#maybe i'm being pessimistic about this but like. come on
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
arcane-ish · 2 days ago
Text
I feel like the negative judgements about Vi's intelligence are heavily tied into:
1.) People only respecting two kinds of intelligence, either inventing (like Jayce, Viktor, Jinx and Ekko) or scheming (like Mel and Silco). Which is an incredibly reductive view on intelligence.
2.) People being upset that Vi doesn't do what they want her to do. I think there are a lot of people on various sides who consumed Arcane as a media and wanted Vi to become leader of the underground or become head of the Firelights for example. They have a certain view on the Zaun versus Piltover conflict and might lean towards thinking it is dumb of Vi not to share their analysis of the situation.
And that I just disagree with. It's not that Vi is too dumb to become leader of Underground, it's that she genuinely isn't interested. It's possible that she doesn't "understand" the complexities of power relationships between Piltover and Zaun (we can't see into her head), but maybe she just generally has a different moral outlook on life. (whether it is "prioritizing your family and loved ones over larger society is a good idea" or "all people have value and are a mixture between good and bad, regardless where they come from").
People, especially in certain online spaces act like these are "solved" problems (ie "well obviously thinking systemically is superior" and "well, obviously, people who are part of an oppressing system should be treated differently"), when in reality for a lot of people they aren't. And they aren't because those people are too dumb to understand the "correct" choice, they just have different values.
"I prioritize my immediate surroundings" could genuinely be for "I'm overwhelmed and scared by complex systems and withdraw towards simple things I understand" or it could for example be deeply cynical "I have a pessimistic outlook on what effect my contribution will have on a systemic level and/or I have made the experience that people who go on about the systemic level don't achieve anything or make the lived reality of people worse".
For Vi specifically I think the show does portray her as somebody straight laced and stubborn (but not incapable of adapting her world view). And somebody who generally has very good instincts about people or who heavily relies on her instincts on people.
IMO in season 2 we have seen Vi do her cop-like tracking of people twice. First at the memorial attack where she spotted the the chem goon and quickly understood the situation and who was involved in the attack. (even her fighting style against stronger opponents like the chem goons shows a complexity about finding weak points, like tearing off the chem baron's valve) Second when she tracks Singed. (and I would argue we have also seen her be suspicious of Ambessa after the Memorial Attack)
And her being willing to change her mind on disliking/distrusting Jinx and letting Jinx's words lead her to change her mind on seeing Warwick as a threat again is an example imo both on her trusting her instincts but also adapting. Vi's judgments about people isn't just "I see or smell you and I make my judgement", imo she watches people and adapts her judgement accordingly. IMO she adapated her judgement of Jinx because she saw how Jinx interacted with Isha. Just like she was initially suspicious of Caitlyn, but opened up to her when she saw how Caitlyn acted in a variety of situations.
IMO the idea that Vi has good instincts on characters isn't very pleasant, because she makes value judgements about people (such as she likes Caitlyn, but she does not like Silco) that might not match everybody's preference. Again, some people might want to turn this into a question of intelligence. Such as thinking Vi is "dumb" of liking Caitlyn more than Silco, when to them clearly Caitlyn is more immoral than Silco because she is part of an oppressive system or because Silco is more honest or more powerful or more smart. Rather than "year, but what if Vi has just has different priorities or a different value system". (like "will this person attack me" or "will this person be nice to me" or "will this person betray me" or "will this person be open to reason" or "does this person have straight laced goals")
When I look at season 1, Act 2 and 3, I see Vi as somebody with a clear goal (find and retrieve Powder). She has her goal, she identifies what she perceives to be threats to this goal (Silco), she is aware she is not strong enough to bring him down on her own, she identifies Shimmer as a source of his power, she makes allies and then attacks what she sees at the source of his power.
Vi has her goals and she has her tools and strategies (ie find allies, get more firepower, attack). [another good example being when during the Memorial Attack, Vi withdraws to retrieve the Hextech Hammer, because her analysis of the situation is that without it the fight might not be winnable]
Again, people might be looking at Vi's process and disagree on various steps (what she identifies as a threat, why she chooses one method and not another (ie choose violence rather than negotiation or subterfuge)), but imo it's pretty clear that Vi has multi step approaches and her choosing one methods might just be a question of personal preference.
one of the saddest things to me abt vi that i haven’t rly seen anyone talk abt is the fact that she never rly got the ability or privilege of learning how to do much else other than to be mainly good at fighting.
she’s learned that fighting is how you protect yourself and others, and protection is how you show love.
not to mention, she ended up getting unfairly sent to stillwater for years, and if caitlyn hadn’t broken her out, it would have most likely been forever.
she’s just never rly had the time to learn smth else to excel at.
155 notes · View notes
passionatememes · 6 months ago
Text
here's the crux of the ai art issue that everyone is freaking out talking about right now (mostly on instagram)
uploading your art to the internet just like. inherently has these types of risks to it. just like your art being reposted by someone else is always a possibility when you upload, getting your art scraped is always a possibility, and that's just something that is borderline inevitable now. if your art exists online in 2023/2024, it's almost certainly been scraped, there are things you can do to discourage it, but short of not posting at all, its always a possibility
so like. seeing my instagram feed be a bunch of people acting as if it's a new thing rather than just something that was happening without necessarily being disclosed is wild to me, like i thought this was an assumption we were all working under,,,,,,,
2 notes · View notes
harmonysanreads · 15 days ago
Note
Yandere Dr Ratio truly is delicious🤭 there are endless possibilities with him. He is truly underrated 🫠
Hi Lavandula!
Tumblr media
I do get why Yandere Ratio isn't widely explored. Ratio isn't really the ‘typical’ Yandere. He won't respond in the same way towards intense feelings as others due to how developed he is when it comes to himself. Characters who are morally gray and towards that end of the spectrum usually make better Yanderes. Ratio's motivations and overall role can make it difficult to imagine him in that light.
Dr. Ratio, to me, is like the study of Logic personified — even more so than Alhaitham. Logic attempts to advance closer towards ‘truth’ by bringing something inherently abstract (thoughts) in tangible constructs. Something about that reminds me a lot about Ratio's mission. You'd think that the man would be extremely pessimistic about the future based on how he speaks, but surprise surprise, he's the exact opposite. Almost as if he experienced it all first-hand.
There is a fun overlap I noticed while studying him (alongside Sunday and Aventurine), although I'm not sure if this is just a coincidence. If you think back to all the questions Sunday proposes about humanity and then rewatch the exchange Ratio has with Screwllum at the end of Crown of the Mundane and Divine — you'll notice that the answers have been there all along.
The words themselves don't matter much, it's the manner, the casual certainty in his tone that gives them meaning. In many cases, Ratio is that man who's already passed many of the struggles of life and is attempting to help others in his very Dr. Ratio way. I sometimes joke that the more issues a character has, the better Yandere they make. If we just take that seriously for a second, compare it to Ratio's significant lack of issues (at present) in comparison to some other characters, I think it makes sense why he's a bit complicated.
One of the perks of Yandere Ratio in my opinion is that, he can work well with almost any kind of darling. Perhaps you're intellectually driven like him, maybe your world views are drastically different from his. Maybe you carry yourself in a certain way, respond to the world around you in a manner that piques his interest. The problem-solving instincts kick in whenever he's observing you.
Or maybe you're quite dumb, constantly walk straight into problems that could've easily been avoided had you just thought twice. Ratio can't stand idiocy, you see. He must treat this malady himself before the worst case scenario comes true.
He's a victim of cuteness aggression when it comes to you, more than you'd think and I will not be taking criticisms here. It's not difficult to break down emotions to their atomic structures in order to avoid processing them, but you make even that a task. He acts so dignified and self-assured all the time, but the moment you commit the greatest offence in his presence (read : being nice to him) — he's going to be thinking about it all month.
The rush of feelings is unfamiliar at best, counterproductive at worst. The thoughts he eventually starts to have are concerning. Distancing himself from you doesn't work, his weird behavior may temporarily make you avoid him. But, he doesn't like that either and oh goodness, the insecurities that surge forward when you're being happy in others' company.
Ignorance may be the disease that plagues most of the universe, but there is something far vicious, obstinate and perplexing that has grasped the great doctor. And he isn't quite certain if he wants to cure himself of it.
Tumblr media
189 notes · View notes
uriekukistan · 6 months ago
Text
JJK 261 ANALYSIS: What happened, how, why Yuuta made the choice he did, and a discussion of tragedy & major themes of JJK
MAJOR spoilers below the cut so please read at your risk.
i wanted to dissect what happened a bit, and address a few points i saw floating around since the leaks dropped. of course, these are all my interpretations, so feel free to disagree, i just had a lot of thoughts floating around that i wanted to put out for discussion.
I. Gojo was never coming back
first of all, i don't know how you guys expected him to survive bisection. i said this earlier in the day as my justification for why i didn't think gojo was coming back, prior to leaks, and i don't think i can say it any better now.
Tumblr media
and this is just my interpretation of reverse curse technique, but if anything, yuuta in this chapter supports my theory. in the scene where he's on shoko's table and arata nitta says that he's used rct to keep the wounds from getting worse, but it might be too late for yuuta to recover. in that case, gojo wasn't coming back from being sliced in half. it's just not possible.
additionally, and this is another thing that i've said for a long time. he says right in episode 6 (i forgot the chapter) that his dream is to reset the jujutsu world raise up a generation of strong students that work together. that is why he became a teacher. this very clearly comes from his relationship with suguru, and it's one of gojo's clearest motivations from the beginning.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
the problem is, in order to achieve this, he has to die. so long as satoru gojo is alive, he will have to carry the burden of being the strongest alone. his students won't have to work together, because gojo will just take care of everything. this is already in the works, with how many people have come together to stand against sukuna. if gojo lived and defeated sukuna on his own, this wouldn't have happened, and bringing him back would, again, reduce the need for his students work together.
unfortunately, gojo has been doomed by the narrative from the start, and his primary goal as a character basically requires his death to be realized in its entirety.
