#now i feel a dislike for her like i would anyone who acted so horribly.

[puppybearuniverse]

thinking about the tragedy that is never truly getting to be close with my family. i feel guilty about it sometimes. but then i remember how hard I've tried, my entire life, to connect. and i remember the things they did to me in return. and i remember that it's okay not to have a relationship with them.

[evellynssocbrainrot]

This is mostly to speak in defense of this post made by @starsandscars81

First of all, my intention isn’t to gatekeep anyone else’s take or opinion on this subject matter. If you think differently that’s completely fine. It’s none of my business. 

Anyway, on to the analysis.

Kaz and the Darkling are, without a doubt, two of the most flawed characters in the Grishaverse. They’ve both done bad things and certainly aren’t good people. Even so, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: comparing Kaz to the Darkling is still… extreme. And just not it. By comparison, no matter how much awful stuff Kaz has done, it’s no joke that he is over a million times better than the Darkling. 

The Darkling definitely didn’t start off as an evil character, and all his intentions aren’t horrible either. His main motivation is to help the Grisha, his people who have faced years worth of discrimination. He worked hard and built the second army and the Little Palace, which became a kind of haven for Grisha to come together and exercise their gifts. And coming from someone who dislikes the Darkling, I can tell you now that that is wonderful. I’m glad that he’s doing his best and defending his people. That is great. But even then, you can’t deny that some of the things that the Darkling has done on that path are borderline disgusting. The first being massacring hundreds, if not thousands of innocent people. Even if he’s doing it for the sake of his people, killing so many people who are not at fault is not an act of a selfless hero, but pure villainy and cruelty. And what’s worse is that he did this several times. Not just once, and without second thought. Reminders that these innocent people included harmless children.

The rest of the horrible deeds he’s done all come down to his treatment of Alina Starkov (and a bit of Genya Safin, as well). Whether you like Darklina or not, never forget or sugarcoat the idea that he ABUSED her. He may have loved her, he may have understood her, but he hurt her. Over and over again. He lied to her and hid his true intentions. He placed a collar on her and touched her without consent. He stole her power and claimed her as if she was nothing but an object. He was possessive of her and emotionally tormented her even after she ran away. He killed the only mother figure she had and completely destroyed her childhood home. He was absolutely disgusting. There is nothing at all to forgive and redeem. He was already beyond redemption when he created the Fold. And once again, IT DOESN’T MATTER if he loved her. It doesn’t matter at all when he did nothing but hurt her to such extreme amounts and would have continued to if he ever won, or if Darklina actually became canon. 

And what makes the Darkling even worse is that he doesn’t regret any of it. This is where he truly can be labeled as a heartless and cruel monster. He doesn’t express so much as even a sliver of remorse over his inhuman behavior. He doesn’t feel bad. He doesn’t reflect on it or think about it. In fact, he still believes himself to be in the right. He doesn’t even realize how awful he is. Doesn’t show any sign of improving himself. I mourn the person he could have been. I mourn Aleksander Morozova. But I will never defend the person he is today. I will always believe that the death he was given was far too light and SHOULD have been worse. It’s what he deserves. 

He didn’t start evil, but he became evil. He had hundreds of years to rethink his actions but never did. He wanted to defend his people, but you don’t do that by expanding the Fold and causing further destruction. You don’t do that with pointless mass murder. He loved Alina, but you don’t express that by ruining her life. Once upon a time, he was a young hurt boy, but now he’s nothing but a revolting, monstrous and horrible psychopath.

With that said, now I’ll move on to Kaz.

He is not a good person. I’ll tell you that now. I’m not at all defending the bad things that he’s done. Neither am I ignoring his bad qualities. He is manipulative, cruel, and violent. When he freed Inej from the Menagerie, his intentions weren’t to save her, but to temporarily make use of her skills. I know this, and I’m not dismissing it.

But here are some things that set him apart from the Darkling.

The first being that almost everything Kaz does has reason. There is ALWAYS a reason. His rage is targeted at hyper-specific people. People who deserve it. He killed Oomen, but because he hurt Inej to the point that she nearly died. He dropped a man from a tower, but because that man blackmailed a Zemeni sex worker. He destroyed Van Eck and his empire, but because Van Eck was a bitch. He spent all his life trying to crush Pekka Rollins, and he did, but because Pekka ruined his life. “Kaz Brekker always had his reasons.” The Darkling had no reason to commit mass murder and hurt Alina. 

The second thing is boundaries. The Darkling didn’t have fucking boundaries. Kaz, on the other hand, no matter the amount of violence and destruction he commits, never crosses some lines. He never ever raped or sexually assaulted anyone, he never hurts innocent people, he never hurts children, and never actually spread firepox around the city of Ketterdam. 

The third being awareness. This is a big one. The Darkling, in his path of vengeance, hardly considers his environment, the people around him, who he should get mad at and who he shouldn’t. And even after the horrible deed is done, as I said before, there’s no remorse and regret. For Kaz it’s the opposite. He is hyper aware of where he is. Who he’s with. He’s careful and considerate. And for some of the horrible things he’s done, despite how understandable and trauma-inflicted they are, he regrets them. He feels bad. He knows he’s not a good person. He knows he is awful. He knows he isn’t worthy of Inej. When he was drowning in the waters of Fjerda, it wasn’t himself he was thinking of. It was his crew, Inej. He was worried for them. He blamed himself for the positions they were in and vowed that no matter what, he would save them. He would fix this mess. The same applies in the next book, when they were all trapped in the Geldrenner hotel. It’s himself Kaz blamed, nobody else. 

We don’t even need to tell Kaz that he’s awful. Because he already knows it and wholeheartedly believes it. And unlike so many other similar male characters in YA fiction, Kaz desperately wished that he could change. Perhaps he doesn’t say this openly, but you know deep down that he doesn’t want to be this way. He doesn’t want this life or the trauma. 

Speaking of the trauma, so much of what Kaz does is because of it. Does it excuse his behavior? Certainly not. But it does help with understanding why. And even now, the consequences he suffers from the trauma are bad, but still don’t excuse what he does. Kaz himself thinks so. 

Kaz was a boy who was hurt, like the Darkling was. He lost someone important, like the Darkling did. But the way he responded to that was immensely different. Even the desire for money is understandable when you realize that the lack of it was what made him and his brother end up on the streets. And the money he got, he literally spent a large portion of it to buy Inej a ship and remake the Emerald Palace into the Silver Six. And before that, he gave up the last of it he had left to pay off Inej’s contract.

AND, speaking of Inej. Only someone extremely stupid would say that the way he treats her is the same as the way the Darkling treats Alina. The dynamic is messy and flawed, but they are young. It’s understandable if they fail from time to time. But overall, Kaz respects Inej. He adores Inej. He’s devoted to Inej. He’s loyal to Inej. He wouldn’t betray or abandon her for all the gold in the world. He’s protective of her, but not possessive. When he sees other people get close to her, he’s jealous. But not because he wants to keep Inej to himself, but because he wants to be able to get close to her like that as well. He realizes the wrong ways he treats her, and then proceeds to claim that he isn’t so bad that he can’t pull himself together for her. He spends a good portion of Crooked Kingdom going out of his way to make up for his behavior and it shows. It doesn’t make him any better a person, but it does make him a far better lover. A worthy book boyfriend <333.

