#technically there's more canon evidence for her being attracted to him than the little thing with ferncloud but fuck it

[tardigradesandtiaras]

ya know usually I'm usually against headcannoning bi characters as gay but I think I gotta make an exception for Feathertail Warrior Cats.

[lawlietscaramels]

light yagami r s v x y (or whichever ones of these you want)

death note reborn

I ended up doing all of em but "y" because based on my Mello + L experience research takes soooo long. dies.

also the "v" is just a sketch because I couldn't pick an artstyle and got sad.

I have too many artstyles :(

Light's regrets are really interesting to think about! Especially around the Death Note, because, you know, I think there's a period after he starts and before he meets Misa (I think— I have such a bad memory for canon events??) when he really questions his decisions and wavers and in general has a bit of a breakdown. It's probably the "tipping point" of his story, that bit. I love tipping points. Anyway, I think during that period he really regrets picking up the Death Note, but because he did, he wouldn't let himself quit.

Hm. I think as Kira he "regrets" Misa. Technically he couldn't do anything about her but I think she complicated his plans more than she helped; also in general, as Kira having to rely on others was something I believe really frustrated Light. Back to normal Light's regrets, I think part of the reason he regretted the Death Note thing was his family. Light loves his family, his mum and sister so much, desperate for his father's approval, he just wants to protect em and make them proud.

Also in contexts like this ↑ whole thing I think it's really important to distinguish Light from Kira-Light because there is so much difference.

Sexuality!!! A very fun question! In canon, Light dates a LOT of girls (or is at least very popular with them) even before Kira. I think it's an expectation in his family that people (by which they mean girls of course) like him. Light has a more traditional family like that. Of course, when he's Kira dating those girls comes in super handy: Misa's eyes, Takada's influence. But he only meets them when he IS Kira, and even if it's really obvious he doesn't like them much less romantically, he's able to act convincingly to their faces. First, as Kira I don't believe Light is interested in relationships at all, he would do it alone if he could. Second, I think the fact that he is able to act convincingly (as opposed to the Oh, it's Normal to have a Strange Guy named after a Pop Star come to my school and Say He's the World's Greatest Detective) is what leads a lot of people to say "well, he must understand love, so he's gay."

But, again, he's Kira when he dates both of them. And Misa in particular is not going to be the most attractive girl to lots of people... Besides, Light's still a kid, you know? He mightn't want to date at all, it's pretty canon that up until Kira he's very invested in school work and Japanese schools tend to be very demanding on workload, and some even don't allow dating. And when Light's Kira, he doesn't care about anyone at all. I guess what I'm saying is, there's no canon evidence he's gay nor straight nor bi nor aroace. It's hard to headcanon a sexuality onto Light: just because he's at a stage in his life (childhood and school, mass murderer and god) where he's not interested in dating doesn't mean he's aroace. I do think he has bisexual tendencies, but whatever -romantic he is it's hard to pin down.

As for gender, I think he's cis but doesn't care very much about fitting stereotypes unless it benefits the "I am the perfect child, smart, morally upright, talented, Not Kira" narrative.

(see. look at the right. ew. not happy with it. his hair and his eyes and also he looks too evil in a weird way.)

How Light thinks? I'd say he has one part of his mind focused on whatever's going on (schoolwork, a discussion in the Task Force or around the dinner table) and the other busy actually thinking. About Kira, about his life, about the world as a whole. He tends to zone out a little and focus on those real thoughts, but being Light and far intellectually superior to those around him, he tends to get the gist of the conversation if he has to say something suddenly. It took some time to unlearn this so Light could be on full guard around L. I think my intention for this question was to kind of detail their speaking style so I'll do that quickly: I think he's like Teruhashi (Saiki K) and doesn't use honorifics unless he's speaking aloud; he tends to use more harsh and crass phrases in his thoughts but is very careful to sound polite when speaking aloud; and he sounds a little like an old man apart from that...

[megumixtsumiki]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who ship them 😫 I think Megumi likes Tsumiki. What do you think?

Hey anon! Welcome to this little abandoned corner in the internet.

Noooo you’re not the only one. There’s actually way more than you think quite honestly. 

But I think we hide in the closet because a lot of people in the jjk fandom can’t stomach the idea of Megumi having a crush on the person he calls his sister. Not to mention that the popular ship is itafushi and we basically run the risk of being labeled as homophobic for having a different opinion. 

It’s kind of fascinating, really. can you tell I’ve been reading takes from other fans on the matter and am a bit bitter about it?  So much gate-keeping.

My thoughts are very much fanon but I personally think Megumi may have repressed his attraction for Tsumiki. I like to think that once the hormones started raging, he may have realized the way he saw her had changed--aka he realized he was attracted to her beyond their platonic relationship as ��siblings”.

Anyways, more below the cut because I have many thoughts on the subject.

When I say they are not related by blood, it’s not to minimize or deny the “platonic sibling” bond they share. Actually, I think that makes the ship even more beautiful--the fact that they can have a sibling-like trust in each other means they truly chose each other to care about. 

I think that Megumi is fully aware that they are not technically “family” (blood-relatives), and so Megumi says she chose him to care about because she chose him as family.

What strikes me is that he doesn’t appear to realize he’s chosen her too. All of his actions during the Culling Game are proof of just how much she means to him.

This goes back to my fanon idea that Megumi may have realized he sees her as more than a “sister” but either doesn’t realize it or rejected his feelings for her because she’s supposed to be his “sister.” 

But I feel like this realization of how much he does care for Tsumiki came after he had lost her to the curse--hence why he might regret both rejecting her and being mean to her. I swear the way he talks about her, Megumi sounds like a scorned boyfriend who got broken up with lol.

Side note: Go watch Zetsuen no Tempest. Similar set up. 

When it comes to why I think he likes her... well, for me, the obvious answer is that he thinks of her when asked about his type.

Megumi thinking of Tsumiki when asked about his type is just such a strange thing because, literally, very very few people will think of their sister/brother when asked about their type. It’s not a poor interpretation to take that panel at face value. 

I also know the kanji Megumi uses in his answer is similar to the kanji in Yuji’s name and I also know that Gege is very playful and intentional with his use of kanji. 

I don’t intend to deny that Gege created ambiguity in his relationship to Yuji, unlike people who deny that Megumi, literally thinking of Tsumiki, is proof that she is his type. 

I love subtext, but how much more canon can you get other than Megumi thinking of her when asked about his type?

Honestly, mental gymnastics discrediting Megumi’s type = Tsumiki are baffling to me. It’s not just about how she represents what he finds attractive in others (unwavering human) and that’s why he thinks of her, it’s also about the fact that people don’t think about their siblings when answering that question.

Does that mean Megumi might have a thing for Yuji too? I don’t see why not. But I personally think it’s platonic. Beautiful nonetheless--itafushi is a beautiful dynamic and I often wonder why I like megumiki better considering I like BL and yaoi, and we have little to go by in terms of the megumiki dynamic.

Personal preference I guess.

Another thing that is evidence that he likes her is how fierce he is about protecting her and how far he is willing to go for her. Maybe my brother sucks lol, but he would not act like that about me.

Also, I know Megumi wants to get Gojo out of the prison realm but... I have to say it looks to me more like he’s doing all of this for Tsumiki’s sake.

Anyways, I think Gege set up a nice paradox with Megumi and Tsumiki. Almost like he wants fans to be taken aback by the fact that they are step-siblings and may be attracted to each other.

GASP! The nerve! 

Of course, we’ve never seen Tsumiki from her own pov, or Megumi from Tsumiki’s pov, so we don’t know how she feels about him. 

Anyways, those are my thoughts. 

Ah damn. I ended up ranting a bit. 

Thanks for the ask! I had not brain rotted about these two in a while. Maybe I’ll go looking for more art to post here for us closeted degenerate pervs.

Shipping is sacred! Enjoy the ship.

[captnjacksparrow]

I just got into the fandom and I love it so much. However, there are parts where I just cringe. I’m going to be completely honest when I say I can’t see SS being a thing, a healthy one at that. A rumor said that Sasuke always had feelings for Sakura but he didn’t know how to show them because hatred blinded him. I just... find it utterly bullshit. Hell, even I do ship narusasu, I tried to be open minded and not fall too far off canon or the characters. I don’t understand how Sasuke had those feelings for her when all he did was shown the opposite and it felt genuine. He seem always annoyed and pushes her away. She kept forcing her feelings on him when he makes it clear that he’s not interested. I don’t hate the ship because it’s not my ship but because it’s extremely toxic. It feels one-sided (Sakura’s side) more than anything and it’s makes it hard to believe he had those feelings for her. I mean, on the second episode of season five, she confessed and poured out her heart and he blew it off. I cringed hard and was beyond disappointed because she’s making it about herself. That’s literally how I feel about their damn “relationship”. She made it about her and her only. When he’s hurting, it’s about her. It’s so annoying and it makes me see how self-centered Sakura. When she said she understood Sasuke, I wanted to scream (I nearly did but my family is sleeping and I don’t need a lecture.) She doesn’t know Jackshit about Sasuke besides he’s the only survivor of his decease clan, he’s a loner who cares only about himself, and he’s attractive. She’s just like every other fangirl expect she’s on his team. I’m trying my best not to hate her but Damn she’s really pushing it. Anything that annoyed me was that she made it seem like they were dating, again making it about herself and her feelings. She sent Naruto to get Sasuke for her benefits, so she can keep him. Again, disregarding Sasuke’s feelings and what he wanted. Naruto should’ve said “I’ll bring him back because HE wants too, to keep HIM safe, not for you.” I just can’t with this ship. I’m still wondering why the hell is it even a thing? Also find it beyond pitiful how she stayed with Sasuke in Boruto when he left for 12-13 years?! No note. No checking up. Nothing. Hell, Sarada doesn’t know how her own father looks like or the truth of her mother. Both of them were miserable and I find it absolutely ridiculous when SS shippers still say “they’re in love” or they’re OTP. If that’s what true love looks like (good thing it’s not), then I’d die single. I can’t be the only one who thinks this ship is just as bad as Harley Quinn x Joker.

First off, Thanks for this lovely ask @larrycherry04 ❤️❤️❤️❤️ I've always wanted to write about this and your ask is the perfect timing.

Disclaimer: SS shippers, Sakura fans!!! Don’t read  this post!!

Me being an SNS shipper, I am just going to write this from a non-SNS perspective. Meaning, I am going to consider Naruto and Sasuke are just friends or rivals. 

Bear with my lengthy answer.

Where do I even begin?

A rumor said that Sasuke always had feelings for Sakura but he didn’t know how to show them because hatred blinded him.

I think this rumor is from a light novel called Akatsuki Hiden or whatever shit. But for me, it looks like a pathetic attempt to convince those horny women shippers who would pay any money to read a romance which mirrors their own love life where they desire an ‘unreachable & handsome’ man who has this ‘cool & overbearing’ aura and carries this ‘bad boy badass’ vibe. They would do anything to get the attention from this boy. Until this point is where the reality ends. 

What they really wants to happen and fantasize is somehow that handsome man, one day, will look only them and recognize their love and becomes a ‘soft’ guy who would bring the heavens for them and treats her like a princess. That fantasy led them to buy these novels and believe everything while completely disregarding the canon material. And those novels are aimed at these type of women.

You must have been wondering now, ‘I have seen these type of shit somewhere’!!!!!

That’s right.

50 Shades of Grey, Twilight, Beauty and the Beast, 100′s of K-Drama, C-Drama follow this shit romance trope and it’s regrettably fucking popular. 

In other words, Don’t believe anything apart from the canonic resources. 

Let’s dissect the canon materials about SS.

TEAM 7 

This is how it all started

Does anyone see anything positive here???? 

Well, I am not.

Sakura wanted to impress Sasuke. Since, Naruto always picks fight with Sasuke, she badmouthed Naruto in the hopes that Sasuke will recognize some common ground with her which may develop into a friendship. But she shot her own foot. 

[Regardless, I hated her here and she never redeemed herself, for her being completely insensitive & oblivious towards Sasuke’s life, the boy she loves]

Technically, Sasuke should have said ‘You’re Annoying’ towards Naruto for kissing him before the class and tying him up later. Here, Sakura is simply badmouthing another guy. He, somehow, find this very annoying than anything Naruto did earlier. 

Sasuke always had feelings for Sakura but he didn’t know how to show them because hatred blinded him.

Am definitely not seeing any feelings here.  

ZABUZA ARC

Alright, much later, somehow Sasuke started to integrate into team 7 and started to see them as a Family. No denial here. He started to care about everyone in his team at some point. Which was evident from the way he thought to himself, ‘That was Sakura’s voice... What is Kakashi doing?’

But does it means he hopelessly fell in love with her??? Nope. 

It’s just a team camaraderie where he was worried about his teammate. If he has special feelings towards her, he should have said ‘I must go save Sakura’ or something along the line. 

But, later in that episode, he went on to die for Naruto and even at his dying moments he didn’t think about Sakura or Team 7. It was all about someone else.

Even seconds before falling into Naruto’s arms, Sasuke was smiling with no regrets. 

It was funny very later that after he got up from his temporary death, rather than consoling her like ‘Sakura, Don’t cry. Am alright’ or anything, he was asking ‘Where’s Naruto?’. LOL.

Even much later, when Sakura was asking him about a date, he bluntly said ‘I refuse’.

So, you’re telling me, throughout this arc, a boy blinded with hatred can able to pout, play childish games, train and die for a boy but when it comes to Sakura he can’t show his feelings???

Sorry, I don’t see romance here. Not in this arc.

Whether you agree or not, every parent has their favorite child, every child has their favorite parent. Even within your family, you always have a special person.

For Sasuke, Itachi was that person in his real family. Sakura was not that person in his Team 7 family. It was Naruto.

CHUNIN EXAMS ARC

This arc is where those SS shippers celebrates a lot and I know why. Remember earlier I talked about that shitty 50 Shades of Grey romantic trope??? The following scene vaguely falls under that pattern.

A guy loses his control because of a cursed seal and beats up the guys who hurt one of his teammates which happens to be a girl and calms down after seeing the girl. 

That Infamous back hug. 

I understand why SS people lose their mind with that scene. And I don’t blame them. I am going to throw their own proof at them.

So, this First databook, tells us that he finally sees both Naruto and Sakura as comrades and his heart softens from the path of revenge, a little bit.

Definitely, Sakura’s tears or love towards him stopped his rampage. But nothing says about whether Sasuke loves her back.  

Much later, Sasuke also stops his cursed seal on his own after thinking about worried Sakura and a screaming Naruto (Who don’t know about this seal thingy at that time). 

Well, whatever. That databook has another funny fact, that too in the same page. 

LOL. Weird!!!! This accidental kiss unravels Sasuke’s heart ❤️❤️???? 🤣🤣🤣

So, influencing Sasuke’s heart can be attributed to both his teammates,according to this databook. Atleast upto this arc. There are no special feelings for Sakura alone, guys. 

Proof?

If Sasuke really considers her in a romantic light (this is after that back hug), he doesn’t have to do this at all. Believe me, Love is all about subconsciously or purposefully enjoying or feeling little touches. Those touches can be through eyes, memories or physical. Sakura is delighted with his touch because she loves him but Sasuke just see her as a comrade and keeping his distance but this time very politely.

If Kishi really likes these couple, he doesn’t have to make this scene at all. It’s not just this one instance, he rejected her twice very bluntly before this saying ‘Don’t cling to me!!!’, ‘Sakura, you’re heavy!!!’. 

If you say her back hug is a token of romance, then I can say ‘this’ kiss is also a token of romance. You can’t ignore one while keeping the other.

Anyways, at the end of the arc, Orochimaru is the best judge to identify who can change Sasuke’s heart. And that person is not Sakura.

DEPARTURE

she confessed and poured out her heart and he blew it off. I cringed hard and was beyond disappointed because she’s making it about herself. That’s literally how I feel about their damn “relationship”. She made it about her and her only. When he’s hurting, it’s about her. It’s so annoying and it makes me see how self-centered Sakura. When she said she understood Sasuke, I wanted to scream (I nearly did but my family is sleeping and I don’t need a lecture.) She doesn’t know Jackshit about Sasuke besides he’s the only survivor of his decease clan, he’s a loner who cares only about himself, and he’s attractive.

You know what, Larry??? You are 1000% right. 

But, atleast, I thought she was genuine in the first part of the proposal, like saying ‘Revenge is not good’.....bla bla.. Because, Revenge will never satisfy a person completely and I agree. Then she took a 180 degree by saying ‘Take me with you, Sasuke-Kun. I’ll make you happy’. This is where I lost it entirely. ‘Alright Bitch, So you really don’t care about his revenge or health. As long as you have the chance to get inside his pants, you are okay with it. So you are okay with Sasuke going to Orochimaru as long as you are with him..... Fucking Shit!!!!’  This is not okay at all. 

How did Sasuke respond?

“Why should I have to tell you anything”

“I’m telling you to keep your nose out of my business”

“Stop bothering me over everything I do”

Ummm..... where I come from, this screams ‘Irritation’ to me. Added to it, throughout the whole conversation he never saw her face. There was evidently no pain or anything from his face. On top the cake, here comes the cherry

“You really are...annoying”

This is where he saw her face throughout that painful confession before knocking her out. Umm... When you love someone or atleast feel for someone, you will look in their eyes and speak some farewell words before you leave. Or atleast show some pain??? There’s visibly nothing from Sasuke’s face. 

Alright, I know what SS wankers will pull out here. That Databook 2 with some vague words. I am going to throw this at them. 

Again, like I acknowledged before, he considers her as a comrade and part of a family. So, her existence also eased his loneliness. But you have to look at the word choice here. “The one that filled his lonely existence was Sakura”. It’s not the ‘Only’ person. Before he left he said ‘Thanks’. Meaning, Thanks for all these days. That’s all between us. 