II. They're not heroes, they're jujutsu sorcerers.
yeah, i'm stealing megumi's line because it's true. he literally said it twice for a reason, and then yuuta said a repackaged version of it in this chapter ("we're about to fight history's strongest jujutsu sorcerer. if we can win by throwing away our humanity, we shouldn't even be arguing about this").
trust, all the characters are well aware of the ethical issues with taking gojo's body after he's dead, both with what it means for gojo, and with what it means for yuuta. but this isn't a story about heroism, this isn't a story about the power of friendship. if it was, yuuji would have saved junpei all the way back at the beginning of the series. it was pretty clear from the start that this wasn't going to be the typical shounen manga like that.
in fact, expecting it to be is unrealistic. it's unrealistic in real life too, if i'm being so honest. everyone wants to think they'd take the moral high road in this type of situation, but the reality is, when you're fighting tooth and nail against an opponent that is fighting dirty, you have to fight dirty too if you want to win, and i think that's what yuuta is trying to point out in this chapter.
this happens in real life wars which im not gonna get into examples because i dont want to start that kind of discourse, but like...it's so great to be idealistic and hope that virtue will triumph simply because it is virtuous, but i think if you take a look around, you'll realize it's true that good people do not get what they deserve simply because they're good (that's so megumi of me to say...). or if you think of it like a board game, if a player is cheating, it is infinitely harder to win without cheating yourself.
maybe this is a bit pessimistic of me to say, but you will not win a dirty fight without getting dirty yourself, and i think it's pretty clear that sukuna fights dirty.
additionally, it's shitty to see gojo be weaponized, and i understand that, but it plays into the themes about strength in jjk, which i will get into.
III. This was not an "ass pull."
i don't really have much to say to this. did you think yuuta wouldn't take kenjaku's technique? plus, kenjaku being eaten by rika is probably the only surefire way to ensure that they're dead and won't just hop to another body. i've already said why gojo wouldn't come back, but it makes sense that if yuuta were to copy kenjaku's technique, who else would he body hop into, if not gojo? there's already narrative evidence to support this action, from the guidelines of yuuta's technique, kenjaku's technique, and gojo's technique, to the character of yuuta okkotsu, which i want to do an analysis in a separate post for him, so i won't get into that right now.
idk...to me, all the threads connect, plus i felt like yuuta's return was foreshadowed pretty heavily in 259 & 260, with the mention of yuuta's plan that yuuji couldn't know, and then on the last page of 260, the comparison of sukuna and yuuta, so for me, i always thought that it was not actually gojo, but yuuta at the end of 260.
IV. Themes of JJK: The burden of being "the strongest," or even just strong
even many jjk fans see gojo as "the strongest," and nothing more, doing exactly what the narrative sets up as one of the chief problems of jjk. a lot of gojo's actions are spurred on by the burden he feels from being the strongest modern sorcerer. his entire character is built around this problem of the responsibility and burden that falls on someone who's considered to be "the best" at anything.
in fact, this is also a driving point for geto too, and the conflicts geto and gojo come into with each other, as well as geto's inevitable fall from grace. it all comes from this issue that's at the core of jujutsu society. gojo recognizes that, and, as i mentioned, that is why he became a teacher. so that no young sorcerers will feel the burden of being the strongest alone.
the problem is this is easier said than done. after gojo dies, this burden gets passed down to yuuta, and he feels that immense pressure, which is why he decides to do what he does. he says "haven’t we been pushing the burden of being a monster onto gojo-sensei alone? if gojo-sensei is gone, then who else will be the monster? If no one intends to become one, then I will!" and i think this really powerful evidence of the pressure and burden of being the strongest, and i think the word monster is really important here. the burden pushes people to be something they're not, a shadow of their true self.
it distorts morality, like with geto. it isolates people, like with gojo. it forces people to go to unspeakable lengths to uphold their burden, like with yuuta. it leads people with immense power to doubt themselves, like with megumi. it leads people to feel like a cog in the machine, not a human, like with yuuji.
this is sooo so important and a key theme of jjk, and this chapter in particular, and the driving force behind yuuta's actions.
V. Themes in JJK: Loneliness and Isolation
this one has, in my opinion, a bigger role in the story overall than just in this chapter.
as i mentioned before, gojo is lonely. the only person who could understand him was geto, and he turned away from him, and then died. he seems like a silly guy or whatever, but it's just a mask.
but geto also felt alone and isolated, and that's why he turned away. between gojo and geto, neither of them were able to put share the burden of carrying their strength alone, and it's what kept them apart and made their relationship so tragic.
arguably, and though he would never admit it, sukuna is also lonely, though it's buried deep within him and something he will likely never acknowledge, despite it, and his lack of understanding of love (arguably a symptom of his loneliness), are major reasons for the way he acts.
yuuta, though supported by maki, inumaki, and panda in a way that the previously mentioned characters are not, is still isolated. he alone carries the burden of his strength. he was also alone his whole life after rika died, and then again when he was shipped off to africa, away from his friends (yeah he had miguel, maybe i'm missing something, but i dont see them having that type of relationship.
not only that, but yuuta recognizes gojo's loneliness, and reaches out to tell him not to try to stand by himself once again, and gojo admits that's something he can't do, the reason being his relationship with geto.
even further, yuuji and megumi, the parallel to satosugu, are both deeply lonely, except for when they have each other. i mentioned in this analysis that the reason megumi can't just get up and keep going is because he's alone and has been for over a month. i want to get into this more in my next point.
VI. Where I think (hope) this leads for JJK
a satisfying ending for jjk, in my opinion, would be the resolution to this loneliness and burden of strength issue that has been present throughout the narrative. something like yuuji being able to save megumi and them being able to correct what went wrong with satosugu in their own relationship.
personally would like to see satosugu reach the ending they should have had through the itafushi parallels - let them save each other! but i do know gege said only one of them (the trio + gojo) will die, or only one will live....that was years ago maybe he changed his mind :D
we all want to see yuuji take down sukuna himself, but i think it would be a great resolution to see everyone take down sukuna as a team. no one person is alone, no one person has the burden of the strongest. i know i said this wasn't a "power of friendship" manga, and i stand by that, but i think this would be the perfect ending. yuuta throws his humanity away to do what he did in 261 because he felt like it was the only choice and it was something he alone could do, but yuuji represents unwavering humanity (literally his name), and i think to preserve that, they all need to share that burden. let them realize they need each other.
this is what gojo died for, and this is what he lived for. this is why he became a teacher in the first place- to raise a generation that can be strong together, that can support one another.
VII. "It's poorly written torture porn!" "There's no point if there's no happy ending!" etc
i said this in a separate post but tragedies have existed in literature since the 6th century BCE, 2600 years ago. many of the most popular stories throughout history have been tragedies, for example, orpheus & eurydice, romeo & juliet, even things like the fault in our stars and the titanic movie. here's a quick explanation of what it means for a story to be a tragedy (yeah it's from wikipedia but they want me to pay to access the original source and im not doing that for a jjk analysis)
Tumblr media
one of things i like most about this definition is the use of the word "catharsis," which is to say that the expression of strong emotions is a way of bringing about renewal and relief. in literature, it's used to say that with the arousal and following release of negative emotions relieves suppressed emotions for the viewer. im not gonna get too personal with it, but i know i've experienced this with jjk.
additionally all of the aforementioned tragedies, they have a message, no matter how sad they are. orpheus & eurydice inspires perseverance and faith in the gods. even something like titanic has messages about everlasting love that overcomes all boundaries. jjk has its message too, and it's long underway. we just have to wait for it to reach its conclusion.
it's easy to lose sight of the bigger picture when we only get one chapter a week, and the fact that the pain is so dragged out is a bit tiring, i'll admit. but that doesn't mean it's bad. having negative emotions stirred by a story doesn't mean bad writing. i mean, i would hope you feel sad. i would hope you feel angry. i would be concerned if you didn't. but given that jjk is a tragedy, that just indicates good writing. especially these last two chapters, i've felt moved in a way nothing else has done for me in a long time.
as always, these are just my thoughts!!! im happy to hear from anyone what they think :D
358 notes · View notes
reasonsforhope · 1 year ago
Text
Hope is something you learn
Here's the thing: I'm not a naturally hopeful person.
I'm not running a good news blog because I've always naturally gravitated toward good news. I'm not running a blog titled "reasons for hope" because hope is something that comes easily to me
It's actually the complete opposite. Teenage me was a giant cynic and a sarcastic pessimist and probably regarded as a killjoy, tbh. Picture a young, bespectacled, well-informed raincloud, maybe, idk. I could find a negative point to undermine just about anything
Nowadays, I'm one of the most hopeful people I know when it comes to the future - especially among people who actually follow the news
So, if you're feeling hopeless or depressed or anxious or despairing - or all and more - about the state of the world, and you're tired of feeling that way, I want you to know that you absolutely do not have to be a naturally hopeful or optimistic person in order to find hope
I got here because I struggled and clawed my way to hope, deliberately, because I needed it desperately. And the start of that path was bookmarking good news websites and checking them every day - which is why I built this blog
Here's the thing: the news, social media, and the human brain itself are all very biased toward negativity. The human brain is wired this way to help us survive things like tiger attacks - and since people are biased toward negative information, they click on it more, so negativity generates way more clicks and makes way more money.
It's a sucky, vicious cycle. But it doesn't accurately reflect reality - that's the whole point of bias.
It's actually kinda irritating that it's true, imho, but your focus really does determine (a lot of) your reality
If you want to have hope, sometimes you need to build it yourself. Even when it's so hard you don't know if you ever can. And then you need to keep building it, because the world isn't static and neither does your brain. Hope needs maintenance, just like everything else
So it's lucky, then, that human beings and the world are both generally better than we think - and certainly better than news or social media is willing to tell us
Sources Human brain negativity bias: x, x, x, x, x, x News negativity bias: x, x, x, x, x Social media negativity bias: x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x
727 notes · View notes
hopelessdazai · 5 months ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
✿ 》 the bed is a nice place to be, but it's time to get up now.
