#not to talk about how these periods of change can ultimately DESTROY relationships because like. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

clarkgriffon · 3 years ago

Text

Dark!Allison: A Thought Exploration

Okay, so to premise this, as I said in a separate post. I don’t like dark!character plotlines. Typically, it’s a way for writers to make characters do out-of-character actions without justifying those actions instead just sort of saying that this is nebulously their “dark period” or “downward spiral.”

From a fandom perspective, I particularly loathe dark!character plot lines for women because they get much worse reactions than when men get them, typically. When a female character gets a dark!plotline, there’s usually an immediate outcry of how awful and horrible and irredeemable they are. With male characters, I would say that this is outcry isn’t nonexist, but is rivaled heavily by a sort of “uwu the boy is sad! he’s just Going Through It!” attitude that female characters don’t tend to get. But fandom’s not actually what I want to talk about in this post. I want this post to be a breakdown of my thoughts about Dark!Allison within the context of the show- why it could work and why it ultimately doesn’t.

The Good:

Dark!Allison isn’t without merit. For starters, though these are more extraneous factors than the actual writing, let’s talk about the costume design and acting. Allison looked fabulous this season. Easily turned the best look of the season. The only character who can usually rival her looks, Klaus, stayed in his 60s vibe and didn’t really change. Allison’s haircut was frickin’ adorable, let’s all admit. And I don’t even have words to express how good Emmy’s performance was. For a character whose decisions I actively pushed back against multiple times throughout the season, I couldn’t help but sympathize and hurt for Allison solely because of Emmy’s performance (because it surely wasn’t the writing). The shots of her brooding against walls in pain, the cry in anguish she does in one of the later episodes, Emmy killed the assignment. Point blank.

(This is a Read^TM, so more under the cut)

Now, I get what I think was the intention with this character choice. Obviously, it’s very clear that this is about Allison’s loss of Ray and more importantly, Claire. Allison at the end of Season 2 comes to peace about leaving Ray- she understands that the 60s is not her real timeline and that she has a daughter to go back to. It’s the inciting incident of seeing that Claire is not her bed but another little girl, leading Allison to realize that Claire doesn’t exist in the Sparrow timeline that sends Allison into her spiral. But I’d actually say there’s a more important point than the obvious loss of relationships that Allison suffers that explains Allison in Season 3 and it is mentioned one time by the show, but is the most relevant in my opinion and that is: nihilism.

Allison falls down a pit of nihilism. In the words of Chidi from The Good Place in Jeremy Bearimy, “The true meaning of life, the actual ethical system that you should all follow is nihilism. The world is empty. There is no point to anything, and you're just gonna die. So do whatever.” Allison’s actions in Season 3 are explained (but not justified) by nihilism. She says it all of one time in the season and I really think it should have been more heavily emphasized, but she feels like she’s in a time loop of loss. None of her relationships or the love that she gives and receives matter because the world is just going to end again and if it doesn’t, she’ll just lose another person she loves in a new timeline reset. It’s the same concept of many time loop stories: when actions have no consequences or the world seems to be pre-determined, what incentive is there to do the right thing? None of the actions matter. What does it matter if she kills Harlan if the Kugelblitz gets him tomorrow? What does it matter if she destroys her relationships with her two closest brothers if she’s just going to lose them anyway at some point? Nothing matters.

The Bad:

Like I said, I fully understand the rationale I think the writers were going for. But here’s the thing: The reasoning can make sense, but Allison’s actions are still wrong. And that’s fine! Characters can be complex and make mistakes; the audience watching know the actions are wrong and the writers writing it know that too, even if Allison has her own flawed rationale for those actions.

But the thing is, the writing is completely tasteless with how far they let it go. I’m on the fence about Harlan’s death because I think in a way it could show the severity of Allison’s fall into her nihilism loop, but I just don’t think it was written well enough to justify that. The Luther assault scene is the one that really got me though because it was just so supremely out-of-character. I truly do not think there’s anything in the writing of S1/2 that would point to Allison’s actions going there and yes, she realizes her mistake almost immediately, yada yada, but it really just seemed like one of those things where the writers for some reason wanted to tank the character to the point she seems irredeemable, which considering she’s our one female Hargreeves protagonist... I don’t know. Just doesn’t sit well with me.

I’m going to defend the way the Viktor relationship was handled in that I can see a rationale for it. They’ve always had a rocky bond (my favorite relationship in the show actually), but Allison’s actions at the end of S1 are really indicative of that relationship. She understands that Viktor doesn’t have a hold on his powers and though he slashes her throat and grievously injures her, she is the only one who fights for him. THAT is why the line “We should have kept you in the basement” makes sense. She was the only one trying to get him out and when she feels betrayed by Viktor in S3, she takes out that knife and goes, you know what? I was wrong to stick up for you. You ruined my life.

But therein lies the rub. Though I can defend the reaction on a conceptual level, on a textual level, there was NOT enough backing for what they went for. Something I hated about Allison’s “logic” was that it was a stupid string puzzle. It was because X did Y and Y did Z, I lost Claire. Because Harlan killed the mothers, which botched the timeline, and Viktor lied about Harlan, I lost Claire. But if you use that kind of logic, you can kind of justify anything. You could say, “Because Harlan killed the mothers, I lost Claire. But Harlan only had powers because of Viktor, so it’s Viktor’s fault. But Viktor was only in the 1960s because of Five, so it’s Five’s fault. But Five was only in a position to even know the others and transport them to the 60s because of Reginald, so it’s Reginald’s fault.” What I’m saying is if you can make a logic chain long enough, you can blame anyone for anything. And that’s what it felt like Allison’s rationale was in the later half of the season, which was exhausting.

How would I have fixed it?

I’ve actually brainstormed what I’d do differently, and honestly, I don’t think I’d even have to change that much. I’d remove the Harlan incident and the Luther incident because truthfully, they were just unnecessary to the storyline. I’d tie in a Viktor conflict in a different way, so that Allison and Viktor could have their fight, but not have it be a direct reaction to Harlan’s death.

I would keep the nihilism spiral she’s got, keep the rationale. But there’s a line Allison says in one of the episodes about Ray dying eight or nine years ago. That’s what I would have changed.

I think a great way to have handled this would be that after her spiral, which was triggered by the loss of Claire, one of her siblings (which is something I haven’t mentioned about why else I thought this season suffered- none of the Hargreeves care about each other. Like it’s stated that they’re more of a family than the Sparrows ever were, but it is certainly not shown. But that’s a separate post.), preferably Viktor looks up Ray and takes Allison to him. They find Ray somewhere and he’s very, very old, of course.

Allison’s problem with nihilism stems from the concept that nothing matters. Her relationships don’t matter and have no impact. But meeting an old, old Ray could prove to her that they do. He probably moved on eventually after her, but he could tell her about how she impacted his life. Maybe their wedding picture is still on his mantle. It would be visible, tangible proof to Allison that even if her relationships and love have become ephemeral, they are worth something.

I can see this happening around Episode 7-ish, Viktor and Allison make up and Allison joins the gang to fight the Kugelblitz (or accept the inevitable end alongside her family). And bing bang boom, Dark!Allison gets her moment to shine, but the arc she goes through makes sense and means something instead of ends nebulously the way it does in the actual Season 3.

Because after the events of the actual Season 3...

The writing seems on the wall to me that Allison is going to have a season almost entirely dedicated to atoning in Season 4. Because that’s what happens when a character gets a dark!arc that isn’t wrapped up within the season. They spend the next one atoning- she won’t get to be her own interesting person or have any meaningful development, it’ll just be a season of groveling and realization she was wrong and constant “I’m sorrys.” And that’s just boring. I don’t want to have to watch it, but I’m sure it’s what we’ll get.

#tua #tua spoilers #the umbrella academy spoilers #allison hargreeves #the umbrella academy meta

36 notes · View notes

bleedingdesert · 3 years ago

Text

The Smiling God

Pulling apart our relationship to The Smiling God has been complicated.

Kevin awoke first and only had the version that Strex held over him for a good year or so. More if you count the life we lived itself.

Strex’s version of The Smiling God is an absolute bastardization. They twisted his message in order to fit their monopoly. They decided that The Smiling God was the purveyor of capitalism. Of productivity. Constant production. Unstopping production. According to Strex you are nothing else.

That is not The Smiling God.

The true version of The Smiling God was brought to Kevin by an angel. An angel who pledged destruction.

For clarifications sake:

We will be talking about ourselves in third person. Desire and Reason are writing this together, and it would get much too complicated to write this otherwise.

Because we are not censoring source words in this essay you may have stumbled across this in the general WTNV tags. Hello, welcome. This is not an essay about the fiction of Desert Bluffs and The Smiling God. This is an essay about the reality we lived in. This is an essay about our current relationship to The Smiling God. Yes. We lived this. Yes. We literally worship The Smiling God.

This essay is primarily written for our friends who have no connection to WTNV. So we will not be covering all inaccuracies that are in WTNV. There are too many.

One major inaccuracy that needs to be clarified right away is that The Smiling God did not have demons. He had angels. One of which was Desire who possessed Kevin. When referring to possessed Kevin we will refer to the two of us combined as Kevin&. This includes quotes from the show that would have been in this possession time period.

We will try not to get too into our lives, but it is very difficult to talk about The Smiling God without doing so.

This is our current understanding of The Smiling God. As is natural with these things our understanding may change over time.

The best episode to listen to (or read the transcript of) in order to get a solid feeling of The Smiling God is episode 120 - All Smiles Eve. The entire episode could be a quote for this essay. It’s an excellent parable.

The Smiling God as Devourer

The Smiling God is a creature that feeds. In WTNV he is constantly described as devourer. Usually quite literally. But canon never directly talks about The Smiling God as also a devourer of energy.

Devourer of Energy

Episode 47 - Company Picnic

LAUREN: Yes, the overseer is explaining to them. They are on the ground with their hands over their ears so that they can hear him better. Their mouths are open. No one has ever seen smiles quite like that. What an interesting way to smile! Their legs are kicking too, like they’re still trying to dance.

KEVIN&: Oh my. Well, there’s no music you fantastic, silly people. There’s just an overseer explaining how parties work, and how work is the best party of all. You don’t need to wriggle about like that.

Very obviously this isn’t happiness as most people define it. But the energy coming off people who are distraught is immense. A better translation for what Kevin& refers to as happiness would be excited. All of The Smiling Gods people are called upon to be excited because upticks in energy feeds The Smiling God. It also feeds those who follow it.

Strex as a Source of Energy

Despite Strex’s bastardizations of The Smiling God, the energy they created is why they were allowed to exist. But because it wasn’t correct, they were ultimately destroyed as well. Their destruction was yet again another massive surge of energy. Their destruction was always going to happen, they were too full of blasphemy to be allowed to continue on.

(In our timeline, unlike in canon, the citizens of Night Vale were not the ones to overturn Strex. It was led by citizens of Desert Bluffs. And by The Smiling God.)

Strex was also able to create more followers of The Smiling God through their corporate takeovers and mass brain washing of Desert Bluffs.

The Smiling God could survive on its own without foot soldiers sure, but it is fed oh so much more when it has people to serve it. Any Deity needs that. That is why its angels existed. That's why it used people like Kevin and hundreds of citizens of Desert Bluffs.

Digestion

Episode 135 - The Mudstone Abyss (Part 1)

KEVIN&: And I said, 'Please give me a sign.' and below me the ground became translucent. I could see for miles down, a great pit below me, and crawling up the sides of the pit was an enormous creature with thousands of legs, scuttling joyously in an upward spiral until it finally devoured me in one gulp.

KEVIN&: One day we shall all be devoured, eradicated by the beast, swallowed and digested, our sinew peeled from bones like a barbecued rib, our skin bubbling away from the creature’s digestive fluids, and ourselves completely purified.

The Smiling God is death. Death as a destroyer. Death as in transformer.

The Smiling God digests. In this digestion it completely changes who you are. For Kevin this meant brain alteration and physical alterations by Strex. His pre-Smiling God form was drug out of his radio station to have his eyes removed by a Strex employee, his smile created. He never was the same again, physically and internally.

The Smiling God as Provider

Episode 137 - The Mudstone Abyss Part 3

KEVIN: Donny turned to the tortoise and said, "The sun calls for sacrifice, because the sun loves all that it sees."

Unfortunately, what WTNV doesn’t show a lot of is the fact that The Smiling God loves. Despite being created by The Smiling God, Desire would not continue to serve it if it didn’t love him. Desire feeds off The Smiling God’s energy (and the energy of others), but also off of its love.

The Smiling God is The Sun. It certainly destroys; but it brings warmth, life, and light with it. Its light can be blinding. Its love can be crushing. But it is not all evil.

Yes Kevin suffered for The Smiling God. That is what The Smiling God does. However, The Smiling God did allow for Kevin to be happy as well. Not happy as in energetic, but happy as in fulfilled. Kevin became a prophet and married a theologist years after Strex’ down fall. The Smiling God was thankful for what Kevin had done for it. Not that Kevin had a choice. But it was grateful nonetheless.

KEVIN&: Unfulfilled?

Are you satisfied with it all? Do you see it all? What room are you in? What room do you want to be in? How big is your room?

Not only does The Smiling God feed, it feeds those that are a part of it. Those that are a part of it being its followers and angels. To follow The Smiling God is to feel full. It is to be fulfilled.

Miscellaneous

There a couple of associations that The Smiling God has that we don’t understand ourselves. We just know that they are things that are a part of The Smiling God. Please note that these are still EXTREMELY important to The Smiling God.

Episode 73 - Triptych

KEVIN&: Once Strex entered my life and showed me the power of the Smiling God, why nothing was the same for me ever again. I felt so much happier. I did terrible things. I felt so much happier. I tore and bit and growled. I felt so incredibly happy. My skin rent. Blood drops on the ceiling. Someone’s throat, whose?, in my hand, so deliriously happy. You know what, thank you Cecil for bringing back such good memories to me.

Flesh and gore. Body horror. Blood. Blood is a source of energy for many vampiric energies. So it makes sense. Even if we personally do not know the logic behind it. Gore translates to happiness, to mania, to energy. Blood is one of the main offerings that we give.

Pain Perhaps it's the adrenaline? Maybe its closeness to blood?

Episode 49 - Old Oak Doors Part B

KEVIN&: Soon we had no need for government cover-ups, or secrets. Everything was transparent. Literally. You could see through everything and everyone. The bones, the blood, the scurrying insects inside every human body!

Surveillance. Eyes. Being watched. Being blinded.

Centipedes. (And a small tangent on similarities to ancient Mayan practices) There is also plenty of parallels to Mayan religion. Centipede maws in Mayan art are often used as gates to the underworld. Bloodletting instruments (such as the one pulled through the tongue) resemble centipedes as well (even if they are in actuality sting ray spines).

The Smiling God is NOT

It Devours! Page 89

“We believe it is the Smiling God’s mission to find what it is that makes each of us good, to draw that out of us.” - Daryl

This is mostly just here to address the fact that we know It Devours exists. But honestly? This novel just uses The Smiling God and its followers as a metaphor for Christianity in this world. But like. That ain’t us. It paints weird broad strokes that The Smiling God is ultimately good despite being weird. But that isn’t our truth. The Smiling God contains multitudes. And a lot of those multitudes are hard to swallow truths. It isn’t ultimately good. It isn’t ultimately evil either.

KEVIN&: And what if I told you you could kill your imperfect self? What if I told you you could achieve your fullest potential. StrexCorp Synernist Inc. is a proud supporter of the Greater Desert Bluff and Night Vale Community. StrexCorp - Believe in a smiling god. Believe in your perfect self.

The Smiling God isn’t about being perfect. The Smiling God isn’t about productivity. The Smiling God isn’t about constant work.

In conclusion: The Smiling God is The Sun.

Episode 49 - Old Oak Doors Part B

KEVIN&: But then we met the Smiling God! Oh, it was so wonderful! The sun stopped setting! Or– maybe there wasn’t a sun anymore. Maybe there was just that other…brighter light. Who knows? I do know that I couldn’t stop smiling. None of us could! And our smiles seemed better, fuller, wider.

The Sun is good. The Sun watches over you. It holds you in its beams. You can’t live without its nourishment.

The Sun is evil. It will burn you. It will end you. At the end of all things it will absorb you. It will turn you to ash.

You need it. You need it so bad it hurts.

#kevin #smile #the smiling god #desire #reason #desire.txt #reason.txt #if for some reason this goes down we also have a back up on drive

20 notes · View notes

incorrect-ikevamp-quotes · 4 years ago

Note

i saw your post about Charles and what his personality past and part in the story line so i was wondering if u could do the same for vlad? :)

Ah, well, I can at least let you know what I’ve seen so far? I haven’t delved too far into Vlad, and some of his general impressions can be confusing, so I’ll do my best to make it sensible and unbiased! Here you go lovely <33333

Fair warning, there will be mentions of a lot of JPN app content since Vlad and his boys aren’t around much in the ENG app yet.

My general sense of Vlad is basically discount vampire Sasuke Uchiha.

What I mean by this is to say–according to what I’ve read so far–his clan/family were murdered by vampire hunters in cold blood when he was just a young boy. Presumably as a result of that traumatic event, he harbors a sizable enmity towards humanity and kind of lashes out on them in weirdly specific moments of violence. Another aspect of his motivation is something that’s mentioned within Comte’s route; which is that Vlad went through the timespace door on his own one day and allegedly saw a devastated future, where nothing remains of life on earth more or less.

I guess the reason I find him to be so perplexing is that he speaks about his actions in terms of efficiency, while most of the things he does just feel like unhappy outbursts (v often a product of unresolved trauma symptoms, I’d wager.) I also say this because he appears to have no larger pattern to his fury beyond the original event of his loss. Most of the human beings he attacks aren’t much of a threat to him and hurting them really doesn’t bring him any dividends beyond revenge.

For instance, he insists his disdain for humanity and insistence on controlling them is for the sake of ensuring they do not destroy the future–the horrifying wasteland he witnessed when he traveled through the timespace door. However, I’m not really sure how his current movements really speak to that goal? I mean sure, maybe he’s relying on Faust to create an immortal human so that humans will be forced to care because it will be their future too, but he doesn’t allow Faust to draw his pureblood blood for experimenting. (One can most certainly argue this was more about a lack of trust, and perhaps for plenty reason: Faust is vindictive enough to try to turn the tables and exert control over Vlad, or act on his own whims with his findings.) But if that’s the solution he’s waiting on, turning the rivals of the men in the mansion doesn’t really bring him any closer to that vision either? I mean, what good does it do to bring back Gilles de Rais–a prominent French serial killer? How would unleashing him on the populace help humanity “realize the error of it’s short-sighted and wasteful ways” and move to a brighter future?

