#sometimes people will say words and mean something different

[witherby]

hello! great work so far :-) im getting into batfam myself and been loving the platonic/familial works you do w littlest wayne! was wondering if you'd ever do an teen y/n or just an older one? I'd love to see you tackle the idea of a robin y/n or jaybe just some angsty kid stuff,,,,,, hope you had a good new years!

-- :33Anon

I love angst with my whole heart and soul, and I'm happy to write it with a slightly older Reader. Hope you don't mind I've commandeered your prompt to showcase the ability you guys voted on.

This one's a long read so I'm splitting it up. This part is roughly 2400+ words.

The Littlest Wayne: Uncertain Home

(Part 1/2)

Masterlist is Here!

Uncle J'onn is looking at you curiously.

He's been doing that a lot, lately. When Daddy brings you to the Watchtower to be babysat so he can go save the world, one of his co-workers that they can afford to spare gets put in charge of keeping an eye on you. Usually it's Uncle Hal, but this time it's J'onn and he's in his natural form, which you don't mind. Green is your favorite color, and his whole body is green! He's nice and calm, and tells you lots of stories and plays any game you want, even if it's hard for him not to cheat and read your mind. He says it's instinct. You don't hold it against him because you still have fun.

Lately, though, when he talks to you, he tilts his head a bit. He usually does that when he can't understand something.

You wipe your face, checking for cookie crumbs. All clean. You search your shirt for any weird marks or stains. All clean. You scrunch your nose and puff out your cheeks, pouting.

"What's wrong, uncle J'onny?" You ask him. Daddy says the way to get honest answers from someone is just to be forthcoming (Dicky told you what forthcoming meant when you asked him later), so you are. "Did I do something wrong?"

That seems to snap his train of thought. J'onn shakes his head and goes back to sorting out the jigsaw puzzle pieces for you. You're good enough at this to do 100-piece puzzles, now, and when you get really stuck you don't even cry anymore!

"Nothing is wrong, Flittermouse," he says, watching you start putting the edges together first like Dami taught you. "You are simply...changing. Differences are not inherently wrong."

"What's inherably mean?"

"Inherently. It means instinctively, or something that is "set in stone." A rule that does not change. I am stating that change is not something that is always wrong. It's not a firm rule."

You pout and try to process all of that in your brain. It was a partial answer. Daddy says that means people might want to hide something from you.

"What's changing?" You ask him. "I got older a week ago. Is that what you mean? I'm four, now. Grandpappy says I'm getting so big and growed up. He says to not do that so fast. I dunno how, though. He's silly."

J'onn hums. His eyes look away from you as he considers what to say. You put one whole edge together before he speaks again.

"You know that I am not a human, correct?"

"Yeah, I know," you say. "I don't care. I love you. And auntie Diana. And uncle Clark. And uncle Barry. And —"

"Thank you," J'onn gently interrupts. "Do you also know that, sometimes, humans are born not entirely human? That sometimes they get special abilities?"

"Yeah, I know that," you repeat.

"I suspect that —" he cuts himself off, hesitates, then starts again. "Little one. You are showing signs of being one of those humans with special abilities."

"I am?" You ask. You perk up. "Can I fly?!"

You immediately abandon the puzzle and climb onto your chair, about to jump off of it to try and fly around, but J'onn catches you by the back of your shirt before you can hit the ground.

"You cannot."

"Aww...then I don't wanna be a megahuman," you complain, stomping your foot.

"Metahuman."

"Whatever."

"I am sorry," J'onn says, "I did not mean to upset you. I do think you are developing powers, however."

"Not fly powers?" You frown.

"No, not flight powers."

"Boring," you say, blowing raspberries. J'onn cracks a smile at your antics and you giggle. "Help me do the puzzle, please!"

"Alright," he relents, sorting more pieces for you. You're both quiet for a while, and you get the whole frame done before he speaks again.

"Little one. Do you know your father's rule about metahumans?"

"Yeah," you say, grinning, because you're a great listener. You pitch your voice down and make it scratchy. It's adorable in your four-year-old tone. "No metas in Gotham. I am Nighttime. Raaahhh."

J'onn huffs in amusement. "Right. He usually means what he says, does he not?"

"Yeah," you agree, "daddy is a bad liar. He lied and said he didn't eated the last cookie once, but he did eated it. Alfie was mad, 'cause it was for Dami, but Dami didn't care. He likes brownies more than cookies. I like brownies, too."

"I figured," J'onn says. He's not looking at you again. This time he's frowning.

"Do you want brownies?" You ask, figuring that was the issue. "I don't have any. I can ask for some when Daddy comes back. I'm good at sharing, 'cause I'm a good noodle, like Jay says."

"No, but thank you for offering to share. Jason is right, you are a good noodle."

You preen. "I know!"

J'onn drops the subject again and helps you complete the puzzle. You squint at every piece in concentration and politely ask him if he can dim the lights so you can work better. He complies, and after another hour and a half, you have a completed image on the table.

"Yay! We did it!"

The sounds of chatter and footsteps appear down the hall moments later, and you spring to your feet in delight.

"Hello!!!" You shout.

A chorus of "hello!" greets you in return from multiple heroes, and the rest of the Justice League files into the room one by one. They don't look too roughed up, so the mission wasn't very dangerous. That's good. You stand by the door and offer them hugs. Everyone complies, to your endless delight.

"Daddy!" You cheer when you see him, running and hugging Batman's legs. He scoops you into his arms and you grin and point at the table. "Uncle J'onny and I dided a whole puzzle! I didn't give up!"

"Good job, Mouse," Bruce says, reaching out to adjust the light. "You did it in the dark?"

"Yeah," you grin, kicking your feet. "Did you punch bad guys?"

"I did."

"Did you win?"

"Yes."

"Can we have ice cream?"

"Maybe after dinner." He carries you down the hall and towards his temporary quarters, the place he'll stay after a particularly tough mission when he can't make it home right away, and deposits you gently on the bed. "I have to debrief with everyone, and then we can pack up and go home."

"Okay, daddy," you say, already digging through the nightstand for a toy to play with. "I stay right here!"

"Good job," he says again, kissing the top of your head, and leaves you alone with a small wave.

--

The next time you need to be at the Watchtower, it's with Uncle Clark and Auntie Diana. The mission wasn't a super dangerous one, so they both got to stay behind and entertain you.

Today, you're a cashier at your world-famous grocery store. You have the best ingredients all over the world.

"Welcome to the groshy store, what do you want stranger?" You demand, getting into character. Clark looks mildly offended.

"Whoa, hello. That's a lot of 'tude for a paying customer," he says.

"You didn't buy nothing yet! Whataya want!"

"Uh. Some carrots please."

"All out."

Clark narrows his eyes at you. "Can you check in the back?"

You turn around. You turn back.

"All out. Whataya want!"

"You barely looked!" He insists.

"FRESH OUTTA CARROTS, BUB. WHATAYA WANT."

"Oh my goodness, now there's yelling. I think I need to speak to a manager."

