#not to mention that being. a MAJOR cause of all of her issues and obstacles during the earlier parts of archie

[scribblekatz]

had to make my own design for one of my favorite sonic characters ever……

[zuko-always-lies]

Hey, as a long viewer of your anti iroh posts, which, as a person who just recently watched ATLA, I have a very controversial theory/headcanon based on my knowledge of general psychology (not a psychologist so disregard if incorrect) and perspective of Iroh's character and by the attitude of his fans that can possibly get me hate messages and even death threats. So I came to the conclusion that Iroh expresses an uncomfortable character of NPD or particularly a certain "sub" that you will, being Benevolent/Vulnerable Narcissim.

Iroh loves to present himself as "wise, kind and fatherly," but his actions showcase the total opposite, and his supposed identity appears far more shallow and self-centred. He never properly mentors or shows to really know Zuko. Instead, he simply uses Zuko to serve as his act of penance, which is why he never meaningfully teaches Zuko to become a better person or to realise that his father is at fault and that his sister is not his real enemy. But no, instead, he lays off to do the bare minimum. He shows less to no remorse for Zuko's predicament that was caused by him for not standing up to his brother when he was banished. Nor does Iroh show any for Zuko's victims. Instead, Iroh operates under the mindset that supporting Zuko and making him Firelord will accomplish his penance. His lack of care for Azula is precisely because she is an obstacle not just for Zuko but for his "penance" as well.

It's also interesting the lack of self-awareness that Iroh has. He calls Azula crazy for doing what he did for decades. The only difference is that Azula genuinely cares for her nation while Iroh doesn't really care except his glory. He sent his son to the front lines to fight his own battles for him, which isn't that different from Ozai's treatment of Azula and Zuko. Oh, and at the finale, what does he do? Send Zuko and Katara into danger while abandoning them to satisfy his selfish desire. Of course, as you mentioned, he also doesn't live up to his own "wisdom" instead using that wisdom to appear smart and confuse others. Because in all honesty, Zuko NEVER applies any of Iroh's suppose wisdom because Iroh doesn't ever think to teach BLUNTLY to Zuko, like any basic teacher can look at Iroh and already have their hands in their face, but of course the further issue is that instead of applying basic healthy logic, Iroh instead utilises the toxic sibling rivalry to manipulate Zuko into becoming his "perfect" son. Zuko becomes a better person despite Iroh not because of him, Zuko's "metamorphosis" (aka breakdown) is the best example of how unhealthy Iroh's parenting is.

Iroh is also shameless when it comes to his mistakes. He never feels guilt or apologises to June for his blatant sexual harassment. He has no shame for being friends with the Rough Rhinos or assisting Zhao in the further conquest and bloodshed of the Northen Water Tribe. He never thinks or comes clean with his crimes against the Earth Kingdom, instead choosing to profit off the very same people he victimised. He never apologises to Zuko for being a shitty mentor/Uncle.

Iroh reminds me of ALOT of narcissistic so called "benevolent" or "vulnerable" people who will appear kind and even express self hatred but only for further validation and without taking risks or responsibility whatsoever for their mistakes, instead blaming others or doing "good" little things to create a narrative that they are "saints" and that people who disagree or despise them are "crazy or evil".

This might be far-fetched, but when you consider that to this day, the majority of ATLA fans have been juiced in this narrative that Iroh = 50 year old warmonger is a Saint who should be worshipped and that Zuko should be "thankful and grateful" of said Iroh, and that Azula = 14 year old abused child soldier who did the least messed up things and is the youngest member is demonised for being "crazy" and even Aang gets treated inferior to Iroh, well it already feels right at home with typical narcissistic narratives

I've had similar thoughts myself, but I really don't like applying medical diagnoses to fictional characters living in a very different society, so I never quite articulated them. Certainly Iroh seems to be an extraordinarily self-centered person who puts major effort into pretending not be so self-centered.

[takerfoxx]

Seeing as you mentioned your thoughts on polyshipping and the Israfel Special (it can't happen in canon, but with the slightest tweaks it would be very beneficial to all three of them and work quite well), any thoughts in that direction in the fun world of Madoka? Homura is, of course, going to be the tricky part, but if Rebellion implies her true happy fantasy has all of them around she's probably not as hard as she might seem.

You know, there's a real funny story about that, which I'll get to in a second.

Anyway, like the Israfel Special, I don't think it would work out in canon, but for opposite reasons. I think that circumstances and compatible personalities would actually make a Shinji x Rei x Asuka poly relationship work, but their respective issues would ultimately doom it. For the megucas, while they don't have the same incredibly specific trauma-related issues that would sabotage such a relationship (with one major exception), I just don't see them being the sort to go for something like that. That being said, there is good evidence supporting every individual pairing, so mixing them all together is certainly intriguing.

Like, I think out of all of them, Kyoko would be the one that probably the most down to give it a try. Sayaka would probably be very freaked out by the idea (Wait, you can do that? But why would you do that?), but might come around. Madoka is a toss-up on whether she would be intimidated by the idea or just sort of easily slide into it without even noticing, and Mami would probably run herself ragged trying to make herself available to everyone.

Homura, of course, is the biggest obstacle, ESPECIALLY if it's late-game Homura. Moemura has a better chance of giving it a try, but late-game Homura's self-loathing practically causes her to self-sabotage anything that makes her happy. And she's so focused on Madoka and has several timeloops of bad experiences with the others that I really don't see it working.

Honestly, the best possible chance for Poly Magi is if the other four are already in some kind of poly relationship that early-game Moemura is brought into. I do recall one incredibly lewd but also pretty adorable fic that had that premise.

Anyway, the reason I found this question hilarious is, well, I kind have been working on a story off-and-on for years with more-or-less that general idea. You weren't here for this, but a few years, when I started to experiment with sexual content, I mentioned that I have a few spicy side-projects that I work on whenever I get writer's block on my main stories to practice, as sex has always been something I've found kind of uncomfortable (aromantic, intimacy-avoidant, that sort of thing).

And one of them is a Poly Magi story, where the basic premise is that Homura finds herself in a timeline where none of the usual tragedies are happening (Nagisa never contracts, Yuma is saved from her parents, Mami surives, Kyoko comes back early, Sayaka and Madoka both make early contracts and they all form a team, etc.), which motivates her to give telling everyone everything a shot. Then Hitomi finds out about everything and makes a contract as well, they all beat Walpurgisnacht, split off into three couples, only to discover that in the battle their souls got linked and things get increasingly frisky.

Anyway, I go back and forth on whether I'll ever get around to posting or even finishing it, as it's in several incomplete pieces, but maybe one day.

[cannoli-reader]

I guess it’s funny from a perspective utterly devoid of sympathy for the woman who was handed a position of massive responsibility at a very very young age, like a whole generation younger than normal, with (unbeknownst to her, and everyone else) preternatural abilities that make her superbly suited for the operational aspect of that job, but is constantly having her authority and expertise questioned on account of her youth, with even younger people resenting her exercise of authority once she is not present and intimidating them.  

Nynaeve’s youth, and unnaturally young appearance (it is later revealed that despite being 26, she looks to be not much older than her teenage companion) are the major obstacles to doing her job and the irrational, if no less real, fault in her credibility. If people don’t believe Nynaeve, don’t trust or listen to her, they could die of an epidemic (subsequently, after the Trolloc attack, the Mayor’s idea was to use the inn as a hospital ward, until Nynaeve vetoed that on grounds of sanitation - if her credibility had been more severely impacted, they might have ignored her) or the crops could fail because no one listened to her weather forecasts.  

Nynaeve has to fight constantly to uphold her authority, she has to constantly confront the other authority figures and force her way into issues.  She takes no privileges from her position of which we are aware, and in fact, she sublimates her own pleasures and personal fulfilment to maintain her image.

And then some flashy outsider, with her fancy clothes and unusual looks that have everyone in a village of stubborn contrarians falling all over themselves to show her respect and treat her like a celebrity, calls her “child” in public. 

This is epically the worst thing Moiraine could have done.  Stabbing Nynaeve would not have been as hurtful or caused as many problems!  And Moiraine knows it, too, which is why the minute she realizes that Nynaeve is the Wisdom, she immediately shows her respect and begins asking questions in a way that demonstrates deference to Nynaeve’s knowledge and position.  How many times do we see Moiraine immediately backtrack and try to fix a situation in that manner?  

I know this might be a too-strong response to the original post, but I cannot emphasize enough, Nynaeve is not irrational or overly sensitive or controlling or a bully.  She is a person in an extremely difficult job, with a fraction of the training and experience most holders of the position receive and facing personal obstacles to exercising her authority - and thus, in discharging her responsibility - that are not of her making. Just look at how fast Egwene went from insisting that Nynaeve and Elayne treat her exactly as casually and as familiarly as they always have, to punishing Bode Cauthon for simply treating her like an old friend, with no mention of any disrespect or disobedience.  Or, hell, from being raised Amyrlin in the same book where she would barge in on the Dragon Reborn, curse him and insult him and speak of him in a deprecating manner to his followers, to being infuriated at Mat’s lack of respect for her office, in private, after she deliberately surprises him with her new position.  Nynaeve has been putting up with worse than Egwene, for years, when Egwene is looking for excuses to self-sabotage by blowing her cover, and hucking inkwells after people who fail to grovel despite getting what she wanted from the encounter. 

Nynaeve has good reasons for a lot of her reactions and the conditioned responses she demonstrates over the course of the series. 

[somebody-909]

Stalkyoo - Black and White Formal Romantic Subtext Analysis

The beginning of I Love Yoo up until the Black and White Formal shows the development of Shin-Ae and Yeong-gi's relationship from strangers to reluctant acquaintances and eventually to friends.

Their relationship's development up until the present comic, in my opinion, reaches a peak during the formal arc, where we see both the completed development of their friendship (neither are reluctant) but we also see the fast emergence of new possible romantic feelings. The arc is pivotal in defining and developing their relationship and we continue to see its effects afterwards. So, in order to better understand the two characters' relationship, let's take a look at the key moments in the arc that explore their friendship and romantic tension.

Ep. 49 | Makeup - A Friendly Face and Romantic Tension

Shin-Ae is forced to attend the black and white formal to take care of her father. She is in an incredibly difficult position, with college exams the next day, her father ill, and now having to deal with this incredibly unfamiliar situation and this horrible dress.

When she sees Yeong-gi however, it’s great to see a comforting and familiar presence. We get a chance to see their friendship in this uncomfortable setting when Yeong-gi shows concern for Shin-Ae.

That is not all, however. The makeup panel (which was removed by Quimchee later on, but is included in the mid-season recap), introduces us to the first instance of genuine romantic tension between the two in the arc (and the whole comic up until here, really).

The two are very close together and look at each other softly. Shin-Ae seems to be blushing, as well. This moment is intimate and romantically tense.

This first scene does a great job at introducing the two major dynamics in their relationship that are explored in this arc: their established friendship and new romantic tension. These dynamics lead up to what occurs on the hospital balcony.

Ep. 49-51 | Hands - Distance and Desires

When Yeong-gi gets up to get Shin-Ae food, she reaches for him and grabs onto his sleeve. This panel introduces Shin-Ae's desire to stick with Yeong-gi throughout the night. We understand how comforting she finds it to be near him.

She extends her hand — showing how she is now also "reaching" for him and his companionship.

In Ep. 50, when Yeong-gi is scolded by his father and leaves to wait outside for Alyssa, Shin-Ae notices he seems down from across the floor. And for the first time, she tries to reach him. Up until now, she has been wary of Yeong-gi and his intentions, but now we see that their relationship has truly progressed to real friends. Shin-ae genuinely cares for Yeong-gi. But before she can reach him, she is interrupted by Sang-chul.

In the next episode, we see Yeong-gi respond to her call, reflecting what Shin-Ae did in Ep. 49, and extending his hand back towards her. Both characters' reciprocal desire to connect with each other is shown through their hands.

This scene, where they reach for each other but don't connect, introduces the arc's recurrent motif/theme of DISTANCE. Shin-ae and Yeong-gi want to connect, as they care for each other and find comfort in one another, but because of the circumstances at the party they are torn apart repeatedly.

And despite (literally and figuratively) reaching for each other, neither their hands nor their good intentions (like Shin-ae’s desire to be there for Yeong-gi) actually do reach each other. This repeats a few times in the arc, causing significant tension; due to the obstacles of the events around them, they can’t reach each other despite how much they may want to. As such, readers also feel relief whenever the two characters do manage to get together.

Ep. 55 | The Dance - A Kousuke and Yeong-gi Parallel

Kousuke, while having good intentions, struggles to understand what Shin-Ae wants, and instead goes for what makes sense to him. Yeong-gi, on the other hand, consistently shows an understanding of what would truly help Shin-Ae.

