#rather than write them and have people judge them for being Asshole Characters

[tatortart]

Just me being me and thinking about OC stuff.

I really want to share more of my OCs, but they also touch on like…more mundane tragedies, stuff that people can experience in day to day life. There’s nothing really fun about it, it’s just sad.

Moriko faces domestic violence that ramps up when her husband realizes she’s carrying Takumi. And her coping skills are absolute shit because of it, which leaves her struggling to perform up to the standards of motherhood.

Gordy struggles with alcoholism that only gets more out of hand when his father passes, and maintaining his sobriety when he mutates is fuckin’ hell when his depression veers wildly out of control.

Geraldine is just a bundle of religious trauma and what happens when women are seen as disposable. And Slash is what happens when you let your family’s expectations control you.

I reblog posts about how you need to write the stories you want to tell and there are so many stories I do want to tell, like, so so badly. I love my OCs and I work hard to portray their hardships with care and the like, so like…what’s stopping me? The vulnerability, maybe? It’s not like I’m shy about showing them off, but writing them out for people to read, oof.

[flower-boi16]

the thing is with viv's fat "rep" she could've actually done something good with it if she put THOUGHT behind as to WHY these characters act that way. she has such a large audience she could've impacted them in a meaningful way but as we all always say, it's viv. so that dream goes down the drain.

as someone who is overweight *because* of eating disorder issues, someone who fits the stereotype of "eating too much" and thus being heavier, i am the punching bag for people and "jokes" and harassment because of that. i remember watching the beezlebub episode, being excited for the design, and maybe just a LITTLE representation - and then boom! It's just furry bait 2.0 with lava lamp hair and the same build like every female character in the hellaverse. you can make asmodeus horny, you can make mammon greedy, but you can't make beezlebub a glutton? she literally summons FOOD. if you're gonna represent nothing but stereotypes, why not stick to it?? same went for mimzy. only character i was excited for and she's just another asshole and hated for it, even though the main cast isn't better in any way, but that's H*H and H*B for you, hypocrisy.

maybe adam got severely depressed when lilith left, and thus, he started stress eating, or that mammon does it because he feels like he never has enough (greed). just a half-assed explanation would've sufficed.

anyways, much much love to the beezlebub redesigns out there.

All of what you said would require Viv to actually put effort into her fat rep, which she clearly doesn't care about. She'd rather make all of her fat characters one-dimensional stereotypes than have actual depth, while she tries to put effort into her skinny-ass characters and give them depth, the fat ones are all just one-dimensional assholes with little depth.

I don't hate Beezlebulb's design as much as others do but the fact that Viv made a GLUTTON look skinny af is very weird, but then again, that's probably because then Viv would be forced to make a fat character that's more than just a one-dimensional asshole, so she made her skinny instead.

Also, the fact that Adam is apparently supposed to be fat despite STILL LOOKING SKINNY AF. Like, if you want to make a character fat, do the bare fucking minimum and ACTUALLY MAKE HIM LOOK FAT!!!!! But that would take effort, now would it? And that's the thing, Viv doesn't put effort into her fat characters; she always makes them one-dimensional assholes with no depth, none of them are actual characters, they all have the same fucking personality.

Oh, and I'll also never forget the fact that Viv had a fat character, Mammon, fat shame fucking FIZZAROLLI OF ALL CHARACTERS. Fizz looks skinny as hell! Yes, fat people can be fatphobic but like wouldn't it make more sense for Mammon to fat shame an actual FAT CHARACTER? But again, doing that would take effort, and Viv clearly doesn't want to do that.

I used to think that Viv can't be fatphobic because she herself is fat - until someone in my replies pointed out that fat people can still be fatphobic so...

...ya, judging by Viv's writing, she's very fatphobic. Until Viv actually makes a fat character with actual effort put into them, my mind is not going to change. Honestly, when I become a writer when I grow older I'll look at Hellaverse as a clear lesson of what NOT TO DO when making a fat character.

[gaylittlemans]

I am so inexplicably tired and vessel!Dazai has been haunting me so I will info dump about this dumb little AU because I can

This probably will not make sense, will make it seem like I don’t understand his character (who actually does? Besides his creator, obviously. Probably), or won’t have proper grammar but in the world of this shit, he will become a part of my personality if I do not write him down. So!

First, little stuffs about this AU because I can:

Dazai is trans here (FtM) because I kin him inexplicably and so am I, but he doesn’t experience that much gender dysphoria (mostly because he feels just a little disconnected from his body) and honestly what is the point of worrying about what body you have when the embodiment of the allure of death is currently using your body as her host? Exactly. There isn’t one. Also because I want to give this man a break on hating himself.

Basically everything about this AU is the exact same as the original, but Dazai is the vessel of a god, similarly to Chuuya. Some people do know about the whole kinda being a god thing, but not everyone. When he was Demon Prodigy, Mori kept and convinced Dazai to keep the vessel thing mostly a secret because it was better to keep as much information about him shrouded in mystery and basically make speaking his title mean the invitation of death, rather than let Dazai go and murder everyone as a vessel. I will sort of expand on this later. Probably.

Chuuya still has Arahabaki. He gets called ‘Baki’ in the rare times his name is mentioned in their world because I refuse to respect the god of destruction (Dazai started calling Arahabaki ‘Baki’ and Chuuya eventually found himself calling him that too). Dazai’s possessor’s ‘Machiko’, but might sometimes be called ‘Chiko’ or some other nickname instead.

Dazai is just slightly cannibalistic.

I ship Soukoku, which will probably be obvious by the way I write them. Neither revolves around the other, but they are both permanently drawn to one another.

Dazai struggles with skin picking in this au because he kinda craves the taste of blood thanks to Chiko so he does care a little bit more about his hygiene in this au so he doesn’t have anything to pick. His hands are very soft in his world. My man is moisturized 😚

So, Dazai.

He’s around seven years old. His life has been nothing but dehumanizing and cruel and cold. He’s being raised in a neighborhood of rich assholes who think they’re all better than one another because of meaningless, materialistic means. (Death will claim all of them in the end, so it doesn’t matter what they do, anyhow. He won’t say anything about them, though. If they need to hide from Her gaze, he won’t judge.) His parents are controlling and overbearing and want him to grow up to be some rich asshole’s trophy wife. He doesn’t want that to happen, but his body will not let him say anything to disappoint them. He can’t afford their ire; he’s seen what they do to people who think they can and the least he can say is that it looks painful.

He’s been raised by nannies and caretakers his entire life thus far and some of them were nice, but most of them just followed his parents orders to make him behave.

Modest, pretty, demure.

Modest, pretty, demure.

Those were the most important things for a little girl his age to learn. Of course. He is nothing, he is not human, if he doesn’t behave. If he doesn’t act modestly and polite. If the boys in the neighborhood tug on his skirt, he is to hold it still so they cannot expose him. If the girls in his private school pick on him for his doe eyes and thousand yard stare, he is to be reserved and accept their insults graciously and not respond to their taunts.

He is a monster if he raises his voice, or disobeys his parents or caretakers or teachers, or acts out of line—acts like a child. His purpose of being brought into the world is to grow up to serve his future husband and children and be pretty.

So he kills them.

The voice of death herself whispers in his ears at night, when the moon is full and bright, that they do not deserve their gifts, they do not deserve their gifts of breath and life.

So he takes them away like she says to.

He stands in the woods beyond the gated mansions in a white, blood splattered nightgown and a pair of what are probably Mary Jane’s, but he’s not for certain and white, just as blood splattered, socks. He doesn’t remember much of what he did, but he does not mind. The cool night, late summer breeze reaches his skin through the minuscule layers he wears. He has always run cold, kind of like what you would expect a corpse to feel like (they’re actually room temperature), and has yet to build the habit of halfway mummifying himself. Bad circulation, doctors had told him. How fun.

Here is where he sees her for the first time, the woman—the God—who changes his life forever, with the handle of one of his father’s expensive kitchen knives grasped in his right hand as the left toys with the seam of his dress. She’s beautiful. She speaks to him, but he does not remember all of what she says. He remembers “Machiko”. It must be her name. He also remembers her permitting him to call her a nickname, as he’s young and he deserves to choose what he calls his friend.

Chiko offers him her hand and Dazai’s left hand goes numb. As if puppeteered, he moves to take her hand and she smiles at him. For only the second or so time in his life, he feels warm.

Dazai learns a lot from her. He would kill without her influence, but she tells him to embrace death and its endless, inescapable dance and he does.

Perhaps too much.

Mori Ougai was a man, a doctor, whom was highly praised by rich folks he’d grown up around (and consequently been raised by after the murder of his parents). He had met the man before, who had said he was interesting and reminded him of himself. In his adulthood, Dazai was ashamed to have felt pride at the fact Mori found him intriguing, or that the man saw himself reflected in the shattered, blank soul of his.

At fourteen, his adoptive parents rushed him to the doctor another attempt at death. He woke up, hazy and exhausted, and strapped to a bed with an oxygen mask, IV in his arm, and a heart monitor. Machiko screamed at him, for his safety and his body, to not listen to the man in the white coat who offered him a reason to live, a purpose to life outside of being a vessel. Just like he’d subconsciously been searching for.

He did not listen to her.

Dazai would say he was built to be a mafioso. And it was easy enough to sever ties with his adoptive family—they weren’t too attached, anyways—and old life.

