#same could be done with a mentor dynamic probably

[whump-kitty]

Or, to add onto this, Whumpees having to call Whumpers "mum", "dad", etc. will eventually get Whumpees to get really distanced from the concept of family, especially if they either have a bad family history or otherwise don't remember what their blood family was like, for example— and maybe even pretend to be all cuddly with them in public due to blackmail or something, so that's also an interesting concept to explore

Whumpees being forced to call Whumpers 'sir' or 'master' is an all time classic, but what about Whumpers forcing Whumpees to call them by pet names, such as 'love' or 'darling'?

[adventuringblind]

Mentor Them

Lando Norris x Reader X Carlos Sainz

Genre: Smut

summary: Carlos teaches his teammate some good bedroom skills. feelings come to light in the process.

Warnings: Smut, PinV, porn with plot, oral (m and f receiving), denial, overtimulation, Dom Carlos, Sub reader and Lando, bandage

Notes: You know who you are. You did this to me. I will not be speaking on the subject.

Masterlist

Carlos has taken a liking to his younger teammate. He’s also taken an interest in said teammates relationship.

Lando, in the year and a half Carlos has known him, has kept the same girlfriend. But the thing that fascinates him is how oddly similar they are. The only difference is their energy. Lando is a bit more bouncy and chaotic, whereas she is soft-spoken and shy.

Carlos knows it’s weird. But he’s also not oblivious and incredibly intuitive. He notices the flustered laughs and blushes Lando gets when he’s around. He sees how the female looks at him until he catches her.

He knows both well. Wherever one is you can find the other not to far behind. It’s like they are each others safety blanket.

Is it bad he wants to absolutely ruin both of them? He tries not to think about it to much. They just look so soft together that he can’t help himself.

It’s after a race one afternoon that Carlos realizes he may have his fantasy fulfilled after all.

Lando came knocking on the door of his room in the McLaren motorhome. He was already blushing when Carlos let him inside. For the first time in a long time, there is no female in sight and Carlos thinks something bad may have happened.

“I need to ask you something and you’re not aloud to laugh at me.” The Brit says in an arguably strict tone.

“Anything. I won’t laugh.”

“I need help with, uh, bedroom stuff.” He looks down in shame ad Carlos is quick to stand up and lift Lando’s gaze to meet his.

“There is no shame is asking about that.”

Lando looks like he might go into shock but he manages a simple “Okay.”

~

Carlos goes over everything him and Lando had talked about on his way to their room. The two are trying to experiment but have no idea where to start.

Is he taking advantage of the situation? Probably. But for right now he’s just going to let himself enjoy it. Teach them a few things. Maybe even make a mess of them both in the process.

The one thing he’s mildly concerned about is the female. lando had made it clear that he doesn’t care what happens, but she has a tendency to not speak up if she doesn’t like things because she’s afraid of disappointing. It doesn’t help that she is shy and even struggles talking to Carlos despite having known him for awhile now.

Lando also mentioned her ability to not make any sounds during sex like her life depends on it. Her entire body could be spasming and she could still be silent. Another habit he’s hoping to break tonight.

He takes a deep breath and knocks on the door.

~

She has no idea what to expect. Lando and her had been thinking about this for some time now, inviting Carlos to join them. She just wasn’t sure what the whole ‘experimenting’ excuse is about. Her and Lando have done plenty of that!

Dynamics are a little funky a times because they’ve both had to learn to be switch’s. They fumbled for a bit, but she thought they’d done plenty of that and that their sexual health is fantastic.

Then he explained that he kind of fibbed because this counts as experimenting, technically speaking. He also said that Carlos didn’t hesitate to say yes and got excited at the proposal. It makes her wonder if Carlos has also thought about them in this way.

Lando sits next to her on the bed. His arms wrapped around her and his head in the crook of her neck. “remember Carlos doesn’t know how to read you like I do. You’ll have to communicate verbally with him.” She just hums. She doesn’t know why she does it, her voice just leaves during sex and it’s so hard for her to speak. “For me, please?”

“I will, for you.”

They don’t get to continue their conversation as they hear a knock at the door. Lando bounds to go and greet their guest and she curls herself into the corner of the bed. Just her and her breaths for a minute.

The curious sound of something hitting the wall fills her ears. Then follows the wet sound of sloppy kisses and a few moans. Finally they come into view and she can see Carlos smothering Lando in a full mouth kiss. She even thinks she can see the swipe of their tongues every now and then.

When Carlos pulls away, he looks between them with hunger. “Why do I feel like you two actually know exactly what you’re doing?”

“Cause I sorta kinda fibbed.”

“I can tell by the way you let me shove my tongue down your throat with ease.”

Lando blushes at the statement. ‘Oops.”

Carlos sits on the end of the bed and swings himself around to face the female. He motions for Lando to join and a small smirk tugs at his lips when he obeys.

“Complete transparency: I have thought about this for awhile now.”

She exchanges a look with the Brit. Turns out he has been thinking about them as well. “So have we.”

“So the experimenting?”

“Technically this is experimenting.”

Carlos just shakes his head. “You could’ve just asked and I would’ve said yes.”

The girl uncurls from herself just a bit. “It’s hard to do when you have a crush on the person you’re asking.” The smile on Carlos’ face is unreal. He looks ecstatic and it makes her feel fuzzy on the inside. “We were going to ask if you wanted to try things with us. Like, in a romantic sense.”

Her and Lando look at him expectantly. The Spaniards smile seems to grow even more. “Yeah, I think I would like to try that. But I have one condition.”

“And what would that be?” Lando’s tone is a bit snarky but she knows what he’s doing. He has a tendency to rile people up quickly. Namely her. In a sexual way.

“I want to take you both apart tonight.”

The stunned silence that falls between them is ridiculous. the fact that she’s not sure what he means by that and the idea of watching that happened seems very appealing. She does not register, however, that Carlos said both of them. She’d already settled for mostly watching the two of them go at it. Not to much involvement on her end.

There are no words exchanged. Just Lando staring at the Spaniard as if waiting for his doom. Not a bad way to go out really.

And just as suspected, when there is even an inkling of confirmation, Carlos is once again choking his tongue down Lando’s throat. The two of them clamber back onto the bed with nothing but clumsy chaos.

The female curls into herself further. She watches in awe. The same feeling of losing her voice during intimate moments comes crashing over her, and she has no clue what she should do.

If she's honest with herself, she would be perfectly content just watching. She lets her mind wander to the future and what their life might look like together. If people found out what they might say.

She doesn't realize she's been spacing out until Lando is calling her name. She must have been gone a while because he and Carlos are both missing their shirts.

She feels clueless.

Carlos, in all of his beauty, gently grabs under her knees and slides her almost fully underneath him.

The hungry stare makes her squeak. It's nothing like she's ever seen before. Lando is usually needy and whiny, but this is nothing but pure untamed lust.

He hovers over her. Hands moving to pin her wrists to the mattress beneath her. He studies her. His eyes move down her body as if calculating how to best attack.

She's panting heavily. A pause. A calm before the storm.

Then something in him snaps.

His belt is off in seconds. Carlos finds Lando's wrists and uses his belt as some sort of makeshift rope. One that he won't be getting out of on his own. Lando won't be doing much touching if his hands are stuck behind him, and she wonders what Carlos is planning.

Carlos is half straddling her now. The other hand of him towering Lando. His hands gripping messy curls. "You said you can't get her to make noise? If that's the case, I feel that you haven't been doing it right." He grabs Lando's chin and directs his haze at her. "You've had such a beautiful girl, compliant even, and you haven't made her cum so hard she's praying your name?"

Carlos clicks his tongue. He strips Lando of the rest of his clothes. Completely bare. Unless you count the belt, keeping his hands from really doing anything.

"We're using colors for safe words. Are you both familiar?" She shakes her head yes in confirmation, and Lando gives a verbal answer. "I need words, princesa."

How is she ever going to get through tonight if he calls her things like that? She breathes and attempts to make her paralyzed vocal chords work. "Yeah..." it's barely even a whisper, but Carlos looks so pleased with himself.

The Spaniard maneuvers Lando back onto the bed on his knees. He grabs his jaw again and looks so stern that she thinks he might actually be upset. "You are not going to finish until you pull a noise out of her. Do you understand?"

