#of course the reasons for someones answers to these questions are also important. but thats for them to figure out.

[epicdogymoment]

begging people to understand that labels and categories are not inherently meaningful without context. and that whether or not any label is actually useful changes from context to context (including from person to person). and that trying to pin something or someone down as BEING a particular label (rather than something being labelled as a certain thing) is meaningless and unhelpful

[blueishspace]

Hero, Villain God 26

(Prev) (Next) (First)

*Grian's pov*

You plan to officially meet up with Pearl two days later, as civilians, at a coffee shop that just happens to be where you met Scar as well... Interesting how coincidences are.

You desperately needed the break from Scar's anxiety... he's really energetic on his own and being stressed makes it worse somehow.

When, on the day you decided on, you arrive she is already waiting for you near the counter, talking to a red-haired barista she seems to know personally in some way, you aren't going to lie... It's a bit akward interrupting their conversation like this but at the same time you really don't really want to just stand there like an idiot. Luckily she notices you, or maybe she used her powers to sense you or something ...you aren't sure that's how it works but whatever, and waves you to join her.

"So are the two of you related?"

You turn to the redhaired barista and look at her name tag, Cleo huh? You think about it, in a way you are cousins-

"Oh, he's my brother, Grian"

Ok, guess you are going with this story now. You aren't going to fight her about this, she's the goddess of wisdom and you don't really have a better story. The barista nods and takes your order before leaving to go and prepare it. You do have to ask though.

"Brother huh?"

"In the fake backstory I made for myself I mentioned having a brother, this was the perfect way to deal with that specifc loose end and at the same time introduce you without it being suspicious"

"We still have different accents"

"Split parents, grown up in different countries. That should work if someone were to question it."

"...You could have just used your powers to convince them of anything."

"That would be a waste, mate. And an insult."

The barista... Cleo comes back with your orders and you smile at them.

"So, couldn't help but wonder, how do you know my ...sister?"

They freeze for a millisecond at that before giving an answer, interesting.

"We are roomates, there's me Pearl and our other roomate Scott."

"Oh, I didn't know that"

Pearl sips on her coffee, she's secretly enjoying this, thats an even more interesting reaction. Then after a few seconds she speaks up.

"Oh, I had no reason to tell you ... It's a pretty new arrangement"

"Hmm alright!"

The barista leaves again to serve another customer soon after.

...

"They are a villain too aren't they?"

"Yep, though technically in a way she wasn't wrong about the three of us being roomates. It just omitted a lot of important information"

"Guessing that Scott guy they mentioned is also a villain?"

"Sure thing"

"...Who?"

"Phthisis and Winter King, you can guess who is which"

"Thought Phthisis was more...hmmm, how can you say it... zombie-like?"

"Oh, they can be."

You nod and that conversation is cut off there as you sit down at a table. You have an idea though.

"You know, I should introduce you to my roomate as well since we are at it"

"Roommate who I'm sure is not involved in anything? For example heroism or vigilantism or villainy."

"Of course, why would he be connected to any of them."

"... Is it Hotguy?"

"Oh no no no! It's Boogeyman!"

". . .You have very weird tastes in men"

"So do you."

"What? Scott? Ahahah! Never said I didn't, did I?"

""Eh guess not! So?"

"I guess I could come by to introduce myself, it will at least make the deception more believable."

She looks at your coffee as she sips her own.

"Also the whole chaotic energy thing you have going on turned your coffee into slime, you should get an hold on that before someone else notices. Or don't, dealing with consequences for once might do you good."

You look down at your cup... It did turn into goop...well, that's disappointing, you kinda wanted to drink it. Oh well.

"I'll tell Mumbo about it then... I'm sure he'll say yes."

*End of Chapter 6*

[miifu666]

What Suklha thinks about Zha Wujing, Zhu Bajie and The Monk? Has she ever thought about joining on the journey because of Sun Wukong?

Hii anonn!!♡♡

I was planning to make a doodle of this but currently Assignments are hitting my creativity 🥲 im sorry this took so long.

To answer ur 2nd question, She has! A couple of time. At the start of JTTW she met Wukong again and he insisted she comes along with them (he's insufferable) yet Suklha didn't want to seem like a decoration, Wukong kind of invited her when she's not mentally well. Got betrayed by an ex and almost executed yk.

She decided to not join, mostly because she has some self-healing journey to do + she misses her best friend. Needed to go and visit him once or twice ☝️‼️

.𖥔 ݁ ˖๋ ࣭ ⭑ Tripitaka—

A monk who was respected by the gods and have the heavenly body to make you immortal should you eat it. Suklha has. A differing opinion on him. On one hand she has a soft spot, his acts and naivety reminds her of her student. A wise and kind little kid, rose to be the first Physician in history. But on the other, his obliviousness is a pet peeve of her. Once he has tried to help her reach enlightenment by giving her a vegan diet, it was the first and last time he'll get an earful out of Suklha, while also finding out that centipedes are carnivours.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖๋ ࣭ ⭑Zhu Bajie—

Oooh they're close! Mostly because she loves to bully him a lot, esp since she met him before he was cursed into a pig. They had some rivalry going on, Bajie degrading Suklha, an after effect of being influenced by his circle of gods. Now that she's standing infront of him, tall and better than before, while he's a pig and have no army to command. She is having fun bullying the shit out of him.

Sometimes she would say such mean words and jokes, you would think Bajie is going to throw her to the sky. But nope, he enjoys it. Heck, even quipped an even nastier one. Did it make Wukong jealous? Yep definitely. Made the pig become the target of his bully even more.

Suklha would try to do things to inconvenience Bajie, just for her amusement. Hiding his rake, turning his hat into a snake, heck even telling him an obviously fake rumor just to see him fueling it. His face and reactions are the epitome of Suklha's entertainment, and when he's mad??? Oh Suklha LOVES it.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖๋ ࣭ ⭑Zha Wujing—

Suklha isn't that close to him, she tries to. Sometimes would give him tips on taking care of the horses or just plain out asking him stuff out of the blue. In her eyes, shes more of a guy who knows his place but choose to be as little of importance and blend in the background.

She understands that clearly, definitely what she did too. Theres a few times both of them meet at the food market, striking up conversation that lead to their own opinions and beliefs. They're both protectors of their own perspective.

Unfortunately, Suklha doesn't know much of him before becoming Tripitaka's disciple.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖๋ ࣭ ⭑Bai Long Ma—

He was already a horse when he met Suklha, the monkey pulling her hand towards the crew, wanting her to see him off one last time. He's heard of tales on a certain centipede lady who managed to dupe an entire clans of dragons, eating the dragonets if they doublecrossed her. She was the target of revenge and destruction.

And now, in a form of a helpless horse. He's standing infront of someone thats equivalent to the boogeyman for dragons 😭 hes afraid of her. AFRAID she sees through his form and do something to him. Of course, she noticed from the start he isnt a horse but she doesn't really have any reason to create chaos.

Unexpectedly, Suklha is much more comfortable talking to Bai Long Ma than the rest. An annoying Pig, pacifist and hopeless monk and a stalker monkey, the horse is probably the main source of her rants about the monkey. Suklha sees him as a friend, despite Bai Long Ma thinking she sees him as a pet. Both of then has a certain respect to one another... kind of.

