#tho tbf he could all he manipulating us

[ashwii]

LIKE WHEN TF DID BILL GET SO SAD, IT WAS ALL JOKES 3 DAYS AGO AND NOW

[gay-for-zoya]

Can you rant about Morgana?

I think I should apologise in advance I'm very hyperfixated. I'm halfway through writing this and I have no idea if any of it makes sense. I've just finished writing it you don't have to read all this if you don't want to it's a bit incoherent but yeah here you go!!

Omg my girl Morgana. I love Morgana and I don't think what she did was right by any means but I completely understand why she did it. Like can you imagine your dad being the leader of an opressive group, regularly killing members of the oppressed group, and constantly showing mistrust and distain towards them. Only to then find out you are one of them. I would be terrified. She had to watch as people of magic where killed or hunted knowing that was her. Knowing that that could one day be her fate. Also you cannot convince me season 2 Morgana was running of nearly enough sleep, she was having regular prophetic nightmares about her brother dying. Anyway speaking of Arthur I kinda get why she didn't go to him for help when her powers first appeared. If we're using the magic is gay idea then I know how scary it is to come out to people even if I know there supportive. It's still terrifying. I can't imagine that fear but somewhere where being gay is illegal. Knowing your coming out to someone supportive but knowing that if that information got out you could be killed or imprisoned. If you had a falling out they could use that information against you and basically ruin your life. Saying the words I am gay (or in Morgana's case I have magic) in an environment like that must be so scary. It's not Arthur's fault at all but just something I was thinking. I also do think Uther would have punished her in some way for having magic. We've seen through the first two seasons he's ok with imprisoning her and grabbing her by the neck so I don't think it's to fare fetched to say he would have reacted badly. ANYWAY Morgause, I wish we had seen more of her and Morgana between seasons 2 and 3. Her manipulation. I feel like it wouldn't have been hard to do Morgana was probably quite scared and lonely "I don't want to be brave, I just want to be myself. I don't want to be alone anymore." Which would have made things easy for Morgause. I'd still loved to have seen it tho, like are the mandrake theory's true? But all that aside by the time of season 3 those seeds of mistrust and resentment have been planted. I loved Morgana and merlin in season 3 tho they where so funny.

Ok I'm thinking to make this less of a massive block of text new paragraph!! So I feel like I don't have to much to say on season 3 Morgana other than omg I need her wardrobe. It was painful though seeing one of the first things she does as queen is execute people (which I think can be used as a parallel to Uther but I feel like we don't know enough about Uther to be 100% sure). Tbf tho she could have got that follow me or die mentality from Uther or Morgause. Season 4 Morgana again not much to say. I feel really bad for her in the opening scenes when she kills Morgause. She didn't look happy about it to say the least. And can you imagine how she felt after the plan didn't even work?? Also this is where emrys is first mentioned to her. Anyway she spends most of the season alone with growing fears about emrys. But she does meat Aithusa. I love her and Aithusa's friendship!! I think it also shows that the old Morgana is not dead, not completely anyway. In S5 ep8 Arthur is having dinner with the Sarrum and he says the only reason Morgana didn't use magic against him was due to Aithusa. Morgana loved the dragon so much she would let herself suffer for years just to keep her safe. I think the quote was something like "her love for the creature cause her more suffering than she could have imagined". I think this was important to mention because it shows she is still capable of love. Despite everything that has happened her old self is still there. But her capture definitely plays massively into her character in season 5. She was held in a old well, hands manacled above her head in complete darkness. No wonder she went mad. Can you imagine being left alone with only your thoughts for just under 3 years? Then she meets Mordred again and she is so happy. Finally the person she loved like a son, the one person alive who should understand her and her motive, who has also suffered due to Camelot. But she has changed. She is angry and bitter and this drives him away. She drove him right to the people she hated. Her face in the scene where Mordred stabs her breaks my heart omg. (Not blaming Mordred but it's something I wanted to mention.) I would get into the dark tower episode with Gwen as well as there parallels to Morgause and Morgana in the early seasons but this post is already so long I might do it in another. But yeah her death broken my heart. She ruined herself for nothing. She failed at all her goals and died alone and hated by everyone that once loved her. And yes I did cry at the final episode my incredibly smart mind decided the best thing to do after watching it was listen to mitski, this did not end well.

Tysm for the ask!! I'm so sorry this post is so long I have a lot of thoughts about her.

[classicanalyzer]

The Acolyte - Teach/Corrupt Thoughts

"And that's what they told you. The Jedi teach there's only one way to access the Force and if you don't do it their way, it fades. But there is another way. Below the surface of consciousness are powerful emotions. Anger. Fear. Loss. Desire...Semantics." Qimir

"I will. Believe me. We have a lot to do. We need to find your Master. We need to save Osha. But first, you and I are going to talk. I've had sixteen years to think about what I would say to you if I ever got the opportunity. So you're going to listen." Sol

It's not as bombastic and fast-paced as the other episodes but I like the calm given what just happened.

I love how Star Wars wastes no time in reminding us how hot Qimir is haha.

God, I feel so bad for Sol. When he's all alone, we see how emotionally broken he is. He lost friends and two surrogate daughters. He clearly thinks he's responsible for it all and how he failed to protect his Padawans. I thought he was going to cry a bit when he punched the screen. Based on how he hugged Mae (not sure if he knew it was here by then), it's clear how much he cares and will do anything to protect the sisters.

Also, I know Mae might turn good but she better treat Pip better right away because when she reset Pip to factory settings I was screaming internally. The fact that Mae flips between what she wants and believes in shows me how much of a reactive person Mae is..and why Qimir thought she wouldn't be a good apprentice (he thought they shared the same goals). Bazil is a real one for helping Sol (tho as I said I think he might've already figured it out) figure out that Mae was posing as Osha. I really hope Bazil lives through this show.

We see how manipulative Qimir is toward Osha. He makes Osha bring out the inner darkness and insecurities she hides inside. How he manipulates Osha into wearing the helmet under the guise that she should learn to trust herself.

I love it when Star Wars states ore metals out loud and other in-universe lore terms.

I find it hilarious that Mog (The Jedi Padawan) thought Khofar's bugs might've killed the team...though tbf given the Jedi games, I can see what he meant.

I felt scared throughout this episode and when the dead bodies of the Jedi team showed up, I admit I was a bit scared just seeing the bodies alone.

That Lightsaber Whip looks so good! I've just started reading the High Republic novels and I can't wait to read stories around Vernestra.

I'm starting to think that perhaps Qimir's former master might be Vernestra Rwoh given how his scar looks like a Lightsaber whip mark. It could also be Qimir's Sith Master but I do think it would also explain a lot about Vernestra's appearance in the show.

I got a lot of Vader vibes when Osha put on the helmet and we hear breathing even for a little bit during the credits as it cleaver transitions. It also reinforces the idea that Mae will go down a dark path in the last two episodes.

This episode is really enforcing the idea that perhaps the twins might undergo the opposite of their paths (Osha going Dark Side and Mae going Light Side). Qimir corrupts Osha and Sol wants to teach Mae the truth to hopefully get her to understand.

I'm super nervous for next week's episode which I imagine might be the last single title and a flashback episode (the director for Episode 7 is the same as Episode 3).

