#my light bias is showing but also no its not

[triglycercule]

horrortale waterfall game broke me sorry (hey just like horror!)

[grimalkinmessor]

Once more frustrated by people seeing Light's various moves as stupid because they're looking at it from a point of omniscience and not from the perspective of Light himself and the information he had access to :')

[the-acid-pear]

I am watching a guy get all trophies on fnaf which means its the first time in Years i've seen fnaf 3 gameplay and man why the fuck was springtrap's jumpscare that goofy? Like i know fnaf isnt any stranger to bad jumpscares from time to time but bro literally just goes 👁👁 its the most non threatening thing like he's not even reaching over or anything just fucking kick him in the chest and that's it he's done for. Not even the sound is scary bro sounds like he's gasping for air he's pathetic. Though i'll admit the ear jiggle physics are amaizing i forgot about those.

[utilitycaster]

Do you think part of the D20 journalistic bias comes from D20 being edited? It gives the appearance of much more effortless play and lets them control the pacing in a way unedited play like CR simply can't do. They get to (potentially) hide a lot of stuff people would jump on as flaws while CR has no choice but to let it all play out. I greatly prefer CR's approach, despite it biting them in the ass a bit through no fault of their own.

Answering these both together to group cause and my opinions, and I do want to note this is specifically about journalism/press coverage, not their respective fandoms even though there's obviously some overlap.

I think there's a couple things, but I do want to note this was actually prompted by Daggerheart, not Critical Role. The response from several prominent voices in the Actual Play journalism community, whom I will not name here but whom I do not respect intellectually, really was, within hours of the open beta (which as far as I know they didn't have early access to - more on that later) "um it could be better, I don't like xyz and also it's sooooooo important to have criticism" and again, it is important to have criticism, but also you act like D20 has never had a mediocre moment and that Kollok is brilliant, so.

This...got away from me a bit. I'd say I'm sorry but actually I adore writing thousands of words about actual play and it will happen again but I'm putting the detailed answer below a cut. The short answer is I think a lot of Actual Play journalists actually sort of fell into their jobs through being vaguely involved in nerd spaces and aren't actually equipped to talk intelligently about TTRPGs and actual play as a medium that should, at its best, be a perfect fusion of narrative and mechanics. So instead they're distracted by flashy edits and bright lights and cool noises and some abstract concept of "novelty" and write only about that. Also Critical Role is the 700 lb gorilla in the AP space (though not, actually, the TTRPG space) and doesn't give them early access and that's meaaaaaan. Indeed, for all I think a lot of their coverage of D20 and Worlds Beyond Number is obsessively fawning, I also think it's extremely surface level, frequently factually wrong, and fails to get at what's truly excellent about those shows either.

I think, honestly, the biggest one is that I don't actually think a lot of Actual Play journalists watch series in full. I was looking for Polygon coverage of Fantasy High Junior Year and they have one glowing article but it's more about Fantasy High as setting and institution and D20 "changing the game" (also more on this later) to the point of outright contradicting the pull quotes they used from interviewing Brennan Lee Mulligan (also more on this later). So I started looking through their coverage and actually, quite a number of their write-ups are based on only one episode, or half a season. Clearly, they haven't read the full open beta (nor have I, but I think their complaints about the character build process belie a profound misunderstanding of what TTRPGs are, also more on this later). So editing is certainly part of it because it's really easy to see cool special effects and sound design within one episode and shit out a hacky article about it, whereas actually getting to the substance - character relationships, cohesive narrative, storytelling - requires work that I do not think they're doing. And on the one hand I do kind of get it, because yeah, if journalism is your livelihood then you perhaps do not have the time to watch 4 hours of D&D a week for 2-3 years if you're only going to get one article every six months out of it. But I don't think the answer is "focus intently on Microsoft Powerpoint-esque scene transition tricks while ignoring that nothing occurring at the table is actually fun to watch." For more on this, see this post.

The second, which is very relevant to Daggerheart but also is actually a big gap in D20 and WBN coverage in my opinion, and which I put in the tags, is that I actually don't think a lot of journalists have a solid understanding of TTRPGs nor of most genres. And I think Critical Role has a particularly good understanding of both these things, actually, if one skewed towards collaborative storytelling that is not rules-light. I think one really big example is that one person within the space is mad at the Daggerheart questions for the character archetypes because what if your character doesn't fit these. I think this is dumb as shit. I actually think that a common criticism of D&D - that you can't play ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING - is not valid, or rather, it's a valid opinion to hold but if you want to play a character who doesn't fit into the available archetypes perhaps you need to find another game. We all inherently understand that Blades in the Dark characters will be members of a criminal organization in a relatively low-magic setting, correct? That you can't show up to BitD and play a lawful good wizard prince because that's not the story being told? Or like, how in Honey Heist, you are a bear and you are trying to get honey, and you cannot play a human child investigating the old abandoned house at the edge of town, but there's a cool game called Kids on Bikes that will let you do that? Great! Why is this suddenly so hard to understand in the realm of heroic fantasy, that you will fit into specific archetypes? Why do people's brains, if they have them to begin with, vanish suddenly? I know I just did a big old rant that included this within it but genuinely I think a lot of people are deeply ignorant of heroic fantasy, or don't like it, and either is fine, but then they get mad at the heroic fantasy game for having heroic fantasy archetypes when the answer is "maybe this will never make you happy because it's not for you." (Frankly, I think this is also why they love D20, because it doesn't really do straight-up heroic fantasy, and that's fine, but they do keep acting like doing a Game of Thrones pastiche is equivalent to the invention of the wheel.) Like...I remember in the Midst Q&A that Xen said they tend to not like playing typical D&D classes, but their solution was to, you know, create Midst instead of sitting around going "actually, because D&D doesn't support cyberpunk narrative and the character archetypes within very well it is an utter failure." (I could go on forever about how actually TTRPGs are not a showcase for your already extant OCs to prance around but that's a totally separate post).

Mechanics and story are inherently intertwined, is what I'm trying to get at (sorry I'm really tired and have a lot to do but I'm passionate about this answer, it will be rambly, she says like 3 pages in) and I really don't think most actual play journalists get this. At all. And I do think that CR, and Daggerheart, and the people working for it, and especially Spenser Starke, Rowan Hall, Matt Mercer, and Travis Willingham, get this more than almost anyone else in the field. I also think Brennan Lee Mulligan and Aabria Iyengar get this, and the thing is, for all the praise showered upon them, much of which I think is deserved and most of what I think is undeserved is not because they are lacking but because the person writing about them is an idiot crediting them for things they (Brennan and Aabria) would never claim to have invented, their mechanical prowess is rarely if ever written about well. Fantasy High Junior Year's downtime mechanics actually fill in a famous gap in D&D, namely, downtime, and provide an excellent marriage of story and mechanics in my opinion, and I haven't really seen any discussion, because that would require watching the part of the TTRPG show where they play the TTRPG, and knowing the vague word on the street about D&D criticism that isn't just "*nods sagely* capitalism is the BBEG."

And finally: related a bit to the edit but Critical Role used to not be able to provide any early access to press, because it was literally a live show, and I suspect they never broke the habit, and I think that is for the best. As discussed a lot of D20 coverage actually feels like they watched the press screener and then never returned to the show. And I do not know the politics about them, but given that several of these publications (notably Polygon, but some others) have been shitting on Critical Role for several years, and just generally given the way CR's leadership vs. how D20's leadership respond to fandom pressure, I suspect Critical Role does not give these journalists a ton of early or increased, if any. Honestly, why should you, if you're getting interviewed in Variety? And I think the journalists are mad, because they think they're special and should get treated as such.

I do want to wrap something up, and I want to thank @captainofthetidesbreath for talking a little about this in game design/ttrpgs and giving me the idea, but in story, you should be challenging your audience, expanding their horizons, and being new and interesting. In the actual playing of TTRPGs, especially a new one, it is vital to be inclusive and easy to understand and patient and provide points of reference. I really feel like many Actual Play journalists and some TTRPG ones as well have this equation flipped and are looking for challenging concepts that most people will never be able to get a group to be willing to play, and bells and whistles in production, but leave story as an afterthought. Critical Role designs games to actually be played and to be used specifically to tell good stories, and puts story before production, and I think that undercuts those journalists' whole deal.

[cloverthebarbearian]

I am here to feed the Rugan community to the very best of my ability 😌❤️ she's a long list fella's so get comfy

Masterlist of Rugan HCs (NSFW under cut)

Rugan on the Road

With the Zhentarim

He's incredibly bossy while never doing much hands on work himself

He's always trying to find shortcuts to getting a job done quick and easy

Constantly pulling 'we're a team here we're family c'mon now' if his crew starts bickering

Empty promises of promotions or good words put in for low ranking recruits if they do extra work for him

But if you ACTUALLY manage to impress him though? He will show favoritism and not even try to hide it

Doesn't care much for following orders if he can get more from a better deal, but has been getting sloppier about hiding his schemes with age (girl why did you offer to split profits on a smuggling job with a complete stranger for real)

Big drinker, heavy sleeper, still somehow the first to wake up every morning

Also the first one to duck during a battle if he finds an opening

First one to act like 'we sure showed them! By working together. As a team.' When the fights been won

As much as he loves to slack off and take shortcuts, you'll never catch him complaining about the 'little' things. Low rations? Not hungry. Long journey? We need the exercise. Small crew? Good for stealth, travel light.

Even though he's a selfish asshole, he has a really charming demeanor and good enough attitude during the shittiest of situations that most people find themselves enjoying the journey with him by the end of the day

With Tav's Party

(Let's say after you've saved him from being near beat to death for finally getting caught scamming the Zhents, you convince him to let you escort him to Baldur's Gate just to make sure he doesn't get jumped again and fucking Die)

The man is SO flirty. He can't stop flirting. Depends on if Tav is into it or not will drastically change how he comes onto them, but note its not JUST Tav hes flirting with. He's got eyes on practically everyone. (Except Laezel. He tried, once. She threatened to kill him) No one knows if hes serious or if its just his personality but the man can't stop flirting.