A slurred "Yes sir" stumbles out of the Brits mouth. Then Carlos is back over her body. He tugs at the bottom of her shirt. The outer layers are shed so easily. She's not self-consciousness, even quite confident with how Lando compliments her every opportunity he gets. Yet Carlos' hungry eyes make her want to shield herself.

It's overwhelming, a good overwhelming, but still overwhelming.

"Don't hide away from me now. If you do that, I can't teach Lando how to pleasure such a good girl."

Is it possible for a human to melt? Because she is most definitely melting. Putty to be molded as the Spaniard pleases.

He works off her bra with skilled fingers. She goes again to try and close up but Carlos is quick to catch her and pin her hands.

He kisses her neck, her lips, her shoulders, the center of her chest. It's such a contrast to the roughness she saw with Lando. He's being slow and taking his time with her. Lando looks like he is enjoying being punished to an extent (he's always been a bit of a brat for her).

She sucks in a breath when Carlos' tongue and teeth find her nipples. He goes back and forth between both of them. Her breathing is heavier than it was before. More labored from the stimulation.

Still no noise.

He captures her lips again and then trails his lips all the way to the last piece of clothing she has on. Her body shivers in anticapation. He tugs at the elastic and makes eye contact with her. "Can I take these off?"

The nodding her head in response isn't going to work, and she knows that. She steels herself and forces her voice to work even if it's small. "Please." A blink, and you'll miss it type of whisper, but he hears her.

He drags them off. Hands running across her body in an almost desperate motion. He pries her legs apart easily. You'd think she was weightless. Another confidence booster since she's got a 'not a supermodel' kind of body. In her opinion, at least.

Carlos goes back to kissing her. Now, adding small bites as he goes. He's teasing the area around where she would like him to be. Again, not complaining, simply enjoying what he's giving.

He pulls away, and she huffs. He looks satisfied with it. "Maybe if you begged for it, I would keep going." He smirks. Her eyes widen in the realization that he wants to get her as vocal as possible. Not just for Lando, but for himself also.

Carlos manhandles Lando in between her legs. She can feel his warm breath clinging to her body in all the right places.

"Do you want me to just sit here or...?"

A flash of movement and a small amount of force appear out of thin air. Lando's tongue is everywhere she jeeds it to be. Carlos passes her a curious look. "Is he always like this." She shakes her head yes. If only he knew the half of it.

"Remember amour." He whispers into Lando's ear. "You pull a noise out of her, and you can finish." Then he looks at her. Gentle eyes but stern voice. "And you can finish if you want, but do not make a sound if it isn't real. Let him be desperate and learn from this."

And oh how desperate he would become.

Carlos doesn't make it any easier on him. She knew it was going to be torcher for the Brit when Carlos asked if there was lube in close proximity, and the answer was yes.

Hands are everywhere. Touching, feeling, grabbing, spreading. Her nerves are on fire from all the stimulation. Lando whining into her core and Carlos continually shoving the Brit further into her is making her feel all sorts of ways.

Her body spasms without warning. The deep sated pleasure hit her in a wave.

Silence. A little labored breathing. But still no noises pulled from her.

Carlos halts all movment. Lando cries from having no physical contact. Limbs flail like a child whose mother said no to ice cream.

"I guess we'll have to try something different, huh Landito." How Carlos can move people around so effortlessly is beyond her. The positions are reversed now. Though she is sitting more comfortably since she has her hands.

Carlos takes the courtesy of letting his hands free. The Brit immediately runs his hands all over both of them.

Carlos pulls her body into his back. Fingers caress her sides, then grabs her hair. He pulls hard enough so that she can look at him, albeit upside down in a way.

He places a chaste kiss to her nose, causing her to smile a bit. "I want to hear the words. Tell me you want me to fuck you. Tell me you want to be a good girl for me."

It comes so naturally this time. Like begging for him is her first language. It's the only thing she knows. It falls from her lips in the form of a prayer, and Carlos looks satisfied with her for it.

Something happens when he slams into her without warning. Her hands grip onto Lando's thighs, and her mouth falls open.

Something between a shreik and a moan leaves her, and it's shocking. Carlos doesn't stop, but he's reveling in it. "See princesa, you sound so fucking beautiful. Moan for me more. Whine for me with Lando in your throat."

And so she did. Like she found her voice despite it never really being gone. Carlos had unlocked something in her mind that let her get past the mental block.

Lando looks like he might cum just to the sound of her. It's his favorite song on repeat, and every noise makes his eyes roll back further.

Praise. Both are praising her. It only makes her do it more. Her mind is so far gone that it's possible she'll never recover. Lando has gotten her here before, but never this far.

They are both gone. Deep into the glassy eyes and fuzzy headspaces that she doesn't care what happens next.

She's choking off Lando's length, but she can't be bothered to care. His hands fist her hair as he slams his hips into her face. His breathing is labored and mouth open. His words are swimming in her ears as are Carlos'.

She fell over a while ago. She's been over the edge for an insane amount of time. Lando spilling down into her throat only pulls her deeper into it.

Carlos is getting sloppy with his relentless thrusts. She feels him stutter and pulse onside of her. His angle hitting her where she wants it.

That small voice in the back of her head is glad Carlos was responsible and put on protection. He doesn't pull out until he's done.

They are all sweaty, but it doesn't matter. She finds herself in Lando's lap. He's buried in her. His hands are tracing the sensitive lines he knows so well. She reciprocated the gentle affection.

Carlos has complete control of the situation. He lays wet kisses to every area of skin he can get to. He praises and degrades in all the correct ways. Guides them through every action. Lando pulling ever sound he'd been longing to hear for over a year from the depths of her soul.

It's bliss. They'd been at it so long that she couldn't control her own body anymore. Gone are coherent thoughts.

Carlos stops them. Gently slowing both down with his hands as guides. "You're both such beautiful creatures."

They fall into a heap. Her and Lando can barely move and settle for holding hands and staring. Sleep because the best idea she has ever had. Her eyes droop.

"No sleep yet. Don't want you getting sick or subdropping on me." Carlos chuckles as he presses cold rags to their skin. "I would have you bathe, but I don't think that would I can manage you both in there."

"Thank you, Carlos, really." Mumbles Lando.

"I should be thanking you two. I've wanted this for so long. It's hard to believe it took us this long." Carlos runs a hand through his hair. "Tommorow I'm taking you two out for a real date."

"I think I speak for both of us when I say that we would love that."

"I seconds that." She mumbles before throwing herself over the boys in a head of bodies and comfort.

[oops-all-concrete]

I was wondering if I could get headcanons for a younger(late teens-early twenties) tav who views the companions as more of older siblings/mentors, personally my tav is inspired off the tiefling kids in the emerald Grove because I thought it would be very cool if Mol a street kid became the savior of baldurs gate, absolutely adore your writing thank you so much if you decide to do this!

Sorry it took me so long to get to this, I went on an enexpected hiatus but I am back and have a few lists in the works, so keep an eye out for that!

But yeah, I LOVE this idea??? This is so cute and if you have pictures of your Tav, please share them, I NEED to know what they're like, they sound so cool and I love the idea behind them!

Anyway without further adieu;

Companions react to: Younger Tav who sees them as an older sibling/mentor!

No spoilers, just some lovely lil headcanons, enjoy♡

Lae'zel - It depends on (your) Tavs dynamic with her. She was taught to follow when there was a leader, and lead when there was none. If Tav is intent on following, she's strict, sharp and a little intimidating, but always looking out for Tav, ordering them to the back of the group and allowing them cool moments in fights too. "Finish them off, teethling" She says proudly. But if Tav takes a leader role, she's happy to follow without question, and will shape everyone else in line with tavs orders, once she trusts their judgement. A kind leader and devoted follower. That's what you get from Lae'zel.

Shadowheart - She could never explain why, but having a kind teifling friend who's quite like this Tav is so...familiar? It's nice in any case. She feels at ease and way off her guard around Tav and is grateful to them for it. Of course she feels bad hiding things, but has gotten pretty good at making sure Tav is distracted and having fun on the adventure. She's always sneaking them snacks, turning a blind eye to any pranks they play on the others and keeping them in arms range at all times. They make her feel young again.