[tori-artemis]

Post Edit:

Hey, thank you for tagging me @therese-lokidottir !! :)

Now let's see if I can do this in a non-messy way lol. So in no particular order:

Loki (of course, I mean - this is my Loki blog after all! XD)

Particularly from Thor: The Dark World, tho tbh I love almost every version of him (or at the very least I care about/feel bad for him, which basically sums up my feelings for TVA Loki.

Sansa Stark (tbh my girl deserved so much better both in the writing dept and in fandom bc she was constantly crapped on by fans for basically being a traumatized feminine 13 year girl - until of course the writers botched her whole character up by turning her into Lady Vengeance bc then everyone liked her like wtaf)

I mean don't get me wrong I love Lady Vengeance Sansa - just not at the expense of her more compassionate core. She should have had more scenes with Theon as Reek damnit - we should've seen her conflicted feelings of wanting to hate this man who betrayed her family and "killed her little brothers" (in her mind bc he didn't actually kill them) and yet undeniably feeling immense sympathy for him (bc that's her goddamn character David and Dan! She's not heartless and she's definitely not revenge-driven like Arya is - like she is literally the opposite of heartless you damn hacks!) Not to mention her ultimately relating to him - not only as Ramsay's victim but as a hostage herself being as she was held captive by the Lannisters while Theon was held captive by the Starks. Like she empathizes with Theon, in a way that none of the other characters do. And tbf the series does show this aspect of her character with Sophie Turner's wonderful performance but it would've been better if the writers hadn't tried to mess that all up with Sansa and Theon's earlier scenes. (I will never not be salty about the whole "if I could do what Ramsay did to you I would" - like GIRL NO YOU WOULDN'T!) And I'm not even going to touch what those hacks made her do in the last couple of seasons bc this rant is long enough and I don't have the patience to get into all that. Which leads me to -

THEON!!! Theon Theon Theon Theon Theo-

(I mean, um, Theon Greyjoy, ha ha. 😅)

Valkyrie (Brunhilde???)

(Still salty that we never found out her name! 😤)

Margaery Tyrell

Tbh I didn't know who else to put bc I had to pick a woman character (otherwise this list would've had too many men and therefore wouldn't be even) and I was running out of mcu ladies. (Look I know there are so many to choose from but unfortunately I haven't actually seen Black Widow or Black Panther/Wakanda Forever or Moon Knight so I don't feel I can actually use such great characters like Yelena Belova or Shuri or Okoye bc tbh I feel I haven't actually seen them at their best - or at all if we're talking about Yelena. And why am I like this??? Hel if I know, I have OCD so it's probably something to do with that.)

Anyway all this to say Margaery's underrated af and while some of the writing for her was kinda sus (woman who uses sex as manipulative tactic cliche) she was still salvaged by Natalie Dormier's awesome performance so yeah - I'm putting her on the list!

Peter Parker/Spiderman

Wanda Maximoff/Scarlett Witch (how the hell did I forget about her???)

Like I related to her way too hard in Wandavision to just leave her off the list...

Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow

(Oh hey look - I have an excuse to include my babygirl here! I haven't gotten around to gushing about this guy yet but don't worry - pretty soon this blog will be infested with posts of me just rambling about him and why he's my perfect poor little meow meow. :) )

Natasha Romanoff

(I was never a huge fan of hers but after Endgame I've grown to really love her. Plus she gives off protective big sister vibes.)

Honorable Mentions:

Black Noir from The Boys. He isn't on the list simply bc I haven't actually watched The Boys, only several scenes really. But it's wild bc I ended up tearing up when I saw Black Noir's/Irving's background, who he was, what had happened to him, why he behaved the way he behaved... like even without all of the context it's hard not to get emotional about his story, especially the conclusion - all I know is I will never be able to look at Buster Beaver (a cartoon mascot that's the Chuck E Cheese of The Boys verse) without tearing up. :'(

Ramsay Bolton (aka Ramsay Snow) from Game of Thrones.

The Joker from The Dark Knight.

Yelena Belova

Alicent Hightower from House of the Dragon.

Lord Eddard Stark (aka Ned) from Game of Thrones.

Jon Snow from Game of Thrones.

Robb Stark from Game of Thrones.

Prince Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Princess Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Bruce Wayne (aka Batman) from Batman: The Animated Series, The Dark Knight nolanverse films, and The Batman (2022).

Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman) from The Batman (2022).

Terry McGuinness (aka Batman) from Batman Beyond.

Yara Greyjoy from Game of Thrones.

Oberyn Martell from Game of Thrones.

Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop.

The girls from Euphoria. Particularly Rue, but tbh I feel for all of them (yes even Cassie).

Princess Shuri, particularly from Wakanda Forever tho I already liked her even before then, I just love her more now.

Andrea Beaumont from Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.

Namor from Wakanda Forever.

Will Byers from Stranger Things.

Max from Stranger Things.

Lucas from Stranger Things.

Jonathan Byers from Stranger Things.

Robin from Stranger Things.

Eleven (aka El, Jane Hopper) from Stranger Things.

Eddie Munson from Stranger Things.

Hela - though I fully blame Galaxy (affectionate 🖤) for my growing love for her. Not that I didn't like her before but I'd never given her much thought... I read Galaxy's meta and fics.

Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones. She is quite possibly one the most vindictive bitchs (affectionate and derogatory) to ever grace mmm)

Thor

Steven Grant Rogers

James Buchanan Barnes (aka Bucky)

Sam Wilson

Link from The Legend of Zelda series.

Prince Nuada from Hellboy: The Golden Army

A-Train from The Boys

Kimiko from The Boys

Billy Butcher from The Boys

Guts

(I'm just going to put this right here and not elaborate any further...)

[considermygenderminecrafted]

ok- while there is smth to be said abt wilbur making a burger van, i just find it hilarious that all these rlly clever ppl think that capitalism is the best way to get rich and powerful...

even if the server has no economy

theres also smth to be said abt how the most basic form of capitalism (aka not late stage capitalism) is not inherently good or evil, esp in a minecraft server, but i digress

/rp

Dude capitalism in Minecraft is summit I have been thinking about since hermitcraft season 7 started, it's Fascinating.

Cause like, TBF to the smart people, Capitalism (when it's set up proper) is Really good at creating compliance because like it's a very all encompassing system, it affects material reality (like in jobs n shit, you have to have a way of getting money to be able to participate in being alive) and also culture (like how iPhone is a symbol of status even tho it's shit and we all know it's planned obsolescence, we Keep Buying them because they're like a staple of how we view our own wealth and they're supposed to be good-).

So you have a system that fucks people over all the while people """voluntarily"" uphold it.

So, if Wilbur can actually set capitalism up its Really smart of him to do that! Cause it's a system that pretends to value individual's choice and choice of the consumer (how he sold it to ranboo) but in reality only a Very Few Number of people actually get the benefits!!

You don't have to be good at fighting or have a coup or set up an autocracy. It's all in the culture. It's not dissimilar to how Wilbur wanted to set up a one-party election with him as the de-facto winner because it gives people the illusion that they have consented to the heirachy. So like of they can pull it off capitalism is a great and sturdy system of control.

HOWEVER

I've never seen capitalism set up truly on a Minecraft server.