Outside of Inej, you can see how much he cares about his crew. He protects them, he the Parem from Nina, he refuses to give it to Jesper, he gives Wylan advice like a big brother, he gave them all time to rest and recharge in the Geldrenner hotel while dragging his aching body all the way to the Slat to gather more people for his plan. He gave his crew every single resource he had left and even then, contributed alongside them when putting his plan to action. The Slat and the Dregs themselves have become a safe space for young people who don’t have a family or a place to go. He may be selfish with the world, but with them he’s nothing but the most selfless person to ever exist. 

The list is endless, honestly, but this is why it doesn't make any sense to compare Kaz to the Darkling. If I were in a life and death situation, and I was forced to put my trust in one person, Kaz or the Darkling, I would choose Kaz in a heartbeat.

Damn, this took way too long.

[melancholiaenthroned]

ok ive slept on it i feel like i can talk about the ep better now... basically whats craziest to me is that if any of it was intentional it could be so good. i dont think wed ever actually get a season where the bad kids r protrayed as in the wrong, but if they were a little more self aware the ways that theyve also been overtaken by rage could be seen. gorgug especially, and especially because it was channeled through porter's mentorship, who the bad kids can conceptualize as manipulating gorgug but not the rat grinders. its interesting because esp w/o their favorite npcs this season the bad kids have rlly closed in on themselves and become a lot more codependent, seeming to constantly suspect anyone new of possibly betraying them. which in a meta way makes sense, cuz its players v brennan, but in universe it comes across as crazy paranoid and cliquey and theyre just so unaware of it that any way it could have come across as interesting comes across as frustrating instead. like a lot of what they do and say to the rat grinders comes across as straight up bullying, and they genuinely seem to derive pleasure from putting them down. which again, in a meta way makes sense, but in universe it makes u wonder WHY were meant to find the rat grinders dislike of the bad kids so horrible when the bad kids hatred is justified. even kipperlily at her worst thoughts -- those are thoughts she shared in therapy. are we meant to begrudge a 17 year old girl speaking to her therapist about her feelings? not even actions, literally just thoughts in her head? that she was again sharing, and probably couldve worked through if not for magical interference, confidentially in therapy? were meant to hate ruben, who doesnt even LIKE kipperlily either, who didnt start becoming the person the bad kids seem to hate until AFTER he died and was magically resurrected changed. why? oh because hes an enemy and this is a battle episode and hes on the field. ruben acting in what is quite literally self defense and being told "you were a waste of time" and having no idea whats going on and responding "what do you mean? youre killing my friends!" i swear to god if that insight check on buddy hadnt been a nat 1 i think we honestly would have gotten a whole different episode

[cry-ptidd]

After reading your backstory on Laura, can I understand if you may dislike it, because at least to me, it does remind me a bit of Alucard backstory, ie suffering horrible abuse, rape and other acts upon him, much like how Laura suffered in the monastery. If I could change one thing, and it's not to say whatever your idea of her and her experience is bad, I love the tragedy, but the thing I would change/add is this:

After she gets bitten, instead of being sent to the monks, her father keeps her around as slowly lose control until eventually she loses control and transform and ends up killing someone and of course this horrify her, so she ran away, trying to not hurt anyone but her beastly side grows and grows until she is shallow by it. Her identity merged and twists until she was nothing but a beast in human skin, her humanity buried under her more murderous personal.

Even when she is hit by her father, the innocent girl is gone, now a monster who barely remembers what she once was but knows her existence is cursed one. Despite this, perhaps the humanity she has forgotten is not lost forever, perhaps it can return or be lost for good.

Sorry, really don't want to change it but I just want to say my thoughts on her backstory. I'm not suggesting you change anything; I just want to say my thoughts. Would love to hear your thoughts or learn if you've changed her backstory in anyway.

An interesting idea! It'd absolutely be worth exploring, with a big beast/human theme.

That said, I don't think it lines with what I aimed for Laura's character. With her story I wanted to explore a few themes, especially how a community can fail one of their own, the hypocrisy of organized religion and how people tend to look away in the face of a tragedy, which can all lead to a path of resentment and anger in the victim(s). Not only that, but her story is also basically a revenge fantasy of my own feelings about my own assault, where a woman's anger can run rampant and justice be delivered to her abusers. However in a more realistic scenario (as realistic as a story with a werewolf can be), that would not be the end of it at all.

Here are a few themes I wanted to explore with Laura's character, in no particular order:

Several of these would need a bit of explanation, but it's generally what I was aiming for.

[indiestsnake]

Is it an unpopular opinion to say mouthwashing would’ve been a better, more nuanced story if Jimmy wasn’t an absolutely inhumane monster before the story even started?

Idk. I’m gonna talk about it. Mouthwashing is a video game btw, and its plot contains some messed up stuff. Warning for mention of severe SA, suicide, and probably some gore here and there. Also spoilers! Go play or watch it, it’s such a good fucking game holy shit.

Btw I fucking love this game as is and don’t think it’s bad. Not hating, just speaking out my tiny grievance with the plot. Again, I love this game!!!! And I don’t need it to change to be good. Now, with that out of the way.

So. I’m not saying I don’t hate Jimmy. Fuck that guy, he’s a horrible person. End of sentence. The meme of never saying his name in fandom is so goddamn funny.

But if he wasn’t, I think the story would’ve been more interesting.

Mouthwashing is a psychological horror game. It it about human beings with human flaws having human reactions to human (if complicated) situations. Is Swansea a bad person for killing Diasuke? Complicated, because he believed (arguably knew for certain) that Jimmy’s delusions of grandeur and “fixing” everything would only make him suffer. Anya swallows all the pills, the pills she knows are the only thing between Curly and endless agonizing pain. But… it’s more complicated. Because Jimmy emotionally abused, SA’d, and bullied her into thinking she was better off dead. Everyone is extremely human, even Curly. He’s just a dude who got lucky with his talents, but wants something different from what he got.

Except Jimmy.

Jimmy is horrible to the point of parody. Especially in the fandom. And I get why. He non-consensually got Anya pregnant (I don’t like using the word okay shush) on a spaceship. When he knew they wouldn’t see another human face for over a half a year. Maybe more. That amount of horrific selfishness for five minutes of pleasure is not only completely inhumane, but downright idiotic in all faucets. He is not just a horrible person, he is a complete fucking moron. I genuinely struggle to believe anyone would be dumb enough and evil enough to do that, and maybe that’s a me thing. Feel free to say if that makes sense to you, but to me, it messes with suspension of disbelief.