It is certainly true that Kousuke’s method was pragmatic. If the problem is that Shin-Ae feels humiliated and that he is embarrassed by her, what better way to show that he isn’t than by dancing with her in front of everyone? It’s a well-meant gesture that would show that he cares more for her than what others think and regardless of what they think. However, although his intentions were sweet, the outcomes were less so.

Shin-Ae DOES NOT want to dance. A scene that may have been beautiful, is tainted by Shin-Ae's true feelings of discomfort.

The truth is, Shin-Ae doesn’t want to go back in front of them. She doesn’t want to prove something to them. She doesn’t want to dance. But she feels like she has to. She can’t say no. The dance is actually… sad to see. She doesn’t want to be there.

But as she dances and feels terrible, Yeong-gi shows up. She is immediately excited and put at ease but is also worried about him since she hasn't seen him since he left to go outside.

But then Yeong-gi acts a goof. He understands that Shin-Ae doesn’t want to be there, but she has to. Because he understands the feeling of putting on a performance, despite being miserable… he immediately recognizes Shin-Ae's going through that too. So being the lovely friend he is, Yeong-gi goofs around. What better way to make Shin-Ae feel less tense in this too formal environment by reminding her of a friendly presence and doing something hilariously inappropriate? And of course, he knows how to help alleviate some of her discomfort, because they’re friends, after all, right? Yeong-gi shows a deep level of empathy for Shin-Ae.

The scene also develops a contrast between Kousuke and Yeong-gi — and the differences in how they affect Shin-Ae — that is paralleled many times later in the series.

Yeong-gi is the one who gets Shin-Ae to smile. He's the one who turns this scene from something uncomfortable to wholesome. And yet, he's not the one dancing with her. He stays to the side, in the shadows of the crowd, with distance between him and Shin-Ae, and with his head down. It fits his overarching character arc — staying hidden and away, and unable to chase for what he wants because of a quiet sense of shame and low self-worth.

The significance of him not interrupting and staying off to the side is purposefully emphasized in Ep. 57, when Kousuke says:

"I'm surprised you didn't interrupt my dance with Ms. Yoo."

Yeong-gi doesn't respond and simply looks away and slightly frowns. This emphasizes that there is a reason Yeong-gi stays away, and it's likely because his low self-esteem issues cause him to think, "Who am I to interfere?"

Overall, this dance panel achieves a similar effect to the earlier scene when their hands reach for each other, adding to the tension caused by distance — it feels like Shin-Ae and Yeong-gi should be together, but because of the circumstances, they can’t. They are reaching for each other, emotionally, but just can’t close the gap.

Ep. 55 | “We’re (just) friends... right?” - More Romantic Build-up

Although Yeong-gi knew exactly how to cheer up Shin-Ae, what he didn’t expect was her laugh… or rather the way he feels when she does.

Look at Yeong-gi’s expression — his eyes are widened. He has a look of awe and he seems shocked. He felt something unexpected. Maybe his heart skipped a beat... Could it be possible…?

He also has a resigned smile after, choosing to look at their dance from afar.

After the dance, Yeong-gi asks Shin-Ae to confirm their friendship.

But the panel and his tense smile seems… eerie. Faked. Like Yeong-gi might not be asking this question for obvious reasons. Even Shin-Ae notes that he seems uneasy, with a confused look and a nervous sweat drop.

We’ve already seen their completely established friendship. But as soon the two explicitly acknowledge this out-loud, we seem to have something new to deal with. Why does Yeong-gi suddenly want confirmation of their friendship, and in a manner that seems quite… sad? Why does his smile seem faked? We can look just a few panels prior to have a better understanding of what’s occurring internally for Yeong-gi.

Yeong-gi's shocked expression and widened eyes are similar to other moments of romantic tension, namely the hospital balcony scene and the earphones scene (albeit in a more muted manner). This is the second moment in this arc after the makeup scene that adds to the romantic tension leading up to the hospital balcony scene.

I believe Yeong-gi seems sad when he asks, “We’re friends right?” because when Shin-Ae laughs, he subconsciously feels the pangs of possible budding romantic feelings (it isn’t quite there yet, it is slight, but he is feeling something new) and he immediately subconsciously tries to deny those feelings by having Shin-Ae assert their friendship.

He feels dissonance between two facts:

“Shin-Ae is my friend”

“I felt something when she laughed”

This dissonance is uncomfortable, so he seeks to deny what is implied by the second part (that he may feel more for her). Additionally, we understand Yeong-gi struggles with self-worth. With the added pressure of those around him, as well as Shin-ae who has consistently accused him of being too pushy and a player, it is no struggle to understand why he immediately tries to avoid this feeling at even the first slightest hint of it.

But by looking for an affirmation of friendship to refute what he felt when she laughed, he unwittingly makes a link between what he felt to something beyond friendship.

Ep. 57-8 | The Bar - Brief Respite and a Kousuke/Yeong-gi Parallel

Due to the aforementioned tension, moments like the bar where Yeong-gi and Shin-ae are able to interact and joke around (about boobs in this case) feel incredibly refreshing — everything else is uncomfortable, but being with each other is comforting.

Once the others join them, we also get another slight Kousuke and Yeong-gi parallel. When Alyssa mentions Yeong-gi could dance with Shin-Ae, Yeong-gi refuses, likely due to pressure from Kousuke to be faithful to Alyssa. (We don’t quite know what he would’ve said otherwise). Shin-Ae responds to him refusing the dance, thinking:

“It would’ve been awkward anyways like my dance with Kousuke.”

The phrase "it would've been [negative adjective] anyways" usually implies a sense of settling for an outcome and sometimes slight displeasure.

I will admit that is hard to firmly state she’s disappointed that he said no. But the phase most certainly implies that she would’ve gone along with it if he said yes. (If this is hard to understand, Shin-Ae doesn’t think something like, “Good. I didn’t want to dance anyways.”) Her thought is relatively indifferent, especially in contrast to Kousuke whom she explicitly didn’t want to dance with.

Ep. 61 | Yeong-gi Takes a Stand - Relationship-driven Growth

When Yeong-gi learns that Shin-Ae is in trouble, but is yelled at by his father for his behaviour and not being with Alyssa, he is absolutely terrified at first (poor boy).

Randulph: "What are you doing? Fooling around again? It hasn't even been that long since I last reprimanded you!"

*Yeong-gi flinches*

Randulph: "How many times am I going to have to scold you tonight??? How hard is that head of of yours that nothing I say gets through to you! And Alyssa isn't even with you!"

Yeong-gi: *meekly* "Well — my friend was —"

Randulph: "I'm not through talking!

*Yeong-gi flinches*

Randulph continues scolding him, then says, "Forget about your friends."

To which Yeong-gi replies, "No... Castigate me, humiliate me. Do that all you want after I've ensured her safety!"

Upon thinking about the possible danger Shin-Ae is in, we see him, for the first time, advocate for himself and stand up to his father. Yeong-gi's concern for Shin-Ae allows him to stand up to the man who terrifies him. Shin-Ae takes easy precedent over the politics of his family and it shows how far their relationship has come and how it drives Yeong-gi's growth.

Ep. 62-3 | Sang-chul — Anger on behalf of Shin-Ae & a Shin-Ae and Alyssa Comparison

When Yeong-gi sees Sang-chul with Shin-Ae's jacket, he confronts him.

Sang-chul: "Back off bro. I don't want to start any trouble here."

Yeong-gi: "Too late for it now, innit? You asked for trouble as soon as you tried to take advantage of Shin-Ae."

Yeong-gi gets personally angry on behalf of Shin-Ae. It's another example that emphasizes their friendship.

We also see a contrast developed between Shin-Ae and Alyssa by Sang-chul:

"What is this Shin-Ae person to you anyway? You didn't react this way when I mentioned kissing your girlfriend... Where is she anyway? I still need my selfie and my kiss since you're fine with it."

Sang-chul assumes Yeong-gi must be romantically and sexually involved with Shin-Ae partly because he's a disgusting, sexist dirtbag, but also because, frankly, Yeong-gi seems to just generally like Shin-Ae more than his actual girlfriend.

I also want to draw attention to the fact that Sang-chul has mentioned kissing Alyssa three times: once before when they first met, and twice now. All three times, Yeong-gi didn't react.

In Ep. 63, Yeong-gi begins to move away from Sang-chul to get to Shin-Ae.

Sang-chul: "Heh. That's right. Wuss. Go run to your b*tch."

*Yeong-gi stops*

Sang-chul: "I'll go keep Alyssa company while you're at it! I still haven't gotten my kiss! Should be easy. She must be dumb as hell if she's dating you."

*Yeong-gi turns around, glares at him, kisses him, then punches him* "There's your damn kiss, you gobshite!"

Yeong-gi: "Don't you dare call Shin-Ae a b*tch ever again. And stay away from Alyssa."

Why is it, that now, he suddenly becomes agitated after already ignoring three taunts by Sang-chul to kiss Alyssa? Especially when he was in the middle of getting to Shin-Ae? I'm going to argue that Yeong-gi actually decides to punch him as soon as he first stops after Sang-chul insults Shin-Ae. Additionally, after the punch, Yeong-gi's first demand is to never insult Shin-Ae again, placing emphasis on this. It is also said more forcefully then the second: "Don't you dare... ever again" vs "And stay away". Alyssa is added almost like an afterthought.

There is a purposeful comparison here between the way Yeong-gi treats the disrespect towards the two women. Yeong-gi immediately gets angry enough to get violent when Sang-chul insults Shin-Ae, but barely responds at first when he calls Alyssa dumb and threatens to kiss her. He cares more for Shin-Ae than he does for his romantic partner, Alyssa.

Naturally, since the comparison is between his girlfriend and Shin-Ae, it also paints his feelings for Shin-Ae in a romantic light.

Ep. 63 | Yeong-gi Saves Shin-Ae

When Shin-Ae falls in the pool, it is Yeong-gi who saves her. Kousuke does not. This is another narrative parallel meant to contrast the two's relation to Shin-Ae. They both fall into the pool (parallel) but Yeong-gi, not Kousuke, saves Shin-Ae (contrast).

The episode also focuses almost solely on Yeong-gi's response to Shin-Ae's injury. He is absolutely terrified and feels terrible guilt, thinking he did this to her. But he is the one who saved her. He is the one shown to panic, yell for her, and scream for help. (We can also get into the authorial choice to focus on Yeong-gi's reaction and not Kousuke's... At the very least, it emphasizes that this moment is especially significant for Shin-Ae and Yeong-gi.)

Conclusions

The black and white formal arc serves as a climax for development between Shin-Ae and Yeong-gi — we see how in the face of adversity, the two value each other deeply as friends, and are given romantically tense moments.

There are also multiple narrative parallels, where Kousuke and Yeong-gi are put in similar situations, but the way they impact Shin-Ae are contrasted. Despite having multiple moments with Kousuke, Yeong-gi is who impacts her positively and who she wants to spend time with. This is continued in the hospital finale, when despite literally “reaching” Kousuke (he is with her and holds her hands), it is only after chasing Yeong-gi and being with him that she finds cathartic emotional support and finally cries. (Although these parallels jab at YooTip, I want to focus more on how it emphasizes that Shin-Ae and Yeong-gi's bond is beyond that she has with another person she has known for the same amount of time. It shows the difference between the more basic-level bond she has with Kousuke, vs. her bond with Yeong-gi that is surprisingly strong for people who have only known each other for a few weeks.)

Overall, this arc builds a base for when Yeong-gi first feels true romantic feelings for Shin-Ae: when she holds onto him and cries on the hospital balcony (you can see that analysis here). In this scene at the end of this arc, the two who so desperately tried to connect during the gala, finally do (although their hands still do not touch).

[icedflames]

I ship Elain and Azriel and am very hopeful that the next book will be theirs but the one thing that makes me less confident is the usage of “a thing a secret, lovely beauty”. Do you think it possibly could be a hint to gwyn and Azriel happening?

Nope. Not at all.

The golden necklace seemed ordinary -- its chain unremarkable, the amulet tiny enough that it could be dismissed as an everyday charm. It was a small, flat rose fashioned of stained glass, designed so that when held to the light, the true depth of the colors would become visible. A thing of secret, lovely beauty. (ACOSF, Azriel Bonus Chapter)

Azriel bought Elain a gift - a gift full of symbolism. The necklace was a rose, which is associated with Elain:

She plucked another figurine from the mantel: a rose carved from a dark sort of wood. She held it in her palm, its solid weight surprising, and traced a finger over one of the petals. “He made this one for Elain. Since it was winter and she missed the flowers." (ACOSF, Chp. 55)

It's also interesting how Elain is brought up here:

“Don’t forget that gardening often results in something pretty, but it involves getting one’s hands dirty along the way.”