This piece was about the Team 7 picture. So he acknowledges, he was not alone during his genin days because of his companions and Kakashi (so it’s not just Sakura to ease his loneliness). Whatever he said to Sakura was real. 

So can we safely confirm “You’re annoying” is real????

But what’s really interesting is the way Sasuke projects himself before Naruto. I am going to refrain myself from attaching all those rollercoaster of emotions flowed throughout the fight in VoTE 1. Otherwise, it will become an SNS post. 

However, this particular scene caught my attention.

Ummm.... Initially Sasuke walks without looking at Naruto. Then he looks back and answers him. 

Naruto was pretty much asking the same question as Sakura. “Why does it come to this?”

But Sasuke pauses and surprised for a moment and asks him pretty much “Why do you care about me?”

Why couldn’t Sasuke do the same with Sakura???? Kishi can pretty much make a panel or two rather than making some insulting panels.

Anyways, If they throw the databook, then I can also throw the same.

Alright, can someone explain the highlighted sentence for me???? Because I want to confirm whether I have a blurry vision.

Here, Sasuke is trying to punctuate Naruto as a different person from the rest of his companions. ‘his companions as well as that with Naruto’, I mean, Come on!!!! Naruto is also one of your companions along with Sakura. Why differentiate????

‘The village, companions, Naruto,....’ . Again....He is differentiating his home (village), companions (his friends), and Naruto. So who is Naruto for him? What is the need to make exception for Naruto? It’s very clear he is placing Naruto at a high pedestal for some unknown reasons.

Before this Databook dissection, remember I said something about saying Goodbye, ‘ When you love someone or at least feel for someone, you will look into that person’s eyes and speak some farewell words before you leave‘

Sasuke is doing exactly that here in this scene without saying anything.

Am sorry SS shippers, you can scream all you want about Sasuke knocked her out and left her on the bench. But there was no emotional distraught when he left her. Sasuke seemingly spent a longer time staring at Naruto than looking at Sakura when she confessed. 

OROCHIMARU HIDEOUT

Well, there is nothing I can say about here for SS. He pretty much saw her and said, “Sakura, huh?”.. And that’s all. He didn’t give two shits about her. 

His attention was completely on someone else. 

UNDER THE BRIDGE

She sent Naruto to get Sasuke for her benefits, so she can keep him. Again, disregarding Sasuke’s feelings and what he wanted. Naruto should’ve said “I’ll bring him back because HE wants too, to keep HIM safe, not for you.”

Naruto pretty much said the same thing in this arc, Larry. Naruto, in part 1, was happy for Sakura feeling the same about Sasuke as him, that is ‘To bring him back’. And also sad that his crush really loves someone else. But after Sakura gave up on Sasuke and faking her confession, Naruto decided, ‘Alright, I want to save him personally. I don’t care about our promise anymore”. 

This is where, SS ship goes into a crazy ride and it’s not a positive one.

Sasuke was on a rampage. He lost the ability to differentiate between his friends and foes. He stabbed Karin. And when he find her alive, he was about to Chidori her. 

And then comes the pink princess, full of lies and deceit. And Sasuke being impatient and disgusted with her lies, he does this

Well, in part 1, she had a degree of power to change his heart. But not here. He, instead, got riled up more and even tried to kill her without a warning and that too by not looking at her face. Pathetic!!!!

This scene screams ‘Trust issues’ from both sides. 

Did it stop here???

Fucking Shit!!!!!! Is there any people who still ship this nonsense?. If you are a Sakura fan, you should hate her for the lack of trust and backstabbing the person she loves, 

If you are a Sasuke fan, errrrmmm.....I have nothing to say. You know what to do. 

There is nothing positive here, that can make me ship them. He is killing her like a Mosquito.

If you truly loved someone in the past, even in your darkest moments, you will be honest and you cannot fake before that person.   

Proof??

Here, Sasuke had a clear resolve to kill his brother, Itachi. He lived for this moment for about 8 years and immersed himself in Darkness for 3 years with Orochimaru. He could have run away, dodge or look away from Itachi. But Sasuke simply couldn’t!!! You know why?? Sasuke loved Itachi once more than anything in this world. At this moment, he is letting all those defense loose and embracing the moment and see what Itachi was about to do. Because somewhere in his heart he trusts Itachi. 

But killing Sakura doesn’t make Sasuke feel anything. She is just another victim like Danzo or Karin or all those Samurais or a fucking mosquito!!!!

So you are telling me that Sasuke had feelings for her but kept it hidden all along and still tried to kill her like a pest???

Give me a fucking break!!!!

And you all know, who changed Sasuke’s heart here in this scene. It was not Sakura. There’s absolutely no reason for Sasuke to listen to that person and what’s more, Sasuke even made a promise (despite being in darkness, he had it in his heart to listen to that person) to destroy Konoha only after killing that person .. 

WAR ARC

Well, this is the arc where Sakura behaves like a rabid dog on heat waiting for Sasuke and shamelessly trying to wag her tails. But Sasuke didn’t give two shits about her, not once or twice but multiple times.

MOMENT 1

An explosion was about to kill the whole shinobi alliance and this dude wants to save Jugo, his companion and Naruto, the person who will challenge his Revolution, his rival and the one whom he wants to kill. Why only Naruto??? Why not Naruto and Sakura???

Pink cherry Queen doesn’t even crossed Sasuke’s mind.  Because he already threw her away in part 1. 

MOMENT 2

Alright Bitch!!! The entire shinobi alliance was dying on the other side of the battlefield. And this asshole is doing a clownshow before Madara just to get inside Sasuke’s pants????

I mean, Come On!!!! 

Well, if Sasuke truly likes her, he should be the one to have catched her or atleast should have asked her, ‘are you alright??’ 

I am sorry, where are the romantic feelings???

MOMENT 3

ROFLLLL🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

For the first time, Kishimoto is trolling those Sakutards through Sasuke’s words, what we, readers were right about all along. He is calling her useless here. And still these fake feminazis trying to ship her with him???

Don’t you guys have any self respect??? If so, this should be the moment to jump out of this trash ship.

MOMENT 4

Geez!!! You are still on this ship????? 

He clearly doesn’t want to save her at all. The hawk can clearly lift 3 people. Sasuke is not even making an effort here. 

And you are still yapping that he is blinded by darkness??? 

MOMENT 5

This is the moment SS calls it as ‘eyesmex’... While in reality, he was just looking at her and silently thanking her for helping him out. Do you know what is a real ‘eyesmex’??? I will attach it at the end.

If you guys pull this as true love, then he should have stayed in the same love till the end. But Sasuke has other ideas. 

This is the one of the funniest thing in this arc. LOLLLLL

Instead of being relieved that Sakura was saved, Sasuke was wondering about Kakashi’s Susanoo.....and Sharingan. 

Do people still think he cares about her????

MOMENT 6

Am cackling here, while dissecting the sorry state of this ship guys 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣!!!! If something good happens to me because of SS , it’s just the way you guys are making me laugh by making a clown out of yourself!!!!

Do you guys know something? There was a man named Itachi. Before massacring his clan, the very first person he killed was his ‘supposed’ Girlfriend, named Izumi. I wouldn’t say Itachi loved her like a lover boy. It was just one sided on her part. He just talks to her when he finds a spare time and considers her a good friend. 

Do you know how he killed her? 

By putting her in a ‘Tsukuyomi’. And what kind of Tsukuyomi, you ask?

Can you see how he fulfilled her dreams gracefully before he was going to kill her???

Why didn’t Sasuke do this???? Why particularly select a murdering genjutsu????

MOMENT 7

He said it, finally.

He don’t love her at all. There was no hidden feelings. He admitted from his own mouth. 

One day later, after the final VoTE battle ends.... After exchanging some intense feelings and even crying tears of happiness with Naruto....

Sasuke tells Sakura, ‘Sorry’....

Ummm.... That’s all???

All those negative shits happened before cannot be solved by just simply saying ‘Sorry’ and ‘Thank you’. If someone has an ounce of self-respect, they should know this is not OKAY at all...🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️

Am Sorry, but Sasuke was just being politely blunt, kind of insincere towards Sakura and turned his attention somewhere else in a matter of minutes. He was not even bothered by Sakura’s tears here. Instead staring at someone on his left. Remember I talked about touching the person physically and visually?

Sasuke is subconsciously or purposefully touching someone on his left through his eyes. Definitely it’s not Sakura. You know who it is. Remember SStards’ infamous ‘eyesmex’... I seriously believe this is a perfect example of ‘eyesmex’.

All these intense looks and feeling pain still doesn’t serve Sakura, even after pulled out of darkness. If there is a moment, where SS wants to shine, then this is where it should be. He should have told her, how he missed her all along, how he felt about hurting her, should have wiped her tears and some corny shit. But instead, Sasuke went for a long ass monologue for his friend and talking about sharing his pain. 

What about your kween’s pain???? 

You don’t have to ship SNS. But you should know where Sasuke’s priorities are. 

It’s not Sakura. 

Sasuke said ‘Sorry’ to Karin too. ‘Thank you’ to Kakashi as well. 

And what’s even more pathetic is, still Sakura wants to get inside Sasuke’s pants by accompanying him. Bitch, you can help your village, console your best friend Ino who lost her father, try to surpass Tsunade, improve your skills or whatever... Why bother him???

So, if you really think ‘Thank you’ as a token of love, then I can’t help it but term Sakura as a rabid dog who waits for her master to come home and throw some bones whenever he finds time. Your standards for a romantic love is piss poor and you will suffer just like Sakura in Boruto with just emptiness. All Sasuke did was poke her forehead just like Itachi which symbolizes keeping someone at a distance. He also said the same words to her just like Itachi said to him many times ‘Mata kondo da’ meaning ‘Maybe next time’. And we all knew that next time never came for Sasuke. 

Now all we see is a Sasuke as an absentee father in Boruto for which I don’t blame him. He was never a marriage material in the first place. Sakura and the Manga Editors forced him and she is paying for it. 

Hell, Sarada doesn’t know how her own father looks like or the truth of her mother. Both of them were miserable and I find it absolutely ridiculous when SS shippers still say “they’re in love” or they’re OTP.

All I want to say to SS shippers is, Your Ship Has Sailed Already. You cannot expect Sasuke to go lovey dovey towards Sakura with a 12 year old daughter around and for fuck’s sake, this is not a romance manga, it’s a battle manga. So stop dreaming about this kind of non-existential romance and pull yourself altogether.

[peemil]

☕evangelion 😳

y'all are killing me

the more time i spend apart from this show, the more i find myself kind of hating it shsjhl;hjsdhjso;d. i am somehow now in an even worse place mentally than i was when i first watched evangelion but even so i am NOT letting myself fall in the same traps of woobifying shinji and excusing the behaviors i shared with him and vice versa.

starting with my most general take, i don't like the rebuilds. like, at all. granted, i haven't seen 3.0 + 1.0 yet, and i will be avoiding spoilers until there is an official english translation, but i feel like the rebuilds are kind of what you get when you listen a little too hard to people who didn't get the psychological parts of eva and spent the latter half of the series wishing it would go "back" to being a regular mecha anime (which it never was in the first place). the rebuilds lack a lot of the same internal conflicts that drive the characters (especially shinji), and higher budget means the rebuilds can be more direct in their storytelling and less reliant on alternative ways of communicating ideas, which causes the rebuilds to lose some of the avant-garde present in the original series. as a result, it's jarring to see some of the attempts made at this in 3.0, and painful to watch these attempts fail, as they have no real precedent in the film series. the best way for me to explain the rebuilds is they feel like sterilized and polished, but hollow versions of the original anime series. but maybe i'm just biased, because none of the things i liked about the original are present in the films.

on to more minutiae... i've said it once and i'll say it again, asuka langley soryu is a LESBIAN and there's nothing anyone can do to make me stop reading her character in this way. the only male characters she is depicted as having any romantic feelings towards in the series just (unintentionally) so... comphet. her obsessive flirting with kaji is rooted in her need to prove her worth as an adult, i.e., to prove to others that she is something she inherently is not. plus, he's older, and he's conventionally attractive, so if she didn't have feelings for him (or at least publicly perform having feelings for him), she'd be out of her mind, right? asuka is also someone shown to pursue connections out of convenience (literally citing it as her primary reason for wanting to be friends with rei), and any intimacy she shares with shinji (i.e., their kissing scene) is done only because 1. she's bored 2. shinji is the closest person available. i find the notion that she's a tsundere hiding her real feelings for him laughable, because we've seen what asuka is like around people she genuinely likes and whom she wants to like: the hatred she shows for rei takes a different form from her hatred for shinji: whereas asuka is disgusted by shinji, she is resentful towards rei. her resentment towards rei curiously begins only after rei rejects asuka's offer of friendship, so i am inclined to believe that asuka's feelings of anger when she sees rei receives more respect than she believes she does at nerv are compounded by the fact that she wanted to like rei and have a connection with rei, but wasn't permitted to do so. we also get to see how asuka acts around the one person with whom asuka is able to form a meaningful connection with, whom she lets herself trust and open up to: hikari. asuka actually has fun with hikari and feels safe enough around her to not only seek refuge with her and her family in her time of need, but also to admit that her rage is mostly towards none other than herself. her behavior towards shinji is nothing like her behavior towards either of these characters, but it is not much different from her behavior towards kensuke and toji, two other boys in her class, so maybe... maybe she just doesn't like boys? lol. i'm aware that asuka is genuinely homophobic and awful in the episode 24 drafts, and that it was in no way, shape, or form the writers' intent to turn that into some sort of commentary on internalized homophobia. but with the canon footage that did get animated, i'm really not sure how else i'm supposed to analyze this aspect of her character.

similarly, i don't appreciate how many fans will treat headcanoning shinji as gay instead of bi is somehow "bi erasure." number one, shinji's behavior and attitudes towards the women around him is actually kind of appalling, so i wouldn't necessarily want to use his objectification of and acts of violence against their bodies as particularly strong evidence that he's genuinely attracted to women. number two, of course a show about a young man made in the late 90's is going to try to portray the people to whom he is attracted primarily as women. partially because they can't start from the get-go with him having his teenage sexual awakening with another male—for a mainstream anime, that wouldn't be profitable—and partially because this is an anime and showing women and girls in a sexual light is profitable. and given shinji's role of audience surrogate, of course he is going to be the one doing the ogling and sexualizing because he is us, and after all, it is the viewer who wants to see the anime tiddies, no? shinji's more sexual encounters with the women in his life are always either deeply awkward, uncomfortable, and even unnatural, or they completely obectify and commodify the bodies of the women in question. for this reason, i have always seen these moments as existing without genuine attraction: only either confusion (because these situations really are quite blatantly sexual) or simply a disingenuous performance of the attraction shinji thinks he should be displaying, manifesting as the same objectification of women he has seen men exhibit for all of his life—it's little more than a mimicry of the bad behavior he has grown up watching, because that's what he thinks attraction towards women is supposed to look like. conversely, his actions with kaworu, while skittish, seem to come much more organically. shinji is constantly and consistently drawn to kaworu, in addition to being willing to open up to kaworu in ways he doesn't let himself with any other person. granted, kaworu is the only person to give shinji the love he desperately needs and craves throughout the entire course of the series, but the fact that kaworu is the first person shinji genuinely acts like a kid his age with a massive crush in a way that doesn't feel blatantly scripted around, as well as the fact that shinji goes on to feel more slighted by kaworu's perceived betrayal than any mistreatment he experiences from anyone in the whole course of the series (save for his literal father)... idk. sus lol

been awhile since i've done a proper rewatch of this show so i can't speak super generally since i unfortunately don't remember too much. one thing i will say though, i LOVE how the series is very upfront about the fact that shinji's loneliness and trauma (and loneliness and trauma in general) are going to be core themes in the series from the start. people say the first 6 episodes are slow just because they don't have as much action as some of the episodes in the middle of the series, but i remember speeding through them in one sitting because i wanted to understand more about shinji and his inner workings; i was fascinated by his psychology. people famously refer to evangelion as a bait-and-switch, and maybe that's true to a degree, because i don't think anyone really saw the shift to more trippy animation coming, but the psychological themes present in the latter parts of the series are still very present in episodes 1-4. i'm also amused by people who say they're "caught off guard" by the last four or so episodes, because the major shift towards being a show primarily about psychology really begins in episode 16, when eva unit 01 is consumed by leliel and shinji has to confront the "self within his self" for the first time in the train car of his mind. i know it begins as just another angel fight but like... guys... how did you miss that... episode 16, because it really is where this shift begins, is actually my favorite episode in the entire series. that, and it was where i was first introduced to this hegelian concept of each person functioning both as an actor or operator who carries out actions, as well as an audience perceiving and observing their actions, their thoughts, and themself. which, to a degree, solidifies the notion that anything and everything technically could be considered performance. it's made my work much, much easier and my day-to-day life much, much more dramatic.

[queenlilith43]

Why Malec Works Together-and SnowBaz Doesn't

Hello, everyone. Yes, I know this is technically my hiatus, but writing essays is a thing I do often so I wrote this thing.

If you've been paying attention to my Goodreads, I recently read Carry On. And I had THOUGHTS on that book. I actually ended up eating it two stars because the world building convinced me to read the second book.

Then I DNFed it at 44 pages.

So in this essay I will compare Simon and Baz's relationship to a better queer relationship-Magnus and Alec. Be prepared for some hot takes.

The first problem I see with Carry On (just in the whole) is when we first get Baz's POV. And the first thing we learn is that he is GAY. Like, hopelessly pining for Simon gay. And it for me it felt . . . Unnecessary.

It was like I'd been smacked with the sudden realization he was gay. And it didn't feel right at all.