Because capitalism isn't just like, the existence of an economy, it's that like specific thing where someone else owns the equipment that you use to make things for them, and you sell your time and effort, and the person who owns the equipment gets all the profit.

And like, how the FUCK you gonna stop someone else mining and making the equipment and just selling the product they make directly in Minecraft??? You can't control the means of the production in minecraft? Everyone can just- make their own things if they want to.

So it's kinda hard to do...

I think the thing where he's gonna make labelled steaks that people wanna collect and buy, and make them so they can't be copied or faked, is like, definitely a decent shot at doing it. Cause if he can get that going it Really is a monopoly. Only he has the means to make them but he can have other people collecting the materials to do so. Like his products have built in iPhone vibes, you wanna collect them and show you have the latest ones even if it's just food. Automatic commodity fetishisation past their utility as food.

But yeah your right there are definitely other systems of control that could be used.

There's a book which I bought but I'm sure can be found.. elsewhere, called Modernism and Totalitarianism (Richard Shorten), which goes into depth about like how different forms of authoritarianism come to be, and how they differ from one another. The most interesting chapter is PART 2, part 1 just disproves other theories. There also this book called "Why America Fights (Susan A. Brewer)" which talks about the role of war propaganda within the establishing of patriotism and nationalism used for justifying power imbalances.

L'Manburg never really stuck with it's capitalism, which is in part probably why Wilbur wanted the election because it would have done a similar thing in manufacturing consent, but it kinda fell through cause of competition. BUT if you can weaponize competition to uphold the system?? Now you're talking.

For Wilbur and Q, who are both primarily good at manipulation rather than fighting, capitalism is a great option as a system of control.... If they can set it up

This is also why I kinda disagree that early stage capitalism is mostly harmless cause like the nature of capitalism is like, someone else makes money for nothing based on my work. It always fucks me over especially when money is required for... Living. Sorta inherently exploits people

[zumpietoo]

Since IDK what asks she got, noooo....but again, KokeJ did talk about Barfie's "past" (the FB kids)...and, again, we know there's some sort of preggo stick...

ETA-----myyyyy, what a lot of notes/need to reassure themselves!

Oh lookity, Liar of Slizzy on her other account can't jump in fast enough! And you "forget"? Sure, Jan.....

And, again, please tell us how you know the test is negative? And if it is? Slizzy looks pretty bummed about it...

Also, I thought none of them knew anything that's gonna happen past the day of filming? (TBF, kinda obvious Cole's talking about Tabi's time travel/joining soooperrr teens)

Scratchy actually being honest.....hmmm....plus maybe "unexpected" because even she realices there IS no Jizzy...

Oh good lord, Izzy, nooooo....moar like she finds out some shit AND joins Super Teens. Cuz if she could change shit, wouldn't she change that Picky Percy gets to go there? Or her fam even leaving Plaiderdale, so she could've grown up with them/always been with Jughead, etc?

Again, noooo...Liar of Slizzy. Also love how all of you ignore that Jizzy has been fully redlined from questions to Cole.

(like I said, a LOT of notes)....

Whatever, Scary Starey.....and yes, a year ago sane peeps knew Jabi was happening, Jizzy weren't getting back together and Barfie was possible (tho I thought it moar dramatic, but still)

I'm guessing that IS Peather----and IDGAF....also, the entire point here? Is, again, that Picky Percy has them facing trauma in a negative way----not to address it, to use it to torture, manipulate and enslave them.

It's funny how Snorty ONLY notices this for Jabi....and ignores that Cole never really discusses ships or ship names. Even at the height of Jizzy AND SH, he was never into talking about it.

AND, ignores RAS said "Jughead and Slizzy", not Jizzy, while affirming "much moar" for specifically Barfie and Jabi....

Also, no, Snorty, tho, TBF, Cole has never been one to talk heavily about ships, as noted. Funny how you ignore, again, Jizzy has clearly been redlined from him discussing, period....and he only talks of Slizzy in terms of Barfie,,,,,and, again, LBR......Slizzy was running around Paleyfest like a toddler who pooped her pants AND on a sugar high AND throwing up left and right, so it was clearly awkward AF...

No, Liar of Slizzy, you wish it was. It wasn't.

Sure, Jan Scary Starey....

Wow, ummmm.....who TF is this noobie and have they ever considered watching the show? It's only been the season's tagline.

Again, who is this person who hasn't watched in 2 seasons?

Annnddd....Izzy, who does watch the show isn't much faster on the uptake, huh?

[bthump]

What do you think about the point in the story we are at now? Would you say you like the direction Miura is going in or not? What are the things you dislike about Berserk as it is now?

lol this is hard to answer because it’s so heavily dependent on what happens next. I think we’re at a point where everything could start coming together in a way that really appeals to me or where everything could just fall apart and I’ll have to accept that this is no longer a story I’m particularly interested in.

Though I am slightly leaning towards the former right now, whether that’s based on real evidence or mostly blind optimism I’m not entirely sure lol.

Basically I think it’ll depend on a) whether Moonlight Boy becomes a major motivational plot point or turns out to be more of a red herring or brief inciting factor in the shift to a new arc, and b) whether Guts and the rpg group overcome the imminent challenge they’ll face thanks to their personal growth and friendship or whether it’ll fuck them up.

But the reasons I’m feeling tentatively optimistic right now are:

all the foreshadowing re Guts losing himself to the armour and wreaking some havok, which has to happen at some point lbr

fetus as the focal point of Casca’s traumatic memories and symbolizing her thorn-covered heart, which to me screams sacrifice material, which would be the only thing that could make it time sharing Griffith’s body interesting to me (ie what happens to Griffith if it’s sacrificed?)

I’m gonna link this post because I’m still mostly feeling the basics of this theory, ie Skull Knight and Elfhelm in cahoots plotting to use the behelit to entrap the godhand, at Guts and Casca’s expense. Plus another possible way for Moonlight Boy to come to nothing is if it’s a manipulation of Danann’s.

I think Guts is purposefully being written as emotionally distanced from the rpg group, which is a good sign for the power of friendship not saving him yet, and there are also aspects of Guts+rpg group that parallel Griffith+Hawks in the golden age (eg Farnese’s feelings for Guts being paralleled to Casca’s feelings for Griffith, Guts gaining followers who compare him to fire, etc) which also gives me hope that tragedy will strike.

Miura’s little bait and switch wrt Guts and Casca’s relationship that honestly felt like gentle mockery of people who wanted them to immediately get together lol. Yk Casca getting sent out in a pretty dress to meet Guts complete with romantic double page spread and having a breakdown, then changing into pants and cutting her hair and saying how much better it is, and not being able to look at Guts now.

Also more recently, Guts at a loss now that he’s brought Casca’s sanity back and it didn’t actually solve any of his issues. “The hell do I do now?” “You have reached the end of your journey. It is not always a happy thing.” I’ve been worried for a while that Guts’ complex issues have been dropped and we’re meant to see him taking Casca to Elfhelm as him genuinely growing past them, and that one moment was such a huge relief when I read it lol. It really suggests to me that this sidequest was always about Guts trying to find a distraction to avoid dealing with his actual issues (fear/trauma, insecurity, love/hate feelings for Griffith, regret, etc), and those are going to make a return sooner rather than later.