"Okay!" You shuffle across the room and grab Diana's hand, leading her back to Clark. "This is the manager. Auntie, tell him all the carrots are gone. He can't have any."

Diana covers her mouth to stifle her laughter. "You heard them, stranger. There are no carrots here."

"Well, aside from the blatant nepotism, auntie, I think you're hiding the carrots from me," Clark huffs, crossing his arms. "I need them for my soup. Guess I'll go to the grocery store across town. I hear they're nicer."

"No," you gasp, "wait. Okay maybe I have one secret carrot. I go get it."

You leave their giggling forms and run over to the toy box that was set up for you on the watch tower, thrusting your hands inside to dig around. You squint your eyes, but all the bright colors are hard to distinguish properly. In the dark spaces, deeper into the box, is where you cast your focus. Instinctively, you follow the trail and close your hand around a plastic carrot. You lift your hand triumphantly.

"Okay, got it!" You cry, only to startle when you find both Clark and Diana kneeling beside your toy chest. Diana picks you up around the waist and takes several steps back, and Clark's eyes turn that funny shade of blue they do when he's using x-ray vision. "Umm, I gotted the carrot already. It's in my hand."

"Are you injured?" Diana asks you, expression deadly serious. You frown and shake your head. "You're certain? I could sense something in that box with you."

"No, I'm fine," you promise. Clark stands up and his eyes go back to normal. He shrugs, brows furrowed.

"There's nothing in there but toys."

"Yeah," you nod, "toys and dark spots."

Both heroes look at you. You squirm in Diana's hold shyly.

"Um, want to pay for the carrot?" You ask, holding it up. "It's only ten dollars. Orrr one lollipop." You whisper conspiratorially. "I can be bribed."

Diana and Clark exchange glances. Clark gingerly takes the carrot from you and puts it back in the toy box.

"Sold. Let's go to the kitchen and pick out which flavor you want."

You grin, forgetting about the game, and Diana puts you on the ground so you can follow excitedly after them. With a couple "pretty please's" and your lethal puppy dog eyes, you even manage to get two lollipops. You ask to be hoisted onto the counter so you can swing your feet as you enjoy the candy, and both heroes perch on either side of you.

It's quiet for a while. It feels like that weird, anticipatory quiet you felt with Uncle J'onny, but you don't know what for, so you wait for one of them to speak. You finish off one whole sucker and open the second one when it happens.

"Mouse?" Clark eventually asks, "can you explain what you meant about your toys? That there are dark spots in there?"

"Yeah," you say, "shadows. Dark spots. Light not touching."

"And you can...feel shadows?"

You hum, thinking it over. "Um...yes. Kind of."

Clark and Diana look at each other again. They're frowning. You frown.

"Can you tell us what you mean by that?" She asks.

"Um. I wanted the carrot, for uncle Clark," you say, "so he can buy it at my groshy store. And the dark spots showed me where it was, and I grabbed it."

"Did they also help you complete the jigsaw puzzle, when you were with J'onn?" Diana asks. "It was quite dark when we got back." You nod.

"Yeah. Easier to do in the dark. It's not cheating!" You blurt. "I didn't cheated!"

"Okay, ya' didn't cheat," Clark agrees, gently patting your back. There's a slight drawl in his words which usually shows up when he's stressed out. "We're just curious, is all, darlin'. Seems you've got a... A special talent, we can call it."

"It's a power. They're a metahuman, Kal," Diana says simply, "and you know Bruce's rule."

The rule? Which one? Always brushing your teeth before bedtime? Or maybe no sweets until you finish your dinner? Hmm, but you haven't had dinner yet. That doesn't make sense.

"No metas in Gotham. I'm very aware, Diana."

"Then you see the problem."

Oh. Now you think you know why uncle J'onny was upset that day.

"Now wait a minute," Clark says. He looks genuinely angry, which confuses you. Did they not like that you could ask the dark for help? They had superpowers, too. You figured they would be happy. "They're his kid."

You are. You're Daddy's little Flittermouse, scampering around and bringing joy. That's what everyone tells you. They love you.

"You've seen how hard he works to keep us out of Gotham," Diana says. "We can be trusted to babysit, but we can't enter the city? What does that tell you?"

"That's different. He's territorial, we all know that. He's not a monster, Diana. He would never hurt them —"

"I'm not saying he is. I'm not saying he would. But I am saying that he doesn't bend his own rules. He does not make exceptions."

Oh.

You sit almost numbly on the counter and watch Clark and Diana start to argue over your place in Gotham. Over your place at home.

You think about Daddy's rule about no metas in Gotham. You think about your new ability to interact with shadows.

Oh.

The lollipop tastes like ash on your tongue and the tips of your fingers feel like tv static. When you blink, your eyes sting as they well up with tears. You've been so good about not throwing fits, about not being a crybaby, about being as strong as your super cool daddy and brothers and grandpa.

But you can't call them that anymore, can you? They don't want metas in Gotham, and that's what you are, now. You can't live with your family anymore.

Large, fat tears roll down your cheeks and your bottom lip wobbles. You whimper and both Diana and Clark whip their heads around to look at you in shock.

"No, oh no, don't cry," Diana coos, "you don't need to worry. Your father isn't —"

You bat her hands away when she reaches for you and jump off the counter, running underneath Clark's cape. They don't catch on to what you're doing in time.

Clark practically rips it off and fans it on the floor, floating above it with wide eyes. Diana kneels next to the fabric and frantically pats it, searching for you.

But there's nothing. You've fled into the shadow Clark's body cast and allowed the darkness to swallow you.

[spanishskulduggery]

Hi! Native Spanish speaker here

Could u explain the difference between Chilean/ Uruguayan-Argentinian Spanish?

I have amigos gringos y estaria bueno explicarles.

Me di cuenta que sabes español así que puedo pedírtelo asi jajaja

Muchas gracias! 🫶🏻

Saludos desde Uruguay 🇺🇾

I'm not even sure where to start, the accent itself is so different even though Chile is very close to everything else

I'm going to list some differences in no particular order as they come to me

-

I think it's because Chilean is a bit of an outlier compared to what they call rioplatense Spanish... like there are similar trends, but it's pronounced differently

The main grammatical difference I've found is that Argentina uses vos for everything - more than tú, more than usted... it's a lot of vos

[Historically a singular vos was quite fancy and the way you addressed nobility and people very politely; the common term of address Vuestra Merced turned into Usted over time. In Spain, vosotros is now plural and informal. But depending on the time period, vos still shows up in historical dramas and fairy tales or things set in medieval times like fantasy. It's my understanding that multiple languages have something similar....... in English, our informal "you" was "thou" tú and "you" was formal, but then "thou" became obsolete]

The voseo in most of South America is usually understood as more intimate and friendly than tú

The big exceptions to this are Argentina and Chile

In Argentina, again, vos is the de facto 2nd person singular pronoun [I believe plural is still ustedes "you all"]