“And torn up by thorns,” I mused, recalling a morning this past summer when Elain had come into the house, her right palm bleeding from several gashes thanks to a stubborn rosebush that had pierced her gloves. (ACOSF, Feysand Bonus Chapter)

And then Feyre stated that she didn't dare mention that if Elain had used the gloves Lucien had gotten her, she wouldn't have gotten hurt. Moving on...

Mama Archeron had told Nesta that:

My Nesta. Elain shall wed for love and beauty, but you, my cunning little queen... You shall wed for conquest. (ACOSF, Chp. 4)

Elain shall wed for love and beauty... A thing of secret, lovely beauty.

Secret... Where does secret come from?

Shadows darkened his eyes, full of enough pain that she couldn’t stop herself from touching his shoulder. Letting him see that she understood why he stood in the doorway, why he wouldn’t go near the fire. His secret to tell, never hers. (ACOSF, Chp. 58)

"A thing of secret, lovely beauty" is clearly a reference to Elain and Azriel's relationship.

And then we have:

He slept as well as could be expected, but when Azriel returned to the river house to gather his presents before dawn, he found Elain's necklace amid the pile. He pocketed it. Spent the rest of his day, even the blasted snowball fight, with every intention of returning it to the shop in the Palace of Thread and Jewels. (ACOSF, Azriel Bonus Chapter)

Azriel intended to return Elain's necklace.

I repeat, Azriel intended to return Elain's necklace. It's her necklace in Azriel's mind. And Azriel had every intention of returning it.

Friendly reminder that right before this paragraph, Azriel stated that could have sworn he had heard a faint singing following him as he descended the stairwell. Please see my post on that here.

And then "he found himself at the library" instead of returning the necklace. And then we have:

But Azriel tucked away the thought, consciously erasing the slight smile it brought to his face. Buried the image down deep, where it glowed quietly. (ACOSF, Azriel Bonus Chapter)

Sounds weird, right? Well typically, SJM uses glow, glowing, and glowed to refer to power. Here are some examples peppered throughout ACOSF:

Amren’s eyes glowed, a remnant of the power that had once burned inside her. All that was left now. (ACOSF, Chp. 1)

Nesta blinked at her hand. She had seen sparks. Her fingers were embedded in the stone, the rock glowing as if lit with an inner flame. (ACOSF, Chp. 10)

Gwyn’s hair seemed to glow brighter with her song, skin radiating a beckoning light. Drawing any listener in. (ACOSF, Chp. 13)

“Do you know how your eyes glow when your power rises to the surface? Like molten steel. Like silver fire.” (ACOSF, Chp. 15)

Nesta hefted Ataraxia, settling her weight between her feet, making sure her stance was even. Unshakable. The blade began to glow. (ACOSF, Chp. 54)

These are just a few random examples from the latest book. I believe there are a few examples of the mating bond glowing but there's a major issue with this argument - mating bonds do not glow until they're accepted. The magic of accepting the bond causes the threads to glow. It's very doubtful that glowing in this instance would refer to a mating bond. Especially when there is nothing else in the books that indicates that the two are mated.

And finally, in it's own paragraph we have:

A thing of secret, lovely beauty.

The last line of Azriel's bonus chapter. And a fantastic way for the reader to recall where the line was initially said (when Azriel was giving Elain her necklace) and what occurred during the first half of the chapter (Azriel and Elain almost kissed and Rhys interrupted due to the repercussions).

Now, with all that said...

I highly doubt this chapter is going to play any role in the next book. We may get a small line but it is a bonus chapter. The people who have read it represent a very small percentage of the people who read this book. It also was not a widely disseminated chapter and I'm pretty sure we all read it off the internet.

An author is not going to put major plot points in a bonus chapter. The purpose of the bonus chapter was to confirm a few details some readers may have missed:

What Azriel's secret was;

Elain and Azriel's feelings for one another;

Why they cannot be together (I.e. the external obstacles preventing them form being in a relationship);

Gwyn's powers.

Easy peasy. Just remember how much of a role Cassian's gift to Nesta played in ACOSF. And his gift was actually in the novella.

[romancemedia]

Will the couples of Young Justice begin to question their futures?

Now we’ve all seen how losing Conner has impacted the lives of everyone who knew and loved him, but I wonder if his death might also make some of the other couples question their futures together. Couples like say Dick and Barbara or Kaldur and Wyynde might begin to truly reconsider their lives together, wondering if despite their devotion to protecting others and keeping the world safe, is it worth it if they lose each other in the process?

Conner and M’gann are not the first couple to suffer the tragic fate of being torn apart and they certainly won’t be the last as we all know too well when Artemis lost Wally and not enough mention when Garth lost Tula. Despite these tragic losses, everyone still manage to maintain their devotion to fighting for truth and justice while some even took a leap of faith to confess their love or renew relationships. However, with a major loss such as this, I can’t help but wonder now if everyone will begin to seriously reconsider their futures. Conner and M’gann were the great love story who overcame so much and were finally about to get married until he made the ultimate sacrifice that cost him not only his life, but his and M’gann’s future together just as Wally and Tula did all those years ago. This is clear example how the hero life can take everything you love away in an instant, no matter how strong or careful you are.

Aside from losing the person you love to the life, it can also affect the couples in other ways for example: The Mental State. When Dick was affected by Granny Goodness X-Pit back in season 3, Barbara was extremely worried about him, both physically and mentally to the point she wouldn’t leave his bedside for days. However, the person beginning to seriously suffer mental health issues is none other than Garfield, who already began to develop severe PTSD due to his hero life, causing him to lose everyone he ever loved and cared for and now with Conner’s death, it’s gotten even worse than before. Although Garfield and Perdita are currently separated, no doubt she would be greatly concerned and worried about him and would be there if she could.

Which leads me to my final point in which another obstacle that can affect a couple is the separation. Due to their heroic responsibilities it can cause couples to not spend much quality time together like say for Mal and Karen back in season 2 or right now with Garfield and Perdita in season 4. Separation is bad enough, but it can also make a partner feel neglected, perfectly demonstrated by Karen when she got so caught up in her studies and hero life that she started taking Mal for granted for most of the second season.

Overall, no matter whether its the sacrifice, mental state or separation, all of these can affect a couple in one way or another when it comes to the life of a hero. Will the death of Conner Kent make any of the other couples of Young Justice seriously reconsider their life choices and choose a safer path if it means they can be together without any worries?

[lovecolibri]

Remember when we were all 'an entire episode focused on M*ria? No thank you!' thinking that it's going to be just one Episode centered around her and not the entire Season?? 🤡Hollier and RNM writers sure dont know how to read a room. Like even if this is still a leftover from C*rina - after all she did start out writing s3 and gave the outline for it - it has to be what Hollier and the rest of the writers want or at the very least are not terribly opposed to. Once again this is Roswell NM: White Guilt & Wasted Potential.

You said it! And I think they mentioned changing some of the outline for the season and we all thought after episode 1 that meant getting rid of f*rlex early and not dragging that out forever but at this point I'm betting it has something to do with them thinking if they wedge m*ria, or her bar, or mention her in every scene, and have everyone only showing concern for her at all times above everything else, that it will make up for her character being entirely superfluous. Instead of, you know, actually addressing her character's flaws and using that to move the story forward and giving her storylines that make sense for her character. And at this point, even the people who didn't like her last season but were hopeful for her getting some redemption under a new showrunner are getting frustrated with everything centering on her to the detriment of other characters and storylines. And since they haven't dealt with even the most basic of her issues from last season, all the other characters falling all over themselves for her makes no sense, and it's keeping Malex from being able to move forward. Alex and Michael are going to HAVE to address the m*luca elephant at some point as they address their other issues in order to build a foundation and progress the Malex storyline but because the writers are refusing to hold m*ria accountable or address any of her issues, it's forcing Malex to stagnate even more which has been one of the major frustrations about this season. Wedging m*ria into the middle of everything and shoving the idea down our throats that all the characters love her because she's absolutely perfect while also showing her being pretty darn awful (has anyone told Liz that her supposed BFF was going to kill Max or die herself trying? I'd have loved to see how that conversation went down) is detracting so much and causing so many issues for a season that is otherwise really fun and interesting but is impossible to watch without getting smacked in the face with the "m*ria is perfect" agenda. Which is a shame because as I said, this season IS interesting and fun but watching storylines that should be going to Liz, or Isobel, or Rosa, and watching characters twist themselves up and ignore important things for their characters in order to prop her up just make it even more glaring that they have no idea what to do with m*ria's character because she isn't actually needed, because c*rina never though her character though past being someone to give info to Liz about Rosa in season 1 and to be an obstacle to Malex.

[daxieoclock]

Okay let’s do this. TW for scientific dehumanization

This is Vee, my Final Fantasy 7 OC (primarily with the remake in mind, though the meta aspects of that story don’t play a part here). Formerly from a small village whose inhabitants were captured and experimented on by Shinra, she possesses minor draconic abilities and an affinity with fire Materia as a result of those experiments. She only escaped the labs at all by accidentally faking her death – going into cardiac shock during an experiment and then surviving their attempt to dispose of her body through incineration, due to her newfound immunity to flame. Vee was then nursed back to health in a small religious collective centered around worship of the Ancients, and spent a few years there until she had recovered enough to leave. While she isn’t quite an amnesiac, the trauma from those labs has fucked significantly with her memories and self of self.

Personality-wise, Vee is brash and self-assured, displaying both an abundance of confidence and a general sense of polite ease. She’s a hopeless flirt, but drops that behavior immediately around her elders and anyone who shows discomfort in being flirted with. While she jumps at the chance to make a show, she also shies away from attention outside of her control, hiding her fiend eyes behind sunglasses and keeping her wings dismissed. That overly casual persona also helps hide a deep insatiable fury towards Shinra, SOLDIERs and especially that snickering scientist bastard, whose throat she would personally like to tear out for everything he’s done to her and her family.

In combat, she keeps at least one hand in her pocket at all times, and fights with close-range fire magic and a flame sword she can summon and dismiss at will.

AU summary (including Gay Details) under cut.

EDIT: I’ve made a few minor edits and added events up until a little ways past the departure from Midgar.

EDIT 2: I made this into a fic.

Initial

A large aspect of the “Vee AU,” so to speak, is the change of timescale: stretching out the events of the plot over the span of a couple months rather than a couple weeks, with multiple periods of reprieve between urgent setpieces. Other than that, the first big change comes after Cloud’s meeting with Aerith, in that he makes it back to Seventh Heaven without being pulled into the Wall Market nonsense – Aerith tagging along the whole time. Aerith meets Tifa and decides to stick around for a bit, Cloud slips back into his friendly neighborhood merc gig, and Avalanche stresses in the background about their next move.

It’s during this point that Cloud investigates a commotion nearby Sector 7 only to find the cause to be a bloodied Vee standing amidst a bunch of ko’d Shinra soldiers. When she notices Cloud’s mako eyes, she attacks him – SOLDIERS were the people who took her to the labs – before half-collapsing from her injuries. Cloud heals her, and makes the ‘ex’ part of ex-SOLDIER very clear, as well as his open contempt for Shinra. Vee apologizes for losing control, thanks them, and decides to stick around to help out – since they have a common enemy, and she wants to pay back Cloud for saving her life after she almost murdered him. Vee Joins The Party.

A few days later, we enter the leadup to Wall Market. Desperate for details and noticing a surge of Shinra activity in and around Sector 7, the gang decides to try and get info from the one man who might know anything: Don Corneo. Unfortunately, he’s an asshole, so they’re going to have to threaten him for it. While Barret and the rest of Avalanche stay behind to keep Shinra from trying anything, Aerith, Tifa, Cloud and Vee head to Wall Market. On the way there, Tifa and Vee get separated from the others when part of the collapsed highway collapses further, and they spend some time getting to know each other while Aerith takes Cloud on a more direct route.

Tifa and Vee smooch after roughly a day of romantic tension. No further relationship is established at this time.

In Wall Market, the gang splits up into two teams to try and pincer Corneo’s security. Vee and Aerith hit up the tournament under Madame M’s supervision, passing themselves off as a Shinra rep and her Turk bodyguard to get an invite through the front door, while Cloud and Tifa go through Andrea Rhodea to try and weasel their way into Corneo’s audition for his next wife.

Aerith and Vee smooch after kicking ass in the tourney. No further relationship is established at this time.

Corneo’s security is dispatched from two angles, and the gang rushes back towards Sector 7 after hearing the info about Shinra’s now ongoing plan to collapse the plate. They get there, and fight their way up to Barret and the other Avalanche crew, managing to minimize the damage from the plate’s fall by locking the center supports in place, but they cannot fully prevent the collapse. While the majority of Sector 7 remains livable, the outskirts are devastated. (Aerith is not approached by Tseng at this point. Jessie, Biggs and Wedge survive.)