At first, he puts in some work. Wanting to put in a little effort to carry his own weight and not be a burden, though Tav insists on him resting after the ordeal

But it doesn't take long for him to milk the mothering. His injuries suddenly become too distractingly painful. Even though Shadowheart absolutely mended that broken rib two nights prior. He insists the bruising is still pretty serious. He needs to save his strength for travel.

The entire party gets pretty sick of his BS after a while, but its not enough to kick him out or anything

Phrases like 'shut up rugan' or 'fuck off rugan' become campsite mottos

Once you all get to Baldur's Gate, its a funny, bittersweet dynamic of everyone saying they're releaved he's finally leaving, but reluctant to say goodbye

The first night without him is unusually quiet without his drunken campfire stories and earth shakingly loud snores

Rugan as a Mentor

No ulterior motives in the sense that, he only ever recruits people he also finds attract. A bias he refuses to outright acknowledge ('I have an eye for talent! Not my fault the talents also a looker 😏') so he would recruit Tav with every intention of possibly bedding them. The motives are not ulterior. They are perfectly apparent.

Similar to in game canon, he'd recruit them by trying to come to some sort of sale arrangement. Though lets say instead of selling the chest to split profits for themselves, he convinces Tav that rescuing him would surely warrant a reward back at their base, which would in turn lead to more jobs, which would lead to more money for them

Always insists on training his personal recruitments himself (for the non-ulterior ulterior motives)

Is FULLY the type of coach who has to insist their stance is all wrong so he can stand intimately behind them and guide their limbs to the proper position

He's got his cheek pressed to their's, gruff voice low, talk'm'bout 'You're far too tense, Sweetheart. You really need to relax those shoulders and widen your stance, like this...'

He's entirely aware of what he's doing and makes Zero effort to be subtle about it

General Rugan HCs

SFW

Drinks a lot but holds it well

Getting him truly drunk is VERY funny and usually ends up with him gushing about how much he cares about his friends, his guild mates, stuff he'd never be caught dead saying sober, and will insist he never said drunk either

Has 101 stories of his decades running jobs on the road, most of which you're certain are entirely made up... Until you meet an old business partner of his one day, who can corroborate the tale

For such an experienced merc/trader, surprisingly light on battle scars

Very, VERY ready for retirement. May have even been getting sloppy with his scams on purpose in the hopes of being kicked from the zhents all along...

NSFW

The man fucks. The man FUCKS. Rough and sloppy and hard and like its the last romp he'll ever have every single time.

Will always make sure his partner finishes, typically more than once

Likes to choke his partners

Likes to cum on their face

*Gasp*! Oh noooo, we can't find/afford a room to rent for the night. I guess I'm just gonna have to take you right here in this ally by the bar 🤷🏼‍♂️ but you better be quiet, unless you want to get caught...

Big into dirty talk and will practically narrate his plans for the evening as he acts on them

Has the stamina to last hours and prefers to take his time but still always down for a quickie where he can get it

Sorry everyone, but the idea of aftercare is lost on him. When you're both finally spent he's literally tossing you a damp rag while he steps out to smoke a Fantasy Cigarette

Cuddles in his sleep, and doesn't even know this about himself. But you will wake up in a near-suffocating bearhug if you fall asleep together

[maskofenigma]

Fallen London's recurring topic of Love is really interesting to me as a sort of throughline between various stories and i want to ramble about discuss that briefly. i dont call it a theme because thematic statements are usually more complex than a single word, at least in my mind, but a lot of Fallen London's storylines incorporate love into their themes.

there's the obvious things ofc; the Manager and the King, the Duchess and the Canigaster, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, the Bazaar's whole situation. Love is a common motivator that many people can relate to, so it's no surprise that it appears in this capacity. Even so, these instances also underpin a lot of the setting's character, particularly the latter two examples, explaining why the neath is the way it is. but if we broaden our horizons just a bit, you can start to see it appearing all over the place (though maybe thats just confirmation bias lol).

the youthful naturalist loves discovery and life, and evolution in that context is a story about what one is willing to endure and sacrifice for that love. Love is a constant theme in the Light Fingers storyline, between moon milk and poor Edward, but also shows in Mr Fires's love for London (strange and deleterious though it may be) and the protagonist's love for either the Hybrid they protected or the diamond they'd been after. I don't know as much about the other ambitions (yet), but Nemesis is all about avenging a loved one by any means necessary, and you could see Bag a Legend as a love for the hunt or a love of fame, though even i’ll admit thats a bit of a stretch. Idk about Heart's Desire i’m still working on it but there's probably something. Its literally about what your heart desires but there’s absolutely a deeper connection with the Marvellous and stuff. No spoilers i'm still working on it :3

i dont know a ton about SMEN's story either, but i know from a ludonarrative perspective that it tests the players love for their character, forcing you to ruin this silly victorian who you are presumably quite attached to in the search for knowledge (perhaps another kind of love?) With what little i know of it, i’d honestly be shocked if there wasn’t anything there. if ao3 has taught me anything, there was definitely some kind of love going on between those two space bats, but im not sure if ao3 is a reputable source in this specific instance

The Flukes are literally sick with love for lost Axile, and a lot of the Masters are shown yearning to return to the High Wilderness. Many of the Irem Destinies regard love in this way, love for the sun, for the liberation, for ones partner, for london, for the people of the neath, and on and on. im not very far along with the railway but im 100% certain itll crop up again there, whether with Furnace Ancona or the Efficient Commissioner or the masters or whatever else. same goes for the Exceptional Stories and the myriad tales ive yet to unlock. Weve started to see a glimmer of it in firmament, with the imminent lucifer fire guy, but i wasnt really sure what his deal was. the idea extends to the other Sunless games from what i know, though ive yet to play those. Mask of the Rose is a romance, so thats pretty clear cut; sunless skies seems to have a lot of content relating to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert; and sunless seas seems to have it present in a few storylines, though i couldnt point to anything specific at this time. even small things, such as the way that the railway steel seems drawn to Hell and the sorrowful properties of sphinxstone, makes for a setting that is inundated with longing and heartbreak in a fascinating way.

viewed through this lens, fallen london's perspective on love is tragically earnest: love is painful and unfair and yet so very necessary. as someone who's aromantic and a hater, i call that an L. but from a thematic perspective its very interesting how often this occurs and how it connects a lot of fallen london. In so many other narratives, love is a conclusion, a reward or climax. In fact, mass media seems allergic to depicting an active and healthy relationship, and instead relegates such matters to a single ceremonious kiss. But for fallen london, a game where kisses are currency and romance is taxed, the concept of love is afforded such an interesting amount of care and reverence. Fitting for a setting wherein the insisting incidents all relate to love in some way or another

it may be comedic and at times quite absurd, but fallen london to me is a game deeply concerned with love and its influence on people. and idk i think thats interesting. if you're looking for the theme or message of a given fallen london story, look to love, always.

does that count as a thesis? i certainly dont know

[decorabnuy]

a reblog that I did got me thinking about the Saying Goodbye to my Persona cards and how FUCKING GOOD they are so I obviously want to talk about them because I'm mentally ill

firstly Mafuyu's card, the main attraction and focus of this set, as we can see this is a direct parallel to her first 4 star card Captive Masquerade, where she had the same mask - that is now broken - and she had lots of strings tied to her, that now she's finally cutting them off with scissors.

All of this means that Mafuyu's mom isn't controlling her anymore, she cut the ties, she broke the mask, she's finally free to be who she is and find her lost identity in peace. I also like the detail that she also have strings around her neck, which is a part where she normally wears a choker/necklace, which sometimes can represent that someone is taking control over you, I think it's really nice

now Kanade... AUGHHHHH Kanade the girl you are... anyways. By the name of the gacha "Where is ♡?", this obviously means that Mafuyu is the heart, which is represented by the rest of niigo's cards.

Kanade is gently hugging the heart, protecting it from the surroundings, which alludes to Kanade always making all of her efforts to protect and Save Mafuyu as much as possible, and the heart is glowing, Mafuyu is glowing, and accepts the help coming from her friend dearly... but also, we can see that there's scissors next to her, and yet, she doesn't cut the strings like Mafuyu does, Kanade is trying her best to help but she doesn't cut the problem from its root. Kanade never asks Mafuyu what could help her, she always thinks of ideas of helping her without Mafuyu's imput, and she even talked with Mafumom behind her back, which could've been (and it was) a big problem to her, leading to something bad happening (the whole Saying Goodbye to my Persona event). She tries her best to help, and she does it genuinely, but sometimes, the way she does it can lead to other's downfall

Mafuyu and Ena's cards are my favorite from this set BY FAR. I LOVE Ena's card and what it means for mafuena's relationship.

Ena is harshly pulling the strings away from the heart, she's desperately pulling Mafuyu's mom away from her, that is the way she's trying to solve the problem, by fighting it back, which is what Ena said to Mafuyu at her 3rd focus event (the I Nandesu one). She explains that mfy needs to go against her mom or else nothing will happen, things won't get solved if Mafuyu don't do something about it. I've said it but I also like a lot that Ena looks so desperate in her card, she has a hard core but she deeply cares for Mafuyu and wants her safety, so, like in the card, she would throw herself in the dark just to bring Mafuyu back to the light, and I think that's so, but SO beautiful.... my mafuena bias is showing sorry lmao

And lastly Mizuki! This card is very very beautiful for a 3 star and I love it so much!! it's full of meaning and it's so beautiful. We can see that the strings around them are ALREADY cut off, it reminds me of her card in the Imprisioned Marionette set where she already had scissors and was cutting the strings since then. This means that Mizuki always wanted to help Mafuyu from the start, she understood her problems and already had an idea of what to do, which is why she's holding the heart with so much care, and even gently talking to it, assuring it that things are going to be okay, and what she needs to do is to run away, is to cut the strings that hold her back from doing so

THAT'S IT FOR NOW UHHHH LIVE LAUGH LOVE SAYING GOODBYE TO MY PERSONA I LOVE THIS EVENT AND IT'S CARDS SO SO MUCH TY FOR READING ALL OF THIS <333

[tyrantisterror]

Wherefore Art Thou Clownfucker?