In Chile, vos has a different meaning from what I've been told. It's not vulgar but it's kind of impolite. If you're addressing someone as vos in Chile it can read as "dude" or "bro" almost, it's very familiar and not how you'd want to address someone from the older generations

While Argentina uses vos for everything, Chile uses vos for close friendships or where informality won't cause offense

The other main issue is the conjugation of vos

The majority of South America (including Argentina) conjugate vos like the vosotros form just without the I

...Like vosotros sois "you all are" in Spain then turns to vos sos "you are" in South America; they keep the S, but omit the I

Chilean voseo usually takes that vosotros form but omits the S sound and leaves the I

And so you get something like vosotros habláis "you all speak" turning to vos hablái in Chile [while it would be hablás in Argentina or the rest of Río de la Plata]

The verb that always trips you up with Chile is going to be ser because there are two forms; vos soi but I've more commonly heard vos eri(s)... like I've heard Chilean eri puro blabla which is "you're all talk" but literally "you're all blah blah"

The other one that's a little weird is ir just because of how vosotros normally works

In Spain vosotros id "go" as a command, ve for tú, but then vas for regular rioplatense commands, and then Chile says vai which is like if you tried to say ve but had your mouth way open

Chile (specifically those from lower income backgrounds) tend to omit the S more than most, while the higher income backgrounds or those trying to sound more posh tend to pronounce things more fully

The very informal aspects of Chilean Spanish are associated with the working class, which is probably why it's considered impolite (or maybe uneducated is the better word? it's a class distinction) to use those kinds of pronunciations and vos but it does depend on the area

...

The other weird thing about Chilean Spanish, which is sometimes common in rioplatense Spanish outside of Argentina, is that sometimes people use vos forms with tú as a pronoun

You might see tú eres or tú eri... or tú vas or tú vai

-

And I don't know if it's a thing in Argentina but I see Chilean Spanish sometimes using double reflexive pronouns. I think the common example is that Chilean Spanish might say me voy a irme, where you would typically say/read me voy a ir or voy a irme

Sometimes translations write it a bit differently to imply it's a different and more informal or regional way of saying it; so I've seen me voy a irme get translated as "I'mma head out" or "I'm gonna go" - it's not a 1:1 translation but it does portray that it isn't technically considered "correct" but is understandable

-

The common expression that I had to learn to sort of make sense of it was Chile's ¿Cachai? which is "Got it?" or "Understand?" which is from cachar (in Latin America it's like "to catch" like, "Did you catch that?" both in physical grabbing and understanding, but it's less common outside of Latin America) - it can be used as a filler word, but it is literally like "right?" or "got it?" or "you know what I mean?"

The only other expression I know for Chilean Spanish is qué fome which is "how boring" - I think they still use that

There's more of a generational and class divide in Chile as far as Spanish expressions

In general though, Argentina's accent (and rioplatense in general?) sort of sounds Italian. The Chilean accent is... very hard to understand, there's a lot of unique grammar and the accent is like Italian but more rural to my ears, not in a bad way but to me it sounds like if you were speaking Spanish with a southern drawl almost

...

As far as general vocab, I think Argentina and Chile agree on a lot of the regional words like the word for "car" is el auto which is probably from many German immigrants, they use extrañar for "to miss someone" like most of Latin America

But I do know the one that trips me up constantly is "computer". Spain says el ordenador. Most of Latin America says la computadora. Chile says el computador

Some typical words you should maybe know for Chile:

fome = boring

guagua = baby [from Quechua, I think it's the sound of a baby crying; Caribbean countries sometimes use la guagua for "bus"]

pololo/a = boyfriend, girlfriend

el computador = computer

¿Cachai? = Got it? / Right? / Understand?

el cahuín = gossip [I think it originally meant "party/assembly" for the indigenous people, sort of like in American English you might hear "pow-wow"; but cahuín is when you get together and gossip, so it can also mean "shady business" or "intrigue" or "something sketchy"]

po = (generally means something affirmative; it comes from pues but po is used so often it's like "yup" or "uh huh" or "of course" but can show up at the end of practically any sentence)

hacer perro muerto = "to dine and dash", to eat at a restaurant without paying [lit. "to do a dead dog", the rest of Spanish tends to use hacer un simpá which is from sin pagar "without paying"]

weón / weona = dumbass / dude [informal way to address someone - sometimes an insult sometimes not, kind of impolite, comes from huevón "dumbass", again means "big balls" I think since it's "big egg" and los huevos are slang for testicles]

la wea = thing [it's really comparable to how some countries say la vaina for "thing" - it's informal, it's everywhere, and for some reason it sounds almost rude if you didn't know better]

...

And I know I said it already, but po. No, but seriously po is so Chilean I cannot stress this enough it's just an all around affirmative - I don't know if you can use po wrong, it just shows up at the end of sentences

Also I don't know if Argentina says it but I'm pretty sure Chile uses bacán as "cool" - if I remember right Argentina uses chévere

I think it's common in most of Spanish now, but particularly Argentina/Chile and rioplatense Spanish are known for using chao/chau as "goodbye" since it comes from Italian ciao; this is as opposed to something more formal like adiós or more Anglicized "bye"

Every so often you will hear tschuss or something equivalent in Argentina which is from German as well

Chile tends to share a lot of regionalisms with Peru and Colombia and generally it's like countries that are in the Andes or were connected to the Inca Empire or some of the indigenous tribes

Argentinian Spanish you should maybe know:

che = hey / bro (a go-to word like "hey"... it's a bit like the Chilean po but it usually calls attention to something or it's affirmative; can also be "bro/dude")

el pibe = boy la piba = girl

la mina = chick (usually a girl/woman you don't know the name of; it's not polite but it's not mean)

boludo/a = bro / dumbass, idiot [it can be an insult "has big balls", but it can also just be like... "bro" or "dude"]

And if I remember right the slang term for money here is la plata which is literally "silver"

The main thing about Argentina people talk about is the accent particularly with how they pronounce LL

Spain tends to pronounce LL as if it were LY with a bit of an L sound in there still... Latin America sometimes pronounces it like a full Y/I sound... parts of Central America give it a hard J sound

Argentina gives it a SH sound; so llamar or lluvia can sound like "shamar" or "shuvia" in Argentina

...

Also I think in Argentina you hear la remera for "t-shirt" [lit. "rowing shirt", from el remo "oar" or remar "to row" but sometimes remo "oar" can be "limb" on your body], and Chile says la polera which I think is from "polo shirt"

General Spanish will say la camiseta which is the diminutive of la camisa "shirt/chemise"; in textbooks they typically say la camisa is a "shirt with long sleeves" or a "dress shirt", and la camiseta is "a t-shirt" or informal shirt

And I'm not sure if they both say this, but it's my understanding that they use la frutilla for "strawberry" in rioplatense Spanish; usually it's la fresa

Mexico does this too if I remember right, although for them la fresa means "posh" or "snobby" like it's slang for a rich person or someone who acts fancy. I'm not sure if it also means that in Argentina and Chile

There are also different linguistic quirks of Argentina like lunfardo [regional Italian-inspired words, specifically from Lombardy], or vesre which is... I don't know I'd call it closer to Cockney where words are played with or backwards [revés "backwards/reverse" -> vesre]; like la mujer "woman" is sometimes jermu which is the same word just the syllables are backwards

...