There’s a terse, tense celebration in Seventh Heaven. A lot of lives were saved, but not all of them, and there’s still the financial cost to the already destitute slums – not to mention that Shinra will likely try to take credit for the collapse’s partial prevention, and pin the collapse itself on Avalanche. This isn’t even close to the end of hardship. Regardless, it is a victory.

Over the next few days, the gang recovers and focuses on helping Sector 7 rebuild. Tifa tries to push Aerith and Vee together, seeing herself as an obstacle between them. Aerith confronts Tifa about this, they discuss their feelings and reservations.

Aerith and Tifa smooch. At this time, we establish a relationship between Aerith, Tifa and Vee. Many more smoochings occur.

Saving Aerith

One morning, the gang wake up to find Aerith missing. Tifa, Vee, Cloud and Barret go to her house to look for her, and Elmyra tells them she visited late last night to say she wouldn’t be coming back home for a while. Elmyra realizes something is wrong, and tells the gang that Aerith is a descendant of the Ancients, and her birth mother was captured by Shinra. Vee and Cloud are especially tense when she says she suspects Shinra’s head scientist of being involved in Aerith’s disappearance. When the party returns to Sector 7, Wedge shares a message from Avalanche HQ: the Turks brought someone matching Aerith’s description into Shinra headquarters last night.

After tangoing with Corneo and Leslie in the sewers, the gang fights their way to the Shinra Building. On the elevator up, Vee and Barret have a bit of an ideological clash. Vee makes it clear she doesn’t care about the suffering of Shinra Employees, their paychecks are soaked through with the blood of Shinra’s victims, and their complicity is guilt enough. Barret fires back that while they’re taking the easy road out, there are fewer and fewer non-Shinra jobs out there every day, and some employees have more than their own mouth to feed. Not everyone can afford to make the sacrifices he did, and while they don’t have to be buddy-buddy with Shinra’s suckers, the company would fall apart without them. Draw them over to Avalanche’s side, and Shinra wouldn’t last a day.

Mayor Domino helps the gang get into Shinra R&D, and they’re forced to fight a whole floor full of mutant experiments to get to where Aerith is kept. When they reach her, she’s contained in a glass cylinder, overlooked by Hojo in an isolated observation room. Vee immediately lunges at the reinforced glass between her and the scientist. She asks if Hojo recognizes her, and he expresses delight that she managed to survive. Vee tries to break the glass but hesitates when more experiments attack Tifa, Barret and Cloud. She does issue one last threat to Hojo: she’s going to walk out of here with Aerith, and then she’s going to track him down, so he’d better start running. Next time they meet, she’ll make him hurt in every way he hurt her, and she’ll enjoy it. Vee punches the glass hard enough to crack it, and she gets one good look at Hojo’s surprised ��� maybe frightened – face before metal shutters close off the observation room completely.

After being freed and embracing both of her girlfriends, Aerith explains that she was captured voluntarily – half to keep Avalanche from being targeted by Shinra, and half to find out the truth. She takes them down a floor to a place she identifies as her mother’s room, and her own. Aerith spent most of her childhood here, and her mother managed to escape with her just long enough to hide her with Elmyra before being captured again. Aerith returned because she thought her mother might still be alive, but apparently the woman didn’t survive more than a year after being recaptured. Vee reminds Aerith that she’s still alive, and she has a life outside these walls now, with people who love her. Tifa simply asks her to promise not to leave like that again, and Aerith gladly does so. She doesn’t plan on chasing ghosts, not anymore. She knows where her home is.

The reforged quintet meets with Red XIII, who Vee immediately takes a one-sided liking to, trying to befriend the more tempermental catdog. They head farther into the labs to both chase Hojo and make it to the roof for extraction, and find Jenova. Sephiroth appears, sending Tifa into shock and Cloud into blind fury, and the latter charges at the specter – who severs the bridge and sends them plummenting into the depths of the labs. Cloud is seperated from the others for a time, and fights alone and half-berserk through a small horde of experiments, nearly attacking Barret when he runs into him. Barret and Red manage to calm him down, and they fight up the Drum to Tifa, Vee and Aerith, then back up to the elevator.

The gang follows Jenova-infected footsteps to President Shinra’s office to find the bigwig himself danging off the side of his big fancy tower. Vee immediately hops over the railing and extends a hand to pull him up, but digs her nails into his arm and keeps on holding him over the edge. It’s his fault. Everything that happened to Aerith, to Vee herself. Guilt travels upwards, and there’s no one higher than Shinra. Killing him won’t bring back Aerith’s mother, or the people killed by the plate, or Vee’s family. It won’t take away what happened to her. But it’ll make her feel a whole lot better. Vee is ready to drop him, but Barret talks her down, convinces her that Shinra is more use clearing their names and owning up to dropping the plate. With him as a hostage, they can bring the company to its knees. Vee relents, and pulls Shinra to safety, only for Sephiroth to stab him through the chest.

Cloud barely holds it together, and Sephiroth taunts him, trying to egg him on. Doesn’t Cloud want to hurt him? Doesn’t he want to take revenge, for his family, for his home? For his companion? Cloud is a breath away from trying to take his head off, but it’s Tifa who strikes first, forcing Sephiroth back with a roundhouse kick. She tells him to leave her friend alone, and the rest of the gang backs her up. That manages to shake Cloud out of his fury, and he stands by his friends as they take on the legendary SOLDIER hero.

And lose. They’re barely a match for him, their attacks don’t phase him in the slightest, and he seems impossibly fast. With one final mockery, Sephiroth takes Jenova’s body and dives off the side of the Shinra building, leaving Cloud almost numb, hollow. Tifa manages to pull him out of it, and he doesn’t understand how she’s still herself aftering seeing him. She shows that her hands are still shaking, and admits she’s not letting it catch up with her. Right now, she’s focused on trying to stay alive, and keep the people she cares about alive. Our six rebels fight their way back through Shinra security and, with one look back at the home they’re leaving behind, they steal a ride out of Midgar.

Once they make it to the inn in Kalm, Cloud finally fills everyone in on what he hasn’t told them. He’d only meant to tell Tifa, originally, but the others deserve the truth as well. With her permission, he recalls the Nibelheim Incident. After Sephiroth killed his hometown and injured Tifa, Cloud attacked the man, overpowering him and throwing him to his death – or he assumed, at least. Another Nibelhiem resident, Zangan, took Tifa to safety, promising to come back for Cloud. He didn’t make it, and Cloud was captured and experimented on by Hojo; toughing through thanks to the mako infusions he got as a SOLDIER. After five years, he managed to escape, and make it to Midgar. The others are horrified, but Cloud almost no-sells it. It’s in the past. It’s fine. He’s fine. And with that, and without taking any questions, he goes to his room and sleeps.

Tifa admits once he’s gone that there’s something odd about the story, about the way he told it. She can’t quite pick out what, but it feels as if he’s leaving out something big from the parts that she can’t corraberate. Barret and Red agree, they felt similarly, but Vee reminds them that traumatic events like that can fuck with a person’s head, muddle their memories. And she knows firsthand how traumatic Shinra’s labs can get. The five agree not to push him on it, and follow suit to get some sleep.

When she’s finally alone with Aerith and Vee, Tifa breaks down completely as the events of the day wash over her. The man who scarred her, who slaughtered her family, who burnt down her home, is alive. Her best friend has years of trauma he’s never told her about. And she almost lost her girlfriend. Vee and Aerith hold her, and the three fall asleep together. For now, they’re safe.

[johannas-motivational-insults]

Adora might be autistic too

Alright, most people in the SPOP fandom agree that Entrapta is autistic, as her coding is extremely obvious. However, some of us also believe that our beloved protagonist Adora is on the spectrum as well. She comes off as quite the aspie, and while Asperger’s is no longer a diagnosis in the DSM-V (but is in other manuals), it falls under the blanket diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and its diagnostic criteria is still useful in analyzing people for signs of the disorder. In analyzing Adora’s character I will refer somewhat to both disorders, with the understanding that Asperger’s is a specific manifestation of ASD.

I would like to preface this by saying this is a headcanon and people are free to disagree with me. Some of these characteristics I’m going to bring up could also manifest because of her very sheltered upbringing in a cult-like atmosphere or mental illnesses such as anxiety and complex PTSD (both of which she arguably has). I am autistic myself, so obviously I am inclined to interpret these symptoms this way, but to each their own. It’s also worth noting that Adora has a lot of symptoms that cross over with AD(H)D, a cousin disorder to ASD, and it’s totally possible she has both.

In any case, there is now enough evidence hinting at Adora’s neurodivergence (especially now that the Rebel Princess Guide has been released) that I feel the need to explain this theory in detail instead of just occasionally mentioning it. So here goes...

She’s naive/easily manipulated

This one doesn’t really need explaining, we’ve all seen it. Adora assumes people are telling the truth because why would anyone lie to her? That is such a relatable spectrum feel. She was handily brainwashed by Shadow Weaver in the Horde, while some of the others didn’t seem to swallow the propaganda so easily. This is of course partly because of the special attention and affection Adora got from Shadow Weaver, but she had to be vulnerable to manipulation in the first place for it to work.

Later, she trusts Huntara easily in the Crimson Waste despite Bow and Glimmer’s warnings about her questionable character. Adora happily follows her into a trap even once Bow and Glimmer tell her they're going the wrong way, reasoning it’s probably a shortcut rather than reevaluating her misplaced trust. This can be partly explained by how she‘s gay af for Huntara, but still.

(Interestingly, the episode cuts straight from this moment to the obviously autistic Entrapta going against her own friend's advice and refusing to give up on the portal machine despite the obvious warning sign of Hordak’s violent dismissal. Parallels, much?)

Her difficulty understanding other points of view

A lot of Adora’s conflict with Catra is predicated on misunderstandings, and she has a hard time understanding the effects her actions have on other people, Catra in particular. For instance, she misunderstands Catra talking about ruling the Horde together as being purely about power, while Catra’s actual goals are safety and Adora’s companionship. That miscommunication is not just Adora’s fault, but it illustrates that she has difficulty understanding other people’s needs and motives without being explicitly told.

This isn’t just a problem with Catra, either. In general Adora has a difficult time understanding other’s motives and feelings. For instance, she doesn’t understand Glimmer’s insecurity over Bow’s friendship with Perfuma at Princess Prom, and she can’t fathom why Entrapta would choose to work for an evil faction, going so far as to assume she must have been brainwashed into it. This is because, just like with Catra, she doesn’t understand that some people’s priorities are not the same as hers.

Autistic kids tend to reach developmental milestones at different times than neurotypicals, sometimes being way ahead and other times falling behind. One such marker that is usually slower to develop and often stays impaired is theory of mind, our ability to a) understand that other people have different perspectives and b) understand those perspectives. Adora’s difficulties being able to put herself in someone else’s shoes definitely lines up with this symptom.

She’s clumsy

For someone so athletic, Adora sure lacks coordination. This is a commonly cited symptom of people with Asperger’s, though it shows up in people with other forms of ASD too. In general, autistic people often have difficulty with fine and/or gross motor skills, and this can lead to being accident and injury prone. According to Catra in 3x05, Adora bumps her head a lot. That may have just been a callback to 1x01, but either way clumsiness has been part of her characterization since the beginning, one of her many loveable, adorkable qualities.

Her lack of social and self awareness

Adora can be painfully oblivious to her own inappropriate behavior. There’s several examples of this throughout the series, one of the more costly ones coming at Princess Prom. Shocked by Frosta’s youth, Adora fails to register how maybe this (in front of Frosta, with all eyes on her) is not the time to remark on it. She immediately realizes this was the wrong thing to say (or at least not something she should shout), but that small delay causes both her and Glimmer a lot of embarrassment.

Part of the issue here is that she loses control of her volume, which in itself is a common problem for those of us on the spectrum. This isn’t the only time we see her have this problem, either, and it’s amplified (tee hee) when she’s drunk/infected.

More generally, one of the funniest examples of Adora’s poor social awareness comes when she barges into Huntara’s flirtation with the bartender in the Crimson Waste. She’s so focused on her task of recruiting Huntara that it doesn’t even occur to her that this is an intimate moment and intruding would be rude.

In the Rebel Princess Guide Adora also says she wishes Queen Angella would let her make some adjustments to the uniforms of the Bright Moon guards, which implies she tried to make these suggestions already. Maybe she figured She-Ra could suggest anything, but as both a newcomer and a royal subject that’s a bit of a faux pas. Chances are, that went right over Adora’s head.

