#look i just think it's really weird that despite all of the characters being flawed and contributing to abuse

[blissfulrain12]

Do you ever think about how Jimmy verbally abused Curly in front of the whole crew and no one did a thing to stop him? Do you ever think about how confident Jimmy must have been that no one would help Curly to casually abuse him in front of others?

Do you ever think about how only Curly carries the title of enabler and just as bad as Jimmy for failing to act?

[sparrowlucero]

i enjoy ur bird abode thoughts! I was a genuine enjoyer of the show when it was airing, I’m no die hard fan though and love to see ppls personal takes on the overall story/plot. Im curious if you also would agree or have any thoughts on the impacts The Mouse’s cancellation had on the shows ability to be more than it was? srry im not super eloquent with my words, but basically ur response to that ask got me wondering if part of the reason the show like genuinely wasnt all that ground breaking or unique in the end plot wise (other than the villain faces consequences in the end ig) as far as YA/Teen animation goes, was because of The Mouse’s inability to let the writers flesh out the show before gutting it? i have a negative bias toward The Mouse franchise and obviously dont know anything about how writing a show under the eyes of a franchise that big would work, its just smth that rattles around in my head and wanna know what u think!

Well to an extent, but I think it's much more the effect the studio had on how the owl house started out as rather than it not getting a full season at the end - It didn't escape my noticed that the show was initially announced as being a "horror comedy" when it doesn't really seem like either, especially by the second season, and yeah, the original pitch bible is obviously aiming for that much more than the show proper is as it goes along (and is honestly seems quite a bit more funny, weird, and dark, with an overarching plotline about a giant bug being used to religiously suppress people, eda able to cure her curse by killing luz, and one of the major characters being a teen boy awoken from a sleeping curse who ends up being a weird little bigot because he's from the 13th century, among other things)

(side note, i just noticed they actually specifically describe the thing i assumed the show was gonna be about here. huh.) but ultimately the bulk of the show that was actually made seems very influenced by a writing team that was genuinely interested in making a tropey YA fantasy story rather than just being mandated to. I mean even in what aired you can see the show sort of settle in ways that feel less like studio interference and more like, you know, art students creating their ideal fantasy show, like how King is clearly Eda's roommate who's funny because he looks like and sounds like a little dog despite being an adult man at the beginning but by the end they've made him her adopted sad backstory son who's explicitly a child. While I think a third season would have made the show as it existed better, because they clearly didn't get to finish the plot they wanted to (frankly to the point where some major aspects of the show are a bit confusing, I'm still not sure what a grimwalker is), I don't really fault the show for that but also don't think that hypothetical season (which pretty clearly would have been mostly about the magic school teens going to normal school) would suddenly flip around into something that I personally found interesting and subversive. Nor should it, really; again, it being Queernorm Harry Potter thing is clearly the intended appeal of the show, it's not really a flaw but just not a genre I'm personally interested in when compared to what I initially expected the show to be.

HOWEVER I will say they robbed little weird girls of their representation and that can't be forgiven

[g0dwat3rwritings]

Can i request for any twisted wonderland characters that's fit x reader who don't know how to cook

yeah, of course!

Some of these characters have shorter parts because I added every character in the game, minus side characters such as (Artemiy Artemiyevich Pinker (Che'nya), Rollo Flamme, et cetera)

Also! If there are any inadequacies with grammar, I apologize, I'm at a friend's house while i'm writing this and I'm very easily distracted.

If it's not obvious, I'm a sucker for soft Sebek

Ortho is strictly platonic!

And Reader can be viewed as either Yuu or not!

@nisobird because there's Azul

Warnings ;; None

Relationship ;; Romantic

Type ;; Headcanons

Heartslabyul

Riddle Rosehearts ;; Heartslabyul Housewarden ;; Second Year

Riddle's world comes crashing down, in all honesty.

The boy was raised with the ideal that a partner is supposed to be at least a decent cook, but you are the exact opposite.

He will eat your food only to be nice.

Even though he can't cook all that well himself, he'll try to suggest ways to make it better even though none of his suggestions really, truly help the awfulness of your cooking.

Let's just hope you don't end up cooking for his mother.

Trey Clover ;; Heartslabyul Vice-Housewarden ;; Third Year

Trey is quite literally the sunshine to your moonlight, your sky to your ground.

You two are total, clear opposites.

He can cook almost anything without flaw, especially pastries and sweets.

He will panic if he ever sees you in the kitchen, trying to cook something.

He'll subtly take over for you, slowly taking more and more control of the kitchen.

Cater Diamond ;; Heartslabyul ;; Third Year

Cater would not care one single bit.

He is taking so, so many photos and posting them on Magicam, he does not give two shits whether it looks amazing, or absolutely terrible.

He will post it, specifically because you're his partner, you're his significant other.

And yes, he will shove it down his throat even if he needs to vomit it up later.

Ace Trappola ;; Heartslabyul ;; First Year

Ace can't cook, not one bit.

He's also very weird about his tastes.

He'll eat pickles and ice cream but he probably won't eat a single slice of cheese.

He'll eat anything you make at all whatsoever, unless there's cheese. (I headcanon he absolutely hates cheese, don't ask why)

He'll watch you cook and won't even interfere.

He does notice how bad your cooking is but he won't say or do anything about it because he genuinely does not care.

He'll even tell you it's actually good

Deuce Spade ;; Heartslabyul ;; First Year

Deuce doesn't even notice how bad it is, and if he did, he wouldn't even care.

He'll anything and everything, minus bell peppers.

He cannot, and will not, eat bell peppers.

He hates the taste, the texture, everything about bell peppers is everything he hates in all of Twisted Wonderland.

He tends to not watch you cook and has no reason for it.

Savanaclaw

Leona Kingscholar ;; Savanaclaw Housewarden ;; Third Year

Leona's not exactly shameless when it comes to meats, despite any sort of meat being among his absolute favorite foods.

He's not very picky about meats though. Just as long as it's cooked decently, and seasoned alright, he's fine.

Despite being a literal prince, he does not have a prince's palette.

He'll literally eat raw meat if it suits his needs

Of course, that's mostly because of the lion beastman part of him

Ruggie Bucchi ;; Savanaclaw ;; Second Year

Ruggie is literally shameless, make him anything and he'll eat it.

Just as long as it's not rotten, he'll eat quite literally anything.

He's not the greatest cook, but he'll help in any way he possibly can.

He'll most definitely bring your food to the kids in his neighborhood, no matter how terrible it is.

He wants to make sure they're fed, and he's happy when you're willing to cook.

He never tells you if he genuinely thinks you're food is bad, he'll end up feeling terrible and he knows that so he won't say a thing about your cooking.

Unless it's any sort of praise.

Jack Howl ;; Savanaclaw ;; First Year

Jack isn't entirely picky, but he's not the biggest fan of your cooking.

Being who he is, he'll feel bad for even thinking that your food is bad.

Also being the honest man he is, he'll sadly point it out to you, admitting his wrongdoing.

He's a big sweetheart, so he'll try to be as kind to you as he can, no matter how you end up reacting.

Octavinelle

Azul Ashengrotto ;; Octavinelle Housewarden ;; Second Year

Given that Azul grew up with his mother owning a restaurant, and he himself owning a restaurant, he's a bit... iffy over your cooking skills.

Of course, he'll always be nice when he brings it up. You're his significant other after all.

He'll point it out and he may give you some of his mom's recipes to help you follow along.

He helps you cook much more than he used to, letting you have most of the control, but he will come in if he sees you do something wrong.

Jade Leech ;; Octavinelle Vice-Housewarden ;; Second Year

Jade finds you and your cooking very, very entertaining.

He doesn't ever actually help you unless he finds you cooking mushrooms and.... screwing them up.

After that, he's immediately on your case and helping you cook.

Within the next two or three weeks, you're an absolute master chef.

Especially with mushrooms. By time Jade is done with you, you're more than likely a better chef when it comes to mushrooms than he is.

Floyd Leech ;; Octavinelle ;; Second Year

Floyd thinks you are the most entertaining human he's ever met.

Like some other people, he doesn't think your food is bad, just that it's so unbelievably entertaining and unique.

He actually doesn't try to help your cooking or change it or buy you anything new.

He simply watches the chaos of your cooking unfold, while occasionally adding his own, odd concoction to the mix.

And he will eat your food, no matter what you put on his plate, or what you put in the odd concoction you call your cooking.

Just don't add any shiitake mushrooms, he begs of you.

Scarabia

Kalim Al-Asim ;; Scarabia Housewarden ;; Second Year

Kalim more than likely trusts you enough to not have Jamil test the food you give him.

The only way Jamil would let Kalim eat your food is if Jamil himself trusted you.

So, if Jamil trusted you, Kalim would more than happily eat your food himself.

He probably wouldn't care if your food was the best food in the whole of Twisted Wonderland, or if your food is the worst thing in all of Twisted Wonderland.

He'll eat it happily and won't complain one bit.

Jamil Viper ;; Scarabia Vice-Housewarden ;; Second Year

Jamil, if he truly trusts you, will eat small bits of your food and will help you cook every single time you step in a kitchen.

He won't completely take over like Trey would, but he will guide you in every single way, subtle or not.

Once you get better and better, he'll eat your food more and more.

He'll take over for you at any time and finish the cooking for you, if that's what you'd like, all you'd have to do is say the word.

Pomefiore

Vil Schoenheit ;; Pomefiore Housewarden ;; Third Year

You're going to make the Vil Schoenheit break out. And that's a feat, especially considering his rigorous skincare routine.

He won't eat any of your food, and he will flat-out tell you, in a relatively nice tone of voice, that your food is not exactly good.

If he realizes that it hurts you, he'll try to find ways for your cooking to taste relatively better, whether it be buying you new utensils, or buying you cookbooks or any other things like that.

He promises you that he never meant to hurt you, he just wants to... help.