╰⧼ 🍂 note.. ⧽ ; I'm really hoping this does well , I'm quite proud of it. I dotn expect it to get far because its not smut but please share it around !! I love u <3
╰⧼ 🍘 features.. ⧽ ; dazai x gn!reader. WC ; 2.7k
╰⧼ 🕰 contents.. ⧽ ; angst, references and mentions of self harm, references to potential eating disorders, mentions of spiders, dazai is a pessimistic bastard,
Tumblr media
the night was always calming. always quiet. always cold enough for the breeze to allow for any physical feelings to run through the body - the tingles across skin and the chill air that almost cuts the cheek.
dazai liked the night. and laying in the grass of an empty park at 3 in the morning wasn't as unusual to him as it would be to an outsider.
who are you?
that was the question. always what ran through his mind. who are you? not his name, not his hobbies. him. to define and determine himself. what was he? who was he? how was he supposed to know?
not human - was his response. always the same, as repetitive as it was. humanity was a struggle, to know when to let yourself feel, and to know when to stop. those unspoken standards seemed to be known by everyone but him.
was he strange for never letting himself feel at all? or would people understand it was easier? difficulties between people - to be misunderstood was his greatest phobia. one to face on the daily. why was it so difficult? so difficult to know?
the grass brushed against his cheek, it was quiet. brunette curls that framed his face now swept back. dazai closed his eyes. maybe he needed the tranquility, maybe he needed to run from it all.
the playground was the best place to be for him. he had never been allowed to step foot in one before - always told he was too mature to need it. he avoided them in the daytime, the sounds of children laughing and playing pretend made his throat sting.
memories and feelings were difficult things to seperate. a sense of nostalgia was something dazai never got a positive thought about. all that was known was violence - and he only felt like a child again when his hands were wrapped around a gun.
he didn't need to play. if he thought hard enough, maybe that younger version of him would leave his chest. maybe it would allow itself to pretend beyond being happy. to be a sailor, a pilot, a knight in heavy armour. to have what it never could grasp. to replace the heavy mind.
pretending was easy, believing was the hard part. it always has been the difficult part. if dazai was to change anything about himself, he'd make himself more gullible. maybe if he pretended hard enough, he'd believe in himself too.
was it so wrong to want to feel human? was it so wrongful to hope for a regular moment? would anyone believe him if he asked?
maybe he just wished to be his own puppeteer. to hold the strings instead of feeling them only wrapped so tightly around his wrist, to know what the weight of a lessened burden felt like. to know a difference from the blood that dripped when the strings cut too deep - when they were tugged too hard.
dazai liked the night. to think about these things without anybody nagging him, that was his wish. the quiet in the air, the smell of the residue of once was during daylight. it was always so quiet.
but you'd changed that.
footsteps through the grass, they interrupted his thinking. opening his eyes to sit up and glance at you. why would somebody else be here? brainrotting about what'd lead someone to where he laid now wasn't a known public hobby. much less in a park.
"..Are you okay?"
the question comes so foreign to dazai. are you okay? how could he even find a response? how long had it been since anyone had asked him that? you were a stranger, and he'd call a bluff against boredom if you didn't have a concerned tone to your voice.
"Don't I look okay?"
he responded. even in the dim light, he noticed the way your eyes widened. if he didn't feel so heavy, he would've put more energy in to smile. to give you the act he put on to any other human being seemed so tiring. and you had to be at least drunk if you were out this late at night anyway.
you don't reply for a moment. dazai picks up on your silence. the wind brushing through his hair like a mothers comforting hand. its the closest he could get to physical affection in his adult years. he'd close his eyes and hum a broken melody to pretend if the unwanted presence of your being wasn't in his mind.
"Who are you?"
who is he. are you trying to kill him?
it's dazai's turn to not respond. russet eyes glancing at yours for only a moment. he couldn't make out any of your features - it was too dark. he would've liked it, usually. but thats when he was on his own. he wasn't used to not being on his own.
what response did you want? what were you expecting to hear? his name? an occupation? the question was so simple - so commonly used and so easy to answer. yet he couldn't. who was he. he didn't want you to know his name, anyway.
you were just a stranger. a stranger standing in a park playground with only the moonlight with enough energy to smile at you. with only the stars to show you all the energy they had. was it depressing? was he being too wasteful?
"I'm not sure." Dazai chuckled, the answer wasn't right, but it was all he could come up with. he wasn't sure - and he never recalled ever being so. maybe that was what made him so different. he'd never had a stable identity, never a real idea of himself.
you don't seem upset with him. nor even slightly mad. it takes him by suprise, if it was anybody he'd known they would've asked for a firmer answer. if it was anybody else, maybe they would've told him who he was.
but you weren't anybody else. you weren't anybody he'd known. you were just a stranger. dazai didn't like that word - but if there was any other term for you, it wasn't coming to him.
he sighed, his breath causing a puffed cloud of white. he hadn't realised just how cold it was, it's not like he was in his own body anyway. his mind was somewhere else, somewhere so far. somewhere he felt safer. he just didn't know where that was to find it.
"We can start with why?" you speak, your tone is hesitant. he hopes he isn't scaring you, he's tired of being scared of. "Why are you here?"
that question isn't any better, either.
would he tell you? was his chest light enough to know if you'd be safe with knowing about him? he didn't know you enough to know if you were worth learning how to answer these questions for.
"To think." Dazai responded, short and simple. it wasn't anything you'd be cared about anyway, maybe it would turn you away. maybe you'd leave. the thought of holding someone else's emotions in your chest with you would surely turn and let him rest. the idea of becoming moss was appealing.
you tilt your head, and he flinches as you step closer and sit beside him. how long had it been since he's sat beside someone like this? how long had it been since he allowed himself to simply exist alongside another?
something about it made him feel more lonely, but he tried to swallow that back.
you don't say anything, simply staying beside him. dazai mentally thanks you for a moment, for not assuming the worse and running. he's sure you're afraid. but so was he.
"I think I read somewhere you shouldn't think too hard about anything after 9pm." you state. it takes him everything not to laugh. had you been gullible? or were you not aware how the world worked? everything continued to run after 9pm. the world didn't stop for anybody, no matter how much they begged.
"Is that so?" The brunette hummed, "That's a rather foolish ideal."
he smiled lightly at the way you squinted. surely you'd agree if it wasn't for such a strong hatred of an outside nihilism.
"Must you be so depressing?" You reply. it catches him so strongly off guard, he finds his breath getting caught in the back of his throat. must he? It's not like he'd practiced any different. you didn't know him to know that. you didn't know to lie to him, or to grin and bare it.
you didn't know dazai.
the thought seems to reach his heart before his mind. you didn't know of him, you didn't know him. to you, he was some strange man laying in a park playground after dark. he wasn't a mafia prodigy to be afraid of, he was just a strange human being.
he doesn't need to be who he knows. you won't need to laugh his words off and know it's what he's always like. you did not know dazai osamu, and you had no idea about his actions or principles.
he nods, mumbling a vaguely sounding sorry. you're right, he shouldn't be so depressing. you didn't know it was commonly just his thing.
"You don't have to be verbal about it."
Dazai looked over at you after you'd spoke, part of him was hoping you'd look back. but your eyes seemed to be focused on the stars above. he would've punched himself for having expectations. he didn't deserve those.
he doesn't recall being verbal about any problems in his entire life. he didn't recall being genuine enough to even listen when he tried to show things physically. feeling like a burden was one thing, but being told was another.
this was the first time in a long while dazai hadn't known what to say. no joking around, no useless puns. and it surely wasn't any appropriate hour for a pickup line.
"..Then what do you think I should do?" He asks you. a shiver runs along his skin, and he cringes at how childish he sounds. dazai had always known what to do - maybe it was time for osamu to try and learn something.
"What do I think?" You look at him. he swears he feels his breath catch at the look in your eyes. he doesn't take it upon himself to analyse what's in them. he just appreciates a gaze that isn't entirely hateful. one that isn't laughing at a lack of knowledge. it's the most humanised he'd ever felt.
"Remember to eat three meals a day, I think. one is okay, if you can't manage that many."
dazai thinks for a moment, his eyebrows reaching a frown. he spent most of his time at home in bed - it was comfortable, a place to ignore and rot. problems didn't need to be solved when he could have a sheet around him and his eyes closed just long enough to convince himself he'd passed away.
maybe he'd have pasta for dinner.
"You can appriciate the rain too." you continue, and it almost shocks him solid to know you're paying him so much mind without asking for anything in return.
"Many people associate rain with misery. but its a wonderful thing. it waters all the plants, it can remind you how lucky you are to not have to be in it."
lucky? dazai didn't think he was lucky. sometimes he'd go out in the nighttime rain with only a coat and a short sleeve t-shirt. to lay down in the park like any other day, to unravel his bandages and feel such a raw sensation on his arms. the chill of the water felt nicer then the punishment intended to a blades edge.
maybe he could appriciate that. to know it was optional - to know it was welcoming enough to let the bugs and the clouds see him at his most vaunrable. the grass suddenly felt like a warm hug despite the cold.
nobody speaks for a moment. nobody has to. he doesn't expect anything of you - and you do not expect anything of him. it's a comfortable silence. one dazai does not feel obligated to fill.
you sit that way for a while. dazai feels a strange sensation in his chest for every second longer you exist with him. why were you doing this? he could easily hurt you, he could easily be somebody dangerous. he's always been somebody dangerous.
but you don't seem afraid. you seem comfortable.
why are you so comfortable? why aren't you afraid?
dazai's hand brushed against the grass. enjoying how it moved under the pads of his fingers - letting himself smile at the thought of all the bugs being so curious about what he was. to them he was human, to them he was like any other child they must scuttle from to hide.
he was somebody to hide from. but being so similar to that of a child ; something that was so foreign to him. something about it made him glad to be here. glad to be existing alongside, glad to learn things from you.
maybe he'd go to the cafe and get a sandwich for lunch.
he felt you shift, looking up to see you. your eyes on his, just like he'd expected before. neither of you look away for a moment. were you curious? did you see his movement and wonder what he was doing?
"...There's bugs in the grass." dazai mumbled. and you laughed.
you laughed.
he looked away, his cheeks heating up. a sense of embarrassment washing over him. was it that funny? was it effortlessly wonderful? he didn't even mean to cause a reaction out of you. but he adored the sound.
"There's bugs everywhere." you say, your voice calmer. he misses the sound almost instantly. "In grass, in houses, on the concrete we walk. they're lovely little creatures, and many don't even mean any harm. they all help us"
all? he winces. dazai doesn't remember the last time a mosquito bit him in an act of trying to assist him. he didn't remember a mosquito biting him at all - ever since the bandages started to appear over his skin more it'd spare him of the itch. but that was besides the point.
most creatures that seemed scary meant well, didn't they? those spiders everybody seemed to scream over - they were just like any human being. most of them try to get by, they keep fly populations slim. its how they look that made them so cursed, that made people so afraid. they were misunderstood.
dazai felt like a spider sometimes.
maybe you weren't laughing at his childishness. perhaps you weren't even curious. for to people watch without a reason wasn't unheard of. he just hoped you weren't there to judge him. it'd be while before he felt so comfortable with another stranger.
you don't speak for a while. neither does he. how strange it was to grieve someone who was still alive.