[jamsandsuch]

advice for first year uni students from a uni senior

the roommate(s) will always be more important than the room

+ for roommates, SET. CLEANING. EXPECTATIONS. EARLY. don't wait until you're uncomfortable with how much mess is in the kitchen for you to start thinking if you should bring it up or not. set standards and make them clear.

put your key on a lanyard and hang it from your doorknob when you’re at home so you don’t forget it on the way out

if your dorm has a shared laundry room, set your timer for when your laundry finishes ~5 mins early to give you time to walk from your room to the laundry - especially during weekends/evenings/finals people wont have the patience to wait for you - even if your load just finished

If you have noodle arms like me, buy yourself one of those collapsible grocery carts you drag behind you like a luggage - best purchase i've ever made

Or if you're lazy, order online - but order on a free day because even if you schedule a time they're always gonna come stupid early and you dont want any frozen items to get spoiled or have your groceries stolen

DONT BUY ANY TEXTBOOKS/MATERIALS UNTIL THE FIRST WEEK/CLASSES ARE OVER. sometimes you’ll have early access to the booklist or syllabus and go ahead and start buying textbooks, but increasingly often you’ll buy the materials and show up to class just to find your prof has uploaded scanned copies of everything. *save your money*, wait!

BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS - look at your class schedule and walk around campus to find each classroom. you will probably get lost on day 1 and so will many other students so this will save you a lot of walking around bumping into other lost first years

trust me after a few weeks you won’t be waking up for that 8am class. i know you did it 5 days a week in high school, but there’s a reason uni students are allergic to morning classes. know your natural energy/attention levels and take advantage of the freedom to build your schedule around your energy fluctuations

compress/stack your class schedule as much as possible. if you absolutely do need breaks, make them at least 1.5-2 hours long or you probably wont get anything productive done and minimize these long breaks as much as you can so you can just get your day over with sooner

work smarter, not harder - when school starts note each course’s assessment type by quizzes/finals/essays. if i ever have a course thats just essays, i only do lecture notes + write my own annotations about readings rather than taking notes on them which saves time i can dedicate to textbook notetaking for courses with frequent quizzes + finals

if your school has benefits/discounts/insurance - know what it is and USE IT.

most clubs wont be like high school where there are regular meetings you attend. unless youre in the exec team the membership fee you pay/when you sign up for membership it’s just for access to their events when they happen. if you want to be involved in a club in a way thats as involved as high school, look at their social media pages for hiring.

+ as someone who has had to hire before - if you’re nervous, literally just do it. i was in an exec position for our student union services and once only had like 3 applicants to pick from

if you want to be noticed by a professor, sit in the front row. and always answer/ask questions - it doesn’t matter if you said anything of substance or not, they will remember that you contributed

that and also always make the point to say hello and goodbye! eventually (in my experience) if you come early enough and are just waiting for class to start, a conversation will happen - make these regular enough and you could have an important connection!

disclaimer: of course, not all of this might be something that resonates with you/possible for your course or school, so in the words of my cousin - take what resonates

+ anyone else is free to add on!!

[bibibbon]

I made a huge mistake in going to the MHA subreddit. The braindead takes on 427 have me convinced I'm stuck in a parallel universe where we're reading a completely different story:

"It's great seeing Deku play therapist with the LOV, but all it seems to have done is make things worse!" A) Izuku shouldn't be having to play therapist to begin with, considering he's a 16 year old kid. B) most of the LOV don't see anything they did as wrong, so idk what the fuck Izuku can do about that. Also, WHY AREN'T PEOPLE HELPING IZUKU WITH HIS OWN GODDAMN FEELINGS?!

Apparently Bakugou killed Kurogiri, and there's absolutely ZERO reaction to it both in and out of universe. So of fucking course Izuku is a murderer, but not their precious Bakugou 🥱.

"I feel like Hori's really underrated as a writer!" Horikoshi doesn't know Show Don't Tell, how to actually develop characters, and how to craft actual stakes in the narrative from a hole in the ground. Also, MHA is one of the most popular mangas worldwide, so you're not even using underrated right.

"I feel like Horikoshi sees our discussions and then implements them in the story!" This I can kind of agree with, considering how much y'all hate Izuku and worship Bakugou. But on the other hand, I really doubt Horikoshi thinks the MHA subreddit is as important as you think it is.

"Bakugou's totally going to ask Izuku to start their own hero agency together at the end!" Jesus fucking Christ, just say you hate Izuku. How would that be a great ending for him? He not only has to see the source of his low self esteem and borderline suicidal feelings achieving the dream he'll now never have, but you want them to WORK together?!

@nutzgunray-lvt 👋

Well a lot of the time looking into Reddit is always a mistake unless you're asking a very niche question and you get an answer from 9 years ago or something.

I feel like a lot of people whether that be in universe or in fandom forget that izuku is a 16 year old child soldier. Izuku is more than a decade younger than a lot of the villains in the leauge. He is a child who has been exploited by the system and abused. We have seen in 425 izuku try and talk to someone but simply get brushed aside and while I don't blame shoto or ochako for doing that as they probably didn't mean it and are traumatised themselves it kinda of shows how much this has effected izuku. Also this doesn't help BECAUSE HORI GAVE US NO FLIPPING INTROPSECTION ON IZUKU'S BIT AGAIN!! Also Iam not sure if it's just me but Izuku's eye bags are heavily prominent in this chapter especially when he is talking to spinner.

The fandom especially the lov stans side of it love babayifying the actions of the leauge and hyper fixating on the humane soft side they may have while completely ignoring the horrible actions they commited. I talk about this better in one of @palesweetscherryblossom asks

I still can't believe that bk may of killed kurogiri. I don't even know when that happend and I checked the wiki but it says that kurogiris status is unconfirmed so I will be waiting until the last chapter to fully acknowledge if kurogiri is dead or not. However this brings up the point that the fandoms is being quite hypocritical if they're calling izuku a murder but not bakugo. They both killed people but for some reason it's izuku thats put into public light and bashing instead of all the other characters that have killed in the series including villains.

Yeah sometimes it feels like hori is looking at discussions of his series and implementing ideas but I think that goes more for his Japanese fans than us to be honest because after all they're his target demographic. I remember when I first joined Tumblr one of my earliest posts talked about how horikoshi's writing decisions were heavily influenced by his fans which may or may not be true.

At this point IAM convinced that izuku isn't getting a proper happy ending. Every time I think it can't get worse it does. Just by your comment of them starting an agency together haunts me just like the possibility that bk may become the number one hero

[the0ther-side0f-dawn]

anyway i have some thoughts

and yes im still talking about Kathryn Hahn and i know I'm several months late to the party

but what i cannot get over is all the comments on things saying that 'regrettably she is straight' or quoting her as being straight

now there are a number of reasons this irks me

and this broadly applies to other celebrities and public figures, and even characters too

but basically i think it endorses heteronormativity

and unfortunately i never have a thought that isnt an entire essay

anyway these are my reasons

1. not that im passionate about my logic here, but allies are important. and she has shown nothing but appreciation for women and her queer audience.

2. she's played several queer characters and uuhh... maybe that is typecasting. like she knows she gets cast as the quirky best friend, and not the pretty main girl love interest. she fits those roles better. but also being open to those roles, and queer roles too, and comfortable in those roles says something as well.