Wyll - He's like a guardian angel sent from above. He's happy to teach, but not above learning from Tav too, seeing them as an equal, even if he's kind of the "big brother." He's perfect for stories, indulging in Tavs silly ideas, good or bad, and the man you want in a crisis. No matter how bad it gets, he's staying calm for Tav, witty even, to keep them distracted or focused. It's hard to not be relaxed around Wyll and it's ever so intentional. If Tav is happy, so is he, and he says as much all the time.

Karlach - A young tiefling troublemaker who's just trying to do their best? She absolutely adores them, seeing her young self in them at every turn. It's healing for her to take care of who is basically her younger self, and she takes a genuine pride in looking out for them. Keeping them safe. Teaching them not to make the same mistakes she did. She'll do anything to keep them safe even at her own detriment.

Gale - Gale always wanted to be a teacher, and seeing how passionate Tav is, he just has to teach them. He sees potential in everything they do and goes out of his way to ensure they harness their abilities to their fullest. He's happy to answer any and all questions, and will look for answers if he doesn't have them. He's never short on praise either, always telling them how proud he is and how wonderful it is to watch them become the person they are.

Astarion - He's the bully older brother you never realised you wanted, probably because you didn't and still don't. He's got a thousand mean nicknames and if Tav slips up, he never let's them forget it. Tav and him will bicker to the end of time, but when all is said and done, if someone so much as grazes Tavs skin- he will drain the life out of them as painful and slow as possible. He might laugh, but only when he knows Tav is actually okay, and if someone else laughs, he'll make them regret it. He'd never say it out loud, but having a sibling he can protect is very nice.

Bonus, the older folks!

Halsin - He immediately takes up the dad role. He's always wanted children of his own, once he finds the right person, but they make him.okay with just doing it alone. Bear rides, whittled trinkets, spell lessons, he's all for it. There's just about nothing Tav could possibly say to make him unhappy to hear from them. He's indulged in everything they say and prideful in everything they do. He gets into the habit of calling them fawn, fledgling, lamb, whatever Tav likes sticks.

Jaheira - She doesn't realise it, but she does go full mother mode, even in front of the Harpers. Tav has messy hair? She's fixing it immediately. She sees elbows on the table, Tav is getting the mom look. Tav has dirt on their face, she's licking her thumb to rub it out. It's so subconscious, but she can't help it. And by God's, if anyone talks ill of Tav to their face, she's ready to throw down. Even if it's just questioning.

Harper: "I don't get it, they're a kid, how are they going to-"

Jaheira: "If I hear one more word out of that idiot mouth, I'm going to sew it shut and have you clear out the barn of all the ox shit, so you have no choice but to smell it"

Minsc - He's just happy to be admired for what he is; a warrior! Lead by a miniature giant space hamster. He won't question most things Tav does, trusting their own kind of warrior style and knowing they're doing everything for righteous reason. He admires them at every turn, even if he has no idea what their deal is or how to explain it to other people. Boo knows. And thats all that matters.

[linkspooky]

To add to my previous post, I think a lot of the current debates raging in the My Hero Academia fandom on whether My Hero Academia has failed because at the end of the story there probably won’t be major changes to the society it takes place in are kind of silly. You see to remove any political message MHA is trying to send out of the equation. I think the big problem with MHA  is much simpler than anyone wants to admit. 

The biggest problem is that... it’s boring. 

It’s boring the same way Marvel Movies are boring. It’s swapped out what are potentially interesting and layered hero characters, for what are essentially characters with costumes and superhero powers and not much else going on for them. Enji and Hawks are the only heroes that have character flaws, and they are largely stagnant characters, Aizawa is introduced to us as a ruthless pragmatist and trickster mentor and he’s now just a generic “I love all my kids” mentor and the only thing he really has done in a hundred chapters is use his power. I don’t think this is a controversial opinion either, a lot of people didn’t like the deku alone arc, a lot of people think the current war arc is less satisfying to read than the previous one and it’s not well paced and it drags. 

You could say the kid heroes are interesting characters with potential for growth, but have you noticed the kid heroes have been consistently sidelined for the adult heroes who are shallower, just because they have stronger more flashy powers. Heck, Enji gets more screentime in the Todoroki family arc than Shoto does and Shoto is supposed to be a main character. I think the hero kids just not getting plot importance they used to get and being sidelined because they’re not as powerful as the adults is not even an MHA exclusive problem, it’s the reason I don’t like the Young Justie Cartoon, it’s a pretty common flaw in adolescent superhero stories. Because why focus on the kids when the adults get all the cool fights against the bigger bads? 

I think the reason people sympathize with the villains so much is not because they find them to have better politics, that’s probably a ex-posto facto applied reasoning (though I think that’s part of it). (Also if people are invested in the story in MHA because of the political issues it expressed, and they are disappointed because we’re not focusing on that, that’s a valid response too because Horikoshi is the one who set these ideas up as themes and then failed t follow through). (Or even if someone wants to critcize the way Hori dragged race as a metaphor into the story, they’re free to be displeased with how HOri handled it but also can still be invested in the story as a whole.) I don’t think the villains are sympathetic because they’re societal reformers, I think they’re just interesting because they have severe personality flaws and character arcs. Enji is the same character from the pro-hero work onward, the exact same character, he even does the exact same action his only true action to atone is to just defeat a big bad in AFO the same way he roasted the Noumu alive. You can’t say Shigaraki is the same character he was at the beginning of his arc, nor Himiko Toga, nor Dabi, nor Spinner, not even Twice and he has a tragic arc. Negative character development is still development, a stagnant character is dull a dynamic character is interesting. Maybe everyone is excited that Toga, and Dabi are at extreme low points in their character arcs, because it’s a change, and it’s compelling to see the extreme emotions they represent. Like, there’s so much discourse today on whether or not the League of Villains is a healthy friend group for one another, and like they’re not, they’re codependent and heavily flawed but that’s what makes them interesting dude. 

Compare that to Class 1-A which is a much bigger group of kids where they are all unconditionally supportive of each other, and a healthy influence on one another, and because there’s very little conflict in that group bond there’s also little development. The only reason Class 1-A is in fact something people are emotoinally invested in is because of the conflict they had earlier in their arcs, Bakugo and Deku is a long running conflict based on an unhealthy friendship and fixation they have on one another, it takes a long time for Bakugo and Todoroki to interact regularly as friends, Deku had to literally beat up Todoroki to get him to accept help or even admit he needed it, Iida would have straight up killed a man without Todoroki and Deku’s interference, and even early on Uraraka felt inferior and more selfish to her friends, and Iida also drew a line that Deku shouldn’t expect unconditional support and teamwork from Iida during the tournament  because they are compettitors competing for number one. 

Conflict creates depth which creates audience engagement. 

The Teen Titans are my favorite superhero team ever, and they are a heavily dysfunctional found family. In fact Cyborg even jokes at one point that their life is a soap opera. They are constantly breaking up and getting back together, and sometimes the group’s decision to collectively either neglect or enable someone has a bad influence on their personality (the second return of trigon arc comes about because no one was paying attention to Raven, heck, Raven is kidnapped by a cult and just left there for months because Donna was a poor leader). These character conflicts are also what makes them interesting as a group dynamic, I don’t think you should break the group apart because they’re not healthy, because there’s a better story to be told in them working through their dysfunction into a healthier group bond. 

I’ve said this a thousand times but I don’t think the hero kids are bad characters, I don’t even dislike them, I want to see more of them. Literally all I talk about on this blog are the villains, but the only fanfic about MHA I’ve ever written and managed to finish, is about Bakugo, Todoroki, Momo and Uraraka and in particular the great potential I see in those characters to be interesting, 

You could write a story where society does not change as a whole, but still circumstances get better for people because the kids are deciding to help people and be kind. Bleach is all about the fact you can’t really change the whole world or save everyone. Ichigo is just trying to protect his hometown and it’s my favorite shonen manga. I also think those stories matter just as much as like revolutionary fiction, because oftentimes people can’t change the world as an individual, and yet the action of helping people still matters, and I think also for a lot of normal people they tend to be paralyzed into not taking any action to help people at all because they believe that it won’t make a difference in the grand scheme of things. 