And it also devalues so much of his later actions and guilt. Jimmy cuts off Curly’s fucking leg and feeds it to him because he is that mad with guilt and a want to fix things. That kind of nuanced insanity, extremely human insanity is such an interesting concept. But he’s not just a regular human. He is a complete fucking idiot and monster. It feels like just another act of idiocy. What about this in particular made him go crazy? Why not his rampant lashing out at his friends? Why not his assault of Anya? If he was just a below-average moral person, a struggling but ultimately good-hearted friend, Anya’s semi-awful boyfriend, his guilt would make so much more sense and feel so much more meaningful. But I struggle to believe such a horrible person would feel such deep guilt.

And there’s the fandom shenanigans I’ve seen claiming evidence for Jimmy emotionally abusing both Anya and Curly. I haven’t seen everything the game has firsthand, so i won’t comment on the realness of that. I choose to believe it as overhating (because remember, this is fiction. Jimmy is not real. You don’t need more reasons to dislike him.) because Curly treats Jimmy like a friend and calls him a friend. At least before the crash.

TLDR, I struggle to believe someone as awful as Jimmy would go mad with guilt to the point of doing what he did. That being, condemning Curly to live twenty-something years of endless agony and misery off a piece of his own leg and then putting a gun in his mouth. I think the story would be more nuanced and interesting if he was more of a normal, slightly-below average dude.

That being said, I love the story as is and it’s amazing. And the SA representation is good and makes Anya’s character arguably better. And hating on good ol Jennifer is kinda funny. So yeah. Cool game. I should really draw smthn for this fandom soon…

[honey-minded-hivemind]

Two thoughts came to me, regarding the Platonic Yandere Gargoyles AU, so this will be the first idea I had: If Elisa was protecting someone/had someone put under her care...

I'm imagining this would be someone (a preteen, teen, or young adult), who either saw a crime and are unsafe, as the one who did it is still after them because they're a witness, or Reader could be someone who survived a crime. Reader would be vulnerable, but so closed off due to what happened, that they have a hard time trusting anyone around them. They believe just because someone acts like they care doesn't always mean they do, so they struggle when trying to figure out if Elisa really is good, or if she will hurt them or use them to her own advantage.

What would Elisa think of all of this? She would feel angry, at whoever scared or hurt Reader. She'd feel protective, in a way, especially if Reader is younger than her. She wants to know what happened, so she can help catch who did the crime that scarred Reader, but Reader is very tight-lipped. And she thinks no one, especially not someone that young, should ever feel unsafe around those who can help them. She'd act like a really protective, understanding older sister. If Reader was younger, she might even act like their mom or aunt.

I think she would slowly try to introduce the gargoyles to Reader. Or try to bring Reader up a few times, especially if it's a talk about taking care of younger siblings/kids. She wants them and Reader to be friends, but she isn't sure what's best. On the one hand, it's going to happen eventually. Reader knows she is seeing a few people, who she says she's trying to help around the city. On the other hand, Reader has a habit of getting paranoid if they think someone is lying. So she does her best not to lie, and wouldn't want Reader to close themself off because of hiding the gargoyles. An idea she has is pretty simple: Let the gargoyles see Reader from afar, and let Reader see the gargoyles during the day. So they can all get used to each other.

(She tries not to laugh when Reader sees their statue forms, because they lit up like a Christmas tree, and she hasn't seen them that happy, ever). And now she knows that Reader doesn't mind gargoyles. Now, showing the gargoyles Reader, she does her best to explain what she can. And she would feel more sound in knowing them when they see Reader doing things to help people, or simply to help Elisa (and maybe she didn't even know they did it). So, now she knows that so far, her new friends and her ward seem to like each other from afar. Thus leads to...

Introducing them.

And she feels a bit nervous the entire time, especially since it's dark, and she doesn't want Reader to be scared or hateful of her friends... Except when the gargoyles awaken... Reader is quiet. But they aren't screaming or running or recoiling in disgust. No... They're simply watching. Giving proper introductions isn't hard, it's just a bit... quiet. Let's say one of them asks why Reader is being shy... And Reader responds that they're just... they're not scared of them, they don't dislike them, they're just... a lot bigger than them. But they do find them pretty cool, and Elisa has only ever said good things about them, so they'll believe her on that.

Thus, the gargoyles have a new friend/sibling, and Elisa gets to have them all be friends.

(And also added protection for Reader, once she realizes that if anything happened to her, they'd avenge her, so if anything happened to Reader... yeah, she thinks it was a good idea to be friends with them).

(And let's say Reader eventually tells them all what happened to them or what they witnessed. And they're holding Elisa's hand the entire time, trying not to cry. The crime they witnessed/were subject to was horrible, enough so that they've never been able to talk about it until then. Elisa only knew a little, from evidence that had been gathered and what Reader said in their sleep, but otherwise? This is the first time she's heard the entire story. And it makes her want to cry, too. The gargoyles are possibly there, too. When they hear what happened... some of their eyes start to glow, and there is brimming, boiling anger and protective instincts about to overflow. But they do what they can to offer comfort, and to listen. Reader is reassured once they've finished, that no one thinks less of them, and that they're loved. And now that they know what the perpetrator/s look like, and possibly their names, they can now bring them to justice... The group does hug, and for once Reader feels safe, after what happened to them...)

(Once whoever did the crime is found... if it's Elisa who finds them, she will either bring them in, and they stay in jail, due to Reader's story/witness now being known to the NYPD... or she will help the gargoyles hunt whoever did it down... If the gargoyles find whoever did it... They have no qualms in ending them for good. This person/s hurt one of their own, and a young one, at that. And that is not forgiven... No matter who actually catches or ends the one/s who did it, they let Reader know that the person/s aren't around anymore... And if there is a bit of red on their jacket or claws... It's only from a minor injury or a small cooking mishap. There is no need to worry about it...)

Part 2: Enter Xanatos...

[reallapiscake12]

Follow up to this post

i meant to do a fullbody but im burntout rn so

Prickly Parker Bigger Body

Once a worker for Playtime CO, Parker is now another devoted follower of the Prototype much like Catnap. Some Facts about the Bigger Body:(BELOW THE READMORE)

like stated in the first post Parker is Genderfluid, They go by any pronoun mainly He/She/They/It. PRE HOUR OF JOY Parker before being turned into a bigger body was actually one of the workers of playcare( possibly working in the lab i havent decided yet). She however grew to dislike playtime due to their mistreatment of the children of playcare, and planned to expose Playcare's horrible secret. Their plan was found out however and to prevent them from ever revealing the truth they were turned into a bigger body of Prickly Parker. Parker doesn't remember their life before the surgery, the only thing they remember is their feelings towards playcare and playtime entirely. Parker's spines work like actual quills for the most part, and can be incredibly dangerous due to their size. The wounds they leave can also lead to horrible infections if they're not treated quickly, this was found out the hard way. Parker's first moments in his new body were quite hectic, he was in a state of shock and very hostile, trying to defend himself and refusing to let anyone approach him. After some more pushing they went one the offensive and started to attack those nearby before being sedated. The incident ended in 2 causalities. It would take a long time before Parker was deemed tame enough to interact with children, but plenty of precautious were taken to make sure another freakout didn't happen. One of these precautions were that It's quills needed to be trimmed down so that children and staff wont be able to injure themselfs from them, They do regrow quickly (even quicker when under stress) so the quills have to be trimmed bi weekly. (The trimmings are painful to Parker however and leaves them with painful aches that still persist even after the hour of joy) She rarely gotten along with other people, the only people she even tolerated were the children and Dogday...aswell as the prototype. Actually Parker might've communicated with the prototype before their change, seemingly getting along with it. Parker only grew more and more distant from everyone as the years gone by and the hour joy grew near, starting to act hostile towards the other bigger bodies and even some of the children who gotten too touchy for her. The Staff of playcare were considering "retiring" them as their attitude only gotten worse, them getting into a fight with Catnap being one of the final straws. That was until the Hour Of Joy happened. POST HOUR OF JOY