When he was fifteen years old, he met the most annoying person on earth; Chuuya Nakahara.

Every move the boy makes is so completely full of life and energy. Dazai would say he was envious, but he was not. Machiko was drawn to the boy, though, or—as he truly found out—she was drawn to Arahabaki. Death and destruction go hand in hand, he supposed. And it seems Dazai wasn’t the only one who felt that pull towards the other.

Boo. Feelings sucked. He wouldn’t say he had a crush on Chuuya, no, never, but he was drawn to the redhead like the pull of gravity said redhead controlled.

But the first time he had seen Corruption, seen the final form of Upon The Tainted Sorrow, Dazai had been mesmerized. For all his wit and bravado, he still had no explanation as to why he found this redheaded slug so enchanting, even seven years later.

Machiko still hailed over him, but she was not his puppeteer. She guided him and attempted to help him through inexplicably human issues, but she did not attempt to forcibly take control of him. If she was in charge of his body, it was entirely because he had allowed her too. He spoke with her on the regular—she was a mentor who hadn’t forced herself into that roll exactly as Mori had.

Machiko was the god of death, yet also the god of allure, of temptation, of beauty, and of yearning. Some called her the moon. Others simply didn’t know of her existence. It didn’t matter to Dazai. His mentor knew how to be merciful, despite the blood and desolation she craved.

Chuuya clearly remembered the day he’d discovered Dazai was also a vessel.

Things had been dangerous and he had still been injured from a mission Mori had sent them out on previously. He had been occupied by a horde of enemies when he’d lost track of Dazai amongst the commotion. Grunts were incapacitated or dead at his feet before he knew it.

Now, he would never admit it, but looking around and not finding the dark, sullen eye of his partner watching him from a safe distance had scared him. Made him anxious.

He pushed his way into a corridor that had been blocked by debris during the fight that he could almost sense Dazai’s shenanigans coming from and walked—maybe just a bit quicker than normal—until he saw bodies scattered and crimson pooling. In the center of this crop circle of cadaver was his partner, small, white, star-like marks twinkling across what very little skin was exposed to the open air, ripping out the throat of one of their enemies with his teeth. Blood soaked his clothes and his bandages.

Chuuya felt unreasonably calm, and oddly awestruck, at the sight.

And that’s all I can write 😚 ‘cause I am so tired. I dunno what else to say, ‘cause this is just about all my smooth little brain has let me know about the blorbos of today, but yeah. Thank you if you actually read all of this. :3333

Have a good day/night/morning/afternoon/evening!! Remember to drink water, eat, take your meds, all that.

Byeeeeee <3333

[deadbydangit]

Ah! I’m obsessed with your writing!! If you don’t mind, I would like to make a request! 🩷

A killer!reader who is very quiet due to shyness, so they have a difficult time trying to get along with others 😔 (characters of your choice! but I’d like to see Wesker because I like him very much haha)

If there are any struggles, don’t feel pressured !! Take care and Thank you!

I think I can do that. I'm going to tweak it a little so it's easier to write about. Please enjoy.

With a shy reader: Mastermind, Nightmare, Onryo

Mastermind

Wesker doesn't mind that you're shy.

He isn't the most talkative person himself.

He can be, if he has to be.

But he would otherwise prefer to remain quiet.

It isn't that he shy, he just rather not talk to the others.

He finds them annoying and not worth conversing with.

Having a super outgoing partner wouldn't work well for him.

He's the type who would prefer to stay home rather than go out.

So if you don't want to go out?

That's fine by him.

Besides, he finds your coy nature to be charming.

And, he won't say it out loud, but he thinks it's adorable.

Though he will poke fun of you from time to time.

"Speak up dearheart. I won't know what you want unless you tell me."

"Ah, you're blushing. How adorable."

He'll even pinch your cheeks.

Part of all this is him just being a tease.

The other part is him trying to get you to stand up for yourself.

He may not vocalize it, but he is worried about you.

He knows he won't always be around to protect you.

And you're going to have to confront others eventually.

He may seem like he's being mean, but it's really his way of showing he cares.

But he isn't like that all the time.

If you're in a situation you're uncomfortable with, just tug on his jacket.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. We can leave."

And it doesn't matter what he's doing either.

If you want to leave, then he'll help you.

Nightmare

Shy?

With this guy?

Good luck.

This asshole is going to tease you till you're close to tears.

Freddy does that with everybody so don't take it too personally.

That's one of the reasons that most of the other killers and survivors don't like him.

He doesn't like them either. Which is why having you shy is nice because he doesn't have to deal with them around.

It could just be the two of you. He's fine with that.

But having you so shy, and so unwilling to stand up for yourself, it's prime gold for him.

What, you expect him not to take advantage of this opportunity?

In your dreams.

Which is where he often is.

Teasing you and poking at you.

Just seeing how red your face gets when you get so worked up.

He can't get enough of it.

If you actually start crying you will stop though.

But only if you start crying.

Otherwise he won't put on the brakes just because you're his significant other.

But, if you say something, he'll stop.

"Come on baby. I can't hear you. What do you want?"

While he's laughing in your face.

Don't get too mad at him though.

It's just how this idiot shows his love.

Onryo

You two could be shy together.

It isn't so much that Sadako is shy.

She just doesn't talk.

And, nearly all her experience with people is bad.

So the less people around, the better for her.

Unlike the others, she won't taunt or tease you.

She likes that you're quiet.

It's peaceful that way.

Most of her life was filled with sadness and hate, so the silence is a welcome change.

You two could sit in silence for hours, not saying a thing.

And she would be perfectly fine with that.

But, if you do want to talk, she'll listen.

She enjoys hearing you speak.

The sound of your voice is relaxing and comforting.

And she'd never judge you.

So don't ever feel embarrassed about speaking.

You won't ever have to worry about someone taunting you either.

Because Sadako we'll take care of them in a matter of seconds.

Can't bully somebody if your neck is broken.

She'll make a gruesome show of torturing the person who was bothering you to others.

It's her way of saying that you are under her protection.

And God help anyone who decides to mess with you now.

[doberbutts]

The other thing I liked about Being Human (US) is that the core cast are all incredibly flawed and damaged people who still love each other at their core and genuinely want things to work even though they make spectacularly stupid choices at times along the way.

Aiden is incredibly easy to trigger due to his laundry list of past and present issues and when he's triggered he doesn't shut down or go quiet. He gets ANGRY. He gets *violent*. There was a joke between my friend and I when we watched over the summer and holidays that he was a big fan of using neck snaps to solve his problems but was startlingly bad at dealing with the fallout except by continuing to kill people to cover up his problems. When he fights with Josh he gets personal, he's so combative and confrontational, and he wears that prickly exterior whenever someone sees through the stone mask and pokes at a fleshy bit a little too hard.

But we also see Aiden break down and cry. We see him sobbing uncontrollably as he loses control again and again and again. Every time he manages to scrape together a bit of happiness before either he or someone else fucks it all up and it blows up in his face. He wants to stop. He doesn't want to hurt people anymore. And he can't figure out how to do it because it's like hurting people and driving them away or killing them is the only thing he really knows how to do.

So many times while watching I would yell "talk to your fucking friends asshole" and he would continue to either shut them out or get close but lose his nerve halfway through and remain silent. He wanted that connection very badly and simply couldn't make it happen. The few times he did open up to Josh or Sally he was well received, which I think was really a bright point in the writing because it showed the audience that the problem was that Aiden couldn't figure out how to be vulnerable due to [redacted plot things] rather than because his friends were jerks.

And overall I think that balanced well with Sally, who's various exploits *also* usually blew up in her face, and Josh, who oscillates wildly between "sad and more than a little afraid of himself" and "picks weird hills to die on because it's literally the only way he manages to feel any amount of control in his life". Josh and Sally both frequently vent about things to Aiden, but he almost never reciprocated until pretty close to the end of the series. He hides things from them, he dodges questions, he finds convenient excuses to not talk about stuff, even when they prod and pry to get something out of him.

He only explains after things hit the fan and everything goes to shit. Usually, because his friends have been there to catch him when he falls, and he has to tell them *something* about why there's so much blood on his hands (sometimes literally) yet again. And they get mad at him, but ultimately they forgive him, because fuck, a werewolf and a ghost aren't really in any place to judge now are they. Even then, it's not usually the whole truth.

(And it's interesting, in the what-if scenario where they weren't there to catch him as he fell, just how bad things got)

But then he's afraid he's going to lose Josh, and he's afraid he's going to lose Sally, and he's afraid he's going to die, and he goes to Josh, and he says "I'm scared, and I don't know what to do".

And Josh stops, and realizes that Aiden has never asked him for help, not really, and has never actually been vulnerable with him, and has always worn the brave and stoic face even as things are melting down at catastrophic levels. And he says, I'm here.

Aiden is such a bad victim and he makes some real stinkers of bad choices along the way but they make sense for his character once you learn about all the shit that's happened since he became a vampire and how fucked up things got for him before he realized he needed out. And he backslides and he backslides and he backslides but he keeps trying because what's the point if he doesn't at least try.

Anyway the hill I will die on is that this show would have done numbers on tumblr if it came out slightly later. Ah well.

[some-beans]

Howdy! i was wondering if I could request twisted wonderland x gyomei!reader(gender doesn’t matter). Cause that man is the definition of gentle giant and I feel like he needs more love.