3. and i am willing to be proven wrong here... when tf did she say she was straight?? or are y'all making some assumptions just bc she has been happily married to a guy and has kids??

like what kind of heteronormative bullshit?? like this woman has never explicitly said she is queer so therefore she must be straight??

this logic is the whole reason the trauma of coming out even exists. like so many fans get mad about other fans 'speculating' or 'projecting queerness' and saying that we shouldn't make assumptions and she's a real person blah blah blah.

and this happens with other celebrities too. but all of that defensiveness is built on the foundation that queer is the 'other' and that there is inherently something scandalous or negative about associating queerness with someone.

and to call that out, is again, portraying double standards, since it's all to just uphold the status quo and advance the narrative thay straight is the default.

and im not going to ignore the elephant. she is a real person and entitled to her privacy. now hacking into her social media or going after her friends/family etc. or any other forms of harassment or stalking, or spreading lies in the form of bad journalism or defamation- that would be inappropriate (not that i have heard of this happening to her. but i know it has happened to other celebrities or public figures before).

but normal fan engagement and showing up to conventions and being silly on twitter and making little edits and engaging in forums and discussions- which yeh may involve speculation or projecting. thats fairly par for the course. thats normal behaviour. people want to feel represented and seen and that's okay.

now, for as far as what i've actually seen when it comes to Kathryn's sexuality...

when that one journalist actually asked her outright about her sexuality (bold. also so uncomfortable and not really cool at all)... her response definitely highlighted that it was a private matter but also in no way did she give an easy answer of 'yeh, i have a husband, im straight' (tho i know she was talking to a queer journalist. and so thats a less easy anwer when you're marketing yourself and your movie to a queer audience, but there would never have been backlash for affirming the assumption of heterosexuality - like he asks the question by acknowledging she has a husband...)

anyway, what she says is "we're all grown ups and it's all real fluid and it's all nobody's business"

like, that is a very queer response.

like utilising words like fluid, rather than just distinct notions of straight/gay/bi... and she talks in other interviews about her characters being open and fluid with their sexuality, and jokes about polyamoury... like that level of comfort with queer ideas and identities comes from engaging in those spaces. and yeh, maybe thats her allyship but also, we arent here to make assumptions.

she describes her character Agatha's sexuality as 'gender doesn't matter. love is love. sex is sex. I don't think you can pigeonhole Agatha' which honestly kind of reveals her own values, that any kind of 'monosexual' attraction (straight/gay) is restrictive and limiting - by use of the word pigeonhole.

and then there is her very well documented attraction to Rachel Weisz. like she has no fear demonstrating or even directly talking about her attraction to women so why would anyone assume she is straight???

and she clearly even has an in joke with her friends that she has this unspoken attraction to women and propensity to take on queer roles (see her appearance on Amy Poehler's podcast, when Amy references her "lesbian tendencies")

also she is so so proud and enamoured by her lesbian army of supporters. like she has talked several times about the joy of having this audience and the way her face lights up at the mention of it.

like there is a plethora of evidence to suggest she could be queer and yet fan spaces want to argue that acknowledging that is inappropriate or invasive or jumping to conclusions?? personally, i think propping up assumptions of straightness, by ignoring and shutting down any talk of queer tendencies, is what is uncool- it's homophobic tbh.

[tatter-muse]

Not Butterflies

Nobody ever plans to fall in love with their best friend. You certainly didn't, and Sasha didn't either. Are you able to contain your heart when you're face to face with the most important person in your life?

a/n: This is literally my first fic. I started this very spontaneously. I don't have my flow yet, I've read through this a few times and some parts feel very clunky and I don’t know how to fix that. But that goes away with experience I guess. I'm working on another that's in the same universe as this. ALSO ALSO MY ACC WAS TERMINATED FOR UNEXPLAINED REASONS SO THIS IS A REPOST, I have made changes though. tags: @firefly--bright just send me a message if you wanna be added to the taglist

“When you like someone, what do you feel?”, Sasha turns, her face holding a soft smile, as your voice breaks the longest silence yet of the night. You continue, “do you feel butterflies? does your heart race? sweaty palms? do you get unexpectedly giddy” your eyebrows raised in the middle of you face, the skin between them scrunched up.

“that's a really tricky question”, Her eyes look up into her head for an invisible answer, “I don't know how to describe it, the feeling I get,” she laces her fingers together, trying to find the words to explain, “I mean of course, I'm- I feel overjoyed whenever they walk into the room, but there's this other feeling in my gut.” her eyes quickly flick towards you and away just as quick.

“it's not butterflies… it's something different. It's very, distinct. Of all the people I've liked ever…, they genuinely make me feel this different kind of yearning or want. And I just don't have the words to describe it”

She had paused just before saying ‘they’, she was being careful. There aren't that many people who are constantly in Sasha's life, excluding Jean, Connie or Marco.

You hear ‘they’, but your heart hopes that she means you. But how could she be in love with you? You're her best friend, and the two of you had promised to be friends forever. You nod, “I get it. It's quite the feeling when you know it's the right person”

“What about you, what do you feel?��

Your eyes meet, just for a few seconds, if only to show you heard her — you couldn't hold your gaze any longer. Any other time you would've loved to be lost in her deep brown irises, but considering what you were going to be talking about, your eyes wouldn't let you, lest they confess on your behalf.

“I might sound crazy, but it doesn't feel any different” your face flushes with a shy grin, “in fact, I feel different when they’re not around. Like I’m putting up an act, because no one else gets me like they do.”

You glance away for a second, looking for the right words to continue. You're being careful too, not revealing your person.

"I'm not saying that other people don't understand me or that I’m pretending to be someone else, it's just that with this person, I feel like I've been released from the last thread of a rope thats held me back. What I’m meaning to say is, they are my normal.”

Sasha hums, mulling what you just said in her head. She wonders who your person could be. She never thought you could be feeling the same way. You're her best friend, and she couldn't have fathomed the fact that you could be in love with anyone, even her. But her oh so pure heart, it beats and beats just at the thought of you. And it's killing her to keep that to herself. “that's a sweet way to describe it. I wish I could explain whatever was going on in my head, or my tummy…”

“it's okay, explain it or not, as long as you can feel it, that makes it real, right? A true feeling”

“like true love?”

you meet her eyes again, “yeah, I guess so”

“but love’s a really strong word”

“doesn't make it any less real, if you really believe it”

“that’s fair”, looking down at her feet. A gentle breeze blows, lifting Sasha's bangs ever so slightly. “so… does that mean, you're in love with them?” she asks looking back up at you.

you're silent for a few seconds, breathing in the question. “I’ve thought about it. But calling it that would-” you stutter, “hurt me if- if it doesn't work out”

“screw that, do you feel it?”

you take a deep breath and exhale a “yeah”

“There’s your answer”, she shrugs her shoulders

You look into her eyes again. Eyes, unable to pick just one, they dart from one to the other. You wouldn't have been able to handle it if you could see them both, you would get trapped like a prehistoric insect in amber.

Say it. Tell her.

“what” she asks

“nothing” you quickly dismiss her question

Looking away to your left, you see Jean, your roommate, snoring on the long couch, and on the floor lays Connie, still wearing the new year's bobble hat. You turn back and look out the balcony of your apartment, leaning on the railing. “It's almost new years and I can't believe these guys dozed off so early”

“Hey, we partied hard, okay? No wonder they're tired” laying her defense

“I'm surprised you haven't passed out already”

“I know my limits… sometimes…” she pouts while trying to hide her embarrassment

You scoff and roll your eyes at her argument, “Sure, Sash”

“Whatever” she chuckles, “Where’s Marco?”