A while back I made a post explaining why vampires appeal to me, and while it was mostly in a more general sense, there was a specific focus on why I find them, you know, hot. And it was that was in part because I had recently discovered that I'm apparently surrounded by Werewolf fuckers on here, much to my dismay as a Vampire fucker. It's like being the only goth kid at a rockabilly concert or something. I felt defensive, is the point! I needed to go to bat (heh) for my pale ladies (and Astarion.... and Spike)!

And now, because Muncher compels me to do so, I'm doing the same for Clowns. My other pale ladies.

Now, keep in mind the fact that I'm a monsterfucker first and foremost, and that my clownfuckery is really more derived from my monsterfuckery. I imagine the middle section of the Clownfucker/Monsterfucker diagram is pretty big, but I also know there are some clownfuckers who are very much NOT monsterfuckers, and vice versa. This is not the case for vampirefuckers, who are nestled firmly within the monsterfucker circle, because while all vampires are monsters, not all clowns are monsters. I bring this up because while I'm gonna try to explain clownfuckery on its own terms, there is likely going to be some monsterfucker bias in my explanations and defense. That's just how it is on this bitch of an earth!

I'm gonna get real pretentious here and talk about the historic role of clowns for a moment. From Comedia del Arte harlequins to medieval court Jesters, the clown's role has always been that of Comic Relief. They are, simply put, here to be tonally dissonant - when everyone else is serious and dramatic, a clown comes in as this weird, silly, incongruously hilarious element that contrasts the gravity of everything around them. "Relief" is really the key word here - a clown's job is to provide levity when otherwise there would be none. When everything is dark, they provide a little light.

That's the core emotional appeal of clownfucking - a clown is/should be someone who can make you smile when you need it the most. Kingdom's at war, family's fighting, your life's in shambles? The clown will make you laugh. Everything feels dark and gloomy and depressing? Here comes a silly little goofball wearing bright, clashing colors and jingling with each step because they're covered in bells, and all they want to do is tell jokes until you start laughing. Clowns are, by intent, that sweet sweet hit of dopamine personified.

Clowns are here to make you smile.

Another important historical detail about clowns is their unique place in the hierarchy of society - namely, being entirely outside of it. A jester was in some respects the lowest person on the totem pole, a fool that had power over no one and nothing, living to be laughed at. Yet, because they had no power over anyone, it was generally poor taste to take offense to anything a jester said, which meant they could talk more freely than anyone else - when everyone else acts like a butt-kissing sycophant, a jester is free to talk shit and speak their mind.

The traditional attire and appearance of clowns plays into both of these traits: the bright, gaudy clothing and makeup is silly, yes, but it's also a sign that the clown does not give a single shit about fashion and other social norms. A clown is, by nature, an anomaly, a misfit, a rebel.

Nowadays we have another word for people with that attitude. Clowns are punk.

Weird makeup, crayola red hair, patchwork clothes...

I would say the very fact that "normal" people look at clownfucking as some sort of inexplicable fetish is, in fact, part of the appeal. It's a form of xenophilia, of attraction to things that are different and othered, a love for outsiders and misfits and oddballs. To fuck a clown is to show love and adoration for something outside of the realm of what is socially acceptable - something silly, goofy, and weird, yet also often harmless. After all, a clown's main purpose is to make you smile.

That's not to say that clowns have to be harmless to be attractive, mind you. Tons of people, many much smarter than I, have talked about the cultural shift of our perception of clowns that began somewhere in the 1980's. Clowns went from being viewed as genuinely fun and cute to primarily being figures of fear and terror - if a clown shows up in modern media, even if it's innocuous, there will always be at least one character who vocally talks about how creepy they think clowns are.

That may in part be due to the fact that clowns have such a benign mission statement - a lot of people, especially nowadays, do not trust a person who claims they just want to make others happy. Anyone who acts like that MUST be up to something - there must be something nefarious going on, some evil plan, some lurking danger.

Which is where you REALLY bring the monsterfuckers in.

You really don't need to do that much with a clown's design to push it firmly into monster territory - "a pale person with sharp teeth" is the bare minimum it takes to make a vampire, after all (and even the pale part can be downplayed).

And a clown's dedication to making things "funny" can make for a very enjoyably-scary persona for a monster - hell, half the appeal of the Addams Family is that they're a bunch of freakish inhuman monsters who react to a bunch of scary shit with absolute delight and adoration. Again, the tonal dissonance element is at play here, albeit in a different way - even when Clowns are the darkness in your world, they still bring light in the sense that they view it that darkness as funny in of itself.

(hell, the word "harlequin" means "five horns," and may be rooted in folkloric monsters like Herne the Hunter depending on who you ask, so in a way clowns have always been monster-coded)

I think all of this is pretty well exemplified in the current Patron Saint of Clownfuckers, the goddess of Clownfuckery if you will, Harley Quinn. Hailing from a story whose main setting is such a Gothic Horror-inspired nightmarish shithole of a city that it's literally called Gotham, surrounded by characters who are at least 60% gothic horror archetypes by volume, opposed by a hero who literally dresses like a Dracula, it is inarguable that Harley Quinn is surrounded by darkness that's both literal and figurative.

But she's always smiling, and not in an ironic way.

Harley Quinn suffers intense abuse, she's drawn into wicked schemes, and in the way of most modern clowns, she causes no small amount of mayhem and suffering herself. But even at her darkest, she's always smiling, always trying to find the bright side.

She's a rebel, she's a punk. Almost everyone thinks she's beneath them. Almost all of those people get proven they're wrong. In a world full of tyrannical hierarchies, she steps outside of them.

She's an outsider, a misfit, an oddball. And she wants to make you smile.

I think you can probably see the appeal of that.

[midnight---hollow]

Ok i need to yap for a second

I love how well written and thought out the ipc is in honkai star rail. I feel in general we dont always get the best discussions about capitalism and giant corps because said giant corps are usually sponsoring or are creating them most of the time so there is usually bias. I just saw some of the boothill story lore leaks and im not gonna talk about them here cus leaks but it gave me real big appreciation for how the ipc is handled.

Im personally a real big fan of complicated situations in my fictional stories. Ever since mob psycho ive gained a new lens of trying to find sympathy and reason for any situation, keeping my own opinions and preferences while still understanding the other side. I feel star rail has done a great job at show casing the many sides of the ipc even if i for one really dont like the ipc and its my least favorite organization

(I feel i should also say this is an opinion piece and im not informed enough on the real life issues as i would like to be. I just want to yap my opinion out and express why i find joy in this and maybe even come back later with more research to make another post but with references and proof to explain why besides what i remember and like. If i do get anything wrong then please inform me cus i would like to learn more about this and plan to)

|Spoilers for basically all the ipc related things in hsr|

I started out hating them cus i just dont like capitalist corps and they just rubbed me the wrong way. When the arum alley event happen i was originally pissed at it because even though it was confirming my beliefs of “big corp bad” it felt cheap and like almost every other story told by a big corp trying to tell us big corps are bad. Yknow the “look at this obviously in the wrong guy dont be like him, look at him get his comeuppances in the end and ignore how we actually are alot more complicated and worse than this super evil and obvious example”

arum alley then did something i didnt expect. It gave nuance to the story. It started out with that obvious example yes but the next one wasnt that obvious, the next part of the event talked about how some workers feel they wont be able to sustain their lives as independent workers and feel they need to work for the big corps for a safe job and it started getting into the logistics of big corp vs independent business. Yeah we where fighting them but there where reasons and concerns and fears to be given. It wasnt just big corp bad it was “yeah big corp bad but here is why and here is also how its good” and it brings up the questions on what can be done so we dont need to rely on big corp

Topaz and her whole arc is another situation i find interesting. Topaz is a character i dont care to much about to be honest but i think she plays a good role in this whole ipc debacle. To me she feels like she represents someone who used the system because they needed to and made it work and flourished in the system. Her planet was basically unlivable and she lived in a capitalist waste that failed. In comes the ipc and they are almost what her world was but better for they offer to help and save them. All they need to do is sign their lives away to join the ipc and they did and their planet flourished because of it. Topaz herself was able to rise the ranks into being a cornerstone. I think her story shows both the light and dark of the ipc because they saved her planet but they only did it because it benefited them, if they didnt sign their lives away it is very likely topaz and everyone on her planet would have suffocated from the toxins and died. They had no choice but to join the system and its stated in game that topaz’s planet is one of the few that where able to be saved.