Miura implying in interviews that we’re not all that close to the end, so there’ll probably be at least one more arc after Elfhelm, which gives me more hope that this whole rpg arc will lead to some amount of narrative-shaking tragedy and we’ll get some interesting stuff after.

this parallel with the climax of the Millenium Falcon arc and my firm belief that it has to come full circle.

other stuff like complex apostle characters, the lost chapter worldbuilding, schierke suggesting that her elemental guardians are holy see angels alongside implications that holy see angels are the godhand. Basically my hopes for worldbuilding that doesn’t boil down to good spirit world vs evil spirit world.

all the little suggestions that NGriff isn’t as emotionless as he’d like to be that have nothing to do with a demon fetus giving a shit about its parents

So I guess my answer is that I do like the direction I hope Miura’s going in, but there’s also enough counter evidence that I may be wrong about that direction.

So some of the things I dislike about Berserk now are:

Moonlight Boy and the Fear that he will derail everything and the plot will soon revolve around, idk, Guts and Casca trying to free their kid’s soul bringing them closer together or some awful shit like that.

Moonlight Boy and the Fear that Miura is actually going to ignore the absolutely incredible foundation he wrote in the Golden Age to support the hints of Griffith’s current capacity for emotion in favour of pinning it all on a magic baby.

I have some lowkey fears that Guts “bleeding” for Casca is gonna be a thing, largely based on me recently re-reading the scene where Farnese gets upset about everything Guts has done for her while bathing her. Like yk, maybe Casca will remember Guts saving her and warm up to him... tho in all honesty I can’t actually think of an example of Guts being the one to save her post-Eclipse lmao, he fucks it up every time. Maybe when he first put on the armour and killed an apostle in front of her or w/e, yk. Some shit like that. Like I can come up with 50 counter arguments but those only work if you accept the basic premise that Berserk will be good, yk?

The fear that we are meant to understand that Guts has overcome most of his flaws throughout the Millenium Falcon/Fantasia arcs and will get a big moment to demonstrate that and overcome the armour or save Casca or whatever.

And less speculatively and more generally, like many people I’m not a fan of the current art style, I think the larger cast on Guts’ side is causing some poor writing and not helping the pacing issues (and tbh I think Berserk is paced fairly well up until the boat stuff), I don’t like the lighter more comedic tone right now bc I got into Berserk for the grimdark vibe and tragedy and characters succumbing to their fatal flaws and making huge mistakes and I miss that a lot. I’m not saying Berserk can’t be light and funny and campy but I prefer that Black Swordsman or Conviction Arc style where it’s offset by a lot of fucked up shit, or Golden Age style where there’s an underlying sense of dread bc we already know shit’s going to go wrong, yk? If shit does get dark soon I might end up being a lot less critical of the current tone on re-read tbf.

So basically to sum up:

hopes: tragedy, character flaws that haven’t been dealt with yet coming home to roost, Moonlight Boy becomes a non-issue.

fears: power of friendship staves off tragedy, slower gtsca romance, moonbaby affects plot and emotions, guts’ flaws get brushed under the rug instead of fucking him over

I can argue that the former makes a lot more sense than the latter, but I’ve been burned a lot in my life and I know a lot of fans would argue the latter makes more sense than the former so yk, everyone has their biases including me and idk how blinded I am by those biases lol.

Anyway ty for asking!

[ill-be-istj-if-no-one-else-is]

hii, i wanted to ask a question about my bestie xx

i’ve typed her as an enfj bc she’s always seemed like a high Fe type to me and the enfj function stack and descriptions of them on various websites were describing her very well. me and her are very different “people-wise”: she always talks abt ppl behind their backs while maintaining friendly attitude talking WITH them, always compliments ppl to get something she wants(some of our teachers always loved her bc she knew how to get their love and trust); then me…i’m an isfp…totally opposite, i have only a few friends, i hate talking behind people’s back, never “sucked up” on anyone, including teachers(some of them still love me, but for different reasons), i can’t compliment people i don’t like(tbf, i can’t compliment AT ALL, very bad at words, unlike my friend) and etc. I also don’t like lying to people and friends, and she, on the other hand lies or manipulates her words quite a lot(sometimes it helps her getting what she wants tho, i must admit).

But i’ve noticed recently that she’s very secretive…like…really secretive. She never shows her true feelings or struggles to her friends(or me, at least, lmao)…We both keep our feelings inside, but I have high Fi and I thought this kind of way of dealing with emotions was kinda Fi-ish. Not that she shows her friends her fake emotions, but more like she deals with them on her own.

also, she’s very impulsive in terms of her interests? more than me sometimes(and i have aux Se)…she gets heavily invested, for example in her choice of her future career and has her future in this career all planned(what uni will she graduate, how successful she might be, how “cool” will she be, etc.) and she talks about it(her new interest/hobby or her career choice) so passionately, that you think “omg, she REALLY wants to be a therapist/marketing specialist/dentist/whatever”, and she seems really invested in it, but then she DROPS it…like, she suddenly “realizes” it’s not what she wants or that that profession isn’t as good/profitable as she thought. She also cancels plans last minute a lot. It can be her, who encourages and organises our friend group’s gathering, but then gets out of it last minute herself, sometimes trying to make really pathetic excuses(but sometimes they’re very well-thought, such as “my parents asked me to babysit my little siblings” so none of us could blame her for telling that she won’t go w us last minute). I’m not telling it’s always lies. I’m sure sometimes her parents really don’t allow her to go somewhere or ask to babysit, but why does she always tell us that last minute!? sometimes she does things for her own benefit, like she’d rather go out with a person who has a good camera(so they could take pics for her), rather than someone she’s closer to and will have better time with. she’s also very insecure deep down. me too, but i don’t want people’s approval as much as her. she’s always scared to gain weight or look bad to her boyfriend, even though he’s the nicest guy i’ve ever met and has always told her that she’s the most beautiful girl ever and he would love her no matter what. perhaps i could also describe her as “all talk, no actual actions” and it hurts me isfp ass very much :((

we also have a lot of passive aggression in our relationship, bc we’re both hate conflicts in some way, and sometimes supress our anger towards each other(i tend to sometimes burst out tho), so ig she’s more passive aggressive than me and never tells me what’s wrong, therefore i can never tell if i offended her or not. idk, maybe she thinks the sam abt me?

she’s not a bad person tho, she’s a good friend and we’ve been friends for a long time, but sometimes she acts very very strange and i’m not the only one who has noticed this.

maybe you could help me…from what i’ve described, does she seem enfj type 3(have difficulty telling what her wing is)? ty in advance ❤️

Based on this it sounds like you are both in your mid-teens, and so honestly I would just give it some time if you want to type her because while your personality certainly exists at this time, it’s very much in flux. A lot of this just sounds like she’s dealing with a lot of insecurity and expectations and it’s hard to say if it’s typology governing these actions or if it’s just like...being 16 or 17 (which is what I’ve assumed from this).

I’m not sure what her type is but here are a couple of things that might help you, and I will say that ENFJ doesn’t sound wrong given that assumed age. It could be - looking at ENFP or ESFP wouldn’t hurt - but a lot of her behaviors seem in line with high Fe and even with Ni I would expect a certain amount of impulsivity and indecision at her stage of development.

