda again."

"Yes, General," They say in unison, escorting Imani off of Shuri's property.

Okoye turns around and sees that Shuri's sitting down on the couch. "Shuri, are you alright?"

Shuri nods. "Uh huh."

Okoye sits next to her. "You're crying," she says softly.

Shuri doesn't make any effort to wipe her tears or even hear what Okoye's saying. She's too busy replaying the "conversation" her and Imani just had. She hadn't expected to go off like that. She knew she was angry but she didn't realize she was that angry. Her words, her voice, her tone. 

"Can you give me a moment alone?" Shuri asks Okoye and Okoye nods once and rubs Shuri's shoulder before leaving the house.

Shuri sat on the couch until the sun went down. She didn't realize she had been staring into space for so long until she felt her eyes getting heavy. She gets up slowly and drags herself to her bed, falling into it once she's close enough. She holds her legs against her chest and continues staring into space.

Riri paces herself in her head. Stop acting like a pussy and just knock, she says in her head. She takes a deep breath and knocks on the door. It opens slowly.

"Riri?" Shuri opens the door completely. "What're you doing here?" Shuri looks…like hell. Her voice came off so quiet Riri had barely heard her. There's bags under her eyes and they're red and puffy. She's been crying.

Riri rubs her hand on the back of her neck, "I wanted to talk to you."

"I thought you didn't want anything to do with me," Shuri mumbles. Her tone isn't harsh or anything, it's soft again. Despite Shuri's words, she opens the door fully, stepping out the way to let Riri inside.

Riri walks in slowly and sits down on the couch, Shuri sitting next to her.

"I know what I said to you the last time we saw each other was harsh, Shuri," Riri says after a few minutes of silence. "And I wanna apologize for it."

Shuri tilts her head, "Ri, you don't have to apologize for-" 

Riri shakes her head. "No, I do. I'm assuming you and Imani broke up before you came to see me and instead of understanding where you were coming from, I brushed you off. You didn't deserve that and I know it's no excuse but the only reason I did is because I like you. That's why it hurts me so much when you cut me off."

Shuri pauses. I like you. Like. Not liked. Like. 

"You… you like me?" Shuri says slowly. "Like, present tense, Ri? Like, like like?"

"Yes, like like, Shuri," Riri says smiling.

"Even though I hurt you?"

Riri shrugs. "Everybody makes mistakes. Don't worry about it."

Shuri stays quiet for a few seconds. "So, what now? Are you…my girlfriend?"

Riri turns her full body towards Shuri, looking her in her eyes. "Can I be your girlfriend, Shuri?"

"Yes." Shuri's answer is immediate but she means it. She likes Riri. She's always liked Riri. Riri was easy to talk to, Shuri always found herself at Riri's apartment whenever she and Imani ended up fighting.

"Should we watch a movie?" Riri asks.

Shuri nods. "You can pick, I'ma go freshen up a little bit and get some blankets."

…

It's been four months since Shuri and Riri have started dating. 

Shuri's happier now, way happier. Her mental health since she and Riri have gotten together has slowly improved. It's taken some time but when Shuri finally opened up to Riri about what she went through while dating Imani, Riri almost booked a flight to LA just to find her. Shuri had to beg her not to because she knew how that would end and she didn't need her new girlfriend ending up in jail because of her ex.

"Mama, can you come here for a minute please?"

Shuri pauses the TV and walks over to Riri, who's in the kitchen. "Yes?"

"I want you to try something for me." Riri puts a plate of food in front of Shuri as she sits down on the bar stool next to the counter. Shuri's confused at first, she doesn't know what the dish is, but before she can ask the question, Riri speaks up, "It's ground beef and rice. You told me you'd never actually had it before so I decided to make it for you."

Shuri smiles at the fact that Riri remembers. She takes a small bite at first then a bigger one. "This is good, Ri," she says with her mouth slightly full. "Like, really fucking good." Riri covers her hand over her mouth to hide her smile but Shuri can still see it from the way her cheeks go up.

Shuri finishes her plate in a matter of seconds. Riri had been making meals for Shuri ever since she found out she had barely been eating and despite eating being difficult, Shuri finished her food every. single. time. 

"You like it?" Riri says, still smiling, "Like, you really like it?"

"Yes, Ri. It's so good." While Shuri goes to put her plate in the sink, she kisses Riri on her forehead. "You should definitely open that restaurant you've been talking about."

Riri chuckles and sits on the counter. "I want to, but to open a restaurant, first, I need money. Then, I need a vacant lot, and then I need employees and-"

"Baby, I have money. I have people and friends who can work for you."

Riri shakes her head, "No, no, I wanna make it there on my own, and I'd love your help but I don't want the foundation of my restaurant to be you cause then I'm gonna feel like I owe you for the rest of my life."

"I get it, Ri. I want to help you, I do, but since you wanna make it on your own, I'll let you and when you do make it on your own, I will be there with you."

[strapinandstraponyourstrapons]

teen wolf || 1349 words || angst and tragedy is the tag i used and it's true || theo raeken centric || basically how i think tara's death went

i finally got my shite together and posted this mfer

i had to give up on finishing the x years later thiam scene bc i will need a lot of spoons that i currently do not possess to figure out exactly how i want that to go but just know that one day theo will have someone to hold him and tell him it's alright

today is not that day😈

to accompany this fic i wanted to add some of my observations/kinda-analysis of the way tara's death is shown in the show and how it got me thinking about what theo's actual involvement could have been. what we know is mainly revealed in flashbacks and lydia's visions - tara died of hypothermia and lydia says it was because "he wanted her heart". we see a young theo doing nothing as tara calls out to him for help.

stiles suggests at one point that theo pushed her and that he liked it. and most interestingly to me, theo implies that he was too naive to really understand what was happening and that the dread doctors told him that she wanted him to have his heart. at the time theo says this, he's still being somewhat manipulative, because although his betrayal has been revealed to stiles, he still seems to want to convince stiles that his motivations make sense (whether he's really trying to convince stiles or himself is a whole other thing). even still, he doesn't do a good job of defending himself. it sounds more like a dismissal. i kinda interpret it as theo truly believing that he was responsible for tara's death but trying to make an excuse that would justify it to stiles.