That’s probably what i like most about the playable ipc characters, it reminds us that these big corps arent just mustache twirling bad guys, it reminds us there are people there just trying to keep going and some of them are genuinely trying to do right and think what they are doing is right. Again topaz for example, she genuinely believes what she was doing was for the good of belabog. She saw a planet so similar to her own and i think she did what she thought was right and tried to help them (i dont think what she did was right but i can see where she comes from in thinking its right) i also think its showing that when she learned their was a way out for belabog that allowed them to not give their lives away to the ipc she gave in and stopped trying to convince them. She risked her own job security to allow them that right and because she didnt force an entire planet of innocent people who just got out of a horrible situation to sign their souls away (including the children mind you) she got demoted. Im not saying that she deserves a pat on the back for doing the bare minimum esp after she tried killing us, she is a rich, a conerstone, owns an exotic pet that she throws into battle and design her gun after, is a high member of said capitalist big corps, im just saying this is a very nuanced and interesting situation that i like to think about because there are so many thoughts and arguments

The whole belabog vs ipc thing was interesting in general for me because i think it was just such a good concept to bring forth the conversation of the goods and bads of big corps. Technically the ipc does have the right to want their century old debt repaid (ignoring the fact we later learned the robots where never used i think idk the end was confusing ngl) yet also at the same time we as people have a hard time siding with them when belabog didnt even know they where in debt because they where so isolated because of the stellaron and they just got out of the stellaron crisis and are trying to make their world habitable and yknow survive. We cant blame them for being unable to pay a humongous debt when these where the same people who stood in awe as march shower them a photo of their planet that she took while on the express. It creates a situation where yeah technically the giant corp has a right to take that money because its theirs but its still feels so cruel to make them have to cough it up right now with only a few days time. Belabog is basically forced to sign that deal because there is no way they could have payed that off they where doomed the moment topaz set foot on the planet. I remember talking to each of the people in belabog and getting their opinions on the matter and constantly having to rethink my stance because there where so many good points for why they should and so many for why they shouldnt. I can go on and on about this but this bit is already to long.

Aventurine!!! Aventurine aventurine oh where to start. Unlike topaz i actually like aventurine alot he is just such a well written character but we arent here to talk about how amazing him and the games writing is we are here to talk about the capitalist cooperation he is a cog in. Aventurine in a sense has a similar story to topaz but its more cruel and less happy. The ipc didnt save him, the ipc what going to arrest him and its thanks to his luck and a deal with the devil (or in this case a bet with a snake) that he was able to become aventurine.

I havent seen the writen stuff for him in his characters story because i dont have him but i will say from what i saw during the main story, something i question alot is what the ipc did during the avgin genocide. This might be a small tangent but the avgins said they had the support of the ipc. What happened that caused for the entire avgin civilization to be wiped out when they had the help of people with better weapons and armor and equipment. Apart of me is nihilistic enough to think the ipc didnt really care for saving the avgins and might have used the katakans attack as a way to know out the two groups that where causing them the most trouble but at the moment i dont know if theres anything supporting this theory so its just a crack theory

Aventurines spot in penacony is again interesting. Penacony is a prison planet of the ipc, that was taken over and turned into a party paradise thanks to the hamrony, family, and a stellaron. Aventurines goal was supposed to be to put penacony back in the ipcs control and to be honest i cant tell if thats his plan or not because of how crazy and confusing the story was (i loved it) but that being said it is another example how how grey ipc is. It isnt just a big bad corp there are people with lives and in avens case, people trying to gain their freedom with any risks necessary. I also think again the ipcs role in penacony is like belabog, very interesting, just for different reasons.

Penacony is based off America and in this case im assuming the ipc is their Britain. I feel like if you ask most people they would say that the ipc is the only group in penacony they hope fails (minus aventurine again i feel everyone wants aven to succeed even if we want ipc to fall) but i think the family being as grey as they are (basically a cult and also a representation of newer day amarica and its “its us or them” mentality in a way. I can make another yap ses about that lmao) adds an air of mystery and confusion on who we want to succeed since they are on two very different sides of the board so if one wins the other loses. It makes it feel like a fight of two big corps against each other and not really knowing who to support. Do you want to support the capitalist or the cult, pick your poison. We need the rest of penacony for me to go more in-depth on my opinion of ipc here and to rant but i can say its already making me question and argue both sides with what we have seen so far

That was fun for me. I havent ranted on tumblr in a long long time but hsr has been my recent hyperfixation and again boothill makes me crazy. While writing this is made me start to think about how much i wanted to talk about the hidden story of immigration i feel penacony is aso trying to tell. I think penacony is handling so many deep and interesting topics and im very excited for the next update. This has made me hyped to talk about the immigration stuff but i want to do reaserch and gain a proper strong stance besides “thats just my opinion.” I think this is an interesting topic and yapping about it made me want to do more reaserch on the topics of capitalism and big corps cus i hate them but i also think its important to know about it and understand there is more to the issue than just stingy old white rich people. I havent even gotten to jade yet. When we learn more about her imma have some words prob

Srry this was long but anyways cant wait till boothill comes out so i can get him and his light cone

[orionsangel86]

I have been doing this meta analysis thing for a long time now and one thing that I have always tried to make clear in meta analysis is that for it to be taken seriously you must keep your personal biases out of it. You must come at it as objective as possible.

Rant under the cut

Its not always easy to do when you are dealing with difficult topics, or shining unfavourable lights on characters you love, or coming to conclusions that you werent expecting (recent meta discussions about Morpheus in the Sandman comics would fall into these categories).

What meta analysis should never be used for is to back up ship wars or specifically to shame fandoms for liking certain characters. If the meta isnt providing valid evidence to support the interpretations, and instead has fallen into name calling and mockery of fandom, its no longer valid meta.

I got this ALL the time in SPN fandom. Destiel was a huge fandom but as meta writers we stuck with what we were given by the source material and interpreted it with valid evidence. We understood that multiple interpretations were possible but we made sure that whatever we were analysing made sense and had some source backing. This wasnt always the case because meta writers are not a monolith, but the bigger blogs who wrote meta frequently at least understood this and would not be stretching to support their own claims if canon didnt back it up. Now no one is perfect of course, but the point is, proper meta writers understand that where they make a claim or interpretation of the source material, they have to site examples and evidence to back up their claims and also take into consideration any evidence to the contrary.

The people who hated destiel and made that their entire personalities didnt do that so much. I read a lot of their meta out of curiosity and every time I was baffled by where they were getting their claims. 'Destiel is necrophilia" was a big one which canon disproved almost straight away in season 5. "Destiel is rape" was another because Cas was using Jimmy as a vessel and yet canon confirmed Jimmy died at the end of season 4. Cas' body was remade by God in season 5 and has remained his own ever since. These are just two of the ridiculous examples supposed "meta writers" among the destiel hater communities would come up with and still use today.

I find it extremely infuriating when I see character/ship hate loosely disguised as meta analysis. I can give people the benefit of the doubt a lot of the time, as fandoms are usually highly emotional spaces, but when there is zero canon evidence to support the claims, when connections are being made on the absolute thinnest of threads, and when far more obvious interpretations are being clearly ignored to support certain viewpoints in such a stunningly obvious case of confirmation bias I have to throw in the towel and stop taking said meta seriously.

One thing I have loved about Sandman fandom so far is the meta. It's such a rich text to analyse, and the show adds an entirely new level to it which makes it all the more enjoyable. I've made no secret of my support for Dreamling and I wrote a very long meta series on Dreamling and how the show in particular uses certain tropes, symbolism, visual storytelling cues, and music, to name a few, to overload a 25 minute sequence with queer coding. It is completely understandable to me why anyone going into the show even without thinking about shipping, would feel like Dreamling hit them like a brick to the face. The creators weren't subtle with it.

Its also totally valid to find romantic interpretations of other pairings within the Sandman. I personally think Morpheus x Johanna was laid on pretty thickly. Morpheus x Lucienne is equally an interesting ship to analyse. But heres the thing, if you ship these other ships and are frustrated that Dreamling has "taken over" thats valid. I get it. I would like more focus on the other characters too. I would particularly like to talk about Lucienne x Gault and have a meta piece in progress about them.

Whats not okay however is for other shippers and people frustrated with Dreamling to go the way of the Destiel antis. Dont make shit up that has no basis in canon just because you need some moral high ground to shit all over the ship you hate. Don't call fans that see Dreamling "deluded" for seeing it. They aren't deluded. It's right there in the subtext. Dont resort to name calling and "gotchas" and use inflammatory language to bait people. And please, I'm begging you, stop claiming that people who ship Dreamling are somehow all overly fragile white racists. You're wrong.

The racism discussions about Hob's past have their place, but these things ARE being discussed, if anything I feel this fandom has done a far better job of handling the issues of slavery than another popular fandom has (looking at you OFMD). No one is forgiving Hob for his slaver past. But you have to acknowledge that the entire point of the story in The Sandman is about change, and growth, and how we can become better people. As another excellent short meta post stated recently "we are more than the sum of our transgressions". The Sandman is all about the shades of grey. No one is morally righteous, but most characters are not completely morally bankrupt either.

Hob Gadling is a controversial character who is often misunderstood by fandom but anyone with proper critical thinking skills and a decent understanding of what meta analysis is, should understand that Hob is a metaphor for humanity first and foremost. He is the average everyman from the perspective of an Englishman and therefore above all else to understand Hob you have to look to England, to Englands history, and to its current status in the world. A lot of blood on its hands yes, but also at least a century of trying to make up for it, a leader in the world in human rights and trying to do better. I have to believe that about this country, so I believe it about Hob too. Whilst I'm not interesting in getting into huge geopolitical debates about England, I hope that we can all agree that the average Englishman today is not a blood thirsty evil slaver/rapist/murderer or whatever else ive seen people accuse Hob of being even in his modern era.

We can argue the faults of the show downplaying slavery for sure. Its a valid criticsm. We can argue that not enough time was given in the show to show that Hob had changed and regretted his former actions. We can critique these things based on what the show has and has not told us, and also pepper in information provided in the comics and what we know about future Hob panels as well.

But when it comes to the blank spaces in between frames, in between cut screens, we can do whatever we like. Because that is where meta analysis ends and fanfiction begins. You wanna write about Hob joining the abolitionist movement and fighting hard to end slavery? You can. You wanna write about him ignoring Dreams advice and continuing to be a brutal slaver right up until slavery was ended in England sure, you go for it. But don't call either of these "headcanons" meta analysis.