First, try to think about her in terms of who she is without comparing to yourself. I don’t know for sure if you’re an ISFP - you might be, or you might not be - so if you compare to yourself and you are mistyped then you’re working off an incorrect basis for comparison in the first place and that will make everything harder. Try to think how she compares to people you know in general - and especially your peers. Is she more impulsive than most of your classmates? Less? Around average?

Second, I have found the idea that high Fi users are more private and high Fe users are less private to be absolutely false; I think it is partly based on a Tumblr user who mistyped as an Fe user for a long time but then realized they were a high Fi user and was trying to make that fit and it’s persisted long past that. A lot of high Fi users, especially extroverted ones, are very expressive, and a lot of high Fe users can be private - Fe users are typically very attuned to what others think of them and so might keep their emotions on lockdown or hide them in order to elicit a certain response (Fe-dom 3s, for example, will absolutely do this). As a rule thinkers and introverts are more private with their emotions than feelers and extroverts but that’s about the extent of it.

And finally, and I tell most people this especially when they bring up not just a typology question but also some conflicts or personal difficulties; I get that you are asking me for help with MBTI, and that’s the main help I feel like I have any ability to give and I know unsolicited advice is often unwelcome so feel free to ignore, but: MBTI does not solve interpersonal (or intrapersonal) problems. It can be a very helpful and powerful tool, but knowing is only half the battle (or something). A person who knows literally nothing about MBTI but is an empathetic and thoughtful communicator who does not shy away from healthy confrontation will do better than a typology expert who lacks even one of those traits. If you want to know her type, review the first few paragraphs and see if that helps and feel free to revisit after some time, but if you want to like, know why she keeps flaking on you, then unfortunately getting over the fear of confrontation and potentially upsetting someone will be a far more effective use of time.

[kase1248]

so, yeah, last night I decided to watch a few episodes of The Dragon Prince and ended up binge-watching the entirety of s3 (until, like, 5am, that’s how good it was)

and now I have lots of thoughts

I love Corvus, he’s one of my new favourite characters

Aaravos is still super pretty; is he a Skywing elf or a completely different type, because he looks like Nyx and Ibis?

I googled and apparently he’s a Startouch elf, which explains the stars on his skin

he’s still super pretty tho

speaking of Nyx tho, she’s my new girl crush of the moment

like, literally, she’s so cute, her hair, her outfit, her wings.  I’m glad she’s nothing more than a quirky antagonist and not, like, working with any of the true enemies, because she is so cute and why do all the villains get the pretty elves?

that being said, Janai is fucking badass and super pretty too

(and sunfire elves are french!!!)

also I low-key ship her with Amaya, because I can.  I thought Amaya was gay at one point as well, I thought that was a thing, apparently not, but I can hope tho; they’d be a total badass duo, fight me on this

that one guard in Katolis “that checks out”

when Nyx took Team Zym through the Midnight Desert, “this is the Wonderwall that protects the Oasis”, how long did it take for them to come up with that???

I was kind of hesitant about Opeli (Opheli?) at first, when Ezrin first took the throne, but, yeah, she and Corvus as Ezrin’s royal council pls and tank

Viren is evil; like I think he’s trying to be lawful evil or w/e that alignment is that does evil things for the sake of good, but Aaravos is super corrupting him, like, I thought he was an ally to Viren, but now it feels more like he has a different agenda and is using Viren to reach that, by offering Viren what he thinks he wants

altho tbf Viren wasn’t exactly the most saintly before anyway?

and on that topic, I used to stan Claudia and shrug at Soren but Soren must be protected at all costs, Rayla can throw Claudia of a bridge now, idc

like Soren’s redemption arc of sorts, apologizing to Callum, standing against his father to save his king, just being an overall good guy?  I love it

altho tbf Viren is totally manipulating her at the direction of Aaravos, so really, it’s a question of who’s really evil here and who is just a pawn?  except Aaravos

not to keep rambling for much longer but that thing with Rayla and Runaan; like Rayla is magically banished, yeah, that’s a sad thing; but that half-floating crystal flower thing, I assumed it was Runaan’s yeah?  is he, like, only half-dead?  is he one of those coin things Viren is carrying, with Rayla’s real parents? hmmm

also Rayla and Callum kissed?  became a couple?  it’s cute.  he even learned a new spell because of it.  it’s annoying when they can’t even wait to land before declaring their love for each other and awkward in flight kisses but, I mean, it’s still cute.

there are a dozen other things I could probably talk about (Lux Aurea, Aaravos becoming an evil butterfly maybe, the army of lava creatures?) but last thing: Aanya is a fucking badass queen and I stan her entrance to the fight at the Storm Spire, where can I become a citizen of her kingdom???

[goddamnmuses-a]

Dan Watches: Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith

Alright so I did this for Episode I which you can find here and then Episode II which you can find here. So here’s my weird live reaction/note taking/whatever this is.. to Episode llI.

War! Huh Yeah! What is it good for?

There are heroes on both sides? We’ll see about that.. 

General Greivous first mention.. provided you’ve not seen the clone wars cartoon. 

So much shit goes down in these opening crawls, like Palpatine being kidnapped. 

Jedi fighters are coooooooool

Vulture droids are kinda cool too

R4 NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Getting the I have a bad feeling about this out of the way early is wise because i feel like if you’re super aware of it, it might take you out of the moment. It’s used well here though. 

This gives me old StarWars Battlefront vibes. 

Ohhh nooooo My boy Savage is dead now... nooooooo.

Why does that guy sound like a surfer dude?

Oh look it’s the Captain America elevator scene but with Jedi. 

R2 is a weapon of mass destruction. 

Anakin seems mature already

Was that flip really needed Dooku?

Do it. 

Palpatine manipulating Ani is goooooood. 

He straight up tries to let Obiwan die and Ani’s not suspiscious? 

Palpatine is like “I swear to god if i die in this crash.. my plans.. all my plans.. fucked.”

“Another Happy Landind” Obiwan has Bob Ross vibes. 

Yeaaaah Organa 

Padme: Yaaay im a mom. Anakin: Well fuck... I mean yay.

“The happiest moment of my life” actually pretty sad knowing whats to come. 

Cal’s just a baby on a starfighter right now doing some training on The Albedo Brave.. poor baby.

Awwwh hun you aint having them babies.. not alive anyway. 

Love has blinded him, he’s a dark sider now. 

That dream could just be a normal child birth.. those things are intense. 

You know what, if they went to Obi-Wan he’d be like “FFs Anakin” but then he’d help because Obi is the best boy. 

Yoda as cool as he is.. could do a bit more. 

Obiwan knows Palpatines no good. 

This is just me stanning Obi now. 

I wonder if Ewan McGregor has seen the Clone Wars cartoon. 

Anakin you gotta earn your place, don’t be Episode 2 whiney bitch Ani again.

I wonder if we ever get any High Republic stuff will it go into Yoda and the Wookies. 

 Even the council are like.. Hmm.. Palpatines shady. 

“The chancellor is not a bad man” errrr... 

Yoda knows somethings up

Even Padme is like “Palpatine’s a bit of a cunt.”

Palpatines a good story teller tbf, even if he’s telling the story of killing his own master

Anakin apologising and like.. that look of Proud dad on Obi’s face.. awh hun. 

Eveyrones getting into Positions for Order 66... Wounds still fresh for me since playing Fallen Order. 