She can’t read a room to save her life (literally)

This is another, more specific aspect of social awareness. Adora has difficulty picking up on the implicit rules (social norms) when she enters unfamiliar situations, and has a tendency to step on toes because of it. She also doesn’t understand when her friends try to nonverbally communicate what she’s doing wrong, and nonverbal communication deficits and problems with social awareness and insight are two major symptoms of ASD. One specifically listed example is “difficulties adjusting behavior to suit social contexts”, including:

Lack of response to contextual cues (e.g. social cues from others indicating a change in behavior is implicitly requested)

Unaware of social conventions/appropriate social behavior; asks socially inappropriate questions or makes socially inappropriate statements

Here’s a couple specific example of times where Adora misses or misunderstands nonverbal cues to change her behavior:

At her first Rebellion meeting she doesn’t realize that maybe she shouldn’t sit in the special-looking chair, and doesn’t clue in that that’s why everyone is freaking out.

In the Crimson Waste, Glimmer responds to the growling bar patrons surrounding them by suggesting that maybe these aren’t the kind of people they should be asking for help, but Adora persists. She jumps up on the bar and makes a speech trying to get directions (which is socially inappropriate for the context as well as dangerous), somehow missing all the scowls from the patrons as well as Bow and Glimmer’s wild gesturing.

Panic over unfamiliar social situations

Adora’s anxiety about going to Princess Prom could be attributed to many things, not just a spectrum disorder. Her obvious anxiety, for one, though to be fair there’s a high comorbidity between the two disorders. In any case, it seems the unfamiliarity of the situation is a sticking point for Adora in particular, while Bow and Glimmer are nothing but excited for their first ball.

Adora’s anxiety seems to stem mostly from being overwhelmed by the prospect of entering a new social situation with a whole bunch of unfamiliar rules to remember. She’s still learning behavioral norms outside of the Horde, and this is a huge jump up in terms of difficulty for her fledgling social skills.

To cope with her stress she goes overboard trying to prepare by making a conspiracy board of sorts, flash cards, and an obstacle course. And at the ball itself, it seems like she’s even rehearsed how to behave.

This probably isn’t only relatable to autistics, but it’s very relatable to us. Creating and rehearsing behavioral scripts is a common strategy to avoid embarrassing ourselves in public. Unfortunately, as we saw above, this works for about five seconds before Adora botches the whole thing by commenting on Frosta’s age.

Extreme stress over details

In general, Adora is a very anxious, perfectionistic person who hyperfixates on details, a very autistic trait. As mentioned above, this is wonderfully illustrated by her overpreparation for Princess Prom. She’s broken down the overwhelming list of rules in the invite into categories to make it more manageable, gone into detail categorizing people’s relationships to each other, and learned trivia about the guests in order to feel more prepared. Yet, somehow she missed the important fact that the hostess is only eleven years old.

Unfortunately this hangup doen’t only affect her, but also her friends and allies. The overarching theme in “Roll With It” is how debilitating Adora’s anxiety and perfectionism can be. Her eye for detail and ability to see flaws in plans is actually very valuable, but she gets so hung up on every possible thing that could go wrong that she can’t accept imperfect solutions with calculated risks.

Her propensity to be overwhelmed by too much information (like with the Princess Prom invite) shows up here too. Adora grows more and more frustrated and overwhelmed as more princesses join the planning session, adding more variables to deal with and more people to manage. She begins lashing out and shooting down every possible solution that doesn’t satisfy her need for perfection immediately. Her behavior looks like it may be headed for a meltdown until it culminates in an epic rant revealing all her anxiety and how it ties into her insecurities about her own imperfection.

Thankfully her friends are able to reassure her that she has support and doesn’t have to be perfect, but it’s an ongoing battle, one we already saw her struggle with in “Flowers for She-Ra” and “The Battle of Bright Moon”. It’s a strong tenet of Adora’s personality that is proving difficult to shake.

What she misses about the Horde

The recently published Rebel Princess Guide contains a list by Adora of things she misses about the Horde, and this list screams neurodivergent. I’ll go through it point by point, since there’s a lot to unpack here.

THINGS I MISS ABOUT THE HORDE

1. I miss the rigid schedule. It never changed, and I always knew what to expect.

Ritualistic behavior and an insistence on sameness are often seen in individuals with ASD. In fact, it’s a major symptom. Many of us have diifficulty adjusting to changing schedules, changes in diet, or even minor changes in our environment (such as placement of objects, boy do I have stories there). We need warning when things are going to change, and even if we know it’s coming it’s still a struggle to adjust.

2. I miss the constant sound of machines and whirring. In Bright Moon, there’s always music playing, or people laughing, and birds singing. It’s nice but it makes it hard to focus!

Autistic brains process sensory information differently from neurotypicals, that’s basically our disorder at its core. Over or under reactions to sensory input are common and in fact considered a major symptom, and this entry of Adora’s specifically refers to difficulties with sensory filtering. We have a hard time filtering out information that’s irrelevant to our current task, which makes us easily distractable.

3. Believe it or not, I miss my hard cot in the barracks. My bed in the castle is way too soft!

This ties into both the insistence on sameness and sensory issues.

4. Catra… sometimes.

This isn’t autistic, it’s just gay.

Speaking of which...

She’s gay

Adora's relationship with Catra has always been queer-coded, but any doubts about her sexuality were dispelled in season 3 by the way she fawns over Huntara like a baby gay over her gym teacher. Her obvious queerness might seem unrelated to the topic of autism, but those of us within the community can attest there’s probably just as many queer people among us as there are cishets. It’s so notable that there has been quite a bit of scientific research confirming people with ASD are more likely to be LGBT and gender atypical and exploring the cause of this link.

(This needs no proving at this point, but enjoy these gifs anyway...)

In conclusion

Overall, there’s a lot of hints and circumstantial evidence suggesting Adora could have ASD. Was this the creators’ intent? Hard to say. Adora is the protagonist and one of the most developed characters, so she’s definitely not a cardboard cutout or checklist for ASD symptoms (compare that to Entrapta, a secondary character whose behaviors can often easily be attributed to autism). It’s totally possible the creators just characterized her as naive and awkward and obsessive without realizing the implications of that cluster of traits together.

Regardless of authorial intent, it’s perfectly valid to look at Adora and see representation of the ASD community. The groundwork is there. And if someone else looks and doesn’t see it, or sees something else causing this behavior, that is also fair. No one is forcing anyone to accept this headcanon (or at least they shouldn’t be), but in return please don’t disparage it. Even if she is not autistic Adora is definitely autistic-coded, and we could use some more heros with the disorder, given how we’re mostly relegated to being villains and anti-heroes (not that there’s anything wrong with us filling those roles sometimes, but a little variety would be nice).

Adora is often referred to as a dumbass, but she’s actually quite intelligent, just sometimes slow to understand how she should act and how people feel. Still, she tries her hardest, just as she does with everything else. Adora is heroic and compassionate, even if she sometimes struggles to understand others. When autistic-coded characters are so commonly portrayed as cold and unforgiving, Adora is a sorely needed exception.

[darklove9314-blog]

Nesta:A fae with a human heart part 12

Alright let's get into what I think is a key factor in what is happneing to Nesta and Cassian's relationship, Whicb is that Nesta was born human. and even though she turned fae doesn't mean she still doesn't want to keep that human side of her, Remember the library scene in ACOWAR when Nesta says that they don't respect any of their values or traditions. I think this may also play a factor. You see when you have a lot of differences and grew up in two seprate ways it takes compromise and balance to keep the relationship going. My hugest problem is that everyone is trying to push Nesta to accept the fae side of herself and let go of Her more human side, which Nesta never wants to lose. She loved being human. Sure she didn't have the best circumstance, but her choices were at least somewhat hers and she could be made a name for herself but as a fae she feels stuck. like an outsider looking in. She's struggled to accept her fae side more than Elain and Feyre have because she has a hard time adjusting to new circumstances. it happens to a lot of people.

And believe it or not, Nesta has lost nearly all her comnections to the human lands. The place where she grew up and thought she would grow old in. It really hurt her to lose that and now she tries to find whatever connection she can hold onto. Hence her choice of apartment, possibly talking to the citzens of the night court who don't have it that easy, her books,her right to chose who she loses her virginity to, and last but not least the solstice gift.

Now Nesta has already stated that they don't celebrate holidays in the human lands and Nesta no matter how much people want to perceive her as such doesn't strike me as a materialistic type. I think rejecting the gift was about way more than the fact that Cassian hadn't been talking to her, maybe she found it as another way of disregarding her values and traditions.or maybe she was also reluctant to take it because there were so many around her that still had nothing at all. She didn't know Cassian had spent months searching for it. How could she possibly know that? and she may have even accepted it, if he had not given it to her in private. Now I knkw Nesta is a private person. However Nesta is already questioning if Cassian feels ashamed of his feelings for her. And giving it to her in private might have worsened those feelings. We also don’t know who told the IC about Nesta having sex in the first place. That’s a private and personal thing. Another reason Nesta may have been sleeping with people is because she was feeling numb. She was searching for something, anything to make her feel better. To evoke any feeling she could. Remember how in Nesta’s apartment she was looking at the check to try to evoke her shame emotion, because all she felt on rare occasions was her anger. What if sleeping with all the males was another way she was trying to evoke her shame??Also she also states that she would drink herself to sleep at night to avoid the nightmares. Nightmares that are probably so horrific that it caused her to not sleep much at all. If at all. So yeah I can see why overall she rejected his gift and even if those factors weren’t there it’s within Nesta’s basic rights to reject Cassian’s advances. it’s not bitchy. It’s a basic right one of very few she still has. Now let’s get to another point that I’m going to make, the mating bond is not helping them. Yes Cassian thinks it’s this beautiful thing but that’s not the case with most mating bonds. To Nesta she observes everything. She observed how all these woman despite if they wanted to be with their mate or not felt pressured by their societal views to accept their bond to further their line (aka Rhysand’s parents, Tamlin’s parents, and the lady of the autumn court) Even Elain is being pressured to accept hers despite her and Lucien hardly having anything in common and both not being each other’s type. Why would Nesta think her bond was any different?? There’s very few examples of any of them accepting it for love. Therefore reminding her of what she went through with Tomas in the human lands. Now we know Cassian isn’t Tomas, but people tend to forget that for a while at least Nesta deluded herself into thinking he cared about her. Only to find out that he was a monster when he refused to go help her save Feyre and when he sexually assaulted her (He was also abusive. hence Nesta not liking when people touch her and how Feyre said Nesta flinched from peoples touch) So of course any relationship she’s goes in going forward she’s going to be cautious about and why wouldn’t she??She hasn’t had the worst experience with men and them taking things from her, Hence the fierce loyalty she has for respecting others choices no matter how stupid they may be. And I would also like to bring up a section of Wings and Embers, a section that led up to most of what happened between Nesta and Cassian. There was one line after Nesta and Cassian had questioned if someone had hurt Nesta because he saw the fear on her face. She asks if it would change his opinion of her if someone had, make him treat her differently. (She doesn’t want anyone to feel sympathy towards her remember that Nesta hates it when people fake liking her) and he tells her that he would shatter every bone in their body. Which she proceeds to respond with you hardly know me why would you do that for me and he tells her he would do it for anyone. It was that sincerity that made her see him differently. Sure it also drove her crazy because it reminded her of her own faults, but that does tend to happen. And then she thinks about how Cassian sees her. All of her. The side that she tends to hide people where most human men only saw her body. She also tells Cassian that men had been pawing at her since she had been fourteen. Remember how she said that some of her words are barbed with truth, this proves that a lot of it was how men would do that to her. Would only look at her body and not be intrigued by anything else about her like you know her mind. Or the huge amount of love that she has that she hides from people to avoid getting hurt. That’s where the mating bond complicates things for them. And makes her have to question nearly everything because there’s a major difference between someone listing after you and someone loving you. love is more about just loving someone for the good parts of them or the sides you want to see. It’s about accepting that there’s parts of a person you’re not going to like. And finding ways to coexist with them. Also remember that courting is such a huge thing when it comes to Nesta’s traditions and Cassian had revealed that he hadn’t even tried to court her. Therefore presenting another issue. I think she felt rushed like things between her and Cassian were going too fast too soon. Nesta with everything she’s been through it’s understandable that she would want a relationship to take its time to develop and that’s a perfectly reasonable expectation. Especially from an SA victim. Sometimes things take time to develop. Maybe she wants to have an actual relationship before getting into anything super serious. Like a mating bond where they’re bound for life. you know like marriage, kids, etc. And as much as I love Nessian, they hardly know each other. Yes they know each other better than most and that’s important but Cassian doesn’t know everything about Nesta and Nesta doesn’t know everything about Cassian. They need time, understanding, and patience to make their relationship work. That’s why rushing them or pressuring them into accepting the bond isn’t helping matters. And what if Nesta doesn’t want a mate but a husband instead?? She wants everything to be for love, she wants to accept the love from Cassian but like most she’s scared of it not working out because their differences and all the obstacles standing in their way. Not to mention they have a lot to deal with as individuals before they could ever be together. And that’s perfectly okay, They’re immortal, they have time, and then we get to the part where Nesta probably gave up hope for her and Cassian. The scene where he told her that her sisters loved her and he couldn’t imagine why. Not only is that so cruel to say after everything Nesta has been through and all she did to protect him and others, but it was not only the part of about her sisters but the I can’t imagine why part. Nesta remembers everything people say to her. You don’t think the I can’t imagine why made her reevaluate everything and think that Cassian didn’t love her. Made her think that she had deluded herself into thinking that he did and made her also think that the only reason he was trying was the obligation towards the mating bond. That’s why the void entering her eyes was so important. That was Nesta completely giving up on herself. And feeling like there was not only no hope for her and Cassian, but for herself. Now I know Cassian didn’t really think about what he was saying, because of his anger at the situation. But that’s what hurt them the most. That’s why Nesta is so pissed and she has every right to be. And then after that he wants her to open up to him and talk to him, Hence her snort, because not only did he just insult her and basically made her think she was unlovable, but because he doesn’t know what it’s like to blame yourself for nearly everything (as far as she knows) including your fathers death, what happened to your sisters. And he also doesn’t know what it’s like to die inside over and over again.To feel like your losing yourself as you turn into something else. (Her human side vanishing in favor of her fae side) so she lets go of her humanity completely that night. Flips off her switch as some of my Vampire Diaries fans would say, because the pain became too much. Too unbearable. Hence the more self destructive behavior and not caring what happens to her. Because I firmly believe that that was the night Nesta killed a part of herself and became death itself. Hence the symbolism of Nesta’s power being death because she has died in several different ways. And I firmly believe that ACOSF will be about her journey back to herself and I can’t wait for it. I can’t wait for Nesta to find herself again, and learn to love her life and herself again. Because It’s what I want the most from her, and it will be truly beautiful to see.