Compared to when I found out Alec was gay in City of Bones. I was like, "okay." It worked.

Even though both Alec and Baz are both loners, Alec was at least shown as gay before that. Clary picked up on the way he was looking at Jace at least fifty pages before Izzy confirmed it.

It was the exact same with Simon suddenly being attracted to guys. Baz kisses him, and he's like, "I must be gay! But I'm straight!" Completely skips over bisexuals being a thing, which reeks of biphobia. (I'm also bi, so thanks, Rainbow Rowell, for erasing my identity.)

Compared to Magnus, whose bisexuality is not a surprise and works perfectly with him. Magnus is one of the best bisexuals in books I've read because he does care what people think of him. He acts and then thinks later. Hey, at least Magnus isn't some kind of rip-off Chosen Harry Potter.

Another issue I have is that Simon and Baz HAVE NO CHEMISTRY. Like, yes, Baz had a crush on him. But so did Alec for Jace and those two were never going to end up together even if Jace wasn't his parabatai and also queer. (Although Alone though Simon and Jace were dating; Jace could totally be bi or something.)

Baz just kissed Simon, and all of a sudden, Simon just loves him. Despite the fact Baz has been kind of a dick towards him for the entire time. Not the worst person, but the annoying roommate who REFUSES to pick up their socks. (Not exactly canon but he gives off those vibes.)

Somehow the rest of the book (which is less than 200 pages because the last 100 were hopeless gay pining and before that 200 pages of STRAIGHT) manages to drill this horrible no-chemistry relationship into you. It shows how bad their chemistry is.

Basically Simon is left alone to solve his problems, which he technically caused. So the other antagonist dies and Simon gets a devil tail and some wings. He looks like a rip-off blue Lucifer. I'm not even joking.

I don't even think Baz helped whatsoever. He just vibes with Simon's other friends, who didn't even help either.

Whereas we have Magnus and Alec where Magnus had to show up and help the Shadowhunters simply because he was dating Alec. Magnus, for no other reason than Alec, helped. And he actually did things, like doing some magic with Valentine's ship, fighting against Valentine's demons in City of Glass, and even going as far to SUMMON AZAZEL. That's pretty serious.

Even if Alec isn't technically the Chosen One, he's still chosen in the sense of being chosen to fight demons. The Shadowhunters are the warriors, who have to right against the demons. They were literally CHOSEN BY THE ANGEL RAZIEL. That's close enough for me.

Also, when Alec and Magnus fought together (Alliance rune in both CoG and TLBOW, the Battle of the Burren in CoLS, most of TRSM.) their relationship got better. It was amazing to see them grow closer together while defeating their enemies. It's the best.

If Baz doesn't help his boyfriend at all out of pure spite, it just DOES NOT WORK.

And then the last scene with Baz and Simon was kinda thrown together. They were trying not be gay while being gay. And it's not even like they really had that much homophobia. It's hinted at Baz's dad wouldn't approve of him dating a boy, and he would have to marry a girl.

But it's not like how Alec believed he could never be himself because the Shadowhunters frowned on if. In GOTSM, we did see how Alec felt oppressed by his dad when he was younger. And in the TV show he almost married Lydia before Magnus crashed his wedding, so there was some obvious homophobia.

Also, the homophobia for the Shadowhunters was more likely because of the bag of dicks known as the Cohort. It was obvious. Carry On had one person who disapproved and technically Baz could move out so it didn't matter.

And then we have the mess that is Wayward Son. I have read 44 pages of it, then gave up. Why? Because there is no plot to speak of.

Wayward Son and the Red Scrolls of Magic have similar premises: The world has been saved, now the relationship must be developed.

But Wayward Son doesn't have a demon-worshipping cult (which could happen because of Blue Lucifer over there). It instead has Simon adjusting to being normal.

But unlike the mundane Magnus from Season 3B of the TV show, nothing happened. It was just a stupid vacation that had no development over forty pages. I would forgive it if it was longer, but it's 356 pages, about the length of The Red Scrolls of Magic.

TRSM had plot when you started. We had Magnus and Alec in Paris, introducing their relationship at this time, and there was a little conflict involving demons. This was in the first twenty pages.

In the next twenty pages, another plot in the book was established: Magnus and Alec trying to take the next step. Which leads a huge part of the book, and a hilarious subplot.

After Magnus and Alec are interrupted by Tessa (who was calmly sitting on a chair), the main plot is introduced. Also known as Magnus's demon-worshipping cult, the Crimson Hand. There was plot here, all the way from the inciting incident of the Iblis demons to Tessa telling Magnus his cult is causing problems.

Wayward Son has no plot. They just randomly go on this vacation, and no magic plot happens. It's just a vacation on a fantasy backdrop. Which is so boring.

You could argue that the plot is Simon adjusting to being normal, but I throw in the evidence that is Magnus in most of season 3B of Shadowhunters.

First, some background.

Back in season 3A, Magnus gave up his magic to Asmodeus to help Jace. (Mainly because he wanted Alec to feel better but that's a discussion for another time.) They left to Magnus being a mundane for most of season 3B until Alec tried to get Magnus his magic back. (Another plot, but let me focus on the mundane part of this plot which was in episodes 11-13, and 17)

Magnus, who has used magic for his entire life, doesn't feel right. But he still tries to live his normal life. Which ends up with him facing off against another warlock and getting kidnapped. Good job, Magnus. You really fucked up.

You can see the way Magnus tries to adjust to being the person he is now, just a mundane. He's trying to be the same person he was before, just without his magic.

Even with it being a TV show and we can't see what Magnus is thinking, it's clear Magnus is hurting. He turns to alcohol, and is so sad and lonely. Alec offers him unconditional love (he even was going to propose to him!) but it just isn't enough.

In the end, Magnus gets magic back, and loses Alec. However, because Maryse has a brain and knew her son screwed up, managed to have Magnus connect the dots, yeet Asmodeus into Limbo, and ends up proposing to Alec. I was a mess by the end of the whole situation.

I've seen none of this in Wayward Son. Simon may show it in a different way but it's just . . . Not effective. He mopes around and his relationship with Baz doesn't matter.

So that is the exact opposite of Malec, where Alec clung onto Magnus and loved him enough to try and get him to stay. Baz wasn't doing anything. In fact, they were going to break up.

You know what, Wayward Son sounds like if CoLS Malec went on a trip. But I guess the time away from Camille would do Alec good, and they'd come back stronger than a 90's trend. Whereas Simon and Baz are hanging on by a loose thread and ate going to crash and burn soon.

I could continue ranting, but this is the best I can do. I know this might be me bashing on your favorite book, it just makes no sense to me.

[victeazer-archive]

Here are my rough ideas regarding Jemima, Grizabella, Macavity, the nature of magic in the universe of Cats. I'm purely spit balling here on what I know and of course what I do know could be very little in the scope of things; please inform me if my theory is flawed based on any fact/canon within the Cats musical!

Anyway.

I'm new to Fandom and didn't entirely understand the hype surrounding Jemima - I only knew her as the kitten that sang the bridge in Memory which inspired Grizabella, a very iconic and memorable moment in the show, yes, but she wasn't particularly memorable to me (heheh) and her role in the story was taken by Victoria in the film adaptation.

So, I didn't really think abou Jemima until I revisited the classic 1998 recording of the musical and started browsing the Cats wiki to fuel my ever growing curiosity/hyperfixation and I came across a very peculiar detail that intrigued me. During midway through the show, it is described that Jemima was "telepathically selected" by Deutoronomy to relay a message to Grizabella, and this "possibly hints at her mystical nature". This raised many questions I want to unpack.

First off, I had no idea that Old Deutoronomy had the ability to communicate telepathically. It does make sense, as Deutoronomy is the only known cat able to access the Heaviside Layer - we can view this as one of his magical abilities, and a sign of him being the most powerful of all the magical cats. I suppose it just caught me off guard that it's not exactly explicitly stated that Deutoronomy was using his telephatic ability during this scene with Jemima, but it is a largely accepted interpretation and so we can confirm it is an ability he possesses.

Speaking of the magical cats, the other known magical cats are Mr Mistoffelees, and the Coricopat and Tantomile pair. The reason I bring these characters up is because I believe there is a specific logic to their magical power through age.

See, Mistoffelees is considered to be a young adult, about the same age as Victoria, who is seen transitioning from kitten to adulthood throughout the show. Now, there is subtle imagery of Mistoffelees possessing magic throughout the show (being able to open Jennyanydot's briefcase through gesturing his hands, for example) and until his big number (which I will discuss later), these magical tricks indicate that Mistoffelees' power is actually rather weak compared to the other magical cats like Coricopat and Tantomile, who are said to be able to predict the future, are shown to sense approaching presences and seem to share a telepathic bond between them. I believe that why Mistofelees's power is weak compared to that of Coricopat and Tantomile is because of age difference - the mystical twins are well into adulthood and their power thus could have grown stronger over time with maturity. It makes sense to me that the strength of magical power in a magical jellicle cat is relative to age, because at the very top of this hierarchy of magical cats is Deutoronomy, the oldest cat of this group. However, I don't think this is the only factor in a magical cat's power level, but I will discuss this later.

My second question regarding this scene is why Deutoronomy didn't simply send the message directly to Grizabella, telepathically. Heck, why doesn't he ever speak to her once throughout the play - we see him reach and fail to touch her, but I do not recall him calling after her. So, after wracking my brain for an answer, the conclusion I came to was this: he cannot use his magical power to communicate to Grizabella, because Grizabella is not a Jellicle Cat.

Let me break this down; yes, it is clear that Grizabella is a Jellicle Cat in the sense that she belongs to this species within the universe, but what I am referring to is specifically the tribe of Jellicle Cats, of which she once belonged to, and was then outcasted from. The magical cats within the show only ever really use their abilities in relation to others within the tribe; Mistoffelees summons Deutoronomy (which we will discuss I promise), the mystical twins are able to sense Deutoronomy's arrival, and, of course, Deutoronomy uses his telepathic power to communicate to Jemima. (There is an instance of the mystical twins being able to sense Macavitys precense, but I believe it has more so to do with the constant paranoia of Macavity's arrival throughout the play rather than their actual magical insight). So, it would be logical that Deutoronomy could not reach out to Grizabella, because he cannot actually use his power on her, only on those within the tribe.

This leads me to believe that there had to be some ritual taken place to remove Grizabella from this magical link between the Jellicle Cats, and that, of course, the only way to mend this link is through a Jellicle Cat's touch - an acceptance into the tribe's community, but also to the magical link to the, well, magical cats.

Onto my next point is that there is technically another magical cat within the show, but he is not accepted within the Jellicle Tribe. In fact, you could say he has his own opposing tribe that isn't really elaborated or established clearly within the show - but we do know that he has henchmen, some of which were Jellicle Cats (example, Mungojerrie, who we will talk about more in this too! Yay!) that clearly converted/were accepted back into the Jellicle tribe before the start of the show. In fact, it is implied that he has a personal history with individual members of the Jellicle Tribe like Demeter and Bombularina (who are rather matured adult queens). This leads me to believe that Macavity was once a Jellicle Cat, being that he was once a member of the tribe, but left to establish his own.

Now, I'm going to take some information from the movie adaptation, so forgive me (even though ALW did work on the film and so it could be recognized as new Canon etc etc etc...) Within the film, Macavity is actively eliminating other potential competitors for the Jellicle Choice, and is ultimately rejected by Deutoronomy for having "no Jellicle soul" (I'm paraphrasing).

Now, I believe that this is could actually act as Macavity's backstory for the musical. He was once Jellicle Cat, a magical one in fact, but used his magic for his own benefit instead of for the tribe (reminder that our aforementioned magical cats used their powers to protect, warn, or rescue their fellow jellicle cats). Rejected, or leaving on his own accord, Macavity instead forms his own tribe, that, again benefits only him. I should clarify that it is clearly evident that you do not have to be a member of the Jellicle Tribe to yield magical powers, ala Macavity being able to do so.

Now, as said before, Macavity recruited/lured cats from the Jellicle tribe to join his own. One of them is stated to be Mungojerrie who, according to this timeline, must have been a kitten when Macavity recruited him. Mungojerrie was an impressionable, trusting child who was probably attracted to Macavity's criminal lifestyle, as is Mungojerrie's character. However, it is clear that Mungojerrie left Macavity and returned to the tribe and was accepted back in. We can assume the reason he did would because he suffered from some form of abuse from Macavity, as we see him literally tremble in fear when he witnesses him, even as an adult Tom. Mungojerrie isn't the only one - Demeter is also constantly paranoid and anxious that Macavity will cross paths with her again. Macavity doesn't actually care about the people in his tribe. Again, it is for the benefit of himself.

Now, how could having a tribe benefit Macavity beyond helping him with his crimes or facilitating his needs? This is where I talk about the second factor that influences a cat's magical strength. We are getting to the Mistoffelees number.

Remember when I said that Mistoffelees is pretty weak up until his big number? Well, the reason I think he suddenly gained such power is the fact that he is accompanied by a chorus of his own Jellicle Tribe that are expressing adoration and affection for him. I believe that Mistoffelees is able to channel this positive energy into his magic, making him able to pull off such a great task such as teleporting Deutoronomy back. I believe a cat's magical power can be strengthened through not only maturity, but also through the support from a community.

(And in case you were wondering, Coricopat and Tantomile are rather recluse and quiet cats. Although I don't think they're hated within their community they are definitely not able to draw in a crowd like Mistoffelees, clearly).

Thus, I believe Macavity is trying to create a tribe so as to strengthen his magic, but doesn't actually value his fellow cats, so abuses or discards of them.

Let's circle back to Grizabella. Now, in the musical, it's never explained why Grizabella was outcasted from the Jellicle Tribe. However, in the film, they explain that Grizabella actually joined Macavity, and was thus shunned and ostracized by the Jellicle Cats. While not elaborated on, I feel like this is a solid explanation if we follow my theory. Grizabella could have been lured by Macavity into his tribe for many reasons; he could have promised her something akin to fame or glamor, as is her namesake, or could have seduced her romantically like he did Bombalurina or Demeter. So, Grizabella leaves the tribe and goes through some ritual to sever ties with them, if you will. She goes and travels with him, but not as peer but a servant to him; you can see she is torn and dilapidated, perhaps from years of abuse, neglect or suffering from a one-sided relationship in which Grizabella sacrificed her youth, her beauty and her community for Macavity, and he ultimately gave her nothing in return. Now, Grizabella could have left at her own accord, but I find it more plausible that Macavity discarded of her once he realized that she had lost faith in him, thus weakening his power. This could explain why in the film Grizabella seems to drift between Macavity and the Jellicle Tribe, clearly reaching back to the Jellicle Tribe but rejected by both.

Now, of all the jellicle cats that left and came back, why is Grizabella the one that the Jellicle Tribe resisted to accept her the most? I believe it could be that Grizabella was Macavity's oldest follower, one of his firsts perhaps, and thus possibly the longest-lasting tribe member who stuck by his side despite watching cats - kittens, even - come and go. It would be logical for them to distrust her expressing to return to the tribe, considering her unwavering loyalty to Macavity until this point.

(Just a side note I think this explains why Macavity comes back through out the play to kidnap Deutoronomy and Demeter, rather than luring or trying to convince them, just becoming frustrated and forcing them instead).

Anyway, let's try and go back to the beginning of all this. The scene. We have Deutoronomy, who is unable to communicate via his magic to his old friend that he had possibly forgiven for leaving, seeing how she had suffered, because she is no longer a part of the tribe, then using his magic to ask a young kitten via telepathy to relay a message of Happiness, and thus possibly awakening the young kitten's own mystical power through love, and acceptance. I believe that this isn't the only instance of Deutoronomy speaking through Jemima, either. He could have possibly telepathically relayed the verse in Memory (Daylight) for Jemima to sing. Through this he is already teaching her that her magic can be powered through love, affection, acceptance and especially, compassion.

Later, when Victoria finally touches and accepts Grizabella, she is once again within the tribe. And thus, her and Deutoronomy can finally reunite, and he can offer his friend redemption; a new life. I believe he is able to access the Heaviside Layer not only because he is the oldest and wisest of the magical cats, but through the power of his own love for who he deems the Jellicle Choice.

I feel like my theory on how magical cats work give these scenes a new layer and strengthens them, give em a lil logic. It just makes sense to me, and I cant really watch these moments the same way again once I've realized this.

Anyway, cat magic is powered by love and macavity is a dick so that's why I like Jemima more than I did before the end!

[theangrypokemaniac]

There's a sneering attitude that the dub is inherently inferior solely for being a dub, and when I say 'dub' I mean the American one. No one attacks the South American interpretation, funnily enough, or the variety that exist globally.

Why not if foreign languages are so abhorrent?  Do you think it's kewl to hate America?

That's so original you know.

If the moan centres on the dub changing certain things, well that's a pointless stance, because it's impossible to do otherwise.

What's accepted in one country is not always permitted elsewhere, so either you make those alterations or it's never shown. I'd prefer seeing a slightly toned down version rather than have it never reach the West at all.

This is without considering the technical obstacles that a direct translation brings. The words do have to fit the mouth movements, and if they don't, truncation must follow.

America and Japan are different; the population of the former are not going to comprehend the references to the latter's history and culture, which necessitates some divergence from the original to give it mass appeal.

Anime is a branch of entertainment. It has to attract the public's good will to stay in business. If impenetrable, it'll fail, with all the resulting unemployment and finacial losses that brings.

Those in charge of dubbing understandably think they're on safer ground promoting familiarity rather than the strange, but that's not to say Pokémon was stripped of its identity. On the contrary, it was like nothing I'd ever encountered before.