YES YES AND YES !! HE IS MY FAV HASHIRA I LOVE HIM !! also sorry if it took a hot minute, life do be crazy

✎...pairing: twisted wonderland x gyoumei!reader ✎...themes: chaos, gentle giant reader, can be seen as platonic or romantic, ace slander [ affectionately ] ✎...notes: can you tell which characters are easier to write for, male implied reader !! ✎...enjoy !!

𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐘𝐔𝐋

𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐋𝐄

iー

first, he has floyd's lanky ass to worry about aND NOW YOUR GAINT ASS??

riddle cannot catch a break from these tall ass people

but he'd much rather have you around considering you're not trying to squeeze the ever-loving shit out of him

also, you're very gentle and respectful about the queen of heart's rules, which riddle appreciates greatly

he may or may not had ー what cater calls a 'moe moment' ー when he saw you being so cautious and gentle with the hedgehogs

riddles heart = doki doki

however, very much a tsundere about it

𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐘

trey is bamboozled

first of all, how can someone be that tall??

second, how can you be so gentle and considerate of others??

cuz yk. . . nrc is full of assholes

now because you're built like a goddamn semi-truck, you eat a lot and with trey always baking something new, you kinda get stuck with tasting whatever he makes

not that you mind, obviously

this is trey's baking we're talking about

𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑

did a double take ngl

100% gets meme-worthy pictures of you from interacting with other students who are short ー especially, riddle, ortho and epel

pls don't tell riddle that

or epel

ortho doesn't mind tho cuz idia loves them

but those photos came at a price

what?? cater was not gonna let the opportunity ー with your consent and cut ー to make a profit when he discovered how popular you became from a selfie he took with you

yes, there was a struggle

and yes it was funny

did try to get to join the light music club when he found you playing the shakuhachi, which is a type of flute

𝐀𝐂𝐄

a high-pitched scream left his mouth as soon as your giant shadow covered him

almost pissed himself too

definitely uses you as a shield whenever he bites off more than he can chew when fighting someone

pussy

anyway

sometimes you allow him to do that, but when you're not in a good mood, you will be making sure ace learns his lessons

almost had his head beat into the ground because of stupid shit he did

may or may not have pissed himself a little

𝐃𝐄𝐔𝐂𝐄

a nervous wreck

but plays cool cuz he knows not to judge a person by their looks, even though you like the type of dude to easily smash his skull in

easily sees you as someone who should be respected

also

would do any errand or favour you ask of him

no if's, and's or buts, or questions asked

homeboy really out here being a

𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐖

𝐋𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐀

look

leona isn't really gonna bother with you unless you bother him

but then again, you do slightly put this lion on edge

you're 7'2 tall and 130kgs of muscle

leona was not gonna fuck with that

however

despite the muscle you have, you make a fantastic pillow/cuddle buddy

but don't tell anyone that, got it??

𝐑𝐔𝐆𝐆𝐈𝐄

almost shat himself

why??

cuz he tried to snag something from grim and you quickly intervened by grabbing his arm

lowkey almost snapped it clean in half

ruggie swears that you're blind but ig he underestimated your other senses

is very cautious around you

but overtime ー and with the gifting of food ー ruggie slowly warmed up to you

i mean, you're a b i g guy and ruggie is definitely going to use that to his advantage if he finds himself in any trouble

straight up bolting to you

𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊

what's this??

a new training buddy??

of course, jack doesn't show how he really feels about seeing your stature, however, his tail betrays him greatly

*cue tsundere wolf noises*

considering his the oldest sibling in the family, he felt a weird sense of comfort from you

which was like he was being protected, leading him to ask his siblings who said that's how they felt around him

𝐎𝐂𝐓𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐄

𝐀𝐙𝐔𝐋

nope

just nope

even tho you're human, azul can't help but imagine you as a big ass shark or orca merfolk, and scares the shit out of him

however

once he saw you cry over something small ー which was simply stepping on grim [ which was the greatest crime ever ] ー he knew you were kinda like a crybaby just like him

this did lead him to try and make a contract with you

. . .

that didn't work

and almost got his ass scrambled

maybe don't try to make a deal with a dude that can easily crush your skull

. . . jk unless?? 👀👀

𝐉𝐀𝐃𝐄

finds you to be an anomaly

you have this intimidating height, bulky muscle and strength greater than most non-humans on sage island

and yet, you cry

at everything??

fascinating

he does also try to get you to eat his. . . food ー more like hazardous concoctions ー and tries to pull you along to go hiking

emphasis on tries

you won't fucking budge

great seven

𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐘𝐃

you're his jungle gym

sorry not sorry

whenever you're around his focus is on you and trying to climb you

you're his favourite thing to squeeze because you don't really get affected by it

however, he did try to nom on you and quickly learnt his lesson

he got his ass handed to him

so don't tell jade

or azul

or anyone for that matter

𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐀

𝐊𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐌

sure, was kalim initially terrified of you?? yes

but did that change when he saw you happily crying while surrounded by cats?? yes, yes it did

kalim tends to buy you a lot of cat-themed items and such

definitely cried a waterfall when he found out he couldn't really help with your blindness

you also cried but that was from how sad kalim was about not being able to help you with your sight

jamil definitely had to calm both of you down ー though it was mostly kalim

𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋

finally, someone who he doesn't have to babysit

is secretly grateful when you take kalim off his hands so he can get other shit done

he kinda suspects that you've taken care of kids before but you deny it every time

he gets angry-flustered when you're the one taking care of him or kalim, and doing his chores out of the goodness of your heart

he's not used to it, at all

he kind of wonders if his unique magic would on you cuz yk you're blind

but seeing as rumours went around about someone seeing you easily push a boulder around for strength training

jamil would rather not face any consequences of involving his unique magic

𝐏𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐅𝐈𝐎𝐑𝐄

𝐕𝐈𝐋

vil was initially indifferent towards you ー because he saw you sitting down at first ー but that very much changed

seeing your height and. . . muscles, vil knew you'd be a hit amongst a certain group of fans

he definitely does try to find lotions and whatnot to help with your scar along your forehead and to help with how rough your hands are

not that vil actually minds how rough they were

also when you two end up going shopping somehow, you are most definitely holding all the bags

every. single. one.

but you don't really mind as you're more of a minimalistic person compared to vil's standard

𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐊

rook was vibrating with excitement

you'll be his biggest hunt yet !!

and even though you're blind you could easily sense him, and rook enjoyed that thrill of being caught

he was having a field day

tbh he really sees you as a challenge

and a beautiful soul, no less

you most definitely cry at any poems rook spouts and rook swears cupid repeatedly hits him with his arrows at the sight

𝐄𝐏𝐄𝐋

epel = jealous

like how dare you take all the height and muscle, and yet cry at just about everything??

man's angy

however

that does not stop epel from trying to train with you and jack

*cue an angry vil*

of course, you don't anyone to be upset, so you came to a compromise that you'd teach epel total concentrating breathing help with being faster and such without 'ruining his adorable demeanour' as vil put it

epel grumbled but complied after he noticed he could run a little longer and lift slightly heavier things

𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐈𝐇𝐘𝐃𝐄

𝐈𝐃𝐈𝐀

listen

ngl he fainted when he first saw you

both you and ortho panicked

and you, well, you cried

after the whole fainting fiasco, idia very much kept an eye out on you through various cameras and ortho

look, with a dude, your size, of course, idia was going to be suspicious ー he may have faltered a little when found out you were blind, but he wasn't going to take any chances

however

that all changed when he found you surrounded by cats ー grim and lucius included

idia was fuming with jealously

*arthur fist*

but overall, i feel like idia would still have some hesitancy around just because of your height alone

don't get him started on your muscles

got him reminding him that you're like an anime character or something

𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐍𝐈𝐀

𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐔𝐒

quite frankly thrilled to have someone like you that was taller than him and probably just as feared ー even if you were a magicless human

you two would 100% go on nightly walks with malleus spitting facts about gargoyles and grotesques, and their differences

once malleus really warms up to you, much like leona, you are his pillow and cuddle buddy

but only when he manages to escape the watchful eyes of sebek, sliver and lilia

his tail has managed to pop out whenever he receives any level of praise from you

he's like a giant puppy

𝐋𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐀

being as old as lilia has been, it's been a rare sight to see someone even remotely close to your stature ー let alone a human of this height

but does that stop him from being the chaotic lil shit he is??

no, absolutely not

he loves to teleport behind and gauge your reaction

fyi it always ends with you swinging a fist

have you almost knocked lilia out before?? on multiple occasions

but over time you got used to lilia's jumpscares

*cue sulky bat fae noises*

but doesn't stop lilia from inviting himself over to where ever you are and chatting up a storm

you two also trade stories, from raising kids ー which only lilia knows about ー to various battles you two have respectfully fought

𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐕𝐄𝐑

he was startled out of his nap when you sat next to him

was so ready to through a punch but stopped

why??

cuz you wanted to pet the animals that surrounded him

and seeing your figure softly smiling as you gently pat all of the animals made silver's heart just warm

a.k.a doki doki

like sebek, he would love to train with you but is more confident to say so

even if he's a little shy

doesn't really try total concentration breathing after seeing what happened to sebek, instead focuses on becoming physically stronger

𝐒𝐄𝐁𝐄𝐊

sebek being sebek, shouted obviously

may have tried to fight you

backed down when he saw you fold floyd like an omelette

you now have some of sebek's respect

good job !!