And Chilean Spanish has been called the Quebecois of Spanish; similar enough but also very different and more irreverent in other ways... though to me I find it's probably closer to how English-speakers see Australian English, a little hard to follow sometimes and the accents are very much class-based, where there's a way to sound posh and a way to sound distinctively not posh

Argentina is more like if you had an Italian person speaking Spanish then sprinkled in a bit of German, lots of rising and falling tones, almost lyrical, sometimes like someone is speaking in very fast accent marks (both Spanish and Italian accent marks á then à, just so many rising and falling tones)

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

I read a post where Zuko is supposedly describing his girlfriend. This corresponds to the episode where he reproaches Mai for certain things she doesn’t have. Here are the points:

Zuko reproaches Mai for not having a passion for anything. This trait is attributed to Katara, who, on the contrary, is very passionate and invested in everything she undertakes.

He also reproaches her for not believing in anything. Again, this contrasts with Katara, who firmly believes in her ideals and her ability to make a difference.

Zuko would like Mai to sometimes be more tense, a bit "crazy," and let her emotions out instead of keeping them all inside. This criticism can be compared to Katara, who, in contrast, expresses herself freely, even if it doesn’t always please Zuko.

At another point, Zuko tells Mai that he likes it when she expresses her emotions. This reminds me of a scene from the episode The Southern Raiders, where Katara reproaches Zuko for his attitude during their conversation in Ba Sing Se, insisting on the importance of communicating emotions.

Finally, Zuko mentions that he’s looking for someone more open, a quality that, once again, is associated with Katara, known for her empathy and open-mindedness.

However, I think the person who wrote this post didn’t quite understand why Zuko likes Mai, and it left me confused. The words given are a bit vague. I understand the parallel, but I don’t quite see how it shows that Zuko would want a girlfriend who embodies those traits. The statements are given somewhat vaguely, without really explaining the context or the dynamic between Katara and Zuko, which makes the interpretation unclear.

And what do you think about it?

The biggest problem with using that scene as a "gotcha" against Maiko is the simple fact it is completely out of context.

Zuko lashed out because he had been trying to be nice to her earlier, with the seashell and ice-cream, Mai made it clear she wasn't impressed, and then a guy that was super into her showed up, making Zuko feel threatened because he grew up with a dad that taught him to believe that he was replaceable and had to fight to prevent it from happening.

So, he keeps confronting Mai on if she likes that guy, even after she repeatedly says she's completely indifferent to him, because he's insecure and afraid of losing her. Mai doesn't like that Zuko is being irrational and paranoid, calls him out on it, and Zuko gets defensive - and when Zuko gets defensive, he says stuff he doesn't mean.

Iroh is trying to make him see there's no way Ozai changed his mind about banishing him? Zuko says Iroh is lazy, shallow and jealous of Ozai. Iroh calls Zuko out for literally robbing people in the Earth Kingdom? Zuko says they have nothing to gain by traveling together and walks out. Iroh refuses to continue giving him advice after Zuko literally caused him to be sent to prison? Zuko calls him crazy and tells him to rot.

There is a clear pattern here, yet it is never used by anyone to argue that this is how Zuko genuinely feels about his uncle/father figure, because there's tons of scenes of them together that prove how much love he has for the man. The same applies to Mai.

He still thinks back on the prank Azula pulled on the two of them because of Mai's crush on him YEARS after they've lost contact. He is super physically affectionate with her (something he had trouble being comfortable with even with Iroh) to the point that they're CONSTANTLY making out in front of other people. He consistently turns to her for emotional support (which she got better at providing). They have dates all the time because they like each other's company. He mentions her as being THE thing he had to sacrifice when changing sides. And again, the whole reason he's jealous on The Beach is because he WANTS Mai as his girlfriend.

Dude literally says the words "You're so beautiful when you hate the world" and smiles like a simp when Sokka refers to her as "That gloomy girl who sighs a lot."

I am not going to take ONE scene in which he's being mean as proof that he secretly hates her when, just like with Iroh, we see enough interactions between them during Zuko's good days to know that he did not mean a word of it - hence him IMMEDIATELY simping for Mai as she tells him to fuck off, then reconciling with her when she says a simple, but completely honest "I care about you" after he opens up about his crisis over his own dubious choices, as she can now see that he wasn't just being a dick for the sake of being a dick, he's just a confused kid trying to cope.

As for Katara, while I'm sure Zuko grew to admire her compassion and drive to help others, that is not enough to argue "she's his true soulmate/his type." EVERYONE in the Gaang is empathetic and passionate, and they all like to have fun. Same for his uncle.

"You're a nice, pleasant person" is not enough to make someone fall in love. Zuko clearly was much closer to Mai (as well as Toph and especially Aang) than he ever was with Katara, obviously liked her more chill personality (which became less and less apathetic as their relationship evolved, and thus they clashed less), was physically attracted to her, missed her when she wasn't around, and actually demonstrated jealously when someone else showed interest in her.

THAT is basis for a relationship, unlike "Ah, you also believe war is terrible? Nice. Good thing I stopped hating you for your race, right? Now we can be friends instead of killing each other!" - which, despite what Zutarians love arguing against, is ALL there is to Zuko and Katara's canon dynamic. They're on the same side, on the same friend group, and they don't hate each other (anymore). Hardly even best friends, let alone "meant to be."

Plus if Zuko was to ever hook up with anyone of the heroes, it'd be Aang and that is just a fact.

[berryispunk]

The Art Of Giving

pairing: Javi Gutierrez x gn! reader

summary: you plan on visting friends up north, your boyfriend isn't prepared so you go shopping.

tags: sweet sweet boy Javi, nicknames (mi sol), kissing, established relationship, brief mention of anxiety, Javi spoiling his partner, no smut, minor mention of smutty thoughts tho, all the fluff, Javi deserves an award for best boyfriend

notes: Hello! this is my very first entry for my own writing challenge I'm hosting over at @fanfictionoverload with @lady-bess ! (still feels weird to say 😵‍💫). moodboard for the vibes made by my angel @frnkiesaviators 🤍

word count: ~ 1k

Your sweet, sweet tanned boyfriend Javi is a lot of things. He’s attentive, kind and the reason you started to believe in mankind again. 

But one thing he isn’t good at is planning ahead. 

The moment you told him you plan on visiting friends in a northern country, where the temperature is cold and the chances are high for snow he blinks at you in disbelief. 

“Snow? As in the cold, powdery thing falling from the sky?”, he asks, almost whining which causes you to laugh.

“Yes, the cold, powdery, real snow. Don’t tell me you’ve never seen snow?”

He looks a bit sheepish as he answers you, rubbing his neck. 