At the most basic level we haven’t even gotten that yet. We used to have it! I really liked the Overhaul arc, and that entire arc isn’t about societal reform, it was about several people striving to save a young girl because heroes are supposed to save people. We are thoroughly in shonen battle manga punch em ups and fisticuffs. And as a shonen battle manga it’s not even that interesting because the fights suck, they’re not well choreographed, we don’t know what’s happening most of the time, they’re incredibly crowded, there’s no tension because the heroes despite supposedly being outnumbered way outpower the bad guys. We are given the promise that might happen in the future, there is set up for the fact that these kids are going to as their final act in the story save the villains and sympathize them but all we’ve gotten between then and now is a whole bunch of fighting. And once again it doesn’t come from a hatred of the kids but a genuine desire to see more of them, I want to see Shoto’s thoughts and feelings about his brother, I want to see Uraraka try to be a rescue hero and grapple with the fact villains are suffering, I want to see Deku think about what saving Shigaraki actually means. What I don’t want to see is new super powers, kids trying out their super moves, or kids helping the adults in fight. 

And once again this isn’t to criticize people who enjoy MHA or are still emotoinally invested in it. Like I’m sure I’m going to get replies to this post “Why are you even reading MHA if you’re bored by it?” 

Like... because you can engage critically with something even if you’re not entertained by it? There’s more purpose to literature and media then just whether or not ti’s personally enjoyable? I think there’s still a fascinating conversation to be had, in what works in MHA, and what does not work. I like superhero comics, and MHA is a shonen mangaka’s commentary on how they perceive western comics to be. 

But yeah, I think the biggest most fundamental failing of MHA right now is that it’s a real snooze fest. As a comic book story, it doesn’t work because the heroes aren’t fun, it doesn’t seem to have much to say about the heroes besides very generic statements of heroes good. Heroes help people. Deku good. Deku saves. Deku punches. Deku wins. 

So like can everyone collectively agree to just stop yelling at people who are emotionally invested in the villains, or even want to see them win? And like I think people should be allowed to post salt on their own blogs privately or even try to like comment on why they think certain fandom opinions are wrong, but gosh some of these posts guys they’re just like acting like a vast majority of readers are stupid. PEOPLE AREN”T STUPID! In fact I think most people are actually really good at interpreting stories because we are exposed to stories from a young age, and we think and feel in narrative, it’s just a lot of people don’t have the tools to either analyze stories or express what they find engaging. In fact if you think someone is wrong, or even think they have a vastly different take then you’re own, I think you should ask them why they think that way if you’re really interested in a conversation with them. Heck Thy and I usually agree about a lot of things, but sometimes I’ll make a pretty extreme statement, and they go “Oh, I don’t think that, or that’s wrong.” And then I just walk it back and try to explain my reasoning and then even if they’re not convinced to agree with me we just both move on. 

People root for the villains because they’re underdogs. They’re sympathetic and flawed. They are also not stagnant as characters and we spend more time in their head. People aren’t stupid for being emotionally invested in them or reading the story wrong necessarily, so much as MHA has kind of failed to properly establish stakes and tension and make things difficult for the heroes like it should be, that’s just how engagement in a story works. There’s a reason that everyone hates the Yankees, but Cubs fans can stay fans for like a hundred years without a world series victory. I’m not even trying to directly insult anyone, or say that My Hero Academia is bad fiction, or not worth reading, I just wish people would chill a little bit and stop jumping on villain stans for liking the unhealthier or darker aspects of the characters. 

Everyone’s like “I love my murderous meow meows covered in blood” and then you actually say the reason you like Shigaraki is because he’s heavily flawed, and at times a vengeful, hateful little shit and suddenly it’s a problem. Spinner’s a codependent enabler, yeah it’s called having a personality with flaws. He wouldn’t even have a character arc if he wasn’t those things, he’d just be a lizard. The thing that is deliberately written by a flaw, called out in the plot, and he gets punished for. God has punished him for his sins. Right now he’s just lying on the floor nearly brain dead. Also sometimes characters don’t have like, big, operatic flaws. Like as murderous and nasty as Dabi is there’s like a catharsis and power in the way he calls out his abusers. Sometimes people are annoying and needy. I feel like more ficitonal characters should be annoying and needy! Sometimes the most interesting characters, are characters you like would hate to be friends with in real life because they’d just be too high maintennance and put-upon. 

I mean on top of that there are also stories where characters get worse, and only experience negative character development, and there are people who become engaged in those stories because of the dark turns it takes. 

You could say that the fandom downplays the darker aspects of these characters, but like that’s what every fandom does. Heck, don’t Bakugo and Deku have an extremely unhealthy friendship for a long time, that fandom likes to downplay because they want to see them in a much healthier version of their relationship? 

It’s also pretty much harmless. Beyond being frustrated with seeing an out of character version of a character being popularized, it doesn’t really harm people in any way that matters, you don’t have to yell at people for being wrong or even go out of your way to correct them. In fact, I think people having extremely different takes from the story that you do should be celebrated more. Isn’t it interesting two people can read the exact same events and interpret them in wildly different ways? Isn’t it weird, that we all have this collective agreed upon version of like “in character” and “Out of character” and yet people tend to either deviate or stay inside that framework. People also, tend to enjoy different aspects of the story. I don’t think the heroes are interesting at all, but if someone is a diehard hero stan and they like the heroes I’m glad they are having a fun time. 

Fandom is supposed to be a conversation, and like, you shouldn’t go out of your way to correct the people you’re talking with, because it’s a much more fun conversation to ask why people think the way they do and try to understand that then to just tell them they’re wrong and end the conversation there. The reason I have this blog is not because I think I’m right and other people are wrong, I just like to talk to people about my thoughts on the comic books I’m reading, and then other people ask me why I think the things I do and I try to explain it. 

Oh and by the way I’m not talking about people who disagree with me specifically. Like, Class1akids wrote a response to one of my posts. I think they have every right to disagree with me and they were pretty professional about the way they expressed their opinion, I follow them and like their takes because they’re good at stating the reasons behind what they think. I just didn’t interact with it because I was feeling lazy that day and didn’t want to type up a big response. I’m just in general asking people to chill and be nice and have fun. 

[suckishima]

omg sending some ships i lov tht arent necessarily standard "gotta pair em up" pairs: kenhina, kurotsukki, ushioi :3

Hii, thanks for asking!

Kenhina: Eyyyy it makes sense and it compels me!!

Kenhina is my favorite Hinata ship AND my favorite Kenma ship lol. the like sort of rivalry/obsession dynamic is really interesting. Kenma wants to study Hinata like a bug and Hinata wants to make Kenma fall in love with volleyball! So fun! They just get better as the manga goes on too, there's a lot of fun dynamics to explore with them.

I generally still don't read them as a main pairing I think, but honestly love them. Fanart especially of them is so great

Kurotsukki: Makes sense, doesn't really compel me

I read a handful of kurotsukki fics when I first started haikyuu and I enjoyed them okay—and this is probably just me not scrolling deep enough, there's great fic for every pairing somewhere—but the dynamic usually felt just off to me in fanon. Similar to Atsumu, I'm really picky about Kuroo's characterization and for whatever reason when he's paired with Tsukki rather than Kenma he often gets this bad boy vibe that I just don't see. I'm also VERY picky about Tsukki, and same thing, I found him to be idk just off in most of the kurotsukki I read.

Howeverrr talking just canon stuff and their potential, I do get it. I looooove the master and student chapters in the manga and their dynamic is really interesting. Ultimately though I think I just landed too close to canon and see them as more of like mentor/mentee and casual friends

Ushioi answered here. I'm feeling a little bad lol, a few people asked about them and I think I was harsher on them than anyone else lmao. I will say this, I'm honestly really open to different perspectives on ships and genuinely could be convinced of anything if it's done well. So feel free to drop some fic recs for them (or anyone else) and maybe I'll give em a try and potentially change my mind lol.

Send me ships!

[sannyo-appreciation-posts]

what are, in your opinion, the best ships involving Sannyo? I'm easily influenced by canon so I'd say mamizou is pretty good. i saw what you said about seiga and while it's true i hate seiga with a passion

[All art used is sited with the reliant link at the bottom]

Truth be told, I'm not much of a shipper personally, but I have a lot of fun seeing it from different people and thinking about where it comes from.

But this will be fun. So fun, that im going to take this thought way further than i need to. Hopefully I'll have a good number of ships by the time I'm done over analyzing this.