100% asks to train with you, especially strength training ー but is a tsundere about it

also wants you to teach him this stone breathing of yours, which he believes is magic and you're lying about being magicless

that thought comes crashing down when he dies from trying to copy total concentration breathing

swear he hack up a lung

though he's persistent and tries again and again

you praise him for it and he has to physically will himself not to blush and have a squiggly, dopey smile on his face

[whtwclf]

I never thought I would have to say this out loud, but here we fucking are I guess— so whoever needs to hear this:

Wade Wilson has never been and never will be a goddamn Nazi.

If you or someone you know is dropping into inboxes on anon and accusing people writing Wade Wilson of being racist and/or Nazis - well friends, let’s unpack that shall we?

Let’s first address the comic run with which is being referenced here, and that’s the Hydra Cap run. This is a run wherein through some nonsensical Cosmic Cube related shit [[ you can read a bit about that here ]] where Wade is more or less manipulated by who he thinks is Steve Rogers/Captain America into essentially doing shit that does or ends up benefiting Hydra schemes. I’m hazy on it because it was a shit run that nearly the whole of 616 fans REVILED, by a HUGE margin, and that’s my point the first - as a fandom we mostly rejected that whole storyline. As much as we refuse to believe that Wanda and Pietro aren’t Magneto’s children, almost any 616er does not recognize huge portions of that run.

MY POINT THE MFING SECOND—

Is even if they did by into that run;

Wade Wilson acting on what he believes is on the behest of Captain America a Nazi does not make him, no more than Steve is a Nazi for a clone hydra made of him or no more than mcu Bucky Barnes being made a slave to Hydra machinations.

So if you have a shit understanding or knowledge of the works and comics you speak of and are so lazy you can’t be bothered to do an iota of research and instead fucking CHOOSE to slander people on anon and tell them to kill themselves - then you can kindly block me and get fucked. This isn’t a debate on the character of Wade Wilson. He’s a good guy. He’s the best fucking guy. He loves everyone and judges no one unless they seek to do harm to someone who doesn’t deserve it. And if you would rather CHOOSE to ignore the heroism written into that character, CHOOSE to ignore the importance he holds to people of all colors and faiths and races and communities and cultures and genders, in favor of being a juvenile little shit bag? Then have you stopped to consider, just even by a margin, what a disgusting ASSHOLE that makes YOU? Have you?

Have you considered that this performative purity bullshit impresses no one anymore? That you’re KILLING this community with this shit? You must because you’re harassing people on anon, where it use to be the rule you could do that in the open with impunity? Not quite that anymore though, is it? Because everyone is the fuck over it. You’re a joke anymore who helps no one and proves nothing.

So in summation;

Hydra Cap sucks. So does that run. Nazis are the worst shit.

And most importantly?

Wade Wilson is a fucking hero.

I said what I said.

✌️

[inthehead-shootmedead]

I'm watching Arcane right now for the first time ( I know I'm late to the party, but like with Game of Thrones everyone just wouldn't shut up about it and I got sick of it so I put it off out of spite okay) and I have some Thoughts, but right now I have to write this down before I forget about it

Mel is (in my eyes at least, and I'm still not done with season 1) such a weird - in a good way - character in the system of Piltover

She's complex and her actions and reactions are, like pretty much everyone else in this story, fundamentally a product of her upbringing

The thing is, her upbringing is also fundamentally different from that of most people in the show. She's privileged yes, but unlike most privileged people in Piltover, her privilege didn't in any way protect her from the violence inherent to said privilege existing (or rather, her knowledge of it, not the violence itself)

Most of the Piltover characters are just so far removed from the undercity (despite it not being all that separate, like it's literally right there) that they can abstract the undercity's suffering from their prosperity. They either refuse to believe that the undercity could be anything other than animals rightfully below them, repress and deny the consequences of their actions to the point they don't even see it, or just straight up never even think about it, like the stark economic and social differences between them are just a natural phenomena as uncontrollable as rain and stroms. "You don't hate the clouds for thunder, so why are these people blaming us for their misfortune?" sorta thinking

Mel doesn't have this view, because her mother, as much of an asshole as she is, made sure, in one of the most direct ways she could, that Mel couldn't abstract power and the powerful from the suffering of the powerless

However, while I believe that Mel is not like her mother in her belief that the most utilitarian solution is the best one (kill one now, save thousands later) she does believe, at least to some extent that there should be the powerful and the powerless, but she also believes that it is the duty of the powerful to minimize the suffering of the powerless as much as possible (while maintaining their position at the top)

It's why I think she's devoted to maintaining peaceful negotiations for as long as she can. Not only because it is the least damaging option for both sides, but because she believes this is the duty for a person in her position to do so

The thing is, her childhood has also made her hesitant I think. She speaks her mind, but most of her actions are done in the "background", so to speak. She doesn't start a conversation, she directs it. She doesn't bring forth ideas, but she does find people with hopes and dreams and uses them, like in the very first scene she's in, she is judging the inventions of other people to see which ones would better serve her goals. She isn't a coward, she isn't afraid, necessarily, but I think that her mother's brutal efficiency has made it so that she's cautious to make a decision strictly her own, for which the blame would be solely her own as well, like her mother's decision to behead that girl even tho she couldn't really do anything to them

And this isn't the only way we see her being impacted by her past. The undercity and Piltover characters are very easy to draw contrast with because this is their beginning and their end, this is where it starts and ends for them, but not for Mel

I started thinking about this not when we saw her childhood flashback, which probably would have been the obvious moment for reflecting on her character, but I did when we see her mother, in front of the painting we saw her working on when Jayce comes back from visiting Viktor

It clicked for me then, that in a show of brilliance, the writers decided to make Mel's character beats match with her art (although we only saw two so far, so who knows I might be wrong)

When she wakes up from her nightmare, we see the girl's necklace depicted in the background in one of her paintings. In her moments of fear, even though it is just a nightmare, we see in the background her very first moment of true helplessness. When her mother tries to convince her to help her get the weapons she needs, she's standing in front of the ships of her new painting, and this could have two meanings I think

First, very directly, it represents her mother's (and by extension her homeland's) warmongering and bloody traditions. The red sails and quick, abrupt brush strokes, different from the necklace's more flowing, curving lines, gives kind of the feeling of stabbing, like someone used a knife to make the canvas bleed until they got the painting right. It represents the type of person her mother is, and the type of person she doesn't want to be, which is why she goes to paint it when she's mad

The other option (that I'm partial to but only because I'm a sucker for broken characters) is that it actually represents her exile. She paints it not because she's mad, but because Jayce just left her (abandoned her you could say) like her mother did. Because yes, they have their disagreements, but you can see that being cast out cut her deep - it's the one thing she brings up pretty much every time she talks to her mother. Also, unlike the necklace painting, in the boats painting only the sails are red, which could be because the necklace scene was a much bloodier scene than her arriving at Piltover, but I think the sails are still meant to represent her mother or her homeland, but in this way it represents her leaving her much bloodier childhood for the more "diplomatic" place she came to. Of course, this is not really true, so much as Piltover hides its violence better, but from Mel's perspective, this would likely be the one good thing about her exile: she gets to do things her way now. And she does.

Which is why she's so enraged, and trying to hide it (although maybe less hide, and more control her anger), when her mother arrives. It's not just that she's come to Mel's new home and stomped all over her methods and treats her like a naive child. It's that she's also trying to turn Piltover, Mel's prison and safe heaven all at once, into her playground just like back home.

It's her childhood all over again, and she hates it

[kvetchinglyneurotic]

Hi! I, evidently like so many others, absolutely loved THD!! I am spinning it in my hands, bouncing it up and down, examining the fractals it throws off when held to light... it's just SO GOOD! I wandered over here when you posted the final chapter, read your plan of attack post for the series and am now stuck on this somehow being the first fandom fic you've written?? If you're happy to answer, I would love to know what it is about TL and Jamie Tartt specifically that inspired you to jump from original work (which I will definitely be checking out later!! Your prose demands no less!!) and into fan fiction, any why this particular AU gripped you to the point of delivering 80k words of brilliance? Thank you for the story and (hopefully) thank you in advance for the response!

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it! My venture into fanfic is the result of a confluence of a few different factors. I finally got around to watching TL maybe a month before season 3 aired, having already osmosed some of the major plot points from Tumblr at large — most notably the Wembley scene, which was the main reason I decided to watch it and probably gave Jamie an edge going in. The show falls into the sweet spot between "bad but I had a good time" and "this is a beautiful work of art" that made me want to dig my fingers in and pick it apart: it has defined themes and character arcs and is overall well-crafted, but also has a number of flaws and bits that didn't quite work, particularly when it comes resolution of Jamie's arc with his dad — which annoyed me so much that it's the origin of this sideblog.

Jamie falls into the category of like. characters alchemically created for me to like them. As in, the first time I heard a description of the show, they got to Jamie and I was like "if I ever watch this, he's going to be my favourite." And I was right! I have a real soft spot for what I lovingly refer to as "narrative problem children": if there's one member of the main group who causes problems for everyone else and is an asshole that no one likes, they're probably my special little guy (think season 1 Izzy Hands, Catra from She-Ra, Thomas Barrow from Downton Abbey who was the only reason I watched that show), which of course means I want to put them through the emotional blender. Bonus points if they're either very talented/good at whatever they do (especially if it comes from hard work rather than natural affinity), a schemer (I love me a schemer), have a tragic backstory, and/or have autism vibes.