“Well… It’s not like we get much of that where I come from. So I’ve probably never seen it in real life. At least not that I’m aware of…”

You shake your head, grinning as you cross your arms in front of your chest. 

“I guess we have to go shopping for some winter clothing then. I don’t want you to be freezing your cute butt off.”

His answer is a soft scoff and a wide grin, the one you love so much.

A smile so genuine it reaches his eyes, the little wrinkles around his eyes causing you to smile even wider in return. 

A few days later you find yourself in the busy local mall. 

You should have known better than to come here on a Friday afternoon. 

Usually you try to avoid large crowds at all costs, because it makes you nervous to no end. And Javi knows, so as the two of you stroll through the mall his big hand never leaves your lower back, his thumb gently rubbing soothing circles over the fabric of your shirt, guiding you through every narrow alley of people. 

He smiles reassuringly at you at all times, making sure you’re still okay, keeps asking if you need anything or if you want to leave to which you just shake your head. 

You don’t want your anxiety to win again. 

Sweet Javi Gutiérrez, with more money in his bank account than you will ever be able to earn, thrives in crowds of people, unlike you. Something about him draws people in, making them talk to him; asking him for directions or where a certain shop is. Sometimes it annoys you but that’s just the effect he has on people. He’s a walking sunshine with a presence so kind and calming you can't blame them for feeling drawn to him. Hell, it even was one of the first things you noticed about him as well. 

He’s so freaking genuinely authentic it’s almost hard to believe. 

In your mind people who are rich are always entitled, uppish and don’t give a fuck about “mere mortals”. 

But Javi is different. He never, not even once, made you feel worth any less because you’re not upper class. In fact he never even asked about it. The only thing he was interested in was your time and now, your love. You softly raking a hand through his hair, you gently caressing his back when the two of you lay cuddled up on the sofa. The way you look at him when his eyebrows scrunch while he concentrates on doing something.

Javi is a sensitive soul. You noticed that pretty quickly, but especially when he cried while you watched “Paddington 2”. 

At first it had thrown you off a bit, as you were not used to men showing big emotions easily. But over time you’ve learned to cherish it, because it means he’s in touch with his emotions and therefore also aware of your own which shows in the way he handles you. 

He showers you with all the love and affection he can muster and it almost makes you feel invincible.

“Mi sol, you okay?”, he suddenly asks, yanking you back into the present. His brown eyes are full of worry. 

“Oh… yes. Sorry, I was just lost in thought,” you smile apologetically. 

He smiles in return as he leads you into a shop with no price tags.  That's how you know the items in here are expensive. He tells you to take a seat on one of the imposing big salon chairs as he searches for one of the employees. 

You can’t help but look around, taking in the surroundings of this other-worldly experience and your jaw almost drops to the floor. But you find your bearings quickly and instead sink deeper into the chair until Javi returns with an employee who’s got the same exaggerated smile on their face as in every other high-end shop you accompanied him in. 

They talk and you don’t pay proper attention until Javi’s voice is reaching you. 

“Mi sol, you also need a coat, right?”, he asks and you look at him with wide eyes. 

You know what that means so you shake your head. 

“No, I’m good, thank you.”

“Don’t be like that. Let me get one for you.” He pauses for emphasis. “Por favor”. 

Shit. 

His big pleading puppy eyes are lethal every time so you can’t help yourself but nod.

“Good girl,” he praises and it makes your cheeks get hot and the heat pooling in your lower belly. 

You shift a bit in your seat until Javi’s hand is on your waist to help you stand up. 

You leave the store with two coats that cost an astronomically high sum. 

“You know you didn’t have to do that, right Javi?” You search for his eyes. 

As his gaze meets yours he simply says, “I know, but I wanted to. You deserve this,” caressing your upper arm. 

You step closer to him, your hand caressing his cheek gently. 

“Thank you,” you say and capture his lips in a soft kiss that makes him melt immediately into it. 

His hand is on the back of your neck as he deepens the kiss. 

“Let’s get you home,” he purrs and it sounds like a promise for more. 

[neon-wool]

Short answer: Buy them yourself or ask your dad, either should be fine. Asking your mum to buy something for your dad’s house sounds more likely to cause drama in an already tense situation.

Long answer: Anon, it sounds like you’ve had a difficult upbringing, and I feel for you. Obviously I don’t know you, so take everything I'm about to write with a big pinch of salt... take anything that resonates and ignore the rest.

It sounds like you’ve formed some pretty intense anxiety around relationships that's affecting your daily life. For most people, buying posters for their room would be a very simple issue that requires almost no thought. They'd never think to ask permission for something they were paying for, and there would be no pressure to open up about liking the tv show in advance, just in case a parent's feelings were hurt. They'd talk about the show if they happened to feel like it, or not, without thinking much of it.

However for you it sounds like there's a strong fear of judgement from your dad if you admit to liking the show, but on the flipside you worry not telling him in advance could somehow hurt him, make him feel betrayed, or undermine your relationship. Most people wouldn't have these worries at all. Has he given you a reason to think he's that judgemental or fragile? Or is it possible you're catastrophising?

Looking at the level of intensity you’re applying to the situation, it seems to me this isn’t really about the tv show or the poster at all. Perhaps the strong emotions are about how you’d like to connect more with your dad and feel closer to him. There may also be some amount of underlying trauma from your upbringing, which sounds like it had some significant issues.

My advice is: be kind to yourself, and try to take the pressure off for now. Your dad is very unlikely to be hurt by you buying a poster. What’s important is finding ways to connect to your loved-ones and feel cared for, and exploring complicated emotions about your childhood. That takes time.

From what you wrote, it sounds like your dad does actually take an interest in your hobbies when you bring them up, and you generally do feel he’s quite supportive. That’s a good thing, and more than some people have with their parents. The main problem you have right now is that he doesn’t approach you first, and he doesn’t open up about himself much either. You also feel he has an outdated view of you and still sees you as a child.

Sometimes it takes active communication to shift your relationships forward in the direction you want them to go. Sometimes parents have their own issues, or just lack social skills, so they may not realise how their words and actions are affecting you. If you think his view of you is stuck in the past, and you want him to see you as who you are now, then you're going to need to have the courage to assert yourself as who you are now.

If talking to him about this show is causing a lot of anxiety I won't push you to do that immediately. But I would suggest you look again at that fear. You said in the past he's been supportive when you talked about your interests, and you know the idea of him thinking the show is too weird/violent is unlikely since he already enjoys that kind of show himself. Putting that together it's hard to see why you're so afraid of mentioning this to him, perhaps this fear is a result of the chronic overthinking you mentioned.

Let's play out the worst-case scenario: you tell him, and he says "oh that's a pretty violent show, it's not for me" or he just doesn't understand why you like it... why is that such a problem? It's ok for him to see that you are an adult with your own taste, which might not always match his. Doesn't sound like there's anything seriously problematic about the show. How would it feel to just sit with the fact that you like it, and he might not like it, and that's ok? Having different taste in tv shows isn't going to mean he stops liking you as a person.