(I actually mentioned that about Seiga because its the only time I've ever seen that ship before, let alone seen any art for it, and was thinking up how it happened, it was cute art after all)

There's actually a much more common ship with a similar character chemistry pairing Sannyo with Yachie,

but this ship makes a bit more sense because not only is Sannyo a dragon fangirl, Yachie even looks a lot like her pipe. In fact, if you used her tail with its length in Touhou 19 you could probably even stretch Yachie into its exact shape, plus a bonus shell.

(A pretty fun mental picture)

Anyway, the over analysis starts here

______________________

Obligatory Disclaimer:

[Any Readers keep in mind, that even though I said you can think these up using canonical sources as a basis, that does not mean I'm claiming any of them are canonical relationships beyond possible friendships. There are also plenty of other ships that are possible with characters shes not likely to interact with that have just as much potential for cute dynamics]

Ships that can be thought up from the canonical sources.:

Well, first I'll do the ones from Lotus Eaters.

The easiest one to pick is definitely Mamizou. The entirety of Lotus Eaters Chapter 30 was more or less them having a fun and cheeky back and forth.

There is also Miyoi if you want to think of it that way since they are business partners and it's cute seeing her get both encouraged and picked on by Sannyo.

If you want to really be funny, and really stretch the imagination, you can joke about the Ponytailed Yamawaro with the surprising amount of screen time, since Sannyo helped her cool off when she was yelling, and more or less helped her when she was crying.

I mean look at that sad face

Those are the ones from Lotus Eaters.

Now Unconnected Marketeers gives us a few more things to build off of,

Sannyo has a funny back and forth with Sanae, and they both knew about each other before the incident, so that could be interesting.

(Though people can understandably find interactions with any protagonist to build off of if they see it that way)

The next one is since Sannyo lives at Heavens Shelf right beside rainbow dragon cave, Sannyo therefore lives very close by the dragon eater Momoyo too, which is definitely funny.

A surprisingly popular one is Sannyo with Misumaru, this one makes more sense then you might initially think, it comes from Sannyo's dialog implying she's been asked to keep humans out of rainbow dragon cave by someone. That person could only have been Misumaru. Idk how she'd have met her though. One particular artist really loves this ship

Misumaru doesn't technically live in the dragon cave but she definitely uses it sometimes and they both have some mentor energy going for them. My impression of Misumaru just from in game is she has some really proud but also no nonsense aspects to her personality. So it might be fun to see how she could interact with Sannyo.

For the same reason of being nearby, people could potentially ship her with Takane. She lives nearby the Yamawaro and they are both business ladies after all. I think the reason I haven't seen that one is Takane is a bit more hard professional and might not have as good of a back and forth with Sannyo. Especially when Takane has the far more obvious option of Nitori.

She lives nearby the Tengu too, so if someone decided that was enough to go on then they could ship her with any Tengu.

She even says "it's no wonder That Tengu has a high opinion of you" to Sanae.

[We can assume "That Tengu" is Megumu but people can definitely interpret that as someone else if they want. I think ive seen someone assume she was talking about Aya back during the Demo even]

Making it possible to have an argument for Megumu, Aya, Hatate, maybe even Momiji. But given Sannyo's : "you don't need to know about that......., actually i don't know either" flavor interactions with protagonists, it might be hilarious to see her interact with the Tengu.

Unfortunately there is no Sannyo x All Tengu picture to use so have the Megumu laugh Scene from Lotus Eaters:

Thats it for the ships you could extrapolate from UM interactions.

The last ship based on canon sources is Nemuno, they are different versions of the same Yokai species, Nemuno being a Yamanba, and Sannyo being a Yamajorou, a more outgoing version of the species. They both live in the mountains so it's possible for Sannyo to give her a visit if she wants, but Nemuno probably wouldn't travel too far personally.

In conclusion:

_________________________________

Finally I'll actually list my favorites:

My favorite ship though is easily with Mamizou. Mamizou and Sannyo had some really fun interactions.

Despite generally not often thinking about Misumaru, I've seen so much cute art of this ship on Pixiv that it makes me kinda like it. They do have compatible personalities so I can't say it's unreasonable.

I feel like she could have potential with Megumu. A Daitengu might be above Sannyo's metaphorical pay grade, but it could be fun. And they apparently are on speaking terms. Plus, you can read Megumu Iizunamaru as Dragon, and thats fun.

[But that's a tough sell, Megumu already is pretty cute with Chimata, has Tsukasa Mythology, and that great running dragon joke with Momoyo]

I think the mental picture of stretching Yachie out into a pipe shape might have sold me on that ship just now too.

So anyway, that's what I came up with for favorites.

Sannyo x Yachie art by: stank

Nemuno fish art by :0-DEN

Nemuno soy sauce by: atoki

Mamizou x Sannyo art by Biyon

[beauspot]

why can’t black women have a romance holy shit. every person who hates sydcarmy is talking about some “why can’t men and women ever just be friends” like that’s not all we’ve been allocated for decades. i understand that a lot of women particularly 👋🏻 women want stories that don’t revolve around romance, and hey i like those stories too! BUT black women have not had the same oppurtunities to just be love interests in the same way y’all have. We’ve been relocated to undesirable best friend roles or oversexualized booty calls. Y’all swear we have so much representation and yet can only name like 10 shows spanning over DECADES to prove us wrong like if there’s so much romantic content with black women as leads why the fuck are you talking about the flash and the walking dead?

and then we have the marcus and sydney brigade. the ONLY reason y’all want marcus and sydney together is cause they both black, they have zero chemistry. prove to me otherwise, quickly. I understand that people are tired of seeing interracial relationships (which is not really a problem but that’s a post for another day 😒 y’all swear that “the media” is trying to trick black women into marrying out or something stupid like that when we all know black women marry in their race more than any other demographic. imma just say black women should go where they are loved and fuck the noise) but y’all do this with nearly every show. Pairing characters together cause they’re the same race even though they have nothing in common. Nonblack people love doing this which i know why but again not the post.

But what REALLY pisses me off is calling Chefs Kiss a mentor/mentee relationship and then proceeding to ship sydney and MARCUS???

like you can’t be serious. carmy so clearly sees syd as his equal proven by the fact he wants to revamp his BUSINESS, his LIVELIHOOD with her. someone he’s known the least amount of time.

We’ve discussed this before but we know why Jeremy is probably wary about romance because of how hypersexual his previous job was and i get that, but I have yet to see a sydcarmy fan who wants them rawdogging on the kitchen floor. Idk it’s strange the way this show is edited and the music choices, and the script is written if they intended to go no romance for them. I’m really interested to see what their dynamic is like next season if they’re going to change it moving forward to dissuade fans from shipping by separating the two(like stucky vibes) it won’t work but that’ll be very annoying.

The WORST thing the show runners could do is insert a new love interest, that would piss me off to no end and i would stop watching the show. In the latest article they said(writer or show runner don’t remember) they wanted a show with no romance plot so they better fucking stick to it. I don’t want carmy to get to a later season and they’ve introduced a palm colored love interest for him. i swear to god i will turn the show off.

Now I personally will continue to ship them i’ve done so with other ships with far less, but that doesn’t mean i’m not a little annoyed. I hope they stick to their word if that’s the case.

ALSO we need more black women as romantic leads so go read the brown sister novels (chloe brown, dani brown, and eve brown) and hype them up so we can get movies( or in a perfect world a TV SERIES 🤭) based on them

TLDR: it’s dumb to hate sydcarmy cause you personally hate interracial relationships, if they mean no romance they should do no romance, that article was dumb and didn’t need to come out when we’ve already heard from both lead actors they don’t like the ship. we got it the first time. also read the brown sisters and spread the word so we can get a tv show about them thanks.

[fandomsandflyingstingrays]

Full Thoughts on TDP Season 5

Under the cut, because there are many of them!

Starting off with things I liked:

Rayllum! It was so good to see them on the same page again, and they have a perfect balance between deep, romantic devotion and the shared laughter and gestures of best friends. Their dynamic this season was my favorite iteration of them so far

Janai and Amaya were wonderful as well. I was really bracing for Amaya to leave for Lux Area without telling Janai and a whole bunch of drama to ensue, but no! They communicate! They trust each other! It's so refreshing!