My reasons for getting into fanfic are maybe surprisingly pragmatic: I'd finished part 1 of my original fic series and wanted to write something else before I started editing so I wouldn't be thinking about that universe and would be able to judge the world-building more accurately. I'd also spent enough time in my academic life defending my ideas and having my writing critiqued that I stopped being as nervous about having an audience and became curious about how people would respond to my fiction writing, which I figured would be a lot easier to find out with fanfic. (Was it also a bit of a guerrilla marketing campaign for my original fic? Maybe a little).

As for this AU in particular, I was really interested in how the relationship that we see between Georgie and Jamie in 3x11 fits in with everything we'd previously learned (or could deduce) about his past, as well as how Jamie might respond to being made vulnerable the way he is in 2x08 at the height of his prick era. I fully did not intend for it to be 80k (it was supposed to be a one-shot) but the story kept expanding and sometime around chapter 3 or 4, it got upgraded from "quick break from the original fic" to "long-term project."

[necros-writing-stuff]

I never understood the love for Whitney, and I sorta feel his softer interactions are out of character.

I feel about his softer interaction the same way you feel about Eden’s interaction, except a good bit worse. I just don't think the asshole who tries to get you kidnapped if you don't obey him, and throws you to the dock workers is the type to act kinder or show affection to you just because you brought him a couple of milkshakes and acted like a whore for him. He would see the player as his plaything, a neat pet, but I don't think Whitney should or would see them as anything more.

I don't interact with Whitney enough to judge this myself, but I'm inclined to agree with you knowing how Eden is. I didn't even know you could share milkshakes with them lmfao.

If you've noticed, it's likely contribution managers would have too and that they may be making adjustments where they can.

That's one of the downsides of there being a vague plan on how the NPCs are and how they will behave. It means a lot of things get added that maybe don't fit. People just try to squeeze things in for their own gratification rather than respecting what the game intends.

People push for softer content with the LIs especially, even though, y'know... DoL is a trauma simulator.

I know that as soon as I'm done writing Eden's pregnancy stuff I won't touch any of the LIs again, and instead I'll focus on contributing more nightmares. I tend to keep my horny to tumblr, not to the game.

[wvrlock]

How would fallahan try to charm/change their behavior in front of each "canon" companion? In what ways would they try to appeal to each? Are they a good judge of character in the ways they try to appeal to people? How successful are they, usually?

I always joke that he has better deception than insight so he can lie to himself, but the fact is that he also has very high insight, numerically and factually. He doesn't include his own feats in his songs all that much (for his own safety, but he'd gladly brag about them) but he is so extraordinarily good at reading people that he was the one to orchestrate Zariel's redemption, he gave the paladin the words he had to say to move her. He also persuaded Tiamat's champions to help them out, and Bel to aid them in their search for Zariel's sword.

He asks himself "what are they feeling?", "what do I have that they need?", "what is their weakness?", and changes his words and behavior depending on the answers. He can improvise, but ideally he would gather the information he needs before an encounter, rather than during.

It usually works if he wants it to work, and even if he encounters someone who employs similar techniques he likes playing the "I know that you know" card, confidently displaying false friendliness and openness. And he doesn't mind downplaying himself to flatter the other party, which is precisely why he excelled at dealing with devils. At worst, he doesn't come off as trying to deceive, just trying to please.

"If he wants it to work" essentially means that he doesn't bother trying if he doesn't have something to gain, he'll just show his usual arrogant, playful personality that some people find fun and others irritating.

(Companions under the cut because boy this got LONG)

He likes Astarion, and honestly he wouldn't need to change a thing to be liked back. They share a sense of humor, many of their tastes and their signature sassy personalities. He would be 100% genuine to him.

She doesn't care much for Shadowheart, or so he says. There's this running gag about how Fallahan always ends up surrounded by very religious people being an agnostic himself, and he would be in his most brutally honest behavior about her religious trauma, but he doesn't really need anything from her.

Same goes for Gale... Fallahan is always intrigued by things he doesn't know and the arcane, and would love to have someone ramble about it for hours, but something in his personality kinda irks him. He's a romantic nerd, but like... the wrong kind of romantic, and the wrong kind of nerd. He'll bite his tongue on his opinions about the whole Mystra situation because he KNOWS he'd come off as the asshole he deep down still is.

Now, Wyll. Wyll IS the right kind of romantic nerd. Fallahan would be soooo nice and charming. He likes heroes, he likes stories, he likes drama, he could listen to him talk forever. He would share opinions on literature they both enjoy, and write about him, and be playful and flirty. I think he would totally try to get into his bed (Fal does have a habit of collecting lovers as 'trophies') while masterfully avoiding every one of Wyll's romantic advances, if they happen. He's interested in flings, not romance (that's what he says).

Lae'zel is. Uh. She's too straightforward to fall or even care about his charms. Not only he wouldn't try but he would keep a very careful distance.

Same goes for Minthara, who's even worse because she's used to sycophantic diplomats, she would be unimpressed and unamused. Not to mention that he's a very high elvish elf, and the kind of arrogant male she would despise. Nope. Not happening.

Halsin is... nice, but the most they'll have in common is that in some verses Fal's partner (@stagsworn) and he would be friends. But that's the extent of it. He doesn't need any tree-hugging dilf to psychoanalyze him, thank you very much.

Jaehira is just. No.

Minsc is the wrong kind of brute. His opinion on big dumb men is that they're either fuckable, or not worth his time. He'd be sassy to him, but also very careful not to anger him, which means holding his tongue most of the time.

Karlach is fine. Kind of a slow-burn thing because he'd take longer to understand where she's coming from, but he'd be genuine... genuinely nice. Not because he doesn't want to get on her bad side, but because he does find her quite entertaining.

[sideprince]

This, thank you. Yes, I agree, James was awful and most of what we see of him in canon is a person I personally dislike, but he died when he was in his early 20s so these "James never changed" takes just feel like people trying to justify disliking him and don't hold water. He didn't get a chance to change so you can't really judge him for it, at least not fairly, because he was was so young. I also often get the sense that people feel a need to over-justify James' shittiness to prove he was a bully and was wrong to assault Snape. Which he was! But you don't have to justify that being reprehensible beyond the action that it is. "This character was a bully" and "this character didn't have an opportunity to change because they died young so we can't judge them in the same context as similar characters who did get to age more" are statements that can and do coexist. A person doesn't have to be an all-around terrible person to be abusive - in fact, most abusers aren't and it hurts victims when you assume so because it enables their abusers more.

The other thing that never seems to get taken into account is that James and Lily are written as having been at school in the 70s. In the UK. At what is ultimately a posh boarding school. British culture is cruel and classist, and things that are not socially acceptable now were very much so in the 70s and 80s. James is written as a pretty standard British posh asshole. In today's terms James sexually assaulted Snape, but in 1970s terms he had a laugh at another student who was a loser, which was expected of him as a child of his class and social standing at the school, and he wouldn't have been the first or the last do it (probably not even in his own year, let alone his time at school - and it's heavily implied that Mulciber and Avery were the same, just in a different house). It wasn't discouraged, and victims' perspectives weren't considered, because victim blaming wasn't even a term that was in widespread use yet. I don't condone any of this by the way, but I do think it's important to understand if you're interested in context and character metas. Rowling herself probably didn't write the SWM with the intention of revealing James to be a bully, but rather to reveal the difference between his and Snape's social standing and to show that Snape - like Harry before Hogwarts - was considered a weakling and loser by his peers while at school.

James isn't unusual in his cruelty and bullying, although I do think there's an interesting discussion to be had around Rowling's choices with how to write him and her own experiences of abuse that seem to be unprocessed based on how much abuse she weaves into the story without addressing characters' actions in any kind of meaningful or consequential way. At the same time, saying James was abusive to everyone in his life (ie. the takes that he must have abused Lily) show a profound misunderstand of abuse. I say this even though I think James as a character was, in large part, influenced by Jorge Arantes, Rowling's abusive first husband.

James bullied Snape because he was strange, awkward, and showed signs of being from a lower class than himself. By modern standards his bullying included sexual assault, and is deemed abuse. James felt he could do this because he dehumanized Snape. The idea that abusive people are bullies who treat everyone abusively is incorrect - in fact, abusers are often charming or even shy and reserved, and do their damage when no one is watching, to specific people close to them. Bullying is a form of abuse, but conflating it with domestic abuse is reductive and short sighted. School bullies actively want people to know that they're willing to wield their strength - they take pleasure in flaunting their abuse and feel empowered by it. Domestic abusers tend to hide their mistreatment and enforce the subsequent power over their victims through secrecy and gaslighting. This doesn't mean, however, that these kinds of people are incapable of love. In fact, many people are capable of both tremendous love and terrible hatred depending on who they're dealing with. There are countless letters home to loved ones from WWII written by people who missed their wives and children and loved them dearly - touching letters that are relatable to anyone who's been away from home. Many of them were written by Nazi camp guards and officials who talk about the people they helped mass murder as "shipments" that were "processed."