“He passed out in the bedroom”

She nods and turns to look out towards the city line, her elbows supporting her weight on the railing. Her eyes skip over the faint lights of various windows, her gut feels knotted, she wants to take the chance, it's new years after all. She just hear you say you were in love, she couldn't say ‘I love you’ or even that she liked you after that. She didn't know that you are in love with her. But, you're her best friend, you'd understand right? The two of you could talk it out, even if it doesn't go the way she hopes it would. She feels her heart thumping, deciding to take the leap. “Hey, can-” A whistle shoots into the sky, bursting in multicoloured sparks, interrupting her confession. It's midnight; the new year. Your heads jerk up to watch the fireworks.

You heard her start to speak before she was cut off. You lean forward, turning the side of your head towards her to hear her better. You raise your voice over the crackles and whistling of the fireworks, “what?”

Her heart skips a beat with another explosion, second guessing. Sasha bites her tongue. “nothing,” she shouts shaking her head, “happy new year!” She smiles, her face reflecting the bright colours lighting up the sky, but her eyes remain the same deep brown.

And as you lose yourself in her irises, you feel the need to come clean to her. you've weighed the risks in your head a million times, and each time you’ve concluded that it's not worth losing your friend. But you would have risked it if you were just a little braver. You clench your first. Couldn't you have been less of a coward and just confessed already? It was the perfect moment: the new year, the fireworks, just you and Sasha — she was always perfect. “Happy new year” you say, smiling back at her.

[tehrevving]

I believe you may or may not have awnsered a similar ask, but as i read chaos theory i'm sitting here like "oh damn, y/n is really blowing this poor man's mind, heart and soul to oblivion with the knowledge that she genuinely loves him and his affections aren't unrequited or driven by guilt" like damn Rev, you and y/n are going all out on poor vincent there. I honestly can't blame you. Even though it overwhelms the sweet man, he really needs genuine love from someone who's dead set on loving him and him alone.

Anywho, question if we get more content from Square Enix (i pray we do, i really do i feel starved for vincent now) that primarily involves vincent more, are we gonna get to see our man grapple with this knowledge and come to the understanding that the love he's developed with y/n definitely isn't one-sided once you're able sink claws into the new content and flesh out your story? Are we also gonna see his demons come out and play a bit more as well when that happens? I love myself some chaos "scares" and well, i'm kinda itching to see if we get some other demon "scares" sprinkled in èwé

Good questions Anon, this is a huge one so I’ll answer it bit by bit lol.

To start with, I have absolutely left some breadcrumbs in Chaos Theory that hint at some of the other plot things that are going on. These hints are incredibly subtle, maybe too subtle honestly lmao, but I have seen them mentioned in comments so 😅. I do intend to reveal some important plot stuff in the sequel covering the Temple of the Ancients. I’m talking shocking stuff lmao, so that’s definitely coming even if SE doesn’t give us any more Vincent content until part 3.

Without knowing where SE are going to go with part 3, I have a bunch of plot ideas that are somewhat vague, so that I can fill them in with specifics eventually. Unfortunately this means that even when I reveal stuff, it’s still gonna be kind of vague 😭😭. So apologies for that.

I also want to add that while I obviously want to finish this story, I can’t exactly commit to writing another fic once part 3 comes out in 3 years time. So, I am apologising in advance that this story might never end up finished.

Specifically with regards to your question, yes Vincent would have to come to terms with allllll of that lol. I mentioned in a previous ask that as long as the timeline works out, their initial “I love you’s” would be just after visiting Lucrecia in her cave. Emotions at that point would be exceptionally high, and Vincent is forced to make a choice and confront his own feelings.

Like, just consider that conversation for a sec. Because Reader knows a lot of Vincent’s backstory by that stage, it’s not just about him having to make a choice about clinging to the past or moving forward. It’s also coming to terms about what Lu(sexually and experimentally) and Hojo(experimentally) did to him, which he only really does in Dirge in canon. Reader is also smart enough to connect the dots on her own that he might be Seph’s father too. There’s just a whole host of things there and there’s no way I’d ever let Vincent get away with not coming to terms with all of it 😂.

With regards to his monsters, of course they would be making more appearances. I love them and I’m way too much of a monster fucker to ignore them. Each of them would get their own time in the spotlight hehehe.

Honestly they’re one of the main reasons I’m reluctant to commit to a part 3 fic. As a quick example, Chaos Theory has 7 smut scenes. Any sequel would need each monster, the love confession and then an “Under the Highwind” end of the world scene. Thats 6 before we even start on them just having fun and exploring each other, and you know, the actual plot lmao.

Anywayyyy. I rambled a lot but there you go. Feel free to send in any more questions or ask for clarification if I was too vague. This fic is my baby and I love talking about it :)

[tansyuduri]

Hi, do you mind if I ask, what do you think are Merlin and Arthurt’s greatest personality strengths and weaknesses? Why? What do you love about their dynamic? Thanks if you want to answer....

Of course, I'll answer! I love answering questions! It's hard for me to put into words the answer to the first question. (For some reason these things are a LOT easier to express in fic) For Merlin it is devotion to the people closest to him. This is a man who will do almost anything for those he cares about. He will choose them EVERY TIME. He might struggle with it and choose something else might be more objectivly "right" and feel bad about it.

And some of his greatest struggles deciding what to do come from having to decide between what he is told might happen in teh future (AKA kid mordred and early morgana) and what to do now.

But usually he will choose the well being of the people he cares about (ESP ARTHUR) Especially if no one around him is in imidate danger (AKA Sins of the father magic statement) By season 5 this is at an extreme level and he has Arthur tunnel vision. The key thing here is this comes from a place of caring. It comes from him caring so much. Its his kindness and golden heart twisted by destiny, responsability, and some pretty horrible advice (That at least from one source is ALSO well-meaning) Hes basically told from day one that the entire responsibility for keeping Arthur safe is ALL on him. And he takes that to heart. For Arthur It's harder to pinpoint. But 99.9 percent of it is generational trauma from uther. From having a hard time expressing and processing emotions. (leading to lashing out) To the self-hate that spurs a lot of his acting out and trying to be more sure of himself. Hes a good person but doesn't always know how to express it right because he was not given the right tools. One thing I bring up in one of my fics is also that I'm pretty convinced at least subconsciously one of the reasons Arthur has such a hard time with magic is that IF it's good then in his view his very birth caused horrible things to happen to innocent people. He would self-blame. (Despite it being on uther) Despite this, he still asks himself questions about it being good. This is a bit rambly. Their best personality trait, for both of them as far as I am concerned are their hearts of gold. They are human but they are both such GOOD people. Now for their dynamics, I'm a sucker for banter so thats one thing. But I think what I like most about them both is that they can/could help heal each other. They are good for each other. Given time I think they would help each other heal from their trauma and the hardships they have faced. Just by being themselves. (I kinda live for that dynamic) We didn't get to see this as much from Arthur because so much was kept from him until the last episode. As someone who has deals with trauma a lot the idea of a pairing that can help heal each other and help each other be better is VERY appealing. We didn't get a chance to see the full extent of that in cannon though we do see a lot. One of the most important and meaningful parts of writing fanfic for me is being able to see them heal a bit, and help each other with that. (though a lot of Arthurs happens in the prequal fic to the one I am posting right now. Fair warning. The one I posting ATM mostly focuses on Merlin Trauma)

[jadzio]

Hey, I know it's been a lil while, and that you're busy, but I've been wondering about something. In the past, you have mentioned that Velvette is your favorite character from Hazbin, and I'm curious - what's the reason for that?