and then, there's theo's hell loop in the skinwalker prison. it's never explained how it works, whether it's really his sister's spirit seeking revenge, something totally crafted by the skinwalkers because they like torture and tend to overcorrect in the karmic justice department, or, and i think this is the interpretation most of us take, it's a manifestation of theo's guilt, whether he's right to feel guilty about it or not.

this all combined in my brain with the idea that theo went from that traumatic experience of his sister's death directly into years and years of more trauma, and i can't help but think he probably didn't have time to process it correctly. not to mention that peoples' memory around traumatic events can often be really incomplete, especially when it's something severe that happened in childhood. and i just think, what if the events are twisted in theo's memory?

so here's the tragic story my brain fabricated, because it's a masochist.

thanks to those of you who encouraged me on my previous posts about this fic, you're all the fucking best and i really appreciate the support bc gosh is writing so dang fckn hard sometimes. y'all mean the world to me🖤🖤🖤

[neck-thats-made-for-bruising]

I'm so tired of my mom bro

Like she's not abusive or anything, she takes care of us, but she's not a good parent. Yes she provides basic needs and I know she has trauma but that doesn't mean she gets to disregard everybody else's trauma in the house

She ruins every game night we have because someone will say something and it hurts her feelings or something and then she acts like the victim even though if somebody reacted the same way she'd call them sensitive and say it was just a joke and tell them they're being a victim

So today we were playing a game, I knew my mom was gonna say something about not wanting to play it since she didn't pick, but that's what was voted on. I said welll thats not how voting works (she didn't hear me, my sister said it louder) and then she said some shit about voting for Trump but Biden is president instead ??? My sister said 'okay papa' bc my papa gets really political and then she made a big deal about it and went to bed and also said that she's gonna drive my sister's gf home tomorrow because she 'doesn't do favors for people who make rude comments'

My mom is so rude to everyone and calls it 'being blunt' and will call you a victim and manipulator if you get upset but she's literally just projecting at this point

[random-thought-depository]

"But do you actually need to be told it is fine for you to not exercise while you you're recovering from COVID. Do you really need to be told that it is okay for you to not clean while you're like depressed. I don't actually think you need to be told these things."

I get the impression that, yeah, there are actually a lot of people who would benefit from being told those things, because they have been implicitly or explicitly told the opposite of those things.

I once ignored a painful toe infection that ended up leaving a big crater on my toe because I didn't want to inflict a doctor's bill for treating it on my family (this was before Obamacare) and I kind of vaguely didn't want to be a bother and I had a vague idea that it was tough and masculine to ignore pain. You can say that was basically a me problem, and in a sense it was, but that cultural programming didn't come from nowhere (and note that I was responding to a credible perception of a very concrete material incentive!). "I've got to do stuff that's unpleasant, painful, harmful, and/or dangerous to me because it's a minimum qualification for me to have and/or deserve affection, comfort, and/or safety" is something people are encouraged to think as part of shitty gender roles for both genders and something capitalism encourages everyone who isn't rich to think as a matter of both its explicit propaganda and the lessons implicit in its incentive structure. Oh, yeah, it's also how school teaches you to think both implicitly as lessons contained in its incentive structure and sometimes explicitly, and it's also what a lot of parents functionally teach their kids with varying degrees of deliberate intent. We live in a society where most people spend a giant chunk of the first 18 years of their lives in an institution that structurally teaches you that you need permission to pee and if you're in pain from a full bladder at a time that's inconvenient to an authority figure, well, sucks for you, suck it up and try to ignore it and concentrate on these make-work algebra exercises for the next half an hour or you will be shamed and punished.

Yeah, the best reaction to some relatively powerless stranger trying to socially pressure you to do stuff you don't want to via the internet is often to not even respond, but 1A) we do not live in a society very conducive to people developing the attitudes and social skills to do that, 1B) people react to some stranger implicitly or explicitly saying "I'm going to school you in my idea of right conduct real quick and you're a moral inferior if you don't obey me after I've finished doing that" as if it's a threat because a lot of the time it is a threat, 2) push-back against bad takes on what expectations should attend existing in society is an important part of making the world less conformist and less authoritarian.

The person in that video comes off as at best noticing a symptom of a social problem and prescribing an individualistic bootstraps solution to it and at worst just annoyed that a shitty political project she approves of is getting deserved push-back.

Imagine how feminists would react to somebody saying "most people eat a suboptimal diet, leftists should abandon their misguided embrace of stuff like intuitive eating and start going on diets, I realize some people may be harmed more than they are helped by going on a diet but I think diets would be helpful for most people so if going on a diet would be bad for you then you should just quietly not do that but offer zero public push-back against the promotion of the narrative that dieting is a thing more people should be doing." I think a lot of them would immediately diagnose that as a slimy attempt to promote diet culture while trying to manipulate diet culture's victims into not having solidarity with each other, and they'd be right. Well, "you should hit the gym" is basically to men what "you should lose weight" is to women, though I think so far "you gotta work out to be a real man" has gotten less buy-in from men than "you gotta be slim to be a desirable woman" has gotten from women because gender roles mostly get men through avenues other than telling them they have an obligation to make themselves physically beautiful and most men are smart enough to realize that "get swole so other men can't beat you up" is putting a lot of sweat and tears into mitigating what for most First World men is actually a pretty minor tail risk.

I mean, that's assuming the original discourse was "you should go to the gym because it'd be good for you" and not "leftists (really leftist men but shhh that's a quiet part) should go to the gym because they have a moral obligation to get swole so they'll be more effective paramilitary fighters." Demanding all objections to the latter be expressed as some quietist individualist "well, I just won't start pumping iron, no need to talk about the reasoning behind this choice" thing is even more blatantly trying to talk people into not defending themselves from a potential threat. If you're e.g. a man between ages 16-30 or so who has a disability that isn't particularly legible a temporarily embarrassed Red Army general with real political power would be a massive potential threat to you; you just have to open just about any history book that talks about a war to see the literally homicidal rage people like that often have toward young men who resist conscription while not having any very legible disabilities, temporarily embarrassed Red Army generals are exactly the sort of people who literally have young men shot for being insufficiently enthusiastic about being treated as disposable living weapons.