Rook Hunt ;; Pomefiore Vice-Housewarden ;; Third Year

Oh, Rook does not care. He genuinely thinks that your cooking is beautiful and wonderful in every single way possible.

He will eat your food and compliment you even if you put whole-ass children's toys in your food.

He'll buy you whatever you need for your cooking without you even need to ask him, he's kind of a freak like that.

Epel Felmier ;; Pomefiore ;; First Year

Epel is very in the middle, he's fine with your bad cooking just.... don't make him eat it because he will act like a toddler having to eat vegetables.

Or, that's what he says he won't do.

He says he'll be all manly and eat it like a man, but you know for a fact that he won't and he will act like a little kid.

Ignihyde

Idia Shroud ;; Ignihyde Housewarden ;; Third Year

Idia barely eats as it is, so when you bring him food, his hair will immediately turn pink and he'll try to hide his face by tightening his hood over his head.

He won't care whether it's bad or good, he'll only care about the fact that you actually... brought him food.

Of course, Ortho does so all the time, but it's different when your significant other brings you a whole meal because they don't want you to starve.

Once again, he doesn't care whether it's good or bad, he'll shove it down his throat either way.

Ortho Shroud ;; Ignihyde ;; First Year

Ortho can't exactly eat, given that he's both a robot and a machine.

But he'll look up recipes and help you cook and help you get as best and as good as you can get.

He'll always help, and use every single upgrade he's ever got put into him by his big brother to help you cook as best as you can.

Diasomnia

Malleus Draconia ;; Diasomnia Housewarden ;; Third Year

Oh, boy. Malleus is scared that he has another Lilia on his hands. Of course, your food is not as bad as Lilia's, but it's still not, for lack of a better word, good.

He will eat it, but he'll compliment and praise your cooking in a very... odd way.

He'll compliment you, yes. But he'll also add in some, not-so-subtle ways you can improve.

Don't tell him, he genuinely thinks his attempts at helping are extremely subtle, when they are absolutely not.

Lilia Vanrouge ;; Diasomnia Vice-Housewarden ;; Third Year

Lilia, like Rook, Kalim, and Deuce, won't even notice that your food is bad.

And that is mostly because he, himself is a bad chef.

He's such a bad chef he can't even tell when foods are actually bad.

Even if he could tell that your food was not good, he still wouldn't care because he just loves you far, far too much to even think of pointing it out.

Silver Vanrouge ;; Diasomnia ;; Second Year

Silver is internally sobbing. First, his Father, and now, his significant other.

He's very sweet about telling you ways you can improve.

He actually does this with his father, too. But you're the only one who picks up on it, Lilia, sadly, does not.

Silver tries his absolute hardest to help, but he eventually succumbs to his sleep, but he always profusely apologizes afterward.

Sebek Zigvolt ;; Diasomnia ;; First Year

Sebek is oddly much sweeter about it than you'd ever expect.

He doesn't yell, but he does let you know that it doesn't taste good.

He explains ways you can fix it, despite he himself not knowing how to cook all that well.

He explains everything he knows about cooking to try and help you.

If Sebek manages to view a human as a significant other, or partner, he will dote on your every need or want in the sweetest way that you'd never, ever expect from him.

He's very sweet as he helps you cook, making sure that you do everything to the best of your genuine ability.

[alottiegoingon]

but i'm a cheerleader

jackie taylor x fem!reader

summary: where reader is a cheerleader and jackie taylor is the football captain

warnings: jackie being too obvious and reader too oblivious, characters are aged up, 90's but no homophobia cause its pride month and bc i can, really cheesy and lots of fluff, not proofread

a year ago, when you made the decision to try out for the cheerleading team, you had no inkling of the repercussions that would follow. you were uncertain if cheerleading was the right thing for you, especially considering the many sexist comments aimed at the girls. yet, it would look quite good on your college application.

neither extremely popular nor a complete loner, you were content with your close-knit group of friends. however, everything shifted once you joined the team. suddenly, you found yourself the center of attention in the hallways, drawing looks of both amusement and envy, a situation you still hadn't fully adjusted to.

one person in particular seemed more entranced by you: jackie taylor. the football team captain constantly had her eyes on you. no matter where you were—be it the cafeteria, by your locker in the morning, or during class—you would eventually see her watching you, prompting you to quickly look away after making eye contact.

thinking it couldn’t get any worse, you were stunned to find jackie gazing at you from the bleachers during cheerleading practice. you nearly caused the entire pyramid of girls to collapse, resulting in numerous angry stares from the others and a lecture from the coach.

you were starting to suspect that there was something wrong with your face!

⚽︎

"this is getting really weird, i swear, tai," you blurt out as soon as you sit down beside your friend at lunch. after setting your tray on the table, you take a sip of orange juice and tune into your friends' discussion.

"you're overthinking it," your friend, van, steps in, swiping an apple from your tray, "it's jackie. she's harmless."

"right! except every time i look at her, she's staring right back at me. maybe she just hates me," you reply, trying to retrieve your apple but getting a slap on your hand instead.

"hate you?" lottie scoffs, "she's like butt-crazy for you. i bet she writes your name with hearts all around it. no wonder she's terrible at french."

that was an actual good argument. jackie was really bad and hearing her attemps of speaking french was torture. still, it would make absolute zero sense. jackie taylor was popular, stunning and smart and the fact that she was the captain only added to that. she was probably memorizing your flaws to make fun of you with her friends.

⚽︎

seeing your coach step onto the field with coach martinez, the one in charge of your friend’s, and jackie’s, football team, made your heart sink. you’d experienced this before, back when the schedule became so tight that they had to combine cheerleaders and jocks.

a really, really, really bad idea.

the field was huge, yet it still felt too small to avoid jackie’s piercing glare. the worst part wasn’t your constant stumbling and tripping over your own feet and the others', but the relentless urge to look back at her.

from the other side of the field, the girls’ taunts directed at jackie reached your ears, and you knew it was because of you. you weren't the only one to notice her stares.

“careful not to slip, jackie,” van teased, their breathy and tired voice not hindering them from poking fun while playing on opposite teams for practice. she chased jackie, trying to swipe the ball while gesturing to the ground.

“what? where?” jackie stopped and looked down, not wanting to slip in front of you, giving van just enough time to snatch the ball.

“on your own drool,” their joke made the entire team laugh, and even from a distance, you could see jackie’s face turn red, speechless.

what a dweeb, you thought, even if you were also smiling at the oddly funny moment moment.

⚽︎

despite all the teasing and awkward moments, you couldn't deny that jackie's constant attention was doing a number on your nerves. you couldn't decide if you liked it or not, if she hated you or not, if you should confront her or not. one way or another, she wasn't discreet at all.

in the very next saturday, your phone rang with tai's voice, inviting to a party. you hesitated for a moment, maybe a party was just what you needed to get your mind off things but, at the same time, it would be too naive of you to imagine that the thing you were fighting to avoid wasn't going to be in there as well

as you arrived at the place, you noticed the usual crowd already mingling. music blared, voices echoed, and the familiar scent of pizza, soda and alcohol filled the air. a very weird mix, you'd say.

you tried to relax, but your eyes instinctively scanned the room, searching for jackie. it didn't take long to find her. she was in the corner with a group of friends, a jacket draped over her shoulder and a pretty dress catching your eye. but you didn't want to cross her way, at least not now.

"someone's looking at you," lottie's voice linger in your ears, scaring you away from all the jackie taylor's thoughts inside your head.

"hi, lot," you ignore her words, not daring to look in the opposite direction, "i don't know what you're talking about."

"oh, come on, don't be so boring. jackie’s been staring at you all night."

you rolled your eyes, trying to focus on your drink and the conversation around you, but the weight of jackie's gaze was impossible to ignore. you stole a glance in her direction, only to find her quickly looking away, her cheeks tinged with a faint blush.

"seriously, what's her deal?" you muttered, more to yourself than anyone else.

lottie chuckles, "she likes you, duh. everyone knows it except you."

before you could respond, your other friends joined your little circle, a mischievous glint in their eyes. "so, are you finally going to talk to her or just keep pretending you don’t notice her staring?"

you sighed, feeling cornered. "I don't know. what if she hates me?"

"you are so complicated," tai groans, arm resting over van's shoulder, "just go find out!"

with a deep breath, you decided to take their advice. you just had to be confident.

instead of walking straight to jackie, you made your way over to the drinks table, trying to appear casual. she was close by and you figured grabbing a drink might be a discreet way to approach her. if it was too awkward, another word for 'if you were too much of a coward, you could just back off.

as you reached for a cup, your hands shook slightly. not only you had accidentally knocked over a few cups but also spilled soda all over the counter and the floor. the noise drew everyone's attention, including hers.

great, you thought, just what you needed.

before you could react, jackie stepped in, grabbing some napkins to help you clean up. her proximity made your heart race even more.

"you okay?" she asked, her voice gentle and concerned, wiping the counter around you. at least she wasn't judging you.

"yeah, thanks," you mumbled, feeling your cheeks burn. you could barely talk or breath at that moment, too stunned it even took you an extra second to help her clean up your mess.

noticing your jitter, as you both cleaned up, jackie glanced at you. "this party's pretty wild, huh?"

you offer her a nervous grin as she hands you a clean cup. "right, i guess people really like the weekends."

"absolutely. and they're probably too stressed with ms. jamison class. four pages in a day? that woman crazy," jackie's gaze softened as she glanced at you, attempting to ease the tension between you.

"what about her hair? she looks like she's stuck in the 70's," you added, feeling a peculiar flutter in your stomach as a tender giggle escaped from her lips.

the two of you stood there, the awkwardness lingering in the air like a heavy fog as the sound of your laughter slowly faded into silence.