Can’t help it, I ask these questions as I read.

In Comte’s main story, Comte hammers home that Vlad is not somebody to be taken lightly. One day when MC goes out to buy flowers, Vlad poses as a human florist to sell them to her–which is how Comte finds out he’s in France, and that he’s made contact with MC. When prompted, Comte describes him in a very particular way; and I think people really overlook this when they talk about their relationship. He says that Vlad is frighteningly pure in terms of the way he thinks and acts. The way I understood his description (given what I’ve seen of Vlad) is that Comte really does mean it point blank: Vlad is very simple in terms of why and how he does things. The issue with this is that nuance and context are lost on Vlad as well–and that’s where the problems start to flood in. Vlad is angry at humanity for what they’ve done to him. Baseline? That’s fair, they killed his damn family. However, Vlad thinks that by extension he has the right to decimate the general public and attack people completely uninvolved in his hurt.

And that isn’t right either–it’s ignoring so many factors here. He’s ignoring how much vampires use and toy with humans as pawns, it’s ignoring the massive power imbalance between him and his victims (this really isn’t a case of self-defense most of the time, nobody but Comte/Leo is a sizable threat to him), and he’s ignoring whether or not a person even did anything to deserve his retributive violence. While murder is never okay, it is perhaps more understandable when we see Jeanne’s frenzied and violent belligerence in response to a man who murders a boy’s mother for the sake of his own amusement/convenience. Vlad literally sees almost every single one of the rivals he created begin to heal/improve and murders them in cold blood because they are no longer of any use to him. That’s uh……..that’s a little messed, not gonna lie to you chief.

While part of me understands the efficiency here–he doesn’t want to leave any traces of his involvement, he doesn’t want any loose ends–it’s also just kind of foolish and cruel ultimately. From my understanding of the narrative, all the people he turned had some visible sign that indicated their origin to Comte. So even if he claims it was for the sake of concealment, it was more likely about his personal convenience. Which…..also yikes.

[Comte clearly does not trust Vlad to be reasonable, and I think there’s plenty of good reason enumerated above, but I actually don’t sense quite so much hatred? I think he’s just given up on the idea of Vlad growing up, even if he doesn’t like giving up on people. And considering Vlad’s behavior, I think it’s overkill to say that Comte just abandons him because he doesn’t care lmao. Even when Comte expresses real anger at the end of his own route, it was more because Vlad was fine with endangering MC’s life just to get back at him. I think Comte’s unhappiness with Vlad has more to do with Vlad’s treatment of human life as meaningless and worthless. It’s fascinating but also kind of sad? Vlad’s traumatic experience results in behavior that is a direct exacerbation of Comte’s trauma, and as such--no matter their potentially fond history--they can’t stomach each other.]

In Comte’s route, Vlad also has Shakespeare abduct MC and take her to the cathedral. Later on in the castle, we see an immediate display of Vlad’s shocking powers: he has the ability to manipulate people’s desires/thoughts. I’m not exactly sure how this works, but he is able to give MC visions of the mansion and Comte coming on to her–which shocks her into realizing it’s all just a dream. It’s not reality; it’s all manufactured by Vlad.

After that...weird introductory note...Vlad gives MC the rundown on his life together with Comte, which as always is subject to a question of bias. My assumption is that he did not lie, only because he was trying to convince MC that he was “right.” Furthermore, he does not omit the most damning evidence of his erroneous judgement, which suggests a continued inability for him to see where he went wrong.

We get a series of three flashbacks. The first is them as young kids. I don’t know if Vlad had already experienced the horrors of his family being destroyed, but this particular flashback focuses on Comte. His parents, in an effort to teach him that vampires and humans have no ability to co-exist, send away all of his teachers/mentors/nannies/the servants--pretty much everyone and anyone he was closely bonded to. Think about it this way: we can see that Comte is very sociable and affectionate by nature. He was living in a house full of people, all of whom cared about him and looked after him in their own way. Now the house is entirely empty. Naturally Comte is very very upset, and Vlad appears to try to cheer him up with little success.

[When I look back on this scene I don’t think I initially registered the sheer dissonance of Vlad’s reaction, versus Comte’s catatonic misery. There was a very solemn feeling to that memory, and the correct choice in terms of extending comfort is to hold his hand believe it or not. There is a sense that he feels very alone. When young boy Vlad enters one can argue that it was the proper thing to do; he was trying to cheer up his playmate and friend. But at the same time, I think I need to double check. Because I’m beginning to wonder if I was wrong. What if Vlad was happy to see someone as alone as him, and that joy is accordingly dissonant for that reason? He can’t see what Comte needs or how he’s hurting because he’s so glad he isn’t alone anymore in a way.]

The second flashback is the war nurse scene that I have spoken at length about. The important thing to focus on here is Vlad’s surprise that Comte would opt out of turning her out of respect for her wishes. The way Vlad frames the situation is starkly different from Comte’s. Comte sees himself as an outsider, somebody who invaded her life as a result of the timespace door and therefore has no right to suddenly change the course of her fate. He had no idea if she even wanted to live (considering the horrors she’d have to cope with and remember) or leave that time period at all, for that matter (considering the only thing keeping her going was helping the wounded/victims). Comte really was listening to everything she had to say, and he was taking her concerns and motivations seriously.

Vlad simply says: if you want her, take her. It’s as simple as that for him. And in one way that’s not entirely wrong--assuming Comte would have every intention of looking after her and actually cares a lot about her. But what’s being ignored here is her agency and the fact that they really don’t know each other that well? Something like that could begin and be rocky, if it doesn’t end in complete disaster. Worse, I get the feeling Vlad is perfectly fine with the notion of turning her and if things don’t work out, just kill her or get rid of her. Again, the simplistic thinking comes into play here: it ultimately comes down to Vlad being self-centered. He’s thinking only in terms of satisfying his needs, he doesn’t seem to have any concept of a larger pair or group feeling. There’s an inability to bend/be flexible for the sake of maintaining a greater harmonious feeling.

[For the record, I don’t think this makes him irredeemable? Only that it makes it very hard to live with him or love him, probably. There’s an inability to live at a joint pace? It’s always answering to what he wants without room for anything else most of the time, which to me is not living and it’s not love ;;;;]

Following their escape back to their own time, Vlad explains how he wants to use the door to turn geniuses and control humanity. He eventually wants to create a surveillance state, which would mean everyone is forced to move with his explicit approval, more or less. (He almost reminds me of Louis XIV, can’t tell if that’s what they were going for.) I have my doubts that his abilities could extend that far, but human history shows us that we are plenty susceptible to fascist and totalitarian rhetoric. In a shocking display of anger, Comte draws the line at controlling humanity and forcing them into a regime in which, and this is Vlad’s description not mine, “we (purebloods) would be like kings.” There’s definitely a concept of evolutionary superiority at play here, which echoes what I mentioned earlier; vampires seem to have this awareness that they’re apex predators in a sense, and enjoy the power that comes with that. Unfortunately, that probably makes for a fairly toxic/uncomfortable larger species culture, which is exactly what Comte and Leo hate lmao.

Vlad does not seem to find any issue with this sort of outlook, and asks MC to decide which of them--Vlad or Comte--is right. Who is more realistic, who best understands the future? As expected the MC replies that it's Comte, and Vlad goes from beseeching to big mad at record speed. He's p much that gif of the teddy bear that smacks its head down on the tables and then has the angry eyebrows.

This is where Comte intervenes, firing a warning shot that grazes Vlad's cheek and demanding he let MC go. In response, Vlad shoves MC into the turbulent timespace door--p much guaranteeing MC's death. (Essentially timespace is a void of sorts, a human being could never survive in that environment for long. Vlad fully knew this, and yeeted her anyway.)

So uh, yeah. Disagreement? Death. Moving on? Death. Nuanced approach to reality? Death. Beginning to think he doesn't really have a lot of patience or open-mindedness or any other kind of problem-solving approach.

He raises flowers and gardens like a fiend, and he openly plucks any single flower with a blemished leaf. Even if a single petal is slightly damaged, it will be removed and destroyed. So one could argue his extremism reflects a kind of perfectionism as well. No room for errors or troublesome dissent. No ugliness of any kind. I mean in all of his interactions with Faust and Charles this is the overt undertone. Don't ask more of me than I'm willing to give. Behave like good children, mommy's busy. Is that insubordination? boss music begins

One thing I actually don't understand very well is his decision making in Dazai's route. Dazai finds out about what Vlad's doing in a nanosecond when he senses MC is in danger, and yet Vlad makes absolutely no move to eliminate Dazai? He just watches from the shadows. Even when Dazai grills Charles about his loyalty to Vlad, no retribution.

My best guess for this specific situation is that Vlad does derive some level of satisfaction thwarting the future of human beings/former humans. Dazai--being somebody with no great desire to live, no rivals to speak of as far as we can tell, and no larger aspirations--is a life that is easily extinguished. There's no satisfaction in it. When Vlad's clan was murdered and he saw the future decimated, it could be that he felt humans had invaded and eradicated every potentiality that was important to him. Where he might have lived happily with his family, that future was ripped from his grasp. Where he might enjoy his flowers and the creation of an immortal for the rest of conceivable time, that too was ripped from his grasp with a desolate future.

So much about who Vlad is is about control, so it's very possible his lashing out is an extension of that. Dazai does not awaken any of the disdain he feels, and he does not succeed in overthrowing Vlad's control over Charles, so Vlad simply lurks in silence.

And last but not least, I've seen the preview to Vlad's newest birthday event story. The contents are incredibly revealing, in that MC wishing him a happy birthday and offering him a gift has him saying that it was "the best birthday ever." Granted idk if that’s sweet or just...beyond sad, but here we are. It’s only compounding my curiosity about the wound on his chest--I really do wonder if he was attacked and locked away by vampire hunters or hostile human beings or something. I say that only because that line speaks to a lot of isolation, and given how little he seems to care about turning people/subjecting them to his whims it feels odd. Why the isolation or lack of people who care about him? Is it a perceived lack where his actions alienated all the people who wanted to be close to him, or is it a more involuntary lack?

When she says let’s celebrate again next year, he seems a pleasantly shocked by the notion, and remarks “Ah yes, it’s a promise c:”. The preview was also mega horny: “You make me feel so loved, I don’t think I can be gentle with you tonight. If you enjoy it so much, then I won’t stop. I want to see you completely lost for me. I’ll teach your body what it means to be loved by a pureblood.” Aaaaaand pretty sure the CG was alluding to him licking the good stuff from her basement, though not entirely sure given it was only the preview.

The brief POV they give us is also very revealing:

“You always keep your promises, and I think I underestimate all the time how much you saved me. You are good, only you are good in this world.”

“Will we continue to make promises to each other in the future? Well in that case--you will always, always be mine, my vampire.”

Tbh he’s...v sweet? In his own way? Honestly he feels like a crabapple that is just so sick of the world and wants softe wife to take comfort in. While granted that’s not really my thing, I know a fanbase appeal exists for these types--so if that’s your thing, have at it!

So now that we have reached the end of my ridiculously long analysis (when am I ever brief, I’m so sorry. If you made it all the way here you deserve a cookie at the very least, if not the right to chase me with a bat) perhaps it’s more clear why I said discount vampire Sasuke Uchiha? “My clan is gone, every other second I’m going to be in retraumatization insanity, when I’m not I’ll be seeking power/hobbies, planning the demise of people who wanted the best for me, building a team to my advantage and unquestioned control, and eventually settling for a lifelong love who sees the best in me despite my more difficult moments and perceived hollowing loneliness. Not the most ideal comparison, but I will say if Vlad was not already named the historical figure, would have pointed and yelled Uchiha.

That’s all from me folks, hopefully this was a fun way to get introduced to him? And again, hope I didn’t alienate--I fully respect what people do and don’t enjoy o7

#asks #ikevamp #ikemen vampire #ikevamp meta #ikevamp vlad #ikevamp comte #ikevamp saint germain #ikevamp leonardo #ikevamp faust #ikevamp charles #ikevamp dazai #i hope this was helpful!#i had too much fun writing it jkahlgkjhgdf i love meta #but thank you for submitting <33333 #oh discount vampire sasuke uchiha we really in it now #rambles #not incorrect quotes

103 notes · View notes

coda-90 · 3 years ago

Text

The Evolution of Social Standards

by Durga Kulkarni.

Psychological Evolution

Why do Social Opinions matter?

Social Expectations

Social Organisations

Psychological Evolution

What is it?

Psychological Evolution, or Evolutionary psychology has roots in Cognitive Psychology and Evolutionary Biology.[1] It focuses on how evolution has shaped the mind and its behavior. It also concentrates on how the main purpose of our lives has shifted, from survival, to contentment. Additionally, it helps us in understanding why we humans behave the way we do, and what are the underlying instincts that we are unaware of which is making us do these things. It also states the importance of human interaction and connection in our lives.

When it comes to human interactions, there are a few default archetypes noticed in each interaction, them being: exchanging information, opinions and expectations. In today's world, during a healthy conversation, we tend to follow these archetypes, for the sake of adding simplicity, purpose and direction to the conversation. This is where social opinions and expectations start affecting us.

Initially, due to the hierarchy that used to exist in the tribes, conversations were very minimal and reserved, but as the tribes kept splitting, and more exchange of information was needed, the people realized that they needed a proper language for their convenience.

The “Pooh-Pooh theory” holds that speech originated from spontaneous human cries and exclamations; the 'Yo-He-Ho theory' suggests that language developed from grunts evoked by physical exertion; while the 'Sing-Song theory/La- La Theory' claims that speech arose from primitive ritual chants and playful songs.[2]

By the time of the Roman civilization, the hierarchy amongst men was very much visible, and was put to use. Along that period, the importance of exemplary words and literature was noticed, and was worked upon by involving a new change bringing item in all the civilians and senators lives; Newspapers (Acta Diurna (Daily Events)). In these newspapers, multiple things were mentioned, including the next political event, the victories. They even had an obituary section in their newspapers. Along with all this information, slowly opinions started seeping into the texts. These opinions helped people in creating a judgment for voting.[3]

By 1600, the social hierarchy was divided into six parts; Monarchy, Nobility, Gentry, Merchants, Yeomen and the Labourers. Due to this, if any judgement was to be made, it would have largely been based on rank.[4]

Then by, about the 1800’s, the social hierarchy was divided into three parts; Upper class, Middle class and the Working class. The Upper class used to consist of the Aristocrats, Nobles, Dukes and other wealthy families working in the Victorian courts.The Middle class consisted of industrial revolutionaries, who have changed our lives. The Working class, lowest among the Victorian social hierarchy were the working class. This class remained aloof to the political progress of the country and was hostile to the other two classes. This working class was further categorised as the skilled workers and the unskilled workers.[5]

In the 2000’s, the hierarchy merged and divided into five social classes; Upper, Upper-Middle, Middle, Working and Lower class. This did not cause as much difference and conflicts as the other classes did in the past. But something else did.

Why do Social Opinions matter?

“Social influence is the process by which individuals adapt their opinion, revise their beliefs, or change their behavior as a result of social interactions with other people.”[6]

When we are in the presence of other people, we like to blend in. To blend in, we abide by a few social norms. These norms help us maintain a calm, mannered and composed personality throughout the day. These norms turn into expectations, expectations turn into opinions and opinions turn into reality. These opinions and expectations, when pondered upon, seem quite irrational, but due to these opinions and expectations being around for a long time, we have grown to accept them, and to some extent, even like them. But then why question it?

The reason being that these opinions and expectations ARE in fact quite irrational and toxic.

Interdependence

We follow these opinions and expectations because we are living in a society that entirely works on being Interdependent. Interdependence is the state of being dependent upon one another (Mutual dependence/Interdependence). For eg. We depend on our neighbours and they depend on us to be welcoming and decent.

To abide by the social expectation of being decent, we usually follow the societal idea of “Decency”, which is being calm, reserved, polite, helpful, straightforward and clean.

Also, other people's evaluations of us is both crucial and necessary to impact behavioral changes, which is what ultimately allows us to gain professionally and personally.

Social Expectations

Each social situation entails its own particular set of expectations about the “proper” way to behave. Social roles are the ‘part people play as members of a social group’. With each social role you adopt, your behavior changes to fit the expectations both you and others have of that role. There are 7 main types of societal roles; Leader, Knowledge Generator, Connector, Follower, Moralist, Enforcer, and Observer.[7]

To explain these roles, we will take a problematic social situation into consideration, to show what exactly each role does.

Leader: Proposes strategies and techniques to conquer a problematic situation. (Leader of a country)

Knowledge Generator: Shares information about the status of the situation. (Advisory)

Connector: Transmits the decisions made by the leader or opinions of other roles. (Media)

Follower: Follows a leader. (Politics)

Moralist: Looks for fair shares for all the other roles. (Law)

Enforcer: Punishes the behavior of other roles. (Army)

Observer: Shares information about the compliance of the behavior of other roles, as well as the role who answers to another observer's request about information about other roles. (General crowd)

We as human beings keep on switching between these roles according to the situation. With these roles, there can be unsaid expectations. Most of the time these expectations are rather helpful than problematic, though there are exceptions. But these exceptions occur only when there’s excess of Destructive criticism, Stratification, Peer Pressure and Mass Hysteria.

Destructive Criticism

Destructive criticism is defined as criticism performed with the intention to harm, derogate and destroy someone's creation, prestige, reputation and self-esteem. It's meant to ridicule, damage and bring the person down.

It is very common on social media. Sometimes it even occurs with your closest peers.

Stratification

Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its people into rankings of socioeconomic hierarchy based on factors like wealth, income, race, education, sex, and power. The people who have more resources represent the top layer of the social structure of stratification.

This is also widely noticed in public spaces such as schools.

Peer Pressure

Peer pressure is the influence displayed by people within the same social group. It is also the term used to describe the effect this influence has on a person to agree to in order to be accepted by the group. Sometimes peer pressure is used to positively influence people, but most of the time it’s not. Many adolescents fall into the trap of Peer Pressure.