I may have watched Western cartoons then, but the idea of doing so now is silly. I won't give time to any modern animation unless it's Japanese. Growing up on the dub has not produced an ephemeral fan less serious or 'true'.

The 4Kids dub had wit, humour, deep emotion, suggestive comments and flights of fancy. The voices fitted the characters well.

Unlike the current one, where everyone sounds on the verge of vomiting, but then they're clearly working with substandard material on a miserly budget. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear after all.

Dubs can be bad, but the very state of being a dub doesn't confer worthlessness automatically. Considering the work gone into them, attempting to gain your favour, it seems rude not to appreciate the time and energy spent in production.

Knowing a little about history, sub-only fanatics remind me of the kind of folk who opposed an English Bible, because it was too good for the oiks to read the word of God.

Of course it was alright for them, rich enough to be taught Latin, but not so much the ordinary man.

It amuses me how dozens dismiss the dub, but see no hypocrisy in using its evidence to further their ship or anti-ship arguments, so it can't be that revolting.

It's also bizarre that so many hold sacred the sub of a series currently in a frenzy to shed every aspect of its anime and Japanese origins, leaving a vague, rootless ghost, supposedly making it easier to slip down the gullet of the masses.

Pokémon I've seen referred to as a 'gateway drug', as in the anime that introduced a generation to the entire concept. This means the dub. You would not have got enough kids in the late Nineties to read a screen rather than watch it, and even today most would lose interest rapidly.

Where would you be without that dub? Unless you're Japanese, your first experience of Pokémon will have been a dub, and if not the American, the one where you live, which was only made because there was the funds available.

You may have then progressed to watching the sub, but only because that dub stirred love in your soul.

Where would the franchise be without that dub? You think Pokémon would've grown to be a world-wide obsession raking in billions by itself? No, it'd still be a solely Japanese phenomena, and most likely never lasted this long.

Its decades of supremacy rests on the quality of that dub. It sold games and merchandise to kids by the ton, giving an incentive to keep the series going. If you're not a fan from the first wave, then your favourite era would have never existed had it not been financially attractive carrying on.

The team who wrote the first film actually preferred the dub, moved to tears by its emotive use of music, therefore they aren't so precious as the fans.

Where would anime be without that dub? Pokémon brought it to the West. A handful slipped through previously, but made minor impression.

To those who would dismiss Pokémon entirely in favour of more 'worthy' output such as Studio Ghibli, I would say that Pokémon, first the games, then the programme they inspired, must have an integral quality to have caught on in Japan, which isn't exactly short on similar concepts.

To have gained popularity in a crowded market, and so fervently a dub became an option, can only have come about because it held a certain magic.

It was the dub that smashed a hole in the cultural barrier, setting free the tidal wave to engulf the world. In Pokémon's trail followed Digimon, Cardcaptors, Monster Rancher, Yu-Gi-Oh! et cetera.

Without Pokémon, I doubt they'd have been translated, and definitely never broadcast on mainstream television. That came about as channels desperately hunted down anything Japanese to serve as the next craze.

I really appreciated the effort made by 4Kids in converting every aspect of the series to suit American tastes, including changing text on signs, letters and books into English. I assumed this was standard practice until I watched others.

I could never be as involved in them as I was Pokémon because of that block. It was like being denied access to the deeper waters, fenced into the shallows, and implied a rushed dub, with little care shown but to chase the same crowd and money.

If personified, the dub 'n' sub wouldn't be one human being, but rather identical twins: the same to a casual observer, but easy to tell apart by the more attentive.

It's like the games: Red and Blue are versions of a single adventure, but not totally one. Take the dub and the sub the same way. They are parallel dimensions running on separate rails, and beyond reconciliation, and that's before we consider that, sub and dub alike, each generation has only a faint relation to its predecessor, working on its own whims.

Everyone has a favourite, or can like both, and there's nothing wrong in that, but so many are proud of the fact they hate the dub, as if it conveys a revered status of supremacy.

When Disney films are shown abroad, they too are translated, and I'm sure references and jokes are redesigned to make sense to the locals. It's no use selling yourself as a comedy then being surprised when the audience refuses to laugh, having no idea what you mean.

If people prefer that one, for being what introduced them to Disney as a whole, or as a fond memory of childhood, then so what?

I don't mind if their view of a character is minutely at odds with mine, having seen the original, because what they think is canon to their version, so can't be wrong.

I don't go round declaring every Disney dub to be pathetic by its nature, that viewers of them are of a lesser breed of fan for preferring their own tongue, even though more of the world's population understand English than they do Japanese.

If you enjoy one tailored to your country there's no crime in it, just as I like one at least comprehensible to mine. It's not even my culture, but I pick it up mostly.

The choice must be made on which to follow, and this blog runs on dub canon, as that has a claim on my heart. Just because I don't acknowledge what takes place in the sub doesn't mean I'm unaware of it, but it has no bearing on what I write.

The idea that the dub alters things willy-nilly without rhyme nor reason is also mistaken. Often it does it because the original does not make sense.

In the sub, I know Nanny and Pop-Pop are just a couple of old duffers taken at random and dropped in to a castle, supposedly as James's far away nannies.

Oh yeah, that's a cushy position. You doing a lot of child care from miles off?

Mind you, it used to describe 'em as 'caretakers' on Bulbapædia, as if Nan serves as housekeeper whilst Pop tends to the garden.

That's right. Ma and Pa finally got some work out of this pair of freeloaders.

They're not related, remember? No, no, absolutely not, no way. Of course their style reflects that. They just gave Pop a 'tache, thick eyebrows and a bigger nose, and Nan got a bun and lines in her hair, but there's certainly no connection. Oh no. Such a thing is ridiculous.

They're NOT family. No. Yet Hoenn James still panics they might learn he's joined Team Rocket, spending the whole episode trying to hide the truth.

Why? Who are servants to criticise the son of their employers? Why should their opinion be of any consequence to Hoenn James, especially when his parents, fiancée and butler are cognizant of reality?

Children of aristocrats are usually brought up by governesses, thus develop a stronger attachment to these figures rather than their parents, but that isn't the case here.

James lived with Ma and Pa, not the codgers minding the castle. He would have very little contact with distant employees compared to those who waited on him daily, so why seek out their approval?

Hoenn James apparently was permitted visits to Nan 'n' Pop, which is strange considering they're not relatives. Why them and not any other house-stters?

That's right, Ma and Pa sent their son to one of their properties without them, entrusting him to the care of two shrivelled pensioners of his size that he barely knew, and who could keel over at any minute. There are no other servants present. Apparently Nan and Pop clean an entire castle by themselves.

Oh, and they run a makeshift Pokémon sanctuary, but since it's not their home it has to be done with Ma and Pa's blessing, who also have to pay for it, but they're eevul aren't they?

The idea that somehow Nanny and Pop-Pop have not cottoned on to James's occupation by now is risible.

Servants gossip about their masters. I bet the entire household of his home know, and so in turn does the county. That Nan and Pop remain oblivious proves how isolated they are, for no one's thought to inform them.

When it came to dubbing it, they were made his grandparents, removing all the above nonsense. Of course he visits his nan and granddad, it's their gaff and their money funding the place, and it is likely his mother or father would keep James's job a secret, for fear the shock would finish 'em off.

It should do really. If they're not bothered by it that's a sign of where his rapscallion ways were inherited.

They aren't facially akin to Ma and Pa, but display the same additions, so if staff it's bloody lazy, as if nannies have to resemble your parents, but inventing a blood link excuses the slothful characterisation.

Every reference I've seen on Tumblr relating to the coffin-dodgers calls them Nanny and Pop-Pop. Apparently the dub decision is met with universal approval. It does have redeeming aspects then.

Now the sub writers, rather than ignore this development, took to it too. They aren't exactly bursting with ideas these days and are probably grateful for the lifelines offered.

Remembering James had parents, they forced a likeness between them and Nanny and Pop-Pop. How else do you explain the inexplicable ageing, even when Sinnoh Ma and Sinnoh Pa are younger than Ma and Pa?

I've also known for years that the sub has this woman as Jessie's foster mother, not Ma Jess, but that's stupid.

I can grasp the idea that Jessie and Ma might have endured extreme deprivation, considering that's what Team Rocket has brought to Jessie anyway, and that they may have lived at the bottom of Mew's mountain prior to Ma's death.

What I find difficult to take in is that social services (or as they're known where I live, the S.S.), however notoriously awful they are, would give a child to a mad bitch in a shack with no running water.

Come on, they have to at least pretend to be concerned for Jessie's welfare.

As Jessie is very young, bereavement can't have befallen her in the distant past, so how can she be happy this soon after becoming an orphan? How could the grieving period be a cherished memory?

If that woman's creaming off the money, why hasn't she fixed the place up by now? Where do the payments go, sniffing glue?

Then there's the depiction. If this is just some daft bint never to be mentioned again, why do they conceal her face? Who cares what she looks like when she's unimportant?

Here's another figure from Jessie's past. She isn't disguised, and why not when she too briefly appears and is then forgotten?

Who was she?

The only sort of characters they tended to hide were other members of Team Rocket:

During the early scenes featuring Giovanni, he was enveloped in shadow, adding both intrigue and a sense of menace.

Madame Boss also got this treatment, even though there was probably no intention to ever feature her in the anime. What's the use in keeping an appearance a mystery if it'll remain masked?

With that pattern, it implies this woman is in the same category, like Ma Jess.

When it came to animation, it definitely was intended to be a foster mother. Not her real one. No.

What did they do?

They gave her Jessie's skin tone and purple hair hanging down her back!

You know, like Ma Jess?

Any colour would've done. Any at all, and being anime I do mean any colour, but no. The choice was made to give her the looks of the exact person she's not meant to be!

Is it that surprising the dub simplified things?

I don't mind if you like the dub, sub, both, or any from around the world, but I'm tired of the smug condescension, as if we all agree the sub is the only one that counts, and that dub fans are grunting troglodytes, or not 'proper' aficionados.

None of us would be here were it not for the dub. Pokémon would not be here. I think it deserves some respect for how much of a difference it made, to my life and to yours.

[vaguely-concerned]

Temeraire let’s read: Crucible of Gold AHOY!

- lol I’m glad hammond is back, he is phenomenally funny. I do love me a bureaucrat character who won’t let trifling things like dignity, morality, politeness or common sense get in the way of their job 

- it is a CRIME that Tharkay had to leave before he got to see Laurence all sun-bronzed and casually dressed and golden haired and relaxed, I wish to petition the universe itself on his behalf to correct this injustice 

- hahaha shen li is the best; a buddhist dragon would be the greatest party pooper among her own kind 

shen li, serenely: attachment to material things can only bring suffering

literally every other dragon, dripping bling from every available surface: um actually

- . . . without the clinging stink of murder and treachery which seemed to have by slow octopoid measures attached itself to his life. laurence I understand where you’re coming from on this but you have served colonial britain since you were like twelve. this has been an extremely slow process of waking up to smelling dem roses (fatherhood changes your perspective on your life situation I guess)

- awwwwww laurence finally studying some more chinese while temeraire helps him... no no this is just rain on my face yes I know I’m indoors it’s just me and lady allendale sitting here with our arms around each other crying about our boy reading poetry of his own freeish will

- oooh I really like how novik writes the way hammond talks -- it can be hard to write a character who constantly breaks up their own dialogue and interrupts themselves and continually couches their words without it being hard to read and annoying, but she really nails communicating that he’s a) completely graceless and with no dignity but also undeniably intelligent, b) definitely a Diplomat but not a total weasel, if only by a hair, c) hilarious

- pour one out for laurence’s civilian beard with me guys, gone too soon and dearly missed (and again tharkay didn’t even get to see it! this continues to be the greatest tragedy of these books let’s hope he grows it out again later when they’re all settled down.) 

- . . . These were distinguished from the others mainly for their having had less time in their careers to demonstrate a lack of initiative or skill, so he could have some small hope of uncovering some previously hidden talent. OH MY GOD LAURENCE the straight up savagery 

- DAD!LAURENCE!!! DAD!LAURENCE!!!!!!! (aaah it’s so interesting that when he gets a bit more stern you can definitely see sides of his father peeking out, but he deeply remains his mother’s son -- he’s acting from a place of affection, feeling of responsibility and concern for their futures, not the weird controlling shit lord allendale routinely pulls)

roland is such a teenager at this point oh my god. also laurence’s whole speech to demane about respecting her boundaries and agency... *chef kiss emoji* and ALSO demane is so sympathetic in this still because who HASN’T wanted to dangle some asshole over a cliff for being a creep to your friend/crush... they’re all good and perfect and I love them actually

- ...I’ve managed to put it out of my mind in the last few books but with the allegiance going down like that I keep remembering there were so many actual children onboard and now I feel ill

being an adult and realizing the full fuckedupedness of these things sucks haha

- 1) the description of seeing the ship sinking from underwater is hauntingly beautiful and 2) as I have said many a time before, thank god for demane

- see this is the other side of the coin of these books making you care so deeply about the characters; I know that no important characters die in this book but I am still so fucking stressed out by all of this D:D:D:

- well well well if gong su’s ludicrous competency wasn’t suspicious before it certainly is now, I guess china trains its spies well in the culinary arts haha

- I mean uh. what a way to symbolically and literally sever laurence from his former life and former self, I guess. you’d be hard pressed to do so more explosively at least

 - something extremely bad happened to granby, we can tick that off the list

- I feel like the prose and writing in general is super improved in this one? it feels sharp and purposeful in a way the last few haven’t quite been

- He hoped Riley would be mourned; Riley deserved to be mourned ahfksahsdajklhsajkfhaslkjfhsakjdfhdaslkfhakj pain :(:(:( I’m so sorry laurence and I didn’t even like the guy. I can’t believe that the first thing this madman does after trying to secure their survival as best he could is writing letters -- on dragonback!!! hands stiff from cold so he can only work in five minute increments!!! -- to make sure riley’s memory isn’t blackened how can he be like this

- emily roland is so smart and capable and amazing my heart is blooming with pride

- iridescent feathered dragons... holy shit this is awesome

temeraire has a little feather envy tho and also maila casually eavesdropping so he can chat up (literally) hot babes... I know they’re prisoners of war and everything but this is all pure unadulterated gold

- oh temeraire darling no have no fear hammond has no self respect whatsoever, that will not be what stops him

- I can’t believe laurence is actually taking time to tie himself in knots over not following perfect procedure around his officers’ future career options while they’re FUCKING MAROONED with a bunch of asshole sailors fkdfhsjdh

- GET YOUR DIRTY FUCJING HANDS OFF DEMANE OR I’LL CHOP THEM OFF FOR YOU YOU SWINE

sipho is like eleven and a nerd and ready to run at all these grown men armed just with a branch PAIN

- granby’s unending exasperation at laurence not knowing all the stuff that seems self-evident to him having grown up with dragons fksjdhfskajd

- aw laurence finally having a little dad talk with roland ;____; and demane has proposed to her repeatedly and she would agree in a moment under other circumstances ;________________; and it never even occurred to me that that’s why she was so upset about him taking on his own dragon but of course that would fuck everything up if that’s what she was planning OH NO ;_________________________________________________;

laurence confirmed for boytoy & hideously embarrassed about it flasdfsdkjhfksd 

“But I don’t want someone I want, if I can’t be sure of seeing him one week in the year” crack crack goes the sound of my heart breaking

I hope they find a way to solve this eventually :(

- really interesting what a clear view emily has of roland and laurence’s relationship tho, considering he’s basically her father figure -- like there’s clear affection, physical attraction and camaraderie there but it never feels particularly romantic & they both have other shit to do. (and laurence knows it too on some level, considering his main emotion when she refuses his proposal is relief lol. it really shows off this central conflict he has where like... he has a very clear idea of who he feels he should be and managed to convince himself he was for a long time, and what that man wants and needs (namely very little, emotionally) and is loyal to. aaaand then there’s the person he actually is, who’s been fighting his way to the surface since temeraire showed up in the very first book and sort of woke him up by giving him something he actually loves and values with all of himself and can’t compromise on. proper gentleman/navy!laurence feels like he has to do what society deems decent and marry roland to be a good person, actual!laurence seems to know that what they already have isn’t wrong or immoral in any way as long as they’re both happy with it. ugh I love him and I hope his last remaining character development includes realizing that who he really is is not only acceptable but actually a better man than that imagined perfect self ever could be and how many people love him for who he is already A N Y W A Y onwards)

- the incan dragons continue to be dope as hell

it’s super interesting how they’ve grown to value people -- and not just one special person, like british dragons, but whole groups of people -- over gold and jewels. like the tendency is there in dragons from other cultures; temeraire loves The Bling but would still easily prioritize laurence and his crew over it. presumably some of it is cultural and some of it must stem from the sheer trauma of losing so many people within a few centuries, which is basically living memory for a dragon (which makes it equal parts sympathetic/heartwarming and juuuuust on the edge of being too creepy and possessive haha).

- jeez this book is doing a good job at showing what a haunting fucking sight it must be to enter a land where like. 90% of the people are dead in plague and their cities stand abandoned

- fhasdklhfaskljfhs hammond going full diplomat on the dragons squabbling... he truly is something

and laurence apologizing to demane because he was out of line and he is a fellow captain now T_____T lord allendale could never

- haven’t had a lot to say for a while because I’m just so entranced with the world building and stuff haha, I find the irl history of this area super interesting as well

- ambassador iskierka........ what a time to be alive

poor poor poor granby hahahaha

- if these books were named harry potter style this one would be ‘william laurence and that time he tried to put off wearing his ceremonial robes for as long as humanly possible’

- granby being good at drawing but having atrocious handwriting is such a good little character detail, novik is just so expert at nonchalantly plopping them in 

- temeraire is being haunted by a green-eyed monster the size of a continent huh lol fair play to maila tho, he’s given it his sleazy all right from the start

I can’t believe gong su invented dragon ice cream solely so temeraire could eat it out of a tub over this... the real mvp

- awwww granby <3 I’m glad there’s some actual canonical queer rep in this series as well (as for the technically not stated straight(heh) out in canon... listen my friends if you can come up with any kind of heterosexual explanation for normally extremely sensible tenzing tharkay gazing at his friend and thinking shit like ‘in the fading light he was a statue gilded by sunlight’ and ‘it was a pang not unmixed with pleasure to look on him, as ever’, you are free to try to come at me with it but I won’t believe you lol. also laurence has the most potent disaster bisexual energy of any man in modern media even if he hasn’t quite caught on to it himself) 

tbh I know it’s mostly in desperation but they should come up with some new kind of medal to give granby for having this particular Talk with william laurence, one of the most awkward men to ever walk this earth... braver than any us marine etc.