If this whole subject causes you intense stress, and you have anxiety about the relationship being damaged by small things like this, I think that's something you need to take note of, and perhaps get some outside support for.

However if you feel able to, I’d recommend taking a deep breath and just telling him about the show, in a casual way, just for the sake of opening up. It sounds like the odds of him enjoying it too are pretty decent! And if he isn't into it, maybe you could be ok with that. I'd also recommend the idea (when you feel ready) of just telling him, in a positive way, that you enjoy talking to him about your interests, you want to learn more about his interests too, and you’d like to have a good friendship and get to know him more as you become an adult.

Eventually, if you feel closer to him over time, you might feel able to open up about the distance and ‘privacy’ your parents kept in childhood, and how this has affected you. There might be some difficult emotions to process there. Parents have their own baggage, and can be very stuck in their own perspective. If you continue building on the relationship and trust you have with him now, there might be more space for him to reflect on those issues in the future, in a way that would be healing for both of you.

Navigating family relationships can be very complicated. Sometimes you feel someone has hurt you, but it wasn’t intentional, so what do you do with that hurt? Do they even realise they hurt you? Perhaps they do love you and do make an effort, but is that enough? Could they have done more? Will they ever see or acknowledge or make amends for the hurt they caused? Perhaps you wish you could be closer, and perhaps you really wish they would be the one to reach out first, you really wish they would just ‘get it’ and grow of their own accord… but wishing won’t change the situation. Maybe you'll be the one who has to set things in motion and push for growth, even though you didn't cause the situation. Life is messy. Growth is messy. It can be hard to know exactly what you want, or how to achieve it. But there's time, it doesn't all need to happen straight away.

I can’t answer any of these questions, or even know if they're the right questions for you. Finding a healthy balance can be hard. It’s up to each individual to judge their own situation, their own sense of fairness and hurt, and how much effort is worth putting into a relationship. Of course, parents hold the responsibility of forming healthy relationships with their children as they grow up, not the other way round. Sometimes they really fail at that job. Other times it’s a complex mixture of good and bad. Even with genuine effort there are many things which hold people back, people have their own traumas, everyone has their own narrow perspective. You can have sympathy for your parents’ limitations, and be willing to work with them and have patience, but simultaneously accept that you've always deserved to feel loved and safe and supported, and maybe you didn't always get that. The sacrifices and effort shouldn’t all be on your side.

As you become an adult, you have more choices about how you interact with your parents, and more agency in how you handle the relationship. Again, without knowing your situation I can’t say for sure, but just from what you’ve written here… my advice would be to take it slow, and try not to over-analyse every little thing. Don't try to come up with all the answers straight away. Instead, step back and look at the big picture of your upbringing and parental relationships, both the good and the bad.

Maybe start writing a journal about it, just noting down any thoughts that come up and letting yourself vent. A well-hidden private journal is great because it gives you space to try out lots of random thoughts and ideas, and see what actually makes sense. You don’t have to judge what you write, or draw any conclusions. You can write whatever pops into your head, and then ask “is this really what I feel? Does this make sense to me?” Then you can re-read it months later, suddenly see something you didn’t before, and a new piece clicks into place.

Good luck anon, I hope you find a way forward over time, and I hope you enjoy the posters!

This is not a yes/no poll but I don’t know who else to consult.

My parents and I are not close. I'm closer with my dad, but he doesn't know about any of my interests due to the way me and my sister were taught about 'privacy' growing up. I am not close with my mum at all and I only talk to her when I have to.

When me and my sister were growing up, we were not told any of our parents' interests/hobbies, and were always told not to look at what people were doing. I think this is what led us to both be so hidden(?) from our parents, and is why this problem exists in the first place.

My dad doesn’t really buy anything for me, nor does he try to learn about my interests (but he will listen when he does learn about them. He likes that I like stuff, he just doesn’t actively seek that information out). My mum is the one who will buy me things, but it’s gotten to the point where she is just buying me junk for the sake of trying to keep a relationship with me and then holding that fact over my head (I have told her to stop, she hasn’t).

I want to buy a few posters for my favourite show for my bedroom at my dads house (my parents are divorced). I currently do not have a credit/debit card as I lost it a few months ago, however I am going to go get a new one on the 18th of this month, but I would preferably like to place the order before school starts again (for reference, all these options are online orders).

I have a few options on how to acquire the posters, and I’m not sure how to go about it.

Ask my mum to buy them for me.

She will buy me things I don’t want related to this show for the next 10 years, even after I inevitably lose interest in it. She’ll also be extremely upset that I’m putting them up at my dad’s house, and not hers. However I don’t care about her opinion on my interests as much.

Ask my dad to buy them for me.

I do not want to do this one, purely because of the completely irrational fear I have that he’ll think the show is weird, or violent (again, completely irrational. He is the biggest nerd you’ll meet, he’s probably even watched the show before and enjoyed it. It’ll just be awkward and I’m an overthinker). His opinion means a lot to me, and although he’s supportive of me in every sense, I think he still views me as a little kid (I’m 18), hence why I’m worried to tell him about my interests. I do want him to know about my interests in the long term though, and I want to be able to tell him things about me and not be scared about it, but I’m not sure if diving headfirst into this is the right way to go about it (for my own sake).

Wait until the 18th and buy them myself.

This one would be fine, but I’m a little worried that my dad will be confused when they show up for me. He would also have to find out about the posters/my interests in a surprise! Kind of way, which is a little awkward and it might hurt his feelings that he wasn’t asked. This will also be after school starts again, which I would prefer to get them before then. However I think this is the option that’ll give me the least anxiety in the short-term, but probably more as I wait for them to arrive.

I have consulted my sister and she is no help whatsoever.

Thank you for reading this behemoth of an ask, and thank you for any advice you might have (and I understand if this is not submitted to the public as it's not a yes/no question).

[gleppy]

i wish people misunderstanding and misinterpreting my words wasnt as bad of a stress trigger for me as it is but holy fuck there are few things that make me fly off the rails more lmao

[autisticlee]

sometimes people who struggle like to make jokes or find positives about their condition that causes them to struggle so they can escape the constant negative and struggle. sometimes autistic people will say things like "the 'tism" or use the "autism creature" or say their autism helped them have a *positive trait* to feel better about their struggles. because living your life only focusing on the struggles and negatives is depressing and makes it hard to want to live, even if those struggle take up 100% of your life and you can't actually escape them. sometimes any little seemingly positive thing can help a lot.

but there's so many other autistic people that hate when we do that and call it "reducing autism to a cute trendy thing" and say it takes away from *their* struggles and is bad and shouldn't be used. maybe *you* want to only focus on your struggles, but some people can't live in constant negative and need some positive or to find ways to make their condition more positive so they can feel better about living with their struggles. life is hard. I take anything I can get.