"It's getting late." you mumble after a while, standing up. he notices the way you brush the grass off your clothes, how you glance down at him for a second too long - his cheeks felt warm as he shifted focus back to the stars. he doesn't respond verbally, simply letting out a hum.
the night doesn't feel any warmer, dazai knows that. the temperature hasn't changed from the moment he left his messy apartment to go to the park in the first place. but there was an odd weight in his chest for once - one he couldn't quite identify. maybe you'd left fingerprints there, he thought.
"You should get back." He looked up at you, regretting the words almost immediately as soon as they left his scarred lips. he didn't want you to leave, you couldn't come, change his perspectives, and leave. it wasn't fair, it just wasn't fair.
could he manage cereal for breakfast?
"Goodnight, I hope you feel better in the morning." You smile - and it's so sincere. dazai suddenly had the urge to rip his chest open. feel better? as if. though he smiles in return, holding a hand out to you. he hopes they aren't too calloused.
"um- osamu. It's been a pleasure."
watching someone walk away had never been difficult. watching someone leave was something he should've been used to. so why did this ache so badly? he looked at his palm, the tingle of your warmth still radiating. it makes him feel sick - he runs his hand through the grass once more.
he hoped to never learn your name. to have a title to miss, a name to carve into his heart, would make it all the worse.
maybe he'll skip tomorrow's meals again after all.
Tumblr media
tags ; @walking-simp , @rusmii , @bellodazai , @zestylemonsz , @himikoslove , @bananaede ,
241 notes · View notes
blujayonthewing · 11 months ago
Text
besties you will never guess where she got covid
friend who is constantly bugging me to come to karaoke with her on wednesdays, including this past wednesday, has covid, again
10 notes · View notes
andillneverbethesame · 1 year ago
Note
hi! my first req so i apologise if it's incredibly awkward >.< saw you were looking for ts x hp requests and i would love to see 'mine' with james, if possible? tysm!! <3
𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆.
❥ pairings; james potter x fem!reader
❥ summary; after a failed marriage of your parents, your views on love are pessimistic. however, a certain handsome waiter makes you believe in it again.
❥ warnings; muggle au
❥ a/n; this is so bad n short but i have a writer's block so i'm sorry yall :(
Tumblr media
"and what can i get you?" the waiter turned to you and gave you a smile he didn't give your friend.
you weren't stupid. you knew this boy— james — was flirting with you. you knew this since the very first time you walked into this café and he was there. but you had to act clueless. you didn't want to give him a chance just to get your heart shattered.
"cappuccino would be good," you said with a small smile. it was the kind of smile that shouldn't get his hopes high.
he nodded and winked at you. "i'll be right back."
your friend dorcas elbowed you harshly in the ribs and you let out a groan of pain.
"what was that for?"
she placed her hands on your shoulders and started shaking with you.
"wake up! that bloke's totally into you!"
you slapped her hands away. "well, i know that!he's not being really secretive about it."
"then why aren't you flirting back? he's really handsome, i'd totally go for him if he was a girl."
you rolled your eyes. "he probably just wants to get into my pants anyway."
"he's been flirting with you for weeks! if he really only wanted to sleep with you, it would already happen."
you didn't respond to that because james was back with your order.
you looked up and thanked him and he gave you that smile again, not even bothering to glance at dorcas before walking away.
when he was gone and dorcas started talking about her new job, you noticed a piece of paper on the small plate under your cup.
you furrowed your eyebrows and read it.
call me;
his number was scribbled bellow.
mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine
when you got home that day, you placed the piece of paper on your bedside table and stared at it. you wondered all afternoon and evening if you should call him and give him a chance or not.
as you were lying in bed, trying to fall asleep with that handsome waiter in your mind, you thought about it all.
you hated to admit it but your heart did in fact skip a beat when he smiled or winked at you and you really wanted to see that more often and not only in the café.
before you knew what you were doing, you propped on one of your elbows and reached for the piece of paper and your phone.
you dialed it, your heart beating fast and your palms getting sweaty.
it was only after one ring you heard his voice.
"hello?"
you opened your mouth but no sound was coming for about a second before you managed to stutter, "h-hi..."
he must have recognised your voice because the next thing he said was, "thank god, i was already thinking i made a complete fool out of myself!"
you let out a small laugh. "no, not at all. i'm sorry i'm calling this late but i had a lot of things to...consider."
you imagined him nod even though you couldn't see it.
"no, that's completely alright. i'm very glad you called. . ." when you didn't say anything, he continued, "this is the part where you say your name."
your eyes widen. "oh, right! sorry. my name's y/n."
"y/n," he repeated. "pretty name for a pretty girl."
it was cliche and you knew it but it made you blush anyway.
"i was wondering if you wanted to. . maybe grab a coffee or go to the cinema or something."
you smiled. "i'd like anything."
"okay! it's a surprise then. how about i pick you up tomorrow at four?"
you quickly thought if you have any plans for tomorrow at four but you knew if there were any, you'd cancel them.
"yes, sounds great. i'll text you the adress."
"awesome!" even though you couldn't see him, you swore you heard a smile in his voice. "all settled then. see you tomorrow, y/n."
"see you, james. goodnight!"
"goodnight."
mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine
the next day at four, just as he promised, james's car was outside your flat building.
you practically ran out of the door and soon regretted to giving into dorcas pleads to wear dress when it was almost autumn already but you didn't want to go back to change now that james saw you.
he got out of his car and like a true gentleman he opened the door for you.
"hi!" he beamed when you reached him. "you look beautiful."
blood rushed into your cheeks. "thank you. you don't look bad yourself."
to say james was good looking would be an incorrent statement. he was so goddamn beautiful with his black curls in his eyes and you didn't regret anything.
you got into the passenger's seat and james got into his driver's one.
"ready to go?"
you nodded.
mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine
the whole way to wherever james was taking you, you both spend it by saying the most basic things about yourselves. you found out he's a college student and he plays rugby and that he'd like to be a professional rugby player in the future and at that moment you decided you were going to watch his nearest game to surprise him.
you yourself talked quite a lot during the care ride which was unusual because you only talked a lot with people close to you.
you arrived at a lake you haven't been at before. it was surrounded by forest and grass. as you were looking around, james pulled out a blanket and a picnic basket out of the car. when you turned back to him, the blanket was laid on the grass by the water and james finished pulling out all the food he brought. you suddenly realised that he must have remembered everything you ever ordered because that's what was lying on the blanket; all your favorite donuts, croissants, ice creams...
"wow," you gasped quietly.
you started to believe for the first time.
mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine
"can you believe it?" you said, looking up at james from your place on his chest.
you two were lying on his couch in his flat just minutes after your first fight. it was a silly one, you knew it but you still were surprised it didn't end up with you slamming the entrance door of his flat.
he chuckled. "i do." he pressed his lips to the topof your head and intertwined his fingers with yours. "we'll never make your parents mistakes."
that was the most comforting sentence anyone could ever say to you and you thought, i can see it now.
mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine
flash forward and you and james were taking on the world together. you two went so far that you started sort of living together (you spent most of your time at his place and you couldn't remember the last time you were at yours).
your relationship with james was sky-high. you told him everything and you started to think he may already know you better than you knew yourself. it was scary at first but you soon realised it could be the best thing you had ever done.
however, even the best things come to end.
or so you thought.
you still remembered it. 2:30am, screaming at james because of something stupid but he didn't even raise his voice at you. he was completely calm and that was maybe what made you so angry.
you ran out crying out into the streets and the realization hit you harder than ever. James was trying to talk things out and all you did was shout and then ran out without giving him a chance.
you could feel an ache in your heart that you knew so very well.
was he going to leave me now?
your hands began to shake, the rain mixing with your tears as you began thinking of the worst scenarios ever; a future without james.
but that's when you saw him; he was running towards you with his hair wet and his shirt glued to his body.
he stopped in front of you, breathing heavily. he brought his hand to your face and you didn't flinch. you knew you didn't have to. he got some of your hair out of your face and looked straight into your eyes. he knew what you were thinking. he always did.
"i'll never leave you alone."
740 notes · View notes
little-pondhead · 2 years ago
Note
Thinking about if Dani ever gets added to the Villain Everlasting Trio au, like how would she fit in? Obviously the JL would have to figure out she's a clone and try and figure out why she exists ("maybe fenton is just that narcissistic?" flash asks, meanwhile batman is already texts agent a to get ready another room in addition to the three already prepared). Maybe she acts like the innocent kid in danger until heroes get close? batfamily trying to pspspsps her away from fenton? The trio collectively calling her their daughter?
I love this au so much, even if I still don't fully forgive you for making Tucker hot.
The way I SPRINTED to my computer.
Tumblr media
Disclaimer: This particular AU has nothing to do with Fun Sized and Feral by @nutcase8691 or my Dani Fenton redesign from a while ago. This isn’t really important, but I thought the plot of this au might be straying the tiniest bit too close to the Feral AU (which I love btw) and I just didn’t want to cause confusion.
TLDR: Dani had to mature too quickly in their home world, so when she arrived in the DC universe, she finally got to slow down and be a kid. :)
Okay okay. Give me a moment. Since everyone is acting like the opposite of their usual self when they're playing villains, your question was, how would she fit in? To backtrack to this earlier post, I said that each of the trio's specific gimmicks somehow ties into their everyday lives. They looked at their immediate friends, family and acquaintances, picked out the traits they saw as 'villainous,' and then applied that to themselves.
Danny became a mad scientist because even though his parents love him through and through, they still hurt him the most. The threat of capture and dissection from the GIW didn't help, either. He wears a suit similar to his parents, pushes his hair up so he can see better, and his white lab coat looks a little like the GIW's suits. The suit is also red, which is the opposite of green, distancing himself further from his hero life as Phantom and connecting him more to his civilian self, where red is present on his shirt. He refuses to use his powers, as well.
Sam looks like an angel, which seems odd given her completely goth look and slightly pessimistic attitude. And if she uses her plant powers (shut up, she totally has them) as part of Team Phantom, then that rules out using them as a villain. They want to completely separate these alter-egos from each other. Well, one of the most significant sources of strife in Sam's personal life is her parents. In the show, they're seen constantly fighting with Sam, trying to mold her into their perfect daughter, when Sam is very obviously happy with how she is right now. So as a silent fuck you to her parents, Sam gets a hold of a Realm artifact, the halo, which gives her a pair of ghostly wings and the ability of flight. Now, she's the one in the air, and Sam is still doing what she does best, even as an angel. She tries to show the world that not all angels are perfect, and in fact, they can be downright monstrous. (This is where her more aggressive and destructive attitude comes in.)