Side note: Lux Area was gorgeous the detail in every shot of the city and Bookery was so good. I want to live there. I will take on the night creatures if need be

I hoped we'd get an apology from Amaya for Rayla, and I'm really glad they took the time to put it in the show instead of a short story or anything like that. It was also cool to see Amaya recognizing the similarities she and Rayla share and acting as more of a mentor to her, I hope we see more of them together later on

The reoccurring message that oftentimes the best way to be strong is by going to other people for help- first Amaya's story, then Rayla trusting Callum, then Zubeia's talk with Avizandum. It's a very good moral

That whole thing with Soren and Elmer! Breaking the cycle of cruelty! I love Soren so much

Callum using dark magic again. I thought I would hate it if that happened, since we've seen a corruption plotline with him and with Claudia already, but the way it was done sort of added a good sense of realism. I like that Callum isn't a Perfectly Moral Mage just because he can do primal magic; it feels deeper and more complicated if he has to recognize that the easier, darker choice is always there, and sometimes he won't be able to resist it, but he has to try each time anyway

So many little moments that I'll probably be going into in separate posts because the dynamic between the characters was on fire. It was so good to see the team really working together, their chemistry was so good

Things I wasn't as much of a fan of:

The problem with the show really relying on people to read all the supplementary material is still present. I was pretty confused about who Kpp'Ar was until I looked him up on the wiki, and again, people who didn't know about Soren getting sick as a kid from the Book 2 novelization really wouldn't have gotten his part of the dream sequence. It doesn't ruin the show or anything but it does make it a little confusing at times

The plotline with the coins is starting to feel a little drawn-out. Runaan's presence would bring up enough complications between Rayla and the rest of the group that he needs enough time out of the coin to give that the weight it deserves, and I'm really hoping he gets out next season so we can have at least season 7 to go into that. Also, Ethari needs his husband back

As good as it was to see rayllum back together, I do still think we needed a scene of them actually talking things through. I'm sure it'll appear in a Reflections story at some point, but again, you don't want your show to lean that heavily on the bonus material

This is more of a nitpick than anything else, but the characters' faces in the early episodes felt really stiff. They'd be having a monologue where you could really hear the emotion in their voices, but their faces just... didn't really move

And finally: too many crabs. This is not a flaw with the season this is just because I personally am freaked out by crabs and I've never been so horrified in all my life as when the true nature of Finnegrin's ship was revealed. It'll haunt me forever

Overall I liked it a lot, and I'm really excited to see where it goes next! Claudia feels like she's on the very edge of the point of no return, if she hasn't already crossed it, and it'll be very interesting to see how she reacts to the loss of her leg and (most likely) the loss of her father next season. I'm also very excited for the nova blade, that sounds like a gorgeous piece of weaponry and seeing whoever wields it (my money's on Rayla) fighting Aaravos is going to be epic. This season has definitely ratcheted up my investment in the show, which I'm very excited about

[picturejasper20]

If rose was somehow brought back post future would Steven treat her like how Danny treat the Vlad? It's a very strange question and comparison because even if we go with the fact that there are some similarities between both characters and have self-hatred about them and selfish, they go about it differently and Rose wasn't exactly a villain like Vlad but the characters kind of treat her like she.... Not necessarily a villain but like so heavily responsible for every problem that has happened that she is arguably an greater scope antagonist.

That's an interesting question...

I'm not sure if Steven post-future would treat Rose Quartz the same way Danny treats Vlad in A Glitch in Time. These characters have a deeply different relationship with each other and how they view themselves.

Rose Quartz was Steven's mother, someone Steven never got know personally. So most of his opinion is based on what others have told him about her. She was someone Steven used to looked up to and he shaped a good part of his identity trying to be like her.

Steven usually felt responsible for awful things that Rose had done, usually without intention of hurting anyone. He had to deal with all those things that Rose ¨left¨ that he felt that he had to fix, when Rose herself didn't want for him to grow up having to fix this problems.

This is very different from the relationship that Vlad and Danny have, which is from day one being arch nemesis and someone that Danny doesn't want to turn into. He acts as constant reminder of something he doesn't want to be and most of the series the nature of their dynamic is to be enemies.

Vlad isn't someone Danny didn't look up to nor he felt like he had to shape himself to be like him. On the contrary, he doesn't want be like him and he hates the idea of follow the path that he offers him with every ectoplasm of his being.

What is more, he is someone that Danny personally knows. He doesn't rely on other people to have to have an idea of who Vlad is since he usually interacts with him, unlike Rose with Steven. Vlad isn't Danny's father nor an adult figure that raised Danny. It could be argued that he is like an ¨uncle¨ but he got the chance to mentor Danny.

Back to the question, i think Steven would feel very mixed about Rose if she suddenly happened to come back after the events of Future. Part of him would probably want to get to know her personally and spend time with her, something he never could, not even in ¨Storm in the Room¨ because it was an illusion, not the real Rose Quartz

Another part of him would probably hate her and demand to know why she did certain things. He would probably have a moment of lashing out at her, telling her that he had to deal with some awful things she ¨left behind¨. Rose would understand how Steven feels and explain that she didn't want any of this for him and she is sorry he had to endure with all those problems.

Maybe it could be the closure that Steven needs. Knowing that while Rose Quartz did good things, she still hurt people along the way and it is understandable for him to feel angry about that.

[halfagone]

Hi, Halfa!

Recently, I have seen a lot of fanfics regarding the relationship between Danny and Constantine, as in couple but most commonly father-son dynamic or similar.

Do you think they could work out or are their personalities too different? And what would that look like?

Hello, Anony! X3

There are definitely plenty of lovely fics with these two involved, romantic or not. There's Contractual Obligations by the lovely @arzuera and @tathartiel~ which is a father-son fic. There's also Ashes by the incredible @jaytriesstuff which features these two as a couple. Just a few examples if anyone is interested in them.

I do think that a relationship between these two can work, even despite or perhaps because they are different in many ways. Yes, there are many qualities they share- Constantine may be an ass but in the end for all his dubious morals he is still a hero, and that deserves some recognition. But in some regards, they have such different life experiences that maybe it can be hard to imagine them together or interacting in any way.

But you don't have to be the carbon copy of someone to love them. They say opposites attract, and that can be true. Sometimes you need that different perspective in your life to help you grow to be a better person or look past the biases you grew up with.

There are plenty of parents whose children grow to be nothing like them and they can still love them. Because a kid is not meant to be your do-over, a kid is meant to be a life you bring into the world so that they can live it. Even if it's not something you would have chosen for yourself. And there's plenty of parents who don't want their children to be anything like them, because they made mistakes they can't take back.

A lot of it depends on what kind of characterization you want Constantine to have. There are many versions of his character; sometimes he acts like a self-centered asshole only looking out for himself, sometimes he acts as a mentor to Billy Batson or Timothy Hunter because they're kids who need a hand.

Personally, Constantine as a father to me would be that parent who doesn't want their kid to turn out like them. He's done terrible things for the sake of survival that no one should have to. If he wanted to be a good parent, I can see him trying to distance himself or his past from Danny to make sure he doesn't get caught up in that. This might sound bad, but in some cases, it is genuinely better to give a child up for adoption, and that would probably be the same here for Constantine.

As a couple can be a little more tricky. Because you run the risk of Danny's relationship with John turning into a twisted 'I can fix him' scenario, which is never healthy. Yes, relationships can help you grow, but you should never go into one with the thought that you can change a person. For one, that's not realistic. For another, they don't always have to change. Sometimes one half of the couple just thinks the other half should, which again, unhealthy. And of course, that means you don't care about a person for who they are but some vision you have of them. Not much better.

But if these two are on equal footing, I can imagine it growing into something that has a lot of potential to be a healthy relationship. I love to think about how different their perspectives are on death and how that reflects on them as people. Constantine has made so many soul contracts in his endless attempts to escape death. On the other hand, Danny has died and embraces death every time he transforms into Phantom.

I could wax poetic about this pair if I wanted to, but I should really wrap this up at some point lol I do believe these two have a lot of potential, but I always have been a multi-shipper at heart.

[mischievouslittlecreature]

Laur! Question time! (?)

Now that I know Alice, i can ask this: What about her in the Hunger Games? Could she survive?? Or her district? Maybe she's lucky like Rose and wasn't reaped?

Robert is a member of the Capitol, I have zero doubts. The Fischer are too wealthy to be part of the districts, but Alice... 😔.

Ahhhh thank you for the ask, Flor! 🖤

I see Alice being from District 4. She's an ocean lover and a very good swimmer.