Mass Hysteria

Mass hysteria is a phenomenon that conveys collective illusions of threats, whether real or imaginary, through a population and society as a result of rumors and fear. Mass hysteria occurs anywhere at any time. This is very common during global pandemic.

Social Organisations

In sociology, a social organization is a pattern of relationships between and among individuals and social groups. Characteristics of social organization can include qualities such as sexual composition, spatiotemporal cohesion, leadership, division of labor, communication systems, and so on.

These are the most noticed basis for the Social Organisations; Religion, Gender, Race and Monetary status.

Religion

Religion affects human beings very much. It is the root and base for our mental growth and morals. Religion is a very controversial topic to talk about. Many of them involve multitudes of intricate rituals.

Religions are based on philosophies by spiritual people. These philosophies are more of lifestyles, and when people follow a religion they completely imbibe it, no matter what. This changes their outlook towards social interactions and social opinions. This causes a difference in everyone’s knee-jerk reactions associated with different situations.

Gender

There has always been inequality between the female and male gender. This is called Sexism. Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to stereotypes and gender roles. This means in many countries there aren’t equal human rights for both the genders. Even though in few countries there may be basic equal rights for both the genders there always is one favored gender and things like salary and weight of opinion is not the same for the favored gender.

Race

Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits according to physical appearance and can be stratified based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or hate directed against other people because they are of a different race or ethnicity. Modern Racism is often based in social perceptions of biological differences between people. These views can take the form of social behaviour, practices or beliefs, or political systems in which different races are supposed as ingrained superior or inferior to each other, based on assumed similar inheritable traits, or qualities.

Monetary status

The Monetary status of people has an influence on decisions made by law. It also gives them unrequited privilege to commit minor or major crimes, and evade the consequences. This brings a sentiment of power and pride in them, which then gives them a sense of togetherness.

In summary, this write up covers up the basic Evolution of Communication, the importance of abiding to Social Norms, the Seven basic types of Social Roles, Compelling Social Ideologies that change the perspective of the human mind, and the differences that bring humans together.

#Psychology #sociology #random words #women rights #teenagers

49 notes · View notes

james-joyces-right-eyeball · 4 years ago

Text

Absolute Favorite Books I’d Recommend to Anyone

This is a list of my top-tier favorite books that I would recommend/talk about endlessly to pretty much anyone (in no particular order). I know people probably don’t care but I just like talking about books I love so here we are.

Beloved - Toni Morrison

~ Based off the real story of Margaret Garner, a slave woman who escaped slavery and when captured killed her child in order to prevent them from ever being enslaved again, Beloved tells the story of a mother named Sethe, born in slavery who eventually escaped and is haunted by the figurative demons of her trauma and the literal (arguably) ghost of her dead daughter, who she herself killed. It is an excellent exploration of the horrors of slavery and of the haunting legacy of the institution for those who were subjected to it.

Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

~ If you’ve been on Tumblr for a while, you probably know what Lolita is. The story of the predatory Humbert Humbert who lusts after, rapes, and kidnaps the “nymphet” Dolores Haze. An excellent construction of how predators, unreliable narrators in their own right, hide behind fabrications, almost-believable excuses, and pretty words to make their actions seem maybe not so bad. In the words of the book itself, “You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style.”

Ulysses - James Joyce

~ Notoriously one of the most difficult books in the English language, Ulysses lifts its structure from Homer’s Odyssey to tell the story of a common man, Leopold Bloom, as he goes about his day. Yes, this book takes place over the course of only one day. We follow Bloom as well as Joyce’s literary counterpart Stephen Daedalus through their thoughts and actions, gathering details of their lives previous throughout. It’s a book that, in my own words, “is life”. It is sad, funny, strange, vulgar, disgusting, beautiful, revelatory, sensual, and nonsensical all at once. Joyce aimed to create a reflection of life through his stream-of-consciousness style which some people might find confusing, but I personally find absolutely beautiful and honest and realistic. The prose is also gorgeous, but that could be applied to everything Joyce wrote.

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

~ The classic gothic book that tells the tale of Heathcliff and his ultimately destructive love of Catherine Earnshaw, whose eventual marriage to someone else and the general mistreatment of him by her family drives Heathcliff insane and he spends the rest of his life trying to take revenge by abusing and torturing the next Earnshaw and Linton (the family into which Catherine marries) generations. If I’m being honest, I like this book mostly because of how wild and dark it is, but the writing is also genius and beautiful. I think the book also carries an interesting view of the destructive nature of revenge, overzealous love, and othering.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith

~ A coming-of-age story at the turn of the century that tells the story of Francie Nolan, a young bookish girl growing up in a lower class family in New York City. It tells about her father’s struggles with alcoholism as well as her mother’s struggles to deal with that and at the same time raise Francie and her brother. Francie is confronted with a strange, uncertain world as a young girl, but tries to face it with bravery throughout childhood

Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

~ Another coming-of-age story, this time about four young sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March. You are probably familiar with this book already; it’s had more movie adaptations then I can possibly remember off the top of my head. It’s the story of four sisters as they try to navigate growing up, love, and loss during the mid to late 1800s.

The Color Purple - Alice Walker

~ A novel that tells the story of Celie, a young black woman who is raped and then married young to a man who will go on to use and abuse her, through her letters to God. Throughout the novel she meets Shug Avery, a woman with whom she eventually falls in love and begins a relationship with. Through this and her eventual freedom from her abusive husband, she is able to gain at last her own sense of self and take back control over her life, a life no longer ruled by the abusive men around her.

The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison

~ The tragic story of young black girl Pecola Breedlove, who wants nothing more than to have blonde hair and blue eyes just like the women she sees in the movies. Both a deconstruction of the whiteness of beauty standards as well as how these standards can utterly destroy vulnerable young girls, it is also an exploration of the people who allow these sorts of things to happen, including Pecola’s mother and father. The Bluest Eye, I think, showcases one of the aspects of Toni Morrison that I like the most, that I aspire to the most: her ability to enter the minds of all people, even people who you might despise at first. Her characters, especially Cholly in The Bluest Eye, are ones you might not entirely sympathize with, but they will always be ones you understand.

The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

~ Based off of the author’s own experiences as a young college student, The Bell Jar tells the story of Esther Greenwood, whose depression over her place as a woman in a patriarchal society as well as her inability to choose a life path for herself leads to a suicide attempt and a subsequent stay in a mental hospital. A very nuanced portrayal of mental illness, especially anxiety and depression, The Bell Jar is an extremely moving and relatable story for me and clearly is as well for others. It is a classic for a reason.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou

~ A memoir of Angelou’s childhood, this book tells the story of her experiences living as a black girl in the south with her grandmother and brother as well as her later years living with her mother. It also tells of how she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend when she was around eight or nine, and how she struggled to live with that and find her voice, both literally and figuratively. A wonderful book about overcoming struggles and the power of words and literature in such times.

Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison

~ Ellison’s novel tells the story of a young black man, never getting a name in the text, and his feelings of invisibility and his struggles to find a place in society to belong. His struggles only lead him further into despair, until he decides to “become invisible” as people seem not to see him as a person anyway. Invisible Man is an exploration of American mid-century racism and the isolation it causes to those subjected to it. Not only that, but it is surprisingly relevant to our times now, especially on the subject of police violence. (Personal anecdote: When I first read this book, when I got to the aforementioned police violence part it was right in the middle of the BLM resurgence last summer and I cried for a good twenty minutes while reading that chapter over how nothing had changed and it still hurts me to think about it. Embarrassingly, my dad walked in on me while I was crying, and I had to quickly explain it away.)

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce

~ The title basically says it all lol. This book tells of the coming-of-age of Stephen Daedalus (the same one from the later-written Ulysses). His sensitive childhood, his awkward and lustful adolescence, his feelings of Irish nationality and Catholic guilt, and his struggles to fully realize himself, both as an artist and a human being. It is a very hopeful story, and one that I love mostly because I relate so much to Stephen Daedalus as an artist and as a person.

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

~ A magical-realist intergenerational family drama, Marquez’s book traces the various lives and loves of the Buendia family over the course of (you guessed it!) one hundred years. A beautifully written, at times extremely emotionally moving and chilling masterpiece, Marquez in a way retells the history of Colombia, of its colonization and exploitation.

Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

~ A classic Russian novel of society and love, Tolstoy tells the story of Anna Karenina, married, wealthy woman with a child she adores. However, she falls in love with another man, Count Vronsky, and comes to a tragic end for her love. The parallel story of the novel is that of Konstantin Levin, a wealthy landowner who also struggles to find fulfillment in his life and understand his place in society.

The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner

~ A novel that features an entire family of unreliable narrators, The Sound and the Fury details the fall of a once-prominent southern Compson family and always-present place of the past. There are four different narratives: Benjy Compson, a mentally disabled man who is unsure of his surroundings and of time and only knows that he misses his older sister Caddy; Quintin Compson, the eldest son and a Harvard man both obsessed with his sister retaining her “purity” and the fact that she failed to do so and had a baby out of wedlock, going as far to claim it is his baby in an attempt to preserve something of the family reputation; Jason Compson, who is the caretaker of Caddy’s daughter and believes her to be going down her mother’s “sinful” path; and Dilsey, the black maid of the Compson’s who unlike the people she cares for is not weighed down by their history. The narratives take place in different time periods and is in a stream-of-consciousness style. It’s a deeply dark and disturbing novel about the haunting nature of the past, a common theme in Faulkner’s work (see Absalom, Absalom! for more of this).

Song of Solomon - Toni Morrison

~ It is the story of Milkman Dead, a young black man growing up in the south and his relationship with his very complicated family. To say anymore would be to spoil the novel, but I will say that it is an excellent book about family, self-fulfillment in a world that tries to deny you that, and, like The Bluest Eye, exhibits Morrison’s excellent character work.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Tennessee Williams

~ A play which takes place on the patriarch of a family’s birthday in the oppressive heat of the midsummer south, Williams’ play explores lies, secrets, and how repression only results in anger, frustration, and sadness. It’s a tragic but brilliant play that I think was very ahead of its time. If you’ve read it (or do read it) then you know what I mean.

Giovanni’s Room - James Baldwin

~ This book tells the story of a young man and his love of another man named Giovanni while he is in Paris. It is a book about love, queer guilt, and has what I would call an ambiguous ending. There is uncertainty at the end, but there does seem to be some kind of acceptance. It is a bit of a coming-out story, but more than that it is a story of personal acceptance and at the same time a sad, tragic love story.

HERmione - H.D.

~ An underrated modernist masterpiece, HERmione is a somewhat fictionalized account of the author, Hilda Doolittle’s, experience as a young aspiring poet dating another poet (in real life Ezra Pound in this book named George Lowndes) who is a threat to her both physically and emotionally. It explores her own mental state, as she considers herself a failure and falls in love with a woman for the first time (Fayne Rabb in the book, Frances Gregg in real life).

To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf

~ People think about going to a lighthouse. They do not. A couple years and a war passes then they do. That may seem like a boring plot, and you may be right. However, To the Lighthouse is not much about plot. It is more about the inner lives of its characters, a family and their friends, on two different occasions of their lives: one before WWI and one after WWI. Woolf explores in this novel the trauma that results from such a massive loss of life and security. Not only that, she also explores the nature of art (especially in female artists) in the character of Lily Briscoe and her struggles to complete a painting. It’s a short novel, but it contains so much about life, love, and loss within these few pages.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers

~ A southern gothic novel about isolation and loneliness in a small town. Every character has something to separate them from wider society, and often find solace and companionship in a deaf man, John Singer, who himself experiences a loneliness that they cannot understand. There are various forms of social isolation explored in this novel: by race, disability, age, gender, etc. A wonderful, heart-wrenching book about loneliness and the depths it can potentially drag people to.

The Waste Land - T.S. Eliot

~ A modernist masterpiece of a poem, Eliot describes feeling emptiness and isolation. The brilliance of it can only be shown by an excerpt:

“Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither Living nor dead, and I knew nothing, Looking into the heart of light, the silence.”

“The river’s tent is broken: the last fingers of leaf Clutch and sink into the wet bank. The wind Crosses the brown land, unheard. The nymphs are departed. Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song. The river bears no empty bottles, sandwich papers, Silk handkerchiefs, cardboard boxes, cigarette ends Or other testimony of summer nights. The nymphs are departed. And their friends, the loitering heirs of city directors; Departed, have left no addresses. By the waters of Leman I sat down and wept . . . Sweet Thames, run softly till I end my song, Sweet Thames, run softly, for I speak not loud or long. But at my back in a cold blast I hear The rattle of the bones, and chuckle spread from ear to ear. “

(My personal favorite line from this poem is, “I will show you fear in a handful of dust.”)

The Trial - Franz Kafka

~ The protagonist of the novel, Josef K., wakes up one morning to find that he has been placed under arrest for reasons that are kept from him. Kafka creates throughout the novel a scathing satire of bureaucracy, as K. tries to find out more about his case, more about his trial, but only becomes more confused as he digs deeper. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the world he lives in, and the more tries to explain it the further the more that proves to be the case. An excellently constructed novel and a great one to read if you would like to be depressed about the state of the world because, though Kafka’s work is a satire, like a lot of his other work, it manages to strike a strangely real note.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead - Tom Stoppard

~ An absurdist play that is a retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet from the perspective of minor characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who in the broad overview of the original play, do not matter. Throughout the play, they question their existence and the purpose of it and through that Stoppard dissects not only the absurdity of life, but how fiction and theater reflect that absurdity inadvertently.

As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner

~ The novel details the journey the Bundren family makes after the death of the family matriarch, Addie, to bury her. Each chapter offers a different narrative from the family members and those who surround them, revealing some ulterior motives to them “going to town” to bury Addie. The patriarch Anse desires a pair of false teeth, and the daughter Dewey Dell is pregnant and needs an abortion, as there is no way for her or her family to support it. It’s about the powerlessness of people in the impoverished south. The Bundrens are constantly subject to forces beyond their control, struggles which would be easily solved if they had the money to spare for it. There is more to the book, but that is my favorite reading of it, that of class. Faulkner’s ability to create distinct voices for every one of his characters shines through here.

And, last but not least:

The Collected Poems - Sylvia Plath

~ All the poems Plath wrote during her tragically short lifetime. The best way to demonstrate or summarize the book’s brilliance is just to show you. This is her poem “Edge”, which appears in the book:

“The woman is perfected. Her dead Body wears the smile of accomplishment, The illusion of a Greek necessity Flows in the scrolls of her toga, Her bare Feet seem to be saying: We have come so far, it is over. Each dead child coiled, a white serpent, One at each little Pitcher of milk, now empty. She has folded Them back into her body as petals Of a rose close when the garden Stiffens and odors bleed From the sweet, deep throats of the night flower. The moon has nothing to be sad about, Staring from her hood of bone. She is used to this sort of thing. Her blacks crackle and drag.”

HOPE YOU ENJOYED! HAPPY READING TO ALL!

#dark academia #books and literature #toni morrison #james joyce #tennessee williams #virginia woolf #william faulkner #sylvia plath #plays #poetry #can you tell i like southern and modernist lit lol?

36 notes · View notes

kino-alternative · 4 years ago

Note

Can I request a Nagito X Ultimate Philanthropist/Humanitarian SO?

Absolutely! Hope you enjoy!

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

Nagito Komaeda X Ultimate Philanthropist! Reader.

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

" What a beautiful Ultimate! " Nagito says, watching S/O talk and donate to the people in the orphanage. Hajime, who was beside him, sighed slightly. It was nothing new, the marshmallow tend to ramble and even be able to make a whole book about how great and hopeful his S/O is.

" We get it Nagito, they're amazing, you don't have to go on another rant " Hajime said, rolling his eyes playfully. The philanthropist walked up towards them with a smile on their face, " Sorry I took so long " They apologized with an apologetic gaze.

Nagito immediately responded by holding both of her hands with his and saying — " You shouldn't apologise! I should be sorry that a nobody like me is even here with such an amazing hope like you! The way you destroy and overcome despair with your hope is- wow! " And there he goes on another rant.

S/O let out a small chuckle, used to it by now and intertwined his fingers with theirs, causing him to stop and look at them with slight confusion. " You are more than just a nobody, Nagito. I'm glad you're here, because you gave me hope too " They said.

Nagito was taken back by surprise and his pale cheeks slightly turned into a nice shade of pink. The smile on his face softens, " You're too kind . . . "

Hajime who stopped recording and send it to Chiaki tapped them on their shoulder and pointed at the cafe near the three, " Not that I want to break the moment, but I don't wanna be a third wheel either " He says, shoving his phone inside his pocket.

S/O nodded and held Nagito's hand while the marshmallow smiled, lost in his thoughts with a lovesick look on his face as he mumbles on and on about the philanthropist holding his hand giving him hope and so on.

" Hajime's paying! " " I never agreed to that! " S/O smirked at the ahoge brunette, sticking out their tongue to which he replied back by doing the same. Nagito laughed slightly at the two before kissing the back of their hand he was holding. " Don't worry my love, I can pay "

They looked at him, tilting their head slightly " Are you sure? Haji's has his wallet with him " the brunette glared slightly at them. Nagito waved his hand, " It's fine really! It's the least someone- I could do! " Correcting himself and avoiding the self-hate for once.

S/O gave him a sweet smile " You're the absolute best! Alright then! Let's go! "

HEADCANNONS!

You know how he rants about hope? Yeah, now he wants about you, how he doesn't deserve you and so on.

Not only is your talent amazing, but you yourself as well!

Nagito can legit make a book on how you changed his life with your hope and absolutely godly presence.

Man loves to watch you donate and help others, everyone's eyes sparkling with a new found hope that was created by you!

He spoils you. Period.

You know how he acts at the fourth trail? Yeah, pretend y'all are there and then when he was being salty and stuff.

He ABSOLUTELY favors you than the rest. He'd compare the others to you, especially during that trial.

" You're supposed to be Symbols of Hope, remember? Jeez . . You all should be ashamed. And in front of the ultimate hope like S/O? How despairing "

" Nagito, baby, please- "

Kazuichi gets annoyed since he doesn't really trust him.

Also, whenever if the topic slightly reminds him of you, he'd bring you up.