- temeraire and iskierka in this scene STRONGLY evoke dirtbag teens sneaking off to make out in the backseat of a car or something god bless

- ...I guess you can’t fault the empress for siding with the dude already crashing like a natural catastrophe over his own home continent and who is eyeing the other six like a starving eagle would a pack of mice. all the europeans suck but I guess it’s sort of her best bet to ally herself with the biggest bully on the playground, especially since forces in her own court would be hard pressed to do anything about the situation. respect sister & congratulations granby lol

- hahahahahahaha leave it to hammond to be forcibly adopted by a dragon 

poor churki tho she’s a grownass adult and she only has one weird coke-addled diplomat and three basically adolescent dragons to work with here

- GRANBY SETTING SOME BOUNDARIES FINALLY I’m so proud of him ;__; this book really does have a lot to say about dragon/human relations huh

- LETHABO!!!!!!!!!!! man i’m so happy she’s doing well, she fucking deserves it and she’s doing good work

- laurence has evolved to his ultimate form of give-no-fucks-do-some-good laurence and hammond was not prepared lol 

“You forget yourself, Captain Laurence,” Hammond said . . . 

“I forget nothing,” Laurence answered . . . 

im crying b/c he literally has forgotten before but remembers himself at the end of victory of eagles b/c of tharkay and and aaaaaaaaaaaaaugh here he is refusing to do the dirty work he’s handed once more 

- lily and maximus! this is not a drill it’s the good good kids back at it again. also temeraire’s phenomenally misplaced sense of superiority re: his reaction to kulingile growing bigger than any of them fkshdfksahdfkj

- berkely <3

- poor harcourt :( ah well she’ll survive it tho he wasn’t that important it’s not like she lost her dragon lol (I honestly can’t feel that bad about riley considering y’know how he was not only chill with but actively for the institution of slavery)

- YOOOOOOO GONG SU! and temeraire is so happy they’re going back to china aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah I love this (laurence’s stammering outrage at this reveal is also highly entertaining “he STAYED in my father’s HOUSE!!!!!!!”)

- man that entire last battle scene was so cool in the context of the rest of the series; the sheer effort and ingenuity that went into avoiding a bigger battle and slyly aiding the only worthy cause in the situation (the tswana and freeing the slaves) is so satisfying, especially after VoE

- holy shit I really enjoyed this one! It had a good balance of travelling/character moments and giving us time with the culture and characters of the Inca and their dragons, as well as driving the overall plot forward splendidly! I also feel like we got some more meat to the laurence POV (in hindsight it feels like it was mostly temeraire POV in tongues of serpents, which is fine but I do love our golden boy and his slow burn character development too)

on to blood of tyrants! I don’t know anything about this one except a) amnesia and b) some Very Important Lines I’ve already picked up along the way, I’m not sure I’m prepared (as a trope amnesia can be pretty hit or miss for me, so it’ll be interesting at least!)

[tomfooleryprime]

I love Sarek. But he’s really not that great.

Sarek and Amanda are my favorite couple, not just in Star Trek, but ever. I’ve written more than half a million words of fanfiction about them. I’ve watched episodes featuring them so many times I secretly worry Netflix will put me on blast.

But I am not a Sarek apologist.

I’m pretty sure what draws most people to this couple is the age-old romantic notion that opposites may attract but the power of love can overcome anything. Cue cheesy instrumental music and a torrid kiss in the rain at a train station. I imagine a lot of women see themselves in Amanda, a seemingly regular woman with a regular life. Then they see a successful guy like Sarek, a dude who’s physically fit, well-educated, powerful, and absurdly intelligent, and it’s only natural that a recipe for hotness is born.

Because I’ve devoted literally years to dreaming up various ways this couple might have shacked up and vomiting the results all over AO3, I’ve also been forced to examine the personalities of both characters in great detail, and the only consistent conclusion I come to is fanon (myself included) gets it wrong most of the time.

Their marriage can’t have always been smooth sailing. If you’re not willing to believe me, then believe Amanda. 

Oh sure, there are tons of one-shots where they have little spats, but they almost always end with both of them making heart eyes at each other and jumping into bed. I get that Star Trek originated in the 1960s, but that doesn’t mean Sarek and Amanda had one of those “golly gee” wholesome relationships that could put Ward and June Cleaver to shame. 

Whichever version of Sarek you personally subscribe to, be it Mark Lenard, Ben Cross, or James Frain, it’s entirely possible to find the actors attractive but still think the character of Sarek could use some improvement. It’s also possible to love a character and admire their good qualities while being disappointed in their shortcomings. Maybe it makes me a shitty fangirl. Maybe it makes me realistic.

Literally decades of fanfiction and fan art have polished over Sarek’s unprettier bits, often portraying him as a hopeless romantic, a tender lover, a devoted father, and a man fiercely dedicated to his wife. I’m not going to argue each of those is patently false—hell, as a fanfiction writer, I’ve bought into some of those tropes myself—but I think some are truer than others. Let’s examine the canon.  

When we first meet him in “Journey to Babel,” he’s callous and aloof. He’s Vulcan, I get it, more on that later. But seriously, the guy has a habit of summoning his wife and acts like he doesn’t even know his own damn son. No one should be standing up to enthusiastically applaud and hand the man a husband or father-of-the-year trophy. Even Amanda seems pretty resigned to the arrangement.

I already know what the pushback to this assertion will be. He’s Vulcan! You can’t judge a Vulcan by human standards! Well, his wife is human and one of his sons is half-human, so I would argue that it should at least be an option, but I wrote a whole other essay on Star Trek’s moral relativism problem. 

Long story short, Star Trek glosses over a lot of moral and ethical dilemmas by using the argument, “Who are we to judge a culture we’re not part of?” I can’t answer that, but I will say someone once gave me a great piece of advice that I think applies to this idea of moral relativism: no person’s belief is inherently worthy of respect, but every person is. Maybe to understand Sarek as a person, we should look first at Sarek as a Vulcan.

Obviously Sarek subscribes to Vulcan philosophy, and while Vulcan philosophy seems pure as hell with its pacifism and its belief in embracing Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations (IDIC), I’m going to assert the Vulcan adherence to that philosophy seems to be a little lunch counter in nature. Yes, they take two scoops of resting bitch face and they’ll pass on the extra helping of tolerance. Sarek hails from a culture that is ostensibly exclusionary, sexist, and xenophobic in its practices.

When we encounter Vulcans in Enterprise, they’re people who mock humans for being too volatile, go to war with their Andorian neighbors, and aggressively purge the Syrranites for wanting to get back to the true meaning of Surak. But you might say, but that was before the Federation! They got better when they put T’Pau in charge.

Really? When we meet them next in the chronological timeline in Discovery, they’re telling Sarek they’ll only admit one of his weird social science pet projects (or as Sarek calls them, his kids) to the Vulcan Expeditionary Group.

In the Discovery episode “Light and Shadows,” Amanda reveals that Spock had a learning disability as a young child, which clearly embarrassed Sarek. Sadder still? Amanda explains there didn’t seem to be any educators on Vulcan willing to help a half-Vulcan child with a human learning disability. 

In the alternate timeline, when Spock applies to the Vulcan Science Academy, the admissions folks give him a pat on the back for achieving so much, despite his great disadvantage of having a human mom. Replace the word “human” with any religious, racial, or ethnic group, and see how you still feel about that sentence. 

Yes, Vulcans have racists and nationalists just like the rest of us and it doesn’t seem like they’re a rare breed either. Sarek is clearly attempting to be a better Vulcan, so kudos to him. However, not being an overt racist is not synonymous with sainthood. 

It’s pretty obvious throughout canon that while Sarek loves his wife, he’s uncomfortable with humanity, and he’s doubly perplexed with the humanity she imparted in their son. She even directly accuses him of never truly respecting humanity, to which he replies:

Which, let’s be honest, sounds like the rough equivalent of the “I can’t be racist because I have a black friend” defense. So many things in canon point to Sarek being utterly baffled by humans, not cutely intrigued by them as so often seen in fanon. The only time Spock and Sarek seem chummy with each other is when they’re mocking Amanda’s human emotionalism in “Journey to Babel.” Whether or not he meant to (and he definitely meant to), Sarek raised a son who saw his human half as a thing to be overcome.

Discovery has also hammered a lot of nails into the affectionate father coffin. Up until the final episode in season 1, he never called Michael his daughter and instead referred to her as his ward. It’s nice that he finally got over that technical distinction, but it doesn’t exactly conjure up the image of him tucking her into bed and giving her a kiss on the forehead.

He seems to accept her humanity because, well, she is human, but his own son’s humanity isn’t ok? Not like it matters, because his plan was to mold Michael into a Vulcan-like human anyway, which is pretty weird when you think about it. At one point, Michael tells Sarek she knows he must have considered the effect a Vulcan education and lifestyle might have on a human child, but she wants to know what he wanted Spock to learn from the experience of having a human sibling. His reply?

Which is... nice? He doesn’t say the only reason he took Michael in was for her to be his son’s empathy tutor, but he does essentially admit he was worried Spock was becoming too much of a momma’s boy. So the theory that Sarek was just scooping up orphans all over the galaxy like some kind of Vulcan Angelina Jolie doesn’t seem accurate. It gives the distinct impression that even Sarek thought of his hodge-podge brood as an experiment, at least to a degree.

Now, some may argue that Sarek never told Spock that he had to follow Surak’s teachings, which is true-ish. But that’s like telling a kid, “You don’t have to believe in Jesus” and then sending them to a Christian school in the heart of the Bible belt. What decision did he imagine his son would choose when he decided to raise him on Vulcan and stand by when other kids beat him up for not being Vulcan enough?

Seriously, Spock was almost guaranteed to turn out one of two ways: either he would just try harder to out-Vulcan everyone, which he did, or he would give logic the middle finger, which, well, is the option Sybok chose to run with. 

Despite fanfiction and fanart imagining him as this really hands-on parent who changes diapers and decorates baked goods (yes, I wrote a story like this and I’m calling myself out), he admits he’s the kind of dad who works late in the evenings, not the kind that reads stories at bedtime. 

It’s also no secret that as a parent, Sarek holds grudges. In “Journey to Babel,” Amanda confesses that Sarek and Spock haven’t spoken as father and son for eighteen years. In “Brother,” Michael asks Sarek when the last time he spoke to Spock was and he concedes it’s been years. In “Light and Shadows,” he’s clearly [Vulcan] pissed that Amanda is harboring a fugitive, who also just so happens to be his own son.

Is Sarek just that logical that he believes in justice even at a high personal price, or is he embarrassed that his own estranged son has been accused of murder and appears to be in the clutches of a mental breakdown? As far as I can tell, it might just be a little bit of both. 

Then there’s the idea that Sarek is a caring and devoted husband. Is there actually any evidence for this in canon, other than he was married to Amanda and had a family with her? Lots of people are married and have kids and don’t have a relationship that would rival that annoying couple on This is Us. 

Their relationship doesn’t seem like an equal partnership based on compromise, but rather one where Sarek does what he damn well pleases and Amanda follows along as a dutiful wife. 

Amanda gave up a lot of things to be with him: her home, her culture, and potentially even her own son’s well-being. The woman went to extremes for love not even witnessed on the Bachelor, and why?

In some contexts, that sounds like the powerful kind of love and devotion that epic-poems would be based on. In other contexts, it sounds almost like a pathological self-martyrdom. Did Sarek ever fully appreciate her sacrifices? It’s hard to say, but if he did, I doubt he ever voiced his appreciation. 

In his later years, when Sarek is losing his mind due to an age-related degenerative disease and he mind melds with Captain Picard, he tearfully muses (as Picard), “Amanda. I wanted to give you so much more. I wanted to show you such tenderness. But that is not our way. Spock? Amanda? Did you know?”

He's strongly implying he never told Amanda he loved her out loud. I’m sure he did love her, but it hardly bodes well for the idea that he’s a flowers and handmade cards kind of guy. And as for the notion that behind closed doors, he and Amanda had a super intimate relationship that would make even characters in Harlequin romance novels swoon, please, point me to an episode that makes you think that. I will watch it every day for the rest of my life. 

In summary, between his first chronological appearance in Discovery to his death in The Next Generation, Sarek had a lot of improving to do as a person and we see evidence that he most certainly did. He came to accept Michael as his daughter. He started speaking to Spock again after wrecking his childhood and turning him over to Section 31. Even though it clearly exasperated the hell out of him, he occasionally gave into his wife’s emotional needs. 

But that’s still a pretty far cry away from galaxy’s best father, husband, or lover. I think that’s what draws me to this couple so much. Sarek and Amanda didn’t live happily ever after: they did the best they could and made it work, just like the rest of us non-fictional losers. 

What little we have of canon depicts them as a couple who likely got married before they really knew each other, probably should have spent their first few years of marriage in counseling, eventually figured one another out enough to raise three kids who could all probably benefit from some therapy, and loved each other no matter what, even if it wasn’t out loud.

[ritebeforeyoureyes]

Versace on the Floor

I know it’s the Easter break, but I am incredibly busy at work and studying so, I am unsure of how frequent uploads will be. However, I couldn’t resist writing something in the car because I just got an influx of absolutely amazing messages from some amazing anons; here’s the canon piece that you requested. I can’t stress enough how much you guys motivate me so, thank you x

Masterlist – Plot: Tom’s reaction to Versace on the Floor from Montreal.

Versace On The Floor (One-Shot)

Tom Holland felt like he was star struck daily; of course, he was - he got to work with Robert Downey Jr. for a significant amount of time. However, he was star struck by slightly less overt things too; his dedicated fan base, his family and their ongoing support – Zendaya and her ability to leave him utterly speechless.

He was at home when his phone pinged, signalling the timely message she always sent him when she woke up. Usually it was something grouchy – Zendaya was never a morning person. She’d talk about the sun disrupting her peaceful slumber or how Darnell had forced his way into her room and tugged at her comforter. However, today was different. Today, she’d simply sent him a direct link to something on YouTube - no context. As smitten as a boyfriend that he was, Tom clicked on the link instantaneously, only to find himself absolutely breathless as if Zendaya was sat right before him.

First, he had acknowledged the fact that he was about to watch a Bruno Mars music video as it loaded. Him and Zendaya were big fans of the musician and the song was one that he hadn’t heard before – Versace on the Floor. It wasn’t that surprising that Zendaya had had a fan-girl moment and just sent him the video in her morning excitement. So, Tom watched intently.

But then, Tom double-took. His eyes felt like they were deceiving him, despite it being midday and bright in Montreal, he found himself rewinding the video. And then he did it again and then, once again. Tom was so bewildered he even got Harrison to quadruple check that he wasn’t imagining things.

He wasn’t.

There she was, his girlfriend in a sparkly, Versace dress that clung to every curve of her slim figure. Her hair was pin straight, unlike he’d ever seen before, and her makeup was a sexy level of smouldering. He watched the torture filled video as she bit her lip and stripped out of her clothes; strut around in heels, playfully traced her body with her fingers. And then he watched it one more time. And then another. In fact, Tom watched the video so many times, the lyrics had subconsciously embedded themselves into his brain.

Not only that, Tom was finding a newfound appreciation for his girlfriend’s physicality. He’d always been physically attracted to her, that was an inevitable factor in a relationship but, the video seemed to enhance everything perfect about her – from her head down to her heels. Never had Tom felt a bigger urge to be there with her, to replace her fingers as she traced her figure, to bite her lip the way she did. In this light, she wasn’t just the goofy girl who played the air guitar or who made dad jokes. She was sexy and confident and sometimes Tom failed to distinguish that they were indeed the same person.  

“Okay, enough. Just call Z already.” It hadn’t taken long before Harrison had thrown a pillow at Tom’s face, telling him that he had heard the song enough times for the day. Harrison had inadvertently also heard the song over and over again and he was certain it was destined to be embedded in his head for the rest of eternity.

So, with the catchy melody and the intoxicating image of his girlfriend at the forefront of his mind, Tom sought the privacy of his bedroom before calling Zendaya. Unexpectedly, however, she was busy at this hour of the morning – L.A. time – and Tom found himself doing everything in his power to reach out to her. In their usual discreet yet not discreet way, he liked her post on Instagram, then liked the one that Law, her stylist, posted. Nothing. When he rang again, and she didn’t answer for the second time, he even took to tweeting about it, his mind completely blindsiding the fact that he had just won a Teen Choice Award. Unlike he usually would, there was no heart felt thank you to his fans; his mind and body restless to get Zendaya’s attention.

It wasn’t until what felt like hours later, that Zendaya finally called him back.

“Is it official, did I steal your Lip Sync Battle title?” The first thing Tom noticed was her smirk and the glint of victory evident in her eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Tom tried to sound a little disappointed because Zendaya hadn’t told him about her cameo in the video, but the internet connection was strong, and he couldn’t really focus on anything other than Zendaya’s beautiful face. Golden rays of Los Angeles’ sun filtered through her window and sent casts of shimmer across her caramel skin, making it even harder for Tom to pay attention to anything else.