It mostly surprised me because of how little screentime she gets (I believe she has roughly 4 scenes, where she got to speak). I have also had instances where I came to really love side characters that the story didn't put much focus on, but I also don't recall any of them ever making it to my number 1 spot, so yeah.

But I will admit that I enjoyed her quite a bit. Her VA did a great job, and I do like the fun archetype of the 'snooty self absorbed rich girl that is also pretty short I guess' (with Pacifica from GF, Qiyana from League, and Disgust from Inside Out being some other examples I liked).

And Resepctless is a bop, of course. Plus it also strongly implied that Velvette is somewhat delusional (as Vox was shown to be the backbone of her group, being the one with biggest influence, that also sorts situations out - while Zestial didn't loose any relevance, judging by the way folks on the street reacted to him), which could be a fun thing to explore in Season 2.

I wonder if there's anything more to your enjoyment of the character, or if it's just the stuff I already said. After all, we all have our favorite tropes and archetypes, and a character would often become my favorite for simply fitting into the ones I like!

But I suppose there's no harm in asking :3

dw dw

I may answer a bit late, but hey at some point I will claw out some time...

Velvette is my fave from hazbin, but Beelzebub is my fave from the whole hellaverse.

I dont think she is delusional tho. I think that line was just either puffing up your coat to appear bigger and more threatening to the other overlords or all the v's i think thinks of themselves as the most important. We see a lot of vox, but id say that its vel who keeps things running the most. She isn't running and wasting time on simping for someone who won't even look at em (I mean angel for Val and alastor for vox). She feels like she needs to pick up crap after their toxic yaoi and feel the consequences the most.

And I think zestial might have lost some influence. I mean if u only take what folks from the street think of him, I mean they acted like that when they've seen alastor too, but its harder to argue that he remained in the same power as before. I think most sinners would reacted that way, cause 1 overlords, 2 who knows what they are up to, 3 they are known to take souls so u know u can still think lowly of someone and still be scared of them if they have a granade in their hand. Sides Val might have said that cause maybe v's have millions of souls due to the powers shift and more of the new sinners coming to them for technology., while zestiel might have had only a few thousands, strong ones, but less in numbers. Maybe she thinks those old souls can't do much anymore as opposed to their millions. also situation just had changed, they've discovered that angels are not immortal. so she wants a new approach to the situation and not be dragged by old unchanged ways of ye old. Also also all that was to prode and poke at carmila to cause her to outburst. I think she is smarter then u give her credit to. she knows its Carmilla and is trying to get out more info in the way she knows how. also it might have been again puffing up your coat to bring more overlords to her side.

But to answer ur question, I think i need to go back to queen bee. My love for her started for a beautiful design and its still a big part of it ofc. But... Idk how to describe it. She kinda awakened/opened some part of me if even just a lil (not like sexually i already know im pan/furry don't at me). Some part that been hidden away. one thats more spunk and free in her expression. More femme but in this specific way. This all didnt change my life in a dramatic way, but it pry open the door for other stuff to influence it.

And thats where Vel comes in. Trough that opened door, a lil bit. She also has an amazing design. But she is also spunky and not afraid to speak her mind and have a lil fun with it. She is respectless and a lil but of a bad bitch and Idk that kinda resonates with me a lil. I sometimes wish I had that confidence to flip off other plp (when deserved obvi) and dress in unusual ways.

overall idk you can all attribute my interest in them both to excellent design. but that's my theory on why

[thebigqueer]

Genuine thoughts on the pjo tv series?

i had a lot more thoughts when i first finished the show so this isnt as comprehensive as it could be but these are all the most important things i can remember. but im glad you asked cuz im alwasy ready to answer this question

i didnt hate it. i think i might have had too high expectations but ill be watching s2.

i will say that i think they def stuck to the books more, which i liked, but they made some changes i def didnt like.

my biggest issue was probably with the way that the kids - especially percy - just knew everything going on, because it took a lot away from the childlike wonder that the books had when the trio went on their first quest. i think the fact that percy didn't know a lot in the books was also essential to kid readers, who most likely dont know anything about greek mythology. obviously i think the fact that show percy knows a lot is good because it highlights his intelligence & could be explained by the fact that his mother told him all the stories, but at the same time i think percy served as a really important way to teach kids about the greek myths, so it kind of sucks that he immediately knows whats going on at some points, especially when we have no idea as to how he even learned about it. for example, at some points it made sense that percy knew what was going on, like when they realized quick that Auntie Em's Gnome Emporium was where medusa lived. but when we came to crusty's place, they just totally skipped everything about how percy came to find out about who crusty even was. taking out that context totally messed things up, because if i wasnt a reader i literally would not have understood how we even got there and how percy knew who this guy was. i understand it was to save time, but i think it couldve been handled better.

on the note of medusa, LOVED THAT EPISODE. i thought it had to be one of the best episodes of the season because it really displayed how no one is ever 1 dimensional, and i loved the way they drew to sally and medusa's similariteis because it really made percy consider what "good" and "bad" really meant - which is to say, theres never a clear line. and i loved that annabeth was so reserved because it really served to how wholly she beleives in her mother and the gods because it sets up her character arc so well. the entire episode was just so good. ALSO THE ACTRESS FOR MEDUSA WAS WAYYYYY TOO GOOD. too good.

the lotus casino episode was probably my least-liked because of the way they executed it. in the books that part was so fun and colorful because it was just the kids being kids - of course they were going to waste time having fun. but in the show they were so caught up in the mission that it kind of sucked not being able to see them just having fun like kids do. thats what i mean when i feel like the show just took so much away from that whimsy that kids have. i dont remember where i read it, but someone once replied to one of my posts with something about how they were kids just by physical appearance but not in character (or not completely) and i agree with that. i mean, sure, they had their scenes where they argued over trivial things like candy and chips and splashed percy with water because they seriously thought it would help, but i just so wish we coudlve seen them having fun being kids at the lotus casino.

im also not saying that they act like adults. they def dont act like adults (which is good) but theyre just not as childish as they were in the books, which is why im kind of disappointed. to sum it up, what im trying to say is that i think the show was just so focused on the plot points that they forgot to add in the children's characteristic qualities at points, because the storyline was just so plot-focused that i feel like even the points that the kids were supposed to be silly and funny just didnt hit the way they wouldve in the books.

this is more minor but i wish the scene where annabeth tries to reason with hephaestus when percy's stuck in the chair was somehow longer, or just ended with more vagueness. i loved the way leah took charge of that scene and i thought it was a really good execution, but i didnt understand how it only took hephaestus 5 minute of being scolded by a 12 year old to suddenly change his mind about power. i guess that could say something about annabeth's persuasiveness, but in reality it was just the showrunners trying to finish up scenes lol. i think what im trying to say is that the scene just felt sped up when it couldve been slower, or maybe the scene couldve ended with a little more of a lingering question that would make viewers wonder about the implications of this scene.