My reaction here might be influenced by suspecting the discourse that video is in reaction to is this.

a message I think a huge chunk of this website could benefit from

[chrisevansluv]

I want to know your honest opinion about Alba if you don’t mind obvs

I think I'll start by saying that I don't really have an opinion about her. Basically because a lot of the things I thought, or I convinced myself of, last year turned to be a projection issue (which is something that a lot of people in this fandom seem to still be doing), but well...

Regarding Alba, what opinion can we have about someone who we don't really know, and that barely gives out anything about herself? It's not like she's given away a lot either on her social media. Although the lack of professionalism she's had over the show that made her famous rubs me the wrong way. She didn't even have to make those interviews in person, yet she barely did any (but well, she barely posted anything for promo at all, so). Same happened with MHGTP, and some premieres she skipped whatever reason. I mean, of course acting is her job, but promoting her work is also part of it. And one lame post isn't enough at all. The Lolita image also irks me, but I doubt it was something that was solely her decision (she had a group of professionals backing her up and guiding her), although it's still creepy af. About the whole racism shitshow, then I don't really have much to say (and it also has more to do with her besties than her), but it's still something that speaks for itself and that doesn't need me going deeper. But the same way people are trying to hold her accountable for being besties with them, should check twice, because last time I checked Chris isn't as close, but he's close enough to spend time with Justin whenever they happen to be in the same city (which is totally normal, since he's besties with his girlfriend, but I hate the double standards). And that takes me to the next part:

Most of the image that most fans hate about Alba was built by his stans, and the projection I talked about earlier (I've done that, I've been there, so I know what I'm talking about). It also happened with Minka and how she called the paps (just for most of his stans to realize in 2020 that he also loves a "good" papwalk). We barely know anything about her, yet all of them know she's manipulative, and disgusting, who spends all of her time trolling... Yet, who is she manipulating? A man 16 years older than her, his family and whole group of friends? Seriously? About the trolling... PR lovers learnt this word back in 2022 and won't ever let it go. Sharing in social media things you like is totally normal, and it doesn't mean she's looking to trigger anyone at all. You aren't that important. It was fair to call it trolling when we didn't know what was going on, but at this point... Yeah, no. I discussed the racism up there, but I will add it here, too. While those affected have every right to call her out, I'll also say fans are just using it as a free pass to hate on her, and that's fucked up (talking about people that have been talking shit about her since 2021 for no reason other than a follow).

Whatever she does, she won't ever win. If she stays silent, it's wrong. If she posts, it's wrong. If his family interacts with her, it's wrong. A certain group of people keep stepping out of their limits, and they need to get back to reality.

[starguardianniom]

Marinette the good Lila and Gabriel

Marinette is basically Lila and Gabriel if they were good and super heroes.

Lila and Gabriel basically Marinette if she was evil and a villain.

Lila is a manipulative liar who wants everyone to do stuff in her favors.

Gabriel is a huge control freak that needs to control everything and everyone.

Marinette also is a manipulative liar who lies and manipulate people to get what she wants or to go in her favor or her friend's, and needs to control everything too.

Heck, it seems lying, tricking, deceiving, controlling or manipulating people is the first response of Marinette to whatever problem she or her friends seems to have, and she'll do whatever she can to achieve her goals at times.

It's seriously concerning.

Heck half the time it doesn't even concern her identity as Ladybug, her secrets about it, or just trying to save the day, it just is the solution to either try to confess to Adrien, avoid embarassement, or get her way.

And yet, she hates Lila for her lying and manipulative nature, but she's almost on her level when it comes to lying and deceiving people and it's not even funny and she doesn't seem to be aware of it.

She hates how Gabriel is so controlling of Adrien, yet she keeps a very detailed schedule of his, gets mad when things doesn't go his schedule way, and also doesn't like some people that gets close to him and tries to get them away from him without him having a say about it.

It's been said around in the fandom that Marinette has low empathy.

It's not just that, it's also a glaring lack of self-awareness.

She just thinks something about someone, and then said something actually becomes the truth to her in her mind. She self-projects a lot of what she thinks people would/will do and takes it for the actual reality instead of actually asking/talking to the person.

It throws her on a loop everytime.

And she never learns her lessons.

Despite how many times Tikki and Alya disagree with her and tell her she exaggerates.

I mean, how little can she thinks of people's feelings until she sees first hand how upset and hurt they are after what she's done?

I swear if she would go what she puts them through, she would probably get all mad and furious and want nothing to do with them anymore.

She's lucky pretty much everyone but Lila and Chloé are so forgiving.

Probably why she doesn't learn, she just says sorry and all is good again.

And then she goes and do it again.

I swear to heaven, people complain about how André didn't raise Chloé properly at all, but then, what's Marinette's excuse for her behavior?

Don't tell me Sabine and Tom didn't raise her right, they did.

So why the fuck does Marinette acts like that in the show?

Why does she stalks intensively Adrien and violate his privacy but gets super mad anytime anyone tries to violate her privacy?

Why does she hates liars and manipulators like Lila so much when she lies so much and manipulate a lot of people around her all the same, half the time not even for her duty as Ladybug or even because of her love for Adrien?

How does she hates thieves, but has no problem stealing herself?

How can she says that Chloé and Lila think they're better than everyone else only for herself always think she knows best and people should just go along with what she says?

How can she speaks of freedom yet tries to control everything so she directs everything and everyone must follow her lead and orders?

She knows what's right and what's wrong, her parents taught her the difference, and when she sees feels like it for whatever the situation is at hand, what's wrong is right when SHE is the one doing it for whatever reason it might be at the time because she's a nice person and do it with good intentions in mind (when she's not trying to be self-serving or just plain selfish).

God does she looks and sounds so self-righteous at times.

Tom and Sabine certaintly didn't raise her like that.

I like to think that her becoming Ladybug probably went a bit too much to her head, I feel whatever crap she pulls as Ladybug she thinks it's alright if she pulls it off as Marinette too.

Except no, it doesn't, all it makes her look like is a hypocrite.

Another kind of people she hates, yet she's one of the most hypocritical of them all.

And yet, not aware of it yet it seems.

So now, imagine Marinette, but evil, like Lila and Gabriel.