Please don't misunderstand, I'm not comparing James Potter to Nazis, however I do think it's important to recognize that more people have this duality than you might think, and just because James was an abusive bully to Snape doesn't mean he would abuse Lily - the fact he gave his life to buy her a few seconds to escape shows this. An abuser wouldn't put their victim first, because the basis of abuse is rooted in asserting a power dynamic in which the abuser has the upper hand. Which fits a character like James when faced with Snape, but not so much with Lily. So I agree with OP, their marriage would have been an unremarkable but likely content one if they'd survived the war. James was a run of the mill British posh boy and the implication that he only had eyes for Lily actually sets him apart from most of his ilk.

Do you think James and Lily's marriage would have lasted if the two survived the war? I've seen a lot of different versions of this, ranging from "they divorce within a couple of years because James is still the privileged pureblood asshole that he was in school" and "they have a genuinely strong marriage built off of mutual honor and love that would have survived and probably given Harry some siblings".

thank you very much for the ask, pal!

my opinion is quite boring - i think james and lily would have had a perfectly ordinary, perfectly unremarkable, perfectly happy marriage, which may very well have resulted in more children.

broadly, this is because i think a lot of the "james and lily would never have lasted" takes are just cope from fans who dislike jily as a pairing either because they don't like james and don't want to see lily with him or because they prefer him with a non-canon partner.

while marrying your teenage sweetheart and expecting the relationship to last would probably be considered quite unusual in the real-world context in which most readers live, it's clearly the norm in the wizarding world. almost every heterosexual couple we meet in the pre-epilogue canon got married when one or both of them was still a teenager - tonks and lupin are the only definite exception. james and lily would exist, then, in a context where their experience was considered entirely standard - and this would give them things like a social circle at a similar life stage which would make sustaining their relationship easier.

particularly because james and lily do genuinely like each other. while we don't see very much of them in canon - since their roles in the story are to be fragments, never seen or known in any significant way, as an illustration of what was taken from harry [and sirius, and remus] by voldemort - it's apparent even in their few scenes together that they are sincerely compatible.

[and mutually interested in each other - i'm afraid that "james forced lily into a relationship" or "james would never change from who he was at sixteen and so they'd break up" takes really don't hold water. she likes him when he's sixteen! he doesn't need to deceive her! i don't actually think she'd have regarded it as evidence of some horrifying deficiency of character that he continued bullying snape without her knowledge!]

harry's great tragedy is that he's someone who longs for a completely average life - it's his greatest desire! the thing he sees in the mirror of erised! - but has this ordinariness stolen from him when voldemort makes him the boy who lived. james and lily surviving allows him to have that.

although that's obviously nowhere near as interesting as what actually happens....

[onceuponastory]

want your bad romance - lance tucker x reader

Plot: Lance likes Y/N’s fire...but he also likes to tease, and show who’s really in control. Pairing: Lance Tucker x Female!Reader (if you squint) Warnings: There’s some light smut, so 18+ Please! Just a few mentions of masturbation and the reader being h*rny over Lance, but even so. Also, reader is of age in this, but Lance is her coach, so there’s a power imbalance between them. Please use your own discretion if that kinda thing makes you uncomfortable. There’s also a few mentions of violence (nothing actually happens though). Finally, Lance Tucker being the cocky asshole he is, because he’s a warning all on his own. If I miss any triggers, please let me know. Notes: Lance Tucker is one of my fave Sebastian characters (mostly because he’s such an arse), so I knew I had to write something for him. And here we are! Not beta’d, so all mistakes are my own.

“Come on Y/N! This isn’t good enough! Again.” Lance shouts across the gym to her. Huffing, Y/N climbs back up, working her way through her routine once more. As she does so, she curses Lance under her breath, hoping he won’t hear her.

When the Olympic medallist Lance Tucker agreed to take her under his wing as one of his students, Y/N Y/L/N was so excited. After all, as a gold and silver Olympic medallist, she was sure that Lance knew all there was to know about gymnastics. So training under him would be a surefire way to ensure success, and some medals of her own. However, the bubble burst pretty soon after she started training with him. Or actually…as soon as she met him. 

Because despite all his accomplishments and his fucking gorgeous, sculpted from marble body… Lance Tucker is just an arrogant arsehole who hides behind his bravado and his medals, using them as a justification to treat people like shit. And Y/N is no different. Of course, as someone who’s been in gymnastics training for most of her life, she’s well aware of how mean and demanding gymnastic coaches can be, especially ones training potential Olympic hopefuls. She’s already had enough to last her a lifetime. But Lance…Lance is different. He seems to pick on her for every little thing she does, judging everything from his ivory tower, yet doing nothing to help her actually correct her mistakes.

“Back straighter!”

“That landing was shit! Do it again.”

“Goddammit, point with your fucking toes, too! Come on Y/N, this is basic stuff!” 

Sometimes Y/N swears Lance just likes public humiliation. Especially when it’s against her. Maybe it’s his kink or something. And most frustratingly, there’s nothing she can do about it. She just has to climb back up onto the bars or the vault and try again…whilst making a few comments under her breath, of course. If Lance can do it, so can she. She would say them to his face. It’s just that she’s too scared to, because she’d rather not attract his ire any more than she already is.

And yet, despite how cruel Lance is to her, he is really fucking attractive, and Y/N would be lying if she said that she hasn’t ever thought about seeing just how flexible he can be outside of their training sessions, feeling his hot breath against her-

“Come ON! I know a girl who could do this routine in her sleep when she was five!” He shouts across the gym at her as soon as her feet touch the matt, interrupting her thoughts. “Again.” He angrily gestures to the bars. “I shouldn’t have to expect to tell you to keep doing this routine, Y/N! You should know it.” Grumbling, Y/N powders her hands again, ready to tackle the bars once more.

Mostly though, she wants to wring his neck.

“Sure you do. Why don’t you get her to do it then, instead of fucking bitching to me?” She mutters under her breath. “And I do know it. I’ve practised it enough times. Dickhead.” When she’s sure she’s ready, Y/N jumps, catching the bars and pulling herself up into the air. She performs the routine once again, twisting and moving her body throughout the air. As she finishes, she lands on the mat, not even stumbling. The adrenaline still pumping through her veins, Y/N throws her hands up in the air in a triumphant pose…to be greeted by pure silence from Lance for once. Y/N grins. Maybe she’s finally stunned him into silence? She looks over at Lance, expecting to see him watching her, with his mouth open and his eyes wide. To her shock, he’s on his phone, absorbed in scrolling through it. Rage fills her body, and she storms over to him.

“Hey! I just aced my landing, and you weren’t even looking!” She shouts, causing him to look up from his phone. 

“What, you nailed one landing out of two hundred shitty ones? That’s nothing special, sweetheart.” He scoffs. The angry and perplexed look on her face makes him roll his eyes. “I don’t want you nailing your landings, I want you to win a gold fucking medal, like I did-”

“Oh my god, I KNOW!” Y/N snaps as the pressure Lance has put her under for the past few weeks reaches a pressure point. “We’ve all heard the story about how you won the gold, and how pissed off you are that nobody is giving you any recognition for it anymore. It’s because nobody cares, Lance! You know what? Maybe the reason none of your students are doing well is because you’re too obsessed with your career and your medals to help us win some.” Lance doesn’t reply, and Y/N steps closer, continuing her verbal onslaught. “Is that it, Lance? Are you so pathetic, so unwilling to admit that you’re washed up and don’t want someone to be better than you? So desperate to cling to your crown?” She demands. “You need to realise that you aren't as good as you think you are.” When she’s finished shouting at him, she pants a little, trying to calm herself down.

And as she does, the realisation of what she just did begins to sink in. “Oh god.” She murmurs. Lance may be a total asshole, but he is the Olympic Team Coordinator. There goes her chances of even making it to the opening ceremony, let alone being an Olympic hopeful. Bracing herself for Lance’s inevitable outburst, she gulps. Lance does not help alleviate her worries either, as he keeps staring at her in silence, his eyes wandering low as he bites his lip ever so slightly. Even though she’s still worried about what’s going to happen, the sight of Lance looking at her like that makes her heart rate rise, and a familiar warm feeling begins to grow within her. Surprisingly though, Lance simply smirks.

“Oh, you have some fire in you, don’t you?” He grins. “I like that in a woman.” 

“You-you do?” She squeaks, immediately embarrassed at the tone of her voice. Lance nods, a smug grin displayed on his face. With Lance Tucker, a smile like that always means trouble.

“Yep.” He nods, popping the p. She never noticed how pink Lance’s lips were. Her mind soon fills with ideas on what he could do with them, only causing the warm feeling to spread even further, this time going between her thighs. Shit. This can’t be happening. Of course, there were plenty of times she’d thought about her coach and had to relieve herself, but that was always at home in bed. Not here, and not now. And especially not right in front of Lance. She has to get out of here quickly. 

“You know, despite how much of a pain in my ass you are, I actually like a lot of things about you, Y/N.” He winks, and Y/N suppresses a moan. Thankfully, though, Lance doesn’t seem to notice, or if he does, he doesn’t mention it. “And you can use that fire in your routines. Make everyone believe you want to win, that you want it.” He steps ever so slightly forward, and Y/N’s breath hitches in her throat. If he comes any closer to her, she might explode. “You do want it, don’t you Y/N?” He whispers, his voice ever so slightly deeper. Y/N has a funny feeling that he’s not talking about gymnastics anymore. She nods quickly, biting her tongue to prevent whatever unholy thoughts or sayings she has from escaping. As her pussy starts to tingle, Y/N tries not to squirm. Lance opens his mouth again, and she hopes he’s going to let her have a break. That way, she can run to the bathrooms and get this over with before she loses it. Instead, though, Lance only makes it worse.