She would be reaped when she was around 16 due to how many times her name was put in. Her family would live in one of the poorer areas of the district, and her father would probably be a fisherman. The dynamics between the family would be mostly the same, with Alice having the biggest middle child syndrome/treatment and getting ignored and lot in favor of her older sister and younger brother.

She's so sweet, even if she did survive the games I see her being very emotionally devastated by them and extremely guilty over the lives she would have had to take. It would take a certain amount of luck for her to win, but it wouldn't be impossible. She's creative and while not a super skilled physical fighter, I could see her fashioning traps to catch food and other tributes. Mostly her strategy would be to hide, and if the arena involved any significant body of water, stick close to it. She could win by using her swimming ability to drown or outswim other tributes.

When she comes back home, she'll be a mess of depression, self loathing, and likely self harm. Her family would do next to nothing to help her and probably just mooch off her victor's money and privileges. Poor baby 😭.

You're totally right that Robert would be in the Capitol! I could see Maurice even being involved in the games in some way. Maybe as a financier or even a gamemaker? Of course Robert would hate it, but I could see that being how he and Alice meet.

He first encounters he when she's a tribute, and later after she comes back as a mentor they would bump into each other. At some of the functions victors are required to attend and maybe even at her victor's parade, he might even manage to talk to her a bit.

Eventually, either because he misbehaves and his dad wants him gone for a little while, or because Maurice wants to encourage Robert to take a more active role in the games, he forces him to take a job as tribute escort. Robert is assigned to District 4, and he and Alice get to spend more time together and properly start to fall in love.

Alice would of course be wary of him at first, as she is with anyone from the Capitol. But he would win her over with his sweetness and empathy for the tributes.

khndsjgbhjdsgb if I'm not careful I'm gonna have all sorts of ideas for a THG!AU with the Inception characters! I haven't even started the PB one and yet the hamster wheels in my brain are spinning FLOR WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!? 😩

[crimsonmoon777]

The most recent mua arc has really been bugging my, there's some small things that have just made it feel off. These are just my opinions and I'd love to hear other people's thoughts.

I feel like this is obviously but spoilers ahead.

Most of my issues revolve around AfO so let's start way before the war arch when he was introduced.

So towards of the series we're introduced to the concept of AfO. Big old scary villain that's been around since the dawn of quirks. A comic book villain that foils well with Allmights whole comic book hero vibe.

Kamino rolls around and he's still filling that roll and is a reasonable big bad bc he is, as I said a foil to All Might, they also both act as mentors to Shigy and Izuku respectively. who retires after sending AfO to Tartarus.

And here's where my issues with him start, he comes back full force along side Tomura. I think thematically AfO should not of been involved in the war. Shigy vs Izu makes more sense than Shigy/AfO vs Izu (now technically All Might gets involved with his stupid mech suit but that's currently irrelevant)

Like there's a whole theme of passing the torch, more with Allmight and Izuku but when AfO gets locked up it really seems like the main conflict will move on to Izuku and Shigy.

But nope suddenly oh AfO is back, and Allmight sorta but it's really not the same and the previous power dynamic has completely shifted.

Now onto motivations.

Prior to the war AfO's motives were unknown. Then he rolls up fresh outa jail like I'm the demon king I'm going to take over the world. And compared to the darker undertones of the show its just so jarring to throw in at the last arc (and everytime he is referred to as demon King I can't take him seriously) now if this was Known earlier I think it would of worked fine with the comic book villain to All Mights comic book hero vibe.

And they had a lot they could of done with AfO, he was born during the dawn of quirks when people with quirks were discriminated against and hunted. There's so much possibility for a villain trying to change the system in his own twisted way.

Now we know from his backstory (narratied by him should probably be taken with at least a small a grain of salt) he is incredibly cold and possessive, he saw his brother as nothing more than something that belonged to him.

And this does solidify what we know of his character and with this in mind the demon king thing makes sense but was so sudden it just feels out off

Now onto more of why he's ridiculous. His regeneration quirk turned him back so far that HE DIES BC HE REWOUND HIMSELF TO BEFORE HE WAS BORN and the fact that Bakugou is the one to cause this.

The incredibly small amount of respect I may of had for AfO has completely vanished.

But tldr: AfO's character is a mess and completely ridiculous.

[fancyfade]

I like your insight in Damian's related thing but I don't quite understand how you see Dick and Damian's relation. Would you expand more on it?

For me it was most of a parental figure (not exactly a dad)/mentor while Bruce was away and after he came back it went more to older-younger brothers/still mentor

Ok so how I see dick and damian's relationship:

Dick is definitely responsible for Damian, and he feels responsible (he like. directly says so in battle for the cowl #2). he also starts out generally... like... annoyed by Damian. He thinks in resurrection of ra's al ghul "all this trouble for Damian? The kid no one can stand?" and says out loud something along the lines of "saving him makes us feel good" to Tim, then we have even in Batman and Robin 2009:

and like just to be clear, this isn't me doing a "dick #cancelled' thing or whatever, just pointing out how the dynamic starts. it does start with Dick feeling mostly obligation and annoyance towards Damian.

I don't think Dick ever was trying to be a parent when he was Batman and Damian was Robin, and that's okay! Like some posts already reblogged there (link to discussion, link to post about rules, link to my guess on dick's thought process). I think Dick was in survival mode. He was dealing with becoming Batman, Gotham Underworld being in chaos, now suddenly in addition to the responsibility of being Batman, which he did not ask for and feels obligated to fulfill, he has to take care of Damian*, which is another responsibility he did not ask for but feels obligated to fulfill. His main concern with Damian seems to be making sure Damian is safe (as in rescuing him if/when he gets in trouble) and b) making sure that Damian is not going too far in the field, ex: killing someone (he's worried Damian will kill Zsasz, even tho Damian didn't try) or torturing someone**. Once those big concerns are done we see Dick trying to flesh out Damian's Robin training, in the Batman series he gives him various clues to work on as he works a case (ex: medicine to analyze) so that Damian learns detective skills.

I think part of the reason why parental probably sparks so much discussion is because... well parental is going to be different for everyone. some of the recent analysis in the convo i've been having has been about dick's lack of consequences, but well... there are parents who don't do consequences, or who do but make them inconsistent enough that they seem arbitrary and meaningless***. I'll also point out that in general, parentalness from Dick is not something Morrison cared to put in the comic, and that's what we're going off mostly. Like we do see hints that the characters clearly care about each other as their dynamic gets closer, but we don't see an authorial investment in a parental dynamic, and it's hard to just say 'imagine that happened behind the scenes'. heck, part of what I like about Dick and Damian's dynamic is how gradually they slowly grow to tolerate and then trust and care about each other.

I think Dick's role for Damian when Damian is Robin and he's Batman is very much a mentor role, more involved than if Damian didn't live in the same house as him, but not doing everything a parent would be expected to do for a child, especially since we don't really see dick caring about what Damian does in his off of Robin hours :P Obviously it's possible to extrapolate/guess, maybe Damian was in homeschool (I know that's how I interpreted it in my fanfic) but it doesn't mean we actually see it happening and can say it's canon (if I'm wrong, please correct me). and I think that the fact that Damian is pretty independent**** does probably contribute to this, because I think if he seemed more needy Dick would be like 'oh yeah I guess I should do get him something to do during the day'. and eventually, yeah, their dynamic gets more big brother/little brothery.

I guess I could ask you a follow up question, which is what makes it seem especially parental to you?

*because Talia is being written terribly

**damian does beat information out of someone in batman and robin #2... I know I got on a long conversation on another about how this comic makes a big difference between physically torturing someone and what Dick does, which is intimidating people by making them think they will die, which is treated as totally OK within the text. I personally think that either option is not good

***this was my parents :P

****which makes sense for him in both pre new 52 canon -- with him having inconsistent primary caretakers and not having known his parents, presumably he's used to not expecting much of them, and post new 52 canon, where he just got done on a year long extremely challenging mission in the form of the Year of Blood, often with adult supervision in the form of assassin minions, but we also do see them die and him carry on the mission w/o them sometimes, or him working alone.

[thelongestway]

Realized it was probably awful etiquette to put the ask answers into the main reblog chain, so let me repost that!

I'm using the ask questions as a prompt list, because I feel like random writing. This is the Dawntrail ask game, questions 1-5, answers in first person, questions included under cut.