Dont use meta analysis as a cover to shit on fandom. The minute you resort to name calling and mockery its no longer meta. No matter how frustrated or upset you are with the current fandom situation. There is always space to criticise fandom. But ask yourself what your end goal is here? What are you trying to achieve? Is it truly because you are on a righteous path to end fandom racism? Or do you just really hate a popular ship and want people to stop shipping it? If it's the former, then focus on that, ask what solutions we can put in place? Where we can truly tackle it on a larger scale, raising awareness of things that people may not realise are racist but are common tropes in fandom (like how making female characters all mothers or sassy gay best friends is misogynistic or how certain stereotypes in fantasy creatures are anti semitic) but if its the latter, then its disingenuous to use racism in fandom as a shield to hide your ship hate. It reduces an important topic to something shallow and irrelevant.

In ending this rant I will just say this. I'm not interested in engaging further on this topic. I'm legit gonna start blocking if anyone attempts to twist my words here. The civil discussions on this matter ended when people started name calling and flinging around accusations without basis. I am more than happy to engage separately in ways to improve fandom spaces for poc, because thats important, but ship hating has no place in that discussion. Drop that aspect, and there'll be less resistance in these topics.

[orion4ever]

hey dude, i know you mean well for the ol community, and i think you're really cool and have been following you for a while, but i really don't think all this shitting on rose is justified. spreading callout posts by taking shitty things people have said out of context, especially queer poc, is a real tactic used by terfs to spread discourse and isolate queer people from communities, and it's worked so well that queer people have started doing the same to their own with really good intentions, but the overall effect is nonsense discourse and the spread of hatred. kab herself has publicly said that she and rose have a good relationship and that she thinks most of rose's impact on the games and community has been really helpful for checking her own biases. the screenshots and shitty things you've read about her are not the full story, and yes, i do agree that rose handled certain things really really shittily and i am not excusing that at all, but rose isn't a bad person at all, what the callouts show is out of context and does not show rose accurately as a person, and the degree of hatred for a group of people honestly trying to create a safe space for queer people is wildly disproportional. i really hope this doesn't come off as any way accusatory, because it really isn't, and i really look up to you as a creator. i just want you to be aware that this is something that has been settled by the people involved, and continuing discourse and wanting rose fired goes directly against kab's own wishes and is based on misinformation. thanks for reading this far. please have a wonderful day

I respect you and I appreciate that you reached out respectfully with this.

I do not repost these call out post to be malicious or start a hate campaign like some people have been accusing others of.

I do not encourage witch-hunting or harassment of Rose or Kab ; As they are people and make mistakes , even if the mistakes are extremely shitty and I understand that those screenshots were a private conversation but frankly , I think some of the stuff Rose said was extremely odd and vulgar , context or without.

I am not in the official OL server so maybe your right about them not being as bad but even if that was the case they should still be let go of the role as sensitivity reader because they’re views aren’t open minded and its ironic that they are supposed to help prevent bias and keep the game inclusive when they’ve shown a weird rhetoric and the paper bag comment actually made my jaw drop.

OL has been one of the most comforting things to me , I was in a really dark place when I started a new save file and fell in love with all the characters and the game so believe me when I tell you I would never want to attack the very person who created and brought me that comfort. It physically exhausted me and upset me yesterday when it all came to light , considering it has been a huge hyperfixation and boosted my self esteem.

I don’t care if GB is okay with their friends talking an insane amount of crap behind their backs. It's not my business, I just think that they need better friends.

Even with this in mind, I can’t continue my support for Kab if they decide to keep Rose on the development team, not purely just because of what they said in private but how they treated my friend. The both of them are insinuating that they’re a “liar” or that they “overreacted” when they just wanted to express a grievance. And a surprisingly large number of people are harassing them and accusing them of starting a “racist campaign” towards Rose when they are a trans minority as well. If the fandom is so quick to villainize my friend for simply speaking out then frankly I don’t want to be a part of this fandom.

I hope you also have a good day.

[bi-bard]

But If We Fall, I Only Pray, Don’t Fall Away from Me - Sean Renard Imagine [Grimm]

Title: But If We Fall, I Only Pray, Don’t Fall Away from Me

Pairing: Sean Renard X Grimm!Reader

Based On: I, Carrion (Icarian)

Word Count: 2,986 words

Warning(s): mention of mental breakdown/risk of breakdown (brief)

Summary: (Y/n)'s new reality forces many secrets to come to light and many decisions to be reconsidered.

Author's Note: This story is a kind of a reworking of something else that I was working on, but ultimately scraped because I knew damn well that it would get out of hand.

Also, choosing a wesen for these stories is hard.

Sean might be out of character here but I am not gonna go back and change it if he is. I like this story as it is.

Finally, I'm not trying to disappear on you guys. Everything is just a bit chaotic.

UNREAL UNEARTH - HOZIER WRITING CHALLENGE MASTERLIST

------------------------

I had many concerns about my job.

Being a journalist naturally came with many questions. Mainly about morality. What was the line between a necessary story and sensationalism? How far could you take a story before you were exploiting someone? What would you be able to do if it meant getting a story in its entirety?

I had done fairly well avoiding being on the wrong side of those questions.

There had been one exception.

Early on in my time in Portland, I had been assigned to stories that were almost exclusively about criminal cases. Whether it was an investigation or a court case, it was clear that there was a space that my boss wanted me to be in.

During this, I found myself interacting more and more with Captain Renard of Portland's South Precinct. Everything after that felt like it had spiraled wildly out of control. What was a professional relationship turned into Sean and I having something close to a friendship. And then that friendship became something very different that was very unprofessional.

I could remember being so scared at first. Not even that my feelings would be unrequited, but that said feelings would cost me my job somehow. I enjoyed what I did. The last thing that I wanted was to be moved because of my stupid decisions.

After some time, and far too many long conversations, Sean and I found something that worked for us. My boss was much kinder than I expected. I was told that my decisions were my own, but if a bias began to show in my work, then I was going to be sent to work on a different subject. Integrity was important in this industry. I was willing to do whatever was necessary for that, so I understood the threat of keeping a closer eye on the stories that I wrote.

And I never truly found myself questioning my choices again after that. I was able to work with the knowledge that I was trusted by others and myself. That I knew what was okay and what wasn't.

And then, one moment made me have to reconsider everything that I knew.

One moment had left me scrambling to figure out what was right again. It had me questioning my relationships and my family and all knowledge I had of the world around me.

And it all started outside the very precinct that had been the source of my last moral dilemma.

I was standing to the side with my camera. I had gotten word that the cops were bringing in a suspect in a recent murder case. I was simply there to get a photo for my article. I wasn't going to interfere or say a word.

I wasn't the only one there either. There were plenty of other photographers and journalists who were there to get the same story that I was. It wasn't a new pattern for any of us. All of us were used to seeing each other there.

That's to say that there was no reason that anything should have been different or weird or scary about that night. No logical reason anyway.

Everything had been going in the regular pattern of events. The detectives had shown up with the suspect, pulled him out of the car, and started walking into the precinct with him. I was off to the side with the other members of the media, snapping a few photos of the man in the hopes of getting a clear image of his face.

My camera's flash must have caught his attention better than the others. That's the only reason he would have ever looked at me in the first place.

He then acted like he was going to lunge at me, attempting to intimidate me. I wasn't going to flinch until I saw something that I couldn't fully explain.

His face morphed in front of me, taking on some kind of cat-looking... thing. He stopped, almost immediately turning back into his human form. He looked just as scared as I felt.

"There are two of you," he asked. I furrowed my eyebrows. I had no idea what he was talking about.

I found one of the detectives staring at me. He looked as if something in his head was clicking into place before he continued to push the suspect into the precinct. I was certain that all he saw looking back at him was fear.

I looked across the crowd of reporters, many of whom had seemingly missed the subjects concerning comment. Except for one. I found the eyes of a friend of mine, only to watch her face morph as soon as I did. She was different than the suspect that had been brought in. More similar to a beaver than anything else. She gasped before turning around to quickly walk away from me.

"Wait!" I took off after her. It seemed to only scare her more as she started running faster. "Hey! Hold on!"

She yelped as I touched her arm. "Please don't kill me!"

"What?" I replied. "We've known each other for ages; why would I kill you?"

"Because you're one of them... you're a Grimm!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Just please, leave me alone! I haven't done anything wrong!"

"I'm not-"

I didn't get to respond before she ran off again. I didn't have the energy to chase her again. I felt tears well up in my eyes. I put my hand over my mouth for a moment.

I was convinced that I was going insane.

All I could think to do was to go home and hope that this was all some kind of nightmare or that it would all pass on its own. I took my phone out of my pocket and called Sean.

Now, I could've told him the truth. I could've told him that I was scared and unsure about what I was seeing. But in the moment, glancing frantically around the street with tears in my eyes, I found myself frozen. Any confession I wanted to make fell flat and useless.

"(Y/n)?" I let out a small sigh of relief when I heard Sean on the other end.

"Hey," I said, trying to sound like I wasn't on the verge of some kind of breakdown. "I know you're busy, but I just wanted to let you know that I think I'm gonna stay at my place tonight. Alone."

"Are you okay," he asked. Ever the perceptive man.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just tired and I have a lot of work to do. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Alright," he muttered.

"Love you," I added, forcing a cheery tone into my voice as much as I could.

"Love you too."

Sean still sounded suspicious. I couldn't blame him. I wasn't the best actor; subtly was never something that I was praised for. But I couldn't focus on whether or not he believed me. I needed to get home.

I tried to do some work when I got there. I piddled away on my computer, churning out a story that felt completely pointless and read like a middle schooler wrote it. I still had to send it off, hoping that the editor would aid in making it sound more coherent in time for it to go to press.

Sleep proved to be an even more difficult feat than writing a coherent article. I tossed and turned all night. The few moments that I managed to fall into some kind of uneasy sleep, I would be jolted awake by the vision of that man I saw outside the precinct. His reaction to me and my reaction to him. And that detective that had stared at me.

This pattern continued for days.

At first, it was fine. I could pretend that I had a long night. But that excuse couldn't last forever, especially when I had an obnoxiously observant partner who was checking in on me whenever he had a moment to do so.