“See, I don’t believe you. I think I need more convincing.” Y/N tries desperately to think of something, anything to say. But she can’t think of anything. “Cat got your tongue? That’s funny, because you had no issue talking shit about me a few minutes ago.” Lance watches her as she starts to fidget. With the smirk rapidly growing on his face, she can tell that Lance knows how she’s feeling, and that he’s enjoying teasing her until she reaches her breaking point. After this, she’s definitely going to kill him. First, though, she needs to get the hell out of here and deal with this problem. Lance keeps a trained eye on her the whole time, staring as she writhes and winces as the pleasure continues to build, close to reaching a breaking point. 

“Lance…I really need the-” she gasps, but Lance cuts her off by pressing his arms against the wall, trapping her.

“What? Oh, you need to go to the bathroom, don’t you?” He hisses. “Because even though you like to pretend that you hate me, I know how you really feel about me. And that you’re desperately close to coming over me once again.” He laughs at the confused look on her face. “Yeah, sweetheart, I know. You’re not exactly subtle.” He still doesn’t let her go, continuing to watch as she writhes between his arms. “God, your pussy is practically dripping through that leotard.” When she doesn’t reply, he smirks. “Now who’s pathetic?” He whispers, the sensation of his hot breath on her skin making things even worse. 

“Fuck you.” 

“Nope. That’s not going to cut it. Try again.” God, one of these days, she really is going to punch his stupid, beautiful face. But now, though, she’s choosing to survive.  

“Lance, please.” She begs. “I’m sorry, alright? Please, just let me go now.” Lance gives her one last look, grinning. 

“That’s better. On you go.” He smirks. Y/N breathes a sigh of relief. As she heads towards the bathroom, Lance calls after her.

“Hopefully this is a lesson to you, Y/N. Don’t cause anymore trouble, because next time…I won’t be so nice.” Y/N suppresses the urge to flip him off, and instead hurries off to the bathrooms.

“Bastard.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

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[thequiver]

How'd you cope with Oliver's character being both an asshole and also a great guy? Honestly took me a while to get into GA comics because I was introduced through Roy and Dinah, meaning I've seen the worst before I got to understand what was happening. Tbh with Bruce, I just either focus on his solo detective stuff or i pretend I do not see them lol

I mean…… I like it when he’s an asshole that’s part of the appeal? Is that he’s gruff and moody but still gentle and kind despite the attitude. He’s kind of the blueprint for the asshole with a heart of gold thing. That’s one of his biggest selling points imo - is that he is an asshole but he very very rarely takes it out on people who don’t deserve it.

But also, I started reading Green Arrow comics with the golden age comics, I started with the first ever appearance of Green Arrow- I read Golden and Silver Age and had context for their relationship pre-Snowbirds, I read all of Snowbirds before I ever heard someone who hadn’t read it make definitive statements about it. I read Ollie and Dinah’s first meetings in JLA (1969) before I ever got to them breaking up. I knew what the original story was before reading it from a writer who has admitted on record that he doesn’t like Oliver Queen and that he let that affect his work, and I knew what the original story was before touching the racist work of someone who would write an incredibly mischaracterized Oliver Queen. I didn’t go in ready to judge him for “cheating” to find out he was assaulted and I didn’t get ready to think of him as a horrible father who kicked out his son when his son wasn’t even living with him at the time. I find that for as much as he is an asshole and I like him that way- that the extent to which Ollie is an asshole and the how and to who he’s an asshole is seriously exaggerated or just straight up fabricated.

He’s an asshole, but he’s not cruel. When he hurts people he takes accountability for it and changes. He’s remembered as gentle and kind, his kids will say that all the love he has to give can be overbearing. But his character is all about change- and Ollie changes, when he makes a mistake he grows and doesn’t repeat it.

Unlike Bruce, Ollie quite notably doesn’t really take out his issues on his loved ones- there’s not really anything to excuse away- because when Ollie does bad shit the narrative addresses it and paints it as bad and we have to see him atone for it on page - we see Ollie earn rather than expect forgiveness. The narrative is set up to show us that Ollie is fallible but that the mark of a good man is to take accountability for your actions and change and keep going- so that’s what happens.

It’s honestly not that hard imo.

[etheriadearie]

Read your big Entrapta post. It was very interesting, and over 6000 words long, LMAO. You should use plain text more though, the heavily reformatted bold/italicised/etc text made it difficult to read.

So, a few things:

1. I absolutely agree that the characters are continuing the historical trauma of the first ones. Entrapta is a truth seeker trying to get to the heart of the issue and basically discovers the Heart of Etheria with the minimal amount of investigation in season 1, with nobody else questioning what the First Ones did because it would mean they have to question their entire power structure.

2. However, Entrapta is still a villain that the Princesses need to stop. Especially as the Black Garnet Experiment was hurting so many people, and she didn't even know what sort of dangerous weapon was lurking under the surface yet! Unfortunately I think the lack of communication with her in s1 is attributed to time - she only got a single episode to deal with them and just when they were warming up to each other they were separated. I like to think if this separation never happened, the other characters would've started to understand Entrapta better and let her do her thing. On the other hand, they probably wouldn't have let her mess with a runestone. A full Rebellion! Entrapta would face prejudice against tampering with tech, as you said. Only the Horde would be willing to fully embrace it, which is why Bow's tech is nowhere close to Entrapta's - hell, people tease him for it rather than ask him about it!

(This presumably changes after s5 where suddenly tech is a vital part of society and Entrapta carried the Rebellion through the transition.)

3. I do think you're right when you say, all the other characters are caught up in their anger and hurt, but Entrapta lets it pass through, and she can see most clearly the value in other people, and treats them better than she gets treated. She does carry and push down some hurt especially around getting rejected so many times no matter how hard she tries, and sometimes she questions her own philosophies of "imperfections are beautiful" because how can she believe that when her own imperfections keep leading to her pushing people away? But she has a strong heart, and pushes through that doubt and becomes a powerful force for individuality across the show. She is unabashedly herself, and transfers that positive energy onto other characters when de-chipping them, breaking up tension for other characters on the space ship, and helping Hordak figure out who he is.

Hi! Sounds like we agree on a lot, let me see if I can respond to a few things...

Thanks! My Promise discussion is over 17,000 hah 💜😜💜✌️. And I think you're right about the text, thx for saying. I've been thinking about switching to all bold, an example of that here.

Okay to this, I think we need to deal with the outdated and blasé boring 80s villain concept..

::metadiscuss She-ra and ND Stevenson's take on villains 🦹‍♀️

To be clear, my writing is never done to condone anyone's actions. What's happening is that they're all bad (until s5). SPOP is a waking disaster for pretty much every character, good guys and bad, they are all being hurtful and those decisions are bouncing off each other in a disastrous chaotic echo chamber. And Entrapta’s story, while messy, shows the truest line of good intentions towards others and to finding the truth.

Which is why I think judging Entrapta (or Catra and Hordak) as 'villains who need to be stopped’ isn't what ND wants us to do.

Catra and Hordak are absolutely being total assholes, but, there's only a couple really evil people in SPOP, who cause so much hurt and destruction in the story, and to which we can trace back all the other characters' actions to. What makes Catra and Hordak different from these evil people is that they aren't sociopaths. For example, one such sociopath villain- Shadow Weaver- gets away with the most terrible bullshit for the longest time. She abused Catra and Adora from an early age- and Adora and Catra only manage to stop her at the very end. This is a much more realistic storyline, as irl abusers fly under the radar, some never even face consequences for their actions.

But, this complexity is how ND Stevenson set out to give us a better story than the old 80s boring blasé “villains are evil and only exist to be stopped by the heroes”. Those stories lack any creativity, making 1 dimensional badguys to be knocked over by the heroes shooting gallery style.

The biggest clue that SPOP rejects such a blasé villain take is the plot itself- do the Princesses EVER even really stop them? Anything they try to do backfires- they didn't stop the portal from opening, they never regained control of the Black Garnet- and yet did the Horde ever use it again?

They could have, right? So, the Princesses struggle to even do the most basic thing of stopping the Horde. Stopping the villains isn't something we see them do until the end. The Princesses don't work together, before Adora showed up they all hid in their kingdoms and abandoned Etheria’s populace (and often their own people) to war. (see Bow’s dad George in s2ep7). But, by making unbalanced emotional decisions that are out of control they do make things worse for themselves, and for everyone on Etheria. This is because while the Horde is wrong, their own decisions add to the trauma of the other side, particularly Catra, perpetuating and increasing the violence.

For example, about one of the most villainous moments- Catra pulling the switch- we can see how Glimmer’s own actions of empowering Shadow Weaver in s3ep4 sends things out of control.

That's the moment Catra's actions are solidified, before then she's not angry enough to do what she does. And from then on Glimmer continues to give Shadow Weaver even more power in s4, she falls for her deceptions, which contributes to Glimmer’s mistake of linking Scorpia to the Heart, looking to win by any option. The world almost ends; it's chaos.

To elaborate about the portal incident: I say confidently that what we're suppose to understand within the plot that the portal wouldn't have happened without Glimmer bringing Shadow Weaver to the Fight Zone.