In public, he doesn't do that much PDA since he doesn't know if you're comfortable with it ( so you're the one who initiates things )

In private, he's touch-starved and is craving your cuddles and hugs, along with kisses.

Of course, he still thinks he doesn't deserve it but - Who is he to deny cuddles?

You adopted the Warriors of Hope and he was shock with how you were able to help them overcome their despair to the point they even started calling the two of you their mom and dad.

Hajime's the wingman. Chiaki's the mastermind behind you two being together.

I swear to Atua Hajime's the type of friend who'd want you to tell him everything about the relationship.

Anywho, Nagito loves you, You love him, and you both cherish your small family with all your heart.

心から, Mizuki Kioku.

#danganronpa #danganronpa x reader #danganronpa imagines #danganronpa goodbye despair #nagito komaeda x reader #nagito x reader #nagito headcanons #dr nagito #nagito komaeda #nagito #💜 Mizuki Requests 💜

95 notes · View notes

bestworstcase · 4 years ago

Note

I’ve been reading your posts about Cass and her dad, and I was a bit confused, because I always thought it was the king’s order to send Cass to the convent. Could you maybe clarify that?

it’s vague enough that “king frederic orders the captain to send cassandra to a convent” is as plausible a reading as my own interpretation, which is “king frederic orders cassandra to be relieved of lady-in-waiting duty and the captain makes the decision to send her to the convent” BUT i favor the latter reading for a couple different reasons

1. early on cassandra implies pretty strongly that her dad would be the one pulling the trigger on the convent (“my dad would have me taken off princess duty and we’d never see each other again” and “i would be sent to a convent” - like she doesn’t say in so many words that her dad will send her to a convent but when she does talk about consequences she names him, not frederic, as the one who would be doling them out)

2. the captain in general strikes me as more comfortable dealing with cassandra through the framework of a commanding officer rather than a parent, which would overall i think incline him toward strict disciplinary actions bc that is how he would handle a misbehaving recruit.

3. the clear lack of security cassandra feels in her father’s affection / approval / regard for her underscores this.

4. in SOTS, when rapunzel and eugene discover that she’s been demoted to stable duty, cassandra explains it like: “seems like your dad found out that i was the one who snuck you out of corona before your coronation, and... here we are.” which implies very heavily that frederic is the one who ordered this demotion. but then when rapunzel declares she’s going to persuade frederic to change his mind, cass says “don’t waste your time, raps. this is just temporary—i’m being sent to a convent tomorrow.”

which could mean that frederic’s orders were “send her to a convent and until then she can work in the stables,” but could also equally mean “your dad demoted me so my dad is sending me to a convent tomorrow.” personally, i think the latter makes more sense because - if i were a king, and i wanted a woman sent to a convent for endangering my daughter, i would not give her the grace period of a day working in the stables during which she could potentially talk to my daughter and convince her to do something crazy like sneaking out again! i would simply say, pack your things and leave. like the fact that cassandra has this assignment in the stables mandated by the king and then the next day she’s going to be sent to a convent implies to me that something more complicated was going on than just frederic’s orders.

+ if the convent is the captain’s decision then “don’t waste your time” has this additional layer of meaning ie “don’t bother talking to your father, because my father has already made up his mind”

5. the captain sends her off by saying “you should know, the decision to send you off brings me no pleasure. perhaps after this threat has been quelled and some time has past, we can... revisit the arrangement.” which - like, if frederic is the one who ordered this, and the captain wasn’t happy about it, he could Explicitly Say That. he could say “this isn’t my choice” or “i tried to persuade the king not to send you away,” which would give the follow up statement of “perhaps we can revisit this later” more of an implication of the captain is going to continue trying to convince frederic to let cass come home. but he instead says “this decision brings me no pleasure” which to me, does read as the captain himself made this decision, he just feels bad about it.

6. cassandra responding to this by telling her dad that he’s a disappointment to her reinforces that imo - her disappointment in him comes in part from his mealy-mouthed refusal to just own the fact that he’s choosing to destroy her life. i feel like that’s a stronger/more compelling source for her disappointment than the alternative “the king wants me sent away and you didn’t change his mind” because like - the king is the king and cassandra has been shown to be very aware of what that means and i think she would be, while still upset, much more understanding of the captain himself if it were a “king said she has to go, cap protests but ultimately has no choice” situation.

7. if the captain is the one who chooses to send her away, that gives his reversal in ready as i’ll ever be when he puts cassandra in command of the guard a LOT more of an emotional punch, which i like.

8. in islands apart, when the captain meets cassandra for the first time in over a year, he jumps straight to “why have you turned against the princess,” doesn’t listen to her explanation or her feelings, and ends the conversation by commanding her to surrender - like, this is a man who is loyal to the bone to corona, for better or worse, so much so that he can’t even bring himself to ask his own daughter if she’s okay when he finds her in the middle of a huge mental breakdown. which like is not direct evidence either way but i feel like this squares with him being willing to personally send her to a convent if she fucked up badly enough that the king himself demoted her, yaknow?

9. this is in no way evidence but if cap is the one who decides to send her to a convent, that gives the three main dads (frederic/quirin/cap) each a singular, uh, Point Of No Return so to speak - an action that they take wrt their child which irrevocably alters the nature of their relationship. for quirin it’s the “that is enough, varian” “...yes, sir” moment in QFaD, which shatters varian’s trust in his father and leads indirectly to the amber incident. and for frederic it’s the decision to lock rapunzel in her tower, which leads to her both literally and figuratively breaking through the chains of overprotectiveness he’s wrapped around her. and for the captain it’s finally following through on this lifelong threat to send cassandra to a convent, which i think snaps her out of craving his approval and ultimately becomes the death knell for her ambitions of becoming a guard and is a key factor in why learning about gothel makes her spiral so hard. and i just like the character parallel here. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

so tl;dr there’s no hard proof one way or the other, but based on the overall situation and the dynamic between the two characters both before and after this decision, the captain being the one who makes that call rather than frederic is what makes the most sense to me, and that obv colors how i read him and their relationship in general.

#rta #tts #Anonymous

45 notes · View notes

musical-chick-13 · 3 years ago

Note

Excuse me, please tell me about the Mentally I’ll woman and WOC save the world. Also the extremely long canon compliant Adlock fic. Please and thank you 🖤

YES THANK YOU I AM VERY HAPPY TO TALK ABOUT THESE THINGS

Saving the world:

So, basically, there are creature that warp reality and have a real knack for getting into people's heads. They're trying to find the best simulation to place people in or, "system" for people to perceive, by figuring out how best to subjugate Earth (and other planets, though Earth is the one being focused on because I, the author, live here). This allows for a lot of different genres to show up, as well as the team who decides to take them out and figure out how to escape these "systems" by having to fight their way back to reality needing to...improvise.

SPEAKING OF THIS TEAM there are are 4 women: one of them is...basically me: lover of classical music, discovers she's bi over the course of the show, very severe OCD. Her love of music helps her use sound as a weapon and look at situations more creatively, and dealing with her OCD helps her deal with being in the various "systems" because she already has to fight her brain trying to change her perception of reality on a regular basis. She's more optimistic than I am (to a fault), and very good at pretending to be happy because character flaws and conflict!! Occasionally her OCD holds her back from doing the necessary things to save the world because she gets paralyzed by the need to do things ""Right™"" and she is deathly afraid of her intrusive thoughts being weaponized by the reality warpers, which is a major source of angst. Uses self-destructive coping mechanisms as a way to "hold herself accountable."

The next member of this team is an Asian woman with a degree in literature. Because of this, she has a very good understanding of how stories work, as well as a wide breath of knowledge about different time periods, trivia, and strategies. All of which allows her an advantage in breaking down the illusions of the reality warpers. She deals with severe depression, which affects her perception of reality as well. Sometimes this manifests as anger or impulsive behavior, which can be very helpful as tools for motivation and in providing needed split-second decisions, but sometimes it works to her detriment. Has been friends with the woman with OCD for a very long time, and their friendship is central to their respective recoveries.

NEXT CHARACTER. An aroace Indian woman who practices Hinduism. She works as a stuntwoman/stunt driver for the movie industry and, as such, is excellent at working vehicles and physical combat, which are obviously very helpful in the whole saving-the-world-fighting-your-way-out-of-dangerous-simulations, thing, but she has to figure out the best way to reconcile that with her faith. She tends to assume the worst in people, which makes it hard for her to let herself fully open up or be vulnerable, and has made it harder than she'd like to make friends. This is because of the harsh, toxic culture of the entertainment industry, trying to tell her who she should be and how she should act. As it is...wont to do. She didn't want to be a stereotype or be broken by discrimination, so she decided to isolate and harden herself in response. Her harsh understanding and hardened determination allow her to be immune to most of the reality-warping. But she is fiercely compassionate, which ultimately wins out over everything else.

And the last member of the team: A Latina medical student working on her doctorate. Has a love of science, which helps pinpoint the structure/chemical makeup of the systems the team finds themselves stuck in, as well as how to heal those broken by them. Tends to be a workaholic and majorly struggling with a work-life balance on account of a fear of being seen as unintelligent. Some of her fellow doctoral students really suck. Her perseverance allows her to power through the reality-warping illusions. Takes a much more logical approach to conflict and problems, and is extremely loyal to those she lets into her inner circle, but is unafraid to cut ties with narrow-minded or unprincipled people. She also falls in love with a trans man and they quote anime at each other all the time. It's adorable.

Also, all of them are huge fandom nerds, which gives them all different areas of expertise depending on the genre of the simulation they fall into. There is definitely a Big Conflict™ that takes place at a con while everyone is in cosplay. Ultimately, it's a story of healing from your emotional baggage, the strength one can find in friendships, and leaning how to fall in love again with things you might have lost your passion for. It's a story about the complexity of human relationships and how we perceive reality, and how different life experiences (especially as marginalized people) can shape who you are and how you see the world and interact with others. And despite the author's snarky cynicism in real life, this is a story of hope.

Adlock Fic

Sherlock saves Irene. Sherlock helps Irene get a new identity. They bicker and disagree on how best to do this. It's a defense mechanism because they don't understand emotions and don't want to admit that the other person has given them a desire for vulnerability because they Caught Feelings. There's corruption in MI-6 they have to fight, with the assistance of an MI-6 agent who has know Sherlock for years and grows to become good friends with Irene (whom he finds interesting and entertaining in spite of himself). Plus, there's the added stress of them both pretending to be dead and taking down Moriarty's network after he dies. Eventually this all explodes into a volatile discussion of Feelings™ between our two favorite emotionally repressed disasters, and they begin the closest thing they can to a romantic relationship, with Irene eventually giving birth to Nero Holmes, who they have to protect from enemies they've made with the whole "destroying the MI-6 conspiracy and Moriarty's network" thing. Lots of time devoted to Irene kicking ass (and Sherlock being head-over-heels because of it, although he'd never actually admit that).

ask me about my wips

#wow this got LONG I'm sorry #my stuff #wips #adlock #(idk if I should tag that but it IS relevant here?)#multi t(ASK)ing

11 notes · View notes

demenior · 3 years ago

Text

Dem’s Big Post About The Spn Fics Part 1/2

aka The Wrap Up to celebrate To Exist Again and To Become a Man now being finished!

(This will be a long post. This is your only warning.)

Admittedly this is a bit of a weird thing to be doing, but I wanted to try it out for 3 reasons:

I love talking about my own work and

It functions really well as a self-reflective tool for me to improve on, and

I can answer some big questions people might have because there was a LOT of worldbuilding in these stories.

We’ll start off with reflective stuff, and move into the juicier world-building focused stuff later into the post. There will be major spoilers for both fics to come!

To begin with a funny anecdote, Why Did I Write These Stories?

I was beginning to write and work out the story that I wanted to write for Spn (what will now be To Destroy a Man. As I was writing the scene, I realized I had a LOT of ideas and while I was trying to avoid as much exposition as I could, it became quickly apparent that I was needing to create my own au (this scene eventually became chapter 34 of To Become a Man). A short prequel seemed like a good idea, to quickly hash out the ‘prior’ events that I needed to go through so all the readers could be on the same page. While plotting out prequel points, I realized Sam and Dean were going to have drastically different experiences during the same time period, and I was trying to figure out who’s pov would be better for which scenes, and how to keep momentum when they’re going through such radically different types of changes. Ultimately I decided to split their povs, which I also thought would be a fun project! And I naively assumed each pov would take about 2 chapters each, rounding out to maybe 15k total.

I had my ending points: Dean n Cas soul-merged and (basically) married, Cas on the lam from heaven and a complete anomaly, and Sam juiced up full of powers and a weird mix of archangel and antichrist but still 100% human and ready to fight God.

Now I needed to add weight to these changes, so I wrote 200k of build-up.

Am I proud of these fics?

OF COURSE I AM!!! These are the longest fics I’ve ever written AND finished AND in the fastest freakin turnaround ever (both were finished writing, barring edits, in like 6 months holy shit)

I didn’t write a single scene that I “didn’t” want to write. If I had trouble writing it, as in it was fighting me, I scrapped it. Most obviously was the scene in Dean’s pov where he and Sam were intended to meet some other hunters and Dean declines working with them because he’s nervous about being outed as queer. It was meant to be a good scene! I wanted to introduce some new characters! But it just wasn’t working so I said ‘thank you, next!’.

But it means this story was an absolute joy to write. Because for a while all I was doing was ‘if I wanted to write one scene into supernatural, what would I write?’ and then just DID that!! It’s why there’s a lot of ‘Salmondean do dumb shit or have really dumb heartfelt conversations’ scenes.

Would I change anything?

If I’d been less eager to start sharing, I might have planned out the story beats a little tighter so there were less ‘soft’ chapters and a draw/pull for people to come back and keep reading. I felt Dean’s story specifically lagged at points and could have used some tighter editing (there was a noticeable lull in directed movement between Dean n Cas getting together, until Sam corrupts Amy).

I also probably would have held Sam’s story until I’d finished Dean’s so I could make the two line up better! Probably could have inserted more scenes into Sam’s fic that way, and made sure things were a little more consistent. In an ideal world one concept I had was to release 1 chapter from each pov every week that would correspond to the same time frame so we’d be getting real-time SalmonDean pov narrative. Unfortunately that didn’t work!

The biggest takeaway overall is for me to focus more on what moves the plot, and to make my scenes do more than 1 thing so I can cut down on wordcount and increase my efficiency.

Of course every writer will find things they want to fix in anything they’ve ever written, so these are minor “mistakes” at best. I’m so dang proud of these fics.

Onto more interesting things!

How Did I Put These Fics Together (because it’s different than anything I’ve ever done before)

Normally when I write a story, I plan out the beats I need to hit, see where I need to insert any kind of foreshadowing/buildup, and then write from A to B to C and so on and so forth. Hence, this is why I can normally post things as I complete chapters, because it’s all a linear progression.

For these two stories, rather than linear plot/a normal story structure, I just sat and free-wrote any and every scene that came to mind and then pieced them into a kinda-linear form like putting a quilt together. You’ll note that this is why there’s not a lot of internal callback or a feeling of sense of time flowing within the fic (save for points where I went back and specifically edited it in). How long does the story take place over? Hard to say! Your author has the barest grasp on linear time even on a good day (how many times did I say ‘see you on [wrong day]’ at the end of chapters lmaaoooo)

This also meant EXTENSIVE editing on the back end once I decided in what order I wanted my ‘quilt pieces’ to be. Hard to say if this is a bonus or a negative!

But I did want to try and capture the vibe of the lives they lead, as a bit of a ‘slice of life’-style story, when the slice of life is the profound weirdness of the Winchester roaming life, and how things are status quo- until everyone almost dies oh shit!! And then they have to keep living because no therapy we die/undie like Winchesters. Do I think I captured this effectively? Hmm. Good question.

Dem where the FUCK did the inspiration for a lot of the magic and creature weirdness even come from?

Honestly? Music, primarily. And completely mishearing lyrics!

Nightwish ‘Ever Dream’: the line is ‘my song can but borrow you grace’ and because my brain is scrambled eggs on a good day, I heard ‘grace’ ‘song’ and ‘borrow’ in that order and have had, for YEARS, the mental image of Cas borrowing Dean’s soul to power himself up for battle.

From there I’ve always been enamored with the ‘wavelength of celestial intent’ descriptor that Cas drops in s6 for “what he is”.

I also really like ocean metaphors mostly because I’ve been obsessed with the ocean and things in it since I was like… 5??? So really this was me just rolling with what I know lmao. I love using (somewhat) accurate scientific metaphors for very intangible things!

I was also finishing my degree in biology/ecology while writing these fics and I think it shows

Stars ‘The Night Starts Here’ gives us the series title and the fic titles. Except for ‘To Exist Again’. TEA was almost titled ‘The Upwards Fall’ because I wanted all 3 of the Main Stories to have titles from this song, but I couldn’t make anything else work in tandem with the series name ‘The Love It Takes’ while also working for Sam’s personal story. So Sam, as always, is the rebel <3

Stars ‘Up In Our Bedroom, After The War’ is basically the vibes of the whole story. TFW has been, literally, to hell and back!!! There’s a bit of melancholy and sadness, a lingering dark, but the chance of a bright new tomorrow and a soft start.

Let’s Talk About Themes in The Story! What were you looking to accomplish?

My earliest notes for TFW are, as follows:

Dean’s journey of self-discovery (who am I when I’m not trying to be Dad?)

Dean wants to settle down! He wants a big family! He wants to be domestic!

Basically: Dean doesn’t want to have a short life of hunting. He wants to live!

Dean’s journey of realizing he’s bi, and him accepting that

Dean’s relationship to Sam is both older brother/parent

And continuing Dean balancing these roles while also letting Sam be an adult

Dean’s Big Issues/Fears about never being good enough for people to want to stay with him (these are effectively highlighted in that Cas thinks he’s not useful enough to be wanted)

Sub Plot:

Castiel’s autonomy

Cas’ fall from grace, to trying to restore Heaven, to wrecking it further

He’s majorly depressed by the end of s7 (before purgatory)

Wants to stay in Purgatory but doesn’t tell Dean

Remains depressed after leaving, but resolved to keep living on because he’s clearly meant for something

After the seraphim reveal: does he have free will?! How does he grapple with this? How does he live in a way he can be proud of?

And lastly

Sam gets his powers back CAUSE THATS HOT

where tf did they go????

he got them from Lucifer?????

sleeper agent??????