Parker is one of the few other Smiling Critters who was spared by Catnap, due to his shared devotion towards the prototype. They even shared some of the responsibility of torturing those who wouldn't bend to the prototype's will. Additionally they're also one of the only other smiling critters who is able to put up a fight against him, one of their fights they were able to seriously injure Catnap before the Prototype intervened. Despite the two being loyal to the prototype they do NOT get along together, Catnap despises Parker and hates having to work with someone who is "inferior" only tolerating her presence due to the prototype. Parker has their own territory that's aways from playcare and is closer to the labs, they stay there most of the time until they need to feed, which they will ascend into Playcare to go hunting. Their territory is made up of an warehouse area that resides between the Labs and Playcare, the majority of the area is filled with traps and snares built by Parker with spare scrap they were able to scavenge aswell as their own quills. Parker is not as horrifically skinny as Catnap is( though that's not saying much), Parker will often hunt down any mini critters it comes across that stray too far from the playhouse, sometimes even venturing into the playhouse when Catnap isn't around just to kill them. She has an intense hatred for the Mini critters, seeing them as worthless pests that are beneath her, only ever being useful as food. Its unknown why she hates them more than any other toy in playcare. Parker is sometimes referred to " The Preacher" as he would try to convince the "heretics" to submit to the prototype and accept it as their savior, only resorting to torture when they resist more.

Parker seems to really like insects just like it's cartoonself, it's favorites being roaches,moths, and spiders. They're also the only living creatures that are allowed in her territory without being eaten.

[hottiemcdottie]

Hello. I hope you are doing well.

I'm a new fan of Monk, and I have a question about Tony/Monk and Bitty/Sharona.

I have started to read your fanfiction novel, Mr. Monk and The Port, and I like Monk's and Sharona's chemistry already. The only thing I dislike is the cursing, which is just a personal preference. I know you are a big shipper of the two, and so am I, but I just was wondering if you ship Tony and Bitty as well?

In some of your post, you mentioned both Tony's and Bitty's choice of action. I never put that much thought into it. I just thought the two are incredible actors, which they are.

I sense that you ship Tony/Monk and Bitty/Sharona behind the sences, and with their unmatchable chemistry and double act, do you think anything ever happened between them behind the scenes? I'm not counting on it because Tony is married, but I would like to hear your thoughts.

Another question, how do you think Tony, as well as the main cast, responded to Bitty Schram leaving? There's no comment on anyone's behalf, besides the network's statement. The cast's chemistry is really good. Everyone played their part well. It saddens me that Bitty left because of a contract disruption, or the reason she truly left, because she truly made the show. This is talked alot, but the way the writers have written Sharona's leaving was horrible.

Anyways, thank you for responding in advance. Take care!

Hello friend!

I see you have caught onto my not-so-subtle hints!

Unfortunately, as Bitty Schram is currently out in Idaho and appeared recently on a MAGA podcast (without video), I have had to give up my ship, as I can of course not support anyone who stands with MAGA. She was not asked to appear in the Monk movie, and that's justified in my opinion.

But yes, before this I did think Tony and Bitty had at least done a tiny bit of kissing off-screen. I don't think he would cheat on his wife in any substantial capacity, so that's just speculation. They had major chemistry though, and it was clear they adored each other and that never changed. It's the root of the double act they were able to create.

And I still think Adrian and Sharona would have been a good match when he'd done some recovering. I think Monk very obviously was in love with Sharona and she loved him back. I think Bitty was pretty clear on it because she said in an interview that Sharona (and she herself) "loves him no matter what" which is a nice statement. And of course Tony said he couldn't think of any other guest star in the 8th season that mattered to him, which was VERY sweet. The writers even said they wrote Sharona as the exasperated wife.

It was also so sweet to see how excited and happy he was to have her back for the 8th season. I hated the storyline but you could see the love and chemistry had gone nowhere. Their acting choices really did reflect their feelings for each other and I loved that.

I'm disappointed in Bitty Schram, of course, given that I would have expected much better from an East Coast, NYC-adjacent artist, but I have to shrug at it too. When MAGA loses in November, they'll go back to whatever they were doing before and maybe she'll come back to the East Coast. Who knows?

So the original reason for her firing was stupid and inept management, and she did deserve better than she got. And I do think she had massive chemistry with Tony Shalhoub and that for me translated into potential for romance once Monk did some recovering.

I like to think that now that he lives in New York with Molly, Sharona comes to the city to see him.

Also thanks so much for reading the fic! It's the ending I would have wanted for them before the movie came out.

[oaxleaf]

mag 187 - checking out

instinctually, i want to say that helen is not a person. not just in the sense that she's humanoid but not quite human, but in the sense that she's about as much human as a computer program immitating humanity. an external expression of charm and friendliness and complex thought and motivation, but really just a cog in a larger machine

but here's the issue: she was genuinely scared of him. she must have been. not threatened by or wary of him, but rather feeling true fear, an actual emotion, for it to have been a lie

it's hard to figure out where the intersection between human and illusion starts and ends. if it's even there. i think that even us as a fandom has a hard time reconing with the fact that the things we like most about her were probably just fabrications to make us like her. she was so well written that us, the audience, were able to ignor her horrible actions too (which, tbh, is really rare with female characters. their negative actions tend to turn us far more against them than men's, and the fact that i've yet to come across anyone who deeply dislikes her for what she did is testament to how excellent her charm was written)

helen was also an opportunity for projection. she often acted as a voice for the audience, commenting on the same things we would and thus further endearing her to us, but she also functioned as something for jon to project his view of the original helen on. it's this strange intersection of both disliking her fortaking helen away and not being able to remove the fondness he had for her even if she's now another creature's face. it further allowed her to perform questionable actions without him never letting her back in, even if it was always very grudgingly. she uses his idea of what helen might've been to her advantage, and even though he knew what she was, jon's always struggled to seperate knowledge and understanding and acceptance. which is why i think this statement is really important - it shows helen from an outside perspective. no personal relationship, no complicated projections of wants and needs, but just her as the pure manifestation of horror she truly is

helen was an excellent character, and this episode blew my mind the first time i listened to it. i'm sad to see her go, but it was necessary, and goddamn was she great from start to finish. top five character, easy