As time went on, I found myself with less and less of an excuse. Sean was suspicious. He could tell something was wrong but wouldn't simply confront me. I could tell that he could tell that something was wrong, but I refused to say a word because I knew that I could've been wrong. I had just been hiding in my apartment and faking that I was perfectly fine for ages.

I was beginning to see those creatures at work. My boss was noticing the weird looks and new tense relationships that were forming out of seemingly nowhere. I couldn't hide it forever. I was going to lose my job if I was determined to be the cause of the workplace hostility. None of those who had turned in front of me would talk to me anymore, so it's not like I could ask them to explain what was happening.

I was already struggling with no real family. Most of my relatives had either passed away years ago or just never made themselves known. Even my parents. My dad had run for the hills and my mom couldn't raise me alone, so I had spent years navigating the foster care system. Now, I was losing friends and colleagues. I was convinced that I was about to lose my partner because I assumed that he thought I was cheating on him or something. It was all becoming too much for me to deal with on my own.

It was maybe a week before I found myself at Sean's door. He had buzzed me up, so he knew I was coming. He was standing at the front door, waiting for me with a concerned look on his face.

I felt my eyes welling up with tears as soon as I saw him. He pulled me into a hug, slowly guiding me inside and closing the door behind him.

"I think I'm going crazy," I said as I tried to stop myself from sobbing.

He moved back so he could look me in the eye. "What's going on?"

"I... I keep seeing things," I explained. "People are... They keep turning into these... things- creatures- I don't know..."

I buried my face in my hands.

I felt his hands touch my arms.

"You're not crazy," he muttered. "I promise."

"Then what's happening to me?" I looked at him again.

He paused. I watched his face. Concern turned into something that I could only describe as guilt. I felt a new fear settling in as I took a few steps away from him.

"Sean...," I mumbled. "Did you do something to me?"

Maybe it was the exhaustion or just the desperate need for answers. I couldn't think of a time when I felt a need to question him like that. He was good to me. Maybe a little rough around the edges, but I thought he was a good man.

But in that moment, I was convinced that anything was possible.

"No, no," he insisted. "I wouldn't-"

"But you know what it is?"

"Yes."

"Then, tell me."

"You may not believe it."

"A lot has changed in the last few days; you don't know what I'd believe."

He took a deep breath. "I believe that you're a Grimm."

"Okay...," I replied. "I've heard that word before. There's a colleague... I thought we were friends. She- Her face turned in front and then she ran off. She said that she didn't want me to kill her. When I asked why she thought I would, she called me a Grimm."

"You're different than most," he explained. "You can see things more clearly than the average person. Those creatures you're seeing are called Wesen. What you saw that woman do was woge."

"The suspect your detectives brought in a few days ago..."

"To my knowledge, he was a Klaustreich."

"Okay..." I mumbled. "Why me?"

"It follows a bloodline. It doesn't affect everyone. It can skip a whole generation. It's all a question of if it will happen at all."

I nodded. "The man said, 'There are two of you' when he saw me and one of your detectives gave me a strange look. I've only talked to him once or twice; I can't remember his name."

"Detective Burkhardt?"

"Yes, that's it." I snapped my fingers together and pointed at Sean.

"He's also a Grimm."

"So we're... related."

"In some capacity. Bloodlines only get messier as time goes on."

"Are you part of the bloodline?"

"No," he almost looked like he was tempted to chuckle.

"What? That seemed the logical conclusion. You know a lot about this."

"It's nothing that you did," he promised. "Sorry. This is a serious conversation."

"So... Why do you know so much about this if you're not part of the bloodline?"

It was the first question that Sean had hesitated to answer since I had first gotten there. I felt another wave of unease hit me. There was something here. Something that was so monumental that it almost seemed to scare him.

"That might take some time to explain," Sean said after a few moments.

"I have all the time in the world." I crossed my arms over my chest and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Centuries ago-"

"Holy shit."

"I told you," he replied. I held my hands up. "Centuries ago, seven houses were formed. Seven royal families. They held- and still hold- mass amounts of power and wealth throughout the world. I am technically part of one of those families."

"You're a prince?"

"Technically," he explained. "I was the result of an affair. They chased my mother and me all the way to the United States."

"All because you were the result of an affair?"

"There's a bit more to it than just the affair. My mom was a Hexenbiest. A type of Wesen. As a result, I ended up being half-Zauberbiest, which is just the male form of the same thing. Having an affair with a Hexenbiest that resulted in a Zauberbiest was what led to the uproar.

"The royal families are not commonly fond of Wesen. Hexenbiest and Zauberbiest can be an exception, but they deemed my mother and I to be useless. Grimms are treated in a strangely similar way; good if they're useful."

I found myself with nothing to say. I felt like I should have said something, but every response felt like it wasn't good enough. Like it wasn't enough to carry the weight of the conversation.

"I wouldn't have pursued anything with you if I had known that you were going to become a Grimm," Sean continued. "I thought that we had gotten to the point that it would've already presented itself. I never would have placed that burden on you."

"Would you have ever told me any of this if I hadn't," I asked.

There was a pause before he responded, "I don't know."

I just nodded. I couldn't decide on whether I was angry with him or not. He had hidden this part of himself for a long time, but really, would I have ever believed him if he had told me? If I hadn't experienced what I had in these last few days?

"You can go if you want," he said. "I won't force you into this."

I felt my heart drop at the idea.

I couldn't leave. Not now.

I knew how my life had been over the last few days. I lost all sense of self. All concept of who I was and what my life was supposed to be. But being here, being with him, no matter how life-changing the knowledge, had brought me back into focus. How could I leave now and lose that?

I took a few steps forward, stopping just in front of him. I grabbed his hands.

"Show me."

"(Y/n)-"

"Sean," I stopped him. "Show me."

He hesitated for a moment. When it was clear that I wasn't going to back down, he relented.

I watched his neck suddenly crack as the skin on his face changed. It wasn't all of it. One of his eyes and part of his jaw turned. The skin that changed was red around the edge and turning gray. Parts of it looked like it was rotting away.

I thought that whatever I saw was going to scare me. I had put a lot of thought into how to not flinch when he showed me. Instead, I found myself feeling completely normal. As if nothing was different. As if I had seen this part of him a hundred times before. Maybe I had. Subconsciously, at least. Not that I could ever prove that.

I walked closer, stopping when I was just in front of him.

"I don't want to go," I muttered after a moment.

I watched his face change back to its regular form. "(Y/n)-"

"I don't want to leave," I said.

"(Y/n). I need you to understand this. Your life is now dangerous enough without me in it. You'll already have people looking to hurt you or use you. If I'm involved... it will only be worse."

"And I am willing to take that risk." I grabbed his hands. "I care about you. If something were to happen, then I think being with you would be the smartest thing I could do. I understand the risk and the danger. I can't say that I'm not scared of it, but I accept it."

Sean sighed, his shoulders dropping as he did. "Are you sure?"

"As long as you are," I replied.

I almost stumbled as I was pulled forward into a hug. I chuckled quietly before closing my eyes and moving to hide my face in his shoulder.

"I love you," he muttered quietly.

"I love you too." I tightened my hug a bit.

And for the first time in days, I felt the world settle around me.

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Everything - @geeksareunique

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[chansabsfanclub]

Han NSFW Alphabet

genre : suggestive smut, gender neutral reader

word count : 1477

warning : suggestive and some smutty content

A/N : Han is my bias so I had lots of fun with this, I'm sorry I took such a long break from writing, I hope you enjoy this addition to the NSFW collection.

After care : 

Jisung's super goofy and loving, giving lots of kisses all over his partners face.  He'll give compliments and cuddle them tightly, he wants to make sure they feel loved, while keeping the mood light and fun.

Body (favourite body parts) :

He loves his hands, how they look on his partners body and when they hold his partners neck and face.  Jisung would love his partners booty, he'll rub it and praise them about how hot they are and hold onto it tightly during sex.

Cum :

Messy when he cums, he loves cream pies but only if his partner is on birth control or has a kind of contraceptive, or anal.

Dirty secret :

He hides how Horny he actually is because he thinks it would scare his partner if they knew how much he jerked off and thought dirty thoughts.  Until eventually him and his partner got close enough where he didn't hide it anymore.

Experience :

This man will brag about how he has alllll the experience in the world, he makes it sound like he's the sex expert, but in reality he is relying on the corn hub for his information, and when he actually gets to the down and dirty part, he'll get awkward and make jokes to cope.  Very little experience in other words.

Favourite Position :

Doggy style all night, he can grip his partners ass, pull on their hair, fuck them as hard and roughly as he can, and he finds that the position makes him cum the hardest, it also helps him reach his partners most sensitive spot inside.

Goofy :

Jisung is extremely goofy, especially when it comes to sex, he'll sneakily go in for a motto boat, he'll be teasing and laughing and it helps his partners relax as well if they're nervous or shy, he's easy going and thats what helps make him so lovable.

Hair :

Jisung will do a complete shave every couple of weeks, then let it grow out, it's a lot of work to keep it constantly shaved down, so he has a little routine going where he'll take everything off and then let it grow out, then repeat.

Intimacy :

King of PDA, from making cute faces to holding hands and cuddling on a bus ride to home, he will actively show affection to his partner no matter what.  He has his limits though, cute PDA is good with him, anything sexy or promiscuous would make him too embarrassed and awkward.  

Jerk off:

He will find the time to do it every day at least once, maybe twice if he feels like it.  His sex drive is crazy and his horny levels are insane, so he's jerking off a lot which doesn't help his case.  Don't worry, he's not an addict.  Yet.

Kink:

He's not the most kinky out there, he has a few such as back scratched, he'll beg his partner to dig their nails into his back as he fucks them, as well as pet names and such.  He's pretty open to new things though.

Location:

Anywhere in the house with a solid surface.  You're taking a shower together?  He'll make you hold onto the wall for dear life.  In the kitchen making breakfast, prepare to be lifted onto that counter.  As long as there's no one else in the house Jisung will initiate something anywhere.