I cant get jobs. I can't make and keep friends. I can't get help and support for doing "normal" things so sometimes I go weeks without being able to shower and without eating more than a bowl of cereal a day. most times can't even do things I like. struggle to communicate. have meltdowns. i'll never be able to live independently. I struggle a lot. but instead of sitting here always depressed and having no motivation to live, i'd rather try to joke about "my 'tism is acting up again" when i'm struggling (just an example. don't think I ever actually used the 'tism thing but i saw others use it) or say "i'm just being a creature" when I need to stay in my dark room because everything is too much and I personally find it cute to be a little creature meant in a positive way. i'm not actually downplaying mine or anyone else's struggles. I still acknowledge them and that silly jokes dont make them go away. i'm not trying to be trendy. i'm not doing any of the things people say we do by making silly little jokes. i'm using the silly little jokes to convince myself life can be a little more than pointless, painful garbage all the time.

(continue in tags)

[adragonsfriend]

To expand on a particular point, but slightly to the left, I sometimes see the argument made that “Jedi are partly inspired by Buddhist beliefs, so to criticise Jedi is to critics Buddhism, so critisizing the Jedi is inherently prejudice, so stfu.” None of those things necessarily follow from one another.

(Please note: there are many, many words for how much I love the Jedi and believe they are right about how their world works and how to be good in that world, because I have written both essays and fics about it)

First, the world building of the Jedi involving significant inspiration does not in any way make them representative of Buddhism in the real world. A couple of movies could never contain the depth and breadth of any religion—at most SW attempts to communicate a few principles, with varying success. (Besides which, argument that Buddhism is the sole religious inspiration for SW and the Jedi when everyone or almost everyone involved it their creation grew up in a Christian culture, the main writer explicitly says their thematic opposition is “like the Devil,” and lots of the people involved probably have totally other religions in their lives as well, is frankly foolish)

Second, while a fan-base similarly steeped in a wider Christian and Western culture is certainly likely to be less knowledgable about and quite possibly prejudiced against other understandings of the world, people are allowed to criticise real religions. It should be done with the weight and understanding of what that means—telling millions or sometimes billions of people they are living they lives wrong in some way, and either tacitly or explicitly asking them to change it—but it is not inherently prejudiced to do so. Buddhism, like any other religion, is not some magical mystery thing which is above becoming part of societal or personal strife.

The difference comes in, like OP says, with how well you understand what you are arguing about. For me, criticising my parents Christianity is fairly easy to do with nuance: I used to believe, I went to the services, I read the book, I experienced having a church as a center of community, I’ve seen some good and some bad come of it. I could not say the same if I was critique any other religion, so if I wanted to, I would have to take far more care and do far more research.

There are many arguments about what went on in the SW universe, some of which come down to the ambiguity on interpreting fiction, and some of which come back to real world issues. Some of those arguments are fun, some of them are ones you and I have opinions on, and some of them are dumb; “Jedi are partly inspired by Buddhist beliefs, so to criticise Jedi is to critics Buddhism, so critisizing the Jedi is inherently prejudice, so stfu,” is one of that last group.

There are far more interesting rephrasings of it to explore, including but not limited to:

“I think your view of Star Wars is being limited by growing up in a Christian/other non Buddhist culture.”

“Well if you go and read this text, you’ll see that Buddhism actually says something similar to what Jedi say, but the text has a little more context…”

Or even, “clearly we both know fuck all about Buddhism, so let’s try talking about SW and the Jedi in their own rite, without drawing on real religions to make quippy one liners about how right we are.”

And remember, both-sidesism is always a lie—not just in that two or more “sides” are very rarely equally good—but in the very assumption that any issue of real importance has any inherent “sides” to it at all.

I don't and never will mind posts that criticize the Jedi, their beliefs, etc etc. I myself have pointed out the fact that many other people in the Pro Jedi community do not acknowledge or "allow" others to point out that, yes, the Jedi did have flaws as an organization, and they definitely had some very flawed members. What I do mind is when those posts (and their points) are made with a complete lack of understanding of the material being talked about. You are not building a good argument on the Jedi being wrong about attachments if you do not understand that attachment and love are not the same thing. You can be attached/develop attachment to something you fucking hate. Even then, attachment in the Star Wars universe, as in Buddhism, is defined by feelings of clinging or an inability to let things go/allow change.

You are not building a good argument on the Jedi having a slave army if you are not willing to bring up how they were put into that position, how they themselves dealt with that situation, and make an argument for what they could have done differently that takes the complexities of the entire situation into account. You are not making a good argument about the Jedi being wrong to hold Anakin's fear against him if you cannot and/or will not acknowledge that Star Wars' entire power/magic system is based upon negative emotions and our reactions to them. I could go on and on and on, but I would be beating a dead tauntaun at that point. My point is, approach the media and your arguments in good faith, with clear knowledge on what it is you are talking about, and you'll find people more receptive to hearing you out. That goes for both "sides." Just be good to each other, always.

[mantisgodsdomain]

We ought to write more Pokemon fic some time. We want to recreate the Pokemon Manners/Human Manners cheat sheet that we made a few years ago we think that this site would like the Sliding Scale Of Politeness When Greeting A New Pokemon You've Never Met Before.

[demigodofhoolemere]

Me through most of Boom: Wow, this is a really solid dramatic episode.

Me when Moffat needlessly sprinkles in anti-faith sentiments without specifying that it’s blind faith in bad things that the Doctor doesn’t like, which makes it come off like the Doctor is just against religion generally:

[starpros-sunshine]

I think the reason I'm so uncomfortable in conversation with cis men is because in my life the image I've grown up with is that from the American movies and while there's so much to be said about how women in those are basically objects or exclusively love interests or just Really Really forgettable I feel like there's also something to be mentioned about how most of these men are all the same pseudo-tough-guy character that's cool and suave and sexy and the only emotion he's capable of is nonchalant banter (it feels worth mentioning that the American movies I'm referring to are all from the last century I have no idea if that's changed in these last years but a gut feeling tells me no) and I also barely talk to the guys from my grade so the result of kind of growing up with that is that I just genuinely can not imagine real cis men with a complex inner emotional landscape. Maybe this is also an empathy thing but I genuinely can not imagine most cishet guys doing normal people things in their free time that aren't gaming or going to the gym or...idk. making music too I suppose. It's quite comical really but I just can not imagine cishet men with interests or doing stuff like having crushes and it's so strange because I know for a fact I am generally speaking not a sexist person but this little tidbit of apparently just not being able to view cishet men as normal people? Can't get that to go away even if I logically know it's silly. There's a point in this post about how toxic masculinity is a huge issue and affects even those not affected by it and runs really really deep or whatever but I'm too tired to coherently put it together. On the positive side now I get really happy when I see men online talk about how much they love their wives and all that because it's like "wow! Crazy you really are just a normal dude and not some James Bond knock-off like I thought every cishet man was supposed to be! Thank god!"