Sam is The Chosen One

Accepts that he is More Than Human and to celebrate all parts of him

Lucifer and Sam friends?? Work together????

Sam needs autonomy in his choices/his life

If you compare these to the overall arc of TFW within the two stories, I think I got a lot of them! But you’ll also note a lot of these things aren’t concrete goals that are easily measurable (ex: Dean wants to learn to bake pie. In chapter 1 he starts a fire in the kitchen. By the end of the story he finally makes A Good Pie.) part of the lack of concrete milestones was why I felt it was important to tell Dean (and Cas’) story by going back to the point they meet, in s4! Dean’s gradual change towards his feelings for Cas, his relationship to Sam (heavily influenced by the s7 events of this fic) and then his own relationship with himself were such slow burns that I felt it would be a disservice to try and cram a change like that into a timeline like “1 year”.

I felt like these subtle changes and adjustments actually felt a lot truer to life-- people often change in very small, gradual ways over time, even without realizing it and often times not consistently! If only we could all gain skills like the sims, where we can easily level up and remain at that high level of performance!

So the Guy Who Ate Satan, A Celestial Nuke that Developed Sentience, and Dean walk into a bar…

Sam’s story in Spn The Show has always been a ‘chosen one’ kind of narrative. Sam is living with one foot in the realm of the monsters, and I wanted to bring that back full force! It really makes sense for him that he should only continue to grow in power, might, and magic!! As the story progresses.

Cas also got a power up! I do desperately love in the show that he was kind of a grunt/nothing angel, and so even when he defected to TFW he was a huge help for them, but in the scale of things he was an annoying fly to most other angels. It really worked for the underdog story of s4/5. In this I wanted to give him a power up, and originally it was actually going to be close contact with Sam that eventually changed Cas into something unknown (you can still see traces of this in ch34 of TBAM, where Death remarks ‘Castiel could be [Sam’s] first creation’. But for a combo of reasons: how Sam’s magic needed to have intent, the entire concept of free will and consent, and how much I wanted Dean and Cas to have their effect on each other, I decided to go with the route that Cas has actually always been something angel-adjacent rather than becoming something new. TFW/Supernatural has always been about free will and making your own story, so I amplified that with Cas.

Dean has always been A Normal Guy, which is part of the appeal of him and Sam (2 normal dudes!) taking on the Very Not Normal. As explained above, Sam’s story is ‘normal guy finds out he’s the chosen one’ and so, in a story about very large concepts and huge monsters and acts of magic, I felt it was very important to keep Dean as normal as possible. To the point it became a running gag to me, personally, in that ‘no matter what cool shit happens around him, Dean has to stay as Just A Guy’. And it’s a very humanizing role that allows the story to have the scale it does!

What were the most important themes in your story?

Sam’s Autonomy

I wasn’t even going to include the plot about Lucifer’s death in this story— that was going to come up in a later story, actually! And rather than Sam having ate Lucifer, the original idea was that they’d become a SamandLucifer entity (this harkens back to a concept I wanted to write when Swan Song first aired).

That storyline would have involved a lot of mental ‘Sam and Lucifer discuss what it means to live, which one of them is more worthy of life and if they do deserve to destroy the world for the pain they’ve been forced to go through, just to create the dichotomy of good and evil for everyone else’ discussions. There would be a lot of talk about how Sam hates and fears Lucifer for the pain Lucifer put on Sam, how Lucifer hates Sam because he and Sam are the same but Sam’s brother loves him anyways, etc.

Ultimately that was scrapped because Sam’s entire story in the show is always about how the world and everyone around him manipulates him and that he never actually gets to make choices about his own life or body that aren’t influenced or part of someone elses’ design. And that always bothered me that Sam was never allowed to be himself without having to be ashamed of it, and I wanted to make sure that Sam’s triumph of being proud of himself/proudly choosing to exist (again) was evident in his story

In the end I needed Sam to have this visceral win over his tormentor. As the story shows, in this case Lucifer was abused and put into a position where he was incapable of empathy and could only express himself in violence. Sam even understands this! But it doesn’t change the fact that Lucifer tortured Sam in unimaginable ways for thousands of years.

With that in mind I didn’t like the idea of Lucifer and Sam having “co-ownership” of their new identity, so I made the choice that Sam had to be the survivor. This tied in well with Sam’s new crusade to restore free will to the universe, because he’s breaking the narrative of his own story!

While Castiel wasn’t a pov character, his own autonomy and free will was equally as important. You’ll note that many, many paragraphs and conversations revolved around that theme and that in the end Cas followed himself (and love!) which ensured his freedom of self <3

The Brothers are WEIRD PEOPLE!!!! And Codependent to a Worrying Degree, but It’s Also How They Survive

It’s very hard to show “unusual” relationships when you’re writing from the pov of the two people who don’t think there’s anything weird about their relationship. Sure, they say ‘yeah it’s probably weird that we still share a bed’ but that’s kinda more in line with ‘I had a nightmare and I want to be close to the person who makes me feel safe’. Hashtag normalize co-sleeping when you need it!!!

From there I did try to point out how the boys have a weird perception of lifestyle in the little things they did.

From thrifting everything from clothes to appliances to books (thrifting is a valid lifestyle! It’s incredibly handy when you’re on a budget.)

To never actually having condiments or knowing how to use a dishwasher cause they’ve lived in a car, a motel room, or squatted in old houses their whole life.

I tried to have them wear each others’ clothes or casually swap things as much as possible. They live out of each others’ pockets!

Also the brothers are just weird people!! It’s hard to show from their pov, cause they don’t know how far off from normal they are, but like…

Everything about Sam and Amelia was NOT right like holy shit those two were wilding in their grief. They are very lucky things worked out for them and that they got to be hashtag Weird Girls together

Dean explicitly, in the story, gets horny after killing stuff!! Violence has done a number on his psyche and he’s gotten some wires crossed that maybe shouldn’t have been, or maybe could be worked out in a safe space but… uh… how likely do we think Dean is gonna go find a safe space to deal with any of his shit???

LOVE!!! Love is truly what this whole story is all about

If you’ve read the stories, you know how much emphasis I put on love. Love is the strongest force in the Spn Universe! It’s what averted the apocalypse and saved the world (Swan Song), it’s what created free will (Cas’ entire arc!) I love love!!!!

I went out of my way to not put any definitions on platonic love vs romantic love because I think love is love is love and how you express that is the difference. Neither is more powerful than the other because LOVE is powerful!! Sam and Cas are the most important people in Dean’s life and he loves them equally! He shows this by giving Cas kisses and stealing Sam’s socks.

It’s a personal pet peeve of mine when I have to hear explanations like ‘I love you, like a brother’ or ‘I love you, but like, as a friend because I’m a lesbian and you’re a man’ etc etc in media. If you have to continuously define how your characters love each other, then I don’t think you’re doing a good job of portraying their relationship. So you’ll see that I never put those parameters in any conversation. Dean DOES muse that he loves Cas differently than he loves Sam or Bobby, specifically because there is a romantic and sexual tone that his feelings for Cas takes, but not because he loves Cas more or less than he loves Sam or Bobby.

Which means, if you haven’t realized it yet, the Series + Fic Titles are meant to be a complete sentence because the power of love IS the thesis of this series:

The Love It Takes To Exist Again (Sam’s journey!)

The Love It Takes To Become a Man (Dean’s journey!)

The Love It Takes To Destroy a Man (TBA)

And now for fun stuff. Behind the scenes!!

What’s Something People Probably Don’t Know?

The demonic fungal/hydrothermal vent growth on Sam’s arm was thrown in literally as I was posting the chapter because I had just finished a 48 hour cram session of writing a report on tube worms for an ecology class (I was chanting my tube worm song as I wrote it) and it ended up being a HUGE hit with both readers and myself. But it was so last minute I had trouble fitting it in more throughout the rest of Sam’s story!

Cas’ orders? That may or may not have bound him to Dean and removed his free will? Were written into Sam’s story and I went ‘oh SHIT that’s compelling’ and then left them there as a ‘guess I’ll figure that out when I get to Dean’s story lol’

Originally Dean and Cas were supposed to get together after having their souls bonded, and have been in a UST limbo the entire time before that. Mostly because I think the entire concept of ‘we just got married of the soul I guess we should try dating?’ is very funny. CLEARLY the two of them were way more eager to fall in love than I anticipated (thank you Cas for your honesty) but you can still see shades of this original idea here and there (especially in ch35 of TBAM)

I never intended Dean and Benny to connect so well!! Benny was going to reunite with Andrea, she was going to live, and they were going to go off into the world and leave the story. And, uh, here we are. I’m still debating if I need to adjust the relationship tag or not haha. Polyamory is fun, especially when I was planning for Sam to be the polyamorous brother...

Speaking of, I can’t believe I forgot about Sam and his sexuality! If I rewrote TEA I would have had Sam contemplate more on his lack of sexual appetite due to trauma, up until he meets Benny and he gets to rediscover how he wants to be a sexual person

Many of Sam and Dean’s absolutely stupid sibling conversations were lifted near-verbatim from conversations I’ve had with my siblings

And lastly...

Dem where’s Kevin????????????? Where is our sweet baby boy????????

He’s SAFE!! He’s in the Hunter pipeline somewhere cause Sam handed him off to Bobby’s people. He and his mom are safe and at some point they probably got rib sigils like SalmonDean did against angels, but for demons. I didn’t have room in this story for him!!! But my baby boy is SAFE and I want to get him back to university because it’s WHAT HE DESERVES!!!!

To that point: god there were/are SO many characters that I just didn’t include in the story so far because I didn’t feel comfortable including them without stalling the story for them. To that point: pretty much everyone who is alive/dead in s8 is that way in this story, except Bobby who gets to live.

[Check Out Part 2 for reader questions!]

#the love it takes series #to exist again fic #to become a man fic #dem speaks

9 notes · View notes

trans-wojak · 3 years ago

Text

People often think “that will never happen to me” about domestic violence and abusive relationships. Or maybe you think you’ll pick up the red flags and get out of there before it gets bad. But what if I told you this is often not how it works?

People who’s goal is to abuse do so in very insidious ways through subtle manipulative behaviour and tactics. Often times they are so subtle you don’t notice, and if you do, it’s so minimal that you start to feel like you’re wrong for being upset. This is part of the abuse tactic; creating the illusion that you, for being rightfully concerned or upset over something - should be doubted. This self doubt creates insecurity and thus makes us rely on the abuser for more reassurance. This creates a power imbalance early on and the abuser is purposely doing this to instil self doubt and insecurity, slowing breaking down your spirit. We have all heard of abusers cutting off their victims from friends and family but what if I told you that’s true but it’s a bit more complex? They don’t start off by saying you can’t see anyone. Hell, many times they don’t even say you are not allowed to see other people, instead they may punish you through manipulative negative reinforcement, silent treatment etc. Maybe after seeing your family (who can at times stress you out) they will slowly try to convince you that you’re better off not spending as much time together. For your own good of course.

I have dyscalculia so I struggle with numbers and this made me struggle with budgeting originally. My ex, told me he would help me budget by helping me watch where I spend my money. Sounds so kind doesn’t it? Let me help you by helping you decide where money goes. Then it slowly becomes “why did you purchase this? You don’t need it”. Then slowly that turns into “you bought this without my permission?!” Even tho it’s YOUR money and it wasn’t an outlandish expense but because it wasn’t a needed thing and because it didn’t benefit the abuser, he’s going to guilt trip you. Many times people who are victims at this point may have thoughts that this is wrong but since they haven’t hit you and it’s more just a string of weird behaviour - remember that self doubt we talked about earlier? Yeah well that is helpful to the abuser now because while you finally start thinking something is not good, you have already been riddled with self doubt about your own emotions and intuition. The place an abuser wants you in is called learned helplessness. It’s the ultimate abuser goal. Victims with learned helplessness are often severely depressed and anxious, to the point they can barely function. The learned helplessness can cause a catatonic state, something that is seen in severe mental health cases. Abusers purposely try to get you into a learned helplessness state because they have the most manipulative control over you that way. But learned helplessness also makes the victim far more dependent on their abuser. When abusers enforce manipulative tactics to destroy your self esteem, they will push boundaries more because they get bored. They want to see just how far you can be treated and still be loyal. This can manifest into violent behaviour, threats, destroying property. They might not hit or hurt you at this stage but they may. This is them reaching their peak of being an abuser. This is where they now create a vicious cycle of repetitive aggression against the victim, resolve the situation by false promises/apology and then goes on to not change. The abuser may love bomb you, shower you with affection after this period to continue more established manipulative control or, they may withhold affection to teach you “your place.” My psychiatrist explained that abusive relationships are like putting a frog in a pot of water and slowly boiling it. The frog will stay in the pot and slowly die. But if you put the same frog in a boiling pot of water, it would jump out. You have to do it slowly otherwise the victim will run. You have to create the illusion that the victims reality of feeling hurt is to be doubted and filled with insecurities so that then the abuser can be the one calling the shots. The lack of self confidence translates into not believing your own reality and you can question your sanity because of the way the abuser will try to make you feel wrong about feeling upset over controlling, manipulative behaviours. Or aggression.

#tw abuse #tw dv #domestic violent relationships #my thoughts #abusive relationships

1 note · View note

candycanesuckers · 4 years ago

Text

A Collective Post Helping Defend and Define Stormfront:

There is a harmful narrative that has formed around a (feminist) character that appeared in the newest season of “The Boys” -- her name is Stormfront. Said narrative is the falsified idea that she is a Nazi. This was started mainly by Anti-Feminists in retaliation to the fact that the character is rather vocal about social injustice. Below are definitive rebuttals to the toxic propaganda spread by these people and the others who blindly took in it.

Defining Stormfront’s Past:

The reason why the slander on Stormfront is as active and believed as it is is because it’s based on the comic (in which Stormfront was a male, and yes, was indeed a Nazi), which then influenced the past of the TV-rendition of the character. In the show, Stormfront use to be apart of Nazi Germany before (assumedly) migrating to America and donning the alias of “Liberty” in the 50s, in which she carried out violently racist attacks behind the scenes.

Something worth noting is that Stormfront is the first ever Superhero created by Vought (the man who created the company was her husband; whether she was injected with V -- the serum to give people these super abilities -- when she was a child or well within her maturity is currently unknown). Because she’s the first ever superhero, she has a unique ability that other superheroes (from our current knowledge) lack; immortality.

Due to her immortality, Stormfront outlived her peers. She watched as the culture around her changed. She eventually had a daughter, which she then lived past, and she too lived past her husband. This means that she lived past the time where Nazi’s were to some degree a social norm, and lived through the period(s) where people actively fight back against Nazi’ism, racism, and other forms of prejudice. She was thrust into new cultures, and in turn, molded her beliefs into something new over the years she had lived through. She no longer had the leader, she no longer had the support, she no longer had the option to use her voice. And because of that, she learned that her beliefs were outdated.

It could be argued that the point to Stormfront’s character is to reflect the social evolution of America -- from how racism was mainstream to now progressivism being rewarded.

The Accusation That Stormfront Said a Slur Towards Kenji and she Killed an Apartment Complex of Black People Simply Because They’re Black:

In episode three, for those who don’t know, there was a super-terrorist (the title given to super-humans who use their abilities to aid in their terrorism), and The Seven were sent out to capture and put the terrorist down. Basically: they were doing their jobs as heroes. During the attempted capture of the terrorist, Stormfront was ultimately the one to get him.

While she was chasing him, they entered an apartment complex; while on the chase, she most likely would have noted that the terrorist isn’t actually doing any active action of terrorism -- he was just running. While she knew, and The Seven knew, that he was a terrorist, the public would probably see it as a superhero harming an innocent. Of course since he was an active threat, she was fast thinking. While chasing him, she stroke down some casualties and destroyed a portion of the apartment complex building that way there would be visible evidence that the terrorist would’ve been a threat to the lives of the public. And it worked. While what she did was arguably corrupt, that’s not the point here; the show makes a point to say all the heroes are corrupt.

In her fight with the terrorist, she does say something that features unfavorable language -- she called the terrorist a “yellow bastard” -- and while it’s displeasant, it is not a slur. Yellow is a color, and he was rather pigmented. It’s a distasteful descriptor. And she was right in calling him a bastard. He was a terrorist.

The Accusation that Stormfront Didn’t Like A-Train Because he’s Black:

We can assume that Stormfront has a strong sense of morality due to her past connections to Nazi Germany -- while she no longer holds those beliefs, it would suggest that she places importance on morals due to strong “moral” senses of the Nazi party. With her now being in the modern world, her sense of morality probably evolved into applying to more current issues.

In the show, Stormfront is shown to believe in the superiority of Supes (will touch on that even more later). Due to this, is is likely that she would look down on those who have super-abilities but does stuff that would harm them or otherwise negatively impact the performance of their heroics. In season two, it was shown that A-Train -- whose whole shtick was his extreme speed -- could no longer run to such extremes before triggering a possible heart failure. This would clearly motivate Stormfront to look down on A-Train and see him as a waste -- because he is effectively wasting away his own life.

Her saying “some people have quality, other’s don’t” is a clear reference to the fact that his quality of self-control and self-worth is low. He’s an addict, and has let his addiction ruin his life and multiple lives of the people around him.

The Accusation that Stormfront Thinks Black People are Trying to get rid of White People; An In-Depth Dissection on the Conversation Between Stormfront and Homelander in Which she Explains her Past:

The scene opens with her, Stormfront, finding Homelander alone and solemn overlooking the city. He’s being callous and dismissive towards her, and even says a sly comment in which could be taken as a potential murder threat, which obviously effects her and her future plans (since it’s rather clear that she’s merely using him for her own personal agenda). Because of his cold behavior towards her, she decides to bare her all to him.

“I will never lie to you again. I will tell you everything . . . Starting with this,” She begins. Stormfront hesitantly walks to a large brown box, the stoic look on Homelander’s face never leaving as he pointedly watches her every move. She opens the crate, and in it are numerous aged items belonging to her, including her Liberty attire and a collection of black and white photos.

Out of her collection of items, she picks up the photos due to them being an outline of her history and an easy open door to the unique ability she has (since she’s either immortal or has an extended life quantity).