She's basically them but as a "good guy".

Lila did everything Marinette did before too, lies to her classmates to look good, avoid punishment or embarassement, steal, pretends to be someone else, has way too much picture of the same person, do a lot of trouble to get rid of one person.

No really.

Marinette lied to everyone in Heroes Day because she was embarassed to just have macarons for the class instead of something more heroic like the rest of her classmates and felt the need to avoid embarassing herself after Chloé's jab at her heroic act. She lies a lot to avoid embarassing situations or looking embarassing to Adrien. Stole Adrien's phone in Copycat, the photograph's memory card of his camera in Reflekta, Juleka's bike in Oni-Chan. Pretended to be a guy in Party Crasher so she could get in an all boys party because Adrien was there and lying and ditching her friends to go to it, pretended to be a waiter to break into his house to retrieve Chloé's phone and delete a video of her, has too much pictures of Adrien, helped Chloé humiliate Kagami, later tried to sabotage Kagami in a game and not being fair to her at all, tried to prevent her from going to London with Adrien only to be shot down by her friends, among other things that some of them aren't even for protecting her identity as Ladybug or saving the city.

I swear to god she's the most problematic character in the whole show.

And she's the freaking protagonist of the show.

[juniperhillpatient]

Return to Omashu Re-watch

No thoughts, only mean teenage girls who could & would kill me

This is the episode where we get to see the formation of the Dangerous Ladies™ & it's exactly as iconic as I remember it. (To be fair, this is another episode that I've re-watched pretty frequently on its own.) The Girls Are Fighting & you should be scared!

So, Omashu has been taken by the Fire Nation & the Gaang are horrified. I think it's interesting that Katara & Sokka were basically like "Bumi is probably dead. Oh well, let's move on." Sokka is practical & always focused on moving ahead so it's not a surprising reaction for him but it's a little surprising from Katara. The trend for her character is to try to help everyone who might need it, & that would include a potentially lost or hurt Bumi. I'm theorizing that Katara's lack of interest in this project is a combination of her belief that Bumi is dead (although Katara is often more of an idealist) & her heavy focus on finding a new earth-bending teacher now. Also, this mission is personal to Aang. He's had so much taken from him. All he has left of his old life are Appa & Momo. So, of course, he wants to find the only friend he has left from the life he left behind.

Sokka's plan to fake 'Pentapox' is pretty funny & smart. Also, the Fire Nation guards yelling "PLAGUE!" when the earth kingdom citizens were heading toward them holding their hands out and groaning hit a LITTLE too close to home in light of recent years 😂

Azula's manipulative prowess is targeted at someone other than Zuko & Iroh & it's fascinating to watch. Azula's recruitment of Ty Lee is such a mind game. The audience is getting an ongoing introduction to an entirely new & much more dangerous type of villain than anything we had last season.

We would never see Zhao or Zuko subtly threatening someone the way Azula does Ty Lee, having the net set on fire at her show & the animals released then talking about excitement for the "next show." No, the other two main antagonists of the show thus far - Zuko and Zhao - are much more in your face. Azula could have ordered Ty Lee to join her, or she could have outright threatened to set her on fire, but she took a more careful and calculated approach. The only other character I could see taking a more subtle approach like this is Iroh.

In light of later revelations - that Azula believes "fear is the only way" to relate to people & that "trust is for fools" - as well as the knowledge that Azula does view Ty Lee & Mai as friends (I think this is shown clearly in their dynamic, but it's also proven by Azula's hallucination saying "your friends, Mai and Ty Lee") - I think that in a twisted way, Azula wanted this to seem like Ty Lee's choice. She didn't want to order Ty Lee to join her, she wanted this to feel like a friendship. Could she have understood that about herself or articulated it? I highly doubt it, but sometimes we don't understand our own emotions & motives. And of course - a disclaimer that this is my interpretation/theory.

Mai's recruitment is much more straightforward. Mai is miserable in Omashu. Her parents are busy doting on her baby brother, and she's constantly expected to act like a quiet good girl. She's bored, & she doesn't say it but probably lonely. Also - Mai loves violence. Mai's first encounter with the Gaang isn't even with Azula & Ty Lee, it's on her own, & she is excited to fight. Another interesting aspect of Mai's character is that she's 100% onboard right away with abandoning Tom Tom. I could see an argument that Mai was afraid to argue with Azula, but I don't buy it because there is no evidence for it. Ty Lee has clearly been intimidated into joining Azula, but we haven't seen that with Mai. So, I think that Mai just doesn't seem to care about her brother at all. This isn't a moral judgment on her by the way, just an observation.

The Dangerous Ladies Vs. The Gaang has to be one of the most exciting fights we've seen so far. Everyone's different styles are showcased & it's just amazing to watch. I think it's super interesting that Ty Lee almost kicks Sokka & Tom Tom off a building. She was ready to murder a baby & it's only cartoon logic & luck that she didn't!

Speaking of ready-to-murder - I'm fascinated by the different Fire Nation characters' approach to fighting Aang. I can't recall Zuko ever trying to kill Aang. He's been set on the whole "capture" thing. Zhao spells out to Aang that he won't kill him because it would just trigger a new Avatar. But there's no argument I can see that Azula is not trying to kill Aang during their fight in this episode. She is actively shooting fire at him, again & again. So, does she know that if he dies a new Avatar will be born? If Zhao knew, I have to assume Azula does. Of course, she does kill him (sorta) later, but we'll analyze that when we get to it. For now, I'm just saying that this is interesting. Azula is capable of a fighting style that doesn't go for the kill, or Zuko would've died during their last encounter. But, she chooses to go after Aang by shooting him with fire which would kill him if he failed to block or dodge her attacks. Super interesting to me.

Anyway, Aang's conversation with Bumi is very interesting to me. We learn about three of the apparent eighty-five 'jings.' Fighting is positive jing and retreating is a negative jing. Aang knows this, probably from his teachings with Gyatso, but Bumi explains that there's a third jing - neutral. I'm not sure how I feel about the argument that "doing nothing" is sometimes the best call. Bumi is a very interesting morally gray character. I understand what he was trying to say, & what the narrative was getting at, but still, Bumi abandoned his people when they needed him. I have a feeling I'll come back to the quote: "Your teacher will be someone who has mastered neutral jing. You need to find someone who waits and listens before striking." For now, though, those are my thoughts on the episode!