"i gotta say, though, this wasn't what i had in mind when i decided to come here tonight," you admit, reaching a hand to grab a drink, being much more careful this time.

she looked up, her eyes locking onto yours. "and what was your plan?"

you hesitated for a moment, then blurted out,"honestly? trying to dodge you and those pretty eyes of yours that seem to follow me everywhere."

a look of surprise flashed across jackie's face, her eyebrows shooting up and her eyes widening briefly before she couldn't hold back a snicker.

"it's not funny, jackie," you interrupted her giggle,"why do you keep staring at me all the time? do you hate me or what?"

as your confusion amused her further, her grin widened. could she be any more obvious? "hate you? no, not at all. It's the opposite, actually."

you frowned, puzzled. "what do you mean?"

drawing nearer, jackie's gaze held an earnestness that sent a flutter through your chest. "i like you. a lot," you stole a glance downwards, observing her fingers twisting nervously. she seemed as jittery as you now. "i just didn't know how to tell you. and I guess I was too scared to find out if you felt the same."

her confession left you at a loss for words for a moment, this wasn't something you had prepared for. "so, you... like me?"

jackie nodded, a shy smile tugging at her lips. "yeah, i do. i thought i was being clear about that."

it all fell into place in an instant—the lingering looks, the nervousness, the way she seemed to be everywhere you were. feeling a warmth spread through you, you couldn't help but smile back. "i gotta say, that explains a lot."

jackie's laughter echoed softly, easing the tension in the room. "sorry, i just didn't know how to handle it."

you paused for a moment, gathering your thoughts. confident enough, you spoke up, "maybe we can figure it out together."

jackie's eyes lit up with enthusiasm. "i'd really like that."

[pinkandpurple360]

ppl point out Blitzo literally apologized to Stolas in Ozzie's (when he shouldn't have had to) when Stolas accused him of never feeling sorry but I just noticed

that wasn't the only time

Blitzo literally says 'I'm sorry' when he says he can't go rescue Stolas from Striker because he's busy.

so that's twice he apologized and Stolas somehow forgot

and if you count non-Stolas related apologies he also apologizes very loudly and sincerely to Loona at the end of Seeing Stars.

Stolas acting like Blitzo is this prideful guy who never apologizes and it's a major flaw of his is just him rewriting reality, yet again. it comes off like he only believes it because Blitzo wouldn't cave immediately and apologize a second time for expressing how Stolas made him feel (or in Stolas' head, for refusing to believe Stolas genuinely liked him despite it being entirely Stolas' fault that Blitzo has no good reason to believe that)

honestly it really feels like the classic abuser strategy of projection where the perp accuses the victim of doing something they literally just did to their victim

the perfect moment for Stolas to apologize would have been at the end of full moon - a genuine apology, not that weaselly-words 'I'll do everything but say it's my fault for making the deal' speech he did earlier. but he doesn't and in the very next episode accuses Blitzo of being the one who is incapable of apologizing

yucky abuse dynamics asides, idk why we're expected to believe Stol1tz will last longer than five minutes when one party is comically incapable of self-reflection or sincere regret and the other party is being manipulated into apologizing just for expressing their feelings

🤕 except it’s the writer herself who keeps altering past events to make her favourite character look better. So she creates a new character flaw in Blitzø who has actually apologised more than any in the character in the show. 7 times in the series.

1. Sorry I (x) your husband - to Stella (weird but it counts)

2. In truth seekers when he vowed to be a better friend to moxxie and reminded him his value, and to use his actual name. I count that.

3. I can’t do it tonight alright, I’m sorry. - to stolas

4. Loona my sweet baby girl I’m so sorry I’ll never replace you no matter what.

5. Aw shit stolas i cant today alright I’m sorry I’m literally on my way to take Loona for her very important S.H.O.T.

6. I’m sorry Fizz. I’m so sorry you got so hurt, I’m sorry for what you’ve lost and I know I can never make that right. But You have no idea what I lost in that fire. I mean it’s all my fault, I’d hate me too. I do hate me.

7. Stolas, wait, I’m sorry. - stolas kicked him out

8. Him berating himself and verbally lifting stolas up as amazing, so that he stops crying and stops drinking. Shows remorse also. None of which stolas deserved.

Stolas has once. To via. Unless you count a polite ones in those simpering texts of his. In seeing stars via doesn’t let him because she blames herself entirely due to Loonas words. I struggle to count the “sorry it’s a bad time yet again Blitzy but I’m in a sitch” because he’s asking for something. So if you stretch, that’s maybe 3.

The sad part is Blitzø internalises all of stolas’ cruelty and insults and believes them to be true. Blitzø already has an internal voice of hate and criticism; stolas is his externalised self hatred. Because why wouldn’t he believe the prince, stolas is the one dressed so nicely, singing so nicely with pretty props, crying and surrounded by people crying with him, who all hate Blitzø, so stolas must be right.

Idc, Blitzø knew stolas was in trouble and reacted accurately. He had other things to do and Millie offered to help him. He was going to go over there. It’s weird that Viv wrote him to say “he can get hurt?” “I didnt think he was capable of-” and this was all she could come up with to make stolas all wounded and all betrayed. I’m tired of Blitzø throwing himself in the line of fire all the time. Stolas encourages his worst instincts. It’s not his job to protect stolas. But he did anyway. Even if he had saved him Viv would say “but it’s his fault striker even came back at all because reasons” I think it’s Stella’s fault actually but maybe that’s just me? He’s angrier at blitzø than Stella because he didn’t fulfil his damsel fantasy?

I think vivzie doesn’t account for fans who aren’t knee deep in stolitz Twitter, Instagram, ao3, r34, tiktok etc. Those fans have the romance in their heads the show doesn’t need to even write it. I’m guessing their dynamic will end up as Stolas replacing Loona. Blitzø allows him to abuse him because he feels guilt and sympathy, he wants there to be love between them. The relationship is based on this feeling of remorse and self hate, and pity for how lonely and hurt stolas is.

[cdroloisms]

thinking about c!dream earlier on in the server just makes me sad man. like, c!dream has never been a perfect character. he's always been flawed, always been a bit of an asshole, always had control issues. but also he knew that. he tried to work on that. he and tommy were friends, despite being flawed people with their own issues that would bump into conflicts because of the ways that they differed. c!dream tried, god, he tried; he wasn't even on the server, when the drug van happened, and walked into a place with someone who was practically a stranger to him building a wall and calling for war and having turned half the people dream knew against him, apparently, for no reason that he could've known at the time, and he had looked straight at tommy and tubbo and asked if that was what they really wanted when wilbur told them that there was no such thing as dual citizenship. he tells tommy when he has to sell a disc for spirit's leather even though tommy had surrendered the discs to him at the end of the revolution because he knows it'll matter to him. he and tommy truce, multiple times, and c!dream gets tangled into conflicts that literally don't involve him repeatedly and gets targeted Because He's Dream repeatedly and he plays along with that trivia contest and he gives gifts to fundy and tommy after terrorizing them a little for fun and he plays along with the dreamon thing and he keeps getting pulled into fights that weren't his but tries to make them a little more fair when they get him involved. he fucks around with tommy and they have fun, they're friends, and when he and wilbur look like they're in danger dream is one of the first to find them and lend them real, practical, valuable aid. he calls himself "Big D" in that book and he tells the man that wrote him as a tyrant that he doesn't want to be a villain in the story anymore. he asks tommy if he's okay, and watches that kid's back when he walks alone and unarmed into manberg, and fights with him at the battle of the lake and all of that is thrown back in his face as being a lie. half the intial community structures that exist were built by him; the community house, the nether portal and hub, the prime path. during a time where every other piece of leverage got burned or killed (rip the casualties of the pet war), dream was kind of known for being one that could be fairly traded with, that would minimize permanent damage. the kills in the final control room were originally to strip lmanburg of their gear, which he had kept in a chest so it could be returned to them after the war.

like no c!dream isn't perfect at the beginning of the server. yes he's kind of a jerk sometimes, kind of an asshole sometimes, kind of neurotic most of the time. but god dammit like c!dream does try to mitigate the worst of his control issues, when they flare up early on; the initial disc war ends with tommy getting his discs back as well as a stack of diamonds, in exchange for a netherite chestplate. he's a flawed character and he's still someone pretty friendly on the whole to most of the server, he's also kind of just known for being a little weird. he gives gifts randomly. he fixed creeper holes, and houses, and went along with bits. like whatever im a c!drolo c!dream woobifier and i admit it lol but for as much evil as he ends up doing, pretty damn consistently early on, he's . friendly? kind? funny? helpful? their neighbor. their friend. c!dream isn't just some stranger that flew off the handle; he's someone they knew and lived with who had his actions taken in bad faith because the goddamn story said so and kept fucking trying anyway until he believed the lie too. like he was just a guy!! a guy they knew and lived with!!! like my god

[bobbile-blog]

Not sure if anyone’s said this yet but now that we have Laterano events plural I’m fascinated by their (imo) very deliberate choice of protagonists, and there are almost a couple of layers of narrative going on there. I struggle a little figuring out how to get this into words but specifically I think they’re chosen to be people who can carry a narrative without contradicting the orthodox morals of the church. There’s a LOT of vaguely anti-authoritarian rambling below the cut so please kindly bear with me and my English major brain.

I can’t really start there though. One of the reasons this is so brain hurty is how deeply it’s woven into the storyline, so to start, I have to verbalize how Laterano and Arknights writing more generally is different from other, similar settings. Because like, I hear the words “morally negative church in a grimdark setting” and my brain immediately shuts off. Come on, that’s so far beyond low-hanging fruit, if you’ve seen any grimdark setting ever you know exactly what that looks like. And sure, it was fine the first two or three times you saw it, depending on your tolerance for that kinda thing, but it gets boring quick and even when it was new it was kinda uninteresting story-wise. “Religion is always fake because it inspires hope which means everyone who takes meaning from it is either a corrupt grifter or naive and misled” isn’t just edgy nonsense, it’s also basically useless as an actual critique. It tells you absolutely nothing except how to tune out a particular kind of story, and a story that tries to get you to hear less is doing its job wrong.