[thegeminisage]

it's star trek update time!! last night* we watched tng's "gambit part i" and ds9's "invasive procedures." *earlier tonight but i am typing this at stupid o clock and letting it post itself tmrw.

gambit part i (tng):

had high hopes for this one initially. i love it when they put on civilian clothes, for starters, and also we got a little riker e worf e deanna before we ALSO got e beverly and the joke about her 1. being riker's sister (shoutout to that trill episode where she wouldn't fuck him at first because she said he was like a brother to her) and 2. picard getting her knocked up BECAUSE LIKE HE ABSOLUTELY DID KNOCK HER UP WITH WESLEY CRUSHER THEIR AFFAIR BABY really sent me to the fucking stratosphere. tng's been pretty watchable lately so i was giving it quite a lot of benefit of the doubt

unfortunately, we went directly from that to riker yelling at deanna for no reason...i always really disliked riker's relationship with picard. he's so weirdly hyperprotective of him in a way beyond his job duties. it doesn't feel like coworkers or friends or equals or even like it's supposed to be secretly shippy the way spock and jim were - riker is too overprotective for it to even be likened to a lover's realtionship. it also doesn't even really feel fatherly, like picard is stepping in for riker's shitheel of a dad. actually, riker almost acts like picard is HIS child. it is SOOO fucking unsexy and uncomfortable

physically grinding my teeth once picard DID show back up because with ANY other two characters this would have been fantastic. riker and worf. riker and deanna. riker and literally anyone because he has that kind of chemistry and down to clown attitude. even picard could have been ok paired with beverly or data or someone he actually works well with. it could have been ANYONE. even two people who don't talk to each other much like geordi and deanna or whatever. instead we got these like truly fantastic moments of noverbal communication and mutual scheming and pretending not to know each other while actually knowing each other sooo well and it was with the LEAST fun combination of characters out of the ENTIRE cast!!!!!!! augh

AND!!!! IT'S ALL FOR STUPID ARCHAEOLOGYYYY

PICARD GET A LIFE CHALLENGE!!!!!!!!!!

it's not even that the writing was bad. i'm annoyed because the writing in this section was GOOD. but picard and riker's relationship is bad, so it soured the whole experience

anyway, i think riker should have battled his eyelashes at that wrinkled little alien when he wanted info from him. instead of whatever that was. also he was making REALLY good faces when they were torturing him with that neck thing and he was on the floor. that's a rage glare. a kill you look. mwah

oh side bar i physically could not look at geordi this episode. so that's been fun.

invasive procedures (ds9):

oh girl we are In It

firstly, odo's little bucket prison. that was SO sad because he doesn't goop in front of people. i felt horrible for him. my poor best friend odo

i really like how ambiguous it is like how much of jadzia dax is jadzia and how much is dax. does dax have his? her? their? own personality and all, or are they just the sum of their past hosts? when dax was inside that other guy, did part of them want to get out and go back to jadzia where they chose to be to begin with? to save jadzia's life? or do they not care? is dax themself not super sentient unless they're inside a host and then that host's personality is sort of dominant? so many questions.........trills are fascinating conceptually bc there's no clear definitive answers, so i was really dismayed that dax was easily the most boring character in season 1. but now!!!!!

ok, before we get into it, i have to say also, the cast rallying around dax/jadzia...really really good. actually, all their interactions with one another were spot on. bashir being SO NICEYS with odo's little bucket prison and then quark also springing odo from the bucket prison, bashir absolutely chomping at the BIT to treat o'brien's phaser wound, kira threatening quark on jadzia's behalf, quark tackling that klingon to save her/redeem himself. oh yeah and kira saying with her Whole chest that if odo's free there's no way any of the bad guys are escaping the station. my future otp......................

speaking of quark i did say the worst thing in the world to catherine while we were watching which is "this is what he sounds like when odo's plowing him" and the longer the noises went on the worse it became for her and the funnier it became for me. cathy when you read this you have my apologies

i did feel a little weird about julian stroking jadzia's face when she was naked and vulnerable recovering from worm surgery (the worm surgery was GREAT by the way) when she has explicitly and repeatedly turned him down in the past, but i'm giving it a reluctant benefit-of-the-doubt pass on account of he felt terrible about what he'd had to do and probably just wanted to comfort her, and considering the state she was in there weren't very many other ways/places to touch her except her head and maybe her hands. also i forgive him because him talking back to that klingon was sooo fun

i would have also liked for this episode to push on the insanity of being bonded to a symbiont and then being forcibly unbonded. like its just now striking me that curzon died alone. beverly's little trill boyfriend died alone. jadzia would have died alone, too. and the dax part just has to move on. like that's crazy. does dax grieve for past hosts? or would it be like grieving for yourself? what is it like seeing dax inside another body when they've been inside yours for almost your entire adult life?

but actually what i really wanted was to see this bad guy's insanity reflected in jadzia. instead of saying oh man i feel so alone she could have been like. more of a wreck. and conversely, he would have been that same kind of wreck after dax got taken back out of him. that would have been cool.

i would also like to know how the dax part felt about forcibly being put in another body they never wanted to be. are they fighting with themselves? himself? the host wants things to stay as they are but dax doesn't, so what happens? does it not feel like an awful violation? i could have used 5 more minutes of that episode

also. sorry. dax and sisko................"i wish we could have made it three" it's, sorry, toph and aang and korra core. do you think friendships can last more than one lifetime...........

icing on the cake was that he was so mad at the bad guy whose name i keep forgetting that he was like DONT CALL ME BENJAMIN and shot his ass stone cold. bc that was better than letting his friend be taken by this asshole lol

anyway, my final dax question is when does her hair get smaller. her head is such a weird shape. is she wearing a wig, is that's what's happening? and the rest of her head just looks weirdly big because of it? it's making me crazy.

NEXT TIME: tng's "gambit part ii" and ds9's "cardassians" AND I LOOKED IT UP AND GARAK IS FINALLY BACK!!!!!!! i can't wait....................

[daincrediblegg]

sunrise and empty plate?

OOOOOOOOO THESE ARE SUCH GOOD QUESTIONS OK OK

🌅 (Sunrise) - Do you have ambitions or plans on going on an arctic expedition in real life? If so, was it directly inspired by the show, or was your interest in the show because you already had these goals? If not, what things do you dislike about the prospect? (The temperature is a given!)

OH this is a fun one! Actually, after watching that doc on the discovery of the endurance the other day I had a thought that I would LOVE to put a documentary together on the discoveries that have been made about the Franklin expedition in recent years (namely the discovery of JFJ and, hopefully, more of the men in the future. like god I would love to be on the ground floor if they ever found crozier like holy shit that's the dream) because last year I did a short documentary for my final project in my production class that I am still really proud of where I had to do everything myself from setting up interviews to shooting all of the footage and the audio myself and then of course editing it all together into the final product and I honestly had a really fun time doing it and I would absolutely LOVE to put something together that does justice not just to the men who were lost themselves but also the people who are trying to find them (like I especially think about how horribly misrepresented Fabienne was in what I believe was that nyt article about it that they interviewed her for in light of the discovery) and I would love to meet that challenge also of representing this incredible community that is a mix of fans of the show and fans of the history who are so enthusiastic about these discoveries as well. I just think it would be a really neat project to do and of course I would love to go up to king william island and beechey for some B-roll, or even to get some new footage of the ships themselves, or of what they have in research labs that people are working on right now.