[sparkys-ec-corner]

,,,can you please infodump me about to be irregular. idc if it's like five thousand words I just need to knOW MORE-

OMG 😳😳😳 *cracks knuckles* let's go guys (2nd chapter of tbi and sol invictus when, me????? it's been months!!! *cries in hands*)

okok so. basically, tbi's timeline is fundamentally broken from its creation. luna wakes up from her death slumber and tampers with everything to try achieving true utopia, something that every other timeline was unable to. oss era goes mostly the same before Tale of Abandoment in a Moonlit Night, except for the fact that amostia is a fusion of maria's children that seth kidnapped. from oss era on, many events progressively deviate from canonverse

h&g are the only irregular pair from project ma that survives. a fantasy/reality pair, so to speak - gretel develops future sight, is unaffected by any sort of hypnosis and can later peek into alternate timelines for a brief time; hansel can induce hallucinations and delusions unto someone and permanently rewrite their memories.

as arte&pollo, they actively lead banica down the road of gluttony, kidnap carlos since he made banica happy even though they don't like him, and are violently intolerant to anybody who tries interferring with their plans. they're very manipulative and twisted, though mostly because they genuinely believe that they're doing the best for banica.

as ney, she becomes a triple agent for riliane once she breaks through her indoctrination, using her sight to advise riliane which would be the best action to ensure lucifenia's safety and victory.

as lemy, he becomes the fifth pierrot to keep rin chan safe. he very much hated her face change, and tore off the effects of the lust vessel from her face. he's still a good bean for most part. out of all irregulars, he had the happiest, most peaceful life.

WELL. riliane&allen are a day/night pair, their official irregular titles being dayqueen and nightking, respectively. A LOT OF THINGS HAPPEN IN PRIDE ARC, LIKE YOU HAVE NO IDEA. it's here where things start to really change - for one, both vlad and marie are killed by riliane in different points of her life (banica isn't a demon in tbi), so she never loses her memories as shown in "sol invictus".

instead, allen is sent away due to the first awakening of his powers which greatly disturbed elluka (tbh elluka didn't like either twin from day 1; they always felt wrong to her). riliane studies all she can to become a good ruler when time comes. upon allen's return to the palace, the twins pretend not to know each other.

there is a lot of things as i said, but uhhhhhhhhh. the gist of it is that riliane becomes a conqueror, allen is hella gay for asan, asan is an important character since he's able to see past the first layer of reality (he can see the lucifen twins' eldritch forms without much harm to his psyche besides immense fear, for example), riliane's rule lasts much longer than in canon (she's 18 when the revolution happens), and allen kills an entire crowd when he's beheaded to stop riliane from destroying the country. yay

im not yet done outlining envy arc, but inukichi is asan's reincarnation due to allen taking asan's soul with himself and making them reincarnate together. also, ren is alive and amostia's reincarnation (well, kinda. ren's situation is pretty messy)

cain&abel are around, though trapped in anglomois since they were stillborn and unable to reincarnate. they consumed the souls of project ma's failed irregular children in an attempt to stabilize their souls and successfully reincarnate, thus gaining the bodies they don't have. kiril is fighting for his life every day as the kids can consume any soul, it's only that irregulars are more suitable to their goals but they will eat whatever stays in their way. also, they're the reason why eve's hypnosis-induced incarnations are sleepless

amostia is the irregular who came the closest to ascending before seth sealed him away. he floats in the void ever since, only receiving sporadic visits from luna, and constantly attempts projecting himself into people's dreams. by grath arc, he's visited by michelle who accidentally entered the void and eventually becomes her guardian angel/friend/lover. that is, until ma happens and michelle is erased from reality. it's only downhill from this point on, but [major spoilers that aren't even fully outlined lmao]

btw ma is an anomaly even amongst irregulars, and luna had to personally shove her into lukana's body before ma's very existence destroyed the universe (a note: she did it in a span of two seconds)

besides that, many arcs are fully or partially focused in minor characters such as rindo for lust arc, asan for pride arc, rin chan for sloth/pierrot arc, etc. i theorically could get into detail, but tbh this is already excessively long. so like,,,,,, yeah,,,,,, haha. oh god i hope i can continue writing this au soon

[anzcty]

Analysing Episode 6 Sylvie - her actions, her choice and a whole bunch of theories (Spoilers!)

After watching the Loki finale, I have been scrolling through Tumblr for quite a long time. I already knew that people's opinions were gonna be incredibly different but I definitely did not expect this much negative backlash. Especially when it comes to two specific topics - the Sylvie and Loki kiss and Sylvie's betrayal (/choice/actions). I'm gonna be talking about the latter, for it is another time I'll talk a lot about Sylki's relationship. (Beware that this post is also really long though)

First of all, everyone has different opinions and I respect that. I absolutely adore movies, books, TV-shows and videogames because despite what's happening within the story, each viewer has the opportunity to see something else in what they are shown (besides the obvious canon). What I mean is that everyone interprets certain scenes differently and gains the opportunity to make up theories. Therefore I want to clarify that I do, by no means, want to force my views upon others. It's nice to see people talk about the Loki Series (as long as it doesn't get too negative and hateful, iykwim) because every viewer can share their specific experiences with it :)

I'm gonna analyse Sylvie's character a bit ( because, well, I'm bored and I kinda wanna protect my beloved character that I've only had for a few weeks >:^0 AND the only thing I could think about the past day was this episode) and try to explain her actions in the finale (keep in mind: not justifying them, but explaining them).

I'm terribly bad at concentrating on one single topic point so I kinda made a 'list' with questions and whatnot that I wanted to dive deeper into. Your thoughts are also more than welcome!

I already want to apologise for grammatical mistakes, for I am not a native english speaker.

Sylvie's reason for being taken away by the TVA is still kinda unknown

You know, I've heard quite a few theories about Sylvie's nexus event by now. Some people say that she got taken away because she was playing with her toys in a way that indicates her having a good heart (playing as a Valkyrie and wanting to save someone, another hint may also be the reaction she showed towards someone else who got kidnapped by the TVA, yelling at the soldiers to "help them out"). Another theory is that she already knew she was adopted, unlike Loki who found out way later than her. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but we never got to hear the actual reason why Sylvie got kidnapped. Even Renslayer didn't say a word about it.