Motivation:

His motivation is his hormones, you could be sitting on the couch watching tv and turn him on.  His dick has a mind of its own, so in terms of motivation he will be motivated anytime there's an opportunity.

No :

Noooooo public sex, not for him and never will be, he'a a huge flirt but he also has his dignity he's not willing to risk just to get down and dirty.  He'll stay away from public spaces when it comes to naughty stuff, only closed off locked spaces will do.

Oral :

His best friend, hes a rapper his tongue knows how to move, he can do oral really well, and he also enjoys seeing your mouth wrapped around his dick as you suck him off.

Pace :

He can do any pace depending on the situation.  He's the master at quickies, and if it's slow and sensual you want he can do that too, but he might get carried away and fuck your brains out.

Quickies :

Jisung is down for a quickie anytime any day, his high sex drive needs tending and there's not always time to get sensual, quickies are his best friend.

Risk :

Is Ji the most risky person out there?  No, he'll get super embarrassed if someone were to walk in on something, so he keeps his risk fairly low just to keep SOME of his dignity.  But, he wouldn't be opposed to a quick blowjob under his studio desk to take his mind off his projects.

Stamina :

He has pretty good stamina, we've all heard him rap, his tongue can work miracles and he has enough stamina to make you cum on his face.  He can last around 15 minutes if it's slow and sensual, but if it's a quickie he'll get both him and his partner cumming in less than 5.

Toys :

He feels a but intimidated by them, he's 100% supportive if his partner wants to use them, but he'll get a bit scared if anything super extreme were to come out and be suggested.

Unfair :

He teases, I know he teases, you know he teases its a universal thing.  He'll be dangling sex in front of you like a feather toy to cats.  "Hmm, should I fuck you?  I don't think you'd like that.  I guess we won't fuck."  And other stuff like that.  

Volume :

Jisung is vocal, he's not screaming or anything, but he can't help but mutter out a "Yes baby" or "You feel so good". He'll even let moans slip out of his mouth as he gets closer to his release.

Wild Card :

"Hey Ji, I'm here, I stopped by the convenience store as well."  I called out to my boyfriend as I entered the studio.  It was late and Jisung was stuck on a song he desperately wanted to finish.  He had texted me to come keep him company since Chan and Changbin had already went back to the dorm.  

Jisung turned in his chair to face me and smiled widely.  "I'm so glad you're here!  This is killing me."  He fake cried and opened his arms for a hug.  I giggled at him and went over to hug him tightly.  I sat on his lap and he turned back to his computer.  

I watched as he worked for a while, his shoulders would tense and then relax, and his face would scrunch and he'd hold his breath, eventually releasing it after finishing something.  He was super stressed, and I have an idea how to help him.

I got off his lap and slid under the desk, his face turned from confused to excited really quick.  "Baby, are you gonna..."  

"Shh, keep working."  I interrupted him, he went back to his project, my hands went to the band of his sweatpants, tugging them down slowly, he lifted his butt so I was able to brings them down to his feet, his dick in his underwear was already starting to get hard, it was just too easy with him.  

My hand gently rubbed his dick through his underwear, I could hear him let out a sigh as I pressed down lightly onto him.  My fingers teased at his underwear, slightly tugging them down just so his tip was showing, I brushed my thumb over it making him quiver slightly.

"I thought this was supposed to be a stress relief."  He jokingly said, his breath caught in his throat as I took his whole cock in my mouth.

X-ray :

Jisung gives off average dick energy.  He's my bias okay, so I'm being completely honest,  he doesn't have the biggest dick energy.  I'll give him 6 inches, with a bit more girth, but nothing crazy, he knows how to use it though, from all the jerking off.

Yearning :

He craves sex, we've been over this.  When it comes to sex drive he could make it from one side if Canada to the other.  

Zzz :

Passes out right away, after they've finished, he'd wrap his arms around his partner and cuddled them to sleep, passing out right away.

[scottfreed]

Orion & Scott should be friends if not awkward step brothers. The forced antagonism is lame.

I had an argument with two people about the way I characterized Orion and Scott in a fic a while back, and I wanted to make a big post to compile my canon basis for writing them as somewhat distant brothers who respect and defend each other. I particularly had one fan continuously say Tom King's characterization is gospel and completely consistent, and I was an "abuse apologist" for writing them in a positive way. I wanted to pay particular attention to the question of succession since that's the main source of conflict for them in MM '17.

Orion and Scott have had numerous character interactions that have predominantly ranged from generally amicable to warm and familiar with key exceptions. (Rough recount incoming)

MM '74

Their first interaction Orion literally saves Scott's life so he and Barda can get married.

Dude is actually the one who called for the wedding in the first place. And he was playing the Bouncer. And look at him on Barda's side of the alter. He's totally the Maid of Honor:

Super Powers '86

(This was the first comic I ever read with both characters just to disclose my bias.)

Short but fun lesser known title! But there's some interesting world building happening. And Orion and Scott paling around in their co-rulers era:

They're buddies and its great. Also look and Orion's drip.

Look at this! The bois are co-ruling Apokolips for a brief stint. The exact opposite of Orion trying to "steal the throne form scott", He literally called him up to help him manage his own!

This is such a great expression of both their characters. Scott's survivors guilt for being able to escape the Hell of his upbringing and Orion's driving fear of ending up a tyrant like his father.

And look at this "interview":

We need to bring back authors doing make-believe interviews with fictional characters. Simply outstanding. The idea that in the face of nature and nurture they both gravitated to the light is honestly fascinating.

"(still hushed) Thank you, thank you, my friend..."

^^^ like... there are hurt/comfort fics that aren't as tender as this action adventure comic from 1986 😭😭😭

The New Gods Vol 3

But whoa what's this?

Bickering? I guess they do just inherently have an antagonistic relationship... except look what's actually being said.

Orion and Lightray aren't pissed because they think Orion is so great that he should be in charge of everything and Scott's in the way Ala Tom King. (It's because this writer didn't want to write for Scott in this title and the crappy answer for this is to make Scott an annoying "80s era pacifist" which is pretty shameful in the context of world-ending stakes tbh.)

But again, Orion's not miffed because he wants Scott gone. If anything, He want's Scott to be more involved in the fight against evil. He wants him to remember his roots. He wants him to be a part of New genesis. He want's him to take on more power and responsibility.

Plus, idk I'm projecting but it's almost giving: "hey the family misses you, please call/visit more" to me at least.

JLA/I ('90)

My heart is aching look at this! Called him his brother, gave a beautiful eulogy, joined the JLA in his memory. It's wild how the writing in this arc went wildly back and forth between quality and pure nonsense 😭

JLA ('98) - #24

This is how you do clunky exposition about who tf these characters even are showing up in this title all of a sudden.

Is it perfect? No.

But it's still a heart to heart desire to understand. Underline everyone's characters and central motivation. Boom. We're in and we're out. Back to the Justice League.

MM Vol 3 (1996)

Okay, so weirdly aggressive, right???

But, not quite, it was indicated that his reaction here was due to Darksied having just been resurrected and was influencing him.

But also take a closer look at what's being said! It wasn't a result of Orion being covetous of Scott's power or even wishing harm on him or anything.

Quite the opposite, in fact. He's telling him he needs to better protect his own life as future king, even if it means sacrificing others.

It's almost giving concern tbh.

Far be it from trying to kill Scott to steal NG from him, even in this ooc moment, he's chastising him to stay safe so he can come into his throne.

Jack Kirby's Fourth World (1997)

We get a fight and Scott gets over whelmed casue he's fucking around. Barda is lowkey laughing at him. But what does Orion do?

Dude Pops off. Pops off so hard everyone is concerned.

And then this happens:

Look! He struck Scott! Tom King is a genius! haters btfo.....

But wait. this was actually how it was revealed that Orion was possessed by DeSaad, because this was so wildly out of character for him!

Literally this action, that Orion-haters seem to think is like their mundane default character interaction, was so off-putting and out of character to all the other New Gods that they immediately knew something was very wrong. And it was. He was possessed!

lol gross...

But what about when he's back in his mind again? Well...

(idk who's serving more cunt in this tbh)

And here not for the last time we se Orion supporting the idea of Scott as the ruler of Apokolips.

Orion ('01)

(d...did scott do blackface in this cosplay??? lol)

This is the classic. We all know it. We all love it.

Look at Scott meddling in his life. You're fucking up pretty bad when the "god of freedom" has to step in to stop you.

Also the contrast between their actions when dealing with Sirius is better than any hackney fist fight or argument.

And how interesting is it that Scott's unwillingness to kill isn't treated as admirable and pure in contrast to Orion's evil-bad violence.

Nope. He was a kid. He wasn't strong enough yet to do what had to be done. And IIRC it was to do with what he'd just gone through with the emergence of the anti-life equation. But Orion was! And Orion was the one to finally put the poor soul out of him misery.

I like in particular the way they are portrayed as the "god of war" and the "god of freedom" and how the way this is explored isn't a black and white dichotomy. Scott recognizes Orion is absolutely needed to oppose Darkseid. And the way the two of them are working behind the scenes to protect and help each other repeatedly is so perfect.

And the way Orion decides not to kill Metron to protect scott not because it's wrong or whatever but because time travel could prevent anyone else from following the same bread crumbs and coming to the same conclusions is so funny.

But he was fully ready to kill Metron to save the weird little circus man.

But yeah I think its very telling that at the end of this character arc, Orion, in coming to terms with himself, must come to terms with Scott and their respective places in the world.

I just think it's cool that they each saved each other's life twice in this series. Scott prevented Orion form falling too far with his black racer gambit. And reminding him of his purpose. And Orion Saves Scott from the parademons and Metron.

I can only dream of the paradise we'd be living in if this characterization continued on into the future.

Cherish it. It's all down hill from here...