“Did you like it?” Tom was the first person she’d sent the direct link to. She’d been on set for the video a few weeks ago and had decided to keep it a secret from him. When Bruno had initially gotten into contact about her being in his video, Zendaya had been eager to call Tom and rub it in his face. Their playful “I’m going to crush you” banter from the Lip Sync Battle was ongoing and it was safe to say that Zendaya was incredibly competitive. However, it was a few minutes later that she decided that ambushing Tom with the edited video was more effective than just telling him she was starring in it. And it had clearly worked.

“Did I like it?” Tom scoffed, his teeth grasping onto his bottom lip unintentionally. He more than just liked it. He was in love with it; Bruno, the song - the video girl. “Babe, there’s no place I’d rather be in this world-“

“Are you quoting Bruno?” Zendaya chuckled whole heartedly, her hands flying to her stomach as she tried to control her influx of laughter. It was then that Tom noticed he had indeed directly referenced a line from the song. “How many times have you listened to it today?”

Sheepishly, Tom looked down at his lap, his face turning an unsightly shade of red. “How many times, Thomas?”

“I lost count after nine.” Tom’s voice was barely audible but Zendaya had heard him.

“What was that?” To reiterate her competitiveness, Zendaya cupped her ear mockingly, urging him to repeat himself.

“I lost count after nine, okay?” Tom said, this time significantly louder. “You looked, look beautiful, babe.”

“Thanks, shawty.” Zendaya winked, the butterflies swarming in the pits of her stomach. That was one of the many things she loved about Tom, his ability to reassure her of how beautiful she was; both dressed up and in makeup and dressed down and messy (like she currently was) “So does this mean I technically won Lip Sync?”

“I guess it does.” Tom reluctantly raised his palms to the sky in surrender. “Now turn down the lights and close the door-“

“Okay, loser, you can stop quoting the song now-“

“Oh, I didn’t realise I was still doing that.” Tom’s mouth fell open a little in confusion. He really had seen and heard the song too many times if the lyrics were subconsciously filtering into his everyday speech. “But, I was being serious – turn down the lights and close the door. It’s time for your prize, champ.”

“Wait, what-“

“I can’t be in L.A. for another few weeks and I can’t wait that long, Z-“ Noticeably, the couple were always disheartened about their time apart, but they understood it was the nature of their field of work.  And as their time apart extended, so did their sexual frustration.

Tom felt his own words stimulate his libido and he was thankful that Harrison was downstairs and entertained by video games.

“Wait that long for what-“ The gears seemed to turn in Zendaya’s head and this time, it was her turn to blush a furious shade of red. “Oh!” Zendaya now awkwardly looked everywhere but at her phone screen.  There was just something about his penetrating gaze that made her feel hot and heavy and before she could even contemplate what she was doing, she was doing it.

She was booking her flights for a spontaneous weekend in Montreal, Canada.

If you enjoyed this piece and would like to help further me and my work, please support me whilst I get through university. The money you donate will go towards assisting me in my student fees. It is one hundred per cent a voluntary pursuit and greatly appreciated, however, your lovely comments and votes are always welcomed too. Thank you for being the greatest: https://ko-fi.com/D1D072V0

[maddie-grove]

The Stark Romance Saga--Book #4: The Maiden of the Riverlands

Previous Installments: Loved I Not Honor More (Book #1, Robb Stark/Jeyne Westerling), The Iron Scoundrel (Book #2, Theon Greyjoy/Asha “Not His Sister in This Universe” Harlaw), Kissing the Kingslayer (Book #2.5, Catelyn Stark/Jaime Lannister), A Fire in Winter (Book #3, Jon Snow/Ygritte), and The Winter Bride (Book #3.5, Samwell Tarly/Gilly).

Note: This installment takes place roughly four years after the end of Sam’s book, which takes place about a year after the end of Jon’s book. Westeros is making progress, albeit slow, in its war against the White Walkers, and there has been a rather cool, brief spring and summer in the meantime. Queen Daenerys is on the throne, although she’s reached a Dornish compromise with the North, making it a principality. Dany’s doing a fine job on the whole, although she’s met with some difficulties, and has a reputation as a fair and kind ruler despite the whole dragon thing.

Other Note: I made Lord Londrew Frey up, because I have no idea which Frey would inherit the Twins after the foiled Red Wedding in Robb’s book. My other thought was making it Big Walder Frey; however, I have a soft spot for that little guy. He may be disturbingly casual about cousin-murder, but he has standards!

The Style

Sweet, drama-filled, and slightly off-kilter 1990s Patricia Gaffney or Susan Wiggs.

The Leads

Nymeria of High Heart (Nan for short), 20 years old, a folk heroine of the Riverlands. With her sword-fighting skills and the help of her direwolf, Sharra, she defends the poor, the weak, and the unprotected from unscrupulous outlaws and cruel lords alike. Dwells in a makeshift cottage near High Heart with only Sharra for company, living partly off the land and partly off the gifts of thankful Riverlanders. Has many friends, including the Brotherhood without Banners, but won’t get too close to anyone. Can’t remember anything before she was fourteen and found herself on the back of a wagon to Castle Black, disguised as a boy. It hurts too much to think about that time, so she’s resolved not to wonder about her past. Really, of course, ARYA STARK.

Gendry, 25 years old, a blacksmith at the inn-turned-orphanage at the crossroads and a member of the Brotherhood without Banners. Less angry than his canon counterpart due to improved circumstances, but still grumpy. An orphan from King’s Landing, he was apprenticed to a blacksmith who abruptly packed him off to join the Night’s Watch. Upset by his master’s rejection and embittered by the atrocities he witnessed in the Riverlands, he found a sense of belonging with the Brotherhood and with the kids who frequently mob him at work. Lately, though, he’s beginning to wonder if he should want more from life. Good friends with Nan, who survived the war alongside him and saved his life a couple of times. 

The Prologue

Shortly after her escape from Sandor Clegane and return to the Brotherhood, an exhausted fifteen-year-old Nan wanders away from the group and has a full-fledged emotional breakdown on a riverbank over everything she’s been through. She only stops crying when a gigantic direwolf approaches her. Instead of eating her, the beast licks her tears away and demands to be petted. Feeling better than she has in a long time, Nan takes the direwolf back to the camp and informs the wary Brotherhood that this is Sharra, named after a witch queen from a song. That night, she dreams about a family in a castle surrounded by snow.

The Set-Up

The Brotherhood without Banners and the Heddle sisters get together and throw a very merry harvest party at the inn at the crossroads. Gendry only goes because he lives there, but is pleasantly surprised to see Nan dancing with an extremely drunk Thoros of Myr. She’s been making herself scarce lately and, while he won’t admit it in so many words, he’s missed her. As they banter, dance, and drink a bit of cider, he also realizes that he’s attracted to her. He resolves to mash down his feelings--she obviously views him as an overbearing older brother and couldn’t possibly be interested--until she calls all his assumptions into question by saying something like, “Yo, nice ass, Gendry.” Long story short, they end up having awesome sex. The next morning, she bids him a cheerful but glib adieu before running back to High Heart, leaving him to wonder if he irrevocably ruined their friendship.

The two don’t speak again until a week later, when Gendry visits Nan’s cottage with news of an interesting matter: Lord Londrew Frey has been cheating his smallfolk by giving them almost no share of the grain that they harvest. Londrew claims that he’s sending the grain to the Night’s Watch to help the war effort, but there’s evidence that he’s selling it overseas instead. Nan agrees to help, although she’s not sure how to do it; she can steal from the Twins and exchange the loot for food for the smallfolk, but that’s only a short-term solution. 

The conversation trails off, and Gendry finally reveals the other reason he came to see her: he wants to talk about That Night and What It Means. He’s halting and awkward. They’ve been friends for a long time, he says, so of course he cares about, um, what happens to her. He knows she never...you know...and what if there’s a child, Nan? He never thought about marrying, but, well... (He doesn’t say that he’s never thought about anything beyond the next task, next meal and next catastrophe until recently, and now he’s not sure how to do it.)

Nan angrily rebuffs him. (She doesn’t say how much she cares about him, how often she thinks about that night, or how badly she longs for a real family. Even if he felt more than friendship and duty, she would lose him eventually, and she can’t stand to lose anyone else.) Stung, Gendry rants about her decision to live all alone in a pile of sticks like a crazy old woods witch. Eventually the rant becomes less “insulting” and more “seriously, are you sleeping at all?” Nan admits that she’s been dreaming more and more about the war and a strange Northern family, one of whom looks like her. In his taciturn way, Gendry expresses sympathy. They watch Sharra play among the weirwood stumps for a while, and then Nan’s face lights up.

“You know,” she says, “someone once thought I looked like a Stark girl.”

The Middle

After an obligatory “wait, WHAT” from Gendry, the two journey to Acorn Hall to get some help from Lady Smallwood, a longtime ally of the Brotherhood. They run into some heartwarming hijinks along the way, mostly brought on by the fact that Nan is beloved by every farmer, prostitute, and orphan in the Riverlands, while Gendry has one of those vibes that make little kids demand that he give them a ride on his shoulders or look at a cool rock they found. Lady Smallwood is pleased to see them and embarrasses Nan by reminiscing about when she was just a wee lass. She grows grave, though, once Nan’s dressed up as a lady in her daughter’s old clothes.

“You do have the Stark look, come to think,” she says. Nan repeats what she now tells everyone, including herself--she comes from King’s Landing and never knew her family--but her dreams are even more vivid that night.

The next day, Nan and Gendry head for the Twins, “disguised” as Arya Stark and her sworn sword. They flirt on the way, despite her determination to keep her distance and his to not renew the sentiments she found so disgusting. Once they arrive at their destination, the Frey household scoffs at Nan’s imperious claims that she is the lost Arya and, by the way, Lord Londrew better stop his peasant-cheating bullshit. Then several older Frey cousins remark that she is the very picture of Lady Lyanna Stark at the Tourney at Harrenhal, causing Lord Londrew turns courteous and welcome her to his home. (Nobody remarks on Nan’s direwolf, as she left Sharra to roam in the woods; she’ll risk her own life, but not her big pup’s.) Nan grandly agrees, even as Gendry grumbles through his teeth that they’re either planning to kill her for being the false Arya or being the real one.

They argue more after she’s shown to her chambers. He reminds her of the famous aborted Red Wedding; she reminds her that they’re both armed to the teeth and smarter than any Frey, plus she thinks they can find proof of Londrew’s dirty dealings to send to Lord Edmure Tully. Their argument “devolves” into some sexy lady/sworn sword roleplay.

Later that night, they’re both shocked when the Freys take Gendry captive (with some difficulty, of course). He has all the markings of a Robert Baratheon bastard, and Londrew thinks he can use him to cause trouble for Queen Daenerys in a Blackfyre Rebellion kind of way. Londrew locks him in a dungeon and Nan in her room. He reveals that he knows who Nan is: an outlaw who comes from nowhere and belongs to no one. He further taunts her with his intention to create false hope for the Starks and Tullys by informing them of “Arya’s” survival, and hopes out loud that they kill Nan out of anger when they learn the “truth.”

Gendry has a dark night of the soul. Spurred by his resentment at being abandoned by his father and used as a pawn by the Freys, he realizes that he isn’t helping himself or anyone else by merely existing in the Riverlands. Whether or not he ends up with Nan or does something with his discovery of his parentage, he has to take charge of his life by going to see Queen Daenerys himself...but first he has to survive this ordeal with the Freys.

Luckily, Nan has already made her escape, thanks to a combination of technical skills and the goodwill of several Freys who are downtrodden or too loyal to Roslin Frey to fuck with her husband’s family’s emotions like that. She springs Gendry from the dungeon; he helps in this endeavor by promising to put in a good word for them with the queen. Reunited, they flee into the night. Gendry tells her that he wants to marry her, whether Daenerys recognizes him as her cousin or not. Nan says she’ll marry him when he comes back; she privately believes he’ll change his mind if his status improves, but almost losing him to the Freys has taught her that refusing to care about him hurts more than letting herself love him. They make love one last time before parting ways, he for King’s Landing and she for Riverrun.

The Conclusion

Nan reaches Riverrun and begs an audience with Lord Edmure Tully, who accepts her request. As a lord who takes his obligations to his vassals seriously, he can appreciate her defense of the smallfolk despite her worrying outlaw status. Once he sees her, though, he’s bowled over by her resemblance to Brandon, Ned, Lyanna, and Benjen (plus the wolf), despite having reservations thanks to Catelyn’s harrowing experience with the false Aryas. Yet his reaction is nothing to Nan’s. Edmure’s Tully look brings back memories of Catelyn, Robb, Sansa, Bran, and Rickon. Then she remembers Ned and Jon, the only ones who looked like her. And everything else comes back when she remembers Jon: Needle, Bran’s accident, the journey to King’s Landing, her terrible final fight with Sansa, her father’s death. Edmure and Roslin take pity on the disheveled young woman sobbing in their hall, and give her a bed and some ale before gently trying to sort everything out.

Meanwhile, Gendry arrives in King’s Landing. He visits Tobho Mott, now an old man, and learns that he was sent away for his own protection at Ned Stark’s command, not outright abandoned. Then he goes to Daenerys’s throne room to wait in line with the general population, When the time comes, he publicly announces who he is and pledges his loyalty, telling her bluntly that he’d rather go ahead and get eaten by her dragons than be endlessly used as a pawn and start another war like the one he lived through.

“Okay, respect,” Daenerys says, enjoying both the anti-oppression message and the drama. She has him taken to a more private chamber and, after find out his whole deal from Varys, meets with him. She reveals that she used to want to Kill All Baratheons, but then she realized that her family’s downfall was more nuanced than she’d been led to believe, plus it didn’t take her long to love her cousins Shireen Baratheon and Mya Stone. She’s happy to find another cousin, having known very little of family, and his loyalty means a great deal to her. Seriously, he can name the region and she’ll find him a castle or at least some unclaimed land. Does he want a title? A last name?

“Um,” says Gendry, utterly overwhelmed. “Is there anything near High Heart?”

At the same time, Nan/Arya has recovered enough from her shock to be merely completely wigged out. She doesn’t know if she can handle being Arya--she can barely handle being Nan--or if her family will even want the wild, haunted outlaw she’s become. And will Gendry want her as Arya Stark? Unsure what to do, she sneaks out of Riverrun, grabs Sharra/her namesake Nymeria, and rides like hell to High Heart.

Several days later, Gendry arrives at Riverrun, which is in an utter uproar. Edmure and Roslin are frantic about having possibly lost the real Arya; Brynden Tully is trying to get everyone to calm down so the fallout won’t be too bad when they find out she’s a fake; Jaime Lannister is lounging decadently around the great hall and grousing about how well the supposed Real Arya hid herself from him; and, most important, Jon Snow and Sansa Stark are there, tense and worried.

“Wait,” says Gendry, “you’re telling me the Freys got something right for once?”

There’s another uproar when everybody realizes that this is the newly acknowledged Baratheon bastard, cousin to the queen, and that he’s been traveling alone with the Lost Arya. 

(“You better be prepared to marry her,” threatens Edmure. 

“Why?” Jaime asks. “She can do better.”)

Eventually, Jon and Sansa manage to speak to Gendry alone. They tell him how desperately they want Arya back, and how afraid they are that this won’t be her. Nobody’s even told Catelyn about this latest hope, because it will be too hard on her. They describe what Arya was like as a kid. Jon tells him how close they were; he’s missed her every day of his life since he went to the Wall. Sansa talks about how annoyed she used to get with Arya back then, and how stupid it all seems now; she’d give anything to see her sister’s messy hair and muddy face again. They’re both worried that, even if this is the real Arya, she won’t want to come back after so much time. But they would let her go, if that would make her happy.

With a sinking feeling, Gendry knows that the girl from their stories can’t be anyone but Nan. He also knows that a Stark lady is too highborn to marry a bastard, even an acknowledged one with royal connections. Still, he can’t keep the truth from her.

“That sounds like Nan,” he tells them. “Follow me. I’ll talk to her first.”

So they all head up to High Heart, where Nan/Arya has resumed her solitary existence. Sharra/Nymeria bounds out immediately and aggressively licks Jon and Sansa before going off to roughhouse with Ghost. Nan/Arya, though, refuses to come out of her hut; however, she reluctantly lets Gendry come inside. He tells her that she can be Nan or Arya or anyone else--she’ll be great no matter who she is, and he’ll love her. They can live in the woods or at the Inn with the orphans or in the castle the queen promised him. Or, if her family doesn’t mind, in Winterfell. Because they love her, too.

“How can they?” Arya demands. “You know what I’ve done, what I am. I was never what they wanted, and now? I’m an outlaw, and a killer, and I’m no one at all.”

At which point Sansa sweeps majestically into the hut, with Jon at her heels.

“You’re not no one,” she tells Arya. “You’re Arya Stark. My sister. And if I didn’t want you, it was because I didn’t know what it would be like to lose you.”

"And you’re a champion of the Riverlands, from what we hear,” says Jon. “Do you remember the sword I gave you?”

“Needle,” says Arya. 

Soon all three siblings are crying and hugging and, when Gendry tries to absent himself, Arya pulls him into the embrace.

“This is Gendry,” she tells her siblings. “He’s coming with us to Winterfell.”

The Epilogue

Arya, Gendry, Jon, and Sansa arrive at Winterfell, Ghost and Nymeria on their heels. Arya wonders aloud if she can find a way to be a lady and still be herself. “Probably,” says Gendry, “but you don’t have to be a lady to be Arya.” The conversation turns to how he’ll adjust to his life as the queen’s acknowledged cousin, including whether he’ll give himself a last name. Arya teases him about becoming “Gendry Stark,” but he says that sounds just fine to him, and she sees his point.