Now I'm gonna come up with yet another theory. What if Sylvie didn't really have a nexus event in the first place how we know it? In the final episode, Kang has said that he has planned out everything beforehand so both Loki and Sylvie would end up right in front of him. Did Kang's plan also possibly involve him getting killed by Sylvie? Hear me out: We don't actually know if the Kang we saw in episode 6 is the actual 'nice' Kang and not one of his evil variants. He has already talked about 'reincarnation', so who says that after ending the first universial war, Kang didn't reincarnate into someone with an unpure heart (aka, one of his evil variants)? That'd mean that the real Kang would have been killed and the Kang we've seen in the finale is actually an evil version that simply lied to both Loki and Sylvie. Besides that, we also don't know if Kang actually had that 'point' where he didn't know what would happen next. The show revolves a whole lot around trust, not only regarding the characters, but also the viewers. Who's to say that Kang said the truth? Maybe he planned it all out: He created the TVA, let Sylvie get kidnapped and therefore give her a reason to hunt after Kang, who in return could reincarnate if he got killed OR get killed and therefore give his other variants a possibility to conquer the universes yet again. Don't you think that it was kinda suspicious that Sylvie escaped so easily out of Renslayer's hands? The one person who's probably closest to Kang? (Even though, yes, she doesn't know who he is but Renslayer seems to play a very important role in his plan). What if the Kang we saw was the nice Kang though? Would he plan everything up to a point where another universial war would break out because he might know that there is indeed something/someone out there who could end it and therefore, possibly end Kang as a whole or create a new kind of system revolving around the universe? And therefore, get rid of the possibility of another universial war happening? Who knows. I am definitely overthinking and reaching at this point. One more thing that stood out to me while thinking about the episode again today (which kinda weighs more into my theory of Sylvie being a keypoint (or rather a puppet) in this plan): Kang has talked about his Tempad and that he knew that he would need it to have enough energy. But for what? Yes, his initial idea was to give it to Loki and Sylvie to rule over the TVA, but what if it was supposed to be used for another reason? Sylvie used it to transport Loki back to the TVA (though I kinda think he was accidentally transported to another timeline, hence the reactions of both Mobius and Hunter B-15) and therefore get rid of the only thing that could prevent Sylvie from killing Kang. The Tempad was used to secure Sylvie's path and therefore eradicated Kang's only option of safety. You can see the Tempad loosing it's glow after Kang was killed, possibly due to Kang himself being the origin of it's energy. But maybe, it only had enough energy for one specific action: getting rid of Kang's protection. I do think that Sylvie is now stuck at this place and somehow has to find a way back to Loki's reality. The Tempad clearly doesn't work anymore (at least in my opinion) and there was quite a long shot showing the Tempad up close, which is kinda suspicious tbh. Also, something regarding Sylvie's unanswered nexus event feels kinda odd to me, too.

My theory in conclusion: Sylvie (and Loki) are unconciously helping Kang with his plan (a big, big, BIG plan). They're his puppets, especially Sylvie, because she's the one who created the Multiverse to begin with. Think about Loki, who was said to be manipulated by Thanos in Avengers? It's basically the same train of thoughts.

Sylvie does not take Kang's offer into consideration

To be honest, this was something to be absolutely expected of her. Sylvie was kidnapped as a child, taken away from her home and family, and had to grow up in countless apocalypses where she could never form a real bond with anybody because she knew that those people were all going to die anyway. (Please don't judge me if I got that wrong, maybe I understood the next thing wrong? Idk, if so, I'm very sorry) She revealed that she was kidnapped way before Loki was even born (something I have to think about, too, because, if Loki is the actual Loki the other variants are based off, why did he exist after Sylvie? Wouldn't that make him a variant of Sylvie instead? Idk timelines and parallel universes are hard to understand for me :') I'm kinda stoopid ), therefore she must've had spent several decades of her life running away. She had no life at all. Her only goal was to bring down the TVA and whoever is behind it, driven by pure rage, seeking out revenge for stealing her life and basically forbidding her existence. And now that she has found said person, the only thing that'd be right for her character would be to go for the kill. As immoral as it may sound, it is the only thing that makes sense. And I am actually very happy that Sylvie's goals didn't change besides the fact that she did indeed soften up a little and has gotten someone really close to her. In contrary, it makes sense for Loki to do the exact opposite. His goals have changed. He does not act the way he did in Thor or Avengers anymore. He has found another goal for himself: to make Sylvie feel alright. He has had immense character growth and didn't take a chance to change his goals back in the Thor movies or in Avengers, (....maybe later in Thor: Ragnarok, kinda). This is exactly what I think might happen to Sylvie, too. She is at the beginning of her character arc. She doesn't take the chance to change her goal, but goes for her original goal instead. Said goal does not really have positive consequences (though, maybe it might have some? We're about to find out), which results in a so called 'negative character development', which Loki has already gone through. I think that Sylvie is gonna grow as a character in season 2 and get a positive character development in addition, just like Loki did. I highly doubt that she's gonna become the antagonist, it does not make sense at this point.

Why does she not take Kang's offer (besides her very obvious intention ofc)? That leads straight (or not so straight, pun intended) to the next thing I wanna talk about. Sylvie's distrust in everything and everyone. Besides not wanting to let other people go through what she has been gone through and wanting to let people have a free will, she also does not trust Kang with his offer of 'ruling' the timeline. And it might be because she also does not trust the one she'd be ruling with: Loki.

Why does Sylvie not trust Loki?