1. Why did they agree to accompany Wuk Lamat to Tural?

Answer: "Originally I was very much on the fence about going. Foreign politics aren't something I'm particularly interested in participating. But then G'raha pointed out that I could leave at any time and no one could really stop me - and I figured, why not? As good of an excuse to see a new place as any, really."

2. What was the first thing they did when they arrived in Tuliyollal?

Answer: "I said 'See you in a few hours' and walked off on my own to get the lay of the land. Then I repeated this every time we had a lull, which was blissfully often. I think I spent more time just exploring on my own in Tuliyollal than I had in the last several years."

Question: What was their initial impression of the four claimants? How did this change over the course of the story?

3. "Wuk Lamat not fighting to win, but to make another lose, was sensible, and that was what I'd signed up for. And then we got to see the rest of them, and it turned out that every other claimant was even less prepared than she was. Seriously, what a disastrous group! Well, it wasn't any skin off my nose anyway. As for changes… Well, Wuk Lamat put it well: together with Koana they make one full Dawnservant. Smart kids."

4. What is their impression of Gulool Ja Ja? Do they agree with his method of cultivating leadership?

Answer: "Poor bastard. Sometimes you go adventuring and wind up in charge, and then your partner-in-crime dies on you. Don't envy him at all, really. He was pretty smart and lucky not to wind up in the same fucked up dynamic as Bakool Ja Ja. Smarter than we give him credit for, even the Head of Resolve alone. I'm pretty sure we're not done dealing with his tricks yet. Whatever he did to get a child, and whatever Zoraal Ja did to get his own child, is probably going to bite our new Dawnservants in their furry asses."

5. How do they feel about Wuk Lamat looking up to them as a mentor figure? Did this attitude change as the story progressed?

Answer: "…I am not staying in your employ, nor in any other government's. Thankfully, she got the hint from me leaving for Shaaloani without as much as a word after that conversation. Smart kid, as I said."

[yr-obedt-cicero]

You’ve probably been asked this question a lot but were the Hamilton’s strict parents?

I would consider them so. Before I begin about Hamilton and Elizabeth individually, it's important to settle the family dynamic they had; Hamilton was usually off at work, and couldn't always be there every day with the kids. But Elizabeth was a “stay at home mom” (Which doesn't work in the common case it's used in; as Elizabeth didn't have the opportunity to go out and work if she even wanted to), she was always with the kids and running the house. It definitely appears like they weren't the lenient, coddly type. Don't get me wrong, they were very affectionate parents, smothering even. And they valued having a tight knit family — that it was a family virtue of Hamilton's that his family wasn't to be separated ever if possible. But they definitely weren't the kind of parents that were friends with their kids. I would describe their parenting style as helicopter parents, where they were very involved in their children's activities and lives.

I'm not too sure about Elizabeth, because not much is written on account of her parenting style. But considering how strict her own mother was, she likely ruled out the same teachings as when she was a girl. If Elizabeth was strict in any sense, it was likely with religion, as that was a very essential thing to her in life — and she was was very adamant her children attend church, and she would read them a Bible lesson every morning. Unfortunately, there isn't much insight on motherhood for Elizabeth, as most of her correspondence was burned and since she spent all of her days with her kids there was nothing that needed to be written down. She harped on John C. often for him to update the progress on his biography, so you can make the assumption if she wanted her children to get work done she wouldn't allow slacking off.

With Hamilton you can get a good idea of his parenting style and what role he played in the household; Hamilton was majorly in charge of the boy's, and would take them with him into the city when he could. It seems on disciplinary matters, Hamilton was only called upon if the case proved severe enough, like a “Wait until your father comes home and hears about this”. Rarely in any of his correspondence with Elizabeth is there mentions of him needing to correct much from the kids. Only a brief mention with Philip, who was the most rebellious of the children; “I am anxious to hear from Philip. Naughty young man.”

Hamilton played a very active role in his children's education, in fact, all of the surviving letters to his kids are about their education. Hamilton managed all the children's schooling, and even mentored Philip himself after he graduated college. He was a very strict and unrelenting teacher, probably prioritizing education above all due to how sacred it was for him as a child himself. He wrote Philip a very strong rule list that dictated and managed every day of Philip's life while studying for the bar.

And he was always keeping an eye on the children when they would leave, as I mentioned before; Hamilton often did not like the family to be apart where he could not keep an eye on things. As Hamilton was reluctant to let Philip travel alone for very long, and even had a friend of his keep an eye on him while he passed through Providence;

“As my eldest son Philip, who lately graduated, will pass through Providence on his way to Boston, I give him this line barely to introduce him to you; since the time I have prescribed for his return will not permit the stay of more than a day at Providence.”

(source — Alexander Hamilton to Jeremiah Olney, [August 12, 1800])

He also just seemed protective of his children in general. He would constantly write panicking letters to Elizabeth when he heard one of the kids had gotten sick, and would usually try his hardest to rush home. According to Hosack, after Philip nearly died in 1797, Hamilton took on nursing his kids himself whenever they fell ill and prescribed their medicine, or found the greatest doctors in the state, himself.

So, overall, yeah I would consider them so.

[tacobellabeanburrito]

Hopes for TDI (2023) Season 2!

I've been a Total Drama fan since I was a very young kid, probably too young to be watching the show to be honest. But I loved it with all my heart, and I've recently gotten back into it with the new season dropping (I didn't watch it when it first came out because I just wasn't interested in TD anymore) But I watched it and it was so good! Not great, could use some work and some more concrete teen stereotypes, and could've used more character development (They'll probably do that with the second season though). Anyway, here are my hopes and predictions about season 2!

Caleb will be sort of a main antagonist like Justin was in season 2. I think this is such an interesting concept, and could be done really well (Justin's was done fine, but I never thought of him as a main villain. He just seemed like a jerk). But I think Caleb becoming a bit of a villain would be super cool and with these new TD writers, it could be done amazingly well. It also makes sense since he was voted off first and would totally want revenge.

Some of the older cast members will mentor the newer ones. I love this idea so much! There is so much potential with this, and with Noah in the Ridiculous Race talking about how he and Owen were asked to come back to what we all presumed was a new Total Drama season, I think it would be cool to have them come back as mentors for the others. The dynamics would be killer, especially since the old cast are in their 30s now and would be so confused at all of the Gen Z slang. It would also just be nice to see the old cast interact as adults, even if just a little bit. I would literally kill to see Julia and Heather interact, even though Heather has probably mellowed out since her time on the island. Owen and Zee would be totally be besties. I also think it’d be cool to see some of the old contestants talk to the newer ones about how fame kind of ruined their lives and how they don’t want them to make the same mistakes. Truly, nobody else is the villain here aside from Chris. We have to keep in mind these people are teenagers, practically kids.

Although I don't think it would happen based on the supposed leaks of season 2 shown, I would really like for the campers to do an Action season. There's so many more movie genres they could do! Or maybe they could do another out the deep end kind of season? I don't know, not that I don't love the Island season, but I have to say, Action has one of my favorite concepts and character interactions. And it’s nice to be back to the classics, even though it wasn’t that classic. But it’s a good start for a reboot.

I really hope we get new characters, 16 is fine since it gives us time to really see all the characters in action and meet them (Although it still feels like the season went way to fast and character development went a little too fast) But I would love to get some new characters, like how Alejandro and Sierra got put into the cast. Maybe it'll happen a little later, but I hope it actually does happen. I also just hope that the characters we get be more unique teen stereotypes, I mean, how have we not gotten a theater kid or band kid? Easy pickings (Ella doesn't count for theater, nobody liked TDPAI and theater kids aren't like Disney Princesses)

Sincerely hope we get more character dynamics and character interactions. Everyone feels a little underdeveloped. I know, I know, 13 episode season, but still. It all just feels like the cast isn't as close as they once were in the og TDI. It's definitely better than it's been. But I seriously want more interactions with characters who would never interact! That's what the whole og show was about anyway, making teenagers who would barely look at each other in the hallways if they went to school together, interact!

I really hope we get some new Aftermath show. It’d be so much fun! It just be a few episodes per season, but I think it’d be sweet. Bridgette and Geoff would so still have to host it, and some of the older contestants could be there too as peanut gallery! But it’d be nice to just see how everyone is doing and have them interact with the newer cast in a more realistic way.