[justcallmenikki7]

“Let me just love you.” Kim Namjoon

Summary: Namjoon feels guilty for being busy with the comeback and confesses to you how he truly feels and shows you how much he truly loves you

Request:  @blushingatyou I don’t see a lot of namjoon smut out there, so I’m going t h e r e: slow, sensual sex w him filled with praise and sweet nothings? Like, Joon knows he’s been very busy with the comeback and he wants to make it up to his gf so he switches up from h a r d dom to soft dom🤧

Warnings: smut, fluff, lots of fluff, sweet and soft namjoon, mentions of insecurities but nothing major, sweet confessions, and my poor attempt at writing smut but i honestly tried too. so that is a huge writing

Notes: i have been working really hard on this one because I really want to be able to write smut but i have erased it and re written it three times and i am still not satisfied. 

*****************************************************

“You know that you did not have to take me out to a Five Star restaurant as a way of apologizing for being busy with your comeback.” You teased your boyfriend, walking up the steps to your guys shared apartment. “McDonald’s and a movie would have been just fine.”  

Namjoon smiled down at you softly, “I know, I just wanted to treat you. You deserve to be treated as a queen.” His voice sincere. Grabbing your waist, he pulled you in close to him before leaning down and giving you short peck on the lips. “But I am truly sorry for being busy and not having time to spend with you. I feel awful knowing that you are stuck in this apartment a lot with no one around and I just wish that -”

“- Shsh.” You cut him off, placing your fingers on his lips. “Don’t start apologizing for living your dream. Joonie, you have worked so hard for this and I admire you for your dedication. I know what I was basically signing up for when you had asked me out on that date two years ago. I do not mind waiting for you.” You explained softly, giving him an honest smile before turning around to unlock your door. I will wait for however long it means that I can be with you because I love you, you wanted to say, but you did not. Namjoon’s hands held onto your waist as you did so, not letting go as you both stepped inside of your apartment.  

Namjoon kicked the door shut, letting go of you for not even ten seconds just so he could lock the door and then grabbing a hold of you again. You could tell that something was on his mind and that he was feeling extra touchy tonight, something that was not his usual character. Namjoon was not an affectionate person when it comes to skin ship. The only skin ship that you would ever get from him was either handholding that was out in public, cuddling that happened during night time where his arm would be resting on your stomach, or during intimate moments in the bedroom. You did not mind that, you also being someone who did not always have to be touching someone, being in their presence – especially Namjoon’s- was enough for you. But having Namjoon hold you like this, clinging onto you as if you would disappear, had your heart pounding and the butterflies in your stomach erupt.  

“Is something wrong, Joonie?” You asked him, turning around so you could be face to face with him.  

The man had a nervous look on his face, a look that had you worrying a little bit because you have never seen this look on his face in the whole year and eight months that you both had been dating. “I want to tell you something, Y/N, and it has been on my mind for the past six months.” He started off, voice wavering. His statement had made you anxious, the familiar anxiety that is not foreign to you washing over your body. You gave him an encouraging nod, silently telling him that you are ready for whatever he has to say. “Y/N, we met almost two years ago at a party that one of our mutual friends had thrown for a go away party. I remember seeing you for the first time and I thought ‘Wow, she is really beautiful foreigner.’ So, after having a pep talk with Yoongi who did not even give me much of a pep talk besides his ‘don’t be a coward and go talk to her.’ So, I did. After two shots of fireball I got the courage to go and talk to you. And my God, that was the best damn decision that I had ever made. Then I asked for your number and if you wanted to go out on a date, something I was nervous for because I did not know if you, a beautiful human being who somehow made my heartbeat go a little quicker, would say yes. But you did. After fifteen dates I had asked you to be my girlfriend and I was, and still am, shocked that you said yes because you knew how busy I was and still am with BTS and our band becoming the biggest in the world. Every night I pray that you will not leave because of it and every morning they are answered by you still being with me. Y/N, you are so beautiful and I have fallen for you so hard. I am in love with how you view the world with an opened mind. I am in love with your smile, laugh, and soul. I love how you always face any obstacles with a smile on your face, even though you want to give up and go to sleep just so you could forget about it. I love your voice, even though you hate it. It is one of the things that I can find comforting whenever I am stressed or angry. I can go on about you, YF/N Y/M/N Y/L/N. But what I am trying to say is that I love you. There, I said it. I love you so much, my love. You are someone that I want to grow old with and go and travel the world together. I love you, Y/N.”

At the end of his confession you were in tears. You had no words to say because you were so shocked and so relieved to know that he was in love with you. That you knew that he holds the same strong feelings that you do for him. Not knowing what to do, you grabbed his face in your hands and brought his face down so you could kiss him. You felt Namjoon relax in your hold, also relieved that you felt the same way, relieved that you were not going to turn him down. His arms tighten around your waist, holding you tight and close to him as he kissed you passionately, dominating your tongue with his. A smile spread across your face at his dominance, something that he holds greatly. No matter what he was doing, he wanted to be the dominant one, one of his many characteristics that you fell for.

“I love you, Namjoon.” You finally admitted, a huge smile spreading across your lips after saying those words. A smile spread across Namjoon’s face too, the both of you smiling at each other goofily. You knew that you would never get tired of saying those three words to him, and him to you.  

He pulled away slowly, breath fanning across your face, eyes staring deeply into yours. “I want to show you how much I love you.” He stated confidently, eyes swimming with love, but also with lust.  

Nodding your head, you allowed him to guide you to your guys shared bedroom silently, heart beating quickly. He did not bother with turning on the bedroom light, the moon light shining in through the window being enough. He stared at you with so much love, so much adoration, you felt as if you could die from how intense it was. He cupped your face with his big hands, bringing you both into a slow kiss that soon turned into a heated one. You moaned into the kiss, the feeling of his lips against yours always bringing you pleasure. Namjoon’s hands began traveling down your curvy body, something that Namjoon always found as a turn on. He loves your curvy and thick self; he loves your tummy and what you call a ‘muffin top.’ He loves all of you, every inch of you.  

“Strip for me baby.” Namjoon commanded in his authoritative tone, causing shivers to run down your spine from it. Giving you one last peck, he grabbed a handful of your ass and squeezed it tightly, drawing a small squeak out of your mouth. Doing as he said, you began undressing from your skinny jeans and blouse. You have never been one for dresses or skirts, not liking how your legs, and your body in general, looked in them. Namjoon always had said you looked beautiful in everything, but did not agree. “You are so beautiful, Y/N.” He commented once you were left in your panties and bra. “All of you is.” He brought you back into a kiss, letting his hands roam all over you once again, making a short stop at your bra so he could unlatch it.

He led you to the bed and gently lowered you down onto it, not once breaking away from the kiss. A moan escaped your lips when you felt his fingers dance across your clothed core, hips thrusting up into his hand. A chuckle left his lips at your actions, mumbling a ‘needy princess’ before giving you what you wanted. Namjoon wanted to treat you tonight – to show you how sorry he is for being gone all of the time and to show you how much he loves you. He is not going to go all, what you call, ‘daddy’ on you. No, he wants to make love to you and be gentle to you.  

Pulling your panties off, he began to trail kisses up your legs, and right to your core. A gasp left your lips when you felt his tongue on you, hands fisting in his hair. With each lick and suck on you, you were a moaning, trembling mess under his touch. It did not take long for you to reach your high due to the lack of his touch and from how skillful he was with his tongue.  

“N-Namjoon,” you stuttered out, not being able to finish your sentence, you came hard. A loud moan coming from you. You did not have time to relax, Namjoon not stopping his actions. You tried to pull away from him, out of his grasp from how sensitive you were from your orgasm. “Namjoon, to sensitive, too sensitive.” You whimpered out, pushing on his shoulders. “Please, I just want you.” You told him, relieved when he sat up. “I just want all of you.”  

“You have me.” He promised, bringing you both into a short kiss before he undressed.  

You were always amazed at how beautiful Namjoon is. It was no secret that he had self-esteem issues when it came to his body. He always compared himself to his bandmates, whether it was from muscle or dancing. He never has been confident in either of those things. You always told him that he was perfect the way he was and that he should not be degrading himself like that. Not knowing, you had helped him a lot with his self-esteem. All of your praises, compliments, and intimate moments had helped him a lot. You did not realize that Namjoon was fully undressed until you felt his hand push you softly into a laying position so he was hovering over you.  

“What? No doggy style?” You teased, causing the man to blush.  

“We can do that later, babe. Let me just love you.” He mumbled, a shy smile on his face. You giggled, but you could not deny the way your heart fluttered at his confession.  

The feeling of him entering you had you both moaning loudly, your eyes closing while Namjoon found his way to your neck. He licked and bit at your neck, creating love marks all over your neck. Once he was fully in, he did not move for a little bit, allowing you to adjust to him. Giving him the sign that it was okay for him to move, which was you bracing onto his shoulders and a kiss to his neck, he began slowly thrusting into you. The two of you were lost in each other, but it was different this time. Instead of the usual degrading names, it was praises and sweet nothings. It was not the spanking and choking, it was holding onto one another carefully. It was not heated make-outs and lip biting; it was slow and soft kisses. It was all new ground for the both of you and it was what brought the both of you to your highs.  

Namjoon slowly pulled out of you and laid down next to you, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you into him. It was a comforting silence between the two of you, wanting the realization that the both of you love each other sink in. There was no need for words to be said, only a soft kiss and a smile was what all you needed. And that was how you both fell asleep that night – in each other's arms, knowing that you both loved each other and that nothing can stop that.

[the-dreamer-traveller]

Suspicion Virus Program

2B AND 9S:

Running as fast as her high heels are clicking on the concrete wall, 2B rushes in towards the main command center. 92 follows her suit, with his boots equally clicking on the ground.

The operation was a failure. All of the androids in battle are corrupted and killing each other. 2B and 9S could barely make it out alive of the field and have to detonate their black boxes together, right after 9S transfers their consciousness to the servers. Luckily, YoRHa allows them to boot their consciousness into another android body once they fail their mission or have to detonate their black boxes.

And now, they must report to Commander of the situation.

“2B.” 9S called on her, running as fast as his legs could be.

“We have to report back to Command.” 2B replies with her usual stern voice, concerned of the safety of the Command’s androids.

Both of them reach into another tunnel of the underground mountain base, where they eventually happen into the main console room. The area is spacious and large, with 9S and 2B separated from the lower floors by a floor that contains more desks that is being managed by Operator-type androids. Surrounding much of the wall is a large digital screen, which features three different segments of the screen; surveillance statuses as well as geographical data, a large digital globe with the emblem of YoRHa in the center where it is divided into hemispheres and has stills of images of battle from the surface, and a list of all deployed YoRHa androids and combatants. Worryingly, many of them are blank, a major hint for the two androids that casualties are heavy.