Scary alien man not so scary.. he’s alright. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover kids. 

Yaaay cool mounts. 

“Hello There.” We stan. 

The fact Obiwan doesnt managed to take a second lightsaber and use it in this fight is a missed opportunity for some duel weild coolness. 

Greivous skittering away is creepy af. 

I like both these mounts. 

“The dark side surrounds the chancellor” you know theres a sith lord somewhere... maybe like.. go get him? 

This is it, this is Ani’s decision time, they’re circling like tigers gonna fight

Ani realises he’s the Sith and still is like “Hmm.. but maybe he’s right tho”

Rip Grievous. 

Mace Windu should really tell a bunch of other people about Palpatine being a Sith like Ani just said. 

Oh he did, nevermind. 

...That long distance stare off is strange though. 

WTF is that noise when Palpatine does his spin.. gonna have fucking nightmares about that noise. 

KIT FISTO NOOOO YOU HAD A BEAUTIFUL SMILE!

Mace could have killed Palpatine and saved us all a lot of hassle if he was just faster. 

Those no’s are grim. 

Palpatines acting is pretty good..pathetic but good. 

POWER!!! UNLIMITED POOOWWEEEERRRR!!!

You know what.. I’m with Samuel L Jackson, Mace Windu could have survived that. 

Where’d he pull the name Darth Vader out of? Is there a naming convention for Sith or is he just like... Vader is a cool sounding thing. 

You know what.. Anakin falls to servitude sooo fast. He’s such a bottom.

How come the clones don’t attack Anakin, how’d they know hes alright? 

This movie really just.. makes it seem like the Clones just betray the Jedi when we all know it’s the chip. 

Long head guy whos name i never remember NOOOOOOOO

Aayla Sekura.. i remember your name because damn ;) .. Noooooooo!

ANAKIN YOU LEAVE THAT YOUNGLING ALONE

You know what would be good..  if Anakin just got beat the shit out of by the younglings and thats how he died. 

Damn that young padawans a bad ass.

and he’s dead :(

Awwh Tarfful and Chewie.

Hey fuck you Anakin you whore. 

Going back to the temple is a gooood scene. 

Anakin you dick... i mean kill these assholes but the poor babies :c

Sith eyes kick in real quick. 

I suppose killing all those kids that he rly didnt need to because they could have just become Inquisitors did help/hinder? 

So this is how liberty dies.. good line Padme, nice.

Love Obi warning other Jedi to gtfo, We stan. 

Some dodgy acting in this scene but i’ll overlook it

Obiwan just taking a shit on the way to kill his boy.

Darth Maul has a more intimidating hologram.. good thing you’re gonna get cooked and become more intimidating. 

In a way Darth Vader did kill Anakin so Obiwan isn’t exactly lying to Luke about it.

Anakin never loved Padme. Controversial Opinion but i think he just had a childhood crush on her and never got over it. He wouldn’t have force choked her so quickly otherwise. He gets jealous like instantly, basically if you’re looking for an example of a toxic relationship.. here we go. 

Nice touch with the light being behind Obi and darkness behind Vader. 

Noooo Yoda. 

Euurghhh nails on chalkboard sound. 

“There’s no sign of his body” “Then he’s not dead” I’m sorry I thought Jedi faded to nothingness? 

This fights pretty epic tho

“From my point of view the jedi are evil” alright.. ya lil bitch

I think the I have the high ground thing is just an attempt to get Anakin to stop, a last desperate attempt. 

“You underestimate my-” Cut in half. 

Obi fucks up by not finishing him off tbf. 

Luke’s first apperace chronologically!

aand Leia. .. So Luke’s older... idk why i felt the need to state that but heyo

Yo is Vader’s vision always red?

“There’s good in him, i know” dies. .. Thats not something that someone whos lost the will to live would say. 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Oooooh in the Disney+ Obi show will we get him learning to communicate with Qui Gon.. pls. 

C3P0′s mind gets wiped..  a bunch.. but not R2. 

The funeral scene is nice. 

Damn they started work on the first death star like right away. 

TBF they also started work on Starkiller base pretty quick too so.. naa fair this checks out. 

Alderaan is gorgeous. 

Yo, Luke’s aunt is hot. 

You know what, Owen and Beru don’t get enough credit. 

Well that’s that.. I think I like this the most out of the prequels followed by Ep 1 then Ep 2.

[wavemaker9]

So far I think Toni has like 4 potential ships for him? Remind me if I’m forgetting anyone but so far I think it’s just Cami, Mel, Gil, and Ivan who’ve gotten a focus on.

I also think I already touched on how Cami’s the best for Toni in the same way that Mel is for Austin and Ivan is for Kyle, so I prolly don’t need to go too deep into those two. I will say I had the thought the other day of like a need vs want thing with the three boy’s ships, and like. I think it was that Austin needs Mel but doesn’t usually want her right away, Kyle both wants and needs Ivan like right at the start, and like. Toni needs Cami a little but I do think he wants her more than he needs her. Mainly just cause like. We’ve discussed this in discord but not on here so basically for a written record, We were talking about Cami being a source of character development for Toni in GTA AU but then countered that because in GTA AU he really doesn’t develop any from his relay with Cami. He does for a little bit I guess but then regresses right back to normal because he’s a dumb idiot who learns nothing from his mistakes. It’s the same thing with the issue with Gil, he doesn’t come away from that going “I need to value and trust my friends more because we care about each other and I’ve known them long enough to not only recognize that, but /recognize it in a way that adjusts my behavior accordingly/”. He doesn’t. Like. If you talked him through the whole thing with Gil and Francis, you could get him to quickly admit he genuinely doesn’t believe there’s any way that Gil or Francis would, unprovoked, betray him. But then also be like “But technically there’s some way, so gotta be prepared.” HE’S THAT BATMAN LINE. THE DUMB ONE ABOUT “IF TEHRE’S A .1% CHANCE HE COULD BE OUR ENEMY WE HAVE TO TREAT THAT AS A 100% CERTAINTY!” Dumb idiot. I think it’s just that like. Because Toni wants to be prepared for everything so that he can handle everything, he has a hard time prioritizing probability over possibility. And that’s probably true in any AU but especially in ones like GTA where he has more to lose and has learned to be more paranoid. He knows the probability of Gil betraying him is like so small it’s basically 0%, but also Toni can think of ways that would force Gil to pick a side and have Toni be that losing side. Threatening Ludwig is the biggest one (and I’d assume there’d be an equivalent for Francis of “if someone threatened X if Francis didn’t betray me, he’d have to pick X”), but Toni probably also assuming that if it came down to a thing of picking Francis or him, Gil’d pick Francis. Similarly, Toni assumes Francis would pick Gil if Gil forced Francis’ hand, while not also considering the fact that if your two causes are “Francis would betray me if Gil made him” and “Gil would betray me if Francis made him” and you don’t have any other factor that would prompt either Francis or Gilbert to make that move to push the other in the first place, then those aren’t really possible/probable causes are they, Toni? Even if the other cause is “Someone threatened Ludwig/X to make Gil/Francis betray me, but he doesn’t want to fight me directly so he’s then convincing Francis/Gil to do it.” like. His independent mentality doesn’t even have him consider “They would come to me and the two of us could work out how to save Ludwig/X together.” He just assumes betrayal because that’s how shit works in Los Santos, and because he assumes betrayal even in the .1% chance this extreme event happens, he feels he has to be prepared for it and won’t fucking chill about it. And even when it’s pointed out to him “Do you realize how unrealistic this is,” that’s not what he cares about. He knows it’s unrealistic, but that doesn’t make it impossible. It’d be like always wearing a life jacket 24/7 in case your house floods. You can point out how unlikely the flooding is at any given time, but he’ll just counter “and then what if it happens and then I don’t have a life jacket????” Like I guess you’re technically prepared, sure, but at what cost. Ugh, Toni’s the worst, I can’t believe I took this character I liked the best out of my three and made him the worst in his inability to learn a goddamn lesson.