Death of the New Gods ('05)

Okay so this series isn't great, but at least it's consistent with how these two interreact with each other and kind of keeps to Simonson's continuity... kind of.

Orion aggressively defends Scott’s claim yet again. He looked like he was gonna deck Clark when he suggested Scott was not fit. I’m talking bolded, italicized and pt.18 font text when he first suggested it. "WHAT?" He "begrudgingly" admits Scott's not "currently" fit. But still declines that position for himself.

And the two of them discussing the fate of their people like this almost harkens back to '86 with the co-ruling.

This story is weird, with the worst interpretation of the Anti-Life Equation I've seen. And I'd argue both are ooc in general, but even in this slopy story there is no succession crisis. and they are working together:

(lol at his face here. The bois are trying to discuss their family business and clark is just standing there gobsmaked. rude tbh...)

And here is Orion saving his ass again for good measure:

I hit my picture limit, but Scott goes on to try to kill Orion and Clark later in this series.

Up to this point. Orion might have shoved Scott once or twice in weird circumstances but Scott was the only one who seemed to actually make an actual attempt on his life. Which is why the post reboot characterization is so freaking weird to me.

Tom Kings MM (2017)

(This is where it officially falls apart)

Cliché toxic masculinity abusive stepbrother who exists only to make Scott an even bigger victim. Steals the throne, is weirdly aggressive and abusive for no fucking reason. Tries to kill him in jealousy, etc, etc.

And unfortunately this has seemingly become Orion's standard characterization in the minds of most fans.

(Now, in those post-n52 reboot GL books (sorry tbh I don't feel like tracking them down rn) he's not AS bad as he was in the WW and Tom King MM, but he's still portrayed as being far less intelligent and articulate for some reason??? The idea that he's the dumb jock of the NG and not basically a warrior poet. It's better to go more himbo than violent monster I guess but it's still a far cry from his proper characterization.) I wonder if it had to do with his awful portrayal in that Wonder Woman run??? Idk.

... Jack Kirby didn't deserve this.

DCeased(?)

Ripping off Tom king directly. I'm not just saying that since I don't like the characterization. I'm saying this because they ripped this stupid fucking scene off beat-for-beat, Seriously, Tom King should sue this dude for plagiarism.

And like a game of telephone their characters keep getting mangled more and more. This is the writing equivalent of a bad photo copy of a bad photocopy.

I just gotta pray it stops here and we can get back to a normal dynamic for these two again. But this story's existence doesn't bode well.

MM (2021)

Orion and Shilo seem to be on good terms! He still doesn’t speak right but it’s still an improvement!

Buuuut, no relationship or character interaction with Scott and Barda's daughter at all??? Like that's the main antagonist (for some fucking reason) and they just say nothing to each other? ok sure why not at this point.

Like that's High Father's granddaughter!

Highfather is probably the cornerstone of Orion's identity. Even if you don't consider Scott and Orion to be brothers, she's still his family through HF.

Anyway, I just wanted to add at the end here that I find some of the fans (and writer's) continuous characterization of Scott as the loser wife guy and a massive victim all the time, and Orion the violent psycho, who is power-hungry and ambitious is lame and sucks.

And just to be a little biased. I think the dynamic from 50 years ago is better and more relevant to people today than the MM '17 version.

Think about it. There are more blended and mixed families than ever. Awkward and somewhat distant step-brother is so much more compelling and interesting than the chirst vs. anti-christ thing they keep doing.

“What Is It They’ve Sent Us?” “Hope.”

Barda '24

This book seems to be getting us back on track from what I've been able to see so far! I've been unable to get my hands on it yet but everything I've seen and heard about it is really exciting for me as a fan. I'm both excited and fearful to see what comes next!!!

[philiawrites143]

Henri and June Headcanons! (The Ssum)

A/N: Hi! Finally doing some Headcannons for the season 2 boys like I've been wanting to lol. I meant for these to be general relationship headcanons but they're more or less date headcanons with some extra in-person stuff thrown in lol. I genuinely love these characters so much even if their stories are being taken in questionable, at best, directions. So here's to some happy time with them!!!

~June~:

-Beach date obv! Especially one where you watch the sunset together, he immediately knew it would be the first date he would go on with you once the day cane you could meet in person. -Any kind of picnic! Bonus if its a picnic during the above date idea! -Since he spent so much of his life forced to stay away from the world, hes much bigger on going-out dates (But he still isnt the biggest fan of the crowds and prefers to avoid them as much as possible, same with Henri) -Mainly loves nature dates, but activity dates are awesome too! Like a carnival! (He may be way to scared for a rollercoaster though...but he could MAYBE be convinced lmao) -Obviously an art museum date would be amazing, but if you're like me and also like museum's with fossils and science exhibits that get you all excited June would OBVIOUSLY come with you and adore how excited you get, he may even get excited about something he didn't really think that much of just because the way you feel about it puts it into a different perspective for him <3 -A staying-in type of date my friend said they could he with him would be a cute little pajama date, MASSIVE sleepover vibes -All cuddled up watching movies or a show with some DELICIOUS snacks and food. -I could also see maybe a little tickle fight breaking out, fluffiest couple ever award goes to-! -Also another obvious hc but you are his muse so he would love to paint you :') -Even better if you like painting yourself! Then you can sit and pain together! Whether it be eachother or just what has you inspired that day. -He would probably cry if you painted him no matter what it looked like. He love art and the fact that you share in his hobby AND see him as YOUR muse?!? Cut the cameras he's ungly crying (but everything he does is pretty lmao)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Henri~:

-Arcade date! I know he had one with June but I 100% see him wanting to take you on one as well -If not arcade date then maybe playing videgames together in general, since we see him on a nintendo switch in offical art - If you're competing in game, HE IS SO TEASING YOU IF YOU LOSE, but in like the silly goofy way y'know? -I think if you guys played a co-op game, whether it be a co-op puzzle game or another different kind of game that has co-op (both you would have to intoduce to him bc of the kind of life we all know he had) I think he would be shockingly good at them after getting used to it, almost frustratingly so. Honestly, as a team you guys would be crazy good at whatever game it is, he might sabotage you on purpose every once in a while... but its all in good fun!! -(He thinks you're cute when you're mad, but only in low stakes/playful situations.) -He's really big on stay-in dates because they just make him feel more comfortable I think -While i see this kind of date working for both him and June (My bias towards this date idea is showing) I think a going out and not gaming related date he'd enjoy with you would be an aquarium! -In all honesty i think he would do almost any kind of date if it made you happy or excited, so if youre like me and get realy excited about aquariums, his heart will melt seeing you get all excited in the pretty aquatic lighting. -May try to say complete lies about whatever creatures you're looking at and pass them off as a fact, and then laugh and tease you if you fall for it -Less related to just dates and more so related to just finally being able to be together in person, but I feel like Henri is MUCH more of a physical touch kind of person than he ever thought he was. Being with you makes him realize just how touchstarved and hungry for affection he is T-T

(Hello! I've been reading on Tumblr forever but this is my first time trying to write something and post it 😂. I still have no clue what I'm doing with formatting or how to make my post look pretty, but I'm hoping I'll figure it out 💀. I hope you liked it!! Hopefully I can figure more stuff out and be able to post what all fandoms I'll write for, and take requests soon!)

[pastryjay]

(Mild spoilers for Deadpool and Wolverine ahead) I thought Deadpool and Wolverine was fun, but i'm lowkey pissed off that it's getting praised for the same things that got Taika Waititi death threats for having in Thor: Love and Thunder. I'm not saying T:L&T was a brilliant movie, but Marvel dudebros act like the whole thing was an unforgivable sin! Even now, people are still unreasonably mad about it.

To give a few examples:

T:L&T has a scene where the CGI of a floating head hologram is not great, and it gets so much criticism for that. D&W has a scene where Deadpool's katana clearly clips straight through his body, which a lot of people noticed but weren't anywhere near as mad about it. Critiscising these kinds of flaws in both movies is good, but only focusing on the flaws of T:L&T is unfair.

T:L&T has been criticised for having too many jokes/ not being serious enough. Yet D&W has so many more jokes/ less seriousness than T:L&T, and people love it. The Thor movies have always had jokes and ridiculous moments, so it's not like T:L&T was a complete genre flip.

The jokes in T:L&T and D&W have a very similar style, D&W just has more r-rated ones. T:L&T briefly showing giant screaming goats is too silly, but multiple scenes of Dogpool in D&W is great (both are fine). T:L&T is bad/ disrespecting the MCU for having tongue-in-cheek, mockery of the genre jokes. Meanwhile, D&W is praised for having 4th wall jokes about the MCU, purposely silly cameos, jabs at DC, and jokes about how multiverses are bad. People love it! Personally, I thought the serious moments in T:L&T were more impactful than those in D&W, which balanced out its light and dark moments better. But that's just my preference.

I'm not saying D&W is getting no backlash. It is, but the overwhelming response is positive, and a lot of the same people who passionately hated T:L&T love D&W. I really did have fun watching it! I'm also not saying D&W is a bad movie or claiming that T:L&T is better than it. I'm just pointing out that there is a hell of a lot of bias there.

Some of this bias must be because people have more nostalgia over Wolverine and some of the cameos in D&W than characters in T:L&T. Mostly, I think the bias is just plain hatred for the fact that T:L&T is a Taika Waititi movie. Certain Marvel dudebros can't stand to see this indigenous, jewish creator being successful! They don't like that Taika is consistently respectful about including minorities too. Sure, I like that D&W at least includes some cool minority characters briefly, but was the use of the r slur and all the offending the woke mob jokes necessary? Nah. People who don't like Taika went into watching T:L&T expecting it to be bad, and everything confirmed it, whereas they had the opposite expectations for D&W, so they loved it (confirmation bias). I'm sorry, but the reaction to D&W compared to T:L&T just proves to me that Taika and anyone else involved with T:L&T deserved better than the vitriol they got.