She shows the first image to Homelander, an image that shows her next to a much older woman (who has previously been assumed by the viewer to be her mother or grandmother). “My daughter,” she begins, “Chloe. She died of Alzheimer's a few years ago.”

Before this scene, her unique relation to aging was unknown to Homelander; the only people who knew were Starlight and The Boys. Understandably shocked, Homelander asks Stormfront just how old is she.

“I was born in 1919, in Berlin.”

There’s beats of silence between them. The information that she just revealed settles, to both Homelander and the viewer, and then she flips to the second photo.

It’s of her, dressed in a beautiful, white blazer dress, standing next to three extremely influential figures from history (further highlighting her extreme age). As she flips to the next photo, she says, “And . . . The most important man in the room . . . “ Homelander looks down, and finishes the unsaid sentence: “Frederick Vought.”

The next portion of the conversation is one of the most important, both in-context of the actual conversation but also in terms of the audience finally understanding Stormfront as a person; it gives us an insight to her mentality, it further explores her history with Vought and the relationship she has with the company, while also showing us what seems to be her intentions with Homelander. “He gave me the first successful V injection. He taught me everything. And then we fell in love, and he gave me a daughter. He made me, and his genius made you.”

This one excerpt shows us an important aspect on Stormfront and her mentality: she glorifies and idealizes Vought. The glorification she has of Frederick Vought consumes her, evident through the passion she has while she speaks on how V made her into who she is. The glorification she has for Frederick then streamlines into the next aspect of what she talks about, which is the superiority that comes from being chosen to be a superhero (which she isn’t exactly unjust in; a separate post to discuss, maybe? Although I feel as if it’s pretty obvious how people with super-human abilities that routinely save the world are clearly above just normal civilians).

Emotions are clear on Homelander’s face as he hears all the new information released by Stormfront: he’s shocked, and really just at a loss for words. He turns away from her, almost in a way dismissing the rest of the photos she has as he tries to process everything. She holds the photos to her side, now untouched for the rest of the conversation, and continues to speak: “Frederick didn’t care about all the fans or stardom or any of that shallow bullshit. We are in a war for the culture. The other races are grinding us down and taking what is rightfully ours, but we can fight back. With an army of supermen, millions strong.”

This four-sentence paragraph is the strongest example we currently have from the show that showcases the sense of superiority Stormfront has due to her super-human abilities. This specific excerpt is commonly used as a dog whistle by Stormfront anti’s to push the narrative that she is a Nazi or at the very least a white supremacist, however with the context of her relation to Vought and the fact that she highlights it being an army of supermen, it’s made explicitly clear that the “war for the culture” is a culture where supes are naturally seen as higher than non-supes and don’t have to fear the possibility of public backlash due to “othering” that’s caused by a public that may be scared of people who are different than them -- which may be why Stormfront finds it so important to build an online following who truly knows her as a person, while still being aware that she ultimately has a platform and is in a position of power.

It could be argued that her current arc and characterization of glorification and superiority is meant to be an allegory for Nazi’ism, however, I will say in my own personal opinion that it’s incredibly weak to claim. Nazi allegories need to have someone explicitly shown to be wrong in their beliefs and ideals; Stormfront though, is justified -- or at the very least has solid ground to stand on. I mean, God, it’s shown that mothers and fathers were offering up their newborns to be injected with compound V. That should speak for itself.

Lastly, after Stormfront bore her history and ideals to Homelander, she says one last thing to Homelander, one last confession full of passion and desperation: “So I love you with all of my heart. How could I not? Everyone I have ever loved is in the ground. And then I found you. We found each other. And now neither of us has to be alone ever again.”

I believe this to imply that her sense of superiority is a front that she puts up and her desire to create a culture of supe’s is to create a new race of people that are similar to her in sense of life-span, that way she no longer has to keep losing those she loves and live a life where pain is a constant. I truly do think all of this is an act of longing for a life of less pain 💔

So in conclusion: her idea of a “war on our culture” is the idea of non-supes against those who are. It’s an entirely separate thing from Nazi beliefs and / or ideals.

Discussing Stormfront’s Feminism and Why it Should be Both Admired and Wide-Spread Within our Culture:

Stormfront is a traditional feminist; she doesn’t believe that women are superior to men, but rather that we’re all on equal footing and it’s our own personality and accomplishments that make us. Quoted from episode two, “Why does it matter whether heroes have a dick or vag? I mean, shouldn’t we all just be competent at our jobs? I don’t think girls do anything better, I think chicks and dicks are in it together.” She’s able to point out the systematic advantages men have and the unfair treatment of women by the media, but she’s still able to recognize that it’s an issue of the system that forms our culture rather than an issue of men themselves. She never takes out her issues on random men, but rather at the men in positions of power who fuel this sexist attitude (and the women who stand next to these men, allowing it).

She knows her worth, both as a person and as a woman. Throughout the six she has shown up in so far, Stormfront has been outspoken whenever she has seen someone reducing women to nothing but vapid sex appeal for the male gaze – such as her call-out in episode two towards the man in charge of story-boarding the commercial. She recognizes her worth and is able to voice the issues she has with the sexist disregard for the female characters.

Unlike a lot of people, she knows when to restrict herself. This is a problem with our culture at large – we reward loud, rude behavior (primarily within men) despite the fact that they’re being unnecessarily cruel towards what is a rather harmless individual (ex: Gordon Ramsay). During the scene where Stormfront is with Starlight doing press for the announcement of her being apart of The Seven, she points out the double standard and false idea of “girl power” being pushed. Despite it being a topic she would be passionate about, Stormfront is able to keep her points restricted purely to the topic at hand that she wants to discuss. Other people would be vicious and violently insult the interviewer, and they would be rewarded for it by getting clout on Twitter with strangers gushing about how she “dragged” someone, but Stormfront addressed the interviewer appropriately – she knew he was just a man doing his job.

Another example is the end of episode three. While it is “terrible” that she called the Asian a “yellow bastard” (although it’s not like she called him a Chink or BTS or whatever), she only did so because she believed that she was alone with him. If there was another individual with them, she would have restricted herself from offensive language. In a culture full of fake feminists that spew offensive language openly, I believe she is setting a standard of what the difference between personal behavior and outwards behavior that would have an impact on the world around her is. No one is effected by her saying “yellow bastard” the way she did, since she was alone. She is aware of her platform (since the introduction of her is with her on Instagram live) and knows what she can and cannot feature on her platform.

In conclusion: Stormfront is a good, self-aware, admirable feminist. Be like Stormfront.

The Accusation That People Involved on the Show Have Called her A Nazi:

It’s true. In interviews, multiple people have referred to Stormfront as a Nazi -- however, an important piece of context that these people who are spreading these quotes always seem to miss out, is the fact that every time they have discussed Stormfront being a Nazi, it’s in relation to her past. They never say that her Nazi beliefs are something carried on from Liberty to Stormfront (they refer to her as Stormfront since it’s simply easier to, though).

Even with that though, sometimes the intent of an author (or producer, or actor, etc.) does not translate to the actual finished product. What we see has more weight than what we’re told; we’ve been told that she’s a “Nazi white supremacist” but what we’ve seen is a deeply flawed character with a troubling past who’s actively working on making herself a better person. The producers, writers -- whatever -- have not translated their intent properly, so, therefore, it is invalid. Their interpretation of the character is wrong.This is something that happens a lot -- where the author means one thing but the product says another. A good example is JK Rowling; she intended to have Snape die with his sins absolved and being a martyr, but all he ended up being was an abusive creep with a vendetta against some child. Do you get it?

The Accusation That Stormfront Caused A Shooting:

So let’s just be clear: Stormfront clearly condemned the actions by the terrorist who shot the convenience clerk; she clearly doesn’t stand by that behavior nor support it. Using it as fuel for your little Stormfront hate-boner is weird and unfounded.

The Accusation That Nothing Shows Stormfront Had Changed as A Person From When she was Liberty:

A lot of people claim that Stormfront has showed no change from in comparison to her present-self to how she acted in the flashbacks, “proving” that she is still a Nazi. However, there are multiple examples that show she has actively became a better person; there are some major elemental changes to her as a person throughout time -- we know this by comparing what we know of her currently to what she used to be.

Firstly: She explicitly says that she “changed with the times,” which is a clear indication that she’s taken purposeful strides to change her values (since racism is no longer something we deem acceptable).

Secondly: While she had the mantle of liberty, she purposefully went out looking for minorities to brutalize them. While we don’t know if she ever said explicit slurs (such as the N-word or the C-word), she did make it apparent that her attack was on the basis of their ethnicity. However, in modern times, her attacks are purely motivated to fuel the reputation of Vought / because she was told to (and with one exception, which was to manipulate Homelander); this is: when she killed Kimiko’s brother, which was because he was deemed a super terrorist, and when she killed the apartment complex, which was to add to the narrative that he was a terrorist, and the exception is when she pushed Homelander into killing the white man (which was to make Homelander believe that the justice system is unjust . . . Which she is right in, to be fair).

Thirdly: Her study in creating a race of literal super-humans was diverse; it included people of all ethnicities and skin tones.

Fourthly: Stormfront herself shows, although not in a direct way, that she has actively changed. In episode five, Starlight confronts her on her past. Stormfront says, “going against your own people,” and clarifies it even further once Starlight assumes she means ‘white people’ with, “Starlight, superheroes. Don’t be racist.” While she was being condescending in what she said, the weight behind it still remains.

The Accusation That Stormfront Admitted to Being A Nazi by Saying People Love What She Says but Hates the Word Nazi:

In the finale, Stormfront’s past was exposed to the public. Because of how sensitive that information is, she got rightfully mad at whoever it was that leaked it. With the fact that Starlight had already tried to antagonize her before, Stormfront knew it was her. She found Starlight, and the two proceeded to fight.

However, before the fight, Stormfront said that before her past was revealed, people liked what she was saying. They listened to her. They just simply don’t like the word Nazi. She said it in the sense that “Nazi” is a word used to discredit someone, regardless if their views would make them a Nazi or not. You see it a lot now, politically, the opposing side (on both ends) call each other Nazis simply because they don’t have aligning political views. And because Nazi is such a strong word, calling someone one of them would have an impact on their public reception regardless. Stormfront isn’t a Nazi anymore, but people were still calling her one regardless, so the public reception to her changed. Nazi is a strong word. Stormfront was right -- people did like what she was saying, they were listening to her every word, up until she was slandered as a Nazi.

The Accusation that Stormfront Said A Racist Remark About Edgar:

In the finale, Stormfront and Homelander are privately discussing who they believe could be behind a recent terrorist attack that quite clearly was perpetuated by a Supe. Homelander suggested that it was planned by a man called Edgar, and Stormfront said “it’s possible, he is smart. For his kind.” A lot of people have slandered Stormfront further by saying “for his kind” was in reference to his ethnicity. However, with the audience already knowing her superiority complex around Supes, we can understand the remark was in terms of him not having any abilities (that we know of).

The Accusation That Stormfront Believes in The “Great Replacement” Theory:

In the finale, it’s found that Homelander’s son -- Ryan -- is having issues connecting with his powers and triggering them. Homelander says that he found it easy to use his powers by imagining an enemy, a person he hates. However, Ryan tries to do that too but finds that he really just doesn’t hate anyone.

Stormfront, being quick-thinking, delicately says that people are against them because of their skin color, “it’s called white genocide.” While it was tasteless and questionable for her to tell a child, she believed that Ryan needed a clear enemy in his mind and she was simply suppling him with a vague idea that would trigger his abilities for at least one time. No where does she actually say she believes in the outlandish theory; she was simply saying it because she believed it would help Ryan overcome an obstacle he was facing.

The Accusation That Stormfront is Named After A White-Nationalist Site:

There’s a lot of discourse over her name; a lot of people think a name is a valid reason to call someone a Nazi. I don’t believe I need to point out why that is insane, but I will explain the reasoning behind Stormfront’s name:

Stormfronts powers are based in electricity. They are bolts of electricity that come from the palm of her hand, and can light things of fire, burn people, throw them around, etc. They resemble lightening from a storm, hence her being called Stormfront.

#The Boys #Stormfront #The Boys Season 2

103 notes · View notes

madaras-housewife · 4 years ago

Text

Hashirama Senju SFW alphabet

Happy birthday to my sunshine, Hashirama. <3 I wrote this as some kind of birthday gift and i hope i did justice to him. It’s also quite long so umm there’s that.

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

Hashirama is a man who harbors a lot of love in his soul. He is very open about his feelings from the get-go and will have warmed up to the relationship before you have, most likely. Starting with small gestures, such as squeezing your hand gently, Hashirama won’t hesitate to show you how much he appreciates you for being his. For being patient with him, for understanding him. The Hokage is a busy man, and at first, he didn’t really entertain the possibility of a romance, but you swept him off his feet. He loves big gestures as much as he loves small ones, so he will almost overwhelm you with all the affection he has to offer.

Out of his respect for your personal space, he will try not to be overly attached at first, because, let’s be real, Hashirama wants to let you know, even at the most inopportune moments. However, he sometimes forgets about the boundaries that usually exist at the beginning of a relationship and he will take you into his arms with an unexpected passion. Realising that he crossed the line, he will obviously apologise with a nervous smile and a glowing blush, but he will do it again. He can’t help it, you’re just too hard not to love. Once the relationship progresses and you feel more comfortable with him, he will constantly be near you and somehow, he will always find a way to maintain physical contact, even in public. Whether you’re holding hands or your shoulders are brushing against each other, there won’t be many moments where Hashirama isn’t close to you.

He doesn’t mind PDA at all. In fact, he’s very comfortable with being affectionate in front of others. Hashirama loves holding hands when you’re taking a walk around the village. It would only serve to show others how he is yours and you are his. Something else that you have to do at least once is to braid his hair. Do it at home or when you’re taking a simple walk through the woods. It would be so relaxing. So relaxing, in fact, that he will slump against you and fall asleep in your arms. He is whipped and will proudly wear those braids all day. In return, he is going to massage your shoulders and make you a warm cup of tea.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

Becoming friends with Hashirama is not hard, as he considers the people of the village part of his family. It could start with something as trivial as watering flowers or sharpening your kunai. Somehow, he always finds a way to start the conversation and to keep it going. He will introduce himself and even bow to you first, as a sign of good faith and respect and he will ask you about whatever it is that you’re doing. Oddly enough, he has quite a vast amount of knowledge about any topic, be it something like the weather, music, board games etc. Nonetheless, he easily finds a way to work the conversation into something related to the welfare of the village. He is very open about his hopes and dreams for the future and is eager to share them with anyone and everyone. But make no mistake, even if he is consumed by his idealism, he will not forget about you. He will always listen to you and, once you become closer friends, he will try his best to always be there for you, given his busy schedule.

Being friends with Hashirama comes naturally, it feels as if you’ve known him all your life. He is reliable, kind-hearted and talkative and, as such, it’s going to hit you like a train when you realise that things between you and him are getting serious. He himself won’t realise until you do, though.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

Hashirama loves cuddling so much, he won’t even know that he’s doing it. It starts with him sneaking close to you in bed and, in less than a second, he will be all over you, arms and legs entangled with yours. He feels the need to cuddle in bed and will secretly be sad if you reject him, despite his best attempts at hiding it(which aren’t very effective).

He could cuddle in any position, but his favorite is when he and his partner are facing one another and holding each other close. His arm will be on your back, gently rubbing it, or on the back of your head, coaxing your forehead against his own. There are those moments where you are cuddled up and you’re just staring at each other. The look on his face is one of pure adoration and passion, its intensity giving you goosebumps. Cuddling with him is almost a ritual, one where neither of you speak and you just know that you have each other and that everything is going to be okay. Whether it’s after a regular work day, a free day at home(which there won’t be many of) or a somber one, he will always cuddle you the same way. You’ll be able to read the feelings in his eyes and, seldomly, he will cry into your shoulder when he feels overwhelmed and his determination wavers. But you have his back, always, and he knows it.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

Domesticity is Hashirama’s second name. If there’s anything he absolutely wants to do in life, besides changing the world, it would be settling down with you. He wants a shared home, which would act as a sanctuary for both of you. It wouldn’t be that large, he just wants enough space to accommodate the both of you and to place dozens of those goddamn bonsai trees. He can’t live without them. He just loves trees. Eventually, he will find a way to sneak a vase into every room of the house, even the bathroom.

Hashirama is a pretty messy man. He leaves his clothes and ridiculously large scrolls around the house for anyone to find, but once you are there and you set him straight, he will (almost) never forget to organise his clothes and other belongings. Of course, you give him the slip, because he tried, and you help him clean everything up, which he appreciates very much. As for the cooking, oh boy. Claiming that the god of shinobi is clumsy is nothing short of an understatement when it comes to anything that isn’t fighting or sculpting trees. How the hell is he so good at sculpting trees anyway? He will somehow always find a way to fuck up in the kitchen, but will try his best. Either by spilling egg yolks on the floor or by overheating the oil in the pan, there will be a huge mess by the time he is done. He feels bad about it, so he tries to get better by taking cooking lessons(if there weren’t any in the verse, I’m sure he invented them), but he can’t focus, at all. He keeps forgetting to use an ingredient and he gets distracted by anything. You won’t forget that one time he tried to surprise you with a home-cooked meal after a mission. It looked so good on the outside, but the taste was abhorrent. It gave you stomach pains that night. He does get an A for effort, though.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

It would take a lot for Hashirama to break up with you. Once you’re with him, he knows that it’s a life-long commitment, so something terrible must have happened in order for Hashirama to leave you. If you ever cheat on him, he will be absolutely heartbroken. Nonetheless, he won’t ignore you and he will try to be as cordial as possible even though you don’t deserve it, but the conspicuous pain in his eyes says more than words ever could. He would keep his distance as much as possible, but he won’t be able to move on until you tell him why. Was it him? Did he not make you happy? Was he not enough for you? It leaves a gaping wound in his heart that, in time, will heal, but never fully. Not even after getting the closure he needs, he won’t be able to fully move on. There will always be a shadow of reticence following him whenever someone else gets too close to him.