As far as I'm aware, Tucker doesn't have any trauma related to his parents. (The lucky bastard.) He is the tech-nerd stereotype, however. And since he's from a cartoon from 2004, that means he gets bullied. A lot. The show focuses mainly on Danny, but you cannot tell me Tucker wasn't bullied like that, either. For the sake of the au, let's say Danny was taking all the beatings for Tucker. Maybe he was in canon; I can't remember. But not only is Tucker being physically bullied but so is his best friend. (Eventually lover!) And imagine his feelings when Team Phantom shows up to a ghost fight, and Tucker is absolutely useless the entire time. He just can't help at all. Danny and Sam are on the front lines, redirecting hits and doing damage control, and here he is, waiting for the Wi-Fi to catch up on his PDA. It eats him up. He wants to be helpful in more ways than one, and that's what the DC universe gives him. He takes another Realm artifact; this time, it's actually his by birthright, and the artifact drastically increases his physical power, just like he's always wanted. He learns Egyptian magic and dresses in a way that gives homage to his time in Egypt-which was traumatizing by itself, but hey, he has sweet beetle magic now.
Basically, Fenton, Manson, and Foley are all the results of the trio's frustrations and fears. They become the things they stress about the most to help cope with their everyday lives. The DC universe is their outlet.
So where does Dani fit in?
Well, Dani is a clone, as we know. Her creation and introduction to the world were rather sudden if you compare her to a typical baby. And that's what she is; a baby. Unless you jumped the timeline far into the future, Dani is barely a year old in canon (I think.) And after her team-up with Danny to defeat Vlad, she makes the decision to leave Amity and travels the world. She has to navigate an entire world independently, even if Danny wants to help her. So now, plop her in the DC verse. What's the opposite of an independent clone who's had to fend for herself from a very young age and has had almost no real familial bonds?
A kid. A scared, touched-starved child who's had no one to look after her for who knows how long. (Vlad doesn't count here.) Dani gets to the DC verse and cries because she and Danny can finally bond like she always wanted to. She doesn't have to put up a strong front because the trio is there to protect her. Dani is extremely young, and now she can finally be a kid. It's not mental age regression; instead, Dani no longer has to hold herself back from doing childish things or crying. Both are things that could be a danger when you're living on the streets. She spends almost all her time here now.
The Everlasting Trio had already missed her before, but they had just fully adopted her in this new world. Dani is their baby. Their little girl. She didn't ask to be born-she shouldn't have to suffer because it was unsafe at home. Well, they can make a new one, just for her, here in this universe. And look! There’s more clones for her to bond with! The GZ is more accessible than ever, and their commute between universes really isn’t that bad. They like it here! And the heroes and villains will never take her away, no matter how hard they try. Sure, Dani can have playdates with some of them, but she will wail and scream if anyone so much as suggests she stay the night without her parent's permission.
Oh, and she never stops being a little shit. If anyone doubts that Fenton and Dani are related, they are simply ushered online to see that one viral clip of Dani latching on to King Shark with her teeth and not letting go in the middle of a shopping plaza. The camera pans to the left a moment later, and the audience spots Fenton doing the exact same thing to John Constantine.
The first time the Justice League meets Dani, it's right after she got lost during a spacewalk with Danny and Sam. She enters the first place she sees, the Watchtower, and breaks down in front of Wonder Woman about how she can't find her parents and doesn't know how to get home. The heroes are baffled and try to comfort her until Danny comes barging in five minutes later, panicking over his baby girl missing. They reunite, the heroes are reeling, and Superman mentions he didn't think Fenton was old enough to have a kid.
Fenton looks up from his bear hug and goes: "Huh? Oh, no. I'm only seventeen. (work with me here) Dani is technically my clone, but we adopted her properly as soon as possible."
And now the League has two issues. Their most annoying enemy is only seventeen. And he has a clone.
What the f u c k.
Extra analysis: Dani's outfit is cleaner and a little fancier than what she wore in the show. She ties her hair up like Tucker and pins her bangs back like Sam. She already looks identical to Danny but likes to wear his sweaters, especially in cold weather. The oversized clothes remind her of her time with Danny in Amity Park, and helps hide her physique better, so it's hard to tell how old she is. She wears leggings to show that she no longer has to fight for her life every day on the streets. Now that the trio adopted her, she can relax and let someone else take the hits for a while. (We all know how fast leggings and tights can be ruined when doing literally anything.) Fright Knight gifts her a cursed doll that helps protect her in stressful situations and functions like an SOS beacon. JLD hates the bear. (She named it Strawbeary.)
She acts on her impulses more often, which the trio sees as a good thing. Even if that impulsive desire gets her in trouble, it gives everyone a chance to learn and grow as a family. Dani also refrains from going ghost at first, following her dad's wishes. Right now, she's just giving herself a break from her previous nomadic lifestyle. After a bit, she and Danny will bond over their halfa status, and she'll grow into her own unique core and powerset. The heroes dread the day the littlest Fenton decides to join her parents in their shenanigans.
2K notes · View notes
nariism · 1 year ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
the voice in my heart — i. sae
forced proximity + "oh no, the power went out, however will we stay warm?!" (/s)
synopsis. itoshi sae doesn't like how mushy you make him feel, but the warmth is nice. kinda.
wc. ~600
— for @saetoshi / @yoisagi my love 💗 | event masterlist ✉️
Tumblr media
you didn't think it was possible, but somehow itoshi sae gets infinitely more irritable when he's cold.
he scowls more, hands permanently stuffed into his pockets, and sulks like there's no tomorrow. and he shivers, too. an embarrassing amount. (his pride is always severely injured when you ask him if he wants your help to warm up).
your grouchy roommate always found something to complain about when the weather dipped. whether it be the fact that his heater was always running, or that he has to scrape the ice off his windshield every morning, sae has never been able to see the beauty of winter.
"beauty?" he scoffed when you pointed that fact out one day. you were at the kitchen table and he was on the couch waking up from his midday nap—a typical sunday afternoon that he had long since added to his routine. "yeah, i'd rather admire it from inside. thanks."
"come on, don't be so pessimistic," you scolded, sauntering over to him to shove a pillow into his face. he knocked it away with a frown.
"i'm not pessimistic. just realistic. being cold sucks."
and that should have been the end of it. after that, you had stopped bothering him and purposefully trying to tease him with snide little comments about his disdain for the cold.
well. the universe has always had a funny way of fucking with him.
it's the coldest night of the season thus far. the snow storm raging outside has knocked out the power for the entire building and now the two of you are stuck pressed together under the warmth of your combined blankets.
"quit squirming around or i'll kick you out of my bed."
you make an undignified noise. "you wouldn't."
"i will if you don't stop that and go to sleep. i have to be up early tomorrow."
"this was your idea in the first place!"
sae had been the one to text you, after all. he hadn't even asked nicely, only sending you the word HELP in all capital letters as if he were going into cardiac arrest. you had rushed in to see what was wrong only to get dragged into his bed.
his greed for warmth was nothing new to you, of course, but he was careful to be gentle with you. to make sure he wasn't crushing you or making you uncomfortable. it was his way of being nice and somewhat apologetic that you were being treated as some sort of personal heater.
"i hate you," you tell him when he unceremoniously throws his leg over your entire body to keep you still.
"yeah, whatever. sleep before i kick you out."
"you're the one who asked me to share our blankets," you remind him again.
there's a long silence that follows that statement. it's so quiet that you assume he just ignored you and went to sleep without replying. but then he rolls over until his back is to you and he utters out, strained: "we don't speak of this, ever."
you raise a brow, shifting to face his back. "oh? are you embarrassed that i had to keep you warm?"
"i'm not embarrassed," he quickly corrects, even with the waver of his normally dead voice.
you reach around him, back of your hand resting on his cheek. you feel him tense up beside you in bed and you can't help but burst out laughing.
"your whole face is warm."
he groans, pulling the blankets closer to his side and up over his head so you can't observe him any closer. he's worried that if you did, you might have noticed how incredibly red he was growing. something so out of character would absolutely garner a new game for you and he would never hear the end of it.
for someone with an attitude problem about everything, he was surprisingly easy to shut down. maybe it was just you who had that talent, though.
itoshi sae doesn't like how mushy you make him feel, but the warmth is nice—
"i know you're trying to hide from me! if you just wanted to be held i'd be happy to help."
—kinda.
Tumblr media
© ALABOADOA 2023 — please do not translate or post my works to other platforms.
649 notes · View notes
peppermint-pearl · 6 days ago
Text
Free will !!!
It has come to my attention that I can do literally whatever I want , so here’s a Mouthwashing OC !
Tumblr media
Her name's Hope , she's another mechanic intern on the Tulpar (my justification for this is that an internship under Swansea was always part of the plan but Pony ended up saddling him with two--) .
She was in college for aerospace engineering but after tuition prices increased she was forced to drop out and find work , which lead her to the position at Pony Express . So she's decently qualified for the position but she's like . bitter about it because it's a mere shadow of the dreams she once had for it herself .
She acts pretty jaded / tries to be pessimistic about everything because she believes her life is over and she's afraid of further disappointment , but still holds a bit of that same naivety she thinks she stomped out of herself . I think maybe she tries to act a little like Swansea but it doesn't really land the same way because she's got literally none of the life experience to justify how completely over everything she is KASLHFJ - she's like . 'ah yes . kindred spirits' but still gets flustered at making little mistakes in a way that makes it obvious she really just wants to be liked and do a good job .
I think she's most comfortable around Anya partially because she'd be the only other girl on the ship , and partially because Hope sees her as an older woman (older than her at least SDKHJ) still working to achieve her dreams (getting into medical school!) and feels better knowing there's still time for her to do what she wants . Maybe also Hope had an older sister at home Anya reminds her of ? that one's a little up in the air but I'm thinking thoughtfully of it !!