[bucephaly]

I keep seeing posts of people saying that a term transphobes stole and are using incorrectly to be transphobes is a Horrible Transphobic Term and Anyone who uses it is transphobic and it's Not Real and Entirely Not True when it's literally an actual anthropological term that has studies about it and is actually very useful for Everyone to think about, cis and trans, and be critical of. I hate seeing people respond to dumb hate by entirely writing off everything even remotely connected to the twisted shit bigots use when the shit the bigots are stealing and twisting is still like... a thing?

[punctuation-completionist]

you don’t have to answer this ask but wow how are you supposed to be the bad guy fucking apologizing for reacting badly to being told to kill yourself?? i hate this website

well okay hold up i never said i was the bad guy. i said there were misunderstandings on both sides and that i was sorry for an issue in one part of how i handled it. just one.

[randomnameless]

Localization discourse has cropped up again on Twitter, and someone posted a few before and after screenshots of an Echoes mod that retranslates the game to be more faithful to the original JP script, with that same person claiming that all the mod does is remove all the personality and charm 8-4 added to the dialogue; for reference, here's the lines they're referring to:

Lukas (EN): But just once, i should like to be red with rage, green with envy... Something!

Lukas (JP): But still, i've never been caught up enough to lose control of myself...

Clair (EN): Do i not deserve better than these trite gambits of yours?

Clair (JP): That kind of behavior is very hurtful towards the one it is directed at.

Clair (EN): If that crass phrase means you wish to speak with me, then please proceed.

Clair (JP): Oh, Dyute. What is it?

I can somewhat get why people could see the first change as just being a less interesting way of getting across Lukas' lines about struggling with not feeling enough emotions (though even then i'd argue that changing the lines from him being dejected and resigned at his emotional struggles to him being actively angry about them is a decently big change to his character and not just "oh they worded it in a more interesting way"), but i really don't get how people can argue that Clair's localized lines aren't blatantly rewriting her character; her criticism of Gray being changed from "your behavior hurts people and you should stop because of that" to "your behavior hurts me and you should stop because i'm your superior and deserve better than to be toyed with by the likes of you", along with her greeting to Delthea being changed from "oh hi, what's the matter?" to "if that gross phrase means you want to talk to me, then i suppose i can grant you the privilege of a conversation" doesn't make the dialogue any wittier, it's just making Clair into more of a spoiled brat than she was intended to be originally.

You ruined my day with this :(

(i know this is an old ask, but I forgot it in my drafts!)

I thought FE15's localisation was nice, but granted, I didn't have access to the JP script (nor JP audio!), but now I wonder if the schtick "nobles vs commoners" wasn't overplayed in the lolcalised version, which in turn, would kind of explain why some people felt cheated by Alm's reveal -

Even if I always took it as "being a noble has nothing to do with birth" didn't meant Tobin as a peasant could become a noble and have a noble heart, but meant that even if you are born a noble with super special powers or not, being a noble character only falls on you, and the actions you take : Alm rescues random women (FE15 for you!) around at the cost of his mission/safety/etc, when Berkut, who is noble-born just like Alm, hunts peasants and burns his fiancée.

8-4 adding more "Nobles BaD" feels in touch with what ultimately happened with Fodlan, even if while the FE series already tried to dip its toes in this water with Ike, his "nobles BaD" ultimately amounted to childish tantrum and refusal to deal with "complicated things" when you realise and learn what kind of people he's working with, and their responsabilities.

In a way, I can understand the people being annoyed that the mod removed the "additions" brought by 8-4 if they really made the characters more memorable - but my stance will always be to be able to choose if you want to put parmesan on your pasta or not.

8-4!Clair is a spoiled and snob brat - but can't we get the choice to get a Clair without parmesan?

You know what, I'm thinking FEH's decision (in 2017!) to, uh, not include dual audio was due to the supposed limitations of the app, but imo, was also amde with the dubbing/US!VA industry in mind because, imagine the players from FE14-FE15 having characters who, by tone alone, are different from the ones they're used to, what kind of message would that send to players? You've played the parmesan!version of those games?

And to be clear, I like my pasta carbonara with heavy cream because I'm french and cream is life.

And yet, IDK, maybe that's just me, but I think I'd feel a bit out of the loop if I was thrown in game that celebrates a franchise I never played, since the games I played were... heavily "localised" to catter to my tastes and overplayed issues that weren't there because I'd maybe like this theme more than what was initially presented.

Cultural differences are a thing, but Crayon Shin-Chan is meant to be watched, in japan, by children in primary school.

OD's Crayon Shin Chan is basically japanese!Family Guy.

We had the "same" heavily lolcalisation back in the days here, with French!City Hunter ("Nicky Larson") and French!Hokuto no Ken ("Ken le Survivant"), and while in the 80s-90s some people still harped that those were the "real deal", with time it became more and more widely accepted that Nicky Larson and Ken le Survivant were... products that were lolcalised to fit with the regulations of that time (no blood for children! no swear words - when the regular french person says "merde" at least 10 times per day) - but if you were to go and interview the authors of those mangas, they wouldn't have a clue about what you're talking about with your french "dessins animés".

(granted, I've heard that recently, during a convention, both the author of City Hunter and Hokuto no Ken were surprised but pleased that even if it was lolcalised to oblivion, their work was so appreciated here!)

With modern FE though, I feel like FEH has to pretend that Nicky Larson and Ryo Saeba from City Hunter are the same person - so they will put Ryo in a fridge and call Nicky Larson "Ryo Saeba".

I mean, that's what we got with Halloween!Rhage - who roars using her special, and yet winks in her artwork because the artwork was commissioned by the people who designed/came up with Rhea, not with Rhage - and here, with your examples, with Clair.

Clair is a young noble lady, who as you pointed out with those lines, is a well mannered noble who doesn't hurt nor is looking down on people from lower birth, eons away from the "oujou who only means well" trope we ended up with with 8-4.

At the end of the day, people are free to enjoy whatever they want, let it be 8-4!Clair of Jp!Clair - but I'll have the same opinion as I always did regarding localisation : was it really up to 8-4 to change her characterisation this way? Are they still localising or swapping Jp!Clair with a brand new character of their creation?

If so, can this still be called localisation?

[dreamaboutwhathappens]

i feel like something we have to keep in mind is that there are so many things that can mean a relationship isn’t working anymore without there being any wrong-doing. taylor and joe are both people with needs. being unavailable due to work, not being available at the same times, wanting different things for your relationship’s future, or even just wanting those things on a different timeline……. what can start off as just being really busy can turn into you realising that you’re not getting as much attention as you need, and if that’s something neither party is willing to compromise on, then that’s okay, that just means that your priorities are different. basically what i’m trying to say is that one of them doesn’t have to be in the wrong here. sometimes it just happens that a relationship was right for the time that it happened, but isn’t right for right now.

[designernishiki]

aight im just gonna say it. some folks really gotta stop treating nishikiryu like they’re actually related and considering anyone who’s so much as Okay with them as a pairing of being incest apologists. like. that’s a legitimately fucked up and serious thing to accuse someone of just because of your view of two factually unrelated fictional characters.