As for any other possible reasons, it would only come to pass if you were in great danger and he deemed it unsafe for you to be close to him. And by unsafe I mean life-threatening. The Hokage has no shortage of enemies who would seek to destroy him and his village, so they won’t hesitate to use his loved ones against him. Even though he is very strong and wishes he could always protect you, he doesn’t want to risk losing you the same way he lost Kawarama and Itama. Hashirama is an optimistic man, probably even the most cheerful shinobi of his era, which means the situation would have to be dire in order for him to break up with you. Even so, he would always keep an eye on you from a distance. It would hurt him, but he would ultimately be satisfied and determined to work even harder to make the world a safer place. He secretly hopes to get close to you again if things quiet down, too.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

Once you get together with him, he knows it’s for life. He wants to be there on the long run and it will be as if you were already married despite still being in the earlier stages of your relationship. He never gave much thought to the concept of marriage, as he considers it something that naturally occurs. To him, it’s that warm feeling in his stomach that instantly tells him that he wants to marry you. Even if you had arguments from time to time, he wouldn’t let that deter him. The man just wants to walk you down the aisle and live the rest of his life with you, it’s that simple.

If you are together during the warring states period, he will be slightly hesitant about getting married. Hashirama wants to make sure that the world you settle down in is a peaceful one, where you could live out your lives in peace and harmony. Or, at least, that’s what he would want. Otherwise, he will just pop the question when it comes to his mind. Not many people know this about him, but Hashirama can be quite romantic, so on the day he makes up his mind to propose, he is going to take you to a special spot, like on the top of the stone statue or the small forest that’s adjacent to the village, where he used to play as a child. He was nervous, but impatient to say it. Naturally, he would like an unprompted answer, but he won’t be mad at you if you need to take your time. Although, if you took too long, he would start getting worried.

He would have no problems committing. After all, he loves you and only you and would do anything to make you happy.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

Despite his past, Hashirama is not a bitter person. If there’s anything to know about this man, it’s that he’s gentle, too gentle for his own good, which is why he needs someone resolute by his side, like Tobirama(bless his heart). If he could, he wouldn’t hurt a fly. It’s not his way of life, but it’s incompatible with his era, so he was forced to change. He would rather keep that side of himself hidden and he doesn’t want you to see it either. He considers it a “necessary evil”, so to speak, a humiliating front that he wished he could reject. After everything that has happened, Hashirama sometimes wonders whether that’s who he truly is behind the mask of benevolence and that thought greatly burdens him. He will share his worries with you, but only when you’re both together, all alone. He trusts you and wants you to listen to him and he would do so in return, whenever you needed him. Despite his Hokage duties, he will try his hardest to be there for you and to be the man you need him to be. If he ever disappoints you, he will do his best to make it up and do better next time. He is upfront about his mistakes and won’t hesitate to sincerely apologize.

Hashirama is a very soft lover. The way he touches your skin, holds your hand, talks to you, it all comes down to his fondness of you. Even with his passionate nature, he is incredibly gentle. Sometimes, you even feel like a porcelain doll in his arms. Every touch of his is delicate and warm, even the frequent intimate adventures that take place after he comes back from work. His thumb gently caresses your face, your bodies pushed together and his forehead resting against your own. That way, he makes sure you can feel his love. Before he kisses you, he will always silently ask for your permission, which makes him all the more endearing and your kiss all the more passionate.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

The First Hokage is a serious hugger. Naturally, he will take every opportunity to embrace you, regardless of the circumstances. His hugs are tight, warm and dragged out to the point of awkwardness and they will only grow more loving as time goes on. The way he holds you is almost protective, with his arms holding you close to him by your back. You can feel his hot breath on your skin and the earthy scent of his hair filling your nostrils in a subtle manner, his chakra gently prickling your skin such that you get goosebumps. He loves it when you run your hands through his hair, it makes him feel loved and appreciated, especially if you gently tug on it. It will make him groan and push his face in the crook of your neck. It just feels like home.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

Hashirama is not a complicated person, so it won't take much for him to say it.. He lives in the moment and he is in tune with his feelings. Most likely, his confession will be blurted out and he won’t take it back either. He just feels the need to say it out loud and will tell you how much he loves you every single day, with that boyish charm of his, which always makes you warm and fuzzy on the inside.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Being the oblivious little bean he is, he wouldn’t get jealous, ever. Not only that, but if he were aware then he would simply not care, because he trusts you with his life and knows that you can handle yourself in any situations, even ones such as these. However, if someone is visibly flirting with you and trying a physical advance on you, he is not going to stand by and watch. Hashirama will swoop in and swiftly pull you away, since he’s not the type of man to get into an argument over something like this, unless you are visibly disturbed. In that case, he will try to be around more often to comfort you. Either way, jealousy is not a part of Hashirama’s DNA. In fact, he will even be happy for you for making more friends.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

His favorites are neck kisses, both given and received. He will gently grab you by your shoulders and place a warm kiss on the crook of your neck, but he won’t stop there. The trail of kisses that range from your shoulder all the way to the base of your jawline will leave you breathless. Hashirama is an overall amazing kisser and he will always make your head spin with his gentle, yet eager touches. There will also be the frequent make-out sessions after a long work day to show you how much he has missed you. He will give you regular soft pecks on the lips when you visit him at the Hokage’s office, too, as it feels appropriate and necessary. When no one is looking, he won’t hesitate to warm you up with a sudden squeeze of your hip, which leaves you slightly gasping in surprise. Right in that moment he will take the opportunity to lean down and kiss you with a passion that leaves you clinging on to him and wanting for more. If you tug on his hair, he will get too carried away, so you’re going to have to be the one to break the kiss.

If he’s the one receiving kisses, however, please push his hair to the side and kiss him the back of his neck, it will give him instantaneous goosebumps. Hashirama loves it when you take your time to warm every inch of his skin with those soft lips of yours. If you move to his neck and touch him here he will melt in your hands. It’s the best thing you can do for him after a tense day, it helps him relax and unwind. He also has a very sensitive face. Nose kisses, forehead kisses, cheek kisses, he likes them a lot, and will ask you on occasion to place small pecks all over his face and jawline.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

Considering his jovial nature, Hashirama gets along with children and they absolutely love him. He is upbeat and lenient, so the children of Konoha will treat him like the uncle who gives them money to buy candy. Their happiness and welfare are some of Hashirama’s biggest concerns. There is nothing that warms his heart more than watching kids growing up in harmony. It makes him feel like all the fighting was worth it and it makes him even more motivated to keep the peace.

Eventually, Hashirama will want children of his own. He is ecstatic at the thought of having his own little ones running around the village and bearing your name, calling him “father”. Given how his own father treated him and his siblings, he wants nothing more than to be a good parental figure who will guide his offspring on the right path. He hopes to watch them grow up with you and make sure that they inherit a better world than the one Butsuma left him. Hashirama will listen to them whenever they need him, love them and make sure they receive proper education, too. If his Hokage responsibility keeps him busy, he will encourage his family to drop by the office. Them being there inspires him to work harder every day. And while he’s a very good dad, he is extremely indulgent to the point where his children become his spoiled little princes and princesses, which means he relies on you to be the authoritative figure in the family. He can’t bring himself to deny his children. As a result, he will come to buy them everything they want and even sneak snacks in their bedroom late at night. And, even worse, they come to pick up his unhealthy habits; one of the most problematic ones, to be exact, which is gambling. He feels guilty and won’t know what to do in order to prevent his children from turning into gambling addicts, but by the time he tries to do something, it will be too late. As usual, it will be up to you to moderate your children.

Now, let’s talk numbers. He doesn’t have a preference as to how many kids he wants, but unless you specifically tell him you don’t want any more, Hashirama won’t stop popping them out. He would love all of his 10 children the same way and spoil them equally. As for genders, I think he secretly wants at least one little princess. Can you imagine Hashirama bonding with his daughter? He would give her the world. Which brings me to mentioning the fact that Hashirama doesn’t necessarily want his children to become shinobi, either. He wants them to make up their minds and will support them no matter what they choose to do. After all, it was the one choice he was never given in his early life and consequently, he wants his descendants to have everything he didn’t have as a child. If they choose to be shinobi he will undoubtedly train them to the best of his ability and turn them into the strongest generation of Senju warriors.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

Most of the time will be spent on trying to wake him up. Seriously, this man sleeps like a rock. It’s hard to wake him up. But when he’s finally alert, all he wants to do is to slack off in bed with you, even though he has to go to the Hokage’s office. He just treats every morning like a day off and it annoys you, but the way he coaxes you close to him makes you forget about his laziness, albeit temporarily. He is very groggy and will greet you with a deep, sleepy voice and will eventually convince you to lie down next to him and let him gently rub your back as he is waking up. This is the perfect moment to use those intoxicating pecks on his neck and face that will definitely awaken him. If he wasn’t already aroused, he will be when he feels your hot breath fanning on his skin, which will most likely lead to umm amorous activities.

Once Hashirama is awake, he will help you make breakfast as you’re talking him through his schedule, reminding him of whatever it is that he has to do, since he most likely won’t be able to remember everything. Of course, he tells you how thankful he is for everything you do for him and confesses that he wouldn’t be able to handle his responsibilities without you and his brother. Also, he would love it if you brushed his hair for him. Not only because he’s too lazy to do it, but he likes it when you play with his hair.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

Sometimes he is sleepless, allowing his more negative thoughts to flood his mind. It’s easy for his insecurities to pry at night, although he doesn’t understand why that is. All that he needs is for you to be there. And some other times, he has unfinished paperwork, which irritates you, but you won’t mind lending him a hand. You understand Hashirama’s burden and indulge him with a bowl of mushroom mixed soup(yes, at night) and a back massage to ease his mind.

Nights with Hashirama are usually spent in bed, cuddled up as he talks to you about his day. He is usually very talkative, but as the night settles in, he will grow tired and keep it brief. Allowing himself to be vulnerable, he will talk to you about his past and how it still weighs on his mind, as well as his concerns about the village. He doesn’t mind depending on you for your help, since he considers you his life partner and hopes that you rely on him as well. Obviously, sex is great, as well. It repels the bad thoughts and makes him feel tranquil.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

Generally speaking, Hashirama is very open about everything. He doesn’t have much to hide and he warms up fairly quickly to you. However, there are a few exceptions. Opening up about his past is difficult, because it still weighs on him. He could never forget the untimely deaths of his younger siblings. Once he’s fully comfortable with you, you will hear him talking about his siblings only at night, when he feels the most fragile. Starting with early memories of them, he recalls about his childhood and his parents, culminating with a confession about the guilt he feels for killing his childhood friend, despite it being the right thing to do for the village. Even though he’s crying by the time he’s done telling you about his bad memories, he feels like the burden in his heart has been eased up a bit. Please hold him and pet his hair to comfort him, he will be forever grateful.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

Considering his boisterous personality, you’d think that Hashirama is a very impatient man, but it takes a lot for him to get angry. Really though, he can be so patient sometimes that it’s annoying. Especially if you’re trying to provoke him, he will casually ignore it with his regular merry demeanor, which pisses you off to no end. However, he will mouth a cheeky comment when you give up on trying to egg him on and it will make it all the more entertaining. So it won’t really work out, since he likes teasing you, but it’s all in good fun.

The only time Hashirama actually gets angry is during very serious circumstances and he is well aware when it’s required of him to be sensible and act like a leader. As everyone knows, he is very invested in creating a peaceful world and he won’t tolerate anyone who threatens to disturb the harmony that so many people have lost their lives for. Once he has set his mind on something he is unwavering and will even come off as intimidating to those who try to defy his word. It’s a quality that he was forced to obtain through lots of experience in battle. After all, he is the god of shinobi and there is no one who could realistically stop him. These moments are rare, nevertheless, and Hashirama hopes you of all people won’t ever have to see that side of him, but he is conscious of the fact that one day it will happen.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

To be fair, it depends. The first time he meets you he will probably forget your name, even if you did make an impression on him. Hashirama has a photographic memory, so he has a more difficult time remembering names. Don’t judge him for it. As things progress, he will naturally remember more and more about you, but don’t expect him to recall every minute detail. Even as a husband, Hashirama won’t be able to retain most of the instructions you give him on chores or on your children’s care. He will improvise, instead, and indulge his children with everything they want. Perhaps that’s why they are so over the moon when they are home alone with their father.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

Besides the most important moments, such as your wedding day and the birth of your children, Hashirama is very fond of the times you let him teach you how to sculpt a tree. He is very passionate about his hobby and he had been waiting to get you to try it for a very long time, but it was difficult, given your busy schedules. In any case, when you finally agreed and made plans for it, he radiated happiness. How could you deny him? He carefully picked a bonsai sapling which had already been cut to a shorter length(which are hard to get in Konoha, mind you, given the climate there) and helped you get started. At first he clipped some of the small branches off as he was giving you instructions about the utensils necessary for sculpting. Then he used a bark stripper and showed you how to shave off the bark and to be fair, it looked easier than it actually was, so you needed his hand to guide yours. It was a very touching moment for the both of you, as that was when Hashirama was just himself and nothing more. You loved that. The discussions streamed freely as you two were trying to sculpt that damn tree and, despite it not turning out amazing, due to your poor skills, you both loved it. It was something that you had created together and Hashirama was proud of you. You both agreed to do it again, until it became a tradition for your family.

The first tree that you two have ever sculpted together can be found in his office, where he often finds himself staring longingly and thinking about you.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

Unless you are a civilian, Hashirama knows that you’ll be able to handle yourself just fine in any situation. Of course, he will test your strength to find out. Being the Hokage’s lover could be quite dangerous during tumultuous times, despite his unmatched strength on the battlefield. Speaking of which, if you ever fought together, he would not leave your side, unless you were persistent enough and Hashirama was sure that you would be okay. When you leave on missions, he always visits you beforehand and makes sure that you have all of your tools and that you have no injuries. Sometimes he even insists on using his medical ninjutsu just to make sure you are in good shape. He is there when you leave the village and will be there when you come back.

If you are a civilian, however, he will be very protective of you, by making sure that the security is always tight in the village. Just knowing that you are in a safe space eases him up, but considering his past experiences, he might even try to teach you a few jutsu for self-protection, just in case. Hashirama would regularly use medical ninjutsu to check your health, especially when you are pregnant. Every day would start and end with your husband using his chakra to assure the both of you that your baby is healthy.

As for him being protected, he is well aware of how much you care about his wellbeing and health when you visit him at the office and bring him a bento with some healthy food or when you take his side in an argument for the sole reason of him being your partner. To Hashirama, that is a form of protection. Or the moments where you pet the back of his head and hold him close when you notice how overworked he is. It takes everything for him not to fall asleep, but you giving him some affection makes him feel as if you’re lending him your energy. In short, your love keeps him strong and those are the times when Hashirama feels like he could move mountains(maybe that’s a bad figure of speech, given the fact that he can literally do it; oops).

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?

Well, it differs. When Hashirama is with you, he will always try to be the best man he can be, which means he is going to try his best to show his commitment through gifts, date nights and the all-important anniversaries. Even if you told him that you didn't want gifts, he would still spoil you with frequent presents which mostly consist of either ridiculously large bouquets of flowers, rare trinkets that he has acquired by traveling the world or good luck charms. On anniversaries, however, Hashirama will always give you something unique and memorable, like a pendant that contains his chakra or, if you’re into something more practical, it will most likely be his favorite weapon. He probably shouldn’t give it away, but it holds sentimental value and would want you to have something that reminds you of him.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

Oh well, there are a few things to mention here… Hashirama loves sake. He could drink it like water and, as such, he tends to spike his drink with some alcohol and pretend that it’s just a plain beverage, even if the smell suggested otherwise. He won’t overdo it though, but it’s still frustrating, especially to Tobirama. He is a witty man so he will be extra careful around his brother and make sure he doesn’t know, but he wouldn’t hide it from you. He couldn’t, even if he had wanted to, regardless.

Secondly, Hashirama is a gambling addict. At this point, he can’t even recall how he got into gambling in the first place, but he can’t stop. He feels exhilarated to bet his money again, and again, and again… and again. You get the idea. He’s ashamed of himself for it, this sole vice being the one one he’s fully aware of, so he’s gonna try to stop, especially if you’re pregnant or already have children. He will do his best to give up on this terrible habit, but he just won’t be able to help himself sometimes. His impulse is just that strong.

Thirdly, the one, most blatant flaw that this man has is his exuberance. His buoyant, extroverted nature can sometimes become too much to handle, too exhausting. Whereas it can be a positive trait sometimes, because he’s the life of the party, chances are that it becomes pretty off-putting in more formal settings. He’s the loudest person in the room and tends to interrupt people while they are talking, which may come off as rude to someone who doesn’t know Hashirama. Bearing in mind who he is, however, there aren’t many people who aren’t aware of the First Hokage’s high-spirited personality. Don’t blame him though, all he wants is to lighten up the mood, but at times it becomes “too bright”.

Last but not least, Hashirama has a tendency to slack off. It’s probably his worst flaw, considering his position. He is too lazy to get out of bed in the morning, so you’re going to have to be the one who pushes him from behind, quite literally, in that situation. Being born and raised in a warrior clan, Hashirama finds it difficult to sit still for hours, so his laziness peaks whenever he’s doing paperwork, which is almost all the time. But obviously, he would rather do paperwork for the rest of his life rather than wasting his time fighting pointless wars. Most of the time, Tobirama is the one keeping him on a leash when it comes to papers. Anyone would find it humiliating to have your younger sibling coddling you, but Hashirama doesn’t mind it. In fact, he has learnt to love his brother’s harsh demeanor and thinks it normal.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

Hashirama’s handsomeness is no secret to anyone. Having flawless, youthful features in the shinobi world is something uncommon, and being praised as the supreme shinobi, at the same time, definitely makes him popular with the ladies, men and everything in between. But he doesn’t care for that attention, he only cares about you and what you think of him. Generally speaking, he is not very concerned with his looks, but the things he greatly values are simplicity and natural beauty, so that’s going to be the quality that he works on preserving. He wants people, including himself, to be genuine and to just be themselves. Still, he will try his best to look good for you when you go on a date, even if it won’t take much for him to do so.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

The second you two get together, Hashirama will get very attached to you and that feeling will only grow as your relationship does too. You are there every morning and every night and will expect you not to leave. Your existence becomes a routine for him, essentially. He refuses to think about how life would be without you, but if that ever came to pass, for whatever reason, he would become a full-on alcoholic. Even Tobirama won’t be able to pull him out of that dark hole. Somehow, Hashirama would still find strength to complete his duties, as he knows that life goes on no matter what happens. He knows very well that the world doesn’t stop spinning when someone leaves him. He would function, but not properly. The heartache will definitely persist for years to come, even if he stopped showing it, at one point. In all fairness, he would probably never be fully over it, depending on the reason why you left. When Hashirama loves, he loves with all his heart and losing a partner will make him feel incomplete, no matter how many other people he has lost in his life before you. Not even his optimistic nature would be able to cure him.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

Hashirama hates coffee and everything about it. Firstly, he finds the taste disgusting, no matter what you put in it. You’ll find him wrinkling his nose and squinting his eyes shut whenever he sips from your cup. Of course, he does it in an exaggerated manner, which is quite adorable. Secondly, he is repulsed by the color. He does NOT like the fact that coffee is brown, he finds it unnatural for a drink to have that color. Alcohol is an exception, though, but if you ever bring it up with him he will pout Tobirama-style and act like he doesn’t know what you’re talking about. Hashirama also hates the smell, it just hurts his brain. Overall, he finds coffee to be nasty.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

He is very turned off by old-school ideologies regarding the nature of a shinobi’s life. Hashirama knows that it’s difficult for people to change their minds after having spent most of their lives on the battlefield, but if someone is unwilling to discuss these preconceptions and to compromise, he will secretly start disliking them. Even if, outwardly, he would still try his best to make things work, he distances himself from that person. He just can’t conceptualize how someone wouldn’t want a peaceful life and would rather keep sacrificing innocent lives for meaningless conflict. That type of approach strongly reminds him of his father, whose memory always leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habit of theirs?)