Finally, they get to Winterfell, and almost everyone is there: Robb, Bran, Rickon, Theon, Old Nan, Hodor, Maester Luwin, Princess Jeyne, Ygritte, and a passel of new nieces and nephews. And, of course, Catelyn, who practically falls on her long-lost daughter. They show her the place they’ve set for her at the table all these years, and she sits down with her family.

Subplots 

Twenty-two-year-old Sansa begins to feel restless after a few much-needed years of safety and stability with her family. Catelyn and Robb are both overprotective of her after her ordeal in King’s Landing, encouraging her to delay considering marriage for a few more years and getting nervous if she ventures outside the castle walls. She’s secretly fearful of the outside world herself, but she still wants to do something with her life. So she starts up a correspondence with her old friend/flirt Margaery Tyrell, who shares some highly interesting news about King’s Landing

Nineteen-year-old Bran similarly feels stifled by his well-meaning family, who tend to treat him as a child to some degree despite his physical/emotional maturity and the Very Real Psychic Shit he’s dealing with. (He and Sansa joke about it sometimes.) The arrival of Meera and Jojen Reed, two siblings around his age who know what he’s dealing with and are generally cool, make life a little easier to deal with. 

After a years-long exile as Queen Daenerys’s ambassador in Pentos, Tyrion Lannister returns to King’s Landing to be Hand of the King. He has a fearsome reputation as a killer, only partially earned, and a WHOLE lot of unresolved trauma. When Petyr Baelish approaches him with a crass offer to go into the brothel business together, Tyrion begins to suspect that something more sinister is afoot. Also, he’s not sure if Sandor Clegane wants to kill him or just really likes glaring at people. 

[diverdowns]

narciso anasui - 1 am character analysis

so, anasui — one of my favorite jjba characters, he’s probably somewhere around third or fourth on my list. i’ll do a quick rundown of his background and personality before i go in-depth into some of the arcs he’s in as well as some of his quotes, notably from the heavy weather arc and the made in heaven arc.

(as you might expect, major spoilers for all of part 6.)

i’ve tried to go easy on the headcanons and focus more on actual character analysis / meta stuff, so here we go.

anasui probably has some serious abandonment issues — we see in canon that it’s mentioned anasui had some major issues connecting with other people growing up, and so he developed a stilted sense of empathy + an obsession with dismantling / disassembling things. this presumably carried over to people — perhaps an underlying subconscious desire to understand people’s motivations that he couldn’t read on the surface through social cues that had, until that point, gone over his head. (or maybe he just really liked tinkering. who knows.)

judging at least from his obsession being allowed to grow unrestricted and out of hand as he continued to suffer socially as a result of it, we can probably assume that anasui’s parents probably didn’t care about him too much — at worst, they may have been neglectful or abusive. still, everything abt his parents is just speculation. notably mentioned in canon though: as a child, he disassembled his neighbor’s car, and was institutionalized for six months. being placed in a place like that for that long of a time does shit to you, and it’s def nothing pretty. add likely parental neglect to the equation, and you have abandonment issues just waiting to erupt.

(as a side note, psychologically, this is an obsessive ritual that can be seen in a number of conditions from asperger’s to alzheimer’s, so honestly any kind of mental illness speculation is fair game for anasui, but this isn’t the post for that.)

whatever the case, he seems to assimilate back into society once his awkward phase ended, though his strange upbringing probably left some lifelong habits / scars there, who knows. he doesn’t do anything to warrant serious attention until he’s 21. at this point, he has a (presumably) long-term, monogamous girlfriend — if it’s anything like the way he treated jolyne, we know that anasui is… overbearing, to say the least. in any case, he walks in on his girlfriend cheating on him when he makes a surprise visit to his girlfriend’s house, and murdered both of them, dismembering them so that “they would never come together again.”

it’s never mentioned if anasui was a stand user since birth, so we can assume he either used diver down to do all this disassembling or he was just…really good at taking things (and people) apart, but it’s likely that he’d had diver down from a young age — up until he’s imprisoned, it doesn’t seem like he was doing anything in particular that would’ve caused him to be normally strong enough to kill two grown adults on the spot, without the help of a stand. (then again, anasui’s capable of some pretty fucked up things either way, so this is just my speculation / hc.)

after his imprisonment, he has a full psychiatric analysis and — nobody can find anything technically wrong with him. besides his obsessive ritual and explosive temper, he’s…just a regular guy, albeit somewhat of an asshole. emporio mentions that his original obsession’s cause was never really discovered, as well. the murder of his girlfriend and girlfriend’s lover was highly publicized, his name being spread through news both on tv and in newspapers, so presumably the details of the crime were sufficiently brutal.

anasui shows a stunning lack of regard for most people’s wellbeing — for the most part, he ignores F.F. and offers little help as she fights kenzo and his dragon dream — though jolyne (and by extension, jotaro) is a notable exception. anasui claims to have fallen in love at first sight, attracted to jolyne by her iron will and strong determination to do the right thing and save her father, and expresses a strong desire to marry her. actually, when jolyne’s involved, he has an almost humorous lack of self-preservation — eg. during the green birth arc, when jolyne’s infected with a presumably fatal plant…infection…disease….thing, anasui not only touches the flowers growing across jolyne’s skin (trying to use his stand to destroy them from inside of jolyne’s body, to no avail) but also puts the flowers in his mouth, which while being played for laughs is also ridiculously foolish. (in general, though anasui ricochets heavily from being the comic relief character to being the stoic yet brash character in the main ensemble, mostly after weather’s death) there’s kind of an explanation for his reckless behavior, coming up later.

(keeping all of this in mind, and despite anasui’s willingness to use his stand to protect the main cast to the point of taking fatal blows for them, he is definitely not a good person. i just want to get that out of the way before someone accuses me of being like, an apologist lmao)

ok, so let’s go thru anasui’s main appearances, from his introduction onward.

emporio goes on to mention that “if weather report wasn’t here to keep [anasui] calm, there’s no telling what anasui’d do.” seeing as anasui is imprisoned when he’s 21, as mentioned in his introductory chapter, and he’s 25 when SO takes place, four years have passed since he’s landed in green dolphin street jail. (for reference, his sentence is for 12 years — relatively light for a double homicide, all things considered — so he’s served a third of that.) presumably, he’s known weather report for at least a majority of that time, as they at least have enough of a rapport for weather to keep anasui out of serious trouble. (weather is 39 during the events of SO. weather, for reference, has been in prison for around 20 years, since pucci took his memories from him when he was 16. also, at the beginning of the BR arc, weather has trouble using a sink that anasui with his impressive sink knowledge notes has been around in modern plumbing for at least 20 years. as a quick side note, anasui seems to have a ridiculous knowledge, in general, of a lot of mechanical things in general — during the yo-yo-ma arc, he spouts off the specifications of a random machine gun after just glancing at it.)

at the end of ch 697 we also just see a scene of weather and anasui hanging out in what appears to be some random ass hallway in the male ward of the prison with no guards around, so take that as you will lol. the two have presumably been hanging around each other for a while like this, so that’s interesting, at least.

the BR arc is where i really got into anasui, so let’s go a little in-depth on those chapters. anasui seems to know a whole bunch of random facts about disney world (though he holds a theme park guide in his hands while he spouts a bunch of random disney world facts, he doesn’t seem to look at it / open it until after he finishes talking, which draws out the legendary “where the fuck is mickey” line). he also mentions manhattan and rome, and how he’s been to neither of those places. it’s probably safe to assume that anasui is floridian — but maybe he’s just really passionate about orlando, who knows. he seems pretty passionate about sinks, too. other than that, not much real information is released here besides things like “anasui’s very passionate about mickey” and “weather report is a fan of post-impressionism”

so, on to the Fun Arc. heavy weather. when weather first gets his memories back, the first things he does, in order, are shove a injured person out of a chair, take said chair, and then force water into a doctor’s body to make him into a chair.

anasui, despite being a literal murderer and honestly doing plenty of fucked up things over the course of the series, flips his shit. he’s legitimately horrified, probably less so from what weather’s doing and more so that it’s weather that’s doing it. actually, weather kinda acts like anasui, honestly, so maybe this is also just anasui being a giant hypocrite, but hey. he’s literally described between chapters as having no idea what’s going on and being pretty freaked out — he’s just following weather at this point because he still has no idea where jolyne is.

(im going to note for my own self-satisfaction that despite weather’s whole “you’re only useful to me now cause you can kill me, anasui” line and all that, when pucci grabs anasui during weather’s fight against him, weather visibly reacts and gets worried regardless, so hey, my rarepair)

okay, after weather’s death, anasui makes a mini speech. (arguably, weather’s death is the turning point for anasui to take more of a serious and less of a comedic role.) here’s what he says:

“listen, jolyne. people have called me a ‘murderer.’ the papers have called me that, and i can’t say that i disagree with them. when people asked me if i would sacrifice myself for the sake of my family, i answered ‘no.’ i’d probably answer that way, now. my heart was never moved by them.”

(more evidence to suggest that anasui’s relationship with his family wasn’t necessarily the best.)

“but i know that i’d be willing to risk my life for something that was able to revive me. i used to be dead.”

interjection here: whether he’s talking about his betrayal (when his girlfriend cheated) or maybe just a general feeling of aimlessness towards life in general, this is pretty dark for anasui, actually. it’s one of the only times he even talks abt his crimes, and this is an interesting concept that araki explores a few times with multiple characters. (eg. anasui risks his life to revive himself with “love,” or what he thinks is love, in any case, to follow jolyne. abbacchio does something similar to follow buccellati, in p5. weather “revives himself” for revenge, and johnny in p7 for the hope of walking again.)

prior to giving himself a mission (jolyne), anasui thinks of himself as functionally dead. this also explains, for example, his nonchalance towards risking his own life and wellbeing for the others.

“weather was that way, too. weather came back to life when he left that prison. i can tell. so don’t think too deeply about what happened to him. these past few days, weather was happy. weather was already saved.”

— okay, in my mind, most of this is just shit anasui says to make jolyne and hermes feel better about weather’s sudden death. to an extent, it’s true: weather prior to getting his memories back was enraptured with the world outside the prison, helping innocent people, messing with sinks, reading fairy tales, but that’s not really the truth. after getting his memories back, weather admits to wanting to die, admitting that he took a cruel sense of pleasure in watching heavy weather run its course and telling anasui that in a twisted way, he’s glad anasui’s there so that he’d kill him. weather’s not happy.

(but who knows? in the end, the character that actually knew weather for the longest was anasui — maybe he’s right and that there was something that revived in weather that we didn’t get to see as the readers.)

but what’s interesting is that he doesn’t mention weather’s sudden transformation after getting his memories back, he lets jolyne and hermes carry on the weather they knew in their thoughts, instead of telling them the truth of weather’s personality. on my second read-through, i noticed that (besides pucci, i guess, and versace by proxy) anasui is the only one who sees weather’s true personality.

and maybe, dying for the sake of his goal (ie. weather’s attempted revenge) was close enough to redemption, in anasui’s eyes. if we pick apart weather’s final goals, he’s living only so that he can 1. take revenge on pucci and 2. die. honestly, in a sad, fucked up anasui-logic kind of way, weather dying in his attempt to kill pucci at least fulfills half of those goals, so it’s not a stretch that anasui could shrug and say “close enough i guess.” but imo, he still says what he does mostly to ease jolyne and hermes’ consciences. it’s one of his kinder moments.

in the actual final fight against pucci, anasui’s probably just behind jotaro in terms of fully grasping and understanding pucci’s abilities — and their implications in battle. his final plan is the only one they really have: because diver down is able to phase through and protect all of the others, he will take the first hit from pucci, and at that exact moment jotaro will stop time and presumably ora pucci into oblivion.

it doesn’t work, but the plan had merit and was surprisingly well thought-out, showing quite a few of his personality traits — while he’s angry and headstrong most of the time, he’s relatively good at thinking on his feet and is always quick to come up with plans, especially in battle. now let’s look at his last lines.

“don’t stop [pucci’s blow] before he hits me. do it after…”

while all the other characters pause and stare at him in shock after he says this, he’s relatively calm about it. he knows it’s the only chance they have, regardless of the danger it poses to himself. dying, to anasui, is not the worst that can happen — it’s having to live again with no purpose (which he’s established, atm, as jolyne).

“ever since i got out of prison, i’ve managed to stay alive… if i can just stay alive, keep this trend… then maybe i’ll ask jolyne to marry me. …or, you know, something like that.”

a lot of people do make light of this (and it’s somewhat comedic, for sure) but it’s interesting again to see how much this drives him. before i really get into it, let’s take a look at jolyne’s (infamous) response.

(jolyne:) “anasui… all right, ask me. […] your plan… it still as hope. it’s not darkness that drives you… even if there’s only one path that we can take, if there’s a hint of hope, then that’s the right path.

holy shit do i love this quote. in the end, anasui’s not… redeemed, not really. he’s still a murderer. he still feels no remorse over killing those people. but he’s not evil, either. his motivation is that he wants to live for real: he is driven by hope. and through all the morally grey protagonists of parts 5 on, this is what they all have in common: a hope or dream that gives someone who’d thought themselves dead something to live for. jolyne doesn’t say this because she’s suddenly in love with anasui, or because she wants to marry them, she says it because she’s realizing this — she’s realizing that anasui’s hope, his resolve, might be enough for this plan to work.

actually, in the end, in an ironic twist of fate, he does die for — and by — jolyne’s hand. (hah.) pucci redirects stone free’s punch into anasui’s torso, piercing through his chest and killing him near instantly. rip. and that, in any case, draws an end to this wall of text.

also i think one random fic i read mentioned a throwaway line that anasui apparently had about him having been married once in prison? i dont recall anything like that, but someone else has confirmed it (i’d love to find the source, if anyone has it!)

i’d love to get into the whole thing about his motivation in the first place: why anasui “falls in love” with jolyne and why that matters, as well as possible subconscious motivations for his obsessions/his stand ability but that’s falling solidly into the territory of hc’s, and not so much analysis/meta. 

i’ll write it up some other time, maybe, if there’s interest.

[bluejay73ffs]

Darkstalkers headcanons

Hoo Boy, where do I begin? How about with the LGBT Headcannons1. Morrigan Aensland is Asexual. This one is a bit long, but hear me out. So firstly: in the Darkstalkers Universe, succubi don't feed off humans from sex to live, their bodies naturally produce a special fluid that keeps them alive, and this fluid is produced whenever the succubus is mentally stimulated. Two: (Keep in mind that I am basing this next part solely on what I've seen of the very little gameplay of the Darkstalkers Games (Not the cross-overs like Marvel VS Capcom because I'm not sure if those games are Cannon or not) as well as the anime that came out in 1998 and I really freaking love it and you all should watch it, as well as lore that I've looked into.) Her attitude never portrays her as being attracted to someone for their body. I've noticed she gravitates towards people who pique her interest. (Other evidence to support this is that she is always running away from the castle because she finds it boring) She tends to gravitate towards Dimitri, not because her being romantically interested in him, but rather her curiosity of what he does in certain situations (Like when he was first invading Makai, or when he got his ass kicked by Pyron) Likewise, she shows a passing interest in Donovan Baine, the incredible half-human/half-darkstalker that was able to beat a foe that not even the wannabe King of Makai could beat. Thirdly: I've seen people make the argument of, "How could she be asexual with an outfit like that?" and newsflash, a person's clothing does not dictate if they are sexually active or not. I don't need to say any more on that, plenty of people have said it better than I could. Her outfits are just that, outfits, that she finds comfortable and that also look good on her.2. Felicia is Bisexual. This one isn't as big and in-depth as Morrigan's, but hey, I just think that she is. Of course, she wouldn't be dating anyone considering she's a Nun.Going on to other character headcannons:3. Okay, so I should state that pretty much everything about Lilith Aensland's existence confuses me, because she and Morrigan have that whole mother-daughter/twin sister/same person kinda deal going on. Also, fun note that I just discovered is that she is canonically hermaphroditic (and before anyone yells at me to tell me the proper term is "intersex" I know that there is a difference between hermaphroditic and intersex. Hermaphroditic is a sub-category of intersex, and most hermaphroditic people I have talked to are comfortable with that word being used to describe them) Anyways, on to the headcannon. I personally believe that Lilith might go on to be the leader of Makai. Let's look at the facts: Morrigan doesn't want to. Lilith is technically part of Morrigan, therefore also eligible to the throne by blood. After she fled from Jedah's manipulation, she had a whole comic/manga series about her coming to terms with her existence (I've read bits and pieces but I would really like to read the whole thing if anyone can hook me up) and afterwards, she has a lot of personal growth, and a lot more drive than we've ever seen out of Morrigan.4. Felicia, Lord Raptor, and Jon Talbain are all probably buddy buddy given the events of the anime. (Side Note: I love Lord Raptor's quote from the anime, "I'm a bit of a non-denominational meself." simply for how he says it)5. Felicia is probably not a Roman Catholic nun, but rather a member of the Liberal Catholic Church, or possibly simply part of the Independent Catholic Movement. So, despite the name, the Liberal Catholic Church are not necessarily politically liberal, it just means that they don't follow the Pope, and believe in more independence for differing parishes (that is a very loose and rough definition). In the end of her story of the first game, she becomes a Catholic Nun. She was also raised by a Roman Catholic Nun. Then why is it, that she states (and I quote from the anime) "I'm not really a fan of organized religion." which completely clashes with the ideals of the Roman Catholic Church's structure (that much I know because I was raised Catholic). Plus, seeing as how a lot of the Church's international leaders HATE Darkstalkers, she probably would not even be allowed to be a Nun for them in the Darkstalkers universe.6. Dimitri Maximoff is a little bitch. That's not really a headcannont, that's just the way I feel about him.Other/Miscellaneous Headcannons:7. Pyrrhon from Kid Icarus Uprising was most likely based on Pyron. They're both flaming sun gods with a pompous and overly confident attitude that try to destroy/rule the world and both believe that they are the most powerful creature in existence until they both end up losing to an underdog character.That's all I can think of for now. Sorry for the long post, but I really enjoyed talking about all these headcannons! Thank you for the ask!