I think she'd also be close with Daisuke because he's her age and she's able to see him more as a peer than an authority like she does everyone else on the ship (and what if they kissed . just a little bit . for my happiness .) . She probably tried very hard not to like him at first due to his general lack of ability with . internship things . but pretty quickly warmed up to him just because of how earnest and well-meaning he is . I think they'd speak to each other in niche pop culture references no one else on the ship knows ASFLHJ
Swansea and her would constantly be insulting each other but in a way that feels familiar if that makes sense ? I think she does get under Swansea's skin a lot but 'at least she can get the job done' . He definitely thinks it's funny to point out little imperfections in her work to get her a little panicked -- like 'ah , you scratched the reflection here , unacceptable . we'll need to throw you into space for this .' and then laugh at the split second Hope actually believes it ALSDJKF.
I think she holds some respect for Curly and Jimmy as authority figures , but would probably feel better being friendly with Curly just because Jimmy is . unfriendly . and horrible KLJHSD
When the crash happens , she probably slips deeper back into the doom spiral she'd been on before - if she thought her life was over before , it's suPER NOT LOOKING BETTER BY THIS POINT ,, Taking a leaf from Swansea's book , she'd probably try getting absolutely blasted off the 3498239478 Dragons Breath bottles they'd been transporting .
As for how she dies , I think . as pathetic as it is . she either drinks too much of the mouthwash or she chokes on her own vomit from it . Which also makes me think that if she was actually in the story she'd be maybe the first to die ? Like it's maybe the least directly violent / most unrelated to the final spiral of events that leads to everyone else's death but it IS also partially a result of negligence and another sign of what's to come . Jimmy would probably have tried to sweep it under the rug , saying it was her own fault , but it super would noT have helped tensions on the ship .
UHH YEAH that's all I have brainstormed , I might do some stuff with her later -- if you got this far thank you for humoring my brainrot ASDFLJH
62 notes · View notes
yourfavepookiebear · 9 months ago
Note
Hello ! I hope you have a great day. Can I please request Leona, Lilia, and Rook with a cheerful s/o ? For example s/o is nice,friendly,funny and mostly positive ? It's okay if you don't feel like doing this though, it's up to you :)
Of course pooks ! And sorry for the late ass reply, I was hella busy these past few weeks (I'm always busy but still) anyways, this one was kinda fun to write, and I had "lay all your love on me" playing in my headphones too, cuz music helps me concentrate. It took me a long while to write this tho because my imagination is shit when it comes to coming up with stuff.
Cw : none ? Just cotton candy-material fluff. A bit ooc, and short asf. Rushed too
♡☆ Leona Kingscholar ☆♡
Has a love-hate relationship with your personality
It's complicated ; he finds it cute, but at the same time, why the hell are you being kind to anyone that isn't him ???
Naturally when someone has a good personality it means lots of people will want to be close to them, which is good for you but bad for Leona.
In conclusion, he : 1. Finds it a bit endearing. 2. Is annoyed bc you're a bug magnet (by bug he means people)
Also he's absolutely flabbergasted at how you manage to be so positive and cheerful.
You frfr need to teach him cuz he urgently needs it. (His pessimistic ass is jealous asf)
But he'll learn to appreciate it, eventually..
(Eventually means maybe in 30 years when he turns 50. Eventually also means probably never. Eventually means only god knows)
♡♤ Lilia ♤♡
Absolutely loves It.
He finally has someone to be funny, cheerful, and silly with.
Yall are fucking partners in crime at this point, (except Lilia does all the work and you just sit back and watch)
Now now, don't get your hopes up, just because you're partners in crime doesn't mean you're safe from his pranks
And worst of all, he'll definitely have you try his food. (You better run into the forest and never come back)
Appreciates your cheerfulness, and your sense of humor
♡♡ Rook ♡♡
"Oh mon dieu, QUELLE BEAUTÉ !!!"
Will make poems and songs about your cheerfulness and will most likely adress you as Kalim's counterpart (although you're a bit tamer than Kalim)
Will fr show up under your window/balcony at 5 in the morning and start singing about your "beauté sublime" (guitar in hand n all)
Will probably gift you a rabbit or sum. Don't ask why.
I hc he refers to you as "jumeau du soleil" or "beauté du jour" !!!!!!!
190 notes · View notes
dulc3vida · 8 months ago
Text
Tumblr media
puppy!reader
girl next door, mom owns a bakery with heyward level success (doing alright, but not as successful as the wreck). her house was always the spot for the pogues growing up bc her mom always fed them and looked out for them. her mom is a curandera (folk healer) and always has someone in the house picking up some remedy she concocted or getting their stomach massaged to help digestion. during the summer, pup is on the beach with her lil cart selling cups of fruit and she also offers palm readings on the side.
john b is puppys best pairing bc they're both such lovers. like pup just oozes affection, its in her name. all of pups friends expect a hug, a kiss on the cheek, and a "i haven't seen you in sooooo long" when really its been a few hours. she greets john b with a million kisses all over his face and he eats that shit up every time. john b loves a lazy sunday with her where he can share the hammock with her head on his chest, listening to her read his palm.
"tell me again, whats that one mean?"
"that's your lifeline." she traces her finger over the line on his hand. "it's deep and long which means you're gonna live a long life." she unknowingly soothes john bs anxiety over an untimely death. (lets be real, that boy doesn't see himself making it to 30).
they also make a good match bc they balance each others energies. john b grew up around masculine energy so being around you was his only time to be soft and you didn't know your dad so you benefited from the stability of john bs friendship your whole life.
our resident woo woo girl is always going on and on about the power of the tongue. pope could be giving some real ass advice about the stupid shit they're gonna do and she disregards most of it because it's pessimistic.
"all i'm saying is that your positive affirmations aren't gonna keep the cops from recognizing our faces on cameras and arresting our asses. i mean we let jj plan this, he's gonna get himself shot." pope is looking at this mission from every angle, trying to cover everyones asses.
pup rolls her eyes. "and all I'M saying is that you're being really negative right now. if you keep speaking 'we're not gonna make it and jj is gonna get shot' into the universe, then we're not gonna make it and jj will get shot-"
"you speaking that shit into the universe pope? i thought we were friends what the fuck?" jjs offended voice came from the side of pope.
"we need to look at our solutions and not our problems." pup scurries into the chateau and comes back with a box of beanies she knitted for john b. "see, solutions. no one will see our faces."
"to find a solution you have to look at the- nevermind." pope shakes his head when he sees john b petting pups hair and kissing her forehead telling her how smart she is.
OH! and pup loves to knit and crochet. she makes a lot of her own clothes and stuff, even had a bikini unravel on her in the ocean which prompted a rescue mission and a stern (maybe a smidge condescending) talking to from john b.
"what did i tell you, huh?" john b is staring down at her wrapped up in his shirt, sitting in the sand not looking at him. he has his arms crossed and is staring down at her in that disappointed john b way.
"the top was gonna fall apart." pup pouted.
"and what happened?"
"it fell apart."
"you gonna listen to me the next time i say somethin's not ready?"
"mhm..." she looks up at him, unintentionally giving him puppy eyes because its just a natural response.
john b decides she had enough embarrassment for the day and takes a seat next to her, patting his thigh. "com'ere. not mad at ya. come to daddy." and pup crawls into his lap to watch the sunset.
133 notes · View notes
miss-menhera · 9 months ago
Text
HELLO THERE!!! Trying to cope with OR UNDERSTAND Adam's death? The denial and "what ifs" just get stronger?!?!?!?
Me too tbh I'm fucking miserable
BUT!!!! YOU WILL FIND OUT THAT THIS SHITHEAD COMING BACK IS ACTUALLY MORE PLAUSIBLE THAN YOU THINK! (W.O.W!!!!)
I actually also have some pretty solid theories about season 2 in here so be warned.
(This is a bit different from my usual goofy post I might delete this and separate into parts since I talked about too much)
Tumblr media
VIVZIEPOP MADE A COUPLE STATEMENTS THAT COULD BE GAME-CHANGING AND WON'T LEAVE US GRASPING AT STRAWS ANYMORE. I'LL DISCUSS EVERY GROUND THERE IS TO COVER AND EVERY COPIUM THERE IS TO INHALE, AT THE MOMENT!! (Might update this or make a new post if more comes out)
Tumblr media
Ok so to start this off, don't be put off by this person's perspective, just listen to me. Vivzie talked to this fan at megacon and got asked if Adam was still alive, all she said was "he lives on in a way", I'm gonna take my delulu aside and the most pessimistic guess would be that someone (pfff lute obviously)avenges him or that his death has an everlasting impact that changes the story, BUT we already got that made clear, like that was pretty obvious already.
(It's made obvious by this scene, Adam's death created a whole other big problem)
Tumblr media
(Unless what she means by it is that his death is honored? Like maybe we get to delve deeper into his history, but again i dont think so) SO I DONT THINK THATS IT, I feel like if it was either of the ones I mentioned she would just say "Nope, he's deceased BUT he lives on in a way" But ALL she said was "He lives on in a way" which is very different, although it could be she expressed herself badly or the person writing the tweet didn't quote it word for word. But taking it in the literal sense, this might be pretty much confirmation he lives. There's a way he lives right? So considering that.... could it be that after Lute took his halo,(which was also broken which often renders an angel as "fallen" by default) and left his body there, he just... like woke up as a sinner? Yes yes, I know everyone's been talking only about that, I'm not giving any groundbreaking revelations but I'm just saying that there's alot of options that open up to that possibility. Or who knows! What if he actually doesn't get reincarnated? What if he just wakes up with no halo, so no place to come back to or what if the ever-absent God takes notice of his death and fixes up his first loyal creation?
Tumblr media
Besides that if they THINK Adam is dead, (hesnotdeadhesnotdeadhesnotdeadhesnotdeadhesnotdeadhesnotdeadhesnotdeadhesnotdeadhesnotdeadhesnotdeadhesnotdeadhesnotdeadhesnotdeadhesnotdeadhesnotdead)
They make these huge ass changes in tactics, and need to find another way to deal with what Charlie is doing; IF Adam actually becomes a sinner, and his life is super important to heaven... with evidence that sinners can now be redeemed... What if people like LUTE, or LILITH actually become allies of the hotel in an effort to redeem him? He WAS God's first, most loyal and favorite creation, HELL THE REASON HE WAS ALLOWED TO DO WHATEVER HE WANTED AND WAS BASICALLY IMMUNE TO THE LAW IN HEAVEN IS BECAUSE OF HOW MANY PRIVILEGES HE HAS, I don't think God would be too pleased with his soul dissipating or whatever the fuck. That might actually be a plot point, he's way too important to just be killed off like this, am I the only one who got that impression? He's the FIRST MAN, first man, the first man being THE FIRST TO DIE IN THIS SHOW IS ABSOLUTELY MIND-FUCKING AND ALSO A CRUEL JOKE anditskindafunny OF FATE FOR HIM.