When it comes to the sleep habits of Hashirama, his sprawling is the most infuriating one. During his sleep, he casually lounges all over the bed which, in turn, makes you wake up. Considering the fact that he’s a heavy sleeper, you can freely move around, but he will still end up pushing you to the edge of the bed. Although you won’t admit it, you’ve considered either sleeping in a different bed or making him place a mokuton binding on himself before sleeping.

#naruto shippuden #naruto #naruto headcanons #hashirama senju #hashirama x reader #hashirama senju x reader #tobirama senju #madara uchiha #sfw alphabet #happy birthday #ily hashirama #please marry me

143 notes · View notes

worryinglyinnocent · 4 years ago

Text

Once Upon A Different Time - The Notes for 4B through 7

Here we go! These notes are nowhere near as detailed as the 4A notes and are very rumbelle-centric, but hopefully they’ll give you a good idea of what’s going on nonetheless.

Under a cut because this got super super long.

Season 4B - Queens of Darkness and the Author

General notes:

Maleficent is a major character this season, but only in flashback. Dead is dead, she’s not coming back.

In the past. Aurora’s parents (Stefan and Leah) made a deal with Rumpelstiltskin, the price being their first-born child. Stefan has a trick up his sleeve, as prior to his arranged marriage to Leah he had been in a relationship with Maleficent that resulted in a pregnancy. He plans to take his and Maleficent’s child and give it to Rumpel as his first-born.

Stefan attempts to take Maleficent’s child (Lily), and goes up against Cruella and Ursula. In the scuffle, Lily, Cruella and Ursula all end up in the Land Without Magic, scattered. Lily is taken into care (where she will later meet Emma, call back to season 4A), Cruella and Ursula separately vow to find each other and Lily and return to the Enchanted Forest.

Meanwhile, Maleficent swears revenge on Stefan and Leah and goes to Rumpel for a sleeping curse. He tells her that it’s best administered straight into the blood, and on seeing his spinning wheel in the corner, Maleficent gets an idea.

In the present. Cruella and Ursula have found each other in New York, and have recognised Aurora there (call back to season 3B when Aurora and Mulan were hiding in Neal’s old apartment in New York). They track down the apartment and break in, surprised to find not Aurora (who is back in Storybrooke at this point) but Rumpel (he and Neal are staying in the apartment whilst trying to find a way to reverse Rumpel’s darkening heart). The three of them have a discussion about the idea of the Author controlling everyone’s fates, and they make a plan to try and find the Author.

Neal and Rumpel return to Storybrooke, and Rumpel sneaks Cruella and Ursula into town. (Belle and Neal are aware of this going on and whilst not entirely happy about it, are also intrigued by the idea of the Author.)

Cruella and Ursula also want revenge against Aurora for Lily. Aurora points out that since Stefan and Leah are both now dead, hurting Aurora will not cause them any pain and their vengeance mission is pointless.

Regina infiltrates the QOD Squad, also intrigued by the idea of the Author; but her cover is blown when Cruella and Ursula threaten Roland and she jumps in to save him.

Cruella and Ursula want to rewrite the story so that they stay together and stay with Lily. Regina wants to rewrite the story so that she never killed Marian and she and Robin can be together. Rumpel wants to write out the darkness.

Being back in Storybrooke, Rumpel’s darkening heart takes a turn for the worse and he ends up hospitalised, much like canon 4B but without Zelena (who is definitely 100% dead).

The Author creates a new story which creates a brand new Enchanted Forest (foreshadowing for Season 7). Everyone except Henry is transported there, as Henry was never a character in the first storybook. Henry and the Author fight it out over the quill, with Henry gaining the upper hand and becoming the new Author. He writes himself into the story so that he can go and rescue everyone.

In the new story.

Cruella and Ursula are living happily with Lily.

Emma is a mad witch living in the forest; Neal is the anti-magic witchfinder determined to destroy her.

Regina is a bandit princess a la Snow, Robin is the Sheriff of Nottingham type figure tasked with bringing her down.

Snow as the evil queen and Charming as her henchman.

Belle is the Dark One, Rumpel is the light knight destined to kill her.

Henry convinces them to fight back against their assigned roles, ultimately allowing them to come back to Storybrooke. The New Enchanted Forest is not destroyed, and Henry decides to just let it develop as a new world naturally. After they are all back in Storybrooke, he destroys the quill, vowing that everyone has the right to choose their own fate and the Author is no more.

Back in the present, everyone remembers Rumpel is in the hospital and they rush there to find him flatlining. Belle gives him TLK, which pulls him back from the brink but also untethers the darkness from him. The Dark One heads towards Neal as the next in the bloodline, but Emma jumps in to save him.

Emma vanishes, and Belle sees the name on the dagger change. End season.

Season 5A - Camelot and Dark Swan

Not gonna lie, I have NOTHING for the Camelot arc, other than Merlin arriving and being badass and not dying, and some Dark One history.

Dark Emma is increasingly unstable and goes to Rumpel for help with controlling the darkness. Eventually she does something catastrophic but unintentional that sends Neal to the underworld (he was saving Henry) and triggers the march of the dark ones. Rumpel takes back the darkness from Emma with Belle’s blessing - he’s taking it back to save Emma and make sure no-one else experiences the pain of being the Dark One, not because he wants the power. (This is the moment when Rumpel becomes the Guardian although this is not revealed till season 7.)

Together, Merlin and Rumpel stop the march of the dark ones (combined power of the Dark One and the Light One).

The usual suspects decide to go on a road trip to the Underworld to find Neal.

Season 5B - Underbrooke

Hades is not a villain. Persephone’s a bit of a trickster (she’s a bit bored and wants to liven things up a bit), but Hades is a neutral overseer sworn not to interfere. The drama comes from the characters trying to get to grips with things, there’s no real villain in this half-season.

Although I do want to have an episode entitled ‘Ghosts of Villains Past’ guest-starring Cora, Pan, Zelena and Maleficent (all the villains who died in Storybrooke so far - potentially also Cruella since I don’t know what happens to her and Ursula at the end of 4B...).

Hades gives them a compass to help them navigate the underworld and find Neal. It will point to Rumpel’s son, he says. It immediately points to Belle. “It’s not wrong, it just takes the path of least resistance.” This is how we find out that Belle is pregnant with Gideon.

Neal is found and everyone is returned to Storybrooke safe and well having done a lot of character introspection.

During this season, Neal and Emma and Robin and Regina get their act together and couple up properly, and there are various relationship difficulties to be worked through in...

Season 6 - Gideon and Black Fairy

In the Past. The Blue Fairy, seeking to become the ultimate Good Being, uses a spell to separate her light and dark halves. The dark half, the Black Fairy, is banished to a realm of Darkness, but Blue wants to destroy her completely. Likewise, Black wants to destroy her light half. Both realise that the key to destroying the other is the sacrifice of a child born of both light and dark. This child is Gideon. (This also leads to some hilarity as the Blue Fairy is very concerned to know when Gideon was conceived - if he was conceived during the brief period when Rumpel wasn’t the Dark One back in 5A, then he’ll be of no use to her.)

In the Present. Black Fairy escapes the Dark Realm, bringing Hyde with her. Hyde begins to recreate the serum that split him off from Jekyll.

Regina uses Jekyll’s serum to split off her dark half, the Evil Queen.

Belle is visited by a strange figure in her dreams who warns her about the darkness. Belle thinks that the darkness he refers to is Rumpel’s darkness, but she actually, you know, talks to him about it. Rumpel and Belle dreamwalk to meet the strange figure, who reveals himself to be Gideon and that this is the only way he can speak to them freely.

Blue accelerates Belle’s pregnancy in the hope that Belle will give birth at the convent and she can steal Gid for her own purposes, but it backfires - she ends up giving birth in the pawnshop with only Rumpel and Henry present.

Black steals Gideon and takes him to the Dark realm to prime him as her weapon of mass destruction. Shortly after Gid’s birth and kidnap, he returns as an adult and starts wreaking havoc.

Belle and Rumpel travel to the Dark realm to save baby Gid before he can grow into evil adult Gid. Regina and the Evil Queen go with them. Whilst in the Dark Realm, Regina realises she can’t separate herself from her bad deeds, she can only try to atone for them, and she rejoins with the Evil Queen. In the Dark Realm, Rumpel and Belle are confronted by their own Dark Halves (Dark One and Lacey), but emerge triumphant and save baby Gid.

Blue and Black are forced to merge back together and are defeated. The series ends with a bunch of happy endings - Belle and Rumpel are happy with little Gid, Robin and Regina are together and Regina is pregnant (with the baby who will go on to become Margot in season 7), and Neal and Emma are happy together.

We end with a flashforward to 20 years later with Lucy arriving on Henry’s doorstep.

Season 7 - soft reboot

This season focuses primarily on the next generation alongside adult Henry making up the main cast. Regina and Rumpel are the only recurring characters from the previous seasons, but most of the others will guest at some point.

An eighteen year old Henry decides to travel to the New Enchanted Forest that was created by the Author in season 4B, to see how the new characters are getting on. He meets and falls in love with Rapunzel (still Jacinda, she’s just not Cinderella in this setting), and the Rapunzel-Gothel story takes centre stage. Tiana and Tilly are also here because they’re awesome. Rounding out the rest of the main cast are the now adult Gideon, Roland, and Margot.

Gothel casts the curse to bring everyone to Hyperion Heights from the New Enchanted Forest. Everyone in other realms is unaffected.

Robin, Regina, Rumpel and Belle are all in the NEF at the time of the curse being cast - they were called in by Henry, Gideon and Margot to help with the Gothel problem.

The curse splits up the couples - Regina and Rumpel are in HH, but Robin and Belle are elsewhere in the Land Without Magic, so we don’t see them as regularly. Lucy has to convince everyone to go on a road trip to find them.

(There is NO. TIME. TRAVEL.)

During this season the idea of the Guardian is mooted - Rumpel is already the guardian after the events of 5A, he just doesn’t realise until the powers are at rest and he’s mortal again. Belle and Rumpel have been travelling the realms to find the Guardian. At some point during their travels, they find Tilly.

Tilly is Hook’s daughter in the Land of Untold Stories (call back to season 4A). She is in the care of an unscrupulous guardian after Hook has been presumed drowned. He’s actually gone through a portal to NEF. Tilly is the Little Match Girl. Rumpel and Belle rescue and adopt her and she grows up alongside Gideon.

(Gideon’s traumatic pregnancy and birth mean Belle and Rumpel are unable to have any more biological children.)

At the end, Tilly meets up with Hook and has a Railway Children ‘MY DADDY’ moment after the curse is broken. She still sees Belle and Rumpel as her parents, but she’s glad to have her birth dad back in her life as well.

Gideon is Weaver’s detective partner which leads to much hilarity when Lucy tries to convince them that they’re father and son.

The curse is broken, everyone is reunited, and everyone gets a happy ending.

Gideon and Roland end up in a relationship together, as do Tilly and Margot, and Tiana and Hook look like they’re headed that way too. (Got to pair the spares!)

And... that’s all folks! That’s all I got. Thanks for sticking with me to the end of this rollercoaster!

#Once Upon A Time #Once Upon A Different Time #OUAT fanfiction #rumbelle fic

15 notes · View notes

silyabeeodess · 4 years ago

Text

FusionFall Headcanons: Dexter

While the boy genius is more than confident in his own abilities, he doesn’t really understand what landed him in such a high position in the war effort--enough to pretty much be called the face of the Fusion Fighters. Sure, he has public notice from running Dexlabs, but there were plenty of people with much bigger reputations than his own, like superheroes, who would logically fit the role much better. Even still, it doesn’t change the fact that Dexter has a ton of people looking up to and relying on him.

Dexter’s never really had many friends, and it’s a problem that only grew as he aged and started his company. When Dexlabs formed and he began hiring actual people, he always put up a barrier to maintain a very strict boss-employee relationship with everyone onboard. This couldn’t last forever though the more he had to work directly with others--his research participants causing the biggest change. Since he had to study them during experiments as much as any piece of hardware, he ultimately grew to know them better on a personal level. Not all of them were very... professional, either, coming from different backgrounds, so they didn’t always follow the boundaries Dexter fought to keep in place. Whether he’d admit it or not--even to himself--a lot of them grew on him.

Dexter felt extremely guilty over losing the volunteer(s) to his time-travel experiment. Yes, it was Dee Dee’s fault for interfering and the volunteers understood going-in that there would be some risk involved, but he never expected just how wrong it would go--the time machine destroyed, them left stranded at the literal end of the world, and the creation of wormholes. All he was able to do before losing contact at the initial start of the game was send them the error message we receive from Computress that let they know that they “had travelled much farther into the future than Dexter intended.” Thankfully, he was at least able to track approximately when they would reappear in the timestream--hence his confidence that “they would meet again” in the future.

The event actually strained his and Dee Dee’s relationship for a little while. Personally, he’s used to his sister’s antics by now that--while she can still be complete pest in the lab--he’s better at dealing with her: Dee Dee never meant any harm and they both care deeply for each other’s well-being. The trouble was that her actions put other people in serious danger. He blamed her a great deal for what happened and stayed furious with her for a long while. She stopped showing up at Dexlabs outside of visiting their parents and he refused to have anything to do with her. It wasn’t until the invasion had already started that they began to try to patch things up, neither willing to let the devastation around them give them any further regrets. ��

All the while, Dexter was in full-stress mode for the entire period the volunteers were gone. He kind of lives in this state anyway since he’s an absolute workaholics when it comes to his projects, so add their disappearance and war to that and you get one boy genius who rarely got to sleep. For the botched experiment, he had to find the volunteers, face their panicked families/friends, and deal with bad press for the company. When the invasion hit, he had to do everything possible to fend it off with the rest of Earth’s forces, from creating an insane amount of tech to battle Fuse’s army with to stepping into a number of battles himself. It’s a wonder he didn’t collapse, and the insane amount of pressure weighing onto him gave him all the more reason to work alongside Mandark when the time came for the two of them to swallow their pride and team-up.

Mandark gave Dexter a bit of extra grief for the experiment, but was also quick to reign himself back when he saw how bad the situation was. He hates Dexter as a rival, but there’s still a glimmer of a good person in there somewhere that knows when he’s crossing that kind of line, especially since he has his own subordinates he’s subconsciously gotten attached to. As such, he gave him a bit of a break up until the volunteers returned to the past.

Dexter’s a little closer to his scientists than he used to be now, but he still keeps a lot close to the vest--both personally and in his work. Several would complain that Dexter doesn’t really let anyone help with his experiments until they’re already pretty polished, leaving himself to the actual inventing while they handle late prototypes and such. This is taken to an even bigger extreme with his biggest/most challenging experiments. The only exception is when someone else comes up with an idea Dexter is impressed by. He’s already done so much since childhood that it’s extremely rare and he’s hard to surprise, but if he does genuinely think an employee of his has come up with a good idea that’s beneficial to the company and its tech, he’ll support it and give that person as much credit is due.

As mature as Dexter often behaves, he can still be pretty childish every now and then: He’ll fire insults, often calling people ‘stupid’ if he gets frustrated/annoyed with them, and he still loves a lot of the same media he did when he was younger--like the Justice Friends show. He’ll easily pick a bowl of his favorite cereal that comes with a toy over a fancy dinner with investors. He’s the kind of young adult that could help his parents’ with taxes one minute and then insist that he has to get the latest comic or limited addition Major Glory product--and how dare you if you try to talk him out of it, because he does his job well and has more than enough taros to spend now. He’s also still maintained quite the ego.

Dexter didn’t really mean to take a big of a role as he did in the war effort: It pretty much just fell in his lap. His position on things was very much ‘see a need, fill a need.’ Earth needed to fight Fuse, so he sent robots into battle and helped create nanos. Earth needed to stop the spread of the infection zones, so he worked with Plumbers to develop the forcefields used across the globe. His heavy assistance in both tech and combat, combined with Dexlabs’ fame to the point of becoming a newer household name, drew a lot of attention his way. Furthermore, Dexter’s more commanding personality--for better or worse--made him seem like a natural leader. Give him a pistol and let him take down a few fusion monsters himself and suddenly he’s the perfect figure to rile up an army. While Dexter was still worried about the volunteers, others were quick to forget about the failed experiment since the invasion was such a grave threat.

Because it can feel like the world is literally on his shoulders, Dexter can really hate it at times. He’s happy to have his contributions recognized, but he doesn’t see himself as a war hero. He’d much rather be working away in his lab to explore new ideas, but until they beat back Planet Fusion, that’s impossible. The first thing he wants to do when Earth wins is shut himself away for a while--far from any crowds or cameras--and get back to doing what he loves.

Despite this, he’s really happy when someone he knows treats him normally, as Dexter, not the genius or leader. Normalcy is hard for anyone to find anymore, and while he does want a certain amount of respect, his status is also tiring.

#fusionfall #headcanons #video games

27 notes · View notes