So, Arknights does something different. Instead of denying the premise of the church entirely, it actually takes it at its word. Laterano is, in almost every definition of the word, a paradise. It is basically unmatched in terms of actual quality of life, with its only competitors being the Durin cities and maybe Aegir, and is worlds apart from now much the rest of Terra sucks. More than that, though, the paradise is specifically tailored to the worldview of a religion with a strong central authority - when I say it takes it at its word, I mean the authoritarian bits too. Laterano is a city that lives in perfect order and peace because everyone follows the law perfectly and they all understand each other and never fight. Empathy is really important for this, as it allows for a believable amount of superhuman societal order. Laterano has very little crime, political drama, or quarrels in general. It’s the promises of a strict higher authority actually taken at face value: everyone follows the rules and that means they have effectively unfettered freedom, because they don’t want to break the rules and therefore they can do anything they want.

Laterano is specifically written to be a believable paradise in a setting that has none, so that when the story then turns around and criticizes that setting, it has significantly more weight. Even when the promises of paradise are taken at face value, there are still issues that cannot be addressed because the system is inherently flawed even in the imaginary scenario where it works. Even worse, the problems that poke holes in the imaginary perfect scenario are the same problems that they face in the real world, like “how do you deal with the interpretation of scriptures” and “hey there’s this racism thing I keep hearing about should we be worried about that or what”. Because of the way this imaginary perfect system works, we then look back on our real world in a new light and understand it a little better. It’s good critique.

Okay so how did we get here and what does this have to do with the protagonists? Well, this starts with Fiametta in Guide Ahead, because she’s a really weird protagonist. This is a cold take at this point but despite being the character on the front of the box, she has very little to actually do with the central conflict of the event. Most of the conflict is handled by Ezell first and Andoain second, and Fiametta mostly putters around putting holes in people until the finale where Andoain receives the answer he’s been looking for, he turns to explain it to the world, and he runs into the only person in the whole of Laterano who does not care about his motivations or his revelation. Her role, in other words, is to replace the climax of Andoain’s story with her own, and in doing so she makes it much harder to actually get a resolution and a meaning out of the story (this should not be taken as a criticism of her character, let me cook). Guide Ahead’s ending is hazy, with only small piecemeal resolutions to its conflicts, and for the longest time that was just the way the event was written and it stood on its own.

But now, Hortus de Escapismo is out and the monkey brain see patterns. Specifically, with the choice of protagonists. Because Executor is definitely different from Fiametta as a protagonist, but there’s one particularly important connection between the two, and that’s that as I mentioned in the beginning, they allow for stories don’t contradict orthodox morality. Fiametta we went over, as she’s uninterested in any of Andoain’s morality and just wants him dead. Executor, though, is purely focused on his mission and views the world through that lens. He only wants to achieve his objective, and while helping the needy is in line with the stated objectives of the church and he does do so when able, it’s secondary to his assigned task. He does change as he gets further into the story, and we’re not gonna ignore that, but we’ll be back to it later. What I mean is more that he is designed as a person who is able to lead a story that doesn’t contradict with the morals of Laterano. He sees the injustice and suffering around him, but that’s not his job, so he doesn’t need to solve it to have a complete story with a happy ending.

This is where it really gets complicated, so I apologize if I don’t explain this very well. I see this as us dealing with multiple layers of fiction: the events of the story, the perspective of the church, and our perspective as readers. Back to the first point - authoritarian institutions almost always use stories to sell people on their brand of order. Simple stories, simple enough that even calling them myths seems like overselling it a little, your “Saint George slays a dragon” kinda thing. This is the point of the second layer, the perspective of the church. I don’t really have an in-world justification for this layer - maybe you could make the argument that it has to do with Law’s perspective on things, but I don’t totally buy that - I think it’s more in a weird narrative transition space for people who don’t read very carefully. Regardless, Fiametta and Executor’s shared indifference to the questionable circumstances surrounding them is designed to let them tell a story to prop up the existing order. Their protagonist status and their missions are specifically constructed to allow them to ignore the suffering around them, and as such ignore the larger questions that might poke holes in the larger order. They’re both playing out the story of Saint George, where they go and find a bad guy and kill them and that’s all there is to it. The story is designed and told specifically for that “that’s all there is to it”.

But, as we said earlier, this is a good critique, and as such it intentionally undercuts this story with the third layer: what we actually see as readers. We are shown the suffering and the injustice, and then get to see our protagonists ignoring that to pursue their goals. This is what gives Guide Ahead’s ending its unique texture, which sets it apart from every other event with a vaguely unresolved ending. We have seen the actual issues with Laterano, and also watched our protagonist explicitly ignore them in favor of her own story. It’s unsatisfying in a way that only really makes sense to me if we as the readers have an understanding of intentional authorship. Whether it be Yvangelista XI or Law or The Actual Real Life Pope, there are issues here that we want to see a resolution to but people are choosing not to address them. Again, it’s good critique. Not only does it push the reader to unpack and understand the actual real-world technique, but it also helps blunt it. You have just seen a plot and protagonist ring uncharacteristically hollow. You then look around to see why that is, and you realize there are many things that should have been resolved that weren’t. The next time you see a story resolve with that same hollow-ness, you know where to look. Surprise! Harry Potter was propaganda the whole time. It’s okay, it was never good, you were just twelve.

I guess the last thing is where we go from here, because Executor’s story breaks this mold somewhat. In Hortus de Escapismo, he has to deal with a mission that isn’t actually bounded by his normal rules, and because of that he actually does have leeway to help the people around him. He starts as someone who is totally mission-focused, but by the end of the event he’s done a total 180 and is blocking Oren’s attack, which makes the mission harder but helps the non-mission-critical civilians of the monastery. He breaks from the rigid thinking of “kill the bad guy and that’s all there is do it”, and gives his attention to the people he isn’t supposed to see. I think this is an indication of the direction we’re going to be headed in the future with Laterano events. The events aren’t going to get better - they’re going to keep being just as morally murky and complicated as in the past - but the characters are going to get better at handling it, and when they do, they’re going to actually start to change things for the better.

Goddamn that was a lot of writing for 1 AM. I still have a. Lot of thoughts on this event with stuff like empathy and Lemuen and Federico being an autistic icon(my beloved) but I’m going to leave things there, I think, because if I write for any longer my phone is going to crash when I try to post this. Anyway if you actually made it to the end thanks for listening to me rambling and I hope that made sense. Cheers.

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

Negotiations

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~4k

Summary: You sneak out one night

A/N: Sorry y'all, I'm in an angsty mood

Warnings: Angst, relationship troubles (distrust and such), sneaky behavior.

You’re trying to ignore how sweaty your palms are, and you quickly reach for your drink to try and hide it. The condensation from the glass of course makes it worse and you hold back the urge to curse as you check your phone for the time.

It’s 8:15pm.

Usually at this time of night you would be at home with your wife and dog finishing up dinner, or more likely sitting on the couch in the living room. After dinner you walked the dog before settling beside your wife to cuddle while watching something mindless on TV. If Wanda got her way, it would be a sitcom with a laugh track that you hear in your sleep sometimes, but if you’re lucky, you’d start to doze off to a nature documentary before Wanda drags you upstairs.

You would much rather be at home with her, but you had something you needed to take care of first.

You are only a few seconds away from checking the time again when you feel a cold hand on your upper arm, and you have to stop yourself from bristling from the touch.

“Y/n Y/l/n. I didn’t think you would show.”

As you turn to greet the woman who’s been on your mind and the bane of your existence for weeks, you fight the urge to grimace. It had been a mistake to get involved with her, and you knew it from the very beginning, but you were desperate. One of your character flaws was that you were damn stubborn, and when you wanted something badly enough you couldn’t help but go for it.

You try to offer a sincere smile, but you’re tense and she can tell as she sits down on the barstool beside you and reaches out for your drink. You don’t mind that she’s finishing it because you don’t even want it, but you don’t like the message that it sends. You’re trying to be as incognito as possible with this arrangement. You waited to meet until a night that you knew Wanda would be working late, and then you’d left the house under the guise of going grocery shopping. You then ditched Bucky by sneaking out the back of the store and walking three blocks to this hotel bar where you’d agreed to meet.

You hated lying, but there really was no way around it. If anyone found out what you were up to, you’d be in deep shit and you didn’t want to deal with that. You couldn’t explain why you were being so needlessly reckless except for maybe to blame your determination.

This had to work.

You only take a moment to glance at the blonde’s outfit before you sit up a little straighter and offer an only slightly forced smile.

“Rosalie. Thank you for meeting with me. I’ve been looking forward to this all week.”

Wanda sighs in exhaustion as she arrives home to a dark house a little after 9pm. She stifles a yawn as she rolls into the garage only to do a double take when she sees that your car isn’t there. She quickly reaches for her phone to call you, but by the time she walks into the house you still haven’t answered. When Boone comes up to greet her, the call’s gone to voicemail and Wanda just hangs up with an annoyed huff. She scratches Boone for a second longer as she glances at the clock to confirm that it’s way too late for you to be out.

Bucky responds almost immediately and Wanda’s hand stops mid-scratch as she reads his message.

She went to the grocery store near Glendale but she’s been in there for an hour. I’m going to check on her.

Wanda has no idea why you would drive so out of your way to go shopping so late at night. Admittedly sometimes you had weird cravings, but this was odd even for you. Despite often losing track of time in a grocery store, Wanda figures that at such a late hour you would be in and out for whatever you wanted.

She decides to wait until Bucky finds you to respond, and she heads toward the kitchen to find some leftovers to eat. She hopes to be able to claim to have eaten dinner by the time you get home so you won’t get upset with her. When she has late nights like these, sometimes she forgets to eat and she comes home without having eaten for over 14 hours.