LOVED THE SALLY AND POSEIDON SCENE. PROBS ONE OF MY FAVS.

i didnt like the way hades was portrayed. im not saying the king of the underworld cant be funny but i felt like the way they changed hades will not do good to the rest of the show, especially if we get into season 3 or when we learn about hades' kids, beacuse i dont think itll line up with the way hades treats his kids later on in the series. like i cant imagine we get to season 5 and this is the hades storming into the battle in manhattan. sure, hes funny, but it does not line up with his character in the books at all. i dont mind minor changes to the books, but when youre completely changing an entire character - one whos important to the series as a whole - whats the point in calling it a book-accurate show 😭

i loveddd the lsat episode i loved the dream sequence and i loved that they went back to montauk i thought it added so much to the show.

this is minor but also not - WHY DIDNT ANYONE BOW WHEN PERCY GOT CLAIMED. THAT WAS SUCH A POWERFUL SCENE IN THE BOOK AND IT REALLY SET PERCY APART WHICH WOUDLVE DONE WONDERS FOR THE WAY PERCY ACTS IN TEH FIRST TWO EPS because hes like 'im so different and everyone keeps telling me im special but it all feels so condescending and no ones explaining anything to me.' FOREVER MAD THAT I COULDNT SEE THAT SHIT WITH MY OWN EYES. WHATS EVEN THE POINT OF ANYTHING ANYMORE

sally was portrayed interestingly. i know everyone has a lot of different opinions about how she was portrayed, as well as how gabe and the way the abuse in their family was potrayed and i agree and disagree with a lot of the points ive seen on the internet. firstly i did like that sally was portrayed with a lot more strength and stubbornness than the movie did, but at the same time there were points where i felt like she acted so un-sally like. ex. i like the way she was so serious & nervous & anxious with percy at the pool because that made sense; but i didnt think the scene where she was ordering percy to open the door was something i was expecting. and i understand that the entire situation was so difficult for both her and percy so it makes sense that she was easily frustrated with percy not listening to her, but i feel like at the very least she wouldve tried another line or two of reasoning with percy before ordering him to open the door, because in the books she seems a little more patient with him. idk this was a super specific moment lol i think what im trying to say is she doesnt feel like the same sally that i remember in the books, and thats def not a bad thing at all but at the same time i feel like the way they potrayed sally in terms of her mannerisms just isnt who she is. she is adamant and indepednent and blah blah but its the little things in her portrayal that dont feel the same.

on the topic of gabe's abuse - i know abuse can be more than just physical and we def saw aspects of the more financial and emotional abuse in the show. but i didnt like how gabe was portrayed because yeah he seems like a shitty guy but thats all he had; theres no context as to why hes even in their life or even how he got in there. i think the best way to describe it is the way i saw someone else describe it: he's gabe, just not smelly gabe from the books. so its essentially teh same thing as the sally bullet - i feel like they got rid of some of the important characteristics of gabe so his presence in teh story doesnt feel the same. i think this could be said about most of the characters in the show.

thats about all i can remember. theyre just my thoughts, and theyre not the most clean thoughts so sorry if its confusing. its been a minute since ive watched the show so im sure theres other thoughts and im sure my opinions could change if i watch again. but yeah thanks for asking anon!!

[unidentifiedfuckingthing]

i feel like a pretty universal cultural pollutant is that we use the idea of "its bad" for so many things as a replacement for a reason why you shouldnt do something, and thus in a lot of circumstances most people who strongly dislike something/believe something should remain a taboo believe so because its bad. and if you asked why they genuinely wouldn't have an answer. but things that actually are bad have reasons for why theyre bad, and things that aren't bad have reasons you're told they're bad, and understanding the way different viewpoints make different statements make more or less sense will give you a more satisfying and useful understanding of the world. taboos aren't a force for good, they're a force for normativity.

if someone says "you just think thats bad because its culturally instilled, but you wouldn't think that way if you asked yourself why its bad" the taught response is to say "thats the kind of thing you say when you're trying to put me in danger, so i won't think about it, and i might even get scared about the idea of thinking about it just to be safe." but that response doesnt help you. thinking about something and examining the information available to you isnt bad for you, and if the thing actually is bad then thinking about it will still lead you to the conclusion that it's bad. understanding someone else's viewpoint doesn't automatically brainwash you into believing it <- this part is especially difficult

its self-reinforcing and hinges on the uncertainty of what happens after you do choose to discard the self-terminating emotional response to taboo, and assuring you that it's so scary you never want to find out. so the solution is just to expose you to proof of what happens, right? normalize the experience of listening to viewpoints you find unacceptable without invoking the fear response at the same time and build a tolerance for seeing scary things with your thinking mind and not your instinctual fearing mind.

i think this is difficult firstly because it's basically universally unpopular to reject taboo, because this is associated with unconditionally accepting that taboo; asking "hey what actually IS the difference between bestiality and artificially inseminating a cow" implies that because you thought about it long enough to ask questions you probably want to fuck dogs, and not just that you think it's weird that nobody has a good answer; maybe more common & relevant is wanting to investigate the thought process of a conservative or fascist being seen as equivalent to being open to being converted to a fascist. and like, usually people who embrace something that's a taboo do reject its position as a taboo, so it's partially reasonable, but i think it's inappropriate to think that proves the opposite relationship is equally true. (and of course, also, to think that someone embracing a taboo=proof they're bad=proof that the taboo is bad)

i think the other big thing is that a lot of the time people dont have access to information that gives them the ability to form an opinion in the first place, and sometimes that information isn't available, or doesn't seem like it would be available, and so the reasonable fallback is "everyone who holds views i find completely rational also think this, so disagreeing without good reason is not likely to help me." and like i think this is generally a good instinct to keep. if people were equipped with enough information and the skill to use it they just wouldn't need it. i think this is maybe the missing link behind "i was never taught how to find out if something is true so people on the internet have to spoonfeed me" because a lot of schools do teach media literacy and the importance of knowing how to be credulous and find and vet your own information, but when thats taught parallel with rotely instilling the right things to know and the right sources to believe as decided by authority figures and with no justification, the subconscious conclusion is pretty clearly "they're teaching me bullshit" and potentially "they're teaching me things that are clearly false because the school system wants me to forget how to use my instincts so that they can make me think how they want me to think, even when it's bullshit". i think people who insist on relying on other people to tell them things often actually are frustrated at how difficult it is to find real unbiased information, and how other people seem to not have that problem, and i think if you made that knowledge accessible and unintimidating a lot of people would take their own initiative to internalize and apply it. like i totally understand the lmgtfy response but i think if more everyday information were given as "this is a source i believe is accurate and i believe this because:" it would sink in better than like, explanations on the theory of how to spot bias minus connection to current topics of interest, or individual snopes links, or whatever. i also think the average americans precarious sense of pride and shame is a barrier to self improvement and giving help as a free addition to conversation goes down easier than help for the sake of help. because when you're constantly looking for it it's easy to read into helpfulness as an assertion of personal deficiency. ok bye

[teeto-peteto]

Apologies if you've already answered this question, but is there anyone in the sentinels roster you'd replace with someone else? If so, who?

this might turn as a surprise since i have always stated my very obvious dislike for the Sentinels of Light event and the whole thing around it but. No! I think the character picking is nice, actually! If anything i have some problems with the Ruined roster, but who doesnt, though?

The problem i have with the roster of the Sentinels is the fact that their characters either behave in completely different ways as canon was stated originally, complete flanderization of characters just for comedic relief and how some of them are either boring or annoying.

I believe Senna and Lucian are prooobably the ''best'' written characters, they made them confusingly mean towards almost everyone wich is somewhat understandable because of the situation of Runeterra but also it was sometimes pretty uncanny and odd how harsh they were towars the rookie and the team sometimes but, i think they were kinda good protagonist in the end. Again, the parallelism of Lucian and Senna's relationship and Viego's with Isolde was a good point, yet again it wasnt very well resolved imo.