🍽️ (Empty plate) - List some characters you think you’d have an interesting dynamic with, if you were on the expedition with them. They don’t all have to be from the same ship, the relationships do not have to be romantic or sexual (but could be!), and for the sake of clarity we’re going off the interpretation of these characters as they exist in the AMC show. Would you fall for anyone? Would they reciprocate? Would you butt heads with anyone? Why?

God I mean honestly... I think that the way I've written Lady Terror is a pretty good metric for how I think I would interact with the characters if I was there. Though she has definitely evolved from the average self-insert and I don't think her interactions are always 1:1 with what I would do (even though I do try to be honest about levels of action and inaction and try and consolidate ideas about how I would react as a modern person with how someone who was living in the time period would act and react to things) I feel like the interpersonal pushes and pulls she has with the characters and the way her views change over time feel very natural to how I would react to things given the context. I do definitely gravitate towards people like Francis and Blankey and Goodsir irl (aka the experienced but kind, the bawdy but with a heart of gold, and the massively sweet nerds who are also actually really strong and don't let their kindness allow them to just roll over and take shit from people) and I think also the cameraderie with Silna would be there too I reckon. That also I would be a little more critical of the lieutenants and probably butt heads with them in conversation. That I would absolutely fucking haaaaaate Hickey. Of course I could not even declare that a romance between myself and Crozier would be a certainty in light of this as well because irl I don't think I guage romantic intent (whether given or received) like that... but fuck it I can dream right?

THE TERROR ASK GAME

[autumn-foxfire]

toga is saving ochako on live tv. i was right the villains were going to be redeemed in the eyes of (some) civilians this way. the contrived situations is why i’m not a fan. quick note, pre plf war i don’t remember the set ups and executions being this bad. week-by-week hori was really good at it, idk what happened.

also looks like hawks might save toga now too. it’s what i expect from him anyway and it feels less impactful because toga isn’t out to hurt anyone anymore so he has no reason to not save her anymore. maybe fandom will get off his case about twice?

Who is going to save the heroes, Ochako asked! Well the villains that caused you to be in this state of course, Horikoshi answered as I try to brain myself on the nearest counter.

From what I've seen from the manga though, I don't think Hawks will be involved because that would have been good writing to include the man who initially caused Toga to actually reflect on her actions due to the consequences they could have.

Honestly it's annoying me how fandom is eating up this fight because of the wlw implications. I've said it before but I wouldn't have too much of an issue with Ochako wanting to reach out to Toga if it had actually been set up well. But no, it went from Ochako disliking Toga for her attempts at the lives of herself and her friends (with the fact that Hori in his attempt to make Toga 'sexy' made these acts come across as sexual in nature which brings up insane issues of consent), to her being angry that Toga killed an innocent women just to be selfish and ask what Ochako would do to her for her crimes and Ochako's answer was that she didn't even fucking care at the moment she's trying to save the people Toga and her 'friends' have condemned to death, to her wanting to save and then reaching out after being nearly murdered by this girl by saying she thinks her smile is the cutest in the world???

Ochako knows NOTHING about Toga's past. We could have had a chapter where Ochako learns that Hawks killed Twice and that Toga was very close to him, to Ochako asking Hawks why he did what he did, to her looking into Toga to find out about her and her circumstances (such as confronting the parents and the counsellors and we can see if their treatment of Toga was truly horrible instead of it being left extremely fucking vague for the purpose of letting the audience fill in the gaps like Hori loves to do) to THEN her reaching out.

It's lazy writing but fandom loves it because it's queer (and I'll probably have people angry at me because I'm critical of said queer writing but as someone who is bisexual so Toga is most likely my representation, I can be annoyed at the sloppy handling of her arc and the unaddressed and toxic traits Hori made her have.)

[sandorsubs]

hi an anon here, im just feeling overwhelmed and healing since i have so many emotional abuse interaction with ppl outside, it kind offended and im internalizing it and worrying my trauma will pop up when im manifesting, cause till today i feel vulnerable how they look at me, like i dont do anything to ppl and they hate and piss off to me, im a very spiritual person and its obviously i tend to be sensitive, im also insecure and worried if i have a bad energy or its just a reflection of their bad energy.

hi there anon. i don't think you have bad energy first of all. being a spiritual person can be tiring sometimes. i kinda felt that you are an empath. so you need to protect your energy. carrying our past is so tiring when it's mixed with our old harmful habits. for example you may realize you have same pattern in relationships because of your previous experiences. but you are not stuck in past even if it feels like it. according to your assumptions you may still attract negative people around you. i'll listen things you may want to be interested in because i've been there, i am still healing. most important thing is your will to heal. since you have that i hope you find this useful.

of course i will suggest therapy first because it's mind opening and makes us realize a lot. all healing process is like breaking a wrong healed bone to make it heal better again. but don't condition yourself it'll be hard or scary. it's fresh breath seriously.

you are the most important person in your life. this is a realization should hit somewhere in your life. it's cheesy to read it on self-motivation pages ik. don't just affirm but think about it. when a people pleaser say yes to something they don't want, who experience the discomfort? they do. being rejected isn't worse than discomfort. every grown up person should deal with rejection. but a people pleaser would rather feel discomfort than making someone feel rejected. whose team are you on? always check you feel good, comfortable and respected when you are with people. if you completely focus on other people's wants and opinions, you'll neglect yourself. but your life comes first.

as a previous people pleaser i used to imagine myself as someone else (since i am kinder to strangers) to be able to help myself. but do i bully other people? no. i didn't even write a single hate message in my life but oh the things i told myself...to the mirror. then i realized "i'm not surprised why i hate myself" because i treat myself very shitty. i neglect her, i shut her down, i bully her, i reject her requests. but i expect to be happy. how? according to external validation but it's sooo temporary if you don't love yourself. you experience this life yourself, you should love yourself most because they are always with you. please practice self love, external validation is out. it makes you weak and open to manipulation.

who can tell you who you are? you have been your own best friend from the start. you should know everything about yourself. but do you? do you really think you have bad energy? write down about yourself. your life, things you are proud of, your dislikes. this sounds so basic and you may struggle first but i promise you'll amaze yourself. don't be humble just be honest. even our families says horrible things to us sometimes. we think they are right just because it's family and they're close bla bla. but you can stop and not accept what they say. because you know yourself better than anyone. no one can make you doubt.

about past traumas. write everything down. literally every single thing you are offended by, every person that hurt you. now since you love yourself and know yourself, trust me you'll have a different perception. you'll know why you acted like that, why you said that and all of your experiences will make sense. because we get the damage and since we couldn't heal from it we still think it's our fault and feeling ashamed of our trauma. how is this fair? i am not a professional and i don't know what kind of traumas you have but get help, heal and build your trust in yourself again. would you let someone you love and know get hurt in front of you? no, since you build a healthy relationship with yourself you won't let that happen.