She can barely focus on dinner as she tries to patiently wait for Bucky’s response. She can imagine him finding you wandering around aimlessly as you try to figure out what food you’re craving. She’s had to drag you from several grocery stores when you’ve done this for over 30 minutes, and she’s almost wishing that you’d waited so she could have done this tonight.

Twenty minutes later, Wanda’s only had a couple of bites to eat before her phone rings. She sees that its Bucky, and she doesn’t hesitate to answer it as she takes a deep breath. She’s sure he’d found you roaming the candy aisle.

“Hey Bucky.”

Bucky is near sweating as he speed-walks up and down the aisles of this too cold grocery store. He’s looked for you for nearly 20 minutes, and he’s run around the store like a lunatic to the point of worrying that someone is going to call the cops. He’s tried calling you only to have it go to voicemail, and he doesn’t know what else to do. He stops by the ice cream for a moment before pulling out his phone to call Wanda. He has a feeling that you aren’t here, but he’s not sure if he believes that you’ve been taken. There was no one suspicious here except him, and after speaking with a disinterested cashier, he figures nothing sketchy went down.

As he waits for Wanda to answer, he tries to figure out what the hell you were up to.

The smile you receive in return makes you wish you’d said anything else, but it’s too late to take it back now. You decide to ignore your discomfort and get right down to business because you’re sure this will take a while. Wining and dining someone takes tact and patience, neither of which you are in possession of tonight. After leading Rosalie from the bar to a secluded booth in the back, you wait for a waiter to take your next drink orders before taking a deep breath.

“I really do appreciate you being here, Rosalie. I’m not sure what I would do without your help.”

Although you know that you’re feeding her enormous ego, you have to kiss her ass to get her to agree to your proposition. You know that under normal circumstances you wouldn’t have been this successful in your campaign. That said, your chance meeting with this woman who was capable of making you so happy was something you couldn’t overlook or take for granted. You aren’t even sure that she knew who you were before flirting with you, but that was of no consequence to you. If anything, it helped your chances.

You’re reminded of this as the blonde not-so-subtly, looks you up and down while you wait for your appetizer. You take a deep breath behind your glass when she’s distracted, and you pray that this all works out.

When Rosalie offers you a near-predatory smile you realize that you’re going to have to take it up a notch.

“What can I say? You made a very appealing offer, Y/n.”

When Bucky had called to tell her that you weren’t in the grocery store, Wanda had been opening the app on her phone to track you before he could even ask. For safety reasons, you and Wanda had your locations turned on your phones. Wanda had insisted and despite arguing that you never went anywhere other than work, the store, or home without her, you acquiesced. You’d had nothing to hide and you did sometimes check and see where Wanda was occasionally, only to wonder what she was doing on late nights away from home.

Wanda’s frown deepened when she’d realized that your phone was turned off. The last place it had been on at was the store, and now Wanda was oscillating between pissed and worried.

What were you up to?

“Oh really? You must have the cutest pictures!”

You smile widely because you really do and you’re already reaching for your phone to find some when you remember why you’d switched it off.

While you and Rosalie ate dinner, conversation had luckily transitioned to your work and more specifically your patients. This was something you were comfortable talking about, and honestly you could go on and on about your adorable patients. That said, you hesitated long enough for Rosalie to notice, and her brow furrows slightly in question.

“What’s wrong? Do you have other photos on there that you don’t want me to see?”

You can’t help but blush, and you poorly conceal it with a cough as you shake your head and turn on your phone. You’ll make it quick before powering it down again. It will be fine.

You reach out for your fork to take another bite before you shake your head with small smile.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

After showing off the last few adorable patients you’ve seen, you steer the conversation back to the reason why you’d invited Rosalie to dinner in the first place. You try to push down your discomfort of asking for something from someone, but you think about the puppies before you meet Rosalie’s expectant gaze.

“So have you thought anymore about my proposition?”

After checking continuously for nearly half an hour, she jumps when your blue dot appears on the map. She watches it move not far from where it had been earlier before she calls Bucky back. He’s been searching nearby buildings while she waited impatiently, but now she was going to look for you because she was beyond angry.

“Bucky, I found her.”

Wanda pauses as she zooms in on the map for a precise location. When she sees where you are, her breath catches in her throat and she just stares for a few long seconds.

“Yeah? Where is she?”

Wanda still doesn’t answer right away. She’s trying to come up with a logical reason for you to be where you are. Anything but the worst-case scenario. Wanda clears her throat before shaking her head and speaking through clenched teeth.

“She’s at the hotel off of 5th. I’ll meet you there.”

You’re taking another bite of cheesecake, blissfully unaware of the storm that’s headed your way as you and Rosalie share a companionable silence.

She’d agreed to your terms and you were near giddy with excitement. That said, you were still aware enough to remember your manners, and you slide the plate toward the blonde with a teasing smile before setting your own fork down.

“Please. Eat the rest. I think you’ve more than earned it.”

Rosalie smiles and only tries to argue with you for a moment before she gives in. You could eat this slice and maybe three more, but you realize how late it’s getting, and you’re almost certain you’ll barely beat Wanda home. It’s nearing 11, but the fact that even Wanda’s early ‘late nights’ are rarely before 1am is enough to relax your nagging nerves.

It only takes a few more minutes for you two to wrap things up. You foot the bill because it’s the least you can do, and then you’re going your separate ways. You wait until Rosalie is out of sight before you near run to the exit. You don’t dare turn on your phone, but your watch is telling you that you need to hurry.

Wanda’s staring at the sky trying to calm herself down when you come running out the front doors of the hotel. She’s settled on the steps out front, sitting on one of the stone banisters as she tries to understand what she’s feeling.

She and Bucky had arrived and it had only taken a few minutes to spot you. When Wanda had seen you sharing dessert with a woman who was smiling at you adoringly, well she almost lost it. She stared at you for just long enough to convince herself that she wasn’t mistaken, before she stormed back outside and planted herself in this spot.

She had sent Bucky back to your car to make sure you didn’t sneak by her, but she figures it’s unnecessary. She mostly did it to be alone and shed a few tears without him watching. She had a feeling you’d walk right out the front door, and then she’d confront you. She just had to figure out what to say.

She almost misses you fly by her and her gaze snaps towards you with a vicious glare that’s wasted on you. She ignores the fact that you’re getting further away and she stays exactly where she is as she calls out to you.

“Hurrying home to someone?”

You think you’re hallucinating when you hear your wife’s voice when you’re halfway across the street. You stop in your tracks, stiffening in surprise before you dare to turn around to confirm your suspicions. You’ve never had any luck at keeping secrets from your wife, so you’re not sure why you thought this time would be different.

Despite being over 20 feet away, you’re sure Wanda can hear your audible gulp as you turn to face her.

“Needlessly it seems. You’re already here.”

Now despite your actions tonight, you’re not an idiot, and you know what’s about to happen. You consider how you’d feel about seeing Wanda in your shoes tonight. It might be slightly different because she has more of a reason to meet random, beautiful women at hotel bars, but for a moment you suspend your disbelief and consider how angry you’d be at her. At least half as angry as Wanda appears to be with you now. You walk deliberately towards her, and do your best not to flinch at her furious expression. You nearly startle when she jumps down the stairs and meets you on the sidewalk with a scowl.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

You can’t help but flinch and you think it makes Wanda even madder because her glare honestly makes you want to run and hide. You can’t remember the last time she’s been mad at you, actually mad, but you’re sure this is much, much worse. Unfortunately, in your infinite wisdom you dare to shrug before providing the worst answer possible.

“I was meeting someone.”

Wanda’s eyes flash as she remembers the beautiful blonde that had been looking at you like she wanted to take you upstairs. Her words come out as a snarl and you actually start to sweat as Wanda steps toward you.

“No shit. Who the fuck is she, Y/n?”

You realize, belatedly, that maybe this hadn’t been the best plan. Sure, you’d waited for an ideal night, or so you’d thought, but there had to be a better way. Clearly. It had to be possible to have pulled this off without getting caught. Right?

You sigh in defeat before you realize that there’s no way to lie yourself out of this one. You know Wanda’s going to be hurt, but you just have to say it. What was the point of dragging it out any further?

You run a hand through your hair and nearly roll your eyes at the fact that your ring snags on one of the knots. Figures.

“Her name is Rosalie Evans. She’s a donor who’s just pledged $10 million to help renovate the animal shelter.”

You and Wanda stand in silence as you let your wife process what you’ve said. You can tell by the look on your face that she’s trying to decide if she believes you, but after a near agonizing three minutes in silence, she just shakes her head. She walks past you with a huff, and you’re equal parts relieved and disappointed that she barely says anything in response.

“Come on. We’re not talking about this here.”

Despite Wanda’s desire to storm back into the hotel and find the blonde you’d been with; she knows there’s no point. She has a feeling the blonde is long gone, but that doesn’t mean she’s not going to have Bucky look into her right this second.

The trip home is made in separate cars and it’s silent for both of you. You’re lost in thought and Wanda’s waiting to get confirmation from Bucky that you weren’t just lying to her face. It comes only minutes from arriving home, but still the news that you’d been out with a rich, beautiful, animal lover didn’t sit well with her.

She slams her car door so hard the house almost shakes, and she waits impatiently as you pull into your spot before getting out as slowly as possible without ticking her off more.

She storms into the house, and you just have to follow her as she ignores Boone and immediately heads to the deck. You scratch your dog a few times as you trail behind your wife, but you leave him inside as you follow Wanda back out into the dark.

“Were you on a date just now?”

Despite expecting the question, you still can’t stop your initial reaction at the mere thought of doing something like that to Wanda. You would admit that you had been selfish and that you’d used Rosalie, but dammit if you weren’t desperate for the money.

“No, Wanda.”

You barely say her name before she spits her next question with such disgust that you instantly feel like a horrible person.

“Did she think it was a date?”

It never ceases to amaze you how smart your wife is. She’s always so many steps ahead of you that it would be embarrassing if you hadn’t already accepted that she was a genius. It’s only times like these, when you’re in trouble, that you truly regret this fact.