Entrapta actually had that under control, she had convinced Hordak to wait to try the portal, so they could perfect it (more really, for romance). And Adora did a good job warning Entrapta about the dangers, changing her mind. So, even though Catra wanted to do it, it wouldn't have happened. She wasn't the uncontrollably enraged person we see when she shocks Entrapta and then lies to Hordak.

That all comes down to Catra being brought within an inch of her life by her abuser yet again. Catra has been powerless to stop her abuser all of her life. Seeing the Princesses enable her abuser is a bridge too far. She has to win, even if there's a chance the world will end.

Imho what Catra did to Entrapta is what she hates herself for the most. It wasn't supposed to happen, we see that on her face afterwards. Catra is (predictably) driven by fear, that no matter what she does her abuser will be enabled by others.

Even at that point in the story, Adora is an enabler of their abuser in Catra's eyes. She's wrong, Adora has no control- and feels as unsafe as she does.

This is the kind of evidence that's there if you look for it, and Glimmer's decision to enable their abuser leaves both Adora and Catra unnerved and they begin to spiral during s4. What's also true is that Glimmer is partially responsible for her own pain in s4 and the loss of her mother. (I can talk in more detail about this cascade of events, lmk.)

In fact, Shadow Weaver switching sides is nothing- she's not trying to help the Princesses win, there's nothing left for her at the Horde and she uses it as a new opportunity to manipulate for power. In s4 she drives Glimmer towards releasing the power, for her own gain. It doesn't end like she intends when the Heart is set off instead.

But, as usual Shadow Weaver is getting away with it. She only faces consequences in s5 when Catra (‘a villain who needs to be stopped') helps Adora past all the manipulations with her love confession. Why is it Catra that has to bring the knowledge of love, why is she the wise one? It's literally the story of the series, her saving Adora with The Kiss.

So the story of the series isn't that Catra is a redeeming villain- it's why she has this special knowledge. Nor is Adora some miraculous hero- she can't be a real hero until she learns to accept that love.

So Catra can't really be called a villain, she does act the part but it's more complicated than that. Hordak isn't one either- he is a trauma machine, but he helps them win in the end, too. And Entrapta is one of the least villainous people in her intentions- lead than the Princesses who try to use a horrific super weapon to win (obvious similarities to choosing the nuclear option). Instead, we should focus on the real villains- sociopathic manipulators who like to hurt others- Shadow Weaver, Horde Prime, and somewhat Light Hope.

They lack the ability to feel love or empathy, they want to hurt others, like many of the worst abusers in our societies (looking at you, capitalism). That emotional difference is where the root of evil actually lies, because it lets them hurt people indefinitely. And just like Shadow Weaver, Horde Prime got away with it for the longest time, he hurt Hordak and murdered many innocent worlds before being stopped. And what did it take to stop him? An act of love. Gay love. 🏳️‍🌈 That's a pretty great rejection of the blasé troupes if you ask me.

So, I don't agree with the 80s villain view of Entrapta and most other characters. Is Scorpia a villain? How about Kyle, Rogelio, and Lonnie? They're treated as such. It's so much better that we're shown both sides, to understand how their choices are affected by the Princesses own actions. So that way we can think about why they make the decisions that they do. It's chaos until they all agree to stop and understand each other. Meanwhile the sociopaths were getting away with manipulating them all.

Oh an Entrapta? She doesn't stop to placate anyone's fragile feelings, such as with the Princesses, because ignorance is worse than not knowing what's really going on and the deeper plot that threatens the entire universe.

Anyways... I am not worthy to speak for ND but I suspect that he'd say calling Entrapta a villain wasn't what he wanted us to see. Or with many of the other characters. Entrapta is always doing her best, she's also kind to others. Calling her villain is so surface, it's meh.

Hope that makes sense.

p.s I know my posts are long, but its because I'm trying to answer all of the questions and misconstrued comebacks I've seen all at once, every question all at once. I do wish my writings could be shorter, but then I'd leave too many things open to confusion. Also, many questions are answered in my hyperlinks- more good meta to read with a hot cuppa somethin'☕️☺️ (all hyperlinks are on tumblr)

In a show where Catra and Adora struggle so much with becoming their true selves, Entrapta is always in touch with her most authentic self. She gives me all of the happy feelings 🥰

I know, it hurts to see her suffer. 😥 She shouldn't be made to doubt. Then again, what's being alive more than doubting? Each major character in SPOP does it. Her story has so much humanity 😌

Well said!! This is what I'm really saying when I talk about how the Princesses are privileged. Like, many privileged people accept the current economic order and that's wrong- it's destroying our environment and makes 3rd world counties impoverished. I see a real similarity in how the Princesses just accept their world order. Like irl, just because they don't know it's wrong doesn't make it any less wrong.

Thanks to anybody who hung out through this long post. If you like it, let me know. But reblogg if you can, because reblogs make the tumblr world go round ☺️💫🌍✨. Thanks for writing in op, I'm glad we agree on many things (some which I didn't have time to cover).

Happy Pride everybody!! ✨✨🏳️‍🌈✨✨!!!!

p.s if you have an ama pending I have received it and will respond just as soon as it's ready. Feel free to keep sending me asks my peoples!!

-Etheriadearie

[delusion-of-negation]

"BUT what I thought you were saying and what I thought I was agreeing with is that simply choosing to write a TYPE of character some people don't like is NOT bad characterization. Rick and Morty doesn't have BAD CHARACTERIZATION because some people dislike snarky losers."

I was partially saying that, since a lot of the reviews I was making criticism of also conflate "he's an asshole" with bad writing, so the problem you isolated of there being different kinds of unlikable is still an issue for them and how they're thinking.

"IT seems from your disagreement with the idea of bad writing conceptually that you are saying "both a likeable and an unlikeable character can be written masteerfully," but saying that "both a likeable and unlikeable character cannot be written poorly," since there is no such thing as "bad writing.""

not exactly - there's no such thing as objectively bad writing, and a critic's job, longform professional critics that is, would be to really analyse the work and explain why something doesn't work. they rely too heavily on simple tick boxes and phrases, and often that leads to them making shallow (even incorrect) criticism that isn't addressing the root of where the writer actually failed to achieve their goal. you have defined bad writing above by, essentially, mob rule when the mob is acting in good faith - things are bad writing to you when most people, without duress or manipulation, don't like it. that's essentially how some modern philosophers try to bridge the ought/is problem with morality - multiple people argue that most people want to be healthy and happy, it feels good, therefore things that promote human health and happiness are objectively good. that's still subjective. to converse properly about morality or quality, we need to be aware that it's subjective and capable of outlining our perspective and underlying motives. if you say to me "my moral code is determined by human health and happiness, therefore I think this is immoral" we can talk about the thing and whether it does that, but if you just say to me "this is immoral" there's no conversation there, there's no way to back up, refute, or even understand what you're saying without pressing you for more information. this is also where the aforementioned media critics fail with good/bad media, albeit in terms of quality rather than morality (but sometimes both). you can define what you think makes something bad (for the record, definitely not my personal way of judging it, and I don't actually think it's a dichotomy, something can be bad in the sense that it didn't achieve the goal the author intended, but good in the sense that it's an enjoyable experience in some other way, and there's no real way to quantify these things and work out total badness), and when you've defined what you mean by bad we can actually start to talk about if it ticked those boxes, but again you've gone steps and steps beyond what the critics do and my post was simply saying that professionals at this should be capable of doing what you've done.

essentially my point is: longform critique of media should be done by people who are willing to set parameters, explain where they are met, how they are met, and why that contributes to or detracts from the experience. they should not simply say "she's rude so this story is bad." because that sentence is meaningless and dumb.

"The person writing the thing hasn't perfected their craft. They need to go back and learn more. Could be any number of things they need to learn about. Pacing. Doing proper research so the story is believable. Beats. Flow. Any number of things could be why most people can't get into the story or don't find it engaging."

you kind of stepped a teeny tiny bit into my world in this part, as basically you're leaning towards saying that writing in such a way that you achieve your desired effect is what most people want to see from themselves - but then you veer away from it again, as you're back to "other people need to find it engaging" or that it will improve when the beats, flow, etc, are how they should be.

come join us outside of the binary, I promise it's actually cosy.

the two sentences "this character isn't an ideal protagonist for this book that relies on us liking them to drive emotional weight, which leaves much of the book hollow because they're really unlikable" and "protagonists are supposed to be likable, this one is not likable, so the book sucks" are different. the latter is incorrect. and lazy. the protagonist of berenice is not a likable person - he's gloomy, he's obsessive, he literally steals someone's teeth. hamlet. lolita. death note. rick and morty. greek mythology. grimm's fairytales. these aren't likable people... they're interesting people. and the stories get their emotional weight and tension in ways other than holding our favourite meow meow over a fire. it's sad that so much media analysis has devolved into shallow "protag was unlikable therefore story bad", instead of the deeper analysis of how and why the story fails to carry emotional weight when the reader doesn't find this person cute, charming, funny, or whatever. or if they aren't able to project themself onto this person. tbh most good stories are "hey everybody, look at this fucked up sack of wet potatoes, sure would be fucked up if they self-destructed in a way that harmed everyone around them :)" and somebody analysing media should be aware of that. just think a few steps deeper about these sorts of things.