sometimes we forget who "people" are. you said you get hate for no reason. why do you care? look who is giving you the hate. a hater. i wouldn't be friends with a hater, i wouldn't even look at their face, they don't deserve to talk to me. i wouldn't let them approach to my kids. they just need to heal and stop having a ugly personality. because we've also been through shit and we don't have ugly personalities. sadly we can't stop haters from talking and reaching out but we can ignore. before directly accepting what they say, look where it comes from. i know it's hard but look at their faces carefully, they are not even aware of their toxicity. they are far from healing and being happy. they want to see you doing bad stuff only to tell themselves "oh great i'm not the only bad person". but you don't and this makes them crazier.

you have the formula. self love+knowing yourself+trust= self worth. past doesn't matter, what people says about you doesn't matter. focus on what you want and create that time for yourself to write and ask questions. like you get to know yourself from start. be clear about your manifestations and there is nothing to be afraid of

[mermaidsirennikita]

since we're on the topic former or current mistresses/lovers also get treated weirdly by those readers

Lol dude.

I personally really dislike "Safety Warnings" or whatever, in reviews... Because like, they don't serve the same (important) purposes as TWs/CWs. They often cover things like... oh no, the hero looked at another woman. And exes are always categorized as "OW" (other woman).

Like??? No??????? That lady was just minding her damn business, lol. And the hero is not inherently a bad person for having been with or loved other people before his partner (and heroines aren't either).

I just find the idea that nobody ever mattered ever before the hero/heroine like... it works in the hands of a skillful author. But a lot of skillful author use this fantasy as a way to make up for poor relationship development betweent he leads. "He's never felt this way about anyone else before, all the other women were nothing, just go with it". The harder (better) thing to write and what should be written whether or not the hero has ever loved before... is the believability of the heroine being the only one who matters NOW. The FUTURE.

I mean, Lorraine Heath is an author who showed that it could be done (I mean, Lorraine also just writes without fear 9 times out of 10). In When the Duke Was Wicked (I know lol but it's an amazing book) Lovingdon has a dead wife that he legit loves. And I'll be real--there are many books I adore that have the "my wife is dead but don't worry she sucked" device, and while that doesn't stop me from loving those books... I found Lovingdon being legitimate devastated by the loss of his wife (and daughter) so much more authentic than "well I actually didn't really vibe with her".

I'm honestly more tolerant of "my dead husband sucked", in historicals at least, because it feels more likely. When it's constantly this "MY DEAD WIFE WAS HORRIBLE AND DIDN'T GET ME"... A good author can make me look past it, but I do find it on the misogynistic side. I guess my default is to go "it makes sense that the guy sucked". And it's not that every woman doesn't suck, lol. But I also think it's the sense of the author placating ME as a woman reader, going "don't worry, the other girl didn't even matter". I don't... care if she mattered. In fact, I'd kinda rather she did--it gives the hero added depth.

But I also think that some what all of these reading behaviors swirl around is the idea of projection as a reader versus reading without projection. I don't think there's a wrong way to read, but I do think that when writers are writing with the intent that the reader will project onto a character (usually a woman reader projecting onto a heroine) they tend to sacrifice quality.

I don't put myself in the heroine's perspective. I can tell you right now--even when it's first person, I don't think of myself in any character's place. It's like watching a movie, but I can read their minds (albeit, without any actors in mind because I also don't do that lol). I do not project. And I personally find that this removal makes it easier for me to enjoy stories with moral quandaries and characters acting the way I would not. Morality doesn't really figure as much into your perspective when you're not picturing what YOU would do or how YOU would react.

So yeah. Tbh, I'm not an overly jealous person re: romantic relationships, and I don't think it's ever bothered me, the idea of my partner's exes, etc. But I know that not everyone feels that way, and I do think that if you feel that way and you're a projection reader, you feel reassured by stories where he's NEVER FELT THAT WAY BEFORE and somehow he's so good at everything but he REALLY DIDN'T EVEN GET AROUND THAT MUCH!!! The other women meant NOTHING!!!!!

I do think that there's a habit that has been encouraged by the industry, by RPfic , etc, of just imagining yourself as the character and thinking about what YOU would want, versus what the characters want. And like, you do you, but where I get annoyed is when the industry and writers feel pressured to respond to these desires and do so, churning out low quality work that doesn't offer anything interesting or challenging.

[fallrimxreader]

My apologies, I know that I'm obnoxious with my requests. But what about Sole Survivor acknowledging everyone friendly as people? Ghouls, supermutants, synths. Just --

Treating everyone as people, attempting to do right by them, let them be free.

In a good way.

((I adore Nick Valentine, I always try my best to be on his good book))

Never apologize, ask as many asks as you like about anything you like! I appreciate all of them! I liked this one because I act the same way when I play.

Cait: She generally has a problem with everyone, race and species type doesn’t stop her from disliking anyone more than anyone else. She doesn’t mind Sole being kind to ghouls and synths. She likes Hancock and Nick. But it’s the super mutants she has a problem with. She just wants Sole to be careful because the mutants can be so much more brutal. But she can get used to the idea, after meeting Strong she can get onboard with the idea of being a bit nicer to mutants. She thinks that it is a good quality, but she wants Sole to be careful because it is so easy to be taken advantage of when you are kind in the wasteland.

Curie: She adores this about Sole, she thinks they are such a wonderful and kind person. This makes Curie like Sole even more. Curie herself is often very kind and caring to other beings in the commonwealth, and to meet Sole who is also just as kind she is thrilled. Together they are such a sweet pair, everyone in the commonwealth loves it when they are both around because of how sweet they are.

Codsworth: He knew what a nice person Sole was before the fallout. But to see them now, in the wasteland being kind to ghouls, mutants and synths, it makes him so happy. He too tries to be a gentle soul in this world. But he has found that Sole has a way of just being extra nice, treating everyone equally. He watches Sole trying to help mutants and Synths who want a better life. He thinks Sole is such a blessing on the commonwealth.

Dogmeat: He already treats everyone the same. If people are good to him, he is a good dog. If people are mean to him, he will bite them ghoul, mutant, synth or human.

Danse: He thinks it’s a waste of Sole’s time to be so kind, since he doesn’t believe they are people at all. He believes they are a waste of space in the commonwealth and should all be destroyed. Why Sole chooses to be kind to them puts him in a state of disbelief. He will very often voice his disgust of ghouls and super mutants, and tell Sole a number of times they should stay away from them. Every time Danse makes a nasty comment Sole will immediately shut him down, after a while he learns not to say anything and just lets Sole be their kind self. He just sulks quietly.

When he finds out he is a synth Danse feels embarrassed about how horrible he was. He softens to synths, but he still dislikes ghouls and mutants.

Deacon: He’s glad to see Sole be so kind to Synths. It gives him hope that there is good in the world. Deacon is also the type of person to let people live their own lives, he doesn’t need to be the one to bring negativity just because of someone’s species. He acts the same sarcastic way to everyone, ghoul or not. If Sole wants to treat everyone like a person even if they aren’t, he will let them. He just likes to hang out with Sole.