You don’t really know the answer to this, and you don’t take long to consider it before you shake your head. Wanda’s still facing away from you, and you can’t help but feel ashamed by this. She’s so angry that she can’t even look at you.

“I don’t know. It didn’t come up.”

This was technically true. That said, you would have let her believe that it was a date if it had gotten you the money. Is this what a gold digger did? Suddenly your self-respect tanks further at the thought.

Wanda doesn’t respond immediately as she considers all of her options. She’s still plenty mad at you for this, but she has to admit that by seeing this woman, you didn’t technically do anything wrong. That said, the way you went about it had been sketchy as hell, and she wants you to know that she doesn’t appreciate it in the slightest.

“Why did you go behind my back like this? Why not just tell me what you planned on doing?”

Wanda’s trying not to be angry about the fact that you’d snuck out of the house on a night that she’d specifically told you she would be late coming home. How you ditched Bucky to sneak away and make sure nobody was the wiser. She rolls her eyes at the thought of you pulling this off.

You have sat down at this point because you’re exhausted and you’re tired of staring at your wife’s back. You huff in frustration before you shake your head with a groan. You’re such an idiot sometimes.

“Because I didn’t want you to know what I was doing.”

You knew what question was coming next, so you tried to beat Wanda to it as she finally spun around to face you. You’d wished she’d stayed facing away from you instead. You would have preferred it to the glare she was shooting you.

“Of course not! You were practically on a date with this woman, and for what? For-?”

“For money!”

You’re back on your feet as you rip out some of your hair when your hand gets stuck again. You squeeze your eyes shut before you take a deep breath and try to calm down. You meet Wanda’s suspicious gaze and you feel your shoulders drop.

“I needed her to agree to the donation. I’ve only been trying to convince her for weeks. I-I needed the money, Wanda.”

Your wife simply scoffs before she crosses her arms and levels you with a look that hides how hurt she is. If you’d needed money so badly, why hadn’t you just asked her? Why had you needed to literally grovel to this woman you barely knew when she could have helped you easily? She asks this and your face says it all. Wanda almost wishes, for a millisecond, that you’d been having an affair instead.

“I couldn’t ask you Wanda. It couldn’t come from you. I needed the donation to be public. For campaigning purposes.”

Wanda suddenly realizes why you’d gone to so much trouble to keep this from her. You both often donated to various causes that you felt strongly about. Unsurprisingly, number one on your list was animals. You’d given countless donations to shelters and other rescues in the areas so they could keep helping stray animals. That said, sometimes you knew that an anonymous donation just wouldn’t cut it.

When the projects were larger and they required the help of many donors, you wished that you could be one of them without causing suspicion. Despite making good money at work, no one would believe that you could give $3 million without batting an eye. It just didn’t make sense. You also knew that since everyone thought you were married to someone named ‘Linda’; you couldn’t have Wanda donate either.

That and the fact that she’s a known criminal.

That wouldn’t go over well.

So you’d tried to go behind her back to accomplish your goal of getting money while sparing her feelings. She’s still mad at you, but she seems to deflate when she feels the familiar pang of disappointment that accompanies moments like this. Sometimes she thinks she’s failed you. Sometimes she desperately wishes that she could have had any other occupation as long as it was legal. At least then she would be able to support you more readily, more publicly.

She doesn’t realize she’s stared off into space berating her past self for her career choices until she feels your hand on her shoulder. She blinks before realizing that you’re standing right in front of her with an apologetic look. She suddenly feels exhausted, and she doesn’t want to talk about this anymore. She doesn’t want to think about beautiful blondes or not being able to help you with your selfless pursuits.

“I’m sorry, Wands. I should have told you.”

Wanda shakes her head as she sighs in defeat and walks past you toward your barking dog. She ignores the frustrated tears that are streaming down her face, and she hopes you can’t hear them in her voice as she lets Boone run past her so she can sneak upstairs while you’re distracted.

“It’s fine, Y/n. I get it.”

Wanda disappears up the stairs as you chase after Boone to get him to come back inside. It’s far too late for this and you quickly steer him back in the house before locking up and heading up the stairs. You need to follow Wanda and try to convince her that she shouldn’t feel bad about any of this. You’re the one who went behind her back. You thought that it would be worth it, but even the thought of $10 million doesn’t make the idea of trying to make amends with your wife any less daunting.

Masterlist

[firfirov]

{I should have posted this a day ago but I forgot.}

Almost a month has passed since that post, but my studies and business got in the way, forgive me.

To be honest, I can't really think of anything for most of the characters, so... Thank you for at least having something.

❗IMPORTANT. I didn't think through the design for some characters in different forms very well, so they may look weird. And it really was easier for me to simplify my task. + Initially everything was written in Russian, so it may look different in English (in the Russian version it will be in ALT).❗

⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

Peppino. Quite nervous for his job as a Seraphim (I think he's Seraphim, I'm not sure). And despite this, he does his job well. His best friend is Gustavo (obviously). Confronts Pizzahead in Divine Tower to stop him from putting his plan into action. After the events of Divine Tower, he became a meeting, but still remained nervous. /In another form he is a human, he uses it often./

Gustavo. Unlike some, he has 2 eyes in the form of dots/ovals in true form. A cute and unusual looking Cherub (more like an angel with 4 wings, or something like that), and also short. Gets along well with everyone in the tower. His best friend is Peppino (obviously). Helps Peppino during his journey through Divine Tower. After the events of Divine Tower, nothing has changed. /In another form he is a gnome, he uses it depending on the situation./

Bruno. Another Seraphim (I think Seraphim...), it's not hard to guess who he's clearly related to. He was last seen "a week ago before the Divine Tower events." It is unknown where he is now, and whether he is alive at all. Maybe... You know? After the events of Divine Tower, he was also not found. /In another form he is a human being, he uses it when necessary./

Pepperman. Half-fallen angel. Artist with his own views on art (please don't be indignant). 1 boss in Divine Tower. No mouth, but can still talk. He gets along well with many people, except The Noise and Pizzahead. He can often be seen talking to The Vigilante, like best friends (or maybe even more...). After the events of Divine Tower, nothing has changed, he also continues to create art. /In another form, he is a human, he rarely uses it./

The Vigilante. Half-fallen angel. "Justice is his middle name." 2nd boss in Divine Tower. He is not blind, just the blindfold on his eyes symbolizes "impartiality/justice". Normal relationship with everyone except The Noise and Pizzahead. He can often be seen talking to Pepperman like best friends (maybe even more...). After the events of Divine Tower, nothing has changed, he still administers justice and balance, although in addition he is looking for Pizzahead. /In another form he is a human, he rarely uses it./

The Noise. Half-fallen angel. The one who will lead House the most. 3rd boss in Divine Tower. Keep your hands away, otherwise he might bite again. Apparently he's really annoying everyone with his antics. His best relationship is only with Noisette. After the events of Divine Tower, nothing has really changed for him. /In another form, he is a gremlin, which he uses often.

Noisette. Half-fallen angel. A pretty girl who works in her own cafe. I hope she learns to cook.''' Although she looks a bit creepy in her true form, she is actually kind and fluffy. She treats everyone positively, no matter who it is. Her best relationship is with The Noise. After the events of Divine Tower, she opened a new coffee shop because the old one was badly damaged. /In another form, she is a gremlin, which she uses often./

Fake. Literally a copy of Peppino, but with flaws and a texture like dough. Is there anything more to say about it?.. 4th boss in Divine Tower. Periodically behaves like a frog. Generally good, if not angered or provoked. After the events of Divine Tower, he often follows Peppino around like a little tail, or just watches him. /In another form, he is a "human", and uses the same as Peppino./

Pizzahead. A fallen Seraphim (I think he was Seraphim...) with severe delusions of grandeur and hypocrisy. If he had been a little better, this would not have happened to him at all. The final boss in Divine Tower. Despite his plan, he "successfully" failed it. Treat everyone, naturally, hypocritically. After the events of Divine Tower, he disappeared, but he will surely be found. /In another form is a person, used in extreme cases./

...

So... If anyone has a question about why I named these variations this way, then... I had no ideas, sorry.

And I hope in the future I will reach the rest!.. I'm not sure😕

But in any case, they can be drawn more or less, they can even be depicted together... uh... I have strange thoughts, I know. And for some reason I have a joke in my head about "pigtail cheese"...I wonder why?

Edit: I just now noticed some inaccuracies, damn.

Edit 2: I was supposed to post this at 9am but I must have accidentally left it in draft so I'm posting at 3:30pm.

[pridoo]

I'm really sorry if this sounds rude, but I wanna ask what do you like about the ekurei ship? I kinda thought it was just a crack ship but your comic and calendar thing looked really passionate for them- I'm sorry again for such an intrusive question, but I really want to know

Oh, I don't mind at all! I know it seems pretty funny on the outside so I understand. Buckle up though, because I'm insane <3

they hot

The easiest answer is that I've seen tons of hot fanart (mostly from Asian mp100 fandom) of Reigen getting railed by Ekubo/Dimple possessing that security guard – but I also have seen tons of art of Ekubo being a green fart cloud and their dynamics still pull my heartstrings, so it's not that simple.

"Human" Ekubo and Reigen have never even met in canon, so I know it seems silly, but there's a lot of official art from studio Bones of them interacting. I have no idea what's up with that but I'm not complaining. Seems like they are having fun.

common goal

Mob is of course the common interest for both of them. At first they both aim to exploit Mob for their own goals but learn that their shit doesn't really matter, unlike this amazing 14-year-old. Maybe it's me getting old but co-parenting/looking after the next generation is really special to me. if you read/watch the series finale, this dynamic is at the heart of the story to the very end. They learn to be better people through Mob but also share the burden of it, being "the adults" in the situation.