I don't even have a specific answer to that, except that Sylvie has an incredibly thick wall built up around her. Loki has always been portrayed as the one you should not trust because he's known for backstabbing people. Loki could have thought the same about Sylvie, but he didn't. Due to his character arc, he himself has learned to trust other people and tries to redeem himself with making himself a person others can trust (He may project that onto Sylvie, meaning that he puts his trust into a Loki variant and therefore in himself, too). You can connect that fact with both Sylvie and Mobius. They're both people who are incredibly important to Loki. He wants them to trust him. He openly told Sylvie about his mistakes and tells her that he's not that person anymore. Sylvie on the other hand does not trust that easily and is - in my opinion - a very important key regarding Loki's character development. It is incredibly hard for Sylvie to trust others (probably due to her trauma) and it therefore creates a very difficult situation for Loki, where he has to 'prove' himself as trustworthy. It's basically about 'trusting yourself' if you put it that way. It's something Loki has to learn about himself: not betraying the trust of others. Sylvie might have to learn something like this, too: learning to trust someone else. It's kinda like a two sided coin - one side is about putting trust in others, whereas the other is about gaining trust from others (and what you do with it). (Good) Relationships in general are always based off trust and honesty. So in order for them to be able to have healthy relationships with others and themselves, they have to learn about trust within themselves (I hope you understand my point, I got carried away, sorry). Loki started to trust Sylvie very easily (maybe because of love? Maybe because of something else? There are still a lot of unanswered questions) whereas Sylvie doesn't trust Loki very easily. Sylvie's character arc might (hopefully) carry on with this topic in the next season.

Was that kiss initiated due to emotional or practical reasons?

Kinda both, somehow. I do think that Sylvie used the kiss to her advantage but you can also clearly see how moved she is while hearing Loki's words. Facial expressions are insanely important when it comes to acting and both Tom and Sophia delivered perfectly. You might've already heard of the quote "The eyes tell more than words could ever say". Look at Sylvie's face when Loki tells her that he wants her to be okay. She is teary eyed, sighs even. She is indeed touched by his words and I strongly think that Sylvie also has non-platonic feelings for Loki, despite barely showing anything.

Here's a snippet out of an interview with Sophia:

(Source)

Both Sylvie and Loki are said to be people who can not trust others. They both have a vulnerable side though. Loki clearly showed that several times when with Sylvie (singing to her, the blanket scene, the comfort scene in the room of the timekeepers, the confession of wanting her to be okay) and is also shown incredibly vulnerable at the end of episode 6: there are several shots showing him, crying. Sure, we have already seen Loki cry a few times beforehand but this time, it's different. He cries because the one person he is the most vulnerable with doesn't trust him, and that does hurt like hell. By the way, if you look at the close-up shot of Sylvie after she yeeted Loki back into the TVA, you can see pain in her eyes, too. But that pain quickly shifts into rage and determination. Something that I have to admit was incredibly well executed by Sophia and the people who directed this shot. Sylvie does show her vulnerable side for a brief moment before putting up her walls again and reaching for her goal.

In conclusion: I think Sylvie initiated the kiss as an emotional response to Loki's words but also used it to distract him to be able to kick him back into the TVA at the same time. Keep in mind that it was because he was in her way of fullfilling her goal. She didn't want to kill or hurt him, so she sent him away instead. So, yes, I think the kiss had both emotional and practical intentions.

Did Sylvie betray Loki?

Even though it really felt like she betrayed him, she didn't. Let me tell you why:

Loki knew exactly what Sylvie was gonna do after reaching the person behind the TVA. Loki supported her all the way up until Kang suggested a deal to them, that's where Loki's and Sylvie's paths divided. Loki is a very smart character, he outsmarts a lot of Marvel characters and therefore I think it's very in character for him to consider one part of the deal and outweigh the pros and cons. Not because he wants the throne, no, but because he wants Sylvie to be okay. A universial war could lead to countless casualties - possibly those people close around him, so of course he would want to keep her safe through that decision. Making them both rulers over the TVA and the sacred timeline would probably guarantee a strong protection from several threats. Also, maybe he thought about the possibility of Sylvie regretting her decision (which she clearly did in the end) and wanted to protect her from even more emotional pain. But as we know, Sylvie's intention has always been laid out in front of her and it didn't change. Loki knew what choice she was going to make and merely tried to change her way - without being successfull.

I don't really know what to think about this scene though. To me, it doesn't meet the requirements of a 'betrayal' but at the same time it does feel like one. It's very difficult to explain :'D

Also, I've seen some people asking themselves how or if Loki will ever be able to forgive Sylvie for making her decision. Let me assure you one thing: he will forgive her. He has said it himself: "I know what you're feeling, I know what you're going through". He has been at Sylvie's point, too. Not only once, but several times already. He seems to have learned from his mistakes, Sylvie has yet to do so. ("I betrayed everyone I've ever loved" is a line to keep in mind now, too. Maybe it could even be projected onto Sylvie this time, because Loki is indeed very dear to her) If there's someone out there who can empathise with Sylvie the most, it is Loki.

Why would Sylvie straight up cause another Universial War?

As I already said. Sylvie's arc is a negative character arc. It does not end well and causes a lot of chaos. Think about Peter Quill in Infinity War and his rage moment on Titan. They could have had the infinity gauntlet way before but Peter got emotional (understandable) and therefore destroyed the chance of an early good ending. The same happened with Sylvie. Her decision was mostly emotional, but also practical on the other hand (giving people free will and freedom). She will face the consequences and I'm pretty sure she's gonna redeem herself and tries to help fix the big mess she has caused.

Sylvie's breakdown

Another scene that was absolutely brilliant was the scene after Sylvie has killed Kang. She backs off slowly and then slumps to the ground, breathing heavily (now that I think about it, I think she even started to cry). She has waited for this moment her whole life, but now that it's done, it kinda feels like she didn't exactly get what she needed. Hunter B-15 has already mentioned it before that Sylvie needs to hunt the person behind the TVA down, unlike Renslayer, who only wants to find out who it really is. Although Sylvie might have recognized that this wasn't everything she needed at this point. We already got to know that she didn't have a clue what to do after she's done with the TVA. She didn't have a goal beyond that. And now that she has reached the point where she is clueless, she might have recognized what she really needed beyond finishing her goal: friends, a life, literally anything that doesn't make her feel alone. And she literally just kicked that one thing away from her. Loki, the one person who has been closest to her and gave her the feeling of not being alone anymore, the feeling of having a friend (or someone more than a friend), has been pushed away by herself. I think that in this exact moment where she sinks to the ground she recognizes that not trusting Loki was a mistake this time and that revenge isn't enough to satisfy her forever.