Hancock: Sole is the best person Hancock has ever met. They were the first person to immediately treat him like a normal human and not a ghoul. Over time Sole has proven how kind they are to other beings. He honestly feels like Sole is one of the greatest things to happen to the commonwealth. He did once give them a warning, just to be careful about being too nice. There are some ghouls or mutants who would take advantage of nice people. But he only said it the once and now will let Sole do their own thing. He feels blessed that he gets to know Sole.

MacCready: After losing his wife MacCready hated ghouls the most. It took time but after meeting Hancock, he softened and actually came to like the mayor. He’s not very judgmental, he knows there are some good ghouls and good synths out there. After meeting Strong he even realizes there can be some good Super Mutants. So, when he sees Sole being kind to everyone he is fine with it. He finds it refreshing to see such a kind hearted soul in Sole. He likes their company, and feels their good nature is rubbing off on him, as he starts to greet ghouls and mutants the same way Sole would.

Piper: She is a very cautious and wary person. This world is full of people who lie, cheat and get away with horrible crimes. She has even come across people who aren’t actually people. Piper has a soft spot for Valentine and Hancock, but everyone else she wants to keep her distance. And she also likes to keep treating things as they are. She see’s a synth as a synth not a human. Piper is quite amazed that Sole is able to treat everyone with the same kindness, like they are all equal. Piper struggles to feel the same, but she won’t stop Sole from being kind. Piper does think the world needs more people like Sole, and is a little upset with herself that she can’t be a truly kind person like Sole. But Piper just can’t seem to detach her past feelings and become truly caring towards the others.

Preston: He’s already a sweet kind hearted person, just like Sole. However, he is very cautious, he has not got a problem with Sole being kind to everyone just not the feral ones. He doesn’t want to get eaten or smashed just trying to say good morning to the wrong type. He has had to save Sole before because they tried to make friends with an unhappy group of super mutants. Yet, he doesn’t let this deter Sole from still being friendly, he just tries to keep them away from the more dangerous ones. He let’s Sole run free and happy around the friendly synths and mutants no problem at all.

Valentine: He is so used to having people avoid him, or make nasty comments. He got used to the side glances and the hostile nature. What he was not used to is genuine kindness and being treated like a human. Sole’s behavior towards him, took Nick by complete surprise. Albeit a very pleasant surprise. It warmed his core, and gave him hope that he might actually be accepted by some people. Valentine had Piper and some others that were kind to him. But they still treated him like a Synth because he was. Sole was the only one that treated him better than a Synth and saw him as more than one. This made him really adore Sole and appreciate their friendship the most. He does however want Sole to still be careful, warning them that not everyone would appreciate Sole’s actions like he would. He worries Sole might be a little naïve, so he tries to keep a close eye on them. But he never tells Sole to stop being friendly, he thinks everyone should be more like Sole.

Strong: He only discriminates between who is weak or strong, not what they are made off. If they are a synth but a good fighter, he will be fine and act the same to them. If someone is weak, he will tell them he thinks they are weak. He thinks Sole being kind can be a bit soft and not what a good fighter does. But he will generally not say anything and just let Sole do their thing since Sole being kind to other people does not affect Strong in any way.

X6-88: He knows he is a synth, he won’t deny it or try to act like he’s not. However, there is something warming about the way Sole treats him. He never asked Sole to treat him differently. After travelling with Sole, he begins to realize that was the way they treated everyone. X6 has no judgment towards a particular race or species. He too treats everyone the same, though it’s more stoic and work orientated instead of friendliness. He won’t stop Sole from treating a super mutant the same way they would treat a human; he will protect them and travel with them all the same.

[hellcatinnc]

Piofiore Fated Memories - Yang Review

Includes Spoilers....

So I know you hear so many people all happy about Yang and love him the best. After sticking through his route which has dragged out to the point of boredom for me I'm finally done. That being said Nicola I was interested every step of the way but Yang just annoyed me. The only thing he has going for him is his looks because damn he is hot. However I wouldn't even say when he is mean that he is even one bit flirty ever and he isn't a tsundere because there really is no niceness in this man, he is very cruel. Yandere probably fits thoroughly like people say I mean I'm sure you see it in his bad ending more but I refused to be scarred by this man. Bad enough the one time I accidently chose the wrong thing got him trying to rape Lili and that was just enough for me I'm just thankful it wasn't shown it was just the writing talking about what he was doing.

I don't understand why so many like him especially if its the darker elements they like about him. He is honestly just a freakin psycho in my book. Even Lee the guy who is trying to kill him and take over as the leader is hot but bat shit crazy. You spend most the time with kids' that guard you and their voices annoying like nails down a chalk board. God forbid you step out of line they will tell you how cute you are and then that they will kill you and its like WTF crazy ass kids.

Lee above..... The Hot Psycho/Crazy Kids

I waited so many times to get sweet moments and even when there was a glimmer of it he would fall back to a selfish act right behind it making me dislike him all over again. I really hoped even on the good ending he would say he was in love with her or say I love you but nope never get it. I also hated watching him kill Dante, Nicola, & Gil it broke my heart. In all those ways he was a coward as well he spent every time throwing Liliana on the ground first not caring if she got hurt when he did it just to get their attention since unlike him they were all gentleman so they thought to look at her first. Well everyone but Nicola's fight his was about getting vengeance for Dante. Worst part is I can't say I hate Yang he was true all the time to Lili that he was a monster a horrible man who didn't care and even in his declaration in the end it wasn't romantic. It was just that he wanted her, she couldn't leave or he would kill her but if he gets bored she can fuck off. Like seriously how is this show love.

Then on top of it everyone wants to know this mans name and he chooses to whisper in her ear yet leaves it on the note we still don't know. It might come around later but the point is it didn't end his story with it which irritated me. Then after killing all the mafias in the area instead of having a sweet quiet life with her its not good enough now he is off to London with her to kill and take over more. This is the only life that will come with this man. Now granted not gonna lie when he kisses her its passionate but just because he is good in bed doesn't mean he is a life soul mate. Honestly my opinion he is probably one of the worst written love interests I have seen in a game yet. He should have been chalked up to good sex life while with him then move on from there because to have fell in love with a man who she even says she can't condone what he has done and doesn't accept it yet loves him makes no sense to me.

What made me real mad is when both Gil, and Dante tried to reach out to her to protect her and she is like I don't trust you and calls them monsters yet she is standing by the man who sells women after he kidnaps them, allows drugs to run ramped and kill people, and will rape or kill a woman if he just feels like it. I swear when she is with him she has Stockholm syndrome its the only thing that makes sense. I can't imagine anyone in this game I will dislike more than Yang but time will tell and if it changes I will make not of it as for now he is at the bottom.

The last pictures are to prove my point on this is his romantic gesture of love to her here is my WTF moment because honestly I stick with most these men even the broke ones with the thought love can change them but not this man.

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