Their skills are also incredibly silly yet compatible. Reigen can win any argument ever and punch people and Ekubo has an unique insight on the spiritual and ordinary world, plus psychic powers. He also does sick backflips. It's a good team.

cunt4cunt

Reigen is a conman and Ekubo an evil spirit. Both of them know this truth about the other from the start, so there's no reason to pretend otherwise. Somehow this makes them incredibly casual acquintances. I think there's something incredibly special about being able to be your worst self and the other still chooses to be around you. You're awful, I'm awful, let's be awful together. They call out each other's bs but also know that they can rely on each other. Reigen always treats Ekubo as an actual person, be it shitty or casual.

They are both witty and smart but also kinda losermen because they lack some necessary qualities to become truly popular or successful, but also because the circumstances in the series are very realistic to the real world. If you fuck up majorly once, it's pretty hard to climb back. Despite this, they pull together.

better people

During the series, both of them go through a huge character development. There's something stupidly good in both of them from the start though, and it starts to show at the end of 1st season and especially during 2nd season. The catalyst for this change is of course Mob, but they also choose to become better.

It's funny to me that they both wallow in some weird self-hatred that makes them seem really narcissistic, and without Mob they would probably stay that way. They are so convinced that they are the single worst person in the world so even their good sides, like loyalty, ability be quite genuine and caring seem like flaws to them. Joke's on them, they are both lonely and sad people and actually understand something very human because of it. Do they actually reach their goals? Well, mp100 has a kind of absurdist core to it. Because nobody is special, you can make your life what you want.

TL;DR I think they are funny, kinda stupid, pretty hot, surprisingly genuine and lonely people in a lonely world. Plus: no sense of personal space.

Thanks and sorry for the lengthy essay! 🫡

[bibibbon]

It's especially disappointing that All Might and Hawks rarely interact, despite having contrasting views of their ideal hero world (one wanting heroes to be self-sacrificing and hard-working, the other wanting heroes to have endless free time).

The only time they interact is to indirectly talk about Endeavor (because of course). However, it's not to discuss their connections to and disapproval of him, instead it's to lament about how Endeavor of all person was harmed by the hero society.

Hero society needs to change, and Hawks will help. Only regarding Endeavor. Only for Endeavor.

All might and hawks don't really have proper interactions where we see both of their beliefs clash. Yes, we see all might and hawks interact outside of endeavor but the interactions where we do see them talk about the state of hero society (specifically seen in the latest manga chapters 427 and above) are incredibly vague and shallow.

It's a shame that the only proper discussion these two seem to have about heroics is about the hero popularity polls or billboards which hawks change about them (to me) is a horrible idea since I believe that they should of just been taken down in general instead of being expanded since they done more harm than good.

(That aside why does all might looks so gloomy?he looks weird)

Yes enji is a character that ties these two closely but even that isn't explored to its fullest potential. Hawks never seems to react negatively to finding out that his hero who saves him from his own abuser is also an abuser and a terrible human being in many ways and all might never seems to react to enji also being a terrible being and him being a terrible being all because he wanted to surpass all might. The lack of build up and reaction is so irritating

Beyond the enji connection for all might and hawks you also have their personal lives and thinking. The current hero system is something that all might built and the hpsc (even if by accident) is something that all might influenced the creation of and contributed to building. All might even if he never meant for it is the creator of the current status quo and all of its problems and positives tie back to him.

Now this is interesting because you can explore the guilt all might can have with this issue and how hawks someone who has suffered and benefited from the status quo reacts and Interacts with all might. We already see that all might and hawks have clashing views specifically when it comes to heroics with all might putting his entire life into heroics and using all of his strength to make sure he creates a perfect world where people can rely on someone (ultimately creating the massive bystander effect in mha) this is all contrasted to hawk's own beliefs where he wants heroes to have a ton of free time and we can see that this belief stems from hawk's own experiences of working and it could be argued that this maybe a wider criticism that horikoshi holds towards the toxic work culture there is especially the one in Japan.

However, both of these ideologies are flawed by themselves and would have a lot of negative consequences if implemented. This is why it would be even more interesting to have hawks and all might come to a conclusion where yes heroes need to work properly but they also need to have proper breaks and support while also allowing other members of society to play their role.

The more interesting thing is that you can have all might and hawks both come to this conclusion in the vigilante arc with hawks learning how valuable other members (who aren't heroes) to society which is something he can learn with tokoyami checking up on him and contacting him. All the while all might can learn that heroes cannot overexert themselves or they will snap and may even die in battle which is something he can learn from seeing izuku his successor almost go too far and get himself killed from pure exhaustion and reckless behaviour.

[sparrowlucero]

Even if a creator is a bad person it's still okay to like their work. People need to mind their own business.

Honestly it's not really that sort of situation. I'll actively defend Steven Moffat here.

There was a huge hate movement for him back in the early 2010s - which, in retrospect, formed largely because he was running 2 of the superwholock shows at once, one of which went through extremely long hiatuses* and the other of which was functionally an adaptation of an already well regarded show**, making him subject to a sort of double ire in the eyes of a lot of fandom people. Notably, his co-showrunner, Mark Gatiss, is rarely mentioned and much of his work is still attributed to Moffat (and yes, this includes that Hbomberguy video. Several of "Steven Moffat's bad writing choices" were not actually written by him, they were Gatiss.)

People caricatured the dude into a sort of malicious, arrogant figure who hated women and was deliberately mismanaging these shows to spite fans, to the point where people who never watched them believe this via cultural osmosis. It became very common to take quotes from him out of context to make them look bad***, to cite him as an example of a showrunner who hated his fans, someone who sabotaged his own work just to get at said fans, someone who was too arrogant to take criticism, despite all of this being basically a collective "headcanon" about the guy formed on tumblr. Some if it got especially terrible, like lying about sexual assault (I don't mean people accused him of sexual assault and I think they're making it up, I mean people would say things like "many of his actresses have accused him of sexual assault on set" when no such accusations exist in the first place. This gets passed around en masse and is, in my opinion, absolutely rancid.)

On top of that a ton of the criticism directed at the shows themselves is, personally, just terrible media criticism. So much of it came from assuming a very hostile intent from the writer and just refusing to engage with the text at all past that.

Like some really common threads you see with critique of this writer's work, especially in regards to Doctor Who since that's the one I'm most familiar with:

A general belief that his lead characters were meant to be ever perfect self inserts, and so therefore when they act shitty or arrogant or flawed in any way, that's both reflective of the author and something the show wants you to view as positive or aspirational.

An overarching thesis that his characters are "too important" in the narrative due to the writer's arrogance and self obsession (even though this is a very deliberate theme that's stated several times)

A lot of focus on the writer personally "attacking" the fans or making choices primarily out of spite.

A tendency to treat the show being different to what it's adapting as inherently bad and hostile towards the original.

Just generally very little consideration and engagement with the themes, intent, etc. of the shows

This one's a little more nebulous and doesn't apply to all critique but a lot of it, especially recently, is clearly by people who haven't seen the show in like 10 years and their opinion is largely formed secondhand through like, "discourse nostalgia". Which. you know. bad.

I think these are just weird and nonsensical ways to engage with a work of fiction. I also think it's really sad to see the show boiled down to this because that era of who is, in my opinion, very thematically rich and unique among similar shows, and I'm disappointed that it's often dismissed in such a paltry way.

This isn't to say people aren't allowed to critique Steven Moffat or anything, but the context in which he basically became The Devil™ to a large portion of fandom and is still remembered in a poor light is very tied to this perfect storm of fan culture and I just don't agree with a ton of it.

* I'm sure most people have seen the way long running shows and hiatuses will cause people to fall out with a show, with some former fans turning around and joining a sort of "anti fandom" for it while it's still airing. That happened with both these shows. ** Doctor Who will change it's entire writing staff, crew, and cast every few years, and with that comes a change in style, tone, theme - the old show basically ends and is replaced by a new show under the same title. As Steven Moffat's era was the first of these handovers for the majority of audiences, you can imagine this wasn't a well loved move for many fans. *** I know for a fact most people have not sought out the sources for a lot of these quotes to check that they read the same in context because 1) most of them were deleted years ago and are very difficult to find now and 2) many of them do actually make sense in the context of their respective interviews

[iamnmbr3]

you know what's sooo stupid to me that it's almost bound to drive me crazy?!

The fact that whenever i see you sharing tom riddle metas about how traumatized he was and trying to look from his pov, i think that FUCKING MAIN VILLAIN, lunatic voldemort who was a reason for so many deaths and did everything to achieve his end is vastly understood. bellatrix, the cruelest witch(after umbridge lol), who knows nothing but voldemort has a not lil fandom

BUT jkr says Draco doesn't deserve fans' love & THERE IS NO GOOD INSIDE HIM (says about the guy who despite his environment and his own desire couldn't be bad & cruel..even if coward, still he didn't do several things in spite of his fears) so we shouldn't be that attached to him!!!!

And many people agree!!!! Like is Draco the only bad guy here? Is he actually a bad guy?

Like🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

(i don't have any problem with you guys talking about tom riddle or bellatrix having fans, just the injustice of it makes me insane)

First off, thanks for your patience in waiting for an answer to this ask! Second of all, I think two things are going on here. On the one hand, we have the fandom response to the series. On the other hand we've got JKR's response. While it's true that Tom Riddle and Bellatrix both have their fans (most of whom acknowledge the problematic things their faves have done - and indeed find their flawed actions and complexity to be part of their appeal) within fandom spaces the same is very much true of Draco. He is an extremely popular character within fandom. On AO3 he is the third most tagged character (after Harry and Hermione), drarry is the number one most written about ship, and dramione comes in at number 3. So I think in fandom spaces Draco gets a lot of attention and there's generally an interest in and understanding of the fact that he's a complex and grey character and not by any means a one-note bad guy.