Something else I want to add is that my personal take on it is that if I learned anything about this show, Lilith will show up in the next season and pretend to be an ally to the hotel, she will pretend to support Charlie and basing this off the theory that Alastor made a deal with Lilith to keep her daughter safe, he failed to meet the end of his deal. So now she's coming to take matters into her own hands after all these pesky men failed, (ermmm girlboss!!) Stop, and manipulate everyone in the hotel into giving up on the idea. Considering how she deliberately kept Charlie away from her dad her whole life, there's gonna be a whole lot of family drama. And we might see Alastor lose his shit for good. Still tryna figure out wtf does "Lilith thrived and empowered demonkind with her voice" if her voice is that powerful, and her words are just as powerful, we're gonna get 1. FIRE ASS SONGS 2. Mother Gothel ass song with Charlie, I just know it holy shit. Not to mention that they actually don't know that Sir Pentious went to heaven, Lilith definetely will know and won't tell anyone. Lucifer will definetely be the one to step up in the situation yet again. Anyway after I yapped my heart out about what I think will happen in this show, I just wanna say one thing.
There is this DUMBASS thing everyone in the fandom is talking about when someone says Adam is gonna be reborn as a sinner. "He is not gonna come back because he was killed with an angelic blade and Pentious was not" That is the most stupid bullshit I've ever read and if you genuinely believe it for a second, i feel sorry for u cuz how did your brain go and make this correlation?
Most of these people say that the show explicitly stated that Angelic metal SPECIFICALLY and just if it's metal, it can castrate a soul or whatever. Which is literally NOT true, at no point was it established that Angelic steel was the only thing able to exorcise demons. You really need just a bit of common sense to come to this conclusion, what makes the weapons dangerous for demons and angels isn't that they're steel specifically. It's that they're ANGELIC guys.. Have y'all seen Helluva boss at all?
There are blessed ropes, Angelic guns, Angelic bullets. These are just items that replicate the power of Holy magic. A PURE,HUGE, HOLY BEAM of unfiltered angelic power is not stronger than a little dagger infused with a fraction of it? Not only does that not make sense from the show's lore perspective, but using common SENSE that sounds even dumber. This is the only argument I can completely scratch off the lists of why Adam can't come back, and it's the most popular one...
Tumblr media
Man you know what guys, after he died, whether he comes back or not, he's never gonna be the same again I just can't picture it. He's gonna be much more insecure, without a mask and not funny and goofy............. Or he is just gonna come back and go full joker. He just cant possibly keep being a light-hearted dark humor andrew tate stan after the most, first immature man in history pulled a gentle smile like that. That just can't be, like take a look at the way he always smiles to the last smile we saw him have.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
THAT IS A CHANGED MAN YALL, THATS ANOTHER ENTITY 😭
I HIGHKEY DONT WANT HIM TO GET A REDEMPTION ARC EITHER :(( MAN WHY DID THEY HAVE TO DETHRONE THE LITTLE GUY, THEY RUINED EVERYTHING. One small little theory floating in my mind was that, what if the news of Adam being dead could result in some powerful overlord or even A SIN we've never seen or know the power of, revive him and have him work under them? Even if he actually comes back as a sinner, this little theory I haven't brainstormed much about could be explored.
But y'all know what? Let's say he's dead okay? Let's say he's dead dead, then what did they do with his BODY? I didn't see anyone dig him a grave, yet he died on the hotel, I didn't see anyone even move his body after the angels left. And we know damn well they didn't take him, that's too much of a big detail to leave it out unless they REALLY screwed up with the writing and animation direction in the rush to have the serie come out, but the animation has always been so detailed with almost unnecessary background details. I think they left it out intentionally to have that worked out in season 2, heard some people say it could be they just built the hotel over his body? But I doubt it. If so maybe he could become part of the hotel or just condemned to never leave the hotel in a.... a... ghooooost.... like form...?(Massive amounts of copium). Someone could argue his body just dissolved or something but 1. That makes no sense pookie 2. In the first episode they found the body of the dead exorcist long after it died, and we definetely know atleast it's head was still perfectly intact by episode 3. AND i also went back to check, after Lute takes the Halo they purposefully never show Adam's body, ONCE. Not once, not even as they show all the corpses on the ground as the exorcists depart. So that couldn't be it, one thing we know for sure is that Vivzie is definetely letting on there's something more to his death she doesn't want to reveal yet. It could be she's doing that just to leave it ambiguous to delusional theorists like myself,,,,,since my type of stupid is usually the kind of idiocy infectious enough to rot everyone's brain into pointless speculation based on minor details. Which definetely sells the show better AND keeps discourse and attention alive till more is fed to us, which in that case, very effective marketing strategy at the cost of everyone's mental health Viv! Good job, the prospect you might be giving us false hope cuz its good for business is really making me reconsider signing the christian mom petition to make Amazon prime cancel tis' demonic blasphemous show. (And yes that is a serious threat, I will even fund the petition with 100 euros watch what you write, i don't want any mammon ass marketing tactics pls)...... or... she just doesn't wanna spoil the surprise and im reading too much into it... BUT YOU NEVER KNOW OK?? I NEED TO EXPLORE EVERY SINGLE POSSIBILITY AND NOT LEAVE ONE UNCOVERED. I seriously think I've thought of almost anything-Except that he's just dead, we'll see his funeral in the next season and he actually makes no other appearance......... BUT THAT'S BORING AND I WILL DROP THE SHOW IF THAT HAPPENS! By the way kinda can't wait for Adam merch to drop, cus it means SHE STILL FINDS HIM RELEVANT ENOUGH TO MARKET HIM!!!......and i just really want to have physical objects of him...... But u know what guys Vivzie likes adam alot, he's one of the characters she retweets stuff about the most, along with Lucifer and Alastor. And she also kinda admitted to it.
Tumblr media
NOT TO MENTION THERE IS MORE THAT PROVES ITS NOT OUT OF THE WINDOW FOR HIM TO MAKE A COMEBACK CUZ ALEX BRIGHTMAN(Adam's va) ANNOUNCED HE WILL BE IN SEASON 2. and I know he voices Sir Pentious too,(insane range btw wtf) but like i said if they're keeping it a surprise (Thats been pretty much confirmed, Vivz refuses to give too many details so she obviously wants to keep us guessing, which would be cruel if it was for nothing, and i think she knows would leave fans very disappointed) the possibility of Adam still being present in the show could work out.
VIVZ UNLESS YOU'RE A SADISTIC EVIL WOMAN YOU WOULD NEVER HOPE PEOPLE LIKED HIM IF YOU DIDNT HAVE BIG THINGS PLANNED FOR HIM, RIGHT? RIGHT? VIVZIIEIEIEIEIEI3IE😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 GIVE US BACK OUR FRATBOY BEETLEJUICE UNSCATHED PLS NO MORE PAIN!!!
Also guys look adam actually changed out of that smelly ass robe and dolled himself up for the early extermination!!!!
Tumblr media Tumblr media
186 notes · View notes
nymph-psychology · 9 months ago
Text
♡ some tender lovin' care ♡
maybe having rough edges wasn't so bad when someone can smooth them out
♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡
♡ chapter one ♡
♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡
pairing: simon "ghost" riley x fem!fat!reader
cw: fatphobia, simon is emotionally constipated, reader uses she/her, female described body, third person, use of y/n, slight angst, reader has an australian accent cuz i can
masterlist || next chapter
♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡
simon "ghost" riley in all his life had never thought he would be able to live a somewhat civilian life whilst on leave. it wasn't his choice, of course. his sleep was usually haunted by memories and nightmares he kept locked away, running wild in his brain accompanied by the noise from gunfire and trying not to die.
so, it was to his surprise that during one of his longer deployments ー it was four long gruelling months ー someone had moved into the apartment next to his in some shitty complex in a shitty part of england. granted, he wasn't surprised by a new neighbour ー people moved in and out of this place a lot ー but surprised by who.
he caught glimpses of her. passing by her in the hall or in the foyer getting his mail allowed him to quickly piece together what kind of character she was. one, she's from australia from hearing her speak on the phone whilst she brought more of her pack boxes in, seemingly talking to an overbearing mother.
two, she was sarcastic, witty and a bit pessimistic, often giving passive-aggressive responses or being snarky to the old man, who constantly complained about any noise even though he was almost deaf. he wouldn't admit it out loud, but seeing her do that was a highlight of his day and reminded him and johnny's banter.
though, despite the slow-growing affection for this woman over a couple of weeks of leave he was granted, he didn't know her name. . . and was nervous to talk to her. yes, the feared lieutenant ghost was nervous about talking to his pretty neighbour. listen, simon wasn't one to talk to people unless he needed to, much less flirt with someone.
jesus, he couldn't even remember the last time he flirted with someone intentionally. he may or may not be a bit dense when it comes to romance, which is weird considering he can easily read people. but c'est la vie. so you could imagine how panicked he was when his pretty and soft neighbour knocked on his door at some wack-ass hour of the night.
why? because she was making anzac cookies for the neighbouring apartments and had no sugar. his brain felt fuzzy but in a good way. . . somehow, as she rumbled his ear nervously ー fidgeting with the container she brought with her. her voice was soothing, like a cool summer breeze on a blistering day and as much as he would like to listen to it, he realised that his bulking figure and the time of night might be putting her on edge.
with gruff 'yeah' passing his chapped lips, simon ducks back into his apartment, grabbing his sugar and handing it over. simon had never been so thankful that his poker face was strong as he felt an arrow go through his chest at her beaming smile. with that, she turned to go back to her place before turning back around.
"i'm [ y/n ], by the way."
". . . simon."
♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡
139 notes · View notes
saintsenara · 8 months ago
Note
Wait why are you not a fan of Snape and Hermione?? 2 nerds who care a socially awkward amount about the things they care about nerding out together at levels of romance people who can be chill and normal about things can’t comprehend?? It’s not one of my fav ships but I can definitely see it!