Similarly, GTA Toni doesn’t learn a goddamn thing from what happens with Cami either. He doesn’t learn to communicate better, he doesn’t learn to trust people and put more faith in their choices, he doesn’t learn not to lie needlessly. To him, it’s not a factor of “Things would be better if I HAD told the truth” and more “Things would be better if I’d BEEN ABLE to tell the truth” because he’s still in some dumb mindset of unintentionally not respecting Cami’s (or anyone’s, really) autonomy. He /couldn’t/ tell Cami the truth, he /couldn’t/ 100% trust Gil and Francis. Again, he’s not realizing that these were actual choices he made and are specifically his fault. They are what /had/ to happen because, given his own knowledge and no other input, they were the best option at the time and thus the only thing he could really do. Even after Cami snaps at him about how much his break up with her and everything hurt her, he laments factors that were outside of his control instead of recognizing the choices he made weren’t good. If only he hadn’t gotten into the crime business, if only he’d met Cami earlier in his life, if only X, if only Y, blah blah blah. He recognizes that he made things worse here, but it still feels to him like “cami would have been better off if she never met me or if she’d met me before I got into crime” vs “cami would have been better off if I’d treated her with more actual respect and not this romanticized old version of respect where I pull her chair out for her but don’t ask for her opinion on major life decisions”. All of it basically boils down to ‘this wasn’t solely on me because I did what I /had/ to do given the circumstances. Nevermind that I could have changed the circumstances by discussing /anything/ with /anyone/. *hanzo voice* I do what I must.’ I touched on this in the fic with him and Gil, but Toni leans on excuses a lot more than he likes to think he does. During mel’s fake death, he calls out Kyle for not planning ahead and being aware of the consequences his actions have until they’ve already happened, but Toni has the exact opposite problem of /always/ trying to plan ahead to a harmful level and only being aware of the connection any consequences that happen may have with his actions until he actually does the thing and then any mistakes were a flaw in fate itself really, he did his best.

Anyway, fuck, that was supposed to be 1 paragraph about the generic dynamic of cami and toni, not multiple trainwrecks about what a trainwreck I turned that boy into in GTA AU. Back to the point. A lot of that is lessened in the handful of other AUs where Cami and Toni end up together even briefly, so that’s good at least. I mentioned to Khep the other day the idea of a similar thing happening with Toni in Color Coded AU of him having an interest in Cami after meeting her thanks to investigating her for PRISM, but when seeing how truly kind she is, him trying to step back because, while he does value PRISM for the help it gave him with his powers, he recognizes it’s shady and manipulative towards coders at best and doesn’t want Cami involved in that world. PRISM keeps a close eye on every one of its heroes, even those that leave/retire if it can, and Toni probably believing that while Cami could stay under the radar if staying on her own, any serious involvement with him would put her more at risk of PRISM’s lasting attention and she doesn’t deserve them watching over her and possibly deciding when she should and shouldn’t join. But in that one, he’d actually talk to her. Instead of spending his YA years as an independent and pseudo-paranoid crime leader, he spends them in a large community and as the leader of a team where communication is key. This Toni /knows/ that it’s important to ultimately trust people with information in order to better protect themself, and the only reason he’d hide info from Cami while trying to break things off would be at the very start since it’d probably take a little effort to find a way to communicate with Cami where he could be sure PRISM wouldn’t be keeping tabs. In other more chill AUs he tends to be better about that shit, too. Firefly AU was brought up since that’s another Toni that learns to lie with priority, but they don’t really end up together in that one so agreeing with the point there fo it not being as much of a thing? Mel and Gil feel like bigger factors into his development there than Cami does. Honestly, I can’t remember many other AUs where they even interact let alone date, now that I think about it tho? There’s the one happy one where they’re both single parents but that always felt more like a focus on the interaction between the kids/kids+parents vs between the parents, like honestly the TonixCami factor there was definitely back burner whenever I thought about it. Ugh, there has to be other AUs, right? Okay and I just went through my page of AU/Xover lists and it seems like no. Wait OUAT, I forgot that, but that’s also a bad one but not my fault. God we really do need better AUs for them. But honestly there aren’t many AUs for any of these ships we’re here to talk about so I guess I’ll be as assuming here as for the others.

I do feel like a non-GTA and the like AU where Toni and Cami can end up together is good. I’m still standing behind what I said in discord the other day of like. Toni is not necessarily the best end for /Cami/ if the AU has anyone else like Cian in it. I’ll also add something new of like. Even though Cami is probably the best of the options so far for Toni, she’s not the /ideal/ match either. Which, tbf, the same is true for Austin and Mel, honestly? It falls back to the need vs want thing. Kyle lucked out and got someone who helps him better himself while also being the type of person he absolutely adores. Austin’s best option would be someone who challenges him similar to how Mel does, but in a more reserved way and someone he has a bit more in common with. Someone he could start off wanting, instead of learning to want after a long while. (That’s also part of why Aud is a better fit for Mel too, since Aud is a bit more open and accepting of challenges and such due to her past vs Austin who is really not here as much to be significantly challenged; Aud isn’t /looking/ for a challenge either exactly, but she won’t back away from one as quickly as Austin will). For Toni and his ideal, there’s obviously the thing of like. Usually a relay with Toni isn’t great for her either since it’s just. Their relationships always feel very romanticized but not super realistic? I could see them having a long term relay and being happy, especially in more chill/neutral AUs like the adopted family AU one, but I think it takes them both a medium to /long/ while to relax around each other. Which isn’t… the worst, but also, it just feels a little unhealthy having to try /to that level/ in a relationship. Like trying in a relay is good, trying to seem perfect in a relay isn’t so much, and it’d probably take a few years to a decade or so before toni starts to feel comfortable not trying to the max 24/7. And that’d be exhausting, and that’s for Toni who is used to and honestly lowkey thrives in a challenging environment, because Cami would in turn likely also feel the need to always be at her best regardless of Toni’s reassurances, and that’d be even worse for someone like her who is NOT already confident and believes herself as being at the best level already. Eventually they could settle into a really nice comfortable life together, and I think it’d be very good for both of them at that point, because they’re both very caring and passionate people at their cores, but it’d probably be rough to start off with.