However, JK Rowling does not seem to share that view at all. She's been very dismissive of his character and of fans who like him on a number of occasions and indeed seems irritated by his popularity - even though it is driven by writing choices SHE made. She claims Draco never got a redemption arc even though she herself wrote that he ultimately changed his opinions and behaviors...aka had a redemption arc. She seems to be someone who has a great deal of trouble admitting she was wrong and who is also very threatened by anyone having a different interpretation or view of something that what she wants. So I think she's especially bothered by people responding to Draco - particularly because she's on such shaky ground. Most Bellatrix fans admit she was a die-hard Death Eater - and indeed that's something they embrace about her character - so that's probably not as threatening to JKR as people pointing out that Draco changed his mind is. I think she also hates drarry.

And yeah it strikes me as really unfair that she singles out Draco fans and claims anyone who likes him is just a girl who is confused due to being attracted to the actor (wow. way to be heteronormative, misogynist, and a misandrist all in one go). Which is bizarre and problematic on so many levels and also especially weird when she has no problem with Snape fans or Regulus fans and doesn't seem to think that a similar problem could occur with people thinking Tom Riddle had a redemption arc just bc the character is canonically attractive and played by an actor generally considered to be attractive in the second film for example.

[angryplebianart]

I don’t wanna sound rude at all but I am genuinely curious as to why you ship 2doc? I’m not trying to like target you in particular or anything I’m just wondering in general why do people like it

This is gonna be a long one lmao

A little backstory: When I first got into Gorillaz I really hated Murdoc. My sister showed me a playlist of all the videos in order. The whole playlist I kept going on about how I didn't like Murdoc and my sister was like "well, just wait." By Lost Chord I was a bit sympathetic and beginning to like Murdoc, I loved seeing that he was helping everyone else escape before he did and I really liked seeing 2D save him despite everything.

I've always been a sucker for relationships with drama(even platonic relationships), for one, for two I love when characters have chemistry (even platonic chemistry) because of what they've been through together if that makes sense.

This was before I really knew much about the band at all besides what was shown in the videos and the first time I heard about 2doc I was confused and kind of weirded out that people would ship such a toxic and dysfunctional couple. As I learned more about the band and the characters, though, and as I dug into the lore, I found Murdoc to be a much more sympathetic character than I had originally seen. A flawed character, deeply flawed, but sympathetic nonetheless and with the inkling of a redemption arc forming. I also found it interesting that even after all that had happened, 2D and Murdoc still had this indescribable bond (that a lot of people label as Stockholm syndrome but I do not).

I was on twitter one day and stumbled across a discussion about the song Souk Eye and heard that in the live shows, every time the line "I will always think about you" was sung, Murdoc's face was up on the screen. I dug into the lore for TNN album and became even more intrigued with the ship. I saw a Souk Eye animatic that depicted 2D having these battling emotions over Murdoc being gone. That he really missed him but still resented him as well and by this point you could say I was dipping my toes into the 2doc waters.

I started looking for other signs that maybe it was implied to be a canon thing and found so much stuff thanks to a couple "2doc Daily" accounts on twitter (that really just regurgitated the same things the other account said, to the point that I didn't realize it was two different accounts for a couple months lol) that only posted canon evidence.

Maybe it's silly and a lot of people don't like it, but I really do like it. It's so fun to headcanon about the ship and their dynamic.

It really seems like 2doc has been somewhat implied since the beginning in the lore and some interviews, and even some of Jamie's art (them wearing each other's clothes, 2D with Murdoc's monogrammed razor hooked on his necklace, them sharing accessories like the little crown necklace and them sharing hats on PB, the original storyboard for the newspaper comic in Do Ya Thing, there's more examples but those are the ones off the top of my head rn).

Regardless of the ship's popularity, I've come to really like it and it just adds another layer of enjoyment to my love for the band! 🩵💚☺️💚🩵

Thanks for the ask! Sorry if this is rambly or doesn't make a lot of sense, I'm writing this right before bed lol

Edits: I separated this long ass wall of text into digestible paragraphs 😛

[quijotine]

Thoughts on NATLA so far (up to ep 5)

I'm really loving it!!! There are some parts where the pacing gets a bit slow but it makes up by hitting you out of left field with the feels.

Episode 4 is my favorite so far.

I absolutely LOVED this rendition of Sukka. What bisexual disasters, the pair of them.

ON THE FIRE NATION:

I absolutely LOVE the background story on the fire nation family, particularly the bond between zuko and iroh. It is presented completely different than in the OG, since the 'show don’t tell' of the original happens in Book 2 and here they use flashbacks, but it works. Still ended with me in waterworks. Also, I understand the logic behind showing all of the cards from the very get-go being that Netflix can cancel the show before it is renewed for another season, so it needed to make the best impression possible, show all the stakes but not reveal them in ther completion. I think they did that very well so far.

ZUKO IS SO AWKWARD I LOVE HIM

his expressions and reactions are just peak comedy. He is the embodiment of "😫😟" and I love that for him.

Dallas' performance is definitely one of my highlights.

ON KATARA AND SOKKA:

The thing that is the most foreign to me so far is the decision to improve Sokka's emotional stakes at the expense of Katara's. I like it but this has to be the element where the adaptation departs the most from the og. Like, in the cartoon it is Katara who bears the brunt of the responsibility taking care of the water tribe and her brother, which is why Sokka's sexism as a character flaw worked there. I can see now why they chose to drop that. With the script flipped like this, with Sokka being the main caretaker and provider between him and Katara, making him stay sexist would've been a bit too much. It is very different, but I like how they flipped the script between them.

What I did not like about this flip is that the change seems to affect Katara's character for the worse. She is not as outspoken or short-tempered as she was in the cartoon. It's almost the complete opposite. But I can definitely see the shyness and insecurity being the deliberate starting point of her arc. Now in ep 5, you can see her becoming more confident both in personality and bending. I think this was a conscious decision, but I still wish she had been written to be more headstrong from the very beginning.

That being said, I really appreciate how different the dynamic between Sokka and Katara is. I love how Katara is trying to get her independence while Sokka is still caught on the fact he has to be her protector, almost parent figure, which is a cool change of pace. One of the things that kinda bothered me as a young girl watching Avatar was that Katara was always stuck being the mom and sort of getting teased for it despite the fact no one else could or wanted to step up to that responsibility. It's cool to see Sokka bearing that responsibility as the eldest in the adaptation.

ON THE BLATANTLY MISSING KATAANG

You know, I don't hate this change. Aang and Katara's interactions are still pretty wholesome, and once they start catching feelings for each other, it will be super cute because you see where the love is truly coming from. It's not just Aang's childhood crush/Katara's "destiny", as it was presented it the cartoon. Besides it would have looked a little weird, considering that the age gap between Gordon and Kiawentiio is way more obvious on screen than it is right now when you see the interviews with the cast, because that kid Gordon is growing up SO fast.

OVERALL:

I am enjoying it very much! The adaptation is excellent. Despite some changes being quite big, they managed to capture most of the show's essence. I do believe it could have benefitted from a bit more balance between the comedy and the seriousness, particularly when it comes to Aang because he is mostly just weighted down by his responsibility in the adaptation, I don't see him joke as much, but in general and all limitations considered, I think they did an excellent job! It won't be for everyone, for sure, but I can say it has managed to bring back that feeling of watching the show for the first time again on some parts :)

[dust-jacket-analysis]

I was gonna make this an anonymous confession on @tmf-confessions but decided to be brave and actually post it here, so here goes nothing.

I've seen a lot of people suggest that, outside of his own insecurities and inner turmoil, there "must be a reason Drew bullies the club." Or that "The club had to have done something to cause Drew to start bullying them."

And no hate to anyone who has made this take, but every time I see this I facepalm. Because no.

Now, I'm the first person to come and argue in defense of Drew as a character. I love him dearly and consider him one of the best-written characters in the series. He has that full package that I just eat up in a character every time. The good writing, the parallels to multiple cast members, and he's angsty as hell.

But, despite my deep love for this character, I still can acknowledge that him bullying the club, is wrong. It's a bad thing to do. But I find a lot of Drew stans cannot admit that. That's a whole other conversation though.

The point is, I notice a lot of people across the tmf community search for a reason to justify Drew's bullying. And I just find that wrong.

For one, on a writing perspective, it really diminishes his character. A part of why he's so fascinating is because he's flawed. And it's not something small that people find annoying, it's a big thing that makes people think about morality and all that. He's doing something that so many viewers have experienced ourselves, have been impacted by. Something that everyone of us can see is reprehensible and morally wrong. Whether you love him or not, that's a basic thing we should be able to agree on.

So to have something have happened? Write in that the club had done something that caused Drew to bully them? That's taking away that flaw, and almost like justifying it. Saying it wasn't so bad because the club "deserved it."

And that leads me to point number two.

A lot of people point out that Drew listens to music. Constantly has airpods in. "So there has to be a reason, because it's not simply due to them liking music because he does too."

And... yes but no.

It isn't because they like music, but it isn't not? Truly the reason Drew is a bully is because of his own inner conflict with himself. Hailey was spot on when calling him insecure because that's exactly what it is. He was just able to hone in on the Club because they liked making music. Because it was a hobby that in that universe is considered weird or odd.

Basically, them being musicians just made them easy targets for Drew to project onto. So it is and isn't the reason he bullies them.

The problem with suggesting anything otherwise, is that it pushes a narrative. A narrative that you did something to warrant or deserve the bullying. It would spin things to make Drew look better and the club look like the assholes who deserved the years of mistreatment.

Which isn't true! I don't even like the club that much, but they did not deserve the bullying. They were pretty much minding their own business when Drew started being a prick.

And that is how it is with bullies in real life! You usually didn't do anything to provoke a bully. They just are miserable and insecure people projecting onto easy targets.

And there are obviously outliers. But this is not one of those cases. Drew's an asshole and bullied the club of his own fruition and reason. Not because they "did something first."

This doesn't mean you can't like him or enjoy his character. He's written in a way where you're supposed to despite his flaws. But it get's annoying when people try to justify and erase the bad things he's done for those reasons.