I headcanon that Snape picks on Hermione being a muggle raised know it all thirsty to prove and lacking self awareness because he was one himself when he arrived at school and James and Sirius picked on him for it! It’s like that you’re most repulsed by the things you’re self conscious of in yourself thing to me. Or maybe a him trying to live out being the “cool” one in that dynamic thing
But when she’s a grown woman and more self possessed like he became too I feel like that same energy ness has potential for love!
Hermione is famously respectful and compassionate enough towards all beings to be more understanding than say Lily Evans of his prickly tender ego if he had another m word style outburst and such a people pleaser she’d keep coming back for more snark as long as he peppered it with the odd encouraging compliment
And I feel like a Snape in reciprocated love could absolutely veer into inventing beautiful and helpful spells to impress his lover or sending “made me think of u 😘” notes with verses of elaborate obscure poetry territory that would be frankly the level of literary and academic courtship our Herms deserves 😌
Is it cause they’d both be the highly strung worrier one and they both need someone to ground them? Or maybe too pessimistic together and one of them needs to be the cheerful one?
anon, i genuinely love this for you - i'm always thrilled to get people explaining their love for ships in the ol' inbox, especially when they're ships i don't instinctively vibe with, and i have been won round to stranger premises than this by a passionate defence of why two characters should kiss.
where i still think snamione isn't clicking for me, however, is that the way you describe both snape and hermione here doesn't align in any significant way with what i personally think would be interesting to explore about either character in a relationship and have them still feel meaningfully like their canon selves.
[i will say, though - because i always think it's worth reiterating my fandom commitment towards being neither a cop nor a priest - that i literally don't give a shit about either the age gap or the student-teacher dynamic. i know that's an objection to pairings like snarry and snamione which lots of people do express. but i will never be one of them.]
the primary reason that i don't vibe with many of the more... sapiosexual hermione ships [by which i mean not only snamione but tomione] is that they hang on the idea that hermione's intellect expresses itself in a way we never actually see in canon.
or, the idea that snape and hermione are intellectually compatible [and that they would enjoy hanging out being nerdy about stuff] is just... not true.
throughout the seven-book canon, the way that hermione shows herself to be clever is that she displays an excellent memory and an enormous capacity to rote-learn. her intelligence is overwhelmingly demonstrated - both in the classroom and during the trio's year on the run - by her being able to regurgitate swathes of information, very usually verbatim from the source she got it from.
she is clearly able to use this ability to retain information to understand the theoretical component of magic in a way neither harry nor ron ever manage, and she is able to use this understanding of theory to work out how to perform spells which are ahead of her expected level on the hogwarts curriculum.
and this is intelligence - and i want to be very clear that i'm not trying to suggest that hermione shouldn't be thought of as intellectual, or that her academic achievements should be devalued. but it isn't the way snape's intelligence manifests itself.
because hermione is never shown - at any point in canon - to be a particularly creative or experimental thinker.
she places an enormous intellectual trust in disciplinary authority - teachers and textbooks - and is frequently rattled when these are revealed to be partial or incorrect, as we see in her shock at hogwarts: a history not mentioning house elves or her anger at harry getting better results by following the modified instructions in the prince's textbook [despite knowing nothing about the theory underpinning them] than she does with the "official" ones.
she also regards the gatekeeping of inquiry which disciplinary boundaries enforce to be a positive thing and she never displays any inclination to step beyond them. she dislikes the spells in the prince's textbook because they aren't ministry-approved - and i must say that i think the idea that she'd be won over by a man creating spells for her is wishful thinking...
she is immediately mistrustful of anything she can't find something she regards as an empirical source for - notice, for example, that she only comes round to the idea that prophecies might be real once she encounters them in the ministry of magic.
even when we see her using magic on her own terms - the jinx she uses on marietta edgecombe, for example; or the protean charm on the da coins - the magic she's using is sophisticated, and is being applied in a way which wouldn't be classroom-sanctioned, but it's not magic which is being used in a way which is removed from the spell's original purpose. the protean charm on the da coins is impressive because it's a flawless execution of newt-level magic by a sixteen-year-old. it's not impressive because hermione is using it in a strange, experimental, or radical way.
[in contrast, the dark mark - which harry notes the coins mimic - is clearly a spell voldemort himself invents.]
snape, on the other hand, is an experimenter. he's someone who clearly sees magic as a creative force which he has every right to shape as he sees fit by adaptation and invention. and he's someone who evidently rejects the logic of disciplinary gatekeeping - one tension in his relationship with dumbledore prior to half-blood prince is that snape evidently retains an enormous intellectual interest in the dark arts [which, as he tells us, are an area of magic which is feared precisely because they can't be neatly contained within disciplinary boxes - they are ever-changing, unfixed, mutating...]
and it's these conflicting views of what magic is and how it should be used and thought about which is the cause of the intellectual incompatibility we see between snape and hermione in canon.
he is unequivocally in the wrong for his dismissive classroom manner towards her - because he is an adult and she is a child. but he isn't wrong in principle that hermione just repeating what she's read in the textbook and refusing to synthesise her knowledge [she always goes massively over word limits! she never gives answers in class in her own words!] isn't actually a demonstration that she understands the material. [and therefore something a good teacher would guide her through conquering... snape having no interest in doing this is his own fault.]
and - from a snamione-specific perspective - it's all the evidence snape needs that, actually, they're not going to enjoy hanging out chatting about academic pursuits. hermione values knowledge like a dragon hoards treasure. snape wants to take that treasure, melt it down, and turn it into new and weird things.
once again, i don't think this a flaw in either of their characters - it's just something which is. and i don't think it's an insurmountable obstacle to writing snamione, because i believe any ship is possible if an author has enough nerve. but it's an aspect of both characters' canon personalities [and hermione's above all] which never seems to make it into snamione fics - all of which, as far as i've encountered them, are beholden to an idea of hermione's approach to academia which is considerably more flexible than we actually see in the books.
of your other points, i'm not particularly convinced by the idea that snape sees his younger self in the teenage hermione. this isn't just for the reasons outlined above - hermione isn't trying to prove herself in the same way he was, which was by creating and experimenting in a bid to be noticed and considered impressive - but also because of the massive gulf in their respective class backgrounds.
hermione is really posh - and, while she's obviously subjected to discrimination at hogwarts on account of her blood-status, she also comes from a family with both the financial resources and the cultural language to make her familiar with the vibe of the elite muggle boarding schools hogwarts is a pastiche of.
the teen snape - in contrast - stands out from his cohort in that he is visually identifiable as working-class [which does appear to be genuinely unusual at hogwarts]. his class background is something which clearly drove a lot of the marauders' bullying of him [i'm sorry to the girlies who think james and sirius targeted him out of some righteous desire to stamp out his prejudice - it was because he was poor and uncouth] and which he still has a chip on his shoulder about as an adult.
this - again - is not an insurmountable barrier to a snamione relationship [as it's not a barrier to thousands of real-world partnerships and friendships]. but it is something an author needs to grapple with if they want to make the pairing - at least, in my opinion - seem plausible. but the standard vibe seems to be that snape would be comfortable in the grangers' home fairly quickly, and that he'd be delighted to have hermione swanning around offering suggestions for how they could do up spinner's end... instead of him resenting this as the unwelcome meddling of people who've never had to worry for money.
i'm also not particularly convinced by the idea that hermione would get over being called a mudblood - especially by an adult man. while i think it's completely plausible that she'd handle this differently than lily [although lily's reaction is entirely justified - and i don't think we should throw the baby out with the bathwater of contextualising the teenage snape and the motivating factors behind his decisions by pretending that cutting off your friend because he called you a slur is a petty, ill-thought-out, or unreasonable move], i don't think that her reaction would be automatically forgiving.
hermione is compassionate towards kreacher when he calls her a mudblood because kreacher is a slave, whose prejudicial views are inextricably bound up in the magic used to oppress him [i.e. that if he received an order to use the term, or to refuse to serve a muggleborn food, from his masters, he would have to punish himself violently if he disobeyed it]. she is not - quite rightly! - compassionate towards someone like draco malfoy when he calls her one, since he is a free person with full agency to choose not to do this.
could she forgive him - or snape - for using the term? sure! absolutely! but i don't think it's a given - and i also think she'd expect a demonstration of how sorry snape was which wouldn't necessarily align with how he'd think he'd demonstrated his regret.
i do agree that - as you say - hermione is a people-pleaser, and she definitely has a far greater tolerance for being treated cruelly by people she wants to impress [especially authority figures - including snape himself] than either harry or ron. and i think this has the potential to introduce an extremely thorny dynamic into a snamione fic - in which the power dynamic inherent in the age gap [which, to reiterate, i think is completely fine for an author to enjoy] is compounded by hermione being unwilling to anger or contradict snape [which is a vibe - as i've said in answer to an ask about harmony - we also see in her relationship with harry... it's also obviously exactly how snape's relationship with dumbledore works.]
on a couple of the more minor characterisation notes, i'm afraid that the idea of snape as a great romantic has never hit for me. it seems really bound up in the way alan rickman portrayed him in the films, which i've always found a bit toothless. i also don't like the trope of "actually snape's really hot" which seems to always accompany it - ugly, odd men to get to bone too!
[what he would be - i think - is a magpie. get ready to be handed odd stones and bits of leaves on dates.]
i also think they're highly-strung in ways which differ enough to mean they'd just annoy each other. hermione is highly-strung in that she flusters easily and is very poor under pressure, but she's actually pretty emotionally stable [and i'd dispute that she's a pessimist - this is a girl who thinks that she's successfully eradicating slavery at hogwarts by knitting hats; she's pretty robust, funny, cheerful, and idealistic]. snape is highly-strung in that he has a hair-trigger temper and is very emotionally volatile, but he's obviously an extraordinarily good liar, very quick on his feet, and very good under pressure. he'd think she panicked too much [and over insignificant things he didn't care about], she'd think he tanked the vibe of a date by taking offence at someone breathing too loudly.
where are they similar? well, they have a shared self-serving streak [hermione is appalled by behaviour from harry and ron she considers perfectly moral when she does it]; capacity for cruelty; tendency towards secrecy; tendency towards pettiness and pleasure in the misfortune of others; loathing of flying a broom; cutting sense of humour; stubbornness; resilience; clear dislike of slumming it in nature; love of puzzles; and a weakness for red hair.
i think you could make it work on the grounds that they'd probably have the time of their lives being haters together - especially, i feel, about rita skeeter.
and - y'know - because love is weird.
134 notes · View notes