2B and 9S have no time to take the elevator to reach the lower floors. They both jump from the ledge of the railings and landed on their feet on the ground floor of the console room. Desks of hi-grade computers are arranged in front, where frantic Operators are typing to try get in touch of their assigned androids to no avail. Guards are also stationed side by side of a lone terminal, where Commander White is looking at the screen in shock, awe, confusion and puzzlement. Just as she turns her back, she notices 2B and 92 approaching to her.

“2B? 9S?” Commander says their name, surprised to see the previously deployed androids approaching to her. “What are you doing here?”

“The YoRHa units on the surface were infected by a virus.” 9S explains, once he stood on his ground while 2B stands next to him. “We had to detonate our black boxes in order to stop them.”

“A…virus?” Commander said, perplexed on the unusual report. “What are you talking about? The Dreamer did not report anything about a virus.”

“That’s because all communication with the Bunker has been severed.”

“And why did you leave the battlefield anyway? I didn’t order a retreat.”

“We’re telling you, YoRHa has gone berserk!” 2B speaks up, stepping in to help with 9S, to convince Commander of the sudden turn of events in the surface.

The leading android sighs and shakes her head. A virus? In the middle of the battlefield? They manage to get the grace of a Dreamer, a human who is a god. And yet, two androids told her that a virus attack them without the Dreamer even telling her? Something is wrong and she couldn’t tell of it…

But then…

Looking at the two androids before her, she grips her baton with her hand. “No. If anyone is acting infected here, it’s you.”

Both of the androids are shocked and surprised by the Commander’s sudden objective response. “Are you NUTS!?” 9S called out to her, shaken by this revelation.

Pointing her baton in front of them, her action also signals with the android guards to unsheathe their blades. “2B… 9S… You’re being detained under suspicion of virus contamination.”

This is it, both 2B and 9S are surrounded by the guards, their blades ready. 9S couldn’t deal with this and says, “Wait a minute!”

Just before Commander White issues another command to her guards, one of them begins to suffer a spasmic attack, groaning and crying in pain. It is followed by another one, and another one, and up until the rest of the guards are suffering from what is to be called a mass synchronous attack of their bodies from an unknown source, while Commander looks in fear and worry.

One of the android guards let out a deranged giggle, just as she turns her head up and the eyes of her mask turns red. “Eee hee hee! Bingoooo!”

The rest of the guards’ pains subsided, but their heads are turned upward, and their eyes emit an eerie red glow. It doesn’t even just limit to the guards even, as the Operators turn to look at the remaining uninfected androids, with their eyes open to reveal the same eerie red glow in them.

The Commander staggers in fear. 2B, 9S and White are surrounded by infected, hostile androids. Things couldn’t get even more serious than they could imagine. 92 could only mutter in slow but certain horror.

“They’re… infected!?”

A short frenzy of attacks happens. Commander could barely live with her breath as 2B pushes her aside to just hold on against a striking infected android with her hands. Commander quickly tries to run, but another infected android kicks her in the abdomen, sending her sprawling into the ground. However, this act saves her from being severed into half by another android, who tries to attack 9S as he successfully moves out of the way from her blade. While another android tries to strike her, 2B notices this and sends out a roundhouse kick, knocking the infected android down.

There is barely any chance to survive in the Bunker. Worried, 2B quickly kneels to the Commander while helping her to stand up. “Commander, we have to go.” 2B said, looking at her while she stands up to bring out her blade.

With 2B and 9S bringing out their weapons, the infected androids took notice of them, seeing them as obstacles in killing all of the uninfected androids in the way. Taking this, Commander White sidesteps and moves close to the terminal, to avoid being caught in a storm of blades and weapons of between 2B and 9S and her once-loyal-but-now-infected androids.

Unbeknownst to them all, a rebel Machine Lifeform, uninfected, opens a hidden hatch for the escape route of any uninfected survivors as his head pokes out, waiting for the coast to be clear and the escape to be smooth.

DREAMER:

The battlefield that is mentioned by the androids is filled with broken buildings, forgotten machines and vegetation. Once part of a large city from the Old World, it stood as a testament that time is eternal and will forever remain, changing of what was once a symbol of humanity’s advancement to a relic of the past, just like the civilizations before it. This world’s current generations have no respect of these trinkets of the forgotten and lost, as it has been the center of a war that has go one for millennia.

What cause mankind’s fall, I do not know. Perhaps it is the arrival and death of a pan-dimensional monster, whose ashes scatter into the winds, infecting the mortals and ruining the world. Or maybe it is a dangerous rip in reality, a sign of mankind’s attempt to gain control over reality and failed and serves as a punishment for their hubris. For all it is known, this world is now populated entirely of strange cartoon character, machines lifeforms and androids, sometimes engaging in long, bloody wars with an occasional pax between these races that last for only a single or double digit before going into another war again.

I enter in this world as a person, under the role of an android named 1700G, a Gunner-type android employed by YoRHa. The battle rages on, and I remember that I have friends in this particular dream. Friends… or perhaps someone that I loved… lost in this combat. Whoever they are, I cannot recall any longer, and I push that feeling of loss aside as I scramble up a hill.

Everything is becoming mad. In a sudden turn of events, an estimate of 95% of all android and mechanical combatants were driven mad spontaneously. Dubbed as the Logic Virus, this viral attack targets their rational systems, and destroy or twist it until they will lash it all towards anyone uninfected in sight, before they suffer a violent death after several minutes, with a blissful death a rarity. The Logic Virus also evolves to infect non-android cartoon characters as well, driving mad with an instinct to kill.

I happen to be uninfected due to either sheer luck or uncertain circumstances, but I don’t know for certain. All I know is that there is a corrosive acid bubble gattler posted at the top of a ransacked and half-obliterated remains of a two-story building.

Situated by the hill, I push aside my field bag and hold on the gattler. It is slightly large and bulky, painted in a shiny black goat, and loaded with belts that contain corrosive acid. I aim it towards a running horde of infected cartoon creatures, who resemble cheerful children, and start firing round after round. Each time the gattler fires, high-speed corrosive acidic bubbles shot out from the muzzle, and anything that it hits, either biological or mechanical flesh, will have a burning sensation as it eats away the flesh, leaving behind muscles, bones or inner meat behind. Several rounds will kill them, as being bath in corrosive acid will slowly dissolve them into nothingness. The infected soldiers could not scream in pain or horror, as they stare listlessly into me, with the intention to crush my head with their bats, twist my arms with their hands and strangling me to death.

I cannot stay here like this for long. I have to flee, as a battle against them would be a suicide mission.

[pjmendez]

Realising I can no longer do nothing

George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. ©CNN

I’m tired, just as much as every other Black person is, of seeing nothing change. Nothing has changed. We might like to think things have, and it might make us feel better to think things have, or that we don’t have the same problems here in the UK as there are in the US. In the UK we like to silence Black people bemoaning police brutality and institutional racism by talking about Black-on-Black violence, of knife crime and of Black music that appears to glorify intra-racial murder, even bringing up that old “Africans sold their fellow men as slaves to white people” chestnut without mention of any of the socio-economic, socio-environmental issues and nuances within those issues that result in things being the way they are in the present day. We don’t want, as British people, to be confronted with the idea that we have to change, that what we are doing is wrong; we like to turn a blind eye, as long as we are not the worst. We will do anything not to have to confront the idea that we are the worst, a fact most amply illustrated by the recent tabloid treatment of Dr Neil Ferguson on the day Britain became the country in Europe with the worst mortality rate due to Covid-19: anything to deflect from the fact that we, Britain, once leader of a great Empire, have sunk to the bottom, down there with the slime. We can look at what’s going on over in America and sleep soundly in the assumption that we don’t treat people that way or that “our” Blacks have it better. But to do so is to be complicit in the culture of a new Jim Crow, a global pandemic in itself, the epicentre of which is in the United States, of course, but one that we cannot afford to assume we are immune from or that isn’t already affecting us in any way.

This, in some ways, has been the most beautiful Spring of my lifetime. I’ve enjoyed the publication of my debut novel, and the response to it; the London I live in is looking its natural best. The sun shines every day. It’s warm; roses, azaleas and peonies are superabundant in deliciously saturated colours. But, otherwise, it’s also the ugliest Spring. Never before has it been more starkly presented to me, in measurable facts, the depth of inequality and injustice Black people are suffering here in the UK. Not only are we statistically more likely to be economically disadvantaged, with fewer opportunities for physical distancing and greater danger for exposure due to our likelier frontline jobs, we are seeing, in 2020, black men being stopped in their cars by police at a disproportionately high rate, and a ridiculously high mortality rate compared to other ethnic descriptions – this when, according to research published by the World Health Organisation, Africa is the least-affected region globally by Coronavirus (so far), flying in the face of any rabid eugenicist’s brainwave associating higher Black mortality rates in the global west with genetics. Not only do we have to wake up to a new morning and read about yet another person of our skin colour who has been brutally murdered by police or by a white supremacist father-son team sicced like dogs by their president to sniff out and kill Black people on sight, we also have to read about the memory of a Black woman, Belly Mujinga, being served the indignity of a closed case in favour of the person who caused her death. Which Black person would get off scot-free having spat at a white person, boldly claiming their fluids were positive for Covid-19? Which white person’s death would be shown on TV stations all over the world, their neck crushed for eight whole minutes under the knee of a Black cop? Simple role-reversals are just that – simple. They do not take into account the intersections from which Black and minority-ethnic and/or queer people have to negotiate their everyday lives in a structurally-racist world (which bell hooks has described as an imperialist white-supremacist capitalist patriarchy). No Black cop would ever rest his knee on the neck of even the most dangerous white suspect, because of the respect inculcated in us for even the evilest of white souls (remember the gentle way Dylann Roof, perpetrator of the Charleston massacre, was walked into custody?). Black people are allowed to be lynched for all the world to see; white cops think they’re doing the world a favour. And white people are not standing up for us. They are turning their heads away, as if racism is not their problem. Well, it is.

I get it. When I wake up, look at Twitter or Instagram and see another one of these stories come through, my immediate instinct is to turn away; nobody wants the politicised death of a stranger to be the first thing that confronts them, daubing over their waking dreams with thick, red graffiti. Part of this might be my own socialised British “out of sight, out of mind” mentality. But the greater part of it, I think, is a refusal to believe that this could be happening, in such a way, again, so soon after the murders of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor; news came through the next day of the death of Tony McDade, a black trans man killed by a police officer in Florida. But I first became aware of George Floyd’s death scrolling through Instagram with my coffee in bed. Ms Tina Lawson, mother of Beyoncé and Solange – two artists who have put their careers on the line to do their duty to protect their fellow citizens and draw attention to the issues they face – is usually one of the first public figures in my feeds to denounce and rally against police brutalities, posting strongly-worded statements, beatified pictures of the deceased, phone numbers to lobby the sheriff and mayoral offices most local to the killing, calling for a change of mentality and an end to racist violence. Ms Lawson shared George Floyd’s portrait, regrammed from Viola Davis’s earlier post; so soon after waking, I didn’t quite understand the context, and to my shame, I scrolled on. But I kept seeing this picture more and more, shared by African American celebrities, and other pictures of a cop kneeling down – the apparently-righteous kind of kneeling, as opposed to Colin Kaepernick’s apparently-radical kind of kneeling – but I didn’t understand. I didn’t get the picture. Because of its composition, and the expressive manner of its majority subject, a white cop, looking at the camera, straight backed, hand-on-hip, ageing but lantern-jawed like an everyday superhero just doing his job enforcing the law, I didn’t understand what was going on, and how this image connected to that of the large, friendly-looking black man Ms Tina Lawson had shared earlier. It wasn’t until later that I saw that there was a head beneath this white cop’s knee. Captions put words in his mouth redolent of the last of Eric Garner: “I can’t breathe”. Then it emerged there was a video. I refused to watch it. I did not want to see someone lose their life. I did not want to see someone pinned down, struggling, fighting, unable to free himself from beneath the grown man resting his entire body weight on their neck, losing breath, losing voice, losing consciousness, being disestablished from whatever threat they were deemed to be, being murdered. I did not want to see a Black person go through that, for all to see; what was once a sycamore tree, now a knee; what was once a gathered crowd of white nationalists attending a lynching for sport, now millions of people all over the world gawping at their smartphones. Again. If I see it happen to another Black person, in my mind, it’s happening to me. It drips poison into my ear, makes me think of all the ways I might be punished if I leave the house, while Black, travel while Black. Every microaggression leads to my unjust death, a life lived in vain. I am not alone in declaring murders of unarmed Black people to be deleterious to my mental health.