I'll try and do a speed rant about the sentinels, again i actually do like the picks! they just didnt respect them at all for some reason...

Vayne was incredibly annoying and whenever she appeared on screen wich was sadly 80% of the story she is unlikable in most senses. I do not know if this is good paired with the canon, i know just the basics about Vayne's lore cause i dont care that much about her, but i mostly skipped all her dialog on the event cause she was pretty boring.

Gwen is nice. She's bubbly, she's cute and brand new to the world. Sadly, she's just comedic relief, and a plot devicer for the 'sentinel skins' to exist. She's important to the story but its never actually explored and we get no type of interaction with Isolde and her not even narrated. She just carries a bunch of 'why?'s that Riot didnt want to answer on this event.

Olaf is a fucking joke and at least they made him a bit more gullable because they got to put the 'honourful death' around wich adds up to his lore where he still keeps making it from hardships even if it's not truly his intention. But he's a joke... just pure, saddening comedic relief.

Irelia suffers the same as Vayne where she's basically mean and its understandable as she's teaming up with a noxian etc etc but... eh. sometimes she's too much imo.

Riven was okay...? At least she is sorry, it doesnt mean Irelia has to forgive her of course but. I guess she's okay?

Graves was an absolute fucking crime and i dont understand and i assume im allowed of my mind completely nuts but... what was that whole flirting with Vayne thing???? What was the point of that?? He's again a comedic relief, but his jokes were specially unfunny most of the time. He has this death animation in league with Twisted Fate's card, yet they made him so incredibly and creepily insistant with Vayne it was so painful to watch... I mean, maybe he is a bisexual king im not aware of but like... holy shit tobias are you seeing this shit?

also like being insistent to women and being all over them all the time is funny hahaha come on everyone laugh riot said its funny!!!

Rengar... is there. Comedic relief, again. Just like Olaf they made him stupid. There's nothing you call pull out of him from this event. He's quite useless. Nobody cared that much in the team i guess.

Diana is... there? I mean she's chill... but like, nothing happened around her character that was mildy interesting or had a bit of growth in her character. She just went and signed a paper.

Pyke is reduced to comedic relief wich is saddening at least for a person like me. He's just there like hii im crazy look at me i say silly stuff cause im crazy hehe!!! And thats it. Paired with Olaf and Rengar they are just basically useless to the team and only there to sprinkle stupidity and jokes. Wont say i didnt jump out of my chair in that scene where Pyke talks with the rook and when he got the wayfinder back, but the rest of the event was very much a let down.

Akshan is nice in personality but his introduction was kinda odd to me how they quickly tried to wrap up his whole lore and use of his weapon and the revive thing it was very fast and sometimes it wasnt adding up. Sometimes he was the soul of the team so... he kinda carried sometimes.

if i had to replace one then probably rengar but i cant think about any champion of Ixtal at that time that would accept/make sense to become a sentinel of light

[dashiellqvverty]

i am... so sick of y'all pretending that Jade not putting up with Nate's unsubtle power plays is racism because you think it makes you look progressive. misogyny doesn't become suddenly okay because it comes from an awkward brown man

bro i was asked why i don't like jade and i answered idk what to tell you. sounds like you don't like the nate/jade relationship either though so i guess we're in the same boat there!

you're clearly not interested in like actually thinking about the show on a deeper level BUT for the sake of anyone who is, i do think this topic warrants a little more discussion than i gave it the first time, because i was answering a question about my personal feelings and figured ppl would take that for what it was.

so to be absolutely clear about this: i do not believe jade was intentionally written as a racist character. i do not think the way she is rude to nate is MEANT to read as racist in any way. to be honest, i wasn't thinking about it that way when i first watched it. but these are not real people and everything they do is a choice made by writers, and the way it was written WAS racist. even if you don't want budge on your opinion of jade and how she specifically is written, if you don't see any behind the scenes racism in the way nate shelley and his storylines were written over the course of the show then i don't know what to tell you.

but lets get into it. (under the cut because i have quite a lot to say)

as i said, i didn't initially interpret jade's treatment of nate as racist. when i got to s3 and she showed up again, i remembered NATE being mean to HER and not liking her very much, so i was mainly thinking "why would he want to get with her, and why would she want to get with him?" but, after reading other people's (specifically fans of color) interpretation of the storyline, i went and revisited the episode, and realized that, yeah, she's shitty to him for no reason, in a way that can definitely come off as racist. WE as the audience know nate has been being a dick all season - she doesnt! so what she sees is, as you said, an awkward brown man coming into the restaurant and stumbling through asking for a reservation. now, maybe it's just my own difficulty with social cues, but i don't see anything in that first scene that i would call an "unsubtle power play" - maybe you're talking about the "sorry i was waiting for you to ask if i needed anything," which, imo, is a stretch. i understand where you might be coming from, but... how is this any different than how he might have behaved in season 1? like, i'll admit that i do read nate as autistic which can affect my interpretation of certain things but like... to me thats just him voicing like "ah, sorry i'm being awkward, here's an awkward over-explanation of why." and then the "i know roy kent" thing is DEFINITELY not a "power play", it's him being desperate for something that might work to get the table he wants. like the point of this scene is not to portray him as some kind of power-drunk asshole, it's to show that he's an awkward bumbling idiot who can't be assertive and hates himself for it. i honestly, genuinely, do not see anything in that scene that comes off as misogynistic.

honestly, i don't personally think jade is too awful in this scene, it seems like she's also a bit awkward and not really performing the expected social conventions as a hostess, and if it weren't for the larger context this might not have been so bad. but there's a couple things going on here, for one the look she gives him when he asks for the window table, like he's an idiot for even asking (and please don't argue that he technically doesn't "ask," he says he really wants to make sure he gets it then says its important to his parents. seems like a pretty fucking normal thing to do imo). and then to have her say "okay we can reserve a specific table - in the back corner - but we CANT reserve the window table. we could for someone else, but not for YOU" is like.

again, the point of this scene is to make nate feel bad about himself, and media doesn't exist in a vacuum. the ted lasso writers may like to pretend they're colorblind, and that misogyny is the only problem in the world and racism only exists when its the Topic Of The Day (and never affects nate, apparently) but we live in the real world and can see that nate is a brown man, and in fact the only one on the show. it would be naive, i think, to say that this has nothing to do with nate's arc in s2. given how horribly his arc is executed on almost every level, i doubt this was the writers' intention, but intention isn't everything. the handling of nate's storyline is a topic for its own post, but it makes a lot of sense that nate's race and experiences of racism play into his feelings of insecurity and emasculation (for lack of a better term) as he is being ignored and overshadowed by white men - in fact, it goes a long way to explain a lot of his underwritten motivation. so here he is, walking into a restaurant and being looked at and spoken to by white people as though he doesn't belong, in a scene that is DESIGNED to make him feel bad. even if jade herself isn't intended to be racist, this is part of a LARGER PATTERN of how nate is treated both by the narrative and by other characters.

but wait, i imagine you arguing back, this is only the first sequence, before he decides to go back and be more assertive! what about spitting on the mirror! what about when he makes DEMANDS? what about THOSE misogynistic power plays?

well, jade doesn't push back against those, does she? in fact, she seems to be impressed, as she sort of smirks and goes "okay" in a satisfied voice and gives him the table. the lesson of this episode is that nate being a dick WORKS for him. his problem, we are told, is not that he was a being misogynistic or something, it's that he was too awkward, and if only he stopped being awkward and "made himself big," he would be respected.