But maybe that one thing that will satisfy her for a long time is something she's returning back to in season 2. I am so excited to see her again and find out more about Sylvie's character!

Thank you so much for reading this! If you want to add something to this list or correct something or anything, feel free to do so. I'd love to hear your thoughts on Sylvie's character in the finale and what you think might happen with her in season 2 :) see y'all, stay safe and have a nice day/night!

[itsclydebitches]

Why do people criticize fanficiton for characters bang OOC? all fanficiton is inherently non canon and the characters are inherently OOC. That cute fic where Ruby and Weiss fall in love. OOC. That edgy fic where Jaune gives in to his revenge. OOC. Just a normal fic where team RWBY go out in the town. OOC. No one writes characters exactly as they are in the canon because everyone is projecting something they want to see the canon didn't deliver. That's why they wrote fanfiction.

OOC is a pretty broad term at this point but, from my experience, there are three primary uses: 

OOC meaning all of the above: the character is, by default, inherently different than their canonical counterpart because they are not written by the original author. Every fic character ever is OOC, making the term itself fundamentally useless. It’s like when we broaden AU too much. Yes, technically every fic ever is an AU, but that doesn’t help us distinguish between something like a minor plot divergence and turning the rom-com into a sci-fi adventure. 

OOC used as a catch-all insult for fans to sling at a fic they don’t like, usually for a reason other than the characters being OOC. They don’t like the ship, so this fic is OOC. They don’t like the tropes or themes in it, so it’s OOC. Here, OOC doesn’t actually say anything about whether the characters are IC or not. That’s not the point. The point is to use a negative fandom buzz word as a way to publicly dismiss the fic. 

OOC used to say that the characters are not recognizable and this is not an intentional choice on the author’s part. Both things at once. This third definition is the only one that’s a worthwhile criticism (in as much as a free hobby created out of love for a story can have “worthwhile” criticism. I by no means mean to say that there are rules for how you have to write fic, I’m only acknowledging what fans tend to look for). See, the thing about fanfiction is that it is, by definition, built off of a canon, which means that we have a set cast to work from with established personalities. We read fanfiction because we want more of those same characters. If we wanted different characters, we’d simply go consume/create a different story. Which means those characters have to be recognizable. That’s the requirement. You read fic for Character A, so if Character A doesn’t feel like Character A, the reader nopes out. 

However, in practice this is obviously pretty complicated to achieve. Fanfiction is also about change, which means that writers are continually balancing that recognition with the inevitable impact that changing the world around the character has. A sort of nature vs. nurture issue. Who is Jaune if Pyrrha never died? Who is Yang if she grew up with Raven? Who is Weiss if she never went to Beacon? Who are any of these characters  — characters we already know       — if we change the events and relationships that crafted their personalities in the first place? Which is why I have that second “not an intentional choice on the author’s part” requirement for fan displeasure. If it’s clear that a significant change in personality is the entire point of the fic, then readers are on board. They just need a reason for this change. A justification. An explanation. It’s the difference between writing a “Ruby is raised by Salem and thus it 100% makes sense that she’d be a horrible person now” story and writing a “Ruby acts like a horrible person for no established reason, despite that going against her sweet, kindly characterization in canon.” That’s OOC, the combination of a character being unrecognizable and a lack of explanation for that change. 

In an ideal world, if/when fans come across OOC writing they would simply exit the fic and that would be that. Not their cup of tea. The problem is that the concept of being “in character” is directly parallel to character interpretation... and as we know from this blog, that can get very heated. Someone might, for example, write a supposedly canon compliant fic where Ozpin is depicted as a callous, manipulative headmaster hell-bent on using his students as disposable tools, to which I would go, “That’s OOC.” The problem then becomes that there’s a major disconnect between how the author has interpreted Ozpin and how I have interpreted him  — what the very concept of “OOC” means here                — and it is, at the end of the day, a basically unsolvable problem because there is no objective interpretation to dredge up and say, “See, I was right!” Fiction is subjective, with at times not even the Word of God able to penetrate a fan’s interpretation of a text. 

Fiction is more than just fiction. We get very emotionally involved in our stories, which means that we  — for better or worse  — get emotionally involved in telling those stories “correctly.” When it comes to fanfiction’s designed intention to (to a degree) accurately represent canon characters, fans are not going into that fic with the disinterred, disengaged perspective of someone who doesn’t care about the series. Caring is the point. Thus, people get upset. Maybe someone calls the Ruby/Weiss fic OOC because they can’t imagine anything other than a Ruby/Blake relationship. Maybe it feels like the edgy Jaune fic didn’t persuasively take him from soft, awkward friend to revenge obsessed fighter and dammit, Jaune is their favorite. You’ve done him a disservice. Maybe the out of town fic is filled with dialogue that makes you go, “Would Yang ever actually say that?” and it’s so jarring you just don’t see her as Yang anymore. Something isn’t working here and it’s interrupting the reader’s ability to fall into the fic. It’s lacking a core characteristic of fanfiction that most fans come for: telling stories using these characters. Not a “wrong” version of them. 

As said, there isn’t actually a wrong way to write fic, but there are absolutely pervasive interpretations of canon that will impact whether people see your writing as IC or not. I can absolutely write a Volume 1 fic where Ruby is crying the whole time, running away from her friends, and curling up in corners rather than engaging with anyone. But if I fail to provide an in-text reason for that change in her personality, my readers are likely to go, “But that’s not... Ruby? Ruby is cheerful, loves spending time with her sister, and bugged Weiss until she became her friend. She’s sad at times, sure, but we can point to numerous places in the canon that contradict this sort of characterization. I’m not reading about Ruby Rose  —  something I very explicitly came to do — I’m reading about a totally different character with her name. And since you didn’t establish/warn me that her characterization was going to be entirely re-worked, I’m upset about that.” 

So at best the fan just shrugs and exits the fic. At worst they take the author to task for “incorrectly” interpreting these characters. Fanfiction is absolutely about projection, wish fulfillment, and change... but it’s also about consistency, at least at a certain base level. Creating something you wanted to see that the canon didn’t deliver on is just writing a new, original story. Doing that and keeping the story recognizable in particular, appealing ways? That’s fic.