I successfully avoided watching George Floyd die, or entering into the outrage about his death, but then the video – which I today learned was shot by a seventeen-year-old Black girl of uncertain relationship to Floyd, and God knows what trauma she must be going through now – was shown on BBC News that night, uncensored. We watched an American man die on the news – an African-American man. Does that desensitise us? Does it not feed into the suspected narrative that Black people in death don’t deserve the same dignity as white people? This compounds the feared belief that I, a Black man, am less worthy than a white person. That I do not matter. That my body can be choked of life by someone trained to recognise me as a threat to life – whether I have a weapon or not – and paraded around the world. The outcry, by both Black and some white people, has been strong. But beyond a few moments of contemplation in the aftermaths of these deaths, nothing changes. The slaps in Black faces become increasingly insidious.

White supremacy is here to stay, whether its supreme leader gets four more years or not. This is a wave whose power and intention is not yet clear. I want to write a lot more about this. But to all the Black people and our allies suffering pain and anxiety today, I can only say this: stay strong. We are wonderful and amazing. We are a miracle. We are great. For all the hundreds of years of the Atlantic slave trade, when our ancestors had no rights, no self-ownership, no means of telling their own stories, were bred like cattle for best cotton-picking/cane-harvesting characteristics – the fact that we are alive and so many of us are thriving, winning, despite the obstacles in our path other ethnicities don’t have and/or put in place, is a miracle, and we deserve to take all strength and belief from that. We walked the earth first and will always. But we have to keep fighting. Dr Cornell West quoted Samuel Beckett when he urged us to “try again, fail again, fail better”. We can not let any death, any injustice, any microaggression go unchallenged. It is exhausting, and we have to keep questioning what we want equality with (this capitalist agenda? Really?). I’m not the cleverest, I’m not the bravest. But I have a voice, and I shall do my best.

#BlackLivesMatter

References: 

bell hooks | We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity (Routledge, 2004)

Dr Cornel West in conversation with Anderson Cooper on CNN: https://twitter.com/AC360/status/1266532710266425345?s=20

Killer Mike’s address to protesters in Atlanta and other US cities: https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1266630475709177856?s=20

© Paul Mendez, 2020

[coredrill]

alright, here are my thoughts on the unstoppable wasp novel! i’ve put the majority of my thoughts, and LOTS of spoilers, below the cut. short summary is that . . . i didn’t really like it at all :/

so, i’m gonna preface this by saying that i wanted to absolutely LOVE this book. it’s all about nadia and she is one of my all-time favorite characters and it’s so great that she got the spotlight in this way! i just really really wish i could, in good faith, say that the book was good, but i just can’t. and admittedly, i consider the unstoppable wasp comics to be nearly perfect, which is a high bar to hit, but there was just so much about this book that left a bad taste in my mouth.

first thing i want to mention is the role of the rest of the g.i.r.l.s. and when i say that, i mean that they had virtually no role. i genuinely wasn’t sure if i (the reader) was expected to have read the comics before the novel. on one hand, the first few chapters were spent pretty much summing up the comics, which is fine, especially because some readers may not have read the comics. on the other hand, if i hadn’t read the comics, there’s NO WAY i would’ve known anything about the other g.i.r.l.s!! they’re barely present in the plot of the book! they are present in one scene in the beginning, taina has a few lines throughout, and they’re more involved at the end, but a lot of the times they seemed more like wallpaper than actual characters. especially because of the frequency with which the author would throw in lines such as “that ethiopian place that shay likes” or “priya’s on-trend jeans” and just name-drop them without really giving them any substance. since i know the comics, i already know these characters--but if i was just reading the novel with no background? there’s no way i’d be able to keep them straight.

building off of what i said in that last point, i also wanted to mention that i listened to the women of marvel podcast interview with the author. something that i noticed is that she would always refer to the g.i.r.l.s as the “g.i.r.l. squad.” and that, i think, is the root of why i didn’t like how they were handled. it’s obviously pretty simple to explain their absence in the story by just noting that the whole point was that nadia was feeling alone and isolated from them. HOWEVER, in my opinion as a woman who has been in engineering . . . that doesn’t happen? nadia and the g.i.r.l.s are labmates--it’s right there in the title. they ARE the genius in action research labs. the “lab” isn’t just the location, it’s the people who make it up. by referring to them as “g.i.r.l. squad” instead of just “g.i.r.l.,” the author is changing the dynamics from “being a cohesive unit of girls who make up this incredible group and support each other in their science and goals” to “friend group who all happen to do science.” and as i mentioned, the random falling-out that happens in the book doesn’t happen to groups of the first type. being a girl in stem SUCKS. being in a stem class means that you’re automatically friends with the 1-2 other girls in there with you. and the people you work on projects with in a lab? the other girls who take the time to support you and have your back even though the odds are stacked against you? those are a whole different kind of friendships and i PROMISE they’re not wrecked by just forgetting to talk to each other. the girls that i worked with in college--the girls that i worked with now--it’s for survival. you don’t just fall apart like nadia apparently did from the g.i.r.l.s in this book.

okay. final bullet point on this topic. but in the women of marvel interview, the author said that she wanted to explore what could break apart the bonds that the g.i.r.l.s had formed. but on page 263, there’s the line “and if they had all just been a little better at communicating, maybe it wouldn’t have been so long before one of them realized that nadia was relying a little too closely on that little gold device.” so this deep dive into splitting the g.i.r.l.s apart, and barely giving shay, taina, ying, and priya a role in the story--was caused by MISCOMMUNICATION??? no freaking thanks LMAO. even without everything i’ve already mentioned, that trope is so lazy.

the writing style kinda bothered me at some points--i remember the discharge being described as “carbon dioxide” at one point, but like, just call it white foam. it’s so much easier and saying carbon dioxide pulled me out of what was happening. obviously this is a personal thing, not something objectively bad, but i still thought i’d mention it.

there seemed to be this point, around page 260, where it seems like the book flipped a switch. obviously, this is where the climax hit, but so many other things seemed to just randomly get pushed into place because the plot necessitated it? like, for example, nadia and the g.i.r.l.s are suddenly bffs again. even though, in nadia’s interior monologue, we’ve been hearing her resentment for them, it seemed like once the plot needed them to work together that they were able to do so without problem. and not only that, but it didn’t even feel earned? the book NEVER showed nadia and the g.i.r.l.s as actually like. being friends. (as i mentioned, not a choice i agree with, but still a fact.) so to have them all suddenly team up for the Big Boss Battle just felt weird and disengenuous to all of them. additionally, nadia went from defending margaret at all costs to suddenly thinking “oh yeah, she’s probably super evil. no big deal.” like WHAT??? the whole point of the first 250 pages was to show that nadia feels like margaret is the only person she can trust. all of a sudden she’s cool with her being evil??? make it make sense! you could see throughout the rest of the book that nadia was building up her Wrong Thoughts. sooooo much time was spent on it and we actually saw the development of how nadia felt. but to have her switch all that on a dime so that she can have her Right Thoughts now??? just in time for the Boss Battle? it just feels so unearned, since there’s nothing building to it. she just . . . changes her mind.

i also feel like writing a book where the protagonist, where the person whose perspective we’re following, is being MIND-CONTROLLED, but not revealing that mind control until the 11th hour (to validate the sudden switch from Wrong Thoughts to Right Thoughts) was just. a bit weird. i’m 22, but if i was reading this as a teenager, i’m not sure i would’ve quite gotten that the WHOLE BOOK was now being told by an unreliable narrator, with absolutely zero reliable information as a base (except the comics, of course).

ON PAGE 274. THERE IS ONE MENTION OF SHAY MAKING HER TELEPORTER PORTABLE. THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE FEAT OF SCIENCE AND SO GREAT FOR SHAY WHY WAS THIS NOT EXPANDED ON IN THE SLIGHTEST????

alright, time to talk about the nadia-being-ace thing. so, ever since i started reading unstoppable wasp, i’ve interpreted nadia as aroace. her version of friendships, her attempts to change the topic when romance for herself is brought up--these are all very authentically ace experiences. and that was okay for me to just have her coded that way! the writer of the comics, jeremy whitley, has included TWO (2!!!) ace characters in his raven pirate princess series so i definitely allowed myself to entertain the idea that the ace aspects of nadia were intentional. i was also okay with it not being explicitly mentioned in the comics--sure it would’ve been cool, but i understand that there are 18 issues TOTAL and it would be hard to fit the entirety of nadia’s story in there. BUT, when the author of this book mentioned that nadia was ace, and jeremy whitley confirmed that he’d been writing her as ace, it was awesome and super validating!! first of all, nadia being the first canonically ace marvel character--even just by word of god--is so freaking incredible and just adds to my enjoyment of the story. i’m very glad that we got confirmation and that i can continue reading the comics knowing, at the very least, that my ace reading of them is backed up by the canon (!!!!!). however, the author of this novel 100% used it as a marketing tactic which is super shitty. i was obviously going to read it anyway, since it was about nadia, but i do know people who bought it specifically because the author mentioned nadia being ace. and there was maybe one throwaway line in the novel about how nadia was only interested in romance ~theoretically.~ that’s not rep. in fact, it’s even less rep than the comics, which represented nadia being ace (at least in my opinion) far more authentically than this novel did. i’d honestly even go so far as to say it was riiiight up against the line of queerbaiting--yes nadia is canonically queer, but only by word of mouth, and it’s not mentioned even once in the story. that’s bad. using ace people for marketing--baiting them into buying your book on the promise of rep which we already have so little of--is so so shitty. yes, i am glad that we got that confirmation from jeremy whitley who never used this to promote the comics and didn’t even mention it until now, but i genuinely cannot believe that this author (who is bi! i checked her twitter!) effectively used it to market her awful book. honestly if the book weren’t bad enough already, to add this on top of it is even WORSE.

in the same vein, the author mentioned ying and shay being in a wlw relationship in the same interview where she mentioned nadia being ace. ying and shay are barely in the novel and EVEN WORSE, their relationship is kind of treated as an “obstacle” that nadia and the other g.i.r.l.s have to overcome in order to start working as a unit again. also bad!!!!!

okay. i think i’ve got this and one more bullet point, so we’ll see how it goes. but the way that the science in this book was handled was atrocious. sure, we had the cute science facts, but there is one (1) paragraph on page 311 about the g.i.r.l.s doing science for the sake of doing science and helping their community. IN THE WHOLE BOOK. you know a great way to demonstrate to women that they shouldn’t go into stem fields? write a cautionary book about the ~dangers of ai and data collection~ AS IF ANYONE LIVING IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW DOESN’T KNOW THAT SHIT. jesus fucking christ. the comics showed all of this great science by the way of the g.i.r.l.s papers, shay making her teleporter at home, defusing the bomb in ying’s head, recreating the vision gloves, tai’s sports robots . . . this book had NONE of that. it literally just had the evils that we see in the news EVERY DAY. that’s not what you show people to get them excited, and i find it really fucking weird that ANYONE greenlit a book about characters who support and encourage women to go into stem fields with the overall message of “science bad!” like. how the fuck was this plot approved. in the women of marvel interview, the author claims that she’s written about women in science before--and i believe her. i just don’t think that she’s ever actually spoken to a woman in science.

and lastly, i have a huge issue with the role of hope in the book. by that, i mean that the novel is called “built on hope” but hope is literally never a theme throughout the book? so yet another instance of the book building off the comics without any form of payoff. the unstoppable wasp comics are kind, and loving, and hopeful. this book is callous and condescending and seems more concerned with its sassy one-liners about white dudes and ham-fisted pop culture references than LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE, including hope. nadia claims to love her friends but spends the majority of the book shitting on them. nadia lies to janet to “avoid hurting her” but the end of unstoppable wasp 10 showed the flip side of the situation where nadia and jan realize that although janet was hiding the truth about hank from nadia, nadia wanted to hear the information anyway!! and i just--WHY would you take a character who has been explicitly used in the past to introduce girls to women in stem (the interviews with real people in the back of the comics!) AND THEN WRITE HER INTO A FUCKING CAUTIONARY “TECHNOLOGY BAD” STORY??? it’s SO discordant with the comics and i genuinely hope that anyone reading this book goes and read the comics themselves, which are incredible and a bajillion times better than this book in all aspects. i’m finishing this “review” a lot more fired up then when i started typing it but i honestly can’t believe that marvel greenlit THIS and not like. 2 more comics.

so, yeah, those are my thoughts. kudos to anyone who actually made it through the whole thing (if anyone does), it’s egregiously long but i needed to put my thoughts somewhere! tldr: i will not be recommending this to my mom.