Mel is next on the list and honestly a very good match for him, too, although probably not as challenging as he would need to key points. I’ll cover this more for Gil and Ivan later on but I picture Cami and Gil are better at challenging Toni in ways that he could use given his flaws, where as Mel is more middle ground and. God, Ivan. We’ll get to Ivan. With Mel, it’s not that she wouldn’t be capable of challenging him or anything. She’s honestly probably the most prepared for that and can probably shut down a lot of shit the first time she sees it and knows it’s bad. Toni doesn’t talk to her about something important and just does X thing and her confronting him immediately on it. Same with like the one fic I did for the rarepair thing. She sees he’s not honest about who he is and what he likes, and she talks to him right away to kind of address that and why it’s important to her that that change even a little if they’re going to stay together. Really, they are a good match in that they either compliment or contrast each other well. They’re both active worker types who enjoy fighting and such, and though there’d have to be some competition between them, I could imagine it being treated as more playfully competitive than full on “I have to be the best” aggressive. Toni’s more diplomatic and that helps Mel with socializing some times and kind of getting her to take a hot second when angry to calm down and think through her reactions so she doesn’t get too mad and make more enemies than friends. They really do work very well together when they try and it’s not like having each other wouldn’t help better them. Honestly the main reason I don’t move Mel up to the highest potential pairing is just that I don’t picture Mel as the sort that would inspire him to naturally want to change on anything that’s a major issue for him. Like he wouldn’t naturally want to fix the communication thing, he’d just see that mel doesn’t like this so he’d fix it. One of the things that causes Cami to appeal to him most is her being so nice and sweet leads to him trying to be a naturally nicer person and just genuinely care more about people. Tone down that pride and judgement and be more open minded and selfless. The other thing, as we’ll get into with gil, isn’t something he thinks he needs as much initially but would probably learn to recognize a need for more, and that’s just chilling the /fuck/ out for once and just having a breather. Again, he thrives on challenge and stuff, he loves putting 110% into everything if he can, but like. Just relaxing and being chill and not being the best is okay too? And that’s not like “do the work, take a nap, get back to work” that’s like “I don’t have to be prepared to defend my non-existent title on everything to impress people. I can just relax and be myself genuinely and it’s probably fine.”

So let’s just move onto Gil then since that’s the big pro when Toni gets to date him. Honestly, at least atm, I think Gil is the only person Toni ever knows that he feels like he can 100% relax with? Francis is close in most AUs, probably like 95% in more chill scenarios, but Gil has a much more natural way about him where he’s just so honest, it’s infectious to Toni. It really is why he likes Gil so much. Francis is arguably cooler and more fashionable and confident, but Gil seems to have this fucking ultimate zen thing going of owning who he is so completely which even Toni hasn’t mastered yet, and Toni thinks that’s the coolest. Great humor and confidence is a big factor into Toni befriending Gil so closely. Gil can always make Toni relax and laugh and forget his worries for a bit and Toni has such a chill genuine fun time when with Gil, and, again, for someone like Toni who feels like he has to try 110% minimum at all times, feeling comfortable in the moment enough to not feel like he has to impress and watch himself is really nice. Honestly? I feel like there are a lot of things Toni likes that he’s just kind of filtered out of his personality because of reputation, and it’s only when hanging out with gil or the full group that he’ll find himself doing that kind of shit again because he feels like he can get away with it more when with gil and/or francis. Like in a lot of AUs Gil’s probably the first one to get out of Toni that he does like being called Toño more, to the point of I don’t even know if Toni often fully realizes it until Gil gets him to stop and consider it. Like there’s just a lot of stuff like that where Toni doesn’t even think about it anymore. He found ‘Toni’ was the name people found easiest growing up (usually) in America, so he went with that until it felt like his preferred name. God, honestly I think there’s just a lot of Toni’s personality that might not really be his personality and who knows what is or isn’t at any given time? He probably doesn’t on a lot. I sure don’t, I’ve never had this boy down pat. Hell, there’s already the thing of him naturally wanting to swear a lot but training himself to cut that out so he really only does it around Francis and Gil. Like. Maybe dressing up in high business casual all the time is just something he’s convinced himself he likes? What if I say he actually hated tomatoes as a kid and just whoever his guardian is in each AU loved them and made them a lot so he eventually tricked himself into liking them?? I can do anything with this new power, incredible! But yeah, maybe that’s another factor of liking hanging out with Gil too is not just “oh I get to relax and enjoy things I don’t normally allow myself too” but also “sometimes I remember I enjoy things I haven’t done in years and that’s nice”. Fucking Gil one day just questioning “Hey how come you say ‘probably’ or ‘probably not’ a lot when I ask if you like a thing instead of just yes or no?” and then through a slow convo of having to break down toni’s answers because even toni doesn’t realize fully that he does this, that finally coming out and gil just baffled once things click. Gil showing up the next day with a bunch of foods from the store for toni to try and actually see if he likes them. Toni like I don’t think this is how it works, Gil. Gil teasing back ‘maybe you’ve just convinced yourself you don’t think this is how it works when the REAL toni would love my idea? It’s impossible to know!’ and toni just laughing but conceding, sure, yeah, sounds 100% legit and not at all bullshit, what’s first on your goofball buffet, bud?

Okay, distracted again, back to the point. Toni relaxing is good, but I think it’s better as a friendship thing longer term? Toni relaxing every once in a while is a good break, but his morals and priorities and such slip when he’s not careful. Which leads us to the last boy on the list, Ivan. ...Listen. I /love/ the compare and contrast factor between Toni and Ivan because they really do have a surprising amount in common for not seeming like they would at a glance. A couple of terrible smile boys, love them, /but also/. Not the greatest influences on each other. This is especially true in verses like GTA and Nationverse with baggage. Toni tries to be a better person and move past his bloody history, but given who he is, it requires a /lot/ of maintaining. And like the pro with Gil is that I think Gil would still mostly be a good enough influence where even while encouraging toni to relax more, he’d still be a more good than bad influence in almost any AU. Like even GTA, Gil is a chaotic good sort, and that’d be important. But Ivan is decidedly not in those sorts of AUs, and pairings between him and Toni have the potential for being the worst in those. GTA (and probably Nationverse too?), Ivan loves prying at that mask of Toni’s and so tries to instigate him more, that would lead to Toni then pushing back, and like. A long term relay between them in those AUs would be hard. You factor in that Toni’s trust issues are worse in those and his darker instincts are way stronger from his history + Ivan also probably very similar on a lot of those points too and also just has not learned to respect human life at all tbh? Toni’s trying to respect human life, but yknow sometimes it’s hard???? (anyone else: I find it’s not hard at all not to murder people. I often go long periods of time without killing anybody! | toni and ivan: we all have our draughts) I just picture in those AUs they are too much of a chaotic force when together and it would be damaging for themselves and/or others. Plus the idea came up once between Avi and I of the GTA fling between them becoming more romantic but god you’d have to find the perfect storm to really make that happen to be honest? It’s not /impossible/ but it’s very unlikely. Toni doesn’t trust ivan enough to let himself become that close to him really, and if he couldn’t allow himself to let down his walls for cami, it’d be damn fucking hard to get him to do it for ivan in turn. He’d pull himself back before he did, and that could be another factor of ivan trying to pry at toni and see how much he can push him, see if he can pull him back in, but that would just further sour any possibility of an actual romantic relationship. In better AUs where they aren’t both bad kids, it’s a little more possible, but I still think even then, they wouldn’t be /great/ influences on each other. Definitely better! They both learn to try and be on better behavior, but. yknow. The bar was set low; there’s only so many AUs that aren’t better than gta au.