on that note, i don't want to gloss over the scenes with rebecca and keeley either. i won't pretend he DOESN'T say anything that is or could be construed as misogynistic (but, be honest with yourself, he's not the only character in the show who says misogynistic things, he's just the only one who's not allowed to be forgiven, apparently). there's the comment about, "oh maybe some of those groupies would be nice haha" (which he immediately feels awkward about and apologizes for), the "dithering kestrel" thing (which is him overcorrecting after being told to be assertive). this is a larger trend with nate, where he is definitely written as making these kinds of comments more often, but it always seems to be something he's trying to do in order to perform a certain kind of masculinity in order to be accepted or respected (not that that would justify these things in real life, but it's important context to keep in mind). and rebecca is like... such a jerk to him in this scene too?? like on top of talking down to him, there's the moment where he's like "well it's different for me" (and does not explain what he means by that, so we are left to assume that maybe he just means because he's small and awkward?) and rebecca is like "well things are hard for me as a woman so i just feel my power girlboss my way through :)" and its like. why can we explicitly acknowledge that she specifically has to earn space and respect as a woman but never acknowledge the situation nate is in as a brown man???

if this was the real world, and these were real interactions between real people, it might be fair to say that hey, we can't dismiss someone's misogyny just because they are also marginalized. but this is not the real world, it is a fiction created by writers, so perhaps you should be asking yourself WHY THEY ARE WRITING THE BROWN MAN LIKE THIS

(i'd be remiss not to link this post again as it definitely informed a lot of my initial thoughts on this subject)

[chronicgrahaposting]

okay so. theres SO much to unpack here. i find that the longer i think about this one the more questions it raises. a huge breadcrumbs episode fr

so. lets get the elephant in the room out the way.

this vivi face. we havent seen vivi make an expression like this before, ever. he looks locked in a state of terrified incredulity. he seems to be both pumping adrenline from the fight and being suddenly thrown to another world, but also terrified? traumatised?

however, if its anything, it both contrasts and also adds to his statement that it was "[his] wish come true". if we interpret this expression being the shock of zenos nearly killing him, then graha almost represents a safe haven in this case. a protective ward, his own paragon.

in that sense, it adds to the reading that vivi only craves death because he sees nothing in the source worth living for. of course hed fall for graha and trust him in the way he does, he gave him a whole 'nother world, completely free from the trauma thats attatched to the source. a place where he can live, as himself. of course it was his dream come true. he finally has a reason to keep going that isnt just duty! that isnt just a promise he made too long ago.

....but im not satsfied with just that answer. theres a particular emphasis placed on vivis expression of abject terror? total shock? that lends it a lot more importance than just this revelation. remember:

only the appearance of emet gives him an expression thats remotely similar, and even then, its not the same thing. and if we look back to 52,

we see almost the diametric opposite of his expression here. its serene grace, more akin to a dead man, instead of that of someone whos just been traumatised. and sure. maybe these panels happened in succession. vivi gets thrown to the first, then he realises what happend, and then he looks like this! if we just take the visual evidence, graha tearing vivi away to another world was definitely very tumultous and of course, he did just get slashed on the chest. but again... that doesnt quite do it for me. there was a strong intentionality behind placing a look of pure shock behind the line where vivi tells graha hes made his dream come true, that betrays the relatively simple answers ive given here.

so. yeah. to tell the truth i dont have a super satsfiying analysis of what happens here aside from, "look ma! breadcrumbs!" if anything, ive only left this episode with more unanswered questions

✧✦✧ "Fragments" - episode 53 ✧✦✧

Mirage.

New reader? episode list on tumblr | webtoon Read 4 more episodes: patreon | kofi

[youmyjhope]

Hmmm that's a tricky question, depends on situation, like if someone wants to go crazy let's go crazy baby, but I think the more realistic answer is no I don't hehe

I like to get to know the person a little bit first. Sex isn't just putting it in and pulling it out. It's an art where two completely different souls put their colors together and create their own world through their feelings for each other. I wouldn't like to due to my rush to fuck someone, to do something that the other side is uncomfortable with. Just because I like idk handcuffs, I can't just come out and tie the person to the bed. Just cause I felt like it. That can come only waaaay later and if we both into it, that I just do whatever I'm pleased with.

I think rushing into things takes away the real pleasure. Of course you can't learn everything about the person and then expect to be perfect either. Because the real thing is different from talks. But that's why you take it slow and learn each others likes and dislikes. How they move. How they like it. Just because you are sure you want to be handcuffed, it doesn't mean it won't feel weird the first time, when it touches you, when you are in that situation. This applies to everything. Maybe you think you will feel joy, but you end up feeling trapped. It's normal. Thats why Im there, thats why we pause and then see what to do next.

Especially with heavier bdsm stuff. It can be so owerhelming for both sides. For example suddenly just jumping in and completely shutting down the subs senses, could create such an anxious enviroment. One day handcuffs, another day blindfold. And you will get there.

For some it takes longer, for some it takes shorter. But it's just like anything else. You don't take something in hands and you are already perfectly nailing it and doing thousand tricks. You take it slowly and learn over time.

This is very important, especially when you are on the dominant side. To take it slowly with your sub. Or just anyone in general, doesn't need to be a dynamic, but you need to understand the feelings behind those touches, needs, desires.

Not to mention that we are all different, some are new to bdsm, some are new to sex, some are virgins, some are demisexuals etc etc. everyone's story is different in their own way. Jumping into something that heavy can maybe feel good for a second, but it can give confusion to the other side, not show enough respect and leave them with many confusing feelings.

Again, if someone is into that, no shame in that, at all. I'm someone who likes to experiment, I can give anything a try. You want me to just have my way with you? I will, with lot of pleasure, but also with a long previous experience with you. With many nights spent together and thousand of hours spent talking.

There is a possibility that my partner wants to go faster immediately too ofc, but I think I would decline, maybe i wouldnt take it as slow as with someone else, but still not way too fast. I like to take my time with everything tbh. Making my partner feel safe and loved is my top priority. We have enough time in our hands to burn down the house with our passion. We won't be late anywhere.

There is no reason to rush into anything.

Someones virginity was given to me, and I don't mean some teenage sex, where we 15yo and we jump into it. It was a person between 25-30yo, so fully grown up and aware of everything related to sex. I took it as slow as I could. And I don't regret even one second and I wouldn't change anything. I think going slow, filled with love and understanding is the key to perfect sex. I'm no longer in a relationship with that person, but I think they would agree with me completely.

I admit that I do have a corruption kink, nothing extreme, but I do have feelings related to it, but before any kink, I'm a patient person full of understanding. Or at least I give my best to be. As patient as I can. As loving as I can.

Maybe you picked it up somewhere between the lines of my story, that I like to double check a lot.

The answer got little longer, but I think a simple yes or no doesn't give enough info.

Have a nice day princess - HSK 💋

I respect that🥰

yes, I did notice u double checking and always making sure everything’s ok. Always asking for consent. That’s why it feels so good and safe. And at the same time like a rollercoaster.

I wouldn’t want anything else tbh. It’s perfect. Sadly it’s not a common thing for guys to be so thoughtful.

For me, the first time I totally need to bond and feel shit. Be emotionally connected before anything else.

love the balance in u 🥰 and the duality.