[yyhfanfiction]

Work For It by Eggynn

T | English | Humor/Romance | Multi-Chapter | 130,119 words | In Progress

On: FanFiction.net

Summary: “I'm in my twenties and I'm not really going anywhere. This is the story of being desperate for a job and trying to stay normal in a world of red-haired sociopaths who I can't help but fall in love with. Kurama x OC.”

Overall Score: 95.35%

Read more below (warning: SPOILERS!).

Note: As this review was completed on a work-in-progress, the reviewer comments should be taken with a grain of salt.

Canon Plausibility

Definition: How well the plot and characters aligned with the original story universe.

Score: 5.00/5.00

A high score for this element indicates that the story blended into the original universe well. This includes the characters being portrayed as they originally were, and that the plot and/or any original characters aligned with the sense of the universe as well.

Reviewer comments: The author did a great job at canonically representing the characters and any original characters fit well into the YYH-verse. Additionally, the author went above and beyond to make sure that cultural norms were observed/acknowledged (e.g., how Natsumi is seen as kind of rude for sniffling) on top of using deep reasoning for even naming most of the OCs (e.g., the possible kanji representations for Sakana Ran). This resulted in an extremely immersive and interesting story.

Relationships

Definition: Platonic and romantic interaction and development between characters interspersed over time.

Score: 4.60/5.00

A high score on this element indicates that the presentation of the interactions between characters created realistic and meaningful relationships that allowed the readers to connect with and understand the characters.

Reviewer comments: As this story is in progress, I think it’s likely that anything that is less addressed for this element will likely be touched on in the future. However, I feel like Kurama fell in love a little too easily/quickly with Ran and likewise for her. I know she was really attracted to him and has made a big sacrifice (which I'm dying for the author to write more about), but there are some subtleties or nuances that I feel are just missing to make me really believe the love/passion. I can absolutely see lust, but given that the author mentioned foxes mating for life and how meticulous/calculating/particular/logical Kurama is, I still feel that the love aspect is missing a foundational component. I cannot personally pinpoint the best way to address this, but it might be useful to insert other tidbits here and there that could indicate this kind of development (e.g., Kurama has caught himself thinking of Ran unintentionally/surprisingly a time or two, but maybe unconsciously doing things with her well-being in mind sans selfish reasons would help). That still doesn't sound to be precisely helpful though, because there is some evidence of this, I believe, in the writing now. I suppose I'm getting philosophical (what is love?), but at the same time, I think his character's personality really calls for foundational behaviors for something so serious as a declaration of love. For Ran, I can see it as partial naivete transforming into love – so this is less of a concern.

Plot and Technical Execution

Definition: Interrelated content sequenced in the storyline, including subplots, presented in a grammatically accurate manner.

Score: 4.63/5.00

A high score on this element indicates that the readers did not have a hard time following along with the storyline and that major situations were addressed logically. Additionally, there were likely few or no grammatical errors.

Reviewer comments: There were only a few typos in the entire story so far, which is not a big issue since there is over 130k in words presently. The only issue I had was in following certain parts where some time or perspective changes were handled. While I could pick up the changes in scene/perspective/time after reading a few sentences, a smoother transition would have alleviated the need for taking a step back here and there. Otherwise, the plot and technical execution was great.

Conflict

Definition: Internal or external struggle presented throughout the storyline, eventually reaching resolution.

Score: 5.00/5.00

A high score on this element indicates a balance of presented conflict. The characters have taken a stance in a situation or addressed a pressing internal struggle. This has allowed for character development and reader interest.

Reviewer comments: As the story is still in progress, I cannot rate resolution of conflict, but the story is otherwise quite sound on this element. We are presented with an immediate issue that ties the OC into the world of Kurama - her necessity for a job. While this ends up solved eventually, we are continually bombarded by more information that evolves the conflict into an entirely new beast that is quite fun to experience and unravel as we go through.

Originality

Definition: Uniqueness of the presented plot as relevant to the fandom.

Score: 4.50/5.00

A high score on this element indicates that enough unique content was presented, sparking readers' interest.

Reviewer comments: As related to the YYH fandom, this is a pretty unique story. The only less unique aspects are related to the tropes in the story, which can be fun to apply/read/useful regardless. Otherwise, this is a great take, especially when you get down to the specifics in the story. Having Kurama take over the corporation and turn it into a dominating force is both appropriate and a useful method for showing his underlying, domineering personality. Having other details about other characters' futures interspersed (e.g., Kuwabara taking over the temple) are also great to read and logically based, but fairly unique. And one of my favorite, original aspects was about Shiori’s illness.

Dialogue

Definition: Quality and quantity of the conversation had throughout the storyline, including verbal and nonverbal communication.

Score: 5.00/5.00

A high score on this element indicates that there was an effective balance in quantity and/or quality of verbal and nonverbal dialogue. The dialogue was well-utilized in furthering character or story development.

Reviewer comments: Both verbal and nonverbal dialogue were crucial in different perspectives presented throughout the story and really paint a great picture of personalities and plot development. I loved how the changes over time, presented in multiple perspectives, allowed me to get a great picture of the characters. For example, I really thought Nagato was a bad guy at first, and then seeing his perspective made me feel so much for his character. I actually adore him almost as much/if not more than Ran. I want to know how they are going to interact as siblings and I love how his perspective of Ran (having great, powerful potential) is so contrary to her own (thinking she's weak). I cannot wait for this to be explored further as well.

Pacing

Definition: Appropriateness of the speed of the presented storyline.

Score: 4.67/5.00

A high score on this element indicates that the pacing was appropriate for the storyline and that the readers were able to meaningfully experience the story without losing interest or being confused.

Reviewer comments: Most events were detailed when they needed to be and other, less interesting/minor aspects were spoken to enough to suffice, which is a delicate balance that is quite subjective, but I think it was well done. However, there were a few scenes I would have liked to have explored more (e.g., interactions with Kurama/Nagato).

Front Matter

Definition: Appropriateness and instilled intrigue of the categorized preview information and summary.

Score: 4.75/5.00

A high score on this element indicates that the front matter was accurate and enticing. This may range from a well-constructed summary to appropriate categorizations for the rating or genres.

Reviewer comments: Everything was pretty accurate, but I believe that there is a fine line that the rating (T) is pushing (the story is still fine at T as it stands though). I would enjoy it regardless of the rating (though I want the author to go for the R-side of scenes given the great setup for it). I love the humor in the summary as well, but I do find the plural use of "sociopaths" kind of confusing. I agree with all the descriptive aspects, but it seems that there are more "red-haired sociopaths" underlying the plot, which I believe is incorrect. This is really a minor, minor thing.

Additional Comments

Overall, what could the author improve most to make the story better?

I would just like a little more of a smoother transition between perspectives and scene changes in certain areas. Otherwise, I want to read as much detail as possible underlying the intricacies of this plot - IT IS SO GOOD. I love how everything is so interconnected.

Overall, what did the author excel at that really made the story for you?

The author's keen eye for interweaving complex story components into a comprehensive story is so nice to read. Seeing something happen in Ran's perspective and then finding out what *really* happened from (e.g.) Kurama's perspective is so damn fun to read. Very little information is presented without it meaning something, which makes a reader really pay attention to even the minor details (e.g., the tidbit in chapter 9 that revealed another character's appearance later on). I love these breadcrumbs in stories and I so rarely see them done, let alone done well.

What was your favorite moment in the story? Were there any particularly funny or surprising moments?

My favorite moment so far was the little pancake scene that had its own mini chapter dedicated to it. I loved reading Kurama's perspective on Ran's adorable antics and how he was misinterpreting her behavior.

[temeraaires-blog]

what is lefou's relationship to norms of masculinity? does he think of himself as masculine, or manly? does his attraction to other men factor into his self-image as masculine (or not)? or his role as a complementary personality (that is, a sidekick, a hype man), especially for gaston,?

Oh, my gosh, bless you so much. I didn’t realize how much I wanted to climb this soapbox till you suggested it!   

Edit: Now with screencaps in the analysis under the cut!

Masculine Norms & LeFou

For reference, I’ll be using this handy little definition from the Wikipedia article about masculinity:

 Masculine norms, as described in Ronald F. Levant’s Masculinity Reconstructed, are “avoidance of femininity; restricted emotions; sex disconnected from intimacy; pursuit of achievement and status; self-reliance; strength and aggression, and homophobia.”

Let’s deconstruct that a little in terms of LeFou.

Avoidance of femininity.

On the contrary, he actually seems to embrace his more (quote, unquote) “effemenate” tendencies, or at least doesn’t try to censor them. 

Example: the way he dresses, his cadence, his gestures while talking, etc.

Restricted emotions

Again. Nope. Even though he’s wont to snap back fairly quickly, and will cover up things like embarrassment (clip; deleted scene spoiler), he isn’t afraid to wear his emotions on his puffy little sleeve.

(gosh, where to begin: “It’s never gonna happen, ladies,”  the lip bite followed by the near eye-roll during the “And what does Belle say?” with Gaston, LeFou’s super guilty face after saying that Gaston didn’t try to kill Maurice, I could link or take screenshots but it’ll pretty much sum up to every time LeFou’s on screen.)

 Sex disconnected from intimacy

 I don’t have any definite canon examples for this. But I have to give this one a big fat ‘no’ too. If I have to, I’ll make a big case for reading into the “I’ve been told I’m clingy, but I really don’t get it” line. Simply put: he reads as the type who gets attached.

 Pursuit of achievement & status

Not for himself. I can’t think of a single example in the movie with him going there.

 Self-reliance

This one’s a bit trickier. My favorite definition of self-reliance is  “ the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, and follow their own instincts and ideas.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

So, I’d say we have one! Sure, LeFou can conform a bit but he’s always shown to behave in a way that’s true to himself, and at least suggest that he’s going to get to a place where he will follow his own instincts and ideas, once he’s out from Gaston’s shadow. Even when he’s under Gaston’s thumb, after all, he still suggests his own thoughts - tries to bring Gaston down, offers alternatives, etc. He’s not fully self-actualized on this front at the time of the film, but there’s a case to be made that it’s there.

Strength  & Aggression

Strength? Well, I mean. Not inordinately so. He’s got to be strong enough to be alive and to fight back in the battle, but for obvious reasons, it’s not strength that’s a noticeable thing in him. 

Aggression? The closest we see as passive-aggressiveness in the “I used to be on Gaston’s side but we are so in a bad place right now” or when he’s fighting back at the final battle, but even that’s a little…sunshine-and-daisies cartoonery for me to consider that aggression. 

Homophobia

He’s closeted, but nothing about the performance makes me think he has a lot of homophobia (internalized or otherwise) going down so, nah. If anything,  he’s probably just secretive about it because it’s eighteenth century France.

 So, LeFou’s final score on the norms of masculinity litmus test are: 1/7. A whopping 14%.

So how does this color how he looks at the world around him - or more specifically - himself?

(This is 5 pages long. We’re doing a read-more. Sorry. I hate them in meta too.) 

LeFou and these Standards as Shown In The Film 

Just because LeFou is fairly self-aware and even confident in himself, it doesn’t mean he’s free from the baggage of the society he lives in.

 To reiterate: No, he’s not masculine or manly. Yes, he knows he’s not. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t WANT to be [masculine].

Where’s my evidence?

Consider the following scenes and how LeFou imitates Gaston in posture and action. You could argue a few things about that, but…I mean, we get it straight from the director. 

“LeFou is someone who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston.”

As I watch the movie and focus on LeFou, I have to say that in every instance that I can place into the former category (wanting to be Gaston as opposed to wanting to kiss him) it comes at a time where he’s trying to imitate Gaston in ways that fit a few of the aforementioned norms of masculinity –

The scene where Gaston’s looking in the mirror, and LeFou goes to find him. Cumulating in the “I’m not finished with you yet,” “Me neither” into the mirror. 

You can see LeFou adopting Gaston’s posture, facial expression, and of course, behavior. He very literally assumes the space that Gaston had previously been occupying.

This relates to: 

☑ Avoidance of Femininity☑ Pursuit of Achievement & Status ☑ Self-Reliance☑ Strength & Aggression

The scene right after Gaston says that Belle’s disinterest in him is “outrageously attractive” cutting right to the triplets giggling and beckoning Gaston over. 

Gaston gives a little ‘hmm,’ ticks his head and saunters over. Immediately after, LeFou gives a little ‘hmm,’ ticks his head and saunters over. Edit: Both, might I add, with what I’d call a mild disinterest on their faces.

This relates to: 

☑ Sex Disconnected from Intimacy (or, at least, the implication thereof) ☑ Self-Reliance,☑ Strength & Aggression

(And MAYBE Restricted Emotions. Though I’d hazard to guess the disdain/coolness in his face comes from something different than trying to imitate Gaston in this instance.) 

I could talk for hours just on the Gaston scene, but the biggest part I see where LeFou is imitating Gaston would have to be that super-macho pose we see in the trailer: where Gaston takes on the posture of the tapestry behind him: sword up in victory, legs apart and staring upwards. Right afterwards, during “Who has brains [like Gaston]? Entertains [like Gaston]?” LeFou adopts a similar posture, although he is positioned lower in the frame his arm is less strong with the sword in the air, and he is pushed away by the very man he’s imitating. 

(film nerd alert: interestingly, they’re both technically two-shots, but the framing of the first shot would hardly have you see that and the framing of the second doesn’t let you ignore it.)

Nevertheless, this relates to: 

☑ Avoidance of Femininity☑ Pursuit of Achievement & Status ☑ Self-Reliance☑ Strength & Aggression

So what?

This creates a bit of an interesting contradiction. LeFou’s suddenly someone who a) isn’t masculine by the normal standard b) knows it c) is somehow fine with it but also wants to appear more typically masculine.

I’d stock that desire more to the time and place he lives in and the people he spends time around than anything else. He’s shown to be aware of other people and consequences, and so I don’t think it’s too much of a leap to assume it’s transitive to his behaviors where it pertains to the masculine/emasculine. It doesn’t eliminate his sense of self, but it probably helps to explain why he, occasionally, attempts to force machismo.

I could also go on about the differences between the experiential, public, and private selves and how they can be different and contradict. Blah, blah, blah, Rogerian filters, blah blah blah, Freudian filters, blah blah blah, more psychology mumbo jumbo that I lowkey-highkey want to talk about but this post is long enough as it is.

My point is that LeFou’s feelings around masculinity and his behaviors are complicated, contradictory, and largely reside on the consequence of living where he does in the time that he does. Note: I’m not 200% confident in this section. Retraction or reconsideration may come up at some point.

Attraction to Other Men and Sense of Masculinity

OR: how does masculinity relate to the “want to kiss” bit?

I doubt he’d see his attraction to men as an emasculating thing. This is 18th century France, so his desires for men aren’t equated in his head with being feminine. It’s a stereotype that’s only just beginning to exist in his world. 

If anything, I think it’d manifest itself with a fixation on the masculine. He’s clearly attracted to the hyper-masculine (“whose neck’s as incredibly thick as Gaston,” “…who breaks hearts like Gaston?” “Who’s a man among men?” ). If there’s an element of “I want to be that” to his approach to the masculine, there’s certainly seems to be an element of “I want that” along with it too.

Examples of the “I want that” include the lip-bite after Gaston’s “my love massaging my feet,” and potentially even “Who needs her when you’ve got us?” 

Although, as you suggested with your question, it’s interesting to try and puzzle through this considering his role as a complementary personality. LeFou was originally written to be a foil for Gaston, to be small and silly to contrast Gaston’s…barge-ness. But the remake does a damn good job adding nuance to the characters and their situations 

So how does this carry over into the 2017 film in terms of masculinity? 

I think it’s important to mention that LeFou isn’t about to jump on the Hype Man Train for everyone. He shown to care about people (Gaston being the most obvious but also that he doesn’t laugh when Maurice comes into the tavern raving about the beast ((he does however scoff privately to himself. More on that in another meta, probably)), and also his guilt and attempt to keep Maurice from an untimely death in the forest). But he’s shown being a little…shall we say, SELECTIVE about going all out for showing that he cares. 

For reference, consider how he’s just paying everybody in the tavern, how he just grabs that guy’s head without prompting (on “whose neck’s as incredibly thick” ) or how he physically grabs or slaps heads with Tom, Dick, and Stanley. How he just grabs either Tom or Dick’s face to climb onto the table at the end. He’s not quite as careful or tactful as he can be with everyone he’s around (understandable. It’d be a bit difficult to be at your very best all the time with everyone, after all.)

BUT I don’t want to imply that he’s got nothing in terms of other people. It definitely seems like he does. Consider his one interaction with Mrs. Potts, that he’s the final decider among the villagers on if they’d believe that Gaston tried to kill Maurice, that he’s at the ball in the end. He’s got interpersonal relationship (and interpersonal relationship skills) outside of the complementary personality. 

But, I mean, there is quite a bit of hero-worship that deals with the hyper-masculine, again boiling down to what I’d consider a mix of idolization and attraction 

TL: DR – or, Damn it, Kay, get to the point already: 

He isn’t stereotypically masculine, is aware he isn’t, but there are signs that show that he WANTS to be. &&  His attraction to men does relate to his thoughts on masculinity, but not so much in a comparative way.

I…uhh…hope I sufficiently answered this. c: